USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 12
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recollection, were Daniel Carter, William Montgomery, Robert Newell, and Martin Mason.
FRANCIS GRAHAM.
FORTY YEARS AGO. Recollection of Times that have Passed .- In the year 1821, I, Francis Graham, came to Uniontown, Richland County, Ohio. From San- dusky City, then in Huron, now Erie County, where I had resided for some time previous, I brought with me a small stock of dry goods and groceries. Uniontown at that time was a small village, containing about four- teen or fifteen families; two distilleries; one sawmill; one small tannery; one wheelwright shop for the manu- facture of small wheels for spinning flax; one black- smith shop, owned and occupied by Samuel Urie; and one physician, (Dr. Joel Luther.) I was informed that David Morphey brought to Uniontown a very small stock of goods, in 1818, and did not replenish his stock, and that Mr. Joseph Sheets, then a citizen of the place and a very worthy man, brought a small stock of goods from Steubenville, Ohio, in the year 1819 or in 1820, and did not replenish his stock; both of said stocks of goods had been entirely exhausted before my arrival, not a vestige of them left, so that I found Uniontown without a store, without a church, without a tavern, and without a post-office.
I rented a room for my goods from Mr. Sheets, and engaged board of him on the lot now owned and occu- pied by Jacob Barnhart, a grocer, on Main Street. Board at that time could be had for from six shillings to a dollar a week. Said Sheets entertained travelers as they called, there being no tavern in the place. In 1822, John Hull, the wheelwright, opened a tavern in a small building, which was some years after
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moved back to give place for what was afterward the Slocum House, where the Town Hall now stands. I found goods in demand, but no money in the country to buy them. They would go off like hot cakes if I would sell on credit, but that would be a dangerous course for me to pursue, as my means were quite limited, and if my goods were sold without getting in exchange for them something that would buy more, it would place me in a critical situation; but I saw no alternative, and trust I must; at the same time I would take in exchange for my goods anything I could turn into money, or considered better than goods, and in pursuing that course, I found some hard bargains on my hands before the year came round.
Country Produce .- The products of the country brought low prices at that time, from the fact that there was no market or demand for them beyond home consumption. It was very difficult for people to raise money to pay their taxes. Wheat might have been had for twenty-five cents a bushel, cash, but no one wanted it only for family use; consequently there were not large quantities of that article raised. Oats traded off at twelve to fifteen cents a bushel; corn was in better demand, and brought in store goods from fifteen to twenty cents per bushel, and became almost a lawful tender, because it could be converted into that "delicious beverage" called whisky, and the thirst for that article in the Northwest had created a market in Michigan, where we sent all of our whisky. The farmers sold their corn to the merchant for goods or to the distiller for whisky, and some- times took it west himself. Horses, cattle, and hogs were sought for to some extent by trading men.
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I was obliged, as a means of raising funds, to pur- chase cattle, hogs, and sometimes horses, from the farmers; stock cattle suitable for feeding, and gen- erally disposed of in Berks or Lancaster Counties, in Pennsylvania. Hogs were driven to Pittsburg and sold to butchers. My horses were sold in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and about twice out of three times were sold at a loss. About the year 1824, I began to pack pork, at home, for the Michigan market, produced by a large emigration from the Eastern States. And after the opening of the New York and Erie Canal, in the fall of 1826, I sent my pork to the New York market. In the fall season, for three years, I pur- chased grass-fed fat cattle, from eighty to one hundred and forty head, drove them to Sandusky City, where I had them slaughtered and packed for the New York market. This was as a necessity for the purpose of raising money to keep my stock up, as a large amount of my means were in the hands of my customers, and could not be realized when much needed. In the purchase of these cattle, I could generally pay a por- tion of the cost out of my store, and frequently pay a part in customers' notes, who were not then prepared to make payment; and for any balance due, I would often get a credit of from four to nine months, for which I gave my note. In that way I made a raise. After the opening of the New York and Erie Canal, which was in the fall of 1826, produce began to ad- vance gradually.
