:vr^' A V^«=;' o • .^v^ '. "^^^o^ o -^0*«. > ^>' ■' '^b V* ^ jp-?!, r* A ^-..c,^' ** V /•■ 1*.-^'. -> 0^ • e^^r. 0^ o»^--», '^O "^^%^' . **'\ ^ .> .^^'^^-.. • ^o. . ^'-^^^ ^Aq' '^ .^.:ri.% ,-^*\.-^.\ o°^l^^%% /\!ii^^\ ^ >. * ^i'O' »^ ..L^l'* • Co ^ LJ >ci C3 ,S UJ ^ -J _J s^ CCi O =*j CJ >^ r-~ Ki z 5 ^ UJ ^ HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO, FROM 1779 TO 1862 INCLUSIYE: COMPEISINQ BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS OF MEN CON- NECTED WITH THE COUNTY FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT: TOGETHEK WITH COMPLETE LISTS OF THE SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES, JHEBIFFS, AUDITORS, COMMISSIONERS, TREASURERS, JUDGES, JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, lAND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE COUNTY)' ALSO OF THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED IN A MILITARY CAPACITY FROM ITS FIRST ORGANIZA- TION TO THE PRESENT TIME. ''ANn ALSO A SKETCH OF KENYON COLLEGE, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING AND RELIGION WITHIN THE COUNTY. BY A. bak]v[i:n^g :n^oktok. COLUMBUS: RICHARD NEVINS, PRINTER. 1862. Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1862, By a. banning NORTON, In the Clerk's office of the Southern District of Ohio. \ PREFACE. To write tlie history of my native county, and to rescue from oblivion the anecdotes and eariy incidents of its first settlers, has been with me a pleasant pastime. While it has been much labor to gather the material for this work, and to test it by the crucible of truth, my mind has thereby been relieved of much care and of anxious thoughts upon more serious subjects during an exile in my native land ; and if I will have been the means of preserving, for the future histo- rian, matters which are within the recollection of but very few now living, my time and toil have been well spent. Several years ago, when a resident of this place, I collected many of the items which I now produce from memory : such as the captivity of John StUley, and events of early occur- rence within the knowledge of Dr. Timothy Burr, my father, Daniel S. Norton, Col. John Greer, Judge Bevans, Gilman Bryant, Col. Emor Harris, Judge Jesse B. Thomas, Eev. James Scott, and others, who have since deceased. Among my papers in Texas are notes taken by me of conversations with the above recited parties, as also with Samuel H. Smith and "William Smith, old residents of Knox, now residing in that State. I would have delayed the publication of the sketch I give herewith, were it not very uncertain when the present unhappy war may terminate, or what my future may be. Procrastina- tion might prove fatal to the enterprise ; hence I have con- IV PKEFACE. eluded to farnisli it to the children of the old settlers, and the public generally in the Ko-kosing country, conscious that it has imperfections, but without the ability, under existing cir- cumstances, of making it more complete. My object is accom- plished in putting in this form for preservation much crude material, which I regard as of value to those who may succeed us: I did not undertake it with expectation or purpose of gain. I may have overlooked some names in putting the manu- script to press, or improperly placed others ; but from the most reliable data I have drawn my conclusions and made my state" ments. I would have been pleased to have extended my genealogical sketches, and to have traced out the various old families in the townships ; but, from having met several who were indisposed to give me information, I found this branch must necessarily be partial, and desisted from researches in that way. The reader will take those named as examples of the manner in which I think a history of the county ought to be written, and I would like to have so presented it. Some, whose names may not be found in this book, may find fault with its compilation, as did " Schmidt," the dutch drayman in the city of Austin, whose name he discovered in the Directory spelled "Smith," and exclaimed, "I would not give one tarn for the Correctory vot has my name left out of it ; for Smith is not Schmidt no how." Of one thing all may be assured, and that is this: I have set down naught in malice, nor aught extenuated, but endeav- ored to represent all fairly and correctly. I have no object to do otherwise. I do not intend ever to live among you, nor in your State, and am, therefore, truly independent. I belong to no political or religious party, sect or organization of the present day, nor do I ever expect to. " He is a freeman whom the truth makes free ! " Having no interests to subserve, — PBETACE. V "no friends to reward, or enemies to punisb."