USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio, containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its general and local history : with descriptions of its counties, principal towns, and villages > Part 23
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Mr. Merry was a inan of acute observation, practical benevolence and unbounded hos- pitality. He repeatedly represented the county in the legislature of the state, was twice elected to a seat on the bench of the common pleas ; an honor in both instances declined. He died, Jan. 1, 1846, at the age of 73, greatly beloved.
David Abbott, as the first purchaser of land in the township, with a view to its occu- pancy as a permanent " settler," deserves some notice in this brief sketch. Mr. Abbott was a native of Brookfield, Mass. He was educated at Yale College. His health failed, and he was obliged to forcgo a diploma, by leaving college in the early part of his senior year. He soon after entered upon the study of the law, and located himself at Rome, Oneida co., N. Y., whence he came to Ohio, in 1798, and spent a few years at Willoughby, whence he removed to Milan, in 1809. He was sheriff of Trumbull county, when the whole Western Reserve was embraced within its limits; was a member of the conven- tion for the formation of the Constitution of the State, previous to its admission to the Union, in 1802 ; was one of the electors of President and Vice President, in 1812; clerk of the supreme court for the county, and repeatedly a member of both houses of the state legislature. He was a man of eccentric habits, and his life was filled up with the stirring incidents, peculiar to a pioneer in the new settlements of the west. He several times trav- ersed the entire length of Lake Erie, in an open boat, of which he was both helmsman and commander, and in one instance was driven before a tempest, diagonally across the lake, a distance of more than a hundred miles, and thrown upon the Canada shore. There was but one person with him in the boat, and he was employed most of the time in bailing out the water with his hat, the only thing on board capable of being appropriated to such use. When the storm had subsided and the wind veered about, they retraced their course in the frail craft that had endured the tempest unscathed ; and after a weeks absence were hailed by their friends with great satisfaction, having been given up as lost. Mr. Abbott died in 1822, at the age of 57. Of the other citizens who have deceased, and whose names de - serve honorable mention as having contributed in various ways to the prosperity of the town, are Ralph Lockwood, Dr. A. B. Harris and Hon. G. W. Choate.
The religious societies of the place, are a Presbyterian, Methodist and Protestant Epis- copal church, each of which enjoys the stated preaching of the gospel, and is in a flour- ishing state. The two former have substantial and valuable church edifices, the latter so- ciety have one in process of erection.
In 1832, a substantial and commodious brick edifice was erected as an academy, furnish- ing, beside two public school rooms and suitable apartments for a library, and apparatus, ten rooms for the accommodation of students. The annual catalogue for the last ten years, has exhibited an average number of about 150 pupils.
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FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
In 1833, a company of citizens, who had been previously incorporated for the purpose, entered vigorously upon the work of extending the navigation of Lake Erie, to this place by improving the navigation of the river some five miles from its mouth, and excavating a ship canal for the remaining distance of three miles. After much delay, occasioned by want of funds, and an outlay of about $75,000, the work was completed, and the first ves- sel, a schooner of 100 tons, floated in the basin, July 4th, 1839. The canal is capable of being navigated by vessels, of from 200 to 250 tons burden. The chief exports of the place, are wheat, flour, pork, staves, ashes, wool and grass seeds. The surrounding country is rapidly undergoing the improvements incident to the removal of the primitive forests, and with the increased productiveness, the business of the town has rapidly increased.
The value of exports for the year 1844, was $825,098 ; of this, more than three fourths consisted of wheat and flour. The importation of merchandize, salt, plaster, etc., for the same period, was in value $634,711. The almost entire loss of the wheat crop for 1845, very essentially diminished the amount of business from the harvest of 1845, to that of the following year. The last half of 1846, shows a decided increase over any previous season.
In the foregoing sketch, our correspondent does not give the pop- ulation of the town. We should judge it to be not far from ?000.
Castalia, a neat village, 5 miles southwest of Sandusky City, at the head of Coal creek, and bordering on a beautiful prairie of about 3000 acres, was laid out in 1836, by Marshall Burton, and named from the Grecian fount. It contains 2 churches, 5 stores, and about 400 inhabitants.
