Mifflin Township (part 1 of 35)

Mifflin Township

i was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1815. The pioneers at that date, as near as can be ; ascertained, were John Lambright, . Leonard Croriinger, David Braden, Michael Culler, Daniel Harlan.

| George Thomas and sons, Jacob Keiffer and sons, James and Wesley Copus, sons of Rev. James Copus, Daniel i Hoover, Elijah Hart, sr., William B. Tames. Peter L'eardorf, Samuel Lewis, and many others not now remembered. The first justice of the peace in Mifilin, was I Archibald Gardner, who served one term, and was suci ceeded by William Gardner.

formerly called Petersburg!), in Mifflin township, was laid out by William P>. James, Peter Deardorff, and Samuel Lewis, June 16, 1S16. It was located on the old State road leading from Wooster to Mansfield. For many years it was very thrifty, and, under the old stage era, and during the early settlement of Richland county, was well patronized by the traveling public. George Thomas erected the first tavern, which he conducted until about 1820. The removal of the old stage lines, and the construction of railroads, divetted travel to other lines, and for many years the village has. been sustained j almost exclusively by the patronage of the farmers of Mifflin. It has one tavern, one store, one cabinet shop, one blacksmith, shop, one grocery, 0 post-office, an excellent district school, one church, one physician, and one shoe shop. It contains a population*)!' about one hundred and fifty.

formerly Vermillion, in Clearcreek township, wn, laid out December 25, 1818, by John Haney. It is situated on a beautiful plateau, on the old Vermillion road, and con tains a population of about four hundred. It has five churches, two dry goods stores, one tavern, two grocery stores, a wagon and carriage shop, a tannery, two blacksmith shops, a saddle and harness shop, a tailor shop, a cabinet shop, a tin shop, and a number of mechanics. It has, also, a fine academy, which is well patronized, and adds thrift and spirit to the town. Its inhabitants are, largely, the descendants of Scotch Irish, intermixed with people of New' England birth. The town is noted for its adhesion to total abstinence from every form of intoxicating drinks, and, in this respect, is a safe resort for young men seeking an education, and preparing for future usefulness.

in Orange township, was laid out by Amos Norris and John Chiicote, April 22, 1828. It is located on section twenty-eight, on a branch of Mohican creek, in the midst cf splendid farming lands. It was for many years a flourishing village; but its nearness to the county-seat has somewhat checked its growth. It contains one hotel, one dry goods store, one or two groceries, a blacksmith shop, two tanneries, a shoe shop, a harness menufactory, a tailor shop, a post-office called Nankin, a physician, a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, and a good school. 'The New York, Pennsylvania &: Ohio railway passes near the village and has a small station and telegraph office. The village is estimated to contain two hundred and fifty inhabitants.

Hayesv1Lle

situated near the center of Vermillion township, was laid out October 26, 1S30, by John Cox. and Linus Hayes. The Slate roads running from Woc-ster to Mansfield and from Ashland to Loudonville, intersect each other in the center of the town, and constitute its principal streets. It contains two dry goods stores, a wagon and carriage manufactory, two or three blacksmith shops, a cabinet shop, a shoe shop and store, two or three groceries, two hotels, one or two boarding houses, a good district school, one Presbyterian, one United Presbyterian, and one Methodist church, postoffice, two physicians, and many pleasant residences. The population and business are on the increase. In 1875, a newspaper was started, in connection with Vermillion institute, which has for many years been the ornament of the town. The population of HayesviUe is estimated at about six hundred It is surrounded by a good farming community, and must continue to increase in wealth and population.

in Jackson township, was laid out October 13, 183c), by Josiah Lee and David Buchanan. It has a population of about one hundred and fifty. It has one tavern, two

It contain , a population of near two hundred, and has three churches, a hotel, one store, a grist-mill propelled by steam and water, a woollen manufactory a wagon shop, a shoe shop, a harness manufactory, a carriage shop, a paint shop, a cabinet shop, a good school, a post- j office, and two physicians. The people of the village j arc wide-awake and prosperous The village has very fine water-power, and is healthfully located in the midst of excellent farming lands. It has a fair trade, and is mostly supported by the farmers.

Drs. John Hanna, J. Chandler, John Lambert, Janies Miller, Samuel Miller, Samuel Glass, J. W. Griffith, James E. Yocum, John Houkc, H. Buchanan, Jeremiah | Hahn, and John McCray. Dr. H. Buchanan, a fine pliyj sician, has the entire practice.

Kucgles Center Rows Lurch

Drs. Abraham Ecker. John Ecker, W, C. More, P. M. Miller, A. S. Long, James Knox-, flarvey Tidd, Henry Buck, George Greener, Peter Shearer, Andrew Connell, J. S. Cole, Frank Cowan, and George Gregg. Dr. Gregg is the only physician in practice, the rest having removed or deceased.

Polk

Drs. Gliver C. McCarthy, David Young, Andrew Pyle, Richard Powers, Levi Ballard, John Campbell, J. E. McDonald, D. W. Rumbaugh. Drs. McCarty and Rumbaugh arc the only practitioners in the township at present.

Suit. Ivan

Drs. William Mead, Fowler, A. E. Wigton, A. B. Sampson,. McCook, Jacob Gillett, William Bunce, John Campbell, William S. Shaw, J. E. McDonald, H. E. Black, and 1). G. Hart. Drs. Hart and Black are the only practitioners.

Troy Center

Drs. William B. Young, Andrew J. Norris, George Weedman, and John 1). Skilling. Dr. George Weedman, a very successful physician, had, for a long time, j About the year 1850, a county medical society was 1 organized, with the expectation of elevating the standard of medical practice and education. The society met considerable. opposition, and, after one, or two years, disbanded. Its organization was beneficial.

In April, 1S64, the physicians of Ashland and other towns within the county, organized a new medical soci- 1 ety, in order to advance the interests and usefulness of the medical profession, and the social relations and courtesies that belong to professional gentlemen. A constitu- ; tion and by-laws, setting forth the object and government of the society, were adopted. The members of the so- I ciety as organized were: Doctors Gustavus Oesterlin, j lacob P. Cowan, P. H. Clark, George W. Hill, Joseph ! Sheets, Jacob W. Kinnaman, David S. Sampscl. Isaac 1,.

Since Ashland became the seat of justice for this county, the resident attorneys have been: Erastus N. Gates, James W. Smith, John S. Fulton, Bolivar W. Kellogg, John H. McComes, William A. Hunter, Jonathan Moffitt, James Sloan, John \V. Rankin, John Clark, Harvey H. Johnson, Ohio F. Jones, Willard Slocum, S. | Mb Shaw, J. Vincent, A. M. Fulton, Albert E. Curtis, Alexander Porter, Thomas J. Kenney, William Osborn, John W. Fry, Aimer R. Campbell, A. V. Watts, S. D. ! Gault, J. S. Wert man, F. C. 'Semple, T. J. Smilie: Geo. W. ; Geddes, of Hayesville; Nicholas M. Donaldson, of Lou- j donvilie; Wm. Henry, of Savannah; and, subsequently, \ Thomas J. Bull, of Loudonvi'le; Amos Norris, of Or- | ange; George W. Carey, of Rowsburgh; John J. Gurley, of Hayesville; William Cowan, of Green; Francis Kenyon, of Savannah, and John Scott, jr., of Hayesville, became practicing attorneys.

About the year 1849, William B. Allison, T. J. Kenny, George W. Hill, George H. Parker, William B. Mc- Cart, and Robert Beer were admitted, and, shortly after, the list was enlarged by the names of John J. Jacobs, Robert M. Campbell, C. S. Van Arnam, J. D. Stubbs, and William T. Johnston; and has since been increased by the additi- n of the nam -s of George P- Smith, H.

The bane of the lawyer is politics. Whenever an attorney devotes more attention to party discussions, and efforts to obtain political promotion, than to the study of the principles and practice of law, the result will soon be apparent. The politician becomes rusty and demoralized, while the industrious practitioner and legal student always advances in knowledge and efficiency.

No signal achievement has ever followed a professional man who neglects to be a laborious and continued student. Many brilliant men have destroyed their usefulness by want of application, and by attempting too many things at the same time.

Erastus M. Gates was a native of Massachusetts. He practiced several years in Ashland, accumulated a handsome property, sold, and removed to Newton, Iowa.

cufing attorney one term, served as captain and colonel in tlie late war, and deceased in 1862. He was a good lawyer, and had strong military tastes.

John II. McComes is a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate: was admitted about 1839. He ha.-> settled more estates than any attorney in the county. FIc lias withdrawn from practice.

Bolivar W. Kellogg was a native of Ashland. He was. a gentleman of good literary and legal attainments, and was the third prosecuting attorney of the county. He deceased in 1S56, of pulmonary consumption.

James Sloan, a native of Pennsylvania, located in Ashland in 1846. He was a gentleman of excellent habits. His literary attainments were fair. He was rapidly advancing in his profession. He died of pulmonary consumption in the spring of 1855.

John W. Rankin, a graduate of Jefferson college, 'Pennsylvania, came to Ashland in 1846, and removed to Iowa in 1850, where lie subsequently became a common pleas judge. He was a gentleman of fine attainments.

James W. Smith located in Ashland in 1842. He attended school at the Ohio university of Athens. He is a native of Wayne county. He is engaged in practice.

