Bethlehem Township

Bethlehem Township

BETHLEHEM township was organized in 1826. The honor of naming it was given to William Speaks, a revolutionary soldier, who the oldest resident of the township at that time. It is bounded on the north by Clark township, on the east by Keene, on the south by Jackson and on the west by Jefferson.

It is watered by the Walhonding river and Killbuck creek. The Walhonding enters the southern portion of the township from the west, and, pursuing a nearly easterly course, crosses the line into the southwestern corner of Keene township. The Killbuck enters at the northwest from Clark township, and, just after crossing the line, bears to the west about a mile and touches Jeffersop township in one or two places; it then seeks the Walhonding by a southeasterly course, reaching it almost a mile southeast of the township center. The northeastern portion of the township is drained by a little stream called Buckalew run, which enters Killbuck creek near its mouth.

The valleys of the Walhonding and the Killbuck give to the township more bottom lands than are in any one of the surrounding townships. That of the Walhonding, having an average width of more than a mile, possesses a soil of unusual fertility. The valley of the Killbuck, not quite so wide, contains a soil which is often a clay and very productive, though not equaling in this respect that of the Walhonding. The ridge land is mostly of a clayey and limestone nature, and is, consequently, of good quality. Beyond the valleys the surface is rough ; the roughest, as well as largest, section of it being found in the northeastern part, where there is no stream of any consequence.

Timber of a heavy growth covered the township at the coming of the first settlers, except in two localities. In the southeastern corner of the township, south of the river, and extending across the line a short distance into Keene and Jackson townships, was an open space of several hundred acres, known as Denman's prairie. The soil was rich and productive, bearing a luxuriant growth of tall, waving grass. The other exception was between the Killbuck and Walhonding, near their junction, where there was a scope of several hundred acres, covered only with saplings and low underbrush. The place is still .called the plains. The principal growths here were the scrub-oak, jack-oak, white-oak, hickory, cherry, walnut and wil4 plum. It has mostly been cleared since. About all that is left of this young growth is the little grove standing in front of the residence of Mr. John Hogle. The

Killbuck creek received its name from that of a noted chief of the Delawares, whose town was located on this stream between Millersburg and Wooster. Concerning the origin of the name Walhonding, which in the Indian tongue signifies " the White Woman," there appear to be two accounts. Along the western banks of the river,, in the southeastern part of the township, on the Denman farm, is a broken ledge of rocks invested with a romantic legend. The river here winds close to the base of a steep acclivity of ground from which, here and there, jut out clifTs of sandstone rock lending an air of picturesque beauty to the scene. The tradition, current among the people in this vicinity, tells that a beautiful, young, virgin captive, loath to endure the indignities and barbarities of an Indian life, preferred stern death instead, and, breaking away from the hated camp adjacent, rushed madly towards the storm-swollen stream - the Indian braves in hot pursuit - and plunged from this overhanging rock into its seething waters beneath. According to one account the cold waters closed over her forever, the Indians, on reaching the brink, beholding the bubbles of her expiring breath rise to the surface; but from another version, she concealed herself beneath a projecting rock until the Indians abandoned the chase and returned to their camp, then cautiously stole away and escaped. The poetic legend is traced back to the Carpenters, who came to Coshocton county in 1801, and many people of the present generation, who live within knowing distance of the rock^ give full credence to it and fondly tell to the passing stranger the story of the White Woman, TJie chronicles of the earliest white men, who saw the beauty of this valley, however, give a different account of the origin of the river's name. Christopher Gist, a surveyor, in the interest of the Ohio Land Company visited " White Woman's creek " in 1751. In his journal of that date he says the white woman who gave the river her name was Mary Harris, the wife of an Indian chief who dwelt upon its banks. The legend of this woman is narrated in another chapter of this volume.

the Killbuck, before the advent of the pale face, was doubtless one of the happiest of the terrestrial happy hunting grounds of the untamed, forest-roving savage. A hundred years ago two villages of fhe Delawares were located in the valley; one three miles, the other ten miles, above Coshocton.

