Jackson Township

General Andrew Jackson

On January 8, 1815, Americans won a decisive (but unnecessary*) battle against the British at New Orleans. The Muskingum County township organized on June 6, 1815 was named to honor of the "Hero of New Orleans," General Andrew Jackson. According to the Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Muskingum County, the hilly land through which flows Wakatomika Creek, was still only sparsely settled as late as 1813. Grist mill and saw mill operators were drawn to the area because of the Wakatomika. The undulating land, clay or sandy soil seems to not been a big draw for farmers. However deposits of iron and coal drew miners to the area.

The village of Knoxville was platted on June 6, 1827 by the land's
owner, Clark Hollenback. A year later, Hollenback sold the land to Samuel Frazey who changed the town's name to Frazeysburg. The village was incorporated 40 years later, although a post office had been established there by 1829. Knoxville/Frazeysburg was served by the Ohio Canal, and by the Pan Handle Railway that connected Jackson Township to major cities such as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Ohio Governor, Mordecai Bartley

The earliest Jackson Township families included Blizzard, Fairall, Evans, Hollenback, McClintock, Mendenhall, and Bonham. Methodist ministers established Jackson Township's first church in 1815. The first mill was built on the "Tomaka" Creek in 1819. The first road connecting what would become Frazeysburg to Zanesville was laid out in 1822. Mordecai Bartley (1783-1870), the township's first lawyer, was elected the 18th Governor of Ohio in 1844.

 

*The War of 1812 was formally ended by the signing of the Treat of Ghent on December 24, 1814. Unfortunately, news traveled slowly in those days, so the adversaries assembled on the western edge of the United States didn't get the message.