Athens Township (part 13 of 21)

Archibald B. fValkery son of Dr. Ezra Walker, was born in East Poultney, Vermont, October 15th, 1800, and came to Ames township with his father's family when ten years old. In 1825 he married Lucy W., daughter of Judge Silvanus Ames, and in 1826 they removed to the town of Athens, where they have since resided continuously, and reared a family of two sons and four daughters. Soon after coming to Athens, Mr. Walker, having formed a partnership with his brotherin-law, James J. Fuller, engaged for a few years in the cattle-driving and pork-packing business. In 1839 they commenced the manufacture of salt at the old furnace, opposite Chauncey, afterward owned by Judge Pruden, and soon after they bored the wells and erected the furnaces now owned by M. M. Greene & Co., at Salina. For a period of twenty years the firm name of Fuller & Walker was well and favorably known in the valley. The partnership was dissolved in 1853. Since that time, Mr. Walker has not engaged in active business on his own account. During his long residence in the county, he has always been one of the most prompt to embrace, and ardent in the support of every useful local enterprise. At home and abroad, in personal intercourse and through the press, he has ever been ready and efficient in advocating the development of the county, and presenting her claims. He was one of the original friends, and for several years a director of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, and an early and strenuous advocate for the construction of the Hockhocking Valley railroad, which is now building under the energetic control of younger men, and which he is likely to live to see finished.

Having been through his whole life scrupulously faithful and exact in the discharge of every duty, public and private, Mr. Walker is peacefully completing the last stage of a long and worthy career in the very spot where he began it. If his part has been acted on a comparatively narrow stage, it has nevertheless, been well acted - "there all the honor lies." Happy in the respect of his neighbors and the affection of children and grand-children, he possesses, in the words of Shakspeare: county, Massachusetts. He studied medicine and surgery at the Boston Medical college, and received a diploma from that institution in 1792. In 1796 he married Miss Mary Porter, of Rutledge, Massachusetts. After this he served four years as assistant surgeon in the New York hospital. In 1802 he removed from New York to Washington county, Ohio, and in 1804 or '5 to the town of Athens, and occupied a house built by Captain Silas Bingham, on the lot now owned and occupied by Mr. George W. Norris. In 1806 he was elected to the state senate, which position he held till 181 1. When hostilities began in 18 12, he was commissioned as surgeon in the army of the northwest, under Harrison, and was assigned to duty on the staff of General Tupper. At the close of the war he returned to Athens and resumed the practice of medicine with success. In 18 16, while performing a surgical operation, he received poisonous matter into a small wound on his hand, the absorption of which produced violent inflammation and sudden death; he died May 13, 18 16. Dr. Jewett was a gentleman of fine intelligence and professional ability, and there are those living who still cherish his memory as one of the leaders among the early citizens of the county.

Four of his sons survive ; three of them, Joseph, Leonard, and Leonidas Jewett, live in the vicinity of Athens, and one resides in Oregon. Leonidas was

Leonidas Jewett, jr., son of the last named, a lawyer of promise, is settled at Athens, where he was born. During the late war of the rebellion, he served three years with credit as adjutant of the Sixty-first Ohio regiment.

Calvary Morris^ was born near Charleston, West Virginia, in 1798, and spent his youth in the Kanawha valley, laboring on a farm, and battling with the hardships of pioneer life. In 181 8 he married the eldest daughter of Dr. Leonard Jewett, of Athens, and in the spring of 18 19, located permanently in that town. ** Finding myself,'* says Mr. Morris, "a stranger in a strange land, and obliged to make provision for the support of my family, my first step was to rent five acres of ground, upon which to raise a crop of corn. While cultivating that ground, during the summer of 1 8 19, the Rev. Jacob Lindley (then acting president of the Ohio university) came to me and said that a school teacher was much needed in our town, and proposed that I undertake it. I informed him that I was not at all qualified - that reading, writing, spelling, and a limited knowledge of arithmetic was the extent of my education. He said that the wants of the community required that arithmetic, geography, and English grammar be taught in the school, and, * now,' said he, * I will tell you what to do. I have the books and you have brains; take my books, go to studying, and recite to me every day for three weeks, and by that time I will have a school made up for you; you will then find no difficulty in keeping ahead pf your scholars so as to give satisfaction in teaching, and no one will ever suspect your present lack of qualifications/ I consented, went to work, and at the end of three weeks went into the school. I taught and studied during the day, and cultivated my corn-field part of the time by moonlight, and if there was ever any complaint of my lack of qualifications as a teacher, it never came to my knowledge."

In 1823, Mr. Morris was elected sheriff of Athens county, and re-elected by an almost unanimous vote in 1825. In 1827, at the close of his term as sheriff, he was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature, and re-elected in 1828. In 1829, he was elected to the state senate, and re-elected in 1833. In 1835, when the project of the Hocking canal was being warmly agitated, Mr. Morris was elected again to the popular branch of the assembly from Athens and Hocking counties as the avowed friend of that measure, and in the belief that he was the best man to engineer it through. To his adroit management and indefatigable efforts, the measure was mainly indebted for success, as he had to overcome the almost unanimous opposition of both branches of the legislature and the whole board of canal commissioners.

He had the pleasure of seeing the bill triumphantly passed a few days before the close of the session, and on his return home his constituents tendered him a public dinner.

In 1843 he retired from public life and engaged, to some extent, in wool growing and in the introduction of fine-wooled sheep into the county, in which business he rendered great service to the farming community.

In 1847 he removed to Cincinnati and engaged in mercantile pursuits, which finally proving unfortunate, he returned to Athens in 1854, and in 1855 was elected probate judge of the county, which office he still holds.

Few men, if any, now living in the county, have filled a larger part in its official history than Judge Morris, and, during his varied services, he has discharged every trust with honor and fidelity. His public life lay chiefly in the better days of the republic, and of our politics, and, from his present standpoint, secure in the confidence and respect of all his neighbors, he has the rare and happy fortune of being able to review his whole career without shame and without remorse.

Judge Morris is a brother of the Reverend Bishop Morris of the M. E. church. William D. Morris, of Illinois, and Levi Morris, of Louisiana, are the other surviving brothers.

Capt. Isaac Barker^ came from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the northwestern territory in the autumn of 1788. For several years he lived in the Belprc settlement on the Ohio river, about fifteen miles from Marietta, and his name is preserved as one of the heads of families who, in the year 1792, took refuge in the block house called " Farmers* Castle,'* where he and his family remained till the violence of the Indian war was spent. In 1798 he removed with his family of five sons and three daughters to Athens township, and settled near the village of Athens, ^ where he passed the remainder of his life. Capt. Barker was a sea-faring man in early life, being supercargo and captain of an East India vessel, and, during the revolutionary war, took an active part in the privateering service. His sons were Michael, Isaac, Joseph, William, and Timothy.

Michael Barker y son of Capt. Isaac Barker, born in 1776 at New Bedford, Massachusetts, came with his father's family to Marietta in the autumn of 1788. During the Indian war, from 1792 to 1795, while they lived in Farmers' Castle at Belpre, Michael served as a scout or spy against the Indians in a company raised under the authority of the Ohio Company. He came to Athens county and settled near the town of Athens in April, 1798, where he spent the rest of his life. He married a daughter of Wm. Harper, who was county treasurer from 1809 to 181 1. Mr. Barker was for many years a constable in Athens township, and held other local offices. He was a man of scrupulous exactness in his dealings, and of much firmness and decision of character. He died June loth, 1857.

Isaac Barkery jr. (son of Capt. Isaac Barker), long known in Athens county as Judge Barker, was born in Massachusetts, February 17th, 1779. He remembers his father setting out with his family for the northwestern territory, from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1788. They had one wagon drawn by two oxen and a horse, and were accompanied on the journey by Capt. Dana and his family, also emigrating to the west. Their journey was not marked by any special incidents. At one stage Capt. Barker's oxen having become footsore, he exchanged them with a Dutch tavern keeper where they stopped for a fresh yoke. The next morning the boys started on early with the team, the father remaining behind a little while. They had not gone far before they came to a very bad place in the road, over which the oxen refused to go. After working with them for some time the boys suddenly thought it was because the Dutch oxen could not understand English that they were so stubborn ; one of them accordingly went back for the Dutchman, who soon arrived, and, by dint of considerable hard swearing at the oxen, in good Dutch, got the team over. The emigrants traveled by land to Sum- rill's ferry on the Youghiogheny, where they procured keel boats and continued their journey by water to Marietta. Captain Barker's family spent several months in the family of Paul Fearing, at Marietta, and removed thence early in 1790 to Belpre, where he settled on a one-hundred-acre donation lot. They had hard work to get along here, especially for the first year or two. Mr. Barker says corn was four dollars a bushel and none to be had at that. They lived for one year almost solely on corn bread ^nd wHd meat. "One quart of cracked corn," he says, " was the daily allowance for our family of* eleven. ..T^ie children used to stand by looking wistfully while their mother baked the daily loaf, and, having received their share, would hoard it carefully, nibbling it like mice . during * the day." They lived in a block house, or garrisonj-^some four or five years, during the Indian war. \ht this time, says Mr. Barker, " I was a, pretty smart boy and able to handle a gun, and while fether ;and my oldjsr. brpther worked in the field I stood. guard with tbe rifle. ;. Every evening we barred up the do6r b^forp "sundown. In the morning we would open it an hour or so after sunrise, look carefully about, and, if no signs of Indians appeared, brother Michael would go out (the door being instantly barred behind him), and scout around a little." Several men and one or two whole families were killed in that neighborhood by the Indians during these years. Mr. Barker recollects the massacre of the

