[167] Because of persecution in their native land, the Würtemberg Separatists left their homes in several parties. One of these, led by George Rapp, founded the New Harmony and Economy settlement; another, under the leadership of Joseph M. Bäumler, came to Philadelphia in 1817, and by December of that year had begun a settlement on the Tuscarawas, which they named Zoar. Not until 1819 was the community system established, and then because of the exigencies of the situation and their position on the frontier, rather than doctrinaire theory. The numbers of the settlement were largely increased in 1832, when a second band arrived from Würtemberg. The leader of the colony, Joseph Bäumler (later spelled Bimeler), was of obscure peasant origin, but a man of ability and enterprise. Under his care the community prospered until his death in 1852. Celibacy was at first imposed as a rule of the community, but later was rescinded. In 1898, by mutual consent of the members, the community dissolved, the majority still living at the village of Zoar, which in 1900 possessed but two hundred and ninety inhabitants. For further details, consult W. A. Hinds, American Communities (Chicago, 1902), pp. 91-123; and E. O. Randall, "Separatist Society of Zoar," in Ohio Archæological and Historical Quarterly, viii, pp. 1-100.—Ed.
[168] The Ohio Gazetteer, or Topographical Dictionary, was first compiled by John Kilbourn, of Columbus, Ohio. The edition used by Maximilian was probably the eleventh issue, published at Columbus in 1833. The statement therein is, that the land was purchased in 1818 (not 1810). The details of the purchase in Bäumler's name were arranged in 1817; but the title did not pass until the next year, and it was the spring of 1818 before the main body of the Zoar colonists arrived from Philadelphia, where they had been charitably entertained during the preceding winter by the Society of Friends.—Ed.
[169] Bolivar, in the northern portion of Tuscarawas County, owed its existence to the Ohio Canal. The town was laid out in 1825 by two proprietors from Canton, Ohio, who at first christened it Kelleysville, for one of the canal commissioners. He, however, declined the honor, whereupon the name of the South American emancipator was chosen. Between the villages of Zoar and Bolivar, Maximilian passed the site of the former Fort Laurens, erected during the Revolution (1778) as an outpost for the protection of the Western frontiers. In February and March, 1779, the garrison, under command of Colonel John Gibson, sustained a protracted siege by a motley host of Wyandot and Mingo warriors, led by a few British soldiers. After the raising of the siege, Fort Laurens was found too remote from the frontier to be provisioned without undue risk; whereupon, in the autumn of 1779, the post was abandoned.
The township of Bethlehem, Stark County, was so named for the original home in Pennsylvania of the Moravian missionaries, one of whom, Christian Frederick Post, built (1761) within its precincts the first cabin in the present state of Ohio (see his Journals, our volume i). The village of Bethlehem, on the northern boundary of the township, was laid out about 1806 by Jonathan W. Condy, who intended to found there a religious society of Swedenborgians, upon the model of the Moravian settlement in Pennsylvania. The plan failed, and the village only revived upon the building of the canal.
Massillon (a thriving place of about 12,000 inhabitants) was a canal town, platted after the route had been arranged. Upon the opening of the line thence to Akron, a celebration was held at the new town of Massillon, which had been named in honor of a famous French theologian of the seventeenth century.—Ed.
[170] Canal Fulton was laid out in 1826 by two residents of Canton, Ohio. Its population in 1900 was 1,172.
New Portage is the southern terminus of the once well-known portage path from the Cuyahoga to the Tuscarawas, which furnished in early Indian history the most practicable route from Lake Erie to the Ohio. The road was about eight miles long, and has recently been retraced; consult A. B. Hulbert, Red-Men's Roads (Columbus, 1900), p. 33. This path also furnished a boundary between Indian Territory and that of the United States, as agreed upon by the treaties of Fort McIntosh (1785), Fort Harmar (1789), and Greenville (1795). The American town of New Portage was expected to be the future metropolis of the region, but declined with the growth of Akron.
The marshy place described by Maximilian is Summit Lake, which later, connected with surrounding basins, became the reservoir, partly natural, partly artificial, for the canal upon the watershed between Lake Erie and the Ohio.
Akron (named from a Greek word meaning elevation) was a canal town; when founded it was in Portage County, but later was made the seat of Summit County, erected in 1840. Although founded in 1825, the town was not incorporated until 1836; it was erected into a city in 1865, and by 1900 had attained a population of 42,728.—Ed.
[171] The descent from the summit of the portage to Lake Erie is steep, and requires a stairway of forty locks (sluices). This was the first portion of the work to be completed. The first boat from Akron to Cleveland went through July 4, 1827, amid popular rejoicings.