ClaytonTwp

                                                                 HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
                                                                             CHAPTER XXIII

                                                                        CLAYTON TOWNSHIP

Clayton township, which before the formation of Perry, belonged to Muskingum, was organized as a political township about 1810, and was named in honor of one of its early settlers. It was originally six miles square, and of course embraced thirty-six sections; but when Perry county was organized, or a short time thereafter, four sections were taken from it and attached to Harrison. The divide between the Muskingum and Hocking rivers runs through Clayton, leaving about two-thirds on the Muskingum slope and the remaining one-third on the Hocking slope. The land on the Muskingum side is drained by the waters of Buckeye, McLuney, and other tributaries of the Moxahala, while that on the west side is drained by the head waters of East Rush Creek. More than one half of the township is good laying land, while the remainder of it is hilly and some of it extremely rough. Some of the most enterprising and wide-awake farmers in the State reside in Clayton township. Its wool growers are especially distinguished. Fruit growing also receives considerable attention. About three fourths of the township is underlain with two seams of valuable bituminous coal, respectively four and five feet in thickness. These seams are known as 5 and 6 of the geological series. Number 4, another good seam of coal, is also found in some places, but it is not thought to be so persistent as the other two seams. Considerable iron ore also abounds in nearly all parts of this township; limestone, chert, and sand rock are also plentiful.
     Potter's clay of good quality is abundant, and several potteries are in successful operation. Coal has been mined in Clayton for fifty years or more, and there are numerous openings, in both numbers 5 and 6, in various parts of it. The old Dr. Poujade mine�now the Isaac Denny mine near the southern border of the township, was one of the first regularly operated mines in the county. The coal of all the open mines is of a desirable quality.
     Clayton township was first settled about 1806 or 1807. It is difficult, in most cases, to determine who was the first settler of a township, and in attempting to do so inaccuracies are liable to occur, and injustice is often unintentionally done. There is no doubt, however, that the Claytons, Thralls, Wilsons, Phersons, Gardners, Browns, Bennetts, Kings, GOODINS, Rhodes, Teals, Sellers, Skinners, Crosbys and Cooksons, were among the first settlers of Clayton. It is stated that Robert Pherson settled in Clayton township in 1806; if this be correct, it is safe to presume that it was one of the first permanent settlements in the township.
     The following named persons were all citizens of the township as early as 1817, or very soon thereafter:
     John Moore, Amos Roberts, Christian Barnd, James Wilson, Wm. C. Martin, John Rodman, Jeremiah Reed, MOSES GOODIN, Arabram Bennett, John Sellers, Samuel Heath, Joseph Clayton, William Clayton, Daniel Cusack, James C. Wallace, James Rusk, Sen., Isaac DeLong, Samuel Rusk, Jacob Hightshoe, Joseph Cookson, John Bradley, John Hough, John Gibson, Henry Shaner, Thomas King, Charles Wizwell, George Moore, Thomas Wilson, James K. Wilson, Wm. Rodman, Joseph DeLong, Solomon Dusenberry, Daniel Pugh, Andrew Cusack, Tuba Taylor, Jacob Emerick, William Larkins, Michael Cooper, John Rusk, Samuel Thrall, John Hartsel, Wm. McCormick, Caleb North, John Clayton, Benjamin Hull, John Gardner, Jacob Hollenback, Henry Shaner, Andrew Wright, Lewis Shreeves, George Skinner, William Thompson, Absalom Chenowith, John England, Edward Crosby, James Wright, John Grove, Frederick Amrine, Robert Love, George Gardner, Joseph Mills, Samuel England, Thomas Dusenberry, Joseph Claypool, James Shreeves, James Crosby, William Hammond, Isaac Brown, John Hull, Ruel Sayre, Ebenezer Davidson, Samuel Hull, John Skinner, John North, Levi Burgoon, John Yarger, Jacob Acker, John Crosby, Jacob Pace, John Clayton.
     These early settlers came mostly from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, though a small number of them were from other of the older States and a few from the Old World. There were not so many Pennsylvania Germans among them, as in Thorn, Hopewell, Reading and Jackson.
     Clayton is as yet intersected by no railroad, but the Columbus and Eastern is surveyed through its territory, and is under contract to be finished by the first day of August, 1883. Though touched by no railroad, Clayton even in the past has not been very distant from railroad facilities. A part of the township is not far from Somerset, on the Newark, Somerset and Straitsville road; and other parts are near New Lexington. McLuney and Crooksville, on the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley.
