Millwood Township

Millwood Township

The first settlement 'in Millwood Township was made by Josepli Williams, who camC' from New Jersey with a large family in 1804. lie settled in what is now the northwest corner of the township, on the farm occupied by his descendants. August 4, 1806, John Hall, of Wayne County, N. C, began work on the northeast quarter of section 13, Millwood Township. He settled on the site of the present residence of Eli Hall's family. Ever after he was intimately connected with the affairs of the community. Soon after .John Webster and his brother-in-law, Henry Sidwell, came here from Lancaster County, Pa., on horseback, with a view to a permanent residence. Mr. Sidwell entered three hundred and twenty acres of Congress land, and afterward settled on the part of it now known as the Flood Farm. John Webster, a carpenter by trade, came from Lancaster County, Pa., and entered eight hundred acres in Millwood Townsliip, or eighty acres for each of his ten children, and moved here in the autumn of 1806. They built a large two-story hewed-log. house, it being the first house of more than one story in this part of the country. It stood about eighty rods east of the present raih-oad station at Quaker City, arid was torn down to make way for the railroad. John Webster in 1807 turned his attention to the building of a grist and saw mill ou Leatherwood Creek, a little above the railroad bridge south of Quaker City. This was finished the same fall, and was the first mill erected in the valley of Leatherwood, and probably in Guernsey County. It was a great blessing to the settlers in the community, for before this crop of corn, in 1807, they were compelled to go cast of BarnesviUe for the corn, and then take it to Morristown, eighteen miles distant, to be ground in a mill run by horse power. Mr "Webster, who died soon after the completion of his mill, about eighteen months after coming to Ohio, left nine children, and was the founder of all the Webster families of this vicinity. He was the first person to die in this community, and was buried on his own farm, there being no buryingground at that time. In the same year, 1806, Michael King, of Lancaster County, Pa., settled a little north of the present residence of Thomas Webster, on one hundred and sixty acres of land he had previously entered.

The first improvement on the present site of Quaker City was made by .Joseph Rogers, who came from Pennsylvania in 1811. February 8, 1847, the first charter was granted for a railroad in eastern Ohio, known as the Central Ohio Railroad, commencing at Columbus and extending eastward through Newark and Zanesvillfe to the Ohio River. April 26, 1854, it was opened for travel to Cambridge, and on the evening of August 26 the first locomotive ascended the Leatherwood Valley to the cut west of Millwood, now Quaker City, and, in addition to a partial load of iron and ties, unloaded several cars of Togs upon the farm of John S. Smith, now owned by Thomas Webster. This was the first freight ever carried by railway in Millwood Township or the eastern half of Guernsey County. The early settlers of Millwood Township, with few exceptions, were members of the Society of Friends, and in 1812 a log meeting-house was built on their present location near Quaker City. Here a school was soon after established, probably in 1813, which was the first school taught between' BarnesviUe and Cambridge. The first teacher was Samuel King. He was succeeded by Joseph Garrettson, and" afterward by William Mott. A term of three months was usually taught each winter.

John Hall, upon coming to Millwood Township began clearing for a house on the nortlieast quarter of section 13, and had the ground cleared and was ready to raise in four days. The first ni<rl,t he spent under a white oak tree near the buildiucr In the summer of 1838 Dr. T. J. Romans taught a subscription school in a building which stood where W. H. Hartley & Sons' hardware store now slands. In September, 1838, he taught a school on the hill southeast of town, where the Friends' Meeting-house now stands. Thomas Dillehey was the first school teacher who was paid out of public funds, in 1839.

Among the early settlers of Millwood Township were Joseph Williams and family, who came from New Jersey about the year 1805. In their New Jersey home they lived neighbors to Joseph Bonaparte, a brother of Napoleon.

Joseph Rogers, a brother-in-law of Michael Kin<r moved from Nottingham, Md., and settled on tirj southwest quarter of section 20, township 9, it being the tract on which Quaker City now stands He lived here for a number of years, and his father-in-law, Jacob Gatchel, was the fir.t person buried in the Friends" Burying-ground at Richland Meeting-house.

Michael King and family came to Ohio from Lancaster County, Pa., in the autumn of 1806, and settled on section 20, Millwood Township, west of where Quaker City now stands. They were the parents of eight children.