Armstrong family just across the river from where they lived, the killing of Benoni Hurlbut, the chase of Walda Putnam and a man by the name of Bradford, by the Indians, and the killing of Jonas Davis. This Mr. Davis was engaged to be married to one of Mr. Barker's sisters. One cold day during the war, seeing an old skiff lodged on the ice some distance up the river, he ventured out to get some nails out of her - they being very scarce. He never returned. Being missed, after several hours, and search made, he was found dead, stripped, and scalped on the ice. Though a mere boy during the war. Judge Barker received at its close one hundred acres of land as a bounty from the Ohio Company - Gen. Putnam saying that he had done a man's work and was entitled to a man's pay. He used frequently to stand guard at the garrison. Capt. Barker's family came to Athens in 1798, poling their goods up the Hockhocking in a light flat boat. These boats were built with a " running board " along each side ; a man on each side, furnished with a long pole with a pointed iron socket at the end, would plant it firmly in the bottom at the bow, and then with the upper end against his shoulder would run to the other end of the boat, propelling her by that means. After coming to Athens they lived a year at the point close by Harper's Ferry. Judge Barker tended this ferry for a while, and married Christiana, a daughter of Mr. Harper. At this time they got their milling from

Capt. DevoFs floating mill, some five miles up the Muskingum. It took four days to go and come, and Mr. Barker has himself more than once made this long trip to mill, going down the Hocking and up the Ohio in a pirogue and back by the same means, camping out over night.

Moses Hewitt and his family lived a short distance up Margaret's creek. In the year 1800 some thirty or forty Indians came in on Factory run, and three of them came over to Mr. Hewitt's house. They were somewhat in liquor, and Mrs. Hewitt in alarm sent hastily for her husband, who was a short distance from the house. When Mr. Hewitt came he ordered them in their own language (he had been a captive among them several years before), to " go away." They refused and were insulting, whereupon, Mr. Hewitt flew at the drunken ones and knocked one into the fireplace and another headlong out of the door. Mr. Barker was in the house and saw all this. A large athletic Indian, who seemed entirely sober, then grappled with Mr. Hewitt, and, after a violent struggle, threw him on the floor. Mrs. Hewitt and Mr. Barker, excited and alarmed, were about to pull the Indian oflF, when Hewitt, who was a noted fighter, told them to stand oflF and let him alone. The fight continued, and Hewitt very soon managed to get his thumb into the Indian's eye, and the Indian's thumb into his mouth, when the latter screamed lustily and begged till Mr.

Hewitt released him. The moment he was on his feet, the Indian ran to the door, and, putting his hand to his mouth, gave a regular war whoop, loud and long continued, and then ran away. Mr. Hewitt himself was now alarmed, thinking that the Indians would come over in the night and kill his family. Accordingly he requested Garner Bobo, a man named Cutter, and Mr. Barker, to stay in the house over night while he took his wife and the children some distance across the river. Mr. Barker says, " We had but one gun among us - Bobo had that. I was armed with a heavy clothespounder, and Cutter had a conchshell which he was to blow for help in case of great danger. Thus accoutered we barred the door and prepared to pass the night. We took turns sleeping and watching, and the night passed without any alarm. About daylight I, being on watch, saw some three or four figures gliding about the house and thought the redskins were after us now, sure enough. I woke Bobo who had his gun ready in a minute, and we were preparing for a fight or a siege when we heard a loud laugh outside, and looking out saw Hewitt and two or three others coming up to the house. They had come over to scare us. We saw nothing more of the Indians, and I think this was the last considerable party of them seen in this part of the country."

by the name of King, with his family, from the mouth of the Hockhocking river to the falls near Logan, and then dragging their boat around the falls, continued to within eight miles of Lancaster, the place of destination.

The town plat of Athens was very heavily timbered at that time, and the few cabins that stood here were widely separated. Mr. Barker, though not a great hunter, killed great numbers of deer and turkeys hereabouts. He remembers the following incident :

Chris. Stevens, who lived back of the college green, and a German named Heck, were hunting one day and treed a bear in a large poplar not far from Stevens* house. The bear climbed nearly to the top of the tree, which was very tall. They had but one gun between them and Stevens was to shoot. He had leveled his gun, taken aim, and sighted a long time ; Heck stood a little off waiting for him to fire, when, his patience exhausted, he asked, "Why don't you shoot?" Stevens, who was a kind-hearted man, deliberately lowered his gun and said, " I can't bear to see the poor tWmg fall so far!'*

Old Capt. Barker's first cabin stood about where Joseph Herrold's house now stands. He afterward built a log house near the river, south of John White's present residence. Judge Barker's first cabin was about one hundred yards west of his father s first house, and he afterward built a two story hewed log house on the river bank just at the turn of the road, which was standing a few years since and occupied by the Beveridge family. In 18 15 Judge Barker moved to the town plat and took the " Dunbaugh House," which stood where the " Brown House" now stands, and which had been kept for a few years by one Jacob Dunbaugh. Mr. Barker kept tavern here till 18 18, when he bought the lot where he now resides. There was a hewed log house on this lot, and he kept tavern in this while his brick house was building, and till it was finished in 1823, and then in his present dwelling till about 1830.

During his residence here, Mr. Barker has held the offices of county sheriff, county treasurer, collector of rents for the university, and was judge of the court of common pleas for about ten years. He has lived for nearly three score years and ten in the town of Athens, where he is passing the evening of his days in quiet serenity. Though now eighty-nine years old, he devoted a part of every day during this season (1868), to working in his garden - his favorite employment - ^and is in possession of all his faculties.

Abel Stedman^ son of Judge Alexander Stedman, was born at Newbridge, Vermont, February 26, 1785, and came to the town of Athens in 1802. In 181 1 he married Miss Sally Foster. In 1812 he enlisted in the

United States service, and on the march from Sandusky to Chillicothe he marched next in the ranks to Thomas Corwin. Returning to Athens he engaged in his trade of house carpenter, and passed the rest of his days here. He was a man of active temperament and untiring industry, a professing christian and full of good works. He died December 20, 1859.

Zadoc Foster, a native of Massachusetts, moved with his family to the northwestern territory in 1796. He came, like many others of that time, with an ox team as far as Olean point, on the Allegheny river, and thence proceeded by raft down the Ohio to Marietta, in the autumn of 1796. Remaining that winter in the stockade, he made a settlement in the spring at Belpre, and remained there till he came to Athens in 1809. During his residence at the Belpre settlement Indians ^ere frequently seen, but had ceased to be considered dangerous, while the game was so abundant that deers and turkeys were sometimes shot, from the door of the cabin in which he lived.

Mr. Foster kept public house in Athens till his death, by the "cold plague," in 1814, first in the Mc- Nichol house, on the lot now occupied by Mr. E. C* Crippen, and afterwards across the street, on the lot now occupied by Judge Barker. His widow, Mrs. Sarah Foster, continued to keep the tavern a few years after his death. She then began to teach a school for young children, in which vocation she was eminently useful and beloved during the remainder of her life. She continued to teach within four days of her death,, which occurred in 1 849.

Hull Foster y only surviving son of Zadoc Foster, was born in Sudbury, Rutland county, Vermont, January 23, 1796, and came to the northwestern territory, with his father's family, when a few months old. His first visit to Athens was in 1804 or 1805. ^^ came to visit Dr. Leonard Jewett's family, and traveled on horseback from Belpre, there being no visible road, but only a horse path which crossed the river at the present site of Coolville. There was a sort of ferry at this point. At that time one Strickland kept public house in a log building, on the lot now occupied by Judge Barker, and Joseph B. Miles had a small lot of goods in a room of the same house. Timothy Wilkins had a cabin near where General John Brown now lives, and ran a little distillery in the hollow close by. Esquire Henry Bartlett lived in a cabin back of the col- I^e green, near the present site of Mr. J. L. Kessinger's house. There was a horse mill on the point of the hill, a short distance northeast of town, on the Bingham farm. Mr. Foster, when a boy, drove the horse at this mill; the usual terms of grinding were, that parties should bring their own horse and pay onefourth of the corn as toll. In 1809 ^^^ father removed with his family to Athens. In the interval a few brick houses had been built; Dr. Eliphaz Perkins had built on the Ballard corner, and Esquire Henry Bartlett on Congress street, nearly opposite Dr. Wilson's present residence ; these, with Abbott's tavern, the academy building, near Nelson Van Vorhes* present residence, and a school house just east of where the Presbyterian church now stands, were, it is thought, all the brick buildings here in 1809. When about seventeen, Mr. Foster took up the trade of shoemaking - to use his own expression, "just as a cow does kicking - in her own head." Between 18 16 and 1820 he traveled with his kit on his back, through the west and southwest, visiting the present states of Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. In 1 82 1 he returned to Athens, resumed his trade, and built the house where Mr. Abner Cooley now lives. Soon after he married his first wife, a daughter of Mr. Ira Carpenter. Since then he has steadily adhered to his trade, at which he has worked for more than fifty years, and still works some, though under no necessity to do so. There is one family in the county for whom he has made shoes for five generations. He has been twice married - his second wife was a daughter of Mr. William Brown, of Lee township - and is now a widower. A man of strong sense, strict integrity, and marked force of character, his life and virtues are known and read of all his neighbors.

