USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 9
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ELIAS FORD.
Elias Ford emigrated from Jefferson County, Ohio, to the land upon which Thomas Griffith now resides, being the northeast quarter of section 22, Clearcreek Township, which place he reached on the 22d of April, 1819. Mr. Ford at this time was twenty years of age. He had accompanied his father, Thos. Ford, and made the journey in a one-horse wagon, containing, besides themselves, some tools, such as axes, saws, etc., together with necessary provision's. Until they had reached the house of Jacob Young, about two miles east of north of Uniontown, they had found a tolerably well-defined road; but from Mr. Young's to the place above designated, the wil- derness was unbroken, and they were compelled to make their own road as they proceeded.
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Arriving at his future home, his first business was to erect a place of shelter. This was very soon com- pleted, and is here described: It was a cabin of about five feet in height at the greatest distance between the ground and the roof, six feet on the ground, and a bark shed roof, and open front. In the center was suspended, by bark ropes connecting with the rafters, his bed, about midway between the ground and the roof. Immediately in front of his cabin a fire burned constantly at nights, for the purpose of frightening off the wolves, with which the forest seemed alive, and for driving away the almost equally annoying pest, the musquitoes. His bark cot was thus suspended to protect himself against the "massasaugers," or black rattlesnakes, which were very numerous in the vicin- ity, and would frequently creep in and occupy the ground floor of his cabin. Having once retired to his bed, which, more than his house, might be called "his castle," he would not dare leave it until daylight on the following morning appeared, as, if he quit his lodging-place, his first foot-fall might be upon one of those venomous reptiles. His only companions at night were his ever-faithful dog, his gun, tomahawk, and hunting-knife-the former being a large yellow bull-dog, named "Colonel," and his remarkable saga- city, prowess, and fidelity, challenged the warmest affection of his master, and of all who knew the "Colonel" and appreciated the noble qualities of an animal which is sometimes endowed with almost reasoning powers. The "Colonel," at nights, occupied the open door-way in front of the cabin, and the loaded rifle had its constant place by Mr. Ford's left shoulder, whether sleeping or waking, ready for instant use.
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His father, in the mean time, had made his home,
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while he remained in the country, which, at this time, was about two weeks, at the house of his son-in-law, Thomas McConnell, of Orange Township.
Within sight of Mr. Ford's cabin were six Indian camps. His first acquaintance with the occupants of these camps occurred on the morning after his arrival at his "home" before described. Walking out from his camp, accompanied by "Colonel," and being fully accoutered, he reached the brow of a hill, and discovered in the vale below him about thirty or forty Indians reclining upon the ground, with their rifles by their sides, and their knives and tomahawks in their belts. This was a more formidable array of Indians than he had ever before seen, and he paused to solve in his own mind the question as to whether their "intents were wicked or charitable." This question, much to his relief, was not long in being determined-for, very soon his presence was discovered by one of the Indians, who gave a slight ejaculation of surprise, followed by the salutation "Co-hou-joh?" which sub- sequently, on learning something of their language, he understood to mean, "How do you do, sir?" The entire body at once rose to their feet, and, with the breech of their guns directed toward Mr. Ford, in token of their friendly disposition, they ascended the hill to the place where he stood, and gathering about him, opened a conversation.
The first inquiry was, "You white man?"
"Yes."
"Where you live ?"
Mr. Ford pointed in the direction of his cabin.
"Oh, yes! me see your fire last night."
From this favorable introduction until the close of their trapping season, and their departure from the
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vicinity, Mr. Ford and his red neighbors were on terms of the most cordial friendship.
Some time after the circumstance above related, a party undertook a hunting excursion to the Black River country, consisting of Mr. Ford, Adam Smith, William Freeman, Vincent Goldsmith, and his son, Nicholas, (the latter, however, not being a hunter, but attending the party as their cook and camp- keeper.) The party were provided each with a horse and a sufficient quantity of flour, salt, cooking utensils, etc. On the evening of the first day they had reached their hunting ground, erected a camp- house, and placed bells and spancels upon their horses. Having concluded these preparations, the next business of the hunters was to go forth and kill meat for their supper and breakfast. After traveling about a half mile, Mr. Ford shot a deer, which, continuing on its course, ran to within a few rods of the camp and fell dead. By the time he had re- turned, the animal was dressed ready for broiling.
