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 51
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34'
MEDINA COUNTY.
Medina, the county seat, is on the stage road from Cleveland to Columbus, 28 miles from the first and 117 from the latter. It was originally called Mecca-and is so marked on the early maps of Ohio-from the Arabian city famous as the birth-place of Mahomet .
The Public Square, Medina.
n was afterwards changed to its present name, being the seventh place on the globe of that name. The others are Medina, a town of Arabia Deserta, celebrated as the burial-place of Mahomet ; Medina, the capital of the kingdom of Woolly, West Africa; Medina, a town and fort on the island of Bahrein, near the Arabian shore of the Persian gulf ; Medina, a town in Estremadura, Spain ; Medina, Orleans county, N. Y., and Medina, Lenawee county, Michigan.
On the organization of the county, in 1818, the first court was held in a barn, now standing half a mile north of the court house. The village was laid out that year, and the next season a few settlers moved in. The township had been previously partially settled. In 1813, Zenas Hamilton moved into the central part, with his fam- ily, from Danbury, Conn. His nearest neighbor was some eight or ten miles distant. Shortly after came the families of Rufus Ferris, Timothy Doane, Lathrop Seymour, James Moore, Isaac Barnes, Joseph Northrop, Friend Ives, Abijah Mann, James Palmer, William Painter, Frederick Appleton, etc. etc.
Rev. Roger Searle, an Episcopalian, was the first clergyman, and the first church was in the eastern part of the township, where was then the most population. It was a log structure, erected in 1817. One morning all the materials were standing, forming a part of the forest, and in the afternoon, Rev. Mr. Searle preached a ser- mon in the finished church. From an early day, religious worship in some form was held in the township on the Sabbath. The men brought their families tu "meeting" in ox-teams, in which they gen- erally had an axe and an augur, to mend their carts in case of acci- dents, the roads being very bad. The first wedding was in March, 1818, at which the whole settlement were present. When the cer- emony and rejoicings were over, each man lighted his flambeau of
348
MEIGS COUNTY.
hickory bark, and made his way home through the forest. The early settlers got their meal ground at a log mill at Middlebury ; although but about 20 miles distant, the journey there and back oc- cupied five days. They had only ox-teams, and the rough roads they cut through the woods, after being passed over a few times, became impassable from mud, compelling them to continually open new ones.
Owing to the want of a market, the products of agriculture were very low. Thousands of bushels of wheat could at one time be bought for less than 25 cents per bushel, and cases occurred where 10 bushels were offered for a single pound of tea, and refused. As an example : Mr. Joel Blakeslee, of Medina, about the year 1822, sowed 55 acres in wheat, which he only could sell by bartering with his neighbors. He fed out most of it in bundles to his cattle and swine. All that he managed to dispose of for cash, was a smal quantity sold to a traveller, at 123 cents per bushel, as feed for his horse. Other products were in proportion. One man brought an ox-wagon filled with corn from Granger, eight miles distant, which he gladly exchanged for three yards of satinet for a pair of panta- loons. It was not until the opening of the Erie canal, that the set- tlers had a market. From that time, the course of prosperity has been onward. The early settlers, after wearing out their woollen pantaloons, were obliged to have them seated and kneed with buck- skin, in which attire they attended church. It was almost impos- sible to raise wool, in consequence of the abundance of wolves, who destroyed the sheep.
The view given on the annexed page of the public square in Me- dina, was taken from the steps of the new court house : the old court house and the Bap. ch. are seen on the right. The village contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Free Will Baptist, 1 Meth- odist and 1 Universalist church, 7 dry goods, 5 grocery, 1 book and 2 apothecary stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 woollen and 1 axe factory, 1 flouring mill, 1 furnace, and had in 1840, 655 inhab- itants, since which it has increased.
Seville, 9 miles s. of Medina, has 4 stores, 1 woollen factory, 3 churches, and about 300 inhabitants. There are other small villages in the county, containing more or less stores and churches, and from 30 to 50 dwellings each: they are, Harrisville, Brunswick, Litch- field and Wadsworth, at the last of which is a fine academy for both sexes.
MEIGS.
