.#^ &°^. ,r ' ^A^ * 8 1 A ' ^^' o^:- -IS^ A. .n 'oo^ OQT ^ ^-^ ^. .0^' . * 8 . ^ * \^ . - - % * .0 ^ ^ %c,'^ '■'^,^' '\^' '^^<^'^ 5^ s' f^ ^ ^^ ""'*^. \" aV -^^ '' <.^^'' '^<^. a"»' ■^ '-/' (• .-' ,0 ^. --^,_ <^^' A ,0- .0^ ^ ^r. •."^ ^OO^ x^^. J" N :^^ O ' " ^0^^ .A^' ^o HISTOEY OF PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO. Containing A History of the County, its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of the Northwest Territory; His- tory OF Ohio; Statistical and Mis- cellaneous Matter, ETC., ETC. ILLTJSTI^J^TEID. CHICAGO: WARNER, BEERS & CO 1885. o <2. CHICAGO: ^ ») ■ ^— y^" John Morris Company » 'j^ < *• ^ PRINTERS. Vv PREFACE. TN submitting the Histor}' of Portage County to the public, the publishers -■- trust that it will be received in that generous spirit which is gratified at honest and conscientious eftbrt. The impbrtance of rescuing from oblivion and preserving, in a permanent form, the pioneer annals of the county and its various local communities has been duly appreciated by its citizens, whose assistance has contributed materially to the success of the work. In the compilation of the many chapters it has been the earnest endeavor of our writers to disengage from the great mass of facts those which relate to the permanent forces of the county, or which indicate the most enduring featiu'es of its growth and prosperity. Free use was made of the State reports and county records, as well as of all reliable sources of information bearing on the history of this section of Ohio, such as Howe's "Historical Collections," Gen. Lucius V. Bierce's sketches of the first set- tlements on the Western Reserve, Christian Cackler's reminiscences of pio- neer times, the late John Harmon's recollections of the war of 1812, Reid's "Ohio in the War," and the early newspaper files so wisely preserved by Col. William Frazer, and now in possession of his son Homer C. Frazer, Esq. , of Ravenna, who kindly gave our historians free access to said files at all times. In every part of the county descendants of the pioneers were inter- viewed, and their recollections carefully sifted and compared. Private papers and family manuscripts have thus been drawn forth from their hiding places, and every effort made to glean from the husks of tradition the scat- tered grains of truth. For the convenience of its readers the book is divided into four parts: Part I contains a condensed history of the Northwest Territory. Part II, a history of the State of Ohio. Part III embraces the general history of Portage County, its townships, towns and villages. The general history of the county. Chapters I to XIII inclusive, was written by Mr. R, C. Brown, of Chicago, 111., and Chapters XIY to XXXIV inclusive were mostly iv PREFACE. compiled by Mr. J. E. Norris of the same city; while the complimentary sketches in Part IV were obtained by a corps of solicitors, and a copy of each sketch submitted for correction to the subject or his friends, on whom we have depended for accuracy. The publishers avail themselves of this opportunity to thank the county, township, town and village officials, the editors of the several newspapers? and the members of every profession and calling throughout the county who in any way assisted the historians in their labors, for their generous sympathy toward the enterprise. Special acknowledgments are due to Enos P. Brainerd, Esq., Homer C. Frazer, Esq., Samuel D. Harris, Esq., Hon. Marvin Kent and Dr. A. M. Sherman, all of whom rendered impor- tant aid to the general historian and his assistants in gathering authentic historical data. We place the volume in the hands of our patrons with the belief that it will be found a valuable contribution to local historical liter- ature. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS. PAET I. HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. PAGE. Geogiaiiliical I'osition 17 Early Explorations 17 Discovery of the Ohio 2G English Explorations and Settlements 28 PAGE. Aiucrican Settlements 53 Division of the Northwest Territory 58 Tecumseh and tlicWarof 1S12 Gl Black Hawk and the Black Hawk War (11 PART 11. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. History of Ohio ;... 7s French History 7G Ordinance of 1787, No. 32 87 Comments upon the Ordinance of 1787, from the Statutes of Ohio. Edited by Salmon P. C'hase, and Published in the year 1833 91 The War of 1812 107 Banking Ill The Canal System 113 Ohio Land Tracts 114 Improvements 119 State Boundaries 121 Organization of Counties 122 Description of Counties 122 Early Events 122 Governors of Ohio 143 Ancient Works 157 Some Genera! Characteristics 160 Outline Geology of Ohio 1G2 Ohio's Rank During the War of the Kebelliou... 165 A Brief Mention of Prominent Oliio (ienerals... 177 Some Discussed Subjects 172 Conclusion isi PART III. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. OHAPTEPt I.— iNTROnucTORY — Organization — Area and Population 187-197 Primitive Appearance of the Country — The Claims of Virginia and Connecticut— The Connecticut Western Keserve — Dona- tion of Fire Lands, and Sale of the Balance to the Connecticut Land Comi)any — Indian Titles Extinguished — Ordinance "of 1787— Arrival of the First Surveying Corps at Conueaut — The Reserve Surveyed into Townships— Trials and Sulferings of the Surveyors— Erection of .lett'erson and Trum- bull Counties — Organization of Franklin Township— Portage County Erected, and Selection of its Seat of Justice— First Elec- tion, and Organization of the County — Minutes of the First Meeting of the Com- missioners — Original Townships — Tax Levies and Collectors of 1808— First Year's Receipts and Expenditures — Changes in the AVestern Boundary Line— Present Bound- aries — Origin of the Name of the County — The Portage Path — Areas and Townships — Population Statistics. CHAPTER II.— Portage County Ninety Years Ago— Geology 198-217 Portage County Ninety Years Ago — Tim- ber and Fruit-Bearing Trees and Vines — Roots and Herbage — Wild Animals, Birds and Reptiles — Big Hunts — General Topog- raphy, Streams and Lakes — Geology of Portage County — Surface Features and De- posits — Geological Structure — Coal Measures — Coal No. 1 — Coals Nos. 3 and 4 — Fire Cllay — Altitudes in Portage County above Lake Erie. CHAPTER III.— Archeology— Indian His- tory 217-228 The Pre-llistoric Races — Mound-Builders — Their Great Anti()uity— Occupation of the Country — The Wonderful Monuments Which They Left Behind Them — Some Evi- dences of TheirEx-istence in Portage County - -The North American Indians — Their j->up- posed Origin— Brief Sketch of Them- In- dians of Portage County — The Great Trail — — The Indian Chiefs Bigson, Stignish and Big Cayuga— Extracts from the Reminis- cences of Christian Cackler of the Indians of this Section. CHAPTER IV.— Pioneers— First Settle- HENT.s 228-240 The I'ioneers of Portage County — Their Heroic Perseverance and Privations— New England Transplanted on the Connecticut Western Reserve— The First Settlement Made Within the Limits of Portage County —First Settlers of Mantua, Ravenna, Auro- ra and Atwater Townships — Atwater Hall, the First White Child Born in the County- First Settlers of Palmyra, Dcerfield, Nelson, Rootstown, Randolph, Sutfield, Charles- town, Hiram, Franklin, Shalersville, Edin- burg, Windham, Paris, Brimtield, Freedom, Streetsboro and Garrettsville Townships — The Portage-Summit Pioneer Association. CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER v.— Pioneer Days— Habits, Cus- toms, ETC 241-260 Pioneer Days and Trials — Habitations of the First Settlers — Furniture, Food and Medicine^ — Habits, Labor and I)ress — Early Manners and Customs — Bees and Weddings — The Hominy lilock and Pioneer Mills — Prices of Store Goods and Produce — Items From an Old Cash Book — Mode of Livinfc — Churches and Schools — Period of the War of ]8r2^Prices After the War — First Crops Raised in the County — Agricultural Imple- ments of the Pioneers, and Subsequent Im- provements Made in Them — Pioneer Farm- ing — Cheese and Butter Statistics — First Stock Brought into the County — Stock Sta- tistics Since 1840— Statistics of Wheat, Corn, Oats and Hay— Total Valuation of I'roperly by Decades — Portage County Agricultural Societies — Portage County Horticultural Society. CHAPTER VI.— Militia— War of 1812 2G0-2S2 First Military Organization on the West- ern Reserve— War of 1812 and First Call for Volunteers — John Harmon's Recollec- tions of the War — Second Regiment Ohio Militia — Capt. John Campbell's Company of Volunteers — Camp on Barrel Run — March to Cleveland, and Embarkation for Lower Sandusky — Description of the Trip and Ar- rival — Incidents at the Fort, and Sickness Among the Soldiers — Departure for the River Raisin — Hull's Surrender — Start for Maiden, and Arrival at That Point— Pa- roled Prisoners— Return Home of the Sick and Paroled Men — Deaths in the Command — Alarm Caused by the Surrender — Regi- mental Record of the Second Regiment — Response to a Call for Troops in 181-3. — Jlr. Harmon's Concluding Remarks— The In- habitants of Portage County Fear an Indian Invasion — Distresijing Incident of the War — Re-organization of the Militia— Muster Days and Sham Fights. CHAPTER VII.— Internal lMPROVEMENTS.282-297 Internal Improvements— The Great In- dian Trail— Pioneer Roads of Portage Coun- ty — Mail Facilities and I^etter Postage — Stage Routes and Drirers — Canals— Early Canal Legislation— The Ohio Canal Com- menced and Completed— Pennsylvania A Ohio Canal — The Efforts Made to Have it Built— Its Construction and Com- pletion—First Boats Arrive at Ravenna- Subsequent Success of the Enterprise- Causes Which Led to its Abandonment— Railroads— Cleveland & Pittsburgh— Cleve- land A ]\Iahoning Valley— Atlantic ct Great AVestern— Cleveland, Yonngstown & Pitts- burgh — Connotton Vallev — Pittsliurgh, Cleveland & Toledo— The Proposed Clinton Air Line, and the General Railroad Facili- ties of the County. CHAPTER VIII.-Educational 207-309 Education in Ohio— Lands (jranted for Educational Purposes — Commissioners of Schools and School Lands in 1822— The School Lands Sold and a School Fund Estab- lished — Pioneer Schools, Schoolhouses, Teachers and Books in Portage County- How Teachers were Employed and Paid— An Amusing Agreement— Growth of Edu- cation—Government and Progress of Schools Prior to 1851— Schools for Colored Youth Established — Reorganization of Schools Under the Laws of 1853— Present Govern- ment of Schools. CHAPTER IX.— Official, Political, etc..309-327 Public Officers— Members of Congress- State Senators— Territorial and State Rep- resentatives — County Commissioners — Treasurers— Clerks— Recorders-Auditors- Sheritls — Coroners — Surveyors — Probate Judges— Seat of Justice and Public Build- ings — Prison Bounds- County Infirmary- Political Statistics of Portage County — First Election Held, with the Names of the Can- didates and Voters — Gubernatorial and Presidential Vote. CHAPTER X.— Judiciary— Medical 328-344 The Judiciary — Organization of the Court of Common Pleas in Ohio, and its Subse- quent Changes — Pioneer Courts of Portage County — Sessions of 1808-09, and the Juries and Trials of Those Two Years^Anecdotes of Pioneer Justice in This County — Com- mon Pleas Judges — Associate Judges — Prose- cuting Attorneys — Riding the Circuit — I^io- ueer Resident and Visiting Lawyers — Brief Sketches of Leading IMembers of the Bench and Bar — Present Bar of Portage County — The Portage County Medical Association. CHAPTER XL— Noted Criminal Events..3 17-301 The Most Noted Criminal Events in the History of Portage County — Trials and Sen- tences of the Culprits— The Alleged Crime of John McManus— The Murder of Mathews by Aunghst — The Muider of Cummings by Harris — The Murder of Catherine McKisson by Her r>rother-in-l.aw, David McKisson — The HeatbiuanMauslaugbterCase — Alanson Baldwin Stabbed to Death by His Nephew, Lemuel W. Price — Attempted Killing of Prentiss by Flower — The Shorts-Wilson Shooting— The Murder of John Rhodeu- baugh by Jack Cooper and Joel Beery — Harriet Musson Murdered by Wilson S. • Roof — Shooting of Alfred L. Ilarris by His Father — The "Kelso-Montague Case — The Newell-Roberts Atfair. CHAPTER XII.— The Press 362-372 The Newspapers of the Past and Present — Ravenna l'a|)ers — Western Cotirier and the Western Public A- lican — ^Kent Newspapers — Proposed Frunklin Gazette — The Omnium Gatherum and its Successors: Tlie Family Visitor, Literary Casket, Cuyalioi/a. Reporter, Satuniaij Reriew. Commercial Bulletin, Saturday llidhtin, and Kent Saturday lUdletin — Kent iVeim of 1807 — Present Kent Aews — Garrettsville News- papers — Garrettsville 3IontIdy Review — Gar- rettsville Journal — Home Bazar — Atwater Newspapers — Sharp Sickle — Atwater News. CHAPTER XIII.— War of the Rebeli.ion..373-391 Portage County in tlio Rebellion —The Patriotic Feeling of Her People at the Be- ginning of the Great Struggle for National Life— Meetings Held to Denounce Treason and to Support the Government— Enroll- ment of Volunteers Under the President's First Call, and Their Departure for Camp Taylor — Good Work of the Relief Commit- tees, and Generosity of the Citizens— The Number of Men Sent into the War by Each Township, and the Commands in Which They Served— Official Roster of Commis- sioned Officers from this County— Amount of Money Annually I^xpended for War Pur- poses by Portage County from 1861 to 1805 — Closing Scenes of the War— Public I)em- onstrations of Great Joy Over its Glorious Termination— The Rejoicings of the People Suddenly Turned to (irief by the Assassin- ation of President Lincoln. CHAPTER XIV.— Atwater Township 392-399 Arrival of Atwater and Others— Early Privations— Birth of First Child— Another Lone Settler — Organization — Marriages and Deaths— Some Old and New Things— An Ancient Musket — Early Churches and Preachers — Schools — Newspapers— Indus- tries, etc. — Officers and Statistics. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV.— Aurora Township 400-405 Ebenezer Sheldon— First Legal Business — A Lonely Couple— A Moilel Pioneer Wile — Other Settlers— Early Hardships— Organi- zation — The Methodist Circuit Pvider— l-'irst Church and SchDols— First Birth and Death and Other First Things — Hunters and Hunt- ing Stories— Early Facts— A Small Meeting with Large Results — Churches and Schools — Business, etc. — Statistics. CHAPTER XVL— Brimfield Township.. ..40.5-411 A Many-named Township— Equalizing Lands — Explorers and Settlers — Location of tiie Early Pioneers — Organization and Pol- itics — Three Clas.ses of First Events — Educa- tion and Religion — Business Beginnings — Large Shippers — Resources — Statistics. CHAPTER XVII. — CiiARLESTOWN Town- ship 412-415 A Hunter Squatter — First Permanent Set- tler—The Blandlbrd & Granville Co.— Post- Bellum Settlers — Fifty-six in Four Families — Leading First Events — First Birth and Marriage — First Mills— Schools and ( hurches — Rev. Caleb Pitkin — Organization — Offi- cers, Business, etc. CHAPTER XVIIL— Deekfield Town,ship.416-423 Breaking First Ground — Settlers of ISOO — The Elys, Days and Divers — A Trip on the Ma-um-ing — Hardships and Privations — Great Increase — First Military Company — After the Organization — A Kcmarkahle Family — Some Early Facts — Grant's Tan- nery — Shooting of Diver — Hunters and Hunting — Early I'reachers and Churches — Schools, Business and .Statistics. CHAPTER XIX.— Edinbi-rg Township 424-431 Early Settlement — Abbott and Chapman — Other Pioneers — Rial JIcArthur and R. M. JIart — Some Noted Names — Organization and Officers — The Champion llunt — Old Time Adventures, Facts and Social JCvents — Churches and Schools — Edinbnrg Center — ]?usiness, Resources and Statistics. CHAPTER XX.— Franklin Township and Kent 431-452 First Settlement — The Haymakers — A Primitive Mill— Early I'acts and Settlers — Contest for the County Seat — Low I'rice of Produce — First Burying Ground — Rceds- bury — Organization — First Law Suit — Cackler's (ieese — Important Primitive In- dustries — Fine Water-Power — The Manu- facture of Gla.ss — The Twin Villages in 1.S27 — The Rival Taverns — Early Merchants, etc., etc. — Progress of Improvement — y^enas Kent — Franklin Land Company — The Ca- nal Outrage — Franklin & Warren Railroad — Incorporation — Increase of Business — Standing Rock Cemetery — Names, Ages and Iieaths of Some Early Settlers — .lohn Brown — Brady's Leap — Primitive Schools and Religion — Sketches of the Churches- Free and Accepted Masons — Odd Fellowship — other Orders and Societies. CHAPTER XXL— Freedom Township 452-459 Before the Organization — Charles H. Paine, the First Settler— A Lone Pioneer — More Arrivals— First Election — A Thought- ful Veteran— Paul Larkcom— A Number of First Things— Churches and Schools- Hor- ace Greeley's Uncle — The Army Hunt— Sad Death — Sagacity of a Dog— Business and Sta- tistics. CHAPTER XXII.— Garrettsville To^VN- ship 459-400 Arrival of Col. John Garrett— The First Mill— Slow Growth— The Dual (iovernment — Business, Manufacturing, etc. — The Fair —Churches— Union Schools— Masonic Bo- dies—Odd Fellowship— Young Meji's Temper- ance Council — ( cood Templars — Statistics. CHAP'I'Fi; XXTIL— HiKAM Township 460-475 Who was the First Settler .'—Honey and Williams— Mason and Tilden— Other Perma- PAOE. nent Settlers — The Youngs,Ben jamin Hinck- ley and Samuel Udall— Many First Events — Churches and Schools — Hiram College — President James A. Garfield — Organization and Origin of Name— The Mormons — Tar- ring and Feathering Smith and Rigdon — Rich Land, Beautiful Location and Business. CHAPTER XXIV.— Mantua Township 47.5-485 First Settler of Portage County — First Wheat — Amzi Atwater — Elias Harmon — Other Settlers — Organization — First Birth, Marriage and Death — Primitive Industries — A Peculiar Character — Another Queer One — Judge Atwater's Bear Fight -( 'hurches andSchools— Business, Soil, etc.— Mantua Sta- tion — ^Mantua Corners — Masonry — Statistics. CHAPTER XXV.— Nelson Township 480-494 Coming of the Pioneers — The Mills Broth- ers — Two Lonesome Families — Important Arrivals — Heads of Families in 1815 — First Buildings — First Arrivals and Departui-es^^^"^ Churches and Schools — Taverns, Mills and Roads — Fiat Juslilia, Ruat Ccelum. — Exploits of Capt. Mills — Summary— Township Offi- cers — The Ledges — Statistics. CHAPTER XXVL— Palmyra Township 495-505 The Vanguard — Pioneer Daniels — Capt. Baldwin, Truman Gilbert, Artemus Rug- gles— The (ireat Trail — A Noted Character — Pioneer Dentistry— A Famous Trapper — An Irate F. F. V. — "Moses Jabe" Gilbert, the Contractor — Numerous First Events — Preacher and Churches — Schools and Teach- ers — Organization — Palmyra Center — Dia- mond — Coal Banks — Business, Societies and Statistics. CHAPTER XXVIL— Paris Township 505-508 Good Land with a Bad Name — Slow Set- tlement— Organization— Ch u r c h e s and Schools — Some First Events — Notable Hap- penings — McClintocksburg and Newport — Officers, Business, Resources and Statistics. CHAPTER XXVIII.— Randolph TowNsniP.511-518 First Two Settlers — Bela Hubbard and Salmon Ward — The Tide Flows On — Ward's Four Trips — Oliver Dickinson — First Deaths, Births and .Alarriages — Initial Industries — A Few Early Facts— Organization and Offi- cers — Churches and School.s— Old and New Incidents — The Hubbard Squash — Randolph Fair — Underground Railroad— Soil, Streams and Statistics. CHAPTER XXIX.— Ravenna Township and City 518-544 Original Proprietors — The Pioneers — First Cabin — Benjamin Tappan — First Birth and Death— Primitive Mills— The Village Site in ISOG — A Threshing Machine — Laying Out of the Village— First I'.uilding— Old Burying Ground — .Schools and Scholars — First Court House and Jail— Recipe for Clearing off Stumps— Two Old Structures — An Incident of 1812 — Pen Picture of Primitive Ravenna — John Brown's l^'ather — Jesse (irant's Tan- nery — Some Noted Settlers — Some Early Facts— Two Notable Raisings— First Sun- day-School — Sundry Items — Early Merch- ants — A School Needed— First School Meet- ing — Growth of the City— Incorporation — Industries— Banks and Banker.s — Pioneer Preachers on Religion — First ^Congregation- al Church, and Rev. C. B. Storrs- Methodist Episcopal Church— Disciples Church— Uni- versalist Church — Church of the Immacu- late Conception— Episcopal Church— Secret and other Societies— Statistics. CHAPTER XXX. — Rootstown Township..544-552 The First Cabin— David Root— A Sad Death— First Wheat Crop- Nathan Muzzy— A Distillery— An Alien Justice— First Birth — The Chapmans— First Frame Structure- Mother Ward— The Fir.st Criminal— Primi- tive Schools— The Old Grave-yard— Early Churches— Organ ization and Officers— Noted Events— Soil, Products and Statistics. CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER XXXI.— Shaleesville Town- ship 552-557 A Pioneer l-'amily— Early Privations- Some O'ther Settlers— Three Self-made Men —Silas Crocker, Sylvester Beecher, David Mcintosh — Organization— Births, Deaths and Marria^'cs— Muzzy and His Mill— I'irst Industries— Schools and Churches-War llee- ord— Incidents and Facts— An Aged Land- Mark— Business— Resources-Statistics. CHAPTER XXXII. — Streetsboeo Town- ship 558- Rapid Settlement — Some AVell-known Names— Cleveland & Wellsville Turnpike- Organization— No Paupers Wanted— I^arly Liberality and Enterprise— A Few First Events— Churches and Schools— Business, Officers, etc.— Statistics. CHAPTER X X X ITI.—SuFFiELn TowNsniP..563-5G7 A Fine T(i\vnsliip--One Lonely Settler- Benjamin Italdwiii, and the "Baldwin" Apple— Other Settlers— Honest .John Fritch —A Noted Hunter— Two Organizations— A "Flustrated" Justice— First Mills, Stores, etc. — Coming of the Germans — First Churches and Schools— First Birth and Death— Mogadore—Suffleld Center- A Du- plex Town, etc.— Statistics, etc.— Business, Resources and Oiiicers. CHAPTER XXXIV.— WiNniiAM TowNSniP..5r)7-574 The Becket Land Company— The March Westward— Some ICaily Settlors— Organiza- tion and Officers — ( :hurches and I're.achors — Initial Events of Interest— Primitive Edu- cators—Building and Enterprise— Business — Grand Array— Township Otticers— Statis- tics. PAKT lY. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Atwater Township Aurora Township Brimlield Township Charlestown Township Deerlicld Township Edinlmi^ Township Franklin Township Freedom /Township '1° (larrettsvillo Township 723 Hiram Township 741 Mantua Township 7o2 577 593 601 017 G21 r.:'.7 R58 Nelson Township ;^'l I'almyra Towushij) 777 Paris Township 7S2 Randolph Township 783 Ravenna Township S09 Uootstown Township 862 Shalersville Township 878 Streetshoro Township 885 Suflield Township ^^^ Windham Township 911 PORTRAITS. ... 407 ... 541) .... 418 ... 49S ... 499 ,... 529 Adams, Horace, SufBeld Township Atwood, .Toshua, Freedom Towusliip Bloomfield, Lewis M.. Kandolph Townshii Boszor, Henry, Brimtield Township Boszor, Sarah N., Brimlield Township Brainerd, E. P., Ravenna Township Carlton, Peter, Mantua Township 376 Carlton, Clarissa, Mantua Township 377 Clapp, Selali S., l''ranklin Township 640 Clapp, Mrs. Marv, Franklin Township 641 Crocker, Silas, Siuilorsville Township 334 f^rocker, Mrs. Cynthia, Slialersvillo Township... 335 Davidson, .lames F., Brimlield Township 600 Day, Luther, Ravenna Township 81 Dewey, George, Franklin Township 438 Dunn, James, Garrettsville 233 Earl, Ebenezer W., Windham Township 682 Eggleston, i ien. Nelson, Aurora Township 509 Foster, Jonathan, Mantua Township 254 Fowler, Heujamin, Nelson Township 540 Fuller, C. C, Nelson Township 203 Gartield, Jaraes A 47 Garfield, Mrs. Lucrelia R 213 Gibbs, Mason, Deevllcld Township 609 Gorby, Thomas, Kandolpli 'I'owiiship 314 Hart, Reuben, Ihimlield I'owiisliip 569 Hartzell, John, Deerlield Township 662 Hawley, E., Paris Township 651 Haymaker, J. D., Franklin Township 323 Hill, William S., Streetshoro Township 467 Jennings, P. U., Mantua Township 387 Kent, Marvin, Franklin Township 183 Kent, Zenas, Franklin Township King, Joseph D., Ravenna Township Larkcoin, A. C, Freedom Township Lyman, Judge Darius, Ravenna Township- Norton, James, Garrettsville Ober. R. H., (iarret-tsvillo Pannelee, Luther II., Franklin Township... Parsons, Edward, 15rimfield Township Paulus, William, Suffield Township Plum, Frederick, Streetshoro Township., Powers, Dr. A. M., Rootstown Township.. Price, Dr. Joseph, Randolph Township Ray, Col. C. H., Mantua Township. Reed, C. A., Ravenna Township Russel, Luther, Streetshoro Township Sawyer, Oliver, Brimlield Township Sherman, Dr. A. M.. Franklin Township Smith, E. ("., Garrettsville Spencer, Oliver, Aurora Township Stilwell, Barnet, Brimtield Township Stratton, J. B., Franklin Township Strickland, Willis, Ravenna Township Thompson, R. J., Ravenna Township Tidball, Dr. A.H., Garrettsville Waggoner, Dr. Joseph, Ravenna Township Webb, James, Freedom Township Wilson, Samuel, Suffield Township AVoodard, James, Franklin Township Woodbridge, Mrs. INlary A., Ravenna Township. Woodworth, E. S., Windham Township Woodworth, Thomas J., Windham Township.... 115 520 731 149 203 427 303 589 398 487 620 345 691 243 478 722 223 283 711 580 029 365 671 356 294 560 702 458 . 273 447 , 194 MISCELLANEOUS. ^lap of Portage County 13 Population of the Uiiiied States 69 Area of the United States 69 Area of the Principal Countries in the World... 09 Population of Principal Countries in the World. 69 Population of Ohio by Counties 70 List of Ohio's Governors 72 Population of Portage County by Townships 197 ...^ i /^ p @ w O H X Q ff.5 W /?.Q W ^.7 w. /?.6 W. PART I. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The ITorthwest Territory. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the " New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern Territory." In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast, magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- tion, at the present time, of 18,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one-third of the entire population of the United States. Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent on the globe. For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United States. EARLY EXPLORATIONS. In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel 17 18 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than half his army, the remainder of whom found 'their way to Cuba, thence to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer took advantage of these discoveries. In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent result ; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac. During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied — as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- dition, prepared for the undertaking. On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 19 ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town, ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in giving them an abundantf " chase." This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to Joliet, said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage, returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were now upon the bosom of the Father of Waters. The mystery was about to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June, must have been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand " reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of 20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. inhabitants, yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fastidious cultivation of lordly proprietors. On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their coarse up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its source and procured guides from that point to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, " did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River." The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan — he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been called Marquette. While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him. These were Robert de LaSalle and Louis Hennepin. After LaSalle 's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 21 lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized. LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev- alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed on to Green Bay, the " Bale des Puans " of the French, where he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors, started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all the men — thirty working men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking. By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by the Indians, " Theakeke," wolf^ because of the tribes of Indians called by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee. *' Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the country," about the last of December they reached a village of the Illi- nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment no inhabitants. The Sieur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs, took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi- ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored, the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening, on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-tvi, that is, a place where there are rtiany fat beasts. Here the natives were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent 22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel. He called this fort " Crevecoeur " (broken-heart), a name expressive of the very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship. Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered. While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour- ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and was successfully made, though over an almost unknown route, and in a bad season of the year. He safely reached Canada, and set out again for the object of his search. Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February, 1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River by the 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen- nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy- age they found several beautiful lakes, and "saw some charming prairies." Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May when they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages* Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen, headed by one Sieur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene- trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow- countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went to France, where he published an account of his adventures. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 23 The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring, De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander- ings, fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May, died. His followers, reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them- selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brig- antines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba. They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but, being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country, and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through. To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed the Portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February reached the banks of the Mississippi. On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis- covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event : " We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de La Salle went to reconnoiter the shore of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the eighth, we reascended the river, a little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription : "Louis Le Grand, Roi de France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvleme April, 1682." The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, and then, after a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi,'" the column was erected by M. de La Salle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of the King of France. La Salle returned and laid the foundations of the Mississippi settlements in Illinois ; thence he proceeded to France, where another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing 24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. along the shore of the gulf. On the third voyage he was killed, through the treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions was not accomplished until 1699, when D'Iberville, under the authority of the crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea, the mouth of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by the natives " Malhouchia,^^ and by the Spaniards, " la Palissade,^^ from the great number of trees about its mouth. After traversing the several outlets, and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its western outlet, and returned to France. An avenue of trade was now opened out which was fully improved. In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colonists. In 1762, the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased by the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the charge of the United States. Although La Salle's labors ended in defeat and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ; had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monuments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them (unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecceur,) it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored." The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois, and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil- lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of these missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated *' Aux Cascaskias, autrementdit de I'lmmaculate Conception de la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecceur. This must have been about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river, (pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving siviftlyC) was established in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether probable that on LaSalle's last * There Is considerable dispute about tliis date, some asserting it was founded as late as 1742. When the new court house at Vincennes was erected, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and 1703 fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 25 trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. In July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchartrain were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These stations, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to occupy the Northwest Terri- tory. At the same time efforts were being made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settlement and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England in 1718. This was mainly accom- plished through the efforts of the famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law, who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away. , From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis- sippi, and the war with the Chickasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the New World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages, and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid (Kaskaskias). In the five French villages, are perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all -told. Most of the French till the soil ; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem- ber 7, 1750, this same priest says: "For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lauds are only partially occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all the lumber, bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork 26 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans, plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners through fear of the Ghickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas, where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, hower, a fort at the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at Vincennes in 1812, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada. Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large pieces are found in the streams. At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at the Maumee in the country of the Miamas, and one at Sandusky in what may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest they had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac, Fox River at Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settlement. Another nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country, and hearing of its wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for securing the great profits arising therefrom. The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely,' the DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO. This " Beautiful " river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La- Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette. THE NORTHWEST TERRITOEY. 27 While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois. He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring expedition. While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state- ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream. LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to the commerce of China and Japan. He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov- ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant, Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro- vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul- pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition, and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money, the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the necessary supplies for the outfit. On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons, embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence ; two additional canoes carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed. The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence. On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks. Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. He 28 THE NORTHrWEST TERRITORY. had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper mines on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec. He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers, Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field. These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian. After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois viUage at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669. The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony- mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley." ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri- ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 29 conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wildg. As early as 1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the EngHsh crown. In Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov- ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces- sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, by that power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain to this unexplored wilderness. England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim. She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat- ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward. Gov- ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks, Onei- das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six Nations. They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in 1701, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of Virginia," for which the Indians received £200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid. The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa- nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment, and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desire the cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In 1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun- dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000 acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French 30 THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1747, Vaud- reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel- eron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and within the memory of residents now living along the "■ Oyo," as the beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society, among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not, however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees, on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville, and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur- ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng- lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison. (They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were carried away to Canada, and one account says several were burned. This fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the king's ministers refers to it as '" Pickawillanes, in the center of the terri- tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is probably some variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones Pickaweke." * The following is a trailslation of the inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749. reign of Louis XV.. King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com- mander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty- ninth of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all its tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and txeaties; especially by those of Eyswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Cliapelle." THE NORTHWEST TERRITOEY. 31 This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter- ested in the progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter- mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing- ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and Pattou were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan- caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June, these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts- burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban- doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour, the interpreter, who was a sou of the famous Catharine Montour, and a chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their favor. This he did, and upon the loth of June they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con- tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni- tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when we wanted help, forsook us." At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng- lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts already begun, and would not abandon the field. Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard- 2 32 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia determined to send to them- another messenger and learn from them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon- gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol- lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral. Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the 11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, received his answer, took his observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him, notwithstanding the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754. From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications, and gathered their forces to be in readiness. The Okl Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 33 working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork of the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest. ^ " The first birds of ' Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a ?ew Indian scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet, that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Tren m command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder- ness keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and 7llXr}T'^^^^ ^-^ ^^P«- the morning of the 1 ah of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw upon the Allegheny a ^ght that made his heart sink-sixty tatteaux and ^;: '^f ;^' — ^''^^ .-^^I^ --' -^ ^-^-^ ^-P -^^ cannon and T\X . ^ u ^"^'"'"^ ^'' '"PP"^ '^^^^ ^'^ captor, Contrecoeur, and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men and tools, marched up the Monongahela." The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle,in 1<48, had left the boundaries between the French and English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi and Its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New- found and to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The hrst decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed the fortifications begun at the Fork, which they had so easily captured, and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing- ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him- self at a place called the "Meadows," where he erected a fort called by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of J^rench and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked m his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the mornmg of July 4th.- He was allowed to return to Virginia. The English Government immediately planned fou? campaigns ; one against iort DuQuesne; one against Nova Scotia; one against Fort JNiagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred durino- 1755-6 and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.' ihe expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General iiraddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those 34 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as the battle of Mouongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence- ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre- tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one, under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie, against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne, of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession, rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the name to Fort Pitt. The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor- able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement Montcolm and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor, marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of defeating the English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was fought one of the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal. The Governor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain. On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum- moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post, Beletre, refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35 French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom, no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while on their journey home. Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com- mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is, crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon John's Town " on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork. The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule. New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe- trated, and the country would have been spared their recital. The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French, but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He declared that no treaty had been made with them; no presents sent them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation. He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies. The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina, were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly 36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead. Poutiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to \imt& in this enterprise. The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 176-'^. Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, " scooped up in the hollow of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton. Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit. Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out, however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. Ke endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post. Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764, continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a regular commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark, which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went further south, living many yeass among the Illinois. He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed. Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly have been carried out. It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex- ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the chief, Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said : " Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37 yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves! These lakes, these woods, these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains." He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them, no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war. Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments. In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre- vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon- tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question. Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and twenty years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to France, and by France sold to the United States. In the half centur}^ from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set- tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia, Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large tract of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St. Louis. By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England; but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until 1765, when Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him- self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage, dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath- olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen. It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle- 38 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year 1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed- eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French, Pon- tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom he afterward lost his life. As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga- hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing- ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts- burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort. Pittsburgh Avas at this time a trading post, about which was clus- tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages. He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only fortj^-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main- tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by roj-al proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy reach of Great Britain. The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 17G9 : " In the course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow.'' In accordance with this policy, Gov. Gage issued a proclamation in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set- tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this they THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39 strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were allowed to remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend- ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern- ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side of the war for independence. In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth. One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and driven across the Ohio. During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies and the perseverance of individuals, several settlements were firmly estab- lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling themselves the "Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer- chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes as the agent of the association called the " Wabash Land Company." On the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for 37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com- panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the " United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made 40 THE NORTHWEST TEERITORY. strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all signally failed. When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor- ganized countr}', though there were several settlements within her borders. In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at that time " Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in- habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con- tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa- tions were made — " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230 negroes." From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following extract is made : " Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five miles further up the river." St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con- tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country west of the Mississijipi was now under French rule, and remained so until ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to 1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated — the people being engaged in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will here relate. It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width. As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house (near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn, and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first three of these THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41 gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six- pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten to fifteen feet in width. At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story, with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance, called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning between nine and ten o'clock, Each furnished four sentinels, who were relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who per- formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset, even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand- ing order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only at the east and west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians. The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present " new " town was laid out. On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post of importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests, 42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY, and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway» burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state. Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. He saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British intended to penetrate the country from the north and soutn, ana annihi- late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel, afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were not unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose, he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th, Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the scene of action to be able to guide them. Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret, the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country. With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 43 ston for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements, and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the 2-ith of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia. Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor- mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the United States ; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to believe by the British that the " Long Knives " or Virginians, were the most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati- tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency. The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun, and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and without the loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After sufi&ciently working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at j)er- fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab- itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom- panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus 44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English into the possession of Virginia. In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its boun- daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken. St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit,remained yet to be taken before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July, in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of peace, and on the 1st of August returned with the cheerful intelligence that the post on the " Oubache " had taken the oath of allegiance to the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts, placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville, erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond. In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor, and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of the Old Dominion through their Legislature. In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle- giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton, having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the rebels from the West. Gen. Clark had, on the return of M. Gibault, dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend- ant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort. Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail- ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of the fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the force in the garrison. Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four Jiundred Indian wan'iors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio, THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45 and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass the Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi- ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray. On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his "battoe," at once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back- woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind- ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton was sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement. During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him, and had earned in consequence thereof the title " Hair-buyer General," by which he was ever afterward known. Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con- cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts. Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from the commencement, by the British. "But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed." •At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern- ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in- Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde- pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the Ohio frontier, Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders, marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled to sue for peace. 46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. During this same year (1779) the famous " Land Laws" of Virginia were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided three ..thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the 10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis- sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States to be rejected. The American Government considered they had a right to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle- ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur- ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth. The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence, and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the satisfaction of both nations. The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the "Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they weie compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on the settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable manner, they fled the country in great haste. About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con- cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49 and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele- gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep- tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body. This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative measures which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished him. Nothing decisive was done, yet the heads of the Government knew that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the territory. Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun- ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the United States. Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements. Upon the 4th of July, 1773, the first birth north of the Ohio River of American parentage occurred, being that of John L. Roth, son of John Roth, one of the Moravian missionaries, whose band of Christian Indians sufi'ered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity, a deed which forever afterward cast a shade of shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and 1772 in the history of the Northwest. During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan- dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives, many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious 3 50 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his brothers, was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky, in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc- tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her uncon- querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th of April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was proclaimed to the army of the United States, and on the 3d of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of the Great Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake ; thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi River ; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line east to the head of the Appalachicola River ; down its center to its junc- tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean. Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements with the Indians throughout Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whose lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by the proper treaty. To remedy this latter evil. Congress appointed commissioners to treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the settle- ment of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the 3; ear another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however, not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of December preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion. To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the Ohio wherever they choose to locate them. They selected the region opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of Clarksville, about midway between the cities of New Albany and Jeffer- son ville, Indiana. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51 While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit refused to evacuate, alleging that he had no orders from his King to do so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the Spring of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian council at Fort Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in appearance. He says : '' Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being brought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila- delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel." Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take defensive precaution against the Indians, who were yet, in some instances, incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year, 1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although no entries were recorded until 1787. The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They held large tracts of land, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the surveys of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of the Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made in 1784. That at Fort Mc- intosh in 1785, and through these much land was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to comply with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel their adherence to its provisions, force was used. During the year 1786, the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to excite speculation in regard to the western lands. Congress had promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its navigation, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, however, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some grants and the settlement 62 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. thereon, and on the 14th of September, Connecticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as the "Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a company, who at once took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies. They received 750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the seventh range of townships, on the west by the sixteenth range, and on the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without the reservations. In addi- tion to this, Congress afterward granted 100,000 acres to actual set- tlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the resolutions of 1789 and 1790. While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected. A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina. By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher- sonesus,Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly- potamia and Pelisipia. There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu- tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir- ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year and until July, 1787, when the famous " Compact of 1787 " was passed, and the foundation of the gov- ernment of the Northwest laid. This compact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Ohio in this book, and to it the reader is re- ferred. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53 The passage of this act and the grant .to the New England Company was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey^ for a grant of the land between the Miamis. This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and, being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Company were preparing to occupy their grant the following Spring, and upon the 23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men, under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur- veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart- ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the 3d of October, had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and two days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest. AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS. The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now com- plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England Company sent their men during the Winter of 1787-8 pressing on over the Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike from Cumberland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled on, and by April were all gathered on the Youghiogheny, where boats had been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor. Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not having yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published by being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed to administer them. Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum. Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know 64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community." On the 2d of July a meeting of the director^ and agents was held on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new-born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the " Mus- kingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette, The square upon which the block-houses stood was called '•''Campus Martins;''^ square number 19, ^^ Cajntoliuni ;^^ square number 61, " Cecilia;'' and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra Via.^' Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October, 1787. On July 9, Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest, under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the County of Washington. From that time forward^ notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the 2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing ceremonies. The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com- mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb- ruary and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the " Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been ready to receive them. On the 26th of November, 1787, Sj^mmes issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the mouth of which they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the town is thus narrated in the " Western Annals" : — " Mr. Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of the mixed race that THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55 were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being interpreted, means : ville, the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os, the mouth ; L. of Licking." Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse teams under way from the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays- ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789 caused the " Point," as it was and is yet .called, to be fifteen feet under water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left the " Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami, whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr. Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788, with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood of 1789. On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inau- gurated President of the American people, and during the next Summer, an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne, Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians; but while he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee, he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men. General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794, he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large tract of country was ceded to the United States. Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati. Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the 56 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures, known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon- chartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished. The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles. The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river, immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house, familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments of the Northwestern Territory. Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec- ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands. These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war. On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured. No sooner had the treat}'- of 1795 been ratified than settlements began to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not feel justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to Detroit and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne, who had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who, before the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 57 quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan, and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle- town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red- stone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians, Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that part of the Northwest. The election of representatives for the territory had taken place, and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and considered the capital of the Territory — to nominate persons from whom the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President of the Council. The message of Gov. St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of Gen. St. Clair. The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by the Governor, were thirty-seven — eleven others were passed, but received his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro- tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the 30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Bryd to the office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day. 58 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain, and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a • committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution. This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that : "In the three western countries there has been but one court having cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim- inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist- ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * Xo minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee that it is expedient that a division of said territory into two distinct and separate governments should be made ; and that such division be made by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States and Canada." The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri- tory, which Act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these : " That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory." After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of the territories, and other provisions, the Act further provides : " That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the seat of government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River ; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the seat of government for the Indiana Territory." Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 59 "was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made upon thirty -five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of November the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year, the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no township containing more than eleven families. It was upon the first of October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province of Louisiana. In January, 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char- tered the college at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787, newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern territory the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of the "compact of 1787" provided that whenever the number of inhabit- ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number, and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits, and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio, so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundary, came into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known, but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly within the territory of Indiana. Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from France by the United States for 815,000,000. Thus by a peaceful mode, the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill respecting the College Township in the district of Cincinnati. Before the close of the year, Gen. Harrison obtained additional grants of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from the 60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in and about Detroit. C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri- tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post : " The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now, from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm. Macomb. * * * A stockade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a state of gradual decay. The streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant." During this year, Congress granted a township of land for the sup- port of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these wilds, and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year, also, a law was passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into two portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed to the domain of Gen. Harrison. On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed, Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fir& occurred at Detroit, which destro5''ed almost every building in the place. When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it in ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the country. Rebuild- ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built. While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian, Tecumthe or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main cause of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest, we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life,, and his connection with this conflict. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61 TECUMSEH, AND THE WAR OF 1812. This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from the site of the present city of Springfield, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa, was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his mother, Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum- seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River, Indiana. In 1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chief comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age, was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas- ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi- dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first house built on the site of Chicago. At this time, Tecumseh entered upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land could be made save by the consent of this confederation. He traveled .constantly, going from north to south ; from the south to the north, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect. Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move- ments of the Indians, became convinced that a grand conspiracy was forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity. During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre- paring for the work. In that year, Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter protest, averring 62 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any lands north and west of the Ohio River. Tecumseh, in Auf^ust, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict. Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the Prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten- tions, provided they were true to the existing treaties. He encamped near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their town broken up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his brother, the Prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans. Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never made. In June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif- ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai- den, in Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard. In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victory on Lake Erie occurred, and shortly after active preparations were made to capture- Maiden. On the 27th of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai- den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand- wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen. Mc Arthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan. The pursuit of Proctor began October 2. He was overtaken on the 5th at the Thames. Tecumseh fell * in that battle and British power was forever broken, Canada alone being left them, as the Americans had no orders to follow up their victory eastward. Burr's incipient insurrection of 1805 was quelled, and the murderer of the eloquent Hamilton driven from his beautiful island fortress in the Ohio River. * Supposed at the hands of Col. R. M. Johnson of Kentucky. THE NORTHWEST TEREITORY. 63 In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about Detroit. It was also during this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts, however, all signally failed. In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory. This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year, the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and then began the events already narrated. While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the " monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its downward trip. The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green- ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States and the Indian tribes, in which it was stipulated that the Indians should cease hostilities against the Americans if the war were continued. Such, happily, was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again restored in this part of the new world. On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city. It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties organized, containing about sixty-three thousand inhabitants. Th« first election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana),, was laid out January 1, 1825. 64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. On the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish branches at different convenient points. Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati had in turn enjoyed the privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col- umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State. Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend. In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich- igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to navigate the bosom of that inland sea. Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War, but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab- lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended, and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros- perity. BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR. This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part of the United States. Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the Mississippi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ; his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early distinguished himself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, one THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65 of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian bravery he was permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce battle ensued, in which the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of the " Medicine Bag," at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation. He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the head of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged war against the Osage nation and subdued it. For two years he battled successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered. Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish Father," he declined to see any of the Americans, alleging, as a reason^ he did not want two fathers. The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who at once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812 followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, at the head of about five hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre had a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British Government but little is known. In 1813 he with his little band descended the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard was defeated. In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi were notified that peace had been declared between the United States and England, and nearly all hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not sign any treaty, however, until May of the following year. He then recog- nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. From the time of signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life. Ten years before the commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox 66 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of Waters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal, and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set- tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of hit> native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and his actions were undoubtedly misunderstood, and had his wishes been acquiesced in at the beginning of the struggle, much bloodshed would have been prevented. Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearly three miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them» they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice they obtained deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, but as the authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were defeated. This attack and its result aroused the whites. A large force of men was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was repulsed by Major Demont between Rock River and Galena, The Ameri- can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band, and defeated them near the Blue Mounds. Before this action, Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main army by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the v/hole crossed the THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67 Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the Mississippi. They were overtaken on the 2d of August, and in the battle which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He fled, but was seized by the Winnebagoes and delivered to the whites. On the 21st of September, 1832, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con- cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes by which they ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi- sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs of the hostile bands should be retained as hostages duriijg the pleasure of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons. The next Springy, by order of the Secretary of War, they were taken to Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress Monroe, "there to remain until the conduct of their nation was such as to justify their being set at liberty." They were retained here until the 4th of June, when the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the old chief being extensively known. By the middle of August they reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth- place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer. On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re- mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among the Indians, living with her upward of forty years. Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel- ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten- tion. He was an honored guest at the old settlers' reunion in Lee County, Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem. In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3. His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply during his sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre- sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried iu a grave six feet in depth, isituated upon a beautiful eminence. " The 68 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him by Henry Clay, was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it. Many of the old warrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons." No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin, now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, from a trading post, had grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence. In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed, but did not take active form until two years later, when the State became a part of the Federal Union. The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of Lake Michigan, now included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 1830 was made a territory, then including Minnesota and Iowa. The latter State was detached two years later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances compelled its present division. 69 POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. STATES AND TERRITORIES. STATES. Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts .... Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire. New Jersey New York North Carolina... Ohio AREA IN SQUARE MILES. POPULATION. 996,992 484,471 560,247 537,454 125,015 187,748 1,184,109 2,539,891 1,680,637 1,191,792 364,399 1,3^,011 7-.i6,915 626,915 760,894 l,457,.3ol 1,184,069 409, 706 827,922 1,721,295 123,993 42,491 318,300 906,096 4,382,759 1,071,361 2,665,260 MIL'S R. R. 1882. 1,262,5051,802 8u2,ojo l,o»l 864,694 2,266 194,32 622,700 146,608 269,493 1,542,180 3,077,871 1,978,301 1,624,615 996,096 1,648,69011,714 939,946j 999 648.936 1,021 934,943il,047 1,783,085 1,934 2,274 958 278 793 2,581 8,325 4,764 6,112 3,718 1,606,93/ 780,773 1,131,597 2,168,380 452,402 62,266 346,991 1,131,116 5,082,87i;6,278 1,399,750 1,619 3,198,06216,663 4,2fe3 3,390 1,231 4,211 2,310 890 l,0z5 1,753 STATES AND TERRITORIES. STATES. Oregon Pennsylvania .... Khode Island South Carolina.. Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia.... Wisconsin Total States .. TERRITORIES. Arizona , Colorada Dakota Districtof Columbia Idaho Montana New Mexico Utah Washington Wyoming Total Territories Aggregate of U. S... 2,915,203 AREA IN SQUARE MILES. 95,244 46,000 1,306 29,385 45,600 237,504 10,212 40,904 23,000 53,924 1,950,171 113,916 104,500 147,490 60 90,932 143,776 121,201 80,056 69,944 93,10" 965,032 POPULATION. 90,923 3,521,791 217,353 705,606 1,258,520 818,579 330,551 1,225,163 442,014 1,054,670 38,113,253 9,658 39,864 14,181 131,700 14,999 20,595 91,874 86,786 23,955 9,118 442,730 174,768 4,282,891 276,531 995,577 1,542,359 1,591,749 332,286 1,512,565 618,457 1,315,497 MIL'S R. R. 1882. 40,440 135,177 177,624 32,610 39,159 119,565 143,963 75,116 20,789 38,555,983 50,155,783 689 6,690 211 1,483 1,973 5,344 915 2,193 711 3,441 557 265 231 975 908 479 533 PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. POPULATION AND AREA. COUNTRIES. POPULATION China British India Russia United States — with Alaska German Empire Turkey Austria and Hungary , France Japan Cxreat Britain and Ireland.., Italy Egypt Spain Mexico Brazil Persia Sweden and Norway Belgium < Roumania Portugal Dominion of Canada Netherlands Switzerland Peru , Bolivia Chili Venezuela Greece Denmark Argentine Confederation .... Servia Guatemala. Ecuador Liberia Hayti San Salvador Uruguay Nicaragua Honduras San Domingo Costa Rica 380,627,183 254,899,516 98,297,407 50,442,066 45,234,061 42,213,400 37,786,246 37,405,240 35,925,313 35,262,762 28,452,639 16,952,000 16,625,860 10,025,649 9,883,622 7,653,600 6,497,245 5,519,844 5,290,000 4,348,551 4,324,810 4,114,077 2,846,102 2,699,945 2,300,000 2,223,434 2,075,245 1,979,305 1,969,039 1,859,685 1,700,211 1,252,497 1,066,137 1,050,000 800,000 554.785 438,245 3.50.000 350,000 300,000 180,000 1881 1881 1879 1880 1880 1881 1880 1881 1879 1881 1881 1875 1877 1881 1872 1881 1881 1880 1878 1878 1881 1881 1880 1876 1881 1881 1880 1869 1880 1881 1875 1878 1880 AREA OP SQUARE MILES. 4,413,788 1,425,723 8,387,816 3,602,990 212,091 2,396,692 240,942 204,092 148,700 120,879 114,296 1,406,250 182,750 743,948 3,287,963 610,000 293,848 11,373 48,307 36,510 3,470,392 12,648 15,992 503,718 207,350 439,120 25,041 13,784 1,204,486 20,850 41,830 248,372 14,300 10,204 7,225 73,538 49,500 39,600 18,045 26,040 CAPITALS. Pekin Calcutta St Petersburg (1881) Washington Berlin Constantinople Vienna Paris Yeddo London Florence Cairo Madrid Mexico Rio de Janiero Teheran Stockholm Brussels Bucharest Lisbon Ottawa Amsterdam Geneva Lima La Paz Santiago Caraccas Athens Copenhagen Buenos Ayres (1881)....... Belgrade Santiago de Guatemala. Quito Monrovia Port au'Prince San Salvador Montevideo Managua Tegucigalpa San Domingo San Jose POPU- LATION. 2,000,000 500,000 876,575 147,293 1,122,360 800,000 1,103,857 2,269,023 200,000 4,764,312 169,000 250,000 397,690 315,996 274,972 200,000 168,775 350,000 221,805 246,343 27,412 328,047 68,320 101,488 387,081 60,000 63,374 234,850 289.925 27,000 55,728 70,000 13,000 22,000 18,500 73,353 8,000 12,000 10,000 2,500 POPULATION OF OHIO BY COUNTIES. The State Adams Allen Aahland As ti tabula... Athens Auglaize ... Belmont Brown Butler Carroll ... . Champaign . Clark Clermont ... CUnton Columbiaua Coshoctou .. Crawford . . . Cuyahoga .. Darke Dertance Delaware ... Erie Fairfield Fayette Franklin Fulton Gallia Geauga Greene Guernsey ... Hamilton ... Hancock Hardin Harrison Henry Highland Hocking Holmes Huron Jackson .. .Jefferson.. Knox Lake Lawrence Licking .. Logan Lorain Lucas. Madison Mahoning Mirion Medina Meigs .Mercer Miami Monroe Montgomery. Morgan Morrow Muskingum . Noble Ottawa Paulding Perry Pickaway . . Pike Portage Preble Putnam Richland Koes. Sandusky ... Scioto Seneca Shelby Stark umniit Trumbull ... Tuscarawas . Union Van Wert . . . Vinton Warren Washington . Wayne Williams Wood Wyandot 7382 6338 20329 13356 21746 8479 9.i33 15820 22033 7086 6328 3717 16633 6316 10292 10529 9292 31764 12308 2130 66T5 3746 18531 8326 3499 11861 3181 3082 4480 8851 4645 15999 5297 17824 8429 13149 4253 10095 10237 9169 20619 852 5750 2106 12406 15546 8328 1996 17837 10425 11933 12281 578 14584 9787 28827 17867 27142 12131 13114 20466 11436 35f92 11161 4791 10373 6204 11504 24786 8182 14741 9733 15813 14801 18036 52317 813 210 20916 262 16»45 4008 9135 13.'J41 5941 22489 17085 5367 20869 6440 5696 6190 6551 7560 6158 1110 12807 8768 24362 11800 29334 161 13970 16001 6024 18826 16291 230 24(Xt6 24068 285 1 5159 3671 26588 26153 1429'< 3192 49 21468 11731 23333 387 1102 13183 9079 23724 19109 30901 22715 28173 1S108 16721 16882 23106 15719 40:i7S 21590 13152 26506 13282 22060 12599 31924 10984 25049 ViUi 16297 175-28 27748 60145 9986 4598 20099 2503 22269 9741 18088 23933 9744 25030 29579 13719 9738 35096 14015 18467 9382 9025 14765 18352 11452 8277 19688 18521 31938 20852 38749 2248 1034 19344 19725 7626 22965 19482 5189 44532 27460 10182 11192 18128 12154 34*03 22560 38107 25631 8422 1577 23141 20823 4465 5357 1980329 18883 12109 23813 28767 18215 11338 34600 27332 30789 17685 19782 22178 30155 18838 33621 25674 18177 48099 20276 6966 21817. 18568 30264 12726 42909 7781 17063 17827 21946 30438 156844 16751 8251 20157 3434 25781 14119 20452 26203 12719 29133 28872 14654 15246 38846 19162 26086 12363 10015 23735 12618 24441 17971 7712 24999 28351 38218 28585 20280 45049 3308 1766 20775 2vm 10953 24419 21736 7221 30879 32074 14305 18428 27104 13958 398;8 27485 30490 31761 12204 4793 9353 25560 29540 32981 8018 9157 11194 2339511 2665260 20309 19185 22951 31814 21364 17187 36398 29958 35840 15738 22693 25300 33034 21461 32836 25032 23881 78033 26009 11886 2390-.> 24474 30533 15935 50361 14043 32043 15817 26197 24474 216410 22886 13570 19110 8901 27773 17057 20589 26616 17941 26115 27735 15576 2.3249 37011 20996 29744 25831 13015 25894 15490 22517 26534 14104 29959 25741 52230 22119 20445 44416 20751 7016 4945 19678 23469 131)43 24208 21820 12808 31158 35071 21429 24297 30868 17493 42978 27344 30656 32463 16507 10238 13631 2690-2 36268 321183 166a3 17886 13,596 20750 23623 21933 32517 23768 20041 39714 30802 39912 14491 24188 32070 54268 21914 38299 2360U 25556 13-2010 3-2278 15719 25175 28188 31138 17170 63019 17789 25545 14190 28038 2.3838 260370 23847 18714 18682 14028 29133 179-25 18177 28532 21759 29188 26333 15935 31380 35756 230-28 30308 46722 15633 31001 16184 20(»2 81465 17254 3-2740 25779 64006 20363 18583 44886 19949 13364 8544 18453 24875 15447 .24584 21809 17081 32516 37097 25503 29302 308-27 20748 52508 34674 38659 33840 18730 15823 1S027 26689 40609 .351 16 20991 24396 18553 PART II HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO, GOVERNORS. From the organization of the first civil government in the Northwest Territory, of which the State of Ohio was a part, until the year 1884. Term, Two Years. NAME. Hamilton. Ross Adams Arthur St. Clair (1) Charles W. Byrd (2)..., Edward Tiffin (3) Thomas Kirker (4) Samuel Huntington Trumbull . Return Jonathan Meigs (5)..}Washington.. Othniel Looker* Hamilton Thomas Worthington jRoss Ethan Allen Brown (6) , Hamilton Allen Trimble* JHighland Jeremiah Morrow Warren.. Allen Trimble Duncan McArthur Robert Lucas Joseph Vance , Wilson Shannon Thomas Corwin Wilson Shannon (7) ... Thomas W. Bartley*... Highland ... Ross Pike Champaign. Belmont Warren Belmont Richland 1788-1802 1802-1803 1803-1807 1807-1808 1808-1810 1810-1814 1814 1814-1818 1818-182.2 l.<^22 1822-1826 1826-1830 1830-1832 1832-1836 1836-1838 1838-1840 1840-1842 1842-1844 1844 NAME. Mordecai Bartley Richland William Bebb JButler Seabury Ford (8) .Geauga Reuben Wood (9) Cuyahoga William Medill (10) 'Fairfield Salmon P. Chase jHamilton William Dennison iFranklin David Tod Mahoning, .John Brough (11) iCuyahoga Charles Andersonf jMontgomery.... Jacob D. Co.x Trumbull Rutherford B. Hayes Hamilton Edward F. Noyes iHamilton William Allen iRoss Rutherford B. Hayes (12)....|Sandusky Thomas L. Youngf Hamilton Richard M. Bishop Hamilton Charles Foster jseneca George Hoadly Hamilton 1844-1846 1846-1849 1849-1850 1850-1853 1853-1856 1856-1860 1860-1862 1862-1864 18G4-1865 1865-1866 1866-1868 1868-1872 1872-1874 1874-1876 1876-1877 1877-1878 1878-1880 1880-1884 1884- (1) Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, was Governor of the Northwest Territory, of which Ohio was a part, from July 13, 1788, when the first civil government was established in the Territory, until about the close of the year 1802, when he was removed by the President. (2) Secretary of the Territory, and was acting Governor of the Territory after the removal of Gov. St. Clair. (3) Resigned March 3, 1807, to accept the office of United States Senator. (4) Return Jonathan Meigs was elected Governor on the second Tuesday of October, 1807, over Nathaniel Massie, who contested the election of Meigs on the ground " that he had not been a resident of this State for four years next preceding the election as required by the Constitution," and the General Assembly, in joint convention, decided that he was not eligible. The office was not given to Massie, nor does it appear from the records that he claimed it, but Thomas Kirker, Acting Governor, continued to discharge the duties of the office until December 12, 1808, when Samuel Huntington was inaugurated, he having been elected on the second Tuesday of October in that year. (5) Resigned March 25, 1814, to accept the office of Postmaster-General of the United States. (6) Resigned January 4, 1822, to accept the office of United States Senator. (7) Resigned April 13, 1844, to accept the office of Minister to Mexico. (8) The result of the election in 1848 was not finally determined in joint convention of the two houses of the General Assembly until January 19, 1849, and the inauguration did not take placa until the 22d of that month. (9) Resigned July 15, 1853, to accept the office of Consul to "Valparaiso. (10) Elected in October, 1853, for the regular term, to commence on the second Monday of January, 1854. (11) Died August 29, 1865. (12) Resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the office of President of the United States. * Acting Governor. Succeeded to office, being the Speaker of the Senate. t Acting Governor. Succeeded to office, being the Lieutenant-Governor. 72 HISTOEY OF OHIO. IT is not our province in a volume of this description, to delineate the chronol- ogy of prehistoric epochs, or to dwell at length upon those topics pertaining to the scientific causes which tended to the formation of a continent, undiscov- ered for centuries, by the wisdom and energy of those making a history of the Old World, by the advancement of enlightenment in tne Eastern Hemisphere. Naturally, the geological formation of the State of Ohio cannot be entirely separated from facts relative to the strata, which, in remote ages accumulated one layer above the other, and finally constituted a "built-up" America, from a vast sea. The action of this huge body of water washed sediment and what- ever came in its way upon primitive rocks, which were subjected to frequent and repeated submersions, emerging as the water subsided, thus leaving a stratum or layer to solidify and mark its number in the series — a system of growth repeated in trees of the forest — in those descernible rings that count so many years. The southeastern part of North America emerging a second time from the Silurian Sea, which extended west to the Rocky Mountains and north to the primitive hills of British America, a succession of rock -bound, salt-water lakes remained. These covered a large portion of the continent, and their water evaporating, organic and mineral matter remained to solidify., This thick stratum has been designated by geologists as the water-lime layer. This constitutes the upper layer of rock in the larger portion of the west half of Ohio. In other sections it forms the bed rock. Following the lime-rock deposit, must have been more frequent sweeps of the great sea, since the layers are comparatively thin, proving a more speedy change. During this scientific rising and falling of the sea, other actions were taking place, such as volcanic and other influences which displaced the regular- ity of the strata, and occasionally came out in an upheaval or a regular perpen- dicular dip. A disturbance of this character formed the low mountain range extending from the highlands of Canada to the southern boundary of Tennes- see. This "bulge" is supposed to be the consequence of the cooling of the earth and the pressure of the oceans on either side of the continent. Geolo- gists designate this as the Cincinnati arch. This forms a separation between the coal fields of the Alleghanies and those of Llinois. Passing over several periods, we reach the glacial, during which the topog- raphy of the continent was considerably modified, and which is among the latest epochs of geology, though exceedingly remote as compared with human 73 74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. history. Previously, a torrid heat prevailed the entire Northern hemisphere. Now the temperature of the frigid zone crept southward until it reached Cincin- nati. A vast field of ice, perhaps hundreds of feet thick, extended from the north pole to this point. As this glacial rigor came southward, the flow of the St. Lawrence River was stopped, and the surplus water of the great lake basin was turned into the Ohio and Mississippi. This glacial sea was by no means stationary even after its southern limit had been reached. It possessed the properties of a solid and a fluid. Its action was slow but powerful, grind- ing mountains to powder and forming great valleys and basins. Separating into two glacial portions, one moved toward the watershed north of the Ohio River ; and, continuing westerly, it hollowed out the basin of Lake Erie and crushed the apex of the Cincinnati arch. From this point, it turned south- ward and swept with a regular course through the Maumee and Miami Valleys to the Ohio River. The southern border constantly melting, and flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico, the great field was pressed forward by the accumulations of ice in the northern latitudes. Thus for ages, this powerful force was fitting the earth for the habitation of man. The surface was leveled, huge rocks broken and reduced to pebbles, sand, clay, etc., other soil and surface-material — ■while the debris was embedded at the bottom. In some sections, as the ice melted and freed the bowlders and rocks, the lighter material was swept away. The glacier moving forward, and the forces proving an " equilibrium," the edge of this ice-field was held in a solid stronghold, and the material thus de- posited forms a ridge, called by geologists "terminal moraine," first exemplified in Ohio by the "Black Swamp," in the Maumee Valley. The most extreme rigor of this period beginning to wane, the ice of the Maumee and Miami Valleys began to move slowly forward, toward the north, reaching the points now termed Hudson, Mich.; Fort Wayne, Ind., and Kenton, Ohio — reaching somewhat further south than Lima and Van "Wert. The edge of the glacier was defined in outline by the present western border of Lake Erie, and parallel with it. Climatic influences " acting and counteracting," the glacial force was concentrated, the Maumee A^alley being subjected to a grinding proc- ess, and a deposit of material going on, which now forms the boundary of the "Black Swamp." As our readers are aware, the waters of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's meet at Fort Wayne, and their united waters form the Maumee ; thence the turn is northwest, and, wearing an outlet through the ridge, it reaches the head of Lake Erie. The torrid zone yet gaining the ascendency, the ice-fields continuing their reverse motion, and retreating toward the north, the basin of the great lakes was formed ; and the blocks of ice melting therein, a vast sea of fresh water was formed, which gradually overflowed a portion of Canada and Michigan, But the St. Lawrence, that important outlet, was under the restraint of an ice blockade, and the surplus water of the fresh sea was turned into the Ohio and and Mississippi. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 75 Later, mountains of ice-float were drifted from the north by winds and cur- rents, into temperate latitudes, and melting, deposited rocks, stones and general debris. Following the iceberg-drift, came the permanent elevation above the ocean- level. The St. Lawrence outlet was formed. The inland sea was assuming its division into lakes. The united waters of Erie and Huron flowed through the IVabash Valley and into the Ohio, until, through some agency, that section was dry, and the lakes drained in another direction. The action of the glacial period in the Erie basin vicinity created what is known as the " Niagara lime- stone," by grinding upper strata and drifting the debris elsewhere. This seems to have occurred at intervals, exposures being made in Seneca, Sandusky and Wood Counties, and beneath the axis of the Cincinnati arch. Oriskany lime- stone is also available in another stratum, which has been brought to the surface. Again, there is a carboniferous stratum of limestone, and along the Maumee is a thin exposure of the Hamilton limestone and shale. A glacier having both fluid and solid properties, it will readily be compre- iended that obdurate projections of rock resisted its action, and created currents in other directions, for its forces. When this specified epoch had ceased to be, Ohio was a rough, irregular and crude mixture of ridges and knobs and pinnacles, which were " leveled up " and finished by iceberg-drift and inland-sea deposits. This settled and accumulated, and the work of hundreds af years produced a beautiful surface, its inequalities overcome, the water having receded and " terra £rma" remaining. A deep bed of clay, sufficiently compact to hold the germs of organic matter, and sufficiently porous to absorb moisture, was especially adapted to encourage the growth of vegetation. These seeds had been brous^ht by the winds and waves and natural agencies, and now began to produce plants and shrubs, which withered to enrich the soil, after scattering broadcast seeds that would again perpetuate verdure. Worms, land crabs and burrowing ani- mals assisted in the creation of soil, while the buffalo, deer and bear followed, as soon as forestry appeared. Decomposed foliage and fallen timber aided in the great work of preparing the present State of Ohio for the habitation of man. Prairie, marsh, forest, rivers and lakes were formed, which, in turn, were modi- :fied and prepared for a grand destiny by other influences. In glancing over the compiled histories of Ohio, those containing details of her early struggles, afflictions and triumphs, we are especially impressed with its near and sympathetic relation with the great Northwest, and the republic of the United States of America. From the early years when white men built their rude cabins in the then tangled wilderness, to the opulent and magnificent present of this united nation, Ohio has been stanch, loyal and earnest, both in action and principle. We shall endeavor to trace the history of the State concisely and accurately, according to the data given by the most reliable historians. We are obliged to glean the prominent events only, our space being limited, compared with the multitudinous interests connected with this important part of the United States. 76 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. FRENCH HISTORY. All through early French history, is the fact especially prominent, that in their explorations and expeditions, they united piety and business. They were zealous in sending out their missionaries, but they were always attended by traders and those who were as skilled in the world's profit and loss, as their companions were in propagating Christianity. Prior to the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers upon Plymouth Rock, the Upper Lakes were visited by the French, and records prove that during the first half of the seventeenth century, a vagabondish set, working in the interests of the fur company of New France, understood the geographical position of the lakes and their tributary streams. M. Perrot, an intelligent explorer, made overtures of peace to the Indian tribes around these bodies of water, and efiected a treaty, which, it is claimed, established the right for the French, in the name of their king, to hold the place near St. Mary's Falls. They further assert that the Mississippi was discovered by the French from Lake Superior, but this is not authenticated, and Father jNIarquette and ]M. Joliet are accepted as the first who found this large stream, in 1763. The good missionary won his way with his patient and sympathetic nature. Ohio was, like the other portions of the West, originally in the possession of aborigines or Indians. Of their origin, many suppositions are advanced, but no certainties sustained. From practical evidences, the Mound-Builders were active in Ohio, and here as elsewhere, their work marked retrogression rather than advancement. The territory of Ohio was claimed by the French, and included in that wide tract between the Alleghanies and the Rockies, held by them under the name of Louisiana. Before the year 1750, a French trad- ing-post was established at the mouth of the Wabash, and communication was established between that point and the Maumee, and Canada. Between the years 1678 and 1682, the intrepid La Salle and Father Hennepin, assisted by Fondi, an Italian, with a small band of followers, inaugurated a series of explorations about the great lakes and the Mississippi, building forts on their way and planting the French priority. In 1680, La Salle erected a stockade at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, which was a general rendezvous for mission- aries, traders and explorers, besides constituting a primitive "stock exchange." The English colonies were at this time east of the Alleghanies, while the French were establishing themselves west of this range, gaining an entrance north and south, the two portions separated by hostile and barbarous foes. La Salle's spirit of adventure led him into new fields, but Father Hennepin was detailed to investigate that part of the world now known as the State of Ohio. The records assert that he published a volume containing an account of his observations "in the country between New Mexico and the frozen ocean," in 1684, together with maps of Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and a plat of the larger streams in Ohio. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 77 Apparently, the French more speedily comprehended the value of their advantages in the New World than^the English, and vigorously inaugurated and sustained commercial and religious projects. They were essentially benefited by the mediation of the Catholic priests between settlers and Indians, this really earnest class everywhere ingratiating themselves with the savages. The Order of Jesuits were very vigorous, and representatives were stationed at every trading-post, village and settlement. The English colonists engaged mostly in agriculture, while the French toot a lively interest in the fur trade with the natives, probably from their former settlement in Quebec and thereabouts, where the climate is advantageous for this business. This added to the influence of the priests, and the natural assimilation of French and the Indians, through the tact and amiability of the former, the French possessions gained more rapidly than the English or Spanish. They courted their daughters and married them. They engaged in feasts and trades, and took advantage of those unimpeded times to extend their dominion with surprising celerity. A chain of trading, missionary and military posts extended from New Orleans to Quebec, by way of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, thence via Mackinaw and Detroit to Lakes Erie and Ontario. This route was shortened thereafter by following the Ohio River to the "Wabash, following the latter upward, and down the Maumee to Lake Erie. About the same time, and to check the advancement of the French, the Ohio Company was formed by the English. This was an outgrowth of the contest between these two nations for the ascendency, whether empire, settle- ment or individual. After thirty years' peace between these two nations, "King George's War" opened the campaign in 1744, but terminated in 1748, the treaty at Aix-la-Chapelle unfortunately omitting a settlement of any division of claims in America. The English, French and Spanish were the first to enter America, and the right of possession by each monarch or empire was held by right of a first discovery. The only right that England could advance regarding Ohio was that the portion of the Six Nations found in the Ohio Valley had placed some of their lands under British jurisdiction, and that other portions had been purchased at Lancaster, Penn., by means of a treaty with the same nations. All this was strenuously denied and ignored by the French. Thus several conflicting influences swept carnage over fair Ohio. The Indians were allied to one side and the other, and were against each other. The Indians and French would advance against the English, and they, in retaliation, would make a raid into the Indian territory and overcome a French settlement. Whenever they could as well, Indians would take the cause in their own keep- ing and fight each other. The wide, verdant fields of Ohio were drenched ghastly red under a glowing sun, and the great forests echoed moans from the dying and distressed. The English colonists had partially overcome their deprivation, caused by a struggle for subsistence, and means to guard against the savages — this distress augmented by campaigns against Canada — ^by their 78 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. increased numbers and wealth, but were now alarmed by the French rule in America, which gained so rapidly, unmolested as it was by Indian raids and other devastating circumstances. A constant conflict was going on between Lake Erie and the Upper Ohio. Atrocities and massacres were committed indiscriminately, which opened the way for a desperate class of marauders and villains from the colonies and European States. These people enlisted with the Indians on either side for the purpose of leadership and plunder. Every fortification, trading-post and settlement was garrisoned or deserted, and the ground between the Alleghanies and the Maumee became a conflict field, rife with thrilling deeds, sacrifice and adventures, the half never having been chronicled, and many heroes falling uncrowned by even a lasting memory, since during these times the people kept few annals, and cared less for historical memories than anything on earth. They were living, and dying, and struggling, and that was more than they could carry through safely. The French formed a road from the Ohio River to Detroit, via the foot of the Lower Rapids of the ]\Iaumee, and the foot of the Lower Rapids of the Sandusky. The Ohio Company obtained a charter under English views, from the British Government, with a grant of 6,000 acres of land on the Ohio. The English now reverted to the times of the Cabots, and protested that by right they held the entire country between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, bounded by those parallels of latitude defining their Atlantic coast settlements. France claimed the region drained by the Mississippi and tributaries, the great lakes and their tributaries, the area being west of the Alleghanies. Ohio was thus included in the disputed tract. The Ohio Company was formed in 1748, by a number of Virginians and Londoners, two brothers of George Washington taking conspicuous parts in the movement ; Thomas Lee was especially active. When the surveys were begun, the Governor of Canada entered vigorous protests, and indicated his displeasure by a prompt line of posts from Erie to Pittsburgh, named respectively, Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, Vedango, Kittaning and Du Quesne. The latter was begun by the English, captured by the French, and by them completed. The first English settlement of which we can find traces was a block-house at Piqua, about the year 1752. It was attacked, and a bitter struggle ensued, resulting in the death of fourteen of the assailants. Those within the garrison suffered severely, many being burned, and the remainder captured and dis- patched to Canada. In 1753, the French and Indian war actively began. It did not extend beyond the American continent until 1756, when the home governments took an interest in its progress beyond encouraging their respective colonists to pur- sue the war-path to a direful finale for their adversaries. For four years, the French captured and conquered, spreading terror wherever they went, and they followed every Englishman that set his foot on Ohio soil to the death. We may state that these people had not retained their civilized habits, and HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 79 constant association with savages had embued them with barbarous methods of warfare which were sickening and revolting to the English, and to which they could not resort. It is highly probable that French success was vastly brought about by these means, together with the assistance of their Indian allies. In 1758, when the English hope was almost exterminated, the elder Pitt being placed at the head of the administration, a new and energetic system was inaugurated, wise measures instituted, and military science triumphed over savage cunning and French intrigue. The first brilliant English achievement was the conquest of Canada. When the home governments interfered, the war assumed the character of a French and English conflict, regardless of Indian right, yet the tribes continued to participate in the carnage. A certain Christian, Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, located upon the Muskingum, near Beavertown. Heckewelder consented to become his associate. The Indians receiving them kindly, under conditions that Post should serve as tutor, this missionary began clearing a field for the purpose of planting corn for sustenance. This did not accord with Indian logic. They had stipulated that he teach and he was planting corn, which to them was a signal of the coming of other whites, the building of a fort and encroachments upon the Indians. They referred to the French priests, who were in good physical condition, did not till land, but were in charge of the Great Spirit who provided for them, a conclusive proof to them that when divine work was acceptable to the Great Spirit, priests were somehow sustained by other than the plans which disturbed their great hunting-grounds. However, they allowed him a small space, and he remained with them, preaching and teaching during the summer of 1762, when, accompanied by one of the principal chiefs, he returned to Lancaster, Penn., where a treaty was concluded. On his return to his post, he was met by Heckewelder, who imparted the tidings that friendly Indians had warned him that the war was about to sweep over their section, and destruction awaited them if they remained. The mission was accordingly abandoned. This failure was not so bitter as the English effort to sustain their trading-post in 1749, on the Great Miami, afterward called Laramie's store. It pursued a feeble existence until 1752, when a French raid upon the Twig- twees and English colonists proved fatal. A European treaty now excluded the French from any rights to make treaties with the Indians, and the English, in their flush of victory after Pitt's succession, assumed the authority over Indians and lands. The savages did not accept the situation with anything resembling the gentle spirit of resigna- tion, and the Ottawa chief, Pontiac, led the several tribes into a general war against the intruders. It was no longer Freuch and English, but Indian and English, the former being instigated and assisted many times by the French, now despei-ate and unscrupulous in a mad spirit for revenge. The intention of the Indians was to drive the whites east of the mountains, destroying their numerous strongholds in Pennsylvania and Virginia, if they 80 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. failed in their hope of utteriy exterminating them. Pontiac had effected a consolidation of the tribes ranging from Mackinaw to North Carolina, thus being enabled to swoop down upon all the settlements simultaneously. A deadly beginning was made in the Ohio Valley, and only two or three English traders escaped out of the one hundred and twenty located in that vicinity. The forts at Presque Isle, St. Joseph and Mackinaw, were captured amid scenes of slaughter too terrible to perpetuate in description. The years 1763 and 1764 were literally drenched in human carnage and anguish. Ohio was a great field of crime, murder, pain and horror. The expeditions of Bradstreet and Bouquet crushed the war in 1764, and Pontiac with his Ottawas removed to the Maumee and settled. English settlement now progressed with great rapidity, but this was destined to be disturbed in 1774, by the action of Lord Dunmore, who led an expedition against the tribes of the Ohio country, termi- nated by his treaty on the Scioto plains. At this period, the colonists were not in strict harmony with England, and the spirit of revolution was spreading every day. When Lord Dunmore made his treaty, the affirmation was made and gained ground that he, being a thorough loyalist, had compromised under such terms as held the Indians British allies against the settlers. Directly following this treaty, was the deliberate murder of a number of Indians, near Wheeling, including the family of the great chief, Logan — which inaugurated retaliating atrocities. In the year 1773, July 4, the first white child was born within the present limits of Ohio, and was christened John L. Roth, son of a Mora- vian missionary. All the settlers of these Moravian towns on the Muskingum were made prisoners in September of the same year. Heckwelder was tran:- ported to Detroit, but English tyranny failed to find any evidence against him or his colaborers, and they were reluctantly released, and returned to their fam- ilies in Sandusky. Poverty added to their sufferings, and in the forlorn hope of finding a remnant of their property at the old settlements, which might assist in mitigating their necessities, they wearily went thitherward. They began gathering their grain, but the Wyandots attacked them, and many lives were lost. Frontiersmen had also grown jealous of them, and a body of about ninety marched out together, for the fiendish purpose of pillaging, slaughtering and laying waste all Moravian towns and posts. With the wily insidiousness of savages, they went about their diabolical plan. The Moravians were cordial and bade this band welcome, when they reached their towns in the guise of friend- ship. Williamson, the leader, and the gleaners, were called from the fields, when, to the dismay of these trusting and frank people, they were all bound, and only fifteen out of the marauding band of ninety were in favor of even sparing the lives of these hapless men, women and children. Forty men, twenty-two women and thirty-four children were then cruelly and heartlessly murdered, their sufferings laughed to scorn, and the last sound that fell on their •CpL PliJ, C; ^UX\AAJt-r>- C^ O^, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 83 ears was exultant derision. Succeeding this tragic event was the expedition against the Indian towns upon the Sandusky. The hostile Indians had been making frequent incursions upon the settlements of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, destroying both life and property. There seemed to be no bounds to their bloody work, and it became necessary, for the peace and safety of the settlers, to take some measures to prevent their outrages. Accordingly, in May, 1782, Gen. William Irvine, who was then commander of the Western Military Department, with headquarters at Fort Pitt, called a council of the officers of his department to meet at Fort Pitt. At this meeting it was de- cided to form and equip a body of men, and make an expedition into the Indian country. Upper Sandusky, then the rendezvous of the hostile Wyan- dots, Delawares, Shawanese and Mingoes, was to be the point of attack. Col. William Crawford led the expedition, which counted 480 men. Warn- ing had in some manner reached the towns, and the troops found them de- serted. But the Indians were incensed, and their wrath had not driven them to hiding-places, but to a preparation to meet their foes. They fought desper- ately, and Crawford's troops were defeated and scattered, many being capt- ured, and among them Col. Crawford himself. It is hardly probable that Crawford could justly expect much mercy at the hands of his captors. Ac- counts state that Crawford implored the aid of Girty, and at last secured a promise to use his power to obtain the Colonel's pardon. However, this was of no avail, and it is doubtful whether Girty was disposed to intercede. The prisoners were tortured and put to death, and Crawford's agonies were pro- tracted as long as possible. Dr. Knight managed to disable the Indian who had him in charge, and made his escape to the settlements, where he related the result of the expedition and the tortures of the captured. On October 27, 1784, a treaty was concluded at Fort Stanwix, with the sachems and warriors of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Onei- das and Tuscaroras, and the Six Nations then ceded to the Colonial Govern- ment all claims to the country west of a line defined by the western boundary to the Ohio — thus rendering the Indian claim to a large portion of Ohio lands practically extinct. Although the French and Indian war was a series of heart-rending events, it was a serious and remarkable school of discipline for the untrained troops which soon engaged in the Revolutionary struggle. On the fields of Ohio, many valuable officers, who earned distinction in the war of independence, learned their first lessons in intrepid valor. During the Revolution, the colonial troops were engaged east of the mount- ains, and western settlements and frontier people were left alone to defend themselves and their property against encroachments and attacks. The Indian tribes again became belligerent, and united with the English against the " Americans." The latter held a line of posts along the Upper Ohio, while the British were stationed in the old French strongholds on the lakes and the Mississippi. The unscrupulous whites and Indians ranged at ran- dom between this boundary and the Cuyahoga, thence southerly to the Ohio, 84 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. thus including the Scioto and Miami Valleys. Southeastern Ohio constituted "the neutral ground." Gen. Clarke's expedition, although chiefly confined to Indiana and Illinois, greatly influenced the settlement of Ohio. His exploits and the resolution of his troops were chiefly instrumental in holding the country west of the Alle- ghanies, and insuring its possession by the United States during the Revolution. The British had been emphatic, in the Paris treaty, at the time of the settlement of the French and English difficulties, in demanding the Ohio River as the northern boundary of the United States. The American Commissioners relied upon Gen. Clarke's valor and energy in holding the country west of the Alle- ghanies, which he had conquered, and the British Commissioners were compelled to give their consent, under civil and military measures. In 1783, by the treaty of Paris, at the close of the Revolutionary war, the English relinquished all rights to the fertile territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, and the United States held undisputed possession. January 10, 1786, Gens. Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper circulated a pamphlet, proposing the formation of a company for the purpose of settling the Ohio lands, and soliciting the attention and consideration of all those desiring a future home and prosperity. A meeting was also called, to assemble during the following February, and select delegates to represent each county in Massachu- setts. These dignitaries should convene during the month of March, at the " Bunch of Grapes " tavern, in Boston, for the purpose of definitely forming the association, and adopting such measures as would benefit all directly interested. The Meeting and " convention " followed, and the subscription books were opened. One million dollars, chiefly represented by Continental certificates, was the price of the land. The shares were valued at $1,000 each, and there was a division of a thousand shares. The first payment was to be |10 per share, this money to be set aside for such expenses as might accrue. A year's interest was to be devoted to the establishment of the settlement, and those families who were unable to incur the expense of moving were to be assisted. Those who purchased shares to the number of twenty were entitled to a representation by an agent, who was permitted to vote for Directors. This plan matured and was acted upon during the following year. It may be that the action of Connecti- cut, in ceding her territorial claims to the General Government, with few excep- tions, greatly encouraged this new undertaking. That tract was, until recently, designated the " Western Reserve " — an extent 170 miles from the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and parallel thereto, being reserved. On October 27, 1787, a contract was made between the Board of the Treas- ury, for the United States, and Manasseh Cutler and Winthrop Sargent, agents for the Directors of the New England Ohio Company, for the purchase of a tract of land, bounded by the Ohio, and from the mouth of the Scioto to the inter- section of the western boundary of the seventh townships, then surveying ; thence by said boundary to the northern boundary of the tenth township from HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 85 the Ohio ; thence, by a due west line, to the Scioto ; thence, by the Scioto, to the beginning. However fertile and attractive Ohio was known to have been, settlement did not gain rapidly after the close of the war with England, although the United States has gained her freedom. It was more than six years after Cornwallis laid down his sword, before a white settlement was formed on the Ohio side of the river. The French and Indian war had incited the English to be jealous of her colonial conquests, and mistrusting their loyalty, they had, so soon as the French claims were annulled, taken measures to crush all colonial claims also, and a royal proclamation rescinded all colonial land grants and charters, holding all the country west of the sources of the Atlantic rivers under the protection and sovereignty of the king of Great Britain, for the use of the Indians. All white persons were forbidden to remain or settle within the prescribed limits. Parlia- ment then attached this tract to Quebec, and the English Government felt assured that the thirteen colonies were restricted and held secure east of the Alleffhanies. The result of the war between the colonies and England did not constitute an Indian treaty. Although England signed over her title and right, the sava- ges held the land and ignored all white agreements, one way or the other. Whenever an attempt at settlement was undertaken, Indian depredations proved disastrous. The tribes were encouraged by the English fur traders, and the English commandant at Detroit incited them to destroy all Americans who attempted to usurp the rights of red men. Added to this serious difficulty was the unsettled debate regarding State claims, which rendered a title precarious. A treaty, signed at Fort Mcintosh, previous to the war, and authenticated, shows that during the conflict the Dela- wares and Wyandots occupied the Indian and British frontier, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, from the Cuyahoga to the Maumee, and from the lake to the sources of its tributaries. Later, these two tribes ceded to the United States "the neutral ground," by warranty deed, and by quit-claim, the terri- tory south and west of the described tract, set apart for their use. By special measures, the grant of Congress in the matter of the Ohio Com- pany extended to nearly 5,000,000 acres, valued at $3,500,000. The original Ohio Company obtained 1,500,000 acres, the remaining being reserved by indi- viduals, for private speculation. The same year. Congress appointed Arthur St. Clair, Governor, and Win- throp Sargent, Secretary, of the Territory. Fort Harmar had previously been built, at the mouth of the Muskingum, and in 1788, a New England colony attempted the "Muskingum settlement," on the opposite side, which was afterward named Marietta. In July, 1788, the Territorial officers were received in this village, and there established the first form of civil government, as set forth in the Ordinance of 1787. Three United States Judges were appointed, and Courts of Common Pleas, Probate and Justice were established. 86 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. If the stormy times were supposed to be of the past, that composure was rudely broken by the utter disregard of the Shawnee and other Indian tribes, who soon induced the Delawares and Wyandots to repudiate their consent in the matter of settlement. The miseries of frontier horrors were repeated. The British commandant at Detroit instigated many of these hostilities, yet the American Government took honorable action in assuring the English represent- ative that American military preparations in the West was not an expedition against Detroit, or other British possessions, although the possession of Detroit by that nation was in direct opposition to the treaty of 1783. Gov. St. Clair, to avert the direful consequences of a border war, dispatched a Frenchman, Gameline, to the principal Indian towns of the Wabash and Maumee countries, to request them to meet the United States agents, and make a compromise for the benefit of both parties, at the same time reiterating the desire of the General Government to adhere to the Fort Harmar treaty. The Miamis, Shawnees, Ottawas, Kickapoos and Delawares received this representative kindly, but declined the wampum sent by the Governor, and deferred giving an answer until they had considered the subject with the " father at Detroit." Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawnees, informed the Frenchman that the Indi- ans doubted the sincerity of the Americans. The new settlement on the Ohio was a proof that the whites intended to crowd further and further, until the Indians were again and again robbed of their just right. He then emphatically asserted that unless the north side of the river was kept free from these inroads there could be no terms of peace with the Shawnees, and many other tribes. Blue Jacket was unusually intelligent and sagacious, and expressed himself eloquently. He was persistent in his determination to engage in the war of extermination, should the white settlements continue north of the Ohio. These overtures were continued, but they failed in producing any arrange- ment that permitted the whites to locate north of the Ohio. Congress called upon Kentucky and Pennsylvania to lend the aid of their militia. Gen. Harmar was instructed to destroy the Miami villages at the head of the Maumee. Late in the fall of 1790, he executed this order. The Indians had stored a large quantity of provisions, in expectation of a campaign, and this dependence was devastated. Without authority, and with undue carelessness, he divided his army and attempted to achieve other victo- ries. He more than lost what he had gained. . Two raids upon the Wabash In- dians, thereafter, proved successful, but the campaign under Gov. St. Clair was not calculated to establish peace or obtain power, and was deemed but little less than a failure. The year 1792 was a series of skirmishes, so far as a settlement was con- cerned, but 1793 succeeded well enough to convene a meeting of United States Commissioners and representatives of the hostile tribes, at the rapids of the Maumee. It is highly probable that a satisfactory treaty might have been arranged, had it not been for the intervention and malicious influence of the HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 87 British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Col. McKee, his assistant Capt. Elliott, and the notorious Capt. Simon Girty, who instigated the savages to deeds more horrible than their own barbarisms. It was evident that a severe struggle must ensue, and Capt. Wayne, in 1792, appointed to the command of the Western army, was called upon to con- duct the campaign. He exhibited his wisdom in the beginning, by preparing his men in military discipline and fully equipping them before marching to meet a savage foe in a wilderness. Various causes detained the army, and it was not until the fall of 1793, that the force marched from Fort Washington (Cincin- nati) to begin the battle. It was already late in the season, and, before any progress had been made, the army went into winter quarters at Greenville, on a branch of the Big Miami. In the mean time, the Ohio Company had not matured its practical " settle- merit plan," although a generous grant had been obtained. In 1792, they received a clear title to 750,000 acres of land, for which the full price had pre- viously been paid, in Continental currency. Congress set aside 214,285 acres as army bounties, and 100,000 acres to actual settlers. The two latter appro- priations joined that of the Ohio Company. There had been numerous conventions, discussions and other fruitless attempts to somehow form a plan for the government of the Northwest Terri- tory, but it was not until July 13, 1787, that an ordinance was passed, and that was the result of Dr. Cutler's efforts. Every State sustained its measures. This ordinance was the foundation of the constitution of the future State of Ohio, and indeed, permeates the entire Northwestern creed. ORDINANCE OF 1787.— No. 32. An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, Northwest of THE Ohio River. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said Territory, for the pur- pose of government, be one district; subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future cir- cumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates of both resident and non-resident proprietors in the said Territory, dying intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among their children and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them. And when there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree ; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parent's share; and there shall in no case be a distribution between kindred of the whole and half blood, saving in all cases to the widow of intestate, her third part of the real estate, for life, and one-third part of the personal estate ; and this law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in fall force until altered by the Legis- lature of the district. And until the Governor and Judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in said Territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be (being of full age), and attested by three witnesses ; and real estate may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed and sealed, and delivered by the person (being in full age) in whom the estate may be, and attested 88 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be appointed for that purpose. And personal property may be trans- ferred by delivery, saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincent's and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed them- selves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a Governor whose commission shall continue in force for a term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, of a thousand acres of land while in the exercise of his office. There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a Secretary whose commission shall continue in force for two years, unless sooner revoked. He shall reside in the district, and shall have a freehold estate therein in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the Legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the Governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months, t« the Secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three Judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction and shall reside in the district and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres of land, while in the exercise of their office, and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior. The Governor and Judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved by Congress. But afterward, the Legislature shall have authority to alter them, as they shall think fit. The Governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers. All general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the Governor shall appoint such mag- istrates and other civil officers in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said Assembly, but all magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the Governor. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal or civil, the Governor shall make proper divisions thereof, and he shall proceed from time to time as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extin- guished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the Legislature. So soon as there shall be 5,000 free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authority with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in the General Assembly. Provided, That for every 500 free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representa- tion increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five. After which, the number shall be regulated by the Legislature. Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years, and in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right in fee simple 200 acres of land within the same. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 89 Provided, Also, that a freehold in 50 acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being a resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years' resi- dence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years. And in case of the death of a representative or removal from office, the Governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. The General Assembly or Legislature shall consist of the Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress ; any three of whom to be a quorum. And the members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit : As soon as representatives shall be elected, the Governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each person in a freehold in 500 acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission as aforesaid. And whenever a vacancy shall hap- pen in the Council by death or removal from office, the House of Representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of ■whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the Council, the said House shall nominate ten persons qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the Council five years, unless sooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative Council and House of Representatives shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this Ordinance, established and declared. And all bills having passed by a majority in the House, and by a majority in the Council, shall be referred to the Governor for his assent. But no bill or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dis- solve the General Assembly, when in his opinion it shall be expedient. The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office. The Gov- ernor before the President of Congress, and all other officers before the Governor. As soon as a Legislature shall be formed in the district, the Council and House assembled in one room, shall have authority by joint ballot to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary gov- ernment. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which forms the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are created ; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in said Territory. To provide for the establishment of States, and permanent governments therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal Council on an equal footing ■with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest. It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people, and States in said Territory, and forever remain unaltered unless by common consent, to wit: Article II. The inhabitants of said Territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the "writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury ; of a proportionate representation of the people in the Legislature, and of judicial procedure according to the course of common law. All per- sons shall be bailable, except for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the pre- sumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unreasonable punishment shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land. And should the public exigencies make it necessary for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation 90 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is under- stood and declared that no law aught ever to be made or have force in the said Territory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with or effect private contracts or engagements bona fide and without fraud, previously formed. Art. III. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress. But laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them. Art. IV. The said Territory and the States which may be formed therein, shall ever remain a part of the confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confedera- tion, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in said Territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of the Government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other States, and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and directions of the Legislature of the district or districts or new States, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The Legisla- tures of those districts or new States, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find neces- sary for securing the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States, and in no case, shall non-residents be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St Lawrence, and the carry- ing places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free as well to the inhabi- tants of the said Territory as to the citizens of the United States and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty therefor. Art. V, There shall be formed in said Territory not less than three, nor more than five, States, and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit : The western State in the said Territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Wabash Rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent, due north to the Territorial line between the United States and Canada ; and by the said Territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Missis- sippi. The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post St. Vin- cent to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said Territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania and said territorial line. Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of those three States shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the said Territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said States shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing with the original States in all respects what- ever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government. Provided, The constitution and government so to be formed, shall be represented, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles ; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants than 60,000. Art. VI. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Provided always. That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 91. claimed in one of the original States, each fugitive may be lawfully claimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void. COMMENT BY S. P. CHASE 1833. It would be difficult to find a more comprehensive review of the founda- tions of our system of laws than is given in the " Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio," by this distinguished representative of the bench and the bar of America. The work is now out of print, and is not easily obtained; besides, its great author has passed away; so these extracts are made more with a view of preserving old historical literature, than of introducing new ; furthermore, the masses of the people have never had convenient access to the volumes, which, for the most part, have been in the hands of professional men only. The publication of the work first brought its compiler before the public, and marked the beginning of that career which, during its course, shaped the financial system of our country, and ended upon the Supreme Bench of the nation. "By the ordinance of 1785, Congress had executed in part the great national trust confided to it, by providing for the disposal of the public lands for the common good, and by prescribing the manner and terms of sale. By that of 1787, provision was made for successive forms of Territorial government, adapted to successive steps of advancement in the settlement of the Western country. It comprehended an intelligible system of law on the descent and conveyance of real property, and the transfer of personal goods. It also con- tained five articles of compact between the original States, and the people and States of the Territory, establishing certain great fundamental principles of governmental duty and private right, as the basis of all future constitutions and legislation, unalterable and indestructible, except by that final and common ruin, which, as it has overtaken all former systems of human polity, may yet overwhelm our American union. Never, probably, in the history of the world, did a measure of legislation so accurately fulfill, and yet so mightily exceed the anticipations of the legislators. The ordinance has been well described, as having been a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, in the settlement and government of the Northwestern States. When the settlers went into the wilderness, they found the law already there. It was impressed upon the soil itself, while it yet bore up nothing but the forest. The purchaser of land became, by that act, a party to the compact, and bound by its perpetual cove- nants, so far as its conditions did not conflict with the terms of the cessions of the States. ********* This remarkable instrument was the last gift of the Congress of the old confederation to the country, and it was a fit consummation of their glorious 92 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. labors. At the time of its promulgation, the Federal Constitution was under discussion in the convention ; and in a few months, upon the organization of the new national government, that Congress was dissolved, never again to re-as- semble. Some, and indeed most of the principles established by the articles of compact are to be found in the plan of 1784, and in the various English and American bills of rights. Others, however, and these not the least important, are original. Of this number are the clauses in relation to contracts, to slavery and to Indians. On the whole, these articles contain what they profess to con- tain, the true theory of American liberty. The great principles promulgated by it are wholly and purely American. They are indeed the genuine princi- ples of freedom, unadulterated by that compromise with circumstances, the effects of which are visible in the constitution and history of the Union. The first form of civil government, provided by the ordinance, was now formally established within the Territory. Under this form, the people had no concern in the business of government. The Governor and Judges derived their appointments at first from Congress, and after the adoption of the Fed- eral Constitution, from the President- The commission of the former officer was for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked ; those of the latter were during good behavior. It was required that the Governor should reside within the Territory, and possess a freehold estate there, in one thousand acres of land. He had authority to appoint all officers of militia, below the rank of Generals, and all magistrates and civil officers, except the Judges and the Sec- retary of the Territory ; to establish convenient divisions of the whole district for the execution of progress, to lay out those parts to which the Indian titles might be extinguished into counties and townships. The Judges, or any two of them, constituted a court with common law jurisdiction. It was neces- sary that each Judge should possess a freehold estate in the territory of five hundred acres. The whole legislative power which, however, extended only to the adoption of such laws of the original States as might be suited to the cir- cumstances of the country, was vested in the Governor and Judges. The laws adopted were to continue in force, unless disapproved by Congress, until re- pealed by the Legislature, which was afterward to be organized. It was the duty of the Secretary to preserve all acts and laws, public records and executive proceedings, and to transmit authentic copies to the Secretary of Congress every six months. Such was the first government devised for the Northwestern Territory. It is obvious that its character, as beneficent or oppressive, depended entirely upon the temper and disposition of those who administrated it. All power, legisla- tive, judicial and executive, was concentrated in the Governor and Judges, and in its exercise they were responsible only to the distant Federal head. The expenses of the Government were defrayed in part by the United States, but were principally drawn from the pockets of the people in the shape of fees. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 93 This temporary system, however unfriendly as it seems to liberty, was, perhaps, so established upon sufficient reasons. The Federal Constitution had not then been adopted, and there were strong apprehensions that the people of the Territory might not be disposed to organize States and apply for admission into the Union. It was, therefore, a matter of policy so to frame the Territorial system as to create some strong motives to draw them into the Union, as States, in due time. The first acts of Territorial legislation were passed at Marietta, then the only American settlement northwest of the Ohio. The Governor and Judges did not strictly confine themselves within the limits of their legislative author- ity, as prescribed by the ordinance. When they could not find laws of the original States suited to the condition of the country, they supplied the want by enactments of their own. The earliest laws, from 1788 to 1795, were all thus enacted. The laws of 1788 provided for the organization of the militia ; for the establishment of inferior courts ; for the punishment of crimes, and for the limitations of actions ; prescribed the duties of ministerial officers ; regu- lated marriages, and appointed oaths of office. That the Governor and Judges in the enactment of these laws, exceeded their authority, without the slightest disposition to abuse it, may be inferred from the fact that except two, which bad been previously repealed, they were all confirmed by the first Territorial Legislature. ********* At this period there was no seat of government, properly called. The Governor resided at Cincinnati, but laws were passed whenever they seemed to be needed, and promulgated at any place where the Territorial legislators hap- pened to be assembled. Before the year of 1795, no laws were, strictly speak- ing, adopted. Most of them were framed by the Governor and Judges to answer particular public ends ; while in the enactment of others, including all the laws of 1792, the Secretary of the Territory discharged, under the author- ity of an act of Congress, the functions of the Governor. The earliest laws, as has been already stated, were published at Marietta. Of the remainder, a few were published at Vincennes, and the rest at Cincinnati. In the year 1789, the first Congress passed an act recognizing the binding force of the ordinance of 1787, and adapting its provisions to the Federal Con- stitution. This act provided that the communications directed in the ordinance to be made to Congress or its officers, by the Governor, should thenceforth be made to the President, and that the authority to appoint with the consent of the Senate, and commission officers, before that time appointed and commis- sioned by Congress, should likewise be vested in that officer. It also gave the Territorial Secretary the power already mentioned, of acting in certain cases, in the place of the Governor. In 1792, Congress passed another act giving to the Governor and Judges authority to repeal, at their discretion, the laws by 94 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. them made ; and enabling a single Judge of the general court, in the absence of his brethren, to hold the terms. At this time the Judges appointed by the National Executive constituted the Supreme Court of the Territory. They were commissioned during good behavior; and their judicial jurisdiction extended over the whole region north- west of the Ohio. The court, thus constituted, was fixed at no certain place, and its process, civil and criminal, was returnable wheresoever it might be in the Territory. Inferior to this court were the County Courts of Common Pleas, and the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace. The former consisted of any number of Judges, not less than three nor more than seven, and had a general common-law jurisdiction, concurrent, in the respective counties, with that of the Supreme Court ; the latter consisted of a number of Justices for each county, to be determined by the Governor, who were required to hold three terms in every year, and had a limited criminal jurisdiction. Single Judges of the Common Pleas, and single Justices of the Quarter Sessions were also clothed with certain civil and criminal powers to be exercised out of court. Besides these courts, each county had a Judge of Probate, clothed with the ordinary jurisdiction of a Probate Court. Such was the original constitution of courts and distribution of judicial power in the Northwestern Territory. The expenses of the system were defrayed in part by the National Government, and in part by assessments upon the counties, but principally by fees, which were payable to every officer con- cerned in the administration of justice, from the Judges of the General Court downward. In 1795 the Governor and Judges undertook to revise the Territorial laws, and to establish a complete system of statutory jurisprudence, by adoptions from the laws of the original States, in strict conformity to the provisions of the ordinance. For this purpose they assembled at Cincinnati in June, and conti^nued in session until the latter part of August. The judiciary system underwent some changes. The General Court was fixed at Cincinnati and Mari- etta, and a Circuit Court was established with power to try in the several coun- ties, issues in fact depending before the superior tribunal, where alone causes could be finally decided. Orphans' Courts, too, were established, with jurisdic- tion analogous to but more extensive than that of a Judge of Probate. Laws were also adopted to regulate judgments and executions, for limitation of actions, for the distribution of intestate estates, and for many other general purposes. Finally, as if with a view to create some great reservoir, from which, whatever principles and powers had been omitted in the particular acts, might be drawn according to the exigency of circumstances, the Governor and Judges adopted a law, providing that the common law of England and all general statutes in aid of the common law, prior to the fourth year of James I, should be in full force within the Territory. The law thus adopted was an act of the Virginia Legislature, passed before the Declaration of Independence, when Virginia was HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 95 yet a British colony, and at the time of its adoption had been repealed so far as it related to the English statutes. The other laws of 1795 were principally derived from the statute book of Pennsylvania. The system thus adopted was not without many imperfections and blemishes, but it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a period after its first establishment, ever had one so good. And how gratifying is the retrospect, how cheering the prospect which even this sketch, brief and partial as it is, presents I On a surface covered less than half a century ago by the trees of the primeval forest, a State has grown up from Colonial infancy to freedom, independence and strength. But thirty years have elapsed since that State, with hardly sixty thousand inhabitants, was admitted into the American Union. Of the twenty-four States which form that Union, she is now the fourth in respect to population. In other respects her rank is even higher. Already her resources have been adequate, not only to the expense of government and instruction, but to the construction of long lines of canals. Her enterprise has realized the startling prediction of the poet, who, in 1787, when Ohio was yet a wilderness, foretold the future connec- tion of the Hudson with the Ohio. And these results are attributable mainly to her institutions. The spirit of the ordinance of 1787 pervades them all. Who can estimate the benefits which have flowed from the interdiction by that instrument of slavery and of legislative interference with private contracts? One consequence is, that the soil of Ohio bears up none but freemen ; another, that a stern and honorable regard to private rights and public morals characterizes her legislation. There is hardly a page in the statute book of which her sons need be ashamed. The great doctrine of equal rights is 'everywhere recognized in her constitution and her laws. Almost every father of a family in this State has a freehold interest in the soil, but this interest is not necessary to entitle him to a voice in the concerns of government. Every man'may vote ; every man is eligible to any office. And this unlimited extension of the elective franchise, so far from pro- ducing any evil, has ever constituted a safe and sufficient check upon injurious legislation. Other causes of her prosperity may be found in her fertile soil, in her felicitous position, and especially in her connection with the union of the States. All these springs of growth and advancement are permanent, and upon a most gratifying prospect of the future. They promise an advance in population, wealth, intelligence and moral worth as permanent as the existence of the State itself. They promise to the future citizens of Ohio the blessings of good government, wise legislation and universal instruction. More than all, they are pledges that in all future, as in all past circumstances, Ohio will cleave fast to the national constitution and the .national Union, and that her growing energies will on no occasion, be more willingly or powerfully put forth, than in the support and maintenance of both in unimpaired vigor and strength." 96 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. INFLUENCE OF THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. The passage of this ordinance, since known as the " Ordinance of 1787/' was immediately followed by an application to the Government, by John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, in behalf of the country, between the Miamis, and a contract was concluded the following year. The Ohio Company were exceed- ingly energetic in inaugurating settlements. Gen. Putman, with a party of forty-seven men, set out on an exploring expedition, accompanied by six boat builders. On the 1st of January, 1788, twenty-six surveyors followed, from Hartford, Conn. They arrived in Ohio on the 7th of April, 1788, and their active energy founded the permanent beginning of this great Western State* When we review the dangerous experiments that have been made, in this land west of the Alleghanies, the horrors which had overwhelmed every attempt, we can faintly realize the stalwart courage that sent these men on their way, and sustained them in their pioneer hardships. With characteristic vigor, they began their little town. Enthusiastic and happy, they did not rest from their toilsome march over the old Indian roads, but kept busily at work to estab- lish an oasis in this wide expanse of wilderness, before they should take nec- essary ease to recuperate their strength. The wise men met on the 2d of May, and the little town was named Marietta. Situated as it was, in the midst of danger, they had used precaution to build and equip a fortified square, which was designated Campus Martins ; Square No. 19 was Capitolium, and Square No. 61 was Cecelia, and the main street was Sacra Via. Marietta was especially fortunate in her actual "first families." Ten of the forty-eight men had received a thorough college education ; the remaining were individuals of sterling merit, honorable, and several had already attained reputations for superior excellence of abilities. Patriotic and brave, the settlement certainly possessed a foundation that promised well for the future. The following 4th of July was an auspicious event, and the Hon. James M. Varnum was the eloquent orator of the occason. The opening of the court, on the 2d of September, was a solemn ceremonial, the High Sheriff leading with drawn sword, followed by citizens, with an escort of officers from Fort Harmar, the members of the bar, the Governor and Clergy- men, the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas — Gen. Rufus Putman and Benjamin Tupper — all these constituted an imposing spectacle, as they pro- gressed over a path which had been cut through the forest to Campus Martins Hall, the edifice of law and order. The Judges took their seats, a prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Cutler, and immediately the Sheriff, Col. Ebenezer Sprout, proclaimed the response, and the court of impartial justice was convened. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 97 This ceremonial was, perhaps, made all the more impressive by the presence of several powerful Indian chiefs, who had journeyed to Marietta for the pur- pose of making a treaty. The settlement now increased rapidly, new cabins were erected constantly. On the 17th of December, a society event occurred, in the form of a grand ball, fifteen ladies being present. John Cleves Symmes had contracted for 2,000,000 acres of land, and suc- ceeded in obtaining his grant, but circumstances prevented him from meeting his part of the obligations, and the specification was reduced to 1,000,000. After vain attempt to make his payments, a settlement was finally effected for 248,540 acres, and Symmes was prepared to dispose of clear titles to new-com- ers. In 1788, a town was established within the boundaries of his grant, at the mouth of the little Miami, known as Columbia, and in the early part of 1787 another was formed opposite the mouth of the Licking River, by name Losanti- ville, analyzed by a frontier scholar — ville, the town ; anti, opposite to ; os, the mouth of; L, Licking. Judge Symmes had projected building his main town at North Bend. This plan was frustrated by reason of Ensign Luce — who had been commissioned by Gen. Harmar to erect a fort — deciding that North Bend was not suitable for the purpose. He selected Losantiville for the purpose, and Fort Washington was the result. In 1790, Gov. St. Clair was called to inspect the settlement, and proceeded to organize Hamilton County, at the same time calling the town Cincinnati. It will be remembered that Connecticut ceded most of her western lands to General Government, retaining, however, a minor portion. As the settlements began to increase on the "Virginia Reserve" and between the Scioto and Miami Rivers, all those holding claims were not disposed to part with them, while others were anxious to secure grants for the purpose of speculation, rather than the advancement of civilization. The Scioto Company was a questionable ad- herent of the Ohio Company, and began operations, which resulted well, what- ever their purpose may have been. Gen. Putnam cleared the land and directed the building of 100 dwellings and six block-houses. During 1791, the colony arrived, consisting of 500 persons. Only ten of these were tillers of the soil. Viscount Malartie ventured into the wilderness, but instead of settling, joined Gen. St. Clair's army, and was ulti- mately his aid-de-camp. Indian conquests were not to his taste, and he soon returned to France. This new colony was essentially French, and its location was Gallia County. The name " Gallipolis " was selected. These settlers, being unaccustomed to severe toil, and disinclined to learn its hard lesson, soon became demoralized, through deprivation and absolute want. Congress came to their aid with a land grant of 24,000 acres, but few of them cared to enter claims, and soon all traces of the old town were lost, and its inhabitants scattered. 98 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Gen. St. Clair having become unpopular, through repeated failures in Indian campaigns, and Gen. Anthony Wayne having wintered at Fort Washington, the spring of 1793 was opened by a march of the army, well disciplined and led by "Mad Anthony," on a campaign that must crush the rapidly increasing depredations of the Indians, notwithstanding which these new settlements had been made. All winter, Gen. Wayne had dispatched scouts, spies and hardy frontiersmen on errands of discovery, and his plans were, therefore, practically matured. His army cut its way through the forests, gathering horses, provis- ions, etc., as they marched, and finally came nearly up to the enemy before dis- covery. They again returned to Fort Washington, as the Commander-in-Chief, under the order of the Executive, had proclaimed inaction until the Northern or British Commissioners and Indians should convene and discuss the situation and prospects. Gen. Wayne, meantime, drilled his men at " Hobson's Choice," a place near Fort Washington. The Commissioners came from Detroit, and assembled at Capt. Matthew Elliot's house, at the mouth of the Detroit River. A meeting was called at Sandusky, and twenty Indian representatives were present, to argue the grounds of a treaty. Simon Girty acted as interpreter, and has been vehemently accused of unfaithfulness in this trust, since he did not advocate the adjustment of matters on any grounds. The Indians reiterated their rights and wrongs, and offered to receive the half of the purchase money, provided the actual settlers would accept it as the price of the land, move away, and leave the original owners the proud possessors of their lands. The Govern- ment would then expend less money than they would have done in a full Indian purchase, or a long and cruel war. This being out of the question and rejected, a decided specification was made that the Ohio boundary was to be obliterated, and a new one adopted, that encompassed a mere fraction of territory. This was also rejected. The Indians indignantly bade the Americans to go back to their father, and they would return to their tribes. The council was terminated in confusion. It is highly probable that some settlement might have been made, had it not been for English influence which instigated the savages, in the hope of ultimately making conquests for them- selves. The commander at Detroit evinced great uneasiness whenever there was a shadow of an opportunity for a peaceful understanding. On Christmas Day, 1793, a detachment of the army encamped on the identical ground made memorable by St. Clair's horrible defeat. A reward was offered for every human skull that was found, and 600 were gathered. The bones of the victims were removed from the spot where they built Fort Recovery. This point was left in charge of Alexander Gibson. Early in the year 1794, Lord Dorchester addressed the Commissioners in behalf of the English. Even at this time. Gen. Wayne, to avoid the terrors of a great war, again made overtures of peace, dispatching Freeman, Trueman and Hardin, all initiated in savage tactics, on errands of mercy — and the three men HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 99 were inhumanly murdered. The English went so far as to order Gov. Simcoe to erect a fort, in April, 1794, on the Rapids of the Maumee, thus rousing the Indians by a bold proof that they had espoused their cause. In May, the Spanish, who were ever jealous of colonial encroachments, were willing to aid in a general raid against the Americans. In June, a scouting party from Fort Recovery, fell into an Indian ambush and suffered severely, their foes following them to the very entrance. The siege continued for two days. It was plainly evident that white men augmented the Indian force ; ounce balls and buck-shot surely came from their rifles. Again, the Indians immediately began a search beneath the logs where pieces of artillery were hidden during the great battle of St. Clair, but fortunately. Fort Recovery had the use of them and they accomplished much. On July 26, Scott joined Wayne at Greenville, with 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and on the 28th, the legion took up its line of deadly march. Halting at Girty's Town, they built Fort Mary's, later on Fort Adams. Throw- ing the enemy off their guard by feints and counter-marching, the troops surprised the Indians, and without the slightest resistance took possession of their villages at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee. They found provision in abundance, and tarried a week building Fort Defiance. Again Gen. Wayne would have made terms of peace, on the principle of the Government to arrest bloodshed, but the Indians were rendered cruelly intent on war by an addition of a body of British militia from Detroit, and by regulars stationed at a fort they had built on the left bank of the river, below the rapids, called Fort Miami. The "Fallen Timber" ground was selected as the field for a battle by the savages, in the expectation that the trees cast down by a tornado and there remaining, would seriously impede American progress. August 15th, Wayne marched down the river, and at Roche de Boeuf, erected a fortification for their stores and luggage, naming it " Fort Deposit." On the 20th, the American army began the attack. Maj. Price and Maj. Gen. Scott .were heroic in their assistance, and after a sharp, deadly conflict, the enemy was routed, fleeing in confusion, and leaving their dead and wounded strewn thickly over the field. The savages were pressed to the front always, and when the carnage was painful, the British troops not engaged looked on coolly from the fort and offered no assistance, aiding their own, however, when possible. Gen. Wayne being an ardent soldier, was apt to forget his position, and impetuously place himself constantly in danger. Lieut. Harrison is reported to have requested the General not to forget to give him field orders, in his own partici- pation in the battle, and to have received the reply that the standing order was always to charge hayonets. Notwithstanding the treaty of 1783, and the fact that the British were tres- passing, they encroached upon the Ohio soil, and essayed to vindicate their action by discarding American claims and recognizing the Indian rights, whereby they might seek their own colonization and make treaties. 100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Maj. Campbell was in command at Fort Miami, and when he saw the sava> ges being cut down almost mercilessly, he not only refrained from offering aid, but when, in their desperate retreat, they attempted to enter the fort for pro- tection, he ordered the doors closed in their faces. On the following day, Campbell sent a message to Wayne, demanding a reason for hostile action, adding that Great Britain was not now at war with the United States. He received a characteristic reply. During the Revolution, Detroit was an important British point, and the Maumee was its outlet. Therefore, the English clung tenaciously to this pos- session, giving, as it did, the advantage of the great fur trade. The English Government evidently regretted ceding so much of her territory in the West, and were searching for an excuse to quarrel and attempt to regain at least a part of what they had lost. Their policy was to sustain the bitter hatred between the Indians and the Americans. The settlement of the Maumee Valley had been rapid, but the very name was an agony of remembrance of frightful massacres and atrocities. Col. McKee, the British Indian agent, and his assistant, Capt. Elliott, were from Pennsylvania, but being Tories, they had assimilated with the Indians. They joined the Shawnee tribe and married Indian wives, and made their fortunes thereby, through British appointments to secure the savage interests. The Indians were directly served by McKee and Elliott, with ammunition and sup- plies, during the Wayne conflict. Several skirmishes ensued, but severe weather approaching, the troops moved for quarters, and on the 14th day of September, they attacked the Miami villages, captured them with provisions and stores, and erected a fort, leaving it in charge of Lieut. Col. Hamtramck. With cheers and rifle-shooting, this post was named Fort Wayne. The main army marched into Greenville and went into winter quarters. Wayne had achieved a brilliant victory, but his success did not overcome his practical reasoning, and he was unwilling to subject his men to a severe winter's campaign unless necessity was peremptory. Gov. Simcoe, Col. McKee and a few of the most savage Indian chiefs attempted to rally the Indians for a new attack. Gov. Simcoe, of Detroit, was aware that the mounted volunteers under Wayne had been allowed to return home, and that the term of service of a portion of the " Legion " was about to expire. The British and Indians held a conference, but the latter were weary with fighting for the glory of the Great Father at Detroit, and did not enter into the plan. The winter proved most poverty stricken to them, the English failing to supply them, and their crops and sustenance having been destroyed by Wayne. They were then fully prepared to listen to the faintest signal from Wayne to conciliate affairs, and the Wyandots and Delawares were the first to confer with him on the subject. Their position was exposed and they had suffered severely. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 101 They soon influenced other tribes to consider the question. As a mass, they were convinced of their inability to overcome the Americans, and had become impatient and disgusted with the duplicity of their British friends, who had not hesitated to sacrifice them in every instance, and who deserted them in their hour of distress. United, they sued for peace. Terms were made, and about the 1st of August, the famous Greenville treaty was ratified and established, and the old Indian war in Ohio terminated. The Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias were thus conciliated. The old Indian boundary line, settled upon at the Fort Mcintosh treaty, was retained, and the southwestern line was prolonged from old Fort Recovery, southwest of the Ohio River. " The general boundary lines between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and thence run up the same to the portage between that and the Tus- carawas Branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the crossing- place above Fort Laurens ; thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River (running into the Ohio), at or near which fork stood Lar- amie's store — Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami that runs into Lake Erie ; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash ; thence southwesterly on a direct line to the Ohio, so as to inter- sect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa River." This boundary line has, ever since this memorable treaty, been a prominent landmark, and may now be traced as the southern boundary line of Stark, Ash- land, Richland and Marion Counties, and the northern line, in part, of Tuscar- awas and Knox. Old Fort Recovery was located in Mercer, near the Indiana line. Laramie's store was in Shelby. Within the Indian Reservation, the United States held sixteen distinct sec- tions of land, for the purpose of military posts, so arranged that the Govern- ment had full right of way north and west. The "Joy treaty " between England and the United States was ratified early in 1796, and the British were obliged to vacate Detroit and Fort Miami, and recall the fact that they had no claim or right to either points. Gen. Wayne received them, and accompanied by Gov. St. Clair, proceeded to Detroit. Here the lat- ter laid out a county, calling it Wayne, and designated Detroit as its seat of justice. This was the fifth county in the Northwest Territory, north of the Ohio River. Washington County, with Marietta as a seat of justice, was first established ; next Hamilton, with Cincinnati as a county seat. Wayne County was organized in 1796, and included about twenty-six of the present counties, in the northwest part of the State, covering about a quarter of its area, besides parts of Indiana and Michigan. In other parts of the State, the population was rapidly increasing. In May, 1795, the Legislature authorized a committee to institute measures for the 102 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. disposal of their Western lands. The Virginia and Connecticut Reservations required some action on the part of Government, inasmuch as ceding a portion and re-selling had in a measure disturbed free titles. Fifty-six persons negoti- ated and purchased lands, receiving quit-claim titles and entire rights. They re-sold to John Morgan and John Caldwell and Jonathan Bruce, in trust. Thus 3,000,000 acres were prepared for settlement. Upon the quit-claim deeds of these representatives, the full title of lands included within the old Western Reserve rests. Judge Symmes began his active operations in 1796, and by the close of 1797 all lands east of the Cuyahoga were laid out in townships, five miles square. The agent of the Connecticut Land Company was Gen. Moses Cleveland, and in his honor the leading city in the Reserve was named. Some townships were retained for private sale, and others were disposed of by lottery, in 1798. Wayne's treaty led to the formation of Dayton, and the peopling of that section. A difficulty arose regarding the original Symmes grant and its modifi- cation. Symmes had sold land titles, in good faith, beyond his vested power, and Congress was now called upon to adjust these claims and titles. Seventeen days after the Wayne or Greenville treaty, St. Clair, Wilkinson, Dayton and Ludlow contracted with Symmes for seven and eight ranges, between the Mad and Little Miami Rivers. November 4, 1795, Mr. Ludlow laid out Dayton. During the years 1790 and 1795, the Governor and Supreme Judges of the Northwest Territory had published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of these were ratified at Cincinnati, for the purpose of forming a complete statutory. It was termed the " Maxwell Code." Mr. Nathaniel Massie founded a town on the Scioto, which was called Chillicothe. The Iroquois treaty had previously invited settlement, and embryo towns had begun as early as 1769, under the protection of the Connecticut Company. A land company was organized in Hartford, Conn., in 1795, sending out forty-three surveyors to divide the townships of that part of the Western Reserve, east of the Cuyahoga, five miles square. The first resident of the town of Cleveland was Mr. Job Stiles and family, and Mrs, Stiles was the mother of the first white child born on the Reserve. Some other parts of the territory progressed more rapidly in population. Along the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami, towns began to spring up, which might perhaps better be termed farming settlements. Cincinnati was increasing, and in 1796, had reached 100 cabins, 15 frame houses and 600 persons, with prospects for a firm future. The Virginia Military Land District was between the Little Miami and Scioto, and was rapidly increasing in population. Mr. Massie was unceasinsr in his efibrts to advance the West, and laid out Manchester, offering inducements that could not fail to attract settlers. Ebenezer Zane procured a grant in consideration of opening a bridle path from the Ohio River at Wheeling, over the country via Chillicothe, to Limestone, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 103 in Kentucky. The year following, the United States mail was taken over this route. The comparatively tranquil condition of the country and the inducements it had to offer encouraged a rapid settlement of the Territory. A prominent feature of the early growth of Ohio was the general prevalence of reliable, stanch principle. The people were of the good colonial stock. In 1800, Chillicothe was denominated the seat of the Territorial govern- ment, and the first stone edifice in the State was begun in this town, soon after this appointment. About this time, a serious difficulty suddenly occurred to those individuals who had taken lands on the Western Reserve of Connecticut. That Eastern power had, it is true, ceded a part of her claim to the General Government, and had stipulated for the sale of certain other tracts. At the same time, the State had not signed away her jurisdiction over some sections of her claim, and those unfortunate people in and about Dayton found themselves without any government upon which they might depend in a case of emergency. The matter was, accordingly, presented to the Territorial government, which interceded with the Eastern State, and, sanctioned by the Assembly at Congress, Connecticut relinquished her jurisdiction in 1800. Cleveland was an important point, and was growing in the mean time. How- ever, it had suffered exceedingly from the ravages of fever and ague. For a period of two months, there was not an individual, but a boy thirteen years of age, able to procure food for the others. Flour was out of all rational con- sideration, and the meal upon which they lived was pounded by hand. In 1799, Williams and Myatt erected a grist-mill at the falls, near Newbury. A startling agitation occurred in 1801, which in these days would cause but a ripple in the political sea, but happening during a time when legislative dignity and state authority were regarded with reverential awe, it created the most intense feeling. Great indignation was openly expressed. The Governor and several legislators felt that they had been insulted in the performance of their respective duties, at Chillicothe, while the Assembly was in session in 1801. No measures being taken by the authorities at the capital to protect the Executive, a law was passed removing the seat of govern- ment to Cincinnati. This circumstance led to a general consideration of the advantages of a State government, and a popular desire was expressed for a change in this respect. Gov. St. Clair had fallen into disfavor through his failure as a military leader and his failures in the Indian campaigns, and from his assuming powers which were not vested in him, especially the subdivision of counties. He was also identified with the Federal party, which was not popular in Ohio. The opposition was strong in the Assembly, but was in the minority in the House of Representatives. The boundary question was agitated at the same time. The intention was to thus effect the limits of Ohio that a State government would necessarily have to be postponed. Against this measure, Tiffin, Worthington, 104 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Langham, Darlington, Massie, Dunlavy and Morrow strenuously objected. After considerable discussion, Thomas Worthington obtained leave of absence from the session, and journeyed to Washington in behalf of a State government. It was obvious that the Territory, under the ordinance, was not entitled to a change. Massie suggested the feasibility of appointing a committee to address Conoress on the subject. This the House refused to pass. An effort was then made to take a census, but any action on this subject was postponed until the next session. During all this ineffectual struggle, Worthington was doing his best in Wash- ington, and succeeded so well that on March 4, a report was made to the House in favor of the State government. This report was made on a basis that the census, in 1800, summed up over 45,000 for Ohio. April 30, Congress passed a law carrying into effect the views expressed on this subject. A convention met on November 1. Its members were generally Jeffersonian in their views. Gov. St. Clair proposed to address them as their chief executive magistrate. Several members resolutely opposed this action, insisting upon a vote, which, through courtesy and not a sense of right, resulted in permitting him to address them. He advised the postponement of the State government until the original eastern portion of the State was suflBciently pop- ulated to demand this right. Only one, out of thirty-three, voted to sustain the Governor in these views. The convention agreed to the views of Congress. November 29, the agree- ment was ratified and signed, as was the constitution of the State of Ohio. The General Assembly was ordered to convene the first Tuesday of March, 1803. This was carried into effect. A constitution was framed for the new State, adhering to the Ordinance of 1787. The rights and duties of citizens were plainly set forth, and general business was transacted. The new State consti- tution was signed by : Edward Tiffin, President and Representative from Ross County. Adams County — Joseph Darlington, Israel Donalson, Thomas Vinker. Belmont County — James Caldwell and Elijah Woods. Clermont County — Philip Gatch and James Sargent. Fairfield County — Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter. Hamilton County — John W. Brown, Charles Willing Byrd, Francis Dun- lavy, William Goforth, John Gitchel, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Riley, John Smith and John Wilson. Jefferson County — Rudolph Blair, George Humphry, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff and Bezaleel Wells. Ross County — Michael Baldwin, James Grubb, Nathaniel Massie and F. Worthington. Washington County — Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, John Mc- Intyre and Rufus Putnam. Thomas Scott, Secretary. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 105 The first Legislature of the State, under the new constitution, created eight new counties, viz., Gallia, Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery. The first State officers were : Michael Baldwin, Speaker of the House ; Na- thaniel Massie, President of the Senate ; William Creighton, Secretary of State ; Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; William McFarland, Treasurer ; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Supreme Court ; Francis Dunlavy, Willis Silliman and Calvin Pease, Judges of the Dist- rict Court. The General Assembly held a second session in December, at which time the militia law was revised, also giving aliens equal proprietary rights with native citizens. The revenue system was modified and improved. Acts authorizing the incorporation of townships were passed, and for the establishment of coun- ties. Furthermore, Jacob White, Jeremiah Morrow and William Ludlow were authorized to locate a township for collegiate purposes, according to previous specified terms of Congress. The Symmes grant and the college specification collided materially, but the irregularity of the former was not to create any inconvenience for the latter. Mr. Symmes had in good faith marked ofi" this township, but circumstances preventing the perfection of his plans, that lapsed with the others, and the original township was now entered by settlers. Accordingly, thirty-six sections, west of the Great Miami, were selected, and are now held by the Miami University. Gov. St. Clair, notwithstanding his unpopularity, was re-appointed. Ohio was under a system of government which guaranteed the best improve- ments ; her Legislature being composed of her best statesmen, and the laws passed having the general interest of the people embodied in them. A bill was passed, appropriating the net proceeds of the land lying within said State, sold by Congress after the 20th day of June, 1802, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, to be applied to the laying-out of roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, to the said State, and through the same ; such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several States through which the road shall pass. In conformity with these provisions, steps were taken, in 1805, which resulted in the making of the Cumberland or National road. Burr, at this time, began an organization for the ostensible purpose of making a settlement on the Wachita, but his party being armed and his plans not being frankly disclosed, an investigation proved that his real design was a mutinous revolt against Governmental powers, and to gratify his ambition by founding his own kingdom in Mexico, and defeating the Spanish. If success crowned his efforts, his ultimate victory was to rupture the Union by forcing the Western States to withdraw from their allegiance. By gaining an influence over the noble but misguided Blennerhasset, he established his headquarters on his island in the Ohio. The history of Burr's expedition is already well known. 106 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. The final capture by Gov. Tiffin, of ten boats loaded with stores, on the Mus- kingum, and four near Marietta, decided the fate of this scheme, and Burr was finally arrested and put on trial May 22, 1807. The advancement of the settlement of the State was in no manner impeded, and towns sprang up, farms were laid out, and all other improvements inaugu- rated which tended to a permanent prosperity. In 1808, Tecumseh left Greenville to join the Prophet on the banks of the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Upper Wabash, on a tract of land granted herein by the Pottawatomies. The Indians were virtually by treaty allowed but a small proportion of land within the boundaries of the State, and were maintaining peaceful attitudes toward the whites, with exceptional border depredations, which were settled by mutual understanding. Although the United States had gained independence, and was treating with England as with other foreign powers, the British persisted in violating the national rights of the United States, impressing American seamen into the British service, seizing American vessels engaged with France in trade, and otherwise violating the rights of an independent nation, at peace with the Brit- ish power. The mission upon which Henry was sent by the British, to create disturb- ance between the States, and thus broken, to weaken the strength of the Gen- eral Government, added fuel to the fire, and united indignation cried for war. British agents again bargained with the Indians of the Wabash and Maumee Valleys, desiring them to inaugurate another war upon the western sections and to make a desperate attack upon the settlements south of the lakes. The Brit- ish agent at Maiden negotiated in rifles, powder, ball, merchandise, lead, blank- ets and shirts. The Indians were inspired again with the hope that the whites would be driven back, and that all the country north of the Ohio would again revert to them. The Canadians in league with the English, gave the savages unlimited quantities of whisky, which naturally aroused their fierce natures to acts of violence and blood. It is highly probable that the use of liquor was the main cause of the deterioration of the best traits of the Indian character, after the Revolution. Again, many unscrupulous men upon the frontier did not hesi- tate to commit the most merciless crimes against the Indians, such was the prejudice against them, and the courts invariably failed to indict them for these atrocities. This error on the part of the Americans served to influence the savages against them. At this time, the seats of justice were distant over a hundred miles each from the other, uninhabited tracts frequently extending between them which were absolute wildernesses. The routes were in many cases difficult and circuitous. As early as 1808, there was a mail communication for the people on the Lower Maumee, many days elapsing between the arrivals and departures of HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 107 the same, however. Horace Gunn was the carrier. Benoni Adams brought the news from Cleveland to the same point, his trip requiring a fortnight. It must be remembered that this journey was mostly made on foot. The Black Swamp could not be traversed in any other manner. THE WAR OF 1812. The war of 1812 can be called a continuation of the Revolution, with all justice. Although rumors had reached Ohio, that active preparations were being made for general action, no official tidings had been sent to Hull, com- mandea'-in-chief of the Western forces. The Secretary of War, instead of sending a special messenger directly to Hull, communicated with the post adjacent, depending upon a continuation of the news from that point. At the same time, advices were sent the British post at Maiden and Detroit. Hull sent out a packet with official papers, stores, etc., the day previous to that on which the official intelligence arrived that an open rupture existed between the two powers, and this was of course captured. The Western forces marched to Detroit and crossed over to Sandwich, pre- paratory to attacking Maiden, a post most favorable for the transportation of stores, troops, etc. which was therefore considered valuable. Peter Minard first gave the news to the settlers of the Maumee. He had heard from a Delaware chief, who assured him a general massacre was to take place in the valley. Maj. Spaffijrd paid no heed to this "idle fear," until a few days thereafter a messenger came to his quarters, reporting a band of fifty Pottawatomies on the march to join the hostile tribes near Maiden. They had plundered and burned Monclova, and had nearly reached the rapids. The Major, with his family and settlers, immediately launched a barge on the river and were able to reach old Fort Miami just as the savages reached Maumee City. They could plainly witness the flames that devoured their old homes. They kept on their way in their miserable craft, until they reached Milan, where they learned that the entire country was in danger. Although the Indians were defeated in the battle of Tippecanoe in the fall of 1811, they plotted vigorously with the English for the invasion of Ohio.- Gen. William Hull marched from the southwestern part of the State directly north, crossing the counties of Champaign, Logan, Hardin, Hancock and Wood, establishing military posts along the route and cutting a way through the wilderness of the unsettled portions. He crossed the Maumee on the 1st of July, and marched to Detroit. Hull was evidently actuated in his succeeding disgraceful failures by two fears — lack of confidence in the ability of his troops, and the belief that they might desert him in action. He proclaimed freedom, and a necessity of sub- mitting to the Canadians under existing circumstances. He held out induce- ments to the British regulars to desert their cause and essayed to pacify the savages, but he accomplished nothing beyond jeopardizing the American cause 108 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. and disgracing his army. His men became restless. Col. Miller and Col. Cass were delighted when detailed on scouting expeditions, and did not hesi- tate to attack advancing squads of the enemy. At last, an attack was made on the Niagara frontier, and Hull speedily abandoned his project and collected his forces at Detroit. Meantime, Col. Proctor had reached Maiden, and quickly perceiving the advantao-e of a post at that point, whereby he could cut off supplies and starve Hull into subjection, he massed his forces about this section, captured Van Horn and his two hundred men, and withstood the attack of Miller, although he gained nothing by so doing. Again Hull displayed his weakness by recall- ing his forces from further molestations. Gen. Brock, however, reached Maiden on the 13th of August, 1812, and began war preparations. Gen. Dearborn placed a force on the Niagara frontier, but an armistice was made with the British. Hull dispatched a third party under McArthur, to open communications to the Raisin River. Gen. Brock appeared at Sandwich and began to erect batteries, which Hull would not allow to be molested. The result was, that on the 26th of August Detroit was surrendered to the enemy, and not a blow had been struck in its defense. By this dastardly act, 1,400 brave men who had not been permitted to make a single effort to sustain the American cause, were surrendered to 300 English regulars, 400 Canadians and their Indian allies. Gen. Hull was, in consequence of this series of "mistakes," accused of treason and cowardice, and convicted of the latter. By the middle of August, the British had gained the control over most of the Northwestern Territory. The appointment of William Henry Harrison to the position of com- mander in chief of the Western forces, was most opportune. He speedily raised a vigorous army, and advanced by three routes to the foot of the rapids. Gen. Harrison commanded the right wing, and marched by the way of Upper Sandusky, where he located his depot of supplies. Gen. Tupper commanded the center. Fort McArthur, in Hardin County, being his base, while Gen. Win- chester marched from Fort Defiance down the Maumee to the foot of the rapids. A large force of British and Indians moved up the left bank of the Mau- mee toward Fort Wayne, and Gen. Harrison, to intercept them, marched to the confluence of the Auglaize with the Maumee. Harrison was aware that the enemy would be also hemmed in by Win- chester. The weather was rainy, and the prospects were that a most unfortun- ate season was to follow the expected engagements. Harrison heard that Winchester had reached Fort Defiance, and that the Indians and British were retreating down the Maumee. He followed, and marched to Winchester's camp, where he arrived in season to quell a mutiny under command of Col. Allen, of the Kentucky troops. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 109 In January, 1813, Winchester had reached the rapids, where he received tidino-s that Frenchtown was menaced and exposed. Without orders, he sent a party to the rescue, which defeated the enemy. The weather was intensely cold, and the company lay within eighteen miles of Maiden, where the enemy was collected in full force, consequently re-enforcements must be dispatched immediately or the town again left to its fate. Winchester then marched with a force of 259 men, and upon arriving at nightfall, insisted upon remaining on open ground, although warned repeatedly that this would be a most dangerous experiment. In the morning, he was surprised by the enemy, massed directly before him, with a battery within three hundred yards of his camp, and a shower of bombs, balls and grape-shot falling among his exposed troops, and the yells of Indians reminding him of his fatal error. Lewis, who led the party out in the beginning and had apprehended the danger, bravely defended himself behind garden pickets, Winchester was defeated on the 22d of January, 1813, and the Indians were permitted to massacre the prisoners and the settlers. Harrison fell back to the foot of the rapids. On the 1st of February, he began the construction of Fort Meigs. On the 27th of April, Proctor and Tecumseh attacked this fort, and laid siege with the full expectation of success. The stipulation was that Gen. Harrison was to be delivered to Tecumseh. While the balls and bombs were making havoc with the fort, the Indians were climbing trees and pouring a galling fire down upon the troops. Gen. Proctor invited Harrison to surrender, which was politely declined, with the assurance that the British General would have the opportunity to distinguish himself as a ■soldier before such a proceeding was enacted. Gen. Clay was descending the Maumee with 1,200 Kentuckians in flat boats. Orders went from Harrison that 800 men should land on the left bank, take and spike the British cannon, and then to enter the fort, from which soldiers were to issue to assist the re-enforcements. Capt. Hamilton was to pilot Gen. Clay to the fort, cutting their way through. All succeeded, Col. Dudley taking the batteries and spiking the cannon. But his men, too much elated by their success, against orders, and against the repeated expostulations of Col. Dudley, insisted on pursuing the Indians. Col. Dudley would not desert them. This act proved their ruin. By a decoy, they were led into a defile which proved an ambush, and the men found themselves surrounded by savages, without means of escape. A most frightful massacre began, and every man would have fallen had not Tecumseh sternly forbidden the cowardly carnage. One of his principal chiefs ignored this order, and the next instant the great warrior buried his hatchet in his head. The brave Col. Dudley was, however, tomahawked and scalped. There were no immediate signs that the fort would be surrendered, and the siege was raised on the 9th of May. It was renewed on the 20th of July, and abandoned a few days later. The enemy decided this stronghold was invulnerable. 110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. On the 1st of August, the enemy proceeded to Fort Stevenson, at Lower Sandusky, garrisoned by 150 men under Maj. Croghan. The fort had the use of but one piece of cannon. The enemy with Tecumseh's Indians num- bered 3,300 strong, with six pieces of cannon. Gen. Proctor again tendered the offer to surrender, adding that a refusal would only bring about a useless resistance, and a massacre by the Indians. The reply was, that before the fort went over to the British, not an American would be left to be massacred, as they should hold out to the last man. Proc- tor opened fire. The first movement was an assault upon the northwest angle of the fort, as if to make a breach and thus carry the works. The command- ant strengthened that point by bags of sand, and during the night stealthily placing his one cannon in a concealed position, he filled it with slugs. The following day, the fire again swept the northwest corner, and, evening approaching, a column of 350 men swept up within twenty yards of the walls. They were met by the musketry, which had little effect, and the ditch was soon filled with men.. The next instant the hidden cannon, so placed as to sweep the ditch, suddenly began action, and the surprised assailants quickly recoiled, and the fort was saved, with the loss of only one man. The next morning, the enemy had disappeared, evidently in haste, as guns, clothing and stores were left behind. They had lost over one hundred and fifty men by this useless attempt. Croghan had previously received orders to evacuate the fort from Gen. Harrison, and his determination to hold the position merited Harrison's reprimand and remand of commission. Such was the sev- erity of military law. However, the rank of Colonel was immediately conferred upon him by the President, for his gallantry. The ladies of Chillicothe pre- sented him with an elegant testimonial in the shape of a sword. It was decided to make a naval warfare effectual in the recovery of the Northwestern Territory, and accordingly vessel-building began under Commo- dore Perry's supervision. The British looked upon this proceeding with derision, fully intending tO' use these boats for their own purpose. They publicly proclaimed their intention. By the 1st of August, 1813, Commodore Perry set sail a flotilla, the Law- rence and the Niagara, of twenty guns each, with smaller vessels following. Some difficulty was encountered in launching the larger vessels, on account of the shallowness of the water. Perry's first destination was Put-in-Bay, thirty miles from Maiden, where the British fleet lay under the guns of the fort. On the 10th of September, the British fleet — exceeding the American by ten guns — under Commodore Barclay, appeared off Put-in-Bay, distant about ten miles. Perry immediately set sail. The wind shifting, the Americans had the advantage. Perry hoisted the Union Jack. A general preparation was made for the conflict. An ominous silence settled over all as the fleets approached. A bugle sounded on the enemy's ship Detroit, and a furious fire was opened upon ♦HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Ill the Lawrence. The frightful and desperate battle that ensued is so familiar that it is not necessary for us to repeat its details. It forever remains in his- tory as a prominent, desperate struggle that turned the tide most decisively in favor of the Americans. Hand to hand, for three hours, this furious struggle surged, resulting in a pronounced victory for the Americans. Commodore Perry immediately requested parole for his severely wounded antagonist, Commodore Barclay. Capt. Elliott was at this engagement highly commended by Perry for his bravery. Gen. Harrison now made preparations to follow Proctor, and reached Mai- den on the 27th of September. Proctor had retreated to Sandwich, and thence Harrison followed him, overtaking the enemy on the 9th of October, on the bank of the Thames. An engagement ensued, which was not particularly marked in its events, but which practically terminated the war in the Northwest. Tecumseh fell during this battle, and his death disheartened the savages to such an extent that they were willing to make terms of peace. Accordingly a treaty was concluded on the 22d of July, 1814, with the Wyandots, Dela- wares, Shawnees, Senecas and Miamis, the tribes engaged in hostilities. Again Ohio was able to turn her attention to the improvements within her own boundaries. Weary and disabled though she was, her ambition and energy were unimpaired. The struggle had been severe, but a grand reward had been won, and peace and independence belonged to these sturdy, earnest, pioneers. In 1815, a town was founded near Fort Meigs, and, in 1816, Gen. John E. Hunt and Judge Robert A. Forsythe located at Maumee. BANKING. Up to the year 1817, Ohio had no banking system, and on the 28th of January of that year, the United States Bank opened a branch at Cincinnati, and yet another during the following October at Chillicothe. These branches found a large amount of business to transact, and while being of assistance in various ways to the State, also received a fine revenue themselves. The State therefore resolved upon a tax levy, and, in 1819, the branches were to pay $50,000 each, and the State Auditor was authorized to issue his warrant for the collection of the same. The bank branches demurred, but the State was decided, and the banks accordingly filed a bill in chancery, in the United States Circuit Court, setting forth reasons whereby their prayer that Ralph Osborn, State Auditor, should be restrained from making such collection, should be seriously considered. Osborn being counseled not to appear on the day designated in the writ, an injunction was obtained, with the security given in the shape of bonds from the bank, to the amount of $100,000. On the 14th of September, the bank sent a commissioner to Columbus, who served upon the Auditor a copy of the petition 112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. for the injunction, and a subpoena to make an appearance before the court on the first Monday in the following January. Osborn submitted both the petition and the injunction to the Secretary of State, with his warrant for col- lecting the tax. Legally, the matter was somewhat complicated. The Auditor desired the Secretary of State to take legal advice, and if the papers did not actually amount to an injunction, to give orders for the execu- tion of the warrant. The decision was that the papers did not equal a valid injunction. The State writ for collection was therefore given over to John L, Harper, with directions to enter the banking-house and demand the payment of the tax. In case of a refusal, the vault was to be entered and a levy made upon the amount required. No violence was to be used, and if force was used to deter the act, the same was to be reported to a proper magistrate and an afiidavit made to that fact. On September 17, Mr. Harper went about his errand, taking with him T. Orr and J. MacCollister. After securing access to the vault, a demand was made for the payment of the tax. This was promptly refused, and a notice given of the granting of the injunction. This was disregarded, and the officer seized $98,000 in gold, silver and notes. This was placed in charge of the State Treasurer, Mr. H. M. Curry. The officers were arrested and imprisoned by the United States Circuit Court, and the money returned to the bank. The case was reviewed by the Supreme Court, and the measures of the Circuit Court were sustained. The State, therefore, submitted. In the mean time, the Legislature had prepared and passed a resolution, as follows: Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That in respect to the powers of the Governments of the several States that compose the American Union, and the powers of the Fed- eral Government, this General Assembly do recognize and approve the doctrines asserted by the Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia in their resolutions of November and December, 1798, and January, 1800, and do consider their principles have been recognized and adopted by a majority of the American people. Resolved further, That this General Assembly do assert and will maintain by all legal and constitutional means, the rights of States to tax the business and property of any private corpo- ration of trade, incorporated by the Congress of the United States, and located to transact its corporate business within any State. Resolved further. That the bank of the United States is a private corporation of trade, the capital and business of which may be legally taxed in any State where they may be found. Resolved further. That the General Assembly do protest against the doctrines that the politi- cal rights of the separate States that compose the American Union and their powers as sovereign States, may be settled and determined in the Supreme Court of the United States, so as to con- clude and bind them in cases contrived between individuals, and where they are, no one of them, parties direct. The bank was thus debarred from the aid of State laws in the collection of its dues and in the protection of its rights. An attempt was made to effect a change in the Federal constitution, which would take the case out of the United States Courts. This, however, proved ineffectual. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. IIS The banking system in Ohio has, by reason of State surveillance, not been subjected to those whirlwind speculations and questionable failures which have marked many Western States, in the establishment of a firm basis upon which a banking law could be sustained, with mutual benefit to the institution and the people. THE CANAL SYSTEM. In the first part of 1817, the Legislature considered a resolution relating to a canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. No action was taken and the subject was not again agitated until 1819. Gov. Brown appointed three commissioners in 1820, for the purpose of employing an efficient engineer and such assistants as he deemed necessary, for the purpose of surveying a practical route for this canal. The commissioners were restricted in their actions until Congress should accept a proposition in behalf of the State, for a donation and sale of the public lands lying upon and near the route of the proposed canal. A delay was thus occasioned for two years. In 1822, the matter was referred to a committee of the House of Repre- sentatives. This committee approved and recommended the employment of the engineer. They furthermore added illustrations to prove the feasibility of the project. James Geddes, a skillful engineer of New York, was in due time appointed to the position and instructed to make the necessary examinations and sur- veys. The surveys were made, and estimates given of the expenses, which docu- ments were laid before the Legislature at several sessions. In 1825, an act was passed providing for the internal improvement of the State by navigable canals. Directly thereafter, the State set vigorously about the work of constructing two canals, one leading from the Ohio to Lake Erie, by way of the valleys of the Scioto and Muskingum, the other from Cincinnati to Dayton. The first canal-boat from Cincinnati to Dayton, reached her destination in 1829, on the 25th of January. This outlet of communication was extended to Lake Erie, and was completed in 1845. The largest artificial lake now known is on the elevation between the Ohio and the lake, in Mercer County, and supplies the St. Mary's feeder of the Miami Canal, about three miles dis- tant, eastwardly. This reservoir is about nine miles long, and from two to four broad. Two walls of earth, from ten to twenty feet high, were formed, on the east and west, which united with the elevations north and south, surrounded this basin. When the water was admitted, whole farms were submerged, and the "neighbors" complained lest this overflow should tempt miasma. So great was the excitement, that over one hundred and fifty residents of the county united, and with shovels and spades, made a breach in the embankment. Many holding prominent positions in the county were engaged in this work. 114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. and all laid themselves liable to the State laws, which made the despoiling of public works a penitentiary offense. The matter was taken up by the courts, but a grand jury could not be found in Mercer County to find a bill of indictment. The oflBcers who had charge of the work, ignored the law requiring the cut- ing and saving of the timber on lands appropriated, for canal reservoirs. ■ The trees were ruthlessly girdled, and thousands of acres of valuable timber that might have been highly desirable in the building of bridges, etc., were destroyed. However, an adjustment was finally effected, and the work was prosecuted with the entire approbation of the people, who were convinced that convenient transportation was to be desired. OHIO LAND TRACTS. After the Indians relinquished all claims against the lands of those States west of the Alleghanies, as they had been obtained by conquest, the United States, as a government, owned the soil. When Ohio was admitted into the Union, a stipulation was made that the fee simple to all the lands within its boundaries, with the exception of those previously sold or granted, should vest in the General Government. At the present writing, but few tracts remain that can be called " public lands." In this, as in other States, tracts are des- ignated by their pioneer signification or the purpose to which they were origi- nally devoted. In Ohio, these tracts are known as : 1. Congress Lands. 8. Symmes' Purchase. 15. Maumee Road. 2. United States Military. 9. Refugee Tract. 16. School Lands. 3 Virginia Military. 10. French Grant. 17. College Lands. 4. Western Reserve. 11, Dohrman's Grant. 18. Ministerial Lands. 5. Fire Lands. 12. Zane's Grant. 19. Moravian Lands. 6. Ohio Company's Purchase. 13. Canal Lands. 20. Salt Sections. 7. Donation Tract. 14. Turnpike Lands. The lands sold by the direct officers of the Government, under the direc- tion of Congress, according to the laws, are known as Congress lands. They are properly surveyed, and laid out in townships six miles square, under the direction of the Government, and the expense incurred settled by Congress. These townships are subdivided into sections, containing 640 acres. One sec- tion is reserved, in every township, for educational purposes, to be utilized in any manner approved by the State as being the best to aid the cause for which they are assigned. The Western Reserve will be remembered as the tract originally belonging to Connecticut. It lies in the northeast quarter of the State. A half-million acres were donated by the old Eastern State, when her claim was in force, to sufferers from fire during the Revolutionary war, which created the name, " fire lands." Many settled here whose homes were destroyed by the British during the war. It will be remembered, that on account of discoveries by subjects of empires, in the New World, the " Old World " kings laid claim to different portions '^''^ m Co ThOoA" <=..<^,^^^^^^^5^^^" HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 117 of the young continent. At that period, European knowledge of American geographical positions and limits was exceedingly meager, which occasioned several wars and more discussions. These Old-World sovereigns also assumed the authority to sell or present tracts of land to their subjects, in those terri- tories they deemed their own. King Charles II of England granted to his loyal subjects the colony of Connecticut, in 1662, placing with them a charter of right to all lands within certain prescribed boundaries. But these " boundaries " frequently conflicted with those of others, and sometimes extended to the Pacific Ocean, or " South Sea," as it was then termed. Connecticut, by her original charter rights, held all lands between the forty -first and forty-second parallels of north latitude, and from Providence Plantation on the east, to Pacific Ocean on the west, except- ing the New York and Pennsylvania colonies. As late as the establishment of the United States as an independent government, those colliding claims fre- quently engendered confusion and warm discussion between the nation and Connecticut, regarding the original colony claim. This was compromised by the national claims being relinquished in regard to the territorial claim in Ohio, and Connecticut holding the 3,800,000 acres described as the " Western Reser- vation." The Government held the right of jurisdiction. In 1796, Congress set aside a certain division of land, to satisfy the claims of officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary war. It includes the 2,500,000 acres between the Greenville treaty line and the Congress and refugee lands, and "VII ranges of townships," on the east, and the Scioto River, west. This constitutes the " Military Tract." The " Virginia Military Tract " lies between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers, and extends south to the Ohio. James I, in his authorized charter to the Virginia colony, in the year 1609, made rather visionary boundary lines, sweeping over the continent, west of the Ohio River, " of the north and south breadth of Virginia." Virginia reconciled the matter by relinquishing all her claims northwest of the Ohio River, with the exception of a tract for the purpose of donating the same to her troops of the Revolution — their claims demanding such a return in some section. Unfortunately, this tract was not regularly surveyed, and conflicting " lines " have given rise to litigation ever since that stipulation was made. The Ohio Company's Purchase has already been described — as has the Symmes Purchase. The Refugee Tract covers an area of 100,000 acres, extending eastwardly from the Scioto River forty-eight miles, in a strip of country four and one-half miles broad, north to south. Columbus, the capital of the State, is situated in the western portion. This land was donated by Congress to those individuals who left the British dominions and rule, during the Revolution, and espoused the American cause. The French Tract borders on the Ohio River, in the southeastern quarter of Scioto County. It includes 24,000 acres, and was ceded to those French. 118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. families that lost their claims at Gallipolis, through invalid titles ; 1,200 acres were added, after the above grant of 1795. Dohrman's Grant includes a section, six miles square, in the southeastern portion of Tuscarawas County. It was granted to Arnold Henry Dohrman, a Portuguese merchant, as a token of appreciation of the aid and shelter he ren- dered American cruisers and vessels of war, during the Revolution. The Moravian Lands were originally grants by the old Continental Con- gress, in 1787, and confirmed by the act of the Government Congress, in 1796, to the Moravian Brethren, of Bethlehem, Penn., in sacred trust, and for the use of those Indians who embraced Christianity and civilization, desiring to live and settle thereon. These three tracts include 4,000 acres each, and are situ- ated in Tuscarawas County. In 1823, the Indians relinquished their rights to the 12,000 acres in this county, for 24,000 acres, in a territory designated by the United States, together with an annuity of $400. Zane's Tracts included a portion of land on the Muskingum, whereon Zanes- ville was built ; another at the crossing of the Hocking, on which Lancaster is located ; and yet another on the left bank of the Scioto River, opposite Chilli- cothe. These grants were made to Ebenezer Zane, by Congress, in 1796, as a reward for opening a road from Wheeling, Va., to Maysville, Ky. In 1802, Mr. Zane received three additional tracts, one square mile each, m considera- tion of being captured and held a prisoner, during the Revolutionary war, when a boy, by the Indians. He lived with these people most of his life, secur- ing many benefits for the Americans. These tracts are located in Champaign County. The Maumee Road Lands extend the length of the road, from the Maumee River, at Perrysburg, to the western limits of the Western Reserve, a distance of forty-six miles — in a strip two miles wide. This includes about 60,000 acres. These lands were ceded by the Indians, at the treaty of Brownstown, in 1808. The original intention of Congress was to mark a highway through this strip, but no definite action was taken until 1823, whe a the land was ceded to the State of Ohio, under an obligation that the State make and sustain the pro- jected road, within four years after the transfer. The Turnpike Lands extended over 31,360 acres along the western side of the Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike, in the eastern parts of Seneca, Craw- ford and Marion Counties. They were designed for the transportation of mail stages, troops and other United States property, free from toll. The grant was made in 1827. " The Ohio Canal Lands " comprise about 1,000,000 acres, set aside for the purpose of canal construction. When Ohio was admitted to the LTnion, a guarantee was given that the State should not tax Government lands until they should have been sold for five years. That the thirty-sixth part of all territory within the State limits should be de- voted to educational purposes, for the general benefit of the population. In HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 119 order to secure tracts which would prove available, and thus insure returns, they were selected in small lots. No. 16 was designated as the sectional portion, in each township of Congress lands, the Ohio Company's and Symmes Pur- chases, the United States Military Lands, the Connecticut Reserve, and a num- ber of quarter townships. These school lands were selected by the Secretary of the Treasury. The college townships are thirty-six miles square. A section, thirty-six miles square, in the center of Jackson County, in the vicinity and containing the Scioto Salt Licks, was also reserved by Congress, together with a quarter- mile township in Delaware County. This swept over 27,040 acres. In 1824, Congress authorized the State to sell these lands. The proceeds were to be devoted to literary requirements, such as might be specified by Congress. IMPROVEMENTS. We have heretofore briefly alluded to the canal system of Ohio, which in the beginning caused considerable anxiety to settlers directly in the course of its survey. The Legislature passed the " Internal Improvement by Navigable Canals " act, in 1825, and the work was immediately inaugurated and hastened. The " Ohio Canal " extends from the lake to the Ohio, and the " Miami " con- nects Cincinnati with Dayton. The latter was completed to Toledo in 1844, a length of 493 miles. Its total cost, including reservoir cutting and feeders, was $7,500,000. The Ohio Canal was finished in 1833. During the construction of these canals, the curiosities which have attracted antiquarians and scientists, in the State of Ohio, were found in various places. Relics were discovered that must have belonged to a giant race. Nearly 3,000 graves were found, of the " mound type." * A third canal was begun in 1836, reaching from Walhonding, in Coshocton County, to Roscoe, its length being twenty-five miles, involving an expense of $610,000. This was completed in 1842. The Hocking Canal, between Car- roll, in Fairfield County, and Athens, in Athens County, a distance of fifty- six miles, was also cut, about the same time, at a cost of nearly $1,000,000. The Muskingum improvements were also being carried forward. Locks and dams were requisite for the perfection of navigation in this water-course, from Dresden to Marietta, a distance of ninety-one miles. This added an expense of $1,630,000 to the call for improvement appropriations. To the Miami Canal was added a feeder, known as the Warren County Canal — extending from Franklin to Lebanon, which was not completed, although over $250,000 were expended in its construction as far as it went. Railway transportation was a subject which engrossed the attention of those in- terested in State perpetuity and general prosperity. About the year 1831, the Leg- islature received applications for railway charters. The first one granted was the " Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad," on June 5, 1832. The " Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad " obtained a charter in 1836, March 11, followed, 120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. three days thereafter, by the " Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad." The " Little Miami" was begun in 1837. Notwithstanding these chartered rights, but 129 miles were completed in 1847, and in operation. In 1878, the mileage had increased to 6,264. The valuation of the operating roads was estimated the same year, at $76,113,500. Their taxation summed up $1,128,116. No State in the Union has been more zealous in her educational interests than Ohio. Public lands were generously granted by Congress, and the State added her affirmation. However, no practical and effectual system was adopted until 1825. An act was then passed to tax all real property one-half mill per dollar for the establishment of schools in each township, and the support of the same. An act of 1829, increased the tax to three-fourths of a mill. Trustees of townships were instructed to make divisions and locate convenient school dis- tricts. Householders were to elect three school directors, a clerk and treasurer annually. Privileges and restrictions were enjoined in all cases. The house- holders were allowed their discretion, governed accordingly, in imposing taxes for the erection of school buildings. The Courts of the Common Pleas appointed a committee to examine the qualifications of those individuals mak- ing application for the position of teachers. The school extended equal privi- leges to all white children. Those of colored parentage were excluded, and no tax was levied for school purposes upon colored parents. An amendment has admitted the children of colored parents. The system has continued the same, with a few amendments. A State Commissioner of Common Schools is elected every third year, who has general charge of the interests of public schools. A State Board of Examiners, composed of three persons, appointed by the State Commissioner, for two years' term, is authorized to issue life certificates of high qualifications, to such teachers as it may find to possess the requisite scholarship, character, experience and ability. These certificates, signed by the Commis- sioner, are valid throughout the State. A County Board of Examiners, of three members, is formed in each county. Boards of education, for cities, are made up of one or two members from each ward. City Boards of Examiners are also appointed. Section 4 of the law of 1873, was amended in 1877, which made the territory annexed to an incorporated village,' at the option of the voters of the village and tributary section, whether it be included with the vil- lage as one school district, or left as two school districts. Section 56 of the law was amended, in its bearing upon cities of 30,000 to 75,000 inhabitants, by limiting to five mills on the dollar of taxable property, the levies in such cities for con- tinuing schools, for purchasing sites for schoolhouses, for leasing, purchasing, erecting and furnishing school houses, and for all school expenses. The public funds are subject to the discretion of voters, and boards are authorized, under instructions, to make the best use of such funds. Taxation is subject to the discretion of the State, certain limits being prescribed. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 121 In 1878, the number of youth of the school age numbered 1,041,963. On the rolls, 740,194 names were recorded. In the year 1878, 23,391 teach- ers were employed, receiving $4,956,514.46 for their services. Ohio not only sustains her public schools on a broad, liberal basis, but she encourages educational pursuits in superior universities and colleges throughout the State. These institutions are not aided by State funds, but are sustained by society influence, added to their self-supporting resources. Ohio also possesses a large number of normal schools, academies, seminaries and business colleges. These are not entitled to the privileges of the school fund. Scientific, profes- sional, theological, legal and medical instructions are in no manner limited in their facilities. Industrial and reformatory schools are especially thorough. Institutions for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, and blind, and feeble- minded, are under the best discipline. We may add, many female seminaries have been established which are entirely sustained by other than State aid. Ohio has, from its inception, been solid and vigorous in whatever tended toward improvement and enlightenment. We have also referred to the banking system of this State, as being first established on a basis through a contest between the State and the General Government. Authorities differ regarding the exact date and location of the very first house established in the State for the purpose of transacting banking business. It is highly probable that Marietta is more directly associated with that event than any other town. There are at present over one hundred and sixty-seven national banks, with an aggregate capital of $27,794,468. It also has eighteen banks of deposit, incorporated under the State banking laws of 1845, representing an aggregate capital of $539,904. Twenty-three savings banks, incorporated under the State act of 1875, with an aggregate capital of $1,277,500. Of private banks it has 192, with an aggregate capital of $5,663,898. The State represents in her banking capital over $36,275,770. The First National of Cincinnati has a capital stock of over $1,000,000. The others fall below that sum, their capital diminishing from 10,000 shares of $100 each. The valuation for taxation is $850,000 — Merchant's National of Cincinnati — to the valuation of a tax of $5,000 on the First National of Beverly. BOUNDARY LINES. We must not omit the subject of the State boundaries. Ohio was especially the field for most animated discussions, relative not only to State limits but county lines and township rights. In 1817, a severe controversy arose, which was settled only after violent demonstrations and Government interference. In primitive times, the geographical position, extent and surface diversities were but meagerly comprehended. In truth, it may be asserted they could not have been more at variance with actual facts had they been laid out ^' hap- hazard." The ordinance of 1787 represented Lake Michigan far north of its real position, and even as late as 1812, its size and location had not been 122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. definitely ascertained. During that year, Amos Spafford addressed a clear, com- prehensive letter to the Governor of Ohio, on this subject, relative to the boundary lines of Ohio. Several lines of survey were laid out as the first course, but either Michigan or Ohio expressed disapproval in every case. This culminated in 1835, when the party beginning a "permanent" survey began at the northwest corner of the State, and was attacked by a force of Michigan settlers who sent them away badly routed and beaten. No effort was made to return to the work until the State and various parties had weighed the subject, and finally the interposition of the Government became necessary. A settlement resulted in Ohio being bounded on the north by Lake Erie and the State of Michigan, on the east by Pennsylvania and West Virginia, on the south by the Ohio River, and on the west by Indiana. It is situated between the 38° 25' and 42° north latitude, and 84° 50' west longitude from Greenwich, or 3° 30' and 7° 50' west from Washington. From north to south, it extends over 210 miles, and from east to west 220 miles — comprising 39,964 square miles. The State is generally higher than the Ohio River. In the southern counties, the surface is greatly diversified by the inequalities produced by the excavating power of the Ohio River and its tributaries. The greater portion of the State was originally covered with timber, although in the central and northwestern sections some prairies were found. The crest or watershed between the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio is less elevated than in New York or Pennsylvania. Sailing upon the Ohio the country appears to be mountainous, bluffs rising to the height of two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet above the valleys. Ascending the tributaries of the Ohio, these precipitous hills gradually lessen until they are resolved into gentle undulations, and toward the sources of the river the land is low and marshy. Although Ohio has no inland lakes of importance, she possesses a favorable river system, which, aided by her canals, gives her prestige of a convenient water transportation. The lake on her northern boundary, and the Ohio River on her southern limit, afibrd most convenient outlets by water to impor- tant points. Her means of communication and transportation are superior in every respect, and are constantly being increased. ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES AND EARLY EVENTS. Adams County was named in honor of John Adams, second President of the United States. Gov. St. Clair proclaimed it a county on July 10, 1797. The Virginia Military Tract included this section, and the first settlement made within its boundaries was in this county in 1790-91, between the Scioto and Little Miami, at Manchester, by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. In this town was held the first court of the county. West Union, the present county seat, was laid out by the Hon. Thomas Kirker. It occupies the summit of a high ridge. The surface of this county is HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 123 hilly and broken, and the eastern part is not fertile. It produces corn, wheat, oats and pork. Beds of iron are found in the eastern part. Its hills are composed of aluminous shale. The barren hills afford a range for cattle and hogs. A sort of vagrant class derive a support by collecting stones, hoop-poles and tanners' barks from these hills. Ashland County is one of the finest agricultural sections. It was formed February 26, 1846. Wheat comprises its principal crop, although large quan- tities of oats, corn, potatoes, grass and fruit are raised. Ashland is its county seat, and was laid out by William Montgomery in 1816. It was called Union- town for several years. Daniel Carter raised the first cabin within the county limits in 1811. Auglaize County was formed in February, 1848, from Allen and Mercer Counties. Wapakoneta is its county seat. Allen County was formed from the Indian Territory April 1, 1820. Lima is its county seat. Ashtabula County was formed June 7, 1807, and was organized January 22, 1811. The surface is level near the lake, while the remainder is undulat- ing. The soil is mostly clay. Very little wheat is raised, but considerable corn and oats. Butter and cheese are the main marketable productions. This was the first county settled on the Western Reserve, and also the earliest in Northern Ohio. On the 4th of July, 1796, the first surveying party arrived at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. Judge James Kingsbury was the first who ■wintered there with his family. He was the first man to use a sickle in the first wheat-field in the Western Reserve. Their child was the first born on the Western Reserve, and was starved to death. The first regular settlement was at Harpersfield, in 1798. Jefferson is the county seat. Ashtabula is pleasantly situated on the river, with a fine harbor two and a half miles from the village. The first church on the Western Reserve was founded at Austinburg in 1801. Athens County was formed from Washington March 1, 1805. It produces wheat, corn, oats and tobacco. The surface is hilly and broken, with rich bot- tom lands between. Coal, iron ore and salt add materially to its commercial value. It has the advantage of the canal, as well as other transportation. Athens, its county seat, is situated on the Hocking River. The Ohio Uni- versity, the first college founded in the State, is located 'here. We have mentioned the ancient mounds found in this county, heretofore. Yellow pine is abundant in the lower part of the Hocking Valley. Brown County was formed March 1, 1818, from Adams and Clermont. It produces wheat, corn, rye, oats and pork. The southern part is prolific in grain, while the northern is adapted to grazing purposes. The surface is undu- lating, with the exception of the Ohio River hills. Over this county Tecumseb once held sway 124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Georgetown is the county seat, and was laid out in 1819. Ripley is the larg- est business town in the county. Belmont County was announced by Gov. St. Clair September 1, 1801. It produces large crops of wheat, oats, corn and tobacco, an annual crop of over 2,000,000 pounds of the latter being the average. It also trades largely in wool and coal. It is a picturesque tract of country, and was one of the pioneers in the early settled portions. In 1790, Fort Dillie was erected on the west side of the Ohio. Baker's Fort was a mile below the mouth of the Captina. Many desperate Indian bat- tles were fought within the limits of this county, and the famous Indian scout, Lewis Wetzel, roamed over the region. St. Clairsville is the county seat, situated on the elevation of land, in a fer- tile district. Capt. Kirkwood and Elizabeth Zane, of historic fame, were early pioneers here. Butler County was formed in 1803, from Hamilton. It is within the blue limestone formation, and one of the most fertile sections of Ohio. It produces more corn than any other county in the State, besides fine crops of wheat, oats and large quantities of pork. Hamilton, the county seat, is situated on the Great Miami. Its hydraulic works furnish superior water-power. Rossville, on the opposite side of the Miami, is a large mercantile town. St. Clair passed through this county on his Indian campaigns in 1791, building Fort Hamilton on the Miami. Champaign County was formed March 1, 1805, from Greene and Franklin. It is drained by Mad River and its tributaries, which furnishes extensive mill privileges. Nearly a half is undulating, a quarter rolling, a fifth hilly, and 5 per cent wet prairie. The soil is fertile, and produces wheat, corn, oats, barley, hay, while beef and wool add to the general wealth. Urbana, the county seat, was laid out in 1805, by Col. William Ward. He was chief owner of the land and donated many lots to the county, under condition that their proceeds be devoted to public improvements. Joseph Vance and George Fithian were the first settlers. The Methodists built the first church in 1807. The main army of Hull concentrated at this point before setting out for Detroit. Many Indian councils were called here, and Tecumseh was located for a time near Deer Creek. Carroll County was formed from Columbiana in 1832-33. It produces wheat, oats and corn, and valuable coal and iron. The surface is hilly. Car- rollton is its county seat. At Harlem is a celebrated chalybeate spri-ng. Clark County was formed March 1, 1817, from Champaign, Madison and Greene. Its second settlement was at Kreb's Station, in 1796. It is highly culti- vated, well watered and very fertile. The Mad River, Buck and Beaver Creeks furnish abundant water-power. It produces principally wheat, corn and oats. Tecumseh, the old Indian warrior, was born at the ancient Indian vil- lage of Piqua, on the Mad River, on the site of New Boston. Piqua was HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 125 destroyed by Gen. George Rogers Clarke. Skeletons, beads, gun barrels, tomahawks, kettles, etc., have been found in the vicinity. Springfield, the county seat, is situated on the National road. It has con- venient transportation facilities, is handsomely laid out, and is noted for its cultured citizens. It is near Mad River, and Buck Creek runs through it. Clinton County was formed in 1810. It produces chiefly wheat, oats, wool and pork. Its surface is undulating, in some parts hilly, and the soil fer- tile. Its streams furnish desirable water-power. The county was settled in 1798—99. Wilmington is the county seat, and was laid out in 1810. The first log house was built by William Hobsin. Clermont County was the eighth formed in the Northwest Territory, by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, December 9, 1800. The soil is exceedingly rich, and the surface is broken and, near the Ohio, hilly. Wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes, tobacco, barley, buckwheat and rye form the main crops, while beef, pork, flour, hay and whisky constitute its main exports. Its streams furnish good water-power. Batavia, its county seat, is situated on the Little Miami River, and was laid out in 1820, by George Ely. Columbiana County was formed March 25, 1803, from Jeff"erson and Wash- ington. Its soil is very fertile, producing wheat, corn, oats and potatoes. It is wealthy in mineral deposits, coal, iron ore, lime and freestone being abun- dant. Its water-lime stone is of superior quality. Salt water is found on Yel- low and Beaver Creeks. This is also the great wool-producing county of the State. It was settled in 1797. New Lisbon, its county seat, is well built. The first paper-mill in Ohio was erected in this county, on Little Beaver Creek, by John Coulter and John Bever. Coshocton County was organized April 1, 1811. Its principal products are wheat, corn, oats and wool. Hills and valleys alternate along the Muskingum River. Abrupt changes are strongly marked — a rich alluvum being overhung by a red bush hill, while directly beside it may be seen the poplar and sugar tree. Coal and iron ore add to its general importance, while salt wells have proven remunerative. Coshocton, the county seat, is built on four wide, natural terraces, at the junction of the Tuscarawas with the Walhonding. Cuyahoga County was formed June 7, 1807, from Geauga. Near the lake, the soil is sandy, while a clayey loam may be found elsewhere. The valleys near the streams produce Avheat, barley and hay. Fruit is successfully grown, and cheese, butter, beef and wool are largely exported. Bog iron is found in the western part, and fine grindstone quarries are in operation. The sandstone from these quarries is now an important article of commerce. As early as 1775, there was a French settlement within the boundaries of Cuyahoga. In 1786, a Moravian missionary came to the present site of Cleveland, and set- tled in an abandoned village of the Ottawas. Circumstances prevented a 126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. permanent settlement, and the British tacitly took possession,, even remaining upon the lake shores after the Revolution. The first permanent settlement was made at Cleveland in 1796. Mr. Job V. Stiles and family and Edward Paine passed the first winter there, their log cabin standing where the Commercial Bank is now located. Rodolphus Edwards and Nathaniel Doane settled here. The town was, in 1813, a depot of supplies and a rendezvous for troops engaged in the war. Cleveland, the county seat, is situated at the northern termination of the Ohio Canal, on the lake shore. In 1814, it was incorporated as a village, and in 1836, as a city. Its elevation is about a hundred feet above the lake. It is a lovely city, and has one of the best harbors on Lake Erie. Ohio City is another important town, nearly opposite Cleveland, on the Cuyahoga. It was incorporated in 1836. Crawford County was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian territory. The entire county is adapted to grazing. The soil is generally composed of rich vegetable loam, and in some parts the subsoil is clay mixed with lime. Rich beds of shell marl have been discovered. It produces wheat, corn, oats, clover, timothy seed, wool and cattle. Fine limestone quarries are worked with success. Bucyrus is the county seat, and was laid out February 11, 1822, by Samuel Norton and James Kilbourn, original owners of the land. The first settler in the town proper was Samuel Norton. A gas well has been dug in Bucyrus, on the land of R. W. Musgrove, which burns in a brilliant light Avhen con- ducted to the surface by means of pipes. Crawford's Sulphur Springs are located nine miles from Bucyrus. The water is impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. It deposits a reddish-purple sediment. In its nature the water is a cathartic, and is diuretic and diaphoretic in its effects. A few rods away is a burning spring. The Annapolis Sulphur Spring is clear and has gained consid- erable fame by its curative qualities. Opposite Bucyrus is a chalybeate spring of tonic qualities. There are some beds of peat in the county, the most extensive one being a wet prairie called Cranberry Marsh, containing nearly 2,000 acres. Darke County was organized in March, 1817, from Miami County. It is abundantly timbered with poplar, walnut, blue ash, hickory, beech and sugar maple. It yields superior wheat, and is well adapted to grazing. In this county occurred the lamentable defeat of St. Clair, and the treaty of Greenville. Greenville is the county seat, and was laid out August 10, 1808, by Robert Gray and John Dover. In December, 1793, Wayne built Fort Greenville on this spot, which covered about the same extent as the present town. Delaware County was formed February 10, 1808, from Franklin. It pro- duces mainly wheat, corn, oats, pork and wool. Delaware is the county seat, and was laid out in the spring of 1808, by Moses Byxbe. The Delaware Spring in the village is of the white sulphur or HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 127 <3old hydro-sulphurous nature, valuable for medicinal qualities in cases of bilious derangements, dyspepsia, scrofulous affections, etc. Defiance County was inaugurated March 4, 1845, from Williams, Henry and Paulding. The Maumee, Tiffin and Auglaize flow through it. The Black Swamp covers much of its area. Defiance, the county seat, is situated on the Maumee. It was laid out in 1822, by B. Level and H. Phillips. A large Indian settlement occupied its gite in very early times. Wayne arrived here August 8, 1794, captured the place, finding about one thousand acres of corn, peach and apple orchards, and vegetables of all varieties. Here he built Fort Defiance. Erie County was formed in 1838, from Huron and Sandusky. The soil is alluvial, and yields large crops of wheat, corn, oats and potatoes. It possesses inexhaustable quarries of limestone and freestone. Immense quantities of bog iron are also found. The Erie tribe is said to have once occupied the land, and -were extirpated by the Iroquois. As early as 1754, the French had built set- tlements. In 1764, the county was besieged. Pontiac came here with warlike •demonstrations, but made peace with the whites. Erie was included in the "fire lands" of the Western Reserve. Sandusky City is the county seat, and was laid out in 1817, then termed Portland. At that time it contained two log huts. The town is finely situated, and is based upon an inexhaustible quarry of the finest limestone. In the "patriot war" with the Canadians, this city was the rendezvous for the "patriots." Franklin County was formed April 30, 1803, from Ross. It contains much low wet land, and is better adapted to grazing than agricultural purposes. It was in early times occupied by the Wyandot Indians. Its first white set- tlement was made in 1797, by Robert Armstrong and others. Franklinton was laid out in 1797, by Lucas Sullivan. Worthington was settled by the Scioto Company in 1801. Col. Kilbourn, who was interested in the work, constructed the first map of Ohio during his explorations, by uniting sectional diagrams. Columbus, the capital of the State of Ohio, is also the county seat of Franklin County. After the organization of a State government, the capital was "portable" until 1816. In 1810, the sessions were held at Chillicothe, in 1811 and 1812 at Zanesville, removing again to Chillicothe, and, in 1816, Iseing located at Columbus. The town was laid out during the spring of 1812. A penitentiary was erected in 1813, and the State House was built in 1814. It was incorporated as "the borough of Columbus," February 10, 1816. The city charter was granted March 3, 1834. It is beautifully located on the east bank of the Scioto. The Columbus Institute is a classical institution. A female and a theological seminary also add to its educational advantages. The Ohio Lunatic Asylum is also located here — also the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind. East of the 128 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. State House is the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. Fairfield County was formed by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, December 9, 1800. The soil is varied, being in some parts exceedingly rich, and in others very sterile. It produces principally wheat, corn, rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, potatoes and tobacco. Lancaster is the county seat, laid out by Ebenezer Zane in 1800. In 1797, he opened the road known as "Zane's Trace," from Wheeling to Limestone — now Maysville. It passed through Lancaster, at a fording about three hundred yards below the present turnpike bridge. Near the turn stands an imposing eminance called " Standing Stone." Parties of pleasure frequently visit this spot. Fayette County was formed from Ross and Highland in 1810. Wheat, corn, cattle, hogs, sheep and wool comprise its main productions. " The bar- rens" are situated in the northeastern part. This tract is covered by a growth of grass. Washington is its county seat, laid out in 1810. Col. Stewart was active in the interests of this section, and his memory is sacredly revered. Jesse Milliken was prominent in public affairs. Fulton County, bordering on Michigan, was organized in 1850. It is drained by Bean Creek and other small affluents of the Maumee River. The surface is nearly level, and a large part of it is covered with forests of ash, beech, elm, hickory, white oak, black walnut, etc., furnishing excellent timber. The soil is fertile. Wheat, corn, oats and hay are the staple products. Wau- seon is the county seat. Guernsey County was organized in March, 1810. Wool is a staple prod- uct, together with beef, horses and swine. It produces wheat, corn and oats. Cambridge is the county seat and was laid out in June, 1806. Mr. Graham was the first settler on the site of the town, and his was the only dwelling between Lancaster and Wheeling. The first cannel coal found in the county was discovered near Mill's Creek. Greene County was formed May 1, 1803, from Hamilton and Ross. It produces wheat, corn, rye, grass-seed, oats, barley, sheep and swine. The streams furnish good water-power. There are five limestone quarries, and a marble quarry of variegated colors. The Shawnee town was on the Little Miami, and was visited by Capt. Thomas Bullit in 1773. When Daniel Boone was captured in 1778, he was brought to this town, and escaped the following year. Gen. Clarke invaded this county and the Indians reduced the town to ashes. Xenia, the county seat, was laid off in the forest in 1803, by Joseph C. Vance. The first cabin was erected in April, 1804, by John Marshall. The Rev. James Fowler built the first hewed-log cabin. David A. Sanders built the first frame house. Nine miles north of the town, on the Little Miami River, are the Yellow Springs, which are impregnated with sulphur. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 129 Greauga County was formed in 1805 from Trumbull. It exports sheep, €attle, butter and cheese. It is situated at the head of Chargrine, Cuyahoga and a part of Grand Rivers, on high ground, and is subjected to snowstorms more frequently than any other part of the Reserve. Its first settlement was made in 1798, at Burton. Chardon is fourteen miles from Lake Erie, and is 600 feet above it. It was laid out as the county seat in 1808. Gallia County was formed April 30, 1803, from Washington. Its princi- pal crops are wheat, corn, oats and beans. The surface is generally broken. Its first settlement was made in 1791, by a French colony, at Gallipolis. This colony was sent out under the auspices of the Scioto Company. This town is now the county seat. Hamilton County was the second established in the Northwestern Territory by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, January 2, 1790. Its surface is gen- erally rolling. It produces the ordinary farm products, and a great variety of fruits and vegetables for the Cincinnati market. Vineyards thrive well within its limits, and the manufacture of wine is carried on to a considerable extent. This county was the second settled in Ohio, and the first within the Symmes purchase. Settlers arrived at the spot now occupied by Cincinnati, and three or four log cabins were erected. Gen. Arthur St. Clair arrived here in Janu- ary, 1790. The army of Wayne encamped here later, at Fort Washington. Mr. Maxwell established in 1793 the Sentinel of the Northwestern Territory^ the first newspaper printed north of the Ohio River. In 1796, Edward Free- man became its proprietor, and changed the name to Freeman s Journal. January 11, 1794, two keel-boats sailed from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, making regular trips every four weeks. In 1801, the first sea vessel built at Mari- etta came down the Ohio. Cincinnati, the county seat, was incorporated January 2, 1802. It was char- tered as a city in 1819. The city is beautifully laid out and delightfully situ- ated. Its public buildings are elegant and substantial, including the court house and many literary and charitable institutions. The Cincinnati College was founded in 1819. It stands in the center of the city. . It is built in Grecian-Doric style, with pilaster fronts and facade of Dayton marble. Woodward College is also popular. The Catholics have founded the St. Xavier's College. Lane Seminary, a theological institution, is at Walnut Hills, two miles from the center of the city. It has over 10,000 volumes in its libraries. No charge is made for tuition. Rooms are provided and furnished at $5 per year, and board ranges from 62| cents to 90 cents a week. The Cincinnati Law; School is connected with Cin- cinnati Collecre. The Mechanics' Institute was chartered in 1828, and is in all respects well supplied with apparatus. A college for teachers was established in 1831, its object being to perfect those contemplating entering that profession in their studies and system. 130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. The Cincinnati Orphan Asylum is an elegant building, and has a library and well-organized school attached. The Catholics of the city have one male and female orphan asylum. The Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum of Ohio was incorporated in 1821. Cincinnati is a large manufacturing city, and possesses fine water-power facilities. It communicates with the world by means of its canal, river, turnpikes, and railways. North Bend is another prominent town in this county, having been the residence of Gen. William H. Harrison, and the site of his burial place. The town was of considerable importance in the early settlement of the State. About thirty yards from Harrison's tomb is the grave of Judge Symmes. Hancock County was formed April 1, 1820. It produces wheat, oats, corn, pork and maple sugar. The surface is level and its soil is fertile. Blanchard's Fork waters the central and southern part of the county. Findlay, the county seat, was laid out by ex-Gov. Joseph Vance and Elnathan Corry, in 1821. It was relaid in 1829. William Vance settled there in the fall of 1821. At the south end of the town, are two gas wells. In the eastern part, is a mineral spring, and west of the bridge, is a chalybeate spring. Hardin County was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian Territory. It produces, principally, wheat, corn and swine. A portion of the surface is level, and the remainder undulating. Fort McArthur was built on the Scioto River, but proved a weak stockade. Kenton is the county seat, situated on the Scioto River. Harrison County was formed from Jefferson and Tuscarawas January 1, 1814. The surface is hilly, abounding in coal and limestone. Its soil is clayey. It is one of the important wool-growing counties in Ohio. It produces large quantities of wheat, corn, oats and hay, besides a considerable number of horses, cattle and swine. In April, 1799, Alexander Henderson and family settled in this county, and at the same time, Daniel Peterson and his family resided at the forks of Short Creek. The early settlers were much annoyed by Indians and wild beasts. Cadiz is the county seat, and was laid out in 1803 and 1804, by Messrs. Briggs and Beatty. Henry County was formed from the old Indian Territory, April 1, 1820. Indian corn, oats, potatoes, and maple sugar constitute the main products. The county is well supplied with running streams, and the soil is unusually rich. The greater portion of this county is covered by the " Black Swamp." Throughout this swamp are ridges of limestone, covered with black walnut, red elm, butternut and maple. The soil is superior for grain. Fruit thrives and all varieties of vegetables are produced in large quantities. Simon Girty, noto- rious for his wicked career, resided in this county. Girty led the attack on Fort Henry, in September, 1777. He demanded the surrender of the fort,, and menaced its inmates with an Indian massacre, in case of refusal. The HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 131 action began, but the fort gained the victory. He led a ferocious band of Indi- ans, and committed the most fiendish atrocities. Napoleon, the county seat, is situated on the Maumee River. Highland County was formed in May, 1805, from Ross, Adams and Cler- mont. It is a wealthy, productive county. Its wheat commands a high mar- ket price. The crops consist of wheat, corn, oats, maple sugar, wool, swine and cattle. Its first settlement began in 1801, at New Market, by Oliver Ross, Robert Keeston, George W. Barrere, Bernard Weyer and others. Simon Ken- ton made a trace through this county in early times. Hillsboro is the county seat, and was laid out in 1807, by David Hays, on the land of Benja- min Ellicott. It is situated on the dividing ridge, between the Miami and Sci- oto. The Hillsboro Academy was founded in 1827. Hocking County was formed March 1, 1818, from Ross, Athens and Fair- field. Its principal products are corn, wheat, tobacco and maple sugar. Its surface is broken and hilly, but is level and fertile beside the streams. The Wyandots once occupied this tract, and built a large town herein. In 1798, a few white families ventured to settle. Logan is its county seat, and is situated on the Hocking River. Holmes County was formed from Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Wayne, Janu- ary 20, 1824. It produces wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, maple sugar, swine, sheep and cattle. The southwestern portion is broken. Thomas Butler was the first settler, in 1810. Millersburg is the county seat, and was laid out in 1830. Huron County was organized in 1815. It produces hay, wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, flaxseed, potatoes, butter, cheese, wool and swine. Nor- walk is the county seat. Jackson County was organized March, 1816. The country is rich in min- erals and abounds in coal and iron ore. The exports are cattle, wool, swine, horses, lumber, millstones, tobacco and iron. Jackson, the county seat, was laid out in 1817. The old Scioto salt-works were among the first worked in Ohio by the whites. Prior to this period, the Indians came some distance to this section to make salt. When Daniel Boone was a prisoner, he spent some time at these works. Jeiferson County was proclaimed by Gov. St. Clair July 29, 1797, and was the fifth county established in Ohio. It is one of the most important manufacturing counties in the State. Its resources in coal are also extended. The surface is hilly and the soil fertile, producing wheat, corn and oats. The old "Mingo" town was on the present farms of Jeremiah Hallock and Mr^ Daniel Potter. The troops of Col. Williamson rendezvoused at this point, when they set out in their cruel Moravian campaign, and also the troops of Col. Crawford, when they started on the campaign against the Sandusky Indians. Here Logan, the powerful and manly chief of the Mingo nation, once resided. He took no active part in the old French war, which closed in 132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 1760, except that of a peacemaker. He was a stanch friend of the whites until the abominable and unprovoked murder of his father, brother and sister, which occurred in 1774, near the Yellow Creek. He then raised the battle cry and sought revenge. However, Logan was remarkably magnanimous toward prisoners who fell into his hands. The year 1793 was the last spent in Indian warfare in Jeffer- son County. Fort Steuben was erected on the present site of Steuben ville, the county seat, in 1789. It was constructed of block-houses, with palisade fences, and was dis- mantled during Wayne's campaign. Bezaleel Wells and Hon. James Ross laid the town out in 1798. It was incorporated February 14, 1805. It is situated upon an elevated plain. In 1814, Messrs. Wells and Dickerson built a woolen manufactory, and introduced merino sheep to the county. Knox County was formed March 1, 1808, from Fairfield. It is drained by the Vernon River. It produces wheat, corn, oats, tobacco, maple sugar, pota- toes and wool. Mount Vernon was laid out in 1805. The early settlers found two wells on the Vernon River, built of hammered stone, neatly laid, and near by was a salt-lick. Their direct origin remains a mystery. Gilman Bryant, in 1807, opened the first store in Mount Vernon. The court house was built in 1810. The Indians came to Mount Vernon in large numbers for the pur- pose of trading in furs and cranberries. Each Saturday, the settlers worked on the streets, extracting stumps and improving the highway. The first settler north of the place was N. M. Young, who built his cabin in 1803. Mount Vernon is now the county seat, beautifully situated on Vernon River. Kenyon College is located at Gambler. It is richly endowed with 8,000 acres, and is valued at $100,000. This institution was established under the auspices of Bishop Chase, in July, 1826, in the center of a 4,000-acre tract belonging to Kenyon College. It was chartered as a theological seminary. Lucas County is of comparatively recent origin. A large portion is covered by the " Black Swamp." It produces corn, wheat, potatoes and oats. This county is situated in the Maumee Valley, which was the great arena of histori- cal events. The frightful battle of Wayne's campaign, where the Indians found the British to be traitors, was fought near Fort Miami, in this county. Maumee City, once the county seat, was laid out in 1817, as Maumee, by Maj. Wm. Oliver and others. It is situated on the Maumee, at the head of navigation. The surface is 100 feet above the water level. This town, with Perrysburg, its neighbor, is exceedingly picturesque, and was in early times frequented by the Indians. The French had a trading station at this point, in 1680, and in 1794, the Brit- ish Fort — Miami — was built. Toledo is on the left bank of the Maumee, and covers the site of a stockade fort, known as Fort Industry, erected in 1800. An Indian treaty was held here July 4, 1805, by which the Indians relinquished all rights to the " fire lands." In 1832, Capt. Samuel Allen gave an impetus to the place, and Maj. Stickney also became interested in its advancement. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 133 Speculation in lots began in 1834. The Wabash & Erie Canal interest arose in 1836. Mr. Mason and Edward Bissel added their energies to assist the growth of the town. It was incorporated as a city in 1836. It was the center of the military operations in the " Ohio and Michigan war," known as the "boundary conflict." The Ordinance of 1787 provided for the division of the Northwestern Terri- tory into three or five States. The three southern were to be divided from the two northern by a line drawn east and west through the southern point of Lake Michigan, extending eastward to the Territorial line in Lake Erie. The consti- tution of Ohio adds a provision that if the line should not go so far north as the north cape of Maumee Bay, then the northern boundary of Ohio should be a line drawn from the southerly part of Lake Michigan to the north cape of the Maumee Bay. The line of the ordinance was impossible, according to its instructions and the geography of the country. When Michigan became a Territory, the people living between the " Fulton " and '• Harris " lines found it more to their wishes to be attached to Michigan. They occupied disputed ground, and were thus beyond the limits of absolute law. In 1835, the subject was greatly agitated, and J. Q. Adams made a warm speech before Congress against the Ohio claim. The Legislature of Ohio dis- cussed the matter, and an act was passed to attach the disputed section to Ohio, according to the constitutional decree. An active campaign opened between Michigan and Ohio. Gov. Lucas came out with the Ohio troops, in the spring of 1835, and Gov. Mason, of Michigan, followed the example. He marched into Toledo, robbed melon-patches and chicken-houses, crushed in the front door of Maj. Stickney's house, and carried him away prisoner of war. Embas- sadors Avere sent from Washington to negotiate matters — Richard Rush, of Penn- sylvania and Col. Howard, of Maryland. At the next session of Congress, the matter was settled. Samuel Vinton argued for Ohio, in the House, and Thomas Ewing in the Senate. Michigan received an equivalent of the large peninsula between Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. Ohio received the disputed strip, averaging eight miles in width. Manhattan, Waterville and Providence are all flourishing towns. Lorain County was formed from Huron, Cuyahoga and Medina, on Decem- ber 26, 1822. The soil is generally fertile, and the surface level. Wheat, grass, oats, corn, rye and potatoes constitute the principal crops. Bog-iron ore is found in large quantities. A curious relic has been found in this county, bear-, ing the date of 1533. Elyria is the county seat, and was laid out in 1817. The first settler was Mr. Heman Ely. Oberlin is situated about eight miles southwest of Elyria. The Oberlin Collegiate Institute has attained a wide celebrity. Logan County was formed March 1, 1817. The surface is broken and hilly near the Mad River, but is generally level. The soil is fertile, producing 134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO "wheat, corn, rye, oats, clover, flax and timothy seed. The Shawnee Indians were located here, and built several villages on the Mad River. These towns were destroyed in 1786, by a body of Kentuckians, under Gen. Benjamin Logan. The whites surprised the towns. However, they returned after the work of destruction had been completed, and for many years frequented the section. On the site of Zanes field was a Wyandot village. By the treaty of September 29, 1817, the Senecas and Shawnees held a reservation around Lewistown. April 6, 1832, they vacated this right and removed west. Isaac Zane was born about the year 1753, and was, while a boy, captured and after- ward adopted by the Wyandots. Attaining the age of manhood, he had no desire to return to his people. He married a Wyandot woman, w^ho was half French. After the treaty of Greenville, he bought 1,800 acres on the site of Zanesville, where he lived until the year 1816, when he died, lamented by all his friends. Logan County was settled about the year 1806. During the war of 1812, it was a rendezvous for friendly Indians. Bellefontaine, the county seat, was laid out March 18, 1820, on land owned by John Tulles and William Powell. Joseph Gordon built a cabin, and Anthony Ballard erected the first frame dwelling. Gen. Simon Kenton is buried at the head of Mad River, five miles from Bellefontaine. He died April 29, 1836, aged eighty-one years and twenty-six days. This remarkable man came West, to Kentucky, in 1771. He probably encountered more thrilling escapes than any other man of his time. In 1778, he was captured and sufiered extreme cruelties, and was ransomed by the British. He soon recovered his robust health, and escaped from Detroit the following spring. He settled in Urbana in 1802. He was elected Brigadier General of the militia, and in the war of 1812, joined Gen. Harrison's army. In the year 1820, he removed to Mad River. Gen. Vance and Judge Burnet secured him a pension, of $20 per month Licking County was formed from Fairfield March 1, 1808. The surface is generally level, diversified by slight hills in the eastern portion. The soil is fertile, producing wheat, corn, oats and grass. Coal and iron ore of good quality add to the wealth of the county. Wool and dairy productions are also staples. Newark is the county seat, and is situated at the confluence of the three prmcipal branches of the Licking. It was laid out by Gen. William C. Schenk, George W. Burnet and John M. Cummings, who owned this military section of 4,000 acres, in 1801. In 1802, Samuel Elliott and Samuel Parr built hewed-log houses. The picturesque "Narrows of the Licking" are in the eastern part of the county, which have elicited general praise from scenic hunters. Lawrence County was organized March 1, 1816. There are many high and abrupt hills in this section, which abound in sand or freestone. It is rich in minerals, and the most important section of Ohio for iron manufacture. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 135 Coal is abundant, and white clay exists in the western part suitable for pot- tery purposes. Agricultural productions are not extensive. The county was settled in 1797 by the Dutch and Irish. The iron region extends through the west part of this county. Lawrence County produces a superior quality of iron, highly esteemed for castings, and is equal to Scotch pig for furnace purposes. Burlington is the county seat. Lake County was formed from Geauga and Cuyahoga March 6, 1840. The soil is good and the surface rolling. It produces wheat, corn, oats, buckwheat, barley, hay and potatoes. Dairy products, cattle and wool are also staples. Its fruits — apples, peaches, pears, plums and grapes are highly prized. As early as 1799, a settlement was formed at Mentor. Painesville, the county seat, is situated on Grand River, in a beautiful valley. The Painesville Acad- emy is a classical institution for the education of both sexes. Near the town is the Geauga furnace. Painesville was laid out by Henry Champion in 1805. At Fairport, the first warehouse in this section, and probably the first on the lake, was built by Abraham Skinner in 1803. This town has a fine harbor, and has a light-house and beacon. Kirtland, southwest from Painesville, was, in 1834, the headquarters of the Mormons. At that time, they numbered about three thousand. The old Mormon temple is of rough stone, plastered over, colored blue, and marked to imitate regular courses of masonry. As is well known, the Mormons derive their name from the book of Mormon, said to have been translated from gold plates found in a hill in Palmyra, N. Y. Madison County was organized in March, 1810. The surface is generally level. It produces grass, corn, oats and cattle — the latter forming a chief staple, while wool and pork add to the general wealth. Jonathan Alder was much interested in the settlement of the county. He, like some other whites, had lived with the Indians many years, and had formed a lasting afiection for them, and had married a squaw, with whom he became dissatisfied, which caused him to desire finding his own family. He suc- ceeded in this through the assistance of John Moore. He left his wife and joined his people. This county was first settled in 1795. Benjamin Springer made a clearing and built a cabin. He settled near Alder, and taught him the English lan- guage. Mr. Joshua Ewing brought four sheep to this place, and the Indians exhibited great astonishment over these strange animals. When the hostilities of 1812 began, the British offered inducements to the Indians to join them, and they consulted Alder regarding the best policy to adopt. He advised them to preserve neutrality until a later period, which they did, and eventually became firm friends of the Americans. London is the county seat, and was laid out in 1810-11, by Patrick McLene. Marion County was organized March 1, 1824. The soil is fertile, and pro- duces extensive farm crops. The Delaware Indians once held a reservation here, and conceded their claims in 1829, August 3, and removed west of the 136 ' HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Mississippi. Marion, the county seat, was laid out in 1821, by Eber Baker and Alexander Holmes. Gen. Harrison marched through this section during his campaign. Mahoning County was formed in 1846, from Trumbull and Columbiana. The surface is rolling and the soil generally fertile. The finer qualities of wood are produced here. Bituminous coal and iron are found in large quantities. Col. James Hillman came to the Western Reserve in 1786. The settlement of the county went forward. Canfield is the county seat. Medina County was formed from the Western Reserve February 12, 1812. The surface is rolling and the soil is fertile, producing fine agricultural prod- ucts. The first trail made through the county was made by George Poe, Joseph H. Larwell and Roswell M. Mason. The first settlement was made by Joseph Harris in 1811. He was soon joined by the Burr brothers. Me- dina is the county seat. Meigs County was formed from Gallia and Athens April 1, 1819. The general character of the soil is clayey, producing large quantities of wheat, oats, corn, hay and potatoes. Vast quantities of salt are made and exported. Pom- eroy, the county seat, is situated under a lofty hill, surrounded by picturesque scenery. Mr. Nathaniel Clark was the first settler of the county. He arrived in 1816. The first coal mine opened in Pomeroy was in 1819, by David Bradshaw. Mercer County was formed from the Indian Territory in 1820. The sur- face is generally flat, and while covered with forests, inclined to be wet ; but, being cleared, it is very fertile, and adapted to producing farm crops. St. Clair's Battle was fought on the boundary line between this and Darke County. The Hon. Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur made a treaty at St. Mary's with the Wyandots, Shawnees and Ottawas, in 1818. The odious Simon Girty lived at one time at St. Mary's. Wayne built St. Mary's Fort, on the west bank of the river. John Whistler was the last commander of the fort. The largest artificial lake in the world, so it is asserted, is formed by the reservoir sup- plying the St. Mary's feeder of the Miami Extension Canal. It is about nine miles long, and from two to four broad. Celina is the county seat. Miami County was formed January 16, 1807, from Montgomery. It abounds in excellent limestone, and possesses remarkable water-power facilities. Its agri- cultural products rank highly in quality and quantity. John Knoop came into this section about the year 1797, and its first settlement began about this time. Troy, the county seat, is situated upon the Great Miami. Piqua is another lovely town. The Miami River aifords delightful scenery at this point. Monroe County was formed January 29, 1813, from Belmont, Washington, and Guernsey. A portion of its surface is abrupt and hilly. Large quantities' of tobacco are raised, and much pork is exported. Wheat and corn grow well in the western portion. Iron ore and coal abound. The valleys of the streams are very narrow, bounded by rough hills. In some places are natural rock grottoes. The first settlement was made in 1799, near the mouth of the Sunfish. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 137 At this time, wolves were numerous, and caused much alarm. Volney entered this county, but was not prepossessed in its favor. One township is settled by the Swiss, who are educated and refined. Woodsfield is the county seat. Montgomery County was formed from Ross and Hamilton May 1, 1803. The soil is fertile, and its agricultural products are most excellent. Quarries of grayish-white limestone are found east of the Miami. Dayton is the county seat, situated on the Great Miami, at the mouth of Mad River. A company was formed in 1788, but Indian wars prevented settlement. After Wayne's treaty, in 1795, a new company was formed. It advanced rapidly between the years 1812 and 1820. The beginning of the Miami Canal renewed its prosperity, in 1827. The first canal-boat from Cincinnati arrived at Dayton on the 25th of January, 1829. The first one arrived from Lake Erie in June, 1845. Col. Robert Patterson came to Dayton in 1804. At one time, he owned Lexington, Ky., and about one third of Cincinnati. Morgan County was organized in 1818, March 1. The surface is hilly and the soil strong and fertile, producing wheat, corn, oats and tobacco. Pork is a prolific product, and considerable salt is made. The first settlement was made in 1790, on the Muskingum. McConnelsville is the county seat. Mr. Ayres made the first attempt to produce salt, in 1817. This has developed into a large industry. Morrow County was organized in 1848. It is drained by the Vernon River, Avhich rises in it, by the East Branch of the Olontangy or Whetstone River, and by Walnut Creek. The surface is undulating, the soil fertile. The staple products are corn, wheat, oats, hay, wool and butter. The sugar maple abounds in the forests, and sandstone or freestone in the quarries. Mount Gilead, the county seat, is situated on the East Branch of the Olen- tangy River. Muskingum County was formed from Washington and Fairfield. The sur- face is rolling or hilly. It produces wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, tobacco, wool and pork. Large quantities of bituminous coal are found. Pipe clay, buhr- stone or cellular quartz are also in some portions of the State. Salt is made in large quantities — the fine being obtained from a stratum of whitish sandstone. The Wyandots, Delawares, Senecas and Shawanoese Indians once inhabited this section. An Indian town occupied the site of Duncan's Falls. A large Shawan- oese town was located near Dresden. Zanesville is the county seat, situated opposite the mouth of the Licking. It was laid out in 1799, by Mr. Zane and Mr. Mclntire. This is one of the principal towns in the State, and is surrounded by charming scenery. Noble County, organized in 1851, is drained by Seneca, Duck and Wills Creeks. The surface is undulating, and a large part of it is covered with for- ests. The soil is fertile. Its staples are corn, tobacco, wheat, hay, oats and wool. Among its mineral resources are limestone, coal and petroleum. Near Caldwell, the county seat, are found iron ore, coal and salt. 138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Ottawa County was formed from Erie, Sandusky and Lucas, March 6, 1840, It is mostly within the Black Swamp, and considerable of its land is prairie and •marsh. It was very thinly settled befere 1830. Extensive plaster beds exist on the peninsula, which extends into Lake Erie. It has also large limestone quarries, which are extensively worked. The very first trial at arms upon the soil of Ohio, during the war of 1812, occurred upon this peninsula. Port Clin- ton, the county seat, was laid out in 1827. Perry County was formed from Washington, Fairfield and Muskingum, March 1, 1817. Fine tobacco is raised in large quantities. Wheat, corn, oats, hay, cattle, pork and wool add to the general wealth. This county was first set- tled in 1801. First settler was Christian Binckley, who built the first cabin in the county, about five miles west of Somerset, near the present county line. New Lexington is now the county seat. Paulding County was formed from old Indian territory August 1, 1820. It produces corn, wheat and oats. Paulding is the county seat. Pickaway County was formed from Fairfield^ Ross and Franklin, January 12, 1810. The county has woodland, barren, plain and prairie. The barrens were covered by shrub oaks, and when cleared are adapted to the raising of corn and oats. The Pickaway plains are three and a half miles west of Circleville, and this tract is said to contain the richest land in Ohio. Here, in the olden times, burned the great council fires of the red man. Here the allied tribes met Gen. Lewis, who fought the battle of Point Pleasant. Dunmoi-e's campaign was terminated on these plains. It was at the Chillicothe towns, after Dun- more's treaty, that Logan delivered his famous speech. Circleville, the county seat, is situated on the Scioto River and the Ohio Canal. It was laid out in 1810, by Daniel Dresbach. It is situated on the site of ancient fortifications. Portage County was formed June 7, 1807, from Trumbull. It is a wealthy, thriving section. Over a thousand tons of cheese are annually produced. It also produces wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckw^heat, rye, butter and wool. Ravenna is the county seat, and was originally settled by the Hon. Benjamin Tappen in June, 1799. In 1806, an unpleasant difficulty arose between the settlers and a camp of Indians in Deerfield, caused by a horse trade between a white man and an Indian. David Daniels settled on the site of Palmyra in 1799. Pike County was organized in 1815. The surface is generally hilly, which abound with freestone, which is exported in large quantities for building pur- poses. Rich bottom lands extend along the Scioto and its tributaries. John Noland and the three Chenoweth brothers settled on the Pee Pee prairie about 1796. Piketown, the former county seat, was laid out about 1814. Waverly, the present county seat, is situated on the Scioto River. Preble County was formed March 1, 1808, from Montgomery and Butler. The soil is varied. Excellent water-power facilities are furnished. Eaton, the county seat, was laid out in 1806, by William Bruce, who owned the land. An overflowing well of strong sulphur water is near the town, while directly beside it is a limestone quarry. Holderman's quarry is about two HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 139 miles distant, from which is obtained a beautifully clouded gray stone. Fort St. Clair was built near Eaton, in the winter of 1791-92. Gen. Harrison was an En- sign at the time, and commanded a guard every other night for three weeks, during the building. The severe battle of November 6, 1792, was fought under its very guns. Little Turtle, a distinguished chief of the Miamis, roamed over this county for a time. He was witty, brave and earnest, and, although engaged in several severe contests with the whites, he was inclined toward peace. But when his warriors cried for war he led them bravely. Putnam County was formed April 1, 1820, from old Indian territory. The soil is fertile, its principal productions being wheat, corn, potatoes and oats. Large quantities of pork are exported. Kalida, once the county seat, was laid out in 1834. Ottawa is the county seat. Ross County was formed August 20, 1798, by the proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, and was the sixth county formed in the Northwestern Territory. The Scioto River and Paint Creek run through it, bordered with fertile lands. Much water-power is obtained from the many streams watering it. The main crops are wheat, corn and oats. It exports cattle and hogs. The Rev. Robert W. Finley, in 1794, addressed a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie, as many of his associates had designed settling in the new State. This resulted in packing their several eifects and setting out. A triv- ial Indian encounter was the only interruption they met with on their way. After Wayne's treaty, Col. Massie and many of these early explorers met again and formed a settlement — in 1796 — at the mouth of Paint Creek. In August of this year, Chillicothe was laid out by Col. Massie, in a dense forest. He donated lots to the early settlers. A ferry was established over the Scioto, and the opening of Zane's trace assisted the progress of settlement. Chillicothe, the county seat, is situated on the Scioto. Its site is thirty feet above the river. In 1800, it was the seat of the Northwestern Territorial Government. It was incorporated as a city in January, 1802. During the war of 1812, the city was a rendezvous for the United States troops. A large num- ber of British were at one time guarded here. Adena is a beautiful place, and the seat of Gov. Worthington's mansion, which was built in 1806. Near this is Fruit Hill, the residence of the late Gen. McArthur, and latterly the home of his son-in-law, the Hon. William Allen. Eleven miles from Chillicothe, on the road to Portsmouth, is the home of the hermit of the Scioto. Richland was organized March 1, 1813. It produces wheat, com, oats, hay, potatoes, rye, hemp and barley. It was settled about 1809, on branches of the Mohican. Two block-houses were built in 1812. Mansfield, the county seat, is charmingly situated, and was laid out in 1808, by Jacob Newman, James Hedges and Joseph H. Larwell. The county was at that period a vast wilder- ness, destitute of roads. From this year, the settlement progressed rapidly. Sandusky County was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian Territory. The soil is fertile, and country generally level. It mainly produces corn, wheat, 140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. oats, potatoes and pork. The Indians were especially delighted with this tract. Near Lower Sandusky lived a band of Wyandots, called the Neutral Nation. These two cities never failed to render refuge to any who sought their protec- tion. They preserved their peacemaking attributes through the Iroquois conflicts. Fremont, formerly called Lower Sandusky, the county seat, is situated at the head of navigation, on the Sandusky, on the site of the old reservation grant to the Indians, at the Greenville treaty council. Fort Stephenson was erected in August, 1813, and was gallantly defended by Col. Croghan. Summit County was formed March 3, 1840, from Medina, Portage and Stark. The soil is fertile and produces excellent fruit, besides large crops of corn, wheat, hay, oats and potatoes. Cheese and butter may be added as products. The first settlement made in the county was at Hudson, in 1800. The old Indian portage-path, exter ding through this county, between the Cuyahoga, and Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum. This was a part of the ancient boundary between the Six Nations and the Western Indians. Akron, the county seat, is situated on the portage summit. It was laid out in 1825. In 1811, Paul Williams and Amos and Minor Spicer settled in this vicinity. Middlebury was laid out in 1818, by Norton & Hart. Stark County was formed February 13, 1808. It is a rich agricultural county. It has large quantities of mineral coal, iron ore, flocks of the finest sheep and great water power. Limestone and extensive beds of lime-marl exist. The manufacture of silk has been extensively carried on. Frederick Post, the first Moravian missionary in Ohio, settled here in 1761. Canton is the county seat, situated in the forks of the Nimishillen, a tribu- tary of the Muskingum. It was laid out in 1806, by Bezaleel Wells, who owned the land. Massillon was laid out in March, 1826, by John Duncan. Shelby County was formed in 1819, from Miami. The southern portion is undulating, arising in some places to hills. Through the north, it is a flat table- land. It produces wheat, corn, oats and grass. The first point of English set- tlement in Ohio was at the mouth of Laramie's Creek, in this county, as early as 1752. Fort Laramie was built in 1794, by Wayne. The first white family that settled in this county was that of James Thatcher, in 1804. Sidney, the county seat, was laid out in 1819, on the farm of Charles Starrett. Seneca County was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian territory. Its principal products are corn, wheat, grass, oats, potatoes and pork. Fort Seneca was built durins; the war of 1812, The Senecas owned 40,000 acres of land on the Sandusky River, mostly in Seneca County. Thirty thousand acres of this land was granted to them in 1817, at the treaty held at the foot of the Maumee Rapids. The remaining 10,000 was granted the following year. These Indians ceded this tract, however, to the Govern- ment in 1831. It was asserted by an old chief, that this band was the remnant HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 141 of Logan's tribe. Tiffin, the county seat, was laid out by Josiah Hedges in the year 1821. Scioto County was formed May 1, 1803. It is a good agricultural section, besides producing iron ore, coal and freestone. It is said that a French fort stood at the mouth of the old Scioto, as early as 1740. In 1785, four families settled where Portsmouth now stands. Thomas McDonald built the first cabin in the county. The "French grant" was located in this section — a tract com- prising 24,000 acres. The grant was made in March, 1795. Portsmouth, the county seat, is located upon the Ohio. Trumbull County was formed in 1800. The original Connecticut Western Reserve was Avithin its limits. The county is well cultivated and very wealthy. Coal is found in its northern portion. We have, in our previous outline, given a history of this section, and it is not, therefore, necessary to repeat its details. Warren, the county seat, is situated on the Mahoning River. It was laid out by Ephraim Quinby in 1801. Mr. Quinby owned the soil. His cabin was built here in 1799. In August, 1800, while Mr. McMahon was away from home, a party of drunken Indians called at the house, abused the family, struck a child a severe blow with a tomahawk and threatened to kill the family. Mrs. McMahon could not send tidings which could reach her husband before noon the following day. The following Sunday morning, fourteen men and two boys armed themselves and went to the Indian camp to settle the difficulty. Quinby advanced alone, leaving the remainder in concealment, as he was better acquainted with these people, to make inquiries and ascertain their intentions. He did not return at once, and the party set out, marched into camp, and found Quinby arguing with Capt. George, the chief. Capt. George snatched his tomahawk and declared war, rushing forward to kill McMahon. But a bullet from the frontierman's gun killed him instantly, while Storey shot " Spotted John" at the same time. The Indians then fled. They joined the council at Sandusky. Quinby garrisoned his house. Fourteen days thereafter, the Indians returned with overtures of peace, which were, that McMahon and Storey be taken to Sandusky, tried by Indian laws, and if found guilty, pun- ished by them. This could not be done. McMahon was tried by Gen. St. Clair, and the matter was settled. The first missionary on the Reserve was the Rev. Joseph Badger. Tuscarawas County was formed February 15, 1808, from Muskingum. It is well cultivated with abundant supplies of coal and iron. The first white settlers were Moravian missionaries, their first visits dating back to 1761. The first permanent settlement was made in 1798. Miss Mary Heckewelder, the daughter of a missionary, was born in this county April 16, 1781. Fort Laurens was built during the Revolution. It was the scene of a fearful carnage. It was established in the fall of 1778, and placed under the command of Gen. Mcintosh. New Philadelphia is the county seat, situated on the Tuscarawas. It was laid out in 1804 by John Knisely. A German 142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. colony settled in this county in 1817, driven from their native land by religious dictation they could not espouse. They called themselves Separatists. They are a simple-minded people, strictly moral and honest. Union County was formed from Franklin, Delaware, Logan and Madison in 1820. It produces corn, grass, wheat, oats, potatoes, butter and cheese. Extensive limestone quarries are also valuable. The Ewing brothers made the first white settlement in 1798. Col. James Curry, a member of the State Leg- islature, was the chief instigator in the progress of this section. He located within its limits and remained until his death, which occurred in 1834. Marys- ville is the county seat. Van Wert County was formed from the old Indian territory April 1, 1820. A great deal of timber is within the limits of this county, but the soil is so tenacious that water will not sink through it, and crops are poor during wet seasons. The main product is corn. Van Wert, the county seat, was founded by James W. Riley in 1837. An Indian town had formerly occupied its site. Capt. Riley was the first white man who settled in the county, arriving in 1821. He founded Willshire in 1822. Vinton County was organized in ] 850. It is drained by Raccoon and Salt Creeks. The surface is undulating or hilly, and is extensively covered with forests in which the oak, buckeye and sugar maple are found. Corn, hay, but- ter and wool are staple products. Bituminous coal and iron ore are found. McArthur is the county seat. Washington County was formed by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair July 27, 1788, and was the first county founded within the limits of Ohio. The surface is broken with extensive tracts of level, fertile land. It was the first county settled in the State under the auspices of the Ohio Company. A detachment of United States troops, under command of Maj. John Doughty, built Fort Harmar in 1785, and it was the first military post established in Ohio by Americans, with the exception of Fort Laurens, which was erected in 3778. It was occupied by United States troops until 1790, when they were ordered to Connecticut. A company under Capt. Haskell remained. In 1785, the Directors of the Ohio Company began practical operations, and settlement went forward rapidly. Campus Martins, a stockade fort, was completed in 1791. This formed a sturdy stronghold during the war. During the Indian war there was much suffering in the county. Many settlers were killed and captured. Marietta is the county seat, and the oldest town in Ohio. Marietta College was chartered in 1835. Herman Blannerhassett, whose unfortunate association with Aaron Burr proved fatal to himself, was a resident of Marietta in 1796. About the year 1798, he began to beautify and improve his island. Warren County was formed May 1, 1803, from Hamilton. The soil is very fertile, and considerable water-power is furnished by its streams. Mr. Bedell made the first settlement in 1795. Lebanon is the eounty seat. Henry HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 14B Taylor settled in this vicinity in 1796. Union Village is a settlement of Shakers. They came here about 1805. Wayne County was proclaimed by Gov. St. Clair August 15, 1796, and was the third county in the Northwest Territory. The settlement of this sec- tion has already been briefly delineated. Wooster is the county seat. It was laid out during the fall of 1808, by John Beaver, William Henry and Joseph H. Larwell, owners of the land. Its site is 337 feet above Lake Erie. The first mill was built by Joseph Stibbs, in 1809, on Apple Creek. In 1812, a block- house was erected in Wooster, Wood County was formed from the old Indian territory in 1820. The soil is rich, and large crops are produced. The county is situated within the Mau- mee Valley. It was the arena of brilliant military exploits during early times. Bowling Green is the county seat. Williams County was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian territory. Bryan is the county seat. It was laid out in 1840. Wyandot County was formed February 3, 1845, from Marion, Hardin, Han- cock and Crawford. The surface is level, and the soil exceedingly fertile. The Wyandot Indians occupied this section, especially the reservation, from time immemorial until 1843. The treaty of 1817, by Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan McArthur, United States Commissioners, granted to the Indians a reservation twelve miles square, the central point being Fort Ferree, now within the corporate limits of Upper Sandusky. The Delaware Reserve was ceded to the United States in 1829. The Wyandots ceded theirs March 17, 1842. Col. John Johnston, the United States Commissioner, conducted the negotiations, and thus made the Indian treaty in Ohio. It was the scene of Col. Crawford's defeat and tragic death, June 11, 1782. The Wyandots were exceedingly brave, and several of their chiefs were distinguished orators and men of exalted moral principles. Upper Sandusky is the county seat, and was laid out in 1843. Gen. Har- rison had built Fort Ferree on this spot during the war of 1812. Gov. Meigs, in 1813, encamped on this river with several thousand of the Ohio militia. The Indian village of Crane Town was originally called Upper Sandusky. The Indians, after the death of Tarhe, or " the Crane," transferred their town to Upper Sandusky. GOVERNORS OF OHIO. The Territorial Governors we have already mentioned in the course of our brief review of the prominent events of the State of Ohio. After the Terri- tory was admitted as a State, in 1802, Edward Tiffin was elected to that posi- tion, and again received the same honor in 1804 and 1806. In 1807, circum- stances led him to resign, and Thomas Kirker, Speaker of the Senate, acted as Governor until the close of the term. Edward Tiffin was born in Carlisle, England, coming to this country in 1784, at the age of eighteen. He entered the University of Pennsylvania, and applied himself to the study of medicine, graduating and beginning his practice at the age of twenty, in the State of Virginia. In 1789, he married Mary, 144 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. daughter of Col. Worthington, and sister of Thomas Worthington, who subse- quently became Governor of Ohio. In his profession, Gov. Tiffin was highly esteemed, and his public labors were carried forward Avith a zealous earnestness; which marked his career as one of usefulness. He settled in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1796, where he died, in 1829. Samuel Huntington, the recipient of the honor of third Governor, was inaugurated in 1808. He was an American by birth, Norwich, Conn.^ being his native place. He was a diligent student in Yale College, graduating in 1785. He removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1801. He attained a reputation for integrity, ability and rare discretion. As a scholar, he was eminently supe- rior. He resided in Cleveland at the time of his death, in 1817. Return Jonathan Meigs followed Gov. Huntington. He was born in Mid- dletown. Conn., in 1765. He was also a student in Yale College, graduating in 1785, with the highest honors. He immediately entered the study of law, and was admitted to practice in his twenty-third year. He married Miss Sophia Wright, and settled in Marietta, Ohio, in 1788. He took his seat as Gover- nor in 1810, and was re-elected in 1812. In 1813, President Madison appointed him to the position of Postmaster General, which occasioned his resignation as Governor. Othniel Looker, Speaker of the Senate, acted as Governor during the remainder of the term. Mr. Meigs died in 1825, leaving as a memento of his usefulness, a revered memory. Thomas Worthington, the sixth Governor, was born in Jefferson County, Va., in 1769. He gained an education in William and Mary's College. In 1788, he located at Chillicothe, and was the first Senator from the new State. He was also the first man to erect the first saw-mill in Ohio. He served two terms as Senator, from 1803 to 1815, resigning in 1814, to take his position as Governor. In 1816, he was re-elected. He was exceedingly active in paving the way for the future prosperity of Ohio. His measures were famous for practical worth and honesty. Chief Justice Chase designated him as " a gentleman of distinguished ability and great influence." He died in 1827. Ethan Allen Brown followed Mr. Worthington. His birthplace w^as on the shore of Long Island Sound, in Fairfield County, Conn., July 4, 1766. His education was derived under the most judicious instruction of a private tutor. In classics, he became proficient. Directly he had reached the required stand- ard in general education, he began the study of law, at home. After becoming conversant with preliminary requirements, he entered the law office of Alex- ander Hamilton, who at that time was a national pride, as a scholar, lawyer and statesman. Opportunities coming in his way, which promised a fortune, he abandoned the law, and achieved success and a fortune. He then decided to return to his study, and was admitted to practice in 1802. Thereafter, he was seized with an exploring enthusiasm, and with his cousin as a companion, set out upon a horseback tour, following the Indian trails from east to west, through Pennsylvania, until they reached Brownsville, on the Monongahela River. Here HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 145 they purchased two flatboats, and fully stocking them with provisions and obtaining efficient crews, started for New Orleans. Reaching that city, they found they could not dispose of their cargoes to any advantage, and shipped the flour to Liverpool, England, taking passage in the same vessel. They succeeded in obtaining good prices for their stock, and set sail for America, arriving in Bal- timore nine months after first leaving " home," on this adventure. Mr. Brown's father decided to secure a large and valuable tract of Western land, as a per- manent home, and authorized his son to select and purchase the same for him. He found what he desired, near Rising Sun, Ind. After this, he settled in Cincinnati, and engaged in the practice of law, speedily achieving prominency and distinction. Financially, he was most fortunate. In 1810, he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, which position he filled with honor, until he was chosen Governor, in 1818. He was re-elected in 1820. In 1821, he received the honor of Senator, and served one term. Allen Trimble, Speaker of the Senate, acted as Governor the remainder of the term. In 1830 he was appointed Minister to Brazil. He remained there four years, and returning, was appointed Commissioner of Public Lands, by President Jackson, holding this position two years. At this time, he decided to retire from public life. Since he never married, he was much with his relatives, at Rising Sun, Ind., during the latter part of his life. His death was sudden and unexpected, occur- ring in February, 1852, while attending a Democratic Convention, at Indianap- olis, Ind. He was interred near his father, at Rising Sun. Jeremiah Morrow, the ninth Governor of Ohio, was born at Gettysburg, Penn., in October, 1771. His people were of the " Scotch-Irish " class, and his early life was one of manual labor upon his father's farm. During the winter, he had the privilege of a private school. With a view of establishing himself and securing a competency, he bade the old home farewell, in 1795, and set out for the " Far West." A flatboat carried him to a little cluster of cabins, known by the name of Columbia, six miles from Fort Washington — Cincinnati. He devoted himself to whatever came in his way, that seemed best and most worthy — teaching school, surveying and working on farms between times. Having accumulated a small capital, he ascended the Little Miami, as far as Warren County, and there purchased an extensive farm, and erected an excellent log house. In the spring of 1799, he married Miss Mary Packtrell, of Columbia. The young couple set out upon pioneer farming. Gaining popularity as well as a desirable property, he was deputized to the Territorial Legislature, which met at Chillicothe, at which time measures were inaugurated to call a Constitutional Convention, during the following year, to organize the State of Ohio. Mr. Morrow was one of the Delegates to this convention, and steadfastly worked in the interests of those who sent him, until its close in 1802. The following year, he was elected to the Senate of Ohio, and in June of the same year, he was appointed the first Representative to the United States Congress from the new State, 14G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Ohio was then entitled to but one Representative in Congress, and could not add to that number for ten years thereafter. During these years, Mr. Morrow represented the State. In 1813, he was sent to the United States Senate, and in 1822, was elected Governor of Ohio, almost unanimously, being re-elected in 1824. It was during his administration that work was begun on the Ohio Canal. Mr. Morrow received the national guest. La Fayette, with an earnest and touching emotion, which aifected the emotions of the generous Frenchman more profoundly than any of the elaborate receptions which paved his way through America. On the 4th of July, 1839, Gov. Morrow was appointed to lay the corner stone of the new State capitol, at Columbus, and to deliver the address on this occasion. Again, in 1840, he was in the House of Representa- tives, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. Thomas Corwin. He was elected for the following term also. He died at his own homestead, in Warren County, March 22, 1853. Allen Trimble was a native of Augusta County, Va. The date of his birth was November 24, 1783. His ancestors were of Scotch-Irish origin, and were among the early settlers of Virginia. His father moved to Ohio in 1804, pur- chasing a tract of land in Highland County. His cabin was remarkably spa- cious, and elicited the admiration of his neighbors. He cleared six acres of land for an orchard, and brought the trees on horseback, from Kentucky. Be- fore this new home was completed, Allen, then a young man of twenty, took possession. This was in the year 1805. Four years thereafter, he occupied the position of Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Recorder of High- land County. He was serving in the latter capacity at the breaking out of the war of 1812. Naturally enthusiastic and patriotic, he engaged a competent person to perform his civil duties, while he went into active service as Colonel of a regiment he had summoned and enlisted. He was always eager to be in the front, and led his men with such valor that they Avere termed soldiers who did not know the art of flinching. His commanding General lavished praises upon him. In 1816, he was in the State Senate, representing Highland County. He occupied the same position for four terms, two years each. In 1818, he was Speaker of the Senate, over Gen. Robert Lucas. He remained in this office until elected to the United States Senate, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his brother, Col. William A. Trimble. When Governor Brown resigned to accept the office of United States Senator in 1822, he succeeded to the office, acting as Governor the remainder of the term. In October, 1826, he was elected Governor of Ohio, by an astonishing majority. The united vote of his three competitors was but one-sixth of the vote polled. Gov. Trimble was an earnest Henry Clay Whig. In 1828 he was re-elected. Gov. Trimble was married in 1806 to Miss Margaret McDowell. Three years thereafter she died, leaving two children. He was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Woodrow, and they lived together sixty years, when he died, at home, in Hills- boro, Highland County, Feb. 3, 1870. His wife survived him but a few months. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 147 Duncan Mc Arthur, the tenth Governor of Ohio, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., in 1772. While yet a child, his parents removed to the west- ern part of Pennsylvania, where they entered upon the hard life of pioneers. While there, young Duncan had the meager advantages of a backwoods school. His life was a general routine until his eighteenth year, when he enlisted under Gen. Harmer for the Indian campaign. His conduct and bravery won worthy laurels, and upon the death of the commander of his company, he was elected to that position, although the youngest man in the company. When his days of service had expired, he found employment at salt-making in Maysville, Ky., until he was engaged as chain-bearer in Gen. Massie's survey of the Scioto Valley. At this time, Indian atrocities alarmed the settlers occasionally, and his reputation for bravery caused him to be appointed one of the three patrols of the Kentucky side of the Ohio, to give the alarm to scattered cabins in case of danger. This was during the summer of 1793. Gen. Massie again secured his services, this time as assistant surveyor. He was thus engaged for several years, during which time he assisted in platting Chillicothe. He purchased a large tract of land just north of town, and under his vigorous and practical management, it became one of the finest estates of Ohio, which reputation it sustains at the present time. He amassed wealth rapidly, his investments always being judicious. In 1805, he was elected to the State Legislature. He was a Colonel of an Ohio regiment, and accompanied Gen. Hull to Detroit in 1813. At Hull's surrender he was a prisoner, but released on parole, returned to Ohio in a state of indignation over his commander's stupidity. Soon thereafter he was sent to Congress on the Democratic ticket. Soon there- after he was released from parole by exchange, and, greatly rejoiced, h& resigned his seat, entered the army as a Brigadier General under Gen. Harri- son, and the following year succeeded him as commander of the Northwestern forces. At the termination of the war, he was immediately returned to the State Legislature. He occupied State offices until 1822, when he was again sent to Congress. Serving one term, he declined re-election. In 1830, he was elected Governor of Ohio. When his term expired, he decided to enjoy life as a citizen on his farm, " Fruit Hill," and lived there in contentment until 1840, when he died. Robert Lucas Avas another Virginian, having been born in 1781, in Jeffer- son County of that State. While a boy, his father liberated his slaves, moving to Chillicothe as one of the early settlers. He procured a proficient tutor for his children. Robert became an expert in mathematics and surveying. Before he reached his majority, he was employed as surveyor, earning liberal compen- sation. At the age of twenty-three, he was appointed Surveyor of Scioto County. At twenty-five, he was Justice of the Peace for Union Township, Scioto County. He married Miss Elizabeth Brown in 1810, who died two years thereafter, leaving a young daughter. In 1816, he married Miss Sum- ner. The same year he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature- For 148 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. nineteen consecutive years he served in the House or Senate. In 1820 and 1828, he was chosen one of the Presidential electors of Ohio. In 1832, he was Chairman of the National Convention at Baltimore, which nom- inated Gen. Jackson as President of the United States. In 1832, he became Governor of Ohio, and was re-elected in 1834. He declined a third nomination, and was appointed by President Van Buren Territorial Governor of Iowa and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. On the ' 16th of August, 1838, he reached Burlington, the seat of government. He remained in Iowa until his death, in 1853. Joseph Vance, the twelfth Governor of Ohio, was born in Washington County, Penn., March 21, 1781. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and his father emigrated to the new Territory when Joseph was two years of age. He located on the southern bank of the Ohio, building a solid block house. This formed a stronghold for his neighbors in case of danger. In 1801, this pioneer decided to remove north of the Ohio River, and eventually settled in Urbana. Joseph had the primitive advantages of the common schools, and became pro- ficient in handling those useful implements — the plow, ax and rifle. The first money he earned he invested in a yoke of oxen. He obtained several barrels of salt, and set out on a speculative tour through the settlements. He traveled through a wilderness, over swamps, and surmounted serious difficulties. At night he built a huge fire to terrify the wolves and panthers, and laid down to sleep beside his oxen, frequently being obliged to stand guard to protect them from these ferocious creatures. Occasionally he found a stream so swol- len that necessarily he waited hours and even days in the tangled forest, before he could cross. He often suffered from hunger, yet he sturdily persevered and sold his salt, though a lad of only fifteen years. When he attained his major- ity, he married Miss Mary Lemen, of Urbana. At twenty-three, he was elected Captain of a rifle company, and frequently led his men to the front to fight the Indians prior to the war of 1812. During that year, he and his brother piloted Hull's army through the dense forests to Fort Meigs. In 1817, with Samuel McCullough and Henry Van Meter, he made a contract to supply the Northwestern army with provisions. They drove their cattle and hogs many miles, dead weight being transported on sleds and in wagons. He engaged in mercantile business at Urbana and Fort Meigs — now Perrysburg. While thus employed, he was elected to the Legislature, and there remained four years. He then purchased a large tract of land on Blanchard's Fork, and laid out the town of Findlay. He was sent to Congress in 1821, and was a member of that body for fifteen years. In 1836, he was chosen Governor of Ohio. Again he was sent to Congress in 1842. While attending the Consti- tutional Convention in 1850, he was stricken with paralysis, and suffered extremely until 1852, when he died at his home in Urbana. Wilson Shannon was a native of Belmont County, Ohio. He was born during 1803. At the age of fifteen, he was sent to the university at Athens, ^ >% HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 151 where he remained a year, and then changed to the Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky. He continued his studies tjvo years, then returning home and entering upon reading law. He completed his course at St. Clairsville, Belmont County, and was admitted to practice. He was engaged in the courts of the county for eight years. In 1832, the Democrats nominated him to Con- gress, but he was not elected. He received the position of Prosecuting Attor- ney in 1834, in which position his abilities were so marked that in 1838 he was elected Governor by a majority of 3,600. He was re-nominated in 1840, but Tom Corwin won the ticket. Two years thereafter he was again nominated and elected. In 1843 he was appointed Minister to Mexico, Thomas W. Bartley, Speaker of the Senate, acting as Governor the remainder of the term. When Texas was admitted as a State, Mexico renounced all diplomatic relations with the United States. Mr. Shannon returned horn and resumed the practice of law. He was sent to Congress in 1852. President Pierce conferred upon him the posi- tion of Territorial Governor of Kansas, which duty he did not perform satis- factorily, and was superseded after fourteen months of service. He settled in Lecompton, Kan., and there practiced law until his death, which occurred in 1877. Thomas Corwin, the fourteenth Governor of Ohio, was born in Bourbon County, Ky., July 29, 1794. His father settled at Lebanon in 1798. ■ The country was crude, and advantages meager. When Thomas was seventeen years of age, the war of 1812 was inaugurated, and this young man was engaged to drive a wagon through the wilderness, loaded with provisions, to Gen. Harrison's headquarters. In 1816, he began the study of law, and achieved knowledge so rapidly that in 1817 he passed examination and was admitted to practice. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his county, in 1818, which position he held until 1830. He was elected to the Legislature of Ohio in 1822. Again, in 1829, he was a member of the same body. He was sent to Congress in 1830, and continued to be re-elected for the space of ten years. He became Governor of Ohio in 1840. In 1845, he was elected to the United States Senate, where he remained until called to the cabinet of Mr. Fillmore, as Secretary of the Treasury. He was again sent to Congress in 1858, and re-elected in 1860. He was appointed Minister to Mexico, by Pres- ident Lincoln. After his return, he practiced law in Washington, D. , where he died in 1866. Mordecai Bartley was born in 1783, in Fayette County, Penn. There he remained, on his father's farm, until he was twenty-one years of age. He mar- ried Miss Wells in 1804, and removed to Jefferson County, Ohio, where he purchased a farm, near Cross Creek. At the opening of the war of 1812, he enlisted in a company, and was elected its Captain. He entered the field under Harrison. At the close of the war, he removed to Richland County, and opened a clearing and set up a cabin, a short distance from Mansfield. He remained on his farm twenty years, then removing to Mansfield, entered the mercantile 9 152 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. business. In 1817, he was elected to the State Senate. He was sent to Con- gress in 1823, and served four terms. In 1844, he became Governor of Ohio, on the Whig ticket. He declined a re-nomination, preferring to retire to his home in Mansfield, where he died in 1870. William Bebb, the seventeenth Governor, was from Hamilton County, Ohio. He was born in 1804. His early instructions were limited, but thorough. He opened a school himself, when he was twenty years of age, at North Bend, residing in the house of Gen. Harrison. He remained thus employed a year, during which time he married Shuck. He very soon began the study of law, continuing his school. He was successful in his undertakings, and many pupils were sent him from the best families in Cincinnati. In 1831, he was admitted to practice, and opened an office in Hamilton, Butler County, remaining thus- engaged for fourteen years. In 1845, he was elected Governor of Ohio. In 1847, he purchased 5,000 acres of land in the Rock River country, 111., and removed there three years later. On the inauguration of President Lincoln, he was appointed Pension Examiner, at Washington, and remained in that position until 1866, when he returned to his Illinois farm. He died at Rockford, 111., in 1873. Seabury Ford, the eighteenth Governor of Ohio, was born in the year 1802, at Cheshire, Conn. His parents settled in Burton Township. He attended the common schools, prepared for college at an academy in Burton, and entered Yale College, in 1821, graduating in 1825. He then began the study of law, in the law office of Samuel W. Phelps, of Painesville, completing his course with Judge Hitchcock. He began practice in 1827, in Burton. He married Miss Harriet E. Cook, of Burton, in 1828. He was elected by the Whigs to the Legislature, in 1835, and served six sessions, during one of which he was Speaker of the House. He entered the State Senate in 1841, and there remained until 1844, when he was again elected Representative. In 1846, he was appointed to the Senate, and in 1848, he became Governor of Ohio. On the first Sunday after his retirement, he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered. He died at his home in Burton in 1855. Reuben Wood, the nineteenth Governor, was a Vermonter. Born in 1792, in Middleton, Rutland County, he was a sturdy son of the Green Mountain State. He was a thorough scholar, and obtained a classical education in Upper Canada. In 1812, he was drafted by the Canadian authorities to serve against the Americans, but being determined not to oppose his own land, he escaped one stormy night, accompanied by Bill Johnson, who was afterward an Ameri- can spy. In a birchbark canoe they attempted to cross Lake Ontario. A heavy storm of wind and rain set in. The night was intensely dark, and they were in great danger. They fortunately found refuge on a small island, where they were storm-bound three days, suffering from hunger and exposure. They reached Sacket's Harbor at last, in a deplorable condition. Here they were arrested as spies by the patrol boats of the American fleet. They were prisoners HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 153 four days, when an uncle of Mr. Wood's, residing not far distant, came to their rescue, vouched for their loyalty, and they were released. Mr. Wood then went to Woodville, N. Y., where he raised a company, of which he was elected Captain. They marched to the northern frontier. The battles of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain were fought, the enemy defeated, and the com- pany returned to Woodville and was disbanded. Young Wood then entered the law office of Gen. Jonas Clark, at Middle- bury, Vt. He was married in 1816, and two years later, settled in Cleveland, Ohio. When he first established himself in the village, he possessed his wife, infant daughter and a silver quarter of a dollar. He was elected to the State Senate in 1825, and filled the office three consecutive terms. He was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was promoted to the Bench of the Supreme Court, serving there fourteen years, the latter portion of the term as Chief Justice. He was termed the "Cayuga Chief," from his tall form and courtly bearing. He was elected Governor in 1850, by a majority of 11,000. The new constitution, which went into effect in March, 1851, vacated the office of Governor, and he was re-elected by a majority of 26,000. The Democrats holding a national convention in Baltimore in 1852, party division caused fifty unavailing votes. The Virginia delegation offered the entire vote to Gov. Wood, if Ohio would bring him forward. The opposition of one man pre- ve'nted this. The offer was accepted by New Hampshire, and Frank Pierce became President. Mr. Wood was appointed Consul to Valparaiso, South America, and resigned his office of Governor. He resigned his consulship and returned to his fine farm near Cleveland, called "Evergreen Place." He expected to address a Union meeting on the 5th of October, 1864, but on the 1st he died, mourned by all who knew him. William Medill, the twentieth Governor, was born in New Castle County, Del., in 1801. He was a graduate of Delaware College in 1825. He began the study of law under Judge Black, of New Castle, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He removed to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1830. He was elected Rep- resentative from Fairfield County in 1835. He was elected to Congress in 1838, and was re-elected in 1840. He was appointed Assistant Postmaster General by President Polk. During the same year, he was appointed Com- missioner of Indian Affairs. In 1851, he was elected Lieutenant Governor, and, in 1853, he became Governor. He occupied the position of First Comptroller of the United States Treasury in 1857, under President Buchanan, retaining the office until 1861, when he retired from public life. His death occurred in 1865. Salmon P. Chase was a native of Cornish, N. H. He was born in 1803. He entered Dartmouth College in 1822, graduating in 1826. He was there- after successful in establishing a classical school in Washington, but finan- cially it did not succeed. He continued to teach the sons of Henry Clay, William Wirt and S. L. Southard, at the same time reading law when not busy 154 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. as tutor. He was admitted to practice in 1829, and opened a law office in Cin- cinnati. He succeeded but moderately, and during his leisure hours prepared a new edition of the "Statutes of Ohio." He added annotations and a well- written sketch of the early history of the State. This was a thorough success, and gave the earnest worker popularity and a stepping-stone for the future. He was solicitor for the banks of the United States in 1834, and soon there- after, for the city banks. He achieved considerable distinction in 1837, in the case of a colored woman brought into the State by her master, and escaping his possession. He was thus brought out as an Abolitionist, which was further sustained by his defense of James G. Birney, who had suffered indictment for harboring a fugitive slave. In 1846, associated with William H. Seward, he defended Van Zandt before the Supreme Oburt of the United States. His thrilling denunciations and startling conjectures alarmed the slaveholding States, and subsequently led to the enactment of the fugitive-slave law of 1850. Mr. Chase was a member of the United States Senate in 1849, through the coalition of the Democrats and Free-Soilers. In 1855, he was elected Gover- nor of Ohio by the opponents of Pierce's administration. He was re-elected in 1859. President Lincoln, in 1861, tendered him the position of Secretary of the Treasury. To his ability and official management we are indebted for the present national bank system. In 1864, he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States. He died in the city of New York in 1873, after a useful career. William Dennison was born in Cincinnati in 1815. He gained an educa- tion at Miami University, graduating in 1835. He began the study of law in the office of the father of George H. Pendleton, and was qualified and admitted to the bar in 1840. The same year, he married a daughter of William Neil, of Columbus. The Whigs of the Franklin and Delaware District sent him to the State Senate, in 1848. He was President of the Exchange Bank in Cin- cinnati, in 1852, and was also President of Columbus & Xenia Railway. He was elected the twenty-second Governor of Ohio in 1859. By his promptness and activity at the beginning of the rebellion, Ohio was placed in the front rank of loyalty. At the beginning of Lincoln's second term, he was appointed Post- master General, retiring upon the accession of Johnson. He then made his home at Columbus. David Tod, twenty-third Governor of Ohio, was born at Youngstown, Ohio, in 1805. His education was principally obtained through his own exertions. He set about the study of law most vigorously, and was admitted to practice in 1827. He soon acquired popularity through his ability, and consequently was financially successful. He purchased the Briar Hill homestead. Under Jack- son's administration, he was Postmaster at Warren, and held the position until 1838, when he was elected State Senator by the Whigs of Trumbull District, by the Democrats. In 1844, he retired to Briar Hill, and opened the Briar Hill Coal Mines. He was a pioneer in the coal business of Ohio. In the Cleveland HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 155 & Mahoning Railroad, he was largely interested, and was its President, after the death of Mr. Perkins. He was nominated, in 1844, for Governor, by the Dem- ocrats, but was defeated. In 1847, he went to Brazil as Minister, where he resided for four and a half years. The Emperor presented him with a special commendation to the President, as a testimonial of his esteem. He was also the recipient of an elegant silver tray, as a memorial from the . resident citizens of Rio Janeiro. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which met at Charleston in 1860. He was Vice President of this Convention. He was an earnest advocate for Stephen A. Douglas. When the Southern members withdrew, the President, Caleb Cashing, going with them, the convention adjourned to Baltimore, when Mr. Tod assumed the chair and Douglas was nom- inated. He was an earnest worker in the cause, but not disheartened by its defeat. When Fort Sumter was fired upon, he was one of the most vigorous prosecutors of the war, not relaxing his active earnestness until its close. He donated full uniforms to Company B, of the Nineteenth Regiment, and contrib- uted largely to the war fund of his township. Fifty-five thousand majority elected him Governor in 1861. His term was burdened with war duties, and he carried them so bravely as Governor that the President said of him : " Governor Tod of Ohio aids me more and troubles me less than any other Gov- ernor." His death occurred at Briar Hill during the year 1868. John Brough was a native of Marietta, Ohio. He was born in 1811. The death of his father left him in precarious circumstances, which may have been a discipline for future usefulness. He entered a printing office, at the age of fourteen, in Marietta, and after serving a few months, began his studies in the Ohio Uni- versity, setting type mornings and evenings, to earn sufficient for support. He occupied the leading position in classes, and at the same time excelled as a type-setter. He was also admired for his athletic feats in field amusements. He completed his studies and began reading law, which pursuit was interrupted by an opportunity to edit a paper in Petersburg, Va. He returned to Marietta in 1831, and became editor and proprietor of a leading Democratic newspaper — the Washington County Republican. He achieved distinction rapidly, and in 1833, sold his interest, for the purpose of entering a more extended field of journalism. He purchased the Ohio Eagle, at Lancaster, and as its editor, held a deep influence over local and State politics. He occupied the position of Clerk of the Ohio Senate, between the years 1835 and 1838, and relinquished his paper. He then represented the counties of Fairfield and Hocking in the Leg- islature. He was then appointed Auditor of State by the General Assembly, in which position he served six years. He then purchased the Phcenix news- paper in Cincinnati, changed its name to the Enquirer, placing it in the care of his brother, Charles, while he opened a law office in the city. His editorials in the Enquirer, and his activity in political afiairs, were brilliant and strong. He retired from politics in 1848, sold a half-interest in the Enquirer and carried on a prosperous business, but was brought forward again by leaders of both 156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. political parties in 1863, through the Vallandigham contest, and was elected Governor the same year, by a majority of 101,099 votes in a total of 471,643. He was three times married. His death occurred in 1865 — Charles Anderson serving out his term. Jacob Dolson Cox, the twenty-sixth Governor, was born in 1828, in Mon- treal, Canada, where his parents were temporarily. He became a student of Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1846, graduating in 1851, and beginning the practice of law in Warren in 1852. He was a member of the State Senate in 1859, from the Trumbull and Mahoning Districts. He was termed a radical. He was a commissioned Brigadier General of Ohio in 1861, and, in 1862, was pro- moted to Major General for gallantry in battle. While in the service he was nominated for Governor, and took that position in 1865. He was a member of Grant's Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior, but resigned. He went to Con- gress in 1875, from the Toledo District. Rutherford B. Hayes, the nineteenth President of the United States, and the twenty-seventh Governor of Ohio, was born at Delaware, Ohio, in 1822. He was a graduate of Kenyon College in 1842. He began the study of law, and, in 1843, pursued that course in the Cambridge University, graduating in 1845. He began his practice at Fremont. He was married to Miss Lucy Webb in 1852, in Cincinnati. He was Major of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and in 1862, was promoted to Colonel on account of bravery in the field, and eventually became Major General. In 1864, he was elected to Congress, and retired from the service. He remained in Congress tAvo terms, and was Governor of Ohio in 1867, being re-elected in 1869. He was again elected in 1875, but resigned in 1877, to accept the office of President of the United States, Thomas L. Young acting as Governor the remander of the term. Edward F. Noyes was born in Haverhill, Mass., in 1832. While a lad of fourteen, he entered the office of the Morning Star, published at Dover, N. H., in order to learn the business of printing. At the age of eighteen, he entered the academy at Kingston, N. H. He prepared for college, and entered Dartmouth in 1853, graduating with high honors in 1857. He had begun the study of law, and continued the course in the Cincinnati Law School, and began to practice in 1858. He was an enthusiast at the opening of the rebellion and was interested in raising the Twentieth Regiment, of which he was made Major. He was promoted to Colonel in 1862. At the conflict at Ruff"'s Mills, in Georgia, in 1864, he was so unfortunate as to lose a leg. At the time, amputa- tion was necessary, but was unskillfully performed. He was brought to Cincin- nati, and the operation was repeated, which nearly cost him his life. He reported three months later, to Gen. Hooker for duty, on crutches. He was assigned to command of Camp Dennison. He was promoted to the full rank of Brigadier General, and while in discharge of his duty at that place, he was elected City Solicitor of Cincinnati. He occupied the position until 1871, when he was elected Governor, by a majority of 20,000. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 157 William Allen, the twenty-ninth Governor of Ohio, was born in 1807, in Chowan County, N. C. While an infant, he was left an orphan, and his sister superintended his education. He was placed in a private school at Lynchburg, Va., at the age of fourteen. Two years later he joined his family at Chilli- cothe, and attended the academy a year, when he entered the law office of Edward King. Before he was twenty-five he was sent to Congress by a strong Whig district. He was elected United States Senator in 1837 and served until 1849. In 1845 he married Effie McArthur, who died soon after the birth of their daughter. In 1873 he was elected Governor. His administra- tion gave general satisfaction. He died at his home at " Fruit Hill," in 1879. Richard M. Bishop, the thirty-first Governor of Ohio, was born November 4, 1812, in Fleming County, Ky. For several years he devoted himself to mercantile business in his native State. In 1848 he engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Cincinnati, and subsequently admitted his three sons part- ners, under the firm name of R. M. Bishop & Sons. He was a member of the Council of Cincinnati, and in 1859 was its Mayor, holding that office until 1861. In 1877 he was nominated by the Democrats and elected Governor of Ohio. Charles Foster, the thirty-second Governor of Ohio, was born in Seneca County, Ohio, April 12, 1828. He was educated at the common schools and the academy at Norwalk, Ohio. Engaged in mercantile and banking business at Fostoria, and never held any public office until he was elected to the Forty- second Congress ; was re-elected to the Forty-third Congress, and again to the Forty-fourth Congress as a Republican. In 1879 he was nominated by the Republicans and elected Governor of the State, was re-elected in 1881, and served through both terms winning the esteem of all political parties. George Hoadly, the thirty-third Governor of Ohio, was born at New Haven, Conn., July 31, 1826. His parents, George and Mary Ann (Woolsey) Hoadly, names well known in the educational circles of Connecticut, were inti- mately connected with the commercial and social progress of that State. Gov. Hoadly completed his education at what is now known as Adelbert College, of which he is a LL. D., while in 1884 he received the same honor from Yale. In 1844 he entered the law school of Cambridge, Mass.; in 1846 entered the office of Chase & Ball, Cincinnati, Ohio ; was admitted to the bar in August following ; elected Judge of the Cincinnati Superior Court in 1851, succeeded Judge Gholson on the bench of the present Superior Court in 1859, and was re-elected in 1864 ; refused a seat on the Supreme bench in 1856 and again in 1862 ; was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention 1873-74. He was nominated by the Democrats for Governor in 1883 and elected. ANCIENT WORKS. Ohio has furnished a prolific field for antiquarians and those interested in scientific explorations, either for their own amusement and knowledge, or for the records of "facts and formations." 158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. It is well known that the " Mound Builders " had a wide sweep through this continent, but absolute facts regarding their era have been most difficult to obtain. Numerous theories and suppositions have been advanced, yet they are emphatic evidences that they have traced the origin and time of this primeval race. However, they have left their works behind them, and no exercise of faith is necessary to have confidence in that part of the story. That these works are of human origin is self-evident. Temples and military works have been found which required a considerable degree of scientific skill on the part of those early architects and builders. Evidently the Indians had no knowledge of these works of predecessors, which differed in all respects from those of the red men. An ancient cemetery has been found, covering an area of four acres, which had evidently been laid out into lots, from north to south. Nearly 3,000 graves have been discovered, containing bones which at some time must have constituted the framework of veritable giants, while others are of no unusual size. In 1815, a jaw-bone was exhumed, containing an artificial tooth of silver. Mounds and fortifications are plentiful in Athens County, some of them being of solid stone. One, differing in the quality of stone from the others, is supposed to be a dam across the Hocking. Over a thousand pieces of stone were used in- its construction. Copper rings, bracelets and ornaments are numerous. It is also evident that these people possessed the knowledge of hardening copper and giving it an edge equal to our steel of to-day. In the branch formed by a branch of the Licking River and Raccoon Creek, in Licking County, ancient works extend over an area of several miles. Again, three miles northwest of this locality, near the road between Newark and Gran- ville, another field of these relics may be found. On the summit of a high hill is a fortification, formed to represent an alligator. The head and neck includes 32 feet ; the length of the body is 73 feet ; the tail was 105 feet ; from the termini of the fore feet, over the shoulders, the width is 100 feet ; from the termini of the hind feet, over the hips, is 92 feet ; its highest point is 7 feet. It is composed of clay, which must have been conveyed hither, as it is not similar to the clay found in the vicinity. Near Miamisburg, Montgomery County, are other specimens. Near the village is a mound, equaled in size by very few of these antiquities. It meas- ures 800 feet around the base, and rises to a height of sixty-seven feet. Others are found in Miami County, while at Circleville, Pickaway County, no traces remain. Two forts have been discovered, one forming an exact square, and the other describing a circle. The square is flanked by two walls, on all sides, these being divided by a deep ditch. The circle has one wall and no ditch. This is sixty-nine rods in diameter, its walls being twenty feet high. The square fort measures fifty-five rods across, with walls twelve feet high. Twelve gateways lead into the square fort, while the circle has but one, which led to the other, at HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 159 the point where the walls of the two came together. Before each of these entrances were mounds of earth, from four to five feet high and nearly forty feet in diameter. Evidently these were designed for defenses for the openings, in cases of emergency. A short distance from Piketon, the turnpike runs, for several hundred feet, between two parallel artificial walls of earth, fifteen feet high, and six rods apart. In Scioto County, on both sides of the Ohio, are extensive ancient works. " Fort Ancient " is near Lebanon in Warren County. Its direct measure- ment is a mile, but in tracing its angles, retreating and salient, its length would be nearly six miles. Its site is a level plain, 240 feet above the level of the river. The interior wall varies in height to conform with the nature of the ground without — ranging from 8 to 10 feet. On the plain it reaches 100 feet. This fort has 58 gateways, through one of which the State road runs, passing between two mounds 12 feet high. Northeast from these mounds, situated on the plain, are two roads, about a rod wide each, made upon an elevation about three feet high. They run parallel to each other about a quarter of a mile, when they each form a semicircle around a mound, joining in the circle. It is probable this was at some time a military defense, or, on the contrary, it may have been a general rendezvous for games and high holiday festivities. Near Marietta, are the celebrated Muskingum River works, being a half- mile from its juncture with the Ohio. They consist of mounds and walls of earth in circular and square forms, also tracing direct lines. The largest square fort covers an area of 40 acres, and is inclosed by a wall of earth, 6 to 10 feet in height, and from 25 to 30 feet at its base. On each side are three gateways. The center gateways exceed the others in size, more especially on the side toward the Muskingum. From this outlet runs a covered means of egress, between two parallel walls of earth, 231 feet distant from each other, measuring from the centers. The walls in the interior are 21 feet high at the most elevated points, measuring 42 feet at the base, grading on the exte- rior to about five feet in heigth. This passage-way is 360 feet in length, lead- ing to the low grounds, which, at the period of its construction, probably reached the river. At the northwest corner, within the in closure, is a plateau 188 feet long, 132 feet broad and 9 feet high. Its sides are perpendicular and its surface level. At the center of each side is a graded pathway leading to the top, six feet wide. Another elevated square is near the south wall, 150x120 feet square, and 8 feet high, similar to the other, with the exception of the graded walk. Outside and next the wall to ascend to the top, it has central hollow ways, 10 feet wide, leading 20 feet toward the center, then arising with a gradual slope to the top. A third elevated square is situated at the southeast corner, 108x54 feet square, with ascents at the ends. This is neither as high or as perfect as the others. 160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. \ Another ancient work is found to the southeast, covering an area of 20 acres with a gateway in the center of each side, and others at the corners — each of these having the mound defense. On the outside of the smaller fort, a mound resembling a sugar loaf was formed in the shape of a circle 115 feet in diameter, its height being 30 feet. A ditch surrounds it, 15 feet wide and 4 feet deep. These earthworks have contributed greatly to the satisfactory results of scientific researches. Their builders were evidently composed of large bands that have succumbed to the advance of enlightened humanity. The relics found consists of ornaments, utensils and implements of war. The bones left in the numerous graves convey an idea of a stalwart, vigorous people, and the conquests which swept them away from the face of the country must have been fierce and cruel. Other mounds and fortifications are found in difierent parts of the State, of which our limited space will not permit a description. Many sculptured rocks are found, and others with plainly discernible tracery in emblematical designs upon their surface. The rock on which the inscriptions occur is the grindstone grit of the Ohio exports — a stratum found in Northern Ohio. Arrow-points of flint or chert have been frequently found. From all investigations, it is evident that an extensive flint bed existed in Lick- ing County, near Newark. The old pits can now be recognized. They extended over a hundred acres. They are partially filled with water, and sur- rounded by piles of broken and rejected fragments. The flint is a grayish- white, with cavities of a brilliant quartz crystal. Evidently these stones were chipped into shape and the material sorted on the ground. Only clear, homo- genous pieces can be wrought into arrow-heads and spear-points. Flint chips extend over many acres of ground in this vicinity. Flint beds are also found in Stark and Tuscarawas Counties. In color it varies, being red, white, black and mottled. The black is found in Coshocton County. SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. Ohio, as a State, is renowned as an agricultural section. Its variety, quality and quantity of productions cannot be surpassed by any State in the Union. Its commercial importance ranks proudly in the galaxy of opulent and industrious States composing this Union. Her natural resources are prolific, and all improve- ments which could be instituted by the ingenuity of mankind have been added. From a quarter to a third of its area is hilly and broken. About the head- waters of the Muskingum and Scioto, and between the Scioto and the two Miami Rivers, are wide prairies ; some of them are elevated and dry, with fertile soil, although they are frequently termed "barrens." In other parts, they are low and marshy, producing coarse, rank grass, which grows to a height of five feet in some places. The State is most fortunate in timber wealth, having large quantities of black walnut, oak of difierent varieties, maple, hickory, birch, several kinds of HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 161 "beech, poplar, sycamore, papaw, several kinds of ash, cherry, whitewood and buckeye. The summers are usually warm, and the winters are mild, considering the latitude of the State. Near Lake Erie, the winters are severe, corresponding with sections in a line with that locality. Snow falls in sufficient quantities in the northern part to afford several weeks of fine sleighing. In the southern portion, the snowstorms are not frequent, and the fall rarely remains long on the ground. The climate is generally healthy, with the exception of small tracts lying near the marshes and stagnant waters. The Ohio River washes the southern border of the State, and is navigable for steamboats of a large size, the entire length of its course. From Pitts- burgh to its mouth, measuring it meanderings, it is 908 miles long. Its current is gentle, having no falls except at Louisville, Ky., where the descent is twenty- two and a half feet in two miles. A canal obviates this obstruction. The Muskingum is the largest river that flows entirely within the State. It is formed by the junction of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers, and enters the Ohio at Marietta One hundred miles of its length is navigable. The Scioto is the second river in magnitude, is about 200 miles long, and flows into the Ohio at Portsmouth. It affords navigation 130 miles of its length. The Great Miami is a rapid river, in the western part of the State, and is 100 miles long. The Little Miami is seventy miles in length, and enters the Ohio .seven miles from Cincinnati. The Maumee rises in Indiana, flows through the northwestern part of the State, and enters Lake Erie at Maumee Bay. It affords navigation as far as Perrysburg, eighteen miles from the lake, and above the rapids, it is again nav- igable. The Sandusky rises in the northern part of the State, is eighty miles long, and flows into Lake Erie, via Sandusky Bay. Lake Erie washes 150 miles of the northern boundary. The State has sev- eral fine harbors, the Maumee and Sandusky Bays being the largest. "We have, in tracing the record of the earlier counties, given the educational inter- ests as exemplified by different institutions. "VVe have also given the canal system of the State, in previous pages. The Governor is elected every two years, by the people. The Senators are chosen biennially, and are apportioned according to the male population over twenty-one years of age. The Judges of the Supreme and other courts are elected by the joint ballot of the Legislature, for the term of seven years. During the early settlement of Ohio, perfect social equality existed among the settlers. The line of demarkation that was drawn was a separation of the good from the bad. Log-rollings and cabin-raisings were mutual affairs. Their :sport usually consisted of shooting, rowing and hunting. Hunting shirts and buckskin pants were in the fashion, while the women dressed in coarse material, 162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. woven by their own hands. A common American cotton check was con- sidered a magnificent addition to one's toilet. In those times, however, the material was $1 per yard, instead of the shilling of to-day. But five yards was then a large "pattern," instead of the twenty-five of 1880. In cooking utensils, the pot, pan and frying-pan constituted an elegant outfit. A few plain dishes were added for table use. Stools and benches were the rule, although a few wealthy families indulged in splmt-bottom chairs. The cabin floors were rough, and in many cases the green sward formed the carpet. Goods were very expensive, and flour was considered a great luxury. Goods were brought by horses and mules from Detroit, or by wagon from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and then down the Ohio. Coarse calicoes were $1 per yard ; tea $2 to $3 per pound ; cofiee 75 cents ; whisky, from $1 to $2 per gallon, and salt, $5 to ^6 per barrel. In those towns where Indian trade constituted a desirable interest, a bottle was set at each end of the counter — a gratuitous offering to their red friends. OUTLINE GEOLOGY OF OHIO. Should we group the rocks of Ohio, according to their lithological characters, we should give five distinct divisions. They are marked by difference in appear- ance, hardness, color and composition : 1 — Limestone. 2 — Black shale. 3 — Fine-grained sandstone. 4 — Conglomerate. 5 — Coal series. They are all stratified and sedimentary. They are nearly horizontal. The lowest one visible, in a physical as well as a geological sense, is " blue lime- stone." The bed of the Ohio River near Cincinnati is 133 feet below the level of Lake Erie. The strata incline in all directions from the southwestern angle of the State. In Scioto County may be seen the outcropping edges of all these rocks. They sink at this point in the direction south 80J° east ; easterly at the rate of 37^ feet per mile. The cliff" limestone, the upper stratum of the lime- stone deposit, is 600 feet above the river at Cincinnati ; at West Union, in Adams County, it is only 350 feet above the same level. The finely grained sandstone found on the summit of the hills east of Brush Creek and west of the Scioto sinks to the base of the hills, and appears beneath the conglomerate, near the Little Scioto. Although the rock formations are the same in all parts of the State, in the same order, their thickness, mass and dip, are quite different. Chillicothe, Reynoldsburg, Mansfield, Newburg, Waverly and Rockville, are situated near the western border of the " fine-grained limestone." Its outcrop forms a continuous and crooked line from the Ohio River to Lake Erie. In the southwest portion of the State is the "blue limestone," occupying a circular HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 163 space from West Union via Dayton, to the State line. The conglomerate is to the east of the given towns, bending around from Cuyahoga Falls to Burton, in Geauga County, and then eastward into Pennsylvania. Near this outcrop are the coal-bearing rocks which occupy the east and southeastern portions of Ohio. From Rockville to Chillicothe, the course is north, about 10° east, and nearly corresponds with the line of outcrop of the fine-grained sandstone for an equal distance. The dip at Rockville, given by Charles Whittlesey, is 80|°, almost at a right angle, and at the rate of 37 feet per mile. At Chillicothe, the other end of the line, the general dip is south 70° east, 30 feet to the mile, the line curving eastward and the dip line to the southward. This is the universal law. The northern boundary of the great coal fields passes through Meadville, in Pennsylvania, and turning south arrives at Portage Summit, on the summit of the Alleghanies, 2,500 feet above the ocean level. It then plunges rapidly to the westward. From the Alleghanies to the southwest, through Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee, sweeps this great coal basin. Much of the county of Medina is conglomerate upon the surface, but the streams, especially the South Branch of the Rocky River, set through this sur- face stratum, and reach the fine-grained sandstone. This is the case with Rocky, Chagrin, Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers — also Conneaut and Ashtabula Creeks. This sandstone and the shale extend up the narrow valleys of these streams and their tributaries. Between these strata is a mass of coarse-grained sandstone, without pebbles, which furnishes the grindstones for which Ohio is noted. In Lorain County, the coarse sandstone grit nearly displaces the fine- grained sandstone and red shale, thickening at Elyria to the black shale. South of this point, the grindstone grit, red shale and ash-colored shale vary in thick- ness. The town of Chillicothe, the village of Newburg, and a point in the west line of Crawford County, are all situated on the "black shale." Dr. Locke gives the dip, at Montgomery and Miami Counties, at north 14°, east, six feet to the mile; at Columbus, Whitelesey gives it, 81° 52' east, 22 ^^^ feet to the mile. The fine-grained sandstone at Newburg is not over eighty feet in thickness ; at Jacktown and Reynoldsburg, 500 ; at Waverly 250 to 300 feet, and at Brush Creek, Adams County, 343 feet. The black shale is 251 feet thick at Brush Creek ; at Alum Creek, 250 to 300 feet thick ; in Craw- ford County, about 250 feet thick. The conglomerate in Jackson County is 200 feet thick ; at Cuyahoga Falls, 100 to 120 feet ; at Burton, Geauga County, 300 feet. The great limestone formation is divided into several numbers. At Cincinnati, at the bed of the river, there is : 1 — A blue limestone and slaty marlite. 2 — Dun-colored marl and layers of lime rock. 3 — Blue marl and layers of blue limestone. 4 — Marl and bands of limestone, with immense numbers of shells at the surface. 164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. In Adams County, the detailed section is thus : 1 — Blue limestone and marl. 2 — Blue marl. 3 — Flinty limestone. 4 — Blue marl. 5 — Cliff limestone. The coal-fields of Ohio are composed of alternate beds of coarse-grained sandstone, clay shales, layers of ironstone, thin beds of limestone and numer- ous strata of coal. The coal region abounds in iron. From Jacktown to Con- cord, in Muskingum County, there are eight beds of coal, and seven strata of limestone. The distance between these two points is forty-two miles. From Freedom, in Portage County, to Poland, in Trumbull County, a distance of thirty-five miles, there are five distinct strata. Among them are distributed thin beds of limestone, and many beds of iron ore. The greater mass of coal and iron measures is composed of sandstone and shale. The beds of sandstone are from ten to twenty or eighty feet thick. Of shale, five to fifty feet thick. The strata of coal and iron are comparatively thin. A stratum of coal three feet thick can be worked to advantage. One four feet thick is called a good mine, few of them averaging five. Coal strata are found from six to ten and eleven feet. There are four beds of coal, and three of limestone, in Lawrence and Scioto Counties. There are also eight beds of ore, and new ones are con- stantly being discovered. The ore is from four to twelve inches thick, occasion- ally being two feet. The calcareous ore rests upon the second bed of limestone, from the bottom, and is very rich. The most prominent fossils are trees, plants and stems of the coal-bearing rocks, shells and corals and crustacese of the limestone, and the timber, leaves and dirt-beds of the "drift" — the earthy covering of the rocks, which varies from nothing to 200 feet. Bowlders, or " lost rocks," are strewn over the State. They are evidently transported from some remote section, being fragments of primitive rock, granite, gneiss and hornblende rock, which do not exist in Ohio, nor within 400 miles of the State, in any direction. In the Lake Supe- rior region we find similar specimens. The superficial deposits of Ohio are arranged into four geological formations : 1 — The ancient drift, resting upon the rocks of the State. 2 — The Lake Erie marl and sand deposits. 3 — The drift occupying the valleys of large streams, such as the Great Miami, the Ohio and Scioto. 4 — The bowlders. The ancient drift of Ohio is meager in shell deposits. It is not, therefore, decided whether it be of salt-water origin or fresh water. It has, at the bottom, blue clay, with gravel-stones of primitive or sedimen- tary rocks, containing carbonate of lime. The yellow clay is found second. Above that, sand and gravel, less stratified, containing more pebbles of the HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 165- sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and stone, iron ore, coal and shale. The lower layer contains logs, trees, leaves, sticks and vines. The Lake Erie section, or "Lake Erie deposits," may be classed in the following order : 1 — From the lake level upward, fine, blue, marly sand — forty-five to sixty feet. 2 — Coarse, gray, water-washed sand — ten to twenty feet. 3 — Coarse sand and gravel, not well stratified, to surface — twenty to fifty feet. Stratum first dissolves in water. It contains carbonate of lime, magnesia, iron, alumina, silex, sulphur, and some decomposed leaves, plants and sticks. Some pebbles are found. In contact with the water, quicksand is formed. The Hickory Plains, at the forks of the Great Miami and White Water, and also between Kilgore's Mill and New Richmond, are the results of heavy dilu- vial currents. In presenting these formations of the State, we have quoted from the experi- ence and conclusions of Charles Whittlesey, eminent as a geologist, and who was a member of the Ohio Geological Corps. Ohio's rank during the war. The patriotism of this State has been stanch, unswerving and bold, ever since a first settlement laid its corner-stone in the great Western wilder- ness. Its decisive measures, its earnest action, its noble constancy, have earned the laurels that designate it "a watchword for the nation." In the year 1860, Ohio had a population of 2,343,739. Its contribution of soldiers to the great conflict that was soon to surge over the land in scarlet terror, was apportioned 310,000 men. In less than twenty-four hours after the President's proclama- tion and call for troops, the Senate had matured and carried a bill through, appropriating $1,000,000 for the purpose of placing the State on a war footing. The influences of party sentiments were forgotten, and united, the State unfurled the flag of patriotism. Before the bombardment of old Fort Sumter has fairly ceased its echoes, twenty companies were offered the Governor for immediate service. When the surrender was verified, the excitement was tumultuous. Militia officers telegraphed their willingness to receive prompt orders, all over the State. The President of Kenyon College — President Andrews — tendered his services by enlisting in the ranks. Indeed, three months before the outbreak of the war, he had expressed his readiness to the Governor to engage in service should there be occasion. He was the first citi- zen to make this offer. The Cleveland Grays, the Rover Guards, the State Fencibles, the Dayton Light Guards, the Governor's Guards, the Columbus Videttes and the Guthrie Grays — the best drilled and celebrated militia in the State — telegraphed to Columbus for orders. Chillicothe, Portsmouth and Circleville offered money and troops. Canton, Xenia, Lebanon, Lancaster, Springfield, Cincinnati,, 166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Dayton, Cleveland, Toledo and other towns urged their assistance upon the State. Columbus began to look like a great army field. The troops were stationed wherever they could find quarters, and food in sufficient quantities was hard to procure. The Governor soon established a camp at Miamiville, convenient to Cincinnati. He intended to appoint Irvin McDowell, of the staff of Lieut. Gen. Scott, to the leading command, but the friends of Capt. McClellan became enthusiastic and appealed to the Governor, who decided to investigate his case. Being satisfied, he desired Capt. McClellan to come up to Columbus. But that officer was busy and sent Capt. Pope, of the regular army, in his stead. This gentleman did not suit Gov. Dennison. The friends of McClellan again set forth the high qualities of this officer, and Gov. Dennison sent an earnest request for an interview, which was granted, and resulted in the appointment of the officer as Major General of the Ohio militia. Directly thereafter, he received an invitation to take command of the Pennsylvania troops, but Ohio could not spare so valuable a leader. For three-years troops were soon called out, and their Generals were to be appointed by the President. Gov. Dennison advised at once with the War Department at Washington, and McClellan received his appointment as Major General in the regular army. Cincinnati and Louisville became alarmed lest Kentucky should espouse the Confederate cause, and those cities thus be left insecure against the inroads of a cruel foe. Four hundred and thirty-six miles of Ohio bordered Slave States. Kentucky and West Virginia were to be kept in check, but the Governor pro- claimed that not only should the border of Ohio be protected, but even beyond that would the State press the enemy. Marietta was garrisoned, and other river points rendered impregnable. On the 20th of May, 1861, official dispatches affirmed that troops were approaching Wheeling under the proclamation of Letcher. Their intention was to route the convention at Wheeling. Military orders were instantly given. Col. Steedman and his troops crossed at Marietta and crushed the disturbance at Parkersburg — swept into the country along the railroad, built bridges, etc. Col. Irvine crossed at Wheeling and united with a regiment of loyal Virginians. At the juncture of the two tracks at Grafton, the columns met, but the rebels had retreated in mad haste. The loyal troops followed, and, at Philippi, fought the first little skirmish of the war. The great railway lines were secured, and the Wheeling convention protected, and West Virginia partially secured for the Union. After preliminary arrangements, McClellan's forces moved in two columns upon the enemy at Laurel Hill. One remained in front, under Gen. Morris, while the other, under his own command, pushed around to Huttonsville, in their rear. Gen. Morris carried his orders through promptly, but McClellan was late. Rosecrans was left with McClellan's advance to fight the battle of Rich Mountain, unaided. Garnett being alarmed at the defeat of his outpost, retreated. McClellan was not in time to intercept him, but Morris continued HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 167 the chase. Steedman overtook the rear-guard of Garnett's army at Carrick's Ford, where a sharp skirmish ensued, Garnett himself falling. The scattered portions of the rebel army escaped, and West Virginia was again free from armed rebels — and was the gift of Ohio through her State militia to the nation at the beginning of the war. At this period. Gen. McClellan was called to Washington. Gen. Rose- crans succeeded him, and the three-years troops left in the field after the dis- banding of the three-months men, barely sufficed to hold the country. He telegraphed Gov. Dennison to supply him immediately with re-enforcements, the request being made on the 8th of August. Already had the Confederate lead- ers realized the loss they had sustained in Western Virginia, and had dispatched their most valued General, Robert E. Lee, to regain the territory. Rosecrans again wrote : " If you, Governor of Indiana and Governor of Michigan, will lend your efforts to get me quickly 50,000 men, in addition to my present force, I think a blow can be struck which will save fighting the rifled-cannon batteries at Manassas. Lee is certainly at Cheat Mountain. Send all troops you can to Grafton." Five days thereafter, all the available troops in the West were dispatched to Fremont, Mo., and the plans of Rosecrans were foiled. Heavy re-enforcements had been sent to the column in Kanawha Valley under Gen. Cox. He became alarmed, and telegraphed to Gov. Dennison. Rosecrans again appealed to Gov. Dennison, that he might be aided in march- ing across the country against Floyd and Wise to Cox's relief, "I want to catch Floyd while Cox holds him in front." The response was immediate and effective. He was enabled to employ twenty-three Ohio regiments in clearing his department from rebels, securing the country and guarding the exposed railroads. With this achievement, the direct relation of the State administrations with the conduct and methods of campaigns terminated. The General Government had settled down to a sys- tem. Ohio was busy organizing and equipping regiments, caring for the sick and wounded, and sustaining her home strength. Gov. Dennison's staff officers were tendered better positions in the national service. Camps Dennison and Chase, one at Cincinnati and the ather at Columbus, were controlled by the United States authorities. A laboratory was established at Columbus for the supply of ammunition. During the fall and early winter, the Ohio troops suffered in Western Virginia. The people of their native State responded with blankets, clothing and other supplies. In January, 1862, David A. Tod entered upon the duties of Governor. The first feature of his administration was to care for the wounded at home, sent from Pittsburg Landing. A regular system was inaugurated to supply stores and clothing to the suffering at home and in the field. Agencies were established, and the great and good work was found to be most efficacious in alleviating the wretchedness consequent upon fearful battles. A. B. Lyman 10 168 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. had charge of aifairs in Cincinnati, and Royal Taylor held the same position in Louisville. J. C. Wetmore was stationed at Washington, F. W, Bingham at Memphis, Weston Flint at Cairo and St. Louis. Thus the care which Ohia extended over her troops at home and in the hattle-field, furnished a practical example to other States, and was the foundation of that commendable system all over the Union. Stonewall Jackson's sudden advent in the valley created the greatest consternation lest the safety of the capital be jeopardized, and the War Department called for more troops. Gov. Tod immediately issued a proclamation, and the people, never shrinking, responded heartily. At Cleve- land a large meeting was held, and 250 men enlisted, including 27 out of 32. students attending the law school. Fire bells rang out the alarm at Zanesville, a meeting was convened at 10 in the morning, and by 3 in the afternoon, 300' men had enlisted. Court was adjourned sine die, and the Judge announced that he and the lawyers were about to enter into military ranks. Only three unmarried men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three were left in the town of Putnam. Five thousand volunteers reported at Camp Chase within two days after the proclamation. Again in June, the President called for troops, followed by yet another call. Under these calls, Ohio was to raise 74,000 men. The draft system was. advised to hasten and facilitate filling regiments. It has always been a repul- sive measure. To save sections from this proceeding, enormous sums were ofiered to induce men to volunteer, and thus fill the quota. Counties, townships, towns and individuals, all made bids and urged the rapid enlistment of troops. The result was, that the regiments were filled rap- idly, but not in sufficient numbers to prevent the draft. Twenty thousand four hundred and twenty-seven men were yet lacking, and the draft was ordered, September 15. At the close of the year, Ohio was ahead of her calls. Late in the fall, the prospect was disheartening. The peninsula campaign had failed. The Army of Northern Virginia had been hurled back nearly to Washington. The rebels had invaded Maryland ; Cincinnati and Louisville were threatened,, and the President had declared his intention to abolish slavery, as a war meas- ure. During the first part of 1862, artillery, stores and supplies were carried away mysteriously, from the Ohio border ; then little squads ventured over the river to plunder more openly, or to burn a bridge or two. The rebel bands came swooping down upon isolated supply trains, sending insolent roundabout messages regarding their next day's intentions. Then came invasions of our lines near Nashville, capture of squads of guards within sight of camp, the seizure of Gallatin. After Mitchell had entered Northern Alabama, all manner of depre- dations were committed before his very eyes. These were attributed to John Morgan's Kentucky cavalry. He and his men, by the middle of 1862, were as active and dangerous as Lee or Beauregard and their troops. Morgan was a native of Alabama, but had lived in Kentucky since boyhood. His father was large slave-owner, who lived in the center of the "Blue Grass Country." His HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 169 life had been one of wild dissipation, adventure and recklessness, although in his own family he had the name of being most considerate. The men who fol- lowed him were accustomed to a dare-devil life. They formed and independent band, and dashed madly into the conflict, wherever and whenever inclination prompted. Ohio had just raised troops to send East, to assist in the overthrow of Stonewell Jackson. She had overcome her discouragements over failures, for the prospects were brightening. Beauregard had evacuated Corinth ; Mem- phis had fallen ; Buell was moving toward Chattanooga ; Mitchell's troops held Northern Tennessee and Northern Alabama ; Kentucky was virtually in the keeping of the home guards and State military board. And now, here was Morgan, creating confusion in Kentucky by his furious raids ! On the 11th of July, the little post of Tompkinsville fell. He issued a call for the Kentuckians to rise in a body. He marched toward Lexington, and the southern border of Ohio was again in danger. Cincinnati was greatly excited. Aid was sent to Lexington and home guards were ready for duty. Morgan was not prominent for a day or so, but he was not idle. By the 9th of July, he held possession of Tompkinsville and Glasgow ; by the 11th, of Lebanon. On the 13th, he entered Harraldsburg ; Monday morning he was within fifteen miles of Frank- fort. He had marched nearly 400 miles in eight days. Going on, toward Lexington, he captured the telegraph operator at Midway, and his messages also I He was now aware of the plans of the Union armies at Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati and Frankfort. In the name of the operator, he sent word that Morgan was driving in the pickets at Frankfort ! Now that he had thrown his foes off guard, he rested his men a couple of days. He decided to let Lexington alone, and swept down on Cynthiana, routing a few hundred loyal Kentucky cavalrymen, capturing the gun and 420 prisoners, and nearly 300 horses. Then he was off to Paris ; he marched through Winchester, Richmond, Crab Orchard and Somerset, and again crossed the Cumberland River. He started with 900 men and returned with 1,200, having captured and paroled nearly as many, besides destroying all the Government arms and stores in seven- teen towns. The excitement continued in Cincinnati. Two regiments were hastily formed, for emergencies,- known as Cincinnati Reserves. Morgan's raid did not reach the city, but it demonstrated to the rebel forces what might be accomplished in the " Blue Grass " region. July and August were passed in gloom. Bragg and Buell were both watchful, and Chattanooga had not been taken. Lexington was again menaced, a battle fought, and was finally deserted because it could not be held. Louisville was now in danger. The banks sent their specie away. Railroad companies added new guards. September 1, Gen. Kirby Smith entered Lexington, and dispatched Heath with about six thousand men against Cincinnati and Covington. John Morgan joined him. The rebels rushed upon the borders of Ohio. The failure at Rich- mond only added deeper apprehension. Soon Kirby Smith and his regiments 170 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. occupied a position where only a few unmanned siege guns and the Ohio prevented his entrance through Covington into the Queen City. The city was fully armed, and Lew. Wallace's arrival to take command inspired all with fresh courage. And before the people were hardly aware that danger was so near, the city was proclaimed under strict martial law. " Citizens for labor, soldiers for battle." There was no panic, because the leaders were confident. Back of Newport and Covington breastworks, riflepits and redoubts had been hastily thrown up, and pickets were thrown out. From Cincinnati to Covington extended a pon- ton bridge. Volunteers marched into the city and those already in service were sent to the rescue. Strict military law was now modified, and the city being secured, some inconsiderate ones expressed themselves as being outraged with " much ado about nothing." But Gen. Wallacedid not cease his vigilance. And Smith's force began to move up. One or two skirmishes ensued. The city was again excited. September 11 was one of intense suspense. But Smith did not attack in force. He was ordered to join Bragg. On the Mon- day following, the citizens of Cincinnati returned to their avocations. In the spring of 1863, the State was a trifle discouraged. Her burdens had been heavy, and she was weary. Vicksburg was yet in the hands of the enemy. Rosecrans had not moved since his victory at Stone River. There had been fearful slaughter about Fredericksburg. But during July, 1863, Ohio was aroused again by Bragg's command to Morgan, to raid Kentucky and capture Louisville. On the 3d of July, he was in a position to invade Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. He continued his depre- dations, bewildering the militia with his movements. His avowed intention was to burn Indianapolis and " take Cincinnati alive." Morgan's purposes were never clear. It was his audacious and sudden dashes, here and there, which gave him success. Before Cincinnati was aware, he was at Harrison — 13th of July. He expected to meet the forces of Burnside and Judah, and to cut his way through. His plans here, as everywhere, were indefinable, and he succeeded in deceiving everybody. While printers in Cincinnati were setting up " reports " as to his whereabouts, he was actually marching through the sub- urbs, near troops enough to devour them, and yet not encountered by a single picket ! They fed their horses within sight of Camp Dennison. At 4 o'clock that day, they were within twenty-eight miles of Cincinnati — having marched more than ninety miles in thirty-five hours. The greatest chagrin was expressed, that Morgan had so easily eluded the great military forces. A sudden dash was made to follow him. There was a universal bolting of doors, burying of valuables, hiding of horses, etc., all along the route of the mad cavalryman and his 2,000 mounted men. They plundered beyond all comparison. They made a principle of it. On the 14th of July, he was feeding his horses near Dennison ; he reached the ford at Bufiington Island on the evening of the 18th ; he had encountered several little skirmishes, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 171 but he had marched through at his own will, mostly ; all the troops of Kentucky had been outwitted. The Indiana forces had been laughed to scorn. The 50,000 Ohio militia had been as straws in his way. The intrepid band would soon be upon friendly soil, leaving a blackened trail behind. But Judah was up and marching after him, Hobson followed and Col. Runkle was north of him. The local militia in his advance began to impede the way. Near Pome- roy, a stand was made. Morgan found militia posted everywhere, but he suc- ceeded in running the gantlet, so far as to reach Chester. He should have hastened to cross the ford. Fortunately, he paused to breathe his horses and secure a guide. The hour and a half thus lost was the first mistake Morgan is known to have made in his military career. They reached Portland, and only a little earthwork, guarded by about 300 men, stood between him and safety. His men were exhausted, and he feared to lead them to a night attack upon a position not understood perfectly ; he would not abandon his wagon train, nor his wounded ; he would save or lose all. As Morgan was preparing next morning, having found the earthworks deserted through the night, Judah came up. He repulsed the attack at first, capturing Judah's Adjutant General, and ordering him to hold the force on his front in check. He was not able to join his own company, until it was in full retreat. Here Lieut. O'Neil, of the Fifth Indiana, made an impulsive charge, the lines were reformed, and up the Chester road were Hobson's gallant cavalrymen, who had been galloping over three States to capture this very Morgan ! And now the tin-clad gunboats steamed up and opened fire. The route was complete, but Morgan escaped with 1,200 men ! Seven hundred men were taken prisoners, among them Morgan's brother, Cols. Ward, Duke and Hufiman. The prisoners were brought to Cincinnati, while the troops went after the fugitive. He was surrounded by dangers ; his men were exhausted, hunted down ; skirmishes and thrilling escapes marked a series of methods to escape — his wonderful sagacity absolutely brilliant to the very last — which was his capture, on the 26th, with 346 prisoners and 400 horses and arms. It may be added, that after several months of con- finement, Morgan and six prisoners escaped, on the 27th of November. Again was he free to raid in the " Blue Grass " country. John Brough succeeded Gov. Tod January 11, 1864. His first prominent work was with the Sanitary Commission. In February, of the same year, the President called for more troops. The quota of Ohio was 51,465 men. The call of March added 20,995. And in July was a third demand for 50,792. In December, the State was ordered to raise 26,027. The critical period of the war was evidently approaching. Gov. Brough instituted a reformation in the "promotion system " of the Ohio troops. He was, in many cases, severe in his measures. He ignored " local great men " and refused distinction as a bribe. The consequence was that he had many friends and some enemies. The acute- ness of his policy was so strong, and his policy so just, that, after all his severe administration, he was second to no statesman in the nation during the struggle. 172 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Ohio during the war was most active in her relief and aid societies. The most noted and extensive organization was the Cincinnati Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission. The most efficient organization was the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio. When the happy tidings swept over the land that peace was proclaimed, an echo of thanksgiving followed the proclamation. The brave sons of Ohio returned to their own soil — those who escaped the carnage. But 'mid the rejoicing there was deepest sadness, for a fragment only remained of that brave army which had set out sturdily inspired with patriotism. A BRIEF MENTION OF PROMINENT OHIO GENERALS. George Briton McClellan, the first General appointed in Ohio, was born December 3, 1826, in Philadelphia. His father was a physician of high stand- ing and Scottish descent. Young George was in school in Philadelphia, and entered West Point at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty, he was a bre- vet Second Lieutenant, tracing lines of investment before Vera Cruz, under the supervision of Capt. R. E. Lee, First Lieut. P. G. T. Beauregard, Second Lieut. G. W. Smith. At the close of the Mexican war, old Col. Totten reported in favor of them all to Winfield Scott. He had charge of an exploring expedition to the mountains of Oregon and Washington, beginning with the Cascade Range. This was one of a series of Pacific Railway explorations. Returning to Wash- ington, he was detailed to visit the West Indies and secretly select a coaling sta- tion for the United States Navy. He was dispatched by Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, to Europe, with instructions to take full reports of the organ- ization of military forces connected with the Crimean war. This work elicited entire satisfaction. He returned in January, 1857, resigned as regular army officer, and was soon installed as engineer of Illinois Central Railroad. In 1860, he was President of the Ohio & Mississippi. He removed to Cincinnati, where he was at the opening of the war. William Starke Rosecrans was born September 6, 1819, in Delaware County, Ohio. His people were from Amsterdam. He was educated at West Point. When the war opened, he espoused the cause of the Union with enthusiastic zeal, and was appointed by McClellan on his staff" as Engineer. June 9, he was Chief Engineer of the State under special law. Soon thereafter, he was Colonel of the Twenty-third Ohio, and assigned to the command of Camp Chase, Columbus. On May 16, his commission was out as Brigadier General in the United States Army. This reached him and he was speedily sum- moned to active service, under Gen. McClellan. After the battle of Rich Moun- tain, he was promoted to the head of the department. In April, 1862, he was succeeded by Fremont, and ordered to Wash- ington to engage in immediate service for the Secretary of War. About the 15th of May, he was ordered to Gen. Halleck, before Corinth. He was relieved from his command December 9, 1864. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 173 Ulysses S. Grant, whose history we cannot attempt to give in these pages, was born on the banks of the Ohio, at Point Pleasant, Clermont Co., Ohio, April 27, 1822. He entered West Point in 1839. " That the son of a tanner, poor and unpretending, without influential friends until his performance had won them, ill-used to the world and its ways, should rise — not suddenly, in the first blind worship of helpless ignorance which made any one who understood regimental tactics illustrious in advance for what he was going to do, not at all for what he had done — but slowly, grade by grade, through all the vicissitudes of constant service and mingled blunders and suc- cess, till, at the end of four years' war he stood at the head of our armies, orowned by popular acclaim our greatest soldier, is a satisfactory answer to criticism and a sufiicient vindication of greatness. Success succeeds." " We may reason on the man's career ; we may prove that at few stages has he shown personal evidence of marked ability ; we may demonstrate his mis- takes ; we may swell the praises of his subordinates. But after all, the career stands wonderful, unique, worthy of study so long as the nation honors her henefactors, or the State cherishes the good fame of the sons who contributed most to her honor." Lieut. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was another Ohio contribution to the great Union war. He was born at Lancaster February 8, 1820. He entered West Point in June, 1836. His " march to the sea " has fully brought out the details of his life, since they were rendered interesting to all, and we refrain from repeating the well-known story. Philip H. Sheridan was born on the 6th of March, 1831, in Somerset, Perry Co., Ohio. He entered West Point in 1848. During the war, his career was brilliant. His presence meant victory. Troops fighting under his command were inspired. Gen. Rosecrans said of him, "He fights, he fights." A staff officer once said, "He is an emphatic human syllable." Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson was born in Sandusky County, town of Clyde, November 14, 1828. Maj. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore was born February 28, 1825, at Black River, Lorain Co., Ohio. Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell was born at Franklinton, Ohio, October 15, 1818. Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell was born near Marietta on the 23d of March, 1818. His grandfather on the maternal side was one of the first settlers of Cincinnati. Maj. Gen. 0. M. Mitchell was a native of Kentucky, but a resident of Ohio from the age of four years. Maj. Gen. Robert C. Schenck was born October 4, 1809, in Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio. Maj. Gen. James A.' Garfield, was born in Orange, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, November 19, 1881. 174 ISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO, Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox was born in Canada in 1828, and removed to Ohio in 1846. Maj. Gen, James B. Steedman was born in Pennsylvania July 30, 1818, and removed to Toledo in 1861. Maj. Gen. David S. Stanley was born in Wayne County, Ohio, June 1, 1828. Maj. Gen. George Crook was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, Septem- ber 8, 1828. Maj. Gen. Mortimer D. Leggett was born in New York April 19, 1831, and emigrated to Ohio, in 1847. Brevet Maj. Gen. John C. Tidball was born in Virginia, but removed while a mere lad to Ohio with his parents. Brevet Maj. Gen. John W. Fuller was born in England in 1827. He removed to Toledo in 1858. Brevet Maj. Gen. Manning F. Force was born in Washington, D. C, on the 17th of December, 1824. He became a citizen of Cincinnati. Brevet Maj. Gen. Henry B. Banning was born in Knox County, Ohio, November 10, 1834. We add the names of Brevet Maj. Gens. Erastus B. Tyler, Thomas H. Ewing, Charles R. Woods, August V. Kautz, Rutherford B. Hayes, Charles C. Walcutt, Kenner Garrard, Hugh Ewing, Samuel Beatty, James S. Robinson, Joseph W. Keifer, Eli Long, William B. Woods, John W. Sprague, Benjamin P. Runkle, August Willich, Charles Griffin, Henry J. Hunt, B. W. Brice. Brig. Gens. Robert L. McCook, William H. Lytle, William Leroy Smith, C. P. Buckingham, Ferdinand Van Derveer, George P. Este, Joel A. Dewey, Benjamin F. Potts, Jacob Ammen, Daniel McCook, J. W. Forsyth, Ralph P. Buckland, William H. Powell, John G. Mitchell, Eliakim P. Scam- mon, Charles G Harker, J. W. Reilly, Joshua W. Sill, N. C. McLean, Will- iam T. H. Brooks, George W. Morgan, John Beatty, William W. Burns, John S. Mason, S. S. Carroll, Henry B. Carrington, M. S. Wade, John P. Slough, T. K. Smith. Brevet Brig. Gens. C. B. Ludlow, Andrew Hickenlooper, B. D. Fearing, Henry F. Devol, Israel Garrard, Daniel McCoy, W, P. Richardson, G. F. Wiles, Thomas M. Vincent, J. S. Jones, Stephen B. Yeoman, F. W. Moore, Thomas F. Wilder, Isaac Sherwood, C. H. Grosvenor, Moses E. Walker, R. N. Adams, E. B. Eggleston, I. M. Kirby. We find numerous other names of Brevet Brigadier Generals, mostly of late appointments, and not exercising commands in accordance with their brevet rank, which we omit quoting through lack of space. They are the names of men of rare abilities, and in many cases of brilliant achievements. In looking over the "War Record of Ohio," we find the State a great leader in men of valor and heroic deeds. It was the prolific field of military geniuses. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 175 Ohio was draped with the garb of mourning at the close of the war. Her human sacrifice in behalf of the nation had been bitter. There were tears and heart-aches all over the land. Her ranks were swept by a murderous fire, from which they never flinched, and many ofiicers fell. Col. John H. Patrick will be remembered as opening the battle of Lookout Mountain. He fell mortally wounded, during the Atlanta campaign, May 15, 1862, while actively engaged. He was struck by a canister shot, and expired half a hour thereafter. Col. John T. Toland, in July, 1863, was placed in command of a mounted brigade, including his regiment, and was instructed to destroy the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. He reached Wytheville, Va., on the afternoon of the 18th of July. The rebels were safely intrenched in the house, and poured a galling fire into the national troops. Col. Toland was on horseback, at the head of his command. A sharpshooter sent a bullet with fatal certainty, and he fell on the neck of his horse, but was instantly caught by his Orderly Sergeant, who heard the fervent words : " My horse and my sword to my mother." Lieut. Col. Barton S. Kyle accompanied his regiment to the battle of Pitts- burg Landing. The regiment was forced back, though resisting bravely. Lieut. Col. Kyle was at his post of duty, encouraging his men, when he received a bullet in his right breast. He survived five hours. Col. William G. Jones was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, June, 1863. His regiment, the Thirty-sixth Ohio, was included in Turchin's Brigade of the Fourteenth Corps. He wrote in his pocket memoranda : " Off to the left ; merciful Father, have mercy on me and my regiment, and protect us from injury and death " — at 12 o'clock. At 5 that afternoon, he was fatally wounded and expired at 7 that same evening, on the battle-field His remains were taken by the rebels, but in December, 1863, they were exhumed and interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. Col. Fred. C. Jones held command of the Tenth Brigade, in October, 1862, marching from Wild Cat, Ky., to Nashville, through a perpetual skirmish, During the battle of Stone River, Col. Jones' regiment, the Twenty-fourth, was on the front and left of the line. During the afternoon, when the rebel assault upon the left became furious. Col. Jones ordered his men to lie down and hold fire, which was obeyed. They rose to pour a deadly volley into the rebel ranks, and rush forward in a fierce charge. The capture of an entire rebel regiment was thus effected, but Col. Jones was shot in the right side. He was carried to the rear. " I know it ; I am dying now ; pay no attention to me, but look after my wounded men." He survived about ten hours. His remains are buried in Spring Grove, Cincinnati. Col. Lorin Andrews went with his command to Western Virginia, where he succumbed to exposure and severe duty. He was removed to his home, Gambler, Ohio, where he died surrounded by friends September 18, 1861. 17 G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO Col. Minor Milliken was sent to repel the attacks of the rebels at the rear. He led a superb cavalry charge against the enemy, vastly superior in numbers, and was cut off with a small portion of his regiment. He disdained to sur- . render, and ordered his men to cut their way out. A hand-to-hand conflict ensued. Col. Milliken, being an expert swordsman, was able to protect himself with his saber. While parrying the strokes of his assailant, another shot him. The regiment, again charging, recovered his body, stripped of sword, purse and watch. Col. George P. Webster, with his regiment, the Ninety-eighth, left Steu- benville for Covington, Ky., August 23, 1862, marching from that point to Lex- ington and Louisville. He was placed at the command of the Thirty-fourth Brigade, Jackson's division, Cooke's corps. He fell in the battle of Perryville, and died on the field of battle. Col. Leander Stem was appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry August 30, 1862. His premonitions that he should fall during his first regular engagement proved too true. As the army was advancing on Murfreesboro, the engagement of Knob Gap occurred, when Col. Stem's regi- ment charged and took a rebel battery, with several prisoners. The army closed around Murfreesboro, and on the evening of the 30th, the One Hun- dred and First was engaged in demonstrations against the enemy. Next morning, the battle of Stone River began in earnest. When Col. Stem's regi- ment began to waver, he called out: " Stand by the flag now, for the good old State of Ohio ! " and instantly fell, fatally wounded. Lieut. Col. Jonas D. Elliott held his position in May, 1863. During the summer of 1864, he commanded the left wing of the regiment at Dodsonville, Ala.; in September, he was sent after Wheeler, and was ordered into camp at Decatur. On the 23d, he was dispatched to Athens, to participate in the attack of Gen. Forrest, of the rebels. Col. Elliott was sent out, with 300 men, and being surrounded by Gen. Forrest, with vastly superior numbers, a forced resist- ance enabled them to sustain their own ground, until a fresh brigade of rebels arrived, under Gen, Warren. This officer instructed one of his men to shoot Lieut. Col. Elliott, and a moment later he fell. He lingered nineteen days. Col. Joseph L. Kirby Smith took command of the Forty-third Ohio Regi- ment. He fell at the battle of Corinth, under Rosecrans. Lieut. Col. James W. Shane fell, June 27, 1864, in an assault upon the enemy's works at Kenesaw. He survived but forty minutes. Col. Augustus H. Coleman displayed the abilities of a successful commander. He was in the first charge on the bridge across Antietaf Creek. He was fatally wounded. His last words were inquiries regarding his men. Col. J. W. Lowe commanded the Twelfth Ohio, and was ordered to assist the Tenth in the battle of Carnifex Ferry. Cheering his men, in the thickest of the fight, a rifle ball pierced his forehead, and he fell dead — the first field officer from Ohio killed in battle in the war for the Union. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 177 Lieut. Col. Moses F. Wooster was engaged with his regiment, the One Hun- dred and First Ohio, at Perryville. He was mortally wounded on the 31st of December, 1862, in the grand effort to stem the tide of defeat at Stone River. The list of staff officers we refrain from giving, through lack of space. At the opening of the war, William Dennison was Governor of Ohio. David Tod succeeded him. John Brough was the third War Governor. Secretary Edwin M. Stanton was one of the most popular war Ministers. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1815 ; he was engaged in the United States Circuit Court, in 1860, in a leading law suit, at Cincinnati, known as the Manny and McCormick reaper trial ; on the 20th of January, 1862, he was appointed Secretary of War by Mr. Lincoln. Ex-Secretary Salmon P. Chase's public services in Ohio have already been mentioned in these pages. In 1861, he was appointed Secretary of the Treas- ury, in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet. United States Senator B. F. Wade made his reputation in Ohio. This Senator of the State stood at the head of the Committee on the Conduct of the War throughout its duration. United States Senator John Sherman was a leading member of the Finance •Committee, during the war. For some time he was its Chairman. Jay Cooke was the financial agent of the Government, furnishing money for the payment of the troops. He was born in Portland, Huron Co., Ohio. In our brief review of the war record of Ohio, we have omitted a vast amount of detail information that would prove interesting to our readers. We believe we have been accurate in whatever we have given, taking as our authority, that accepted "encyclopedia" of Ohio war facts — Whitelaw Reid, who has pub- lished a valuable volume on the subject. SOME DISCUSSED SUBJECTS. It may be well in glancing over the achievements of Ohio, her momentous labors and grand successes, to refer to the Ordinance of 1787, more minutely than we have done, in relation to many events, since its inherent principles are not only perpetuated in the laws of the entire Northwest, but have since been woven into the general Constitution of the L^nited States. It made permanent the standard and character of immigration, social culture and political and edu- cational institutions. It was thoroughly antislavery and denounced involuntary servitude, which was sanctioned in every other State at that time, with the exception of Massachusetts. It protected religion and property. As late as 1862, Gen. William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana, called a convention for the purpose of considering the slavery question, and the feasibility of intro- ducing the system in the new States and Territories being formed. There was at this time a spirited contest, and Illinois, Indiana and possibly Ohio, barely escaped a decision that a full support should be given its introduction 178 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. into these States. Its adoption was based upon certain specifications and limits of time, which upon a deeper consideration was deemed perplexing and impractical. An animated discussion arose not long since, regarding the correct author- ship of this important ordinance, and its chief worker in gaining its sanction by Congress. Mr. Webster ascribed its authorship to Mathew Dane, of Massachusetts, which statement was immediately refuted by Mr. Benton, of Mississippi, who laid claim to it as the birthright of Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia. It has been almost impossible to obtain accurate reports of the actions of the old Continental Congress, from the fact that its meetings were held in secret, and any reports either narrated or shown in schedules or lists, were deemed a striking lack of trust on the part of the person who furnished the information. It was sufl&cient that its acts and conclusions be proclaimed without any prelude or reasoning process. Hence it has been difficult to obtain early Congressional documents. But it has been conclusively proven that the great motive power in gaining the approbation of the Ordinance of 1787, Avas neither Dane nor Jefferson, but Dr. Cutler. He arrived at New York, July 5 of that year, after a journey from Ipswich, Mass., in his sulky. He obtained lodgings at the "Plow and Harrow," and saw that his good horse was properly cared for and fed at the same place. Congress was then in session, and he had come on a mission for the Ohio Com- pany, to negotiate their grant and its privileges in the new Territory of Ohio. He remained in New York three weeks, constantly engaged in the work vital to the interests of the future great State. But he secured the installment of the principles deemed the corner-stone of a future powerful State constitution. Mr. Poole, Librarian of the Chicago Public Library, searched assiduously for con- clusive proof of Dr. Cutler's right to this honor, and in the North American Review, Vol. 122, this is emphatically set forth with substantiating proof under his signature. Other facts have been discussed and proven at a very recent date, relative to the State of Ohio, which heretofore have been omitted, and nearly lost from the historic thread which unites the present with the past. The first settlement of the lands of the Northwest is necessarily surrounded with interest. But those were exciting, troublesome times, and a few links were passed over lightly. However, the years are not so far removed in the past but the line may be traced. Mr. Francis W. Miller, of Cincinnati, has supplied some missing chapters. The earliest documentary trace extant, regarding the southern settlement at Cincinnati, is an agreement of partnership between Denman, Filson and Pat- terson, in the fractional section of land to which the city of Cincinnati was originally limited. It bears the date August 25, 1788. This was entered ou the records of Hamilton County, Ohio, October 6, 1803. HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 179 A letter from Jonathan Dayton to the Hon. Judge Symmes, dated Septem- "ber 26, 1789, says: "You have been selling your lands, I am told, for two shillings specie, the acre. The price at this moment is, and seems to be, and undoubtedly is, a good one ; but as much cannot be said of it when you find hereafter that in consequence of the rise of certificates, another acre, in another payment, may cost you in specie two shillings and sixpence." A letter from John C. Symmes to Capt. Dayton, dated April 30, 1790, says: "The land in the reserved township is held at much too high a price. Not a foot of land beyond the five-acre lots will sell. Five shillings, specie, or two dollars in certificates, is the utmost they will bring, and they will rarely sell at that." This state of affairs was in a large degree brought about by the breaking-up of North Bend and a removal of the town to Fort Washington, or Cincinnati, later. A search through the old letters and other preserved documents prove that North Bend was at one time the beginning of the great city on the Ohio, rather than Cincinnati. Judge Symmes wrote. May 18, 1789: " I have not as yet been able to make a decisive choice of a plat for the city, though I have found two pieces of ground, both eligible, but not upon the present plan of a regular square. It is a question of no little moment and difiiculty to deter- mine which of these spots is preferable, in point of local situation. I know that at first thought men will decide in favor of that on the Ohio, from the supposition that the Ohio will command more trade and business than the Miami. * * * ;g^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^e built on the Miami, the settlers throughout the purchase would find it very convenient." Another of the earliest selections of town sites was adjacent to the most southerly point of what is now Delhi Township. To this the name of South Bend was given. Judge Symmes reports November 4, 1790, of this place, over forty framed and hewed-log two-story houses, since the preceding spring. Ensign Luce is said to have taken his troops to Nor.th Bend, but decided to remove to Cincinnati, on account of the object of his affections having settled there — the wife of a settler. But this story is refuted by contradictory evi- dence from Judge Symmes' letters, which illustrate the fact that the post of North Bend was abandoned by Ensign Luce and his men in consequence of a panic, caused by Indian attacks. The removal of the troops caused a general decline of the town. Again, history and letters from the same eminent Judge, assert that Fort Washington was completed and garrisoned by Maj. Doughty before the close of that same year, and was begun by him during the summer, that Ensign Luce must have still been at his post at the bend at that time. It has been, therefore, recently accepted that the traditional "black eyes" and the "Indian panic," had nothing to do with the founding of Cincinnati, and that the advantages of the position gained the victory. Cincinnati has advanced, not only in prosperity and culture, but in national significance. Our readers must have observed, in perusing these pages, that 180 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. from this city and the State which it represents, have emanated some of the superior intellects which have used their wise faculties and talents, tempered by a wise judgment, in behalf of the American Union. The originality of the Senecas and Wyandots have been debated at some length, while others have called the tribes the same, having two branches. We have searched the earlier records and have found an authenticated account of these two tribes. The Indian tribes of Ohio were originally bold, fierce and stalwart. The country watered by the Sandusky and its tributaries was frequented by the Wyandot tribe, who came from the north side of the St. Lawrence River. The Senecas were blood relatives of this tribe. Both tribes were numbered by the thousands. A war originated between them, in this manner : A Wyandot chief desired to wed the object of his afi'ections, who laughed him to scorn, because he had taken no scalps, and was no warrior " to speak of." To change her opinion, he led out a party, and falling upon a number of Senecas, slaugh- tered them mercilessly, that he might hasten to the side of his dusky belle, with his trophies. This act inaugurated hostilities, which extended through a century. The Wyandots began to fear extermination, and, gathering their entire effects^ the natives escaped to Green Bay, and settled in several villages. But the Sen- ecas made up a war party and followed them, killing many Wyandots and burn- ing some of their villages. They then returned to Canada. Soon thereafter, they secured fire-arms from the French. Again they followed the Wyandots, firing their guns into their huts, and frightening them severely. They did not succeed as well as they expected. But the third party nearly exterminated the villages, because the young warriors Avere nearly all gone to war with the Foxes. The few at home escaping, promised to return with the Senecas, but desired two days for preparation. The Wyandots sent word to the two villages left undisturbed, and held a consultation. They decided to go as near the Senecas as possible, unobserved, and discover their real motive. They found them feast- ing on two roasted Wyandots, shouting over their victory. They danced nearly all night, and then fell asleep. A little before daylight, the Wyandots fell on them, leaving not one to carry back the news. The Wyandots then procured guns, and began to grow formidable. They set out to return to their own country, and proceeded on their way as far as Detroit, where they met a party of Senecas, on the lake. A fierce conflict ensued, and the Wyandots beheld the Senecas fall, to the last man, suffering fearful carnage themselves. They soon settled in this part of the world, their principal village being on the Sandusky. Northwestern Ohio was particularly dangerous with new Indian tribes, and the Wyandots were cruelly aggressive. The death of their chief, and their total defeat by Harrison, destroyed their power forever. On the 29th of September, 1817, a treaty was held, at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, between Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 181 Commissioners of the United States, and the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawattomie, Ottawa and Chippewa nations. All their lands in Ohio were ceded to the United States forever. There was really not a Seneca in the Seneca nation. They were chiefly Cayugas, Mohawks, Onondagas, Tuscarawas, Wyandots and Oneidas. But the Mingoes were originally Cayugas, and their chief was the celebrated Logan. After the murder of his family by the whites, the Mingoes were scattered over the territory northwest of the Ohio. The notorious Simon Girty was adopted by the Senecas. Girty's name was a terror and fiendish horror for many years. He not only led the Indians in their atrocities, but he added barbarism to their native wickedness. CONCLUSION. When peace was proclaimed, after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant, the volunteer troops disbanded, and a return to home indus- tries instituted, Ohio, like many other States, gave direct attention to the inter- ests of returned soldiers. The thrift of the State was augmented by a spasmodic, and thereafter recognized as a fictitious, demand for products, commercial and industrial pursuits redoubled their forces. But the great wave of stagnation swept over this fair land — the re-action of a war excitement. Laborers were many, but wages were inadequate. Deeper and deeper settled this lethargy — called by many "hard times" — until the wheels of commercial life revolved slowly, and from the workshops and the factories went up the echoes of priva- tion and distress. There was no famine, no fever, no epidemic, it was simply exhaustion. In the larger cities there was much suffering. Idle people loitered about, barely seeking employment, the task seeming worse than hopeless. During the years 1870, 1871 and 1872, the stringent measures brought about by the depressed state of business retarded any material advancement in general matters. The years 1873-74 were marked by a preceptible improve- ment, and a few factories were established, while larger numbers were employed in those already founded. The year 1875 was under the direction of a Demo- cratic Legislature. It was marked in many respects by a "reverse motion " in many laws and regulations. The Legislature which convened in 1876, January 3, was Republican in the main. It repealed the " Geghan Law " passed by the preceding body. At the time of its adoption, there was the most intense feeling throughout the State, the charge being made that it was in the interests of the Catholics. Among the general enactments were laws re-organizing the government of the State insti- tutions, which the previous Legislature had ordered according to their own belief to follow new doctrines. The oflBce of Comptroller of the Treasury was abolished. The powers of municipal corporations to levy taxes was limited, and their authority to incur debts was limited. Furthermore, this body prohibited any municipal appropriations, unless the actual money was in the Treasury to meet 182 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. the same in full. A law was passed for the protection of children under fourteen years of age, exhibited in public shows. The temperance cause received more vigorous and solid support than was ever rendered by the " State previously. A common-sense, highly moral and exalted platform was formed and supported by many leading men. This year witnessed the serious "strikes" among the miners in Stark and Wayne Counties. The consequences were painful — distress, riots and distruc- tion of property. The State Mine Inspector reported 300 coal mines in the State, with only twenty-five in operation. Not over 3,000,000 tons of coal were raised during the year, owing to the dullness of the times. The State charities reported the aggregate number under public care to be 29,508. The taxation for the maintenance of these classes was one and one six-hundredth of a mill on each dollar of taxable property. The reports given of the year 1877 indicated a revival of business interests and prosperity. The State produced of wheat, 27,306,566 bushels ; rye, 914,106 bushels; buckwheat, 225,822 bushels; oats, 29,325,611; barley, 1,629,817 bushels ; corn, 101,884,305 bushels ; timothy, tons of hay, 2,160,334 ; clover, tons of hay, 286,265; flax, pounds of fiber, 7,343,294; potatoes, ,10,504,278 bushels; sweet potatoes, 126,354^ bushels; tobacco, 24,214,950 pounds; sorghum, sugar, 7,507^ pounds; syrup, 1,180,255 gallons; maple sugar, 1,625,215 pounds ; maple syrup, 324,036 gallons ; honey, 1,534,902 pounds. The growth of manufacturing industries, the remarkable annual increase in stock and in agricultural products since 1877, leave no room to doubt the rapid advancement of Ohio in general wealth. WEstarr- B.onl, Pot Ga '/yT^-x/'T^'-v^J PART III. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY, ^ :Bizr :r. o. BiRO'wisr.* CHAPTER I. Primitive Appearance of the Country— The Claims of Virginia and Con- necticut—The Connecticut Western Reserve— Donation of Fire Lands, and Sale of the Balance to the Connecticut Land Company- Indian Titles Extinguished— Ordinance of 1787— Arrival of the First Surveying Corps at Conneaut— The Reserve Surveyed into Townships — Trials and Sufferings of the Surveyors— Erection of Jefferson and Trumbull Counties— Organization of Franklin Township— Portage County Erected, and Selection of its Seat of Justice— First Election, AND Organization of the County— Minutes of the First Meeting of THE Commissioners— Original Townships— Tax Levies and Collectors OF 1808— First Year's Receipts and Expenditures— Changes in the Western Boundary Line— Present Boundaries— Origin of the Name of THE County— The Portage Path — Areas and Townships — Population Statistics. WHAT is now known as Portage County was, at the time of the com- ing of the white men, one vast, unbroken forest. The soil, by the annual accumulations of leaves and abundant growths of forest vegetation, was luxuriant, and the trees stood close, and were of gigantic size. The streams and small lakes swarmed with fish, and the forest abounded with game. Where now are towns and hamlets filled with busy populations intent upon the accumulation of wealth, the mastery of knowledge, and the pursuits of pleasure, the deer browsed and the pheasant drummed his monotonous note. Where now stands the glowing furnace from which, day and night, tongues of flame are bursting, and where the busy water-wheel now furnishes power for num- erous mills and factories, half naked, dusky warriors fashioned their spears with rude implements of stoxie, and made themselves hooks out of the bones of ani- mals, for alluring the tinny tribe. Where now are fertile fields, upon which the thrifty farmer turns his furrow, which his neighbor takes up and runs on until it reaches from one end of the broad State to the other, and where are flocks and herds rejoicing in rich meadows, gladdened by abundant streams and fountains, or reposing at the heated noon-tide beneath ample shade, not a blow had been struck against the giants of the forest, the soil rested in virgin purity, the streams glided on in majesty, unvexed by wheel and unchoked by device of man. Where now the long train rushes on with the speed of the wind over plain and mead, across brook and river, awakening the echoes of the hills the long day through, and at the midnight hour screaming out its shrill whistle in ♦Chapters I to XIII inclusive. 188 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. fiery defiance, the wild native, issuing from his rude hut, trotted on in his forest path, pointed his bark canoe across the deep stream, knowing the prog- ress of time only by the rising and setting sun, troiibled by no meridians for its index, starting on his way when his nap was ended, and stopping for rest when a spot was reached that pleased his fancy. Where now a swarthy population toils ceaselessly deep down in the bowels of the earth, shut out from the light of day in digging the material that feeds the tires upon the forge, and' gives genial warmth to the poor man's happy home, and to the lovers as they chat merrily in the luxurious drawing-room, not a mine had been opened, and the vast beds of the black diamond rested unsunned beneath the superin- cumbent strata where they had been fashioned by the Creator's hand. Civili- zation had not yet come to disturb the equanimity of the red man as he smoked the pipe of peace at the council fire, and many a bitter struggle was to ensue before he would surrender to his white foe his goodly heritage by the forest stream and deep flowing river, and seek for himself new hunting-grounds in less favored regions. The first authentic record we find of the white man's claim to this portion of the red man's domain is the Virginia title to the great Northwest Territory, acquired through its several charters granted by James I in 1606, 1609 and 1611, without any recognition of the original owners and occupants of the soil. That colony first attempted to exercise au.thority over its extensive dominions lying northwest of the Ohio River, when, in 1769, the House of Burgesses passed the following act; Whereas, The people situated on the Mississippi, in the said County of Botetourt, will be very remote from the Court House and must necessarily become a separate county as soon as their numbers are sulEcient, which probably will happen in a short time, be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of the said County of Botetourt which lies on the said waters, shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said County Court for the purpose of building a Court House and prison for said county. Civil government between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers existed only in name until 1778, when, after the conquest of the country by Gen. George Rogers Clark, the Virginia Legislature organized the County of Illinois, embracing within its limits all of the lands lying west of the Ohio River to which Virginia had any claim. Col. John Todd received appointment from the Governor of Virginia as Civil Commandant and Lieutenant of the county. He served until his death, at the battle of Blue Licks in 1782, and Timothy de Montbrun was his successor. In 1783 the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act authorizing her delegates in Congress to convey to the United States all the rights of Virginia to the territory northwest of the Ohio River. Pursuant to this act, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, the Virginia delegates, ceded to the general Government, on the 1st of March, 1784, all right, title and claim of soil and jurisdiction to said tei'ritory previously held by Virginia. The deed of cession was accepted by Congress on the same day, and the United States thus secured the title of that State to the soil of Ohio. Another claim, however, still remained to be satisfied, which was more closely connected with the portion of Ohio known as the Western Reserve than the preceding one. " This claim reaches back to the founding of Connecticut, the original charter of which was granted by Charles II in 1662. It defined the limits of the grant to be " from the south line of Massachusetts on the north to Long Island Sound on the south, and from the Narragansett River on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west," which embraced all the country HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 189 lying between the 41st and 42d degrees north latitude. These boundaries included not only what is now Connecticut, but also portions of New York and New Jersey, nearly half of Pennsylvania, the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and a strip oflf the southern part of Michigan, besides portions of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. There was a clause, however, in the charter, which excepted from it such territory as was then occupijed by prior settlers. A dispute soon arose between New York and Connecticut as to their bound- aries, when the King, in 1664, appointed Commissioners to settle it. They decided that the Maronee Kiver should be the western boundary of Connecti- cut. With this decision against her, Connecticut neglected for nearly a century to assert her claim to any territory west of New York. In 1681 a charter was granted to William Penn of the territory embraced in the limits of Pennsyl- vania. This, of course, embraced a large part of the territory included in the charter of Connecticut, and bitter quarrels now sprung up between the two colonies as to their respective rights. In 1753 a company was formed in Con- necticut to plant a colony on the Susquehanna River, on lands they claimed as included in her Charter. A purchase was made of the sachems of the Six Nations by this company in 1754, at Wyoming, and in 1774 a township was formed there, called Westmoreland, which sent a Representative to the Legis- lature of Connecticut. Pennsylvania and Connecticut both sold the same lands, and both agreed to give possession, which caused constant quarrels, and resort was often had to arms to expel those in possession. In 1770 the Legislature of Connecticut sent to England certain questions respecting her title to the lands west of New York. The answers were favorable to her claims, and she determined to enforce them, but the Revolutionary war coming on suspended the controversy. In 1781 the two States appointed Commissioners to determine the dispute, and an act of Congress was passed granting to these Commissioners full power to act in the tinal settlement of the conflicting claims. The Commissioners met at Trenton, N. J., in 1782, and after a full hearing decided that Connecticut had no right to the lands in dispute, but that they belonged to Pennsylvania. The State of Connecticut acquiesced in the decision, but still claimed all the lands lying west of Pennsylvania, extending to the Mississippi River. To avoid all future trouble, Connecticut, in 1786, ceded all her lands west of Pennsylvania to Congress, excepting only 120 miles from the Pennsylvania line west, and north of latitude 41°, over which, however, the United States retained full jurisdiction. This cession was accepted, and the controversy finally settled. The territory thus confirmed to Connecticut has since been known as the Western Reserve, and lies between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania on the east, the parallel of the 41st degree north latitude on the south, and the eastern line of Seneca and Sandusky Counties on the west. It extends 120 miles from east to west, and averages about fifty miles from north to south, although on the Pennsylvania line its width is sixty-eight miles. The Reserve contains about 3,800,000 acres, and is surveyed into townships, each five miles square. Half a million acres from off the west end of the Reserve were granted by Connecticut in 1792 to the residents of Greenwich, New London, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbury, New Haven, and other villages of that State, whose property was burned by the English during the Revolutionary war. This grant is called the Fire Lands, because of being donated to compensate for the property destroyed by fire, and includes the five western ranges of townships in the Reserve. Excepting one township in Ashland County, and a small strip at the eastern end of Ottawa, the Fire Lands are embraced in 190 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Huron find Erie Counties. The entire Western Reserve embraces the present counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medi- na, Portage and Trumbull; also the greater portion of Mahoning and Sum- mit, and very limited portions of Ashland and Ottaw^a. After the donation of the Fire Lands, the remaining 3,300,000 acres were put upon the market, and in 1795 sold by the State to the Connecticut Land Company for $1,200,000. This money was invested as a permanent fund, called the Connecticut School Fund, the interest of which goes toward the support of common schools in that State. The land company divided the amount into 400 shares of $3,000 each, on payment of which a certificate was issued entitling the holder to one four-hundredth part of the lands purchased. The company conveyed it by deed of trust to Jonathan Bran, John Caldwell and John Mayan, to hold and sell for the proprietors. The certificates were all numbered, and then the proprietors drew for their land, similar to draw- ing a lottery. Before the whites, however, could take peaceable possession of their lands lying in the Western Reserve, a title from the Indians was necessary, and this was finally accomplished. Through the treaty of Fort Stanwix, consummated with the Six Nations October 22, 1784, the indefinite claim of that confederacy to the soil of Ohio was extinguished. This was followed in January, 1785, by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, by which the Delawai-es, Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas relinquished all claim to the territory lying east of the Cuya- hoga River, Portage Path and Tuscarawas River, and south of a line running southwest from Fort Laurens, on the Tuscarawas (the town of Bolivar), to the portage between the Big Miami and Maumee Rivers, near the western bound- ary of the State. A similar relinquishment was effected with the Shawnees by the treaty of Fort Finney, January 31, 1786. The treaty of Fort Har- mar, January 9, 1789, and that of Greenville, August 3, 1795, re-established and extended the southern boundary line through Ohio laid down by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh. All of the Western Reserve lying west of the Cuya- hoga River and the Portage Path was secured by a treaty made at Fort Industry (Toledo), July 4, 1805, and thus the last vestige of Indian title to the lands in the Reserve was forever extinguished. When the United States had obtained possession of the country north and west of the Ohio River, Congress took the great step which resulted in the establishment of a wise and salutary civil government. On the 13th of July, 1787, after a prolonged discussion of the principles and issues involved, there was issued "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio, " which has since been known as "the ordinance of 1787," or the "ordinance of freedom." By this great and states- manlike ordinance, provision was made for successive forms of territorial gov- ernment, adapted to successive steps of advancement in the settlement and development of the Western country. " This remarkable instrument," says Chief Justice Chase, " was the last gift of the Congress of the old con- federation to the country, and it was a fit consummation of their glorious labors." Up to this time the Government, to avoid infringements upon the rights of the Indians, had discouraged and prevented the settlement of the lands northwest of the Ohio, but on the passage of the ordinance emigration was fostered and encouraged in every way, and when the settlers went into the wilderness they found the law already there. "It was impressed upon the soil itself, while it yet bore up nothing but the forest." In June, 1796, the Connecticut Land Company sent out a surveying party to divide the Reserve into townships. It was under the charge of Moses HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 191 Cleveland, from whom the city of Cleveland takes its name. On the 4th of July the pai'ty arrived at the site of Conneaut, Ashtabula County, where they celebrated our great national holiday, being the first celebration on the Reserve. The expedition consisted of forty-five men, two women and one child. The work was begun and vigorously prosecuted during the summer and fall of 1796, and the following spring a second expedition came out to finish the survey. Wareham Shepherd, the last survivor of that surveying corps, and Amzi Atwater, who subsequently became Associate Judge of Por- tage County, were leading members of this party. When surveying at the northeast corner of Palmyra Township, Portage County, July 5, 1797, Shep- herd was taken sick with dysentery, and Miner Bickweil, one of their assist- ants, with a violent fever. They kept on, however, till they got the line run between Braceville Township, Trumbull County, and Windham Township, in this county, when Bickweil became too sick to proceed further. Here was a trying time. In a wilderness, without medicine, and without skill to use it if they had it, and with no guide but their compass — under such difficulties the bravest heart might well grow discouraged. But "necessity is the mother of invention," and Atwater cut two poles and fastened bark to them so they would hang beside a horse like the shafts of a wagou — one horse following the other so far apart that the sick man could lie lengthwise between them. With bark and blankets they made his bed as comfortable as possible, and by twisted bark ropes fastened it to their pack saddles. Shepherd becoming somewhat better, Atwater left him with one assistant to run the east line of Range to the lake as best he could, and started for Cleveland with the sick man. They returned back to the northeast cor- ner of Palmyra Township, and then started west on the line between Palmp'a and Paris. In this litter Atwater carried Bickweil five days — and a distance of fifty miles. He had a high fever all the time, and his reason but a part of the time. On the fifth day they arrived at the south line of Independence, Cuyahoga County, on the 25th of July, 1797, and Bickweil died about two hours after their arrival. He was buried near the luver, on the south line of that town, on the farm subsequently owned by Squire Frazer. He was the sec- ond white person that died on the Reserve, David Eldridge, one of the party, being drowned the May previous in swimming Grand River. Upon Atwater's return he found Shepherd at the northeast corner of Nelson Township, and they then ran the east line of Range 6 northward to the lake. This fin- ished the township lines of the Reserve, the eastern line of Portage County being the last one surveyed. The men were nearly all worn out, and sickness prevailed to an alarming extent. Peleg Washburn and William Andrews, two of the company, died in Cleveland, in August, and nearly every man was sick. A man by the name of Tinker, the principal boatman, and from whom Tin- ker's Creek took its name, in going down the lake in the fall was drowned, together with two others, by the capsizing of their boat. One or two boat- loads of sick were sent off early in the fall, and the last of the surveying party left the Reserve the fore part of November, 1797, a sorry, sickly-looking set of beings, the very reverse of what they were in the spring. Such were the sufferings and trials of those hardy bands of surveyors who prepared the way for the coming of the pioneers, and whose descendants, while enjoying the blessings of the present, can scarcely realize that only eighty- eight years ago such was the conditioD of this beautiful country. So suddenly and so strangely has the genius of change and alteration waved its charmed wand over the land, that the unwritten history of those early days is recalled as one remembers a fading dream. We are living in an age of invention and 192 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. machinery. These have lai'gely destroyed the romance of frontier life, and much of the strange, eventful realities of the past are rapidly becoming myth- ical, and the narratives of the generation that settled the Western Reserve, abounding in rich treasure of incidents and character, are being swallowed up and forgotten in the surging, eventful present. At the time the iirst settlement was made within the present limits of Por- tage County, it formed a part of Jefferson, erected July 29, 1797, and which then embraced all of the territory inside the following boundaries, with the seat of justice at Steubenville: Beginning upon the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary of Pennsyl- vania crosses it, and down the said river to the southern boundary of the fourth township in the third range (of those seven ranges of townships that were surveyed in conformity to the ordinance of Congress of the 20th of May, 1785), and with the said southern boundary west, to the southwest corner of the sixth township of the fifth range; thence north along the western boundary of the said fifth range to the termination thereof; thence due west to the Muskingum River, and up the Muskingum and Tuscarawas Rivers to and with the Portage, between the latter and the Cuyahoga River; thence down the Cuyahoga to Lake Erie; thence easterly along the shore of the lake to the western boundar}^ of Pennsylva- nia, and south with the same to the place of beginning. Three years passed by, and on the 10th of July, 1800, Trumbull County was erected, partly from territory previously embraced in Jefferson, and included all of the lands constituting the Western Reserve. Its official bound- aries were established as follows: Beginning at the completion of the 41st° of north latitude, 120 miles west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania.'and running from thence by aline to be drawn north, parallel to and 120 miles west of the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it comes to 42°, 2' north latitude; thence with a line to be drawn east until it intersects the said west- ern boundary of Pennsylvania; thence with the said western boundary of Pennsylvania south, to the completion of the 41st° of north latitude; and from thence west to the place of beginning. In 1802 all the territory now embraced in Portage County, besides a portion of that in Trumbull and Summit, was organized under the name of Franklin Township; but soon afterward other townships were cut off from Franklin, and when Portage County was erected it contained six townships in good run- ning order. It remained a portion of Trumbull until the 10th of February, 1807, on which date the Legislature passed the following act, to take effect and be in force from and after the 7th of June succeeding its passage: 1. Be it enacted, etc.. That all that part of the county of Trumbull which lies west of the fifth range of townships be erected into a separate county by the name of Portage, and shall be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of a separate and dis- tinct county: Provided, That it shall be lawful for the Coroners, Sheriffs, Constables and Collectors of the County of Trumbull to do and perform all the duties which they are or may be required to do, within the bounds of the said County of Portage, before the said division shall take place; and all suits and actions, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending, and all crimes which shall have been committed therein at the time of said division, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution in the County of Trumbull, as though no division Iwid taken place. 2. Tiiat the courts for the said County of Portage shall be holden at the house of Benjamin Tappan, until a permanent seat of justice shall be established. 3. That all that part of the Connecticut Western Reserve that lies west of the Cuya- hoga River and south of the township numbered five, shall be annexed to and become a part of the county of Portage: Provided, That the money arising to the county from a tax on land, within the said district, shall be appropriated by the Commissioners of Portage County, and expended in laying out and making roads and erecting bridges, within the boundaries of said district, west of the Cuyahoga. The act also authorized the appointing of Commissioners, under the law establishing seats of justice, to fix upon the place for the county seat of Port- age County. The Legislature appointed Robert Simison, Samuel Hunter and Rezin Beall, who made their i-eport to the Court of Common Pleas of <--l'OJ' /^ (_y;^6^x^t/c7-^ H ^^-^^^^^ <^t &-/' HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 195 Portage County at its first session, August 23, 1808, having selected Ravenna, which had been laid out by Benjamin Tappan the previous spring, as the seat of justice for the new county. There is a well authenticated tradition that Aaron Olmstead, the original proprietor of the present township of Franklin, was very desirous of having the county seat located on his land, and in the summer of 1807 came out from the East, and with John Campbell, of Camp- bellsport, selected a site for public buildings a little north of the upper ceme- tery in the city of Kent. Olmstead made arrangements with Campbell for the latter to use his influence with the State Commissioners in favor of this location, and to promise that he (Olmstead) would donate the land and erect a Court House at his own expense, if the Commissioners selected that site for the county seat of Portage County. He then returned to the East, where he soon afterward died, leaving no provision for carrying out his promises; and under a will previously executed bequeathing all the unsold lands to his grandchildren, the proposed site could not be donated for county purposes. It is generally believed that had it not been for Olmstead's death, the seat of justice would undoubtedly have been located on the Cuyahoga River, at Kent, instead of Ravenna, and consequently the boundary lines of Portage County would be much different from what they are to-day. Though the act erecting Portage County was passed and went into effect in 1807, the new county remained attached to Trumbull for one year longer. On the 8th of June, 1808, an election was held, and Abel Sabin, Joel Gaylord and Lewis Day elected Commissioners; Alva Day, Sheriff; and Lewis Day, Coroner of Portage County. On the same date the Commissioners met for the purpose of organizing and putting the wheels of local government in motion. On the first page of the Commissioners' Journal the following record is made of this important event in the county's history: In conformity to an act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, entitled "An Act establisliing Boards of County Commissioners," the Commissioners in and lor the County of Portage met at the house of Robert Eaton*, in Ravenna, on Monday, the eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight. Persons present, Lewis Day, Joel Gaylord and Abel Sabin, Esquires, Commissioners of said county, who, having produced certificates of their being duly elected as such, and having taken the necessary oaths required by law, proceeded to discharge the duties of their said offices, in pursuance to the above recited act. The Board of Commissioners proceeded to fix and determine on a suitable person to do and perform the duties of Clerk to the said Board. Whereupon it was considered that Abel Sabin, Esquire, one of the Commissioners, was a suitable person to discharge the said duties of Clerk, and accordingly was appointed thereto, and accepted tiie same. The Board of Commissioners in and for said county appointed Elias Harmon, Esquire, Treasurer of the county aforesaid, for the year ensuing; who, having accepted the said appointment, entered into bonds in the sum of three thousand dollars, with for his sureties, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, and took the oath prescribed by law. Ordered by the Board of Commissioners in and for the County of Portage, that the sum of two doilars be allowed as a bounty for each and every wolf or panther killed, over the age of six months, within said county, and the sum of one dollar for each wolf or panther, under the age of six months, killed within the term of one year, in the county aforesaid, to be paid out of the County Treasury, on the order of the Commissioners, in conformity to the statute in such cases made and provided. Portage County at that time possessed but six organized townships, viz. : Franklin, Deertield, Aurora, Hiram, Springfield and Hudson. The two last mentioned then included the ten townships taken from Portage in the erection of Summit County, in 1840, also the present townships of Randolph and Suf- field in this county. Franklin Township embraced the present townships of Franklin, Rcivenna, Charlestown, Brimfield and Rootstown. Deerfield Town- *This house stands about two and a half miles southeast of Ravenna, and since 1815 has been the Thomp- son homestead. 196 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. ship then included Deerfield, Atwater, Palmyra, Paris and Edinburg. Aurora Township embraced Aurora and Streetsboro; and Hiram Township covered the territory now known as Hiram, Mantua, Nelson, Shalersville, Freedom, Wind- ham and Garrettsville. The resident land tax levied August 23, 1808, was as follows: Franklin Township, $46.83; Deerlield_, $48.78; Aurora, $38.17; Hiram, $36.31; Spring- field, $34.97; Hudson, $81. il. The personal property tax levied on the same date was; Franklin Township, $35; Deerfield, $48.90; Aurora, $12.30; Hiram, $23.40; Springfield, $26.60; Hudson, $55.60. The following Tax Collectors were also appointed at the same time: Arthur Anderson, Franklin Township; James Carter, Deerfield; Oliver Forward, Aurora; Isaac Mills, Hiram; Timo- thy Culver, Springfield; George Darrow, Jr., Hudson. The entire receipts of Portage County from June 13, 1808, to June 17, 1809, were $3,247.71, of which amount $2,227.52 was the tax on lands lying west of the Cuyahoga River, which, by a clause in the act of erection, were annexed to this county. The expenditures during the same period were $2,355.56, of which $1,125.35 were expended in laying out roads and building bridges in the territory west of the Cuyahoga, in compliance with the clause attaching said territory to Portage County. Thus, the total receipts of this county, from the territory lying between the Trumbull County line and the Cuyahoga River, were, during the first year of its organized existence, $1,020.- 19; truly a very insignificant sum with which to meet its financial wants. By an act passed January 22, 1811, the west line of the eleventh range of townships was designated as the western boundary of Portage County; and on the l8th of February, 1812, Medina County was erected and attached to Port- age for judicial purposes, where it remained until its separate organization, January 14, 1818. The west line of the eleventh range continued to be the western boundary of Portage until the 29th of January, 1827, when the follow- ing survey was established: Beginning on the south line of the Connecticut Western Reserve, at the point where the middle of the Tuscarawas River intersects the same; thence northerly, following the middle of the said Tuscarawas River, to the range line between the eleventh and twelfth ranges, as run by the Connecticut Land Company; thence north on the course of the range line last aforesaid, to the north line of the township numbered four; thence east on the north line of number four, in the eleventh range, to the middle of the Cuyahoga River; thence down the middle of said river to the north line of the township numbered five, in said ranges. ****** No more changes occurred in the boundary lines of Portage County until the erection of Siammit, March 3, 1840, when its two western tiers of town- ships were cut off in the formation of the new county, establishing the west line of the ninth range as the western boundary of Portage, and thus its boundaries have since remained. It is botmded on the west by Summit County, on the north by Geauga, on the east by Trumbull and Mahoning, and on the south by Mahoning and Stark, the last mentioned boundary being also the south- ern line of the Western Reserve. Portage County received its name from the fact that the old Indian Portage Path, between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers, was, originally, within its limits, though now in Summit County. This historic path was a part of the boundary established in 1784, by the Treaty of Fort Mcintosh, and remained the dividing line between the whites and Indians until 1805, when the treaty consummated at Fort Industry established the western line of the Reserve as the north and south boundary between the two races in Ohio. The Portage Path left the Cayahoga River at the village of Old Portage, about three miles north of Akron, thence ran westward up the hill about half a mile to the high HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 197 ground, where it turned south and ran about parallel with the Ohio Canal to near Summit Lake; thence took the low ground nearly south to the Tuscara- was, which it struck a mile or more above the New Portage. The whole length of the path was. according to the survey made by Moses Warren, in 1797, eight miles, four chains and fifty-five links. As the county increased in population new townships were organized, and prior to the erection of Summit County, in 1840, Portage contained thirty townships, with a combined area of about 740 square miles of territory, or 473,600 acres. The erection of Summit, however, left Portage County with but twenty townships (Garrettsville has since been formed from Hiram and Nelson), and an area of 490 square miles, or 313,600 acres, including streams and lakes; but the report of the Secretary of State for 1881 gives 312,487 acres as the amount of land contained in this county. Its present townships are Atwater, Aurora, Brimfield, Charlestown, Deerfield, Edinburg, Franklin, Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Mantua, Nelson, Palmyra, Paris, Randolph, Ravenna, Rootstown, Shalersville, Streetsboro, Suffield and Windham. The population of the county and the several townships by decades, since 1810 and 1850 respectively, is given in the following tables: County — 1810, 2,995; 1820, 1,095; 1830, 18,820; 1840, 22,965; 1850, 24,419; 1860, 24,208; 1870, 24,584; 1880, 27,500. TOWNSHIPS. 1850. Atwater Township Aurora Township Brimfield Township Charlestown Township Deerfield Township Edinburg Township Franklin Township (including Kent) , Freedom Township . ; *Garrettsville Township , Hiram Township Mantua Township Nelson Township Palmyra Township Paris Township Randolph Township Ravenna Township (including Ravenna). Rootstown Township Shalersville Township Streetsboro Township Suflield Township Windham Township 1,119 833 1,015 809 1,371 1,101 1,758 1,106 1,169 1,383 1,093 1,018 1,732 2,340 1,308 1,190 1,108 1,281 I860. 1,181 688 905 835 1,091 1,018 1,557 983 1,306 1,207 1,301 1,031 909 1,686 2.905 1,383 1,153 906 1,413 850 1870. 1,180 643 913 675 1,085 929 3,037 781 1,234 1,126 1,355 848 691 1,564 3,423 1,169 977 706 1,444 865 1880. 1,147 666 1,030 633 985 910 4,141 804 969 1,058 1,150 890 1,105 666 1,684 4,224 1,317 960 702 1,530 1,029 *Organized from Hiram and Nelson July 6, 1874. 198 • HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. CHAPTER IL PoKTAGE County XiNETY Years Ago— Timber and Fruit-Bearing Trees AND Vines— Roots and Herbage— Wild Animals, Birds and Reptiles— Big Hunts— General Topography, Streams and Lakes— Geology of Portage County— Surface Features and Deposits— Geological Structure— Coal Measures— Coal No. 1— Coals Nos. 3 and 4— Fire Clay— Altitudp:s in Port- age County above Lake Erie. ERE the woodman' s ax resounded, sombre and silent was the ancient forest, which, during untold centuries, had overshadowed the hills and valleys of this region. Beauty and variety marked the plants which grew and bloomed beneath the leafy canopy of the gigantic trees. "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen And waste its sweetness on the desert air." Hill, dale and streamlet, with all the families of plants from the lofty forest tree to the creeping ivy, gave to the landscape variety and picturesque beauty. An unchanged progression of periodical decay had from time imme morial been forming a rich vegetable soil, in preparation for the era when civilized man should take possession and become its cultivator. Oak of sev- eral varieties, chestnut, and hickory in all its species, were the principal growth on the dry gravelly lands; red and white beech, maple or sugar tree, linden or basswood, sumach, white ash, cucumber, poplar, white, red and slippery elm, walnut, ironwood, dogwood, sassafras and cherry, on the rich loamy soil; and on the wet lands hemlock, black ash, tamarack, sycamore, soft maple and birch; while there was a varying undergrowth of fruit-bearing trees and vines, such as the plum, crab- apple, white, red and black haw, alder, whortleberry, blackberry, raspberry, serviceberry, gooseberry, currant, cranberry and straw- berry, also nuts of several varieties, and hops, ginseng, bloodroot, chocolate root, together with innumerable kinds of other roots and herbage of valuable properties, were the spontaneous growth of Portage County. A thick undergrowth gave an excellent covert to the wild animals that once abounded in this section of the State, viz. : the elk, deer, panther, wolf, bear, wild cat, fox, marten, otter, polecat, beaver, groundhog or woodchuck, opossum, raccoon, hare, rabbit, black, grey, red or pine, flying and ground or striped squirrels, muskrat, mink, weasel, porcupine, field-mouse, deer-mouse, common rat and mouse. Of these the elk, panther, wolf, bear, wild cat and beaver are extinct in this county, or if any are ever seen it is a very rare occurrence. Among the birds which are natives of this county or visit it annually, either to build or touching it in their migration to a more northerly region, are the bald and gray eagle, rarely if ever seen; the hen hawk, fish hawk, pigeon hawk, shrike or butcher bird, the white, the cat and screech owl, the swan, wild goose, black duck, mallard, wood duck, shelldrake, teal, butter- bolt, loon, dipper, water hen or coot, plover, jacksnipe, sandsnipe, king- fisher, turkey, pheasant, partridge or quail, woodcock, rail, pigeon, dove, whip-poor-will, robin, thrush, catbird, cuckoo, lark, oriole, bluejay, fieldfare or red breasted grossbeak, martin, the barn swallow, bank swallow, oven swal- low, bluebird, wren, cow bird, bobolink or reed-bird, yellow bird, redbird, blackbird, redwing, starling, black or large woodpecker, red-headed wood- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 199 pecker, gray woodpecker, flicker, cedar bird or toppy, crookbill, green bird, humming bird, and a variety of small birds with whose species the writer is not familiar. Some of these members of the feathery kingdom have become very rare or altogether extinct, while others have come into the county. The white-breasted swallow is one of the later inhabitants, as is also the hardy, pugnacious English sparrow, which since his coming has driven many of the most beautiful songsters from the towns now inhabited by those little fel- lows in great numbers. The snakes that were found in this locality are the black and yellow rattle- snakes, the former of which usually frequented the wet or swampy lands, and the latter the hilly or dry ground. Hundi-eds of those "yellow skins," as they were commonly called, were killed, during the first few years of settlement, in nearly every township in the county. Regular hunting parties were some- times organized in the spring-time, to invade their dens among the ledges, and by this means those dangerous pests were rapidly exterminated. The water snake was a large black snake, often growing from five to seven feet in length; the -small black snake or white-ringed viper, the brown or house snake, the garter snake and the green snake were plentiful. All of those mentioned are innocuous except the rattlesnake, and it is fortunately now nearly or altogether extinct. The wild denizens of the forest roamed at will during the earlier years of the county's history, and many of the pioneers could tell of dangers and hair- breadth escapes from an enraged bear, a pack of ravenous wolves, or a treach- erous wild cat, which at one time were more plentiful in this region than cat- tle, sheep or hogs. To rid the country of these dangerous neighbors, big hunts were gotten up, when game of every sort went down in scores, before the unerring rifles of the frontier sportsmen. A whole township would be surrounded by a line of hunters, and at a pre-concerted signal all would begin the march toward the center, di-ivingthe game before them and shooting down any that tried to escape. Great quantities of valuable game were slaughtered in this way, and as there were premiums paid for the scalps of the more dan- gerous animals, these hunts usually proved a financial success. In a big hunt which took place in Freedom Township, in December, 1818, there were killed twenty-three bears, seven wolves and thirty-six deer, besides scores of turkeys and other game. On the 25th of December, 1818, another hunt took place in Windham Township, when twenty-one bears, sixty-eight deer, one wolf, one wild cat, with turkeys and other small game innumerable, were bagged. The same year at the close of a hunt in Edinburg Township, seven bears, five wolves, one hundred deer and four hundred turkeys were counted as the result of the day's sport. Another hunt occurred in Edinburg and Atwater Town- ships December 24, 1819, the result of which was twenty-one bears, eighteen wolves, one hundred and three deer, and more than three hundred turkeys. In 1819 a similar raid was made upon the game of Streetsboro Township, and five bears, four wolves and sixty deer were slain. Such hunts took place at different times in nearly every township in the county, but those given will fully illustrate the great amount of wild game which once inhabited the val- leys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga. Those organized hunting parties soon had a telling effect in lessening the game, and finally becoming unpopular, met with a determined opposition from a large class of citizens and were abandoned. Long after the surrounding country was well settled, the tam- arack swamps of Brimfield Township afforded an excellent covert for wild game, and bears, wolves, deer etc., were quite numerous in that locality. Bears especially were so plentiful that the township was familiarly known as 200 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. "Bear Town." Streetsboro, Freedom, Paris and Edinburg Townships were also noted hunting grounds for some years after the game in the adjoining territory had been pretty well thinned out. The last wolf killed in Streets- boro Township was shot by Merrill Stanton, March 6, 1838, about which time the larger and more troublesome wild animals had, much to the relief of those settlers whose cattle, hogs and sheep often went to satisfy their voracious appetites, entirely disappeared from the forests of this county. The general topography of Portage County is slightly rolling, the uplands usually of a sandy or gravelly nature, and the more level portions principally composed of a clay soil. Few counties in Ohio are better watered. The whole eastern half is drained by the Mahoning River, with its several local branches, Silver Creek being the most important, which rise along the central portions of the county, from north to south, and flow in an easterly direction, uniting before reaching Warren, Ohio; thence take a southeast course to the Shenango, with whose waters the Mahoning unites about two miles south of Newcastle, Penn., when the two streams become Beaver River. The word Mahoning is, according to Heckewelder, derived from either the Indian Mahoni, signifying "a lick," or Mahonink, "at the lick;" but Lucius V. Bierce, in his sketches of the Western Reserve, says that it comes from the Indian word Ma-um-ing, meaning "the way to the market." The Cuyahoga River takes its rise in Geauga County, and flowing south- west, enters Portage near the northwest corner of Hiram Township; thence crossing said corner and keeping the same general course across the southeast corner of Mantua, and the northwest corner of Shalersville Township, turns southward through the southeastern tier of lots in Streetsboro Township; thence winding diagonally across Franklin Township, from its northeast to its southwest corner, passing through Kent on its route, enters Summit County. It there makes a big bend, and turning northward empties into Lake Erie at Cleveland. This river receives its name from the Indian word Cuy-o-ga, mean- ing "crooked," a term significant of the stream, which' is very winding. Its largest tribu-taries in this county are the Little Cuyahoga and the Breakneck. The former drains the southeast corner of the county, Fritch's Pond, in Suf- field Township, being one of its sources, and Springfield Lake, across the line in Summit County, the other. The Breakneck heads in Stark County, and winding northward through Randolph and Rootstown Townships, turns across the southwest corner of Ravenna Township, and thence northwestward through Franklin Township, discharges its waters into the Cuyahoga, about a mile and a half northeast of Kent. One branch of the Chagrin River heads in Aurora and Mantua Townships, and thence passing northward joins the main stream in Cuyahoga County. Portage is also well supplied with small natural lakes and ponds. In Franklin Township we find Brady's Lake, Pippin Lake, Twin Lakes and Stewart's Pond; in Rootstown. Sandy Lake, Muddy Lake (which is partly located in Ravenna Township), Muzzy' s Pond and Ward's Pond; in Suffield, Congress Lake (partly) and Fritch's Pond, and Long Pond in Aurora Township. Brady's Lake received its name in honor of Capt. Samuel Brady, of " Brady's Leap " fame, who fortunately escaped from Indian vengeance by hiding beneath its wa- ters. Pippin Lake was called after the apple of that name; Twin Lakes, because of their close proximity to each other, and connection by a small branch; Stew- art's Pond, after a pioneer of that name; Sandy and Muddy Lakes, from the character of the soil surrounding them; Muzzy's Pond, after Nathan Muzzy, a peculiar character who claimed to have discovered it; Ward's Pond, from a pioneer of that name; Congress Lake, from the lake bearing that name in HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 201 New York; Fritch's Pond, after John Fritch, a German who built a mill at the outlet, and Long Pond, from its long, narrow shape. Geology of Portage County* — Portage County lies entirely on the water- shed which separates the streams that flow into Lake Erie from the tributaries of the Ohio. Its central portion rises to an altitude of 685 feet above the lake, while the valleys by which its surface is diversified descend about 300 feet lower. The highest point of the county is near the line of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, between Rootstown and Atwater, while the lowest is in the valley of the Mahoning, below Garrettsville. When first entered by the whites, the county was covered with an unbroken growth of primeval forest, consisting, on the lower and more level portions, of beach and maple; of oak, chestnut, etc., on the higher and drier lands. Though underlaid by rocks of diverse character, the surface is mainly formed by a sheet of clay,which has given a peculiar character to the agricult- ural pursuits of the inhabitants, and has made this a portion of the great dairy district of the Western Reserve. In some localities on the northern and western slope of the water-shed, but near its summit, are heavy beds of gravel, forming swells of the surface, or even-rounded hills of considerable altitude. Typical examples of these may be seen in Randolph, Rootstown, Siiffield, Franklin and Brimfield, and near Earlville, on the lines of the two railroads which pass through the county. In the basins inclosed by these gravel hills and ridges lie most of the lakes and peat bogs of the county. These gravel hills constitute an interesting feature in the surface deposits, and will be found described in the first chapter of Vol. II, under the head of Karnes. I have ascribed them to the action of waves on the Drift deposit of the shore and shoals which formed the margin of the great inland sea that once filled all the basin of the lakes. In the northern part of the county the Drift deposits are generally of so great thickness as to cover and conceal the underlying rocks. W^herever exposed to view, the rock surface is found to be planed and grooved by glacial action, and usually the overlying clay may be designated as a bowlder clay, since it contains masses of rock derived from neighboring sources, with smaller and usually scratched and worn fragments brought from distant localities. This clay is unquestionably the material ground up by the great glacier which once covered northern Ohio, pushed forward by its advance, and left in an irregular sheet upon the rocky foundation in its retreat. In some places the clay is finer, without gravel or bowlders, and is accurately stratified by the action of water. Immediately beneath the soil, or projecting above the surface, are found many transported bowlders, frequently of large size, composed of granite, greenstone, and other crystalline rocks, evidently of foreign origin, and appar- ently derived from the highlands north of the great lakes. These bowlders are rarely found deeply buried in the Drift, and, as I have elsewhere shown, must have been floated by icebergs from their place of origin, and dropped into their present position. Some of the superficial gravels which overlie the bowlder clay seem to have been transported by the same agency. As a whole, the soil of Portage County is productive, and although, from its tenacious character, and the dense growth of forest by which it was cov- ered, it has required much patience and labor for its subjugation, this task has been well and thoroughly performed by the intelligent and industrious popu- lation into whose possession it came, and it has repaid their efiforts by a con- stant and generous support through the last half century. *By J. S. Newberry. 202 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. In common with the other portions of the great divide on which Portage County is located, its rolling surface forms numerous local basins, many of which have been, and some still are, occupied by lakes. Of these lakes Stewart's Pond, Twin Lakes, Brady's Lake, and Pippin Lake, in Franklin, Muddy Lake, Sandy Lake andMuzzy's Lake in Rootstown, and Fritch's Pond in Suffield, may be cited as examples. These lakes are supplied by springs which flow through the Drift gravels, and their water is usually clear and pure; they contain great numbers of tine fish, and are also interesting and beautiful feat- ures in the scenery. Some of these basins formerly occupied by water have been gradually filled up by the growth of vegetation, and now exist as swamps underlaid by peat. One of the best known of these is near Ravenna, where considerable peat has been cut and manufactured. There is another and still more extensive peat marsh in Brimfield, and small ones occur in nearly every township. Usually these peat bogs are occupied with Sphagnum (the peat- producing moss), cranberry vines, huckleberry bushes, and larches, and they are often known as tamarack or huckleberry swamps. The peat in these Bwamps is not unfrequently underlaid by shell marl, and both these are capa- ble of being used with profit by the farmers as fertilizers. It is also probable that the cranberry may be successfully cultivated on the swamp surfaces. In the Eastern States the cultivation of cranberries has proved to be liighly remunerative to those engaged in it, and there seems no good reason why the same success should not be attained by the inhabitants of those portions of Ohio where the cranberry grows spontaneously, and where there are marshes which are well adapted to its cultivation. Striking and typical examples of the glacial furrows which have been referred to above may be seen on the hill near the house of Mr. Theodore Clark, in the township of Edinburg. The direction of the striae is here N. 60° E. The rock is a sandstone, overlying the lower seam of coal. Near the center of Palmyra is a still better exhibition of glacial marks. On the hill, three quarters of a mile west of the center, the bearing of the furrows is N. 30^ E. In the town of Palmyra, on a surface of sandstone exposed in front of Mr. Wilson's store, the traces of glacial action are very conspicuous; the rock surface being planed down very smooth, and marked with scratches and furrows, of which the direction is N. 26° E. In many other parts of the county similar ice inscriptions may be observed, chiefly on the surfaces of the beds of sandstone, as they are better retained on this indestructable material than on the softer or more soluble rocks. The bowlder clay which overlies the glaciated sm-face varies considerably in appearance in different localities, according to the exposure and drainage to which it has been subjected, and the local circumstances which controlled its formation. In the valleys it will be found to be of a bluish color through- out. On the higher lands the upper portion is frequently yellow, sometimps down to the depth of ten or twelve feet, while the lower portion is blue or gray. This difference I attribute to the oxidation of the iron contained in the clay, where it has been exposed to the air and to surface drainage. The num- ber and character of the pebbles and bowlders contained in the clay also varies much in different localities. In some places, as near Campbellsport, the Drift deposits are largely made up of angular or little-worn fragments of sand- stone, torn from their beds in the immediate vicinity ; while in places remote from such outcrops of the harder rooks, the stones contained in the clay are small, much worn, and many of them are composed of granite, etc., brought from the region north of the lakes. On the highlands the gravel beds referred to above rest sometimes on the 4 t^ ^ O^ ^ J^u/Ik^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 205 bowlder clay, but perhaps oftener on the underlying rock, showing that the causes which produced the accumulation of gravel generally removed all the clay. Where the gravel beds overlap the bowlder clay, the materials which compose them seem to have been washed back from the higher grounds. It will be noticed that the pebbles in the gravel beds are well rounded and often irregu- larly stratified, while those found in the bowlder clay are sub- angular, scratched and worn, but rarely rounded. It is evident, therefore, that the gravels have been subjected to a triturating action quite different from that exerted by glaciers on the materials which they move. The facts show fur- ther that water, either in shore waves or in river currents, has been the agent by which the pebbles of the gravel have been rounded ; and as it is difficult to conceive of any currents which could leave beds and hills of gravel such as are found along the divide between the waters of the lake and the Ohio, I have been led to consider these deposits as the effect of shore waves, when the lake basin was filled to this height, on the bowlder clay and other Drift material which once covered the underlying rocks. It is possible, too, that the drainage from the glacier, when it filled the lake basin and was melt- ing along its southern edge, contributed to the washing of the clay and the rounding of the pebbles. In this view the gi-avel hills and sheets which cover 80 much of the great divide which crosses the State may be compared to the terminal moraines of existing glaciers, but in no moraine of which I have any knowledge are the pebbles and bowlders nearly so well rounded as in the deposits under consideration ; and I am sure all who will carefully examine these will agree with me that free and swift moving water, in large quantity, has been the chief agent in producing the phenomena exhibited. Along cer- tain lines leading from the summit of the watershed to the Ohio, both east and west of Portage County, there are belts of gravel and bowlders, which mark, as I concieve, broad and long- existing drainage channels, by which the surplus water of the lake basin flowed through certain waste- weirs cut in the water- shed and escaped southward, but the gravel hills of Portage County can hardly be referred to such a cause. Geological Structure. — The number and relative positions of the strata which come to the surface within the limits of Portage County will be seen at a glance by reference to the section given below: Superficial clay and gravel 10 to 100 Shale and sandstone 50 Limestone to 4 Coal No. 4 1 to 5 Fire-clay 3 to 4 Shale and sandstone 25 to 30 Limestone to 4 Coal No. 3 1 to 8 Fire-clay 3 to 12 Shale 20to 50 Coal No. 2 Oto 1 Sandstone 50 to 100 Shale Oto 50 CoalNo.l Oto 5 Fire-clay 3 to 5 Shale and sandstone 35 to 50 Conglomerate 100 All the rocks enumerated in the preceding section belong to the Carbon- iferous system, of which they represent two members, viz. : the Conglomerate and the Coal Measures. The area of the county is about equally divided be- tween the two formations. All the northern half has the Conglomerate for its surface rook, though it is generally deeply buried by Drift clays. It is 12 206 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. fully exposed in the valleys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga. The trough of the latter stream is cut in the Conglomerate all the way from the point where it enters the county, in Hiram, to its place of exit, on the west side of Frank- lin. The Conglomerate is well seen in Mantua and Garrettsville, and still better in Franklin and Nelson. In all these localities it exhibits essentially the same characters, viz. : a coarse, drab-colored sandstone, in places thickly set with quartz pebbles from the size of a pea to that of an egg. In some places, as in Windham, the stone it furnishes is finer, whiter, and more homo- geneous, and would answer admirably for architectural purposes. As a gen- eral rule, however, it is rather coarse for all fine work, but furnishes a strong and durable stone, well adapted to bridge-building, cellar walls, and, indeed, to all plain and massive masonry. Near Kent certain layers of the Conglomerate have been found, which are white enough to serve for the manufacture of glass. The coloring matter of the rock is usually iron, and it here contains much less than usual. The best sections of the Conglomerate found in the county are in Nelson, where its entire thickness is shown — 175 feet — and it forms bold escarpments, which constitute the western boundary of the valley of Grand River. These escarpments are known as the Nelson Ledges. They afford the most pictjiresque scenery to be found in the county, and are noted places of resoi't for the inhabitants of the surrounding region. In the extreme northeastern corner of the county an island of the Conglomerate has been cut ofi" by erosion from the main plateau. Though less bold in its outline, it has the same topographical character and relation as Little Mountain, in Lake County. At the base of the Nelson Ledges the Cuyahoga shale is imperfectly exposed. This is the upper member of the Waver iy formation, and will be found fully described in the reports on Cuyahoga, Summit, and Trumbull Counties. A few years since quite an excitement was raised by the reported discovery of gold at the Nelson Ledges. As is usual in such cases, stock com- panies were formed, and many dreams of wealth were indulged in by those who obtained shares of the stock. It is hardly necessary to say that these dreams have passed like "the baseless fabric of a vision." The excitement was caused by the discovery of iron pyrites in certain beds of the Conglomer- ate — another of the innumerable examples of the mistake of "fool's gold" for true gold. A little knowledge of geology would have prevented this error, and would have taught the sufferers that gold could never be found in paying quantities in Portage County. That minute particles may sometimes be detected in the superficial gravels is very probable, since these gravels are largely made up of quartz pebbles, which are only rolled masses of the quartz veins contained in the crystalline rocks of the Canadian highlands, and which frequently carry a little gold. It is also probable that with sufficient care in searching for it, an infinitesimal quantity of gold might be detected in the Conglomerate, as the quartz pebbles it contains were doubtless derived from the same source with those to which I have already referred ; but it may be confidently predicted that the precious metal will never be obtained from either of the sources mentioned in sufficient quantity to compensate the most idle and worthless member of the community for any time he may spend in its search. Coal Measures. — Nearly three-fourths of the surface of Portage County is underlaid by coal-measure rocks, and they once covered its entire area. From the valleys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga they have been removed by erosion, so that in the northern part of the county they are restricted to a small island HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 207 west of the river, in Mantua, and a narrow arm which projects from Freedom northward, through Hiram, into Geauga County. In the northern part of Portage County the Drift deposits are so thick as to hide the outcrops of the coal rocks, and it is here very difl&cult to trace the line along which the edge of the lowest coal seam should be found. It is probable that coal, in greater or less thickness, underlies the principal part of Hiram, the western half of Shalei'sville and Ravenna, and the southwestern cor- ner of Windham. The northern and southern portions of Paris, and nearly all of Charlestown, lie above the horizon of the lower coal, as do most of Palmyra, Deerfield, Brimiield and Suffield. Along a belt running through the central part of the county, the land is high enough to carry the second and third seams of coal from the bottom. With this breadth of coal area it would at fu*st sight seem that Portage County should produce as large an amount of coal as Trumbull, and much more than Summit, but up to the present time the coal production of the county has been exceedingly small. This arises from the fact that the margin of the lower coal (Coal No. 1) is so generally covered with Drift that it does not show itself at the surface in many localities, and also that this coal here, as in the Mahon- ing Valley, lies in detached basins of limited extent, and is entirely absent over large areas from the place where it belongs, or is so thin as to be of little value. We may expect, however, that important basins of the Briar Hill coal will be found within the limits that have been marked out. W^ere it not for the Drift it would be easy to follow the outcrops of the rocks, and knowing just where to explore by digging or boring, to determine the presence or absence of the coal. In the present circumstances, however, even where coal may be supposed to exist, it can only be detected by boring blindly through the Drift deposits. In many places these will doubtless be found so thick as to cut out the coal, though the surface may be considerably above the coal level. Even where the rocks which belong above the coal may be found in place, from the irregular distribution of this seam, the chances are more than equal that the result of boring will show it to be absent, or too thin to have any economic value. Since, however, the coal of this stratum is so excellent, it will be the part of wisdom for all those who own territory lying within the lines I have traced to make such explorations as may determine whether or not they are in possession of some portion of this great source of wealth. The level of Coal No. 1, in the northern half of Portage County, varies from 500 to 600 feet above the lake. The dip being toward the south, the coal sinks rapidly in that direction, and rises correspondingly toward the north. At Ravenna the place of the coal is probably not far from the level of the intersection of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh and Atlantic & Great Western Railroads, or about 500 feet above Lake Erie. Coal No. 1 has been opened, and is now quite extensively mined in Pal- myra. It here exhibits the same general features, both as regards thickness and quality, as the coal of the neighboring counties of Mahoning and Trum- bull. The coal mining of Palmyra is principally done by the Western Reserve Coal Company, to a member of which company, Mr. W. B. Wilson, of Palmyra, I am indebted for much valuable information concerning the opera- tions of his own company, and in regard to other developments of coal made in this township. The coal mined by the Western Reserve Coal Company is reached by a shaft which is eighty-one feet deep to the coal, or ninety-five feet from the tip. It is reported that in sinking the shaft eighteen feet of earth was first passed through, and then sixty-three feet of rock, mainly shale, in which were two strata of "kidney" ore. The coal varies from two to four 208 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. feet in thickness, being thickest in a " swamp " which ruus northwest and southeast in a tortuous course. On each side of this crooked basin the coal rises and thins, and is worked to the thickness of two feet. The company is taking out about 4,000 tons per annum, selling it at the mine at $3.00 per ton. The coal is of excellent quality, being very free fi'om sulphur, and containing little ash. It is a block coal, Unely laminated with charcoal seams, and is not siu'passed in quality by any coal in the State outside of the Mahoning Valley. According to our barometric measurements by a single line of observations, the center of Palmyra is 120 feet above Ravenna Station, or G50 feet above Lake Erie. The tip of the coal company's shaft is 430 feet above Lake Erie, and the coal 335 feet above the lake. Owing to the variability of the barometer, these figures can not be relied upon as absolutely correct. The Western Reserve Coal Company has 200 acres of coal land in the eastern part of Palmyra, on the center road. How large a part of those 200 acres is underlaid by coal of workable thickness has not yet been ascertained. Other companies have been making explorations in this neighborhood, and report about 200 acres of good coal land in addition to that before mentioned. In the northwestern part of the township some 300 acres of coal property are said to have been tested, and the coal is reported to be from three to four feet in thickness. Coal has also been found in the northeastern and south- western parts of the township. We thus have good reason for believing that a somewhat extensive basin, or series of basins, of the Briar Hill coal exists in and about Palmyra, but years of exploration will be required before it will be known what the connection, limits and value of this coal field are. From the shaft in Palmyra the coal extends west and south to an unknown distance, and possibly reaches under much of the central and southern parts of the county. Since the place of Coal No. 1 is from 200 to 250 feet below the surface over a considerable part of the higher land, it is apparent that most of the boring yet done has formed no test of its presence or absence. In the valley of the Mahoning, in Deerfield, an outcrop of coal may be seen which was supposed by Mr. Read, who examined it, to be the Briar Hill coal. It is, however, only about a foot in thickness, and it is probable that it is the next seam above. A boring of limited depth would decide the ques- tion. In Brimfield and Suffield there is a large amount of territory which deserves more careful exploration than it has yet received. Hei'e the land rises to 150 feet above the level of the coal, but the surface is generally occu- pied by Drift. Little is known of the nature of the underlying rocks, but from the relation which this district holds to the coal basins of Tallmadge and Springfield, in Summit County, there is a great probability that sooner or later good deposits of coal will be found here. It should be borne in mind, however, that from the circumstances which I have fully explfiined in the report on the geology of Summit, the lower coal is of tener absent than present in the place where it belongs, and it is, therefore, to be expected that a large part of the trials which may be made here will result in disappointment. At Limaville, on the southern line of the county, Coal No. 1 has been struck in borings by Dr. J. A. Dales, at the depth of about 170 feet, or less than 350 feet above the lake. According to the reports by Dr. Dales, the coal has here a thickness of over four feet. Analyses prove that it has the purity and physical character of the Mahoning Valley coal. Should a consid- erable area in this vicinity bo found to be underlaid by Coal No. 1, it would be difficult to exaggerate the importance it would assume among the wealth- producing elements of the county, and it is sincerely to be hoped that the examinations begun here will be carried through the townships lying north, until this important question shall be definitely settled. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 209 Coals Nos. 3 and 4. — By reference to the general section of the rocks of the county, it will be seen that at a distance from the lower coal — generally from fifty to seventy-five feet — a thin seam occurs. This has no value in this part of the State, and requires here no further notice. From 150 to 200 feet above Coal No. 1, two other seams come in, which are sometimes of workable thickness. These we have designated as Coals No. 3 and No. 4. They are separated by a distance of thirty to fifty feet, and are usually both overlaid by limestone. Sometimes, however, one or both of the limestones are replaced by shale. These coal seams, here as elsewhere, have proved to be quite irregular in their thickness, although in a general way continuous from Portage through Summit, Stark, Wayne, Holmes, Coshocton Counties, etc., to and beyond the National Road. Both these coals may be seen in the northeastern corner of Atwater, where the north and south road crosses a small stream, and not far from the locality where so much fire-clay is dug. Here the limestone of No. 3 shows in the bed of the brook at a level of twenty feet above the railroad at Atwater, or 580 feet above Lake Erie. It is about four feet in thickness, and, as usual, has iron ore over it. The coal beneath is only a few inches thick. Some twenty feet above the limestone Coal No. 4 is seen in the road, here apparently four feet thick, but with scarcely any covering. No limestone is visible over it. In Limestone Ridge, in Freedom, both these strata are shown. The upper one is thin, but is overlaid by limestone, which is here burned for quicklime. Coal No. 3 is seen in the road at the south end of Limestone Ridge; as usual, it is underlaid by a thick bed of fire-clay. On the farm of Wilson Davidson, about half a mile distant from the last- named locality, this coal has been mined, though not largely, for a number of years. It is here about twenty-two inches thick. From the fact that this seam was represented as Coal No. 1 by the geologist who, when connected with the first geological survey of the State, made an examination of this region (Annual Report of 1838, p. 59), no thorough exploration has ever been made of the strata below it. Possibly such explorations would have been fruitless, as the lower seam is so frequently absent from its place; but as the true position of Coal No. 1 is at least 150 feet below Mr. Davidson's coal, it is evident that a large area in the vicinity deserves examination by deep boring. Considerable money has been spent in boring in Freedom, but, so far as I can learn, none of the wells have been carried deep enough to determine the presence or absence of the lower coal. One well bored on Limestone Ridge is reported to have furnished the following section: FT. IN. Earth 14 Limestone 3 Shale 54 Coal 1 10 Fire-clav ? Sandrock 30 Shale 10 In this boring the upper limestone coal was absent or so thin as not to attract notice. The lower limestone was absent, as seems to be the case gen- erally in this vicinity. The place of the lower coal was not reached by from seventy-five to one hundred feet. Another hole was bored by William Cran- nage, for Mr. George Worthington, of Cleveland, without finding the coal sought for, but was almost certainly not carried to a suflficient depth. A well sunk near the quarries on Limestone Ridge is said to have passed through — 210 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. FT. Limestone 4 Shale, with plants and thin seams of coal 20 Sandrock to bottom. Here it is evident that the place of the twenty-two-inch seam was not reached. Half a mile northeast of Drakesburg a well showed the following strata: FT. Earth 14 Shale 30 Sandrock to bottom 26 In this well the excavation was probably begun below the limestone coals, but it did not descend to the level of the lower coal. At Hiram Center a yellow sandrock of the Coal Measures is quarried just back of the hotel. South of the Center, about one mile, shale crops out in the road below this sandrock. Near this point, but west and on higher ground, a well on Mr. Hopkins' land gave — FT. Earth 9 Sandrock 15 Shale, with one foot of coal 40 "Flagstone," to bottom 3 Stratum No. 4 of this section was called by the drillers " bottom rock," but in this vicinity no proof should be accepted of having passed the place of the lower coal, except reaching the Conglomerate. In the soiith part of Hiram, coal has been taken from a natural outcrop twelve to eighteen inches thick, and used by the blacksmiths. This is proba- bly Coal No. 1. In going from Drakesburg to Garrettsville the surface descends nearly two hundred feet, passing down from a broad ridge or divide, which is a marked feature in the topography, and which stretches connectedly north into the cen- ter of Geauga County. The top of this ridge or table is above the coal level from Freedom to Burton, and more or less coal has been found in it all the way, although it is usually thin. At Garrettsville the Conglomerate is fully exposed, and rises thirty feet above the depot, or 485 feet above the lake. Two miles west of Garrettsville the base of the ridge referred to is reached, and in the ravine by the roadside the following section is exposed : FT. Coarse sandrock, with some small pebbles 30 Irregular seam of coal 1 Shale, with bands of sandstone 20 Black shale, with iron 1 Sandstone to base. The top of this section is ] 50 feet above the depot at Garrettsville, and the coal exposed is probably about the horizon of the thin seam. No. 2, the place of Coal No. 1 being below. In Mantua there are many natural outcrops of coal, viz.: at the railroad cut northeast of the Corners a few inches (two to four) thick; a mile south of the Corners, on Mr. Blaine's land, sixteen inches ; one and a half miles east of the Corners, six to eight inches thick. Three wells drilled near each other in this vicinity gave — FT. Earth 4 Sandrock 36 to 46 Black shale 20 to 40 Gray shale 2 to 4 Coal 4 to 12 inches. Sandrock (bottom not reached). HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 211 A boring was made one and a half miles south of the Corners, to the depth of 336 feet, penetrating earth, sandrock and shale, of which the thickness is not known. Coal was found six to eight inches thick. The center of Charlestown rises to the height of 575 feet above the lake, and an outcrop of coal is visible on the King place, in the road leading to Ravenna, and about fifty feet below the Center. This is evidently the Briar Hill seam. The hill on the opposite side of the valley rises 600 feet above the lake and nearly 100 feet above the coal level, but the coal, if it exists there, is concealed. The valleys of the streams in this region are cut below the coal, and all the highlands should carry it ; but unfortunately heavy beds of Drift conceal its outcrops and make the work of exploration expensive and uncertain. In the central part of Edinburg the land is all at least 150 feet above the coal level. This is proved, not only by barometric measurement, but by the explorations made east of the Center by Mr. G. L. Chapman. He has bored many holes in search of coal, and has found it in several. In one place a shaft was sunk with the expectation of mining it. The coal, however, was found to be very irregular in thickness, and the enterprise was not successful. In making these explorations Mr. Chapman at first supposed that the coal he found was the Briar Hill seam, but it is quite certain that the place of Coal No. 1 is at least 150 feet below the bottom of the shaft. Two beds of coal and two of limestone were passed through in some of the borings made by Mr. Chapman, all within fifty feet of the surface. The section exposed in the shaft referred to is as follows: FT. Surface deposits 12^ Sandy shale 11^ White sandrock 7^ Shale, sandy above 17| Coal No. 3 3i Sandrock and shale 4 Fire-clay 1^ The upper limestone is said to have been found in an adjacent field. A boring made somewhat east of the shaft, and carried to a greater depth afibrds a much better view of the geological sub-stjucture of this region. The record of this boring is as follows: FT- IN. Surface deposits 20 Shale 4 Limestone 3 6 Fire-clav 3 6 Shale 3 6 Shaly sandstone 8 Shale 6 Coal 4 Shale 2 Coal 2 6 Shale 7 Fire-clay 4 Shale 7 6 Sandrock 54 Shale 2 Bluish sandrock 6 It will be noticed that in this section a bed of limestone occurs near the surface, and that the lower part of the boring was in a thick bed of sand- stone. This sandstone is the massive stratum which overlies the Briar Hill coal, sometimes coming down to it, and sometimes even cutting it out com- 212 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. pletely, but more generally resting upon a bed of shale of variable thickness. The place of Coal No. 1 is plainly below the bottom of this hole. Since my first visit to Edinburg, Mr. Chapman has continued his explora- tions, and others have been carried on by Mr. D. W. Goss, but, so far, I believe, without very satisfactory results. The many borings made show great irregularity in the deposition of the strata here, and it is evident that this has been a region through which rapid currents of water have swept, which have cut away the coal seams and deposited sands and clays in a very unequal way. This will be evident upon an examination of the records of some of the drill- ings. A well bored one mile northeast of the Center gave — FT. Earth 20 Shaly sandrock 6 White sandrock 39 Blue shale 3 Fire-clay 8 Shale, with coal streaks 4 Fire-clay 1 Shale 4 Black, coaly shale 2 Shale 3 Fire-clay 2 Shale 87 Very hard sandrock 8 Fire-clay 1 Shale 42 Fine sandrock 24 Sandrocli 8i Soft shale 8 Fine, bluish sandrock 45 Gray shale 50 Shale and sandrock 38^ Bluish-gray shale 21 It is evident that this boring has gone far into the Waverly, and it reveals the fact that the Conglomerate is here absent. This is somewhat surprising, as in the valley of the Mahoning, only a few miles distant, it is fully 100 feet in thickness. Another well, one-half mile east of the last, gave — FT. E arth 1 Soft sandstone 13 White sandstone 24 Stratified iron ore 6 Sandrock and shale 4 Fire-clay 3 Shale 3 Fire-clay 2 Dark shale 13 This was evidently not deep enough to aflford a satisfactory test. A third well, in the north part of the township, east of the Center road, gave: FT. IN. Yellow clay 10 Blue clay 40 Sandrock 41 Sandy shale 4 "Flint," very hard 6 Sandy shale 12 6 Fine sandrock 26 This, also, was probably not deep enough. An instructive section is furnished by a well three-quarters of a mile east of the Center; this is: "■".^^tg ^.y jra^-uM^^-l ^erK, './-'C-^ i:-^,^6-i!y<:/^ f-c ^^^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 215 FT. IN. Earth 10 Shellyrock 10 Sandrock 40 Clay 4 "Sulphurous" sandrock 8 Clay 3 Shalycoal 9 Coal, good 6 Shale 7 Coal, poor 11 Black shale 1 6 This hole certainly did not reach near the horizon of the block coal, but is carried to about the place of the bottom of the shaft, and shows the mixed character of the deposits in even a greater degree than the shaft section. Mr. Goss has sent me sections of three wells bored south of the Center to the depths respectively of 126^, 88 and 78 feet. They show alternations of shale, sandstone and fire-clay, with a little coal, but do not reach to the place of Coal No. 1. These explorations indicate that the upper coals are not likely to be found in any valuable development in the township of Edinburg. It is to be hoped, however, that under this bi'oad and elevated table-land the lower coal will be somewhere found of workable thickness. Passing south from Edinburg the land continues high, and the surface nowhere comes nearer than 150 feet to Coal No. 1; while in some instances it rises to such a height that the coal must be from 200 to 250 feet beneath. In Atwater much boring has been done, and coal found, which has been opened both by shaft and adit. The explorations made here were undertaken on the supposition that the coal, of which outcrops had been known, was the Briar Hill seam. This was, however, an error, and there can be no question that it is Coal No. 4. The place of Coal No. 1 is far below the bottom of the Atwater shaft, and probably below the bottom of the deepest well bored in the vicinity. The coal mined at Atwater is of good thickness — from four to five feet — but it exhibits the usual characteristics of the limestone seams, being of irregular thickness and variable quality. It is a serviceable fuel for the generation of steam, and is a pleasant grate-coal, but from the quantity of sulphur it contains is not well adapted to the manufacture of iron. The following analyses of this coal, made at the School of Mines by Mr. W. P. Jenney, will indicate very fairly its composition. No. 1, upper bench; No. 2, lower bench: No. 1. No. 2. Water 3.27 3.03 Volatile combustible matter 26.06 26.42 Fixedcarbon 64.50 62.50 Sulphur 1.52 2.20 Ash 4.65 5.72 Totals 100.00 99.97 At the shaft of the Atwater Coal Company the coal is from four to five feet in thickness, in two benches, separated by a bony parting. It is overlaid by black shale, which contains many discoid shells {Discina). In the shale above is considerable granular iron ore, but not of very good quality. The shale is succeeded by sandstone, as in all this region. The coal is opened by an adit, half a mile east, on lower ground. On John Hines' farm, one and a half miles southeast from Atwater Cen- ter, a shaft has been sunk to Coal No. 4, passing through — 1, surface clay; 2, sandstone; 3, black and gray shale; 4, black shale; 5, coal. Coal is here four 216 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. feet six inches in thickness, and, according to barometer, lies twenty-six feet below Atwater Station, or 534 feet above Lake Erie. About half a mile east the same coal is struck at a depth of eleven feet, on the farm of Michael Strong. It here lies ten feet higher than at Hines', while the svirface falls off rapidly toward the east. The thickness of the coal is the same as at Hines' farm. In some of the borings made by Mr. Christy, near the Atwater shaft, the coal was found to be cut out by heavy beds of sacdstone; no coal whatever having been reached in borings carried to a depth of 200 feet. It is quite possible, therefore, that in this locality no workable coal exists below Coal No. 4, but it is not certain that the deepest boring has been carried to the level of the Briar Hill seam, as the surface of this portion of the town- ship is at least 200 feet above the level. From the proximity of the railroad, the Briar Hill coal would have special value if found under these highlands, and it seems vexy desirable that a sufficient number of borings should be made to determine its presence or absence. The cost of boring to the depth of 200 feet need not exceed $300 for each hole, and experienced and reliable drillers can be found who will contract to do the work at this price. The result of boring at Limaville has already been reported, and this is such as to encourage further effort. At Limaville the upper coals are found in their proper positions, and Coal No. 1 at its regular level, far below. It is certain, therefore, that the lower seam does exist in this region — at least in basins of limited area— and we may confidently predict that foresight and energy will bring to some fortunate person ample reward by its discovery in this part of Portage County. Fire-clay. — As I have stated on a preceding page, the Atwater coal crops out in the northeast corner of the township. The lower limestone coal is here very thin, but, as usual, is underlaid by a seam of fire-clay, which is, perhaps, the most valuable in the series. This is apparently the same bed with that worked in Springfield, Summit County, and also that which furnishes most of the fire-clay made into pottery and tire-bricks along the Ohio, in Columbiana and Jefferson Counties. It also forms the basis of an important manufacture in Portage County, as it supplies the material for the potteries at Lima and Atwater. It is chiefly derived from John Spire's farm. Lot 10. Atwater Town- ship. The bed is about twelve feet thick, divided into two layers by a part- ing of back slate. The upper seven feet is not used in the potteries on account of the contained iron. The clay generally immediately underlies the soil, and is worked in open pits, but it is in some places overlaid by coal about thirty inches in thickness. A specimen obtained from the mine or pit (but "whether from the upper or lower bench is not certain) was analyzed by Prof. Wormley, giving the following result: Water 3. 00 Silica 79.90 Alumina 14.60 Iron oxide 1.60 Lime 0.20 Magnesia 0.24 Alkalies 1.50 Total 100.04 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 217 ALTITUDES IN PORTAGE COUNTY ABOVE LAKE ERIE. FT. Ravenna Station 530 Ravenna (City) 560 Rootstown 550 Atvvater Station 560 Atwater Center 600 Railroad Summit 603 Topographical Summit, north 685 Cuyahoga River Bridge 474 Garrettsville Depot 455 Mantua 536 Drakesburg 635 Windham 372 Edinburg 610 Campbellsport 410 Charlestown Center 575 Limestone Ridge 675 Freedom Station 575 CHAPTER III. The Pre-Historic Races— Mound-Builders— Their Great Antiquity— Occu- PATION OF THE COUNTRY — THE WONDERFUL MONUMENTS WHICH THEY LeFT Behind Them— Some Evidences of Their Existence in Portage County —The North American Indians— Their Supposed Origin— Brief Sketch of Them— Indians of Portage County— The Great Trail— The Indian Chiefs Bigson, Stignish and Big Cayuga— Extracts from the Reminis- cences of Christian Cackler on the Indians of This Section. THAT a very numerous race of people occupied that portion of the North American Continent now known as the United States, long anterior to its occupancy by the present Indians, is beyond proof, but of this people nothing is now known, more than can be gleaned or conjectured from the multiplicity of massive works left by them throughout, almost, the entire extent of the country. These works exist to-day as mounds, varying in size and character, and scattered either in groups or singly, from the sources of the Allegheny to the headwaters of the Missouri, and, extending southward, stretch from the Appalachians in the Carolinas to Texas. There are three grand divisions of these elevations, but they all bear the same general characteristics, being either mounds in the true sense, or circumvallations of earth and stone, the State of Ohio, alone, it is computed, containing no less than 10,000 of the former and 1,500 of the latter, some of which are of a very marked and extraordinary character. These mysterious dwellers of a long- forgotten age, called Mound- Builders, in lieu of a more accurate designation, evidently possessed a civili- zation distinctive of themselves, and that they used a written language appears entirely probable, from some peculiar hieroglyphic characters discovered upon their pottery ware and stone implements. But, beyond their almost imperish- able monuments, the archaeologist seeks in vain for a further solution of the grand problem of the coming, the life, and the exodus or decay of this myste- rious race. On opening a mound, he finds only mouldering skeletons, scattered and shattered remnants of vessels of earthenware, rude weapons of warfare, axes of stone, flint drills, spear-heads, and bottles of irregular, yet finished workman- ship, cut and polished from extremely hard stone, never, or rarely, indigenous 218 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. to the spot where found, showing the owners of them to have been an essentially migratory people, or a conquering nation, shifting about from place to place, yet leaving monuments behind them whose imperishability is not inferior to that of Cheops. A thousand interesting queries arise respecting them, but the most search- ing investigations only give us vague and unsatisfactory speculations as an answer. If we knock at their tombs no spirit reposing within responds to the summons, but a sepulchral echo comes ringing down the ages, reminding us how fruitless the search into that inscrutable past over which the curtain of oblivion seems to have been irrevocably drawn. Whence came these people; who and what were they, and whither did they go? Some writers have dis- covered evidences, convincing, apparently, to themselves, that this pre-historic race came from the other side of the globe, and that their advent was made at different times and from different points of a general hive in the supposed cradle of humanity — Central Asia. Others think them to have been the for- gotten ancestors of the degenerate and now decaying American Indians, who, having no preservative written language, the memory of their ancestors has gradually slipped from them. Still others fancy them to have been the orig- inal indigenous, spontaneous product of the soil. Regardless, however, of the origin, progress and destiny of this curious people, the fact of their having been here is certain; therefore the best that can be done by the archseologist is to examine their works and draw from them the conclusions that seem the most probable. The mounds vary in height from about five feet to thirty feet, with several notable exceptions, when they reach an altitude of eighty to ninety feet. The erections consist of villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications and pleasure grounds. They are chiefly of some symmet- rical figure, as circle, ellipse, rectangular parallelogram, or regular polygon, and inclose from one or two acres to as high as fifty acres. The circumvalla- tions generally contain the mounds, although there are many of the latter to be found standing isolated on the banks of a stream or in the midst of a broad plateau, being evidently thus placed as outposts of offense or defense, for the fact that they were a very warlike and even conquering race, is fully attested by the numerous fortifications to be met with wherever any trace of them is found. The works of the Mound-Builders in the United States are divided into three groups: The first group extends from the upper sources of the Alle- gheny River to the headwaters of the Missouri; the second occupies the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, and the third stretches across the country, with very little interruption, from South Carolina to the western limits of Texas. These groups are subdivided into three varieties of elevations, mounds, inclosures and eflSgieo, which are designated as mounds of sepulture, sacrifice, worship, observation, commemoration and defense. Mounds of sepulture are more numerous than the others, are conical in shape, and range from three to fifty feet in height. They usually contain the bones of one or more skeletons, accompanied by ornaments and implements of stone, mica, slate, shell or obsidian, besides pottery, whole and fragmentary, bone and cop- per beads, and the bones of animals. Mounds of sacrifice are recognized by their stratification, being convex and constructed of clay and sand on the nor- mal level of the soil, on top of which can be found a layer of ashes, charcoal and calcined bones, which in time has a layer of clay and sand, followed by more ashes, charcoal, etc., till the gradual upbuilding resulted in the manner we now see. These mounds also often contain beads, stone implements, pot- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 219 tery and rude sculpture, and occasionally a skeleton, showing that they may have been used as burial places. Mounds of worship, which are compara- tively few, have generally a large base and low elevation, and are in some instances terraced and having inclined ways to the top. Their size and char- acter have led to the inference that these flat-topped mounds originally were crowned with temples of wood, for had they been stone, traces of that material would be found. Mounds of observation, or beacon or signal mounds, are generally found upon elevated positions, and apparently could have subserved no other purpose than as " look-out" stations, or beacon points, and as con- firmatory of the latter purpose, ashes and charcoal have been found imbedded in their summits. These mounds occur on the line of what are considered the outposts of these pre-historic conquerors. Mounds in commemoration of some important event or character are here and there to be found, and they are thus classed because from their composition, position and character they are neither sepulchral, sacrificial, temple, defensive nor observation mounds. They are generally constructed of earth, but in some instances in Ohio, where they are stone erections, they are considered to be monumental. Mounds of defense, however, with the exception possibly of one or two efl&gies in Ohio, are the most remarkable. These mounds in some instances give evidence that their builders were acquainted with all the peculiarities in the construction of the best defensive earth and stone-works. They are always upon high ground, on precipitous bluffs and in positions that would now be selected by the accomplished strategist. The gateways to these forts are narrow and are defended by the usual wall in front of them, whilst the double angle at the corners and projecting walls along the sides for enfilading attack show a knowledge of warfare that is phenomenal in so rude a people as their imple- ments would indicate. Moats are often noticed around these fortifications, and cisterns are to be found within the inclosures. When the first settlers arrived at the sites of Marietta and Circleville, Ohio, a number of these earthworks were discovered, some of which yet exist; and at Newark when the circumvallation known as the " fort " was first seen by those who settled there in the early years of the century, a large tree, whose age was possibly not less than six hundred years, stood upon one of the embankments over twenty feet above the general level, thus giving great anti- quity to the erection. Ohio contains many curious forms of these works, two of the most singular being in Licking County and known respectively as the "Eagle" and "Alligator" eflSgies. The first is a bird with outstretched wings raised about three or four feet above the ground in the same manner as a bas-relief of the sculptors; the other is an animal closely resembling an alligator. They are supposed to have been idols, or in some way connected with the religion of the people who built them. In Boss County a defensive inclosure occupies the summit of a lofty, detached hill, twelve miles west of Chillicothe. This hill is not far from 400 feet in perpendicular height, and some of its sides are actually inaccessible, all of them being abrupt. The defenses consisted originally of a stone wall carried around the hill a little below the brow, the remains of this wall exist- ing now only in a line of detached stones, but showing plainly their evident purpose and position. The area inclosed embraced about 140 acres, and the wall itself was two and one-quarter miles in length. Trees of the largest size now grow upon the ruins of this fortification. About six miles east of Leba- non, Warren County, on the Little Miami River, is another extensive fortifi- cation, called " Fort Ancient." It stands on a plain, nearly horizontal, about 236 feet above the level of the river, between two branches with very steep 220 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. banks. The extreme length of these works in a direct line is nearly a mile, although following their angles, retreating and salient, they probably reach a distance of six miles. Another of those inclosures is located in the south- eastern part of Highland County, on an eminence 500 feet above the level of Brush Creek, which washes its base. The walls of the fortifications are over half a mile long, and the works are locally called " Fort Hill." The remains of an inclosure may yet be seen near Carrollton, a few miles south of Dayton, Montgomery County. All of those inclosures were evidently constructed for defensive purposes, and give signal proofs of the military knowledge of their builders. Burial mounds are very numerous in this State, and there ai'e few coun- ties that have not a greater or less number of these tumuli. The most remarkable of this class was a mound opened by John S. B. Matson, in Har- din County, in which over 300 human skeletons were found. Some antiqua- rians, however, entertain the belief that they were not all the remains of Mound-Builders, but many of them Indian remains, as it is well known that the latter often interred their dead in those monuments of their predecessors. When the first band of pioneers to the Western Reserve arrived at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, July 4, 1796, they discovered several mounds, and could easily trace the outline of a large cemetery then overgrown with forest. Ex- plorations were subsequently made, and some gigantic skeletons exhumed from mounds which stood on the site of Conneaut, Ashtabula County. The frames and jaw-bones were those of giants, and could not have belonged to the race of Indians then inhabiting any portion of this country. Several yeai'S ago a burial mound was opened in Logan County, from which three skeletons were taken. The frame of one was in an excellent state of preservation, and measured nearly seven feet from the top of the skull to the lower part of the heel. In 1850 a mound lying on the north bank of Big Darby about one mile northwest of Plain City, in Union County, was opened and several mas- sive skeletons taken therefrom. The lower jaw-bones, like those found at Conneaut, could be easily fitted over the jaw of a very large man, outside the flesh. These bones — and they are usually large wherever found — indicate that the Mound -Builders were a gigantic race of beings, fully according in size with the colossal remains they have left behind them. The largest mound in Ohio, called the "Great Mound," is located on the east bank of the Miami River, a short distance southeast of Miamisburg, Montgomery County. The surf ace elevation at this point is more than 150 feet above the level of the stream. The mound measures 800 feet around the base, and about sixty-five feet in height, though archaeologists claim that it was orig- inally more than eighty feet high. Explorations and the wear and tear of the elements have worn o& the summit about fifteen feet. At the time the pio- neers first came to the Miami Valley this mound was covered with trees, a large maple crowning the top, from which, it is said, the few cabins then con- stituting Dayton were plainly visible. In 1869 a shaft was sunk from the top of the mound to a distance of two feet below the base, and about eight feet from the surface a human skeleton was found in a sitting posture facing due east. A deposit of vegetable matter, bones of small animals, also wood and stone surrounded the skeleton, while a cover of clay, ashes and charcoal seems to have been the mode of burial. There are few traces left of the Mound -Builders in Portage County, although at an early day in the settlement of this section, many small tumuli were observed, which the plow has long since almost entirely obliterated. Still, there are eminences in various sections in the northern and southeast- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 221 em portions of the county which seemingly owe their origin more to the labors of man than to nature. In Randolph Township, we have been informed, a mound was opened some years ago which disclosed the bones of a skeleton, together with some fragments of pottery and rude stone implements. To the northeast of Hiram Center the writer noticed an elevation that bears the almost unmistakable marks of artificial workmanship, and it is believed that if excavations were made into it the usual pre-historic "finds" would be the reward. In the townships of Suffield and Streetsboro are several tumuli which resemble the works of the Mound- Builders, but as no scientific examina- tion has been made into them, they are still held in doubt. In Palmyra Town- ship, a little northwest of the Center, about one mile therefrom, is a low but well- defined series of mounds, almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye, that have all the characteristics of the true mound. They are not far from where there was, in the early days of the county, an Indian camp or small village, the spot being pointed out to us by Mr. Alva Baldwin. But all these indica- tions, until they have some actual foundation given them by examination, must be taken with a grain of allowance. The remains of this strange people are usually found near the larger water courses and lakes, and as Portage County lies somewhat out of the course of these by-ways of navigation, many evidences of their presence cannot be looked for here. Yet, that they passed over those very hills is beyond all reasonable doubt, for their mounds are to be seen eastward and westward of this section. The question of the origin of the North American Indians has long inter- ested archaeologists, and is one of the most difficult they have been called upon to answer. The commonly accepted opinion is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. Some writers have put forward the theory that the Indians, from their tribal organization, faint similarity of language and religion, and the high cheekbone in the well developed specimen of the race, are the descendants of the two lost tribes of Israel. Others contend that they descended from the Hindoos, and that the Brahmin idea which uses the sun to symbolize the Creator has its counterpart in the sun-worship of some Indian tribes. They have lived for centuries with- out much apparent progress — purely a hunter race — while the Caucasian, under the transforming power of Christianity — the parent of art, science and civil government — has made the most rapid advancement. Under the influences of the church, however, the Indian has often shown a commendable capability for accepting the teachings of civilization; but the earnest efforts of her devoted missionaries have often been nullified or totally destroyed by the unwise policy pursued by the governing power, or the dishonesty and selfishness of the officials in charge. Stung to madness at our injustice and usurpation of his hunting-grounds, he has remained a savage, and his career in the upward march of man is forever stunted. The Indian race is in the position of a half- grown giant cut down before reaching manhood. There never has been a savage people who could compare with them in their best estate. Splendid in physique, with intense shrewdness and common sense, and possessed of a bravery unexcelled, there never was a race of uncivilized people who had with- in them so much to make them great as the red man. Whatever he has been or is, he was never charged with being a coward or a fool, and as compared to the barbarians of other portions of the globe, he is as "Hyperion to a Satyr." The advent of the whites upon the shores of the Western continent engen- dered in the bosom of the aborigines a spark of jealousy, which, by the impolitic course of the former, was soon fanned into a blaze, and a contest was thereby inaugurated that sooner or later must end in the extermination of 222 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. the latter. The struggle has been long and bitter; many a campaign has been planned by warriors worthy and able to command armies, for the destruction of the pale-faced invaders When Philip struck the blow which he hoped would forever crush the growing power of the white men, both sides recognized the supreme importance of the contest, and the courage and resources of the New England colonists were taxed to the utmost to avoid a defeat, which meant final destruction. The fierce resistance of later days, as the Indians were driven farther and farther toward the setting sun^ are historic facts with which the student is already familiar. The conspiracy of Pontiac, the famous Ottawa chieftain, in 1763, failed in its object of extermination, and the bravery and sagacity of the celebrated Indian leaders, Brandt, Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Cornstalk, Logan, Black Hoof, Tarhe, Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, could not prevail against the heroes of the Revolution, and the triumph of Wayne in 1794 closed a long series of bloody Indian wars. A few years passed by, when Tecumseh flashed out like a brilliant meteor in the firmament of great Indian leaders, and organized the Western tribes for a last desperate effort to hold their own against the advancing tide of civilization. But he too went down in defeat and death before the prowess of Hai-rison's legions. When the Creeks, in 1813, through the intrigue of Tecumseh, challenged the people of the South to mortal combat, it required the genius of a Jackson, and soldiers worthy of such a chief, to avert a serious calamity. But since the decisive bat- tle of Tohopeka, March 27, 1814, there has been but one Indian war of any considerable magnitude, viz. : the Seminole war in Florida. The Black Hawk outbreak in Illinois in 1832 required but a few weeks' service of raw militia to quell, but the Seminoles of Florida, led by the indomitable Osceola, a half- breed of great talents, carried on a bitter struggle from 1835 to 1839, when their power was completely crushed, and they were soon after removed beyond the Mississippi. Since then campaigns have dwindled into mere raids, and battles into skirmishes. The massacre of Custer's command in Montana must be regarded as an accident of no permanent importance, and a dozen such melancholy events would not in the least alarm the country. Indian fighting, though not free from peril, now serves a useful purpose for the army graduates of West Point, who might otherwise go to their graves without ever having amelled hostile gunpowder. Two hundred years ago the white man lived in America only by the red man's consent, and within that period the combined strength of the red man might have di'iven the white into the sea. Along the Atlantic coast are still to be seen the remains of the rude fortifications which the early settlers built to protect themselves from the host of enemies around; but to find the need of such protection now, one must go beyond the Mississippi to a few widely scattered points in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon. The enemy that once camped in sight of the Atlantic has retreated toward the slope of the Pacific, and from that long retreat there can be no returning. East of the stream which he called the Father of Waters, nothing is left of the Indian except the beautiful names he gave and the graves of his dead, save here and there the remnants of once powerful tribes, living on reservations by the sufferance of their conquerors. The Indian has resisted and will continue to resist every effort to civilize him by coercion — every attempt to force at the point of the bayonet the white man's ideas into his brain. He does not want and will not have our manners or our code of morals forced upon him. The greatest redeeming fea- ture in the Indian character and career is that he has always preferred the worst sort of freedom to the best sort of slavery. Whether his choice was a wise one or not the reader can determine; but it is impossible not to feel some "^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 225 admiration for the indomitable spirit that has never bowed to the yoke — never called any man "master." The Indian is a savage, but he never was, never will be, a slave. We have treated him like a dog and are surprised that he bites. In a speech in New York City, not long before his death, Gen. Sam Houston, indisputable authority on such matters, declared with solemn emphasis, that "there never was an Indian war in which the white man was not the aggressor." Aggression leading to war is not our heaviest sin against the Indian. He has been deceived, cheated and robbed to such an extent that he looks upon most of the white race as villains to whom he should show no quarter. A very decided feeling of justice to the abused red man is gaining ground of late years, and numerous able pens have been engaged in defending him, among whom are Joaquin Miller, the poet, and Hon. A. B. Meacham. But we can well afford, after getting all his land and nearly exterminating him, to extend to him a little cheap sympathy. The Indians of this continent were never so numerous as has generally been supposed, although they were spread over a vast extent of country. Con- tinual wars prevented any great increase, and their mode of life was not cal- culated to promote longevity or numbers. The great body of them originally were along the Atlantic seaboard, and most of the Indian tribes had traditions that their forefathers lived in splendid hunting grounds far to the westward. The best authorities affirm that on the discovery of this country the number of the scattered aborigines of the territory now forming the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan could not have exceeded 18,000. The earliest date of any authentic knowledge of the Indian in this section is 1650, when the Eries held possession of the northern portion of what is now Ohio. They lived along the southern borders of the lake which bears their name, but when their domains were invaded by the Iroquois, about 1655, most of them fell before their relentless foes, whilst the i*emainder became incorporated with other tribes, were driven farther southward, or adopted into those of their conquerors. During the first half of the seventeenth century the Shawnees were living along the valley of the Ohio, but they, too, were dis- persed by the Five Nations or Iroquois, and dispossessed of their lands, though they subsequently returned to their early hunting grounds. For many years before and after 1700 this entire territory was occupied by the remnants of defeated tribes, who were permitted to remain by sufferance of their conquerers, the latter exacting a tribute, collected at will from the wandering and unset- tled tribes. In 1750, however, something like permanent occupation had again taken place, and we find in what is now Ohio the Wyandotts, Delawares, Shawanees, Mi amis, Munsees, Chippewas, Ottawas, Senecas, Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas and Onondagas, the last five being known in history as the Mingoes of Ohio. They were settled mostly along the larger streams and on the southern shore of Lake Erie. When the first settlers reached what is now Portage County, the then unbroken wilderness was filled with wild animals and nearly as wild men. There were members of several tribes, as this county was among the best of the hunting grounds of the red man. In the northwestern section there were representatives of three tribes: the Senecas, who had their headquarters near the Cuyahoga River, in Streetsboro Township, on land now owned by Samuel Olin, and whose chief was Bigson; the Ottawas, who had their village near the mouth of the Little Cuyahoga River, whose chief was Stignish, and the Chippewas, who lived further west in Medina County, about Chippewa. Lake, but who occupied a portion of this section in summer, where they hunted. These tribes had their hunting grounds as well defined as the boundaries of a >3 226 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. modern farm, and every Indian knew where the limits of his "range" was, as well as if it had been surveyed. Bigson, the Seneca chief, was about six feet in height, of a powerful and muscular frame, well proportioned, with keen black eyes, a stern and dignified look, honest and upright in all his dealings with the whites, a firm friend, or an implacable enemy. His family consisted of four sons and three daughters, only two of the sons being with him: John Amur and John Mohawk, the lat- ter the one who shot Diver in Deerfield Township. The husbands of the daughters were George Wilson, Nickshaw and Wobmung. These Indians did most of their trading with Capt. Heman Oviatt, who kept a little Indian store about one mile south of Hudson. They named the old trader " Coppa- qua, " from the fact that he was so badly cheated in a trade on one occasion that he cried — the term Coppaqua meaning "to shed tears." This, also, was the Seneca name for Cuyahoga Falls. In what is now Windham Township there was a village of Indians up to about 1807 or 1808, a short distance northwest of where now stands the depot of the Mahoning Branch of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad. There were small clearings and a few decaying wigwams still to be seen when the first settlers arrived in that section. There was, also, an old orchard, set out by the red men, and from the old trees, one of the sons of those first settlers informed the writer he had eaten apples. An Indian trail ran along the northern border, and at various points the pioneers discovered the remains of villages. What are now Nelson and Hiram Townships was a favorite hunt- ing resort of the Indians, and members of several tribes periodically visited this section, among whom were Senecas, Ottawas, Onondagas, and a few Oneidas, but mostly Cayugas, with their chief Big Cayuga, and his nephew, Snipnose Cayuga, who succeeded him, after the redoubtable Capt. Delaun Mills had killed the former. The " ledges " in the upper part of Nelson afforded excellent shelter for the red skins, and a few wigwams could always be seen under them. Many thrilling tales are told of the adventures, hair- breadth escapes and dreadful vengeance of the early settlers, and particularly of Capt. Mills, the most of which, however, has been summed up in the sketch of Nelson Township. When the first settlers came into Palmyra Township, and for several years afterward, a number of families belonging to the Onondaga and Oneida tribes were living in that locality. The Onondagas had their village about a mile west of the Center, a little to the northeast of the residence of Mr. Alva Bald- win, and one of the trees under which they used to congregate is still standing on the spot. This settlement was on the line of the " Great Trail," which extended from Fort Mcintosh, where Beaver, Penn., now is, to Sandusky and Detroit. From the Big Beaver the trail passed up the left branch of the Mahoning, crossing it about three miles above Youngstown; thence by way of the Salt Springs in Trumbull County, through Milton and on through the upper portion of Palmyra; thence through Edinburg, after crossing Silver Creek one mile and a half north of the Center road; thence through Ravenna and Franklin, crossing the Cuyahoga at Standing Rock, about a mile from the city of Kent, where the waters enter the narrow gorge made so famous by the "Leap" of Capt. Brady; the trail then passed in a northwesterly direc- tion to Sandusky. Along this great thoroughfare parties of Indians frequently passed for many years, even after the whites had taken possession of the country. There were several large piles of stones in Palmyra Township, along this trail, under which human skeletons were found, supposed to be the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered enemies, and as it was the cus- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 227 torn of the red men to cast stones upon the graves of their dead foes, they each, in passing, helped to form the piles. In 1814, near where the trail crosses Silver Creek, several devices were found carved upon trees. The bark had been carefully shaved off, and in one instance seven Indian figures carved thereon, one of which was without a head, the inference being that seven of the red skins h^ed started out on one of their forays, and that one of the band had been slain; hence the memorial. The Indians living in Deertield at the time Diver was shot were, according to Christian Cackler, who knew them well, Senecas, and not Mohawks, as Howe, in his " Historical Collections" makes them, nor were they permanent dwellers in that portion of the county, their camp being in Streetsboro Town- ship, where they would erect, in the winter- time, a large wigwam, spacious enough to contain the whole remnant of their tribe in this section. Nickshaw, who traded horses with Diver, was a son-in-law of the Seneca chief, John Bigson, and John Mohawk, who shot the unfortunate man, was a son of the chief. A detailed account of this affair will be found in the chapter ok Deerfield Township. In the summer of 1809 Bigson lost his squaw by death, at their head-quarters on the Cuyahoga River. She was a large, stout woman, and very good looking, having, like her husband, a very dignified, not to say- stoical, appearance. She was said to be very kind and friendly for an Indian. Her age was between fifty and sixty years. They made a new calico frock for her after she was dead, and placing it on the corpse, literally covered the arms and ankles with silver beads and broaches. She was buried in a coffin made of bark, in a grave three feet deep, bein^i; first rolled up in a large blanket, the covering being so arranged that a hole was left that she might see out of it when she was summoned to arise again and enjoy the happy hunting grounds in the domain of the Great Spirit. This chapter can have no more appropriate closing than to give a few extracts from the recollections of the late Christian Cackler, who was an eye- witness to what he relates. Speaking of the head-quarters of John Bigson, the Seneca chief, whom he knew personally for many years, the old gentleman writes in the following quaint style: "I have been there a great many times when they lived there, and if they had anything to bestow upon you in the way of eatables, it was as free as water. They thought it a privilege to give, for they thought it was a token of friendship, and if they gave- one they gave all present. Their wigwam was about twenty-five feet long or more, and they had their fire through the middle, and had it so constructed as to leave room for a tier of them to lie down on each side of the fire so as to have their feet to the fire, for they laid on their skins and furs, and were covered over with their blankets. They had a space left open on the ridge of their camp to let the smoke pass oat. They had their wigwam thatched with bark, so that it was tight and warm, and had a door in each end so that they could haul in their wood without much chopping. They laid there as warm and comfortable as a king in his palace. The Seneca chief used to gather in all his family connections and lay there all winter. In the spring they would scatter out over their hunting grounds, each family by themselves, and build their wig- wams for the summer. They were as careful of their game as we are of our cat- tle, and would kill nothing unless wanted for present use. * * * Thej had no government expenses, no taxes to pay, no jails to build, no locks to buy. I think the Indian is the happiest man in the world, in the wilderness. * * * I never knew they had any language in which to swear. He will eat all kinds of animals and fish and horses, or anything that a dog will eat, and sometimes I have thought what a dog would not eat. They often paini 228 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. their faces in streaks; that denotes peace and friendship. They love whisky and get drunk often." Describing one of their drunken frolics, Mr. Cackler says: "They got their whisky and had a suit made like a little boy's suit, all whole, but open before so they could stick their arms and legs in. It was fringed all around, and had claws of several kinds^deer, bear, turkey, coon, etc. The one that was dancing would jump, hop and kick around the floor, * * * and when he got tired he would take a drink and another would try his hand. But when they got perfectly drunk, the claws rattling looked more like the devil than anything I ever saw. * * * Then the squaws went into it and got as drunk as could be, and went tumbling around on the ground. But after they got through they looked as though they had lost their best friends." CHAPTER IV. The Pioneers of Portage County— Their Heroic Perseverance and Pri- vations—New England Transplanted on the Connecticut Western Reserve— The First Settlement Made Within The Limits of Portage County— First Settlers of Mantua, Ravenna, Aurora and Atwateb Tow^NSHiPS— At water Hall, the First White Child Born in the County— First Settlers of Palmyra, Deerfield, Nelson, Rootstown, Randolph, Suffield, Charlestown, Hiram, Franklin, Shalersville, Edinburg. Windham, Paris, Brimfield, Freedom, Streetsboro and Garrettsville Townships — The Portage-Summit Pioneer Association. LESS than one hundred years ago there was not a single white inhabitant a permanent settler throughout the length and breadth of the State of Ohio; less than eighty-seven years ago there was not a single white person in Portage County. Could those who. only see this country as it now is, borrow the eyes of those who helped make the transformation, their amazement could not be depicted by words. In place of the now smiling fields and comfortable homes, naught but a vast wilderness of forest would greet the sight. The true story of the first settlement of Portage County has never been told. Those early pioneers were not seeking fortunes, nor fame; thej^ were intent only on making a home for their children, and from that laudable impelling motive has arisen the splendid structure of Western civilization we see all around us. It is astonishing how rapidly accurate and reliable information concerning the pioneer days is perishing. The traditions of those early times have been very carelessly kept, and whoever seeks to collect them finds much difiiculty in doing so. Yet, what does remain has been carefully and cautiously collated, keeping ever in view the unreliability of certain sources, but gleaning the rich kernels from out the debris of shells. The present generation can form no just conception of the trials, tireless labors, sacrifices and privations to which the first settlers heroically submitted. These men whose industry, enter- prise and perseverance wx'ought from out nature's wilds the great prosperity which in to-day's sunlight, from every hillside and glen, looks up to smile upon us, have, in the benefactions they have bestowed upon their children, by leaving this to them for an inheritance, proved themselves greater heroes, because their achievements were nobler and better, than if they had laid the trophies of a blood-bought conquest upon their escutcheons. Courage upon HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 229 the soil of carnage wins the wreath of laurel that evanescently bedecks the brow of victory, but true, manly courage upon life's broad field of battle should bestow a more brilliant and fadeless diadem than ever pressed the war- rior's brow, for the peaceful conquests of ax and plow are more fruitful of benefits to mankind than those of the sword and the mere scorn of death. .From the time that the Connecticut Land Company put their lands upon the market, exaggerated reports of the wonderful richness of the Connecticut Western Reserve, or New Connecticut, as it was called, were in circulation- Single individuals, parties and companies made their way to the far-off wilds, nearly all of whom either returned with or sent back to their homes glowing accounts, the result of which was an exodus to and a rapid settlement of thi? section. The new comers were at first almost exclusively from Connecticut and Massachusetts. They brought with them their religious ideas and preju- dices, their virtues and social customs, their peculiarities, and above all, their New England thrift, and to such an extent that for many years the inhabitants of Portage County, as well as the entire tract of territory knowu as the Con- necticut Western Reserve, so closely resembled their ancestors in their modes of life and veins of thought, as to be but a transplantation of, or an enlarge- ment upon, the land of the "Pilgrim Fathers." The two upper tiers of town- ships, especially, were peopled from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and a native of any other State was rarely to be found. The pioneers of the two southern tiers of townships, however, were from New England and Pennsvl- vania, with here and there a Virginian, a Carolinian, or a Marylander. Many Germans came in later, bringing with them their hardiness of constitu- tion and industry, and bringing up the land upon which they settled to the highest point of fertility. In the eastern portion of the county many of that sturdy race, the Welsh, have settled, and in one township largely outnumber the purely American population. In those early days the entire communitv were producers— every man woman, boy and girl had their duties to perform. They lived in comparative social equality, and the almighty dollar did not form a barrier between the rich and the poor; a man was esteemed not for his money bags, but for actual merit. A.11 aristocratic distinctions were left beyond the mountains, and the only society lines were to separate the bad from the good. Rich and poor dressed alike, homespun being almost universal, whilst the primitive cabin was furnished with the same style of simplicity. Bedsteads often consisted of forked sticks driven in the ground, with crosspoles to support the clapboards or cord. We have gi-own older, in many respects, if not wiser, and could not think of living on what our ancestors lived. But this is an age of progress and improvement, and these observations are made by way of contrasting the past with the present. The pioneers who endured the hardships, and ofttimes the dangers from wild beasts and still wilder men have, with few exceptions, passed to their final account, and all that remains for their descendants to do 18 to keep bright the recollections of such names and such events as have come down to them, for the memory of their deeds should be "written in characters of living light upon the firmament, there to endure as radiant as if every let- ter were traced in shining stars." The first settlement within the bounds of what is now Portage County was made in the fall of 1798, in Mantua Township, on Lot 24, by Abram S. Honev, who erected a log cabin, made a clearing, and put out a small crop of wheat' which was harvested the following season by his brother-in-law, Ruf us Ed- wards, who owned the land, but who had sent Honey in advance to prepare the way. A man by the name of Peter French is said to have been at the point 230 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. ■where Edwards settled, as early as Honey, but be made no permanent settle- ment and may have been simply a helper of the latter. William Crooks was the next permanent settler to come in after those named above, and he built a cabin and made a clearing on the southwest part of Lot 29. He remained a resident of Mantua till 1854, dying at the age of eighty-five. Elias Harmon arrived at the' clearing Honey had made on the 12th of June, 1799, where he remained a short time, and then proceeded to Aurora, where he had engaged to make some improvements on the land of Ebenezer Sheldon. Harmon came in company with three other men who have had considerable local notoriety: Benjamin Tappan, Jr., of Ravenna, afterward a resident of Steubenville; David Hudson, of Summit County, and Jotham Atwater, of Euclid. Mr. Harmon was for a number of years one of the leading citizens of the county and left many descendants. He was the first Treasurer of the county. In June, 1799, Benjamin Tappan, Jr., son of Benjamin Tappan, of North- ampton, Mass., one of the principal proprietors of the present territory known as Ravenna Township, set out from his home in the East to make a settlement on the land of his father. On his journey, Mr. Tappan fell in with David Hudson, at Gerondaquet Bay, N. Y., wl\om he took in his boat'and assisted on his way to what is now Summit County. In company they overtook Elias Har- mon in a small boat with his wife, bound to Mantua. At Niagara they found the river full of ice, which compelled them to convey their boats to some dis- tance around and above the Falls. Proceeding on their dangerous way vast bodies of floating ice impeded their progress, and they had to get out upon the shore and drag their boats along with I'opes till they were clear of the stronger current running to the Falls. When they arrived at the mouth of the lake they also found it full of floating ice, and had to remain tbei'e several days before proceeding. Ofi" Ashtabula County their boats were driven ashore in a storm, and that of Mr. Harmon stove to pieces, the latter traveling thence by land to his destination. Tappan and his companions sailed along the shore- line till they arrived at Cleveland, which consisted at that time of one log- cabin. Entering the Cuyahoga River and following its sinuosities, but know- ing nothing at all of its depth, they soon found that they would have to either abandon their boats or di'ag them over the frequent rapids in the river. After much difficulty, however, they passed safely onward, and, judging from the dis- tance traveled, thought that they were in about the latitude of the township of which they were in search. They landed at a point where now is the town of Bos- ton, in Summit County, where Tappan left all of his goods under a tent with a hired man, and taking Benjamin Bigsby with him commenced to cut out a road to Eavenna. They built a sled and witb a yoke of oxen Mr. Tappan had bought in Ontario County, N. Y., conveyed a load of his farming utensils to his set- tlement in the southeast corner of the township, where, owing to delays, a cabin was not finished till the first of the following year, ISOO. He subse- quently erected a house about one mile east of Ravenna on the Marcus Heath farm. Returning for a second load, he found that his efi"ects had been aban- doned and partly plundered, and to make it still worse, one of his oxen became overheated and died. From a sketch of Hon. Benjamin Tappan, published in the Democratic Review for June, 1840, we extract the following: "The death of one of his oxen left him in a vast forest, distant from any habitation, without a team, and what was still worse, with but a single dol- lar in money. He was not depressed for an instant by these untoward cir- cumstances. He sent one of his men through the woods, with a compass, to Erie, Penn. , a distance of about one hundred miles, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the commandant at the fort, a loan of money. At the same HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 231 time, he himself followed the township lines to Youngstown, where he became acquainted with Col. James Hillman, who did not hesitate to sell him an ox, on credit, at a fair price — an act of generosity which proved of great value, as the want of a team must have broken up his settlement. The unexpected delays upon the journey, and other hindrances, prevented them from raising a crop this season, and they had, after the provisions brought with them were exhausted, to depend for meat upon their skill in hunting and purchases from the Indians, and for meal upon the scanty supplies procured from west- tern Pennsylvania. Having set out with the determination to spend the win- ter, he erected a log-cabin, into which himself and one Bigsby, whom he had agreed to give one hundi'ed acres of land on condition of settlement, moved on the first day of January, 1800, before which they lived under a bark camp and tent." During the spring following the removal of Tappan into his first cabin, which stood on the Capt. J. D. King farm, several other settlers came into Ravenna, among whom were William Chard and Conrad Boos- inger, the latter coming in August, and bringing his wife, sons George and John, and daughter Polly. Boosinger settled on 200 acres of land about one and one-half miles southeast of the present town of Ravenna, made a clearing and sowed it in wheat. Chard located on Lot 33. Boosinger being a tanner, constructed a couple of vats soon after he came, which was the first effort in that direction, and the first public enterprise in the way of manufac- tures in the county. The privations of these early settlers of the Western Reserve cannot now be described or realized, and why a young lawyer like Benjamin Tappan, Jr., surrounded with all of the comforts of an Eastern home, would venture out into an unknown wilderness, seems to us now some- thing wonderful. During the same month in which Benjamin Tappan and his party arrived in Ravenna, Ebenezer Sheldon, of Suffield, Conn., came into Aurora Township, and with the assistance of Elias Harmon and his wife, made a settlement on Lot 40. After the erection of a cabin and making a small clearing in the prim- itive forest, Harmon and wife moved to Mantua Township, where they ever afterward resided. Sheldon then returned to Connecticut, and in the following spring, 1800, came out to his new home, bringing his wife, four sons and two daughters. They rode the entire distance in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen, and leading a pair of young horses. They came safely as far as War- ren, which at that time consisted of a few log structures, but after leaving there a storm overtook them in the woods and they were very near perishing from falling trees. They managed to avoid all accidents, however, but were literally penned in and had to remain in the woods all night, only being released the next day by getting assistance and cutting a road out. One of the daughters of this sturdy old pioneer, the year following their arrival, married Amzi AtAvater, of Mantua, one of the surveyors who accompanied Cleveland in the survey of the Western Reserve, and who afterward became one of the Asso- ciate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and a leading citizen of the county. Ebenezer Sheldon and his family were the only inhabitants of Aurora for three years after they arrived there, but in 1803 quite a number came in, among whom were Samuel Forward and his family, from Granby, Conn. The next year came James M. Henry, John Cochran, Jr., David Ken- nedy, Sr., Ebenezer Kennedy, Samuel Ferguson and several others. Within a year or two afterward came Moses Eggleston, father of Gen. Nelson Eggles- ton; also Joseph Eggleston, brother of Moses, together with Capt. Perkins, Col. Ebenezer Harmon, Isaac Blair and others from Massachusetts and Con- necticut. 232 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Early in April, 1799, two months before any settlers had arrived in Ravenna or Aurora Townships, and only six months after Honey had made his clearing in Mantua, six persons made their way into what is now Atwater Township. They came from Wallingford, Conn., and were Capt. Caleb Atwater, Jonathan Merrick, Peter Bunnell, Asahel Blakesley and Asa Hall and his wife. This party, headed by Atwater, surveyed the township into lots, and in the fall all of them, with the exception of Hall and his wife, returned to their homes in the East. From the time of the arrival of this first settler till the spring of 1801 — two years — Hall and his wife were the only persons in the township, his nearest neighbor being Lewis Ely, over in Deertield Township, who had come out with others shortly after Hall's arrival. Although having a lonesome time during those two years in the wilderness, an incident happened within Hall's household that was calculated in a measure to relieve the tedium of, whilst it imposed additional cares upon, the life of this pioneer couple. The "incident" was a child born to them in the spring of 1800, which was promptly and appropriately named Atwater Hall, and had the honor of being the first white child born in Portage County. Hall was considerable of a hunter, and as may well be supposed, had ample opportunity and game to gratify all his taste in that direction, but he eventually got tired of his lone- some life and moved in 1801 to near the Deertield Township line, where he could more easily reach the settlements in that township. About the time Hall moved from his first location, David Baldwin, Jr., came in from Walling- ford, Conn., and settled about two miles south of the Center of Atwater Town- ship. These two families for the next three years were the only persons in the township, but after that period settlers came in rapidly, most of whom were from Connecticut and Massachusetts, but about 1807 quite a number of persons from South Carolina settled here, among whom were Enos Davis, whose son Isaac, then a boy of ten years is still living, nearly ninety years of age; also, from the same State, came William Marshall, John Huttou and John Camp- bell. Among the arrivals shortly before and about the year 1806-07 were Jere- miah Jones, Josiah Mix, John H. Whittlesey, Caleb Mattoon, Asahel Blakesley and Ira and Amos Morse. David Baldwin, Jr., was the agent of Capt. Atwater, who owned not only the entire township, but several others and portions of others on the Reserve, he being one of the original members of the Connecticut Land Company. Maj. Ransom Baldwin, now I'esiding, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, on the original land located by his father, is the son of David Baldwin, he being born in 1802, the second male child born in the township of Atwater. The settlement of this portion of the county was very rapid, as the land was considered by most of the early comers to be better in the southern than in the northern portions of the county. The first settler in that division of the county known as Palmyra Township was David Daniels, who left his home in Grattan, Conn., in the spring of 1799, and arrived there in June, locating on Lot 21, about one and a half miles south of the Center. At the drawing of the Connecticut Land Company, Palmyra Township fell to the lot of eight persons, Elijah Boardman being the principal owner, and these gentlemen, as an inducement to its settlement, gave Daniels 100 acres of land to go there, make a clearing and build a cabin, which he accordingly did. He put in a small crop of wheat, which was duly harvested the following season, and after threshing his crop carried a bushel of the grain on his shoulders to Poland, about thirty miles away, had it ground and returned with it to his humble cabin. Daniels was a soldier in the Rev- olutionary Army and died in 1813, having been highly respected. He was the first Justice of the Peace of Palmyra Township after its organization. Not (ZiAi^ , ^ ^ /U-^i^t-t^^, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 235 long after the settlement of Daniels, Ethelbert Baker came in and located about half a mile sovith of the Center on the west side of the road, and the next year, 1800, in the spring, William Bacon arrived and located one and a quarter miles south of the Center. In 1802 came a son-in-law of Nehemiah Bacon — E. Cutler — who located two miles south of the Center, and in 1804 James McKelvey, of Pennsylvania, and Amasa Preston arrived. In 1805 quite a delegation came in from Connecticut, among whom were David, Silas and Asahel Waller, John Tuttle, Jr., and Capt. John T. Baldwin; the latter, who was from Litchfield County, Conn., bringing his wife and three sons, one of whom. Squire Alva Baldwin, still resides upon the farm originally owned by his father. Capt. Baldwin for many years kept a tavern at the Center of Palmyra. In 1806 Truman Gilbert, Sr. , also, from Litchlield,.Conn. , arrived and settled west of the Center. He brought his wife, seven sons and one daughter, the latter still living at the age of eighty-six. In the spring of 1799 Lewis Day and Horatio Day, of Connecticut, came to their purchase of land in Deertield Township. They came through in a wagon drawn by horses, selected their locations, made a clearing and put out a crop of wheat. The first actual settler, however, was Lewis Ely, who came in July, bringing his family and settling down to business at once, while the Days in the fall returned to their homes in the East. Ely located on Lot 19, just east of the old grave-yard. The following year, 1800, was marked by the arrival in Deerfield of several men who afterward became prominent in the history of the county. In February Alva Day, John Campbell and Joel Thrall started from their homes in Connecticut and walked the entire distance, arriving here in March, after an exceedingly rough time, as the mountains over which they had to pass were covered with five or six feet of snow, subject- ing them to much su£fering from the cold. Provisions were exceedingly scarce at this time, and Lewis Ely and Alva Day were compelled to make a trip to the Ohio River to procure some bacon and meal. They constructed a canoe from a log, floated it down to the Ohio River, and at a point opposite Steubenville, procured what they needed and brought it back with an ox team. James Laughlin also came this year from Pennsylvania. In July Lewis Day returned bringing out his wife and six children: Horatio, Munn, Seth, Lewis, Jr., Solomon and Seba Day. During the next three or four years following 1800 the township filled up very rapidly, many of the settlers coming from Penn- sylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Ephraim B. Hubbard, of Connecticut, came about this time, and in 1803 Daniel Diver and his family. Noah Grant, the grandfather of Gen. U. S. Grant, is supposed to have settled in Deerfield about 1804-05, where he opened a tannery and followed shoe-making. Noah brought his wife and little son Jesse, aged about ten years, father of the now illustrious Gen. U. S. Grant, to whom the country owes so much, for to him is largely due the conception of the proper mode to crush out the modern python of armed secession. Rev. Shadrack Bostwick, son in-law of Daniel Diver, came in 1803. This gentleman was one of the early circuit-riders of the Methodist Church, and was a physician as well. In the spring of 1800 there arrived in Nelson Township, from Becket, Mass., Delaun, Asahel and Isaac Mills, sons of Deacon Ezekiel Mills. The first two were married and brought out their families; the latter was single. They came in covered wagons and several weeks were occupied in the trip, during which time their money had dwindled down to less than 25 cents. Falling in with XJrial Holmes, the principal proprietor of Nelson Township, the brothers engaged with him to serve as ax-men to the surveyors, who were under charge of Amzi Atwater. After finishing their job, Delaun settled on a lot of 100 236 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. acres which had been donated to him by Holmes. It was on the north side of the road just west of the Center. Asahel settled on a 100 acre lot on the north and south road. Delaun, or Capt. Delaun Mills, as he was afterward known, was looked upon as the Daniel Boone of this section, and a full account of him will be found in the sketch of Nelson Township. For nearly three years the two brothers, Delaun and Asahel (Isaac having returned to the East) and their families were the only white inhabitants of Nelson Township; but in the spring of 1803 seven families came in, they being Stephen Baldwin, Benjamin Stow and two sons, John Bancroft and four sons, Daniel Owen, two Stiles brothers, William and Thomas Kennedy and Asa Truesdell. In July, 1804, Col. John Garrett, who founded Garrettsville, or rather built a mill at that point, and for whom that enterprising little town is named, came into Nelson, and about the same time Abraham Dyson and a German named Johann Noah, all coming from the State of Delaware. In the following year, 1805, came John Tinker, Nathaniel Bancroft, Martin Manley and Daniel Wood. Ephraim Root, principal proprietor of Rootstown Township, in company with a young man named Harvey Davenport, came out in the spring of 1800 to survey his land, which was done, he returning in the fall, but leaving his companion in the wilderness, the unfortunate young man having suddenly died. In the spring of 1801 Mr. Root again came out, bringing his brother David, and they together made a settlement in the northeast corner of the township. They erected a two-story log-cabin not far from where now is Campbellsport. Nathan Muzzy, of whom frequent mention is made in several of the township sketches, came to the county about this time, and did the car- penter work for the Roots. Muzzy discovered the little lake which has ever since borne his name. Poor old Nathan! His life-story was a romance: A graduate of Yale, brilliant young minister, crossed in love, reason dethroned, a wanderer in the West, decrepit and penniless, buried by the hand of charity. In 1802 Henry O'Neill, an Irishman of fine education and a pioneer Justice of the Peace, and Samuel McCoy came in and together erected a cabin on Lot 3, but McCoy, also an Irishman, afterward moved to Lot 28. In the fall of this year Michael Hartle and Frederick Caris, originally from Northumberland County, Penn., and the following year John Caria came in, also Arthur Anderson. In 1804, in addition to a number of others, the Chapmans made a settlement on Lot 4. Jacob and Abraham Reed settled on the southwest cor- ner of Lot 15. In the fall of 1805 Beman Chapman, brother of Ephraim, arrived with his wife and brother Nathan. Stephen Colton came about this time, and Gersham Bostwick in 1806. Bela Hubbard and Salmon Ward, natives of Middletown, Conn., in the year 1802 removed with their families to Randolph Townshi}), from Jefferson County, N. Y., where they had resided since 1799. These two old pioneers made a halt about half a mile west of the Center, and the first night camped under a large tree, but the next day built them a cabin. Ward was taken sick, and upon recovery returned to his Eastern home. He, however, made three other trials at settling here, and as many times gave it up. The last time he started for the East was the last ever heard of him by his friends. For six weeks Hubbard was the solitary inhabitant of Randolph Township, and a lonely time he must have had of it, bat in July came Arad Upson, originally from Ply- mouth, Conn. ; also Joseph Harris, from the same State. In the fall came Calvin Ward and John Ludington. In the spring of 1803 Josiah Ward, wife and six children moved in, and daring the summer Jehiel Savage and Timothy Culver arrived from Atwater, where they had at first located. In the fall Salmon Ward, on his third return trip, brought with him Aaroa Weston, Levi Davis, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 237 and two young men named Carey and Smith, the latter two simply coming to trade with the Indians. In November, 1804, Ebenezer Goss, and in Decern ber following Eliakim Merriman, the first from Plymouth and the last from Wallingford, Conn., came in. July 17, 1805, Oliver Dickinson and family, from East Granville, Mass., arrived. He was a blacksmith by trade, and one of the most useful members of the first settlement. During this same year Isaac Merriman from Connecticut, Archibald Coon from Pennsylvania, John Goss, and Jeremiah Sabin and bis son Abel located in the township. In 1806 came Hiram Raymond, Thomas Miller, Nathan Sears and son Elisha, and Rev. Henry Ely, all of Connecticut, William Thornton from Pennsylva- nia and Daniel Cross from Vermont. In 1807 Deacon Stephen Butler and Caleb Wetmore moved in from Connecticut, but removed to Stow Township in a few years. Dr. Rufus Belding, from Cattaraugas County, N. Y., settled here this year, whei'e he practiced his profession for nearly thirty years. Among the leading names of settlers in the few years succeeding the last date are those of Nathaniel Bancroft, Sylvester Tinker and Deacon James Coe. "In the southwestern corner of the county a settlement was made in May, 1802, by Royal Pease, a native of Suffield, Conn., who owned a considerable portion of the land comprised in the township now known as Suffield. Pease settled on what is now known as the Kent Farm, and made a clearing, built a cabin and put out a crop of wheat. This old pioneer remained alone at his settlement for nearly a year, but the following spring after his arrival Ben- jamin Baldwin made his appearance, and soon after him David Way and family. In 1804 John Fritch, a Pennsylvania German, located at the little lake that has since borne his name. In this year also came from Connecticut Daniel Warner, Ezekiel Tupper, Bradford Waldo and Champlin Minard. In 1805 Martin Kent and family and Jonathan Foster came in; also, Samuel Hale and his sons Thomas and Orestes. During the next few years settlers were quite numerous, and among the most noted was Moses Adams, from Mas- sachusetts. Many Germans have from time to time settled in Suffield Town- ship, and form a large portion of its present population. In Charlestown Township a man by the name of Abel Forsha, from Mary- land, about 1803, squatted on a piece of land afterward known as " Farnham's Hill," where he lived for a short time, afterward removing to Ravenna; but the first permanent settler was John Campbell, who moved here from Deerfield Township in 1805, and remained throughout his life one of the leading citi- zens of the county. A company from Blanford and Granville, Mass., com- posed of thirteen families, gave the township an impetus in 1809. Hiraui Township, which originally comprised the territory now known as Hiram, Mantua, Shalersville, Freedom, Windham and Nelson, I'eceived its first settlers in 1802, when Elijah Mason, Elisha Hutchinson and Mason Til- den came in and settled respectively as follows: Mason, who was from Leba- non, Conn., selected the west half of Lot 23; Hutchinson, who was from Her- kimer County, N. Y. , also selected a portion of Lot 23, and Tilden, from Con- necticut, selected Lot 22. In the fall they all returned to their homes in the East. John Fleming came about the same time, but remained only one year. In 1803 the three first-named persons again came out and made improvements on their land. Mason cleared twenty-two acres, built a cabin, and put out a crop of wheat. They all then again returned to their homes. Three men whom Mason and Tilden had in their employ, liking the country, remained. These men were Richard Redden and Jacob and Samuel Wirt, all from Pennsylvania. In 1804 William Fenton and Cornelius Baker settled on Lot 38, the first on the east half of the west half, and the other on the 238 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. west half of the same. Eoswell Mason, son of Elijah, and some others, came out in 1807, but as late as- 1809 the number of inhabitants was only twenty. In 1811 the Youngs came from Connecticut; also Elisha Hutch- inson. For five or six years after the last date many settlers came in, and an enumeration of them will be found in the sketch of Hiram Township. John Haymaker, a native of Pennsylvania, from near Pittsburgh, in the fall of 1805 made the first settlement in Franklin Township. He brought his wife and three children, and at first located on the Cuyahoga, just west of where the upper bridge now is in Kent. The following spring George Hay- maker, a brother of John, and their father, Jacob, arrived. The next year the Haymakers built a mill, the Cuyahoga River at the point where they settled affording ample water power. Settlement in Franklin was rather slow for many years, considering the natural advantages of the township. Jacob Reed, who had settled in Rootstown in 1804, came to Franklin in 1811. and purchased the Haymaker Mill, and ran it for several years, when it was in turn purchased by George B. DePeyster, For a more extended account of the early settlement of Franklin, the reader is referred to the two chapters on that township. The first settlement in Shalersville Township was made in the spring of 1806 by Joel Baker, from Tolland County, Conn. He brought his wife and one child and located on Lot 46, erecting his cabin and digging a well nearly opposite where the hotel at the Center now stands. For two years Baker and his family were alone in this part of the wilderness, but in 1808 Simeon Belden and Calvin Crane, from Say brook, Conn., came in, located their future homes and then returned to Trumbull County, Ohio, where they had resided several years, but the following spring came out for permanent residence. Hezekiah Hine, Daniel Keyes and his son, Asa D. Keyes, also came in 1808. In 1810 William Coolman, Sr., and family came from Middletown, Conn. ; also, Daniel Burroughs, and his sons, Asa K. and Greenhood, from Vermont, and others. In 1814 Silas Crocker, then a lad of fifteen years, came in with Job and Benoni Thompson. Gen. David Mcintosh and Sylvester Beecher came later. These three last-named were all poor boys, but they each left their impress on the county of their adoption. Eber Abbott, of Tolland County, Conn., in the spring of 1811 came to Edinburg Township and settled on Lot 2, Subdivision 5, and shortly after him his bi'other-in-law, Lemuel Chapman, located near him. In 1813 a man by the name of Howard came in and located on Silver Creek. In 1815 Alan- son and Justin Eddy, from Williamstown, arrived with their families, having come the entire distance in sleighs. Justin made his settlement on the now fine farm of Mr. Theodore Clark. Alanson settled on the farm afterward owned by C. H. Rowell. Robert Calvin, a Virginian, came about 1816, and settled on Lot 8. He was the father of Mr. John Calvin, who now resides in the northeastern portion of the township. David Trowbridge and Sylvester Gilbert also came at this time. Richard M. Hart came in 1817, and Adnah H. Bostwick in 1819. In 1810 the Becket Land Company was formed in Becket, Berkshire Co., Mass., for the purchase and settlement of the lands now embraced in Windham Township, most of which then belonged to Gov. Caleb Strong, of that State. The company consisted of sixteen persons, viz. : Bills Messenger, John Seely, Jeremiah Lyman, Aaron P. Jagger, Benjamin C. Perkins, Elijah Alford, Alpheus Streator, Benjamin Higley, Elisha Clark, Isaac Clark, Ebenezer N. Messenger, Thatcher Conant, Nathan Birchard, Enos Kingsley, Dillingham Clark and Gideon Bush. Early in 1811 the company sent out four young men— Elijah HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 239 Alford, Jr., Oliver Alford, Ebenezer O. Messenger and Nathan H. Messenger — to make some preparation for the coming population. On their arrival in Windham, March 15, the Alfords began an improvement on Lot 84, and erected a cabin, which was the first built in the township. The Messengers- built a cabin on Lot 82. These two cabins constituted VVindam Township in March, 1811, and the population up to the 2t7h of that month consisted of the four pioneer boys previously mentioned. On the 27th Wareham Loomis and family moved in from Nelson. This was the first family in the township. Loomis put up a cabin on that part of Lot 92 subsequently owned by Daniel Jagger. Hiram Messenger, a son of Bills, one of the Becket Land Company, arrived with his family in June, 1811, being the first installment of the pro- prietors. He settled on Lot 76. His father came with him, and stayed sev- eral months, assisting Hiram in making improvements, and then returned to his home. In July, 1811, Alpheus Streator, Benjamin Higley, Ebenezer N. Messenger, Gideon Bush, Thatcher Conant and Jeremiah Lyman arrived and settled on their lands, and the following October Deacon Elijah Alford joined the settlement. From this time forward settlers continued to arrive at inter- vals, and this portion of the county rapidly increased in population. In consequence of a certain reputation for an almost uninhabitable swamp- iness, Paris Township, although excellent land, was not settled very early, at least not as early as it should have been under the circumstances. Richard Hudson, a Pennsylvanian, however, ventured in about June, 1811, and drove his stakes on Lot 21. John Bridges, son-in-law of Hudson, came the next year, and about the same time John Cox and John Young. In 1815 Chauncy Hawley and William Selby, in 1816 Brainard, Newton and Thomas Selby, and in 1817 Austin Wilson and John Smith arrived. The first permanent settler in Brimfield Township was John Boosinger, who removed from Ravenna Township in 1816, settling on Lot 39. In November of the same year Henry Thorndike and his family, with his brother Israel, arrived. In the employ of the Thorndikes was Abner H. Lanphare, who lived to an advanced age. The following January Deacon Alpheus Andrews settled near the Center. In the year 1817 many settlers came, whose names will be found in the chapter on Brimfield. Charles H. Paine, son of Gen. Paine, of Painesville, who had married a daughter of Elijah Mason, of Hii'am Township, settled in Freedom Township in the spring of 1818, on Lots 31 and 41, and from that time till 1822 himself and family were the only inhabitants of Freedom. In the spring of the year last named, however, thirteen persons arrived, all in one family: Thomas Johnston, wife and eleven children. In 1823 came Newell Day, and Enos and Asa Wadsworth; in 1824, Rufus Ranney, father of Judge R. P. Ranney, and in 1825 Paul Larkcom, father of A. C. Larkcom, still a resident of Freedom Township. Streetsboro Township settled up very rapidly from the time the first settler made his appearance in 1822, that person being Stephen Myers, who located on Lot 82. He made a clearing and put up a distillery. In 1824 a number of other persons came in and rapidly filled up the township. Col. John Garrett, of Delaware, as noticed elsewhere, was the first settler of what is now Garrettsville Township. For the purpose of keeping the I'emembrance of the old pioneer days fresh in the minds of the present generation, and as a humble monument to their deeds, an association was formed a few years ago, entitled " The Portage - Summit Pioneer Association." From the eighth annual report of the Secre- tary, Dr. A. M. Sherman, of Kent, we glean the following: 240 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. " Some of you will remember that on the 10th of February, 1874, seventy- three persons met at the residence of the venerable Samuel Olin, in Streets- boro, mainly by invitation of his sister, Mrs. J. B. Stratton, and her venerable husband. The primary object was to enjoy a social reunion of " Old Folks," and partake of Father Olin's generous hospitality. At that meeting Christian Cackler, being the first white boy that ever crossed the Cuyahoga River here, invited all those present and many others to meet at his pleasant home in October following to enjoy his hospitality. At that meeting an organization was effected that has enlarged into the grand proportions of your present organization. There have joined up to this meeting 620 persons, and out of this number (up to the fall of 1882) 112 have died. Comparatively few of those present at the organization remain. Another decade will evidently wit- ness the departure from earth of the last of the original members. The society, since it extended its borders, has rapidly grown, including as it now does in its territory all of Portage and Summit Counties. All above sisty years of age are permitted to become members." The annual meetings of the association are occasions of much interest and enjoyment, as many as 5,000 to 6,000 persons being in attendance. Eloquent addresses are delivered, music by the Pioneer Band discoursed, and a sump- tuous dinner served at the beautiful grounds selected in the village of Kent. This is as it should be, for the people of to-day scarcely realize or appreciate how much they owe to the large-hearted pioneer fathers and mothers, who, with their children, braved the perils of the wilderness; who reared their families in the fear of God, and implanted within them many of the virtues necessary to the welfare of humanity, then 'passed from the scene of action, leaving to their descendants an inheritance that should ever be cherished and kept in sacred remembrance. The history of Portage County would be incom- plete without fitting notice of those pioneers who, by reason of their limited sphere of action, could not become conspicuous in the great drama of life, but whose busy hands and conscientious regard of duty made them necessary fac- tors in the establishment of the solid foundation upon which our republican form of government is embedded. It is a little thing to preserve their names in the pages of history, yet it is all that is left to do, for their lives were much alike; they met the stern necessities of the hour, and were content in the con- sciousness of duty well done. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 241 CHAPTER V. Pioneer Days and Trials— Habitations of the First Settlers— Furni- ture, Food and Medicine— Habits, Labor and Dress— Early Manners and Customs— Bees and Weddings— The Hominy Block and Pioneer Mills— Prices of Store Goods and Produce— Items From an Old Cash Book— Mode of Living— Churches and Schools— Period of the War OF 1812— Prices After the War— First Crops Eaised in the County- Agricultural Implements of the Pioneers, and Subsequent Improve- ments Made in Them— Pioneer Farming— Cheese and Butter Statis- tics—First Stock Brought into the County— Stock Statistics Since 1840— Statistics of Wheat, Corn, Oats and Hay— Total Valuation of Property by Decades— Portage County Agricultural Societies— Por- tage County Horticultural Society. THE first settlers who built their cabins in the unbroken forest of Portage County came not to enjoy a life of lotus-eating and ease. They could, doubtless, admire the pristine beauty of the scenes that unveiled before them, the vernal green of the forest, and the loveliness of all the works of nature; they could look forward with happy anticipation to the lives they were to lead in the midst of all this beauty, and to the rich reward that would be theirs from the cultivation of the mellow, fertile soil; but they had first to work. The dangers they were exposed to were serious ones. The Indians could not fully be trusted, and the many stories of their depredations in the earlier Eastern settlements made the pioneers of Ohio apprehensive of trouble. The larger wild beasts were a cause of much dread, and the smaller ones a source of great annoyance. Added to this was tlie liability to sickness which always exists in a new country. In the midst of all the loveliness of the surround- ings, there was a sense of loneliness that could not be dispelled, and this was a far greater trial to the men and women who first dwelt in the "Western coun- try than is generally imagined. The deep-seated, constantly recurring feeling of isolation made many stout hearts turn back to the older settlements and the abodes of comfort, the companionship and sociability they had abandoned in their early homes to take up a new life in the wilderness. The pioneers making the tedious journey from the East and South by the rude trails, arrived at their places of destination with but very little with which to begin the battle of life. They had brave hearts and strong arms, however, and they were possessed of invincible determination. Frequently they came on without their families to make a beginning, and this having been accomplished, would return to their old homes for their wives and children. The first thing done, after a temporary shelter from the rain had been pro- vided, was to prepare a little spot of ground for some crop, usually corn. This was done by girdling the trees, clearing away the underbrush, if there chanced to be any, and sweeping the surface with fire. Five, ten, or even fif- teen acres of land might thus be prepared and planted the first season. In the autumn the crop would be carefully gathered and garnered with the least possible svaste, for it was the food supply of the pioneer and his family, and life itself depended, in part, upon its safe preservation. While the first crop was growing the pioneer had busied himself with the building of his cabin, which must answer as a shelter from the storms of the coming winter, a pro- 242 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. tection from the ravages of wild animals, and, possibly, a place of refuge from the red man. If a pioneer was completely isolated from his fellow-men, his position was certainly a hard one; for without assistance he could construct only a poor habitation. In such cases the cabin was generally made of light logs or poles, and was laid up roughly, only to answer the temporary purpose of shelter, until other settlers had come into the vicinity, by whose help a more solid structure could be built. Usually a number of men came into the country together, and located within such distance of each other as enabled them to perform many friendly and neighborly offices. Assistance was always readily given each pio- neer by all the scattered residents of the forest within a radius of several miles. The commonly followed plan of erecting a log-cabin was through a union of labor. The site of the cabin home was generally selected with refer- ence to a good water supply, often by a never-failing spring of pure water, or if such could not be found, it was not uncommon to first dig a well. When the cabin was to be built the few neighbors gathered at the site, and first cut down, within as close proximity as possible, a number of trees as nearly of a size as could be found, but ranging from a foot to twenty inches in diameter. Logs were chopped from these and rolled to a common center. This work, and that of preparing the foundation, would consume the greater part of the day, in most cases, and the entire labor would most commonly occupy two or three days — sometimes four. The logs were raised to their places with hand- spikes and " skid poles," and men standing at the corners with axes notched them as fast as they were laid in position. Soon the cabin would be built sev- eral logs high, and the work would become more difficult. The gables were formed by beveling the logs, and making them shorter and shorter, as each additional one was laid in place. These logs in the gables were held in place by poles, which extended across the cabin from end to end, and which served also as rafters upon which to lay the rived " clapboard " roof. The so-called " clapboards " were five or six feet in length, and were split from oak or ash logs, and made as smooth and flat as possible. They were laid side by side, and other pieces of split stuff laid over the cracks so as to effectually keep out the rain. Upon these logs were laid to hold them in place, and the logs were held by blocks of wood placed between them. The chimney was an important part of the structure, and taxed the build- ers, with their poor tools, to their utmost. In rare cases it was made of stone, but most commonly of logs and sticks laid up in a manner similar to those which formed the cabin. It was, in nearly all cases, built outside of the cabin, and at its base a huge opening was cut through the wall to answer as a fire- place. The sticks in the chimney were kept in place and protected from fire by mortar, formed by kneading and working clay and straw. Flat stones were procured for back and jambs of the fire-place. An opening was chopped or sawed in the logs on one side of the cabin for a doorway. Pieces of hewed timber, three or four inches thick, were fastened on each side by wooden pins to the end of the logs, and the door (if there was any) was fastened to one of these by wooden hinges. The door itself was a clumsy piece of wood-work. It was made of boards rived from an oak log, and held together by heavy cross-pieces. There was a wooden latch upon the inside, raised by a string which passed through a gimlet-hole, and hung upon the outside. From this mode of construction arose the old and well- known hospitable saying: " You will find the latch-string always out." It was pulled in only at night, and the door was thus fastened. Very many of the cabins of the pioneers had no doors of the kind here described, and the ^^^'^ ^^^^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 245 entrance was protected only by a blanket or skin of some wild beast suspended above it. The window was a small opening, often devoid of anything resembling a sash, and very seldom having glass. Greased paper was sometimes used in lieu of the latter, but more commonly some old garment constituted a curtain, which was the only protection from sun, rain or snow. The floor of the cabin was made of puncheons — pieces of timber split from trees about eighteen inches in diameter, and hewed smooth with the broad-ax. They were half the length of the floor. Many of the cabins first erected in this part of the country had nothing but the earthen floor. Sometimes the cabins had cellars, which were simply small excavations in the ground for the storage of a few articles of food, or perhaps cooking utensils. Access to the cellar was readily gained by lifting a loose puncheon. There was sometimes a loft used for various purposes, among others as the "guest chamber'' of the house. It was reached by a ladder, the sides of which were split pieces of a sapling, put together, like everything else in the house, without nails. The furniture of the log-cabin was as simple and primitive as the structure itself. A forked stick set in the floor and supporting two poles, the other ends of which were allowed to rest upon the logs at the end and side of the cabin, formed a bedstead. A common form of table was a split slab supported by four rustic legs set in augur holes. Three-legged stools were made in a similar simple manner. Pegs driven in augur holes into the logs of the wall supported shelves, and others displayed the limited wardrobe of the family not in use. A few other pegs, or perhaps a pair of deer horns, formed a rack where hung the rifle and powder-horn, which no cabin was without. These, and perhaps a few other simple articles brought from the "old home" formed the furniture and furnishings of the pioneer cabin. The utensils for cooking and the dishes for table use were few. The best were of pewter, which the careful housewife of the olden time kept shining as brightly as the most pretentious plate of our later-day fine houses. It was by no means uncommon that wooden vessels, either coopered or turned, were used upon the table. Knives and forks were few, crockery very scarce, and tin-ware not abundant. Food was simply cooked and served, but it was of the best and most wholesome kind. The hunter kept the larder supplied with venison, bear meat, squirrels, fish, wild turkeys, and the many varieties of smaller game. Plain corn-bread baked in a kettle, in the ashes, or upon a board in front of the great open fire-place answered the purpose of all kinds of pastry. The corn was among the earlier pioneers pounded or grated, there being no mills for grinding it for some time, and then only small ones at a considerable dis- tance away. The wild fruits in their season were made use of, and afi"orded a pleasant variety. Sometimes especial efi'ort was made to prepare a delicacy, as, for instance, when a woman experimented in mince pies by pounding wheat for the flour to make the crust, and used crab- apples for fruit. In the lofts of the cabins was usually to be found a collection of articles that made up the pioneer's materia medica — the herb medicines and spices, catnip, sage, tansy, fennel, boneset, pennyroyal and wormwood, each gathered in its sea- son; and there were also stores of nuts, and strings of dried pumpkin, with bags of berries and fi-uit. The habits of the pioneers were of a simplicity and purity in conformance to their surroundings and belongings. The men were engaged in the hercu- lean labor, day after day, of enlarging the little patch of sunshine about their homes, cutting away the forest, burning ofl" the brush and debris, preparing the soil, planting, tending, harvesting, caring for the few animals which they 14 246 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. brought with them or soon procured, and in hunting. While they were engaged in the heavy labor of the field and forest, or following the deer, or seeking other game, their helpmeets were busied with their household duties, providing for the day and for the winter coming on, cooking, making clothes, spinning and weaving. They were fitted by nature and experience to be the consorts of the brave men who first came into the Western wilderness. They were heroic in their endurance of hardship and privation and loneliness. Their industry was well directed and unceasing. Woman's work then, like man's, was performed under disadvantages which have been removed in later years. She had not only the common household duties to perform, but many others. She not only made the clothing, but the fabric for it. That old, old occupa- tion of spinning and of weaving, with which woman's name has been associated in all history, and of which the modern world knows nothing, except through the stories of those who are grandmothers now — that old occupation of spin- ning and of weaving, which seems surrounded with a glamour of romance as we look back to it through tradition and poetry, and which always conjures up thoughts of the graces and virtues of the dames and damsels of a generation that is gone — that old, old occupation of spinning and of weaving, was the chief industry of the pioneer women. Every cabin sounded with the softly- whirring wheel and the rythmic thud of the loom. The woman of pioneer times was like the woman described by Solomon: "She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands; she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distafif." Almost every article of clothing, all of the cloth in use in the old log- cab- ins, was the product of the patient woman-weaver's toil. She spun the flax and wove the cloth for shirts, pantaloons, frocks, sheets and blankets. The linen and the wool, the " linsey-woolsey " woven by the housewife formed all of the material for the clothing of both men and women, except such articles as were made of skins. The men commonly wore the hunting-shirt, a kind of loose frock reaching half way down the figure, open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more upon the chest. This generally had a cape, which was often fringed with a raveled piece of cloth of a different color from that which composed the garment. The bosom of the hunting-shirt answered as a pouch, in which could be carried the various articles that the hunter or woods- man would need. It was always worn belted and made out of coarse linen, or linsey, or of dressed deer skin, according to the fancy of the wearer. Breeches were made of heavy cloth or of deer skin, and were often worn with leggings of the same material, or of some kind of leather, while the feet were most usually encased in moccasins, which were easily and quickly made, though they needed frequent mending. The deer-skin breeches or drawers were very comfortable when dry, but when they became wet were very cold to the limbs, and the next time they were put on were almost as stiff as if made of wood. Hats or caps were made of the various native furs. The women were clothed in linsey petticoats, coarse shoes and stockings, and wore buck- skin gloves or mittens when any protection was required for the hands. All of the wearing apparel, like that of the men, was made with a view to being serviceable and comfortable, and all was of home manufacture. Other articles and finer ones were sometimes worn, but they had been brought from former homes, and were usually relics handed down from parents to children. Jew- elry was not common, but occasionally some ornament was displayed. In the cabins of the more cultivated pioneers were usually a few books, and the long winter evenings were spent in poring over these well-thumbed volumes by the light of the great log-fire, in knitting, mending, curing furs, or some similar occupation. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 247 Hospitality was simple, imaflfected, hearty, unbounded. Whisky was in common use, and was furnished on all occasions of sociality. Nearly every settler had his barrel stored away. It was the universal drink at merry-mak- ings, bees, house-warmings, weddings, and was always set before the traveler who chanced to spend the night or take a meal in the log-cabin. It was the good old-fashioned whisky, "clear as amber, sweet as musk, smooth as oil," that the few octogenarians and nonagenarians of to-day recall to memory with an unctuous gusto and a suggestive smack of the lips. The whisky came from the Monongahela district, and was boated up the streams or hauled in wagons across the country. A few years later stills began to make their appearance, and an article of peach brandy and rye whisky manufactured; the latter was not held in such high esteem as the peach brandy, though used in greater quantities. As the settlement increased, the sense of loneliness and isolation was dis- pelled, the asperities of life were softened and its amenities multiplied: social gatherings became more numerous and more enjoyable. The log rollings, harvestings and husking-bees for the men, and the apple-butter making and the quilting parties for the women, furnished frequent occasions for social intercourse. The early settlers took much pleasure and pride in rifle shooting, and as they were accustomed to the use of the gun as a means, often, of obtaining a subsistence, and relied upon it as a weapon of defense, they exhib- ited considerable skill. A wedding was the event of most importance in the sparsely settled new country. The young people had every inducement to marry, and generally did so as soon as able to provide for themselves. When a marriage was to be celebrated, all the neighborhood turned out. It was customary to have the ceremony performed before dinnei-, and in order to be in time, the groom and his attendants usually started from his father's house in the morning for that of the bride. All went on horseback, riding in single file along the narrow trail. Arriving at the cabin of the bride's parents, the ceremony would be performed, and after that, dinner served. This would be a substantial back- woods feast of beef, pork, fowls, and bear or deer meat, with such vegetables, as could be procured. The greatest hilarity prevailed during theraeal. After it was over the dancing began, and was usually kept up till the next morning, though the newly made husband and wife were as a general thing put to bed in the most approved fashion, and with considerable formality, in the middle of the evening's hilarity. The tall young men, when they went on the floor to dance, had to take their places with care between the logs that supported the loft floor, or they were in danger of bumping their heads. The figures of the dances were three and four hand reels, or square sets and jigs. The com- mencement was always a square four, which was followed by "jigging it off," or what is sometimes called a "cutout jig." The "settlement" of a j^oung couple was thought to be thoroughly and generously made when the neighbors assembled and raised a cabin for them. During all the early years of the settlement, varied with occasional pleas- ures and excitements, the great work of increasing the tillable ground went slowly on. The implements and tools were few and of the most primitive kinds, but the soil that had long held in reserve the accumulated richness of centuries, produced splendid harvests, and the husbandman was well rewarded for his labor. The soil was warmer then than now, and the season earlier. The wheat was occasionally pastured in the spring to keep it from growing up so fast as to become lodged. The harvest came early, and the yield was often from twenty to thirty bushels per acre. Corn grew fast, and roasting ears were to be had by the 1st of August in most seasons. 248 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. When the corn grew too hard for roasting ears, and was yet too soft to grind in the mill, it was reduced to meal bv a grater. Next to the grater came the hominy block, an article in common use among the pioneers. It consisted simply of a block of wood — a section of a tree perhaps — with a hole burned or dug into it a foot deep in which corn was pulverized with a pestle. Some- times this block was inside the cabin, where it served as a seat for the bashful young backwoodsman while "sparking" his girl; sometimes a convenient stump in front of the cabin door was prepared for and made one of the best of hom- iny blocks. These blocks did not last long, for mills came quite early and superseded them, yet those mills were so far apart that in stormy weather, or for want of transportation, the pioneer was compelled to resort to his hominy-block or go without bread. In winter the mills were frozen up nearly all the time, and when a thaw came and the ice broke, if the mill was not swept away entirely by the floods, it was so thronged with pioneers, each with his sack of corn, that some of them were often compelled to camp out near the mill and wait several days for their turn. When the grist was ground, if they were so fortunate as to possess an ox, or a horse or mule for the pur- pose of transportation, they were happy. It was not unusual to go from ten to thirty miles to mill, through the pathless, unbroken forest, and to be be- nighted on the journey and chased by wolves. As the majority of the pioneers settled in the vicinity of a stream, mills soon made their appearance in every settlement. Those mills, however, were very primitive affairs— mere "corn -crackers" — ^but they were a big improvement on the hominy-block. They merely ground the corn; the pio- neer must do his own bolting. The meal was sifted through a wire sieve by hand, and the finest used for bread. A road cut through the forest to the mill and a wagon for hauling the grist were great advantages. The latter, espe- cially, was often a seven days' wonder to the children of a settlement, and the happy owner of one often did for years the milling of a whole neighborhood. About once a month this good neighbor, who was in exceptionally good cir- cumstances because able to own a wagon, would go around through the settle- ment, gather up the grists and take them to mill, often spending several days in the operation, and never think of charging for his time and trouble. Only the commonest goods were brought into the country, and they sold at very high prices, as the freightage of merchaiidise from the East was high. Most of the people were in moderate circumstances, and were content to live in a very cheap way. A majority had to depend mainly on the produce of their little clearings, which consisted to a large extent of potatoes and corn. Mush, corn bread and potatoes were the principal food. There was no meat except game, and often this had to be eaten without salt. Pork, flour, sugar and other groceries sold at high prices, and were looked upon as luxuries. In 1798-99 wheat brought $1.50 per bushel; flour $4 per 100 pounds; corn $1 per bushel; oats, 75 cents, and potatoes 65 cents. Prices were still higher in 1813-14, corn being $2 per bushel; flour $14 per barrel; oats, $1, and salt from $12 to $20 per barrel. The writer has seen an old cash book kept at one of the frontier stores on the Reserve prior to 1800, wherein the accounts with the whites are carried out in pounds, shillings and pence, while those with the Indians, who largely patronized the store, wei-e kept in dollars and cents. To judge from the daily consumption of whisky, it was pre-eminently the " staflf of life,'' there being scarcely an account against a white or Indian, male or female, of which it does not form a large proportion. For domestic use, it cost 3 shillings per quart, while a gill cost 4 cents. Tobacco was sold by the yard at 4 cents per HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 249 yard; common sugar at 33 cents, and loaf at 50 cents per pound. Chocolate was in more general use than tea or coffee, and sold at 3 shillings and 6 pence per pound, and coffee at 30 cents. Homespun linen could be purchased at 50 cents per yard, while the belle aspiring to the extravagance of calico, could gratify her ambition at 83 cents per yard, with the addition of a cotton hand- kerchief at from 70 cents to $1, according to color and design. Shoes and boots brought from $1 to $3 per pair, but moccasins were in common use with both white men and Indians at 3 shillings and 9 pence, though from 9 pence to two shillings higher when ornamented with the colored quills of the porcu- pine. The price of a rifle was $25, a horse $125, and a yoke of oien $80. Indians usually paid their bills with peltry and many of the whites did like- wise. A bear skin was worth from $2 to $5; otter, from $3 to $4; beaver, from $2 to $3; deer from 75 to 90 cents; marten 1 shilling and 10 pence; muskrat, 1 shilling, while fisher, wild cat, panther, wolf, fox, raccoon, mink and other skins were also readily purchased. Long journeys upon foot were often made by the pioneers to obtain the necessities of life or some article, then a luxury, for the sick. Hardships were cheerfully borne, privations stoutly endured; the best was made of what they had by the pioneers and their families, and they toiled patiently on, industri- ous and frugal, simple in their tastes and pleasures, happy in an independ- ence, however hardly gained, and looking forward hopefully to a future of plenty which should reward them for the toils of their earliest years, and a rest from the struggle amidst the benefits gained by it. Without an iron will and indomitable resolution they could never have accomplished what they did. Their heroism deserves the highest tribute of praise that can be awarded. A writer in one of the local papers says: " Eighty years ago not a pound of coal or a cubic foot of illuminating gas had been burned in the country. All the cooking and warming in town as well as in the country were done by the aid of a fire kindled on the brick hearth or in the brick ovens. Pine knots or tallow candles furnished the light for the long winter nights, and sanded floors supplied the place of rugs and carpets. The water used for household purposes was drawn from deep wells by the creaking sweep. No form of pump was used in this country, so far as we can learn, until after the commencement of the present century. There were no friction matches in those early days, by the aid of which a fire could be easily kindled, and if the fire went out upon the hearth over night, and the tinder was damp, so that the spark would not catch, the alternative remained of wading through the snow a mile or so to borrow a brand from a neighbor. Only one room in any house was warm, unless some member of the family was ill, in all the rest the temperature was at zero during many nights in winter. The men and women undressed and went to their beds in a temperature colder than our barns and woodsheds, and they never complained." Churches and schoolhouses were sparsely scattered, and of the most primi- tive character. One pastor served a number of congi-egations, and salaries were so low that the preachers had to take part in working their farms to pro- cure support for their families. The people went to religious service on foot or horseback, and the children often walked two or three miles through the woods to school. There were no fires in the churches for a number of years. When they were finally introduced they were at first built in holes cut in the floors, and the smoke found its way out through openings in the roofs. The seats were of unsmoothed slabs, the ends and centers of which were laid upon blocks, and the pulpits were little better. Worship was held once or twice a month, consisting usually of two services, one in the forenoon and one imme- 250 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. diately after noon, the people remaining during the interval and spending the time in social intercourse. It is much to be feared that if religious worship were attended with the same discomforts now as it was eighty to ninety years ago, the excuses for keeping away from the house of God would be many times multiplied. Taken altogether, while they had to endure many privations and hardships, it is doubtful whether the pioneers of any part of America were more fortunate in their selection than those of Portage County. Every one of the settlers agrees in saying that they had no trouble in accommodating themselves to the situation, and were, as a rule, both men and women, healthy, contented and happy. During the war of 1812-15, many of the husbands and fathers volunteered their services to the United States, and others were drafted. Women and children were then left alone in many an isolated log-cabin in northeastern Ohio, and there were several intervals of unrest and anxiety. It was feared by many that the Indians might take advantage of the absence from these homes of their natural defenders, and pillage and destroy them. The dread of rob- bery and murder filled many a mother's heart, but happily the worst fears of the kind proved to be groundless, and this part of the country was spared any scenes of actual violence. After the war there was a greater feeling of security than ever before; a new motive was given to immigration. The country rapidly filled up with set- tlers, and the era of peace and prosperity was fairly begun. Progress was slowly, surely made: the log-houses became more numerous in the clearings; the forest shrank away before the woodman's ax; frame houses began to appear. The pioneers, assured of safety, laid better plans for the future, resorted to new industries, enlarged their possessions, and improved the means of culti- vation. Stock was brought in from the South and East. Every settler had his horses, oxen, cattle, sheep and hogs. More qommodious structures took the places of the old ones; the large double log-cabin of hewed logs and the still handsomer frame dwelling took the place of the smaller hut; log and frame barns were built for the protection of stock and the housing of the crops. Then society began to form itself; the schoolhouse and the church appeared, and the advancement was noticeable in a score of ways. Still there remained a vast work to perform, for as yet only a beginning had been made in the West- ern woods. The brunt of the struggle, however, was past, and the way made in the wilderness for the army that was to come. For the next ten years succeeding the war of 1812 wheat was from 25 to 37^ cents per bushel, and other products in proportion. Merchandise was still very high. A day's labor would barely pui'chase a yard of cotton, while thirty -two bushels of corn are known to have been exchanged, by one of the pioneers of Portage County, for four yards of fulled cloth. About 1813 John T. Baldwin and David Waller, two well remembered pioneers of Palmyra Township, brought the first load of salt from Cleveland to Portage County. It took five days to make the trip, and the salt wais worth when delivered $20 per barrel. In 1816 corn was $2 per bushel, and flour SL4 per barrel, while hired hands received but 25 cents a day. In 1821 wheat sold in Ravenna for 25 cents per bushel, and money was so scarce that the average pioneer was very often unable to raise the funds to pay the postage on an occasional letter, which then cost 25 cents. Wheat and flour were hauled to Cleveland with ox teams, and exchanged for goods, and, as the roads were usually in a terrible condition, it often took a whole week to make the round trip. Along about this period Judge Amzi Atwater, who resided in the northern part of the county, with the laudable intention of encouraging the struggling settlers, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 251 advertised that he would allow 50 cents per bushel for wheat to those who had purchased or would purchase land of him. Taking advantage of this liberal ofifer, they would buy up wheat at from 25 to 40 cents and turn it over to Judge Atwater at 50 cents per bushel. This was soon regarded by the Judge as "sharp practice," and he withdrew his offer. The usual hotel charges throughout the county for a good pioneer dinner was 12i^ cents, a similar amount being charged for four quarts of oats and hay for the guest's horse. Very little change occurred in prices of produce or goods until 1825, when the commencement of work on the Ohio Canal gave an impetus to every branch of trade. The first settlers were necessarily exposed to many dangers and privations, yet as a rule they had no fears of starvation, for the forest was alive with game, the streams abounded in fish and the virgin soil yielded bountifully. Upon selecting a location, the pioneer usually began at once to open a clearing in the primitive forest and prepare a piece of ground for tillage. Thus the foundation of the present agricultural prosperity was laid by the first settlers of the county. In the fall of 1798 Abram S. Honey planted a small patch of wheat in Mantua Township, which was harvested the following summer by his brother-in-law, Kufus Edwards, who owned the land. This was the first crop raised by white men in what is now Portage County, In June, 1799, Elias Harmon planted some potatoes and peas in the Honey clearing. The same fall Lewis Ely put in a crop of wheat in Deertield Township, as also did Lewis and Horatio Day, amounting in all to some eight or ten acres. The next spring Lewis Ely, Alva Day, John Campbell and Joel Thrall each planted a small jjatch of corn in Deerfield. David Daniels cleared up a piece of ground on Lot 21, Palmyra Township, in the summer of 1799, and that fall sowed it in wheat, which he harvested the following summer. After threshing the little crop with his flail, he cleaned up about a bushel of the grain and carried it on his back to a mill located at Poland, Ohio, about thirty miles distant, had it ground and retui-ned with the flour to his cabin, where for the first time since settling in the wilderness, he enjoyed the luxury of wheat bread. In the spring of 1800 Daniels put in a patch of corn; Ethelbert Baker and William Bacon also planted little fields of corn in Palmyra the same spring. In 1799 Ebenezer Sheldon sent out Eben Blair fi'om Connecticut to make a settlement on his land in Aurora Township. Blair came ria Pittsburgh, where he bought a peck of grass seed. This he carried on his back from Pittsburgh to Sheldon's land, where he was soon after joined by his employer and Elias Harmon. An opening was soon made in the woods and sown with wheat brought out by Sheldon, the gi'ass seed being sown in the same field. Benja- min Tappan put in a few acres of corn and vegetables in 1800, on his land in the southeast corner of Ravenna Township, and the same fall planted the ground in wheat. William Chard and Conrad Boosinger, both of whom settled in Tappan's neighborhood, also planted small fields of the latter cereal in the fall of 1800. Asa Hall made the first clearing in Atwater Township early in 1800, and put in some corn, which was succeeded the next fall by wheat. In 1801 or 1802 David Baldwin raised a corn and wheat crop in Atwater Town- ship. The first corn in Rootstown Township was planted in the spring of 1801, near its northeast corner, by Ephraira and David Root, In Nelson Township a crop was put in the same year by Delaun and Asahel Mills. In 1802 Royal Pease sowed a few acres of wheat in Suffield Township. In April, 1803, Ben- jamin Baldwin settled in the latter township. He brought from Connecticut a small bag of apple seeds, which he planted upon his arrival, and from the seed- 252 HISTORY OF rORTAGE COUNTY. lings thus obtained has come the much-prized " Baldwin Apple." The first crop of wheat planted in Randolph Township was in the fall of 1802, by Bela Hubbard, on the northwest corner of Lot 57, the first land cleared in the township. He had to go to David Baldwin's in Atwater Township eight miles away to borrow a plow, which he carried on his shoulders to his little clear- ing, and returned it in the same manner. He went to Christman's Mill, on Little Beaver Creek, in Pennsylvania, for seed, the round trip taking about a week, but so rich was the soil that he raised 100 bushels of clean wheat from four acres of ground. He and Joseph Harris raised in partnership, in 1805, 1,500 bushels of corn. In 1803 Elijah Mason cleared twenty-two acres of land on Lot 23, Hiram Township, which he planted in wheat the same year. John Campbell raised the first corn in Charlestown Township in 1805, having removed there from Deerfield, where he first settled. In 1806 John and George Haymaker sowed a small patch of corn on the bank of the Cuyahoga, in Franklin Township, and the next year built a grist-mill on that stream. Joel Baker put in a crop of corn and wheat on Lot 46, Shalersville Township, in 1806. Eber Abbott planted the first corn and wheat in Edinburg Town- ship in 1811. In the spring of that year Elijah and Oliver Alford aud Eben- ezer O. and Nathan Messenger cleared small pieces of ground in Windham Township, which they planted in corn. Wareham Loomis also put in a small patch, and the same fall several acres of wheat were sown by the same parties and other settlers who arrived during the summer. Benjamin Higley, one of those who came to Windham that year, planted four acres of wheat on Lot 36, and from three bushels sown he threshed out the following summer about 100 bushels, which fully demonstrates the original fertility of the soil of this county. The agricultural implements in use by the early settlers were very simple and rude. The plow was made entirely of wood, except the share, clevis and draft-rods, which were of iron, and had to be for a number of years transported from Pittsburgh, as there were no iron works in the county where the plow- shares could be foi'ged. The wooden plow was a very awkward implement, very difficult to hold and h'ard for the team to draw. It was, however, very generally used until the fall of 1824, when the cast-iron plow, patented by Jethro Wood, was first brought into the county, though it did not gain popular favor very rapidly. The farmer looked at it and was sure it would break the first time it struck a stone or a root, and then how should he replace it? The wooden mould-board would not break, and when it wore out he could take his ax and hew another out of a piece of a tree. In no one agricultural implement has there been more marked improvement than in the plow — now made of beau- tifully polished cast-steel except the beam and handles, while in Canada and some portions of the United States these, too, are manufactured of iron. The cast-steel plow of the present manufacture, in its several sizes, styles and adaptations to the various soils and forms of land, including the sulky or rid- ing plow of the Western prairies, is among agricultural implements the most perfect m use. The pioneer harrow was simply the fork of a tree, with the branches on one side cut close and on the other left about a foot long to serve the purpose of teeth. In some instances a number of holes were bored through the beams and dry wooden pins driven into them. It was not until about 1825 that iron or steel harrow teeth were introduced into Portage County. The axes, hoes, shovels and picks were rude and clumsy, and of inferior utility. The sickle and scythe were at first used to harvest the grain and hay, but the former gave way early to the cradle, with which better results could be -f^---^ •■ SoBii <^^y^/.<' HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 255 attained with less labor. The scythe and cradle have been replaced by the mower and reaper to a great extent, though both are still used considerably in this county. The ordinary wooden flail was used to thresh grain until about 1830, when the horse-power thresher was largely substituted. The method of cleaning the chaflf from the grain by the early settlers, was by a blanket handled by two persons. The grain and the chaff were placed on the blanket, which was then tossed up and down, the wind separating a certain amount of the chaff from the grain during the operation. Fanning-mills were introduced about 1820, but the first of these were very rude and little better than the primitive blanket. Improvements have been made from time to time until an almost perfect separator is now connected with every threshing machine, and the work of ten men for a whole season is done more completely by two or three men, as many horses, and a patent separator, in one day. In fact, it is diflScult to fix limitations upon improvements in agricultural machinery within the last fifty years. It is, however, safe to say that they have enabled the farmer to accomplish more than triple the amount of work with the same force in the same time, and do his work better than before. It has been stated on compe- tent aiithority that the saving effected by new and improved implements within the last twenty years has been not less than one-half on all kinds of farm labor. The greatest triumphs of mechanical skill in its application to agriculture are witnessed in the plow, planter, reaper and separator, as well as in many other implements adapted to the tillage, harvesting and subsequent handling of the immense crops of the country. The rude and cumbrous implements of the pioneers have been superseded by improved and apparently perfect machin- ery of all classes, so that the calling of the farmer is no longer synonymous with laborious toil, but is in many ways pleasant recreation. The farmers of Portage County are not behind their neighbors in the employment of improved methods and in the use of the best machinery. It is true that in many cases they were slow to change, but much allowance should be made for surrounding circumstances. The pioneers had to contend against innumerable obstacles — with the wildness of nature, the jealous hostility of the Indians, the immense growth of timber, the depredations of wild beasts and the annoyance of the swarming insect life, and the great difficulty and expense of procuring seeds and farming implements. These various difficul- ties were quite sufficient to explain the slow progress made in the first years of settlement. Improvements were not encouraged, while the pioneers gener- ally rejected "book- farming" as unimportant and useless, and knew little of the chemistry of agriculture. The farmer who ventured to make experiments, to stake out new paths of practice, or to adopt new modes of culture, subjected himself to the ridicule of the whole neighborhood. For many years the same methods of farming were observed; the son planted as many acres of corn or wheat as his father did, and in the same phases of the moon. All their prac- tices were merely traditional; but within the last thirty years most remarkable changes have occurred in all the conditions of agriculture in this country. It is not, however, in grain-growing that Portage County has made its most material progress. The natural adaptation of the soil to grass, and the abundant supply of pure water, early attracted the attention of many progress- ive farmers to the raising of daii-y stock, and the manufacture of butter and cheese, which industries have increased until they are among the leading agri- cultural pursuits, exceeding most other branches of farming in their impor- tance and magnitude. Milch cows were brought into the county by many of the very earliest settlers, and butter and cheese began to be manufactured for 256 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. market in a small way during the first quarter of the present century. The business grew rapidly, and by 1850 nearly 2,000,000 pounds of cheese were annually produced in Portage County, and butter and cheese became the great staple products of the northern half of the county. Their regular manufacture has since extended into several of ^the southern townships, though the latter are more largely devoted to grain-growing. From 18G0 to 1864, inclusive, Portage County ranked among the counties of the State respectively third and fourth in its production of cheese and butter, annually averaging for those five years 2,933,471 pounds of cheese, and 872,454 pounds of butter. In 1866 it stood second in both products, having 3,115,728 pounds of cheese, and 833,988 pounds of butter. In 1870 it was third and fifth respectively, with 3,822,829 pounds of cheese, atid 916,376 pounds of butter. In 1871 it had 3,308,334 pounds of cheese, and 907,693 pounds of butter, being fourth and seventh respectively in those products. In 1872 it produced 3,619,983 pounds of cheese, and 906,995 pounds of butter, ranking fifth in both. In 1873 there were turned out 948,964 pounds of butter, which was more than any other county in the State, and 3,712,233 pounds of cheese, or the fifth in that article. In 1874 this county's butter product heads the list with 1,062,043 pounds; and it was the fourth cheese producing county, with 3,483,965 pounds. It ranked respectively third and sixth, in butter and cheese, in 1875, turning out 955,- 817 pounds of the former, and 3,404,286 pounds of the latter product. In 1877 Portage manufactured 1,043,542 pounds of butter and 3,767,783 pounds of cheese, ranking fifth in each. In 1878 its butter product stood fourth, and its cheese product second in the list of counties, reporting 981,425 pounds of^the former, and 4,170,339 pounds of the latter. Its butter product dropped in 1879 to the ninth place, being 911,910 pounds, while its cheese production also declined to less than one-half of the amount turned out the previous year, or 2,061,111 pounds, making Portage fifth in the list of cheese counties for that year. Little change occurred for the succeeding two years, the county stand- ing, in 1881, seventh in its butter product, with 962,970 pounds, and third in its cheese product, having 2,798,722 pounds. In 1883 this county again took the first place in its butter product, standing at the head of all the other coun- ties, with 1,299,077 pounds, while its 2,645,115 pounds of cheese gave it fifth place in the list of cheese producing counties. The statistics for 1884 have not yet (March 1885) been collected, but cheese dealers have informed the writer that, on account of the long dry season, there will be a considerable falling off in last year's product. The county now contains about thirty cheese factories, located principally in the three northern ranges of townships, though there are several in the southern section of the county. Horses, cattle, sheep and hogs were brought into the county by the first settlers, though they were usually of an ordinary breed, and very little was done toward the improvement of farm stock for fifty years after the first set- tlement was made. Mrs. Josiah Ward is credited with owning the first sheep in Kandolph Township, which were brought in from the East in 1805. Her husband having no money, was unable to purchase them, when she "took out her stocking " and paid cash down for eight or ten of the drove standing in front of their little cabin. She had saved up this money ere leaving her Con- necticut home, to be used for that very purpose. Timothy Culver, also of Raudolph Township, bought sixteen sheep about the same time, the seller to receive as many more at a certain stated date; but the animals were kept near the creek, and, in consequence of eating a poisonous plant, all but one died the first winter. In 1806 John H. Whittlesey and Jeremiah Jones located in Atwater Township, and soon afterward went to Georgetown, Penn., and pur- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 257 chased twelve sheep, which they brought to their homes in this county. On getting the sheep here they discovered that they had no place to keep them safe from the wolves during the coming night, but Mr. Whittlesey soon got over the diflSculty by giving the animals a portion of his own kitchen. About 1807 John Campbell went to Pennsylvania and brought in some stock from that State, which he distributed among the few settlers who were then finan- cially able to purchase. In 1813 Erastus Carter bought six sheep of John Campbell. They were watched through the daytime by his son Howard Car- ter, who is yet living, and shut up at night in a log-stable. One night the sheep were left out, and the wolves killed every one of them. The family picked up the wool scattered around the remains, carded and spun it, and had it woven into cloth, from which young Howard was made his first pair of woolen pants since coming to Ohio several years before, buckskin being then the only material generally in use for such garments. The swine of the early settlers, compared with those they now possess, pre- sent a very wide contrast, for whatever the breed may have been called, run- ning wild, as was customary, the special breed was soon lost in the mixed swine of the countiy. They were long and slim, long-snouted and long-legged, with an arched back, and bristles erect from the back of the head to the tail, slab- sided, active and healthy; the "sapling-splitter" or "razor back," as he was called, was ever in the search of food, and quick to take alarm. He was capa ble of making a heavy hog, but required two or more yeai's to mature, and until a short time before butchering or marketing was suffered to run at large, subsisting mainly as a forager, and in the fall fattening on the "mast" of the forest. Yet this was the hog for a new country, whose nearest and best markets were Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, to which points they were driven on foot. Almost every farmer raised a few hogs for market, which were gath- ered up by drovers and dealers during the fall and winter seasons. In no stock of the farm have greater changes been effected than in the hog. From the long-legged, long-snouted, slab-sided, I'oach-backed, tall, long, active, wild, fierce and muscular, it has been bred to be almost as square as a store- box and quiet as a sheep, taking on 250 pounds of flesh in ten months. They are now ranked into distinctive breeds, the Berkshire and Chester White being more extensively bred in Portage County than any other kind. The following statistics, compiled from the Secretary of State's reports, will furnish a good idea of the growth of the stock interests in Portage County for the past forty- five years: In 1840 the county contained 4,205 horses and mules, 25,308 cattle, 37,240 sheep and 11,074 hogs. In 1852, 4,795 horses, 27,526 cattle, 70,852 sheep, 5,537 hogs and 45 mules. From 1858 to 1864 inclusive, the annual average was 8,063 horses, 33,927 cattle, 86,692 sheep, 7,875 hogs and 75 mules. In 1867 there were 7,439 horses, 27,823 cattle, 125,545 sheep, 7,769 hogs and 87 mules. In 1870, 6,373 horses, 26,696 cattle, 45,386 sheep, 6,421 hogs and 56 mules. In 1873, 7,887 horses, 34,706 cattle, 44,365 sheep, 5,565 hogs and 73 mules. In 1875, 8,359 horses, 26.466 cattle, 34,609 sheep, 4,648 hogs and 75 mules. In 1878, 7,886 horses, 29,968 cattle, 41,394 sheep, 9,162 hogs and 75 mules. In 1880, 7,557 horses, 28,702 cattle, 51,622 sheep, 6,895 hogs and 74 mules. In 1884 there were reported 9,327 horses, 30,049 cattle, 13,746 sheep, 29,185 hogs and 267 mules. The greatest noticeable changes will be found in the sheep reports. From 1840 to 1867 there was a rapid increase of this stock, numbering in the latter year 125,545 head, but from that date up to 1884 there was a var34ng decrease in numbers, until the difi'erence between 1867 and 1884 was over 100,000. While the number of horses and cattle 258 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. varied a few thousand back and forth, there were more than three times as many hogs reported in 1883 and 1884 as in any other year since 1852. This would indicate that hogs are rapidly taking the place of sheep on the farms of Portage County, the raising of the latter having been almost abandoned because of the rapid decline in the price of wool, caused by the reduction of the tariff on that staple. The leading staple crops of Portage County are wheat, corn, oats and hay. From 1850 to 1864 inclusive, the annual average wheat and corn product was, respectively, 149,084 and 358,094 Tjushels. The annual average product of oats from 1858 to 1864 inclusive, was 240,233 bushels, while the annual hay product for the same period was 44,711 tons. In 1866 there were raised in this county 81,922 bushels of wheat, 456,667 bushels of corn, 309,381 bushels of oats, and 49,913 tons of hay and clover. In 1870, 108,324 bushels of wheat, 540,862 bushels of corn, 386,257 bushels of oats and 44,612 tons of hay and clover. In 1875, 176,866 bushels of wheat, 736,112 bushels of corn, 502,288 bushels of oats and 33,914 tons of hay and clover. In 1880, 460,894 bushels of wheat, 450,822 bushels of corn, 429,735 bushels of oats and 40,138 tons of hay and clover. In 1883 (the last report published), there were raised 318,261 bushels of wheat, 159,751 bushels of corn (shelled), 540,464 bushels of oats and 58,694 tons of hay and clover. The total annual average wheat- pro- duct of this county from 1878 to 1882 inclusive was 352,251 bushels, and of corn for the same period, 568,503 bushels. The official valuation of property in Portage County, by decades, as returned for taxation, will illustrate its steady increase in wealth and general prosperity. In 1850 the total valuation was $5,926,727; 1860, $10,854,965; 1870, $14,228,943; 1880, $16,100,010. Portage County Agricultural Societies. — There has been no agency that has accomplished so much good for the farming intei'ests of this county as the several agricultural societies of the past and present. Their influence began sixty years ago, when, on the 9th of May, 1825, the " Portage County Agricult- ural Society " was organized at the Court House in Ravenna, by the election of the following officers: Joshua Woodward, President; Elias Harmon, First Yice-President; Owen Brown, Second Vice-President; Frederick Wadsworth, Corresponding Secretary; Samuel D. Harris, Recording Secretary; William Coolman, Jr., Treasurer; Jonathan Sloane, Auditor. The society held its first " agricultural fair and cattle show " at Ravenna, October 18, 1825. Among the premiums we find one of $3, awarded to Seth Harmon for the best crop of corn, he having raised one hundred bushels and one peck from one acre of land. Fairs were held annually by the society at Ravenna until 1830, when, although officers were elected, no fair was held, and the society went out of existence. On the 12th of March, 1839, the Ohio Assembly passed " an act to author- ize and encourage the establishment of agricultural societies in the several counties in this State, and to regulate the same;" and June 20, 1839, in pursuance of notice given by the County Auditor, a meeting was held at the Court House in Ravenna, for the purpose of organizing an agricultural society in Portage County. William Wetmore was Chairman, and George Y. Wallace, Secretary. It was resolved by the meeting to call the new institution the " Portage County Agricultural Societj"-," and the following officers were chosen : William Wetmore, President; Lorin Bigelow, Vice-President; George Y. Wallace, Recording Secretary; Joseph Lyman, Corresponding Secretary; John B. Clark, William Milliken and Oliver C. Dickinson, Executive Committee. Their first fair was held at the Court House October 20 and 21, 1841, and was HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 259 quite a success. Successful fairs were also held at the same place in 1842, 1843 and 1844, but on account of a long drouth and consequent failure of crops, none was held in 1845. On the 27th of February, 1846, the Legislature passed " an act for the encouragement of agriculture;" and April 1 and 2, 1846, the State Board of Agriculture met at Columbus, Ohio, and adopted rules and regulations for the government of county societies legally organized in harmony with this law. A meeting was held at the Court House in Ravenna, for the purpose of organ- izing a society under those rules, and to obtain the financial assistance from the State, which the act promised. Greenbury Keen was called to the chair, and Richard J. Thompson chosen Secretary. Enoch Johnson, Friend Cook, Ralph Day, William Stedman and Richard J. Thompson were appointed a committee to prepare a constitution for the society, which was subsequently presented and adopted. The following officers were then elected: Richard J. Thompson, President; J. G. Foley, Vice-President; Archibald Servoss, Secre- tary; Enos P. Brainerd, Treasurer; William Stedman, Albert Austin, Charles Button, William Milliken and Daniel W. Jennings, Executive Committee. The thanks of the meeting were extended to Hon. William Wetmore, of the Senate, and to Hons. David Mcintosh and Thomas C. Shreve, of the House, for their exertions to procure the passage of the law for the promotion of agriculture. Gen. Mcintosh was afterward President of the society for several years, and in August, 1853, he and wife were presented by the society with a massive silver salver, as an appropriate token of its appreciation of the efforts both had always put forth to build up the interests of the institution. The first fair of the new society was held at Ravenna, September 30 and October 1, 1846, and though not so largely attended as expected, was never- theless a very creditable exhibition. For several years the society held its annual fairs in Ravenna, with no permanent grounds, but in 1859 it rented about twenty acres of land east of Ravenna, and immediately south of the present grounds, which were fitted up and used for twenty years. Prior to 1870 the financial affairs of the society had reached a low ebb, and the fair of 1869 was regarded as a failure in every sense. Many predicted that the soci- ety would go under, and on the strength of this feeling an agricultural soci- ety was organized at Garrettsville, with the expectation of taking its place. But in the meantime Horace Y. Beebe, and a few other enterprising citizens, " put their shoulders to the wheel," raised a subscription, paid off the debts and got the institution once more " upon its legs," where it has since remained. The lease of the old grounds expired in 1879, and the society obtained a twenty years' lease of its present grounds, owned and previously fitted up by the Ravenna Park Association, a coterie of horsemen who held annual races and thus sought to encourage the growth of fine horses. On these grounds, which contain twenty-two acres and a good half-mile track, the agricultural society has erected a fine exhibition hall, offices, and cattle and sheep sheds, besides having the right, under its lease, to the use of the stables, grand stand, and other buildings of the Park Association, with exclusive control of the grounds during the fair. It is generally admitted that the present pros- perous condition of the society is largely due to the efforts of Horace Y. Beebe, who has spared neither time nor labor to make the annual fairs a suc- cess, and whose energy and business capacity, together with the earnest sup- port of the Board and friends of the society, have enabled him to accomplish what few men would have cared to undertake. Besides the annual fair at Gar- rettsville, several other townships in the county hold township fairs, and while any effort in that direction is laudable, it is, nevertheless, a positive fact that 260 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. those township societies detract much from the interest and usefulness of the county organization, and had, therefore, better be abolished. The membership of the society is now about 600, and its present officers are N. S. Olin, Presi- dent; R. S. Elkins, Vice-President; E. R. Wait, Treasurer; K. S. Wing, Sec- retary; C. C. Gardner, William Bergen, S N. Andrews, W. W. Stevens, Simon Perkins, A. N. Farr, Franklin Willard, F. R. Coit, H. O. Hine and Smith Sanford, Directors. The Portage County Horticultural Society was organized in February, 1879, with fourteen charter members, most of whom were men who put their hands to the plow without any intention of looking back. The society has experi- enced unexpected prosperity, and contains at this writing 250 members, who pay an annual fee of $1. It has never failed to hold its regular monthly meeting, and the attendance has always been encouraging and generally large. The social feature of the meetings, which are held at the residences of the members, is good remuneration for the expense and trouble incurred, while the interest stimulated in horticulture has been rapidly increasing, as is plainly evident throughout the county in improved yards, orchards and gardens. The present officers of the society are Horace Y, Beebe, President; R. S. Elkins, Vice-President; Andrew W^illson, Secretary; C. L. Bartlett, Treasurer; C. C. Gardner, A. J. Jennings and John Meharg, Executive Committee. The same President and Seci'etary have held those positions since the organization of the society. The officers and members of the Agricultural Society recog- nize the aid of the Horticultural Society in reviving the county fairs, and making them truly successful. In many ways the society is exerting a whole- some influence. The membei's feel that what has been done is but a prophecy of what may be accomplished, and are generally anxious to make the Bociety as helpful to the purpose of its organization as is possible. CHAPTER VI. First Military Organization on the Western Reserve— War of 1812 and First Call for Volunteers— John Harmon's Recollections of the War — Second Regiment Ohio Militia— Capt. John Campbell's Company of Volunteers— Camp on Barrel Run— March to Cleveland, and Embark- ation for Lower Sandusky— Description OF the Trip and Arrival — Incidents at the Fort, and Sickness Among the Soldiers —Departure FOR THE River Raisin— Hull's Surrender— Start for Malden, and Arrival at that Point— Paroled Prisoners— Return Home of the Sick and Paroled Men— Deaths in the Command— Alarm Caused by the Surrender— Regimental Record of the Second Regiment— Response to A Call for Troops in 1813— Mr. Harmon's Concluding Remarks— The Inhabitants of Portage County Fear an Indian Invasion— Distressing Incident of the War— Re-organization of the Militia— Muster Days AND Sham Fights. THE first military organization on the Western Reserve was effected under the general militia law of Ohio, passed at the Legislative session of 1803-04. The State was divided into four divisions, the Fourth Division embracing the whole eastern portion thereof, from Lake Erie to the Ohio Rivei'. Elijah Wadsworth was elected Major-General of that division, and issued his first order April 6, 1804. His division was divided into two brigades and five regiments. The First Brigade, Ohio militia, comprised the HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 261 male inhabitants of naiiitary age inside the limits of Trumbull County, which then embraced the territory now in Portage, as well as all the country west of this county to the western limits of the Reserve. The brigade was divided into the First and Second Regiments, the north line of Township 5 being the dividing line between those forming the respective commands. The Second Regiment was divided into two battalions, and the Second Battalion into four companies. The First Company included the present townships of Berlin and Milton, Mahoning County, and Deerfield, Palmyra, Paris, Charlestown, Edinburg and Atwater Townships, Portage County, and was called the " Deerfield Com- pany." The Second Company included the present townships of Randolph, Rootstown, Ravenna, Franklin, Brimtield and Suffield, and was called th© " Rootstown Company. " The Third Company included the present town- ships of Windham, Nelson, Garrettsville, Hiram, Freedom, Shalersville, Man- tua, Aurora and Streetsboro, and the Fourth Company included all of the remaining territory of the Reserve west of the present western boundary of Portage County. On the 7th of May, 1804, elections for ofi&cers were held in the four companies, resulting as follows: First Company — Henry Rogers, Captain; John Diver, Lieutenant; John Campbell, Ensign. Second Company — Thomas Wright, Captain; William Chard, Lieutenant; David Morse, Ensign. Third Company — Ezra Wyatt, Captain; Gersham Judson, Lieuten- ant; Thomas Kennedy, Ensign. Fourth Company — John Oviatt, Captain;. Aaron Norton, Lieutenant; James Walker, Ensign. On the 24th of Septem- ber following, Henry Rogers, Captain of the First Company, was elected Major of the battalion. The names of most of the officers of those four com- panies will be recognized as those of leading pioneers of Portage County, but as elections were held annually their places were subsequently tilled by others who are equally well remembered as prominent early settlers of this section of the State. With the rapid growth of population and the organization of new counties, among which was Portage, in 1808, some changes occurred in the boundaries of the territory from which the Second Regiment was originally raised, while the number of brigades in the Fourth Division was increased to four, and other regiments formed from the additional brigades. A few years passed by and the sound wisdom of these militia organizations became very apparent. The war of 1812 was brought on by the arrogant claims of the English Gov- ernment, and the citizen soldiers of Portage County were among the first to respond to their country's call. In response to a call from Gov. Meigs for sol- diers to defend the frontier, Capt. John Campbell's company of riflemen was organized May 23, 1812, of volunteers from the Second Regiment, Ohio Mili- tia. Soon after the declaration of war, June 18, 1812, this company received orders to meet at the house of Capt. Campbell, July 1, and on that day pitched their tents of homespun linen sheets on the bank of Barrel Run, near the home of Capt. Campbell. The command had no uniforms, but each man was "armed to the teeth" with a rifle, a tomahawk, and a large knife. It soon afterward started for the frontier, and was encamped on the River Raisin at the time of Hull's surrender, and therefore included in that disgraceful and cowardly capitulation. Fifteen years ago the late John Harmon, Esq., of Ravenna, who was a member of this company, compiled an article entitled "Recollections of the War of 1812, " which was published in the Portage County Democrat, March 2, 3870. The writer deems this historic sketch of sufficient importance to be worthy of preservation in the pages of this work. Mr. Harmon rendered the present and future generations a great service by rescuing from obliviou 262 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. and placing on record important events connected with a very interesting period of our national history; but more especially are these reminiscences invaluable to the people of Portage County. None of the pioneers of this county who participated in the war of 1812 are left to tell the story of their trials and hardships, and without these reminiscences, so fortunately prepared by Mr. Harmon, it would be utterly impossible at this late day to obtain any reliable data treating of military events in this portion of Ohio during that momentous period. Recollections of the War of 1812. * — In compliance with the expressed wishes of some valued friends, and more particularly at the recent solicitation of the officers of the Western Reserve Historical Society, I will endeavor to write for publication some account of the campaign of Capt. Campbell's Volunteer Company of 1812, of which I was an humble member. To aid me in this task, I have a brief diary journal, kept at that time, and a brief record of our organization in the book of Regimental Records of the regiment from which our company was raised. But for much that I have to record, I have to rely on memory, and I fear my task, performed at my time of life, and after a lapse of more than iifty-seven years from the time the events occurred of which I write, will not be acceptably recorded. But, as few of the actors of those days now remain to tell their tales, and fewer still are disposed to transmit our his- tory to the present young, and the coming generations, I have been induced to commence the task, and present the record first to the people of the locality where our company was best known, and through the medium of the local press of Portage County. In 1812 the able bodied white male inhabitants between the ages of eight- een and forty-five, residing on the three eastern tiers of townships of the present county of Portage, and subject to military duty, constituted the Sec- ond Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio Militia, and were com- manded by Col. John Campbell, then residing on the corners of the four town- ships of Ravenna, Rootstown, Charlestown and Edinburg, a place since called Campbellsport. This regiment consisted of two battalions, of four militia companies each. Those residing in Mantua constituted the First Company, First Battalion. Nelson, Hiram and Windham constituted the Second Com- pany, First Battalion. Ravenna and Charlestown constituted the Third Com- pany, First Battalion. Shalersville constituted the Fourth Company, First Battalion. Deerfield and Atwater constituted the First Company, Second Battalion. Rootstown constituted the Second Company, Second Battalion. Palmyra and Paris constituted the Third Company, Second Battalion. Ran- dolph constituted the Fourth Company, Second Battalion. It appears that about the middle of May, 1812, Col. Campbell received orders from Got. Meigs to raise soldiers from his regiment for the defense of the frontiers; but the number to be raised does not appear on record, but, on the Military Record Book, page 26, we find the following: " At a special meeting of the officers of the Second Regiment, Fourth Bri- gade, Fourth Division, of Ohio Militia, holden at Ravenna, the 19th day of May, 1812, for raising soldiers. "Officers present. — Col. John Campbell, Maj. Stephen Mason, Maj. Thad- deus Andrews. " Captains. — Alva Day, Joshua Woodward, Asa K. Burroughs. "Lieut. Isaac Merriman, for Capt. Timothy Culver's Company. "Lieut. John Redden, for Capt, Delaun Mills' Company. * By the late' John Harmon, Esq. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 265 "Commandants of Companies. — Lieut, Oliver Snow, Lieut. John Caris, Lieut. Charles Gilbert. "Ordered — That the regiment meet at Ravenna on the 23d inst., at 10 o'clock A. M. "Orders given to Majors Mason and Andrews." Then follow on the record several pages of "class rolls" of the regi- ment, with the name and class, as it purports, of every man of the regiment subject to military duty, comprising all able-bodied white males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, residing in the bounds of the regiment, which we omit at present. At this time, and previous, Robert Campbell was Clerk of the regiment, but much of the records appear to be in the hand- writing of the late Col. Stephen Mason. On page 30 is recorded the appointment of Charles Curtis, of Charlestown, as Quartermaster of the regiment, and Fred- erick Wadsworth, Clerk of the regiment, dated 26th of May, 1812. I find no record of the mustering of the regiment "to raise soldiers," and here have to tax my memory. According to orders the regiment met at Ravenna, May 23, and on being paraded in line, the Colonel informed us that he had orders from the Governor to raise soldiers from this regiment for the defense of the frontiers, and that unless a company of fifty would volunteer, a draft must be made; that if fifty men would volunteer, they could by law elect their own officers; but if a draft had to be made, they would be commanded probably by strangers. He advised us to volunteer, and urged in a short speech, and Charles Shaler, then a young lawyer, since Judge Shaler, of Pittsburgh, a son of Nathaniel Shaler, of Middletown, Conn., the proprietor of Shalersville, being present, entertained us with a patriotic speech. It was then announced, as the musicians stepped out before the regiment, that all who would volunteer should step forward and follow the music. Immediately volunteers began to show themselves, stepping to the front, to the music of the drum and fife. Among the first were Col Campbell, Capt. Alva Day, Lieut. John Caris and Samuel Redfield. The last-mentioned was, I believe, the first to follow the music. The little squad thus formed continued passing to and fro before the regiment, its members constantly accumulating, until it was announced that the fifty were on hand, and one more. During the suspense before the required number were on hand, some one announced that he saw a star in our horizon, a star of promise, may be, on which George Grant Redden, of Hiram, declared if he could see the star, he too would volunteer, and on it being shown him he immediately volunteered. As it was a clear day, numbers of us saw the bright star. We were then marched to the south side of the Court House, and our names were taken by one of our number, Ralph Buckland — father of Hon. Ralph P. Buckland, late a member of Congress from the Ninth (Fremont) District, Ohio. This done, we were fully engaged, and it was debated when and where we would elect our company officers, and determined to proceed immediately, same evening, at the house of William Tappan, which we accordingly did. That house, one of the first frame structures built in Ravenna, was burned a few years ago. It stood on the ground now occupied by the Phoenix Block, north- east of the Court House square. The same room where the votes were taken was afterward used as a printing office, from which, in 1834-35, The Western Courier was issued. The following "roll of volunteers" and list- of officers elected is copied from Regimental Records, page 30, the record found in the hand-writing of the late Frederick Wadsworth, Esq. I add only their respective residences: 266 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. OFFICERS. John Campbell, Captain, Campbellsport. Alva Day, Lieutenant, Deerfield. John Caris, Second Lieutenant, Rootstown. Aaron Weston, Ensign, Kavenna. Lewis Day, Jr., First Sergeant, Deertield. John Wright, Second Sergeant, Rootstown. Ralph Buckland, Third Sergeant, Ravenna. Lewis Ely, Jr., Fourth Sergeant, Deeriield. Charles (Jhittenden, First Corporal, Atwater. John Harmon, Second Corporal, Mantua. Daniel Burroughs, Jr., Third Corporal, Shalersville. John Turner, Fourth Corporal, Rootstown. David Jones, Drummer, Randolph. James Magill, Fifer, Palmyra. PRIVATES. William Tappan, Ravenna; Samuel Redfield, Randolph; David Moore, Ravenna; Samuel C. Thompson, Ravenna; Benjamin Bradley, Shalersville; William Thornton, Randolph; John McManus, Ravenna; William Ward, Ravenna; Harry O. Pettibone, Mantua; Enos Harmon, Mantua; Chauncey Newberry, Rootstown; Robert Campbell, Ravenna; John Sabin, Randolph; Samuel Bartlett, Rootstown; Samuel Tuthill, Rootstown; John Shaler, Charles- town; Ebenezer Tibballs, Deerfield; John Smith, Mantua; Peter Tyrrel, Ravenna; Philip AVillyard, Rootstown; Zacheas Harmon, Mantua; Ebenezer Buckley, Palmyra; Abiram Amidon, Rootstown; James Ray, Jr., Mantua; Mark Moore, Mantua; George G. Redden, Hiram; Job Thompson, Jr., Shalers- ville; William Coolman, Jr., Shalersville; Henry Root, Rootstown; Samuel Hartle, Rootstown; Oliver Newberry, Rootstown; Joseph Fisher, Palmyra; Charles Carter, Ravenna; Enoch Judson, Mantua; Nathan Chapman, Roots- town; Joel Underwood, Palmyra; Charles Reed, Deerfield; Seth Day, Deer- field. Seth Day did not at first volunteer, but joined us at the rendezvous, and acted as Clerk for the oflScers until taken sick. Of the foregoing roll, Charles Reed, William Tappan, John Sabin, John Shaler, Nathan Chapman, Enoch Judson, Joseph Fisher, Oliver Newberry, Benjamin Bradley and Samuel Bartlett, and I think also Ebenezer Tibballs, failed to march to the frontier, but several furnished substitutes, to- wit: Miles Allen took the place of John Sabin; William Maxfield took the place of Nathan Chapman; Nathan Cross that of Joseph Fisher; John Jacobs that of Enoch Judson; John Williams that of Charles Reed; Richard Redden that of Ben- jamin Bradley. Thomas Rowley substituted for some one, and several shirked the service. Joseph DeW^olf and David Thompson, of Ravenna, I believe, both volunteered, but their names do not appear on the record. It was said that DeWolf, being the only physician in Ravenna, could not be spared from the place, and Thompson was detained by the condition of his family. Our company being thus organized, we were permitted to return to our homes, with the injunction oto meet again on short notice and to bring with us arms and equipments for a war campaign; and we were urged to provide ourselves with rifles if possible. On the 18th of June following. Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Great Britain, and soon thereafter we were severally summoned to meet on the 1st day of July, at the residence of Capt. Campbell. The com- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 267 pany accordingly met at the time and place appointed, established some tem- porary camps on the bottom lands of the Mahoning (west branch) and Barrel Run, near to Capt. Campbell's residence, in a pleasant natural bower. All, I believe, came provided with arms and equipments, and most of us brought rifles. We there found, besides our officers, a committee appointed to appraise our equipments, as by law provided, that if lost we could claim and obtain their value from the Government. On July 2 our arms were appraised; and I find on record a detailed statement of each article furnished by each person, set to their respective names, and signed by the appraisers, Charles Curtis, Erastus Carter and Stephen Mason. The details I omit — the whole amount of the appraisement as stated is $912.66. We had to wait some days for supplies to be collected by our Captain, who had been authorized, as he said, by the Governor for that purpose. On July 4 our Captain gave the company an Independence dinner, which was well relished and appreciated; and in the evening we enjoyed ourselves at our camps, and some patriotic soncrs were On July 5, which was Sunday, there was something of an assemblage of people, from the neighboring townships, at our rendezvous in the bower, and the two old Congregational pioneer preachers. Rev. John Seward (then of Aurora, now a venerable resident of Tallmadge), and Rev. Harvey Coe, of Trumbull County — I believe Hartford — and I believe since deceased, addi'essed us and the people in the grove very appropriately, and prayed with us. On the next day, July 6, in the afternoon, the company commenced their march for the frontier; camped the first night at Roundy's Inn, near the southwest corner of Ravenna, on the old State Road from Youngstown to the Portage- That road is said to be the first road laid out on the Western Reserve. The second day's march was only to Hudson, and camped near the residence of David Hudson, Esq. At the end of the third day's march they encamped at the crossing of Tinker's Creek near the west line of Bedford. The tavern there was, I believe, kept by Noble. On the fourth day from our rendez- vous, July 9, the company arrived at " the City," as the site of the present city of Cleveland was then called to distinguish it from "the settlement** part of Cleveland township, which then included what is now Newburg. Those of us whose homes were in Mantua had by permission passed that way to Cleveland, and were there in waiting when the company arrived, having made quicker time, not being impeded by the slow pi'ogress of the baggage wagons. Cleveland was then but a small place. I had been somewhat famil- iar there and can recollect of scarce a dozen families resident there at that time. There were two taverns, Carter's and Wallace's, and I believe three stores. Perry's, Murray's, and Hanchett's, which last mentioned, Hanchett's, was nearly sold out. The company encamped on the north side of Superior Street, among the bushes, east of Perry's store. The next day, July 10, afternoon, we embarked on board of two boats for Lower Sandusky, as the stockade was then called, where is now the flourish- ing little city of Fremont. One of our boats was known as Babcock's, the other as Smith's. The first day we made only seven miles, to the mouth of Rocky River. From our encampment on the beach, east side of the mouth of Rocky River, we embarked early the following morning and arrived at the mouth of Black River about noon, and the lake being rough, we encamped with our boats in a safe harbor on the west side, in the mouth of Black River, near the residence of John S. Reid, whom I had known, when a few years pre- vious he had resided some three or four miles from Cleveland on the Newburg road. Embarked early, July 12, and arrived about the middle of the day at 268 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Sandusky Bay, and stopped at a blockhouse on the north side of the bay, on the Peninsula of Danbury. I understood it was called Maj. Parson's block- house, and I think it was nearly opposite to where I have since found San- dusk}^ City. We saw no settlement here, and saw no settler that I remember but one, Capt. Charles Parker, who came from the south side of the bay, where I understood he resided. He was the same who was a pioneer in Geauga (now Lake County), at Mentor. I had known him there when he was acting Sheriff of Geauga County in 1806 and after. We had met and passed a sail boat at a distance, just before entering the bay, which was I think the only craft we had seen on our way. Those of us on Babcock's boat spent the night in the block-house; Smith's boat anchored out in the bay. On the 13th of July both boats proceeded up the bay, and up the Sandusky River, slowly, passing some prairies but no white settlement, and moving so slowly that some of us walked along shore part of the way. While walking we passed over the stubble of Indian corn patches of the previous years, and on the way fell in with a venerable and good-looking old Indian, known to some of our comrades as Sagaman, an old chief who had in previous years had his camps in Portage County, and had been a good kind neighbor to the first settlers of Mantua, in the winter of 1799-1800, and helped them to meat, at fair rates of exchange, for pumpkins and other small articles. He was still friendly, while Wilson and other Indians had left us and gone to the British. We arrived at Widow Whittaker's, on the west side, where we found an improved farm, surrounded by timber land. This was said to be three miles by water from our destination, the fort or stockade of Lower Sandusky, as it was called. On July 14 we proceeded up the river, and landed on the west side below the rapids, about half a mile from the fort, marched up, and were admitted into the garrison, where we found Capt. Norton, with his company of about fifty volunteer riflemen from Delaware County, Ohio. The fort was a stockade of log pickets, cut about twelve feet, and set upright, with a shallow ditch enclosing about an acre. Within were one or two small houses, in one of which was kept the United States store and Indian agency. The Indian Agent, Mr. Varnum, was said to be a son of Hon. Joseph B. Varnum, of Massachusetts, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1807 to 1811. We found him a very pleasant, gentlemanly young man. The fort was some thirty rods west of the river, at the rapids, and on the nearest high land was an open country with a few scattering oak trees about it on the north, and oak woods at the west, a large cornfield on the east side of the river on the bottom land, and a log-house on the first rise of land east of the cornfield. That was all the farming or farm houses I saw in that region. The barracks or soldiers' quarters, we found not very commodious, but sufficient for summer quarters. They consisted of bark or puncheon, laid up with two sides seven or eight feet long and five or six feet wide, backed against the pickets and open in front where we built our cooking fires, having to go in the woods and pack the little fuel we used. We had only the ground to lie on till we peeled some oak bark for a floor, and for our Jjeds we stripped foliage from the hazel bushes, as straw was not to be had. We saw very few persons here, whites or Indians, except soldiers. Our business was, besides our daily parade, to dig a well and build block-houses. We had got a well dug about twenty feet deep, when an Indian was brought there charged with horse stealing, I believe, from Mrs. Whittaker. He was confined some days in our dry well, until a council was held with the Indians of Seneca Town, an Indian village several miles up the river, at which they HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 269 agreed to furnish a good dressed beef for the garrison, and our prisoner was released, and a fine, fat, well-dressed heifer was furnished for the gari'ison, and the horse was restored. The fresh beef was well relished indeed, after we had been kept on salt pork and bread so long, but so many of the garrison were soon taken sick, that we suspected the Indians of poisoning the beef. We had not yet finished our well or our block-house, when on July 21, orders were received from Gen. Hull, at Detroit, by our Captain, to march there with his and Rowland's companies to join the main army. With these orders, sent by a Capt. Curtis, came also some money to our Captain to pay for the supplies he had obtained for us; but no money came to pay soldiers. On July 22 Capt. Campbell started for Portage County, to pay those from whom he had obtained our supplies, leaving orders to make all ready while he should be absent. On July 29 Capt. Campbell returned, accompanied by Capt. Rowland, of the Columbiana County Volunteers, who came in advance of his company. About the same time nearly all the garrison were taken sick with' diarrhoea and fever. Some were entirely disabled, others were just able to walk about. Capt, Rowland's company arrived at the fort by water, August 2, and on the 4th both companies started by water down the river, halted at Mrs. Whittaker's, stayed over night, and remained next day to attend to the sick, of whom Capt. Campbell and Seth Day were very low. On the 6th Rowland's company started by land up the lake toward Detroit, and with them Lieut. Caris, who was detailed with a squad of eleven men to guard the post and stores at Maumee. Of that squad I only remem- ber the names of Sergt. Ely, Samuel Hartle, Henry Root and John Jacobs. The last mentioned died there some time after. The same day Capt. Camp- bell, with the remainder of our company, went by boat down the river and bay from Mrs. Whittaker's to the Parson's Block-house, on Danbury Peninsula. Next day, August 7, Capt. Campbell and Seth Day, being much worse than others of the company, were aided on board John Wallace's boat, and started down the lake for Cleveland, with one attendant, Philip Willyard; and Lieut. Day and the balance of the company started west for the River Raisin, on Babcock's boat, the same boat we came up the lake on near a month before. From Sandusky Bay we sailed day and night till we arrived near the mouth of the River Raisin on the forenoon of August 7, where we were hindered some hours among the bulrushes and flags, hunting the channel, which we finally found, and proceeded up the river a mile or two, and arrived at the settlement of Frenchtown about noon, stopping at Godfrey's unfinished frame house on our right bank, about noon. There we stayed over night, and next day on an alarm of "Indians coming" we moved on to the garrison, about a half mile up the river, on same side. Next day, August 10, we moved to other quarters, some of the sick to a vacant log-house on the south side of the river, others to Capt. Downing's, a kind, good family, nearly a mile above the gar- rison. There Lieut. Day. Sergt. Day, Sergt. Wright and John McManus, who were our sickest, with Ensign Weston and John Smith to attend them, were located with that kind family. The log- house Avhere the most of us were located stood alone, had a good spring and timber near, and not far from the river, and I think it was there, some forty years after, I found the flourishing city of Monroe, Mich. We remained at those places nearly all sick, but most of us able to walk about, until an alarm of Indians coming to attack us, on August 14, when, though the alarm proved a false one, all who occupied the log- house went to the garrison, where we stayed till Monday, the 17th, when Capt. Elliott, a British officer, and a few attend- ants, white and red, with a flag of truce, came to the garrison, demanding its 270 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. surrender, hrin':^ing also the articles of capitulation of Detroit and the army under Geu Hull, including also all who were on the way to join his army, which included our garrison. This, so unexpected, was indeed a damper on ns all, as the last we had heard of Hull's army was by a hand-bill announcing his successful invasion of Canada. The flag party was placed under guard, and a council of officers met in a marquee of the Chillicothe Cavalry Company, a company just arrived, escorting a drove of beef cattle for Detroit, said to be about one hundred head, for the army. The marquee was outside the front gate of the garrison, and I was enabled to observe the discussions of the officers, of whom Capt. Brush, of the Chillicothe Cavalry, was or assumed to be the senior officer, and of the others I only knew Lieut. Creighton, of the same company. Maj. Anderson, of the local militia of the Territory, was near by on horseback, a good-looking officer, but I understood was not admitted in council because of suspicions that the local militia were not loyal to our side. The genuineness of the articles of capitulation brought by Elliott were questioned, and, as I understood, declared to be a forgery and a trick to trap us. Finally Elliott and attendants were imprisoned in the block- house, near the front gate of the garrison, where we left them when we retired for the night. That night we slept at Lacelle's Mill, just above the garrison, and the next morning we found that the Chillicothe Cavalry and their drove of beeves were gone, and a number of our company also had gone homeward. I had left my rifle standing in the corner of the mill that night, but in the morning it was gone also, and some of my comrades suggested that it was taken by one who would carry it back to Portage County and keep it from the British. The same night Sergt. John Wright died at Captain Downing's, and was buried by his friends before morning. Our company was thus reduced to twenty-six men. The policy of leaving for home that night had been dis- cussed, and those who felt able and were so disposed, had gone; but some were not able to go, and some who went were scarcely able to endure such a journey. For my part, I thought there was more danger in running away than in quietly submitting to be prisoners of war. Besides I was feeble, and liad two older brothers along not as able as myself — one of them very feeble. We therefore submitted to the yoke, and stayed where we were, till August 25. Meantime the Indians circulated freely among us, but olfered no violence to any that I heard of. One, however, meeting our comrade, John Smith, on the road, demanded his watch, which he was obliged to give up. The watch belonged to Lieut. Day, whom Smith was attending in his sickness, at Capt. Downing's. One Indian also stopped at Downing's, where our sickest friends were, and demanded of Lieut. Day his nice castor hat, and took it, leaving one that had been a poorer fur hat, but now, being wet with rain, was slouched down like a rag. August 25 a British officer, whom we understood to be Capt. Elliott, and a squad of soldiers, came and took twenty one of us in a small open row boat to Maiden, and, at the same time, gave permission and a pass to live others, who had made arrangements to go by boat to Cleveland. Those five were Job Thompson, Jr., Daniel Burroughs, Jr., William Coolman, Jr., William Maxfield and Ebenezer Buckley, who, with a Mr. Lewis, and another man and their families, had prepared a boat, and all started down the river and lake the same day we went to Fort Maiden. Of their journey down the lake to Cleveland, friend William Coolman, not long before his death, gave me a brief narrative, which will be referred to hereafter. Since his death, which occurred December 15, 18C9, there are, as I believe, but two of our company left — Samuel liedtield and the writer of this article. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 271 Our small company of twenty-one, under our British conductors, arrived at Maiden, from Raisin, the same day, August 25, and were quartered at a large and long building, on a beautiful open plain and lawn, just above and near the fort and town. This was the Indian Council House, and there appeared to be thousands of Indians swarming in the open plain back of the town and fort, and in plain sight of the Council House; and with us were quar- tered fifty-one other prisoners, mostly sick and wounded of Hull's army. There our beloved Orderly Sergeant, Lewis Day, Jr., breathed his last, on the morn- ing after our arrival, August 26. August 27 our little company, now reduced to twenty, were permitted to remove from the crowded Council House and occupy a small house in town, back of the fort, where we spent the few remaining days of our captivity in Canada. While there we were guarded by a British sentinel at the door, as we had been also at the Council House, but one day the sentinel permitted an Indian to enter among us, who drew his knife and dashed about, apparently to frighten us, jabbering his Indian in a threatening tone, striking some, but not extremely hard. Zacheas Harmon, who was so feeble as to be hardly able to walk, Mr. Indian struck in the breast, and knocked down with his right hand, in which he held his knife, but with the hilt of the knife. He was soon induced by the sentinel to leave. We saw there several Indians well known in Portage County. I saw two in town I had known in Mantua. One of them was well known throughout that country — George Vincent, alias Wilson. August 29, about sunset, we were embarked on board a small vessel, to be paroled and sent home, in company with about thirty other prisoners, the most of whom were sick. On the dock, as we were going on board, were some officers, apparently superintending our departure, among whom was one large and noble looking man, apparently fifty years old, whom we were told was Gen. Brock. Another, a short, thick- set fellow, of not a very pre- possessing appearance, and apparently past sixty, was said to be Simon Girty, noted in Indian war annals. We were rejoiced to be thus starting for home, and dropped down to the mouth of Detroit River the same night, about two and a half miles distant. The next day we sailed slowly with light wind, and after midnight, anchored just west of Put-in-Bay Islands. Next day, August 31, a light wind wafted us on to near the mouth of Black River before day on the 1st of September, and we landed in Cleveland about sunset of the same day. The following are the names of those twenty paroled prisoners of our company, according to my recollection, who landed at Cleveland September 1, from the cartel sloop: » Lieut. Alva Day. Harry O. Pettibone. Ensign Aaron Weston. Zacheas Harmon. Sergt. Ralph Buckland. Enos Harmon. Corporal Charles Chittenden. John Harmon. Corporal John Turner. Mark Moore. John Smith. Samuel C. Thompson. Samuel Redfield. Samuel Tuthill. George G. Redden. James Magi 11. Richard Redden. David Jones. James Ray, Jr. John McManus. Of the five comrades we parted with August 25, at Frenchtown, on River Raisin, as we started for Maiden, friend Coolman informed me, the last con- versation I had with him, which was December 4, 1869, that they started the same day, in a boat provided by a Mr. Lewis and another man, whose name I forget, who were going down with their families to escape from the British 272 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. and Indians; that Job Thompson, Jr., the only well one of the Shalers- ville boys, engaged a passage with them for himself and comrades, and helped to get the boat out of the mud, where it had been left abandoned, assisted to caulk and otherwise repair it; that as they were about to start, Eben- ezer Buckley and William Maxfield joined them; that they were much hindered by adverse winds on their passage down the lake; and finally, at some place near Black River, out of patience with waiting for weather, they left the boat and endeavored to walk, but made poor headway, when Mr. Mygatt, of Can- field, on horseback, overtook them, and carried a message to friends at Cleve land, who, with wagons, met and helped them into Cleveland, where they ar- rived, he believed, September 2. Of the journey home of Lieut. Caris and his squad from Maumee, where they were stationed, and of those who left French- town on foot, I have but little information, except that in going through the Maumee Swamp, as that part of Wood and Sandusky Counties between Fort Meigs and Sandusky River was then called, they, at times, nearly gave out, and one, I think it was William Ward, sat down at one time and gave up, till a comrade came along and cheered him up and helped him along. Many of us then had chills or ague. We were from thirty to fifty-five miles from oar homes, but on arriving in Cleveland we found friends, a very convenient circum- stance, as we discovered for those who had no money, as was the case with all or nearly all of us, except Lieut. Day, and I think he had not much. Landlord Carter entertained all free who called there. Cousin Hiram Hanchett and his kind wife— since Mrs. Andrew Johnson, of Boston — entertained the Harmons, W. W. Williams entertained the Reddens, and Samuel S. Baldwin fed some of us; but all got started home soon except Lieut. Alva Day, Seth Day and John McManus, who were very dangerously sick, and, I have understood, were kindly nursed and cared for at Judge Kingsbury's, till they were able to be conveyed home. John Turner, too, was very sick, and died on the way, per- haps at Judge Kingsbury's, but I believe I heard it said he died at Noble's, at the crossing of Tinker's Creek. Of the fifty or fifty- one who went out so cheerily together, eleven or twelve died within the year, among whom, besides those before mentioned, were, I believe. Ensign Weston, Sergt. Buckiand, Cor- poral Chittenden, Mark Mooi-e, Robert Campbell, David Jones, and Samuel Tuthill. Of the rest, as far as I know, but one is left now, besides the writer of this. That one, Mr. Redfield, aids me with some information for this com- munication, and though about seventy- six years of age, appears likely to endure yet many years, though he has lately lost the partner of his youth, and of more than half a century. Although we were so unfortunate as to con- tract sickness, and did little toward the defense of the frontier, it was because we had no opportunity, having been captured before we saw the enemy. We at least showed a willingness to do our duty in defense of our homes. We had a very good and pleasant set of officers, and there formed friendships for each other which have been pleasant and enduring. For our services and our arms we were paid after years of waiting. Having brought to a close my narrative of the volunteering, organizing, adventures, inglorious capture, parole and return home of our company — the first military company ever raised in this part of Ohio — I propose now to refer to subsequent events, in which the people of Portage and adjoining counties were concerned. The capture of the army under Gen. Hull caused much alarm, as might be expected, in all this region, as our population was then very sparse, and all the region west of the Cuyahoga River and the Portage Path was then very sparsely settled. Not an organized township or military company ■^ ^■t^U^ ^}7^^^rr^^^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 275 existed in Medina County, which then extended west to Huron Count j, and was attached to Portage for civil purposes, the whole region sixty-eight and a half miles in length from east to west, and twenty to twenty-five in breadth, contained in 1810 less than 3,000 people, and had not increased very much in two short years. All that region west of the eighth range included then a single battalion, commanded by Major, afterward Col. George Darrow. The townships of Streetsboro, Brimfield, Freedom and Edinburg were then unsettled. Franklin and Suffield had but very few settlers. So that the thinly settled counties of Portage and Cuyahoga were then the frontier, and it is not strange that the people of this region were much alarmed on learning the news of the capture of all the army raised for our defense, all between ue and the victorious British and their savage allies. The record I copy from our Regimental Record book will show something of the alarm felt by our home friends on the first news of the disastrous capture of our army. Copy of records of the Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio Militia. [Begun on page 33.] Orders were received from Brig. -Gen. Paine, dated July 6, 1812, requiring thirty men to be drafted, including one Lieutenant, one Sergeant, one Corporal and one Fifer, to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning, and orders were issued by the Major, commanding, to the commissioned officers, to meet at Ravenna, the 14th of July, 1812, and on said 14th day of July the following officers met at the Court House in Ravenna: Stephen Mason, Major-Commandant; Major, Thaddeus Andrews; Captains, Delaun Mills, Joshua Woodward, Asa K. Burroughs and Timothy Culver; Lieutenants, Oliver Snow, John Redding, Linus Carter, Hezekiah Hine, Charles Gilbert, Ira Morse and Isaac Merriman; Ensigns, Asa Truesdale, Hezekiah Kooney, Anson Bee- man, Frederick Caris, Jr.; and agreeable to said officers' request, the Major commanding ordered that there be drafted from the First Company, First Battalion, three men; from the Second Company, First Battalion, one Lieutenant and three men; from the Third Company, First Battalion, four men; from the Fourth Company, First Battalion, one man; from the First Company, Second Battalion, one Fifer and six men; from the Second Com- pany, Second Battalion, one Sergeant and three men; from the Third Company, Second Battalion, one Corporal and four men; from the Fourth Company, Second Battalion, two men, with orders to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning, armed and equipped as the law directs. Then follows the dates of several commissions, to- wit: Hezekiah Nooney's commission as Captain; and Ella Willmot's commission as Ensign of First Com- pany, First Battalion, both dated June 18, 1812. Also Linus Curtis' com- mission of Second Company, First Battalion, dated August 28, 1812. An express from Gen. Paine, dated Painesville, August 22, 1812, was received the same day, and orders were immediately issued by Thaddeus An- drews, as Major commanding, to have the regiment meet at Ravenna forth- with. An express from Maj.-Gen. Wadeworth, dated August 23, was received by Maj. Andrews, to have the regiment under his command meet at Ravenna immediately and await there until further orders were received from him. At 9 o'clock P. M., the 23d, Maj.-Gen. Wadsworth delivered rerbal orders to Maj. Andrews, to have the regiment, as soon as embodied at Ravenna, march for Cleveland. The regiment was embodied at 11 o'clock A. M., the 24th, and marched at 3 P. M. the same day, and encamped at Mr. Roundy's. The next day, the 25th, marched from Mr. Roundy's and encamped et the center of Hudson. The next day, marched from Hudson, and arrived and encamped at Tinker's Creek, and the next day, the 27th, marched from Tink- er's Creek, arrived at Cleveland, and reported the regiment to Maj.-Gen. Wadsworth, who ordered the regiment to encamp in Cleveland, and await fur- ther orders. The 30th, the following order was received, which was read to the regiment on the 3l8t- 276 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Cleteland, Headquarters, August 30, 1812. Maj. Stephen Mason. — You will dismiss the regiment under your command for the present, but under the express conditions that they hold themselves in readiness to inarch at a moment's warning. Joel Paine, Oeneral- Brigade. After the foregoing, copied from page 33 of the Record, follow several pages of names of those who thus marched to Cleveland, with their several charges for services thus performed. The charges were mostly for nine days' services for each private, except Capt. T. Culver's company from Randolph, and Lieut. Morse's company from Deerfield and Atwatei', both of which com- panies had charged ten days' service for each private, all at the rate of $5 per month, carried out, the one at $1.50 and the other at $1.60. I know not whether the men were ever paid, but I know that many of them got their land warrants, for I helped obtain them, and those men who did not obtain war- rants, or their widows, can have them. I would like to help them to warrants. That it maybe known who were the pioneer men of those days — but few of whom now remain — I will here insert the names of those who thus responded to the call of their country, to defend it against the British and their sav- age allies, who were then daily expected on our frontier, after the news arrived of Hull's surrender, when many were so alarmed as to prepare to flee the country, and some, I believe, did leave. I copy the companies, in the order as I find them on the record, each company record separate, and all charged as in actual service from the 24th of August to September 1, 1812, inclusive, and each signed by its Captain or Lieutenant commanding. RETURN OF FIRST COMPANY. First Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio Militia. Captain — Hezekiah Nooney. Lieutenant — Oliver Snow. Ensign— Ella Wilmot. Sergeants — -Seth Harmon, Gersham Judson, Horace Ladd, Ariel Walden. Corporals — Henry Blair, Phineas Pond, Moses Mcintosh, Bazel Windsor, Jr. Fifer — Joseph Skinner. Drummer — Virgil Moore. Privates— Jotham Atwater, Thomas Bright, Peter Carlton, Henry R. Fer- ris, Samuel Judson, Eleazer Ladd, Ezekiel Ladd, Lyman Leland, Samuel Moore, Jr., Moses Pond, David Pond, Franklin Snow, John Gardner, Elisha J. Wilmot, Patrick Ray, William Russell. RETURN OF SECOND COMPANY. First Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Lieutenant — John Redding. Ensign — Asa Truesdale. Sergeants— Chester Adams, Oliver Mills, George Young, Benjamin Higley. Corporals — David Bancroft, Elisha Hutchinson, Caleb Stow, Hiram Mes- senger. Fifer — Freeman Conant. Privates — Oliver Alford, Levi Alford, Artemus Baker, Rodolphus Ban- croft, Asahel Blair, Simon Babcock, Abraham Dyson, Hezekiah Higley, Ephraim Hacket, Thomas Johnston, Orrin Pitkin, Joseph Southard, Ephraim H. Seeley, John Streator. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 277 RETURN OF THIRD COMPANY. First Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Captain — Joshua Woodward. Lieutenant— Linus Curtis. Ensign— x\.nson Beeman. Sergeants — Almon Babcock, Elijah Smith. Privates — Alanson Baldwin, Ralzaraan Loomis, John King, John Smith, Peter Wolford, Abel Forsha, Abel Thompson, James Knowlton, George Barnes, Quartua Noble, Ebenezer Broadway, David Ci-osby, Jesse Miller, James Cook, Silas Owen. RETURN OF FOURTH COMPANY. First Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Captain — Asa K. Burroughs. Lieutenant — Hezekiah Hine. Ensign — Richard E. Gay. Sergeant — Samuel Munson. Privates — Joel Baker, Abel Hine, Lyman Hine, Ephraim Brown. RETURN OF FIRST COMPANY. Second Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Lieutenant — Ira Morse. Sergeants — Hamlet Coe, Jeremiah Jones, Alexander K. Hubbard. Corporal — Caleb Mattoon. Privates — William Hartzel, Robert Taylor, Jr., Moses Baldwin, Allen C. Baldwin, Elijah Mott, John H. \Yhittlesey, Asahel Blakesley, Jesse SutliflF, James Laughlin, Almon Chittenden, Abraham Hartzell, Ami Baldwin, Ralph Granger, William A. Strong, Joseph Carter, John Quier, Horatio Day, Ezekiel Mott, Ira Mansfield, Peter Hartzell, Peter Mason, John Hartzell, Jr. , Ephraim B. Hubbard, Amos Morse, Garrett Packard. RETURN OF SECOND COMPANY. Second Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Captain — Frederick Caris, Jr. Sergeants — David Collins, Titus Belding, Samuel Coe, Gersham Norris. Corporals — Samuel B. Spellman, Ariel Case, Lemuel Chapman. Fifer — Asahel Gurley. Drummer — Alpheus Andrews. Privates — Abraham Reed, Timothy Reed, Robert McKnight, Jr., John Will- yard, Mason Richardson, Ephraim Chapman, Chester Chapman, Beman Chapman, Daniel Collins, Joseph R. Bostwick, Calvin Ellsworth, Charles H. Bostwick. RETURN OF THIRD COMPANY. Second Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Lieutenant — Charles Gilbert. Sergeants— Hugh McDaniel, Lyman P. Gilbert, Truman Gilbert. Corporals — Gaius Smith, Zebulon Walker. Privates — Amasa Preston, Chauncey Lowry, Adna H. Bostwick, John Shaw, John Fisher, James Tuttle, James Hazzard, Gabriel Cane, William Jewel, Marvin Gilbert, Dalton Trowbridge, John McKelvy, Roswell Smith, David Gano, Nicholas Shank, Joseph Lewis. 278 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. KETURN OF FOURTH COMPANY. Second Battalion, Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, etc. Captain — Timothy Culver. Lieutenant — Isaac Merriman. Sergeants — Walter Dickinson, William Rogers. Corporals — Oliver C. Dickinson, Ephraim Sabin. Privates — Arad Upson, Freeman Upson, - Elisha Sears, John Goss, The- ophilus Cross, Josiah Ward, Henry P. Hosier, Jehiel Savage, Joseph Harris. After the eight companies I find a list of regimental officers, including regimental stafif, as follows: Major Commandant — Stephen Mason. Major — Thaddeus Andrews. Adjutant — Erastus Skinner, Quartermaster— Charles Curtis. Paymaster — Hiram Roundy. Clerk — Frederick Wadsworth. Assistant Quartermaster — Arthur Anderson. Quartermaster Sergeant — William Kennedy. Surgeon — Joseph DeW'olf. Fife Major— Philo Hall. Privates — Horace Burroughs, Greenwood Burroughs, Daniel Ward, Ashur Garley. With the wagon transportation, Robert Eaton and John Sabin are named, and the United States is charged with their services with teams; Sabin's $13.- 75, and Eaton's $16.33. Total charged for the regiment, $546.60. These muster or pay rolls are probably copies of those sent to the War Department, on which the money was expected to be drawn. In copying, I have abbreviated and omitted some formalities of the pay roll. As far as I know, nearly all the adult male population were included in the rolls, as not more than one man in ten was past forty-live. On page 39 is the record of the draft made, agreeable to orders of July 34, 1812, to-wit: First Company, First Battalion, David Pond, Ezra Chaffee and Eleazer Ladd. Second Company, First Battalion, Lieut. John Red- ding, Hezekiah Higley as a substitute for Seth Cole, George Young and David Wood. Third Company, First Battalion, David Thompson, David Grier, William Jones, John Baldwin. Fourth Company, First Battalion, Abel Hine. For the First Company, Second Battalion, David Abbott, David Baldwin, Lelon Landon, Merrick Ely, Robert Taylor, Jr., William Hartzell, Joseph Hartzell (Fifer). For Second Company, Second Battalion, Sergt. Gersham Norris, Ariel Case, Robert McKnight, Jr., Timothy Reed. For Third Com- pany, Second Battalion, Corporal Zebulon Walker, Adna H. Bostwick, John Shaw, Gabriel Cane, John Fisher. For Fourth Company, Second Battalion, Levi Seeley, Jr., George Burr. The following order was received from General Paine: Painesville, September 18, 1813. Col. John Campbell — Sir: You are hereby ordered to draft out of the regiment under your command, thirty men, including one Lieutenant, two Sergeants, two Cor- porals, and one Fifer, to be in readiness to march at a moment's warning; and you are to march twenty-two men to join Capt. Lusk at the Portage, of the former draft. They are to furnish themselves with knapsacks and blankets, and they are to be furnished with arms and equipments by the public. Joel Paine, General- Brigade. In compliance with the above order, orders were issued to the commandants of companies, to furnish their respective quotas; and the following persons HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 279 were returned by the commandants of companies, as persons legally notified to march on said tour of duty, viz. : David Pond, Eleazer Ladd, Seth Cole, Ebenezer O. IMessenger, Harvey Messenger, David Thompson, Zenas Carter, Norval Carter, Abel Hine, David Abbott, William Hartzell, David Baldwin, Robert Taylor, Jr., Benjamin Marshall. Eobert McKnight, Jr., Timothy Reed, Gabriel Cane, John Fisher, Adna H. Bostwick, John Shaw, Levi Seeley, Jr., and George Burr. And also to comply with the said order of the 18th of September, the fol- lowing persons were notified to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning, viz. : From the First Company, First Battalion, Jotham Atwater, Jacob W. Pettibone, William Russell, Sergt. Gersham Judson, Corporals Moses, Mcintosh, Bazel Windsor, Jr. From Second Company, First Battalion, Asahel Blair, Joseph Southard, Thomas Johnston. From the Third Company, First Battalion, John Baldwin, John Shaler, Alanson Bald- win, Isaac P. Skinner. From the First Company, Second Battalion, Moses Baldwin, Allen C. Baldwin, Elijah Mott, John H Whittlesey, Asahel Whittlesey. From the Second Company, Second Battalion, Robert Collins, Jr., Abram Reed, Mason Richardson. From the Third Company, Second Battalion, Jabez Gilbert, William Jewel, David Gano, David Calvin. From the Fourth Company, Sec- ond Battalion, Alpheus Dickinson, Arad Upson. Verbal orders were given by Maj.-Gen. Wadsworth at the Portage, to Stephen Mason, Major Commandant of the Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Fourth Division, on the 28th of September, 1812, to march all the mounted men, who could be immediately raised in said regiment, to Gen. Wadsworth's headquarters at the Portage. And agreeably to said orders the following per- sons mustered at Ravenna, Ist of October, marched to Portage, and reported to Maj.-Gen. Wadsworth, viz.: Stephen Mason, Major Commandant; Joseph DeWolf, Surgeon; Rufus Edwards, Quartermaster; Delaun Mills, Captain; John Caris, Lieutenant; Asa Truesdale, Ensign; Titus Belding, Gersham Nor- ris, Samuel Coe and Chester Adams, Sergeants; David A. Rumsay, Henry Blair, Caleb Stow and Moses Mcintosh, Corporals; Daniel Ward, Drummer; Joseph Skinner, Abraham Dyson, Bazel Windsor, Jr., Gersham Judson, Henry R. Ferris, Horatio Taylor, John Willyard, John Redding, John Gardner, John Shaler, Joseph R. Bostwick, Orrin Pitkin, Quartus Noble, Rodolphus Bancroft, Simon Babcock, Samuel Judson, Samuel Moore, Jr., Titon Rudolph, William Kennedy, Jr., W^areham Loomis, Ezekiel Ladd, Charles Bostwick, John Smith and Ephraim Hacket, Privates. The following order was issued: Headquarters, Portage, October 2, 1813. Maj. Mason — Sir: You will march all the mounted men of Col. Campbell's regi- ment to Huron, with all possible dispatch. Furnish them with three days' provisions. Keport yourself to Gen. Perkins. Elijah Wadsworth ,Major- General. And in compliance with said orders, they marched to Huron and reported to Brig.-Gen. Simon Perkins, who on the J 0th of October issued the follow- ing order: Maj. Stephen Mason — Sir: You will march the officers and privates named in the annexed list to Headquarters at Portage, and report yourself to the commanding oflficer. Simon Perkins, Brigadier- General. Camp Avery, October 10, 1812. It further appears by the record, that on the arrival of Maj. Mason, Capt. Mills and their mounted men at Portage, "that Gen. Wadsworth gave orders for their discharge, but it does not appear how many or who were discharged. 280 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. as the ^Hist annexecf^ mentioned in the order of Geo. Perkins' is not recorded. It further appears, that Gen. Paine, on February 2, 1813, by an order dated at Painesville, called for one Lieutenant, one Second Sergeant, one Third Sergeant, one Second Corporal, and eighteen privates from the Second Regiment, "to march to Lower Sandusky as soon as possible, to relieve the men now in service," to comply with which order the following persons were returned by commandants of companies on February 16, 1813, as legally notified to perform said tour of duty, viz. : Virgil Moore, as a substitute for Jotham Atwater, John Gardner as a substitute for Jacob W. Pettibone, Asahel Blair, Joseph Southard, both of whom absconded, Thomas John- ston, Phineas Pond as a substitute for Orrin Pitkin, Charles Carter as a substitute for David Grier, William Jones, John Shaler, George Wilber, Merrick Ely. Moses Baldwin, Allen C. Baldwin, Robert McKnight, Jr., Sergt. Lyman P. Gilbert, John Fisher, Austin Purdy, Sergt. Waller Dickinson, Corporal Oliver C. Dickinson, William Jewel, Richard Rogers, Jr., Alpheus Dickinson and Arad Upson; and on February 15 Lieut. John Redding, Cor- poral Oliver C. Dickinson, Richard Rogers, Jr, Robert McKnight, Jr., Alpheus Dickinson, Virgil Moore, John Gardner, John Shaler, William Jones, and Moses Baldwin appeared according to orders at Ravenna, had their equip- ments appraised by Charles Curtis, Linus Curtis, and John Campbell, appraisers, which is the last the record says of the services of those so drafted. On page 42 is the following record: "The Major Commandant issued orders to the Major of the Second Battalion, and to the commandants of each company in the I'egiment, to meet at the Court House, in Ravenna, on the 29th of March, 1813, for the purpose of assessing fines upon persons who refused to perform tours of duty, when legally called on, and the commandants of companies ordered to notify the delinquents in their respective companies." And this is the last of our war record, as then follows some thirteen large blank pages, left apparently to record the assessment of tines for non- perform- ance of "tours of duty."' After the"se blank leaves follows the regular record of ordinary regimental boards for ordinary business, but no more drafting orders. I think, however, but few of our drafted men evaded the draft. I knew of the services of many of them. Several I knew to be posted at Camp Avery, which was near the present village of Milan, Erie County. After our return from the service, September, 1812, I knew little of the war movements, except what was found in the papers, and papers were then scarce. I can give little information of the times subsequent to those records, than what I have given in this communication, that would be valuable to the Historical Society. I spent some time in Cleveland in December, 1812, and there became acquainted with Maj. Jessup, Quartermaster Biddle, and his assistant, Mr. Downing, son of Capt. Downing, of Frenchtown, River Raisin, and was informed of the then recent raising and organization of a volunteer company in Cuyahoga and Geauga Counties, with Clark Parker, Captain, and Harvey Murray, Lieutenant. I think it was then out at one of the posts of the West. I was in Harpersfield in the summer of 1813, when Capt. James Harper was recruiting, and was offered a position by him, but being still a prisoner on parole, would not forfeit my parole. We were not informed of our exchange for about two years after our return. But several of our company did again enter the service, before we were informed of our exchange. I believe Samuel C. Thompson, Charles Carter and John Smith, and perhaps some others, were out in the service some time in 1813 and 1814. Though we were not specially successful, we had much cause to rejoice, and be proud at HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 281 the prowess and progress of our armies thereafter, and of the final success of our arms; and especially that the war finally broke up the baneful influence of the British over the Western Indians, on our territory. With this I close my communication on the subject of the war of 1812. John Harmon, Ravenna, February, 1870. In the summer of 1813 every able-bodied man in Portage County not then in active service or on parole was ordered to Cleveland, and the scattered settlements were left defenseless. It is a part of the tradition of that time that the sound of the cannonading in the battle of Lake Erie, fought Septem- ber 10, 1813, was plainly heard in this county. A messenger arrived at Raven- na from Cleveland the same night, warning the women and children, in case of Perry's defeat, to be ready to fly to Pittsburgh. All next day the families residing in this section anxiously waited for definite information as to the result of the battle, but as night came on the sound of a horn was heard in the direction of Shalersville, then a voice was distinguished, and soon an excited horseman dashed into the village with the joyful tidings of Perry's great vic- tory. The terrible suspense and dread of Indians were past, and soon gave way to thanksgiving and rejoicing over the brilliant success of the American naval forces on Lake Erie. The following distressing incident of this period may appropriately be given in connection with the history of Portage County in the war of 1812. Daniel Cross, an early settler of Randolph Township, hearing that produce and provisions of every sort were very scarce and commanded high prices at the military camp near Wooster, Ohio, set out from his home in December, 1812, with a load of oats for that point. He was accompanied by his son, a young man about eighteen years old. On arriving at Wooster and selling his oats, he found teams so scarce that the army had no means of transportation, and, by the offer of high wages, Cross was induced to go with the army as far as Mansfield, and assist in transporting the forage and baggage of the camp. Here he was paid off, and started for home. On the road between Mansfield and Wooster he purchased seventeen head of oxen and steers, with which he arrived at the latter town on the last day of December, 1812. The following morning. New Year's, he and son started with their stock up the valley of the Killbuck, intending to reach the house of Joseph Harris, who had removed from Randolph Township to the site of Lodi, Medina County, in 1811. Soon after they left Wooster, there came on a terrible snowstorm, which lasted three days. Nothing further was seen or heard of Cross and his son, and the fol- lowing March, his family in Randolph Township becoming alarmed at their lengthened absence, sent another son in pursuit of them. Finding they had left Wooster on the 1st of January for the Harris settlement, the son followed their trail, and on reaching the settlement was informed that they had not been there, but that several stray cattle had been " taken up " during the win- ter for which no owner could be found. It was now evident that Cross and his son had perished in the storm which came on soon after they left Wooster, and the settlers of that section turned out en masse to try and find their remains. Nearly three miles southeast of the settlement they found the skull of Cross and some of his bones picked clean by the wolves, also his jack-knife and rem- nants of his clothing, but no trace of the son was ever discovered. The remains of two yokes of oxen, still in yoke, were also found near by. They had been chained to trees, and therefore could not get away with the balance of the cattle, but starved to death in their yokes. The bones of the unfortu- nate Cross were gathered up and buried in a field just south of the present town of Lodi, and his name was carved upon a beech tree which stood close to where he met his death. 282 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Soon after the return of peace, in 1815, Congress passed a law re-organiz- ing the militia, and making it obligatory for all males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to perform military duty. The State was divided into military divisions, and certain points designated in each county where the dif- ferent militia companies should meet and receive instructions in the science of war. This was called " company muster," but once a year all of the compa- nies were required to meet, usually at the county seat, to attend the "general muster." The militia could not draw military equipments from the Govern- ment, but at those musters armed themselves with rifles, shotguns, broom-han- dles, sticks, or any other implement with which they could be put through the manual exercises. The law also provided that if any company would furnish their own uniforms, and otherwise comply with its provisions, the State would supply them with arms and munitions. Several companies of this class were organized from time to time in Portage County. On performing military duty for seven years in time of peace, the members of those independent companies were exempted from poll tax. Sham fights would sometimes be gotten up for the purpose of indulging the popular taste for excitement. About 1833 a cel- ebrated sham fight, with real Indians as opponents, took place in the southern part of the county, which is yet well remembered by many of the older inhab- itants. Those sham fights and training days were looked upon with much favor by all classes, as they were days of recreation, social joys and friendly greetings. CHAPTER VII. Internal Improvements— The Great Indian Trail— Pioneer Eoads of Por- tage County— Mail Facilities and i^etter Postage— Stage Routes and Drivers— Canals— Early Canal Legislation— The Ohio Canal Com- menced and Completed— Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal — The Efforts Made to Have it Built— Its Construction and Co3ipletion— First Boats Arrive at Ravenna— Subsequent Success of the Enterprise- Causes Which Led to its Abandonment— Railroads— Cleveland & Pittsburgh — Cleveland & Mahoning Yalley— Atlantic & Great Western— Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh— Connotton Valley — Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo— The Proposed Clinton Air Line, and THE General Railroad Facilities of the County. AS a matter of necessity, almost the first thing to be done after the settler arrived was to cut out a road; in fact, it had often to be done before he reached his land, and in many instances days of weary work in underbrushing a path through the primitive forest intervened before he could move forward with his ox teams and rude wagon. This latter necessity was the origin of the first road in the county constructed by white men. When Benjamin Tap- pan, Jr., in the spring of 1799, as detailed in Chapter IV. of the county his- tory, arrived at a point on the Cuyahoga where now is the town of Boston, Summit County, he unloaded his goods, and placing them in charge of one of his hired men, proceeded, with the assistance of Benjamin Bigsby, to cut out a road to his father's land, now known as Ravenna. After working two or three days, Tappan struck the great Indian trail which crossed the Cuyahoga at Standing Rock, a short distance east of the present site of Kent. Follow- ing this trail, he soon reached the spot where he erected his first cabin, in the ^^'^- %--^ ~z^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 285 southeast corner of the township, the Indian trail passing out of Ravenna exactly at the southeast corner. This great trail had been used from time immemorial by the aborigines, and was their main thoroughfare in the upper portion of Ohio. It extended from Fort Mcintosh, where Beaver, Penn. , now is, to Palmyra Township; thence passing through Edinburg, Ravenna and Franklin Townships, left Portage County, going northwestwardly to Sandusky. As early as 1786 Col. James Hillman, one of the pioneers of the West, who afterward lived to an advanced age in Youngstown, made six trips over this route, he being engaged in forwarding goods and provisions for a firm in Pitts- burgh. The road is said by old settlers to have been very compact and firm. About the same time that Benjamin Tappan cut his road, one was under- brushed from Atwater to Georgetown, Penn., for the purpose of obtainingpro- visions. Capt. Caleb Atwater, Jonathan Merrick, Peter Bunnell and Asa Hall did the work. The road was about forty miles long, and ran through Atwater and Deerfield Townships, it being the present east and west center road of those subdivisions. Ebenezer Sheldon also had cut a road from. the center of Aurora Township in 1799, that ran northwestwardly until it inter- sected a bridle path to Cleveland. In Nelson Township an east and west cen- ter road was cut out shortly after the Mills brothers settled in that section. 'In 1802 the road running north from Ravenna through Shalersville and Mantua Townships, to Burton, Summit County, was laid out, but it was several years until it was completed. Also, in 1802 a road from Warren to Cleveland, which ran through the center of Hiram and Mantua Townships, was begun. In 1804- 05 a road was cut from the center of Rootstown Township eastward to intersect the great road from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, which passed through the center of Edinburg Township. Not far from this time a road from Randolph Cen- ter, standing at the creek just west of the Center, was cut to a point on the line between Rootstown and Edinburg Townships, and from thence running northwardly. There was also a horse path to Canton, and a trail to Atwater. In 1805 Amzi Atwater siirveyed a road from his place in Mantua Township, along the south line of Hiram Township to Garrett's Mills in Nelson, and in 1806 another was cut out running westward to Aurora. About the same time a road was cut through Windham Township to Braceville, running thence to Warren, and is now known as the State Road. In 1808 Alva Day, of Deerfield Township, and Charles Chittenden, and Cromwell and Walter Dickinson, of Randolph Township, cut out and bridged the road from old Portage to the Seventeenth Range, west of Medina. In 1809 Erastus Carter, of Ravenna, and Lemuel Punderson, of Newburg, laid out a road from Ravenna through Rootstown and Randolph Townships toward Canton, as far as the south line of the county, but it was not completed in Stark County till 1812. This road afterward became the great north and south route over which J. O. Granger ran his four-horse stage line. In 1817 David Mcintosh cut the center road through from Shalersville Township to Freedom, at which time the latter township was an unbroken wilderness, the first settler not arriving till the fol- lowing year. Mail facilities were extremely meager in the early days, and months would elapse before news could reach the settlers in their new homes. As late as the spring of 1801 Pittsburgh and Meadville, Penn., were the nearest postoffices to the Western Reserve, and in October of that year the first mail arrived at Warren, Ohio. Postage, even to a much later date, was high, and frequently a bushel of wheat was refused as payment on a single letter. A considerable number of let- ters were permitted to pass to the dead letter office, and in the advertised lists of letters at the Ravenna postoffice, published in the Cornier of 1825-26, can be 16 286 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY seen the names of many prominent citizens who at the time lived within a stone's throw of the office. John Diver, of Deerfield, was one of the earliest mail contractors and carriers on the Reserve. He had the contract for carry- ing the mail from New Lisbon to Mausfield, via Canton and Wooster, and was in the business over forty years. The Cleveland & Wellsville Turnpike was finished in 1827 and became a great thoroughfare. It entered the county in Streetsboro Township, passed diagonally across Ravenna, Edinburg and Deerfield and left the county in the southeast corner of the last named town- ship. Lines of stage routes were also opened east and west and north and south about the same time as the Cleveland & Wellsville Turnpike. The old stage coach was an institution of those early days, and was, of course, the only means of traveling long distances. Several lines of them passed through this county, and Jabez Gilbert, of Palmyra Township, was the most noted driver and mail contractor in all this region. In the Western Cour- ier of April 1, 1826, the editor says: " The line of stages between Pittsburgh and Cleveland have always been more or less irregular, but arrangements now are made by Mr. Gilbert, the enterprising proprietor of this end of the line, to prevent these irregularities. * * * jje jj^a been at the expense of a new stage, which, instead of two, is to be drawn by four horses. * * * ^he line is now completely established from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, and will run regularly twice a week." In the same month a line of stages is announced to run from Beaver to Cleveland twice a week. The route was through a por- tion of this county, and was much traveled, as it intersected at Stow, now in Summit County, a line that ran due south to the interior of the State. Aug- ust 5, 3 826, J. O. Granger advertises in the Courier that he will run regularly twice a week a line of stages from Fairport, at the mouth of Grand River, to Canton, through Painesville, Chardon and Ravenna, and the editor, speaking of this new evidence of improvement, says: "Few country towns possess equal facilities for the receipt and transmission of private and public documents; there being 728 arrivals and departures of mails within the year at and from Ravenna.'' In November the Pittsburgh and Cleveland line, run by Jabez Gilbert, John Stokes and Horace Daniels, was increased to three trips per week. In August of this year (1826) the new bridge across the Cuyahoga at Carthage (Kent) was completed; and early in the following year a line of stages was put on the road that passed over it, running from Ravenna to Mid- dleburg (now Akron). By this date roads had been opened in every part of the county, which through the passing years have been greatly improved, while many others were built from time to time as the wants of the country demanded. Canals. — The subject of canal building began to be eagerly discussed in this portion of the Union during the first quarter of the present century; but this system of navigation met with considerable opposition from sections of the State off the lines of the proposed routes. Canal construction was one of the first great measures to which Ohio gave attention, and as early as January, 1817, a resolution on the subject of canal navigation between Lake Erie and the Ohio River was introduced into the Legislatiire. In 1822 a bill was passed authorizing a survey of four several routes, viz. : From Sandusky Bay; from the Maumee River; from the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, or the Black River, by the Muskingum; and from the mouth of the Grand River, via the Mahoning, to the Ohio.' At the next session of the Legislature the Canal Commissioners reported all of the routes practicable, but requested further time to ascertain the comparative advantages of each. At the session of 1823-24 the route through the upper part of the Muskingum, the Licking, and the lower part of the Scioto Valleys was recommended; but they also called attention to the advantages of the route by way of the Miami Valley. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 287 In the summer of 1824 two lines of canal were located, one from Cincin- nati to the Maumee River, and one from the mouth of the Scioto to Coshocton, and thence by one of three different routes tq Lake Erie. By an act passed February 4, 1825, the Canal Commissioners were authorized to begin work on these two canal routes. The western route received the name of the Miami Canal, while the eastern was called the Ohio Canal, and the line of the latter, from Coshocton northward, was established by way of the Tuscarawas River, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, passing from south to north through what was then the western range of townships of Portage County. Bids for the several sections of the Ohio Canal were advertised for in May, 1825, ancj by the mid- dle of June several miles were under contract. It was thought that the break- ing of the first ground would take place at Portage Summit, then in Portage County, and that Gen. LaFayette, who at that time was on a visit to America, would attend, but the ceremony occurred July 4, 1825, at Licking Summit, on which date that celebrated Frenchman had promised to be in Boston. The invited guests, however, included many notables of the State and Nation. Gov. DeWitt Clinton, of New York, raised the first spadeful of earth, and ex-Gov. Jeremiah Morrow, of Ohio, the second. Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Lancaster, Ohio, was the orator on the occasion. An immense crowd had gathered and the scene was one of great excitement. The canal was completed from Cleve- land to Akron in 1827, and three years afterward navigation was opened via the Ohio Canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. The construction of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal from the Portage Summit to Pittsburgh, began to be mooted early in 1825, and during the sum- mer of that year a number of gentlemen along the line of the proposed route made explorations. On the 6th of September, 1825, a meeting of citizens of Trumbull and Portage Counties was held at the Court House in Ravenna to take into consideration the practicability and policy of constructing a canal from the movith of Beaver River, via the Mahoning through the two counties to the Portage Summit. Alva Day was Chairman, and Darius Lyman Secretary of the meeting, which appointed Frederick Wadsworth, Dillingham Clark, Joshua Woodward, Eliakim Crosby, William Wetmore, Jonathan Sloane, Simon Perkins, Elias Harmon, Amzi Atwater, and Calvin Pease a committee to col- lect information as to the most favorable route for the canal. The meeting then adjourned to September 14, when another was held and arrangements made for a survey of the proposed route. At the following session of the Ohio Legislature a bill was introduced to incorporate the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal Company "for the sole purpose of making a navigable canal between some suitable point on the Ohio River, through the valley of the Mahoning River, to some suitable point on Lake Erie, or to some such point on the Ohio Canal." Under the articles of incorporation, this act, if passed, was not to become a law until the Pennsylvania Legislature would grant similiar rights and privileges to said company. The bill was read the third time in Febru- ary, 1826, but further action was postponed until the next session. The people along the line were now thoroughly aroused, and in February, 1826, a canal meeting was held at Ravenna, of which William Stoddard was Chairman and Cyrus Prentiss Secretary. The meeting appointed Seth Day, Jonathan Sloane and William Coolman, Jr., a committee to obtain and com- municate information on the advisibility and practicability of building a canal from Portage Summit via the Mahoning and Big Beaver Valleys to Pittsburgh. A similar meeting was held at Pittsburgh, March 4, with the same object in view. On the 7th of March another meeting was convened at Ravenna, with Jonathan Sloane Chairman and Seth Day Secretary. Jonathan Sloane, Seth 288 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Day aod Frederick Wadsworth were appointed to represent Portage County in a canal convention of Ohio and Pennsylvania citizens at Beaver, Penn., which was held March 10. A canal meeting was also held at Warren, Ohio, on the 2lBt of March, 1826; and on the 3d and 4th of May following a very large convention assembled at Newcastle, Penn. , in which twenty delegates from Allegheny, Mercer, Butler and Beaver Counties, Penn., and Trumbull and Portage Counties, Ohio, were in attendance. Those from Portage were Seth Day, Frederick Wadsworth and Jonathan Sloane. This convention adjourned to meet at Warren, Ohio, October 25, 1826, on which date a bill for the incorporation of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal was prepared. The next day the bill was approved and adopted, Jonathan Sloane and Frederick Wadsworth, of Portage County, being two of the incorporators named in the instrument. This bill was passed by the Legislature January 10, 1827, to take effect whenever the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted a similar charter. The latter State passed an act of incorporation in April, 1827, and the legal power for the construction of this much cherished project was at last obtained. Jonathan Sloane, then representing the Portage district in the Ohio Senate, was the author of the bill, and also of a resolution passed during the same session authorizing the State Board of Canal Commissioners to have the proposed route surveyed and estimates made by a competent engineer the same season, and report to the next session of the General Assembly. Several surveys of the route were made but nothing positively decided at that time. The Courier in its issue of July 3, 1829, announces the location of the Penn- sylvania & Ohio Canal through llavenna, and says " the information was greeted by the inhabitants of this village by the discharge of a national salute, fired near the located route south of the village, accompanied by hearty cheers." The survey was under the charge of Capt. Dumest, an accomplished engineer of the United States Army. Owinw to the uncertainty as to the point of intersection with the Penn- sylvania Canal, and witnessing the steady progress that Pennsylvania was making in extending her improvements towards the Ohio boundary, the Penn- sylvania & Ohio Canal Company deemed it advisable to postpone the opening of books for the subscription of stock. The enterjDrise, therefore, lay dor- mant for several years, but in 1833 meetings began to be held along the sur- veyed route, with the object of reviving the scheme. The friends of the project went vigorously to work, and February 20, 1835, the charter, passed in 1827, was renewed and amended, and ten years, from December 31, 1835, given the company to complete the canal. On the 13th of April, 1835, the Pennsylvania Legislature also passed a bill renewing the old charter. Sub- scription books for stock were opened at Philadelphia, April 27, 1835, and in less than one hour $780,000, the amount of stock to which that city was limited, was all taken. The whole amount was placed at 11,000,000, and the remain- ing $220,000, allotted to Portage and Trumbull Counties, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania, was all taken before the close of May. The stock-holders met at Newcastle, Penn., May 21, 1835, and elected the following Board of Direct- ors: Abner Laycock, William Boyd, William Robinson, Joseph T. Boyd, William Ray en, Leicester King and Jonathan Sloane; Abner Laycock, President; Zalmon Fitch, Treasurer; Leicester King, Secretary. Messrs. Sloane, Lacock and Rayen were appointed an Executive Committee to let contracts and transact and superintend any other business connected with the construction of the canal. Col. Sebried Dodge and James D. Harris were appointed Chief Engineers of Construction, and with their corps began surveying on the Ravenna Sum- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 289 mit, east of the village of Ravenna, June 8, 1835. By the middle of August the survey was completed, and on the 17th and 18th of that month contracts were let for the portion of the canal west of Ravenna, but the western ter- minus being afterward changed to run by Cuyahoga Falls, the contracts for the whole western division, extending from the east line of Portage (bounty to Akron, were re-let November 16, 1835. The several secfiious of the eastern division of the canal, extending fi-om the east line of Portage County to near Newcastle, Penn. , were put under contract August 10, September 21, and November 11, 1835. The whole length of the canal from its intersection with the Pennsylvania Canal, about two miles below Newcastle, Penn., to its inter- section with the Ohio Canal, at Akron, Ohio, was eighty- two miles. " Feeders " from the small lakes in the western section of Portage County were also built at the same time. The total estimated cost of the canal at that time was about $913,000. The section east of Warren, accoi'ding to the terms of the contracts, was to be completed on or before September 1, 1836, and that between Warren and Akron via Ravenna and Franklin Mills (Kent), one year later. The work of construction was begun at once and pushed forward vigor- ously. Hundreds of laborers found employment at good wages, but finally on account of the stock- holders neglecting to pay their subscriptions according to contract, the work was greatly retarded, and the canal was not finished at the dates specified. Though the finances were very low, work was however continued through the winter of 1836-37. In May, 1837, Gov. Vance, in the name and on behalf of the State of Ohio, subscribed $450,000 to the stock of the canal, and as soon as the money could be raised, paid the first installment of $145,000 to the Treasurer of the company. For a time, in the winter of 1837-38, the work lagged, but throughout the balance of the latter year the canal bed was rapidly opened through this county. In June, 1839, the Pennsylvania Legislature subscribed and paid $50,000 to the capital stock, which it was thought would complete the canal; and by April 1, 1840, it was expected to be finished and opened for business. These expectations were realized, for the writer found in a report of the Harrison Convention, held at Ravenna, April 3, 1840, the proceedings of which were published in the next issue of the Ohio Stai\ the following item relative to the canal: From Trumbull County came first two crowded canal boats, with each a band of music — the "Mohawk," of Beaver, and the "Tippecanoe," of Warren — the first that ever passed through the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal now just completed. On the 19th of April, 1840, the "Ohio City" arrived at Ravenna, on her way to Pittsburgh, freighted with ashes, fish, etc. ; and on the following day the "Huron*' arrived from Pittsburgh with merchandise, the first brought to Ravenna by canal. Boats were now passing Ravenna daily, to and fro, along the canal, and on the 4th of August, 1840, a celebration was held all along the line. Gov. David R. Porter, of Pennsylvania, and other distinguished citi- zens being passengers on one of the excursion packets which made the trip. Meetings were held at nearly every town on the route of the canal, all expres- sive of a deep satisfaction over the successful completion and operation of the great enterprise. For twelve years nothing occurred to mar the success of the canal, and throughout the summer of 1851 a line of packets connected at Ravenna with the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, which was completed to Ravenna early in that year. But in March, 1852, the railroad was finished to Wellsville, on the Ohio River, and therefore a superior mode of travel and shipment insti- tuted between northern and southei-n Ohio and Pennsylvania. It, however, 290 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. did a coinpnratively good business for three or four years longer, or until the completion of the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad, when its trafiSc gradually dwindled away, and it became an unprofitable institution. In Jan- uary, 1863, the State Board of Public Works sold the stock owned by the State in the canal, being the one-third of the whole amount, to the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Company, for the sum of $30,000, by which pur- chase this road obtained a controlling interest in the canal, and thus sounded its death knell. In December, 1863, the warehouse at Ravenna was sold, and though an occasional boat floated lazily along its sluggish waters, its day of usefulness and prosperity had passed away, and it was gradually abandoned. Its bed, which runs through Paris, Charlestown, Ravenna and Franklin Town- ships, Portage County, is now occupied by the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, but nothing remains to be seen by the casual observer, save here and there portions of its old channel. Railroads. — Up to the close of 1850, 150 charters for the construction of railroads had been gi-anted by the General Assembly of Ohio, and the work was fairly under way for the net-work of roads now covering the State. The year 1851 introduced a new era and an entire revolution on the subject of rail- road legislation. During the session of the General Assembly this year, twenty-one railroad charters were granted, and over forty amendments were made to those already in existence. The charters and amendments all con- tained power and authority to borrow money, and thirty-six of the amendments authorized counties, cities, towns or townships to subscribe stock. The door was thrown as wide open as legislation could go to enable railroad companies to borrow money and procure stock subscription. The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was the first corporation to obtain a charter from which Portage County subsequently reaped a benefit. It was granted under a special act passed March 14, 1836, vesting that company with the right to construct a railroad from Cleveland to some point on the State line between Ohio and Pennsylvania, or on the Ohio River, in the direc- tion of Pittsburgh. But little or nothing was done under the rights thus granted, and an act of revival and amendment was passed March 11, 1845. By the acts of February 16, 1849, March 9, 1850, and February 19, 1851, cer- tain branching privileges were granted, under which the roads from Bayard to New Philadelphia, and from Hudson southwest into Wayne County were sub- sequently built. On the 8th of April, 1850, an act was passed by the Pennsyl- vania Legislature authorizing the company to extend its railroad from the eastern line of Ohio up the valley of the Ohio River to a point at or near the mouth of the Big Beaver. The same Commonwealth also passed an act April 18, 1853, adopting the two first named acts of this State, and making the com- pany a corporation of Pennsylvania with all the rights and powers granted by the Ohio acts. Under those various acts the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company constructed 199f miles of railroad (not including the branch from Hudson, which was built by a separate company), extending from Cleveland to Wellsville, and thence down the Ohio River to Bellair, and from Wellsville up the Ohio to Rochester, and the Tuscarawas Branch from Bayard to New Phil- adelphia. By the fall of 1850 much grading had been done on the main line, and the company began laying the track between Cleveland and Ravenna. On the evening of March 6, 1851, the last rail connecting these points was laid and the last spike driven about one mile southeast of Hudson, and Monday morn- ing, March 10, the first passenger train left Ravenna for Cleveland, return- ing the same evening. The first round trip from Cleveland was made on the HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 291 following Thursday, March 13, 1851, when the locomotive "Ravenna," draw- ing one car filled with Directors of the road, came down from the city to exam- ine the progress of the work. On the 18th of March regular daily trains began running, connecting at Ravenna with a packet on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal, which ran to Beaver, Penn., where the traveler took the steamer for Pittsburgh. The trip was made in twenty-six hours, and the fare from Cleve- land to Pittsburgh was $3.50 including meals and bed on the boat. At that time a daily train (except Sundays) left Cleveland at 8:30 A. M. , arrived at Ravenna at 10:30 A. M., and left the latter point for Cleveland at 2:30 P. M. But after the 1st of April, 1851, an accommodation left Ravenna every morn- ing (excepting Sunday) for Cleveland, and returned in the evening, so that, at that early day, Ravenna enjoyed traveling facilities that many country towns do not even yet possess. The first week the road averaged 175 passengers daily, besides carrying considerable freight, and from that time forward its business increased rapidly. A telegraph ofiice was opened in Ravenna, in connection with the road, April 22, 1851, which was the first established in the village. The work on the road south of Ravenna was pushed along vigorously, and by May 28, 1851, about eight miles of track were laid between Ravenna and Atwater. The track was being put down at the rate of half a mile a day, and before the close of June a passenger car on the construction train was making daily trips to Atwater, Lima and Alliance, and many availed themselves of the accommoda- tion thus afforded. The cars began running to Hanover, about seventy five miles southeast of Cleveland, November 5, 1851, there connecting with the stage for Wellsville on the Ohio River, and thence to Pittsburgh by a special line of steamers. Leaving Cleveland at 8:45 A. M., the traveler arrived at Pittsburgh at 10 P. M. the same day. The last rail completing the road to Wellsville was laid on Saturday, February 14, 1852, and the same evening the cars came through from Wellsville to Ravenna. But the first passenger train came over the line from Wellsville to Cleveland February 23, and February 26 regular trains began running between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. On Thursday, March 4, 1852, a grand celebration was held at Wellsville over the completion of the road, and on the following day at Wheeling, West Va. The line was subsequently built to Bellaire, Ohio, and Rochester, Penn. At the lat- ter point the Cleveland & Pittsburgh connects with the Pittsburgh. Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, which track it uses from Rochester to Pittsburgh, under a twenty- five-year lease entered into between the two companies December 15, 1862, which went into effect April 1, 1863. On the 25th of October, 1871, the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company leased its road to the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company for the term of 999 years from December 1, 1871. The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad enters Portage County in the southwest corner of Streetsboro Township, and thence passing in a southeast direction across Franklin, Ravenna, Rootstown, Edinburg and Atwater Townships, leaves the county on Lot 51 of the last mentioned subdivision. It is one of the most prosperous roads in the country, and pays a large annual dividend to its stock-holders. The Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Company was chartered by a special act passed February 22, 1848, with authority to construct a railroad from Cleveland to some point in or near Warren, Ohio, with the right of con- tinuing the road to the east line of the State. The road was built under this charter from Cleveland to Youngstown, and a branch from Youngstown to the State line. It enters Portage County near the northwest corner of Aurora Township, and passes through Aurora, Mantua, Hiram, Garrettsville, Nelson 292 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. and Windham Townships, striking the Trumbull County line near the north- east corner of Windham. Most of the grading was done and the track partially laid through this county in the fall of 1855. The Portage County Democrat of November 7, 1855, says that the rails were then laid between Warren and Mantua Station, and construction trains running between those points. In the spring of 1856 the road was completed to Cleveland, and July 4 of that year regular trains began running from Cleveland to Warren. The road east of Warren was, after that date, rapidly pushed to completion. On the 7th of October, 1863, the company leased the road to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company for the term of ninety-nine years, and it has since been operated as a branch of that line. The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad is one of the principal trunk lines between the East and the West. It had its inception in three different charters granted in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, that granted by the last-men- tioned State being the one in which Portage County is more directly interested. On the 10th of March, 1851, the Ohio Legislature granted a charter to the Franklin & Warren Railroad Company, for the construction of a railroad from Franklin Mills (Kent), Portage County, to Warren, Trumbull County, and thence to the easti line of the State, with power to continue the road westward or southwestward from Franklin Mills to connect with any other railroad in Ohio. On the 21st of May, 1851, the company was organized by the follow- ing incorporators: Marvin Kent, Zenas Kent, L. V. Bierce, Thomas Earl, O. L. Drake, Cyrus Prentiss, Simon Perkins, H. B. Spelman, Charles Smith, Jacob Perkins, Rufus P. Ranney, A. V. Horr, Daniel Upson, Fred Kinsman and C. G. Sutliff. Marvin Kent, the leading spirit of the enterprise, was elected President of the company July 8, 1851, and served five years continu- ously. He was again elected President in July, 1859, and re-elected annually five times, serving in that capacity until the fall of 1864, when he resigned the office. Another well-known citizen of the county, who from long connection with the road deserves a passing notice, is Enos P. Bramerd, Esq. He became Treasurer of the company in January, 1855, and for nine successive jears was annually re-elected to the same position, which he resigned December 2, 1864, He was, however, retained as Assistant Treasurer, and July 11, 1865, again elected Treasurer, but lost the office upon the consolidation of the three com- panies the following August. In the meantime, dui'ing the summer of 1852, some gentlemen in Ohio and Pennsylvania had proposed the project of continuing the broad gauge of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad through Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York. This grand plan for a great broad gauge from St. Louis to New York was subsequently submitted to the Directors of the three local companies of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York (the two last-mentioned having some years previously, under different titles, obtained charters covering the construction of roads in the same general direction), and favorable action taken thereon. By a decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Portage County, dated October 17, 1854, the name of the company in Ohio was changed to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company. The Pennsylvania Com- pany also changed its corporate name, by an act of the Legislature passed April 15, 1858, to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company of Penn- sylvania. The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company of New York was incorporated the same year, and it was the intention to build and operate these three roads as one line, so far as such could be done by contracts with each other. # IL>^ V^' HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 295 On the 20th of April, 1860, the engineers commenced work at Jamestown, N. Y., and on the 27th the contractors began grading. On the 8th of May, 1860, the first rail was laid, and the first spike driven. In May, 1861, the track was laid to Corry, Penn. Work was soon afterward suspended and it was not until October 22, 1862, that the road was opened to Meadville, Penn. During this time the work on the Ohio division was progressing very slowly, but in the spring of 1862 it was energetically commenced, and vigorously pushed throughout the summer. The first week in November, 1862, two loco- motives were placed upon the track at Ravenna to aid in the work, and by the 12th of that month about seven miles of track were laid east of that town. The telegraph office of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad was opened in Ravenna September 20, 1862, and the first dispatch sent over the wires to Corry, Penn., on that date. By December 10, 1862, the track between Ravenna and Warren was completed, and the construction trains freely run- ning from the latter town to a point four miles west of Ravenna; and January 4, 1863, the last rail, connecting Warren and Meadville, was laid in place. On the 15th of January, 1863, thirteen freight cars loaded with rails arrived at Ravenna from New York over the new line, being the first cars direct from the eastern metropolis without change. On the evening of Febru- ary 10, 1863, the first accomodation train reached Ravenna from Meadville. The passengers were principally officers of the road. They were met at the depot (then a temporary frame building), by a number of leading citizens, taken in carriages to the Collins House and handsomely entertained, returning to Meadville the following morning. The first freight was sent over this road from Ravenna to New Y''ork February 11, 1863, and consisted of a car load of flour fi'om one of the mills in the town. Two days afterward ten barrels of sugar were received at Ravenna from New York, via the Atlantic & Great Western. A regular accommodation train began running east from Ravenna February 16, 1863. It made three trips a week each way, and was only intended as a temporary arrangement to accommodate the people along the line until the further completion of the road. Though the rails were laid and an accom- modation running in connection with the construction train, as far west as Kent, in February, 1863, the first through passenger train did not reach that town until Saturday, March 7, 1863. The passengers consisted of President Marvin Kent, Chief Engineer Thomas W. Kennard and other officials of the road, who made the trip from New York to Kent without change. Up to March 80, 1863, there were only three trains weekly each way, but on that date daily trains began running. Business grew rapidly, and by the 18th of May the company found it necessary to put on two daily passenger trains each way to accommodate the traveling public. On the 26th of May, 1863, the line was completed to Akron, December 27th to Gallon, and in June, 1864, to Day- ton, there taking the broad gauge track on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad to Cincinnati, which had been prepared for a connection to the new line. In August of the same year a train was run from New York to St. Louis, 1,200 miles of broad gauge, in forty-seven hours. Under an agreement of August 19, 1865, the three companies of Ohio Pennsylvania and New York were consolidated as the Atlantic & Great Western Railway Company. On the 1st of April, 1867, the road went into the hands of a receiver, and December 7, 1868, it was leased to the Erie Railway Company for the term of twelve years, but was only operated by them four months, when at the suits of creditors the courts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio again placed the road in the hands of receivers. The Erie Railway Company leased the road in February, 1870, but in July, 1871, it was sold, 296 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. the purchasers re-organizing as the A-tlantic & Great Western Railroad Com- pany. The road again went into the hands of a receiver December 10, 1874, and January 6, 1880, was sold and its name changed to the New York, Penn- sylvania & Ohio Raih-oad. The track has been changed to the standard gauge of the country. In March, 1883, it was leased for ninety-nine years to the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company, who still operate it. It strikes the east line of Portage County in Lot 50, Windham Township, and taking a general southwest course through Windham, Freedom, Charlestown, Ravenna and Franklin, leaves the county at the northwest corner of Brimfield Township. The machine shops at Kent, which employ a large number of men, were located at that point by the Board of Directors April 5, 1854, though they were not built for many years afterward. The Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh Railroad, which passes up the eastern side of Deerfield and Palmyra Townships and across the southeast corner of Paris, sprung from the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling Railroad, chartered February 19, 1874, to run from Fairport, on Lake Erie, to Wheeling, W. Va. Early in 1876 the work of construction was begun, and the road was completed the same year from Alliance, Stark County, through Portage, to Newton Falls, in Trumbull County, and the following summer to Braceville. On the 9th of May, 1878, the road was sold, and on the 31st the purchasers reorganized as the Alliance & Lake Erie Railroad Company, and in the fall of 1879 completed the road to Phalanx. It was originally a narrow gauge, but July 14, 1882, a consolidation was effected with some other companies, under the title of the Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh, and the road changed to a standard gauge. The Connotton Valley Railway Company was formed by a consolidation of the Connotton Valley Railroad Company and the Connotton Northern Railway Company. The Youngstown & Connotton Valley Railroad Company was incorporated August 29, 1877, to construct a line of road from Bowerstown to Youngstown. In 1878 this company purchased the Ohio & Toledo Railroad, which consisted of a finished track from Dell Roy to Minerva, and in the fall of 1879 the route and terminus of the Youngstown & Connotton Valley was changed, making Canton instead of Youngstown the northern terminus. By a decree of the Court of Common Pleas, issued November 20, 1879, the name of the corporation was changed to the Connotton Valley Railroad Company. The Connotton Northern Railway Company was chartei-ed March 23, 1879, lo build a road from Canton to Fairport on Lake Erie, but the northern terminus was afterward changed to Cleveland. When the Connotton Valley was built to Canton, and the Connotton Northern in course of construction, the two companies saw that their interests would be better conserved by uniting, and on the 25th of October, 1880, the consolidation was effected as the Connotton Valley Railway Company. The road is a narrow gauge, which entering Port- age County on the southern line of Suffield Township, takes a general northerly course through Suffield, Brimfield, Franklin and Streetsboro Townships, and crosses into Summit County on Lot 7, in the southwest corner of Aurora Township. It was completed and trains running as far north as Mogadore by the close of June, 1881, and during the same year was finished and opened through to Cleveland. The Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo Railroad Company was incorporated April 28, 1882, to construct a road from Newcastle Junction, in Lawrence County, Penn. , to Akron, Ohio. Work was begun at once and pushed vigor- ously throughout 1882 and 1883, the track being laid through Portage County in the summer of the latter year. The road was opened for business February HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 297 1, 1884, but regular trains did not begin running until the 4th of March fol- lowing. It follows the abandoned bed of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal, through Paris, Charlestown, Ravenna and Franklin Townships, and has proven quite an acquisition to the railroad facilities of the country through which it The foregoing are the only completed railroads which touch Portage County territory, but from 1853 to 1856 considerable grading was done" on a proposed road called the Clinton Air Line. It entered the State at Kinsman on the Pennsylvania line, and passed southwest through Trumbull, Geauga, Portage, and Summit Counties, thence onward in the same general direction. It struck the northern boundary of Hiram Township, in Lot 4, and passed southwest through Hiram, Mantua and Aurora Townships to Hudson, Summit County, crossing the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad near the boundary line between Mantua and Aurora. Some efforts have recently been made to revive the project, but so far nothing definite has been effected, and it is very doubt- ful if the road will ever be built. Portage County, however, is well supplied with railroads, few counties in the State being able to point to six roads pass- ing through their territory. Randolph and Shalersville are the only town- ships in the county not touched by a railroad, yet railroad communications are so close at hand that the inhabitants of those two townships probably derive as much real benefit from the roads as if they passed within sight of their doors. CHAPTER VIII. Education in Ohio— Lands Granted fok Educational Purposes— Commis- sioners OF Schools and School Lands in 1822— The School Lands Sold AND A School Fund Established— Pioneer Schools, Schoolhouses, Teachers and Books in Portage County— Hoav Teachers were Em- ployed and Paid— An Amusing Agreement— Growth of Education- Government AND Progress of Schools Prior to 1851— Schools for Col- ored Youth Established— Re-organization of Schools under the laws of 1853— Present Government of Schools. THE most casual observer cannot but have noticed, notwithstanding the privation and discomforts attending the lives of the early settlers, the zeal they manifested in education, and that, as soon as a sufiicient number of pupils could be collected and a teacher secured, a house was erected for the purpose. The period just preceding the Revolution was characterized by its number of literary men, and the interest they gave to polite learning; and the patriots who were conspicuous in that sti'Uggle for human liberty were men not only of ability, but of no ordinary culture. We can readily understand that the influence of their example had its weight in molding public sentiment in other respects besides that of zeal for the patriot cause. To this may be added that, for the most part, the early pioneers were men of character, who endured the dangers and trials of a new country, not solely for their own sakes, but for their children, and with a faith in what the future would bring forth, clearly saw the power and value of education. Then we find, from the beginning, this object kept steadily in view, and provision made for its successful prose- cution; and the express declaration of the fundamental law of the State enjoins that " the principal of all funds arising "from the sale or other distri- 298 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. bution of lands or other property, granted or intrusted to the State for educa- tional purposes, shall forever be pi'eserved inviolate and undiminished, and the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original grants or appropriations, and the General Assembly shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as, from the income arising from the school trust fund, shall secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State." The act of Congress providing for the admission of Ohio into the Union offered certain educational propositions to the people. These were, first, that Section 16 in each township, or, in lieu thereof, other contiguous or equiva- lent lands, should be granted for the use of schools; second, that thirty-eight sections of land, where salt springs had been found, should be granted to the State, never to be sold, or leased for a longer term than ten years; and third, that one-twentieth of the proceeds from the sale of the public lands in the State should be applied toward the construction of roads from the Atlantic to and through Ohio. Those propositions were offered on the condition that the public lands sold by the United States after the 30th of June, 1802, should be exempt from State taxation for five years after sale. The ordinance of 1787 had already provided for the appropriation of Section 16 to the support of schools in every township sold by the United States. This, therefore, could not, in 1802, be properly made the subject of a new bargain between the United States and Ohio; and by many it was thought that the salt reserva- tions and one-twentieth of the proceeds of the sale of public lands were inad- equate equivalent for the proposed surrender of a right to tax for five years. The convention, however, accepted the propositions of Congress, on their being so modified and enlarged as to vest in the State, for the use of schools, Section 16 in each township sold by the United States, and three other tracts of land, equal in quantity respectively to one thirty-sixth of the Virginia Mil- itary Eeservation, of the United States Military Tract and of the Connecticut Western Keserve, and to give 3 per cent of the proceeds of the public lands sold within the State to the construction of roads in Ohio, under the direction of the Legislature. Congress agreed to the proposed modifications, and thus was established the basis of the common-school fund of Ohio. We have seen in the foregoing how Congress, by a compact with the peo- ple, gave them one thirty-sixth part of all of the lands northwest of the Ohio River for school purposes. The lands for this purpose set apart were, how- ever, often appropriated by squatters, and through unwise, careless and some- times corrupt legislation, these squatters were vested with proprietorship. Caleb Atwater, in his history of Ohio, in speaking on this subject says: " Members of the Legislature not unfrequently got acts passed and leases granted, either to themselves, their relatives or to their partisans. One Sena- tor contrived to get, by such acts, seven entire sections of land into either his own or his children's possession." From 1803 to 1820 the General Assembly spent a considerable portion of every session in passing acts relating to these lands, without advancing the cause of education to any degree. In 1821 the House of Kepresentatives appointed five of its members, viz., Caleb Atwater, Loyd Talbot, James Shields, Roswell Mills and Josiah Barber, a Committee on Schools and School Lands. This committee subsequently made a report, rehearsing the wrong management of the school land trust on behalf of the State, warmly advocated the establishment of a system of educa- tion and the adoption of measures which would secure for the people the rights which Congress intended they should possess. In compliance with the recommendation of the committee, the Governor of the State, in May, 1822, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 299 having been authorized by the Legislature, appointed seven Commissioners of Schools and School Lands, viz. : Caleb Atwater, Rev. John Collins, Rev. James Hoge, N. Guilford, Ephraim Cutler, Josiah Barber and James M. Bell. The reason why seven persons were appointed was because there were seven different sorts of school lands in the State, viz. : Section 16 in every township of the Congress lands, the United States Military lands, the Virginia Military lands, Symmes' Purchase, the Ohio Company's Purchase, tte Refugee lands and the Connecticut Western Reserve. This commission of seven persons was reduced by various causes to one of three, Messrs. Atwater, Collins and Hoge, who performed the arduous duties incumbent upon them with but little remu- neration and (at the time) but few thanks. The Legislature of 1822-28 broke up without having taken any definite action upon the report presented by the commission, but during the summer and autvimn of 182-4 the subject of the sale of the school lands was warmly agitated, and the friends of the measure triumphed over the opposition so far as to elect large majorities to both branches of the General Assembly in favor of its being made a law. The quantity of land set apart was ascertained in 1825 to be a little more than half a million acres, and was valued at less than $1,000,000. The school lands were finally sold and the proceeds taken charge of by the State, the interest accruing from the moneys derived from the sale of the different classes of lands to be annually distributed among the counties in the respective land districts, according to the school enumeration of each county. It might be well to state here that the school age at this time was fi'om four to sixteen, which was, however, changed whenever the General Assembly considered such a change necessary or judicious. From the time the school lands were sold up to the present, each county in the State has received annually its quota of the interest obtained from this school fund. Nearly one-half of the counties of Ohio pay more money into the common school fund of the State than they receive back again, the surplus thus raised going to poor or sparsely settled counties. This has been the case in Portage County for many years. In 1875 she paid $16,412.86 and received $12,537.60, or $3,875.26 less than she paid in. In 1880 she paid $15,785.11, and received $11,662.50, or $4,122.61 less than paid into the State fund. These two years will serve to illustrate what this county has been doing for the cause of educa- tion, for besides educating her own youth she has and is paying annually for the instruction of the school youth in other counties of the State. In the early development of Portage County a great variety of influences were felt in the way of general education. The settlements were and for years continued to be sparse. The people, as the pioneers of all new counties are, were poor, and lacked the means of remunerating teachers. Their poverty compelled all who were able to labor, and the work of the females was as important and toilsome as that of the men. Added to these, both teachers and books were scarce. This condition of things continued perhaps for more than a quarter of a century. Taking these facts into consideration, it is sur- prising that they had any schools whatever. The interest awakened in literature and science immediately after the Rev- olution followed the pioneers to their Western homes; but to make their efforts productive of useful results time became absolutely necessary. Just as soon as the settlements were prepared for the experiment, schools were opened; but at every step it was the acquisition of knowledge under difficul- ties. Everything connected with them was as simple and primitive as were their dwellings, food and clothing. Houses were built in the various neigh- borhoods as occasion made necessary, not by subscription in money, but by 300 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. labor. Ou a given day the neighbors assembled at some place previously- agreed upon, and the work was done. Timber was abundant; they were skilled in the use of the ax, and having cut logs of the required length, the walls were soon raised. The roof was made of clapboards, kept in place by heavy poles reaching the length of the building. The door was of clapboards and creaked on wooden hinges; the latch of wood and raised by a string. The floor was "puncheon," or trees split in the middle, tolerably true, the edge and face being dressed with the ax. The crevices between the logs forming the walls were filled with " chinks," or split sticks of wood, and daubed with mud. The tire-place was equally rude, but of ample dimensions, built on the out- side of the house, usually of stone to the throat of the flue, and the remain- der of the chimney of split sticks of wood, daubed with puddled clay within and without. Light was admitted through the door and by means of an opening made by cutting out one of the logs, reaching almost the entire width of the building. This opening was high enough from the floor to prevent the boys from looking out, and in winter was covered with paper saturated with grease, to keep out the cold, as well as to admit light. In the rural districts school " kept " only in winter. The furniture corre- sponded with the simplicity of the house. At a proper distance below the windows auger holes were bored in a slanting direction in one of the logs, and in these strong wooden pins were driven, and on the pins a huge slab or puncheon was placed, which served as a writing desk for the whole school. For seats, they used the puncheon, or more commonly the body of a smooth, straight tree, cut ten to twelve feet in length, and raised to a height of twelve to fifteen inches by means of pins securely inserted. It has been said that not infrequently the pins were of unequal length, and the bench predisposed to " wabble. " Many of the pioneer teachers were natives of Ireland, who had fled from the oppression of the English Government, prior to and succeeding the struggle for Irish independenee, in 1798, and here in this land of freedom were putting to good use that education obtained in their native isle. Dr. Johnson's notion that most boys I'equired learning to be thrashed into them was practically carried out in the pioneer schoolhouse. The pupils sat with their faces toward the wall, around the room, while the teacher occupied the middle space to superintend each pupil separately. In some rooms a separate bench was furnished for those too young to write. Classes, when reciting, sat on a bench provided for this purpose. The books were as primitive as the surroundings. The New Testament was a common reading book; the "English Reader" was occasionally found, and sometimes the " Columbian Orator." No one book was common in all the families. The reading class recited paragraphs alternately, and the book in use was made common property, passing from hand to hand during recitation. It was not unusual for the teacher to assist a pupil in one of his " sums," dis- cipline a refractory scholar, and hear the reading class at one and the same time. Dabold, Smiley and Pike's arithmetics were commonly used, with the examples for practice almost exclusively in pounds, shillings and pence, and a marked absence of clear rules and definitions for the solving of the dif- ferent divisions. Webster's "American Speller" was the ordinary spelling- book, which afterward made way for Webster's "Elementary Speller." This latter book maintained its popularity for half a century. The spelling class closed the labors of the day. All who could spell entered the " big class," and the rivalry was sharp as to who should rank first as good spellers. The class was numbered in the order in which they stood in line, and retained the num- ber until a miss sent some one above them. Spelling-matches were frequent, HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 301 and contributed largely to make good spellers. Grammar was not often taught, partly for the reason that books were hard to get, and partly because some of the teachers were Qot proficient in this branch of learning. When the sci- ence was taught, the text-book was the earlier and larger edition of Murray, which, by the close of the first quarter of the century, was largely superseded by Kirkham, which, though of little real merit, stimulated a taste for grammar. The boys and girls went to the same school, but sat on opposite benches. It occasionally happened that teachers were employed who had learned that an elephant may be led by a hair, or more probably were blessed with gentle natures, and won the hearts and life-long affection of their pupils by their pleasant and loving ways; but these were exceptions.' The standard of excel- lence was often measured by the ability and swiftreadiness to thrash the schol- ars on any provocation. Disobedience and ignorance were equal causes for the use of the "birch." "Like master, like boy." The characteristics of the one tended to develop a corresponding spirit in the other, and the cruelty of the one, with the absence, too frequently, of all just discrimination in the use of the rod, excited animosities which lasted through life. There were few boys of that day who did not cherish the purpose to "whale the master" on sight at some future time. The schools were supported by subscription, the charge being from $1 to $3 per term of three months during the winter, to begin at 8 o'clock in the morning, with an hour to an hour and a half recess at noon, and close at 5 o'clock. One-half of Saturdays, or alternate Saturdays, made part of thfe term. Writing was taught to all the larger pupils, and the only pen used was the goose or turkey quill, made into a pen by the skillful hand of the teacher. Mending the pens was an essential part of the work. Copy-books were made of sheets of foolscap paper stitched together, and copies were "set" by the teacher during recess, which were commonly taken from the maxims in use from time immemorial. Sometimes the teacher was partly paid in produce or other commodities, which were the equivalent to him for money, while his sup- port was often obtained by "boarding around." As an illustration of the mode of employing teachers during the pioneer days of Portage County, the writer inserts the following amusing agreement made December 3, 1823, between the Directors of a school in Edinburg Township, and Austin Loomis: Agreed with Austin Loomis, of Atwater, to teach school in Edinburg three months, for twelve bushels of wheat per month ; one-half to be paid at the end of three months in grain, and the remainder iti some other trade, such as cattle, sheep and w7iisky. It would bother a modern school teacher to cipher out how twelve bushels of wheat could be paid in "cattle, sheep and whisky," but probably the arith- metic now is not as it used to be, and the pioneer teacher may have had little difficulty in solving the problem to his own satisfaction. The early settlers were forced to resort to many expedients in the transaction of business, because of the stringency of the money market. That necessary ingredient was very scarce, and to m&ke change it was the common usage to halve and quarter pieces of silver coin. The introduction of schools in one settlement was an incentive to their speedy adoption in others, and the foregoing descrip- tion applies to all of the earliest schoolhouses erected in this county. The build- ing of saw-mills, and the opening up of wagon-roads, brought about a better order of things, and plank, weather-boarding and glass took the places of clapboards, puncheon floors and desks, log beeches and greased paper win- dows. The first schools opened in the different townships of Portage County are spoken of in the township sketches, to which the reader is referred for further information on the subject. 302 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. The gradual development and progress of education in Ohio was encour- aged and fostered by State laws that were the germs from which came forth the present common school system, and believing that a brief synopsis of those enactments would be valuable for future reference, the writer has compiled the following facts from the Ohio statutes, trusting they will enable the reader to understand more thoroughly the history of the schools on the Western Reserve up to the adoption of the Constitution of 1851. On the 2d of January, 1806, three Trustees and a Treasurer were authorized to be elected in each township, for the purpose of taking charge of the school lands, or the moneys arising therefrom, and applying the same to the benefit of the schools in said town- ship. In 1810 this act was more fully defined, and in 1814 every scholar was entitled to his or her share of said school funds, even when attending a school outside of their own township. In 1815 those moneys were distributed accord- ing to the time of school attendance, an account of which each teacher was required to furnish to the Trustees, and the apportionment made accordingly. No act of any importance was then passed until January 22, 1821, when a vote was ordered to be taken in every township for the purpose of deciding for or against organizing the same into school districts; also for the election of a School Committee of three persons, and a Collector, who was also Treasurer in each district. The inhabitants were authorized to erect schoolhouses in their respective districts on land donated or purchased for that purpose, said schools to be paid for by donations and subscriptions, together with the taxes raised for that object. This act authorized that all lands located in said districts liable to State or county taxation were also liable to taxation for erecting schoolhouses, and for educating the children of those unable to pay for school- ing. Parents and guardians were assessed in proportion to the number of children sent to school by them, but those unable to pay had their assessment remitted, and such deficiency was paid out of the fund raised by taxation. Of course, the moneys accruing from the school lands went into the school fund held by the Treasurer of each district. The first general school law was passed February 5, 1825, and it provided "that a fund shall hereafter be annually raised among the several counties in the State, in the manner pointed out by this act, for the use of common schools, for the instruction of youth of every class and grade without distinction, in reading, writing, arithmetic and other necessary branches of a common education." This was in harmony with the constitution, which asserted that schools and the means of instruction should forever be encouraged by legisla- tive provision. This act provided for a general tax to be levied for the foster.- ing of common schools throughout the State, which was to be collected annu- ally and used for general educational purposes. Three School Directors were to be elected annually in each district, to transact the business of said schools, erect buildings, employ teachers, receive and expend all moneys derived from any source, etc. The Court of Common Pleas in each county was authorized to appoint annually "three suitable persons to be called Examiners of Common Schools," whose duties it was to examine teachers for qualification and grant certificates, also to visit and examine the schools throughout the county. If any district neglected to keep a school therein, at any one time for the space of three years, its proportion of the school fund was divided among the other districts in said township that employed teachers. The school fund of each county was taken charge of by the Auditor, who distributed the same between the several townships. In 1827, this act was amended. The Directors were instructed to appoint a Treasurer for each school district. Fines imposed by any Justice of the Peace, for offenses committed in any given district, were to '•X'f^%-'^%'* ^^y:^<^s^. :r£V HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 305 be paid to the Treasurer, to be used for the support of education in said dis- trict. Taxes were levied to build new houses and repair old ones. Every householder, whose tax was less than $1, had to pay that amount, or give two days' labor toward the building or repairing of schoolhouses. The number of Examiners was increased, but at no time were they to exceed the number of townships in the county. In February, 1829, a law was enacted providing more fully for general education, but the children of black or mulatto persons were not permitted to attend these schools, nor wore such persons compelled to pay taxes toward their support. The official term of Examiners was designated as two years, and their number to be not less than five in each county, nor more than one in each township thereof. Whenever the regular school fund ran short, the teachers, if not paid by voluntary subscription, were to be paid by those sending schol- ars to said schools. Often the regular fund did not pay for more than three months' schooling annually, so that even then the schools, though slowly improving, were anything but flourishing. The act of 1830 did not materially improve them, and in March, 1831, the following clause appears in a law relative to raising the school fund. It says a general fund shall be raised "for the instruction of the white youth of every class and grade," so that, although Ohio was a free State, a black man was debarred from, the educational advan- tages accorded to his white brother, and though his body was not kept in slavery his mind was kept in ignorance as far as the State laws had the power to do so. With all this injustice the property of negroes was exempt from taxation for school purposes, which was at least a small grain of justice to the despised race. The school age was changed so as to include those between four and twenty-one years, and the number of Examiners read "not less than five in each county, nor more than two in each township." ' On the 2d of March, 1831, an act was passed authorizing the establish- ment of a fund to be designated " The Common School Fund," the income to be used for the support of common schools. All moneys arising from the sale of school lands were to be put into this fund, and the State guaranteed a cer- tain interest on all such moneys paid into the State Treasury. The County Auditors were authorized to draw said interest and distribute it among the several districts in their respective counties, to which said lands originally belonged. , Donations and bequests were also put into this fund and used for the same general purpose. These moneys, however, were to be funded annu- ally, until January 1, 1835, after which date the interest was divided among the several counties in proportion to the number of white males over twenty- one years of age residing therein. tip to this time women were not eligible as school teachers, for we find that an act was passed December 23, 1831, allowing Directors to employ female teachers, but the Directors had to signify in writing to the School Examiners that it was the desire of the inhabitants of said district to employ " a female teacher for instructing their children in spelling, reading and writing only. " The Examiners were then empowered to give the lady "a special certificate" to teach those branches. It is unnecessary for the writer to comment on this injustice; he takes it for granted that the most illiberal of men will agree with him that this discrimination against women was a griev- ous wrong and unworthy of this great Commonwealth. In 1833 other provis- ions and amendments were made to the school laws, whose object was to increase their influences, but no material changes were made in former ones. The office of State Superintendent of Schools was created March 7, 1837, and made permanent a year from that date. He was elected by the General 17 306 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Assembly for a term of five years, but on the 23d of March, 1840, the office was abolished, and the Secretary of State required to perform the duties thereof. In 1838 a fund of $200,000 was provided for, to be annually dis- tributed among the several counties, according to the number of white youth, unmarried, between the ages of four and twenty-one. It was known as the "State Common School Fund," was reduced, March 7, 1842, to $150,000 and again raised to $300,000 on the 24th of March, 1851. By Article VI of the Constitution of 1851 it is declared that the principal of all funds accruing from school lands, donations or bequests, "shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished." It was enacted by the law of 1838 that the Township Clerk should be Superintendent of Schools within his township, and this law remained in force until the re-organization of the school laws, in 1853. By this same law the County Auditor was endowed with the position of Superin- tendent of Schools throughout the county. The number of School Examiners was reduced to three members for each county, who were appointed by the Court of Common Pleas. On the 16th of March, 1839, an act was passed providing for the establish- ment of night schools in towns, wherein male youth over twelve years of age, who could not attend school in the daytime, might be instructed. This law also enacted that scholars could attend German schools and yet receive their quota of school money. Subsequently the German language was introduced into the schools as a part of the regular studies. On the 24th of February, 1848, a law was passed authorizing the estab- lishment of separate schools for colored children. This law was amended in 1849, and was thought by many to be contrary to the spirit of the constitution, but the Supreme Court declared it constitutional. Separate school districts were authorized to be organized and managed by Directors chosen by the adult male colored tax-payers, whose property was alone chargeable for the sup- port of said schools. Colored children were not really debarred under the con- stitution at that time from attending the schools provided for white children, but it amounted to about the same thing as the objection of any parent or guardian whose children attended said school prevented the attendance of colored youth. Thus the law existed until 1853, when the schools for colored chil- dren were placed upon the same basis as those for white. By the law of 1853, ^Boards of Education were directed, whenever the colored youth in any school district numbered more than thirty, to establish a school for them. This law was so amended in 1864 that two or more districts could unite for the same purpose. Much trouble has been caused in different towns by the colored peo- ple insisting on sending their children to the schools for whites. In some places little or no opposition has been manifested, while in others a bitter struggle resulted. In the country districts and smaller towns white and col- ored children usually attend the same schools, and, as far as the writer has investigated the plan, it seems to work harmoniously. The school law of 1853 made ample provision for the education of every class and grade of youth within the State. We have seen in the preceding pages that those who participated in the organization of the Northwest Terri- tory, and subsequently the State, recognized religion, morality and knowledge as necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind. We have also seen the gradual development of education from its earliest inception in the State up to its present permanent foundation through the law of 1853. Under the present law the State is divided into school districts as follows: City districts of the first class, city districts of the second class, village dis- tricts, special districts and township districts. To administer the affairs of HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 307 the districts, and to look after and promote the educational interests therein, the law has provided for the establishment of Boards of Education in each district. These boards may acquire real or personal property for the use of their districts, and are required to establish schools for free education of the youth of school age, and may establish schools of a higher grade than the primary schools. They are to determine the studies to be pursued and the text-books to be used in the schools under their control; to appoint superin- tendents of schools, teachers and other employes, and fix their salaries. They are authorized to make such rules and regulations as they may deem expedient and necessary for the government of the board, their appointees and pupils. The State Commissioner of common schools is elected by the people, and his official term is three years. He is required to superintend and encourage teachers' institutes, confer with Boards of Education or other school officers, counsel teachers, visit schools and deliver lectures calculated to promote popu- lar education. He is to have a supervision over the school funds, and has power by law to require proper returns to be made by the officers who have duties to perform pertaining to schools or school funds. It is his duty to give instruction for the organization and government of schools, and to distribute the school laws and other documents for the use of school officers. He is required by law to appoint a Board of State Examiners, consisting of three persons, who hold their office for two years. This board is authorized to issue life certificates to such teachers as may be found, upon examination, to have attained "eminent professional experience and ability." These certificates are valid in any school district in the State, and supersede the necessity of all other examinations by the county or local Boards of Examiners. Each appli- cant for a State certificate is required to pay a fee of $3. There is in each county in the State a Board of Examiners appointed by the Probate Judge, their official term being three years. The law provides that " it shall be the duty of the Examiners to fix upon the time of holding the meetings for the examination of teachers, in such places in their respective counties as will, in their opinion, best accommodate the greatest number of candidates for examination, notice of all such meetings being published in some newspaper of general circulation in their respective counties, and at such meetings any two of said board shall be competent to examine applicants and grant certificates: and as a condition of examination, each applicant for a certificate shall pay the Board of Examiners a fee of 50 cents." The fees thus received are set apart as a fund for the support of teachers' institutes. In city districts of the first and second class and village districts having a population of not less than 2,500, the Examiners are appointed by the Boards of Education. The fees charged are the same as those of the County Boards, and are appropriated for the same purpose. There are, in the different townships, subdistricts, in which the people elect, annually, a local Director, whose term of office continues for three years. From this it will be seen that each subdistrict has a board consisting of three Directors. These Directors choose one of their number as Clerk, who presides at the meetings of local Directors, and keeps a record thereof. He also keeps a record of the proceedings of the annual school meetings of the subdistrict. The Board of Education of each township district consists of the Township Clerk and the local Directors, who have been appointed Clerks of the sub- districts. The law provides that " in every district in the State, there shall be taken, between the first Monday in September and the first Monday in October, in each year, an enumeration of all unmarried youth, noting race and sex, between 308 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. six and twenty-one years of age, resident within the district, and not tempo- rarily there, designating also the number between sixteen and twenty-one years of age, the number residing in the Western Reserve, the Virginia Military District, the United States Military District, and in any original surveyed township or fractional township to which belongs Section 16, or other land in lieu thereof, or any other lands for the use of schools or any interest in the proceeds of such land: Provided, that in addition to the classihed return of all the youth residing in the district, that the aggregate number of youth in the district resident of any adjoining county, shall be separately given, if any such there be, and the name of the county in which they reside." The Clerk of each Board of Education is required to transmit to the County Auditor an abstract of the returns of enumeration made to him, on or before the second Monday of October. The County Auditor is required to transmit to the State Commissioner, on or before the 5th day of November, a duly certified abstract of the enumera- tion returns made to him by Clerks of school districts. The law provides that "the Auditor of State shall, annually, apportion the common school funds among the different counties upon the enumeration and returns made to him by the State Commissioner of Common Schools, and certify the amount so apportioned to the County Auditor of each county, stating from what sources the same is derived, which said sum the several County Treasurers shall retain in their respective treasuries from the State funds; and the County Auditors shall, annually, and immediately after their annual settlement with the County Treasurers, apportion the school funds for their respective counties accord- ing to the enumeration and returns in their respective offices." The law ])rovides that the school year shall begin on the Ist day of Sep- tember of each year, and close on the 31st of August of the succeeding year. A school week shall consist of five days, and a school month of four school weeks. The law also provides, in relation to common schools, that they shall be "free to all youth between six and twenty- one years of age who are children, wards or apprentices of actual residents of the school district, and no pupil shall be suspended therefrom except for such time as may be necessary to con- vene the Board of Education of the district, or local Director of the subdis- trict, nor be expelled unless by a vote of two-thirds of said Board of local Directors, after the parent or guardian of the offending pupil shall have been notified of the proposed expulsion, and permitted to be heard against the same; and no scholar shall be suspended or expelled from the privilege of schools beyond the current term: Provided, that each Board of Education shall have power to admit other persons, not under six years of age, upon such terms, or upon the payment of such tuition as they prescribe; and Boards of Education of city, village or special districts shall also have power to admit, without charge or tuition, persons within the school age who are members of the family of any freeholder whose residence is not within such district, if any part of such freeholder's homestead is within such district; and provided fur- ther, that the several Boards of Education shall make such assignments of the youth of their respective districts to the schools established by them, as will, in their opinion, best promote the interests of education in their districts; and provided further, that nothing contained in this section shall supersede or modify the provisions of Section 31 of an act entitled "an act for the re-or- ganization, supervision and maintenance of common schools, passed March 14, 1853, as amended March 18, 1864." Provision is made by law for the establishment and maintenance of teach- ers' institutes, which are established for the professional improvement of HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 309 teachers. At each session competent instructors and lecturers are employed to assist the State Commissioner, who is required by law to superintend and encourage such institutes. They are either county, city or joint institutes of two or more counties, and the examination fees paid by teachers to Boards of Examiners are devoted to the payment of the expenses incurred by these instructions. History teaches us that no art or science, wealth or power will compensate for the lack of moral and intellectual stability in the minds of a nation. Hence it is admitted that the strength and perpetuity of this Republic must consist in the morality and intelligence of its people. Every youth in Ohio under twenty-one years of age may have the benefit of a public school education, and since the system of graded and high schools has been adopted, may obtain a general knowledge from the alphabet to the classics. The enumerated branches of study in the public schools of this State are about thirty-four, including mathematics and astronomy, French, German and the classics. Thus Ohio, which was in the heart of the wilderness one hundred years ago, and has been a State only eighty-two years, now presents to the world not merely an unriv- aled development of material prosperity, but a good system of popular educa- tion. CHAPTER IX. Public Officers— Members of Congress— State Senators— Territorial AND State Representatives — County Commissioners— Treasurers- Clerks— Recorders— Auditors — Sheriffs— Coroners— Surveyors — Pro- bate Judges— Seat of Justice and Public Buildings— Prison Bounds- County Infirmary— Political Statistics of Portage County— First Election Held; with the Names of the Candidates and Voters- Gubernatorial AND Presidential Vote. AFTER much labor and research among the musty, age-dimmed records stowed away in the Court House vaults, we have carefully compiled the roster of Portage County officials embraced in this chapter, together with their respective terms of service, from the organization of the county up to the pres- ent. In regard to the members of Congress, State Senators and Representa- tives, the reader will bear in mind that they respectively represent the district of which the territory now embraced in Portage County formed a part since the organization of the second grade of Territorial government in 1799. The latter lists were obtained from the annual reports of the Secretary of State, and may therefore be regarded as reliable.* Members of Congress. — "William H. Harrison, of Harbilton County, 1799, resigned in 1800, to accept the Governorship of the Territory of Indiana; William McMillan, of Hamilton County, vice Harrison, resigned, 1800 to 1801; Paul Fearing, of Washington County, 1801 to 1803; Jeremiah Mor- row, of Warren County, 1803 to 1813; John S. Edwards, of Trumbull County, 1813, resigned in April, 1813; Rezin Beall, of Wayne County, vice Edwards, resigned, April, 1813, Beall also resigning in August, 1813; David Clendeneu, of Trumbull County, vice Beall resigned, August, 1813 to 1817; Peter Hitch- cock, of Geauga County, 1817 to 1819; John Sloan, of Wayne County, 1819 to 1823; Elisha Whittlesey, of Trumbull County (now Mahoning), 1823 to * For Common Pleas and Associate Judges, and Prosecuting Attorneys see Chapter X. 310 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 1833; Jonathan Sloane, of Portage County, 1833 to 1837; John W. Allen, of Cuyahoga County, 1837 to 1841: Sherlock J. Andrews, of Cuyahoga County, 1841 to 1843: Daniel R. Tilden, of Portage County, 1843 to 1847; John Crowell, of Trumbull County, 1847 to 1851; Eben Newton, of Mahoning County, 1851 to 1853; George Bliss, of Summit County, 1853 to 1855; Ben- jamin F. Leiter, of Stark County, 1855 to 1859; Sidney Edgerton, of Summit County, 1859 to 1863; James A. Garfield, of Portage County, 1863 to 1879; William McKinley, Jr., of Stark County, 1879 to 1881; Ezra B. Taylor, of Trumbull County, 1881, third terni expires in 1887. State Senators.- — Samuel Huntington, district Trumbull County, 1803; Benjamin Tappan, same district, 1803 to 1804: George Tod, same district, 1804 to 1806; Calvin Cone, district Trumbull and Geauga, 1806 to 1808; David Abbott, district Portage and Geauga, 1808 to 1810; David Abbott, dis- trict Portage, Geauga and Cuyahoga, 1810 to 1812; Peter Hitchcock, district Portage, Geauga, Cuyahoga and Ashtabula, 1812 to 1816; Aaron Wheeler and Almon Buggies, district Portage, Geaaga, Cuyahoga, Ashtabula and Huron, 1816 to 1818; Aaron Wheeler and John Campbell, same district, including Medina County, 1818 to 1819; John Campbell and Almon Ruggles, same dis- trict, 1819 to 1820; Jonathan Foster, district Portage and Medina, 1820 to 1822; Jonathan Sloane, same district, 1822 to 1824, Aaron Norton, same dis- trict, 1824 to 1825; Elkanah Richardson, vice Aaron Norton, deceased, same district, 1825 to 1826; Jonathan Sloane, same district, 1826 to 1828; Darius Lyman, district Portagef 1828 to 1832; Chauncy Eggleston, same district, 1832 to 1834; Darius Lyman, same district, 1834 to 1835; Frederick Wads- worth, same district, 1835 to 1836; Daniel Upson, same district, 1836 to 1838; Gregory Powers, same district, 1838 to 1839; Simon Perkins, Jr., same district, 1839 to 1840; Elisha N. Sill, same district, 1840 to 1841; Elisha N. Sill, district Portage and Summit, 1841 to 1842; John E. Jackson, same dis- trict, 1842 to 1844; William Wetmore, same district, 1844 to 1846; Asahel H. Lewis, same district, 1846 to 1848; Lucian Swift, same district, 1848 to 1850; Darius Lyman, same district, 1850 to 1851. Under the Constitution of 1851 the State was divided into fixed Senatorial districts. Portage and Summit were designated as the Twenty-sixth District, and have so remained to the present time. The Senators since then have been as follows: Ransom A. Giilett, 1852 to 1854; William H. Upson, 1854 to 1856; Oliver P. Brown, 1856 to 1858; George P. Ashmun, 1858 to 1860; James A. Garfield, 1800 to 1862; Lucius V. Bierce, 1862 to 1864; Luther Day, 1864, resigned in the summer of 1864, and was succeeded the following October by Alphonso Hart, who served until 1866; N. T. Tibbals, 1866 to 1868; Philo B. Conant, 1868, resigned in August, 1868, and was succeeded by William Stedman, who served until 1870; Henry McKinney, 1870 to 1872; Alphonso Hart, 1872 to 1874; N. W. Goodhue, 1874 to 1876; Marvin Kent, 1876 to 1878; David D. Beebe, 1878 to 1882; S. P. Wolcott, 1882, second term expires in 1886. Senator Wolcott, under the apportionment of 1881, was chosen to represent the Twenty -fourth and Twenty-sixth Districts, the former embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga, and the latter Summit and Portage. Territorial and State Representatives. — James Pritchard, district Jeffer- son County, 1799 to 1801; Edward Paine, district Trumbull, 1801 to 1803; Ephraim Quimby and Aaron Wheeler, same district, 1803; David Abbott and Ephraim Quimby, same district, 1803 to 1804; Amos Spotford and Homer Heine, same district, 1804 to 1805; Homer Heine and James Kingsbury, same district, 1805 to 1806; John P. Bissell and James Kingsbury, district Trum- HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 311 bull and Geauga, 1806 to 1807; John W. Seeleyand James Montgomery, same district, 1807 to 1808; Abel Sabin, district Portage, 1808 to 1809; Benjamin Whedon, same district, 1809 to 1810; Elias Harmon, same district, 1810 to 1812; Rial McArthur, same district, 1812 to 1815; Moses Adams, same dis- trict, 1815 to 1816; Darius Lyman, same district, 1816 to 1818; Darius Lyman, district Portage and Medina, 1818 to 1820; Jonathan Sloane and James Moore, same district, 1820 to 1822; George B. DePeyster and Joseph Harris, same district, 1822 to 1823; George B. DePeyster and James Moore, same district, 1823 to 1824; William Coolman, district Portage, 1824 to 1828; Van R. Humphrey, same district, 1828 to 1830; Thomas Earl, same district, 1830 to 1832; Gregory Powers, same district, 1832 to 1833; Roan Clark, same district, 1833 to 1834; Amos Seward, same district, 1834 to 1835; Joseph Lyman, same district, 1835 to 1836; William Quimby and Thomas C Shreve, same district, 1836 to 1837; Solomon Day and William Wetmore, same dis- trict, 1837 to 1838; Elisha Garrett and George Kirkum, same district, 1838 to 1839; Rufus P. Spalding and Ephraim B. Hubbard, same district, 1839 to 1840; Jason Streator and Hiram Giddings, same district, 1840 to 1841; John Streator, same district, 1841 to 1842; Thomas Earl and Samuel H. Pardee, same district, 1842 to 1843; Plimman C. Bennett, same district, 1843 to 1844; Robert F. Paine, same district, 1844 to 1845; David Mcintosh and Thomas C. Shreve, district Portage and Summit, 1845 to 1846; Luther Russell, district Portage, 1846 to 1847; William Coolman and Amos Seward, district Portage and Summit, 1847 to 1848; George Sheldon, district Portage, 1848 to 1850; Lorin Bigelow, same district, 1850 to 1851. Since the adoption of the Constitution of 1851, Portage County has com- posed a separate legislative district, and has been represented in the Lower House by the following citizens: Lorin Bigelow, 1852 to 1854; L. W. Coch- ran, 1854 to 1856; Erasmus Needham, 1856 to 1858; Cyrus Laughlin, 1858 to 1860; William Stedman and A. J. Squire, 1860 to 1862; David L. Rockwell, 1862 to 1864; Samuel E. M. Kneeland, 1864 to 1866; William Stedman, 1866 to 1868; Reuben P. Cannon, 1868 to 1872; Joseph R. Conrad, 1872 to 1874; Orvil Blake, 1874 to 1878; Charles R. Harmon, 1878 to 1882; Egbert S. Woodworth, 1882 to 1884; Aaron JM. Sherman, 1884, term expires in 1886. County Commissioners. — Abel Sabin, from June 8, 1808, to October, 1808; Joel Gay lord, June 8, 1808, to October, 1809; Lewis Day, June 8, 1808, to October, 1810; Joseph Harris, October, 1808, to October, 1811; Oliver Snow, October, 1809, to October, 1812; Samuel King, October, 1810, to October, 1813; John T. Baldwin, October, 1811, to October, 1814; Oliver Snow (re- elected), October, 1812, to October, 1815; Owen Brown, October, 1813, to October, 1816; John T. Baldwin (re-elected), October, 1814, to October, 1817; Amzi Atwater. October, 1815, to October, 1818; Owen Brown (re-elected), October, 1816, to October, 1819; Rufus Ferris, October, 1817, resigned March, 1818; Alexander K.Hubbard, April, 1818, to October. 1820; Dillingham Clark, October, 1818, to October, 1821; George Clark, October, 1819, to October, 1822; Asa K. Burroughs, October, 1820, to October, 1823; James Coe, October, 1821, to October, 1824; Elkanah Richardson, October, 1822, to October, 1825; Asa K. Burroughs (re-elected), October, 1823, to October, 1826; James Coe (re- elected), October, 1824, to October, 1827; Asaph Whittlesey, October, 1825, to October, 1828; Owen Brown, October, 1826, to October, 1829; James Coe (re elected), October, 1827, to October, 1830; Hiram Giddings, October, 1828, to October, 1831; Jonathan Foster, October, 1829, to October, 1832; Edwin Wetmore, Octo- ber, 1830, to October, 1833; Andrew Bassett, October, 1831, to October, 1834; Elisha Garrett, October, 1832, to October, 1835; Alanson Baldwin, October, 312 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 1833, to October, 1836; Solomon Day, October, 1834, to October, 1837; Henry Chittenden, October, 1835, to October, 1838; Royal Taylor, October, 1836, to October, 1839; EphraimL. Williams, October, 1837, to October, 1840; Henry Chittenden (re-elected), October, 1838, resigned June, 1840; Moses Eggleston, October, 1839, to October, 1842; Arthur Anderson, June, 1840, to October, 1840; Miner Merrick, October, 1840, to October, 1841; Leverett Norton, Octo- ber, 1840, to October, 1843; Miner Merrick (re-elected), October, 1841, to Octo- ber, 1844; Moses Eggleston (re-elected), October, 1842, to October, 1845; William R. Kelso, October, 1843. to October, 1846; Benjamin Marshall, October, 1844, to October, 1847; Caleb Carleton, October, 1845, to October, 1848; William R. Kelso (re-elected), October, 1846, to October, 1849; Orsa- mus L. Drake, October, 1847, to October, 1850; Carnot Mason, October, 1848, to October, 1851; Hiram Spencer, October, 3849, to October, 1852; Joel H. Curtis, October, 1850, resigned December, 1852; Moses A. Birchard, Decem- ber, 1851, to December, 1854; Ebenezer S. Harmon, November, 1852, to Decem- ber, 1855; David K. Wheeler, December, 1852, to December, 1850; Sylvester Huggins, December, 1854, to December, 1857; Evan E. Davis, December, 1855, to December, 1858; Charles Goodsell, December, 1856, to December, 1859; Horace Adams, December, 1857, resigned January, 1858; David K. Wheeler, February, 1858, to December, 1858; S. A. Hinman, December, 1858, to December, 1860; E. D. Carlton, December, 1858, to December, 1861; A. H. Weatherbee, December, 1859, to December, 1862; L. C. Merrill, December, 1860,to December, 1863; Thomas Gorby, December, 1861, to December, 1864; E. D. Carlton (re-elected), December, 1862, to December, 1865; P. P. Daw- ley, December, 1863, to December, 1866; Joseph R. Conrad, December, 1864, to December, 1867; Ozias Allyn, December, 1865, to December, 1868; P. P. Dawley (re-elected), December, 1866, to December, 1869: Joseph R. Conrad (re-elected), December, 1867, to December, 1870; H. J. Noble, December, 1868, to December, 1871; N. B. Jennings, December, 1869, to December, 1872; Smith Sanford, December, 1870, to December, 1873; Isaac Brown, December, 1871, to December, 1874; Luther H. Parmelee, December, 1872, resigned December, 1874; Smith Sanford (re-elected), December, 1873, to December, 1876; Edward A. Parsons, December, 1874, to December, 1875; Wanzer Holcomb, December, 1874, to December, 1877; Edward A. Parsons, December, 1875, to December, 1878; Edgar Whittlesey, December, 1876, to December, 1879; P. C. Nichols, December, 1877, to December, 1880; A. B. Merrill, December, 1878, to December, 1881; Edgar Whittlesey (re-elected), December, 1879, to December, 1882; P. C. Nichols (re-elected), December, 1880, to December, 1883; A. B. Merrill (re-elected), December, 1881, to Decem- ber, 1884; Orrin Smyth, December, 1882, term expires in December, 1885; J. L. Thompson, December, 1883, term expires in December, 1886; Wanzer Holcomb, December, 1884, term expires in December, 1887. Treasurers. — Elias Harmon, June, 1808, resigned November, 1810; Gersham Bostwick, from November, 1810, to June, 1814; Hemaii Oviatt, June, 1814, to June, 1815; Gersham Bostwick, June, 1815, to June, 1816; William Wetmore, June, 1816, to June, 1824; Isaac Swift, June, 1824, to June, 1832; Frederick Williams, June, 1832, to June, 1840; Henry L. Tilden, June, 1840, to June, 1846; Enos P. Brainerd, June, 1846, to June, 1848; Jackson T. Green, June, 1848, to June, 1852; Charles Green, June, 1852, to June, 1856; Lyman Bryant, June, 1856, to June, 1858; Harvey C. Newberry, June, 1858, to September, 1860; George Sanford, September, 1860, to September, 1862; Samuel D. Har- ris, September, 1862, to September, 1866; Gustavus P. Reed, September, 1866, to September, 1870; Edward G. Hinman, September, 1870, to Septem- ^A&O^^UCy^ '^(f-C-\A^\ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 315 ber, 1874; John C. Beatty, September, 1874, to September, 1878; Nathan H. Smith, September, 1878, to September, 1882; Wilbur A. Jenkins, September, 1882, second term expires in September, 1886. Clerks. — Benjamin Whedon, August, 1808, to December, 1809; William Wetmore, December, 1809, to March, 1813; Ira Hudson, March, 1813, to Octo- ber, 1817; Seth Day, October, 1817, to October, 1831; George Kirkum, Octo- ber, 1831, to October, 1838; William Coolman, Jr., October, 1838, to June, 1845; Horace Y. Beebe, July, 1845, to February, 1852; Ebenezer Spalding, February, 1852, to February, 1855; Edmund Bostwick, February, 1855, to February, 1861; Horace M. Clark, February, 1861, to February, 1867; Andrew Jackson, February, 1867, to February, 1873; John Meharg, February, 1873, to February, 1882; John Porter, February, 1882, second term expires in February, 1888. i?ecorders.— Titus Wetmore, October, 1808, to April, 1810; William Wet- more, May, 1810, to February, 1813; Ira Hudson, March, 1813, to September, 1817; Seth Day, October, 1817, to August, 1831; John N. Skinner, August, 1831, to October, 3849; Rodolphus Bard, October, 1849, to October, 1852; Andrew Jackson, October, 1852, to October, 1855; Joshua T. Catlin, October, 1855, to January, 1862; James Norton, January, 1862, to January, 1868; George W. Barrett, January, 1868, to January, 1877; Philo Bierce, January, 1877, third term expires in January, 1886. Auditors. — This office was created by an act of the Legislature passed February 8, 1820. the duties then belonging to the position having previously been performed by a clerk appointed by the Commissioners. Under the old regime but six men filled the office, viz.: Abel Sabin and Seth Day, in 1808; Seth Day, 1809; Oliver C. Dickinson, 1810-11: Stephen Mason, 1812-17; Alexander K. Hubbard, 1818; Orvill Crane, 1819 to February, 1820. Since that time the Auditors have been as follows: Rial McArthur, February, 1820, to February, 1823; Samuel D. Harris, March, 1823, to February, 1831; Sam- uel Foljambe, March, 1831, to February, 1841; George B. De Peyster. March, 1841, to January, 1844; Charles L. Rhodes, February, 1844, to February, 1847; Caleb Atwater, March, 1847, to February, 1849; John G. McBride, March, 1849, to February, 1853; Lorenzo Frost, March, 1853, to February, 1855; Thomas W. Browning, March, 1855, to February, 1857; H. L. Carter, March, 1857, to February, 1859; Alfred Baldwin, March, 1859, to February, 1861; Frank L. Sawyer, March, 1861, to February, 1863; Henry H. Stevens, March, 1863, to February, 1869; William Grinnell, February, 1869, to Novem- ber, 1880; Le Grand A. Olin, November, 1880, second term expires in Novem- ber, 1886. Sheriffs. — Alva Day, June 8, 1808, to December, 1810; John Campbell, January, 1811, to November, 1812; Stephen Mason, November, 1812, to Novem- ber, 1816; Asa K. Burroughs, November, 1816, resigned in March, 1820; William Coolman, April, 1820, to November, 1824; John King, November, 1824, to November, 1826; James Perry, November, 1826, to November, 1830; Frederick Wadsworth, November, 1830, to November, 1834; George Y. Wal- lace, November, 1834, to November, 1838; Laurin Dewey, November, 1838, to November, 1842; Willam Frazer, November, 1842, to November, 1844; David W. Jennings, November, 1844, to November, 1846; John Gillis, November, 1846, to November, 1850; James Woodward, November, 1850, to November, 1854; Ferris Couch, November, 1854, to November, 1856; Ira Gardner, November, 1856, to January, 1859; Thomas R. Williams, January, 1859, to January, 1863; William F. Parsons, January, 1863, to January, 1865; Henry, C. Jennings, January, 1865, to January, 1869; Otis B. Paine, January, 1869, to 316 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. January, 1873: O. C. Risdon, January, 1873, to January, 1877; Benjamin F. Keller, January, 1877, to January, 1881; William Wilcox, January, 1881, to January, 1885; H. T. Sheldon, January, 1885, term expires in January, 1887. Coroyier's. — Lewis Day, June 8, 1808, to October, 1808; Lewis Elv, October, 1808, to 1814; William Frazer, 1820, to 1823; J. V. Gardner, 1832, to 1839; William Frazer, 1840, to 1841; E. M. Crane, 1842, to 1843; R. J. Thompson, 1844, to 1845; A. W. Stocking, 1846. to 1847; E. Needham, 1848, to 1849; J. M. Tilden, 1850, to 1851; E. B. Babcock, 1852, to November, 1854; Ephraim B. Hubbard, November, 1854, to November, 1856; D. R. Bissell, November, 1856, to October, 1857; George Sanford, October, 1857, to January, 1860; James O. Gurlej'^, January, 1860, to January, 1862; D. C. Stockwell, January, 1862, to January, 1864; Chauncy B. Curtis, January, 1864, to January, 1866; E. W. Crain, January, 1866, to February, 1866; Luther H. Parmelee, March, 1866, to January, 1869; Recellus Root, January, 1869, to January, 1871; Lyman Bryant, January, 1871, to January, 1874; Thomas R. Williams, Jan- uary, 1874, to January, 1876; Aaron M. Sherman, January, 1877, to January, 1879; A. H. Barlow, January, 1879, to January, 1885; O. D. Olds, January, 1885, term expires in January, 1887. Surveyors. — Among the first Surveyors of Portage County were Amzi Atwater, Rial McArthur, Abel Sabin and A. K. BuiToughs, who discharged the duties of the office for the first seven years of the county's history, since which time the following citizens have filled the position: John Harmon, 1815 to 1827; Orrin Harmon, 1828 to 1832; Samuel D. Harris, 1833, to 1835; John E. Jackson, 1836, to 1838; Samuel D. Harris, 1839, to 1840; Daniel Woodruff, 1840, to 1843; Samuel D. Harris, 1844, to 1857; Ruggles Bostwick 1858 to 1863; Isaiah Linton, 1864 to 1866; C. J. Gillis, 1867 to 1869; Jede- diah Cole, 1870 to 1884; C. B. Wadsworth, 1885, term expires in December, 1887. Probate Judges. — Luther L. Brown, February, 1852, to February, 1855; Darius Lyman, February, 1855, to February, 1864; Oliver P. Brown, February, 1864, resigned in May, 1864; Joshua T. Catlin, May, 1864, to February, 1867; Jacob V. Mell, February, 1867, to February, 1873; Gideon Seymour, February, 1873, to February, 1882; Cornelius A. Reed, February, 1882, sec- ond term expires in February, 1888. Seat of Justice and Public Buildings. — The act erecting Portage County designated the house of Benjamin Tappan as the place for holding the courts of said county until a permanent seat of justice should be established. This house, the second one occupied by Judge Tappan, was a frame building, which then stood about a mile east of Ravenna on what is now the Marcus Heath farm, and was erected by John McManus for Tappan about 1804. A tradition exists that on the first meeting of the Court of Common Pleas August 23, 1808, this house was found in ruins, having been burned down the previous night. The journal of that date does not mention where the Court first met, but says that after organizing and accepting the report of the Commissioners, Robert Simison, Samuel Hunter and Rezin Beall, appointed by the Legislature to select a seat of justice for Portage County, it adjourned to meet the same afternoon at the house of Robert Eaton. The journal of the Commissioners of Portage County shows that their first session was held at tbe house of Robert Eaton on the 8th of June, 1808. The Eaton house, which is yet standing in a fair state of preservation, is located about two miles and a half southeast of Ravenna, and is now (January, 1885,) the residence of R. J. Thompson, Esq. It is a two story frame structure of large dimensions, and was utilized for both Court House and Jail until tbe completion of the first public buildings at Ravenna in 1810. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 317 Eavenna was laid out by Benjamin Tappan early in 1808, and tbe plat acknowledged by him April 22 of that year before Henry O'Neill, a Justice of the Peace of Franklin Township, Trumbull Co. (now in Portage), Ohio, which township then embraced a large scope of territory in Portage County, subse- quently divided into several townships. The State Commissioners previously mentioned soon afterward selected Ravenna as the seat of justice for Portage County, and reported the result of their labors to the Court of Common Pleas of said county at its first session the following August. The original town plat contained 192 lots, four of which were donated by Judge Tappan for pub- lic uses, viz.: Nos. 22 and 78 for school sites, and Nos. 52 and 108 for churches. He also gave a piece of ground at the southwest corner of the town plat for a grave-yard, for which purpose it was used several years. On the 25th of April, 1809, the Commissioners of Portage County purchased of Judge Ben- jamin Tappan, as the agent of his father, Benjamin Tappan, of Northampton, Mass., Lots Nos. 55, 56 and 57, whereon the Court House and Jail now stand, for the sum of $300, the acknowledgment of the deed for said lots being made by Judge Tappan on the same date before Joseph Harris, a Justice of the Peace of Portage County. The next things necessary were a Court House and Jail, and under the date of December 5, 1809, the following item appears on the Commissioner's journal: Mr. William Tappan entered into an agreement in behalf of himself and John Tap- pan, to erect at the seat of justice in Ravenna at their own expense a Court House forty feet long, thirty feet wide and twenty feet high, the lower story to be finished for the accommodation of the Court, etc. ; and to build a log Jail two stories high, twenty-five feet long and twenty feet wide, the lower story to contain three rooms, and a chimney to con- tain two tire-places, one on each story; and the said William and John, on the completion of the said Court House and Jail, are to receive those lots given by Benjamin Tappan for the use of the county. From the wording of this agreement we would naturally infer that Ben- jamin Tappan had donated some lots to the county, but there is not the stroke of a pen on record to show that Portage County ever received a foot of land from Judge Tappan or from any other member of the Tappan family, only what she paid for. We have already shown that the lots upon which the Court House and Jail now stand were purchased of Judge Tappan for the sum of $300, a copy of the deed for which may be found in the Recorder's office, and this is the only transaction on record relating in the remotest degree to the subject, as the lots given for the sites of churches and schools, as well as the block of land for burial purposes, were for the use of the citizens of Ravenna and not for Portage County. Judge Tappan, however, may have agreed to donate certain lots for public uses, though never legally transferring them to the county, and the Commissioners concluding to locate the public buildings on their present site, turned over their right to said lots to William and John Tappan, to whom the deed was subsequently made, yet there is not an iota of evidence on record to give any foundation for this theory, only the agreement for erecting the Court House and Jail made between the Tappans and the County Commissioners December 5, 1809. The buildings were completed in the summer of 1810. The Court House was a frame structure, and stood a little northwest of the present commodious building. The Courier in its issue of October 21, 1826, thus comments on this structure: "Portage County can boast, on the score of public build- ings, nothing but a shell, which is alternately occupied by bipeds and quad- rupeds, and which, from its dilapidated state, is equally easy of access to both — and in which, we may, at different times, hear the preachers of the Gospel, the expounders of the law, and the birch of the schoolmaster, and consequently 318 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. the squalls of the children, the squealing of the pigs and the bleating of sheep. 'Tis, in fact, occupied as a Court House and meeting-house, and we all know it has become proverbial as the county sheep-pen." In 1829 it was sold to Gen. Samuel D. Harris, who removed it to the site of Merts & Riddle's factory. After standing unoccupied for several years it was purchased by James Clark & Co., who converted it into a carriage-shop, which was subsequently owned and operated by N. D. Clark & Co. The factory passed thence into the possession of Merts & Riddle, and was burned down August 11, 1871. The first story of the Jail was built of hewn logs, eighteen inches square, and was floored and roofed in the same manner. The Sheriff's residence was in one side of the building, while the second story over the Jail proper was also occupied by that officer. This building stood on the south- west corner of the present Jail site, but was removed soon after the completion of the second Jail, in November, 1819. It does not seem to have given very good satisfaction, judging from the following protests made to the Commis- Hioners by two successive Sheriffs. Portage County, July 16, 1810. To the Clerk of Commissioners of Portage Go^inty. — I protest against the Jail of this couuty with my solemn declaration that it is an insufficient Jail. Alva Day, Sheriff. Portage County, February 9, 1811. I, the subscriber, do hereby protest against the Jail of Portage County, it being entirely insufficient to secure a prisoner. John Campbell, Sheriff'. A few years after the erection of the first Court House and Jail, a very sub- stantial one-story brick building, 30x60, was erected upon the site of the new portion of the present Court House. It contained two rooms, which were occupied as the offices of the Recorder, the Clerk, and the Commissioners' Clerk. This building continued in use until the second Court House was in process of erection, when it was torn down, and the material used in the walls of the new structure. In April, 1818, steps were taken by the Commissioners toward the erection of a new Jail, and three lots in Ravenna, viz.. No. 175, 176 and 177, were pur- chased of William Tappan for the sum of |90, the purchase being agreed to December 31, 1818, and the contract consummated on the 5th of January fol- lowing. On the last day of December, 1818, a contract was made with Oviatt & Kent for the erection of a frame Jail, to cost $1,520. As these old buildings are of some historic interest to the present generation, we here give a partial copy of the agreement. Oviatt & Kent having given bond in the sum of $3,050 for the faithful performance of the contract, the agreement goes on to say: The conditions of the above obligation are such that, whereas, the above bound Oviatt & Kent hath undertaken to build a good and sufficient Jail for the county of Portage, thirty-two feet in width by thirty-four feet in length, two stories high, and furnish them- selves with all the materials, and finish it off complete for the sum of $1,520, the building to be divided in the following manner, viz. : The lower story, fourteen feet off one end to be built of good sound white oak timber, hewn fourteen inches square, without wane, and divided into two rooms, witli a space-way between of four feet in the clear, and floored under and over with timber of the same description as the walls, with one fifteen-light window in the back end of the hall, in two sashes and very strongly grated with iron; one door out of the space-way into each of the prison rooms, and one into the other part of the house, all made double with two-inch white oak plank and covered on the inside with sheet-iron at least one-eighth of an inch thick, and doubled over the edge of the door and very strongly nailed with stout nails, and hung with large iron hinges suitable for doors of such weight and size, and one large and sufficient lock on each of the three doors. * * Those two prison rooms were supplied with ventilation and light through an iron-grated hole, fourteen inches in height by three feet in length, cut through the log walls into the dividing hall-way. When the reader is informed that under each of those cells, and connecting therewith, were the closets or sinks HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 319 used by the prisoners, the excrement being allowed to filter through a stoned drain, he can readily discern the great improvements that have been made in the sanitary condition of our prisons during the past three-quarters of a cen- tury. This portion of the building was to have a solid hard-head atone foun- dation, the remainder to be of common stone well laid. The other twenty feet of the lower story was divided into four rooms: a Sheriff's office, a bed- room, a kitchen and a buttery, a large fire-place at the end of the building serving the two-fold purpose of cooking and heating. A strongly- walled cel- lar, fourteen feet square, was constructed under the kitchen, and the second story was reached by a stairway from the same room. The upper story was divided into seven apartments. Two debtors' rooms were constructed imme- diately over the lower prison cells, and of the same dimensions as the lower ones, but each was provided with an iron-grated window from which the inmates might view their fellow citizens upon the outside who had not the misfortune to be burdened with the crime of poverty. Those rooms also pos- sessed a small fire-place, while the occupants of the lower cells had to get along without tire. On the opposite end from the debtors' prison Avere four rooms, two of which were used as sleeping apartments, and the others for various purposes. The building was covered on the outside with two-inch white oak plank laid on perpendicularly, and framed into the sill and upper plate, and pinned on the joists, and then weather-boarded with common siding. This Jail was completed according to contract by the middle of Novem- ber, 1819, and stands across the alley from the Congregational Church, on the northeast corner of Meridian and Oak Streets. Upon the erection of the pres- ent Jail the log portion was removed, and the building converted into a dwell- ing, which is now (December, 1884,) occupied as the residence of S. L. Jen- nings, Esq. On the 5th of September, 1826, the Commissioners took into consideration the expediency of building a new Court House, and gave public notice that sealed proposals would be received at the Auditor's office until the first Mon- day in December for furnishing materials for the new structure. In the latter month the Commissioners advertised for proposals for 150,000 bricks to be delivered near the Court House in Ravenna by the first Monday of March, 1828. The contract for the erection of the building was finally let to Zenas Kent in the spring of 1828, and on the 11th of February, 1830, it was completed and accepted by the Commissioners, having cost in full about $7,000. It was a long, two-story brick building of the Grecian Temple order, six wooden col- umns on the front upholding a projecting roof, which was surmounted by a cupola. The county offices were located in the lower story, while the court- room is the same one now occupied. In the erection of the new Court House about twenty feet were cut off the front part of the old one to make room for the more modern structure. The present two-story stone Jail on the public square bad its inception June 13, 1836, when the Commissioners concluded to take the necessary meas- ures toward the erection of a new Jail, and bids were ordered to be advertised for in the county papers. The plan of the Jail, adopted September 6, 1836, was drawn by Mr. Medbury, Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary, while the small residence adjoining it on the west was an after consideration, added to the plans by John N. Skinner, the Recorder, and Samuel Foljambe, the Auditor. On the 20th of October, 1836, the bid of Ebenezer Rawson was accepted, but it was not until the 8th of December following that the contract was let to Rawson, for the sum of $9,100. Toward the completion of the building a dis- agreement arose between the contractor and the Commissioners as to the proper 320 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. remuneration for certain work needed on the Jail, which the specifications did not expressly stipulate. The matter was left to a board of arbitration, which on the 16th of July, 1839, decided that Rawson should put in certain extras and receive $284.68 over and above the original contract price of the Jail. Rawson was evidently dissatisfied with the decision, for he neglected to f alfiU its terms, and the building was finally comj)leted, in May, 1840, by William Stinaff, whom the Commissioners employed to carry out the decision of the arbitration. The building has fully answered the purposes for which it was erected, but its location for many reasons is objectionable, and it is only a question of a few years when it will be replaced by a more modern one, located on a more eligible site. On the 13th of October, 1856, the Commis- sioners purchased of John G. DeWolf Lot 58, upon which the engine house now stands, for $1,500; and July 13, 1857, the legal right to the public alley, which originally ran east and west in the rear of the Court House, was obtained, and the alley became the property of the county. The elegant and commodious Court House now adorning the public square in Ravenna, was built by authority of a special act of the Legislature passed March 11, 1881, " to authorize the Commissioners of Portage County to build a fire proof addition and to remodel and repair the present Court House in said county and to issue bonds therefor.'' The design of the building was pre- pared by Samuel W. Lane, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio, and the contract for the erection of the new structure and remodeling the old one was awarded to Mr. P. B. Carpenter, of Conneautville, Penn., in June, 1881, for the sum of $32,- 226, but subsequent changes in the specifications ran the cost up to $39,622.90. The new building was completed and occupied in September, 1882, and the old portion subsequently remodeled and finished. The following figures are an authentic estimate of the original cost of the Court House: Contractor, $39,622.90; architect's labor, $1,540; steam-heating apparatus, $4,600; vaults, $619.35; furniture, $3,815; clock, $1,250; grates and mantels, $435; gas fix- tures, $340.22; carpets for court room, $293.13; stone pavement in front of Court House, $444; total cost, $52,959.60. It is a handsome brick structure, two stories and a half in height, with a lofty mansard roof (making the build- ing more than three stories high), and with its artistic stone trimmings, both modern in design and finish, will favorably compare with the best county buildings of the State. A fine clock occupies the tower, and a large figure of justice surmounts the dome. At the main entrance is a substantial stone portico, upheld by six handsome stone pillars, adding much to the beauty of the front view of the building. On the first floor are the offices of the Recorder, Treasurer, Auditor, Commissioners, Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney and Surveyor; and on the second floor those of the Probate Judge and Clerk, also the court room and jury rooms. The whole interior is hand- somely finished in black walnut and butternut, and the stairways partly in cherry, while the large, well-lighted offices, furnished in black walnut, and possessing fire-proof vaults, where the valuable records are absolutely safe fl'om destruction, harmonize thoroughly with the progressive spirit of the age. The halls and stairways are wide, and the ceilings high and airy, while a general air of utility and comfort pervades throughout the building. Prison Bounds. — Upon the establishment of the American Government, many of the laws previously existing under English rule were partly or wholly retained on the statute books of the young Republic. Imprisonment for debt was one of those relics of barbarism which existed for seventy-five years after the Declaration of Independence. This law was an outrage upon honest pov- erty, and the cause of untold misery to hundreds of struggling pioneer families. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 321 The prisoner confined for debt, upon giving good security to his creditors, was allowed his freedom inside of a certain defined limit surrounding the Jail known as the "prison bounds," but by crossing the established line he forfeited even this small grain of liberty. In 1799 a law was enacted by the Terri- torial Assembly establishing 200 yards as the dimensions of the prison bounds. This was increased in 1800 to 440 yards, but reduced in 1805 to 400. In 1821 the village or town limits became the boundary line, and in 1833 the "bounds" were made co-extensive with the county. Thus they remained until the adop- tion of the Constitution of 1851, when the law having almost become a "dead letter," was expunged from the statutes of Ohio. At the April term of the Court of Common Pleas of Portage County, in 1809, the Court assigned the following prison bounds: "Beginning at a stake and stones eleven chains north, forty-five degrees east from said prison, thence south twenty chains; thence west fifteen chains; thence north twenty chains; thence east fifteen chains to the first bounds." The action of the Court was in conformity with the then existing State law; but with the progress of civilization all such laws become obnoxious to the spirit of humanity which true civilization engenders, and therefore give way to a more just and enlightened policy. County Infirmary. — Throughout the pioneer days of Portage County each township supported its own poor, but finally this duty devolved upon the county, and the indigent were "farmed out" to those who would keep them the cheap- est. This method did not prove very satisfactory, as the unfortunate poor were in many cases treated badly. It was finally decided by the Commission- ers to establish a county farm where the poor could be collectively supported, and at the annual election held in April, 1839, the citizens of Portage voted in favor of the proposed institution. The Commissioners advertised at once for a cultivated farm of from 125 to 200 acres on which to erect a "County Poor House," and on the 29th of April accepted the proposal of David Mcin- tosh, to sell them his farm in Shalersville Township, consisting of 162 acres of land, in Lots Nos. 62 and 79, with buildings, stock and farming imple- ments thereon, for the sum of $5,000. On the 3d of May following the pur- chase was completed and possession given, and on the same date the Commis- sioners appointed Darius Lyman, David Mcintosh and Frederick Williams, a Board of Directors to take charge of and manage the affairs of said poor farm. For ten years no additions were made to the farm, which was found ample for the necessities of the institution; but the number accepting its benefits kept increasing with the growth in population, and in April, 1849, the Com- missioners purchased of Erastus Chapman an additional tract of 129.47 acres, located in Lots Nos. 63 and 64, for the sum of $2,524.60. In June, 1850, they exchanged 56.41 acres of land in Lot No. 62, being the north part of the original farm, with Noble Haven for the same amount in Lot No. 61, adjoining the farm on the south. The buildings finally became inadequate, and a new one was regarded as a necessity, therefore, in April, 1858, the Commissioners advertised for bids to erect a new brick Infirmary building. The plans of H. N. Bostwick, Esq., were adopted, and in May the contract was let to Samuel H. Bloomer, Abraham Bloomer, Elisha Brigham and J. S. Brigham, for the sum of $4,988, the building to be completed by the 25th of November, 1858. This structure, together with the frame buildings standing there when the farm was purchased, served the purposes of the institution for about fourteen years, but on the 8th of February, 1872, the contracts for an additional wing to the main Infirmary building were let as follows: The masonry, brick work, etc., to Messrs. Brigham & Jennings, for the sum of $5,400, and the carpeu- 322 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. tering, painting, glazing, etc., to Johnson & Babcock for $4,588. The addi- tion was completed in the fall of 1872, but extras ran the cost a good deal above the original contract price. Brigham & Jennings were paid in Novem ber, 1872, $1,091.59 for flagging and repairs; while Peter Martin, of Cleve- land, received $4,000 for putting in the heating and ventilating apparatus, making the total expense of the improvements carried out in 1872 over $15,- 000. The main Infirmary building is an L shaped brick structure, two and a half stories high, but a portion of the original building purchased with the farm is yet standing and in use. The farms now contain about 300 acres of first-class land, while the institution is self-supporting, and pays a good inter- est on the capital invested, besides having furnished through the passing years a comfortable home for hundreds of unfortunate poor. Political Statistics. — The political history of Portage County, even if written correctly and devoid of prejudice, would be of very little utility to the average reader, and when we take into consideration the utter impossibility of accomplishing such a task, we think it best, for the sake of historical truth, to illustrate the county's political complexion by simply giving the vote it cast for each Gubernatorial candidate since 1808, together with that polled in a few of the Presidential contests. It may, however, be of some interest to the present and future generations to know who the candidates for the several county offices were at the first election, held June 8, 1808, also the names of the voters at that election. The polling place was at the house of Benjamin Tappan, which stood where Marcus Heath's residence now stands, east of Ravenna. Eighty -seven votes were cast, distributed as follows: For Commis- sioners, Abel Sabin, of Randolph, 86; Joel Gaylord, of Hudson, 84; Lewis Day, of Deerfield, 49; Elias Harmon, of Mantua, 42. For Sheriff, Alva Day, of Deerfield, 47; John Campbell, of Charlestown, 38 (these two gentlemen were again the candidates for Sheriff in October, 1808, with the following result: Alva Day, 151; John Campbell, 140). For Coroner, Lewis Day, of Deerfield, 38; Samuel Andrews, of Rootstown, 31; David Root, of Rootstown, 14. All of the successful candidates were supporters of President Jefferson's administration. The following list of voters at the election of June 8, 1808, together with the present names of the townships in which they then resided, were copied from the returns made at that time, and are therefore reliable. John Campbell and Abel Sabin, though candidates, did not vote: Silas Tinker, Jr., Mantua. Heman Oviatt, Hudson. Frederick Caris, Jr., Rootstown. Stephen Upson, Suffield. Benjamin Tappan, Ravenna. Horatio Day, Deerfield. Frederick Caris, Sr. , Rootstown. Joel Baker, Shalersville. John Caris, Rootstown. John Creighton, Ravenna. William Chard, Ravenna. David Hudson, Hudson. Samuel Bishop, Hudson. Benjamin Whedon, Hudson. Samuel Simcox, Ravenna. Josiah Ward, Randolph. Moses Thompson, Hudson. Isaac Mills, Nelson. James Robinson, Northampton. Jonathan Foster, Suffield. Aaron Norton, Tallmadge. Oliver Dickinson, Randolph. Robert Walker, Ravenna. Delaun Mills, Nelson. David Jennings, Ravenna. John Goss, Randolph. John Boosinger, Ravenna. John Wright, Sr., Ravenna. Daniel Haynes, Ravenna. William Wetmore, Stow. John Chapman, Deerfield. Jacob Eatinger, Ravenna. Thomas Wright, Ravenna. Jacob Stough, Ravenna. /- A > f / Jpy^y'co^o-^T^i^;^ HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 325 Arthur Anderson, Ravenna. Phillip Willyard, Eootstown. Michael Simcox, Ravenna. Nathan Chapman, Rootstown. John Wright, Jr., Ravenna. Abraham Toms, Ravenna. Jotham Atwater, Mantua. Abel Forsha, Ravenna. Samuel Baldwin, Aurora. John Ward, Ravenna. Jotham Blakesly, Ravenna. Samuel McCoy, Rootstown. Oliver Mills, Hiram. James Laughlin, Deerfield. Samuel Moore, Mantua. Oliver Forward, Aurora. Henry Rogers, Deerfield. George W^ilber, Atwater. Samuel H. Ferguson, Aurora. Beman Chapman, Rootstown. Nathan Muzzy, Deerfield. Ephriam Chapman, Rootstown. Asa Betts, Deerfield. Enoch Harrymon, Ravenna. Stephen Mason, Deerfield. Joseph Murrill, Deerfield. Calvin Ward, Randolph. Henry Ely, Randolph. Jeremiah Sabin, Randolph. Ebenezer Goss, Randolph. Joseph Harris, Randolph. Amzi Atwater, Mantua. Joel Gaylord, Hudson. Samuel Andrews, Rootstown. David Goss, Randolph. Elias Harmon, Mantua. Lewis Day, Deerfield. Seth Day, Deerfield. David Root, Rootstown. Bazel Windsor, Jr., Mantua. Bela Hubbard, Randolph. John McWhorter, Ravenna. Henry O'Neil, Rootstown. William Price, Ravenna. Asa D. Keyes, Shalersville. Conrad Boosinger, Ravenna. Henry Sapp, Ravenna. Aaron Weston, Randolph. Robert Campbell, Ravenna. David Moore, Ravenna. Gersham Bostwick, Rootstown. Reuben Tupper, SufiQeld. Alva Day, Deerfield. 1808 — Vote for Governor: Samuel Huntington, 118; Thomas Worthington, 152; Thomas Kirker, 9. Total, 279. 1810 — Vote for Governor: Return J. Meigs, 250; Thomas Worthington, 28. Total, 278. 1812— Vote for Governor: Return J. Meigs, 295; Thomas Scott, 000. Total, 295. 1814 — Vote for Governor: Thomas Worthington, 367; Othniel Looker, 78. Total, 445. 1816 — Vote for Governor: Thomas Worthington, 99; James Dunlap, 000; Ethan Allen Brown, 320. Total, 419. 1818 — Vote for Governor: Ethan Allen Brown, 558; James Dunlap, 1. Total, 559. 1820 — Vote for Governor: Ethan Allen Brown, 679; Jeremiah Mon-ow, 24; William Heory Harrison, 28. Total, 731. 1822— Vote for Governor: Jeremiah Morrow, 833; Allen Trimble, 202; William W. Irvin, 16. Total, 1,051. 1824 — Vote for Governor: Jeremiah Morrow, 60; Allen Trimble, 1,090. Total, 1,150. 1826— Vote for Governor: Allen Trimble, 1,055; John Bigger, 2; Alexan- der Campbell, 1; Benjamin Tappan, 7. Total, 1,065. 1828 — Vote for Governor: Allen Trimble (National Republican), 1,414; John W. Campbell (Democrat), 437. Total, 1,851. 1828 — Vote for President: John Quincv Adams (National Republican), 2,110; Andrew Jackson (Democrat), 853. Total, 2,963. 1830 — Vote for Governor: Duncan McArthur (National Republican), 1,562; Robert Lucas (Democrat), 625. Total, 2,187. 18 326 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 1832 — Vote for Governor: Darius Lyman (Whig and Anti-Mason), 2,084; Robert Lucas (Democrat), 1,368. Total, 3,452. 1832 — Vote for President: Andrew Jackson (Democrat), 1,406; Henry Clay (Whig), 2,327; William Wirt (Anti-Mason), 2. Total, 3,735. 1834 — Vote for Governor: Robert Lucas (Democrat). 2,074; James Find- lay (Whig and Anti -Mason), 2,362. Total, 4,436. 1836 — Vote for Governor: Joseph Vance (Whig and Anti- Mason), 3,056; Eli Baldwin (Democrat), 2,525. Total, 5,581. 1836— Vote for President: William Henry Harrison (Whig), 3,302; Mar- tin Van Buren (Democrat), 2,683. Total, 5,985. 1838 — Vote for Governor: Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 3,051; Joseph Vance (Whig and Anti-Mason), 3,252. Total, 6,303. 1840 — Vote for Governor: Thomas Corwin (Whig), 2,544; Wilson Shan- non (Democrat), 2,120. Total, 4,664. 1840 — Vote for President: William Henry Harrison (Whig), 2,542; Mar- tin Van Buren (Democrat), 1,963; James G. Birney (Liberty), 16. Total, 4,503. 1842 — Vote for Governor: Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 2,181; Thomas Corwin (Whig), 2,301; Leicester King (Abolition or Free Soil), 133. Total, 4,615. 1844— Vote for Governor: Mordecai Bartley (Whig), 2,467; David Tod (Democrat), 2,360; Leicester King (Abolition or Free Soil), 234. Total, 5,061. 1846— Vote for Governor: William Bebb (Whig), 1,858; David Tod (Democrat), 1841 ; Samuel Lewis (Abolition or Free Soil), 163. Totai, 3,862. 1848— Vote for Governor: John B. Weller (Democrat), 2,234; Seabury Ford (Whig), 2,249. Total, 4,483. 1850 — Vote for Governor: Reuben Wood (Democrat), 2,104; William Johnston (Whig), 1,249; Edward Smith (Abolition or Free Soil), 000. Total, 3,353. 1851 — Vote for Governor: Reuben Wood (Democrat), 2,198; Samuel F. Vinton (Whig), 1,117; Samuel Lewis (Abolition or Free Soil), 787. Total, 4,102. 1853— Vote for Governor: William Medill (Democrat), 2,160; Nelson Barrere (Whig), 682; Samuel Lewis (Abolition or Free Soil), 1,222. Total, 4,064. 1855— Vote for Governor: William Medill (Democrat), 1,861; Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 2,660; Allen Trimble (American or Know-nothiug), 10. Total, 4,531. 1857 — Vote for Governor: Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 2,696; Henry B. Payne (Democrat), 1,956; Philip Van Trump (Know-nothing), 000. Total, 4,652. 1859 — Vote for Governor: William Dennison (Republican), 2,620; Rufus P. Ranney (Democrat), 2,038. Total, 4,658. 1860 — Vote for President: Abraham Lincoln (Republican), 3,065; Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat), 1,970; John C. Breckinridge (Democrat), 117; John Bell (American or Union), 7. Total, 5,159. 1861— Vote for Governor: David Tod (Republican), 3,274; Hugh J. Jewett (Democrat), 559. Total, 3,833. 1863— Vote for Governor: John Brough (Republican), 3,677; Clement L. Vallandigham (Democrat), 1,788. Total, 5,465. 1864 — Vote for President: Abraham Lincoln (Republican), 3,478; George B. McClellan (Democrat), 1,918. Total, 5,396. 1865 — Vote for Governor: Jacob D. Cox, (Republican), 2,853; George W. Morgan (Democrat), 1,932. Total, 4,785. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 327 1867— Vote for Governor: Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), 3,342; Allen G. Tharman (Democrat), 2,817. Total, 5,659. 1868 — Vote for President: Ulysses S. Grant (Republican), 3,604; Horatio Seymour (Democrat), 2,362. Total, 5,966. 1869— Vote for Governor: Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), 3,213: George H. Pendleton (Democrat), 2,241. Total, 5,454. 1871— Vote for Governor: Edward F. Noyes (Republican), 2,970; George W. McCook (Democrat), 2,139; Gideon T. Stewart (Prohibition), 47. Total, 5,156. 1872 — Vote for President: Ulysses S. Gi'ant (Republican), 3,478; Horace Greeley (Independent Republican and Democrat), 2,438; James Black (Green- back), 27; Charles O'Connor (Independent Democrat), 50. Total, 5,993. 1873— Vote for Governor: Edward F. Noyes (Republican), 2,285; William Allen (Democrat), 2,056; Gideon T. Stewart (Prohibition), 272; Isaac Collins (Liberal), 24. Total, 4,637. 1875 — Vote for Governor: Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), 3,402; William Allen (Democrat), 2,859; Jay Odell (Prohibition), 54. Total, 6,315. 1876— Vote for President: Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat), 3,006; Ruther- ford B. Hayes (Republican), 3,712; G. Clay Smith (Prohibition), 27; Peter Cooper (Greenback), 14. Total, 6,759. 1877— Vote for Governor: William H. West (Republican), 3,031; Richard M. Bishop (Democrat), 2,624; Stephen Johnson (Greenback), 287; Henry A. Thompson (Prohibition), 69. Total, 6,011. 1879 — Vote for Governor: Charles Foster (Republican), 3,652; Thomas Ewing (Democrat), 3,104; A. Sanders Piatt (Greenback), 114; Gideon T. Stewart (Prohibition), 56. Total, 6,926. 1880— Vote for President: James A. Garfield (Republican), 3,990; Win- field Scott Hancock (Democrat), 3,147; James B. Weaver (Greenback), 86; Neal Dow, (Prohibition), 36. Total, 7,259. 1881 — Vote for Governor: Charles Foster (Republican), 3,365; John W. Bookwalter (Democrat), 2,548; Abraham R. Ludlow (Prohibition), 116; John Seitz (Greenback), 70. Total, 6,099. 1883 — Vote for Governor: Joseph B. Foraker (Republican), 3,381; George Hoadly (Democrat), 3,002; Ferdinand Schumacker (Prohibition), 167; Charles Jenkins (Greenback), 41. Total, 6,591. 1884 — Vote for President: Grover Cleveland (Democrat), 3,273; James G. Blaine (Republican), 3,931; John P. St. John (Prohibition), 217; Benjamin F. Butler (Greenback Labor Reform), 122. Total, 7,543. 328 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. CHAPTER X. The Judiciary— Organization of the Court of Common Pleas in Ohio, and ITS Subsequent Changes— Pioneer Courts of Portage County— Sessions of 1808-09, AND the Juries and Trials of Those Two Years— Anecdotes OF Pioneer Justice in This County— Common Pleas Judges— Associate Judges— Prosecuting Attorneys— Eiding the Circuit — Pioneer Resi- dent AND Visiting Lawyers— Brief Sketches of Leading Members of the Bench and Bar— Present Bar of Portage County— The Portage County Medical Association. AS people often fail to agree respecting their rights and duties, and as they sometimes violate their agreements, and even disobey those rules and regulations prescribed for their conduct, it is necessary that tribunals should be provided to administer justice, to determine and declare the rights of disagreeing parties, to investigate and decide whether the laws are observed or violated, and to pronounce judgment according to law and the just deserts of the citizen. These determinations are called judicial. Upon the organi- zation of the Northwest Territory, courts were established and laws promul- gated for its proper government. The Court of Common Pleas was the first to take shape, being established by the Governor and Judges at Marietta, August 23, 1788. This Court was first composed of not less than three and not more than five Justices, appointed by the Governor in each county, and known as the "County Court of Common Fleas," but in 1790 the number of Justices was increased to not less than three and not more than seven in each county, and the regular sessions were, by the same act, increased from two to four annually. When Ohio was admitted into the Union, its judiciary was re-organized. The State was divided into circuits, for each of which a Judge, who had to be a lawyer in good standing, was elected by the General Assembly, whose term of office was seven years. Three Associate Judges were chosen in each county by the same body, and for the same length of service, and were usually farmers or intelligent business men. The President Judge with the Associates com- posed the Court of Common Pleas of each county, and thus this Court remained until the re-organization of the judiciary under the Constitution of 1851. That instrument provided for the division of the State into judicial districts, and each district into subdivisions. It abolished the office of Associate Judge, and directed- that in each sub-division one Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, who had to be a resident thereof, should be elected by its qualified elec- tors. The official term was fixed at five years, and the Legislature reserved the power to increase the number of Judges in each subdivision whenever such became necessary. Prior to the erection of Portage County, all of its judicial business, except- ing that transacted by its Justices of the Peace, was done at Warren, the county seat of Trumbull County. The first session of the Court of Common Pleas in this county left the following record of its preliminary proceedings: "State of Ohio, County of Portage, Tuesday, August 23,- 1808. This being the day appointed by law for the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas for said county, the Court opened, present Calvin Pease, Esq. , President, and William Wetmore, Aaron Norton and Amzi Atwater, Esqs., Associate Judges. HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 329 "The report of Robert Simison, Samuel Hunter and Rezin Beall, Com- missioners appointed to fix the seat of justice for the County of Portage, was made to the Court, which being read was ordered to be recorded. " Ordered that the Court adjourn till 2 o'clock in the afternoon to meet at the house of Robert Eaton. " Tuesday, 2 o'clock, afternoon, the Court opened pursuant to adjournment, present, the same judges as in the morning. "The grand jury being called, came to-wit: Ebenezer Pease, Samuel Bishop, David Hudson, Robert Bissel, Moses Thompson, Stephen Baldwin, Samuel Andrus, Jacob Reed, John Campbell, Wiley Hamilton, Ethelbert Baker, Alfred Wolcott, John Hutton, Jeremiah Root and David Abbott. The Court appointed David Hudson, Esq., foreman of the grand jury, and the jury being sworn and affirmed, were charged by the Court and sent out." The act erecting the county designated the house of Benjamin Tappan as the place for holding the courts until a seat of justice should be selected; but tradition says that when the Court met at the appointed place on Tuesday morning, August 23, 1808, Tappan's residence was a smoldering rain, having been burned to the ground the previous night, and that the Court organized in the open air under the spreading branches of a large tree. The writer cannot vouch for the truth or falsity of this pioneer tradition, but it is, however, a fact, that after organizing and accepting the report of the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to select the site for the county seat, the Court adjourned to meet at Robert Eaton's house in the afternoon of the same day. This building, which is yet standing in a good state of preservation, is now (January, 1885,) the residence of R. J. Thompson, Esq., and is located about two miles and a half southeast of Ravenna. It was utilized by the Common Pleas' and Commissioners' Courts until the completion of the first Court House in 1810, and is therefore very closely identified with the early history of the county. The first case that came before the Court at this session was the petition in chancery of James Beatty vs. Benjamin Tappan and Benjamin Tappan, Jr , which was continued until the succeeding term. The second case was a petition for par- tition of Ezekiel Williams, Jr., and others vs. Timothy Burr and others, which was also continued to allow notice of said petition to be advertised in the Westeim Herald, of Steubenville, Ohio, and the American Mercury, of Hartford, Conn. The next business was the appointment of Joel Walter as administrator of the estate of Heman Lucas, deceased, of Hudson, with David Hudson, Owen Brown and Abraham Thompson, appraisers of said estate. The Court then appointed Asa D. Keyes Prosecuting Attorney, which position he filled until the close of 1808. John Cochrane and Amzi Atwater, administrators on the estate of Solomon Cochrane, were given authority to fulfill the terms of a con- tract previously entered into by the deceased, in the sale of fifty acres of land to James Nutt. By this time the evening of the first day was fast approaching, and, the whisky bottle having circulated pretty freely, some of the audience had grown boisterous. The Court thereupon decided to uphold its dignity, which the following official item attests: State of Ohio, ) vs. >• Summary proceeding for contempt. Samuel Taylor. ) This day came the said Samuel Taylor in custody of the Sheriff, and is set to the bar of the Court, to receive the sentence of the law for a contempt this day committed in open court, by disorderlj' and contemptuous behavior, of which the said Samuel is con- victed on the personal view of the Court, whereupon it is considered by the Court that the said Samuel for the contempt aforesaid pay a fine of $5 into the treasury of the County of Portage, and the cost of prosecution, and stand committed until sentence is performed. 330 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. The last business of the first day's proceedings was a cas'e in debt of Zebina Wetherbee vs. John Haymaker and George Haymaker, which was continued till the next term. The Court then adjourned until the following morning, Wednesday, August 24, which was largely ta^en up with probate business and suits in debt, the latter being generally continued. The grand jury, however, appeared with two indictments against William Simcox, of Franklin Township, one for larceny and one for "breach of the Sabbath," after which it was dis- charged. The larceny case consisted of an accusation that Wilcox shot a tame deer, valued at |3, belonging to David Jennings, of Franklin Township, and took the carcass to his home. The following jury was impaneled and tried the case: Abraham Thompson, George W. Holcomb, Oliver Forward, William Skinner, William Kennedy, Jr., William Price, John Campbell, Frederick Caris, William Calhoon, John Whittlesey, Enos Davis and Ephraim B. Hub- bard. The accused pleaded not guilty, and though vigorously prosecuted by Prosecutor Keyes, he was so found by the jury, and discharged from custody. The second charge against Simcox was, that on the 15th of June, 1808, he "wick- edly and maliciously interrupted, molested and disturbed the religious society of said Franklin Township, while meeting, assembled and returning from divine worship, by sporting and hunting game with guns and hounds." We would be apt to conclude upon reading this serious charge, that the defendant was what is now commonly known as a " bad man,'' but those were the days when any deviation from the Puritanical ideas of the majority of the first set- tlers, was looked upon as a heinous crime. Simcox pleaded guilty to the charge of Sabbath breaking, and was fined $1.50 and costs, the latter amounting to $5. This closed the first session of the Court of Common Pleas of Portage County. On the 27th of December, 1808, the second session of the Court of Com- mon Pleas opened, with William Wetmore, Aaron Norton and Amzi Atwater, Associate Judges, on the bench, and lasted three days. The grand jury called at this term was composed of the following pioneers: David Daniels, Ira Morse, David Jennings, Amos Lusk (foreman), Moses Pond, John Red- ding, Titus Wetmore, George Darrow, Sr., Nathan Moore, George Taylor, Enoch Judson, Caleb Wetmore, David Hudson, Jeremiah Root and Stephen Mason. It found but one indictment, viz. : Against John Boosinger, for assault, who acknowledged his guilt, and was fined $4 and costs, the whole coming to $9.21. The three days were principally taken up in probate busi- ness, cases of debt, petitions in chancery and partition, most of the suits being continued until the following term. The proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas during the second year were almost a repetition of the first, though breaches of the peace became more numerous as the population increased, and at every session there were more or less cases tried in which muscular development had attempted to invade the rights of the law by settling disputes in the old-fashioned way of personal combat. The April term, 1809, was held by the three Associates who presided at the previous December sitting, with Thomas D. Webb as Prosecut- ing Attorney. The grand jurors called at this session were Elias Harmon (foreman), James Carter, Gersham Bostwick, Owen Brown, Hiram Roundy, Nathan Sears, Ebenezer Goss, Bela Hubbard, David Waller, Gersham Jud- son, James M. Hendry (now spelled Henry), Stephen Upson, Timothy Bishop, Jacob Reed and David Root. Indictments were returned against Epaphrodi- tus Stiles and John McManus for assault and battery. The term lasted four days, from the 25th to the 28th inclusive, and the only petit jury empaneled were as follows: Pascal R. Mcintosh, Oliver Dickinson, Oliver C. Dickinson, HISTORY OF rORTAGE COUNTY. 331 Benjamin Oviatt, Mahlon Calvin, Ezra Wyatt, Daniel Stow, Thomas Vanhy- ning, Silas Waller, Asher Ely, David Baldwin and Stephen Cotton, before whom James Walker was tried for an assault upon Robert Campbell, and con- victed. The next session was held August 22, 23 and 24, 1809, by Hon. Calvin Pease and the three Associates of the previous terms. The grand jury was composed of the following citizens: Gamaliel Kent, Isaac Mills, John Rudolph, David Jennings, Arthur Anderson, Ebenezer Bostwick, James Laugh- lin, Aaron Miller, David Hudson (foreman), Jonathan Sprague, Raphael Hurl- but, George Darrow, Jr., Amos Lusk, Lewie Ely and Samuel Bishop. The first petit jury of this term tried a non-assumpsit case of John Wright, Sr., vs. Frederick Caris, and decided in favor of the plaintiff. The jurors of this panel were Jeremiah Root, David Pond, Moses Smith, Anson Beman, Mun Day, Adam Vance, Henry Vanhyning, Elisha Perkins, Reuben Parker, Henry Bryan, William Neil and Joseph Fisher. The second petit jury tried and convicted John McManus for assault and battery. Its members were Reuben Parker, Joseph Fisher, Henry Vanhyning, Frederick Caris, Jr., Jeremiah Root, William Neil, David Pond, Elisha Perkins, Moses Smith, Anson Beman, Mun Day and Henry Bryan. The third jury trial of this session was a no7i- assumpsit suit of Caleb Wetmore vs. Elijah Wadsworth, the jury being the •same as in the second panel, excepting John Wright, Jr., and Adam Vance replacing Moses Smith and Anson Beman. The case was decided in favor of the defendant. The fourth jury of this term was also the saoje as the second, excepting Adam Vance instead of Anson Beman, and tried a non-assumpsit suit of James Arbuckle for the use of John Keating vs. William and Titus Wetmore, which was decided in favor of the plaintiff. The last session of the second year was held December 26, 27 and 28, 1809, the same President and Associate Judges being on the bench, except Judge Wetmore, who was appointed Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, and the vacancy on the bench was not filled until the meeting of the Legislature in 1810. The grand jurors of this session were Lewis Ely, Robert Campbell, John Blair, Ebenezer Sheldon, Josiah Starr, Joseph Darrow, Heman Oviatt, (foreman), James Robinson, Josiah Mix, Henry Chittenden, Champlin Minard, Benjamin Stow, Erastus Carter, John Oviatt and Jeremiah Root. Indictments were found against John Bolles, David Wright and Philip W^ard, for assault and battery; against Joshua King for selling liquors in less quantities than allowed by his license; and against Isaac Bacon for a breach of the revenue laws. The case against David Wright for an assault upon Jacob Vanhyning, was tried before the following jury: Joel Walter, Stephen Cotton, Elisha Sears, John McWhorter, Gideon Chittenden, Jacob Reed, Erastus Skinner, Joel Gaylord, David Root, Wiley Hamilton, Ebenezer Bostwick and Arthur Anderson, who found Wright guilty as chai'ged in the indictment. We have now run through the first two years of the record of the Court of Common Pleas, and given a brief outline of its proceedings. In giving the lists of the several juries, the sole object the writer has in view is to furnish the reader with the names of those pioneers M'ho took the most active part in the judicial affairs of Portage County during the earlier years of its history. The pioneers troubled their brains very little about the written code, but were a law unto themselves. As good illustrations of their peculiar mode of administering justice in their inferior courts, the following cases will serve our purpose. A man in Randolph Township was arrested for breaking the Sabbath, found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in Jail for six hours. But the joke of it was there was no Jail, and the prisoner wa,s set free and the 332 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. complainant ordered by the Court to pay the costs of the trial. Another amus- ing case was tried July 8, 1815, before Elijah Alford, the first Justice of the Peace of Windham Township, being that of Hiram Messenger vs. Thatcher F. Conant, "for the value of an otter's hole." In going to Garrett's Mill, Messenger tracked an otter into its hole, and, as he supposed, fastened him in with a stone, and then went on his way rejoicing. Meeting Conant he sold his claim to him for $3. The purchaser had no trouble in finding the hole, but if it ever had contained an otter the animal had vanished, and Conant, therefore, refused to pay for the empty hole. Messenger sued him before Squire Alford, and recovered judgment for the $3. Conant thereupon gave notice of appeal, which the Squire prevented by paying Messenger the money, and remitting the costs of the suit. Thus the case was settled to the entire satisfaction of both parties, and the only loser in the affair was the good- natured Justice of the Peace, who took this means of preventing an expensive lawsuit, and at the same time upholding the justice of his decision. Common Pleas Judges. — Calvin Pease, from August, 1808 to December, 1809; Benjamin Ruggles, January, 1810, to October, 1815; George Tod, October, 1815, to February, 1830; Reuben Wood, February, 1830, to February, 1833; Mathew Birchard, February, 1833, to January, 1837; Van R. Humphrey, January, 1837, to February, 1844; Eben Newton, February, 1844, to January, 1847; Ben- jamin F. Wade, February, 1847, to March, 1851; George Bliss, April, 1851, to January, 1852. As previously mentioned in this chapter, the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, prior to 1851, were chosen by the General Assembly of the State, but the constitution framed that year abolished the Associate Judgeship, and divided the State into judicial districts and the districts into subdivisions. The counties of Portage, Trumbull and Mahoning then became the second subdivision of the Ninth Judicial District, and have so remained up to the present. The Judges elected by the people in this subdi- vision since that time, together with their respective terms of service are as follows: Luther Day, from February, 1852, to February, 1857; Benjamin F. Hoffman, February, 1857, to February, 1862; Charles E. Glidden, February, 1862, to January, 1867; George M. Tuttle, January, 1867, to January, 1872; Philo B. Conant, (extra Judge), October, 1868, to October, 1878; Charles E. Glidden, February, 1872, to February, 1877; Frank G. Servis, elected in the fall of 1876, died in March, 1877; Ezra B. Taylor, appointed March 16, 1877 (vice Servis, deceased), and elected in October, 1877, resigned in September, 1880; William T. Spear, October, 1878, second term expires in October, 1888; George F. Arrel, appointed September 20, 1880 {vice Taylor, resigned), elected in the fall of 1881, term expires in February, 1887. Associate Judges. — William Wetmore, February, 1808, resigned in December, 1809; Aaron Norton, from February, 1808, to February, 1815; Amzi Atwater, February, 1808, to February, 1815; Samuel Forward {vice Wetmore resigned), February, 1810, to February, 1815; Elias Harmon, February, 1815, to February, 1836; Samuel King, Jr., February, 1815, to February, 1820; Alva Day, February, 1815, to February, 1829; Augustus Baldwin, February, 1820, to February, 1827; Elkanah Richardson, February, 1827, to February, 1834; George B. DePeyster, February, 1829, to February, 1836; Charles Sumner, February, 1834, to February, 1840; Ira Selby, February, 1836, to February, 1843; Joseph Lewis, February, 1836, to February, 1843; Jeremiah Moulton, March, 1840, to March, 1847; Jonathan Foster, February, 1843, to February, 1850; Thomas B. Selby, February, 1843, to February, 1850; Isaac Swift, March, 1847, to January, 1852; Isaac Bray ton, February, 1850, to January, 1852; Luther L. Brown, March, 1850, to January, 1852. >r-^ •j^> #^ •ft -J «?•><«? «l X C/^ "S^SOs ,^ /^ ^^2y^^?-^5^ ^^^^^s^ y $; ■.# A^a^^t' *^' ATWATER TOWNSHIP. 399 during the year 1884, seventy-five caskets, and attended a like number of burial services. Their business calls them to visit the cemeteries of Atwater, Kandolph, Rootstown, Edinburg, Palmyra, Deertield, Berlin, North Benton, Suf6eld, and Marlboro. Homer Hillyer was appointed first railroad agent in July, 1851. The first shipment was a lot of cheese from B. Huff, who procured it from his brother's factory at Rootstown. This was shipped to Granville, but Huff never received the price of the goods. What is now the VChomas & Jones ^lacksmith shop was a portion of the first depot. In January, 1884, Mr. Hillyer retired, when Daniel Townsend, the present agent, was appointed. The shipments from Atwater Station per month are 161 tons, principally stone- ware and butter. In addition to the industries named above are William Stoutberger's wagon shop at the Center, and a carriage shop, marble shop and two black- smith shops at the Station. The mercantile circle is made up of J. H. Green & Co. and Webber & Webber at the Center, and Baith & Jackson at the Sta- tion; H. H. Woolf's hardware, Stanford & Co.'s furniture store, and W. T. McConney's drug store at the Station, and Craig Bros.' agricultural imple- ment warehouse southwest of the Station. Rev. Rosswell Chapin, Con- gregational Church, Rev. Moore, Methodist Church, Dr. E. Warrington, Dr. O. A. Lyon, and Dental Surgeon W. A. Loomis, represent the pi'ofessions in the township. Clarence Green is Postmaster at the Center, and A. V. Willsey at the Station. There is in the township a fine coal deposit opened, entitled " Murehead Coal Bank," proprietor Charles Murehead, which usually runs about eight or ten men; a steam saw-mill one mile north of the Station, and a Sweitzer kase factory, Jacob Matti, proprietor. Township Officers. — Trustees: Edgar Whittlesey, W. T. Mendenhall, Levi Heiser; Clerk, B. F. Hathaway; Treasurer, E. T. Goodman, Assessor, Abner Hoskins; Constables, Charles Goodman, William Baith; Justices of the Peace, H. H. W^oolf, S. A. Hinman. Atwater furnished for the service of their country in the war for the Union, seventy-two eoldiers, fourteen of whom laid down their lives, and four were disabled. The country is strictly agricultural, and the land is first class, tolerably well watered and gently rolling. The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Branch of the great Pennsylvania system of railways affords an excellent shipping point at Atwater Station for the products of the township. The statistics of Atwater Township for 1884 are: 97G acres of wheat pro- duced 17,016 bushels; 5 acres of rye produced 15 bushels; 7 acres of buck- wheat, 53 bushels; 679 acres of oats, 25,649 bushels; no barley; 481 acres of corn, 4,423' bushels; 1,558 acres of meadow, 2,400 tons of hay; 114 acres of clover, 180 tons of hay and 31 bushels of seed; no fiax; 26 acres of potatoes, 4,936 bushels; no tobacco; butter, 41,677 lbs.; maple sugar, 1,333 lbs.; 5,089 gallons syrup from 29,820 tr§es; 84 hives, 3,095 Ibs.fhoney; 5,779 dozens of eggs; 6,520 bushels apples; 582 bushels peaches; 12 bushels pears; 50 bushels plums; 10,795 lbs. wool; 289 milch cows; 3 stallions; 113 dogs; 8 sheep killed and injured by dogs; 7 hogs, 46 sheep, 22 cattle and 4 horses died from diseases; 5,432 acres cultivated; 5,409 pasture; 2797 forest; 10 acres waste; total acres, 13,648. The population in 1850, 1,119, including 391 youth; in 1870 was 1,180; in 1880, 1,147; now over 1,200. 400 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. CHAPTER XV. AUEORA TOWNSHIP. Ebenezer Sheldon— First Legal Business— A Lonely Couple— A Model Pioneer Wife— Other Settlers— Early Hardships— Organization— The Methodist Circuit Rider— First Churcei and Schools— First Birth and Death and Other First Things— Hunters and Hunting Stories- Early Facts— A Small Meeting with Large Results— Churches and Schools— Business, etc.— Statistics. AURORA is known in the surveys as Town 5, Range 9. The original proprietors were David, Ebenezer and Fidelio King and Martyn Sheldon; John Leavitt, Gideon Granger and Ebenezer Sheldon, Jr., also had interests. The first white man to enter the township for settlement was Ebenezer Sheldon, of Suffield, Conn., who arrived in his future far Western home in June, 1799. He selected Lot 40, and with the assistance of Elias Harmon and his wife commenced a clearing and made preparations for a small crop. Har- mon and wife came in the same month as Sheldon, and were employed by him. Mrs. Harmon was the first white woman to come into the township, but after getting through with their job they moved to Mantua. Sheldon returned to Connecticut, and in the following spring (1800) brought out his wife, four sons and two daughters. They came all the way with an ox- team and a pair of horses, and a small, rude wagon. After arriving at W^arren they rested over night, but the next day started across the wilderness of woods, and were over- taken by what we would now call a moderate cyclone. The wind tore up immense trees by the roots and split and splintered them and threw them about in such a manner that Sheldon and his wagons were penned in. They had to remain in their perilous situation all night, and were only released by getting assistance and cutting a road out. But Sheldon was of that sturdy race of pioneers, those grand old heroes to whose daring, perseverance and endurance we owe the settlement of this splendid Western country, so he quietly settled down on his place, built a log-cabin, put out his crop and lived there the bal- ance of his days. In the spring of 1801 St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest, appointed Mr. Sheldon Justice of the Peace, but the duties for the first three years, at least, were not very onerous; in fact, the only official act performed during that time by the Squire was marrying his daughter Huldah to Amzi Atwater, of Mantua, November 21, 1801. Sheldon used to say, facetiously, that he often tried, during the first few years of his official career, to kick up a fuss with his wife, in oi'der to make business, but that she always got the upper hand of him. Mrs. Sheldon was one of those women that nature seems to provide for certain emergencies and conditions. She was large and healthy, and of great strength of character, besides being more than ordinarily handsome and intel- ligent, and although dignified in appearance and manner, had a flow of spirits and a buoyancy of disposition that seemed almost essential in the lonesome wilderness to keep up the courage and determination of tbe sterner sex. She used to tell her husband during those three years when they were the only AURORA TOWNSHIP. 401 family in Aurora, and whea anything would perplex him, that his wife was "the smartest and best-looking woman in the township," and well she might have thus boasted, for it was many a long day, even after the township became more thickly settled, that she had an equal, much less a superior. After the death of her husband, which occurred in August, 1829, she made her home with her daughter Huldah, in Mantua, and died December 11, 1846, aged eighty-six years. In 1803 Samuel Forward came in from Granby, Conn., bringing several sons and daughters, and settling on Lot 18, where Gen. Nelson Eggleston now resides at the Center. His sons, Samuel, Oliver, Chauncy, Rensselaer and Dryden, were those who came with him, but another son, Walter, remained in Pittsburgh, where he afterward became distinguished in the law. He was editor of the first Democratic paper in Pittsburgh, the Tree of Liberty, was a member of Congress in 1822, Secretary of the Treasury under Tyler, and Charge D'Affaires to Denmark. The father died in 1821, aged sixty-nine years, having been a man of stern integrity, great strength of character, generous and genial in ordinary life, and an upright Judge, he having been honored by his fellow citizens with the position of Associate Judge. His widow died in 1832, aged eighty years. In 1804 came James M. Henry, from Blandford, Mass., with his family, and settled on Lot 13. The wife of Henry was a lineal descendant of the sister of Oliver Cromwell, and the descendants of the Henrys have in their possession to this day (we believe now in Cleveland), a Bible presented by the great Protector to his sister Mai'garet. Also in 1804 came from Massachu- setts John Cochran, Jr. and David Kennedy, Sr., and George Holcolb, from Connecticut, and their families; also David Kennedy, Jr., Eber Kennedy and Justin Kennedy, sons of David Kennedy, Sr., Samuel Ferguson and sev- eral others, all single men. Eber Kennedy was noted for his remarkable strength. In 1805 came Solomon Cochran and family, from Blandford, Mass., together with the widow, Mary Cannon, mother of Eli and Stephen Cannon, and Horace Granger, a single man, from Suffield, Conn. In 1806 arrived from Middlefield, Mass., Moses Eggleston, father of Gen. Nelson Eggleston, who resided where he settled till a few years before his death, which occurred in Aui'ora Center in 1866. His brother, Joseph Eggles- ton, Robert Bissell and family, and Capt. Perkins and family, also from Mid- dlefield, Mass.; Samuel McConnaughy and family, from Blandford; Isaac Blair and Col. Ebenezer Harmon, son-in law of Squire Harmon, all came in this year and made settlements. John Cochran, Sr. , in attempting to follow the fortunes of his son, who had come out two years previously, was taken sick at Buffalo, N. Y., and died, where he was buried, he being the first white per- son interred there. The balance of the family continued their journey, and after many hardships arrived at Aurora. In the family was a crippled daugh- ter, Rhoda, then twenty years of age, who was intrusted to the care of a little sister, Laura, only thirteen years of age, who walked almost the entire dis- tance beside the wagon in which Rhoda was transported. This little girl, Laura, afterward Mrs. Stephen Cannon, used to take great interest in describ- ing how her feet were blistered and how tired she would get walking along the lonesome road. In this year, 1806, occurred "a total eclipse of the sun, and as the event was unknown to, or forgotten by, the most of the early settlers, con- siderable consternation prevailed when the darkness began to obscure the sky. During the spring of 1807 quite a boom occurred to the little settlement, and matters were very stirring, as wagon after wagon arrived in different por- 402 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. tions of the totvnsLiip, and the new comers were looking up their lands and making clearings. Seventy-two persons came out, almost in one body, and among the heads of families may be mentioned Benjamin Eggles- ton, Jei-emiah Root, Samuel Taylor, Brainerd Spencer and Amos Sweet, all of whom are now dead but three. Also, in 1807, came John C. Singletary and Samuel and Caleb Baldwin and their families. October 12, 1807, the township was organized, and Samuel Forward was elected Justice of the Peace. The settlement now began to assume somewhat the appearance of civilization, as roads were beginning to be cut out, and an occasional wagon could be seen winding its way through the woods from the distant mill. In 1808 came Justus and Horace Bissell and families, and settled on Lots 11 and 12; also Maj. Elijah Blackman, Elijah Blackman, Jr., Samuel Black- man and Abner Pease and their families, who settled on Lots 19, 20 and 27. Maj. Blackman served through the war of 1812-14, and died in 1822. In 1809 Bohan Blair, Septimus Witter and James W. Herrick came, and in 1810 the widow Anne Kent and three sons; also Dr. Ezekiel Squires, wha settled on Lot 38. He was the first physician to settle in Aurora, and it can readily be imagined that he was welcome. From this year (1810) till 1820 many families settled in the township, all of whom were from the New England States. During this decade came the Sewards, Wheelers, Rileys, Pakers, Plums, Russells, Crooks, Parsons, Spencers, Laceys, Hurds, Jacksons and others. In 1802 the first sermon was preached at Ebenezer Sheldon's house; there were present Mr. Sheldon and his family. This was the first sermon in the township, and, doubtless, the first in the county. Previous to 1809 the settlers held religious services every Sabbath, but had no regular pastor, they conducting the services themselves; but on December 30 of this year a number of persons assembled at the house of John C. Sin- gletary, pursuant to a call made by Rev. Nathan B. Darrow, a missionary sent out by the Congregational Missionary Society of Connecticut, and formed themselves the next day, Sunday, into a church organization. The names of those forming this society were Ebenezer and Laura Sheldon, James M. and Sarah Henry, Septimus and Anna W^ itter, Mary Eggleston, Thankful Lucretia Root, Mary Cannon, Jeremiah Root and Brainard Spencer. Jeremiah Root, at the first election, was elected Elder. Brainard Spencer succeeded Deacon Root. In 1811 Rev. John Seward became the pastor of the church and filled that position for over thirty years. The first church stood where the Presby- terian building now is. The Congregaticmal Church was reorganized and incorporated March 20, 1872, when Alanson Parker, J. L. Thompson, C. Eggleston, Solomon Little and Frank Hurd were elected Trustees, and C. H. Root, Clerk. The Disciples Church was reorganized under State law May 11, 1855, with Victor M. Cannon, A. V. Jewell and J. Bartholomew, Trustees, and Ebenezer Sheldon, Clerk. The name adopted was Disciples in Aurora. The school was an institution here as early as the winter of 1803-04. Sam- uel Forward, Jr., opened one in a little building on the Square at the Center, and he had as pupils Julia Forward, Ebenezer Sheldon, Jr., Gersham Shel- don, George Sheldon, Festus Sheldon, Chauncy Forward, Rensselaer Forward and Dryden Forward. The next school was taught by Oliver Forward, and the third by Polly Cameron, in 1807. As an illustration of the feeling of the times, and showing that politics ran fully as high as at present: "This old school -master, Oliver Forward, delivered a Fourth of July oration at the Cen- ter in 1808, and all the Federalists went to Hudson to avoid it. They didn't AURORA TOWNSHIP. 403 •want to be in the same town ^yhile it was being delivered." The following statistics show the condition of schools in August, 1884: Boys enrolled, 76; girls, 71; revenue, $4,632.41; expenditures, §3,963.92; number of school buildings, 7, valued at $5,500; average pay of male teachers, S54; of female, $33. The first birth in the township occurred in the family of Oliver Forward, when a son was born to him April 6, 1804, whom he named Cromwell, after his distinguished ancient relative. The second birth was that of James Henry, son of James M. Henry, in 1806; and the third, in the same year, was a son born to John Cochran, Jr., whom he named Leveritt W., and who in after years was an honored member of the Ohio Legislature, besides holding other offices. The first death was that of Rhoda Cochran, the crippled girl who came out with her mother in 1804. She was afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism, and died December 25, 1806, aged twenty-two years. The first human habitation erected in the township was a log-cabin put up about two miles east of the Center, by Ebenezer Sheldon, and Samuel Forward built the next at the Center. They wei'e, of course, of the most primitive pattern, consisting of round logs, puncheon floors, cot and clay chimneys, etc., etc. The first mill, it being a combination saw and grist, was located near the Station, and was run by Septimus Witter. It was a great convenience to the settlers when first erected, as they had, up to that time, to go many miles to get'their grinding done. The first distillery, a small one — and the only one, by the way — was erected at an early day, but it did not thrive as well as they do in some other localities, and it was abandoned many years ago. The first tavern was built about 1812, and is the present residence of Gen. Eggles- ton, the building having been remodeled. It was kept by Judge Samuel For- ward. A large ashery was run for many years by Hopson Hurd, who also had a pearl ash oven, and shipped large quantities to Pittsburgh. Hopson Hurd also brought the first stock of goods, and sold them for a good round price, at least his wet goods, getting 50 cents and 75 cents per drink for brandy. Mr. Hurd was also the first Postmaster at the Center. In the fall of 1809 $200 was raised by subscription for the purpose of erecting a Town House, , but as money was extremely hard to get, and the cash not being forthcoming, a vote was taken on the second Tuesday of January, 1810, which resulted in the affirmative, that the articles of sugar and lumber which were subscribed should be " delivered by the 1st of May, and the grain by the first of Novem- ber, next." The building was finished in the early part of 1811, and on the following Fourth of July a ball was held within its sacred walls, but it was sacred nevermore, for the church people, who had, ever since its erection, been using it as a place of worship, would never enter it again for religious purposes. Joseph Skinner, the versatile Joseph, of Mantua, of whom more hereafter, furnished the "catgut," as an old settler remarked to the writer. Some of the most noted hunters were Benjamin Williams, Marcus Taylor, Jarvis McConnaughy and William Crooks and his son George. Game was, of course, plenty, and bear, deer and turkey meat were had almost for the asking. There was a famous hunt participated in by the Nimrods of Aurora, which took place in Streetsboro, but further mention of that will be made elsewhere. One of the largest bears ever killed in the county was brought down from the limb of a tree on Squire Forward's place, and he was so large and fat that the gambrel upon which he was hung up is preserved to this day with date, weight etc., marked upon it. About ten or a dozen wolves were caught in a swamp in 1827, and the boys, armed mostly with clubs, dispatched every one of them. A den of yellow rattlesnakes was unearthed in the southern part of the township, 404 , HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. and over fifty were killed. Miss Sally Taylor, who afterward married Moses Eggleston, taught school in Springfield, now Summit County, and during one of her trips across the country, lost her way and had to stay in the forest all night. Not long after she had tied her horse and laid down, a pack of wolves came howling around, which, scaring her horse, caused him to break loose. She then thought it was all over with her, when, to her delight, the horse came up and stood over her, evidently seeking protection from her whom he was best protecting by his position. She held him by the bridle all night, and the rays of the morning sun, glinting through the trees, were the most welcome she had ever seen. Capt. Harmon, during the war of 1812, at the time of Hull's surrender, formed a company for service, but they were not needed, although they marched as far as Huron and remained in the service several weeks. Worthy Taylor, who is now about ninety years of age and the oldest man in the township, was a gallant soldier in the war of 1812. Owen Brown, father of "old John Brown " whose soul went marching on so peacefully a couple of decades ago, married one of his wives, Sallie Root, in this township. She was not the mother, however, of the immortal John. Some years ago Truman Howard and sons operated a hand rake factory near the depot and sold wagon loads of their product, but the horse rake spoiled their business. Cheese making was one of the earliest industries, and the handicraft of the thrifty New Englanders in that line has not passed away from them to this day, as they yet make the finest cheese in the northwestern section of the county. November 8, 1859, Alanson Baldwin was murdered by his nephew, Lemuel W. Price, who was tried and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. A somewhat noted slander suit occurred in Aurora in the early days. Harriet Perkins said some- thing derogatory to the character of Thankful Bissell, for which she was tried and a judgment rendered against her of a gallon of whisky. Old Squire For- ward was the referee. November 26, 1835, Gen. Nelson Eggleston issued a notice for a prelimi- nary meeting to be held at the Eggleston Tavern for the purpose of arranging for a larger meeting to be held, to take into consideration the feasibility of constructing a railroad. The meeting was held, being attended by Alanson Baldwin, Chairman; Nelson Eggleston, Secretary, and Moses Eggleston, A. W. Stocking and two others. The result of this meeting was the building of two important lines of railway through Portage County. Aurora Iron Company was organized February 1, 1866, for the purpose of manufacturing wrought iron from iron ore. The capital was $60,000. The members were Evan Moses, William Davis, T. G. Rees, T. J. Rees and M. N. Gardner. The history of apple stealing from P. P. Mcintosh in 1819, points out the arrest and trial of a few of the boys. It appears that Royal Taylor and Harvey Baldwin, of Aurora, went south to avoid arrest in re the apples, and took with them a small stock of cheese. This resulted in the Southern cheese trade, which became the leading industry of northern Portage County. Mcintosh, the prosecutor of the boys, died March 9, 1832. There is a very tine Presbyterian Church at the Center, Rev. George C. Lyon, pastor; also a Christian Church with no regular pastor; both have good Sunday-schools. General stores, C. R. Harmon, Hurd & Bro. ; Postmaster, C. R. Harmon; John Gould, Editor. At the Station, general store, Charles Russell; grocery, Burroughs; Post- master, C. Russell. There is a grist-mill owned by Herbert Carleton and a saw-mill by C. R. Howard; two cheese factories and creameries. BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 405 Aurora furnished for the late war seventy-two soldiers, fourteen of whom died and four were disable^- There are seven good schoolhouses with a fair attendance of pupils. Toivnship Officers. — Trustees, Julius Granger, Daniel Lacey, John Gould; Assessor, R. L. Granger; Treasurer, W. E. Hurd: Justices of the Peace, R. P. Cannon, Ed. Shoup; Constables, John Leisun, Emmett Lacey. The statistics of this township for 1884 are as follows: 443 acres of wheat; no rye; no buckwheat; 487 acres of oats, 15,088 bushels; no barley; 385 acres of corn, 1,440 bushels; 2,320 acres meadow, 2,647 tons of hay; 8 acres of clover, 16 tons of hay; 32 acres of potatoes, 3,420 bushels; 7,695 gallons of milk; 3,550 pounds home-made butter; 86,900 pounds factory and creamery butter; 522,300 pounds cheese; 82,651 maples, yielded 12,285 pounds of sugar and 1,490 gallons; 19 hives, 100 pounds honey; 280 dozen eggs; 438 bushels of apples; 4, 195 pounds wool; 1,401 milch cows; 55 dogs. There died of disease 23 hogs, 69 sheep, 41 cattle and 6 horses. Acres of cultivated land, 1,154; pasture, 10,294; woodland, 2,223; waste land, 150 acres, aggregating 13,731 acres. I'opulation in 1850 was 823, including 329 youth; in 1870, 642, and in 1880, 666. CHAPTER XVI. BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP. A Many-named Township— Equalizing Lands— Explorers and Settlers — Location or the Early Pioneers— Organization and Politics — Three Classes of First Events— Education and Religion— Business Beginnings — Large Shippers — Resources— Statistics. BRIMFIELD, like one or two other townships of the county, had the reputation of being swampy, and was slow to be settled. It was origin- ally the property of John Wyles, of Hartford, Conn., and Israel Thorndike, a merchant of Boston, and was Town 2, Range 9. From the fact of its being swampy, it at first went by the name of Swamptown, after which it was called Beartown, because there were many bears inhabiting the swamps. Then, for some reason not remembered now, the township was known as Greenbriar, which gave place in turn to Wylestown, in honor of one of the proprietors, who had owned the entire township at first, but at the organization in 1818. Thorndike offered to give a plat of ground for a public square at the Center, if they would call it Thorndike, which was agreed to and it was so named officially, but the old "Ingun Giver" backed out of the contract and would not make a deed for the ground, so the citizens petitioned and had the name changed to Brimfield, in honor of John Wyles, Jr., to whom his father had in the meantime bequeathed his interest. Wyles, Jr., resided in the town of Brimfield, Hampden Co., Mass. ; hence the name. At the division of the property of the Connecticut Land Company, townships were drawn and awarded without regard to the quality of the land, or its location, but in some instances the townships so drawn were, according to common report, so very far below the average that, to equalize the drawing as near as they could get at it, lots were added elsewhere to the property that fell to the share of the unfortunate ones. This township being considered a "poor" share, a lot on 406 HISTORV OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Superior Street, Cleveland, afterward very valuable, and several hundred acres of land in Geauga County, were thrown into the, bargain by the Equalizing Committee. The honest old speculators, however, were slightly mistaken, for Brimfield is now one of the best sections of the county, and the "swamp" lands are among the best grazing spots to be found anywhere. In 1816 Thorndike and Wyles cane to the Reserve to view their land and make a division of the same. They found Brimtield, or rather Town 2, Range 9, an unbroken wilderness, with nothing but wild beasts as its inhab- itants, and they had no difficulty in making the division. Thorndike chose the north, and Wyles the south half. They then returned to the East, but' Thorndike sent out his nephew, Heni-y Thorndike, to act as his agent and make a settlement. He brought with him Arba Twitehel, who immediately commenced a clearing on the old Boszor hill, half a mile north of the Center. About this time a man named Simcox, a squatter, attempted to make a settle- ment, but he never purchased any land, and remained only a short time. The first permanent settler was John Boosinger, who came from Ravenna in June, 1816, but was originally from Maryland. He settled on Lot 39, where he lived for sixty years, when he passed across the River. In the following November, Henry Thorndike with his famil}^ and his brother Israel arrived. Israel was a bachelor, but soon after coming married a daughter of Martin Kent, of Suf- field. Henry settled on Lot 21. Abuer H. Lanphare, a single man, also came and lived in the Thorndike family. In January, 1817, Deacon Alpheus Andrews came in and settled at the Center, and the reason whereof is thus stated: Thorndike, being anxious to have a speedy settlement of his township, offered to give to the first child born therein, eighty acres of land. The good Deacon, hearing of this propo- sition, and having certain indications within his household that he might pos- sibly win the prize, straightway moved into the township from Rootstown, and sure enough, on the 17th of April ensuing, the expected visitor arrived. He demanded the prize-land, but as the child had died, a compromise was made on forty acres of land, upon which he lived and died. During this year, 1817, among others there came in Jeremiah Moulton, Henry Boszor, Erastus Flower, Capt. Uriah Sawyer, Harrison G. Moulton, Abner Moulton, John V. Gardner, Jonathan and David Thompson. David Coburn, Reuben and Henry Hall, Thomas Rice, Benjamin Mallory, Champlain Minard, John Furry, Nathan Packard, John K. Chapman, Peter Wolford, John Williard, Nathaniel Beasley, John Twitchell, Samuel Thompson, Jacob Hall and Alpheus Underwood. In 1818 came Asa Sawyer, William Smith, Fred- erick Jones, Edwin Barber, Jonathan Law and E. A. Palmer; in 1819 Lyman Barber, Amos Benedict. Selah Hart, Peter Osborn, Benjamin Hall and Will- iam Hall; in 1820 Jeremiah Pike, Dr. Lincoln and William Davidson; in 1821 Guy Doolittle, Capt. Courtant Chapman, and one or two others, and along about 1825, among other prominent settlers were Deacon Harmon Bradley and James and Julius Blake. From this time forward the township settled up very rapidly, and in 1831 contained the following families, with their loca- tions, as enumerated by Dr. A. M. Sherman, of Kentucky, in an address deliv- ered in 1881. "We first find the family of Edward Russel in the northwest corner; com- ing to the Mogadore road, we find on the hill. Uncle Asa Sawyer, next, his son. Squire Asa Sawyer; passing west from the Corners, Benjamin Mallory, John Furry and John Chapman; returning and coming south, Capt. Uriah Sawyer and Uncle Sammy Thompson; going west from the Corners, Reuben Hart, Amos Benedict, Jonathan Law; at the Corners, Selah Hart, Jacob Hall, Erastus o^m^ e-^ BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 409 Flowers, Edwin Barber, Guy Doolittle and Julius Blake; further south on the Corners, was Philo Taylor; next, Joseph Gilbreath, John Gilbreath and Barnett Stilwell; commencing at the north line again, we find Deacon Harmon Brad- ley, Arba Twitchel. the Wolford family on the Henry Boszor farm, William Hall and father, Benjamin Hall, Deacon Henry Hall, Reuben Hall, Oliver Sawyer; south at the Corners, Cone Andrews; south, John Boosinger, Harris Sherman; south on the hill, William .James, John Shelhorn; a little west, William Davidson, and south of him, William Spaulding; following the east and west road, south from the Center, were Conrad Fowser, Samuel Myers, Peter Osborn ; south of the Corners, Thomas Parsons, Deacon Edward Parsons, Moses Birge and Peter Hockobout; east from the Corners there was no house for two miles; north from the Corners, toward the Center, was Sullivan Moiil- toQ, George Moulton, Anson Moultou, Augustus Moulton, George Price, Will- iam Price, Jonathan Price; west from the Center, Solomon Carver, Henry Savsryer, Hiram King, Dr. Lincoln, Abel Forcha and Benjamin Haynes; north from the Center, were Martin T. Hackett, Nathaniel Beasley, Henry Boszor, Nathaniel Packard and Champ] ain Minard; at the Center, Deacon Alpheus Andrews; east. Widow Harrison, G. Moulton, Capt. Chapman, Harry Chap- man, Joseph Chapman, Abner H. Lanphare, James Blake, Orrin Blake, Judge Jeremiah Moulton, Sluman Able, E. A. Palmer and Alpheus Underwood; south on the diagonal road, David Coburn, John V. Gardner and Abel Burt; north of Gardner was Isaac Osborn, Jeremiah Pike, Andrew Coosard, John Hill; east from the Corners were Albert Undei'wood, Lybia Underwood, Augus- tus Minard and David Fuller; north from the Corners, Freeman Underwood, Frederick Jones, William Smith, Martin Edson, Huedang Hall, Benjamin Cady, Elisha Burnett and Isaac Ives; in the northeast corner of the town were Levi Stoddard, Thomas Cartwright, Lucius Edson, Joseph Williard, Fred- erick Moore, Lyman Barber, Benjamin Edson, Beverly Y. Buss and Chauncy Isbell. From 1821 to 1840 came the following persons: Col. H. L. Carter, Will- iam Sessions, Hiram Ewell, Alvin Needham, Erasmus Needham, Valorous Needham, Williard Thomas, Algernon Thomas, James Furrey. old Father Cairier and his son Lucius, George Guiestwite, Conrad Neff, Dr. Samuel Hast- ings, William R. Kelso, John Kelso, Charles Edson, David L. Rockwell, Joel Burnett, the Bard family, Leverett Black, Ebenezer Rawson, Porter King, William Meloy, the Stow family and many others." The township was organized in the spring of 1818, and the first election held in April. There were thirteen votes cast, out of which eleven officers were elected: Trustees, Henry Thorndike, Champlain Minard, Reuben Hall; Clerk, Alpheus Andrews; Treasurer, Israel A. Thorndike; Assessor, David Thompson; Fence Viewers, John Boosinger, Henry Boszor; Constables, Arba Twitchell, Thomas Futson; Justice of the Peace, Jonathan Thompson. Politics did not enter into this election for the reason that they were all of the same mind, but it is reasonable to suppose they were Jeffersonian, as the township has been Democratic for nearly fifty years in the Republican county of Portage. In 1840, owing to the great popularity of Gen. Harrison, the Whigs had a small majority, and politics ran high, so high, indeed, that when two Constables were running, one of them was so reckless as to bet a dollar on his election. The business of the Justices in those early days seems to have been nearly nil, and the same good custom of not going to law for every trifling and imag- inary wrong seems to prevail at the present time. There is less litigation in Brimfield than in any other township in the county, scarcely two cases a year 22 410 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. coming up in any shape whatever. Magistrates never grow rich here on fees. Extremely rare have been the cases carried to the County Court, and no lawyer has ever lived here, yet the township has been the home of many excellent business men, among whom may be mentioned Judge Jeremiah Moulton, Associate Justice for seven years; John V. Gardner, Coroner; William R. Kelso, Commissioner; Rodolphus Bard, Recorder; Erasmus Needham, Repre- sentative; and Col. H. I. Carter, County Auditor. The child born to Mrs. Alpheus Andrews, wife of Deacon Andrews, and, named Henry T., in honor of Henry Thorndike, and in seeming response to the prize offered by that gentlemen, was the first to make its appearance iu the township, and the date was April 17, 18] 7. The first death was that of an infant of Capt. Uriah Sawyer; the next the death of Porter Walbridge, an adult, and the third the prize- child of Deacon Andrews. Walbridge was buried in the cemetery at the Center, and it is said that he had such pronounced heterodox views on religion that the good Deacon would not bury his son in the same ground, for fear the devil, when he came around for his own, would make a mistake and carry off his child in place of Walbridge, so he conveyed the lit- tle fellow over to Rootstown, and buried him there. Dr. Sherman tells this tale, and another in regard to the first max'riage, or rather the marriage of parties living here, the knot being tied in Ravenna. A fellow named Thomp- son, with a p, was courting a Miss Durkee, and she agreeing to have him, he started to Ravenna to get a license, but after he had gone, Thomas Tutson, as a joke, persuaded her to give up the other fellow and marry him, upon which she said it was a "whack," and they started ofi", also for Ravenna. On the road they met the expectant groom, who was informed that she had changed her mind, and although he said he would die, etc., etc., the couple continued their journey, and were made one. The first marriage in the township was that of Abner H. Lanphare and Miss Sophia Moulton, July 4, 1819. On the '22d day of December, 1818, the first school in the township was opened by Jeremiah Moulton, in his own house, and continued during the winter. Four families monopolized this school. The teacher had ten chil- dren, Alpheus Andrews had seven, and the two Thompsons' houses were full of them. He opened again the following winter. The first district school was taught by Henry Hall. Abner Lanphare also taught school in several districts. There are eight schoolhouses in the township, and the high school at the Center is a very excellent and creditable institution. Prof. A. W\ Carrier is Principal, and there is an attendance of about fifty pupils. The course of study is well advanced, and the school is doing a good work. The statistics for August, 1884, are as follows: 129 boys and 119 girls enrolled; 8 school- buildings, valued at 18,950; male teachers' average pay, |40; female teachers' pay, $21; revenue, $3,005.43; expenditures, $2,586.38. The first church to have a regular organization was the Presbyterian, in 1819, the membership being seven persons: Jonathan Law and wife, Alpheus Andrews and wife, Reuben Hall and wife, and Benjamin Mallory. Rev. Simeon Woodruff called the little fiock together. They built a modest little church in 1834, which is now used as a residence. In 1818 Simeon Woodruff preached the first sermon at Henry Thorndike's log-house. A Methodist Church was organized in 1823 by Elder Eddy, of Hudson, and consisted of eight members: Benjamin Mallory (formerly a Presbyterian) and wife, Amos Benedict and wife, John K. Chapman and wife, and Abner H. Lan- phare and wife. This society built a church in 1836. A Baptist Church was organized about 1834, and consisted of four members: Deacon Harmon Brad- ley, Martin T. Hackett, and John Taber and wife. They built a small house of worship in a year or two afterward. BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP. 411 The first Universalist Church was built in 1837. It was burned down, and rebuilt in 1868. Resident ministers have been very few. The Universalists have as their present pastor Kev. Andrew Wilson, and the Methodists have Rev. Huston. In 1818 Israel and Edward Thorndike started a nail factory one mile and a half west of the Center, but the difficulty in obtaining the raw material and the consequent high price of the nails, 18 cents per pound, soon rendered the enterprise a failure. In connection with the nail factory a saw-mill was started, but it, too, was abandoned, and the building afterward removed. The first store was opened in 1833 by William Sessions. The first post- office was established in 1835, and Constant Chapman was first Postmaster; the next was Edward Parsons. A hotel was opened by William R. Kelso, and there never was any other. The first frame house was built in 1819, by Henry Thorndike. The first physician was Dr. Lincoln; then came Dr. Stock- ing, Dr. Gray and Dr. Hastings. Toivnship Officers. — Trustees, J. T. W^illiams, J. P. Lull, A. H. Under- wood; Clerk, G. W. Bard; Treasurer, E. D. Brobst; Assessor, James E. Woods; Constables, William Hasness, Lewis Metcalf ; Justices of the Peace, J. L. Carrier, M. S. Chapman. Brimfield Center has one general store, kept by J. T. Williams, who is also Postmaster; one harness shop, A. C. H. Brown; a chop-mill, a wagon-shop, one liy-uet maker. Werstler Bros.' feed-mill and cider- mill was established in 1882 at Brimfield. The value of machinery and building is $2,500. This industry gives employment to three men. Darwin Smith's saw-mill was erected in 1882, employing three men; the capacity is 6,000 feet per day. The Brimfield cheese factory is operated by Parker. Brimfield is the largest wool-producing and shipping center in the county. Reuben Brobst is one of the heaviest dealers on the Reserve, handling some seasons over 100,000 pounds of wool. J. T. Williams is the next largest dealer, he handling about 75,000 pounds. Both of thes9 gentlemen are also the heaviest dealers in clover seed in the county. The Center is beautifully located, and has the handsomest town hall and park suiTounding it, in the county. The cemetery is beautifully laid out and the monuments elaborate. The citizens are an intelligent, genial and hospitable class, alive to all public enterprises and the needs of the Nation. They sent eighty-one brave boys to the field of war, and twenty of them fell in the service. The statistics of this township for 1884 are as follows: Acres of wheat, 2,050, bushels, 31,132; acres of oats, 968, bushels, 38,491; acres of corn, 850, bushels, 13,726 (shelled); acres of meadow, 1003, tons of hay, 1465; acres of clover, 676, tons of hay, 840, bushels of seed, 180; acres of potatoes, 160, bushels, 17,986; home-made butter, 42,536 pounds; factory made, 6,000 pounds; cheese, 33,300 pounds; 117 maple trees yielded fifteen gallons of syrup; 86 hives, 960 pounds of honey; 32,928 dozens of eggs; 8 bushels of sweet potatoes; 13,049 bushels of apples; 445 bushels of peaches; 15 of pears; 10,289 pounds of wool; 484 milch cows; 6 stallions; 136 dogs; 39 sheep killed or injured by dogs; animals which died of disease — 15 hogs, 78 sheep, 11 cattle and 2 horses; acres of cultivated land, 8,453; of pasture, 1874; of woodland, 2,221; of waste land, 139, aggregating 12,687 acres. Population in 1850 was 1015, including 411 youth; in 1870, 913; in 1880, 1030; in 1884 (estimated) 1,200. 412 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. CHAPTER XVII. CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP. A Hunter Squatter— First Permanent Settler— The Blandford & Gran- ville Co.— Post-bellum Settlers— Fifty-six in Four Families- Lead- ing First Events— First Birth and Marriage — First Mills— Schools AND Churches— Rev. Caleb Pitkin— Organization— Officers, Business, etc. CHARLESTOWN in the original surveys, Town 3, Range 7, fell to the lot principally, at the drawing of the land company, of John Morgan, who afterward disposed of it to Samuel Hinckley, of Northampton, Mass., and went by the name, up to the organization in 1814, of Hinckley Township. Abel Forcha came to the county about 1800, from the western part of Maryland. He was a widower and first made his headquarters near the settle- ment of Benjamin Tappan at Ravenna, after which he moved to Chai'lestown about 1803, and settled on what was afterward known as Farnham's Hill, where he lived several years, when he moved to near where Kent now is, and thence to Brimtield, having married a Miss Williard, whose father lived in that township. Forcha, when he came here, made his living by hunting, and furnished the settlers with as much game as they wanted. He never acquired any land in this township, and therefore cannot be called the first settler. John Campbell, afterward well known as Gen. Campbell, came to Deerfield in the spring of 1800, with Alva Day and.'Joel Thrall, and on April 7 of that year married Sarah Ely, daughter of Lewis Ely, the first settler in that town- ship, the wedding being the first within the borders of Portage. In 1804 he was elected Ensign of a military company formed in his township, and in 1811 was elected Captain of a company which afterward took part in the operations on the northern frontier, but he being sick at the time, the command devolved upon Lieut. Day. Capt. Campbell was subsequently elected Brigadier-Gen- eral of militia, and served one term in the Ohio Senate. His elaborate address to the General in command asking that the Irish troops be grouped and allowed to engage the enemy as a distinct command, is well remembered. In 1805 he came to this township, and settled on Lot 1, which is the extreme southwest corner, and built a house that stood one quarter each on Charles- town, Ravenna, Rootstowu and Edinburg, and which afterward became the nucleus of the thriving little village of Campbellsport, but which when the old canal was relegated to the things that were, lost its grip, also, nothing now remaining of its former glory save a few houses, and one store, whose owner is also Postmaster. Gen. Campbell was a man of strong natural abilities, energetic, active and useful, but of limited education. He died in 1827, and was buried with Masonic honors. A singular fatality attended several members of his family, the coincidences being remarkable. John L., a son, was burned on the steamer "Daniel Webster,'' on the Missis- sippi; Homer M. , another son, died on a steamer on the Mississippi; and Robert E., still another son, while in a fit of temporary insanity shot himself at Rock Island, on the Mississippi; whilst John H. Campbell, a grandson, was so scalded that he died, on the steamer "Pennsylvania," on the Mississippi. CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP. 413 In 1809 Campbell was appointed agent for Hinckley, and he proceeded to the East for the purpose of forming a company for settlement, which he did, from residents of Granville and Blandford, Mass., the members of which were Samuel -NHinckley, David, Charles and Linus Curtiss, David L. Coe, John Baldwin, Levi Sutliff, Perry Babcock, John and William King, Anson Fair- child, Joel Parsons and Solomon Noble, all of whom signed an agreement that if they did not move on to the land, clear five acres and build a cabin within five years, to forfeit their right and pay $100 besides. All of them came except Hinckley, Fairchild, Noble and Parsons, who paid their tines and stayed at home, their places being tilled by others, and the $400 applied to building a house for town, school and religious purposes. In the summer of 1810 Linus Curtiss and Levi Sutliff, with their families, and Giles and Bansley Wood and John B. Shaler, single men, came in, Cur- tiss settling on Lot 41, and Sutliff on Lot 33. In the fall came Molly Knowl- ton and Elisha King, who settled on portions of Lots 36 and 37 respectively. In the summer of 1811 Charles Curtiss settled on Lot 40, David L. Coe on Lot 41, and John Baldwin on Lot 34. In the fall came John and William King and Abel Thompson, who settled on Lot 32, Lodowick Parsons on Lot 29, and Almon Babcock on Lot 40. In 1812 Lucretius Bissell and Balzemon Loomis, from Torringford, came in. During the war of 1812-14 there was little or no immigration, but when hostilities closed settlers came in rapidly. In the spring of 1815 tifty-six persons arrived in one party. They were Moses James, from Windham, Conn., Lemuel Knapp, from Northampton" Mass. , and Timothy and Joel Hart, from Granville, Mass. Each of these sturdy old pioneers brought his wife and hcelve cliildren. That was the way they populated a country in those times. It was quite fashionable to have a dozen or so of children, and the couple who did not have eight or ten were not considered of much account. In this year, 1815, there were thirteen families in the township, and thir- teen more came in, doubling the population, among whom were Deacon Ozias Norton, Deacon Joel Dorman, Joseph Steadman, Elisha Wetmore and James King. The Knapp family came from Northampton, Mass., to Charlestown in 3815, and settled on Farnham Hill, near the present residence of William Fox. The Knapp family numbered sixteen, Mr. Knapp and wife being the parents of fourteen children. George Knapp, of Garrettsville, born in Northampton, Mass., March 14, 1799, is a member of this family. Norman Kood, born in Litchtield County, Conn., July, 1806, settled in Charlestown in 1824, and is still a resident of the township. The tirst death was that of Brayton King, son of John King, in 1812, which was soon followed by the death of Charles Curtiss, and about the same time Rachel, daughter of William King, while getting water at a spring, was killed by the falling of a ti'ee. The tirst white child born was John W. , son of Mrs. John Baldwin, born March 7, 1813. The initial marriage occurred March 14, 1816, and the parties were Martin Camp an(;i Sallie Coe. The groom was from Tallmadge, and he brought with him to tier the knot Bev. Simeon Woodruff. October 21, of the same year Leverett Norton and Polly Curtiss joined their fortunes as man and wife. In the spring of 1812 Charles Curtiss set out an orchard on his place on Lot 40. He gave twenty bushels of wheat to John Harmon, of Mantua, for 200 apple trees. The tirst saw-mill was erected by the company that came <5ut before the war, and was located half a mile east of the Center. It did a great deal of 414 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. sawing for the county seat, as well as for the settlers in Charlestown. The Knapps also built one on the same stream lower down. Smith Hall built one south of the Center, and Capt. Curtiss and Claudius Coe built one north of the Center, but timber becoming scarce, their mills all went down. A steam saw- mill was erected by Ezra Stephenson on the land of Sheldon Farnham. Some parties from Connecticut wanted to locate an auger factory at the Center, but not getting sufficient encouragement, went a mile west and put up their works, but it did not pay and was abandoned. The name, Augerburg, is all that remains of the project. Before leaving Massachusetts, the Blandford & Granville Company organ- ized a Congregational Church, the members of which were Charles Curtiss and wife, John Baldwin and wife, David L. Coe and Almon Babcock. The first preachers they had were missionaries sent out by the Connecticut Missionary Society, among whom were Revs. John Seward, Joseph Treat, Simeon Wood- ruff and Nathan B. Darrow. They early had an edifice in which to hold ser- vices, thanks to the $400 forfeited by the four who backed out of the agreement, as stated previously, in addition to which Charles Curtiss agreed to contribute a barrel of whisky toward the building if they would name the township Charlestown, which was accepted, a mode of "fighting the devil with fire," quite ingenious on the part of the stern old sticklers for high morality. But it must be remembered that whisky was one of the only products of the time in this locality that represented money. A contribution of grain would not have been thought much of, for there was no market; made into a liquid it was quite another thing — always a market for that. In 1817 Rev. Caleb Pit- kin received a dall from the church, which he accepted, remaining with the flock until 1827, when he resigned to take charge of the college at Hudson. The first regular church building was erected in 1829. This old building was burned in the winter of 1878, and the present church was erected and opened the same year. The cost was about $3,000. This society was reorganized by Rev. J. C. Hart September 16, 1858. Rev. L. B. Wilson was Clerk; R. L. Loomis, J. W. Baldwin and Israel Greenleaf were elected Trustees, and Amos T. King, Clerk. The Methodist Episcopal Church Society elected Thomas B. King. Joel O. Hall, Joseph Hough, J. M. Beardsley and Newton Barnes, Trustees, December 9, 1858. Their house of worship still stands just north of the Congregational Church. The present pastor is Rev. Colton. The Methodists also have a neat edifice at the Center, and Rev. S. Collier is pastor. Their house of worship was erected in 1859, just north of the Congregational building. The first school in the township was taught in a log schoolhouse at the Center in the summer of 1811 and winter of 1812-13, by Miss Sophia Coe, a sister of Ransom L. Coe, who, by the way, together with his wife, Mrs. Rebecca M. Coe, are still living at advanced ages, she being eighty-seven and he eighty- five years. They are the only ones left in this county of the early settlers. Mrs. Polly (Curtiss) Norton, one of the old settlers, is now a resident of Con- necticut. Mr. Coe came with his father in 1811. The scholars at this first school were Chauncy B., Joel, Melissa, Charles L., Dennis, Harris P., Prudence, Harriet and Lucretia Curtiss, Adnah C. and Phoebe Coe, Robert, Lathrop and Rachel King, Samuel and Lydia Sutliif, and Mina Forcha, daughter of Abel Forcha, the hunter-settler. The condition of the schools is as follows: Revenue for year 1883-84, $2,573.16; expenditures, $1,879.51; six school- houses valued at $3,000; pupils enrolled, 83 boys and 80 girls; average pay of male teachers, $32, of female, $22. CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP. 415 The township was organized in 1814, and thirteen votes were polled at the election, with the following result: Trustees, Lodowick Parsons, Lucretius Bissell, Thaddeus Curtiss; Clei*k, Elijah N. Bissell; Treasurer, Thaddeus Cur- tiss; Lister, James Newton; Overseers of the Poor,^Moses James, Ozias Nor- ton; Fence Viewers, Joel Hall, Junia Knapp; Constable, Elisha AVetmore; Justice of the Peace, Lucretius Bissell. Squire Bissell made a good officer and served two terms. His first official duty was to marry Almon Babcock and Mary Collins. His immediate successors were Ralzemon Loomis, Thaddeus Curtiss, Lodowick Parsons and Junia Knapp. There was very little litigation in those days, and one could get his case attended to for a day's chopping. Toivnship Officers. — Trustees, William Baldwin, F. C. Hatfield, O. A. Coe; Clerk, A. D. Bishop; (Treasurer, W. L. Wetmore; Assessor, (J. W. Copelaud; Constables, W. L. 'jDutter, G. A. Hine; Justices of the Peace, A. P. Curtiss, William Fox. There is a grocery store at the Center owned by W". L. Wetmore, and E. L. Wetmore, is Postmaster. There is a basket factory, also, and a wagon shop. Charlestown Co-operative Cheese Factory was established April 28, 1874. The original members were A. B. Curtiss, Jacob Phile, A. W. Loomis, William Baldwin, Carlton G. Hall, J. N. Hall, C. L. White, Edwin Halsted, Lorin C. Baldwin and Jacob L. Coe. This ceased operation in 1881 owing to litigation. The cheese factory east of the Center was established by A. P. Curtiss and Henry Carrington, but is now closed down. The township has furnished a Sheriff, John Campbell; Senator, Campbell; and a Probate Judge, Luther L. Brown. The land being high and rolling is finely adapted to sheep-raising, whilst the hills overlie almost exhaustless mineral wealth, all that is required being capital to develop it, and a railroad to afford the market, the New York, Pennsyl- vania & Ohio Railroad merely touching the northwestern corner. Tlie town- flhip is well watered by various small streams, in addition to the Mahoning River. One of the finest views to be found anywhere is from the square at the Center looking eastward, across Trumbull County to the high lands of Pennsylvania far in the distance. Charlestown furnished fifty brave soldiers to the war for the Union, nine of whom gave their lives to the glorious cause. The statistics of this division of the covTnty for 1884 are set forth in the following review: Acres of wheat, 790, bushels, 11,210; of oats, 532, bushels, 21,353; of barley, 6 acres; of corn, 195, bushels, 4,242; of meadow, 1,269, tons of hay, 2,269; of clover, 125, tons of hay, 212, bushels of seed, 74; of pota- toes, 61, bushels (estimated), 8,259; home-made butter, 26,548 pounds; 21,774 maple trees yielded 2,225 pounds of sugar and 5,231 gallons of syrup; 20 hives yielded 210 pounds of honey; eggs, 12,692 dozens; apples, 3,127 bush- els; peaches, 114 bushels; pears, 22 bushels; wool, 13,915 pounds; milch cows, 365; 1 stallion; 71 dogs killed 10 sheep and injured 17; 224 sheep died of disease; acres of cultivated lands, 2.027; of pasture, 6,362; of wood, 1,806; of waste, 942; total acreage, 11,137 acres. Population in 1850 was 809, includ- ing 304 youth; in 1870, 675; in 1880, 633; in 1884 (estimated) 600. 416 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. CHAPTER XVIII. DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP. Breaking First Ground— Settlers of 1800— The Elys, Days and Divers- A Trip on the Ma-um-ing— Hardships and Privations— Great Increase- First Military Company— After the Organization— x\ Remarkable Family — Some Early Facts— Grant's Tannery— Shooting of Diver — Hunters and Hunting— Early Preachers and Churches — Schools, Business and Statistics. DEERFIELD, laid down in the surveys as Town 1, Range 6, was one of the earliest settled in the county, and for three reasons, possibly — good land, well watered and being in close proximity to the early western settlements of Pennsylvania; for although the very first settlers were from New England, there came in afterward such a sprinkling of Pennsylvanians as to materially alter the character of the inhabitants, for the modes of life of the average Pennsylvania and New England farmers differ in many particulars. Your Pennsylvania farmer, for instance, builds him a big barn, highly ornamented, regardless of what his dwelling may be, while his neighbor from Connecticut takes care, first, that his house is comfortable, and then attends to the outbuildings. The original proprietors of the township were Gideon Granger, appointed Postmaster-General in 1800, and Oliver Phelps, both of Connecticut; Phelps owned two-thirds of the land. In the early part of 1799 Lewis Ely, Lewis Day, Moses Tibbals and Dan- iel Diver, of Connecticut and Massachusetts, purchased one-third from Mr. Phelps, when Lewis Day, accompanied by Horatio Day, started for his new possessions, in a wagon drawn by horses, arriving in June. Shortly after- ward, in July, Lewis Ely came in, he having started a little later than the other two; he, however, was the first settler in the township, as he brought his wife and family, built a cabin and settled down for life. In the fall the two Days and Ely broke the first ground and put out a crop, the Days then going back to their home in the East. Ely, although at the time of his com- ing being a resident of Connecticut, was born in Massachusetts. He located on Lot 19, a little east of the grave-yard, on the east of the Center. He died in September, 1826. February 10, 1800, John Campbell, Joel Thrall and Alva Day walked all the way from Connecticut to their future home in Deerfield. The Alleghe- nies, when they crossed those mountains, were covered with nearly six feet of snow, and they suffered terribly from cold, but arrived safely on the 4th of March. In this same month Alva Day and Lewis Ely went across to Atwater and cut a large tree for the purpose of digging out a canoe and going to Vir- ginia to procure provisions, as they were very scarce. They launched their log into Yellow Creek and floated it down to the Mahoning, or, as the Indians called it, Ma-um-ing, meaning "the way to the mai'ket," where they fashioned it into a canoe. It was some time in April before they arrived at their destination, but after starting back with their supplies, obtained opposite Steubenville, they found they could not get back by water, and returned for an ox-team, only getting back home the latter part of May. In this year Jf*^t^ dtr?^%4JhCje^cd DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP. 419 1800, came James Laughlin from Washington County, Penn., bringing his wife and one child, a daughter. He afterward had six sons and five other daughters. He settled south of the Center. Henry Rogers and several others came at the same time. In July Lewis Day, who had returned to Connecticut the year before, came out with his wife, Horatio, Munn, Seth, Lewis, Jr., Sol- omon and Seba; also the wife of Alva Day, who came out earlier. They came with an ox-team and were over forty days making the trip. Mr. Day came from Granby, Conn., and had been a soldier in the Revolution, being Ser- geant of his company. His brother, Asa, was with him, and was killed by the Indians on the Mohawk River, at a place called Stony Arabia. The old gentleman died in 1847, at the extreme age of ninety-three years. He had been a member of the Methodist Church for over sixty years. Horatio, who came out with him in 1799, died in 1852, aged seventy-two years. The wife of Alva Day died in 1838, and Mrs. Lewis Day in 1823, from the bite of a rat- tlesnake. For the next four years after 1800 the population increased at a rapid rate, many settlers coming in not only from Connecticut and Massachusetts, but from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. In 1802 Ephraim B. Hubbard, a native of Stratford, Conn., who had removed to Dutchess County, N. Y. , where he was married, and thence to Greene County, same State, resolved upon settling in the Scioto Valley, but on his way thither fell in company with a Mr. Penn, who induced him to change his mind and come to this county, which he did, settling in Deertield, and purchasing a tract of land. He died in 1825 aged sixty-one years. His three sons became prominent citizens, one of them entering " EDINBURG TOWNSHIP. 429 Edwin Howard, of Edinburg; and Harriet married George Bostwick, and many a laugh those ladies used to have over their adventure. In the ledge of rocks on the land where Justin Eddy settled, there was an immense den of yellow rattle suakes, and the boys used to pass many a Sun- day killing the "varmints." Seventy-two were killed at one sitting, as it were, and the Jumbo of the lot was hauled out and tormented by having sticks poked at him, until, finally, a green stick with the bark taken off was thrust at him, into which he struck his fangs, and the virus could be seen, we are told, ascending through the poi'es of the wood, twenty- two inches, and almost dripping out of the end of the stick! " Uncle " Thomas Brigdon says that the first corn he planted wap put in ground plowed with an ax, the "bull plow" even in that day being scarce. He cleared the land where the town house now stands. Also, that since he came here, there have died in four families thirty six persons. Justin Eddy and John Campbell built the first saw-mill in 1816, on Barrel Run, on Lot 2. Henry Botsford built another saw-mill and run it for many years. The first house was built at the Center by James Stoops in 1818, and the lii'st orchard was set out by Lemuel Chapman in 1815. In 1819 Frederick Wadsworth donated an acre of ground about three- fourths of a mile north of the Center, for a burying place. It is said that a cabin was seen in the township as early as 1808, by Lemuel Chapman, Jr., while on his way to his father's in Roots- town, but it is possible it may have been Just over the line in the township named, as no settler can be traced here earlier than Abbott. The first child born in the township was a daughter to Lemuel Chapman, Jr., born July 23, 1815, and the next was Richard, son of Amasa Canfield, born April 24, 1818, he being the first white male child born in the township. The third birth was a son, Asa H., to Harvey Botsford, born October 13, 1818. The first death was Mary J. Eddy, aged four years, a daughter of Alanson and Rachel Eddy, who died August 4, 1819, and the grave of this little girl, which remained solitary and alone for nearly a year in the grave-yard north of the Center can now be seen suri'ounded by others so thick that one cannot walk without treading upon them. The next death was that of Mrs. Nancy Bostwick, wife of Elizur Bostwick, died July 17, 1820, ' The first marriage was in February, 1817, when Greenbury Keen and Bet- sey Hitchcock joined fortunes. The ceremony was performed by Re'v. Caleb Pitkin, a Congregational minister, at the house of Alanson Eddy, with whom the young lady had come to Ohio. During the early days there was no regularly organized church in the township, but occasional sermons were delivered by ministers of the Connect- icut Missionary Society and the Methodist circuit riders, the first sermon being about 1812, by Rev. Nathan Damon. In 1823, however, a Congregational Church was organized by Revs. Caleb Pitkin and Charles B. Storrs, the mem- bers being Edward Bostwick and wife, Benjamin Carter and wife, Mrs. Alan- son Eddy, Mrs. Amasa Canfield, Mrs. Greenbury Keen and Ethel Strong. They afterward erected a small church, but in 1844 put up a neat and beautiful building. In the latter part of 1826 a Methodist organization was effected. They had no house of worship, but Rev. P. D. Horton and Rev. Phillip Green officiated occasionally, preaching at the houses of the settlers. The first class was fox-med by Edward P. Steadman, assisted by his brother. Rev, J. J. Steadman. In 1834 a small building was commenced, but the flock being few in numbers and poor, the house was not finished till 1837, being used, however, in the meantime, in its unfinished condition. This building was occupied till 1865, when becom- 23 430 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. ing almost unfit for use it was remodeled and rededicated January 23, 1866, Bishop Kingsley preaching the dedicatory sermon. The building was finished in a modern and tasteful manner. The first school was taught in a log-house on the land of Amasa Canfield in 1818, and the teacher was Miss Clarissa Loomis, of Charlestown. Her schol- ars were Juliette A,, Edwin A. and Harriet Eddy, children of Alanson Eddy; Henry, Julia, Harriet, Polly and Charles Canfield, children of Amasa Canfield. The second school was taught by Miss Electa Bostwick, in 1819, during the summer, and another was taught in the following winter by Jesse Buell, near Gampbellsport, In 1823, however, the fathers and mothers becoming a little more ambitious, desired a school of a higher grade than those up to that time, so they employed Austin Loomis, of Atwater, to fill their bill, who entered into a contract with them as follows: "Decembers. Agreed with Austin Loomis, of Atwater, to teach school in Edinburg three months for twelve bushels of wheat per month, one-half to be paid' at the end of three months in grain, and the remainder in some other trade, such as cattle, sheep and whisky." A reference to the school statistics of the present day conveys a full idea of a half century's progress: Edinburg Schools. — Revenue, $2,506; expenditure, $2,375; 7 school build- ings valued at $4,000; pupils enrolled, 108 boys and 75 girls; average pay of teachers $25 per month. Edinburg Special District. — Revenue, $1,893.66; expenditure, $1,178; 2 school buildings valued at $4,000; average pay of teachers, $40 per month; pupils enrolled, 89 boys and 27 girls. Edinburg Center. — General stores, Goss Bros., D. D. Davis; wagon shop; blacksmith shop; Postmaster, Smith Sanford; physician. Dr. H. H. Spiers. There is an excellent high school at the Center with Prof. Work as Princi- pal, and Misses Georgia Gladding and Hattie Frazier assistants. There are seven other schools in the township. An excellent brass band, with W. G. Gano as leader, furnishes music for the Edinburgers. There is also at the Center a Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Joseph Gledhill, pastor; Congre- gational Church, Rev. A. E. Colton, pastor; Disciples Chxuch, Elder White, pastor. There is a Methodist Episcopal Chapel, a branch of the church at the Center, but with no regular pastor. At Silver Creek is a good-sized tannery owned by Shultz Bros., and a saw-mill one mile southeast of the Center, F. B. Chapman, proprietor. Campbellsport, which partly lies in Edinburg Township, used to be a place of considerable importance during the old canal days. It now has one store kept by James Beardsley who also has the post- office. Township Officers: — Trustees, Chauncy Porter, F. I. Byers, Joseph Feath- erby; Clerk, H. A. Marsh; Treasurer, H. H. Spiers; Assessor, Thomas H. Clark; Constable, D. D. Hill; Justices of the Peace, John R. Giddings, AVill- iam Willsey. Edinburg is strictly an agricultural township, and has some of the finest land on the face of the globe, although hilly in some sections, and splendid crops are raised, besides being finely adapted to grazing. Much improved stock are bred and handled, and at their fairs an excellent showing is made. In 1856 the first sale and show exhibition occiirred, at which, on March 22 of that year, seed corn, oats, spring wheat and potatoes were placed in the Town Hall for inspection and sale. The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad just touches the southwestern corner of the township. Edinburg furnished forty-nine sol- diers for the Union, nine of whom were lost in the service. The first saw-mill was erected by Campbell and Eddy on Barrel Run (Lot 2), in 1816, which was the first manufacturing industry of the town. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 431 Edinbui'or Farmers' Association was founded January 13, 1873, with A. S. Plummer, H. Horeon, W. D. Turner, James L. Dale, W. H. Weir, Daniel Ewing and y. Strong, for the promotion of agriculture and mutual improvement of members. Grange Hall Building Society of Edinburg was organized February 2, 1878, with the following members: Smith Sanford, Isaac Williams, M. O. Gano, L. B. Wright, E. B. Higley, E. C. Myers and Hezekiah Hann. The purpose of organization was to build houses for a store and hall, and conduct the same at Edinburg. Edinburg Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company is one of the best conducted associations of this order in the whole Reserve. The entire Board of Managers for 1885 are named as follows: President, J. R. Giddings; Vice-President, T. H. Clark; Treasurer, D. D. Davis; Secretary, George P. B. Merwin- Directors, Vespu Clark, B. W. Gilbert. Calvin Hutson. The statistics of the township for 1884 are: Acres of wheat 957, bushels 14,165; 41 bushels of buckwheat; 24,338 bushels of oats; 4,075 bushels of corn from 520 acres; 2,169 acres of meadow, 3,090 tons of hay; 49 acres of clover, 49 tons of hay and 33 bushels of seed; 5 acres of flax, 105 bushels of seed; 50 acres of potatoes, 6,295 bushels of potatoes; 80,682 pounds home-made butter; 1,660 pounds of maple sugar, and 6,174 gallons of syrup; 25,268 maples tapped; 1,580 pounds of honey from 68 hives; 19,180 dozens of eggs; 200 pounds of grapes; 7,315 bushels of apples; 1,455 of peaches, and 29 of pears; 16,468 pounds wool; 123 milch cows; 2 stallions; 93 dogs; animals died of disease, 3 hogs, 76 sheejj and 1 horse; acres cultivated 4,456; pasture 15,872; woodland 2,816; aggregating 23,144 acres. Population in 1850, 1,101, including 474 youth; in 1870, 929; in 1880, 910; in 1884 (estimated), 950. CHAPTER XX. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP AND KENT. First Settlement— The Haymakers— A Primitia^e Mill— Early Facts and Settlers— Contest for the County Seat— Low Price of Produce- First Burying Ground— Reedsbury— Organization— First Law Suit— Cackler's Geese— Important Primitive Industries— Fine AVater- PowER— The Manufacture of Glass— The Twin Villages in 1827— The Rival Taverns— Early ISIercHxVNts, etc., etc. — Progress of Improve- SFENT- Zenas Kent— Franklin Land Company— Thk Canal Outrage- Franklin & Warren Railroad— Incorporation— Increase or Business- Standing Rock Cemetery— Names, Ages and Deaths of Some Early Settlers— John Brown— Brady's Leap— Primitive Schools and Re- ligion—Sketches of the Churches— Free and Accepted Masons— Odd Fellowship— Other Orders and Societies. FRANKLIN was the first civil organization effected in what is now Portage County, after the admission of Ohio as a State in 1802, it being formed the same year. Originally it comprised the whole of the present Portage and parts of Trumbull and Summitt Counties. The present territory of Franklin, Town 3, Range 9, containing 16,000 acres of land, was purchased in 1798 by Aaron Olmsted, of Hartford, Conn., for 12i cents per acre, and in 1803 Ezekiel Hoover and Ralph Buckland were employed to survey it into lots. As 432 HISTORY OF rORTAGE COUNTY. early as 1803, before there was a settler or a clearing of any kind, Benjamin Tappan, of Ravenna, and others from Hudson, had cut a road through the township from Ravenna to Hudson, and built a bridge over the Cuyahoga River about four yards from the spot where Capt. Brady made his famous leap in 1790. The late Christian Cackler, then a lad of thirteen years, passed over this bridge with his father in 1804, on their way to the southeast corner of Hudson, where they settled. About the 1st of November, 1805. John Haymaker, his wife, Sally, and their three children, Jacob, Eve and Catharine, came into the township from Warren, where they had located a year previously, having come from Pitts- burgh, Penn. They were of German descent and members of a large connec- tion of that name in central and northern Pennsylvania, many of whom are still residents of that State. The father of John Haymaker had prospected through this section of country during the spring of 1805, and liking the looks of Franklin, generally, purchased from Olmsted's agent a tract of land covering the present site of Kent's mill. Arriving at the Cuyahoga John and his family took possession of a rude cabin, left by the surveyors in 1803, which stood just west of whei'e the upper bridge now is. This hut had been used for several j^ears indiscriminately by the Indians as a stable for their horses, and as a shelter by the deer and other wild animals, and was almost a foot deep with excrement, which had to be shoveled out before occupation. During the time they occupied this hovel the Indians came around them in great numbers, as the headquarters of the red skins was at the Falls of the Cuyahoga, and on a small stream in what is now Streetsboro Township. One day while the Haymakers were occupying this cabin, a few Indians came there and the squaw, as usual, took her pappoose from her back, and stood the board to which it was attached against the logs, as they never took their chil- dren into the houses of the whites except in very cold weather. After the mother had gone in, a wild hog came through the brush, and grasping the Indian baby ran off with it. The mother hearing the noise ran out and res- cued her babe, but not until the infuriated hog was badly beaten. In the spring of 1806 George Haymaker, brother of John, and their father, Jacob, came in. Jacob built a house on the west side of the river near where Kent's mill now stands. In April of this year Samuel Burnett was employed by Judge Quimby, of "Warren, to make a clearing on Lot 65, and to receive as payment eighty acres of land in that vicinity. He made a clearing and put up a cabin with the assistance of the father, Christian Cackler, but he did not remain there long, as Judge Quimby died and Burnett failed to get his eighty acres. During the following fall Frederick Haymaker came in and purchased a tract of land that included most of the upper village. Frederick, also, was a son of Jacob, and was a man of fine educational and natural abili- ties. He had served as private secretary to the brilliant but unprincipled Aaron Burr, on the famous expedition for w^hich he was tried for treason, and is said to have possessed the secret reasons and motives and plans of his superior, but he never divulged a word in regard to them; the facts, known to no one else, dying with the faithful secretary. Frederick was the father of twenty- seven children, having been married three times. The Haymaker family owned about 600 acres on the present site of Kent. During 1807 the Haymakers built a small mill, the stones used for grind- ing being those known as "hard heads," and were prepared by Bradford Kel- logg, of Hudson. The mill, of course, was a very rude affair, and was used before it was'entirely finished. Crotched poles were planted, upon which other poles were placed, and a roof thus formed. A coarse cloth was used by hand FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 433 as a bolting-cloth. This primitive affair was a great convenience, and was used, with very little improvement, for several years. Andrew Kelso was the miller. From the fact that this mill was located here the name, Franklin Mills, as designating the village, originated, for in time the settlement became known through the mill, it receiving patronage from a large section of the surrounding country. The first white child born in the township was John F., son of John and Sally Haymaker, this event occurring September 11, 1807; Emily, a daughter to the same parents, was born November 26, 1809. The first death was that of Eve Haymaker, the wife of Jacob, and father of the first settler, John, and his brothers George and Frederick. Jacob died in 1819, John in 1827, George in 1838, Frederick in Trumbull County in 1851, and Sally June 15, 1869, at the advanced age of ninety-four years, having lived in the township sixty- four years. During the summer of 1807, after the organization of the county, there was a very heated competition to secure the county seat for Tappan's town mills. Benjamin Tappan, of course, wanted to gain the prize and brought much influence to bear; but Olmsted, the proprietor of Franklin, and John Campbell, although a resident nearer Eavenna, endeavored to secure it for the Haymaker settlement. Campbell was instructed by Olmsted to offer to the Locating Committee a plat of ground for the public buildings, and to give them the necessary assurance, also, that he would defray the expense of erect- ing a Court House and Jail. A beautiful site was selected by Campbell on a rise just north of where now is Standing Kock Cemetery, and it was deemed certain by all concerned that the county seat was secured, but Olmsted returned to his home in the East and died, leaving all his unsold lands to his grandchildren; so, when the committee came to make the necessary arrange- ments, they had no title to the land. Thus, Kent lost the county seat, but she fully makes up for it in natural advantages, and bids fair to outstrip her rival in population, as she has in manufacturing. In 1811 Jacob Reed moved into the township from Rootstown, where he and his brothers Charles and Abram had settled in 1804 Reed purchased the little mill from the Haymakers and improved it, roofing and side-boarding it. From this old miller the settlement came to be called for several years Reeds- burg, but, he selling out in 1816 to William Price and Geoi'ge B. DePeyster, the mill was again very materially improved, and the name Reedsburg was dropped, the original designation of Franklin Mills being generally adopted. The old burying-ground in which Eve Haymaker was buried in 1810 was donated by one of the Haymakers and contained about two acres of land. It was used until Standing Rock Cemetery was laid off, and in that old and hal- lowed ground lie the remains of many of the early settlers. In 1814 Christian Cackler was married to Theresa Nighman, the ceremony being performed by Fi'ederick Caris, of Rootstown. This was the first wed- ding in Franklin Township, and when we consider that nearly ten years had elapsed since John Haymaker had cut his first tree there, it will be seen how slowly the settlement grew. In 1814 Elisha Stevens erected a sawmill, the first in the township, which stood upon the spot where was afterward erected the Lane foundry. Up to this time very little timber was used except in the rough. As soon as Stevens got his mill in operation the settlers actually built frame houses. The township was organized in 1815, and an election held, at which twelve votes were cast, the voters being Amasa Hamlin, Elisha Stevens, George Haymaker, John Haymaker, David Lilly, Hubbard Hurlbut, Jacob Reed, 434 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Alexander Stewart, Adam Nighman, William Williams, Christian Cackler, Sr., and Andrew Kelso. This was the entire voting population in 1815. The officers elected were: Trustees, Amasa Hamlin, Elisha Stevens, George Hay- maker; Clerk, Hubbard Hurlbut; Justice of the Peace, John Haymaker; Jacob Reed and John Tucker were the Judges of Election. Not long after the organization, the hrst lawsuit in the township occurred. It was a case for damages instituted by Christian Cackler, whose geese had trespassed upon the lands of David Lilly, and was a reversal of the ordinary mode of procedure. Lilly killed several of Cackler's geese while destroying his (Lilly's) oats, and was sued therefor, and forced to pay for them, the Jus- tice holding that there was nothing in the law to prevent a goose from destroy- ing a man's oats, but that there was a jaenalty for killing the same goose, even if caught. Some time in the twenties a couple of cases arising from the ultra-religious sentiments of a few of the early settlers, occurred, which created a great deal of feeling. A man named Brown, who was working at one of the mills, went out on Sunday, having no other time through the week to do so, to gather a few chestnuts for his little ones. He was observed by the son of Deacon Andrews, informed upon, as a Sabbath-breaker, and fined $1 and costs. About the same time Jacob Stough and Sylvester Babcock, of Ravenna, drove through the settlement and the nest day were arrested at the instance of a fel- low named Russell, who Avas studying for the ministry. The teamsters were on their way home from having delivered some goods to Zenas Kent. They were also fined, but the good people of Franklin Mills went to Stough, and told him that if he would cowhide Russell Ihey would foot the bill, in order to clear their township of such fanaticism, and Stough did it, yet there was no one to make complaint against him for the act, so just was considered the drubbing he administered to the pious man. The present officers are named as follows: Justices of the Peace, Isaac Rus- sel, John Bentley, N. L.Barber; Constables, Oliver Newberry, John F.Clark; Trustees, Willard Moody, S. W. Burt, William Bassett. In 1818 Joshua Woodard moved into the township from Ravenna and commenced erecting, in conjunction with Frederick Haymaker, who had removed to Beaver, Peon., a number of buildings. They put up a woolen factory, dye-house, cabinet shop, turning- lathes, and a number of dwelling houses; also a hotel. Haymaker & Wocdard continued in partnership till about 182G, when they dissolved, the former taking the mill property, and the latter the hotel and other buildings. In 1822 Woodard had formed a part- nership with Benjamin F. Hopkins and David Ladd, who built a glass factory near where the upper mill now stands. They also built a tannery on the east side of the river, near the upj)er bridge; a woolen factory, saw-mill and ashery one mile east of the village, on the Breakneck Creek, and a woolen factory and anvil-mill in the lower village, and opened a stock of goods in the basement of the house of George B. DePeyster. In addition they erected a number of private dwellings, and did a large business till 1831, when the firm dissolved and divided their property. The settlers in the township in 1820 were: S. Babcock on Lot 1; S. Shurt- liflf, on Lot 2; W. R. Converse, Lot 6; G. Haymaker 10; D. McKim, 11; E. Pimbers, 12; S. Andrews, 13; A. Shurtliff, 16; S. Jennings, 19; R. Shurtliff, 21; A. Loomis, 22; S. Clapp, 23; W. Newberry, 24; C. Newberry, G. B. DePeyster and W. Stewart, 25; T. Wallace, 27; J. Henderson, T. Williard, S. McMillen and J. Woodard, 30; B. Clark, 31; H.Moore, R.Moore and Granger, 32; J. Stewart, 38; E. Dewy, 39; H. Hurlbut, 40; E. Stevens, 42; FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. ' 435 D. Williams, 48; A. Hamlin, 49; W. Bassett, 50; Widow Price, 51; J. Day, 52; John Haymaker, 59; D. Lilly, (39; D. Greer, 73; and A. Stewart, 79. The above named appear on a chart of the town made by Selah S. Clapp. In 1824 James Edmunds, and Henry Park and his brother, built a glass factory on land now belonging to the Cackler estate, and for about ten years ending in 1831, William H. Price and George B. DePeyster had in operation in the Lower Village a grist-mill, saw-mill, forge and trip-hammer and a hemp factory. They also ran a general store and did a line business. They manu- factured scythes, axes, forks and many other articles of iron and steel. De- Peyster was at this time appointed Postmaster of Franklin Mills, that being the ofi&cial name of the office, although the twin settlements were known respectively as Upper Village and Lower Village. The name Carthage was afterward applied to the Upper Village. Postmaster DePeyster kept his mail matter in a cigar box, and 25 cents was the usual moderate fee of Uncle Sam for carrying a letter a reasonable distance. A sad event dissolved this enterprising firm of Price & DePeyster. In 1831 Mr. Price went to New Lisbon, where he procured a large grindstone to be used in his factory, and was on his way home, having the heavy stone upon a wagon. It was in February, the ground being covered with ice, and through some jolting or jerking of the wagon the stone slipped off and fell upon the unfortunate owner, inflicting such injuries that he died shortly after- ward. Another misfortune in connection with the Price & DePeyster mills came in March, 1833, in the shape of a tremendous freshet that swept every- thing before it, carrying away the entire mill property and inflicting an almost irreparable loss upon the proprietor. In 1831-32 Frederick Haymaker sold his property, consisting of 100 acres of land and a tine water power in the Upper Village, to Pomeroy & Rhodes, who built a grist-mill, woolen factory and a cabinet shop, and set up turning- lathes, which they operated for several years. About this time J. C. Fairchild purchased the tannery put up by Woodard and others and ran it for some years. Mr. Fairchild erected the first brick house in town, it being a small building south of the John Thompson residence on the west side of the river, and in this building was born the son who became Gov. Fairchild of Wisconsin. With the enumeration of the above industries, we are brought to what might be termed the end of the first era of Franklin, or rather Kent, although the settlement was not known as yet by that name, it being called Carthage for the upper, and Franklin Mills for the lower settlement. It will be noted that the tastes and enterprise of the original settlers of Kent ran strongly in the direction of manufactories, and it is very remarkable that, with a population so sparse, so many mills and factories should rise, considerable in size, too; yet, what^she has since accomplished in this way make her original efforts appear pigmean. From an address delivered at the seventh annual meeting of the Portage- Summit Pioneer Association, by Rev. W. F. Day, the following facts are gleaned. In 1827 the spot now occupied by Kent contained two villages, hav- ing each about half a dozen families. They were known originally as Upper Village and Lower Village, but, in addition the upper one bore the classic title of Carthage, whilst the lower was Franklin Mills, the postal station. The name Carthage, however, died out, and until the present appropriate name was adopted, the villages were called Upper and Lower respectively, and Franklin Mills, collectively. - The first house built in Upper Village about that time was by Eber Phelps, on the site where now lives S. P. Stinaff. 436 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Another small house stood a few rods below Phelps, and was occupied by the Frosts. The third, and more pretentious building was erected by Frederick Haymaker, a part of which is still standing. The fourth house, as you come down, was the residence of Rev. William Foljambe. This house was on the street just west of the upper bridge, and has been down many years. He owned a cow that knew when Sunday came as well as her master, and would pack ofi" to where they held services on that day with the human regularity of those early church-goers. The animal, doubtless, knew when Sunday came by connecting the fact of wagons collecting together, all of which contained hay or straw for the use of the horses that hauled them, and to which she would make her way and filch a good feed. The fifth house was the Woodard Tavern, owned and kept by Joshua Woodard, and is the present Dewey place. Another, and the sixth house, stood a few rods west of the tavern. Passing southward through the woods to a point a few rods south of where the Epis- copal Church now stands, you come to the residence of William Stewart, whose daughter Maria became the wife of Hon. Marvin Kent. In the Lower Village was located the Lincoln Tavern, on the opposite side of the way a small house, and to the east was the residence of George B. DePeyster, who was Justice of the Peace for several years, and a Judge under the old county system. Franklin, for many years after the date mentioned, had no lawyer or scribe, and DePeyster drew up all documents requiring the peculiar and non- sensical phraseology of the law — his "hereunto attached," "fetch, bring and convey the body of," and his "for, and in consideration of and by," being deemed absolutely essential to the legality of any paper between man and man. On the opposite side of the street was the residence and store of Capt. Price, and on the brow of the hill above the grist-mill was a small building in which was kept a store by Samuel Foljambe, now of Cleveland. There were two dams to the river, each village having one. The upper dam was nearly against the Woodard Tavern, but was afterward moved a few rods farther down, where a grist-mill was built. The lower dam was across the river, a little above the present location of the flouring-mills, and a flouring-mill, the only one in the two villages, stood near the site of the present mill, whilst on the other side of the river was an oil-mill. In the Lower Village was a saw- mill. There was also a small glass factory, a woolen-mill and a tannery, and these, added to the others, with possibl}^ the addition of two or three small houses, constituted the two villages. W^oodard's Tavern, and Lincoln's Tavern, were great rival hostelries. They were each kept by more than ordinarily shrewd men, and both of the proprie- tors were accommodating and pleasant hosts, coming fully up to the standard of knowing " how to keep a hotel. " And they both exerted their powers to obtain custom, using all fair means to divert travel one from the other. There were two roads of travel between Ravenna and Cuyahoga Falls. About one mile west of Ravenna was the Black Horse Tavern. There the road to Cuya- hoga Falls divided. The northern route, starting off where it now does, ran about where the present road does, save that it crossed directly between the lakes, instead of turning to the north as it does. After reaching the Wood- ard Tavern it dropped south a few rods, when it turned west across the woods and came out near John Perkins' place. The other road, after leaving the Black Horse Tavern, crooked around somewhat, though running in the same general direction as the present one, until, within about a mile of the town, it turned off to the southwest, crossing the Cuyahoga on a bridge a little below the grist-mill, then continuing on until it intersected the other. One road, therefore, was the road to Woodard's, and the other to Lincoln's, and the FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 439 strife between the rival taverakeepers was which should succeed in turning the travel at the Black Horse Tavern, or at the Perkins place. They had handbills and signs eulogizing their respective houses, each showing conclu- sively why his route was the best for general travel, and why the other was a great deal farther, a great deal rougher, and entirely unfit for any sane man to think of taking, unless compelled to do so. The Cleveland & Pittsburgh stage was then running, and the great point was to get the stage route. Some- times Lincoln would induce the stage company to run by his route, and then Woodard would get them to adopt his. The matter was finally compromised by running on the Woodard road from the Black Horse Tavern to Wood- ard's, when the stage would then drive down to Lincoln's, and then on west. About the date 1827 Jairus Cassius Fairchild came into the Upper Village, built a house opposite Woodard's, and opened a tannery on the other side of the river. He then built the brick store which was taken down some years ago, that being the first store in the Upper Village. A Mr. Root was associated with him. There were then two stores in the Lower Village, but shortly after- ward a Ml'. Button opened a store in the Upper Village, and Carthage for a time ran ahead of its rival. This store was in the south end of Woodard's Tavern, but the proprietor dying, G. D. Bates, now of Akron, carried on the business. No doubt it was the fact of there being two distinct dams, that two vil- lages grew up so close together, but when the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal Company destroyed the water-power, and especially when the brick buildings, owned respectively by Zenas Kent and Joy H. and Nelson Pendleton, were erected, all competition ceased, and everything has moved harmoniously since. Outside of the villages there were, possibly, about twelve or fifteen fam- ilies, and taking these with those in the villages, gave a population of not very far from 125 souls in the entire township. The following in regard to those outside of the villages is gleaned from a source considered to be as accurate as can be obtained at this late date. There may have been a few oth- ers who afterward passed away and became forgotten. In the northern section Jacob Lilly lived on the east banks of the East Twin Lake; John Haymaker was occupying the Olin place, half a mile or so below, where the roads fork. Edward Farnham had a small clearing on the east side, and Paul Davidson on the west side of the lake; a little further down was the settlement of Amasa Hamlin, whose wife, familiarly called Aunt Sallie, was a " holy terror" to the young men who attended "meeting" where she did, for if the pious old lady would detect any one of them whispering or misbehaving, she would march over to where he sat and take a seat beside him. As everybody knew what Aunt Sallie meant by that, the unfortunate offender became "spotted" forever after. In the northwestern part of the township lived the Cacklers; John Dewey lived where he died some years ago. In the eastern part of the town, Barber Clark, a Moore family, the Busts, the Clapps, Deacons Andrews and McBride, Timothy Wallace, Andrew Kelso, Alexander Stewart, Adam Nigh- man, Hubbard Hurlbut, Elisha Stevens, and a few others also were residents. In May, 1832, Zenas Kent and David Ladd purchased the Price & De Peyster property, the mill on which had been swept away the preceding Feb- ruary, they paying for the entii-e site $7,000. The property consisted of 300 acres of land, including the fine water-power of the Cuyahoga. In the course of a year Mr. Kent bought his partner's interest, and continued the improve- ments. In 1836 Mr. Kent and Messrs. Pomeroy & Rhodes sold their entire 440 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. interests, the first for $75,000, and the latter for $40,000. Kent received in cash $25,000, and P. O. K. $30,000 from the Franklin Land Company. The parties buying were known as the Franklin Land Company, which in the year following transferred its interest to a company incorporated as the Franklin Silk Company, the following gentlemen being the members: Norman C. Baldwin, Triiman P. Handy, Alexander Seymour, David H. Beardsley, Sher- lock J. Andrews, John A. Foote, Solomon L. Severance, John S. Potwin, Seth W. Crittenden, Flavel W. Bingham, of Cleveland; Augustus Baldwin, John B. Clark, Van R. Humphrey, of Hudson; Elisha Beach, Nathan Button, of Franklin; Theodore Noble, of Middlebury ; Zenas Kent, George Kirkham, George Y. Wallace, of Ravenna; Frederick Wadsworth, of Edinburg; and James W. Wallace, of Boston. This company made great improvements. They erected the fine stone dam and the wooden bridge, where now stands the fine stone bridge, and seemed to lay out a splendid future for Franklin Mills. The company contracted with the canal company to build the dam, but, as the canal people, besides controlling the water at this point, were interested in the then rival town of Akron, they diverted nearly the entire volume of the Cuyahoga to their canal, ostensibly for navigation purposes, but really to furnish water- power to Akron. This was a terrible blow, as well as an outrage on the strug- gling, yet plucky and enterprising people of the twin villages. The property of the Silk Company depreciated, it became embarrassed, their circulating notes were retired, and it finally went into insolvency. But, fortunately, by legal process and purchase, the property fell into the hands of a man whose stamen and ability were equal to the emergencies. This man was Zenas Kent, who did all in his power to revive the flagging interests and to recover from the effects consequent upon the loss of the water-power to the villages. In 1848 the property was sold to Henry A. and Marvin Kent, who for thirty- five years, have been engaged in promoting the interests of the now consoli- dated villages. They erected a large cotton-mill, but through the failure of Eastern parties to fulfill their obligations in the matter, the factory was not stocked. Glass works were erected, and other enterprises inaugurated, but the village languished until the completion of the Franklin & Warren Railroad, now the New York, Lake Erie & Western, lately known'as the N. Y., P. & O. R. R. This great road was a conception of the brain of Marvin Kent, who early saw that the future would require a great thoroughfare to run diagonally across Ohio, and he ceased not his labors till he heard the whistle of the first passen- ger train of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad as it approached Franklin Mills on the 7th day of March, -1863, in which year the name of the duplex villages was changed to Kent, in honor of the projector, executor and Presi- dent of the now colossal railroad system. The location of the principal shops at Kent, and it being the termini of two divisions, gave a marked stimulus to the village, and it being the geographical centre of the road, an elegant depot and dining-rooms, to which H. A. and M. Kent donated grounds valued at about $10,000, were erected. John Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame, came into the adjoining township of Hudson with his father in 1805, and moved into Franklin Mills in 1835, being then thirty five years of age. He built a house which he intended open- ing as a boarding house, but failed in his venture through some cause or another. The house still stands in Kent, and was used some years ago by a party for the very purpose Brown intended it. Brown & Thompson's addition to Franklin Village was platted by John A. Means, surveyor, in 1838, and record- ed October 22, that year. This embraced twenty- one acres, extending from the bend of the river to the east line of Township Lot 12, and from the north line of Township Lot 12 to the south line of saine lot. This plat was vacated. The I FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 441 Island tract and extension to Water Street of fortv-five acres was purchased by Marvin Kent from Capt. Heman Oviatt, to whom it was conveyed by John Brown. The descriptions on the original plat, now in Marvin Kent's possession, are in John Brown's handwriting. On May 7, 18G7, Kent was incorporated, and the first Mayor elected was John Thompson. Five Trustees, corresponding to Councilmen, were also selected, they being C. Jones, James Glass, Joseph Bethel, E. A. Parsons and A. D. Power. The Recorder was John P. Catlin. 1867, John Thompson, Mayor; John P. Catlin, Recorder. 1868, John Thompson, Mayor; L. H. Parmelee, Recorder. 1869, E. W. Stuart, Mayor; H. G. Allen, Recorder. 1870, S. P. Wolcott, Mayor; D. H. Kiiowlton, Recorder. 1871, S. P. Wolcott, Mayor; J. P. Hall, Recorder. 1872-74, Isaac Russell, Mayor; A. C. Hind, Clerk. 1874-76, Charles H. Kent, Mayor; Frank Woodard, Clerk. 1876-78, Charles H. Kent, Mayor; N. B. Rynard, Clerk; 1878-82, James Woodard, Mayor; W. I. Caris, Clerk. 1882-84, O. S. Rock- well, Mayor; W. I. Caris, Clerk. 1884, W. I. Caris, Mayor; Robert Reed, Clerk. The official list for 1884-85 is as follows: Mayor, W. I. Caris; Clerk, James Wark; Marshal, W. H. Palmer; Street Commissioner, Charles Anglemyer. Councilmen. — A. C. Hind, Thomas Lyons, Robert Christian, G. T. Case, John Cross, B. F. Hargreaves. Board of Health.— George Rouse, H. T. Lake, F. L. Dunning, H. M. Foltz, Dr. E. W. Price, Dr. J. S. Sweeney; Oliver Newberry, Health Officer; H. K. Foltz, Clerk. Board of Education. — E. A. Parsons, Robert McKeon, Thomas Egbert, I. L. Herriflf, A. L. Ewell, C. S. Brown. On October 26, 1875, the Council authorized the purchase of a Silsby engine, hose cart, hose, etc., for the sum of $3,400. In March, 1876, the Fire Department was organized as a department of the village. The issue of bonds for $6,000, money required to make additions to the triple-arched bridge at Kent, over the Cuyahoga at Main Street, was authorized March 25, 1877. The cemetery bonds were issued last year for cemetery purposes. The first school in the township is said to have been taught in the winter of 1815-16 by Abner H. Lanphare, of Brimfield, in a small cabin that had been erected by a Mr. Rue in 1811, but just where it stood has now been for- gotten. In the summer of 1817 the inhabitants erected a building, regardless of religious proclivities, to be used as a meeting-house for all sects, and for school purposes. It stood on the east side of the river near where Dr. Crain used to live. Among the early teachers, in addition to Lanphare, maybe men- tioned Amasa Hamlin, who taught awhile more for accommodation than pay; also Miss Orpha Curtiss, and a Miss Thayer. Up to about 1830 there was only one schoolhouse here, the one built in 1817, and one teacher. The growth of educational interests since that time is shown by the following statistics: Franklin Township Schools. — Pupils enrolled, 66 boys and 64 girls; 5 schoolhouses valued at $6,670; Revenue in 1884, $4,780.58; expenditures, $3,524.48. Franklin Union School District.—Pupils enrolled, 387 boys and 406 girls; 3 schoolhouses valued at $50,000; revenue, $19,461, in 1884; expenditures, $13,417.20. There is one of the finest educational buildings in the State to accommo- date the excellent union schools, under the able management of Prof. A. B. Stutzman, Superintendent of Instruction of the city. The Principal is Miss 442 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Anna M. Nutting. The teachers are Mrs. A. L. McClellan and Misses Stella M. Pearson, Addie E. Stewart, Georgie Gladding, Nellie Jones, Nellie Gettys, Belle Bradley and Anna Christian. Keligious services were held at an early day, but just exactly where and when is not now definitely known, nor is it certainly remembered who preached the first sermon in the township. Rev. Shewell is thought by many to have been the first to expound the Word of God in this portion of the wilder- ness, and others think that Rev. Shadrach Bostwick, a Methodist Episcopal min- ister who came to Deerfield in an early day, came up here about the first. Rev, Joseph Badger preached in Mantua as early as 1802, and it is altogether probable that he addressed the settlers here as elsewhere afterward. Rev. Caleb Pitkin was also quite a noted Congregational minister, and it is more than likely he preached here at an early day. But the Congregational Church has the earliest documentary evidence and must be accorded first place. Congregational Church. — By an arrangement entered into between the authorities of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches, a plan of union was adopted by which in a community where there were a few of each they might unite in a common society and thus sustain religious services when neither could have done so alone. There being a few Congregationalists and a few Presbyterians scattered through the township, they came together June 18, 1819, and organized themselves into a society under the care of the Port- age County Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, the following persons being the members: Samuel Andrews and wife, Samuel L. Andrews, John Jones and wife, Mrs. Roxana Newberry, Mrs. Jared Thayer and Mrs. Amos Loomis. They held public services in the schoolhouse, and had occasional preaching from missionaries till 1825, when Rev. George Sheldon became their pastor. Mr. Sheldon was a young man of quick perceptions and a high order of intellect, but extremely sectarian in his religious views, so much so that he would not at first fraternize with other denominations, but this wore off in time and he became a portion of the community like anybody else. He built a large two-story frame house about midway between the villages, just north of the Kent residence, which was the finest house for the time in this section. He remained with the church till 1831, when the congregation was without a pastor until 1836, at which time Mr. Sheldon was again called to the pastorate. In the meantime the society had erected the neat brick edifice which was dedicated in the year named. In 1839 Rev. S. W. Burritt was called as their pastor. During the pastorate of Mr. Burritt a remarkable revival occurred and a large number of persons were converted, among whom was W. F. Day, afterward a well known preacher. These meetings were in charge of Rev. Avery. Burritt was reserved in his manner, and thereby failed to attract the sympathies of his entire flock. At one of their " confes- sional " meetings some of the members honestly made it known that they did not like their pastor, which so shocked the good man that he resigned his charge, went to Cleveland, and abandoned the ministry. The church was then without a minister for some time, when Mr. Bates, who also taught an acad- emy here, took charge. Rev. Ira Tracey came in 1846, and Rev. John A. Seymour from 1852 to 1856. In 1858 the new church was built, during the ministrations of Rev. T. M. Dwight. In a short time after this came Rev. John C. Hart, who was followed by Rev. D. B. Conkling in 1868; then came Rev. A. C. Barrows. The present pastor is Rev. Chase. The church is in a very fair condition.* *A story is related of Mr. Sheldon by his son, who is now a residentof St. Louis. Conversing with a friend one day he remarked that he would never believe or trust a man who drank whisky. The friend appeared to acquiesce in this view, and went farther still by the statement, "I wouldn't believe a man who swears, unless it be Zenas Kent." FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 443 Methodist Episcopal Church. — Not far from the date of the orgaDization of the Congregational Church, the Methodists came together and formed a class and held occasional meetings. In 1822 the Deerfield Circuit was formed with Rev. Ezra Boothe and Rev. William Westlake as the preachers, and Franklin was one of their charges. Then came Eevs. Dennis Goddard and Elijah H. Fields. In 1824 Rev. Ira Eddy and Rev. B. O. Plympton were the pastors. These gentlemen found the society in a terrible wrangle. Some claimed to be members and others were denying it; so, after one of the preachers had listened to their disputes, he took the church records and throwing them into the fire, told the people that if they wanted to be members of the Methodist Episcopal Church they would have to join over again. This cut the Gordian knot, and harmony was restored. The society in its reformed condition, consisted of the following persons: Amasa Hamlin, wife and two sons, Hubbard Hurlbut, wife and son, Jacob Lilly and wife, John Dewey and wife, John Perkins and wife, Rev. William Foljambe and wife, Samuel Foljambe and a Mrs. Burgher. The society worshiped for several years in the schoolhouse, but in 1828 they fitted up a small building, which of late years is known as the Morris House, a little above S. P. Stinaff's, on the opposite side of the road. This was really the first church building in the township, being used exclusively for religious purposes, although it was afterward used as a schoolhouse. The Methodists occupied this building until they erected their regular church in 1840. Some strong preachers held forth in that first little building, and among those may be mentioned Rev. Charles Elliott, who was Presiding Elder in the early days. He was an Irishman and full of wit. On one occasion when holding class meeting, several of the penitents expressed great desire to leave this wicked world and go to Heaven. Elliott stopped one of them short and said that as far as he was concerned he wanted to go to Heaven when his time came, but just now he wanted to go home to Phoebe, his wife. Father Eddy was also a strong character. With Eddy in 1825 was associated John Summerville, who was followed by Revs. Philip Green, Peter D. Horton, E. H. Taylor, George AV. Robinson, J. W\ Hill, J. C. Ayers, Cornelius Jones, C. Motfitt, Thomas Carr, John E. Aikin, Wilder B. Mack, John McLean, Aurora Callender, Hiram Gilmore, William Stevens, W. S. Warallo, Edward J. Kenney, Alfred G. Sturgis, E. J. L. Baker, W. F. Wilson, L. D. Mix, D. M. Stearns, L H. Tackett, E. Reeves, J. McLean, A. Burroughs, J. L. Holmes, A. M. Reed, W. H. Hunter, M. H. Bettes, T. B. Tait, W. M. Bear, W. A. Matson, S. Heard, L. W. Ely and a host of others of recent date. Mr. Jones, who was here in the early days, is remembered for his almost angelic temperament. Wilder B. Mack was one of the most graceful of pulpit orators, and Alfred G. Sturgis was considered a very impressive and eloquent man. The church has a good membership and is in a very prosperous condition, with a large Sunday- school. The present pastor is Rev. J. E. Smith. Church of the Disciples of Christ. — The next church in the order of its organization is the Disciples, which was formed into a regular society in 1827. They encountered very bitter opposition at first, more so than any Protestant denomination of the century. The violence of the opponents of the teachings of the Campbells was one of the most unaccountable features of the early religious days, but this violence and opposition was met by the sturdy blows of a number of powerful expounders, in the persons of such men as Revs. Walter Scott and Sturdevant and Bosworth. Churches which disagreed in everything else joined hands in attempting to put down the efforts of this sect, but, like all persecuted causes, it thrived upon the very weapon sjiur led at it. The society at its organization consisted of Selah Shurtliff and wife, 444 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Lydia Shurtliff, Desin Shurtliff, Luman Shurtliff, Naham Smith and wife, Setli Corbett and wife and William Converse. The following have been pastors of this church: Revs. A. Sturdevant, C. Bosworth, A. B. Green, Moore, T. Muunell, Griffin, Cronemejer and one or two others. They have a neat and comfortable church edifice and are doing a good work after the concentrated opposition offered them. Disciples Church was organized under State law, December 12, 1853, with George Van Selah, S. C. Clapp and James G. Wallace, Trustees, and Eieazer W. Crane, Secretary. Protestant Episcopal Church. — Previous to 1835 there had been a number of Episcopalians in the township, but there was no organization as a church. In the year named, on October 11, Rev. A. Sandford formally instituted a church, the services being held in the red schoolhouse in the Lower Village, at which time the following persons became members: Edward Parsons, Levi Stoddard, Francis Furber, Thomas Cartwright, Lucius M. Lattimer, George B. DePeyster, David McBride, Asa Stanley, Chaancy Newberry, David Frazier and Tileman W^agoner, being the male members and representing heads of families. Asa Stanley was Senior W^arden and Edward Parsons, Junior Warden. The Vestrymen were Levi Stoddard, Francis Furber, Thomas Cartwright and George B. DePeyster; L. M. Lattimer was Clerk. The present church building Avas consecrated June 12, 1838 by Bishop Mcllvaine. Rev. Grin Miller was the first Rector, serving from 1834 to 1841. The Rectors following the last date have been: Revs. G. S. Davis, A. Bronson, A. Phelps, S. Hollis, L. L. Holden, S. S. Cheevers, J. F. Curtis, T. Taylor, W. H. Capers and A. J. Brockway. They have no Rector at the present time. Baptist Church. — Not far from the year 1835 a small Baptist society was formed in Franklin, but the members were very few, the Knowlton family being the principal adherents. This denominatio», strong in many localities, for some reason or another has never succeeded in gaining the foothold most of the other churches have, although the sparse membership has consisted of some of the most excellent people. For years they were without preaching at all; and have generally been very irregularly supplied. This church was reorganized March 14, 1875. The original members were L. Twitchell, E. B. Smith, W. H. Van Horn, R. Dillon, A. Newton, George Botham and George Botham, Jr., Rev. Lambert Twitchell preaching gratuitously for it for four or five years, during which period they erected a very neat, though small church edifice. The society is on a better footing than it ever has been, and they now have stated services, Rev. M. N. Smith being pastor. Free-Will Baptist Church, of the Rapids, elected D. B. Crafts, Clerk; A. R. Crafts, Ariel Proctor and Oscar Chamberlain, Trustees, and John Bartholo- mew, Deacon, at its reorganization. Universalist Church. — There being a Universalist Church established at an early day in Brimfield. the members of that denomination in Franklin attended divine service there, Alvin Olin and family being about the first who held to that faith in the township. On the fourth Sabbath of May, 1866, an organiza- tion was effected. A reorganization of the Franklin Universalist Conference took place March 3, 1867. Alvin Olin, P. Boosinger and J. D. Haymaker, were elected Trustees; A. M. Shuman, Treasurer, and Nelson Olin, Clerk. Among the members were Ransom Olin, J. G. Whitcomb, T. H. Marshall, Mary R. Haymaker, Eliza W^right, Mary J. Parsons, Mary Boosinger, Almira Russell, A. Merrill, Mary A. Furry, Sybil Bradley, Effie Parsons and Rhoda Boosinger. The pastors of the church have been Revs. Andrew Willson, J. S. Gledhill,- Edward Morris; the present pastor is Rev. R. B. Marsh. The church building, costing $17,000, is a tasteful and commodious structure, and is FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 445 free of debt. It was dedicated in 1868. Thev have a membership of about 200. St. Patrick's Catholic Church. — This church was organized in Kent in 1867, by Rev. P. H. Brown, at the time pastor of Hudson, Kent then being one of the out-missions under his charge. Forty families comprised the church organization at first, but in after years it has run up to about 100 families. The church edifice was erected in 1868, at a cost of ^12,000, and is practically free from debt. They have a very tastefully laid ovTt cemetery. The priests in charge have been Revs. P. H. Brown, W. J. Gibbons, J. P. Carroll, J. D. Bowles, Fathers O'Neill, Louis Braire, and Rev. J. T. Cahill. In February, 1885, a priest was appointed for this parish. • Evangelical Lutheran Church. — For several years past there have been a number of persons holding to the tenets of this church, and have had occa- sional preaching to them by ministers of this denomination, but during the year 1884 they built a very neat little structure in which Rev. Mr. Pauls^i-ove preaches for them. It is, though small in numbers, an active and zealous helper in the work of the Lord. Free and Accepted Masons. — Rockton Lodge, No. 316, F. & A. M., was organized in the fall of 1858, and worked under dispensation till October 21, 1859, when a charter was granted by Horace M. Stokes, M. W. G. M. ; J. N. Bust, D. G. M. ; James Williams, S. G. W.; George Webster, J. G. w! ; John D. Cadwell, G. S. The first officers of the lodge were A. M. Sherman, W. M ; W\L. Holden, S. W. ; J. S. Fisk, J. W. The late Gen. L. V. Bierce, P. G. M.,' was deputized by the Grand Lodge to institute this lodge, which he did with imposing ceremonies. The membership is 160. In 1870 the lodge built a fine hall at a cost oflS6,000, which is 85x45 feet inside of all. Odd Fellou-ship.—'&vQ.dj Lodge, No. 183, I. O. O. F., was charted July 10, 1851, by the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio, S. Craighead, W. G. M. ; Spencer Shears, D. G. M. ; W. F. Slater, G. W. ; Alex. A. Glenn, G. S. ; Mark Pritchard, G. T. The charter members were Asa Douglass, J. C. B. Robinson, Charles H. Kent, M. P. Husted, \V. I. Knowlton and David L. Rockwell. The order has a very fine hall, finely decorated and finished, and a membership of 103. Knights of Honor— Cuyahoga Lodge, No. 316, K. of H., was chartered June 30, 1876, by the Supreme Lodge of the World, J. N. Ege, S. D. The charter members were G. S. Howden, Robert McGhee, A. C. Hines, N. ^^\ Gregg, E. B. Smith, W. R. Emery, F. W. Root, A. D. Clark, W. H. Van Horn, A. B. Bertram, E. Herman/E. M. Jones,! E. Parkinson, W. M. Stokes, A. D. Orr, J. T. Wishart, George^ulsinger, John Stouffer, D. H. Plump, J. S. Smith, M. A. Norris, W. I. Cook. They have seventy-six members. Royal Arcanum, No. 106, was chartered June 13, 1878, with twenty-seven members. The chief officers or Regents were W^ W\ Patton (1878), J. D. Davis, M. A. Norris, I. L. Herriff, O. S. Rockwell, N. J. A. Minnich, Martin Holdridge and N. B. Rynard. The Secretaries were J. O. Judd, James Wark, M. A. Thorpe, Orlando Thorpe, L. C. Reed, W. R. Jones and A. B. Stutz- man. The number of members at present is forty-six. The financial stand- ing of the lodge is good. A. H. Day Post, No. 185, G. A. J?., was organized December 11, 1882, and was chartered December 30, 1882, and named in honor of the late A. H. Day, of the Seventh Ohio Infantry. The charter members were James Crane, L. G. Reed, N. B. Rynard, F. L. Allen, C. P. Rodenbaugh, M. L. Robinson, F. B. Allen, G. A. Furry, J. S. Sweeney, W. M. Stokes, B. A. Brewster, B. W. Fes- senden, Sam Dobbins, D. P. Holcomb, A. D. Clark, A. C. Hinds, A. P. Powell, ' 446 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. E. Minnich, L. N. Kaw, John Kubbins, H. W. Kirk, B. F. Hargeaves, C. H" Barber, Hugh B. Deads, F. H. Vickers, H. L. Atkins, Leander Johnson, W. E. Greanfield, I. L. Heriff, R. McGhee, Ed. Wells, William Ropson, W. fl. Van Horn, H. M. Foltz, George Harter, F. L. Dunning, Thomas May, A. A. Rogers, S. J. Rouse and Robert Smith. F. L. Dunning was First Commander in 1882 and 1883. J. S. Sweeney was elected in 188-4, and Robert McGhee in 1884-85. N. B. Rynard was First Adjutant; F. B. Allen, Second Adjutant, in 1883-84, and Ezra Fowler in 1884-85. The members not mentioned in the foregoing record are John Bechtel, George Meacham, M. B. Norton, William Tucker, G. W. Myers, M. N. Smith, H. H. Snyder, M. V. Merrill, P. Y. Barnes, George L. Andrews, Jefferson Thomas, W. H. Fergurson, C. D. Bug- gies, J. S. Cook, H. H. Holden, L. L. Johnson, M. C. Clark, J. H. Howell, J. M. Irwin, Charles Waldron, John Fitzpatriok, John Allman, A. B, Stutzman, Charles S. Tyson, D. Baker, Frederick Myers, Henry J. Shook, H. D. Sawyer, John Cross, John Willeston, W. Champney, George Gangle, John I. Hast- ings, O. Champney, G. Bertholf, Phil. Ulm, Ezra Fowler, Levi Reed, S. B. Cuthbert, S. B. Bailey, Paul Clark, L. M. Chapman, Dallas Moulton, George Moon, I. F. Wilcox. H. O. Barton, W. S. Nickerson, C. A. Nickorson, H. W. Gridley, William Miller and Moses Owen. This is one of the most progres- sive posts in this district. Franklin Township sent to the army of the Union 161 soldiers, twenty- six of whom either fell before the enemy or died in the service. Kent Dramatic and Literary Association gave the first entertainment in February, 1885. The drama adapted was "Green Bushes," in which the fol- lowing-named members appeared: F. H. Vickers, W. Donaghy, B. F. Har- greaves, A. C. Hind, T. D. Ruggles, R. McKeon, Thomas May, A. Wilder, A. B. Bertram, Thomas May, Jackson, Harry Vickers, Alexander, W. Stratton, Jones, Holmes, Hastings, McNeal, Davis, Russell, Miss Polly May, Miss Maud Jack- eon, Miss Rose Green, Mrs. Thomas May, Miss Emma May, Miss Bertha Har- greaves and Miss Ada Minx. Robert McKeon is Secretary and Treasurer. Franklin Manufacturing Company was also organized June 16, 1851, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton, wool and flax. The Kent brothers, S. Huggins and A. H. Allen held 4,000 shares of $50 each. This company was, in reality, formed for the purpose of holding the water-power of the Cuyahoga River at this point, and other property, such as the woolen-mills, saw- mill, etc. Franklin Cotton Mills Company was organized June 13, 1851, with'Zenas, Charles and Marvin Kent, Sylvester Huggins and Fred Whipple, incorpora- tors. There were 6,000 shares, yielding a capital of $150,000. This was organized for the purpose of manufacturing cotton. Gen. James, of Provi- dence, was one of the projectors. The cotton industry was never established, as the plant was not supplied under the contract. . Joseph Turner & Sons Manufacturing Company was organized March 20, 1880, with Joshua Turner, Mrs. Martha Turner, Jonas Hey, John G. Turner and Alice H. Hey, members. The object of this association was the manu- facture of alpaca cloth and other textile fabrics. The capital was placed at $100,000. In 1878 the firm of Joseph Turner & Sons leased the old cotton factory from H. A. & M. Kent, introduced English machinery in 1879, and inaugurated the manufacture of alpaca early in 1879, employing seventy-five hands. The firm now employs 120 hands annually. There are 114 looms and 1,800 spindles. The machinery is valued at $50,000. The buildings are some of the finest devoted to industry in the Western Reserve. John G. Turner is President, and Joshua Turner is Secretary and Treasurer. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 449 Kent Woolen Company was organized February 4, 1867, with Marvin Kent, R. Dyson, H. L. Kent, E. L. Day and E. P. Williams, members. The capital was placed at $20,000. This company's mills were destroyed by tire in 1867. A biiilding was moved to the site of the old woolen-mills, which is now used as a warehouse by W. S. Kent. Franklin Glass Company was organized June 13, 1851, with Charles H. and Marvin Kent, H. M. Grennell, George W. Wells and Horace Sizer, stock- holders. There were 800 shares, aggregating $20,000. Joseph Lyman was a member of this company. The works were built in 1849-50. Day, Williams & Co., Rock Glass W^orks, were established in 1864 by Ed. L. Day and Charles T. Williams. The works were erected by Kent, Wells & Co. in 1849 and 1850, and purchased in 1864 by the present owners. The industry employs 100 men annually; the capacity of the works is 70,000 boxes. Franklin Glass Company was founded January 24, 1873, with Eben Apple- gate, Henry Brooks, Lewis C. Haler, Alex. Papa, Philip Demuth, William L. Snyder and B. W. Jones, members, for the purpose of manufacturing window glass. The capital stock was placed at $50,000. This company never erected buildings. The New York, Pittsburgh & Ohio car shops were formed at Kent in 1861, and the buildings completed in 1862. Marvin Kent donated the land on which the shops stand. The number of men employed is 194, a decrease of 300 in the working force within a few years. The buildings and location are pecul- iarly adapted to a great industry like this. The Superintendent is S. B. Smith, and shop clerk, J. P. Hall. Franklin Lath Machine Company was formed February 25, 1859, with William Merrill, J. S. Fisk, M. Kent, C. Peck, Jr., H. Ewell and A. M. Sher- man, members. The capital stock was placed at $20,000. This company erected buildings on Water Street, and carried on the manufacture of machines. Mr. Merrill, the inventor, gained control of this industry and car- ried on the business for some years. Railway Speed Recorder Company was organized November 2, 1875, with the following members: J. B. Miller, William W. Wythe, J.H. Holway, A. L. Dunbar and W. H. Stevens. The capital stock was placed at $250,000, and the location of factory at Kent, with branch office at Meadville, Penn. W\ H. Stevens, President, and A. L. Dunbar, Secretary and Treasurer, 1875-77. E. A. Parsons was elected Secretary in 1877. In 1878 A. L. Dunbar was elected President and re-elected annually since that time, while Mr. Parsons has served as Seci'etary and Treasurer. The Directors since 1877 have been William W. Wythe, J. B. Miller (now Superintendent), E. A. Parsons, A. L. Dun- bar. J. T. Blair was a Director until 1879, when Charles Miller was elected. This industry employs fifty hands. The value of annual product is placed at $80,000. Buildings and machinery are valued at $37,000. To J. B. Miller is due in great measure the success of this enterprise. He it was who perfected the Recorder, and placed before the company's salesmen a most useful and reliable invention. The Center Flouring Mill Company was incorporated February 13, 1850, with Edward Parsons, Robert Clark, Jr., Alvin Olin, James Woodard and Thomas Earl, Directors, and 141 stock-holders. The capital subscribed was $10,000, increased to $20,000 in 1852. Thomas Earl was General Manager, and under this management the industry was transferred to Dr. Earl's son, who rented it to various parties. The buildings were used for milling pur- poses until their destruction in the winter of 1884. The Peerless Roller Mills were established by C. A. and S. T. Williams in 24 450 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. 1879. In this year a brick building was erected and machinery placed therein at a cost of about $-40,000. In 1882 an addition was made to the mills at a cost of $5,000. There are sixteen sets of rollers used in this mill, with a capacity of 200 barrels per day. The number employed in all departments of this industry averages twenty-live. Their shipping business is confined to the Eastern States. The Kent Mills, now operated by George Barnett, give employment to three men. Machinery for grinding new corn, chopping and flour manufact- ure has been introduced. T. G. Parson's planing-mill was established in 1866 by Porter Hall and Ed. A. Parsons, in what was known as the Old Mill. About seven years ago the old building was moved to the present site, and a new building erected. This industry gives employment to eight men. Franklin Steam Saw-mill is now operated by J. S. Sweet and M. M. Smith, and was built in 1884. This firm deals largely in all kinds of hardwood lum^ ber, sash, doors and blinds, etc. Kent Carriage Works are operated by H. George & Bros. Kent National Bank, successor to the Franklin Bank, of Portage County (founded by Zenas Kent), was chartered in 1864. This charter was renewed August 31, 1884, to continue until 1904. Marvin Kent is President, W. S. Kent, Vice-President; Charles K. Clapp, Cashier, and W. H. C. Parkhill, Clerk. The capital is $100,000, and surplus, $20,000. Kent Savings and Loan Association was organized July 23, 1873, with Charles H. Kent, H. Y. Bradley, Theo. C. Bradley, Byron B. DePeyster, John Thompson, Henry Magan and David L. Rockwell, members. This com- pany ceased business. City Bank. This Banking Company was organized with D. L. Rockwell, President, and M. G. Garrison, Cashier. The capital is $50,000. The Continental Hotel, in the City Bank Block, is the leading hostelry of the village. It is well conducted by Capt. Crane and Mr. Lewis. The new Collins House, opposite the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Rail- road depot, is managed by Capt. Ezra Fowler. The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio restaurant is one of the leading houses of that class in Ohio. In early days the pioneers devoted themselves to the task of building up a town on the Cuyahoga, with remarkable energy. Not, however, until the various enterprises were taken hold of by Marvin Kent, did the theories of progress put forward by the old settlers assume practical shape. In 1848-49 many of those great industries which make the town their home were con- ceived, and shortly after those busy hives of manufacturing industry were constructed. The master-hand, in those pretentious beginnings of a manufact- uring town, was Marvin Kent. A decade later we see him leading in railroad building, and succeeding not only in constructing the great road now known as the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, but also in securing the car and machine shops of the road for his town on the Cuyahoga. The great sum of money which he dedicated to public enterprise, has been repaid by the fact that everything he sees around him— a thousand sons of industry earn- ing fair pay, and numerous trains exchanging people and products between the East and West — may be considered the result of his enterprise. In ten- dering this reasonable tribute to Mr. Kent, the historian takes great pleasure, also, in being able to make the statement that the actual operators of great manufacturing industries of the village are just employers and enterprising citizens. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 451 The township, in addition to the Cuyahoga River and some smaller streams, contains several beautiful lakes. The two largest are known as the East Twin Lake and West Twin Lake, and are places of considerable local resort during the warm season, as they afford tine fishing and comfortable camping grounds. Pippin Lake is in the northeast, Stewart's Pond to the west of Twin Lakes and several smaller ponds or lakes dot the township, but the most noted is Brady's I^ake, about one mile and a half east of the village. About 1790, according to what is deemed the best authority upon the mat- ter, Capt. Samuel Brady, a noted Pennsylvania Indian fighter, who followed that profession through all this section of country, performed the feat within the bounds of what is now Kent, which for daring, determination and muscu- larity, stands unparalleled in the annals of the early times. It appears he and a few companions had pursued a marauding party of Indians westward across the Cuyahoga, but the red skins being re-enforced by their friends, turned upon Brady, who, seeing their superior numbers, advised his companions to disperse singly, and every man take care of himself. But the Indians know- ing the desperate character of Brady, and anxious to glut a Jong-standing revenge upon him for the many severe punishments he had inflicted upon them pursued him only. Brady knew every point of importance in this section as well as the Indians, and so made for the narrowest part of the Cuyahoga, which was and is not far from the upper bridge in Kent. To this spot the Captain ran with the speed almost of a deer, for he was a man of herculean frame, and as active as a cat. The Indians could have shot him easily, but they wished to capture him alive for the purpose of having one of their devil- ish orgies around the torturing body of their great enemy, but their inhuman- ity over-reached itself. They had no idea of the latent powers of Brady, and thought that as he neared the rushing stream at the Narrows he would be com- pelled to surrender. They "reckoned without their host," however, for when the desperate man came in sight of the river he quickly made up his mind what to do. He knew that to be captured was to die a cruel and lingering death, and the dark rolling stream that rushed through the narrow gor^e, twenty-five feet below the banks, was more welcome to him than the knife and faggot of the savage; besides, there was a chance for life and escape. Bv the time he had arrived within fifty feet of the river he knew what to do, and with a mighty effort and the speed of despair he fairly flew through the air, and with a tremendous spring cleared the chasm as clean as an English tho- roughbred leaps a ditch. So wonder-stricken and dumbfounded were the sav- ages at the boldness and agility of their supposed victim, and so unprepared were they for his eluding them, that they stood speechless and actless for a moment, but soon realizing that he would escape, sent a volley of rifle-shots after him, one of which took effect in his thigh, but did not disable him. Not a wretch among the lot had the hardihood to duplicate the feat of the gallant Brady, and they had to make their way to the crossing on the regular trail, nearly a mile away, by which time the Captain had gained the little lake now so appropriately known by his name. The Indians saw him go in that direction and still hoped to capture him, but when Brady came to the lake he swam under water some distance to the trunk of a tree that had fallen in, and clinging to the submerged branches, held his mouth in such position as to obtain air. The Indians seeing him enter the water and not reappear, sup- posed he was drowned. Two of them walked out upon the very tree to which he was clinging, even coming close enough for Brady to ascertain what they would say, he understanding the Indian dialect. The joy he experienced when he heard them say that he was drowned none will ever know, and when 452 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. he found them gone, climbed out of the tree and made his way safely home- ward. From the evidence of a man who was at this famous spot in 1804, it is ascertained that the distance from rock to rock was about twenty-one feet, the side upon which ho alighted being about three feet lower than the other. The statistics of crops and produce for 1884 deal only with the township outside the town of Kent. Such statistics have been carefully compiled from most authentic sources. While they show the condition of the township in a fair light, they must not be considered a complete review of township values or '^productions. Acres under wheat, 1,323, bushels, 15,319; rye, 30 bushels from 1 acre; oats, 733 acres, 29,295 bushels; barley, 15 acres, 400 bushels; corn, 729 acres, 15,337 bushels; 8 bushels of broom corn; 1,277 acres of meadow; 1,964 tons of hay; 259 acres of clover; 348 tons of hay and 51 bushels of seed; 127 acres of potatoes yielded 15,529 bushels; milk, 45,810 gallons sold for family use; 73,708 pounds home-made butter; 400 pounds factory butter; 70,426 pounds of cheese; 8 pounds of maple sugar and 403 gallons of syrup from 1,286 tappings; 473 pounds honey from 41 hives; 20,703 dozensof eggs; 1 acre of vines; 7,115 bushels of apples; 30 of peaches; 51 of pears; 7,639 pounds of wool; 524 milch cows; 233 dogs; killed 38 sheep and injured 8; animals which died of disease, 58 hogs, 83 sheep, 22 cattle and 8 horses; acres cultivated, 6,788; pasture, 2,180; woodland, 1,211; waste, 598; total, 10,777 acres. A reference to the history of manufacturing industries will convey a good idea of their value. Total population in 1850 was 1,750, including 753 youth; in 1870, 3,037; in 1880, 4,141, including Kent Village, 3,309. Present population estimated, 4,350. CHAPTER XXI. FREEDOM TOWNSHIP. Before the Organization— Charles H. Paine, the First Settler— A Lone Pioneer— More Arrivals— First Election— A Thoughtful Veteran — Paul Larkcom— A Number of First Things — Churches and Schools- Horace Greeley's Uncle— The Army Hunt— Sad Death— Sagacity of a Dog— Business and Statistics. FREEDOM was the last of the townships to be organized, with the excep- tion of one, leaving Garrettsville out of the question, which event occurred April 4, 1825, it having been a portion of Hiram Township up to that time, and known as Town 4, Range 7, of the Western Reserve. The land for some reason had been thought, by those who came at an early day, to be very poor — not worth settling on. This bad reputation arose, evidently, from the fact that a large swamp existed about the center of the township, and from the almost unbroken extent of beech woods. It is now, however, one of the finest pieces of land in the county, as drainage has been applied to all the low sec- tions. It had been called North Rootstown in honor of the principal propri- etor, Ephraim Root. In the spring of 1818 Charles H. Paine, commonly called Harry Paine, came into the township and settled on Lots 31 and 41. He came from Hiram, but originally lived at Painesville, his father being Gen. Paine, for whom that town was named. Charles had married the daughter of Elijah Mason, and FREEDOM TOWNSHIP. 453 remained with his father-in-law in Hiram until he could put up a cabin and make a clearing on his land in Freedom. From the time he moved to his place till 1822, himself and family were the only dwellers within what is now this highly cultivated, prosperous and fertile township, and he used to say that during those three or four years, when there was not a white person other than his own family for miles around, that it took considerable nerve to com- bat the sense of loneliness that would irresistibly steal over him. In 1822, however, he was rejoiced at the arrival of thirteen persons, all in one body, in fact all in one family, for Thomas Johnston and wife had eleven children at that time. Johnston was an Irishman, who in coming to this country had settled in Pennsylvania, afterward removing to the Reserve. He was a genial soul, and could tell a joke with the true Irish flavor. He settled on Lot 32. The year 1823 brought in three settlers, Newell Day, Enos Wadsworth and Asa Wadsworth. They were from Tyringham, Mass. Enos was a widower, with two sons and one daughter. Asa was his oldest son, who was married and had two children; he settled on Lot 46, and his father on Lot 47. John was the younger son of Enos, and Electa was the daughter. In 1824 came in Rufus Ranney, father of Judge R. P. Ranney of the Supreme Court, and/J. L. Ranney, and settled on Lot 44; Elijah W. Ranney on Lot 44; Myron Barber on Lot 61 ; Phineas Spalding on Lot 51 ; Brigham Harmon on Lot 68;"* Daniel Brown on Lot 60; Alexander Johnston on Lot 32; Widow Clarissa Wheelock, Amariah Wheelock, and John Wheelock on Lot 48, and Ira Chamberlain on Lot 9. During the next year came Paul Larkcom, father of A. C. Larkcom, from Berkshire County, Mass. Paul Larkcom was one of the old Revolutionary soldiers, and had been a member of the Legislature of Massachusetts, Justice of the Peace, etc. His name figures in the history of his native State, being descended from one of the Larkcoms who fled to this country from the perse- cutions of the seventeenth century. His wife was a cousin of Noah Webster, the great lexicographer. The wife of his son, A. C, was a second cousin of the gallant Commodore Perry. The somewhat famous writer, Lucy Larcom, was a member of this same stock of Larkcoms, but that lady dropped the k from the original spelling of the name. In this year also came Joshua Finch, Jeremiah Colton, Nathaniel Brown, Arvin Brown, John Baldwin, Horace Hop- kins, Pardon Sherman, Sylvester Hurlburt, and possibly one or two others, now forgotten. The numbers had now so increased that a petition was pre- sented to the County Commissioners to grant the erection into a "separate township, of Town 4, Range 7, with the name of Freedom." The name "Freedom" is supposed to have been suggested by Mrs. Paine, to whom the matter was referred in honor of that lady having been the first female to enter the township. It is said that she first suggested "Liberty," but as that name was too common, it was changed. The usual version is that she was a great lover of liberty, and the name naturally came up, but an old settler says that she suggested the title in consequence of quite a number of the inhabi- tants having left sundry little debts when they came out. The result of the first election after the act of creation in the township was as follows: Trustees, Charles H. Paine, Alexander Johnston and Asa Wadsworth; Clerk, Amariah Wheelock; Treasurer, Phineas Spalding; Appraiser, Alexander Johnston; Lister, Benjamin Fenton; Overseers of the Poor, Newell Day and Thomas Johnston; Fence Viewers, Asa Wadsworth and Charles li. Paine; Constable, Charles B. Miller; Supervisors, Phineas Spald- ing, Thomas Johnston and Amariah Wheelock. C. H. Paine, Alexander John- ston and Asa Wadsworth were the Judges of Election; Amariah Wheelock and 454 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Asa Wadsworth were the Clerks of the same. At a subsequent election Ama- riah Wheelock was elected Justice of the Peace. In November, 1830, Paul Larkcom began keeping a record of the entry and settlement of every one from the time that Paine came in, also putting down in^writing in an old book, that he had used as far back as 1809, all first events, and it is from that source we obtain the information herein contained. In tbat bjjk we find, in addition to those already given, the names of those who came in 1827, among whom were Thomas Headlock and W. L. Marcey, A. C. and Samuel Larkcom, and others. In 1828 Elihu Paine, Samuel Johnston, Garry Clark, Amos Hawley, Ozias Hawley, Isaac Stedman and others. In 1829 came another Larkcom, Orsamus L. Drake, Chauncey Hitchcock, G. G. Red- ding, Myron and Willis Foote and several others. In 1830 came Enoch Drake, the Porters, Libeus Manly, two more Hawleys and a number of others. In Jane of this year the population was 342, and so rapidly were they coming in that in the following November the number had increased to 364. In 1831 there were eighty-seven families, and a population of 417. In 1835 the num- ber of inhabitants had increased to 767, with 148 families. The number of births from first settlement to that date was! 130, and the number of deaths forty-two. In 1836 population was 841; number of families 164. The first habitation was built by Charles H. Paine, during the summer of 1818, The first death was that of Emeliue Paine (at the age of two and a half years), daughter of Charles H. Paine, and who was scalded so badly in October, 1820, that she died. The first birth in the township was in June, 1823, that of Amanda, a daughter to Charles H. Paine; the first male^ildjwas born February 19, 1826, a son of Daniel Brown, named Charles R.^The first marriage was that of Wakeman Sherwood .and Harriet Ranney, in 1825. The bride was a daughter of Rufus Ranney. Another wedding occurred about this time, the parties being Lester Hall and Celestia Finch, and not far from this date occurred the wedding of two of the residents of this township in Shalersville. Henry Humphrey and Electa Wadsworth wanted to get married, but as they had never witnessed that interestThg ceremony, they did not know how to go about it, and were fearful lest they should appear awkward in the presence of their friends, so they posted off to Shalersville and were made one. The first Justice of the Peace was Amariah Wheelock, who became so in 1825. The first militia officers were Captain, John Wheelock; Lieutenant, Daniel Brown; Ensign, Alexander Johnston. In 1826 Elijah W. Ranney became the first Postmaster. The first frame barn was built by Thomas Johnston on Lot 32, and the first frame house was put up by Paul Larkcom in 1826, for Daniel W. Strickland, on Lot 46. In 1828 Elihu Paine erected the first saw-mill and had plenty of work to do, as the township always has been supplied with an abundance of timber. The first cider-mill was put up by John Hitchcock, as apples were plentiful from almost the first settlement, Paine having set out an orchard in 1819. As early as 1830 Hitchcock made sixty-three barrels of cider and sold 500 bushels of apples. In 1830 Orsamus L. Drake erected a building on the northeast corner; the same year Loring Hamilton started the carpenter and cabinet business. In 1831 Erastus Carter, Jr., and Cyrus Pren- tiss opened the first stock of goods in the barn of Enoch Drake, and in 1832 built a store-room on the northwest corner, put in a stock of goods, but sold out afterward to D. W. Strickland. In this year, 1832, Enoch Drake built a house on the south corner; Jabez Smith, a blacksmith, set up in business, and G. G. Redding built a saw-mill. In 1833 Enoch Drake built house, barn, sheds, etc. In this year came Dr. Simeon Birge, who remained till 1838, when he removed to Franklin, where he died in 1854. The township remained FREEDOM TOWNSHIP. 455 without a physician till 1840, when Dr. James Webb located, and here lived till he died of a cancer, in 1852. In 18B5 there were eight tons of cheese manufactured, and 400 tons of hay cut in one locality on the north road, which gave evidence at that early day of what could be done in Freedom with proper cultivation and management. *In 1836 Orsamus L. Drake erected , a large and well appointed house at what is now Drakesburg, for the accom- modation of the public, and called it the Freedom House. In 1837 the first steam saw-mill was erected at Drakesburg by D, W. Strickland, but it was burned to the ground the following year. Several steam-mills were afterward erected. In this year James Atwood, from Vermont, commenced the blacksmith and wagon repairing business, which grew into a carriage manufactory, doing quite an extensive business for the time. The first church society in the township was organized February 9, 1828, at the house of A. C. Larkcom, by Revs. Joseph Treat and David L. Coe, mem- bers of the Presbytery of Portage County, and was composed of the following persons: Origen Harmon and wife, Alvin Brown and wife, Headlock Marcey and wife, Miss Laura Marcey. Horace Hopkins and wife, Reuben Daniels, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Marcey, wife of Thomas Marcey, D. W. Strickland and wife, Joshua Finch and wife, Samuel Larkcom and wife, Harvey Hawley and wife, and Mrs. Clarissa Wheelock. Sermon was preached by Rev. D. L. Coe. D. W. Strickland was elected Clerk, and Origen Harmon, Headlock Marcey and Reuben Daniels formed the Standing Committee. Until the erection, in 1835, of their first building, a small log-house at the Center, meetings were held at the houses of A. C. Larkcom, Rufus Ranney, E. W. Ranney, and in the log-school- house at Drakesburg. They afterward erected the present commodious build- ing, which is a credit to the township. Rev. Caleb Pitkin was the first settled pastor of the church. The present pastor of the church is Rev. P. G. Powell. The first Methodist Church was organized by B. O. Plympton and Thomas Carr, in 1831, and consisted of nine members: Orsamus L. Drake and wife, A. Hawley and wife, Ira Chamberlain and wife, Sarah Sherman, Charles Cran- mer and Mary Hawley. The first meetings were held in the barn of Enoch Drake, and at the houses of the members, but in 1838 a fine large house of worship was erected at Drakesburg. Nearly all the early Methodist ministers preached at various times to the little flock. The present pastor is Rev, Collier, There is a small chapel of the Disciples of Christ, but there is no regular pastor. The first sermon delivered in the township was preached by Rev. xilva Day, a Congregational minister. The first school was taught in a small frame building at Drakesburg, by E. W. Ranney, who died March 3, 1835. Another and earlier school is said to have been taught in the northwest part of the township, but the exact time and name of teachers are not now known. In the following review the present condition of the Freedom Schools is given: Revenue in 1884, $3,366.52; expenditures, $2,299; eight school build- ings, valued at $7,000; average salaries of teachers, $33 and $25 per month; enrollment, 91 boys and 97 girls. In the year 1841 there came to the township a somewhat elderly and seedy man named Leonard Greeley, who had no visible means or employment, and when the fact came to the knowledge of the Overseers of the Poor, Messrs. Simon Landfear and Lucius Wood, those two officials ordered the Constable, James Francis, Esq., to notify said Greeley that his absence would be more highly appreciated than his presence, and to either run him out of the township or "run him in" for vagrancy. The Constable chose the former, and Leonard Greeley left. 456 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. In 1818 occuiTed the big hunt, which was participated in by the citizens of several townships. This was the Army Hunt, referred to in other chapters. Thomas Lloyd, of Hartford, Conn., donated five acres of land at the Cen- ter, to be used as a public square and for the erection of public buildings. One of the finest mineral springs, with the most delightful water, in the State of Ohio is on the road half way between the Center and Drakesburg. It is slightly impregnated with iron, sulphur and magnesia, an excellent com- bination, and is, doubtless, extremely healthful and beneficial. In the southwestern quarter of the township there is an extensive lime- stone ridge, from which an excellent quality of lime has been made. Timber from the earliest time has been very plentiful, affording good material for the manufacture of wooden-ware, rakes, etc. The country is well adapted for grazing, and the attention of the farmers is turning considerably in that direc- tion. Mflch fruit is raised, particularly apples. There is very little water- power in the township, but at one time there were five saw-mills in operation. The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad passes through the southeastern corner of the township, touching at Freedom Station, which affords an excellent shipping point for the various products. During the winter of 1824 an event occurred that threw a gloom over the little settlement, consisting at that time of about a dozen families. Enos Wadsworth, whose name appears as the fourth person to settle in the town- ship, and who was a widower with two sons and a daughter, was a success- ful hunter of small game, but had never killed a deer, although he had fre- quently hunted for them, upon which fact some of his friends twitted him, whereupon he declared he would go out and bring home a deer if he died in the attempt. He went out on Saturday, and not returning that evening nor the next day, the whole settlement turned out to hunt for him, a large party from Nelson also going out during the week, which party, on the ninth day after Wadsworth had disappeared, found him lying on his face in the swamp with his gun in his hand and some provisions in his pocket, the latter fact showing that he had not been lost and starved, as was supposed, but that he had either been stricken with apoplexy or died from heart disease. Warner Durkee, a noted hunter in the early days, was inclined to consump- tion, and occasionally had slight bleeding of bis lungs, but not to such extent as to interfere with his work or sport. On one occasion, while out with his dog in the woods, he was taken with violent bleeding at the mouth, and it so weakened him that he had to lie down, being unable to go any farther. In that condition he would have perished had he not, partly in frolic and partly in earnest, said to his dog, "Go home and tell them I am bleeding to death." The sagacious dog seemed to understand, and ran home at the top of his speed. It being then late at night, and all the folks in bed, they got up to see what was the matter with the dog, when he ran to the bed of Durkee's son and pulled and tugged at the bed clothes. Being driven away he would return, and the last time he caught hold of the pants lying on a chair and shook them, as much as to say, " Put these on and come with me." The young man being struck at the singular actions of his father's dog, got up, put his clothing on, following the dog to the woods and brought the suffering man home, where he was relieved. In 1828 a saw-mill was erected by Elihu Paine. Previous to the building of the Methodist Church in Drakesburg a steam saw-mill was constructed in 1837 by D. W. Strickland, which was destroyed by fire the same year. There are two cheese factories in operation, one rake factory, one saw and feed-mill near the Station, one saw-mill at Drakesburg, and another in the ■^V" ^^^iy^ry^-^i^ (^,!:r^r-z:>^^^-^^ GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP. 459 north part of the township; at the Station is one general store kept by A. H. Scovill, who is Postmaster; at the Center is one store kept by Lyman Bryant, who is Postmaster. Physicians. — Dr. J. L. Bevington, near the Center, and Dr. S. L. Sloan at the station. Township Officers. — Trustees, M. J. Harris, A. A. Thayer, E. P. Thayer; Clerk, T. M. Robinson; Treasurer, J. B. Harrison; Assessor, Elbert Kneeland; Constables, Clinton Dutter, A. D. Williams; Justices of the Peace, Atwell Bryant, Charles Williams; Notary Public, Lyman Bryant. Fidelity Circle No. 10, B. U. (H. F.) C. A. No. 98, of Freedom, reorgan- ized December 28, 1853, with Johu Wheelock, A. C. Larkcom and Seth Hewins, Trustees, was one of the earliest associations in the township. Merritt Harmon and Mrs. G. W. Kneeland are the oldest survivors of the early settlement of Freedom. Freedom furnished lifty-four soldiers, fifteen of whom died in the service of their country. The statistics of the township for 1884 are as follows: Acres of wheat, 857, bushels, 9,413; of rye, 8; of oats, 708, giving 18,705 bushels; of corn, 501, yielding 4,846 bushels; of meadow, 1,854, giving 2,596 tons; of clover, 202, yielding 264 tons of hay and 68 bushels of seed; of potatoes, 222, yield- ing 18,032 bushels; 56,645 pounds of butter; 61,277 pounds of cheese; 12,- 113 pounds of maple sugar and 4,996 gallons of syrup from 28,535 tappings; 475 pounds honey from thirty-eight hives; 24,399 dozens of eggs; 346 acres of apple orchard gave 7,039 bushels; 72 bushels of peaches and 25 of plums; wool, 11,061 pounds; 752 milch cows; 2 stallions; 103 dogs; killed, 6 sheep, and injured, 8; animals died of disease, 9 hogs, 237 sheep, 21 cattle and 9 horses; acres cultivated, 1,436; pasture, 10,437; woodland, 2,580; total, 14,- 453 acres. Population in 1850 was 996, including 387 youth; in 1870, 781; in 1880, 804; in 1884 (estimated) 870. CHAPTER XXII. GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP. Arrival of Col. John Garrett— The First Mill — Slow Growth— The Dual Government— Business, Manufacturing, etc.— The Fair— Churches- Union Schools— Masonic Bodies— Odd Fellowship- Young Men's Tem- perance Council— Good Templars— Statistics. aARRETTSVILLE having been carved out of the southwest corner of Nelson and the southeast corner of Hiram, its history may be said, until a comparatively recent date, to belong to those townships, and therefore many facts pertaining to its early settlement will be found recorded in the chapters relating to Hiram and Nelson. The nucleus around which afterward clustered the village of Garrettsville was established by Col. John GaxTett, who arrived from Delaware in Ju^y, 1804, and made the first settlement. He brought with him a man named Dyson, a blacksmith and gun repairer, who was of great use to the surround- ing settlements. Shortly after coming Col. Garrett lost a son, who died in 460 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. September following. In January, 1806, the Colonel himself departed this life. He left a widow and four children, the venerable Mrs. Garrett surviving her husband for forty years. The children became distinguished citizens in various walks of life. Col. Garrett left provision for a lot upon which to build a Baptist Church, and a plat of ground for a grave-yard. The year fol- lowing his arrival he built a saw and grist-mill, which was one of the greatest conveniences the dwellers in the northern section of Portage had afforded them, Garrett's Mill being known and patronized by the early settlers for fif- teen and twenty miles around. For many years there was only slight improvement in the settlement estab- lished by Col. Garrett, there being scarcely anything more than thfe mill and a few other buildings, no attempt being made to aspire to the proportions of a village. In fact, till there was talk of a railroad, and even after its con- struction for a time, Garrettsville was simply a Four Corners. After the war, however, a boom struck the little village, and it has been steadily growing ever since, until now it is the busiest and most progressive town in the county in proportion to population. In 1864 the village was incorporated, and began to assume some impor- tance as a trade center. The people now could elect their own officers and conduct their internal affairs as they pleased, but still being under the wing of the township organization they were hampered somewhat, so they petitioned the County Commissioners in 1874 to set apart their territory, about one mile and a half square, as a separate and independent township. Now this request being granted on July 6, 1874, and still retaining the privileges as an incorporate village, Garrettsville presents the spectacle of what the Greeks would have called a duarchy. They have two sets of officers, having an elec- tion for each, held at the same time and same voting place, in separate boxes, and yet there is no clashing of authority. The officers dovetail, as it were, so nicely that, notwithstanding the fact that the territory of the village and the territory of the township are co-extensive, yet all moves on harmoniously with the duplex arrangement. There is said to be but one other combination of the kind in Ohio. There are no Trustees, however, as a Board of Councilmen perform their duties, and the same Clerk, Ti'easurer and Assessor serve both organizations, yet are elected separately, to fu.]fill the requirements of the law. The township was incorporated on petition of ninety-five residents, who signed under date of June 8, 1864. The Mayors and Recorders since that time are named in the following lists: Mayors.— IsK^c Stowell, 1864; C. T. Barton, 1866; M. G. Francis, 1867- 68; T. Winans, 1869; O. L. Hawley, 1870; C. W. Knapp, 1872; O. S. Fer- ris, 1874; James Ashald, 1876; Enos C. Smith, 1878-80; James Norton, 1882; E. H. Ober, 1884. Recorders.— O. A. Taylor,'1864; Edward Knapp, 1866; O. A. Taylor, 1867- 68; E. Knapp, 1869; Ed. L. Davis, 1870; V. M. Noble, 1872; W. D. Web- ster, 1874; W. D. Webster, 1876; W. D. Webster, 1878-80; O. S. Ferris, 1882; E. L. Davis, 1884. The present Councilmen are C. W. Goodsell, James Dunn, O. J. Bates, O. Collons, G. D. Smith, A. C. Belden; Solicitor, A. W\ Maxson; Treasurer, J. S. Tilden; Marshal, O. F. Hoskins; Justices of the Peace, Charles Thayer and H. M. Merwin. The fire bonds for S2,000 (6 per cent), issued in September, 1884, are outstanding, due in six years. The Fire Department was organized in the fall of 1884, when E. S. Hutchi- son was elected Chief. The town supplies engine, hose, hook and ladder and quarters; the men are all volunteers, the Chief alone being a salaried official. GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP. 461 A Remington fire-engine was purchased in September, 1884, with hook and ladder, hose, etc., for $2,000. There are a number of Babcock extinguishers belonging to the department, which is the pioneer fire depai'tment of northern Portage Coimty. During the present year there have been erected over twenty buildings of various kinds, and there are located here some of the finest stores in the county. The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, which passes through the village, affords the best shipping facilities, and large quantities of pro- duce finds its way to the Eastern markets from this point. In addition to the business houses of all kinds there is a rake factory, a factory for the manufact- ure of the Success Evaporator, a planing and sash-mill, blind factory, pail factory, basket factory, foundry and machine shops, grist-mill, saw-mill and carriage factory. The First National Bank is in a very flourishing condition, the President of which is W. B. McConnell; Cashier, J. S. Tilden; Assistant Cashier, W. B. Agler. There are four physicians and surgeons, two dentists and three lawyers, and a very excellent newspaper, the Garrettsville Journal, edited and conducted by C. B. Webb. The Highland Union Agricultural Association was organized December 28, 1859, with William N. Williams, Henry Beecher, Hiram Pierce, E. W. Will- iams, W. Chaffee, Jr., S. D. Norton, A. N. Daniels, O. E. Niles, J. L. Hunt and Silas Raymond, and in 1884 it held its twenty -fifth annual fair. Originally it was held exclusively for the exhibition of stock, farm products and women's work, etc., and all races, shows and games were strictly for- bidden, but of late years it has dropped all such staid old notions, and has entered into the matter precisely like other exhibitions, having its horse-racing, snide shows and games of chance, just like the county fair. Prior to 1865, at the time of the incorporation of the village, the school district was composed of District No. 2, Nelson Township, a district in the southeast corner of Hiram and a district in the northeast corner of Freedom; but the act of incorporation merged these three districts into one, under con- trol of a Board of Education of the village, a vote of the people adopting the school law of 1849. May 13, 1867, a vote was taken to authorize the Board to levy a tax of 10 mills for school building purposes, and in 1869 a good brick building, large enough to accommodate 300 pupils, was completed at a cost of $15,000. The success of the above measures was largely due to James Ashald, James Dunn, Rev. Isaac Winans, S. ^\ . Fuller, A. A. Barber, G. P. Udall, C. O. Foote, Charles Tinker and O. A. Taylor. The school opened in the new building in December, 1869, with Will Murdoch as Princi- pal, and an average daily attendance of 112; total attendance, 186. In 1870-71 R. S. Kuhn was Principal, and the average daily attendance was 106; total attendance, 199. In 1872-73 James Norton became Principal; aver- age attendance of 133; total attendance, 207. In 1874 the Board appointed J. Cole and Will Murdoch to prepare a course of study, which was adopted, and C. W. Carroll became Principal, regular graded school work being adopted. H. L. Peck succeeded Mr. Carroll in 1876, and remained in charge till 1882, when John E. Morris took charge, and has successfully conducted the school since. Twenty-three pupils completed their course during the first two years of Mr. Morris' administration. The average attendance is now about 208, and total attendance, 250. In 1880 an elegant brick building was erected on the same lot as the other school, its cost being $6,500. The schools now have five departments, each department having a supply of books, pict- 462 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. ures, paintings and other decorations. There is an organ in every room except one. A set of philosophical apparatus was added in 1882. A library- containing nearly 700 volumes, exclusive of public documents, is a principal feature. The library has been formed from two others that existed some years ago, the union being due to the efforts of Principal Peck, O. S. Ferris and A. J. Smith. The School Board has been the same for three years: A. J. Smith, President; James Norton, Clerk; Warren Pierce, Treasurer; C. M. Crane, S. W. Fuller and James Dunn. The present Board take active, personal interest in all educational affairs, and make it a point to attend all meetings, thereby contribu4;ing in large measure to the great success of the schools. The corps of teachers for 1884-85 are John E. Morris, Principal; J. J. Jackson, Assistant in High School; Anor A. Eckert, Grammar Department; lone S. Wolcott, Intermediate Department; Cora Adams, A Primary Department; Delia V. Reed, B Primary Department. The present condition of the schools is shown in the following statistics: Revenue in 1884, $7,508.29; expenditures, $4,642.33; two schoolhouses valued at $20,200; average pay of teachers, $76 and $37; enrollment, 103 boys and 110 girls. Baptist Church. — Col. Garrett, who died in 1806, bequeathed to the Baptist Church a lot for meeting-house and cemetery. The organization of this soci- ety was due mainly to Mrs. Garrett. The first church was built by Edwin Atwood and John Garrett. On June 22, 1881, this old building was blown to pieces by twenty-five pounds of gunpowder, after its restoration in the fall of 1880. The deed was attributed to iDhiskij apologists. The work of building a new house of worship was at once entered upon, and on January 3, 1884, the present church was dedicated. Its cost was $5,000. The original members of this society, formed July 30, 1808, were Mary West, Susan and John Rudolph, and Eliza and John Noah. Rev. Thomas G. Jones, of Sharon, pre- sided, and named the church at Nelson, Betliesda. The clerks of the chui'ch were John Rudolph, 1808 to 1824; William Summer, 1824 to 1832; E. Welsh and John Brainerd, 1832 to 1837; A. Servoss, 1837; William Wilson, 1841 to 1846; Ira Fuller, 1846; William Wilson, 1852; M. F. French, 1861 to 1872; C. W. and J. B. Knapp, 1872-74; C. T. Truesdale, 1874-79; and Mrs. E. E. Truesdale, 1879-85. In January, 1885, the fii'st bell used by the Baptists here was placed in the belfry of the new building. The Congregational Church was organized as a Union Church February 21, 1834, with seventeen members, of whom Mi's. Eunice P. Baker, of Connewango, N. Y. , and Mrs. Delia Peffers, of Garrettsville, are still living. Deacon Francis Strong and wife; Sarah Maxson; Diana Sprague; Mrs. S. W. Orvis, of Nevin- ville, Iowa; Whitmore Hazen, of Washington, D. C, a brother of Gen. Hazen, of the Signal Service; J. J. Demarest, Waupaca, Wis.; Deacon Waters and wife; Mrs. M. E. Wales; Mrs. A. B. Gardner, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Deacon Wade White and wife; John D. Hazen and wife, who owned the lot and erected the main part of the old church building, were among the original and old members. In 1836 the society was reorganized under the Congregational form, and has since been conducted as a purely Congregational Church. In May, 1845, John D. Hazen offered to donate the land and building to the society, on condition that they would repair the house, erect a spire, and place therein a bell. Mr. Hazen died before the conditions were fulfilled, and his executor, Robert Payne, of Cleveland, refused to recognize his action. This resulted in a round of litigation, which was favorable to the society. In May, 1847, the society was incorporated. The resolutions adopted by this society, in re the anti-slavei'v movement, were entirely in consonance with the spirit of the times. The organizing ministers were Joseph Treat and Benjamin Fenn. The orig- GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP. 463 inal members were John D. Hazen and wife, Wade White and wife, Vienna Norton, Clarissa Eggjleston, Harry White and wife, Wealthy White, Mary White, Eunice White and John D. White, Susan Ferry, Polly T. Stevens, Eleanor Hindman, Sophia Smith and Hannah Trask. Rev. Isaac Winans served this church for a greater number of years than any other pastor. Charles B. Webb has served as Clerk since August, 1880, suc- ceeding W. S. Wight. The Trustees are J. W. Root, N. W. Leezer, G. D. Smith, P. S. Tinan and S. J. Buttles. The membership is 130, and the congre- gation numbers about 300. The average Sunday-school attendance is about 125. R. H. Ober is Superintendent. The house of worship is the same as existed in 1836, and was repaired in 1845. Rev. J. R. Nichols is pastor. The Disciples Church was reorganized a few years ago with fifty-two mem- bers. The old society built a house of worship on Main Street in 1846, which house was sold sixteen or eighteen years ago to Mrs. S. S. Beecher, and is now occupied as a dwelling-house by the purchaser. For many years services have not been held, but in 1882 the reorganized society purchased a lot and deter- mined to erect a house of worship. N. H. Nichols, James Norton, S. O. Wil- bur, Frank Poor and James Ashald, Trustees, with Mr. Norton, Clerk, and Mr. Ashald, Treasurer. Of the old society there are about ten members here. The Methodist Church, Garrettsville, was organized in 1872 with seven charter members, and organized under State law February 10, 1873, with M. Hashman, R. A. Houghton, T. Barton, Albert Gage, William Fox, H. E. Spencer, Joseph C. Ensign and James R. Thorne, Trustees. James Greer was President, and E. M. Sanderson Secretary of the meeting. The pastors since Garrettsville was created an appointment in September, 1872, were John Brown, 1872; W. H. Haskell, 1874; H. Webb, 1875; H. N. Steadman, 1876; A. S. Morrison, April 13, 1879; Eugene P. Edmonds, 1879; W. H. Rider, 1880; H. B. Edwards, 1881, and Charles Ed. Locke, October, 1883. The record of official members gives the following names: A. D. Hos- kin, H. L. Peck, E. M. Sanderson, S. A. Udall, R. T. Ellenwood, William Fox, N. Steele, H. E. Spencer, G. B. Graham, W. C. Dunn, J. R. Thorn, C. V. Francis, E. B. Lewis, J. E. Morris and Oliver Bow. The membership is about 124. The present church building was erected in 1872, at a cost of $10,000. The building is brick, well located, with spire 100 feet high. The bell weighs 1,000 pounds. Garrettsville Lodge, No. 246, A. F. & A. M. — This lodge was chartered October 19, 1853, and was organized January 10, 1854. The charter was granted by L. V. Bierce, M. W. G. M. ; W. B. Dodd, R. W. D. G. M.; Mat- thew Gaston, R. W. S. G. W. ; W. D. Brock, R. W. J. G. W., and the follow- ing were the charter officers and members: Reuben Daniels, W. M. ; Orin Smith, S. W.; David B. Lee, J. W., and Joshua Finch, John A. Messenger, Charles Slayton, Martin McClinton, James Heath, William Messenger, Ran- som Munn, John Udall, W. Hopkins and I. Hubbard. The lodge has a pres- ent membership of 124. December 19, 1860, the hall in which the communications were held was destroyed by fire, and all the lodge fixtures, library, book of records, etc., were lost. In 1872 the fine brick building, in the upper portion of which is located the lodge rooms, was erected by the fraternity, and was dedicated January 15, 1873, the services being conducted by Right Worshipful Grand Master Wood- ward. The lamented President Garfield was Chaplain of the lodge in 1869. Silver Creek Chapter, No. 144, R. A. M.— This Chapter was constituted and established May 3, 1879, and worked under dispensation till October 17 of the same year, when a charter was granted by James W. Underbill, Grand High 464 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Priest of Ohio. The charter officers and members were Alonzo H. Tidball, H. P.; Ezra B. Hopkins, K. ; AValdo Webster, S., and Edmund Knapp, Stephen G. Warren, Gordon F. Mattison, Charles D. Hosmer, Ira T. Wilder, Titus B. Hopkins, Leroy H. Payne. The membership is sixty- four. There are also in Garrettsville twenty-one Knights Templar, but no Commandery. Odd Fellowship. — Portage Lodge, No. 456, I. O. O. F. — This lodge was instituted July 25, 1870, by H. Y. Beebe, Grand Master." The charter officers and members were Wolcott Chaffee, Jr., N. G.; E. C. Farley, V. G.; C. W. Knapp, R. S. ; J. E. Snow, P. S.; L. N. Moses, T. ; T. M. Hobart and E. M. Talcott. After the first night's work following the institution of the lodge there were fourteen members, and the work has gone on steadily ever since, until at the present time there is a membership of 137. The lodge has cleared off its original debt, and now owns a very fine hall handsomely decorated and furnished in the third floor of the old Bank Building, where the order is doing good work, its members being among the most influential and respected citizens of Garrettsville. The present officers are C. H. Foster, N. G. ; N. W. Leezer, V. G. ; Wolcott Chaffee, Secretary; E. L. Davis, Treasurer; Guy Warren, R. S. to N. G.; C. H. Crafts, L. S. to N. G.; S. W. Fuller. R. S. to V. G.; C. B. Webb, L. S. to V. G.; E. Burke, Warden; E. S. Bishop, Conductor; J. C. Hoffman, R. S. S. ; B. F. Bush, L. S. S. : Robert Durney, I. G. ; L. W. Ahrens, O. G. Young Men's Temperance Council. — This organization was formed March 17, 1882, and, as its name implies, is a temperance society, but on a new plan. It had its origin among the young men of Garrettsville, and its ritual was written by E. L. Sanderson, E. B. Lewis and N. W. Leezer. It is a secret order consisting of three degrees, which are concise and free from the defects of some corresponding societies. The members are not only pledged to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, but also from entering a place where liquors are sold, thereby showing by their habits discouragement to the traffic. The lodge affords an attractive place of resort, furnished with good reading matter, and thus handicaps the saloons and their temptations. The original members forming the organization were E. L. Sanderson, B. G. Dan- iels, J. D. Cole, N. W. Leezer, G. J. Dunn, E. B. Lewis, A. C. Daniels, W. B. Pike, E. E. Maltby, F. W. Brown, T. W. Esty, W. S. White, H. G. Koons and R. H. Over. Good Templars. — Garrettsville Lodge, No. 199, I. O. G. T., was instituted in 1883, and has passed through the varied experiences incident to such a society. Its officers for the ensuing term are as follows: W. C. T. , John McGill; W. V. T., Mrs. W. B. Pike; P. W. C. T., H. A. Truesdale; W. R. S., Hattie E. W^hite; W\F. S., Will Hoskin; W. T., L. A. Tidball; W. C, Mrs. J. B. Knapp; W. M., Wilber Winfield; G., E. B. Lewis; S., David Goss; W. A. S., Mrs. H. A. Truesdale. Young Men's Temperance Council. — The members of the Young Men's Temperance Council celebrated their third anniversary with appropriate public exercises at Buckeye Hall. The Council is in good working condition, and since its organization has been the means of doing much good. The Western Reserve Sugar Makers' Convention was held January 21 and 22, 1885, when the following named officers were elected: President, P. C. Nichols; First Vice-President, E. P. Clark, of Windham; Second Vice- President, S. L. Love, of W^arren; Recording Secretary, F. D. Snow, of Windham; Corresponding Secretary, B. H. Udall, of Garrettsville; Treasurer, C. F. Cowdrey, of Hiram. Success Evaporator Works. — The Garrettsville Manufacturing Company was organized March 20, 1872, with I. L. Robe, E. C. Smith, W^arren Bishop, GARRETTSVILLE TOWNSHIP. 465 E. B. Lee and James Norton. The capital stock was $30,000. This industry was devoted to the manufacture of nuts and bolts and other hardware. This collapsed a few years later, and the buildings are now used by Wilcox & Son, manufacturers of sugar makers' sundries. Wilcox & Son have just invented and perfected a new syrup tester, also a pan connection which is simple, dur- able and reliable every time. It has been pronounced by all who have seen it to be the most perfect connection on the market. By its use interchangeable pans can be easily and successfully used to get rid of the silica deposit. Garrettsville Table Manufacturing Company was established for the manu- facture of tables in 1880-81 by John Gottchalk, and conducted by him until the buildings were destroyed by a boiler explosion three years ago. Together with the destruction of buildings, two men lost their lives. The works were rebuilt and operated for some time, when James Davidson purchased them. Recently the buildings and machinery were leased by E. H. Ober from David- son & Hoskin, and he now conducts a fair business. This industry employs about six men. Fuller & Hatch, saw and planing-mill, was established twenty-eight years ago by John F. Taylor and Daniel EUinwood, Jr., as a saw-mill. They con- ducted it for a number of years until purchased by Getter & Letterbrant, who operated it for some time. In 1861 S. W. Fuller purchased an interest, and in conjunction with his partners has operated the saw-mill since that year. The planing-mill machinery was introduced in 1863-64. The capacity of the saw-mill is about 10,000 feet per day. The value of buildings and machinery of both industries is $6,000. The number of men generally employed is eight. This company, in addition to local work, has a large shipping trade. The feed store and warehouse at the depot is operated by this firm; lime, salt, seed and fertilizers are also dealt in extensively. Udall & Hoskin' s pail factory was built by Charles Tinker about twenty years ago for a machine shop, and operated as such until 1868, when Udall & Co. purchased the buildings and established the pail factory. In 1882 A. D. Hoskins purchased the interests of Tinan and Sanderson and now is partner of Mr. Udall. The works turn out about 50,000 pails, well-buckets, butter-tubs and paint-pails annually, and give employment to twelve men. Water-power was used exclusively up to February, 1885, when steam-power was added. The value of buildings and machinery is $10,000. W. L. &. B. H. Udall's foundry was established thirteen years ago by J. E. Udall & Gregory. Saw-mill and sewing machine machinery, castings and repairs form the leading work. Buildiugs and machinery are valued at $5,000. This industry gives employment to thirteen men from October to April, and about eight men during the summer season. Graham's sash, door and blind factory was established by G. B. Graham in the old woolen-mill buildings, and operated by him down to the present time. This factory gives employment to a large number of hands. Garrettsville Grist-mill was built by Edwin Atwood and Leman Ferry in 1837, and finished in the fall of that year. They operated it jointly until Mr. Ferry sold out his interest. Mr. Atwood continued to hold his inter- est in the mill until the beginning of 1884, when it was sold by his guardians to former past owners, the Vanderslices. The property was leased by Goodhue & Nelson in August, 1884. The capacity is thirty barrels of flour and from 150 to 200 bushels chop- feed per day. The mill employs four men throughout the year. The value of machinery and buildings is about $9,000. W. L. Wilcox, wagon repairer and horse-shoer, established the works in 1882. The building, land, plant and tools are valued at about $2,700. This industry gives employment to two men. 466 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. O. Collins & Co., sHw-mill, rake manufacturers and lumber dealers, estab- lished their business seven years ago. At that time O. Collins & W. L. XJdall were the owners. The buildings were destroyed by fire on May 1, two years after, and the same year the present buildings and machinery were put up. The company gives employment to about twenty hands. Garrettsville carriage shops were established in 1849. The shops are now conducted by Charles O. Foote. Garrettsville Savings and Loan Association was organized January 30, 1869, with W. C. Thrasher, H. Mills, Charles Tinker, T. Robe, W. R. Knowl- ton, James Dunn, C. W. Goodsell, • James Norton, S. S. Beecher, John H. Beeeher, L. K. Raymond, H. C. Tilden, L. Ferry, Sr., L. D. Brown and O. A. Taylor. This company ceased business in 1877. First National Bank. — The Directors of this banking company are W. B. McConnell, E. C. Smith, and G. E. Crane. J. S. Tilden is Cashier. The resources as published December 20, 1884, are $237,350.42. The Cannon House, on East State, is the only hotel in the town, and the successor, so to speak, of the old hotel which was destroyed by fire. This build- ing was the residence of Dr. Manly, and after the Doctor's death was opened as a hotel by Mrs. Manly. Thomas Seymour operated it subsequently as the Washington Hotel; then in 1878 E. D. Wadsworth bought the house, and conducted it until March, 1879, when S. E. Wadsworth took possession, named the hotel the Cannon House in conjunction with the former Cannon House just south. This hotel is well managed and is certainly one of the most pleasant hostelries in the county. The statistics for 1884 are as follows: acres of wheat, 16, bushels, 98; oats, 11 acres, bushels, 470; corn, 7 acres, bushels, 20; meadow, 52 acres, hay, 95 tons; potatoes, 10 acres; milk sold for family use, 5,300 gallons; maple sugar, 100 pounds from 500 trees; honey, 20 pounds from 5 hives; orchards, 3 acres; milch cows, 17; one stallion; 88 dogs; acres cultivated, 27; in pasture, 140; woodland, 35; waste, 62; total, 264 acres. This little township is occupied mainlv by the village of Garrettsville. Population in 1870, 658; in 1880, 969; in 1884 (estimated) 1,100. CHAPTER XXIII. HIRAM TOWNSHIP. Who WAS the First Settler?— Honey and Williams— Mason and Tilden— Other Permanent Settlers — The Youngs, Benjamin Hinckley and Samuel Udall — Many First Events— Churches and Schools— Hiram College— President James A. Garfield— Organization and Origin of Name— The Mormons— Tarring and Feathering Smith and Rigdon— Rich Land, Beautiful Location and Business. HIRAM, the third township settled in the county, and known with its present limits as Town 5, Range 7, was originally the property of Col. Daniel Tilden, Daniel Green, Joseph Metcalf, Levi Case, John Fitch, Joseph Burnham and Joseph Perkins, all of Connecticut. Hiram then comprised the territory now known as Mantua, Shalersville, Freedom, Windham and Nelson. The early history of Hiram has been kept by several persons in the township, who have made special efforts in ascertaining the correct facts of those primi- ^y X. -Ji3r^ HIRAM TOWNSHIP. 469 five times, and among them Mr. Alva TJdall has been particularly active and careful in collecting these matters, and to him the writer is indebted for the most of the information contained in this chapter. There is some doubt respecting the first settler in Hiram. By some it is thought that Abraham S. Honey, who made the first settlement in Mantua, was the man, and that he came as early as 1799, but that cannot be, for he, with his brother-in-law, Rufus Edwards, settled in Mantua, or at least made some improvements there, in the fall of 1798. Mr. John Harmon, one of the first settlers in Mantua, was under the impression that a man named William W. Williams came in the spring of 1799, built a cabin and made a clearing, but that he soon after left and settled in Cuyahoga County, where, in 1800, he built the first mill in that county. The truth, possibly, of this matter is, that when Honey left Mantua, which he did about 1802, he stopped during the spring or summer in Hiram, made a small clearing and built a cabin, but getting tired of the country, went away in the fall to Cuyahoga, where it is known that he lived several years. In 1802 Elijah Mason, Elisha Hutchinson and Mason Tildeu came to the township and located their lands. Mason, who was from Lebanon, Conn. , selected the west half of Lot 23; Tilden, also from Connecticut, selected Lot 22, and Hutchinson, who was from Herkimer County, N. Y., selected a portion of Lot 23. They then returned to their Eastern homes. A permanent settler, but whose actual residence was only about one year or less, came in during this spring also. He was John Flemings, who began improvements on the southeast corner of the west half of Lot 33. He girdled the timber on sixteen acres and built a cabin, also put out a crop of corn and potatoes, which was the first crop raised in the township. In the spring of 1803 Mason with his two sons, Roswell M. and Peleg S., lads of seventeen and nineteen, and Tilden and Hutchinson, came out, leaving their families at home, and made improvements on their lands, Mason clearing about 22 acres and putting it out in wheat, and building a cabin. Hutchinson also cleared twenty acres and built a cabin; Tilden, in like manner, clearing and building. Shortly after they came they discovered and named Silver Creek. They all then went back and were preparing to come out permanently the next spring, but the two sons of Mason refusing to again go into the wilds of the Reserve, the father was compelled to change his plans, and he purchased a farm in Vermont. This action of Mason induced the others to forego for the time emigrating Westward. Three of their hired men, however, were pleased with the country and concluded to settle here. They were Richard Redden, Jacob Wirt and Samuel Wirt, from Pennsylvania. Flemings, also becoming discouraged, concluded to leave when he found that Mason, Hutchinson and . Tilden were not coming, and he sold his place to Redden, the Wirts at the same time settling on the east half of Lot 38. Redden sent for his father and family, which was the first white family to winter in the township. Mason came in the summer of this year, 1804, and harvested his wheat, which was the first in the township, turning out well. His two companions disposed of their effects in Ohio as well as they could, and left the country. For several years after these first few settlers named came in but little pro- gress was made. In the fall of 1804 William Fenton began improvements on the east half of the west half of Lot 38, and Cornelius Baker on the west half of the same. In this year, also, came Col. John Garrett and Abraham Dyson, a black- smith, but fuller mention is made of these two settlers in the history of Nelson Township. In 1806 Roswell M. Mason had a change of heart in regard to the Western 25 470 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. country, and came from Vermont to settle on Lot 32, which had been given him by his father. His father owned considerable land here and Roswell was made agent for it, but instead of settling down to the life of a farmer, hired others to improve the land, and studied law. The most of the settlers, up to about 1807, were from Pennsylvania, and were poor, but generous and hospitable. They were usually squatters, and put such improvements on their land, as frequently, when the owner came around, to sell enough of it to pay for the whole and still retain a fair sized farm. From about 1809, however, the New England element largely predom- inated, but even at this date the number of inhabitants was only twenty. Thomas Johnson, an Irishman, came in this year. He had lived in Pennsyl- vania, but moved from Trumbull County to this township. Simon Babcock, of Connecticut, came in the fall of 1809, and settled on Lot 22. In 1810 Pasley Hughes with a yoke of oxen came in from Vermont, and settled on the property improved in 1803 by Elijah Mason, Hughes having purchased it before leaving his native State. In the fall of the same year Ephraim Hackett, son-in-law of Hughes, came in with his family and settled on the west part of the east half of Lot 22. The population was now about thirty. In June, Orrin Pitkin and wife came in and settled where Honey had improved on Lot 32, in 1802. In 1811, on the 16th day of August, George Young, James Young and Seth Cole, each with large families, came from Sterling, Conn. James Young, who was a tailor, settled on the west half of Lot 18; George, on the east half of the same lot, and the west part of Lot 25, and Cole bought the improve- ments on Lot 38. On the 2d of October Elisha Hutchinson, having changed his mind, also, in regard to the West, arrived with his family and settled upon the spot which he had cleared in 1803, the brush having been cleared off by Isaac Mills, of Nelson, whom he had employed. There were at this time, the fall of 1811, eleven families, embracing fifty-eight persons, in the township. In 1812 Thomas F. Young came with his family from Windham, Conn., and settled at the Center. He was the father of Clinton and Thomas Young, who still reside on the old place. In September, 1813, Benjamin Hinckley and family came in from Connecticut and settled on the west part of the west half of Lot 38, and purchased considerable land. In 1816 Symonds and Jason Ryder, with their father, mother and sisters arrived and settled on land previously located by Symonds. Aruna Tilden also came in this year, bringing his family, which included his brother-in-law, John Jennings, and settled on the west half of Lot 37. In the winter follow- ing Elijah Mason, fulfilling his intention of thirteen years before, brought his family and settled on the west half of Lot 43. In 1817 Gersham Judson came from Mantua and settled on Lot 31, but he afterward sold to Paul Pitkin and moved away. Stephen B. Pulsif er and family settled on Lot 19, and Ira Herrick with his father and mother began on the east end of Lot 33. Daniel Tilden, Benjamin Tilden, John Tilden and Polly Tilden also came in the spring. In October Ebenezer Pinney settled on Lot 31, which afterward passed to Samuel Udall, and from him to others. These arrivals ran the population up to 120. In 1818, early in January, Daniel Hampton came from Trumbull County and settled on the west part of the east half of Lot 33, and about the 23d of the same month Samuel Udall, John Johnson, Martin Miller, Charles Loomis and Thomas Cowen left Pomfret and Hartford, Vt., with their families, which were all large, bound for Hiram. Udall had four yoke of oxen, three horses and a cow. The rest were also supplied well with oxen and horses. The HIRAM TOWNSHIP. 471 weather was cold, the snow was deep, and they were six weeks on the road. Arriving in Hiram March 4, 1818, Udall settled on the west halves of Lots 24 and 27, Johnson on the west ends of Lots 22 and 39, Miller on the west half of Lot 36, Loomis on the middle part of Lot 39, and Cowen moved into a cabin owned by Richard Kedden. In the following summer came Gideon Cbapin, Lemuel Herrick, Miles T. Norton, Joel Button, Elisha Taylor, Horace A. Loomis, Curtis Eggleston, Truman Brace, Capt. William Harris and Charles H. Paine, the last-named moving in the fall to Freedom, and becoming the first settler of that township. In March, 1819, John M. Tilden with his family came in and settled on the west part of the east half of Lot 25, and in June came Paul Pitkin. In 1821 Col. Daniel Tilden, one of the original proprietors of the township, came in and lived in seclusion till 1S35, in which year he died at the age of ninety. He had been a man of great prominence in his native State, but the party in politics opposed to him so wronged him that he became soured and sought obscurity in the wilds of the West. About this time came Deacon John Rudolph, originally from Shenandoah County, Va., but who had resided in Nelson from 1806. One of his sons, Zeb Rudolph, married a daughter of Elijah Mason, and their daughter is the widow of the lamented President Garfield, who fell by the hand of the cowardly assassin, Guiteau. The popu- lation in 1820 was about 225. In the fall of 1807 Gersham Judson, a widower, residing in Mantua, was married to Miss Sarah Redden, and from that time there was not another wedding- in the township till 1817, when Charles H. Paine married a daughter of Elijah Mason, Parthenia Mason, who was Mrs. Garfield's aunt. The first birth was that of Edwin Babcoek, son of Simeon Babcock, on March 3, 1811. The second was that of John Fenton on the 11th day of the same month, the mother of the child dying at the same time; this was the first death in the township. The first blacksmith to open business was Abraham Dyson, who came in 1804. The first mill in the township was built by Lemuel Punderson at the Rapids, in 1807, for Squire Law, of Connecticut, but a flood came in the fall and carried it off. In 1808 the dam was rebuilt and a saw-mill put in opera- tion. Several others followed. Elisha Taylor, a tanner, currier and shoe- maker came in 1818 and commenced business. In 1816 the first postoffice was opened at the Center, and Thomas F. Young was appointed Postmaster, an office which he held for thirty-six years, till the day of his death in November, 1852. The first stock of goods and first store opened was in 1820, by Deacon John D. Hazen. The first frame dwelling-house was erected in 1819 by Jesse Bruce. It stood on the hill a few rods east of Alva Udall's barn on Lot 27. A few years previous to this Thomas Johnson and Elisha Hutchinson had erected frame barns, which were the first frame buildings in the township. A distillery was erected about 1820, as Hiram had to keep pace with Mantua and Nelson, each of which had two of these institutions in operation. The first road in the north part of the county was from Warren to Cleveland, built in 1800, and ran through the center of Hiram. James Young was the first tailor, and Seth Cole the first cooper to settle in the township; they came in 1811. The first military company was organized by the election of Symonds Ryder, Captain; Orrin Hutchinson, Lieutenant; Silas Raymond, Ensign; John Til- den, Orderly Sergeant; George Udall, Drummer; John M. Tilden, Fifer. Thomas F. Young was elected a Justice of the Peace in 1814, being the first Justice in the Township; he served three terms. Occasional sermons were delivered from a very early day, both by the Method- 472 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. ists and Congregationalists or Presbyterians and among that number wereEev. Caleb Pitkin, Rev. Shadrach Bostwick and Rev. R. R. Roberts, vs^ho preached all over the Reserve, and in fact all over northern Ohio, but the Baptist denomination seems to have taken the lead up to along about the year 1830. They had a small church at the Rapids, and the Congregationalists had also a small church. In 1835 the Disciples of Christ organized a church at the south road schoolhouse, w^hich consisted of thirteen members. This congregation grew rapidly, and in 1844 they erected a church building, which about 1856 was burned, vphen the present tasteful and commodious edifice was erected; the membership now runs into the hundreds. In 1844 the Methodists built a neat frame church just north of the Corners at the Center, but the society not being very prosperous, it was deemed advisable to dispose of the building and appropriate the proceeds otherwise. In the year 1813 Benjamin Hinckley arrived, and on December 13 he com- menced teaching school in a log-house that had been put up in the fall. He taught ten weeks ending February 22, 1814, and had twenty scholars. There were seven Youngs, three Johnsons, two Hutchinsons, two Dysons, two Hughes, two Hinckleys, a Hampton and a Judson. From about this time schools were maintained in the township, but there was but one school district. In 1816 two districts were formed, each having its log-schoolhouse, and were known as the Center and South Districts respectively. During the year 1820 a frame schoolhouse was begun in the South District, and after much effort it was com- pleted. In the Center District some time afterward, a frame building was commenced for a schoolhouse, and to have a Masonic hall above, but it was never finished. The Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, formerly so well and favorably known throughout northern Ohio, was the parent of Hiram College. Previous to 1850 there had been a growing feeling among the Disciples of the West- ern Reserve that they needed an educational institution located somewhere in northern Ohio. Delegates from the prominent churches of the Disciples met to consider the matter. They were unanimous in the opinion that a school should be established, and after several meetings decided, November 7, 1849, to locate it at Hiram. Its charter was granted March 1, 1850. The same summer, near, but a little south of the crest of the water-shed dividing the waters of the lake from those of the Ohio, in the middle of an eight-acre enclosure that has since become one of the most beautiful campuses in the State, as it is by nature one of the most commanding, a substantial and com- modious brick building, three stories high, with a front of eighty-four feet, and a depth of sixty-four feet, was erected. In this building, November 27, 1850, the new school went into operation, under the name of the "Western Reserve Eclectic Institute," the name having been suggested by Isaac Errett, then pastor of the Church of the Disciples in Warren. The work done was substantially that of an academic school of high grade. The aims of the school may be stated as follows: 1. To provide a sound scien- tific and literary education. 2. To temper and sweeten such education with moral and scriptural knowledge. The popularity of the Institute was great from the beginning, and the annual attendance rose as high as five hundred. February 20, 1867, the Board decided to clothe the school with collegiate powers and responsibilities. As Hiram had become widely and favorably known as the seat of the Institute, the name now chosen was "Hiram College." The change in the name and rank of the institution did not essentially change its aims and spirit. HIRAM TOAVNSHIP. 478 A. S. Hayden, a cultivated and well-known minister of the Disciples, was the first Principal. For seven years he served in this capacity with great acceptance. Associated with him much of the time were Thomas Munnell. Norman Dunshee and Almeda Booth. James A. Garfield, who had taught under Mr. Hayden's administration, succeeded to the Principalship. The Institute, which had been prosperous under Mr. Hayden's administration, now reached a still higher degree of pros- perity. Mr. Garfield was Principal from 1857 to 1861, and won a wide popu- larity as a teacher and manager, and as a lecturer on general and scientific topics. His associates were Norman Dunshee, Harvey W. Everest, J. H. Rhodes, Almeda Booth, J. M. Atwater and B. A. Hinsdale. From 1861 to 1867 there were frequent changes in the head of the school. H. W. Everest, C. W. Heywood, A. J. Thomson and J. M. Atwater served for brief periods, the name of James A. Garfield as Advising Principal appearing much of the time. This period was in some particulars Hiram's darkest day. Within this period came the Civil war, and many of Hiram's best workers were called to the battlefield. As a chartered college Hiram began its work August 31, 1867. Dr. Silas E. Shepai-d was its first President. He was succeeded by Prof. J. M. Atwater, who in 1871 was succeeded by Prof. B. A. Hinsdale. Prof. Hinsdale's admin- istration continued until June, 1882, when Vice-President Dean became Act- ing President. At the beginning of the collegiate year 1883-84 the Board of Trustees were called upon to choose some one to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of President Hinsdale. After due deliberation their choice fell upon the present incumbent. President G. H. Laugh lin. President Laugh lin came from Oskaloosa College, Iowa, with which institiition he had been for nine years connected and of which he was the President. The experience of the year seems to have shown the wisdom of the choice. He has entered upon and pursued his labors like one schooled to the position, has proved himself a thorough teacher, and has won in a high degree the confidence and esteem of all. Hiram College is affiliated with the Ohio College Association, in accordance with the rules of which association the courses of study are arranged. The special departments comprise the Biblical, musical, normal and art. The degrees conferred are B. A., B. P., M. A. and M. P. On May 7, 1883, a Bible Chair was established. The first building continues in good repair. Six years ago the Ladies' Hall was erected. The tabernacle and the boys' dormitory complete the list of buildings, each one is well equipped, and admirably adapted to its purpose. There are five well-selected libraries, containing more than 3,000 volumes. These libraries are being constantly enlarged with the best publications of the day. One of the libraries belongs to the college; the others to the Olive Branch, Delphic and Hesperian Societies, and the Y. M. C. A., respectively. The college buildings, campus, libraries, apparatus, cabinet and furniture are worth $40,000; the productive endowment is estimated at $50,000; bequests, in the form of wills, are estimated at $100,000. In the following summary of the history of education in this township since 1850, the statistics of common schools and literary societies are given. Enrollment in 1884, nine boys and eighty-three girls; revenue, $3,824.68; expenditures, $1,932.38; seven schoolhouses valued at $4,200; average monthly pay of teachers, $26. The Olive Branch Society, a ladies' organization, was the first literary asso- ciation of ladies of the college, being founded in 1853. The Hesperian Lit- erary Society of Hiram was organized in 1855, and reorganized May 2, 1862, with D. D. Humeston, H B. Norton, C. A. Dudley, C. C. Smith and J. H. 474 HISTORY OF rORTAGE COUNTY. Hogue, Trustees. C. F. Willcutt was Clerk. Delphic Literary Society in connection with the Eclectic Institute was organized in 1854, and reorganized April 18, 1862, with I. K. Davidson, Edgar Maxon and -T. C. Cannon, Trustees, and Lewis L. Campbell, Clerk. L. J. Adair presided. The Alpha Beta Delta Society of Hiram College was reorganized Feb. 14, 1870, and chartered subsequently. The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in 1868. Of the many who have taught at Hiram, mention may be made of the fol- lowing distinguished names: Munnell, Dunshee, Wilber, Hall, Hillier, Rhodes, Everest, J. M. Atwater, Amzi Atwater, Suliote, Thomson, Coffeen, Hill, Dr. Shepard, Lottie M. Sackett, Weston, Hinsdale, Demmon, Pardee. "Wakefield, Barber, Booth and Garfield. Al- meda Booth came to Hiram in the spring of 1851, and remained in service, except one year spent in Oberlin College, until commencement, 1866, in all fourteen years and one term. She began her work at Hiram as teacher of English studies, but soon became Principal of the ladies' department. Although excelling in teaching English studies, yet she taught with success in every department of the college. Her life and character formed the theme of an address by James A. Garfield at Hiram commencement in 1876. In the spring of 1816 Nelson was set oif from Hiram, and at the election in the following April Thomas F. Young was chosen Clerk: James Young, John Redden and Benjamin Hinckley, Trustees; and Richard Redden, Treas- urer. There are no records of the township earlier than 1820, and these offi- cers are given from memory. The name of the township. Hiram, was sug- gested by Col. Tilden, who proposed it to all the original proprietors, who were Freemasons, in honor of an Illustrious Ancient Master Workman well known to the fraternity. Owing to the carelessness of a surveyor, who was probably unskilled in his business, some of the lines of survey are very irregular, frequent cases of lots being several rods wider at one end than the other occurring. In 1820 there were four Revolutionai'y soldiers residing in Hiram — Col. Daniel Tilden, Christopher Redden, Elijah Mason and old Mr. Turner. Hiram did nobly in the war of the Rebellion, having been represented by two Major- Generals, two Captains and two Lieutenants, besides her full quota of men up to 1864. She sent to the front seventy-four men, thirteen of whom were killed or died in the service. In the winter of 1831 Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon came to Hiram, held meetings and made many converts to the then new faith of Latter Day Saints, or Mormonism, but after a time something leaked out in regai'd to the Saints having an eye on their neighbors' property, that it was their design to get into their possession all the lands of those whom they converted. Whether the charge was true or not cannot now be affirmed, but at any rate the good people of Hiram and some others went to the houses of Smith and Rigdon, took them out, stripped them to the bufif, and treated them to a coat of tar and feathers and a rail ride, which induced them to leave. Hiram occupies the highest elevation on the Reserve, being 1,300 feet above eea level, which gives it great salubrity and healthfulness. Its hills and dales are not only beautiful, but the land is excellent, being a clay loam, in Borne portions sandy, and at the same time it is well watered. It is well adapted to fruit and grazing, and in 1865 Ozias Allen made from the milk of twenty-one cows 12,600 pounds of cheese, which he sold for 15 cents per pound — S90 from each cow. There are in the township three cheese fac- tories, three steam saw-mills, two feed-mills and an apple jelly factory, besides two general stores at the Center and at Rapids Postoffice. MANTUA TOWNSHIP. 475 The proposed railroad, called the Clinton Air Line, is treated of in the ■" General History " at page 297. Toionship Officers. — Trustees, Homer Abbott, F. R. Freeman, James Young; Clerk, S. J. Young; Treasurer, C. L. P. Reno; Assessor, G. B. Mer- win; Constables, Joseph Hall, C. C. Sheldon; Justices of the Peace, Arvin Wilson, AyA. Turner. Postmaster at Hiram Center, D. H. Beaman; Post- master at Rapids, Taylor Wilcox. The statistics of this township for 188-4 are as follows: Acres of wheat, 854, bushels, 8,294; bushels of rye, 40; of oats, 25,029; of corn, 6,489; tons of hay, 2,664; of clover hay, 140 tons; of seed, eight bushels; of potatoes, 40,344; gallons of milk, 350; pounds of home-made butter, 51,738; of factory butter, 20,000; of cheese, 19,694; of maple sugar, 12,767; gallons of syrup, 6,190 from 30,439 maples; of honey, 1,175 pounds from 81 hives; dozens of eggs, 25,328; 11,821 bushels of apples, 610 of peaches, and 13 of pears from 549 acres; 6,404 pounds of wool; 820 milch cows; 1 stallion; 87 dogs (killed 8 sheep); died of disease, 7 hogs, 90 sheep, 19 cattle and 9 horses; acres cultivated, 4,493; under pasture, 5,657; woodland, 2,578; waste, 114; total, 12,842. Population in 1850 was 1,106, including 458 youth; in 1870, 1,234; in 1880, 1,058; in 1884, 1,000 (estimated). CHAPTER XXIV. MANTUA TOWNSHIP. First Settler of Portage County — First Wheat— Amzi Atwater — Elias Harmon — Other Settlers— Organization— First Birth, Marriage and Death— Primitive Industries— A Peculiar Character— Another Queer One— Judge Atwater's Bear Fight— Churches and Schools— Business, Soil, etc.— Mantua Station — Mantua corners — Masonry— Statistics. MANTUA received the first settler that entered Portage County, anticipating four other townships by about six months. It was originally the property of the "SufiQeld, Cuyahoga & Big Beaver Laud Company," all the members of which, some sixteen in number, lived in Suffield, Conn. This company owned three other townships, but at the drawing the land now comprising Mantua fell to the lot of David, Fidelio and Ebenezer King, Jr., and Martin Sheldon, Gideon Granger, Thomas Sheldon and Oliver Phelps, also owned small par- cels of the land, and Ebenezer Sheldon afterward purchased a part of Martin Sheldon's interest. It was then known as Town 5, Range 8. The township was surveyed by David Abbott into tracts of 420 acres each, there being forty- two lots. Abbott took two quarter lots, northwest quarter of Lot 29 and southeast quarter of Lot 23. He was a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of Ohio. The first man to drive a stake, put up a cabin, make a clearing and settle down to business was Abraham L. Honey, which he did in the fall of 1798, and although it has been asserted that a man by the name of Peter French came in the fall of 1798, cleared off some land on the northwest quarter of Lot 24 and put out a small patch of wheat, he also cleared some land on the south- west quarter of Lot 29. After making those improvements he moved to Men- tor. That a small crop of wheat was harvested the next season by Rufus Edwards, who came in and took possession of Lot 24, the lot settled upon by Honey, is beyond dispute. How he got possession of Lot 24 does not now 476 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. appear. Honey remained only two or three years in Mantua, when he moved to Hiram and from there to Cuyahoga County. The wife of Honey was a sis- ter of Rufus Edwards, and it is possible that Honey made the improvements for his brother-in-law, himself settling on a portion of the land, there being plenty of room on 420 acres for three or four families in those times. At any rate Rufus Edwai-ds was the second settler, for in the notes keptby Elias Har- mon of those early days he says that just after he came in he chopped for Edwards and hewed for Crooks. Crooks by this appears to have been the third settler, though not a permanent one, as he only arrived at Mr. Honey's on the 12th of June, 1799. David Crooks, the person referred to, settled on the southwest part of Lot 29. He remained there until November, 1799, when he went for his family, who refused to return to Ohio with him. Will- iam Crooks died in Aurora, some time in the fifties at the age of eighty-five years. He located in Warren, then at Nelson, next at Parkman, and ultimately in Aurora. Elias Harmon, who can be set down as the fourth settler, was born in Suf- lield. Conn., in 1773, and started for the Reserve in February, 1799, in a two- horse sleigh, going as far as Pittston, N. Y., where he remained till May, when, in company with Benjamin Tappan, David Hudson and Jotham Atwa- ter, started for their future home — Ta,ppan for Ravenna, then Town 3, Range 8; Hudson for what is now Summit County; Atwater for Euclid, and Harmon for Mantua. After a long, tiresome and perilous trip, partly by lake, partly by land and partly by river, Harmon landed at the clearing of Honey, as stated, on the 12th of June, where he stopped awhile, and then went to the place of Ebenezer Sheldon, who had engaged him before leaving home to help him in boarding and aiding the surveyors in their allotment of Aurora, after- ward returning to Mantua with his wife in September, 1799, and settling on Lot 18. One of two or three entries in his diary, shows that the erection of a habitation in those days was a matter to be accomplished in short order; he savs: "July 1, began to cut timber for our house. July 2, put up and moved into house. July 3, got timber for floor. July 4, laid thefloor." An entry under date July 15,1799, is as follows: Rufus Edwards, Dr. Rufus Edwards, Cr. June 15, half day chopping $ 37i Sept. 1799. By eight days working at Aug. i of a day stacking wheat 25 the mill (Cohand grist-mill). . . .$6 00 Oct. To one day logging 75 Dec. 1799. By f of a day work 50 To * pound of tobacco lent. " By 1^ day laying floor 1 12i Jan.' 7, 1800. To mending great coat 12 Jan. 1800. By putting a sight to my " 25. " To makeing a shirt — 37* gun 25 Mar. 16, " To washing and bak- Ap. 19, 1800. By a day work at ing 251 burning 75 April, isOO. To washing and bak- May 6. By'rolling logs aday 75 ing 31-i "16. By cutting and splitting rails " 18. To chopping rail timber a day 75 one day '" Miv 29 / " 20. To burning brush half day 37i juiie i; f By two days roll logs 150 To lib. tobacco jen< May 3. By half day pick up brush. . 87i " 26 and 28. To drawing rails two g^ ^^ j of venison at 3c per lb 44 half days 1 --5 j^jy 5 gy ^^ing to Mr. Delon mills " 30. To two-thirds of a day lay- after whisky 75 ing fence 50 July 15. By half day hoeing 37i May 12. To half day drawing rails.. 62i j^^j jg" -^qqq -\Vg ^his day Compared books " 19. To drawing logs a day 1 ^0 ^j^^j f^^^^ ^^^ to Harmon one dollar to bal- " 21 and 22. To oxen to drag two ^^j,^ ^^*^ NELSON TOWNSHIP. 489 sachusetts and Connecticut and made settlement. Among those were Stephen Baldwin, Benjamin Stow and his two sons, Daniel and Caleb, John Bancroft with four sons, Rudolphus, JohD, Artemus and David, Daniel Owen, two brothers, Stiles and William, Thomas Kennedy and Asa Truesdale, making seven families in all, which constituted the entire population of Nelson in 1804. In this year came Isaac Mills, the father of Mr. Albert Mills, of the Center, who is now seventy-eight years of age, and well preserved in all his faculties. The old gentleman has been a great singer in his day, and led the sieging in bis church for over forty years, having only within the past two or three years ceased to do so. Isaac, in company with a friend, Origen Adams, both being single men, made the journey on foot from Connecticut, but the former, doing quite well the first year, returned to Connecticut and on Novem- ber 27, 1805, married his pretty little sweetheart. Miss Polly Adams, a dam- sel of only fifteen years. It was a fearful undertaking for the child-wife to come to this far-distant wilderness, but of such stuff were some of the women of those days made, that the little girl became a splendid pioneer wife, equal to all emergencies, content and happy, a blessing to all who knew her, and the mother of stalwart sons and buxom daughters. In July, 1804, also settled Col. John Garrett, from Delaware, for whom was named Garrettsville. A German from Delaware, named Johann Noah, came about the same time as Col. Garrett; also Abraham Dyson, from Delaware, who settled near Col. Garrett, on the spot that afterward became the village of Garrettsville. In 1805 came John Tinker and Nathaniel Bancroft, sons- in-law of Benjamin and Daniel Stow, Martin Manly and Daniel Wood. In 1806 Asahel Mills, having fitted up accommodations for his aged father and mother, brought the old couple out, but the Deacon died in 1809 and his widow followed him several years later. Oliver Mills, a brother of the above, also settled in the township about 1809, and aboat the same time came Charles May, the Rudolphs and Rev. William West, a Baptist minister. In 1810 or thereabouts came Charles Johnson, from Connecticut, bringing three sons, Erastus, Alanson aod Charles, Jr. In 1811-12 a large company, mostly Presbyterians, came in from Connec- ticut, prominent among whom were Deacon Joshua B. Sherwood, Wells Clark, Bridsey Clark, Theron Colton, David Beardsley, Titus Bonney, Hezekiah Bonney, John Hannah, David Goodsell and a large connection of the Hopkins family. Emigration then ceased almost entirely till the close of the war, 1812-14. In 1815 an enumeration of the settlers of the township resulted in a show- ing of thirty -three heads of families, as follows: Hezekiah Higley, John Bancroft, Jr., Adolphus Bancroft, Titus Bonney, Benjamin Stow, John Ban- croft, Sr., William Kennedy, Thomas Kennedy, John Hannah, Rossitter Hop- kins, Stephen Baldwin, Delaun Mills, John Tinker, Alanson Johnson, David Beardsley, Benjamin Pritchard, Theron Colton, Rev. William West, John Rudolph, Widow Gan-ett, Joshua B. Sherwood, Isaac Mills, Robert C. Ben- nett, Sylvanus Hewlett, Elisha Taylor, Sr., Martin Manly, David Stow, / Johann Noah, Asa Truesdale, Erastus Johnson, Bridsey Clark and Wells Clark. From the date of the above enumeration till 1820, the township rapidly settled up, and among those who came in were, to give a good heading to the list, Jeremiah Earl Fuller, who was six feet four inches in height, bringing two sons; Charles Whiting, Charles Hewlett, Marcus and David Morris, Thomas Barber, Thomas Perry, Benjamin Brown, one of whose sons was Probate Judge, another a prominent lawyer, and another a well-known physician; also, came 26 490 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. the Merwins, Batons, Merritts and others. From 1820 onward, emigrants from the East still came in till the price of land began materially to advance. Among those coming about this time were Harry Spencer, Jacob and Ashbel Haskins, Jr., sons of Ashbel Haskins, Sr. , Jared W. Knowlton and family, Ira Fuller, who lived to be ninety-four years of age, and a number of the Pritchards and Taylors. As soon as the surveying party under Atwater arrived in Nelson, they set to work and erected a log-cabin for their use whilst in the township. It was, of course, a rude affair, built of unhewn logs, and stood just east of the pres- ent house on the land afterward donated to Capt. Mills. This was the first human habitation in Nelson, and was erected in the early spring of 1800. "When Delaun returned with his family in the fall, he made considerable improvements in the surveyors' cabin, and put it in the best condition pos- sible for wintering his wife and her three young children. Capt. Mills afterward erected a double log-cabin, quite a commodious affair, and it was the admiration of the whole settlement. Asahel Mills erected the next cabin after his brother, and was soon followed by many others. But one of the most noted events of the time was the erection by Thomas Kennedy, about 1811, of a frame house. It was located about three-fourths of a mile north of the Cen- ter, and when it was finished some of his neighbors 'said that Thomas was get- ting too proud. The father of Thomas Kennedy was William Kennedy, who was ninety years of age when he came. The old gentleman was considerable of a drinker, and on one occasion came to his son and told him that the spring back of the bouse was not water but Santa Cruz rum. In the spring of 1804 Enoch Judson, of Mantua, married Anne Kennedy, this being the first marriage in the township, but the married life of the unfor- tunate lady was short, for in June following she became slightly sick, and applying to Mrs. Rufus Edwards for an emetic, was given, through mistake, arsenic, which caused her death. The second marriage was that of a sister of Anne Kennedy, Mrs. Norton, to Joseph Nourse, a lawyer of Burton. It has been generally supposed that Harmon Mills, son of Delaun Mills, born in November, 1801, was the first child born in the township, but we are sorry to annul that claim by stating that the reputed " previous " Harmon had a little girl cousin named Dianthea, who antedated him by almost a month, she having made her appearance on the 14th day of October, 1801. She was the daughter of Asahel Mills. The first death in the township, like the first birth, has been wrongly stated. A son of Col. Garrett died in September, 1804, and to this youth has usually been given the honor of departing the earliest, but an infant of Asahel Mills died a year or two before the date of young Garrett's death, as is proven by the Mills' family record. The first man to die in the township was Col. John Garrett, who departed this life in January, 1806, at the age of forty- six years, after a career of usefulness to his fellow-men and honor to himself. He left a widow, who survived him forty years, and four children who became honored and distinguished citizens. About the first preaching ever listened to in Nelson fell from the lips of Asahel Mills, who at the time he settled in the township had made up his mind to be a Methodist preacher. His sermons may have simply been exhorta- tions in the Methodist sense, but we have the word of Albert Mills that he was the earliest preacher who lifted up his voice in the township. Rev. Will- iam West, a Baptist minister, came in very early, probably 1807 or 1809, and of course delivered a sermon to the settlers occasionally, but the first church organization occurred in 1807, at the house of Johann Noah, the services NELSON TOWNSHIP. 491 being coDclueted by Rev. Thomas G. Jones, of the Baptist denomination. Mr. Jones was afterward a member of the Ohio Legislature, and President of a bank in Wooster. Rev. R. R. Roberts, afterward a leading Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a circuit rider in those early days, and preached every two weeks at the cabin of Capt. Mills. A preacher by the name of George Lane, a noted singer, came in an early day. He had a powerful voice and always led the singing. William West, the minister spoken of above, became the first settled pastor in 1809 or 1810, he having preached irregularly for the settlers some time before. The original proprietors donated him fifty acres of land. Mr. West was an excellent man and much beloved. He has no descendants in the township, but one of his daughters married Prof. Brainard, of Cleveland. The large company that came from Connecti- cut in lSll-12, organized a Congregational Church in 1813, all of the mem- bers having belonged to the same church before they came West. In 1822 the Presbyterians erected a very tine church at the Center, and it stands there to-day. Rev. Benjamin Fenn was the first regular preacher to occupy the pulpit, he coming there in 1823. The first Methodist Church was built in 1832, and the first minister to preach in it was Rev. J. W. Davis. The church still stands in good condition at the Center. The first school opened in the township was taught by Hannah Baldwin, at the Center, in 1804. Not one of those who attended this primitive educa- tional institution is now alive. The next school was taught by Oliver Mills, in 1806. He was a brother of the famous Captain, and is said to have monopo- lized all the "school larnin'" of the early Mills family; he was a farmer, mechanic, teacher and doctor, ail combined. Nelson Academy Association was permanently organized January 6, 1852; Charles Goodsell, D. Everest, David Hanners, Josiah Talbot, C. C. Fuller, Silas Clark, John Martin, A. J. Eldred and Albert Mills were elected Trustees. At the annual meeting, Jan- uary 3, 1853, W. R. Knowlton, J. W. Spencer and G. B. Stow were elected Trustees. C. C. Fuller was Clerk of the first annual meeting. The condi- tion of the township schools at the close of 1884 is shown by the following statistics: Revenue in 1884, $3,947.10; expenditures, $2,344.62; eight school buildings valued at $5,000; average pay of teachers, $36 and $22; enroll- ment, 88 boys and 91 girls. Capt. Mills for many years kept his house as a stopping-place or tavern. It being located on the route to the farther western country, it was very con- venient, especially as he always had on hand a supply of whisky and rum. Another tavern was kept on the road north of the Center by Artemus Bancroft. The first mill was erected by Col. Gari'ett, at Garrettsville, and it was the greatest convenience with which the settlers had been supplied, as previous to its erection long journeys had to be made to get their little grists ground. The mill was both saw and grist, and was built in 1805. This same year Amzi Atwater surveyed a road from his place in Mantua, along the south line of Hiram Township, to Col. Garrett's mill, and in 1806 another was cut out to Aurora, westward, and one through Windham and Braceville, to Warren. Abraham Dyson, who came in at the time Col. Gar- rett did, was the first blacksmith, and had more than he could do repairing- guns for the Indians. The fii'st wheat raised was forty-three bushels, from three pecks of seed, sown in the turnip patch of Capt. Mills in 1801. It was threshed oiit on a sheet in the wind. An epidemic of a fearful nature pre- vailed in 1842, and carried off many persons. The patient would be taken with something like the ague, after which a peculiar fever would set in, when death would shortly ensue. It baffled the skill of some of the best physicians. 492 HISTORY OF rORTAGE COUN'IY. Mr. Pike, the oldest man in the township, now ninety-one years, was in the war of 1812. Capt. Mills commanded a company at the battle of Mackinaw under Col. Croghatt. He was the first militia Captain, also. The township was organized in September, 1817, and named Nelson. The first Justices of the Peace elected were Daniel Stow and Elisha Taylor, Jr., the latter declining to serve. One of the first cases was Delaan Mills vs. James Knowlton, action to recover the price of a bear. Mills had a bear trap, Knowlton baited it, caught a bear and took it home. Mills claimed the bear, as it was caught in his trap. Judgment, 25 cents, awarded Mills for the use of trap; plaintiff and defendant to divide costs. Before the township was regularly organized, and while Benjamin Stow was Magistrate, Thomas Kennedy and Wareham Loomis got into a fight, and the one who was whipped had the other arrested. When the case came up for trial, the prosecuting witness, defendant and spectators were all greatly sur- prised at the decision of the Judge. He fined both parties $5 apiece, and made each pay half the costs. Being remonstrated with by a fi'iend of the prosecuting witness at the apparent irregularity of the proceeding — that it was not law — he replied, " I am Chief Justice of this domain, and am here to deal ont justice; I don't care a fig for the law." Another case, showing that in those early times justice, rather than the strict technicalities of the law, prevailed, occurred during the time Capt. Mills had his tavern. The accommodating Captain, as has been stated, sold whisky, but he forgot to get out a license. He was arraigned before the Trumbull County Court for selling liquor without a license, and plead guilty to the charge. Judge Kirtland, who had often been refreshed at the hostelry of Mills, remarked to Judge Pease that he did not think the defendant guilty within the meaning of the statute, whereupon Pease asked Mills if he could not change his plea. | " May it please the Court, your Honor, I am not guilty," promptly replied the accommodating Captain, and he was as promptly dis- charged. Many stories have not only been told orally, but have found their way into print, about Capt. Delaun Mills and the Indians; they have been added to from time to time so abundantly that one would be led to believe that the exclusive business of the redoubtable Captain was to hunt and kill Indians. According to some authorities he would shoot a couple of redskins and throw them on his burning log-pile, just as be would perform any other ordinary work; then he pursues a party of them into a swamp and dispatches half a dozen or so, before breakfast; again, he would kill one, put him under the upturned root of a tree, cut the top of the tree off, and let the balance fly back and thus effectually bury the brave; or again, he would stick the carcass of one of his wily foes into a spring, and ram and jam it down with his rifle. There is no doubt about the extraordinary bravery of this pioneer, no doubt about his skill with the rifle, and no doubt about his hatred of the red sav- ages, but ho was a humane man, with a loving wife and a number of children at his fireside, which prevented his being an Indian-slayer by profession, as a man of his good common sense would know that such careers are short. Notwithstanding the many accounts of his deeds of blood, the only really authentic one is that written by his son Urial, of Salem, 111., who in a letter dated August 22, 1879, states: "About 1803 an Indian got mad at my father and said he would kill him. Father was in the habit of hunting through the fall. One day in crossing the trail made in the snow the day before, he found the track of an Indian following him; this put him on his guard. He soon saw the Indian. They both sheltered themselves behind trees. Father put NELSON TOWNSHIP. 493 his hatou his gun stock and stuck it out so that the Indian could see it. The Indian shot a hole through the hat, and when it fell he ran toward father with his tomahawk in his hand; father stepped from behind the tree, shot him and buried him. He told my mother and she told me. About the same time the Indians were in camp near the cranberry -marsh, afterward owned by Benjamin Stow, Asahel Mills was hunting cattle and came past their camp; an Indian snapped a gun at him, but the Indian's squaw took the gun away from him. Asahel came home badly scared and told his story. We soon saw ten Indians coming painted for war. They came into the house; all shook hands with father but the last, who uttered an oath and seized him by the throat. Father caught him by the shoulders, jerked him oflf the floor, and swung him around. The calves of his legs hit the sharp leg of a heavy table; he then dragged him out doors, took him by the hair and pounded his head on a big rock and left him. The Indians scarified the bruised parts by cutting the skin into strips about one inch wide; they then tied a blanket around him, put a pole through the blanket, took the pole on their shoulders and carried him to camp. They said that if he died they would kill father. While he was con- fined they shot Diver of Deerfield. This created quite an excitement, and the Indians all left for Sandusky, leaving the crippled one in camp. Some time after, when father was away, he came to the house in the dusk of the evening and asked if he could stay. Mother told him he could. She did not sleep any that night, believing he had come to kill us. In the morning he got up, built a tire and cooked his breakfast of bear's meat; he then went out and soon returned with the hind-quarters of a tine bear which he gave to mother, then bade her good-by and left. She was as glad to see him go as any visi- tor she ever had." He was appointed Captain of the Big Hunt in 1818. Capt. Mills was bitten by a rattlesnake in the summer of 1812, and it very nearly ended his career. Soon after being bitten the blood began to flow from his nose and eyes, and he became partially paralyzed. The usual remedy, filling the patient with whisky, saved him, but he always felt the effects of the terrible virus. He died April 20, 1824. The township is strictly agricultural, and cheese making is one of the principal industries. The country is rolling throughout its whole extent, but the land is excellent. Considerable fine stock is raised and handled, and some sheep and their product marketed. Originally the entire face of the country was covered with a heavy growth of the finest timber, and game being plenti- ful it was really one of the best hunting-gi'ounds for the Indians, and some of the Avell-known chiefs often hunted here. Big Cayuga, Snip Nose Cay- uga, both of whom Capt. Mills is said to have killed, Seneca, Nickshaw and John IMohawk, who shot Diver, were among the more noted. White hunters, also, more skilled with the rifle than the Indians, stalked those old woods, and many an adventure with bears and wolves is told of the grandfathers and fathers of the present inhabitants. A beautiful monument stands in the square at the Center, erected to the memory of the brave boys who so nobly laid their lives down on the altar of their country, and it is an honor to the patriotic citizens who thus remem- ber the martyrs who died that they might enjoy the benefits and glory of an undivided country. It cost $1,225, and was made at Ravenna. Nelson fur- nished 109 soldiers; twenty died and eight were disabled. The township is well watered with several small streams, and an excellent market and shipping point is afforded in Garrettsville. There are eight good schoolhouses in the township, besides a fine academy at the Center; also one Congregational Church, Rev. Fowler, pastor; one 494 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Methodist Episcopal Church, Eev. E. B. Wilson, pastor, and a small church in southeast corner of township. Three cheese factories are nearly all the time in operation. There are two general stores, one blacksmith shop and postoffice at the Center, S. M. Alger, Postmaster. Township Officers. — Trustees, A. J. Paine, A. F. Hannah, Edwin Taylor; Clerk, W. W. McCall; Treasurer, William J. Fuller; Assessor, Charles Allen; Constables, Leon Bancroft, Benjamin Paine; Justices of the Peace, L. S. Nicholson, Benjamin Knowlton. The " Ledges," as they are called, in the northern part of the township, have always been a noted place of report for pleasure-seekers and curiosity- hunters, and there is a good hotel at one of the principal points of interest for their accommodation. This singular freak of nature is attributed to vari- ous causes, but there is no doubt of their being the result of some terrific internal upheaval, when the fierce volcanic fires burst forth, and possibly shot out through the crevices that now appear in all directions, but which through the lapse of unnumbered ages have been mostly filled with rock and lava debris, pulverized in after ages to ordinary soil and sand. Curious upheavals of this character are to be found all over the world, but they generally occur on mount- ain tops, and are called in two or three localities '' the devil's back bone." The Nelson Ledges are well worth a visit. The general statistics of this township for 1884 are: Acres of wheat, 607, bushels, 8,802; bushels of rye, 88^from 7 acres; of buckwheat, 32 fi'om 3 acres; of oats, 20,155 from 603 acres; of corn, 7,603 from 605 acres; of meadow, 3,237 tons of hay from 2,050 acres; of clover hay, 209 tons and 23 bushels of seed from 127 acres; of flax, 61 bushels of seed from 5 acres; of potatoes, 11,035 from 85 acres; of butter, 67,855 pounds home-made; of cheese, 131,710 pounds; of maple sugar, 32,222 pounds, and 7,361 gallons of syrup from 34,402 trees; of honey, 2,115 pounds from 69 hives; of eggs, 23,862 dozens; of apples, 10,605 bushels; peaches, 995 bushels; pears, 44 bushels; cherries, 6 bushels from 370 acres of orchard; pounds of wool, 11,074; milch cows, 781; stallions, 1; dogs, 111; animals died of disease, 100 sheep, 11 cattle and 2 horses; acres cultivated, 4,228; pasture, 7,339; woodland, 2,621; waste, 108; total, 14,296 acres. Population in 1850 was 1,383, including 561 youth; in 1870, 1,355; in 1880, 890; in 1884 (estimated), 950. PALMYRA TOWNSHIP. 495 CHAPTER XXVI. PALMYRA TOWNSHIP. The Vanguard— Pioneer Daniels— Capt. Baldwin, Truman Gilbert, Arte- Mus RuGGLES— The Great Trail— A Noted Character— Pioneer Den- tistry—A Famous Trapper— An Irate F. F. Y.— "Moses Jabe" Gil- bert, THE Contractor — Numerous First Events — Preacher and Churches— Schools and Teachers— Organization— Palmyra Center- Diamond— Coal Banks— Business, Societies and Statistics. PALMYRA is one of the townships that received its first settler in June, 1799, there being three others, Ravenna, Aurora and Atwater, with Deerfield following in July. It was known in the original surveys simply as Town 2, Range 6, and in the general drawing of the shares of the Connecticut Land Company fell to the lot of Elijah, Homer, and David E. Boardman, Elijah Wadsworth, Jonathan Giddings, Zephaniah Briggs, Stanley Griswold and Roderick Wolcott. The Boardmans were brothers, Elijah being the princi- pal owner of the township. He was one of the surveying party that came to the township in 1797 with Amzi Atwater and Wareham Shepherd. David Daniels, the leader in the vanguard of the little band of soldiers of civilization who settled and helped make habitable this tine township of Pal- myra, arrived on the scene of action June 4, 1799, and settling on Lot 21, one mile and a half south of the Center. This hardy pioneer was born in Grat- ton, Conn., and as a reward for his daring and determination in venturing into a country that had hardly felt the tread of a white man, and when everything was as wild as nature had originally formed it, was given 100 acres of land by the proprietors. Soon after he had made a small clearing and thrown together a rude cabin, he put out an acre and a half of wheat, which he cut the following season, and carried one bushel of the grain on his back to Poland, thirty miles distant, had it ground and brought it back. His wife was Lucinda Meigs, cousin of Gov. Meigs, of Ohio. Daniels died July 13, 1813, highly respected by all, and much honored as the first Justice of the Peace of the township. He had also been a gallant soldier of the Revo- lutionary Army. His widow survived him till 1849, having lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years. They had six children: Electa, Frederick, Horace, Orville, Harvey W. and Almira. The first two were born in Connecticut, the third in Mahoning County, and the last three in Palmyra. Shortly after Daniels made his clearing, in the fall of the same year, Ethelbert Baker came in and settled about half a mile south of the Center, on the west side of the road, but after a few years sold out to John Tuttle, who came in 1805. The next spring, 1800, William Bacon came in and set- tled one mile and a quarter south of the Center. In 1802 Baker and Bacon brought out their families, and at the same time came E. Cutler, who had married a daughter of Nehemiah Bacon, and located two miles south of the Center. In 1803 Baker cleared a piece of land on the southeast corner at the Center, which was the first improvement in that locality. In 1804 James McKelvey came from Pennsylvania. Amasa Preston and several others came during this year. Amasa Preston was a great snake 496 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. hunter, and it seemed to be a hereditary ambition, as his mother, it is said, eve a after she got too old to see them, used to hunt the " varmints " down on all occasions. There was an immense den of yellow " rattlers" at the " Ledge," in the western part of the township, and much sport was had and a great deal of satisfaction afforded in getting rid of the dangerous reptiles. In 1805 many immigrants from Connecticut arrived, among whom were several families who became prominent in after years, and whose descendants are to-day the leading people of the township. David Waller, Silas Waller, Asa- hel Waller and John Tuttle, Jr. , came in. The Wallers began making improve- ments on the southeast corner at the Center, and put up a log-house there. The same year they cleared a piece of land half a mile north of the Center. David Waller brought a number of fruit trees from Deeriield on his back and set them out, which was the starting of the old orchard that afterward afforded such fine fruit. He afterward cleared and lived on one or two other places, but finally lost all his property by having too much confidence in depraved human nature. He could never refuse going upon the bond or note of friends, and so lost all by their ungratefulness or inability to pay. He died in 1840. Asa- hel Waller lived only seven years after he settled here, dying in the great epidemic that prevailed in 1812. This visitation was in the form of a very malignant fever, and was so virulent as to bafHe the skill of the physicians in nearly every case. Silas Waller died in Poland. In this year, 1805, also came Capt. John T. Baldwin from Warren, Litch- field Co., Conn., bringing his wife and three sons, Alva, John and Tibbals. They arrived July 7, and their wagon was the second that came through by the " Old Palmyra Eoad," there being at the time not a single house between Canfield and Campbellsport. They camped at what is now the Square at the Center, along side of a post that had been erected to designate where the Cen- ter was. They then moved into a small log-house that had been built by Ba- ker, where they lived two months, when they moved to the farm where his son, Squire Alva Baldwin, now lives. Two years afterward the Captain opened a tavern, and in 1825 moved to Toledo, where he died. He and David Waller brought the first load of salt from Cleveland, the trip occupying five days, but the salt was worth $20 per barrel, which paid them a handsome profit, having cost them about $12. The old gentleman was a kind and generous man, and had a fund of wit and humor that always made his tavern a great place of resort. Many stories are told of his playful jokes, one of which is how he shaved a vain young fellow who had no beard, with the back of a razor, having lathered him carefully, and the primitive "dude" never knew any better. His son Alva still occupies the old homestead, and is as hearty and genial an old gentleman, apparently, as his father. ^ He is now eighty-nine years of age, hav- ing been born in 1795. He was in the war of 1812-14, although only seven- teen or eighteen years of age. His father, the Captain, served with Gen. Har- rison in the position of Commissary, which gave him his title. There is a rose bush in the front yard of Squire Alva Baldwin's residence that was planted by his mother in 1805, and it still blooms. Capt. Baldwin was one of the first Commissioners of the county. John Baldwin was for many years a steamboat Captain on the lakes. John McArthur, a brother of the wife of Capt. Bald- win, came in at the time the Baldwins did, and settled on a piece of land in the southwest portion of the township. He was a Justice of the Peace, and died in 1818. In 1806 there arrived from Litchfield, Conn., Truman Gilbert, Sr., his wife, seven sons and one daughter: Charles, Truman, Jr., Lyman, Mar- vin, Dr. Ezra, Walter, Champion and Rebecca, the latter being now the c ,vV ^^' C^^^-5^ t// d^$U/^t^>^5^ PALMYRA TOWNSHIP. 501 widow of Ebenezer Buckley, and is eighty-five years of age, remarkably well preserved in mind and health, and as genial, social, kind-hearted and even jolly, as, possibly, she was half a century ago. Her husband was in the war of 1812, and the old lady, some years ago, had a pension almost forced upon her. She retains a vivid recollection of the past, and can tell as good a snake story as any of her neighbors, for she lives not far from the "Ledge," and has seen many of the old-time yellow reptiles. Charles Gilbert, the eldest son, had a family of nine, and forty-five years elapsed before a single death occurred among them, a remarkable instance, and a fact tolerably discouraging to any undertaker to settle among such undying families. There is an apple tree on the place of Warner Gilbert that was planted in 1806. When Truman Gilbert was raising his house in 1806, and was being assisted by the neighbors, as usual, and some Indians, an eclipse of the sun occurred, which badly frightened the latter. They left the work, got out their bows and arrows and began firing their arrows up into the heavens in the direction of the slowly darkening sun, to scare off the evil spirit. In this year, 1806, also came Noah Smith, from Connecticut, who brought with him a colored girl, but the following year the Legislature of the State passed a law making it a penal offence to bring a negro into the State, where- upon the vigilant Trustees of the township had the audacious Smith arrested, and after due trial, fined; but Smith appealed his case to the Common Pleas Court, which reversed the decision of the eminent Judges of the lower tribu- nal, the court holding that laws in general, and this law in particular, under the circumstances, were not retroacting. The great Indian trail from Fort Mcintosh on the Ohio to Sandusky passed through this township, and it was along this trail, just north of the Center, that the Indians and their pursuers went after the shooting of Diver, in Deer- field. Brady, of "Leap" notoriety, also took this trail in his excursions against the savages. Nickshaw's cabin was on this trail, in this township, not far from Baldwin's and near a spring. ^;. The year 1807 brought in quite a number of settlers to different parts of the township, but there was one man who was, possibly, more of an acquisi- tion in a utilitarian sense, than any who had preceded him. This was Artemus Ruggles, a native of Connecticut, and a large-hearted, sturdy, honest, coura- geous and ready-witted man, whose services in a new country were just exactly what were needed and desired. He was a blacksmith by trade, and as the say- ing goes, could make almost anything out of iron, besides being handy in many other ways. He made all the traps for all this section of country, includ- ing two or three townships, and literally every "bull plow" that the settlers used for years. In addition to his many other useful qualities, he combined that of dentistry in a primitive way. Mr. Alva Baldwin says it seemed to do Ruggles good to get an opportunity to extract a tooth. He would take hold of a fine large molar with his "turnikey, " as he called it, give the instrument a "yank," and sit down and laugh at the suffering patient, holding , up at the same time the captured tooth. He was a noted trapper, and he and his sons caught numbers of wolves, bears and small game. Being a strong, compact and active man, with the endurance of an Indian, very few could throw, or "out-do" him, and very few ventured to try it. He died in 1854. This same year, 1807, came in David Gano, a Virginian, from Hampshire County, and settled two and a half miles north of the Center. He was in character somewhat like Ruggles, sturdy and honest and as hardy as he was brave. He was anything but a quarrelsome man, and his motto was, "Never give an insult nor take one. " He was a great wolf killer and bear hunter, 502 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. and held his native State in profound reverence. To such extent was he sen- sitive on this latter point that he whipped half a dozen men from " Jarse^' " who had dared to speak lightly of the Old Dominion. He lived to a ripe old age, highly respected for his many good qualities. The first improvements on the southwest corner of the Center were made by James Briggs, who came in 1807. In 1808 James Boles, from Beaver County, Penn., came in and made a settlement where he lived till 1813, when he moved to Trumbull County. His daughter Kate is said to have killed a bear in a fair and square fight with an ax, the wives of Ben and Gib McDaniels acting as umpires. In ISl-l Dr. Ezra Chaflfee settled in the township, and kept a tavern at the Center, where he lived till 1830, then moved to Paris. In 1811 came Jemima Palmer, and her two sons, Jesse and Samuel. One of the daughters of Samuel died of fright. As she and her father and others were going to church, some young cattle jumped suddenly out from the bushes, when the girl fell to the ground, dead. Zuhariac Fisher came also in this year from Pennsylvania. He was a large, muscular maa, of great strength of character. He died in 1834, leaving a large family. Jabez Gilbert, a man who was noted not only for his iron will and unflinching determination, but for his seemingly unlimited resources in accomplishing anything he undertook, came in 1811. He was a bridge builder as well as mail contractor and general teamster. He built nearly all the early bridges of the township, and hauled all the steam boilers and machinery for steamboats fi*om Pittsburgh to Cleveland. No one else could be obtained who had the courage to undertake jobs of the character that Jabez considered only ordinary hauling. It must be remembered that in that early time roads were in terribly poor condition, where they existed at all, and to undertake to haul by ox-team one of those immense boilers was no child's play. He was also engaged to carry the mail once a week in a two-horse coach from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. The contract was afterward raised to twice a week in a four-horse coach, then to three times a week, and finally a daily line. He was known as "Moses Jabe," from the fact that he swore "by Moses," and there being two other Jabes among the Gilberts. No obstacles could stop this old contractor from delivering his mail accoi'ding to specifica- tions, and when streams were swollen he would take the mail on his back, with an ax in hand, and go through "or die in the attempt," as he would say. His contract was finally transferred to the hands of others, and he left the township. The first white child born in the township was Emeline, a daughter to E. Cutler, born in 1802. The first marriage took place in 1805, and Benjamin McDaniels and Betsey Stevens joined their fortunes with the assistance of Squire Lewis Day, of Deerfield. In this year occurred the first two deaths. A son of John Tuttle, Sr., went down into a well to recover a cup that had fallen in, when he was overpowered by carbonic acid gas, and died before he could be brought to the surface. David Waller lost a child in August. E. Cutler was the first blacksmith, and opened shop in 1802 two miles south of the Center. The first frame house was built in 1807 by David Daniels; in the same year the first tavern was opened by Capt. Baldwin at the Center, and the first postofiice established, with David Waller as Postmaster. The first distillery was started in 1808 by John Tuttle, and William McKibbey, a brother of James, officiated as distiller, and here they turned out a fine brand of primitive " tangle- foot. " The first tannery was established in 1810 by Parrott Hadley, a short distance south of the Center. The first physician. Dr. Ezra Chaffee, came in 1810. The first stock of goods opened in the township was brought by Walker Can- field and David Waller, who occupied a building on the southeast corner of PALMYRA TOWNSHIP. 503 the Center, in 1813. Joseph Tuttle, in 1820, built the first house on the southwest corner, and in 1824 the first frame building was put up at the Center, by a man with the honored name of "William Shakespeare. The first saw-mill was built in this same year by Parker Calvin, and a grist-mill was afterward added to it, in ]828, by Henry Kibler, who was then owner. An ashery was operated ab an early day by Jabez and Ezra Gilbert near the Center, and another in the northwestern part of the township by Horace Hol- lister. One of the first preachers to expound the Word of God to the settlers in Palmyra was Rev. Shewell, a Methodist Episcopal circuit rider, who, although a man of no extraordinary culture, yet had those qualities that amply make up for any lack of scholastic attainments. He was a man of exemplary piety, honest and earnest in all his works, and who left an impress for good wherever he went. He was very zealous, sometimes terribly emphatic in his gesticulation, bringing his fist down upon the Bible at eveiy word with a force that would make everything around rattle. It is said that on one occasion he told the people who were listening to him that if they did not repent they "could go to hell and be damned!" Several other early ministers preached occasionally, but it was not till October 10, 1813, that a church was organ- ized. At that date Rev. Nathan Darrow, a Presbyterian minister, formed into a congregation Noah and Hannah Smith, Jemima, Jesse and Samuel Palmer. In 1818 another church was organized by Rev. Andrew Clarke, a Baptist min- ister of Pennsylvania, and the members were William Brown and wife, Ben- jamin McDaniels and wife, George Pownell and wife, and Abigail Tuttle. The Welsh Regular Baptist Church at Palmyra was reorganized May 23, 1862, when W. W. Davis, Morgan Reese and James Davis were elected Trust- ees; Shadrach James was elected Clerk. The location of the church was known as Soar, but commonly called Stone Chapel. The members of the Methodist Episcopal society met at Deerfield June 7, 1879, when Daniel Collins, Hiram G. Spooner, T. W. Edwards, Otis Davis and Enoch Morgan were elected Trustees. The first school is said to have been taught by Miss Betsey Diver, a daugh- ter of Daniel Diver, and the first schoolhouse was located in the south part of the township. Another very early teacher was Sophia Hubbard. Another was John Barr, who taught the first school at the Center. Nathan Boice, or Boys, Mattie Ruggles and Lewis Ely were also teachers. The statistics of the schools of this township are given as follows: Palmyra Township Schools. — Revenue in 1884, $3,767; expenditures, ^2,916; 7 schoolhouses valued at $7,000; average pay of teachers, $32 and $26; enrollment, 132 boys and 151 girls. Palmyra Special District. — Revenue in 1884, $1,454; expenditures, $851; 1 school-building valued at $3,000; average pay of teachers, $27 and $45; enrollment, 55 boys and 55 girls. March 6, 1810, the County Commissioners issued an order setting off from Deerfield Township, Towns 2 and 3, with the name of Palmyra, and on April 2, 1810, the first election was held, resulting in the selection of the fol- lowing officers, in part: Amos Thurber, William Bacon, David Calvin, Trust- ees; David Waller, Clerk; David Daniels, Treasurer; Silas Waller, Appraiser; Jabez Gilbert, John Mc Arthur, Overseers; Charles Gilbert, Constable; James McKelvey, Lister; Truman Gilbert, J. T. Baldwin, Fence Viewers; John Stevens, Zebulon AValker, Artemus Ruggles, Gibson McDaniels, Supervisors. May 21, 1810, David Daniels and Joseph Fisher were elected Justices of the Peace. 504 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. Palmyra Center. — General stores, Carson & Diver, W. W. Bigelow, W. B. Wilson; drag store, E. M. Evans; carriage and wagon-shop, Edgar Tuttle; undertaker, David C. Davis; saddle and harness, John Humes, Charles Brown; hotel, Bidlake House, Ira Bidlake & Son; shingle factory and tow-mill, D. C. Davis; steam saw-mill, W. E. Steveson; three blacksmith shops; three saloons; two sboe-shops; one milliner; one barber; physicians, Dr. W. G. Smith, Dr. L. C. Rose, Dr. B. B. Davis; veterinary surgeon. Dr. William Davis. Diamo/id. —General store, O. B. Mason; hardware, Johnson & Shively; drug and grocery, Rose & Carson; shoe store, Ralph Stevens; lumber yard, O. B. Mason; hotel, Harris House; Postmaster, O. B. Mason; physician. Dr. William Jenkins; Palmyra Coal Company, W. B. Wilson, manager, one shaft open; Black Diamond Coal Company, proprietor, Samuel Kim- berly, one shaft open; Scott Coal Company, proprietor, Enoch Filer, one shaft open; Hutson Coal Company, proprietor, H. D. Hutson, one shaft open. Com- bined output of the four shafts about 550 tons per day. It ranks with the well-known Briar Hill coal and was first operated in 1865. At the Center there is a Methodist Episcopal Church, Pastor, Rev. Joseph Gledhill; Congregational Church (Welsh), Rev. John J. Jenkins; Baptist Church (Welsh), Pastor, Rev. Edward Jenkins; Welsh Methodist Church, Pastor, Rev. David Evans. Also, a Disciples Church, one and a half miles northwest of the Center, Pastor, Rev. Linas Rogers. At the Center there is a fine graded school with good attendance, and seven other schools in the town- ship. A. F. & A. M.— Charity Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 530, was chartered in 1883. Acting W. M., Del Ray Thomas; S. W., Del Ray Thomas: J. W., Charles Merwin; Secretary, W. D. Edwards; Treasurer, D. D. Carson; mem- bership, thirty. K. of P. — Diamond Lodge, K. of P., No. 136, was organized Januarv 26, 1882. P. C. C, David Joseph; C. C, Stephen Davis; V. C. C, William Barkley; Prelate, Arthur Johns; M. A., Richard Davis; M. E., James Jones; M. F.,^B. J. Morris; K. R. S., J. C. Buckley; L G., Richard Wells; O. G., Davis; membership sixty-eight. For over fifty years thei-e has been held annually what is termed the Welsh Horse Fair, at which ai'e exhibited on the first Monday in May fine horses of all kinds. It is as much for the purpose of affording an opportunity to buy- ers and sellers, as for show. There are usually fifteen or twenty of the finest stallions on exhibition. Palmyra Agricultural Fair is held for two days in the fall. The present officers are: President, Isaac Tuttle; Vice-President, D. D. Carson; Secretary, S. A. Church; Treasurer, Jacob Scott. A good deal of fine stock is raised in the township, and the land is highly productive, though hilly in some portions. The Welsh, who form a large proportion of the population, are generally a frugal and industrious class of citizens. Palmyra furnished thirty-seven soldiers for the Union in the late war, eleven of whom fell in the service. The Cleveland, Youngstown & Pitts- burgh Railroad touches at Diamond. The general statistics of this division of the county for 1884 are: Acres of wheat, 857. bushels 10,-481; no rye; of oats 375 acres, 16,478 bushels; 3 bushels of barley: 180 acres of corn produced 1,857 bushels; 2,404 acres of meadow gave 2,942 tons of hay; 45 acres of clover yielded 67 tons of hay and 8 bushels of seed; 4 acres of flax gave 32 bushels of seed; 15 acres of potatoes produced 2,221 bushels; home-made butter, 24, 118 pounds; 9,335 maple trees yielded 1,521 pounds of sugar and 2,498 gallons of syrup; 26 hives produced 440 PARIS TOWNSHIP. 505 pounds of honey; dozens of eggs, 2,298; 301 acres of orchard produced 1,073 bushels of apples; pounds of wool, 25,476; milch cows, 333; stallion, 1; dogs, 106; killed, 17 sheep; died of disease, 5 hogs, 39 sheep, 7 cattle and 6 horses; acres cultivated, 1,913; pasture, 8,756; woodland, 2,782; total 13,451 acres. Population in 1850 was 1,093, including 642 youth; in 1870, 848, in 1880, 1,105; in 1884 (estimated), 1,300. The number of bushels of coal mined in 1883 was 1,081,101, valued at $91,419. During the year ending May, 1880, there were only 471,200 bush- els mined by sixty-six men, valued at $37,780. CHAPTER XXVII. PARIS TOWNSHIP. Good Land with a Bad Xame— Slow Settlement— Organization— Ciicrches AND Schools — Some First Events — Notable Happenings — McClin- TOCKSBURG AND NEWPORT— OFFICERS, BUSINESS, RESOURCES AND STATISTICS. PARIS was originally the property of Lemuel Gr. Storrs, Henry Champion, Grideou Granger and Thomas Bull, members of the Connecticut Land Com- pany, and is Town 3, Range 6, of the surveys. Up to 1810 it was a portion of Deerfield, but at that time it was placed with Palmyra and formed a portion of that township, so remaining till 1820, when Paris cut adrift and has since been sailing along smoothly on the sea of progress without her convoy. For many years before the truth was ascertained, Paris, or rather Storrsboro, as it was formerly called, had a wretched reputation, and a passage over it was avoided by persons ignorant of the real state of affairs, in many instances set- tlers to other portions of the Reserve going many miles out of their way in order to give the " swamps " of Paris a wide berth. It was commonly reported and believed by many that the entire township was one vast mud-hole, and that to get into it was sure destruction to wagon and team. As the country is level and the soil chiefly claj, in those early days, when scarcely a foot had trodden the soil, water would naturally accumulate in the lower sections, and it icoidd get muddy, the mud being tolerably deep and sticky, too ; so sticky that, as an old settler remarked, one had to go home and get a shovel to dig himself out of the mud when he got " stalled." He meant his team, possibly. It was pretty bad, and no mistake, but cultivation and drainage have made it second to none on the Reserve as grazing land, whilst all other crops are produced easily. The soil, from the very fact of its original damp nature, is excellent, as it is composed in part of clay and the residue of decayed vegetable matter. One hardy old Pennsylvanian, from Woodbury, Huntingdon County, ventured into the badly abused township, bringing his family and settling on Lot 21, on the 20th of June, 1811. This was Richard Hudson, and he resided where he settled till his death, which occurred June 27, 1819, his wife having preceded him one month, she dying May 28, 1819. The old couple and their family were the only settlers till the following spring of 1812, when their son-in-law, John Bridges, arrived and built a house on the farm of Mr. Hudson. The next year John Young and John Cox, with their fami- lies, came in from Huntingdon County, Penn., and located on Lot 13, making four families in two years. 506 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. In April, 1815, a valuable addition was made to the little settlement by the arrival of Chauncy Hawley and William Selby and their families from Sanders- field, Berkshire Co., Mass., who located on Lots 27 and 33. In the fall of the same year came Calvin Holcomb and family from Granby, Hartford Co., Conn., and set- tled on Lot 21. In December, 1816, Brainard Selby, Sr., Newton Selby and wife, Thomas B. Selby and Austin Wilson arrived from Sandersfield, Mass. Brainard Selby took up his residence with his son William, who had come the year before. Newton Selby located on Lot 40, and Wilson on Lot 39. In the summer of 1817 John Smith and family arrived and settled on Lot 27, and in the fall of the same year Justus Wilson and famil}', from Sandersfield, Mass., and Rufus Smith from Whitestown, N. Y., came in. Wilson stayed with his son, Austin, and Smith built on the southwest part of Lot 39. In February, 1818, Stephen Bingham, Sr., Stephen Bingham, Jr., and John W. Whiting came in from Whitestown, N. Y., with their families, and located on the northwest part of Lot 34. A petition being presented to the County Commissioners, and granted in the fall of 1820, for a separation from Palmyra and its erection into a township, Storrsboro became such on the 10th of November, when the first election for oflScers was held. Justus Wilson, Stephen Bingham and William Selb}'^ were the Judges, and Rufus Smith and Stephen Bingham, Jr., Clerks. The following were the oflScers elected : Trustees, Rufus Smith, Justus Wilson, John Smith ; Clerk, Chene}' V. Senter ; Overseers of the Poor, John W. Whiting, Titus Stanley ; Fence Viewers, iVustin Wilson, Calvin Holcomb, Jr. ; Lister, Bidwell Pinney ; Appraiser, Newton Selby ; Treasurer, Stephen Bingham, Jr.; Constables, Chauncy Hawle}', Luther Wilson ; Supervisors of Highways, Newton Selby, John Smith ; Justices of the Peace, Stephen Bingham, Calvin Holcomb. At this elec- tion there were twenty-five votes polled, and the name of the township was changed to Paris. Calvin Holcomb refused to accept the office of Justice with its multiplicity of duties and heavy emoluments, preferring to attend to his farm, and Squire Bing- ham, therefore, had it all his own way. In 1822 a suit was brought for assault and battery against Samuel Hudson by Jarvis Holcomb. In 1817 a religious event of much importance for that early day occurred. Richard Hudson, who was a Methodist, in connection with some others of the same denomination, assisted in a camp-meeting held upon his place. Quite a large number of persons were present, and several ministers conducted the services. It might be more properly termed a " bush meeting," as they are called in some sections, and lasted onl}' a couple of daj's. In 1835 the first church, the Welsh Congregational, was organized by Rev. David Jenkins, and consisted of the following persons : Richard Morris, Mary Morris, Robert Roberts, Elizabeth Roberts, William Probert, Maria Probert, Edward Morris, Ann Morris, John Morris, Mary Williams and Widow Probert. The organization has remained intact ever since, and the}^ now have a tasteful and commodious church edifice at the Center, which has been erected forty years. The congregation is large and composed almost entirely of Welsh, the services being mostly conducted in that language. There is a fine Sunday-school also connected with the church. Rev. David Davis has been pastor for over thirty years. Welsh Independent Congregational Church of Paris Township, at New- port, was reorganized and elected D. N. Evans, John Rees andfSamuel JonesNTrust- ees February 8, 1 850. ^ ^ There is a Baptist Church with a large Sunday-school, of which Rev. A. J. Morton is pastor. At McClintocksburg there was formerl}' a LTnited Brethren Church, but with the deca}- of that embryo city it disappeared in the general wreck, and now there is no society of that kind in the township. PARIS TOWNSHIP. 50T Of the early ministers who preached for the settlers may be mentioned Revs. Joseph Treat, Nathan Darrow, Congregational, and Revs. Robert Roberts and Shadrach Bostwick, Methodist. The first school taught in the township was at the house of Richard Hudson in the summer of 1819 by Miss Betsey North. It was entirely a private school for the benefit of the children of " Uncle " Richard, but a couple of the boys of Chaunc}" Hawley were admitted. The first public school was taught in the winter of 1819-20 by Daniel Leavitt, of Trumbull County, in a log-schoolhouse erected on the northwest corner of Lot 34. It commenced with twenty-five scholars. The present condition of the schools is shown by the following statistics : Revenue in 1884, $2,669; expenditure, $1,447.48; six schoolhouses valued at $3,600; average pay of teachers S30 and $23 ; enrollment, eighty-four boys and seventy- six girls. In 1812 Richard Hudson set out the first orchard in the township, and in 1814 gathered some apples from it, which was the first cultivated fruit grown here. In March, 1813, William Bradford, of Braceville, Trumbull Count}-, married Betsey Hudson, daughter of •' Uncle " Richard Hudson, and Squire John McArthur tied the knot. In the spring of 1814 Mrs. Susan Cox, wife of John Cox, died. The first child born in the township was Elijah Hawle}-, which event occurred October 11, 1815. This gentleman, who is still living, was the fourth son of Chaunc}' Haw- ley, who first settled with William Selby on Lot 33, but afterward moved to Lot 27, where he lived till he died June 14, 1846. His son, Elijah, still occupies the homestead. The first roads established through the township were laid out in June, 1817, one from Palmyra, and one from Charlestown, through to Newton Falls. The first saw-mill was erected by Alexander and Titus Stanle}', on the Mahoning River, near where the road crosses it at McClintocksburg. The first frame building, a barn, was erected in 1819, by Calvin Holcomb, on the southern part of Lot 21, and the first frame dwelling-house was erected in 1823 by Gains A. H. Case, at the Center, and it still stands there, but was removed from its orig- inal place some years ago. In 1827 William Case commenced keeping tavern at the Center, but he died the following year, when the business was continued by his widow, who, in 1 832, married again. "Aunt Cretia," as she was called, was a very strong-minded woman, and a zealous champion of G-en. Jackson and Dem- ocracy. She used to say that, "Although my husband is dead, thank God he lived to vote for 'Old Hickory.'" In 1828 a postofflce was established and Thomas B. Selby appointed Postmaster. The office was in the house of William Selby, on the northeast corner of Lot 33. A weekl}' mail was run to Warren. A tannery was operated in the early times in the south part of the township by Patrick Davidson, and hats were manufactured by Chauncy Hawle}'. There was also a chair factory, a basket and pail factory, and a small foundry for making hand irons, flat irons, etc. In the year 1831 John Morgan, of Wales, came into the township, purchased a part of Lot 32, and erected a log-cabin. From this humble beginnrng the countrymen of Morgan have come in from time to time, and have so increased that the population is now about two-thirds Welsh. Through the inducements of the first settler, who wrote to the old country about the cheap lands in Paris Township, these thrifty people have come and gradually drained and improved the country till it is now one of the finest grazing spots in the count}-. There is not an acre that cannot be cultivated, and whilst wheat does not do very well, corn can be raised in abundance, but dairying is the main resource. Some of the finest cattle are raised here. The people are noted for their honesty, industry, economy and religious devotion. In 1835 a man named McClintock started a town on the east and west road near the crossing of the Mahoning, which bid fair to become a fine little town during the canal days, but when that water-way began to run down so did the 508 HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY. town, and now, in these post-canal days, desolation reigns supreme in McClintocks- burg. Newport was also laid out on the canal about the same time as McClintocks- burg, flourished for a while and then retrograded, but since the building of the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, in the bed of the old canal, it has taken an onward move, several buildings having lately gone up, and a store is about to be opened. In this year, 1835^ Isaac Hopkins came from Pittsburgh and opened the first store at the Center, ran it one year, and then sold out and left. In 1839 the first grist-mill was erected bj' two Englishmen, tWilliam Philpot/and Philip Price, on Lot 24, where Newport now is. ^ Townsliip Officers. — Trustees, H. A. Chapman, Smith Busey ; Clerk, Joseph W. Jones ; Treasurer, Richard Morris ; Assessor, William B. Phillips ; Constables, John A. Evans, T. C. George ; Justices of the Peace, \^Iichael Jones,) Edward Roberts. At the Center there is a general store kept by Samuel Evans. Miss Winnie Morton is Postmistress. There is a cheese factor}' near the Center, operated by John R. Thomas. The P., C.