Madison Township

Madison Township

Madison township in 1807 included all the territory which then comprised Richland county. The township was named in honor of President Madison, the fourth president of the United States. On the 16th of January, 1808, a bill passed the Ohio Legislature creating the counties of Knox, Licking and Richland, with the provision placing Richland under the jurisdiction of Knox county, as it had been before under Fairfield, "until the Legislature may think proper to organize the same."" The commissioners of Knox county, on June 10, 1809, declared '"'the entire county of Richland a separate township, which shall be called and known by the name of Madison." At an election held in 1809, but seventeen votes were cast. showing that there were but few settlers here at that time.

Thomas Green, a white man. who had assisted the Indians in the Wyoming massacre, lived with the Indians at Greentown, and the village was named for him (in 1783), but he was not a settler. Other renegade white men may also have been in these parts temporarily. But the first permanent white settler was Jacob Newman, who located within the present boundaries of Madison township in the spring of 1807. General James Hedges was here prior to that date, but he was then in the employ of the government as a surveyor. and did not become a resident until later.

The first white man. so far as is known, to traverse the territory now known as Richland county. was James Smith, a voung man who was captured by the Indians in Pennsylvania in 1755, and was adopted into one of their tribes. Smith. in company with his foster brother, Tontileango, passed a number of hunting seasons in these parts. Next, Major Rogers and his rangers passed through where Mansfield now stands, when passing to and fro between Gnadenhutten and Wyandot.

In 1782. Colonel Crawford, with his army, passed through Richland county, and halted at "a fine spring' - now known as the Lampert spring, on East Fourth street. Mansfield.

The first white woman in this region was Miss Heckewelder, daughter of the Moravian missionary. These were pre-settlement white people, who were in the territory now known as Richland county, only as sojourners, or in transit.

The successful campaign of General Anthony Wayne in 1794, and the peace treaty with the Indians that followed, in 1795, secured comparative safety on the Ohio frontier and immigration to the West was resumed. The surveys of the public lands, which had been practically stopped were resumed, and the surveyors tried to keep in advance cf the settlers, and land offices were established in several places. General Hedges began the survey of Richland county in 1806, and at that time there was not a settler within its borders. The year following, the Newman settlement was made and the first cabin was erected on Section 36, about sixty rods from the grist mill, later known in history as Beam's Mills. The site of this historic cabin was doubtless selected on account of the spring of the water at the base of a knoll a few rods west of where the cabin was erected. This was known as the Newman cabin, and its owner was Jacob Newman, the first settler. The cabin was made of rough beech logs with the bark on. There was but one room with a loft above. The walls were chinked and daubed with sticks and mud. In the little window, oiled paper was used, instead of glass. The door was low, but its latchstring was always on the outside, and no stranger was turned away hungry. Jacob Newman's family consisted, besides himself, of three nephews and a niece - Isaac, Jacob, John and Catharine Brubaker. Mr. Newman was then a widower, and Miss Brubaker acted as his housekeeper until he remarried. Their nearest neighbors were at Wooster and Fredericktown, the distance to either place being twenty-five miles.

Michael Newman, Jacob Newman's brother, joined the little colony the next spring. The next addition to the settlement was Moses Fontaine and family, followed by Captain James Cunningham. In 1809, the Newmans built a sawmill, prior to which the settlers had to use puncheon instead of board floors in their cabins. A grist mill was added a year later. Thexe mills were purchased in 1811, by Michael Beam. who improved the former and finished the latter, which became widely known as ''Beam's Mills," and by that name have passed into history. The buhrs of the grist mill were made of "nigger-head" stones, and did poor work, but it was a great deal better than no mill at all. It was well patronized by the settlers, who came from great distances and from all directions, and often had to wait several days to have their grinding done, many grists being ahead of them.

Samuel Martin was the first settler at the Mansfield site. He was from New Lisbon, Columbiana county, and was somewhat of an adventurer, who. following the course of the pioneers westward, heard of the new town that was to be, halted here, put up a cabin, and prepared to board the party of surveyors who were coming to lay out a town. Martin. however. got into trouble by selling whisky to the Indians, and had to leave the country. He was succeeded by Captain James Cunningham, who thereby became the first bonafide resident in the place. This was in 1809.

As a new county was to be formed, a town for a county seat must be founded, and the site selected was upon the opposite side of the Rockyford of the Mohican, where George Mentzer's residence now stands, between the grist mill and the grange hall. Here a number of cabins were built. Within a year, however, another site was chosen for the county seat town, and the latter is where the city of Mansfield stands today, and from her vantage location as a railroad, manufacturing and commercial center sends her products around the world. An hundred years have not yet been counted off the calendar of time since this first settlement was made in a little clearing in the wilderness at Beam's mills, but how important that period has been in the history of the world, and how fraught with results for the betterment of mankind. How interesting that lives sometimes span from one epoch to another. John Gray, who was the last survivor of the War of the Revolution, lived eighty-three years after the close of that struggle. dying at Hiramsburg, Noble county, Ohio March 29. 1868. aged one hundred and four years. He lived to see great changes in the country he fought to sever from the tyrant beyond the sea, and in making .\merica an independent nation - 'the land of the free and the home of the brave."

It is also interesting to trace the history of a country from its beginning and follow society in its formative state and note its material developments and scientific achievements. It took George Washington eight days to journey from Mount Vernon to New York to be inaugurated first president of the United States. Now the same distance can be traveled in less than eight hours.

Macaulay's eloquent panegyric on science as applied to the arts in promoting human welfare is justified, and more than justified, by the facts about us. .\nd all those achievements and others since Macaulay, still more wonderful. have accrued to the benefit of mankind since Madison township was first settled.