John Clark located in Ashland in 1847. He removed to Iowa in T850, where he is still engaged in practice. Be was register of one of the land districts of that State during the administrations cf Pierce and Buchanan.

Harvey PL Johnson, a native of New England, located in Ashland about 1S4S. He was a fair lawyer. He was elected to Congress in 1S52, and defeated for re-election in 1854. He removed to Minnesota in 1855.

William A. Hunter, a native of Pennsylvania, located in Ashland in 1846, as one of the editors and proprietors of the Ashland Democrat. He continued in tire Democrat until 1848, and also in the practice of law. In i Sap he removed to Williams county, Ohio, and became treasurer. He served in the late war. He has since gone west.

Jonathan Moffett, a native of Ohio, was one of the editors and proprietors of the Ashland .Democrat, in 1846-8, and the legal partner of William A. Hunter. He removed to Wyandot county in 1S49. and subsequently was elected auditor two ten is.

Willard Slocum, a native of Ashland, has been engaged in law for many years. He was among the earliest attorneys after the erection of Ashland county. He served in the late war and was promoted through ad! the grades from captain to brigadier general.

William Osborn, a native of Columbus, Ohio, located, in Ashland about 1847. He edited the Ashland Times, and has a good reputation in the legal profession. He has served one term as common pleas judge in this dis trict.

George W. Geddes is a native of Knox county studied with Columbus Delano, and practiced law in Hayesville one or two years. He removed to Mansi Fid about 1 8 jo. where lie became a sticcessfie attorney. II*' was subsequently elect -d judge nt the court of com ! mon pleas, and served about fifteen years on the bench. 1 He is in practice.

Albert L. Curtis, a native of tire State of New York, located in Ashland about the year 1849. He acted as deputy clerk in the court of common pleas, under Jacob O. Jennings, three years; and after the adoption of the new constitution, was elected probate judge six years. He has also been mayor of Ashland and prosecuting attorney of the county.

Alexander Porter, a native of Lorain county, Ohio, located in Ashland in 1852. He served as prosecuting attorney one term. In 1853 he was appointed postmaster at Ashland. He removed to New London, and deceased. He was a man of unusual fluency as a speaker.

Thomas J. Kenny, a native of Buffalo, New York, was admitted in 1850. He has served as prosecuting | attorney one term, and or e term in the Stale senate. He | is new serving as common pleas judge for this district, having been elected in 1874. He was captain of a company in the Sixteenth regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1 86 .

George W. Carey remained at Rowsburgh as an attorney for several 'years. Visited California and made a handsome property, after which he located in Green township, and served one term in the Ohio legislature ' and died of pulmonary consumption in 1865.

John j. Curley, a native of Pennsylvania, had an office two or three years in Hayesville about 1852, and was justice of the peace. He removed to Morrow county.

. Pie was there elected _ probate judge and served as a member of the constitutional convention of 1S73- 4. He is a gentleman of fair attainments-.

William B. Allison, a native of Perry township, in this county, was admitted in 1850, formed a partnership with J. W . Smith, and afterward with B. W. Kellogg, and again with William Osborn, and practiced at the 1 Ashland bar about eight years, and removed to Iowa,

Nicholas M. Donald on, of Londonville, was elected ; the fust prosecuting attorney after the erection of Ashj land county. He served one term and removed to Wisconsin. He was a fair lawyer.

George W. Hill, a native of Marshall county, Virginia, came to Ashland, as a student, under I, or in Andrews, of the academy, in 1845; was admitted to practice in j 1849; " as '-n Columbus arid Washington city,- District and was elected prosecuting attorney two terms, 1862 to 1866; from. 1868 to 1872, was editor and proprietor of the Slates and Union. In 1873 -4, served in the Ohio constitutional convention

William 11. McCarty, a native of Pennsylvania, located 'in Ashland about 785 1, as editor of the Whig journal, the Ashuvidcr. He subsequently read law, and practiced some fifteen years at. the Ashland bar He served, in tire meantime, two or three terms as justice of the peace. He served as lieutenant in the late war. He tesnlvs, now, in Michigan. He was a fine writer, and a polished speaker.

j about 1853. He was a good scholar, but lacked legal j tastes. Pie subsequently studied for the ministry, in i the Presbyterian church, and located in Indiana. He , has become a very eloquent and effective minister.

John J. Jacobs, a native of Ashland, was admitted about 1 85 7. He was, when a student at the academy, j regarded as an eloquent speaker. He was twice- elected prosecuting attorney. Pie also edited the Ashland i Union about four years. He died at about the age of ; thirty -seven years.

Robert M. Campbell, born in Orange township, attenJ- | ed school at Hayesville, Vermillion institute; studed law j with Judge F. }. Kenny; admitted in 1863 ; was elected , county auditor in 1866, re-elected in 1S68, and is now ; in practice.

I was admitted about 1856. He served one term as pros- 1 editing attorney, and commanded a company in the late I war. He removed, about [870, to the State of Nebraska,

J. S. Wertman was born March 13, 1S45, on a farm j three and one-half miles north of Ashland ; attended ; school at Savannah academy, and graduated at Witien- | berg college, Springfield, Ohio, class of 1S09. Pie taught i school until 1871. Practiced surveying and engineering j tor two years. Studied law with B. F. Davis, of Indian- 1 apolis, Indiana, and began the practice in that cuy ! Came back to Ashland in August, 7877, and has been j practicing here ever since.

Peter S. Grosscup, a native of Milton township, A.xhj land countv, attended school at Wittenberg college and | graduated in 1S72. He then entered the law department of the Boston university and graduated in 1873, I and was admitted to the Boston bar. Returned to Ash- ! land and was appointed citv solicitor. He is now the 1 partner of Judge William Osborn.

John McCray, a native of Washington county. Pennj sylvania, was admitted about 1869. He was elected j prosecuting attorney in x S 7 1 , and served two terms. In j 1875 lie was elected clerk of the court - of common | pleas of Ashland county.

Henry McCray, a native of Washington county, IVnn- ' sylvania, studied with Thomas T. McCray, a brother, at 1 Wooster. Oeio, and was admitted about 1S66 ; came to Ashland in 1872, and remo'xd to Londonville in the spring of 1874. He is now in practice.

John D. Jones, a. native of Pennsylvania, was elected i sheriff in 1852, and served four years. He subsequently served as probate judge six years; ha< been,

Bvron Stiiwell, a native of !1 -lines county. Ohio, tame to Ashland about 1 S 7 1 . He is a young manic laii attainments. He was doted prosecuting attorney

George 15. Smith, a native of Ashland, attended j school at Kenyon college, Knox county, two years; studied law with his father, James W. Smith, and was admitted in i86y. He is at present a partner with J. W. Smith. He is a young gentleman of fine literary tastes.

H. S. Lee, born in the city of New York, August 13, 1821 ; attended school in the city; came to Ohio in 1842 ; engaged in mercantile business in Savannah ; was elected clerk of the court of common pleas in ' 1857, and served two terms; was admitted to the bar 1 in 1864.

Charles Dorland, a native of Perry township, Ashland county, was admitted in 1875. He is a young gentleman of industrious habits, and will succeed in his ; profession.

William O. Porter, a native of Vermillion township, ( Ashland county, was educated at Vermillion institute, j was sheriff of the county four years, and was admitted j to the bar in 1873. Pie is now farming, and occasion- ! ally acting as* attorney.

Silas Robbins, jr., the first educated attorney who settled in Ashland, about the year 1S28 or 1829, was a native of the New England States, and a gentleman who sustained the reputation of being "an honest lawyer." He served about six years as justice of the peace for Montgomery township. He had a fair practice at the Mansfield bar, and accumulated considerable property. He died in 1842.

Source changes here: from History of Ashland County, Ohio, by Baughman, A. J. (Abraham J.), published 1909; 275,376 words in this source stream.

Mifflin Township

Mifflin township was surveyed in 1807, and settlements were made there in 1809. Before the creation of Ashland county, Mifflin was in Richland and was a full township, but it was divided when Ashland was erected, less than one-half of the territory and population falling within the boundaries of the new county. For the most part the western limit is the center of the Blackfork.

The surface is generally broken and hilly, btit the soil yields bountifully to cultivation. The township is well watered by the Blackfork and smaller streams.

Long before Mifflin was settled by white men, it was a favorite hunting ground for the Indians, as all kinds of game abounded in the primeval forests. The settlement and history of Mifflin township have been similar to that of the other townships of the county. In the beginning there were dangers from savages and from the climatic diseases of a new country. But in time Mifflin grew, improved and prospered, keeping step with her sister townships and is hopeful that trolley cars will in a few years traverse her territory.

count the mountains ; and Mifflin is a small place unless you count its environing hills and its chain of beautiful lakes, the latter lying placidly between the village and the Blackfork of the Mohican.

Among the oldtime residents of Mifflin township mention should be made of J. F. Benninghof, who was born in Germany and came with his parents to America when he was seven }rears of age and settled in Mifflin township a feW years later, where he became quite prominent and served for a number of years as justice of the peace. As a printer, he held a "case" in a number of offices, both German and English, but is now living in retirement in Mansfield.

Prominent among the first settlers were the Bradens, the Croningers, the Cullers, the Harlands, the Hersheys, the Selbys, the Stamans, the Zeimers, the Copuses, and others.

