Athens Township (part 7 of 21)

Thenceforward, for some years, his was the usual history of a Methodist itinerant. He was elected as a delegate from the Indiana conference to the general conference, which met in Baltimore in 1840, and, by that body, was elected corresponding secretary of the missionary society for the south and west. This was before the days of railroads. Traveling was slow and difficult, and the labors of his office were arduous and wide extended. During the four years that he filled it, he traveled some twenty-five thousand miles. In one tour he passed over the entire frontier line, from Lake. Superior to Texas, camping out almost the whole route, and one part of the time so destitute of provisions that, for two days, the only nourishment of himself and fellow travelers, was a little moistened maple sugar.

In 1852 he was elected one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal church, since when his official labors have been most onerous, responsible, and unremitting. Possessed of extraordinary capacity for business, and of great physical endurance, no task appals, and apparently no amount of labor fatigues him. His character and talents are so well known, both in and out of the church, as to render any analysis or description of them unnecessary in this place.

Bishop Ames is esteemed one of the most eloquent preachers in the Methodist church, as he certainly is one of the most popular. A well known minister and editor of the church says :

" As a conference debater he was always effective. We often met in the conference room, but never did we hear him make a speech ten minutes long. He listened to the discussion till he saw the strong points of a case, and these he would present in a few clear, terse sutements, which could not be misunderstoodi and which went far toward conviction. As a public speaker he is impressive and commanding, whether on the platform or in the pulpit. His voice is quite peculiar, and while under his management it is quite effective, yet it should never be imitated. He rises calmly, states his subject clearly, introduces it with some striking remark, which at once rivets the attention, and then by an easy, direct manner, moves along the track of thought chosen for the occasion. His sermons, though never written, are evidently carefully thought out. His style is molded by the old English classics. Many of his sentences are pure aphorisms. On he talks, till he talks up into the highest realm of thought. We think perhaps his most effective preaching was when he was presiding elder, and addressed gathered thousands on western camp grounds. Then we have seen his whole soul aroused, and his full tide of impassioned oratory was almost resistless. We forbear sketching some of those scenes, though they pass before us."

During the greater part of his adult life, Bishop Ames has resided in Indiana, though his official duties have required protracted absences from home, and long journeys to the most distant parts of the country. A few years since he removed to Baltimore, Maryland, which is his present place of residence. Of late years he has frequently visited Athens, where he has relatives living, and where he finds great enjoyment in meeting the friends of his youth, and in recalling early memories. He is very fond of familiar converse, and, in his "hours of ease," talks in the most genial manner, of early reminiscences or of more modern and weighty affairs. During an evening recently passed by the

A Wolf Hunt

'^ In 1822 Pitt Putnam, of Marietta, organized a grand wolf hunt, to be held on the head waters of Big run. I suppose Putnam inherited his aversion to wolves from his Massachusetts ancestor, as men sometimes inherit politics or religion ; at any rate he seemed to think that he had a call to exterminate wolves. The region fixed on for the hunt lay in Washington county, not far from the borders of Ames, and a great many of the male inhabitants of Ames and Bern took part in it. A space about four miles square was surveyed in the heart of the forest, and marked all the way around by blazing the trees. General notice was given some weeks beforehand through the newspaper printed at Marietta, and I remember that a rude diagram of the country and of the line of battle was published. The plan of proceeding was well organized. The hunters were to be stationed at regular distances from each other, all the way around the tract, some supplied with guns and others with horns. Certain men were appointed captains, lieutenants, etc., and gave orders to those nearest them. On the appointed day the hunters assembled from all directions, and were soon placed. I was then only sixteen years old, and was more highly excited over the affair than I am apt to become over any event now-a-days. When all was ready, the men stationed, armed, etc., a horn was blown by the leader, and the signal in a few minutes passed around the whole circuit ; whereupon they all began to march toward a common center, keeping in line. Each man was ordered to make as great a hubbub as possible, those with horns to blow them and the rest to shout and halloo. I was a pretty well grown boy of my age, and was allowed to march with the rest. Fur* nished with a tin horn nearly as long as myself, I blew such blasts as would, I suppose, have shaken down the walls of Jericho, if they had been there, and blew till I had no strength to blow any more. The object of the noise, hooting, blowing horns and beating bushes was to scare up the wolves, and drive them before us, and, of course, when the poor doomed wolves had been thus driven closer and closer to a common center by the contracting lines, the purpose was to slay them ruthlessly, by the hundreds, that is, if they were there. As we drew near the center, where there was a running brook and a cave in the rocks, the excitement increased. Soon wild animals of different sorts were seen darting about. There were deer in considerable numbers, and though in poor condition, as I remember, a great many were killed. In their fright and eagerness to escape, they ran directly at the lines of hunters, and I saw some of them leap clear over the heads of the men. Foxes were numerous too, and a good many were killed, with smaller game of different sorts. But we were after wolves ; and after all our marching and hallooing, and beating of bushes, my recollection is that not a single wolf was captured or killed-^r, if any, only one or two - and the whole affair was a laughable ^ilure, so far as the wolf part was concerned. I think I have never wasted so much breath to so little profit as I did in blowing that tin horn. I walked home a tired boy, and very skeptical as to Pitt Putnam's having any great inspiration as a wolf hunter."

Doctor Ezra Walker^ the first resident physician of Ames township, was born December 9, 1776, at Killingly, Connecticut, in which state he studied his profession, and practiced for some years. Removing from Connecticut he settled in Poultney, Vermont, about the year 1 800, and from thence migrated with his family to Marietta, in the autumn of 18 10. He remained on the Muskingum till the spring of 1811, when he came with his family, consisting of wife and seven children, into Ames township, and immediately resumed the practice of medicine. He pursued a general practice for more than twenty years, and, in a few families who would never excuse him, he continued to practice for almost forty years, or till near the close of his life. When he began to practice medicine in the county, and for many years later, what with bad roads or no roads at all, absence of bridges, sparse and scattered settlements, etc., his long rides, frequently of fifteen or twenty miles, were always attended with difficulties and sometimes with dangers. In one instance he had to cross the country from where the present town of Plymouth, Washington county, is situated, to another settlement at Barrows' mill, in Rome township, which took him till far in the evening, when he found himself followed by wolves. As their numbers increased the animals were emboldened to contract their circle around him, till he was obliged to climb into a tree for safety ; and there he spent the night, keeping a sharp lookout for his horse beneath, and trying to frighten away the wolves, by beating with a club against the body of the tree in which he was perched. When day dawned his hungry enemies gradually drew off, and the doctor proceeded on his journey. When he reached the first cabin, not very hr distant, and situated just below the present site of Big Run station, he found the

Doctor Walker taught school in Ames, for one or two quarters in 181 1 - 12, always holding himself ready, however, to attend the sick. By means of his profession, and by farming some, he gained for himself and family a comfortable subsistence, living to see his children all creditably settled in life. He died January 9, 1852.

His eldest daughter was married to John Brown (now General Brown), in 181 1, and his second daughter to the late James J. Fuller, of Athens, in 181 5. Mrs. Brown died in 1853, and Mrs. Fuller in 1864. His sons, William R. Walker, Archibald B. Walker, Ezra Walker, and Ralph M. Walker, were natives of East Poultney, Vermont, but were reared from boyhood in Athens county. William R., though a man of fine native talent and much refinement of character, was oppressed by self-distrust and timidity. He lived for a short time, during the early portion of his adult life, in Lancaster, Ohio, where he was highly respected for his integrity, business talent, and literary culture. Among those whose friendship he acquired at that time and always retained, was Mr. Hocking H. Hunter, who recently stated to the writer that, he "had never in all his life, seen any person who recited and acted the part of Hamlet so perfectly, in his opinion, as Wm. R. Walker." At that time fine business prospects were opened to him, and for awhile he revolved "enterprises of great pith and moment." But melancholy overcame him. He abandoned active business and the wide fields of usefulness that were opening before him, returned to the paternal farm, and there passed the rest of his life, remote from the society which he was so well calculated to adorn. An amiable christian gentleman, he lived and died respected by the whole community. His death took place in 1855.

Ezra Walker, another son of Dr. Walker, graduated at the Ohio university in 1829, studied law with Judge Summers at Charleston, West Virginia, and settled in that place. He published the Kanawha Republican for several years, and afterward was superintendent of the "James River and Kanawha Improvement" more than twenty years, and until his death in March, 1853. He was widely known and universally respected.

Ralph M. Walker, the youngest brother, graduated at the Western Reserve college. The greater part of his life has been passed as a teacher in Otterbein college, Franklin county, Ohio, and in the Grand River institute in Ashtabula county. He now lives in Missouri.

David Rathburn^ born in Rhode Island in 1766, removed to the state of New York, where he lived several years, and thence, in 1869, ^^ Ames township in Athens county. Here he rented the Cutler farm for one year, and then moved up into the "hill settlement," some five miles further north, where he tended the horse mill owned by Christopher Herrold, for about four years. This was the first mill erected in this part of the country, and was patronized by the settlers for many miles around. In 18 14 he bought a farm on the little creek where Judge Walker lived, and resided there till his death, March 8, 1850. After coming on this farm, Mr. Rathburn got up an excellent hand mill that proved a great convenience to the neighborhood at times. He had great skill in trapping wild animals, and his neighbors, for miles around, would come to him for instruction in preparing bait and setting traps for wolves. He left two sons and four daughters; the sons and one daughter, wife of Judge R. A. Fulton, are still living in the same neighborhood in Ames township.

