Monroe Township

Monroe Township

. Monroe township was organized in 1823. It was named in honor of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States. Previous to the organization as an independent precinct, it was, for several years, at- 'tached to the township of Bearfield. It was organized as a Congressional township, six miles square, and remained of the same dimensions until five sections were taken off to aid in forming the new township of Pleasant. Monroe township was originally well timbered, in most places, and contained oak, poplar and other valuable wood. Considered as a whole, it is hilly, and, in some parts almost mountainons. Adjacent to some of the larger streams,'and particularly near their confluence, there are considerable areas of well laying land. The surface of this township is better adapted to stock raising and wool growing, than to the cultivation of any of the cereals. The stony points and hill sides are believed to be well adapted to grape growing, but this industry has not received any great attention.

The water system of Monroe is simple. "The whole township lies in the Hocking Valley, and is drained by the cast and west branches af Sunday Creek and their tributaries, among which are Sulphur, Dodson's and Hadley's Fork. The confluence of the two principal branches of Sunday Creek, is over the county line in Athens county.

The township, geoloyically speaking, all belongs to the Coal Measures, and is the richest part of the Ohio coal region. The so-called '¢ great vein'? seam reaches its maximum in this township, where it is thirteen teet thick. There are also the Norris and Stallsmith seams of coal; the former about six and the latter about four feet thick. The great vein seam appears to underlie nearly the whole township. The Norris and Stallsmith seams have been opened in various places, and it is believed that they will be found wherever the hills are high enough to contain them. 'There is also another coal, No. 5, below the great seam, which has been found in places, but, for the most part, this seam lies far beneath the lowest surface, and sufficient borings have not been made to decide whether or not it is persistent, or what its value may be. There is believed to be a Jarge quantity of iron ore in the township, but it has not been much developed, and its ultimate value cannot even be approximated. It also has fire clay, potter's clay, and sand stone ; the latter'in practically inexhaustible quantities.

The first settlements were made in 1814, by John McDonald and James Dew. John McDonald and James Dew were brothers-in-law, and emigrated from Maryland. They blazed their way through from Zanesville, and built a little log cabin, which yet stands in the yard

220 HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. ; near the old McDonald residence. It is somewhat modified and is now used as a smoke-house. McDonald and Dew moved on_ horseback. Soon after they got their little cabin built, McDonald followed the ''blaze"' back to Zanesville, bought a bushel: of cornmeal, a skillet and a board to make a table. When Mr. McDonald got these things home, they all thought they were comfortably fixed. 'The man who subsequently became the richest man in his township, if not in the county, commenced housekeeping in this humble way. Dew settled on the east branch of Sunday Creek, near the Athens line.

The following named persons were living in Monroe at the time, or soon after the township was organized: John McDonald, James Dew, Enos Devore, David Devore, Elisha Tinker, John Small, Samuel Morrow, Nicholas Owings, Elijah Wooley, Jacob Wooley, Stephén Rodman, John Rodman, oO Wood, David Hearing, Wm. "sMianas James M. Ward, George Juniper, William Staniford, John Acord and John Gaver.

Previous to its settlement. Monroe was a great hunting ground for the Indians. and afterward for the whites, from older settled parts of the county. Indians encamped and spent the winter on Sunday Creek as late as 1815, if not Jater. The country was also full of wild hogs, or hogs that nobody owned. Hogs had probably strayed away from the older settlements along the Ohio, and with their increase, became almost as wild as those of India or South America. Along about 1816, there was an el long. cold winter, and these hogs nearly all perished. Many were found dead in heaps on Sunday Creek, after that memorable winter prove up. They gathered in bunches for warmth, but perished, nevertheless.

Lord Dunmore's expedition from Virginia, in 1874, against the hostile Indians on the Scioto, doubtless crossed the valley of Sunday Creek, and tradition has it that the littke army encamped one night on Sunday Creek, but it was probably south of the Perry county line.

As previously stated, Monroe township was, before its settlement, and for a considerable time atter its first settlers came, a good hunting ground. Deer and wild turkevs were numerous, and bears, panthers and wolves were not scarce, in the earlier times. Hunters habitually came from the northern part of the county, and from other counties, to camp out and hunt on Sunday Creek. They usually came with horses, dogs and guns, prepared to spend a week. at least. and often a number of weeks. Their horses were belled and turned loose, and some of them hobbled. The men composing these hunting: parties would usually separate in the morning, come into camp in the evening, ae around the camp fire, relate the adventures and success of the

