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 63
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On one cool autumnal night, while lying by his camp-fire in the woods, he observed that the musquitoes flew in the blaze and were burnt. Johnny, who wore on his head a tin utensil which answered both as a cap and a mush pot, filled it with water and quenched the fire, and afterwards remarked, " God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that should be the means of destroying any of his creatures." Another time he made his camp-fire at the end of a hollow log in which he intended to pass the night, but finding it occupied by a bear and her cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and slept on the snow in the open air, rather than to disturb the bear. He was one morning in a prairie, and was bitten by a rattlesnake. Some time after, a friend inquired of him about the matter. He drew a long sigh and replied, " Poor fellow ! he only just touched me, when I in an un- godly passion, put the heel of my scythe on him and went home. Some time after I went there for my scythe, and there lay the poor fellow dead." He bought a coffee bag, made a hole in the bottom, through which he thrust his head and wore it as a cloak, saying it was as good as any thing. An itinerant preacher was holding forth on the public square in Mansfield, and exclaimed, " where is the bare-footed Christian, travelling to heaven ?" Johnny, who was lying on his back on some timber, taking the question in its literal sense, raised his bare feet in the air, and vociferated " here he is!"
Shelby, 11 miles Nw. of Mansfield, on the railroad, Lexington, 6 sw., Ganges, 11 N., Belleville, 9 s. on the Mount Vernon road, and New- ville, 12 SE., are thriving villages, containing each from 40 to 80 dwel- lings. Olivesburg, Rome, Windsor, Lucas, Johnsville, Woodbury, Williamsport, Ontario, Bloominggrove, Newcastle, Millsborough, Shenandoah, London, Lafayette and Washington, are also small villages.
ROSS.
Ross was formed by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, August 20th, 1798, being the sixth county formed in the North Western Territory. Its original limits were very extensive. It was named from the
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CHILLICOTHE, FROM THE HILL WEST.
Beneath is shown the principal part of the town ; on the left, the Sciota river; beyond which, Mount Logan is seen rising to the hight of nearly six hundred feet.
433
ROSS COUNTY.
Hon. James Ross, of Alleghany county, Pa., who at that time was the unsuccessful candidate of the Federalists for the office of gover- nor of that state. Much of the surface off from the valleys is hilly ; the land is generally good, and on the streams extremely fertile. The bottoms of the Scioto and Paint creek are famous for their abundant crops of corn. Much water power is furnished by the va- rious streams. The principal crops are corn, wheat and oats. It is also famed for its fine breeds of cattle, and has many swine. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population.
Buckskin,
1729
Green,
1820
Paxton, 1226
Colerain,
1281
Harrison,
631
Scioto, 5354
Concord, 2548
Huntington,
1159
Springfield, 1062
Deerfield, 1235
Jefferson,
871
Twin,
2195
Eagle, 411
Liberty,
1256
Union, 2631
Franklin,
582
Paint,
1380
The population of Ross in 1820, was 20,610; in 1830, 25,150, and in 1840, 27,460, or 40 inhabitants to a square mile.
Such glowing descriptions of the beauty of the scenery and the fertility of the soil in the Scioto country, having been circulated through Kentucky, by Massie and others, who had explored it in 1792, that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge and Concord, in Bourbon, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were in a measure induced to this step by their dislike of slavery, and the uncertainty that existed in regard to the validity of the land titles in that state. The Rev. Mr. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie, in December, 1794.
That letter induced Col. Massie, who was a large landholder, to visit Mr. Finley in the succeeding March. A large concourse of people who wished to engage in the enterprize, assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in western Pennsylvania informing them of the time and place of rendezvous.
About sixty men met according to appointment, who were divided into three companies, under Massie, Finley and Falenash. They proceeded on their route without interruption, until they struck the falls of Paint creek and proceeded a short distance down that stream, when they found themselves in the vicinity of some Indians who had encamped at Reeves' crossings, near Bainbridge. The Indians were of those who had refused to attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to give them battle, it being too late to retreat with safety. The Indians on being attacked soon fled with the loss of two killed and several wounded. One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was mortally wounded, and during the action a Mr. Armstrong, a prisoner with the Indians, escaped to his own people. The party gath- ered up all the plunder and retreated as far as Scioto Brush creek, where they were, ac- cording to expectation, attacked early the next morning. Only one man of the whites was wounded, Allen Gilfillan, and the party the next day reached Manchester and separated for their several homes.