Capt. Thomas S. Love/lw^s born in Barnstable county, Massachusetts, January 18, 1785. At the age of fifteen he went to sea as cabin boy, and, during his first cruise of three years, was advanced before the mast. Returning home he went to school for one or two terms, learned something of navigation and a little mathematics, then took to the sea again. He was successful in his calling, became master of a ship before he was twenty-one years old, and before he had reached his

^^ In 1 8 1 2) when war began, I loaded my ship with corn in Philadelphia for a Spanish port, depending on the good sailing of my ship for safety. I went through safely, sold my cargo at a good advance, and lay in the harbor five months, waiting for an opportunity to get out, the bay of Biscay being alive with armed vessels. When I thought it was safe to come out I did so, but myself and crew were captured. My ship was ballasted with sand. The English were very anxious to know what had become of the proceeds of my cargo. I told them I had remitted it to London, but they thought that was a Yankee lie, and they probed the sand through and through to find the money, but to no effect. I was then taken before the admiral (I forget his name), and he finally cleared me and gave me a permit to St. Ubes in Portugal, there to load with salt, and I made a good voyage home."

'^ My brother Russell and myself were partners in business, and, as times were so very dull, we decided to emigrate to the west. So we sold our property, rigged what was called a Yankee wagon, and a small wagon and team of five horses, and started for Ohio. We traveled by land to Redstone, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where we separated. My brother took the teams down by land, while I, with a flat-bottomed boat, a queer kind of craft without mast, jib, or sail, took the families and most of the effects by water to Marietta. From there we came onto Athens county, and settled on Sharp's fork of Fed- eral creek, in what was then Ames township. We reached here November 18, 18 14, after a journey of ten weeks. For awhile both families lived in one cabin, not a large one either, belonging to Job Phillips, and we had hard sailing to get along. I was filing to work, but did not know any more about farming than a land-lubber does about working a ship - however, we got along. Wolves were very troublesome; they killed our sheep constantly, and once they killed a yearling steer of mine. Elijah Latimer, who lived near us, was a famous hunter. I sold him thirty acres of land adjoining my farm, and took pay in hunting. He would furnish venison for my family, and also fight off the wolves whenever they invaded my sheep flock. Sugar making was quite an occupation when I came here. When I commenced I tapped trees without regard to kind - smooth-bark hickories, buckeyes, and sugar trees. The first pig I ever owned in Ohio got badly scratched by a bear. The men folks were all away from home, and the bear came into the door yard after some fresh pork, but piggy ran under the house and escaped with a severe cufF or two. My dogs would often tree a bear twenty or thirty rods from the cabin, when I would call Latimer and he would shoot him. They frequently weighed two hundred and fifty and three hundred pounds. Wild turkeys were very plenty. I have often set a square pen made of rails, then scattered a little corn about and into it, and caught eight or ten fine ones at a time. The pen being covered at the top the turkeys could not fly out, and they never thought of ducking their heads to get out by the same passage they came in. We had great difficulty in getting grain ground. We were far from any mill, and I have often ridden on horseback to Lancaster to get a bushel of corn ground. Before coming west I had heard that there was shipbuilding on the Ohio river, and my real object in coming to Ohio was to take out ships. There had been a few built at Marietta before I came out, but I think there was only one built after I came here, and I took that to New Orleans, where I fitted her for sea, then sailed across the gulf to Havana, and

'' Came to anchor before this place (Cincinnati), on last Saturday evening^ the schooner Maria^ Captain Lovell, of and from Marietta, Ohio, bound to Boston, Mass., full cargo of pork, flour and lard. The Maria is 50 tons burthen, has 51 feet straight rabbit, 18 feet beam, and draws six feet of water. She was built, rigged, and loaded at Marietta, and is owned by Messrs. Moses McFarland and Edmund B. Dana - the latter gentleman on board. The Maria sailed hence yesterday at 11 o'clock. The present state of the water is favorable to her descent of the river. May prosperous gales waft her to her port of destination."

^* Singular arrival. A fitic^ schooner arrived at Baltimore last week, in 46 days from Marietta, Ohio, with a cargo of pork. It is w^l observed that ^ the mountains have melted away before the enterprise and indefatigability of our countrymen.' "

Captain Lovell is living on the farm where he first settled in 1814. At that time it was in Ames township, Athens county, then in Homer township, and finally in Marion township, Morgan county. Thus, living in one spot for fifty-four years. Captain Lovell has been a citizen of three different townships and two counties. He is in his eighty-fifth year and is unusually bright for one of his age.

The Lovell brothers married sisters and lived on adjoining farms for many years. Russell was a painter and was killed by the kick of a horse in the town of Athens - year unknown.

Lewis Columbia^ born in France in 1770, came to Ames township is 181 5 and settled on the creek above the Owens settlement, whence, after a few years, he moved on to Walker's branch and settled on the farm now owned by Mahlon Kasler. Here he erected a rude tannery, the first established in this part of the country, which served a good purpose to a limited extent in tanning the skins of wild animals, with which the region then abounded. He died in 1825.

Gulliver Dean^ born in Norton, Bristol county, Massachusetts, August 9, 1772, came to Athens county with his father's family in the year 1815. In 1818 he married Miss Mary Cutler, second daughter of Judge Ephraim Cutler. He settled in Ames township where he still resides, and where his family are well known and highly respected.

BERN was originally included in Ames township, and was not separately organized till 1828. Incorporated with Ames for thirty years, much of its early history will be found in connection with that township.

March 3, 1828, the county commissioners resolved " that the original surveyed township No. 7 in range 12 in Athens county, at present a part of Ames township, be set off, and that a township by the name of Bern be established as above described." The electors were directed to meet at the house of John Henry on the first Monday of April at 9 o'clock a. m. to elect township officers.

The lands of Bern lie exceedingly well for agricultural purposes, and her farmers compare fevorably with any for thrift and enterprise. The township is well watered by the head waters of Federal creek. Sharp's fork of which traverses it from north to south. Its population in 1830 was 223; in 1840 it was 381; in 1850 it was 819 ; in i860 it was 1,022. There are but thirty sections in Bern, the eastern tier of sections having been set off to Washington county in 1807. Coal is known to exist here in great abundance, and salt water has been found of good quality and in workable quantity.

James Dickey was born of Irish parents in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1788, came to the northwestern territory with his father's family in 1798 and settled first in Washington county. When a young man Mr. Dickey was employed as a post rider to carry the mail on horseback, between Marietta and Chillicothe, a distance of about one hundred miles. Between 1806 and 1 8 14 he was variously engaged in the mail service, sometimes as a sub contractor, but always doing the riding of one hand himself At that time the mail service in this section was one of great hardship and frequently of danger, as the numerous streams along the route, all destitute of bridges, were often swollen and had to be crossed at the peril of life. From 18 12 to 1 814, during the war with Great Britain, the great East and West mail was sent over this route, the bag being sometimes nearly filled with government dispatches alone. The riders (three in number), each made one round trip a week from Marietta to Chillicothe and return, regardless of weather and of all obstacles. Mr. Dickey once swam the creek near Amesville in the night, running great risk and getting the mail thoroughly wet. On reaching John Brown's in Ames, one of his regular stopping places, he spent a short time drying the mail bag before the fire and then went on in the darkness.

During the war the contract required the mail to be carried at the rate of five miles an hour, and the government enforced the condition rigorously. Mr. Dickey became noted for his energy and fidelity in fulfilling his mail contracts, and in this, as in all other respects, established a reputation for strict integrity and rare business capacity. At one of his stations on the route he had a rest of about two hours once a week, and this was usually spent by him in hunting. He often killed one and sometimes two deer, or perhaps several wild turkeys, if they were soonest found, and brought them in for the family with whom he boarded, and received credit for the game on his board account ; in this way he paid nearly his whole board and horse keeping at this station.

In 18 15 Mr. Dickey married Betsy, daughter of Samuel Brown, and bought a small farm near Mr. Brown's, eight miles west of Marietta, where he lived till he removed to Bern. He came to Bern in 1821 and settled on Sharp's fork where he opened a large farm, and where he lived about thirty-four years and reared a family of three sons and two daughters. His house in Bern became a favorite and noted stopping place for travelers and there are many who still remember his hospitality and good cheer. Mr. Dickey never sought office or notoriety ; he however served as county commissioner and township trustee at different times. In 1852 or '3, after his wife's death, he disposed of his farm in Bern among his sons, and a few years later went to live with his son Mr. A. S. Dickey, in McConnellsville, where he died June 12, 1862.

He bought a section of land here and opened up the farm where his son Charles Henry now lives. On this farm he lived till his death in February, 1854. Mr. Henry was twice married. By his first wife he had four sons and five daughters, and by his second four sons and six daughters. He live to see eight sons and ten daughters married and comfortably settled, and left behind him at his death eighteen children, fifty-six grandchildren and a number of great grandchildren. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and a leading and influential citizen during the active years of his life. Several of his descendants have intermarried with the family of Abel Glazier and are well known throughout the county.

