LICKING COUNTY

 

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LICKING COUNTY was erected from Fairfield, March 1, 1808, and named from its principal stream, called by the whites Licking–by the Indians, Pataskala.  The surface is slightly hilly on the east, the western part is level, and the soil generally yellow clay; the valleys are rich alluvium, inclining many of them to gravel.  Coal is in the eastern part, and iron ore of a good quality.  The soil is generally very fertile, and it is a wealthy agricultural county.  Area about 680 square miles.  In 1887 the acres cultivated were 144,092; in pasture, 172,844; woodland, 55,038; lying waste, 2,868; produced in wheat, 510,655 bushels; rye, 7,490; buckwheat, 1,111; oats, 324,441; barley, 6,045; corn 1,518,435; broom-corn, 18,545 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 47,277 tons; clover hay, 6,862; flaxseed, 1,752 bushels; potatoes, 92,930; tobacco, 100 lbs.; butter, 909,118; cheese, 7,052; sorghum, 2,114 gallons; maple syrup, 21,138; honey, 3,399 lbs.; eggs, 908,128 dozen; grapes, 28,935 lbs.; wine, 20 gallons; sweet potatoes, 152 bushels; apples, 15,794; peaches, 14,448; pears, 1,667; wool, 1,155,992 lbs.; milch cows owned, 8,908; sheep, the largest number of any county in Ohio, namely, 174,672.  School census, 1888, 12,602; teachers, 440.  Miles of railroad track, 159.

 

 

Townships

And Census

1840.

1880.

 

Townships

And Census

1840.

1880.

Bennington,

1,244

   884

 

Liberty,

1,115

     752

Bowling Green,

1,464

   992

 

Licking,

1,215

  1,256

Burlington,

1,423

1,073

 

Lima,

   739

  1,803

Eden,

   853

   767

 

Madison

1,119

     929

Etna,

1,076

1,166

 

Mary Anne,

   866

     951

Fallsburg,

   910

   929

 

McKean,

1,424

     981

Franklin,

1,131

   818

 

Monroe,

 

  1,339

Granville,

2,255

2,114

 

Newark,

4,138

10,613

Hanover,

   943

1,236

 

Newton,

1,247

  1,332

Harrison,

1,049

1,329

 

Perry,

   994

  1,032

Hartford,

1,355

1,164

 

St. Albans,

1,515

  1,187

Hopewell,

1,150

1,062

 

Union,

2,219

  1,872

Jersey,

   932

1,348

 

Washington,

3,048

  1,521

 

 

 

Population of Licking in 1820 was 11,861; 1830, 20,864; 1840, 35,096; 1860, 37,011; 1880, 40,050, of whom 32,736 were born in Ohio; 1,461 Virginia; 1,336 Pennsylvania; 669 New York; 156 Indiana; 51 Kentucky; 782 England and Wales; 611 Ireland; 511 German Empire; 54 Scotland; 49 British America, and 29 France.  Census, 1890, 43,279.

 

With Butler county, which has 1,000 bridges in use, this county is also noted for its bridges.  The streams which unite to form the Licking spread over it like the fingers of the hand.  Hence it takes as much bridging as half-a-dozen of the counties on the dividing ridge of the State.

 

This county contains a mixed population; its inhabitants originated from Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, New England, Wales, and Germany.  Among the early settlers were John CHANNEL, Isaac STADDEN, John VAN BUSKIRK, Benjamin GREEN, Samuel PARR, Samuel ELLIOTT, John and Washington EVANS, Geo. ARCHER, John JONES, and many Welsh.  It was first settled, shortly after WAYNE’S treaty of 1795, by John RATLIFF and Ellis HUGHES, in some old Indian corn-fields, about five miles below Newark, on the Licking.  These men were from Western Virginia.  They lived mainly by hunting, raising, however, a little corn, the cultivation of which was left, in a great measure, to their wives.

 

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HUGHES had been bred in the hot-bed of Indian warfare.  The Indians having, at an early day, murdered a young woman to whom he was attached, and subsequently his father, the return of peace did not mitigate his hatred of the race.  One night, in April, 1800, two Indians stole the horses of HUGHES and RATLIFF from a little enclosure near their cabins.  Missing them in the morning, they started off, well armed, in pursuit, accompanied by a man named BLAND.  They followed their trail in a northern direction all day, and at night camped in the woods.  At the gray of the morning they came upon the Indians, who were asleep and unconscious of danger.  Concealing themselves behind the trees, they waited until the Indians had awakened, and were commencing preparations for their journey.  They drew up their rifles to shoot, and just at that moment one of the Indians discovered them, and instinctively clapping his hand on his breast, as if to ward off the fatal ball, exclaimed in tones of affright, “me bad Indian!–me no do so more!”  The appeal was in vain, the smoke curled from the glistening barrels, the report rang in the morning air, and the poor Indians fell dead.  They returned to their cabins with the horses and “plunder” taken from the Indians, and swore mutual secrecy for this violation of law.

 

One evening, some time after, HUGHES was quietly sitting in his cabin, when he was startled by the entrance of two powerful and well-armed savages.  Concealing his emotions, he gave them a welcome and offered them seats.  His wife, a muscular, squaw-like looking female, stepped aside and privately sent for RATLIFF, whose cabin was near.  Presently, RATLIFF, who had made a detour, entered with his rifle, from an opposite direction, as if he had been out hunting.  He found HUGHES talking with the Indians about the murder.  HUGHES had his tomahawk and scalping-knife, as was his custom, in a belt around his person, but his rifle hung from the cabin wall, which he deemed it imprudent to attempt to obtain.  There all the long night sat the parties, mutually fearing each other, and neither summoning sufficient courage to stir.  When morning dawned, the Indians left, shaking hands and bidding farewell, but in their retreat, were very cautious not to be shot in ambush by the hardy borderers.

 

HUGHES died near Utica, in this county, in March 1845, at an advanced age, in the hope of a happy future.  His early life had been one of much adventure; he was, it is supposed, the last survivor of the bloody battle of Point Pleasant.  He was buried with military honors and other demonstrations of respect.

