USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 18
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being the founder of a town in this locality, and offered his whole farm for three hundred dollars. Even this offer, however, he could persuade no one to accept.
In this extremity some one suggested that whisky possessed a virtue in these matters which might in- sure better success. A jug of that beverage was there- fore obtained, a quantity of poke berries placed in it, and, under the name of "CHERRY BOUNCE," offered the crowd, who partook of it freely. After a little "things worked," the services of John Shriver were dispensed with, and T. J. Bull, of Loudonville, mounted a chest- nut stump which stood about the place now occupied by the town fountain, where the principal streets cross, and again offered the first lots in the embryo town of Hayesville. After a little effort the first lot (the one now occupied by Armentrout & Son) was sold to David Richmond (a shoemaker) for seventy-five dol- lars. At the close of the day a mere fraction of the land, which at noon he had offered for three hundred dollars, had been sold for more than twice that amount. Great is whisky, and great are sometimes its conquests.
Mr. Sterling G. Bushnell died in August, 1847, aged seventy-six years. His widow now resides with her son Thomas upon the old homestead.
William is a resident of Mansfield, a well-known physician of that city, and has represented very creditably his county in the General Assembly of Ohio. Sedelia is the wife of James Conley, and with their family are residing in Iowa. Collins died in Louisiana in 1832. Jotham was drowned in Conoma River, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, June, 1837, where he was buried, and in 1860 his body was exhumed and transferred to the cemetery at Mans-
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field. Huldah is the wife of Stephen Tannar, a resi- dent of Wayne County. Rosella is the wife of J. W. Sloan, and resides in Lexington, Richland County. Homer died in Mercer County in 1855. Olive is the wife of Dr. David Snively, who reside at Xenia, Ohio.
Thomas, to whom we are indebted for this sketch, resides, as before remarked, on the old homestead near Hayesville.
Pursuit of Whisky under Difficulties.
When Dr. William Bushnell, now of Mansfield, was a boy in Vermillion Township, his father was about to raise a log barn, an enterprise which, in those days, could not be accomplished without the persuasive power of whisky. They had heard of a new still- house near Uniontown, (Ashland,) and to this place the doctor was sent. His way led through the path- less forest. He was upon horseback, and under him was a bag, in one end a jug and in the other a stone to balance. He succeeded, after much tribulation, in making his way to the distillery, but on his return became lost after night had closed in upon him, and he was compelled to lay out and submit to the unbid- den music of the wolves, whose howls were incessant throughout the night. About ten o'clock on the day after his departure on his errand, he appeared before the thirsty laborers, and soon was enabled to appease their wrath and their thirst.
REV. JOHN COX. .
Rev. John Cox removed from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, to the land upon which is now situated the town of Hayesville, in May, 1823. He purchased of a Mr. Hensh about seventy acres of Virginia Mili-
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tary School land, paying said Hensh one hundred and twenty dollars for his quit claim, and assuming to pay the State two dollars per acre, making the whole cost of his seventy acres two hundred and sixty dollars. Upon this track there was about three acres cleared on the northeast corner, and within what is now the center of the town there were two cabins, one of which stood near the spot of his present residence in Hayesville, and the other upon the lot now owned by Armentrout & Son.
The town of Hayesville was laid out in the fall of 1830, and the town plat recorded in Mansfield, October 26, 1830. The first public sale of lots occurred on the 18th of November of the same year.
The First Post- Office.
The post-office at Hay's X-Roads was established January 18, 1827, and Mr. Cox appointed postmaster. This office he held until July 1, 1841, when, for political reasons alone, which then existed, but do not now, he was removed, and Mr. D. K. Hull appointed in his place. When the post-office was established, it was supplied several years by a weekly mail carried on horseback by John Willson.
JOSEPH DUNCAN.
Joseph Duncan removed from Stark County, Ohio, to the. land he now holds in Vermillion Township, being the southwest quarter of section 36, in the spring of 1824. He had entered this land and made some improvements upon it two years prior to this date. When he removed to his place his family consisted of his wife, daughter Eliza, and son John. His immediate neighbors, and who occupied adjoining
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lands, were William Black and George Marshall, both having since deceased.
JOHN FARVER.