John Wickhamy son of Joseph Wickham, was born in Vermont, July i, 1784, and came to Athens county with his father's family in 1805, settling first in Rome township. Later he removed to Bern township where he died March 19, 1863. He served as a volunteer in the war of 181 2, and was marching to join Hull's army (his command being yet two days' march distant), when that general surrendered.

Warren W. Wickham, son of John, lives on the farm of his late father at the mouth of Marietta run in Bern township - has been a justice of the peace and township trustee.

William Rardin^ born near Pittsburg, April 29, 1797, came here in 1822 and settled on the state road between Marietta and Athens. For many years the wolves were a great scourge, and the secluded valley of the Marietta run, at the head of which he lived, was about their last retreat. Mr. Rardin has been a farmer all his life and his descendants are well known in the township.

Dyar Selbyy born in New York in 1784, came to Ohio at an early day, and about 1833 settled in Bern township^has been township trustee and justice of the peace. His descendants live in Bern.

Edmund Perry y David Parkins, and John E. Vore, all settled in Bern at an early day, and were among the most respected citizens. Mr. Vore is known as an extensive stock dealer and was county commissioner for several years.

Thornton Swarty born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1793, settled in this township in 1838 on Possum run,- adjoining Owen GifiFord's place. Mr. S. served in the war of 1 812. He now resides with his son.

David and Daniel James and Philip W. Lampson, well known citizens, settled here in 1820. The James family still live in Bern. Mr. Lampson went to Kansas in 1864.

Chapter Xi

IT is difficult to separate the first settlement of Canaan township from that of Athens, of which Canaan was originally a part. It will have been noticed that the pioneer settlements clung pretty closely to the water courses. In the absence of roads or any other means of communication, the navigable streams always decide the movements of emigration. The flockhocking was, from all accounts, a considerably deeper stream and carried much mor^ water seventy-five years ago than now, and was easily navigable for heavily laden barges. It thus became valuable as a means of communcation and supplies, and the regions accessible by it were the first to be settled in the county. Accordingly, many of the first settlers of Athens township located within the present limits of Canaan, whose rich bottom lands proved very attractive. The township w/is organized in 1819. The fir3t election for township officers was held at the house of Edward Pilcher, on the first Monday of April in that year. The name of Canaan was suggested by Judge Walker, of Ames township, one of the county commissioners at this time.

The first election for township trustees was held at the house of Edward Pilcher, April 5, 1819. John C. Carico and Stephen Pilcher were judges, and Joshua Hoskinson and John McGill clerks of the election.

William Jackson settled in what is now Canaan township in 1799. A native of Ireland, he came to this country with his father's family when nine years old, and lived for twelve or fifteen years in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, whence, after his marriage, he removed to the northwestern territory, and settled near the site of the present village of New England in Canaan township. He was a man of fine natural ability, good education, and considerable culture. In 1800 he surveyed the first road through the woods from Marietta to Chillicothe. In January, 1803, ^^ ^^ elected representative from this (then Washington) county to the state legislature, in opposition to Ephraim Cutler, and was an influential member of that body. In the fall of 1 803 he was re-elected, and in the session of 1 803-4, by a well-timed speech, defeated a bill offered by Philemon Beecher, requiring a property qualification for office holders. In 1804 he declined a renomination, in consequence of having received an appointment from the government to survey a large district of country on the Wabash river. In the discharge of this duty he went to Vincennes, Indiana, and died there soon after his arrival. Mr. John Jackson, of New England village, who died in the winter of 1867, was a son of his.

The Barrows brothers, William, George, and Henry, came to what is now Canaan township in 1797, and settled near where N. O. Warren now resides. During the next year they brought out their father, Ebenezer Barrows, and the rest of the family from the east. The old man had been a soldier in the French and revolutionary wars. His descendants are widely scattered through Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. One of his daughters, Mrs. Ebenezer Culver, is living in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, aged ninety years. Two of his grandsons, Voltaire and Massena, own the old Barrows' mill on Federal creek. Perry Barrows has a farm near the mill tract. These are sons of Henry Barrows. Several of the children of George Barrows survive. Parker, now seventy years old, is a respectable farmer of Canaan township. Orange and George, also farmers, live in Rome township, the latter on the old farm. Between seventy-five and eighty of the descendants of Ebenezer Barrows, are known to have served in the Union army during the late rebellion.

^^ The forests were full of game, and we could kill all the wild meat we wanted, but salt was the great need. However, we had to have it, and used to pack it on horses from the salt licks (over forty miles), at the rate of $4.00 a bushel, bitter water included. We raised corn, and we had a little hand mill to grind our hominy and meal for mush. There was a little tub mill on Margaret's creek and one on Duck creek (Washington county), but none on Hockhocking. The number of males within the present limits of the township was six or seven, during the year after I came here."

Martin Mansfield^ born in New Jersey in 1779, settled in Canaan township in 1797, died August 7, i860. His descendants are numerous and highly respected in the county. His brother Peter settled in Canaan on Willow creek about the same time, and was a leading man among the pioneers. Three of his sons, George, William, and Allen, still live in the same neighborhood.

Peter Boyles^ a native of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, settled in what is now Canaan township in 1795. He was probably the first white settler within the present county of Athens. This was the year of the treaty of Greenville, and the close of the Indian war. Athens county was the very frontier at that time, and Mr. Boyles, in settling here, took his life in his hand, for this section was by no means safe in that year from Indian outrages. He lived in Canaan township till 1827, when he removed west, and died in Missouri in 1843. The date of his settlement here is accurately fixed by his son, George Boyles, who is still living in Andrew county, Missouri, and who was born in Canaan township June 5, 1795. He was, beyond doubt, the first white child born in Athens county. He says he was born "on the school section between the graveyard and the river." Mr. Hocking H. Hunter, of Lancaster, Ohio, has frequently been accorded the distinction of having been the first white child born in the Hockhocking valley. He was not born till August 23, 1 801. It hardly admits of a question that George Boyles, a native of Canaan, was the first white child born on the waters of the Hockhocking.

John Boyles^ son of Peter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1791, came to Canaan township with his father's family in 1795, and lived there till his death in 1849. Some of his descendants still reside in the county.

Peter JV. BoyleSy son of John Boyles, was born in Canaan township, December 20, 1820, and has since passed his life in this county. He now owns and lives on the "Daniel Stewart farm" in Rome township - probably the best farm in the county. Saniuel S. Boyles, another son of John, lives in Lodi township. Both he and Peter W. are prosperous and highly respected citizens.

county in 1818. He first settled in Ames, where in 1819 he established a tannery, which was located near where the old brick church stood in after years. He frequently tanned the skins of wild animals, panthers, bears, etc., which were, even as late as that, sometimes used for clothing or household purposes. In 1823 he removed to Canaan township, and settled on Stroud's run, about four miles east of Athens. He and his present wife were married in 1809.

Abel Miller came to Athens county in 1802 from Middletown, Connecticut. In 1803 he purchased land two miles below the town of Athens in what is now Canaan township, and built a log cabin the same year. In a few years he had opened a fine farm, which is still known as among the best in the valley. Mr. Miller was for a long time county surveyor. He surveyed the two college townships at one time, preparatory to a leasing of the lands. He was appointed a trustee of the Ohio university in 1808, and served in that capacity till 1825 when he resigned. He was several times elected a justice of the peace, and served seven years as an associate judge. He died April 23, 1827, at the age of fifty years. Judge Miller was a man of large acquaintance, and deserved popularity through this and adjoining counties. He was a superior judge, a good citizen, and an excellent man.

Captain Parker Carpenter^ a native of Killingly, Connecticut, came to this township in 18 17, and settled on a new farm a little north of the present village of New England. He served in the war of 18 12, before leaving Connecticut. A few years before his death he removed to Athens township and settled on a fine farm about two miles from Athens, where he died November 6, 1852, aged seventy-three years. He was an excellent citizen. Some of his descendants still live in the county, and are highly respected.

Joshua Hoskinson was born in Maryland in 1791, and settled with his father's family in Canaan township in 1 8 10. Deer, bears, and wolves were quite plenty in this region at that time. In his younger days Mr. Hoskinson was fond of hunting, though he says "Peter Mansfield and William Burch were the best; they caught and killed more wolves than any men we had." Mr. Hoskinson volunteered in the war of 181 2, and entered the service under Captain Jehiel Gregory of Athens. He says :

" We went into winter quarters on the head waters of the Scioto, about the time that the British and Indians took possession of the French settlement on the Maumee river. General Tappan called for volunteers from his brigade to go on an expedition against the British on the Maumee, and I volunteered. There were about seven hundred officers and men. We took five days' rations and started, I think, on the 7th of November, 181 2. On the 13th, we came to the rapids of the Maumee.

iThat night our scouts reported that the river was rising. Captain Gregory led the battalion forward, and with great difficulty we waded the river. But we went no further nor met the enemy. The failure of our provisions was, I suppose, the reason of our hasty return. On our march back to camp we were three days without anything to eat except spice-bush and slippery-elm bark. When we were about a day and a half's march from camp, and nearly starved, we were met by pack horses with flour."

William Henry was born in Newport, eight miles above Marietta, October i8, 1804, and came to Athens county with his father's family when sixteen years of age. He married a daughter of Captain Parker Carpenter, and ultimately settled in Canaan township on the farm formerly owned by Colonel William Stewart, on the Hockhocking, about eight miles below Athens. Mr. Henry is an excellent citizen and highly respected.

