Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio, Part 9

Author: Harbaugh, T. C. (Thomas Chalmers), 1849-1924, ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 882

USA > Ohio > Miami County > Troy > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 9
USA > Ohio > Miami County > Piqua > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The packets which at the time of their greatest popularity were much used by the people, are often described as the Pullman cars of the 50's. They bore more resem- blance to the limited train, as each packet was "diner," "sleeper," "smoker," "par- lor car," "baggage" and "mail coach" combined. They created a good deal of excitement in the adjacent country as they passed up and down the canal. The worth of the canal was soon apparent to every- one. Shortly after it was put in operation wheat advanced in price. Firearms, cloth, shoes, coffee, tea, chocolate, rum, salt, gyp- sum and sugar came south from the lake ports, while wheat, corn, flour, butter, beef, cheese, tobacco, and whiskey found their way more easily to the eastern markets. In 1829 merchandise was brought from New York City to Dayton by the all-water route of 1,100 miles in twenty days at a cost of $17.25 per ton. The route followed the Erie Canal to Buffalo, the lake to Cleveland, the Ohio Canal to Portsmouth, the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and the Miami Canal to Dayton. The "Canal Counties" at once took the lead in indus- trial and agricultural growth, a lead they never lost, as today these thirty of the eighty-eight counties contain fifty-two per cent of the state's population.

The speed of the canal packets was never great. They seldom exceeded a four mile per hour schedule. Leaving Piqua at S a. m. they would reach Cincinnati the following

morning in time for breakfast. This was considered a wonderful feat in those days. The captain of a packet was considered a person of distinction. His word was law on his boat and passengers who became familiar with him were called "lucky fel- lows." The menus of these boats was something worth discussing in a gastro- nomic sense, for the tables were supplied with the fat of the land and the meals were enjoyed to the full.

In 1844 the Miami and Erie Canal was opened to the lake for business and this gave a new impetus to commercial enter- prise in the county. Piqua then liad nearly five thousand inhabitants and Troy was no inconsiderable place. The county owes much to Messrs. Stephen Johnston, W. J. Jackson and J. F. Mckinney, of Piqua, who as a committee contended with the un- friendly legislation aimed at the canal and who in a great measure were instrumental in securing its successful operation. Piqua was at the head of navigation from 1837 to 1845, which gave it great impetus. It was intended originally to take a feeder out of Bosson's dam above town (Troy), but that failed, the Messrs. Bosson de- manding more for the privilege than the commissioners would give, and by that fail- ure the head of navigation was transferred from Troy to Piqua, a circumstance fatal to the prosperity of Troy and a godsend to her northern rival.

The transportation of the mails in the early days of Miami County was poor and primitive. When one considers the mail service of the present day, the fast mail trains, the free rural delivery, the comnio- dious post offices and other mail facilities enjoyed by the people, the mere mention of the old mail service provokes a smile.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

There was but little correspondence before the introduction of steam, and letters were few and far between. It required days to get a letter to a friend in another state and then there was a long wait for the answer. Postage stamps had not come into use, but the amount of postage due was written on the outside of the letter. Envelopes then were unknown, nor had the day arrived for the sweetly-scented billet doux and the deli- cate linen paper. Steel pens had not yet come from the inventive brain of a Gillot and the old-fashioned quill held sway. Nearly all the social letters began, "I take my pen in hand to inform you that we are all well and to hope that you are enjoying the same blessing,"-a style which is still extant in some parts of the Union and among certain classes.

When the writer of a letter had finished his task the sheet was simply folded and addressed on the blank page. This done a stick of red sealing wax was held over the flame of a candle and a bit of the heated substance dropped upon the fold and al- lowed to cool. Now and then the writer, if she were a young lady, would stamp the impression of her ring on the wax, if she possessed one, and the letter was ready for the post. Mucilage then was unknown. I have seen a number of these old letters, the ink of which is as dark as the day when it flowed from the nib of the quill.

In 1816 the rates of postage were fixed as follows: Thirty-six miles, six cents ; eighty miles, ten cents ; over one hundred and fifty miles, eighteen and three-fourths eents ; over five hundred miles, twenty-five cents. The blowing of a horn announced to the people of the neighborhood the ar- rival of the mail, which was carried horse- back. The mail bag was never filled to

overflowing and the few recipients of its contents were indeed the lucky ones.