John Farver immigrated to Vermillion Township, with his wife and two children, on the 29th of April, 1817, and commenced improvement on his present farm, being the west half of the northeast quarter of section 2. Mr. Farver's whole moneyed resources, when he settled in the county, amounted to twelve dollars. His first stock of corn was purchased on Owl Creek at fifty cents per bushel. Four days were occupied in the journey to and from Owl Creek, and a team of three horses labored hard to drag fifteen bushels of corn over the roads in their then condition.
His first crop of wheat, raised in 1817, he com- menced harvesting on the twentieth of August. The wheat was none too ripe. Corn, pumpkins, and all other crops were proportionately late. Mr. Farver bas this day (14th of July, 1862,) reached his seventy- sixth birthday, and enjoys moderate health.
ROBERT FINLEY.
The family of this gentleman was the second that located in Vermillion Township. In the early part of April, 1811, he established himself upon the north- east quarter of section 12, said land being now owned by Alexander Nelson, Adam Baum, and Thomas Crone. The family of George Eckley had preceded that of Mr. Finley to the township only about two weeks. Mr. Finley died upon the farm above mentioned on the 4th of July, 1825, at the age of sixty-five.
Eli, (son of the above-named,) now the oldest resi- dent of Vermillion, (and whose marriage was the
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second that was solemnized in the township,) is the only surviving member of his father's family.
WILLIAM HARPER.
William Harper, an emigrant from Jefferson County, Ohio, entered the southwest quarter of sec- tion 10, township 21, (Vermillion,) in June, 1815. The residents of the township at that date were Samuel Bolter, George Ackley, Jonathan Palmer, Robert Finley, William Black, George McClure, Samuel Hunt, and James Walters, (the latter acting as justice of the peace.)
The names of the sons and daughters of William Harper were John, Nancy, Henry, Mary, Sarah, Sophia, and Elizabeth.
The nearest mill at this time was Shrimplin's, on Owl Creek. The trip occupied from four to six days, and was made with four horses and a wagon, which would carry from forty to fifty bushels.
There was no wheat raised or for sale in the county at this time. Corn would bring eighty and one hun- dred cents. The animal food was principally venison and other wild game. About 1819 and 1820 the county began to raise a surplus of agricultural pro- ducts, and from this time forward until the comple- tion of the Ohio Canal, produce would hardly bear transportation to market, (which was then Sandusky City.) Mr. Harper on one occasion took a load of flour to market and exchanged his flour for salt, giving two barrels of flour and half a dollar in cash for each barrel of salt. The first substantial encouragement given the farming and industrial interests was the market afforded by the completion of the Ohio Canal to Massillon; but the construction of the ship canal
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from the mouth of Huron River to Milan made a yet better market than Massillon, and effected a change in the course of trade. The railroad system, how- ever, greatly injured Massillon, and almost destroyed its trade.
William was killed by the running away of his team near Plymouth, Ohio, about 1831. John now occupies the old homestead. Nancy is the wife of Joseph Sheets. Mary is the wife of Joseph Strick- land-all residents of Vermillion Township. Henry resides in Medina County, Ohio. Sarah is the wife of John Cole, and resides in Indiana. Sophia is the wife of John Hall, of Vermillion Township; and Elizabeth married Charles Reed, and resides in Michigan.
RICHARD JACKMAN.
Richard Jackman emigrated from Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1823, having, in 1816, visited the county and entered, at the office in Canton, the south- west quarter of section 23, Vermillion Township, upon which he now resides. When he arrived here his family consisted of his wife and his daughter Matilda W.
WILLIAM KARNAHAN.
William Karnahan emigrated from Jefferson County, Ohio, April 16, 1815, with his family, consisting of his wife, his son Robert M., and daughter Eliza A. Mr. Karnahan died upon the place he originally selected for his home, being the southeast quarter of section 23, Vermillion Township, on the 24th of September, 1852, aged sixty-three years.
