Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th, Part 4

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1086

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"Those who, for the first time, view this 'old Indian fort' as a means of de-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

fense against an outside enemy, are disappointed, because the most ignorant combatant would hesitate to go or remain inside, if an enemy were upon the out- side. It has too much the appearance of a trap. In fact it is a trap. The whole surrounding landscape of nearly two square miles, is a huge trap, or typical ambush, the culmination of the Indian hunting grounds, and at the same time the

West Point of most of his military train- ing; for whether game or enemies were decoyed or driven into similar localities and enclosures, in the succeeding contest and almost certain slaughter, the native Indian was at home in all the detail of conquest and capture."

These descriptions of Prof. Snavley's appeared in the newspapers several years ago and are used by his kind permission.

CHAPTER II.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Character of the Surface-Elevation above Lake Erie-Mad River-Tributaries of Mad River-Little Miami and Other Streams-Character and Fertlity of the Soil-Timber-Comparative Table of Crops.

CHARACTER OF SURFACE.

The surface of Clark County is what might be termed undulating. The risings from the valleys attending Mad River, the Little Miami, and their tributaries, are hardly sufficient to be properly designated as hills, although it may be used to des- ignate the broken surface of this county in comparison with that of the valley. This rough or broken land is, with but few exceptions, found on the edges of the valleys. After the heights of these broken lands or ridges have been reached, a plateau or stretch of level land is found which extends to the beginning of the next valley. The hills, if. I may term them such, valleys, and plateaus, are not confined to any particular part of the county.

Immediately west of the city of Spring- field, in what is now called Aberfelda Park, the roughness of the surface is such as to make as fine natural scenery as can he found anywhere in central Ohio. The stream called Rock Run extends up

through it and is fed by several very fine springs, and affords some very beautiful miniature water falls.

The ridge of rocks and rising land along the west side of the valley of Mad River, passing the birthplace of Tecumseh be- tween Aberfelda and Medway, with its varied forms of timber and vegetable growth, especially in the autumn of the year when the leaves assume a variegated hue, present a view beyond the criticism of nature's most fastidious lovers.

Here it should not be forgotten that the entrance to Ferncliff Cemetery in the City of Springfield has been pronounced by extensive travelers not to be excelled anywhere. In other parts of the coun- ty from the elevated lands, magnificent views of the valleys of Mad River and Buck Creek can be obtained, sometimes extending for miles and miles.

There is some broken land south of Enon and along the north fork of the Little Miami, north of Selma. A consid- erable stretch, also, will be found east of Vienna, and smaller portions east and

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

north of Lawrenceville; along Chapmans and Bonnels Creek and in various other parts. Perhaps the largest extent of what might be termed hill land is found in the northern and western parts of Pleasant Township around the village of Catawba. Very seldom, however, is any of this broken land of such a character as to unfit it for agricultural purposes ; much of it, being of the limestone formation, is quite fertile.

The entire county casts its surface water into the great Mississippi water- shed, being drained directly by the big and little Miami Rivers and their trib- utaries into the Ohio.

ELEVATIONS ABOVE LAKE ERIE.

Erie Railroad at Bowlusville .... 393 feet. 66 " Springfield Sta-

tion 335

Pan Handle Railroad at Enon. . 451 יו 66 Hen-

nessey's 458 “

Pan Handle Railroad at Selma. 510 “ 66 60 South Charleston .553 “ Pan Handle Railroad at Spring- field Station 418

Big Four Railroad at Moorefield. 448 Lake Erie above sea level, 573 feet.

Ohio River at Cincinnati, 134 feet be- its source has an altitude of 1,438 feet low Lake Erie.

MAD RIVER.

"The rivers how they run

Through woods and meads in shade and sun

Sometimes swift, sometimes slow,

Wave succeeding wave, they go

A various journey to the deep

Like human life in endless sleep."