— I am, with my best regards to such as have received me kindly and aided me with information, and to the people of Knox individually and coUectiyely, Their friend, A. BANNING NORTON. Mount Vernon, 0., July 1, 1862. HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. CHAPTER I. Sketch of the country and settlement prior to organization. — Traversed before the territory of Ohio was named by one of its SUBSEQUENT SETTLERS. ItS INHABITANT BEFORE THE STATE WAS ORGAN- IZED. — Its CITIZENS when fairfield county was CREATED. — With INCIDENTS of FRONTIER LIFE AND ADVENTURE. The coimtrv havini? for its name Ohio was con- stituted, under General Arthur St. Clair, a territo- rial government in tlie year 1788, and he continued as Grovernor until the adoption of the State Consti- tution in 1803. By his proclamation the county of Fairfield was created December 9th, 1800, and the district of which we now treat was included therein until the month of February, 1808, when it was, by enact- ment of the Legislature, organized into a separate and distinct county, honored with the name of General Henry Knox, a distinguished officer of the revolutionary army, who was subsequently Secre- tary of War in Gen. Washington's administration. The first white man known to have viewed this section of country was John Stilley, wlio, when a cajjtive among tlie Indians, traversed the White canti Vvoii Oman and Owl Creek from its mouth in a north- westerly direction, as early as June, 1779, nine years 8 HISTOEY OF I)efore the name of Ohio had been given to this ter- ritory, and when the savages and wild beasts roamed at mil througliout its vast extent. The first settlers in this district were from Vir- ginia, Maryland, Kew Jersey and Pennsylvania, and its inhabitants, at every period of its history, have been chiefly fi'om the middle States. Erom our research into early statements, we are led to believe that Andrew Craig was the first white man Avho located within the present county limits. He was, at a very early day, a sort of fi'ontier character, fond of rough and tumble life, a stout and rugged man — bold and dare-devil in dispo- sition — who took delight in hunting, wi'estling and athletic sx)orts, and Avas "hail fellow well met" with the Indians then inhabiting the country. He was from the bleak, broken, mountainous region of Virginia, and as hardy a pine knot as ever that country produced. He was in this country when Ohio was in its territorial condition, and when this wilderness region was declared to be in the county of Eairfield, the sole denizen in this entire district, whose history is now being written, tabernacled witli a woman in a rough log hut close by the little Indian Eield, about one-half mile east of where Mount Vernon city now exists, and at the point Avherc Centre Kun empties into the Ko-ko-sing. There Andrew Craig lived when Mount Vernon was laid out in 1805 — there he was upon the organ- ization of Knox county, its oldest inhabitant — and tliere he continued until 1809. Such a harum- scarum fellow could not rest easy when white men got thick around him, so he left and went to the In- Kl^OX COUNTY. 9 dian Tillage — Greentowii — and from thence nii- gi'ated further out upon the frontier, j)referring red men for neighbors. After many years of solitary residence on the beautiful Ko-ko-sing, the solitude of Craig's retreat is broken by the entrance of a lone Jerseyman, who, in the spring of 1803, penetrates some ten miles further into the wilderness, so as not, by too close proximity, to annoy each other, and there raises a little log cabin and settles down. This follower of the trade of Yulcan soon gets in readiness to blow and strike, and sets about supplying the sons of the forest with the first axes they had ever seen, and by making for them tomahawks, scalping knives, etc., he acquires the sobriquet of the "axe-maker," which for more than half a century has attached to I^athaniel Mitchel Young. A year passes by before any white accession is made to society on Owl Creek. Then a stalwart backwoodsman breaks the silence by the crack of his rifle, and at the spot where James S. Banning now lives, near Clinton, the pioneer, William Doug- lass, drives his stake. The skillful navigator plies his oar, and Robert Thompson ascends Owl Creek to where Mount Yer- non now stands, and on the rich bottom land, about one mile west, commences another improvement. Greorge Dial, of Hampshire county, Yirginia, in another pirogue comes up the creek, and, pleased with the beautiful countrv about where Gambler now flourishes, pitches his tent at the place now occupied by John Troutman. Old Captain James Walker, from Pennsylvania, settles on the bank of 10 HISTORYOF the creek wliere Mount Yernon now is. Jolm Simpkins wanders from Virginia, with his son Seeley for his capital, and squats about a mile above Douglass, where George Cassel's beautiful farm now exists. While these plain men from Virginia, Kew Jersey and Pennsjlvania are preparing their cabins for comfortable occupation, and making little clear- ings, a stray Yankee, solitary and alone, with a speculative eye and money-making disposition, is, with pocket compass, taking his bearings through the forest, soliloquizing about the chance of making a fortune by lajing out a town and selling lots to those who may come after