Wayne Township (part 21 of 22)

"Judge" Banning as he was called more frequently than " Parson," notwithstanding his monument states that he was a Methodist preacher sixty years, was born in Talbot county, Maryland, May 13, 1768, and was the only son of James Banning, a proprietor of much consideration and influence, who had but two children - the son, James Mansfield Anthony Banning, and a daughter who married Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia, chief justice of the State of Pennsylvania, a lawyer of much distinction and a man of great wealth, who was a bosom friend of Washington, and whose family were his most intimate associates.

His parents died when he was very young, and he was consigned to the care of an uncle, Henry Banning, a bachelor, who was a sea-captain and took Anthony with him several voyages- The family were members of the Episcopal church, but in his fourteenth year Anthony joined the Methodists. When about eighteen he went to preaching as a circuit rider in Greenbrier, Virginia, and the wilderness mountain region. In consequence of the great length of his name, and its inconvenience in writing, he dropped a portion of it in early youth.

July 30, 1791, he married Mrs. Sarah Pierce, daughter of one of the first settlers on Redstone, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, who was also a native of the eastern shore of Maryland, and had been reared near Ellicott's Mills. The children by this marriage were Sarah, wife of Daniel S. Norton; Jacob M., who died in 1835, and whose widow and children reside in Hardin county; Rachel, wife of Rev. Elnathan Raymond; James S. ; Mrs. Mary Caswell; Elizabeth, Mrs. Bronson; Priscilla; and Anthony.

Priscilla Banning was born May i, 1807, and on November 2, 1875, married Sewall Gray, of Massachusetts, who was born April 9, 1806, and died of paralysis, at Mount Vernon in May, 1862, without issue.

After his marriage Mr. Banning settled in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and resided for several years near Mount Braddock and Connellsville, where he preached the Gospel, having been ordained by Bishop Asbury in 1791, carried on a lanyard, kept store, officiated as justice of the peace, from 1791 until 1799, traded in stock of every description and navigated the western waters.

He made several trips up the Muskingum with goods and wares from 1808 till he moved out in 1812. After he had bought lands in the county he traded a lot of iron, leather and saddlery to Samuel Kratzer, esq., for the principal part of his interest in the town of Mt. Vernon, and then took up his residence here. During his long abode he was engaged, as elsewhere, in a diversity of pursuits; and by reason of his remarkable energy, industry, prudence and business tact, prospered in all, and enjoyed to a very great extent the confidence of the people. He was for the greater part of his life concerned in merchandizing at Mt. Vernon, Tymochtee and Danville - carrying on his mills at Clinton and his tanyard, farming e.\tensively and preaching. His name is found as president of the first Clay meeting ever held in this county; he was all his life an ardent admirer and friend of that great statesman and patriot. In principle, politically, he was a Whig - religiously, a Methodist - strictly moral and temperate - in all the relations of life a good example.

He was honest and conscientious - liberal and kind hearted - determined and resolute - never disguised his sentiments or harbored unkind thoughts; was not a .anatic in temperance, morals, politics or religion; but by his well balanced mind and daily walk exerted a great influence for good.

Among other public positions held by him was that of commissioner to select the premanent seat of justice of Clermont county, under an act of the general assembly, January 25, 1823, associated with John C. Wright, then of Jefferson, and James Clark, of Stark. He served as one of the associate judges of this county from 1827 to 1834.

In every public enterprise and work calculated to benefit the town, county and people he was active, liberal and useful. Among the many incidents of his life the following most clearly shows the liberality of his mind: In 1836 he set about erecting a church near his residence, and upon his own land. Tlie neat brick edifice had been inclosed and about completed, when the Right Rev. Bishop Purcel visited Mt. Vernon for the first time, and there being no Catholic church the followers of that denomination, of whom there were but two or three families then in the place, to wit: David Morton's, William Brophy's and Timothy Colopy's requested the use of one of the churches for the bishop to hold service in on the forenoon of a certain Sunday. The favor was denied. An effort was then made to procure the use of the court-house, and that, too, was refused. The writer, then a small boy, having heard the circumstances on his way home, stopped in at Judge Banning's and stated what had occurred, when he at once buttoned up his vest and coat, took his cane, went up to David Morton's, where the bishop was staying, and tendered the use of the Banning chapel for Catholic service. The offer was most gr.itefully and graciously accepted, and the first Catholic discourse ever delivered in this town was pronunced at the Banning chapel. This, in the eyes of many bigoted and intolerant minds, was a very great sin; but the religion of grandfather Banning was of that catholic bpirit which en.ibled him to do acts of kindness and jDour out heart offerings as becometh a true Christian.

in the dam of the Clinton Mill company, while attempting to cross upon the ice to his farm. His body was soon recovered and great efforts made to resuscitate it, but in vain. The bold spirit that left its impress on this world had gone to explore the mysteries of another. He was in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and remarkably vigorous in mind and body.

BANNING, GENERAL HENRY B., attorney at law, Cincinnati, Ohio. - The subject of this sketch was, on his fathers side, of Maryland stock, and his mother's family were \"irginia people. Shortly before the Revolutionary war both his father's and his mother's families emigrated from their native States and settled near old Fort Redstone, in Fayette county, Pennsyhania. They were pioneers in that then new country.

In 1812 the Rev. Anthony Banning, a pioneer Methodist preacher, the grandfather of General Banning, settled on the banks of the Kokosing, having traded a lot of iron, leather and saddlery for an interest in the then small village (now prosperous town) of Mt. Vernon. James S. Banning, the father of General Banning, was then twelve years old. When he grew to manhood he revisited his native town of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and married Eliza Blackstone, the mother of Henry. The Banning family has been actively and conspicuously identified with the growth and prosperity of Knox county from its organization. In religion they are all Protestants. His mother was one of the principal organizers of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which sect she was then a commuicant, although at her death she was a member of the denomination known as Christian. In politics the Bannings were originally Jackson Democrats, afterwards Whigs.

Henry B. Banning was the sixth child of his parents and was born November 10, 1836. His childhood was passed at Banning's Mills and on the old Banning farm at Clinton. He first attended school at the Clinton school-house, in 1842, when Father Mott was the teacher.

Among the children attending that school with him were the Coopers, the Curtises, the Drakes, the Lovages, the Johnsons, the Brookses, and the Montises.

After leaving this school he attended Hull Bigsby's private school at Mt. Vernon, and Sloan's academy. He was examined and admitted to Kenyon college, but never attended.

At the age of seventeen he commenced the study of law in the office of Hosmer, Curtis & Devin. in Mt. Vernon, and was in due time admitted to the bar, and began the practice. He became the partner of William Dunbar, esq., the firm being Dunbar & Banning, at .\lt. Vernon. He soon established and maintained a large practice, and was succeeding finely when the war began in 1861. He was one of the first to volunteer to put down the Rebellion, almost before the President had issued his call for seventy-five thousand troops. He was at once elected captain by his company, which afterwards became company B, Fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, a regiment which made one of the most gallant records of the war.

He was afterward, upon the recommendation of General Shields, appointed major of tlje I-'ifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, but never joined that command, being placed in command of the Eighty-seventh, a three months' regiment. At the expiration of the term of this latter regiment, he was made lieutenant colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served as such until the spring of 1863, when he was made colonel of tlie One Hundred and Twentyfirst Ohio.

This regiment was in a badly demoralized condition, but the new colonel soon restored the esprit dc corps, gained the confidence of the officers and men, and by a thorough system of discipline made it one of the best drilled legiments in the service.

It took part in the Chickamauga and Atlanta campaigns, showing such signal instances of gallantry in action as to call forth frequent mention in the official aud unofficial reports of its engagements. At the battle of Chickamauga, in a bayonet charge, the regiment under lead of Colonel Banning, captured the battle-flag of the Twenty-second Alabama regiment, the only Confederate colors taken by our troops upon that bloody and disastrous field. At the battle of Kennesaw Mountain an eye witness in describing the fight said:

"Yesterday was a bloody day for the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio, more bloody in numbers than Chickamauga. More than one-third of her gallant sons were killed or wounded. History's page will recall the deeds of her fallen heroes; and the command of the gallant Banning: ' Lie down, One Hundred and Twenty-first, and don't retire one inch until I order you,' when the storm of battle was at its highest, will make for him an imperishable record, and the stubbornness with which the regiment obeyed the order, unsupported, and e.xposed to a galling fire from both flanks and front, of artillery and small arms, for more than four hours, will be rehearsed in story and in song in after years."

In the spring of 1865, after the fall of Atlanta, on the recommendation of General Jeff. C. Davis, approved by Major General George H. Thomas, General Banning was promoted to be a brevet brigadier general, for gallant and meritorious service during the Atlanta campaign.

After Atlanta had been taken, General Banning, still in command of the One Hundred and Twenty-first, accompanied General Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland, and took a gallant and conspicuous part in the fierce and decisive battle of Nashville.

In the spring of 1865 he was placed in Command of the One Hundred gnd Ninety-fifth Ohio infantry, and served in the valley of Virginia. He was commander of the post of Alexandria, Virginia, until December, 1865, when he was mustered out of the service with the rank of brevet major general, a rank which his gallant conduct had won for him, enlisting as a private in 1861.

In the fall of 1865, while he was still in the service, the people of his home elected him to represent Kno.\ county in the general assembly. Stepping from the field to the forum, he became a leading spirit in that legislative body. He was made chairman of the house committee on military affairs. He devoted his attention to the wants of the laboring classes, and through his efforts much good was accomplished for them. .A.fter the expiration of his term in the general assembly. General Banning removed to Cincinnati, where he resumed the practice of law, with his usual success.

