USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana: containing a history of the townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies, etc., etc. > Part 12
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place where good water could be had, a camping ground where the weary wagoner had camped, as also had the emigrant with his family. They generally tied their horses to the wagon-tongue, on which was fastened a feed-trough, which, when traveling, they carried swung to the hind-gate of their wagon, for the purpose of feeding their horses. They would build a fire by which to cook their scanty meal, and, if night had overtaken them, the ground was their bed and the star-decked heaven their canopy, and fortunate would they consider themselves if they had a small bundle for a pillow."
In 1810 bacon sold at 2} cents per pound; corn 20 to 25 cents per bushel; but there was a season of great scarcity when it sold for $1.25 per bushel. But- ter for a long time sold for 3, 4 and 6 cents per pound. While produce was so low the farmer had to pay 50 cents per yard for muslin that can now bo bought for 8 or 10 cents. Common calicoes cost 372 cents per yard. In 1820 oats sold at 8 cents per bushel. The late Dr. Mason, who settled in the county, in his autobiography, in referring to this sub- ject says, "Corn was often sold for 6 cents a bushel and wheat for 25 cents; and it was difficult to get money at that, and then only in small amounts. Salt was often as high as $2.50 and $3.00 a bushel. When the farmer could sell his pork on foot at the rate of $1.50 per hundred, net weight, ho felt rich and began to thrive." But the pioneer farmers supplied their homes liberally with the comforts of the period and contentment and happiness generally characterized their homes.
In the preparation of their fields for crops the mattock or hoe was called into service ; this mat- tock, as some styled it, was a tool nearly two feet long, one end of which was a blade probably about three inches wide, strong with a sharp steel edge, the other end being brought to a sharp edge designed to be used as an axe. If the field was too full of stumps it was planted in corn. Sometimes a field would be grown producing what was termed "sick wheat." Such has been described as differing little or none from the wheat now grown, except in the ap- pearance of a red spot on the grain or an indication of sprouting. The cause for wheat thus styled has
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
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by some been attributed in this locality to the excess of vegetable matter producing an excess of straw and not unfrequently a kind of rot or blight in many of the wheat grains, which rendered it unfit for use and was so denominated from the effect on the stomach of one eating it.
IMPLEMENTS.
Agriculture is a term hardly applicable to the farming of early times. The implements were then necessarily few and of rude and simple construction, and could be manufactured by indifferent blacksmiths. The plows used were the bar-share and the shovel. The iron part of the former consisted of a bar of iron about two feet long, and a broad share of iron welded to it. At the extreme point was a coulter that passed through a beam six or seven feet long, to which were attached handles of corresponding length. The mould board was a wooden one split out of winding timber, or liewed into a winding shape in order to turn the soil over. The whole length of the plow from the fore end of the beam to the ends of the handles was eight or ten feet. Newly cleared ground was with this plow broken up with
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great difficulty. On this subject a pioneer says : " The old bar-share plow, with a coulter and wooden mould-board, was the best plow then in use, though by far the greatest number used only the shovel plow, which answered an excellent purpose in the loose rich alluvium soil in its virgin purity free from weeds and grass. The shovel was all the iron connected with the plow, and not unlike those in use at the present day. The gearing or harness used by a majority of our pioneers was so novel in its construction that I must describe it. The bridle for the horse was an iron bit, the balance being of small rope. The col- lar was made of shucks (the husks of the corn). The hames were shaped out of a crooked oak or a hickory root, fastened at the top with a cord and at the bottom in the same way. The traces were of rope, the back- band being of tow cloth. The whiffle-tree or single- tree was of wood, with a notch on each end; the trace hitched by a loop over the whiffle-tree, and to the hame through a hole. The whiffle-tree was attached to the double-tree by a hickory withe, and sometimes by a wooden clevis made of two pieces of some tough wood, with wooden pin; the double-tree fastened to the end of the plow beam by the same wooden form of clevis and sometimes an iron one. To the rope bridle was attached a cord, called a single line, by which the horse was driven. By far the largest num- ber of plow-teams was only with a single horse, geared as before described, and hitched to the shovel plow, the ground broken up, crossed off and tended by the same plow and horse."
