USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 50
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The clearing of this land, cutting the timber, rolling the trees to- gether and burning them, burning the brush and getting the stumps out of the land, and making it ready to cultivate required many years of hard labor. The axe and the gun were the ever-ready companions of the pioneers.
Robert Dill, Sr., was a successful hunter and a daring man. During one of his hunting expeditions he was attacked by about fifteen hungry wolves, and had a desperate fight for his life, but succeeded in beating off his ravenous assailants and making his escape. Mr. Dill was one of the first Trustees of Paxton Township.
By an act to incorporate townships passed at the second session of the First General Assembly of the State of Ohio on the second day of
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April, 1804, the inhabitants (or electors) having met at the house of Christian Platter for the purpose of electing township officers, the follow- ing were chosen, namely: William Kent, clerk and treasurer, Robert Dill, Christian Platter, Jared Irvin, trustees; Zuri Combs, John Torbet, overseers of the poor; Thomas Edminston, Elisha Kelly, fence viewers; Samuel Jordan, Thomas Massie, listers of taxable property and house appraisers; Robert Edminston, Thomas Dill, John Swan, Spencer Records, Enoch B. Smith, supervisors of highway; Joshua Davis, Ben- jamin McClure, John White, constables. The records of Paxton Town- ship show that Mr. Dill was elected several times afterwards to various township offices.
Mr. Dill's large family of boys and girls were a great help to him in clearing up this land and cultivating it. He later built a stone house, which at that time was considered a fine residence. He died at his home on this place in 1839. The death of his wife preceded his. He lived to see his farm of wilderness transformed to fertile fields, the Indian trail through the wilderness give way to the wagon trails, the wagon trail to good substantial roads, the cumbersome traveling wagon give way to the equally unwieldy but more elegant and more comfortable stage coach. It can be well said of him that he rounded out a life with all its hardships, joys and pleasures of the early pioneers of the Paint Creek Valley.
His family inherited this land, the boys buying out the girls' interest, paying each one of them the sum of $5,000.00 therefor. His sons con- tinue to improve this land, some selling out and locating elsewhere, until all had sold out and moved away but Robert, Jr., and William.
His son, Robert Dill, Jr., inherited and purchased the east portion of this land and continued to improve the same, built onto the old home- stead, bought some land adjoining the same and was a progressive and up-to-date farmer and his farm was one among the best along the creek. He married Rebecca Somerville and reared a family. Of this family now living is Mary Brown, Louisville, Kentucky; Miss Emma B. Dill, Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Alice Beath, Washington Court House, Ohio; Mrs. Ida Beath, near London, Ohio. Robert Dill, Jr., lived here with his family till the time of the death of himself and wife. This farm is now owned by Mrs. Anna Wallace, of Chillicothe, Ohio.
His son, James Dill, sold out and moved to Hillsboro, Ohio, and engaged in the mercantile business. He married Emily Jones, to which union there were born six children, all of whom are now deceased, ex- cept Miss Ella Dill of Hillsboro, and George Dill of Chicago, Illinois.
Richard Dill sold out and went to the State of Missouri. He married Anna Wells, to which union there was born one son, Robert Dill, now deceased.
Walter Dill married Marian Jones, to this union were born two sons, Milton and Byron Dill .. He sold out his portion of the Horse Shoe and moved to another part of Paxton Township. This family are all de- ceased.
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Armstrong sold out and moved to the State of California. He was never married and is now deceased.
John Dill sold out and moved to Hillsboro, Ohio, and engaged in the grain business. He married and raised a family. Later he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he died. J. T. Dill, Miss Anna Dill and Charley Dill are survivors of this family. His daughter, Jane Dill, married Rennick Seymour, of Champaign County, Illinois. To this union were born eight children, Abe, Ab, Phil, Jim, Robert, William Seymour, Sallie and Anna Seymour.
Margaret Dill married Daniel Kelly, to this union were born two children, Robert Kelly, of Chicago, Illinois; Emily Kelly, late of Urbana, Illinois, now deceased.
His daughter, Nancy Dill, married Richard Parker, to this union were born two daughters, Catharine and Maggie, who grew to woman- hood and reared families, but are now deceased.