No fable - no mythical legend of encounters with dragons and monsters exaggerates the heroisms of the pioneers. Their acts, their lives are in the full light of history. To them can be applied Pericles' commendation of Athens. *.\thens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her."'

Although the first town site was abandoned, the locality has always been prominent in the history of the county on account of Beam's mills and Beam's blockhouse. the latter being one of the most important of its kind in this part of Ohio during the war of 1812. It is not definitely known why the site was changed.

At the time the first settlement was made in Richland county there were no railroads. no locomotives. no steamships, no telegraphs, no telephones, no power printing press. no known utility of frictional electricity, no spectroscope, no microscope. no farm machinery - all of these have since that time been given to the world, and to which we greatly owe that remarkable advance in the conveniences and comforts of life, that unite in making this a grand age - an age in which it is a blessing to live, to be part of the same and to enjoy its privileges.

Ohio was the battleground where the savages tried to stop the tide of civilization in its westward course across the continent, and Richland county was the theater-stage upon which some of the bloodiest tragedies of that terrible strife were enacted, and in those conflicts her soil was reddened with the blood of many of her noblest sons. It was, in fact, a battle between civilization and barbarism, and the former conquered and the latter receded by that world-propelling plan by which peoples are driven forward in the ways of destiny. Millions of people have been hurrying westward. we-tward ever since the dawn of time.

In America all citizens. whether as rich as Croesus or as poor as Lazarus. are equal before the law. And Lecause of our free institutions and public schools. any boy. though born in a cabin, though reared in poverty, may attain

The history of Madison township is closely interwoven with that of Mansfield, but this sketch deals with the former, leaving the latter to succeeding chapters.

There should be a monument erected to mark the site of the first cabin that future generations may know where the first xettler in Richland county founded a home. The locality is of additional historical interest from the fact that the first town in the county was to have been located there. and there the first mills were built, and one of the first and the most prominent and important of the several blockhouses in the county was erected there. This blockhouse is known in history as "Beam's blockhouse."

During the war of 1812 forts and blockhousex were nece=sary to protect the settlers from the Indians, who were aided and abetted by the British against the pioneers. his barbarous mode of warfare wax also employed by Great Britain in the War of the Revolution. and wax denounced by Lord Chatham in a speech in parhament.

Blockhouses were square, heavy. double-storied building-. with the upper story extending over about two feet all around. They also projected shghtly over the stockade. commanding all the approachex thereto. so that uo lodgment could be made against the pickets of which the stockade was built to =et them on fire or to scale them. They were also pierced with port-holex for musketry. The roof sloped equally from: each side upward, and was surmounted at the center by a quadrangular =tructure called the sentry-box. This box was the post of observation. affording. from its elevated position. an extensive view on all sidex. In times of threatened attack= the whole settlement would seek the xafety and protection of the blockhouses. Many were the tragedies witnessed by the pioneers. whose courage and devotion <hould ever be held in memory. ft hax been related that evening rol] call was an important as well as an amusing part of the dav'= programme at a blockhouse. At roll eall men and bovs. assuming different tones of voice. would loudly answer to fictitious names added to the list. so that if Indians were prowling alout meditating an attack they would think the blockhouse was well garrisoned.

The Beam blockhouse stood on the east side of the Rockyfork. a few rods north of the grist mill. It was used as a military post during 1812. 1813 and 1814. Thirteen soldiers died there during it= occupancy and are buried on a beautiful knoll on the bank of the Roekvfork. a half mile below the mills.

In 1812. when the Indians were being removed from Greentown to Piqua, and while temporarily encamped at Mansfield. an Indian named Toby escaped. but was captured and killed near where the Leesyille - West Fourth street - road crosses the Toby run. which takes its name from the Indian. There was a military order to shoot any Indian who tried to escape. and a party of scouts. obeving the order - as soldiers are required to do - fired upon the fleeing savage, and he was buried where he fell. The name ix the Indian "Toby' - not the German '"Touby."

A month or two later Levi Jones was killed by the Indians. Jones kept a grocery store upon the site now known as the Sturges corner. and the Tndians had pawned -ome articles with him, and because he refused to give them up without pay they assassinated him as he was passing along North Main street, near the foot of the hill.

After the close of the war of 1812 some of the Indians returned to Richland county. but Greentown haying been destroyed, they had no fixed habitation here. Two young "*brayes" by the names of Seneca John and Quilipetoxe, came to Mansfield and got on a spree. and at the Williams tavern, at the site of the present Southern Hotel. got into trouble with some of the settlers. The Indians left late in the afternoon, intoxicated and swearing vengeance against the white~. They were followed by five settlers. who overtook the redskins about a mile east of town, and in the battle that eusued both Indians were killed and their bodies buried in the ravine east of the Sherman hill. on the Ashland road. and the place has since been called Spooks' Hollow. The Wooster road then passed through Spooks' Hollow. It now runs a half mile south of its first location. Th former vears many tales were told of apparitions that had been seen in Spooks' Hollow. But the Indians seem to be "keeping quiet" there now,

Coming to later vears. the Finney murder. in Madison township. south of Mansheld. was committed on the night of December 6. 1877. For this foul and bloody crime Edward Webb. a brutal negro, was hanged May 31. 1878. in the presence of over ten thousand people. William 5. Finney. the murdered man, was an unele of County Commissioner Finney.

While the Beam mills were the first in the country. others were erected within a few vears thereafter. Among the number was the Keith mills, erected by the father of Judge IT. D. Keith. The location of this mill was near the junction of Rocky run with the Spring mills. or main branch of the Rockyfork. in the vicinity of the recent Baltimore & Ohio railroad accident. This mill was operated for about fifty vears, but is now a thing of the past.