Chapter Xii

THIS township, originally a part of Troy, was separately or^nized in 1819. The following appears in the records of the county commissioners :

^^ November lothj 18 19 - Resolved^ that all that part of the township of Troy included in township No. 5, in the 12th range and the east half of township No. 4, in the 13th range, be a separate township by the name of Carthage,''

The first justice of the peace in Carthage was Milton Buckingham. Joseph Guthrie and Francis Caldwell were also among the earliest. Among the early township trustees were Stephen Buckingham, Joseph Guthrie, Francis Caldwell, Alexander Caldwell, Moses Elliott, and B. B. Lottridge.

(near the southeast corner of section six), called after himself, and which still retains the name of Guthrie creek. Since that time there have been two or three small grist mills built on a little stream in the northeast corner of the township formerly called Lizzie run but now called Little Jordan. There have also been several saw mills built in the township in later years, but all have fallen into disuse, and at present there is not a mill in the township worth mentioning. There are nine school districts in Carthage, with nine good country school houses and five churches - two Methodist, one Presbyterian, one United Brethren, and one Christian or Campbellite. The Methodists, as usual, were the pioneers, their society having been organized about the year 1812 ; the Christian church was organized about 1835, the United Brethren about 1840, and the Presbyterian in 1850.

The first white settler within the limits of what is now Carthage township was Asahel Cooleyy Sen. He came from near Springfield, Massachusetts, to Belpre in 1797, moved to what is now Athens county in 1799, traversing a dense wilderness between the Muskingum and the Hockhocking, and settled within the present limits of Carthage. With the aid of his grown up sons he had soon cleared a piece of land and prepared a home which was known long afterward for its good cheer and genuine hospitality. Esquire Cooley was a man of well-informed mind, active business habits and gentlemanly manners. He was for many years justice of the peace and county commissioner, and held other offices of trust in the very early history of the county. His oldest son, Simeon Cooley^ built the Coolville mills in 1 815, and, in connection with them, what was then considered a large distillery. He laid out near his mills the now neat and thriving village of Coolville which, with a slight abbreviation, bears his name. The youngest and only surviving son of Esquire Cooley, Heman Cooley, is a respectable farmer living near Coolville in Troy township, and is now seventy-three years of age.

The next year after Asahel Cooley came, his brotherin-law, Mr. Abram Frost, and settled in Carthage with a large family. Many of his descendants have removed to western states. One of his sons, Heman Frost, settled as a farmer in Rome township, where he was highly respected, and, during his long residence there of about forty years, ranked as one of her best citizens. He died June 5, 1868, aged seventy-eight years. His last illness was caused by a severe fall from a scaffold in his barn.

Bemardiis B. Lottridge^ born in New York in 1779, came to Athens county and settled in Carthage township in 1805 ^^ ^ farmer. Like most of the pioneers he had but slender means, and depended chiefly on his energy, industry, and muscle. These soon won him a good farm, and placed his family on a comfortable footing. He held different local offices, and was an excellent citizen. He died in 1849. One of his sons, the late Isaac Lottridge, represented Athens county for one session in the state legislature. Another, Simon H. Lottridge, born in Carthage township in 1 807, lives on the farm that his father owned. He is now a justice of the peace and highly respected. The widow of Bernardus B. Lottridge still lives, aged eighty-seven years. She thinks that there were not more than ten or twelve persons living within the present bounds of Carthage when she and her husband settled here. The forests were full of game and wild animals. She remembers that one evening a large panther walked into their house and stood before the fire. His rifle not being in the house Mr. Lottridge seized the butcher knife and would have attacked the animal instantly but for the entreaties of his wife. She supposes that her screams frightened the panther, for in a few moments he darted out at the door and made off. Her husband frequently killed panthers and bears - the meat of the latter being a favorite article of diet. She remembers that nearly the last, if not the very last.

Ebenezer Buckingham^ Sen.y settled in what is now Carthage township in 1801, near to Esquire Cooley. He was the father of the late Ebenezer Buckingham of Muskingum county, who was at one time esteemed one of the wealthiest men of southern Ohio. Stephen Buckingham, his brother, settled near him and about the same time.

William JefferSy born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1786, settled in Carthage township as a farmer in 1807. He has lived in the township continuously for over sixty years, and is a highly respected citizen. His oldest son, A. P. JefFers, was born in 18 10 in Carthage, where he still lives. He was for several years one of the township trustees. Two of the sons of A. P. JefFers served in the 53d regiment O. V. I.

Alexander Caldwell vfzs born in Ireland in 1791, came to the United States in 1804 and to Carthage township in 1 816, where he settled as a farmer and still lives. He served one term as justice of the peace and several years as township trustee. His descendants are numerous and respectable.

Moses Elliott y born February i, 1784, in the county of Donegal, Ireland, came to the United States ^in 1 819, and settled as a farmer in Carthage township in 1823. He lived on the farm where he first settled, till his death in 1854. He was a justice of the peace for twelve years, and was highly respected as a citizen. His family, two sons and five daughters, are all living.

John Elliott y his oldest son, born in Ireland in 1816, came to Carthage with his father's family in 1823, and lived here till 1859. ^^ ^^ county commissioner several years and much esteemed. In 1859 ^^ removed to southwestern Missouri, where he still resides. During the late war he was driven away from his farm on ac- ' count of his Union sentiments, and was absent several years, but since the return of peace has resumed his residence there.

James Elliott ^ youngest son of Moses, was born in Carthage in 1826, and has lived ever since on the farm where he was born. He has been township clerk for many years, and is held in high esteem by the whole community.

James Baker was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, in the year 1805, ^^^ came to Carthage in 1826, where he has followed the joint vocation of farmer and miller. Six of his sons and one son-in-law were in the Union army during the late war.

Daniel Boyd vf2LS born in Ireland in 1794, emigrated to the United States in 1819, and settled in Carthage township as a farmer in 1838. He was an active member of the Methodist church and an excellent citizen. He died August 20, 1867. His oldest son, Dr. John E. Boyd, died in West Virginia in 1855. His other two sons, Hugh and William F., graduated at the Ohio university in i860 and 1866, respectively, and have engaged successfully in teaching.

Peter Hammond was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1794, and settled in Carthage township as a farmer in 1845. ^^^ oldest son, John Hammond, is now a justice of the peace. Three of his sons served in the Union army.

Nathaniel Martin yfzs born in Massachusetts in 1789, and came to Carthage in 1836, where he has since lived a farmer. He served as township treasurer for twentytwo years consecutively.

Caleb P. Wells was born in New Hampshire in the year 1800. He married the only daughter of Mr. Martin, and moved to Carthage with his father-in-law in 1836, where he has since lived a fiirmer.

Walter Glazier was born in Ames township, in this county, in 1807, ^^^ removed to Carthage in 1837. He has served as justice of the peace five years, township assessor seven years, and township trustee twelve years. Two of his sons and a step-son served in the Union army.

John Lawrence was born in New Hampshire in 1808, and settled as a farmer in Carthage township in 1837, where he has since lived. His oldest son, John W. Lawrence, an excellent man and citizen, served faithfully in the Union army, and was killed in battle near the close of the war.

Edward Lawrence y born in New Hampshire in 18 10, settled in Carthage in 1841. His occupation is farming. He was appointed postmaster at Lottridge, when the office was established, in 1851, and still holds the position.

JVilliam Mills was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1808, removed to Jefferson county, Ohio, in 18 12, and to Carthage township in 1839, where he still lives. By occupation he is a farmer. He served one year as township trustee, and one year as assessor.

Chapter Xiii

THE township of Dover originally formed a part of Ames, and as such was settled as early as 1799. ^^ ^^^ ^^^' however, separately organized as a township till 181 1. On the 4th of April, 181 1, the county commissioners ordered:

** Ordered^ further, That the clerk of the board notify the inhabitants of the township of Dover to meet at the house of Othniel Tuttle in said township, on Saturday, the 20th of April, instant, for the purpose of electing township officers."

Thus Dover, as originally organized (including all that part of Ames lying west of the thirteenth range), comprised the present townships of Ward, Green, and Starr, in Hocking county, and Trimble, York, and Dover, in Athens. The main settlements were on Sunday creek and near the waters of the Hockhocking, and it was many years before the forests of the remote parts of the township were invaded by any but the solitary hunter and trapper, or the hardy frontiersman who could not brook near neighborhood.

Among the early settlers of Dover were Daniel Weethee, Josiah True, Abraham Pugsley, Azel Johnson, Henry O'Neill, Samuel Tannehill, Barney J. Robinson, Cornelius Shoemaker, Nehemiah Davis, James Pickett, Jeremiah Cass, Jonathan Watkins, the Nye family, Reuben J. Davis, the Fullers, Luther Danielson, George Wilson, Benjamin Davis, Uriah Nash, Eliphalet Wheeler, Reuben Hurl but, Samuel Stacey, Thomas A. Smith, Uriah Tippee, Abner Connett, and others mentioned elsewhere.

