| HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY CHAPTER XXXIII. READING TOWNSHIP Reading Township was probably authorized and named as early as 1804 or 1805, but the first record evidence of its organization into a civil township, is early in the year 1807. It derived its name from Reading, Pennsylvania, and was named by Peter Overmyer, who came to the township in 1802. Reading township was originally a part of Fairfield county, comprised thirty-six sections, and was just six miles square; but when the new county of Perry was organized, two rows of sections were taken from Richland township and attached to Reading, in order to give the new county the necessary number of square miles, and probably to make the western border of the county a little farther from Overmyertown and Somerset, both of which villages aspired to be the seat of justice for the new county. Reading township is now an oblong, six miles from north to south, and eight miles from east to west. It is, in extent of territory, the empire township of the county, and had no rival in population, until within a few years, in which time Pike, Saltlick, Coal and Monroe have become competitors with it in this respect, and two or three of them now surpass it. Reading is, undoubtedly, one of the most desirable townships of land in Ohio, and long years of cultivation and care make the greater part of it show to the best advantage. About nine-tenths of it lies on the Hocking slope, and the remaining one-tenth on the Muskingum slope. That part of it which is on the Hocking side of the divide, is drained by West Rush Creek and tributaries, and by some of the tributaries of East Rush Creek. So much of the township as lies on the Muskingum side of the divide, is drained by Hood's Run, and a few other small tributaries of the north branch of Jonathan's Creek, or Moxahala. The land on both sides of the dividing ridge is naturally of excellent drainage, and only a very small percentage of stagnant water is ever known within the township limits. Most of the land is undulating, and a part of the southeast region of the township is hilly. The land is about all arable, and most of it is very productive. Coal is found in the southeastern part in great abundance and of excellent quality. There are two or three seams in a part of the coal district, all of a good, merchantable quality. Iron ore is also very abundant in many places in the southern part of the township. The ore has been mined and shipped, to a considerable extent, and has been used with success in furnaces at Shawnee, Zanesville, Newark and other points. Some of the first coal mined in the county, was in this coal district, and the first coal miner is said to have been a colored man. The coal of this region found a market in early times at Somerset, Rushville, Lancaster and other points adjacent. Nearly all the cereals are produced in Reading. Stock-raising andwool-growing receive much attention. There are also good orchards and vineyards, and the cultivation of many varieties of fruit has been crowned with considerable success. Many of the early settlers of Reading township were Pennsylvania Germans, but large numbers of persons of English descent, from Pennsylvania and others of the older States, came along soon after, and made permanent habitations. The Germans settled principally in the neighborhood of Overmyertown, while the emigrants of English descent located mostly about Somerset, and in the eastern part of the township. There were many exceptions to this, however, and Germans were found near Somerset, and English speaking people in the vicinity of Overmyertown and in the western part of the township. At a little later date, from 1820 to 1830, there was a considerable emigration of people of Irish birth or descent, who settled, for the most part, near Somerset and to the south of it. What now constitutes Reading township, was first permanently settled in 1801, in the western part, and it may be that a few other families settled in other parts of the township in the same year. There are reports of men living in the west part of what is now Reading township, in 1799 or 1800, and it is possible that two or three persons did temporarily live there within those years; but this could scarcely be called a permanent settlement, and nearly all trace of these adventurers is lost. What became of them appears to be unknown. Peter Overmyer and Peter Whitmer, brothers-in-law, came to Overmyertown in 1802, and some other families soon followed, constituting quite a little colony. Robert Colborn settled one mile east of Somerset, in 1802, and a few other families came to the neighborhood of where Somerset now is, during that and the following year. Frederick Heck appears to have come to the neighborhood of Otterbein in 