History of Ashland County, Ohio, Part 1

Author: Baughman, A. J. (Abraham J.), 1838-1913. cn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1012

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THE HERITAGE COLLECTION

HISTORY AND( BIOGRAPHY

FROM UNIGRAPHIC

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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016

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HISTORY

ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO

BY A. J. BAUGHMAN

WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF

PROMINENT CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY

ILLUSTRATED

Chicago:

THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO.

1909

The reproduction of this book has been made possible through the sponsorship of The Ashland County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Ashland, Ohio.

DIHO . CTMUND CIMALIHZA

DEDICATED

TO THE PIONEERS OF ASHLAND COUNTY

A Reproduction by UNIGRAPHIC, INC. 1401 North Fares Avenue Evansville, Indiana 47711 nineteen hundred and seventy-seven

PREFACE

Introductory to this work the author makes the following statement: After having written the history of Richland county, which was published in 1908, by the S. J. Clarke Company, of Chicago, I was engaged by the same firm to write a history of Ashland county. Next to old Richland, Ashland county I hold in the highest sentimental regard for my grandfather, Abraham Baughman was one of the first settlers in Green township, now in Ashland county, having settled near the Indian village of Greentown, when there was not another white settler in the Blackfork valley; there too my father, Jacob Baughman, was reared.

Pope advised, "Know then thyself," and to know ourselves we must know our local antecedent history and environments.

While introductory reference may be given of the early settlement of the territory of which Ohio is now a part, the main object of this work is to give the history of Ashland county from its erection in 1846 to the present time.

The bibliography of the Ashland county pre-historic earthworks will be given with a chapter upon the Mound Builders that centuries ago fortified our hills and peopled our valleys. 1971185

America is the only country that was settled by pioneers, and the pioneer was one of the grandest types of humanity in the world. In selfdenial, in industry and in the practice of the virtues that distinguished good men and women the pioneers of America made a record in human affairs that should be the boast of their descendents from generation to generation. The Buckeye pioneers stood at the head of the list, and the Ashland county pioneers were well up in the ranks of their fellow Buckeyes. The lights and shadows of their toilsome lives form a picture beautiful to look upon and impressive in the lessons it teaches. A halo of romance clings around the history of each humble cabin that was a pioneer home. Deep, dark forests stretched for miles around, and the cries of wild beasts were borne upon the air when night's shadows hung in heavy folds over the earth. Sounds more fearsome was the wild whoop of the painted savages, and the cracks of their rifles as they waged unrelenting war against the settlers. But after the last savage had been driven so far toward the Pacific coast that he ceased to be a terror to the settlers of Ohio, hardships and dangers still surrounded the homes of the early settlers.

The pioneer days are now gone. The oldest men and women that remain are but links that connect the present with the mystical past.

We of the present day can honor ourselves by honoring those who pre- ceeded us.

We should not ignore our obligations to the poineers, but in remembering them, congratulate ourselves that we live in an age of improved utilities. The pioneers were the manufacturers of almost everything they used, not only their farming implements, but also the fabrics with which they were clothed. How different now.

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All earthly things are given to change, and the firesides of the pioneer period have given place to the furnaces and registers of today. But the remem- brance of the associations of the past has an attractive charm and a strong hold on our sentiments and affections. Though the scenes of our memory may be darkened by the shadows of bereavements and of sorrows, yet it is still a cher- ished indulgence to recall them. The rose and the thorn grow on the same bush ; so the remembrance of the past, of our frends who have "gone before," is mingled with both pleasure and sorrow.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

The author acknowledges himself indebted to the members of the advisory board for their encouragement and assistance, and to the press for its kindly notices. Also to friends for their assistance in the gathering and the compila- tion of the matter contained in this work.

3 1833 02399 2198

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

The vast tract of territory lying north of the Ohio river on the south and between the Allegheny and the Rocky mountains on the east and west was origionally claimed by France and was designated "Louisiana." Large portions of the American continent were claimed by European monarchs by reasons of discoveries made by their subjects.

In considering this vast region of country it is necessary to advert to the fact that, after the Declaration of Independence, Connecticut set up a claim to the north part of Ohio above latitude forty degrees north, and Virginia claimed Ohio south of that line as being within the limits of her charter.

While these questions caused discussion and negotiation, they were amicably settled, and on the 13th day of July, 1787, congress assumed the jurisdiction of this territory, which included all of the territory of the United States north- west of the Ohio river, and passed an ordinance for its government. This ordinance constituted the Northwest territory a civil government with limited powers. The territory embraced within its boundaries the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The ordinance. provided that whenever the Northwest territory contained five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years it should elect a legislature and enact laws, and this grade of Colonial government was to continue until that part of the territory forming the state of Ohio had the required population of sixty thousand, when they could call a convention and frame constitution pre- paratory to becoming a state of the Union. The first action taken toward that end was made early in the year 1802, and after more than a year's delay, caused by legal quibbles and technicalities, Ohio became a state on the first day of March, 1803. The doubt and uncertainty as to when Ohio became a state have a- risen largely from the fact that the congress tried to impose conditions and restrictions which the people of Ohio would not accept.