The township is thoroughly well watered by the Hockhocking river, Sunday creek, and their tributaries. A portion of its surface is rather rough, but the hills are of moderate elevation, and admirably adapted to the growth of wheat and fruits, and to sheep raising; while in other parts of the township are broad and fertile plains. The mineral resources of the township are extensive and valuable. In the southern portion are the salt regions, near the junction of Sunday creek with the Hockhocking, about Chauncey and Salina. There are two extensive deposits of coal - a vein four feet thick mined from the surface, and another six feet thick reached by shafting about a hun-

There are three villages in Dover, viz: Millfield, on Sunday creek, in the northern part of the township, with a population of about two hundred; Salina, a thriving village on the Hockhocking, where the salt works of M. M. Greene & Co. are situated, and Chauncey, on the opposite side of the river from Salina. Chauncey was laid out in 1839. About 1831 Resolved Fuller bored a salt well on the upper portion of his fine farm (including the present site of Chauncey), obtained good salt water, and prepared to manufacture salt on a small scale. In 1833, however, he sold his works and about four hundred acres of land to Calvary Morris and Norman Root, of Athens, who built an enlarged furnace and so extended the business, that in 1837 they sold it to Messrs. Ewing and Vinton for six thousand five hundred dollars. In 1838 Messrs. Ewing and Vinton, together with Elihu Chauncey and Nicholas Biddle, capitalists of Philadelphia, bought Resolved Fuller's farm, on which Chauncey is located, for twelve thousand five hundred dollars, and the next year laid oflF the town. They invested largely in surrounding lands, bored other salt wells, built a brick hotel and several houses, and expected to establish a thriving town. But the place has never prospered greatly, and has at present a population of only one hundred and fifty.

"Weethee college," at Mt. Auburn in the northern part of the township, is one of the best educational establishments in the county. It was founded in 1861 entirely through the efforts of the Rev. J. P. Weethee, who continues to be its controller and liberal patron. Youth of both sexes are taught here, and the institution has begun a career of assured success and usefulness.

The early settlers of Dover were sterling men and not behind any others in the country in their desire for knowledge and progress. Part of the credit of forming the old " Coonskin library " justly belongs to them. Many shares were taken by persons living in those parts which afterward became Dover, and by the men who were in later years the fathers of the township. In January, 18 16, at a meeting of the shareholders of the library it was

^' Resolved^ That one of the directors of the association be hereafter chosen from among the shareholders belonging to the township of Dover, and the said director shall have the care of as many books belonging to the library as the shareholders in Dover are entitled to draw, and shall deliver out, receive in and mark the damages on said books agreeably to the rules and regulations of the society ; and once in six months he shall deliver over to the society all the books in his care, and meet the other

Eventually a division of the library was made, and by an act of the legislature passed December 21, 1830, the " Dover library association " was incorporated, with Daniel Weethee, Alanson Hibbard, Azariah Pratt, Josiah True, John B. Johnson, William Hyde, and John Pugsley as the original incorporators, and Daniel Weethee, Alanson Hibbard, and Azariah Pratt as directors for the first year.

We have not been able to procure the records of the township previous to 1825; they have been lost or destroyed. The following are the township trustees since that time.

Daniel Weethee was born in New Hampshire in 1779. He was a cooper by trade, and saved money enough, during his youth, to buy a tract of land in what is now Dover township. At the age of nineteen he set out for the northwestern territory, made the tedious journey on foot and alone, and reached Marietta about the middle of December, 1798. The next spring he and another young man, Josiah True, came out to Dover, traveling through the woods by the aid of a compass. Arrived here they built a log cabin for their joint occupancy (they were both unmarried), and lived together about three years. Mr. True managed, by hard work and by selling skins, furs, etc., to secure means enough to purchase a piece of land, and bought part of the farm now owned by his son, Austin True, where he lived during the rest of his life. Thus they lived for about three years in this truly pioneer fashion, with no companions but the forest trees, and no neighbors but the wild game of all sorts which abounded near their cabin.

In 1802 Mr. Weethec married Lucy Wilkins, daughter of John Wilkins, one of the early settlers of Athens township, and the next year Mr. True married Almira, a daughter of Solomon Tuttle, then living on the creek a few miles above, in what is now Trimble township.

In 1804 Abraham Pugsley came in with his family, and settled on the section south of Mr. Weethee and Mr. True. Mr. Pugsley, who was a good citizen and excellent man, reared a large and respectable family here. He was drowned during the winter of the "cold plague" in 18 14, while crossing the creek on the ice to visit a sick family. His oldest son, John, died several years since. The youngest son, James, is living, though very old.

One of the daughters of Abraham Pugsley had a singular adventure in early life. She was married, when only thirteen years of age, to a man named Neal. Her husband enlisted in the army in 18 12, and, after he had left home with his company, on a keel boat, from the mouth of the Hockhocking (where they then lived), for Newport, Kentucky, the rendezvous, his wife determined to follow him and share his fortunes, whatever they might be. She started down the river alone in a canoe, and passed the first night in the little craft on the water; but the next day overtook her husband, and proceeded with him to St. Louis. Thence his company was ordered to some point further west. While going up the river the boat was landed for some purpose, when Indians fired from an ambush and killed her husband and the infant in her arms, wounding her at the sanie time. The company, with Mrs. Neal, returned to St. Louis, from whence she rode on a pony all the way back to her father's in Dover township.

In 1800 the Sweat family came to Dover, and settled near the present site of Millfield. In 1802 John Sweat built a rude mill there for grinding corn, which was greatly prized by the settlement. Even persons from Athens made use of this mill till the Gregory mill was built, about four years later.

In 1802 Azel Johnson, with his family, settled in Dover, on the creek and joining the Weethee farm. Many of his descendants are still living in the township. Azel and Benjamin Johnson are sons of his.

The Nye family, consisting of Ebenezer, the father (a native of Tolland, Connecticut, who came to the territory in 1790), and four sons, viz: George, Neal, Nathan, and Theodorus, came out from Marietta in 1 8 14, and settled in Dover about a mile north of Chauncey. The eldest son died in 1825, leaving a widow, Mrs. Lydia Nye, now living at an advanced age with her son, George Nye, on the place first occupied by his father. The other brothers removed to Meigs county, where their descendants are numerous and respectable.

In 1820 the Nyes and some others formed a company to bore a salt well, on the place where Jeremiah Morris now lives, but, after boring to a considerable depth, abandoned the undertaking. Ten or twelve years later it was resumed by John Pugsley, who, after boring a little deeper, struck a vein of good salt water. This was the first successful salt well bored in the Hockhocking valley. About this time (1820) came the Cass, the Chadwell, the Nesmith, and the Pratt families, who have lived in Dover nearly fifty years, and are all excellent people.

Three sons of Daniel Weethee, the pioneer, are now living. Daniel W. Weethee lives on a fine farm in Trimble township; Lorentius Weethee owns and occupies the old homestead in Dover; and Jonathan P. Weethee, who graduated at the Ohio university in 1832, and has been actively engaged during his life in the ministry and in teaching in this and other states, is now the president of Weethee college at Mt. Auburn, in Dover.

Josiah Truey the companion and friend of Daniel Weethee, was born in New Hampshire, October 25, 1776, came to Marietta in 1793, and to Dover township in 1800. He held the office of justice of the peace in Dover, from 18 15 till 1851, and was respected and popular. He died September 16, 1855. Mr. True was one of the founders of the "Coonskin library," of Ames, and always a leader in pioneer improvements. One of the first spinning wheels introduced into Dover was bought by him in 1803. Having accumulated a few bear and deer skins he carried them on his back to Zanesville, forty miles distant, purchased the wheel with the proceeds of the skins, brought it home on his back (walking all the way), and made the round trip of eighty miles in two days.

Most of the early settlers engaged more or less in hunting, depending mainly on the forests for fresh meat. On one occasion Josiah True and Cyrus Tuttle, his brother-in-law, drove a bear into a cave on the farm now owned by Mr. Austin True, in Dover. They succeeded in shooting the animal in a narrow passage of the cave, and, having fastened a hickory withe to his nose, were about to drag it to the open air. Mr. True entered the cave, and got behind the dead bear to assist Tuttle in shoving it out, when another bear, hitherto unobserved, came rushing from the rear end of the cave, directly on and over True's back, crushing him down on his face with great violence, and so made its escape out of the cave.

Mr. True, at a very early day, bought some choice apples at Marietta, and sowed the seed from them, from which he established the first nursery attempted in the county. Most of the old orchards on Sunday and Monday creek!s were planted from this nursery, and some of the trees are still bearing.

Nehemiah Davis^ " Elder Davis," a native of Maine, came to Marietta in November, 1797, lived in Washington county several years, and removed to Dover township in 1808. While living in Washington county

Elder Davis organized a Baptist church, believed to be the first Baptist church in Ohio. He died August 23, 1823. Some of his descendants are living in the county, and a granddaughter married Colonel James H. Goodman, present state auditor of Ohio.

Chapter Xiv

LEE township, originally a part of Alexander, was separately orgainzed in November, 1819. Among the earliest settlers here were Capt. John Martin, a revolutionary soldier, Philip Smith, Henry Cassel, Ziba McVey, Daniel Knowlton, George Canny, John Holdren, William Brown, William Graham, Jacob Lentner, James McGonnegal, Francis Thomas, Samuel Luckey, Hiram Howlett, and John Doughty.

