FRANKLIN

     The portion of this township lying east of the Tuscarawas, was surveyed by Ebenezer Buckingham, in February, 1800. The Tuscarawas was then the boundary between the United States and the Indians.—which was the reason why the balance of the township was not surveyed at the same time. It will be recollected that the Indian title east of the Cuyahoga and Tus­carawas, was extinguished by the treaty of Fort McIntosh, in 1785. Their title to the territory west of those rivers was not extinguished till the treaty of Fort Industry, in 1805. It is a singular feature in these treaties, that the Indians, in the first treaty, ceded the territory east of those rivers, and in the last treaty, all west of those rivers, but have never ceded the rivers, the fee of which is still in the Indians.

     This township is called Town 2, Range 10—as Lawrence town­ship, in Stark county, lying immediately south of it, is called Town 1, Range 10. In forming ranges, the United States began, as did the Connecticut Land Company, at the east lice of the State, on the base of the Western Reserve, or latitude 40 deg. North—and every six miles west was a range, numbering from east to west. The townships on the east side, or first ranges, counted from the Ohio river north, to the base of the Reserve.

     Thus the north township, in the first range, in Stark county, on the base line of the Reserve is Lexington, or Township 19, Range 6, lying nineteen townships, of six miles each, or 114 miles north of the Ohio river, and six townships, of six miles each, or 36 miles west of the State line. The townships thus continued to be numbered until they reach the "Ohio Land Com­pany's" purchase, when they count from the north line of that purchase. This regularity continues until we reach Range 10, when we find the north township, (Franklin,) numbered 2, thus making two townships of that number, as well as of number 1, of that range. The cause of that was, that when the survey was made, and the townships and ranges numbered, in 1800, there was but a fraction of this township, lying east of the Tus­carawas, that belonged to the United States—all west of the river belonging to the Indians.

   In running the west line of Range 10, they struck the Tus­carawas in Lawrence township, next south of Franklin, and there not being enough for a township in either, they were called "Fractions 1 and 2, in Range 10." In 1807, after the Indian title was extinguished, the territory west of the river was sur­veyed by Joseph H. Larwell, and enough added to that on the east side of the river to make full towns of six miles each—but the numbers have never been changed; so that what originally stood for the number of fractions, now stand for the number of these townships.

     So advantageous was the situation of this township, on the waters of the Tuscarawas and Chippeway rivers, (then called Indian Creek,) that within one year after the Indian title was extinguished, a wealthy Quaker, by the name of Richard Carter, living in Wheeling, purchased the land, and employed John Harris, Esq., now of Canton, and David L. McClure, who died in 1820, near Pittsburgh, to lay out a town at the junction of these rivers, about three-fourths of a mile below the present town of Clinton. This was done in September, 1806, and the town was christened Cartersville, but it hardly survived the christen­ing, as it was overflowed by every freshet.

     Of the actors of that early day, John Harris, Esq., who laid out Cartersville and Joseph H. Larwell, Esq., who surveyed the land west of the river, alone remain. Mr. Harris is the oldest resident indeed, of Stark county, except Esq. Downing, of Sandy, near Waynesburgh; Downing having came into that county, (then a part of Columbiana,) in the fall of 1805, and Harris in 1806. Mr. Harris has subsequently acted a conspicuous part in the County and State, having held the offices of assessor, judge and representative, with various other posts of honor. He has a vein of humor that makes him an agreeable companion, and a nice sense of honor that makes him a valuable friend and exemplary citizen.

     In September, 1815, Mahlon and Aaron Stewart laid out a village in this town, on the north-west quarter of section 26, and called it Manchester. It is a stirring town, on the main road from Akron to Fulton and Massillon; and from the eastern part of the State to the canal, and western country. It is three miles east of the canal.

     In March, 1816, a man by the name of David Harvey laid out a village, on the south side of Chippeway river, about half a mile above Cartersville, and near a mile westerly from Clinton. It being a beautiful location, lots sold rapidly, and a very pretty village soon sprung into existence. Sickness, caused by swamps in its vicinity, however, soon compelled the inhabitants to aban­don it--and when I visited it in 1827, stores, houses, shops and private dwellings, were entirely deserted, and I had to go, over half a mile to learn its name, or the cause of its desertion. It is now razed to the ground, and the plow-share annually passes over it, so that not even a foundation marks the former existence of Savannah.

     Clinton, now one of the most flourishing villages in the county, was laid out by William Harvey, on the north-east corner of section 31, and an addition to it by William Christmas and James W. Lathrop, on the east half of the south-east fractional section 30, and the south part of section 29, in February, 1816. It then appeared like a hopeless swamp—and even so little of promise was there, that the whole village was sold for taxes as late as 1837. Soon after, however, business took a new start and Clin­ton, Orradeen and Pumroy, forming one village, sprung into existence, and have been since rapidly increasing in business and importance.

     Orradeen was laid out in April, 1835, by Gorham Chapin, on fractional section 29, north of Pumroy, and adjoining it—both of which lay east of, and adjoining Clinton.

