Return to Table of Contents49. Julia Ann MAUK (35) was born on 9 Apr 1840 in Hocking Co. Ohio. BIOGRAPHY:
A REMINISCENCE
by
Julia A. Mauk
June 10 1922
Four-score years and more have passed
Since first I saw the light;
It was early spring when the grass was green
And the sun shone warm and bright.
The journey has been long and uneven the way
And heavy affliction's load
But flowers have bloomed birds have sung
And friends have cheered along the road.
Now it is evening time
The sun sinks low in the west.
The journey's end is just over the hill--
It will be sweet to get home and rest.
When overtaken by affliction or old age and all shut in not able to work or read but
little and in a measure out off from outside associations and with nothing to do but
think it is then that memory carries us back to the.......
Gold halcyon dreaming days
When life was young and fair
When all around seemed pure and good
E'er doubts had centered there.
When growing up from childhood to mature years and even to old age it is well to take
close observation of things about us and always look for the things which are best pure
good and beautiful along life's journey and lay up a goodly store in memory's
storehouse to draw upon for pastime when the lonely days come to us and we feel that
we are all down and out.
By request I will try to write a little pioneer reminiscence of the Fairview Community
and the little log church in the southern part of Hocking County Ohio.
When my parents George and Mary Mauk were young they ran a whiskey distillery
for a few years in Morgan County Ohio. They said they were making lots of easy
money and might have become rich by sticking to the business but they had learned the
nefariousness of the business and said "We will quit and go into the wilderness and build
a home on an honorable foundation."
Therefore in the spring of 1838 they with four small children moved from Morgan
County to Hocking County. They bought forty acres of land from Uncle Sam one mile
east of Cedar Falls. They had a cabin home built and a stable for their horses and
cows right in the heart of the great forest. When they came there was no road not
even a footpath leading to their home. From Logan Ohio they had to search out the
way and cut their roadway as they drove across the hills and valleys.
Oh the beauty and grandeur of the mystic woods before the woodsmen came with
their axes and saws to cut and slay! There were great oaks which required so many
years to grow; white oaks black oaks chestnut oaks and pine oaks; maples hickory
walnuts chestnuts cherry and the majestic poplars which grew so straight smooth and
tall above the other trees and so many kinds of pretty trees and shrubbery too
numerous to name; so many kinds of pretty vines flowers grasses and the great
climbing and spreading grapevine with its clusters of delicious fruit.
In the springtime the woodland hills were pretty clothed in new green with here and
there a dogwood a wild plum and a May cherry clothed in pure white and the crab
apple in red white and pink. The whole air was redolent with the odor of bloom and
new growth all about.
The woods seemed all alive with the chatter and songs of birds and the drumming of
the pretty little pheasant which sounded like distant thunder. One had to wonder how
such a pretty little fowl could make such a loud sound. Later in the summer the whole
woods were alive with wild pigeons. They would fly in such large flocks it was like a
black cloud passing over and the swish of their wings sounded like a heavy windstorm.
A childhood and youthful ramble among the big trees and bushes over the hills and
along the babbling brooks and down the gorge around the Cedar Falls gives a thrill of
joy to the close observer which always stays even down to old age. I found a trailing
arbutus in a secluded place under the shade of the evergreen trees. I simply absorbed its
fragrance and beauty until it became a part of me and I have it stored away as a
memento right from the hand of the Creator. There was another little beauty which I
fell greatly in love with-- the little myrtle which grows among the rocks with its pretty
green leaves and scarlet berries trailing so gracefully over the rock. I just wanted to
take it home with me and keep it forever but it could not live out of its native soils and
shady nook. But with a backward look I can still see it growing there.
When the shades of night had shut out the light of day it was grand to sit in the
cabin door or on the woodpile outside and listen to the barking of the fox and the
yowl of the wildcat on the distant hills the song of the whippoorwill and the hoo! hoo! of
the big horned owl near by. It was their nature to sleep in the day and prowl around
at night. The moon and stars were shining and twinkling down casting a beautiful
sheen over all around making a pretty landscape picture after night. Then the wonder
was from whence cometh all this life-giving energy? A still small voice seemed to say
"It was God above who formed them all." By his creative powers he made the moon
the stars the earth and the little fragrant flowers.
