Middlebury Township

Middlebury Township

On tlie 3d of December, 1823, this township was established, imd the first election was held at the house of Luther Bateman, in April, 1824. It is now the north-west corner of Knox, and on the score of improvement, the beauty of the country, and the intelligence of its inhabitants, ranks first. Its principal settlers at every period have been Friends, from Maryland and Virginia ; and the influence of the Quaker element has been highly salutary. The increase of population and wealth has been steady. In 1830 the inhabitants numbered 705, and the amount of land returned for taxation was 13,000 acres ; in 1810 there were 1,002 inhabitants ; in 1850, 1,092 ; and in 1860, 1,040. The villaares of Batemantown and Waterford are points for trading operations ; the latter is quite a thriving little town, having the advantage of miUs in its neighborhood. Here Josiah Eawcett and John Lavering for many years were rivals in business, competitors for the post-ofiice, and the prominent men of their respective i)arties. When the Whigs were in power, Josiah held the post-ofiice ; and when the Democrats ruled, he was out and John in. The post-office and its name were mooted points in Middlebury. The Laverings were old settlers of this section. Of the old stock, Daniel and Mary were here in 1813 ; she died October 24, 1816, aged 85. Several of the name are in the county at this date ; John is yet selling goods at Waterford.

Samuel Wilson and Thomas Townsend emigrated frcmi Erederick, Md., in 1808. The former is dead, and his son Joseph resides in Indiana ; the latter died March 18, 1859, aged 78, on the farm where he had resided over fifty years. Amos and Wm. Farquhar were early Maryland emigrants, and David and Robert Ewers from Virginia. The Wrights and Lmyises, David Eaves, Jacob Zulman, Samuel Willett, the Comforts, Jesse Yore, Jesse Stevens, the Batcmans, the Cravens, the Wagoners, the Grahams, the Eiddlers, the McPhersons, the Van Buskirks, tlic Wal torses, have been long residents of this townsliip. Josiah Eawcett, the old merc]iant, is in partnership with his son, in a store in Fredericktown.

Among the citizens of this part of the county in 1819, were William Watkins, from Stoney Creek, Somerset county. Pa. ; Warren Owen, from Vermont, who emigrated about 1817 ; Philo Doolittle '^ and Zebulon Ashley, also from New England. Asahel Ashley, only son of Zebulon, is living in Missouri ; and his son-in-law, Frisbce Owen, also lives there.

Charles Strong emigrated from Frederick county, Md.; he died in 1850. Mrs. Strong is living. Of their eight children, the following survive : G. W.

The Denman family is one of the oldest and best in Middlebnry and Chester. James Johnson, the old Justice, died a few years ago, leaving a considerable family in this township ; his son Orlin is a prominent citizen. Lawrence Van Buskirk is another noted citizen, having served as State Senator. James Martin and his family have long occupied a front position among the good citizens ; he has lived in the county since 1811.

Jacob Ebersole was an eccentric old settler, of miserly disposition, who lived close and mean to accumulate money to look at. After his death, over $2000 in coin was found hidden away by him - some under an old anvil block in a smith shop, and another lot in an old chest, under some rubbish.

Successive Justices Of The Peace

The first Justice in 1821 was James Johnson, who was regularly re-elected and served until 1818. The second was James Graliam, elected in 1831, and served three terms. In 1812 Stephen McPherson was elected, and re-elected in 1815. Ezra Marvin and John W. Loofborow were elected in 1818, and re-elected in 1851 ; G. Wash. Ewers and Thomas Craven in 1852 ; Daniel Ayres in 1855 ; and at the same time J. D. Burke, who was reelected in 1858, and again in 1861 ; Isaac Lynde in 1858, and re-elected in 1861.

Source changes here: from History of Knox County, Ohio, Its Past and Present, Containing a Condensed, Comprehensive History of Ohio, Including an Outline History of the Northwest; a Complete History of Knox County ... a Record of Its Soldiers in the Late War; Portraits of Its Early Settlers and Prominent Men ... Biographies and Histories of Pioneer Families, Etc, by Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), Comp, published 1881; 5,239 words in this source stream.

Middlebury Township

Ordered, That the following bounds be laid oft" into a separate township, to wit : ' ' Beginning at the southeast corner of the j eighth township, in the fourteenth range, and running west on | said township line to the southwest corner of said township; j thence north on the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth | ranges to the boundary line; thence westerly on said boundary ', line to where the nearest north and south line in the new pur- . chase strikes said boundary line; thence north on said north and south line to the north boundar}- of Knox county; thence east on the county line to where the west boundary line of Berlin township strikes said county line; thence soi],th on tlie west boundary of said Berlin township to the place of beginning; which shall henceforth be entitled to all the privileges of a

An election was ordered to be held at the house of Luther Bateman on the first Monday in April, 1824, for the purpose of electing township officers.

Middlebury township shall be composed of the following bounds, to wit: "Beginning at the northwest corner of the seventh township in the fourteenth range; thence north on the range line to the Indian boundary line; thence southwesterly to Franklin township; thence north on the east boundary of Franklin to the county line; thence east to the line between the fifth and sixth sections in Knox county; thence south on said line to the old Indian boundary line; thence northeasterly on said line to where the range line between the thirteenth and fourteenth ranges strikes said boundary; thence south on said boundary to the northwest corner of township seven, in range thirteen; thence west on the township line to the place of beginning."

The township thus constituted is situated in the northwest corner of the county, and is composed of twelve and one-half square miles of territory, south of the Greenville treaty line, in the United States Military district, and seven and one- half square miles of territory, north of said treaty line, the latter being Congress land.

The surface of the country is gently rolling and well adapted to farming purposes. The soil is good, being composed of the debris of the olive shales mixed with glacial drift, and sufficiently impregnated with lime to render it very productive. Owl creek traverses the township from northwest to southwest, affording ample drainage and considerable water-power which the early settlers did not fail to improve.

The first permanent settlers of Middlebury township were Friends, from Frederick county, Maryland. In the fall of 1806 William W. Farquhar arrived in Knox county, and stopped temporarily with Henry Roberts in Morris township, but shortly thereafter in company with other Friends located at Fredericktown in Wayne township. Here he remained till 1808, when he moved to Middlebury and settled on the William Burkholder place, two miles north of Fredericktown, where he died. Mr. Farquhar was quite a prominent man. On the fourteenth of February, 1808, the general assembly of Ohio chose the first associate judges of Knox county, and William W. Farquhar was selected as one of them. He discharged the duties of that office with faithfulness and abihty till December 12, 1813, when he resigned. The first jury case ever tried in the supreme court for Knox county, was that of William VV. Farquhar m. James Craig, in which a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for one hundred and three dollars and sixty cents. Mr. Farquhar was a stockholder in the Owl Creek bank, owning fifteen shares in that institution. In the year 1818 he was elected to the legislature from Knox county. Basil Farquhar, at an advanced age, still resides in Middlebury township.

