Mohican Township (part 1 of 8)

Election Of April, 1862

Clerk, J. A. Strayer - Trustees, George Bender, David Ely, and John Garn - Treasurer, John Garst - Assessor, Joseph Heichel - Constables, J. S. Wetherbee and John Heichel.

Justices Of The Peace For Mohican

1834. Edmund Ingmand, re-elected. 183G. David Hnzlett, elected. 1837. Edmund Ingmand, re-elected. 1837. David Kauffman, elected. 1840. Edmund Ingmand, re-elected. 1840. David Kauffman, re-elected, 1843. David Kauffman, re-elected.

1 grist mill running three pairs of burrs, 1 saw and lath mill running two saws, (which mills are chiefly propelled by water,) 1 tannery, 1 dry goods store, 1 tailor shop, 3 boot and shoe shops, 2 blacksmith shops, 1 tin shop, 2 groceries, 1 cabinet shop.

Churches In Jeromeville Presbyterian

Jeromeville, designated by the name of Rehoboth until April 14, 1830, was recognized as a congregation, under the care of Presbytery, in the year 1817, and enjoyed in that year, and for several succeeding years, one-third of the ministerial labors, as stated supply, of the Rev. William Matthews. There is a record of his having been permitted by Presbytery to discontinue his labors in that congregation, August 23, 1820. In addition to occasional supplies, granted by Presbytery to Jeromeville, Rev. Robert Lee acted as stated supply for some time - perhaps more than one year between the years 1821 and 1829. April 14, 1829, a call from Jeromeville was made to Presbytery for one-third of the ministerial labors of Rev. R. Brown, which was granted, and his installation in this church attended to September 10, 1829. Mr. Brown discontinued his ministerial labors in this church, by consent of Presbytery, in the year 1832.

Between the years 1832 and 1846, Revs. Robert Fulton, Samuel Fulton, and Sanders Diefendorf (I depend for this statement upon recollection) acted successively as stated supply to the church of Jeromeville. In 1846, Rev. W. W. Colmery became its pastor for one-half his time, and continued to be so until in the year 1854. Since that time to the present, I am unable to state, definitely, whether it has had any but occasional supplies granted by Presbytery.

Methodist Episcopal

The first Methodist Episcopal Church building (as was also that of the Old School Presbyterian) was of logs, and erected in 1820. Regular preaching had been, during the six years previous, held at private houses. Among the original members of the society were, Robert F. Capels and wife, Edmund Ingmand and wife, Mrs. Warner, her two daughters and son, Samuel E. Warner, John Naylor and wife. Among the first regular circuit preachers in this part of the country were, .Revs. Curtis Goddard, Lemuel Lane, Shadrach Ruark, and Abner Gofi". The present Board of Trustees are Samuel Naylor, John Cory, Martin Lutz, Elijah Yocum, and Edmund Ingmund, (the latter also being circuit steward.) Class- Leaders : John Cory, Martin Lutz, and Samuel Naylor. The present membership amounts to seventy. The building will seat about four hundred and fifty persons.

Lutheran

This church was organized in 1850, and the church building erected the same year. The pastor was Rev. Greorge Leiter - Elders: Henry Horn and James

There are, at present, sixty-five members. Rev. A. Helwig, the present pastor, commenced his labors in 1861. Officers of the church in 1862 -. - Elders: David Weygandt and Daniel EUenbarger - Deacons: John Huffman, William Welty, Henry Hildebrand, and John Ludwig - 'IVustees: David Weygandt and John Fry.

Disciple

This church was organized in Jeromeville in 1854 - the organization having been transferred from the south line of Perry Township, in that year. At the date of its organization, the church was under the pastoral charge of Rev. Henry Dixon. The ofiicers of the church at that time were John Wilson and John Hootman, elders; and Hugh Funk and Henry Everly, deacons.

The Rev. A. Rumfield and the Rev. Richard Winbigler, are the present pastors; and the church officers are, Jonathan L. Hootman, John Wilson, and Jacob Lee, elders; and Hugh Funk, Henry Bower, and Milleson Ebert, deacons.

This town was laid out July 2, 1833, by Simeon Beall and Henry Sherradden. It is situated in the southwest corner of Mohican Township. Population in 1860, one hundred and eighty-five. Although small, it has no vacant houses, and is among the busiest towns of its dimensions in the county - a hive of industry and thrift. Almost every mechanical interest has one or more representatives here.

The town contains 2 church buildings, 1 schoolhouse, 1 physician, 3 dry goods stores, 1 tavern, 1 grist-mill, (propelled by steam and water,) 1 steam saw-mill, (2 saws,) 1 water saw-mill, (2 saws,) 1 woollen manufactory, (water power, and under present management in a very flourishing condition,) 2 -wagon manufactories - part of the labor of one being performed by water power, 1 tannery,' 1 blacksmith shop, 1 grocery, 3 shoe shops, 1 saddle and harness manufactory, 2 cabinet shops, 1 paint shop, 1 tailor shop, 1 gunsmith shop, and 1 cooper shop.

The first sale of lots was made in the summer of 1833. Three additions to the town have since been made - one by Simeori Beall, and two by Robert W. Smith.

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.

Churches In Mohicanyille Methodist Episcopal

This church was organized at Mohicanville in the year 1828, under the charge of Rev. Elmer Yocura. Among the original members were Nathan and Mary Dally, Charles Dally, Elizabeth Smith, and Mrs. Sheets. The society was formed at the house of Henry Sherradden. Until 1844, the meetings were held at private houses, and at the school-house in the village. At the date mentioned, the present house was erected - a building capable of seating about four hundred persons.

The church was organized with seven members. It now embraces about fifty-two members. The present clergymen are, Rev. William M. Spafford and Rev, Matthew L. Starr. The officers of the church are, William Moore, circuit steward; George Botdorf, John Metcalf, William Moore, and Vincent Dally, trustees; and Nicholas Wireman and Vincent Dally, class-leaders.

German Reformed

This church was organized in 1859 - Rev. J. J. Excell, pastor; George Bender and Daniel Biddinger, elders; Z. T. PauUins and Zebulon Metcalf, deacons; and Daniel Dillier, clerk. The church building (which will seat about four hundred persons) was dedicated on the 5th of June, 1859. Present number of members, fifty.

George W. Basford John Cooper

John Cooper immigrated to Clearcreek Township in the fall of 1822, and purchased of John Haney forty acres of land, lying west of the farm now owned by John Bryte. In 1828, he sold this place and removed to section 28, Mohican Township.

Nathan Dally

Nathan Dally emigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and removed temporarily to a cabin, which stood upon the farm now owned by George Botdorf, on the 17th day of February, 1817. His family then consisted of his wife and ten children. He had, the previous year, purchased of John Lawrence (who resided about two miles southwest of Wooster) the southeast quarter of section 32, (being the land upon a part of which is now the town of Mohicanville.) In the spring of the year of his arrival with his family, he entered the southwest quarter of section 32, Mohican Township. Upon neither of the quarter sections described was there any improvement. His nearest neighbor on the north was William Metcalf, one mile distant; on the east, Alexander Finley, distant three miles; on the south, Jabez Smith, distant one-fourth mile; and on the west, Isaac Downey, about six miles distant.

The quarter purchased of Lawrence subsequently reverted to hira, and after several transfers, Simeon Bell and Henry Sherradden became its owners, and the original. proprietors of the town of Mohicanville.

in the township, erected a house on the margin of the " Fall's Spring," nearly opposite the present residence of his son, Vincent Dally. This cabin house was standing until within about twelve years since.

Thomas Eagle

Thomas Eagle arrived in the township of Mohican on the 2d day of May, 1809, having succeeded the family of Alexander Finley a few weeks. His family then consisted of his wife and daughter Amelia. He first opened a small farm on the land now owned and occupied by Henry Treace. In the early part of the war, he, together with several of his neighbors, removed their families to the fort, at Wooster, as security against attacks by Indians.

Mr. Eagle was well acquainted with Baptiste Jerome, who often related to Mr. Eagle circumstances connected with the Indian war against General Anthony Wayne - among other "yarns," one running to the effect that himself and a party of eight Indians came upon a reconnoitering party near the Maumee River, led by Wayne, and that he, (Jerome,) and the Indians leveled and discharg-ed their rifles at "Mad Anthony" without any effect. Several years after the war of 1812, Jerome lost his Indian wife and daughter, and subsequently married a white woman, and removed to the mouth of Huron River, where he soon after died, it is said, in a drunken revel.

Fork, Mr. Eagle left Wooster in charge of a company of men for the defense of his neighbors, who had remained in Mohican Township, having received information that they were threatened by an attack from the Indians. Some hours after arriving at the fort on James Collyer's place, the Indians appeared and made some hostile demonstrations; but it is supposed came to the conclusion that Eagle's force was too formidable and too well secured, and they retired toward Jeromeville, on their route killing all the hogs that came in their way.

Mr. Eagle says that he piloted Bell's army from Wooster to Jeromeville, and from thence several miles west. He is now about eighty-one years of age, and in feeble health.

William Ewing

William Ewing immigrated to Mohican Township in the fall of 1814, from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and removed to the farm which had previously been entered for him by his father, John Ewing - which farm is situated about two miles southeast of Jeromeville, and is now occupied by the family of the late Michael Heickle. His immediate neighbor was

Odell's mill, in Wayne County, was the most convenient place for obtaining supplies of flour. The first year of his residence in the township, wheat sold at $1.50 per bushel; but about the time he had sufficient land under cultivation to enable him to raise a surplus, the price fell to 25 cents per bushel. Salt was obtained at Wooster for $4 per bushel. Some years later the neighborhood obtained their supplies of salt at Portland, on the lake, at $4 per barrel. It was regarded as a favorable exchange when a barrel of salt could be obtained for a barrel of flour.