him into this charming new country. Having, as he thought, found the exact sx^ot for his future operations, he blazes a tree, and wends his way to the nearest town — Eranklinton — west of the Scioto, then a place of magnificent pretensions, where he gets chain and compass and paper, and returns and lays out the town of Clinton, in section niunber four, township seven, range four. United States military district, with its large "public green," its north street and south street, its main street, first, second, third and fourth streets, and one hundred and sixty lots, and, taking his toAvn plat in his pocket, he walks to New Lancaster, being the first white person ever known to have made a journey in that direction from this infimt settlement, and before Abraham Wright, Justice of the Peace, acknowledges that important insti-ument, and on the 8th of December, 1804, X^laces it upon record. Thus Samuel H. Smith, subsequently the first sui'veyor of Knox county, for many years a resident, its leading business man, and KNOXCOUJ^TTY. 11 largest land holder, made Ms entrance into this district. Shortly afterwards a large accession was made to the population of the countiy by the emigration from Ten ]\Iile, Washington county, Pa., of John Mills, Hem-y Haines, Ebenezer and Abner Brown, and Peter Baxter, who settled a short distance south of Owl Creek, where the Beams, Men-its and Lafevers have since lived. This settlement, by the increase of the Leonards, was in 1805 and '6 the largest and best community in the country, and upon the organization of the county, and for several years thereafter, it furnished the leading men. Ben. Butler, Peter Coyle, and Thomas Bell Pat- terson, in the sjiring of 1805, augment the Walker settlement, where Mount Yernon was located shortly thereafter. William Douglass is joined by James Loveridge, who emigrates from Morris county, Kew Jersey, and with his wife takes quar- ters on the 6th of July upon the clapboards in the garret of his little log cabin, and is mighty glad to get such a shelter as that to spend the year in. The next year Loveridge starts off, under pretense of hunting a cow, and goes to the land office and enters and pays for the tract of land, where shortly after he erected a dwelling, and has ever since re- sided. Upon this land there is an uncommon good spring, which caused him to select it, and he tells with much glee the circumstances under which he obtained it. The only Yankee then in the country claimed to have located it, and proposed to sell it to him at a higher price than the government rate, which was then f 2 per acre. Concealing his inten- 12 HISTORY OF tion from all but his wife, Lovericlgc slipped off and examined into and purchased it himself from the government, and when he returned with his patent, Bill Douglass laughed heartily at the Jersey Blue overreaching the cunning Yankee. Amoriah Wat- son, of Wyoming county. Pa., also put up with Douglass, and thus this settlement was made up of Douglass, Smith, Watson and Loveridge, in 1805. The old axe-maker, in the meantime, is followed up by some of liis relations and friends, who start what has ever since been known as the Jersev settlement. Jacob Young, Abraham Lyon and Simeon Lyon are the first to settle upon the South Fork of Owl Creek, and are succeeded by Eliphalet Lewis, John Lewis, and James Bryant. The Indians they found very numerous, and through the kind feelings to- wards the old axe-maker, they were very friendly, and really quite an advantage in ridding the country of wolves, bears, and other varmints. In the winter of 1805-6, that settlement entered into a written agTcement to give nine bushels of corn for each wolf scalp that might be taken, and three of the men caught forty-one wolves in steel traps and pens ! The description of these pens, and one of the stories told of their operation, we give in the words of an old settler : — " Wolf pens were about six feet long, four wide, and three high, formed like a huge square box, of small logs, and floored with puncheons. The lid, also of puncheons, was very heavy, and moved by an axle at one end, made of a small, round stick. The trap was set by a figure 1, with any kind of meat except that of wolf's, the animals being fonder of any other than ki5'oxcou:n^ty. 13 their own. Ou gnawing the meat, the lid fell and caught the unamiable native. To make sport for the dogs, the legs of the wolf were i^ulled through the crevices between the logs, hamstrung, and then he was let loose, when the dogs soon caught and finished him. In Delaware county an old man went into a wolf trap to fix the spring, when it sprung n^oii him, knocldng him flat u^ion his face, and securely caught him as though he were a wolf. Unable to lift up the lid, and several miles from any house, he lay all one day and night, and would have perished but for a hunter, who passing by heard his groans, and came to his rescue."