Not until 1811 was a post office estab- lished at Piqua and then the weekly post- route was extended from Dayton.

In a copy of the Miami Reporter pub- lished at Troy in 1828 I find the following advertisement of the postmaster:

MAILS.

The mail arrives from Dayton by the direct route on Tuesday and returns on Friday. It arrives from Day- ton by Milton on Saturday and returns on Monday.

The mail also arrives from Columbus by Urbana and Piqua on Saturday morning and passes directly on to Columbus and Urbana.

It arrives from New Carlisle on Tuesday morning and returns on Wednesday morning.

LEVI HART, P. M.

Now and then one of these old time post- masters trusted his patrons, sometimes, no doubt, to his own sorrow, and he was called upon to nag them up a little by inserting in the newspapers a "eall to delinquents," which read something like this :

" The postmaster, having been in the habit of giving unlimited credit heretofore, finds it his duty to adhere strictly to the instructions of the postmaster general. He hopes, therefore, that his friends will not take it amiss when he assures them that no distinction will be made. No letters will be delivered in future without pay, nor papers without the postage being paid quarterly in advance.''

Now that postage for all distances is equal and very low-we can now send a letter to the Philippines for two cents-we can hardly realize the burden and incon- venience the high and uncertain postage rates imposed upon the pioneers. Money was very scarce and difficult to obtain ; and to pay twenty-five cents in cash for a letter was no easy matter and worked a hardship on the writer.

Nor was the transmission of the early mails, no matter how they were carried. conducted in safety. The mail robber was abroad in the land then as now. Some of the mails brought to this country seventy-

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

five years ago came by post riders to Wheeling, and thence down the river to Cincinnati in mail boats, built like whaling craft, each manned with four oarsmen and a coxswain, who were often armed, thence by postroads to the Miami region. The voyage from Wheeling to Cincinnati occu- pied six days and the return trip up stream in twelve days.

The early post offices of the county were generally log structures, but they answered the needs of the times well enough. The postmaster was frequently merchant, cab- inet-maker and government official all in one. His salary was not large and he never retired with a competence. Old records in the Postoffice Department show that he was never a defaulter and he always squared up with the Government to a penny. When there were floods or heavy snows the mails were delayed and the pat- rons of the office waited till the toot of the postman's horn announced that he had overcome the obstructions.

A story is told of one of the early mail routes in the county, which will bear repeat- ing to show the dangers that beset the mail carrier of nearly a century ago. This car- rier, one of the very first who brought the mails into this locality, was riding through a belt of timber when he heard a wild cry which seemed to chill his blood. Looking up he espied a female wild cat squatted on a limb with blazing eyes and vicious mien. His horse seemed paralyzed with terror and appeared to have lost his senses for the moment. Before the horrified postman conld collect himself, the ferocious animal leaped downward upon him, landing squarely upon his shoulders and burying tooth and claw in his flesh. At this mno- ment the horse plunged forward, carrying

his double burden away at breakneck speed, snorting out his terror at every bound. In vain for a time did the post rider attempt to relieve himself of his determined foe. The wild cat clung to her victim with the tenacity of death, biting deeper and deeper all the time, while the unfortunate man was in constant agony.

At last, in passing under a limb, the rider ducked and the bough loosened the grip of the ferocious beast, tearing her loose and throwing her to the ground stunned. As soon as the man could check the speed of his horse he hastened back and with a heavy stick belabored the wild cat till life was extinct, then, half faint from loss of blood, the carrier threw the carcass over the saddle before him and re- sumed his journey. When he reached the postoffice he fell from his saddle uncon- scions, and the old postmaster, adjusting his spectacles, picked the wildcat up with the remark: "I guess there is no postage due on this package."