In the forks of the Wolhonding and Killbuck Avas Custaloga's Town. Here was the residence of Mary Harris, after whom the river was probably named. Custaloga was a Delaware chief, and the orator of his tribe. He, with twenty warriors representing his nation, was the iirst to surrender their prisoners to Colonel Bouquet. His speech at the treaty of Fort Pitt is full of noble sentiment and Indian eloquence.

For years after the Indians left Coshocton county, wandering red men returned to visit the -loved haunts of old. In 1822, and perhaps many years later, Indians from the Tuscarawas river came to the Killbuck during the summer season to trap and to hunt. Game of every description was abundant. The air at times was black with wild turkeys. Deer were often seen in herds of forty or fifty. Bears and wolves were numerous. No place was more eagerly sought by the lover of the chase than the valleys of Bethlehem township, and for many years the sport was enjoyed alike by the cabin-dwelling huntsman and his dusky neighbor of the forest wigwam.

Upon John Hogle's farm, or, as it is better known, the east reserve of the Rathbone section, not far from the Wolhonding, is a large mound, having a height of perhaps fifteen feet and a very gradual slope. Another mound of a lesser size stands on the Moffat farm, a short distance northwest of the center of the township in the Killbuck valley. These are the only ones known to exist in the township.

Bethlehem township is made up entirely of military land, consisting of four military sections, of 4,000 acres each. The first or northeast section was surveyed into forty one-hundred-acre lots, by the government, for the accommodation of revolutionary soldiers, or other individuals, who held warrants for this number of acres.

George Skinner, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, was the original individual owner of the second or northwest section. The third or southwest section is known as the John Eathbone section. He obtained it in 1825, from Alexander 0. and Mary E. Spencer, and James C. and Sarah Norton, who, it seems, were the heirs of William Steele, the original grantee of the section, under patent dated March 20, 1800, Matthew Denman and William Wells were the proprietors of the southeast section. All these proprietors were non-residents.

The first settlement in the county was made on Denman's prairie, in the eastern part of this township, in the spring of 1800, by Charles Williams, William Morrison and Isaac and Henry Hoagland. These little open spaces of rich, productive soil, scattered sparingly, like oases, in the unlimited expanse of timber growth, were eagerly seized upon by the earliest pioneers, and afforded an excellent opportunity of raising the indispensable crop of corn until tillable fields could be wrought out of the native forests. Ebenezer Buckingham soon after, in 1800,settled at the mouth of Killbuck, remaining two years only. On Denman's prairie, as early as 1801, were also Samuel Morrison, Ira Kimberly, George Carpenter and James Craig. The wives of Williams, the two Morrisons and of Kimberly were sisters of George Carpenter, and were noted for their physical strength and activity.

For years previous to their emigration to Coshocton county, they had lived with their father on the banks of the Ohio, in the midst of the fierce and prolonged Indian warfare which then was, waged unremittingly along the border. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter, while out in the fields at work once, in the Ohio valley, were suddenly surprised by a band of Indians. He was shot, and fell motionless to the ground. Supposing him to be dead, the Indians left him and pursued Mrs. Carpenter, who sped fleetly in the direction 'of the fort which had been erected, and succeeded in reaching it in safety. Mr. Carpenter, who waS not fatally wounded, recovered sufficiently to crawl away and conceal himself before the Indians returned. He thus escaped the tomahawk and the scalping knife. Inured to emergencies demanding great endurance and physical action.

his children were raised to bear the brunts of a rugged and shifting pioneer life with ease. A little incident which occurred on the Denman prairie, while these early settlers were encamped here, will illustrate the muscular power and hardihood of these pioneer women. Mrs. Sallie Kimberly was visiting at the cabin of her brother-inlaw, William Morrison, who at the time was suffering from some bodily ailment, and in consequence was unable to move about much. He saw a deer across the Walhonding, and, taking down his rifle, he shot it. Not being well enough to go across for the game himself, he asked one of the women to do so. Mrs. Kimberly consented to bring over the deer. The river was deep in this place, and not f ordable anywhere in the viciijity, but nothing daunted her. She sprang into the stream and swam easily across ; then securely tied her large neckerchief around the deer's neck and drew it to the water, and, holding one end of the cloth by her teeth, she swam over with the deer to the opposite shore.