The country at this date was very sparsely settled -his nearest neighbor being Mr. Emerine, located one and a half miles distant. About this distance
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from where he erected his cabin, on the farm now owned by Mr. Stoufer, a den of rattlesnakes was dis- covered, near the entrance to which as many as twenty-five were killed in a single day. At another den, on or near the farm now owned by Robert Cowan, as many as seventy five of these reptiles were killed in a single day. On one occasion the family were assailed by a panther, who approached the house on an evening within a few rods, and only dis- appeared after the family had secured the doors and windows of their cabin, and kindled a brilliant fire.
WILLIAM LEMON.
William Lemon emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816, and in 1818 removed to Vermillion Township-his family consist- ing of his wife and four sons, namely, John, William, James, and Robert. Mr. Lemon died in 1850, at the age of seventy-three years.
John Lemon, now a merchant in Mifflin, is the only surviving member of the family at present re- siding in Ashland County. William Lemon, who died in 1839, was among the earliest merchants in Mifflin.
GEORGE MARSHALL.
George Marshall immigrated to Vermillion Town- ship, and purchased of James Lawhead the land upon which a part of his family now reside, in April, 1822. He emigrated from Pennsylvania, with his wife-all his children having been born in Vermillion Town- ship. Mr. Marshall died on the 6th of January, 1852, in his fifty-third year.
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ANDREW NEWMAN.
Andrew Newman removed to Vermillion Town- ship in the fall of the year 1825, and purchased of Samuel McBride the farm upon which was afterward the site of Newman's mill-being the same property now owned by Joseph Boyd. At this date his family consisted of his wife and two sons, namely, William and James H.
Mr. Newman subsequently purchased a farm on the south line of Vermillion Township, where he died on the 20th of January, 1861, at the age of eighty-three years.
He had immigrated to Richland County in the year 1806, and during the war of 1812 resided about three and a half miles southwest of Petersburg, Mifflin Township, on the Rocky Fork.
The Indian Murders on the Black Fork.
When these occurred, Mr. Newman was engaged in the building of a sawmill on the Rocky Fork, about three miles distant from the scene of the tragedy. He always maintained that the romantic accounts of these bloody transactions heretofore pub- lished were inaccurate. Being familiar with the contemporaneous accounts, it is reasonable to infer that his impressions are correct.
JONATHAN PALMER.
Jonathan Palmer, while a resident of Jefferson County, Ohio, made a visit to Vermillion Township, in September, 1810, and entered two quarters-one being the northeast of section 12, (now owned by Thomas Boyd,) and the other being the farm now owned by George Buchanan, Esq. On this visit, he
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was accompanied by his eldest son Ephraim. Having made the entries described, he returned home, where he continued until the spring of 1811, when he re- visited the tract first named and commenced improve- ments, in which work he was aided by a portion of his family-two sons and a daughter. During the season a cabin house was erected, and three acres cleared and planted in corn. Hewn logs for a build- ing were also prepared-being the first effort toward such a substantial improvement that had been made in Vermillion or any of the adjoining townships. It had been the intention to send for the remainder of the family in the fall of this year; but the unsettled relations with the British and Indians changed the plan, and the family reunited in Jefferson County, where they remained until September, 1814, when, notwithstanding war yet existed, the whole family removed and made a permanent settlement upon their land.
Families in Vermillion Township in 1814.
The heads of families at this time residing in Ver- million Township were, in addition to his own, Robert Finley, Lemuel Boulter, Samuel Hutchings, William Black, George Eckley, and Daniel Harlan. Of those named none now survive.
Mr. Palmer died December 24, 1816, leaving a widow and ten children.
Remarkable Presentiment and Coincidence.
Mr. James Palmer (now a resident of the south- west corner of Perry Township, and who was the fourth son of the gentleman whose decease is above noticed, and who also communicates these facts)
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mentions a singular instance attending the death of an uncle, Nathaniel Palmer, which occurred in 1815. When he parted with his family, this gentleman, although in good physical health and in the vigor of manhood, mentioned to them a presentiment that he would not live to meet them again. He, however, came to the country, and entered land in Green Township; and while on a visit at the house of his brother, was taken ill of fever-and on the evening of the ninth day, after having been pronounced by his physician convalescent, turned his face to the wall, and, within three minutes after having made this movement, breathed his last. A messenger was immediately dispatched to communicate intelligence of his death to his family. On reaching Canton, he met a messenger from Jefferson County charged with the sad duty of communicating to the husband the death of the wife! It appeared that their deaths had occurred the very same hour.