I have tried to give in this chapter a brief account of early transportation with- in the limits of the county. The reader can compare it with the splendid facilities we have today. In looking down the vistas of a century, back through the mists of the past, we can observe our progress and wonder at it. The glories of the National Road have faded before the steam and elec- tric lines that belt the county, and in the shadow of the handsome and commodious post offices that dot the county today we can, with little stretch of the imagination, see the log ones which received and dis- tributed the primitive mails. Then the people trudged miles to send and receive their seanty mails, but now well-dressed servants of the government deliver the

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

mails at their very doors, no matter how isolated they are, and the daily newspaper is one of the burdens of the faithful "rural router."

From the old letter with its waxen seal we have advaneed to the convenient stamp and the fashionable letter paper, and the postmaster no longer ealls upon his pat- rons to settle for little accommodations of trust. If some of the old keel boats that ent the limpid waters of the Miami could be resurrected they would become the great- est curiosities imaginable and the calls of the ancient boatmen would make unique records for the modern phonograph. One must remember that within the space of one hundred years this country has devel- oped from the primitive into the modern

stage of its existence, making a progress that is little short of the marvelous.

For instance, when Cornelius Westfall, who kept the first Troy post office when much of this country was a howling wilder- ness, and when, in 1811, Arthur Brandon received from President Madison his com- mission as postmaster at Piqua, little was thought of the future of our great common- wealth. Yet from these early experiences in transportation sprang the civilization now enjoyed by the country, though, as has been said, it is difficult to realize the ad- vance that has been made. It has been re- marked that if the old pioneer could revisit the scenes of his abode he would be as much astonished at the progress of the country as are its citizens of the present day.

CHAPTER VI.

THE TOWNSHIPS (WESTERN)

Washington, Concord, Monroe, Union, Newton and Newberry Townships; Their Boundaries and History-Early Settlers-Heroes of the Revolution and War of 1812-Development of Natural Resources-First Mills, Founding of the Villages; Tippecanoe, Etc.

Before giving in detail an account of Troy and Piqua, which are the largest municipalities of the county, I shall devote two chapters to the history of the town- ships and the towns which are found within their limits. Prior to 1807 the county com- prised but two townships. The division west of the Miami was called Randolph Township, while the eastern section was named Elizabeth. The genesis of these titles as applied to the divisions is obscure and not traceable. Randolph Township be- its name very long. In fact it disappeared within a year and the territory therein em- braced was divided into more townships. In the same manner, that portion of the county which had been given the general name of Elizabeth, was divided until the six townships lying east of the river had been formed.

ing too large, was not permitted to retain . the history of the county and it witnessed

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

Washington Township, though the small- est in area, is the most populous division of the county. It is named for General

Washington and justly so since to the "first great American" we owe much con- cerning the opening of the Miami country. The boundaries of Washington Township are as follows: On the north by Shelby County, on the east by Springcreek and Staunton Townships, on the south by Con- cord and Newton and on the west by New- berry. To Washington Township belongs the credit of some of the first settlements in the state. It was the home of some of the Indian tribes so closely identified with not a few stirring events in early history. It has aptly been said that "here was the last home of the red man in the county and here the earliest white settlements." From the Indian cantons in Washington Town- ship, the Indian forayed into Kentucky and when loaded with the spoil of his depreda- tions, he returned to the banks of the Miami and at Piqua told to attentive listen- ers around the forest fires the story of the bloody raid.

The county had been a legally organized commonwealth about seven years before

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

Washington Township came into existence. Prior to this time (1814) several settle- ments had been made within its present limits. One Job Gard, who had been a soldier in Wayne's army, taking note of this particular region when the army passed north to punish the Indians on the Maumee in 1794, returned after the can- paign and built for himself a cabin out of timber which had been used in the con- struction of old Fort Piqua. Gard's settle- ment is supposed to have been an event of 1798. This first pioneer of Washington Township remained in his habitation for three years when he sold out to John Man- ning, a man closely identified with the early history of the county. From this date the tide of settlement in the northern portion of the county can easily be traced. The cabins of the settlers, hitherto far apart, were to be found in little groups which formed a protection from the Indi- ans and stimulated neighborly intercourse. The needs of the little colony in Washing- ton Township increased. Hand mills for the grinding of corn were erected, but these failing to sufficiently provide for the wants of the community, regular mills came into use, and in 1804 Manning erected one near what is now the south end of Harrison Street in Piqua. It was the first real mill in that section of the county.

