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History of Alexander Township
ALEXANDER, one of the four townships into
which the county was divided on its organization,originally included the
territory which now forms eleven townships, viz : Bedford, Scipio and
Columbia townships of Meigs county; Vinton, Clinton, Madison, Elk and Knox
of Vinton county; and Lee, Lodi and Alexander of Athens county. Its
territorial extent was the same as that of Ames and just twice that of
Athens. The township was located and surveyed in 1795. Athens and
Alexander being the "college townships," were generally spoken of in
connection, and, as Alexander lay South of Athens, it was for a long time
familiarly designated as "Southtown." Among the residents of Alexander as
early as 1805 were Robert Ross, William Gabriel, Amos Thompson, Enos
Thompson, Edward Martin, Isaac Stanley, John, Jonathan, Joseph, Thomas and
Isaac Brooks, Matthew Haning, Thomas and John Armstrong, Jared, Israel and
Martin Bobo,
Caleb Merritt, Joel
Lowther, Michael Bowers, William Strond, Esquire Bowman, Abner Smith,
Charles and Isaiah Shepherd, Thomas Sharp, and Richard and William Reeves.
The population of the township in 1820 was 854; in 1830 it was 882; in
1840 it was 1,451 ; in 1850 it was 1,735; .in 1860 it was 1875.
*Hebbardsville, pleasantly situated in the western part of the
township, is the principal center of population.
Jeremiah Clements and Israel Bobo, noted as hunters in
the early settlement of the county, killed in one season sixty-five bears
in one neighborhood, included in the site of the present town of
Hebbardsville. The same men were fond of whisky, and, to get a supply,
took a horse-load of bear skins to the Ohio river and traded for a barrel
of the desired article. The next difficulty was how to get it home. They
finally cut two poles from the forest and formed a sort of drag to be
drawn by the horse, the largest ends of the poles resting on the ground.
The barrel of whisky was then secured between the poles and thus dragged
through the woods to Alexander township, where they lived. This was the
first barrel of whisky ever brought into Alexander. In after years the use
of it became common and greatly the fashion, but at the present time it is
not kept for sale at any place in the township.
In Alexander the Methodists were, as usual,
the pioneer church. At a very early day they built a meeting
house at "Centre Stake," and the Presbyterians not long after
built one near the site of the present Cumberland Presbyterian church.
There are now in the township three Methodist churches, three Free Will Baptist, one
Old School Presbyterian and one Cumberland Presbyterian.
Near the latter church is located the principal cemetery in the township,
which is being tastefully improved.
Pleasanton, situated in the eastern part of the township, on the road
between Athens and Pomeroy, is a thrifty settlement, containing about
twenty-five families. Simon Pierce built the first house here about 1817.
Other settlers located here from time to time, and in 1851 a post office
was established and the place called Pleasanton. *Hebbardsville
is the spelling adopted by the Post office Department at Washington, and
used in the official records
The
early records of the township were destroyed by fire in the house of John
McKee in 1827 or 1828, but as nearly as can be ascertained the first
trustees were Caleb Merritt, John Brooks, and Thomas Sharp, and Caleb
Merritt the first justice of the peace.
Trustees since 1829.
1829
Ziba Lindley, Sen., Samuel McKee. Nicholas
Misner.
1830 Ziba
Lindley, Sen., Samuel McKee, Elias N. Nichols.
1831
Ziba Lindley, Jun., Samuel McKee, Elias N. Nichols.
1832
Samuel Earhart, Asa Stearns, Benjamin Parks,
Jun.
1833
Samuel Earhart, John V. Brown, Benjamin Parks, Jun.
1834.
Ziba Lindley, Jun., Jesse M. Mahon, Benjamin Parks. Jun. 1835
Ziba Lindley, Jun.. John Brooks, Samuel Earhart.
1836
Daniel Dudley, Ami Conde, Archelaus T. Clark.
1837
Samuel Earhart, John Brooks, Jun., Archelaus Stanley.
1838
Wm. B. Reynolds, John Brooks, Jun., Franklin Burnham.
1839
Wm. B. Reynolds, John Brooks, Jun., Franklin Burnham.
1840
Jobn Rickey, Peter Morse, John W. Drake.
1841
Franklin Burnham, John Grey, A. Love.
1842
Franklin Burnham, J. H. Brooks, A. Love.
1843 J.
W. Drake, Ziba Lindley, Jun., A. Love.
1844 J.
W. Drake,
Ziba Lindley, Jun., A. Burtnett.
1845 J.
W. Drake, Moses Patterson, A. Burtnett.
1846
George Bean, Daniel Teters. A. Burtnett.
1847
George Bean, John H.
Brooks, Abram
McVey.
1848
Archelaus Stanley, John H. Brooks, Abram McVey.
1849
James S. Hawk, A. G. Henderson, William Wood.
1850
John Rickey, Joseph W. Blackwood, John W. Drake.
1851
John Rickey, George Bean, William Wood.
1852
John Rickey, Franklin Burnham, William Wood.
1853
Daniel Teters, Peter Long, William Wood.
1854
Missing.