The Morrisons and the Carpenters afterward passed on up the Killbuck, becoming the earliest settlers of what is now Holmes county. Kimberly moved two miles further up the valley, to the place where the bridge now crosses the river. It was long known as Kimberly's ford, a;fterward as Fry's ford.. James Craig kept a little grocery close by, for a num.ber of years, whisky being the chief article of trade ; then removed to Coshocton, where he and his family died about 1814, of " cold plague."

Isaac Hoagland came^ from Virginia to the Denman section, about the same time the Morrisons did. He afterward moved up to Clark township, becoming one of the pioneer settlers.

About 1806, Henry Carr, from Hardy county, Virginia, settled on lot 11 of the southwest section, now owned by James Richardson. He here operated a little still for a few years, beginning about 1810. The distilled spirits he disposed of mostly tp his scattering neighbors, often exchanging it for the raw material - corn. One bushel of shelled corn was worth a gallon of whisky, and many of the settlers would send a bag of corn to Carr as regularly as they did to mill.

Rathbone section, afterwards known as the east reserve. He had served through the revolution. Joseph Burrell, a son of Benjamin Burrell, who was one of the earliest settlers of Keene township, settled here early. He was from Frederick county, Maryland; died in August, 1874, at the age of eighty-four years.

About 1808, Adam Markley came in from Maryland with a large family - eight sons and four daughters. John Markley, who was killed at an election at Coshocton in 1816, by George Arnold, a noted rough from what is now Bethlehem township - then forming a portion of Tuscarawas township - was a member of this family. This murder was the first one committed in Coshocton county. John Biler accompanied the Markleys here. He died soon after his arrival. The names of other early settlers concerning whom little is now known are, Joseph Bradford, Joshua and Peter Woods, James Rich, Stephen Willis and Thomas Pool.

Benjamin Fry was an early settler from Virginia. His was a restless spirit, which led him to make frequent migrations. He run a little distillery awhile, in the western part of the township, then moved to Tuscarawas township in 1808, and two years later, to a place in Jackson township, two miles below Coshocton, where he distilled a short time. He next went to Jefferson township, then back again to Bethlehem, settling at the site of the bridge. His habitation here gave the place the name of "Fry's Ford." Mr. Fry raised a large family and lived to an extreme old age. He was active and energetic in life, and apt to be strong in expression. When ninety-five years old, he declared with an oath that unless he got away from the Walhonding river, he couldn't live five years longer. He accordingly " pulled up stakes " and moved his entire family to Illinois, where he died the next year.

Michael Hogle settled in the township in April, 1814. He was born near Plattsburg, New York, but emigrated here from Vermont. He settled first on the Denman section, south of the river ; raised a family of nineteen children, removed to Illinois in 1845, and died there the following year. His son, John Hogle, still lives in this township ; has long been a justice of the peace, and is well known as one of its best citizens.

John Merrihew and David Ash came at the same time with Mr. Hogle. A little later Niles and Ebenezer Coleman came from New York. About 1830, these four settlers moved westward to Knox county.

Albert Torrey, a New Englander, settled in the northern part of the township about 1814. He was a blacksmith by trade, and pursued this vocation here in connection with farming; said to be the first mechanic in Bethlehem township. George Shearer, Elijah Newoome and Matthew Boner, were also early settlers. Newcome settled near the center of the township, on the D. Waring farm. He afterwards removed to Iroquois county, Illinois.

William Speaks, a revolutionary soldier, settled about a half a mile north of Newcome, oh the place which in later years belonged to A. Frederick. Mr. Speaks was a Virginian, drank nothing stronger than wine, was well respected, quiet in his habits, a member of the Methodist church and died in the township at a good old age.

James Willis, from Virginia, settled on the farm now occupied by John G. Frederick. He was a famous hunter and engaged more in hunting than in tilling the soil. He killed five bears in one day. Samuel Kay and Andrew Wilson, two soldiers of the war of 1812, were early settlers. The former owned 500 acres south of the Killbuck, adjoining Jefferson township; the latter, lot 39 of the northeast section.