1802, and George Bowman to West Rush Creek in the same year. Daniel Lidey also came to the neighborhood of Otterbein about this time. Thomas Hammond came in 1802 or 1803, and Fink and Miller, the proprietors of Somerset, in 1803 or 1804. But there is still an earlier settlement than any of the foregoing. Aaron Binckley, Esq., of Reading township, in response to an inquiry on the subject, writes: "My grandfather's name was Christian Binckley. He came to Ohio in April, 1801, and settled on the farm where I now reside, in section eleven of this (Reading) township. Hebuilt a cabin about one hundred yards from where my house is. The land was bought of George Arnold, who entered it a short time before. Christian Binckley came from Washington county, Maryland, near a place called Fankstown. He died in 1832, at the age of ninety-five years." This settlement by Christian Binckley, in the western part of Reading township, is the earliest permanent one made within what is now Perry county, so far as any authentic information can be obtained. The place where Mr. Binckley settled, was originally in Richland township, Fairfield county, but when Perry was organized, two rows of sections were taken from Richland and attached to Reading, the section where Binckley settled being included. It will be noted that Christian Binckley was born in 1737, and he was a middle-aged man at the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. He was sixty-four years old at the time he emigrated to this part of the country, and must have been one of the oldest men who ever came to this part of the western wilderness to hew out a new home. Aaron Binckley, the great-grand-son who gives the information, must be about fifty years old, and there are few persons of that age in Perry county, the mortal remains of whose great-grand parents are interred therein. Very few persons ever emigrated to what is now Perry county, Ohio, who were born so early as 1737. The following named persons were citizens and voters in Reading township, as early as 1816 or 1817: Leonard Ream, Jacob Miller, Jacob Mains, Adam Anspach, John Cassell, Jacob Dittoe, George Morris, John Beckwith, Thomas Neal, John Beigler, Jacob Finck, John Hammond, John Finck, Sr., David Beckwith, Thomas Cull, Joseph McNeil, Jesse McGowen, John Collins, Peter Dittoe, George Witmer, Henry Heck, Philip Spohn, Benjamin Anspach, Thomas Hammond, Charles Garey, George Trout, George Kuntz, Tilden Philips, Michael Stoker, Jacob Spohn, Philip Spice, _____ Freeman, Isaac Pence, Daniel Parkinson, Frederick Mains, Sr., Jacob Walker, Joshua Roberts, Samuel Parrott, Samuel Ziegler, Samuel Zartman, Jacob Downhour, Philip Lentz, John Burkhead, Adam Binckley, Jacob Seniff, John Mains, Jacob Overmyer, Daniel Spohn, James Harding, Adam Householder, George Crossen, George Brehm, Jacob Noles, Daniel Lidey, Henry Stults, George Beckwith, John Wagner, Frederick Mains, Jr., Philip Dupler, John Kuntz, John Cochran, Robert Colborn, Lewis Brant, David Pugh, Frederick Kistler, James Patterson, John McCormick, John Teal, Anthony Finck, Jacob Stein, Roswell Mills, Peter Bugh, Sr., George Batson, Peter Whitmer, William Wright, Robert Barnes, William Keenan, John Beecher, Peter Bugh, Jr., Joseph Bowman, John Little, John Miller, John Overmyer, Henry Gray, John Braddock, John Harris, John Middagh, George Richards, Wesley Allwine, John Ream, George Miller, Thomas Reynolds, Michael Bugh, George Bowman, Robert Skinner, John Yost, John Moyer, John Finck, Jr., Myron Griffith, John Trout, Peter Overmyer, John Bugh, Daniel Bowman, John Wilson, John Murray, George Overmyer, John Stutz, John Green, James Elder, Abraham Yost. As before stated, the first record of Reading township appears in 1807. The official proceedings of the officers for several years subsequent to that date, show in a better way than can otherwise be done, the growth and progress of the township, and also, to a great extent, the characteristics and peculiarities of the times. The following extracts are taken from the official proceedings of the Township Trustees, as recorded by the Township Clerk. The book is now in possession of the present Township Clerk, Mr. A. A. Finck: READING TOWNSHIP, FAIRFIELD COUNTY, O., May 30th, 1807. . MISCELLANEOUS�When the news of the firing on Sumter reached Somerset, with the accompanying Proclamation of President Lincoln calling for volunteers, the hearts of the people were wonderfully stirred, as was the case all over the country. The bell of the old Court House was rung, and it was not long until the house was crowded to overflowing. Hon. William E. Finck was the first speaker called out, then T. J. Maginnis, then Col. William Spencer. These speakers all condemned and denounced the attack upon Sumter, and declared that President Lincoln must