With the organization of the township the first trustees were elected. They were John Widney, Benjamin Brandon, and William Mitchell. The Mitchells came from Tennessee and were hardy, honest and en- terprising people. It is noticeable that many of the first settlers of the county came from the Southern states. This fact may be traced to the Boones and others who had penetrated to this region years

before to carry back to their friends flatter- ing reports of the fertile valleys which lay north of the Ohio, a veritable "land of promise." It is somewhat remarkable that but little is known of the actual settlement of Washington Township outside of the City of Piqua. One of the first inhabitants of the township was the celebrated Col. John Johnston, the Indian agent. Others were James and Frank Johnston, Hugh Scott, Benjamin Leavell, John and Enos Manning, Armstrong Brandon, and Mat- thew Caldwell. Another well known char- acter was Joseph Porquette, who kept about the first liquor store in the county.

The late Dr. Dorsey, in his reminis- cences, has this to say of Porquette, wlio, from his name, was evidently French : "At that time there was quite a broad strip of land between the east side of the street in Piqua and the west end of the river bridge. This was claimed by Porquette. Ewing, a local trader, kept a tavern, in which he had a few articles of traffic which he sometimes exchanged with the Indians for skins and furs. As the village grew, the consumption of liquor naturally increased, and Por- quette kept some whiskey on his side of the street, which was not a little frequented from the fact that the first blacksmith shop stood hard by, and hence it happened that occasionally little disturbances arose in this vicinity, somewhat to the disgust of the good and sober people in the other houses. As the numbers year by year in- creased and these outbreaks became more marked and frequent, Porquette's little piece of ground was at length called by the distinctive appellation of the 'Devil's Half-acre,' that it might be known that it was believed that this was all the territory to which it was believed His Satanic Maj-

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

esty could rightfully lay claim within this locality. This name continued for many years, and it was only after the larger por- tion of the ground was buried in the canal and the evil spirit properly laid beneath its waters that the name was lost and is now only remembered by a few of the old inhab- itants."

Much of the improved land in Washing- ton Township today was cultivated by the Indians in corn. It was this fact which induced George Rogers Clark to invade this particular locality in 1782 when, as has already been narrated in this work, he dev- astated these fields, laying them waste and depriving the red men of their sustenance. The Indian corn fields stretched along the bank of the Miami in Washington Town- ship and were cultivated by the women of the various tribes. When the whites came they found some of these fields in a fair state of cultivation, but the Indian method was very primitive. The pioneers of Wash- ington Township at once improved on the Indian's work and before long their own fields were the wonder of the early days. As the village of Piqua grew in importance a little market for grain was established and later on the boating industry enabled the settlers to reach the outside world which lay beyond the forests of the Miami.

No other township in the county fur- nished a sturdier group of settlers than Washington. They came of a hardy race, immigrants from beyond the barriers of the Alleghanies, men who made that long journey alone, looking for the new land of which they had heard and longed to pos- sess. If the docket of Mathew Caldwell, who was the first justice of the peace of Washington Township, could be unearthed, its few entries would show how peaceably

its first inhabitants got along together. There was little litigation and nearly all the cases that came up before Justice Cald- well were settled by the advice of friends or of the Justice himself. In short the neighborhood was not disturbed by quar- rels, and it was not until Piqua became a large town that the dockets assumed visible proportions. Since it is designed to give the history of Piqua in a separate chapter we will turn our attention to another town- ship.

CONCORD TOWNSHIP.

The organization of Concord Township is contemporaneous with the formation of the county. It is located centrally, being bounded on the north by Washington, on the east by the Miami, on the South by Monroe and on the west by Newton. Its name means "peace," though at various times since its promotion and during po- litical years it has swung away from that appellation. It does not contain much In- dian history, as no Indian villages seem to have been built within its borders. Among the first whites to settle in Concord Town- ship were: Aron Tullis, William Barbee, Reuben Shackelford and Alexander Tel- ford. These came about 1804. In 1806 came John Peck from Kentucky with four sons, Jacob, John, Joseph and Isaac and four daughters. This family located on the Boone place south of Troy. Peck ar- rived in the winter season and paid $100 for 160 acres of excellent land, only one acre of which was cleared. His little cabin of simple construction contained but one room, 16x18, and this housed the entire family. Peck drove all his cattle through the wilderness from Kentucky, guarding them by day and by night from Indians