In 1872 he was nominated by the Liberal Republican convention as the candidate to represent the Second district in Congress. His opponent was R. B. Hayes, now ex-President. After an exciting canvass General Banning was returned by a handsome majority. He was reelected twice to the same office as a Democrat, beating successively Job E. Stevenson in 1874, and Stanley Mathews in 1876. In 1880 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by a small majority.

representative of American manhood of the highesi type; modest in a-ssuming responsibility, but when assumrd firm, faithful and energetic in the execution of a trust. In all his career, both public and private, there is not an act can sully his name or stain his honor. A good son, a good husband, a good father, a gallant soldier, a faithful and industrious representative, in all a worthy citizen, he is one of the sons to wlioni Knox county can point with pride as a part of her history.

BLAKE, WILLIAM, deceased. The subjpri of thi~ -ketch was one of Knox county's pioneers. He was born in Ireland in 1761, migrated to America, located in New York, remained several years, and from thence went to Connecticut, where he married Miss Hannah Sprague, born in Connecticut in 1778. They moved to Knox county, Ohio, in 1812, and located in Clinton township, on the farm now owned by John Guy, where they passed the remainder of their days. He died in 1848, aged eighty-seven years. His companion survived him until 1850, when she died, aged seventy-two years and five months.

They reared a family of seven children - Sarah, Hannah, William, Mary, Richard, James, and Emily J. Two of the children, Hannah and Richard, are dead. When Mr. Blake came to Clinton township, it was comparatively a forest, and settlers were few and far apart.

BOSTWICK, NATHAN, Newark Ohio, was born November 2, i8ig, in Pike township, Bradford county, Pennsylvania; emigrated to Ohio with his parents in 1830, landing in Newark, and Mving the first winter in McKean township. Licking county. In the spring of 1831 the family moved into Milford township, Knox county, and settled on a farm then covered with a dense growth of hardwood timber, as were i\\ farms in those eariy days in Knox county. The immense 'abor of making a home out of the wilderness can only be fuilv understood by the pioneers engaged in the work.

Nathan Bostwick was married in 1S40 to Adaline A. Beardslee. They had seven children, all boys, as follows: Julius C, George F., Henry C, William W., Burr W., Harmon R., and John A. - all living but Julius C.

All the boys who were old eri^ough became soldiers. Julius C. enlisted first in the three months' service, in the Eighth Indiana regiment, and served out his time, then reenlisted for three years in a company his father was recruiting for the Tw^entieth Ohio regiment. He was in delicate health and died on the battlefield of Shiloh, of hemorrhage of the lungs, .April 9, 1862.

George F. (Fayette as he is better known), also enlisted in his fathers company in the Twentieth, and shared in the hardships, battles and glory of his company and regiment until the army reached Atlanta, where he was desperately wounded July 22, 1864, bv a canister shot through the thigh, and w'th his father, fell into the hands of the enemy, and was taken to Andersonville prison pen. He had before been a prisoner for a month, and had been exchanged at Vicksburgh, having been captured in a fight with Wheeler's cavalry, near Middleburgh, Tennessee. He made his escape from AndersonviUe in October, and hiding in swamps and bayous was pursues with bloodhounds, but finally secured a skiff and paddling down the Ocomulgee river, reached the Federal gun-boats in safety.

This young man suffered terribly from his wounds and prison life, a complete history of which would make an interesting volume; but he lived to see the end of the war, and to return home. He is now residing near Mt. Liberty, this county.

young, becamp .1 soldier enlisting in company A, Ninety-sixth regimenl, under Captain Mitchell of Mt. \'ernon. Joseph De\in a patriot- . -itizen of Mt. \'ernon had offered a prize of fiftv dollars to each of the first two men who should enroll their names in this regiment Henr^^ Bostwick and Henrv Hildretli were first to enli^l and received the money.

Henrv was with the regiment at the battle of .A.rkansas Post, followed its fortunes through the X'icksburgh campaign, but was taken sick during the operations at Vicksburgh, and brought home. He was unable to again enter the service and was discharged. He is now a merchant in Newark, Ohio, engaged in the jeweli^ trade.

William W. Bostwick was a mere boy when the war began, but before it closed he enlisted, at the age of sixteen, in the One Hundred and Forty-secono Ohio National guards, under Colonel Cooper, and was with it during its one hundred days of sen-ice in the rear of Grant's arm;-. William is also in the jewelry trade in Coshocton, Ohio,

Nathan Bostwick went into the army as recruiting officer October 18, 1861, at Columbus, Ohio, with the rank of second lieutenant; was attached to company G, Twentieth regiment, which was sent, with three other companies of the same regiment, to Warsaw, Kentucky, in January, 1862, where they settled some trouble between the Union men and rebels of that place.

Company G remained in Warsaw until in February, when it returned to Cincinnati, and soon after joined the expedition, against Fort Donelson, and was in the last day's battle at that place.

the battle. Captain John N. Cassil and Lieutenant Bostwick, with their company, were detailed as guard for rebel prisoners, and escorted eleven hundred of them to St. Louis, from which place, in company with a portion of company C, of the same regiment, they escorted all the officers captured at Fort Donelson to Camp Chase, at Columbus. Lieutenant Bostwick came home from this place, sick with typhoid fever, but his company went on to Boston with the field and staff of that capture.

Upon his recovery from his very severe illness, he rejoined his company at Bolivar, Tennessee, in June, 1862, and m September took command of company C, Twentieth regiment, with rank of first lieutenant. He continued in command of this company through the Vicksburgh campaign, the captain of company C having resigned. He was commissioned first lieutenant May 9, 1862, and was with Grant during all the o]ierations of the army for the capture of Vicksburgh; the first battle of that campaign in which the regiment was engaged being at Thompson's Hill, fought immediately after the battle of Grand Gulf. He was also in the battle of Raymond and that of Jackson immediately following it; also the battle of Champion Hill, where he received a sunstroke, from which he yet suffers. The siege of Vicksburgh lasted forty-seven days, during which he was on duty almost incessantly, day and night, fighting and working in the trenches. After the surrender the Twentieth remained in camp until Sherman marched to Meridian, Mississippi, in February, 1864.

Lieutenant Bostwick was promoted to captain, January 30, 1S64, and transferred to the command of Ins old company, G, accompanying Sherman to Meridian.

Captain Bostwick came home on veteran furlough. The furlough having expired, the regiment rendezvoused at Cairo, Illinois, going thence by boat up .he Tennessee river to Clifton, Tennessee, where it landed and marched over the Sand mountains, a distance of three hundred miles, joining Sherman at .Ackworth, Georgia, shortly after engaging in the siege and battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Captain Bostwick was in the charge made by his division at this place.

The next desperate battle m which he was engaged was that before Atlanta, July 22, 1864, -where his division, under General Leggett, surrounded by Hood's forces was attacked in front and rear, and engaged in some of the hardest fighting of the war. Captain Bostwick says their division moved across their breastworks five times during the day, fighting first on one side then on the other. He was wounded twice in this action - with a sHver from a ball in the left eye, and a piece of shell in the left knee - and fell into the hands of the enemy. The brigade lost about half of its number in this bloody battle, in which it was frequently engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict.

After his capture Captain Bostwick was robbed of two hundred and thirty dollars in money, and most of his outer clothing, except his boots, which, being a fine, heavy pair, he refused to give up except with his life, and when a rebel captain approached for the purpose of taking them, he received such a kick in a vital part as sent him several feet distant, and nearly ended his life. Captain Bostwick expected to be riddled with rebel bullets for this act, as the guards were all around him, but, j probably from admiration of his pluck, they did not molest him. The rebel officer, however, after regaining his breath and his feet, again approached him the intention, no doubt, of running him through with his sabre, but just before attempting the cowardly act, he discovered a small Masonic emblem attached to the captain's waistcoat. This stopped him, and turning to the guards he ordered them to take the belliger-

! Carolina, and placed in prison. He was again taken sick and remained for some time in the hospital, being treated by Dr. Todd, a rebel and brother of Mrs. Lincoln. From there he was taken to Columbia, South Carolina, October 6, 1864. Here ha

I was outrageously treated, being sick with chills and fever and compelled to lie on the ground, without slielter or medical attention for three weeks, and came near dying, being reduced to a skeleton. He was then put into a tent hospital, and treated by a doctor named LaGrone, a Frenchman, from whom he received much attention. December i, 1864, he made his escape in company with Captain McFadden, of the Fifty-seventh New York, and H. C. Payne, a sergeant of the Twentieth Illinois. They travelled twenty-seven nights through the smoky mountains of North Carolina, travelling only in the dead of night, aided, fed, and piloted on their way by the negroes, and reached our lines at Knoxville, Tennessee, December 27, 1864. Here he reported to General Carter, provost marshal at that place, who ordered clothing for the starved and ragged prisoners, forwarding them to Chattanooga, and thence to Nashville. After being ordered to various places Captain Bostwick obtained a leave of absence and came home, remaining, however, only a short time when he went by way of New York to join Sherman, and then on the march through the Carolinas.

olina. After Lee's surrender he asked permission of liis brigade commander, General R. K. Scott, afterward governor of South Carolina, to resign, believing the war over, and his health being poor he wished to return home. His resignation bemg accepted he went to Washington, settled with the Government, and was there at the time of the assassination of President Lincoln, after which he came home to his farm in Knox county.

He subsequently sold his farm and spent some time travelling in the west; living a short time near Fredericktown, Ohio, Charleston, Illinois, and Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

This brief biography, merely touches upon the military life of this gallant soldier. The story of his capture, prison life, sufferings, and subsequent escape, would make a very readable volume of many pages, and would verify the fact that ' ' truth is stranger than fiction." He tells of his continual but many times unsuccessful efforts to escape; of sickness, exposure, hunger, and the horrors of prison life; of his escape in a strange manner with two confederates; of their hiding in the swamps and mountains; of exposure and starvation; of being tracked bv bloodhounds who came suddenly upon them in a darke gorge in the mountains, compelling them to fight for their lives, which they did, and came off victorious; of capturing a rebel picket that was in their way, killing one man and takmg two others prisoners; of continual hairbreadth escapes, and incessant danger, and above all, of the faithfulness of the blacks, who never once betrayed them, but fed and guided them on their way at the peril of their own lives.