Samuel Wilson, another Friend from Frederick county, Maryland, came about the same time as Farquhar and located in the Quaker settlement. His name appears on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, October 11, 1808, and in 1812 he was one of the judges of election in the same township. Mr. Wilson was a zealous member of the Friends society of Owl creek, and ran off an acre of land from the southeast corner of his farm which he donated to that society on which to erect a meeting-house. His son Joseph for a time occupied the old homestead, but it finally passed into the hands of strangers.

Thomas Townsend located on the A. M. Townsend property, one and one-half miles north of Fredericktown in 1808. He was one of the Friends from Maryland, and true to his Quaker principles, kept a station on "the underground railroad." It is related of him that he would harbor as many as twenty fugitive slaves at a time, and when they were sufficiently recruited, set their faces toward the north star, and send them on their way rejoicing. Mr. Townsend died March 18, 1859, aged seventy-eight. He has no representative now in the township.

The names of John and Jacob Cook appear on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, at the time it included Middlebur)-. They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and after sojourning for a time in Fredericktown, located in the southeast corner of Middlebury township in 1809. John Cook reared a family of ten children. His daughter, Armanella, married Noah Levering, and reared a family of ten children - seven of whom are still living. She died June 13, 1879, in the seventy-first year of her age, and was buried in Levering graveyard, near Waterford.

Richard Hall was also an early settler. His vote is recorded October 11, 1808. He lived on his farm, south of the present residence of N. M. Strong, where he died and was buried.

Thomas Finch and John Mitchell were early settlers at Waterford. Mitchell's location is not definitely known, but Finch located on the property now owned and occupied by William Penn, adj<5ining the town plat of Waterford.

Daniel Levering came to Knox county from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, prior to the War of 181 2, purchased some land of John Mitchell, near Waterford, and entered some other trncts. In the spring of 1 813 he moved his family to his new home, and during the summer, with the assistance of a few others, built a block-house on his farm as a protection against the Indians. Mr. Levering was quite an ingenious man. He opened the first blacksmith shop in the township and built the first gristmill - a history of which is given elsewhere. He reared a large family, provided each with a home, and "left his foot-prints on the sands of time." Ke died December 31, 1820, aged fifty-six years and eleven months. His wife, Mary, died October 24, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year. Of his children, Grace, the oldest, married William Rambo, and died at Rich Hill, Knox county, January 8, 1853, aged sixty-four; Henry married Dinah Cook, the first marriage in the township; Charles went to Iowa, where he died; Nathan died December 20, 1872, aged seventy-seven years, and was buried at the old homestead; John was a prominent business man at Waterford for many years, and died March 13, 187 1, in the seventy-fourth year of his age; Noah was one of the proprietors of the town of Waterford, an enterprising business man, and died March 4, 1 881, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and was buried in a reserved lot of the graveyard he had donated to the public; Joseph died May 26, 187 1, in the sixty-eighth year of his age;

Truman Strong was born March 7, 1790, at Poultney, ^'ermont, married Polly Ashley, March 21, 1811, came to Knox coimtv in 181 2, and located on lot eleven in the southwest quarter of Middlebury township. He was a minister in the Universalist church, travelled extensively and preached wherever he went. He also figured as a fourth of July orator, as the following extract from a published account of a celebration "by a respectable number of citizens of Wayne township," in 1816, shows: *'The Declaration of Independence was read by Jabez Beers, and a patriotic and very animated oration delivered by Truman Strong.'' He reared a family of five children, Harvey A., Truman C, Eliza P., Franklin P. and Norman Murray Strong. The latter is the only one now living in the township.

Zebulon Ashley was born in Poultney, Vermont, married Thankful Pond, September 25, 1770, and moved to Middlebury township, Knox county, Ohio, in the fall of 181 2. He located on lot twenty-two, and reared a family of six children, none of whom are now living in the township. Mr. Ashley died March 4, 1835, and was buried in the cemetery, the ground for which had been donated to the public by him.

Munson Pond was born in Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, September 18, 1772, married Anna Allen, June 17, 1796, at Middlebury, Vermont. She died in April, 1799, when he married Ruth Bateman in 1800, and came to Middlebury townshijj in the early part of 1815. He settled on lot six, now known as the Elizabeth Ladd farm, and essayed to open up a farm. On this tract grew a sycamore tree twelve feet in diameter. This tree being hollow was cut down, a fourth of July celebration held in a section of it, and then turned into a bedroom. Mr. Pond remained here until 1830 when he removed to Huron county, Ohio.

Luther and Alvin Bateman came from \'ermont about 1815, and settled in the vicinity of Batemantown. They tried hard to emulate the example of Romulus and Remus, but the fates seemed to be against them. Batemantown as an embryo city was not a success. Luther Bateman died July 2,

John Ackerman settled in the northwest cornei of Middlebury township in 1813. His sons, ; Stephen, Morgan, Leander and Harvey, are still residents of the township

Jonathan, David, Richard and Robert Ewers, ; emigrated from Loudoun county, Virginia, and lo- ; cated in the eastern part of the township. They all raised large families, so that the name has become quite common in the neighborhood. Jacob Young had a saw-mill and corn cracker on the I south fork of Owl creek in 1813, and was elected associate judge in 1813, to fill the vacancy occaj sioned by the resignation of Hon. W. Farquhar. I William and Basil Murphy found a home one I mile north of Batemantown in 181 5, and in 18 16 j commenced the tanning business, which they carried on until 1863. Basil Murphy still resides near ! the old homestead, and William lives in Fredericktown. Sarah Murphy, the mother of Basil, and at whose house the first Methodist class-meeting was held, died January 9, 1854, in the seventy-ninth year of her age, and was buried in Levering's graveyard.

Obadiah Stillwell was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1776. Sarah Warford was born at the same place March 7, 1782. They were married March 6, 1804, and came to Knox county, Ohio, in October, 181 7. Mr. Stillwell made his home on the northeast quarter of section nine, in the western part of Middlebury township. Here he reared a family of six children, Joseph W., Charlotte, Rachel, Arthur and Josiah M. Joseph moved to Morrow county, but returned and is now living in Waterford. Charlotte and Rachel are dead. Jackson moved to Illinois and Arthur to Iowa. Josiah lives on a part of the old farm, while the old homestead itself is occupied by the widow, Sarah Stillwell, now in her one hundredth year, and from whom the above facts were obtained.

Warren Owen came to the township in 1817, and William A\'atkins in 1819. The Johnsons, Denmans, Stevenses, Walterzes, Ebersoles, Grahams, Zolmans, Comforts, Fiddlers, Cravens, Eaveses, McPhersons and Martins were also early settlers of more or less prominence.

cleared the ground, erected the log cabins and made civilization possible. As education was an essential element in the development of the race, a school was taught in one of the log houses by Daniel Levering in 18 14; he also taught the first singing school. The first brick house in the township was built on the J. B. Blackburn place by Darius Strong.

A road from Fredericktown by way of Cook's and Wilson's to Mansfield, was petitioned for June 5, 1809, by William Y. Farquhar, Joseph Moore, Amariah Watson, William W. Farquhar, Samuel Watson Daniel Ayers, Alexander Avery, Peter Wolf, James Ayers, Samuel Wilson, John Kerr, William Smith, Willis Speakman, John Cook, Thomas Townsend, Jacob Casper Fitting, Jeremiah Brown, Enoch Farquhar, William Mitchell, N. M. Young, E. N. Taylor, Daniel Johnson, Thomas Clark, jr., Amos Hartley and John Click.

