HISTORY OF HOCKING COUNTY, OHIO

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

CHAPTER XLI.
LAUREL, GOOD HOPE and MARION TOWNSHIPS -
A Laurel Wreath of History Beautifully Blended.
Pgs. 1131 - 1157

LAUREL - THE LAUREL BUSH - TOPOGRAPHY - BOUNDARY - EARLY SETTLEMENT - DEATH - FIRST PREACHER - CHURCHES - SCHOOL-HOUSE - OFFICIAL RECORD - GIBISONVILLE - POPULATON - THE FAMOUS ROCK HOUSE.

GOOD HOPE - ITS BOUNDS - VALLEYS PRODUCTIVE - OFFICIAL RECORD - ROCK BRIDGE VILLAGE - ROCK BRIDGE - CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

MARION - TOPOGRAPHY AND BOUNDARY - AREA - PIONEER SETTLERS - FIRST THINGS - POPULATION - VALUATION - REAL AND PERSONAL - CHURCHES - SCHOOLS - BIOGRAPHICAL

LAUREL.

THE LAUREL BUSH.

     Laurel Township is bounded on the north by Good Hope Township, on the east by Falls and Washington, on the south by Benton, and on the west by Perry.  It took its name from the great quantities of the laurel bush which is to be found within its bounds.  Its surface is very hilly and broken by deep ravines and steep precipices.  The soil is composed of black loam and sand and is excellent for the production of cereals and much of the land is very good for grazing.
     The first settlement was made in 18112 by three men, a Mr. Smith and two brothers named Koons.  They came here to escape being drafted into the army of the war of 1812 and located on Laurel Creek.  Among the first settlers were George Kinser, Robert McBroom, Josiah Cantwell, John White, John Fox, Daniel Shesler and a Mr. Grim, with their families.  John White began the manufacture of gun-powder, and had a mill for that purpose a short distance west of where Gibisonville now stands.

ITEMS.

     The first death in the township was that of the son of John White who was killed by the explosion of the powder-mill.

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     The first school-house was built in 1829, on Laurel Creek, section 29, and the first teacher was Robert McBroom.
     The first sermon was preached by Rev. David Dutcher in the cabin of 'Squire McBroom.
     The first church was a Methodist Episcopal, built in about 1837, where Gibisonville is now located.
     The first township election was held in the log school-house, and Robert McBroom was elected the first Justice of the Peace.
     The first mill was built in about 1828 by Levi McCullon on Laurel Creek, near where an old mill now stands.  It was a saw mill run by water power.
     The first store was opened by Kennedy Linn in the building adjoining Joel Gibison's residence in 1846.
     There is perhaps no township in the county where peace and sobriety reigns to a greater extent than in Laurel.  There are no saloons or places where intoxicating liquors are sold.

GENERAL AND OFFICIAL.

     The citizens are generally thriving and industrious, and there are many well-to-do farmers, and a few very large land-holders.
     The present township officers are: Trustees, David Howdyshell, A. H. Evans and Joseph Bell; Justices of the Peace, T. D. Woods, John Koon and Thomas Hutchinson; Treasurer, George Krim; Clerk, F. W. Dolison; Assessor, Jacob A. Cupp.
     Laurel Township is well supplied with public schools, having nine within its borders, all of which have good houses.  The township school fund for Laurel is 1882 was $1,248.38.  It has four churches, all supported by a strong membership.

     The Methodist Episcopal Church was

     The United Brethren Church

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dwellings and in school houses.  In about 1858 they erected their present church building.  At present the society consists of twenty-four members.  Their minister is Rev. M. Wright.

     The Baptist Church

     The Disciple Church

GIBISONVILLE

was laid out by Samuel and William Gibison, from whom it derived its name in 1840 and at the present time has about sixty inhabitants.  It is located on section 21, very near the center of the townships.  Its business interest consists of one general store, kept by T. D. Wood; one physician, W. G. Dawson; one blacksmith shop, one wagon ship, one nursery and a shoe shop.  There is a postoffice at this point, Mr. Joel Gibison being the present Post-Master.  It also has two churches and a village school, supported independent of the township.  The school fund for the village in the the year 1882 amounted to $278.26.  The assessed valuation of the village school district in 1882 was: Real property, $27,601; personal property, $22,992.  Population of the township in 1850 was 1,126; 1860, 1,322; 1870, 1,343, and in 1880, 1,292, showing a slight falling off.  The assessed valuation in 1882 was: Real estate, $159,660; personal property, $48,404, a total of $208,064.

ROCK HOUSE.

a wall of massive granite rock rising to the height of 166 feet, covered here and there with fern and moss.  It is a veritable rock house resting upon pillars of sandstone, about midway between the ravine below and the top of the rock-bluff, and behind those pillars a large room, perhaps a hundred feet long, thirty feet wide, and about the same height, rising like the roof of a house,

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highest in the center.  The massive oak, the tall and graceful pine, and their less renowned wooded brothers; the bold bluffs, the deep ravines with the rock bottoms and pearly streams; the laurel, and the moss and fern clinging in their soft embrace to the points of jutting rock - all these make a sight wonderful to behold and stand out in living reality of a masterpiece of Nature's work.  From the top of the cliff you can look down on the top of the loftiest trees.  The shelving rock is a resting place; the deep ravine is gloomy and has a weird-like appearance in the evening twilight.

BIOGRAPHICAL