- North, west and east of these embryo settlements all was wilderness for many long miles. A place bearing the name of Newark had been laid out by Gen. W. 0. Schenck, but it had not any greater population than these little scattered settlements aforementioned. The principal towns of note to the early settlers were Lancaster, Chillicothe and Zanesville. Neither of them were much larger then than oui" usual !x| roads callages now are. The people were exceedingly neighborly, and per- formed all manner of " kind chores" for each other, in going to mills, lajdng in goods, dividing what they had with each other, &c. The nearest mill in 1805, was in Fairfield countv. Our old friend James Loveridge informs us of a trip he made to that mill, which was seven miles up the Hockhock- ing river, from Lancaster. It belonged to Loveland & Smith, and was situated in a little crack between some rocks, and he went do^vn into the mill from on top of the roof. He made the trip there and 14: HISTORY' OP back, about 125 miles, and brought home witb him in his wagon about 900 pounds of flour, one barrel of whisky, and one barrel of salt. How the settle- ment must have rejoiced at the arrival of the great staples of frontier life, salt, whisky and flour ! KlfOXCOUI^TY. 15 OHAPTEK II. Continuation of tbte early outline. — More about the first settlors. — Quakers from Maryland find their way in 1806. — Incidents con- nected with their emigration, and in the movements of other set- tlers. — Who they were and what became of them. — The privations endured and dangers encountered. — More towns laid out. — The first mills. — The scene of an encounter with Indians. — Inconven- rENCES OF the COUNTRY. — EFFORTS FOR A NEW COUNTY. — An EARLY ELEC- TION. — Fairfield divided. — Three new counties created by one BILL. — Strife for the seat of justice of knos. The spring of 1806 brought witli it a new element into the wilderness region, in the form of the Eriends — the forerunners of large numbers of that society, who by their quiet yet industrious ways have con- tributed very much to the prosperity and peaceful- ness of our people. The venerable father Henry Roberts may be justly regarded as the head of this emigration from Maryland. In 1805 he left Fred- erick county, in that State, with his family, and directed his course to the far west, but on reaching Belmont county, found it necessary to winter his family there, and sent his wagon and team back to Maryland with a load of ginseng and snake-root, and on their return with a load of goods, he started with his family and plunder, and on the 7tli of April, 1806, he landed at Henry Haines', in the Ten Mile settlement, and after spending a week looking for a good location, on the 14th of that 16 HISTORY OF montli settled down Lis family at tlie little prairie five miles above Mount Yernon, of late widely known as the Armstrong section. Tlie family con- sisted of his wife, his sons — William, now living at Pekin, Illinois ; Isaiah, now residing near Pilot Knob, Missouri ; Kichard Roberts, of Berlin — and a daughter Massah, who married Dr. Timothy Burr, and died at Clinton, March 9th, 1811. Kine acres of that beautiful prairie were at once broken up and planted in corn. It was very hard work to break the virgin soil with a first rate foiu'-horse plow team, but it paid for that labor by one of the finest crops of corn ever raised in this country. In the fall Wm. T. Earquhar, a cousin of Henry Roberts, came with his family, and after him came Wm. W. Earquhar with his family. They all stopped with Henry Roberts, and thus composed the first settle- ment of Eriends in this district. Erom this nucleus came the numerous society of Quakers in Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin, in after years. Shortly after this we find anotlier Quaker, Samuel Wilson, and John Kerr in what subsequently became Wayne township, and John Cook and Jacob Cook just above, in what is noAV Middlebury township, and Amoriah Watson goes from Douglass' to the tract of land above, where Eredericktown was the next year laid out, and which he subsequently sold to Jacob Ebersole, a place now easy to be identified by all. In the spring of 1806, there were within the after limits of Knox county but fifteen persons who turned out to vote, and but nine liable to per form military duty out to muster. The first grist mill erected in this county was of KNOXCOUNTY. 