Casper Fitting, James Bryant and Henry Roberts were appointed to view the same, and Jacob Young surveyor. These parties made their return July I, 1809, and the road was confirmed by the county commissioners, Septembers, 1809.

"Pond's road" was laid out from Fredericktown to Munson Pond's; thence to Luther Bateman's; thence to Daniel Levering's blacksmith shop, on a petition of Munson Pond, Luther Bateman, Henry Levering, Charles Levering, Augustus Strong, Zebulon Ashley, Abel Pond, Abel Convers, Abner Ayers, G. B. Mansfield, John Williams, David Graham, Alfred Manning, Robert Buchanan and Thomas Nevins. The viewers appointed by the county commissioners were William W. Farquhar, John Lewis and Henry Markley; Darius Strong was appointed surveyor.

A remonstrance having been presented to the commissioners, a review was ordered and returned December 3, 181 7. It was confirmed as a county road in June, 1818, and made a State road in 1826.

The first saw- and grist-mill in Middlebury township was built by Daniel Levering at Waterford about 18 1 5. He first erected a saw-miil, and shortly after put up a grist-mill with two run of buhrs, which he operated until his death in 1820, when the mill came into possession of his son, John Levering. He sold to Alfred \A'a]ters, and he to J. C. Stump, who rebuilt the mills in i860 and christened them "Owl Creek Mills." Joel Starmer was the proprietor who ran the same about seven years, when he traded the property to Dawson & Badger, and in 1875 Newton McCluckion bought Badger's interest. In February, 1876, Dawson sold out to J. Williams, when McCluckion purchased Williams' interest, and is at the present time sole proprietor. The mills are situated in the centre of a productive country and do a good business.

Craft's mill was originally a saw-mill, and in 1840 James Blair erected a grist-mill on the site, which he operated about fifteen years, and then sold to Washington Ewers. Elias Craft bought out Ewers in 1865, and put in an extra pair of buhrs. The mill is now owned and operated by W. H. & A. L. Craft. It is situated on Owl creek on the northwest quarter of section twenty-two.

Abner Trowbridge built a saw-mill on lot 26, on the west fork of Owl creek in 1830. In 1845 he sold to J. N. Gorden, and he to Gilbert Owens in 1855. After passing through several hands it became the property of J. L. Nxodemus, who still owns it.

William Rambo, in 1845, built a saw-mill on Owl creek about the centre of section four, which he ran four or five years. After his death in 1853 it came into the possession of David Shaler, who operated it until 1875, when it fell into disuse.

In 1850 R. D. Ketchum had a store in Batemantown, which he kept four or five years, when he failed in business, and abandoned the enterprise.

A man named Hall tried the hotel business in Batemantown but met with nc better success; in fact Batemantown seems doomed to never become a town at all. A half dozen houses constitute the village at present.

The first election was held at Luther Bateman's in 1824. The following is a list of the justices of the peace for Middlebury township: James Johnson, 1S24, re-elected and served until 1848; James Graham, elected in 1831, and served three terms; Stephen McPherson, 1842 and 1845; Ezra Marvin

The board of township officers is constituted as follows: John W. Craven, William Cooke, and Henry Wagner, trustees; George J. Ewers, treasurer, Vincent E. Dye, clerk; A. S. Kirby, assessor; George E. Cook and F. H. Johnson, constables; William Burkholder, A. S. Kirby, J. G. Bayer, A. N. Wertz, Daniel Randall and George E. AlcKinney, board of education; David Bullyer, Robert Martin, Jacob Zolman, Sylvester Caywood, J. C. Levering, Jerry Williams, A. N. Wertz, G. B. Ewers, F. C. Cochran, T. E. -Carson, W. H. Craven, and George Palmer, board of road super. visors.

The elections have always been held at Batemantown, except one year when Hezekiah Windom was trustee. That year John Levering, by the magnetic influence of a turkey dinner, drew the polls to Waterford.

Waterford is situated on the north fork of Owl creek, six miles north of Fredericktown. It was laid out on the northwest quarter of section three, town eight, and range fourteen, of Congress lands, north of the Greenville treaty line. The land was owned by Josiah Fawcett and Noah L. Levering, and was surveyed by Merritt M. Beam, November 25 and 26, 1841.

The first store was kept by John and William Levering before the town was laid out. In 1865 Levering sold out to Benedict & Smith. The former sold his interest in the store to his partner in 1866. Benedict disposed of the stock to Barton and Leander Ackerman in 1867, and in 1868 they moved to Hagerstown.

The first post-office was established at Waterford, October 25, 1836, and named "Levering," in honor of John and Noah Levering, who were instrumental in establishing a postal route from Mount Vernon to Tiffin, Ohio, that year. While the Democrats were in power John Levering was secure in the possession of the post-office, but with the accession of the Whigs to power the postoffice naturally gravitated towards the "shop across the way," kept by Josiah Fawcett.

Batemantown stepped in and carried off the prize; but it was not long permitted to remain at the rival town. A united effort soon succeeded in restoring the office to Waterford, where it has remained ever since. Since 1853, the following persons have held the office: Columbus Levering, Dr. Thomas Watters, J. D. Burke, Dr. Clayton W. Townsend, Abraham Oberholtzer, Zoe Levering, Monroe Keys, Frank V. Owen, and Curtis Hardgrove.

The first tavern in Waterford was kept by Charles Wagner. He opened in 1844 and kept till 1864, when he moved to Fredericktown. His successor was Newton McCluckion, who still entertains strangers.

The practicing physicians of Waterford since 1 841 have been: Drs. Cope land, Griffee, Turner, Bird, Walters, Spooner, Townsend, Cook, King, and C. C. Hill, a graduate of Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia.

Waterford at present contains one post-office, Curtis Hardgrave, postmaster; one grist mill, Newton McCluckion, proprietor; two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian; one schoolhouse; one Odd Fellows' hall; two stores, Curtis Hardgrove and William Killen, proprietors ; one hotel, N. McCluckion proprietor : one blacksmith, V. E. Dye; one shoemaker, J. G. Bayer; one painter, E. L. Grubb; one harness maker, George Kolb; one sawyer, Robert Zolman; one barber, L. L. Glasser; twenty-three dwellings, and one hundred and seven inhabitants.

Quaker Church

One fourth of a mile north of Waterford is a cemetery which Noah Levering deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1844, reserving one-fourth of an acre for the Levering family. The first person buried here was Allen Levering, January 26, 181 7.

The Quaker graveyard is probably the oldest burying ground in the township, but the date of the first burial is not within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, and Quaker tombstones are proverbially as silent as the grave.

