Full text of "The history of Darke County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men;"

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MONTGOMERY Co.

THE

HISTOEY

DARKE COUNTY.

OHIO,

CONTAINING

A History of the County; its Cities, Towns, etc.; General and Locals

Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;

History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio;

Map of Darke County ; Constitution of the United

States, Miscellaneous Matters, etc., etc.

ILLTJSTEATED.

CHICAGO:

W. H. BEERS & CO.

1880.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
W. H. BEERS & CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

PREFACE.

TN presenting this volume to the residents of Darke County, we have reason to believe
that it will be in the hands of our friends. A friendly disposition was manifested
toward our representatives during its compilation, and we trust the result of our labors
may be in no sense a disappointment.

In this history, we have endeavored to record only facts, gleaned from the most
authentic sources, and have been aided by efficient historians and those associated with
the earlier rise and progress of the county to the present time. We have labored to
introduce the reader to the wigwam of the red man, seat him by the hearthstone of the
pioneers, to trace a history of the county's organization, and to faithfully represent the
present condition of Darke County while entering the last decade but one of the nine-
teenth century. Ten years more would have made the record of many facts and inci-
dents, which we present herewith, an impossibility. Memory is one of the faculties that
first shows signs of decay, and, even among those of the "old guard" still living, another
decade would have found many a link rusted out from their chain of recollections.

The general history of the county was compiled by Prof. W. H. McIntosh, assisted by
H. Freeman. The introductory chapter on "The History of Darke County" is from
the pen of John Wharry, of Greenville, now the oldest resident of the town in which
he has lived more than half a century — who was cotemporary, as elsewhere stated, not
only with the settlement of that town and township, but with actors in events that pre-
ceded by many years the settlement of the town and county. When Mr. Wharry was
first requested to contribute a chapter to this work, his intention was to deal with the
town and township of Greenville from its first settlement to the year 1840. But he has
gleaned from earlier times, and advanced to a later period in his delineation of events
and persons, all of which will be found interesting and valuable to our readers.

PREFACE.

We are indebted, for reliable data of war times to Capt. Charles <i. Matchett,
who had practical experience in many events of those stormy days; to Prs. John E.
and William II. Matchett for important assistance rendered in the preparation of the

history of the Medical Societies and other prominent points; to Prof. J. T. Martz for
a carefully prepared article on Educational History ; to Messrs. T. H. McCune and W.
H. BlRELEY, who furnished valuable early church and religious data; to JOSEPH Cole.
for facts furnished for the history of Washington Township; to the officials of the county ,
the city officials, township officers and the citizens of Darke County generally.

We thus publicly take the liberty to express an appreciation of the kindness and.
unselfish interest that has been shown us in the preparation of a volume which we trust
will meet the approval of our readers and add to their libraries a book of valuable

reference.

The Publishers.

CONTENTS.

HISTORY NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Page.

History Northwest Territory 19

Geographical Position 19

Early Explorations 20

Discovery of the Ohio 32

English Explorations and Set-
tlements 34

American Settlements 59

Division of the Northwest Ter-
ritory 65

Tecumseh and the War of 1812 69
Black Hawk and the Black
Hawk War 73

Page.

History of Ohio 93

French History 96

Ordinance of 1787, No. 32 105

The War of 1812 122

Banking 126

The Canal System 128

Ohio Land Tracts 129

Improvements 132

Boundary Lines 136

Organization of Counties, and

Early Events 137

Governors of Ohio 160

Page.
History of Ohio :

Ancient Works 174

Some General Characteristics...l77

Outline Geology of Ohio 179

Ohio's Rank During the War..lS2
A Brief Mention of Prominent

Ohio Generals 191

Some Discussed Subjects 196

Conclusion 200

Page.

Source of the Mississippi 22

La Salle Landing on the Shore of

Green Bay 24

Buffalo Hunt 26

Trapping 28

Mouth of the Mississippi 31

IJLLiUSTRATIONS.

Page.

High Bridge 33

Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 42

Indians Attacking Frontiersmen.. 55
Present Site Lake Street Bridge,

Chicago, 1833 58

A Pioneer Dwelling 60

Page

Lake Bluff. f-2

Tecumseh, the Shawanoe Chieftain 6S

Indians Attacking a Stockade 71

Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain 74

Perry's Monument, Cleveland 91

Niagara Falls 92

HISTORY* OF DARKE COUNTY.

Page.

Indian History — Organization and

Early Settlements of the

County, and Early History of

Greenville — Township and

City, by John Wharry 207

Fort Greenville 210

Formation of Darke County. ..215
Darke County, by Prof. W. H.

Mcintosh 243

Introduction 243

Line of Organization — Concur-
rent Events 245

Pioneers — Their Record, Inci-
dents of the Times, 180S to

1816 249

Personal Reminiscences 251

The County Seat 255

County Buildings 257

Darke County from 1816 to 1824

— Progress of Settlement, 263

Reminiscence — Land Prices
and Payments — Farming Im-
plements — Condition of Coun-
ty in 1824 271

Climate 276

Page

Darke in 1824 280

Early Preachers — Education
— Marriage — Customs and

Marriages, etc 281

Darke County in 1840— Cele-
bration — Commemoration —
Mass Meeting at Greenville..287
Geographical — Situation — Area

— Township — Villages 292

Agriculture, Trade & Markets.,299

The Statistics of 1853 :;nl

History of the Darke County

Agricultural Society 302

Geology 310

Civil List, Officers and their

Duties 317

The Underground Railroad in

Darke County 322

Roads, Turnpikes and Rail-
roads 325

Banks and Bankers 335

The Press of Darke County 337

Education — Public and Private
Schools 340

Page.

Societies 343

Roll of Pioneers 345

Darke County During the War

of the Rebellion 352

Patterson Township 385

Wabash Township 387

Allen Township 390

Mississinawa Township 391

Jackson Township 392

Brown Township 40n

York Township 405

Richland Township 409

Wayne Township 413

Adams Township 416

Greenville and Greenville

Township from 1840 423

Washington Township 43S

German Township 444

Neave Township 449

Van Buren Township 451

Franklin Township 453

Monroe Township 455

Twin Township 458

Butler Township 462

Harrison Township .465

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Adams Town

Brown

Butler

Page.

717

661

Jackson Township

Page.

736

762

707

758

74'^

•Greenville

■

472

689

Harrison

646

Page.

Van Buren Township 727

Wabash " 761

Washington " 751

Wayne " 600

York " 760

C< INTENTS.

LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.

Page. Page.

William Allen 115 Geo. W. Moore 205

Ji hn Dovor 138 J. R. Holland 223

Benry St. Clair 169 H. A. Kepner 241

L. M.Buchwalter, M. D 187 John M. Kress 259

Page.

Clinton Rush 277

A. A. Irelan 295

David Putman 332

Sarah Putman 333

HIS(ELl,\Ni:OI>».

Page.

Map of Darke County Front.

Constitution of the United States... 79
Population of the United States....203
Area of the United States 203

Page.

Area of the Principal Countries in
the World 203

Population of the Principal Coun-
tries in the World 203

Page.

Miles of Railroad in Operation 203

Population of Ohio 202

Population of Darke County 204

Business References 705

The Northwest 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 13,000,000 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.

(19)

20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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
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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 21

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-
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 abundant " 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 th 3 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 inhab-
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas-
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.

SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

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 course

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 23

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 La Salle and Louis Hennepin.

After La Salle'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-
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-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 " Baie 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,

LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.

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 Kialdki, 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 25

no inhabitants. The Seur 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-wi, that
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent
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 Cana <ia, 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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,

BUFFALO HUNT.

headed by one Seur 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. 27

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, supposinglt
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,
bemg 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 givino- 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 shores 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 Fiance et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme 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 Mis-
sissippi 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 along
the shore of the gulf. On the third voyage he was killed, through the

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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
" Malbouchia," and by the Spaniards, " la Palissade" from the great

■MS/ -

Jg/

L .ii

TRAPPING.

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 colo-
nists. 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 NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 29

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 LaSalle'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 monu-
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,)
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, autrement dit de l'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 Crevecoeur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river,
(pronounced Wa-bS, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly') was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob-
able that on LaSalle's last 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 sta-
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle-
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England
in 1718. This was mainly accomplished 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 Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated

•There is considerable dispute about this 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
J702 fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house.

30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 lands are only partially
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I
think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork
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 Chickasaws. 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, however, 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at
Vincermesin 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."

MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

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 Mauinee in the country of the Miamis, 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 Ponchartiain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac,
Fox River of 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,

32 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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.

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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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

HIGH BRIDGE, LAKE BLUFF, LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

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. Hs

34 THE NORTHWEST 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
village 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. 35

conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English 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 NORTHWEST 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, 1774, 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 translation 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 Galllsonieie, 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 Frauce have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and
treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37

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
Patton 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 son 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 13th 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-

38 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 inarch. 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 Dinwiddie'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 Old 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. 39

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 few 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 Trent
in 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
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning
of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw
upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink — sixty batteaux and
three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and
stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecceur,
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 1748, 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-
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first 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
French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the
morning of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.

The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort
Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those

40 '-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 Monongahela, 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. 41

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 } r ears 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 43

upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead.
Pontiac 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 unite
in this enterprise.

The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 1768.
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. Pie
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 years 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

44 THJfi NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 century, 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-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45

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 was 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
forty-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 royal
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 1769 : " 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

46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 tying 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 Avar 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47

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 country, 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 Mississippi 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

48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 pjr-
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,

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49

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 south, and 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-

50 THE NORTHWEST TEEU1TOBY.

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 fortificaiion 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
24th 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 b\* 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 sufficiently
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per-
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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51

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 tke 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
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,

52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53

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 were
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

54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of
American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian
Indians suffered 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 afterwards 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

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-

INDIANS ATTACKING FKONTIEKSJIEN.

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

56 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

proclaimed to the array of the United States, and on the 3d of the next
September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle
was concluded. By the terras 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 81st 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 set-
tlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the
year 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 chose 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.

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
bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 57

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 lands, 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 Mcintosh 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. Daring 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 naviga-
tion, 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, how-
ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some
grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con-
necticut 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 addition to this, Congress afterward granted 100,000
acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the
resolutions of 1789 and 1790.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 pJan 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

PRESENT SITE OF LAKE STREET BRIDGE, CHICAGO, VS 1833.

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, Mesopotamia, 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 government of the Northwest laid. This com-
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book,
and to it the reader is referred.

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 Yohiogany, 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.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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.
In formation,- property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of such a community.'"

%£J#

MB59f

A PIONEER DWELLING.

On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors 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
"Muskingum," 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, "Capitolium ;" 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,

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61

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, Symmes 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
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 for 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 inaug-
urated 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

LAKE BLUFF.

The frontage of Lake Bluff Grounds on Lake Michigan, with one hundred and seventy feet of gradual ascent.

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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 63

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 treaty 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-

64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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. ..

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65

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. * * * * To
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

66 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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 } r ear,
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 $15,000,000. 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

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. gj

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 fire
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed 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.

6«

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

TECUMSEH, THE SHAWANOE CHIEFTAIN.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. qq

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 Piqua, 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, oi ven
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the & chiei
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-b-eed 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

70 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 August, 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.

He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was,
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow-
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan-
tonly murder the captive.

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 ol
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen.
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor
whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of the Thames followed'
Early in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief-
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the war in
the Northwest.

^MUHSEU.S*

INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADE.

Just who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ;
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson,'
who fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal.

In 1805 occurred Burr's Insurrection, "lie took possession of a
beautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged
by many with attempting to set up an independent government, His
plans were frustrated by the general government, his property confiscated
and he was compelled to flee the country for safety.

72 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

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. The 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.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73

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.

BLACK HAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 75

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 Iowas, 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
^ A a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British
„ l ernment 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

fjQ THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Indians were urged to join the Iowas 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 his
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
Iowas. 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 whole crossed the

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77

"Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the 261 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 during the pleasure
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons.

The next Spring, 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 in
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. " The

78 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 183<5 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.

CONSTITUTION OE TELE UNITED STATES 79

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.

Article I.

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem-
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the
lectors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-live years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev-
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse-
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand,
but each state shall have at least one Representative ; and until such
enumeration shall be made the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylva-
nia eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five,
and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Sec. o. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years ;
and each Senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira-

80 AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that
one-third may be chosen every second* year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state,
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he
shall be chosen.

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of th
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside.
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the members present.

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment,
and punishment according to law.

Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen-
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legis-
lature thereof; but the Congress ma}^ at any time by law make or alter
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Honda}' in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute
a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members
in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a member.

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to airy other
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen-
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in ail cases, except treason,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 81

felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house
they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President
the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it ; but if not he shall
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi-
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec-
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays,
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules aud lim-
itations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power —

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
Jtates ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
Str.tes, and with the Indian tribes ;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures ;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States ;

To establish post offices and post roads ;

82 AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing,
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries ;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations ;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water ;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years ;

To provide and maintain a navy ;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces ;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ;

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the
officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disci-
pline prescribed by Congress ;

To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful
buildings ; and

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart-
ment or officer thereof.

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person.

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev
enue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 83

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder-
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and
imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of the Congress.

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will
not admit of delay.

Article II.

Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ;
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

[ * The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres-
ident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a ma-
jority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President

* This clause between brackets has been superseded and annulled by the Twelfth amendment

84 AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-Presi-
dent.]

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and
the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabil-
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the dis-
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com-
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of
them.

Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the fol-
lowing oath or affirmation :

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when
called into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses
against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con-
cur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment
of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.

Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea-
sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 85

occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree-
ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article III.

Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at
stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ;
between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of differ-
ent states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants
of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens, or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have
original jurisdiction.

In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall
have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy-
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the tes-
timony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture
except during the life of the person attainted.

Article IV.

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. &nd

AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

Sec? 2 The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several states.

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand
of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the state having junsdici on ot the crime.

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein^e discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Sec 3 New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states
concerned, as well as of the Congress. noei A fn y

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed
as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.

Sec 4 The United States shall guarantee to every state in this
Union a republican form of . government, and shall protect each ot them
against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Execu-
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic vio-
lence.

Article V.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution or, on the ap-
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati-
fied by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states or by con-
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifi-
cation may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eicrht shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
Ejection of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

Article VI.

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop-
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mem-

CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES

bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi-
cers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under
the United States.

Article VII.

The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names.

GEO. WASHINGTON,
President and Deputy from Virginia.

New Hampshire.
John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman.

Massachusetts.
Nathaniel Gorham,
Rufus King.

Connecticut.
Wm. Sam'l Johnson,
Roger Sherman.

New York.
Alexander Hamilton.

New Jersey.
Wil. Livingston,
Wm. Paterson,
David Brearley,
Jona. Dayton.

Pennsylvania.
B. Franklin,
Robt. Morris,
Thos. Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,
Thos. Mifflin,
Geo. Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Gouv. Morris.

Delaware.
Geo. Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco. Broom,
Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
Richard Bassett.

Maryland.
James M' Henry,
Danl. Carroll,
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer.

Virginia.
John Blair,
James Madison, Jr.

North Carolina.
Wm. Blount,
Hit. Williamson,
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight.

South Carolina.
J. Rutledge,
Charles Pinckney,
Chas. Cotesworth Pincknez,
Pierce Butler.

Georgia.
William Few,
Abr. Baldwin.

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary.

88 and its amendments.

Articles in Addition to and Amendatory op the Constitution
of the United States op America.

Proposed by Congress and ratified by the Legislatures of the several states,
pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution.

Article I.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Article II.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Article III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be pre-
scribed by law.

Article IV.

The rio-ht of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects "against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio-
lated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the persons or things to be seized.

Article V.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except m
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when m actual
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himse 1, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Article VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his iavor ; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Article VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no tact

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 89

tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.

Article VIII.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Article IX.

The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Article X.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.

Article XI.

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one
of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub-
jects of any foreign state.

Article XII.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their
ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the
highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi-
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of
the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority
of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a major-

90 AND ITS AMENDMENTS.

ity then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the

United States.

Article XIII.

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris-

Sec.*2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.

Article XIV.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per-
sons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu-
tive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any wav
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the num-
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens
twenty-one years of age in such state. m

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative m Congress,
or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previ-
ously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer ot the
United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an execu-
tive or judicial officer of any state to support the Constitution ot the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author-
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and boun-
ties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques-
tioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt
or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the
United^ States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts,
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Article XV.

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
he denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race,
color, or previous condion of servitude.

PERRY'S MONUMENT, CLEVELAND, OHIO.

On Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway.

HI8T0EY 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 Illinois.

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

94 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 Valley 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. 95

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
Wabash 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-
hended 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 of years produced a
beautiful surface, its inequalities overcome, the water having receded and "terra
firma" 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 brought
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.

96 IIISTORY 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 wore
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 vagabondisli 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
effected 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 Marquette 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 1082, 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. 97

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 took 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

98 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 Eric 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
Maumee, 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 1848, 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 Bceuf, 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. 99

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 French and English, but Indian and
English, the former being instigated and assisted many times by the French,
now desperate 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

100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

failed in their hope of utterly 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 1781, April 16, the first white child was born within the pres-
ent limits of Ohio, and was christened Mary Heckewelder, daughter 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 trans-
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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 101

ears was exultant derision. It would seem that whatever the Indians left un-
done, m the way of horror, in the State of Ohio, the whites improved upon and
blackened the pages of American history with deeds of blood. Succeeding this
barbarity was the expedition against Moravian Indian towns, upon the San-
dusky. Not an Indian, whether an enemy or friend, old or young, male or

dlent™ t0 eSCaPe ^^ aSSaUlt ' indUding ^ extermination of the Moravian

Col William Crawford led the expedition, which counted 500 men, in their

dastardly work. Warning had in some manner reached the to™ and

he troop, found them deserted. But the Indians were incel ', anl

me 7 f Tl 0t I™, thm t0 hidin S-P laCes > ^ to a preparation to

meet the r foes. They fought desperately, and Crawford's troops were defeated
and scattered, many being captured, and among them, Col. Crawford himself
It is hardly probable that Crawford could justly expect much mercy at the
hands of his captors. His battle-cry had been "no quarter," and yet he evi-
dently hoped for some consideration, as he requested an interview with Simon
Girty, who lived with and influenced the Indians. Accounts state that Craw-
ford implored the aid of Girty, and at last secured a promise to use his power
o ob am the Colonel's pardon. However, this was of no avail, and it is doubt-
ful whether Girty was disposed to intercede. The prisoners were tortured and
put to death, and Crawford's agonies were protracted 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 Tuscarawas, 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 moun
tarns, and western settlements and frontier people were left alone to defend them-
selves 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

102 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 I hno.s
greatly influenced the settlement of Ohio. His exploits and the rejo lution of
his troops were chiefly instrumental in holding the country west of the Alio-
Jhaniejand insuring its possesion by the United States during the Revo uUon
The British had hceu emphatic, in the Paris treaty at the .tone of the settlement
of the French and English difficulties, in demanding the Ohm 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 AUe-
glnies, which he had conquered, and the British Commissioners ™'»P *
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. Rnfus Putnam and Benjamin Tapper 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 he
« 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 famHies who
were unable to incur the expense of moving were to be assisted. Those ,ho
purchased shares to the number of twenty were entitled to a represen a toon by
L agent, who was permitted to vote for Directors. This plan ****-* ™
acted upon during the following year. It may be that the action of Connecti-
on ceding her territorial claims to the General Government, with few excep-
tions, greatly encouraged this new undertaking. That tract w-as, und recently,
donated 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 Ireas-
«ry 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. 103

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 clown his sword, before a white settlement was formed on the Ohio side of the
river. The French and Indian war had incited tfce 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, holdin- all
the country west of the sources of the Atlantic rivers under the protection°and
sovereignty of fce 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 Alleghanies
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.

104 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 himselt
eloquently. He was persistent in his determination to engage m 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 oi 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. 105

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 mee°t
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 Biz
Miami. &

In the mean time, the Ohio Company had not matured its practical "settle-
ment 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
tins law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full 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
w.tnesses; 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

106 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, to 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 St&tes, 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. 107

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

108 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 00,000 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 alivayx, That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 109

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.

The passage of this ordinance, since known as the " Ordinance of 1787,"
was immediately followed by an application to the Government, by John Cleves
Seymour, 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 Martius ;
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 Martius
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.

110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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
24S.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; Z, 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
beo-an 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Ill

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

112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 bayonets.

Notwithstanding the treaty of 1878, 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 113

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.

114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 ; thenee 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

GREENVILLE, OHIO

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 117

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 unceasing in his efforts 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,

118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. H9

Longham, 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
Congress on the subject. This the House refused to pass.

An effort was then made to take a census, but any action on this subiect
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, m 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
Jeffersoman 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 sufficiently 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. J '

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.

120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 off 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 Blcnnerhasset, he established his headquarters on
his island in the Ohio. The history of Burr's expedition is already well known.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 121

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 w r ere 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

122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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-
mander-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. Spafford 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 123

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
advantage 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.

124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

In January, 1813, Winchester had reached the rapids, where he received
tidings 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 125

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

126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 127

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 affidavit 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 debaned 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.

128 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 129

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 officers 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 :

Congress Lands.

Symmes' Purchase.

15.

Maumee Road.

United States Military.

Refugee Tract.

16.

School Lands.

Virginia Military.

10.

French Grant.

17.

College Lands.

Western Reserve.

11.

Dohrman's Grant.

18.

Ministerial Lands

Fire Lands.

12.

Zane's Grant.

19.

Moravian Lands.

Ohio Company's Purchase.

13.

Canal Lands.

20.

Salt Sections.

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

130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 131

families that lost their claims at Gallipolis, through invalid titles ; 12,000 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, in 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, when 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 Union, 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

132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,

GREENVILLE

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 135

three days thereafter, by the " Cleveland, Columbus k 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. Tru, ees 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.

236 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 ot 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 $27,7J4,4bS. 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 ot
$5663 898. The State represents in her banking capital over $36,275,7* 0.
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 ot
$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 ot its
real position, and even as late as 1812, its size and location had not been

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 137

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, afford 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
withm its boundaries was in this county in 1795, 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

13 g HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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

lim Augkiz^County was formed in February, 1848, from Allen and Mercer
Counties. Wapakoneta is its county seat. ,.,.-, Qon T •

Allen County was formed from the Indian Territory April 1, 1820. Lima

is its county seat. . T

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 m he
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 eounty 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 Austmbnrg m

180 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.
A hens, its county seat, is situated on the Hocking River. The Ohio Uni-
te sty the first college founded in the State, is located here We have
mentioned the ancient mounds found in this county, heretofore, bellow pine ,s
abundant in the lower part of the Hocking Valley.

Brown County was formed March 1, 1817, from Adams and Clermont It
produces wheat, corn, rye, oats and pork. The southern part is prolific m
TrL, while the northern is adapted to grazing purposes. The surface is undu-
fating, with the exception of the Ohio River hills. Over this county Tecumseh
once held sway.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 139

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 7, 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 sprint.

Clark County was formed March 1, 1817, from Champaign, Madison and
Greene. Its first settlement was at Chribb's Station, in 1796. It is highly culti-
vated, well watered and very fertile. The Mad River, Buck and Beavlr Creeks
furnish abundant water-power. It produces principally wheat, corn and oats.
Tecumseh, the old Indian warrior, was born at the ancient Indian village,
Piqua, on the Mad River, on the present site of West Boston. Piqua

Mas

140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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
1803. Wilmington is the county seat, and was laid out in 1811. 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 Jefferson 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 wheat, 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 141

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 when 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

142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

cold 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 scat, 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. Franklinlon
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,
being 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 143

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.

144 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

Geauga County was formed in 1805 from Trumbull. It exports sheep,
cattle, 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 College. 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 145

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 x\pril 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
Mad 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

146 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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.

Jefferson 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 147

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 Steubenville, 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 Gambier. 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 at Fort Meigs, in this county. Maumee
City, the county seat, was laid out in 1817, as Maumee, by Maj . William 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.

148 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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
conilict."

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 were 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO 149

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 Zanesville 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, who 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 suffered 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 principal 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.

150 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 affection 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 tiear 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 153

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 affords 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.

154 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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. It was settled in 1788, but the Indian wars prevented a rapid
growth. 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 coal-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, which 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 155

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 1802. In 1807, John Finck erected the first cabin near the site of
Somerset, formerly the county seat. New Livingston is now the county seat.

Paulding County was formed from old Indian territory August 1, 1820.
It produces corn, Avheat 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, and fought the battle of Mount Pleasant. Dunmore'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, buckwheat, 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

156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO

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 effects 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. Mc Arthur, 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, corn, 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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 157

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, extending 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 during 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

158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 within 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 1803. 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 159

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 1 850. 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 1778.
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 Martius, 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 county seat. Henry

160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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, Harden,
Hancock and Crawford. The surface is level and the soil is fertile. The
Wyandot Indians frequented this section. It was the scene of Crawford's
defeat, in June, 1782, and his fearful death. The treaty of 1817, Hon. Lewis
Cass and Hon. Duncan McArther, United States Commissioners, granted to
the Indians a reservation ten miles square, the central point being Fort Ferree.
This reservation was ceded to the United States in 1829. The Wyandots
ceded theirs March 17, 1842. The United States Commissioner was Col.
John Johnson, who thus made the last Indian treaty in Ohio. Every foot of
this State was fairly purchased by treaties. The Wyandots were exceedingly
brave, and several of their chiefs were men of exalted moral principles.

Upper Sandusky is the county seat, and was laid out in 1843. Gen. Har-
rison had built Ferree on this spot during the war of 1812. Gov. Meigs, in
1813, encamped near the river, with several thousand of the Ohio militia.

The Indian town of Upper Sandusky was originally Crane Town. The
Indians transferred their town, after the death of Tarke, 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 position,
and again received the same honor, in 1804 and 1806. In 1807, circumstances
led him to resign, and Thomas Kirker, Speaker of the House, acted as Gover-
nor, 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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 161

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 with 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 second 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 House, 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 fourth 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
m 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 was 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

162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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, with the highest distinction, gain-
ing emolument for himself and the State he represented. 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 sixth 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 163

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 affected 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 were 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. In October, 1826, he
was elected the seventh 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,
although Jackson carried the State the following November. 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, February 3, 1870. His wife survived him but a few
months.

164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

Duncan Mc Arthur, the eighth 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, he
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 was 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 165

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 tenth 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,

166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

where he remained a year, and then changed to the Transylvania University,
at Lexington, Ky. He continued his studies two 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 and brilliant that
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, by
President Tyler, and resigned the office of Governor. When Texas was
admitted as a State, Mexico renounced all diplomatic relations with the United
States. Mr. Shannon returned home, 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 twelfth 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. C,
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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 167

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 fourteenth 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 fifteenth 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 sixteenth 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

168 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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-
vented 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 seventeenth 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. II. 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

......

CR^ENVILLE

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 171

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 Court 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 nineteenth 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, the twentieth 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

172 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

& 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 Cushing, 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 cfisheartened 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 Phoenix 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 affairs, 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 173

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-second 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. His home is in Cincinnati.

Rutherford B. Hayes, now the nineteenth President of the United States,
the twenty-third 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 two terms,
and was Governor of Ohio in 1867, being re-elected in 1869. He filled this
office a third term, being re-elected in 1875.

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 be^an
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 Ruif'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 Brio-adier
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. He went to France in 1877, aa
Minister, appointed by President Hayes.

174 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

William Allen, the twenty-fifth 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 in Lynchburg,
Va. 3 at the age of fourteen. Two years later, he joined his sister and family,
in Chillicothe, and attended the academy a year, when he entered the law office
of Edward King, and began a course of study. In his seventeenth year, he
began practice, and through his talent speedily acquired fame and popu-
larity. Before he was twenty-five, he was sent to Congress by a strong Whig
district. He was elected United States Senator in 1837, there remaining
until 1849. In 1845, he married Effie McArthur, who died soon after the
birth of their daughter. In 1873, he was elected Governor. His adminis-
tration gave general satisfaction. He died, at his home at " Fruit Hill,"' in
1879.

R. M. Bishop, the twenty-sixth Governor of Ohio, was born Novem-
ber 4, 1812, in Fleming County, Ky. He began the vocation of mer-
chant, and for several years devoted himself to that business in his native
State. In 1848, he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, in Cincinnati.
His three sons became partners, under the firm name of R. M. Bishop & Sons.
The sales of this house frequently exceeded $5,000,000 per annum. Mr.
Bishop was a member of the Council of Cincinnati, and in 1859 was its Mayor,
holding that office until 1861. In 1860, the Legislatures of Indiana and Ten-
nessee visited Ohio, to counsel each other to stand by the Constitution and the
flag. At the reception given at Pike's Opera House, Mayor Bishop delivered
an eloquent address, which elicited admiration and praises. During the same
year, as Mayor, he received the Prince of Wales in the most cordial manner, a
national credit as a mark of respect to a distinguished foreign guest. In 1877,
he was elected Governor of Ohio, by a large majority.

Charles Foster, the present and twenty-seventh 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 bank-
ing business, 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.

In reviewing these slight sketches of the Governors of this grand Western
State, one is impressed with the active relationship they have all sustained, with
credit, with national measures. Their services have been efficient, earnest and
patriotic, like the State they have represented and led.

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.*'

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 175

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

17C HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 inclosure, 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 Avail, 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 177

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 different 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 different varieties, maple, hickory, birch, several kinds of

1(8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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. We 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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 179

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 cookino-
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 splint-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 ; coffee 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 80|° east ; easterly at the
rate of 37 T 4 7 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

180 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 80J°, 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 T 7 ¥ 3 7
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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 181

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 crustaceae 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 Suj e-
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

182 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 183

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

184 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 other 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 185

had charge of affairs 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 Ohio
extended over her troops at home and in the battle-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
offered 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 18(32, 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

186 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 ! 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 189

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. Wallace did 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 Buffington
Island on the evening of the 18th ; he had encountered several little skirmishes,

190 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 Huffman. The prisoners were brought to Cincinnati,
while the troops went after the fugitive. He was surrounded by dangers ; his
men were exhausted, hunted doAvn ; 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 Brought 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.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 191

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.

19 2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,
crowned by popular acclaim our greatest soldier, is a satisfactory answer to
criticism and a sufficient 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
benefactors, 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 1£,

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 ol

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, 1831.

ISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 193

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.

194 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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 officers 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,
Gambier, Ohio, where he died surrounded by friends September 18, 1861.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 195

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 Antietam 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 L T nion.

196 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

Lieut. Col. Moses F. Wooster was engaged with liis 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 B rough 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 United 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 197

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 sufficient 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, was 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 on
the records of Hamilton County, Ohio, October 6, 1803.

198 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

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,
. 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 difficulty 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. * * * But if it were 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 North 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

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 199

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 bv
a wise judgment, in behalf of the American Union.

The originality of the Senecas and Wy an dots 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 affections, 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 parity 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 were 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 aw<yressive.
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,

200 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO

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 office 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 Avas in the Treasury to meet

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. 201

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 distrac-
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 year 1878 was marked by a more vigorous and combined effort of the
people to entirely overcome the stagnation of business, the influence of the
lethargy yet combating the awakened interest. This energy was amply rewarded
in 1879, by a general dawning of the "good times " so ardently desired. New
enterprises were instituted, manufactories erected, improvements carried on, and
agriculture was successful. Before the year closed, the State was basking in
the light of prosperity, and the year 1880 was ushered in when the confidence
of the people was again a permanent incentive — confidence in the nation,
their State, each in the other and themselves. The old-time crown of power,
influence and integrity, which Ohio has earned, is conspicuous in this year of
1880. The jewels have been reset, and we confidently doubt not that their
luster will remain undimmed intrusted to so faithful and so earnest a people.

202

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

POPULATION OF OHIO BY COUNTIES.

COUNTIES.

The State

Adams

Allen

Ashland. ..
Ashtabula.

Athens

Auglaize .
Belmont ..

Brown

Butler

Carroll ....

Champaign .

Clark

Clermont ...

Clinton

Columbiana
Coshocton . .
Crawford ...
Cuyahoga ..

Darke

Defiance

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

Marion

Medina

Meigs

Mercer

Miami

Monroe

Montgomery.

Morgan

Morrow

Muskingum .

Noble

Ottawa

Paulding

Ferry

Pickaway . . .

Pike

Portage

Preble

Putnam

Richland

Ross

Sandusky

Scioto

Seneca

Shelby

Stark

Summit

Trumbull ...,

Tuscarawas .

Union

Van Wert

Vinton

Warren

Washington .

Wayne

Williams

HTlWood

B8I Wyandot ....

7332
6838

20329
18356

21J46

8479
9533
15820
8085

221133
7086

6328
3717

16633
6316
10292

7098
7791

10529
9292

31764

12308
2130

6675
3746
18531
8326

3499
11861
3181

4480

8851
4645
15999
5297

17824

8429
13149

4253
10095

10237

9169
20619

852
5750

2106

121(16

15516
8328
1996

17*37
10125
11933

12281
578

1458 1
9787

28827
17867
27142

12131
13114
20466

11436
35:92
11161

4791
10373

6204

11504

217S6
8182
14741

9733
15813
14301
18036
52317
813
210
20916
262
16345
4008
9135
13341
59 11
22189
17085

5367

6440
5696

6190

6551
7560
6158
1110

12807
8768
21362
11800

21)331

161
13970
16001
6024
16826
16291
230
2400S
24068
2851
8740
5159
3671

26153

14291

3192

21468
11731
23333
387
1102

1.3183
9079

23724
19109

30901
22715
28173
18108
16721
16882
23106
15719
40378
21590
13152
26.-.06
13282

22060
12599
31921
10984
25049

13444
16297
17528
27748
60145

9986

4598
20099

2503
22269

9.41
18088
23933

9744
250150
29579
13719

9738
35096
14015
18467

9382

9025

14765
18352
11452
8277
19688
18521
819S8
20852

88749

2248
1034
19314
19725

7626

229115
19482
5189
44582
21 160
10182
11192
18128
12154
31603
2256,0
3S107
25631
8422
1577

•23141

'20S23
35808
4 165
5357

188S3
12109

23813

28767
18215
11338
3 1600
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
260S6
12363
10015
23735
12618
24441
17971

7712
24999
28351
38218
28585
20280
45049

3308
1766
20775
21006
10953
21119
21736
7221
80879

14305
18428
27104
13958
39ST8
27485
30190
31761
12201
4793
9858
25560
29540
32281
8018
9157
11191

2665260

20309
19185
22951
31814
21364
17187
36398
29958
35840
15738
2269s
25800
33031
21461
32836
25032
23881
78033
2600!)
11886
23902
24474
30533
15935
50361
14043
22043
15817
26197
24474
216410
22886
13570
19110
8901
27773
17057
20589
26616
17941
26115
27735
15576
23249
37011
20996
29744
25831
13015
25894
15490
22517
26534
14104
29959
25741
52220
22119
20445
44416
20751
7016
4945
19678
23169
13643
21208
21820

12808
31158
35071
21429
2 1297
80868
17493
42978
27344
30656
32163
16507
10238
13631
2690-2
36268
32483
166X3
17886
15596

20750
231123
21933
32517

23763

20041
39714
2H802
39912
14491
24188
32070
34268
21914
38299
23600
25556

132010
3227s
15719
25175
28188
31138
17170
63019
17789
25545
14190
2802s
23838

26i 1370
23847
18714
18682
14028
29133
17925
18177
28532
21759
29188
26333
15935
313S0
35756
23,128
30308

46722
15633
31001
16184
20092
81465
17254
3271,0
25779
64006
20363
18583
44886
19949
13364
85 1 1
18153
24875
15447
2 1584
21809
17031
32516
37097
25503

80827

20748
5250S
34674
38659
33810
18730
15823
15027
26689
40609
35116
20991
21596
i 558

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

208

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

States and
Territories.

States.

Alabama

Arkansas

California

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

Oregon

Area in
square
Miles. 1870

50,722

52,198

188 981

4.674

2,120

59,268

58,000

55,410

33,809

55,045

81,318

37,600

41,346

31,776

11,184

7,800

56,451

83,531

47,156

65,350

75,995

112,090

9,280

8,320

47,000

50,704

39,964

95,244

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

1,321,011

726,915

626,915

780,894

1,457,351

1,184,059

439,706

827,922

1,721,295

123,993

42,491

318,300

906,096

4,382,759

1,071,361

2,665,260

90,923

Miles
R. R.
1875. 1872.

1,350,544
528,349

857,039

1,651,912

1,334,031

598,429

246,280
52,540

1,026,502
4,705,208

; Last Census of Michigan taken in 1874

1,671

1,013

820

466

2,108

5,904

3,5:.::-)

3.160

1,760

1,123

539

871

820

1,606

2,235

1,01:.

990

2,580

828

593

790

1,265

4,470

1,190

3,740

109

States and
Territories.

States.

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina..

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia....
Wisconsin

Total States.

Territories.

Arizona

Colorado

Dakota

Dist. of Columbia.

Idaho

Montana

New Mexico

Utah

Washington

Wyoming

Total Territories.

Area in
square
Miles.

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

90,932

143,776

121,201

80,056

69,944

93,107

Population.

1870.

1875.

3,521,791
217,353
705,606

1,258,520
818,579
330,551

1,225,163
442,014

1,054.670

965,03*

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

258,239
925,145

1,236

Miles
R. R.
1872.

,113
136
,201
,r.-.'0
865
675
,490
485
725

59,587

392

375

"498
1,265

Aggregateof U.S.. 12,915,203 38,555,983 60,852

* Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland.

PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD;

Population and Area.

China

British Empire

Russia

United States with Alaska

France

Austria and Hungary

Japan

Great Britain and Ireland

German Empire

Italy

Spam

Brazil

Turkey

Mexico '

Sweden and Norway ]

Persia

Belgium

Bavaria ]

Portugal ,

Holland

New Grenada '

Chili

Switzerland

Peru \

Bolivia '

Argentine Republic '.

Wurtemburg

Denmark \

Venezuela ,'

Baden

Greece ['/"

Guatemala ]','.','

Ecuador

Paraguay

Hesse ""'

Liberia !.!.!."."'

San Salvador

Hayti ]]'

Nicaragua

Uruguay "

Honduras *

San Domingo

Costa Rica '."'

Hawaii

Population.

446,500,000

226,817,108

81,925,400

38,925,600

36,469, 8' mi

35,904,40!)

34,785,300

31,817,100

29,906,092

27,439,921

16,64231,1(1

10,000.000

16,463,000

9,173.000

5,921.500

5,000,000

5,021.300

4,861,400

3,995,200

3,688,300

3,000,000

2,000,000

2,669,100

2,500,000

2,000,000

1,812,000

1,818,500

1,784,700

1,500,000

1,461,400

1,457. 900

1,180,000

1,300,000

1,000,000

823,138

718,000

600,000

572,000

350,000

300,000

350,000

136,000

165,000

62,950

Date of
Census.

1871
1871
1871
1870
1866
1869
1871
1871
1871
1871
1867

1861)
1870
1870
1869
1871
1868
1870
1870
1869
1870
1871

1869
1871
1870

1871

1870
1871

1871
1871

'1871
1871
1871

'1870

Area in
Square
Miles.

3,741,846

4,677,432

8,003,778

2,603,884

204,091

240,348

149,399

121,315

160,207

118,847

195,775

3,253,029

672,621

761,526

292,871

635,964

11,373

29,292

34,494

12,680

357,157

132,616

15,992

471,838

497,321

871,848

7,533

14,753

368,238

5,912

19,353

40,879

218,928

63,787

2,969

9,576

7,335

10,205

58,171

66,722

47,092

17,827

21,505

7.633

Inhabitants

to Square

Mile.

119.3

48.6

10.2

7.78

178.7

149.4

232.8

262.3

187.

230.9

85.

3.07

24.4

20.
7.8
441.5
165.9
115.8
290.9
8.4
15.1
166.9
5.3
4.
2.1
241.4
120.9
4.2
247.
75.3
28.9
5.9
15.6
277.
74.9
81.8
56.
6.
6.5
7.4
7.6
7.7
80.

Capitals.

Pekin

London

St. Petersburg

Washington

Paris

Vienna

Yeddo

London

Berlin

Rome

Madrid

Rio Janeiro

Constantinople ...

Mexico

Stockholm

Teheran

Brussels

Munich

Lisbon

Hague

Bogota

Santiago

Berne

Lima

Chuquisaca

Buenos Ayres

Stuttgart

Copenhagen

Caraccas

Carlsruhe

Athens

Guatemala

Quito

Asuncion

Darmstadt

Monrovia

Sal Salvador

Port au Prince...

Managua

Monte Video

Comayagua ,

San Domingo

San Jose ,

Honolulu

Population.

,648,800

1,251,800

667,000

109,199

,825,300

833,900

,554,900

,251,800

825,400

244,484

332,000

420,000

,075,000

210.300

136,900

120,000

314,100

169,500

224,063

90,100

45,000

115,400

36,000

160,100

25,000

177.800

91,600

162,042

47,000

36,600

43,400

40,000

70,000

48,000

30,000

3,000

15,000

20,000

10,000

44,500

12,000

20,000

2.000

7,633

204

POPULATION OF DARKE COUNTY.

1860.

1870.

1880

Native.

Foreign.

1755

2291
243
228
781

1239
221

1524
177

1366

1743

264

5688
86

2520
356

2007
239
452

2088
792
798

1226

1093
107
346
978

1105

1998

450

150

1212
824

1537
117

1983

2196
220
211

745
1157

203
1491

169
1318
1718

255

5069

2161

304
1947

239

408
1953

686

757

1138

1072

346

857
1066
1931

443
82

146
1189

797
1498

104
1736

95
23

619
1

359
52
60

2827

Bradford

526

AileD

536
1066

285
1246

Blown

1948

Dallas

542

Butler

1398

1729

Castine

238

983
1385

1837

(J crnian

1800

257

*Tampico

Greenville

4321

6809

1650

3535

Pikeville

Harrison

1823

2159

*Hollandsburg

44
135

106
41
88

21
8

546

Jackson

1346

3192

Union City

1163

Monroe

722

1015

906

1507
1400

Neave

1083

* Jefferson

*Sampson

Patterson

748

914

1673

121

247

1283

1249

Twin

2734

Arcanum

786

Ithaca

128

Van Buren

912

542

1397

1530

Wabash

1135

Washington

1602

Hillgrove

186

Wayne

1652

2763

Versailles

1163

York -..

625

797

762

1000

Totals

26009

32278

40833

* Not taken separately in 1880.

^s:,~i. '■■• '■■'% ■'■"'?*:'■■-

^^r, ^77/6rr^

GREENVILLE TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Indian History — Organization and Early Settlement of the County, and
Early History of Greenville Township and City.

BY JOHX WHABBY.

TO narrate the histoiy of an}' given locality is a labor that seldom satisfies the
writer who engages in it. and more frequently fails to interest or gratify
the reader. Many things must be omitted from want of information, and the rela-
tion of many more, for the want of correct information as to both actors and
events, would be better left unattempted. The uncertainty of human memory, and
the defects, mutilations and losses of record evidence must frequently expose the
labor of the historian to just criticism, and not unfrequently to unjust incredulity.

The rise and fall of the " Northwest Territory." from its creation by the ordi-
nance of July 13, 1787, to its present status of five large and populous States,
now in a great measure controlling the nation of which the}' form so important a
part, seems so like a vision of Ezekiel, Daniel or John, that the narration of that
rise and progress must now, near the close of the first century of that progress,
be deemed mythical and incredible.

Ninety -three years ago. there were not within the limits of the Territory,
exclusive of fifty or sixty thousand Indians, who have been swept away like the
mist on the river, two thousand people, if half that number, of Caucasian lineage,
and that thousand or upward have multiplied until the census of the current year,
1880, will show a product of ten millions. This transformation has taken place
within three generations, and has never been equaled, save in the close of the
fourth and beginning of the fifth century, when the North Pole swarmed and a new
race swept down and trod out of sight the old Roman Empire, extending from
Thule to the Caspian, and from Ormus to the Pillars of Hercules.

Ohio was the first-born of the ordinance of '87. and is now — if not the " key-
stone " of the arch of the Union — the " Valley of Achor and the door of hope " of
the Nation (we spell the word with a big N), of which she forms so conspicuous a
part.

But the writer has not undertaken to write the history of the United States,
the Northwest Territory, nor the State of Ohio ; that duty must devolve upon
somebody else. His only purpose is to gather up and save from utter oblivion
some of the incidents, men and events, where presence and occurrence go to make
a part, and a part only, of the history of the town of Greenville, and the township
in which it is located.

Some events in its earlier years made it then a place of some note, while many
other events of later date may not seem to deserve recital or perusal here, and
would be recorded to little purpose, save that the narrator desires to give obedi-
ence to the old injunction, "not to despise the day of small things."

The town of Greenville, the county seat of one of the largest and best agri-
cultural counties of Ohio, like many other towns of the State, has a history, and,
like many others whose history dates back to a period be3*ond the memory of '-the

208 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

oldest inhabitant," many events making part of the history are certain, and capa-
ble of truthful and accurate narration, whilst many others arc of that character
that, to now relate them with a truthful regard to time and place, and actors and
circumstances, is a duty that requires care and labor to discriminate between myth
and truth and between fiction and fact : and this the writer purposes to do as best
he may. premising that many events of which mention will lie made came to his
knowledge half a century ago, from the actors in those events, who are now all
passed away.

In the old Territorial days, under the administration of the first President of
the United States, attempts were made to subdue the aboriginal race that occupied
the Northwest Territory, and open it up for the occupancy of those who would
plant and foster civilization ; and there were many such, who desired to find homes
for themselves and their children after them, in the valleys of the Muskingum,
Scioto, and the two Miamis.

Scarcely had a settlement been projected in the Territory by Putnam and
Symmes and their associates, founders of Marietta and Cincinnati, when an expe-
dition was organized and force sent against the Indians of Ohio, under the com-
mand of Gen. Josiah Harmar.

This foray, ill disciplined, ill provided for and ill commanded, in a very short
time was defeated and scattered, with great loss of men and means, and the pros-
pect of the Territory was darkened.

To this day, the accounts of Harmar's defeat are a puzzle and a trouble to
historians, and their statements as to time and place disagree, and all are more or
less right, and are also more or less wrong.

The facts, when simply and truthfully related, were, that Harmar's army was
in a state of mutiny, and had separated into three bodies, each " going on its own
hook," that were met and disastrously defeated by the Indians on different days
and places, between the headwaters of the Maumee, Miami and Scioto, in the region
of what is now Hardin and Hancock Counties. The greater number of these
forces thus divided — and nominally under Harmar's command, but in fact under no
command whatever — were slaughtered or captured, and those who escaped fled as
best they could to Wheeling, Pittsburgh, Limestone or Cincinnati. Of these, there
were enough left to tell the tale, and it was told so many different ways, that,
although nearly everybody believed a part, scarcely anybody believed but a part
of the then current relations of Harmar's campaign and defeat. The disaster
occurred in the summer of 1789.

Maj. George Adams, then a soldier in Harmar's army, again in the serv-
ice as a Captain of scouts under Wayne, and, nearly twenty years later, command-
ant of the garrison at Greenville, during the negotiations preceding the execution
of the treaty of 1814, of which notice will be taken, and, later in life, a Judge of
the Court of Common Pleas of Darke County, was five times shot and severely
wounded in one of three several defeats of Harmar. He survived, and was car-
ried on a litter between two horses to Cincinnati, although on the way a grave was
dug for him three evenings in succession. With his ashes in the Martin Cemetery,
three miles east of Greenville, are two of the bullets of the five, which he carried
in his body from 1789 until his decease in 1832.

The next movement against the Indians was set on foot in 1791. At the head
of this was placed in command by President Washington, who was a great stickler
for red tape and things, Gen. St. Clair. Governor of the Northwest Territory, and
with him was placed, as second in command. Gen. Richard Butler, with whom he
had not been on speaking terms for ten years, owing to an old feud dating back to
the Massacre of Wyoming, in the days of the Revolution.

St. Clair, with an army of half-disciplined and half-provisioned men. marched
north from Cincinnati, into an unknown wilderness, in October, L791, and before he
reached the Wabash, which, in the absence of correct geographical knowledge, was
supposed to be the St. Mary's River, his command was in almost the same condition

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 209

of Harmar's army, two years before ; one regiment was in open mutiny, and
was on the retreat, and another was sent back to reduce the refractory to subjec-
tion. Late in the evening of November 3, 1791, his troops, which had been on a
forced march, and on half rations, all day, lay down weary and hungry, in an
improvised camp, on the bank of the river, where the town of Recovery is now
located. The Indians were in force within a mile beyond the river, under the
leadership of Little Turtle, the war chief of the Miamis, who, in this engagement,
were re-enforced by the Wyandots, Pottawatomies and Shawnees, under their chiefs.

Before daybreak on the morning of November 4, 1791, a day long remem-
bered by many mourning families, from the Monongahela to the Miami, St. Clair's
force, numbering about 1,300 men, was attacked, and in less than two hours 600
men were dead and the residue routed and fleeing as fast as their famished condi-
tion would permit. Many were slaughtered on the retreat, and it was no unusual
thing, after the lapse of more than forty years, in clearing up the lands of Gibson
Township, in which the site of the defeat is situated, to find the bleached bones of
dead who fell by the wayside.

The news of St. Clair's defeat spread over the land, and the nation was excited,
and, as is frequently the case in like excitements, the actual loss, great as it was, was
greatly exaggerated, and blame for the disaster placed on other shoulders than
where it rightly belonged.

No such disaster had befallen the whites in a conflict with the Indians, since
Logan had defeated Lord Dunmore at the battle of the Point, before the Revolu-
tion. A court-martial was called and deliberated ; after mairy days' investigation,
St. Clair was acquitted of blame, and none dared to charge the disaster to those
who should have been held responsible for it ; but now, after the lapse of almost
a century, it is beginning to be understood that the disasters of 1789 and 1791 are
to be laid at the door of Gen. Washington, then President of the United States,
and Gen. Knox, his Secretarj" of War.

St. Clair, in his march northward, passed over the plain on which the town of
Greenville now stands, had not noted its adaptability to military uses, although he
had fortified a post at Fort Jefferson, five miles south of it, and in a militaiy point
of view having no characteristics of a locality that could be defended from an
external enemy.

The demand of the people of Western Pennsylvania and Northwestern Vir-
ginia for more lands had its effect on Congress, as well as upon the President, and
measures were taken to organize another campaign against the Indians, who yet
held the valleys of the Miami, Scioto and Muskingum. For the command of the
force sought to be raised to clear out and subjugate all the southern part of Ohio,
the President selected Gen. Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary General, j T et in the
prime of life, as the commander of the force soon to be raised for the purpose of
clearing the Northwest Territory of its enemies.

Wayne had before him the knowledge so dearly bought by the preceding
campaigns of Harmar and St. Clair, and fully appreciated the causes of disaster
in each of those campaigns, and set himself to remedy the trouble so patent to a
military man, that chiefly caused the failure of those campaigns. An army was
soon recruited, numbering between three and four thousand men, carefully offi-
cered, and then began the business of drill and discipline.

The summer and fall of 1792, and the winter and spring of 1793, passed
away, and Wayne's forces were yet under daily exercise, acquiring efficiency for
the duty that would soon be required of them. Fort Washington, now inside the
limits of Cincinnati ; Fort Hamilton, the present county seat of Butler County, and
another fort, occupjdng the present site of Eaton, were built and garrisoned, and
in the fall of 1793, Wayne, with the residue of his force, proceeded northward and
occupied a plain on the southwest branch of the Great Miami, where be built and
strongly fortified a post that was for the next two years to be his headquarters,
and which he named, in honor of his old friend of the Revolution, Fort Greenville.

210 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Wayne's arrival on the ground on which he built Fort Greenville, and which
now is wholly within the limits of the present town of Greenville, was on the 13th of
October, 1793, and from that date may be said to commence the history of the town
of Greenville, and with its history, it may also be said, commenced the develop-
menl of the Northwesl Territory, as created by the ordinance of the old Congress
six years before, into the now great States of Ohio. Illinois. Indiana, Michigan and
Wisconsin, occupying the center, and in a great measure controlling the action.
civil and political, of the United States of America.

FORT GREENVILLE.

When Wayne first occupied Fort Greenville, in the autumn of 1793, anything
like a civil government in the Northwest Territory could hardly he said to have
an existence, as the little hamlets of Marietta and Cincinnati were the only places
between the Ohio and Mississippi where there was any call for a Judge or Justice
of the Peace, a Sheriff or a Constable. The Territory had, two years before, been
parceled out by the Governor and Council into the fiye counties of Washington.
Hamilton, Knox, St. Clair and Wayne, the boundaries whereof at this day no man
knoweth, and can only infer their location by learning that the Judges of the Ter-
ritory performed circuit duty and went through the forms of holding courts at
Marietta, Cincinnati. Vineennes, Kaskaskia and Detroit, the seats of justice of the
several counties before named.

The same fall that Wayne occupied Fort Greenville, a detachment of his army
advanced northward and built and garrisoned small stockade fortresses of suffi-
cient strength to withstand any force likely to be brought by his Indian foes against
them at Fort Recovery, on the ground of St. Clair's defeat ; Loramie's, where the
Indians and French burned out David and Alexander Loramie in 17.")!': at St.
Mary's, on the river of the same name, which is a tributary of the Maumee. or. as
it was then called, the Miami of the Lakes, and at some other points. Fort
Recovery, soon after it was built, was attacked by an Indian force nearly ten times
the number of its garrison, but safely withstood the attack and severely punished
its assailants. In the Indian council which preceded the assault on Fort Recoy-
ery. occurred one of those seemingly little disagreements which engendered dis-
trust, but had an influence which, as we shall see. had a subsequent effect, and
tended months afterward to spread distrust in the Indian host, and bear evil fruit.
Little Turtle strongly urged his allies to let the fort alone, as it was not against
such places that their warriors could hope for success. His efforts were unavail-
ing, and the assault was made against his counsel and judgment, and he quietly
informed his own tribe, the Miamis, that they could " see just as well if they kept
back out of harm's way. and let those who wen' desirous of butting their heads
against Gibson's palisades try it on, and see what would come of it.'' The Miamis
profited by his advice, and although appearing to aid in the effort to win the vic-
tory oyer Gibson and his garrison, after a whole day's hard fight and when night
came and an account of killed and wounded was taken, were found to have sustained
littleor no loss. The Wyandots. Pottawah >mies and Shawnees had suffered severely.
This'brought about distrust and jealousy of the Turtle and his counsel that pre-
vented his advice from being heeded, when it probably might have secured as great
a victory over Wayne as he had obtained over St. Clair nearly three years before.

Wayne passed the winter of 1793 94 in strengthening his position, securing
supplies and getting his command in good lighting trim and order, as well as in
obtaining full and thorough information of all that was going on in the Indian
camps and councils. His spies, "trigged" out in their paint and grease, were
everywhere from Greenville to beyond the Maumee. and took note of everything,
and kept their commander thoroughly posted. Elliott and McKee were doing their
besl at Detroit to stimulate their allies to perseverance, and had their adherents
in Wayne's headquarters at Greenville ; and one prominent individual, implicated

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 211

by intercepted letters, was arrested and ironed and laid in the guardhouse for
months, and although the evidence was insufficient to establish his complicity and
treachery by proof, such as a court would require, but few in the army had any
doubt of his guilt. It is not best, even at this late day, to name the man alluded
to, as his descendants in the third and fourth generation occupy high social stand-
ing in Western Ohio.

In June, 1704, Wayne, having learned that the Indian force was embodied and
within a few miles of him, took the field with about 3,000 men, leaving still a
strong garrison in Fort Greenville, and took up his line of march with care, cir-
cumspection and no undue haste, to the northward, taking the route toward Lora-
mie and St. Mary's. On the third night after leaving Greenville, his forces were
encamped in the southeastern part of what is now Patterson Township, and the
main body of the Indians were not more than two miles distant from him on the
bank of Black Swamp Creek, in the same township. On that night, at a council
held in the Indian camp, at which Maj. Adams, of whom mention has been pre-
viously made in these pages, and who had so far recovered of the wounds received
five years before, as to be in the service in Wayne's army, was present, disguised
in full Indian rig and paint, Little Turtle strongly urged that an onslaught be
made before morning. This advice was withstood by the Crane, head chief of the
Wyandots, and by the Shawnee and Pottawatomie chiefs, and the head men of
other tribes who were in the Indian force. The reasons given by those who
opposed the Turtle's counsel were, that the}' desired Wayne to be farther away
from his home, as they designated Fort Greenville, and that they could better
engage him when they were nearer their friends, as the}' designated a British fort
and garrison on the Maumee. which had been kept up in defiance of the stipulations
of the treaty of 1783 ; but the true reason of their opposition to the Turtle's advice
was their distrust of him. excited the previous autumn at Recovery.

The views of the majority prevailed, and the two armies, seldom more than
three or four miles apart, continued to move to the north until, on the morning of
July 2n. 1704, at Rouge Be Bout, beyond the Maumee, in plain view of the
English tort, and almost in reach of its guns, the Indians made a stand and were
routed with considerable hiss, and fled for succor to the fort, but were not permit-
ted to enter, as Col. Campbell, the commander, had a wholesome apprehension of
what might befall him and his garrison, if he gave any cause, by manifesting an
interest for the safety of his friends. Subsequently to the battle, some spicy
correspondence took place between Wayne and Col. Campbell, but all that came of
it was that Wayne contented himself with burning and destroying everything
pertaining to the fort and its garrison outside of their stockade. After the defeat
of the Indians, the commander built and garrisoned a fort named after himself, at
the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph Rivers, where they unite to form
the Maumee, and another down the Maumee, at the junction with the Auglaize.

The Indians, finding themselves sorely pressed by Wayne, who. as Little
Turtle said, slept with his eyes open, and deriving no aid or comfort from their
English allies, either on the Maumee or at Detroit, soon began to think that peace,
on the terms they ascertained could be had. was better than to have their braves
exterminated by the unerring rifles of Wayne's scouts, who seemed to them to be
everywhere, began to make overtures, as they had learned an important lesson.
In the old French war. which had been terminated in 1763, before many of those
who now formed their force were born, their old men remembered that they were
always upheld by their French allies, but the English race, now in power in Upper
Canada, and along the frontier, cared no more for the Indians than they did for
their dogs, save as it would subserve their own purposes, irrespective of what of
good or evil might fall to the lot of the red men.

Arrangements were made in the latter part of the spring of 1705. the chiefs,
head men and warriors of a number of the tribes assembled at Fort Greenville,
where, after several weeks' negotiation, the terms of a treaty were agreed upon,

212 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

and. with all due formalities, signed by the contracting parties on the 3d da}' of
Auiiust, 17!)."), and in due time was approved and confirmed, and peace restored.
By this treaty, in consideration of sundry perpetual annuities to the several tribes
represented at Greenville, some of which remain annually payable to this day, there
was ceded to the United States almost the entire south half of the State of Ohio,
and a large gore of Eastern Indiana, and a number of small tracts to be used by
the United States as sites for occupation for military purposes within what yet
remained as Indian Territory.

Wayne's treaty opened up for settlement, by a white population, the valleys
of the Muskingum, Hockhocking, Scioto and the Little and Great Miami Rivers,
and the lower tributaries, and the business of surveying the newly acquired terri-
tory into ranges, townships and sections, preparatory to entry and settlement, went
on with little" intermission for several years, and after the withdrawal of Wayne's
army and the evacuation of Greenville, Recovery, Loramie and other frontier posts
by their garrisons, the surveyors employed by the Government, and their assistants,
were the only white men who were at any time found within the limits of the terri-
tory that in after years became the county of Darke, named after one of the brave
but unfortunate officers of St. Clair's army, who met his death at Recovery in
November, 1791.

Fort Greenville was evacuated by its garrison in the spring of 1796, and, later
in the same year, was burned down to obtain nails and other material to be used
in the construction of the buildings of the first settlers of Montgomery County,
in Dayton or its vicinity.

During the occupation of Fort Greenville by Wayne's army, it was visited by
M. Volney, a Frenchman of considerable note in the closing years of the last
century, author of the " Ruins of Empires " and some other publications, the
perusal of which afforded gratification to men who scouted the Bible as a book of
fables. This man, who could not believe the ■ narrative of the deluge as
given by Moses in the book of Genesis, was stuffed by the statement of some of
Wayne's younger officers, who accompanied him on his trip to Greenville, as they
passed the falls of Greenville Creek, some twelve miles below the fort, that the
Ohio River, in times of great floods, backed the water of the Miami River and its
tributaries until the water in the creek was raised to a level with the top of the
falls. This yarn he gravely related as a fact in his book of " Notes of Travel in
America," published after his return to Europe, thus demonstrating the truth of
the apothegm " that in credulity, the unbeliever can go ahead of men of faith."

In 1799, 1800, 1801 and 1802, Israel and Stephen Ludlow, Daniel C. Cooper,
David Nelson and Benjamin Chambers, and in 1805, Fulton, McKhann and McLene,
with their assistants, engaged in the work of surveying the land for the United
States, were the only white men who were at any time within Darke County, so
far as any knowledge has come down to us. No doubt Indians trapped and hunted
within its borders, but that rests only on conjecture, grounded on its probability.

Some time subsequent to the treaty of 1795— but the year cannot be ascer-
tained, except that it was between 1796 and 1804— the Prophet, and his brother,
the celebrated Tecumseh of the Shawnee tribe, emigrated from the Indian town of
Upper Piqua, with a few families who adhered to them, and established a small
Indian village above Greenville on the west side of Mud Creek ; the site of this
village is now within the farms of William F. Bishop and Joseph Bryson, and con-
tinued there until about 1811. The writer of these pages learned many years ago
from the late Col. John Johnson, who, from the time of the elder Adams until
the Presidency of Gen. Jackson, was agent on behalf of the United States
for the Indian tribes of the Northwest Territory, that the Prophet and his
adherents were driven off by his tribe, the Shawnees, on account of his
and their bad character, that Black Hoof and the other Indians said that the
Prophet was a bad man and a thief. This statement might well be believed
without having any Indian's word for it. The writer in his time has seen and

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 213

known several thousand Indians, but is satisfied that he never beheld half a dozen
of the " noble red men " who would not 'steal whenever and wherever they could
have the opportunity, anything and everything they could lay their hands on,
unless it might be a ship's anchor or a pair of millstones.

The character of the Prophet and his people was not in the least improved by
their translation from Piqua to the Mud Creek town; they continued to steal as
long as they remained there, and had they continued there until now would still
have pursued the same high calling. A Frenchman, whose name cannot now be
ascertained, built and occupied as a trading-house, on a small scale, a little log
cabin on the west side of the creek, opposite the site of the burned fort, about the
year 1805, but could not stand it very long; in the early part of the summer of
1806, the Prophet and his Indians had stolen his entire stock, powder, lead, flints,
tobacco and whisky, and the poor frog-eater was " busted " and left.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

We come now to the period when what may be called the first settlement of
the town and township of Greenville, may be said to commence. Late in 1806, or
early in 1807, Azor Scribner, leaving his wife and probably two young children
near Middletown, came with a small stock of Indian goods, including tobacco and
whisky, and opened out in the Frenchman's deserted cabin. He did not bring his
family from Middletown until 1808, but at what time of the year is not now
known, his eldest daughter yet living here, and who was born before he came here,
being then too young to remember the time of year that her mother, her sister and
herself were brought here by her father.

It is now well understood that the first white man who, with a wife and chil-
dren, emigrated to the county and settled in Greenville Township, was Samuel
Boyd, who came in 1807 and built himself a cabin about two and a half miles
north by east from the site of Fort Greenville, on the bank of a branch that yet
goes by the name of Boyd's Creek. Boyd was a native of Maryland, had lived in
Kentucky and was probably married there before he emigrated to Ohio, and had,
as far as the writer has been able to learn, made a short stop of one or two years
near the Miami, in Butler County, before emigrating to the wilderness that two
years afterward created the county of Darke. "Boyd lost his wife about 1816, and
she was the first person buried in the old graveyard below the railroad bridge ; the
early settlers having previously used as a cemetery the lot on which the Catholic
Church is erected. He died in 1829 or 1830 ; one of his daughters, the wife of
John Carnahan, had died in 1821 or 1822, and another, the wife of Robert Martin,
survived until about three years ago, and previous to her decease was for some
years recognized at the " oldest inhabitant." Soon after Boyd came, Azor Scribner
removed his family and, abandoning the cabin on the west side of the creek, occu-
pied one of the buildings of the fort that had escaped the fire inside of the pickets.
Scribner died in 1822 ; his widow in the early part of 1S25 married a Yankee
adventurer, who, in less than a year, deserted her, and the last ever heard of him
he was in a Canada jail on a charge of treason, having been involved in McKenzie's
rebellion, which occurred some forty years ago.

The next settler in the county, although not within Greenville Township, to
which he afterward removed, was Abraham Studabaker, who settled on the south
side of the creek below the bridge at Gettysburg. He came with his wife and one
or two children in time to plant corn in the spring of 1808.

In the summer of 1808, John Devor purchased from the United States the
half-section of land which had been the site of Fort Greenville, and in conjunction
with his son-in-law, Robert Gray, laid out, partly within and partly without the old
fort, what may be called the initial part of the present town of Greenville, to which
a dozen or more additions have since been made. Their town plat was executed
and acknowledged on the 14th day of August, 1808, and sent to Miami County,

214 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

which then included within its limits the whole of what is now Parke County, for
record.

On the same day that Devor entered the town half-section, he also entered
for his neighbor, John Bonner, of Montgomery County, a halt-section some five
miles down the creek below Greenville, and Maj. .Murray, of Hamilton, entered
the quarter-section on which Fort Jefferson had been built by St. Clair on his ill-
starred campaign of 1791. Later in the year, Mr. Studabaker entered the tract
on which he settled below I rettysburg. The patents for Bonner's and Studabaker's
land were not issued for many years.

Alter the lapse of more than seventy years, it is a matter of considerable dif-
ficulty either to state the order in which emigrants arrived in the new settlement,
or even anything that would specify all who did come. It is also, at this day, a mat-
ter of considerable uncertainty, if ascertained at all. to find out when what subse-
quently became, by legislative enactment, Darke County, was organized as a civil
township of -Miami County. This much is known, that the new settlement was re-en-
forced by the arrival, in 1 808, of Thomas McGrinnis and family from what was yet the
new State of Tennessee, and Barnabas Burns, who was married to the mother of the
wife of McGrinnis, who was a native of either North or South Carolina, but emi-
grated to Ohio from Tennessee. Both became land-owners on the west side of
Mud Creek, between Greenville and the Prophet's town, as the Indian village was
called, to which allusion has been made in these pages. The same year, or early in
1809, came Enos Terry, afterward an Associate Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, and entered the quarter-section northeast of the town, and laid off upon it
another town plat, also called Greenville, that, subsequently to the creation of
Parke County, was established as the county seat, hut so continued for a brief
period. The town site occupied about twenty or twenty-five acres in the northwest
corner of the quarter-section. It was then the day of small things ; no man ever
built upon or dwelt within the limits of the town. Horatio G. Phillips, of Dayton,
purchased tw r o lots, for which he never received a title, but for which he received
in lieu a deed in subsequent 3-ears of two lots in Devor and Gray's town, to
purchase his acquiescence in the measures taken to remove the seat of justice of
the county to the other town on the southeast side of the creek. In 1809, came
William and Joseph Wilson, from the Little Miami, to which they had emigrated
011I3' a few years before, from "Washington County, in Pennsylvania ; both bought
land settled north of Greenville, and, both being natives of the holy sod of "Ould
Ireland." the name of " Ireland " was given to, and for many years retained by. that
part of Greenville Township where they were located. William Wilson was located
on a quarter-section but half a mile north of the Devor purchase of the site of
the old fort, and one mile north of his quarter was the quarter-section of his
brother Joseph. Both men had families of children, some quite young and others
grown up to manhood. William Wilson died in 1821, and his wife several years
afterward. Joseph Wilson sold out in 1826, and, with his family, sons and daugh-
ters then grown up and married, emigrated to the West, somewhere, to "grow up
with the country." Not very long after Devor and Gray had laid off the town of
Greenville, probably within a year. Gray disposed of his interest in the newly laid-
out town, and the residue of the half-section in which it was situated, to his aunt,
Mi's. Rachel Armstrong, then a widow with four young children — the eldest not
ten years old — who. with her family, removed to and settled in Greenville, about
the close of 1809. Devor, the other proprietor, still continued to reside in the
county of Montgomery. Mrs. Armstrong, with her nephew, William Devor, a son
of the co-proprietor, who came and resided as a member of her family with her ;
both died of a disease called the "cold plague.'' in January. 1812. .Mrs. Arm-
Strong's children were then taken in charge by her relatives in Warren and Ham-
ilton Counties; one of them. Samuel Armstrong, born in February, 1806, yet
survives, unmarried and keeping bachelor's hall, at Walnut llilis, Hamilton
County.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 215

FORMATION OF DARKE COUNTY.

The Legislature of Ohio, then in session at Zanesville, by their act of Janu-
ary 3, 1809, created the county of Darke out of territory previously forming a part
of the county of Miami, and. within a year afterward, a commission appointed by
the Legislature established the seat of justice of the newly formed county at
Terry's, town of Greenville, north of the creek. This selection was procured, as it
was soon afterward charged, by what fifty years later would have been denomi-
nated " cheenanigen," practiced on the Commissioners by Terry and old Billy
"Wilson, the first of whom it was alleged had promised each of the Commissioner's
a choice lot in the new county seat, and the other had added strong persuasions in
the way of a liberal use of whisk}' and some ready money, so that even at that
early day, the corruption of men occupying positions of trust was not deemed to
be a myth or an impossibility. Whatever the facts may have been, no investiga-
tion was ever made, nor were any legal proofs ever offered, but the matter was
subject of public talk and general suspicion.

And whilst speaking on this subject, it may as well be stated, that, by the
enactment of the Legislature at the session of 1810-11, a new commission was
created, to whom was confided the duty of relocating the seat of justice of the
count}-. This commission, consisting of Messrs. Barbee and Gerard, of Miami
County, and Lanier, of Preble, after considering the propositions of Terry, David
Briggs, and Devor and 3Irs. Armstrong, looking to the material benefits to the
county, as proffered b}' the parties, accepted the proposition of Devor and Mrs.
Armstrong, and selected as the future county seat the town laid out at Wayne's
old fort, of Greenville.

The accepted proposition covenanted to donate to the county one-third of all
the town lots then laid out, or that they or their heirs might thereafter lay out, on
the adjoining lands in the west half of Section 35, in which their town plat was
located.

Some years after. Mrs. Armstrong having died in the mean time, Devor, for
himself and on behalf of the heirs of Mrs. Armstrong, pursuant to the order of
the Court of Common Pleas, executed their contract so far as the lots then laid
off was concerned, by conveying to the Commissioners of Miami County, in trust
for the county of Darke, when it should thereafter be organized, thirty-two of the
ninety-six lots then laid out. but, although additional town lots on the adjacent
land of the half-section have since been laid out by the heirs of Devor, and also
by the heirs of Mrs. Armstrong, no further donation or conveyance has ever been
made, nor have the Commissioners of Darke County ever demanded or required
any further performance of their covenant.

After the creation of the county in 1809. a number of families emigrated to
Greenville and its vicinity ; some remained only for a short period, whilst others
resided here until their decease, or until, in after years, the glowing accounts of a
'■ better land," farther toward the setting sun. tempted them to seek their fortunes
on the banks of the Wabash. St. Joseph. Illinois and Missouri, and in the prairies
of Iowa. Kansas and Nebraska. The names of some of them are no longer remem-
bered, and of all that had attained to manhood or womanhood, who came prior to
the close of 1S12, not one remains : all are gone, and even their descendants are
as the forest leaves after the frosts and snows of winter have passed — lying in the
ground, or blown away.

Among those who came between the spring of 1809 and the fall of 1810, the
writer, at this distant day. can only name a part, and of that part were Moses
Scott, from Southwestern Pennsylvania, who. with his son William, were afterward
successive Sheriffs of Darke County, serving in the first, second and third regular
terms of that office after the organization of the county : John Studabaker and
Abraham Miller, brother and brother-in-law to Abraham Studabaker. who hail set-
tled down the creek some two years before : they were located on lands on the old

216 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

trace to Fort Jefferson, some two miles south of Greenville ; Scott purchased a
quarter-section, a half-mile south of theDevor purchase, that has for the last thirty
years or more been the property of David Studabaker, and also purchased two lots
adjoining the public square in Greenville, on which he erected a two-story log
house, in which for the period of from twelve to lift ecu years, he kept what in those
days was regarded as an A No. 1 tavern, or inn. where the weary traveler could be
regaled on corn bread, venison, coffee, tea or whisky, as might best suit his appetite
or mitigate his hunger and thirst. Scott and what were left of his family migrated
to Fort Wayne, End., in 1S24. In the Indian troubles of 1812, he had his
powder horn shot away from his side ; a number of years before, he had a narrow
escape when engaged in the whisky insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, and his
guests at the tavern in Greenville were always entertained by a recital of how he
escaped powder and lead in Pennsylvania, as well as a detail of the powder-horn
adventure in the prairie above Greenville. About the time of Scott's advent in
Greenville, came Charles Sumption, commonly known as the " Wax-works," with a
family, consisting of a wife, two sons and four daughters. His son George settled
on what is now the Bishop Farm, on Mud Creek, which he sold in 1829, and went to
the St. Joe country in Northwest Indiana. Charles ultimately settled up the creek.
about six miles above Greenville, in Washington Township. One of the daughters
married Benoni Overfield, and was long remembered by the traveling public as the
first-class landlady of the Overfield Tavern in Troy. Another was married to Jesse
Rush, who also migrated with George Sumption to the St. Joe, in 1820. Another
daughter married a blackguard named Henry Lowe, who came here from Kentucky
on the hunt of runaway negroes in 1812. The elder Sumption having buried his
his first wife and married a second, died near what is now known as Coletown in
1825.

Early in 1810, came from Pickaway Plains^ below Circleville, on the Scioto,
James Bush, Henry Hush. Andrew Bush and Henry Creviston, and settled, the
two first-named at and adjoining the Prophet's town, on Mud Creek. Andrew Bush
on the West Branch, where it was crossed by what was known as the " Squaw
Road" or Delaware Path. Creviston, after a year or two, and after his brother-in-
law. .Matthew Young, came out from Pickaway County, in conjunction with him
purchased land northeast of Coletown, where he resided until 1S25. when he went
a few miles farther up the creek, and settled in Washington Township. On the
organization of the county, in the winter of 1816-17, James Bush was chosen by
the Legislature as one of the Associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.
which office he held for fourteen years, being re-elected by the Legislature in 1824 ;
at the expiration of his second term, Judge Bush with all his family — save one
daughter who, in 1828, was married to the late John Deardorff — removed to Eel
River, in Indiana.

Andrew Bush was murdered by the Indians in 1812. as will be elsewhere
adverted to in these pages, and Henry Bush died in 1813, leaving a widow who
was subsequently married to James Bryson, and four children, three sons and one
daughter, of whom only his second son, Lemuel Rush, is now living, at the advanced
age of about seventy-five years, about three and a half miles north of Greenville.
With the Bush brothers, came their brother-in-law, John Hiller. and settled on the
West Branch, adjoining Andrew Bush. After the outbreak of the Indian troubles,
in 1812, and the murder of Andrew Hush. Hiller and his family left and went to
the .Miami, a mile or two above Piqua, where he remained until about 1816, when
he returned to bis farm on the 'West Branch, where he died in L828, leaving a
widow, five sons and three daughters, all of whom are now dead, the last. Aaron
Hiller. Esq., having died some two years ago on his farm adjoining the land on
which his father settled in L810.

The emigration in L81 1 was very slight, and of those who came scarcely any
remained ; but of those who found their way here, one name must not be omitted.
Abraham Scribner, a brother of the Azor Scribner who has been previously

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 217

noticed, came to Greenville in the summer or early fall of 1811. He had previ-
ously been master of one or more vessels engaged in the navigation of the Hudson
River, from New York to Troy, or in the coasting trade from Passamaquoddy to
the capes of the Chesapeake, and, sometimes, as far south as Hatteras.

When he came to the county of Darke, he was about thirty years old. From
exposure, while commander of a vessel a year or two before, he had nearly lost the
sense of hearing, and this infirmity, in connection with some other peculiarities,
made him a man singular and exceptional in his character and deportment.

Part of the time he spent in Greenville, in the family of Mrs. Armstrong, until
her death in January, 1812, and part of the time in Montgomery County, in the
family of John Devor, one of the proprietors of Greenville, whose daughter Rachel
he married in 1814. AVhat he engaged in to make for himself a living for a year
or more after he came to this country, none now living knows ; he appeared to be
always busy, and yet no one could tell what he was doing or whether he was doing
anything. Being at Dayton in the spring of 1813, he enlisted in Col. Dick Johns-
ton's mounted regiment, and with it went to Upper Canada, where, in the fall of
that year, he participated in the battle of the Fallen Timber, where Proctor was
defeated and Tecumseh was killed. After being discharged from the service,
about the time he married Miss Devor, and having entered the prairie quarter-
section above the mouth of Mud Creek, now owned by Knox & Sater, he erected a
log house upon it, and brought his wife from Montgomery County and went to
housekeeping.

In about two years, Scribner sold his quarter-section, on which he had only
paid his entrance money, $80, to John Compton, of Dayton, for $1,600, and took
his pay in a stock of goods at retail price, and opened out a store.

In the summer of 1821, Scribner lost his first wife, and, after an interval of a
few weeks, married a second wife, Miss Jane Ireland, of the vicinity of New Paris,
who also died in the summer of 1822. After the death of his second wife, he sold
out his stock of goods, and, having placed his children among friends, went to the
Maumee, where he purchased land in Henry Count}-, and fooled away his money in
half clearing some land and having several thousand rails made, about which, five
years afterward, Jake De Long wrote to him that " they were lying in the woods,
and getting no better very fast." In a few months, he returned to Greenville
and resumed the mercantile business, in which he continued the residue of his
life. In January, 1 825, he married his third wife. He died in March, 1847, in the
sixty-sixth year of his age.

This much time and space has been devoted to Mr. Scribner, because, during
ten or twelve years of his life, he was " the power " in the county ; he was the
autocrat and ruler of the Democratic party, and discharged all the functions
of caucuses, primary elections and nominating conventions ; those he allowed to
run for office ran and were elected, and those he forbade had to keep shady and
hold their peace. But at last he forked off from Jackson Democrac}', although he
would be " right side up" now among Democrats, for he was an uncompromising,
adherent to the resolutions of 1798 — State rights and Calhounism. His last wife
survives, after thirty-three jeavs of widowhood, living with one of her sons in
Western Indiana. The only survivor of the children of his first wife, Mrs. S. J.
Arnold, lives in Greenville.

It may be as well here as elsewhere, to relate an occurrence which tended, in
its consequences, greatly to retard the early settlement, not only of Greenville and
Darke County, but various other towns and counties in Western Ohio and South-
eastern Indiana. The mission of Tecumseh to stimulate the western and southern
tribes of Indians to engage in a general war against the whites was generally
known from the Lakes to New Orleans, but it was not so well known that
his efforts had been in the main unsuccessful, and people were alarmed and
excited. He had as }-et, owing to the good sense of Little Turtle. Black Hoof and
the Crane, failed to enlist the Miamis. Shawnees or Wvandots in what those

218 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

chiefs deemed a senseless and wild undertaking, that in the end would bring great
calamity upon their tribes, when a witless freak of cruelty, cowardice and treachery
backed his efforts and turned the scale.

A small stockade had hern erected :it Greenville, and was garrisoned by a few
men under Capt. Wolverton and Lieut. Fish. David Conner had a small trading-
house in Greenville, where he dispensed blankets, calico, powder, lead, flints,
tobaccOj whisky, and other Indian necessaries, to the "noble red men.'' A Miami
Indian, with his squaw and their son. :i hoy of some thirteen or fourteen years.
were coming from the northwest to Greenville tor supplies, and in the evening
encamped beside what was afterward known as Irwin's spring, within less than a
mile of the town. A white man. who had traveled with them for some miles, came
into town and made mention of the matter, and it became known in the garrison.
Wolverton, who was a man of some sense, was absent, and Fish, who had no sense
at all. was in command. Here was an opportunity to acquire a character
for bravery at small cost, and it was not to be thrown away, and he laid his plans
accordingly ; and the old adage that '-the greater the coward the more cruel the
devil." was again to be verified.

At break of day the next morning. Fish, with three or four of his command.
drew near the camp. The woman had risen, and was gathering wood for a fire to
cook their morning meal, and was shot down. Her husband arose on the alarm,
and was also instantly killed. The hoy tied, but as he was crossing the point of
the prairie, was shot at and wounded in the wrist : he escaped, and such was the
rapidity with which he and his friends spread the news of this dastardly act. and
such its effect upon the Indian mind, that, before 10 o'clock the next day. Fort
Meigs, a hundred miles distant, was beleaguered by 2.000 raging savages. The
tomahawk was raised by nearly all the Indian tribes of the Northwest, and
from that time until after Harrison's victoiy over Tecumseh and Proctor at
the Fallen Timber, the settlers on the frontier were only preserved from -1110
terror by night and the arrows that flieth by day " by the most unremitting watch-
fulness.

On the 18th day of June. 1812, Congress declared war against Great Britain,
and the little fort at Greenville, which had been built and garrisoned on Indian
account, some mom lis previous, became a permanent establishment, until the close
of the war and declaration of peace, in 1815. Its garrison was usually composed
of men gathered from the neighboring counties of Miami. Montgomery, Greene,
"Warren. Butler and Preble, as well as of some who came to Darke County to spy
out the land, and stay, if they liked it. Among these men. but few names can now
be recalled, and they would hardly be remembered, but from events with which
they were connected, or because when the troubles were over, they remained as
residents of the county. Among these, can be enumerated John and Samuel Lor-
ing, James Cloyd, David and Peter Studabaker (brothers of Abraham and John
Studabaker, already mentioned), Jacob Miller (who for many years was known by
the cognomen of"Proaps"), Joseph Cass. Asa Spencer, Thomas Briggs, David
Riffle, Hezekiah am! Lewis Phillips, and .John Ellis. Some of these men were
married, but for the time being had left their wive i and children " below in the sett le-
nient." as the common phrase then was. and others, either during the war or at
its close married in the vicinity. .John boring had entered a quarter-section adjoining
Devor, as early as 1809, bul had sold to John Stoma-, who was killed by the Indi-
ans near the firsl crossing of Miller's Pork, on the trace to Lexington, in August.
1812, on the same day that Elliotl was killed by the same enemies, on the same
trace, about three or four miles nearer to Greenville, from which place both had
been sent by the officer in charge of the garrison, with dispatches t<> tfaj. Price.
requesting re-enforcement to the small garrison, deemed necessary in consequence
of the murder of Andrew Push and two children of William Wilson, which had

rred only a day or two before. A considerable part of the Loring. quarter-
section is now part of the '.own of Greenville. Sam Loring brought his family to

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 219

Darke County after the war, and located on the quarter-section on which a portion
of the village of Palestine is laid out. James Cloyd, at the return of peace, mar-
ried a daughter of Andrew Noffsinger, and remained a resident of German Town-
ship, until his decease, some four or five years ago, at which time he was Presi-
dent of the Pioneer Association of Darke County. John Ellis was in St. Clair's
army at the time of the defeat at Recovery, in 1791 ; was with Wayne from 1793
to 1796, and participated in the defense of Recovery, at the time of the Indian
attack, and in the rout of the Indians at Rouge de Bout, in 1794: ; after the second
treaty of Greenville, in August, 1814, he brought his family and settled at Castine,
where he resided lor a number of years, and subsequent to 1840, removed to Mer-
cer County, near Recoveiy, where, after some years' residence, he died, at the age
of over ninety. Ellis, in his youth, had been a prisoner with the Indians, and
exhibited, ever after, through his long life, many Indian characteristics. David
Studabaker was killed in the army, during the war of 1812. Peter Studabaker,
between 1825 and 1830, removed to the Wabash, below Recovery, and some years
later, farther down the river in Indiana, where his death occurred some twent}'
y ears since. The Phillips brothers, about 1816, located on Miller's Fork, near the
south boundary of Darke County, where both died in their old age. Joseph Gass,
who was a near relation of the compiler of the journal of Lewis and Clark's expe-
dition to the mouth of the Columbia River, at the commencement of this century,
married a daughter of William Wilson, resided in several localities in Greenville
Township, until about 1 833, when he left and went to Wisconsin ; the last known
of him, he was at Milwaukee, about forty years ago. Two of his daughters reside
in Dayton, and are the only members of his family now known to be living. Asa
Spencer married a daughter of Joseph Wilson, emigrated to the northwest about
1825, and in a brief period was followed b} r his father-in-law, with all his children,
sons and daughters. . The last known of Spencer and the Wilsons was some seven
or eight years ago. A slander suit was then pending, between him and one of his
brothers-in-law, and John Wilson was here to take the depositions of the old
inhabitants, to establish the character and standing of Spencer in this community,
fifty years before, as a hog-thief. David Riffle, after the war, purchased land on
Stillwater, above where Beamsville now is, and removed there in 1814, and after
the lapse of a few years, died there about 1820. Thomas Briggs married the
Widow Wilson, relict of the William Wilson who was distinguished by the name of
" Little Billy Wilson " ; his uncle, William Wilson, the father of the children mur-
dered by the Indians, being known as " Old Billy." His wife died between 1845
and 1850, and he followed her to the grave a year or two later. u Proaps " never
married ; he lived about, from " pillar to post," among relatives and friends, until
he had attained more than his threescore and ten years, when he passed away at
Pete Studabaker's, on the Wabash. These personal reminiscences might be greatly
extended, and probably interest the reader, but they must be brought to a close.
The writer of these pages was personally acquainted with most of those of whom
he has written, and his recitals of the events narrated derived from them or his
personal knowledge ; is now in the "sear and yellow leaf " of age, and human
memory fails to retain and be able to transmit, with any certainty, the persons and
events of which memory alone, without the aid of pen or stone, and in the absence
of all living, can now bear testimony.

Nothing has yet been said about what might be called the civil history of the
town and township of Greenville, or the county of Darke.

The laying-out of the town of Greenville, as we have seen, occurred anterior
to the creation of the county of Darke, and both events, so far as now known,
preceded any organization of town, township or county, as a "body politic.'' At
what period elections were first held for civil officers, might probably he ascer-
tained from a search in the office of the Secretary of State, at the Capital, if they
were not irretrievably lost in the removal of the seat of government from Zanes-
ville to Chillicothe, when public records and documents disappeared, and in all

220 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

probability went down the Hood of the Hocking into the Ohio, and thence, by way
of the Ohio, past New Orleans, to the Gulf of Mexico.

The most ancient memorial relating to civil or criminal procedure is the
judgment of Enos Terry, rendered as a Justice of the Peace, against a stray negro
who was arrested, arraigned and tried before him for stealing a brass watch from
a soldier of the Greenville garrison, in 1812. On the conviction of the negro, a
sentence was pronounced by Terry unknown to the books, and not set down or
nominated in the statutes. The negro was required to submit to one of two pen-
alties, at his own option. Either to bear the infliction of the Mosaic forty lashes,
save one, or be stripped stark naked and climb a thorny honey locust before
Teny's door. Abe Scribner, who was present when the trial came off and
sentence was pronounced, made a lifelong enemy of Terry, by suggesting to him
that his two daughters, one of whom afterward married John Mooney, and the
other Bill Scott, that in case the negro took to thorns, should assist him up the
locust.

Subsequently, John Purviance, David Briggs and Terry were Justices of the
Peace of Greenville Township, which, as yet, was co-extensive with the entire
county, no other divisions being made until after the organization of the county,
pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of December 14, 1816. At a later
period, Samuel McClure, who lived on Whitewater, and Jacob Carlaugh, who
resided at Stillwater, were commissioned Justices.

To pursue the civil history of the township of Greenville whilst it embraced
the entire county and remained as a mere appanage of Miami Count}', and to
know who were trustees or constables, would but little interest the reader of these
pages, and for that reason the further reference to that matter is omitted. But it
may as well be stated here as elsewhere, that from the first setting-up of a civil
polit}' in Greenville Township, when it was co-extensive with the county, until a
county organization took place under the act of December, 1816, no dismember-
ment took place, and until a cutting-up under the authority created and set in
motion by that act, it remained entire. On perfecting the new county organization,
its dimensions were considerably reduced, and subsequent changes in its limits
were made from time to time until 1828, since which time its boundaries have
been unchanged.

After the defeat of Tecumseh and Proctor in the fall of 1813, the Indian
allies of Great Britain were desirous for peace, as well as in want of other things,
which they could only have by making peace, and overtures to that end from the
hostile tribes were made to the representatives of the United States Government.
The chiefs and head men were invited to a conference and council at Greenville,
early in the spring of 1814; some of the tribes were tardy in responding to the
invitation, being no doubt, to some considerable extent hindered and delayed
through English influence, but about the middle or latter end of June some three
or four thousand Indians, representing a number of the tribes, were encamped
around Greenville and its vicinity. The United States was represented by Gens.
Harrison and Cass, historic names in our annals, and the conference commenced.
The negotiation, accelerated or delayed as outside intluences prevailed, for even at
that early day whisky and money were factors to be used, considered and disposed
of, as the exigencies of statecraft required, was protracted lor some weeks, until
on the 20th of August, 1814, all differences were reconciled and the second treaty
of Greenville was duly signed.

Since that day.no Indian war has troubled Ohio or Indiana, although in
1824, a cowardly and brutal murder of a family of Indians migrating from the
State of New York to the West, by some white outlaws, in the vicinity of what
were known as the Delaware towns, in Indiana, well-nigh occasioned an outbreak
that might have equaled that, to which Fish, by his brutal and cowardly conduct,
gave rise twelve years before. David Conner, who but a few years before had
established himself as an Indian trader, on the Mississinewa, near what was known

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 221

as ' ; Llewellyn's," and who had an influence over the Miamis and Pottawatomies
superior to their native chiefs, exerted himself to prevent the lifting of the toma-
hawk, and was successful. The murderers, two in number, whose names are now
forgotten by the writer, but may be found in the criminal records of Madison
County, in Indiana, were arrested, indicted, tried, convicted and hanged. Conner,
by his efficiency in securing justice, and his wise counsels preventing war, so
won the good will and esteem of the Indians of the Miami tribe, that in solemn
council he was made a chief of the tribe and with all proper rites and ceremonies
duly inaugurated and installed into his office. It may not here be amiss to relate
an incident of Conner's life that occurred some years previous. He had estab-
lished himself as an Indian trader at Recovery, very soon after the execution of
the treaty of 1814, and in effecting that treaty his influence with the Indians had
been exerted, and by his exertions he had made some enemies amongst not only
white men but Indians. One evening, several of the latter waited upon him at
his trading-house, and deliberately notified him that the object of their visit was
to take his life. He by his answer to them apparently acquiesced, but asked a
few minutes' respite to put things in order so that others might not suffer loss by
his taking-off. This was granted, and the}' took their seats to enable him to prop-
erly fix up things. He deliberately spread a deerskin on the floor and emptied a
keg of powder on it ; and while they wondered what he would do next, he sprang
to the fire and seized a brand and swore in good strong Miami that he and they
would all go to hell together. The Indians stood not upon the order of their
going, but went in what was unusual to an Indian, "very much hurry.'' In speak-
ing of the matter afterward, one of the Indians who took part in the transaction
told the writer that " Conner one devil of a man, he care no more for an Indian
than he did for himself." He was never again molested by them. It may as well
be stated here that Conner came to Greenville late in 1811 or early in 1812, and
opened a small store and trading-house ; and with him came David Thompson
and purchased and settled upon the quarter- section south of Greenville, where
David Studabaker now resides. Thompson had been a soldier in Wayne's army
at Greenville, and with him at Rouge de Bout; he remained a resident of the
count}- until his decease, about 1840, when he had attained the age of more than
eighty years ; his wife died a few years later, and his oldest daughter, the widow
of the late Judge Beers, his only surviving child of eight — four sons and four
daughters — resides about a mile north of the town, and has attained an age of
about eighty } r ears.

There was in attendance at Greenville during the time of the negotiations
preceding the treaty and until it was signed, a large concourse of white men as well
as Indians. Men were here from Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton, Chillicothe, and
various other places in Ohio ; Maysville, Lexington, Frankfort, and other places in
Kentucky : from points on the Ohio River, and even from Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania. Many of these came to look at the country with a view to a settlement in
it if they were pleased with it, and the Indian question so settled that they could
emigrate to it and be freed from Indian disturbances ; others to look out lands
that it would be safe to buy as an investment of their surplus rnone}- ; others to
see what was to be seen, and make money if they could out of either Indians or
white men as opportunity should offer, aud many came with no defined object.
Between the time of the treaty and the opening of the year 1816, many entries of
land in Darke County were made at the Land Office in Cincinnati. The lands
wei*e sold by the Government on a credit of one-eighth down and the residue in
seven annual installments. A number of tracts in the vicinity of Greenville were
taken up on speculation that did not change hands for many years, and were kept
unimproved. Among those who thus purchased, and probably never again saw
the lands they bought, were Gen. James Taylor, of Newport; Gen. James But-
ler, of Frankfort, Ky. ; George P. Torrence, David K. Este, David Wade and
William Burke, of Cincinnati ; Nathan Richardson, of Warren County ; Joseph

222 HISTORY OF PARKE COUNTY.

Hough, of Chillicothe; Talbot Iddings, Andrew Hood and .John Devor, of Mont-
gomery County, and some others, whose purchases many of them long remained
an eyesore, withheld from improvement, in the vicinity of Greenville. Many of
these tracts, none of which were less than a quarter-section, remained in first
hands from twenty to forty years, brought iii the end but little more than the pur-
chase money and interest, to those who had purchased them, and added proof, if
proof were accessary, that the well-being and progress of society in this nation
demands that the title of the soil, vested in the National Government or the
States, should not be transferred save to actual settlers.

Many other purchases were made on credit, by men who failed to pay out,
and were compelled in the end to relinquish part to save the residue, or entirely
forfeit their purchases. The United States was. in the end. under the pressure of
the debt entailed by the war of 1812 and other causes, compelled to abandon the
system of selling the national demand upon credit.

Congress, however, in a year or two after the forfeiture, authorized the issue
of what was termed land scrip, to those who had lost their purchases, equal
in amount to what they had paid, which. 1 icing receivable at any Government land
office in payment for the lands of the United States, became for some years a part
in some measure of the business currency of the country, as the scrip could pass
from hand to hand until it was canceled at the land office.

The emigration to the town, township and county, from the time of the
"stampede" on the breaking-out of the Indian troubles, and until after the treat-
ies 1 ict ween the United States and both the Indians and England, was scarcely
noticeable. Although many people came here, they did not come to sta}-, and
were here for transient purposes only, and the population of the town, township
and county, after the departure of the crowd who were here at the treaty, and
after the withdrawal of the garrison at Greenville and from the other small stock-
ades erected for protection in the evil days at Fort Nesbitt, Fort Black and Fort
Briar, was little, if any, greater than in the spring of 1812.

It may not lie amiss here to recapitulate, as well as can now be done, who
were as residents within the limits of the township of Greenville after the treaty
was signed in 1814, and by the term limits of the township confine the enumera-
tion to the bounds of what is now Greenville Township, and not. as then, the
whole county of Darke. In the town were Moses Scott, Azor Scribner, David
Connor and John Loring, and the wife of the murdered John Stoner and his
orphaned children. 'With these, as boarders or employes off and on. were Abra-
ham Scribner, James Cloyd, Philder G. Lanham, Silas Atchison, and probably
some others, whose residence cannot be definitely stated. North of the town, in
Ireland, dwelt Enos Terry. Joe Wilson, Old Billy Wilson, Little Billy Wilson,
Asa Spencer, and in their families as dependents and hangers-on, John Mooney,
Joe GasSj and probably others not now remembered. Down the creek, below the
town, and within a mile of it. was David Briggs, with whom resided his brother
Thomas. Up Greenville Creek, Aaron and Matthias Dean had commenced the
erection of the mill in many years afterward designated Dean's Mill, but, on the
murder of Bush, the work ceased, and they left for the Miami, near Middletown,
and did not return and complete it until after the war. Up Mud Creek, on the
west side, were Thomas McGinnis, Barney Burns, Henry and James Rush. The
widow of Andrew Bush, with her two children, the oldest of whom was born
November 28, 1809, lived on the West Branch where it was crossed by the
" Squaw Koad." David Miles was on the knoll where Mr. Griffin now resides,
about half a mile southwest of the mouth of .Mud Creek. On the east side of
Mud Creek were Abraham .Miller and John Studabaker. and just above the last,
hut outside the present township boundary, Zadok Reagan had located in the edge
of the prairie, at what was known in after years ;is the "Burnt Cabin." On Bridge
Creek were David Thompson mid George Freshour. Charles Sumption, the
••waxworks,'' lived in divers places, sometimes in Greenville, others on Bridge

*-^t

4$-**

BROWN, TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 225

Creek and on Mud Creek. He moved so often that his locality at any given date,
after the lapse of nearly seventy years, cannot be stated with certainty. In his
family at times were found Overfield and Low, who became his sons-in-law, and it
may as well be stated here as elsewhere, that the marriage of one of Sumption's
family — -either his son Charles to a daughter of Mrs. Barney Burns, or one of his
girls, Jemima or Sarah, who previous to the treaty became the wives of Overfield
and Low — was, in all probability, the first rite of that character solemnized in the
county. There may have been others than those named resident in the township
at that early day, but the writer, who in his early years was personally acquainted
with nearly all of them, cannot now speak with certainty, nor depend upon the
accuracy of his memory of their statements to him, of the dates of their removal
to the localit} T from which now all are gone.

Between the signing of the treaty of 1814 and the organization of the county
in the spring of 1817, under the law of the preceding winter, the emigration to the
township, as well as to the residue of the county, taking into view the sorry pros-
pect of making a living in it, had increased the population more than threefold.
In these two and a half years, George, Peter, John, Moses and Aaron Rush, broth-
ers of the three who came in 1810, Henry Hardy and Archibald Bryson, who had
married their sisters, came to the count}' ; James Bryson, who married the widow
of Henry Rush, came, and John Hiller returned from Miami County, to which he
had fled three years before on Indian account. Some of these parties settled out-
side of Greenville Township, and others remained but for a brief period. On the
West Branch and Greenville Creek were settled John McFarland, Daniel Potter,
David Williamson, Joseph Huffman and Isaac Dunn. With Williamson came his
brothers, James and John, who remained but for a brief period ; one went to But-
ler County, and the other returned to his father's house in Greene County to die of
consumption. On the south of Greenville, between town and Abraham Miller's,
Henry House, an old soldier of Wayne's army, with a family of sons and daugh-
ters, was located. In the southeast, was located on Bridge Creek Nathan Popejoy ;
between him and David Thompson was settled William Arnold, and south of
Thompson, now came Abraham Studabaker from his first location below Gettys-
burg. Down the creek were located William, George, Jacob, Andrew and Joel
Westfall, on the north side ; and William Hays, St., and William Hays, Jr., on
the south side. Ebenezer Byram first settled up Greenville Creek above Dean's
mill, which, on their return, was completed in a } T ear or about that after the war,
but soon removed out of the township down the creek to New Harrison, as his
place is now termed, but which had no existence until years after his death. To
Ireland came David Douglass, James Stephenson, or Stinson, as the name was
usually pronounced, and Robert Barnett. Over the creek, on the Recovery trace,
was located David Irwin, and southwest of him, on the creek, David Ullery. East
of Terry's place was located Alexander Smith, the first temporary Sheriff of the
county, Justice of the Peace of Greenville Township for several years, and once,
for a few days, owing to the non-receipt of election returns from some locality
between Greenville and Maumee Bay, had a seat in the State Legislature, from
which he was ejected on a contest with the far-famed Capt. Riley, who, a few years
previous, had been a prisoner riding a camel from Timbuctoo to Mogadore across
the desert of Sahara, in Africa, Smith was afterward a candidate for the Lower
House of the State Legislature, but was defeated by Gen. James Mills. Riley also
again was before the people of the district, which then included nine or ten coun-
ties of Northwest Ohio, for a seat in the House of Representatives, but failed.
Subsequently, becoming more ambitious, he ran for Congress, but was badly beaten
by William McLean, a brother of the late Judge McLean, of the United States
Supreme Court. Archibald Bryson settled on the east side of the West Branch,
above and south of the Squaw road, and east of him, toward Mud Creek, were
located John Whitacre, John Embree. who was better known by the nickname of
"Swift," and David Marsh, the first peddler of " wall-sweep" clocks in the county.

226 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

The lots in the town of Greenville were yet the joint property, so far as the
legal title was concerned, of John Devor and the heirs of the deceased Mrs. Arm-
strong; prior to her death, contracts for several of them had been made with part-
ies who had paid for and were now living on them, but as ye1 had no paper title.
Devor, soon after the treaty, moved up to Greenville from Montgomery County ;
he had now purchased two additional sections, twelve hundred and eighty acres or
more of land, part near to. and other portions more remote from. Greenville, and
for the advancement of the town it was necessary not only to perfect to the pur-
chasers the title of the lots already bargained, but to dispose of the residue, as
well as secure to the county the title of the one-third given as an inducement to
secure the location of the county seat. Legal proceedings to accomplish the
desired ends were instituted in the Court of Common Pleas of Miami County, to
which Darke, not yet organized, was attached. Under these proceedings the selec-
tion of the lots for Darke County was made, decrees for title of those contracted
away taken, and the proper conveyances executed and an appraisal of the residue
of the lots, as well as adjacent lands of the half-section, was made, and a
sale by the Sheriff of Miami County ordered. A public sale by the Sheriff was
had at Greenville on the 11th day of June, 1816. when more than fifty lots were
sold to purchasers on the usual terms of partition sales, part cash and part in
deferred installments. One tract of the adjoining land was sold, but the residue,
some two hundred acres, was bid in by Devor to prevent what he considered a
sacrifice, and some years afterward became the subject of another suit in partition
in the court of Darke County.

It may be as well here to take note of who in the period between the treaty
and the county organization, had come to Greenville, and what was going on.

Devor, as already stated, had moved up, and with him came four sons and
three daughters ; one daughter, married to Scribner had preceded his removal, and
two others, one the widow of Robert Gray, were soon after married, the widow,
Jane Gray, to Linus Bascom, and the other, Elizabeth, to David Irwin ; his remain-
ing daughter, Mary Devor, died unmarried in 1820 ; John Devor died in July,
1828, and his aged widow some five or six years afterward ; all his children save
one, Thomas Devor, a resident of Jay County, Ind.. are dead years since.
Bascom had come here after the treaty, and with him Solomon Hamer, who. as
partners, had a little store or trading ranch. The partnership was dissolved in ill-
blood in a short time, each party charging the other with unfairness. Hamer left,
and the last known of him Jack Douglass heard him preach in New Orleans * he
recognized Jack in the crowd of hearers, and as soon as the benediction was pro-
nounced, made his way to him, and taking him aside begged him to keep shady,
as he, Hamer, was doing a d — d fine business. In addition to the little stores of
Connor, Scribner and Bascom & Hamer, Horatio G. Phillips, of Dayton, sent Eastin
Morris to Greenville with a small stock of goods, about the close of 1815. Morris
was not a success as a merchant, but afterward, in 1818, became Clerk of the
Court, which position he held for ten years. On Scribner's emigration to the
Maumee in 1822, the positions of County Recorder and Postmaster resigned by
him fell to the hands of Morris. These several positions he held until about the
close of the year 1828, when he resigned them all and went to Gallatin in Sumner
County, Tenn., and engaged in the practice of law, and about 1840 removed
to Burlington. Iowa, where he died in 1865 or 1866. After the treaty, Andrew
Hood bought the quarter-section adjoining the town on the west, which included
some fifteen acres east of Mud Creek and Greenville Creek, built a two-story log-
house about half-way between Mud Creek bridge and the old ford, and started his
sons Robert and William in the mercantile business in a small way. Some years
later they emigrated to Fort Wayne.

Bascom, after his marriage, built a two-story log house at the northwest side
of the public square and commenced keeping a tavern, dividing the business and
drawing some of the custom from Moses Scott and Azor Scribner. A man by the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 227

name, real or assumed, of Daniel Routsong, came here, married Susie Creviston and
sank some vats just outside the pickets of the fort, about twenty rods above Mud
Creek bridge. In a few weeks, it leaked out that he had a wife and children in
Maryland. As soon as he was apprised that the fact was known, being certain if
he escaped the penitentiary Henry Creviston would shoot him, he fled the country.
Near the same time, John and James Williamson started a similar enterprise over
the creek, about a hundred yards west of Porter's tannery. Neither tanyard ever
amqfinted to " shucks." It cannot now be asserted that a side of leather was ever
made at either, and not five persons in the county remember that they ever existed.
Not far from this period came William Sipe from Greene County, and put up a
kiln near the east corner of the town plat and started a pottery ; he also followed
shoemaking a little, and hunting a great deal ; in the latter employment he was
not a success, for Dick Lyons put a spell on his gun that prevented him from kill-
ing anything he shot at for several years, until Dick himself was "flabbergasted"
by shooting a calf instead of a deer, when fire-hunting at night on the creek below
the town. During the period between the treaty and the organization of the
county, a number of unmarried men came to Greenville to grow up with the
country, of whom as yet no mention has been made ; and some of them in after
years became factors in making up the current history of the county. Among
these were John and James Craig, John Armstrong, Henry D. and Robert N. Will-
iams, David Buchanan, James Perry and some others. On the day succeeding
the sale of the town lots by the Sheriff, came John Beers, and near the same time,
John Talbot and Dr. Stephen Perrine, the first regularly educated physician who
located in the place, followed shortly after by Dr. John Briggs, who for many
years was a safe and successful practitioner. Beside these were two quacks, one
a so-called Doctor Hopkins who went in on the "root and yarb" principles, who
after swindling a number of credulous people, some of whom he had doctored
from bad to worse, and others had lent him monejr, in a short time, with his bone-
set, mullein and dog-fennel, departed hence and was not again heard of ; the other,
a Jacob Myers, an itinerant vender of a specific which he carried about in a gallon
jug, and issued to the ignorant as a preventive or remedy for the " fever 'n ager."
A few years later, he narrowly escaped the gallows in Mercer County, for killing a
patient with a decoction of buckeyes and white-walnut bark, administered as a
cure for the chills.

In regard to the conveniences and necessities of the community it may as
well be stated here that Terry, in 1810, erected a little corn-cracker of a mill at
the bend of the creek above the " Dutch Bridge." During the war, the soldiers in
the garrison destroyed the mill dam as a cause of disease, under the pretext of
military necessity, and it was never rebuilt. After the war, Deans completed their
mill, begun three or more years before, and John Devor erected a saw-mill half a
mile south of it on the West Branch, at what is now the site of Fox & Bechtold's
woolen-mill. Other improvements, save the clearing of land and erection of log
houses, and stables, and cribs, and the occasional bridging of a mud-hole on the
old traces of St. Clair and Wayne and the Indian paths by corduroys, there were
none. The only modes of travel were on foot or on horseback, as nothing on
wheels could get over the the roads nine months of the year.

The organization of the county, under the act of December 14, 1816, may in some
particulars be said to have a place in the annals of the town and township of Green-
ville, and of some of those particulars only will mention here be made. The same
General Assembly that passed that act elected Joseph H. Crane President Judge
of the First Judicial Circuit, a position for which he was eminently fitted, and
worthily adorned until his election to Congress in October, 1828 ; and also elected
John Purviance, Enos Terry and James Rush Associate Judges of the Court of
Common Pleas of Darke Count}'. The appointment of Clerk of that Court, and of
the County Recorder, devolved upon the Court. It was intended that Beers should
be chosen to the first of these positions, but he wanted a few weeks' residence

228 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

of the prescribed time t,<> render him eligible, and Linus Bascom was chosen
as Clerk pro tern., until a subsequent term, and before that subsequent term inter-
vened Beers had "lost his grip" and Eastin Morris was duly chosen to that office
for the term of seven years. The Associate Judges had met in special term to
appoint a County Recorder. There were two candidates, James Montgomery and
Abraham Scribner. .Montgomery was a fair penman, and Scribner's chirography
was, in after years, aptly compared, by David .Morris, to a furrow drawn by a
shovel plow throng] i ;i newly cleared field of beech land. The Judges Averts at a
stand, and appointed a committee of two to report to an adjourned session on the
qualifications of the candidates. Neither member of the committee could have
claimed "benefit of clergy," if his neck had been in jeopardy, for neither could
read nor write a word. Scribner made so much sport of the appointment, that at
the adjourned session, the Court, to stop his mouth, gave him the appointment,
which he held until his resignation in 1822, and, during his whole term, not a
single word was ever written by him in the books of his office, the entire clerical
labor was performed by Dr. Briggs and Eastin Morris. The Board of County
Commissioners selected Beers as their Clerk, which position he held until the
Legislature created the office of County Auditor in 1820 or 1821. It may as well
be stated here that in 1829, upon the death of David Morris, Beers obtained the
office of Clerk, which he held until 1850, when he was chosen President Judge of
the First Circuit, which he held until he was superseded under the new dispensa-
tion brought in by the constitution of 1851. He also held for a number of years
the position of Prosecuting Attorney and Justice of the Peace. He was a sound
and able lawyer, regarded as an oracle in legal matters by all his acquaintance, yet
he never appeared to advantage as an advocate before a jury, nor in an argument
to a court. His decease occurred about 1865.

Soon after the organization of the county, the Commissioners took measures
for the erection of a jail, and one of a very humble character was erected on the
north part of the public square, not more than thirty feet from the north corner
of the city hall. It was constructed with two apartments each about fifteen feet
square, the outside walls made of two thicknesses of sound oak timber, hewed
one foot square, set on a double platform on the ground, of the same material, and
overlaid b} r another of the same character upon which the roof was raised ; the
apartments were separated by a partition similar to the walls. To one apartment
was a door, and one window about two feet square ; in the partition w r as another
door leading to the other apartment, which had no other opening, either door or
window. When it had inmates in cold weather, the outer room was warmed by a
kettle of charcoal, the fumes of which escaped through the window and crevices
between the logs of the walls and ceiling.

One of the timbers forming the floor was once cut in two, being severed by
an auger furnished to a prisoner through the window by a friend outside, the piece
thus cut off was pushed from under the wall, and the party confined escaped. The
piece of timber was replaced and fastened, but some years later was by a prisoner
loosened and removed, but in endeavoring to escape, he got wedged fast in the
opening, and could neither get out nor get back. The Sheriff found him in the
morning, and with some effort released him from what was close confinement.
This structure was burned down by an incendiary on the morning of Sunday. May
2, 1827. It was erected by Matthias Dean at a cost of about $200 in county orders
that would then bring only about GO per cent of their face in money. In 1827-28,
a new structure for a jail and jailer's residence of brick was elected on the corner
occupied by the new building of Matchett, Wilson & Hart. This was a less secure
building than the old log jail. Very shortly after it was completed, a noted thief
named Jonathan Bayles, who had been committed for horse-stealing, got out of it
so mysteriously, that the jailer. William Rush, was indicted and tried for aiding
his escape ; the jury before whom he was on trial, after the case w r as left to them.
deliberated for sixty hours without meat or drink (it was not then allowed to feed

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 229

a jury at the expense of the county), and being unable to agree, were with the
assent of the defendant discharged, and before another term came on, the state-
ment of Bayles, who had been arrested and committed at Fort Wayne for other
offenses, explained the manner of his escape, and so completely satisfied every one
that Rush had no hand in it, that the Prosecuting Attorney entered a nolle. It
may as well be stated here, that this second jail was demolished about 1840, on
the erection of another on the southeastern part of the same lot, that is now super-
seded by the fourth jail of Darke County. About a year after letting the contract
for the first jail, John and James Craig erected the first court house of the county,
a frame structure of two stories, about 22x28 feet, the upper story which was
reached by a stairway from the court room which occupied all of the lower story,
was divided into a clerk's office and jury room. If two juries were in deliberation
at once, as was sometimes the case, the second was sent to some private house.
This building was erected on the south part of the public square, diagonally across
Broadway and Main street from the old log jail. In it, courts were held until the
summer of 1834, when it was removed, and with alterations and additions, was
converted first into a dwelling-house, and lastly to a whisky saloon on Third
street, southwest of and next to Odd Fellows' Half The second court house built
by James Craig, who has been named as one of the builders of the first, was
located in the center of the public square. Craig took the contract at so low a
figure, that he lost from $1,500 to $2,000 in his undertaking. On the erection of
the present court house, the second one was demolished to make room for the city
hall, a building that neither for convenience, nor as an ornament, is an}' improve-
ment upon the old structure. It may also in this connection be noted that no
place of business was provided for saij county officer, save the Clerk, until the
erection of the second court house, and in that for only a part of them. The
Auditor, Recorder, Treasurer, Tax Collector and Sheriff had each to furnish his
own quarters, at his own expense. The Commissioners first quartered themselves
on their Clerk, afterward, when the office of Auditor was provided for, on him. It
may further be stated here, that from 1822 to 1826, the position of Collector of the
Taxes was sold at public auction to the highest bidder. This statement requires
an explanation. County orders were at a discount in these years of from 37^- to
62£ per cent ; the treasmy being generally without funds, they could alone be
passed at their face to the Collector in payment of the county taxes levied on
chattel property ; for the land tax denominated the State tax. cash or coined money,
or what was its equivalent, notes of the bank of the United States, was required ;
yet in the annual settlement, a proportion of the land tax was set off to the county,
and this proportion the Collector could discharge by turning over to the County
Treasurer the orders at their face value which he had bought at 35 to 65 cents on
the dollar. This chance of making a little money enabled the Collector to give a
bonus for the office. For several } r ears, count}" orders were a special currency of
inferior value, as about the same time, the Bank of the Commonwealth in the State
of Kentucky. If you wanted to buy a horse or a cow. ten bushels of wheat or
forty acres of land, the price was named as so much in cash, or a different value in
county orders.

In 1823, this state of things opened the door for a transaction that gave rise
to much excitement, ill blood, and evil speaking, that for several years laid on the
shelf a hitherto popular man, then in place as a public officer, although in after
y ears he was acquitted by the people of blame in the matter, save negligence of
duty, the fraud mixed up with it being laid to other account,

On the annual settlement with the County Treasurer, the county orders
redeemed by him were delivered to the Commissioners and Auditor, and he was
credited therefor, and the law then required that they should be burned in the
presence of those officials. No schedule of their number, amount or payee was
made or kept, but only the aggregate to be inserted in the credit to the Treasurer :
at the settlement of the year mentioned, when the bundle of orders were turned

230 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

over there was no fire handy to carry out the behest of the law, and friction
matches had not yet been seen or known. The bundle was left in the Auditor's
care, who was to fulfil the omitted duty when he had a fire or lighted candle in his
office, and nothing more was thought of it. Some months afterward, several of
these orders, distinctly remembered by Treasure!'. Collector and Commissioners to
be of those previously redeemed, were found in circulation. How the} - again got
out was never definitely proved or known, nor was it ever ascertained what
amount had been thus fraudulently re-issued. No accurate investigation ever took
place, for the system of keeping books then in vogue in Darke County afforded no
means of making an accurate investigation. Some of the orders were tracked very
near, but not quite to the Auditor. That officer was man}' years later placed in a
position of trust, in which his securities paid heavily for his default ; his name is
omitted, and the matter, only remembered after the lapse of nearly threescore
years by less than a dozen persons now living, is only adverted to here, because
in the ensuing session of the General Assembly, it gave rise to an enactment, ever
since in force, that on the redemption of a county order, the Treasurer should
either plainly write or print across the face of it the word '•redeemed,'" with the
date of its redemption, and subscribe to the statement his name officially. It may
as well be further stated here, that one of those sureties by reason of public sym-
pathy for his loss, was some years after chosen to the same position of trust to
which his business attainments was not equal, and he had to entrust his duties to
subordinates whose rascality in turn made him a public defaulter, and he was sued
on his bond. It is not an agreeable duty to the writer to narrate some of these
occurrences, but truth requires that history record facts, even if the}" are unpleasant.

In the succeeding pages of the division of this work allotted to the writer, he
must confine himself to the duty before him — the progress of the town and town-
ship of Greenville, and in that he must confine himself to narrower limits, and in
those limits come to a system and classification.

At the head of what are called the liberal and learned professions, leaving out
the clerical, of which but little need be said, stands the law and legal. When
courts that ranked above Justices of the Peace were first held in the county.
Beers was a law student under the tuition of Gen. William M. Smith, of Dayton,
and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court within two years after
the organization of the county, and, with the exception of Increase Graves, who
was only here for a few months in 1820 or 1821. and then went to the North, was
the only member of the legal fraternity resident in the count}' until he was
appointed Clerk, in the year 1829. Of him, mention has been previously made.
save that he once was a candidate for Congress against John B. WeUer, and was
defeated. During the twelve years from 1817 to 1829, attorneys from Eaton,
Dayton, Troy, and, on some few occasions, from Hamilton, Lebanon, Springfield
and Urbana. traveled the circuit with Judge Crane, and had more or less business
in the courts at Greenville. Late in 1820 or early in 1S30. Hiram Bell, who had
studied under John Woods, of Hamilton. Located in Greenville, and soon, by his
industry, secured a fair practice. In 1*'.Y.'>. he was elected County Auditor: some
years later, he was elected to the Lower Branch of the Legislature, in which he
served two terms, being once re-elected. At a yet later date, he was elected a
Representative in Congress. In is:;."). William M. Wilson, also from Hamilton,
came to Greenville, and secured a fair proportion of business in his profession.
He was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney, and. subsequently, to the
office of County Auditor, which he held for several years, until he vacated it for a
seat in the ( Hiio Senate.

Bell, who in the contest for Senator was defeated by Wilson, and in a brief
period defeated Wilson in the Whig nomination for Congress, died late in Decem-
ber. 1855, and his widow, at a late period, was married to Wilson, who had in the
mean time lost, his wife, a daughter of Maj. Dorse}-, to whom he was married in
September, 1837. He attained, by executive appointment, the position of Judge

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 231

of the Common Pleas of this subdivision of the Court of Common Pleas,
which office he filled with ability and dignity for the period of about two years.
Subsequently, in the summer of 1865, his second wife died, and in a week he fol-
lowed her to the grave. Bell left no descendants ; Wilson, by his first wife, had
a family of one son and several daughters, who } - et survive him. In 1S37. near its
close, or in 1838, not far from its beginning, came Cyrus F. Dempsey, from South-
ern Ohio, near Portsmouth, who had but recently been admitted to the bar. and
hung out his shingle. He, unlike Beers, Bell and Wilson, who were then " simon-
pure Whigs," was a professed Democrat. He obtained the position of Prosecuting
Attorney, and had a reasonably fair share of legal practice ; but he was ambitious
of attaining a higher position, and sought to attain it by means that his Demo-
cratic brethren considered " not on the square." In a solemn conclave of
priests and elders of that tribe, he was, with all due ceremony and the rites of
" bell, book and candle," excommunicated from communion with the faithful, and
cast out. In a short time after, he left for Fort Wayne, or some place near it,
where he soon after died.

This brings us down to the close of 1840, and here we might stay our hand ;
but "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" may as well
be spoken, and that requires a statement that, in the later years, chiefly since the
incoming of the new constitution, there has come up over the land a swarm of
lawyers, like the frogs out of the river of Egypt in the day of Moses, that pene-
trate into the kitchens, closets and bedchambers, and, with a few honorable
exceptions, are found at marriages in search of divorce cases, and at funerals,
hunting partition suits, button-holing clients at market, church and cemetery,
" instant in season and out of season," kicking for a job, forcing the conviction
upon all who bestow thought upon the matter, of the necessity in this country of
institutions like the Brotherhoods of Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, and the Inner
Temple and the Middle Temple.

In the medical profession, mention has already been made of Drs. Perrine
and Briggs. In 1S2S, came Dr. Andrew O'Ferrell. from Kentucky, who died in the
winter of 1829-30, and later came Dr. James H. Buell, from Eaton, who remained
but for a short period. In the winter of 1830-31. Dr. J. M. P. Baskerville. who
for some years was engaged in his profession at Greenville : later he went to Ver-
sailles. He was a native of Virginia ; came here from the vicinity of London,
Madison Co., Ohio, to which locality, after several years, he returned, and at
which place a few years since he died. About 1834-35, Dr. I. N. Gard came here
from Jacksonburg* in Butler County, and engaged in practice, in which he yet.
at the age of threescore years and ten, is engaged. Dr. Gard has been, in former
years, honored with a seat in the Ohio Senate, and in later years a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Southern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, and of other boards of
State charities, in all of which positions he has been a faithful and intelligent pub-
lic servant. He is now the senior in the medical profession in the county.
About a year, more or less, after the advent of Dr. Gard, came Dr. Alfred Ayers,
also from Butler County. For a time he was a partner of Dr. Gard. In 1838. he
married a daughter of the late Judge Beers, who bore to him several children, sons
and daughters. Some years ago, on the decease of his father, he returned to the
paternal homestead in Butler County, where, after the decease of his wife and
eldest daughter, he also, about two years ago, was laid in the narrow house, at the
age of about sixty-eight years. In the interval between 1S20 and 1840. the town
and neighborhood had. at various times, divers and sundry -physical doctors " of
the stripe of Hopkins and Myers ; but they were ephemeral, like "Jonah's gourd —
came up, were bitten by a worm at night, and perished in the heat of the next day.
Their names and doings it is unnecessary to record.

The writer would here in this connection mention that in the summer and fall
of each of the years 1821 and 1822. the town, as well as the adjacent country, was
visited with severe and fatal sickness, of malarial origin, and almost epidemic in.

232 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

its character. .Many died of both sexes and of all Iges, but the mortality was
greatest among those of middle age, both men and women. Again, in the sum-
mer and fall of 1829 and 1830, the town, township and county was scourged with
a disease, denominated, in common phrase, flux. The mortality was ureal, chiefly
among children, although persons <»I' all ages became victims. In each of these
visitations, the medical force of the county being inadequate to the requirements
taxing it. physicians were sent for and responded to the calls from Richmond, New
Paris, Eaton, Lewisburg, .Milton. Troy and Piqua, in the adjacent counties of
Wayne, hid., and Preble and Miami, Ohio. In 1833, when so many localities in
the United States were desolated by the cholera, but two deaths from that disease
occurred within Darke County, neither of which was in Greenville.

It may be deemed that the next matter that should engage the attention of
the narrator should be the educational department of the community of which he
is relating the history. John Beers, John Talbot and Henry D. Williams were
each of them " schoolmasters" in Greenville and its vicinity during a few years
subsequent to their emigration to Greenville ; whether a school of any sort was
taught, prior to their arrival, in the town or township, is now, after the lapse of
more than sixty years, a matter unascertainable. Talbot, an offshoot of the old
Earls of Shrewsbury, ennobled in the fifteenth century in the person of the
antagonist of the Maid of Orleans, sometimes taught a country school, and some-
times fulfilled the duties of the office of Constable of Greenville Township. He
was fond of his bottle, which he kept hid, out in hollow stumps and brush-heaps,
near his schoolhouse, in the vicinity of the settlement, near the Prophet's town
on Mud Creek, where it was located : he fell into disfavor and left the country about
1821. Beers each winter was usually located south of town, in the neighborhood
of Thompson. Studabaker, Arnold and Freshour, and Williams was usually below,
where the Hayes, W 7 estfalls. Popejoy and the Carnahan family were his patrons.
Log cabins, in which in place of glass greased paper admitted the light, and a
chimne}- occupied the end in which log-heaps were burned to keep up the requi-
site warmth, were the requisite edifices in which they each -taught the young idea
how to shoot."

There was a log edifice erected on Lot 32, in Greenville, on which was located
the first burial ground, that at times served as a schoolhouse, at others, after the
organization of the county, as a room for the grand jury, and once for the sitting
of the court. It is probable that Beers. Talbot and Williams each taught, or pre-
tended to teach, a school in it at intervals between 1818 and 1824; it was only
once occupied afterward for this purpose. In 1827, under Guilford's law to inaug-
urate public schools in Ohio, the Trustees divided Greenville Township into school
districts, and Greenville District, to get the thing fairly under headway, chose
three men School Directors, no two of whom, by reason of feuds and ill-feeling,
would speak to each other. The parties alluded to. who may as well be named,
John Beers, David Briggs and Linus Bascom, let the year pass away with-
out further action than being sworn into office. In the succeeding year, a new
Hoard was elected and qualified, and proceeded at once to action, and had the
old house on Lot 32, to which neither town or district had any title, pulled down,
and removed the logs to a half of Lot No. .'!. deeded by Hill Wiley in discharge
of tines for assault and battery, to the school district.

To aid in the re-erection and litting-up. a subscription in aid of public funds
was taken up, and some forty dollars in work or money subscribed. < >n the even-
ing after the old house had been pulled down, and the logs hauled to the newly
selected site, an altercation took place between Abraham Scribner and Isaac
Shideler, as to the price and value of the floor in the new schoolhouse, in the heat
of which. Shideler. in whose hands the subscription paper had been left, stuck it
in the stove, and that was the end of the enterprise; in after years the logs were
cut into firewood by Samuel Pierce and others of the vicinity, who needed fuel
and were short of funds to buy it. Years afterward, the district erected in place

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 233

of one decent schoolhouse, two " make-shifts," on Lots 3 and 13, that for years
were a nuisance, e} T e-sore and heart-scald to those who had children to be sent
to school. But, after an interval of many years, they were superseded by the
good sense of the Board of Education of the town, under whom the existing
school buildings were erected some years since.

The history of the town of Greenville as a municipal organization here
demands a brief notice, and only brief notice will here be given. At the ses-
sion of the State Legislature of 1832-33, the first act to incorporate the town of
Greenville was passed. Some matters in that act deserve a passing notice. The
elective franchise was restricted to those who had been for six months not only
voters of the county and State, but residents of the town, and eligibility to the
offices of Mayor and Trustees, forming the legislative council of the town, lim-
ited to freeholders. It would probably be well if these provisions had been con-
tinued, but under the codes passed under the new constitution of the State, and
which abrogated all the old charters of the cities, towns and boroughs of the
State, pure and unadulterated Democracy intervened to such an extent that the
public burdens were imposed and public funds expended by those who were
wholly disinterested, bearing no share in the one, nor having any material interest
in the other. To make a long stoiy short, it may as well be stated, that, for more
than twenty years, the municipal government of the town, from year to 3~ear, has
been created and controlled, in the main, b} r men who, with few exceptions, pay
no taxes, and care nothing how much others have to pay. It is now a matter of
so little interest as to who held office as Mayor, Council, Marshal, Clerk and Treas-
urer of the Town from 1833 to 1840, that the recapitulation of their names would
have little to interest the reader of these pages, and hence the matter is here
dismissed.

In regard to the progress of the township of Greenville outside of the
clearing of the land and reducing it to cultivation, which steadily went on, it
may be here related that after the erection and destruction of Terry's mill
and the completion of Dean's, the next enterprise was the erection in 1824, by
Samuel Kelly, of a wool-carding establishment near the site, but above where
Terry's mill was destined in 1813, and within about a year afterward, a mill for
grinding grain was added by the same proprietor, who, about 1828, sold out to
John Swisher, who continued both concerns for some years, until the termination
of a lawsuit against him by Dr. Perrine, for nuisance, for backing water over the
swamps above the mouth of Mud Creek. The outcome of this lawsuit resulted in
the virtual destruction of the mill in 1835-36.

In about 1826-27, David Briggs erected a grist-mill and saw-mill on the
ei'eek, a mile and a half below the town, which, with little profit to the various
owners who have possessed the property within the past forty years, has been in
operation until this spring — 1880 — when its destruction has been determined upon
under the pretext of draining the swamp above the mouth of Mud Creek. Will-
iam, who, with his brothers, Samuel and Christophher, and his brothers-in-law,
Hugh Lourimore and John Culbertson, emigrated to the county in 1816 and 1817
ami settled east and southeast of Greenville, at the distance of from two to five
miles, built a saw-mill on the dividing branch, near its confluence with Greenville
Creek, about the year 1822. This concern rotted down, and was rebuilt several
times ; has been in operation, off and on. on the average, about three months of
the year since its first erection. About fifteen years later, John W. Harper built
another saw-mill on the same branch, about half a mile above Martin's, which
was operated for a number of years, but is now among the things that were.

About the same time that Briggs was engaged in the erection of his mill,
J a red Barnes put up a grist and saw mill near the west line of the township, on
Greenville Creek. The mills have been remodeled and rebuilt various times, and
have been owned by various parties, and are yet in existence, sometimes in run-
ning order, but nearly as much of the time lying idle for repairs. The traps

234 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

which have been enumerated constituted the milling facilities of the township to
the close of 1840, and during all the years before that, and much of the time
since, the chief dependence of the people of the town and township for the pre-
pared material whereof to make their bread, was on mills not merely beyond the
limits of the township, but- beyond the boundaries of the county.

Notice has already been taken of the tanyard abortions of Routsong & Will-
iamson. About 1819 or 1820, Amos 1'. Baldwin and John McGregor started a
tannery on a small scale, on the lot on Water street below the railroad, now
occupied by Jack Taylor. Baldwin died about 1821, and the concern, in a
year or two, changed hands, and kept on changing until on the death of George
Sanderson, the last owner, who operated it in is.")."), when it went out of existence
altogether; it was never, so far as known, a source of airy profit to any of its
owners.

In 182G, William Martin, already named, established a tannery about a quar-
ter of a mile up the branch, above his saw-mill. From this concern, for thirty or
forty years, his son Robert, and others who ran it, turned out a commodity which
they said was leather, but by other people was called horn ; a side of it might be
bored or cut when moist, but in the dry state defied awls and edge-tools. In
1831 or 1882, Jacob Herkimer located a tannery between Water street and the
Creek, about half-way from the Broadway bridge to the mouth of Mud Creek ; he
died in a year or two afterward, when it was taken charge of by his step-son, D.
R. Davis, in behalf of his mother and the minor children of Herkimer, after
which it changed owners several times, and is now the property of Thomas B.
Waring, a recent purchaser. A year or two afterward, William W. Jordan pur-
chased a tract of land over the creek and began what is now the Porter Tannery ;
it also changed owners once or oftener before it came into the hands of the pres-
ent occupants — the Messrs. Porter— and it, as well as the Herkimer } T ard, have
been carried on continuously through all the intervening years.

Of the other industries of the town of Greenville prior to 1840, it is unneces-
sary to speak. There were carpenters and blacksmiths, shoemakers and tailors
who did the work required by their customers, who usually furnished the materials
to be wrought upon ; at that day there was neither foundry, machine-shop nor plan-
ing-mill either in the town or in the county. But in this connection, one other
matter of note must be stated. In 1832, Samuel Scott and Edward Donelann
commenced the publication of a weekly newspaper, that, having borne various
titles and passed through the hands of many proprietors, is } r et, after the lapse of
forty-eight years, published as the Greenville Journal.

The duty yet remains to speak of the changes and progress in other avoca-
tions and employments to the end of 1840, and, as the first item, relate the suc-
cessions as well as beginnings of those upon whom devolved the duty of afford'
iug food and shelter to the wayfarers, including man and beast, for a consider-
ation.

.Moses Scott, as has already been stated, emigrated to Fort Wayne in 1824.
On leaving, his stand was rented to Judge Terry, who remained in it until about
the close of 1827. and was succeeded, first, by .John Armstrong, who in a short
time gave way to Jack Douglass. James Craig, in 1829, purchased the property,
occupied the old stand until his brick building adjoining the public square, and
the nucleus of the present Wayne House, was completed, into which he removed,
and continued the business until 1S33. when he rented the stand to Edward
Shatter, whose death occurred in the summer of 1835, after which, his widow
continued the business for some months, when she gave way to Charles llutchin.
from Jaeksonburg. in Butler County, llutchin. in L837, built the Broadway
House, now the Exchange Bank and Vantelburgh's grocery, into which he removed,
and the house across the street was not again occupied as a tavern until after 1 S 40.
Bascom ceased to keep a tavern in 1829, on the decease of his wife, and his prem-
ises were not again ever occupied for that purpose. In 1828. a house (now the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 235

residence of John Hufnagle, recently built by Dr. Perrine, was occupied by Samuel
Robison as a public house, but in a few months he surrendered it to the Doctor,
who had taken to himself a wife and needed it as a residence ; and here it may as
well be noted that, some four or five years afterward, Mrs. Perrine died, and Per-
rine, after some time (how long the narrator fails to remember), ceased to be a
householder, and, for the remaining years of his life, was found sometimes here,
sometimes at Dayton and sometimes in New Jersey, where he had numerous rela-
tives. At last, some two years ago, he died in the lunatic asylum near Dayton, to
which, on account of mental aberration, he had for a few 3 r ears been consigned,
beyond the age of more than fourscore years. The widow of Azor Scribner, a year
or two after the desertion of her second husband, ceased to occup}' the old Scrib-
ner stand on Water street, and, for about a year (1828-29), in it was kept, by
Isaac Shidler, a tavern after the maimer that the woman kept tavern in Indiana,
to wit, " like h — 1." The establishment ceased "for keeps" in the autumn of 1829.
In 1828, Joshua Howell, who had in that }'ear been elected Sheriff and had, some
years previously, been for one term County Commissioner, removed from Fort
Jefferson and opened what was called a tavern in a small frame house on Third
street, that stood where is now the dwelling of George Studabaker. In 1830, he
erected a frame house on the corner of Broadway and Fourth street, which was
dignified with the title of " Travelers' Rest." Howell, who, in the interim after his
shrievalty expired, wanted to run for Congress, and did run a sorry race for a seat
in the State Legislature, in 1831 sold the " Travelers' Rest " to Nicholas Mark,
who, after some years' occupancy, leased it to David Angel, who was its occupant
in 1840 and for some time afterward. The further history of the "Rest" will not
here be related, further than to sa}' that it was pulled down, some four years ago,
to permit the erection of "Allen's Hall" and the "Greenville Bank." In 1830,
Francis L. Hamilton enlarged, by the erection of a second story and additions, a
frame building on Main street and the public square, opposite the newly erected
tavern of Craig, and in it continuously, until after 1840, kept a public house, held
in good esteem by all his boarders and the traveling public. In a few years after
1810, Hamilton took charge of a hotel in Richmond, Ind., from which, in a couple
of years, he returned to his farm, some three miles north of Greenville, and from
there, at a later period, to the town, where he died about two years ago, at the
age of more than eighty years. The old tavern stand was removed, within the
decade of 1840-50, to give place to the Waring Block. The changes in this
department of business, since the close of 1840, will be noted elsewhere.

The progress of business in the mercantile line, prior to the close of 1840,
must be noticed, and the changes of the parties engaged in it, as well as the loca-
tions where the business was transacted, taken into account. Beside the unre-
membered Frenchman and Azor Scribner, mention has already been made of
David Connor, Abraham Scribner and the Hoods.

Connor, after the treaty, and near the time that Scribner and the Hoods
engaged in business, as has elsewhere been stated, removed to Recover}' ; at a
later period, he was on the Mississinewa, below Llewellyn's mill, where he was
located at the time of the murder of the Indians, in 1824, that raised him to the
chieftainship. At a later period, he went down the river below the Broad Riffle,
within the limits of what is now Grant County, Ind., where his death occurred
about 1818. His wife never left Greenville, but continued to reside there until her
decease, in March, 1851. Scribner, as has been stated, on the death of his second
wife, went to the Manmee, having sold out his stock to Heniy House, but, after a
few months' absence, returned earl}' in 1823, repurchased from House, and con-
tinued in business until his death, in 1817.

The Hoods were succeeded by Alexander Delorac, and he in a few months
gave way to Charles Neave, who remained but a short time, when he returned to
Cincinnati, in 1S22. and for thirty years or more was a member of the firm of T.
& C. Neave, extensively engaged in the iron and hardware business in that city.

23G HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

AiM.iit the time that Neave Left, Nicholas Greenham, of Piqua, established
what might be called a branch of his Piqua house at Greenville, which was with-
drawn in April. L825.

In the fall of 1820, Loring R. Brownell, also from Piqua, came with a stock,
and continued until late in 1833 or early in 1834. He sold his stock to James
M. Dorsey and Henry Arnold. Tn three years, or near that, afterward. Dorsey
withdrew, and Arnold alone carried on the business of the house until after 1840,
and now. forty years later, is still in business as a member of the firm of II. & II.
X. Arnold, tn the latter part of 1827, John McNeil engaged in business in a
small way. and in about a year sold out to F. L. Hamilton, who, in a year or
eighteen months, sold to \V. B. Beall, in 1880. who. in the spring of 1831, was
joined by Francis Waring, who several years later became sole proprietor, and
continued in business until 1876. His death occurred in 1878. Beall died about
1855 or 1856. About the same time that Beall commenced business, Allen La
Mott and Josiah D. Farrar, as the firm of La Mott & Farrar, commenced and
continued until after 1840. In 1834 or 1835, Milton Bailey bought a stock of
goods, and in a brief period gave place to John Baird. who in short meter '-blew
out of the bolt ropes " and went to Texas or Arkansas, leaving creditors to " wail-
ing and gnashing of teeth."

About the same time that Bailey started in business, William Martin, who
has before been named as proprietor of a saw-mill and tanyard, employing a rela-
tive as clerk and salesman, laid in a stock at Cincinnati, and opened out in Green-
ville. In a year or little more, Martin ascertained that he was " in bad shape ;" to
keep things from getting worse, dismissed the clerk ; to meet pressing demands,
borrowed $1,000, which amount, with what should have been the profits, he found
had been sunk, and sent what remained in care of his son, William Martin, Jr., to
Recovery, al >< >ut the close of 1835 or early in 1830. In the end he weathered the storm,
but in after years, after the establishment was closed out, he frequently stated to
friends that it would have been far more than $1,000 in his pocket if he had never
" tried on " being a merchant.

In 1834, John C. Potter came from Butler County, and engaged in the mer-
cantile business, which he continued until the death of his wife, daughter and
himself from cholera, in August, 1819. A year later came his brother Hiram
Potter and Samuel Davis, from Jacksonburg, in Butler County, who for a time
carried on the mercantile business, as the firm of Potter & Davis. The firm dis-
solved in 1838 or 1839 ; Davis went to Piqua, and Potter continued business as
successor of the firm until his death in June. 1845.

The trading house of Connor, afterward occupied by Greenham, was on the
east corner of Water and Sycamore streets. The Hoods, Delorac and Neave on
the northwest side of Water street, between Elm and Vine. The establishment of
Scribner was first in a log house, out of town as then laid out, near where is now
located the gas works, and subsequently on the south corner of Main and Elm,
and in 1830, he again removed down Main street between Sycamoreand the public
square. .McNeil. Hamilton & Beall were in the same location, which stood on the
site of the Waring Block, and two or three years later Beall & Waring were at the
Kipp corner, in a building which, at a later day, when tt.was the " Buckeye House."
was burned down. Brownell first located between Sycamore and Elm on Main
street, when' 1 >r. Lynch now resides ; at a later day at the east corner of the public
square, on Broadway, to which La Mott & Farrar. who first were in the old
stand of McNeil, Hamilton Oc Beall. removed, in 1833, and when he was succeeded
by Dorsey & Arnold. They transferred the concern to the west corner of Broad-
way and Third. Bayley & Barrd were on the wesl side of Main, between the
public square and Sycamore. John C. Potter first opened at the same place, and
then, after erecting the Katzenberger building, which served as storeroom and
dwelling, occupied it until bis decease, in 1849. Potter iSc Davis were «t first in
Bascom's corner, afterward in what is yet known as the Hiram Potter House,
between the public square and Walnut street.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 237

At the close of 1840, all the mercantile business of the town was transacted
within the four blocks adjoining the public square.

It must here also be stated that previous to that time, in a country town like
Greenville, the mercantile business was not divided up into the various branches
of dry goods, groceries, iron and hardware, groceries, queensware and drugs, medi-
cines, paints and dye stuffs. Every dealer had nearly a little of everything, and
but very little of anything. The whole stock of merchandise in every department,
brought to the town in a year, would not have been equal to the spring purchase
at this day, in the department of dry goods alone, of Moore & Winner, H. & H.
N. Arnold, or Wilson & Hart. Prior to that year, no separate and distinct con-
cern known as an iron and hardware store, drug store, clothing store (no Jew had
yet appeared in the town), boot and shoe store, or grocery, had existed in the
place. But the whole truth may as well be known. There had been traps, called
groceries, kept by "Dad " Warren. Ethan Powers and Josiah Shaw, where a potato
or a button were sold for a fivepenny-bit, and the customer given as a gratuity a
drink of " bald-faced whisky." Under the old license laws the grand jury deemed
it their business to intermeddle with these institutions, and they were soon
" dried up."

During all the years over which this narration reaches, the progress of the
town and township of Greenville, as well as the county of Darke, although some-
times slow, has been onward.

The census of 1820 showed the population of Darke County to be 3,717, and
in that enumeration was included the inhabitants of what was then Mercer County,
the territory of which then embraced part of the counties of Shellby and Auglaize.
The inhabitants of what now remains as Darke Count}- could not have exceeded
2,000. At the close of 1824, the town of Greenville had within it thirteen families,
all told, the total number, old and young, being less than 100 souls. The census
to be taken the present year, 1880, will reveal the fact that the town now contains
about or quite four thousand inhabitants.

Several things in the early years withheld in town and county progress and
improvement. The valleys of Bridge Creek, Mud Creek and the West Branch
were then impenetrable swamps, covered by willows and inhabited by wolves.

In 1820, the sale of Government lands on a credit ceased, and early in 1825,
all thus previously sold had to be paid out or forfeit to the United States. Sev-
eral thousand acres were forfeited, and the certificates of several thousand more,
as the laws then permitted, were relinquished to be applied in discharge of what
remained due on the remaining portion. The mortality of the 3-ears 1821 and
1822, and of 1829 and 1830, contributed to prevent emigration. The furor for
speculation in wild lands in 1836 and 1837 broke out, and even the banks of the
Mississippi Indian Territory, as well as that which the Government owned, were
staked out into city and town lots continuously from Keokuk to St. Paul. The
bank crash of the latter year came when "red dog" and "mad dog," "wild cat"
and every kind of paper money went down into simple rags, and the projected
cities and towns from the Ohio to the Mississippi, with few exceptions, remain on
paper only to this day. Many of the lands purchased as a speculation in Darke
County remained unimproved and unsold for tkhly years, and some of them to
this day. Nevertheless, in spite of all these drawbacks, Darke Count}* (the soil of
which, fifty years ago, the more a man owned of it the worse he was off), has
moved on, until now it ranks, if not the first, yet among the first in the State of
Ohio.

As a sequel to what has been related of the early history of Greenville, town
and township, it may not be improper to say something of some of the actors in
that history who have now gone hence. It has been stated that among the arriv-
als after the treaty were Archibald and James Bryson, natives of Bedford County,
Penn., who became settlers in Greenville Township. Archibald Bryson, on the
organization of the countv, was chosen a County Commissioner, and re-elected to

238 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

a second term of thai office, and served at intervals in other public duties. For a
period of twelve years, from 1816 to 1828, his influence and opinions as to men
and measures served more than that of any other man to direct and control public
action, and it may be said that this influence was exercised honestly and judi-
ciously. He hated demagogues, and "greased no man with the oil of fool." The
ascendency which he had maintained passed over to mid was exercised by Scrib-
ner for a succeeding period of about ten years. Since that time, no other indi-
vidual has been able, without the co-operation of rings and cliques — and. in the
days of Bryson and Scribner, rings and cliques had not been imported — to guide
and govern Darke County. Now and then, some man took it into his head to "go
it alone." but such only made a mistake, and were "left out in the cold." Archi-
bald Bryson, about 1840, emigrated to "Western Indiana, and died near Pittsburg,
in Carroll County, about 1865. James Bryson, who had served several years as
Justice of the Peace. Avas for some years County Commissioner, and for seven
years was Associate Judge of Darke Common Pleas, continued to reside in the
county until his decease, not far from the time of his brother's death.

A. Studabaker, who has been named as one of the earliest settlers in the
county, was a resident of Greenville Township thirty-seven 3 r ears, 1815-52, until
his death, and was for many years a County Commissioner. He was destitute of
education, but was a man of sound judgment, good executive ability, and strictly
honest. Talbot, in 1822 or 1823, went to Indiana, put himself on good behavior
and short rations, and was some years later elected to the shrievalt}' of one of
the river counties down the Ohio, after which nothing further is known of his his-
tory to the writer. David Irwin was County Collector of taxes in the days when
the office was sold at auction. In after years, he was County Treasurer, in which
office he died, about 1846, and was succeeded by his son James in the same posi-
tion, in which he also died, about 1851.

David Briggs, a very worthy man, came to this county as early as 1810 ; was
elected a Justice of the Peace as early as 1816, or previous ; was County Treas-
urer in 1819 or 1820. In 1828, by Scribner's direction, was elected County
Commissioner, and, three years later, b}^ his commandment, was defeated for the
same office. Mention has been made of John Craig. He was the third County
Auditor, and. while holding the office, died in 1825. James Craig, his brother, a
3"ear later, married the only daughter of Robert G-ray, one of the proprietors of
the town when first laid out, and raised a family of daughters, three of whom yet
survive. After the discovery of the California gold fields, he went there, seeking
to mend his fortunes, and three years later returned, and soon after died. His
widow died a few years later. There was another James Craig, stepson of Judge
Terry, and brother of Alexander, David and Seymour Craig. He was elected
Sheriff of the county in 1830, and died a few months later, in 1831. Joshua
Howell has been spoken of as a Commissioner and Sheriff'. Three others, John,
Thomas and Jerry, were here between 1827 and 1S35. All were ambitious, and
had reasonable luck. Joshua had been Justice, Commissioner and Sheriff'; John
was Sheriff after Craig's death four years; Thomas was six years a Justice; and,
in the fall of 1835, at the end of John's term. Jerry was anxious to be his succes-
sor. Old Billy Chapman, in his Yankee accent, declared thai " Darke County had
been Howelled enough." Other people thought so. and Jerry was left. The
whole race left the county soon after, and the truth may as well here be spoken,
that not one of them possessed capacity to fit them for any public employment,
and the further truth, borne out by the record of more than forty years, may as
well be stated, that the proclivity to elect asses to office in Darke County ceased
not when the llowells were gone.

The writer must here bring this chapter to a dose. In his younger days, he
was intimately acquainted with a number of individuals who had been in the
armies of Mannar. St. Clair and Wayne. lie was also intimately acquainted with
nearly all the early 9ettlers of Darke County, in which he has himself resided for

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 239

more than fifty-five years. The matters which he has related that occurred before
he came upon the scene he obtained man}' years ago from the statements of those
who had personal knowledge of the facts they related, and on whose truth he
could rely ; and the remaining statements of events since he came to the county
were nearly all within his own personal knowledge. Of all of whom he has
spoken, not half-a-score remain, and of those above mere childhood who dwelt in
Greenville when he came to the place, not one is left — all are gone !

A few incidents of early years have been omitted, and of some of them men-
tion should be made.

In 1828, a stray printer on his rambles came into the county, named Benja-
min S. Bullfinch. At that early day "teetotalism" had not made any serious
inroads. Bullfinch, when under the influence of " Baldface," entered somebody's
house and promiscuously appropriated a watch of the value of more than $10, as
it was alleged and proved. He was arrested, indicted and tried, and as drunken-
ness was not then a justification of theft, was convicted and sentenced to the
penitentiary for a year. This was the first conviction for an offense punishable by
a sentence to the penitentiary in the county.

On the morning of January 21, 18-10, there was found on the premises of the
Broadway House, a dead infant that had come into the world at some time of the
preceding night. The mother was soon ascertained to be a young woman in
the employ of the landlord. Charles Hutchins was then the Coroner, and in
obedience to his warrant a jury was called, who by their finding made the
charge of infanticide against the mother, and she, as soon as her condition per-
mitted, was removed to the county jail. After several months she was brought
to trial. She was defended by Judge Crane, who discharged that duty by order
of the court, without fee or reward. At that day, lawyers discharged the duty of
defending the indigent accused, when thereto assigned by the court, upon and for
the honor of their profession ; and the practice of shysters haunting county jails in
search of jobs at the cost of the county had not yet been inaugurated. On the
trial, the woman was acquitted. That death had been occasioned by violence was
established by the post-mortem investigation, but whether that violence was the
result of purpose or accident was never known. The mother had been entirely
alone in her hours of agony. No defense of insanity was set up ; that pica, as an
offcome for murder, was then scarcely known in criminal procedure. Now the
conduct and character of the manslayer and his ancestry, to the third and fourth
generation, are sought out to establish hereditary insanity, and as scarce any one
who in his pedigree but must make mention of fools as well as madmen, the
defense of mental alienation is generally made out.

In 1794, a criminal in Wayne's garrison was by a military court tried, con-
victed and sentenced, and pursuant thereto was hanged. Since that day, the
sentence to death as the penalty of a broken law has been but once pronounced
by a court of justice in Darke County, and that sentence is not at this present
writing executed. Whether it ever will be, is in the uncertainty of the future.

The uproar on the streets reminds the writer that this is "show day ;" there
is to be exhibited a menagerie of animals and a circus. The first show in Green-
ville was of a similar character, though on a smaller scale, in June, 1829. But
then as now, the institution was accompanied by a band of counterfeiters and
thieves. On the next morning, Jim Craig had amongst his assets $22 in counter-
feit money, coin and bank notes. Howell had $17. and other townsmen had lesser
amounts. Two men had their pocket-books stolen, three others their pockets cut and
purses taken, and there were outside thefts in the county amounting in the aggre-
gate to $2(10 or $300. But then as now, men and their families who had neither
meat nor meal, salt nor whisky in their dwellings, came to town and spent their
last dime to "see the show."

Of the rise and progress of religious organizations in the town and township,
the writer has not yet made mention, and, like many other matters of early years,

240 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

there is obscurity and doubt. As early as 1817 or 1818, Elder Nathan Worley,
from Montgomery County, a man who could not read one word in the Bible, but
by his people regarded as an apostle, belonging to the body who called themselves
'•"Christians," and commonly called "New Lights," who utterly abhorred any other
appellation or name of denomination or sect ; and David Purviance, who had
been a party in the revolt from the Presbyterian body at Cane Ridge, in Ken-
tucky, about 1799 or 1800, and who, about 1809 or 1810, had removed with a
number of like faith to the vicinity of New Paris, Preble County, the one illiter-
ate as the fishermen of Galilee, the other like Paul or Timothy, "learned in the
Scriptures from his youth," at intervals, few and far between, held religious
services in the town' or vicinity. About 1818, Greenville became a point in
a circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and John P. Durbin, a D. D. of after
years, and a man whose praise is yet in all the churches, although he has gone
hence to his reward, was the first itinerant circuit-rider. About the same time or
near it, the town and township became a missionary field of the Presbyterian
Church, and was visited first by Nicholas Pittenger, and subsequently by John
Ross of that denomination, who held services in the town and neighborhood.
From 1819 or 1820, services of the Baptist Church were held at long intervals, by
Childers and Wintermole, ministers of that denomination, who yet, after the lapse
of sixty years, have a quasi-organization, although no regular stated service or
house of worship in the town or township.

About the year 1833, a Methodist Church was erected on the site of the
present edifice ; it was a frame building, and of dimensions capable of seating an
audience of one hundred to one hundred and fifty. The building was removed in
after years across the street to make way for the present house. Near the same
period, the Baptists took possession of the ground where the old log schoolhouse
had been demolished, and erected a small frame structure to serve them as a place
of worship. In 183G or 1837, the existing Episcopal Church was erected on the
o-round where it yet stands ; its position has been changed and the house enlarged.
Either the same year or the year previous, the Christian Church erected a brick
building on Third street, between Broadway and Walnut street, which was taken
down about thirty years since on an exchange of lots, the church obtaining the
site of the present edifice. These four buildings were the only structures _ for
ecclesiastical uses in town or township in 1840. Services of other denominations
were held either in some of these buildings after their erection or in the court
house. It should, however, be stated here, that at the Catholic cemetery, two
miles northeast of the town, a log house yet standing was erected, and in it at dis-
tant intervals religious services were held, when a priest came to look after the
lambs of that flock who had strayed into the wilderness. This old building was
probably erected in 1839 or 1840.

c//.*,d

ARCANUM

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

by prof. w. h. Mcintosh.

Those who bore the burden and heat of the early day,

Who suffered loss and privation uncomplaining — where are they ?

They wrought with strong endurance, through discouragement and ill;

Has the great All-Reaper spared them? Do they dwell among us still?

Ah, no, they rest from their labors, and little to-day appears

To remind us of the hardships endured by the pioneers.

Their noble lives have drifted beyond the shores of time,

But, the blessed works that, follow are enduring and sublime.

Yet the past is soon forgotten, as an idle story told,

The New is a strong young giant that slays and devours the Old.

Who walks the streets of our cities where the tides of commerce How,

And thinks of the sloughs and brushwood there fifty years ago ?

Who, seeing the classic facades of our mansions grand and fair,

Remembers the buckeye cabins and the half-faced camps once there?

In the palace cars that bear us over the iron track,

Leaving the wind to follow, who pauses and looks back

To the time when the sole conveyance for human freight and goods,

Was a stanch old four-horse wagon, creeping along through the woods?

Who sits iu our splendid churches, with their fretted and frescoed walls,

Where the light, through painted windows, like a broken rain Dow falls,

And thinks of the band of settlers who paid to God their vows

On the wild grass sod of the forest under the maple boughs.

Ah, the past is soon forgotten when its pulsing heart grows cold —

The New is a strong young giant that slays and devours the Old.

— S. T. Bolton.

INTRODUCTION.

THE history of Darke County is a record of military strife and civil progress.
It presents, in striking contrast, the terrible cruelties of savage warfare with the
happy and harmonious developments of peace. It builds the forts which sheltered
armies and, later, founds cities upon their sites. It shows to us a wild waste of
forest and swamp, broken by stretches of prairie, and irrigated by bridgeless
streams, transformed to fields productive, pastures pleasant, homes comfortable
and cities growing, populous and flourishing. It presents to view the dwellers of
the wood, the Shawnee, Miami and other tribes at home. The energy of France,
the power of England and the dominant persistence of Americans found here full
play. It conducts from beyond the Alleghanies and beyond the ocean to find the
fatherland of the race now dwelling in its townships.

The savage is seen to vanish beyond the Mississippi, the pioneer becomes the
settler and commencement is made of a civilization whose manifest destiny is the
highest happiness and power of a free people. Owners of the lands they till,
makers of the laws they obey, themselves the projectors and builders of house and
church, turnpike and drain, and all the improvements apparent to the eye of the
interested observer. Persevering industry is seen to have rescued a region of
swamp wherein miasma bred and floated, poisoning the atmosphere and endanger-
ing life, to become the most fertile of farms and healthful of lands.

244 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Ohio is a noble State, and Darke County, emerging from obscurity, has
advanced to prominence as one of her most productive counties. The history of
Darke includes the origin of its founders, their progress in improvingits lands and
the results of their unwearied industry.

Could material reward our research, and unwritten truths be rescued from
oblivion, much of what would fill these chapters would prove a valuable addition
to our knowledge. There is the inception of courts, the crude attempts at agricult-
ure, schooling, manufacture and mechanism, the projectors of the turnpike and
the men who originated and carved through the railroads. There is the progress
of education, the mutations of the [tress, the growth of religion and the strife of
opinion — noble themes, worthy of labored study. The historian is desirous yet
reluctant to attempt the task. Consulting the press, he finds its columns mainly
replete with pleasing tales and political tirades. The pioneers have listened to
a hie addresses, but these have not been placed on file. A Wharry, an Arnold, a
Hiller and a Harper have gathered fragments and done a priceless service, but the
records of Darke are meager and deficient, and their combination as lessons for
present entertainment and future reference and instruction is a difficult and impor-
tant task.

Traveling her railroads, traveling her turnpikes, and walking the streets of
towns and cities, the county shows free traces of its recent growth, and the
thoughtful are anxious to learn the story. To know the acts of our ancestors, to
asertain the rank of the county, to rehearse examples of heroism, and to exhibit
the results of untiring and well-applied industry, are considered well worthy of
patient investigation. The brief outline of State history centering within the
bounds of Darke, the perilous settlements before the war, the roll of pioneers, the
rapid changes wrought by labor, are themes to dwell upon. Aided by recollec-
tions of aged pioneers, annals and manuscripts, attempt is made to delineate the
customs of the early day, to note the characters of primitive settlement and the
influence on their health and habits of a residence in a region remote from travel
and dense with the growth of centuries. There was seen here what is now going
on in the Far West. The woods abounded in game, the lands were offered at low
rates, and villages and towns would somewhere be laid out, and we shall see that
these circumstances attract the roving trapper, the reckless speculator and the
permanent settler.

Few are left to-day, in Darke, of those who rendered her citizens such incal-
culable service in making the county habitable. They have perished, but their
work remains the basis of present and future prosperity. Pioneer life is made
prominent because, from its impress, the future was determined. His legacy to
posterity was an example of rare courage and ceaseless energ}'. A generation,
springing from blended nations, has stamped its character upon a worthy succes-
sor. Peoples have clung to mountain side, or island home, because of life associa-
tions, but citizens of Darke are proud of the historic interest attached to her
cities, the number and perfection of her pikes, and the attractions of a beautiful
and diversified scenery.

Undulating plains, platted with farms and dotted by habitations, stretch away
on either hand. .Many streams unite their waters, and irrigating the lands, drain
the soil of surplus moisture ; groves of timber alternate with cleared fields, while
town and city reveal their site by court-house tower and spire of church.

Seventy-four years ago. the first white man established within the limits of
Darke County, by his rude cabin, an outpost of permanent occupation in the Indian
country. Traders had been here and trappers had followed the traces years before, '
but the trails of armies had been overgrown with vegetation, and the Indians,
cowed and sullen, were still at home in their rude camps along meandering
streams.

Three fourths of a century have transformed a savage paradise to an abode
of the highest civilization. In vain disease and danger, privation and poverty.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 245

were leagued against the pioneers ; clearings increased in number and enlarged in
area ; tradesmen and professional men gathered in the towns. Along Wayne's
road they trooped and turned aside upon their entered lands. Later came the
railroads, enhancing values and accelerating transportation. The perfect mechan-
ism of the age is here in use, on farm, in town and city, and agriculture stands
prominent in volume and character of its products.

Nor were education and religion ignored- — those sterling agencies which ele-
vate and ennoble while they direct and stimulate exertion. These testimonials of
the past are pledges of like recognition of eminent services in the present, and give
direction to the future. It is with interest we seek to trace the history of Darke,
and from the most disheartening commencement discern the growth of present
proud pre-eminence among her sister counties in elements of stable and enduring
prosperity.

LINE OF ORGANIZATION — CONCURRENT EVENTS.

As families with pardonable pride trace their descent from a long line of hon-
ored ancestry, so may Darke seek out her origin from the counties first formed in
the Northwestern Territory. Hamilton was the second county established in the
Territory, and was organized by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, on January 20,
1790, with the following boundary: Beginning on the Ohio River at the conflu-
ence of the Little Miami, and down said Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami, and
up said Miami to the standing stone forks or branch of said river, and thence with
a line to be drawn due east to the Little Miami, and down said Little Miami River
to the place of beginning. The condition of the pioneers of this county was
deserving of commendation. For them to advance out into the wilderness seemed
certain death, and to remain was to run the risk of starvation. Pioneers the best
circumstanced found subsistence hard to get, and the poorer class were almost
destitute. Game, fish, and what could be raised on small patches of ground in the
settlements were the dependence for food. Having endured these privations for a
time, some, the more resolute, determined to move out and occupy lands. There
were several families which united to go, and for common safety block-houses were
erected near their cabins. While at work by day a lookout was on the watch, and
at sunset all retired within the pickets. So they labored on till improvements
had been increased to a size sufficient to provide subsistence for their families.
These stations became points of refuge for safety and food, and also drew upon
them the attention of their foes. Perpetual vigilance, hardship and peril were the
lot of the pioneer, and the block-house became the approved recourse of all settlers
far up the rivers of Ohio. So scarce and dear was food at this time, that the lit-
tle flour that could be afforded by families was saved away to be used only in case
of sickness, or for the entertainment of friends, and game was sought as a neces-
sity. Ross County was formed on August 20, 1798, by proclamation, as Hamilton
had been, and likewise had very extensive limits. After Wayne's treaty, Col.
Nathaniel Massie and others formed a company to make a settlement in the county.
In August, 1796, Chillicothe was laid out by Col. Massie, and a lot given to each
settler. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-followers settled here, and the society
was much akin to what has been asserted of our Western towns of Deadwood and
Leadville. Chillicothe was the point from which the valley settlements spread and
advanced ; it was a place of considerable business, and in 1800 became the seat
of government of the Territory. Later, the honor of being capital fell to Zanes-
ville, and finally to Columbus. Montgomery Count}' was created from Hamilton
and Ross on May 1, 1803, and the seat of justice was appointed to be at the vil-
lage of Dayton, and, on January 16, four years later, Miami was formed from
Montgomery, and Staunton, now a wretched hamlet near Troy, was made the count}'
seat, and, finally, on January 3, 1809, Darke County was formed from Miami by
act of the Legislature. It derived its name from the gallant Col. Darke, of whom
honorable mention has been made in the successive campaigns of Harmar, St.

246 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Clair and Wayne. The eastern, western and southern boundaries coincide with
the original, but when formed, the county extended northward to the Indian bound-
ary line fixed by Wayne's treaty, and therefore included a portion of the territory

now belonging to Mercer County. As originally bounded, Fort Recovery stood on
the northern line of the county. The original survey was made by Ludlow and
his party early in the century, and the division into sections was the later work of
Judge John Wharry, of G-reenville. The field-notes of the original survey give
dolorous accounts of the condition of the county, which seems to have been dis-
mal with swamps and marshes and far from attractive to the most resolute pioneer.
Less than a dozen men comprised the population of Miami County from 1797 to
17 , .i'.', and in 1800 a few families moved in. Then immigrants began to come in
from all parts of the country. From the coon to the buckskin embraced the cir-
culating medium. Merehandise was first obtained from Cincinnati, then Dayton,
and finally a man named Peter Felix established an Indian trafficking post at Staun-
ton. Ten years had now gone by since Wayne had retired from Greenville, and
Darke County still formed part of the Indian Territory beyond the frontiers. Its
hinds were traversed as yet only by the savage, the adventurous hunter, the wily
trapper and by the Ludlows, Cooper, Nelson and Chambers, surveyors in Govern-
ment employ, accompanied by their field hands. From June, 1799, to January.
1802, these venturing forerunners of occupation ran their lines in the face of the
greatest natural obstacles with almost marvelous fidelity, and, returning, left their
work to be made useful when the rising tide of settlement should flow in upon
their forbidding, yet fertile tracts. Onward the settlements were sweeping as they
have continued to sweep, till beating upon the far Pacific, there has come a return, and
now in Kansas, Nebraska and other States there is still proceeding, under the
potent intiuences of inventive genius, a continuation of that occupation which
expands power, increases wealth and supplies homes for thousands.

At the close of the Greenville treat}', the county to the westward was a wil-
derness ; but, in addition to the Indian traces leading from the Miami to the Mau-
mee. and threading their devious way to other savage villages, there were the
broad trails cut by pioneers, trodden by horsemen and footmen, and marking the
route of armies and the forays of detachments. The soldier was also the citizen
and the settler, and his quick, appreciative glance took in the possibilities of the
countries he had traveled. For him the woods of Darke had no charm. The con-
ditions elsewhere were here wanting. Contrast the statement made concerning
the .Miami settlement to the east with the actual condition of the lands of this
county. There the country was attractive all about the settlement. Nature pre-
sented her most lovely appearance ; the rich soil, mellow as an ash-heap, excelled
in the exuberance of its vegetation. Cattle were lost from excessive feeding, and
care was required to preserve them from this danger. Over the bottom grew the
sweet annis, the wild nettle, the rye and the pea vine, in rich abundance, where the
cattle were subsisted without labor, and these, with nutritious roots, were eaten 1 ly
swine with the greatest avidity. In Darke lands there were found the woods, the
endless variety of vine and shrub, impassable swamps, lack of roadway, and the
great difficulty of making passable roads. Nor were the forests the only or most
formidable harrier to early settlement. We have seen the woods to be filled with
Indians. Their principal town was at Piqua. distant but eighteen miles ; their
camps were along the creeks. In the neighborhood of larger settlements they were
treated roughly, and are entitled to little consideration, and it was known from
hitter experience that lone families were in constant danger of -the sudden wrath
of the savage. We have spoken of Tecumseh's brother, the Prophet. As the lat-
ter appealed to credulity and superstition, so did the former to a slumbering sense
of the wrongs to be redressed, and by far more was the warrior to lie dreaded for
the native eloquence and subtle scheming with which he gradually fanned the
sparks of discontent into the flames of open warfare. It is said that he built a
cabin at the point near Greenville, and by others it is denied ; it matters not,

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 247

but the Shawnee brothers gathered about them dark retainers, who had no kindly
impulses to the persons who might presume to pioneer the settlement of the
country. Some portions of the county abounded in game, and among those timid
and harmless animals were found those fierce and dangerous, as might be judged
from the names of creek and locality. Still this might be regarded more as an
annoyance than as a dread, and, later, premiums for scalps of wolf and panther
supplied the settler with means of paying tax or buying necessaries. There
existed a still more potent influence debarring occupation, and this was ill reports
of health and climate. The men of that day were little afraid of labor ; they
knew the Indian must give way, but they were peculiarly influenced by whatever
partook of the mysterious, and Rumor's many voices soon changed the natural to
the marvelous, and Darke Count}' was shunned as the haunt of a plague, desig-
nated "milk sickness." Some implicitly believe in its prevalence to this day,
while others assert that it is a myth, undeserving of credence. Endeavors to find
a case have always proved futile. It is heard of ''just over in the next township.''
but, going thither, report placed it further on in the next township, or perhaps in
the one just left, and the phantom always places the breadth of a township between
its locality and the curious investigator. But whether a myth or a reality., the
report spread along the Miami and beyond ; the settlers believed it, and, what was
worse, regarded it with dread. Even the Indians asserted that certain districts
were infected with an air freighted with the odors of disease, and gravely told the
whites, " Not live much here— too much belly sick ;" and. whatever the cause,
there was sickness where they gave this word of warning. It will, thus be seen
that the territory which afterward became Darke County had won an unenviable
reputation, and land titles were held at low r rates, with few bidders. These things
undoubtedly delayed settlement and caused a tardy growth, while they gave in
compensation a class of men possessed of pluck and energy, well qualified to
leave their impress on the soil.

In the settlement of Darke County, which for eight } r ears was a dependency
of Miami, two classes of land occupants were recognized — the transient and the
permanent. The historian called to do justice to the worthy class finds but few of
their descendants resident citizens of the comity, and it is not till 1816 and later, that
families came to stay and make their fortune blend with that of their future home.

Coming up the army roads, striking across the country, eligible locations
caught the eye. and established the hunter at a creek-side home, while an unusual
hard time in sickness and losses impelled the intended resident to move away.
Thus there were conversions from one class to another, and all shared in a certain
degree of restlessness while in search of a home, but a strongly marked distinc-
tion between the two divisions existed. There was seen to be here, as elsewhere,
a border class of trapper and hunter affiliating with the savages, only endured by
genuine settlers and hanging upon the outmost fringe of advancing occupation.
It matters little who they were, these openers or beginners, who held aloof from
neighbors, occupied miserable huts, raised small patches of corn, and left when
the clearings became too numerous. Many poor men came into the county, put
up small log cabins, cleared somewhat of ground, then, disheartened by privation,
sickness and inability to make payments, gave way to others, who built with bet-
ter success upon their broken fortunes. An old Darke County settler, located not
far from Greenville, thus speaks of the actual pioneers as a class : "The place for
the squatter is not quite among the Indians, for that is too savage, nor yet among
good farmers, who are too jealous and selfish, but in the woods, partly for clearing
it up and partly for hunting." The histories of townships, dealing with the first
settlers, often speak of the unknown squatter, whose abandoned claims gave brief
home to the settler, and whose ill-cleared vegetable patch, growing up to weeds
and bush, made the spot seem yet more wild than the woods surrounding.

Travelers and land hunters characterize the squatter class as " rude and
uncouth."' and express relief when leaving some worse than usual " bed and board."

248 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Misunderstandings were decided not unfrequcntly by personal encounters, many
grievances taken before those early Justices reveal the .sad lessons of poverty
and intemperance, in marked contrast with later days ; such was the character of
the squatter class of Darke County. We turn with pleasure to consider the class
whose labor is the basis of the present enlightened society, and find expression in
the language of the gifted Everett. '• What have we seen," said he, " in every
newly settled region ? The hardy and enterprising youth finds society in the
older settlements comparatively filled up. His portion of the old family farm is
too narrow to satisfy his wants or desires ; and he goes forth with the paternal
blessing, and often with little else, to take up his share of the rich heritage which
the God of Nature has spread for him in this Western World. He leaves the land
of his lathers, the scenes of his early days, with tender regret glistening in his
eye. though hope mantles on his cheek. He does not, as he departs, shake off the
dust of the venerated soil from his feet ; but, on the bank of some distant river,
he forms a settlement to perpetuate the remembrance of the home of his child-
hood. He piously bestows the name of the spot where he was born, on the place
to which he has wandered ; and while he is laboring with the difficulties, strug-
gling with the privations, languishing, perhaps, under the diseases incident to the
new settlement and the freshly opened soil, he remembers the neighborhood whence
he sprung — the roof that sheltered his infancy — the spring that gushed from the
rock by his father's door, where he was wont to bathe his heated forehead after
the toil of his youthful sports, the village schoolhouse, the rural church, the grave
of his father and of his mother. In a few } T ears, a new community has been
formed, the forest has disappeared beneath the sturdy aim of the emigrant, his
children have grown up, the hardy offspring of the new clime, and the rising settle-
ment is already linked in all its partialities and associations with that from which
its fathers and founders have wandered. Such, for the most part, is the manner in
which the new States have been built up ; and in this way a foundation is laid by
Nature herself for peace, cordiality and brotherly feeling between the ancient
and recent settlement of the country.' 7

In recounting the incentives to Western emigration, the ruling motive was the
hope of improving the condition. The land was cheap, undoubtedly fertile, and
the prospects of a rise in values certain. There were those who expected to find
a " paradise in the West," and journeyed thither only to suffer from disease, want
and discouragements. Some went back, telling of suffering, and dissuaded those
lightly influenced ; others, with inherent manhood, resolved, since they were here,
to make the best of it. and gradually won their way to affluence and comfort.
Some time in the fall of 1806, or the spring of 1807, the first white man who came
to the county to remain, established an Indian trading-house upon the northeast
corner of Section 34, Greenville Township, which for a time embraced the greater
part of the county. His stock was small, and of the kind most desired by the
Indians. He did a thriving business, and exchanged for his goods, which were sold
at exorbitant prices, various kinds of furs and somewhat of the cursed coin which
British greed of lands had induced their emissaries to distribute among the faith-
less savages.

It is said that the order in trading was as follows, but whether, in this partic-
ular instance, wherein Azor Scribner was trader, the plan was customary, is
unknown. If not. it should have been, and it has sonic points worthy of attention
from civilized customs at stores of this late day. The Indians, bringing with
them their roll of furs, walked into the cabin and found seats, while each was pre-
sented with a small piece of tobacco. Pipes were lighted, and the residue was
placed in pouches. After some time passed in smoking and talking among them-
selves, one arose, went to the counter, and. taking up a yardstick, pointed out the
article wanted and asked the price. Payment being made in skins, there was to
each kind a recognized value. The muskrat was held a< a quarter, the raccoon
at a third, a doc at a half and a buckskin at a dollar. Payment was made following

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 249

each purchase, until all exchanges were effected. As each retired, another
came forward in his turn till all had traded. No one desired to anticipate his
turn, decorum was observed, and no attempt was made to " beat down," for, if not
satisfied, another article was pointed out and named.

It is reported that Scribner not only sold the Indians tobacco, but rum, and
they generally reserved some of their furs with which to procure liquor for a final
frolic. The statement is made, and is probably true, that this pioneer trader sup-
plied his savage customers with rifles, powder, lead, knives and hatchets, on the
principle that if he did not others would, and he might as well have the profits.
We cannot blame him for steep prices, when we consider the means of travel. His
goods were hauled from Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, along Wayne's road bjr
way of Fort Jefferson, by a yoke of oxen attached to a rough kind of sled, denom-
inated a "mud-boat," and a trip usually occupied a period of from three to six
weeks. As there was no competition, Scribner held the monopoly for several
3 T ears, until the arrival of David Conner, in 1811 or 1812, when his coadjutor
aspired for a portion of the trade, which at this later period partook more largely
of civilized exchange.

We have said that Azor Scribner was the pioneer of Darke County, but,
some six years after the treaty of Greenville, a Frenchman of unknown name
established himself for a brief period upon the site of Minatown, and trafficked
with the natives in exchange for his calicoes and other goods. Scribner's house
was located about twenty rods from the present site of Porter's tanyard, but
the date when he moved his family from Middletown, on the Miami, to Greenville
is unknown, although thought to have been some time in 1808. This family
consisted of his wife, Nancy Scribner, and two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth,
all of whom lived in the shanty which served at once as home and store. Sarah
— or " Aunt Sail}' " — McKhann is prominent among the aged of to-day as the
oldest living settler in Darke County.

PIONEERS THEIR RECORD, INCIDENTS OF THE TIMES, 1808 TO 1816.

We have to deal, in this chapter, with Darke's history and its surroundings,
for the brief period of eight years. When we call upon the living and question
them concerning events of this interval, from the formation to the organization of
the county, we find them at a loss what to say. We turn to the bound volumes of
the press, garnered in the court-house, and find few allusions to this period, so
momentous as the initial of settlement, the commencement of still-continued
lorogress, and we ponder the meager particulars of these eventful years.

Within the limits of a generation, marvelous changes have swept this region.
Black Hoof, Logan and Tecumseh vanished before the swelling tide of western-
bound humanity, and the Shawnee was driven beyond the Mississippi. Sons and
grandsons are cultivating the fields of the pioneers, whose last-surviving members
totter upon the verge of dissolution. Fine farms, growing cities and enlightened
society are the results of pioneer enterprise, yet the shadows of oblivion are gath-
ering. The memories of a Rush, an Arnold and of a Wharry, will soon have lost
their distinctness, and their knowledge will have gone beyond recovery.

What will be known a few years hence of Samuel Boyd. Aaron Hiller and
Lemuel Bush ? Of Abraham Studabaker, Briggs, Terry, Creviston, Carnahan
and Devor ? What of Scott, Mclntyre, Thompson, Williams, Hayes, the ill-fated
Bush, and a score of those whose labors broke the solitude and changed the feat-
ures of the wilderness ? It is no puerile task to wrest from obscurity remem-
brances of early events, and those connected with them. The student of vital
statistics stand amazed at the mortality of our older citizens during these last few
years. Familiar faces are sought upon our streets and at their homes, in vain.
The harvester has gathered the pioneers ; a few yet remain as the gleanings, even
as some fruit clings to the branches when the time of the vintage is past. These

250 HISTORY OF DAKKE COUNTY.

are the veteran survivors of battles with nature's obstacles ; the aged witnesses of
strange mutations. History knows of no worthier theme than that of those pio-
neers in a primeval forest, by whose toil the forests fell ; at whose will the heavy,
dark woods gave way to fields of grain, log cabins and initial industries. Where
malignant fevers and pestilential miasma crouched and hovered among the swamps,
one sees the well-tilled fields, the useful drain, the lasting pike. Pioneers of .Miami,
men fearless of heart and experienced in the settlements, saw with concern the
rude outfits of the early settlers of Darke, as they pushed slowly on and disap-
peared in the heavy forests and ague-haunted swamps of that region.

People did not move by steam and car in those days, no, nor for many years
later ; as late as 1839, the family of J. S. Patterson plodded their slow march for
four hundred miles, their goods upon a road wagon, drawn b}^ three horses. All
along the way, the inquiry was made of them : " Where are you from and where
are you going ? " They had traveled a long way in Ohio before any one was
found who knew that there was a Darke County in the State. The}' insisted that
it must be Stark County or Clarke County that was meant. But, after they had
left these counties in the rear, and had only two or three days' travel to make,
there were found some unusually well-informed people, who knew where Darke County
was, and they knew it mainly by its bad reputation. They said : "Don't go
there for God's sake ; you'll all die with the milk sickness," and if travel and
report were so adverse, at this comparatively recent period, what must it have
been when, during the winter of 1807-08, Samuel C. Boyd moved in and set-
tled on Section 14, Greenville Township ? Upon a small stream heading about two
miles north of Greenville, and tributary to the Stillwater, near Beamsville, Boyd
concluded to remain. He is notable as the first white man who, accompanied by
a family, made a home within the limits of the county. The farm first known to
occupation as the residence of this pioneer is that later owned by William Cun-
ningham, and in 1879, by George Manix. The creek perpetuates his name as
Boyd's Creek, and brief remembrances tell the following: He went to work and
built a house, near where the railroad crosses the Gettysburg pike. How he got
the timber in place and who came to his assistance is conjectural. Perhaps Scrib-
ner and a party of his Indian customers lent a helping hand, friends may have
come with him and then returned, or, as is most probable, his wife may have ren-
dered what aid she could, and he had the energy and ability to erect it himself.

Subsequent to this, Boyd entered a tract of land on Boyd's Bun, between the
farms afterward owned by James Buchanan on the south and Barnett's on the
north, lie was at work on this place clearing off a site for a house, when some
one came along and reported the murder of Bush b} T Indians. At the solicitation
of Abraham Studabaker, who, in 1808, had located on the east side of Greenville
Creek, and had built a block-house there, through distrust of the Indians, Mr.
Boyd was induced to remove to this refuge, with his family, where they remained
but a short time. The ceaseless dread of violence hung like a threatening cloud
over their minds, and they returned to Warren County, where they remained until
the close of the war, when they once more returned to occupy and improve their
land on the run. Prior to their removal, on one occasion, while Mr. Boyd was
absent from home at night, the fierce barking of a dog led the family to think that
Indians were prowling around, and Mrs. Boyd, in quiet, cautioning the children
against noise, left the house with them and secreted herself and children in a pile
of brush, and there passed the hours till morning. Mrs. Martin, then known as
Dorcas Boyd, says that she remembers playing with the Wilson girls, who, as we
shall learn more in detail, were killed by the Indians, and relates that a brother of
the girls, pursued by savages, treed, thrust his hat. placed on the muzzle of his
gun, cautiously to one side of the tree, as though peering out. drew the fire of his
pursuers, and while they Stopped to reload, made good his escape.

During the war of 1812, several incidents occurred in and about Greenville,
which at that early day seemed naturally to be fitted for a county seat. The

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 251

greater number of Indians who remained friendly, who claimed and received pro-
tection from the United States, were located at Piqua, and placed in charge of
Col. Johnston. There were the Skawnees, Delawares, Munseys, Mohicans, and
portions of the Wyandots, Ottawas and Senecas. There were at one time assem-
bled here full six thousand ; and far from being a source of danger, they were the
best possible protection to the frontier while they were friendly. Johnston was
beloved of them, their known friend and a man of approved courage. Several
attempts were made to kill him in hopes of securing the strong body of savages
for British assistance. Friendly chiefs warned him of danger. His family, save
his wife, who stayed by him, and all his papers and effects of value, were removed
for security, while he remained at his post. Various efforts, all foiled, were made
to effect his death. Madison, then President, disdained to employ Indians in war-
fare, from a high sense of honor and noble principle, in striking contrast with his
cruel and mercenary antagonist, and thereby suffered those reverses which befell
our arms in the North. White flags with mottoes were supplied to parties of the
Indians wishing to pass scouts and outposts in 'safety. The hatred to Indians in
general, regardless of their feelings to the whites, was such that but for prudent
action these Indians would have been driven to retaliate unprovoked injuries.

.At one time, a part}^ of whites discharged a murderous volley into the midst
of a body of Indians, approaching them with the utmost confidence, bearing a flag
in full view. Two Indians fell dead, a third was wounded, and the rest were taken
captive, robbed of everything they possessed and taken to Greenville, where a
post had been established, and to which these cowardly assassins belonged. Con-
science has ever made cowards of men. and the garrison at Greenville, alarmed at
the possible consequences of their cruel action, brought their prisoners to Upper
Piqua, and delivered them to Col. Johnston. That officer decided to conduct them
back to Greenville, and there to restore them to their property and to their people.
The officer commanding the post at Piqua was asked for a guard to the. Indians,
but neither himself nor any of his men dared to go. Johnston then decided to
make the journe}' himself, to prevent evil effects among the Indians. Mounting
his horse, he bade his wife farewell, and made the journey to Greenville in safety.
The articles taken from the Indians were returned to them, a speech of concilia-
tion and disavowal made, and then the Colonel rode home alone.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

The Rush brothers, James, Henry and Andrew, with their brother-in-law,
Hiller, and Henry Creviston came to Darke in 1810, from the Pickaway Plains,
and settled near Greenville, where they remained till the spring of 1812, when the
following occurrences took place :

All were steadily at work, preparing the ground for a crop of corn, and each
day saw some improvement upon that preceding. Indians were camped all through
the woods and passed the greater part of their time in hunting. It will be remem-
bered that this was the spring succeeding the battle of Tippecanoe, where, as is
well known, the Indians attempting to surprise the camp of Gen. Harrison were
signally defeated. There was one Indian of those ranging the woods near the
creek, who was lame as if wounded, and who gave himself the name of Simon
Girty, but whether hostile or not, little attention was paid to him or the others.
The people were attending busily to their necessary labors. Some employed the
spring days of 1812 in clearing their land, some were busy tapping the sugar
maples, boiling the sap and making syrup and sugar, and so were engaged about
the 1st of April, when indefinite reports were circulated of Indian hostility and
consequent danger to the settlers. A trader up at Fort Recovery was reported to
have been killed by his partner, while some said he met his death from the
Indians. The incident created no alarm, ami matters proceeded as usual till
one day the Rush brothers, making a journey on horseback to Fort Recovery,

252 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

passed on their way a number of camps whose occupants, manifesting a friendly
feeling, lulled apprehension, and the settlers, easily quieted, went about their daily
labors.

About the 28th of April, Andrew Rush started for a little mill which had been
built on Greenville Creek, a few rods above where the Beamsville road to Green-
ville makes a crossing. He got his grist and set out to return home. On his way
he stopped to make ;i call on Daniel Potter, who. with Isaac Vail, was occupying
each his own end of a double log house, which stood between the present residence
of Moses Potter and the creek.

These two settlers from some cause had become fearful of trouble, and had
gone down the Miami for assistance to take back their families to their former
homes. Mrs. Potter asked Rush if he were not afraid of the Indians, and he put
his hand through his hair and replied, jokingly, " No ; I had my wife cut my hair
this morning, so short that they could not get my scalp off." Sometime about 4
P. M.j he left for home, and had proceeded not half a mile when he was shot from
his horse, tomahawked and his scalp taken.

Uneasiness was felt because of his not returning home, but all the next day
forenoon rain fell steadily, and it was thought he might have stayed with a settler,
but in the afternoon Hiller's oldest son and Bush's brother-in-law took ahorse and
set out to look for him. The boys followed the track made by Rush to Greenville
Creek, just above Spiece Mill, and there found the body laying on the sack of meal,
mutilated as described. They went hurriedly on to Potter's, and the settler who
had returned mounted the horse and set out to spread an alarm. The bo} r s crossed
to the cabin of Thomas McGinnis, on Mud Creek, but he had heard the news and
had departed. At the next house the inmates had also gone, and, running forward
to the third cabin, they found it, too, silent, deserted and the door partly open.
Hiller took a look within to see how matters were, and saw that the house had
been left in haste and little, if anything, had been removed.

They then hastened to the cabin of Henry Rush, and it was abandoned. The
truth was evident, that a panic had seized upon all, and they had fled for their
lives.

Darkness surrounded the boys as they made their way through the woods to
the cabin of James Rush, where the settlers had assembled their families, and
were preparing to meet an expected attack. Just before the arrival of the boys,
James Rush had set out on horseback to reconnoiter how things were.

Arriving at the house of Peter Rush, he there found the hunter, Henry Crevis-
tou, who had passed the day in the woods, and now the three men, accompanied
by the wife of Peter, went to the home of Andrew, where John S. Hiller, son of
Aaron, was passing the night. The sad news was soon known to all, and the party
set out for Mr. Hiller's. It was well that the Indians did not attack the family, as
they were helpless. Mrs. Hiller had not walked a step for years, and there were
five children here too small to travel alone. The reader cannot imagine the terror
of the time — the gloomy uncertainty. About 9 P. M.. the sky cleared of clouds,
the moon rose and James Push mounted his horse, took up Peter's wife behind
him and went home for help to remove the women and children.

None of the men could be spared, as they expected to be attacked before
daylight, but the two boys, above named, returned with two more horses and a
gun. All started for the fort, as it was afterward called, at about 2 A. M., and gol
in safe at daylight. The men were busy all this day putting the cabin in a state
for defense, while the body of the murdered man still lay where it had fallen, and
the panic was at its height.

A man named Sumption, about sixty years of age. set off alone, gun in hand, to
Troy, Miami County, and reached there by daylight. Another man went to Lex-
ington, Preble County, the same night. The next evening, a company of men
reached old Fori Greenville, and late at night another company came up and went
into camp on the east side of Mud Creek. In the morning, the Preble County

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 253

men moved out on the road to the body of Rush and gave it burial. They then
pushed for the new block-house where seven families had gathered for safety.

Part of the relief remained at Rush Port some time, and arrangements having
been made, the women and children were escorted back to the older settlements
for security. The Rush families returned to Pickaway County, and Hiller moved
his family to Piqua. Miami County, about the middle of May.

At this time, there was but one family at what was then called old Fort Green-
ville, and this that of Mrs. Armstrong. Across the creek stood the cabin of Scrib-
ner and at the fort could be seen portions of the pickets set by Wayne's men, and
a gibbet built by his orders was yet standing.

The experience of Abraham Studabaker, as detailed in township histoiy, was
hard enough, but he did not retire from his land. He moved in 1795, from Penn-
sylvania to Scioto County, Ohio, thence he went to Warren, and. in 1808, came
to Darke and built his first cabin on Congress land, near the present site of Gettys-
burg. He thought it prudent to erect a block-house on his premises and adopted
toward his many Indian visitors a policy of kindness. No hungry Indian tramp
went unfed from his door. Though somewhat of a tax on his resources, j^et it
enabled him safely to remain upon and improve his land.

Previous to the battle of Tippecanoe, a cowardly attack was made upon a
Miami Indian, coming to Greenville with his family for supplies. The particulars
are fully given by J. Wharry in a previous chapter. Such was the effect of this
attack upon the Indian mind, that before 10 o'clock next morning Fort Meigs, a
hundred miles distant, was surrounded by 2,000 enraged savages. Brooding upon
defeat, driven from their ancient homes, and incited by the English, the cause of
one tribe was espoused by almost the entire number of the Northwest Indian
tribes, and from that time until the victory of Harrison, and the defeat of Tecum-
seh and Gen. Proctor, at the Fallen Timber, in Upper Canada, the settlers on the
frontier were only preserved from " the terror by night, and the dread by da}'."
through the exercise of the most unremitting watchfulness. In addition to the
Indian troubles, the war of 1812 increased the jeopardy to life in the scattered
homes of the pioneers. It should have been enough for families to brave the lone-
liness and hardships of the wilderness without the constant apprehension of
murderous surprise, torture, or the tomahawk and knife.

While, as we have said, a large body of Indians had assembled at Piqua, there
were in the woods many who needed little urging to again dig up the hatchet.
The wholesome dread of Wayne had lessened with time, and the solicitations and
bribes of the English were not altogether ineffectual. The account given of mur-
ders on either side show the smoldering fires which were likely at a moment to be
fanned into a blaze, and explain the singular panics which drove back the picket
lines of settlement upon the heavier bodies. A new race had come to maturity,
and their warm blood excited the Indians to open hostility. We know that Tecum-
seh remained for a time after being ordered to leave, and finally moving from his
camp on Mud Creek, he led his warriors bravely, but in vain, as an ally of the
British, in hopes to drive the whites from the fertile valleys of the Ohio and the
Mississippi. This alliance was on one account a fortunate one for the pioneers of
Darke County, as it removed the seat of war to distant points. No battle or other
important event occurred in this county during the war, although small parties of
hostiles were continually prowling about, keeping up the alarm and now and then
securing a scalp.

We have spoken of Rush and Studabaker' s block-houses, and there were gar-
risons at Jefferson and Greenville, beside a fortified house on the banks of Still-
water, in Richland Township, on Section 34, near the cemetery. One other tragic
event recalls the earlier day. the murder of the Wilson girls, in July, 1812. Two
children, daughters of William Wilson, residing near Minatown. were out one day
gathering wild berries between their home and the creek, when they were set upon
and killed. It appeared as if their heads had been dashed against a tree, and their

254 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

scalps had been taken. They were buried near where their bodies had been found,
and from this period the attention of the reader is called away to measures of
peace, law and permanent improvement.

Several dwellings and four block-houses were erected in Greenville, prior to
the war of 1812. The houses were all on Water. Walnut and Ash streets, and the
block-houses were located as follows : One on Lot No. 59, Main street ; a second
on the same street ; a third on Water Street, beyond the limits of the town, near
the old cemetery, and the fourth on what is now Sycamore street, in Gray's Addi-
tion, and beyond the early limits of the town.

In the year 1814, Abraham Scribner brought to the place a small stock of
dry goods and groceries, and opened a store in the first-named block-house, where
he enjoyed quite an extensive patronage. Upon this small lot he erected a dwell-
ing, which still exists, and is used as a residence by Mr. Schubert. Charles Sump-
tion was also a dealer in merchandise in the village at this time, as were probably
Samuel Harmer and Linus Bascom, who were engaged in the dry-goods business
in 1816.

At this early period of existence, Greenville was honored as the place of
assembly for the agents of the Government, and delegations from various Indian
tribes, to consummate a second treaty. This took place on the 22d of July, 1814,
and Avas conducted, on the part of the United States, by Gen. William H. Har-
rison, who was afterward President, and Gen. Lewis Cass, then Governor of
Michigan Territory, together with the friendly and faithful Wyandots, Delawares,
Shawnees and Senecas, who were most prominently represented by Capt. Pipe,
Tarhe, Little Turtle and Black Hoof and some others. The United States Com-
missioners made their headquarters at the house of Abraham Scribner, at the
northwest corner of Elm and Water streets. At this treaty, the Government agents
and the tribes named gave peace to the Miamis, Weas, and Eel Biver Indians,
and to certain of the Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Kickapoos. All, whether allies
or aliens at this treaty, bound themselves to take part with the Americans in case
of a continuance of the war with Great Britain. Happily, England and the
Bepublic soon concluded a peace, and the treaty was followed, in 1816, by others
with the various Western and Northern tribes, thereby giving to the frontiers quiet
and security once again. The speaking at the second Greenville treat}' took place
in a little grove on the opposite side of the street from Scribner's, on the lot now
occupied by the residence of Michael Miller, Esq. According to the testimony of
an eye-witness, it was, with a single exception, the largest, most notable meeting
ever held in Greenville. The Indians came dressed in all the toilet of their
respective tribes — plumes, scalp-lock and paint ; all the attendants of barbaric-
splendor were admirably set off by the more serviceable, if not picturesque, uni-
forms of the United States soldiers from Cincinnati and Fort Wayne. It was long
spoken of by the early settlers, who attended from a distance of many miles, .as
an occasion of rare occurrence, worth}' of commemoration in the annals of the
county.

As will be noted later, the consciousness of security at last broke down one
formidable barrier to settlement ; the refugee settlers returned to their old homes
to repair the ravages of time and to renew their labors, while from the older
counties; from Kentucky, Pennsylvania. Maryland, the Carolinas, families of emi-
grants by watei", wagon, on horseback and on foot, plodded their way northward
from the Ohio, or westward, and quietly settled in and about the older clearings,
gladly receiving the proffered assistance of the pioneers. Greenville received its
share of population in due proportion. Dry goods were sold by Easton Morris
and the Hoods, Robert and William, as also these necessary supplies were for pur-
chase at the establishments of Linus Bascom and Abraham Scribner. The neces-
sity of places of entertainment for man and beast was supplied by the opening of
taverns by A /or Scribner and Moses Scott, whose bar for the refreshment of the
thirst}' was an indispensable adjunct of the early day hostelry. Among citizens

HISTORY OF DA.RKE COUNTY. 255

there were old Mr. Devor, Dr. Perrine, unmarried and commencing a practice
destined to become extensive and laborious, and John Beers, whose official services
were about to be required on occasion of the organization of Greenville as the
county seat.

THE COUNTY SEAT.

Darke Count}-, as stated, was created by act of the General Assembly January
3, 1809 ; but, on account of delay in settlement from causes shown, organization
was postponed until December l4. 1816, when the actual and promised population
warranted an independent government and enabled this section to act for itself.

As has frequently been the case and still continues to be the practice in the
new counties of the States just settling up, there were not wanting enterprising
and speculative men keenly alive to the pecuniary profits sure to result from owner-
ship of land set apart for a county seat. A strife arose in Darke Count}', and
there was sharp competition for the site of the county seat on the part of various
landholders desirous of securing some profit from an advance in values. Enos
Terry laid off a town plat on Herdman's farm, over the creek, and by some means
had the plat established as the county seat. This act proved almost entirely
unsatisfactory, and a pressure was brought to secure its repeal. This was accom-
plished, and Commissioners were chosen to make the required location. David
Briggs was anxious to have it established near the present junction of the Gett} T s-
burg and Milton pikes, but a quietus was put upon the proposition by the facetious
suggestion of John Studabaker that it would require at least forty Constables to
keep the frogs quiet while the Judge was delivering his charge to the grand jury.
The location was finally made, as it now stands, at Greenville, by the Board of
County Commissioners, in consideration of the acceptance of a proposition made
by Mrs. Armstrong to donate the county the one-third of the ninet}--six lots con-
stituting the original town plat for such public uses as might be deemed desirable
in the future, whether as sites for public buildings or as land for sale outright,
upon which to realize funds for county purposes ; deed of sale was made to the
Commissioners of Miami County, and placed on record upon the register at Troy ;
those officials then gave a deed of the property to the county of Darke.

The first meeting of the Board of County Commissioners was held in June,
1816. The Board consisted of Archibald Bryson, Abraham Studabaker and Silas
Atchison. John Beers was appointed Clerk for one year and John Devor was
made Tax Collector. His bond was fixed at $3,000. David Connor, heretofore
referred to, was the sole signer of this, the first Treasurer's bond, and his name
was considered sufficient. The first act of the new officers was to fix the rate of
license for tavern-keepers and storekeepers, which was placed at $8 for the former
and $10 for the latter. A tax of 30 cents a head was levied on horses and 10
cents a head on cattle. The onby roads at this time were the paths made by the
Indians, the roads pursued by the armies, and such as were cut by the settlers in
moving upon their claims. At this, the first session of the Commissioners, it was
" ordered that a road be viewed and surveyed, leading from Greenville across the
bridge at Enos Terry's, and thence by the nearest and best route in a direc-
tion toward Fort Loramie, until it strikes the county line." David Briggs, David
Thompson and Moses Scott were appointed viewers, and John Beers, surveyor.
They were ordered to begin their work on the 26th of June, 1817.

On the 3d day of July, the Commissioners ordered Lots 36, 62, 20, 56, 39 and
53, in the town of Greenville to be sold for the purpose of raising funds to build
a jail on the public square. These lots were accordingly offered for sale on the
second Monday of the following August. The price realized was $47.75 ; one-
half was paid in cash, the other was given one year's time.

For some reason, perhaps from there being little call for a place for confine-
ment of criminals, the contract for the construction of a jail was not let until
1818, when the work was undertaken by Matthias Dean for $300 ; one-half down
as an advance, and the remainder when the work was completed and accepted.

256 HISTORY OF DAHKE COUNTY.

It is always of interest to peruse the first records of any association or cor-
poration, as by them we are enabled to learn the ability and character of the men
chosen to lead in civil affairs and by comparison with the acts of later years, from
an estimate of the growth of improvement, increased wealth, and, in some instances,
disproportionate cost. These retrospective pages are generally favorable to the
pioneers since they seem to have acted with decision, economy and prudence. To
this end. we copy verbatim the record of the first session of the Coui't of Common
Pleas for this County :

"Darke County organized, March 1, 1817. Court of Common Pleas of
Darke County, aforesaid. .March 13, 1817. Before session, to appoint a Clerk pro
tern, and Recorder. Enos Terry, John Purviance and James Rush, Esquires,
Associate Judges, as appears by their commissions. John Beers was appointed
Clerk pro tern., to give bond '7th of 'April next. The appointment of Recorder
was postponed till 7th of April next. Court adjourned until April 7, to meet at
the home of Moses Scott, at Greenville. Signed, Enos Terry." These few lines,
brief as they are, present the minutes, in full, of the first special 'term, and are a
marked contract, in simplicity, with the verbiage of later special terms.

The next session was held, pursuant to adjournment, as shown by the following
complete transcript of the proceedings :

• Common Pleas met agreeable to adjournment. The same judges as on the
13th of March last. John Beers resigned his appointment of Clerk pro tem., and
Linus Bascom was appointed Clerk pro tem., in his room. Abraham Scribner
appointed Recorder. Court adjourned without day. Signed, Enos Terry." The
first regular term of the Court of Common Pleas was in June, 1817. Joseph H. Crane,
of Dayton, was the first Presiding Judge, with the associates above named. They all
produced commissions, signed by Thomas Worthington, Governor of Ohio, and at
once entered upon the performance of their duties. The records show no grand
jury in attendance at this first term, for the good reason, as the minutes show, that
there was " no Sheriff, Coroner or other officer qualified to serve and return proc-
ess," and that there had been "no venire facias for a grand jury served and
returned." These facts having been officially made known to the court, it was
•• ordered that a venire facias issue, directed to Moses Scott," who was especially
authorized and empowered to serve and return, commanding him to summon
fifteen good and lawful men of the county, to appear forthwith, at our court house
in Greenville, to serve as grand jurors; upon which writ the said Moses Scott
returned that he had summoned John Loring, John Andrews, James Cloyd. Daniel
Potter, Robert Douglas, Abraham Miller, Filder G. Lenham, Daniel Holley. Joseph
Townsend, James Williamson, John Ryerson, David Briggs, Levi Elston, Martin
Ruple and Peter Rush, who, being chosen and sworn and charged, retired to their
room." Few are left who had a personal acquaintance with these men; and they,
the first Darke County grand jurymen ever impaneled, have long since passed
away. The latest survivor was James Cloyd, who was a resident of German
Township, and died, at a ripe old age, a few years before the civil war.

We again quote from the minutes : "The court appointed Henry Bacon to
act as prosecutor, on behalf of the State of Ohio, for the county of Darke, until
the further order of the court thereon. The grand jury found several indictments
at this term. Among others, there was one against Robert Hood, for •• selling
whisky to the Indians." Another indictment was found against William R. Jones,
for assault and battery, it being alleged and proved that he had flogged an eaves-
dropper for peeping through the cracks of the Log cabin at the grand jury, while
they were holding their session. The Constable was convicted and fined $8 and
costs. This may have been right, but the fellow deserved what he got, and the
Constable was not wanting in the discharge of his duty. His ignorance of legal
technicalities and his zeal outran his discretion, and his punishment by fine and
dismissal was severe.

The various defendants toseveral indictments found were duly arraigned, and,
as a matter of course, entered a plea of " not guilty." Matters were now brought

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 257

to a dead halt, as a reference to the record showed " no persons returned to serve
as petit jurors." Acting Sheriff Scott was, therefore, at once ordered to "summon
twelve good and lawful men of said county to serve as petit jurors," upon which
writ the said Moses Scott returned that he had summoned Charles Sumption, John
McFarlin, James Williamson, John Break, Charles Read, Jacob Miller, William
Montgomery, Robert Mclntyre, James Perry, Aaron Dean. Alexander Smith and
Zachariah Hull." Of these, the first petit jury ever impaneled in Darke County,
none are known to be living. The latest survivor, so far as ascertained, was John
McFarlin, of the township of Jackson. At the close of this term, the following
entry was placed on record : " The court allows Henry Bacon, Prosecutor for Darke
County, $10, for services at this term."

On the second Monday of August, 1817, Moses Scott presented his commis-
sion from the Governor, as Sheriff, and gave a bond of $4,000. On the same day,
William Montgomery presented his commission as Coroner, and gave a bond for
$2,000. There were two courts a year. Each term lasted but one or two days.
It took a ride over nearly the entire county to summons men enough to make up
the two juries. The grand jury rarely sat more than one day. Services were paid
for in county orders, which were current in exchanges, at 50 cents cash on the
dollar, as there was no money in the treasury. The allowance to each grand juror
was 75 cents per day ; the petit juror was paid but half a dollar, but received this
on each trial, and this was paid by the winning party.

The first court had been held in the bar-room of Azor Scribner, and as was
just and fair, the second was appointed for the 14th of November, 1817, in the bar-
room of Scott's Tavern. The first case called was an action for debt, in which
Anthony Ricard appeared as defendant. The Clerk's fees were $2.50 ; those of
the Sheriff were $1.17, and of the Attorney, $5 — making a total of $8.67. At this
time, William, son of Moses Scott, had been elected Sheriff. The tavern, in those
days, was the place for assembl} 7 to exchange items of news, join in a sociable
glass and partake perhaps of the plain but abundant fare offered.

The event of a court was a novelty, and a number of the settlers gathered
about and curiously observed the proceedings. A panel of grand jurors, among
whom was John S. Hiller, was sworn in, as a matter of course, and received the
charge from Judge Crane, then on the circuit. Gen. James Mills was foreman,
and the party was conducted to Azor Scribner's bar-room, and duly furnished
by the hospitable inn-keeper with a bottle of good whisky and a pitcher
of water. Soon a man was admitted who testified that he had been assaulted,
wounded, beat and otherwise ill-treated. On his retirement, another entered, who
witnessed that his predecessor before the jury had committed a like offense upon
him. The case was by no means a clear one. The foreman was about to take the
sense of the jury, when he announced that " it had been rulable in Butler County,
where he came from, to require the j'oungest juryman to vote first." This chanced
to be Hiller, who naturally entered an objection, saving that as this was his first
experience on a jury, he did not wish to be forward in giving an opinion. The
bottle was then brought into requisition, and after disposing of the liquor to gen-
eral satisfaction, the case was formally decided. At the close of the da}-, the jury
was discharged and court adjourned sine die.

COUNTY BUILDINGS.

A laudable pride is manifested in the matter of public building, and this has
kept pace with the growth of resources. In the beginning, the aim was low taxes,
strict economy in public expenditure and a desire to pay the county debt. The
new county had entered upon its career houseless, roadless and bridgeless, yet the
average tax did not exceed $3.

We have noted the construction of a jail. The Commissioners, at the time of
letting the contract, in 1818, were A. Studabaker. A. Bryson and Jacob Miller.

258 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Eastern .Monis was Clerk and James Devor was Auditor. Miller had succeeded
Atchinson. The Commissioners cast lots for duration of term. Miller drew one
year, Bryson two years and Studabaker three. The annual exhibit for the
year 1820. of receipts and expenditures of the county, were as follows : Received
from Moses Scott, Tax Collector, $440.054- ; on notes and costs of roads, $185,644- ;
and of A. Scribner, tavern license, $10; fines, $16.50; license, $32 ; permits.
$10.69 ; total, $59.19. Total, $700.89. Expenditures, by orders redeemed,
$708.82.

The letting of the first court house was an affair of minor moment. The
contract was taken by John Craig, whose work was accepted on June 4, 1824.
This humble frame building, surrounded rear and front with additions, stands on
Third street, next the Odd Fellows' Building, and now of fifty-six years' duration;
has served the purposes of a dwelling a period of forty years.

On Sunday morning. May 2, 1827, the log jail that stood on the public square,
just back of where the city hall now stands, from some cause, had caught fire and
burned down.

On the 29th of June following, a contract was let for the construction of a
jail building to John Armstrong, for $525. It was originally intended to erect
this structure on the east corner of the public square, but at a special session of the
Board of County Commissioners, held September 13, 1827, a petition was presented,
asking for the location of the jail on Lot 25. This was granted, and on June 3,
1828, this the second jail was received from the contractor, under a compromise,
at $520. In 1830, the public revenues were augmented by the levy of a tax on
doctors and law}-ers — the former having been assessed at $3, and the latter a half-
dollar less. It would be a gratification to learn on what grounds this tax was
assessed, whether as a tax on incomes from the amount of business and good fees
collected, or as a method of repression. If for the latter reason, it proved a signal
failure ; not but that among this class have been and are found the most gifted and
valued citizens in Darke County, but from the number who have chosen these
mind-perplexing professions.

The increased business of the county called for a better public building, and,
to this end the Commissioners met on January 7, 1833, to make selection of a
court-house site. The location was made upon the center of the public square.
Bids were advertised for, and on February 18 following the contract for erecting
the building was let to James Craig for $2,490. The plan of the proposed struct-
ure was prepared by Allan LaMotte. who received in compensation $10.

The services of the Commissioners, during the five sessions held for the pur-
pose of selecting the site, receiving bids, awarding contract and attending to minor
matters, were donated to the county — a circumstance memorable for its rarity.
The conti-actor was allowed and extra compensation of $27.20 for supplying pine
shingles instead of oak, and $7.43 for sand, thus making the entire cost of the
building $2. 524. 03. It stood forty 3 r ears, and was of the t}-pe common to the
times — two stories in height, roof four-square, and surmounted by a cupola.

Eleven years following the erection of this court house, on the 17th of April,
1844, the contract was let for a new jail to James C. Reed, for $3,800. but a failure
was made in the matter of a sufficient bond; the next best bid was taken, and
the contract was finally awarded to Allan La Motte and Israel Reed, for $3,975.
This jail was built on the southeast half of Lot 25, and was received from the
contractor June 3, 1845. The extras allowed amounted to $21. The building is
now in use as a place of business, having a front erected flush with the side-
walk and hiding it from public view, and, unless destroyed by lire, promises many
years good service. Arrangements looking to tin 1 establishment of a county infirm-
ary for the care of infirm, sick and disabled poor were made by the purchase, on
March IS. 1854, by the County Commissioners, of a county farm containing 248
aeres — the price paid being $6,000. Plans and specifications for the necessary build-
ings were prepared ami presented by Pearson Smith, who received $25 for the

^ j,

gjtrfyn, *$C oy^uuf^

MONROE TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 261

same. These plans were subsequently amended by Messrs. William Wells and
Moses Hart. The contract for building the infirmary was let on May 17, 1854, to
Orin S. Culbertson & Co., for $7,198, with an additional sum of $88 for exca-
vating for foundations. Work was completed and the building was received from
contractors on January 31, 1856. Variation from the terms of the contract
involved additional expense of #1,260.67, thus making the entire cost of the work
$8,458.67.

The Darke County Poor Farm was deeded by John Spray to the County
Commissioners at the time above stated. It is located two and a half miles south
of Greenville, upon both sides of the Greenville & Eaton Pike, upon the southeast
quarter, and about twenty-nine acres of the southeast corner of the southwest
quarter, and eight acres on the northeast corner of the southwest quarter of Sec-
tion 11, Township 12, Greenville Township, and about forty-one acres — part of
the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 14, Township 11. The orig-
inal building was a three-story brick structure, 40x84 feet, and 28 feet in height.
In 1875-76, an addition was made equal to the original building, thereby doub-
ling its capacity. There are now sevent3~-two rooms, including the cell depart-
ment. A laundry has also been added, 20x30, two stories, and an engine-house
18x30 feet, separate from the main building. The basement is mostly used for
culinary and other domestic purposes. The second story is comfortably furnished,
and does not present that repellant, forbidding aspect supposed by many persons
to be inseparable from the county house. The buildings are advantageously
located on high ground, and command a fine view of the surrounding country.

The officers are a Superintendent and three Infirmary Directors. The follow-
ing is the roster of Superintendents : Jacob Shivery, who served three years ;
David Thompson, six years ; William Thompson, five years ; Crawford Eddiugton,
seven years, and J. N. Braden, who is now serving on his third year. The Super-
intendents are annually elected. The first Directors were C. Harshey, John S.
Hiller and Joel Thomas. The present Directors are William Shaffer, J. A. Kelch
and Samuel Emerick.

The first inmate was received March 1, 1856. That year, the average number
received was but eighteen. On March 1, 1880, the number of inmates was 106.
There are accommodations for 130. The infirmary building proper has cost
$11,500. The present value of buildings, farm and improvements is estimated at
$30,000. The number of acres under cultivation is 190. The value of what was
raised on the farm in 1879 was $2,400. The expense of keeping up the institu-
tion was for the same period $7,950. The balance in excess of income was
therefore $5,550. The average expense for the last eight years above income has
been nearly $7,000, as we are informed by the present Superintendent. Material
improvements are being made upon the farm. Tile to the extent of 400 rods has
been put down within the last two years. Fruit trees have been set out. and
other advantageous progress made. The orchard product last year was 450
bushels of apples — an amount fully equal to the requirements of the infirmary.
There were raised on the farm, 1,295 bushels of wheat, 578 of oats, 5 of clover
seed, 3,300 of corn, 1,050 of potatoes, and 5,500 heads of cabbage. Sixty-eight
hogs were killed, making 18,000 pounds of pork, and 9 beeves, making 4.251 >
pounds of beef. There are 42 head of cattle on the farm, 5 horses, and 140 head
of hogs.

In proportion to the population of the county, negroes form much the largest
per cent of the infirmary inmates. Next in number are the Irish, but it is a curi-
ous fact that the per cent of Irish women is very small. To quote the exact
language of the Superintendent, " Nine out of ten of all the inmates who have
come have been brought here through intemperance ; some of them through acci-
dents received while drunk." There are fourteen idiotic persons in the institution,
four of whom do not know enough to feed themselves, and must be waited upon
like small children. The health of the inmates has been uniformly good. A

2G2 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

single deal 1) 1ms occurred among the old occupants within a year. There have
been four deaths in all. but three of these were brought thither sick.

The infirmary physicians arc the Drs. Matchett. The entire mim Iter of pau-
pers in the institution on August 31, 1S79, was 114 ; the number admitted during
the year was 193; the number of poor otherwise supported by the county was
150. According to the report of the Auditor, the total cost of keeping the infirm-
ary poor was $8,314.49, and the entire expense of maintaining those otherwhere
was $1,9 10.05, thus making an expense of poor for the year of 1879 a grand total
of $10,254.54, or an average cost per day of each pauper to the county of 2<> cents.

It is pleasant to contemplate the humane consideration now manifested for
these unfortunates as compared with their condition during the earlier years of
county government. Prior to the establishment of the infirmary in 1854, there
was no place where their helplessness could find kindness and care; under the
prevalent custom of " farming out" the paupers to the lowest bidder, the unfor-
tunate was made to suffer in many ways, and it did not conduce to wholesome
fare, warm clothing and sufficient rest, with exemption from labor, and medical
care when sick, to have been sold under competition to persons whose object was
less the amelioration of their condition than the hope and intention to profit from
the investment. The history in detail of this infirmary and others similar is
encouraging proof of the development of charitable and noble impulses, which
render the unostentatious benevolence and philanthropy of peace more to be
admired and honored than the most glorious deeds of war.

The present jail and Sheriff's residence has been standing about ten years.
The contract for building was let in September, 1869, to Jonathan Kenney, of
Dayton, Ohio, for $39,750. Miles Greenwood, of Cincinnati, did the iron work,
and Alexander Kerr, of Greenville, the carpenter and joiner work. The two build-
ings are connected by a hall, and their extent is ninety-seven feet in length by
forty-four in width. The buildings are of two stories, with neat freestone finish.
The residence is an elegant structure, and the jail is admirably arranged to secure
the comfort and safe-keeping of prisoners. This property is situated upon Broad-
wa}^. The court house is an ornament to the city, and an honor to the county.
The edifice was completed in 1874 at a cost of $170,000, and the dedication was
formally made on August 3 of that }*ear. The material used in building is stone.
The Corinthian style of architecture prevails, but with such additions and modifi-
cations as to render difficult any attempt at strict classification. In reply to
inquiry, an architect classed it as " Corinthian with American treatment."

Whatever it may be termed, it presents to the eye an ornate and imposing
appearance. Ascending the stone platform, you push aside a door and enter a
corridor extending down the center and length of the building. Furnaces supply
uniform and agreeable temperature; offices are located for public convenience.
Large iron safes stand to the left as you pass from the front entiy. The first
rooms to the right in order are the offices of the Board of Commissioners, the
Auditor and of the Treasurer. These are spacious, convenient, and fitted up with
necessaiy furniture and apparatus. The treasury vault with inclosed safe would
seem to place the public moneys in actual security. On the left from the front,
are the offices of the Recorder and Probate Judge, and the Probate Court room.
Ascend from either side by winding stairways, and there are found on the second
floor the offices of the Sheritf and the Clerk, together with the court room and its
attendant consultation and jury rooms, (hi the third floor are located the Sur-
veyor's and Prosecuting Attorney's offices, and other needful rooms. The struct-
ure is surmounted by a line tower, in which is contained a (.'lock that is as nearly
perfect in construction as modern science and artistic skill can produce. Whether
borne upon the ear in the hours of night, or calling the industrious populace to
resume or cease from toil, by day, the musical, measured strokes which knell the
passing hours, teach a constant lesson of punctuality, diligence and transient
existence.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 263

We close our chapter with a brief statement relative to the trial and convic-
tion of Monroe Roberson for the murder of Wile}' Coulter, since it has attracted
general attention, and is remarkable in the annals of the courts of Darke County.
Crime has had its votaries here as elsewhere, but in no undue proportion. Mur-
ders have been committed, and there have been trials, convictions and escapades,
but this becomes historical from the fact that it is the first instance where the
dread conclusion has been a sentence of death on the gallows.

The difficult}' between the two men that led to the murder occurred at Nip-
town, a point nine and a half miles from Greenville. Following some hard lan-
guage, Coulter, while attempting to make his escape, was pursued and fired upon
by Roberson. Three several and deliberate shots were discharged, and Coulter
fell to the ground mortally wounded, and soon died. His assailant was taken to
Greenville, tried at the February term, 1880, and sentenced to be hung on July 18
of the same year. The doomed man was a native of Tennessee, fort}* -five years of
age, had served in the army, was a hard drinker and had lived about twelve years
in the county. His victim was his wife's brother, who had lived from childhood
in the family, and was at the time of his death, about twenty-three years old. The
jurors impaneled for this trial were Stephen Eubank, G. W. Fox, C. T. Pickett,
Samuel Cole, George Suman, Milton Coble, Samuel Noggle, R. F. Gilbert, James
Renson, Cornelius Fry, William Rleare and James Johnson.

The attorneys for the defense were Messrs. Anderson, Allen, Calclerwood and
Charles Calkins ; for the State, Prosecuting Attorney H. Calkins, and Messrs.
Knox and Sater. The case was tried before Judge Meeker, whose charge to the
jury is a plain, direct statement of the laws on murder. The prisoner was adjudged
guilt}*, and sentence pronounced upon him. The community, while desirous that
crime be punished, differ in regard to the mode, and no inconsiderable portion of the
better class are averse to hanging.

DARKE COUNTY FROM 1816 TO 1824 — PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT.

Turning again from the seat of government to the farms which give villages
and cities their vitality and importance, we follow the early progress of agriculture
from the organization of the county up to and inclusive of 1824. We may speak
somewhat of the arduous labors of the early settlers, describe their log cabins,
recall their old-fashioned furniture, their homespun attire, their rough, kind man-
ners and their open-handed generosity. The comfortable hewed-log home has
been demolished to make way for the frame or the more durable brick. The fence
of rails will soon disappear, and already the work of log-rolling is a memoiy, and
the making of rails exceptional. Village, town and city have been built to supply the
demands of trade and commerce, and the people of the present time, worthy off-
spring of noble sires, have carried forward the works of civilization.

Glance again at the points of settlement, the vantage-ground already won.
Relow Ithaca, in the southeast, lived Lucas and Robbins. At intervals along Mil-
ler's Fork, near Castine, were Ellis. Freeman, Park and Robert Phillips and J. F.
Miller. On the east bank of the Whitewater stood the cabins of Rrawley, Pur-
viance, the McCluers, Rroderick and Jacob Miller, Zadoc Smith and the Wades.
Near Fort Black, by the lake, were the Rushes, Henry Hardy, Tibbs, Falkner and
possibly the Kunkles. On the Middle Fork were the Tillsons, Harlans, Emerson,
Helpenstein and Gert. Approaching the town, we find Spencer, the Edwards
families, Wilsons and others. Further to the north we come to Cloyd, Pearson,
Cassaday and Kettring. About Palestine, dwelt Samuel Loring. In the northern
part of German Township lived Ludwig Clapp, reputed credulous and supersti-
tious, William Asher, of the same mind, Moores and Rush and John McNeil,
Rarick, Snell and Miller, on Crout Creek and its vicinity. East of the West Rranch
dwelt Martin Ruple, Arch. Rryson and John W. Whittaker, while lower down were
the small clearings made by John Hiller and Daniel Potter. Mud Creek passed

2t!4 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

by the cabin homes of Petri- Weaver, Andrew Nbppmger, his son .Joseph. James
and Henry Rush, Sumption. McGinnis, Burns and Wertz. East of the prairie,
Zadoc and Reagan had Located, and traveling the stream brought in sight the
homes of Abraham Studabaker and Abraham .Miller. .James Hay dwelt at Jeffer-
son, and below were Ryerson and Winegardner. On Greenville Creek, above town,
stood three cabins occupied by Tilery. Dean and David Williamson, and below on
the creek were those of Squire Bi'iggs, Westfall. Maj. Adams, Bryan, Cunning-
ham and Studabaker. On the south hank of the creek, at intervals, the enumer-
ator finds Popejoy, Esq., Haves, James Gregory and Canadian. Christopher
Martin, Alexander Fleming, James Both David Ripple and his sons and son-in-
law Hathaway on Stillwater, near Beamsville. Conloek was at Webster, and
McDonald, Mote and Ludwig Christie below. Ward Atchison was on the verge of
the Black Swamp, and Lewis Baker on Indian Creek. From Bridge Creek on
to the dividing branch, were scattered Arnold Townsend, the Thompsons and
Clay. These men had settled here under many difficult circumstances, but
they had effected a lodgment and formed a center by which others could be guided
and assisted. Persistent in labor, patient under afflictions of disease were these
plain men with unaffected manner and kindly greetings. As the country began
to be settled, families were moving on to different locations in the central part ot
the county. There was a large portion of the county that seemed so much of a
swamp as to make a final occupation problematical. Along Grreenville Creek, as
above named, one found at varying distances the log cabins of a few families, and
there were others on the West Branch. There were cabins on the branch known
as Crout Creek, and yet others upon Mud Creek. These scattered clearings were
the oldest in the county, and northward there were few, if any. And from there,
so far as means would permit, the new-comers received their supplies and assist-
ance. Courteously and kindly, the tired emigrants were welcomed to the hospi-
talities of their cabins. Wherever at night the light of a fire shining among the
trees indicated a settler's home, there was a certainty that the latch-string was hang-
ing out and hearty cheer in readiness to relieve them. A common peril and a like
experience bound all together by ties of interest, friendship and relation. The dis-
position to extend a helping hand, while it was a necessity to the settler, was rarely
given grudgingly or with thoughts of after payment. Equality and mutual assist-
ance was an unwritten pioneer law. and for many years much of the time of older
setlers was cheerfully given to raisings, rollings and all kinds of work requiring
e< >-< >peration. Judge Wharry attended raisings where men had come from a distance,
on farthest lines apart, of twenty-five miles, and here were formed acquaintances
which soon ripened into feelings warm, generous and enduring.

Exceptional instances, as that of Jacolj Cox, present us with men of means
seeking an lieritage in lands, but the people were generally poor. They had noth-
ing to lose but much to gain. Mr. Cox. as we have named, is worthy of further
notice in this connection. He came to Bailee from Bedstone and bought 2.200
acres in the east part of German and Washington Townships, and thereon located
himself and sons Martin, John, .Jacob. Henry and Abraham, together with his
daughters Barbara, .Mary and Eve, who later became known as Mrs. Stingley,
Mrs. Waggoner and Mrs. Martin.

Fresh from service in the ranks, and animated by hope of a common glorious
future for his country and himself, the rifle which had aided Wayne upon the Mau-
mee and Harrison at the Thames, became useful to provide the family with meat
and to guard the growing or ripened grain from depredation. There was no longer
dread of the forest ; men struck out by themselves and independently chose and
unproved such spots as met their fancy. The extent of each man's claim or title
had no bearing on degree of estimation. It mattered not that one could buy but
forty acres, while another could acquire a section. The difference la} r , not in the
men. but in the outlay. Where each had planted a few acres in corn and other
crops, nature showed no partiality in stimulating growth or perfecting the grain,

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 265

and where nature was impartial, human customs were in strict and willing accord.
The entire settlements were bound together. Witness the prompt rally from Lex-
ington and Piqua on hearing of Rush's death and the frontier peril. The}' met at
vai'ious gatherings. Together they worked their best ; together they enjoyed their
hours of relaxation. Religious worship found general and all-day attendance, and
there were several services before each wended his way along the forest path
homeward.

The pioneers of Darke were not peculiar in their love for neighborhood visit-
ing. The same partially obsolete but happy custom was in that early day to be
observed in all the new communities, and surviving pioneers have brought this
habit with them in their attenuated and shattered ranks. It looks as though the
practice would perish with them. Care for the sick was universal. It was held to
be the duty of all. The writer recalls, iu this connection, the kind, tender tone in
which Lemuel Rush inquired of his fellow-friend and pioneer associate, George
Arnold, concerning his health, and the fraternal feeling manifested between these
two is but a single illustration of general regard.

A single incident, recited by an old settler, images the earnest regard shown
in the early days by neighbors for each other :

One day. a settler was badly injured when at a considerable distance from his
home. It was necessary that a team should be taken to convey him home.
Although a full day's drive, there was no reluctance in offering help. Two persons
tendered their services, and there ensued a friendly contest for the privilege. The
older urged a long acquaintance and neighborship, and these claims were acknowl-
edged by the other.

In 1818, there was the commencement of a settlement on the east fork of
Whitewater, and on Twin Creek, near Ithaca, and several families had settled near
Fort Black, now known as New Madison. During this year, Mina town and Fort
Jefferson were laid out. and. in the year following, Versailles was platted, making
in all five villages, the germs of future business towns, and the only ones for full a
dozen years — practical proof, in so large a county, of sparse and tarcby occupation.

During the j'ear when Fort -Jefferson was platted, a tavern stand was occupied
there, and. while the conveniences were far from equal to the Turpen or Wagner
Houses of to-day, yet there was an abundance of plain, palatable food and little
ceremony. During 1818, A. Studabaker left his former entry, near Gettysburg,
and removed to the farm more recently the property of his son George. William
Arnold and others were residing on Bridge Creek. The settlements now became
known by various names to distinguish them ; such was " Yankee Town," one
called Ireland, located north of Greenville, and a third is mentioned here as sug-
gestive of the section, known as the Black Swamp Settlement. These nuclei of
the clearings in Darke, each formed a distinct neighborhood, and had their leading
men, respected for honesty, good faith, and frugality in public as well as private
affairs.

In 1820, Darke County was still covered by a dense and but little broken
forest. The northern townships were extended areas of swamp, rich in elements
of production, useless until the clearing and drainage could make cultivation
practicable. Cabins were built upon the higher grounds, and clearings made down
the inclinations. Here grew the oak, whitewood, beech, maple, basswood. ash,
hickory and other kinds of timber in boundless profusion, anil the finest trees were
regarded rather as an incubus to tillage than as valuable adjuncts of a farm. Those
woods are mainly leveled now, and their grove screens of trees but vail the open
fields beyond. Still the trees, while in one sense a bar to cropping land, were useful
as containing the material for home and winter fires. When a settler had selected
the site of his intended habitation, he felled the timber up< >n it and cut the logs suita-
ble in proper lengths. The material for the cabin being prepared, he traverses the
woods far and near and announces his intended raising. The settlers leave their
work and gather in at the appointed hour. In some localities, teams were used,

266 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

but here in Darke, cattle were scarce and the horses were spared as much as possi-
ble for other work. Logs were carried to the sides and ends of the building.
Now four corner-men are chosen, on whom devolves the duty of notching and
placing the logs. The rest of those assembled roll up the logs as wanted until the
desired height is reached and the work of co-operation ceases. The settler now
selects a large-sized straight-grained tree and. felling it, cuts off four-feet lengths.
These are split with a large Frow, and as wide as the timber will allow. These are
used without planing or shaving for clapboards for the roof, which is formed by
making the end logs shorter each row until a single log forms the comb of the
roof ; on these logs the clapboards were placed, the ranges of them lapping some
tli stance over those next below them, and kept in their places by logs placed at
proper distances upon them. Puncheons for the floor were made by splitting
logs of a foot and a half in diameter, and hewing the face of them with a broad-ax,
when this tool could be obtained. The length of the puncheons was half that of
the floor. The door was made by sawing or cutting the logs in on one side, so as
to make an opening about three feet wide. The opening was secured by upright
pieces of timber, about three inches thick, through which holes were bored into
the ends of the logs for the purpose of pinning them fast. A similar, but wider,
opening was made at the end for the chimney. This was built of logs and made
large to admit of a back and jambs of stone. At the square, two end logs were
made to project a foot or more beyond the wall, to receive what were called the
butting poles, against which the ends of the first row of clapboards was supported.
A clapboard door and a table were then made. Sometimes a quilt was made to do
duty for the former for a time, and the latter was constructed of a split slab,
placed upon four round legs set in auger holes. Stools having three legs were
made in the same way. Some pins inserted in holes bored in the logs at the back
of the room, served as support for some clapboards, designed as shelves for the
dishes. A single fork, placed with its lower end in a hole in the floor, and the
upper end fastened to a joint, served as a bedstead, by placing a pole in the fork
with one end through a crack between the logs of the wall. This front pole was
crossed by a shorter one within the fork, with its outer end through another crack.
From the' front pole, through a crack between the logs of the end of the house,
the boards forming the bottom of the bed were put in place. Sometimes this was
varied by pinning other poles to the fork, a little distance above these, for the
purpose of supporting the front and foot of the bed, while the walls were the sup-
port of its back and head. A few pegs around the walls for the garments of the
women and hunting-shirts of the men, and two small forks or buck's horns fixed
to a joint for the rifle and shot-pouch, completed the carpenter work.

Chips are now taken and driven in between the logs and the open spaces of
the chimne}', and a bed of clay mortar having been prepared, the cracks were
daubed, and the work is done. In houses thus built, and unplastered within and
entirely devoid of adornment, our ancestors lived with a comfort unknown to the
opulent occupant of many a palatial residence of to-day. Coal stoves or wood
stoves were unknown, but in the wide fireplace were found hooks and trammel,
and andirons. Near by were the bake-pan and the kettle ; and as homes varied
there were to be seen in many a log house the plain deal table, the flag-bottom
chair, and the easy, straight, high-backed rocker. Carpets there were none. The
beds contained no mattress, springs, or even bed-cord, the couch was often spread
upon the floor, and sleeping apartments were separated by hanging blankets. Not.
infrequently, the emigrant neighbor, and occasionally Indian visitor, lay upon
blankets or robes before the huge open fireplace; with stockinged or moccasined
feet before the constant, fire. Wooden vessels, either turned or coopered, were
commonly used for the table. A tin cup was an article of luxury almost as rare
as an iron fork. Gourds were used at the water bucket, and there were not
always knives enough to go around the family. The immigrant brought with
him. packed upon the horse, or later on the wagon, some articles of better sort.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 267

Upon the kitchen drawers were set forth a shiny row of pewter plates, buck-
handled knives, iron or pewter spoons, or there were seen a row of blue-edged
earthen ware, with corresponding cups and saucers, with teapot —articles then to
grace the table at the quilting, social afternoon visit, or preacher's call ; but
advancing civilization has sent the plates and spoons to the melting pot, while
knives and forks have taken less substance but more shapely form. Perchance
a corner of the room was occupied by a tall Dutch clock, such as ticks with
measured stroke the minutes by in the kitchen of John Spayd, of Greenville,
to-day.

In another corner, the ruder furniture had given place to an old-fashioned
high-post and corded bedstead, covered with quilts — a wonder of patchwork ingen-
uity and laborious sewing. Then the ubiquitous spinning-wheel, and not unfre-
quently a loom. A settler of Darke in 1820, thus describes the dwellings of that
date : " They were of round logs about ten inches through ; the}* were properly
notched at the corners, and well chinked and plastered up with clay mortar, and
provided in some instances with front and back door ; basswood logs, split in two,
flat side up, made a very substantial floor ; the fireplace reached nearly across one
end ; a stone wall from the foundation was carried up about six feet, two sticks of
the proper crook rested one on either end of the wall, and against a beam overhead,
forming the jams, and upon these rested the chimney, made of sticks and clay
mortar, very wide at the bottom, tapering to the top, and serving the purpose of
both chimney and smoke-house ; the hearth was of flat stones of various sizes, and
occupied a considerable portion of the room. To build a winter fire, there first
was bi-ought in a large piece of log which was placed next the chimney-back, and
known as the back-log ; next came a somewhat smaller log, which was placed on
the other and called the back-stick ; then came two round sticks, green and less
combustible than the others ; these were placed endwise against the back-log, and
served in place of the more modern andirons. Upon them was laid the fore-stick,
and between this and the back-log, dry limbs were piled in and the fire applied;
when this was fairly started more wood was put on and a pile to keep it up lay
near by. The fire thus built, which was done about 4 o'clock of a winter day's
afternoon, would last a long time with little attention, keeping the family, clothed in
good, warm homespun, comfortably warm." If, by mischance, the fire went out on
the hearth, it was rekindled by a coal or burning brand from a neighbor, or by
flint, steel and tinder. In many cabins, the fire described gave out but partial
warmth, and the group which sat around it were roasting on one side while freezing
on the other. Few, indeed, were the books to be found with the settlers, and news-
papers were rarer still. Upon the shelf, there may have lain the few books used
at school, the Bible and the almanac, and the paper, when one could be had, was
read at evening hours by the light of a tallow dip, or before the glowing hearth-
fire.

Only the well to do (and these were few in Darke) could afford a clock. The
hour of noon was guessed or may be ascertained by the noon-mark cut upon the
threshold, and in place of the bell to call the chopper from the clearing, a cheery
shout was given, or tin horn blown. Few were the households where any pictures
adorned the wall, and the reed organ had not been invented.

To-day, even the children carry watches ; print, engraving, chromo and
lithograph are found in more or less profusion in most houses, and piano and
organ are in the country as well as in every village.

The habits of the settlers were influenced and controlled by their mode of life.
Tasks amost impossible as thought of now, were undertaken spiritedly with no
thoughts of time or labor. Chopping in the clearings for days alone, and prepar-
ing a home to which to bring his family, man}* a settler became accustomed to the
silence, and himself grew taciturn.

Journeys on foot for many miles were made with little more of preparation
than the traveler makes at present. Women and children rode on horseback

268 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

hundred of miles. It was a delight to the settlers to assemble at some one of the
log cabins of a winter evening to relate stories of escapes and wild adventures
(lining the sanguinary scenes of !>4 and later years. Prominent ideas survive the
lapse of time, and the conversation of the aged backwoodsmen, referring to the
pioneer period, is of deer, wolf and bear; of trapping, hunting and fishing; of
prevailing diseases and makeshifts during sickness; of cutting roads, clearing
lands, and journeys to distant mills and markets.

The subject of food was all important with the settler, and hard labor in the
open air created a keen appetite which made of much account the feasts of merry-
makings, parties and public meetings. Quality was not so much regarded as
quantity. Fish from the creek, venison and bear meat, bacon, and even the
raccoon's carcass, were made available for lbod. Enormous potpies were baked
containing fowls, squirrels and due proportions of other meats. The food was
generally most wholesome and nutritive. There was a bounteous supply of the
richest milk, the finest butter and most palatable meat that could be imagined, and
meals were eaten with all the relish which healthful vigor, backed by labor, could
bestow.

The clothing worn in earby days was generally the same in all seasons. The
settler, standing upon the prostrate trunk of a huge tree, stroke following stroke of
his keen ax, and chip after chip whirring out upon the snow, little regarded the
winter temperature, and coatless and barefooted, the summer heat was not
oppressive. The garments worn were mainly the product of home manufacture,
where necessity insured effort, and practice gave skill.

Flax has been raised in Darke from the period of early settlement down to
the present time, and when sheep were introduced, there was supplied a new and
excellent material for wearing apparel.

It is said of Creviston and others of his class, besides not a few of the
pioneers, that their garments about the years whereof we write, were truly de-
scribed in the " Annals of the West," as follows : " The hunting-shirt was univer-
sally worn. This was a kind of loose frock, reaching half-way down to the thighs,
with large sleeves open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more when
belted. The cape was large, and sometimes handsomely fringed with a ravelled
piece of cloth of different color from that of the hunting shirt itself. The bosom
of his dress served as a wallet to hold a chunk of bread, cakes, jerk, tow- for
wiping the barrel of the rifle, or any other thing necessary for the hunter. The
belt, which was always tied behind, answered several purposes, besides that of
holding the dress together. In cold weather the mittens, and sometimes the bullet-
bag occupied the front part of it. To the right side, hung the hatchet ; to the left,
in its leather sheath, was the hunting knife. The hunting-shirt was made of
linsey, sometimes of coarse linen, and some few were made of dried deerskin.
These last were very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather. The shirt, and jacket
were of the common pattern. A pair of breeches and leggings were the dress of
the thighs and legs: a pair of moccasins answered for the feet much better than
shoes. They were made of dressed deerskin. They were mostly made of a single
piece, with a gathering seam along the top of the foot, and another from the
bottom of the heel without gathers, as high as the ankle-joint, or a little higher.
Flaps were left on each side to reach some distance up the legs. They were nicely
adapted to the ankles and lower part of the leg by thongs of deerskin, so that no
dirt, gravel or snow, could get within the moccasin.

"The moccasins, in ordinary run, cost but a few hours' labor to make them.
This was done by aid of a instrument denominated a moccasin awl, which was
made of the back-spring of an old clasp-knife. This awl. with its linck-horn handle,
was an appendage Of every shot-pouch strap, together with a roll of buckskin,
for mending the moccasins. This was the labor of almost every evening. They
were sewed together and patched with deerskin throngs, or whangs, as they were
commonly called. En cold weather, the moccasins were well stuffed with deer's

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 269

hair, or dry leaves, so as to keep the feet comfortably warm, but in wet weather it
was usually said the wearing them was ' a decent way of going barefooted ; ' and
such was the fact, owing to the spongy texture of the leather of which the} - were
made.

" Owing to the defective covering of the feet, more than to any other circum-
stance, the greater number of hunters were afflicted with rheumatism in their
limbs. Of this disease they were all apprehensive in cold or wet weather, and there-
fore always slept with their feet to the fire, to prevent or cure it, as well as they
could. This practice unquestionably had a very salutary effect, and prevented
many of them from becoming confirmed cripples in early life." This description,
while of interest as revealing the shifts of the times, also brings that period near
to us, and so dispels, by evident accompanying discomforts, the glamour gathered
about the buckskin garments of the forest dwellers of the early day.

Rude covering of deerskin gradually gave way to suits of linen and woolen.
Sheep required much care to protect them from wolves, and the cash price of the
coarsest wool was half a dollar per pound. One or two acres of land were sown
to flax, expressly for lint. When ripe, the young people were invited, as to a frolic,
and the flax was speedily pulled, and then such as had no religious scruples
against dancing, remained after supper, to enjoy an hour or so in the pleasures of
the dance.

Months of hard labor were required to earn a suit of clothes, and the use of
boots and shoes was dispensed with by men now affluent, until long after the first
falls of snow. The price for an ordinary pair of cowhide boots was $7, and this
was paid in produce, at low rates.

The flax prepared for the wheel, now rarely seen, and the loom, was spun and
woven by the mothers and the daughters, and with the woolen yarn were made up
into warm, serviceable garments. The buzz of the spinning-wheel and the double
shake of the loom were pleasant sounds, and their operation was a favorite avoca-
tion. The long web, unfurled upon a grassy spot, was left to bleach in the sun,
under care and supervision, and when of snowy whiteness, were made up into
shirts, sheets and summer wear. Sabbath and holiday suits were worn with laud-
able pride, as the skillful handiwork of mother, wife or daughter.

In the larger Eastern towns, British goods were worn, but in the "West they
were unknown. The love of dress was not here wanting, but the means of grati-
fying it. Fashion had its votaries, but changes were infrequent and exactions not
severe. A calico dress, made up by the wearer, served not only for the reception
of company at home, but also for the party at the neighbor's. The wearer looked
in nowise less attractive than do those clad in the richer fabrics of to-day, and
few excused themselves from social gatherings upon the plea of " nothing to wear."

It was not until 1836, that Levi Spayd, the first tailor in Greenville, and still
a resident, opened a shop for the making of mens' apparel. The women, as has
been said, made up the cloth and garments worn by them. Carding-mills came
later than the period of which we speak, and it was rare to see a person dressed
in store clothes.

Girls spun cheerily with lightsome tread and quick movement, under the pros-
pect of receiving 75 cents a week, and, in 1823, you might have gone in Green-
ville to the stores of John S. Douglass, Nicholas Greenham or of the House
brothers, Isaac and Henry, and pricing calico, found it held at 40 to 50 cents a
yard. Society in that early day knew little factional distinction, and the love of
liberty and the maintenance of lofty sentiments were cherished by industry, and
no dignity of character was held more precious than that derived from conscious
and acknowledged worth. The opinion of the public and the sentiments of the
aged were estimated at full value. True manhood was exampled in principle,
integrity and independence, fitly expressed in the saying of an eminent old writer :
"The inbred loyalty unto virtue which can serve her without a livery." The
amusements of young and old were enjoyed with zest, There were huskings and

270 IIISTOUY OF DARKE COUNTY.

quiltings, woodchoppings, losings and raisings, celebrations and musters, and
each was a glad occasion. There was a double sense of enjoyment, the conscious-
ness of profitable and necessary employment and familiar intercourse. Visits
were made without formality, and were received with genuine satisfaction. Horse-
back riding for business or pleasure was common to both sexes, since horses could
pass where tree and stump forbade the use of wheeled vehicles.

To-day, society, labor, dress and mode of travel are all changed. There is
more formality and less happiness. There are fictitious distinctions of clans, but
the records of the past honor the pioneer as the people of the present are doing
noble work in the continuation of past labors.

Living in houses that are clapboarded, painted, blinded, and comfortably
warmed and supplied with every essential and luxury of the age, we may look
upon the old-fashioned implements as indispensable to the time, and present
relics. They are seen as curiosities, guide-marks of progress in scientific and
mechanical skill, while contemplated by the pioneer whose brawny arm had heaped
and burned the log-heap, he muses as if his senses were steeped in shadowy
dream. He sees again "the sleepless wilderness, a scene of wild expanse and
nameless grandeur comes before his mind,

"The voice of Nature's very self drops low,
As tho' she whispered of the long ago,
When down the wandering stream the rude canoe
Of some lone trapper glided into view,
And loitered down the watery path that led
Thro' forest depths that only knew the tread
Of savage beasts, ami wild barbarians
That skulked about with blood upon their hands
And murder in their hearts. The light of day
Might barely pierce the gloominess that lay
Like some dark pall across the water's face,
And folded all the land in its embrace;
The panther's screaming, and the bear's low growl,
The snake's sharp rattle, and the wolf's wild howl;
The owl's grim chuckle, as it rose and fell
In alternation with the Indian's yell,
Made fitting prelude for the gory plays
That were enacted in the early days.

" Now, o'er the vision, like a mirage, falls
The old log cabin with its dingy walls,
And crippled chimney, with the crutch-like prop
Beneath a sagging shoulder at the top.
The coonskin battened fast on either side,
The wisps of leaf tobacco, cut and dried;
The yellow strands of quartered apples hung
In rich festoons that tangle in among
The morning-glory vines that clamber o'er
The little clapboard roof above the door;
Again, thro' mists of memory arise
The simple scenes of home, before the eyes;
The happy mother humming with her wheel,
The dear old melodies that used to steal
Sn drowsily upon the summer air.
The house dog hid his bone, forgot his care,
And nestled at her feet, to dream, perchance,
Some cooling dream of winter-time romance.
The square of sunshine through the open door
That notched its edge across the puncheon floor, i

Ami made a golden coverlet whereon
The god of slumber had a picture drawn
Of babyhood, in all the loveliness
Of dimpled cheek and limb and linsey dress.
The bough-filled fireplace and the mantle wide,
Its fire scorched ankles stretched on either side,

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 271

Where, perched upon its shoulders 'neath the joist,
The old clock hiccoughed, harsh and husky-voiced ;
Tomatoes, red and yellow, in a row,
Preserved not then for diet but for show;
The jars of jelly, with their dainty tops;
Bunches of pennyroyal and cordial drops.
The flask of camphor and the vial of squills,
The box of buttons, garden-seeds and pills.
And thus the pioneer and helpsome aged wife
Reflectively reviews the scenes of early life."

REMINISCENCES — LAND PRICES AND PAYMENTS — FARMING IMPLEMENTS — CONDITION

OF COUNTY IN 1824.

" Each of us is only the footing-up of a double column of figures that goes
back to the first pair " asserts a great truth, since each generation inherits not
alone the features, but much of the moral, mental and physical constitution, of
that preceding. The sayings of our predecessors, perhaps reduplicated, are worthy
of record since the}- speak knowingly of those who lived and toiled with them.
W. S. Harper has written regarding the habits and manners of early settlers, as
follows : " Darke County was first settled by an industrious, hardy race of pio-
neers, poor men who had been renters in other parts of the State. As soon as they
were able to raise $100 or upward, the}- came here and invested it in land in order
that the}' might have a home of their own, and not be compelled to work one-third
of their time for an exacting landlord. As about all the means of the settlers were
laid out in land, and as there was a heavy growth of timber all over the county to
be cleared away before there could be anything raised to live upon, and as every
man was solely dependent on his own labor and that of his family for the improve-
ment of his farm, with this scanty help, he had many hindrances to combat.
Three months of the year, sickness prevailed to such an extent that there were
scarcely well persons enough to take care of the sick. To procure breadstuff,
milling had to be done many miles from home. A single trip occupied from two
to five da} T s. Salt and leather must be had once a year by a journey to Cincinnati,
which required from seven to ten days. If, as was sometimes the case, some prod-
ucts were in excess of the family need, and it was desired to sell, there was no
market nearer than Piqua or Dayton, and the roads were so intolerably bad that
it required a good span of horses in the most favorable season of the year to haul
twenty-five bushels of wheat. There were many other hindrances of less magni-
tude, such as visiting the sick, administering to the needy, assisting to raise build-
ings, roll logs, keeping the ' vermin ' from the growing crop, and hunting to suppl}'
the table with meat.

" To make lnonej' was out of the question, and no one fretted over it. If there
could be enough money procured by selling wheat at 3 shillings 11 pence per
bushel, or by disposing of deerskins and hams, or coonskins, or hoop-poles, to
procure salt and leather, coffee for Sunday mornings, and to pay taxes, it was all
that was expected ; and the recipients of these means of defraying expenses were
more than thankful and better contented therewith than the frugal farmer of the
present day with his abundance. Under these and other disadvantages, the
county improved slowly. When a spot of ground was cleared and fenced, the
gr< >und being dotted over with green stumps and roots, the farmer entered the
field to prepare a crop with his team, bar-shear or bull-plow, and after whooping,
hallooing, fretting, scolding and often getting heavy blows upon his ribs, and
abrasions of skin, and working on in this way for a week, he had gone over the
field, which then presented the appearance of having been rooted over by a drove
of swine in search of edible roots.

■ Little of the land was fenced, and roads were made in every direction accord-
ing to individual fancy, and without regard to land lines, the one object being to
shun wet land and the larger logs. When any part of the road became almost

272 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

impassable, improvement was made by laying poles or rails across the track and
throwing upon them dirt to keep them down ; to repair one rod of such road was
considered a (lav's work. As poor a makeshift as this was, it was the best that
could be done in those days. It is doubtful whether as late as 1^20. there was
money enough in the country to pay for the building of ten miles of turnpike.
Under the impulse of making, having, living at and enjoying a home, the people
in their poverty labored diligently, lived frugally, and contentedly cleared up their
farms, minded their own business, helped their neighbors, and were accorded the
fayor and blessing of their God. As the country was improved, houses of worship
were erected, and the settlers in plainness and simplicity of speech met in them
and at their own homes to worship the Giver of all good. There was more love
for neighbors, more sympathy for suffering humanity, more benevolence, more of
every grace that adorns the Christian character, than can be found in our country
at the present day. Those plain, frugal and industrious pioneers have laid the
foundation of one of the finest counties in the State of Ohio. With over eight
hundred miles of turnpike, 2.000 miles of open ditches, and 10.00(1 miles of tile
ditches ; with broad acres, fertile fields and manifest natural and acquired advan-
tages, the people are greatly blessed."

This statement, made by one familiar with this subject after years of observ-
ation and experience, seems fully warranted in the essential facts. Increase of
population has bestowed strength, divide burdens and restricted intercourse. The
channel of feeling flows, perhaps not as deep, although the depth is not discoverable,
and the people in the main have greatly improved upon the past.

The early conditions of society made it necessary that men, while seeking
such opportunities as were presented to pursue their trade or profession, should
base their means of subsistence upon the ownership and cultivation of land. It
was not unusual to find the blacksmith-shop near the house, to which he came
when wanted from his field, the preacher toiled during the week, and exhorted
upon the Sabbath, the teacher shared in this condition, and was by no means
exempt from the law of necessity governing the settlements, as is demonstrated by
the following reminiscence of Dennis Hart. This person came in November. 1817,
to Darke County, and entered a tract of Government land at what was known as
" Yankee Town " in the township of Harrison. He found the land heavily timbered
and sparsely inhabited, and therefore abandoned this tract in the fall of 181!). and
located on Bridge Creek, on the lands of George W. N. Night. As winter
approached, the settlers desiring a school, he opened a rate school in an old log
cabin, the property of Joseph Townsend, and taught a satisfactory term. The
next year, the citizens in that neighborhood built a log schoolhouse on the Green-
ville and Eaton road, just east of where now stands the house of A. II. Van Dyck,
and he was called to serve as the teacher during the winters of 1820-21. His wife
died in the former year, and two years later he married Jane McGlure, then a res-
ident on Whitewater, near the McClure and Provines settlement. Miss McClure
had come to Darke from Kentucky with her father in 1812, when ten years of age,
and had grown familiar with a life in the forest, and with its vicissitudes, as several
of her father's best horses had been stolen by Indians shortly after his settlement
in Darke County. Teachers of the present complain of low wages, but Mr. Hart,
as teacher in that day — sixty years ago — agreed to take his wages in corn. meat.
potatocs.in short, anything he could use and the settlers could spare. Money
payment was out of the question, and his necessity was great lie says : •• 1 was
poor and scarce of money, and my clothing was not of the kind suitable for a cold
winter, for 1 had to go many times to Adam's mill, which was some five miles
distant, for a grist of corn-meal, after dismissing my school at night.

•• One day I went to Greenville to try to get some warmer clothes, especially a
pair of pantaloons, hut had no money. I called at the store of Abram Scribner,
and told him what was wanted and that I wished to pay him in trade from the
articles received for services as teacher. He replied that he was not in need of

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 273

corn, potatoes or produce of any kind, and such an exchange would not suit him,
but that he would let me have the clothing and receive the pay in whisky. I then
went to William and Robert Rood, who were operating a little distillery and horse,
mill on the bottom land between Greenville and Mina, on the north side of Green-
ville Creek, sold them my corn at somewhat less than the market price, and received
in exchange whisky at a higher rate than the Greenville merchant would allow,
but succeeded in settling the account " — the last one for which Mr. Hart ever ran
in debt.

Times have changed since then, in truth. Teachers no longer need to patron-
ize distilleries to clothe themselves, and salaries are promptly paid in money. Judson
Jaqua's experience and information form an interesting relation in connection with
the foregoing, since, in addition to information of points of settlement, there is a
statement of the disposition of the section set apart for schools and of a stimulus
given to educational interests. He moved into Darke County in the spring of
1819, and " settled in the woods where there was not a tree amiss, except such as
had been felled by hunters of bees and raccoons. A small opening had been made by
Hart prior to his removal toward Greenville, and a settlement was soon formed by
the arrival and settlement here of a number of families. Among the earliest on
the ground were two or three New Englanders, and from that circumstance the
settlement derived its name of Yankee Town. No schools were known at this time
to be in session. Our Section 16, had been rented some years on a lease for ninety-
nine years, forever renewable, with interest at 6 per cent on its appraised value,
but there had been no payment of rent, as there were no schools. At an election
held in 1821, Mr. Jaqua was chosen Justice of the Peace, and thereby came into
possession of a law-book, which being examined, there was found an act defining
the method whereby school districts could be laid off, and acting on this informa-
tion, the people defined the boundaries of a district which they entitled No. 1.
The}' now began to inquire about the rent due on Section 16. This drew the
attention of other settlements, and more districts were duly formed. New Madison
was then Fort Black, and the block-house was still standing, its day of service
past. Zadoc Smith had staked off some lots, and then sold out to E. Putnam,
who had secured the services of Henry D. Williams, by whom the place was duly
laid out. At this time there was, also, a semi-military station called Fort Nesbit
on Section 29, but no town, and a good settlement on Whitewater Creek, extending
from the south county line as far up as McClure's, lately C. C. Walker's place.

While alluding to the general privations of the earl}' settler, we may dwell
upon one embarrassment which bore heavily upon his energies, and which to this
generation is measurably unknown. Poor as he usually was, the settler, alone or
with his family, had entered upon his westward journey with sufficient means to
enter a tract of Government land. He knew that from the soil must come sup-
plies of food ; but a noble growth of timber — sure token of fertility — encumbered
the ground, and must first be removed before grain or vegetable could grow.
Hard labor as it was, many found actual enjoyment therein, and, had no obstacles
existed beyond the actual clearing, the woodsmen could have done their work
without great difficult}'. It is a pleasure, at this late da}', to listen to the narra-
tions of those who, when children, came upon their farms in this now favored sec-
tion, and thereon have grown old in all but the evergreen memories of those first
impressions. Differing in names, dates and locality of the settlement, the history
of one of Darke County's pioneers is like to that of all. As units of the number
in the force engaged in rendering subservient to the man the wild luxuriance of
nature, the greatest troubles were met by those who led the van. When land had
been chosen and improved somewhat, when lapse of time brought the day of pay-
ment and there was no money, nor the means to procure any. and when, suffering
sickness and enduring hunger, default of payment or foreclosure of a claim drove
the family from such home as had been made, then, in truth, was hardship known ;
yet such was the reward of many who cleared land in Darke. As the law then

274 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

stood, not less than :i quarter-section could be entered. The price of the public
hind was si' an acre, and the purchaser was required to pay $80, or one-fourth,
down, one-fourth in two years, and the balance in two equal annual installments,
with interest; altogether, $320. If not paid within the time specified, the lands.
with whatever had been paid of the installments, were forfeited, and a great many
were unable to pay for their lands as required, and so. being placed at the mercy
of the Government, they remained as occupants by sufferance. Forfeiture was not
declared, and. in March, 1820, an act was passed by Congress, extending the time
for payments to entries until March 31, 1821. This legislation simply allowed the
settler to reside on his land another year, hut this gave no aid. He was as unable
to pay at the end of the year as at the beginning. At length, a bill was introduced
which provided that the holder of any legal certificate of purchase might file a
relinquishment in writing, at the land office, on or before September 30, 1821 ;
and if such person had paid but one-fourth of the first cost of the entry, he could
pay the rest in eight equal annual installments ; if he had paid one-half the bal-
ance could be paid in six annual payments ; if three-fourths, the rest could have
four equal yearly installments ; and if the whole amount could be paid by the last
of September, 1S22. a deduction of three-eighths would be made on payments yet
to be made. March 21, 1821, the bill passed, but Darke Count}- was remote, and
news of this relief measure came when it was too late to make it available. The
time, too, had nearly gone b}- before the district land officers had received orders
from the proper department, and few had any benefit from the enactment. An act
was passed March 3, 1823, continuing the provisions of the law of 1821 to Septem-
ber 30, 1823. Congress, however, contained man}' men who felt a deep interest in
the development of the West, and who were earnest in their efforts to aid the
moneyless settler. Soon an act was passed, authorizing the sale of public lands in
one-eighth sections, and reducing the price to $1.25 per acre. Still another law was
passed, legalizing land sales in one-sixteenth of a section, or forty-acre tracts, and
permitting such as had entered lands under the first act to relinquish them, and
to apply whatever they had paid to the payment of one-half the lands entered, or
any other tract they might choose. The beneficial influence of this legislation was
apparent, in securing as permanent settlers a number of families that otherwise
would have been deprived of their homes, after losing both payments and labor.
The land was low, wet. wooded and hard to clear up. About each cabin were a
few acres in crop, and these pioneers raised no surplus. They were satisfied to
bide their time if they had sufficient food to take them through to the next
harvest. When supplies were necessitated, hauling had to be done great distances,
upon roads almost impassable for wagons, and the greater part of such provisions
was mainly corn meal and bacon, which were placed, generally, upon horses, and
so brought home. Journe} T s through the woods on foot were as little regarded, at
such times, as trips equal distances now are by the railway.

Clearing was the labor of the day. and its method is little known by the
favored descendants of the present. In 1820, intelligence directing physical
strength was excellent, but courage and bodily power were imperative, and the
weakly were out of place, Avhile idlers were held in contempt, Opprobious epi-
thets were freely applied to him who shunned labor, and his punishment came
home with force when neighbors refused to attend his calls.

The settler, ax in hand, prepared to commence a spot of clearing, felled his
trees with scientific skill in double windrows inward, piling and interlacing limbs
and tops ; then, when the summer's heat had evaporated the moisture and all was
dry as tinder, a chosen time found favorable winds which drove the fires enkin-
died with waxes of flame and furnace heat from end to cud. and left the charred
and blackened trunks for future disposal. The practice of girdling was frequently
a resort, and a tract whereon the trees stood leafless and decaying was aptly
termed a deadening. These trees were cut in time, and used for fencing and for
firewood, the latter use from readiness to burn, not disposition to economize the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 275

timber. The choicest timber found no exemption, the walnut, cherry and poplar,
with the beech, the ash and the maple, were alike " in one red burial blent."

It was customary to cut logs in lengths, and then give notice of a logging
bee, when all turned out to roll the logs in heaps ready for burning. Changing
works was the rule, which had no exception. Many a settler, having risen earl}',
traveled miles through the woods to take part in a logging, and has, on his return
home, passed much of the night in kindling and keeping up his log-heap fires.
There being a small spot cleared for home site and truck patch, it was customary
to chop during winter for a spring crop of corn. The brush was burned where it
lay, and if there was rank vegetation and the fire swept the field, it was in all the
better condition for the crop. The matted roots of vegetable growth and the lay-
ers of decaying leaves contributed to fertilize the ground. In the early spring
days, the busy settlers fired their log heaps or their windrows, and the woods were
darkened and travelers confused and blinded by the dense clouds of smoke. The
darkness of night was intensified by the fires. Lurid flames, casting strange
shadows upon the surrounding forest, lent a weird, uncanny aspect to this mid-
night holocaust of noble timber — the wreck and ruin of unchecked centuries of
growth. There were pillars, too, of fire in these clearings where the flames had
crept as if in stealth insidiously upward along the hollow of some tall dead tree,
till, issuing fiercely exultant at the top, the}' waved their victory from this wood-
walled furnace. And on these clearings were seen the many fires burning, as if
the night had come again after the massacre of November 4, and the savages
were repeating in pantomime their infernal tortures on their hapless captives.
Here is seen a heap just lighted, where burns a lively flame, there red embers,
glowing in heat, mark the sites of piles of logs consumed. Those who were with-
out team and plow, or all, if the season was far advanced, planted their corn,
pumpkins, turnips and potatoes irregularly among the stumps, amid the mold-
mingled ashes. The pest of weeds, which came later to strive for dominance was
unknown, and settlers had need only to guard their crops from depredation , and
to go through the fields to pull or cut the fire-wood, which grew rank and lu xuri-
ant from questioned germ, upon these newly cleared fields. It was soon e xter-
minated, to be succeeded by others less thrift}' and more obnoxious. In cropping,
each settler followed his own desire ; some sowed wheat and rye upon the g round
after cutting the corn, in wide rows of stooks, while others sowed a piece of
ground prepared for the purpose during the summer, and, one way with another,
managed to harrow it under.

The farmer of sixty years ago was poorly supplied with poor tools. There
was no kind of machinery used in agriculture, as then there teas none to use.
Hoes, drags and brash were used to cover seed. A broken tool was not easily
repaired, for the blacksmith's shop was generally some distance away, and, in con-
sequence, tools were made strong and unwieldy. The drag was made by the set-
tler or his more handy neighbor. Two round or hewed sticks were joined ; the
one was longer than the other, and, projecting, was made the place for attachment
for the chain, and both were braced apart by a cross-piece. Seven heavy iron
teeth were set in, four upon the longer piece, three on the other. Not unfre-
quently, necessit}' supplied the harrows with wooden teeth. Fields were cultivated
several seasons mainly with the hoe, to allow time for the decay of roots. For
breaking up land, two kinds of plows were used — the bar shear, which had a long,
flat shear, a coulter or cutter placed on the point of the shear, and extending up
through the beam, and a wooden mold-board. The beam and handle extended
about ten feet. The other was known as the " Bull plow," and was brought into
the country by immigrants from New York and New Jersey. One of the first
employed in breaking in Darke County had but one handle and a wooden mold-
board. The first improvement made upon this plow was the addition of another
handle. It was the best plow then in use, clumsy and heavy to handle as it was.
The earliest introduced patented plow was known as the " Peacock." The great

276 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

improvement on the <>1<1 bar shear consisted in the change of the material of the
moldboard from wood to east iron. These served to stir up the surface of the
soil, but the plowman of to-day, throwing the soil clean from the furrow, lias little
thought of the effort made to drag one of those plows through the land, the
adherence of soil to the plow, the failure to "scour," and the poor work possible
with such a tool.

CLIMATE.

A powerful element of no slight importance, relating to the past and present
of Darke County, and one beyond the considerations of fertility and prospective
or actual capacity, was that of climate. It was generally believed, with good
show of reason, the land being cleared, this county would excel in the salubrity
of its climate. Since the early settlement of Darke County, occurring changes
have greatly modified the climate, and to a less extent this is still in progress.
The original forest, together with the undergrowth, shut out the sun from the soil
and impeded atmospheric circulation. The almost monotonous level of the sur-
face receiving the winter snows and spring rains retained the water through the
summer on account of driftwood, vegetation and other obstructions. Evaporation
proceeded slowly during summer, and thereby caused a moist, cool air. The for-
ests broke the sweep of the cold northwest winds of winter, and the freezing of
large, partially submerged tracts, gave off a sufficient amount of heat to sensibly
mitigate the cold incident to the season. The soil, bedded in leaves and vegeta-
tion, was greatly protected from the frost, and the warm air of spring speedily
awakened the dormant germs of vegetation. It also happened that the surface
protected by overhanging foliage from the heat of summer, more readily experi-
enced the influences of wind and frosts, and hastened winter. The forests being
gradually cut down to make room for cultivation, the land being thoroughly
drained, these conditions have correspondingly changed. The earth now
receives the sun-rays unobstructed ; the air has free circulation. The tilled lands
have been underdrained with tile and open ditches, thereby carrying away at once
the melting snows of winter and the rains of spring, leaving little moisture to
affect the climate by evaporation. The effect of this denuding and draining of
the soil is seen in the great depth to which the summer's sun-rays penetrate, and
as these rays are given off, the arrival of winter is proportionally delayed. But
when the reserve of heat is exhausted, the unprotected earth is deeply frozen, and
from these conditions come later springs, warmer summers and delayed but more
severe winters. An analysis of the climate of Darke, according to the previous
description, requires a consideration, also, of the situation of its land and the direc-
tion and character of its winds. Located about midway between the Alleghany
Mountains and the .Mississippi River, there is observable a prevalence of westerly
winds. This is explained by the enormous area of level lowlands whereon the
atmosphere is influenced by the earth's rotary motion, causing it to move in west-
erly currents toward or from the equator. The west and northwest winds are
mainly dry-air currents, so that although the annual rainfall is considerable, yet
under their action the moisture is rapidly absorbed. Such conditions would inure
to the productiveness of most soils, but in a good, rich soil such as Darke County
occupies, there is almost a certainty of ample and abundant crops.

The averages in the various seasons are. approximately, 31° for winter. 57°
for spring. 7 1 for summer and 52° for autumn. The winter is long, and there are
sudden changes from the mildness of spring to the most intense cold. These cold
spells are rarely more than seven or eight days' duration, and are generally pre-
ceded by storms of rain or snow. Rain falls almost nightly and for a day or so at
a time during spring, and the temperature fluctuates from the chill of winter to
the warmth of summer. Following one of these changes, summer comes and is
throughout of a tropical character. As fall draws near, the atmospheric conditions
approach uniformity, and at this period Darke County is seen to the greatest

HARRISON TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 279

advantage Breathing an agreeable atmosphere, surrounded by healthful condi-
tions, the beholder looks with pleasure upon the fields, the orchards and the gar-
dens. Turning to the woodlands, he sees the maples, elms and oaks in holiday
attire preparing for their period of rest. There is there every hue and all shades
of color. The winds toy with the branches ; the sunlight is all about them some
are darkened as in shadow, others are brilliant in the glow of light, and all' alXt

;!7 n are f See ;f ^ Sm0kelike mists > completing nature's finest' port^^of
the forest m the falltune arrayed in splendor.

The health of the settler and of the later residents has been subjected to the
mutations affecting the climate. In the low swamps, miasma prevatd he act on

the sim upon the decaying vegetation opened by the clearing and stirred by he
plow, induced fevers and chills, and there were few that did not at times succumb
to these disorders. The healthy and hearty entered into the rtra^SaSXS

rXE buT d th r° USly - Lab ° r h , ad itS ZeSt - and food - d Sep were most
refreshing , but there were many who struggled on under the depression and
hindrances of sickness. As settlers came in and clearing took SrTweep
sickness became more general, or, at least, more apparent, and when D rs Penine

th'caS th'sick G T nVme ' f eJ fOUnd --^employment iTaUen^Z
tne calls of the sick. Fever and ague prevailed, and few, if any, families but had
some sick members. Not then, as now, was quinine available-not Ten known-

1 e PoP^ar remedies were dogwood and wild-cherry bark steeped in native
whiskj . Slow progress was made for a time, as men became disheartened left the
county and circulated reports that were not only true but Badly^^^T
claimable wilderness of morass and swamp, the haunt of pestiferous agu^s and

SSSRS vlStudL 18 a ^ ^ ^ ^ ° f ^ " ° f »"ld a on
From 1820 to 18-10, the doctors were all kept busy attending to the sick so

1TJ; i n ^ ere iT,V flUX ^ bili ° US fever at certain\easons of^he year The
sichTv and I^Q tl' W6re com lff^ely healthy; the year following was more
Si' 839 , SUl } m ° re S °' and from that time m 18 ™ there were more or less
of bilious complaints every season. Since that date, both towns and county live
been generally healthy As an illustration of the desperation to wMch^e medi
cal treatment subjected patients, we relate an incident in the practice of Dr Sard
one of the veteran physicians of the early day. He was called in as fa nily 'phvsi
cian to minister to the wants of a sick child? Cold water was fo'rb dS and c" -"
omel, as was usual, was administered. The doctor then retired, with romle of a
return the next day. Cold water was barred ; the boy begged for a drink but
entreated in vain, as the doctor's orders were immutable law°° He tnen resorted o

i, Ih ff Fe r Ulg K a de t' e f ° r reSt and re P° se ' the toi1 ^ retired to pennrt the ?
indulgence Soon heavy breathing announced that all were asleep, and the patient
arose from bed, staggered to the water-bucket, and, to his dismay found Lit « tZ
This discovery would have been hailed by imprecations that would have roLe 1 all
in he house had not the necessity of the case demanded control, wlter must be
ad, although the spring was at quite a distance. The coffee-pot was foim and
the patient set out to assuage his consuming thirst. He rested several times in the
wet grass but finally arrived at the spring, drank heartily, ai id IdScovered
returned to his bed, having placed the well-filled coffee-pot at the bXde This
was two-thirds emptied before this suicidal act was known, when the doctor was

SS d ^ 7? St0 ° d Wi f aS , t0ni8hed - d °™ s look'waitli g
serious results that did not happen. In a few days, the patient had recovered
Di Gard was as skillful as the best, and did his duty, but the practice of that Hv

H ion Ts->78 tf StatI H iCS ° f ^ ^^ fOT 187 ° Sh °- th ^ <£ *W
350 Th5iw! ' de l hS WGre ' 0t maleS ' 158 ; of females > 192o r a total of
350 There were, among the enumerated causes of deaths, the diseases of infante

Suw'Se 86 IS'ST* f T r(0 ^ SP T\ ^-^itis). consumption pneumoS
ana old age. The last named produced the greatest mortality. There died of

280 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

spotted fever, 21; of consumption, 58; of pneumonia, 32, and of old age, 17.
This gives a small fraction over 1 death yearly from each 100 of population — a
rate that will compare favorably with other localities and which demonstrates the
present healthfullness of the climate.

Rich as the land was. it could not produce money, and this must be had to
meet payments and taxes. Clearing, aside from small patches, had no stimulus.
( )f what avail were bins of corn and wheat, and droves of swine, without a purchaser
or market, and of markets there were none. Having sufficient bread ami meat, all
were satisfied, and they shared freely with each other and with strangers. Wheat
was worth about 2 shillings per bushel, and corn changed hands at about one-
half that price. The current prices fluctuated with the supply, and it was a grat-
ification when a newspaper for the first time made it appearance and obtained
general circulation in the county. It was published at Eaton. Preble County, and
subscription was paid in corn at 15 cents per bushel. Pork was sold, when it
could be sold, at 2 and 3 cents a pound ; beef brought about the same
price ; maple sugar was held at 6 and 8 cents per pound, and maple syrup at
about 2 shillings a gallon. Wages ranged from 2 to 3 shillings a day, and
this was regarded as an average of compensation. Had some wealthy man bought
large tracts and taken steps to develop the capacity of the land, there were many
who would gladly have offered their services, but improvement in wages, prices
and health were yet far in the future ; and this border life between the civilized
and the savage had few attractions such as society affords.

DARKE IN 1824.

Fifty-six years ago, and nine counties in Western Ohio, stretching from the
State's south boundary to Lake Erie, had one representative in the State Legisla-
ture and cast a vote of less than 700. Andrew Hiller took the census of Darke
County in 1830. at which date the population entire was 6,204, and of Greenville
204. which was an increase of 2,487 in ten years. The condition of the country
in 1824 has been described as follows : " At that time, the present townships of
Mississinewa, Jackson, Allen, York, Patterson and Wabash, did not contain a
single inhabitant. In Brown, there were three families; in Franklin, one; in
Monroe, three ; more than three-fourths of the townships of Wayne, Richland,
Adams, Van Buren, Butler and Twin, were an unbroken wilderness, and in the
most populous parts of the county, more than half the land yet belonged to the
United States. The present fine valleys of East Fork. Mud ('reek. West Branch
and Bridge Creek, were dismal swamps, tangled morasses through which the
intrepid surveyors under Ludlow forced their way ; at times waist-deep in water
and resisted by briars, branches and tall grasses. Half the farms were fenceless ;
cattle and swine ran half wild, and the latter were trapped and hunted with fero-
cious dogs. In that year, there were four grist-mills in the county, all of which,
together might have ground one hundred bushels of corn per day, if the condi-
tions were favorable, that is. if there was water in the streams, the dam unbroken
and the mill machinery in order. Much of the time, the settlers resorted to the
mills of Jerry Cass, on Middle Fork ; Sheets and Razor, on the Stillwater ; Leh-
man's, at Howdy, and to those more certain, yet more distant upon the Miami
River.

There were also eight or ten saw-mills that, for three months in the year.
could cut from 500 to 1,000 feet of lumber in a day and night's run, provided
something was not broken or out of order; for it was the exception and not the
rule to find them in running condition. In one branch of business, the
county has retrograded. There were then a dozen or less of petty distil-
leries, whose united product fell far short of quenching tin- thirst of the peo-
ple, and additional supplies were drawn from the establishments of McGrew, on
Whitewater, and Sheets. Razor's and Robnock, on Stillwater. Those of Lehman

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 281

& Rench were passed by, as the local demand left no surplus. To this was added
the imported cognac. Jamaica, Scheidam, from Cincinnati, besides Madeira, sherry
and port, so essential to preserve health, and so essential in sickness. T. Snell
and J. Huffman coopered kegs for the products of the stills, and manufactured
well buckets, kraut tubs and other vessels needed by the settlers. There were in
the county six brick houses and thrice that number of frame buildings, the cost of
construction of none having been in excess of $500. Every other human habita-
tion was the log house, in its various phases, from the round-pole structure with
bark covering, to the two-story hewed-log, with shingle roof and glazed windows.
There were a number of schoolhouses, the best of which was not worth $15, and
all of them together would have been dear at $100.

Two meeting-houses, one a Methodist and one a Hard-shell Baptist, built of
hewed logs, and roofed with clapboard, composed the ecclesiastical structures of
the county at that period. Religious services were held at long and irregular
intervals, at various places, the court house, private dwellings, or, if the weather
permitted, out of doors.

The roads of the county consisted of the old war traces of St. Clair and Wayne,
cut more than thirty years before, the Indian path to the Miami on the east, "and
the Whitewater towns on the west and southwest, and some few other " traces," as
they were called, cut out by the early settlers ; so that a wagon might possibby get
along in the daytime, provided the driver had an ax along with him, to cut his
way around trees, which had fallen across the road. A trip with a conveyance on
wheels, to and from Piqua or Troy, to Lockey's Mills or Paris, under very favora-
ble circumstances, might be made in from three to five days ; to Eaton, the Mississin-
ewa or Recovery, in a much longer period. Nothing on wheels was ever attempted to
be taken to St. Mary's or Loramie, and if anything of the kind ever went to Win-
chester, it never returned.

There were not then over one hundred acres of cleared land in a body, in the
county ; the proportion of cultivated to wild land cannot definitely be stated, but
sixteen years later, 1840, the area of land utilized by civilization, by inclosure, and
much of that still covered with timber and denominated " woods pasture,"
amounted to but little over 25 per cent.

It remains to revert to the general features of the county. At that
time the lands subjected to cultivation were the more elevated portions of Green-
ville, Washington, Harrison and Neaves Townships, with narrow belts along Still-
water, Swamp Creek and Greenville Creek in the townships of Richland, Wayne
and Adams ; on Millers Fork in Twin, and at the head of Twin Creek in Butler.
The Painter Creek and the swamps of Twin, reaching from Greenville Creek to the
southern boundary of the county, and from the east side of Butler and Neaves
Townships to the Miami County line, and including an area of more than a
hundred square miles, now exhibiting a bocby of as good farming lands as any in
the Miami Valley, and which are now as well-improved and productive as any in
the county, were, fifty years ago, and for many years thereafter, a wilderness,
heavil}- wooded and much the greater part under water, varying from one to five
feet in depth, more than half the year. In a like condition, until quite a recent
period, was more than half of the townships of Jackson, Brown, Allen, Wabash
and Patterson. These regions have been entirely reclaimed to agricultural uses,
and are now producing, some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold."

EARLY PREACHERS — EDUCATION — MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND MARRIAGES, ETC.

When settlers' cabins stood at secluded places, at wide intervals upon high
ground, on creek banks, or deep in the woods, the circuit rider had set out on his
mission of good. Traversing road, trace and forest paths, he found cordial wel-
come eveiwwhere. Arousing strong opposition, he had power in Gospel truth,
plainly expressed, and found ample illustration from the boundless volume of

282 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Nature. Let it be said to the honor of the pioneer, that despite the crude state of
society, whoever made any profession of religion was faithful in worship and
fervent in spirit. Church members from the East gladly called in kindred spirits
to hold prayer-meetings in their cabins, relate their experience and cheer each
on. They gave kind greeting to the chance or expected itinerant preacher on his
arrival, took charge of his horse and speedily sent out the children or went them-
selves along the byways to notify the neighborhood, when all dropped their
employment and gathered to the meeting.

It was well that Christians were strong in faith, brave and determined, for
there was much wickedness practiced. The character of employment, and asso-
ciation at races, courts, musters, raisings and other assemblages, tended strongly
to make the popular vices of gambling, drinking and righting. There was urgent
need of the enthusiastic and eloquent men, who from the cabin door, the rude
stand in the large barn, or the extemporized pulpit at the camp-meeting in the
wood, addressed the gathered throng in ringing tones with thrilling language upon
those noblest of themes — salvation and immortality. The records of those meet-
ings of the olden time almost persuade the reader that some speakers of that day
were, at times, inspired with superhuman power of speech.

There are few now living who recollect John Purviance, who lived on the
"Whitewater, and championed the tenets of the Christian Church ; Andrew and
Henry Rush, who exhorted in the Methodist faith, and Dearborn and Finley, represent-
ative circuit riders. Some tew may recall old John Hiller and his grown-up sons
— settlers on the West Branch — and the pioneer meeting-house erected in his
neighborhood. They have passed away, and few are the traces left of them.

It is asserted that Judge J. Purviance preached at the house of Judge Rush,
on Mud Creek, in 1811, the first sermon delivered to a civil congregation within
the bounds of Darke County. His father, David Purviance, was one of the origin-
ators of what were termed the " New lights," in Kentucky. Rev. J. Purviance was
a teacher, as well as a preacher and worker, and his dwelling near Braffettsville, in
Harrison Township, was made to answer the threefold purpose of schoolroom,
meeting-house and dwelling.

About the same year, Abraham Sneethen preached a sermon in Greenville,
and Henry Arnold speaks of it as the first he had heard in this county. Among
other pioneer preachers of the Christian denomination were Isaac- Main, John
Foster and William Polly. The Baptists formed a society at an early date and
erected a house of worship — evidence of members and influence. The Presbyte
rians delayed organization until 1818, when Rev. Shannon who had seined as chap-
lain in one of Harrison's Kentuclcy regiments, ^preached at the residence of Mr.
Martin, father of John H. Martin. Early history of Methodism in Darke County
has mainly to do with the circuit riders, elders and churches. The record of
Methodism during the early 3-ears of settlement is meager. The first Methodist
minister that visited this county was Rev. John Brown in 1817, and the year fol-
lowing John P. Durbin (since Corresponding Secretary of the American Missionary
Society) preached on what was then known as the Baton Circuit. It was extensive
in area, embracing appointments at Camden and Eaton in Preble County ; Green-
ville and Siller's in Darke County, Covington, in .Miami County, and Union, Con-
cord and Germantown in Montgomery County, besides parts of Wayne and Ran-
dolph in Indiana. The pioneer meeting-house of the county was erected by the
Methodist society in 1818, and is yet standing upon its original site, about four
miles west of Greenville and a half-mile south of Winchester turnpike. Great
pains were taken with this rude sanctuary in its construction. Its walls were of
hewed logs, and the work when completed was considered excellent. The pulpit,
made of rough boards, and two or three slab seats, are still in existence. The roof
was originally of the old well known cabin style, but has since been renewed and
bears a more modern covering. The old house itself has been kept in such repair
that it served for the accommodation of the people on funeral occasions. The

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 283

dedicator}' sermon for this old landmark of religion was preached by Rev. Durbin,
and the following Presiding Elders severally held within its door their quarterly
meetings : Alexander Cummins, John Strange, John Collins, J. B. Finley, John F.
Wright, William H. Raper and William B. Christie. The first quarterly meeting
for the Greenville Circuit of 1S17 was held at Greenville in the private dwelling
of John Dunn by Elder Moses Crume. Rev. Durbin preached at the house of A.
Scribner and his teaching seems to have been salutary in its effect upon the commu-
nity. Soon the limits of the circuit were diminished and regular preaching was
discontinued until 1833, although during this interval, sermons were occasionally
delivered at the court house, dwelling-houses, and such other places as could be
procured for that purpose. The want of houses of worship gave rise to the cus-
tom of holding camp-meetings and other religious assemblages in the open air.
This was resorted to by the different denominations, and drew large crowds, but
sometimes the good results were counterbalanced by the rowdying ruffianism that
intruded itself. The yearly Dunker meetings were rarely disturbed. The peculiar
methods of the sect, their generosity in feeding the multitude, chiefly upon soups,
had much to do, no doubt, in securing the order that so generally prevailed at their
meetings.

In 1818, the first class was organized in Darke County, at the pioneer church,
and was known as the"Hiller and Li vergood class." In 1833, William Oliver,
resident about six miles north of Greenville, formed a second class, which con-
sisted of the following named persons : Mrs. Turpen and daughter Emeline (the
wife of Dr. Sexton), Mrs. L. R, Brownell, William Barrett and wife, and William J.
Birely and wife. It is said of Mrs. Turpen that she, at times, walked four miles
to church and class. This class was organized under Revs. Francis Timmons and
Ira Chase, who were on the circuit at this date. A class was formed at Greenville
this same year. The Methodists experienced much opposition, being regarded as
hypocritical and fanatical. Meetings were disturbed and attempts were made to
inflict violence upon the ministers.

In 1834, prayer-meeting began to be held at the house of William Wile} 7 ,
whose wife had been a member of the Baptist Church at her former home. Mr.
Wiley's meetings were at first attended by persons spirituously as well as spiritu-
ally inclined. After a time, religious people came quite generally, and this led in
time to the present Wednesday evening prayer-meeting in Greenville.

This year, Jesse Prior was on the circuit, and among those in the county
added to the church were William J. Birely and wife, J. M. Baskerville, Lovina
Houp, Hiram Bell, Jane and Lemuel Rush and Eliza McGinnis. In 1835, a church
building was commenced in Greenville. Stephen F. Conry and Adam Miller were
on the circuit. In the year 1837, Rev. Prior was returned and the church influ-
ence became manifest. Religion was the topic of converse at home, in public and on
the street, while attendance at church was general. Eli Truitt labored on the cir-
cuit in 1838-39, Robert 0. Spencer was Presiding Elder, and Wilson Barrett and
George Starr were Class-Leaders. During the years 1840-41, William Morrow
and James McNabb being on the circuit, it was now reduced by increase of
population to Darke Count}-. About 300 persons were converted and a like num-
ber joined the church. From 1841, to the close of 1843, S. M. Batty and Eliakim
Zimmerman, were on the circuit. They were followed in 1844, by Jacob Brown
and Cadwallader Owens ; then came T. Phillips in 1845-46 ; Joseph Wykes
in 1847-48 ; and Alexander Hammond in 1849-50. David Rutledge labored
on the circuit in 1851, and the church received some accessions. Jacob
Burkholder, assisted by Franklin Mariott. were well received in 1852. and
the church prospered. L. C. Webster, assisted by Rev. Mariott. in 1853. W. W.
Winter was the senior preacher in the two following years, assisted first by P. G.
Goode, then by Oliver Kennedy, who from 185(3-58, was senior preacher, aided by
L. C. Webster and P. B. Lewis. Great interest was shown, accessions were
numerous, and the people saw these men remove elsewhere with regret. Ministers

284 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

in 1858 wereW. J. Peck and John T. Bower, and for 1*59 and 1860, Isaac Newton,
assisted by P. B. Lewis, at which date Greenville was made a station with an
appointment at Coleville. From this date, the history of Methodism will be found
continued in city and township record. It was but justice to enroll the names of
those circuit riders. What a life was theirs ; uncertain one year of their field of
Labor the next. A pair of saddle-bags contained their wardrobe and their library.
Long journeys were made to meet appointments. All honor to these men, though
they have gone from us, their memories are preserved in the ennobling influences
created and fostered by their faithful instructions.

The Darke County charge of the German Reformed Church presents its first
record in reference to a meeting held at Beamsville Aug. 6, 1853, at which five
congregations were represented, viz.: Zion, five miles west of Greenville; St.
John's, in German Township ; beside Zoar, Beamsville and Gettysburg. At this
meeting, Jesse Prugh was President ; John L. Darner, Secretary ; and Philip
Hartzell and Jesse Prugh, delegates to synod and classis. A new charge was
designed at Greenville, and the different congregations pledged $131 for the
support of a minister, and Indian Creek congregation was put down for $25, the
sum they were supposed willing to contribute. At the next annual meeting, Zoar
and Zion only were represented. Another year elapsed, and the joint consistories
of the county met at St. John's Church, when the resignation of Ilev. J. D. Colli-
flower was tendered and accepted, and a committee appointed to pi"ocure another
minister. Meeting again on July 24, these same congregations extended a call to
Rev. J. McConnell, and pledged $185 to his support. The call was not accepted ;
Mr. Prugh was re-elected President, and Mr. Hartzell was chosen Secretary. Aug. 23,
1856, these congregations were represented at a meeting held at Clayton, Miami Co.,
Ohio. The same person was continued as Secretary, and John Nicodemus elected
Treasurer. Delegates were chosen to attend the meetings of the Synod. The
consistory of Zion's congregation desiring to withdraw from the charge, the
request was assented to on condition of a donation of $50 to supply the deficiency
caused by their retiring. Meantime, Rev. I. M. Lefevre had accepted a call to
preach, and a meeting was called for August 23, 1857, at the house of Levi Rahn,
in the limits of the Gett} T sburg congregation, at which Zoar and Beamsville met
the local consistory and chose for officer's J. L. Darner, Vice President ; Secre-
tary, the same as before ; G. W. Cromer, Treasurer ; Jesse Prugh and William
Aspinwall, elected delegates to Synod and classis. The Missionary Board was
asked for $50 for one year, to support minister, in addition to $175 pledged by
the members. Again they met a year later, continued the same officers, and, as
an illustration of the poverty but willing spirit prevailing, a deficit of the Pastor's
salary was reported and a pledge made of $160 for the coming year. It was
then "Resolved, That the Pastor preach a missionary sermon in each congregation
of this charge, and at the same time take up a collection for domestic missions."
In 1859, Beamsville, Zoar and Gettysburg met at Clayton, Ohio, elected officers and
appointed a committee to extend an invitation to Rev. J. Weaver to visit the
charge with a view of securing him as Pastor. The Darke County charge, of
which these records are given, has ceased to be known as such. By an action of
classes in the fall of 1861, the Zoar congregation became attached to the
St. Paiis' charge, and the Beamsville and Creager's (Gettysburg) to the Dallas
charge in 1862, thereby dissolving the charge. This action was preparatory to
starting an interest in the town of Greenville, so long neglected, and the formation
of what was thereafter to he known as the Greenville charge. The hardships and
discouraging vicissitudes incident to a new country, have been experienced by
the different denominations; although the record has not been in all accessi-
ble, yet no distinction need be made, since originators, members and minis-
ters have been heroic and undaunted in building up the present elevating and
advancing interest in things spiritual and eternal, and furthering the cause of the
.Master.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 285

The first Sabbath school in the county was organized early in 1834, in what
was afterward sometimes called " Scribner's white house," wherein Harrison made
a treaty with the Indians. The school began with an enrollment of but eleven
persons, including officers, teachers and pupils, and that it was non-sectarian is
proved by the association in this work of Methodists, Presbyterians and Congre-
gationalists. In the spring, sixteen accessions were chronicled, and within three
years the number had increased to fully one hundred and fifty more. The school
was then discontinued, and each denomination that had sufficient pupils organized
a school of its own. The first Superintendent was William Barrett, a Methodist.
The first Secretary was Herman Searles, a Congregationalist, and the pioneer
teachers of classes were Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Sexton, Mrs. Briggs, Mrs. Barrett and
Miss Evaline Dorsey.

Educational advantages in town and count}' were for many years quite lim-
ited. There were a few rude schoolhouses widely scattered, and these were occu-
pied three months of each winter by teachers whose qualifications better adapted
them for burning brick than solving problems in mathematics, and, consequently,
there was little learned. Schools were taught by subscriptions. Settlers built
houses as they were needed. Taxes came as a result of the practical defeat of a
law which appropriated public lands for school funds. Many of these sections
were at the time worthless, and, such as were of value being sold, the proceeds
were squandered. The work was in private hands, there was no test of ability
or qualification, and not till 1821 was the first general school law found in the
statutes. There were no school districts, nor public funds, special or tuition.
Every one paid for the instruction of his own children.

Many settlers had large families — as many as ten children were found in a
single cabin — and, to provide for the future of these .young people, the parents
came to this county. There was always work to be done, and the services of all
hands were needed ; it was only during the winter months that schools could be
attended. At these, only the elementary branches were taught, and the predomi-
nant idea of the schoolmaster was discipline first, learning afterward. No gram-
mar nor geography were taught. Few studied arithmetic, and these did not
proceed much beyond the rudiments ; and when, at length, grammar was intro-
duced, such pupils were thought well advanced. In any locality, whenever suf-
ficient families had moved in to form a school, the' settlers stood ready to build a
house and engage a teacher. Tall, strapping 3 T ouths attended school, and the mas-
ter had need of decision and courage as well as method and erudition. It was
customary for the person applying for the school to call upon the parties within
sending distance and canvass for scholars. If enough were secured, school opened.
An illustration of the old-time method is given as follows : About the year 1815,
a man came into the Rush neighborhood and offered his services as teacher. The
settlers located along Mud Creek, West Branch and Bridge Creek talked the matter
over, and concluded to employ him. It was a light labor for all to turn out with
axes, handspikes and oxen, upon a day appointed, to chop and draw logs to a
chosen site, for the purpose of putting up a schoolhouse. The location was near
Bush Fort, on Mud Creek. While some put up round logs, notched down, one
layer upon another, until they were of sufficient elevation to form a stoiy, split
clapboards for the roof, chamber floor and door, and puncheons for the floor, others
drew stone for the fireplace and prepared sticks and mud for the chimney. The
floor being laid, next came desks and seats. Large holes were bored in a log on
each side of the room, wooden pins were driven in, and a slab or unplaned plank
laid on these pins. For seats, holes were bored in puncheons and legs driven in,
two at each end. Windows were made by cutting out a log nearly the whole
length of the house, leaving a hole a foot wide. Into this was filled a sort of lattice
work of sticks, and upon this greased paper was pasted to transmit the light. Such
was the schoolhouse of sixty-live years ago. It was not much of a structure, but
there was no °Teat contrast between it and the homes of its builders. There was

286 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

no lack of ventilation, and the wood was not too long for the fire-place. School
opened in charge of W. II. -Jones, of whom mention has been made in m previous
chapter, his services having been secured at a salary of $7 per month. He was
severe and exacting; punishments were the order of the day. Whispering and
other indiscretions subjected the offender to blows with a ferule upon the palm of
the hand ; and so freely did Mr. Jones administer chastisement, that the patrons
were obliged to request him to moderate his punishment, as the hands of
their boys were so sore from repeated feruling that they were unable to use the
ax. It was a species of torture to strike the tips of the gathered lingers with the
ferule, and this was disapproved by the settlers, indurated to rough usages as
they were. Only two branches of education were taught — reading and writing.
The example of this neighborhood was contagious, and soon a house was built
near the place of David Studabaker, and a man named Montgomeiy was hired as
teacher. Gradually schoolhouses became more numerous, and the demand for
teachers in some measure induced a supply. Summer schools were rare. Females
made no application till an adventurous woman, named Anna Boleyn,
attempted a three-months term during the summer of 1825, but quit in disgust
before the expiration of that time. Despite liberal provisions favorable to educa-
tion, little had t been done up to 1S8S toward perfecting a system of common
schools, the result of the scanty means and constant toil incident to pioneer life.
No inconsiderable portion of early history is that which treats of marriage cus-
toms, first births in the county, deaths and cemeteries.

The arrival of a family occasioned eager inquiry b} T young men as to whether
there were any marriageable daughters of the number. The demand was in
excess of the supply. The same maiden had sometimes several suitors ; this
involved the delicate matter of rejection as well as of choice. Sometimes the
girls were betrothed before leaving home, and a knowledge of this fact caused dis-
appointment. For a long time after the first settlement of the count}', the people
generally married young. The parties differed little in fortune, and none in rank.
First impressions of love resulted in marriage and a family establishment cost
onry a little labor. Weddings occupied the attention of the entire neighborhood,
and the event was an hilarious occasion, anticipated by old and young. This is
readily understood when it is considered that a wedding was almost the only
gathering not accompanied by labor. The marriage ceremony was arranged to
take place before dinner, which was a substantial feast of beer, pork, fowls, and
sometimes venison and bear meat, roasted and boiled, with abundance of potatoes
and other vegetables. Dinner was free from formality, and a time for mirth and
enjo3 T ment. There was dancing after dinner. "The figures of the dances were
three and four handed reels or square sets and jigs. The commencement was
always a square four, which was followed by what was called jigging it off; that
is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and were followed by the remaining
couple. The jigs were often accompanied with what was called cutting out, that
is, when either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation the place
was supplied by some one of the company without any interruption of the dance.
In this way the amusement was often continued till the musician was heartily
tired of his situation." Among marriages in pioneer days, was that of Ullry to
his brother's widow; they had lived together some time during the inoperative
period before the election of justices, and when a justice was chosen, they were
legally married. In a spirit of joviality a party of young people being resolved
to have a marriage, seized upon a man named Israel Wertz and fitted him out
with a suit. One of the party furnished leggins, another some other article of
dress until he was properly clothed, and then calling upon a woman named Jane
I higan, asked her if she was willing to marry Wertz. She replied affirmatively,
and they all started for the house of Alexander Smith, a .Justice of the Peace who
lived east of Greenville. Wertz repented and broke away, upon which a dog was
set after him. and he was caught and held. The ceremony was then performed,

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 287

and the twain thus singularly made one lived many ye&vs together happily and
both finally died of old age.

Instances of seduction and bastardy were rare, and could not take place with-
out great danger from the brothers or other relatives of the injured party, as
family honor was highly estimated. Divorce was accounted dishonorable, and was
seldom a resort. The statistical reports for 1877 give, of marriages that year, in
Darke, 334 ; suits for divorce pending. 23 ; brought within the year, 41 — total, 64.
Brought by husband, 26 ; wife. 38. Principal causes were, absence, neglect, incon-
tinence and cruelty.

The burial customs of sixty years ago differed much from those of to-day.
"When a death occurred, neighbors would call in, take the measure of the body,
and procure a plain coffin, at a cost rarely exceeding $5. A neighbor possessed of
a team brought the coffin to the house and conveyed the body to the grave. Ruder
sepulture was not infrequent. No costly shaft marked the spot where their dust
reposes, but plain head-board. Cemeteries were known as graveyards, and some
families had a burial plat of their own. as the Sumptions. "We close by a brief
extract from the record of what is known as the Old Graveyard, at Greenville,
which was deeded by John and Margaret Devor to the Trustees of the M. E.
Church, July 15, 1818. The deed is recorded in Book A 1, B. 74. and the bounds
are as follows : Southeast by Water street, and running along the said street
eight poles and fourteen poles, to the rear, so as to include the burying-ground at
the north end of town, and to contain 112 square rods — excepting two square
rods, to be used as a burying-ground by each and every person who has heretofore
occupied any part of said lots for that purpose." The conveyance was a dona-
tion, since the consideration was $1. The grounds were laid out, fenced and left
to be populated as the wearied and worn here " laid themselves clown in their last
sleep."

DARKE COUNTY IN 1840 — CELEBRATION — COMMEMORATION — MASS MEETING AT

GREENVILLE.

It was during the period of heated political debate that Greenville and Darke
County began to emerge from the gloom and obscurity of nature, where they had
lain from time unknown, and to aspire for place among older and sister counties of
the State. You glance over her townships, and you find them thickly settled still.
You find that in ten years her population has more than doubled. The 6,204 of
1830 has now become 13,145, or twenty inhabitants to the square mile. Of its
eighteen townships, Greenville leads, with a population of 1,851. Four others,
Harrison, German, Butler and Twin, have over 1,000 each, while Mississinewa
enumerated but 124. Greenville, the county seat, contained four churches, sixteen
mercantile stores, a flouring-mill, a printing office and about 800 inhabitants. The
lands wear a wild look. There is an abundance of fine poplar, walnut, blue ash,
beech, hiekory and sugar maple. It has won a reputation for the production of
excellent wheat, and is reputed to be well adapted to grazing. The woods still
abound in game. The heavy timber stretches almost unbroken for miles, not alone
over the low and swampy but along the higher lands. Cattle range at will through
the woods, and the swine run wild and savage in droves. Land ranges in value,
from the Government price, to $12 per acre, the latter for improved farms. Soil,
relieved of heavier growth, sustained rank and luxuriant grasses, while furnishing
but scant supply of wheat and other grains. The old cry of milk sickness and
fevers was now changed, and it was said of Darke County that its chief products
were " pumpkins and hoop poles," and in this there was much of truth, especially
in regard to hoop-poles, since, at this date, they were the only article of export.
During the winter, the principal employment of farmers was wagoning these hoop-
poles to Germantown. Middletown, Lewisburg and other markets, and by this
means they were enabled to measurably supply themselves with salt, groceries,

288 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

leather and other necessaries. This supplied the county with ready money that
would otherwise have been badly missed. Away now in the past the count}' seat
was seen, with a population of about three hundred, many of those were poor, and
had hard scratching to get a living. There were two stores, a blacksmith-shop and
a whisky-shop, two doctors' offices, an antiquated brick court house in a spacious
public square, a brick jail, a single ordinary frame church building, and a small
log schoolhouse. There were a few respectable looking private dwellings, but most
of the houses were shabby and were widely scattered, south and southeast of the
square. The streets were more nominal than real : the nearest actual being that
which runs south from the square, in the direction of the old fort, and which held
the business of the place. This was all changed in 1840 ; the town had far more
than doubled its population, and indications of business growth were apparent.
New buildings had been erected, new stores started, new men had moved in. and
they had brought some capital with them. Allan La Mott and John 1). Farrar
had opened dry goods in 1830, the next } T ear W. B. Beall and Francis Waring started
stores; then, in 1832, came John 0. Potter, and the veteran merchant of Green-
ville, Henry Arnold, now, in 1840, in business with H. N. Arnold, who three years
before had been a partner with James M. Dorsey, an arrival of 1833 ; besides these,
there were Townsend, Bailey, Beall and Bascom. Lawyers were not wanting ; of
these were Gen. Bell and Dempsey, and of doctors, Baskerville, Ayres, Buell and
(lard. Greenville had two hotels now. They were earlier known as taverns. Mrs.
Armstrong was the pioneer. Then came Moses Scott, who provided entertainment
for man and beast until 1824, when he moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. Linus Bascom,
in 1817, opened public house, down where stands Hall & Hine's livery stable. A.
Scribner was cotemporary with Scott ; James Craig was successor to the latter.
Craig gave way to Edward Shaffer. Then we come to 1840. Charles Hutchins
is the proprietor of a two-story brick house, erected in 1837, on the east side, and
Frank Hamilton located in a two-story frame, on the south side, of the public
square. Notwithstanding the somewhat humble pretensions of the latter, it had
the prestige of seniority over its more costly neighbor and vigorous rival, besides
being honored by guests renowned and distinguished. During 1840, here stopped
the hero and patriot of North Bend, who. from its uppermost porch, addressed
the gathered multitude, upon the issues dividing political parties. The urbane,
courteous hospitality of the frame was matched by the grandeur of the brick,
whose proprietor received the suffrages of the people as the County Treasurer.

The postal facilities gradually approached an ability to transmit intelligence
within reasonable time. A. Scribner had been appointed in 1815, and had but
nominal duties to perform. His successors were Carleton Morris and David Mon-
roe. He then recovered the position which he held till 1833, when Judge John
Wharry became the incumbent, and. after several years, gave way to a successor.
The office was not in a room by itself, but occupied a small portion of the store or
other room of the Postmaster, and was auxiliary to the business.

Dempsey. of whom mention has been made, a man small in stature but large
enough to attract notice at the National Capital, had not long been resident of
Greenville before be was favored by Van Buren's administration with the appoint-
ment of Postmaster, and at once combined the threefold duties of law. trade and
public functionary, having his law and post office in his store. The change of
administration again returned the office to Scribner. Although Greenville was
tlourishing at an unprecedented rate at this time, it had few attractions, and was
lacking in many essential elements to solid improvement and prosperity. It had
need of a g 1 printing [tress. Iv ])onnellan had printed and published a news-
paper then known as the Western Statesman ami Greenville, ('<>"ri<r. the initial
number bearing date of June 25, 1832. It was of super-royal size, was published
irregularly, had a sickly existence' and upon its subscription list there were some
two hundred and fifty names. lis mottoes were excellent, its prospectuses were
frequent, but its duration was brief. A good llouring-mill was a needful thing.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 289

This was not a local want ; the entire county needed better and more reliable mill-
ing facilities which had hardly kept pace with the development of the country.

Soon after Harrison's treat}-, Maj. Adams, an old soldier of Wayne's army,
erected a kind of chopping-mill, five miles below Greenville, upon the later site of
the mills of Oliver & Co. Cotemporary with Adams were Mathias and Aaron
Dean, who, having built a saw-mill three miles above Greenville, had attached
thereto a " corn-cracker." Neither ground much wheat. Bolting was done by
hand, each customer bolting his own grist. Somewhat later, Andrew Noftsinger
put up a grist-mill on Mud Creek, below the outlet of the lake, on the later site of
Otwell's Mills. The bolting here was done by hand, and could not supply the
demands of the people. Wheat had to be taken to the mouth of Greenville
Creek, to Milton or to Whitewater to be ground. In dry times the grist was left,
and at a specified time it was promised to be ground, and the farmer went back for
it, and, in the bad condition of the roads, this made a two days' trip.

The next improvement was a horse-mill, put up by John Puderbaugh, on the
east side of West Branch Prairie. This mill afforded fair facilities for grinding in
winter while other mills were frozen up. Two neighbors, going together, set out
before day with harnessed horses and a sack of corn on each horse. If, on reach-
ing the mill, it was found to be thronged, a neighborly feeling was shown. Each
got part of his grist ground, but there was no meal left to require a return, for the
old miller had thriftily connected with the mill a small copper still, which turned
out a very desirable quality of whisky which was always readily exchangeable for
corn.

Then all drank liquor as a beverage. Children were solicited to drink by
parents, and, when too raw and strong, it was blended with sweetening, and in it
the bread was soaked. It was everywhere indispensable, called for on all occasions
and in all places pronounced good and desirable. Quality was reputed good,
drunkards were said to have been few, and cases of delirium tremens were
unknown.

In 1840, Briggs' mill, two miles below town ; Dean's, three ; Cole's, five miles
above on the creek, and Clapp's, six or seven miles west of town, afforded accom-
modations, but, at the same time, they were regarded as but a shade above refined
corn-crackers. Otwell's mill, nine miles southwest of Greenville on Mud Creek,
was originally one of the same sort, but it had changed hands several times, and
with each change had received repairs that made it, perhaps, the best mill in Darke
County. This and a new steam mill started in the vicinity of Palestine by a man
named Cloyd, did most of the wheat grinding, but when a drought came, as was
the case most every fall, the whole country had to go to Stillwater, a distance of
some twenty or twenty -five miles. Fortunately, at such times the roads were dry
and solid ; teams could haul good loads without interruption. At any other sea-
son, except when the ground was hard frozen, the roads were so intolerably bad
that teams could scarcely pass with empty wagons. In the summer of 1833, Pat-
terson had on a load of five barrels of flour drawn by three stout horses and all
were mired in a " slough."'

Besides these grist-mills, there were several saw-mills scattered around on the
small streams, which answered the purpose so far as they went, but they did not
go far enough to meet the demands of the county for lumber. Steam had not
then come into use, except in the single instance above named.

Many predicted that would be a failure, there existed such a prejudice against
steam as a propelling power. It was generally believed that water was the only
force that could be profitably used in running any kind of machinery. With these
backward appliances, there was still another establishment in the shape of a
" carding machine and fulling-mill." located some Jliree miles west of town, on
what was then called West Branch, which was owned and run by Benjamin &
Jack Devor. This was the only machinery of the kind in the count}-. Andrew
Smith was foreman of the concern and had an apprentice. This mill was a

290 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

valuable aid to the labors of the women, for homespun in 1840 was still the order of
the day. It was only on occasions of weddings that people indulged in "broad-
cloth and Swiss mull." Alter the ceremony, the garments were carefully laid away
and held as proud relics of a precious memory. Matron and maid still spun and
wove, as had the mothers and aunts of twenty years before. A delicate chintz,
held as a reserve for Sunday occasions, was carefully preserved and worn, and if
the fair owner chose to walk barefooted to church, a distance of several miles, cus-
tom accorded that privilege, provided the feet were dressed during service. To
preserve the shoes in good order, they were taken along wrapped in a handker-
chief, and if the happy gallant could secure the privilege of carrying the parcel,
he felt highly honored.

We have elsewhere spoken of education and religion. Besides these religious
meetings in grove and camp, carrying with them an absorbing influence, there was
still another gathering of a military character, the "Big Muster," as it was called.
which was held annually at Greenville. This was simply an assembly of the
county militia to exercise in the manual of arms, but it was regarded by some
of the men, and by the boys generally, as the day for which all other days were
made. The show}' uniforms, the stirring martial music, bright muskets, gay cock-
ades and measured tramp, the melons, ginger-cakes, cider and other supplies were
a great attraction to the boys. Israel Cox proudly put in his appearance as filer.
and well he might, as he was acknowledged the best in the comity. He had no
known equal. His brother John was no ordinary performer, but when Israel
moved at the head of the column, accompanied by his favorite drummer, his
mastery was universally conceded.

Among the well-known and esteemed men of that da} T were Gavin Hamilton,
Jacob Hamilton — a friend of and judge of honor — John, who resided at Tecumseh
Point in a two-story frame house, James, a clever, country blacksmith, Joseph
and Andrew, good farmers. The brothers, James and Alexander Craig, carried
on a wagon and blacksmith-shop in Greenville to the manifest advantage of the pub-
lic. Riley Knox, a young lawyer of promise, had just entered upon his profession.
He delivered an oration at a celebration of the 4th of July, in 1838 or 1839, which
was considered a masterly production for one so young. William Wilson was his
preceptor, and took him in as a law partner. Among the worthy and notable
farmers of that day were John and Aaron Hiller, Joseph Croll, John Martin,
Samuel Cole, Sr., Philip Manuel, George Diverly, William McKhann, James and
Thomas McGinnis, William and Samuel Rush, William Morningstar and James
Bryson, a few there of the many whose iron wills held all vantage-ground, and con-
tinually extended their domain.

A few of the hoys of that day were David, Theodore and Thomas Beers, John
Devor, Jack and Frank Scribner, William Douglass, Calvin McNeil, John Hiller,
-Jr.. Levi Elston, William and James McKhann. Martin Brady. -J. and II. Bry-
son, Benjamin and Andrew Croll, Samuel. Joseph and Henry Cole, John Hen-
ning, Jr., James and Barton Hays, Zack and Ben Clark and many another the
old resident will recall to mind. Levi and Amos Potter found homes elsewhere.
Some have passed from earth, some yet remain where they spent their youthful
days together. The heads of those full of ardor then are now adorned with silver
locks, premonitory of a coming change.

The celebration of the anniversary of American independence has fallen into
disuse since the last, great civil conflict, but for many years, it was made a holiday
of the nation. A notable observance of the day was held at Greenville in is,")::,
and is probably remembered by many. Due notice had been given, and people
began to pour into town at an early hour from all parts, not only of Darke County.
lint from the Counties adjoining. All the public houses were crowded the night
before by strangers from abroad. Military companies and firemen from Piqua
arrived in the vicinity of the town at seven in the morning. An hour later and
they were received by the Greenville Guards, ami escorted to the town. At

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 291

the head of the column marched the Greenville Band, assisted by part of the Win-
chester (Ind.) Band, and discoursed appropriate airs. A train came from Dayton
at 9 A. M. with 800 passengers, among whom were two military companies, the
La Fa} r ette Bifles and the National Guards and the Deluge Fire Company. These
organizations were escorted by the military to their quarters in handsome style
under the gratified observation of a tremendous concourse of people. At 10 A.
M., a train from Union came in with many excursionists, and the streets were
jammed. It was the largest crowd in the place since the meeting of 1840, of
which notice will be given further on. There were citizens present from Piqua,
Troy, Dayton and from Miami, Preble, Shelby, Mercer and Randolph Counties.
The procession was formed at 10 A. M. under Capt. Frizell, and presented a fine
sight. First came the military — five well-dressed, well-drilled companies — next fol-
lowed two fire companies with engine and carriage, then came the officers of the
day, the Orator and the Reader; after these were soldiers and citizens, and last of
all, a large wagon bearing twenty-two youhg misses, one bearing the flag of our
country, and each of the others a flag marked with the name of a State. At the
head of the column marched the pioneers of a Dayton company. There were six
bands, all of them played at the same time, and gave utterance to a confused and
deafening, exciting and bewildering medley of sounds as the procession passed on
their way to the grove. Arrived at the stand, the military opened ranks, through
which dignitaries and others passed to the stand. The audience was seated. The
military drew up in line and fired a round of musketry. After stand exercises,
there was a dinner, then a parade and reviews, after which, as the trains came in,
the visitors started homeward ; wearied as is usual on such days, with tramping
along the streets in heat and dust, but full}' satisfied with what had been seen and
heard at the notable celebration. .

The commemoration of the disaster at Fort Recovery was an occasion
of an immense assemblage of the people. By accident, the remains buried
in one of the shallow trenches became unearthed, and it was deemed a
duty to honor the memory of the fallen by a decent and final interment
of their remains, accompanied by appropriate ceremonies. The time set for the
ceremonies was fixed at September 10, 1851, and, on that day, from five to seven
thousand persons had assembled at the appointed hour. Curiosity drew many,
but the greater portion came with a due sense of the service done by these fallen
soldiers, and, too, there were relatives and descendants amid the gathered throng.

The bones of some three hundred skeletons were found and placed in thirteen
large coffins. Upon the skulls were seen the marks of scalping-knife and hatchet,
bringing the far-away past into the present like a dissolving view. At an early
hour, the procession was formed and assembled to perform the rites required.
There were distinguished men among those who eulogized the slain and depicted
the events of the bloody fray. Among them were Gen. Bell, member of Congress
of Greenville, B. Stover and Abner Haines. Finally, a resolution was passed to
petition Congress to raise a monument over the dust of these fallen men, and at
the same time it was voted to ask for a monument at Greenville upon the identi-
cal spot where Wayne concluded his memorable treaty. The monuments have
not been erected, and these men are remembered only in the fragmentary recollec-
tions of pioneer and press, but their lives were not laid down in vain, and their
efforts to protect the homes of the frontiersmen are as well worth enshrining on
historic pages as are those who fought for national independence, for a country's
honor, or for the perpetuity of an unbroken union of the States.

Still another outpouring of the people, worthy of fitting record, was the
enthusiastic mass-meeting in Greenville on the 22d of July, 18-40, during the
remarkable political contest when " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " was the popular
cry, before which the party in. power was hurled from position as dry leaves before
the wind. It is estimated that more than one hundred thousand visitors were
present.

202 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Up to this time, political enthusiasm h:i<l never reached a very high pitch
among the hardy settlers, but now the excitement was as great in the woods of
Darke County as it was in Hamilton County in Ohio, or in any of the older
States, and when it was announced, weeks in advance, that -Old Tip" would
address the people, the surrounding country went wild. Immense delegations
came from Kentucky. Indiana and .Michigan. There were more than three hun-
dred ladies present from Kentucky, and the gallants of the backwoods were so
much smitten by their graces of person, manners and apparel that from that time
till after the election all the young men were Whigs, and " log cabins, canoes and
coon-skins " became the symbols of their faith, and '-hard cider" the favorite
libation. Many of the delegations were headed by log cabins on wheels, drawn
by horses, and, in one or two instances, by oxen. One delegation from one of the
river counties was headed by a monster canoe mounted on wheels, in which were
twenty-seven young ladies, representing the twenty-six States and the Goddess of
Liberty. This canoe was drawn by ten white horses. The meeting was held just
west of the town, in a beautiful grove. Facing the speaker's stand, or rather
encircling it on three sides, was a bank, well shaded and affording comfortable
seats for the vast throng. This natural amphitheater could not have been
improved had it been designed for this special occasion. The various delegations
as they approached the town were met by one of the " Greenville bands" and
escorted in with honor. A brief description of these musical companies will not
be without some degree of interest. The " band " par excellence consisted of
William Morningstar, mounted on a fine horse, and his instrument a violin, upon
which he was no mean performer. He met each delegation in turn, and gave
them a medley comprising several of the rollicking airs to which the campaign
songs were sung — "Hail to the Chief," " Bonaparte's March," with the more inspir-
ing strains of " Soldier's Joy " and " Money Musk," and thus, with the booming of
cannon and the cheers of the excited multitude, the delegations were welcomed.
The other bands, consisting of drums and fifes, although less singular, were much
more noisy, and far and near the martial music resounded, stimulating the feel-
ings, accelerating pulsation, and with rattle and roll of drum and shrill, clear
shriek of fife, performing the air of " Yankee Hoodie," and intensifying the excite-
ment with the " double drag." The principal speakers were Tom Corwin and
Gen. Harrison. Corwin argued that the re-election of Van Buren would be the
signal for a reduction in the prices of labor and of all American products, and. in
support of his plea, read several advertisements of well-known produce dealers
from Whig newspapers, somewhat after the following effect : "On and after the
1st of Hecember, 1840, the subscriber will pay $1 per bushel for wheat if Harri-
son be elected, and 40 cents if the election favors Van Buren." Similar notices
concerning corn and hogs were also read from the advertising columns of the
party press. Various arguments were presented by Corwin in a way and with a
force that brought conviction to many a close listener. The speech of Harrison
was characterized as an able and eloquent statesmanlike effort in support of
republican institutions. He also devoted considerable time to personal reminis-
cence, and won over many warm friends from the opposing party. He remained
two or three days in Greenville, the guest of Mr. Scribner, and. in company with
his host and neighbors, visited many points of interest in the town and its envi-
rons. The old merchant and tavern-keeper had been a stanch Democrat, but,
from this time on, became and continued an anient supporter of the hero of
Tippecanoe.

GEOGRAPII1CAT SITUATION — AREA — TOWNSHIPS — VILLAGES.

Darke County lies in the extreme western part of the State, a little south of the
center, adjoining Indinna on the west. It is bounded by Mercerand Auglaize Coun-
ties on the north, by Preble and Montgomery on the south and on the east by Shelby

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 298

and Miami. The area is 588 square miles. Its outlines nearly describe a rectangle,
its greater extent being north and south. In accordance with an act passed by the
General Assembly of December, 1803, incorporating townships and establishing
boards of County Commissioners, the comity of Darke from its sparse population
was originally organized into one township and known as Greenville. On July 3,
1817, Twin Township was taken from the south end of Greenville, and embraced all the
county south of a line running due east from the southwest corner of Section 31, Town-
ship 11 north, Range 1. In the same month. Wayne was created from the northern
part of Greenville, and embraced within its limits all of the county north of a line
beginning at the northwest corner of Township 12 north. Range 1 east ; thence east
to the northwest corner of Township 9 north, Range 4 east ; thence south to the
middle of said township, and thence east to the county line. In February, 1818,
Harrison was formed and, in March, 1819, all of Greenville Township that lay in
Range 1 was formed into a new township entitled Washington, and, in the same
month, Adams was formed from all lands in "the county, east of a line running south
from the northwest corner of Section 4, Township 10, Range 3, to the southwest
corner of Section 28, Township 9, Range 3. In September, 1820, two tiers of sec-
tions across the north end of Greenville Township with parts of Wayne and Adams
were formed into a new township called Richland, and. in 1821. Neaves Township
was laid out, taking four tiers of sections from the south side of the old township.
In March, 1829, all of Richland lying in Township 12 north. Range 2 east, was
transferred back to Greenville, and also Section 31, of Township 13 north, Range
2. This last section was afterward returned, leaving Greenville as now constituted.
German was constituted in 1820 ; Brown and Jackson in 1833 ; Gibson and Mon-
roe in 1836 ; York in 1837, from Richland ; Van Buren in 1838 ; Allen, north end
of Brown, north end of Jackson, and Mississinewa, in 1839 ; also Franklin in -lime
of the same 3 7 ear ; Wabash, Patterson and Butler in 1841. In 1840, Gibson
Township, about one-half of Allen and parts of Patterson and Wabash were taken
from Darke and attached to Mercer County. There are at present twenty civil
townships— Patterson, Wabash, Allen, Mississinewa, Jackson. Brown, York, Rich-
land, Wayne, Adams, Greenville, Washington, German, Neaves, Van Buren, Frank-
lin, Monroe, Twin, Butler and Harrison. Within their area are contained eight
incorporated towns and twenty-five villages. Greenville has priority from age and
has always been the capital of the county. Here, as elsewhere stated, are court
house, jail and all the conveniences for officials, courts and criminals ; here are
some of the oldest churches in the county ; here lived men prominent in letters,
and here was started the first newspaper published in Darke. The place is rich in
its historic associations. Near the cit}- are the fair grounds, a notable feature of
a leading agricultural section. It is situated on Greenville Creek, in the township
of Greenville, ninet} T -two miles west of Columbus, and ten from the Indiana line.
It has manifest advantages from turnpikes and railroads, and of later years
has made a fair use of them. It was laid out in 1810, and incorporated in 1832.
It has a national bank, fine churches, good business houses, a handsome and
capacious school building, a number of elegant and costly residences fitted up
with tasteful grounds. The Turpen House, a large hotel, together with the Wag-
ner House, offers excellent acommodations to guests ; and the city and county
support three newspapers. Postal facilities, fire department and other agencies
for business, comfort and safety are well supplied. The incorporated towns are
New Madison, laid out in 1817, incorporated. 1841. and situated ten miles south-
west of Greenville, near the site of old Fort Black ; it is a fine thriving place.
Versailles, platted in 1819, and duly incorporated in 1855, and located in Wayne
Township ; Union City, a flourishing place on the State line, platted in 1838, and
incorporated in 1853, and a lively railroad center ; Gettysburg, incorporated in
1866 ; Dallas, in 1867 ; Arcanum, platted in 1849 and incorporated in 1858. and
Bradford, platted in 1867, and incorporated in 1871. The villages are thus enum-
erated : Minatown, laid out in 1818 ; Fort Jefferson, same j'ear. remarkable as

294 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

the first work built as a fort in the county; New castine and Ithaca, in 1832;
Braffettsville and Palestine, in 1833; Webster, 1835; Beamsville and New Ear-
rison, in 1837; Bollandsburg, 1838 ; North Jacksonville and' Gettysburg, 1842 ;
Dallas. 1845; Sampson. 1846 ; Hill Grove and Coleville, in 1848; Gordon, 1849;
Tampico, 1850 ; Hose Hill. 1852; De Lisle, 1853; Nevada, 1854; Stelvidio, in the
Same year, and Woodland, in 1859. There was now an interval of seven years.
during which the stormy scenes of warfare embittered feeling and absorbed pub-
lic attention, hut again the current rolled on. and. in 1866, Pikeville was platted.
next Bradford; then RossvLUe, in 1868, Painter Creek in 1870, and Wood-
ington in 1871. A number of these are promising, prosperous villages, while oth-
ers are lively hamlets, convenient of resort for meals, grists, trade, lumber conven-
iences and church privileges. Pine pikes hearing the name of the village of
which they are a terminus, or through which they extend, render wheeling conven-
ient and make all points accessible, regardless of seasons. Railroads traverse the
townships in various directions, and the difficulties of early transportation are now
unknown. The obstacles of the past cannot be conceived from any observation of
the present. The fields traversed by open or covered drains, and hearing fine
crops of wheat and corn, the groves free from all undergrowth, and the unob-
structed streams, require personal knowledge or strong faith to believe the stories
of the battles of civilization with the rude, strong elements of nature.

The county occupies a position inclining its surface southward from the west-
ern limits of the great watershed dividing the basins of the Wabash and the
Miami. It is classified as a portion of Southern Ohio. A good knowledge of the
general topography of the count}', so far as relates to the dip of the land and
changes induced by the action of water, is afforded b}^ the statement that "the
summit ridge enters the county in the northeastern part, bearing southwest through
the northern part of Patterson Township, through the southern parts of Wabash
and Allen, and passing out near the middle of Jackson Township." Persons familiar
with lands like situated, could derive analogous information of the surface or con-
tour features of this and give proper weight to agencies concerned in alluvial deposits
and erosure of higher lands. The general surface is, in the main. Hat. and slopes
almost uniformly from the summit line northwest and southeast ; there are, there-
fore, no distinct topographical features to avert the sight. Something approx-
imating monotony is presented by the basins of Greenville and Stillwater Creeks.
the numerous wild and beautiful cairns and other variations originating in local
causes. There are occasional striking manifestations perceived upon the underly-
ing rocks of a tremendous erosive power, but the deposit of an average of 100 feet
of drift, conceals most effectively this truth, and the surface contour presents no
indication of this interesting geologic fact. Portions of the surface are a level
plain, others are hilly and undulating, while to the northeast there is low. waste.
inundated land, rich in its deposit of vegetable debris, treacherous to the foot and
useless for cultivation, till ultimately co-operative drainage shall render its wealth
available.

The summit ridge is not strongly marked, nor is it of uneven outline. For
ages, active agencies have divested the surface of loose material and worn down
inequalities until we simply behold a broad, rounded belt of elevated land. The
rock, gradually crumbling has been swept down as varied alkali clays, and spread
as a layer over the low. wet basins of the Wabash and Stillwater, thereby com-
mingling with thi' black, loamy soil, ami supplying those elements of fertility
which have given this section its reputation, while leveling the early broken out-
lines of surface. The ridge is yet prominent, as it bounds the line of the extreme
southern limits of the northern lakes and stands as a marked feature in thetopog-
raphy of the State.

The highest land in the region of the divide is in the northwest portion of
the county. A little north of Union City, the altitude above low-watermark in
the Ohio at Cincinnati, is lit;.") feet, which is the highest accurately known. On the

^^-mm_

'(/:["■ ^Km&:

^7 -^T J^C^Ce^\_

HARRISON TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY 297

crest of the slope between the Stillwater and the Wabash, the land has an eleva-
tion thirty feet less than at the point named. On the line between DarkeTd
Mercer, the elevation is 634 feet, although places in this vicinity have a dossH o
altitude of 700 feet. The elevation at Greenville is about 59 le7 while 1 on he

Ti-,; ~ + 7 i '■ W n Townshl P> the elevation is 557 feet above the Ohio

The greatest depression is considered to exist along the bottom of Greeny lie
Creek, m Adams Township where the elevation is but 520 feet, while the bluffs in
the vicmity rise 20 feet higher. Lake Erie is 133 feet higher than the Ohio and
taking the former as a basis, these altitudes must be diminished to that extent for
comparison From this we find the highest land is 567 feet above Laurie or
1,132 ieet above the level of the sea. '

In the study of these surface features, it is remarkable, that but one of those
primitive lakes once so numerous and still frequently met with upon the water
shed m counties eastward, exists here. It is known as the « Blacl S™ Ind

^jStTo"a lTg agQ " redUChlg ltS lmmenSe dep ° sits ° f ve ^ etable mattei ' to "e

Peat bogs are found in different parts of the county. Near Weaver's Station

here is a peat deposit of two to three feet in depth, resting upon the limestone an

is a substance well calculated as a fertilizer for the more sterile, hio-h clay lands

Just to the southwest of Greenville, on Mud Creek Prairie, which was formerly

deposit of peat. To the southeast of the city, about one and a half miles another is

^Tbeen tlmst ven ' " M^ ** "^ C " r ° f °» e ° f theSe ' £*££
nas been thus given: "Many years ago, in the construction of the Cleveland

Columbus Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad in the northern part of tL count

the route of he track necessitated the running over one of these peat bo's To'

the apparently dry loam, with its dense growth of vegetation, was acWecl sufficient

gravel and other material to complete the bed of the road, and in due t me the

rails were laid and the track used. But one morning, not ong after as thTtrate

came along, a great break was espied ; the track had evidently disappeared and

upon investigation, the truth was revealed. The track, insteadof crS?oyefa

dry peat bog, was rather laid over a hidden lake. Vast quantities of rnolses and

SffiX'uf^.^ of trees, and other IcoZZtlZs.
nad collected until they had formed, as it were, a super-aquatic soil of several feet
n thickness, and of such a remarkable density and buoyancy as o support for a
time, the weight of a passing train. J 8U PP ort ; IQ1 a

wl 5S 8 C ° Unt ^ as > to a certai * extent, divided into prairie and timber land
tiUab w7™ "n 1U erSperSed that some f *™s were advantageously composed of
tillable and woodland m fair proportions and compact form. Those so fortunate
as o have acquired this land were indeed favored. The timber at once 7SK
building material, fences and fuel, and when a market opened, the foie wood was
utilized and the ground cleared for tillage. Much the greater portion ofThe Id
of Darke is well known to be rich and fertile to a remarkable decree and the
appearance of the farms strongly contrasts with those that may be leen te many
other counties, and suggests a long-settled section. It is an actual La^arTof
corn, oats and wheat. The yield is annually large and the quality is & excellent
This fine yield is almost entirely the result of the drift. Deposit? of 2^
and gravel acted upon by heat, cold, air and streams, blended with veoeta fon a
anima life for ages, have formed the present productive soil which 3vS cetebriW

hlS;" "The ro^f 1 ' "jf* , *£ ^ "* -* beC ° me -pai^te? from tte
bardpan the locks crumble under the alternate thaws and frosts and their debris
was washed downward upon the bottoms and assisted by vegetation SSte™
and decayed; overflowing streams dissolving mingled these materials ^nd

S£ttoS and ;f d f Three classed of soil LTh^ateri^c
of tin, section, that of clay, of alluvial and of turf. The first-named predominates,

298 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

and is a particular constituent of the region of watershed and all other
uplands or higher portions of the county. Its hue is varied from yellow to red
and brown. It is seen upon the crest of the divide to be of an almost white or
ashen color from the weathering and drainage. This soil is in places solid and
tenacious, but in the main is fret.' and porous. The former is of value in the
manufacture of brick and tile ; the hitter is renowned for the crops of wheat and
kindred cereals produced. The alluvial or bottom is of a black, loamy character.
blending with a considerable amount of decayed plant matter and leavened with
silica; it is free, mealy and fertile, the natural soil for corn, which thrives thereon
remarkably. The turf soil is of a dark gray color, covering- the primitive surface,
which, where it prevails, is low but dry. It is seen to advantage in freshly cleared
forest lands, and blends clay with vegetable growth, and is adapted for the growth
of pumpkins, potatoes and the like, together with the lesser grains.

The natural products of Darke County were those little known to the present
occupants. The times when Jefferson and Greenville were built and trains of
pack-horses traveled the traces of armies, saw an unbroken forest stretching from
the Ohio away to the shores of the Great Lakes. Here could be seen the various
oaks, white, red, black, burr, chestnut and pin ; sugar and swamp maples, the
former rich with the juices of the frosty spring's rising sap ; the sassafras, whose
root bark made healthful drink; the white and slippery elms, the latter with its
viscous inner bark ; the walnuts, black and white, the one prized by the cabinet-
maker, the other known as the " butternut," and freighted in the falltime with
brown oval nuts; the S} T camore, as often known as " buttonwood ; " the shagbark
hickory, whose bark gave light for evening labor ; and besides all these, the Cot-
tonwood, the flowering dogwood, the buckeye, the white ash, the beech, and
a sprinkling of black cherry, mulberry, thorn, iron wood, black willow, wild plum,
and trembling aspen. The sap of the sugar maple supplied the pioneers with
sirup, sugar and vinegar, and from the earliest da}s till now this manufacture of
a native product has been a springtime occupation. Pickles were made by plac-
ing freshly plucked cucumbers in a mixture of one part whisky to four of water,
and a little salt. They were soon fitted for use. Molasses was made from
pumpkins, and pared pumpkin, stewed, was placed in the juice, boiled down, all-
spice was added and pumpkin butter made. Early fruit was of indifferent
quality, but later years were marked by attention to its cultivation. The apple
thrives, and in 1877, over twenty-five thousand bushels were produced from the
orchards. The peach is foreign to this region, and to partake of this fine fruit it
is needful to plant out trees each year. Pears thrive with ordinary attention, and
during the year last named the product in this county was upward of a thousand
bushels.

While the position of her territory admits no rivers, the lands are not deficient
in water-courses. The numerous springs and surface drainage occasion many
water-ways, which, from proximity to their sources, are but headwaters of ultimate
large streams. The chief stream is known as Greenville Creek, which has its
origin in the northern divide, a short distance without the county. Conforming
to the direction of slope land, it flows in an almost uniformly southeast course,
until arrested by the bluff upon which the county seat is located ; its course trends
around its cairn toward the northeast, and then, with many a curve and turn, runs
eastward to its junction with the Stillwater in Miami County. All its affluents are
received from the south, since the highlands on the north press close upon its
bank and divert all its streams into the basin of the Stillwater. Painter's Creek
drains the count}' to the south, and the two constitute a system of which there
may lie said to be four — small, but clearly outlined.

Stillwater Creek rises in the summit ridge, in the northern part of the county.
and traverses the shallow valley lying between the plateau and the watershed.
Like Greenville Creek, it pursues an easterly course, following the natural inclina-
tion of the surface. The rivulets which form its affluents originate in the clayey

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 299

drift deposits of the divide. This and the Greenville system drain the most fer-
tile lands of the county. The once well-known " spread of the Stillwater " has
been rendered the richest and most productive of soils by removing obstructions
in the water-course and by ditching.

The Mississinawa and the Wabash rise upon the northern slope of the divide.
A little further east these streams would be directed toward Lake Erie, but are
intercepted by Wabash Ridge and turned westward into Indiana. Not much area
is drained by these headwaters in Darke County, where the basin of the Wabash
begins in a narrow, gentle valley, which gradually broadens into an immensely
fertile belt in its course through Northeastern and Central Indiana. This course
of the Wabash to the southeast may be thought to indicate the course of an
ancient gap whereby waters and icebergs were borne into the valley of the Still-
water. Upon a different declivity far to the southward in the county, are the
sources of Whitewater, Miller's and Twin Creeks, together with other creeks of
minor importance. All these streams are shallow in the main, and flow within
modern basins, the greatest elevation of Greenville Creek not exceeding about
thirty feet.

Many fine springs are found in different parts of the county. The well-water,
as well as the spring- water along the water-sheds, is sulphurous and not desirable
for use. Near Weaver's Station, New Madison and that vicinity occur numerous
springs, which rise upon the surface of the magnesian limestone, and which are in
consequence impregnated with carbonate of lime, magnesia and other mineral
properties exuded from the rock and the clay. Thus mineral springs exist, some
of whose waters are as fully charged with minerals as are the famous Cedar
Spring of New Paris, Preble County. The supply of water is of ample volume
and good quality. The best well-water is obtained from a depth varying from
thirty to fifty feet, and is drawn from the deposits of sand and gravel upon the
surface of blue clay. All in all, situation, soil, climate and product unite to make
Darke County one of the most desirable portions of the State.

AGRICULTURE, TRADE AND MARKETS.

Darke County has a soil, a climate and a local position which constitute the
essentials of a first-class agricultural county. For a time, the wave of immigra-
tion swept around her lands and beyond, but ultimately those far seeing selected
from her territory their farms and began their work. Half a century ago, Darke
County was yet in a state of nature, except here and there where the pioneer had
kindled his camp-fire and cut away a small area of timber from about his dwelling ;
then the settler had at his option the best land in the count}', and his successors
continued to make choice until not only the bottoms along the streams and the
more inviting upland was entered, but even the "flats" and "slushes," that the
settlers thought " would forever remain unentered, and give pasture and range for
their stock." The virgin soil produced in abundance with indifferent tillage, and
the woods supplied meats for the table.

The ax was vigorously plied, the deadening was extended, and from spring to
spring time again, the smoke could be seen to rise from the clearing. Little by
little improvements were made, one succeeding another, and here and there the old
settlers died until it is seen to-day, that the foundation and the founders are pass-
ing from memory in present labors. As was said by Hon. Abner Haines before
the agricultural society on September 18, 1853, "The early settlers had many
obstacles to contend with in the development of the country which no longer
obstruct the progress of this generation. It required much labor to clear the land
and prepare it for cultivation. This labor has been performed, leaving to the pres-
ent generation time to think and improve, as well as to work." We have in earlier
chapters depicted the perils and the crudities of early agriculture. We see the
settlers flying in panic from their homes, from dread of the hatchet, suffering from

300 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

chills and lever, hindered by insufficient implements from doing good farming,
deprived of access to store and shop, without roads, almost without mills, and
dependent upon the soil and the forest for the supply of every want, It is well
worth a review to note the gradual transition of field, dwelling, habits and per-
sons, machinery, stock and crops, bringing soil and occupant to the front, the one
to become celebrated, the other to be marked as independent and progressive. Old
times have passed away ; the ax, the maul and wedges, the sickle, the scythe, and
hoe are relics now of a past system. Splitting rails is no longer an occupation,
though the most common fence is still the zig-zag rail fence. The cradle displaced
the sickle, to be itself superseded by the Dorsey Eeaper, and then others improved
to the present perfection. The stumps are gone from the clearings, the log houses
have been abandoned, used as granaries and stables, torn away or rotted down, the
old well-sweeps have all finally disappeared, and, annually at the old and prosper-
ous agricultural fair, are seen the various plows, chilled, diamond, champion, sulky and
others, so of cultivators, corn-planters, seed-drills, harrows, pulverizers, harvesters,
hay-rakes, thrashers and separators, each contrasting to the experienced mind,
changes of method in agriculture, relieving the husbandman of toil, and assuring
in uniformity and perfection in preparation and cultivation a yield of profit and the
means of read}' harvesting, thrashing and marketing. Contrast the dropping of
corn and covering with the hoe, with the swift movements of the planter, the
irregular broadcast sowing by lands or landmarks with the seed-drill, the former
harrow with the present, the old reaper even with its man to rake off the gavels
with the self-dropper, the old method of haying with scythes laying the swaths,
with hand-rakes forming the windrows, with forks placing in cocks, and finally the
wearisome labor of pitching and stowing away in the barns, in striking contrast to
the music of the mower as the farmer rides, always leaving circles about his
meadow, shaving and spreading the grasses at each round, the buggy-rake gather-
ing with wide sweeps, the hay-fork and hoisting tackle depositing the fragrant hay
in the capacious bay for winter's food to choice breeds of domestic animals.

The staple grain product of Darke has constantly been corn. Fully twice as
many acres have been devoted to this cereal as to any other. It has always played
an important part in the agriculture of the country. From being the almost sole
dependence for food to the farmer, it has become the source of an important
income by export, as well as food for stock. Next in order came wheat, always
desirable for food, not so certain as corn, and of later years a second great source
of profit to the farmer. In the earlier day, the market was at the mills of Fiqua,
where the farmers went with doubled teams upon a three-days trip to realize from
35 to 40 cents a bushel. Reports were circulated of good prices, a rush of team-
ing followed and the market was overstocked. About 1837 or 1838, a colony of
Germans moved into Darke and bought rejected lands, entered some and paid as
high as 812 to $16 per acre for farms partially improved, and gave a stimulus to
farming, but it was not till after the completion of the first railroad, a dozen years
before the pikes began to have an existence, that that the most powerful stimulus
was given to agriculture.

We have elsewhere noted a variegated soil, well adapted to wheat, corn, iye,
flax, potatoes and various grasses. The improved facilities for market of surplus
products and the influence of a newly formed agricultural society, produced a
marked and favorable change in farming, and became apparent in every depart-
ment. The year 1853 may be regarded as the revival of agriculture. The fertility
of the soil seems to have been realized, plowing was deeper, manuring was begun,
rotation of crops was considered, farm lands were extended by clearing woodland
and by bringing into cultivation swamp lands, much of which had been deemed
valueless, through the application of judicious draining ; there was improvement
in agricultural implements, and the greatest interest and progress seems to have
been made in the. breeds of domestic animals. The building of the Fan Handle
enhanced values, bringing wheat to 75 cents a bushel and making prices for land.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 301

It will be seen that this year the county was rapidly growing into note and
importance, growing out of an ability to enjoy natural and local advantages. Farm-
ers from theEastern States, and industrious foreigners, were constantly moving in
and occupying the new lands. Now, at last, the capabilities of Darke were to be
realized. Her territory was extensive, fertile and mainly serviceable. The crops
of small grains were generally sure and abundant, and confidence not altogether
devoid of speculation seized upon the minds of the residents of towns and the
dwellers upon the farms.

To present at a glance the condition of agriculture in Darke twenty-seven
years ago, we refer to the following table of

THE STATISTICS OF 1853.

The valuation of the 371,053 acres of land in the county was placed at 81.21 1,-
858, or an average of $11.35 per acre ; the value of buildings was estimated to be
$399,731, while the aggregated value of all taxables was nearly $5,000,000. This
was a net increase over 1816, but seven years previous, of $2,297,111. There were
now of arable or plow lands, 98.512 acres ; of meadows and pasture, 22,169, and
of woodland and uncultivated, 250,863 ; this gives us about 60 per cent yet in a
state of nature. The wheat crop of 1852 was 321,958 bushels, and of corn, 661,-
019. There were of domestic animals 8,798 horses, 11 mules, 19,717 cattle,
23,731 sheep, and 15,010 hogs.

Four years later, improved farms about Greenville were held at $10 per acre,
at which figure several changed ownership. Among them was the sale of 152^-
acres by W. A. Weston to John C. Schmidt, for $6,100 ; L. H. Byran sold 97 acres
for $1,000 ; and Tunis Denise disposed of 80 acres at the same rate. These figures
premise rise in values and wealth of purchasers.

The future was not less prosperous than the past ; an aroused intelligence,
increased numbers, ready appliances and the command of means brought Darke
County, during the years up to 1860, and thence to 1868, into the front rank in
all staple products of the State. In the yield of wheat for the eight years from
1860 to 1868, Darke stands fifth among the foremost ten counties, and in average
per acre the seventh. She had during these years turned her energies to the con-
struction of pikes, and speedily advanced toward the van. A writer of that day
thus depicts the local feeling, " Ours is a level county, a rich soil susceptible of
eas}-, rapid, cheap cultivation and yielding bountifully to the husbandman who is
up with the day, in the purchase and use of improved farm machinery. Darke is
not dark, but as smiling, beautiful, healthy and pleasant a locality as can be found
in the country, possessing good schools and fine dwellings."

The following was the annual yield of wheat from 1860 to 1868, inclusive : 551.119
bushels. 437,001, 671,355, 505,972, 493,513, 310.611,260,611, 337,550. During
1863-61, the yield brought Darke to the fifth from the first in the State. The total
yield for the eight years was 3,610,756 bushels. The county stood ninth in corn
product in 1866, with a yield of 1,397,968 bushels ; in barley the sixth, and in ilax
culture the fourth. She stood second in the number of turnpikes, there being
34, with an aggregate length of 293 miles, and, in 186S, ranked eleventh in the
number and value of horses, there being 11,300, valued at $756,139.

We come now to the statistics of the year 1878 : Acres of land, 377,430 ;
Their valuation, $10,937,000 ; real estate in city, towns and villages, was assessed at
$1,902,250 ; chattel property at $5,659,180 ; the grand total of the assessment is,
therefore, seen to be $18,498,430 ; the total amount of taxes assessed for all pur-
poses was $218,330.50; the county lew was $21,018; for the poor. $9,100 ;
bridges, $89,000 ; roads, $21,000 ; townships, $18,000 ; for school purposes, $66,000,
and b} T city, towns and villages. $17.00(1. The value of merchant's stock was
$296,185 ; of manufacture, $35,775 ; of moneys. $209,781 ; credit book account,
etc., $1,351,229 ; interest on the irreducible State debt on account of Section 16,

302 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

for school fund, was $5,135.02; debt of separate school districts. $38,850; the
total debl in 1878 amounted to $42,550, which was a reduction as compared with
1ST", of $48,341. The hanks gave as capital the national. $84,000 ; three private,
$59,500 a total of $1 13,500. The sale of lands for the year ending June 30,
1878, was 28,540 acres for $1,068,412. Three hundred deeds were recorded, for
which the consideration was $207,102 ; 782 mortgages were made to secure
$.">( I l.o:-)0. There were canceled 237, releasing $5 t-3,327. Reverting particularly
to the source of all these values, we find the following agricultural showing :
Acreage of wheat, 35,423, product, 513,105 bushels ; acreage of rye, 2,351,
product, 36,591 bushels ; acreage of buckwheat, 378, product, 4,354 bushels ;
acreage of oats, 18,044, product 627,405 ; acreage of barley, 2,666, product,
77.182; acreage of corn, 71,416, product, 2,013,504; total acreage, 133,278,
total product, 3,172,321 bushels ; acreage of timothy, 1.053. product in tons,
13,684 ; acreage of clover, 10,180, product in tons, 5,527 ; bushels of seed, 3,711 ;
pasture lands, 2,611 acres ; tlax product from 2,481 acres, 21,270 bushels, 55,850
pounds fiber ; potatoes product from 1,650 acres, 114,264 bushels; sweet potatoes
from 38 acres, 2,220 bushels ; tobacco from 703 acres, 836,206 pounds ; sorghum
from 552 acres, 168 pounds of sugar, 37,020 gallons of sirup ; maple sugar, 1,736
pounds, and 5,614 gallons of sirup manufactured ; hives of honey-bees, 2,144,
producing 17,186 pounds of honey. There was of taxable land cultivated.
100,035 acres ; pasture, 14,578 acres; woodland, 100.270 acres ; uncultivated or
waste, 0,31 — total, 315,111 acres. It is most remarkable that the remnant of waste
land should have been reduced to less than 10,000 acres. The following were the
dairy products : butter, 714,036 pounds ; cheese, 245 pounds. Of stock there were
13.1*57 horses, valued at $724,108 ; 21,180 cattle valued at $203,600 ; 462 mules
valued at $29,196 ; 51,605 hogs valued at $110,804 ; 7,787 sheep valued at 18.067 ;
wool product was 18,081 pounds. The assessment of dogs is a curious feature,
bearing the following showing : There were listed as worth $50 and under, 241
valued at $2,724. and exceeding that figure, 2,514 valued at $134,824. Horticult-
ural interests do not make much prominent showing, there being, however, 5,548
acres devoted to orchards, principally apples. Associations of persons engaged in
like pursuits furnish opportunity to disseminate information, compare experiences,
examine machinery and stimulate exertion.

It was not until 1852, that leading agriculturists conferring, resolved upon
the organization of an agricultural societ}", of which we have the following :

HISTORY OF THE DARKE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

On November 16, 1852. some thirty citizens, from all parts of the county, met
at the court house at Greenville and organized a county agricultural society, by
appointing X. Grard, President. Alfred Kitchen. Treasurer, and Noah Arnold. Secre-
tary. A committee of one from each township was appointed to procure subscrip-
tions, and Messrs. Wilson, Northrup and Kitchen were appointed to report
a constitution and by-laws. The society was organized November 24, 1852, and
within a year numbered 320 members. The first annual fair was held at G-reen-
ville on the 7th and 8th of September; attendance large, competition spirited.
exhibits respectable. The Greenville ladies made it attractive by a Leafy bower
for the reception of dairy products, domestic work' and flowers.

As early as 1853, the local press was earnest in the use of its influence to
interesl the public in the support of such a society as would be of service to town
and county, in a less or greater degree, and. on April 10, the Greenville Journal
contained the following editorial : " The officers and managers of this association
are using every effort in their power to insure to their fall exhibition a character of
interest that will call together a very great assembly of compel itors and specta-
tors. Their list of premiums is extensive and liberal. They contemplate making
a large indosure. The various committees are attending faithfully to the discharge

HISTORY OF DAUKE COUNTY. 303

of their duties. From present indications, the first Darke County Fair will
be quite creditable to our producers. The spirit of emulation awakened by this
move will leave its impress. Darke Count}' has the soil, has all the advantages
of a great producing region, and all should conclude to be present on the 7th and
8th of September next." This was followed by other timely articles during the
months of July and August. In a paper called The Mad Anthony, published
in Greenville September 14, 1853, we read : " The Darke County Agricultural Fair
proved to be all that its friends could have wished. The occasion is one that will
long be remembered. We have had the pleasure of attending sevei'al old-estab-
lished count}' fairs throughout the State, and can safely assert that we have never
yet witnessed a better display of stock than was exhibited in Greenville on the 7th
and Sth. The committee had spared no pains to fit up the grounds in an appropriate
manner, and had ample accommodations for every article offered. On the whole,
the exhibition reflects great credit upon our county, and should inspire every citi-
zen with zeal in the cause. We anticipate having one of the largest county fairs
ever held in the State next fall."' In the same paper, two weeks later, the follow-
ing paragraph appeared : " We understand that Darke County was not thrown
altogether in the shade by her more stately neighbors at the State Fair. She was
awarded the first premium on flour, wheat, poultry, apples, potatoes, the best qual-
ity of white lime and other articles. Don't be ashamed, now, to admit that you
hail from 'way out in Darke County.'' The Mad Anthony must have been propi-
tiated by the receipt of two specimen apples grown by William McKhann, of the
count}-, one of which weighed one and three-fourths pounds. The records have
not been accessible to us till 1857, when, on November 25, pursuant to notice,
the Board of Directors met at the office of M. Spayd and organized, pursuant to
their election September 25 previous. Members present, Moses Hart, President ;
J. W. Shivery, Vice President ; M. Spayd, Secretary ; Joseph Bryson, Treasurer,
and Managers George Elston, Isaac Funk and Reuben Lowry. A committee was
appointed to draft a constitution and code of by-laws. The bond of the Treas-
urer for $1,000 was accepted April 17. 1S58. and approved, and the annual fair
appointed for the 23d to the 25th of September following, at the old fair ground
south of Greenville. A " complete set of good, substantial books for the use of
this society " was also authorized. Committees were appointed to purchase lum-
ber for a fence around the said grounds, and to arrange a premium list. At a
meeting held on the 22d of May, the Secretary was instructed to get information
from parties resident of the counties of Preble. Miami and Montgomery, regarding
the selection from those localities of persons suitable to act as judges on stock.
On the 3d of July, the new constitution and by-laws were adopted. The follow-
ing preamble will be of interest to the reader in this connection : " Whereas, it
appears, from the constitution heretofore adopted by the Darke County Agricult-
ural Society, that the same is inefficient and defective, and, for the purpose of
more thoroughly and effectually promoting the general interests of said society in
our representative capacity, we do alter and amend said constitution." Alterations
rectifying defects were accordingly made. On August 25. then' was held a meet-
ing, at which delegates were appointed to confer with like parties from Miami and
such other counties as might be represented, concerning a plan for the establish-
ment of a district agricultural society, and the report of this committee was there-
after approved, and it was recommended that a district fair be held in rotation in
each of the several counties concerned, in lieu of the fair for that county the same
year. The number of entries made for live stock, grain, etc.. prior to the opening
of the sixth county, or first district, fair, held in the tall of 1858. was not prom-
ising, but on the first day the rush to make entries was remarkable. The Secre-
tary, with the regular aid of two assistants, and the occasional aid of a third, was
tasked to his utmost to wait upon exhibitors and make the number of entries
desired. The attendance, apart from exhibitors, was meager. About one hundred
day tickets were sold, and about three times as many family passes. Considerable

304 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

stock arrived this day, and the owners took pains to show to advantage. The
leader of the following excerpt, taken from the Secretary's report, will admit that
that official was endowed with descriptive powers quite beyond what is usual :
"The weather was very pleasant, the air was calm and temperate, the skies
unclouded, and the atmosphere rilled with a mellow haze which gave everything a
softer hue and a milder aspect, constituting one of those delightful autumnal days
in which nature seems to be reposing from her toils and labors of the past sum-
mer, and to be rejoicing in her own loveliness and beauty. The grounds were
undisturbed by drunken revels or beastly brawls, thus presaging a good and agree-
able time coming."

The second day was equally propitious and brought a concourse of people
much greater than has ever before visited the grounds — the number being variously
estimated at from four to six thousand. All departments were well filled, and
the floral hall was especially attractive. The third and last day of the fair opened
ominously, with gloomy and blustering weather, but soon the cloud rifted and
again the grounds were crowded, but the throng was perceptibly less than on the
day preceding. Following the award of premiums and the reception of the reports
of committees, an election of officers for the ensuing year was held with the follow-
ing result : President, J. Townsend ; Vice President, Dr. James Rubey ; Sec-
retaiy, M. Spayd ; Treasurer, George Studabaker ; Managers, George Keister,
John Plessinger, John McClure, James Grimes and James Aulett. Much spirit
was manifested upon the track ; the ladies' equestrian contest won general admira-
tion and a liberal premium. "The bo} r s " engaged in a riding match which won
applause, and during the afternoon the Greenville "Yagers" entered the fair-
ground in full uniform, under command of Gen. Craner, and the proceedings
were closed with a fine display of the military. The receipts from all sources
were $1,594.99 ; from fair, $838.01 ; premiums paid, $384.75 ; balance in treasury,
January 3, 1859, $275.19.

We have supplied the description of this, the first fair under the auspices of
the new organization in detail, because, in man}' respects, it had its counterpart in
those which followed.

As the time drew near for the annual fair of 1859, the Secretary was ordered
at a meeting held April 23, to prepare and cause to be published and printed in
pamphlet form, the premium list, and this, no doubt, contributed to the attendance
at the fair which opened on the 4th of October. The Seeretaiy and four assisants
were kept busy recording the raany entries. The second day is described as " an
atmospherical phenomenon, a paragon of autumnal beauty." The grounds had
been increased materially in extent, yet the woods were filled with vehicles, and
the whole area was alive with people. On October 6, the last day of the fair, the
attendance reached its maximum. Receipts of the season nearly doubled those
of any previous fair in Darke County, there having been taken for tickets $1,332.23,
and from all sources, including balance in the treasury. January 3. 1859. $2,376.86.
Balance on hand, January 2, 1800, $S09.73. The fair of 1860 is not recorded on
the books of the society. Quite a large sum had been expended in improvement
of the grounds, but the political excitement just prior to the outbreak of the war
had so diverted the attention of the people from civil interests, that the receipts
fell some sl'ho below the current expenses. On February 10. 1S01. the Board of
Directors met to enter upon the discharge of their duties. There were present
President II. 15. Wail. Vice President Levi Graver, Secretary Noah Arnold, and
Managers Robert Drew, James McCabe, Nicholas York, John Stoltz and George
Shively. August 10, the President was authorized to borrow $400, and. at the
next meeting, an additional loan of $50 was sanctioned. The fair opened October
2. and during the first three days of its continuance, the weather was fine and
attendance large. An encouraging number of entries was made, but on the fourth
and final day, there was a I'alling-otf. partly owing to unfavorable weather. The
receipts were sufficient to extricate the society from its indebtedness, but a definite
statement has not been made.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 305

On January 18, 1862, it being the time set for choice of officers, William
Turner was chosen President, John Stoltz, Vice President ; J. E. Matchett, Secre-
tary ; J. F. Bertch, Treasurer, and J. Townsend, George Shively, A. K. Doty,
C. C. Walker and David Thompson, Managers. In common with every other
interest and organization, the effect of the war was felt in a marked degree upon
the society, and at a meeting held August 15, 1862, the following preamble and
resolution were adopted :

Whereas, In consequence of great excitement in military circles, our young men having
mostly volunteered in the service of their country, the public mind being very much unsettled
thereby,

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Board it will be inexpedient to hold a fair, and that
none will be holden the present season."

On December 27, 1862, John E. Matchett was appointed a delegate to represent
the Darke County Agricultural Society in the State Agricultural Convention, to be
held in Columbus on January 7, 1863. The Board met on January 31, 1863, to
elect officers, but, their being no electors present, adjourned sine die.

No fairs were held during during the years 1862-64, but with the return of
peace came a revival of agricultural interests. July 22, 1865, the Board of Agri-
culture for Darke Count}* met at the court house in Greenville, in response to a
published call. The following resolutions were passed :

Resolved, That we hold a county fair on the old fair grounds, near town, on the 28th,
29th and 30th days of September next.

Resolved, That the Board solicit a temporary loan, by subscription, of §1.000 from the
citizens of this county for the purpose of enabling it to purchase lumber to fence the grounds
preparatory to holding said fair.

Following the appointment of various committees, the meeting adjourned.
At the next meeting, on August 8, the Committee on Subscription reported a col-
lectable subscription of $1,000. The fair proved a success in all regards. There was
large attendance, numerous entries, and receipts fully equaled the most sanguine
expectations. The general expression of managers and people was that " Darke
was herself again," and that the fair was this year, as it had been in former times,
a great success. The total receipts from all sources, including loans, was $3,792.97,
and there was a credit balance, after defraying all expenses, of $103.72. The
The officers elect for 1866 were : President, H. B. Vail ; Vice President, John
Stoltz ; Secretary, Noah Arnold, Treasurer, John E. Matchett and eight Directors,
named as follows : J. Townsend, J. W. Porter, H. Bichel, M. Zich, to serve
one year ; for two years, A. Gaskell, N. Arnold, G. W. Studabaker and C. C.
Walker. From the 26th to the 29th days of September, inclusive, were fixed upon
as the time for holding the next annual fair. It was resolved to make an effort
to purchase grounds for the society to hold its fairs in the future," and a com-
mittee was appointed to take the matter in charge. On March 17, 1866, a propo-
sition from Messrs. Dawes & Turpen for the sale of the lot south of the railroad
for $2,000, was accepted by resolution, and a committee appointed to close the
contract. Report was made April 7, that the purchase had been completed of the
entire tract south of the railroad for the designated sum — one-half cash in hand,
the remainder in one year, with interest at 6 per cent. The contract was at once
approved, and a certificate drawn on the Treasurer for $1,000, the society having
that amount of mone}' and collaterals. At a subsequent meeting, 48,000 feet of
poplar lumber was ordered to be purchased for inelosure.

( hvingto bad roads and unfavorable weather, the attendance at the fair, although
larger than was expected, was comparatively small, yet it was no failure in the
number of entries, the quality of animals, the article shown, nor in the receipts.

The officers for 1867 were : John L. Winner, President ; H. Mills, Vice
President, and the new members of the board — Moses Hart, J. E. Matchett, John
Stoltz and George Ivester. The entries and attendance at the fair this year, Octo-
ber 2 to 5, inclusive, was the largest in the history of the society. There was line

306 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

weather. The stock, products and articles entered were better ; the displays in
floral hall, and especially in the fine arts and domestic manufactures were partic-
ularly good ; the contest on the race course was unusually spirited, and every thing
passed oft' agreeably to all concerned.

A special meeting was called March 21, 1808, to lease additional grounds, and
a committee was appointed to contract, if possible, with Isaac Rush, for five acres.
On August 29, it was ordered that hereafter all gambling be excluded from the
grounds. The fair for 1868 opened September 30 and closed October 3. The
first day was rainy, unfavorable, with small attendance ; this continued until noon
of the second day. but it cleared off in the afternoon, and from then to the close
there was large attendance. The receipts were $1,775.10.. The following officers were
chosen January 9, 18G9 : D. Noggle, President ; Gr. W. Studabaker, Vice Presi-
dent. The new members of the board were J. E. Matchett, S. Shepherd, Gr. D.
Medford and George Elston, and shortly after it was decided to fence the fair
grounds. The fair began September 28, and continued four days, with favorable
weather, numerous entries, a fine assemblage and good interest. The number of
tickets sold on the third day, exclusive of family tickets, was 1,707. The display
of fast horses drew the attention of a large crowd. On the last day, the trotting
premium of $100 was won by the horse of William T. Ball, mile heats, three best
in five ; time, 2:57, 2:52 and 2:51. Receipts of the fair were $2,297.85, yet a loan
of $500 was required to pay off the premiums. The officers elect for 1870 were :
H. Mills, President ; David Noggle, Vice President ; new Managers were C. C.
Walker, I. D. Parent, N. Arnold and J. T. Martz.

On March 26, 1870, a committee was appointed to rent the grounds during
the summer, reserving the privilege of granting the use of the track during the
time, to any person or persons who may solicit the same for the training of horses,
and also the privilege of permitting picnics and other public gatherings to be held
thereon during the said time. At the next meeting, the conditions were modified
and the grounds rented to A. H. Vandyke for$25. The society partially relinquished
control of the track, but reserved the right to permit picnics, political meetings
and other public gatherings to be held on the grounds during the time of the
rental. An entry fee of 10 per cent on all premiums of $5 and over was ordered
to be hereafter collected at the time said entries were made, and there was to be
no deductions on the premiums offered, and it was further decided that any persons
who might bring stock to place upon exhibition should not be permitted to pass in
any one to care for or take charge of the stock, unless the admittance fee of such
party had first been paid. The price of family tickets was fixed at $1 each ;
single day tickets, 25 cents ; a wagon 20 cents, or good during the fair, 50 cents.
The premium list was carefully considered and revised. All second prizes
were fixed at half the amount of the first, except hands, which were set at $25 and
$ 1 5. The premium of $15 on vocal music and $20 on cabinet of natural curiosities
were stricken from the list, and *1(>o was borrowed to redeem outstanding orders.

On June 30, the contract for building a permanent [ticket fence was let to Abra-
ham Black, the lowest bidder. Seven hundred dollars were borrowed to defray the
expenses of erecting this fence, and 12 per cent was paid on this indebtedness. A
committee was appointed to supervise the erection of buildings, sheds, etc.. and
5,000 feet of lumber were ordered The need of more lumber to complete improve-
ments caused an additional debt of s!50.

The fair was held during the latter days of September. 1870. There was fine
weather with dusty roads and track. There was a notable display of farm imple-
ments, and a line turnout of blooded stock, but entries in this department were
barred by inability of owners to establish pedigrees. A number of newspaper
reporters and correspondents were the guests of the board on the second day. from
Cincinnati. Richmond and other places. It was estimated that 7.5(10 people were
[•resent on the third day. The receipts were $3,013.97 : subsequent receipts from
sale of lumber increased the amount by $586.06. The officers for 1871 were : George

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 307

D. Miller, President ; George W. Brawley, Vice President, and Managers — James
Hopper, John M. Hall, Amos Halin and George Elston. The treasury con-
tained less than $100 in uncollected notes, accounts and cash, and $50 was bor-
rowed to meet orders issued. On the 1st of April, 40,000 feet of lumber, dressed
on one side, was ordered for roofing buildings, etc., and in July a committee was
appointed, in connection with one from the Joint Stock Agricultural, Mechanical
and Horticultural Association, to consult with the County Commissioners relative
to the future disposal of the fair grounds. Following considerable discussion and a
tie vote, the President ruled in favor of a proposition to hold a horse fair on August
18 and 19. There was $400 borrowed to apply on payment of lumber purchased.

Having included in our history of the Darke County Agricultural Society nearly
every important item from its organization up to 1871, and the details during the last
ten years being easily accessible to the general public, only a brief outline of what
has transpired up to 1880 will be supplied. The fair of 1871, held early in October,
was attended by a multitude of people, as many as eight to ten thousand being-
reported present on the second day. The officers for 1872 were H. Mills,
President ; A. H. Vandyke, Vice President, and new Managers — G. D. Miller, J.
T. Martz, James McCabe and N. Arnold. J. J. Martz was chosen Secretary and
Amos Hahn, Treasurer. The " horse fair " proposition was this year defeated. The
fair for 1872 was a notable success. There were, in round numbers, twelve hun-
dred entries, and, from sale of tickets, it was seen that 9,494 persons were on the
grounds.

The election of 1873 resulted in the choice of John M. Hall, President ; H.
Mills, Vice President ; new Managers — Daniel Walker, James Hopper, Amos
Hahn and I. N. Shivery. The Treasurer and Secretary of the previous year were
retained. In the early part of the year, the board procured the written consent of
the County Commissioners to sell the fair grounds, provided they purchase other
grounds with the proceeds of the sale. Soon after this, the grounds embracing
17.19 acres in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 34, Town-
ship 12, Range 2 east, were sold to J. W. Sater, and, on June 7, forty acres were
bought of Messrs. O'Brien & Martz for a new ground. The price being $125 per
acre, involved an outlay of $5,000, besides the no inconsiderable sum required for
fencing and general improvements. The fair began September 22, continued five
days and gave universal satisfaction. On the third day, it was estimated that
9,000 persons were within the inclosure, and the expression was heard that " these
are the very grounds we want." The officers for 1874 were : H. Mills, President ;
John M. Hall, Vice President ; new Managers — David Thompson, J. T. Martz,
Arnold and McCabe. The others as before. This year the fair was held during
the first days of September. Entries were being made on the first day by the
Secretary and three assistants, and were continued until late at night. The crowd
was very great the next day, and despite the intention to close entries at noon,
the number and eagerness of the crowd to enter articles for exhibition were so
great that the time was extended until the close of the day.. The principal
attraction of the day was the trial of speed of horses. The attendance on the
third, estimated by tickets, was above 12,000 ; there were 1,000 wagons on the
ground, and the sale of single tickets realized $3,604. The expression was heard
that the grounds were too small. There were 1,800 entries. The racing elicited lively
interest from the presence on the course of noted horses from Centerville. Urbana,
and from Fort Wayne, Ind. The fourth day was clear above, but the dust was
almost unendurable. Many of the finer articles of needlework, etc., on exhibition
were badly soiled, and it became evident that to insure the prosperity of this
department in the future, a building must be erected which should combine secur-
ity of goods at night with means of protection from the dust or storm by day.
The show of stock, products and implements was creditable, and the test of speed
seemed to have been fairly and satisfactorily made. The final day presented the
attraction of the ladies' equestrian performance. In competing for the premium of a

308 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

lady's saddle and bridle, valued at $40, there were four entries, and we would have
been glad to record the one successful did we know her name. A balloon ascen-
sion failed, through no fault of the managers. The result of the fair financially
was gratifying, bat who can estimate the benefit derived from the commingling
here and interchange of opinion of the great body of farmers. By this agency.
the manufacturer was brought to acquaintance of his patrons, and premiums given
by capable men, directed where the best machinery could be obtained. Step by
step, a progress was made toward permanent and advantageous improvements,
now evident in all parts of the county. Arrangements were made, close following
the conclusion of the fair, to construct a dwelling on the grounds, to be occupied
b} T a family whose duty it should be to take charge of the property.

The officers for 1875 were John Townsend, President ; Thomas McCowen,
Vice President ; new Managers — Michael Noggle. J. C. Turpen, I. N. Shively and
A. F. Koop ; Mr. Martz remained Secretary and Mr. Koop was chosen Treasurer.
The fair was held somewhat later ; the weather was chill and unpleasant. Few
entries were made the first day, and prospects unfavorable, nor was the second
day much more encouraging, but the entries were beyond hopes, and it was found
necessary to keep the books open till dark. The third day was mild, pleasant and
drew a crowd. Over 8,000 persons and 900 vehicles came upon the grounds.
The interest centered upon the races, and bets were publicly made on the ground.
" the police making no effort to prevent the same." A balloon ascension took
place at 3 P. M. to the full satisfaction of a gazing multitude. The descent was
gradually and safely accomplished to the southern part of the old fair ground.
The final day saw a diminished throng ; awards proved satisfactory. Again public
wagers were noticed — a scandal heretofore unknown to the fair — and again there
was a balloon ascension. The daring aeronaut attained a great altitude, and came
to the surface just east of the Elston pike near the corporation line.

The officers for 1876 were: Thomas McCowan, President ; Mr. Townsend, Vice
President, and new Managers — Gr. W. Studabaker, Sr., J. N. Lowry, E. Lecklider and
N. M. Wilson ; J. C. Turpen now became Secretary ; Mr. Koop having resigned as
Treasurer and Manager, George W. Studabaker was appointed to the former office,
and H. S. York to the vacant position on the board.

Again, September came around. It had now become usual to employ the
first two days in entering articles and stock for exhibition. Farm products, poul-
try, stock and implements were well represented, but there was a falling-off in the
display of furniture.

The morning of the day was rainy, drizzling showers fell until nearly noon,
and the clouds looked threatening all the day. yet there were present seven to
eight thousand people. The races "drew " as before, the •• ascension" was again a
success, although twice accomplished.

The election of 1877 caused Messrs. McCowen and Townsend to exchange
positions. Messrs. Shively, York, Noggle and Turpen were chosen managers, the
Treasurer was continued, and Mr. Turpen elected Secretary. An addition was
made to Floral Hall during the summer, for the disposition of plants and flowers.
The fair opened with a fair representation of the several departments. The horse
and the cattle stalls were nearly all rented, additional pens were required for sheep
and swine, and at the fine art hall, so great was the number of plants and flowers
brought in. that an addition had to be extemporized for that department also.
The third or exhibition day was bright and pleasant. The gate-keepers were
obliged to call for assistance. The attendance was about ten thousand, besides
hundreds of vehicles. So dusty grew the ground, that the board determined to
employ a sprinkler for the next day. The fair held its own as in times past in
attendance and harmonious action.

Officers for 1878 wen' same as previous year. The pay of help was reduced
10 pei- cent, as follows : Chief of Police. gate-keepers and assistants of Treasurer
and Secretary, each sl'.l\"> per day ; the hall committee $1.35, and a proposition

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 309

from the Greenville Band to play during the three clays for $75 less thfrteen
or more family tiekets was accepted. The annual fair began September 17.
'There were a great mam- entries, but the " district pacing race," set for the second
day, failed to become an attraction. The exhibit of cattle, poultry, grain and
fruits was particularly good. On the third day, at 7 A. 31., the population of
Darke County " and the rest of the United States " began to stream through the
gates, at 25 cents a head, children under twelve years of age being free. The
Secretary had asserted, and it now came true, that " this day will pass into the
history of the Agricultural Society as one of the most successful in every way
since its organization.'" Concerning the final day we quote : " most inglorious
day ! da} r that made officers, managers, exhibitors and visitors, especially the
' horse men,' say words out of the Bible ! ' The rain, the rain, how beautiful is
the rain, after the dust and heat, in the crowded street and in the narrow lane,' but
not under the present circumstances. It was about 10 A. M. when all were taken
by surprise by the showers that began to fall most heavily. The people rapidly
took their departure without waiting to hear the band play ' Sweet Home.' " It
was the opinion of the managers that the races should not be held, but they
3-ielded to the importunities of those who remained. The receipts from this exhi-
bition were $4,651.44.

The officers remained practically the same in 1879, save that a new manager,
S. Rynearson, was chosen, and AYilliam Sullivan appointed Secretary. The race-
course was remodeled during the summer and lengthened to a half-mile, under the
supervision of C. O'Brien. Other alterations and repairs were made during the
same season. The fair lasted this fall only four days. So much stock arrived on
the day previous that parties were kept busy in their proper bestowal. It had
been advertised that a match trot for a purse of $200 would come off on the open-
ing day (September 16). and the result was an attendance of fully two thousand
four hundred persons. The Secretary and assistants were busied all day and
thence on to midnight making entries from memoranda supplied by exhibitors.
The weather was cool during the second day ; about four thousand were present.
The books were kept open till noon, and due diligence was exercised in expediting
entries, but this department was obliged to close before full record could be made.
Carpenters were engaged all day building stalls and pens, and night found consid-
erable stock unsheltered. The races, stimulated by the surging multitude, proved
very exciting. It had been announced that Gov. Bishop would deliver an agri-
cultural address during the fair. He arrived at Greenville on the night of the
17th, and by noon of the next clay, the people and vehicles gathered from all
points far and near. The '-grove" seemed literally packed . with wagon, buggy
and other conveyances, while there was a perfect jam of people in and about the
various halls. The Governor came upon the ground about 11 A. M., and from
the band-stand delivered a short address, congratulating the citizens of Darke
County upon their rapid advance in agriculture, and their good fortune in having
selected such a fertile spot for their homes.

The managers of awards had anticipated their duties, and the business pro-
gressed rapidly toward completion harmoniously. Committees on horses, cattle,
sheep and hogs reported an unusually fine displa}- in those departments ; more
especially was this the case with swine, which was the finest exhibit of any here-
tofore made in the county. From 2 P. 31.. races claimed attention, and were con-
tinued until dark. Judging from the number of tickets sold, the number present
was full 12,000. The morning of the final day was clear and cold, yet some 7,000
persons were present. About 10 A. 31., the removal of stock and machinery began,
and by 3 P. 31. was mainly completed. Three races occupied the afternoon, a 2:30
trot for a purse of $300. the county trot and a running race for $125. Receipts of
this fair were $5,681.81.

Officers for 1880 are Thomas 3IcC<»wan. President; John Townsend, Vice
President; new managers — G. W. Studabaker, X. 31. Wilson. J. N. Lowry and

310 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

Ezra Lecklider; the managers who hold over are X. S.York, Michael Noggle.
S. Rynearson and William Sullivan, who on February 3, 1880, was elected Secre-
tary, while Mr. Studabaker continues Treasurer.

After a somewhat checkered experience financially and otherwise, that required,
at times, the most prudent counsels and judicious management, as well as the
hearty co-operation of friends and promoters in general, the Darke County Agri-
cultural Society stands in the fore front of local enterprises, with a prosperous
future confidently assured. Its present debt is about $1,000, the remainder of the
purchase of its new and commodious grounds, embracing forty-four acres, located
one-half mile south of the city, just at the corporation line between the Jefferson
and Eaton turnpikes. The buildings, fencing and other constructions and improve-
ments are permanent and need no immediate repair nor material increase.

In addition to the credit deservedly bestowed upon the society for efficient
management, there has recently been presented a new claim to the respect and
esteem of community by an unanimous interdict of the sale of intoxicants on the
fair grounds. We predict for the society a prosperous future, calculated to con-
tinue the county in its vantage ground of varied and enormous products, till by
drainage, tillage and crops, the maximum shall be reached and held.

GEOLOGY.

There is no subject identified with the history of Darke ComnVy so little known
and so abounding in matters of interest and value as that which treats of its
rock formations. The facts stated in this chapter are drawn from the report of
the Geology of Darke County, published in "Geology of Ohio." The structural
geology of the county presents us with a single rock formation, upon which rest
drift deposits which vary, within the bounds of Darke, in a great degree in their
thickness. In some places superficial, in others of considerable depth. A study
of these deposits in their various phases will tend to aid people in their search for
comfort and wealth, and will decide the pursuit or abandonment of various desir-
able projects. The rock upon which the drifts rest is known generally as Niagara
limestone, beneath which are the series designated as paleozoic. The geologists of
this region thus write : " Hither the great glaciers of the north, at a very remote
age, have transported and deposited all over this rocky floor, in varied depths, vast
quantities of clay, gravel and bowlders, on an average of 100 feet or even more.
Through the action of water, or the hand of man, where there was no other
impediment than a few feet of soil, in five different localities, small areas of the
native rock have been exposed." Slight knowledge can be acquired of the out-
lines of the bed-rock, while its constituents and characters may be fully understood.
This rock is of diverse texture. It has been found soft and sandy, and again
crystalline in its hardness. Where it is exposed to view, it is seen unbroken and
horizontal, save a single exception. In the quarries owned by Dr. Card, a mile and
a half southwest of Greenville, between the fork of Greenville and Mud Creeks,
the beds of rock are found folded, with a dip to the south and east. The Layers
are also seen to terminate in the contiguous drift, and may be fdflowed short dis-
tances by scattered fragments. The Niagara Ledge was reached at a depth of
ninety-five feet, by parties engaged in excavating the public cistern at the corner of
Fourth Street and Broadway, in Greenville. Though the enterprise failed in its
object to secure a supply of water, yet it rendered useful knowledge in a variety of
ways. This depth is placed at the minimum to reach rock in the vicinity. The
quarries mentioned lie twenty-one feet below Greenville, and are. therefore, seventy-
four feet above the rock underlying the town. The same ledge crops out four and
a half miles east of Greenville, at Bierley's, and is there eighty-nine feet above the
rock at the county seat. Five miles south, at Maur's Station. Mud Creek flows
over the horizontal limestone, showing a still greater elevation. These observations
tend to locate Greenville upon a huge drift heaped in a great glacial valley. Since

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 311

the town is elevated thirty feet above the channel of the creek, its present bed.
must flow over detritus sixt} T -five feet in depth. This deposit also points to the
early junction of the two streams beneath the present site of Greenville. Strong
proof is supplied by Gard's quarries, which stood a bold rocky islet, around which
swept the great streams which in the remote part formed this basin.

The streams flow over their original beds in three localities within the county,
for short distances : Greenville Creek at Bierley's, Mud Creek at Weaver's Station
and Stillwater in Wayne Township. That the excavation noticed was the work of
glaciers is proved by the general horizontal position of the rock and by the
smoother polished glacial stria? found in the quarries. These striae bear a direction
almost due south.

The superficial deposits consist of a mass of clay, sand and gravel, sometimes
found in regular distinct layers, at others, heterogeneously blended. The former
mark the action of water, the latter, of glacier and iceberg. There seems to be a
diversity in the divisions of the deposits, as no two sections present uniform suc-
cession of parts.

The well at the Greenville gas works shows as follows :

Feet. Inches.

Sod and yellow clay 6

Red clay* 1 6

Yellow clay, with pebbles and bowlders 8

Yellow sand, stratified 8

Hardpan 1 6

Fine blue clay, very tenacious, stratified 8

Blue sand and gravel 21 10

Total depth 42

The pebbles and bowlders are worn by water. The layer of blue clay is
derived from melting icebergs. Surface bowlders are of greenstone, S} T enite, etc.,
while those found blended with the yellow cla}* were of waterlime and Niagara
limestone, water-worn.

From many wells, of various depths, the following section may be taken as
an acknowledged type of this region :

Inches. Feet.

Sod or loam from (j to lh

Red clay " " 4~

Yellow clay " 12 " 15

Yellow sand and gravel " 6 " 20

Blue sand and gravel " 8 " 30

Blue clay, with pebbles " 3 " 18

Fine blue clay, compact " " 1J

Hardpan, alternating with blue clay " 10 " 20

Blue clay " 3 " 9

Bowlder clay " 10 " 20

Total " 41$ " 148,}, or 95 feet average.

A noticeable feature of the drift in this locality are the sand and gravel hills
which largely prevail in the county. These cairns, as they are called, are easily
accessible, break the otherwise monotony of the landscape, and are nature's store-
houses for the material of which the fine and numerous turnpikes have been con-
structed. They, also, supply abundance of building-sand, at the very places where
this auxiliary is most needed.

These hill range in height from thirty to sixty feet, and are in form either
conical or elongated ; the latter type is the most common to this localit}*. It is
noted that their axes lies uniformly northwest by southeast. They most abound
along a line parallel to the divide, passing from the northeast through the center of
the county, to its southwestern portion. Along the railroad, between Greenville
and Richmond. Ind., they are in clusters ; they ma}* be seen isolated and in groups.
Their shape and distribution indicate their oriain. at right angles to the direction

312 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

of the watershed. There is a marked peculiarity between the cairns and the soil
surrounding them. They are frequently met with in the midst of black bottom
land, entirely distinct and dissimilar. Their composition is sand, gravel and a
small quantity of Intermixed yellow clay. The mass, generally 3'ellow, is at vary-
ing intervals streaked with blue, and the presence of iron and sulphur is often
perceivable from the red brown hue of the deposit. There is an absence of
large bowlders, the pebbles are seen to be rounded and smoothed, anil the sand
and gravel are found interlocked in wedge-shaped layers. The pebbles are from
one-half to three inches in diameter. Large fragments of rocks are sometimes
found imbedded in the drift. Among varieties of this are flint, granite, shale and
limestone. Wherever fossils have been discovered, they are seen to be much worn
and are scarcely recognizable. A section of an isolated cairn, known as Bunker
Hill, near the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, one and one-half miles
southwest of Greenville, gives the following :

Red clay 3 feet I Unassorted gravel 24 to 30 feet.

Fine yellow sand 4 " | Hard pan 3 "

This hill, once fifty feet in height, has been pretty much removed. A very
fine section, with well-stratified layers, showing interlocking, free from bowlders,
and containing pebble of blue shale and limestone, is obtained from Hetzler's
gravel pit, in Adams Township. It shows series, as follows :

Feet. Inches.

Clayey soil 4

Yellow clay 1

Tough red clay 1

Sorted gravel 2

Fine sand 3

Unassorted gravel 2

Fine yellow sand 4

Brownish sand, coarser 1 O.y

Bluish gravel, assorted 2

Bluish yellow sand 1 3

Fine bluish sand 4

Fine reddish sand and bluish gravel 2

Total depth of section 17 2h

Dr. Newberry speaks of these cairns as follows : " It seems that in the
period of greatest submergence, the larger part of the summit of the watershed
was under water, and was swept by breakers and shore waves, by which some of
the beds of sand and gravel were formed which are described under the head of
cairns ; and I have supposed that a considerable proportion of the materials
composing these cairns or eskers was derived from icebergs standing on the shoals
which now form the crest of the divide." It is theorized that, in the passes of
the divide, there was depth of water sufficient to float icebergs of some size. As
these stranded upon the shelving slopes of the divide, or dissolved in their
slow movement southward, there was set free their immense stores of mud and
gravel. The gradual upheaval of the continent made the gaps in the divide.
through which volumes of water continued to pour for an indefinite period, and
their eddies and other agencies united to sort and shape the successive layers.

Very many bowlders are found scattered over the surface of the county, and
their origin is imputed to floating ice. Two classes differing in location are
observed, one finely striated, of deep-blue color and resting on the bed-rock, the
other containing ordinary drift rocks and lying within a few feet of the surface.
These bowlders are first observed in the northwest [tart of the county, along the
crest of the divide, where they were set free from the stranded icebergs. We may
trace them along the line of the deepest channels of the principal streams, promi-
nent among which was Greenville Creek. We quote, "at Bierley's quarries, and
in that vicinity, resting just above the Niagara limestone, in probably a foot or
two of soil, they exist in a perfect jumble, sometimes two and three huge ones

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 815

piled up together. Up stream, they can be traced as a perfect moraine ; below,
however, they are few, though, for the most part, larger." The beds of rock were
evidently a barrier at this point to the further progress of the floating ice-masses.
Like, though smaller, prevalence of these large bowlders is found at all exposures
in the county, and gives color to the statement of quarrymen that the presence of
groups of bowlders on the surface indicates the presence of the limestone at a
small depth beneath.

A belt of these iceberg-moraines extends up the left bank of the creek from
Bierley's quarries, pursues a direct course at a bend of the creek, crosses and fol-
lows the north side of the Greenville & Gettysburg pike, makes a circuit through
neighboring fields and returns to the creek below Knouf's mill, where the bowlders
have been used in the formation of a large dam, and from this point its course is
traceable toward the divide. This belt of rock was seen to advantage in the early
day, upon the commons east of Greenville, before removal for building purposes.
Another prominent belt of surface bowlders, three or four hundred yards in width,
is seen to extend from the northern part of Van Buren Township, in a southwest-
erly course, crossing the Dayton & Union Railroad a few miles south of Jaysville,
thence, with a bend to the southeast, through Twin Township, near Ithaca, into Pre-
ble County. Bowlders in Van Buren Township are eight to ten feet through, and
there are examples where they have a diameter of twelve feet. This moraine was
long regarded as impassable and untillable. but these difficulties have been over-
come, and the belt produces average crops, and the rough, rock}' roads are at least
dry and lasting. While the peat-alluvium of this region was in process of forma-
tion, the sedgy and marshy banks of the small lakes — now peat-bogs — were
haunted by the mammoth and the mastodon, whose remains are almost annually
found in different parts of the county. The remains of a mastodon and an almost
perfect skeleton of a mammoth, found in the peat deposits of Mud Creek Prairie,
are parjb of the collection of Dr. Cr. Miesse, of Greenville. A fine tusk of a
mastodon was found in the northern part of the county, and the tooth of a mam-
moth was picked up in the creek-bottom north of Versailles. Parts of the
skeletons of nearly a score of those huge creatures have been discovered in as
many years.

'■ The geology of Darke County is pre-eminently that of the drift, but one
rock formation being exposed within its entire borders. This formation belongs to
the upper series of the Niagara group, known as the Guelph or Cedarville beds.
It is supposed to be identical with the Le Claire of Iowa, the Racine of "Wisconsin
and the Guelph of Canada, from which it takes its name. Although there are but
five exposures, there is no doubt but that these beds compose the entire rock sur-
face. It was formerly thought by some members of the survey that the water-lime
extended into the northern part of the country. This might have been highly
probable before the glacial epoch, but, being evidently superficial, must have been
removed during that period of erosion.

The Guelph rocks are most extensively laid bare along Greenville Creek and
at the quarries of Bierley, Hershey and Roesser, in the southwest quarter of Section
27. Adams Township. They form the bed of the creek here for a quarter-mile or
more. The quarries are situated in the bottom of the valle}- or ravine, and are
covered with about two feet of dark red clay or loam, mingled with the decom-
posed lime-rock and strewn with heaps of large drift bowlders. The banks are
twenty to thirty feet in height, and composed of yellow clay and hardpan. The
beds of limestone here appear perfectly horizontal, having been deposited (as shown
by the character of the rock) in a quiet, shallow sea. and having witnessed little
disturbance and no subsequent upheaval. A section of ten or twelve feet can be
observed at the quarries, bearing about the same features as the Guelph bed
generally, viz., of a light buff color, porous or spongy and fragile. The upper
portion, in particular, is so fragile or sandy as to crumble up Tike chalk, and is
composed almost entirely of crinoidal stems. No regular planes of stratification

316 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

appear, the rock breaking into thin, irregular slabs. Lower clown, this forma-
tion is of a darker yellow color, firm, massive, and contains innumerable fine casts
of crinoidea.

A second exposure of this formation occurs at the quarries of Dr. I. N.
Gard, southeast quarter Section 33, Greenville Township. The beds are worked
in two places, known as the old and new quarries, and lie about fifty yards apart.
In appearance the rock does not differ materially from that at Bierley's, but it is
much harder and totally different in fossil contents, two or three species only
being common to both. The upper stratum is especially to be noticed as being of
a compact crystalline structure, and also considerably folded. Moreover, it shows
a perceptible dip toward the south and east. The section is as follows :

Ft. In.

Yellow clay and loam G

Dark-red clay, verjr compact, calcareous and interspersed with many lime-
stone pebbles 2

Thick stratum, with definite fracture, of dark yellow or bluish cast, compact

crystalline; few fossils, but well preserved: glacial stria' Bouth, 5° west, 2 9

Thick marine, porous, in many places soft and sandy, light buff in color,

and containing many fine casts 6

Total exposure 11 3

The beds are again exposed just below the mill at Webster, in the southwest
quarter of Section 32, Wayne Township. A section of between four and five feet
is revealed on the right bank of the Stillwater, where its waters have worn down
to its original bed. The rock here is very nearly identical in character with that
in Greenville Township. Its hardness is sufficient for building purposes, but it
would be impracticable to attempt a quarry from the massive, irregular character
of the limestone. It is easy of access and might be quarried to be manufactured
into lime. The creek bank above the rock consists of three or four feet of dark
red-colored clay, which is greatly calcareous. Beneath this clay several sulphur
springs flow out from the surface of the rock into the creek.

Agatej near Weaver's Station, on the southeast quarter of Section 29, Neave
Township, a surface of limestone is revealed along the bed of Mud Creek for
some one hundred and fifty yards. The rock here differs but slightly from the
other exposures noticed. The stone is plainly laminated, breaking out in thin
irregular flags ; very sandy in texture, and mostl}* of a buff color, and in patches
bearing a close resemblance to red sandstone. Experiments demonstrate that the
lighter colored stone produces a fine qualit}* of lime, while the red in color is said
to become hard from heating. This may have been the result of imperfect burn-
ing. Stones used in the foundation of a mill in the immediate vicinity were
taken from the creek, but they are not hard enough for purposes of building. A
peculiar feature is the absence not only of fossils but traces of them.

The only other exposure is on the northwest quarter of Section 24, near New
Madison, Harrison Township, where a lime-kiln was formerly carried on by C. B.
Xorthrup. A section six to eight feet deep and much worn is visible, showing
the same general features elsewhere noted. Prof. Orton gives the Niagara rock a
thickness of twenty feet at Hillsboro, Ohio, and of forty-two feet at Springfield,
and an estimate of its depth in Darke County would place it between twenty and
thirty feet.

Worthless as this limestone is found for building or even flagging, it is valu-
able for the fine character of the lime it produces. This lime is strong, very white,
and unexcelled within the State. Its superiority has been recognized, and it finds
a constant demand in markets near and more distant. An analysis of this rock
by Dr. Wormley, of the survey, shows it to consist of 50.11 per cent of carbonate
of magnesia. This high percentage is attributed by Prof. Orton to the long-
continued presence of carbonated water, but at 'bird's quarries the rock shows
45.72 percentage of magnesia.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 317

A detailed analysis of a specimen from each of these quarries shows :

Bierley's Gard's Northrup's
quarry. quarry. quarry.

Carbonate of lime 44.60 51.30 51.70

Carbonate of magnesia 50.11 45.72 45.26

Silica, iron and alumina 4.60 2.20 2.70

Totals 99.31 99.22 99.66

The specific gravity of the first is 2.452, as shown by Prof. Mendenhall.
While the supply of material for lime is inexhaustible and kilns will be built at
accessible points, and this industry expanded and increased, the surface clay
affords good facilities for the manufacture of brick and tile, and a number of
manufactories are carried on to advantage in different parts of the county. A
summary shows that the rock formations of the county furnish excellent lime,
and contain the elements of a soil's renewal, and are a source of a highly valuable
industry.

CIVIL LIST — OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES.

All government has its origin in the wishes of the people, but only intelli-
gence rendered extended suffrage and republicanism a success. Peopled by the
descendants of those who had emancipated themselves from kingly thraldom and
intolerant persecution, Ohio eavly became, and has since continued to be, the central
field of conservatism wherein political parties, swaying first to one side, then to
the other, in numerical power, have held extreme measures in check, and conduced
to State and national welfare. Territorial government in the Northwest Territory
was provided for in the ordinance passed by Congress July 13, 1787, and October
21 of the same year, received her first Governor, in the person of Gen. Arthur St.
Clair, at Marietta. The Territory was so large and St. Clair became so unpopular
that a large party was formed, in 1801, in favor of a State government, and in the
following year, Thomas Worthington, at Philadelphia, used his influence, " which,
terminating the influence of tyranny " was to " meliorate the circumstances of
thousands by freeing them from the domination of a despotic chief." His efforts
proved successful, and March 4, a report was made to the House in favor of author-
izing a State Convention. The first General Assembly, under the State Constitu-
tion, assembled at Chillicothe, March 1, 1803, and formed eight new counties, one
of which was Montgomery. In 1816, the seat of State government was removed
to Columbus, and speedily measures were brought forward agitating the question
of a canal linking the Ohio with Lake Erie, and eventually resulting in the Miami
Canal, by which Darke settlers found at Piqua an early market for produce.

In 1836, the Congressional district was composed of Darke, Preble and But-
ler, and Taylor Webster, of Butler, a Democrat, was elected. In 1838, John B.
Weller, Democrat, of Butler, was chosen over John Beers, of Darke County, a
Whig. Weller was re-elected in 1840 and 1842 over L. D. Campbell, a Whig, of
Butler, but in 1844, F. A. Cunningham, of Eaton, Preble Co., was elected over
Campbell. In 1846, the district was composed of Darke, Montgomery, Greene and
Preble Counties, when B. C. Schenck, Whig, of Dayton, was elected. Two 3-ears
later, he was re-elected over J. W. McCorkle, of Dayton. In 1850, the Third Dis-
trict was composed of the same counties, when Hiram Bell, Whig, of Greenville,
was elected. In 1852, the district was composed of Darke, Miami, Shelby,
Auglaize, Allen and Mercer, when M. H. Nichols, of Lima, Democrat, was success-
ful over Joseph Plunket, Whig, of St. Mary's. In 1854, Nichols withdrew from
the Democratic Convention of the district, held at Sidney, and, announcing himself
as an independent anti-Nebraska candidate, was elected by a majority of 6,000
over D. G. Dorsey, of Piqua, the nominee of the convention after the withdrawal
of Nichols. In 1856, Nichols again ran against Dorsey and won, by a Bepublican
majority of 256. At the next election, William Allen, Democrat, by 78 majority,
was chosen over Nichols, and re-elected for the same office in 1860 by 600 majority

318 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

over Hart. In 1802. the district, was composed of Darke, Warren, Shelby, Logan
and Champaign, and J. T. McKinney, Democrat, of Piqua, was elected over W. 11.
West, Republican, whose defeat was largely attributable to the draft made at that
time by order of G-ov. Tod. In 1864, Mr. William Laramore was chosen over
McKinney, and was re-elected for 1866-68 : then, in 1870, McKinney was success-
ful over W. B. McClung. In 1872, the distrid was constituted of Darke, Preble.

lie ami Montgomery, and L. B. G-unkel, Republican, elected over J. J. War-
ner, of G-reene. !n 1874, the election went Democratic, sendingJohn A. McMahon,
of Dayton, to Congress over G-unkel. In 1870. McMahon was returned over John
Hand, of Dayton. In 1878, the district was composed of Darke. Shelby. Warren,
Preble, Auglaize and Mercer, and B. S. Lesser, of Sidney, was elected over Wil-
son of the same place.

The senatorial district was formerly composed of Darke. Shelby and Miami
Counties, and always went Whig or Republican. The new constitution came into
foi*ce in 1851, and ma.de Darke County a representative district of itself. Pre-
vious to 1850, the majorities of the dominant party had averaged about one
hundred votes. In 1857, J. L. Winner, Democrat, was elected Senator, and on the
expiration of his term was re-elected. Since that time, the county has been
increasingly Democratic, and has now about one thousand majority. The qualifi-
cations for eligibility to be a Senator are citizenship of the United States, two
years' residence in the district whence chosen, thirty years of age. and be known
to have paid State and county taxes. The Representative must be twenty-five
years of age. a resident of the county, with the other qualifications above given.

As a convenient and instructive record connected with the political and offi-
cial list of the county, we supply the lists of members of Assembly from 1842,
and county officers from the organization of the county to the present time :
Members of Assembly — 1843, James Bryson; 1844. D. I. Hostetter; 1848. Luther
Montfort; 1849, George AVard ; 1850, Judge Lennox ; 1851, P. V. Banta ; 1853,
Evan Baker; 1855, J. C. Williamson; 1857-59. J. L. Winner; 1801. L. B. Lott
(served two terms); 1805, Scipio Myer ; 1807-69, Jacob Baker (two terms);
1871, E. X. Walker ; 1873, D. T. D. Styles ; 1875-77, Dr. Hostetter (two terms);
1879. Charles Negley and W. Long.

The following is the list of County Commissioners, with time of service :
1817 — Archibald Bryson, two years ; Abraham Studabaker, three years ; Silas
Atchison, one year ; 1818, Jacob Miller, one year. (We have an incomplete record
at this point, and resume with 1823.) 1823 — William Cury, one year: Abraham
Studabaker, ten years ; John McNeill, two years ; 1 824. Joshua Howell, two
years ; 1825, Dennis Hart, three years ; 1820, James Bryson, four years ; Robert
Robeson, one year; 1828. David Briggs, one year; 1831, Jacob Harter, three
years; 1832, Solomon Riffle, five years; 1833, John Swisher, two years; 1837,
Richard Lucas, two pears ; 1840, Moses Woods, three years, and William B. Ludd,
one year; 1841, George Ward, three years ; 1842. John McGriff. Jr.; 1S43. John
Colville. live years ; 1814, Henry Lipps, two years ; 1845, William Arnold, two
years ; 1848 (March), John Miller, one year ; 1848 (October), Christian Harshey,
two years ; Adam Baker, who resigned, and Henry Arnold appointed till next
election; 1849, Samuel C. Baker, two years, and Isaac Reed, three years; 1851,
Daniel Reigle. five years; 1852, David Studabaker. live years; 1853, Abel Stona-
ker, two years; 1855, S. A. Green, three years: 1856, William Kerr, three y
1857, Michael Zick, three years; 1858, William Wright, three years ; 1859, Riley
Card, three years ; 1863, John Stoltz, six years ; 186 I. George [vester, six years ;
1865, Samuel Alexander, three years ; 1868, David Oliver, three years: 1869,
Jesse Woods, three years ; 1871, James Auld, three years ; 1872. J. R. Holland.
four years; 1ST:'. Elisha Berry, four years; L874, John Antonides, one year;
1877, George 1). Miller, three years: L878, William Archard : 1879, Samuel Wil-
son. Probate Judges— John Wharry, elected in 1851 ; A. I!. Calderwood, L854 ;
D. 11. 11. Jobes, 1857; J. C. McKeny. 1866, resigned 1868, and A. F. Bodle was

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 319

appointed to serve from April to November of that year ; James T. Meeker was
elected in October, 1868, to complete the term, then elected in 1869 for three
}-ears, and again chosen in 1872 ; then J. A. Jobes was chosen in 1875, and
re-elected in 187S. and is now incumbent of the office. As is observed, the officer
holds for three years. The Prosecuting Attorney is biennially elected, his term
of office to begin the first Monday of January next after his election. No person
is eligible to this office who is not a duly licensed counselor at law. authorized to
practice in the State. No Prosecuting Attorney should be a member of the Gen-
eral Assembly of the State, or Mayor of a city, and no county officer should be a
candidate for the office. Bond not less than $1,000 is required, to be approved by
the Court of Common Pleas in the Probate Court, which may appoint to iill
vacanc}*. His general duties are to prosecute in the name of the State all com-
plaints, suits and controversies in which the State is a party. In case of convic-
tion, he shall cause execution to issue and faithfully urge collection, which shall
be paid to County Treasurer. He shall be the legal adviser of the county officers,
shall not enter a nolle pros, without leave of the court. He shall prepare and
accept the bonds of all county officers. He is held to see that count}* funds are
not misapplied, and in lieu of failure is open to suit by taxpayers. No list is given.

The Clerk of Common Pleas Court is elected triennially ; term begins
February 9, next after his election. Bond not less than $10,000 nor more than
$40,000, as determined by County Commissioners, with approved sureties. He
shall also be the Clerk of the District Court, and of any superior court held in
the county. Auditor or Commissioners may appoint to fill vacancy. Clerk may
appoint one or more deputies. His general duties are to indorse and file all
papers, to enter all orders, decrees and judgments, to engi-oss proceedings of his
court. He may administer oaths, take affidavits and depositions. Reports to the
Secretary of State annually all crimes and criminals. Once in four } T ears, he
reports number of males over twenty-one v-ears, furnishes poll-books and tally-
sheets, is held for security of law reports and other books of law library ; is
depository of all costs and fees taxed upon writs, and pay over to person entitled.
No charge shall be made for certificates made for pensioners of the Grovernment,
for any oath administered connected with pensions. Linus Bascom was the first
Clerk appointed in Darke County, and held one year. Easton Morris, appointed
in June, 1818, served seven years. David Morris served four years and deceased,
when L. R. Brownell served pro tern, from August to November of 1829 ; John
Beers served three terms, from 1829 to 1850 ; David Beers then served a few
months, after which J. AY. Frizzell was appointed for a terrn of seven j r ears, but
the new constitution, which was adopted in 1852, reduced the term to three years.
Samuel Robinson was elected October, 1854 ; William C. Porterfield, in October,
I860, but deceased before expiration of term, and was succeeded by Henry Miller,
who served as Clerk pro tem. until October, 1802, when he was elected and served
two terms ; Hamilton Slade was elected in 1SG8 ; Wesley Gorsuch, in 1873, and
John H. Martin filled three months of the unexpired term following Grorsuch's
resignation ; finally John H. Martin was elected in 1879.

The Sheriff and Coroner are chosen biennially. They give bonds for not less
than $5,000, nor to exceed $50,000. The general' duty of the Sheriff is the pres-
ervation of the public peace, attend upon all courts, shall have the power to call to
his aid such persons as he shall find necessary. lie shall keep a foreign execution
docket and a cash-book. The books shall be open to inspection by all persons; the
fee for producing the books is 124; cents, which entitles to a certified copy of entry.
On retiring from office, all moneys are paid to the Clerk of the court. In regard
to Coroners, it may he said that, on being notified that the body of a person,
whose death is supposed to have been caused by violence, has been found within
the county, he issues subpoenas for witnesses, administers oaths and takes testi-
mony in writing. He shall draw up his findings in writing, subscribe the same,
and. if he find any person or persons inculpated, he shall arrest and take him or

320 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

them before a proper officer for examination. At once, after finding a body, if
friends or relatives be known, they shall be notified by the Coroner, by letter ; if
unknown, advertisement shall be made. All articles and moneys found shall be
returned to the Probate Court. After one year and due publication, public sale
may be made of these articles. The first Sheriff, who was appointed in 1817,
served till 1820 ; his successor was William Scott, who served till 1824 ; then,
Mark T. Mills, till 1828; Joshua Howell, till 1830; John Howell, till 1834;
James Craig was appointed, but died, and William Vance served till 183G ; David
Angel, till 1840 ; Thomas Vantilburg. 1844, and 1852 till 1856 ; George Coover,
1848 ; David Stamm, 1852 ; Joshua Townsend, till 1860 ; Hamilton, till 1862 ;
Chauncey Riffle, 1866 ; A. P. Vandyke, till 1870 ; N. M. Wilson, till 1875 ; J. W.
Hall, till 1879 ; and Jerry Runkle is the present official.

The County Auditor holds three } r ears. He may administer oaths, appoint
deputies, is Secretary of the Count}' Commissioners ; he records their proceedings,
files papers deposited in his office, keeps an account current with the Treasurer,
issues warrants on the treasury for all moneys payable out of the same, except
moneys due the State ; may discharge from jail persons confined for fines, when
convinced that these fines cannot be paid. He shall make out the tax duplicate ;
shall keep a book of additions and deductions, in which he shall enter all correc-
tions of the duplicate made after the delivery of the same to the Treasurer. Set-
tlement is made with the Treasurer by the 15th of February and the 10th of
August. He shall make return, to the Auditor of State, of the number of domestic
animals, state indebtedness of county, report number of sheep killed and amounts
paid owners. He is sealer of weights and measures. His compensation varies
with the population and extent of services required. The following named have
served as Auditors : June 5, 1821, John Devor, appointed ; 1822, H. D. Williams ;
March, 1824, John Craig, elected, died, and June, 1826, John Beers appointed to
fill vacancy, elected, and in December, 1829, resigned to accept appointment of
Clerk of Court, and January, 1830, David Cole was appointed to fill vacancy ; in
October, 1832, Hiram Bellows elected, resigned October 5, 1836, and David Angel
served until January, 1837, when John Mcllthanney took his seat — the latter
deceased, and at a special meeting called by the Sheriff, September, 1837, C. C.
Craig was appointed, then elected, and served till 1840, when he resigned, and
William M. Wilson succeeded ; held till October, 1846, when he resigned and John
L. Winner was appointed to fill the unexpired term. David Stamm served a term,
followed by F. Gram, who died, and A. R, Doty filled vacancy ; A. L. Northrop
served from October, 1849, to 1852, when George W. Coover was elected ; Joseph
C Shepherd chosen in 1854 ; John E. Matchett, 1857 ; D. B. Cleves, 1861 ; E. H.
Wright, 1865 ; O. C. Perry, 1867 ; John E. Matchett, 1871 ; W. J. Kelly, 1873 ;
and John C. Turpen, 1879.

The County Treasurer is elected biennially. Bond to the amount required
by Commissioners, at the hands of four or more freehold sureties, or the office
vacant, and appointment made. Additional bond may be required, if deemed
necessary. All payments are made, except on tax duplicate, on the draft of the
Auditor, or when moneys are received from the State by the Auditor of State.
Duplicate receipts must be given for all moneys paid, except taxes — one to the
person paying, the other to the Auditor. Receipt of tax duplicate is made known
fry legal notice given. The oilier shall be kept open, for the collection of taxes,
from the time of the delivery of the duplicate to him until January 25, and from
April 1 to July 20. Taxes may be paid on or before December 20, or one-half
before that time ami the remainder on or before June 20, but all road taxes shall be
paid prior to December 20. After June 20, the penalty is 5 per cent; after
December 20, the overdue taxes may by collected by distress and sale, etc. When
the Treasurer is unable to collect by distress, he shall apply to the Clerk of the
Court of Common Pleas, and cause to be serve* 1 upon the delinquent person or
corporation, requiring them to show cause for failure in payment, in default of

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 321

which a rule shall he entered, having the force and effect of a judgment. The
right to redeem lands sold for tax holds two 3 T ears from date of sale, by payment
to the holder, the amount, expense of deed, with 6 per cent interest and 25
per cent on account of said judgment. When any warrant on the treasury is
presented and cannot be paid for want of funds, it shall be indorsed and bear 6
per cent interest from date of indorsement by Treasurer. If the Treasurer,
either directly or indirectly, purchases warrants of his county at any discount, he
shall, upon settlement, forfeit the whole amount due thereon. Advance payments
may be made to local authorities, not exceeding two-thirds of the current collec-
tion of taxes of the corporation. In case of embezzlement, the incumbent shall
be removed and a new Treasurer appointed. The following have been the Treas-
urers of Darke County : John Devor, appointed June, 1817, 1818 and 1819 ;
Daniel Briggs, 1821; Linus Bascom, 1822 and 1824; John Beers, 1825; A.
Scribner, 1826 and 1827 ; Loring R. Brownell, elected October, 1831 ; Henry D.
Williams, 1835 ; James M. Dorse}', 1839 ; Daniel Irwin, 1839 ; James Devor,
appointed to fill vacancy caused by death of Irwin, May, 1844 ; Charles Hutchins,
1847 ; James Irwin, elected 1851 and 1853 ; William Schmidt, appointed 1854 ;
James McKhann, 1855 and 1857 ; George H. Martz, 1859 and 1861; Thomas P.
Turpen, 1862 ; Eli Helm, 1866 ; Peter V. Banta, 1870, two terms ; W. It. Kerlin,
1874, and Amos Hahn, 1878.

The County Recorder keeps four sets of records, viz., deeds, mortgages, plats
and leases. He shall furnish a fair and accurate copy of any record in his office,
and certify the same to any person demanding and tendering the fees therefor.
He shall make and keep up suitable indexes. Abraham Scribner was the first
Recorder, appointed in 1817 ; Eastin Morris, 1822 ; Josiah D. Farrar, Thomas
Rush, John Wharry ; Elias Brumminager, elected 1844 ; John S. Shepherd, 1850 ;
S. C. Eddington. 1856 ; Daniel Stevenson, 1859 ; A. F. Medford, 1865 ; Benjamin
Beers, 1868 ; P. H. Maher, 1874, re-elected in 1878, and still in office. Besides
these officers, there are the Infirmary Directors, three in number, who hold for
three years ; a Superintendent of the asylum and a County Surveyor.

For a few years from first settlement, comparatively little interest was taken
in politics ; people were too much absorbed in the struggle for bread. Later, the
district was carried b}' the Whigs, uniformly, but by moderate majorities only,
until after the new constitution came into force, in 1851. An increasing interest
was felt in politics as years went by, and both national and local issues were dis-
cussed with much warmth, privately and publicly. During the Presidential cam-
paign which resulted in making James Buchanan chief magistrate of the nation,
the political pulse of the people rose to a pitch previously unknown in the history
of Darke, while, during the whole period of the war, Greenville was one of the
most deeply engaged and thoroughly aroused places in this part of Ohio. The
local prints did not mince matters, but criminations and recriminations were fre-
quent. The editorial pencils were held firmly, and moved by fervid energ}".
Italics, small caps and capitals wearied the printer ; political writers and speakers
dealt in denunciations, threats and charges ; the Democrat office was pied, and
pitched into the street. Later years aroused a more conservative spirit, and a
courtesy prevails which speaks well for the intelligence and patriotism of the citi-
zens. The county is fully recognized as Democratic, the strength of which party,
compared with the Republican, is illustrated by the vote of 1876 for President :
Samuel J. Tilden received 4,667 votes ; Rutherford B. Hayes, 3,577 ; a total of 8,239.
In 1877, the vote stood for Governor: William H. West, 2.612; Richard M.
Bishop, 3,947. In 1878, for Secretary of State, Milton Barnes. 2.980 ; David R.
Paige, 4,202. The following, respecting population, shows the progress of the
county in this regard : In 1820, 3.717 ; in 1830, 6,204 ; in 1840, 13,282 ; in 1850,
20,276 ; in 1860, 26,009 ; in 1870. 32,278.

The following illustrates the growth between 1840 and 1850, by townships :
Greenville, 1,851 to 3.417 ; Twin. 1.057 to 1,400 ; Richland, 589 to 793 ; Harrison,

322 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

1.8G6 to 1,705; Washington, 898 to 1,250; Van Buren, 121 to 770; German,
1,173 to 1,601 ; Wayne, 727 to 1,162 ; Brown, 293 to 684 ; Butler, 1,116 to 1,446;
Monroe, 171 to 913 ; Jackson, 304 to 566; Adams, 698 to 1,416; Neave, 635 to
883; York, 371 to 197; Franklin. 2!) 1 to 451 ; Mississinewa, 124 to 318 ; Patter-
son, attached to "Wayne, 319 ; Allen, 194 to 290; Wabash, attached to York in
1840, in 1850 gave 309. Gibson, with 270. was attached to Mercer County when
Auglaize was erected. Aboul one-half of Allen and parts of Patterson unci
Wabash were given to Mercer at the same time. Add the population of Patter-
son to Wayne, of which it was formed, and 1,48] shows the population to have
doubled. The same is true of York when Wabash is added. All townships hut
Harrison showed heavy increase compare with 1840. We conclude (his chapter
b}- the following from the pen of Hon. James Hanaway, of Kansas, formerly a
resident of Butler Township, this county :

' ; THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN DARKE COUNTY.

"When African slavery existed as an institution in the Southern States, there
was an organization in most of the free States known as ' the underground rail-
road.' Although the term was very generally used to designate a society which
gave aid and assistance to such fugitives as had escaped from their servitude, and
were in search of liberty, yet there were but lew persons in any community who
had any practical knowledge of the workings of this mysterious and humane
society. The cabalistic letters ■ \\ (!. R. R.' were generally used when referring to
the association. It was first bestowed by slave-owners. Fugitive slaves on their
way to the free States were not unfrequently close upon capture when they sud-
denly disappeared. Once, pursuit was so close that success seemed sure, when
trace was lost, and one of the slave-hunters, on his return, gave it as his opinion
that the Abolitionists had an 'underground railroad ' on which the fugitives were
spirited away. From this originated the term, which the Abolitionists adopted as
the name of their organization.

"Although there was not a regularly established line of the underground rail-
road in Darke County, there were persons in different localities who were always
ready to render assistance when called on. Fugitives were often taken across the
county to another line of road which was in active operation : for example, from
Miami or Montgomery County to Newport, Ind. This was necessary, sometimes, to
throw the hunters off the track, and was always effective.

-The question was often, and is even now. asked. 'How did the slave know
whom to apply to in a strange country for assistance ? ' In all towns and cities
there are always found a huge number of free blacks ; some of them have bought
their freedom ; some are fugitives from far-off, distant States, and feel safe in their
new homes. This class of persons are shrewd observers of things, and they read-
ily detect a stranger. In tins way. thousands became aware of the existence of
the underground railroad, and entrusted themselves to its care. Many slaves,
before they started on their hazardous undertaking, possessed knowledge sufficient
to work their way to a free State. While up in the lied River country, in Louisi-
ana, many yea is ago. an old house-servant came to me just as 1 was starting
homeward, and in a low voice said : • Massa, I heard you tell ole Massa that you
lived near Cincinnati. Ohio. I have often prayed to my Maker to take me to that
blessed place before I die.' This language was strange and unexpected, but I
soon found out how he. as well as others like him in the land of bondage, had
learned some little about the free States. Slaveholders, in their social meetings,
would become quite indignant against the people of the \\w States, branding
them as 'nigger-thieves,' etc., because they sometimes aided a fugitive to find a
refuge in Canada. Cincinnati was always spoken of as the headquarters of Aboli-
tionists. These conversations were no uncommon occurrence among slave-owners,
and the ignorant bondmen, while listening, would naturally reason : 'Cincinnati

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 323

must bo filled with good people who are friends to the colored folks, because Massa
and the white folks are always cussing it and calling it a den of thieves, who help
niggers run away to the British country, where they are forever free.'

■■ The underground railroad was bold and open in its operations until the
passage of the 'fugitive-slave law' of 1850. when it became necessary to adopt a
more cautious and less hazardous plan of operations. Instead of men of means
placing themselves in front as depot-agents and conductors, as heretofore, they
transferred these duties to trusty poor men, off whom the law could not collect
the heavy penalties of transgression, and the funds were provided by men of
wealth.

"The fugitive-slave law of 1850 was a firebrand cast at freedom by that Sen-
atorial traitor. Mason, of Virginia; but it proved to be a valuable auxiliary to the
cause of freedom. My old friend. Dr. Otwell, now living in Greenville, said to me
upon the receipt of the news of the passage of the law : • It will arouse the North,
agitation will follow, and it will result in good."

" Some time since I cut the following paragraph from a newspaper. It is intro-
duced here, because the fugitives mentioned were taken through Darke County,
and because it will give the uninitiated a peep behind the curtain :

" 'Judge Sharkey, at present a petitioner before the Supreme Court, is charged
with being the author of an infamous decision, consigning a widow and her chil-
dren into slavery. The former had been the wife of a Mississippi planter, who
had legalized his marriage with her in a Northern State. The children had been
educated in Ohio. Eeturning South, they were seized by relatives of the deceased
planter, and on application to Sharkey were doomed to slavery.'

" It is true, the- relatives attempted to seize the mother and five children under
the decision of Judge Sharkey, but before the officers could secure their human
chattels, they made their escape to Cincinnati, and were landed safely in Canada
through the agency of the underground railroad.

" Prior to their last visit to Mississippi, they had consulted an eminent lawyer
of antislavery proclivities. Salmon P. Chase, of Cincinnati, and he advised them
not to risk anything in a Mississippi court. They therefore left what in common
law was their property by the decease of the husband and father, and escaped to
Cincinnati Ivy steamboat. Although the children had been educated in Ohio, and
papers confirming the marriage were on record, it was deemed unsafe to risk the
decisions of the courts, so they were assisted on their way north, by those who
sympathized with them. In a few days, they arrived in the city of Dayton, and
were taken in charge by a well-known agent of the road.

" The same evening, the slave hunters arrived, for the}' learned the colored fam-
ily had taken passage on a canal-boat. Fortunately, by the blustering "manner of
the slave-hunters, the antislavery people of Cincinnati became apprised of their
errand, and a courier was at once despatched to Dayton, arriving but a short time
in advance of the pursuers, and measures were at once adopted for the protection
of the fugitives. They were stowed away in a dark cellar, and at 12 o'clock at
night, they were conve} T ed out of the citj* in a close carriage, and taken across the
country toward Newport. Ind. The person having this valuable freight in
charge was ordered to go byway of Ithaca. Castine and New Madison. At Ithaca
he took the road leading to Fort Jefferson, which took him several miles out of the
way. They reached New Madison about breakfast-time. Dr. Eufus Kilpatrick took
charge of them and conveyed them westward to Anderson Spencer. On the fol-
lowing morning, they were forwarded to Newport, Ind.. and thus escaped the
clutches of those who would make merchandise of their own flesh and blood.

•' A few days after these occurrences, the Circuit Court met in Greenville. Judge
Holt, Judge Crane, and several lawyers from Dayton, had witnessed the furor
which had taken place at the hotel in Dayton, when the slave-hunters found their
victims had escaped. They raved and swore, and denounced the people of the
North as a pack of negro-thieves. This outburst produced quite a sensation, even

324 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

in the proslavery element of the community. The Judges and lawyers were espe-
cially severe in their condemnation of such sentiments.

" A fugitive by the name ol* Wash McQuerry, who resided for a time in the
western part of Darke County, took up his residence near Troy, Miami Comity,
believing he would be safe from the pursuit of his old master, one Henry Miller,
near Louisville. Ky. It appears that a man named John Russell, living near
Piqua, learned that Wash was a fugitive, and ascertaining the name and address
of his owner, basely, or, perhaps actuated by a desire for gain, wrote a letter to
Henry Miller, informing him where his chattel could be found.

" A posse of slave-hunters visited Miami County, and Wash was arrested while
working on a canal-boat. There were other fugitives supposed to be in Miami and
Darke Counties. The hunters visited Greenville Jand after consultation with a certain
law firm, they went in the night to the colored settlement and searched several cabins.
I received information from Greenville that the slave-hunters were hunting lost
property in the neighborhood. I immediately started with a friend, in a buggy, for
the colored settlement, arriving about dark. I found the whole settlement in arms.
Every cross-road was guarded by armed men. Being somewhat acquainted, I was
allowed to pass without molestation. That night I tarried in the academy, but the
news I was so anxious to convey was there ahead of me.

" Wash, the fugitive, was taken to Cincinnati, and, after an able defense by
Messrs. Birney & Joliffe, was ordered to be delivered to the claimant. This was
the first case under the law of 1850. It was tried before Judge McLean.

" One of the most interesting events during my connection with the under-
ground railroad, was the following :

" Twenty-eight slaves escaped one night from Boone County, Ky. They were
delayed in crossing the river, and it was nearly daylight before they arrived in the
suburbs of Cincinnati. Carriages were obtained from a certain German in the city
to convey them into the country, as it was deemed unsafe for the fugitives to
remain in the quarters where they were secreted. After food and suitable clothing
had been furnished them, at the suggestion of the late Levi Coffin, they formed
procession as if going to a funeral, and moved solemnly along the road to Cum-
minsville. The route decided on by the agents of the road, was via College Hill,
Hamilton. West Elkton, Eaton, Paris, to Newport, Ind. The same night on which
these twenty-eight fugitives arrived at Newport, three slave-hunters from Boone
County, Ky., stopped over night in the village of Castine. Newport is sixteen
miles west of Castine. But from the fact that the fugitives took the longest route
from Paris, by mistake, they must have been overtaken. My suspicions had been
aroused that these strangers might be in search of lost property. As they were
about leaving the village, one of the party recognized an old friend and classmate,
in one of the bystanders. They had been classmates in the Ohio Medical College
some years before. To this Mend he confided his business, but gained no infor-
mation from him. After their departure, my friend." who was a Leading Democrat,
informed me all about the business of the three strangers — where they were going,
etc They had tracked the fugitives to Eaton, where they lost the trail. From
Eaton the hunters came to Castine.

" A few minutes after I received this information from the Doctor, I was on
the road to Newport. The hunters arrived ahead of me, had already put up their
horses when I arrived, and were walking the streets, asking the price of furniture,
garden-seeds, etc., and taking a general inspection of things.

"When I made my mission known to the agents of the road, it created a sen-
sation. One of them said that only ten minutes before, he had seen some of the chil-
dren of the fugitives at play in a yard near the main street of the village, and
might be seen by any one passing along.

"About 1 o'clock P. M.. the' hunters left Newport, but the friends of the fugi-
tives were fearful that they had gone north to Winchester, for assistance. Before

* Dr. John E. Matchett, now of Greenville.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 325

evening, however, we found that they had made no discovery. That night the
fugitives were taken to Cabin Creek, Randolph Co., Ind., and, after a few weeks,
were forwarded to Canada.

" Nine thousand dollars reward was offered for these fugitives ; $1,000 to any one
who would put the owners on the trail. One of these male fugitives had been pur-
chased eight months before for $1,200. Another was a Baptist preacher, a smart
fellow, though he did not believe the New Testament a slave code.

*********

_" The rising generation can have but a faint conception of the state of public
opinion thirty to forty years ago. The influence which the slave power exercised
throughout the United States, was almost irresistible ; it controlled every depart-
ment of government. The leading churches pandered to its power— the Bible
became a slave code. Free speech was crushed out, under the plea of protecting
public liberty."

ROADS TURNPIKES AND RAILROADS.

The construction of roads and water ways are characteristic of ancient and
powerful nations advanced in civilization, and "knit together in all their interests by
bonds of profitable commerce Rome made her road's for the expeditious marches
of her legions, but America has made hers for the facility of peaceful intercourse,
in the interests of commerce, trade and agriculture. It was a discouraging aspect
shown by Darke in the earlier day, when trails, traces and tracks were numerous
and roads none, and it was true as at the time said, « There is not one beyond the
mountains and but few this side, that is acquainted with the hardships of the
pioneers. Twenty or thirty years must elapse before they can have a comfortable
road to get to mill or to the court house. How many thousands would rejoice if
they had the privilege of working out upon the highways a per cent of the pro-
ceeds of the common domain, rather than to pay cash for which they receive no
benefit whatever." The privilege was in time accorded of working out tax, but
it is questionable whether taxes paid and expended under a competent roadmaster
would not be a better procedure. At the first settlement of Darke, and for many
years after, all State roads were laid out and established by the Legislature by
special act. The first State road laid out in the county was the highway from
Troy to Greenville. This was the road traveled by the settlers coming into the
county in 1811, although the locating may not have been regularly done farther
than the boundary line west of Miami County. It crossed Greenville Creek,
where the road now crosses near Gettysburg, and this intersected Wayne's old
trace from Fort Recovery to Greenville. It came up on the north side of the
creek and crossed again north of the Turner Mill, at what was called the Boomer-
shire fording. It had, however, been altered during the period of the war of 1812 ;
at that time it crossed the creek at the lower end of Main street, Greenville, about
where the Beamsville road now crosses. A. short time before 1817, a survey had
been made, and a road located from Piqua to Greenville, but the road had not at
that time been opened. This intersected the Troy road near the present site of
Gettysburg. When there was no established road opened between Piqua and Green-
ville, settlers made their own road till they struck the Troy road at the Studabaker
block-house. At that time there were but two or three* families living between
Piqua and the point just named. The following named roads had been laid out
just after the organization of the county, and their original and present routes do
not materially differ : the Milton, Shanesville, Fort Recovery and Fort Jefferson.
The roads that were first laid out under the order of the County Commissioners
were generally located to suit the people of the different neighborhoods through
which they passed ; they circled about ponds and marshes, angled and curved their
way the nearest and best track from one house to another. As a result, most roads
located by first settlers have been changed or entirely vacated. The location of
roads was not always according to the unanimous wishes of the settlers, and as an

326 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

instance, we give the history of what wis known as the "Western or Winch
road," which caused considerable strife and difficulty. The settlers west of Green-
ville joined in a petition to the Commissioners for a county road from Greenville
to the Slate line in the direction of Winchester. A view was ordered: viewers
met, started a1 or near the mouth of Mud Creek, ran nearly direct until they inter-
sected the old Indian trace Leading from the Indian town on Mud Creek- to Muncie,
End. This was at the crossing of the West Branch, from which they ran as .
as practicable with the old trace to the State line. This location did not satisfy
all parties to the petition, and another party arose. Names were bestowed upon
each. The first was known as the Squaw road party, the other the Jersey road.
The latter petitioned for a road to run a course aboul a mile north of the other;
their petition was granted. There were now two roads, and each party, emulating
the other, set to work to open the respective roads. Not long after, an order was
received from the Legislature to lay out and establish a State road from Troy via
Greenville to the State line. In the mean time Randolph County. Ind.. had laid
out a road from Winchester to the State line, ending at the corner of a section
about midway between the two Ohio roads. The State viewers learning at Green-
ville of the two roads and the strife, ran their line midway to strike the Indiana
road, and in proportion as the one party rejoiced the other was displeased. The
line is now the Greenville and State Line turnpike. Soon the defeated party peti-
tioned at Columbus for change of location ; it was granted without delay or inves-
tigation, and for a number of years the Squaw road was traveled as the State road.
Partially foiled, the Jerseys went to work vigorously to open and put in repair
their road. It thus happened that there were two roads running parallel not a
mile apart. No bridge had been built over the mouth of Mud Creek, and the only
entry or exit from the town was around and across Greenville Creek. For several
years this anomalous condition of affairs continued ; finally the people undertook of
their own accord to build a bridge over the month of Mud Creek. Abutments
were erected, laid on the sills and it was partially floored with split slabs, but its
completion was delayed and it was not made passable for teams. It stood in this
condition several years, until the timber became rotten, when, at one of the terms
of court, some lawyers strolled out one evening, laid hold and shook it down. The
County Commissioners then made an appropriation for the building of a bridge at
this place, and a temporary structure was in time erected. The rival roads were
maintained a score of years, much to the public disadvantage. As a finality there
came an order from the Legislature to lay a State road from the branch of Mad
River in Champaign County, via Piqua and Greenville to the State line. This was
located on the track of the former road, and the difficulty was thus finally settled.

J. S. Patterson, of P>erlin Heights, Huron County, in an article to the Ohio
Farmer, written in 1870, said : " Who would have thought thirty-seven years ago,
when the writer first saw 'old Darke County,' that it would ever stand foremost
among the counties of State for its road enterprise. Why the county should have
surpassed every other in the State in this regard, 1 am unable to explain. It may
be accounted for on the theory of extremes— the roads were very bad. they are
very good. Perhaps the people thrown upon their own resources pushed their
way in this direction. It is certain that the pike business became in time a local
epidemic. The many rival stations fostered a spirit of rivalry. A condition of
things that favored the enterprise of turnpike construction was the tendency of
the people to invest in what promised lobe a permanent improvement. Whatever
maybe the explanation, the Secretary's report for 1868 puts down 393 miles of
turnpike roads for Darke County : Warren follows with 224; Clermont and Wood,
200 each ; Hamilton, 195 : Montgomery, 152 ; Champaign, 136 ; Greene, 117 ;
Butler 111', etc.

Of course, the burden of taxation is heavy and not every farmer is in con-
dition to pay s I an acre road tax. Some were obliged to sell off land to enable
them to meet assessments, but hard as it was, even such gained in the end by the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 327

rise in local values. It is quite a general feeling among the people that they have
taken too much upon their hands at once. And as wheat is their staple product.
the county ranking fifth in the State, the low price at which their surplus will
probably have to be sold, may operate somewhat discouragingly ; but the resources
of the county are abundant, and the people will no doubt come out all right, and
all the better for their excellent system of roads. Parts of the county with which
I was perfectly familiar ten years ago, I did not recognize when passing through
them last summer." There are now over 700 miles of turnpike in Darke County,
and several short roads are building. The writer of the above was correct in
supposing that the outcome of this special enterprise would be favorable even to
those most heavily taxed, for so it has proven. Within an area of GOO square
miles there are just about 200 piked roads and part of roads, having a separate
name. To merely enumerate them would be a task ; to state their individual
history would require almost a volume. The first one was built from Greenville to
Gettysburg in 1853. It was then, and is still a toll pike. All the others are free.
The turnpikes of this count}' are estimated b} T competent authority to have cost in
the aggregate just about $1,500,000. The lines radiating from Greenville, as seen on
the map, resemble somewhat the radiating lines of a spider's web, while the con-
necting cross roads complete the ideal comparison. Railroads began to exercise
their powerful influence in this section about thirty years ago. The pioneer road
of this county was known as the Dayton & Union Railroad. The company was
chartered Feb. 26, 1846, as the " Greenville & Miami Railroad Company,"' for the
construction of a railroad from the town of Greenville to any point on the Dayton
& Western Railroad, or any point on the Miami or Miami Extension Canal, which
the Directors might determine. The incorporators were Daniel R. Davis, Hiram
Bell, William M. Wilson. Rufus Kilpatrick, John Colville, George Ward. John Mc-
Clure, Jr., John C. Potter, Erastus Putnam, Alfred Kitchen, James Hanaway,
Henry Arnold, W. B. Beall, I. N. Gard, Abraham Scribner, Russell Evans. John C.
Shepherd. Adam Baker, Abraham Studabaker. Charles Hutchins. Joseph Ford and
Solomon Riffle, of Darke County ; Gen. H. Bell was the first President ; Henry
Arnold, Esq., first Treasurer ; and Hon. William M. Wilson, the first Secretary.
The capital stock of the company was $200,000, divided into shares of $50 each.
At the expiration of a year, Dr. I. N. Gard was elected President, succeeded by
David Studabaker. During 1S48, the enterprise was first fully presented to the
people of the county for their support. Among those most active in forwarding
the undertaking, not only to obtain a favorable vote, but to secure means to do the
necessaiy preliminary work, were Dr. Gard, Judge Wilson. Gen. Bell, Mr. Studa-
baker, Mr. Kitchen and Maj. Davis. There was then but little money in the
county ; the largest subscriptions that could be obtained were $500, and there
were but eight of ten of these.

On January 5. 18-48. an act was passed by the Legislature, authorizing the
Commissioners of Darke County to purchase stock in the G. & M. R. R. Company
to any amount not to exceed $50,000, provided a majority of the voters of the
county were in favor thereof. On the first Monday of April, the proposition to
aid was carried by a majority of 637 votes, and on the 13th, the Commissioners
subscribed the maximum amount in aid of the road. August 21, the Auditor was
authorized to issue an order on the Treasurer for $110, to pay for the survey of
the road. February 2, 1840. the Town Council of Greenville was in like manner
impowered to subscribe thereto any amount not exceeding $10,000. Judge Wilson
continued Secretar}' of the company from organization to about 1850. that is,
during the preliminary work of the company. In 1850, a new organization was
effected, with E. B. Taylor as President, and an act was passed authorizing the
county and town to sell any or all stock to said company, or any other formed to
extend the railroad from Greenville to the State line. Mr. Taylor went to New
York, negotiated a loan of $150,000, bought iron and other necessaries to equip-
ment. In July. 185(1. the first locomotive intended to be used for laying the track

328 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

of the road from Dayton to Greenville, arrived at Dayton. It was brought from
the establishment of Swinburn, Smith & Co., of Patterson, N. J., and weighed
fourteen tons. The first installment of iron was shipped from New York for Day-
ton on the 26th of June. The residue of the iron was then on the way from
Liverpool to New York. It was of the T pattern, and weighed about nineteen
pounds to the square foot. The bridge across the ."Miami River at Dayton was
completed and intended for use by three roads, the others being the Cincinnati,
Hamilton & Dayton, and the Dayton & Western. The contract for laying the
track was let to A. De Graff. The depot and other buildings were placed under
contract, and all the work systematically pushed forward. Two additional loco-
motives, weighing eighteen tons each, wen- contracted for delivery, one in August,
the other in October. Two passenger cars were constructed at Dayton, in the
establishment of Thresher, Packard & Co. The ''burthen" cars were manufact-
ured at the Greenville foundry and machine-shops of Messrs. Edmonson & Evans,
and Taylor Brothers. The grain crop of 1851 was unprecedented ly large, and the
road was expected to highly benefit all interests, whether farming, mechanical,
mercantile or commercial. It was stated at the time that this event " was an
important epoch in Darke County history," and such it has since proved to have
been. It enhanced values and facilitated communication. It was noted that
" the running time between Greenville and Dayton will be less than one hour and a
half, and the distance may be performed with perfect safety in less than one hour"
On February 19, 1851, De Graff started out from Dayton with a train to be used
for track laying. The train was platform cars with houses built on them — three
for sleeping-rooms, one for dining and one for a kitchen. The job of laying the
iron was in charge of John Horrien. On May 25, the main track of the road
was finished to the depot buildings, and a meeting was called to arrange for a
celebration of the event. The event duly honored, was marked by a large crowd,
and made memorable by an emeute at Greenville, on part of the roughs. The Board
of Directors, at a meeting held at Dayton August 30, 1853, declared a 10 per
cent dividend from the earnings of the road, from January 1 to September 1.
This dividend was declared after deducting expense of repairs, running, interest
and other expenses, and there remained a reserve fund of $5,000. The receipts for
August were for passengers, $6,261; transportation. $4.21 5 ; mail. $333 ; total,
nearly $11,000. The cost of the road was about $550,000. Outstanding bonds.
$3-41.(1(11). and the liberal dividend to stockholders created an enthusiasm which
greatly facilitated the induction and completion of the road to Union, and of
other roads constructed through the county. Mr. Taylor continued to be Presi-
dent of the road until Jul}-, 1855, when he resigned. Meantime, the company had
been authorized by the Legislature to extend the railroad to the Indiana State
line, by such route as the Directors might select, within the county of Darke." ami
the act had been accepted by resolution of the Board of Directors as an amend-
ment to the charter of the company. The road was built through to Union City
three years after its completion to Greenville, that is. in 1853. When President
Taylor resigned, the road went into the hands of the bondholders, by whom it was
operated. At length, suit was brought for foreclosure of the mortgage August,
1861, but a plan of re-organization and capitalization of stock and debt was
agreed upon, and the road was sold October 30, 1S(!2, to H. C. Stimson and S. J.
Tilden for $1,000, subject to the mortgage of $150,000. In 1855, Judge Wilson.
Secretary, resigned, and the chief office was removed to Dayton. All control
of the road passed from the citizens of the county that year.

In the summer of 1854, the road was completed from Dodson to Dayton, and
the company continued to operate the entire line from Dayton to Union City until
April. 1863, when, in accordance with an agreement on January 19, previously,
the joint use of the track of the Dayton & Western Railroad Company, from Day-
ton to Dobson (fifteen miles), was secured, between which points each company had
a line of road running nearly parallel. B} T this agreement, the company was enabled

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 329

to take up and dispose of the iron between Dayton and Dobson. January 19, 1863,
the company was re-organized, under the name of the Dayton & Union Railroad
Company, "\yhen the road was opened for business, in 1850, land along its line
might have been bought for $5 per acre ; it has since been sold for $100 per acre.
The country was wet, and water stood in the woods and clearings along the track
for months at a time. This is now drained, arable and valuable. Then, about
Arcanum, houses were to be seen at long intervals ; now fine farm houses dot the
landscape in all directions. Arrangements are now in progress to relay the old
track, and annul the agreement for the joint use of the Dayton & Western rails.

When the road was first opened, a single train — mixed passenger and freight
— ran during the day. R. A. Knox was the first conductor on the road. The first
engineer was Mr. Johnson. The first freight and passenger agent was Daniel R.
Davis, who, on leaving Greenville, took charge of the station at Dayton. The pas-
senger receipts for 1879, on the Dayton & Union Railroad, were $7,578.85 ; freight
receipts, $13,165.09 ; freight forwarded, $10,882.99. Of officers, James McDaniel
is President ; C. C. Gale, Superintendent ; John L. Miller, General Ticket Agent,
and Charles E. Miller, General Freight Agent.

The Columbus, /'i>jno & Indiana Rail mad, extending across the county in a
direct line from Bradford to Union City, was begun within the limits of Darke
County in 1852, and the grading completed, or nearly so. during that and the fol-
lowing year. In 1854, the work ceased, the company being much embarrassed in
regard to finances. In 1858, the enterprise was again carried forward, and track
laying was begun. The completion of the work of laying the iron was effected
about the middle of March, 1859. By the last of April, trains were running reg-
ularly from Columbus to Union City, making close connections with trains from
the west. R. Walkup was Superintendent ; L. Purcell, conductor. Judge Mitch-
ell was President until the road was leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St.
Louis Railway Company, and he was succeeded by Mr. Smith. William Wilson
and John C. Potter, of Darke County, with others from Miami. Champaign.
Madison and Franklin Counties, were the corporators. The capital stock was
$2,000,000. The road, running from Bradford somewhat north of west, crosses
Adams Township, the northern part of Greenville, and crosses Jackson to the
State Line at Union City. Intermediate stations are Bradford, Horatio, Stelvideo,
Pikeville and Woodington.

The Cincinnati & Mackinaw Railroad was graded but never completed ; its
history is quite interesting in this connection. In Ma} - , 1853. the subject of build-
ing this road began to be agitated. A large meeting was held at Van Wert on the
27th of May. An enthusiastic meeting was held in Greenville on June 25. and a
committee of fourteen was appointed to attend a meeting to be held at Van Wert
July 9. Meetings were also held at New Castine and other points on the line of
the proposed road. Survey commenced early in August, and. later in the month,
Moses Hart, Esq., had been duly authorized to take subscriptions to the stock of
the road, and books were opened at his store in Greenville. Later still, a meeting
of incorporators was held at Greenville, and the project so far gained favor that. 1 ly
October 19, $200,000 had been subscribed, and. an election being held, William
Gunkle was chosen President, and the Directors were William Gunkle, C. G.
Espich, J. L. Winner, I. W. Riley. I. W. Kirk. P. De Puy and R. Thisbee. The
final report of the survey gave the distance from Greenville to the State line, on
the route proposed, as 111 miles, with but three-fourths of a mile curved line in
the whole distance. No grade exceeded twenty -five feet to the mile. The cost of
building was less than $17,500 per mile. The entire line, from the Straits of
Mackinaw to Cincinnati, was 500 miles, of which about one-fifth was completed.
In 1853, Mr. Taylor became Director, vice Dr. Espich. A year later, the hopes of the
company were placed in the prospeeth'e grant of land, while pressure in the money
market delayed the prosecution of the work. The Directors did not despair, but,
from time to time, held meetings to compare notes, view reports of engineer and

330 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

d agent, and to determine upon the location of that portion of the line lying
between Greenville and Celina — two lines having been run in Darke County— and
(uragement was given by a Congressional grant of above a million acres of
land to aid in the construction of the northern part of the line. A meeting was
held April 21, 1858, al Greenville, to examine bids heretofore 1 for the

work between thai city and Celina ; distance, thirty -two miles. Alfred Kitchen,
of Darke, was appointed to superintend -nstruction, and J. W. Frizzel

was chosen Secretary. On dune 2, the Directors held a three-days meeting, in
the course of which fifteen miles of road were placed under contract, and the I
tie and culvert work of the entire thirty-two miles. Mr. Pomeroy was chosen
engineer, vice Col. Frink, resigned. The remaining seventeen miles were resur-
veyed, with a view of important alterations. In the spring of 1859, negotiations
were attempted in Europe for the sale of bonds, without - and the enter-

prise was abandoned for want of means, after a large portion of the grading
had been done, thus adding in this locality one more to the many failures of the

The Cincinnati, Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad. — The Pittsburgh, Cin-
cinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company operates two lines through Darke County —
the old Columbus, Piqua A Indianapolis, and the first division of the Columbus &
Indianapolis Central. In 1861, what was called the Richmond & Covington Rail-
road Company was organized for the purpose of making a road through Bradford,
on Columbus, Piqua and Indianapolis Railroad, to Richmond. End., to connect with
the Indiana Central Railroad. It was built during the years 1862-63, and trains
began to run in the fall of the latter year. An advantage in construction of the
road was the grand ridges abounding in the best of material for ballasting the
road. Money was liberally subscribed to pay for necessary surveys. The estimate
for building the road and placing it in running order was placed at ST.tHHI per
mile. To construct the entire route would cost about $210,000, and Darke County
was asked for $25,000. A. Price, contractor, began work June 9. In February,
1863, the Greenville Journal, says: "The work upon the Richmond & Covington
Railroad is progressing very rapidly. In the hands of such men as E. Baker, the
Careys, P. Pomeroy and Tom Waring, there is no such thing as failure." Evan
Baker, of Greenville, was President of the road from the time of its organization,
until near its completion, when E. B. Smith, of Columbus, was elected President
of this road and also of the Columbus, Piqua & Indianapolis Railroad, at which
time he perfected a running arrangement with the Indiana Central. The owners
of that line subsequently bought the stock of the Richmond & Covington Railroad,
got control of the stock of the Indiana. Central Railroad, which embraced the
entire line. Subsequently, this company purchased the Chicago Air Line, and the
name •■ Cincinnati, Columbus & Indiana Central Railroad." was adopted. This
company is now the owner of the road, including the branch from Bradford to
Richmond. In January. 1869, the Cincinnati. Columbus & Indiana Central Hail-
way, made a permanent lease of its line to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Kail-
road, by which it is now being operated. The following is an exhibit of the
passengerr eceipts at the Greenville station, for the year 1879, $9,188. Total for
the year of freight was $17,923.67 : total receipts. $27,011.67.

An adjunct of the railroad, ami a convenience especially to the business man.
is the telegraph, which is in use here as elsewhere. About 1S7<>. the Pacific &
Atlantic Telegraph Company owned the line on the Dayton & Union road, and
the Western Union had charge of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis line ; the
latter had its office al the lower depot. Postmaster Stevenson was at that time
Manager of the Pacific & Atlantic, although not an operator. The two companies
were consolidated, and the up-town office was established. This consolidation was
perfected in December. l^Td. when Jacob F. Martin was appointed manager of the
Western Union, which bad absorbed the Pacific & Atlantic line. He continued
manager until duly 2, 1876. Then L. Smith, of Urbana, Ohio, was appointed

^1^2^2/C^ i/^t, ^Ot^L, & VZ>

GERMAN TP.

Q/aAa^ -^Z

'^^ViZ^^t^

GERMAN TP.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 335

local manager, and held this position, until May 20. 1879, at which time
John L. Garber, took charge, and is still in office. There are two lines on the road
from Bradford to Richmond — one wire is exclusively used in the transaction of
railroad business, the other transacts both railroad and commercial business.
One line in the up-town office is for commercial transactions alone ; the other is
used for the work of both business and railroad. The Dayton & Union Railroad
has only one wire, which is used for both purposes. The line between Dayton and
Union commenced working at 3 o'clock, June 28, 1854, and the office was in
charge of Mr. Swayne.

BANKS AND BANKERS.

A full histoiy of banking in Ohio is not expected, yet, prefatory to the
record of these indispensable institutions in Darke County, it will prove of interest
to learn of the initiatory steps toward bank organization in the State.

The bank is a help to commerce. Managed with fidelity, its notes are more
convenient than specie, and its vaults are more secure than the receptacles of
private dwellings. As it facilitates exchange, renders possible great undertakings
and accomodates the necessities of business men, it has met a patronage that has
repeatedly been used to defraud the people by dishonesty and by excessive
circulation.

The State endeavors to protect the people, and her Legislature, from time to
time, frames acts regulating the conduct of banking. Several times, prior to the
civil war, specie payments had been suspended in Ohio, but the interval from
1861 to 1879 has been a period so protracted that the recent disbursements of gold
and silver are a novelty to the generation accustomed to fractional currency,
greenbacks and national bank notes.

••Wild-cat" banks were long a feature in the Western country, and bank
issues were held at more or less a discount, which increased in geometric propor-
tion as the distance increased from the location of the institution that issued them.
Bank-note reporters lay upon the counters, each bill was duly examined, and the
fluctuations of value were noted and enforced with each new report.

This was all changed by the war. The exigencies of the times created the
national system, still in vogue, b} T which bonds of the Government, purchased by
an association, are deposited with the Treasurer of the United States for security.
and 90 per cent of their face value in national currency issued to the bank for
circulation. The system has been very popular from the uniform equality in
value, freedom from counterfeiting and from their absolute security ; yet there
are many people who are opposed to the plan, and opinions as to their continu-
ance are conflicting. Whatever ma}' be done, they tided the Government over a
critical period and have been of incalculable good to the country.

The earliest bank chartered in Ohio was the Miami Exporting Company, of
Cincinnati, the bill for whose incorporation passed the Legislature in April. 1803.
The primary object of this association was more with a view of stimulating and
aiding business, then languishing, than to do regular banking work, and it was not
until 1808 that the first bank devoted to commercial interests was established. It
was located at Marietta, and bore the name of the place. At the same session
during which this charter was given, Mr. Worthington reported upon a proposition
to found a State bank, and, as a result of this legislation, the " Bank of Chillicothe "
was subsequently established.

Charters were severally granted to similar institutions till 1816, when a bank-
ing law was passed which incorporated twelve new banks, continued existing char-
ters, and made the State, without outlay, a party to the profits and capital thus
created and continued. The plan was as follows : " Each new bank was, at the
outset, to set apart one share in twenty -five for the State, without payment, and
each bank whose charter was renewed was to create for the State stock in the
same proportion ; each bank, new and old, was yearly to set apart out of its profits

336 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

a sum which would make, at the time the charter expired, a sum equal to one-
twenty-fifth of the whole stock, which was to belong to the State ; and the divi-
dends coming to the State were to be invested and re-invested until one-sixth of
the stock was State property." This hist provision was made subject to change, if
found desirable. The State's interest in her banks continued until 1825. when an
amendment changed the stock into a '1 per cent tax upon all dividends up to that
date, and 4 per cent upon those made afterward. No further change was made
till March. 1831, when the tax was augmented to 5 per cent. In 1839, a law Mas
enacted by which Bank Commissioners were appointed to make regular examina-
tions of the various banks and to report upon their condition. This was unpopu-
lar with bankers, and was opposed by some of them, and the result was consider-
able discussion, both within and without the Legislature. A new sj^stem of banking
was adopted in 1 845, which included the State Bank, its branches and independent
banks. It was not until 1 853, that Darke County began to realize the benefits
accruing from the establishment of a local banking office. Prior to this date,
loans were frequently negotiated between persons, amounting, in the aggregate, to
considerable sums. Two or three citizens of Greenville, whose names have ever
since been locally prominent in financial transactions, were engaged in private
brokerage in a limited degree, but, with the development of the country and the
growth of the town, there was a growing demand, if not an urgent necessity, for
regular accommodations in the interests of trade.

The Farmers' Bank, a personal or partnership institution, was organized in
October, 1853, by Messrs. J. W. Frizzel and J. L. Winner, with what, at that time,
was a very respectable capital of $30,000. The bank was honored by the popular
confidence, and was considered reliable ; and the fact that it passed easily and tri-
umphantly through the crucial period culminating in the disasters of 1857 and
1861, proved that the high estimation in which it was held was merited. In May.
1865, the bank was re-organized, by the original proprietors, into a national bank.
It may be remarked, at this time, that, previous to going into banking, Mr. Frizzel
was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, had practiced law T , and had taught
school. He had at one period been the preceptor of a military school, and his
partner. Mr. Winner, had for several years, subsequent to 1836, engaged in
hotel-keeping, in a building which stood on the present site of the Kipp drug
store.

The Farmers' National Bank, originating from the Farmers', was organized
April 3, 1865, with a capital of $84,000. Washington A. Weston was its firsl
President, and John L. Winner its first Cashier. The first Directors were W. A.
Weston, J. L. Winner. II. W. Emerson, G. W. Studabaker raid J. W. Frizzel. The
following are the changes that have taken place in its officers: On the 9th of
.January. 1866, J. Pitsenberger and J. C, McKerney were elected Directors, in
place of (i. \V. Studabaker and J. W. Frizzel.; -J. L. Winner was Cashier, and T.
S. Waring was Teller. On the 29th of May, 1866, Elisha Dawes was appointed
Director, in the place of J. C. McKerney, and. January 8, 1867, Gr. W. Studabaker
was chosen to succeed E. Dawes. T. S. Waring was made Assistant Cashier .Jan-
uary 1(1. 1871. and was elected Cashier April' 7. 1873, and T. E. Clark. Teller, at
the same time. .Mr. Waring superseded Mr. Winner as Director. On January 13.

1875. George D. Farrar was appointed to succeed Mr. Clark as Teller. May 11.

1876, ■) . L Weston was chosen Director, vice W. A. Weston, deceased, and 11. W.
Emerson was elected President. On the 8th of January, 1878, C. Jtf. Anderson
took position as Director, in place of 11. W. Kmerson. deceased, and Gr. W. Studa-
baker was elected President. January II. 1879, F. McWhinney and Noah Arnold
were chosen Director-, in place of J. Pitsenberger, deceased, and J.L.Weston.
This old. well know n and firmly established bank has earned and receives a hearty.
heavy support from tanners and business men. and sustains a first-class reputation
for sterling business capacity. The office is located at No. 00. near the puH.it
square, on Broadway, in Greenville.

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 337

The Exchange Bank was the next one organized in Greenville, and held a
meeting for the purpose of starting a financial institution, on the 11th of January,
18(39. Frank McWhinney was the originator and proprietor. J. M. Landsdowne
was appointed Cashier, and business begun. April 1, 1873, Mr. McWhinney sold
to John L. Winner, who is the present owner. From the opening of the bank, the
same building has been occupied — the one which stands on the southeast cor-
ner of Broadway and the public square. Previous to entering upon banking, Mr.
McWhinney had been a merchant at El Dorado, Ohio. From that place he had
gone to Madison, and engaged in merchandising and dealing in grain, while acting,
also, as railroad agent.

The Bank of Greenville was organized February 22, 1876, b}- Messrs. Allen
& Co., proprietors, with a capital stock of $200,000, the stockholders being held
individually liable. The officers chosen were John Hufnagle, President ; Judge
William Allen, Vice President, and L. L. Bell, Cashier. The Directors are John
Hufnagle, Judge James J. Meeker, John Devor, Esq., and L. L. Bell. This bank
always made good all its promises, and issued exchange every day, as called for,
through the stringent times of 1877. There have been no changes in the
officiary. Messrs. Hufnagle, Bell and Meeker are among the largest owners of
real estate in Darke County. Mr. Hufnagle had been discounting for about forty
years previous to the organization of the Greenville Bank, and L. L. Bell had been
a broker and insurance agent for some years. Judge Allen was a practicing
attorney, and had been a member of Congress four years. All the officers of the
bank are old residents of Greenville, except Mr. Bell, and he has been here twelve
years. The bank was first organized for three }-ears, at the expiration of which
time the charter was renewed, and has been continued until the present time.
The bank building is one of the best in the city, having been built for banking
purposes expressly. It stands on the northwest corner of Broadway and Fourth
streets.

THE PRESS OF DARKE COUNTY.

The publication of newspapers from insignificant beginnings has become a
most formidable and powerful agency in forming the people, molding public opin-
ion and exposing wrong-doing. The press lias shown constant growth in the
number of papers issued, in their character, size and composition. Allied with
the telegraph, it has become the myriad-tongued voice of all peoples. It has
enlarged the field of thought, imparted intelligence and stimulated enterprise,
whether national in the construction of mountain tunnel, isthmus canal and over-
land railway, or local in the building of turnpikes, the drainage of land and
improvement of towns. Preliminary to a brief history of the press of Darke
County, a few facts of earlier record will be perused with general interest. The
first press, we are told, was but a news bulletin. The first English newspaper was
published in 1558, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was in manuscript.

The first paper printed, was entitled the Politicvs Mercurius or Political
Mercury, and was started during the reign of Charles I. in 1631, and continued
through Cromwell's time. In 1775. there were in the United States 37 papers
published. In 1810. the number was 358. In 1840, 2,000, and in 1850,2,500.
The latter increase has kept pace with the progress of events, and the problem of
the greatest amount of news within the shortest time, with the minimum
seems to have reached a solution. The history of the press of Darke County is
not unlike that of a thousand others. Short-lived ventures have sprung up like
mushrooms and as suddenly expired. The stanch, well-known journals of the
present, edited by experienced journalists, are a moral, educational and political
power to which, perhaps unconsciously, the county owes much of its reputation
for enterprise and intelligence.

The firsl paper in the county of Darke, was printed and published by E.
Donnellan, and was entitled, the Western Statesman and Greenvilh Courier. The

338 HISTORY OF DARKK COUNTY.

initial number was issued on -June 25, 1832. Its terms in brief, were as follows:
"The Western Statesman and Greenville Courier is printed weekly on a super-royal
sheet. The price is $3 per year, but may be discharged by payment of $2
in advance, or $2.50 within the year." ('(.pies of the pioneer paper are rarities,
yet No Iti. Vol. 1. owned by M. L. Hamilton, of Greenville, furnishes an opportu-
nity of making known the' contents of a paper of half a century ago. Extracts
are' made from the Detroit Journal, New Hampshire Gazette, National Intelligencer
and the Boston Patriot. The war with the Sacs and Foxes, led by Black Hawk,
was near its close. An overwhelming force under Gen. Dodge, following the
Indians, gave them no rest, and dead bodies found on the trail were emaciated l>\
starvation. Cures for cholera are given. A. Stober, tailor, advertises his place of
business one door south of the jail, and John Briggs desires payment on the
principle, frequent settlements make lasting friendships." and such as do not
respond are threatened with the law. Announcements as candidates for the
offices of Auditor. Assessor, Representative and Clerk, were made by Hiram Bell.
Esq Col. M. J. Purviance, M. P. Baskersville and Dennis Hart, respectively.
Wiliiam Brady calls attention to blacksmithing, John Curtis is silversmith and
jeweler, and II. Bell is real-estate agent.

The Greenville Journal may be regarded as a continuation of the paper above
noted, later changed in name to Journal, since which time it has enjoyed an uninter-
rupted publication, although changing owners and publishers many times during
the first twenty years of its existence. The paper began to be published on April
19 1850, under the management of E. B. Taylor and J. G. Reese. The proprie-
tors advocated Whig principles, and had for their motto: "Liberty and Union,
now and forever, one and inseparable." The strength of political parties m th<
county at this time is shown by the result of the fall elections of 1840 and 1850
In the former year, the Whig vote for Representative was 1.670. while the vote ol
the Loco-focos was 1.519. Both parties did not come out in full strength in 1850,
but the Whigs were the dominant party in the county by a small majority. On
June 1, 1851, partnership was dissolved and Mr. Taylor for the time retired, hav-
ing been connected with the paper under other names for seven years, and begin-
ning with a list of 150 subscribers in 1844. M. B. Reese became a partner April
29,^1 852, and the Journal was edited and published by J. G. & M. B. Reese.
Much space was taken by the publication of laws of Ohio in many numbers. In
politics, the Whigs were stated to be "willing to stand by the compromise meas-
ure but no steps further." Unwilling to keep up the agitation about slavery, the
fugitive-slave law was obeyed but disliked as unjust. The North did not want an
influx of negroes, and acquiesced in the act, while its moral influence South was
immense. July L, 1853, the Journal changed its name temporarily to The Marl
Anthony, with frontier scene for heading, and taking as its motto, " Devoted to
the propagation of truth and the elevation of the masses.

In the earl v part of 1860, the Journal was purchased from E. 15. Taylor, to
whom it had passed from the hands of Messrs. Reese, by Messrs. E. W. Otwell
and .binies M. Craig, who took possession of the same on the 14th day oi March,

1860, and published it under the firm name of E. W. Otwell & Co. V\ hen these
gentlemen acquired the paper, they found a meager list of subscribers ; its circu-
lation of bona ful< subscribers did not exceed one hundred and fifty. It was then
a seven column folio. Under the new management numerous subscriptions were
received, rapidly extending its influence, and the columns became much more
readable and the paper increased in value as a family newspaper. The Presiden-
tial campaign which resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln occurred in the
summer and fall of 1860. In this political contest, which resulted m the triumph
of the Republican party, the Journal was a stanch party organ, and has always
stood firm and unshaken in its advocacy of the principles of its party. In April,

1861, when the war of the rebellion was commenced, and during the few years
following, the times were trying for the existence of the paper. In due time,

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 339

however, it weathered the storms incident to the times, and gained, as the years
succeeded, in favor among the people of the county.

On the 14th of December, 1869, the Journal again experienced a change in
ownership, by the sale by Mr. Craig of his interest to E. W. Otwell, his partner, who
then became the sole owner, publisher and editor, which he has continued to be
from that time to the present.

On the 8th day of August, 1878, the Journal was enlarged to a nine-column
folio, making it, at that time, the largest paper published in the county. In this
shape and size it remained until 1879, when, on August 28. it was enlarged to
the proportions of a seven-column quarto, making it again the largest newspaper
then published in the county, and containing the greatest quantity of reading
matter. On the 1st of September, 1879, E. W. Otwell entered the law office of
Judge William Allen, and turned over the publication of the Journal to his son
Curt Otwell. In April, 1880, the paper is prosperous, influential, and has a cir-
culation of 1,176. with prospects of a steady increase in the number of its readers.

The Democratic Herald was started at Greenville. Ohio, in April. 1847.
Previous to this date, the Democratic party in Darke had been without a home
paper, the best and only paper in the interest of the part}- having been pub-
lished about 1830, by C. B. Floyd, now of Columbus, and known widely as the
veteran editor of the State. The Herald was published by Messrs. Mehaffey &
Adams, and took for its motto, " The sovereignty of the people, the rights of the
States, and a light and simple government/' Its name and motto indicate its
principles. James Mehaffey had expected before the end of the first year to
become sole proprietor, and to renew the publication in the second volume as the
Union Democrat, "augmented in reading matter and sound in politics;" but the
project failed, and instead he sold his interest to William Allen. Esq., who, in con-
nection with Thomas Adams, conducted the paper as the Greenville Telegraph.
Allen was then acting as Prosecuting Attornej*. Both men were high in popular
estimation, persons of integrity and sound Democrats. They asked a fair chance,
declaring that they " will condemn no man because he honestly possesses political
principles differing from theirs." In June, 1851, Adams sold his interest, and
was succeeded by Dr. J. L. Sorber, who conducted the paper until the fall of 1852.
when Bums Putnam became the proprietor. The paper rapidly changed owner-
ship and name, being by Putnam entitled the Mad Anthony, under which title it
was issued until the summer of 1854. With the Know-Nothing excitement, young
Putnam removed the press to Union City, Ind., where he started a paper in the
interest of the American party, as it was called, in the fall of the same year.

In the fall of 1854, leading Democrats of the county raised a small sum by
subscription, and Messrs. William Allen and Thomas Perry went to Cincinnati,
and having purchased new press and metal, Mr. Perry was made the publisher of
what was entitled the Greenville Eagle. But he suffered so many indignities at
the hands of Know-Nothings, that at the end of six months he left in disgust,
and the office was closed for a number of months. In the spring of 1855. A. G.
Clark came from Hamilton to Greenville, and commenced the publication of the
Darke Count)/ Democrat. At the end of a year or more, in July, 1856, Mr. Clark
was superseded by Henry Miller, and the office was located over Messrs. Weston
& I Tilery's hardware store, on the corner of Broadway and Third street. Mr. Miller
took for his motto : " Truth crushed to earth will rise again : the eternal years of
God are hers ;" and continued steadily to edit and publish the paper until March
20, 1861. when his connection ceased and his place was taken by Messrs. J. B.
Price and George D. Farrar. Mr. Miller had been appointed Clerk of the
Court of Common Pleas, in the place of Dr. W. C. Porterfield. deceased.
The county which had been Whig till 1857. changed over during that
year, and the Democracy succeeded in electing their entire county ticket, as
they have done ever since. It was due to Mr. Miller that under him the Democrat
was established on a permanent basis. Price conducted the publication until the

340 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

winter of 1863-64, when a number of soldiers at home on furlough sacked the

office and threw the metal into the street. Subsequently other parties procured
an interest in what was leftof the concern, and removed the office from the Weston
building to Mechanics' building, where the paper was once more published. In a
short time the paper was again sold to Messrs. McKay & Kinder, who continued
the publication until their interest was purchased by Charles Roland, who removed
to Greenville from Lancaster in 1866. Mr. Roland became proprietor and editor,
and has continued to publish the paper to this date, and is in receipt of good suc-
cess and hearty support — the appreciation paid by the public to acknowledged merit.

The Greenville Sunday Courier was started May 22, 1875, by George W.
Calderwood, and December 10, 1876, A. R. Calderwood assumed editorial control
and the paper was published by the firm of Calderwood & Studabaker. The office
is in the third story of the Hart & Wilson New Block, on the corner of Third
street and Broadway. It advocates Republican doctrines and has a growing cir-
culation. Its prospectus opened with the following: '-The Sunday Courier lives
a life of happiness and so will its readers. Consumptive men, on the verge of the
grave, have recovered and are live and active men because they read it. Poverty-
cursed individuals, almost at the door of the almshouse, have picked it up and
saved themselves a life of wretchedness and woe. Statesmen have been brought
from obscurity and elevated to position from casual glances over its columns."

The American Prohibitionist was published lor a time by George Calderwood.
and. after a few months, was removed to Columbus. Its brief career in Green-
ville was promising. It waged an uncompromising war on saloons and gained
rapidly in circulation. It was published at the office of the Daily Gazette, started
in 1879 by the same publisher, Mr. Calderwood.

It is surprising how transitory is the existence of a newspaper ; it is the crea-
tion and has the existence of a da}'. There are no complete files of Darke County
papers to be found, and their value is not realized till the time to use them is at
hand. The present publishers of Darke County are men of experience, promi-
nence and means ; they are all persons of sterling principles, and few counties can
boast of more energetic workers.

EDUCATIONAL Pl'BLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

in the early history of Darke County the schools were mainly supported by
the individual contributions of the parents sending their children. The wages of
teachers were low, averaging from $9 to $12 per month. The public fund received
by each township was derived from Section 1(>. which was spoken of as the
' ; school section." It was finally sold, the purchase money paid to the State
Treasurer, and the interest on the same is still divided among the several school
districts in the townships. The educational interests of the county have always
received that attention from the people that their importance seemed to demand.
Often, when the farmer had done his day's work, he would attend the evening
school, organized byprivate enterprise, and not only become a student himself, but
by his presence and influence encourage the children and youth to renewed dili-
gence in acquiring even a limited education. Among the early teachers of the
county we will mention Rev. Mr. Swallow, who preached in different localities, and
at the same time taught grammar schools wherever he could collect a class. But
grammar was :i step in advance of the requirements of the teacher of the day
school, who was only required to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to the - single
rule of three." We can certainly notice a contrast between the requirements of
the teacher then and now. Henry I >. Williams taught in 1830 and Is:;."., and after
ward became County Treasurer. Dow Roll, Mrs. Mdntyre, .John Townsend and
Noaii Arnold were among the pioneer teachers of the county, and did efficient
work in the schoolroom. Schools were held about three months, and were
supported by the income of Section Hi. tines and individual contributions, until the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 341

present financial school-law went into operation. But fines only yielded a small
sum, the proceeds of Section 16 were small, when apportioned among the several
schools of the township ; money was scarce and difficult to obtain, either by labor
or produce, for there was but little demand for either, and had it not been for the
low wages of teaching, schools could not have been continued for three months.
The first schoolhouses in the county were rude structures, built of round logs,
covered by clapboards, held in their places by poles laid upon them. The writing
desks were generally slabs, laid upon pins driven in holes bored in the wall, while
the seats were rude benches made of slabs, with two holes bored in each end, into
which the legs were driven. The floors were also made of puncheon, dressed on
one side, and the writer remembers that the second house in which he taught had
only a part of the floor thus made, while the other part was the gi'ound leveled off
to correspond with the puncheons, and ground-squirrels and rats would frequently
come out of their holes, during school hours, and run across the floor, to the no
small amusement of the pupils.

In many of the schools, pupils were required to study in a loud tone, and
hence called a loud school, the object being to let the teacher know they were
engaged upon their lessons, and not in mischief. Classes in arithmetic and writing
were never formed, but each pupil " ciphered away at will," and received personal
assistance from the teacher when the same was needed. Writing was taught by
the teacher " setting the copy.'' and the pupil trying to imitate the same. The
"quill pen " was used by the pupil, and the "master" was expected to make the
pen, and mend the same when the pupil thought it unfit for use. The custom of
" barring out" the teacher, and compelling him to "treat," about the holidays, was
indulged in by the pupils as a general custom, and sanctioned b}' the parents ; but
this relic of barbarism has almost entirely disappeared from our schools. Until
the present school law went into operation, there were two County School Exam-
iners, who examined applicants for certificates to teach school, at any time they
were called upon, the fee being fifty cents, and the grade of qualification necessarily
low, compared with the qualifications during the past twenty years. Among the
early Examiners, we may mention John Beers, Dr. J. Briggs, C. F. Dempsey. J.
R. Knox and A. L. Northrop ; the latter also taught school in 1844, and claims
that he first taught mental arithmetic in the schools under his charge. He after-
ward became County Auditor, and has ever been a warm friend of education,
and a firm supporter of our common-school system. John Beers, John Wharry.
J. R. Knox and William Allen were, respectively, members of the Board of Exam-
iners until the year 1856, when C. G. Matchett, E. B. Putnam and ^G. H. Martz
constituted the board. This board required mental arithmetic to be taught, and
made it a grade of qualification for the teacher. Many applicants for certificates
were rejected for incompetency ; the standard of teaching was raised, and the
schools necessarily took a higher standing in education and usefulness. A
vacancy occurred in the board, by the death of E. B. Putnam, and A. T. Bodle
was appointed a member of the same. At the breaking-out of the rebellion, C.
G. Matchett raised a company of the Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served
with honor and distinction during the war, and, at its close, located, as a lawyer.
in Greenville, Ohio, filled the office of Prosecuting Attorney with fidelity, and is
now a prominent member of the Greenville liar. G. II. Martz followed teaching
for a number of years, served four years as Treasurer of Darke County, and is now
serving his third term as County School Superintendent of Greenwood County.
Kan. A. T. Bodle followed the profession of teaching for a number of years,
and is now a prominent member of the Greenville bar. The first meeting of
teachers was held about the year 1856, the object being the mutual exchange of
views relative to the duties and responsibities of teachers. In 1859, A. T. Bodle.
L. S. B. Otwell and J. T. Martz, being then School Examiners, in connection with
other teachers organized the Darke County Teachers' Association, which was
kept alive for some time ; and, after the enactment of the law creating a teachers

342 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

institute fund Avas passed, the association was re-organized, and has been kept in
existence from thai time to the present. J. T. Martz has been President of
this association for a number of years, and. previous to March. 1879. was member
<»f the Board of School Examiners for more than twenty successive years. He
has taught a number of normal schools for teachers, in different parts of the
county. With Prof, bang, of Gambier, Ohio. A. -J. Backoff, Superintendent of the
public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, and Rev. A. L. McKinney, of Troy. Ohio, he
held the first teachers' institute in the county. He has been one of the instruct-
ors of the Darke Count}" Teachers' Institute for a number of 3'ears, and has
just completed his ninth successive year as Superintendent of the Greenville
Union School. The last teachers' institute enrolled 150 members, and was one
of the most successful held in the county. Hon. T. W. Harvey. John Hancock,
Rev. J. F. Reinmund, and other distinguished educators of the State, have been
teachers and lecturers at our institutes, and they have taken front rank with like
institutes in the State.

Education in the county seems to be progressive. The public schools are
generally well attended, and there seems to be a desire on the part of both teacher
and pupil to make all possible progress in the acquisition of knowledge. Teach-
ers make themselves acquainted with the modern methods of teaching, and adopt
the same when preferred. Graded schools have been established at the following
places, and under the control of the following Superintendents : At Bradford,
D. S. Myers ; at Gettysburg, Rev. C. W. Shoate ; at Versailles, J. E. Polly ; at
Dallas, J. S. Royer, who is also a member of the Board of Examiners at Union
City, Ohio side. B. F. Landis is Superintendent at New Madison ; Thomas
Eubank, who is also a member of the Board of Examiners, at Arcanum. A
goodly showing this, of nine graded schools in the county, together with 200
schoolhouses, requiring 250 teachers. It will be well in this connection to review
somewhat the history of education in the State in order to understand how it has
been possible to reach the present system of education in the county of Darke.

Ohio, educationally, has been a favored state. When, nearly a century ago. the
Confederate Congress passed an act for the survey of Western lands, one section
of each township was reserved " for the maintenance of public schools within said
township." In the act for governing the Northwest Territory, passed July 13,
1787, it was provided: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa-
tion shall forever be encouraged." Later, one-thirty-sixth of the entire land of
the State was given to the State in trust for the support of schools. The State
constitution of 1802 provided: "Religion, morality and knowledge being essen-
tially necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and
the means of educal ion shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision, not
inconsistent with the rights of conscience." Despite these provisions for educa-
tion, the schools of Darke, as intimated in earlier chapters, were for many years
of little moment. The law of 1821 left it to the vote of each township whether
school districts should be formed. Four years Inter, action in this regard was
changed, and Township Trustees were required to divide the township into dis-
tricts. A tax for schools was levied by the county ami provided a fund of about
$10 for one ordinary country district.

In 1838, the first efficient law was adopted by the General Assembly. It pro-
vided that School Directors " may determine the studies to be pursued in each
school, so that reading, writing and arithmetic may lie taught in the English lan-
guage." In 1849, teachers, in addition to examination in spelling, reading, writ-
ing and arithmetic, were required to show qualifications in geography and gram-
mar. The present cost, condition and value of Darke County schools may be
ascertained by a consideration of the following statistics for the year 1879 :

The balance of school money on hand September 1. 1877, was $71,082. S8;
the State tax gave $19,899. the* irreducible school fund added $4,553.69; the

HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY. 343

local tax for school and sehoolhouse purposes gave $68,333.56 ; the amount
received on sale of bonds was $940: from other sources, $1,611.49 — thus mak-
ing the total receipts $167,320.62. The following were the disbursements during
the same year : The amount paid teachers was— primary, $58,276.99 ; high school.
$6,095 — total $64,371.99 ; managing and superintending, $675 ; sites and build-
ings, $10,892.79 ; bond interest, $8,205.66 ; fuel and other expenses, $18,925.53 :
a total expenditure of $103,070.97— leaving a balance, September 1, 1878, of
$64,249.65. The State received, during the fiscial year ending November 15. 1878.
from the county, of common-school fund, $18,586.15, and paid to the county
$19,899. or an excess of $1,312.86. The number of youths between six and
twenty-one was 13,175. The Section 16 school fund amounted to $5,135.92.

Darke has 20 townships. 177 subdivisions, 9 separate districts and 9 subdi-
visions, included in separate districts. During the year, 5 primary schoolhouses
were erected in the townships, at a cost of $5,000. The value of school property
is about $200,000 in townships and $130,000 in separate districts, or a total of
about $330,000. There were 230 schoolrooms, requiring 231 teachers. There
were employed, within the year, 186 gentlemen and 71 ladies, in primary schools :
22 gentlemen and 24 ladies, in separate districts, or a total of 303 teachers. The
number of teachers who taught the entire time the schools were in session were
154. The average wages of gentlemen, in primary township schools, was $38:
ladies, $26. In separate districts— primary, $49 ; ladies, $32 ; high, gentlemen.
$61. The average number of weeks' schools were in session, was 28, 31 and 33^
The local tax of townships, 1878-79, was 3.4 ; separate districts, 7. The number
of pupils enrolled within the year was : of boys, 4,973 ; girls, 4,161— total, 9,124 ;
in primary, in townships : separate districts— primary, boys, 1.050 ; girls, 958 ; high!
ooys, 201 ; girls, 197— total, 2,406 ; grand total, 11,530. The average daily attend-
ance was 6,918, the per cent, in townships, being 76, and in separate districts, 82.

The number in each branch of study is thus given : Alphabet, 1,767 ; read-
ing, 8.988 ; spelling, 9,832 : writing, 7,826 ; arithmetic, 6,775 ; geography, 2,750 ;
grammar, 1,830 ; oral lessons, 2,271 : composition, 1,054 ; drawing, 436 ; vocal
music, 1,395 ; map drawing. 373 : history. 283 ; physiology, 28 ; physical geogra-
phy, 13 ; natural philosophy, 23, and German, 145 ; algebra, 336 ; geometry, 26 :
trigonometry. 11 ; surveying, 2 ; chemistrv. 11 ; geology, 11 ; botany, 10 ; astron-
omy, 1 ; book-keeping. 22.

The School Examiners of Darke, in 1879, were E. B. Leitz, J. T. Martz and
E. Lockett, the last named resident of Gettysburg. Eighteen meetings were held
for examination of teachers ; 368 gentlemen made application for license and 187
ladies — total. 555 ; of these 205 were rejected. Fourteen persons, all gentlemen,
received license for two years ; 46 for eighteen months ; 226 for a year, the
remainder for six months ; entire number licensed, 350 ; 37 per cent were rejected.
The institute, held at Greenville, commenced August 19. 1878, was in session eleven
days, and 160 persons were in attendance.

Thus briefly we learn of the large sums annually paid for education, the full
supply of teachers, the fair wages and the increasing exactions of the people for
better qualifications. The institute, the high schools and the common schools
provide means for acquiring that knowledge so indispensable to the control and
instruction of the young. The schools are by no means perfect, but they are pro-
gressive, and, as compared with the past, have shown surprising advance.

SOCIETIES.

The local historian nowhere finds a more interesting field for research, or one
more fruitful, than that which embraces the experience of the pioneers of Darke
—the men who literally hewed out the county from the sturdy and unbroken for-
est, wherein the ax of the woodman had never before resounded ; who conquered
a scanty subsistence from the unused soil which the plowshares of civilization

344 HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.

had never disturbe