Climate, Seasons, etc.
There was less of the winter; and the spring, sum- mer, and fall seasons, Mr. Palmer says, were longer than now-the weather more stable, and vegetation had a ranker growth. The appearance of the country in its wilderness condition is described by him as more beautiful and attractive than any he had ever seen. The axe and plow, while they have been use- ful agents in developing the wealth, have marred the features of the country. It was arrayed in its most attractive form during the months of May and June, when the hills, covered with their giant oaks in full livery, and undergrowth of sedge, rich weeds, and pea-vine, presented an appearance of wild beauty,
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which generations of subsequent cultivation and arti- ficial adornment cannot improve to the eye.
Churches, etc.
Not until several years after Mr. Palmer came to the country, was there any church building in the township. The first clergymen were Presbyterian missionaries, who, in traveling to and from their missions among the Senecas and Wyandots, made it a practice for many years to preach at the house of Mr. Palmer and others. The first church building erected in the township stood upon land now owned by Joseph Boyd, and occupied the place near where Mr. Boyd's mill now stands. It was a very large building for the time-belonged to the Meth- odist denomination-was made of unhewn logs, and erected in about 1818. To aid in raising the building, persons came from Mansfield and other places equally distant. When Quarterly Meetings were held in this building, they were generally attended by people from a great distance. So utterly unable were resi- dents of the neighborhood to entertain their friends from abroad, that the latter would often bring with them their supplies of food, cooking utensils, bed- clothing, etc., and during the intervals when the church was not used for divine service, the capacious wooden fireplace would be used by the women, cook- , ing food for themselves and families-in fact, con- verting the building into one for eating and lodging, as well as for religious purposes. This necessity was the result, not of any want of hospitality, but of the absence of food and house room existing in the vicinity.
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The First Burial-Ground.
This adjoined the church above described -the bodies of such as had previously died in Vermillion having been buried in Green Township, near Perrys- ville. The first interment was the body of Mr. Man- nan, an old gentleman upwards of ninety years of age. The second was the body of Joseph Lake, Sr., about the same age, and said to have been, at the time of his decease, the oldest member of the Meth- odist Church within the State of Ohio.
Physicians.
When Mr. Palmer's father came here there were none, within his knowledge, in the county-not even at Mansfield or Wooster; and the sight of a physician to the people then residing here would be as great a curiosity as a wild Indian among the present genera- tion. Their coarse, wholesome food, and active lives secured the health of the inhabitants, and obviated the necessity for physicians.
Jeromeville.
This town was laid out by Vaughan and Deardoff, of Tuscarawas County. The first merchants were Lake & Larwill, who conducted business from 1817 until 1821 or 1822. Jerome and his family were the only inhabitants of the town when its plat was sur- veyed.
Baptiste Jerome.
After he removed from Jeromeville, Mr. Jerome and Mr. Palmer were neighbors-the former being some three years the owner and occupant of the farm upon which was afterward the mill of Con-
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stance Lake, now better known as "Goudy's Mill." He represents Mr. Jerome as a well-informed, quiet, and orderly man.
GILBERT PURDY.
Gilbert Purdy, an emnigrant from New York, in 1817 bought the west half of the eighty acres of George McClure, now owned by John Scott, Sr., and adjoin- ing John Harper's on the south. At the time of his removal his family consisted of Peter M., Henry, Sarah, Cornelia, and Gennett. The latter married the widow of Sterling G. Bushnell.
Peter M. was the first who bought wheat, and that, too, not for cash, but by way of his trade, (black- smithing,) in the neighborhood. This was about 1826, and before the completion of artificial chan- nels of commerce. Mr. Purdy paid about ten cents per bushel, and hauled it to Portland, (Sandusky City,) where he obtained about sixty cents per bushel.
In 1828 he transported two loads, consisting of flour, whisky, and pork, to Cleveland. This was after the time of the completion of the Ohio Canal. The trip consumed generally from seven to eight days. He sold his flour at two dollars and a half per barrel; pork, five dollars per barrel; and whisky, price not recollected. These were merely nominal prices, as goods and not cash formed the standard of prices only a small per cent. being paid in money. Part of their return load consisted of salt at six dol- lars per barrel.