Where and how to get grain ground were questions that confronted Madison township pioneers. It required both capital and millwrights to erect erist mills. and ax beth were scarce mills were not numerous. The first settlers frequently went to the Clinton mills. a mile north of Mount Vernon, to have their grain ground into breadstuff. Expedients were often employed, such as erating corn into meal for mush, or grinding the grains by hand between two Hat stones. .\ power null. when it came. with runs of buhrs, was a blessing to the settlers.

The first mill in Mansfield was located where the county jail now stands. Tt was built by Clement Pollock. It was a tread-mill, operated by three voke of oxen. The mill was duplex - it ground corn and sawed lumber. Robert Pollock erected and operate a carding mill on East Fourth street, near Adams street. It was propelled by horse-power. and ximply made ''rolls''- - prepared wool for the spinning wheel.

John Wright built a saw mill on Toby's run in 1820 in the vicinity of Mulberry street. Later. Henry Leyman built a grist mill where the old oil mill now stands. on West Sixth street. Thomas Clark built a sawmill on Tobw's run. west of the Baltimore & Ohio depot.

Jacob Bender, the grandfather of Jacob Laird. had a carding mill on the new state road, propelled by the water of the Laird spring. now known as the upper reservoir. The spring had an output of four hundred gallons a minute.

The Painter woolen mills, east of Mansfield on the Sherman hill road. came early and staved late - was operated for many years. Its propelling power was water from the Painter or Bender springs.

Archaeologically and prehistorically, Ohio is richer than any other state in the Union, and Madison township has its fair share of such remains, a= would be shown was the bibliography of its earthworks and relics fully given. Prehistoric earthworks are usually called "Indian Mounds," which is a mi-- nomer, for the Indians never made them. These earthworks were erected many years before the Indians came. And all prhistoric earthworks may not have been erected by the same race of people. Ohio was inhabited even prior to the coming of the "Mound Builders," as archaeological discoveries show there were people here before the close of the pre-glacial period. Palaeolithic implements - unquestionably of human manufacture - have been found near Loveland and other places - similar to others found in the east - showing that in Ohio, as well as on the Atlantic coast, pre-glacial men existed and manufactured implements such as were necessary for their pursuits and vocations. When the age of the Mound Builders is reckoned by centuries, that of the pre-glacial race must be counted by thousands of vears.

The most extensive prehistoric earthwork in this part of Ohio is the "fort" on the Balliett farm, in the vicinity of Spooks Hollow. east of the Sherman hill, in Madison township. This earthwork was surveyed in 1878 by the county surveyor, John Newman, who made a report of the same to the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, and also made his report a matter of county record. This work is upon an elevation at the east side of the head of Spooks' Hollow, and consists of an oval-shaped embankment or fort. five hundred and ninety-four feet long by two hundred and thirty-eight feet wide in the center. and contains two and two-thirds acres. Southwest of the fort seven hundred and ten feet there is a spring at the side of the ravine from which a copious flow of water issues at all seasons of the vear. Directly south of the fort. upon the side of the hill leading to the old stage road, is the "furnace," which is an excavation walled with stone like a well. It is called a "furnace."' as charcoal, charred. bones and evidences that fire had been used there were found at the bottom of the drift with which the place was filled. This furnace is about five feet across, is circular in form and its uses and purposes must be conjectured. At the east side of the "fort" there were a number of depressions varving from four to twenty feet, but they have been so filled up in the tilling of the land as to be nearly obliterated. In excavating one of these depressions at the time of the survey at a depth of eight feet a drift was struck leading toward the fort. Geographically, the fort was platted upon longitudinal lines and upon geometrical measurements, and the depressions were variously located with relative mathematical distances, all giving evidences that the people who planned and made and occupied these works were well advanced in the higher branches of mathematics. Since their day and occupancy large forest trees have grown upon these earthworks - trees of at least six centuries growth. These works are relics of a prehistoric age of which much has been written and but little is known.

Geologically, Madison has interesting features, the most notable of which is its inexhaustible stores of stones of the Waverly conglomerate. The quarries just east of Mansfield yield good building stones, although not equal, perhaps, to the Berea on the north, nor to the more homogeneous and finer-grained sandstones of the Waverly, further south. The peculiarly variegated coloring of the stones from these Madison township quarries make beautiful windowcaps. sills and corners, and also fine looking building fronts.

Madison township is an interesting subject for both choragraphers and topographers in its location and in its environments, its surface and its physical features and outlines. being situate in the center of Richland county and on the crest of the "Divide," with hills and valleys and rocks and streams, and although it has neither extended plains nor high mountains, it has an undulating surface and beautiful landscapes in charming variety.

T'rom the western slope of the Sherman hill, on the Ashland road, an excellent view can be had of Mansfield, and from the top of the hill, looking south. down along Spooks' Hollow, a valley of garden-like beauty is presented, and the landscape-picture extends for miles, embracing some of the Washing-. ton township hills.

From the Tingley hill. on the Olivesburg road. a good view is also obtained of Mansfield. including the adjacent country to the north and west. A newspaper man had occasion recently to visit that part of Madison township lying northeast of the city. Leaving the car at the reformatory grounds he walked up the Tingley hill. halting occasionally to look back and around at the city and its environments. He tramped along, passing Hancock's Heights and Excelsior Hall schoolhouse. and the homes of Sol Harnley, Fred Nixon and others, to the Charles B. Tingley cottage on the hill, from which, looking down the slope and over the city, a beautiful picture was presented that morning, the view terminating in the hazy west, with forms lying across the dim horizon. which might be low-lying clouds or distant hills. The morning sun was touching the scene with its warming rays, dispelling the mist that had hung over the city at the dawn. From the contemplation of this view and from the historical reminiscences the scene recalled, the knight of the pencil turned to meet Mr. Tingley and family and to receive the cordial greeting they extended to their guests.