Samuel Clark, born in Ireland, emigrated to Virginia at the age of eighteen. He there rparried Eachel Clark, and came west to Coshocton county at an early day. He spent a number of years on the Miller section, in Franklin township, and about 1820 moved to the Denman tract, in this township. He here became one of the township's most prominent citizens. He was a justice of the peace nearly all his active life, and was several times county commissioner. Two of his brothers, Archibald and Gabriel, and his father, Archibald, settled in the township about the same time.

Somewhat later came Nathan Spencer, from Hardy county, Virginia. To "draw it mildly," he was a rough, rollicking, boisterous kind of a man, fond of cards, whisky, company and sport He had a frolic of some kind about once a week at his place, which was situated near the toT^Tiship center - the Samuel Moffet farm. He married a daughter of William Speaks, and terminated his career here by moving to Missouri.

Many of the settlers who cleared the first fields in Bethlehem township, as on military lands elsewhere, were only squatters, possessing no right whatever to the soil they cultivated. When the land would belong to a capitalist he would often wish to retain it for years until it could be sold at a greatly enhanced price. There was little orna opportunity to lease it, and occupancy by squatters was encouraged rather than forbidden, as the improvements that would be made on the place were advantageous to the proprietor. An instance of this kind of settlement was on the Rathbone section. Men began to settle here as early .as 1806, and a constant stream of emigration was flowing in from that time on, while very little if any of the land was sold before 1835.

The survey of this section was made about 1834. It was surveyed into thirty lots, varying in size from 100 to 150 acres. These lots included all of the section except two tracts on the river, one of 192, the other of sixty-nine acres, reserved as mill sites. The western reserve includes ah island, in the Wolhonding, of nineteen acres in extent. These reserves were well selected for the construction of dams, but the building of the Wolhonding canal destroyed their value for this purpose, as excellent water power might be obtained at the locks of the canal at a comparatively trifling expense.

Bethlehem township is distinctively a rural district. No village or hamlet exists on its soil, nor has the establishment of one ever been attempted. The various industries common in early days also have had a very meager representr ation here. Shortly after the arrival of the earhest settlers, one or two little still-houses found lodgment in the township for a very hmited period. One saw mill embraced the extent of the milling interests. It was erected by Thomas H. Miller, near the mouth of the Killbuck, about 1830, and worked a very few years. Perhaps the chief industry was the rafting of logs down the Killbuck. A great amount of this was done. The logs were usually poplar, oak, walnut or sycamore, and were rafted at first to

One bridge, located near the northwestern corner of the township, crosses the Killbuck. The only bridge across the Walhonding in Bethlehem township is at "Fry's Ford." It was erected in 1868-9. John Sharke, of Newark, was the contractor for the masonry, which cost |6,- 709. The superstructure, of wood, contracted for by John Hesket, cost 164-00. In early times a ferry was kept here by William Kimberly, John Kimberly and Thomas Clark successively. A large flat boat, of ' suflBcient size to hold four horses and a loaded wagon, was used.

The Walhonding canal passes through the township along the river valley. It enters from Jackson township on the south, crosses the river by a dam in the western part of the township, and continues up the northern side of the river into Jefferson township. It contains two locks in this township, one about a half mile above the dam, the other about the same distance below it.

It is affirmed that a school was taught on the prairie up the Walhonding in 1802 or 1803, but who the teacher was, and who there learned ±0 read their A, B, C, it is impossible now to tell. What would we not give to be able to call back to memory the picture of 'that school. Yes, we should like to hand down to future ages, and immortalize the name of the first pedagogue of Coshocton county. What a tale might be told of school-boy feats, could we only bring the past in solemn review before us again. We have met with but a single individual, Mr. Alvah Buckingham, of Putnam, who recollects having attended ' this school. All recollection, except this simple fact, has faded from his mind.

An early school was taught by Charles Elliott, who afterward became a famous Methodist minister, editor and president of the Wesleyan University of Iowa. The school was situated in the southeastern part of the township, Mr. Elliott residing at this time in Keene township.

A school-house was built about 1821, near the township center, close to the banks of Killbuck. Matthew Boner was the first teacher. With all his pedagogic arts, however, he could not prevent the most of his pupils giving greatest attention to a pet deer, belonging to Martin Spencer, that would frequent the school yard.

township, about a half mile east of Archibald Clark's residence, near where the school-house now stands. It was built in regular primitive fashion, rude, but substantial. "King" Cole and Walter Truat were among the first to rule over the " future presidents" who attended school here.

