Madison Township

Madison Township

Evidences of the "lost race" appear here, as in most other townships of the county. Five mounds are yet visible: one on the farm of George A. Wilson; one south of the Licking, on the farm of D. Wilson; one on the Bowling Green, east of Charles Montgomery; a fourth south of the Licking, on the Shannon farm; and a fifth on the Bowling Green, near the chapel. These mounds are not remarkable for size, and in no way distinguishable from hundreds of others scattered over the county.

This township evidently has an Indian history, but it is, and probably will remain, unwritten. A camp of the Delaware Indians occupied the Bowling Green; so much is known, but this is about all. What their numbers were, who their chief, what the number of wigwams, how long they were in camp there, etc., are questions that cannot be answered. It is said to have been called by the Indians, "John Elliott's Wife's Town." The significance or origin of the name is also unknown. Judge Elliott, who had a trading post there, it is said, was a single man at that time, else it might be inferred that it was named in honor of his wife. The probability is that this Delaware town was :onsiderably less than fifty years old. Christopher "jist, who passed through here in 1751 (an account of which appears in another chapter), does not mention this town in his journal, though he mentions stopping at two other Indian towns just before arriving at the Licking, at one of which he was joined by Andrew Montour, the son of a Seneca chief. It is very evident that Gist followed the Indian trail from Wakatomika (Dresden) to King Beaver's town, and in doing so, he must have passed through or near the site of this village. Had the village then been in existence he would very likely have mentioned it.

In February, 1773, David Duncan and David Jones (Chaplain Jones) passed through here on this same trail (an account of which appears elsewhere), and Jones, in his diary, speaks of stopping at this Indian village; it is therefore evident that the village was established between the years 1751 and 1773. It still existed about twenty years later, when Judge Elliott went there as an Indian trader. In the narrative of William Dragoo, which appears elsewhere, it will be seen that he remembers passing through the Bowling Green prairie, but he says nothing about the Indian village there. This was in 1786. It must, however, have been there at that time, as Judge Elliott is supposed to have been located there some five or six years later; yet in 1792 Captain Samuel Brady with a party of scouts passed through this place, camped on this beautiful prairie and named it Bowling Green, but not a word is said about an Indian village there.

It is not likely it was there at that time, as a fierce war was then in progress between the whites and Indians, and it is not likely that Brady and his scouts would have ventured to encamp near an Indian village, even had they been allowed to. The village must therefore have disappeared before this time - probably about the time of St Clair's defeat or before. From these facts it may be concluded that this Indian village existed from twenty to thirty years.

While excavating for a bridge abutment on the east bank of the Bowling Green run, several years ago, seven skeletons of undoubted Indian type were exhumed. This spot was probably the grave* yard for this Indian town. One of these skeletons was six feet three inches in length.

No depredations were committed by these Indians in this part of the country, so far as known. There were no white settlers in their immediate vicinity. No village was in existence on the Bowling Green when the first settlers of this county came; th:re were a few Indian camps in the Licking and Raccoon valleys, but John Elliott's Wife's Town had disappeared.

A small camp of Shawnee Indians also existed on Shawnee run, on or near the farm of P. N. O'Bannon, which circumstance gave name to the run.

This township is well watered by the main Licking river, which passes through its center from west to east, and the tributaries of this stream, which flow into it from the north and south. The Central Ohio and Pan Handle railroads, and the Ohio canal pass through the township, following the Licking valley. The soil of the Licking bottoms is rich, warm, sandy loam, and fine gravel, well adapted to all crops, more especially the early crops. There are many indications that this valley was once a vast lake, the waters of which were held in place by the soft sand rock at Black Hand. The continued attrition of falling water in time wore away the rocks, and the waters of the lake escaped through the chasm, leaving the rich deposit of ages, which in places seems inexhaustible. The timber of this bottom consisted mainly of hard and soft maple, sycamore, black walnut and the inevitable buckeye. Under the wide-spreading nches of these flourished the wild plum, pawpaw and leatherwood. The lands on either side of, this valley are of yellow clay, interspersed witr shale of the same color, and were originally cov ered with a dense forest, principally of oak i giant growth. It will be seen that the townsk possesses a great variety of soil, which yields : bountiful return to the farmer.