Mr. Ewing's acquaintance with this Indian commenced soon after he settled in the country. He represents Buckwheat as a man of good sense, benevolent disposition, and remarkable for his fondness of white children. He was never married. The sins of his race were visited upon his unoffending head, at an early age, in his death at the hands of one whose brother had years previously been murdered by Indians in a distant part of the State.

Alexander Finley

Alexander Finley removed from the place now occupied by the town of Mt. Vernon, Knox County, to the farm in Mohican Township, upon which Tylertown (Lake Fort Post-office) is now situated, April 17, 1809. His family then consisted of his wife and the following named children: James, Benjamin, John, and Hannah.

At the time Mr. Finley settled in Mohican Township, liimself and family were tlie only wJiite inhabitants ivitJdn the limits of the territory that now constitutes the County of Ashland.

At this date, also, there was only one family within the town of AVooster. The name of the head of this family was Benjamin Miller. William and Joseph Larwill, whose names are honorably connected with the history and development of AYayne County, were then young men, and boarders in the family of Mr. Miller. This family were the nearest neighbors of

Mr. Finley at the time of his settlement in Mohican Township. Within a few weeks, however, other persons, namely, William and Thomas Eagle, Benjamin Bunn, and John Shinnebarger, all having families, settled in the neighborhood. The year following, (1810,) Amos Norris, Vachel Metcalf, William Bryan, Thomas Newman, and James Slater, with their several families, removed to the township.

The Indians in the neighborhood at this time were an intermixture of several tribes - the Mohicans, Delawares, Wyandottes, Shawnees, Chickasaws, and one or two who claimed to be of the Cherokee tribe. They were friendly and harmless, until the war of 1812 commenced, when the main body of them disappeared, and most of them, it is supposed, became attached to the British service.

The first year or two after Mr. Finley came to the country, he obtained his supplies of flour and corn meal from Shrlmplin's mill, below Mt. Vernon. This journey to the mill was performed in canoes or pirogues, down the Lake Fork and Mohican, and up Owl Creek, and occupied about three days for the trip. These vessels would carry from twenty to fifty bushels of corn meal.

The forests at this period were destitute of underbrush or small timber, but were covered with sedgegrass, pea-vines, and weeds, which afforded excellent pasture from early spring until about August. The sedge-grass, when cut in July, or earlier, afforded very nutritious and palatable food for horses and cattle during the winter. Very little iron was used in those days. The wooden "mould board" plow and wooden and brush harrows were generally in use twelve or fifteen years after Mr. Finley came to the

Ladies and gentlemen, vjhen tliey clothed their feet at all, dressed them in moccasins. Mr. John Finley well remembers the first pair of boots he ever saw - they being a coarse article, purchased by his father, of John Fox, in 1820 or 1821 - price, eight dollars. Leather, therefore, was not in use until many years after the settlement of the country.

The clothing of the men was buckskin and flax linen. The women were clothed in a fabric made of raw cotton and flax linen. Handkerchiefs, headdresses, and aprons were made, by the thrifty housewives, of raw cotton. The price of calico (being from fifty to seventy-five cents per yard) placed it without the means of any but very few to purchase. An excellent and industrious girl, as late as 1822 or 1823, toiled faithfully six weeks for six yards of calico, which, in those primitive days, before the era of hoops, was deemed sufficient for a dress. The lady who appeared in the first calico dress, attracted, it may be supposed, considerable attention in "the settlement," and was regarded as much of an aristocrat.

The first buggy, with elliptic springs, (being an open one,) within the recollection of Mr. John Finley, amazed the good people who attended the Lake Fork Presbyterian Church, on a Sunday, about the year 1835. After intermission, the novel vehicle attracted general attention, and when the owner, in answer to a question, gave the name of "buggy," as the one that properly described his carriage, his interrogator concluded that he was disposed to "poke fun" at him.

and this opinion was generally adopted by the indignant crowd. Two-horse lumber wagons were introduced about twenty years after the first settlement of the township.

From the date of the arrival of Mr. Finley, until four or five years after the close of the war, there was a good demand and good prices for all the productions of the farm. Wheat was, however, little grown. The staples of the farm consisted mainly of corn, hogs, and cattle.

Joshua R. Glenn

Joshua R. Glenn and wife removed from Maryland to Mohican Township in 1818. Three years subsequent he purchased, at the public land sales held at Wooster, the quarter in section 17 of the Indian Reservation, which he improved, and upon which he died September 21, 1855, at the age of sixty-one years.

Maj. John Glenn, Jun., brother of Joshua R., is now a resident of Mohican Township, and immigrated at the same time with his father's family. His father (John Glenn, Sen., who died February 16, 1852, at the age of eighty-four years) had purchased 175 acres in sections 9 and 10. Upon this land Maj. Glenn yet resides. Himself and sister (Miss Elizabeth Glenn) are the only survivors of his father's family.

Thomas Green

Thomas Green, originally from Berkley County, Virginia, came to Mohican Township in_ 1813 - ''forted," with his family, during a part of that year, at Jeromeville. After leaving the fort, he settled in Orange Township. At this time the only two families in that township were those of Amos Norris and Vachel Metcalf. The farm upon which he settled was north of Orange, and is now owned by Valentine and David Heifner.

About 1817 Mr. Green removed to Jackson Township, and after residing there several years removed to Licking County, near the residence of several brothers, and where he died in the spring of 1811.

Richard Hargrave

Kichard Hargrave emigrated from Pennsylvania, and commenced his residence in Jeromeville on the 22d of August, 1818. He purchased of Mr. Deardoff, one of the original proprietors of the town, in 1820, one-half of his interest in Jeromeville. He was the second merchant in the place - his predecessors in trade not being very successful, and having abandoned business when he opened his store.

My f\ither settled in Perry Township, October 10, 1826. The appearance of the country at the time of our settlement was quite different from what it is at present. The major part of the village of Jeromeville was covered with fallen timber and hazel bush. The improvements on the farms then settled were small, being log cabins surrounded by a few acres of partly cleared land. The roads were new and unimproved, and many of them little more than bridle-paths. The prices of produce in 1828-29 were, as I recollect dis- tinctly : wheat 25 cents, (my father was offered 100 bushels for $25, and would not buy at that;) pork $1.50 per cwt.; corn 18 cents; salt $5.00 per barrel; coffee 50 cents per pound; tea 50 cents per quarter; butter 6 cents; eggs 0; iron 12i cents per pound. The usual and best market place was Portland, (now Sandusky City.) Twenty to thirty bushels wheat, a big load for two and four horses, ten days of travel if the roads were good, two weeks if not good. Massillon became a market town. The opening of the Ohio Canal run the price of wheat up at once to forty cents, then to fifty, and then our farmers at that time were satisfied, and expressed the wish that the price would continue at that as they then could make mone3^ Our nearest grist-mill was an old concern known as Goudy's Mill, southeast of Hayesville, with one run of stone, old nirjgerhead or boulder stone at that. Another was Smith's Mill, below Mohicanville, where the Chandler Mill now stands, and of the same sort. In the winter, when those small streams were frozen, we went to the Clearfork to Manner's Mill, now owned by T. Calhoun. Sometimes we had to go to Owl Creek, in Knox County.

Old Mr. Hargrave, I believe, was the first postmaster at Jeromeville, and held the office for twentyfive years. The mode of travel was on foot or horseback if the roads would permit.

Luke Ingmand

Luke Ingmand removed from Fairfield County, Ohio, to the southwest quarter of section 11, Mohican Township, in September, 1816. His family consisted of his wife and two children, the present Judge Edmund Ingmand, and Mrs. Mary, wife of Joshua Carr, now residing in "Wood County, Ohio. Mr. Inginand is now (December, 1861) nearly eighty-nine years of age, and an inmate of the family of his son.

Edmund Ingmand

Edmund Ingmand, when in his eleventh year, removed with his father to Mohican Township. This, as before remarked, was in the year 181G. Until about 1818 the 280 acres upon which he now resides was a part of the four sections (7, 8, 17, and 18) which formed the "Indian Reservation." During that year the Federal government purchased the Indian title, and in 1821 the lands were offered in tracts of quarter sections at the Wooster land office, pursuant to public notice'; but as the quarter embraced in this tract was regarded as too wet for tillage no purchasers appeared. This land is now regarded as equal in fertility to any in the township. The original purchase, which constitutes his present firm, was entered by Edward Arnold in 1821 or 1822, but a short time after it had been offered by the government. Judge Ingmand became the owner of it in 1834, and the additions since made amount altogether to 280 acres.

Were situated upon the Reservation above mentioned. The village and burying-ground were upon the land on which Rev. Elijah Yocum has for many years resided - his house having been built (by the person of whom he purchased) over the graves of the Indians. The first proprietor, fancying the ground as a good building site, excavated a place for his cellar, and removed the exhumed bones to a swamp in the neighborhood. Subsequently, in excavating a millrace some fifty rods from this place, a human skeleton was found in a position which rendered it certain that the body had been buried with its face downward, thus showing that it Avas, as has been alleged, the custom of many Indians to bury their dead in that position.

The Council House was upon an elevated and beautiful spot, about one-fourth of a mile distant from the village. The ground is now embraced in the farm of Judge Ingmand, and is about a quarter of a mile southeast of his house. All their buildings, including their council house, were burned about the time the Indians removed from the country in 1815, whether by themselves or the whites is not generally known.

There were the remains of no less than five ancient fortifications in Mohican Township; the embankments very regular and very distinctly defined, until cultivation has nearly destroyed their original features. Three are near Jeromeville, and two near the junction of the Muddy, and Jerome Forks. They embrace areas averaging about one and a half acres. A mound near the old Indian village, bearing unmistakable evidence, after excavation, of its being a work of art, and upon which trees, the growth of centuries, were standing, was also in existence. The antiquarian might be compensated for researches in Mohican Township.