The source of Coul creek, is a beautiful and curious flooding spring, rising from a level prairie at the village. This spring is about 200 feet in diameter, and 60 feet deep. The water is so pure, that the smallest particle can be seen at the bottom, and when the sun is n the meridian, all the objects at the bottom, logs, stumps, &c., reflect the hues of the rainbow, forming a view of great beauty. The constituents of the water are lime, soda, magnesia and iron, and it petrifies all objects, such as grass, stumps, bushes, moss, &c., which come in contact with it. The stream courses about three miles through the prairie, and empties into Lake Erie. The water is very cold, but never freezes, and at its point of entrance into the lake, prevents the formation of ice. The stream at present furnishes power for twenty two runs of stone. Upon it, are the well-known Castalia and Coul creek mills, the water wheels of which are imperishable from decay, in consequence of their being incrusted by petrifaction. About two miles north of Castalia, is a cave, lately discovered and not as yet fully explored. Seven apartments have been entered, which abound in beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. A dog running into an aperture at the mouth of the cave, in pursuit of a rabbit, led to its discovery. The fountain and cave attract many visiters.
Huron, at the mouth of Huron river, 10 miles east of Sandusky City, is an older town than the county seat, and was formerly the greatest business place in the county. It is as yet an important point for the shipment of wheat, and contains 3 churches, 4 forward- ing houses, 4 stores and about 400 inhabitants. Vermillion, at the mouth of Vermillion river, is a thriving village, containing from 50 to 70 dwellings. Birmingham, a few miles above, on the same stream, is a somewhat smaller village. Berlinville, Berlin Center and Ven- ice are small places in the county.
FAIRFIELD.
FAIRFIELD was formed, December 9th, 1800, by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, and so named from the beauty of its fair fields. It contains every variety of soil, from the richest to the most sterile.
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FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
The western and northern parts are mostly level, the soil of which is very fertile, consisting of a rich loam, with a subsoil of clay. The remainder of the northern and western parts, together with the mid- dle and a part of the eastern portion, is undulating ; the soil good, consisting of a clayey loam, mixed with vegetable mould, and in many parts, interspersed with gravel. The southern part is hilly and broken, the soil of which is thin and barren, composed in many places of sand and gravel. The staples are wheat, rye, oats, buck- wheat, corn, barley, potatoes and tobacco. The following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population.
Amanda,
1937
Hocking,
2120
Pleasant,
2025
Bern,
2431
Lancaster,
3278
Richland,
1960
Bloom,
2288
Liberty,
2778
Rush Creek,
2426
Clear Creek, 1716
Madison,
1085
Violet,
2400
Greenfield, 2148
Perry,
1171
Walnut,
2098
The population of the county, in 1820, was 16,508; in 1830, 24,753; and in 1840, 31,858, or 59 inhabitants to a square mile.
View in Main Street, Lancaster.
Lancaster, the county seat, is situated on the Hockhocking river and canal, on the Zanesville and Chillicothe turnpike, 28 miles south- east of Columbus, 37 from Zanesville, 18 from Somerset, 19 from Logan, 35 from Chillicothe, 20 from Circleville, and 27 from New- ark. It stands in a beautiful and fertile valley, and is a flourishing, well-built town. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Cath- olic, 1 Lutheran, 1 Protestant Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 German Reformed church, about 20 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper offices, and had, in 1840, 2,120 inhabitants : it has since much increased. The engraving shows the appearance of the principal street in the town. It was taken near the court house, and represents the west- ern part of the street ; the court house is shown on the right, and the market on the left, of the view.
From the lecture delivered before the Lancaster Literary Insti- tute, in March, 1844, by George Sanderson, Esq., we derive the following sketch of the history of the town and county.
The lands watered by the sources of the Hockhocking river, and now comprehende
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FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
within the limits of Fairfield county, when first discovered by the early settlers at Mari- etta, were owned and occupied by the Wyandot tribe of Indians. The principal town of the nation stood along the margin of the prairie, between the south end of Broad street and T. Ewing's canal basin, and the present town of Lancaster, and extending back to the base of the hill, south of the Methodist Episcopal church. It is said, that the town con- tained in 1790, about one hundred wigwams, and a population of 500 souls. It was called TARHE, or in English the Crane-town, and derived its name from that of the prin- cipal chief of the tribe. Another portion of the tribe then lived at Tobey-town, nine miles west of Tarhetown, (now Royalton,) and was governed by an inferior chief called Tobey. The chief's wigwam, in Tarhe, stood upon the bank of the prairie, near where the fourth lock is built on the Hocking canal, and near where a beautiful spring of water flowed into the Hockhocking river. The wigwams were built of the bark of trees, set on poles, in the forni of a sugar camp, with one square open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a man. The Wyandot tribe numbered at that day about 500 warriors. By the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the Wyandots ceded all their territory on the Hock- hocking river to the United States.