Nearly opposite Charles B. Tingley': is the home of Samuel Nail, who might almost be called a pioneer. Miss Anna Ettinger, of Chicago, a relative of the Nails, owns five acres of land on the brow of the hill and is having the grounds platted by a landscape gardener, and will build a cottage there with the intention of spending the summers at that rural retreat. which will be one of the finest suburban homes in Richland county.

Adjoining the Nail place on the north is the farm of Thomas Tingley, and where his father lived before him. Thomas Tingley. the present owner, was born upon this farm October. 1822. and is. therefore. over eighty years of age, Lut his mind is clear. of excellent memory. and has the old style cordiality and candor of the pioneer period in which he was born. Mr. Tingley lives in the two-story brick house built by his father over seventy year= ago. It is the first brick residence built in Madison township. Back in the "forties" Mr. Tingley hauled grain to the lake market~ and relates many interesting ineldents connected with his trips.

In July. 1861. a military camp for organization and instruction was established upon this Tingley farm and called Camp Mordecai Bartley. in honor of Mordecai Bartley. who had been a soldier in the war of 1812. had represented the Richland district eight vears in congress and later was governor of Ohio. In this camp the Fifteenth and the Thirty-second Ohio infantry rendezvoused. but were later transferred to Camp Dennison. For convenience the name was changed to "Camp Mansfield."

The One Hundred and Second Ohio infantry went into Camp Mansfield August 18, 1862. and remained until September 4. when they left for the front with 1.041 men. rank and file.

The One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio infantry went ite Camp Mansfield August 29. 1862. where the "boys" drilled and prepared for the xervice which awaited them at the front. Thev left camp October 25 with 949 men.

The late James Purdy began the draft on the morning of October 1. 1862. and 236 men were drawn to fill the deficit in Richland county's quota.

Ohio had been divided into eleven military districts. The tenth district was composed of Ashland. Ere. Huron, Holne-. Richland and Wayne counties. and of this district Camp Mansfield was the military camp. and thus Madixon township has the distinction of having had the headquarters of the Tenth Olno military district within her borders during the Civil War. Of this camp the late W. S. Hickox was quartemnaster and Thomas Tingley was the sutler.

The land upon which Camp Buckingham was located. where the Sherman brigade was in camp. is now a part of the Second srard of the citv of Mans- - field, and does not. therefore. come within the scope of a Madison township sketch.

What scenes a visit to old Camp Mansfield recall! Forty years and more ago preparations for war were witnessed which made it seem as though life had been very commonplace before. Public meetings were held. patriotic ~ongs were sung and eloquent speeches were made. and enlisting went on. more eloquent in its silence than were the speeches and songs. Recruits "donned the blue" to fight for the preservation of the union of the states. The city of Mansfield blossomed out in flags and banners; they floated from almost every house and well nigh canopied the streets. Amid cheers and pravers and tears troops went off to the front to fight their country's battles and to uphold the starry flag. .\non, funeral pageants passed along the streets where a few months before troops had gaily marched. For whenever possible the remains of those whose lives went out in camp or field were brought home and were buried by the side of kindred, and each recurring Memorial Day their graves are decorated with flowers.

The Tingley schoolhouse - called 'Excelsior Hall" since the change of location - was often used for religious gatherings and the Rev. Harry O. Sheldon, the Methodist circuit rider, who preached in Mansfield as early as 1818; frequently conducted services there, as also did other ministers of later years. Ministers did not read essays in those days - they preached. And their preaching was effective and powerful. Upon one occasion when a minister was disecoursing upon "hell" (they gave it to them straight then), he told them the devil was at that moment outside the building rattling his chains. His eloquence and word pictures had so held and swayed the audience that many thought they really heard chains clanking.

Singing was a prominent part in religious gatherings in the days of the pioneers. It was of the old style congregational singing. The church music of today may be more artistically rendered - more operatic with spectacular (isplays - but it is the old-time tunes. as our mothers sang them, that comfort us in our sorrows and sustain us in our trials.

To the pioneer preachers civilization owes much, and it has been truthfully said that it is due to the influence of these worthy men that the passions of the pioneers. -timulated by the continual cruelties and outrages of their savage foemen. did not degenerate into a thirst for revenge and a barbarous retaliation, and their respect for these sacred teachings has been perpetuated in their descendants, along with a chivalrous courage and a contempt for everything base and mean. .\ high moral tone has ever pervaded the children -prung from these early settlers, in whose own lives the spiritual truths of religion had taken root.

Within the memory of persons now living, country people would start for eburch Sunday barefooted. carving their shoes and stockings tied in a handkerehief until they got near the meeting-house. when they would stop and put them on.

In those early davs wheat often brought but twenty-five cents a bushel and the only market for it was at the lake, where it had to be hauled by wagons, taking nearly a week to make the trip. Ginseng sold for twenty-five cents a pound, and often more. It was found in the woods, dug, cut into pieces and strung upon strings to dry; then it was ready for the market and shipped east. Cash was paid for ginseng and beeswax. Coffee then cost fifty cents a pound. It could not be bought without ginseng, beeswax or money. Most families made it a point to have store coffee on Sunday or when they had company; other times they used "coffee" made from burnt rye or wheat.