MEIGS, named from Return J. Meigs, elected governor of Ohio in 1810, was formed from Gallia and Athens, April 1st, 1819, and the courts were directed "to be temporarily held at the meeting-house in Salisbury township." The surface is broken and hilly. In the
349
MEIGS COUNTY.
west, a portion of the soil is a dark, sandy loam, but the general character of the soil is clayey. Considerable quantities of corn, oats, wheat, hay and potatoes are raised and exported. Excepting Morgan and Athens, more salt is made in this than in any other county in Ohio : in 1840, 47,000 bushels were produced. The fol- lowing is a list of the townships in 1840, with their' population.
Bedford,
566
Letart,
640
Salem,
940
Chester,
1479
Olive,
746
Salisbury,
1507
Columbia
674
Orange,
836
Scipio,
941
Lebanon,
621
Rutland,
1412
Sutton,
1099
The population of Meigs, in 1820, was 4,480, in 1830, 6,159, and in 1840, 11,455 ; or 25 inhabitants to a square mile.
The mouth of Shade river, which empties into the Ohio, in the upper part of the county, is a gloomy, rocky place, formerly called " the Devil's hole." The Indians, returning from their murderous incursions into western Virginia, were accustomed to cross the Ohio at that point with their prisoners and plunder, follow up the valley of Shade river on their way to their towns on the Scioto.
The first settlers of the county were principally of New England origin, and emigrated from Washington county, which lies above. From one of these, now residing in the county, we have received a communication illustrating pioneer life.
People who have spent their lives in an old settled country, can form but a faint idea of the privations and hardships endured by the pioneers of our now flourishing and prospe- rous state. When I look on Ohio as it is, and think what it was in 1802, when I first settled here, I am struck with astonishment, and can hardly credit my own senses. When I emigrated, I was a young man, without any property, trade or profession, entirely de- pendent on my own industry for a living. I purchased 60 acres of new land on credit, 23 miles from any house or road, and built a camp of poles 7 by 4 feet, and 5 high, with three sides, and a fire in front. I furnished myself with a loaf of bread, a piece of pickled pork, some potatoes, borrowed a frying-pan and commenced housekeeping. I was not hindered from my work by company ; for the first week, I did not see a living soul, but, to make amends for the want of it, I had every night a most glorious concert of wolves and owls. I soon (like Adam) saw the necessity of a help-mate, and persuaded a young woman to tie her destiny to mine. I built a log-house, 20 feet square-quite aristocratic in those days-and moved into it. I was fortunate enough to possess a jack-knife ; with that I made a wooden knife and two wooden forks, which answered admirably for us to eat with. A bedstead was wanted ; I took two round poles for the posts, inserted a pole in them for a side rail, two other poles were inserted for the end pieces, the ends of which were put in the logs of the house-some puncheons were then split and laid from the side rail to the crevice be- tween the logs of the house, which formed a substantial bed-cord, on which we laid our straw bed-the only bed we had-on which we slept as soundly and woke as happy as Albert and Victoria.
In process of time, a yard and a half of calico was wanted ; I started on foot through the woods ten miles, to Marietta, to procure it ; but, alas ! when I arrived there I found that, in the absence of both money and credit, the calico was not to be obtained. The dilemma was a serious one, and how to escape I could not devise ; but I had no sooner informed my wife of my failure, than she suggested that I had a pair of thin pantaloons, which I could very well spare, that would make quite a decent frock : the pants were cut up, the frock made, and in due time the child was dressed.
The long winter evenings were rather tedious, and in order to make them pass more smoothly, by great exertion, I purchased a share in the Belpre library, 6 miles distant. From this I promised myself much entertainment, but another obstacle presented itself-I had no candles ; however, the woods afforded plenty of pine knots with these I made torches, by which I could read, though I nearly spoiled my eyes. Many a night have I passed in this manner till 12 or 1 o'clock reading to my wife, while she was hatchelling,
350
MEIGS COUNTY.
carding or spinning. Time rolled on, the payments for my land became due, and money, at that time, in Ohio, was a cash article : however, I did not despair. I bought a few steers : some I bartered for, and others I got on credit-my credit having somewhat im- proved since the calico expedition-slung a knapsack on my back, and started alone with my cattle for Romney, on the Potomac, where I sold them, then travelled on to Litchfield, Connecticut, paid for my land, and had just $1 left to bear my expenses home, 600 miles distant. Before I returned, I worked and procured 50 cents in cash ; with this and my dollar I commenced my journey homeward. I laid out my dollar for cheap haircombs, and these, with a little Yankee pleasantry, kept me very comfortably at the private houses where I stopped till I got to Owego, on the Susquehanna, where I had a power of attorney to collect some money for a neighbor in Ohio.