At various places along the Licking bottom wt* patches of prairie land, which attracted the fbt settlers. The Bowling Green was, perhaps, the most extensive of these.. * It extended a mile e more along the Licking, and in the spring preset! ed a beautiful appearance, being a green lawn, cor ered with flowers and clumps of bushes, and, late* in the season, with a rank growth of grass. Here it was that the first settlers in the county, Elias Hughes and John Ratliff squatted in 179*. They found a farm ready-made to hand - something very unusual in this country. All they had to do was turn the virgin soil and plant their corn, which they did that year and for several success^ years. This was the first corn ever raised by white men within the limits of the count}-. A mile or more below Newark, on the western edge of Madison township, was another* small prairie, or perhaps more than one, upon which Isaac Sadden settled and raised a crop of com in 180a

Dr. J. N. Wilson, in his history of Newark tow* ship, places Isaac Stadden in that township This is an error. He settled very near the eastern line of that township, but his dwelling, and probably the whole of his possessions, were in Madison His brother's child, born in 1801, was probably the second born in the township; Henry Hughes, soa ot Elias Hughes, being the first, not only in th township but in the county. Henry was bom is 1799.

Mr. William Barrick, now an old resident of Hanover township, thinks that John Ratliff, pwas the first white male child born in the Licking valley, and his (Barrick's) sister, Amelia, the white female child ; the latter, however, was bon in Muskingum county, near the eastern line e: Licking, in 1799. He says John Ratcliff, Jt., a "chip off the old block," a harum-scarum, wiki roving fellow, and very fond of hunting; was always seen with a rifle on his shoulder, from bov hood. When he grew up and married he moved west to Illinois. Out there he lived principally by hunting; hauling his wife and family of several children, and his few possessions, about in a wagon, and camping in various places for indefinite periods. He was last seen in this situation on one of the great prairies of Illinois, and had been in that locality about a year, but concluded to move; game was probably getting scarce. One of his oxen had died, but, hitching up the cow beside the other ox, he loaded up his family and effects, and moved away over the horizon-bound prairie, without road, guide or compass, and disappeared forever, so far as his friends in Licking county are concerned. This represents one phase of the pioneer character.

The cabins of Hughes and Ratliff were erected on the Bowling Green prairie, between Montour's Point and the Licking creek, about half a mile above Bowling Green run. These two families, consisting of twenty- one persons, were the only white inhabitants of this township and county until 1800. In the spring of this year Benjamin Green and Richard Pitzer arrived, and shortly after, John VanBuskirk. In September, Isaac Stadden and family arrived, and, in September, Captain Samuel Elliott came, making the seventh family within the limits of the township.

The marriage of Colonel John Stadden, and Betsey, daughter of the aforesaid Green, which took place on Christmas day, 1800, made the eighth family, which was the whole number when the year closed.

John Larabee was one of the most remarkable of the first pioneers of Licking. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1760, and was of English descent His father led a seafaring life, and is supposed to have been impressed into the British service, from which he never returned. John ran away from his uncle, by whom he had been adopted, at the age of fifteen, and entered the United States service at the beginning of the Revolution. He served first as a teamster two years, and then entered the ranks as a private soldier, carrying a musket and faithfully discharging his duty to the end of this great struggle. He participated in many battles, including that of Trenton, at which he had his feet badly frozen. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war, and during the later years of his life, a pension from the Government, in recognition of his services. But little is known of his whereabouts after the close of the war until the year 1800, when he is found near Marietta, the father of a family. In the spring of 1801, Mr. Larabee, leaving his family behind, embarked with others in a canoe, for the rich bottoms of the Licking, carrying some bacon and other supplies with them, as a partial subsistence during the summer. A portion of his fellow emigrants came by land, driving the stock, of which Mr. Larabee owned a yoke of oxen and two cows. He landed on the south side of Licking river, nearly opposite the mouth of Bowling Green run, and squatted on land afterward owned by William O'Bannon. Here he found, what was very common in those days, a large, hollow sycamore tree, in which he domiciled for several months. It furnished him a room more than ten feet in diameter, and was amply capacious for all his purposes. He cleared the land, raised a few acres of corn, and at his leisure during the summer built himself a cabin. Maxwell, who came with him, was the first school-teacher and first constable in the county, and a noted singer.