     Previous to the railroad era, all the surplus products of the township were marketed at Zanesville. After the building of the Zanesville and Maysville Turnpike, it was reached by most of the Clayton township grain-haulers, at or near Uniontown. The wheat was hauled either to Putnam or Zanesville, and was mostly disposed of at Whipple's, Reaves' or Dillon's Mills.
     Most of the eastern part of Clayton township was originally covered with large poplar timber, of a very superior quality. Logs from these trees kept several local mills busy for many years, and a large quantity of lumber was sawed, which found a ready market. Not much of this good poplar timber is now left. There were also numerous sugar groves in this part of the township, and much good maple sugar was made for many years after the first settlement of the country.
     Martha Wilson, wife of Judge James Wilson, one of the earliest settlers, was born in Allegheny county, Maryland, Feb. 1786, and died March, 1880, in the ninety-fifth year of her age, and was the last of the pioneer women in Clayton township to pass from time to eternity.   She came to the neighborhood where she lived and died, in 1811, when neighbors were few and far between.   Bears, wolves and panthers, were frequently seen. Once, during the war of 1812, when her husband was absent at Zanesville, there was an alarm that the Indians were coming across the country and murdering the white people. Many families loaded up and fled. Mrs.Wilson having no way to go and take her three children, converted her cabin into a fortress and prepared for battle. She barricaded the door with timbers, prepared her gun and ammunition, and with the great dog at her side, stood with gun in hand all through the night and until dawn of day ; but no Indians came. On another occasion when her husband was away from home, the wolves attacked her only sheep, before she had put it in the pen for the night. She heard her faithful dog fighting and striving to drive the wolves away; but they were ravenous and would not be driven off by the dog. Mrs. Wilson lighted a torch, rushed out, frightened away the wolves, and rescued the sheep. The savage animals remained so near that she could distinctly hear their teeth gnash and grind together as they thus gave vent to their unavailing rage. For many years previous to her death she had been blind, but she was cheerful, resigned and happy. Most of the time during her later years, she fancied and believed that she was living with her husband and children who had long been dead. Again she would recognize and converse intelligently with her living sons and daughters at her bedside. Mrs. Wilson was a religious woman; she united with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1809, at her old home in the State of Maryland. The Methodists held camp meeting for a number of years in a grove upon her husband's farm, and a church (Wesley Chapel) was subsequently erected near the old camp ground.
     The M. E. Church organization in Rehoboth is about the second oldest in the county, and one among the oldest in the State. The original class was organized in 1812 or 1813, by George Gardner, who was soon after ordained as local preacher. Gardner and wife, James Thrall and wife, Grandmother Carroll, Hannah Carroll and one or two others, were the members composing it. Rev. Martin Fate preached the first sermon, at Gardner's house, which was a preaching place for some time, and until the log church was built, about 1818, on the front part of the cemetery lot, a few rods south of the present site of Rehoboth, on the New Lexington road. The old church was in regular use until about 1832, when the brick edifice was erected, near the east end of the town. The early preachers on the Rehoboth charge were the same who served Somerset and other charges, of whom a sketch is given in another chapter. School was also held at the old church mentioned, and as regular preaching always took place on a week day, it was a common occurrence to dismiss school for an hour, that religious worship might be held. The circuit preachers, as they were called, would come from the direction of Uniontown or Somerset, sing, pray and preach, and after shaking hands with the congregation, would mount their well-fed and well-kept horses, and move on westward, dear knows where, for there was no church in New Lexington or neighborhood, at that time.
     The Rehoboth Church has had some up and downs, but it always has been a strong society, and remains so at the present day. Two or more eminent preachers have gone out from its portals into the life work of the ministry. It maintains a flourishing Sabbath school, and has during almost its entire existence. The Sabbath school was organized previous to 1820, George Gardner probably being the first superintendent. The Rehoboth circuit, at one time, and for quite a number of years, included the New Lexington, Uniontown and Somerset churches, along with many others, and three ministers were assigned to its service. The old circuit has been divided into stations and smaller circuits. Rehoboth church is now attached to New Lexington station, and is only two miles distant therefrom.
