USA > Ohio > Jackson County > A history of Jackson County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 2
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The following account of a bear killed near Clay was written by (. W. Brady: "I have been tracing up lately the following story: There is a poplar tree about three and one-half feet in diameter, standing in a patch of timber owned by Aaron Henson, about one-half mile northwest of Cross Roads. The tree is a mere shell and broken off at the top. In this tree was killed what is said
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
to have been the last bear killed in this county. The date was January 17, 1821. James, Samuel and Smith Stephenson were working some distance away when two well-trained hunting dogs, which had been brought from Virginia, bayed something in the woods. The boys all ran to the dogs immediately. Samuel, being fond of such sport, was first to this poplar tree, but, unlike the Apostle John, he put his head in the hole, thinking it was an opossum or some other small animal, but he discovered that the animal was too large to be dragged out by main strength. Smith was sent for a gun. The dogs were encouraged by the other two boys, and one of them took hold of the bear. In order to catch the dogs, bruin jumped out of the hole far enough to be recognized. James, being equal to the occasion, grasped a pole ax and struck the bear over the head, but the blow was not sufficient to kill it. It jumped back and the dogs after it. Being infuriated, it instantly stuck its head out again and James struck it a second blow, which proved fatal. After considerable effort it was delivered from the tree. A horse of medium size was brought and the bear thrown across his back. The bear was so long that it touched the ground on both sides of the horse. When they got it home they weighed it, and it weighed 400 pounds. It was dressed and many of the neighbors were furnished a mess of bear meat. The parents of Mrs. Henry Hunsinger of Jackson and Dr. Newell of South Webster were mar- ried the following day and had bear steak for dinner. The bear was very fat and had made but one trip from its winter lair. William Buckley, of Camba, father of the William Buckley who now resides there, found its track and followed it almost to its den, but the snow had partly disappeared and he could not follow it any farther. Four bears came through here afterwards, but none of them were killed." One pleasant afternoon in October, 1892, I walked out to the old Kessinger homestead east of Jackson to visit William Kes- singer, who was then the oldest man living in the county. When I turned in at the gate, he was at the woodpile splitting kindling, although he was alinost 95 years old. He greeted me cordially and invited me into the house, where he talked to me for an hour abont the olden times. His wife, only two years younger than he, was present and participated in the conversation. William Kessinger
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
was born November 1, 1797. His wife, Sarah Miller, was born August 24, 1799. They were married May 27, 1819, and they re- moved from Virginia to this county in 1820. The most interesting incident related by Mr. Kessinger was the following account of the killing of a bear: "I once helped to kill a bear. This was in Feb- ruary, 1821. Reuben Dickason, near whom I lived then, had a dog that used to hunt alone at night. When it had treed a raccoon, Diekason would go out and kill it. One night, when it had treed an animal of some kind, Dickason asked me to go with him to see what we would find. When we drew near the spot, which was on land now (1892) owned by H. P. McGhee, we discovered that the dog had treed larger game than usual. He was barking at the foot of a hollow tree, and it did not take us long to discover that there was a bear inside. We had only our axes for weapons, so I kept watch while Dickason went after his gun. It was an old flintlock and would not shoot. He brought it, however, and after loading it and aiming it at the hole in the tree, I touched it off with a coal of fire. The charge took effect, but we reloaded the gun and touched the old thing off a second time. This put an end to the bear and we dragged it out. Both charges had taken effect. After dragging it out, we found three cubs also in the hollow tree." The last bear killed in the county was shot by William Whitt, at the head of Cub Run. in Jefferson township, in the winter of 1831. It had been discovered earlier in the day near Gallia Furnace's site by the Massie boys, who fired at it, but failed to bring it down. They pursued it in the snow for several hours, but were disappointed at last, for toward evening they came upon William Whitt in the act of hanging it up. Although he had killed it, they claimed it on the ground that they had wounded it in the morning. a fact that was not clearly established. Whitt was alone and surrendered the bear to them, but sued them afterwards. The result of the lawsuit has not been ascertained, but the Massies ate the bear meat. The animal was young, and the run on which it was killed has been known as Cub Run ever since.