The weather during these years was memorable on account of the cold and frosts. During the winter of 1816 corn was planted about the middle of May, during a snow storm, and men gathered their wheat harvest with overcoats upon their backs, to protect them from the rigors of the weather! On the morning of the 1st of June, 1817, a frost visited Ohio that destroyed utterly all the fruit, and denuded the fruit and forest trees of their leaves. It is remarkable, however, that the grain in the ground escaped the general desolation, a circumstance that is accounted for by the fiict that crops were very backward.

The following chronological memoranda of events of interest that have occurred in past years, furnished by Judge Ingmand, will be found of general and local interest: -

November 13th, 1833. Lights were seen falling on the early morning of this day, (three or four hours before daybreak,) having the appearance of showers of stars.

June 21, 1834. A terrific storm passed over Jeromeville and a district of country west, which appeared to have its most violent force between the latter place and the vicinity of the farm upon which the County Infirmary is now situated, prostrating in its pathway forest trees and fences, unroofing buildings, removing them from their foundations, etc.

1835. The summer remarkably wet, bottom lands much overflown, and too wet for tillage. Hay crop badly damaged, and cattle died the following winter in consequence of eating it. A comet appeared during the fall of the same year. November 11, a severe

1845. May 7 and 25, frosts appeared, which again destroyed the wheat crop of this year, being the second loss which occurred from this cause since the settlement of the country. Summer very dry; fall favorable. Grub worm appeared in multitudes, destroying meadows and corn crops.

1854. The last four days of April brought snow storms - the 29th the snow fell without intermission. There were ten consecutive weeks of drought during this summer.

1854-55. During' the winter of these years snow covered the ground thirteen consecutive weeks. May 8, (1855,) another snow storm. The month of May was unusually dry, but the June of this year will be long remembered for its remarkable floods, occurring from the 10th to the 17th of the month.

1855. December 24, snow commenced falling, and from this date until the middle of March following, the sleighing continued good. This winter was doubt> less the most severe in its rigor of any known since the settlement of the country, killing multitudes of fruit and forest trees. The snow lingered upon the earth until about the middle of April.

In the early settlement of the country there was no law providing for common schools - no tax levied or other funds provided for the payment of teachers. Hence all buildings for the use of common schools consisted of some old evacuated dwelling; or, if built for that express purpose, had to be done by voluntary contribution of citizens immediately interested. And in order to give the reader some idea of the houses in which the "young idea was taught how to shoot," it may not be amiss to give a description of them. We say " them," because there was the utmost uniformity, not only in the outward appearance, but also in the inward structure and school furniture.

And here it may not be amiss to inform our youthful readers of some of the peculiarities of a log cabin. Well, it is a house built of round logs, the size being suited to the peculiar wants or notions of the builder. When raised to a sufficient height to prepare for the roof, (which, in dwelling-houses, was usually about twelve feet,) a log was laid across each end of the building, projecting on each side of the house about eighteen inches; these logs being about three feet longer than those below, and were intended to support logs laid on them, called "butting poles," against which the first row of clap-boards were made to rest. The building is now ready for "cobbing off," as it was called; which is done by putting a log on each side, perpendicularly with the main building; then a log on each end, and on them again one on each side, but far enough from the outside of the building to form a sufficient slope for the roof, and on which the boards used for a covering were laid; then another log on each end, these being necessarily about four feet shorter than those immediately below them, and on these end logs another pair of side logs, laid still farther in toward the middle of the building, and ranging with those below them, and so on until it is finished off with a single log on the top and middle of the building. Now it is ready for covering, which is done with boards split out of large oak trees, about four feet long, from eight to twelve inches wide, and about one and a half inches thick. These are laid on without nailing, but confined to their places by small logs laid on each course of boards.

a thick mortar was put, which was called "daubing;" this was sometimes done inside and out. The inside finish was in all respects as rough as the outside appearance. If the owner wished to be a little nice, he would take an axe and hew off the logs on the inside, after the building was put up. The floors were laid with timbers called "puncheon," which were usually from eight to ten feet long, split out of large oak trees, made as broad as the logs would admit, and about four inches thick. The door was also made of these same ^-puncheons," and hung on wooden hinges, and fastened with a wooden latch.

To those familiar with the days of log cabins, the phrase so often used, "the latch string is out," is clearly understood. This latch or fastening was made of wood, and in order to enable those from without to enter the dwelling, a small string was attached to the latch, (whicli was always on the inside,) and passed through the door to the outside, and hence, to prevent the entrance of any person, the inmates would pull in the latch string, so that when it was not seen on the outside of the door, it was evidence that no one could be admitted. One window was usually all that was considered necessary in a log cabin. This was made by cutting out. one log, some two feet in length, and then closing up by putting in small sticks, in the form of sash, and pasting greased paper over them to cause it to admit the light more readily.

As stoves were almost unknown in those days, a fireplace was used instead thereof. These were made by cutting out a hole in one end of the building, in some cases large enough to pass a two-horse wagon through the cavity. On the outside of the house, and con- nected with this, the chimney was built of wood and mortar, sometimes lined on the inside with stone and mortar, immediately adjoining the fireplace. In front of the fireplace was a large space left in the floor, called the hearth, which was usually covered with flat stone, and hence the old phrase "hearth-stone."

As the wants of the people of that day were few, and easily satisfied, the log cabin usually contained but one room, which served as kitchen, dining-room, bed-room, sitting-room, and parlor.

"Well, as before remarked, the school-house was built in real log cabin style - the principal diflerence between it and a dwelling-house was, that in the school-house the window was made by cutting out one log on each side, nearly the wliole length of the building, and then closing up the aperture by pasting greased paper over it. Seats were made out of split timber, with legs in them so long that none except long-legged men could touch the floor with their feet. One object at least was attained by this arrangement of the seats, viz., the pupils were so far elevated above the floor as to be unable to make any noise with their feet; but whatever good was attained by this was counteracted by the far greater evil of causing the scholars to sit in this unpleasant posture during school hours.

The early settlers were under the necessity of erecting some kind of fortifications in which to protect themselves and families from the wily Indian, especially during the war of 1812. These buildings, sometimes called forts, but more properly called block-houses, were located in the most convenient part of the neighborhood, to which all might flee for safety in case of danger. They were usually built on a commanding eminence, so that the approach of an enemy might be seen at a great distance. During the war of 1812, some three or four of these structures were erected in Mohican Township - one near the town plat of Jeromeville, a few rods north of the present grist mill; one near the Mohican Creek, about four miles south of Jeromeville, on land now owned by Henry Treace; and one about a mile farther down the creek, near the residence of Stephen Taylor. These houses were built after the fashion of log cabins, in most respects. The logs were fitted closely together with small holes between them, called poni^holes, through which the inmates could fire upon their enemies in case of an attack. The entrance to the building was an only door, which was made of strong timbers and securely barred on the inside.

There was one peculiarity about these buildings, the wisdom of which will suggest itself to every thinking mind. It is this : the lower part of the building, to the height of about seven or eight feet, was composed of shorter logs than that above; hence a projection was formed, which would enable the occupants to shoot down on their enemies on all sides of the building, in case they should attempt to set it on fire, and also prevent them from climbing up the outside thereof. To these houses all the neighborhood would run for safety whenever the alarm was given, and not unfrequently they would have to remain there for several days and nights, with but little to eat or drink. Sometimes some trivial circumstance would cause an alarm, and the whole neighborhood would gather into the block-house, and, after remaining there perhaps a day and night, the mistake would be found out, and all would return to their homes again.

William Newbrough

William Newbrough and wife, in March, 1819, removed to the northeast quarter of section 28, Mohican Township, having purchased his land of Martin Longstrath. Upon this farm he yet resides.

This gentleman is, (June, ISGl,) beyond doubt, the oldest citizen now living within Ashland County. He was born in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, England, about 1758, which would make him now one hundred and three years of age. Mr. Newman is also at this time among the oldest of the pioneers. He entered the land upon which he now resides - being the northwest quarter of section 23, township 21, (Mohican,) in the year 1810. About two years afterward he received his patent, which bears date July 1, 1812, and is signed by James Madison, President, and Edward Tiffin, (the first Governor of Ohio,) Commis-- sioner of the General Land Office. This document, which has been well preserved, is probably among the oldest of its kind in the possession of the original purchaser, which now exists in the county.

Richard Riiamey, Sen

Richard Rhamey, Sen., immigrated to Jeromeville from Pennsylvania in 1813, his family then consisting of his wife and three children. Richard Rhamey, Jr., who was born in the old block-house in Jeromeville, in September, 1815, is the only surviving member of the family now residing in Ashland County.

John Shinabarger emigrated from Virginia, in 1802, to Pennsylvania, from thence to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1805, and in 1810 from the last-named place to Mohican Township, and entered the southwest quarter of section 23, in said township. This quarter he partly cleared, and erected thereon a saw-mill, and resided upon the place until the time of his death, which occurred January 29th, 1838, aged seventyfour years. When he removed to Mohican Township, his wife and seven children constituted his family, the only survivor of whom, residing in Ashland County, is James S. Shinabarger, of Perry Township, and to whom we are indebted for what follows.