There is beauty in the woodland hills;
There is grandeur in the plains;
There is music in the rippling rills
And mystery in the mountain chains.
When we can rise up out of self
And hear God's low sweet voice
And see his greatness in his works
It bids our souls rejoice.
"Eye hath not seen ear hath no heard "
And nothing on earth can compare
With the beauty and glory of the upper world
Then what must it be to be there?
Our house was built on the south side of a hill near the top with a good view of
surrounding hills. There was no dwelling near or none in sight. It was built of
round logs and was eighteen feet square. It had one window one door a puncheon
floor and an open fireplace in one side which was built outside to give more space
inside. The chimney was topped out with sticks and mud with a lugpole run through
and a chain attached to it with a hook on the lower end to hang pots and kettles on in
which to boil and cook things. This was the only room for all household use accepting
the attic where the boys slept. They like Jacob's angels which he saw in his dreams
ascended and descended upon a ladder. From the boy's sleeping attic there grew four
honorable and useful citizens. The first was a blacksmith a carpenter and farmer and
a natural genius. The second was a doctor. The third was a druggist and the fourth
a preacher. Three of them were soldiers of the Civil War. One lost a foot in the Battle
of Chickamauga.
Matches were not in style among the first pioneers. Each household aimed to keep
the home fire burning all the time. If it happened to go out they took some pine silvers
flax tow or punk a flint and a piece of steel a struck a fire from a spark. It was not
so quickly done as with a match but was more interesting.
There were no fenced-in pasture fields in those days. The owners of stock marked
their cattle sheep and hogs and turned them into the free-for-all woods pasture.
Each owner had his mark recorded at the county seat. Father's mark was a
swallow-fork in the left ear. Some of the poor animals had both ears pretty much cut
away by the mark of their owner. They put a bell on the best leader of the sheep and
that kept the flock together. They put a loud sounding bell on the cow so if she did not
come home at evening time they could more easily find her. In the fall the hogs
fattened themselves ready for butchering on acorns.
The early settlers mostly lived quite a distance apart but were closely united by the
bond of a common brotherhood and sisterhood and the spirit of helpfulness. As soon as
possible they united together and built a little log schoolhouse where they sent their children
to get book learning that they might grow up to be more intelligent and useful citizens.
There was a community doctor a German by the name of Flaxbeard. He was a
good surgeon and a pretty good doctor. There was also a community lady doctor Mrs.
Katie Haas who looked after the women and babies when they needed help. Henry
Bainter was the "Tooth Doctor." He pulled teeth by the cant hook method. When
anyone had a tooth which became an unbearable burden he could lift it out root and
all free of charge.
William Large was the first undertaker in that community. He made the coffins to
order as needed of the best cherry or walnut lumber he had. There were no showy
caskets or fine hearses to bear them to the tomb but the departed ones all received
respectable burial. They received kindly remembrances and flowers while living when they
could appreciate them rather than having them heaped upon their coffins and spread
upon their newly made mounds in the graveyard. Aaron Hainesworth Jr. gave the lot
for the cemetery joining the church lot. His child was the first one buried there and his
wife was next. A few years later his father Aaron Hainesworth Sr. was laid away
there in September of 1849 at the age of 76 years. His works do follow him. He
sowed the good seed from which others have gathered a rich harvest. "How blest the
righteous when he dies." In the year 1855 his wife at the age of 78 was laid by his
side. On a beautiful Thanksgiving Day in the year 1888 William Large after a long
and useful life of 99 years and 9 months was laid away in the Fairview Cemetery
beside his estimable wife who preceded him thirty years.
The young people were always cheerful and glad. They seemed to get the thrill of
joy from living so near to nature with its great beauty and mystery. They helped to
clear the fields cultivate the crops and gather in the harvest. By honest labor they were
casting their mite into the foundation on which our great nation is built. They had their
seasons of recreation and good social times at each others homes. They had spelling
schools where they met to spell and singing schools where they learned to sing. There
were community dances but church members and the refined class of people never
attended them.