The Petersburg Lakes

Those who have never visited the lakes may want to know more about them, for the contemplated improvements will make the place more noted. The number and location of the lakes, the size and depth of each, and other matters pertaining to the locality are objects of inquiry now, and it is the purpose of this article to give information along these lines.

The Petersburg lakes are situated in Ashland county, eight miles east of Mansfield, and are three in number, forming a chain. The upper lake is the smallest, having an area of only about ten acres, and is called Mud lake. The middle, called the Bell lake, has an area of about thirty acres, and the lower or Big lake (sometimes called Culler's) has an area of fifty to sixty acres, and is a half-mile or more in length. There is a surface connection between the lakes, and it is supposed there is also a subterrean one. There is an outlet from the lower lake into the Blackfork, a short distance to the west. The lower lake has a depth of from fifty to one hundred feet. The lakes are fed by subterranean springs from the Mifflin hills on the east, and the waters are clear and cold. These lakes are noted for their abundance of fish and the locality for its myriads of mosquitoes.

Interlaken, Switzerland, is not a large town, it is said, unless you count the mountains; and Mifflin is a small village, unless you count the Petersburg (or Mifflin) lakes that lie between the town and the Blackfork. These lakes are evidently counted - figuratively - and have aided in making Mifflin one of the most noted villages in this part of Ohio, and its prominence will be still further enhanced when a trolley line connects it with the city of Mansfield.

fork and are surrounded by native forests, the greater part of their direct environs being marshy ground, too wet for cultivation. However, the elevation on which the summer hotel stands is high and dry and commands a good view of the lake. The Big lake is a clear, beautiful sheet of water, but the forest surroundings impart a feeling of loneliness, and causes one to exclaim :

When General Hedges made a survey of that locality in 1807, he was embarrassed over the variations of his compass. In order to test the accuracy of the survey, the lines were resurveyed, still the variations existed. He thought the chaining might be imperfect, and had the lines surveyed the third time, with the same results. Jonathan Cox, in 1808, had a similar experience. The consensus of opinion was that magnetic ores in the earth influenced the needle.

But the only ore yet discovered in that village is "bog ore" at the lakes. Bog iron-ore is a mineral of variable composition and is found in alluvial soils, in bogs and lakes. There may, however, be other ore in that locality, which, if unearthed, would add another page to that storied valley and material wealth to its people.

"Uncle" Jonas' lake is in Mifflin township, Richland county, but being within a mile of the Ashland county line and its history being a very interesting one, an account of its creation is here given :

"Uncle" Jonas' lake is in Mifflin township, seven miles east of Mansfield. It covers an area of eight acres and its depth is about seventy feet. This little body of water has been called by different names, such as Sites', Swearingen's and others, but in the past was simply "Uncle Jonas' lake," after Jonas Ballyet, the first owner. It is now more generally known as the lake where the wagon load of hay sunk, meadow and all, according to tradition.

In 1821, Jonas Ballyet entered the northwest quarter of section 15, Mifflin township, and near its center he found a lake covering about an acre. Its immediate surrounding was level land to the extent of eight acres, all enclosed with a rim of hills of gentle slope, except a place at the east side where the ground was lower as though inviting an outlet for the pent-up waters of the lake. Through this depression, "Uncle Jonas" cut a ditch with the view of making the low land about the lake tillable.

The lake lies a mile west of the Blackfork of the Mohican, and between them is a tract of marshy land called the Black Swamp, into this a ditch was cut from the lake.

"Uncle Jonas' " theory seemed quite plausible, but he was later confronted with a condition he had not anticipated. The ditch was opened on the 25th day of July, 1846, and was of sufficient depth to lower the surface of the lake eight feet. On the day following the greater part of the level land surrounding the lake, comprising about six acres, was engulfed - sank out of sight - leaving only the tops of the higher trees, with which the land had been covered, visible. And in time the tree tops also disappeared. The opinion was that the lake was of greater size beneath than was apparent upon its surface and that lowering the water caused the ground to break off from the rim of hills, and being thus loosened, sank to the bottom.

This sinking caused the earth to quake and tremble for miles around, and alarmed the people of that vicinity, some thinking the "end of the world" had come, began to pray as they had never prayed before.

As this incident occurred during the Millerism period, people were more prone to attribute the trembling and jar to heavenly than to earthly causes, for although there may not have been a Millerite in that neighborhood, yet the doctrine and teachings of the Rev. William Miller had been so universally disseminated and propagated that they influenced many unconsciously.

The time set by Miller for the "second coming of Christ" was the year 1843, as he interpreted the prophecies, but as the expected event did not occur other dates were given later, and the people were admonished to say not in their hearts, "My Lord delayeth His coming."

Digging this ditch outlet to the lake was a losing enterprise to "Uncle Jonas," for instead of reclaiming land, he lost six acres thereof, timber and all.

A few years later there was another sinking of grounds into the water, increasing the lake to its present size of between eight and nine acres, but as the low land has all been engulfed, no apprehension is felt that any similar occurrence will take place in the future, as it is not believed that the lake extends beneath the hills.

Prior to this land sinking episode, catfish, sunfish and some other varieties abounded in the lake in great quantities but are not so abundant there now.

The water of the lake when viewed as a body is an ocean-green in tint of coloring, yet when dipped up seems pure and clear. The lake is circular in form and in its hill-frame setting is one of the most beautiful of the many attractive places in old Richland. The slope at the southeast is covered by a shady grove, from whose retreat one might imagine some highland maid might appear and -

The lake is not only beautiful in sunshine but is interesting in storms, when the thunder's deep reverberations roll like billows over its waters. And when the gleaming rainbow sheds it lustre upon the placid surface, no artist can sketch its beauty, while in the background of the picture may be read by faith the eternal promise that the earth shall not again be destroyed by water.

Mifflin was formerly called Petersburg, in Mifflin township, was laid out by William B. James, Peter Deardorff, and Samuel Lewis, June 16, 1816. It was located on the old state road leading from Wooster to Mansfield. For many years it was very thrifty, and, under the old stage era, and during the early settlement of Richland county, was well patronized by the traveling public. George Thomas erected the first tavern, which he conducted until about 1820. The removal of the old stage lines, and the construction of railroads, diverted travel to other lines, and for many years the village has been sustained almost exclusively by the patronage of the farmers of Mifflin.

Mohicanville was laid out July 2, 1833, by Simeon Beall and Henry Sherradden. It is situated in the southwest corner of Mohican township. Population

The water power of the village is the main source of its prosperity. The three principal springs emerge from the summit of the hill on the west side of the town and from their head to the bed of the creek, a distance of about three hundred yards, the fall exceeds one hundred feet, turning three wheels of a combined diameter of sixty-two feet.

An Interesting Trio

Near Nankin, north of Ashland, lives an interesting family of three, maiden sisters, aged respectively ninety-seven, ninety-five and eighty-nine years, making a joint age of two hundred and eighty-one years. Their family name is Coutts, and the ladies are named respectively Katie, J anie and Mary.

There were seven of them - father, mother, two boys and three girls - when they left Alford parish, in the north of Scotland, in 1834, and took ship at Glasgow for America, which they reached after eight weeks at sea.

In time they came to Ashland county, where John Coutts wrestled with the primeval forest to such good purpose that, before he died, he had one hundred and eighty acres under cultivation.

The sons married, the father and mother died, and the Coutts maids became the Three Old Maids. Then their brothers died, but one of them was survived by a son, George Coutts, who latterly has come to run the farm for them. He and his wife and Jimmie live on another part of the farm.

Up to the time of the coming of George Coutts, Aunt Katie ran the farm, plowing, harvesting, milking the cows. Even now she takes a hand at the milking.

If there have ever been any love passages in the lives of the Three Old Maids they came to naught. The neighbors say the suitors were sent about their business with such emphasis that they never came back.

So the Three Old Maids have lived alone, each contributing her share to an almost perfect life, and no man has ever had the right to say, ' ' It shall be done thus-and-so in this house."

They are Scotch - so very Scotch that, though three-quarters of a century have passed since they saw the land of heather, they still have the burr in their tongues, they still eat porridge, they still cling to the Covenanter's faith and call the church the "kirk."

A short time ago the Cleveland Herald sent a special correspondent to Ashland county to interview this interesting trio, and the Sunday following the paper devoted a full page, with colored illustrations, to the remarkable record of the Coutts sisters, whose long and useful lives have won for them the esteem of everybody who admires the sturdy virtues of the Scotch race.

United Brethren Church, Ashland Congregational Church, Ashland

Perrysville is the only town in Green township, and was laid out June 15, 1815, and was named Freeport. It was the second town founded in what is now Ashland county. The Coulters being very prominent people there, the town was locally known as Coultersville. Some years after its founding, the name of the town was changed from Freeport to Perrysville, in honor of Commodore Perry's victory over the British on Lake Erie. In 1830, the town contained nine inhabitants, but in 1860 the number had increased to one hundred and thirty-five. A pottery plant was established there a few years since, which has added materially to the business and population of the town. The village is pleasantly situated in the fertile valley of the Blackfork, on the line of the Pennsylvania railroad. The town supported an academy for a number of years, an account of which is given elsewhere in this work.