All the party who had thus gone out for game, ex- cept the above named William Freeman, returned in good time. As the hours passed, and this companion, who was among the best and most courageous hunters of the party, failed to appear, they began to feel uneasy regarding his safety. About midnight, how- ever, much to their relief, he returned, and gave this explanation of his adventures: It appears that, at a distance of about five or six miles from the camp, he had been attacked, a short time after nightfall, by a pack of wolves, and his only safety was in climbing a tree. This tree the beasts would surround, making the wilderness echo with their howls, and tearing up the earth with their feet, while Mr. Freeman would
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load from his place in the tree and fire into their midst. After awhile they retreated, when he de- scended to the ground, and proceeding rapidly on his way, he was again attacked, and again secured him- self in the branches of another tree. After several successive attacks and escapes in the way described, he finally, about midnight, was enabled to reach his friends at the camp.
On the second day the company started out on the chase, and two of the hunters fell in with a band of Indians. The latter expressed to these their indig- nation that white men should trespass upon what they claimed as exclusively their hunting grounds, and threatened, unless the white men would break up their camp and depart from the country, to kill their horses and destroy their other property. This so terrified the white men whom they addressed, that they forthwith returned to the camp, saddled the whole troop of horses, and taking with them the entire camp equipage, set out for home, without waiting to communicate with Messrs. Ford and Freeman, who were pursuing their hunting in another direction. When the two latter returned in the evening, they found their horses gone, their camp deserted, and destitute even of pro- visions and cooking utensils, save only a little sack of flour and a tin cup, which, in their fright and flight, their late associates had inadvertently left behind them. Ford and Freeman had returned with appe- tites sharpened by a protracted chase and a long fast, and here they found themselves with abundance of game, a little flour, but no vessel in which to cook the latter. After deliberating some time upon their situation, Mr. Freeman proposed to Mr. Ford that if he would procure water they would speedily have
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bread. The latter at once betook himself to the river, and, on his return with his cup filled, he found that his comrade in the mean time had cast his flour on the inside of a fresh deer-skin, and requested Mr. Ford to pour on the water. This was done, and the un- leavened and unsalted paste was very soon prepared for baking-the venison roasting on a forked stick, and the "bread," if such it might be named, baking amid the embers of the fire. The only difficulty encountered in the eating of the fresh bread was, that when they came to use it, they found a rather too liberal seasoning of hair, which cemented it so closely as to require much exercise of the teeth to masticate. Supper, however, like the one described, was enjoyed as few indeed who reside in palaces and are clad in purple and fine linen enjoy their food; and the hunters wrapped their blankets around them and committed themselves to refreshing sleep and pleasant dreams.
On the next morning, unawed by the threats of Indians or the desertion of their colleagues, they re- solved to pursue their hunting. Accordingly, after · their breakfast, they resumed the chase; frequently, during the day, meeting with Indians, and as fre- quently receiving their warnings and menaces against themselves and all white "trespassers" upon their grounds. Late in the evening, on returning in search of his camp, accompanied by his canine friend, "Colonel," Mr. Ford found himself suddenly assailed and surrounded by a pack of Indian dogs, sufficient in number to overwhelm him. While he, by the vigorous use of his gun as a club, and "Colonel," by the judicious use of his teeth, were keeping this dog army at bay, three Indians were discovered rapidly nearing them with their drawn knives, but whether
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to aid the dogs in their murderous demonstrations, or whether as a relief force for Mr. Ford, was a matter of doubt with him for a moment. This doubt, how- ever, was removed on approach of the Indians, who immediately fell upon their own dogs, and aided Mr. Ford and "Colonel" in driving them away, and thus closing the contest. The Indians then greeted Mr. Ford in a very friendly pantomime, (they being un- able to talk English, and he not then being enabled to understand or speak their language,) and inferring that he was in search of his camp, they indicated by motions and signs, which he could not fail to under- stand, the direction and distance to his quarters. On reaching here, he found his now only remaining com- rade awaiting his arrival. A supper of the same material that had made their bill of fare of the night before was prepared, and eaten with the same hearty relish.