 

THE BURLINGTON STORM.

 

On the 18th of May, 1825, occurred one of the most violent tornadoes ever known in Ohio.  It has been commonly designated as “the Burlington storm,” because in Burlington township, in this county, its effects were more severely felt than in any other part of its track.  This event is told in the language of a correspondent.

 

It commenced between the hours of one and two P. M., in the southeast part of Delaware county.  After passing for a few miles upon the surface of the ground, in an easterly direction, it appeared to rise so high from the earth that the tallest trees were not affected by it, and then again descended to the surface, and with greatly increased violence and force proceeded through the townships of Bennington and Burlington, in Licking county, and then passed into Knox county, and thence to Coshocton county.  Its general course was a little north of east.  For force and violence of wind this storm has rarely been surpassed in any country in the same latitude.  Forests and orchards were completely uprooted and levelled, buildings blown down, and their parts scattered in every direction and carried by the force of the wind many miles distant.  Cattle were taken from the ground and carried one hundred rods or more.  The creek, which had been swollen by recent rains, had but little water in its bed after the storm had passed.  The roads and fields, recently plowed, were quite muddy from previous rains; but after the storm had passed by, both roads and fields were clean and dry.  Its track through Licking county was from one-third to three-fifths of a mile wide, but became wider as it advanced farther to the eastward.  Those who were so fortunate as to be witnesses of its progress, without being victims of its fury, represent the appearance of the fragments of trees, buildings, etc., high in the air, to resemble large numbers of birds, such as buzzards, or ravens.  The ground, also, seemed to tremble, as it is asserted by many credible persons, who were, at the time, a mile from the tornado itself.  The roar of the wind, the trembling of the ground, and the crash of the falling timber and buildings, is represented by all who were witnesses as being peculiarly dreadful.

 

Colonel WRIGHT and others, who witnessed its progress, think it advanced at the rate of a mile per minute, and did not last more than a minute and a half or two minutes.  The cloud was exceedingly black, and sometimes bore hard upon the ground, and at others seemed to rise a little above the surface.  One peculiarity was, that the fallen timber lay in every direction, so that the course of the storm could not be determined from the position of the fallen trees.

 

Many incidents are related by the

 

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 inhabitants calculated to illustrate the power, as well as the terror, of the storm, among which are the following.  A chain from three to four feet long, and of the size of a common plow-chain, was taken from the ground near the house of John M’CLINTOCK, and carried about half a mile, and lodged in the top of a sugar-tree stub, about twenty-five feet from the ground.  An ox, belonging to Col. Wait WRIGHT, was carried about eighty rods and left unhurt, although surrounded by the fallen timber, so that it required several hours chopping to release him.  A cow, also, was taken from the same field and carried about forty rods, and lodged in the top of a tree, which was blown down, and when found was dead and about eight feet from ground.  Whether the cow was blown against the tree-top before it was blown down, or was lodged in it after it fell, cannot be determined.  A heavy ox-cart was taken from the yard of Colonel WRIGHT and carried about forty rods, and struck the ground with such force as to break the axle and entirely to demolish one wheel.  A son of Colonel WRIGHT, upwards of fourteen years of age, was standing in the house holding the door.  The house, which was built of logs, was torn to pieces, and the lad was thrown with such violence across the room as to kill him instantly.  A coat, which was hanging in the same room, was found, in the following November, in Coshocton county, more than forty miles distant, and was afterwards brought to Burlington, and was identified by Colonel WRIGHT’S family.  Other articles, such as shingles, pieces of timber and of furniture, were carried twenty, and even thirty miles.  Miss Sarah ROBB, about twelve years of age, was taken from her father’s house and carried some distance, she could not tell how far; but when consciousness returned, found herself about forty rods from the house, and walking towards it.  She was much bruised, but not essentially injured.  The family of a Mr. VANCE, on seeing the storm approach, fled from the house to the orchard adjoining.  The upper part of the house was blown off and carried through the orchard; the lower part of the house remained.  Two sons of Mr. VANCE were killed – one immediately, and the other died in a day or two from his wounds.  These, and the son of Colonel WRIGHT, above mentioned, were all the lives known to be lost by the storm.  A house, built of large logs, in which was a family, and which a number of workmen had entered for shelter from the storm, was raised up on one side and rolled off the place on which it stood without injuring any one.  A yoke of oxen, belonging to Wm. H. COOLEY, were standing in the yoke in the field, and after the storm were found completely enclosed and covered with fallen timber, so that they were not released till the next day, but were not essentially injured.  A black walnut tree, two and a half feet in diameter, which had lain on the ground for many years, and had become embedded in the earth to nearly one-half its size, was taken from its bed and carried across the creek, and left as many as thirty rods from its former location.  A crockery crate, in which several fowls were confined, was carried by the wind several miles, and, with its contents, set down without injury.

 

THE REFUGEE TRACT.

 

Abridged from an article published in the Newark American, by Isaac SMUCKER, entitled “A Bit of  Important History Appertaining to Licking County.”

 

During the Revolutionary war many of the people of the British provinces so strongly sympathized with the cause of the American colonies that they were obnoxious to their neighbors, and were ultimately obliged to abandon their homes and property, and seek refuge in the colonies, where some entered the Revolutionary army.  The property of such was confiscated, and they became permanent citizens of the United States.

 

By resolutions passed by Congress, April 23, 1783, and April 13, 1785, the refugees were, “on account of their attachment to the interest of the United States, recommended to the humanity and particular attention of the several States in which they reside,” and informed that, “whenever Congress can consistently reward them by grants of land they will do so, by making such reasonable and adequate provision for them on our public domain as will amply remunerate them.”

 

The realization of these promises held out to the refugees was a work of time depending upon the passage of the celebrated ordinance of 1787, which established civil government in the Northwest Territory, and opened the public lands to survey and settlement.  On the 17th of April, 1798, Congress progressed to the point of inviting all refugees who were claimants of land to make their claims apparent to the War Department within two years from the date of said action, by “rendering a full and true account of their claims to the bounty of Congress.”