These families before mentioned comprised the first meeting of Friends in this part of the country, which took place about the year 1811. This meeting was held at the home of John Hall for more than a year, and was the pnly place where people assembled for worship in tlic wliolc neighborbood, so all the inhabitants for some distance aroUnd used to meet with the Friends for a social and religious time, and afterward there was a mid-week meeting established. Most of the meetings were held in silence, a living silence being thought preferable to an uncertain sound. The Friends hold themselves amenable to tlie civil laws of their country so far as those laws do not conflict with the rights of conscience or the known laws of God, written in the heart and manifested in the understanding. They believe that no statute or human law is, or should be, binding that has for its object the promotion of war, either offensive or defensive, or that imposes any military performance, such as training for or learning the arts of war, or that assesses a fine instead thereof. So when the War of 1812 broke out, they refused to take a hand in the conflict, and consequently were subject to fines, and the depredations in)posed upon these good and quiet people in the name of the law is almost too villainous for repetition. These (inc-collectors were cold-blooded, hard-hearted villains. Thej' collected fines and plundered in the name of the law, and appropriated the amounts to themselves. Charles Hammond, a shrewd lawyer of Belmont County, and also editor of the Belviont Joxirnal, took up his pen in defense of the good Quakers, and proclaimed the villainy of these illegal collections. Elijah Dyson, Sheriff of Guernsey County, who during his first term of office had served with credit, became during his second term reckless both with his private affairs and in performance of his official duties. Although he had always been an apparent friend to the Quakers, and had often accepted their hospitality, he now joined their enemies, and by his superior knowledge, together with a natural cunning and treachery, soon worked incalculable injury to them.

In 1804 .John Hall came with his father's family from Wayne County, N. C, and settled with them near what is now liarnesville, Belmont County.

Two years later he entered the land about Spencer Station, just east of Quaker City, thus becoming the first who acquired a title to land in this part of Millwood Township. In October of the same year, John Webster settled himself in the valley of Leatherwood Creek, entering many acres of its fertile hills and bottom lands. The families of these two pioneers intcr-married in one or two instances, and are both represented in the neighborhood of Quaker City.

A few other families joined the infant colony in what is now Millwood Township during the years from 1806 to 1818; and tradition has it that a log schoolhousc was built in 1810 by the roadside on what is now called Walnut Street, a street that has practically fallen into disuse, running parallel with Main Street, higher up on the hillside north of it. Here a school was taught in the ai)- pi'oved style of those days, when discipline was enforced by the systematic application of the rod. No especial change seems to have taken place in the few following years up to 1818. Jonah Smith's father came from Loudoun County, Va. and settled near Barnesville, and some, time afterward entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on the present site of Quaker City, which he gave to his son. Jonah Smith took possession of his wilderness farm in 1818, orshortly previous, and built a log cabin in what is now the eastern suburb. This cabin lias since been incorporated with the old house where the roads fork in the eastern part of the town, and has been disguised with a covering of boards, so that it passes for a one-story attachment to the main building. The fine spring of pure water just north of Main Street doubtless determined the location of the cabin. Mr. Smith gave the name of Millwood to his wilderness home in memory of his old Virginia residence. Earlj' in the history of the place John Webster built a mill (1806 or 1807), which has long since disappeared. In the chronicles of the place, which are mostly traditional, the family of Noah Hartley is said to have joined the colony in 1827. This family, like the Smiths, Wcbsters, Halls and Doudnas,

Historical

More population came and clustered about the place, until in 1834 Jonah Smith laid out the town of Millwood. The plat consisted of what is now Main and Pike Streets, Main Street running almost east and west, lapping over the point of the hill and hugging close to its steeper part, joined to what is now called Pike Street, in the lower ground to the west of the town. There seems to have been a few log cabins scattered along East Main Street, but as yet the place gave no signs of future greatness. In 1831 the Friends had built a meeting-house on the low hill east of the town, which burned and was rebuilt in 1834. In 1835 the Methodists built a log churcii on Walnut Street, so that the place w.-is provided with two places of worship, a schoolhouse and a mill near by. In tiie same year Dr. E. Williams built tlie first frame house, on East Main Street, and occupied it as a residence. Througii his efforts, a postoffice was established here, in a small building still standing on East Main Street, and Jonah Smitli was appointed Postmaster. To make sure that the Postmaster should have something to do, a weekly mail service was secured, and Dr. Williams subscribed for a Philadelphia weekly paper, which was the only one taken in the place. One, liowever, was suflicient, for the whole reading population perused it carefully in turn. Meanwhile Mr. Smith had built a more pretentious house at the forks of the road, and afterward sold or rented it to James Pyles, who opened ihe first hotel in tlie place in 1837. Mr. Smith had also been elected Justice of the Peace, an ottice he held for fourteen years.

The town seems to have taken a boom in 1837. A hotel had been opened and six additional houses built during the year. In 1839 Isaac W. Hall started a general store in a building erected for the purpose, a short distance west of where the bank now stands. He opened his store for business on election day, 1839. The population of the United States in 1840 was 17,068,606, but what portion of these resided in Millwood is not accurately known. It was probably much less than one hundred. The event of 1841 was the erection of a brick house by J. Rodgers. This is the house now occupied by B. I. Johnson. Here a Miss Sarah Beall opened the first millinery store in Millwood, in 1842. In 1844 came the fulling-mill andcarding-machine, built by Thomas Moore. In 1845 came Richard English, the first blacksmith, who began business where the bank building now stands, and the same year came Dr. T. J. Romans. The population in 1845 was about one hundred and fifty. In 1848 James Cleves established the first saddler-shop. March 22, 1850, Millwood was incorporated, and by an act of the Legislature, April 12, 1871, the name was changed to Quaker City. Pennington Scott was elected first Mayor, and Thomas Moore was elected second Mayor. No record was left of the town officials from that time until the name of the town was changed, in 1871. In 1854 the building of the Eastern Oiiio Railroad gave a stimulus to the place, but from 1855 to 1870 the town kept going back. The3earl870 witnessed the arrival of Alexander Cochran. He bought property and laid out what was known as "Cochran's Addition" or Broadwaj'. The Christian Church erected a brick structure on Broadway in 1874, and Mr. Cochran built the Beecher House, a large thiee-story hotel building, in 1875, and also the large three-story frame building known as the Cochran Block, corner of South Street and Broadway. The first fair was held in 1871 and was a success. After two or three j-ears of fairs, the town seemed to demand more room, so the fair grounds were laid out in town lots and Fair Street opened. The Mayors of recent years have been: W. H. Hartley, 1871; J. C. Steel, 1872; G. W. Arnold, 1873; J. B. Lydick, 1874 to 1884; L. J. Heskett, 1884 to 1886; and David Scott, 1886. Tlie Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Masons, Grand Army of the Republic, Sons of Veterans, and Independent Order of Good Templars are the secret societies.