People scarcely realize that they have in their midst living, walking heroes, before whose deeds of daring and suffering the most intricate combinations of fiction pale and become commonplace.

CONDON, DAVID W., shoe merchant, was born in Maryland, Frederick county, in 1831. He came to Ohio in 1851, and was married May 8, 1862, to Melinda J. Royce, granddaughter of Amos H. Royce. She was born in Berlin township, this county. They have three children: Frank R. was born April 17, 1863; Jennie M., November 10, 1865, and Mary E., June 18, 1873.

Mr. Condon learned the shoe trade with his father in Maryland, and has always been engaged in that business. He is a member of the firm of D. W. Condon & Co., leading shoe merchants of this city. Mr. Condon was a soldier m the late war. He first enlisted April, i86r, under Captain H. B. Banning. They went to camp Jackson. They elected Professor Andrews (of Kenyon college) colonel. Whei. they came to organize their company they had too many men, consequently Mr. Condon was relieved. He enlisted in the spring of 1864; was amember of company H, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio National guards, under Captain Cochran and Colonel W. C. Cooper; he served four months and was honorably discharged. Mr. Condon has always been identified with the RepuLlican party, and is one of the loyal men of Fredericktown.

DONAHEY, P. N., was born June 4, 1843, in Jackson township, Knox county, Ohio. He was married to Sophia M. Houck, August 31, 1869. They have had two children, viz: Willie J. and Lotta. Willie J. was born May 15, 1870; Lotta was bom May 31, 1878. Mr. Donahey is engaged in the grocery business at Bladensburgh.

HOLLIBAUGH, JOHN F., shoe merchant. He was bom in Richland county, Ohio, December 7, 1832; he was married November 8, 1857, to Louisa M. Hughes, who was born September 6, 1837 in Beriin township in this county. They have seven children: Lee Porter born August 31, 1858; Delphene, February 17, i860. Flora Alice, March 14, 1864; Estella Lute, December, 16, 1866 ; Frederick Roston, July 16, 1871; Wilbert Alton, June 5, 1874; Ethel, November 11, 1878. Mr. HoUibaugh learned the shoe trade in Fredericktown, and has been engaged at that business since; he is a member of the firm of D. W. Condon & Co., leading shoe merchants of this city, and has been identified with the business interests in this place for some years. Mr. HoUibaugh was a soldier in tlie late war; he enlisted in the spring of 1864. He was a member of company H, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio National guard under Captain Cochran and Colonel W. C. Cooper. He served out the time of his enlistment, and was honorably discharged.

HORN, ABRAHAM, was born January 2, 1813, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was married March 16, 1837, to Miss Rebecca Staats, who was born January 28, i8i8, in Butler township. They have had ten children, viz: Catharine, Jacob, Louisa, Joseph S., Maria, Mary M., Magdalena, Selonia Alice, Rebecca Jane, William Osborn, Benjamin Franklin; all living except Joseph S. and Benjamin Franklin. Joseph S. was wounded at Big Shanty, Georgia, June 22, 1864, and died the following day. Benjamin F. died September 30, 1862; Catharine married William J. Withrow, April 22, i860; Jacob was married to Isabella Withrow, June 22, 1861; Louisa was married to Jacob Delong January 15, 1863; Maria to Robert B. Giffen, June 21, 1869; Mary M. to Reason Lovett, February 7, 1869; Rebecca J. to Benjamin Ross, October 6, 1872; Jacob, married (second wife) Lydia Hall, September 23, 1873; W. O. to Alvila Bailey, November 2, 1878. Mr. Horn is owner of two hundred and ten acres of good farming land in Butler township, and three hundred and fifty acres in Jefferson township.

HORN, MARTIN C, deceased, was one of the wealthiest farmers of Clay township, owning about five hundred and thirty-seven acres of good tillable land at his decease. He was a native of Knox county, was born April 9, 1823, and married to Jane Crumrine November 11, 1847; six childien being born unto them; three, Laura, Lennie, and Emma, are living. Mr. Horn was a highly respected citizen, very ambitious and industrious, and was census enumerator for the present census. He died at his home, near Martinsburgh, July 25, 1880.

HYATT, R., farmer. Liberty township. He was born in Liberty township, September 11, 1848, and is the son of Mescheck and Elizabeth Hyatt. He spent his youth on a farm, and has followed farming as his vocation. He spent lour years in the Western States. He married Elizabeth Ann Bryan, November 19, 1871. They have one child, named Maggie A.

JOHNSTON, SAMUEL K., deceased. He was born in Morris township in 1820; was married to Susan A. White, who was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1825, and came to Ohio in 1825. They had five children - Williard W., Mary E., Edwin F., Charles C, and Lee R.

Marth was born in Holmes county in 1840 Nixon. The have three children^Luella J., Maggie K. They reside in Johnson county, Indiana. Maggie Knight is married to William Hall. Henry D. Nixon has deceased.

Mr. John Knight died in Wayne count --. »bruary 2, WALTER, GEORGE A., salesman, was born in township, Knox county, in 1842, and he was married in Mary L. Smith, who was born in Fredericktown in 1851 have one son - Carleton C - who was .born March 14, 1872, in Mt. Vernon.

Mr. Walter learned the carpenter trade in Mt. \'ernon, and continued to work at it until 1872, when he engaged in the butchering business with S. Kirby, and afterwards with M. P. Minteer. In i38o he engaged with Braddock & Hurst as clerk and salesman, and is one of the active ind enterprising men of this town. He was a soldier in the late v,ar. His father, Samuel Walter, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1809; came to Ohio in 1836; married Mary Aim Clay, born in the same county in i3i8. They had eigiit children - Jesse, deceased; George A., John W., Martha J., Mary E., Charles R., Orpha, deceased, and Sarah G.

George Smith, father of Mrs. George Walters, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1824; was married to Abigail Tirrill, who was born in New Hampshire in 1826. They two children - Mary and Ophelia.

ALVERSON, THOM.AS, farmer, deceased, Middlebury township, was born March 19, 1807, in the towA of Guilford, Windham county, Vermont. His early ancestors were from Holland, and later in affinity with the English. In early childhood he was taken to Moriah, Essex county, New York. His widowed mother being poor he was obliged to live with other families. By hard labor and stnct economy he secured sixty acres of land, which he improved, and on which he built suitable buildings. He was baptized by immersion in Lake Champlain. In his conviction of duty he had a very remarkable dream, in which he saw the Savior, with outstretched arms, standing in the sun.

Mr. Alverson was manied to' Miss Lucinda Doolittle. They moved on the farm he had formerly purchased, and remained there until the fall of 1837, and then moved to western New York, near Middleport, and remained there until the fall of 1839, w^hen they moved near Medina, Michigan, to his brother, Oliver Alverson, and m the month of February, 1840, he emigrated to Ohio and settled near the Quaker brick meetinghouse, known as the Owl Creek settlement. In 1845 he purchased one hundred acres of land on the ridge, four and a half miles northwest of Fredericktown,- in Middlebury township. Here his property increased to over six thousand dollars in adhad ifacdition to his real estate, which he loaned out. He had seven children, all of whom are living except the youngest - James T., born March i, 1834; Sophia, November 4, 1836, and married to J. N. Talmage, living near Chesterville, Morrow county. Ohio; Emma, October 3, 1838, married to Miller' Mendenhall, now lives in Green Vally, Knox county; Sarah, November 14, 1839, married to John Disman, now living in Lima, Allen county, Ohio; Byram, Janu.iry 19, 1843, now a residetit near Lone Star post office. Gentry county, Missouri; Louisa, May 3, 1844, now Mrs. William Schroeder, of Kno.x conntv, Ohio; and John P., May 4, 1849, died in infancy.

Thomas Alverson became a strong Abolitionist, voting for the first candidate for tiie Presidency nominated by the .Aboli. tion party - James G. Birney.

Mr. Alverson was powerful in his reasonings and arguments in f.ivor of freedom and equal rights to all. He afterwards acted with the Republican party.

In September, 1866, during a season of tent-meetings at Fredericktown, Ohio, held by Elders \'anhorn and Lawrence, he embraced the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists, and became an ardent advotate of its faith, giving liberally to itg institutions and missionary work. The subjects "Man's Nature and Destiny," "The Bible," "Seventh-day Sabhath," and the "Soon Coming of Christ," were his hapjw themes of conversation and work.

The last year of his life was the happiest, during which time he visited relatives and friends in the east - \'erraont, Boston^ Massachusetts, and the Round Lake camp meeting in Maine, and then to his brother, Samuel H. Russell, of Crownpoint Essex county, New York, where he died September 11, 1878, at the age of seventy-one years, five months and twenty-two days. He leaves nineteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Mrs. Lucinda Alverson died December 28, 1864, and was buried in the Salem cemetery.

James T. Alverson, post office, Fredericktown, Ohio, born in Essex county. New York, came to Knox county, with his parents in childhood. Tlirough industry, in teaching and laboring, he accumulated means to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of western land. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for a time a faithful worker. He was married August r, 1861, to Miss Rebecca Price, daughter of John and Barbara Price, of Morrow county, Ohio. She was an amiable and Christian lady. After their marriage they purcliased nearly seventy acres of land in Morrow county, still retaining the one hundred and sixty acres of western land. Her useful life ended November 25, 1864, and her remains were interred in Bloomfield cemetery, near Sparta, jWbrrow county, Ohio. J. T. Alverson is left with one daughter, Luella J., now Mrs. Olmstead, and one son, James T., jr.

In early life Mr. Alverson was a Methodist in faith, but by reading and investigating the Bible he changed his religious views June 23, 1877. He kept the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, endorsing fully the Bible doctrines of man's nature and destiny, the seventh day Sabbath as in the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ and his soon coming at the completion of his work as priest of the heavenly sanctuary; then the gathering home of all the saints, both dead and living, in the first resurrection; and finally, after the resurrection and destruction of all the wicked, enjoying the Sabbath with the redeemed in Christ in the earth made new. So August 27, 1877, he took a letter from the Methodist Episcopal church, being in good standing.

FIDLER, THOMAS, retired, post office. Fredericktown, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1804. His parents emigrated to Belmont county, Ohio, when he was a child. He came to this county in 1824, and was married to Rebecca Shuman. They had one daughter, Arniinda; she married John Ewers, and is now dead. Mrs. Fidler died in Richland county.

Mr. Fidler was married(the second time) to Jane Dehart, who was torn in New Jersey. Their children are: Marinda, now Mrs. J.imcs, a resident of Morrow county; Emily, deceased; Mary, deceased; Louis, deceased; Samuel A., deceased; Henry, married Mary Smith; he died in 1877; Anna, deceased; Deliah J., now Mrs. Wertz; Hannah L., now Mrs. Burson; they reside in Morrow county. Mrs. Jane Fidler died in 1872.

Mr. Fidler is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Wertz. He has been a successful farmer, and has accumulated considerable wealth, and has a competency for old age. Uncle Tom, as he is familiarly called, is one of the best citizens of Middicbury township.

LEWIS, JOHN and HANNAH came to Ohio from New Jersey, in the year 1805, stopping lor a short time at Mt. Vernon, where there were two or three log cabins. They remained there only a few days, and following the trail of the Sandusky Indians on horseback for about ten miles in a northwest direction, they located in the wilderness on Owl creek, near what is now the village of Luzeme, in Wayne township, where they resided during the rest of their lives. Soon after selecting this place as their future home, they put up a cabin-, fourteen feet square, of Buckeye logs, which was their residence for a number of years, and until they had aid enough to erect a house of heavy logs, about thirty feet square, which remained standing for a number of years. This building was used regularly for religious purposes, there being no church at the time in that part of the country. During the War of 1812, there was a fort, also a blockhouse, adjoining and communicating with this residence, and when these early settlers were threatened with danger, they would .gather hurriedly together at this fort for protection. Ihere we;-e but few settlers in that part of the country prior to and during the war, and for some time Mr. Lewis' nearest neighbors resided at Mt. Vernon, and the nearest store and mill were located a: Zanesville. The trail of the Sandusky Indians, used in going to and from Mt. Vernon and Zanesville, was within one hundred yards of his house, and his family was very frequently honored with their calls, which were usually friendly. These Indians would frequently have access to whiskey when meeting with white traders, and, when intoxicated, were sometimes troublescme customers. These early settlers had but little knowledge of the lu.xuries and comforts of modem homes. They owned a Bible, which was in many c^ses their only printed book, and constituted their only reading. A long rifle with a flint lock, a rude bed and 'a puncheon table, and but little more. Tea, coffee, sugar and flour were lu.xuries to be seldom indulged in. Their corn was pounded in a wooden mortar with a pestle, the finest part being used for bread and the coarsest for hominy. Their me;tt was mostly wild game, of which there was a great plenty. Mr. Lewis had some singular and exciting experiences and adventures with the wild animals that infested the then unbroken forest. Wolf scalps were a legal tender, and were received in payment of taxes, and he, v.ith ihe assistance of Mr. James Bryant, who came into Ohio soon after, killed fifty-three wolves in one winter. One of the traps used by him is still in the possession of the family.

Live stock had to be protected from these wild animals. One night Mr. Lewis was awakened by some strange noises made by his pigs in the pen, and, taking his rifle, he proceeded to ascertain the cause. Seeing some object moving about, he fired at it, and the next morning, on going to the place, found a black bear lying dead.

About the year 1820, Rev. Henry George, a Welsh Baptist missionar)', came from the east and located in this neighborhood, and was the first ordained minister to conduct religious services in that part of the State. His first sermon was from the text, Isaiah 63: i. After he had labored a number of years, a little congregation was collected together, and a church was organized. They erected a log building that had neither stove nor fireplace, on the spot where now stands what is known as the Wayne Baptist church. At the dedication of this log church Mr. George preached from Psalm 122: i.

The first school building in this neighborhood was erected a little way east of Mr. Lewis' residence, was made of logs, and, having no glass, the windows were made of greased paper. Mr. Lewis raised nine children, three sons arid six daughters. There are j-et four living: William Lewis, near Waterford, in Knox county; Mitchel Lewis, near Morrison, Illinois; Mary Jackson, near Gallion, Ohio; and Jane Bonar, who lives in BeilviUe.

PHILO, GEORGE J., farmer, post office, Mt. Vernon, born in England in 1834, emigrated to America in 1854. and located in Knox county. In 1856 he was married to Christina Haines, who was born in Muskingum county in 1840. They have five children living: Jesse E., >J-c- E., John H. Charles M., Agnes I.

Mr. Philo owns one of the best fanfs in Morris township, and is making a success of farming. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church at Mt. Vernon.

RINEH.^RT, GEORGE, dealer in furniture. He was bora in Morris township, this county; he was married to Hannah Jane Stinemetz, v/ho was born in Mt. Vernon. They have four children : Ada A. . Mary, Samuel, and Gracie.

He learned the cabinet-makers' trade, and has been engaged in that business over twenty years, also connected with fiimiture and undertaking; he is doing a good business.

NEFF PETROLEUM COMPANY. Mention has been made in the geological chapter of this work of the Neff Petroleum company, whose operations are so extensive in the Kokosing valley in the eastern part of this county and extending into Coshocton county.

The work of this company, of which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambler, is the heart and soul, is continually extending and has assumed much greater proportions than the people of the county are generally aware. Already Mr. Neff has expended more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in this region, and still the work goes on with increasing interest.

Last spring (1880) Mr. Neff sunk " Laurel Well" (No. 9) to the depth of one thousand and five feet, passing through the regular succession of sub-strata. Its og varies but little from the general developments in other oil regions. It is a gas well.

Personally, Mr. Neff is, and has always been, much interested in the study of geology and archaeology, and in the development and preservation or utilization of whatever is found under the earth's surface. In accordance with this feeling he has all his life been collecting archaeological specimens, and at present has in his home at Gambier one of the most complete and extensive collections of this character in the country, the larger part of which has been gathered from the fruitful fields of Knox and adjoining counties. His "Sandstone Image," supposed to have been the work of the Mound Builders, is a rare relic, and is highly important as showing some sort of connection between this mysterious people and the Hindoos - the features of the image being of an unmistakable Hindoo type, or certainly much resembling the images left by that people.

He has many other rare and valuable specimens, and is continually on the lookout for others, his means enabling him to indulge his taste in this important branch of science.

Chemistry

The following is interesting in connection with the production of "Diamond Black" in which Mr. Neff is so largely engaged; "NOTES OF WORK BY STUDENTS OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY

This materia] is described in the following passage from my portion ot the "Report of the Judges on the Philadelphia E.-chibition of 1876" (Group III Chemical Manufactures); "One of the more interesting among the minor American exhibits consists of the fine lamp-black which has for about two years past been made at Ganibier, Ohio, by imperfect combustion of ihe natural gas which occurs throughout the petroleum region, and which frequently escapes in such quantity from borings, yielding little or no mineral oil, as to give rise to the term 'gasweU.' There are two such wells in Knox county, Ohio, near the junction ot the Kokosing and Mohican rivers, affording very large quantities of hydrocarbon gas, which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambier, has utilized in the manufacture of lampblack, which he calls 'Diamond Black.' He has patented, and uses several kinds of apparatus for burning the gas [of wlilch two are described and figured in the Report]. In the building used, 1,800 burners are at work, consuming about 275.000 cubic feet of gas per twenty-four hours, being about one-founh of the available supply. The composition of the gas by volume is given as - loo.o 'No mention is made of free hydrogen, though from the experiments of Professor Sadtler on samples of natural gas from Western Pennsylvania, it probably is present in small quantity. The 'amp-black is at present manufactured to the extent of about sixteen tons per annum. It is very fine and smooth. Iree from coarse or gritty particles, and of an intense blue-black color. The absence of oily matter is very strikingly shown by mixing it with water. Although from the large amount of air in the mass of loose powder most of it floats at first upon the surface, stirring soon mixes it in large quantity with the water, rendering the whole black and opaque; in its behavior it contrasts strongly with the common lamp-black. It does not color ether, and the liquid, when evaporated, leaves but a trace of residue, while ordinary iamp-black, presumably from rosin, gives a deep yellow solution, leaving an orange-brown tar en evaporation. On burning a quantity of the diamond-b'.ack sufficient to fill a large plantinum dish, a barely visible trace of ferruginous ash was left, derived, no doubt, from the scraping of the metallic surfaces (on which the material was deposited and collected). This material is sold to makers of fine printing and lithographic inks in^be United States, and has been sent in small quantity to Europe. It deserves to become more widely known."

I have used this lamp-black for a number of laboratory purposes requiring an artificial form of carbon of very high degree of purity. Mr. Santos has analyzed it, with the foUowmg results:

"Sp. gr. at 17° C, aftercomplete expulsion of air, equals 1.729. The air-dried lamp-black lost by exposure at ordinary temperature over sulphuric acid 2.30 per cent of moisture, and a further loss of 0.40 per cent was experienced by heating to 100° C. Continued halting to 200° and then to 300° under atmospheric pressure gave rise to no further loss, but a minute amount of water was expelled by subsequently heating in a Sprenge' vacuum.

There was also expelled, and condensed on the cooler part of the tube, 0.024 of a solid light yellow hydrocarbon, soluble in alcohol, fusible, and volatilizing rapidly under atmospheric pressure between 215° and 225" C. (impure napthalene?)

' See similar results obtained by Wright and Luff for carbjri p.-epared from .sugar and from carbon mono.\ide. - Chcxt. Soc. yi>.v»7:., January, 187S, vp. 18 to 20.

Source changes here: from History Knox County, Ohio, by N. N. Hill., Jr, published 1881; 12,429 words in this source stream.

Of The Indian Horse Thieves By Hughes And Ratliff Justices Of The Peace

Joaquin Miller

Ordered, That the following bounds be laid off into a separate township, to-wit: Beginning at west boundary line of said county between the fifth and seventh township line, and running east to the west of the thirteenth range line, thence north to the centre of the seventh township line; thence on the east to the

Ordered, That all that part of Knox county lying north of Wayne township be attached to the said Wayne township, and henceforth be considered a part of the same.

Ordered, That the boundaries of Wayne township shall be altered, and that in future the following shall be the boundaries, and recorded as such: Beginning at the southeast corner of township number seven, range number fourteen, and running to the southwest corner of the same; thence due north to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on said boundary so far that a line running due south would strike the old boundary line where the line between the thirteenth and fourteenth range in the old purchase strikes the old boundary; thence to run south on the last described south line to the place of beginning.

Ordered, That the east boundary line of Wayne township be altered as follows, to-wit: The alterations to begin at the northwest corner of Ellicott's section in the eighth township and thirteenth range, and running east to the southeast corner of lot number eleven; thence north so as to strike the centre of section number four, township number eighteen; thence north to the county line, which line shall henceforth be the division line of said township.

In 1830 it listed sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty-eight acres of land for taxation, and contained one thousand and forty-eight inhabitants. In 1850 it contained one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four inhabitants, in 1860, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine; in 1870, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, and in 1880, one thousand six hundred and eighteen.

The above quotations from the journal of the commissioners are unintelligible to the general reader, owing in part to the fact that the whole of Richland county, which included parts of the present Ashland and Crawford counties, was at first a part of Knox, as was also a part of the present Morrow county. Wayne was named in honor of ''Mad Anthony" Wayhe, the hero of Stony Point and Fallen Timbers, and at one time embraced within its limits the present townships of Franklin and Chester, in Morrow county, and Middlebury, Berlin, Wayne, and the north half of Morris townships in this county. Reductions were made from time to time, and it reached its present dimensions in 1825, as stated in the commissioner's report.

Topographically considered, the township, at the present day, presents a beautiful appearance, every acre of its soil, except the timber land, being under a high state of cultivation. It is well watered, the surface gently rolling, and possesses uncommon attractions to the agriculturalist and the seeker after a prosperous and happy home.

In its primitive condition it was densely timbered with all varieties of hard wood - beech, oak, hickory, ash, sugar, black walnut, and other varieties, the beech, perhaps, predominating. Possibly one or two little patches of prairie appeared on the Owl creek bottom, whether cleared of timber by Indians or white men, or whether natural _prainies will probably remain unknown. The south branch of Owl creek passes across the township near its centre, from west to east, and this, with its numerous branches, waters the northern and central portions, while the pretty and historical little stream called Granny's creek, with its tributaries, waters the southern portion. Many mills were, in an early day, erected along these two streams, and around these mills clustered a large amount of fact and romance that might profitably enter into these pages could it be gathered and truthfully presented.

Centuries before any white man set toot on its soil, possibly before any white man had an existence in the now known world, this same _ territory of Wayne township was inhabited, perhaps densely populated, by that "lost race" known as the Mound Builders. Where they came from, who they were, and what became of them, are questions as yet unanswered - problems yet unsolved and probably unsolvable.

So far as known none of their works now exist in this township, with the single exception of one in the woods, not well preserved, in the southern part; but when the first settlers came a very perfect work existed within the present limits of the town of Fredericktown. The older inhabitants of this place yet remember this work. Its location was upon the highest point of the hill, upon which the town stands, directly in Sandusky street, a little east of the public square. The entire work covered perhaps an acre of ground, and included a portion of the lots upon which the present Methodist and Baptist churches stand, and also contiguous lots. In the grading of the street and building of the houses, the work has entirely disappeared. The embankment was in a circular form, gateway opening toward the east. A mound was within this enclosure, and in size was thirty or forty feet in diameter at the base and seven or eight feet in height at the date of the first settlement. The soil here 1s somewhat sandy and loose, and favorable to the erection of these works. The Mound Builders seemed to have a preference for sandy, loamy soil, and seldom erected their works upon other soil. From the summit of this mound an extensive view could be had of the valley of the Owl creek, several miles to the southward, and across the valley to the hills some distance eastward. Some three or four other mounds, located in Morris and Berlin townships, were evidently connected with this one, and would be in view were the timber cleared away, a condition of things probably existing when the Mound Builders occupied the territory.

It is not unlikely that many other works of this mysterious people existed in this vicinity, but all have disappeared, except those mentioned. What could be expected to survive the ravages of a thou sand years or more? The wonder is that any trace of this people remain.

The next race to occupy the soil of this township, so far as known, was the red Indian; a race almost as mysterious as the Mound Builders. They have no written history and even tradition is silent as to their origin. Several such races might have inhabited this territory and passed away, leaving no trace 'of existence, as the Indian: will leave no permanent footprint behind when he is gone; and were it not for the little history of him preserved by the white race, coming peoples, who may occupy this territory in the coming centuries, would not know of his existence. This race was here, however, when the white race came to drive him out and subdue the wilderness. Probably many permanent Indian camps were located along Owl creek and its wild and pretty tributaries; but about the time of the first white occupation no permanent Indian camp existed within the limits of Wayne township. 'Temporary camps for hunting purposes existed along Owl creek, and occasionally an Indian hunter and his family occupied a lone wigwam in the depths of the forest, where he fished, hunted, and lounged away his life in happy ignorance - like the beasts of the field, of whom Joaquin Miller thus sings:

It was probably within the limits of this township that the Indian horse-theives were killed, by Hughes and Ratliff from the Licking valley, in Licking county. They were overtaken and killed in the bottom, just south of Fredericktown - probably on the south branch of Owl creek. The facts are that in 1801, a party of Indians stole some horses from a little enclosure near the cabins of Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, who, in 1798, had located on the Bowling green about four miles below the present city of Newark, on Licking river. Hughes and Ratliff were the first settlers of Licking county, were related, the latter being a nephew of the former, and lived near each other with their families on a beautiful natural prairie. At the time the horses were stolen, a Mr. Bland, who lived further down, at the mouth of the Licking, was a visitor at Hughes' cabin, and his horse was among the number stolen. In the morning, finding the horses gone, these three men started in pursuit, following the trail of the savages, gaining rapidly upon them, and overtaking them on Owl creek, at the place mentioned. They came upon their camp at daybreak in the morning, shot the Indians, recovered their horses, and returned unmolested to their cabins on the Licking. It is said that Bland and Rat-.

liff relented when they saw they had the Indians in their power, and were in favor of taking the horses and letting the Indian thieves go; but Elias Hughes was not that kind of a man; he was an old Indian fighter and hater, and he expressed his views in such emphatic language that the others gave up to his way of thinking and the Indians were killed.

Elias Hughes was a well known pioneer of Licking county, and died near Utica, Ohio, in December, 1844, at the age of ninety years or thereabouts. His son, Jonathan, is yet living in Utica at an advanced age.

'The information comes from William' Mefford, an old citizen of this township, that when he was clearing off the ground on which to erect his house, on Mile run, he plowed up the remains of the two Indians killed by these pioneers; also a rusty gunbarrel, brass guard, and other pieces of a gun, which had not decayed. This was in 1835, and these relics were placed in the hands of Jacob Mitchell. George Conkie gathered up the bones and reburied them, and the house was built on the spot. It is the old Peck place on Mile run bottom, where Mrs. Acre has since lived.

In early days there was a favorite camping ground about three-fourths of a mile from where these Indians were killed. Large parties camped here for the purpose of hunting. They were the Delawares and Wyandots from the Sandusky plains, as well as the Greentown and Jerometown Indians, under Chiefs Armstrong and Captain Pipe, who were often seen in this vicinity.

Indians remained in this vicinity until the War of 1812, when they generally disappeared, never to return. 'The bear, deer and wolf rapidly followed the retreating savages, and upon their heels came the all-conquering white race.

The first settler in this township was the first permanent settler within the present limits of Knox county. His name was Nathaniel Mitchell Young. Andrew Craig, who was in the territory embraced within the county limits several years before Mr. Young, can hardly be called a settler at all. He was not a permanent resident, he did not purchase or enter land; he was a sort of reneyade, living among the Indians, and shortly after the whites began a settlement he went away to Greentown, where a small tribe of Indians were encamped .unthat of every other pioneer settlement.

der Chief Armstrong. It was within the present limits of Ashland county. Mr. Young may, therefore, be called the first settler of Knox county. He was from New Jersey, and wandered up into the this wilderness in the spring of 1805. He wasa hardy, adventurous fellow, and a sort of blacksmith. He probably came by way of Zanesville and Newark, the latter place having been laid out the year before, after leaving which he found no further white settlers, until he reached the cabin of Craig on Owl creek. Why he continued on up Owl creek to the spot where he ever afterward lived, is not certainly known, but it is probable that he had a land warrant in his pocket, was hunting for, and found up here, the land it called for. It must be remembered that this belonged to the United States military lands, and was consequently first settled, either by Revolutionary soldiers or their heirs, with land warrants. The "axe maker," as the Indians soon named him, had probably one of these warrants, and he located upon his land on the south branch of Owl creek in the western part of this township, five to six miles a little south of west of the present town of Fredericktown. From the fact that several of his kinsmen soon followed him and settled around him, this came to be known far and wide as the' "Jersey settlement," and one of the most important settlements in the county.

Mr. Young erected a little log pen for a shelter, and as Indians visited him often, he soon began to employ his leisure time, between hunts, having a few tools with him, in repairing the knives, tomahawks and guns of his red neighbors; hence the sobriquet of ''axe maker," which for more than half a century afterward clung to him. He was soon followed by Jacob Young, Abraham and Simeon Lyon, and not long afterward by Eliphalet and John Lewis, and James Bryant - all from New Jersey. -. ;

In the winter of 1805-6 this settlement entered into a written agreement among themselves to give nine bushels of corn for each wolf scalp that might be taken; and during the winter some of them did a flourishing business catching wolves, three of them securing forty-one in steel traps and pens.

hunted the game in the forest and fished from the stream at their leisure; erected mills; tried to build a town; lived to see such changes as they never dreamed of, and passed away; most, if not all are dead, but their descendants and others occupy the farms staked out by them in the wilderness. These lands are probably unexcelled for productiveness. James Bryant was followed by several others of the same name, who settled in the vicinity. James was a strict, steady man, with a "Sunday-go-tomeeting" face, and because his neighbors to the west of him did not walk as near to his way as he thought they should, he called the place Sodom, a name it has ever since borne. |

In 1806 a party of Quakers came from Maryland and settled on Owl creek, though the first who came, William Y. Farquhar, and his cousin, Henry Roberts, probably first settled within the present limits of Morris township. These were soon followed by William W. Farquhar and family, and in 1807 by Samuel Wilson and John Kerr, all Quakers, the two latter making, probably, the second settlement within the limits of this township, upon the site of Fredericktown. These good people, by their sobriety, industry, and honesty, placed some of the best material in the foundation of the present structure of society in this township. They composed the first settlement of Friends in this part of the country. Amariah Watson was also a settler in this township, near the site of Fredericktown, in 1806. His place was subsequently sold to Jacob Ebersole.

The next settlement made in this township, as before stated, was in 1807, on the site of Fredericktown, by Kerr and Wilson. The former began immediately the erection of a grist-mill upon the site of a mill yet standing near Fredericktown; he also laid out Fredericktown on the first quarter, seventh township, fourteenth range, United States military district, which, on the eleventh of November, 1807, he acknowledged in the presence of George Chambers, before William W. Farquhar. The history of this settlement will be followed up in the next chapter, on Fredericktown.

At the October election of 1808, the first regular vote was taken for State and county officers. The following is a copy of the poll-book of this township, one of the most populous in the county:

Poll-book of an election held in the township of Wayne, in the county of Knox, and State of Ohio, the eleventh day of October, 1808, at the house of Daniel and Abner Ayers, in the town ot Frederick. John Kerr, chairman, Nathaniel M. Young, John Cook, Henry Roberts, judges, and Jacob Young, William W. Farquhar, clerks of the election, were duly sworn as the law directs, previous to their entering on the duties of their respective offices.

Samuel Huntington had at the above election, for governor, a majority of twenty-three votes (all the votes that were cast); Jeremiah Morrow, for Congress, received twenty-one, and Philemon Beecher two.

Jacob Young

An examination of the above list of voters, will give a pretty fair idea of the number and names of the settlers in Wayne township in 1808, though Wayne township then occupied a large territory, affd only a portion of those named then lived within the present limits of this township. There was no opportunity then, and probably no inclination, to "bulldoze" the voters, stuff the ballot-boxes with tissue ballots, and miscount the ballots in favor of one party, as is done at this age of the Republic.

Roads were of primary importance to the first settlers of Wayne, as of many other townships not located on navigable streams. Preliminary steps

Holden presented to the legislature a petition from sundry inhabitants of Licking county; also a petition from sundry inhabitants of the counties of Licking, Knox, and Richland, setting forth their remote situation from water carriage, and the necessity of having good roads; that they have no road whereby they can receive letters, or any kind of intelligence, or any property from any part of the United States, or this State, except by chance or private conveyance, nearer than Newark or Zanesville, and praying for the establishment of a road from Newark, in Licking county; thence to Mt. Vernon, in Knox county; thence to Mansfield, in Richland county, and thence to the mouth of Huron river, Lake Erie," etc.

The petition for this road was granted, and in March of the same year a portion of the route was surveyed by William W. Farquhar, and the road opened that spring from Mt. Vernon to Fredericktown and thence to Joseph Denman's, by James Colville and Matthew Merritt. About the same time a road was opened through the influence of the Youngs and Bryants, from Douglass,' in the present township of Morris, near the forks of Owl creek, to the Jersey settlement on the South branch. These two roads gave the people an outlet for their produce, and communication with the outside world. It was not, however, until 1811, that the north and south road was finished through to the lake.

Mills were a most necessary thing in the early settlement. Before the erection of the Kerr mill at Fredericktown, the settlers were compelled to get along with hominy blocks, horse-mills, and other crude structures, occasionally, however, packing their grist to Ten Mile, beyond Mt. Vernon, where the first mill in the county was erected; or over on the Mohican, or down on the Licking river. There were but few settlers in this township when Kerr built his mill in 1807-8. Subsequently many mills were erected along Owl creek and its branches, both grist- and saw-mills, for this stream furnished plenty of water for milling purposes - much more in those days than at present. Several mills were erected on the South branch, in Wayne township, also on Granny's creek in the southern part of the township; the saw-mills were especially numerous. But the days of the old water saw-mills are gone forever, because they are no longer needed. Timber is getting scarce and the saw-mills are now confined to the cities and larger towns, except in unsettled portions of the State. Probably the second mill in this township was the Young mill in the Jersey settlement. It was a primitive affair at first, like all other early mills - a mere "'corn-cracker" - but improved as the years went by; has changed hands several times, and is yet doing business. It. is now a good-sized frame structure and owned by James Cunningham. A saw-mill was connected with it as long as there was sawing to be done.

The Lyons were early settlers in the vicinity of this Jersey settlement, and many of that name yet reside there. They were also, probably, from New Jersey. These go-ahead and enterprising Jerseymen, in addition to the grist-mill and several sawmills, which they erected at different times, attempted the building up of a town, which they called Lucerne. Daniel and Jabez Beers. owned the land and started this town about 1835 or 1840. John Beebe had previously located his saw-mill there, and established a factory for making windmills. . He sawed his own poplar lumber, from which the mills were made, and did, for some years, quite a business in that line. The Beers built a frame dwelling house and a woollen-mill, and for fifteen or twenty years, run a carding and fulling mill. These mills were very common in those days, but have long since disappeared. Messrs. Byrant & Leonard, probably fifty years ago, also erected a still on the creek near this place. Several dwellings were erected in this place, a blacksmith shop, a church, and for some years Conger & Lewis kept a small store. A post-office was first established at Young's mill, and afterward moved to the store in the village. Like so many other places, however, with bright prospects, it has almost disappeared. Four or five dwellings remain; the mills have generally disappeared, as has also the business of the place. In.1812, when the war with Great Britain broke out, and an Indian invasion threatened, these settlers erected a block-house for the protection of their families. John Lewis now owns the land upon which this stood. It was built' in a circular form, on a high bank above the creek, of logs set on end and standing fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, a stockade. It has long since dis-

A little town called Green Valley, located on Granny's creek in the southern part of the township, struggled some years for existence and finally died. It was started fifty years ago or more by a New Englander named Cromwell Newcomer, and was first called Newcomerstown. It is located in a beautiful and productive valley. Thirty or forty years ago a Union church was erected here. It was built mostly by the Methodists and Presbyterians, but is used by all denominations, as was intended by the projectors. Preaching is not regularly held in the church, but it is in frequent use by various religious societies. Prior to the erection of this church, services were frequently held in the Granny's creek school-house, where a Union Sunday-school was established and maintained with considerable regularity many years. A temperance society was also organized at this school-house in an early day, and the interest kept up many years, sowing seed that is no doubt yet bearing fruit.

There are six churches within the limits of the township; only two, however, besides the above, are located outside of Fredericktown. One of these called the Wayne Baptist church (Old School) is located on Owl creek in the Jersey settlement. It was probably organized as early as 1810, and is, therefore, one of the first in the township. The Lewises were, probably, the most influential in its establishment; William, John and Eliphalet and their wives being among the original members. A Mr. Ackerman, a Revolutionary soldier, was also among the first members. The first meetings of the organization were held in the cabins of the Lewis family. Their first church was erected about 1815. It was a frame building, for their saw-mill was in active operation; but it was never wholly finished. It had been the intention to put in a gallery, but this was never done, owing to the fact, in part, that it was sufficiently commodious to accommodate the scattered settlers without one. The seats were rude puncheon benches. It was used until 1837, when the present church was erected in its place. The present building is a neat white frame, with green shutters, comfortably seated and in size is, perhaps, twenty-six by forty feet. At present the membership is twenty or thirty. They

Another church, the Salem Methodist Episcopal, is located in the northwestern part of the township. The Jacksons, Lyons and Beers were probably influential in establishing this church. It was organized as early as 1830, or before. The original members were Daniel Lyons and wife, Daniel Beers and wife, Henry Wider and wife, James Beebe and wife, Mrs. Jeffers, Aaron Jackson, Mr. Young, and probably some others.

Their first meetings were held in a school-house, but about 1831 a church was erected. It is a two story frame, with gallery, about thirty-two by fortyfour feet in size, and is at present in a dilapidated condition. The congregation is preparing to erect a new one,

Among the early preachers here were Rus Goff, Pilcher and Bishop Hamlin. Rev. Allen Moffitt has charge at present. There are thirty or forty members, and a Sunday-school is maintained.