Some of the earliest and the principal settlers of Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin townships have been Friends, or Quakers, who emigrated from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Prominent among them were John Lewis and family, Thomas Townsend and family, Samuel Wilson and Family, Amos Farquhar and family, Henry Roberts and family, and Samuel Gregg and family. These people by strictly honest dealing and correct deportment won the respect and esteem of their neighbors, and by industry and economy added not a little to the wealth and prosperity of the settlement. People of their religious convictions and reverence for the peculiar form of worship which characterized their fathers, could not long remain destitute of a place, as the Quaker poet expresses it -

So the Friends' society of Owl c:eek was organized in 1809, and their meetings were held for some time in private houses, and in course of time a meeting house was erected. The first structure was of the primitive type, composed of rough logs of the forest, which answered its purpose till 1S22, when a brick building twenty-five by forty feet square, with a large fireplace and chimney at each end, was erected on the Fredericktown and Mansfield road, near the centre of section twenty. Here for years the Friends met together on the first and fourth days of the week to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, with none to molest or make them afraid, and perhaps no people are more faithful to their Christian obligations, or more punctual in their attendance at their meetings than they. For some time these people dwelt together in perfect harmony and friendship, seemmg to enjoy a realization of "peace on earth and good will to men,'' but the serpent of discord netered the Eden of brotherly love, and a change came over the spirit of their dreams. Elias Hicks arose, and claiming to be guided by an inward light superior to that which lighted the path of George Fox, proclaimed divers new and strange doctrines in the hearingof the heretofore solemn and staid brotherhood. The consequence was, dissention in the course of time reached the Owl creek society, and the sliding partition in the brick meeting house became a permanent line of division between the Hicksites and the orthodox.

In their case the adage that "a house divided agamst itself cannot stand,'" was clearly verified, and at this day scarcely anything remains to memorize the Friends' society of Owl creek, except the old brick meeting house, with its large outside chimneys, plain front doors, moss-grown roof and weather-beaten walls, as it still stands there desolate and unoccupied in the pleasant beech and maple grove, whose welcome shade long years ago was sought by man and beast. There it stands the very i)icture of desolation, gradually yielding to the disintegrating tooth of time, destined soon to share the fate of the little flock that used to meet within its walls.

The seasons roll on - spring time returns, and with it the grass on the old churchyard comes forth, matures, fades, and dies, untrodden by the foot of man save by the stranger who.se curiosity may have led him thither. The beech and maple grove obeys Nature's call, and in due time puts on its robes of living green; the birds build their nests in its branches and sing their merry songs; but the ears that once heard them with so much pleasure hear them no more. Eyes that gazed with delight upon the surrounding forest see thosg beauties no longer, for quietly they now sleep beneath the green sod of the burying ground near the old church. They have gone to rest while many of their offspring have gone to seek their fortunes in the far West, forgetting alike the scenes of their youth and their early parental instructions.

Among the more recent faithful ones belonging to this now extinct band were Joseph Barrington and wife. Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Barrington, and Birthday Cone are the only survivors that are now living within the bounds of the old society. They are now stricken in years, and when they have

The class from which the Methodist Episcopal chnrch of Batemantown originated was organized at the house of Mrs. Sarah Murphy, one mile north of Batemantown, in the spring of 1831. The original members were Alvin Bateman and Flora Batematn, his wife ; Luther Bateman and Wealthy, his wife; Sarah Murphy; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Jane Fiddler, Robert Murphy, Charles Post, Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife, and a man named Welch. Alvin Bateman was the first leader. Leonidas Hamlin was the first preacher and formed the class. This class met at the house of Mrs. Murphy until 1832 when a frame church, twenty-four by thirty-six, was erected on the Main road about one-fourth of a mile southeast of Batemantown. The trustees at that lime were \\'illiam Murphy, Alvin Bateman, Luther Bateman, Charles Post, and Robert Murphy. In 1844 the congregation was divided, a part going to Waterford where a society was formed, and in 1856 the Bateman society erected a new frame church, thirty by forty, at Batemantown in which they still worship. The present number of members IS about thirty. The leader is Zachariah Zodiker.

The first class of the Methodist Episcopal church, organized in Waterford, was some time previous to 1844, by Rev. Sandford Parker, and in 1844 a regular church organization was effected, the following persons being members: William McCluckion and Joanna, his wife; Lucinda Dawson, Susan Dawson, Andrew Welch and Lydia, his wife; Joseph Mann and Sarah, his wife; Charles Wagner and Anna, his wife, and Jemima his daughter ; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Basil Murphy and Abigail, his wife; Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife; Alfred Walters and Winifred, his wife, and Elizabeth and Sarah V., his daughters; John Levering and Charlotte, his wife; Silas Pierson and Priscilla, his wife; N. Galliher, Samuel Galliher and Phebe, his wife; Joseph Galliher and America, his wife, David, his son, and Elizabeth, his granddaughter; William Levering, Ruth, his wife, Milton, his son, and Nancy, his daughter, and Prelett Taft. The classleaders were Joseph Mann, Samuel Galliher, and .\lfred Walters. In 1844 a neat frame church, forty by sixty, was erected in Waterford, and the dedication sermon preached by Rev. Adam Poe.

Walter, John McNabb, James Wheeler, A. K. Owen, James Wheeler, Daniel Lambert, John Mc- Nabb, F. J. Close, John Mitchell, John Bloomfield, Harvey H. Wilson, John Kellam, Oman Lawrence, William Spafford, R. S, Moffatt, C. C. Ball, A. L. S. Bateman, William Smith, G. R. W^alker, W. W. Smith, Silas Seymour, E. O. Buxton, M. B. Meade, Elnathan Raymond, and James McMahon. The maximum number of members was seventy-five. The present is number, twenty. William Penn is class leader.

The early Presbyterian preachers in the vicinity of Waterford were Revs. James Scott and James Cunningham, but no organization was effected till 1849, when Rev. J. M. Paris became pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. John Hughes, and he by Revs. Caldwell and Hamilton. The next in order was Rev. Luke Dorland, succeeded by Rev. W. W. Anderson. Following Anderson came Revs. Brown and McClelland. The present pastor is Rev. W. M. Ferguson. The first members of session were J. J. Turner and William Killen. In 1849 ^ "^^'- frarne church, forty by fifty, was t erected at the west end of the village, and the I Presbyterian church of Waterford became one of I the institutions- of the town. The number of members is not known.

The Seventh Day Adventist church of Water- I ford, was organized at the house of E. C. Penn, in ! Morrow county, Ohio, by Elder O. Mars, of Bowlj inggreen, Ohio. The original members were ' George Bisel and wife, W. T. Carson and wife, E. j O. Penn and wife, and W. S. Boon. Their first ! meetings were held in private houses until 1874, when a neat substantial frame church was erected on a lot purchased of R. S. Keyes, one-half mile west of Waterford. The building is twenty-eight by thirty-eight feet; cost one thousand two hundred dollars, and was dedicated by Elder H, A. St. John, in January, 1875. The present membership is forty-four. E. C. Penn is the present

Middlebury was named by the county commissioners, at the suggestion of Luther Bateman, to perpetuate the memory of Middlebury in Vermont, from whence many of the settlers came.

