The Early History of Zanesville
by E.H.C.

For the Courier,

    Two days after the death of Mr. Hart his old friend, the comrade of his boyhood, arrived at Zanesville on his way from attending a session of Congress at Washington City, to his home at Chillicothe. Mr. Morrow remained in Zanesville until his friend was buried, and attended to moving the family of his departed comrade to the cabin on the farm, in Washington township. In after years, in going to and returning from sessions of Congress, his stopping was with with the family of Mr. Hart, arriving on Saturday and remaining until the following Monday. He took much interest in the welfare of the family of the friend and companion of the happy days of boyhood. Jeremiah Morrow was the first member of Congress from the Scioto district. He served his constituents faithfully and satisfactorily; in the Lower House of Congress, for eight years. In those early days there were no railroads to whirl the cars loaded with freight through the fields and forests, over streams and under the mountains, and not even a stage line. He was accustomed to travel on horseback from his home in Cillicothe, through Zanesville, Wheeling, over the mountains in Cumberland, and thence to Washington City.

    On arriving at Washington City, before Mr. Hart moved West, he would send horses to his old friend, who lived at that time in Adams county, Pennsylvania, six miles from Gettysburg. When the session of Congress closed, Mr. Hart would send the horse to Washington City, and Mr. Morrow would enter again upon the long and weary journey over the mountainside, and through the forests to his home on the banks of the distant Scioto. On the ?? of March, 1813, Jeremiah Morrow was elected United States Senator, by the Legislature of Ohio, and served his constituents faithfully in that capacity for six years. In 1822, he was elected Governor of Ohio and served in that capacity for four years. Mr. Elijah Hart was a stout burly robust man, highly esteemed by the community in which he lived, in Adams county, Pennsylvania. He served the people there as justice of the peace for twelve years. In politics he was a staunch Republican, or in other words, a Democrat of the Jefferson school. Jeremiah Morrison was of the same school of politics.

    Mr. Hart was buried on the 18th of March, 1807, in the graveyard at the head of Main street. On the 17th of March the grave was dug on the brow of the hill, and on the morning of the 18th the grave was half full of water. On this account the first grave dug was filled up and another grave dug higher upon the hill where the ground was not so full of water. The next person buried in this graveyard, was a child of Daniel Stilwell, a brother of the late Richard Stilwell. The third person buried on the hill was a young man, a stranger, who died at Paul Hahn's double cabin, a house of entertainment which stood at the time where the Power House No. 2 now stands. The fourth person was David Urie, McIntire's millwright who was drowned in June 1808.

    In the early days this burying ground was a very beautiful place, covered with a grove of oak trees, where the breezes sported all the day long - where the youths of Zanesville, in the the olden time, loved to wander in the summer evenings, and view the town below, and the river gliding swiftly by on its way to the sea. Here the aged often went when the day's work was down, and talked of the home beyond the mountains, of those who remained there still; of those who had sought a home in other States of the West; of the boys who hunted, fished, and sported with them in the olden days, upon the Potomac, the Pa????, the Shenendoah and Rapidan, what their fate has been, and where they had wandered; how they had prospered in life; and of those who were so full of life and spirits in the olden time, who were now sleeping under the green sod with the "silent majority" This was the fashionable summer resort of the Zanesvillians in the olden time. Here under green oaks, with the zephyrs sighing through the tree tops, the busy, bustling growing town at their feet, the gallant swains whispered love into willing ears.

    For in those days the young people seemed to regard it as a holy mission to increase, multiply and replenish the earth. It was, however, difficult to get to the cemetery. The hill was steep, and there was no wagon road leading up to the top of the hill. It was customary in those days to place the corpse upon a bier and carry it up the hill. After the selection of this site for the cemetery, John McIntire forbid the burying of any more bodies in Zanesville's first burying ground, located where the gas works now stands. This first burying ground was laid out in 1806. There were quite a number of bodies buried here. After the selection of the site at the head of Main street, many bodies were taken up at the old burying ground on Sixth street and reburied in the cemetery at the head of Main street. Among the last bodies buried in the old burying ground on Sixth street, was a daughter of Mrs. Dumm, six years of age.