Cedar Trees, and remains of Buffalo and Elk, six feet under ground. Upon a part of the above land, in Mohican Township, was a prairie, which appeared originally to have been a crust of vegetable matter overlying a sheet of water. As it was evidently land of great fertility, if the water under it could be withdrawn, efforts were made thoroughly to drain it. Ditches were made, in some places, to the depth of six feet, and considerable quantities of cedar trees, some of them twelve and eighteen inches in diameter, were found inlbedded in the earth. What length of time they had occupied the position in which they were found is, of course, unknown, but they appeared as free from any evidence of decay as they would have shown on the day they perished. What is remarkable is that no cedars were ever found, by the early settlers, growing in that vicinity. The inference is that a cedar swamp once covered the ground, and a tornado may have violently uprooted them, thus breaking the crust and burying them beneath the surface. Swamp flag and wild grass, very little decayed, were also found at a depth of from five to six feet. Skeletons of buffalo and elk were also discovered, some of them of immense size. The head and horns of one elk found partly imbedded were of such dimensions that, placing the points of the horns upon the ground, two men on each side supporting them in an unright position, William Eagle, a man whose height was nearly six feet, would pass under them erect.

Major Tyler

New York, from which town he took his departure a few weeks after its Having been burned by the British. He entered the south half of the northwest quarter of section 26.

Richard Winbigler

Richard Winbigler immigrated to Mohican Township from Maryland, in the fall of 1818. The members of his family at this time consisted of his wife and four children, namely, Mary Ann, Henry, Elizar beth, and William. The only survivor of these, at this time, is Henry Winbigler, Esq., who resides upon the land originally entered by his father, which land is the west half of the northeast quarter of section 9, Mohican Township.

Nicholas Wireman

Nicholas Wireman immigrated to the place now known as Mohicanville, but then as Bell's Mills, on the 15th of January, 1833, and rented of Harvey Bell his carding and fulling establishment, which occupied the site of the present woolen manufactory of Samuel Huff.

When Mr. Wireman became a resident of the place, in 1833, the following named persons embraced all the heads of families who were then inhabitants, viz.: Simeon, Harvey, and Samuel Bell, Henry Sherradden, and John Shaffer. Of those named, Mr. Wireman is now the only surviving resident, the others being deceased or having removed from the village.

Chapter Xv

Surveyed in 1807, by Jonathan Cox. The township was organized on the 14th of September, 1814. The organization embraced also the territory now known as Jackson, names of the electors are appended. Those to whose names are affixed the asterisk ('"') are deceased; and those with the dagger (-j-) have removed.

This town was laid out April 15, 1835, by Michael D. Row. The original proprietor of the village was then unmarried, and resided with his father, Michael Row, in the house about forty rods east of the town, now owned by Haynes Jones. At the time the plat was recorded, there was not an inhabitant within the limits of what now forms the town. The first public sale of lots occurred in Mcay, 1835. Jacob Carr purchased the first lot for thirty-four dollars - being the same now owned by Garrett Borland, and used by him as his residence. The second lot was sold to David Borland for twenty-one dollars - being the lot recently occupied by C. C, Coulter as a grocery store. Catharine Long purchased the lot now owned by Mrs. Winter, as a residence, for eighteen. dollars.

The population of Rowsburg, in 1860, was two hundred. This is the only instance that it was taken distinct from the township. There are in the town, 1 physician, 2 dry goods stores, 1 tavern, 1 millinery shop, 2 shoe shops, 2 blacksmith shops, 2 wagonmakers shops, 2 tailor shops, 1 tannery, 1 stove and tin shop, 1 cabinet shop, 1 weaver shop, 1 harness shop, and 2 groceries.

Some Presbyterian families settled in this region (then Wayne County, Ohio) shortly after the close of the war of 1812. For some time they were supplied with occasional preaching by traveling ministers. About 1820 the church was organized, and was taken under the care of the Presbytery of Richland, which at that period embraced the territory now covered by the three Presbyteries of RichLand, Wooster, Coshocton, and part of Marion. It was known for several years as the Muddy Fork Church, so called from the branch of the Mohican of that name, near to which the house of worship stood. About 1831, by request of the congregation, its name was changed to that of

Mount Hope. David Cunningham, Sr., his son-inlaw, James Fulton, and William Hamilton were the first ruling elders. These all lived within the bounds of the church, until their death, which occurred about ten or twelve years since. In 1833, David Cunningham, Jr., and the late Hugh Bay were ordained as ruling elders. In 1837, the late John Livingston and Thomas Hayes were added to the session. A few years after, William Buchanan, now deceased, and Isaac Cahill, were called to the same office. The present incumbents are, Thomas G. Hayes, Isaac Cahill, Thomas Cunningham, son of David Cunningham, Sr., and one of the first elders, and J. M. Livingston, son of the late John Livingston.

The first pastor was the Rev. William Matthews, who, for several years, was pastor of the old Hopewell Church, near Ashland, Ohio. He was succeeded by the late Rev. Robert Lee, whose labors, for a short period, were divided between the Muddy Fork Church, as it was then called, and the old Hopewell Church. He again was succeeded, in 1829, by the Rev. Richard, now Rev. Dr. Brown, of Wellsville, Ohio. This church, together with those of Congress and Jeromeville, constituted his pastoral charge. He was released from his charge in the fall of 1832. The church remained without a pastor from that period until the 1st of January, 1834, when the Rev. Thomas Beer took charge of the congregation. His connection with the church was dissolved in the summer of 1857. The present pastor is the Rev. T. B. Van Emmon.

From 1834 till 1844 the congregation continued to increase in numbers, but shortly after began to decline, by immigration to the West, its present membership being a little above forty.

The first house of worship was a small log building, erected in 1826. In the fall of 1836 a new frame building was put up on the same site, which was destroyed by fire on the night of the 6th of March, 1841. The present house of worship was erected in the course of the subsequent summer.

The Rev. Doctor II. B. Cunningham, late editor of The Southern Presbyterian^ Charleston, South Carolina, Kev. William S. Livingston, of East Liberty, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, Rev. David Cunningham, of Bridgewater, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Rev. A. A. Dinsmore, late of West. Theolog. Sem., Alleghany City, Pa., and the Rev. Robert Beer, of Beloit, Wisconsin, Avere all, in their youth, members of this church - three of them beino; sons of ruling; elders, and the other one a son of a former pastor.

Methodist Episcopal Church

There is one in the township - at Rowsburg. The society was organized in 1822, with twelve or fifteen members. Preaching was for more than thirty years held at the house of John Hellman. The present church building at Rowsburg was erected in 1854. Its dimensions are 38 by 50 feet, and will seat upwards of four hundred persons. The circuit preacher, since 1860, is Rev. Mr. Warden. The Trustees are: Hugh Carr, Garrett Dorland, Henry Buck, David Dorland, Haynes Jones, Isaac McHose, and Thomas Clodfelter - Steicards: David Dorland and William Patterson - Class-Leaders: Henry Buck and Isaac McHose. This year (1863) there are thirty- two members.

English Evangelical Lutheran Church

This church was organized in January, 1842, by Rev. W. J. Sloan and Rev. A. H. Myers, by the installation of Jacob Onstott and Samuel Gruver, elders; and AVilliam Humes and Levi Snyder, deacons; who were unanimously elected by the congregation. The church edifice, which is 30 by 45 feet, was erected in 1842, at a cost of $1200.

The church has been served during this period by Rev. E. Eastman, Rev. W. A. G. Emerson, Rev. Richard Emerson, Rev. Jacob G. Beckley, and AY. J. Gilbraith, the present pastor. The present officers are - Elders: Solomon Hazel and David Weiber - Deacons: Emanuel Kaufman and James Patterson. The present membership amounts to eighty-nine.

There are two churches of this denomination in Perry Township - one in Lafayette (Immanuel's) and the other (Zion's) in Moore's neighborhood, near the west line of the township.

The officers of the church at Lafayette are, Henrj^ Zimmerman, George Walkey, and Jacob Bauhl, trustees; and Jacob Bauhl, class-leader. The church building is 35 by 40 feet, and will seat four hundred and fifty persons. There are fifty-two members in 18G3.

The officers of Zion's Church are, Jacob Moore, Daniel Moore, and George Moore, trustees; Adam Eichelbarger, class-leader. There are fifty-nine members in 1863.

United Brethren

There are three congregations of this denomination in Perry Township - one in Eowsburg, one in Lafayette, and one on the farm of David Swartz, near the south line of the township, known by the name of the United Brethren Bethel.

The Rev. Mr. Crubaugh and Rev. Mr. Dillon were the pastors for 1861 and 1862. Rev. Obadiah Jennings, of Perry Township, and Rev. Mr. Strock, of Jeromeville, are local preachers, occasionally supplying the pulpits of these churches.

The officers of the United Brethren Bethel Church are, Obadiah Jennings and Robert Nelson, trustees; Isaac Webster, class-leader; and Rev. Mr. Shock, steward. The building is 32 by 40 feet, and will seat three hundred people.

John Allison

John Allison, an emigrant from Pennsylvania. He settled in Congress Township, Wayne County, in January, 1820. That township had been but recently organized. Under the laws then in force it required fifteen legal voters to accomplish an organization. There were about that number in the township at that time, being one ilimily to 2 J square miles.

There was not a church or school-house in the township. There was preaching occasionally at private houses by Presbyterian and Methodist clergymen.

There was no demand for produce except by newly arrived immigrants. To them wheat sold at 50 cents; oats about 12i cents; corn 25 cents; salt $12 and $15 per barrel. A small grist-mill on Killbuck Creek, constructed of beech poles, covered with split boards called clap-boards, was built previous to 1820 by John Naftsinger. The bolting was done chiefly by hand. In the dr}'^ part of the season, in the fall especially, a considerable portion of the corn used in families was reduced to meal by the tedious process of pulverizing on tin graters, and prepared for table use as the fancy and taste of the "gude wife" would dictate. I once went to Perry Township and purchased three bushels of wheat, packed it on horseback to a horse mill in Orange Township, built by Robert Crawford on the farm now owned by Albert Tilton. The mill being thronged, I succeeded, by staying over night, in having part of my grist ground. On the following morning I packed my flour and grain on horses to Andrew Moore's, on Killbuck, where I boarded. Such were the difficulties encountered in getting grinding done at this period.