I might proceed and enumerate scenes without number similar to the above, which have passed under my own observation, or have been related to me by those whose veracity I have no reason to doubt ; but from what I have written, you will be able to perceive that the path of the pioneer is not strewed with roses, and that the comforts which many of our inhabitants now enjoy have not been obtained without persevering exertions, industry and economy. What, let me ask, would the young people of the present day think . of their future prospects, were they now to be placed in a similar situation to mine in 1803 ? How would the young miss, taken from the fashionable, modern parlor, covered with Brussels carpets, and ornamented with pianos, mirrors, &c., &c., manage her spinning wheel, in a log-cabin, on a puncheon floor, with no furniture except, perhaps, a bake-oven and a splint brocm ?
Pomeroy, the county seat, is on the Ohio river, 76 miles in a direct line SE. of Columbus, 80 below Marietta, and 234 above Cincinnati. It is situated on a narrow strip of ground from 20 to 30 rods wide, under a lofty and steep hill, in the midst of wild and romantic scenery. It contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 German Lutheran and 1 Presbyterian church; a newspaper printing office, 1 flouring and 2 saw mills, 2 founderies, 2 carding machines, 1 machine shop, 10 mercantile stores, and about 1600 inhabitants. It is a very flourish- ing town, deriving its importance principally from the coal mines situated here. We give below, in the language of a correspondent, an historical sketch of the village, with some notice of the coal mines.
The first settler within the limits of Pomeroy was Mr. Nathaniel Clark, who came about the year 1816. The first coal bank opened in Pomeroy was in 1819, by David Bradshaw. Bentley took 1200 bushels of coal to Louisville, and sold it for 25 cents a bushel, which was the first coal exported from Pomeroy. As early as 1805 or 6, there had been an attempt at exporting coal from Coalport, by Hoover and Cashell, but it proved unprofitable, and was abandoned after sending off one small load. About 1820, John Knight rented a large quantity of coal land from Gen. Putnam, at $20 a year, and com- menced working the mines. On the 15th of July, 1825, Samuel Grant entered 80 acres, and Josiah Dill, 160 acres of Congress land, which lies in the upper part of Pomeroy. Sub- sequently, Mr. Dill laid out a few town lots on his land, but it did not improve to any extent until the Pomeroy improvement commenced, in 1833. In 1827, a post office was estab- lished here, called Nyesville, and Nial Nye appointed postmaster. In 1840, the town was incorporated, and in June, 1841, made the county seat.
In the spring of 1804, Samuel W. Pomeroy, an enterprizing merchant of Boston, Massa- chusetts, purchased of Elbridge Gerry, one of the original proprietors in the Ohio company, a full share of land in said company's purchase, the fraction of said share (262 acres) lying in the now town of Pomeroy. In 1832, Mr. Pomeroy put 1000 bushels of coal into boxes and shipped them on a flat boat for New Orleans, to be sent round to Boston ; but the boat foundered before it left Coalport, and the expedition failed. In 1833, Mr. Pomeroy having purchased most of the coal land on the river for four miles, formed a company, consist- ing of himself, his two sons, Samuel W. Pomeroy, jr., and C. R. Pomeroy, and his sons-in- law, N. B. Horton and C. W. Dabney, under the firm of Pomeroy, Sons & Co., and began mining on a large scale. They built a steam saw-mill, and commenced building houses for themselves and their workmen. In 1834, they moved on, at which time there were 12
-
351
MEIGS COUNTY.
families in the town. In 1835, they built the steam tow-boat Condor, which could tow from four to six loaded boats or barges, and will tow back from 8 to 12 empty boats at a trip. It takes a week to perform a trip to Cincinnati and back, and she consumes 2000 bushels of coal each trip. The company employ about 25 boats or barges, that carry from 2000 to 11000 bushels of coal, each averaging, perhaps, 4000 bushels. The number of hands employed is about 200, and the number of bushels dug yearly about two millions ; in addition to this, several individuals are engaged in the coal business, on a small scale. Five steamboats have been built in this place by the Pomeroy company.
The mining of coal is mostly done at Coalport, one mile below the corporation line. Here the company have laid out a town, and been at great expense to prepare every thing neces- sary for mining and exporting coal ; the railways are so constructed, that the loaded car descending to the river draws up the empty one.