From the heginning this was a Quaker neighborhood. The Halls planted the churcli here in the wilderness in the beginning of the centuiy, and they still maintain a meeting-house near tlie city, and have a good society. The Methodists have been here from an early day. Their [ircsent build- ing, which was erected in 1871, was dedicated October 3 of that year, by Rev. J. C. Pershing. It stands on the corner of Pike and Main Streets. Tlie Christians have been here for a long time. In 1859 they had a building in the eastern suburbs of the town, which was dedicated by A. E. Myers, of Bethany, W. Va. Tliis was abandoned in March, 1875, for the neat brick church on the corner of South Street and Broadway.

The Schools

The Quaker City schools are on a very high plane of excellence. Prof. W. H. Gregg is Principal, and is assisted by a thorough and painstaking corps of teachers. The new scliool building was erected in 1878, at a cost of $15,500. It contains six large rooms and stands at tiie corner of South and Fair Streets. Tlie grounds are ample.

The Quaker City Independent was established in 1875 by J. D. Olmstead & Son. In 1882 it was bought by its present proprietors, J. W. & A. B. Hill, who were then tlie youngest newspaper firm in the state. It is especially devoted to tlie interests of tlie town, and under tlie management of the present owners it is prosperous and lias become a permanent fixture.

The Leatherwood God Superstition

The following is an account of the appearance and pretensions of Joseph C. Dylks in Guernsey County in 1828. Religious impostors have flourished in .almost every portion of the historic period, and these religious cheats have always found ready subjects. Such an impostor was Joseph C. Dylks, whose advent, teachings, etc., are here truthfully rehearsed:

In August, 1828, a camp-meeting was held on the land of one Casper Overley, two and a-half miles north of Salesville, in the vicinity of the Methodist Episcopal Chapel, called Miller's Meeting-house, under the auspices of the United Brethren Church. On Sunday the attendance was yaty large. The Rev. John Crum, Presiding Elder, addressed the congregation at the afternoon service. He had proceeded half-way in his discourse, and had the entire attention of his audience, when during a solemn silence a tremendous voice shouted, "Salvation!" followed instantl}' by a strange sound, likened by all who heard it to the snort of a frightened horse. The minister was taken by surprise and stopped preaching. All eyes were turned to the spot whence the sound seemed to proceed, and were fixed on a stranger of odd appearance seated about midway in the congregation. He sat steadfastly in his seat, with a countenance of marked solemnity, and totally unmoved by the excitement he had produced. That stranger was Joseph C. Dylks, the noted "Leatherwood God." The shout and snort of Dylks are described by every one who heard them as imparting to all within their sound both awe and fear. Some of the men jumped to their feet, women shrieked, and" every cheek blanched. No one had seen him enter. Dylks appeared to be between forty-five and fifty years old, five feet eight inches tall, and as straight as an arrow, with large flashing eyes and a mass of hair that reached nearly to the middie of his back. His face was pale and tinged with melancholy. His acquaintance was sought by members of the congregation, and he visited much among them, and sometimes led at the meetings in the temple. In three Weeks he quietly made proselytes and then announced himself "GocL" Strange to say, so man3' believed that the Dylksites got possession of the temple. Religious fanaticism never spread faster, and even Rev. Samuel Davis and Rev. John Mason were led astray. Dylks' star, however, which had rushed to the zenith so rapidly, shortly began to wane. The unbelievers called for a miracle as evidence of his truth, but as none came they grew bolder, and as he had stated that no one could take a single hair from his head, he was knocked down by a party and a handful of hair removed. He was then taken before Esquire Omstot at Washington, but managed to escape and ran out of the Esquire's oflSce and up the pike, followed by a shower of stones thrown by the angry mob. He was afterward concealed bysome who believed him to be their "God," and, strange to say, proselytes were more numerous than ever. In October, however, he left with three of the better class of his converts on a journey to Philadelphia, whither he promised to bring down from heaven the "Celestial City." When near Philadelphia he disappeared and they returned home. He was never seen afterward, but tbe Dylksitcs never lost their faith in him.