be supported in defending the National forts, and in maintaining the supremacy of the National Government. Dr. Martin Kagay was the next speaker, and his remarks were even more radical than the speakers who had preceded him. He said that the leaders of secession had been in the habit of magnifying the raid of John Brown; but now, since they had fired upon the flag, it would be necessary for hundreds of thousands of John Browns to invade the South, no matter what the consequences to the peculiar institution of slavery. The speakers were all unusually able and eloquent, inspired by the theme and circumstances of the hour. Many were fired with a patriotic ardor to do or die for their country, and not a few almost immediately enlisted in response to the call of President Lincoln. A place known as "Lidey's Rocks," situated in the western part of Reading township, is a wild, romantic spot, and has at one time or another, attracted a considerable number of visitors. It has frequently been a favorite resort for picnic and other parties of pleasure. There is a peculiar formation of rocks, the scenery is delightful, and the general surroundings highly picturesque. There is a natural cave, though not a large one, and there seems, to be a natural fireplace, in between two rocks, where the stone appears to be blackened and burned by the heat and smoke of many fires. Indians may have encamped in this place before the settlement of the country by the whites, and it is more than probable that many an adventurer and hunter of the early days built his camp fire and broiled his venison at this stone fireplace. Lidey's Rocks are only a few miles distant from either Somerset, Junction City, or Rushville. The "Rocks" are not visited so frequently as they were some years ago, but the locality is still one of interest and attraction. It is stated, upon what appears to be good authority, that the first white man buried in what is now Perry county, was interred in the woods, a few miles north of Somerset, not far from the road now leading to Thornville. The man was a stranger, passing along, who took sick, and, in a few days, was a corpse. There was then no public or private burying ground in the neighborhood or county. So the mortal remains of the stranger, whoever he was, were inclosed in a rough box, and consigned to a grave dug in the woods, the whereabouts of which his friends, if he had any, probably never knew. Some of our oldest citizens could point very near the spot where the stranger was buried, but soon all trace of the burial place will be lost, and possibly, fifty or a hundred years hence, the bones may be accidentally exhumed, and the subject be a nine days' wonder for generations yet unborn. Isaac Pence, one of the earliest settlers of the township, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was in the celebrated naval engagementunder Commodore Perry, in honor of whom the county is named. Pence was one of the soldiers in the boat who rowed Commodore Perry from his own sinking ship to another vessel. Mr. Pence was an industrious, intelligent man, highly esteemed by all, and lived to a good old age. John J. Jackson, of this township, and the latest surviving soldier of the War of 1812 in it, though a quiet, modest man all his life, has rather an eventful history. He served through the War of 1812, and drew a pension to the day of his death, for military services rendered the United States Government. After the war was over, he in some way drifted to St. Louis, and he emigrated from that place, or vicinity, to Bearfield township, Perry county, Ohio, and his name will be found in the history of that township as one of the first settlers. His first wife was an Ijams, a sister of William, John and Joseph Ijams, well remembered by the older citizens of Perry county. Mr. Jackson and others journeyed from St. Louis, across the country, to this county, in 1815 or 1816. It was a journey full of strange adventures. So far as now remembered, Mr. Jackson and companions are the only pioneers of Perry county who emigrated from the West. All the others came from the East or South, and nearly all from the East. The widow of John Lidey, another soldier of the War of 1812, and a member of the Constitutional Convention from Perry county, in 1851, lives in Reading township, in the town of Somerset. A few other widows of soldiers of the War of 1812 live in other parts of the county, but the soldiers themselves are all gone. Reading township had, in June, 1880, a population of three thousand three hundred and sixty-seven. Text taken from �History of Perry County� transcribed by Timothy Fisher at his website: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tfisher/tefishermain.htm Copyright �1999-2001 by Timothy E. Fisher; all rights reserved. |