Mad River is the principal stream with- in the county. The origin of the name has never been satisfactorily explained. In Gist's journal, 1749, it is referred to as Made Creek, it probably receiving its name from the fact that while it is gen- erally a placid and harmless stream, yet frequently after long and unusual rains it becomes a stream of considerable magnitude, a ruinous, raging torrent of water, "mad" in the true sense of the term. In the Shawnese language it was called Athe, ne, sepe, meaning a flat or smooth stone river. It enters the county in the northeastern corner of German Township from Champaign County, thence south through German Township, for a short distance, forming the bound- ary line between it and Moorefield Town- ship, then through its western part of Springfield Township, then forming the boundary line between Bethel and Mad River Township, to the Greene County line a short distance east of the Mont- gomery County line.

The following as to its characteristics is a quotation from Beers' history :

"The valley of Mad River is the most topographical feature of the county. Rising in the island of Huron Shale (black slate) just east of Bellefontaine,

above the tide water, which is as great as that of any other point in the State. The stream then passes over the edge of the Carboniferous limestone, over a consid- erable outcrop of Helderberg limestone, in Champaign County, and finds its way to Clark County over a flat tract of country which is underlaid by the Niagara lime- stone, but at such depth that it is nowhere exposed in the bed of the stream. Swampy .

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY

borders of considerable extent are found along its course in Champaign and the northern part of Clark Counties, which help to bestow upon the stream its com- paratively permanent character. These borders, locally called 'cat-head prairies,' consist largely of vegetable accumula- tions, and are peculiarly retentive of moisture. Ditches draw the water but for a very short distance on either side, and therefore it is almost impossible to drain these tracts.

"The tributaries of Mad River share in the peculiarities that it possesses, in the districts through which they flow. Those that enter the river near Spring- field have wrought out picturesque and beautiful valleys in the Cliff limestone, as, for instance, Buck Creek and Mill Creek, which crosses the Dayton Pike two miles below the city. The configuration of the valley at the junction of Mill Creek and Mad River indicates a long-continued history, in which the streams have oc- cupied very different geographical rela- · tions from those now to be observed. A solitary remnant of their denuding action is found in a little island of Cliff rock, of three-fourths of an acre in area, that rises thirty feet above the general level in the angle between the two streams.

"Almost all the streams of the county, great and small, have their springs, and earlier courses in drift deposits. They flow for awhile, many of them, indeed, through their whole extent, in broad and very shallow valleys that they have wrought in the surface accumulations of clay and gravel. In such cases, the width of the valleys is greatly disproportioned to their depth. On the eastern side of the county, the descent of a few feet-not

more than twenty-five feet below the gen- eral level -- brings us to a broad, flat plain, one-half of a mile in width, perhaps. A stream of insignificant proportions meanders through the valley, but seems lost in the expanse. Indeed, the single- spanned bridge in the midst of a level tract is often our only intimation that we are crossing a valley. The several forks of the little Miami in Green and Madison Townships furnish good examples of this sort. It may be noted, in passing, that these broad and shallow valleys constitute some of the finest agricultural districts of the county.

"The present topography of the county is to be mainly attributed to erosive agencies, which are still in progress. All that is wanting to complete the horizontal plain 'of rock which originally filled the area of the county has been carried away by running water. The surface of the county has been worn and chiseled by these agencies to a degree quite beyond a ready recognition, for these channels have been silted up by the drift deposits so as to be greatly reduced in dimensions, or even wholly concealed from view, unless some accidental section exposes them. The present surface of the county is ir- regular, through a considerable portion of it, the gravels and clays having been left in hills and hollows; but it is certain that the rocky floor has a far more un- even surface.

"The lowest land in the county is found in the valley of Mad River, in the south- western corner of Mad River Township. It is about 325 feet above low water mark of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. From this lowest level, taken as a floor, the whole county is built up to the extent of

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

100 feet, with the upper-most beds of the Blue Limestone or Cincinnati group. The average thickness of the Clinton lime- stone, the next story of the county, does not exceed twenty-five feet, and the heav- iest single section of the Niagara group gives seventy-five feet in addition to these measurements. The deposits of the drift formation are built up in many instances from 75 feet to 100 feet above the rocky floor.

"The highest land of the county, then, is 'from 600 to 625 feet above low water mark at Cincinnati, or from 1,025 feet to 1,050 feet above tide water. Some isolated points may exceed even this elevation by a few feet. The summits of Pleasant Township have probably as great an ele- vation as any land in the county.

"The sand and gravel are left over the surface of the country in picturesque knolls and ridges, which add greatly to natural beauty, and which, in the ad- vantages they offer for building sites and road materials, form no mean element in its desirability for human habitation. These knolls and ridges are not the rem- nants of more extensive beds that covered the whole face of the country originally, as might be thought at the first inspec- tion, but they were deposited where we find them, and in the same form that they now possess.

"This is clearly proved by the lines of deposition that their sections fur- nish. The ridges often inclose basin- shaped depressions of small extent, which can be accounted for in no other way than as the results of the original deposition of the surrounding masses. These de- pressions are particularly noticeable in

the northeastern corner of the county, near Catawba."

In pioneer and subsequent days the water of this stream was utilized in va- rious places for mill power, most of which have now been abandoned.

From Springfield south, the soil in the valley is underlaid with gravel, and does not need artificial drainage to fit it for agriculture. From the city north artifi- cial drainage is needed in many places to bring the soil in a condition for a high state of cultivation. However, the river having an average fall of eight feet to the mile this is not difficult of accomplish- ment.

Mad River is not what is known as a navigable stream, although it is stated that David Lowry early in the last cen- tury took a boat from presumably this side of Medway down to Cincinnati. In 1825, however, it is known that John Jack- son, who married Nellie Lowry, built a flat boat on the north bank of Donnel's Creek and in high water he launched it, taking three or four of his children, and floated down the Mad River, thence to the Miami, and then to the Ohio and Miss- issippi, settling in Tennessee.

TRIBUTARIES OF MAD RIVER.

From its central and important posi- tion in the topography of the county, Mad River has a considerable number of tribu- taries entering into it in this county vary- ing in size and importance. The first that enters the river as we come up the stream is Muddy Run. This stream has its origin in the west part of Green Township, not far north of Hustead, and flows in a southwesterly direction in Mad River

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY

Township, entering into the river a short distance above the Montgomery line. The valley is narrow and its borders some- what hilly.

Mud Creek is a stream on the west side of the river and enters into the river in Miami County, and extends north through the western part of Bethel Township. The lands are tolerably level and the stream somewhat sluggish.

Jackson Creek empties into the river about a mile and a half above Medway and extends north through Bethel and Pike Township almost paralleling Don- nel's Creek. It is hardly anything more than a wet weather stream.

Donnel's Creek enters into Mad River about a mile up the stream from Jackson Creek. It receives its name from Don- nel, an early settler along its banks. It extends north through Donnelsville, pass- ing North Hampton, and some of its branches extend as far as Dialton in Pike Township. It is larger than Jackson Creek, but not generally fed by springs and sometimes becomes almost dry in periods of drought.

Rock Run is the name of the next creek that enters Mad River. Like the two previous ones it has its entrance from the north or west side and enters the river about three-quarters of a mile above Durbin, and extends up through German Township. Its principal branch is known as Miller Creek, it is fed by springs and by reason of its very great fall afforded in earlier times a considerable number of mill sites.

Thus far we have but one stream to enter the river on the south or east side. The next one, however, comes from that direction and is designated Mill Creek.

This empties into the river about three- quarters of a mile south of the National Road. It has several branches and re- ceives considerable of its flow from springs and affords excellent water for grazing purposes. Formerly there were some mills upon it.

About half a mile above where Mill Creek enters the river, and a short dis- tance south of the National Road, west of Springfield, Buck Creek, its principal tributary, enters into Mad River. The Indian name of this'stream is Lagonda. In size it is about half that of the river. It extends northeasterly through the city and township of Springfield and through the township of Moorefield near the vil- lage of New Moorefield, having its source near Mechanicsburg in Champaign Coun- ty. It is a spring-fed stream and always furnishes a considerable water-flow.

Almost in the center of Springfield, Buck Creek has a tributary called Mill Run. It has now, in the main part of the city, been covered over and is used prin- cipally for sewer purposes. It has its source east of the city, south of the Big Four railroad. In former times it was considered of sufficient importance to af- ford mill privileges.

A short distance above the city of Springfield, not far from the present water works, there enters into Buck Creek, Beaver Creek. This creek is almost as large as that into which t enters. Like Buck Creek it re- ceives considerable of its waters from springs. The main source of Beaver Creek is not far from Brighton in the eastern part of the county. Within a few miles of where Beaver Creek enters into Buck Creek it receives Sinking Creek, its

THE JUDGE HALSEY PROPERTY, SPRINGFIELD

STAND PIPE, SPRINGFIELD

WESTERN SCHOOL, SPRINGFIELD

OLD COURT HOUSE ( Erected 1819-22)

OLD CITY HALL, SPRINGFIELD ( Erected 1848)

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD (Erected 1845)

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

principal tributary. This Creek has its source in the southern part of Pleasant Township.

A short distance above New Moorefield another branch is received by Buck Creek. This branch extends easterly around south and east of Catawba. The valley of Buck Creek is not very wide but in many places is very fertile. About half or three-quarters of a mile south of the bridge across Mad River, on the St. Paris Pike, Pondy Creek enters from the west into Mad River. It has its source a mile or so north of Lawrenceville. For a short distance from its source it flows to the northeast, coming within less than a mile of Chapman's Creek, south of Tre- mont City; thence south parallel to the River. It has a turbulent little branch en- tering it about two miles from its mouth called Dry Run. Both of these streams are what may be called dry-water streams. About half a mile north of the Eagle City mill, Mad River divides, one part flowing around to the east for about two miles · until it again enters the river. This is called the prong, the main part of the river being taken south past the mills at Eagle City. Into this prong, perhaps half a mile north of the Eagle City Road, enters a stream which, as now composed, includes the waters of Moore's Run and Kenton Creek, originally Kenton Creek only. This stream is a fresh-water stream having its source north of Villa in Moore- field Township. It receives its name from the fact that Simon Kenton at one time lived in that immediate vicinity. Its orig- inal name was Jarbo's creek, named from Phillip Jarbo, who was Kenton's brother- in-law.

Originally Moore's Run entered into

Mad River about a quarter of a mile south of the Tremont Road, and extended in a northeasterly direction up into Cham- paign County. Recently, however, it has become diverted from its original channel and now joins with Kenton Creek. Its waters are almost entirely of spring form- ation, and consequently its flow of water is very regular, and it affords an excel- lent stream for stock watering purposes.

Immediately south of the Tremont Road, Chapman's Creek enters into the river. It has its source in Champaign County, within a few miles of St. Paris. It received its name from Chapman, an early resident. It is a stream of consider- able fall and of some size during rainy weather. It is not of spring formation and therefore not very reliable for mill- ing purposes.

Not far south of the county line, Storms Creek enters the river, and it ex- tends through a small portion of this county. It receives its name from Mr. Storms, an old resident.

On the east side of the river not far from the county line enters Cedar Creek. This creek has its formation a few miles north of Champaign County. Storms Creek is much similar to Chapman's Creek in the source of its water supply, while Cedar Creek is much similar to Moore's Run and affords a constant sup- ply of pure spring water.

THE LITTLE MIAMI AND OTHER STREAMS.

The Little Miami River has its source in branches having their beginning in Springfield, Harmony and Madison Town- ships and leaves the county a few miles east of the village of Clifton. Along this

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY

stream between Clifton and Yellow Springs the river flows through a gorge thirty or forty feet deep and in some places less than twenty feet in width and affords the finest piece of natural scenery around this part of the state. The north fork of this stream has its source not far from the village of Plattsburg, and enters the main channel not far from the county line, being about twenty miles in length.

The Lisbon fork has its source near the east county line not far from where the C. C. C. & St. L. Railroad Company en- ters, and unites with the south fork a few miles west of South Charleston forming the river .proper, the south fork flowing around south of South Charleston and having its source a few miles east of South Charleston near the C. C. C. & St. L. Railway.

There is a little stream called Massie's Creek which flows in a southwesterly direction in Madison Township and en- ters the Little Miami River in Greene County. Honey Creek is a branch of the Big Miami, having its source in several branches which have their beginnings in the northern part of Pike Township. It passes through the village of New Carlisle and leaves the county west of that place. It has a considerable flow of water, much of which is of spring formation. Its val- ley forms some of the richest soil to be found in the Miami Valley.

CHARACTER AND QUALITY OF THE SOIL.

The fertility of the soil of the Miami Valley has long been recognized as being of a high grade, as the following quota- tion from Howe bears evidence :

"Long before any permanent settle- ment was made in the Miami Valley, its

beauty and fertility were known to the inhabitants of Kentucky and the people beyond the Alleghanies, and repeated ef- forts were made to get possession of it. These efforts led to retaliation on the part of the Indians, who resented the attempt to dispossess them of their lands, and the continuous raids back and forth across the Ohio River to gain or keep control of this beautiful valley, caused it to be called, until the close of the eighteenth century, the "Miami Slaughter-house." The re- port of the French Major, Celoron de Bienville, who, in August, 1749, ascended the La Roche or Big Miami River in bateaux, to visit the Twightwee villages at Piqua, has been observed, but Gist, the agent of the Virginians, who formed the Ohio Land Company, was probably the first person who wrote a description in English of the region surrounding Day- ton. Gist visited the Twightwee or Miami villages in 1751. He was delighted with the fertile and well-watered land, with its large oak, walnut, ash, wild cherry and other trees. 'The country,' he says, 'abounded with turkey, deer, elk, and most sorts of game, particularly buffaloes, thirty or forty of which are frequently seen feeding in one meadow; in short, it wants nothing but cultivation to make it a most delightful country. The land upon the Great Miami River is very rich, level and well timbered, some of the finest meadows that can be. The grass here grows to a great height on the clear fields, of which there are a great number, and the bottoms are full of white clover, wild rye and blue grass.' It is stated by pioneer writers that the buffalo and elk disappeared from Ohio about the year 1795.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

"The development of the Miami Valley has shown that the glowing accounts of the early explorers as to the fertility of the soil were not too highly colored. The 'Mad River Country,' as this region was called by the first pioneers, was the syn- onym for all that was desirable in farm- ing lands.

The soil in every part of the county is more or less mixed with limestone drift. In the valleys it is of a red, dark color, and adapted to the raising of corn. In the southern part of the county around Medway, considerable tobacco is grown. In Pike and German townships, while good crops of corn and wheat can be grown, the soil is particularly adapted to the growing of oats. In many parts of Mad River Valley the soil is of that rich loamy character that gives a profitable growth to potatoes. The county being ramified in every direction with streams, as the description heretofore given will show, makes it exceedingly well adapted for pasturage purposes, and while the land has become almost too valuable to be used for stock-raising purposes, yet a growing city makes a considerable de- mand for products of dairy, and that in- dustry is growing rapidly.

TIMBER.

In reference to the kind of timber that would naturally grow upon the soil in Clark County, the following from Prof. Orton can be read with profit:

"The native forests of the drift regions were, without exception, hard-wood for- ests, the leading species being oaks, maples, hickories, the walnut, beech and elm. The walnut, sugar maple and white

hickory and. to quite an extent, the burr oak, are limited to warm, well-drained land, and largely to limestone land. The upland clays have one characteristic and all-important forest tree, viz., the white oak. It occupies vastly larger areas than any other single species. It stands for good land, though not the quickest or most generous, but intelligent farming can always be made successful on white oak land. Under-draining is almost always in order, if not necessary, on this division of our soils. The regions of sluggish drainage, already referred to, are oc- cupied in their native state by the red maple, the elm, and by several varieties of oaks, among which the swamp Spanish oak is prominent. This noble forest growth of Ohio is rapidly disappearing. The vandal-like waste of earlier days is being checked to some degree, but there is still a large amount of timber, in the growth of which centuries have been con- sumed, annually lost.

"The character of the land when its occupation by civilization was begun in the last century was easily read by the character of its forest growths. The judgments of the first explorers in regard to the several districts were right in every respect but one. They could not do full justice to the swampy regions of that early day, but their first and second-class lands fall into the same classifications at the present time. In the interesting and instructing narrative of Col. James Smith's captivity among the Indians, we find excellent examples of this discrimi- nating judgment in regard to the soils of Ohio as .they appeared in 1755. The 'first-class land' of that narrative was the land occupied by the sugar tree and wal-

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Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th, Part 4

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co. Number of Pages: 1086

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1086