A pioneer stated that people who have spent their lives in an old-settled country can form but a faint idea of the privations and hardships endured by the first settlers of our now flourishing and prosperous state. That when he emigrated he was a young man, without any property, trade or profession, and entirely dependent on his own industry for a living. He purchased a tract of new land on credit two iniles from: any house or road and built a pole cabin. He got a loaf of bread. a piece of pickled pork. some potatoes. borrowed a frving pan and commenced housekeeping. He had 10 company by days. but the wolves and owls gave him a concert by night. In time he persuaded a young woman to tie her destiny to his. He built a log house twenty feet square, which was considered quite large and aristocratic in those days. He said he was fortunate enough to possess a jackknife: with that he made a wooden knife and two wooden forks. which answered for the two to eat with. He made a bedstead of poles - pule= for po-t+. for <ide rail< and for springs. and upon the latter he placed a straw bed. which answered the purpose and upon which. he said, they slept soundly. In time. a yard and a half of calico was wanted and he went ten miles on foot to the neare-t town to procure it. But he had no money and could not get credit. and therefore the calico could not be obtained. Upon his return home he reported his failure. whereupon hiwife suggested that he had a thin pair of pantaloons which would make a decent frock. The pants were cut up. the frock made and in due time the child was dressed. The family became wealthy and prominent.

Providence crowned the labors of the pioneers with snecess and they had cnough to eat and to wear. Of course. their wants were few and simple and the products of the soil and hunting vielded a sufficient supply. They =pun and wove the fabrics for their clothing and the law of kindness and goodwill governed their actions.

In the early settlement of a new country there ix to be found a larger development of a true and brotherly love and magnanimity than in any other place or under anv other conditions.

Leipsic township was organized in 1816 and embraced the territory of the present Perry and a part of Congress township. the latter now in Morrow county. The first officers of the new township were sworn into office September 28, 1816, as follows: Trustees. John Cook. James Huntsman and John Coon: clerk, Jonathan Huntsman: supervisors. Philip Stealts and Benjamin Hart: overseers of the poor. George (oss and Lawrence Lamb: fence viewers, Henry Sams and Caleb Selby.

On October 11, 1816, the name of the township was changed from Leipsic to Perry. As it had formerly been allied with Jefferson and there was an indebtedness of $54.94, each township assumed one-half the amount. $27.47. The administration of public affairs was not expensive in those years. Hart, for his pay as supervisor of the west half of the township, received 75 cents for his services.

Perry retained the boundary given it in 1816 until June 5, 1825, when it was reduced to six miles square - the original survey - and the western thirty-six sections received the name of Congress.

Morrow county was created (in part out of Richland) in 1848, and Perry was again divided and reduced to its present limits - six miles long and three miles wide - and contains eighteen sections of its original territory. The central part of the township is rolling tableland, with an elevation that makes a watershed divide between the Clearford of the Mohican on the north and Owl creek (the Kokosing) on the south.

A considerable portion of Perry township is a beech-wood country, and when first settled the land was covered with decayed vegetable accumulation that made the surface look invitingly fertile. All the ordinary crops are successfully grown, but upon the upland where the soil is argillaceous, care must be taken to maintain its fertility.

Perry township has a very interesting history; some of the events and incidents may be mentioned in this connection. The first house in the township was built on section 11, in 1809. by John Frederick Herring, who also built a grist mill at the same place, the second mill put in operation in Richland county. This mill was on the south branch of the Clearfork, four miles west of Bellville. where the Lexingtou-Frcedericktown and the Bellville- Johnsville roads cross. It was known for fifty vears as the Hanawalt mill, but after serving well its day and purpose for about three-fourths of a century, it is now no mere.

The Eby niall was built in 1837, was operated thirty-seven years, and stood farther up the stream. Frairie's woolen factory was run successfully for many years. and a grist mill was formerly operated at the same locality, where the Walters bridge spans the south branch.

A number of both grist and saw mills were erected in the township and did a flourishing business for years, but the shrinkage of the streams lessened the water power with which the mills were operated, and. with the change in business aiYairs and in operating methods. country mills of all kinds generally went out of business.

The people of Perry have always been abreast of the times in their religious matters. and the Christian, Methodist, Lutheran, Evangelical, United Brethren and perhaps other denominations have congregations and_ places of worship. In about 1840 quite a religious revival was had in the western part of the township. One man, being ''almost persuaded," prayed that a sign might be given him. and one night while in bed he heard a noise and, arising to ascertain the cause, discovered that the family Bible had fallen from u shelf to the floor. He picked it up and opened at the passage: "'He brought me up also out of a horrible pit." He sent messengers out to his neighbors, with "speed. Malise, speed," messages that a sign had been given him, with the request that they gather at his house. "Instant the time; speed, Malixe, speed,'' and his neighbors came that same hour of the night and held services of prayer and praise until noon the next day, and many were "converted."

Darlington, the only town in the township. was formerly called Hagerstown, after Christopher Hager, the first settler on the land where the village stands.

The Lost Run region. in the southwest part of Perry township, js one of the most picturesque and attractive of the many interesting localities in Richland county. :

Lost Run is a north tributary of the Kokosing, and cuts diagonally across the southwest corner of the township, from the northwest to the southeast. a distance of about two miles. Its waters were of sufficient volume in the olden time to furnish water power to operate the Hosack mill. A "feeder" comes into the run from the Follin spring. on the northeast quarter of section 27. The Lost Run distillery has been operated a number of years and is situate a short distance north of the county line.

Lost Run got its name in this way: .\ man on a prospecting tour to locate lands became lost in the wilderness and. coming to this stream, followed it down to a settlement in Knox county. The locality inspires a desire for rural domesticity. It is a region where the inilkmaids can sing their evening songs in the quiet valley with refrains unswering in echoes from the surrounding: hills.

