Bristol Township, Morgan County

How Bristol Township, Morgan County began

Bristol Township was organized as a subdivision of Morgan County on July 7, 1819, with its first election held at Mr. Merwin's house that July 24. David Stevens, who entered government land here in 1804, was the pioneer settler and kept the township's first tavern in 1808 at the crossing of the Zanesville-Marietta road. The village of Bristol, laid out in 1831 by Thomas Stevens, was known locally as 'Muttonburg,' but no incorporated village remains in the township today. The 2020 census recorded 182 people across the township's 38.6 square miles in the northern part of the county.

Settled 1804, platted 1831, incorporated 1819, by David Stevens, first settler (1804); township organized July 7, 1819; village of Bristol laid out by Thomas Stevens in 1831.

Where the name comes from

The village of Bristol, laid out in 1831, gave its name to the township; no source found explains why 'Bristol' was chosen.

Before the town

No Native American village, trail or mound site specific to Bristol Township was found in the sources checked. The township lies in the northern part of the county, away from the Muskingum River corridor where the Lenape (Delaware) and Wyandot presence in the county is best documented.

Nations recorded here: Lenape (Delaware), Wyandot.

Timeline

1. 1804 — David Stevens enters government land in the township, its first settler.
2. 1808 — David Stevens opens the township's first tavern at the Dye's Fork crossing of the Zanesville-Marietta road, serving venison, bear meat and wild turkey; he also becomes postmaster of Meigsville that year.
3. 1816 — Arthur and Richard Jenkins arrive from Marietta in the spring, among the township's early settler families.
4. 1816 — John McKee and Rachel DeLong receive the township's first recorded marriage license, issued July 12 by Levi Barber.
5. 1819 — Bristol Township is organized as a subdivision of Morgan County on July 7; its first election is held at Mr. Merwin's house on July 24, recording 24 voters.
6. 1822 — The Old Bristol Meeting-House, built of hewed yellow-poplar logs and open to all denominations, is completed; it burns around 1870.
7. 1831 — Thomas Stevens lays out the village of Bristol, about fourteen lots, later nicknamed 'Muttonburg.'
8. 1835 — Bristol Presbyterian Church is organized with 12 original members; the present building is erected in 1853 for $1,300.
9. 1870 — Bristol Grange No. 80 is organized with thirteen charter members and William Chandlers as master.

Stories

Johnny Appleseed among the settlers

The 1886 county history of Bristol Township records that John Chapman -- remembered as Johnny Appleseed -- distributed apple seeds among the pioneer families here before leaving the region around 1840. The township's earliest religious life was carried by circuit preachers like the Reverend Levi Reeves, who held meetings in settlers' homes before any church building existed, alongside figures like the Reverend Adrial Huzzey, a New Light minister who also worked as a shoemaker and is remembered making shoes for local families as early as 1810.

The mutton in Muttonburg

When Thomas Stevens laid out the village of Bristol in 1831 with about fourteen lots, the settlement soon picked up a nickname that stuck harder than its official name: 'Muttonburg,' after rumors of a local taste for mutton. The village never grew large -- no incorporated place survives in the township today -- but the name lived on in local memory as one of the small ironies of a place better known, in its early decades, for a land dispute in which settlers collectively harvested a speculator's crop near Bone's Mill and burned his structures, reporting to authorities only that they had been 'struck by lightning.'

Local history sources: ohiogenealogyexpress.com · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Mcconnelsville Village79% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Morgan Meigsville - Sr 37612% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Malta Village8% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Morgan Meigsville Rural1% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Money issues on the ballot since 2020: 3 of 3 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-07-07

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