Having completed his cabin, and raised his crop, Mr. Larabee returned to Marietta in the fall for his family. These were brought up to their new home, and here they lived a pioneer life for several years. He prospered, and subsequently bought a tract of land of Judge Smith and Thomas Seymour, a mile or two southwest from his hollow sycamore. Mr, Larabee was wholly illiterate, but honest and industrious, and a member of the Disciple church. He died February 6, 1846, aged eighty-six.

Mrs. Isaac Stadden, who lived until July 3, 1870, and died in her ninetieth year, was a woman of remarkable mind and memory, and gave much valuable and interesting history of the early settlement in this county. She says that her husband came to this county and township in the month of May, 1800, in company with his brother, John, and built a cabin on what has since been called the Warden, now Jones' farm, near the first canal lock below town. They planted corn just south of their cabin on a prairie, and, after attending to this crop, returned to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, moving back again in the following September. Their cabin was further west than any other on the Licking; Captain Elliott built near the big spring, on the Davis farm; Richard Pitzer and Benjamin Green, near together on Shawnee run, near where the State road crosses it; Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, who came two years before, also lived near each other, just below Montour's point, near the residence of C. W. Montgomery. She thinks these were all the cabins then in the territory which now constitutes Licking county, but that the Buskirks may have been building theirs up the South fork, as she had no acquaintance with the family for years afterward, and cannot fix the precise time.

Soon after moving into their cabin her husband and brother enclosed the prairie where their corn was planted, for the Elliotts had several horses and cattle running out, which they feared would destroy their crop. The fencing was done partly byi brush and partly by rails and poles.

One day her husband went out hunting for deer in Cherry valley, discovered the "Old Fort," and came home greatly excited about it, he never having heard of anything like it before. The Mound Builders had not then been heard of among the pioneers, if, indeed, by anybody. The next morning Mrs. Stadden and her husband mounted their horses and rode over to visit this great curiosity; they rode around it on the embankment, and were the first white people, so far as known, to visit this ancient work, which has since been visited by wondering thousands. She says that late in November her husband went out one afternoon west of the Old Fort to hunt deer, as he had often done before, this being his favorite hunting ground. He desired to be near Ramp creek very early in the morning, where the deer frequented, that he might kill one before the leaves would get dry, to cause a noise when he was walking through them. He was startled, as he walked through the forest, by the sight of a camp fire, he not being aware of any other settlement in this section but the one on Licking. He approached the fire, and met John Jones, Benoni Benjamin, Phineas and Freeerick Ford, all brothers-in-law. Mr. Stadden remained all night wi± this party, and soon ascertained that Jones and himself had been schoolmates in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, that they all liked the valley and had determined to locate there - they were then on a prospecting tour. These people all returned with their families late in the winter or early in the spring of 1801, and Jones planted comic thesame field with her husband and his brothers the Warden prairie.

In 1802 Jacob Nelson became the owner ot a large tract of land upon which he settled, a mile and a half below Newark, in this township. After a few years residence he built a mill, and then sold out.