On the morning following, they sought & new hunting ground on Buck Creek; but here, also, they found Indians very abundant and equally as ill dis- posed as those they had met before; and after spending another day in this neighborhood they returned home.
The Indians whom Mr. Ford first met in the vicinity of his cabin, and the first interview with whom has been before detailed, formed almost ex- clusively his only human companions during their stay, which was about three months. He mingled with them trustingly in all their sports of shooting, wrestling, smoking, etc., and, with a single exception, his intercourse with them, as before remarked, was of the most friendly and unreserved character.
This single exception occurred after he had been upon his place about three months. On an evening,
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about nightfall, he discovered an old Indian erecting a temporary wigwam about thirty rods distant from his cabin. The circumstance excited no particular curiosity or uneasiness; but on the next morning, Mr. Ford concluded to pay his new neighbor a friendly visit; and proceeding to put this resolve into execu- tion, he went forward, unarmed, to meet the Indian at his wigwam. Advancing up to the old man, Mr. Ford saluted him respectfully, and engaged in a commonplace conversation; in the course of which he casually in- quired of the Indian whether he had been engaged in the then recent war between this country and Great Britain? and on being answered affirmatively, fur- ther inquired on which side he had fought. This last branch of the inquiry appeared to arouse unaccount- ably all the savage nature of the Indian, for, spring- ing to his feet, and grasping his knife, he exclaimed, "You talk like a fool!" and, advancing toward Mr. Ford, he brandished his knife as though it was his fixed purpose of killing him on the instant. For- tunately for Mr. Ford, convenient to him was an iron- wood club, about two feet in length, which he seized, and warned the Indian that if he moved forward another inch, he would dash his brains upon the ground. This caused the Indian to pause, but his teeth were clenched, and his features were writhing with malignant passion. Mr. Ford, retaining his club, and convulsed with a degree of passion at the indig- nity he had suffered, which almost blinded him, made his way to his cabin, and hastily arming himself with his gun, tomahawk, and knife, and followed by Colonel, made for the Indian's quarters with more than his wonted pace.
The Indian, on seeing Mr. Ford thus armed ap-
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pear, seized his rifle, buckled on his side weapons, and, with an unearthly "yell," betook himself to the woods. His flight was almost like that of an arrow; and this was the last that he ever saw or heard of that Indian; and after his paroxysm of passion had abated, he congratulated himself, as he has ever since done when his mind has recurred to the matter, that the old Indian thus escaped by declining to "stand fire "
While the white inhabitants were yet few in num- ber, the neighborhood was thrown into a high state of excitement by the following occurrence: Sarah, aged about eighteen, daughter of Thomas Brink, which family then resided on the farm now occupied by Thomas Wright, in the southern part of the town- ship, undertook, one winter evening, an errand to the house of Nathaniel Bailey, situated about a mile distant; and on her return home became lost, and wandered about three days and nights in the woods. On the morning following her loss, the whole neigh- borhood was out in search of her; but as the weather was intensely cold, after the second day's exploration all hope of finding her alive was abandoned-it being supposed that she must have perished, and that her body had been devoured by the wolves. This theory, however, proved erroneous, for the morning of the fourth day found her yet alive, though her limbs were frozen, and she was nearly famished; but her senses were not so far gone by the agony she had suffered and was yet suffering, as to disable her from detecting the voice of a dog, and, following the sound, it led her to an Indian camp near the western shore of the lower Vermillion Lake. The Indians took her into their cabin, where every attention and kindness
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were shown her, and, to their skill and care, she was indebted, under Providence, for salvation from the most fearful of deaths, and for restoration to her friends. She has for many years been a resident of Illinois, and, except being crippled for life in conse- quence of the loss, by freezing, of nearly all the toes from both feet, she was, very recently, in the enjoy- ment of ordinary health.
