Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/659

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUI^TY.

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��and hunter, and erected his cabin near Reising- ers Corners, west of town. Rev. James Dunlap came m 1822, and Nathan Merriman in 1824, the latter erecting, in the following jea,v, the first distillery in Polk Township. It was located near the spring, before mentioned, and was fa- miliarly known throughout the settlement as the " still house."

About the same year, the first gi'ist-mill in the township was ei'ected by John Hibner on the land now owned by John Burgener. The buhrs were made of " nigger heads." Near the railroad bridge may yet be seen the ruins of this mill. The next mill was built by Asa Hosford, a few years after, on his farm southwest of Gallon, which is yet in operation and owned by him.

The first hotel was kept by Asa Hosford in 1824, on the J. R. Clymer property west of town. The large orchard adjoining the prop- erty was raised from the seed by Mr. Hosford. He was elected in 1826, the first Justice of the Peace, and was, from the time of his location, one of the prominent men, visiting the State capital frequently in the interest of this section, which owes much of its prosperity to his efforts. He circulated a petition to have a road cut through the woods from Mansfield to Upper Sandusk3\ and was afterward instrumental in getting a north and south road, from Columbus to Lower Sandusk}-, through this settlement. The opening of these roads aided largely in de- veloping and settling the countr}'. These roads intersect at Reisinger's Corners, and Main street, in G-alion, was formed by that portion of the east and west road, which passed within the present limits of the corporation. Its original course was, however, changed nearly fifty years ago. When laid out, it diverged to the north- ward at the corner of East Main and North Co- lumbus streets, following the meanderings of Whetstone Creek to a point beyond the present eastern limits of Gallon.

The first schoolhouse was erected near the residence of C. S. Crim, on West Main street.

��in 1822. It was of round logs, and was mod- eled after the generality of cabins in those days. The first school teacher was David Gill, who, however, only taught two or three weeks, when Asa Hosford took the school and continued it to the end of the term. The next schoolhouse was of "scutched logs " (which means that the logs were lightly hewed on the outside after the building was erected) and stood on the ground now occupied by the old graveyard on West Main street. This building was also used for religious worship. This building ha\'ing been destroyed by fire, the next school was taught in a log building on the site of Joel Riblet's residence.

The first religious meeting in the township was held in Benjamin Leveredge's cabin, near the spring. It was a Methodist meeting, at which Russel Bigelow, who organized many churches through this county, in an early da}', preached a most eloquent sermon. Though possessing a limited education, Bigelow was very eloquent, and one of the most remarkable of the pioneer preachers.

Gallon was laid out September 10, 1831, by Michael and Jacob Ruhl, whose father had en- tered several quarter-sections of land in the neighborhood. The original plat consisted of thirty-five lots, and extended from the Ristine Block, which covers Lot No. 1, to the alley west of the old frame meeting-house on West Main street.

The first post office was established in 1824, and Horace Hosford was first Postmaster. Mr. Hosford says if they averaged one letter per day, they did well. When this office was es- tablished, the inhabitants could not agree upon a name for the town. It had previously been numerously and variously named, but was best known as Goshen, Greensburg, Moccasin and Hardscrabble. The matter was submitted to the Postmaster General, who christened it Gallon.

The first store was kept by Horace Hosford. who carried a general stock. At this time, the

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