In our home the long winter evenings mostly found us all at home having a
pleasant time together with books slates pencils copy books and goose quill pens
working out the problem of things about us and planning for improvements. Sometimes
Father would play the fife soft and low and Mother would keep time with the buzz of
her little spinning wheel. When bedtime came Father would read a portion of scripture
or lead in singing some good inspiring hymn and he or Mother would offer up a
prayer of thanksgiving for past blessings and a petition for future protection and
guidance.
All the people old and young were then learning the gospel of labor thrift and
self-reliance but were lacking and needing Christ's gospel of the golden rule the only
thing which would lift men and women up to their best selves and make a community a
state or a nation a safe and desirable place in which to live.
Aaron Hainesworth Sr. then living in the community and filled with a Christian
and missionary spirit went to my parents and asked if he could hold a religious meeting
at their home to which they willingly consented although they were not Christians or
members of any church and had very little house room. So he held meetings and quite
a number attended them. He sang and prayed and read the Scriptures and exhorted
them to follow its teachings. As the people took quite an interest in the work he sent for
a preacher to come and help him. One by the name of Brock came and preached for
them and organized a class of six members-- Aaron Hainesworth Sr. and wife;
James Reed and wife and George Mauk and wife. This constituted the members of
Perry Circuit Scioto Conference of the United Brethren Church and they were entitled
to the services of the circuit preacher. The first who came was Reverend McCabe who
preached once in four weeks part of the time on week days. The people then took time to
quit work for a few hours and attend the meetings. Occasionally they would hold the
meetings in the schoolhouse then school was not in session. Our house was the regular
meeting place for about twelve years-- six years in the cabin. Then Father bought
more land and built a larger house of hewed logs so then we had more room for
ourselves and the meeting folks too. About that time Barney Eidson moved into the
community from North Carolina and united with the church and they were willing
workers and had the preaching at their house part of the time.
There was a nice little grove only a few rods from his house where the meetings
were held in summer when the weather was fair. Sometimes they would hold a two or
three day meeting. At night they hung their candles and lamps on the bushes to give
light to the audience. Those meetings were mostly true love feasts and times of rejoicing
and spiritual uplift.
Father had the gift of song and was chosen leader of the singing which place he
filled until he passed away at the age of 73.
The church people had been talking for quite awhile about building a meeting house
and the time had come when something more must be done. So they met at our house
and organized a board of trustees and planned for building. Mr. Hainesworth gave the
church lot the land owners gave the time and Mr. William Large who was running a
sawmill at Cedar Falls sawed and finished the lumber. Mr. Stuckey made the shingles
for the roof.
They chopped down some of those beautiful and majestic poplar trees sawed them
into logs for the house. Then they scored and hewed them and hitched their ox teams to
them and dragged them to the place of building. They set a day when they all met and
raised the house. The men did the building and the women prepared the dinner on a
rustic table in the woods nearby.
After a time they secured carpenters to do the roofing lay the floor put in the door
and windows make the seats and a stand for the preacher. While they were at work
their wives cooked and carried many dinners one and one-half miles to feed them. They
built a little stone fireplace where they boiled water and made coffee. Mr. Eidson lived
near the church and the workmen went there for dinner part of the time. Much of the
work was donated and all the dinners.
The church was lighted by tallow candles four on each side set in blocks nailed to
the wall and two in candlesticks set on the preacher's stand. The janitor went around
and snuffed the candles a time or two during services. The evening services always began
at "early candle lighting." The seats were benches made of slabs without backs yet no
one complained of uncomfortable seats. The pioneers were made up of courage and
endurance. While they were trying to make things for the better they were also trying to
make the best of what they had and cheer the neighbor by the way.
The church was named "Fairview" on account of its location upon a pretty table
land.
Before the church house was ready for services one night some drunken hunters set
the woods on fire nearby and the men and women had to go out and fight fire all night
to keep the church from being all burned up. A great forest fire after night is a fearfully
grand sight.
In the spring of 1852 the house was near enough finished to hold meetings in it.
The chinks in the wall were not closed up but the weather was warm and they could get
along very well. We were a happy set. Reverend Cocklin and Reverend Perkins were
the preachers then. In June there was a great spiritual revival and ingathering and a
Sunday School was started up. There was a good attendance at all the services. Some
walked some rode on horseback and some came in their farm wagons. There were no
buggies or spring wagons. In winter they went in sleds and sleighs. In that age of the
world there were from four to six weeks of good sleighing snow nearly every year.