In closing his statement of experience with the Indians, Mr. Ford says that their worst vice was their inclination to dissipation. It is the old story. They had learned the vices, and had disregarded the virtues, of the civilization of the superior race. They were not devoid of honor, and invariably manifested gratitude for favors received. He mentions an inci- dent illustrative of a certain devotional manifestation which had often been remarked by others, familiar with their character. Meeting with a couple of Indians while on a hunting tour, he offered each of them a corn cake. They received it at his hands, and immediately dropping upon their knees, their bodies erect, their eyes tightly closed, and their faces turned upward, they silently eat their food; thus acknowledging their obligation to the Great Spirit for the nourishment which he had provided for their bodies.
After about three months experience of forest life, Mr. Ford, one evening, was agreeably surprised at the appearance of his father, who had become anxious regarding his son's welfare, and from whom, on account of the absence of mail facilities, he had received no tidings, and who had resolved to remove his whole family West. Concluding his visit in about three days, the father took leave of his son, and returned
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for his family in Jefferson County. Mr. Ford con- tinued his improvements, fencing two fields of ten acres each, conveying the rails, as he was without a team, upon his shoulder to their places in the fence. He also erected a more commodious cabin for the family-to raise which, within a circuit of six miles, he procured a force of four men. In November, 1819, his parents and seven brothers and sisters, namely, Elijah, Belinda, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Susannah, Thomas H., and John, made their appearance, and established their home in the cabin he had erected. Here the family continued unbroken, until about the second year, when Belinda became the wife of George Beymer. Soon after, Elias married Miss Elizabeth Parks, of Jefferson County, and purchased and re- moved to the quarter section now owned by Daniel Huffman.
At the date of Mr. Ford's arrival, there was neither & church nor school building in the township. The cabin of his father, Thomas Ford, was a prominent place for public worship during a period of about eleven years. The pioneers, particularly of this neighborhood, were very regular attendants upon all religious meetings-men and women traveling, often, six and eight miles, on foot, through the woods, at nights, lighting their pathway by torches of hickory bark, to attend religious meetings. In the spring of 1830, the present church building, known as "Ford's Meeting House," was commenced, the contractor and builder being Robert McMurray, Esq., now of Ashland. When completed, late in the fall of 1830, it was be- yond question the best structure devoted to religious purposes in this section of country; as will be inferred from the fact, among others, that the four annual
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quarterly meetings of the circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Mansfield being included in the circuit) were held in this church for several years. The building will seat about four hundred persons.
On the 10th October, 1830, at ten o'clock ten minutes, in the evening, Thomas Ford departed this life, aged fifty-seven years. The first religious meet- ing held in "Ford's Meeting House," was called there to participate in the services attending his funeral. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Rev. Elmer Yocum. His body was the first that was buried in the graveyard adjoining the church.
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Mr. Elias Ford was married on the 9th September, 1821, and in December of the same year commenced housekeeping in a hewn log building which he had previously erected on the northwest quarter of section 22, (and which building is yet standing on the farm of Daniel Huffman, a few rods north of Ford's Meet- ing House.) On the day that he and his wife re- moved into it, the snow covered the earth to the depth of three or four inches,-the building was without chimney, door, window, furniture, or floor. The spaces between the logs were also open. On the first day, however, with the aid of his brother-in-law, Robert Parks, he had hewn puncheons and laid down a floor; and on the day following he completed his household furniture, which embraced a puncheon table, three puncheon seats, and two bedsteads-the latter being made by boring holes in the log walls and inserting therein one end of the head and foot- rails, the other ends meeting and being sustained by a single post. Such was the only furniture he had in use during the first three years of his housekeep- ing. At the end of the first week he had substituted
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a wooden for his blanket door, "chinked" the spaces between the logs, and placed clap-boards on the "loft." The winter was so far advanced that he could not make mortar to fill the yet open spaces before the next season. His chimney was also built the summer following. Severe and constant toil was a matter of necessity; and food adequate to sustain lives subject to such privation and exposure, was very difficult to be obtained, about the time to which we are now re- ferring. The nearest localities where the neighbor- hood could supply itself with breadstuffs, were at points from ten to twenty miles distant, and even at those places the only supplies of the kind which could be purchased was frost-bitten corn, which sold for one dollar per bushel. The general food of the country consisted of corn "pone" for bread, venison and other wild meat, and spicewood tea for table drinks.