The question is often asked "When was Ohio admitted into the Union ?" The answer should be, "Ohio became a state on the first day of March, 1803." The term "admitted" is not applicable to Ohio, as it is to some other states.

St. Clair was appointed governor to the Northwest territory, October 5, 1787, and arrived at Marietta, July 9, 1788. His first official act was to erect the

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

county of Washington, whose boundaries were defined as follows: "Beginning on the banks of the Ohio river, where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie, thence along the southern shore of said lake, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river; thence up said river to the Portage, between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the forks, at the crossing place above Fort Laurens, thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the Portage, on that branch of the Big Miami on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752 (Loramie's store), until it meets the road from the lower Shawneetown to Sandusky; thence south to the Scioto river; thence with that river to the mouth, and thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning." It will be seen that Washington county, as then formed, comprised a large part of the eastern and northern portion of what is now the State of Ohio .

The importance of the county as a political unit varies in different parts of the United States. It takes a secondary rank in the New England states, that of the townships being first. In the Southern states the county or parish is the leading agency for local government. In the state of Ohio, as also in other western states, the county and the township each has its special features in the frame work of the government, and they do not vary much in their relative importance. The structure of government existing here in Ohio is a mixed or dual system, as it has a double unit in the township and county, for each of these divisions has its primary functions to perform, and neither outranks the other to any great extent.

ITistorically speaking, county government here came into existence before that of townships. In the original creation and formation, county and town- ship divisons were independent of each other, the townships not being required to first exist as a basic factor in the formation of counties. County lines were not at first, concurrent with township lines.

Hamilton county was the second county organized, and the date of its organization was January 2, 1790. When Wayne county was organized it comprised a large tract of territory, and the county seat was at Detroit. The first county organized out of the then existing counties was Adams, and there was a long fight over the location of the county seat.

The convention which met November 1, 1802, to frame the first constitution for Ohio was composed of thirty-five members, apportioned to the counties then existing as follows: Adams, three; Belmont, two; Clermont, two; Fairfield, Hamilton, ten ; Jefferson, five; Ross, five; Trumbull, two; and Washington, four.

These counties have been divided and disintegrated until from the nine organized counties and the Indian reservation that existed when the state was formed, the number of counties has grown to eighty-eight.

HURON CO.

LORAIN CO.

SULLIVAN

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SULLIVAN

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

GEOLOGY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.

Geologists claim that Ashland county presents evidence of having shown dry land at a very remote period in the history of the globe. IIer soils and hills are older than the carboniferous, or coal and limestone periods; and if ever either existed within the limits of this county, they were worn away by the glacial flow from the north; or, during the emptying of the great northern seas through the valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi and the Hudson, after the elevation of the Appalachian chain of mountains, by the cooling and shrinking of the crust of the earth.

How long this region may have been covered by the northern seas, will doubtless never be known by man, but that such seas enveloped this part of the globe for an extended period of time, must be apparent to all careful observers. It is very probable that the great chain of lakes extending from northern New York to the Lake of the Woods, is but a remnant of the mighty sea that covered a large portion of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The hypothesis, that during the "glacial period" huge mountains of ice were forced southward from high northern regions, and in their advance, plowing deep valleys and wrenching granite rocks from their position, and crushing, and rolling, and rounding them into boulders by erosion, receives much strength, on careful examination. It is possible that during the "drift period" great quantities of what are called "nigger-heads,"-boulders, were carried by ice, thousands of miles, thawed out, and dropped in the position they are now found. These granite boulders are. found scattered all over northern Ohio, in sizes ranging from three or four pounds to tons in weight, gradually diminishing in size as they recede from the lake shore.

Further evidence of the existence of a great sea is found in the deposit of immense quantities of petrified shells, among the surface rubbish of the freestone formation. It is quite certain that these shells were deposited slowly, and that an immense period of time was exhausted in their petrification. The freestone rocks are in strata; and their beds range in thickness from three to twenty feet. The sandstone formation crops out at a later period. Petrified shells are not so frequently found above or beneath the sandstone. The

sandstone is found on the highest land east of Ashland, commencing at Rose- berry's hill, and extending nearly south to Lake township. It is also found on the elevated tract of land running from Milton, through Mifflin and Green townships, to Hanover. These stones are found in abundance, and form a useful and durable material for walls, bridges and buildings.