Immediately below Coalport is the town of Middleport, lately laid out by Philip Jones, . which already contains several stores, and is building up fast. Adjoining Middleport is Sheffield, a pleasant town, which bids fair to become a place of business. In all probability, the time is not distant when the towns of Pomeroy, Coalport, Middleport and Sheffield will be one continuous village.
About the year 1791 or 2, Capt. Hamilton Carr, a noted spy in the service of the United States, in his excursions through these parts, discovered an enormous sycamore tree below . the mouth of Carr's run, near where Murdock & Nyes's mill now stands, which was sub- sequently occupied as a dwelling house. Capt. Whitlock, of Coalport, informs me, that he himself measured that tree, and found the hollow to be 18 feet in diameter. Capt. Whit- lock further states, that as late as 1821, he took dinner from the top of a sugar-tree stump, in a log-house near where the court-house now stands, the only table the people had in the house.
The view shown in the engraving was taken at the mines at Coal- port, nearly two miles below the main village of Pomeroy. Here horizontal shafts are run into the hill, at an elevation of more than 100 feet above the river bed. The coal is carried out in cars on railways, and successively emptied from the cars on one grade to that below, and so on until the last cars in turn empty into the boats on the river, by which it is carried to market. The mining is con- ducted in a systematic manner, and most of those employed are na- tives of Wales, familiar with mining from youth.
" The coal strata dips to the north two or three feet in a hundred yards, requiring drains to free them from the water when opened on the south side of the hill. Above the coal is a deposit of shale and ash-colored marly clay, of eight or ten feet in thickness, which forms the roof of the mines-superincumbent on which is a deposit of stratified sand rock, rather coarse-grained, of nearly 100 feet in thickness. The shale abounds in fine fossil plants. In mining the coal, gunpowder is extensively used ; a small charge throwing out large masses of coal. This coal, being of the black slaty structure, abounds in bituminous matter and burns very freely ; its specific gravity is 1.27. Twenty grains of the coarse powder decompose 100 grains of nitrate of potash, which will give to this coal nearly 60 per cent. of charcoal. It must, therefore, he valuable for the manufacture of coke, an article that must ultimately be brought into use in the numerous furnaces along the great iron deposit, a few miles south and west of this place. It is a curious fact, that the coal deposits are very thin and rare near the Ohio river, from Pipe's creek, 15 miles below Wheeling, to Carr's run, in this county. As the main coal dips under the Ohio at both these places, the inference is, that the coal lies below the surface, and could readily be reached
+
352
MERCER COUNTY.
by a shaft, first ascertaining its distance from the surface by the operation of boring."*
Pomeroy Coal Mines.
Chester, 8 miles NE. of Pomeroy, on Shade river, was formerly the county seat : in 1840, it had 273 inhabitants. Rutland, 6 miles w. of Pomeroy, on Leading creek, is also a small village.
MERCER.
MERCER, named from Gen. Hugh Mercer, a Virginia officer who fell at Princeton, Jan. 3d, 1777, was formed from old Indian terri- tory, April 1st, 1820. The land is flat, and much of it, while in the
* Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the 29th volume of Silliman's Journal.
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VIEW IN DAYTON.
On the left is shown the Montgomery County Court House -now being erected -the most costly and elegant in Ohio; the bridge across the Great Miami appears in the distance.
353
MERCER COUNTY.
forest state, wet, but when cleared, very fertile, and well adapted to grass, small grain and Indian corn, which last is the principal pro- duction. The following is a list of the townships in 1840, with their population.
Black Creek, 340
Granville, 339
St. Mary's,. 1515
Butter, 178
Jefferson,
368
Union, 566
Center, 1059
Marion, . 1141
Washington, 214
Dublin,
705
Recovery, 298
Wayne, 377
German,. 1499
Salem, 579
The population of Mercer, in 1830, was 1737, and in 1840, 8277; or 16 inhabitants to the square mile.
Celina, the county seat, is in the heart of the county, on Wabash river. It is a new place, and does not contain at present over 100 dwellings. St. Mary's, formerly the county seat, is 10 miles E. and 105 Nw. of Columbus. It lies on St. Mary's river and on the Miami extension canal, 67 miles N. of Dayton, and had, in 1840, 570 inhabi- tants. Each of these, with the improvement of the country, will probably be towns of importance.