In 1803 John Simpson, Robert Church, William Scammahorn, Richard Jewell, Edward Crouch William and John Moore, Thomas Seymour, and William O'Banon settled within the present limits of this township. O'Banon became a somewhat prominent citizen! He was a successful farmer and stock-raiser, and became a large land-holder in the county before his death, which occurred in his seventy-third year. Judge O'Banon was one of the early justices of the peace of Madidison township, and served as associate judge of the common pleas court of this county from 1S25 to 1839, and discharged his judicial duties with fidelity and ability.

John Channel, a great hunter, Thomas Deveese and Henry Smith, were pioneers of this township in 1804. They were Virginians. Smith was one of the early magistrates of the township, also associate judge of the common pleas court from 1809 to 1823.

John Channel was a somewhat remarkable pioneer, on account of his hunting exploits, a recital of which would make a volume. Some idea may be gleaned of his prowess in this direction by the single statement that he once informed Mr. Thomas Taylor that he killed nine bears one day before noon. These animals were very plenty on the bluffs lining the licking valley. Channel had been raised among the Indians; was tall, straight as an Indian, black hair and swarthy complexion; indeed, looked and acted more like an Indian

One of the block-houses erected in this county was in this township. It was on the Bowling Green, near the cabins of Hughes and Ratliff. It was occupied by the few pioneer families on the Licking, only for a few days, having been erected immediately upon the return of Hughes, Ratlift, and Bland from their expedition into Knox county after Indians that had stolen their horses, an account of wh»ch appears elsewhere.

Madison township was organized in 1812. Prior to the organization, and while it was part of Licking township, Fairfield county, Isaac Stadden, John Warden, and Abraham Wright acted as justices of the peace. The former was commissioned in 1802.

Probably the first school in this township was taught, or, rather, kept in a cabin that had been built for a dwelling, which stood on land now owned by George A. Wilson, and a few rods north of the present township house. A Mr. Tunis Cole was the teacher* He was a cooper by trade, and knew little about school teaching. It is related of him that he qjice undertook to give out the word "phlegm" to his spelling class, but after studying over the word sometime, spelling it slowly to himself, he was unable to give it any better pronounciation than "pe-lera;" as the future sovereigns did not understand the pronounciation or the word, they failed to spell it correctly, and the "master" thereupon took his hickory from its place behind the jam, and flogged the entire class. He was notorious for using a very long "hickory gad," and frequently, while using it vigorously over the scholar, it would wrap so far around as to reach his own legs, upon which he would lay it on more furiously than ever.

The first mill in the township was erected by J. Nelson, and for many years went by the name of Nelson's mill. It was on the south bank of Licking, on the Rowe farm. It was a log mill at first and erected about 1810; afterwards a frame was put up. Nelson owned one thousand acres of land around this mill, subsequently purchased by Messrs. Brice and Stanbery. Mr. John Hasel now owns the land where the mill stood. The second mill was erected by Judge Henry Smith in a bend of the Licking, about three miles below Newark. Saw-mills were connected with these mills; they have long since disappeared, as have, also, many other mills erected in an early day in this township. The Licking furnished good water power. The only grist-mill at present within the limits of the township is the Hickey mill, at Clay lick. This town, if it can be called a town, is the only one in the township, and even this is partly in Hanover township. A mill was built there many years ago, and about thirty years ago Evan Stone started a store and succeeded in getting a post office, which has been retained ever since. The town contains, beside the mill and store, a blacksmith shop and a few dwellings, and is a very pleasant village.

The Licking valley of to-day is one of the most beautiful in the State; the farms are well fenced and kept; the farmers are all in comfortable circumstances, and one could not conceive of homes more pleasant and happy than those found in this valley. These houses have most of them received appropriate names, such as "Locust Hill," "Benwell" (the home of J. A. Taylor, from their native town in England), "Green Wood," "Willow Springs," "Oak Wood," "Pleasant Valley," "Cedar Grove," "Ever Green Farm," "Brooklyn," "Shawnee Run Farm," "Mound Farm" (owned by Thomas O'Bannon, having the large mound upon it), "Lynn Wood" (farm of the late P. N. O'Bannon), "Spring Valley," "Deer Lick," etc., etc., all going to show a pride in home, and a desire to build up a beautiful dwelling place.