DEER-Finley remarks that the deer is the most beautiful wild animal that roams in American forests. They change their
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
color three times a year, and every winter they cast their horns. The color they assume in the spring is red, in the fall it is blue, and in the winter it is gray. Their skins are most valuable when in the red or blue. The meat of the deer is the sweetest and most easily digested of all animal food. The skin was manufactured into almost all kinds of clothing, such as hunting shirts, waist- coats, pantaloons, leggins, petticoats, moccasins, sieves, wallets and sometimes shirts. It was perhaps to the backwoods families the most useful of all animals. The dressing of the deer skins did not require a long process. They generally cut out the garment with a butcher knife, and used an awl insteal of a needle, and the sinews of the deer instead of thread.
Deer were common in this county until 1845. Many now living have seen herds of them as late as the years of the war. A few lingered until 1870, visiting the old deer licks at certain periods. Two deer were killed in 1867, between this city and Raysville, and their skins brought to Jackson for sale. They brought $5 each. These are the last known to have been killed in the county. The hams when salted and dried were known as "jerk." Deer were usually found in the winter time near laurel, on which they fed without any inconvenience to themselves.
PANTHERS-The panther when hungry would attack man himself, and was the most dreaded inhabitant of the forest. Its favorite mode of attack was to leap from a tree upon its victim, and the hunters that visited deer licks to lie in wait for deer, would often find a panther doing the same. This animal left the county early, but a pair were killed near the house of Joshua Evans, in Hewitt's Fork, in the winter of 1837. They had been hunted with dogs from the hills of Scioto county, and were the last seen in this county.
WOLVES-Finley well says that the wolf is the most sneaking. and thievish of all animals. He is seldom seen in the daytime, but prowls abont and howls all night. He is remarkably cowardly, and will never attack unless he has greatly the advantage. Their skins are worth but little and their flesh is never eaten, except by those who may be in a starving condition. Wolves were regarded as such
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
pests, that the Legislature passed a law allowing County Commis- sioners to pay a premium for wolf scalps. On July 3, 1816, the following entry was made in the Journal of the Commissioners of Jackson county: "It is ordered that the premium on wolf scalps be as follows: On wolves under six months, $1; all over the age of six months, $2." The first premium paid under this order was al- lowed November 25, 1816, to Adam Altire, who had produced the scalps of two young wolves. Jonathan Delay was allowed $2 on April 8, 1817, for the scalp of a grown wolf. With the introduction of sheep into the county, the wolves became such a terror that the Commissioners found it necessary for the public good to increase the premium, and on June 3, 1822, it was ordered that a premium of $1.50 be paid on all wolves under six months, and $3 for the scalps of all others. This made wolf hunting profitable, and many farmers that raised sheep and young cattle bought wolf traps. Davis Mackley described one of these traps as follows: Wolves were the terror of the early settlers. Sometimes they were caught in large traps. They often killed my father's young cattle, and 1 remember once he borrowed Dr. McNeal's wolf trap, and had it set several nights, but he never caught a wolf in it. One morning he went to the trap and found a very large wildcat in it. He killed it with a club and came home with it on his shoulders. It was a yellowish color, and was as large as he could well carry. These wolf traps were a very powerful thing. A man's weight on the spring was not sufficient to bend the spring so as to set it, and the spring had to be pressed down with a lever. When the trap was sprung, the great jaws, which had teeth fitting between each other, came together with a clash that could be heard a long distance, and the trap would almost jump from the ground.