There was an abundance of ginseng-root in the forests. There were many who made it a business to gather it in the spring of the year. It was worth twenty-five cents per pound, and as it was one of the few productions of the country that commanded cash, large quantities were annually gathered. Michael Row, Sr., under the impression that the current rates paid by merchants in the country were much below

Deer, raccoon, and wild turkey were plenty. Domestic linen and woolen goods composed the principal material for male and female dresses. The men were often dressed in buckskin pantaloons. In such attire the early settlers and their families enjoyed as much true happiness and independence as "Cesar with a senate at his heels."

The farm I assisted in improving was once the dwelling-place of part of a tribe of Indians, (said to be of the Senecas.) Their wigwams were numerous, built with small poles, front partly open, and covered with black ash or white elm bark, peeled from three to five feet long. Small troughs were made of the ash or elm bark to save or catch sugar water, as numbers were to be seen about large sugar trees that had been notched a number of years previous, the notches being covered with a new formation of wood amounting in thickness to two or three inches. Many trinkets or jewelry were found on cultivating the land. In the fall of 1822 there were nine Indian men and three squaws came in and encamped near the same ground for the purpose of hunting and trapping. They had about sixteen head of horses, and each man a rifle. They had a number of white visitors, each person carrying them some vegetables, such as turnips, cabbage, pumpkins, etc. Their cooks, for the sake of variety, boiled all their vegetables together in the same kettle. They remained in camp about nine days, and quitted the country with the good wishes

I taught school, where Tylertown now stands, six months during the year 1823. The school was sustained by subscription, one dollar and fifty cents per scholar. I was married in the fall of 1824, and removed to the place where I now reside, in Perry Township, the same fall. I commenced in the woods on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 17, being a part of the same quarter entered by John Carr in 1814, which I had purchased in 1822 for one dollar per acre. I have since added by purchase sixtyfive acres, a part at two dollars and sixty-two cents, a part at twenty dollars, and a part at forty dollars per acre. Our land was heavily timbered, white and black oak, hickory, soft maple, white and black ash. The underbrush was chiefly hickory, a good size for hoop-poles, but there was no call for them until about 1832. There was no foreign market then. Dogwood, white oak, and sassafras composed the balance of the grubs.

Day wages were about fifty cents in trade in harvest; fifty cents or a bushel of wheat for reaping; little cradling done in harvest. Grain was thrashed mostly with horses, though some was done with the flail. Flas: was raised for the lint. Every housewife and maiden could spin flax or wool, and nearly onehalf of them could weave. The price of spinning was a shilling a dozen, or by the week seventy-five cents, and twelve and a half cents for weaving linen, such as was worn for shirts; weaving of coarser fabrics, less. Muslin shirts were not worn. Female apparel consisted chiefly of home-made linen, linsey, or flannel - each endeavoring to excel in quality as well as variety. When muslin was first used among laboring men it cost twenty-five cents to thirty-eight cents per yard.

There were two churches in the township in 1824: one Presbyterian, called Mount Hope, near the northeast corner of the township ; the other a Lutheran, on the south side of the township. The size of each was about thirty by thirty-five feet, and both were built of hewn logs. The members were few and much scattered. The Methodists had three places of worship in private houses : at Mr. Carr's, Mr. Smalley's, and Mr. Hellman's. There were three school-houses, built of logs, one story high, clap-board roof, lighted by greased paper in place of glass; seats of slab or puncheon benches; tables for writing made of the same material as the seats, resting on pins driven into the log walls. House heated by fires in chimneys, which occupied one end of the building, before stoves were in use. The teacher's salary was paid by those sending to school, or by subscription, from one dollar and twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents per scholar, thus depriving many youths of the means of education by that system.

James Allison

James Allison emigrated from Jefferson County, Ohio, to Perry Township during March, 1818. His wife and six children, namely, John, Alexander, Mary,

Ann, Jane, and Catherine, constituted his family at that date. Of the sons and daughters mentioned, Alexander is the only survivor in Perry. Mrs. Jane, wife of Daniel Ellenbarger, and Miss Catherine Allison, reside in Mohican Township.

Mr. Allison died May 2d, 1839, at the age of sixtyfour years. His wife had died in April of the previous year at the age of sixty-two years. Mr. Allison and wife died upon the place he originally purchased of David Smith, being fifty acres in section 2.

Alexander Allison was an eye-witness of this event, which is mentioned in another place. It was on the premises of Mr. Allison's uncle, John Pittinger, whose land was in process of being cleared. Messrs. Campbell and Pittinger were sitting upon the ground near a tree, engaged in conversation, when an oak tree, which had been several hours burning at its base, commenced falling in the direction of where the men were stationed. Mr. Allison, who was near, but outside the range of the falling tree, happened to discover the danger, and instantly notified the men. Mr. Pittinger escaped by seeking refuge behind a tree near which they were sitting; but Mr. Campbell, being less active, was struck, while in the act of rising, upon the back by a heavy limb, crushing the bones and producing instant death.

Henry Buffamyer

Henry Buflfamyer immigrated to Perry Township in May, 1826, and purchased of Joseph Carr the half section of land, parts of which are now owned by David and Matthew Buffamyer. He died on the last day of March, 1849, aged eighty-six years. His widow is at this time (January 23d, 1862) residing with her son David, and although she has attained the age of eighty-one years, her health and faculties are but slightly impaired.

John Carr

During the following year he removed his family from Tuscarawas County, and in March, 1811, commenced his improvement on the part of the land above described.

In the spring of 1814 he sold his land to John Ewing, and purchased two quarters in Montgomery, and two quarters in Perry Township, a part of one of which latter purchase is now owned by John Allison. He removed to the land in Montgomery Township now occupied by Samuel Horn, Mrs. Horn, Mr. Harlan, and Mr. Weidler. His house was erected upon the place now occupied by Mrs. Horn, where he remained till his death, which occurred April 1, 1836, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.

Mr. Carr's whole life, from the age of seventeen, was passed among the pioneers, and in the wilderness of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Boy though he was at the age above mentioned, he removed to Washington County, Pennsylvania.

During Wayne's campaign against the hostile Indian tribes he acted as spy. Shortly after the close of the war he married in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and removed with his wife to what was the then Northeastern Territory, living first in what be- came afterward Jefferson, and then in the country of Tuscarawas County now forms a part. From the latter county he removed, as above stated, to a quarter of the land he had previously entered in Mohican Township.

"When he removed to Mohican his family consisted of his wife and eleven children, namely, Thomas, Nicholas, Nancy, Hugh, Joshua, Benjamin, John, Margaret, Susan, Samuel, and Aaron.

Hugh Carr

Hugh Carr (son of John, whose name is included among the children above mentioned) removed to the land in Perry Township, which he improved and has since occupied.

In the fall or early part of the winter of 1812 the family of William Bryan, residing on the Jerome Fork, about a mile and a half below Jeromeville, were one afternoon surprised by the appearance of a couple of Indians. As the friendly 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. On the same night these Indians visited the house of John Collyer, as described in the narrative of Thomas Newman. It was afterward learned that they visited Goshen, Tuscarawas County, for the purpose of inducing some of their relatives to return

Mr. John Carr received a letter from Captain Mc- Connell stating that he had obtained information from his captives that an extensive conspiracy had been formed among the Indians in the Huron country, to murder the inhabitants about Jeromeville and vicinity, and to burn their dwellings. The Indian who had communicated this intelligence was a former friend of Mr. Carr, and made the disclosure to Captain McConnell in order that he might advise Mr. Carr of his danger. The name of this Indian was Phillip Ignatius. The result of the battle at Fort Stephenson and on the peninsula, probably destroyed this and many other bloody schemes of the Indians.

Soon after the surrender of Hull at Detroit, in the fall of 1812, and on the day following the first massacre on the Black Fork, a party of unarmed soldiers from Hull's army, passing on their way eastward, gave information to the neighbors, (who had assembled at Jerome's place for the purpose of devising measures of safety,) that as they were opposite a point in the forest about a mile and a quarter west of Jerome's, they heard the voice of a man a few rods from their trail engaged in very earnest prayer, and uttering loud cries for mercy. The loud and vehement language of the man led them to conclude that he was a captive in the hands of savage Indians, and that he was making his last prayer. Their story created quite a panic, in the midst of which George (brother of Adam) Poe, who was traveling on horseback from Wooster to Mansfield, appeared among them. Hav- ing listened to the statement of the soldiers, he immediately returned on his way to Wooster to procure assistance from Bell's army, then quartered there. Being a man of unusual weight, and urging his horse forward with great speed, the animal (although a splendid one) gave out when he reached Killbuck. Here procuring a fresh horse of Nathan Warner, he completed his journey to Wooster. Gen. Bell immediately sent a detachment of si.xty soldiers, under Captain Nicholas Murray, to the relief of the inhabitants. Night overtook them at the Killbuck, where they were met by the fugitive families of John Carr, Christopher Trickle, Matthew Williams, Robert Newell, and Ezra Warner. Three other families, namely, Daniel Carter's, Jacob Fry's, and Benjamin Cuppy's, passed the night in the neighborhood of what is now New Pittsburg, and early on the following morning joined the other families and military force in Killbuck. Under the protection offered by Captain Murray, all the families, except Mr. Carter's, (which continued their journey to Tuscarawas,) returned to Jerome's Place, where a fort was immediately erected.

These Indians, Mr. Carr states, with the exception of one family, (Qua-qui-ow-wha, which removed to Canada immediately after the declaration of war,) were all friendly to the whites. The order of the government to Gen. Bell for their removal was issued at their own request.

History Of Ashland Countt

American government, was arrested by Gen. Bell and confined in the Wooster jail. Robert Newell and John Carr visited Gen. Bell, and, on a representation of the facts, procured Jerome's release. While he was incarcerated at Wooster, the Indians at Jerometown were removed to Urbanna, and Mr. Carr is of opinion that the wife and daughter of Jerome voluntarily joined the Indians at the time of their removal.