Prices of Produce from 1820 to 1827, about as fol- lows :- Wheat, I have said, could be bought for twenty- five cents per bushel, cash; corn would command from fifteen to twenty cents in trade; oats, from twelve and a half to fifteen cents; butter, from five to six and a
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quarter cents per pound; eggs, from four to five cents a dozen. The article of maple sugar was an im- portant item of trade in Richland County, and gave material aid to the community, not from the high prices it commanded, for it was worth but from five to six and a fourth cents per pound, according to quality; but from the large quantity made. It was not un- usual in good seasons for sugar, for many of the farm- ers who had large crops, or sugar orchards, to make in one season from eighteen hundred to twenty-five hundred pounds of sugar. I will here name a few of the most noted sugar makers of those days in the vicinity of Uniontown, viz., Jonas Crouse, Andrew Proudfit, Abraham Huffman, and Elisha Chilcote, as some of the individuals who made for several years after I came to Uniontown about the quantities of sugar above named; even the poor man who had but a small crop, if he made but three or four hundred pounds, it enabled him to get many necessaries that he could not have otherwise paid for. During the spring and summer months, I took at my store large quantities of maple sugar; I generally put it into new flour barrels, which would contain, when filled, from two hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty pounds; very dry sugar being lighter than damp. I took of that article one year forty-two barrels. Sugar could not readily be sold for cash, but could be bar- tered for salt, white fish, iron, nails, window-glass, and castings at the furnace, in Licking County, or at Ver- million, now in Erie County, Ohio. I have already said there was no market in Uniontown for wheat, nor for some years after, beyond home consumption. About the year 1825, John Stewart, an early settler of Richland County, and a very worthy man, and for
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many years surveyor of Richland County, built a flouring mill on the Rocky Fork, say three miles southeast of Mansfield. When his mill was com- pleted, he put a notice in James Purdy's seven by nine paper, then published in Mansfield, saying his mill is now in running order, and he wished to pur- chase wheat, and would pay thirty-one and a fourth cents, cash, for good merchantable wheat delivered at his mill. The farmers about Uniontown were much elated with the idea of getting cash for wheat, and a number of them loaded their wagons with wheat, and carried it to Stewart's market for thirty-one and a fourth cents a bushel. I well recollect one of them who sold Stewart wheat was my neighbor Henry Gamble, who is yet living and can speak for him- self.
Post- Office .- I have said there was no post-office in Uniontown, when I came to it in 1821. In 1822, I got up a petition to the Postmaster-General for a post- office at Uniontown, Richland County, Ohio, by the name of Uniontown, praying that Francis Graham be made postmaster, and forwarded it to the Hon. John Sloan, then our Representative in Congress from the Richland and Wayne County District, asking him to do me the favor to present the petition to the Post- master-General, and use. his influence for the estab- lishment of the office and my appointment as post- master. Mr. Sloan in due time responded to my call, saying he had presented my petition, that the Post- master-General declined granting us a post-office at Uniontown, by that name, as there were already two Uniontown post-offices in the State, and there should be but one. Mr. Sloan then made choice of the name of Ashland, there being no post-office in Ohio by that
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name. The papers came on in due time, and Francis Graham was postmaster. There was then a contract let for carrying the mail, once a week, from Wooster, in the County of Wayne, via Uniontown, in Richland County, to New Haven, in Huron County, and a Mr. Bell, near Fredericksburg, in Wayne County, took the contract. The mail was carried on horse, I think for about one year, when the Post-Office Department discovered it would not pay expenses, and withdrew the contract. I then wrote to the late Hon. John McLean, who was then Postmaster-General, who, sub- sequently for a long period of his life, discharged the important duties of Justice of the United States Supreme Court with signal ability and credit to him- self and honor to his country, asking him if some plan could be devised by which Uniontown could have a mail; that I felt, as did also many of our citizens, the loss of the mail very much. The Hon. gentleman then proposed to give me the net proceeds of the office for a given period, if I would hire the mail carried to some connecting point on a mail route that would best accommodate our place and vicinity with a mail. I then hired the mail carried weekly, to Mansfield, for about three years, and sustained quite a loss in the operation.