     Unity Church is one of the oldest in the county, and is the mother Presbyterian Church. On the occasion of the dedication of the new sanctuary in 1875, Rev. Henry Beeman delivered a carefully prepared and highly interesting historical discourse, from which the following is taken. It will be readily observed that the history of the Unity Church also embraces the history of three or four other Presbyterian churches:
     "The early settlers, few and scattered, were eager for and appreciated divine service. It was the golden link connecting them with their ancestral homes in the Eastern States. Clergymen passing westward and eastward, along the great highway, often stopped for a night in the settlement and preached. This began as early as there were any considerable number of settlers. As early probably as 1808-9. These transient services continued two or three years before any stated services began. An aged church member says that when she moved into the settlement in 1811, Rev. James Culbertson, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Zanesville, came regularly once a month and preached in private houses or barns; the people gathering from a circuit of many miles. He preached to them for the last time in 1814, in Isaac Sellers' barn, from the text "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."---Eccl. 12, 1.
     At the close of the service he went into the road and held out his hand. The people filed past him in a long procession to say farewell. He was greatly moved. He said, "Had I known this parting would be so painful, I would not have come out to you from Zanesville on this occasion." The aged narrator, sister of Isaac Brown, first elder of Unity, said, "I cried all the way home, then I went out yonder," pointing to a retired spot in the forest. "And there I prayed on and on until there came into my heart such peace and comfort as I cannot express." She had been distressed in view of her sins for several years, and this was the hour of her conversion. Two years afterward, at the first sacrament of the Lord's Supper, administered by Rev. Moore, she with two others, were admitted into the communion.
     Through the labors of Mr. Culbertson, numerous churches were organized in Ohio. His death occurred about 1850. Isaac Sellars, a warm-hearted Christian, in whose barn this farewell sermon was preached, died in 1818. aged forty-nine years.
     Unity is the mother. Her children are scattered over the western plains, and are found in many States of the Union ; were they and their immediate descendants here to-day, respectable as is this congregation in numbers, it would be exceeded five to one. Unity! Fond recollection of their boyhood and girlhood has not died out of their hearts. Here they were born into the world; here they were given, at this sacred altar by their parents to God in the rite of baptism; and here they were born again, and here they were married; here in Unity's churchyard lie fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters. And, today, Unity is fondly cherished by many, who, learning its history from their fathers, yet have never seen it.
     Not only individuals, but whole churches rise up to call her blessed. Seven daughters are hers: Bethel, Bremen, Somerset, New Lexington, Roseville and Uniontown.   In the year 1816, Rev. Mr. Wright of Lancaster, Ohio, on his way to the Synod at Pittsburgh, was interviewed and urged to come and organize the scattered followers of the Savior into a church. Isaac Brown, afterward the first elder, guided Mr. Wright from Somerset through the dense forest to this hallowed place. September 2d, 1816, in the old log school house which stood within a few feet of the present edifice, fourteen persons were organized into a church of the blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A vote was taken and they called it "Unity." "Because we are all of one mind," they said. Happy name when it expresses a fact. It reminds one of the trite but famously true adage, �United we stand, divided we fall.�   One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. And for nearly two generations, through all the vicissitude of time and changing fortunes and peoples, Unity still bears her name, giving it to the neighborhood around for many miles. Then no human habitation was visible from her altar. The forest seemed illimitable ; no roads for vehicles, only bridle paths blazed through the wilderness. Now before the march of improvements, the red man has disappeared toward the setting sun; beautiful farms, well stocked and cultivated, pleasant dwellings and happy homes are seen in all directions.
     Rev. Mr. Wright, the founder of this church, died in 1855, at Logansport, Indiana, well nigh one hundred years old. In the same month and year of the organization. Rev. Thomas Moore became the first pastor. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, studied divinity at Yale Theological Seminary. Previous to settlement at Unity, he preached for several years in Pennsylvania. His pastorage continued sixteen years. During it the old log church, (dimensions thirty-five feet by twenty-seven feet,) was built in 1826. The neighbors assembled to roll the logs; the women spun cloth and sold it to purchase glass ; one good lady said she gave her cow ; and thus with loving hearts and willing hands, they built a house. One hundred and twenty souls were added to the church during this long pastorate. An argument in favor of a permanent ministerial settlement. In our theory of church polity, the unity existing between pastor and people, is like that of the marriage relation, until death shall separate them. In 1832, because of the increasing infirmities of age, a successor was called, though the aged pastor continued to officiate occasionally until the day of his death. At times his feebleness necessitated his sitting instead of standing in the pulpit to address his congregation.