It is essentially an agricultural district, there being but one village, and no manufacturing establishments of any importance within its bounds. It contains six schools, of the ordinary district character, and at one time boasted of an institution denominated Westminster academy. It was situated in the town of Waterford, and conducted by Rev. Robert Morrison and his brother, Professor William Morrison, both of the State of Kentucky. This institution grew out of a division in the Presbyterian church on the subject of slavery and its abolition. Those who were opposed to that measure seceded and started an academy to perpetuate their views. It was well patronized for a time - pupils coming from Holmes county and elsewhere who were in harmony with the political character of the institution, but after the settlement of the vexed question by the emancipation proclamation and the arbitrament of arms, Westminster academy passed into history.

Middlebury township has produced some men not entirely "to fortune and to fame unknown." Lawrence Van Buskirk (now deceased) came to Knox county in 1830 and located on the northwest quarter of section two, one mile east of Waterford In 1848 he was elected to the legislature of Ohio, and in 1851 he was elected to the State senate.

Hon. Columbus Delano was reared near Batemantown and went to Mt. Vernon to practice law, whereby his history became identified with that of the city, where it will be found.

Hon. William Windom was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 10, 1827. His parents, Hezekiah and Mercy Windom, came from Virginia and became members of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. At an early age he came with his parents to Middlebury township and located on the northeast quarter of section two, one and a half miles east of Waterford, where his boyhood days were spent on the farm - but disliking the business he learned the tailormg trade with J. D. Burke, of Waterford. The first coat he made after fiinishing his apprenticeship was for John Walters, now of Fredericktown, and was by no means a success as a fit. Being fully persuaded that he possessed "a soul above buttons," he went to Mt. Vernon while yet a young man, and there entered the law office of the late Judge R. C. Hurd. After being admitted to the bar he was elected prosecuting attorney of Knox county, as a Whig, in 1852, by a majority of three hundred. While studying law he delivered temperance lectures through the country, and on one occasion, while lecturing in Morrow county, the roughs of Woodbury threatened to mob him if he attempted to speak. Nothing daunted, however, he proceeded to the hall, and laying a pistol on the stand, went on with his lecture unmolested. In 1855 he went to Winona, Minnesota, with his associate, Hon. Daniel S. Norton. Norton was elected to the United States Senate, and at his death was succeeded by Mr. Windom, since which time his career is too well known to require repetition here.

Source changes here: from History Knox County, Ohio, by N. N. Hill., Jr, published 1881; 5,184 words in this source stream.

Middlebury Township

Ordered, That the following bounds be laid off into a separate township, to wit: '' Beginning at the southeast corner of the eighth township, in the fourteenth range, and running west on said township line to the southwest corner of said township; thence north on the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges to the boundary line; thence westerly on said boundary line to where the nearest north and south line in the new purchase strikes said boundary line; thence north on said north and south line to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on the county line to where the west boundary line of Berlin township strikes said county line; thence south on the west boundary of said Berlin township to the place of beginning; which shall henceforth be entitled to all the privileges of a

Middlebury township shall be composed of the following bounds, to wit: ''Beginning at the northwest corner of the seventh township in the fourteenth range; thence north on the range line tothe Indian boundary line; thence southwesterly to Franklin township; thence north on the east boundary of Frank- and sixth sections in Knox county; thence south on said line to the old Indian boundary line; thence northeasterly on said line to where the range line between the thirteenth and fourteenth ranges strikes said boundary; thence south on said boundary to the northwest corner of township seven, in range thirteen; thence west on the township line to the place of beginning."

The township thus constituted is situated in the northwest corner of the county. and is composed of twelve and one-half square miles of territory, south of the Greenville treaty line, in the United States Military district, and seven and one-half square miles of territory, north of said' treaty line, the latter being Congress land.

The surface of the country is gently rolling and well adapted to' farming purposes. The soil is good, being composed of the debris of the olive shales mixed with glacial drift, and sufficiently impregnated with lime to render it very productive. Owl creek traverses the township from northwest to southwest, affording ample drainage and considerable water-power which the early settlers did not fail to improve.

The first permanent settlers of Middlebury township were Friends, from Frederick county, Maryland. In the fall of 1806 William W. Farquhar arrived in Knox county, and stopped temporarily with Henry Roberts in Morris township, but shortly thereafter in company with other Friends located at Fredericktown in Wayne township. Here he remained till 1808, when he moved to Middlebury and settled on the William Burkholder place, two miles north of Fredericktown, where he died. Mr. Farquhar was quite a prominent man. On the fourteenth of February, 1808, the general assembly of Ohio chose the first associate judges of Knox county, and William W. Farquhar was selected as one of them. He discharged the duties of that office with faithfulness and ability till December 12, 1813, when he resigned. The first jury case ever tried in the supreme court for Knox county, was that of William W. Farquhar vs. James Craig, in which a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for one hundred and three dollars and sixty cents. Mr. Farquhar was a stockholder in the Owl Creek bank, owning fifteen shares in that institution. In the year 1818 he was elected to the legislature from Knox county. Basil Farquhar, at an advanced age, still resides in Middlebury township.

Samuel Wilson, another Friend from Frederick county, Maryland, came about the same time as Farquhar and located in the Quaker settlement. His name appears on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, October 11, 1808, and in 1812 he was one of the judges of election in the same township. Mr. Wilson was a zealous member of the Friends society of Owl creek, and ran off an acre of land from the southeast corner of his farm which he donated to that society on which to erect a meeting-house. His son Joseph for a time occupied the old homestead, but it finally passed into the hands of strangers.

Thomas Townsend located on the A. M. 'Townsend property, one and one-half miles north of Fredericktown in 1808. He was one of the Friends from Maryland, and true to his Quaker principles, kept a station on "the underground railroad." It is related of him that he would harbor as many as twenty fugitive slaves at a time, and when they were sufficiently recruited, set their faces toward the north star, and send them on their way rejoicing. Mr. Townsend died March 18, 1859, aged seventy-eight. He has no representative now in the township.

The names of John and Jacob Cook appear on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, at the time it included Middlebury. They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and after sojourning for a time in Fredericktown, located in the southeast corner of Middlebury township in 1809. John Cook reared a family of ten children. His daughter, Armanella, married Noah Levering, and reared a family of ten children - seven of whom are still living. She died June 13, 1879, in the seventy-first year of her age, and was buried in Levering graveyard, near Waterford.

Richard Hall was also an early settler. His vote is recorded October 11, 1808. He lived on his farm, south of the present residence of N. M. Strong, where he died and was buried.

Thomas Finch and John Mitchell were early settlers at Waterford. Mitchell's location is not definitely known, but Finch located on the property now owned and occupied by William Penn, adjoining the town plat of Waterford.