Ebenexer Currier^ born at Hempstead, Rockingham county, New Hampshire, December 15, 1772, came to Ohio in 1 804, and to the town of Athens in 1 806, where he lived nearly fifty years. He was one of the pioneer merchants of Athens. In 181 1, having to transport a small supply of goods from Baltimore, he hired Archelaus Stewart to fetch them. The latter made the trip to and from Baltimore, all the way in a light wagon, and delivered the goods safely in Athens,^ after a journey of about two months. During Mr. Currier's long residence here he filled several town and township offices, was justice of the peace, county commissioner, and county treasurer ; was four times a member of the state legislature as senator and representative, and for about twenty-one years was associate judge of the court of common pleas. For more than forty years he engaged here in mercantile pursuits, in which he was quite successful, amassing a considerable fortune. Judge Currier died March 2, 1851. Many of his descendants live in the county.

Conrad Hawk was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania. While a young man he removed to Harrison county, Virginia, where he married Miss Nancy Read in 1805, and whence he moved to Athens county in 1810. He settled as a farmer in Athens township, where he died, October i, 1841. Mr. Hawk's family^ formerly well and favorably known in this community.

are now scattered. William, the oldest son, died in 1864, while commanding a steamer in General Banks' expedition up the Red river. John lives in Texas ; James and Columbus in Clarke county, Ohio, and Geo. W. in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. One of the daughters, now Mrs. Dr. Huxford, lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the other, Mrs. Durbin, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

Nicholas Baker y senior ^ born in England in 1760, was brought to this country at seven years of age, for fortyfour years followed the sea, as cabin boy and sailor, and in 1 8 14, with his only son Isaiah Baker, came to Athens county where he lived in his son's family, in the vicinity of Athens, till his death in 1829.

Isaiah Baker, son of the foregoing, born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the year 1780, came to this county with his family in 18 14, and settled three miles west of Athens, where he followed farming the rest of his life. He died in 1825, leaving seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, except one son, Matthias, who was killed by the kick of a horse in 1837. Mr. Baker was a worthy member of the Methodist church.

Nicholas Baker y son of Isaiah, born in Massachusetts in 1799, has lived in Athens (town and township) fiftyfour years. Social and genial in his daily intercourse with friends, few men lead a^ more placid life than

"Uncle Nick." With a heart corresponding in capacity to his ponderous frame, with a healthy and happy temperament, he is one of those kind-hearted men whom dumb animals like and children make friends with. He fondly cherishes the remembrance of his once having lived in Judge Silvanus Ames' family, in Ames township, in the summer of 18 17. Edward R. Ames (Rev. Bishop Ames) at that time was eleven years old, and Mr. Baker, partial to him in boyhood, refers to their early acquaintance with lively pleasure. He relates with much gusto and laughter how "the bishop," being naturally rather lazy, would lie on the grass in the shade and amuse young Baker with his talk, while the latter cheerfully performed an extra amount of work for his dreaming companion. Mr. Baker, formerly a farmer, has resided for many years past in the town of Athens. His son, George W. Baker, is now treasurer of Athens county.

Jacob L. Baker, another of the sons of Isaiah Baker, is an extensive farmer in Athens township. He has a family of seven sons and one daughter, most of whom are well settled on good farms in the neighborhood of their father, who manages to buy an additional farm as often as needed, for some of his family.

1798, and removed to Athens in 18 12, Here he was for many years a successful teacher, and there are old men living who well remember his thorough instruction and his stern discipline. In 18 14 he married Miss Julia Perkins, eldest daughter of Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, whose christian graces and excellence of character were long known and admired in Athens. To them were born three sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living. The sons are all graduates of the Ohio university; two of them, the Rev. Eliphaz Perkins Pratt and the Rev. John H. Pratt being well-known ministers of the Presbyterian church, and the third. Dr. Robert Pratt, a successful physician in Illinois.

David Pratt died in 1861, and his wife in 1867, aged eighty-three. They were both members of the Presbyterian church in Athens for more than half a century.

Joseph Dandy born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1768, was educated at Dartmouth college and graduated in 1788. He intended to pursue the ministry, but owing to delicate health did not carry out this purpose; he subsequently studied and qualified himself for the practice of the law. He served some time in the Massachusetts legislature, but his health continuing frail, he resolved to leave New England. In 18 17 he removed west and settled at Athens, where he at first engaged in the practice of law. Though never a ready speaker, Mr. Dana was a thorough lawyer and fine special pleader - ^ branch of the practice necessarily more cultivated in those days than now. About two years after coming here he was elected professor of languages in the university - a position for which he was admirably qualified by his fine scholarship and intellectual habits. His connection with the university continued till 1835 when the infirmities of age led him to resign his position.

Professor Dana was an accomplished scholar and cultivated gentleman. He was, for many years, an elder in the Presbyterian church here, and a lofty intellectuality pervaded his religion and all his modes of thought. He died November i8th, 1849. ^^^ sons, Joseph M. Dana, Daniel S. Dana, Capt. William Henry Dana, U. S. N., and others of his descendants are well known in this community.

James Brice was born in Maryland in the year 1750, and, removing to western Pennsylvania, settled near Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) in 1787. While living here he held various public stations, such as member of the state legislature, county commissioner, collector of internal revenue, trustee of Washington college, etc. In 1 821 he removed further west, and settled in the town of Athens, where he passed the latter years of his life, living in the family of his son. He was a man of high character, and during his long life was an active

Barnet Brice, his son, and a native of Pennsylvania, preceded his father to Athens, having settled here in 1807. He kept public house many years (he built the Union hotel now occupied by O. B. Potter), and was -extensively acquainted through the country. He died about 1853.

Thomas Brice, another son of James, came to Athens in 1818. He was a successful merchant here for many years, and a large dealer in cattle from 1820 to 1830. He built the brick dwelling house on Court street, now owned and occupied by Dr. W. P. Johnson.

In 1815 Nathan Dean^ with his family, mostly grown, of six sons and three daughters, came to this county from Norton, Bristol county, Massachusetts. The young people all settled here, and raised respectable families in subsequent life. Three of them, William, Gulliver, and John N. Dean, made the brick, in the summer of 18 16, for the central building of the Ohio university in Athens, and later, in 1835, one of them, John N. Dean, made the brick for the two additional or wing buildings of the university. The eldest of the family, afterward Colonel Nathan Dean, settled near Amesville, in the eastern part of the county, and died much respected in the year 1839.

the manufactures of the country were only so far advanced, that, in making nailsy their heads were made singly by hand, and these brothers had worked considerably at heading nails by hand before coming to Ohio. One of their ancestors, James Leonard, is believed to have been the first man that manufactured iron in America, and a son of his, Jonathan Leonard, the first to manufacture steel. Jonathan went to England and feigned to be simple^ in order to get work in an establishment manufacturing steel, and thus gained the knowledge which the English were studiously endeavoring to conceal from the artisans of other countries. Upon his return the firm of "Leonard & Kinsley" successfully engaged in the production of steel in this country.

Charles Shipman^ for more than twenty years an active and leading citizen of Athens, was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, August 28, 1787. He came to Marietta, with his father's family, in 1790, and they remained in the "stockade" during the Indian war. Colonel Shipman came to the town of Athens in 18 13, and engaged in merchandising, in which line his business talent and popular manners soon gave him decided prominence, and ultimately large success. In early times he visited Philadelphia for the purchase of goods, once every year, and sometimes twice a year, always on horseback. Some of the old citizens of Athens still remember the

Colonel Shipman was a man of fine social qualities, genial manners, and benevolent heart. He was the first, or one of the first, merchants in this part of the state to discard the sale of intoxicating drinks, to stop the practice of " treating " customers, and to engage actively in the temperance cause. He was, during the most of his life, a professor of religion, and for many years a ruling elder of the Presbyterian church of Athens.

Colonel Shipman (he was elected colonel of a militia regiment during his residence at Athens) married Frances White Dana, of Belpre, in 181 1. She died in 1 8 13. The only issue of this marriage was a son, William C. Shipman, for many years past a citizen of New Albany, Indiana. In 1815 he married Joanna, the eldest daughter of Esquire Henry Bartlett, who is still living in Marietta. Colonel Shipman left Athens in 1836 to reside at Marietta, where he died July 7, i860.

Silas Pruden^ born in Norristown, New Jersey, in 1773, came to Athens county in 181 5, and purchased the mills and farm east of Athens, then owned by Col. Jehiel Gregory, who soon after removed to Fayette county, Ohio. Mr. Pruden rebuilt and improved the mills, which were known as the "Pruden mills," till about 1836, when Mr. Pruden sold them with the adjoining farm, etc., to J. B. & R. W. Miles. Mr. Pruden was a man of considerable means, and raised a highly respectable family of six sons and seven daughters. In November, 1832, one of his daughters, Achsah, was married to John Brough, late governor of Ohio. Mr. Pruden was a member of the Presbyterian church during his residence in the county, and a most worthy man. In 1837 he removed to Hocking county, where he died, November 30, 1856.

