USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 13
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following as the current prices of produce and stock in 1828 :-
Wheat, 25 cents per bushel, in trade-(refused at that rate by John P. Reznor, merchant, in exchange for "crockery ware.") Pork and beef, $2.00 per hun- dred pounds. Potatoes, corn, and oats, 8 @@ 10 cents per bushel. Eggs, 2 @ 4 cents per dozen. Butter, 3 @ 5 cents per pound. Good milch cows, $10 per head. Wood, 50 cents per cord.
JOSEPH MARKLEY.
Joseph Markley emigrated from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, to Montgomery Township, in March, 1815, and settled upon the land which he had the previous October purchased of the widow Trickle- said land being the east half of section 17, and now adjoining the town of Ashland, on the east. Those members of his family who accompanied him to the country consisted of his wife and seven sons and two daughters-five sons remaining in Pennsylvania. Aaron Markley, who now resides upon the land above mentioned, is the only survivor of the original emi- grating party now living in the county-the others being deceased or removed. Joseph Markley died in September, 1831, at the age of sixty years. David Markley, (now a resident of Stark County, Illinois,) was a man of considerable influence during his resi- dence in Uniontown. He was six feet two inches in height, of fine physical development, and proportion- ate strength. He owned a distillery, and would grasp a full barrel of whisky, and raise it from the ground and place it in a wagon without making extraordi- nary effort. He appeared to possess the concentrated strength of two or three ordinary men. Since his
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residence in Illinois, he has been repeatedly elected a member of the legislature of that State, and has held other official positions, in all of which he ap- pears to have discharged his duties satisfactorily.
" Hard Times."
During the first season of their residence in the country, the Markley family endured privations such as they had never before known. None of the family were skilled in the use of the rifle, and consequently could not supply themselves with wild game. The family having nearly consumed their stock of corn meal, two of the boys (Jonathan and Horatio) were dispatched with jack-horses to Shrimplin's mill for a new supply. The journey occupied three days, and their route was on an Indian trail-there being no roads which had been traversed by wagons. One dollar and twenty-five cents per bushel was the price paid at the mill for corn. During the spring, the family had made a considerable quantity of sugar- and corn bread and sweetened water, without a pound of butter or meat, formed the only food for the family during the period of several weeks.
Their Neighbors in 1815.
These were the families of William Montgomery (whose cabin occupied the place in South Ashland where Gilbert and John Miller now reside) and Con- rad Kline, (who then resided upon the farm now occupied by John Mason.)
When the town was laid out by Mr. Montgomery, there was not a cabin or family upon the town plot. Henry Gamble and John Smith settled in the neigh- borhood during the same spring that Mr. Markley came to the country.
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HUGH MOGUIRE.
Hugh McGuire visited Montgomery Township in the year 1810, on a hunting and exploring excursion. There were no white inhabitants in the township at that date. Robert Newell removed to the township the succeeding year, (1811,) from White Eyes Plains, (Newcomerstown,) Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Mr. McGuire is the present owner and occupant of a farm which was among the original entries of Mr. Newell.
JOHN MONAULL.
John McNaull removed to the land he now occu- pies, being a quarter on the southeast section of Mont- gomery Township, in the spring of 1815. Mr. McNaull was born in Ireland, but had resided in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, six years, and in Frederick County, Maryland, the same length of time; and from the latter place he removed to the place above described. His nearest neighbor was William Reed, of Vermillion Township. He had no family other than his wife; all his children having been born in this county.
CHRISTIAN MILLER.
Christian Miller immigrated to Uniontown, Mont- gomery Township, from Pennsylvania, in 1829. Now resides one-half mile north of Ashland.
CHRISTOPHER MYKRANTS.
Christopher Mykrants settled in Uniontown, in April, 1823. At that time the only church in the neighborhood was the old Hopewell, about one mile west of the town. The school building was a small
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log cabin, standing on a lot west of the residence of Hugh Davis. The chimney, according to the general custom of the time, being of lath and clay, took fire, and the building was consumed. The inhabitants were generally rude in their habits and dress, but kind and hospitable. Upon public occasions, ardent spirits were used very freely-fights were frequent, and at times involved nearly the whole crowd; but enmities were not lasting, and peace and reconciliation always returned with a disappearance of the effects of the liquor.