 

The refugees thereupon made proofs of their respective services, sacrifices and sufferings in consequence of their attachment to the cause of the colonies against the mother country, and when the legal limit had expired, within which proof of claims must be made, the Secretary of War divided the refugees into a number of classes, awarding to the first class 2,240 acres, and to the lowest 160 acres.

 

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Top Picture

WILLIAM BURNAM WOODS

Judge of United States Supreme Court.

 

Bottom Picture

ANCIENT WORKS, NEWARK, OHIO

 

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On February 18, 1801, congress took action upon the report of the Secretary by appropriating about 100,000 acres, which they deemed sufficient to meet all the awards.  This was a tract four and a half miles wide, and extending eastward from the Scioto river towards the Muskingum, about forty-eight miles, terminating in Muskingum county not far east of Gratiot.

 

Two and a half miles of this four and a half miles strip, as originally surveyed, belonged to the United States military tract, and the remaining two miles was Congress land.

 

This line, dividing the military from the Congress land, running through the refugee tract, forms the southern boundary of Licking county, and the northern boundary of Fairfield and Perry counties.  Thus all three of these counties have each a strip of the refugee tract.

 

Although the refugee tract, as originally appropriated, extended into Muskingum county, but few, if any, refugee locations were made there, because it was land in excess of the awards, and so reverted to the government.

 

The little notch on one and a half by two and a half miles, taken out of the south-eastern corner of Licking county, was also doubtless part of the refugee tract.  It is supposed that it was at this notch that the refugee locations terminated, for the reason there were no more refugee claims to satisfy.

 

The national road runs almost the entire forty-eight miles from the Scioto river to Hopewell township, Muskingum county, within the refugee tract.  The southern boundary of Licking county was also the southern boundary of the United States military tract of 1,500,000 acres.

 

The following is a list of the refugees and the quantities awarded to them, to wit:

 

To the following, 2,240 acres: Martha WALKER, widow, John EDGAR, Samuel RODGERS, James BOYD’S  heirs, P. Francis CAZEAU, John ALLING, Seth HARDING.

 

To the following, 1,280 acres: Jonathan EDDY, Col. James LIVINGTON, Parker CARK, John DODGE’S heirs.

 

The following, 960 acres: Nathaniel REYNOLDS’ heirs, Thomas FAULKNER, Edward FAULKNER, David GAY, Martin BROOKS, Lieutenant-Colonel BRADFORD, Noah MILLER, Joshua LAMB, Atwood FALES, John STARR, William HOW, Ebenezer GARDNER, Lewis F. DELESDERNIER, John M’GOWAN, Jonas C. MINOT, Simeon CHESTER’S heirs, Charlotte HASEN, widow, Chloe SHANNON, widow, Mrs. Obadiah AYER, widow, Israel RUTLAND’S heirs, Elijah AYER’S heirs, Edward ANTELL’S heirs, Joshua SPRAGUE’S heirs.

 

The following, 640 acres: Jacob VENDERHAYDEN, John LIVINGSTON, Jacob CRAWFORD, Isaac DANKS, Major B. VON HEER, Benjamin THOMPSON, Joseph BINDEN, Joseph LEVITTRE, Lieutenant Wm. MAXWELL, John D. MEREER, Seth NOBLE, Martha BOGART, widow, John HALSTEAD, Robert SHARP, John FULTON, John MORRISON.

 

The following, 320 acres: David JENKS, Ambrose COLE, James COLE, Adam JOHNSON, Jeremiah DUGAN’S widow and heirs, Daniel EARL, Jr., John PASKELL, Edward CHINN, Joseph CONE, John TORREYRE, Elijah AYER, Jr., Anthony BURK’S heirs, James SPRAGUE, David DICKEY, John TAYLOR, and Gilbert SEAMAN’S heirs.  To Samuel FALES alone was awarded 160 acres.

 

Thus the land was divided into sixty-nine parts, amounting to 65,280 acres, to which should be added seven sections, or nearly 5,000 acres more, awarded to the inhabitants by Congress for school purposes, making in all about 70,000 acres.  The locations were made by law on the 2d of January, 1802, and patents were promptly issued.

 

Newark in 1846.–Newark, the county-seat, is thirty-seven miles, by the mail route, easterly from Columbus, at the confluence of the three principal branches of the Licking.  It is on the line of the Ohio canal, and of the railroad now constructing from Sandusky City to Columbus, a branch from which, of about twenty-four miles in length, will probably diverge from this place to Zanesville.  Newark is a beautiful and will-built town, on a level site, and it has the most spacious and elegant public square in the State.  It was laid out, with broad streets, in 1801, on the plan of Newark, N. J., by General William C. SCHENK, George W. BURNET, Esq., and John M. CUMMINGS, who owned this military section, comprising 4,000 acres.

 

The first hewed-log houses were built in 1802, on the public square, by Samuel ELLIOTT and Samuel PARR.  The first tavern, a hewed-log structure, with a stone chimney, was opened on the site of the Franklin House, by James BLACK.  In 1804 there were about fifteen or twenty families, mostly young married people.  Among the early settlers were Morris A. NEWMAN, Adam HATFIELD, Jas. BLACK, John JOHNSON, Patrick CUNNINGHAM, Wm. CLAYPOLE, Abraham MILLER, Samuel H. SMITH, Annaniah PUGH, James PETTICORD, John and Aquila BELT, Dr. John J. BRICE, and widow PEGG.  About the year 1808 a log building was erected on or near the site of the court-house, which was used as a court-house and a church, common for all denominations.  The Presbyterians built the first regular church, about 1817, just west of the court-house, on the public square.  The first sermon delivered in Newark, by a Presbyterian, and probably the first by any denomination in the county, was preached under peculiar circumstances.