Daniel Levering came to Knox county from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, prior to the War of 1812, purchased some land of John Mitchell, near Waterford, and entered some other tracts. In the spring of 1813 he moved his family to his new home, and during the summer, with the assistance of a few others, built a block-house on his farm as a protection against the Indians. Mr. Levering was quite an ingenious man. He opened the first blacksmith shop in the township and built the first gristmill - - a history of which is given elsewhere. He reared a large family, provided each with a home, and "left his foot-prints on the sands of time." He died December 31, 1820, aged fifty-six years and eleven months. His wife, Mary, died October 24, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year. Of his children, Grace, the oldest, married William Rambo, and died at Rich Hill, Knox county, January 8, 1853, aged sixty-four; Henry married Dinah Cook, the first marriage in the township: Charles went to Iowa, where he died; Nathan died December 20, 1872, aged seventy-seven years, and was buried at the old homestead; John was a prominent business man at Waterford for many years, and died March 13, 1871, in the seventy-fourth year of his age; Noah was one of the proprietors of the town. of Waterford, an enterprising business man, and died March 4, 1881, in the seventy-ninth year. of his age, and was buried ina reserved lot of the graveyard he had donated to the public; Joseph died May 26, 1871, in the sixty-eighth year of his age;

Truman Strong was born March 7, 1790, at Poultney, Vermont, married Polly Ashley, March 21, 1811, came to Knox county in 1812, and located on lot eleven in the southwest quarter of Middlebury township. He was a minister in the Universalist church, travelled extensively and preached wherever he went. He also figured as a fourth of July orator, as the following extract from a published account of a celebration "'by a respectable number of citizens of Wayne township," in 1816, shows: 'The Declaration of Independence was read by Jabez Beers, and a patriotic and very animated oration delivered by Truman Strong." He reared a family of five children, Harvey A., Truman C., Eliza P., Franklin P. and Norman Murray Strong. The latter is the only one now living in the township.

Zebulon Ashley was born in Poultney, Vermont, married Thankful Pond, September 25, 1770, and moved to Middlebury township, Knox county, Ohio, in the fall of 1812. He located on lot twenty-two, and reared a family of six children, none of whom are now living in the township. Mr. Ashley died March 4, 1835, and was buried in the cemetery, the ground for which had been do- 'nated to the public by him.

Munson Pond was born in Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, September 18, 1772, married Anna Allen, June 17, 1796, at Middlebury, Vermont. She died in April, 1799, when he married Ruth Bateman in 1800, and came to Middlebury township in the early part of 1815. He settled on lot six, now known as the Elizabeth Ladd farm, and essayed to open up a farm. On this tract grew a sycamore tree twelve feet in diameter. This tree being hollow was cut down, a . fourth of July celebration held in a section of it, and then turned into a bedroom. Mr. Pond remained here until 1830 when he removed to Huron county, Ohio. ;

Luther and Alvin Bateman came from Vermont about 1815, and settled in the.vicinity of Batemantown. They tried hard to emulate the example of Romulus and Remus, but the fates seemed to be against them. Batemantown as an embryo city was not a success. Luther Bateman died July. 2,

John Ackerman settled in the northwest corner of Middlebury township in 1813. His sons, Stephen, Morgan, Leander and Harvey, are still residents of the township.

Jonathan, David, Richard and Robert Ewers, emigrated from Loudoun county, Virginia, and located in the e&stern part of the township. They all raised large families, so that the name has become quite common in the neighborhood. Jacob Young had a saw-mill and corn cracker on the south fork of Owl creek in 1813, and was elected associate judge in 1813, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon. W. Farquhar.

William and Basil Murphy found a home one mile north of Batemantown in 1815, and in 1816 commenced the tanning business, which they carried on until 1863. Basil Murphy still resides near the old homestead, and William lives in Fredericktown. Sarah Murphy, the mother of Basil, and at whose house the first Methodist class-meeting was held, died January 9, 1854, in the seventy-ninth year of her age, and was buried in Levering's graveyard.

Obadiah Stillwell was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1776. Sarah Warford was born at the same place March 7, 1782. They were married March 6, 1804, and came to Knox county, Ohio, in October, 1817. Mr. Stillwell made his home on the northeast quarter of section nine, in the western part of Middlebury township. Here he reared a family of six children, Joseph W., Charlotte, Rachel, Arthur and Josiah M. Joseph moved to Morrow county, but returned and is now living in Waterford. Charlotte and Rachel are dead. Jackson moved to Illinois and Arthur to Iowa. Josiah lives on a part of the old farm, while the old homestead itself is.occupied by the widow, Sarah Stillwell, now in her one hundredth year, and from whom the above facts were obtained.

Warren Owen came to the township in 1817, and William Watkins in 1819. The Johnsons, Denmans, Stevenses, Walterzes, Ebersoles, Grahams, Zolmans, Comforts, Fiddlers, Cravens, Eaveses, McPhersons and Martins were also early settlers of more or less prominence.

cleared the ground, erected the log cabins and made civilization possible. As education was an essential element in the development of the race, a school was taught in one of the log houses by Danie] Levering in 1814; he also taught the first singing school. The first brick house in the township was built on the J. B. Blackburn place. by Darius Strong.

A road from Fredericktown by way of Cook's and Wilson's to Mansfield, was petitioned for June 5, 1809, by William Y. Farquhar, Joseph Moore, Amariah Watson, William W. Farquhar, Samuel Watson Daniel Ayers, Alexander Avery, Peter Wolf, James Ayers, Samuel Wilson, John Kerr, William Smith, Willis Speakman, John Cook, Thomas Townsend, Jacob Casper Fitting, Jeremiah Brown, Enoch Farquhar, William Mitchell, N. M. Young, E. N. Taylor, Daniel Johnson, Thomas Clark, jr., Amos Hartley and John Click.

Casper Fitting, James Bryant and Henry Roberts were appointed to view the same, and Jacob Young surveyor. These parties made their return July I, 1809, and the road was confirmed by the county commissioners, September 5, 1809.

"*Pond's road" was laid out from Fredericktown to Munson Pond's; thence to Luther Bateman's; thence to Daniel Levering's blacksmith shop, on a petition of Munson Pond, Luther Bateman, Henry Levering, Charles Levering, Augustus Strong, Zebulon Ashley, Abel Pond, Abel Convers, Abner Ayers, G. B. Mansfield, John Williams, David Graham, Alfred Manning, Robert Buchanan and Thomas Nevins. The viewers appointed by the county commissioners were William W. larquhar, John Lewis and Henry Markley; Darius Strong was appointed surveyor.

A remonstrance having been presented to the commissioners, a review was ordered and returned December 3, 1817. It was confirmed as a county road in June, 1818, and made a State road in 1826.

The first saw- and grist-mill in Middlebury township was built by Daniel Levering at Waterford about 1815. He first erected a saw-mill, and shortly after put up a grist-mill with two run of buhrs, which he operated until his death in 1820, when the mill came into possession of his son, John Levering. He sold to Alfred Walters, and he to J. C. Stump, who rebuilt the mills in 1860 and christened them "Owl Créek Mills." Joel Starmer was the proprietor who ran the same about seven years, when he traded the property to Dawson & Badger, and in 1875 Newton McCluckion bought Badger's interest. In February, 1876, Dawson sold out to J. Williams, when McCluckion purchased Williams' interest, and is at the present time sole proprietor. The mills are situated in the centre of a productive country and do a good business. There was a saw-mill, fulling-mill and carding machine at Batemantown in 1824, but it was a

Craft's mill was originally a saw-mill, and in 1840 James Blair erected a grist-mill on the site, which he operated about fifteen years, and then sold to Washington Ewers. Elias Craft bought out Ewers in 1865, and put in an extra pair of buhrs. The mill is now owned and operated by W. H. & A. L. Craft. It is situated on Owl creek on the northwest quarter of section twenty-two.