Arthur Campbell, Sr

Arthur Campbell, Sr., emigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Perry Township, in May, 1815. He entered the half section, a part of which is now owned by his son, Arthur Campbell, Jr., and other parts of which are owned by Jacob Brady, Thomas Osborn, Garrett Borland, and Haynes Jones. His family, at the time of his removal, consisted of his wife and five children, namely, Mary Ann, Charles, Arthur, Margaret, and Daniel.

According to the recollection of Arthur Campbell, Jr., the heads of families in Perry Township, when his father selected it as his home, were Cornelius Borland, Henry and John Pittinger, John Raver, Bavid and Baniel Williams, Henry Worst, Thomas Johnson, and Benjamin Emmons.

In 1815 or 1816, (about twenty years before Rowsburg was laid out,) an effort was made by John Raver to establish a town on the Wooster Road between the present site of Rowsburg and the Muddy Fork.

Beyond the naming of the village, which was called Elizabethtown, and the offering of some lots at a public sale, no progress was made in building up the proposed town, and the scheme was abandoned.

Mr. Campbell aided in clearing the land now occupied by Rowsburg, and also assisted in harvesting the first crop that was raised on the ground after it was cleared. Michael Row, the father of him who afterward became the proprietor, owned and cleared the land at the time referred to. '-

The first grist and saw-mill in Perry Township was erected by John Raver, in 1818, on the present site of the mill owned by Arthur Campbell, about onefourth of a mile north of Rowsburg, on what is known as Raver's Run. This mill, when built, was not only the first in the township, but also the first within what is now the limits of Ashland County. Prior to this, corn and corn meal were obtained on Owl Creek, at Odell's, and at Stibbs's, near Wooster. The jnill ran about four months in the year, and was a great accommodation to the inhabitants of Perry, Jackson, and Montgomery Townships, and to those of Chester and adjacent townships, in Wayne County.

Joseph Chandler

Joseph Chandler emigrated from Baltimore County, Maryland, to Tuscarawas County, in the fall of 1810. In 1811 he explored the country, a part of which now forms Perry Township, and selected and entered the southwest quarter of section 30 - cleared a few acres, erected a cabin, and formed a favorable acquaintance with the Indians.

In the autumn of 1812, war existing, and the settlers in the Tuscarawas country being much exposed to Indian depredations, the family sought a temporary refuge at Warren, Jefferson County, fourteen miles below Steuben ville. Previous to their departure from the place last named, a body of men, consisting of Thomas Chandler, Alexander McConnell, and several others, being out on a reconnoitering tour, found a band of strange and savage-looking Indians lodged upon an island in the river between Goshen (a Moravian Indian town) and New Philadelphia. McConnell, who was a brave, reckless man, plunged his horse into the river, and swimming to the island, presented his rifle, and demanded of the Indians an instant surrender; with which demand the Indians complied, and came ashore, and were marched to New Philadelphia, where they were lodged in jail.

While the family were residing upon the Ohio River, the depredations upon the Black Fork were committed, and also the burning of the houses of Newell and others; and, although the cabin of Mr. Chandler lay within a few feet of the trail that this band frequently traveled, nothing about his house or premises were molested. This forbearance is attributed to the fact that Mr. Chandler was understood by the Indians to belong to the Society of Friends; and, during the acquaintance he had made with them, on his first visit prior to the war, he had cultivated amicable relations with them, and exchanged oflfices of civility and kindness. They loved to talk with Mr. Chandler about William Penn, who had paid their fathers for their land, and whom they referred to as "that good man."

In the spring of 1814, Mr. Chandler, with his family, removed to the land he had purchased in Perry Township. Here he remained until his death, which occurred on the 5th day of May, 1817. He was in the sixtieth year of his age. The surviving members of his family were his widow and ten children, namely, Rebecca, Thomas, Robert T. C, Joseph, Jacob, Shadrach, Eleanor, Henrietta, Alice, and John.

Joseph Chandler removed with his father's family to the land above described, in 1814, and is the present owner of ninety eight acres of the quarter originally entered by his father.

This gentleman was a Canadian Frenchman, having no Indian blood, (as has been supposed by some,) and had been several years a resident of the country, when Mr. Chandler immigrated to it. He was the owner of the quarter section upon a part of which is now the town of Jeromeville. He had thirty or forty acres under cultivation, and, with his Indian wife and an interesting young daughter, named Munjella, (Mary, in English,) resided in a comfortable cabin house. His home was noted for its hospitality, and his Indian wife was, when her opportunities are considered, an excellent housekeeper. After the war, he sold his land to Deardoff and Vaughan, of Tuscarawas County, for two thousand dollars, and the latter realized twenty-four hundred dollars from the first sale of lots.

Mr. Jerome was a man of positive character - impulsive, generous, and brave - devoted in his friendships, and bitter in his enmities. His natural gifts of mind were good. He could converse fluently in French and Indian, and so as to be understood in English. To the early settlers, he was of great service in furnishing them with provisions - some having expressed the opinion that they would have incurred the hazard of starvation, had it not been for the aid afforded by him. It is supposed that he was born in Lower Canada.

When General Bell passed through this country on his way West, he ordered the construction of the block-house, at Jeromeville, for the use and protection of the white settlers. The Indians at Jerometown were also taken prisoners by him, and conveyed, under his charge, westward. Their town was burned, it is supposed by many, under the orders of General Bell, or by those acting under the authority of the Federal Government. He perpetrated or suffered the flagrant outrage of including among the prisoners the unofiending wife and innocent daughter of Jerome. Being dragged from a comfortable home, they were not enabled to endure the hardships and exposures to which they were subjected, and their death, within a few months afterward, was a consequence of the wrongs thus inflicted upon them. The only excuse given by the general was, that as Mrs. Jerome was an Indian woman, she might afford aid and comfort to unfriendly persons of her race; but what reason he offered in palliation for taking off* the young and helpless daughter is not known. Jerome had a warm affection for his wife, who was the daughter and sister of distinguished chiefs; and, although he was subsequently married to a white woman, never relaxed his love for the memory of his first wife, and never lost an opportunity to express his vehement indignation of the act of cruelty by which the liberties and lives of his dear ones were sacrificed.

The Indian who was well known to the early settlers by the above name, was on intimate terms with the Chandler family. He was a tall, well-built, finelooking man, of genial temper, good moral habits, and enjoyed much the society of his friends.

His wife was a half-breed - the daughter of a white woman who had been taken prisoner by the Indians, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Her mother, after having endured several years of captivity, made her escape, and returned to her white friends; leaving her little daughter among the Indians. This infant child remained among the Indians - attained the condition of womanhood - married - and became an exemplary and faithful wife and mother, and remarkable for shrewdness and tact.

Mr. Chandler assisted in laying out the first lots in Jeromeville, in 1815, He drove the stakes for nearly or quite all the original lots of the town. He aided in the erection of the first house on the town plat. This house was built by Adam Teener, the first blacksmith in the place. The house is yet standing, on the lot recently owned by J. J. Hootman. This building has been used for a dwelling, a store and dwelling, a prayer meeting-house, a blacksmith shop, and, finally, a wood-house, by Mrs. Goodman, the present occupant of the premises.

Wolves, bears, and wild cats were numerous, and destructive to the domestic animals of the pioneers. The wolves destroyed several hogs, and a three or four year old cow, belonging to Mr. Chandler. On the morning after the attack by the wolves, the remains of the cow were found about thirty rods from the house, her flesh being nearly consumed. Hogs were attacked within fifteen rods of the house. The first season that Mr. Chandler mowed the little prairie which formed part of his land, there were killed over two hundred massasauger or black rattlesnakes. In mowing they would often encounter a snake on an average of every rod of their progress. It was the custom of those whose business called them to the meadows or other places where snakes congregated in considerable numbers, to protect their feet and legs by wrapping them with bandages of hay or straw.

This child, an account of whose loss will be found elsewhere, was found about one and a half miles northeast of Mr. Chandler's, by Jonathan Hayes, and was brought, nearly lifeless from fatigue and hunger, to Mr. Chandler's mother, who bathed it in warm water, fed it with sweetened cream, and otherwise tenderly cared for the little fellow so judiciously that his restoration was effected. It was in the morning when the child was. found, and Mr. Hayes brought it to Mrs. Chandler wrapped in the coat which he had taken from his own person, in order to protect it from the chill, and prolong life until more effectual restoratives could be obtained.

It was an oft-repeated dogma of Esquire Newell that "a man should always be a man - living or dying - fearless of all consequences." It occurred, however, that the strong man became prostrated upon what he and his friends supposed would prove his dying bed. Among the sorrowing group who took the old man's threatened dissolution much to heart, was his son Zachariah. His demonstrations of grief, on beholding the glazed eyes and other indications of rapidly approaching death, which had settled upon the features of his father, were given forth in very audible sobs and groans. The sufferer, with great effort, reached his hatids to his face, and adjusted the lids over his own eyes. At this movement, Zachariah's grief became yet more uncontrolable, and the room was filled with his wails. The old 'squire, reviving somewhat by the noise, opened his eyes, and, turning his angry face upon Zachariah, commanded, in a husky but stern voice, that he cease his howling, and show himself '*a man - living or dying!" This proved not to be the 'squire's "last illness," and he lived to narrate the story himself.

Aaron Cory

Aaron Cory immigrated to the county that subsequently became Tuscarawas, in the spring of 1802, from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and during the war of 1812 entered the southwest quarter of section 29, in Perry Township, and the quarter section in Montgomery Township, recently owned and occupied by Henry Andress. On the 17th of May, 1817, he, with his son John, commenced improvements upon the land in Perry Township. At this time his family consisted of his wife and eight children, the eldest of whom was John. Mr. Cory died in Crawford County during the year 1834, at the age of sixty-two years.