Samuel B. Pruden, son of Silas Pruden, was born at Norristown, New Jersey, January 17, 1798, and came to Athens county with his father's family in 18 15. On arriving at manhood he developed unusual capacity for business, and, during his long residence in the county, was one of her prominent and leading citizens. In 1826 he began the milling and wool-carding business at the "Bingham mills," west of Athens, which he continued about ten years. In 1836 he established himself permanently about two miles below Athens, on the Hockhocking, where he erected an oil mill, a grist and saw mill, and in 1840 a salt boiling establishment. The settlement that he here founded has long been known as Harmony. For many years Mr. Pruden carried on the manufacture of salt at this point, and also at Chauncey, in Dover township, where he owned another furnace. He was associate judge for one term.

trustee of the Ohio university for several years, and represented the county in the state legislature in 1854-5. He also held the office of county surveyor for many years. As a member of the Masonic fraternity he advanced from one degree to another in that body, till he became commander of the Athens Encampment of Knights Templar. He died December 10, 1863.

Neil Courtney was an Englishman by birth, and was, for a time, in the British navy during the revolutionary war. Near the close of the war, while the vessel on which he was serving lay off Long Island, he deserted the service into which he had been impressed, swam half a mile to shore, and assumed allegiance to the new government. He came to Athens county in 1806, and settled one mile north of Athens, on what was afterward known as the "Courtney farm." The following entries appear in the old records of the county commissioners:

^^ April 8, 1809. The petitions of William Dorr and Neil Courtney, praying for an alteration in the road leading from the Horse mill to the mouth of Sunday creek, and from Athens to Coe's mill, read the first time. Petition granted. Jehiel Gregory, Samuel Moore, and Robert Linzee appointed viewers, to meet at Neil Courtney's on Monday, the 12th instant, at 9 o'clock A. M."

he has worked, or expended on the alteration in the road leading from the Horse mill, near Esquire Bingham's, to the mouth of Sunday creek, the sum of five dollars, that then said road shall be established. Proof filed in office of commissioners, February - , i8ii,"

Joseph Goodspeedy born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in June, 1774, came to this county, with his family of five sons and three daughters, in 1 8 1 8, and settled on a farm about two miles west of Athens, where he died February 12, 1857. His two sons, David and Ezra Goodspeed, well known in the county as successful farmers, were born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and came to Athens, with their father, in 181 8. Many of their descendants still live in the county, and are highly respected. Major Arza Goodspeed, son of David, was killed before Vicksburg, while bravely doing his duty as a soldier of the Union, and J. McKinly Goodspeed, son of Ezra, and a graduate of the Ohio university, is at present superintendent of the Athens union schools.

Francis Beardsley^ born at Stratford, Hartford county, Connecticut, December 28, 1792, came to Athens in 1 8 14, where he has lived ever since. Soon after corn- he married Rebecca, daughter of Esquire Henry Bartlett. Of a retiring disposition and unobtrusive manners, Mn Beardsiey has led a quiet and useful life. A model of christian rectitude under all circumstances, he is respected and esteemed by all who know him.

Norman Root^ born in Canaan, Litchfield county, Connecticut, January 22, 1798, removed to Ohio in 1 8 16, and to the town of Athens about the year 1820. In 1824 he married Jane Brice, sister of Thomas Brice, long known as a leading citizen of Athens. In 1827 Mr. Root was elected county auditor, and served till 1839, being re-elected five times. He was also, for many years, recorder of Athens, and held other positions of trust in the community, in all of which he discharged his duty with scrupulous fidelity. He was a man of great modesty and reticence, but of sound judgment and excellent business capacity. He was, for a long time, prominent as a Free Mason, and, for forty years, was a devoted and consistent member of the Methodist church. He died September 21, 1867.

E. Hastings Moore, born in Worcester county, Massachusetts, in 1 8 12, came to Athens county with the family of his father, David Moore, in 18 17. For about ten years the youth lived on a farm in Dover township, and then for several years on a farm in this township, about two miles from Athens, whence he finally removed to the town itself, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Moore had a good common school education (he taught some when a young man), and a taste for practical mathematics. In 1836 he became deputy county surveyor, and in 1838 was elected by the people to that office, then a difficult and laborious one. He held this position till 1846, discharging its duties with uncommon accuracy and entire acceptance to the public. In 1846 he was elected county auditor, which office he held, under re-elections, fourteen years. In 1862 he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the fifteenth Ohio district, and held the office till 1866. In 1868 he was elected to the forty-first con* gress from the fifteenth Ohio district as a republican. He is also president of the First National Bank at Athens.

fVilliam Goldtn^ born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, October 5th, 1799, ^^^ to Athens county in 1814, and settled at first in Athens, but later, in Alexander township, as a farmer. Here he was elected justice of the peace for many successive years. He was county sheriff from 1843 ^^ ^847> ^'^d county treasurer from 1848 to 1854. In 1843 h^ removed to the town of Athens, where he has since resided, and is now post master. Three of his sons are living, viz : John C, a farmer and stock dealer in Meigs county, Elmer, a merchant in Jackson, Ohio, and William R.

fVilliam Reed Golden^ son of the last named, was born in Athens, April nth, 1827, and passed his early years on his father's farm in Alexander. He was educated at the Ohio university, studied law at Athens with Lot L. Smith, and attended lectures at the National Law School at Ballston Spa, New York, where he graduated in 1 85 1. Returning to Athens, he entered on the practice of his profession here in 1852. In 1865 ^^ was elected, as a democrat, to the state senate, and re-elected in October, 1867, to represent the counties of Athens, Hocking, and Fairfield, composing the ninth senatorial district. He has recently removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he is now engaged in the practice of law.

John Welchy born in 1805, ^^ Harrison county, Ohio, came to Athens county about 1828, and settled in Rome township. Here he and his brother Thomas Welch bought the " Beebe mill," at that time owned by their father, and for some years he pursued the milling business. While performing his duties as miller, Mr. Welch studied law with Professor Joseph

Dana of Athens, going some fourteen miles to recite once in a week or two. Having finished his studies and prepared to change his vocation, he removed to Athens, where he was admitted to the bar in 1833 by the supreme court of Ohio, sitting in Athens county. In this field his success was assured from the start. His eminent abilities, indefatigable industry and devotion to his profession soon placed him at the head of the Athens bar, and finally among the ablest lawyers of the state. He was prosecuting attorney of Athens county for several years ; a member of the state senate in 1846-7; a representative in congress in 185 1 - 2; and judge of the common pleas court from 1862 to 1865. February 23d, 1865, he was appointed by the governor, judge of the supreme court of Ohio, in place of Rufus P. Ranney, resigned, and in October, 1865, was elected for Judge Ranney's unexpired term. In October, 1867, he was elected for the fall term, and occupies the position at the present time.

Judge Welch's career, which has been attended with honorable and solid success, is a sufficient eulogy upon his character as a man and citizen, and his ability as a lawyer.

Dr. Eben G. Carpenter was born at Alstead, New Hampshire, in 1808. His father was a physician, and, of eight brothers, five studied medicine. Dr. C. graduated at the Berkshire Medical college at Pittsfield,

Massachusetts, in 1831, practiced in New Hampshire a year or so, came to Ohio in 1833 and settled at Chester, Meigs county (then the county seat). In 1836 he came to Athens, where he has lived ever since, engaging very actively in the practice of his profession. Dr. C. has been notably successful as an operative surgeon.

Dr. William Blackstone was born in Bottetourt county, Virginia, in 1796, and came with his father's family to Ohio in 1802, settling first in Pickaway and afterward in Ross county. He studied medicine at Circleville, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky, and graduated at the Cincinnati Medical college in 1833, having engaged actively in the practice during several years before this. Dr, B. came to Athens in 1838, and has practiced here continuously since. He and Dr. Carpenter have both partially retired from active practice.

Dr. Perkins, Dr. Jewett, Dr. Bierce (who left here about 1840), Dr. Carpenter, and Dr. Blackstone are the only resident physicians who remained for any length of time in the place during the first half of this century. There are now three practicing physicians here, viz : Dr. W. P. Johnson, Dr. C. L. Wilson, and Dr. George Carpenter.

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 23d, 1822. In 1832 his father removed with his family to Athens county, and settled in Alexander township. In 1836, his father having bought the Western Spectator and removed to Athens, Nelson entered the printing office as an apprentice. He worked diligently here for some years, part of the time having sole conduct of the paper, as his father was elected to the state legislature, and was absent for several winters. In 1844 1^^ purchased the paper, which he continued to publish (a portion of the time in connection with his brother A. J. Van Vorhes), till 1861 as the Athens Messenger, During this time he took an a^ctive part in the political contests of the day and in furthering the home and local interests of the county. He served from 1850 to 1853 in the state legislature; in 1853 was whig candidate for secretary of state, but, with the rest of the ticket, failed of election; in 1854 was elected probate judge of the county, but resigned to become a candidate again for the legislature. He was elected, and became speaker of the house, which position he held during two sessions. In 1857 he was re-elected to the legislature. In 1858 he was republican candidate for congress in the nth district, but was not able to overcome the democratic majority. He was a delegate to the Chicago convention in i860, and took an active part in the presidential campaign which followed. At the breaking out of the war in 1861,

Mr. Van Vorhes enlisted as a private in the first company of infantry raised at Athens, and on the election of officers was chosen first lieutenant. In 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 92d Ohio regiment of infantry, which command he retained, serving in Western Virginia, till the summer of 1863, when, his health completely failing, he was forced to resign. Col. Van Vorhes has never fully recovered his health. He has held various local offices during the past few years, and possesses, in as high degree as ever, the confidence and respect of the community.

