Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/467

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY

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��in those days were sustained by voluntary con- tributions. The teacher drew up an article, and stated the conditions upon which he would teach by the quarter, per scholar. At the end of the term, he would present the article to each subscriber and receive his paj*.

The first Justice of the Peace was Andrew Coffinberr}', and the first i)rocess issued by him was against his brother George, for chopping on the Sabbath. This was the first introduc- tion of Sabbath-keeping in Mansfield. Prior to that, the day had l)een set apart for hunting, fishing, shooting at a mark and pitching quoits. A iNIethodist societ}^ was organized about this time, which will be noticed hereafter. Much drhiking was indulged in by the early settlers, or some of them. In those days, they had not learned to adulterate their liquors, and, although their whisky caused drunkenness, it did not poison, as is the case at present. The settlers on a certain occasion assembled together, and enacted a law, that any man who should get drunk should dig up a stump on the street or public square. The result was that, in a short time, the town was clear of stumps. One morn- ing after the passage of the law, a man by the name of Henry T. Bell was observed work- ing at a stump on the square, and was asked if he was drunk. He replied that he was not drunk, but expected to be before night, and wanted to pa}' in advance.

For grain and grinding the settlers all went to Fredericktown and Mount Vernon, and horses and oxen were the only means of transporta- tion.* It took two days or more to make the trip, the only stopping-place being at James McCluer's on the Clear Fork, near Bellville. This James McCluer was one of the first Asso- ciate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the county.

The first tailor was John J. Foos, who after- ward went crazy because one of the first school- teachers. Miss Eliza Wolf, would not marry

♦Beam's mill was then in operation, but ground only coin.

��him. The first shoemaker was Robert Ekey. The first tan-3'ard was started by John Pugh ; the first tinner was Samuel Bukias.

The first death in the township was that of Eli Murphy ; he died in a log tavern kept by his father, on the present site of the Wiler House. This differs from the recollection of Henry Newman, who thinks the first deaths were John Coflfinberry, son of Greorge Coffinberry, aged seven or eight years, and an infant child of John C. Gilkison. They died in 1810 or 1811.

The first saw-mill was built by Clement and Robert Pollock ; it was a tramp- wheel mill, pro- pelled b}' three yoke of oxen, and was located a short distance south of the Presbyterian church ; the first carding-mill was built by Robert Pollock, and was propelled b}' horse- power. If Samuel Martin may be considered the first merchant, Levi Jones was the second ; he succeeded Martin in the little cabin on the northwest corner of the square — the first cabin. Jones brought his goods from Canton. Stark Count_y, in wagons, and dealt principally in whisky, tobacco and groceries. The currency was silver ; gold or paper being seldom seen. Coflfee was worth 50 cents a pound, and corn 12^ cents a bushel.

At the first election, there were not enough electors to fill the otfiees — some held two. The first road was opened from Mansfield to Woos- ter ; the next, to Mount Vernon. In 1812, a mail route was established between Mount Ver- non and the Huron River, passing through Mansfield. The mail was carried by one Lewis Facer, on horseback. He made the round trip in four days, Mansfield being the stopping- place for two nights.

The first post office was estaltlished on a large white-oak log that lay between the two block-houses, on the public square. Here the pioneers gathered to meet the mail-carrier, get their letters and hear the news. If one of them was so fortunate as to get a news- paper, he immediately read it aloud to all his

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