    She was drowned in a tank at the tanyard of Moorehead and Robinson. This accident occurred in the fall of 1806. The little girl was playing around vats, and fell in, and was drowned before discovered.

    This child was a sister of our worth citizen Benjamin Dumm. The last person buried here was James Filly. He died late in the fall of 1806. In grading down this lot at the time of the gas works were constructed, several skeletons were unearthed. The bones were carefully collected, put in a box, and reinterred in the same yard. Last fall, while grading down a road loading into the yard of the gas works, a skeleton was unearthed. It was only two feet under ground. The skull and some of the larger bones, alone remained, the rest having decayed. It proved to be the skeleton of a female. The hair was nicely plaited, long, a bright red, and well preserved, supposed to belong to the remains of a young woman, buried three quarters of a century ago. Old settlers informed the writer that Squire Samuel Thompson buried a sister here, a young lady with red hair, in 1805. After seventy five years had passed away, after all those who knew this young lady in life had gone, the remains of this young lady were probably exposed again to human eyes.

    The bones and hair were carefully collected together and reburied where found. The first bodies buried here were a Mr. Smith, child and sister, nine years old, daughters of Daniel Demmick, and a man by the name of Parme all of whom were drowned in Licking and buried on the banks of that stream near where the railroad bridge crosses. They were drowned in the spring of 1800, and buried in bark coffins above high water mark. In the early days lumber could not be had for coffins, and bark was used. The old burying ground at the top of the hill was not laid out in any order. There were no walks, not much adornment of any kind. Each person selected his own lot, and some instances put a paling fence around it. In the early days a rude stake or a board, or a rough stone was placed at the head of the grave. In the course of time the stakes or boards set up at the head of the graves would decay or be broken down and carried off and all marks of the graves forever lost. Very often in the old graveyard, the grave digger would unearth the remains of some unknown person when digging a new grave.

    In such cases the bones would be carefully collected, and interred in the bottom of the grave. Hundreds of bodies lie buried in the old grave yard, but the exact locality where they rest, is known to none. The first sexton appointed by the town council was Joseph Wilson. The appointment was made in 1816. Afterwards, Thomas Cunningham was sexton of this cemetery on the hill, and also the new Zanesville cemetery. The Zanesville cemetery was laid out in 1835. The location is beautiful and the ground dry. The first person buried in the Zanesville cemetery, was Mrs. Ann Stout, wife of Jacob Stout. She was buried on Sunday, Oct 24, 1835. The writer was present at the funeral. The second person buried there was Mr. Lott Barr, a carpenter by trade; the third, Mr. James Durban, father of the late Thomas Durban. The first Catholic cemetery in Zanesville was located on Fifth street, in the rear of the little brick church. This cemetery was laid out in 1825. The first person buried there was John S Dugan, who was killed by the upsetting of a stage coach, three miles east of Cumberland, Md., March 11, 1825.

    When the new Catholic church was erected in 1812, the bodies buried on the site of the new edifice were taken up and reinterred in the new Catholic cemetery east of the city, which was laid out soon after the Zanesville cemetery. The first three persons buried in the Quaker graveyard were Messrs. Nicholas, Tudor and Pratt, all Quakers, who died in 1815, of what was then known as the cold plague. They were laborers at Dillon's furnace. The first female buried in the Putnam graveyard was the first wife of Increase Matthews. She was buried in May or June, 1802. This graveyard was located on the hill near where the Cooper Mill road intersects Woodlawn Avenue, and is now a part of Woodlawn cemetery. Dr. Matthews donated to the village of Putnam 2 1/2 acres of land here for a burying ground, in 1806. Mr. Whipple gave the village an out lot near where the Putnam glass works now stands, for a graveyard. After the ground was laid out, several bodies were removed from the graveyard on the hill to this burying ground on account of the wet nature of the ground on the hill. The colored people still continued to bury on the hill for several years. After the purchase of the 65 or 70 acres of land from Dr. Matthews, the trustees laid out Woodlawn cemetery in family lots, and beautified it by clearing out the underbrush, clearing off the ground, and making roads and foot paths. Many persons purchased lots here, and removed the remains of relatives from the old cemeteries in Zanesville and Putnam to Woodlawn. Woodlawn, to-day, is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the State.