Wheat would command about 25 cents, and corn from 9 to 12} cents per bushel. In 1828, Luther M. Pratt effected an arrangement in Rochester, New York, by which he was enabled to offer 37} cents per bushel for wheat-a price then unprecedented in the history of the country since a surplus of that grain had been produced.
The first vehicle in the form of a carriage which made its appearance in this town or township was brought by Dr. Luther from Connecticut, in 1821. Its springs were of wood, and, excepting the tires upon the wheels, there had not been twenty pounds of iron used in its manufacture. It was made in Connecticut, and a novelty in this country. Appli- cations for its use were so pressing and frequent, that the doctor sold it for eighteen dollars.
The family of Mr. Mykrants at this time consisted of his wife and daughter Elizabeth and sons John and Jacob. The first named became the wife of the late Dr. Joel Luther, and now resides with her son- in-law, Dr. J. B. F. Sampsel. John is a resident of Orange and Jacob of Clearcreek Township.
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ANDREW PROUDFIT, SEN.
Andrew Proudfit, Sen., entered, in 1813, the half section of land in Montgomery Township now occu- pied by Andrew Proudfit, Jun., Dr. J. B. F. Sampsel, and Alfred Slocum. He removed his family to the place in December, 1817. His family then consisted of his wife, and the following named children : John, (now a resident of Orange Township,) Nancy, (now the wife of Samuel Burns, of Wood County,) David, (since deceased,) James, (now a resident of Indiana,) Temperance, (wife of John Mason,) Mary, (now de- ceased,) Jane, (who married Solomon Urie, and now resides in Michigan,) Andrew, (now residing in Ash- land, and the owner of the principal portion of the old homestead,) Esther, (wife of Samuel Lawson, of Illinois,) and Sarah, (since deceased.) Andrew Proud- fit, Sen., died June 10, 1842, aged seventy-one years; and Mary, his wife, died May 31, 1841, aged sixty- seven years.
MICHAEL RIDDLE.
Michael Riddle removed 'to the land, section 2, now occupied by his son, William Patterson Riddle, in the spring of 1819. Mr. Riddle was one of the founders of the Disciple Church, in Ashland County, and lived and died honored among his neighbors. At the time of his removal to the county, his family con- sisted of his wife, his sons George W. and Aaron, and his daughter Abigail. George W. Riddle is now a resident of Montgomery Township. Aaron died 17th November, 1851. Abigail resides with her brother, William P. Riddle, upon the old homestead.
Michael Riddle came to a sudden death on the 28th October, 1857, in consequence of a fall from an
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apple-tree, surviving only three and a half hours after the accident.
SAMUEL ROWLAND.
Samuel Rowland, an emigrant from Pennsylvania, removed to Orange Township in 1819. Now a resi- dent of Montgomery Township.
JOSEPH SHEETS.
Joseph Sheets removed from Steubenville to Union- town, Montgomery Township, in November, 1817. At that time, William Montgomery, David Markley, and John Croft, with their families, constituted the population of the town. Mr. Markley had had a small stock of goods, but was closing up his business. Mr. Montgomery was the keeper of the only house of entertainment for travelers, and was engaged in dis- tilling whisky. Mr. Montgomery also was the pro- prietor of a tannery, which he subsequently sold to George Swineford, and which occupied the premises now occupied by David Whiting.
When Mr. Sheets established himself in Union- town, his family consisted of his wife and daughter Elizabeth, (the latter now being the wife of Johnson S. Martin, of Montgomery Township.) His son, Wil- liam Sheets, (now residing about two miles east of Ashland,) was the first male child born within the town who lived to reach manhood. Lorin Andrews, President of Kenyon College, and late a colonel in one of the Ohio volunteer regiments, was the second child, who attained maturity, born in Ashland.
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WILLIAM SKILLING.