By the year 1830, wolves had become scarcer, and the premiums were reduced. An occasional pack would be found, however, for several years afterward. Cary Boyd killed a wolf on Black Fork in 1834, which some claim to have been the last killed in the county. The Commissioners' Journal shows, however, that George Byers was allowed $3, May 9, 1838, for the scalps of six wolves under six months.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
BEAVER-The Indians and the earliest trappers in this coun- ty regarded the several branches of Symmes and Salt creeks as the richest beaver resorts of the western country. There were quite a number of beaver ponds on Grassy Fork, some half dozen ponds on Salt Creek south of Jackson, and the Black Fork was a beaver hive from Gallia Furnace to its headwaters. The Indians secured all the beaver fur they wanted without any wanton de- struction of the dams, and the beaver remained in the county until the salt boilers came. Then began a ruthless slaughter. The dams were broken, and the ponds drained, and the beaver soon disap- peared. The last were killed at the pond near the big sulphur spring on the land now owned by D. W. Davis, of Jefferson town- ship. The agency of the beaver in changing the course of several of the creeks should be mentioned.
THE RACCOON-This animal was found in such numbers in this section of the state that the name was given to one of its largest streams. It is mentioned here, because its skin was used as a circulating medium among the backwoodsmen. Coin was very scarce, and much of the paper was of no more value than the rags out of which it had been made. But the coon skin was always worth a quarter of a dollar, and passed for such when coin was not procurable, until after the organization of the county.
THE LAST OTTER-Otters were very numerous in this county in early days, especially near the beaver ponds on the sey- eral branches of Symmes Creek. They lived in holes in the rocks near the ponds. One of their peculiar habits was sliding down the steep bank into a creek or pond. It was on account of this habit of theirs that smooth slopes were compared to otter slides. Once the otter entered the water, the hunter found it almost impossible to shoot it with the old fashioned flint-lock gun, for the otter could see the flash and dodge the bullet. After the breaking up of the beaver dams, the otters gradually disappeared, but a few remained on Grassy Fork of Symmes until 1857, three being killed in Madi- son township that year. The last pair seen in the county were killed in 1874, on Black Fork. The male was discovered one morn-
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
ing by William Jenkins, on the farm of his father, Realva Jenkins, some distance from the creek. He chased it with his dogs, and killed it with a club. Some two weeks later, he and his brother John were passing a beaver pond on the land of Mary Davis further down the creek. T. J. Morgan and his brother S. J. Morgan called to them and informed them that a strange animal was run- ning in the water. The dogs were set on it, and Jenkins soon dis- patched it with a club. It was a female, and the supposition is that it was the mate of the one killed two weeks before. The skin of the male measured eight feet and that of the female six feet. They were sold for $8 and $5 respectively.
PRIMEVAL MAN-It is claimed that man appeared upon the earth before the close of the Ice Age. The question is indetermin- able, but even the Bible hints that the climate became colder after the creation of Adam, for it says: Unto Adam also, and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Per- sons accustomed to wear only figleaves would not have needed clothes of skin, unless there had been a change of climate. At any rate it was a cold day when our first parents were turned out of the Garden of Eden. It will never be known when man appeared in Ohio, but if he came before the close of the Glacial period, there are reasons for believing that he must have lived near the Scioto licks. Geologists tell us that during the floods of that period, Southern Ohio was converted into a lake by the waters backed up by the Cincinnati ice dam. During the existence of that lake, only three of the highest ridges remained above the waters, and they became islands for the time. Two of those ridges were in Jackson connty. It is not too violent a presumption to suggest that the men of that period must have sought refuge on these highlands. If this theory be accepted, it will have to be conceded that some of the mounds on the high hills of Jefferson and Hamilton townships may be the oldest human relics in the Ohio valley. Little is known of primeval man. His life was a fierce struggle with the elements and the gigantic animals of his day. He has left no record save his ball of flint and a few rude tools. Carlyle thus describes his lot: Miserable, indeed, was the condition of the aboriginal savage,
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
glaring fiercely from under his fleece of hair, which, with the beard reached down to his loins and hung round him like a matted cloak; the rest of his body sheeted in its thick natural fell. He Ioitered in the sunny glades of the forest, living on wild fruits; or, as the ancient Caledonian, squatted himself in morasses, lurking for his bestial or human prey; without implements, without arms, save the ball of heavy flint, to which, that his sole possession and de- fense might not be lost, he had attached a long cord of plaited thongs; thereby recovering as well as hurling it with deadly un- erring skill." A relic was found by Prof. J. W. Hank, in August, 1894, which may have been one of those very balls. It was found in digging a grave in Fairmount cemetery. It lay at a depth of three feet under the sod, between the clay and the sandy slate. Its pres- ence at such a depth on a hilltop, indicates that it must have lain in the same spot for scores of centuries, and it may have been em- ployed by an aboriginal savage in one of his conflicts with the mastodon or other animal of that period.