In the communication to the Perrysville Enterprise newspaper, Mrs. Nancy L. Eddy, daughter of the late Hon. John Coulter, states that the quarter section of land now owned by Thomas Beavers, the quarter section on which Perrysville is built, and the quarter owned by Alonzo Shambaugh were all entered by her father in the fall of 1810. Mr. Coulter soon found that one quarter section of unbroken forest was all he could manage, and sold the Beaver quarter to his father, Judge Thomas Coulter, and the one on which Perrysville stands to his uncle, George Crawford. Pie kept the Shambaugh place and occupied it as a family home for thirty-five years. The first house built in what is now the town of Perrysville, was the cabin on the Crawford place which stood across the road from where the Sam Trease house now stands.

The old store room occupied many years by H. L. Stearns, and the old hotel building lately torn down, were among the first buildings and were probably erected as early as 1814 or 1815.

The first wedding was that of Harvey Hill and Abigal Coulter, which occurred in 1812, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Mr. Scott, of Mt. Vernon. Mr. and Mrs. Hill were the parents of the late Mrs. Angelina Phillips, who was born in 1817.

The first school was taught by Mrs. John Coulter, in her cabin house on the Shambaugh place ; her pupils were mostly young men who felt the need of more learning. Mrs. Coulter's maiden name was Elizabeth Rice, sister of Alexander Rice, and she had in early girlhood the advantages of a boarding school education in Montpelier, Vermont.

The ground for the Perrysville cemetery was donated for cemetery purposes by Thomas Coulter, and was deeded "for cemetery purposes forever," so that the land can never be legally used for any other purpose. Additions have been purchased and added to the original plat*

The first interment in the Perrysville cemetery was that of Solomon Hill and was made in the summer of 1812. The grave is plainly marked by a headstone, and is near the front entrance to the cemetery.

When Solomon Hill died, the settlers were at a loss to know what to do for a coffin. There were no ready-made caskets then, and there was no lumber from which one could be made. It was hot June weather, no way for embalming the dead, and it would take several days to make a trip to Mt. Vernon and that was the nearest place where boards could be obtained to make a coffin. But the emergency was met by one of the grand old pioneers giving his wagon-bed from which a coffin was made. Giving up a wagon-bed at that time was a great sacrifice. Every man at that first funeral carried a musket, fearing an attack from the Indians. The funeral procession had to cross the Blackfork in canoes to the place of interment.

Professor J. C. Sample

Garfield is said to have remarked facetiously that a college is a log with a pupil on one end and Mark Hopkins on the other. In little Perrysville, Ashland county, Ohio, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, one could have seen an ordinary frame building in a yard adorned with a few evergreens, called "Green Town Academy." The teacher with high massive forehead and coat of many colors, could have been seen there almost any hour of the day with an enthusiasm that made him blink his eyes, snap his fingers, and slap his ankles together, impressing on a few students in each of his many classes, the duty of Mastery, and his own unique personality. He was filled with that kind of fire that would drive worthless students out of the town and draw the worthy one to his most remarkable college. Although Professor J. C. Sample went to public schools but two years in his life, I consider him and Professor M. Soy D. D., of Capitol University, Columbus, Ohio, to be the two greatest teachers I have ever met ; - considering his opportunities, I consider Professor Sample the greatest. A little sketch of his life should be preserved for the pleasure and information of his many students. Professor J. C. Sample was born in Harmony, Butler county, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1837. He attended the district common schools but two years, spending the greatest part of the first seventeen years of his life in the woolen factory of his father, Robert Sample ; he was a born student and thinker. In the fall of 1855 he entered the Presbyterian Academy at North Sewickly, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1856 he began teaching school and continued until 1860, when he was elected principal of North Sewuckly Academy. He remained there until the fall of 1862, when he entered the army, from which in July, 1863, he was honorably discharged. He was called immediately to the principalship of the Sewickly Academy, but did

Because of his known character, he was chosen superintendent of Poland schools where he taught until the fall of 1864, when he resigned and entered Vermillion Institute at Hayesville, Ashland county, Ohio. In the fall of 1865, he was called to take charge of a select school at Perrysville, Ohio, which school he opened the 17th day of September, where he remained until 1869, when he resigned to go with Dr. Dieffendorf to Nebraska City, Nebraska, He there studied and taught with Dr. Dieffendorf for one year in Otto University. He was again recalled to Perrysville, Ashland county, Ohio, where Green Town Academy, in the winter of 1870-71, was born from the select school. The fall of 1873 the presidency of Willamette Valley College, Oregon, was offered to him, but he refused to accept it. On New Year's day of 1878, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth E. Groff, the daughter of Elias Groff, of near Perrysville, and the same year he refused the chair of Classic Instruction in Buchtel College. He continued his work in Green Town Academy until the fall of 1893, when he resigned in favor of Rev. E. Schultz. Rev. Schultz continued the school for a year and then abandoned it. The Academy building served as a Lutheran Mission until in November of 1895, when it was utterly destroyed by fire. The Professor's home, however, remained a college. Up to the fall of 1908 he has occupied his usual seat on one end of the "John Hopkins' Log," and his children the other.

I said Profesor Sample went to school only two years; I should have said seventy-two. He has been a very careful, industrious student all his life. As a linguist he could teach, and has taught, English; Anglo-Saxon; German; Dutch; Spanish; French; Greek and Latin. As a historian I have never met his equal. He is passionately fond of German and English literature and widely acquainted in the original, with English, German, French and Spanish authors. He was as much attached to the study of geology. If you, who happen to be reading these lines, were a student of "Old Green Town," you will remember the shelves on shelves of fossile collecting, that were on view in the library room. The pieces ran into the hundreds, a specially rich and carefully labeled exhibit of the upper Devonian and Sub-Carbonniferous strata of Ashland and adjoining counties. It was destroyed by the fire along with our library. I can well remember the morning of 1878, when I set on the log with its great teacher, and how with half closed eyes, he described the wonderful gold fields of Alaska and the far north, a quarter of a century before they were discovered. The airships were as real to him then as they are to us now. When I stop to think of those days, it is with a grateful heart, I thank God that he gave me Professor Sample for my preparatory college instructor. God placed him just where he belonged. Such a man could not work in any high school, nor with any college faculty. He does not believe in any "hop, skip and jump" system of education. "Instruction" and "Education" are very different terms with him. He used to say ' ' If you wish instruction, sit down, I will talk to you ; if you wish education, here are the books-; you must get that yourself. I am here only to help you; I can't give you that." It may seem like a slavish method to most teachers to require a student so thoroughly to master his English grammar, that he could recite it like a declamation and get a grade, on review, of ninety-nine and three fourth per cent., but Professor Sample's students could do that, before he was through with them, and they could talk English as correctly as the best students of other schools could write it.

"Old Greenleaf!" Do you remember Friday reviews? - Up to proportion, a half hour of definition ; then the other half, through ? Solutions ? Severer still ! Strange, is it not, that we not only approved, but loved this exceeding severity of class discipline? Professor Sample would surely have lost one-half of his pupils, had it been abandoned. It was our school distinction. May this not account for another unique fact? During the thirty years of Green Town history, not a single disgraceful incident occurred to mar her memory of the past, and but one case of public discipline.

But with these old memories, thought and pen would wander far a-field, I know not where ! Result of it. Out of perhaps three hundred and fifty young men, whose names appear on the class rolls of Professor Sample 's ' £ Boys, ' ' nearly, or perhaps altogether one hundred, are now in the professions; more than "the baker's dozen" are, in county offices and in all the professions here in Mansfield now. Between three and four thousand pupils have been taught by this woolen factory boy, who went to the public schools only two years. A descendant of the Scotch Presbyterians, he remained in that church until his marriage with Miss Groff, after which he united with the Lutheran church. He always, in politics, has been a democrat.

Down by the ' ' Clearf ork ' ' he lives in his large library of well selected books, digging deeper and deeper into the wonderful mysteries of God.

Hayesville is situated near the center of Vermillion township. The original proprietors of the town of Hayesville were Rev. John Cox and Linus Hayes. As the Loudonville and Ashland and Wooster and Mansfield roads crossed at this point, Mr. Cox concluded that it might be the site of a future town.

The town of Hayesville was laid out in the fall of 1830, and the town plat recorded in Mansfield, October 26, 1830. The first public sale of lots occurred on the 18th of November of the same year.

The postoffice at Hays X-Roads was established January 18, 1827, and Mr. Cox appointed postmaster. This office he held until July 1, 1841, when, for political reasons alone, which then existed, but do not now, he was removed, and Mr. D. K. Hull appointed in his place. When the postoffice was established, it was supplied several years by a weekly mail carried on horseback by John Willson.

Hayesville is situated on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 15, township 21, of reserve 15, formerly known by the name of Hayes X-Roads, being the lands of Messrs. J. Cox and L. Hayes. The principal or main street is laid out on the road leading from Wooster to Mansfield, with one row of nineteen lots on each side - each lot sixty feet front by one hundred and twenty feet back. The road leading f rom Loudonville to Ashland crosses the above named road at right angles, with twenty lots to the east and eighteen lots to the west.

Dr. Harrison Armstrong located in Hayesville in 1832, and was the first regular physician of the place.. He soon won confidence and for a period of twenty years had a large practice. Dr. David Armstrong, also of Hayesville, possessed many characteristics of his ancestry, both in sense, wit and humor. As a physician and business man he stood deservedly high among his fellowmen, and his death was much mourned.