The population of the township in 1820 was 342; in 1830 it was 418; in 1840 it was 848; in 1850 it was 961; in i86cx it was 1,301. The inhabitants of Lee are principally engaged in agriculture, and her farmers rank among the best. Latterly they have given especial attention to the growing of fine stock.

The center of population in the township is Albany, a neat village and handsomely located. No community in the county has attended more earnestly to the cause of education than the citizens of Albany, and they have several excellent local schools. The "Atwood institute," originally founded, and for a few years conducted, as a "manual labor school," is now controlled by the Free-will Baptists, and, under the management of the Rev. Mr. Chase, is proving a successful and useful school. It has at present three teachers - two male and one female - and about eighty scholars. All the branches usually taught in academies of this class are taught here. The colored people have a good school in Albany, conducted by capable teachers, and attended by young colored persons of both sexes from distant parts of the state. They have a handsome school building, conspicuously located, which has been built mainly by the contributions of colored people, and the good management and complete success, thus far, of their enterprise, are highly creditable. The "district school," divided into an upper and lower department - the former superintended by Mr. J. C. Woodyard, and the latter by Miss Mary L. Kerr - is also a well-managed and useful school. And, finally, there is a good public school for colored children.

Albany also possesses an excellent public library, called the "Wells library." It was founded by Mr. Henry Wells, who, dying in i860, bequeathed one thousand dollars for that purpose as a perpetual fund, the interest to be expended in books, and the further sum of two hundred and fifty dollars for an immediate purchase. The money was securely invested in 1861, by Mr. E. H. Moore, of Athens, whom Mr. Wells made his trustee for this purpose, and about seven hundred dollars worth of books have already been purchased by Mr. Leonard Brown, the purchasing committee. For some time the library was kept in a room gratuitously furnished by the Free Masons of Albany, but in March, 1868, Mrs. Mary Weethee, mother of the founder of the library, bequeathed a frame building to be used as a library room, provided the town should keep it in repair and pay the taxes. The library, consisting now of about four hundred volumes, is a settled and very creditable institution. By the rules of the library any family, living within the corporation, may, for one dollar a year, draw out two volumes at a time for not more than four weeks, and the library is open two hours every Thursday for members. An interesting instance is thus afforded, of the great and perpetual good that may be accomplished by a very small sum well directed. Possibly the excellent example will incite others to similar action, and so its usefulness be indefinitely multiplied. Mr. Wells was a grandson of Hiram Howlett, one of the early settlers of Lee.

The village of Albany is located on sections two and three, and was laid out into lots by William Graham, in 1832 or 1833. The first house in the village was built by Lucius R. Beckley, on the ground now owned by Atkins & Stanly, and known as the old Brown store. In 1840 John Brown purchased this property and commenced selling goods here. Albany has a population of about six hundred, with the usual complement of business men and mechanics. The Free Masons and Sons of Temperance have each a hall in the village. No liquor is sold within the corporation.

The town was incorporated in 1844. At the first election for town officers John V. Brown was chosen mayor, and J. M. Gorsline recorder. For z. number of years afterward there was no election, but since 1855 they have been held regularly.

1857. - Mayor, A. Palmer ; Recorder, J. E. Rutledge ; Treasurer, John Vorhes ; Councilmen, H. L. Graham, David Sampson, John Dewing, Wm. C. Lindley, and John Slaughter.

1862. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline ; Recorder, A. Palmer ; Treasurer, A. D. Jaynes ; Councilmen, John Brown, John Dewing, Almus Lindley, John Vorhes, and Leonard Brown.

1863. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline-, Recorder, A. Palmer ; Treasurer, A. D. Jaynes ; Councilmen, John Vorhes, John Q. Mitchell, John Dewing, W. W. Kurtz, and T. D. Garvin.

1864. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline ; Recorder, Ira Graham ; Treasurer, T. D. McGrath ; Councilmen, Leonard Brown, John Vorhes, T. D. Garvin, John Dewing, and A. D. Jaynes.

1865. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline ; Recorder, Ira Graham ; Treasurer, T. D. McGrath ; Councilmen, Leonard Brown, John Vorhes, A. Palmer, John Dewing, and A. D. Jaynes.

1866. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline; Recorder, Daniel N. Brown ; Treasurer, John Brown ; Councilmen, John Dewjng, A. Vorhes, Wm.C. Lindley, Isaac Stanly, Jun., and A. Palmer.

1868. - Mayor, James M. Gorsline ; Recorder, Albert Lawson ; Treasurer, James D. Brown ; Councilmen, Wm. C. Lindley, James McClure, Leonard Brown, A. Vorhes, and W. W. Blake.

John Holdren^ now living in Lee township, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1777, and came to Athens county in 1798 accompanied by another young man named John Konker. Soon after reaching Athens they took up land in the south part of Alexander township and made a temporary settlement on the waters of Margaret's creek. Their neighbors, at intervals of several miles, were the Hanings, the Brooks family, Joseph Long, Esquire Merritt, and Henry

Cassel. Mr. Cassel built a grist mill soon afterward in Lee township on the place now owned by William Minear. Mr. Holdren was engaged during six or seven years working at the Scioto salt works at the. site of the present town of Jackson, and " could then cut his six cords of wood in a day and help load it." He went out there the second year after salt was discovered by the whites. Previous to this the Indians had produced scanty supplies of salt by drilling holes into the rocks fifteen or eighteen inches deep, when the cavity would gradually fill up with the brinish water which, evaporated by the heat of the sun, would produce salt. The whites bored wells to some depth, built furnaces, and for many years furnished salt for the surrounding settlements to the distance of seventy-five or eighty miles. Mr. Holdren settled permanently in Lee township in 1820. His nearest neigh*bors were James McGonnegal, Israel Bobo, and George Canney, and soon afterward came David Doughty, James Luckey, Thomas Jones, John Havner, John and Ephraim Martin, Daniel Knowlton, Jacob Lentner, and the Robinetts. When a young man Mr. Holdren was a successful hunter. He and John Jones (a brother-inlaw of Judge Isaac Barker), killed forty-six bears in six weeks' hunting on the headwaters of Sunday, Monday, and Rush creeks. They sometimes killed in a fall season forty to fifty deer for their winter's stock of provisions and turkeys beyond count. Mr. Holdren once killed four deer in one day, and he and two of his boys in a hunt of two weeks killed thirty. On one hunting expedition, having shot and wounded a large black bear, his dog ran in to seize the animal, but bruin, though hurt, was full of life, and was making quick work of the dog when Holdren rushed in, knife in hand, to finish him. The bear released the dog and sprang on the man, at the first dash tearing his large blanket entirely from his body ; Holdren plunged his knife hilt deep into the animal and then turned to run. He made his escape, but says it was the narrowest he ever had. The bear got away. At that time the skins of bears brought from three to five dollars each, and good hunters often made it profitable. Mr. Holdren served in the war of 18 12. Among those who entered the army at that time he remembers Barnet Brice, John Wood, Reuben Reeves, David Vaughn, Ira Foster, Joel Stroud, Jehiel Gregory, Nehemiah Gregory, and William McNichol. Mr. Holdren is the oldest person in the county, being now ninety-one years old. He and his aged wife live with a married daughter on a comfortable farm about two miles from Albany, and the old man, aided by a staflF in each hand, sometimes walks to the village.

Chapter Xv

THIS township was originally a part of Alexander. The eastern half of Lodi was included in Carthage when that township was organized in 1819, and was not detached till 1826. Lodi was separately organized in April of that year, and, according tp the records, only fourteen votes were cast at the first township election held in the spring of 1827. The population of the township in 1830 was 276; in 1840 it was 754; in 1850 it was 1,336; in i860 it was 1,598. Joseph Thompson was one of the earliest settlors in Lodi. He lived on the farm now owned by Cyrus Blazer, and built the first flouring mill about 1815. Some of his descendants still reside here. Before he built his mill (which has long since disappeared), the inhabitants of this region used to get their milling done at Coolville, more than fifteen miles off. The second mill was built in 1825 by Ezra Miller ; it was very small and has also disappeared. At present there is an excellent steam flouring mill in the township of ample capacity. The first religious society formed in Lodi was by the Methodists in 1820 under the supervision of the Rev. Goddard Curtis. They worshiped for many years in a small school house on Shade river. At present the Methodists have a flourishing society that worships in " Morse chapel," an excellent frame church building, and another large class meet in what is called " Cramer's " or Wesley Chapel. The Cumberland Presbyterians organized a society here about 1 843 and built a good frame church, but it was destroyed by fire soon afterward. About 1840 the Christians (or Campbellites) formed a society and built a church which, soon after its completion, was demolished by a large forest tree falling on it. They have recently erected a good frame building in the township. There is a very creditable school at Pleasant Valley (Shade post office), in the township, called the " Pleasant Valley seminary." The building, a two-story frame forty by thirty feet, with a cupola and bell, was erected in 1867 by the voluntary contributions of the citizens. It cost $2,000 - Mr. Joseph Cremer's donation of $500 was the largest individual subscription. The school opened in December, 1867, under the superintendence of Mr. Daniel D. Clark, a graduate of the Ohio university, who is still the teacher. The trustees are Dr. E. M. Bean, Cyrus Blazer, Asbury Cremer, John Buck, William Angell, John Burson, and W. S. Williams. The school promises to be one of permanent usefulness.