Ashland county contains an area of about four hundred square miles. It

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

is divided into two principal slopes, or water-sheds, by a range of upland, ex- tending in a northeast direction, across the south part of Clearcreek and the north part of Orange and Jackson townships; thus forming a dividing ridge, that separates the heads of the streams flowing south to the Muskingum, and north to Lake Erie.

PRE-HISTORIC EARTHWORKS IN ASHLAND COUNTY.

"Here stand mounds, erected by a race Unknown in history or in poets' songs."

In our own Ashland county we see evidences of a pre-historic people whose origin and fate are unknown. We know of them only by the monuments they reared in the form of earth-works, and as these principally are mounds, we call the people who made them "Mound Builders." The term is not a distinguishing one, for people the world over have been mound builders, more or less, from generation to generation.

In no other country are earth-works more plainly divided into classes than here in America. In some places fortified hills and eminences suggest the citadel of a tribe or people. Again, embankments, circular or square, separate and in combination, enclosing, perhaps, one or more mounds, excite our curiosity, but fail to satisfy it, and we ask, "Are these fading embankments the boundaries of sacred enclosures, or the fortifications of a camp, or the founda- tions on which were built communal houses ?"

In the Blackfork valley-especially the part taken from Richland and given to Ashland county-there are numerous mounds and other earth-works but only a few can be considered in the limit of this paper.

On the southwest quarter of section 17, Green township, half a mile north- west of Greentown, there was in the years agone a circular embankment em- bracing about half an acre of ground. The embankment was about five feet in height in the days of old Greentown. There was a "gate-way" to the west, about twelve feet wide. In the center of the enclosure there was a mound into which excavations were made about fifty years ago to the depth of nine feet, which appeared to be the depth of the artifical work. Coal, wood and feathers were found in the lower strata.

Within a mile east of Greentown there was a similar embankment, embrac- ing an aere of ground, but there was no mound within this enclosure.

The Parr "fort" was a circular earth-work, about seven feet high and twelve to fourteen feet in diameter at the base. It enclosed an area of about three acres.

Very near it on the east side stood a large mound, from which copper, beads and stone implements have been taken.

When the first settlers came there was an earth-work running a little south- west from the mound for some twenty rods, then back eastward to the river. The place has been under cultivation for so many years that the earth-work is now obliterated. The mound was encased with a wall of sandstone boulders,

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

as large as a man can lift. This mound stands on the west side of the Blackfork within a few rods of the stream. The stones used in building the mound must have been carried from the hill, half a mile west from the place. The mound was examined in 1816 by a Mr. Slater, who found bones, flint implements, a pipe, etc. About seventy years ago the late Dr. Henderson had these mounds opened and in them were found human bones, decayed wood, charcoal, a stone pipe and a copper wedge. The wedge created quite a sensation at the time, as it was supposed to be gold.

Of the prehistoric works in Ashland county, reference is made to a number of them, as follows: In Jackson township, the Muddyfork valley, on the land formerly owned by John Ramsey, there is an ancient earth-work, locally called an entrenchment. The work is quadrangular and is estimated to contain a fraction over two acres. It is said that in the early settlement of the county the embankment was about three feet in height and from eight to ten feet in diameter at the base. The timber within the fort was equal in size to that of the forest around it, and was of the same character. There were formerly two mounds in the north part of Perry township; they were about thirty feet apart, and occupied level ground near a brook. The larger one was abont five feet high and twenty-five feet in diameter at the base. The smaller was about twelve feet in diameter at the base and three and a half feet high.

In the country of the Jeromefork, there was an enclosure, circular in form and contained about three acres. It was near a spring. The embankments in 1812 were about four feet in height. Large trees grew in and upon the works. Continuing up the Jeromefork, is found a beautiful valley from three to six miles wide. On an elevated point of land, overlooking the surrounding country there is an earthwork with a gradual descent from it in all directions. It would be a commanding position in military affairs. A circular embankment, two thousand one hundred and forty-five feet in length, containing an area of over eight acres, surrounds the brow of the hill. The embankment in pioneer days was about four feet high in the center and from ten to twelve feet wide at the base. The land was entered by Henry Gamble in 1815, and the earthwork is called Gamble's Fort.

The earthwork called Stoner's Fort gives evidence of having been the rendezvous or home of a numerous people. Bryte's Fort, situated about a mile and a half northwest of the Sprott hill is quadrangular in shape. Like other prehistoric earthworks, the ground has been cultivated until the earthwork is nearly obliterated.

The Winbigler Fort is on an elevated point about two miles north of the Jeromefork. It contained about four acres of land, was circular in form and seemed to have been planned for defensive warfare. The ground around it is steep and difficult of ascent.

The Metcalf Fort is also in the Jeromefork valley, on an elevated plateau, facing the valley. It was near a spring. From this fort that of Tyler's, four miles down the stream, cold be easily seen by the naked eye.

