Franklin Township (part 2 of 2)

1804. He had a family of 1 1 children. Sanor had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. John Ruff also settled in the spring of 1804, on section 3. In the Ruff family were 13 children. Henry King settled on section 4, also in 1804, and David Smith entered and settled on section 1 1 the same year. The Smith family consisted then of the parents and 10 children - which may partially account for the plentitude of the Smiths in Columbiana County since those days of big families and the rarity of race suicide. On May 5, 1805. John Halm located on section 8. It is related of llahn that he brought with him a wife but no children. Nevertheless, after locating in West township, they were obedient to the Scriptural injunction, for they were fruitful and multiplied to the extent of 14 sons and daughters. In 1806 Isaac Davis came to West township bringing his wife and four children. In 1808 William Harrison, John Freed and John Hahn, Sr., located in the township, and the same year a number of other families located in various parts of the township. In 1811 Jehu Coulson. with a family of eight children, settled in the township, and in i8t2 Nathan Pine. John Messmore and Philip Wolf took up land. Philip Brenner settled in 1813; Isaac Willis in 1819. and atjout the same time Andrew Barnes. Jacob Lower, Henry Betts." John Zepernick. Henry

Barnes, Jacob Redmond and John Foulks came into the township and took up land. Joseph Willis and Joseph Willis, Jr., his son, settled in West in 1822; Jacob Koffel in 1823, and Joseph Summers in 1825. John Clark and family settled on section 9 in 1831 ; Taylor Woolcy came in the spring of 1833 with his wife and children, John Snyder in 1834, Eli Taylor in 1835 and Lewis McCoy in 1837.

The oldest hamlet in West township is New Alexander. It was platted about 1812. Originally it comprised about 20 acres of land, owned by David Smith. A hotel was built in 1818, which bore the sign of the Black Bear. It was kept for many years by John Ritz. The village was on the old stage line, and in the days of stage-coaches was a place of more note than it has \yeen of later years.

Chatnbersburg was laid out December 20, j 828, the proprietors being Michael Coxsen, David Myers, George Ball anil William Mc- Millan. Chambersburg is situated three miles west of New Alexander, and on the old stage road of nearly a century ago. An old hotel stood on the site of the village before it was laid out. It was kept Samuel Miller until it was destroyed by fire in 1830. J. D. Koffel then built a hotel which he conducted for some time. Chambersburg never grew to any importance as a village after the days of stagecoaches.

East Rochester was platted in Decemlwr, 1834, by J. G. Williard, under the proprietorship of Thomas Emmons and Isaac Davis. But on its site before it was laid out as a hamlet there was a postofhee known as Emmons Cross- Roads. Additions were made in 1854 and 1862 by George Sloan. The first store was kept by Jacob St. Clair, while yet the hamlet was known as Emmons Cross- Roads. Liter Joseph Coulson was postmaster, and after the completion of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad through the village in 1852 Mr. Coulson also served as station agent.

The first plat of Lynchburg was made December 4, 1834, the original land-owners being Eli Wickersham and Amos Preston. An addition was made Deceml>er 26th of the same year by Amos Preston, William Hall and Philip

Wickersham. The hamlet which was named in honor of Lynchburg, Virginia, owed its existence to the construction of the Sandy and Beaver Canal and consequently its best days were its early days. From the time of the abandonment of the canal the hamlet began to decline. On May 6, 1845, on petition of Owen Stackhouse, the Court of Common Pleas of the county ordered that 46 lots, then within the village limits, be vacated as town lots.

Moultrie was laid out on sections 7 and 8 in West township February 7, 1853. The survey had been made in 185 1. John Foulks was proprietor of the land, J. G. Williard making the survey. The village is located on the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad, which accounts for its existence. The population in 1905 was about 100. It had one good general store and a postoffice which did a large business for a small office, largely due to the extensive mail order trade of Hon. Daniel W. Crist, music publisher.

Bayard is located at the junction of the Cleveland and Pittsburg Division and the Tuscarawas Branch of the Pennsylvania lines. It was laid out in April, 1852, under the direction James Farmer and Cyrus Prentiss, who had purchased the land for the purpose.

Records of early church societies in West township are very meagre. Church organizations were rare, and religious services as a rule, must have been of an informal nature. But one church building of any sort is known to have existed in the township prior to 1820. This was a combination of church and schoolhouse, built of lngs, in 18 10, at New Alexander. This building seems to have been intended for school purjwses, religious worship and for all public meetings. It was demolished in 1840. Members of the Society of Friends met for worship for some years after 1815 in the log schoolhouse on section 35. What was known as the Plains Disciples Church was built alxmt 1830 a mile southwest from Bayard. The building had been removed in 1845. Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans met for worship at intervals during the earlv years of the century, but no records seem to have been preserved from which accurate data can be secured. The Mennonites appear to have had one of the earliest permanent societies. They organized about 1840, and in 1858 built a small frame church on section 9. The society never had a large membership. The Bible Christians organized a society at New Alexander about 1840. Later they erected a church building near the site of the old log schoolhouse and church built in 1810. Among the early ministers of the society were Revs. Robert Hawkins and John Seacrist. Later the society adopted the name "Christian." The Disciples organized about 1870 and built a church at New Alexander. Both these societies were in a flourishing condition in 1905.

Himes Church was built and so named in honor of John Hime. the donor of the land upon which it was erected. The premises were deeded to three trustees as representatives of the Presbyterian, Lutheran and German Reformed societies, to be used by the three societies in common. The first building, erected in 1842, was replaced by a larger one in 1873. The church building was used by these three societies, or denominations ( for there appeared to be no permanent organization by any of them). In the course of years the services lagged and the congregations dwindled away, the Reformed people holding out a little longer than the others. But finally all abandoned holding public services, and the building passed practically into disuse. In 1893 a union chapel was erected, especially for funeral services. The Christian Church of East Rochester was organized in 1876, and had become a flourishing little society in 1905. In 1902 a union church was built in New Chambersburg, and one of the same character was erected in 1904 at Bayard. The building was erected for the use of the various evangelical denominations in common.

A Methodist Episcopal society was organized at East Rochester in 1851, but disbanded alxrnt 10 years later. It was reorganized, however, in 1876, when a church edifice was built, and the society entered upon a new lease of life.

In 181 1 a school was located on section 35, West township. In 18 12 Nathan Pine taught the school. In the Sanor neighborhood a log schoolhouse was built in 1816. The township school districts have been frequently changed since their original organization. At one time there were 14 within the bounds of the township. In 1905 there were nine - seven regular township schools and two special districts.

Aside from farming there have been few important industries in the township. The grist-mills and sawmills of the early and later days have been referred to in another chapter.