After Wayne's treaty, Col. Massie and several of the old explorers again met at the house of Rev. Mr. Finley, formed a company and agreed to form a settlement in the en- suing spring, (1796,) and raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint creek. According to agreement, they met at Manchester about the first of April, to the number of forty and upwards, from Mason and Bourbon. Among them were Joseph M'Coy, Benj. and Wm. Rodgers, David Shelby, James Harrod, Henry, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, Wm. Jamison, Jas. Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thos. Dick, Wm. and Jas. Kerr, Geo. and James Kilgore, John Brown, Samuel and Robt. Templeton, Ferguson Moore, Wm. Nicholson and J. B. Finley, now a Methodist clergyman. They divided into two companies, one of which struck across the country and the other came on in pirogues. The first ar-
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434
ROSS COUNTY.
rived the earliest on the spot of their intended settlement, and had commenced erecting log huts above the mouth of Paint, at " the Prairie station," before the others had come on by water. About 300 acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season.
In August of this year, 1796, Chillicothe was laid out by Col. Nathaniel Massie, in a , dense forest. He gave a lot gratis to each of the first settlers, and by the last of autumn 1 about twenty cabins were erected. Not long after, a ferry was established across the Scioto at the north end of Walnut street. The opening of Zane's trace, very soon afterwards, produced a great change in the course of travel west, it having previously been along the Ohio in keel boats or canoes, or by land over the Cumberland mountains, through Crab Or- chard in Kentucky.
The emigrants brought up some corn-meal in their pirogues, and after that was gone, their principal meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in hommony mortars, which when made into bread and anointed with bear's oil, was quite palatable.
When the settlers first came, whiskey was $4 50 per gallon ; but in the spring of 1797, when the keel boats began to run, the Monongahela whiskey makers having found a good market for their fire-water, rushed it in, in such quantities, that the cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 cents. Men, women and children, with some exceptions, drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became inebriates. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that it for a time be- came a town of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There was a little leaven, which in a few months began to develope itself.
In the spring of '97, one Brannon stole a great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his wife absconded, were pursued, brought back, and a formal trial had. Samuel Smith was appointed judge, a jury empannelled, one attorney appointed by the judge to manage the prosecution and another the defence, witnesses were examined, the cause argued and the evidence summed up by the judge. The jury having retired a few minutes, returned with a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sentenced according to the discretion of the judge ; who soon announced that he should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that he should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his poney, and that his wife --- who was supposed to have had some agency in the theft-should lead the poney to every house in the village, and proclaim, " this is Brannon, who stole the great coat, handkerchief and shirt ;" and that James B. Finley-now the Rev. J. B. Finley, chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary- should see the sentence faithfully executed." Brannon chose the latter, and the ceremony, " this is Brannon who stole the great-coat, handkerchief and shirt," was at the door .of every cabin in the village, in due form proclaimed by his wife, he sitting on a bare pack- saddle on his poney. It was performed in the presence of Mr. Finley, and when it was over, Brannon and his wife made off.
Dr. Edw. Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worthington of Berkeley county, Va., were brothers- in-law, and being moved by abolition principles liberated their slaves, intending to remove into the Territory. For the purpose of making preparations for their removal in the spring, Mr. Worthington, in 1797, visited Chillicothe and purchased several of the in and out lots of the town, and on one of the former he erected a two story frame-house, the same in which Mr. Campbell now resides on Second street, which was the first frame-house erected in Chillicothe. On his return to Virginia, having purchased a part of the farm on which his widow now resides, and another at the north fork of Paint, he contracted with a Mr. Joseph Yates, a mill-wright, and a Mr. Geo. Haines, a blacksmith, to come out with him in the following winter or spring, and erect for him a grist and a saw-mill on his north fork tract. The summer, fall and following winter of that year, was marked with a rush of emigration, which spread over the high bank prairie, Pea-pea, Westfall, and a few miles up Paint and Deer creeks.
Nearly all the first settlers were either regular members, or had been raised in the Pres- byterian church. Towards the fall of 1797, the leaven of piety retained by a portion of. the first settlers began to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting-house was erected near the old grave-yard on this side of the bridge, and the Rev. Wm. Speer, a Presbyterian clergyman from Pennsylvania took charge. The sleepers served as seats for the hearers, and a split log table was used as a pulpit. Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of the revolutionary era.
Thomas James arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the Scioto valley, and about the same time arrived Maj. Elias Langham, an officer of the revolution. Dr. Tiffin and his brother Joseph arrived the same month from Virginia, and opened a store not far from the log meeting-house. A store was also opened previously by John M'Dougal. On the 17th of April, the families of Col. Worthington and Dr. Tiffin arrived, at which time the first marriage in the Scioto valley was celebrating ; the parties
435
ROSS COUNTY.
were George Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran. The ponies of the attendants of the wed- ding were hitched to the trees along the streets, which then were not cleared out, nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Mr. Joseph Yates, Mr. George Haines, and two or three others also arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthington.