Abner Trowbridge built a-saw-mill on lot 26, on the west fork of Owl creek in 1830. In 1845 he sold to J. N. Gorden, and he to Gilbert Owens in 1855. After passing through several hands it became the property of J. L. Nicodemus, who still owns it.

William Rambo, in 1845, built a saw-mill on Owl creek about the centre of section four, which he ran four or five years. After his death in 1853 it came into the possession of David Shaler, who operated it until 1875, when it fell into disuse.

In 1850 R. D. Ketchum had a store in Batemantown, which he kept four or five years, when he failed in business, and abandoned the enterprise.

A man named Hall tried the hotel business in Batemantown but met with no better success; in fact Batemantown seems doomed to never become a town at all. A half dozen houses constitute the village at present.

The first election was held at Luther Bateman's in 1824. The following is a list of the justices of the peace for Middlebury township: James Johnson, 1824, re-elected and served until 1848; James Graham, elected in 1831, and served three terms; Stephen McPherson, 1842 and 1845; Ezra Marvin

The board of township officers is constituted as follows: John W. Craven, William Cooke, and Henry Wagner, trustees; George J. Ewers, treasurer, Vincent E. Dye, clerk; A. S. Kirby, assessor ; George E. Cook and F. H. Johnson, constables; William Burkholder, A. S. Kirby, J. G. Bayer, A. N. Wertz, Daniel Randall and George E. McKinney, board of education; David Bullyer, Robert Martin, Jacob Zolman, Sylvester Cavwood, J. C. Levering, Jerry Williams, A. N. Wertz, G. B. Ewers, F. C.. Cochran, T. E. Carson, W.-H. Craven, and George Palmer, board of road super. visors.

The elections have always been held at Batemantown, except one year when Hezekiah Windom was trustee. That year John Levering, by the magnetic influence of a turkey dinner, drew the polls to Waterford.

Waterford is situated on the north fork of Owl creek, six miles north of Fredericktown. It was laid out on the northwest quarter of section three, town eight, and range fourteen, of Congress lands, north of the Greenville treaty line. 'The land was owned by Josiah Fawcett and Noah L. Levering, and was surveyed by Merritt M. Beam, November 25 and 26, 1841.

The first store was kept by John and William Levering before the town was laid out. In 1865 Levering sold out to Benedict & Smith. The former sold his interest in the store to his partner in 1866. Benedict disposed of the stock to Barton and Leander Ackerman in 1867, and in 1868 they moved to Hagerstown.

The first post-office was established at Waterford, October 25, 1836, and named "Levering," in honor of John and Noah Levering, who were instrumental in establishing a postal route from Mount Vernon to Tiffin, Ohio, that year. While the Democrats were in power John Levering was secure in the possession of the post-office, but with the accession of the Whigs to power the postoffice naturally gravitated towards the ''shop across the way," kept by Josiah Fawcett.

Batemantown stepped in and carried off the prize; but it was not long permitted to remain at the rival town. A united effort soon succeeded in restoring the office to Waterford, where it has remained ever Since 1853, the following persons have held the office: Columbus Levering, Dr. Thomas Watters, J. D. Burke, Dr. Clayton W. Townsend, Abraham Oberholtzer, Zoe Levering, Monroe Keys, Frank V. Owen, and Curtis Hardgrove.

The first tavern in Waterford was kept by Charles Wagner. He opened in 1844 and kept till 1864, when he moved to Fredericktown. His successor was Newton McCluckion, who still entertains strangers.

The practicing physicians of Waterford since- 1841 have been: Drs. Copeland, Griffee, Turner, Bird, Walters, Spooner, Townsend, Cook, King, and C. C. Hill, a graduate of Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia.

Waterford at present contains one post-office, Curtis Hardgrave, postmaster; one grist-mill, Newton McCluckion, proprietor; two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian; one schoolhouse; one Odd Fellows' hall; two stores, Curtis Hardgrove and William Killen, proprietors ; one hotel, N. McCluckion proprietor ; one blacksmith, V. E. Dye; one shoemaker, J. G. Bayer; one painter, E. L. Grubb; one harness maker, George Kolb; one sawyer, Robert Zolman; one barber, L. L. Glasser; twenty-three dwellings, and one hundred and seven inhabitants.

Quaker Church

One fourth of a mile north of Waterford is a cemetery which Noah Levering deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1844, reserving one-fourth of an acre for the Levering family. The first person buried here was Allen Levering, January 26, 1817.

burying ground in the township, but the date of the first burial is not within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, and Quaker tombstones are proverbially as silent as the grave.

Some of the earliest and the principal settlers of Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin townships have been Friends, or Quakers, who emigrated from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Prominent among them were John Lewis and family, Thomas Townsend and family, Samuel Wilson and Family, Amos Farquhar and family, Henry Roberts and family, and Samuel Gregg and family. These people by strictly honest dealing and correct deportment won the respect and esteem of their neighbors, and by industry and economy added not a little to the wealth and prosperity of the settlement. People of their-religious convictions and reverence for the peculiar form of worship which characterized their fathers, could not long remain destitute of a place, as the Quaker poet expresses it - ''Where my brethren gather slow and calm."

So the Friends' society of Owl c:eek was organized in 1809, and their meetings were held for some time in private houses, and in course of time a meeting house was erected. The first structure was of the primitive type, composed of rough logs of the forest, which answered its purpose till 1822, when a brick building twenty-five by forty feet square, with a large fireplace and chimney at each end, was erected on the Fredericktown and Mansfield road, near the centre of secfion twenty. Here for years the Friends met together on the first and fourth days of the week to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, with none to molest or make them afraid, and perhaps no people are more faithful to their Christian obligations, or more punctual in their attendance at their meetings than they. For'some time these people dwelt together in perfect harmony and friendship, seeming to enjoy a realization of "peace on earth netered the Eden of brotherly love, and a change came over the spirit of their dreams. Elias Hicks arose,.and claiming to be guided by an inward light superior to that which lighted the path of George Fox, proclaimed divers new and strange doctrines in the hearing of the heretofore solemn and staid brotherhood. The consequence was, dissention in the course of time reached the Owl creek society, and the sliding partition in the brick meeting house became a permanent line of division between the Hicksites and the orthodox.

In their. case the adage that "a house divided against itself cannot stand," was clearly verified, and at this day scarcely anything remains to memorize the Friends' society of Owl creek, except the old brick meeting house, with its large outside chimneys, plain front doors, moss-grown roof and weather-beaten walls, as it still stands there desolate and unoccupied in the pleasant beech and maple grove, whose welcome shade long years ago was sought by man and beast. There it stands the very picture of desolation, gradually yielding to the disintegrating tooth of time, destined soon to share the fate of the little flock that used to meet within its walls.

The seasons roll on - spring time returns, and with it the grass onthe old churchyard comes forth, matures, fades, and dies, untrodden by the foot of man save by the stranger whose curiosity may have led him thither. The beech and maple grove obeys Nature's call, and in due time puts on its robes of living green; the birds build their nests in its branches and sing their merry songs; but the ears that once heard them with so much pleasure hear them no more. Eyes that gazed with delight upon the surrounding forest see those beauties no longer, for quietly they now sleep beneath the green

They have gone to rest while many of their offspring have gone to seek their fortunes in the far West, forgetting alike the scenes of their youth and their early parental instructions.