Narrative Of Joseph Bobo, Of Lodi

My father, Henry Bobo, was born and reared in Prince William county, Virginia, and my mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Black, in Loudoun county, in the same state. They came to Athens county in 1798, and settled on Margaret's creek, two miles from Athens. I was born here October 24, 1802. In 1 8 10 my father removed to what is now Lodi township. I was eight years old, and can remember a little about the removal. Lodi was all wilderness then. I think there was but one man living in the (present) township when we moved in, and that was Joseph Thompson. He lived on the form now owned by Cyrus Blazer. After I was thirteen years old I used to go to mill at Coolville, about fifteen miles distant, and there was but one house on the road, called the "brick house," about eight miles west of Coolville. I once went to mill more than seventy miles, thus : from Athens to the mouth of Hockhocking (by water), forty miles; then up, the Ohio to Marietta, thirty miles; then up the Muskingum to the horse mill, two miles, making altogether about seventy-two miles. Sometimes three or four men would form a party, go down the Hockhocking, and up the Ohio to Belpre, in a canoe. There they would get their grain and go on to the horse mill above Marietta, where they had to give one-fourth for grinding, then home again with the canoe. When they reached Athens (which was called "the point" when I was a little boy), each man would shoulder his sack and pack it home. My father and a few others had hand mills, with

So far as meat was concerned we had plenty by killing it in the woods. Deer, bears, and turkeys were very plenty, and I have seen a good many elk when I was a boy, and some buffaloes. My father was considerable of a hunter, and killed a great many deer and bears. I remember an adventure he had with a bear when I was about fifteen years old. In the forepart of winter the fat bears would go into a hollow tree or cave, and stay there till spring. They were always fat when they came out in the spring. Frequently, they went into pretty rough caves or holes in the rocks. Father would go in, with a pine torch in one hand and his gun in the other, and crawl as close as he could, and then shoot. The time I am speaking of, he and George Shidler found a hole in the rocks they had never been in before, so father lighted his torch and started in to explore as usual. He had gone about twenty-iive feet, looking all the time to see if there was any thing, when suddenly the bear struck the torch with his paw, and put out the light. Father got out of that as quickly as possible, and told Shidler what had happened, and that the bear was lying in a very difficult place to shoot, for it was around the corner of a rock which he could not pass, and the hole was very small. But father determined to go in again, and told George to stand at the mouth of the hole, and, if the bear came out, to shoot it. He lighted his torch again, and got as near the bear as he could, and fired, but only wounded him. The bear started for the mouth of the hole, right toward &ther, who just had time to lie down flat on his belly, when the bear rushed over him, tearing his clothes pretty badly, and leaving marks of claws on his back that he carried to his grave. Shidler was ready at the mouth of the hole, and, when the bear came out, gave him an ounce of lead that settled him. They dressed the bear and it weighed three hundred and ninety pounds. My father killed as many as seven deer in one day, and that often. He also killed elk and a few buffaloes after we came here, but the buflaloes left very soon. -

I think the last one seen in this region, was in Bedford township, Meigs county, in 1815, where it was wounded. When I was a young man I have stood in one spot, behind a large tree, in Lodi township, and killed three deer as fast as I could load and shoot. My brother, Thomas Bobo, killed twelve deer the year he was twelve years old.

Chapter Xvi

ROME was formed from a portion of the township of Troy in 181 1. The first entry on the subject, in the records of the county commissioners, is as follows:

^^ Thursday y April 4, 181 1. - Ordered by the commissioners, That so much of the township of Troy as is contained in the original surveyed townships, numbered 5 and 6, in the nth range, and 6 in the 12th range, be erected into a new township by the name of Rome. .......

" Ordered by the commissioners. That their clerk notify the inhabitants of the township of Rome to meet at the house of Amos Crippen, in said township, on Saturday the 20th instant, for the purpose of electing township officers."

*' Ordered^ That the boundaries of the township of Rome be as follows, to wit : beginning at the southwest corner of township No. 6 in the 12th range, thence east on the township line until it intersects the river Hockhocking, thence up said river until it intersects the range line between the nth and 12th ranges, thence on said range line (being the line between the counties of Athens and Washington) to the south boundary of Ames township, thence west on said township line to the township of Athens, thence south to the place of beginning, and that the remainder of the township of Rome be and is hereby attached to the township of Troy. [This refers to the previous order of April 4th.]

" Ordered by the commissioners, That their clerk notify, by advertisement, the inhabitants of the township of Rome to meet at the house of Daniel Stewart, on Saturday, the 15th instant^ for the purpose of electing township officers."

The only change that has since been made in these boundaries, was by an act of the legislature, passed February 10, 18 14, which detached sections 31 and 32, township 6, range 11, from Washington county, and added them to Rome, thus taking in the strip east of the Hockhocking, and causing the oflFset at the southeast corner of the township.

The Methodist church was planted in this township at a very early day. Daniel and Archelaus Stewart were the first to move in the matter of forming a society here. They settled here in 1802. About two years later Daniel Stewart rode twenty miles to meet the Rev. Jacob Young, who was then on the Marietta circuit, and engaged him to visit Rome township. Mr. Young came according to promise. In his autobiography, published a few years since, in narrating the events of 1855, Mr. Young speaks of Daniel Stewart:

'^ Under whose hospitable roof I have spent many a happy night, and from whose hand I had received many a dollar, when I stood in great need of money. I first lodged with this good man in 1804, preached and organized a church in his house. He was then in the vigor of manhood, and was one of most active and enterprising men in Ohio."

William Pilcher, Job Ruter, Eliphalet Case, Elijah Rowell, and their wives, were among the earliest members of the society thus formed by "Father Young." The Methodists now have three neat and substantial church buildings in the township, where services are held regularly. One of the first ministers who preached in the township, was the Rev. Cyrus Paulk, jr., who preached in 1803, and, thereafter, regularly for many years. He was a "Calvinist Baptist." There is one Baptist and one United Brethren church in Rome.

The first school house in the township, a log structure sixteen feet square, was built in 1804, on the east bank of Federal creek, about two hundred yards below the bridge and near the mouth of the creek. Abraham Richards was the first teacher, and Mrs. Polly Dri^s, a daughter of Ebenezer Barrows, was the next. The school was supported by subscription, and was the center of a school district about five miles in diameter.

The "Miller seminary," owned and managed by the Rev. Amos Miller, is pleasantly located on his farm, about one mile east of Savannah, near the Hockhocking river, and three miles from the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad. When first established, in 1841, Prof. Miller used a large room in his dwelling house as a school room. As the school increased a separate building on his farm was made use of, and, in 1859, Prof. Miller erected a handsome and convenient two-story building, in which the school has since been kept. Neat cottages have been built close at hand, for the use of pupils who desire to board themselves.

The seminary will accommodate one hundred pupils. Some hundreds of youths of both sexes have been taught here, and the institution is a credit to the founder and to the county. Professor Miller has taught in Athens county at intervals, and most of the time for the last forty-two years.

At Savannah is located the " Savannah academy." This school, the management and success of which have been highly creditable to all concerned, was founded in the spring of 1867 through the efforts of some public spirited citizens of the township. Frederic Finsterwald, Peter Boyles, Vincent Caldwell, Harvey Pierce, and John Caldwell were elected the first board of trustees of the academy and have been its steady patrons and supporters. They employed Mr. George W. Boyce as principal teacher, and the school has been well patronized from the beginning. More than one hundred and forty scholars, in the aggregate, attended during the first year. The active interest in education thus manifested, and the liberal support accorded to this enterprise by the leading citizens of the neighborhood, are worthy of the highest commendation.

There is also a good school at Big Run, founded in 1866 through the voluntary contributions of the citizens. A neat and convenient school building has been erected, and the school is useful and prosperous. It is under the management at present of Miss Elizabeth Monahan.

In 1808 the first bridge in the township was built over Federal creek, near its mouth, by Elijah Hatch, and in 181 8 a second one was built at the same place. Both were clumsy structures, and neither of them very permanent. In 1842 a greatly superior bridge was erected by Peter Beebe, Isaac Jackson being the architect; it was at first a toll bridge but is now free. About the year 1851 or 1852, a bridge was built over Federal creek near the mouth of Big Run but was soon swept away ; another has since been erected on the same site. The bridge at Savannah was built about ten years ago, the funds being supplied partly by the county and partly by subscription. Another has been built over the Hockhocking about two

The first grist and saw mill' in the township was built in 1802 by George, Henry, and James Barrows on Federal creek, about a mile from its mouth. The mill was a log building with only one run of stones, which were made of the " Laurel hill granite " and run by a large undershot wheel. This enterprise was hailed with delight by some half dozen infant settlements, some of them distant fifteen or twenty miles. Before this the nearest mill, where wheat could be ground, was Devol's, on the Muskingum, at least forty miles distant. Many families, however, possessed that great desideratum of pioneer life, the primitive hand mill and the "hominy block." There were also a few horse mills in the county, but they were only used for grinding or, as it was called, "cracking" corn. In 1 81 8 Reuben Farnsworth built the first mill on the Hockhocking river, within the township limits. This was one of the most solid and substantial mill structures ever erected in the county. Farnsworth failed, and the mill passed into the hands of Peter Beebe, who afterward sold it to Thomas Welch. It was sold by Mr. Welch to Cook, Crippen & Co., who are the present owners.