In the spring of 1822, Mr. Ford had purchased three bushels of frost-bitten corn meal, which, he supposed, would be sufficient, by the practice of some self-denial, to sustain him until he could realize some- thing from the ripening of a small piece of rye which he then had growing. This meal, however, as a mat- ter of economy, and in order to lengthen out its days, was baked and eaten without subjecting it to the usual process of sifting-as he well knew that, if his little stock should become exhausted before his rye harvest, he would not be enabled to obtain any more supplies. The little sack of corn and the growing field of rye were watched with intense solicitude. A short time before the latter was ready for the sickle, he was called upon by two neighbors who informed him that their families were entirely out of bread- stuffs, and appealing to him for relief in their ex-
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tremity. Mr. Ford produced his sack of corn meal, poured its contents upon his puncheon table, and with his broad hand divided it into as near three equal parts as he could, and his neighbors gratefully received each his third of the precious staff of life, and the other third was carefully returned to his own sack. When the little field of rye, which was the only one in the neighborhood, was harvested, it was found scarcely adequate to supply himself and neigh- bors, although it was the only grain of any kind then immediately attainable; and it was consumed with- out having been ground-the grain being boiled and eaten with milk, or undergoing another cooking pro- cess by frying. This was the most trying season, since the settlement of the township, among the pioneers,-the succeeding harvests being generally abundant, and affording reasonable supplies of mate- rials for bread.
The life, services, and remarkable sagacity of the dog "Colonel," through all the adventures of his mas- ter, whose life he had more than once saved-fool- hardy as these adventures may appear to this gen- eration-would constitute a chapter of greater interest than any mere creation of fancy could inspire. We will confine ourselves, however, to his "LAST BATTLE," and to the causes which produced his death. Robert McBeth, Esq., was the owner of a lot of wild hogs, whose fastnesses had been for a long time in the wil- derness, and that had defied all the efforts he could command to kill or capture them. He finally applied to James Burns and Mr. Ford, (and to "Colonel" through his master,) to secure for him, "dead or alive," his fugitive swine. The trio undertook the task; "Colonel" was put upon their track, and, over-
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taking and encountering a large hog, he received a stroke from the point of his enormous tusk, nearly severing his jugular vein. Mr. Ford, on reaching the scene of conflict, shot the hog, and, discovering the situation of Colonel, covered his wound and body with snow, to arrest the flow of blood, and sped home for the proper material to close the vein, and for a horse to convey the wounded dog home. On return- ing, he found his faithful friend yet alive-stitched, as well as he could, his wound, and, with the aid of Mr. Burns, placed the dog's body before him on the horse; but, before he reached his house, the ever- present companion of his joys and sorrows of wilder- ness life had breathed his last in his arms. His body received that decent burial to which affection, in view of long and tried service, entitled him.
In 1845, Mr. Ford purchased the farm upon which he has since resided-being the southeast quarter of section 27.
JOHN FREEBORN.
John Freeborn, an immigrant from Washington County, Pennsylvania, in company with his brother, Richard Freeborn, (now a resident of Minnesota,) visited the country which subsequently was organized as Clearcreek Township, and entered at the Land Office in Canton, the southeast quarter of section 10, of said township, in the fall of 1814. Richard entered the northwest quarter of the same section at the same time. Having selected and contracted for their land, they immediately returned to Pennsylvania. His brother Richard, and brothers-in-law, Rev. James Haney and William Shaw, (who were all neighbors in Pennsylvania,) visited the country in the spring
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