Of Perry township people. past and present. the names of the following families are prominent: Hosack, Bigbee, Sagar. Bisel. Mann. Ewers, Toben Painter, Follin, Culp. MeFerren, McDonald, Hardman. Poorman, Baughman. Walters, Eckert. Craven. Olin. Coursen, Kochheiser, Daily. Ruhl. Lantz. Baker, Steel. Hiskey, and others. Jacob Algire settled in Perry township in 1827. David Buckingham came in 1823. Bickley Craven was born in Perry township. Jackson and Samuel Eby came from Pennsylvania in 1831 and built a sawmill in 1836 and a grist mill in 1837. on the Clearfork. called "The Perry Mills," and operated the same for thirty-seven vears. Jacob Erow came from Green county in 1857 and served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion. John Garver came from Pennsylvania with his parents in 1834. John' Hanawalt was born in Baltimore in 1805. He came to Ohio at an early day and purchased the Herring mills. which he operated for many years. Jonathan Huntsman came in 1816. The Huntsman familv is one of the most numerous in the township. and are well-to-do people. The Lantz family came in 1833. Samuel Lantz married Leah Brubaker. Alexander McKinley settled in Perry in 1864, His wife's maiden name was Jerush Runyan. The Olins came from Vermont. Gideon Olin, father of Nathaniel Olin, was a major in the war of the rebellion, was a judge of the court and a member of congress. Nathaniel Olin was the grandfather of Olin M. Farber, of Mansfield. The Painter family came in 1818 and located in the southeast part of the township. In 1827 Robert Parker came from Baltimore in a one-horse wagon and located in Perry township. Thomas Phillips settled in Perry in 1814. Mr. Phillips was, in his day, one of the most prominent men in the township. His son William was a member of the Sixty-fourth O. V. I.. and was killed at the battle of Stone river, December 31, 1862. The Ruhl family have been prominent and prosperous for several generations. John Steel was born in Perry township in 1818 and Steel run in the eastern part of the township was named for him.

At Painters, west of Bangorville, a government meteorological station is maintained. The leading "institutions" of Perry township are farm homes.

country schools and churches. The people are industrious and prosperous and, being removed from the marts of trade and commerce, are but little affected over strikes. trusts or political agitations. "Home," to the people of Perry township. is a dear word, as it should be to all, for it is the place where the tired toiler finds rest at eventide. It is the place where love is not only fraternal but divine. and where joy permeates the very air and prayer trembles into its most solemn and earnest importunities and where sorrow drops its bitterest tear.

Washington township was organized March 4, 1816. It is six miles square and contains thirty-six sections. The surface is broken, but is generally fertile. and a number of rich little valleys lie between its rugged hills. Richland county is noted for its springs of cool, pure water and Washington township has its full share of them.

Considerable land in the central part of Washington township was not entered during the earlier period of the settlement of the county, because that locality was hilly and the land rough. But when the Germans came they settled there. not, perhaps, from choice as much as from necessity, for the better lands had previously been taken. Predictions were made at the time that the Germans could not make a living out of that rough region. But they cut and grubbed and digged and cleared, and succeeded in changing a rough wilderness into remunerative farms, and by dint of application, industry, perseverance and economy - traits for which the Germans are noted - success was achieved and the people of that settlement are as prosperous today as are those of other localities. As a class, the Germans are industrious and frugal and make good citizens.

The question has been asked why xo many Germans leave their muchbeloved Fatherland and seek homes in America. They began to emigrate to this country early in the eighteenth century, and for the reason that their field: of grain had been trampled under foot by the armies of Europe. In many cases their stock and grain had been taken and their homes burned. Added to these misfortunes. the severely cold winter of 1708 froze their wine and destroyed their vineyards. William Penn had visited them in their affliction and told them of his fertile lands in America. Then the hegira to the new world began. Thousands settled in Pennsylvania, whose descendants became known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch." For many years later the contending armies of Europe rendered German industries insecure and the local controversies made a military enrollment necessary that interfered with business plans and pursuits of young men who were able for military service.

The only town in the township is Washington, situate about six miles from Mansfield on the Newville road. Town and township were named for the 'Father of His Country." .\ good start to begin with. The Clearfork of the Mohican courses across the southwest corner of the township and into this empties Toby's run. In the north part of the township the Bentley run in former vears furnished water power for a number of mills, and of these Wickert's is still in operation. Slater's run rises in the glades upon the old-time Vasbinder and Sickinger farms. and runs in a southeast direction until it emptiex into the Clearfork at Newville, a distance of eight miles. The land of the valiey through which this run courses is very productive. This stream of water is now commonly called "Possum run. It formerly furnished water-power to run the Clever, the Losh and the Snyder sawmills and the Watts grist mills and the Graber woolen factory.

One of the highest elevations in Ohio is the "Settlement" hill. near the center of Washington township. five miles svuth of Mansfield. on the old State road. The elevation ix nine hundred and thirty-two feet above Lake Erie and three hundred and seventy fect higher than Mansfield. Further south is the Sheckler hill. which has an altitude almo-t as high as the Settle ment hill.

Washington township was noted in the past for its temperance and antislavery societies and Black Cane company. The latter was organized to suppress horse-stealing. From the number of horses stolen in the county from about 1820 to several vearx later. it wax thought that members of the Blackfork gang resided in this township. This Black Cane conrpany was composed of some of the most prominent settlers of different neighborhoods, and each carried a black cane as an in-ignia cf membership. By the efforts of this company the neighborhood was rid of thievizh depredations until about 1833. when the services of thix company were again employed to drive out horse-thieves and counterfeiters,

The first temperance society had its headquarters in Washington. To counteract this society an anti-temperance organization was formed and outnumbered the other in membership. but not in duration of vears.