John Cory, Esq., the present owner of the land above described in Perry, erected "a camp" upon the place in the summer of 1817, and during that and the two following seasons occupied this place alone, prosecuting improvements, and at the close of the summer of 1818 had ten acres partially cleared, five of which were sown in wheat. The camp above mentioned was made of small logs, covering a space of about eight by nine feet, and five and seven feet in height, containing three sides and a "shed roof" falling back from an open front. The structure had no floor or fireplace, and of course a window was unnecessary. The interstices between the logs were filled with moss. The "furniture" of his camp consisted of his rifle, axe, knife, fork, spoon, tin cup and two iron

One evening while engaged in cooking supper for Mr. Carr (who was then at work for him) and himself, the vessel containing his meat capsized, pouring its whole contents into the blazing fire. No sound from wolves had been heard before this, according to Mr. Cory's recollection, but they evidently snuffed the good living afar off, as within twenty minutes after the accident the beasts appeared to be approaching from all directions, making the earth almost tremble with their fierce howls, and the men were glad to betake themselves to their camp supperless. The wolves serenaded the occupants of the camp with their hideous voices till dawn of day, but their dread of the fire which blazed in front of the camp deterred them from an attack.

It is supposed, from the large number that were discovered and killed in the vicinity, that a rattlesnake den existed in a ledge of rocks near the northwest corner of the quarter owned by Mr. Cory. On one occasion, in this neighborhood, Isaac Johnson and David Scott encountered and killed seven, when the

This Indian was well known to Mr, Cory during his residence in Tuscarawas County. He was of unmixed blood, but not, as is supposed by some, a chief. He had fought against Wayne during the Indian war, but in the last war with England acted as spy under Gen. Harrison.

This noted Indian was also an acquaintance of Mr. Cory. He, with another wild and savage-looking Indian, are the same who are referred to in the statement of Hugh Carr and Thomas Newman as having visited the cabins of Mr. Bryan and Mr. CoUyer, on their route from the Huron River country to Tuscarawas County. He has often listened to the description by Phillip of the fight on the Black Fork.

Mr. Cory has in his possession a duodecimo copy of the Bible, printed in Oxford, England, 1727, which was originally the property of his father's grandfather, Joseph Freeman, as appears by his name, written on a blank leaf, bearing date November 30th, 1729. The volume is remarkably well printed and bound, giltedged, and silver clasps, and in a remarkably good state of preservation.

The First Sermon and First Prayer. The first sermon and first prayer ever heard by Mr. Cory, were from the lips of Rev. James B. Finley, in Tuscarawas County. He was, at this time, ten years of age. This sermon is thus referred to by Mr. Finley in his autobiograph}^, page 196 : "At one time I made an appointment on Sugar Creek, but when I came to it there was no house for me to preach in. Accordingly I called the people together under a large oak in a small prairie. The people, however, would not come near me, but stood in the plum bushes around, and I preached to them, in their hidingplaces, Jesus Christ and the resurrection. At m}' second appointment they seemed less fearful, and I gained so much on their confidence that I ventured to make an appointment for my next round at Mr. Cory's house."

In the immediate vicinity of where Mr. Cory resided, Mr. Finley was the first preacher who had appeared in the neighborhood. Tiie Moravian missionaries had confined their labors exclusively to 'the Indian towns, some rail6s distant. . >

James Dickason

James Dickason immigrated, with his wife, to Perry Township on the 17th of May, 1817. He was an emigrant from Pennsylvania. He leased and occupied for five years a part of section 16, and subsequently purchased of Edward Gallagher the southwest quarter of section 4, Perry Township, upon which he continues to reside.

Cornelius Dorland

Cornelius Dorland emigrated from Green County, Pennsylvania, to Columbiana County, in 1805; from thence he immigrated to Salt Creek Township, Wayne County, in April, 1811; from thence to the blockhouse in Wooster, during the fall of 1812; from the

When he came to Perry Township his family consisted of his wife and the following children, namely, John, James, Garrett, Margara, Samuel, and Clement N. Subsequently, in the year 1815, David and Cornelius (twins sons) were born in Perry Township.

He entered the southeast quarter in section 15, upon which he resided about three months, and then sold to John Raver. [The latter-named person, when he removed to the place he purchased of Mr. Borland, was regarded as one of the most wealthy and enterprising citizens of the township, but subsequently lost all his property, and died in the Ashland County Infirmary during the year 1861. Such is life!]

In June, 1814, Mr. Borland purchased of Messrs. Hunter and O'Harra, residents of Pennsylvania, the north half of section 10, Perry Township, which was the place of his residence at the time of his decease, which occurred March 6th, 1816, aged forty-one years.

On a Thursday morning in June, 1816, John Borland, aged sixteen years, (whose mind had been considerably impaired in consequence of bodily disease,) left home with his little brother Clement, aged two years and seven months, on an excursion in the woods, and after a few hours the two became separated, John returning home alone. The country at this time was very wild and the settlement sparse. The alarm, however, was immediately given, and a search commenced by the whole neighborhood, engaging in the w^ork people from Wooster, twelve miles distant.

The first, second, and third days passed without any reward for the labor of the two hundred men who had been anxiously enlisted in the generous and humane work; and, as the forests were alive with wild beasts, the painful conclusion began to take possession of the minds of the family and friends of the little boy that he had fallen a victim to their savage hunger. On Monday morning, however, the fourth day after his disappearance, Jonathan Hayes, whose own illness had prevented him from participating with his neighbors in the search, discovered the boy under the following circumstances: he was out looking for his horse, and, just as he had found him, and while engaged in putting on the bridle, he heard a strange but subdued sound, among some fallen timber near him. He concluded that it proceeded from a wild beast, and not being physically able to grapple with a savage animal, he determined to first mount his horse, and then reconnoiter the vicinity whence the sound had proceeded. In putting this design into execution he soon discovered the lost child, the life of which, owing to hunger and exposure, was almost extinct. Although in the month of June, there was a frost, as there had been every morning since the loss of the child. Mr. Hayes took it up, wrapped it in his own coat, and conveyed it to Mrs. Chandler, the nearest neighbor, as related in another place. Nicholas Carr was the bearer of the glad tidings of the discovery of the boy to his parents and friends. The distance from the child's home to where he was found was about five miles.

Daniel, aged eight years, son of John Raver, during the year 1815 was killed of fright under these circumstances: he was engaged at play with other children, when a mouse darted up the inside of his pantaloons, causing such fright as to produce convulsions and his death within a few hours.

While Mr. Borland was residing upon Salt Creek, twelve miles south of Wooster, he was visited by an Indian acquaintance named Lyons. This was in the fall of 1811. He expressed to Mr. Borland the opinion that within a few months Great Britain and the United States would be engaged in a war, and in case this should occur, that the Indians generally would take sides with England. He, however, gave his voluntary pledge to Mr. Borland to protect him and his family to the full extent of his power, warning him at the proper time of his danger, etc.

Abraham Ecker

After an illness of twenty days, died at his residence, near Rowsburg, November eleventh, Br. Abraham Ecker, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He was a faithful brother in the church for more than forty years, and died in full hope of a blessed immortality. He emigrated from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in May, 1818, and was known as a physician upwards of thirty years. He leaves a kind and loving companion, ten children, seventy-five grandchildren, and twenty great-grandchildren, to mourn his loss. But they need not sorrow as those who have no hope: -

His family have lost an affectionate husband, a kind and indulgent father. He has been called away by the ^'grim bailiff of the grave," but his precepts linger still. He has been called to lie down in the narrow tomb) but the memory of one so dear cannot perish. The example he has given cannot pass unnoticed; the pattern he laid down cannot be forgotten; and we would not be human could we remain unmoved and not startle at the announcement. We would not be human could we restrain pur grief - restrain our tears. Oh, no! but we sorrow not as those without hope. We believe he died in the Lord, and now sweetly sleeps in Jesus, and, in the morning of the resurrection, will arise to immortality and eternal life. His seat is now vacant, his gentle footsteps are no longer heard, his faltering voice no longer greets our ears, his aching eyes are forever closed to terrestrial objects, his throbbing heart has ceased to beat, his weary head is now at rest, his suffering and attenuated form is now part and parcel of the cold, damp earth, and reposes by the side of those who preceded him to the "silent city of the dead." May the Lord whom he served be our comfort and support. May he sanctify this solemn and trying bereavement to our present and eternal good. We hope to meet again, "when the day of life is fled," where

Benjamin Emmons

Benjamin Emmons entered a quarter section of land in Perry Township, in 1810; and from thence removed, in 1819, to Montgomery Township, on the farm recently occupied by his sons, (now owned by Matthias Boffenmire,) about one and a half miles north of Ashland.

Conrad Fridline

Conrad Fridline emigrated from Pennsylvania to Perry Township, during the spring of 1821. His family consisted of his wife and two children, David and Ludwig. He purchased of David Smith the land upon which he has since resided.

John Fry

John Fry emigrated from Franklin County, Pennsylvania, to Plain Township, Wayne County, in May, 1824. He removed to the southeast quarter of section 16, Perry Township, in April, 1826; which tract, when it came into market, was purchased by his family, and is now occupied by his widow and son, Andrew J. Fry. He resided upon this place until his death, which occurred on June 10th, 1827. The widow and two sons. Rev. Jacob Fry and Rev. Andrew J. Fry, are the only survivors of his family.

Henry Grindle

Henry Grindle emigrated from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, to Perry Township, in April, 1825. He died in December, 1832, aged forty-six years.