In 1820 the Savannah mill (grist and saw mill) was built by Ezra Stewart and his brother Charles, sons of Esquire Daniel Stewart. It has three run of stones and does a great amount of custom work. It is situated on the Hockhocking river, in the village of Savannah, about three miles from the west line of Rome township. About 1 834 Alexander Stewart and George Warren built the Stewart mill (a saw mill), near Savannah ; but it was soon destroyed by fire, and a large three-story grist and saw mill was erected on the site by Daniel B. Stewart. In 1844 Mr. Stewart connected a woolen factory with the establishment, which is now owned by Captain Charles Byron, late of the 3d regiment O. V. I. It runs four hundred and seventy spindles, has four looms, four carding machines, two spinning jacks, and a full set of fulling and dressing machinery. During the season of 1867 the mill manufactured eight thousand pounds of rolls, ten thousand pounds of yarn, and six thousand pounds of wool into cloth. The grist and saw mill are still in active operation. Two miles above Savannah are the Kincade mills built in 1842 by John and Allen Kincade, and now being rebuilt by John Kincade on an enlarged plan and in a more substantial manner. About 1854 Heman Frost - son of Abram Frost, one of the pioneers of Carthage township - built a grist and saw mill three miles below Cook & Crippen's mill; it was subsequently replaced by a saw mill, which was swept off by a high "freshet" in the spring of 1867.

John Thompson, Robert Calvert, and Jonathan Simmons, from Virginia, and Richard, George, and James Simmons from Pennsylvania. They were all good citizens. In 18 10 or 181 1 Christopher Herrold, one of the pioneers of Ames township, settled in Rome. He was a Pennsylvania German and a man of enterprise and thrift. He afterward removed to Dover. ' A singular evidence of the enterprising spirit of the early settlers is afforded by the fact that in 181 1 a seagoing vessel was built in Rome township, a mile below the mouth of Federal creek on the south bank of the Hockhocking. She was launched and taken to New Orleans in the spring of 18 12. The vessel was built by Captain Caleb Barstow, from Providence, Rhode Island, arid was called The Enterprise.

Elections, musters, and house, raisings were in early times events of special interest. Plenty of good cheer abounded on such occasions, and boisterous frolicking, with the roughest sort of practical jokes, was the order of the day. Colonel Wm. Stewart, an early resident of the county, furnishes the following account of a house raising in Rome township :

^^ As early as the spring of 1804 father built what was then called a double log barn, about eighteen feet high, all of white oak timber. It required nearly all the settlers of Rome, Carthage, Troy, Ames, and Canaan townships to raise it. In those days, however, no one thought of not responding to such a call, and on this occasion they were all present. As early as sunrise there were about fifty men on hand. As was the universal custom in those days father furnished a copious supply of old rye whisky, and by breakfast time - about 7 o'clock - many of the men felt its effects. The building went on, however, with a will, and the heavy logs were rushed up on large skids with a strength and daring that were surprising, the men cheering and laughing all the while. Dinner came on. According to custom three large chicken pies were placed on the table, one in the center and one at each end. A large decanter of whisky stood by the center one. The crowd being seated grace was said by father, and all being hungry were ready to fallto vigorously when James Crippen (he and his brother Amos were the leading spirits of the day), having made an excavation in the center of the chicken pie, seized the decanter and said, ^ Gentlemen, it has all got to go one way at last, so here goes,' and with that he poured the whisky, more than a quart, into the smoking pie. It produced a great laugh ; some ate heartily of the pie, some cautiously, and some declined the new sauce, yet all in great glee. After dinner all hands went to work again, and by dark the barn was completed - the greatest day's work, I suspect, ever performed in the county. The work over, father thanked them all for their kindness. James Crippen responded, saying, * No thanks, Daniel, what we 've done to-day we owe to every one that makes a like call ; but before we part we desire to have a social dance, and especially do we wish to dance with the good old lady Mrs. Wickham s^nd her husband,' and walking up to the old lady he immediately led her out for a jig. In less than a minute they were dancing with all their might, the men singing and beating time. At least twenty of the men danced a jig in turn with Mrs. Wickham till she was tired out, and then they danced with old Mr. Wickhaip till he was exhausted. But they were not through yet. Mr. Wickham being tired out it was proposed in great glee to bury him. An old ox sled was immediately procured, two boards laid on it, and Mr. Wickham laid on the boards. Numbers of the men seized the sled and prepared to drag it over the ground, while others with cowbells and sleighboUs led the procession. The sled was drawn several times around the yard amid great noise and laughter, and then the old man was released. It was nearly midnight before the scene closed and all left. During the whole day and evening there was no profanity nor any hard words used. All was cheerful labor, and innocent, though boisterous, mirth."

" When I first settled here the nearest post office was at Athens, sixteen or seventeen miles distant, and I have frequently gone that distance for a single expected letter ; now there are four post offices in the township. Then we went thirty miles to obtain our necessary dry goods, groceries, hardware, etc. ; now there are seven or eight good country stores in the township. While musing on the times and people of fifty-five years ago, the whole scene for thirty miles up and down the valley seems photographed on my memory - ^the men and women, their costumes, the log cabins and the cleared patches. The men all dressed in homespun during summer, and during winter a great part of the clothing consisted of buckskin ; the females, both matron and lass, for every day in homespun^, except in later years, now and then began to appear in a ^ factory dress,' and all had for Sunday and holidays the more costly and gayer calico and cambric dresses. Those were the days of warm friendships and close attachments. Common hardships and labors begot a fellow feeling. If there was a cabin to raise, every man for miles around turned out with alacrity to help raise it and put on the last clapboard. If there was any job too heavy for one man to do, all assisted. When a hunter or any one else was belated, be he a stranger or acquaintance, he found a home and a welcome in any log cabin he might chance to find."

Between 1800 and 18 10 the township received a number of good settlers. John Johnson and father on the Hockhocking opposite Federal creek ; Job Ruter, with his sons Martin and Calvin, on the river about two miles above Federal creek; and about the same time came Nathan Conner, Rev. Moses Osborn, the Calverts, the Thompsons, the Selbys, and the Mitchells, all of whom settled on the river. Most of these came from Virginia. Also prominent among the early settlers were Abraham Sharp, who gave his name to Sharp's run and Sharp's fork of Federal creek; Francis Munn, a revolutionary soldier, Archibald Dorough, Thomas Richardson, Dr. Seth Driggs, the Hewitts, Jeremiah Conant, Wm. Pilcher, Aaron Orm, Thomas Swan, Aaron Butts, Eli Catlin, Daniel Anderson, a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, David Chapman, and Enos Thompson, a Methodist preacher.

When war was declared in 1 8 1 2 Athens county was called on for a company of infantry to consist of fifty men. To raise these the militia regiment, then commanded by Colonel Edmund Dorr, was summoned together and volunteers called for. The quota was filled in a few minutes by volunteering, and of the fifty men, nearly one-fifth were from Rome township, and all of these from the school district of which the old school house was the center. Their names were James Crippen, Peter Beebe, Thaddeus Crippen, Ebenezer Hatch, Charles Stewart, William Starr, Andrew Stewart, John

Wickham, and Daniel Muncie. Subsequently, when the company was enlarged to sixty, Rome sent one more volunteer, George Driggs, and he is the only survivor of the whole number. In 1813, whert the governor of Ohio called for forty days mounted riflemen, George Barrows, Montgomery Perry, and a young man named Swann, went from Rome.

William T. Hatch, son of Elijah Hatch, was the first male child born in the township, and his sister Harriet, the late Mrs. Hill, is said to have been the first female. Mrs. Elijah Hatch, mother of Judge Hatch, was the first person who died in the township.

The first township treasurer in Rome was Amos Crippen, elected in 181 1. Then followed in succession George Barrows, Daniel Stewart, Hopson Beebe, David Chapman, Charles Beebe, John Johnson, John M. Perry, Peter Beebe, Sydney S. Beebe, Guy Barrows, James Starr, Hiram Stewart, Daniel B. Stewart and B. F. Johnson.

The first person who settled in what is now Rome township was David Daileyy a veteran soldier of the revolution, and decidedly "a character." Born in Vermont in 1750, he removed to western New York after his discharge from the army, and thence to Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, whence he migrated in the year 1797 to the northwestern territory. With his family, consisting of two daughters and five sons, of whom Benonah H. Dailey, of Carthage township (the youngest son), is now the sole survivor, he came down the Ohio river in a pirogue to the mouth of the Hockhocking, and up that stream to the mouth of Federal creek, where he at once opened up a farm. The place on which he settled is now known as the Beebe ^m.

Around him was an unbroken wilderness. The nearest neighbors were at the settlement at Athens, about twelve miles distant. Parties of Indians were frequently seen on hunting excursions, or on their way tp Wheeling to barter their furs. Having lived about three years on the farm first settled by him, he sold it to Judge Elijah Hatch, and, with his family, removed to Carthage township. Dailey was a famous hunter, fond of the exciting sports of pioneer life, and cultivated a sort of contempt for the comforts and conveniences of civilization. With his dogs and hunting equipments, and with a dead bear or deer on his back.

homeward bound, he was as happy as a king. The story of his many rencounters with wolves, bears, and panthers, after settling in Athens county, would form an interesting narrative, and graphically illustrate the excitements of pioneer life. Our informant says: