USA > Ohio > Clark County > Springfield > Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th > Part 10
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109
-
1
CHAPTER VI.
PIONEERS AND PIONEER DAYS.
No Time Like the Old Time- The Squatter-The Pioneer and his Times-First Settlers and Settlements-Present Pioneers -- Wild Animals and Their Ex- tinction John Paul, the First Settler-Johnny Appleseed and other Char- acters-Simon Kenton.
No TIME LIKE THE OLD TIME.
"There is no time like the old time, when you and I were young,
When the buds of April blossomed, and the birds of springtime sung !
The garden's brightest glories by summer suns are nursed,
But, oh, the sweet, sweet violets, the flow- ers that opened first !
There is no place like the old place where you and I were born,
Where we lifted first our eyelids on the splendors of the morn,
From the milk-white breast that warmed us, from the clinging arms that bore, Where the dear eyes glistened o'er us that will look on us no more!
There are no times like the old times -- they shall never be forgot!
There is no place like the old place-keep green the dear old spot!
There are no friends like our old friends -may Heaven prolong their lives !
There are no loves like our old loves --- God bless our loving wives !" 5
THE SQUATTER.
As an intermediate link between the passing away of the Indian and the com- ing of the white man, trenching on the border line of both periods, there ap- peared in the settlement of the northwest the unique character of the squatter, an individual who had little respect for the laws of God or man. Wherever he took off his hat and made his bed, that he claimed as his own. He knew nothing of the laws recognizing society, he cared nothing for those relating to morality. Very often too lazy and indolent to look after the cares of the household, he mar- ried a squaw solely for the purpose that she might perform that drudgery. A dare-devil fellow who enjoyed a fight as much as a frolic. He loved the products of the still, and sometimes raised energy enough to have a small one of his own. If he had any occupation at all, it was of that kind that excited his love of sport, such as hunting and trading.
As soon as his liberties were curtailed, he moved on to a country that would allow
1
90
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY
him to exercise his own sweet will. Some- the middle of the cabin, for the purpose times he was a fugitive from justice from the older colonies and at other times he had drifted into this mode of living easily because he did not have talent and energy enough to enter into a more respectable one.
As the pioneer came he vanished. To have given him the title of "pioneer" would have been as much a misnomer as to have mentioned him as one of "the 400" of society.
THE PIONEER AND HIS TIMES.
The pioneer was an entirely different kind of person, and came to the new coun- try with entirely different objects in view. He usually brought his family with him, if not, he married in his proper station. He was a patriot and respecter of per- sons, a believer in religion, and an en- courager of the cause of education. The first thing that he did was to build him- self a home, and the ownership of the home has always been regarded as one of the great safeguards of American liber- ties. Very often he came from the col- onies across the mountains in a wagon bringing all his belongings with him, and while he was putting up his humble log cabin his family lived in the wagon. The log cabin of the pioneer was a structure peculiar in its arrangement and ar- chitecture. There was what is known as the single and double cabin, but the single cabin was the one usually constructed. This had at one end a large fireplace chalked up with mud, where brick or stone was not available. At each side, in the middle of the cabin there was a door. These doors were very often placed in
of taking the horse through in drawing large logs into the house that were put in the fireplace. These cabins usually did not have an upstairs, but if they did, sometimes the stairway was on the out- side. The roof was made of clapboards, that is, a thin board split out of timber about three or four feet in length. The logs out of which the cabin was con- structed were notched at the corners to fit into each other, the spaces in between were filled with mud, or daubed, as it was then styled. If a floor was made in the cabin, it was made of logs split in two, which were called puncheons. The door was fastened by a latch inside and a string was passed through a hole up above to the outside and all that was required when they wished to lock the house was to pull in the string.
A good many people of this generation have not seen the real log cabin. The double log cabin was merely two cabins put together end to end. As a rule one room was all that the cabin contained, un- less some additions were put to it. In this age of convenience we can hardly realize how the pioneer lived. If he wished to read, provided he was able, and if he had anything to read, his light at night was furnished by the burning of a pine knot, or if he was dwelling in more luxury, he might have a grease lamp or possibly a tallow candle. If the good housewife forgot to keep the fire going, considerable dirticulty was experienced in making a new one by the friction method of rubbing sticks together or that of striking flint, or if neither one of these methods were successful, possibly a live coal might be carried from a neighbor's.
91
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
If a new garment was required, flax was to be raised which had to be "broken" and the fibers woven into home- spun, or if garments for winter were de- sired the wool had to be carded and then spun and knit into the desired articles, such as womases, stockings and suspend- ders. If the flour bin was empty, the hus- band would take his horse, throw a sack of wheat over his back and proceed to the mill, sometimes possibly fifty or seven- ty-five miles away, give his toll and re- ceive flour. If new articles for the house were wanted, trips to Dayton or Cincin- nati were required, Money was a thing that was hardly known. The pioneer lived largely by way of barter and ex- change. To keep the time of day they usually watched the course of the sun. Clocks were a rarity. One that now would cost a dollar was then worth an ox. If they did not have shoes to wear to church they went bare-footed, and yet with all these inconveniences they lived perhaps as happily as the average man of today. After the spot of ground was cleared and cabin reared, the ground was fitted for cultivation. Among the first things that were planted were trees of the fruit-bearing variety, and one of the first luxuries of the early days was cider. Root beer was also a favorite beverage, and home-brewed ale; and the community was not settled long before there ap- peared a "still" in the neighborhood. The scarcity of money for articles necessary in good housekeeping or good farming made the pioneers dependent upon each other and perhaps more friendly and sociable in their way than the people of the later and more advanced civilization. In the erection of their cabins and other
buildings, a social gathering was usually made and all came in to lend a helping hand. So in making clearings it was a usual thing to have a log-rolling and when all was through with, ending in a good social time. Necessity made them invent- ors of many of their needed articles. Sugar was made from the sap of the sugar tree, while honey was found in bee trees. The bear and the deer before their final extinction furnished food. One of the earliest animals which proved useful to the pioneer was the hog, the mast in the woods furnished all his needed food, and he required little other attention.
The pioneer by necessity was a jack of all trades, but principally he was an agri- culturist. His acres of land, fitted for that avocation, were few, yet from the rude implements at hand it was sufficient to take up all his time and ingenuity. In- stead of plowing his land with a gang- plow drawn by four spirited horses, breaking two furrows at once or possibly a larger number from an immense plow drawn by a traction engine, he broke his soil with a "jumper" and one horse, or possibly a wooden side-board plow drawn by oxen. When he cut his wheat, his sickle and himself were the implements employed. When he threshed it, he used the flail or tramped it out with the horse or ox. Cleaned it by shaking it with a wooden fork or with a sieve held in his hand. After the sickle came the cradle, then the reaper, where the grain was raked off by hand; then the self-raker, followed by the dropper; this by the marsh harvester which was a machine car- rying two men upon the platform who bound the sheaves of wheat as it was ele- vated up to them; after this came the self-
92
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY
binder using wire for binding material, until today we have the binder with twine. The same advance can be noticed in the culture of corn, first a rude mark was made upon the ground with some kind of a plow, and the grain was dropped and covered with a hoe, afterwards it was covered with a plow, called a straddler or straddle-jack, then came the drill, where by drilling one row, the corn being let out by press of the thumb; then the two-horse planter, on which a person sat and dropped the corn, up to our present machine, where it is planted in blocks by means of a check-roller or wire.
The pioneer often combined the trades of cobbler and blacksmith with that of his other trades. If he did not perform these trades for the use of others he did a great deal of his own work. The blacksmith was one of the most useful callings for the pioneer of the vicinity. His place of business was usually combined with a general repair shop for almost every- thing that was used in the house or upon the farm. The collection in the Historical Society Rooms of this county will repay a visit from anyone, containing as it does specimens of the many rude implements and utensils that our pioneer fathers and mothers were required to use. Theirs was a different age from ours. We could no more carry on our present state of civilization with the meager instruments and implements they had at hand, than they could have performed the required duties of their time with what we have on hand at the present time.
FIRST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS.
After the raid of General Clark, with the results of the battle of Piqua, fol-
lowed by the victories of "Mad" Anthony Wayne, resulting in the treaty of Green- ville, settlers began to flock into this part of the State of Ohio.
The first white child that was born in our state was christened Mary Hecka- welder, the daughter of a Monrovian mis- sionary, and was born April 16, 1781, in the Monrovian towns on the Muskingum River.
The first white child born in Clark County so far as is definitely known was Jesse Chapman, who first saw the light in the year 1800 near the town of Tre- mont City. It is possible that children were born about the same time, to some of the six families that came with Simon Kenton in 1790, but of this we have no record. It is possible that there were white people of the squatter variety in- habiting the Indian village of Piqua or at a trading post, which tradition says was at one time located near the entrance of Buck Creek into Mad River, prior to any of the dates or settlements that may be given, but so far as we know, a man by the name of John Paul was the first actual settler in Clark County. It is known that in 1790 he was living at the forks of Honey Creek a short distance above the present village of New Carlisle. How long prior to that time he had lived there is not known. Some writers seem to think that there is some doubt about his settlement, but Mr. Young who wrote the history of Bethel Township in Beer's History of Clark County gives it as an undoubted fact. (See subsequent sketch.)
In 1795 David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel came into this county and settled in Bethel Township, Mr. Lowry near the mouth of Donnel Creek, named after his
93
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
friend Donnels and Mr. Donnel somewhat further east. A tombstone in the posses- sion of the historical society fixes Lowry's death in this county. Mr. J. E. Lowry, present county commissioner, can trace his ancestry to this pioneer. Both Lowry and Donnels were Pennsyl- vanians. Donnels was a surveyor. Both of these pioneers married after they came into this county. Mr. Donnels, in a fit of temporary insanity, committed suicide close to where the Moores Limestone Quarry is now.
The next record of any settlement we have in this county was in 1796 when two persons by the name of Kreb and Brown made a settlement a little beyond where the Big Four Railroad crosses Mad River south of Springfield, the second time, and it is not far from what is now known as Limestone City. This settlement is known in history as Kreb's Station. No mark exists at this time of its locality. Tradition has it that a noted character, "Johnny Appleseed" visited this local- ity and planted some of his trees.
The next person to make a settlement within this county, so far as we know, was James Galloway. He came from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, and from Ken- tucky to what is now Mad River Town- ship, not later than 1798. Mr. Galloway was a blacksmith and settled on a track of 400 acres of land one mile and a quar- ter directly south of Enon.
After Galloway came John Humphreys and Simon Kenton, in 1799. With these two came James Demint, the founder of Springfield, Philip Jarbo, William Ward, John Richards, William Moore and one other whose name is unknown. They first settled near the Mad River bridge on the
National Road west of Springfield. Here it is said fourteen cabins were raised and a place for retreat made in case of In- dian hostility. It seems that this place was not occupied very long. Jarbo and Ward, and Kenton shortly thereafter moved up along what is now known as the Urbana Pike, Kenton and Jarbo set- tling near the Hunt and Cassilly farms. Humphrey and Demint came up Buck Creek and founded Springfield. In 1800 John Judy, a native of Switzerland, set- tled in Harmony Township. He came to Kentucky and afterward, in 1794, to Greene County, and in his next move set- tled about two miles east of the present site of Plattsburg. In 1802 Joseph Cof- fey emigrated from Pennsylvania. He came in a true pioneer style with an ox and a cart. He brought with him such articles as were necessary to pioneer life, together with his wife and two sons. His first stopping place was a short distance above Cincinnati, but on May 1st, he came to his final location on the forks of Buck Creek about a mile south of Catawba.
Next in point of time, so far as we know, came the Inlows, Henry stopping at Don- nelsville and Abraham settling on section six about two miles and a half northwest of Pitchin. He was a Marylander. Sam- uel and Andrew Black came to Pike Town- ship in 1806, settling on section 25 a mile north of the south line of that township.
In 1807 George Buffenbarger came and located on the head waters of the Little Miami in Madison Township.
Just when a settlement was made by the Stormses around and above Tremont City and German township it is not de- finitely known, but William Chapman and
94
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY
William Ross came near Tremont City in 1798.
From the time these different settle- ments in the different parts of the county were made other settlements rapidly fol- lowed, and it was not many years until the county was dotted all over with settle- ments made by the hardy pioneer.
PRESENT PIONEERS.
At the County Fair held in 1907, the following pioneers registered :
Name. Age.
J. F. Hamm 78
Geo. Ramsey 80
Sanford Flinny 84
John Gesty 87
Wm. Hunter 76
John Weller
90
R. L. Holman
80
Hute Hansy
82
S. D. Hatcher
79
Silas Baker
84
Ross Mitchell 83
John Foos 82
Geo. H. Frey 82
Joseph Byers 92
Rev. W. H. Guss
77
Rebecca Byers 93
F. H. Snyder
78
Wm. A. Barnett 82
74
L. K. Darrys
78
Wm. H. Heist
87
Wm. N. Wins
85
Rev. John G. Black
84
C. H. Wilson
78
Henry D. Bradbury 82
Harvey Strain
77 E. G. Coffin 77
Sebastian Gerhardt
77 Abraham Weaver 85
84
J. G. Hatfield
86 Sarah Baker
94
Wallace Collins
75 Nancy Leas
79
George O. Urquart
75
Esther Craig Fryant
91
Abraham Short
84 Jas. D. Cadwallader
77
Abraham Martin
80 Benjamin Strausburg
90
W. U. Chamberlain
84 Job Ervans
83
Peter Perry
87 Joseph Pearson
80
David Crabill
78 John Yeazell
77
E. R. Stewart
86 J. Harvey Arbogast 73
E. B. West
Michael Shawver 75
W. H. Crabill 81
H. P. Mead 75
John Teasel 77
Edward Reding 75
J. D. Williamson
78
John Kruft
75
David Compton
83
J. Adewalt 75
David Fremont 82
Wm. Foster 75
Joseph Spun
84
Gus Compton 80
John Cord
76
John Stevenson 79
H. W. Swipe 91
James Balentine 84
Wm. Fealey
78
Wm. Wilkinson
78
J. D. Otstot 85
T. S. Poling 82
To this might be properly be added as pioneers :
Name. Age.
Wm. Thomas
76
B. B. Littleton
78
D. E. Shellabarger
80
Geo. Slurey
75
Adam Grube
John Cabell
76
Sarah Morris
75 Dr. Alex. W. Laybourn. 89
95
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Dr. Isaac Kay 79
Henry Deam
82
Daniel Hupp 80
Geo. W. Hastings 81
Michael Hinkle 74
Alex. McConkey 76 78
Jacob B. Lisle
John W. Parsons
J. R. Athy
Benjamin Keifer
Lucinda A. Frankenburg
W. Brand Todd
David Enoch
Samuel Circle
Samuel R. Deffenbach
80
Samuel R. Battin
Pierce Crabill
78 84 83
Robert Tindall
D. T. Gibson 80 Elizabeth Rebert 80 Oscar N. Stewart 75 76
Robert Johnson
J. S. Kitchen
Thomas Wingate
Cornelius Baker
J. L. Kidder
Dr. John H. Rodgers
Joseph Wallingsford
Jas. Wallingsford
Reuben Scifers
Jacob Mitzel
John Ray 94 77
J. T. Ridgely
Mary E. Gard
83 85 77 75
Jeremiah W. Maurice
Christian Brosey
77
David Stewart
75
Robert J. Beck
76
Lewis Patrick 77
Wm. M. Harris 76
Geo. W. Bymaster
75
Among these should also be mentioned Joseph Leffel now seventy-four years of age, forty-six inches in height and weigh- ing sixty-five pounds. Mr. Leffel was
born in this county, his father being James P. Leffel, formerly residing in Lef- i'el's Lane, a man six feet and two inches in height, and the mother weighing 200 pounds. Mr. Leffel is perfect in form, his head, body, legs, feet and hands all being proportionately small. He is the father of three living children and is a well- known poultry dealer.
(See Bethel Township for list at Pio- neer meeting, 1907, and the history of the various townships for mention of their pioneers.)
WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR EXTINCTION.
That the fertile valleys of Mad River and the Little Miami afforded pasturage for the buffalo and elk, as well as for other herbivorous animals, is not ques- tioned.
While there is no definite knowledge of the time when the buffalo and elk ceased to be inhabitants of our county, the best information that we can get on that subject is that they were last known to be in this part of Ohio about the year 1795. The red deer was known to be here as late as 1843. A bear was killed in Mad River Township in 1810, and a brown bear was found in Green Township as late as 1825. The writer's grandmother, when she was a girl about the year 1820, in driving cows home through the forests saw a she bear and two cubs cross her pathway a short distance away from her. She paid no attention to it and the bear paid no attention to her.
Jesse Demint, son of James Demint, the founder of Springfield, shot a panther on the roads north of Buck Creek, Spring- field, Ohio, which measured nine feet in
E. M. Kissell
Lewis Skillings
77 81 85 80 74 84 80 75 77
77 75 84 84
78 82 80
96
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY
length. The date is not known, but it was not later than 1815, and it was the last panther seen in this vicinity.
Opossums, raccoons, and ground-hogs were found in various places in greater or less numbers. These have not become entirely extinct yet, as occasionally an opossum will be found as well as a "coon." Ground-hogs are more or less frequent. Wild turkeys are known to have existed in this county as late as 1857.
Squirrels were in abundance, the gray squirrel being the one noticed at an early date. The red or fox squirrel came at a later period, probably about 1850. The vigilance of the hunter and the thought- lessness of the Legislature in permitting them to be killed, have all but extermi- nated these pretty animals in this county.
The streams and ponds in the spring time of the year always afforded a plenti- ful sight of wild geese and wild ducks. It is related upon unquestioned authority, that less than seventy-five years ago the wild pigeon came in such great numbers along some of the swamp lands in the northern part of the county for their roosting and resting for the night, that trees were broken down by their weight, and the settler of that time would come to this swamp and kill them with sticks. Until within twenty-five years great flocks of this bird were frequently seen in va- rious places in this county, but such a sight now is a rare one. The quail, or partridge, as it is sometimes called, was also frequently found but is now fast disappearing; unless protected in some way it will not be long until it will be entirely extinct.
JOHN PAUL THE FIRST SETTLER.
We have before referred to the fact that John Paul was the first white set- tler, so far as is definitely known, in Clark County. In a recent issue, January 16, 1908, of the New Carlisle Sun, Mr. Julius C. Williams, himself a pioneer, has given a very good history of Mr. Paul in which he states the means of his information, and I deem that I can do no better than to quote this article for the history it gives of the early times as well as the life of the person whom so far as is known was the first white settler of this county.
Mr. Williams says :
"All the printed histories have to say of this man Paul is, that he and his fam- ily were surprised and killed by the In- dians somewhere north of Fort Washing- ton, now the city of Cincinnati, sometime in 1789 or 1790. So far as location is con- cerned the student of history is left to judge for himself where the massacre took place. Some few persons who have taken a deeper interest in the early history of the Miami Valley have delved into early traditions and have sought to show that Mr. Paul and his family met death at the hands of the Indians somewhere near the forks of Twin Creek. The part Mr. Paul and his son, John Paul, Jr., played in the making of Clark County, would indicate that the slaughter must have taken place somewhere within the county's borders.
"One son and one daughter of the Paul family escaped being slaughtered by the Indians. They remained where the father had built the first cabin in Clark County and continued to farm, the son, John, dy- ing at the age of ninety-one years in 1851. He was buried in the New Carlisle ceme-
TOWN HALL, CLIFTON
JESSE BOYD HOTEL ON OLD COLUM- BUS STAGE ROAD (Built 1818)
CHEW MAIL POUCH
TOBACCO
BRIDGE ACROSS MAD RIVER (On Old National Road West of Springfield )
4.5
OLD SCHOOL HOUSE-HOPEWELL SCHOOL South of Springfield on the Old Clifton Road
SPRINGFIELD IN 1832
The engraving is a reproduction from a drawing made by an English gent'eman who visited Mr. Jeremiah Warder, February 23, 1832. The view is from a point directly in front of what was formerly the Mitchell-Thomas Hospital on E. Main street, beyond the R. R. crossing, looking westward. The most prominent building in the center is the old Werden House, now Henry Block. On the right is the Old Court House. The residence on the left was the first house occupied by Jeremiah Warder, now the home of the Misses Burrowes, East High St., opposite Christ's Episcopal Church. The view in the foreground was on the line of the National Road, then in process of con- struction.
99
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
tery where now a marble slab marks his last resting place. Mr. Benjamin Sud- doth who, until death at the age of eighty- nine years, two years ago, was one of the pioneer residents of the county and lived with John Paul, Jr., for a period of thirty years during his early life. In this way Mr. Suddoth heard Mr. Paul tell the story of the massacre many times and be- came quite familiar with all details re- garding the death of John Paul, Sr., his wife and three children. Mr. Suddoth related the following narrative of the Paul family to the writer a number of times, going to the Paul farm and point- ing out the exact location of the original cabin and the place where the slaughter took place.
"Mr. Suddoth heard John Paul, Jr., relate many times the experiences he had with the Shawnee Indians and heard him tell of the slaughter of his father, mother and other members of the family. Ac- cording to the boy's story of his father's life, Mr. Paul, Sr., was a member of the Kentucky Squirrel Hunters who marched with General George Rogers Clark against the Indians at the Battle of Piqua. One division of Clark's army pursued the In- dians westward from Piqua, near what is now Durbin, until they came to Honey Creek. Here, near the forks of the creek on what is now the Joseph Kable farm, the last stand was taken with the Indians against Clark's men. This fact is borne out from the finding of cannon balls and musket balls that compare with those found in the battlegrounds of Piqua. After the skirmish the Indians disap- peared in the forests toward the west, and Clark's men retreated to the south, going back to Kentucky.
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.