     Pumroy was laid out in June, 1837, by William and Francis Pumroy, on section 32. The three now form but one village, and these sectional names are giving way to the general name of Clinton.

     Situated in one "of the first wheat-growing sections of the State, and surrounded by the very best bituminous coal—with the canal, Tuscarawas river, and the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad running through it, Clinton is destined to become one of the important towns of the West.

     In 1838, Michael Becker, from the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, settled in Clinton. At that time there were but three coal-beds open, and the sales did not justify the employment of more than two or three hands in mining. A miner by profession, Becker soon discovered and opened other beds, and by his energy and perseverance, gave impetus to the business until the exports of coal now exceed 60,000 tons annually.

     Gorham Chapin who laid out Orradeen, was from Mass., and the son of Dr. Chapin, of Buffalo, an officer of the war of 1812, who, having been taken prisoner, and on his way to Montreal with his fellow-prisoners, headed an insurrection of the prisoners, took the transport in which they were conveyed, and their guard, and brought them to the United States. Gorham died in 1841. He owned a saw-mill near the present guard-lock, in Clinton, and long after his death, the superstitious believed they could hear his spook filing the mill-saw, amid the fitful gusts of midnight, when ghosts most love to walk abroad.

     Mr. Harvey left there and died in Jefferson county. Mahlon Stewart, who laid out Manchester, resides in Harrison county. Christmas and Lathrop, who laid out the addition to Clinton, have been dead several years, and William Pumroy died the past year—being at the time of his death, superintendent of the Ohio canal.

     The first settler in the township was Christopher Johnson, commonly called Yankee Johnson. He came into the township in the spring of 1814, and settled on the farm now occupied by Henry Sours, in the east part of the township. He subsequently sold out, and removed his family to Steubenville, where he left them and absquandered.

     Thomas Johnson, from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and William Hallowell, of Steubenville, came in next. They arrived on the 20th of April, 1814. Thomas Johnson settled on section 27, from which he subsequently removed into Norton, where he settled at what is known as "Johnson's corners," where he died in 1836. He was a native of the county of Tyrone, in Ireland, and came to America in 1797.

     Hallowell settled on the north-west quarter of section 28, near where Clinton now is, where he remained till 1833, when he sold out and removed to Richfield, where he yet resides in a vigorous old age.

     In 1814, John Johnson, a son of Yankee Johnson, was born—being the first white child born in the township.

     The first couple married in the township were John Hick and Catherine Flickener, in 1815. They were transient persons, and have gone to parts unknown. The second couple was Jacob Sour to Mary Harter, in 1816. They are both living, having removed to Seneca county from Franklin township last spring.

     In 1817, the population becoming sufficiently numerous to re­quire it, a school was commenced at Manchester by Joseph Mishler, being the first school taught in the township. He was from Lancaster, Pa., and now resides in Springfield. He taught in a log house, built for a church, standing where the "steeple house" now does, west of the main corners, where all the "young ideas" in the township were collected. They numbered about fifteen.

     The first death in the township was the wife of Jacob Balmer. She died in the summer of 1815, from the bite of a rattle snake. They lived on the farm now occupied by Adam Marsh.

     In 1816-17, George Rex erected a mill at the outlet of Turkey-foot Lake, a part of which is in Green and a part of it in this township. This Lake now being converted, by the State, into a reservoir for feeding the canal, the mill site is ruined.

     This township was organized in April, 1817. The first trustees were Jacob Hollinger, who yet resides in the township, Michael Bradenburgh, who died in 1835, and Mahlon Stewart, who now resides in Harrison county. Jacob Balmer and David Harvey were elected the first Justices of the Peace. Balmer is living in Jackson township, and Harvey died in Jefferson county, several years ago. Balmer kept the first store in the township, and John Snider, a German, the first tavern. They were at Manchester.

     The first physician in the township was Levi Brooks, who now resides at Oberlin—though Dr. John Bonfield, of Canton, was the popular doctor, until about the year 1821, when, in consequence of a rumor that the small pox was raging through the country, he was employed to vaccinate all in the township who were liable to take it. The Doctor had been unfortunate in obtaining his vaccine matter from a Scotchman, and instead of the kind-pox, he gave them all the itch. This circumstance, though unintentional and wholly unavoidable on the part of the Doctor, gave his popularity a dreadful scratching.

     Summit county was erected in 1840, taking all but two town­ships from the Reserve; Franklin and Green were taken from Stark. There was great opposition to it from Stark county gen­erally, and from the inhabitants of these towns in particular. The idea of leaving what they familiarly called "Old Molly Stark," and being attacked to " Cheesedom," was terrific; and an old lady remarked that she did not care so much about it on any other account, as on account of sickness; she had heard it was very sickly up North, and she did not like to be set off to it, but wanted to remain in Stark county where it was healthy.

     Since the erection of this county, this township has had the honor of furnishing for it two Judges—Hon. Hugh R. Caldwell, of Clinton; who was Judge from 1840 to 1847, and Hon. John Hoy, of Manchester, who was elected in 1847, and served until the office of Associate Judge was abolished by the new Constitu­tion. They are both self-made men; both from near Gettys­burgh, Adams county, Pa. Judge Caldwell was born in 1797, and Judge Hoy in 1799.