The land in the early history of this region was much better adapted to corn thau small grain, espec- ially wheat, owing to the excess of vegetable matter in the soil. Sown seed was "bushed in " by a sapling with a bushy top, or by a bundle of brush from a tree top, dragged butts forward. In the course of time the roots sprouts, and other obstacles gave way in a measure, and the ground admitted of the harrow, which implement was triangular in form, resembling the letter A; the teeth were probably as heavy again in weight as those now used, in order to stand the collision with the roots and stumps over and among which they were to be drawn. The cast-iron plow was slowly introduced, the harrow was improved, the cultivator invented, drills for sowing and planting came into use, and other labor-saving implements, and the aspect of farming wonderfully changed.
The sickle for cutting the grain was first used, but as soon as the decay and removal of the stumps per- mitted of a larger instrument and a more rapid method, it was succeeded by the cradle, which in southwestern Ohio gradually became into use at a period beginning about 1825. The cradle in many parts of the country has given way, while in some sections it is still in use. Reaping with the sickle, one of the most ancient of farming implements, was always slow and labori- ous. Among those still with us are men who used the sickle and know how to swing the cradle and scythe. Reapers gradually superseded the cradle, and mowers the scythe. The first reaping machines merely cut the grain; a rake was necessary to gather the grain into sheaves, ready for the binders. Self- raking machines soon followed, and about 1878 self- binding machines were introduced. Grain was threshed with a flail, which, in its rudest form, was made of a hickory sapling about two inches thick, and seven or eight feet long. About two feet and a half from one end it was roasted in the fire, and at this place it was bruised or beaten, so as to cause it to bend. With this, grain was beaten out on the ground, if there was no barn floor. Flails were often made in various other ways. Another of the old-fashioned method of threshing the grain, and the most common, was by tramping it out with horses. There were no fauning-mills to separate the grain from the chaff; to raise the wind a linen sheet was taken from the bed, and held at the corners by two men; and by a semi rotary motion, or swinging of one side of the sheet, the chaff was driven from the falling grain, the pure wheat lying in a pile ready to be garnered. The sheet process was at length succeeded by the fanning- mill. This slow and wasteful method of separating the grain has passed into history, and the steam or horse-power threshing machine has taken its place, by which the grain is not only separated from the chaff,
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but the latter carried off and the straw borne to the stack at the same time.
A single machine now receives the sheaves, and delivers the cleaned grain at the rate of hundreds of bushels a day.
How wonderfully striking is the change! Imagine the pioneer with sickle in hand entering one of Minnesota's wheat-fields, of from 200 to 800, or 1,000 acres, and the invention of the self-binding reaper will be appreciated.
A lad of ten years can mow from fifty to one hundred acres of meadow iu an ordinary haying sea- son, and the hay is all raked during the same time by a single hand.
CATTLE.
Many of the early cattle of Fayette County were brought with the immigrants; especially did those coming from the adjacent States, Ohio and Kentucky, bring with them a cow or two. Cattle were also brought from various quarters, but all were then of the more common class, but in every way sufficed the wants and answered the purposes of the pioneer times. The early farmers suffered their cattle to run at large, and wanderingly they went through the woods, over uncultivated grounds, browsing for their living, and by this means some of the native grasses were extirpated by being. tramped down and cropped off early in the season before giving the seeds time to form. Whether with always an object in view or not, there seems not to have been a step taken by the pioneer that was not without a purpose or followed by some good result. Few buildings sheltered their herds from the cold and piercing winds, the deep snows and chilling rains of the winters. They hov- ered around the stacks of wheat straw, which served the double purpose of shelter and subsistence. How- ever, after corn husking in the fall they were given these fields and here found their food, and at inter- vals unhusked corn was thrown to them, the ground constituting their feed troughs.
Kentucky and Ohio early manifested an interest in the improvement of the stock of cattle, and from these quarters came into Fayette County a better breed of this animal. Early in the history of south- western Ohio the Shakers at Union Village, in War- ren County, were in possession of the early descend- ants of the Kentucky importation of English cattle, made in 1817, and to that locality importations of thoroughbred Short-horn cattle direct from Scotland were made in 1854.