SN mawara Danison of New Lexington, and Jonathan Colborn, of Noblesville, Indiana, hunted and camped on Sunday Creek in very early times, and enjoy telling their old adventures. These hunters were usually in the pursuit of deer, as the most desirable and profitable oe but they not unfrequently encountered other animals. Edward anison, of New Lexington, a hunter previously named, relates that, upon one occasion, just'after he had espied two deer, and was maneuvering to get a good shot at one of them, he heard a great noise in a thick cluster of bushes, and soon after a bear ran across an open space with Danison's dog in close pursuit. The two deer having scampered, the hunter followed on in the direction the dog and bear had taken, and in a short time heard the dog bark ; then he was satisfied that the bear had been treed. Following up, he soon came in view and saw that Bruin, was, sure enough, up a tree, and the dog barking furiously beneath. Mr. Danison was a considerable distance off, and probably did not care about venturing any nearer; but he thought he could bring Bruin down. He took good aim and fired. The bear only reached upward with his paw and wentone limb higher. Danison leveled and fired again, and this time the bear tumbled to the ground. But he was not badly hurt, and the bear and dog engaged in a fight that was fearful to behold. Mr. Danison all this while felt considerably alarmed, but reloaded his gun, and kept a sharp lookout for bear number two, which he expected every moment. 'he bear and dog fight continued. Sometimes the bear was under, and sometimes the dog. As the fight proceeded, the combatants approached the brow of a steep hill, and down it they rolled, over and over, until the bottom was reached, where the struggle for the mastery continued. A comrade of Danison now made his appearance, coming over the hill. It soon became evident that the dog was getting the worst of the battle, and Danison requested his companion to shoot the bear, if he thought he could without killing the dog. The hunter fired accordingly, and Bruin was killed. The faithful dog was badly used up, and it was some time before he was sufliciently recovered to drag along after his master into camp. Jhere was sttll an apprehension that another bear might be around, but he did not put in an appearance, and itis likely enough that the venturesome hunters did not seriously regret it. The bear was not slaughtered or skinned in camp, but was carried in triumph to Madison township, where Mr. Danison then resided.

Tobacco was once very extensively raised in Monroe township, and, though it was considered a paying occupation for the time being, it no doubt contributed toward the impoverishment of much of the land, and the culture of the weed was eventually abandoned.

Though the township is hilly, and the surface of the land comparatively unproductive, some of the finest and most valuable stock in the county is to be found there.

Monroe was, for many years, far from market, even with such surlus products as she had to dispose of. Athens, New Lexington and McConnellsville were the nearest markets. All this is changed now. With the building of the Ohio Central, and the establishment of stations at Rendville, Corning, Buckingham and Borbec, the people of the township have as good facilities for shipment, and for coming and going, as any others in the county. |

Some of the coal mines of Monroe were opened and used along about 1832, and afterward, but as there was nothing more thana neighhood demand, except a little trade with Morgan county, they were but little developed until the coming of the railroad era. The Sands bank, near Millertown, and probably a few others, sold coal to the farmers and some of the residents of villages in Morgan county, who came to

~With the completion of the Ohio Central to Rendville and Corning, in 1879 and 1880, and the extension and_ building -of a line up the West Branch of Sunday Creek, at a later date, and the sinking of shafts and the opening of mines at Rendville, Corning, below Corning, and at Borbec, Buckingham and Hemlock, the development of the coal de- 'posits began on a grander scale, and the output is yet on the increase. Monroe now leads all the townships of the county in the export of coal.

Millertown was laid out in 1834, by Jacob Miller. It is located upon a high piece of ground, between the east and west branches of Sunday Creek, and is less than a mile from the new town of Corning. There is from a point a little above Millertown, one of the finest outlooks in Southern Ohio. Millertown has a physician, store, hotel, church, severel shops, and had, according to the census of 1880, eighty-four inhabitants.

Thompsonville, usually called Chapel Hill, was laid out in 1849, by George Thompson and Bryan Murtaugh. It is a. pleasantly situated 'village. It has a church, hotel, store, shops, etc., and had a population of fifty-two, in 1880. i

Ferrara was laid out by Nelson Rodgers and James Taylor, in 1871, at the time the Atlantic and Lake Erie Railroad was projected. The railroad failed for the time, and Ferrara has remained a paper town, or almost so, ever since. Ferrara is situated between Corning and Rendville, in a nice, conspicuous place, and several new houses have lately been erected in it. ,

Rendville was established by Thomas J. Smith and Wm. P. Rend, and others, in 1879, and grew with a rapidity marvelous in this section of the world, and yet very much like other mining towns of the county. Boarding houses were improvised, shafts sunk and coal works erected. Houses for miners and other workmen were put together, finished and inhabited in a space of time that would seem almost impossible.

Rendville is situated in the narrow valley of the east branch of Sunday Creek, and upon the slopes, hills and ridges, on either side. The Confpany houses are mostly built in rows, but more to suit the ground, than upon parallel or corresponding lines. The houses in the same row are usually alike ; but the houses in different rows are of different size, shape and color, and this seems to give an agreeable and picturesque appearance to all, when viewed together. After this description, it seems almost useless to say that rough board shanties received little consideration in the building of Rendville. In addition to the numerous neat Company houses, it has quite a number of nice costly residences, erected for lease, or to be occupied by the persons owning them. 'The town has a post office, station house, two churches, one large union school house, hotel, numerous boarding houses, dry good stores, drug stores, groceries, shops, saloons, etc. The population in 1880 was 349, but the town was then only a few months old, The population is now estimated at 2,500, and is on the increase.

very similar to that of Rendville, so far as the Company houses for miners and other employes were concerned; but the most of the other buildings erected were even of a more costly and subsiantial character. The valley is a little wider at Corning, and the chances for streets a trifle better than at Rendville. The business part of the town is very much solidified, as compared with Rendville. 'To a person standing in the business section of the place, Corning looks as though it might have been built fifteen or twenty years, so solid and substantial does it appear. The largest and most costly storehose in the county is here, and there are many other large establishments. In addition to the numerous company houses on the slopes and hill-sides, there are many beautiful and cosily residences, some of them among the finest in the county. Several of them are very handsomely situated.