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

and wild beasts. It was a long and peril- ous journey, but the pioneer was undaunt -- ed and was at least rewarded for his trou- ble by finding a home near the waters of the Miami. In the second year of his resi- dence in Concord Township all his stock died save one mare, three cows and a few sheep, and with this remnant he was com- pelled to begin life anew. It was a gigantic task which confronted John Peek and his family, but all went to work with a will and before long found themselves well sit- uated with all the losses recovered and good prospects ahead.

In 1805 Abraham Thomas joined the little colony in Concord Township. Thomas had had some experience in war, as he had been a soldier in the Revolution, and an enlisted man in both of Clark's expedi- tions against the Indians in the Miami country. Like Mr. Peck, he made the jour- ney from Kentucky with his family, con- sisting of his wife and four children. The emigrants reached the Staunton settle- ment, where they remained for a few hours, then forded the Miami at the "broad ford" as it is yet called. From the river bank Thomas and his sons were obliged to cut a road through the forest to their farm not far south of Troy. On this piece of land these pioneers first cut the brush out and built what was called a "camp." This was not the comfortable cabin, a few of which may still be found standing at the present day. It was a structure still more modest in its pretensions. Instead of logs. the sides were hastily built up with poles, the cracks between them were stuffed with moss and the roof and floor were made of bark. The front side of the structure was left entirely open and a huge fire built in front of it. Here there were no troubles

with rats in the cellar, cats in the garret, smoky chimneys, slamming doors or lack of ventilation. The good housewife cooked her bear-meat, venison and wild turkey at her primitive range and spread a board which epienres might envy. The family lived in such a camp for a few weeks until a more substantial log cabin could be com- pleted. The cracks of this were chinked with mud and daubed with mud and a door and chimney were not forgotten. One little aristocratic feature of the new structure will readily be forgotten nowadays-four panes of real glass were used in the win- dows instead of greased paper.

When the cabin, one of the first erected in Concord Township was finished. Pioneer Thomas and his sturdy sons went into the woods, which soon resounded with the sound of their axes. The first task was the planting of an orchard, trees for which they had thoughtfully brought from Kentucky. In time these trees bore lus- cions pipins, and but few years have elapsed since the last of these pioneer or- chards disappeared.

Across the river from the Staunton set- tlement lay what was known as the Ga- hagan Prairie. Mr. Thomas rented ten acres of this rich bottom land, which he planted with the necessaries of life, while he and his sons cleared the homestead. On this farm Mr. Thomas passed the remain- ing years of his life, dying in 1843, and was buried by the famous LaFayette Blues, a Troy military organization commanded by Lieutenant Pettit. Abram Thomas is a fair sample of the early pioneers of the county. It is said of him that his charac- ter was unimpeachable, that he possessed a daring spirit, and being of a robust and hardy constitution. he was often detailed

HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY

for the most important and hazardous service in time of war. He took part in the Revolutionary War and in many a hard fought Indian skirmish before and since that period.

Among the other early settlers of Con- cord Township were Foust, McGimpsey and Steward. These settled near the Peck place, and in 1807 the small colony was in- creased by the addition of David Jenkins, of South Carolina, and James Knight of Pennsylvania. The Concord colony was increasing. Gahagan's Prairie was giving forth crops that cheered the heart of the pioneer and made him satisfied with his change. In fact this tract, having once been "farmed" by the Indians, was easily induced to yield to the industry of the set- tler. Snch was the fertility of this ground that the first year with its primitive uten- sils Mr. Peck got forty-one bushels of corn to the acre. Through the woods of Con- cord, over the winding trails, the settlers went to mill on horseback. No wagons were theirs. Up to about 1814 only two wagons were to be found in this whole re- gion and they were not accessible for use.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio, Part 9

Author: Harbaugh, T. C. (Thomas Chalmers), 1849-1924, ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 882

Author: Harbaugh, T. C. (Thomas Chalmers), 1849-1924, ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 882