Cattle from Union Village were brought to Fayette County, but at what period we have no definite knowledge. Newton Claypool, Gen. William Cald- well and William Daily, not far from the year 1838, went to Kentucky, and among them purchased three
heifers and one bull, descendants of the importation of Short-horn cattle of 1837, which were brought to Fayette County. The bull was owned by the three, and there being but one Democrat in the number he insisted on naming the animal, which was consented to, and the same was christened "Van Buren."
Not a great while subsequent to this period the man of whom these cattle were purchased brought a drove of the same breed of Short-horn cattle to this locality.
Several years subsequent to the time that Messrs Claypool, Caldwell and Dailey brought the cattle re- ferred to above to this locality, the Hon. W. W. Thrasher purchased a Short-horn bull and two cows of one Cunningham, who resided near Lexington, Ky., which he brought to the county.
The Devins breed were to some extent raised in the county, but were not very popular as they seemed not to have answered the purpose-were wanting in size for beef cattle, and they never became numerous.
Isaac B. Loder, James McCollem and Train Caldwell brought from near Lexington, Ky., several thoroughbred Short-horn cattle; and among the num- ber was the bull styled "Bellmont." This was in the year 1853.
From time to time excellent Short-horn cattle have continued to be brought into the county, until they are now found in almost every locality. Of recent years the Jersey cattle bas made its appear- ance, and is a favorite with some on account of the richness of the milk of the cow, and its properties for butter-making.
From reports made, through the President, by the Secretary of the Agricultural Society at intervals during the past thirty years, we gather some facts concerning stock, which we give below:
Report of 1852 .- "The cattle are chiefly driven from hence to a foreign market, and the number sent from this county during the past year is estimated at 6,000."
Report of 1853 .- "The stock cannot be beat by any other county. Caldwell and McCullum's bull, of this county, took the first premium at our fair, and was equal to any at the State fair. We are made, however, to deplore the number of scrubs among us. This cannot be remedied so long as we have scrub farmers among us. They can only be removed by emigration or death."
In 1856, the number of cattle in the county was valued at $5,627.
HORSES.
In horses, Fayette has claimed a high grade for some years. Oxen, in many localities in the early period of the county's history, were used to a better
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
advantage than the horse. Over such roads as have been described, and in working the ground among the tangled roots and stumps, the ox was well adapted, and to many played well his part in prepar- ing the way for a succeeding step in the progress of things. In 1830 there were in the county 282 work- ing oxen. Judging from the Secretary's report to the State Board of Agriculture in 1880, the improvement in the horse has, perhaps, hardly kept pace with the advancement in other directions. "The exhibition of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry showed im- provement, but not so marked in the horse depart- ment, being evident that the introduction of a little more good blood would be advantageous." However, throughout the county is a good stock of horses of all classes, which is steadily advancing in improvement. Many horses daily appear on the streets of Conners- ville that, reflect great credit on parties engaged in breeding, raising and handling the animal.
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Among some of the early breeds of horses in the county were the "Kentucky Whip." A blood bay horse (with black legs, mane and tail) by this name was advertised in Connersville in 1829. In 1832 Merril Williams advertised "Hilander," an iron gray horse, sixteen hands high. Along about this period was introduced into the county a horse styled "Comet." "Top Gallant" was another of the early horses at Connersville. He was in charge of John and Lot Abraham, and was described as a dark chestnut sorrel, sixteen hands high, lofty carriage and a good mover. He was brought from the State of Georgia to Butler County, Ohio, by a Mr. Titsworth; was sired by the imported horse "Matchless Bob"- his dam by the imported horse "Mast," and his grand-dam by the imported horse "Diamond." About 1835 Josiah Piper brought a dun horse from Kentucky, which made noticeable and valuable improvement in the horses of this section.
The "Morgan," the "Bellfounder," the "Bashaw," the "Whip," the "Hambletonian," the "Second Cad- mus," the "Hilander" stock, have been introduced at different periods. The improvements in the horse are largely due to the infusion of the blood of the thorough- bred. The strains of blood have not been kept dis- tinct, but the tendency has been to amalgamate it with the stock already in use.
The Norman and the Clydesdale stock have been within recent years brought into the county.
In 1852 the following report on this animal was sent from the county to the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture:
"There has been a great increase, both in the quality and number of this most useful animal, during the past year in this county. The number is estimated at about 6,000 head The prices have
been extraordinarily high, ranging from $100 to $200, for good, serviceable geldings, and mares in proportion."