     The remains of Mr. Moore lie beside those of his aged companion in Unity Church yard. And on the large flat stone covering his grave you may read this inscription :
     "In memory of Thomas Moore, who died August 24, 1840, aged 78 years, 11 months and 21 days. He was 52 years a Minister of the Gospel."
     In 1832, Rev. Francis Bartlett succeeded Mr. Moore in the pastorate of Unity.   He received his theological training at Princeton, and while a student of theology, he was associated with Mr. Nettleton, the great revivalist, for six months. And fresh from those great revival labors he came to Unity and New Bethel. And in five months twenty-five persons were received into the church. And during his pastorate of two years forty were added. Through his labors at New Bethel the roll of church members increased until it reached the surprising number of three hundred and seventy-five. Thus the years of his pastorate to both these churches were years of the right hand of the most High.
     Through all the region where he labored so successfully, the name of Francis Bartlett is spoken with veneration. In October, 1837, he and Roswell Tenny and Edmund Garland were a committee of Presbytery to organize New Lexington church.
     After the departure of Mr. Bartlett, Rev. Roswell Tenny became the pastor. During his pastorate of three years two additional Elders were elected and ordained�Robert Ewing and John North, in 1835. These, together with Isaac Brown, Isaac Reynolds and David Pugh, Sen., constituted the Session. Seventy persons were added to the church, making the membership 110. There were thirty infant baptisms; $65.50 were contributed to the various causes of the church. September l, 1837, the Session dismissed twenty-three persons to unite in the organization of the New Lexington church, which organization was effected the next day by authority of Lancaster Presbytery.
     Mr. Tenny gave one-third of his time to New Lexington, one-third to Unity and one-third to Somerset, which was held at this time as a mission station; as had been New Lexington, from an early period, up to the time of organization.
     In the latter part of Mr. Tenny's pastorate, through no instrumentality, however, of his own, the date of the waning period of Unity may be fairly placed. For a score of years unexampled prosperity attended the church; accessions on profession of faith were almost constant fortwenty years, until the membership reached the large number of two hundred. The moral and spiritual condition was equal to the additions. The Holy Spirit's influence seems not to have been withdrawn during all this happy period. A jubilee period; a score of years that should be celebrated by Unity's people. But now Unity's 12 o'clock had struck. Her sun had reached its zenith, then began slowly to descend. At times, like Joshua's sun on Gideon, it seemed to stand in the midst of the heavens, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies, but soon resumed its declension until in 1866, it was just visible above the horizon. In other words, from May 1835 to May 1866, Unity's history was exceedingly checkered. There were times when the ebbing tide stayed and gathered only to burst the barriers and run lower.
     There were additions, but at the end of scarcely a single year, during all that waning period of one score and ten or eleven years, did the accessions keep pace with the deaths and removals.
     There were causes, however, for this declension, besides those found in the records. The mountain stream pours down into the basin, fillingit, rolling back upon its course, overflowing and passing on. So the stream of emigration pouring along the great thoroughfare, filling Perry, overflowing and passing on farther westward. Children of the early settlers, and in some instances, the oldest inhabitants themselves sought new homes in the west. With each migration Unity lost her sons and daughters.
     Mr. Tenny passed the last ten years of his life in Marietta, laid aside from the work of the ministry by an affection of the throat. After suffering three years with paralysis he died in August, 1866. in the seventieth year of his life.
     Unity's fourth pastor was the Rev. Edmund Garland. His pastorate extended from the autumn of 1837 to 1840, three years. At the beginning of his labors he made an examination of the records, and after careful inquiry found that out of the vast number on the register of communicants only fifty remained as active members. A rapid decrease in a very few years. It will be remembered, however, that a colony of twenty-three had just gone out to organize the New Lexington church, and others later were dismissed to unite with the same church.
     A year and a half subsequent---February 25, 1839---another colony left Unity to organize the Somerset church. So that during this period, the aggregate membership of the three churches was still about one hundred. The three formed one parish. But the old hive never again swarmed. One of Mr. Garland's sermons from the text, "What think ye of Christ?" preached, probably, at-the organization of the Somerset church, is still remembered. Mr. Garland is yet alive, residing upon his farm in Licking county, in comfortable circumstances. Too aged for active service in the ministry, but faithful and devout, giving of his means to the cause of Christ, thus preaching by proxy. During his pastorate Unity gave about $75 to the Boards of the church.