THE MOUND BUILDERS-There are at least five hundred earthworks within twenty miles of the licks, which belong to the age of the Mound Builders. It has not been clearly established who they were or when they lived in this region, but we know that they loved to live near the licks. Their works consist of mounds of all sizes, circles, rectangles, and half enclosed areas. The larger structures in this county are always situated on elevated ground. Their use is not known. Whittlesey, who visited them in 1837, advanced the theory that they could not have been used in war. He said: "The principal enclosures are rectangles or circles, weak figures, without ditches, made weaker by numerous openings, not only in the sides, but at the corners. The subordinate parts of large works, and the small isolated ones, sometimes have ditches, but always, as far as I have seen, on the inside, though cases of ex- tensive fossa are said to exist. The main figure always occupies ground accessible on all sides, and no spring or receptacle of water is found within the walls. Other equally good reasons might be advanced why these structures are not adapted, and were not de- signed, either for attack or defense under any supposable mode of
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
human warfare." The most important of their works in this county is located near the licks and is known, locally, as the Old Fort.
THE OLD FORT-This is the name by which the ancient earthwork on McKitterick's hill, northwest of Jackson, is generally known. There were two of these works on the McKitterick farm in early days, but the eastern one, inside of which the house was erected, has been almost obliterated. They were visited by Charles Whittlesey in 1837, when he was engaged upon the first geological survey of Ohio and described as follows: "No. 1 is situated in Lick township, Jackson county, Ohio, on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 19, Township 7, Range 18, on high ground, about one-fourth of a mile northwest of Salt Creek. The soil is clayey, the work slight, with only one opening, which is on the east, and to my knowledge, without running water in the vicinity. The ditch being interior, indicates that the work was built for some other purpose than defence, probably for ceremonial uses. No. 2 is on the same quarter section on the east half, and lies near the road from Jackson to Richmond, on the left hand. The prospect from the mound is extended and delightful. On the west between this and No. 1, is a ravine and a small stream. As the soil is sandy, it is certain that the mound attached to the rectangle on the southwest was somewhat higher at first that it is at present. Neither of these works are perfectly square or rectangular, but irregular in form, approaching a square. No. 2 is clearly not a work of defence, and was probably intended as a high place, for superstitious rites. A more charming spot for such observances could not be chosen, if we admit that external circumstances and scenery had any connec- tion with the sentiments of the worshipers, and we must allow that the Mound Builders were alive to the beauty of the scenery." The writer had a survey of the Old Fort made in July, 1894. The dimensions were found to be as follows: Length 110 feet, width 100 feet. From bottom of ditch to top of embankment at south- west corner is three feet and four inches; height of embankment six inches. From bottom of ditch at southeast corner to top of embankment is five feet and six inches; the embankment is two feet high. Distance from inside ditch across to outside of embank-
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
ment is fifty feet. The inclosure is level, and the entrance is on the east side. The inclosure is almost rectangular, but the em- bankment is more irregular. An oak seven feet in circumference stands on the embankment near the southeast corner. There are a number of smaller trees growing on the embankment, and a few in the inclosure, but there are none in the ditch. The Old Fort stands on level ground, overlooked by several higher elevations, which proves conclusively that it could not have been intended for defence. There is no great quantity of water nearer than Salt Creek, a quarter of a mile away, which argues that it was not the long house of a village. Whittlesey failed to find any running water in the vicinity, but since the ground has been cleared, a number of coal springs have been discovered near. In short, there is a coal spring at the head of each branch of the several ravines adjacent. In the summer of 1896, one of these springs, located a few hundred feet southeast of the Old Fort, dried up and Milton Cameron, who was clearing the land, cleaned it out in hopes of finding water. At a depth of about three feet, he came upon a pan scooped out in the sandrock where the stream had welled forth. There was nothing to show that the spring had ever been cleaned