Prices of some Articles of Merchandise .- In the early days of Uniontown, many articles of merchandise were high compared with present prices. Bar iron was worth from eight to ten cents per pound, accord- ing to size and quality; nails, from twelve to fifteen cents a pound; copper, thirty-five to thirty-seven cents a pound; cotton shirting, fifty cents a yard, such as now sells for nine or ten cents per yard; calico that you buy now for ten cents, sold then for
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twenty-five cents; and cotton yarn sold for seventy- five to eighty cents a pound; teas and sugar were not extravagantly high, neither were woolen goods very high. Money continued scarce until after the opening of the New York and Erie Canal. The union of the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Hudson, added to the beneficial influences of the United States Bank, gave an impetus to all branches of trade and business throughout the country. Produce of all kinds gradually advanced in price, and the currency of the country was greatly improved. The insolvent banks of the country, or Wild Cat banks, as they were familiarly called, were obliged to close their doors. When the condition of the solvent banks of the country was greatly improved and strengthened by the operations of the United States Bank, exchange on New York and other Atlantic cities was reduced in a short time after that bank went into operation from ten or fifteen per cent. to about one per cent. The circulating medium became sound and healthy. Confidence among business men became general and strong, and the man who drew bank bills from a bank for speculative purposes could, with safety, retain the money at pleasure. Prior to this state of things, a man was not safe in keeping a large amount of bank paper over night for fear the bank would be closed the next day. No one will deny that there were bad men in the country at that day. But crime of every description, in my opinion, has increased more than tenfold since. Swindling, theft, or robbery was rare forty years ago in Northern Ohio.
As money became more plenty, business men, with small means, found less difficulty in raising funds; as produce advanced in price, people became better
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prepared to pay for what they purchased. The trans- portation of my produce to Huron or Sandusky City was a heavy, laborious operation, the country being new, roads bad, and many of the streams not bridged. It generally took teams from six to seven days to make a trip. I well recollect an instance where David Markley, Esq., who, at that time, owned the farm now owned by the heirs of the late Alanson Andrews; said Markley took a load of whisky to Sandusky City for me, and loaded back with salt and white fish, had a first-rate set of team, and was eight days in performing the trip; said he was obliged to call for help a number of times to pull him out of bad places. I have already related how we obtained a post-office at Uniontown. Well, the post-office was Ashland, and the village Uniontown, and continued so for two or three years after the post-office was established, when the citizens petitioned the legisla- ture, praying that the name of Uniontown be changed to that of Ashland, and Uniontown, Richland County, became extinct.
I have said in the fore part of this epistle there was no church in Uniontown. When I came to it, in 1821, the good people of Uniontown and vicinity who possessed morality enough to appreciate the preaching of the gospel, had built a log meeting-house in the country, one mile west of the village, on the road to New Haven. Here, I must say, the location of said meeting-house did not comport with my views of church matters; but directly vice versa-for I say build your church where there are people. It is more natural and more convenient for the country people to go to town than it is for the citizens of the town to go to the country to meeting. But the wise heads
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who had the responsible duty to discharge of locating said meeting-house, had said that was the place for it, and the citizens of the village could go out there to meeting. The Rev. William Matthews, a Presby- terian divine, and a very worthy man, preached in said house, every third Sabbath, and some of the citi- zens did go to hear him; but not near as many as should have gone.
Mr. Matthews preached in said house for a few years after my arrival at Uniontown, and was then succeeded by the Rev. Robert Lee, from Westmore- land County, Pennsylvania, who purchased and lived on the farm for many years, now owned by Peter Vantilburg, on the Olivesburg road. Mr. Lee preached in said meeting-house for a number of years, and then removed to Leesville, in Crawford County. Mr. Lee was succeeded by the Rev. William Robinson, an elderly gentleman, who resided for a time in Ashland, and removed from there to Orange, then in Richland County. I think I am not mis- taken in saying the old man was killed in Wayne or Stark County, while riding in his carriage, by the fall of a tree. In the year 1834, the Presbyterians pur- chased a lot of John Smith, who owned a farm and lived where Christopher Mykrants's brick house now stands, on Cottage Street, and erected thereon the Hopewell Church. From that time the country meet- ing-house was vacated as a place of public worship, and the trustees sold the building to the widow Hag- gerty for a dwelling-house a few years after. About the year 1824 or 1825, the Methodist Episcopalians of Uniontown and vicinity organized a society, and for some time held their meetings in a log building, occupied as a school-house, which stood on Main
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Street, about where A. C. Swineford's dwelling-house now stands, but generally met at the residence of some of the members of their society, as best suited their convenience. And in the year 1828, the trustees purchased a lot on Second Street, where the Court House now stands, and erected thereon a stone church, where the congregation continued to worship until after the erection of Ashland County. In 1847, the trustees sold the lot and building to the Commissioners of Ashland County, for a Court House, and within a few years after, the said trustees erected the com- modious and well-arranged church on a lot near the Union school buildings, where the congregation now worship.