Among the more recent faithful ones belonging to this now extinct band were Joseph Barrington and Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Barrington, and Birthday Cone are the only survivors that are now living within the bounds of the old society. They are now stricken in years, and when they have

The class from which the Methodist Episcopal chnrch of Batemantown originated was organized at the house of Mrs. Sarah Murphy, one mile north of Batemantown, in the spring of 1831. The original members were Alvin Bateman and Flora Bateman, his wife; Luther Bateman and Wealthy, his wife; Sarah Murphy; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Jane Fiddler, Robert Murphy, Charles Post, Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife, and a man named Welch. Alvin Bateman was the first leader. Leonidas Hamlin was the first preacher and formed the class. This class met at the house of Mrs. Murphy until 1832 when a frame church, twenty-four by thirty-six, was erected on the Main road about one-fourth of a mile southeast of Batemantown. The trustees at that time were William Murphy, Alvin Bateman, Luther Bateman, Charles Post, and Robert Murphy. In 1844 the congregation was divided, a part going to Waterford where a society was formed, and in 1856 the Bateman society erected a new frame church, thirty by forty, at Batemantown in which they still worship. The present number of members is about thirty. The leader is Zachariah Zodiker.

The first class of the Methodist Episcopal church, organized in Waterford, was some time previous to 1844, by Rev. Sandford Parker, and in 1844 a regular church organization was effected, the following persons being members: William McCluckion and Joanna, his wife; Lucinda Dawson, Susan Dawson, Andrew Welch and Lydia, his wife; Joseph Mann and Sarah, his wife; Charles Wagner and Anna, his wife, and Jemima _ his daughter; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Basil Murphy and Abigail, his wife; Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife; Alfred Walters and Winifred, his wife, and Elizabeth and Sarah V., his daughters; John Levering and Charlotte, his wife ; Silas Pierson and Priscilla, his wife; N. Galliher, Samuel Galliher and Phebe, his wife; Joseph Galliher and America, his wife, David, his son, and Elizabeth, his granddaughter; William Levering, Ruth, his wife, Milton, his son, and Nancy, his daughter, and Prelett Taft. The classleaders were Joseph Mann, Samuel Galliher, and Alfred Walters. In 1844 a neat frame church, forty by sixty, was erected in Waterford, and the dedication sermon preached by Rev. Adam Poe.

The following have been the preachers in charge of this congregration: Revs. Sanford Parker, John Scholes, Mansfield French, Hiram Shafer, Walter, John McNabb, James Wheeler, A. K. Owen, James Wheeler, Daniel Lambert, John Mc- Nabb, F. J. Close, John Mitchell, John Bloomfield, Harvey H. Wilson, John Kellam, Oman Lawrence, William Spafford, R. S. Moffatt, C. C. Ball, A. L. S. Bateman, William Smith, G. R. Walker, W. W. Smith, Silas Seymour, E. O. Buxton, M. B. Meade, Elnathan Raymond, and James McMahon. The maximum number of members was seventy-five. The present is number, twenty. William Penn is class leader.

The early Presbyterian preachers in the vicinity of Waterford were Revs. James Scott and James Cunningham, but no organization was effected till 1849, when Rev. J. M. Faris became pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. John Hughes, and he by Revs. Caldwell and Hamilton. The next in order was Rev. Luke Dorland, succeeded by Rev. W. W. Anderson. Following Anderson came Revs. Brown and McClelland. The present pastor is Rev. W. M. Ferguson. The first members of session were J. J. Turner and William Killen. In 1849 a neat frame church, forty by fifty, was erected at the west end of the village, and the Presbyterian church of Waterford became one of the institutions of the town. The number of members is not known.

The Seventh Day Adventist church of Waterford, was organized at the house of E. C. Penn, in Morrow county, Ohio, by Elder O. Mars, of Bowlinggreen, Ohio. The original members were George Bisel and wife, W. T. Carson and wife, E. O. Penn and wife, and W.S. Boon. Their first meetings were held in private houses until 1874, when a neat substantial frame church was erected on a lot purchased of R. S. Keyes, one-half mile west of Waterford. The building is twenty-eight by thirty-eight feet; cost one thousand two hundred dollars, and was dedicated by Elder H. A. St. John, in January, 1875. The present membership is forty-four. E. C. Penn is the present

Owl Creek Lodge No. 686, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, located at Waterford, Knox county, Ohio, was instituted July 31, 1879, by Grand Secretary William C. Earle, assisted by

Middlebury was named by the county commissioners, at the suggestion of Luther Bateman, to perpetuate the memory of Middlebury in Vermont, from whence many of the settlers came.

It is essentially an agricultural district, there being but one village, and no manufacturing establishments of any importance within its bounds. It contains six schools, of the ordinary district character, and at one time boasted of an institution denominated Westminster academy. It was situated in the town of Waterford, and conducted by Rev. Robert Morrison and his brother, Professor William Morrison, both of the State of Kentucky. This institution grew out of a division in the Presbyterian church on the subject of slavery and its abolition. Those who were opposed to that measure seceded and started an academy to perpetuate their views. It was well patronized for a time - pupils coming from Holmes county and elsewhere who were in harmony with the political character of the institution, but after the settlement of the vexed question by the emancipation proclamation and the arbitrament of arms, Westminster academy passed into history.

Middlebury township has produced some men not entirely "to fortune and to fame unknown." Lawrence Van Buskirk (now deceased) came to Knox county in 1830 and located on the northwest quarter of section two, one mile east of Waterford In 1848 he was elected to the legislature of Ohio, and in 1851 he was elected to the State senate.

Hon. Columbus 'Delano was reared near Batemantown and went to Mt. Vernon to practice law, whereby his history became identified with that of the city, where it will be found.

Hon. William Windom was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 10, 1827. His parents, Hezekiah and Mercy Windom, came from Virginia and became members of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. At an early age he came with his parents to Middlebury township and located on the northeast quarter of section two, one and a half miles east of Waterford, where his boyhood days were spent on the farm; but disliking the business he learned the tailoring trade with J. D. Burke, of Waterford. The first coat he made after fiinishing his apprenticeship was for John Walters, now of Fredericktown, and was by no. means a success asa fit. Being fully persuaded that he possessed "a soul above buttons," he went to Mt. Vernon while yet a young man, and there entered the law office of the late Judge R.C. Hurd. After being admitted to the bar he was elected prosecuting attorney of Knox county, as a Whig, in 1852, by a majority of three hundred. While studying law he delivered temperance lectures through the country, and on one occasion, while lecturing in Morrow county, the roughs of Woodbury threatened to mob him if he attempted to speak. Nothing daunted, however, he proceeded to the hall, and laying a pistol on the stand, went on with his lecture unmolested. In 1855 he went to Winona, Minnesota, with his associate, Hon. Daniel S. Norton. Norton was elected to the United States Senate, and at his death was succeeded by Mr. Windom, since which time his career is too well known to require repetition here.