His son, William Dill, inherited and purchased that portion of this land west of his brother, Robert, and later purchased from Walter, his share of his father's estate. He was married, March 6, 1850, to Mary W. Kelly, a native of Bainbridge, Ohio. Her father, Elisha Kelly, was one of the first settlers in Bainbridge, and one of the first officers of the township. He was a blacksmith by trade and at that time an important industry as a great many things in the iron business were hammered out on the anvil, and he employed as many as eight to ten men at his shop to supply the demands of the pioneers. To this union were born eight children, Elisha Dill, of Columbus, Ohio; Frank Dill, near Jeffer- sonville, Ohio, now deceased; William Dill, of Jeffersonville; Lewis G. Dill, of Waverly, Ohio; Robert Dill, of Fayette County, Ohio; Edward Dill, Bainbridge, Ohio; Maggie Dill, Bainbridge, Ohio; and Ella Dill Poston, Crawfordsville, Indiana. William Dill continued to improve this land he purchased and inherited and built a residence. The brick used in building this residence came from the Indian mound located on the farm and was burned by John Wroten, of Bainbridge, Ohio. He purchased other land to the north of this farm until at the time of his death he owned 700 acres of land. He was a stock raiser in connection with his farming and owned, at one time, a flock of 500 head of sheep, which he grazed on the upland adjoining the Paint Creek land and wintered them on the bottom land. He was also engaged in the fruit business and from his orchards on this upland he sent thousands of bushels of fine peaches and apples to the market each year. He was a stockholder in the Springfield and Jackson Railroad and furnished teams to help construct the same, and with other pioneers and stockholders helped to drive the last spike when the road was finished and connected up on his farm. There was an excursion run from both ends of the road and William Dill, John Storms, Robert Dill, Jr., Thomas Blackstone and James Emmitt, drove the last spike. William Dill gave the right of way for this road on consideration that the road put in a switch for loading grain and freight at this point and that they stop all passenger trains on flag to take on passengers, which station they named Dill's Station.
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This was a great convenience for the farmers of this neighborhood and grain and stock, for ten miles down the valley, are loaded at this point. He was a progressive farmer and owned one of the first reapers in this section, purchased one of the first binders when they were invented, which was the No. 9 wire binder, but this was discarded for the reason that the wire killed the cattle that ran to the straw after it was threshed. The twine binder was soon after invented and he purchased this machine. He lived through the progress and invention of the nineteenth century, which to enumerate here would make this article too lengthy. I have heard him say that he had helped to cut, roll together and burn large black walnut, yellow poplar and white oak logs, that if he had at this time would be worth many times more than the land that they were cut from but at that time there was no market for, and this land is very valuable. This Horse Shoe Bend of Paint Creek probably contains as productive and fertile a body of land as there is in the valley, or in the state. The writer, after a period of twenty-five years, visiting this farm witnessed the hauling to the corn crib as fine a quality of corn as he had hauled from this farm twenty-five years before. There seemed to be no exhaustion of the productive quality of this land.
William Dill and wife retired from the farm in 1890, and moved to Bainbridge, Ohio, where they lived until their death. He died in the year 1906, his wife preceded his death. This farm is owned by Edward and Maggie Dill, of Bainbridge, Ohio.
INDIAN MOUNDS OF HORSE SHOE BEND OF PAINT CREEK
There are a number of Indian Mounds in this bend of Paint Creek, three mounds on the William Dill homestead, two in their original state of preservation with the exception of the wear of time. The third and largest was cut into and a kiln of brick burned from the clay from which it is composed, by John Wroten, of Bainbridge, Ohio. This was done at the instance of William Dill for the brick used in the build- ing of the home now standing on this Dill homestead. In this mound were found skeletons of supposed Indian chiefs or notables among the tribes at the time of their burial. There was also found a copper box and other copper trinkets. These findings were given to the Smithsonian Institute.
The peculiarity about these mounds is that they were built out of clay, while the surrounding territory is a black loam. There is a twin to this mound on the Richard Dill farm, now owned by the heirs of Joseph Smith, who have plowed and scraped this mound down so they could farm over it, but there is a visible elevation yet where it stood. These two mounds were the most perfect of any found in the Horse Shoe.