Glenn's Fort, east of the Winbigler Fort, was on an elevated plateau, the north side of which was two hundred and thirty-six feet long, east side one hundred and ninety-five feet, the south, two hundred and six and the west, one

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

hundred and thirty-nine feet. There was a gateway at the northwest corner, fifteen feet wide, with a guard or embankment extending out about thirty-five feet, which terminated in a small mound, perhaps a sentinel out-post. There is also a mound a few rods southwest of the center of the work, thirty-one feet in diameter and about three and a half feet in height. A number of relics and fragments of ancient pottery have been found in these works.

The Darling Fort, in the Clearfork valley, below St. Johns, was another earth- work containing nearly three acres.

When Judge Kinney and party felled trees that had grown upon the earth- works at the Darling Fort the "growths" showed that the trees had been grow- ing there several centuries before the war between the Eries and the Six Nations. The same is true of the fort near Spook Hollow, and at other places.

A mound is situated just north of Loudonville, on the summit of Bald Knob. For a long time it was supposed to have been formed by counterfeiters in former times. It was excavated in 1877, and found to be a veritable mound, containing charcoal and fragments of human bones. Being encased with large stones, it was excavated with difficulty. As there had been a central depression for a great many years, what remains the mound contained of a perishable character had doubtless been destroyed ere the excavation was made. The site commands a fine view of the Blackfork valley.

A circular enclosure containing about two acres, is situated within the city limits of Ashland, just north of the Erie railroad. The farm upon which the enclosure is situated was formerly owned by Henry Gamble. In 1812-15 the first settlers found embankments there from three to four feet high and from eight to ten feet wide at the base. A forest of oak, hickory, sugar and ash grew upon and near the works. The enclosure overlooked the valley to the south and east, and had a gate-way to the southwest opening near a fine spring of water. The site has been ploughed for more than seventy years and scarcely a trace of the earthwork remains today.

Shambaugh's Fort, near the old Indian village of Greentown, contains about two acres, with a gateway looking to the west. In the center of this earthwork was a mound, about four feet high, which may have been used for an altar or a look-out. When first discovered, the embankment was about three and a half feet high, and ten feet wide at the base. A small brook flowed by it, from which water was no doubt obtained. As the site of the fortification has been ploughed over for more than half a century, the embankments are scarcely discernable.

The Norris mound in Orange township has been opened and found to con- tain specimens. A deposit of flint implements has been found in Sullivan township. There is an old Indian burial ground near the village of Orange. In Clearcreek township, about two and one-half miles west of Gamble's Fort, is Sprott's hill, which is about ninety feet in height and has an area of about five acres at its base.

It is composed of alluvium, mixed with gravel and rounded boulders. The top is about sixty by ninety feet, and is nearly flat. Upon this two mounds were erected, each about twenty-five feet in diameter, and four or five feet high.

THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF GREENTOWN, 1782-1812

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY

When Thomas Sprott settled there, some seventy-five years since, large trees grew upon and about these mounds, which were about thirty feet apart. From these mounds a good view of the Gamble Fort and the mound at Orange can be had.

In examining the south mound some sixty years ago, Thomas Sprott and a brother came upon a sort of stone coffin, constructed of flat stones set on the edges, which contained the skeletons of some six or eight Indians, neatly cleaned and packed, in a good state of preservation. On the flat stones constituting the lid of the coffin, over a peck of red vermillion was found. These relics were replaced by Mr. Sprott.

The size of the mound does not preclude the probability that it is an artifi- cial earthwork, for Nebuchadnezzar built a mound four times as high within the walls of the city of Babylon, to please a caprice of his wife.

There are perhaps twenty or more smaller mounds in Ashland that the author has not had time to explore, but from the number given it is fairly shown that the county is rich in prehistoric history.

What connection, if any, existed between the Mound Builders and the Indians is yet unsettled. But it seems certain that many years before Columbus discovered America, the Mound Builders had settlements here in Richland county, as these ancient earthworks attest. That the people were not unac- quainted with war is shown by their numerous fortified enclosures. These mounds and other antiquities give us some knowledge of a people that lived here when civilization was but in the dawn in Europe. The history of our own country is at least as interesting as that of the land of the Pharoahs, or of storied Greece, for here we see evidence of an ancient culture, as well as the footprints of a vanished people.

It is claimed by writers that the Mound Builders were of Asiatic origin and were, as a people, immense in numbers and well advanced in many of the arts. Similarity in certain things indicates that they were of Phoenician descent. Of the Mound Builders, we have speculated much, and know but little.

When looking at the past, let us recognize the fact that nations as well as individuals pass away and are forgotten.

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History of Ashland County, Ohio, Part 1

Author: Baughman, A. J. (Abraham J.), 1838-1913. cn Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1012

Author: Baughman, A. J. (Abraham J.), 1838-1913. cn
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1012