The Crane chief, soon after the treaty, with many of the tribe, removed and settled at Upper Sandusky ; others remained behind for four or five years after the settlement of the country, as if unable or unwilling to tear themselves away from the graves of their fore- fathers and their hunting grounds. They were, however, so peaceably disposed towards the settlers, that no one felt willing to drive them away. In process of time, the game and fur became scarce, and the lingering Indian, unwilling to labor for a living, was forced, by stern necessity, to quit the country, and take up his abode with those of his tribe, who had preceded him at Upper Sandusky.
In 1797, Ebenezer Zane opened the road, known as "Zane's Trace," from Wheeling to Limestone, (now Maysville.) It passed through the site of Lancaster, at a fording about 300 yards below the present turnpike bridge, west of the town, and then called the "crossings of the Hockhocking." He located one of his three tracts of land, given by congress for the performance of this task, on the Hockhocking, at Lancaster.
In 1797, Zane's trace having opened a communication between the eastern states and Kentucky, many individuals in both directions, wishing to better their condition in life, by emigrating and settling in the " backwoods," so called, visited the Hockhocking valley for that purpose. Finding the country surpassingly fertile, abounding in fine springs of the purest water, they determined to make it their new homes.
In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold and enterprising man, with his family, em- igrated from Kentucky, and settled on Zane's trace, upon the bank of the prairie, west of the crossings, and about one hundred and fifty yards northwest of the present turnpike road, and which place was called " Hunter's settlement." Here he cleared off the underbrush, felled the forest trees and erected a cabin, at a time when he had not a neighbor nearer than the Muskingum or Scioto rivers. This was the commencement of the first settlement in the Upper Hockhocking valley, and Capt. Hunter is regarded as the founder of the flour- ishing and populous county of Fairfield. He lived to see the county densely settled and in a high state of improvement, and died about the year 1829. His wife was the first white woman that settled in the valley, and shared with her husband all the toils, sufferings, hard- ships and privations incident to the formation of the new settlement. During the spring of the same year, (1798,) Nathaniel Wilson, the elder, John and Allen Green, John and Joseph M'Mullen, Robert Cooper, Isaac Shaeffer and a few others, reached the valley, erected cabins and put out a crop of corn.
In 1799, the tide of emigration set in with great force. In the spring of this year, two settlements were made in the present township of Greenfield. Each settlement contained twenty or thirty families. One was called the Forks of the Hockhocking, and the other Yankeetown. Settlements were also made along the river below Hunter's, on Rush creek, Raccoon and Indian creeks, Pleasant run, Fetter's run, at Tobeytown, Muddy Prairie, and on Clear creek. In the fall of 1799, Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith, erected a log grist mill at the upper falls of the Hockhocking, now called the Rock mill. This was the first grist mill built on the Hockhocking.
In April, 1799, Samuel Coates, sen., and Samuel Coates, jr., from England, built a cabin in the prairie at the " Crossings of the Hockhocking," kept bachelors hall and raised
160
FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
a crop of corn. In the latter part of the year, a mail route was established along Zanes's trace, from Wheeling to Limestone. The mail was carried through on horseback, and at first, only once a week. Samuel Coates, sen., was the postmaster, and kept his office at the Crossings. This was the first established mail route through the interior of the territory, and Samuel Coates was the first postmaster at the new settlements.
The settlers subsisted principally on corn bread, potatoes, milk and butter, and wild meats. Flour, tea and coffee were scarcely to be had ; and when brought to the country, such prices were asked, as to put it out of the reach of many to purchase. Salt was an indispensable article, and cost at the Scioto salt works, $5 per 50 pounds. Flour brought $16 per barrel ; tea, $2,50 ; coffee, $1,50 ; spice and pepper, $1 per pound.
In the fall of 1800, Ebenezer Zane laid out Lancaster, and by way of compliment to a number of emigrants from Lancaster co., Pa., called it New Lancaster. It retained that name until 1805, when, by an act of the legislature, the word "New" was dropped. A sale of lots took place soon after the town was laid off, and sold to purchasers at prices ranging from five to fifty dollars each. The greater portion of the purchasers were mechanics, and they imme- diately set about putting up log buildings. Much of the material needed for that purpose, was found upon their lots and in the streets, and so rapidly did the work of improvement progress, during the fall of 1800 and following winter, that in the spring of 1801, the principal streets and alleys assumed their present shapes, and gave assurance that New Lancaster would, at no distant day, become a town of some importance.
About this time, merchants and professional men made their appearance. The Rev John Wright, of the Presbyterian church, settled in Lancaster, in 1801, and the Rev. Asa Shinn and Rev. James Quinn, of the Methodist church, travelled on the Fairfield circuit.
Shortly after the settlement, and while the stumps yet remained in the streets, a small portion of the settlers occasionally indulged in drinking frolics, ending frequently in fights. In the absence of law, the better disposed part of the population, determined to stop the growing evii. They accordingly met and resolved, that any person of the town found in- toxicated, should, for every such offence, dig a stump out of the streets, or suffer personal chastisement. The result was, that after several offenders had expiated their crimes, dram drinking ceased, and for a time all became a sober, temperate and happy people.
On the 9th day of December, 1800, the Governor and Council of the N. W. Terri- tory, organized the county of Fairfield, and designated New Lancaster as the seat of jus- tice. The county then contained within its limits, all, or nearly all, of the present counties of Licking and Knox ; a large portion of Perry, and small parts of Pickaway and Hocking counties.
The first white male child born in Fairfield, was the son of Mrs. Ruhama Greene. This lady emigrated to this region in 1798, and settled three miles west of Lancaster, where her child was born. The sketch appended of her, is from Col. John M'Donald, of Ross county.
Mrs. Ruhama Greene was born and raised in Jefferson county, Virginia. In 1785, she married a Mr. Charles Builderback, and with him crossed the mountains and settled at the mouth of Short creek, on the east bank of the Ohio, a few miles above Wheeling. Her husband, a brave man, had on many occasions distinguished himself in repelling the Indians, who had often felt the sure aiin of his unerring rifle. They therefore determined at all hazards to kill him.
On a beautiful summer morning in June, 1789, at a time when it was thought the enemy had abandoned the western shores of the Ohio, Capt. Charles Builderback, his wife and brother, Jacob Builderback, crossed the Ohio to look after some cattle. On reaching the shore, a party of fifteen or twenty Indians rushed out from an ambush, and firing upon them, wounded Jacob in the shoulder. Charles was taken while he was running to es- cape. Jacob returned to the canoe and got away. In the mean time, Mrs. Builderback
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161
FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
secreted herself in some drift-wood, near the bank of the river. As soon as the Indians had secured and tied her husband, and not being enabled to discover her hiding-place, they compelled him, with threats of immediate death, to call her to him. With a hope of ap- peasing their fury, he did so. She heard him, but made no answer. "Here," to use her words, " a struggle took place in my breast, which I cannot describe. Shall I go to him and become a prisoner, or shall I remain, return to our cabin and provide for and take care of our two children." He shouted to her a second time to come to him, saying, " that if she obeyed, perhaps it would be the means of saving his life." She no longer hesitated, left her place of safety, and surrendered herself to his savage captors. All this took place in full view of their cabin, on the opposite shore, and where they had left their two chil- dren, one a son about three years of age, and an infant daughter. The Indians, knowing that they would be pursued as soon as the news of their visit reached the stockade, at Wheeling, commenced their retreat. Mrs. Builderback and her husband travelled together that day and the following night. The next morning, the Indians separated into two bands, one taking Builderback, and the other his wife, and continued a westward course by different routes.
In a few days, the band having Mrs. Builderback in custody, reached the Tuscarawas river, where they encamped, and were soon rejoined by the band that had had her husband in charge. Here the murderers exhibited his scalp on the top of a pole, and to convince her that they had killed him, pulled it down and threw it into her lap. She recognized it at once by the redness of his hair. She said nothing, and uttered no complaint. It was evening ; her ears pained with the terrific yells of the savages, and wearied by constant travelling, she reclined against a tree and fell into a profound sleep, and forgot all her suf- ferings, until morning .* When she awoke, the scalp of her murdered husband was gone, and she never learned what became of it.
As soon as the capture of Builderback was known at Wheeling, a party of scouts set off in pursuit, and taking the trail of one of the bands, followed it until they found the body of Builderback. He had been tomahawked and scalped, and apparently suffered a lingering death.
The Indians, on reaching their towns on the Big Miami, adopted Mrs. Builderback into a family, with whom she resided until released from captivity. She remained a prisoner about nine months, performing the labor and drudgery of squaws, such as carrying in meat from the hunting grounds, preparing and drying it, making moccasins, leggings and other clothing for the family in which she was raised. After her adoption, she suffered much from the rough and filthy manner of Indian living, but had no cause to complain of ill- treatment otherwise.
In a few months after her capture, some friendly Indians informed the commandant at Fort Washington, that there was a white woman in captivity at the Miami towns. She was ransomed and brought into the fort, and in a few weeks was sent up the river to her lonely cabin, and to the embrace of her two orphan children. She then re-crossed the mountains, and settled in her native county.
In 1791, Mrs. Builderback married Mr. John Green, and in 1798, they emigrated to the Hockhocking valley, and settled about three miles west of Lancaster, where she continued to reside until the time of her death, about the year 1842. She survived her last husband about ten years.
Near the town of Lancaster, stands a bold and romantic emi nence, about two hundred feet high, known as Mt. Pleasant, which was called by the Indians, "the Standing Stone." A writer on geology says, in reference to this rock : "What is properly called the sandstone formation, terminates near Lancaster, in immense de- tached mural precipices, like the remains of ancient islands ; one of these, called Mt. Pleasant, seated on the borders of a large plain,
* Her husband commanded a company at Crawford's defeat. He was a large, noble looking man, and a bold and intrepid warrior. He was in the bloody Moravian campaign, and took his share in the tragedy, by shedding the first blood on that occasion, when he shot, tomahawked and scalped Shebosh, a Moravian chief. But retributive justice was meted to him. After being taken prisoner, the Indians inquired his name. "Charles Builderback," replied he, after some little pause. At this revelation, the Indians stared at each other with a malignant triumph. " Ha !" said they, "you kill many Indians-you big captain-you kill Moravians." From that moment, probably, his death was decreed.
21
162
FAYETTE COUNTY.
affords from its top a fine view of the adjacent country. The base is a mile and a half in circumference, while the apex is only about thirty by one hundred yards, resembling, at a distance, a huge pyra- mid. These lofty towers of sandstone are like so many monuments.
Mount Pleasant.
to point out the boundaries of that ancient western Mediterranean, which once covered the present rich prairies of Ohio."
It is a place much resorted to by parties of pleasure. The Duke of Saxe Weimar, when in this country some twenty years since, visited this mount and carved his name upon the rocks. The lecture delivered before the Literary Institute, gives a thrilling narrative of the visit of two gallant scouts to this spot, at an early day-their successful fight with the Indians-the re-capture of a female pris- oner, and their perilous escape from the enemy.
There are several small villages in the county, some of which are thriving business places. They are Amanda, Baltimore, Bazil, Bre- men, Carroll, Greencastle, Havenport, Lockville, Monticello, Millers- port, New Geneva, New Strasburg, New Salem, Pickerington, Pleasantville, Royalton, Rushville, (East and West,) Waterloo and Winchester.
FAYETTE.
FAYETTE was formed in March, 1810, from Ross and Highland, and named from the Marquis De La Fayette. The surface is gen- erally level ; about half of the soil is a dark, vegetable loam, on a clayey sub-soil, mixed with a limestone gravel ; the rest is a yellow, clayey loam. The principal productions are wheat and corn, cattle,
163
FAYETTE COUNTY.
hogs, sheep and wool. In the northeastern part is a small tract, called " the barrens," so termed from the land being divested of un- dergrowth and tall timber ; it is covered with a grass well adapted to pasturage .. The growth of the county, in former years, was re- tarded by much of the land being owned by non-residents and not in market, and also from the wet lands, which, contrary to the original opinion, have, when drained, proved very productive. The follow- ing is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population.
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