The first road in the township was the State road from Mansfield to Bellville. The first public house was kept by Thomas Laughlin. on the State road near the center of the township. Some years later Sickinger'= tavern was opened. a half-mile north of the, center. Although Sickinger's was a stage-tavern, Its principal patronage cane from the freight trathe of those davs. The products of central Ohio were hauled by teams along this State road to the lake. Dozens of teams at a time would stop at Sickinger'= over night. The popularity of this hotel was largely due te Mrs. Sickinger= reputation as a cook.

Some of the best fighters at pioneer musters were Washington township men. A muster wax considered a tame affair unless there were several fights at fisticuffs. and it wax usually Washington against the field.

Crist Burns, the hereulean pioneer. married a Miss Pearce. of thix township. and resided a number of vears within its lnnits. He was called a giant - not so much on account of Ins height and weight as his great strength. He was known to carry three men and their loads. TLe outran and whipped every man against whom he was ever matched. His acrobatic feat= were as wonderful as were his exhibitions of strength. At one time a pole was placed upon the heads of two men and Burns jumped over the same with apparent ease. At another time he jumped over a covered wagon. to the surprise of -all who witnessed the feat. and his gvinnasium training had been in clearing the forest. tilline the soil. and in carrvine the hod.

The Pearce family, prominent people in the township, came in 1814, and among other early settlers were the following persons: William and John Stewart, Solomon Culver, James Sirplis, William Ayers, Solomon Lee, Daniel Mitchel, William Riddle, Daniel Cook, Joseph and Garvin Mitchel, Andrew Thompson, John and Wesley Barnes, Isaac Slater, Alexander McClain, Robert Crosky, Thomas Shanks, Andrew Pollock, Noah Watson, Martin and Jacob Ridenour, Calvin Culver, Thomas Smith, Melzer Coulter and Jedediah Smith.

Jedediah Smith was the reputed lover of Kate Seymour, who, with her father and mother, was killed by the Indians in 1812. Smith had entered land in the northeast part of the township, and then returned to Pennsylvania to make final arrangements for his removal here, and was to be married upon his return. During his absence his beautiful Kate was murdered, as above stated. Mr. Smith was so affected by this appalling event that he did not return to Ohio until 1816, and remained single for a number of years.

John Stewart was the first justice of the peace of the township, which office he filled for a number of vears. He was auditor of the county for eight vears and county surveyor for eighteen years. Mr. Watson was one of the first constables, and during his term of office served two summons and two warrants, but received no pay. 'The first school was taught by John Barnett, who received $2 per scholar for a three-months' school. In 1818 Sally Braden taught a summer school, the first taught by a woman in the township.

The religious sentiment of the township was always at the front. The first church organization was of the Methodist Episcopal, at Washington, in about 1823. They maintained their organization for many years. During the anti-slavery excitement, prior to the Civil War, this congregation divided, and the out-going party organized as Wesleyan Methodists and built a church at the north end of the village. Both of these are now gone. The Congregationalists built a church in the center of the town, which is now the only place of worship there. Two churches were organized and two church buildings erected in the southeast part of the township, and were occupied in the '30s by the Albrights and United Brethren. Ebenezer church is at the crossing of the Mansfield-Newville and Bellville-Lucas roads. Cesarea church, a mile northwest of Washington, is one of the oldest organizations of the Disciple church in Richland county. St. Peter's church, five miles south of Mansfield on the old State road, is of the German Reform denomination. It is commonly known as the "Settlement" church, because it is in the German settlement. St. Peter's was a branch of St. John's, of Mansfield, until 1866, when it was given full church functions and privileges. The first church building was a log structure and was dedicated on Whitsunday, 1848. The date chosen for the dedication showed that the Germans were in touch with church traditions.

The late ex-Governor John P. Altgeld passed his boyhood years in Washington township, and worked on his father's farm, situated amid its rugged hills. By close application to his studies, qualified himself for teaching, and, after teaching a country school for several terms, he went west and became

Among the prominent residents of Washington township today mention should be made of 'Squire John Gerhart, who served two terms as county commissioner; John and W. B. Knox, Martin Touby, wealthy farmers Samuel Spayde is always ready to furnish martial music for soldiers' reunions. There are the Kochheisers, the Kiners, the Ritters, the Lawrences, the Culvers, the Straubs, Kennedy, Kinney, McKee, Hammett, Lutz, Hesselton, Swigart, Clever, McFarland, Balliet, Charles Pollock, Harter, Fulton, and Maglott, each of whom deserve more mention than space will admit of here. Dr. Maglott, of this city, was a Washington township boy.

James McVey Pearce was born, reared and has always lived in the Pearce settlement, as he does today. He was named for a pioneer preacher of the Disciple church. You must not estimate the value of his lands nor the amount of his bank deposits by the clothes he wears. If you visit his home you will be hospitably treated, for he is a liberal entertainer, a good citizen and a loyal friend.

While the fact is known by our older citizens that a Black Cane company, with headquarters in Washington township, existed in the long ago. the history and purposes of the company have never been given in newspaper print. As early as 1820-21 the southern part of the county was troubled with a company of horse-thieves and counterfeiters, whose operations extended into other counties. The band was quite numerous, and for several vears its members had things their own way. It was almost impossible to convict them, as they would swear each other clear. After losing a number of horses and much other property, a number of the most prominent citizens banded themselves together for self protection and called their organization the Black Cane company. Each member carried a black cane, made out of black haw wood, the bark being peeled off and the canes burned black, after which they were oiled and polished to give them a glossy appearance.