The largest mound in the valley is found on the Blackstone farm, now owned by the Seip heirs at Chillicothe, Ohio. This mound is 240 feet long and 160 feet wide, and was, a few years ago, by actual measurement, 35 feet high. This mound is enclosed by a circular earthen wall embracing seventeen acres, but this wall is almost erased
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by the continual farming over it till it is now hardly visible. There were several deer licks in this bend of the creek, and it was, no doubt, a favorite hunting ground for the Indians as there were found numbers of arrow points of flint. Some of the most perfect specimens are to be found there yet and by the farmer in plowing this land, some very good points that are turned up by the plow.
There is a division of opinion about these mounds. Some believe they were erected by the Pre-historic race, but the prevailing belief is that they were built by the Indians to mark the resting place of some notable chief as a hunter or warrior. This belief is confirmed by the fact that when they are opened there are found in them skeletons of the human type.
COPPERAS MOUNTAIN
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The large Copperas Mountain has been formed by the continual wear of the creek against a hill about 300 feet high, wearing it away until it is almost perpendicular, and faces about due west against the stream. This mountain serves as an excellent sun-dial for the farmers that are within view of it when the sun is shining, and anyone used to it can tell with accuracy within ten minutes of the time of day from the shadow on the face of the mountain. South of the Horse Shoe Bend of this creek, the country is hilly and mountainous, and was settled up by a good class of citizens, but illiterate, as the school advantages were not very good 100 years ago. They were hunters and did not all avail themselves of the advantages they had, and many is the hunting story told by the inhabitants of this region back of the mountain when they came down in the bottoms in the fall of the year to help cut and gather the corn crop. One old fellow in particular who invariably got his dates mixed! with seasons, would relate the deer chase up to and over this mountain, where the dogs got the deer cornered and chased it over the face of the mountain, and it landed at the bottom, where the water flows by, and broke its neck on the ice in July, and the farmers were all plowing corn down in the bottoms. And at another time when he was out hunting wild turkey, he killed such a large gobbler that when he threw it over his back to take it home it was so large its head trailed along in the snow in August. I refrain from giving this name on account of the embar- rassment it might cause some of his descendants, who are excellent, good citizens and educated, one son being a minister of the gospel.
Out of the face of this mountain can be found round boulders, which are collected by the near residents for ornaments to decorate the side of the walks to their residences, placing them on either side of the walk, about ten feet apart. This mountain looms up so that it can be seen for three miles or more coming east from Bainbridge, on the Chillicothe and Milford pike, and it derives its name from the copperas found along the face of it. It is visited by a great many people for the fine view from the top of it, of the surrounding country. Some youngsters at- tempted to climb up the face without going around the side and ascend-
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ing gradually, after climbing up some 150 feet they came to a point where they could not get any farther, and when trying to descend found they could not get down nor up, and it was necessary for their companions to search the neighborhood for ropes to let down to them from the top to get them out of their adventure.
SEYMOUR BRIDGE
This bridge was built in 1840, by R. R. Seymour, the contractor. It is a double track covered bridge and the only one of its kind known by the writer. It was built before the age of concrete and steel, and therefore is built entirely with stone and wood, the wood being mortised together and pinned with wooden pins. The stone used in the abutments of this bridge came from the William Dill stone quarries at the top of a large hill about one mile east of the bridge. The stone was quarried out at the top of the hill and a double track laid up and down the hill. Large posts were planted in the ground at the top of the hill and a windlass placed thereon. The stone were loaded on the car, and let down the hill to the pike, the down-going car pulling the empty car up to the top to be loaded and vice versa, the loaded car going down pulling the empty up, and the empty helping to brake the loaded car going down, when the stone were loaded on wagons and hauled to the bridge. This bridge is planked up the sides to keep the rain from injuring the timber, and of a dark night it was surely dark in there. There have been two robberies reported to have occurred in this bridge, but the parties robbed always escaped uninjured. The writer remembers that when he was sent on shopping expedition to Bainbridge or for the mail when he was a boy, that he was told of the robberies, and ghost stories, to bring him home before dark, and it worked well for a time, but one time he was sent for the mail so late it was not possible to get back through this bridge till darkness fell, and how he approached this bridge with all these ghost stories and robberies fresh in his mind, and expecting any time after entering the bridge to be nabbed, but passed safely through. After that time the ghost story did not work any more, and he stayed in town without any horror of passing through the bridge.