out by whites, and it is evident that this pan was the work of the fort builders. Its discovery justities the belief that there may have been other springs nearer the Fort which were stopped up by its users, and have not yet been rediscovered. Only a few relies have been discovered near the Old Fort. The only specimen found inside the inclosure was a fine spear head, about four inches long. It was found accidentally by John F. Motz, when a lad. Samuel MeKitteriek, the present owner of the land, found a steel bladed ax May 5, 1896, when plow- ing in the field about one hundred yards south of the Fort. The ax weighs one and one-half pounds, is seven inches long, has a three inch blade and the oye measures 1 1-S in. x 1 1-2 in. The ax is now owned by J. H. Cochran. Another iron relic was found a few years ago by - Howe, at a charcoal pit about one hundred yards west of the Fort. It is a ball perhaps intended for a small cannon. It may have been placed long ago in the fork of a tree, and the wood grew over it, imbedding it, where it remained until burned out in the charcoal pit. These two relics, tomahawk and cannon
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
ball, point to a visit from whites at an early day. It is known that General Lewis led an army of Virginians through this country in 1774, and they may have camped over night at the Old Fort, and left these relics. The mound attached to Fort No. 2 was opened by MeKitterick, who found a number of flints and the layer of ashes commonly found in the mounds in this county. The opening was utilized for a milk house.
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND-A volume could be written about the remains of the Mound Builders in the neighborhood of the licks, their works and implements. One mound on the land of Joseph Watson, east of the licks, was opened a few years ago and evidences were found indicating that it had been a house mound, similar to those of the Mandans on the Missouri. Perhaps the most important find in the county was the collection of flints discovered in April, 1898, near the Catholic cemetery. The following account was written at the time by F. E. Bingman, a local archaeologist: A discovery that is of more than usual interest to those who are archaeologically inclined, was made by Mr. George Goddard, one day last week. While engaged in plowing a piece of ground belong- ing to P'. O'Malley, just south of the new Catholic cemetery, he noticed in the dead furrow several implements of flint. His curios- ity being excited, he made a further and careful examination, with the result of finding carefully stowed away the large number of 314 implements.
As near as could be determined by an examination made after- ward, the flints were placed in a hole about fifteen inches across, and eighteen inches deep, the hole slightly narrowing toward the bottom. The top of the pile was about ten inches beneath the surface.
The flints are all of one pattern, triangular in shape, with straight sides and convex base. In length they vary from one and three-quarters to three inches. The material of which they are made is foreign to this country, coming from the famous Flint Ridge quarries in Licking county, is fine grained and chipped much more readily than our coarser flint. The color ranges from nearly pure white, through reddish, to dark gray. The reddish colored are al- most translucent.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Similar deposits have heretofore been found in this county, notably one in the city cemetery, but none nearly so large as this.
Within a few hundred yards of where this cache was found are five mounds, two of which are of unusual form, being surrounded by a ditch and low embankment. None of the five have been ex- plored, but would doubtless repay examination. The collection referred to is now in the possession of the writer.
SALT-According to W. Robertson Smith, salt must have been quite unattainable to primitive man in many parts of the world. Many inland peoples regarded a salt spring as a special gift of the gods. The Germans waged war for saline streams. At a very early stage of progress, salt became a necessary of life to most nations, and it had been conjectured that the oldest trade routes were created for traffic in that commodity. Cakes of salt have been used as money in more than one part of the world, and it has been used as a medium of exchange in the markets of Shan down to our own time. From this it can be readily understood why the Mound Builders chose to dwell near the licks, in a country rough and barren compared with the rich valley of the Scioto. The absence of earthworks intended for protection, indicates that the licks were in a zone of peace. Perhaps a traffic was carried on with distant tribes. They lived here, at least, and the theory offered is the most plausible explanation for their choice of home.
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