The object of the Black Cane company was to protect the property of the settlers, with special reference to horse-thieves. A number of horses had been stolen from the southern part of the county, and so completely were the traces of the thieves covered up that the settlers came to the conclusion that an organized band of horse-thieves was operating in their midst. It appears that these thieves had a line of communication from the Mohican valley to Lake Erie, so that horses stolen 4m the southern part of Richland or the northern part of Knox county would be passed along and be disposed of far away from the place of their theft. So stealthily was their work performed and so thorough was their mode of operation that but little, if any, evidence could be obtained against any member of the gang, and then, too, they could furnish plenty of witnesses to prove an alibi for an accused member.

While the Black Cane company had its headquarters in Richland county and had its purpose to rid the country of the gang of horse-stealers and counterfeiters, and a considerable part of the workings of the thieves had been done in the southern part of the county, our own people had neither lot nor part in their nefarious operations. .\ conviction or two was had of citizens of Hanover township. -\shland county, and the gang seemed most numerous along the upper waters of the Walhonding, with a membership extending down to Guernsey county, to Perry's den, east of Cambridge, in Guernsey county, situated in a deep ravine on either side of which were high projecting rocks and deep, dark recessez, where persons suspected of crime could go into comparatively safe hiding. Perry himself was finally captured, convicted, and given a five-years' term in the penitentiary. Perry's conviction had much to do in terminating the operations of the gang, as he had been one of its leaders for a number of years.

The early settlers of Richland county were men of different mold from those down along the rugged banks of the Walhonding, and instead of stealing horses they built churches and schoolhouses and organized temperance societies. It is true that pioneers drank whisky at log-rollings and corn-huskings, and occasionally indulged in fighting at county musters, and they may have "chawed" dog-leg tobacco, yet they were honest, upright men and founded a civilization - the civilization of which we boast today.

March 29. 1827, the temperance society referred to was organized with Thomas Smith as president and Samuel Ritchie secretary. The following platform wax adopted as a basis of organization, to-wit:

Whereas. The use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is injurious to the health of the consumer and ruinous to the morals of the community;

Resolved, That we form ourselves into a society to be known by the name of Washington and Monroe Temperance Society. and that we adopt the following pledge for our guide for one vear: 'We, whose names are hereunto attached, do pledge ourselves to dixpense with the common use of ardent spirits in our families and at our gatherings and frolics, and, so far as our influence extends, use all laudable means to discourage the use of it in others."

\t first the matter of getting along without whisky in the harvest season and at log-rollings. raisings and corn-huskings was earnestly discussed, but as the foregoing pledge was adopted for only one year the members agreed to stand by it for that length of time and see how it would work. At the next meeting, held one year after the organization of the society, progress was reported, and by a unanimous vote it was decided that the pledge should stand ad infinitum.

This temperance society had an organized existence for more than thirty years, meeting monthly upon the first evening of each month. During its existence the names of over six hundred persons were enrolled as members upon the society's books. The organization was kept up as long as there was anything to fight, and then it disbanded, as did also the Black Cane company after its mission was accomplished.

Chestnut Chapel schoolhouse is in Washington township, two miles north of Bellville, on the State road. It is situated in a chestnut hill country, and the house has been used for Sunday school and religious purposes, hence the name - Chestnut Chapel. The location is at the top of the first hill of the suecession of elevations that rise from the Clearfork at Bellville and terminate at the Settlement church on the summit of the divide. This Chestnut Chapel region has never been very prominent in the history of the country, for the residents there are a steady-going, industrious people, who pursue the even tenor of life's way, never aiming at great renown and never doing aught that would cause a blush of shame to mantle their honest cheeks. The men are stalwart sons of toil, and the ladies are not only handzome, but possess sterling qualities as well.

Life, it is claimed, is what we make it. In youth all are apt to look forward to a future of perpetual sunshine, little thinking of those dark and troublesome days, the shadows of which sooner or later, in some degree, overtake all; but these people have cared more for their homes and their homelife than for the world, with its riches and fame and disappointments.

Home, to these people, is a dear word, as it should be to us all, for it is the place where the tired toiler finds rest at eventide. It is the place where love is not only fraternal, but divine, and where jov permeates the very air and prayer trembles into its most solemn and earnest importunity, and where sorrow drops its bitterest tear.

The stately city mansion, carpeted from basement to attic, with its appointments and furnishings of the richest and most costly, may not be as happy a home as that of a log cabin in the country, even though there be no carpet on its floor, no paintings of the ''old masters" hanging upon its rough walls. no piano, but voices sweet and dear, singing melodies but httle short of angels' songs. Where there is contentment and happiness there is home and love.

In old days the Teutonic nobles used to draw their swords, as they repeated the words of the creed, while their glittering blades flashed in the air, to show that they were willing to fight for the faith of their fathers; and the Chestnut Chapel people are content with the old farms and the old homes and the associations of their childhood.

During the ninety years this part of Washington township has been settled the lands have been productive and the harvests multiplied and the fruits of the earth annually gathered, and the people have been blessed with whatsoever was needful for them. The early residents have long since taken their "departure hence in peace," but many of their descendants occupy the homesteads of other days.

The Chestnut Chapel school is fully up to the standard in educational lines, as is evidenced by the intelligence and learning of the people of the district. Chestnut Chapel hill is not without scenic beauty. From the brow of the summit, at the bend of the road, south of Bowers', a good view is obtained of Gold valley to Bellville and to Durbin hill beyond. The landscape picture there preseuted is not grand nor majestic, but enhancing and sublime.