 

In 1803 Rev. John WRIGHT, missionary of the Western Missionary Society at Pittsburg, arrived on a Saturday afternoon at Newark, which then contained five or six log-cabins

 

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 and BLACKS’S log tavern, at which he put up.  On inquiring of the landlady, he found there was but one Presbyterian in the place, and as he was very poor, he concluded to remain at the tavern rather than intrude upon his hospitality.  The town was filled with people attending a horse-race, which, not proving satisfactory, they determined to try over the next day.  Mr. WRIGHT retired to rest at an early hour, but was intruded upon by the horse-racers, who swore that he must either join and drink with them or be ducked under a pump, which last operation was coolly performed upon one of the company in his presence.  About midnight he sought and obtained admittance in the house of the Presbyterian, where he rested on the floor, not without strenuous urging from the worthy couple to occupy their bed.  The next morning, which was Sunday, when the guests ascertained he was a clergyman, they sent an apology for their conduct, and requested him to postpone preaching until afternoon, when the race was over.  The apology was accepted, but he preached in the morning to a few persons, and in the afternoon to a large congregation.  The sermon, which was upon the sanctification of the Sabbath, was practical and pungent.  When he concluded, a person arose and addressed the congregation, telling them that the preacher had told the truth; and although he was at the horse-race, it was wrong, and that they must take up a contribution for Mr. WRIGHT.  Over seven dollars were collected.  In 1804 Mr. WRIGHT settled in Lancaster, and after great difficulty, as the population was much addicted to vice, succeeded, in about 1807, through the aid of Mr. David MOORE, in organizing the first Presbyterian church in Newark.

 

NEWARK contains two Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Episcopal, one Methodist, one Welsh Methodist, one German Lutheran, one Welsh Presbyterian and one Catholic church; three newspaper printing-offices, two grist-mills, one foundry, one woollen-factory, six forwarding-houses, ten groceries, one book, two hardware, and eighteen dry-goods stores.  In 1830 it had 999 inhabitants; in 1840, 2,705; in 1847, 3,406.–Old Edition.

 

NEWARK, county-seat of Licking, is on the Licking river, thirty-three miles east of Columbus, on the P. C. & St. L., C. O., and S. M. & N. Railroads.  The Magnetic Springs, a noted health and pleasure resort, are just at the corporation line.  Newark is the centre of a prolific grain and wool-producing district, and is also a manufacturing centre.  County officers: Auditor, Allen B. COFFMAN; Clerk, Thomas F. LENNOX; Commissioners: Henry SHIPLEY, John TUCKER, Barclay I. JONES; Coroner, David M. SMITH; Infirmary Directors, Nathaniel RUGG, Benjamin B. MOATS, Finley STAFFORD; Probate Judge, Jonathan REES; Prosecuting Attorney, John M. SWARTS; Recorder, Jonathan V. HILLIARD; Sheriff, Andrew J. CRILLY; Surveyor, George P. WEBB; Treasurer, William H. DAVIS, City officers: mayor, Moses P. SMITH; Clerk, William Allen VEACH; Solicitor, William D. FULTON; Street Commissioner, Albert DAUGHERTY; Marshal, H. J. RICKENBAUGH; Chief of Police, C. L. BROOKE; Treasurer, W. H. DAVIS.  Newspapers: Advocate, Democratic, J. H. NEWTON, editor; American, Rupublican, LYON & ICKES, proprietors; Banner, Republican, Milton R. SCOTT, editor; Express, German, F. KOCHENDORTER, proprietor; Licking County Republican, Republican, M. P. SMITH, editor and publisher.  Churches: one Congregational, one Welsh Congregational, one Lutheran, one German Lutheran, one Advent, one Methodist Episcopal, one German Methodist, one African Methodist Episcopal, two Presbyterian, one German Presbyterian, one Catholic, one Baptist, two Protestant Episcopal.  Banks: First National, J. BUCKINGHAM, president, F. S. WRIGHT, cashier; FRANKLIN, ROBBINS, WINEGARNER, WING & Co; People’s National, Gibson ATHERTON, president, J. H. FRANKLIN, Jr., cashier.

 

Manufactures and Employees.–Charles KIBLER, Jr., & Co., stoves, 45 hands; Newark (Ohio) Wire-Cloth Co., brass and copper wire-cloth, 22; The Edward H. EVERETT Co., fruit-jars and bottles, 230; MOSES & WEHRLE, stoves and ranges, 55; Excelsior Rolling Mills, flour and feed;  LOUDENSLAGER & ATKINS, brass and copper wire-cloth; NUTTER & HAINES, mouldings, etc.; Newark Paper Co., 21; T. H. HOLMAN, carriages, wagons, etc., 15; DORSEY Bros., flour and feed; John H. MCNANARA, traction engines, etc., 35; BOURNER & PHILLIPS, doors, sash, etc., 16; GARBER & VANCE, doors, sash, etc., 25; D. THOMAS & Co., flour and feed; R. SCHEIDLER, traction engines, 25; Newark Steam Laundry, laundrying, 9; James E. THOMAS, founders and machinists, 45; LOUDENSLAGER & SITES, flour and feed;

 

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 BALL & WARD, carriages and buggies, 22; Union Iron Works, traction-engines; Newark Wind-Engine Co., wind-engines; Newark Daily American, printing, etc., 14; B. & O. Railroad Shops, railroad repairs, 550; Advocate Printing Co., printing and binding, 22; LANE Bros., structural iron works, 25.–State Report, 1888.  Population in 1880, 9,600. School census, 1888, 3,857; J. C. HARTZLER, school superintendent.  Capital invested in industrial establishments, $410,300.  Value of annual product, $737,200.  U. S. Census, 1890, 14,270.

 

The Newark Earthworks are the most extensive, numerous and diversified in style and character, of any within the State.  The purpose of their erection seems as difficult of explanation at the present day as when first discovered in 1800.  The first impression in viewing them is, that they were constructed for military purposes; but a closer examination explodes this theory, and fails to substitute any more rational one.  Suffice it to say, that we must consider these works as one of the mysteries of the past, unless the science of archaeology, which has made such wonderful advances in the past few years, shall solve its mysteries for us.