1855
Alexander Love, James H. Martin, Abram Coe.
1856
Alexander Love, James H. Martin, William Campbell.
1857
Moses Patterson, William Wood, William Campbell.
1858
Moses Patterson, Isaac Stanley, George W. Sams.
1859 E.
N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams.
1860 E.
N. Nichols, John Rickey, George W. Sams.
1861 E.
N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams.
1862 E.
N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams.
1863 E.
N. Blake, Isaiah Bean, Isaac Brooks, Jun.
1864 E.
N. Blake, Isaiah Bean, Isaac Stanley, Jun.
1865 B.
Rickey, Isaiah Bean, Peter Long.
1866 B.
Rickey, Isaiah Bean, Homer Chase.
1867 S.
B. Blake. Isaiah Bean, P. G. Hibbard.
1868
Samuel Blake, Isaiah Bean, William Bean.
Justices of the Peace.
1829
Ami Conde, J. M. Gorsline.
1831
Samuel McKee.
1832 J.
M. Gorsline, Alfred Dunlap, Samuel Earhart.
1834
Josiah Wilson.
1835
William Golden.
1837
Josiah Wilson.
1838
William Golden. 1849 Franklin Burnham.
1850
John Camp, Joseph W. Blackwood.
1852
Franklin Burnham.
1853
John Camp, Joseph W. Blackwood.
1854
Joseph McPherson, George Adair.
1855
Daniel Drake.
1857
Joseph McPherson, A. S. Coc.
1858
Daniel Drake.
1860
James Strite, L. Oliver.
1861 L.
C. Crouch, Wm. B. Dickerson, A. S. Coe, A. C. Murphy, S. H. Kinney.
1863
Leven Oliver.
1864
Wm. Watson, Amos C. Murphy.
1866
Leven Oliver.
1867
Wm. Watson, Amos C. Murphy.
1868
Peter Vorhes.
Personal and Biographical.
Thomas Armstrong, born April
2, 1777, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, came to Athens county in 1799,
and settled in Alexander township, where his son, Elmer Armstrong; now
lives. Mrs. Alice Armstrong, wife of Thomas, was also a native of Greene
county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Col. Wm. Crawford, who served
creditably in the revolutionary and Indian wars.
In March, 1799, Mr.
Armstrong and wife, with their first child, then three months old,
accompanied by Charles Harper, wife and child, put their movable goods,
consisting in part of furniture, live stock, etc., and forty young apple
trees, into a flatboat at the mouth of Muddy creek, on the Monongahela
river, and set out for the northwestern territory. Landing at the mouth of
the Hockhocking, in April 1799, the women and children, and live stock,
were sent forward from this point by land to Athens, while the goods,
provisions, etc., were poled up the river by Messrs. Armstrong and Harper
in a pirogue. There was no road from Athens to Alexander (their
destination), but the woods being tolerably open, they made "a rig" from
poles, to which a horse was hitched, and thus their goods were hauled out.
Provisions were scarce, and the new settlers depended mainly on hunting
for meat, and on the skins of the wild animals, which the men very
generally used, for clothes. Mr. Armstrong himself was never much of a
hunter, but frequently received a share of the meat and skins for packing
the game home for the hunters on his horse. The manner of packing bears
and deer was to take the entrails out, skin the nose of the animal for a
crupper for the horse, place the skin on the back of the horse, tying the
skin of the fore-legs around his breast; then put on a second one, with
the two flesh sides together. Buffalo skins were cut in strips and used
for bed cords, and for harness "tugs" in hauling. On one occasion, Mrs.
Armstrong saw the dogs pursue a deer on to the ice in the creek, near the
house, when, there being no man at hand, she hastened down with an ax and
butcher's knife, and, the deer being helpleSs on the ice, killed it with
the ax and cut its throat with the knife. The skin of this deer was
dressed, made into gloves by Mrs. A., and sent to her friends in
Pennsylvania.
In her youth, Mrs.
Armstrong spent some time in a fort, which was on her father's farm, near
Carmichaeltown, Pennsylvania. During that period the Indians were
peaceable, and, for a time, committed no hostilities. But, one Sabbath
morning, the Reverend John Corbley, a Baptist minister, started to church,
a short distance from the fort, and, when returning to the house for
something which had been forgotten, he and the family were furiously set
upon by Indians. The savages instantly killed the wife and babe, and
scalped the two daughters. Mr. Corbley and two boys made their escape into
the fort. Col. Crawford immediately went with a party in pursuit. He did
not overtake the Indians, but found the woman and child dead, and the two
girls yet alive. They were carried into the fort, their wounds dressed,
and both recovered, married, and raised families, and a daughter of one of
them is now living in St. Mary's, Ohio.
In the summer of
1799, Mr. Armstrong prepared to erect a substantial log house on his
place. On such occasions, the settlers from far and near were expected to
assemble and aid in the labor. It was also an occasion of much mirth and
good feeling; the slender news of the settlement was discussed, and there
was a general interchange of neighborly offices. Among others who came to
assist Mr. Armstrong at his "raising" were John Thompson, then a prominent
citizen of the township, but long since dead, and Wm. Gabriel, Matthew
Haning, and Thomas Jones, who settled in Alexander in 1798 and 1799.