WILLIAM REED.
William Reed entered the land he now occupies in Vermillion Township in the year 1811, and removed
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his family upon it April 14, 1814. He was originally from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Reed enlisted in the military service during the first year of the war with Great Britain in 1812, and served until 1814, when, from disability, he obtained a fur- lough from his captain (Jack) at Mansfield, and con- tinuing physically unable, he did not return to the service.
Mr. Reed was eighty years of age 11th June, 1862.
When he removed to his land, (southeast quarter section 5,) it was a wilderness; his nearest neighbors -except the families of George, William, and Thomas Hughes, and John Howard-were five miles distant.
WILLIAM RYLAND.
William Ryland emigrated from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and entered at the land-office at Can- ton the farm upon which he now lives, in the autumn of 1815. His family then consisted of his wife and one daughter, Mary Ann, who is now the widow of Jonathan Black. Among his neighbors were Robert Jackman, who lived upon the farm now occupied by Archibald Gillis; Lemuel Boulter, the only occupant of the land upon which the flourishing town of Hayes- ville now stands; John Vangilder, who then resided upon the same place he now occupies; John McCrory, who lived upon the land now occupied by his descend- ants: Joseph Workman, who is now a resident of another portion of the township from that in which he at first resided; Ephraim Eckley, (for a number of years justice of the peace,) and who resided upon the farm now owned by Abraham Johnson; George McClure, who lived upon the land in section 10 now
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owned by John Scott, Sr .; and William Karnahan, who resided upon the southeast quarter of section 23.
Joseph Lake, at this date, was the only resident of Jeromeville. He was the owner of a small stock of goods. The block-house occupied during the war was yet standing, but was only used occasionally for religious meetings.
Lemuel Boulter sold his interest in the land upon which Hayesville was subsequently built to Linus Hayes. Mr. Cox's purchase, was of John Hersh-the lands being in the Virginia Military Land District.
JOHN SCOTT.
John Scott immigrated to Vermillion Township 22d March, 1819, having purchased two hundred and twenty acres on the west line of the township (being the farm upon which Joshua Campbell now resides) some three years previous.
On the 7th January, 1831, Mr. Scott opened the first stock of goods ever offered at Hayes X-Roads. The first charge upon his day-book under that date reads thus :-
STEPHEN SMITH.
Dr.
To 19g lbs. iron @ 9 c. .
$1 74 " 3 " tobacco @ 12} 37}
His first lot of goods were placed in a log cabin which stood upon the lot now owned by Dr. Arm- strong. During the same year, however, he erected the substantial buildings which now occupy the lot.
In July, 1832, Mr. Scott formed a partnership with Daniel Porter, of Westmoreland County, Pennsyl- vania, in the goods trade; which partnership was formed for the term of eighteen months, each invest- ing a cash capital of $2500. At the close of the
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partnership they discovered that they had duplicated their capital. Much of their business, however, was dealing in stock, from which a considerable amount of profits were derived.
As evidence of the integrity of his customers at that time, Mr. Scott says that, during the first four years of his business life in Hayesville, he has no re- collection of having lost a dollar by bad debts. With reference to girls who supported themselves by weekly wages, he generally gave credit when it was asked, and the money was always promptly paid according to promise.
In 1840 Mr. Scott sold to Jacob Kinnaman the "Armstrong corner," and purchased of Francis Gra- ham, of Ashland, the brick building upon the oppo- site corner. Here he continued business until June, 1846, when he disposed of his stock of goods to Messrs. Cox & Higbee, and retired from the business.
In September, 1857, John and W. W. Scott re- sumed business at the old stand vacated by the former in 1846, and where they yet continue.
An Episode under the old law of Imprisonment for Debt.
The rigors and injustice of this law were occasion- ally relieved by incidents of humor. Among the latter was a case that occurred at Hayesville in the "early times." A very dashing young man, claiming the ownership of a fast horse, and sporting the first gold watch that had probably ever appeared in the township, sought and obtained credit of a merchant in Hayesville to the amount of about forty dollars, for which indebtedness he was in due time sued; and in default of goods whereon to levy, an execution
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