Col. Worthington was appointed by Gen. Rufus Putnan, surveyor general of the N. W. Territory, surveyor of a large district of congress lands, then to be surveyed on the east side of the Scioto, and Maj. Langham and a Mr. Matthews were appointed to survey the residue of the lands, which afterward composed the Chillicothe land district.
On their arrival, there were but four shingled-roof houses in town, on one of which the shingles were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington's was then the only house in town with glass windows. The sash of the hotel was filled with greased paper.
The same season settlements were made about the Walnut Plains, by Samuel M'Culloch and others ; Springer, Osbourn, Thomas and Elijah Chenowith and Dyer, settled on Darby creek : Lamberts and others on Sippo ; on Foster's bottom, by Samuel Davis, the Fosters and others. The following families also settled in and about Chillicothe ; John Crouse, Wm. Keys, Wm. Lamb, John Carlisle, John M'Lanberg, Win. Candless, the Stocktons, the Gregg's, the Bates's and others.
Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodists that resided in the Scioto valley. He was a local preacher. In the fall, Worthington's grist and saw mills, on the north fork of the Paint were finished -- the first mills worthy of the name in the valley.
Chillicothe was the point from which the settlements in the valley diverged. In May, 1799, a post-office was established at Chillicothe, and Joseph Tiffin appointed post-master. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns ; the first under the sign of " Gen. Anthony Wayne," was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets ; and the last under the sign of " the Green Tree," was on the corner of Paint and Water streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and established " the Scioto Gazette."
In 1801, the settlers along the west side of the Scioto from Chillicothe to its mouth, were Joseph Kerr, Hugh Cochran, Joseph Campbell, the Johnsons, James Crawford, the Kirkpatricks, Chandlers, Beshongs, Montgomerys, Mountz's, Fosters, Pancakes, Davis's, Chenowiths, Sargents, Downings, Combess, Barnes's, Utts', Noels, Lucas's, Swaynes's, Williams and Collins, at Alexandria. On the east side of the Scioto, the Noels', Thomp- son, Marshall, M'Quart, the Miller's, Boylston, Talbot, Mustard, Clark, the Claypoles, Renicks, Harness's, Carnes's, and many others not recollected .*
CHILLICOTHE, t the seat of justice for Ross county, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto and on the line of the Ohio canal, 45 miles s. of Columbus, 93 from Cincinnati, 73 from Zanesville and 45 from the Ohio river at Portsmouth. The site is a level plain elevated about 30 feet above the river. The Scioto curves around it on the north, and Paint creek flows on the south. The plan and situation of Chillicothe, have been described as nearly resembling that of Philadelphia, the Scioto river and Paint creek representing in this case the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and both towns being level and regularly laid out into squares. But here the comparison ter- minates. The scenery around Philadelphia is dissimilar and far inte- rior, as the view shown in the annexed engraving testifies. In truth, there are but few places in the country where the scenery partakes so much of the beautiful and magnificent as in this vicinity.
* The preceding facts respecting the settlement of this county, are derived from the MSS. of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Chillicothe.
t Chillicothe appears to have been a favorite name with the Indians for their towns, there having been several of that name, viz: one on the site of Frankfort in this county ; one on the site of Westfall in Pickaway ; one three miles north of Xenia in Greene ; one on the site or Piqua, Miami county, and one on the Maumee.
Col. John Johnston says, " Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawanoese. The Shawanoese would say, Chillicothe otany, i. e., Chillicothe town. The Wyandots would say for Chillicothe town, Tat,a,ra,ra-Do,tia, or town at the leaning bank."
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436
ROSS COUNTY
In 1800, the seat of government of the N. W. Territory was re- moved by law of congress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the territorial legislature in that year and in 1801, were held in a small two story hewed log house, which stood on the cor -. ner of Second and Walnut streets, and was erected in 1798, by Mr. Bazil Abrams. To the main building, extending along Walnut street towards the Scioto, was attached a hewed log wing of two stories in height. In the lower room of the wing, Col. Thos. Gib- son, then auditor for the territory kept his office, and in the upper lived a small family. In the upper room of the main building was a billiard table and a place of resort for gamblers ; the lower room was used by the legislature, and as a court room, as a church, and | a singing school. In the war of 1812, the building was a rendez- vous and barracks for soldiers, and in 1840 was pulled down.