Charles H. Grosvenor^ born in Pomfret, Connecticut, September 20, 1833, came to Athens county with his father's family when five years old, and lived in Rome during his youth and early manhood. While clerking in the store of Daniel Stewart he obtained books from Lot L. Smith, of Athens, and read law assiduously. He practiced with success in Athens for a few years prior to the breaking out of the rebellion, and entered the service in July, 1861, as major of the i8th Ohio infantry. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel March 16, 1863. March 14, 1865, Maj. Gen. J. B. Steedman recommended Col. Grosvenor to the secretary of war for promotion " for faithful, distinguished and gallant services." The recommendation was thus indorsed by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas: "Respectfully forwarded and earnestly recommended.

Lieut. Col. Grosvenor has served under my command since November, 1862, and has, on all occasions, performed his duties with intelligence and zeal." Gen. Grosvenor was promoted to colonel April 8, 1865, and served till the close of the war. He was breveted brigadier general to date from March 13, 1865, and was mustered out October 28th in that y^ear. He is now practicing law in Athens.

Samuel Knowles^ 3, native of Connecticut, and, during early life, a sea-faring man, came to Athens county in 1808 and settled at Hockingport. In 1812 he married Miss Clarissa Curtis, sister of Judge Walter Curtis of Washington county, and in 1820 removed to the town of Athens where he resided for many years. He was elected marshal of the town in 1825 and 1826. He removed to the west many years since, and is now living in Knoxville, Iowa.

Samuel S. Knowles, son of the last named, was born at Athens, August 25, 1825, received his early education at the village schools, learned the carpenter trade when seventeen years old and followed it for a few years, entered the academy at Athens at the age of twenty-one, and pursued his studies there and in the university about four years, read law with Lot L. Smith, was admitted to the bar in 1851, elected prosecuting attorney of Athens county the same year, and held the office two terms. He practiced law at Athens till 1862, when he removed to Marietta. In October, 1865, he was elected state senator from the 14th district, comprising Washington, Morgan, and Noble counties, serving two years. In April, 1864, he was elected mayor of Marietta, and re-elected in 1866, serving four years. He is now engaged in the practice of law at Marietta.

John Ballard vf2is born in Charlemont, Massachusetts, October ist, 1790, and came to Athens in February, 1839. During the greater part of his residence here he engaged successfully in the mercantile business ; was also for several years president of the Athens branch of the State Bank, and a leading man in the local enterprises of the place. He has now retired from business. Four of his sons are living, viz : Otis, a banker in Circleville, Ohio; Charles, manufacturer of farm implements in Springfield, O. ; James, merchant in Athens, and the Rev. Addison Ballard at Detroit, Michigan.

Thomas F. Wildes was born at Racine, in the dominion of Canada, June i, 183^, came to Ohio with his father's family in 1839, and to Athens in 1861 as the editor of the Athens Messenger. Mr. Wildes was an ardent republican, and in August, 1862, exchanging the pen for the sword, he entered the military service as lieutenant colonel of the 11 6th Ohio infantry. He was in active service with this regiment during the next two and a half years, in the army of West Virginia, part of the time commanding a brigade. In February, 1865, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the i86th Ohio volunteer infantry, and assigned to duty in the Army of the Cumberland. March nth, 1865, ^^ ^^^^^ breveted brigadier general and commanded a brigade in the army last named till he was mustered out in September, 1865. ^^ graduated at the law school in Cincinnati in 1866, and has since practiced his profession at Athens.

Bushy-Run

AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT of the EXPEDITION against the OHIO INDIANS, in the year MDCCLXIV, under the command of HENRT BOU^lUETy Esf.f Colonel of Footy and now Brigadier General in America. Including his Tkansactions with the INDIANS, relative to the DELIVERY of their PRISONERS, and the PRELIMINARIES of PEACE, with an INTRODUCTOEV ACCOUNT of the Preceding CAMPAIGN, and BATTLE of BUSHY-RUN.

To which arc annexed MILITARY PAPERS containing Reflections on the Wae with the Savages; a Method of forming Frontier Settlements ; some account of the INDIAN COUNTRY j with a List of Nations, Fighting Men, Towns, Distances, and different Routes.

With a Preftice by FRANCIS PARKMAN, z\it\ior of '^ Conspiracy of Pontiac^^ etc., and a Translation of Dumas* Biographical Sketch of General BouquET.

One volume, octavo, finely printed on tinted paper, neatly bound in English cloth, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $3.00.

A few large paper copies have been printed on extra heavy tinted paper, bound in cloth, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $5.00.

Prospectus History

fVitb an account of the formation of the Ohio Land Company and their early proceedings ; the settlement of Marietta ; the organization of Washington and Athens counties; reminiscences of pioneers; social^ political^ and personal annals ^

Judge Ephraim Cutler, And Other Pioneers

THE above work is intended to preserve the history of an interesting portion of Ohio during a most interesting period. The county of Athens was part of the famous Ohio Company s purchase, made in 1787, and settled in 1788 - an association which did more toward establishing sound principles and great reforms than any other land association ever formed in this country The settlement of Washington county, of which Athens county formed a part for fifteen years, was in 1788, and was the first in the State. Many of the settiers in Washington county became the pioneers in Athens. The town of Marietta was incorporated more than a year before the city of Cincinnati, and the town of Athens only eight years after, though it had been settled several years before it was incorporated. The university at Athens is the oldest in the State, and in all the States northwest of the Ohio River. The first library formed in the north-western territory was in this county, and an early impress of solidity and intelligence was thus given to the population which has never wholly disappeared.

These matters and many others connected with the early history of the county will be fully set forth. The work will also contain biographical sketches of the originators of the Ohio Company, of some of the early settlers of Washington county and of many of those of Athens - in the latter county of the Brown, Hibbard, Wyatt, Rice, Glazier, Buckingham, Barker, Miller, Cutler, Pilcher, Rowell, Ames, Perkins, Hewitt, Currier, Armstrong, Bingham, and Baker families, and many others in each township, with personal incidents and adventures. Also, accounts of the settlement of Amesville, Athens, Nelsonville, Chauncey,

Coolville, Hebardsville, CanaanviUe, Hockingport, Millfield, Marftifield, Shade, and other towns and settlements. It will present personal sketches and narratives from Hon. Thomas Ewing, Rev. Bishop Ames, and other men of mark either natives or early residents of the county, together with histories of political contests, and other matters of interest.

In fine, it will be a faithful history of the county from a period prior to its organization, disclosing many matters long since forgotten or never made public, and giving grateful credit to the good men and true who have lived and died there. It will be interesting to every person who has ever lived in the county; to the descendants or relatives of such in this or other states, and to all who are interested in the early beginnings of civil society in Ohio.

CHAPTER I. - Indian occupation of Ohio - Ohio two hundred years ago - Indian wars - The Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawnees - " Dunmore's war " - Building of Fort Gower, in Troy township, 1774 - Earl Dunmore's march across Athens county - Parley with the Indians - His return - Meeting of officers held at mouth of Hockhocking in 1774, and resolutions passed - Relics of that campaign - Origin and meaning of the word Hockhocking - "The last of the Red Men."

CHAPTER n. - Formation of the Ohio Company. Close of the War of Independence - Revolutionary patriots - Their occupation gone - ^They look to the western country - Sketch of Gen. Rufus Putnam - His early life, revolutionary services, and intimacy with Washington - Sketch of Gen. Benjamin Tupper - Meeting of Tupper and Putnam in 1786 - A night's conference and the result - Formation of the Ohio Company - First meeting in Boston - Articles of association - Dr. Manasseh Cutler - His visit to the Federal Congress in New York - Negotiates for purchase of lands - Shrewd diplomacy - Protracted negotiation and final success - Interesting extracts from Dr. Cutler's private journal - Description of the tract purchased - Was it well or ill selected ? - Reasons for the location - Vast mineral wealth.

CHAPTER III. - 1787 TO 1795. - The Ohio Company prepare for emigration - Division of the lands - Gen. Rufus Putnam elected Superintendent - Appointment of surveyors and boat builders - Employment of a teacher and preacher - First ordained minister in the North- Western territory - The emigrants set out - Cross the mountains in sledges - Boat building - Commencement of the river journey - Voyage down the Ohio - Arrival at mouth of Muskingum - Names of the pioneers - Situation of the settlers - Indian perils - Wild game, buffalo, deer, etc - Founding of Adelphia in 1788 - Name changed to Marietta - Action of Congress - Officers and civil government of the territory - First governor's inaugural address delivered in Ohio - Response of the people - Ordinance of 1787 - Washington county organized - Its boundaries - The courts and judges - Noble character of the pioneers - Increase of emigration - Indian war - Fearful scenes - Harmar's defeat - Massacre at Big Bottom - Block houses at Marietta - Panic at Waterford and Belpre - St. Clair's defeat - Wayne's victory - Treaty of Greenville in 1794 - Close of the Indian war.

