Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/559

 HISTORY OF RICHLAXD COUNTY

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��Son carry a stock of dry goods, groceries and general merchandise, keeping what is called a "country' store," a general assortment of of everything country people want ; W. W. Lemon carries a large stock of the same class of goods. These stores are well sustained, and business does not appear to be overdone.

In 1850, the population of the township was 1,719, all white; ten years later, it numbered

��1,765. In 1870, it is found to have decreased in numbers for some reason, the census show- ing a population of 1,572. Probably the war of the rebellion had something to do with this decrease. Considering the extent of available territory' in this country, and the cheap lands of the West, anj^ great changes in the popula- tion cannot be expected.

��CHAPTER LIV.

PERRY TOWNSHIP.

Description — Streams — Organization — Early Officers — Subsequent Territorial Changes — Early Settlers

— Mills — Villages — Churches — Lost Run.

��PERRY is one of the original surveyed or Congressional townships, and contains (in both counties) thirty-six sections. Its surface is less diversified than that of either of the other two townships bordering on Knox County, and more so than its western neighbor, Congress, which at one time belonged to Richland County. This township may be regarded as the table land and end of the broken country that char- acterizes Eastern Ohio, and furnishes some of the head -waters of the Clear Fork of the Mohican River, and the Owl Creek, which makes it the dividing ridge between these two streams ; and it also forms a part of the dividing ridge between the Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. The Owl Creek cuts diagonally across the southwest corner of the township, and has several tributaries from it. The Clear Fork flows almost east, through the second tier of sections from the north, after the union of the branches into which it is divided. The de- clivity toward the Owl Creek is rapid, and ver}^ broken, while toward the Clear Fork it is com- parativel}' gentle, with a surface more smooth. The most fertile soil in the township is along the streams in the northern pai't. Originally a

��large part of the township was covered with forest, principally beechwood, while the ground was covered with a dense growth of nettles, and the decayed accumulation of man}' yeaxs formed a surface soil, which could be easih* plowed with a boot-heel, and which disguised the true nature of the soil to the inexperienced. This variety of land was very inviting to the pioneers who knew nothing of the nature of beech soil, and man}' were in this manner caused to pass over the most valuable tracts and enter inferior land. The soil is generally argillaceous or clayey, and all the ordinaiy crops are successfully grown, where care is ex- ercised in maintaining its fertility, in connection with proper cultivation, and its entire surface is available for cultivation. There is more cleared land in this township than in Jefterson, although it was settled later.

In the organization of the county, Perrj- Township was embraced in the election district known as Jefferson, the boundaries of which contained six Congi'essional townships. Bj' an act, September 5, 1814, it was reduced to three of the original townships, and the citizens of Peny participated with Jefferson in one election.

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