History of Perry County, Ohio
Apology for the existence of this book will not be hidden under the multi-repeated quotation, "of the making of many books," etc., or the "filling of a long felt want."
It is written because the author "wanted" to write it.
It is being published because friends have generously subscribed for it.
I believe that there is room for a small volume containing in brief, the main facts concerning the history and industrial development of this county.
We teach our children about happenings in remote ages, in countries of which they know nothing, and allow the occurrences transpiring before them to pass by unnoted.
Every teacher can testify to the woeful ignorance of the youth, as to local affairs, while every school examiner can truthfully say the same about the teachers.
It is my belief that in this book has been collected much that will prove a source of information and interest to many. The subject is not in any manner exhausted. A vast amount more could have been written, but the aim has been to exclude all matter of secondary importance.
To acknowledge, individually, the assistance received from friends, in the way of data, would require more space than can be devoted to it. I am under the deepest obligation to them, and but for their suggestion and aid this volume would not have been possible.
Table of Contents
Meridian Monuments 1
Drainage 1
Water Shed 3
Elevations Above Sea Level 4
Buckeye Lake 4
Geological Divisions of the County 5
Drift Region 6
Lake Ohio 8
Pre-Glacial Drainage 8
Terraces 10
Rocks of Perry County as to Structure 11
Vertical Section of Rocks of Perry County 16
Vertical Section of Sub-strata at New Lexington Depot 16
Vertical Section of Strata at Moxahala 16
Vertical Section of Rocks at McCuneville 18
Generalized Section of Perry County Strata 19
Limestones 21
Fossils from the Maxville Limestone 22
Iron Ores 25
Coals 27
Buried Channels 29
Clays 30
Petroleum and Gas 30
Saltlicks 32
Lidey's Rocks 33
High Rocks 33
Bear Dens 33
Why Rush Creek Bottom is Flat 34
The Mastodon 35
Birds of Perry County 35
Animals 39
Forests 40
Big Sassafras 41
Pre-Historic Race 41
Children of the Forest 49
a. Buffalo Trails 50
b. Monongahela Trail 50
c. Shawnee Run Trail 51
d. Flint Ridge Trail 52
e. Scioto Beaver Trail 53
f. Moxahala Trail 53
g. The Last Conflict 54
h. The White Man's Foot 57
i. The Last of His Race 58
j. Treaty of Fort Stanwix 58
Under the Banner of St. George 58
Under the Lilies of France 59
In the Province of Quebec 62
Boutetorst County 63
In the County of Illinois 63
First White Man in Perry County 64
Land Surveys 65
Scioto Land Scheme 68
Zane's Trace 70
Refugee Tract 77
The Heroes of the Forest 78
The Evolution of Perry County 82
Village Settlements 84
Organization of the Townships 93
Section Sixteen 96
Churches 98
a. Lutheran and Reformed 99
b. Presbyterians 100
c. Bunkers 101
d. Baptists 101
c. Methodists 102
f. Bible Christians 103
g. Disciples 103
h. United Brethren 103
i. Mennonites 104
j. Catholics 104
Schools 107
a. Madison Academy 112
b. St. Aloysius' Academy 113
Mills 113
Oil Works 114
The Old Salt Kettle 115
McCuneville Salt Works 115
Tobacco Houses 116
Lime Kilns 117
An Old Time Pottery 118
Blast Furnaces 119
Coal Mines 122
Oil Wells 123
The Inventor of the Revolver 124
Perry County in War 125
Perry County in Congress 129
The Removal of the County Seat 130
Public Buildings 133
Underground Railroad 135
Morgan's Raid 136
Population of Perry County 141
Constitutional Conventions 141
Col. James Taylor 142
Stephen Benton Elkins 144
The Knight of the Pen 146
a. Biography of MacGahan, by Judge M.W. Wolfe 150
b. Funeral and Burial of MacGahan 159
c. The Article that Caused the Russo-Turko War 163
d. Poem, by Col. Taylor 170
Jeremiah M. Rusk 173
William Alexander Taylor 175
James M. Comley 178
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan 181
a. Sheridan's Ride 184
Rev. Father Zahm 189
Dr. Isaac Crook 188
The Oldest Woman in Perry County 191
Perry County's First Historian 192
Poem, "Beauty of Our Hills" 195
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Persons visiting the New Lexington Fair have no doubt noticed the two granite monuments situated about the middle of the grounds. Some have the idea that they mark the geographical center of the county. This is not the case. The westward one was planted by Philander Binckley about thirty years ago, to correspond to the true meridian. On account of the variation of the magnetic pole, it was found necessary in 1898 to again locate it. The County Commissioners contracted with John Avery to place the new monument.
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