Coshocton County Ohio villages

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PLAINFIELD

The original village of Plainfield, laid out in 1816 by Thomas Johnston and Edward Wiggins, proprietors, was purchased outright in 1936 by the Muskingum Conservancy District. The town was moved by them to its present site and became the pleasant modern suburban village it is today. The 1960 population was 178.

Plainfield, newest of the villages in Coshocton county, is, strangely enough, also one of the oldest. With its roots going back to the forepart of the 19th century, the present village has a span that includes but a few years.
The present Plainfield is a new village, spawned scarcely more than two decades ago as the result of the giant flood control project of the federal government. It was literally moved, lock, stock and barrel, from the site along Wills creek to higher ground to the west.
The history of the village is actually the story of four rural communities, three of which no longer exist. There�s the early Plainfield of the first settlers in that vicinity, followed by the founding of Jacobsport and East Plainfield, and finally the present day Plainfield.
Plainfield almost passed into oblivion in the mid-thirties, but with the courage and industry and faith in the future handed down from their pioneer forefathers, it was determined by the residents that the little village should not pass into the limbo of the forgotten.
Situated, as it had been prior to 1937, on the very banks of Wills creek, the village residents and property holders had to make a choice of living behind the protection of a river bank levee, seeing their village broken up or moving to a new site. Engineers of the Muskingum Conservancy Watershed district already explained that when the gates of Wills Creek dam were closed, the impounded water would rise above the site of the village. Hence, the drastic choices put before the villagers. After long deliberation, the property owners and residents favored the choice given them of moving the villageto the new site. And in so doing they kept going the continuity of the town that saw its growth started some 120 years before.
Located presently just west of the previous site, the village is situated in the northeast quarter of Linton township some 11 miles southeast of Coshocton. State highway 271 passes throught and served as the main thoroughfare in the village.
The first village in Linton township became a reality when Thomas Johnson laid out the original plate on Oct. 20, 1816. The site was on the west bank of Wills creek, approximately one mile south of the later village that was moved in the mid-thirties.
Subsequently in 1836, Jacob Waggoner laid out a parcel of land upstream from the original site and name it after himself, Jacobsport.
Then, several years later, John M. Johnson, a son of Thomas Johnson, laid out a number of lots adjoining Jacobsport and recorded the plat as the East Plainfield addition.
Each of these latter two villages maintained its original name unil 1876 when the whole community was incorporated under the name of Plainfield.

History says little about the fate of the original settlement and it is assumed that the developmment of the nearby twin villages took over as the center of the community. In the history of the county written by N. N. Hill, Jr. the author has this to say:�The little village for some reason was not a success. At no times did it contain more than a half dozen houses.�
As to the name itself, almost nothing is recorded or can be found in the standard histories of the county. Another reference to the terrain in the vicinity of the early Plainfield was noted by Hill in his book: �One locality was not timbered when the first settlers appeared in the township. This was the level stretch of country lying west of the village of Plainfield.� This grassy plain in an almost totally forested area no doubt had a considereable influence on those early settlers and could have had a direct connection to the name chosen by Mr. Johnson.

The founder of the village, Thomas Johnson, was a native of Ireland, who emigrated to the United States as a young man. A few years later, his family followed him to this country and settled down in Newark, Licking county. The first home built in Plainfield was erected by Johnson and served as a tavern. This he did in 1816. The structure was a two story log building.
Plainfield then was on the road between Zanesville and New Philadelphia. The highway as well traveled, notes Hill, and the taverna owner must have done a good business offering bed and board to weary and hungry wayfarers. Johnson kept only a small stock of goods in his tavern and in 1817 the first store opened for business. It was owned by Dwight Hutchinson of Cambridge and managed by Joseph Wright, also from Cambridge. The store was removed after a year�s operation and a Mr. Luccock too over as the village storekeeper.
The year 1817 saw a tannery start up in the village, operated by Benjamin Chambers, a native of New Yourk state. And in that same year, Mr. Johnson moved a distillery to a site in the village.
A carpenter and cabinet maker by the name of John Vernon build the first frame house in the village. It was also reputed to be the first of its kind in the township. Mr. Vernon had lately come to Ohio from New York.
Among his various duties and enterprises, Mr. Johnson included those which he took on as the first postmaster in Plainfield. He began to serve as postmaster in November of 1819. When the first village dwindled in importance, the post office was later transferred to East Plainfield.