17 a decidedly primitive character. It was in the Hains, or Ten Mile settlement, and constructed without the sound of the hammer upon iron. It was the joint work of Ebenezcr and Abner Brown, assisted by the mechanical skill of the whole neigh- borhood, and was built on what was called by the early settlers " Big Run," though in later times it is spoken of as the little Lake, through which the road to Granville has since been laid out. The water has almost disappeared — having been in its appearance greatly cliangcd by ditching, and in some parts obliterated by filling up the hollow. The mill stood where Isaac Beam's house now is, and the dam was where the bridge now stands in the lane. It was all of wood — a sugar-trough made its meal-trough — a little box the hopper — the stones were about two feet through, and hooped with elm bark for want of iron. It cracked corn pretty well with a good liead on, but the stream was generally dry, and the mill was only able to run when big showers of rain came. The buildins^ was about ten feet square, of rough logs — not a nail or a bit of iron could be had when it was made. Tlie stones of* this ancient of days are certainly a curiosity — they are yet to be seen, being the property of Moses Farquhar, of Berlin, who since that day has at- tempted experiments with them. Richard Roberts at one time took a grist to this original mill and liad it ground. He was then about seventeen years old, and not much acquainted with the milling business, but he was greatly impressed with its mechanism, and ready to exclaim, with our old friend Hadly, " The works of God are wonderful, 18 HISTORY or but the works of man are wonderfuller !" He thought that it a\ orkcd first rate, though Henry Hains at that time had got a little hand mill wliicli he claimed was a great improvement on the little wooden mill. Mr. Roberts recollects of having at one time packed a bag of corn from Tom Butler's down on AVhite-woman home, and from thence to a mill near ]N^ewark, and back home again, less a heavy toll. While at the mill he saw Hughes, and from his own lips had a true account about tlie killing of Indian horse thieves, whom Jack Katliff and himself had pursued into the Owl Creek country and killed as they came upon them in the bottom just below where Tredericktown now stands. The story runs thus : — " One night in April, 1800, two Indians stole their horses from a little inclosure near their cabins, located in some old Indian fields on the Licking. In the morning, finding their horses gone, and tracks about, they were satisfied of their having been stolen, and started oif in pur- suit, accompanied b}^ a man named Bland. They followed their trail all day, and camped at night in the woods, and making an early start in the morn- ing, surprised the Indians in their sleep. They drew uj) their rifles to shoot, when one of the Indians, discovering them, clapping his hands on his breast, as if to ward off the fatal ball, exclaimed in piteous tones, ' me bad Indian ! — me no do so more ! ' Alas ! in vain he plead ; the smoke curled from the glistening barrels, the report rang in the morning air, and the poor Indians fell dead." Hughes and Ratliff returned home with the horses KNOX COUNTY. 19 and plunder taken fi'om the Indians, feeling as well over their little exploit as any men ever did over a gi'eat and glorious action. Ellis Hughes, who was known to very many of our old settlers, died near TJtica, in March, 1845, and was buried with military honors. He was believed to be the last survivor of the hard fought battle of Point Pleasant. He was a hardy backwoodsman from Western Virginia. Our old townsman, Wm. Meiford, informs us that when he improved his farm on Mile Run, in Wayne township, he was clearing off ground on which to build his house, and he then plowed up the two In- dians killed by Hughes, and also a rusty gun bar- rel, brass guard, and other pieces of a gun, which had not decayed. This was in 1835; and Jacob Mitchel now has the old relics. Greorge Oonkie gatliered up the bones and buried them, and the house was built on the sj)ot — the old Peck place on Mile Run bottom, where Mrs. Acre now lives. In early days there was a favorite camping ground for the Indians about three-fourths of a mile from where these Indians were killed. Three old settlers have informed us that about 1808 they saw at one time more than one hundred and fifty warriors camped there. They have several times seen Old Crane, the Wyandot Chief, the Chief Armstrong, and Captain Pipe, with bands of In- dians, roving througli this country, and we have gathered some very amusing incidents connected therewith, which the limit we have prescribed for this work compels us to omit in this edition. The great inconvenience the settlers labored un- der for want of building material caused William 20 HISTOKYOF Douglass, as early as the spring of 1805, to ccnceiye tlie design of erecting a mill at the seat now known as Banning's Mill. He then eomnienced digging the race and building the dam. After getting a saw to running, he set to work building a grist mill ; being a man of enterprise, he could not brook the thought that the people in that neighborhood should continue to boil and pound their corn when they could not take time to go to the distant mills. John Kerr, as will be elsewhere noted in this book, erected a little grist mill on the Sullivant track, and laid out the town of Erederick in the first quarter, seventh township, fourteenth range, United States military district, which on the 11th of Xovember, 1807, he acknowledged, in presence of George Cham- bers, before Wm. W. Earquhar. A full account of the early settlement and i)rogress of this thriving