Corning has a post-oflice, telegraph oflice, station-house, one Jarge union school-house, newspaper, two churches, two hotels, several attorneys, physicians, dry-good stores, clothing establishments, drug stores, meat stores, boarding houses, groceries, bakeries, millinery stores, blacksmith shops, shoe shops, billiard rooms, saloons, etc. It had, according to the census of 1880, a population of two hundred and seventy ; but the town had just commenced, and nearly all its growth has been since that date. Its population is now estimated at from twenty-five hundred to three thousand.

The most notable events that occurred in Rendville and Corning were in connection with the labor troubles in 1880. Both towns were full of dissatisfied miners from Shawnee, New Straitsville, and the Hocking valley, for several days, and companies of the National Guard, called out by Governor Foster, were stationed in the two towns for a week or two. There was one company on duty at Corning, but the principal camp and headquarters were at the northern end of Rendville. The skirmish which took place between the dissatisfied miners and the State troops was in the woods near the Rendville camp. The 'miners first assembled in Corning, and then moved in a body up the narrow valley to Rendville. A detailed account of the ' Corning War"' is given in another chapter. :

Buckingham, situated on the west branch of Sunday Creck, was laid out by James 'Taylor and Benjamin Sanders In 1873, but remained little more than a paper town until 1881, when an arm of the Ohio Central was extended to the place and coal works established. The town has now a population of several hundred.

Borbec, also situated on the west branch of Sunday Creek, a mile or two below Buckingham, is a mining town, was established in 1881, shafts sunk, and coal works erected. A large coiony of German miners live there. It has store, shops, etc., but is almost exclusively a mining town. It contains a population of several hundred.

A Bible Christian (New Light) church was built on the McDonald farm about 1820. This was a log building. John McDonald, the old settler, erected the church principally at his own expense. Ife was a minister of the denomination, and preached there regularly in all the earlier years, and occasionally as long as he lived. 'There was a frame church erected at a later date, which is still kept in repair, and in which

The Methodists erected a log church where Millertown has since been laid out at a very early day, where regular preaching was held. A neat frame house was built at a later date, which is still in use.

The Methodists built what is known as the old Asbury church, one mile from Millertown, about 1830. It was a very large frame building, was used fifteen or twenty years for church services and Sabbath-school, and then abandoned. 'The society disbanded and the members united with other churches, probably the most of them with the church at Millertown.

A Presbyterian Church was organized and a house of worship erected in the south part of Monroe township, at a very early day, not very far from the line between Perry and Athens counties. . A larger and better edifice was built at a later date, and stated preaching maintained.for a long time, but services are now only occasionally held.

A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized and a church built, at an early day, in the neighborhood of where Rendville has since been built. It maintained regular services a great many years, but the congregation disbanded, and the church was torn down and the material used for other purposes.

A United Brethren Church was organized and a church built, at an early day, about half-way between Millertown and Chapel Hill, and regular preaching maintained for a great many years; of late, however, religious services are only occasionally held. The church is near the present residence ot Morgan Devore.

The Catholics organized a congregation and erected a house of worship at Thompsonville about 1850, which has been used ever since. This is known as the Chapel Hill church, and is a strong congregation. The edifice is very pleasantly situated. '

The colored people of Rendville have both a Baptist and a Methodist church, each of them erected in 1881. They are neat, commodious edifices, very similar in appearance, and stand near together.

The Baptist Church recently organized in Corning, and have erected a neat and commodious frame edifice, which is finished, and ready for occupancy. ,Phe congregation has regular preaching and sustains a Sabbath school. '

A Methodist Episcopal Church has been organized at Coruing, the congregation has bought a lot, contracted for a house of worship, and the foundation of the building is Jaid. The Methodists, for the present, hold religious services in the Baptist church. :

A Presbyterian Church has been organized at Corning, a lot purchased, and the building of an edifice commenced. The foundation stones are laid. The Presbyterians, for the present, hold religious services at Knights of Pythias Hall. . ;

The Catholics have organized a congregation, purchased six agres of land, erected a parsonage, and built a school-house thirty by seventyfive feet, which, for the present, is used for religious purposes, as well as for school purposes. i

Joseph Rodgers

Monroe township had, in 1880, seventeen hundred and eighty inhabitants, but its population has more than doubled since that date, and is probably three times as large as it was when the census was taken, the increase arising principally from the building up of the towns of Corning, Rendville, and other mining towns.