The first preaching in this township, ai\d indeed in the county, was probably at the hut of Samuel Elliott, about a mile east of Newark, by a Presbyterian, Rev. McDonald. He preached two sermons at the time of this visit (1802), one in the cabin of John Ratliff, near the mouth of Bowling Green run, about four miles below Newark. Half a dozen families, more or less, then occupied the Licking valley, and were all the inhabitants of the county. Mrs. Isaac Stadden remembered these sermons. Rev. McDonald was on his way to Franklinton, and Isaac Stadden accompanied him in the capacity of pilot after leaving here, some ten miles up the South Fork road, the latter being then but an obscure trail. Mr. McDonald carried pistols for his protection on this journey. He was pre-eminently the pioneer preacher of Licking valley. This was, probably, Mr. McDonald's first and last visit to this territory.

The Methodists were, probably, the first to organize a church within the limits of the township, though this did not occur until 1810 or 1811: prior to this, however, many sermons had been preached to the settlers in their cabins. The settlers in this valley being on the great highway from Zanesville west, were more frequently visited by all sorts of travelers than those of any other part of the county. It is .not unlikely that all the early preachers, who necessarily passed through the valley and stopped frequently at the cabins of the settlers, and often held religious services. Among these were the Revs. Asa Shinn and James Quinn, two of th$ earliest preachers of the Methodist pursuasion. This frequent passing of preachers through the valley and the holding of religious services in the cabins, barns, and open air, probably culminated in a determination of the settlers to erect a building for religious purposes. This was accomplished about the date above mentioned (1810 or 1811), the building being a hewed log structure which stood near the Bowling Green prairie, and on the lot now occupied by the Methodist church. A graveyard was established here very early, and this has always been known as the "Bowling Green" church. This log church was built by the settlers, without regard to religious belief, and was considered free to all denominations, but the Methodists occupied it most of the time, and from this fact rather claimed to control it, and did control it many years, though it was frequently occupied by other denominations. A preacher by the name of Newell came along in an early day, and held a series of meetings in this church, and organized a New' Light society. After their organization the New' Lights continued to hold meetings in this church, which, after a time, created some strife between this society and the Methodists, which, in time, very nearly broke up both societies. Frequently both churches wished to hold services at the same hour, and it w'as not unusual to see tw'o congregations, one holding services in the building and the other in the church-yard. The New Lights finally withdrew, and were instrumental in establishing what is known as "Union Chapel," in the northern part of the township.

Among the original members of this Methodist church were William Moody and wife, John Channel and wife, Thomas Taylor and wife, William Montgomery and wife, and others, whose names are forgotten. No records of the church have been preserved. Prior to the erection of the church, services were frequently held at the cabins of William Moody and John Channel Revs. Noah Fidler and James B. Finley were among the earlier preachers to this class. Mr. Thomas Taylor was a leader in the first Methodist church organiztion in Newark.

The old log church building was in use about thirty years, but, in 1841 or 1842, the second church building, a frame, w'as erected, near the old one. The Methodists by this time had secured the ground, and, as this church was built entirely by this society, there was no further strife as to the occupancy.

The third, and present church edifice, was erected in 1858 or 1859, cost about twelve hundred dollars, and is thirty-four by fifty-six feet The membership reached, at one time, one hundred and twelve, but, at present, it is not more than forty.