William Hamilton

William Hamilton emigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Perry Township, in the fall of 1820 - having previously purchased, of his brother Hugh, the northeast quarter of section 3, in said township. His family were composed of his Avife and seven children - the only survivor of whom, now residing in Perry Tgwnship, is Mrs. Mary J., wife of John A. Campbell.

Mrs. Hamilton died in October, 1850, at the age of seventy-three years. Hugh Hamilton, Esq., of Lafayette, born September, 1821, in Perry, is the only son of William Hamilton, now a resident of the township.

Upon the land in Jackson Township, now owned by John M. Livingston and John Ramsej^, about a mile northeast of Lafayette, are the remains of what is supposed to have been an ancient fortification. This work is located on the western side of an elevated ridge, but its eastern line reaches the summit. Its shape is quadrangular. Before the timber was cleared by the race now occupying it, its outlines could be distinctly traced, but the plow has nearly obliterated them. The oak timber which was found growing upon its sides was equal in dimensions to any in the surrounding forests. When the ground was yet in its wild state, only twelve years since, the embankment was about eight feet at its base and eighteen inches in height, these dimensions being very regular. The area was about one and a half acres. Within the inclosure of the fort, about twenty-five years since, John H. Hamilton found a hard flint stone, highly polished surface, five inches in length, two inches at the base, and one and a half inches at the point. The center was encircled by a groove, in which he could bury the point of his finger.

Two ancient mounds also existed in Perry Township, on the farm originally entered by Hugh Hamilton. They were about thirty feet distant from each other, and occupied the summit of a hill. The largest was eighteen feet in diameter at its base, and rises four feet above the natural surface. This one still remains undisturbed, with the exception of having been cleared of its timbers. The smaller one was about twelve feet in diameter at its base, and was elevated about three feet above the natural surface. There were no indications that the earth of which these mounds were composed had been taken from the immediate vicinity of their location.

Some thirty years ago, when William Hamilton was excavating the earth for his cellar, the western side embraced the ground occupied by about one-half of the smaller mound. After the earth had been removed down to the natural surface, the remains of some wood, supposed to be a root, were discovered; continuing, however, the excavation, it proved to be a shaft of timber that had been placed perpendicularly below the surface. Following down the decayed wood, the men reached a quantity of coarse but pure sand, and a. few inches below this a human skeleton; and yet below this two other skeletons, also imbedded in sand. The wood, from the point where it entered the sand, was found to be in a good condition of preservation. The bones of the skeleton were remarkably well preserved, including the teeth and the most delicate portions of those belonging to the fingers and toes. A few hours' exposure to the atmosphere dissolved all except the larger bones. One of the skeletons indicated that it had belonged to a person of immense size. James IMcMeeken, the largest man in the neighborhood, weighing over two hundred pounds, and having a remarkably full face, would pass the lower jaw of this skeleton over his own countenance without any difficulty. The end of the shaft referred to terminated at the depth of the lower part of the last skeleton. It had been dressed so as to present three sides, and the marks of the edged instrument used in dressing it were clearly visible. There were also imbedded in the sand, about a pint of a powdered substance, resembling Spanish brown paint; also a polished stone, about six inches in length, one inch in width, and half an inch in thickness - the sides and ends being rounded off. This stone was afterward used to sharpen a Dutch scythe, by Mr. Oner, a revolutionary soldier, and a resident, up to the time of his death, on the farm now owned by WiUiam Patterson.

John Hellman

John Ilellman emigrated from Centre County, Pennsylvania, and settled in Perry Township, June 17th, 1818. He purchased of Elijah Charles the southwest quarter of section 3, which land he improved, and has, up to the present date, made his home. His family, at the time of emigration, consisted of his wife and three children, viz.: David, Mary, and Catherine. The first mentioned is now a resident of Jackson Township; Mary is the wife of Daniel Eshelman, of Lafayette, and Catherine is the wife of George Walkey, of Perry Township.

Thomas Johnson

Thomas Johnson immigrated to Perry Township in 1814. He had several years previously resided in Jefferson County. His family at this date consisted of his wife, and sons Henry, Isaac, Jacob, and Benjamin, and six daughters. He died in 1826. Benjamin Johnson, now a resident of Vermillion Township, is the only surviving male member of the family.

Rudolph Kaufman

Eudolph Kaufman immigrated to Perry Township from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in June, 1822, and purchased of Jacob Baker the two hundred and thirty-three acres in section 27, upon which he resided until the time of decease, which occurred March 11th, 1825, at the age of twenty-seven years six months and five days.

The surviving members of his family were his widow and one son. Emanuel, son of Rudolph Kaufman, was born upon the place above described July 31st, 1824, and now resides at the old homestead.

Jacob Klingaman

Jacob Klingaman emigrated from Berks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, to Perry Township, in May, 1817, and entered the northwest quarter, section 8, in said township. The east half of this section he

John Kramer

John Kra?mer immigrated to Perry Township from Pennsylvania, October, 1829, and purchased of John Gorsuch the farm which is now owned and occupied by Samuel Buchanan. During the last three years Mr. Krcemer has been a resident of Rowsburg.

Jacob Lash

Jacob Lash emigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Perry Township in the early part of the spring of 1824. Jacob Onstott and himself jointly purchased the southeast quarter of section 8, which they subsequently divided. Mr. Onstott resided upon his half quarter until his death, and Mr. Lash still continues to occupy his half When he removed to this county his household consisted of his wife and two children, and a brother-inlaw, Uriah Ackley.

Peter Lash immigrated to Perry Township, and leased the farm now owned and occupied by Peter Mang, in the fall of 1823. His family at this time consisted of his wife and five children, namely, Elizabeth, William, Susannah, Peter, and Charity A.

Mr. Lash died in July, 1838, at the age of seventyeight years. He had served in the war of the American Revolution, and during the last years of his life received a pension for his services. Of his children above mentioned, William and Susannah (the latter the wife of Robert Nelson) are the only survivors who now (January, 1862,) reside in Perry Township.

Philip Mang

Philip Mang, in 1816, entered seven quarters of land in Perry Township. Upon one of these quarters resides his son Samuel, upon another Peter.

John Maurer

John Maurer removed to Plain Township, Wayne County, in November, 1821. He was an emigrant from Pennsylvania. In April, 1825, he purchased and removed to the land in Perry Township, now occupied by William Adams. His family, at this time, consisted of his wife and eight children, the only survivors of whom, now residing in Perry Township, are his widow, his son William, and widowed daughter, Mrs. Ann Jackson. Mrs. Maurer, if she lives until the 18th of August, 1862, will be eightyseven years of age. Mr. Maurer died January loth, 1860, aged eighty-three years and eight months.

Adam Reichard

Adam Reichard emigrated from Centre County, Pennsylvania, and removed to the east half of the northwest quarter of section 8, (which he had previously entered,) in April, 1829. His family, at this time, consisted of his wife and an infant son, Jacob. Mr. Reichard is among the very few in Perry Township who reside upon the place they originally entered.

James Scott

Isaac Smalley, from Columbiana County, Ohio, to Perry Township, in November, 1816. With the exception of about two years, (which were spent in Wooster,) he has resided in Perry Township since the date named. He has, since 1825, owned and occupied the farm upon which he at present resides, and which land was first improved by him.

John Shissler

John Shissler was born in New Jerse}'', but while a young man, removed to Pennsylvania, where he remained about five 3^ears; thence removed to Jefferson County, Ohio, and in the spring of 1823 immigrated to Perry Township, where he married, and purchased of William Morgan the land which he now occupies. When he settled upon his land the country was very little improved, and, between Ashland and Rowsburg, was almost a wilderness. As supervisor of roads, he aided in clearing the timber from the Northern State road, between Wooster and Mansfield.

The nearest market for wheat w\as at Sandusky Cit}^, where it would command, at the outside, 50 cents per bushel; at Wooster, hogs were sold, weighing two hundred pounds, for $1.50 to $2.00. Taxes, however, were low - the highest tax-payer in the township not paying, probably, more than $3.00.

John Smalley

John Smalley immigrated to Perry Township, and purchased the land that now constitutes the farm of Jacob Geackley, in the spring of 1818. He subsequently purchased of Edward Gallagher the farm upon which he died, and which is now owned by his sons, Richard and John P. The last named is now

Richard Smalley

Richard Smalley removed from Jefferson County, Ohio, to Perry Township, in the year 1815. Previous to the war of 1812 he had entered a half section adjoining the present town of Rowsburg - being the land now owned by his son, Richard Smalley, Jr. Mr. Smalley died in 1850, at the age of eighty-four years. The surviving male members of his family now residing in the county are, John Smalley, of Orange Township; Benjamin Smalley, of Vermillion Township; and Richard Smalley, Jr., who occupies the old homestead above mentioned; in Perry Township.

John Swarts

John Swarts immigrated to the northwestern territory, from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, during the Indian campaign of General Wayne. He first selected his home in what is now Harrison County, Ohio. In 1813 he removed to that part of Mohican which afterward became Chester Township, Wayne County. His -family, at this time, consisted of his wife and the following named children : John, Henry, David, Elizabeth, Jacob, Daniel, Catherine, and Mary. Of these, the only one now residing in Ashland County is David Swarts, who owns and occupies the farm on the north line of Perry Township, one and a quarter miles northeast of Jeromeville - a farm widely known for its elegant and commodious outhouses, having a barn upon it which alone cost §3000.

John Tanyer

John Tanyer, an emigrant from Pennsylvania, settled in Perry Township in 1824. He is now a resident of Montgomery Township, about one mile north of Ashland.

Frederick Wise

Frederick "Wise removed from Centre County, Pennsj'lvania, to Perry Township, in May, 1822. His family consisted of his wife and seven children. He had entered his land, being the southeast quarter of section 18, in the year 1815. While exploring the country for the purpose of making his selection, he made his home with Baptiste Jerome. Mr. Wise yet resides upon the land he originally entered.