The report of the following year read: "Our farmers are paying attention to the improvement of horses and mules. We have as fine horses, mares and jacks in this as in any other county in the State."
HOGS.
A writer on the subject of the swine of the early settlers gives this glowing description of them: "They were long and slim, long-snouted and long- legged, with an arched back, and bristles erect from the back of the head to the tail, slab-sided, active and healthy. The 'sapling-splitter' and 'razor- back,' as he was called, was ever in the search for food, and quick to take alarm. He was capable of making a heavy hog, but required two years or more to mature, and, until a short time before butchering or marketing, was suffered to run at large, subsisting mainly as a forager, and in the fall fattening on the ' mast. '">
What a contrast between the hogs of that period and those of 1884! Probably no change wronght in the stock of the farmer is so marked as in this ani- mal. Those of to-day mature early and are almost the reverse of the "razor-back, " having a small head, small ear, short neck, with a long body and hams, and in general shape are almost square, and are capa- ble of taking on 250 pounds of flesh in eight or ten months.
The people of Fayette County having in past years paid considerable attention to the raising of swine, a commodity which has added greatly to the wealth of the farmers, cannot fail to be interested in the history of the hogs that have been chiefly among them, hence we give them the benefit of the result of a thorough research on the subject made by Josiah Morrow, Esq., of Lebanon, Ohio, as published in the "History of Warren County, Ohio," of which he is the author:
"In 1816 John Wallace, then a Trustee of the Shaker Society, visited Philadelphia on business and was shown what was called the Big China hogs. He was pleased with them and purchased four hogs, and brought them the same season to Union Village. These four hogs were entirely white except one, upon which were some sandy spots, in which appeared small black spots. They were represented to be either imported or the immediate descendants of imported stock, and are believed to have been the first China hogs in southwestern Ohio. Subsequently other China hogs were introduced. They were exten- sively raised and crossed with the best breeds then existing, and the product of these crosses constituted
SofShipley
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
a breed of fine qualities, which was generally known as the 'Warren County hog,' sometimes as the ' Shaker hog.' These hogs increased in good quali- ties and were extensively bred in great numbers in the great corn producing regions of Warren and Butler Counties.
"The Berkshires were introduced into Warren County 'in 1835 and 1836, by Mr. Munson Beach, who operated in connection with his brother, Louis Beach, then a prominent merchant in the city of New York. Subsequently they made other shipments of the same stock to Warren and Butler Counties. The Berk- shires introduced by the Messrs. Beach were gener- ally black, with occasional marks of white, either on the feet, the tip of the tail or in the face. They were muscular, active and round bodied hogs, and, in most cases, had sharp pointed, upright ears. Some families, however, were large in size, deep in their bodies, with ears that lopped.
"The Irish Grazier breed of hogs was imported direct into south western Ohio, by William Neff, Esq., of Cincinnati, about 1839. The Graziers were white with only an occasional sandy spot which appeared about the eyes.
" These two breeds-the Berkshires and Irish Graziers-were extensively used in making crosses by the best breeders in Warren and Butler Counties, and to some extent in Clinton and Hamilton Coun- ties. Having been carefully bred and intermixed with the descendants and crosses of the Big China with other breeds, the stock thus produced consti- tuted the true and original basis of what is now known as the Magie or Poland-China hogs.
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ยท " Many of the most successful breeders of these hogs resided in the vicinity of Monroe, near the War- ren and Butler County line. Since 1840 no new blood has been introduced. In 1870 the Illinois Swine Breeders' Association resolved to call these hogs the 'Magie breed' (pronounced Magee), from the name of one of the most successful breeders of the stock in Butler County, but Poland-China is now the established name. The first part of this name, however, is a misnomer, as the best authorities agree that there never was a breed of hogs known as the Poland in the Miami Valley, and no Poland cross entered into the formation of the breed. The first part of the name is believed to have originated from the fact that a Polander, residing in Hamilton County, having purchased some of the Shaker or Warren County hogs, many years ago, disposed of them to purchasers who named them Poland or Polander hogs. The National Convention of Swine Breeders of 1872 retained this misnomer for the reason that the great mass of breeders so called the breed, and to change a name generally used is difficult."