At an early day educational interests were manifested by the citizens of Vermillion township, schools were established and the youth were taught the rudiments of education.. Later select schools were formed for the benefit of those thought to be beyond the tuition of the common school teacher. In 1844- 45, an academy was founded and a charter for the same was obtained from the Ohio legislature, and the name "Vermillion Institute" was bestowed upon the institution.

The old Vermillion Institute at Hayesville is now conducted as a high school under the common school laws of Ohio, and is in charge of Professor D. K. Andrews, a former Richland county boy.

Vermillion Institute was the outcome of a feeling for higher education of the people of the township. The funds to erect suitable buildings were raised by a joint stock company - The site - two acres of land, was donated by W. W. Scott. The corner stone laid in 1845, on Fourth of July - The Rev. Lewis Granger delivered an oration and the school was christened Vermillion Institute. After five years the management passed into the hands of the Wooster Presbyterian.

The people of Hayesville like those of many other small towns live in the glory of the past - we are still proud of the reputation of Vermillion Institute. In its most prosperous years when such institutions were few and far between, its catalogues show that it was unusually well known and that its reputation was more than state-wide. This was particularly the case when that noted educator and distinguished scholar, Rev. Sanders Diefendorf L. L. D. was at its head, under whose skillful management and well earned reputation as a teacher it had from two hundred to three hundred and fifty students enrolled. Many of these ambitious students could be cited by name who have since won high places in the missionary fields, in the pulpit, at the bar, in the medical profession and have become useful and influential citizens in every walk of life, and it is proved by the many letters received by the present citizens of our village and the visits from "the old students" that Vermillion Institute and Dr. Diefendorf are still cherished in the memories of those who are now far. away - and all give credit and regard to the days spent here, for good influences, for scholarship and the brotherly love kindled among the students.

Savannah

Savannah, Ashland county, was founded by the Rev. John Haney and was laid out in December, 1818. Being at the crossing of two important public roads, the town soon took root and grew into quite an active business place, and when the evolution-fever for the dismemberment of old counties and the formation of new ones raged in Ohio in the '40s, Savannah was a candidate to become a county seat town. But the lines being run from north to south, instead of from the east to the west, the town of Ashland carried off the honors. And Savannah's commercial hopes were not realized, and for a few years affairs seemed as though the little village might mot be able to keep its place upon the map.

But in 1849, the Rev. Alexander Scott opened a school in Savannah, which in time became an academy and which has ever since been greatly the life of the town and the pride of the beautiful country surrounding it. Of the six institutions of that kind founded in Ashland county during the academy founding era of fifty years ago, the Savannah academy is the only one in existence today - a verification of the fittest.

In the spring of 1854, the Rev. Alexander Scott was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Savannah, and soon after his settlement there, it occurred to him that the interests of both the church and the community would be greatly promoted by the founding of an academy there. There were a large number of young people within the bounds of the congregation that seemed desirous of securing a better education than could be obtained at a common school. Some of these were going to neighboring institutions. Others desired to go but could not afford the expense. With a view of meeting this want, on the 17th of September, 1856, the Rev. Mr. Scott opened a classical school under the name of the ' ' Savannah Male and Female Academy. ' ' Sixteen pupils were enrolled the first day, which number was increased to twenty-five before the close of the term, and to about one hundred before the end of the year. The second year, having secured more commodious accommodations, the school became still more prosperous. On Thanksgiving day, 1858, preliminary steps were taken to form an academy association with a board of trustees, which was successfully accomplished within a few weeks, and the institution has been successfully conducted ever since.

The Rev. Mr. Scott the founder of the academy is now eighty-eight years of age resides in the village and looks back with satisfaction to the work he founded and that the institution is prosperous today.

Savannah is built upon a lovely elevation, the base of which to the south and west is washed by the clear waters of the Vermillion river, or rather the headwaters thereof, just after being loosened from the Vermillion lakes, whose clear waters glisten in the sunshine south and east of the village, and where the moonbeams glimmer in sheens of beauty. These lakes are situated just north of the dividing ridge which traverses Ohio from the northeast to the southwest and forms the water shed of the state.

These Vermillion lakes are locally known as the McWilliams and the McLain lakes. The McWilliams lake is the larger of the two and is much deeper. There is a grove near each lake, and they are quite popular resorts for campers during the hot season.

The town is situated upon a beautiful plateau, and the houses of the village are of modern architecture, are kept well painted and the streets are clean and shady, evincing civic pride and betterment that is commendable everywhere. The lakes and lovely landscapes make a charming background to the village picture.

The first instance in wdiich the population of Savannah was taken separate from that of Clear Creek township was in 1860, when it was three hundred and sixty, but it has increased some since. The first settler in the town was Joseph Fast. The first schoolhouse in the place was a small log building, erected on the northeast corner of the town plat. There are three churches in the village - Methodist, Presbyterian and United Presbyterian. While the most of the buildings in the place are modern and up-to-date, there is one old building yet standing as a relic of the past. It is a rambling old structure, two stories in height and perhaps sixty feet front, and stands on the west side of Main street south of the academy building. It was built for a hotel and was called the "Tallchill."

The Savannah academy has been, since its founding, Christian, but not denominational. The ground, upon which the academy buildings stand, was donated for that purpose by the Rev. John Haney, the founder of the village. Daniel D. Templeton was the first president of the board of trustees.

Calling at the academy at a recitation hour, upon being ushered in, we were kindly greeted and confronted a sea of up-turned handsome and intellectual faces of a score of lady pupils, and later had the pleasure of meeting the principal of the school, the Rev. W. J. Machwart, who, with the Rev. H. F. Kerr, his able assistant, keep the institution up to its former high standard.

Jeromeville is in Mohican township, situated where the Mansfield- Wooster old-time stage road crosses the Jeromefork of the Mohican river. The town was laid out February 14, 1815, by Christian Deardorf and William Vaughn, who had purchased the land from John Baptiste Jerome a short time before, and the town was named Jeromeville in honor of Jerome. It is surrounded by fine farming lands, and no better soil for fertility can be found in the state than those along the branches of the Mohican. The climate is a healthful one, the scenery of the hills and valleys enhancing and romantic and many legends are

Jeromeville has a population of over four hundred, and being eligibly located in the northwest part of the township, it is a good business town for its size. It was the third town platted within the present limits of Ashland county

A branch of the Ramsey railway system runs from Custaloga, on the Pennsylvania road, northwest to Ashland, a distance of twenty-five miles, passes through Jeromeville and has added much to the business of both Jeromeville and Ashland. The road is called the Ashland & Western, and it is expected that the line will be extended to Lorain on the lake. There is also talk of extending the line south to the Ohio river.

Jeromeville at present contains three churches - the Christian, the Methodist and the Lutheran. A Presbyterian church was organized there in 1817, and was the first church in the place. They erected a church edifice in 1820, and the denomination prospered there for many years, but the organization finally ceased to exist and the church building has been remodeled and is now used as a store room.

The oldest building yet standing in Jeromeville was built for a hotel and was occupied as such for three-fourths of a century, but is now used for a furniture store and a dwelling. The building is in fair condition and seems good for another century. It is two stories in height, over fifty feet in length by about forty in width, and was considered a massive structure at the time it was erected. Additions were added in the rear for dining room and kitchen. This hotel structure was built of brick and sided with heavy, hard wood lumber, perfectly, matched and accurately fitted. A two-story porch with massive pillars and with railings nearly surrounds the building. There are great, old-fashioned fire places in both the first and second stories, of sufficient capacity to thoroughly heat the building and to admit of wood without much cutting. The first floor contains four large rooms with a wide hall running crosswise of the building in the center. The second story was formerly one large room, which was used as a bed room and upon festive occasions as a ball room. A large attic furnished further accommodations when needed.

All the material that composed the building inside and out was of hardwood, such as black and white walnut, cherry, oak, ash, maple, etc., all worked out by hand, floors, doors, siding, and all. The pillars are of black walnut and were cut from the stump here and all hauled by teams of oxen to Wooster, Ohio, and were turned out by William Spear ; the range work, pillar bases etc., were cut out by Samuel Jackson, a stonecutter of great skill.

In the old stage-coach days this town was a relay station, and is about midway between Wooster and Mansfield, and this stage route was the most prominent and important between the Alleghenies and the northwest. Hence the Hargrave tavern was none too large for the accommodations needed. There are three other buildings yet standing in the town which were built for hotels back in the stage days, but are less pretentious. In one of these, the one in which the postoffice is now located, the first session of court in the county was held, before a county seat had been located.

Another house is yet standing, supposed to be quite or nearly a century ol«. In the early settlement of the place it was the home of a Mr. McKahan, a wheej. wright, who had a little shop adjoining, where he manufactured spinning wheels, which were used by the pioneer women to spin wool and flax. Spinning wheels are known to the people of today only as relics and curiosities.

A road from Wooster through Jeromeville to the west was cut through the forest in the fall of 1812 by General Beall's army. This road became a great thoroughfare, and is still used and called " Beall's Trail." A blockhouse was built in the autumn of 1812 at Jeromeville by the troops for the protection of the settlers and was placed under the charge of Captain Murray, who remained there for some time. This blockhouse stood upon a slight knoll at the north part of the village, back of the railroad station, near the flouring mills.