 

The following description of these works is extracted from an article by Hon. Isaac SMUCKER, published in the “American Antiquarian:”

 

The Raccoon and South Fork creeks unite on the southern borders of Newark, and these ancient works cover an area of three or four square miles between these streams and contiguous to them, extending about two miles up the Raccoon and a less distance up the South Fork.  These works are situated on an elevated plain, thirty or forty feet above these streams, the Raccoon forming the northerly boundary of said plain, and the South Fork its southwestern boundary.  The streams come together nearly at right angles, the three or four square miles of land, therefore, covered with these ancient works, situated between said creeks, and extending several miles up both of them from their junction, are, in form, very nearly an equilateral triangle.

 

The foregoing works consisted of earth mounds, both large and small, in considerable numbers, of parallel walls or embankments, of no great but tolerably uniform height; of small circles, partial or incompleted circles, semi or open circles, all of low but well-marked embankments or walls; of enclosures of various forms and heights, such as large circles–one parallelogram, one octagon, and, others which may have become partially or wholly obliterated under the operation of the plow, or through the devastating action of the elements, their banks having been originally of small elevation, and among them one of the class designated as “effigy mounds.”  This remains in a good state of preservation, situated within and about the centre of the largest circular enclosure, know as “The Old Fort.”  It is a representation of an immense bird “on the wing,” and is called “Eagle Mound.”

 

In the terrible railroad strike and riot in July, 1877, in the West, by which many lives were lost in Pittsburg, Chicago and elsewhere, there was great trouble at Newark, the strikers there resorting to force by side-tracking trains.  The acting Governor, Thomas L. YOUNG, called out and assembled at Newark troops from Cincinnati, Dayton and elsewhere, and by personal consultation with the leaders of the strike, and by his cool, judicious management, restored peace and order without bloodshed.

 

OPENING OF OHIO CANAL.

 

The opening of the Ohio Canal was a matter of very great import to the people of Ohio, and although the canal met with its due share of opposition, the people generally expected great things through the canal and were determined that it should be commenced with due pomp and ceremony.  Governor CLINTON had been invited and accepted the invitation to be present and dig the first shovelful of earth.

 

The commissioners had decided on the advice of Judge D. S. BATES, of New York, the chief engineer of the work, that the opening should take place on the Licking Summit, in Licking county, about three miles west, on the 4th of July, 1825.

 

Governor CLINTON’s Reception at Celveland.–Governor CLINTON entered Ohio on the steamboat Superior on the last day of June.  Crowds assembled to meet him.  Mr.

 

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 George B. MERWIN, who as a boy witnessed the ceremonies of the reception at Cleveland, thus describes them.

 

“It was a heavenly day, not a cloud in the sky, the lake calm as the river, its glistening bosom reflecting the fierce rays of an almost tropical sun; the boat soon passed Water street, dressed with all her flags, and came to anchor about a mile opposite the mouth of the river and fired her usual signal gun.

 

Her commander, Captain FISK, ordered the steps to be let down and her yawl boat placed along side of them; then taking Governor CLINTON by the hand seated him in the stern of the boat, and was followed by his aids, Colonel JONES, Colonel READ and Colonel Solomon VAN RENSSELAER, who had traversed the State when a wilderness, as an officer under General WAYNE.  Messrs. RATHBONE and LORD, who had loaned us the money with which to commence the canal, and Judge CONKLING, United States District Judge, of New York.

 

They came up the river, the stars and stripes waving over them, and landed at the foot of Superior street, where the reception committee with carriages and a large concourse of citizens awaited them and took them to the Mansion House, then kept by my father, where Governor CLINTON was addressed by the late Judge Samuel COWLES, who had been selected by the committee to make the reception address.

 

Governor CLINTON made a eloquent reply.  In a part of his remarks he made the statement, ‘that when our canals were made, even if they had cost five million dollars, they would be worth three times that sum; that the increased price of our productions in twenty years would be worth five million dollars; that the money saved on the transportation of goods, to our people, during the same period would be five millions of dollars, and that the canals would finally by their tolls refund their entire cost, principal and interest.’”

 

The First Spadeful of Earth.–The next day the party departed by stage for Licking county.  There they were received on behalf of Licking county by Judge WILSON and Alexander HOMES, and on the part of Fairfield by Judge Elnathan SCOFIELD and Colonel John NOBLE.  The latter has described the opening ceremonies in the Columbus Gazette as follows:

 

“The ceremonies commenced as had been agreed upon.  Governor CLINTON received the spade, thrust it into the rich soil of Ohio, and raised the first spadeful of earth, amidst the most enthusiastic shouts of the thousands present.  This earth was placed in what they called a canal wheel-barrow.  Then the spade was passed to Governor MORROW, the then Governor of Ohio, a statesman and farmer.  He soon sunk the spade its full depth, and raised the second spadeful.  Then commenced a hustle for who should raise the next.  Captain Ned KING, as we familiarly called him, having the command of an infantry company present from Chillicothe, raised the third; then some of the guests in Governor CLINTON’s company, and finally, the barrow being full, Captain KING took hold of the handles and wheeled it out to a bank.  For me at this time to attempt to describe the scene is impossible–the most enthusiastic excitement by all the thousands, and shouts of joy went to the All-Giver.  The feeling was so great that tears fell from manly eyes, the strong expression of the heart.  Mr. Thomas EWING, of Lancaster, was orator of the day.  The stand for speaking was in the woods.  The crowd was so great that one company of cavalry were formed in a hallow square, around the back and sides of the stand for speaking.  The flies, after a three days’ rain, were so troublesome that the horses kept up a constant tramping, which induced the following remark from my old friend Caleb ATWATER, that evening at Lancaster: ‘Well,’ says he, ‘I suppose it was all right to have the horses in front of the speaker’s stand, for they cannot read and we can.’”

