Village Settlements
Lack of space precludes anything but a brief state- ment of the village settlements in our county. The dates here given are the official dates of the platting of the towns. The villages usually existed before the plat was made. Their growth was generally slow and the several additions were made as the times demanded. It is only in western states that the town is built on paper first. Our mining towns have been of rapid growth and some of them have declined quite as rapidly. The nucleus of our villages was generally a country store, a ford in a stream, or a grist-mill. Then would come the blacksmith, the cabinetmaker and shoemaker. The store often served as tavern. Liquid refreshments were handed out over the same counter with calico and84
nails. There were many such settlements throughout the county, with such dignified names as "Beanville," "X Roads," "Dogtown," "Hard Scrabble," etc., that were never platted. New Reading, in Reading Township, is in reality the oldest town in the county. It was not laid out until 1805 and thereby lost its distinction of official priority for Hanover was platted by Jacob Ditto in 1804. Its life was short. One of the first acts of the Common Pleas Court, upon the organization of the county, was the annulment of the Hanover town plat. New Read- ing was originally called Obermeyersettle, or, in Eng- lish, Overmeyertown, from its founder, Peter Over- meyer, who was among the first settlers in the county. The town received its name from Reading, Pennsyl- vania, the home of many of its first citizens. When the county was organized in 1817 New Reading was a competitor for the county seat. It is said that this is the reason for the two rows of sections being taken off of Richland Township, Fairfield County, and given to Reading, thus making the latter a 48-square mile town- ship. The town was so near the edge of the surveyed township that it was thought to be detrimental to New Reading's ambition. At the end of the first decade, Reading Township possessed the entire trio of Perry County villages. Somerset dates from 1810. It was settled about six years previously by Fink and Miller, who were Penn- sylvania Germans. Fink's Tavern afterward became. famous for it was a mid-way stop between Zanesville and Lancaster. On account of this fact the town was at first called Middletown. The tavern stood near the site of the present school building. The town was named for Somerset, Pennsylvania. When the county85
was organized in 1817, Somerset was one of the four towns asking to be the capital. Because of its central position to the majority of the people, it was selected. Thornville became a town in 1811. Its originator was Joseph McMullen. It too enjoys its second name. At first the poetic name of Lebanon was given to it but on account of another Lebanon in Ohio, it took upon itself French airs, followed the English custom, and christened itself with the plebeian name of Thorn- ville. It has however made up for the deficiency in its name, by being the most beautiful village in Perry County. It verifies the sayings-"What's in a name?" "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," etc. The word Rehoboth means roominess. The orig- inator of the Perry County Rehoboth, evidently had that in mind when he platted the village. To this day can be seen the public square, which was one of the characteristics of the first towns. But there was an- other motive for making the square in Rehoboth, be- side that of being artistic. When that town was laid out in 1815 by John and Eli Gardner, with prophetic eye they saw the time when a new county would be erected. That new county would need a capital, and the capital would need a court house, and a court house would not look well unless it fronted a public square. True to its purpose it became a formidable rival to Somerset. They were worsted in the contest and their public square serves as a reminder of the ambition of the thrifty citizens. When tobacco became the staple crop of the county, Rehoboth was the center for this trade. Had the county been organized twenty years later, Rehoboth would to-day be the county seat of Perry County.86
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We now pass over a period of eleven years, during which time no new towns were erected in our county. In 1828 Mt. Perry was platted. But Hendrick's Mill around which the town grew was built in 1820. Millertown, in Monroe Township, can boast of be- ing the oldest village in southern Perry, unless we except Bristol. It was platted in 1834 by Jacob Mil- ler. During the Civil War, John Morgan, the cele- brated Confederate cavalry leader, camped within its precincts. Straitsville, Saltlick Township, now Coal, was laid out in 1835 by Jacob and Isaac Strait. In its early history it boasted of a few stores and a tavern. Dur- ing the first three years of the Civil War, this town was a recruiting station. Its quiet lanes were aroused by the tocsin of war. Through its streets, companies of Perry County boys were marched and drilled in the military art. From its station on the hill it looked after the boys in blue as they went toward New Lex- ington, to take the cars for the scene of conflict. Where is Mount Hope? Jackson Township had but one town, so at the Cross Roads where the Somer- set and Logan Road crosses the Lancaster and Har- mar Road, a town was platted in 1835 and named Mount Hope. But the hopefulness of the place soon vanished and no town was ever built. A postoffice named Asbury existed for a short time. The place is still called Mount Hope by the people of the com- munity. A town that once bid fair to succeed and enjoyed for a time quite a lucrative trade, was Oakfield. It was platted in 1838 by Job Tharp. It was the social as well as the commercial center of the neighborhood. Oakfield is located on the water-shed.When the Ohio Canal was built, and the Licking Reservoir, laying in sight of Thornville, presented a fine expanse of water, the thrifty farmers of Thorn township concluded that a boat way should be cut through the feeder, to the head of the lake, that they might be