     Mr. Garland's successor was unhappy in his relations with the churches. He continued, however, something more than a year. And there were some additions to the church. Among the number Mr. Noah Moore, who afterward became a ruling elder, and his wife.
     His successor was Rev. John Forbush. He remained about two years; but judging from the meagre records during his ministration but little was accomplished.
     After Mr. Forbush, Rev. A. S. Avery labored nearly two years. The records show one case of discipline and suspension, but no additions. Mr. Avery died at the residence of his daughter, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in the summer of 1867.
     From July 1848 to July 1852; during these four years there were some accessions to the church, Margaret A. Acker, Mary Leach, Juliet Sellers, D. Stokely and the lamented James Wigton. The two latter elders of Roseville. Wm. Cookson, David Fulton and Noah Moore were ordained to the office of Ruling Elders. The church at Somerset, though promising well in the beginning, having bought a house of worship, conveniently located, from the Methodist Episcopal Church, hardly had an organized existence ten years. After Mr. Garland's departure, becoming feeble and greatly distressed, mother Unity took back her daughter under the maternal roof with her accumulated property.
     The Somerset church property was sold for about $300. And with the proceeds, in 1849, Unity, originally built of hewed logs, chinked and daubed, was weather-boarded, ceiled, plastered and painted at an expense of $280. Somerset was lost; Roseville was gained. Several members of Unity, Thomas Beard and wife, Jane Beard, James Wigton and wife, and D. Stokely were dismissed, and a number of other persons, living in the vicinity of Roseville, united in the organization of the Roseville church, October 20, 1849. From that time until the present, Roseville, Unity and New Lexington have constituted one parish. Their interests and history have been intimately connected.
     After a vacancy of a few months Rev. Warren Nichols began his labors at Unity in November, 1852. He continued about two years.
The records show a few additions.   Mr. Nichols died some years since in the western part of this State. His widow, much loved by all intimately acquainted with her, fell asleep in Jesus some years ago, at the residence of her daughter, near Jackson, Illinois.
     Rev. Samuel Westcott Rose was the successor of Mr. Nichols. Mr. Rose's pastorate extended from September, 1854, to January, 1857�about three years. As had done his two predecessors, so he ministered to the three churches, preaching also in private dwellings and school houses through his extensive parish, sometimes preaching three times a day. Abundant in labors.   Said a good woman to him one day: "Mr. Rose, you will kill yourself." He smiled as he replied, "I wish to die in the service of the Lord." And so, after a brief illness, he fell asleep in Jesus at his residence in New Lexington.
     Two pastors thus have fought the good fight, finished their course, and kept the faith in this field of labor. Mr. Rose was a man of earnest piety, a faithful and laborious pastor and unimpassioned preacher. Had the esteem and confidence of his co-presbyters, once moderated Presbytery. He devoted much time to the study of the prophecies. Lectured upon them. It is said that some of his interpretations concerning the visible church and the country, have been remarkably fulfilled. He is the author of one or two published
sermons; one a Thanksgiving discourse, finds its theme in "The stone cut out of the mountain without hands," which broke in pieces the great image of Nebuchadnezzar. He makes the stone the United States, which, if true, is certainly very flattering ; and just now, with rottenness in almost every branch of the Government, very encouraging.
     While I cannot accord with this interpretation of prophecy, his arguments to establish it are ingenious.
     Rev. Samuel Loomis followed Mr. Rose, in March, 1857. He served the church less than a year. Mr. Loomis is now, and has been for many years, a successful Missionary among the Freedmen at Chester, South Carolina.
     Rev. James Lamb labored irregularly at Unity for less than a year. Mr. Lamb came in the spring of 1859, fresh from the Seminary. He is now pastor of Bethany Church, Utica, New York.
     Rev. Theodore Stowe came next in the spring of 1860. His labors extended for over a period of about two years. Mr. Stowe resigned to accept a Chaplaincy in the service of the country.
     This gentleman, having found a new home a year ago in Saginaw, Michigan, and a new wife, ministers to two little churches in that
vicinity." [Rev. Stowe is since deceased.---COMPILER.]
     No record is made in the Sessional books of Unity of the services of these four ministers. During all these ministrations, covering a period in the aggregate of about seven years, there is no record of any Sessional meetings ; no additions, nothing to show that any thing was done. It is probable that, except during the time of Mr. Rose, the services were irregular.