village will be found under the head of Wayne township. In our investigation of early matters, we find that the settlers of this district were solicitous upon three great points for legislative aid, to wit : the di^dsion of Fairfield, the increase of premium upon wolf scalps, and proper encouragement in killing squir- rels. The General Assembly, in 1807, passed a bill to encourage killing of squirrels. It went through the popular branch with a rush, but the vote upon the final i)assage of the bill in the Senate, on the 21st of December, stood 8 ayes to 7 nays. The price for scalping gi'own wolves was increased, after some time and much petitioning, and the monster Eair- field was dismembered at last. Happy were those knoxcou:n^ty. 21 old pioneers, at that period of their existence — "All then was happy — possessing and possessed — No craving void left aching in the breast!" In looking over the old petitions and beholding the cramped signatures of a nnmber of these hardy yeoinen, whose rough specimen marks of cracked and blistered hands in frontier service, clearly bear witness to their whole heart being in the prayers sent up for these measures, we can well imagine how they must have cliuckled with delight, as a Christian over his soul's salvation, at the realization of their wishes. In those primitive times their at- tention was not diverted from the real live issues affecting the welfare of themselves and their fami- lies to grand humanitarian schemes for the benefit of any other race or people. The squirrels eat the kernels when the corn was in silken tassels, taking it out of their children's mouths ; the wolves prowled about their tracks, destroying their pigs and poultry, and rendered night hideous Avitli their howling, and frightened and endangered the lives of wives and children, so thev could not leave home to attend to necessary business at the remote county seat. Tliis was a remarkable epoch in the history of the pioneers of this country. In 1807, at the October election, the section of countrv known as Eairlield countv cast but 213 votes, all told ; and now there is scarcely a township in all tliis country that does not contain more voters. Tlieii i\\(i entire vote cast for Governor in the State, as officially published, was 5,616; and now, after tlie space of fifty-four years, our own county of Knox 22 HISTORY OP polls over 6,000 votes, and the old county as it then existed polled at the last election 40,000 ! What a change in the country we have lived to witness! How striking the contrast in manners, customs, education, intelligence, and in political, religious, and social life ! In nothing is the altera- tion more clearly marked than in the dissemination of information in reference to elections and the sys- tem of electioneering. Then every man ran on his own hook — his own race — making the best speed he was capable of — fully impressed with the belief that the devil would take tlie hindmost. The race was won then by personal merit and cleverness. N^ow party intervenes; caucuses and juntos dic- tate; conventions and wigwams gather together political carpenters, joiners and jacks of all trades, whose special province it is to make platforms out of vagrant material for Aveak-kneed and spavined candidates to stand on. Then there were no daily papers, and weekly ones only existed in great cities like Boston, Kew York and Philadelphia. In fact nine-tenths of the then inhabitants had never seen a newspaper. The official count of the vote of that year shows more fully than any language could convey the state of blissful ignorance prevailing throughout all this now politically crazy country. There were then two candidates running for Gover- nor, to wit : Return Jonathan Meigs and Nathaniel Massie. The former was voted for under nineteen different names, and the latter under tive different stvles. The various tickets read: For Keturn J. Meigs, Return J. Meigs, Jun., Jonathan R. Meigs, Jr., Jonathan Return Meigs, Jonathan Return K N O X C O U N T Y . 23 Meigs, Jr., Return Meggs, Eeturn R. Meags, Jr., Jonathan Meggs, Jonathan R. Meggs, J. Meigs, Jr., Jonathan Meigs, Jonathan J. Meigs, Judge Meigs, John Meigs, Mr. Meigs, J. Maggs, Return Israel Meigs, James Meigs, Johan Meigs. Nathaniel Massie, Nathaniel Massie, Esq., James Massie, Mr. Massie, Daniel Massie. Meigs reeeived 3,299 ; Mas- sie 2,317 ; and Return J. Meigs was declared elected Governor by 982 maj ority . Thomas Kirker, Speak- er of the Senate, was then acting Cxoyernor. Meigs had been a colonel in the army, and was appointed judge of the territory of Louisiana in July, 1805, and had resided in that country some six months ; his wife and ttiniily, howeyer, had remain- ed, during his absence, at Marietta, in this State. Massie contested his election; and on the 30th of December, 1807, the General Assembly, in joint session, by a a ote of 21 to 20, decided that Meigs was not eligible. The yote of Fairfield was: For Meigs, 167 ; Massie, 46. In 1810, Goyernor Meigs was elected