A few years later Michael Hoyle built a schoolhouse, at his own expense, where school was kept for a number of years. Leander Hoyle and James Madden were among its first teachers.

To the Methodist Episcopal church is due the earliest propagation of religious sentiment in this, as in nearly every other township in the county. In days when the country was sparsely settled, the merest nucleus for a religious organization could be found only here and there in the broad range of developing lands, yet they were fostered and nurtured with a self-sacrificing zeal that insured success from its very intensity. The local preachers knew no rest, but were constantly in the saddle or the place of worship. Services were held on every day in the week, so numerous were the appointments that must be filled by one preacher. It was about 1820, that a class was formed in Bethlehem township. Its early members were Samuel Clark, Rachel his wife, and his daughter Nancy; Archibald Clark, his wife Susan and daughters Catherine and Jane; Mrs. Christina Lowman and her daughters Mary and Hannah; Elizabeth Clark, Joseph Meigs and Eleanor, his wife ; Mrs. Willis and William Speaks. The circuit of which this congregation formed a part extended from Millersburg to Dresden, and as far east as Evans' creek, near Newcomerstown. For a long time preaching was held on week days only. The society never became sufficiently strong to erect a house of worship, and services were held in dwellings and school-houses until about 1870, when the society united with the Warsaw congregation.

The Mount Zion Methodist Protestant church is located in the northwestern part of the township, on land donated to the society by John C. Frederick. The building, a hewed log weatherboarded structure, was erected about 1860. At that time John C. Frederick, George Parks, Abra- ham Mowrey and William Clark, were the principal members. The church was organized about three years before, just over the line in Jefferson township, and the early meetings were held in the Tabor Evangelical church of that township. Kevs. A. Robinson, William Holland, John Hanby, Wilham Chandler, Lawson, William

Baldwin, Wilham Woodward, William Nickerson, J. P. King, William Bradford and John Murphy have been pastors of the church. The present pastor is Rev. John Baker, who has charge also of the congregation at Big run, Monroe township, the Pleasant Valley church of Holmes county, and Prairie chapel of this township. The membership of Mount Zion is now quite small.

The Bethlehem Evangelical or Albright church, is a religious organization composed of a few German settlers, most of whom live in Clark township. The' building is situated within a few rods of the northern line, and within a few feet of the central line of the township running north and south. The society was formed about 1854, under the ministerial charge of Rev. Jacob Reschler ; the church, erected some four years later, has been undergoing repairs during the last winter. Revs. Henry Futheroe and John Smith, are the present pastors. The membership, through removals and deaths, has been reduced to fourteen. A Sabbath-school, organized in 1854 by John Gamersfelter, still the leading member of the church, is now in as feeble condition as the cliurch.

Prairie chapel is a Methodist Protestant church, situated in the southeastern part of the township. The class was organized in 1861, with Zachariah Clark as leader. It owes its formation to Rev Samuel Frederick, who was at that time a mere lad and a member of the Mount Zion Methodist Protestant church, of this township. He conducted a series of revival meetings at the old school-house which stood on the site of Prairie chapel, and notwithstanding his extreme youth, the meetings were attended with great success. From the conversions which followed, the society was organized. Among the members who united with the church in its infancy, were Mrs. EUzabeth Baird, Zachariah and Susan Clark,

Louisa Baird, George Baird, Mrs. Mina Boring, Wilham and Dian Maxwell, Isaac and Susan ipivecoats, George and Mary Thompson, and Daniel and Mary Benning. Rev. Frederick continued to labor here four years, and since his pastorate the ministers have been as follow: John Baker and William Robinson, one year ; William Wilkerson, one year; W. L. Baldwin, six years; J. D. Murphy, one year; William Bradford, one year; William Woodford, two years; Thomas- Scott, one year; J. P. King, one year; John Baker, present incumbent. The membership is fifty-four. The church, a commodious frame,, was dedicated August, 1877. It was erected at a cost of $1,272. A Sabbath-school, under the management of James Slaughter, is in very flourishing condition.