The first Sunday-school in this neighborhood was organized about the time the canal was in process of construction. This date is fixed from the fact that during this time the contractors who were building this part of it, having a large contract and having to build two locks, concluded to establish a store for the purpose of supplying their workmen. For this purpose they erected a building near Isaac Stadden's dwelling, and, after completing the contract, they abandoned the building, moving their store to Newark. In this building a union Sabbath-school was established, and children of all denominations attended, though it was generally managed by the Presbyterians. James Reeder, Mr. O'Bannon, and Philip Seiler were influential in establishing it, the first named being the first superintendent. It was kept up here four or five years, when Mr. Stadden secured the building, which he occupied in part for a dwelling. The sehool was then removed to what was known as "Smith's school-house," where it was continued as a union Sunday-school until the Methodists organized their Sunday-school in their frame church, about 1845. Andrew Taylor was the first superintendent of this Methodist school, and it has been kept up during the summer months ever since. It now numbers thirty or forty pupils and teachers.

About two miles below Newark, on the valley road, is located a long, low building used as a blacksmith and wagon shop; the township house and a few dwellings are also near the place, and the people have nicknamed it "Hammertown." At thi? point what is known as the "Old Furnace road" branches off northward in the direction of the old furnace in Mary Ann township. It was cut out in an early day for the purpose of reaching that renowned furnace. On this road, in the northern central part of the township, is located Union chapel, the church that was established by the New Lights when, they could no longer agree with their Methodist brethren on the Bowling Green. Several of the old Methodist church congregation, among whom were William Moody and wife and Mrs. Isaac Stadden, had accepted the new doctrine, and were early members of this organization. They call themselves Bible Christians. The organization of this society dates back to about 1815, the Rev. Newell, as before stated, assisted by Rev. Britton, were the chief persons in perfecting it. The New Lights were assisted in building this church by the United Brethren, and by the people generally, and it was called Union chapel, being free to all denominations; however, it was generally occupied by the two above named denominations, and subsequently by the New Lights alone, as the United Brethren erected a church of their own over the line, in Mary Ann township. It is a hewed log building, and was erected about 1843. It is seldom occupied now for any religious service. A union Sabbath-school was established and kept up some years, but it has been abandoned.

The little church located on Clay Lick creek, in the southern and central part of the township, called Madison chapel, is an offshoot from the old Bowling Green church, and was organized about 1830. The church was erected about 1855. Rev.

James Hooper was then on the circuit. William Barrick and wife, George Colvin and wife, Z. Winters and wife (both of wrhom were killed a few weeks ago by the cars, while crossing the track), Lewis Lake and wife, and a few others, came to the conclusion that the Bowling Green church was a little too far away, and that they were able in that neighborhood to build and support a new church. Mr. Lake gave the ground upon which the building was erected, with the proviso that the society should have it so long as it was used for the purposes of a Methodist church. Otherwise, the land was to revert to the original owner or his heirs. At present the congregation is small, numbering not over a dozen members. It has generally sustained a Sufiday-school during the summer.

About fifty years ago, just below the site of the above mentioned church, on Clay Lick creek, a Protestant Methodist church was erected. It was a hewed log building, and J. B. W. Haines, William Swern, Lewis Miller, Mr. Montgomery and wife* and some others, were among the original members. Mr. Haines preached for them. When the church became old and unfit for use they erected a new one, about 1850 or 1855, further south, on a branch of Clay Lick creek, at Pleasant Ville, a cross-road place, where there is a blacksmith shop and two or three dwellings. This church is pretty well sustained, having now a good congregation as to numbers, and a flourishing Sunday-school.

The Christian Union church is located in the western part of the township, near where the highway crosses Shawnee run. Its organization was the result of political complications during the war, and was made up of those who opposed the war and the abolition of the slaves. Benjamin Green and the Arhertons were leaders in the movement. They held meetings some years in the school-house and township house, but erected a church about 1875. Benjamin Green, Augustine Atherton and his father, John Atherton, W. Shaw, George Gutridge, and a few others, were the earliest members, and the two first named preached for the congregation. The church is a small frame, about twentyfour by thirty feet. The present minister is Rev. Duckworth. The Sabbath-school is in a flourishing condition.