William Skilling removed to Uniontown, in June, 1817. David Markley had a small stock of goods in a log building upon the site now occupied by the Town Hall. This was the only stock of goods in the town. Samuel Urie was the only blacksmith-his house and shop being on, or in the neighborhood of, "the Robinson corner." Nicholas Shaeffer was a car- penter by trade, but as there was not a frame house in the town or township, his limited business was confined to the manufacture of doors and window sash, and hewing of logs for the more imposing struc- tures. John Antibus was engaged in the business of manufacturing hats in a small shop in the vicinity of the present McNulty House. His business was very limited, and in two or three years he removed to Mansfield, where he died about twenty-five years since. John Croft was conducting a tannery upon the premises now occupied by David Whiting.
The business of the town, therefore, when Mr. Skilling first entered it, was in the hands of one mer- chant, (whose stock would possibly amount to a load for a one-horse wagon,) a blacksmith, a carpenter, and a hatter, and the stock invested in the whole would not, probably, amount to one-fifth of that in- vested in the smallest dry goods establishment now doing business in Ashland. Montgomery, Smart, Urie, Croft, and Seaton-five in all-were the only . families, according to the best recollection of Mr. Skilling, then residing in the place. There was only one street-the east and west-in the town; and that was crowded with logs and stumps.
Mr. Skilling at present resides in Milton Town- ship.
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PETER SWINEFORD.
Peter Swineford removed with his family, which consisted, at that time, of his third wife and the fol- lowing children, namely: Jacob, John, George, Sam- uel, Anthony, Susan, Peter, Elizabeth, and Abram C. This was in the spring of 1819. He purchased of John Owens the quarter section in Montgomery Township which was subsequently owned and occu- pied by his sons John and Samuel, and upon which place he died in the latter part of the winter of 1849. Of the children of Mr. Swineford above named, the only survivors, at this time, (January 14, 1862,) are John, George, Susan, Elizabeth, and Abram C.
ELIAS SLOCUM.
Elias Slocum emigrated from Rodman Township, Jefferson County, New York; whence he set out on an exploring tour to the Western country on the 9th of June, 1817, in company with his then neighbors, Eber Lucas, George W. Palmer, and William Butter- field. Messrs. Slocum and Palmer arrived at Ash- land (then known by the name of Uniontown) on the ninth of July. On the fifteenth October the men re- turned for their families; and at Sackett's Harbor, on their way westward, the party took passage on board the schooner Almira for Lewistown; from thence, arriving at Black Rock, they embarked, about the middle of November, on board a schooner for Sandusky City. The name of this vessel is not recollected; but the name of her captain was Harpin Johnson, and the mate was his brother, David Johnson. The vessel, with her cargo and passengers on board, proceeded on her upward passage and "lay to" opposite Buffalo,
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awaiting the arrival of her captain. About seven o'clock in the evening, that officer arrived in company with two men, one giving his name as Jno. Smith and the other E. Page. After these men were aboard, the schooner, under a favorable wind, again proceeded on her way; and about twelve o'clock on the same night the vessel encountered a head wind, which increased in violence until it reached the climax of a hurricane. Captain Johnson concluded that if he could get his vessel under the lee of Long Point, on the Canada side, he would be safe; and, after skillful working, succeeded, and anchored his vessel. The gale con- tinued to increase in fury until both the topmasts of the schooner were carried away, and on the following morning, having parted her cable, she had no other remedy than to return to Black Rock.
A Murderer Discovered.
During the interval which had elapsed after em- barking at Black Rock, Mr. Slocum had found a newspaper aboard giving the details of a murder which had been committed in Schoharie County, New York, and describing the supposed murderer. From certain appearances about one of the passengers who had accompanied the captain to the vessel from Buffalo, and who had given his name as John Smith, and particularly from the circumstance that he and Page were extremely anxious to go ashore at Long Point, (and which was only prevented by the earnest remonstrance of Mr. Slocum, representing that it would imperil the lives of those remaining on board to part with the schooner's only boat,) he had been led to the conclusion that this man John Smith was none other than the veritable John Vanalstine, the
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murderer of Richard Huddleston, deputy sheriff of Schoharie County. On the return passage, therefore, to Black Rock, so firm was Mr. Slocum in this con- viction, that he formed the resolution to arrest the suspected person immediately upon landing at that port; and, accordingly, after the passengers had dis- embarked, Mr. Slocum induced Page (the companion of Smith, and who was cognizant of his crime and aiding him in his escape) to go to the hotel of Major. Berry, and order dinner for ten of the passengers. Having thus separated Smith, alias Vanalstine, from his companion, he immediately arrested Smith in the name of the people, and by the authority of the State of New York, as the murderer of Deputy Sheriff Rich- ard Huddleston, and proceeded with him to the jail at Buffalo, where he was lodged, and remained three days and a Court of Inquiry resolved to detain him until a witness from Schoharie could be obtained to identify the prisoner. On the sixth day after the court had examined the case, the witness appeared and at once recognized Vanalstine. Upon confront- ing his witness, he was so overwhelmed that he fainted. On the day following, the court delivered the prisoner into the hands of Mr. Slocum, who con- veyed him to Schoharie, and transferred him to the hands of High Sheriff Keiser. The prisoner was put upon trial-convicted and sentenced-and, on the last Friday of March, in 1818, was executed; having previously made to Mr. Slocum, and afterward to the world, a full confession of his crime.