able to ship their grain. This idea resulted in the laying out of the town of Thomport in 1839. This Canal scheme, like "Eliphalet Chapin's Wed- ding " was not an unalloyed success. It soon ceased operations and the great ware-house, that was built to store their grain, stands now as a monument to these days of yore. Sego, our "String Town on the Pike," began its official existence in 1846, when William Curry built his blacksmith shop there. It gets its name from a town in Africa. It was near this village that General Ritchie lived, while in Congress and within it Dr. Thompson, President of the Ohio State University, lived when a boy. Porterville is nearly in Morgan county. Situated on the county divide, it is surrounded by a fine farming community. The town was platted in 1848 by John Porter. It was also for a time called Ruskville, after the family name of Jerry Rusk, who here played when a bare-foot boy. Saltillo, (properly pronounced Sawl-teel-yo) is a name of Spanish-Mexican origin. Its beginning was a tavern, which for many years served as a stopping- place for travelers. In 1849 it became a town. Its proprietor was F. Bradshaw. In the same year of the founding of Saltillo, Chapel Hill, Monroe township, originated. This was an Irish community, where in 1850, a Catholic Church was erected, from which fact the town gets its name.89
It was also called Thompsonville for a time in honor of one of its founders. Maxville, the only town of which Mondaycreek can boast, was laid out in 1850 by William McCor- mick, from whom it gets its name-Mc's ville. There had been a store at this place for some years previous. It was owned by Henry Keck. At the end of the first half century of the county's existence there were within its bounds the following post offices: New Lexington, Somerset, Buckeye Cot- tage (Saltillo), Rehoboth, Thornville, Mt. Perry, Sego, McLuney, Porterville, Whippstown, Oakfield. Max- ville, Crossenville, East Rushcreek (now Junction City) and Straitsville. Middletown is midway between Somerset and Lo- gan. A tunnel was being made through the hill south of Middletown and this brought quite a number of laborers there. A store was built and the town laid out in 1853. Clarksville, also in Jackson Township, was estab- lished by Daniel dark in 1854. St. Patrick's Church is located here. The building of Junction City, only a mile away, totally and permanently eclipsed the older town, and but for the church, you might pass through the vil- lage and never know it. Like a great many of our towns, McLuney was a village before it was surveyed into streets and alleys. In 1850, McLuney, already enjoyed the distinction of having a post-office. It was not until 1855 that it was organized. Its name is derived from the creek upon which it is located. We now pass over a period of fifteen years during which town building in Perry County seemed to be at90
a standstill. During the Civil War our commercial activity was dormant and it was not till 1870 when the coal and iron fields began to be developed, that there began a period of renewed activity. Our county was taking a new lease of life. There were three periods of growth in the county. The first was the establishment of the pioneer home. The village then existed for the simple wants of the traveler, hunting a new home, and for the pioneer settlement. The second period was a period of growth in which the productions of the soil began to appear more- abundantly than the settler could use for himself. The village now existed to give a market for these super- fluous products. The third period was that in which the mineral wealth was utilized. Villages and towns now served as convenient homes for the men working- in the mines. Our next period will be one of manufacturing, when our raw material will be converted into the fin- ished article before it leaves us. Before speaking of the towns built since 1870, it might be interesting to note the following:A PROPHECY FULFILLED.
Buckeye Blossoms, published in 1871 by Mrs. M. E. Porter, has this to say of Perry County. "This little county (Perry) comparatively un- known, is destined at no distant day to become a central attraction. Coal and iron are found in abun- dance and of superior excellence; and railroads are being made and companies organized for the purpose of mining these extensively. New Lexington on the- Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad is the county-seat, Oakfield and Somerset are very fine towns."91
New Straitsville is the pioneer mining town of the county, having been laid out by a mining company in 1870. It had a phenomenal growth. In 1871, Ferrara, a town with a distinctly Italian name, was laid out between the present locations of Rendville and Corning. Upon the organization of the latter the name Ferrara disappeared. A town had existed for some time on the present site of Junction City. The post-office was known as East Rushcreek. Later, George Wolfe laid out on his farm a village and called it by the scriptural name Damascus. Mr. Ed- miston also had an ambition to build a city and on an adjoining farm he began a town, calling it Trio City, because of the three railroads. These towns became rivals and the matter was finally settled by a compro- mise in 1872 and the present cognomen was received. The place had been known as Wolfe's Station after the C. & M. V. R. R. was built. Shawnee, the metropolis of the county began its existence in 1872. It was laid out by T. J. Davis. McCuneville really dates back to 1829 when the original salt works were erected. From that time until its platting in 1873 by the McCunes it received the name of the "Salt Works." When the McCunes built their extensive salt plant here, it was intended to name the town Salina, but there was already one town in the State by that name. Then for a time it was known as Tallyho. Tallyho is the huntsman's cry to urge on his hounds. The fact that the old "salt lick" was a famous hunting ground, made the name quite appropriate. But some man's name had to be per- petuated and the ubiquitous "ville," like Banquo's92
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