When there was no snow and the nights were dark the people lighted themselves on their
way with pine torches. It was a pretty sight to see dozens of them bobbing along in the
darkness across fields along footpaths through the woods and along the roads. They
looked like so many "will-o'- The-Wisps." In summer time a little song wren went
in through the chinks in the wall and built herself a nest up under the rafters and one
day when we met for worship she came out and sat on the cross beam and sang the
sweetest song I ever heard in a church. She sang a solo first and then joined in with
the congregational singing.
Our home was the weary itinerant's stopping and resting place. They stopped quite
often and were always welcome. They came with a good cheer whether sunshine or rain
and left with a "God Bless You" till we meet again. They got a share of the best at
hand. The corn pone and biscuits which mother baked by the fire and the bread and
pies baked in the Dutch oven built in the yard along with the good butter and milk
eggs fruit and vegetables was a meal good and wholesome enough to set before a king
or good Queen Victoria.
I remember one time a preacher by the name of Joe Fink stopped with us for a
rest. I was about eight years old. In the evening we were all sitting in front of a
bright hickory wood fire in the open fireplace. I was sitting at one side listening to the
older people talk. The preacher took notice that I had a severe cold on my eyes and
nose and said to me "Sis I have something here that will help your cold." He took a
small bottle from his vest pocket removed the cork and held the bottle to my nose. I
took a big whiff. It took my breath and I fell off my chair onto the floor and gave
my head a hard bump. Then he laughed and made fun of my big nose which I did
not like but said nothing but learned right then that preachers are just human like other
folks. It is well that they can see the funny side of things to help them over the serious
and difficult problems which they have to meet. When I was quite small and would see
the preacher coming I always knew he was a preacher by his traveling equipment. They
all good horses and saddles leather saddle-bags thrown across the seat of the saddle
and an umbrella strapped to the back part of it. They had cloth leggings buttoned and
gartered around over their trousers to keep them clean and a rough and ready coat
hat and gloves. It took over a month to ride around the circuit and fill all the
appointments. There were generally two of them--the preacher in charge and his
colleague. The preacher in charge got three hundred dollars a year salary and his
colleague one hundred dollars. He was always a single man. They and their horses
got their lodging and boarding free as they traveled around the circuit. Those times
nearly all the preachers had a little home of their own somewhere in the hills or on the
plains which they visited occasionally.
Some of the first preachers whom I remember were Reverend Lewis Ambrosia
Reverend Conking Reverend Perkins Reverend Waters Reverend Thorny Reverend
Price Reverend McDaniel Reverend Brundage Reverend John Deaver Reverend Abe
Shessler Reverend Romig and Reverend Barges.
When the Civil War Broke out so many of the best men an boys went to the
rescue. It was very discouraging for those at home. We still had regular preaching and
a few optimists kept the fire lighted on the prayer meeting altar.
When the war closed and the men and boys returned home the people took new
courage. But so many never came home and some came in their caskets. They died
for their country true loyal and brave that all might be free and none be made slave.
Reverend Noah Lohr came to us fresh from the war as full of zeal for the salvation of
souls as he was for the salvation of our country. We had some great revivals and
ingatherings into the church so that our congregation outgrew the little log house. Then
it was torn away and a new frame built in its place. It was dedicated in the spring of
1868 by Bishop David Edwards.
When memory's vision carries me back
To the happy scenes of childhood
No place more sacred appears to my view
Than the little log church in the wildwood.
Where the pioneer families met together
To worship Jehovah above
And tell the sweet story how Jesus came
To redeem them from sin by his love.
They toiled in the field when laborers were few
And the work was humble and hard;
But they strove with a purpose strong and true
To build up the cause of the Lord.
How many of them sleep in the churchyard nearby
Their mortal forms moundering to dust.
Their spirits have gone to the haven of rest
To the home prepared for the just.
At the end of life's journey there's a home for the soul
Which the Saviour has gone to prepare
But those only who strive and are pure in heart
Are worthy to enter in there.
She was married to George H. FLUHART on 9 Feb 1882 in Hocking Co. Ohio. (36)