From Black Rock to Uniontown.
While the events above mentioned occurred, the families of Messrs. Slocum and Palmer remained
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at Black Rock; and, in January, sat out overland for their Western destination; and in the latter part of March, 1818, arrived at Uniontown-having been about eight weeks in accomplishing this part of the journey.
Mr. Slocum, on his first visit, had purchased of George Butler one hundred and six acres in section 16, Montgomery Township; and, jointly with Alan- . son Andrews and George W. Palmer, purchased of William Montgomery, the original proprietor of Uniontown, three acres on the south side of "Mont- gomery's Run," (a part of the ground being that upon which the dwellings of David Whiting, Jacob Hilde brand, and the shop and dwelling of Mr. Desenburg are now situated.) Upon this purchase they erected a patent distillery-being the first of that character in this section of the country. Mr. Slocum's family removed to a cabin on section 16, which had been erected for them by Mr. Butler. Upon this land Mr. Slocum made the first improvement, and there con- tinued his home during a period of about twelve years.
His family, at the date of his arrival in the country, consisted of his wife and six children, namely: Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Lyman, Wealthy, and Ephraim, (the latter now residing upon the farm which his father first purchased and improved.)
Ashland in 1817-18.
The Hopewell, west of town one and a half miles, was the only church building in the country nearer than Mansfield.
The nearest physician and store were also at Mans- field.
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There was not, within his knowledge, a school- house in the country; but during the year 1818 a building for this purpose, of log walls, cabin roof, and puncheon floor, inclosing a room in which a very stinted quantity of light was admitted through greased paper windows, and capable of seating very uncomfortably about fifteen or eighteen children, was erected in the vicinity of the present residence of Miss Sarah Jones. Here the late Lorin Andrews and the elder children of Mr. Slocum and a few others learned the first rudiments of their education.
A Boy Lost.
In the year 1820, a son of James Durfee, aged about eight years, whose family then resided in Jackson Township, near what was then the Wayne and Lorain County line, (being the farm now owned by John Buchanan,) became lost in the woods. The child was in charge of his uncle, David Souls, and had been placed to guard an opening in the fence. A rain coming on, and becoming impatient by reason of the protracted absence of his uncle, it is supposed that the child undertook to find his way home, in which effort he became lost. After a faithful search of about twelve days by the people of the whole neighborhood, aided by others from remote townships, the hope of recovering his body was abandoned. Subsequently some remains of his hair, bones, and clothing were found in the forest, near the present town of Perrysburg, within a distance of two miles of his father's house. These relics explained the little sufferer's fate. His body, when either living or dead, had been attacked and devoured by wolves.
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How Justice was administered.