R. R. Seymour, the contractor, came from Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia, in the early part of 1800. He did his work well, for now, seventy-six years since the building of the bridge, it is still standing in a good state of preservation without much repairs, except roofing, and is the equal of the later day steel structures. He afterward became a director in the Milford and Chillicothe Turnpike Company.
INDIAN HISTORY
The last fight the white settlers had with the Indians was at Reeves Crossing, a short distance below the Seymour bridge, with the Shawnee Tribe. In 1795, an exploring party came on to a camp of Indians at this point and were apprized of their location by hearing the tinkling
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of the bells on the ponies of the Indians' band. In this exploring party was General Massie, Robert W. Finley, and about thirty other men. After a sharp fight of a few moments, the Indians broke and fled in confusion, across the stream, leaving their camp and its contents to the mercy of the whites. The Shawnees lost several killed and wounded, and of the explorers, one, a Mr. Robinson, who was shot and instantly killed. Massie and his company, being left masters of the situation, gathered together the horses, skins and other valuables of the camp, and with a white man, John Wilcoxon, who had been held a prisoner by the Shawnees and had escaped during the confusion of the battle, com- menced a retreat to Manchester, from whence they had set out. This was the last collision which ever occurred between the red men and the whites in the Paint Creek Valley. General Wayne's treaty, shortly after made, ended the hostilities between the Shawnees and the whites, and began a peace which endured until the year 1812. From the date of the Reeves Crossing encounter, the Indians do not appear in the history of Paxton, save as peaceful traveler or hunter within its limits.
E. C. LUNBECK is one of a very prominent old family of Ross County. The Lunbecks were here before Chillicothe was a town and long before Ohio was a state. Mr. Lunbeck has had a long and active career, chiefly identified with what is in the nature of a family industry, the manage- ment of the old mill at South Salem.
He was born in Highland County, Ohio, March 20, 1858, a son of Daniel H. and Mary E. (Nixon) Lunbeck. Daniel H. Lunbeck was born on the old homestead in Highland County in 1835, and his wife was born in 1839. The Lunbeck family ancestry is traced back to Sweden. In 1685 two brothers of the name left Sweden, perhaps as sailors, and when their ship was along the coast of the United States it was wrecked and the brothers, on landing, took up permanent settle- ment and thus started the family history in this country. The family is next heard of in Kentucky, and from Crab Orchard of that state they came into Ohio in 1796. They came through Portsmouth and located near what is now Chillicothe in 1796. There they met some trouble with the Indians, and they finally built two cabins on the site of Chilli- cothe. One of their companions was Alexander McCoy, maternal grand- father of E. C. Lunbeck. The Lunbecks remained at Chillicothe until 1801, when they removed to Highland County and there established a homestead which was the home of four generations of the family. In the early days the Lunbecks were particular friends of the Indians, were always on good terms with them and carried on an extensive trade. Daniel Lunbeck, Mr. E. C. Lunbeck's grandfather, came to Ohio in 1801. After serving in the Mexican war he came to Highland County, Ohio, and founded the old "Lunbeck Homestead." He built one of the first water-power sawmills on Paint Creek. He married Rachel McCoy. Mr. E. C. Lunbeck's father and mother were married in 1857, and in 1859 moved to Ross County, locating in South Salem. Daniel Lunbeck bought the old mill in 1860, operated it with a partner until about 1884, and he then became sole proprietor. He conducted it until
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his death, and after that it was under the firm name of D. H. Lunbeck & Sons until 1908.
In that year Mr. E. C. Lunbeck and his brother Ralph bought the mill from the estate and still direct its operations.
E. C. Lunbeck was reared and educated in Ross County, attended the public schools and the old South Salem Academy, and ever since graduating has been identified with the mill, which is one of the impor- tant institutions in this part of the county.
Mr. Lunbeck is a member of the Presbyterian Church and for many years has been a consistent Christian. He has served as mayor of South Salem and also as town trustee. Politically he is a republican.