 

Wages on the Ohio Canal.–Governor CLINTON and friends, Governor MORROW, Messrs. RATHBURN and LORD, and many others were invited to visit Lancaster, where they were handsomely entertained by the citizens.  They then passed north to Columbus.  The Lancaster, Ohio, Bank was the first to make terms with the Fund Commissioners to receive and disburse the money, in payment of work as estimated every month, on the Roaring Canal, as the boys on the work were pleased to call it.  Boys on the work–only think of it, ye eight hour men!  Their wages were eight dollars per 26 working dry days, or 30 3/4 cents per day, and from sunrise to sunset.  They were fed well and lodged in shanties, and had their jiggers of whiskey the first four months.

 

Remarkable Increase in Values.–Men came from Fairfield, Hocking, Gallia, and Meigs counties, and all the country around came forward.  Farmers and their sons wanted to earn this amount of wages, as it was cash, and they must have it to pay taxes and other cash expenses.  Wheat sold at 25 cents per bushel, corn 12 ½ cents delivered in Lancaster or at distillery, oats ten cents.  But before the canal was finished south of the Summit, the North End, from Dresden to Cleveland, was in operation.  Then wheat sold on the canal at 75 cents per bushel, and corn rose in proportion, and then the enemies of the canal, all of whom were large land-holders or large tax-payers, began to have their eyes opened.  One of these I will name.  A Mr. SHOEMAKER, of Pickaway county, below Tariton, was a rich land-owner, and had opposed the building of the canal, as it would increase his tax, and then be a failure.  This same gentleman, for such he was, told me his boys had, with one yoke of oxen and farm-cart, hauled to Circleville potatoes and sold them for forty cents per bushel, until they had more money than paid all his taxes for the year.  This was an article they never had sold before, and he was now a convert to the improvement.

 

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 Wheat raised from 25 cents to $1.00 per bushel before the canal was finished.  And now let me say, as I have lived to see all to this time, the Ohio canal was the beginning of the State’s prosperity.”

 

TRAVELLING NOTES.

 

The Drummer boy of Shiloh.–Newark takes pride in her reputation of having supplied the youngest and smallest recruit to the Union army, and in the person of JOHNNIE CLEM, sometimes called the Drummer Boy of Shiloh, and sometimes of Chickamauga.  Lossing says he was probably the youngest person who ever bore arms in battle.  His full name is John Winton CLEM, but the family spell the name KLEM and not CLEM.  He was born in Newark, August 13, 1851, and ran away from home when less than ten years of age and enlisted as a drummer boy in the army; was in many battles and won singular distinction.

 

Johnnie CLEM’s parents were French-Germans, his mother from Alsace.  His father was a market-gardener and huckster, and used to send Johnnie, accompanied by his sister, Lizzie (now Mrs. ADAMS), two years younger, from house to house to sell vegetables.  Johnnie was a universal favorite with the people, being a bright, sprightly boy, and very small of his age–only thirty inches high.

 

The family are now living in garden-like surroundings on the outskirts, on the Granville road, where I went to have an interview to get the facts of his history.  I knocked at the side-door of an humble home.  A sturdy, erect, compact little woman answered my knock, and to my query replied, “I am his sister and can tell you everything.  Please take a seat and I’ll be ready in a few moments.”  She was the Lizzie spoken of above.  It was the kitchen I was in: two young children were by her side, and some pies, with their jackets on, on the table about ready for the oven, and only requiring the trimming off of the over-hanging dough, which she did dextrously, twirling them on the tips of her up-lifted fingers during the operation.  Placing them in the oven, and then “tidying up things a little,” she took a seat and thus opened up her story for my benefit, while the children in silence looked at me with wondering eyes and listened also:

 

LIZZIE’S NARRATIVE.

 

It being Sunday, May 24, 1861, and the great rebellion in progress, Johnnie said at dinner-table: “Father, I’d like mighty well to be a drummer boy.  Can’t I go into the Union army?”  Tut, what nonsense, boy!” replied father, “you are not ten years old.”  Yet when he had disappeared it is strange we had no thoughts that he had gone into the service.

 

When dinner was over Johnnie took charge of us, I being seven years old and our brother, Lewis, five years, and we started for the Francis de Sales Sunday-school.  As it was early he left us at the church door, saying, “I will go and take a swim and be back in time.”  He was a fine swimmer.  That was the last we saw of him for two years.

 

The distress of our father and step-mother at Johnnie’s disappearance was beyond measure.  Our own mother had met with a shocking death the year before: had been run over by a yard engine as she was crossing the track to avoid another train.  No own mother could be more kind to us than was our step-mother.  Father, thinking Johnnie must have been drowned, had the water drawn from the head of the canal.  Mother travelled hither and yon to find him.  It was all in vain.  Several weeks elapsed when we heard of him as having been in Mount Vernon; and then for two years nothing more was heard and we mourned him as dead, not even dreaming that he could be in the army, he was so very small, nothing but a child.

 

It seems he went up on the train to Mount Vernon and appeared next day at the house of Mrs. Dennis COCHRANE, an old neighbor of ours.  He told her that his father had sent him there to peddle vegetables which were to come up from Newark.  None arriving, Mrs. COCHRANE surmised the truth, and at the end of the week, fearful he would escape, fastened to him a dog chain and put him in charge of a Newark railroad conductor to deliver to his home, which he could readily do as it was near the depot.  On his arrival here he worked on the sympathies of the conductor to let him go free, saying his father would whip him dreadfully if he was delivered to him.  This father wouldn’t have done–he would have been but too glad to have got him.

 

The train carried him to Columbus, where he enlisted as a drummer boy in the 24th Ohio.  Finding an uncle in that organization he left it and went as a drummer boy in the 22d Michigan.  He was an expert drummer, and being a bright, cheery child, soon made

 

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 his way into the affections of officers and soldiers.

 

He was in many battles: at Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro’, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Nashville, Kenesaw, and others, in which the army of the Cumberland was engaged.  He was at one time taken prisoner down in Georgia.  The rebels stripped him of everything, his clothes, his shoes, his little gun–an ordinary musket.  I suppose, cut short–and his little cap.  He said he did not care about anything but his cap.  He did want to save that, and it hurt him sorely to part with it, for it had three bullet holes through it.