After remaining in the vicinity of the blockhouse one or two days, General Beall crossed the Jeromefork, and his pioneers opened a path along the old Wyandot trail, in a northwesterly direction, to the banks of a small stream, where they formed a camp. This location was subsequently known as the Griffin farm. The camp received the name of "Mercer," in honor of Major Musser, who commanded one of the regiments. The distance of this camp from the present site of Jeromeville, was about three miles. Here the army remained about two weeks. It was during their stay in this camp that the battle of the "Cow Pens" occurred.

About the year 1762, Mohican John, a noted chief of the Mohegans, came to the vicinity of Jeromeville with a band of his tribe numbering about two hundred, and established a village upon the west side of the Jeromefork, upon a knoll or eminence, about a half mile west of the present town of Jeromeville. The village was called Mohican Johnstown, in honor of their noted leader.

The names of some of the heads of the families were Aweepsah, Opetete, Catotawa, Nesohawa, Buckandohee, Shias, Ground Squirrel Buckwheat, Philip Canonicut, Billy Montour, and Thomas Jelloway.

The Delaware Indians had a settlement near Jeromeville, which they left at the beginning of the war of 1812. Their chief was old Captain Pipe. When young he was a great warrior, and the implacable foe of the whites. He was in St. Clair's defeat, where, according to his own account, he distinguished himself, and slaughtered white men until his arm was weary with the work.

The village contained a council house and about sixty or eighty pole lodges or wigwams, and was located near the old Wyandot trail. The village was a common resort of hostile Indians on their warlike excursions to western Pennsylvania and Virginia, in the days of the border wars. Many white captives had been led up the old trail, by the village, from 1780 to 1795. The Indians had cleared some fifteen or twenty acres of bottom land, which the squaws cultivated in corn, after the Indian manner. About one mile northeast of the Indian village, a Frenchman by the name of John Baptiste Jerome, resided in a comfortable cabin, having an Indian wife and a daughter, the latter aged about fifteen years. He also had horses, cattle and swine, and had cleared about thirty or forty acres of bottom land along the stream at the west side of what is now Jeromeville, on which he raised corn, and supplied many of the early pioneers with seed corn.

When the old Portage road was surveyed in 1810, Jerome lived in a cabin near the foot of Main street in Jeromeville. When Captain Douglas removed the Indians, the wife and daughter of Jerome accompanied them. It has been stated that Jerome gave them the choice of going with their people or remaining with him, and they chose to go with the Indians. The following concerning Jerome is from Hill's history of Ashland county:

"John Baptiste Jerome was born near Montreal, Canada, of French parents, in the year 1776 or 1777. When seventeen or eighteen years of age he crossed the lake with some French emigrants, and settled among the Indians at the mouth of the Huron river. He married an Indian girl, supposed to have been the sister of a noted Indian known as George Hamilton. After remaining on the Huron a few years, he removed to Upper Sandusky, and resided among the Indians until the campaign of General Anthony Wayne. In company with Captain Pipe, of the Delawares, he was engaged in a number of battles against the American forces, and was at the famous battle of 'Fallen Timbers.' At the time of his residence in this county, he often related anecdotes concerning that battle, describing the amazement of the Indians at the rapidity and violence of the movements of Wayne's army - the Indians comparing him to a huge 'black snake, ' and ascribing almost supernatural powers to him. He asserted, that for a long time, the very name of 'Mad Anthony' sent a chill of horror through the body of an Indian. They had, prior to the appearance of General Wayne, baffled the armies of the American generals, and committed many barbarities upon the wounded and dead soldiers left upon the battle field ; but, when he came, like a huge anaconda, he enclosed and crushed the warriors in such a frightful manner that they had abandoned all hope of resisting his victorious mardi, and were glad to stop his ravages by making peace. ' '

After the treaty at Greenville in 1795, John Baptiste Jerome, Captain Pipe, and a number of the Delawares left the northwest and settled in what was formerly Mohican Johnstown, on the south side of the stream, about a half mile from the present site of Jeromeville. The stream was thenceforth known as the Jeromefork, which name it doubtless received from Jerome. The precise period of this migration cannot be accurately fixed, but was doubtless as early as 1796 or 1797. Jerome crossed the stream and built a cabin a little southeast of the present site of the mill, where Joseph H. Larwill found him, his wife and daughter, while -surveying, in 1806-7. Captain Pipe built a wigwam and located about one mile from Jerome, near what is now the Hayesville road. When the first settlers came into Mohican township, Jerome resided in the aforesaid cabin.

Prior to his being separated from his wife, Jerome was noted for his hospitality, his wife being an excellent cook and housekeeper, considering her opportunities, Jerome being her only instructor as to domestic duties. During the

About the year 1817 Jerome and his German wife removed to his old residence at the mouth of Huron river, where he died a few years afterwards, in indigent circumstances. After Jerome's Indian wife left him, he married a German woman from the Clearfork settlement.

In the fall or early part of the winter of 1812 the family of William Bryan, residing on the Jeromefork, about a mile and a half below Jeromeville, were one afternoon surprised by the appearance of a couple of Indians. As the Indians of the neighborhood had all been removed, their presence occasioned suspicion. They asked for food, and while it was being prepared a girl was dispatched to the fort to give the alarm. Thomas Carr and the Frenchman, Jerome, immediately armed themselves and started in pursuit, but before they reached Mr. Bryan's house the Indians had taken their leave and pursuit was abandoned.

The days following our visit to Jeromeville, the old dam, which for nearly a century had spanned the river there and furnished power for the grist mill, was blown out by dynamite, by order of the court, on account of the dam backing the water and overflowing the land. The court awarded Mr. Plank, the proprietor of the mill, ten thousand dollars damages for being deprived of this water power, and the money was paid to Mr. Plank a short time previous to the dam being destroyed.

Mr. C. T. Alleman, aged sixty-three, a life-long resident of Jeromeville, takes a commendable interest in the history of his town. The author of this work is indebted to him for favors.

Loudon ville is in Hanover township, situated on the line of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, midway between Mansfield and Wooster. The towm is twenty miles from Ashland, twenty from Mansfield, twenty from Wooster, twenty from Millersburg and twenty from Mt. Vernon - an equal distance from five county seat towns.

Loudonville was laid out August 6, 1814, by Stephen Butler and James Loudon Priest, and was named for the latter. The first sale of lots was made September 14, 1814. There was one cabin on the site of Loudonville before the town was platted and was the home of Stephen Butler. It had but one room, but was used as a tavern, and was therefore the first hotel in the place, and the town was laid out around it. Chappel, who settled near the town site in 1814, was Mr. Butler's nearest neighbor. The early reminiscences of the place are similar to those already given of other communities, and the struggles and triumphs of its early settlers who came to the wilderness and who after years of toil and dangers brought it to a state of civilization, was much the same as of other pioneers.

Loudonville at one time, like a number of other new towns in the county, aspired to become the county seat. The Blackfork of the Mohican enters the township at Loudonville and furnishes excellent water power. It pursues a southwesterly course until it unites with Clearfork a few miles below.

During the trouble with the Indians, Mr. Priest erected a fort upon his premises for the safety of his family and the members, and it was called "The Priest Stockade."

Mr. Haskell early laid out an addition to Loudonville. He erected a brick building at his own expense known as the "Haskell Academy," employed teachers and kept the school going for several years. He started the first bank in Loudonville in 1868, which was continued after his death by his nephew, George C. Haskell. One of the earliest mills in the vicinity was erected by Thomas McMacken in 1834. The A. A. Taylor mill on the Blackfork just above "the town is one of the largest country mills in the state.

Thomas H. Stewart, of Loudonville, was one of the first associate judges of Richland county, Loudonville being then in Richland county. The residence of Dr. Scott is the largest and most imposing in the town, although there are many other handsome residences there.

Of the newspapers published in Loudonville past and present, the writer recalls the Independent, published by the Rev. Lockhart, but the editor's views were too strenuous to be popular, and in 1873 it suspended publication and the Advocate took its place, with the veteran, J. H. Ruth, as editor and publisher. In 1877, the Advocate passed into the hands of Stauffer and Miller. After a year or two Mr. Miller retired and Peter High Stauffer became the sole proprietor and conducted the paper successfully until his death a few years since. The Advocate is now published by H. E. Zimmerman. The Loudonville Democrat was founded by John Herzog in 1879, and is now owned and successfully published by John C. Bowman.

From a write-up of Loudonville, entitled "Looking Back Sixteen Years," which appeared in the Advocate in October, 1908, we take the following:

Looking back over a period of sixteen years, Loudonville has made a wonderful change to a former citizen who had not been here in that length of time, as there are but few of the old landmarks left by which he could recognize the place.

In the year of 1892, the T. W. V. & 0. railroad was constructed by General A. Warner, which has proven to be one of the greatest coal-carrying roads in the state of Ohio.

During the same year the old West Main street bridge was replaced with a modern structure, of which any town and the county commissioners who erected it, can justly feel proud. The new bridge came none too soon, however, as the old one had become dangerous and entirely inadequate for the traffic. Thanks are due to Jacob Kettering, who was then a member of the board of county commissioners and through whose untiring efforts this commodious structure was finally secured.

During the same year the municipal light plant was installed and no town can boast of being better or more brilliantly lighted than Loudonville.