Chapter Lxvi

LocaTION - LUCAS SULLIVANT - JOHN KERR AND HIS MILL - LAYING OUT THE TOWN - FIRST CABIN AND FIRST BRICK HOUSE - THE QUAKERS - NAMES OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS - -THE AYERS- - APPEARANCE OF THE TOWN IN 1812 - GARRISON AND HIS STORE - NICHOLAS MCCARTY - THE BUSINESS AND WHEREABOUTS OF A FEW OF THE SETTLERS - CAPTAIN WILLIAMS - FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION - THE BLOCK-HOUSES AND INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THEM - '''UNCLE ABNER" AND HIS '' TAVERN'' - HOTELS OF FREDERICKTOWN - THE MILLS AROUND THE TOWN - PRODUCE DEALERS - BANKS - NEWSPAPERS - Mayors - A SUMMARY OF THE BUSINESS - SCHOOLS - CHURCHES.

EVEN miles from Mt. Vernon lies the pretty, quiet village of Fredericktown, situated on a bluff, on the west bank of the east fork of Owl creek. It is in the northeastern corner of Wayne township as at present defined, though when first brought into life, it was in the midst of a vast wilderness, and surveyor's lines were few and far apart. The foot of the Mound Builder had pressed the soil centuries before, and the red Indian had hunted through the silent forest for other intervening centuries, but the savage white man came at last, to destroy and build up, to sweep the ground of everything old, and build upon it a new civilization.

This particular military section of four thousand acres was purchased from the Government by Mr. Lucas Sullivant, of Franklinton, and it may be of interest to the good people of Fredericktown to know something of the man who first owned the land upon which their beautiful -village stands. Mr. Sullivant was born in Mecklenburgh county, Virginia, in 1765. He was well educated and adopted surveying as a profession, being employed jn Kentucky in that business in early life, and afterwards in Ohio. He was appointed deputy surveyor under Colonel Richard C. Anderson, a distinguished officer of the Revolution, and surveyor-general of the Virginia Military Land district, of which a large part was in this State. The surveying operations of Mr. Sullivant gave him an extensive knowledge of Ohio lands, and in 1797, having possessed himself of lands on the Scioto, he laid out the town of Franklinton, opposite the present city of Columbus. He married Sarah Starling, daughter of Colonel William Starling, of Kentucky, and settling at Franklinton, remained there until his death. His descendants are yet living in that neighborhood. He died August 8, 1823, aged fifty-eight years. Among his early acquirements of landed property was the Sullivant section in Wayne township, lying between the south and east forks of Owl creek. Mr. Sullivant early discovered the excellent facilities for a mill seat, afforded by the east fork of Owl creek, on his land, and with commendable liberality, and a view to the enhancement of the value of his property, gave John Kerr his choice of fifty out of four thousand acres of land, including the mill seat, if he would settle there and erect a mill. Accordingly in the fall ot 1807 My. Kerr constructed a dam, raised a little log building, and set one run of stone to grinding or "cracking" corn. This was the beginning of the future village. Very few settlers had then penetrated the wilderness to that point.

The Jersey settlement, with Nathaniel Mitchell Young at its head, had been in existence four years; there were a few settlers in the region further south, about Mt. Vernon and Clinton; but settlers were rapidly coming, the old Revolutionary heroes, with land warrants in their pockets, were seeking homes in the west, and Mr. Kerr knew that his mill would not be idle, and it never was idle; settlers came from far and near to patronize it. For several years afterwards it was the main reliance for those pioneers north of it, in Richland county.

Upon the fifty acres given Kerr, and near his mill he laid out the town of Frederick, November 11, 1807, and soon after, he purchased four hundred and fifty acres of land around it. William Y. Farquhar surveyed and platted the town, and erected the first cabin in it, giving it the name Frederick, in honor of his old home in Maryland. Mr. Farquhar afterward moved to Mt. Vernon, and became a prominent man in the county, holding many offices of trust and profit.

alluded to in the previous chapter. The original plat of the town was in the form of a parallelogram, the length being north and south, and greater by one square than the width. It extended from Mulberry street on the west to the present township line on the east, and from one square beyond Donation street on the north to Sixth street on the south, with an ample public square in the centre. Additions have since been made to the east and west; that on the east side extending into the present limits of Morristownship. 'Ihe streets were named First or Donation, Second, Third or Sandusky, Fourth, Vine alley, Chambers, State Road or Main, and Strawberry alley.

Mr. Kerr built his cabin upon the lot now occupied by Mr. Simons, the merchant; and upon this same lot Mr. Williams, who bought out Kerr in 1814, erected the first brick house in the village, and probably in the township. _

W. W. Farquhar, a brother of W. Y. Farquhar, and a cousin, Henry Roberts, were very early settlers in this neighborhood. They were Quakers, and with some others comprised the first settlement of that society in this county. W. W. Farquhar was justice of the peace in 1815 and 1818 in this township. He was subsequently a resident of Middlebury township, where some of his descendants yet reside.

Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown are found the names of Abner, Thomas, and David Ayers, John Milligan, Jeduthan Dodd, John and Jacob Cook, Jacob Haldeman, William and Isaac N. Richardson, Samuel Watson, John Wright, Charles McGowan, Thomas Durbin, Samuel Wilson, Thomas Townsend, John Walker, Willis Speakman, John Garrison, John Vennum, Nicholas McCarty, James Rigby, George Girty, Joshua Vennum, Samuel Wolf, Anson Brown, Absolom Thrift, Osgood Dustin, Celestial LeBlond, Amariah Watson, Mr. McCoy, Ebenezer Taylor, Jedediah Peck, John Williams, and Dr. John Byers.

The next family to locate within the town plat after Farquhar and Kerr, was that of Mrs. Ayers; her sons, David, Abner, and Thomas, soon becoming leading citizens. There were quite a number of Ayerses, and some of them subsequently moved further north, into the northern part of Richland county, where, in connection with Abraham Trux,

John Milligan and Jeduthan Dodd were from Ten Mile, Pennsylvania, and came shortly after the Ayerses to Fredericktown, with their relatives, John and Jacob Cook and Jacob Haldeman. In 1809 Rachel Richardson. purchased the little improvement of John Cook, and settled there with her family, consisting of William, Isaac N., Polly, and Nancy. The girls subsequently married Samuel Watson and John Wright.

In 1812 there were in the town nine log cabins and one frame building, and they were probably occupied by Willis Speakman, Rachel Richardson, John Garrison, W. Y. Farquhar, John Kerr, John Vennum, and the Ayerses.

Mr. Garrison opened the first store in 1812, and lived in the only frame house; it was situated where the Methodist church now stands. He led a somewhat migratory life; was a native of New Jersey; married near Philadelphia; moved to New York; thence to Knox county, where he sold goods several years; thence to Mansfield; from there to De. troit; then back again to Knox; thence to Chicago, Illinois; and when last heard from resided in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the ninety-first year of his age.

In July, 1817, Nicholas McCarty & Co. closed up their mercantile business and left their notes and accounts with Abner Ayres, esq., for settlement, and also a quantity of lake fish. The mother of Mr. McCarty died at Fredericktown; he moved to Indiana, and for many years drove a prosperous trade at the State capital. In 1853 he returned to Frederick on a mission of filial affection, and erected a monument at his mother's grave. In 1855 he paid the debt of nature, leaving a large family in prosperous circumstances. During his life he was a zealous Whig, and represented the capital district in the senate of Indiana, and was also the candidate of his party for governor of the State. He had the respect and confidence of all, and well deserved the title he bore - '' Honest Nic. McCarty."

James Rigby long and faithfully followed merchandising here. George Girty was another merchant, who left this section about 1815 for other parts. Joshua Vennum, the first house-joiner, built the first frame house in the village. None of his name survive in this county.

Mrs. Wolf kept the first boarding-house. She is dead long since. Her oldest son, Peter, lived ona farm near the Burkholder flat, which he sold to Henry B. Carter, who was a brothe, to Jacob Cook's wife, and moved to Knox county in 1810.

Samuel Wolf was a sterling man - lived in Richland, and served as sheriff. When the county went wild for Jackson he was an Adams man, and consequently ''done for politically." Her daughters have done well. Artemissa married lawyer May, of Mansfield; Eliza, as elsewhere related, Mr. Drennan, and Mary married and lived in the neighborhood of Lancaster. The first tavern was opened by Abner Ayres, and with a slight intermission during the war, when, for good and sufficient reasons, his brother Daniel took it; the same hotel was kept up more than forty years. ''Uncle Abner'' was not any ''great shakes"' in the way of dancing attendance on guests, but ''Aunt Amy"' did know how to have the culinary department carried on; and for making good brandy mince pies, and brandy peaches, she was unsurpassed by any of womankind since Eve eat the forbidden fruit. She knew just when, where, and how to apply the spirit to make it most palatable, as all of the generation, who feasted there during sleighing excursions, well know. They have both departed toa better land, leaving the record of a life spent in contributing to the happiness of their fellow-creatures. Abner served as captain in the War of 1812, as a justice of the peace fifteen years, and associate judge seven years, a county commissioner three years, and postmaster near forty years. He was as quiet, unassuming, and well disposed man as ever wore shoe-leather,

The first preaching was in the little school-house, hereafter mentioned as a fort, etc. In it ministers of various denominations held forth at stated times. About 1820 the Presbyterians undertook to build a church, but having started out on too large a scale they were compelled to succumb, and the building in its unfinished state, a mere shell, was sold.to Absalom Thrift, who converted it into a warehouse, and it is to this day used as a livery stable. Some time after this the Universalists, who have ever been quite numerous in this locality, erected a spacious frame church, which they have since occupied, until for a few years past the supply from some cause has ceased. The Presbyterians made another effort, and built the present excellent edifice; and the Methodists and Baptists have also fine churches. The population is of a decided ''go to meeting" character; they have also been noted for their zealous efforts in behalf of temperance, and have kept up varions organizations of a reform class many years.