It is no reproach to the first and most prominent officers of Montgomery Township that they were illiterate-unable even to read or write-as they had had little or no opportunities of education, having spent their boyhood in a wilderness that had never been reached by the schoolmaster. It was, therefore, the fact with regard to Robert Newell, Esq., (one among the earliest of the settlers, and whose cabin was burned by the Indians during the war of 1812, as elsewhere related,) that he could neither read nor write, and of course never kept a docket. So satis- factorily, however, and with such an even hand did he dispense justice, upon principles of strict equity rather than law, that his official acts were indorsed by a re-election. Eloyd Eddy, his son-in-law, and Jacob Kline, elected as constables, were also equally illiterate. In most cases, Squire Newell would refuse absolutely to issue summons, fixing up and enforcing on summary but equitable terms a settlement of issues among neighbors; but this could not always be done. In one instance, Andrew Clark demanded summons on Martin Mason, for balance of pay claimed for constructing a mill-race, and the squire, after pro- tracted efforts to bring the parties to a settlement, was unable longer to defer an "issue of summons." Ac- cordingly he called upon Constable Kline, and, pre- senting that "civil" functionary with a strong buckeye club, notified him that that was his authority for bringing Mason, dead or alive, into "Court,"-to call upon said defendant, and if he showed any symptoms of unwill- ingness to obey the summons, he was to make such vigorous use of said club over the head and shoulders
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of defendant as would induce him to respond and accompany him. Defendant, however, readily obeyed the summons, and the litigants appeared before his honor. The squire demanded, first of the plaintiff, then of the defendant, a full statement from each of the matter at issue; which demand having been com- plied with by the statements of the parties, he gave judgment as follows: "Mason shall pay to Clark two bushels of corn; Clark being a poor man, and having no horse, you, Mason, shall deliver the corn at his house. Forever after this you are to be good friends and neighbors, and if either shall ever fail in the least particular to obey this order, I will have the offender before me and whip him within about 'a inch' of his life. As for myself I charge no fees. Not so with Constable Kline; his charge being a quart of whisky, which plaintiff and defendant will see is brought into Court as promptly as possible, for the use of all present."
Religious Sects and Political Parties.
In the early days, there were no religious sects or political parties. It was emphatically an "era of good feeling." When word was given out that a preacher would hold a meeting at either a private or a public house, it was attended by all the neighbors, far and near-the men appearing often with their rifles, which would be stacked in a corner of the room-and no particular inquiry would be made as to what denomination the preacher belonged. The clergymen, however, who mostly visited the country were Presbyterians and Baptists. At this juncture of time, also, and up to the period of the second con- test between Adams and Jackson, in 1828, there were
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no party divisions. The officers, county and township, generally received the unanimous support of the elec- tors. When there was anything like a contest, it was more on personal grounds, and determined more on the question of personal popularity, than any other.
Settlement of Montgomery Township, etc.
The date of the settlement of Montgomery Town- ship may be said to have commenced about the year 1818, the settlers prior to that time being very few in number. From 1818 until about 1821, the town- ship had received considerable accessions to its popu- lation. Squire Newell was the largest landholder, he being the owner of one thousand acres; the next largest was a Mr. Lanterman, of Trumbull County, (father-in-law of Luther M. Pratt,) who was the owner of about nine hundred acres, embracing what is now known as the "Tunker Settlement." Under the laws of Congress in force at that time, no one could enter less than a quarter section, and very few of the original settlers entered more than that quan- tity. These quarters were often divided and some- times subdivided by the original purchasers, and sold to other settlers, which had a strong tendency to pro- mote the density of the settlement, and develop the resources of the country.
Mr. Slocum and his neighbors often spent six days in the week in attending cabin-raisings and log-rollings. On some of these occasions, he would travel five and six miles distant from his home. These gatherings had a powerful tendency to create and cement the ties of social friendship, and every one considered it a point of honor to obey the invitation of a neighbor to attend a "raising" or "log-rolling."
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The bears were the great enemy of the swine, but after they had become so far exterminated as to per- mit the introduction of hogs, the mast of the forest afforded them food in sufficient quantity to fatten, with the aid of very little or no corn. The owners would kill them, as their wants required, by shoot- ing in the woods. This practice, as may be sup- posed, gave rise to some ill feeling and litigation, as men would sometimes mistake their neighbors' hogs for their own. Deer and turkey were abundant in the forest. No man who was the owner of a gun and understood its use, need be out of a supply of the best kind of wild animal food. Since Mr. Slocum's resi- dence in this country, he never knew a case of severe suffering for want of food. There was always suffi- cient in the country, coarse though it may have been, to sustain life and health; and if a neighbor was in want, ample relief was promptly offered as soon as the circumstances became known. Equality, frater- nity, truth, and charity were virtues more honored in the observance than in later times.
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