There was no good flouring mill at or near Union- town when I came to it, or for some years after. There were a number of small inferior mills in the vicinity of Uniontown. I say inferior, because their construction was such that it was impossible for any of them to make good flour. The structure was of logs, and generally about fifteen to twenty feet square, with one run of Buckeye burrs, dug out of some of the Richland hills, and manufactured by some man who, if not thoroughly skilled in the art, claimed at least to have seen a millstone in his day. These mills made pretty coarse flour; had no screen for cleansing wheat, and their bolting operation was not number one; yet they could grind corn or chop grain very well. One of those mills was owned by Andrew Alexander, located in Uniontown, about where the Union Mills office now stands. Another was owned by Conrad Kline, two miles east of Uniontown, very near where the bridge now crosses the creek on the road from Ashland to Mr. Roseberry's. The third
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was a little mill owned by Thomas Oram, one and a half miles northeast from Uniontown, on the spot where J. G. Sloan's mill, or more recently, where John Sharack's mill now stands. And the fourth of the aforesaid mills was owned by Martin Mason, five miles north from Uniontown, where Leidigh's mill now stands. These mills accommodated the country with flour and meal for quite a distance, to the best of their ability, and the inhabitants seemed to cherish the privilege of having access even to poor mills. Per- sons wishing to obtain good flour, and circumstances would permit, frequently sent their wheat or took it to Herring's mill, on the Clear Fork, about twenty miles distant; or to a mill at Loudonville, eighteen miles from Uniontown. Either of the last named mills made good fine flour; and sometimes three or four neighbors would unite and load a team for one of those mills, and each one bear his proportion of the expense, and generally felt well paid for the cost incurred. A trip to one of these mills consumed about three days, if they brought their flour home with them.
On my arrival at Uniontown, in 1821, the place did not present a very flattering appearance, but I found some good inhabitants in it, and a healthy place. I also discovered, from the fertility of the soil in the vicinity, that it must become rich from agri- culture. In that I was not mistaken; by reference to our State Agricultural Reports, it will be seen that but few if any township in the State of Ohio pro- duces a greater annual product than Montgomery Township.
FRANCIS GRAHAM. ASHLAND, June 20th, 1861.
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JACOB H. GRUBB.
Jacob H. Grubb removed to Uniontown, 23d No- vember, 1823. Originally from Union County, Penn- sylvania. His family at that date consisted of his wife and one child, (the latter now the wife of David J. Rice.) Mr. Grubb rented a log house for his family, of Christopher Mykrants, situated upon the ground now occupied by the warehouse of E. W. Wallack, in the rear of the Town Hall. In the same building he also prosecuted the business of cabinet- making upon a small scale-Alexander Miller being his only competitor in the business.
The First Schools.
The first school in the town was taught by Therry- good Smith, in his cabin, which was situated on the second lot west of the present residence of Hugh Davis. This was in 1824.
In the year 1825, the school-house referred to by Mr. Slocum was erected on the lot now owned by Sarah Jones. This school was taught by Chandler Foote.
In 1826, the third school was taught in a cabin owned by Cullen Spaulding, which stood upon the lot now owned by Witwer, Myers & Co. Mr. Flem- ing taught this school.
At one or all of these schools, Mary Grubb, (now Mrs. Rice,) Alexander Morehead, (brother-in-law of Abraham Holmes,) Sarah Coonrod, and Lawrence Whitzel; Lorin and Mary, children of Alanson An- drews; Lucretia, Elizabeth and Thomas, children of John Smith; Mary Ann and John, children of Elias Bailey; Gideon, son of Ebenezer D. Nightingale; the
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children of John Herryman and of Mr. Holmes; Julia, Emery and Harrison, children of Seth B. Cook; Sarah, daughter of John Jones, and Jacob Keefer, grandson of Mr. Shaffer, were scholars in attendance.