Mr. Armstrong was
for several years lister of taxes in Alexander, and collector of college
rents. He was also Sheriff of the county, and held other positions of
trust in the community. He died October 22, 1853.
Elmer Armstrong,
youngest son of the preceding, was born in Alexander township, January 17,
1812, and now lives on the farm which his father settled upon in 1799. One
of the apple trees, brought from Pennsylvania by his father in 1799, and
planted on the place that year, is still living—measures seven feet seven
and a half inches in circumference, and rarely failS to bear a good annual
crop of apples. Mr. Armstrong married the daughter of Levi Booth, formerly
of Alexander, and has one son and two daughters. He has for many years
been well known as a prosperous farmer and successful dealer in live
stock.
Samuel L. Blake,
born in Middletown, Middlesex county, Connecticut, in 1779, removed in
1816 to Alexander township, where he lived the rest of his life. He was a
thorough farmer, a man of excellent character and sound judgment, and
assisted largely in molding the society of the township. He died March 16,
1859, leaving a large number of descendants, some of whom are well known
in the county.
A large family of
Hibbards, originally from Vermont, came to Athens county at an early day.
Elisha and John in 1816, Alanson and Elias and their sister Pamela
(afterwards Mrs. Sabinus Rice), in 1817, and Dr. James S. Hibbard in 1823.
The Rev. Ebenezer Hibbard, eldest brother of this family, who was pastor
of a church in Vermont forty years, came to Alexander township in 1831,
and settled at Hebbardsville, giving his name, slightly altered, to the
village. He preached in this neighborhood some time, and then removed to
Amesville and preached there till his death in 1835.
Capt. Amos
Northrop, born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, December 19, 1796, came
to this county in the autumn of 1814, and ultimately settled in Alexander
township, where he still resides in the town of Hebbardsville. In early
life Capt. Northrop developed some military taste, He served in the war of
1812, and, after coming to this county, was captain of the militia for
several years. He is now deputy sheriff of the county, and also coroner,
which last position he has held for a number of years. Though in his
seventy-third year he is an active and efficient man.
William Sickles,
born in Pennsylvania, May 1st, 1802, came to Athens county in 1805, with
his father's family, and settled on the Thomas Grim farm in Waterloo.
After two years they removed to Alexander and settled on the Peter Long
farm, where they lived about twenty- three years, and afterwards several
years again in Waterloo. When a young man Mr. Sickles has killed as many
as five deer in one day. In one autumn he killed in the aggregate
forty-nine deer. Joseph Bobo, of Lodi, and Abram Gabriel each killed in
that season the same number—forty-nine. He remembers when there was but
one house on the road between Alexander and the present town of Jackson,
then called Scioto Salt Works. He has ground a great many bushels of corn
in a hand mill made of two stones; the upper one revolved on the lower by
means of a short handle let into the edge.
In the year 1817 John M.
Chase, a native of Danville, Maine, moved to the county, and settled as a
farmer in Alexander township, where he resided till his death in 1860. Of
his family two sons and four daughters are now living in this and the
adjoining county of Meigs.
Gardiner F. Chase,
his son, born in Danville, Maine, in 1811, came to Alexander in 1817, and
now lives on the farm on which his father settled in that year.
William Gorsline,
born on Long Island, New York, in 1755, came to Athens county and settled
in Alexander township in 1817. He brought with him a family of three sons
and three daughters, of whom only one (Mr. J. M. Gorsline, of Lee
township) survives. Mr. Gorsline was a man of fine intelligence. He died
July 7th, 1825.
Abram and Jacob
McVey, brothers, came to Athens from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in
1832, and settled in Alexander township. Some of their descendants are
still living in the county. About the same time a large emigration from
Washington and Greene counties, Pennsylvania, came to Athens and settled
mostly in Alexander. Among them were Joseph Post, Moses, William and John
Patterson and their families, Jacob and David Cook, Dennis Drake, Peter
Vorhes and family, of whom five sons are living in the county, John Gray,
Elijah Brown and his sons Henry and Jerry, Lawrence Blakeway, Cephas and
Zenas DeCamp, John Winget, Joseph Barmore, William Russell, David Pierce,
John Cowan, John Brownlee, Ziba Lindley, Sen., and family, Elisha Jolly,
William E.. Bane, Absalom Conkey, John Clutter, Daniel Espy, Solomon
Leighty, Amzi Axtell, Edward Fletcher, Samuel Lively, William Hoaglan,
Abram Enlow, Joseph Parker, Ludlow Squires, Hezekiah Topping, and Henry
Carey. They formed a valuable class of citizens, distinguished for thrift
and taste in the management of farms, stock, etc.
Source: History of Athens County, Ohio and
Incidentally of the Ohio Land Company and the First Settlement of the
State at Marietta with personal and biographical sketches of the early
Settlers, narratives of pioneer adventures, etc, Charles M. Walker,
published in Cincinnati, Ohio by Robert Clarke & Co.,
1869
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