Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/692

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��log cabin, and occupied by Enoch Hart. This lot is now occupied by the residence of Mr. McGowan. The next building probalily was the hotel which occupies the southeast corner. This was erected by John Cook in 1848, and was used by him as a tavern for a term of years, after which it several times changed owners.

The first schoolhouse was built of logs in 1835, and was afterward succeeded by a frame. The present house is a frame, two stories high, but the school consists of only one department. The post office was first established a mile east of the village about 1847, and named Andrews in honor of the first Postmaster. It still re- tains the same name. John Cook was the second Postmaster, and has held the position the most of the time since. The route in those early daj^s extended from Mansfield to Dela- ware, over which the stage coach ran regularl}', carrying the mail and passengers.

The United Brethren Church is the only re- ligious institution of this community. The edifice stands in the northwest extremity of the town. It is commodious, well finished and furnished, and crowned with a good bell. The society was organized a])out 1850, and held services for a time in the schoolhouse ; the}' were soon driven to a private house by perse- cution, where they continued to assemble until the meeting-house was built. Among the min- isters were Revs. Hiskey, Tabler, Slaughter and Father George. The original members were Messrs. Kleinfelter, Miller, Silver, Davis, Lane, Clymer and various others. There are at pres- ent about sixty-five members. The village affords two physicians, J. A. Thoman and J. L. Graves. Nearly all the early settlers of this region have passed from the arena of con- flict to the place of rest, and their posterity re- main to fill the vacant places. Among these is John Cook, who is previously mentioned as a prominent citizen. He was born in the town- ship on his father's farm. He came to Will-

��iamsport in 1847, having married Miss Mitchell the previous year, and has been identified with the interests of the village ever since. His father, John Cook, Sr., was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1790, and removed to Richland Coun- ty in 1811, locating on the farm three miles south of Williamsport, now known as the Cook farm. He raised a large famil3^ Several sons still live in Congress. He died in 1844. Will- iam Andrews was one of the early pioneers. He came to Congi-ess in 1835. He was the first Postmaster, and kept store several years in the village, and finally removed to the West about 1850. Peggy Mitchell, an aged and much respected pioneer, lives near the village ; she has been in the vicinity since 1830. Her husband, Dan Mitchell, who died in 1879, was a very prominent man. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number of years. This couple were blessed with ten children, and Mrs. Mitchell, who is now about ninety years old, retains her vigor of body and mind in a remarkable degree. William Lavering settled on Owl Creek in the earl}- da3's. He built a horse grist-mill, which was the only thing prac- ticable then, and the settlers for miles around brought their little grists of wheat and corn on horseback, hitched in their horse, ground their own grain, then mounted and returned home. Mr. Lavering built the first saw and grist mill in the township about 1815, on Owl Creek. Enoch Hart was among the first pioneers. He entered the piece of land embracing the town site, and afterward sold it to Mr. Daken. He died in 1877. About two and a half miles northwest is Mount Tabor chapel, the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church. An at- tractive edifice occupies a considerable eleva- tion, surrounded by a beautiful cemetery-. This society was organized many years ago, and for a time flourished, but suffered a serious decline so that for ten or twelve years the place was not supplied with preaching. In 1875, there was a revival which' resulted in the building of

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