St. Clair's battle was fought on the line of this and Darke county. The trace of Wayne is yet discernable through the county leading from Fort Recovery to Fort Adams, which last stood on the south bank of the St. Mary's, in the north part of the county, and about 12 miles east of the Indiana line.
In September, 1818, Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan M'Arthur, commissioners on the part of the United States, made a treaty at St. Mary's with the Wyandots, Shawnees and Ottawas. In the follow- ing month, Messrs. Jennings, Cass and Parke, acting for the United States, made treaties at the same place with the Weas, Potawat- omies, Delawares and Miamis.
The notorious Simon Girty at one time lived on the right bank of the St. Mary's, within the limits of the town of that name, between the river and canal. The spot on which his cabin is said to have stood, is marked by a depression. The old fort, St. Mary's, built by Wayne, stood in the village of St. Mary's, on the west bank of the river, on the lot now owned by Christian Benner, about 80 rods sE. of Rickley's tavern.
The last commander of Fort St. Mary's was Captain John Whistler. He was a soldier ' from his youth, came to America in Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. He remained afterwards in the United States, entered the western army under St. Clair, and survived the disastrous defeat of Nov. 1791, at which time he acted as serjeant. In 1793, an order came from the war office, purporting that any non-commissioned officer who should raise 25 recruits, would receive the commission of an ensign. He succeeded in this way in obtaining the office, from which he rose to a captaincy, and commanded in succession Forts St. Mary's, Wayne and Dearborn, at Chicago. He built the latter with- out the aid of a horse or ox: the timber and materials were all hauled by the labor of the soldiers, their commander always at their head assisting. He could recruit more men and perform more labor than any other officer in the army. Age and hard service at length broke him down. He retired from the line of the army and received the appointment of military storekeeper at St. Louis, where he died about 20 years since .*
* Col. John Johnston.
45
354
MERCER COUNTY.
The largest artificial lake, it is said, on the globe, is formed by the reservoir supplying the St. Mary's feeder of the Miami extension canal, from which it is situated three miles west. The reservoir is about nine miles long and from two to four broad. It is on the sum- mit, between the Ohio and the lakes. About one half, in its natural
Artificial Lake.
state, was a prairie, and the remainder a forest. It was formed by raising two walls of earth, from ten to twenty-five feet high, called respectively the east and west embankment, the first of which is about two miles, and the last near four in length. These walls, with the elevation of the ground to the north and south, form a huge basin to retain the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, and completed in 1845, at an expense of several hundred thousand dollars. The west embankment was completed in 1843. The water filled in at the upper end to the depth of several feet, but as the ground rose gradually to the east, it overflowed for several miles to the depth of a few inches only. This vast body of water, thus exposed to the powerful rays of the sun, would, if allowed to have remained, have bred pestilence through the adjacent country. Moreover, whole farms that belonged to individuals, yet unpaid for by the state, were completely submerged. Under these circumstances, about 150 resi- dents of the county turned out with spades and shovels, and by two days of industry, tore a passage for the water through the em- bankment. It cost several thousand dollars to repair the damage. Among those concerned in this affair were persons high in official station and respectability, some of whom here, for the first time, blistered their hands at manual labor. They were all liable to the state law making the despoiling of public works a penitentiary of-
355
MERCER COUNTY.
fence ; but a grand jury could not be found in Mercer to find a bill of indictment.
The legislature, by a joint resolution, passed in 1837, resolved that no reservoir should be made for the public canals without the timber being first cleared : it was unheeded by officers in charge of this work. The trees were only girdled, and thus thousands of acres of most valuable timber, that would have been of great value to the commonwealth in building of bridges and other constructions on the public works, wantonly wasted.
The view of the reservoir was taken from the east embankment, and presents a singular scene. In front are dead trees and stumps scattered about, and the roofs of deserted cabins rising from the
Emlen Institute.
water. Beyond, a cluster of green prairie grass waves in the rip- pling waters, while to the right and left, thousands of acres of dead forest trees, with no sign of life but a few scattered willows bending in the water, combine to give an air of wintry desolation to the scene. The reservoir abounds in fish and wild fowl, while innumerable frogs make the air vocal with their bellowings. The water is only a few feet deep, and, in storms, the waves dash up 6 or 8 feet, and foam like an ocean in miniature. A few years since, a steamer, 25 feet in length, called " the Seventy-six," with a boiler of seventy gal- lons capacity, a pipe 4 feet in height, and commanded by Captain Gustavus Darnold, plied on its waters.
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