CHAPTER IV. - 1797 TO 1805. - Peace - Increase of emigration - Selection of the two college townships in 1795 - Settlement of Athens in 1797 - Names of the first settlers - They go up the Hockhocking in canoes - Appearance of the country at that time - Description of a log cabin - Judge Ephraim Cutler and Alvan Bingham - Enforcement of the laws - Lawless characters - Scarcity of salt, and how the pioneers obtained it - Town of Athens laid off^ in 1799 - Confirmed in 1800 by act of Legislature - First houses in Athens - First store - Description of the town by a traveler in 1803 - Wild game - Bounty on wolf scalps - Political events from 1798 to 1805.

CHAPTER V. - Organization of Athens county in 1805 - Its boundaries - Subsequent alterations and reduction to present limits - Election of county commissioners - rTheir first meeting in 1805 - Extracts from the records - County ^commissioners from 1805 to present time - County sheriffs, recorders, auditors, treasurers, and prosecuting attorneys, from 1805 to present time - Courts - rVote of Athens county from 1836 to 1867 - Population by townships from 1820 to i860 - Agricultural products of the county in i860 - Same for 1866-^Post-offices - The mail service prior to 1794 - First post roads in Ohio- Names of post-offices in Athens county, with date of establishment and list of postmasters - Agricultural society - Formation in 1828 - Its first officers - Present officers - First fair in Southern Ohio - Agriculture a noble and healthful pursuit - Topography and minerals of the county - Coal, iron, and salt - Boundless wealth.

CHAPTER VI. - An account of the Ohio University, containing the original act of incorporation, passed January 9, 1802, with original letter of Dr. Manasseh Cutler concerning it written in 1800 - The subsequent act of 1804 under which the University was organized - With numerous later acts, and a history of the organization and growth of the University, and a complete list of the trustees and faculties from 1804 to the present time.

CHAPTER VII. - Town and Township of Athens. Survey of the township in 1795 - Rev. Mr. Quinn's visit to Athens in 1800 - First mill-dam and mill - Gregory's mill - Bingham's and Miles* mills - Ferry boats - Bridges - Incorporation of Athens in 181 1 - Population in 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, and i860 - Town councils and officers of Athens from 1825 to present time - Township officers from 1806 to present time - History of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Athens - First newspaper - Interesting extracts - Later newspapers - History of the court-house - Names of the contractors^ builders^ etc. - Names of grand jurors from 1805 to 181 7 - Personal sketches of Dr. Manasseh Cutler, Dr. Eliphas Perkins, Rev. Jacob Lindley, Gen. John Brown, A. G. Brown, John Perkins, Esquire Henry Bartlett, Joseph B. Miles, A. B. Walker, Dr. Leonard Jewett, Judge Calvary Morris, Capt. Isaac Barker, Isaac Barker, Jun., Zadoc and Hull Foster, the Baker ^ family. Col. Charles Shipman, the Pratt, the Pruden, and the Dean families, and many others.

CHAPTER VIII. - Township of Ames. - Settlement of Ames in 1797 by Ephraim Cutler, George Ewing, and Benjamin Brown - Narrow escape of A. G. Brown, of Athens - The Ames and Wyatt families - Complete history of the ** Coon-skin Library," the first formed in Ohio - List of the first purchase of books - Names of the shareholders and officers for many years - Hunting adventure of John McCune -

Same of John Boyles - First school - Later schools - A Baptist preacher takes his yearly pay in whisky - Militia organizations - Anecdote of Gen. John Brown - Land tax in Ames for 1807 - Population in 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, and i860 - ^Township officers from 1802 to present time - ^Justices of the peace - Sterling character of people of Ames - The " Amesville Academy " - Personal and biographical sketches of Ephraim Cutler, George Ewing, Thomas Ewing, the Brown family, the Rices, Deacon Joshua Wyatt, Col. Absalom Boyles, the Glaziers, George Walker, Bishop E. R. Ames, Dr. Ezra Walker, and others.

CHAPTERS IX to XIX contain similar accounts of Alexander, Bern, Canaan, Carthage, Dover, Lee, Lodi, Rome, Troy, Trimble, Waterloo, and York townships, with notices of schools, bridges, mills, etc., lists of township officers and justices of the peace in each township, hunting adventures, personal anecdotes, and biographical sketches of pioneers and ^ prominent citizens in each township.

THE APPENDIX will contain various interesting historical papers relating to the Ohio Company's Purchase, etc., with some hitherto unpublished journals.

The work will be a handsome octavo volume of about 500 pages, well printed, with clear type, on good paper; and will be illustrated with several portraits and a map. ^bree Editions will be issued.

2. For the subscribers to the Ohio Valley Historical Series^ printed on heavy tinted paper, neatly bound in cloth, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $5.00.

tinted paper, with proof impressions of the plates, bound in cloth, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $10.00. Sold by subscription only. '

Source changes here: from History of Athens County, Ohio, by Charles M. Walker, published 1869; 127,729 words in this source stream.

Preface

and of purely local events. Its preparation was undertaken at the instance and request of some of the old citizens of Athens county - a county which, one of the earliest organized in Ohio, contains, perhaps, a greater number of surviving pioneers than any other in the state except Washington. The desire, on the part of these pioneers, to see preserved in a somewhat connected form the annals of the first settlement of the county and of their own labors and struggles in founding society here, is not an unnatural one. "Near is thy forgetfulness of all things," said Marcus Aurelius, in one of his aphorisms, ** and near the forgetfulness of thee by all." With something of this feeling, it is, perhaps, that the old always dwell with such keen pleasure on the events and associations of their early life. Conscious of approaching change and of waning strength, they love period when the eye was bright, the brain active, and the step elastic. There is, also, a feeling among men that the record of a well-spent and useful life, even if humble, deserves to be remembered. They derive a pardonable pleasure from "the thought that posterity will not wholly ignore nor forget them.

It is in recognition of this feeling that these pages have been written. To preserve some account of the lives and labors of the early settlers, who bore so honorable a part in converting a wilderness into a great commonwealth, and to rescue from total oblivion some matters that seem worthy of being narrated, is the modest object of this sketch concerning the history of Athens county.

In endeavoring to accomplish faithfully what was undertaken, it has been found that the work, notwithstanding its narrow scope, involved considerable labor and difficulties. Much of the information touching the first settlement of the county has passed out of reach and is lost forever. Nearly three-quarters of a century have elapsed since the first band of pioneers came into Athens and Ames townships, and that generation has disappeared. If this work had been undertaken by some one fifteen or twenty years since, a vastly greater amount of oral and traditional history could have been gained from the then their sons and successors that many of the facts herein have been obtained. It is evident that much of the material so acquired would be more or less vague, confused, and difficult to arrange. The writer has, however, labored diligently to overcome these obstacles, and hopes that he has been mainly successful. He is well aware that there will be found errors both of omission and of commission in the book, but it is impossible, in a work of this sort, to eliminate all such. The writer is very conscious, too, of the literary deficiencies of the book. It has been prepared hurriedly, amid the constant pressure of other duties, and the marks of haste are apparent; could he have had more time, he would have improved and greatly condensed it. Such as it is, however, if it shall afford any gratification to the good people of the county, where he was born and passed the early portion of his life, the writer will feel pleased and well rewarded. Doubtless it will be discovered that some prominent early settlers, or leading men among recent citizens, have not been mentioned at all, while comparatively too great prominence will be thought to have been given to others; but the best has been done that could be, under the circumstances, and it is hoped such inequalities and defects will be overlooked.

impossible to name here the numerous persons to whom he is thus indebted, however agreeable it would be to his own feelings to do so. He is forced, therefore, to adopt the unsatisfactory mode of thus thanking them, one and all, indiscriminately, for limits of the present State of Ohio was an almost unbroken wilderness. The beautiful river that forms its southern boundary had, indeed, been threaded by a few eager explorers; but the white man had not yet established himself upon its banks. So too Lake Erie, on the north, had long before been furrowed by the adventurous craft of civilized men; but on all its borders there was not a hamlet nor a house. Over the whole region, now so thickly populated, brooded the silence of savage life. The rivers were ploughed only by the swift canoe of the Indian, the forests echoed

- To-day, in wealth and population Ohio ranks third among the states of the Union. Large cities, flourishing towns, peaceful hamlets, and smiling farms enliven and beautify the scene. Huge steamers, laden with passengers and with wealth, ply upon the rivers and lakes which, less than three generations ago, were silent and desolate. Railroads traverse the state in all directions; busy manufactories give employment to thousands; institutions of learning and charity abound, and, in all respects, the state ranks as a prosperous and powerful commonwealth.

History does not elsewhere record such an extraordinary case of rapid development, and the political philosopher finds abundant food for thought in tracing, from their first beginning, the causes that have contributed to so great a growth. We propose, in these pages, to chronicle some of the events and to sketch some of the individuals connected with the settlement and development of one small portion of this great state, viz: Athens County.