The story of the early history of the Linton township village is almost a saga of Thomas Johnson. He was the domineering and guiding hand behind the whole enterprise.
Historians say Mr. Johnson was the first foreigned nationalized in Coshocton county. This event occurred in 1814. Four years later he received his commission as an associate judge in Coshocton county. Although transportation was slow and crude in those days, outlets were found to help the producers sell their surplus products to the outside world. In pursuit Mr. Johnson was extensively engaged. He later own and operated a nemuber of flat boats which carried flour and whiskey to nearly every place of importance along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

When Plainfield was founded, so vital a necessity as flour was not easily obtainable, for milling facilities were still poor and remote. Corn meal and bacon were the staples that were found on the dining tables of the pioneers. Hominy or pounded corn made up a good part of the diet.
Fore many years barter was the only kind of trade and as late as 1825, the only surplus products in the county were ginseng, maple syrup, honey, bacon and whiskey.
As it has been noted in the histories of other communities in the county, the manufacturer of whiskey was an important industry in pioneer days.
Plainfield was no exception. Whiskey was namufactured in the distillery owned and operated by Thomas Johnson even before he platted the original village of Plainfield. When the settlers first cleared land in Linton township, the nearest mill was located at Zanesville some 20 miles away. With only rough trails to follow it made a long and arduous trip to obtain this necessities.
The first mill set up in the locality was that of Andrew Ferier in 1809 close by the later site of Plainfield. It was swept away shortly after by spring freshet and was not rebuilt.
One historian tells us that a few years later a Mr. Loosse constructed a mill near the mouth of Bacon Run where it pours into Wills creek.
This early attempt at milling was made by Loose with the help of his neighbors. It was sait to have had a race 80 rods long.
Like persons engaged in any type of endeavor, historians are prone to make errors. This must account for the different dates given for the building of the first substantial mill at Plainfield that became a successful operation.
Whether it was 1817 or 1824, writers of history agree that the first mill that rose above the dignity of a primitive �corn cracker� was built by Thomas Johnson and Jacob Waggoner. It was noted as having four runs bf buhrs.
As could be expected, this mill operating under men the caliber of Johnson and Waggoner did a flourishing business. In 1829, Mr. Johnson assumed complete control of the mill and owned it when he died.
Among the various enterprises carried on by Thomas Johnson was also a tannery established by him in 1818 and located in East Plainfield. Following Mr. Johnson�s death, the tannery was operated for a while by his son, Joseph, then discontinued.

A copy of the Coshocton Spy, dated June 10, 1829, owned by Robert Wallace, editor of the Coshocton Tribune, contains the follwing advertisement.
NEW TAVERN IN PLAINFIELD
The subscriber respectively informs the public, that he has opened in the Town of Plainfield, Coshocton Co., a house of Public Entertainment; where he flatters himself, by due and proper attention to the comfort of his guests, to meet with a share of public patronage. His bar will be supplied with good liquors�His table well furnished, and carefully attended. Travellers and others may rely on receiving good accommodations. His charges will be moderate. John Roderick.
Among the early settlers of Linton township and some whom played a part in pioneer history of the vicinity of Plainfield are found the families of Addys, Bakers, McCunes, Meskimens, Heslips, Johnson, George Magness, McClains, R. Fowler, George Smith.
It was in 1878 that Jacobport and East Plainfield incorporated as the single village of Plainfield. The town was thriving then, with stores, mills, churches, and a tannery. J. A. Mayhugh was the first mayor of the new village. The first fair held in Coshocton county under auspices of the Coshocton County Agricultural Society was in Jacobsport in 1850. Later fairs were held in the public square at Coshocton. Newspaters of Plainfield were �Practical Preacher,� edited by Rev. C. E. Wirick of Plainfield and printed in Coshocton, and the �Plainfield Sentinel,� started by Stanley Sibley and later issued by Charles A. Platt.
No mention of Plainfield would be complete without recalling the ball teams representing the village in the past. Therer was the Plainfield Stripes, an aggregation which which could hold its own with the ball clubs of surrounding communities.
Another teas was the Young Americans, which also made a name for itself 60 odd years ago, on the roster were Floyd Shafer, Charlie Rusk, Jay Abbott, Doc Abbott, Noah McClain, Ray McClain, Bill Davis, Charlie Bassett, Paul Kern and Clarence Davis.
Many businesses have flourished in the town. One of the more notable is Lester Roahrig�s general store, which has been in business since 1913 and occupied the same building since that time.
Church history in Plainfield goes back to 1812 when Rev. John Mitchell organized three classes in the county.
Two congregations, both Methodist, merged in the 30�s and erected a church in 1939. Rev. Floyd Stephens is pastor of the church now.
The first school house was a log cabin erected on Thomas Johnson�s land in 1809. Presently, the grade school is still in operation, but high school students go to West Lafayette. Coshocton county�s Old Stone Fort is beliefed to be about 280 years old.

Contributed by: Sheila Barr Helser
Transcribed by: Sue Engelhardt Snodgrass

Plainfield obituaries