Methodist Meetings.
The Methodist meetings, in 1823, and for many years subsequent, were held at the residence of John Smith, whose house was upon the lot now occupied by Christopher Mykrants.
SAGE KELLOGG.
Sage Kellogg removed to Uniontown (now Ash- land) in October, 1818. He taught the first school in Orange Township, in the winter of 1818 and 1819, in a log hut then erected about three-fourths of a mile north of the present town of Orange. Mr. Kellogg's profession was that of a school teacher.
JOHN HOUGH.
John Hough, born in Frederick County, Mary- land, removed to Montgomery Township in 1823. In the following year, he purchased of Benjamin Byers, of Wayne County, the quarter section upon which he has since resided. When he removed to the county his family consisted of his wife and eight children-only three of whom now survive, namely, John and William and Mrs. Mary Eichelbarger.
The town of Ashland, at the period of his arrival, contained not more than half a dozen families, while Jeromeville was quite a flourishing town.
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JAMES KUYKENDALL.
James Kuykendall, born in Pennsylvania, immi- grated to Montgomery Township, having previously (in November, 1813) entered two hundred and six acres in the northwest quarter of section 6, (now known as the "Coup farm,") in March, 1815. He made the journey from Wellsville, on the Ohio River, through a country which was settled at intervals of from about four to ten miles by little towns and cabins of white people-conveying himself, his wife, one child, a brother, and all his worldly effects, (ex- cept some stock,) upon three horses. Mr. Kuyken- dall aided in the erection of the first house (being of hewn logs) within the limits of what now constitutes the original town of Ashland, which occupied the ground upon which Treace's tavern now stands. It was built by William Montgomery for his own use, and occupied by him for a "tavern."
Mr. Montgomery, when he subsequently laid out the town, gave it the name of "Uniontown," in honor of his native town of that name in Pennsylvania. Within the limits of what now constitutes the town of Ashland, Mr. Kuykendall informs us that he has killed many a deer. In 1837, he removed to Fulton County, Illinois, where he at present resides.
Mr. Kuykendall informs us that the first burial in the old Hopewell churchyard, one mile west of Ashland, was the body of Mrs. Griffin, a lady con- siderably advanced in years.
Rev. Charles Law, an Old School Presbyterian clergyman, from Matour's Run congregation, about twelve miles southwest of Pittsburg, on the Steu- benville road, was traveling as a missionary to the
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Wyandotte and Seneca Indians, and on his return was taken ill of fever, and died at the house of Andrew Stevens, situated on the farm now owned by John Mykrants. His body was buried in the old Hopewell grounds, when, after having laid twenty years, it was disinterred and removed to Pennsyl- vania.
Market Prices from 1817 to 1824.
Salt-at Lake, per barrel, $25; Coffee-50 cents per pound; Calico-50 to 75 cents per yard; Powder-per pound, $2; Lead-per pound, 50 cents.
Nearest mills at Wooster (Stibbs's,) and Owl Creek, below Mt. Vernon, thirty-seven miles from Ashland.
Cows-$4 to 6; Wheat-per bushel, average 20 cents; Corn-per bushel, average 5 to 8 cents; Oats- per bushel, average 6 cents; Ginseng, (dried)-per pound, 25 cents; Deer Skin, (dried)-per pound, 12} cents. No money-but "trade."
Hunting, as will be observed, at this time was more profitable than cultivating the soil-the pro- ducts of the forest being of more value than those of the fields.
HENRY MAIZE.
Henry Maize, formerly of Union County, Penn- sylvania, removed to Uniontown, 23d June, 1828. Mr. Maize purchased of Alanson Walker a lot upon Main Street, and erected thereon during the same year the building now occupied by Abram C. Swine- ford. He was married on the 25th December, 1828, to Mary N., daughter of the late Henry Miller. He erected a dwelling and gunsmith shop, being of logs, upon the lot now occupied by the family of J. A. F. Miller, and prosecuted the business of gunsmithing at that place for several years. Mr. Maize gives the
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