And, while you are looking for and sizing up the improvements of the town, just allow your eyes to take a "snapshot" of the beautiful and costly dwellings which have sprung up on Mt. Vernon avenue, Maple Heights, Campbell, Union, Adams, East Main, South Water, Spring, Wood streets and Cherry avenue. Have you thought of the improvements made on these streets or must they be pointed out to make you fully realize the change that has been going on in the last few years? In the interval don't overlook the improvement the P. F. company has made on its grounds - a good, substantial depot, train sheds and a park well kept which adds to the beauty of our village.

What was at first thought to be a disastrous blow to the town, was the fire of May, 1901, but which afterwards proved to be the beginning of a new era in the upbuilding and betterment of the town.

The erection of new business structures by A. B. Leopold, S. H. Evans, F. P. Young, A. Tenschert and F. M. Petot were the first Main street improvements to follow the fire. These rooms are as complete and up-to-date as one could find in many days' travel. Following these improvements came the erection of the Hotel Ullman by the Ullman family, a commodious hostelry, second to none in all its appointments and one which would be a credit to any town many times the size of Loudonville.

The year following the fire came the water works system. This was one of the best investments the town ever made. The water supply has never diminished and the quality is the best to be found in the land. Following the water works came the sewerage system, which every citizen knows is a great benefit to public health.

Street paving was agitated by the property holders along Main street in 1906, but did not come to a focus until the year following. What street paving has added to the town in appearance and convenience is not necessary to mention as every loyal citizen feels proud even when he gazes upon it.

Going back to 1902, C. B. Scott and E. F. Shelley became associate^ in real estate, and, desiring to see the town kept on the move, they purchased the old American House corner. These grounds were then sold to individuals desiring locations to build; and, we might add, that they refused to sell to any one only prospective builders. As a result of their efforts in this direction, the first structure to become conspicuous, was the Beard & Harvey livery barn, a spacious tile building, erected by Orra Beard for a livery and feed barn. This was followed by the erection of three elegant business rooms on the American House site by M. Derrenberger, Earl Wolf and W. P. Ullman. The vacant lots on North Water street have also been occupied within the last few years, which practically covers that portion of the town left in ruins and ashes by the big fire.

While Loudonville has not grown as rapidly as some other towns in the state, yet it has always been recognized as a place of wealth and a hustling little business center. Located as it is, in the great Mohican valley, surrounded by picturesque hills and landscape scenery of bewildering beauty which impress visitors with a memory that will never be effaced, it forms an attractive center for trading.

No town in the state has a more intelligent, self-helping, self-respecting population than this little berg on the Blackfork. Honesty, fidelity and economy have been characteristic traits of its citizens from generation to generation. No other town of its size enjoys a more liberal patronage from the surrounding community, and also can it be said that few towns this size, and even larger, can boast of as good stores in all lines of business, as well managed and all carrying splendid lines to select from.

The banking interests of the town are in capital condition and each of the three banks are in competent hands, such as would he creditable to any locality. Realizing that the wealth and business interests of the town were sufficient to support a third bank, the Citizens Savings Bank company was instituted in 1905, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars and representing an actual wealth of one million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. This bank first began doing business in the Derrenberger room, but was later located in a new building erected expressly for its use.

The same year in which the Citizens Bank was founded, Dr. Scott and Mr. -Shelley came in possession of the Larwell corner, including the site formerly occupied by the old Taylor warehouse, located in the rear of the Strauss & Arnholt clothing store, which was destroyed by fire in 1885. A little later the Merklinger building and ground was purchased of Mrs. Hattie Ullman. A handsome structure, which is a consummation of art and convenience in its interior arrangement and with its white terra cotta front in imitation of white marble, with fluted pillars, in colonial style of architecture, has replaced the wooden building as well as the little shack formerly used as a fish-stand. This modern structure, which is not only an ide&l banking building, but an ornament to the town, was the out-growth of the Citizens Savings Bank. Its construction was under the supervision of E. F. Shelley, who is president of the institution.

E. F. Shelley became interested in the bank shortly after its organization and has been one of the principal promoters of the many improvements which have taken place in the last few years. He is a man of exceptionally fine executive ability and always stands ready to push any enterprise, which in his judgment, will benefit the town.

A. J. Solomon, of Mt. Vernon, was also instrumental in bringing about the present activity in the improvement that has taken place on the Larwell corner. Sentiment was one of the incentives of Mr. Solomon for assisting in founding this bank in Loudonville. In forming his system of banks throughout the state, he remembered where his boyhood days were spent, and was one of the prime movers in organizing and promoting this institution.

Dr. C. B. Scott, who is one of the directors of the bank, has been closely associated with Mr. Shelley in all his business relations. As a mover and promoter of public enterprise, Mr. Scott possesses many of the characteristic traits of his father, the late Andrew J. Scott to whom thanks are due for the active part he performed in securing the passage of the necessary bill by the legislature at Columbus, for our electric light plant. Dr. Scott has been a resident of Loudonville all his life and enjoys a professional reputation of which any practitioner might well be proud.

More than a year ago the Loudonville Realty and Improvement Company was formed with the following roster of members: E. F. Shelley, Dr. C. B. Scott, M. J. Wolf, H. R. Priest and A. J. Solomon. The purpose of this company was to promote public improvement and continue in the same progressive attitude as long as opportunity afforded. A contract was soon closed with the postoffice department with plans and specifications for a new postoffice building. A modern two story brick building now occupies a portion of the Larwell "melon patch." The building was designed and erected especially for postoffice purposes and is complete in every detail. The interior arrangement with its costly and up-to-date furnishings makes it a prominent feature of interest to strangers. S. B. Rathbone, assistant to the first postmaster general, with whom the company made the contract and who was sent here to inspect the building after its completion, said that the building as well as the postoffice fixtures were far in excess of what the department expected to see. He also paid a glowing tribute to Messrs. Scott and Shelley for the manner in which they fulfilled their part of the contract and for the elegant furnishings with which the office was equipped.

Messrs. Scott and Shelley have informed the Advocate that they are not only ready and willing to erect more business blocks such as they have already built, but would be very glad to do so for any one who is looking for a business room in which to locate.

If the property owners on the opposite side of the street, from Oswalt's corner east, would follow the example set by these two enterprising citizens, what a beautiful little business thoroughfare Loudonville would have.

If Loudon Priest, who laid out the town plat in 1814 and after whom Loudonville was named, could return what a wonderful change it would represent to him, and we wonder how many of the old land marks here at that time he could point out.

Some Points Of Interest Around Loudonville

The following is from the pen of the late Peter High Stauffer and appeared in a supplement to his " Loudonville Advocate" newspaper in June, 1903 :

No drive out of Loudonville abounds in as much beautiful scenery as the one south of Mt. Yernon avenue over the old State road. You pass the site of the once flourishing tannery of the Schauweker Brothers, who amassed a fortune here in their business. The grounds in part are now owned by the Queen Manufacturing Company, one of Loudonville 's flourishing manufacturing concerns. As you ascend Brewery or " Ghost" Hill a panoramic view of Loudonville is presented that is simply charming. To the right of the winding roadway rises the City Waterworks Park until it reaches an altitude several hundred feet above the valley below. On its lofty summit lies sleeping like a monstrous leviathan the City Reservoir, whose throbbing arteries ramify every street of the town, even to the remotest ends of it, slaking the thirst of all animate beings of the city, cleansing it of all manner of microbes that might endanger life or health, or laying combat to the fire demon that would at the midnight hour seek to destroy the homes or other treasures of its peaceful citizens. If the plans of the city fathers are carried out in years to come Waterworks Park will be a beautyspot and the pride of the town. From its lofty heights an enchanting landscape unfolds before the vision. The smoke from the hundreds of peaceful homes and the few busy factories settles over the valley below like a cloud of incense and the many lofty church spires pointing heavenward give evidence of a devout and God-fearing people. Beyond the confines of the town stretches out a landscape of vernal green that serves as a background to a charming birds-eye picture of our lovely city. Across it, all like threads of steel, passes the roadway of one of the century 's greatest wonders in the realms of commericial exchange - a modern railway, with its giant engines and monstrous trains like phantoms flitting to and fro.

What a contrast between the present and the conditions that existed a generation ago! We say a generation ago - we can almost draw the limit a little closer. As we are ascending the roadway over the hill we imagine we can hear the rumblings of the old-fashioned stage coach approaching us, the same drawn by four foaming steeds and our old and good friend Sylvester Danner handling the ribbons and cracking the whip over the heads of the dashing horses, as he was wont to do for eight years before the advent of railroads in this country.

In those pioneer days one of the great thoroughfares of this country was the road we are now traveling and the stage coach was the most commodious and expeditious mode of travel. Although we are removed only a generation from this primitive state of our country's history we can hardly realize that the steam engine, electric car, telegraph and telephone service are creations of the past decade or two.

As we are passing down the road we greet our good friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Bell and the dear ones at home, who are enjoying life's comforts on the old Barron farm, now owned by our townsman, W. S. Fisher.

As we journey on we cast our eyes over the broad and fertile acres of our good friend Frederick Feichter, than whom no thriftier and more successful yeoman lives in Hanover township. He has made farming a life study and his success is due to applying his knowledge to all his farming operations.