     Judge Caldwell worked on a farm, in a tavern, and a tan-yard until he was of age—when by his own exertions and energy he acquired an education that hard labor had previously prevented. In 1824, he was engaged as private tutor in the family of Thomas Thornton, of Thornton Hill, Culpepper county, Va. Col. Thornton married a daughter of Augustine Washington, the only niece of General George Washington. He remained in this family, as a tutor for about two years, when, by the offer of a high salary, he was induced to abandon it, and take charge of a College in Huntsville, Alabama. Here he found that his expense overrun his salary.

     He received a salary of $2,000 a year, and for board, ser­vants, and keeping of a horse, he was charged $27 a week. He soon after left, and came to Ohio in 1826, located in Canton, where he remained till 1829, when he removed to Franklin, where he has since resided, devoting himself to his profession. He is eminent as a physician—a fine scholar—a ready debater, and an honest man. Frank in all things, he speaks what he thinks, and thinks what he pleases.

     Judge Hoy, like Judge Caldwell, was brought up on a farm until he was 18 years of age, when he was apprenticed to the trade of a stone mason. At the age of 21 he married, and “traveled to Ohio," being so poor that he had nothing to move. He stopped over winter in Lawrence township; Stark county—the next season removed to Tuscarawas township, near where Massillon now is—and in the spring of 1824, removed to Manchester, where he yet resides. Here he commenced tavern keeping, which he continued for near 20 years, when, from conscien­tious motives, he abandoned the business of making or selling liquor; as he felt it was wrong to distil grain for men when he knew their families were suffering at home, for the want of it for bread.

     He was one of the first Commissioners of the county, several years a Justice, and by his energy and prudence he has accumu­lated a large fortune. For the last five or six years, he has kept a strictly temperance house, forming an enviable home for the weary traveler, who wants rest and quiet.

     The Tuscarawas, (or Tuscarora,) river, which runs through this township, is the head water of the Muskingum. Rising on the summit that divides the water of Lake Erie from those that flow into the Ohio, it so nearly interlocks with the head waters of the Cuyahoga, that they are connected by an artificial chan­nel, and a portion of the waters of the Tuscarawas flow through the Ohio canal into Lake Erie and through the Gulf of St. Law­rence into the ocean; -while another portion, following its natural channel through the Muskingum, Ohio, and Mississippi, enters the Ocean through the Gulf of Mexico.

     The river derives its name from an Indian tribe formerly in­habiting the banks of the Neuces, in North Carolina, but who came to the North in 1712 and joined the Iroquois, forming the sixth Nation.

     The river must ever be associated with the most melancholy reflections. On its banks were once the peaceful and favorite abode of the native Indians. A more beautiful stream does not exist, and the red man was the happiest of his kind.

     In 1772 the Moravians, or United Brethren, as they call them­selves, established missionaries among them, and the Indians became christians. Three of these missionary stations existed on the banks of this river. Shoenbrun, (afterwards called Go­shen,) near New Philadelphia; seven miles south of that was Gnadenhutten, and five miles south of that was Salem. Here the Indians, with the fullest confidence in the friendship of their white christian brethren, dwelt in peace and security until March 1782, when they were induced, under professions of friendship, to surrender up their arms to a band of assassins from Western Virginia and Pennsylvania under Col. David Wil­liamson, who then seized and pinioned them, and after confining them over night in two houses, rightly denominated "The Slaughter Houses," led them out in the morning by couples, knocked them clown and butchered them ! In this bloody mas­sacre, 40 men, 32 women, and 34 children were killed, whose bodies were piled up in the slaughter houses and they set on fire. The remnant of these christian Indians, who by absence escaped the massacre, were subsequently collected together, and a tract of land donated to them by Congress, embracing their former towns. They returned to witness the bleaching bones of their families, and again began the work of civilization. But the avarice of the white compelled them to sell out their lands, and leave the country. In August, 1823, a treaty was held at Gnadenhutten, between Gen Cass, en the part of the United States, and the agents and chiefs of the Indians, by which the United States agreed to give them 21,030 acres in some of their territories and an annuity of $103.

     This annuity was so clogged with provisos as to render it valueless, and the poor christian Indian, ruined by his faith in the white man and in the United States justice, left the country, and joined the Moravian Indians in Canada. In 1824, Congress passed an Act to survey out the lands so acquired on the Tusca­rawas, and they were sold. A German farmer cultivates the ancient site of Shoenbrun—a Company is taking coal out of the hill that overlooked their village—and nothing now remains of the Indians of the Tuscarawas but a small stab, covering a grave, on which is inscribed

"DAVID ZEISBERGER,

who was born 11th April, 1721, in Moravia, and departed this Life 7th November, 1808, aged 87 years, 7 months and 6 days. This faithful servant of the Lord labored among the Indians, as a Missionary, during the last sixty years of his life."