Before entering, however, upon matters purely local, let us take a general view of the country and its inhabitants prior to its first settlement by the whites, and thus enable ourselves more clearly to appreciate as to the origin of the Indian races that once inhabited the northwestern territory, it is certain that we have no clear knowledge of them farther back than the middle of the seventeenth century. Beyond that, they disappear in the mists of the pre-historic period, and, even long after that, much that is written concerning them rests on vague tradition. Whether they were sprung from some of the oriental tribes, or what their origin and whence their travels, are questions that will probably never be answered; they belong to the class of ethnological mysteries which will, in all times, furnish themes for the ingenious researches of learned men, but which will never be solved. It is not proposed to enter into this broad and interesting topic, but merely to glance at the condition of the country and the character of the aboriginal inhabitants of Ohio before its first settlement by the whites.

In 1650, Ohio was an unbroken forest, occupied principally by a tribe of Indians called the Eres, who had their villages and hunting grounds near the shores of the lake of that name, and whose wanderings were chiefly confined to the present northern portions of the state. The Wyandots (or Hurons) held the peninsula between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, as the regions about the mouths of the Maumee and Sandusky, while a tribe called the Andastes possessed the valleys of the Allegheny and the upper Ohio.

During the latter half of the seventeenth century, frequent and terrible incursions were made among these tribes of the west by the more warlike and powerful Iroquois, from New York. -These Iroquois, so called by the French, were the noted Five Nations, viz: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and they formed the strongest confederation known in Indian history. Tradition relates with what relentless fury and unwearying tenacity the hostile Zroquois warred upon the western tribes until finally the latter were wiped out - either massacred, driven away, or merged into other tribes.

Thus, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Ohio was almost unclaimed and uninhabited by human beings save as it was used as a hunting ground by the Iroquois, or crossed and recrossed by them in their long war expeditions. But they were not able to maintain complete supremacy over so vast a region, and between 1700 and 1750 Ohio again became occupied by different tribes of savages, which, the active warfare of the Iroquois having measurably ceased, took possession of the whole region as weeds take possession of a neglected field. They probably sprung from the surviving members of the tribes that had been overcome and dispersed by the /roguois, and a mere enumeration of them will answer our present purpose. They were,

1. The Wyandots, who were descended, doubtless, from the undestroyed remnant of the once powerful tribe of that name, which, half a century before, had been driven off by the /roquois. Freed from the vindictive pursuit of their ancient enemies, this tribe returned to their old hunting grounds, and by the middle of the eighteenth century their right was undisputed to the northern part of the state.

2. The De/awares, whose principal settlements were on the Muskingum river, where they flourished and became a powerful tribe, asserting a possession over

3. The Shawanese (written also Shawanoese and Shawnees), who are supposed to have come from the distant south - perhaps from the country bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. They occupied the Scioto and Miami country, and for a long distance eastward, including the present county of Athens and adjacent region, though the Wyandots and Delawares were also frequently found in this section on hunting or war expeditions. The Shawanese had four tribes, or subdivisions, two of which were the Pigua and the Chillicothe tribes; hence the names of those towns. Powerful and warlike, they were among the most efficient allies of the French during the seven years war, and during the revolution and the Indian war which followed. Their hostility was terminated by the treaty at Greenville in 1795, by which they ceded nearly the whole of their territory. A portion of them, however, again made war against the United States, having, with Tecumseh, joined the British standard during the war of 1812.

4. The O¢tawas (or as they were called by the early white settlers, the Tawas), who dwelt in the valleys of the Sandusky and Maumee rivers, and who, together with the Wyandots, occupied portions of northern Ohio.

The foregoing enumeration conveys an idea, sufhciently accurate for our purpose, of the Indian tribes that inhabited Ohio during the middle and latter part of the eighteenth century, and up to the time of the first white settlement, under the auspices of the '' Ohio Company." These tribes were roving and active, and in the power to make war by no means contemptible. The long and bloody struggle which they made to keep possession of the country, sufficiently attests their tenacity of purpose and their capacity for concerted action.

There is reason to believe that in some former age, though how remote can only be conjectured, what is now Athens county was a favorite resort of the Indians. Indeed, remarkable traces of their existence are still to be found here. In Athens and Dover townships, on the level plateau called "the Plains," are several of those Indian mounds which, found in various parts of the Mississippi valley, have so long interested American archeologists. A still more interesting Indian relic in the same township, is the remains of an ancient earthwork or fortification.* Considerably more than an acre is included by an embankment which, though it has been ploughed over for a third of a century, is still very marked with its rude bastions, ramparts, and curtains. It is probable that on this spot, some hundreds of years since, a battle was fought between warring tribes of savages for the possession of the inviting plains of Dover and the lower valley of the Hockhocking. Numerous skeletons have been found in these mounds, together with Indian hatchets and other weapons of stone.

Such, then, were the occupants of Ohio in the middle of the eighteenth century, and such, at least, approximately, were the limits of their homes and haunts. During the half century that followed, while the white men were building up a civil society in the East, and events were slowly drifting toward the collision and war which resulted in American independence, the possessory rights of these savages were but little disturbed in Ohio. Here they roamed, and hunted, and made love or war at their pleasure, little conscious of their approaching troubles and doom. It is no part of the purpose of this narrative to treat in detail of the history of this period, of the intrigues and wars of the French and English for the possession of this Western country, and of the fitful and treacherous alliances of the Indians now with one side and now with the other. Our aim is merely to call attention to the character of the Indian tribes that occupied the country by way of showing in some degree the dangers and the obstacles with which the pioneers had to deal; this being cursorily accomplished, we pass to events more nearly

Probably but few of the present inhabitants of Athens county are aware that a fort was established within its limits, and an army marched across its borders, led by an English earl, before the Revolutionary war. The building of Fort Gower at the mouth of the Hockhocking river, in what is now Troy township, and the march of Lord Dunmore's army across the county, thirty years before its erection as a county, forms an interesting passage in our remote history before the earliest settlement by the whites.

of the bitter warfare that had been waged with varying success between the frontier population of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the Delawares, Iroquois, Wyandots, and other tribes of Indians. One of the most noted of the many massacres of that period was that of Logan's family by the whites, and, in retaliation, the swift vengeance of the Mingo chief upon the white settlements on the Monongahela, where, in the language of his celebrated speech, he ''fully glutted his vengeance."

In August, 1774, Lord Dunmore, then royal Governor of Virginia, determined to raise a large force and carry the war into the enemy's country. The. plan of the campaign was simple. Three regiments were to be raised west of the Blue Ridge, to be commanded by General Andrew Lewis, while two other regiments from the interior were to be commanded by Dunmore himself. The forces were to form a junction at the mouth of the Great Kanawha and proceed under the command of Lord Dunmore to attack the Indian towns in Ohio.

The force under Lewis, amounting to eleven hundred men, rendezvoused at Camp Union, now Lewisburg, Greenbriar county, West Virginia, whence they marched early in September, and reached Point Pleasant on the 6th of October. Three days later, Lewis received dispatches from Dunmore informing him that he had changed his plan of operations; that he (Dun- more) would march across the country against the Shawanese towns on the Scioto, situated within the present limits of Pickaway county, and Lewis was ordered to cross the Ohio river at once and join Dunmore before those towns.

This movement was to have been made on the roth of October. On that day, however, before the march had begun, two men of Lewis's command were fired upon while hunting a mile or so from camp. One was killed and the other came rushing into camp with the alarm that Indians were at hand. General Lewis had barely time to make some hasty dispositions when there began one of the most desperate Indian battles recorded in border warfare - the battle of Point Pleasant. The Indians were in great force, infuriated by past wrongs and by the hope of wiping out their enemy by this day's fight, and were led on by their ablest and most daring chiefs. Pre-eminent among the savage leaders were Logan and ''Cornplanter" (or " Cornstalk"), whose voices rang above the din, and whose tremendous feats performed in this day's action have passed into history. The contest lasted all day and was not yet decided. Toward evening General Lewis ordered a body of men to gain the enemy's flank, on seeing which movement about to be successfully executed the Indians drew off andeeffected a safe retreat. The force on both sides in this battle was nearly equal - about 1,100. The whites lost half their officers and

52 men killed. The loss of the Indians, killed and wounded, was estimated at 233.* Soon after the battle Lewis crossed the river and pursued the Indians with great vigor, but did not again come in conflict with them.

Meanwhile, Lord Dunmore, in whose movements we are more interested, had, with about twelve hundred men, crossed the mountains at Potomac Gap, reviewed his force at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), and descended the Ohio river as far as the mouth of the Hockhocking, within the present limits of Athens county. Here he landed, formed a camp, and built a fortification which he called Fort Gower. It was from here that he sent word to General Lewis of the change in his plan of campaign, and he remained here until after the battle of Point Pleasant. Abraham Thomas, formerly of Miami county, Ohio, who was in Dunmore's army, has stated in a letter published many years ago in the Troy Times, that by laying his ear close to the surface of the river on the day of the battle, he could distinctly hear the roar of the musketry more than twenty-five miles distant.