It is thought that Jeremiah May brought the first of this breed to the county about the year 1832, from Warren County, Ohio. At any rate, this breed of . hogs found its way into Fayette County, many years ago, and with little exception has been the hog of this section ever since. In 1851, in answer to some interrogatories from the State Board of Agriculture, the Hon. Matthew R. Hull, then a resident of the county, since deceased, replied as relates to the hog as follows:
" The Poland, crossed upon the Byfield and Rus. sian, exceed all others for beauty, size and profit. They are a good grass hog, and are sufficiently lively and sufficiently industrious to make a good living off of good pasture. They mature early, have a small head, small ear, short neck, thick shoulder, long body and long ham, and are capable of bearing more fat than any other kind we have had amongst us. They are familiarly kuown here as the 'Warren County hog.' McGee (should be Magie), of Butler County, drives no other kind of hogs. His droves have aver- aged him more than 410 pounds for several years in Cincinnati. This kind may be had in our neighbor- hood."
For many years Connersville was quite an exten- sive pork market, where thousands of hogs were an- nually slaughtered and packed. The report sent to the State Board of Agriculture in 1852 was as fol- lows: " 22,000 hogs have been slaughtered at and packed at Connersville during the past season, which will average 220 pounds per head, for which the average price paid was $5.50 per cwt. Some of these were from neighboring counties, but it is estimated that equally as inany as, if not more than, were brought to the market from other counties, were driven from this county to a foreign market."
The report of 1853 exhibits: " The hogs in this county, and especially in Jennings Township, are superior, or at least equal, to any in the United States. James D. Ross & Bros. have hogs that are hard to duplicate. The pork butchered at Conners- ville this year will exceed last by at least several thousand head. It may reach 25,000." The report of 1859-60 showed that some 20,000 hogs were packed at Connersville.
SHEEP.
Some time in the decade between 1830 and 1840 W. W. Thrasher. residing on the western border of the county, brought some fine sheep to that section from near Lexington, Ky., of the breed known as " Cotswold," which were among the first, if not the first, fine-wool sheep introduced into the county. Mr. Thrasher still breeds this variety, and has in the in- terim raised and sold perhaps thousands. The report
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made to the State Board of Agriculture on this ani- mal in 1852 showed that the total number in the county then was estimated at 15,000 head. Much interest was then manifested in the growing of wool, and an encouraging number of most valuable breeds had been imported and propagated. The price of the common breeds was from $1 to $1 50 per head. The report of 1853: "Many of our farmers are im- proving their stock of sheep and are growing more wool than in former years. Mr. Miner Meeker, Will - iam Thomas, John Caldwell, and the undersigned, President (M. R. Hull), have each fine flocks of fine- wooled sheep."
In 1878 it was shown by the Secretary's report of the Fayette County Agricultural Society that the wool-growing interest of the county was "on the wane." For 1870 there were reported 8,105 head of sheep in the county, and for the year 1877 only 3,989 head.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS.
In the summer of 1834 an attempt was made to form an agricultural society in Fayette County. Horace Van Vleet, then editor of the Watchman, pub- lished at Connersville, wrote several articles on agri- culture and the importance of an agricultural society, and, on solicitation, published a call for a meeting, which was responded to, and resulted in the appoint- ment of Gen. Caldwell for President and Mr. Van Vleet, Secretary. About $40 was subscribed and paid in for the organization to Mr. Van Vleet. Soon after (in October, 1834,) Mr. Van Vleet died. No claim was made for the agricultural fund, and so failed the first attempt to organize an agricultural society.
In the year 1841 a call was published for an agri- cultural meeting, to be held on the 4th of July, which was responded to in the then old court house. Dr. Philip Mason was appointed President, and Charles Shipley, Secretary. An address was read by Dr. Mason. There was a lack of animation in the meeting, which showed that the community were not quite prepared for a permanent organization. Hon. S. W. Parker was present and made a few remarks. He then turned the meeting to account by getting subscribers to the Indiana Farmer, then published at Indianapolis, and edited by the now celebrated Henry Ward Beecher, and succeeded in less than an hour in getting tifty-four subscribers. So ended the second attempt.
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