by the j)eople, and served as Governor until 1811. He was a gentleman of education and talent, and Meigs county, upon the Ohio river, will perpetuate his name as long as Ohio exists. At the election of 1807, above alluded to, Elnathan Scofield was elected Senator, and Philemon Beecher and Wm. W. Irwin Representatives. The singularity of name borne by Governor Meigs is thus accounted for, as narrated to us by George Browning, Esq., a native of Belpre, and resident in this place since 1829. Jonathan Meigs, the father of Return J., was quite celebrated for his bravery in several Indian campaigns, and when out on one 2ti: HISTOEYOF of these i^erilons excursions, during his absence, his wife was in her confinement, and wrought upon by great anxiety for her husband, kept continually crying out in pain : " Return, Jonathan, oh ! return, Jonathan, to me." About the time Return Jona- than was born, Jonathan returned, and she was quieted down, and at once the name "Return Jonathan" was given to the new comer. The great extent of territory comprised witliin the limits of Eairfield, and the inconveniences re- sulting to the settlers in the more new portion of tlie country from their great distance from the county seat, caused them to agitate the question of a di^dsion of the county as early as 1806. At t\iG fifth General Assembly of Ohio, held in Chillicothe, December 1st, 1806, a strong effort was made, audit was "within an ace" of being success- ful. Elnathan Scofield, Senator, and Philemon Beecher, Representative, of Fairfield county, were particularly friendly to this measure. How near it came to being a success, may be judged of by the following statement upon the Senate Journal, page 115, January 15th, 1807. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Beecher, repre- sented that "the House had passed 'an act for the division of Eairfield county,' in which they desire the concurrence of the Senate." On the 16th, tlie bill was received and read a second time. On the 20th, page 128, Air. Scofield laid before the Senate a petition, signed by a number of the inhabitants of Eairfield county, praying for a division thereof, and recommending Mount Vernon as the tempor- ary seat of justice in said contemplated division, and Kxoxcou:srTT. 25 also recommending certain persons as suitable char- acters for associate judges, and tlie petition was re- ceived and referred to the committee of the whole, to whom is committed the bill for a division of Fairiield county. On the 21st, the said bill was taken up, and considered and amended, and contin- ued till Saturdav next. At the sixth General Assemblv, in December, 1807, we iind on tlie 31st several petitions were pre- sented from Fairfield count v for a division of said county, which were referred to Messrs. Scofield, Mc Arthur and Bigger. On the 7th of January, Senate Journal, page 69, Mr. Scofield presented a petition from citizens of Fairfield county living south of the Refugee Tract, whose names are thereunto sub^vife of Wm. McFarland, deceased, in Oquawka, 111., and the others, not above named, are dead. In our chapter upon tlic military of Knox county it will be seen that the bellicose spirit of John Stillev is made manifest. In the war with Great Britain he served as Adjutant of Ool. Kratzer's Regiment, Ohio volunteers, until honorably dis- charged. He again entered the service wiien Eort Meio^s was attaclvcd bv the British and Indians, and received another honorable discharge. We became conversant Avith the events in the life of this worthy old settler several years ago, when for- warding an application for a land warrant, which he desired mainly as evidencing an evidence of appreciation of his services and suiferings by his government, but the lamentable delays of officials in the great circumlocution departments at Wash- ington prevented his receiving this just acknowl- edgment of his country's gratitude. On the 10th of March, 1852, he died of palsy, at his home, in Clinton township. His widow, after his death, received the tribute of a land warrant for 160 acres. John Stilley was a true hearted, a brave man — ready, w henever occasion offered, to assert his rights and evidence his courage. He performed four tours of service, and under the most trying circumstan- ces acquitted himself handsomely. He was a great admirer of General Wayne and General Harrison, and never grew tired of praising them. We might give many anecdotes and incidents connected with KIS^OX COUNTY. Ill the life of tliis worthy okl pioneer — who first walked upon the banks of Owl Creek, (Koo-koo-san he said it was pronounced by the tribe who captured him.) We have thought a chapter in the History of the county to be justly due to John Stilley — the old Adjutant — the old Commissioner — the old citi- zen who was proverbial for his honesty and integ- rity — and who possessed, at four score years, as good a memory, as sound judgment and irreproach- able character as any man ever within the limits of Knox county. 