MICHAEL KRAMER. A man of broad capabilities, energetic, and ever quick to utilize offered opportunities, Michael Kramer achieved distinc- tion in the business circles of Chillicothe, for many years being promi- nently associated with its mercantile and financial interests, and his death while yet comparatively young was a distinct loss not only to his immediate family and friends, but to the community in which he lived. A native of Germany, he was born November 23, 1849, in Rheinbach, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. His parents, Leonard and Elizabeth Kra- mer, left the fatherland in 1851, and with their family came to America in a sailing vessel, after a voyage of sixty-five days landing in New York. Coming thence to Ohio, they located in Chillicothe, where both spent their remaining years, dying at a good old age.
But two years old when brought to Chillicothe by his parents, Michael Kramer was educated in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen years, being a bright and capable lad, he secured a position in the estab- lishment of Smart & Kilvert, wholesale grocers. A keen observer, indus- trious and alert, he became thoroughly acquainted with the details of the business, and in 1879, having by prudent thrift accumulated con- siderable money, he formed a partnership with George Vaughters, and as junior member of the firm of Vaughters & Kramer embarked in the wholesale grocery business, later becoming actively identified with the banking interests of this part of the county, the partnership continuing until the death of Mr. Kramer.
Mr. Kramer was one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank, of which he was a director, and the firm of Vaughters & Kramer owned a controlling interest in the Chillicothe Electric Railroad, Light and Power Company, of which Mr. Kramer became treasurer. In addition to these holdings, Mr. Kramer was an extensive land owner, having title to several valuable farms, which he managed through tenants.
Mr. Kramer married, August 3, 1898, Miss Lucy E. Treiber, who was born in Chillicothe, of German parentage. Mrs. Kramer and her three children, William, Grace, and Walter, have a very pleasant and attractive home on Paint Street, and there give glad welcome to their many friends. Religiously Mr. Kramer belonged to the German Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Kramer is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Mr. Kramer died in Jacksonville, Florida, March 1, 1914.
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J. E. WILTSHIRE. The sales manager of the Ohio Kiln Company, which operates the improved Hook patent up-and-down kiln, located at Vigo, Ohio, J. E. Wiltshire is widely and favorably known in business circles of Ross County, where he has been identified with a number of enterprises. With his coming to Vigo, about twenty years ago, there was added an element of strength and purpose to the upbuilding of what was a promising and prosperous community, and while he has been busily engaged in building up his own fortunes, he has not lost sight of the needs of the locality where his business activities are centered.
Mr. Wiltshire was born December 29, 1875, at Gillespieville, Ross County, Ohio, and is a son of Dr. J. M. and Mary (Sutherland) Wilt- shire. Both the Wiltshire and Sutherland families have long been well known in Ross County, Mr. Wiltshire's grandparents on both sides having come here at an early day. His paternal grandfather was William Wiltshire, who, with his wife, came from Virginia and settled in Scioto Township on a farm, while his maternal grandparents were natives of Scotland. Dr. J. M. Wiltshire was born at Waller Postoffice, Massieville, Ross County, Ohio, and has for many years been a success- ful physician and surgeon. He and Mrs. Wiltshire, also a native of Ross County, have been the parents of four children, namely: William H., who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Gillespieville; J. S., a graduate of Starling Medical College, and a post-graduate of Cincinnati Medical School, and now engaged in successful practice at Londonderry ; Mary F., who is the wife of Frank Counts, of Richmond Dale, Ohio; and J. E., of this review.
J. E. Wiltshire received his education in the public schools of Lon- donderry, and was brought up on his father's farm, on which he remained until he was twenty years of age. At that time he began his connection with mercantile pursuits, accepting a position as clerk in the general store at Vigo which was conducted by W. B. Francis, in whose employ Mr. Wiltshire remained during a period of six years. He then went to Chillicothe, where for a short time he was employed by J. Charles Shaffer as a road salesman, but soon returned to Vigo, and in 1902 organized the general store business that was conducted as J. E. Wilt- shire. This business he built up to excellent proportions, supplying a trade that extended all over the countryside, and displaying abilities of a fine order, which not only attracted patronage to his establishment but also gave him an excellent reputation. On October 15, 1915, Mr. Wiltshire disposed of his interests in this business and took charge as sales manager of the Ohio Kiln Company. This is an important industry, and, as before stated, operates the improved Hook patent up-and-down kiln, located at Vigo. Under Mr. Wiltshire's capable and energetic management, the sales of this concern have already shown a pleasing increase, and the details of the enterprise are being handled in an efficient and highly systematic manner.
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