As we pass along we are charmed by the beauties of nature as displayed in the fertile valley that stretches out before us. On either side are silhouetted against the horizon the everlasting hills which seem like giant sentinels guarding the valley below, which is glistening under the effulgence of the morning sun. Through the erosions by the elements during ages and centuries the hills have receded, thus broadening the valley and adding many fertile acres to the farm land. Upon the hillsides are lazily roaming herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, reminding us of the " cattle upon a thousand hills" mentioned in the Sacred Word. The edges of the roadside are fringed with blossoming elders and a great profusion of wild flowers of all descriptions. The wheat fields are waving in the gentle breeze, reminding us that harvest-time will soon be here. The pasture fields are carpeted over with a deep green and all nature never looked lovlier than it does now.

The slow and sluggish Blackfork draws its serpentine length through the beautiful valley and on either side is hemmed in by strips of a luxuriant growth of willows and underbrush. Close beside this stream the Walhonding Valley railroad seeks to parallel it, but on account of many crooks and turns has to leap from one side to the other.

While we are drinking in the beauties of the valley and its environments we notice over the farthest hill tops, where the valley swings to the east, the smoke curling up and then, a shrill whistle of an approaching train. Where a few* generations ago was curling the smoke from the red man's wigwam and where was heard his dread war whoop are now the quiet homes of a peaceful and prosperous people, who enjoy all the luxuries that are the inheritance of civilization and Christianization.

But we have reached the "Old Stone House," about which cluster many happy and also sad memories. In years past this ancient landmark was owned in succession by two of Loudon ville 's eminent physicians, Drs. J. C. Pell and A. B. Fuller. Both have passed from life's busy stage of action, but we never pass along the road but that memory reverts to them and our heart saddens at the thought that their lives were not spared for many more years of usefulness and affectionate association with those near and dear to them. The present tenants of the old house are Mr. and Mrs. Frank Whisler. We have a tender spot in our hearts for the good housewife that presides over the destinies of the household in the old mansion. Several years ago while returning with a friend from a fishing expedition, we halted at the stone spring in front of the house for a drink, but the kind lady, who was boiling applebutter, offered us big draughts of sweet cider, which was most delicious. We shall never forget the kindness.

We now reach the Garrett bottoms, lands that are fertile as any in the country. When William Garrett and his young wife came to this section from their New J ersey home they settled on this tract of land and spent the remainder of their days upon it. They here amassed a fortune through frugality, industry and honorable dealings with their neighbors. Although living on the farm Mr. Garrett served for years as vice president of the Loudonville Banking Company. The farm of about four hundred acres is now owned and occupied, by their daughter, Mrs. John Nyhart. Mr. and Mrs. Nyhart live in a palatial farm house just across the Clearfork. As one views the contentment of these tillers of the soil and the bounty with which they are provided you are reminded of the condition of the farmers of the storied Arcadian land before the invasion of the enemy.

On the north bank of the Clearfork, opposite the wooden bridge, stands one of the oldest landmarks of Hanover township. The house is occupied by Alfred Maxwell and family, who do the farming for Mr. Nyhart. The house was erected over ninety years ago and during stage coach days was a country tavern. Ed. Hibbard was then the landlord and, as a tavern in those days always included a bar where all kinds of intoxicating liquors were dispensed, the old citizens of that country relate many exciting doings when the "warring elements of the backwoods localities met and while under the influence of liquor settled their difficulties. Our old friend, Joshua Mapes, who lives near -the old hotel site, is now in his eightieth year, is the first male child born on Pine Run and never was farther away from his old home than Mt. Vernon. He remembers many of the fights at the old tavern and when a boy saw Indians, wolves, bears, deer, wild cats and even panthers and elks roaming the bottoms.

At the Nyhart home an old wooden bridge spans the Clearfork, one of those relics of stage coach days, which are now fast passing away. In a few more years this may have to give way to a modern stone and iron structure in order to accommodate the interurban electric line from Loudonville to Mt. Vernon.

South of the bridge, with a beautiful hillside for a background, stands the old stone election house which was built about forty years ago, replacing a structure which Mart Ernst afterwards used as a barn until the great flood of June, 1899, carried it down the stream.

We wish to digress a little here to relate an incident that an old newspaper man told us at the hotel in Mansfield, several years ago. He was born and raised in the state of New York and learned the art preservative. He got the western fever and started for Cincinnati to seek employment. He passed through Loudonville on a stage coach. After working in Cincinnati for a few months he became homesick and started for home again over the same tedious stage coach line. He said he remembered Loudonville from the fact that one night he stayed in a country tavern in a little village between Loudonville and Mt. Yernon. He dreamed of home and the dear ones there and then a beautiful picture came up before his vision. He thought he was standing on a high elevation and before him lay a valley that was resplendent in beauty. In the meadows of the low lands herds of cattle were grazing, a stream of crystal water was winding its serpentine length through the valley and a country road was passing through it. To the left of the valley was a high bluff surmounted by a heavy primeval forest and down along the hillside near the road was projecting the snag of a dead tree and underneath it was gushing forth from the caverns of the hillside a stream of clear water. Every outline seemed as real as life in his dream and it made an impression on him that he never forgot. In the morning the tedious journey was again resumed and the dream of the night was haunting the homesick young man all along the route. As the stage coach reached a point, as he described it, about four miles south of Loudonville, as they were descending a steep hill, he beheld the exact landscape as pictured in the vision the night before. There was not a single detail omitted. In relating this incident he said he could not account for it, but he would give five dollars now if he could be once more at the same spot and view the same landscape.

To the west from the covered bridge the Clearfork is paralleled on both sides by a country road. We take what is called the "Narrows'' road. At times this is a dangerous thoroughfare, as the hillsides give way and go thundering down into the river below. When the foliage is all out a vista to extreme beauty presents itself. The music of the birds from the deep, umbrageous recesses of the wooded hillside is charming and the air is redolent with the perfume of many flowers. At this time of the year and possibly a little earlier the hillsides are festooned with large patches of wild flowers of the brightest hues, which gleam through the dark foliage and present a charming scene. To the right the roadside is lined by bushes which are growing at the edge of the beautiful Clearfork and through them as you pass along you get glimpses of the clear and placid stream. Many are the woodland voices calling us and the admirer of the beautiful in nature can go adrift in these woodpaths and will be charmed by the exquisite chorus of bird music. The full chorus of bird song is really almost over b}r the middle of June, but there is enough song and activity left to enchant you. Even upon the crest of the hillside the sable crows are holding an animated convention on the contiguous tree tops and discussing the prospects of the farmer's corn crop in yonder field.

As you emerge from the charming vista along the "Narrows" your memory will revert to a sad scene enacted on the night of June 19, 1899, when Isaac Hunter lost his life in the great flood. The writer with a friend passed along this road on the morning of that memorable day. The sun shone brightly and when we reached the Hunter cabin a beautiful view presented itself. We both remarked: "What a beautiful scene for a picture!" The modest little cabin was in the center of the scene, around it were strewn promiscuously farming utensils, threshing and sawing machinery and the general indications were that there was no woman connected with the household. The background consisted of hills covered with the most beautiful foliage. It was just such a setting to a picture that an artist would admire. On our return home that evening we engaged a photographer to drive down the following morning to take the picture for ' ' Loudonville Illustrated. ' ' Scarcely an hour afterwards the most destructive storm for years commenced to rage. Our townsman, E. F. Shelley, passed the Hunter cabin after the storm had commenced and by the flashes of lightning recognized the old man as he was standing in the cabin door with a pan in his hand. No one saw him alive afterwards. The floodgates of heaven seemed to have been turned wide open and the reverberations of thunder from hillside to hillside and flashes of vivid lightning struck terror to the stoutest hearts. Horsetail Run, a little rivulet, soon became a roaring river, extending its borders to both hillsides and carrying death and destruction before it. The county bridge and the Hunter cabin were mere toys in the embrace of this infuriated water demon. The horror felt and experienced by the only occupant of the little cabin can only be imagined. His fate was not known until the next morning when the ruins plainly indicated it. His remains were found ten days later along the banks of the stream near Greersville.

Our good friend Mart. Ernst and his wife, who live only a few rods up the run from the site of the Hunter cabin, were saved as by a miracle. Their home was surrounded by water and all out-buildings were carried away by the flood. Mr. Ernst, by the way, is a veritable walking encyclopedia on matters pertaining to hunting and fishing and is conversant with the entire legendary lore of the Clearfork country. His friends call him as a special distinction "The Old Coon Hunter of the Clearfork."

Beyond his home where the road makes another turn Horsetail run reveals hundreds and thousands of round stones of all sizes. This has been the Mecca of relic hunters for many years. Many a pleasant hour was spent in years past in the bed of this almost dried-up run by our departed friends, H. B. Case and John Freshwater and the Dominie that presides over the spiritual destinies of Zion Lutheran church, the Rev. M. R. Walter, hammers in hand and cracking open the "dornicks" to find some rare geological specimens. The following are some of the fossils with which this special locality abpunds : spirifers, crinoids, conularias, micronemas, newberris, lingulars, trilobite Lodienzis, etc. It may be of interest to some of our readers that according to the geological reports of Ohio that the only sections in the world where the Trilobite Lodienzi is found is in this special locality and at Lodi, in Medina county. It takes its specific name from the town of Lodi.

Military

It is a matter little known to the world in general that Ashland county was the scene of a conflict between the British and Americans during the war of 1812. Such, however, is the case and the following account thereof has been written under the title of