112 HISTORY OF CHAPTEE X. What was done by codrts and commissioners in the years 1811-12- 13 and 1814 THAT may be of interest to citizens of the county. County roads. — County buildings. — County revenue. — What it cost TO guard a prisoner and to bury a negro in 1812-14. — Prices of BARK AND RABBIT SKINS. ThE GLORIOUS FOURTH COMMEMORATED BY strong's SETTLEMENT. NINTH TERM OF COMMON PLEAS — JANUARY 1, 1811. " Grand Jury — Charles Lofland, foreman, Thomas Beat j, Abra- ham Lyon, James Craig, Geo. Lybarger, Nathl. M. Young, J. Dun- lap, John Morrison, Samuel Wilson, John Herrod, John Cook, James Herrod and James Cunningham. "Indictments presented vs. Wm. Wallace, James Smith, Solomon Geller, John Stilley, John Barney, Francis Spratt, John Fogle- song, Benj. Barney, Andrew Clark and Samuel Arbuckle. "This term continued three days. The minutes show but one Jury Trial : The State of Ohio vs. Henry Smith for passing coun- terfeit money, and the Jury found him not guilty. "Gilman Bryant was granted Licens to retail goods for 8 months, and Abner Ayres to keep a public house one year, " An additional Justice of the Peace was added to the township of Clinton. " The Indictments vs. Francis Spratt and Win. Wallace were disposed of, each being fined $o and costs." TENTH TERM— 29th APRIL, 1811. " Grand Jury — Isaac Bonnet, foreman, Charles Cooper, Robert Wright, John Hawn, Peter Bricker, Timothy Burr, Isaac Dial, Bartholomew Bartlet, Evan Holt, John Trimble, John Wheeler, James Miller, Oliver Strong. KNOX COUNTY. 113 " Indictments were presented vs. David Demmick, Sele Simp- kins, " John Stilley appears and pleads guilty to Indictment for assault and battery found vs. him at last Term, and is fined $4 and costs." The dignity of fighting is increased, and those who indulge in that luxury have to pay higher. " Benjn. Barney, arraigned on charge of assault and battery, pleads not guilty, and on trial Jury so find. "Andrew Clark, on indictment for same offence, is fined $4 and costs. " John Barney stands a jury trial on his indictment, and is found not guilty. " So also Samuel Arbuckle is acquitted. " Licens is granted Benjn. Barney to keep publick house one year at Clinton. " The case of Joseph Foos vs. Archibald Gardner is tried by a Jury, who find ' that Gardner was only to pay for the improve- ments done by Foos on the House.' "Two suits were dismissed, two settled by the parties, and two judgments entered for small sums. "John Sawyer is fined $2 and costs for not attending as a wit- ness. This being the second fine of this character in the Common Pleas Court, the penalty is increased 100 per cent. " Licenses to retail goods are granted to Wm. H. Selby &. Isaac Vore, and Tavern license to Jno. Baxter & Amoriah Watson. " George Sapp is appointed admr. of George Sapp, deed. ; Danl. Sapp &- John Greer, Securities." ELEVENTH TERM— 9th OF SEPT., 1811. " Grand Jury. — ^William Gass, Jabez Beers, Joseph Coleman, Casper Fitting, Abraham Darling, Jacob Young, John Green, Henry Ankeny, James Bryant, Charles Lofland, John Wheeler, David Johnson, Jonathan Hunt, Jr. " Indictments found vs. Sele Simpkins, Thos. McBride, Benj. Rush, Francis Wilkins, John Davis, James Walker, Jr. and James Smith. Four Jury causes came off, to wit ; Andrew Craig vs. Henry McCurb &. James Cunningham, Trespass on the case ; Wm. W. f5 114 HISTORY OP Farqubar vs. James Craig, for debt ; Tbe State of Obio vs. Sele Simpkins, for felony ; and James Smitb vs. Samuel H. Smitb, assumpsit. "The Prosecuting Attorney entered ' nolle ' on Indictment vs. James Smitb for not making Election returns to Fairfield C. " Tbe State vs. Francis Wilkins. Defendant was fined 81 for assault and battery. " Eleven otber causes were disposed of — maiuly dismissed at costs of Pltff. " Jobn Green, Esq., of tbe Metbodist Cburcb, is licensed to marry people so disposed. " Henry Markley was allowed $53.37i for sevices as Commis- sioner. " Mattbew Merrit was allowed $1.75 for services as Commis- sioner. " Robert McMillen was allowed $36.75 for sevices as Commis- sioner. " License to keep public bouse was gi'anted for one year to Micbael Click, Jobn Jones, Jesse Procter, Daniel Ayers, Daniel Demmick. " Store License was granted to Oilman Bryant, Benjn. Rush, Saml. H. Smitb. " On tbe return of Jobn Heekewelder, Jobn McConnel and Moses Koss, Esquires, wbo were appointed by a Joint Ballot of botb Houses of tbe Legislature of tbe State of Obio to fix tbe seats of Justice in tbe Counties of Wayne and Eicbland in tbe State aforesaid, wbicb passed tbe 2Stb of Marcb, 1803, wbo did report for tbe seat of Justice in Richland county aforesaid to be afiixed at tbe town of Mansfield. Signed tbe 20tb day of April, 1809." Settlcinent with the Commissioners of Knox County, to tvit : Ex- penditures from Sept. Term, 1810 ; Paid out to different collectors $62 17.5 •< for wolf scalps 12 00 " for Grand Juries 52 75 " for Pettit Judges in State prosecutions 20 20 " for Witnesses fees in same 88 15 " Sheriff for bis services ^^ 50 " Coroner " " .,. 4 00