The first blacksmith was Thomas Ayres, who went to work in 1808, and continued many years. The first school was kept by William Y. Farquhar; the first shoeshop by Osgood Dustin. The first hatter was Celestial Le Blond, a little frisky Frenchman, whose vote, in 1811, is entered as ''Celestial Light" on the poll-books. He was the son of a wealthy French gentleman, and had to flee from his native land in consequence of having killed an antagonist in a duel. He frequently received from his father remittances of five hundred dollars or so, but made very foolish bargains. With money once sent he bought a mill-seat, set about erecting a mill where Shaler's now is, and ''broke flat"' by the time he got a saw-mill up. The premises were then sold to Christopher Brollier, and by him to David Shaler, an energetic millwright. Shortly after this Celestial received another remittance and moved to Bellville. In 1838 he'went to France, obtained a considerable sum of: money, and returned with a large stock of goods. He died at Bellville, leaving a very respectable family. An old man named McCoy, a sort of cobbler, tried his hand at making cloth shoes for the women at an early day. The men then generally wore moccasins. A singular freak of another creature in 1809, has been related. His name was Ebenezer

Taylor, and he undertook to do work in the shoe line, but before he got fairly started an itinerant preacher came along, and Ebenezer was so taken with his discourse that he followed him off, leaving his kit of tools and an estray animal, which he had taken up and advertised, and has never been heard of since. Speaking of shoemakers brings to mind a somewhat noted man in these parts, Jedediah Peck, who attempted to get up a patent way of making boots, having last and tree all together, but found that it was easier to make_them on, than to get the boot off the tree; and after vain attempts, he concluded to fasten the tree to the house and hitch on a mule to pull the boot off. His house was built around a walnut tree, and it was considerable of a curiosity to travellers to see a tree growing out of the top of a house. Jedediah and his wife died without issue, and his two pretty nieces, who dwelt with him, are gone also.

In 1815 Captain John Williams, of Frederick, Maryland, bought out John Kerr's mill property, and at the same time started a store in the village. He brought out forty thousand dollars in money, and dissipated through the country. He was a man of talent, clever and sociable, and is spoken well of by all old settlers. He came to this county in 1814 with his family. His children are much scattered. William moved to Peoria, Illinois; Thomas to Henry county, in that State, as also Rachel, wife of Colonel Prather, to the same county; Eliza, wife of Milton Bevans, to Fulton county, Illinois; Pendy died in IIlinois, Abraham in this county, and Gist W. in Missouri, in 1852.

The post office was kept, from its establishment, by Abner Ayres, until 1850; B. J. Lewis succeeded him; in May, 1852, Thomas A. Reed was acting postmaster, in place of Lewis, resigned; L. S. McCoy sfollowed, and his successor was George Ball.

In 1840, Fredericktown contained five hundred inhabitants; in 1850, seven hundred and twelve; in 1860, seven hundred and ninety, of whom sixteen were negroes, and in 1880, eight hundred and fifty. The place in 1850 put on city airs, and with George W. Woodcock as mayor, and T. A. Reed, recorder, carried on a right sharp crusade against ''doggeries." The warfare was subsequently taken up by the common pleas courts, and fora time better ''order reigned in Warsaw." In later years, however, the ''spirits'' assumed, at times, a very bold and threatening appearance; and in 1873 a second grand crusade was inaugurated, which had the effect of closing all the saloons. They have since opened out, but, taken altogether, Frederick may be said, during its existence, to have been a model town in the line of ''law and order.'' In 1816, the entire township cast but eighty-one votes.

The fourth of July, 1817, was duly commemorated at Anson Brown's, in Fredericktown. Daniel Beers was chosen moderator, and Anson Brown, clerk. The committee of arrangements consisted of Christian Haldeman, Job Allen, Munson Pond, Joseph Talmage, Jacob Young, and Henry Markley. Munson Pond was officer of the day; Job Allen commanded the volunteer company; Jabez Beers was reader; Truman Strong, orator; Benjamin Jackson, Anson Brown and Benjamin Jackson, jr., conducted the singing. The Rev. John Cook and James Scott were present - and last, but not least, Alvin Bateman was toast master. A good dinner was eaten, all felt glorious. The Mc- Cutchens, Strubles, Cochrans, Cravens, Sagerses, Beerses, Leonards, Thrifts, Harters, Strongs, and Corbins, were present. Of the Cochrans, William and Samuel were young men of good mind. The former is dead, and the latter became a preacher of celebrity in New York. Jabez Beers was one of the old set-

Dr. John Byers located here in 1812. He moved about 1835 to Hardin county. His three sons emigrated to Arkansas; Thomas and John are both dead. The boys acquired considerable distinction as attorneys. The old gentleman was one of the earliest practitioners of medicine in this township. Dr. David Wadsworth, another physician, died many years ago. His son, T. B., died a soldier in the Mexican war; and his daughter, Eliza Ellen, became Mrs. Struble.

In 1812, when the Zimmer and Copus families were murdered by Indians on the Blackfork, and Jones was ambushed and shot near Mansfield by the same stealthy foe, the few settlers at Fredericktown, as well as along the entire frontier, were greatly alarmed, and immediately sought the protection of block-houses. Three were constructed in Wayne township. The Lewis block-house, on the South fork, has been mentioned.

William Mitchell prepared his cabin for a siege by making heavy batten doors, with iron bars, portholes for guns, etc. One of his boys rode the express; another kept out with scouting parties, and the old man, with the two workmen, who were with him, were constantly on the lookout for an attack. The girls practiced shooting with rifles, so as to be ready for a large force of Indians at any iime; and with the two dogs, Gunner and Rover, that two-story log cabin was prepared for emergencies.

The block-house at Fredericktown was a light frame building, enclosed in a heavy stockade, and located on the bluff overlooking the railroad depot, in rear of the present Presbyterian church. The building was constructed on the square, under the direction of Captain Ayers. Mr. W. B. Cox, of Fredericktown, thus writes of it:

The block-house was surrounded by a stockade, commencing a few feet southeast of the southeast corner of David Struble's dwelling house, and running west to the southeast corner of the Presbyterian church lot, thence north to the brow of the hill, above the Baltimore & Ohio depot; thence east toa point near the centre of David Struble's garden; thence south to the place of beginning. The stockade was so arranged as to be nearly bullet proof, and moved on wheels to its position, a commanding one, overlooking the valley of Owl creek. This building was used for a school-house and church for several years after.

The settlers were several times alarmed and fled to this block-house. Upon the occasion of the killing of Jones, Captain Douglas had followed the Indians in the direction of Upper Sandusky, but not finding them, and thinking it unsafe to return by the way he went, came back by way of Fredericktown. His men, some fifteen in number, were roughly dressed, and had handkerchiefs tied about their heads instead of wearing hats. They looked more like Indians than white men, and as they were going into Fredericktown they fired off their guns, by way of salute, and greatly frightened the inhabitants. Two women fainted in the street, and a general stampede for the block-house took place. The news of the killing of Jones was carried to Fredericktown by Johnny Appleseed, who went as a volunteer from the fort at Mansfield to alarm the settlers and obtain re-enforcements from be made on the fort at Mansfield. Johnny ran all night barefooted through the woods, stopping at the cabin of every settler on the way, and arriving at Fredericktown in the morning. The news, of course, caused the greatest excitement along his route, and many amusing and ludicrous things were said and done.

Samuel Wilson, who then lived near the Quaker meeting-house, within the present limits of Berlin township, was so badly scared that he sprang from his bed, and putting on his overcoat and taking his pantaloons under his arm, ran in that condition all the way to the Fredericktown block-house.

Abner Ayers, who kept the tavern in Fredericktown at that time, raised a company of twelve rangers, by authority of Governor Meigs, and went to the assistance of the garrison at Mansfield.

Uncle Abner Ayers, as he was called, was an important citizen of the village. On the commissioner's records of February, 1808, it appears that the Ayerses were licensed to keep a house of entertainment in Fredericktown on payment of five dollars. Abner, in addition to his tavern, kept the post office, was justice of the peace, judge, etc. In his. later years, he was fond of telling how General Harrison stopped at his tavern, and how he and the general consulted together regarding the war, and seemed to be under the impression that he and General Harrison were two of the greatest men in the world. His tavern stood on the present sité of the Wagner house, and was a hewed log; a very solid, substantial building, and was patched up and added to from time to time, and weather-boarded over, but finally was compelled to succumb to the.

While on the subject of hotels, it may be well to mention that the next one was erected on the southwest corner of the square. It is yet standing, is a large square frame, was used many years as a hotel and is now used as a boarding-house.

Abner Ayers and most of his cotemporaries have long since passed away, and many of the younger generation will call to mind the appearance of that sedate old man as he walked the long porch that surrounded two sides of his brick hotel (now the Wagner house), with his hands crossed behind him, and his clay pipe in his mouth, ready to greet a friend or join in pleasant reminiscence of the past, or tell some laughable story of his early life, for which he was much noted.

The Kerr mill property has always been considered among the important industries of Fredericktown. Williams sold it about thirty years ago, or more, to Mr. Struble, who, in turn, sold it about 1873 or 1874, to Cuykendall & Seiler, of Plymouth, Ohio, and shortly after it was destroyed by fire. The owners, however, rebuilt it, with some help by the citizens, and conducted it a few years, but were unable to recover from the effects of the fire, and sold out to S. S. Tuttle and others, who still keep its wheels turning.