 

When he was exchanged as a prisoner he came home for a week.  He was wasted to a skeleton.  He had been starved almost to death.  I was but a little thing then, but I never shall forget his dreadful corpse-like aspect when the carriage which brought him stopped at our door.  He seemed like as if he was done up in a mass of rags.  There were no soldier clothes small enough to fit him, and he was so small and wan and not much larger than a babe, about thirty inches high, and couldn’t have weighed over sixty pounds.

 

He returned to the army and served on the staff of General THOMAS until the close of the war.  After it, he studied at West Point, but could not regularly enter as a cadet on account of his diminutive size.  General GRANT, however, commissioned him as a Lieutenant.  He is now (1886) Captain of the 24th U. S. Infantry, and is stationed at Fort McHenry, Md.  He is still small: height, only five feet, and weight, 105 pounds.  He married, May 24, 1875, Annita, daughter of the late General Wm. H. FRENCH, U. S. A.  Like her husband, she is under size, short and delicate; can’t weigh over seventy pounds.  They have had six children, only one of whom is living.

 

I have told you of the dreadful death of our mother, run over by a yard engine.  My brother Louis, five years old on that noted Sunday, also came to a shocking end.  I think father will never get over mourning for him.  He grew to be very tall, full six feet, but of slender frame and feeble health.  He was off West on a furlough for his health when he went with CUSTER, as a guest, on his last ill-fated expedition, and was with the others massacred by the Sioux, under Sitting Bull, in the battle of Little Big Horn, in Montana, June 25, 1876.

 

On closing her narrative Mrs. ADAMS showed me a protrait of her brother as a captain.  He is a perfect blonde with large blue eyes, large straight nose, and a calm, amiable expression.  Another as a child standing by the side of General MCCLENNAN, who looks pleased, the natural result of having such a sweet-looking little fellow by him.  He was a great favorite with all the generals, as GRANT, ROSECRANS and THOMAS, the latter keeping up with him a fatherly correspondence as long as he lived.

 

To the foregoing narrative from Mrs. ADAMS we have some items to add of his war experiences, from an equally authentic source.

 

When he joined the 22d Michigan, being too young to be mustered in, he went with the regiment as a volunteer, until at length he was beating the long roll in front of Shiloh.  His drum was smashed by a piece of shell, which occurrence won for him the appellation of “Johnnie Shiloh,” as a title of distinction for his bravery.  He was afterwards regularly mustered in and served also as a marker, and with his little musket so served on the battlefield of Chattanooga.  At the close of that bloody day, the brigade in which he was partly surrounded by rebels and was retreating, when he, being unable to fall back as fast as the rest of the line, was singled out by a rebel colonel, who rode up to him with the summons, scoundrel, “Halt!  Surrender, you ____ little Yankee!”  By way of order Johnnie halted, brought his piece to the position of charge bayonet, thus throwing the colonel off his guard.  In another moment the piece was cocked, fired, and the colonel fell dead from his horse.  Simultaneously with this the regiment was fired into, when Johnnie fell as though he had been shot, and laid there until darkness closed in, when he arose and made his way toward Chattanooga after the rest of the army.  A few days later he was taken prisoner with others whilst detailed to bring up the supply trains from Bridgeport.

 

When he returned to service, General THOMAS was in command of the army of the Cumberland.  He received him with the warmest enthusiasm, made him an orderly sergeant, and attached him to his staff.  At Chickamauga he was struck with a fragment of a shell in the hip, and at Atlanta, while he was in the act of delivering a despatch from General THOMAS to General LOGAN, when a ball struck his pony obliquely near the top of his head, killing him and wounding his fearless little atom of a rider in the right ear.

 

For his heroic conduct he was made a sergeant by ROSECRANS, who placed him upon the Roll of Honor, and attached him to the head-quarters of the army of the Cumberland, while a daughter of Chief-Justice CHASE presented him with a silver medal inscribed, “Sergeant Johnnie CLEM, Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, from N. M. C., “ which he worthily wears as a priceless badge of honor upon his left breast, in connection with his Grand Army medal.

 

Now (1890) Captain CLEM is holding the important positions of Depot Quartermaster, Depot Commissary, ordinance office, Columbus, Ohio.

 

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Top Picture

Drawn by Henry Howe, 1846

PUBLIC SQUARE, NEWARK

 

Bottom Picture

Frank Henry Howe, 1890

PUBLIC SQUARE, NEWARK

 

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Granville in 1846.–Granville is six miles west of Newark on Raccoon creek, a branch of the Licking, and is connected with the Ohio canal by a side cut of six miles in length.  It is a neat, well-built town, noted for the morality and intelligence of its inhabitants and its flourishing and well-conducted literary institutions.  It contains 6 churches, 6 stores, 3 academies–(beside a large brick building, which accommodates in each of its stories a distinct school,–and had, in 1840, 727 inhabitants.  The Granville College belongs to the Baptists, and was chartered in 1832.  It is on a commanding site, one mile southwest of the village; its faculty consists of a president, two professors and two tutors.  The four institutions at Granville have, unitedly, from 15 to 20 instructors, and enjoy a generous patronage from all parts of the State.  When all the schools and institutions are in operation, there are, within a mile, usually from 400 to 600 scholars.–Old Edition.

 

GRANVILLE is six miles west of Newark, on the T. & O. C. R. R., about thirty-five miles from Columbus.  It is the seat of Dennison University, Granville Female College and Shepardson’s Institute for Women.  Newspaper: Times, Republican, KUSSMAUL & SHEPARDSON, editors and publishers.  Churches: 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Welsh Congregational, and 1 Welsh Calvinistic.  Bank: Granville (WRIGHT, SINNETT & WRIGHT), Theodore F. WRIGHT, cashier.  Population, 1880, 1,127.  School census, 1888, 363.  City officers, 1888: T. J. DURANT, Mayor; H. A. CHURCH, Clerk; W. J. POND, Treasurer; Abner EVANS, Marshal.  Census, 1890, 1,293.

 

The annexed historical sketch of Granville township is from the published sketches of the Rev. Jacob LITTLE.

