HISTORY OF HOCKING COUNTY, OHIO

Source: 
History of Hocking Valley, Ohio -
Published Chicago: by Inter-State Publishing Co.
1883

CHAPTER XXXIX.
WASHINGTON and BENTON TOWNSHIPS -
A COMBINATION of HILLS and VALLEYS, CAVES and RAVINES.
Pgs. 1071 - 1097

     WASHINGTON - Its Name, Topographically Speaking - Soil and Production - Old Settlers - Population - Schools - Township Officials - Postoffices - Churches - Ilesboro, Ewing Postoffice - New Mt. Pleasant, Point Pleasant - Cemeteries - Biographical

     BENTON - Metes and Bounds - Area - The Wonders of Queer Creek - Agricultural Resources - Mineral Wealth - Indian Traditions - Silver and Lead Mines - Description of the Weird Valley - 458 Acres Excess - The Road to H__l - Cedar and Black Jack Falls - Ash Cave - Bloomingville - Business Interests - Township Offices - Population - Biographical

WASHINGTON.

     Hocking also commemorates the name of the immortal father of our country in the shape of a full-sized congressional township, perfectly formed; that is, perfectly square, six miles each way, and on the high road to a healthy future.  The hills and vales of this township are not to high nor too deep for cultivation, but just enough so to give good drainage.  But little can be said of its general productiveness as its mineral wealth, if it has nay, has a not yet been discovered; its soil is neither remarkably good nor remarkably poor, and cities it has none.
     It belongs to the southern tier of townships in the county, bounded on the north by Falls, on the east by Starr Township, on the south by Vinton County, and on the west by Benton and Laurel townships.  The drainage of this township finds its way to the Ohio River from the southern portion through Raccoon Creek; from the northern through Scott's Fork into the Hocking, and from the western through Queer Creek into the Scioto River.  Settlements began to be made in this township about 1822, and the following ten yeas many families settled here, among them a number of German families in the northern portion of the township.

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SETTLERS, SOIL AND PRODUCTION.

     Among the early settlers are found the following names:  Adam Engle, Frederic Higley, Henry Iles, Wm. Lashley, Jonathan Kimbal, Samuel Johnson, George Garrett, Wells Garrett, Rev. Mr. Poland, Wm. Buzzard and 'Squire Watts, the two latter being especially adepts in hunting bears, deer and other wild game.  The most fertile and tillable portion of the township, as well as the best timber, was to be found in the valley of Scott's Fork, which penetrates it from the north nearly to its center, and consequently the earliest settlers were drawn to this portion.  Although the valleys were the most fertile, the uplands were not barren nor very steep, and they were also taken possession of by some among the first within the township.  The soil is of a sandy nature, fairly adapted to the production of grass, wheat and corn, which, to the present time, are the principal cereals raised.  All the other grains common to this portion of the State are raised, as are also vegetables.  The raising of life stock is one of the leading pursuits of the township, and has added greatly to its wealth.  Cattle of improved breeds and wool from fine sheep are especially noticeable among the products.  Corn is grown less extensively than wheat, and consequently not a great number of hogs are raised.  The orchard products of the township are good.  The land is well cleared up, but where the wood remains some very good timber may still be found.  The mineral productions, as before stated, are not extensive, although considerable iron ore has been taken from the hills in the southern part of the township and hauled in wagons to the Logan and Union furnaces.  This ore is found near the top of the hills.  A thin layer of coal lying several yards below the iron has been worked in several parts of the township, by stripping, and coal thus secured for local purposes.

BACKWARD MOVEMENT.

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SCHOOLS AND TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS.

POSTOFFICES.

CHURCHES.

ILESBOROUGH.

is a hamlet of about fifty inhabitants, situated on a high piece of ground almost exactly in the center of the township.  It was laid out into town lots by Henry Iles, who owned the land in 1835.

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     The Methodist Episcopal Church

EWING POSTOFFICE.

     The German Lutheran Church at Ewing was established as early as 1842 or 1843, by a few German families living in this and Falls Township.  For awhile they held meetings in a

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NEW MT. PLEASANT.

is situated on the southern line of the township, the postoffice, church and several others buildings being across the line in Vinton County.  In 1832 a road was cut through the woods by the early settles, from Uriah Linton's place near the center of the township, to the McArthur road, and at this junction the town of New Mt. Pleasant has since sprung up.  A tannery was built here son after the completion of this road and a store was started a month or so later.  It now has three stores, two of which are in this county.  It has a blacksmith shop, cooper shop and wagon shop, and a school-house in this county, the Methodist Episcopal church being across the line.  The postoffice, also being in Swan Township, Vinton County, is called Swan postoffice.

POINT PLEASANT.

was designed for a village, but never fairly attained that dignity.  It is on section 19, near the eastern border of the township.  It was laid out into town lots, and at one time had a blacksmith shop and a postoffice, but now has neither.  It was never inhabited by more than one or two families at a time.
     Fairview Church, the only United Brethren society now in this township, is situated on section 32, near the southern border of the township.  Very soon after the advent of the Methodist Episcopal missionaries into this wilderness active men of this denomination made their appearance, earnestly preaching the gospel of Christ and securing converts to their own doctrine.  The first meetings were those of a few pioneers, already followers of this faith, at the house of Aaron Hanesworth, Sr.  This was a very active

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and devoted society, having such able preachers as Bishop Edwards, then a young man, and a Mr. Bright, also an enthusiastic worker.  These were also traveling preachers, but they visited this society only irregularly.  The meetings began as early as 1840, but a permanent organization was not effected until about 1845.  Among the members at this time were Aaron Hanesworth, Sr., and wife, George Mauk and wife, Barney Eidson and wife, and James Reed and wife.  They built their first church, a log building, 28x36 feet in size, and situated on the site of the present one, in 1850.  The present church, a frame building, was built in 1867, the dedicatory sermon being preached on the 12th of the following April.  The present Pastor is J. M. Canter, the membership numbering about ninety.  The house was repaired and ten feet added to it in 1881, making now 30x46 feet in dimensions.  It has regular Sabbath-school the year around, superintended at present by J. R. West.

