Knox Township

Knox Township

Knox township, taken from the north end of Westland and a part of Wheeling township in March, 1819, is now a five-mile square civil precinct of Guernsey county, bounded on the west by Muskingum county, on the north by Coshocton county and Wheeling township of this county, on the east by Liberty and Cambridge townships and on the south by Adams township. There are no towns of any commercial importance within this township and, without railroads or large water courses, it depends largely on Cambridge as its trading place. This township is devoted largely to agricultural pursuits and has a number of excellent places, well improved. Which yield up their annual harvests.

At the time of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876, a canvass of the old settlers was made which resulted in the showing of the following list of pioneers who had attained the age, or passed the age, of seventy-six years, then residing in the township : Jared Terrell, Margaret Terrell, Jane Patrick, George Eckelberry and wife, Mrs. Sarah A. Estep, William Young, Jane Young, James Black, William Scott, Jacob Merlat, Hugh Dyer, James Cullen, Benjamin Hawthorne, George Estep, Edward Beal and John Zimmerman. These old settlers nearly all came to Knox township at an early time and reared large families which have one by one taken their places in the great busy world, in one capacity or another.

William Kenworthy came from England in 1841, and worked for ten years in a cotton factory in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, but in 185 1 located in Knox township and cleared up most of the old homestead found there today.

William Hamilton Clark was four years old when his parents came from Ireland. In 1840 he married and settled in Knox township, this county. Eleven children were born to this worthy couple. Mr. Clark was school director in this township for many years.

Francis Kilpatrick came from Ireland in 1850, and effected a permanent settlement in Knox township, where he and his interesting family spent the remainder of their days.

John Clark (father of Elizabeth Weir) was a native of Ireland and a blacksmith by trade. Ten years after his marriage he emigrated to America and they were the parents of seven children. They lived five years in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, then located in Knox township, this county, and the family have become scattered, but all widely known as men and women of rare industry and integrity.

William P. Ross, son of James Ross, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was quite an early settler in Knox township. He was school director for twenty years and lived on and owned the farm known as the "Old Still House Farm," as at one time it had a still on it.

Jacob Marlatt was born in Maryland in 1803. Five years after his marriage he settled in Knox township and became the father of thirteen children, including Josephus. who served as a soldier in the One Hundred and Twentysecond Ohio Infantry, and was badly wounded at the battle of the Wilderness.