Leaving a sufficient force at Fort Gower to protect the stores and secure it as a base, Lord Dunmore marched up the Hockhocking toward the Indian country. There is a tradition that his little army

He marched across the present limits of the county and up the Hockhocking as far as where Logan now stands; and from there westward to a point seven miles from Circleville, where a grand parley was held with the Indians. It was at this council, by the way, that the famous speech of the Mingo chief was made, beginning "I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat," etc. After the execution of a treaty with the Indians (for we do not propose to detail the movements of General Lewis or the operations of the campaign, except as they had some connection with what is now Athens county), Lord Dunmore returned to Fort Gower by nearly the same route he had pursued in his advance, viz: across the country and down the valley of the Hockhocking to its mouth. It is probable that his army was disbanded at this point, and returned in small parties to their

**In 1831 a steamboat was detained a few hours near the house of Mr. Curtis, on the Ohio, a short distance above the mouth of the Hockhocking, and General Clark, of Missouri, came ashore, He inquired respecting the remains of a fort or encampment at the mouth of the Hockhocking river. He in extent, and that pieces of guns and muskets had been found on that spot; and also that a collection of several hundred bullets had been discovered on the bank of the Hockhocking, about twenty-five miles up the river. General Clark then stated that the ground had been occupied as a camp by Lord Dunmore who came down the Kanawha with three hundred men in the spring of 1775, with the expectation of treating with the Indians here. The chiefs not making their appearance, the march was continued up the river twenty-five or thirty miles, where an express from Virginia overtook the party. That evening a council was held and lasted till very late at night. In the morning the troops were disbanded, and immediately requested to enlist in the British service for a stated period. The contents of the dispatches, received the previous evening, had not transpired when this proposition was made. A major of militia, named McCarty, made an harangue to the men against enlisting, which seems to have been done in an eloquent and effectual manner. He referred to the condition of the public mind in the colonies, and the probability of a revolution which must soon arrive. He represented the suspicious circumstances of the express, which was still a secret to the troops, and that appearances justified the conclusion that they were required to enlist in a service against their own countrymen, their own kindred, their own homes.

"The consequence was that but few of the men re-enlisted, and the majority, choosing the orator as leader, made the best of their way to Wheeling. The news brought out by the courier proved to be an account of the opening combat of the Revolution, at Lexington, Mass., April 20, 1775.

Of this account, Mr. Whittlesey says it was related to him "by Walter Curtis, Esq., of Belpre, Washington county, Ohio, and transmitted by me in substance to the secretary of the Ohio Historical Society. Mr. Curtis received it from General Clark, an eminent citizen of Missouri, a brother of General George Rogers Clark, of Kentucky." Mr. Whittlesey admits that, "though it comes very well authenticated, it seems to contradict other well-known facts." We are decidedly of opinion that General Clark's statement was erroneous in respect of the time, nature, and object of Lord Dunmore's expedition up the Hockhocking, and that he never made but one expedition to that region, which was the one we have already described. In the first place, there is not a scrap nor particle of history extant to show that Dunmore made any western expedition in the "'spring of 1775." Secondly, we know that he was there in the summer and autumn of 1774, that Fort Gower was built at that time, and, probably, the buried bullets, etc., were deposited at the same time. Thirdly, hostilities with the mother country had begun in the spring (April) of 1775; Lord Dunmore was one of the most active and determined royalists in the colonies, and it is not likely that he was spending his time chasing after the Indians when his masters empire in America was crumbling to pieces. Finally, we know that Dunmore

1775, for on that day he issued a proclamation to "the disaffected persons of the Colony," calling on them to return to their allegiance.* "There is evidence that he was there in April of the same year; and in June, 1775, a letter written from Baltimore says: "A gentleman who last night came here from Williamsburg, which he left on Friday last, June gth, brings an account of Lord Dunmore having the day before gone on board a man-of-war at York, with his lady and family, for safety." t These considerations we think, render it quite clear that Lord Dunmore did not make an expedition to the Hockhocking country in the spring of 1775, and doubtless the one made in the summer of 1774 was the only one he ever made to this region.

* At a meeting of the officers under the command of his Excellency, the Right Honorable the Earl of Dunmore, convened at Fort Gower, situated at the junction of the Ohio and Hockhocking rivers, November 5, 1774, for the purpose of considering the grievances of British America, an officer present addressed the meeting in the following words: and ourselves, it only remains that we should give our country the strongest assurance that we are ready, at all times, to the utmost of our power, to maintain and defend her just rights and privileges. We have lived about three months in the woods, without any intelligence from Boston or from the delegates at Philadelphia. It is possible, from the groundless reports of designing men, that our countrymen may be jealous of the use such a body would make of the arms in their hands at this critical juncture. "That we are a respectable body is certain, when it is considered that-we can live weeks without bread or salt; that we can sleep in the open air without any covering but the canopy of heaven, and that our men can march and shoot with any in the known world. Blessed with these talents, let us solemnly engage with one another, and our country in particular, that we will use them to no purpose but the honor and advantage of America in general, and of Virginia in particular. It behooves us then, for the satisfaction of our country, that we should give them our real sentiments, by way of resolves, at this. very alarming crisis.' |

* WHEREUPON the meeting made choice of a committee to draw up and prepare resolves for their consideration, who immediately withdrew ; and after some time spent therein, reported that they had agreed to and prepared the following resolves, which were read, maturely considered, and unanimously adopted by the meeting: -

** Resolved, That we will bear the most faithful allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, whilst his Majesty delights to reign over a brave and free people; that we will, at the expense of life and everything dear and valuable, exert ourselves in support of the honor of his Crown and the dignity of the British Empire. But as the love of liberty, and attachment to the real interests and just rights of America, outweigh every other consideration, we resolve that we will exert every power within us for the defense of American liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen.

* Resolved, That we entertain the greatest respect for his Excellency the Right Honorable Lord Dunmore, who commanded the expedition against the Shawanese ; and who, we are confident, underwent the great fatigue of this singular campaign from no other motive than the true interest of this country.

On his return to Virginia, Lord Dunmore received the congratulations of various towns, and the thanks of the Assembly, on the successful issue of his expedition and his execution of a treaty with the Indians. He at once ardently espoused the cause of the King, was one of his most influential and obstinate adherents in the colonies, and spent the remainder of his brief stay in this country in the vain effort to resist the consummation of American independence. But the doom of the cause which Lord Dunmore thus earnestly espoused was as clearly written in the book of fate as was that of sub-commissioner of the British government, embarked at Pittsburg, with some friendly Indians, intending to visit the Wabash and Illinois country, and conclude a treaty with the Indians. Five days from Pittsburg, he notes in his journal that 'we passed the mouth of Hochocen, or Bottle River." This translation of the word Hochocen or Hockhocking, is also given by Heckewelder and Johnson, and is undoubtedly correct. The Shawanese called the river Weathakagh-qua, which meant, in their dialect, the same as Hockhocking ; and one of the other tribes called it by a name signifying Bow river. All of these names had reference to the winding, crooked course of the stream. The origin of the name Hockhocking - Bottle river - is thus explained by a writer in an old number of the American Pioneer, who says: ** About six or seven miles northwest of Lancaster, there is a fall in the Hockhocking of about twenty feet; above the falls, for a short distance, the stream is very narrow and straight, forming a neck, while at the falls it suddenly widens on each side, and swells into the appearance of the body of a bottle. 'The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly in the shape of a bottle, and from this fact arose the Indian name of Hockhocking."

It is to be regretted that the name of the river is now almost invariably abbreviated to Hocking. True, it takes longer to write or pronounce the real name - Hockhocking ; but the whites have never rendered such distinguished favors or services to the Indian race as to entitle them to mutilate the Indian language by altering or clipping the few words that cling to the geography of the country. Some of these Indian names are not only expressive in their original signification, but are really musical. The following verses, written many years ago, by a former editor of Cincinnati - Mr. William J. Sperry, of in the original **Ohio Company's Purchase." It formed a part of Washington county until the year 1805, so that for a period of sixteen years, or until the date of its severance from Washington and erection into a separate county, their histories were, in some sense, identical. The fortified and well-protected settlement of Marietta, begun in 1788, very. soon pushed its outposts into the interior, and many of those who first located within the limits of Washington, died within the limits of Athens county. The number of instances is still greater in which the second generation of pioneer families is found to have removed from one county to the other. In view of these facts we may with propriety introduce into this narrative some account of the formation of *'*'The Ohio Company" and its founders, and of the first colony planted under its auspices at Marietta in 1788, by which Washington and Athens counties became

The conclusion of the Revolutionary war, as of all earnest and protracted wars, witnessed the sudden throwing-out of employment of a great many men. There were patriotic officers who had risked their lives and sacrificed their property in the contest, and no less patriotic soldiers who, though they had not sacrified so much, found themselves at the end of the war with an abundance of liberty but no property, and their occupation gone. The eastern states abounded with these men. They were men of character, energy, and enterprise, full of patriotism and true democratic ideas, proud of their manhood and of their ability to labor. Nor were they in every case men of merely physical resources; in many instances they had enjoyed the advantages of scholastic training, and had mingled the culture of science with the profession of arms. Others of them, though not educated, in the usual acceptation of the term, had that strong native sense and "mother wit" which avail far more in the world than the knowledge of mere pedants however extensive. Bold, active, and adventurous, they had the fullest confidence in the future of their country, and longed to bear a further part in its history and development. Added, doubtless, to such considerations was a desire to rebuild their shattered fortunes, of the new republic, some portion of the wealth they had sacrificed in fighting for it. The following sketch of one of these retired warriors will revive the memory of a good and pure man, who was for many years very closely identified with the first settlement of Washington and Athens counties.