CEMETERIES.

     There are cemeteries at each of the churches described in this township besides one on section 5, at the site of church which was burned there, one on the site of the old Union Church on section 11, and a few private cemeteries on farms.

WASHINGTON BIOGRAPHICAL.
pp. 1076 - 1088

BENTON TOWNSHIP

THE WONDERS OF QUEER CREEK.

     Benton Township lies upon the southern border, being in the south range of townships of the county.  It is bounded on the north by Laurel Township, on the east by Washington Township and Vinton Township, on the east by Washington Township and Vinton County, south by Vinton County, and west by Salt Creek

[Page 1089]

SILVER MINES.

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     The following description of the remarkable valley of Queer Creek is taken nearly verbatim from an old publication of Dr. S. P. Hildreth.

"THE ROAD TO HELL."

     "The valley of Queer Creek, in the southwestern part of Hocking County, is a wild, romantic ravine, in which the stream has cut a passage several miles in extent through the solid rock, forming mural cliffs more than 120 feet in height.  They are also full of caverns and grottoes, clothed with dark evergreens of the hemlock and cedar.  Near the outlet of this rocky and narrow valley there stod a few years since a large beech tree on which was engraved in legible characters, 'This is the road to hell, 1782.'  These words were probably traced by some unfortunate prisoner then on his way to the old Indian town of Chillicothe.  This whole region is full of interesting scenery, and affords some of the most wild and picturesque views in the State of Ohio.  It was once the favorite haunt of the bear, as the grottoes and caverns furnished fine retreats for their winter quarters.  These caverns were also valuable for the vast beds of nitrous earth from which the old hunters, in time of peace, extracted large quantities of saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder.  One of these grottoes, well-known to the inhabitants of the vicinity by the name of 'Ash Cave,' remarkable for the great quantity of ashes it contains, is the most notable feature of the vicinity and receives a separate notice elsewhere.
     "These ravines and grottoes have all been formed in the outcropping edges of sandstone and conglomerate rocks, which underlie the coal fields of Ohio, by the wasting action of the weather and attrition of running water.  The process is yet going on in several streams on the southwest side of Hocking County, where the water has a descent of thirty, forty or even fifty feet at a single pitch, and a fall of eighty or a 100 in a few rods.  The falls of the Cuyahoga and the Hocking rivers are cut in the same geological formation.  The water, in some of these branches, is of sufficient volume to turn the machinery of a saw-mill, and being lined and overhung with the graceful foliage of evergreen shrubs, furnishes some of the wildest and most beautiful scenery.  This is especially so at the 'Cedar Falls' and the 'Falls of Black Jack.'
     "There is a tradition among the credulous settlers of this retired spot that lead ore was found here and worked by the Indians; and many a weary day has been spent in its fruitless search among the

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cliffs which line all the streams of this region.  Ashes and piles of cinders have often been found, and the 'pot holes' in the bench of the sand rock in 'Ash Cave,' evidently worn by the water at a remote period, have been taken for ancient contrivances for smelting the lead."
     The Wyandot Indians had possession of this tract of country, and there is every evidence to show that the valley of Queer Creek was one of their rendezvous, and doubtless a place of retreat form their savage neighbors when hostilities existed between them, and as game was also plenty to secure their supplies, nature could scarcely have furnished a safer retreat.

ASH CAVE.

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SOME PLAIN PROSE.

BLOOMINGVILLE.

     The village was laid out by John Chilcote who owned the land upon which it was located.  Samuel and Christian Eby were the pioneer merchants of the place, their store being on the ground now occupied by George Gill was a drug store.  While not likely to attain a very large size Bloomingville will grow, as it is a very necessary convenience for the farmers in that section of the county.  There are now two general stores, one managed by John Goddard and the other owned by John Quellin.  George Gill owns the drug store.  There are two good country hotels, the Ohio House, by J. W. Iles, and the American, by William Evarts.  Drs. Green and Redfern are the physicians.  Miss Redfern has the only millinery store.  There is one flouring and saw mill owned by Henry

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O. Haynes, and one blacksmith shop, by John A. Smith.  The present Postmaster is George Gill.  The first Postmaster was Herschel Sanford who kept the office at his house about one and one-half miles east of Bloomingville.  It was called at that time the “Rock House” postoffice.  The first Postmaster at Bloomingville was Samuel Wilson, followed in the order named: Dr. Floyd, Samuel Wilson, J. J. Bilgen, Henry Burch, W. F. Englehart, Peter Eby, J. F. Starkey, W. H. Everett, J. T. McCormack, J. C. Wolfe and, as above stated, George Gill, the present officer.  Stamp sales reach about $120 per annum.  The town has a population of 250.  The schools in the township number nine, and the amount of township funds for 1883 is $1,582.18.  The schools are flourishing and the school-houses neat and comfortable.

TOWNSHIP OFFICES, 1883.

     Trustees, Jonathan Shaw, Isaac Hill and Andrew Devon; Treasurer, J. M. Buchanan; Clerk, George Gill; Assessor, H. Chilcote; Constables, Nathaniel Laicht and John Buckingham; Justices of Peace, William Fleming and N. R. Petit.
     The population in 1850 was 933; 1860, 1,349; 1870, 1, 448; 1880, 1,628.  The assessed valuation of this township in 1882 was: Real estate $167,851; personal property, $58,175.

BENTON BIOGRAPHICAL
pp. 1083 - 1097

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