 

In 1804 a company was formed at Granville, Mass., with the intention of making a settlement in Ohio.  This, called “the Scioto Company,  was the third of that name which effected settlements in Ohio.  The project met with great favor, and much enthusiasm was elicited; in illustration of which, a song was composed and sung to the tune of “Pleasant Ohio,” by the young people in the house and at labor in the field.  We annex two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical.

 

When ramling o’er these mountains

                And rocks, where ivies grow

Thick as the hairs upon your head,

                Mongst which you cannot go;

Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow,

                We scarce can undergo;

Says I, my boys, we’ll leave this place

                For the pleasant Ohio.

 

Our precious friends that stay behind,

                We’re sorry now to leave:

But if they’ll stay and break their shins,

                For them we’ll never grieve;

Adieu, my friends!  Come on, my dears,

                This journey we’ll forego,

And settle Licking creek,

                In yonder Ohio.

 

 

 

The Scioto Company consisted of 114 proprietors, who made a purchase of 28,000 acres.  In the autumn of 1805, 234 persons, mostly from East Granville, Mass., came on to the purchase.  Although they had been forty-two days on the road, their first business, on their arrival, having organized a church before they left the East, was to hear a sermon.  The first tree cut was that by which public worship was held, which stood just front of the site of the Presbyterian church.  On the first Sabbath, November 16, although only about a dozen trees had been cut, they held divine worship, both forenoon and afternoon, at that spot.  The novelty of worshipping in the woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles every way, the hardships of the journey, the winter setting in, the fresh thoughts of home, with all the friends and privileges left behind, and the impression that such must be the accommodations of a new country, all rushed on their nerves and made this a day of varied interest.  When they began to sing, the echo of their voices among the trees was so different from what it was in the beautiful meeting-house they had left, that they could no longer restrain their tears.  They wept when they remembered Zion.  The voices of part of the choir were for a season suppressed with emotion.

 

An interesting incident occurred, which some Mrs. SIGOURNEY should put into a poetical dress.  Deacon Theophilas REESE, a Welsh Baptist, had two or three years before built a cabin a mile and a half north, and lived all this time without public worship.  He had lost his cows, and hearing a lowing of the oxen belonging to the company, set out towards them.  As he ascended the hills overlooking the town-plot, he heard the singing of the choir.  The reverberation of the

 

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 sound from hill-tops and trees threw the good man into a serious dilemma.  The music at first seemed to be behind, then in the tops of the trees or the clouds.  He stopped, till by accurate listening, he caught the direction of the sound, and went on, till passing the brow of the hill, when he saw the audience sitting on the level below.  He went home and told his wife that “the promise of God is a bond;” a Welsh phrase, signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, that religion will prevail everywhere.  He said “These must be good people.  I am not afraid to go among them.”  Though he could not understand English, he constantly attended the reading meeting.  Hearing the music on that occasion made such an impression on his mind, that when he became old and met the first settlers, he would always tell over this story.  The first cabin built was that in which they worshipped succeeding Sabbaths, and before the close of winter they had a school and school-house.  That church, in forty years, has been favored with ten revivals, and received about one thousand persons. 

 

Morals and Religion.–The first Baptist sermon was preached in the log church by Elder JONES, in 1806.  The Welsh Baptist church was organized in the cabin of David THOMAS, September 4, 1808.  “The Baptist church in Christ and St. Albans,” was organized June 6, 1819.  On the 21st of April, 1827, the Granville members were organized into “the Granville church,” and the corner-stone of their church was laid September 21, 1829.  In the fall, the first Methodist sermon was preached under a black walnut; the first class organized in 1810, and first church erected in 1824.  An Episcopal church was organized May 9, 1827, and a church consecrated in 1838.  More recently, the Welsh Congregationalists and Calvinistic Methodists have built houses of worship, making seven congregations, of whom, three worship in the Welsh language.  There are, in the township, 405 families, of which 214 sustain family worship; 

 

FIRST HOUSE IN GRANVILLE.

 

1431 persons over 14 years of age, of who nearly 800 belong to these several churches.  The town has 150 families, of which 80 have family worship.  Twenty years ago, the township furnished 40 school-teachers, and in 1846 70, of whom 62 prayed in school.  In 1846, the township took 621 periodical papers, besides three small monthlies.  The first temperance society west of the mountains was organized July 15, 1828, and in 1831, the Congregational church adopted a by-law, to accept no member who trafficked in or used ardent spirits.

 

Snake Hunt.–There are but six men now living who came on with families the first fall, viz: Hugh KELLY, Roswell GRAVES, Elias GILLMAN, William GAVIT, Levi and Hiram ROSE.  Other males, who arrived in 1805, then mostly children, and still surviving, are, Elkannah LINNEL, Spencer, Thomas and Timothy SPELMAN, Dennis KELLY, William JONES, Franklin and Ezekiel GAVIT, Cotton, Alexander and William THRALL, Augustine MUNSON, Amos CARPENTER, Timothy, Samuel, Heland, Lemuel, C. C. and Hiram P. ROSE, Justin and Truman HILLYER, Silvanus, Gideon, Isaac and Archibald CORNEL, Simeon and Alfred AVERY, Frederick MORE, Worthy PRATT, Ezekiel, Samuel and Truman WELLS, Albert, Mitchell, Joshua, Knowles and Benjamin LINNEL, Lester and Hiram CASE, Harry and Lewis CLEMENS, Leverett, Harry and Charles BUTLER, and Titus KNOX: which, added to the others, make forty-one persons.

 

When Granville was first settled, it was supposed that Worthington would be the capital of Ohio, between which and Zanesville, this would make a great half-way town.  At this time, snakes, wolves and Indians abounded in this region.  On the pleasant spring mornings, large numbers of snakes were found running on the flat stones.  Upon prying up the stones, there was found a singular fact respecting the social nature of serpents.  Dens were found containing very discordant materials, twenty or thirty rattle-snakes, black-snakes and copper-heads, all coiled up together.  Their liberal terms of

   

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