     I find, however, several records in November, 1857, to the effect that the Rev. Mr. Hildreth, leaving his own pulpit vacant one Sabbath, visited Unity and held a series of meetings, day and night, administering the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and received one person. Miss Mary Cookson, into the church ; also, ordained Jacob Sellers as Ruling Elder. Mr. Ebenezer Reynolds was elected to the same office at the same time, but there is no record of his ordination. Most likely this meeting of ten days, encouraging the feeble membership, saved the church from extinction.
     Rev. Mr. Stuart followed Mr. Stowe, a gentleman who never had a regular connection with the church. He continued not more than a year.
     The three churches had now been vacant from one and a half to two years, supplied occasionally, in the meantime, by appointment by the Presbytery. Members of Unity were hopeless and out of heart�reduced to a handful, the houses of worship neglected, the possession of bats; birds built their nests and brooded their young over God's quiet altars. One of the three�the New Lexington edifice�had disappeared entirely, its very foundation plowed up.
     Such was the mournful state of affairs when your pastor appeared upon the scene in May, 1866.
     The Uniontown Church, then and for some years subsequent O. S., made application for his services. From that day to this her interests have been intimately connected with these. Her history is theirs and theirs hers.
     He came fresh from his first year in the seminary, "not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God; for he determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And he was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling;" and his speech and his preaching were not with "enticing words of man's wisdom." He was with you for four months in each of two years, spending the remaining time in pursuing his theological studies. Having finished his course at Union Seminary, NewYork city, he returned, and on the 11th and 12th of November, 1868, was installed pastor of Unity, New Lexington and Roseville churches, Revs. D.Tenny, of Newark, S. P. Hildreth, of Dresden, and D. E. Beach, of Granville, officiating. Continuating the stated supply of Uniontown till 1871, when the New Lexington church, growing so rapidly, having built a church edifice at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars, it was deemed expedient to hold services there every Sabbath day. But alas! for the chequered life of that church. Its congregation ran down almost as fast as it ran up. So, after an interval of two years, the old relations were resumed September, 1873.
     Unity's elders have now reached the apostolic number---twelve: Isaac Brown, Isaac Reynolds, David Pugh, Sr., Robert Ewing, John North, William Cookson, Sr., David W. Pugh, Jr., David Fulton, Noah Moore, and the present incumbents, Jacob Sellers, John Welch, and William R. Cookson, Jr. Isaac Brown, David Pugh, and William Cookson, Sr. sleep in Unity church-yard. Isaac Reynolds and David W. Pugh, Jr., found a peaceful grave in White county, Indiana. Of Ewing, North, Fulton, living or dead, I know not. I cannot say that those who have left us here and departed to the land of pure delight can see or hear or know what their friends and children are doing. But if they can, these fathers and spiritual guides of old Unity, along with the Great Head of the Church, have seen their posterity, to the second generation, gathering around this sacred altar, heart worshippers of the God of their fathers. It is pleasant to think, at least, these fathers of Unity are to-day rejoicing and singing the Gloria Patria, that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former."
     The dedication of the new church at Unity was a memorable occasion, and the services of more than usual interest. The annexed account of the dedication and description of the new house of worship is from the New Lexington Tribune:

     "The dedication of this little rural temple of worship took place last Saturday and Sabbath. On Saturday morning a well-filled house listened to an appropriate preparatory sermon, full of the unction from on high, by Rev. H. Kingsbury, of Newark. The afternoon was given to the Sabbath-school cause. Sabbath was the Pentecostal day. As early as seven o'clock in the morning vehicles were in motion over the hills and along the valleys, having Unity as the objective point. There were there dwellers in Newark, Zanesville, Somerset, New Lexington, Roseville, Uniontown, Bremen, and Rushville. And the whole neighborhood seemed to be poured out, filling the classic grounds of old Unity. The edifice is Gothic in design, thirty by forty-five feet, and to the tip of the spire seventy-five feet. Entrance through the tower at right corner, forming a vestibule ten feet square. The church was elegantly furnished with three Gothic chairs, upholstered in maroon terry, and an elaborately wrought little communion table. The pulpit is of a chaste design, white pine finished in walnut. The carpets, matting, and chandeliers gave the house a cozy, rich, and attractive appearance. The whole cost was twenty-four hundred dollars. The debt was seven hundred and seventy-five dollars, every dollar of which was secured before the services of dedication. Mr. Jacob Sellers, a large-hearted Christian, carried off two hundred dollars' worth of the prize. The young gave nobly. Then, in the presence of that concourse of people, this house was solemnly dedicated to the service of Almighty God, henceforth separated from all unhallowed, ordinary, and common uses. The officiating clergymen were, Revs. Dr. A. Kingsbury. of Zanesville; E. H. Heagler, Methodist, of New Lexington ; Z. H. Adams, Methodist, of Uniontown ; Beacham, of the United Brethren Church, Rushville, and A. H. Amrine, of Mount Perry."

     Some of the earliest settlers in the county were Presbyterians, and, in the pioneer days, members or adherents of Unity church.
     There was a popular superstition for a long time connected with the old log Unity church. It was a current report that one of the great double doors of the edifice would not remain closed, and it is a fact that, for a long time, it nearly always stood open. It is asserted that sometimes during divine service it would remain closed for a little while, and then mysteriously swing open. All the singular action of this door could, no doubt, have been accounted for, had an investigation of the premises been made by a competent mechanic and builder.
     Wesley Chapel, a Methodist Episcopal congregation, was organized and a church built about twenty years since. Stated preaching, and other church services, have been sustained until the present time.
     A Catholic log church was built in the eastern part of Clayton township, near the Zanesville road, at an early day, and it was used as a place of public worship until about 1832 or 1833; when a church was located at Rehoboth, and the old log church was abandoned. Dr. Poujade, a Frenchman, who had built a large frame structure, near the south end of Rehoboth, intended for a grist-mill, which he proposed to run by means of a sort of perpetual, endless pump, an invention of his own, upon realizing that the machine would not work, effected a sale of the premises to the Catholics, and the large frame edifice was converted into a house of worship. It was thus used for about twenty years, the congregation most of the time being very large. The communities now accommodated by the churches at New Lexington, McLuney, and South Fork, nearly all worshiped there. At last the building was removed to a back lot, with a view of erecting a new and commodious brick edifice on the spot where the old frame house stood. This intention, for some reason, was eventually abandoned, and the congregation built the McLuney church, just over the line in Harrison township.
     The Methodist church at Saltillo was built in 1849. It was composed, to a large extent, of those who had been members of the Mount Horeb church, in Harrison township, which appointment was discontinued after the establishment of the church at Saltillo. The Saltillo church was, in effect if not in fact, the successor of the Mount Horeb church, though some of the members of the latter probably united with other congregations. The Saltillo church first belonged to the Somerset circuit, and then for a series of years to the Rehoboth circuit. It is now a part of the Uniontown circuit.
     The village of Rehoboth was laid out about the year 1813, by John and Eli Gardner. The record is imperfect, and this may not be the exact date; but, if not, it is very near to it. Rehoboth, like almost all the towns in the woods, grew slowly at first, but it was not long until it had its store, post-office, tavern, blacksmith and shoe shops. From 1830 to 1842 it was a considerable village, and one of the best business points in the county. During most of these years it had two hotels, two or three stores, school-house, post-office, a physician or two, half a dozen shops, and a large tobacco warehouse. The latter establishment brought more business to the town than everything else together. Soon after 1842 the tobacco trade began to wane, the town for a while barely held its own, and then rapidly declined for several years. Of late, however, Rehoboth has been regaining lost ground, to some extent, and is again a village of some life and business. It has, at present, a post-office, school-house, one church, one store, one grocery, several shops, and a population of one hundred and sixty-two, in June, 1880.
     Saltillo was laid out in 1849, by F. Bradshaw, and is situated on Buckeye Creek. There had been a tavern there for many years before the town was laid out, which had been a general stopping place for travelers and grain-haulers. Saltillo has at present a post office, M. E. church, schoolhouse, store, a number of shops, and a population of 80 in 1880.
     The Columbus and Eastern railroad is located along the Buckeye Valley, near the village. The name of the post office is Buckeye Cottage, and at present receives its mail twice a week from New Lexington, a distance of seven miles.
     The population of Clayton township, including villages, at time of last enumeration was 1164.

               Text taken from �History of Perry County � Clayton Township� transcribed by Timothy Fisher at
                                  his website: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tfisher/tefishermain.htm

                                       Copyright �1999-2001 by Timothy E. Fisher; all rights reserved.