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In 1800, the old state house was commenced, and finished the next year, for the accommoda- tion of the legislature and courts. It is believed that it was the first public stone edifice erected in the terri- tory. The mason work was done by Major Wm. Rutledge, a soldier of the revolution, and the carpen- tering by William Guthrie. The territorial legislature held their session in it for the first time in 1801. The convention that framed the constitution of Ohio was held in it, the session com- mencing on the first Mon- day in November, 1802. In April, 1803, the first state Old State House, Chillicothe. legislature met in the house, and held their sessions until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811-12, were held at Zanesville, and from there removed back to Chillicothe and held in this house until 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capitol of the state. This time-honored edifice is yet standing in the central part of the town, and is used as a court house for the county .*
Chillicothe was incorporated January 4th, 1802, and the following officers appointed : Samuel Finley, Ed. Tiffin, James Ferguson, Alexander M'Laughlin, Arthur Stewart, John Carlisle and Reuben Adams, members of the select council ; Everard Harr, assessor ; Isaac Brink, supervisor ; Wm. Wallace, collector ; Joseph Tiffin, town marshall.
In 1807, Chillicothe had 14 stores, 6 hotels, 2 newspaper printing
* American Pioneer.
437
ROSS COUNTY.
offices, a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, both brick buildings, on Main street, and 202 dwelling houses .*
In the war of 1812, Chillicothe was a rendezvous for United States troops. They were stationed at Camp Bull, a stockade 1 mile N. of the town, on the west bank of the Scioto. A large number of British prisoners, amounting to several hundred, were at one time confined at the camp. On one occasion, a conspiracy was formed between the soldiers and their officers who were confined in jail. The plan was for the privates in camp to disarm their guard, proceed to the jail, release the officers, burn the town and escape to Canada. The conspiracy was disclosed by two senior British officers, upon which, as a measure of security, the officers were sent to the penitentiary in Frankfort, Ky.t
Four deserters were shot at camp at one time. The ceremony was impressive and hor- rible. The soldiers were all marched out under arms with music playing, to witness the death of their comrades, and arranged in one long extended line in front of the camp, facing the river. Close by the river bank at considerable distances apart, the deserters were placed, dressed in full uniform, with their coats buttoned up and caps drawn over their faces. They were confined to stakes in a kneeling position behind their coffins, painted black, which came up to their waists, exposing the upper part of their persons to the fire of their fellow-soldiers. Two sections of six men each were marched before each of the doomed. Signals were given by an officer instead of words of command, so that the unhappy men should not be apprised of the moment of their death. At the given signal, the first sec- tions raised their muskets and poured the fatal volleys into the breasts of their comrades. Three of the four dropped dead in an instant ; but the fourth sprang up with great force and gave a scream of agony. The reserve section stationed before him were ordered to their places, and another volley completely riddled his bosom. Even then the thread of life seemed hard to sunder.
On another occasion, an execution took place at the same spot, under most melancholy circumstances. It was that of a mere youth of nineteen, the son of a widow. In a frolic he had wandered several miles from camp, and was on his return when he stopped at an inn by the way-side. The landlord, a fiend in human shape, apprised of the reward of $50 offered for the apprehension of deserters, persuaded him to remain over night, with the offer of taking him into camp in the morning, at which he stated he had business. The youth unsuspicious of any thing wrong, accepted the offer made with so much apparent kindness, when lo! on his arrival the next day with the landlord, he surrendered him as a deserter, swore falsely as to the facts, claimed and obtained the reward. The court-mar- tial, ignorant of the circumstances, condemned him to death, and it was not until he was no more, that his innocence was known.
The corpses of the deserters were placed in rough coffins made of poplar, and stained with lamp-black, and buried on the river margin. After a lapse of years, the freshets wash- ing away the earth, exposed their remains, and they were subsequently re-interred in a mound in the vicinity.
Chillicothe contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed Pres- byterian, 2 Methodist, 1 Methodist Reformed, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catho- lic, 1 Baptist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Methodist, 1 colored Baptist and 1 colored Methodist church, 1 male academy and 1 fe- male seminary, 38 retail and 2 wholesale dry goods, 4 wholesale grocery, 3 hardware, and /2 book stores, 8 forwarding houses, 5 weekly newspapers, 1 bank, 4 merchant mills, making 10,000 bbls. of flour annually, and 4 establishments which pack annually about 45,000 bbls. of pork. It is the centre of trade in the Scioto valley, and is connected with the river by the Ohio canal, which is rarely closed by ice. It has hydraulic works built at an expense of $75,000,
Notes of a Traveller.
+ Newspaper of the time.
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438
ROSS COUNTY.
which furnish water power in addition to that afforded by the canal. It lies on the route of the contemplated railroad from Cumberland to Cincinnati, and is at present progressing with a healthful and steady pace. On the hill west of the town is a mineral spring, said to possess fine medicinal properties. A beautiful cemetery, contain ing 14 acres, has recently been laid out, and it is contemplated to supply the city with water from Paint creek, by hydraulic power, Its population in 1807, was about 1200; in 1820, 2416 ; in 1830, 2840 : in 1840, 3977, and in 1847, about 6220.
Adena.
Two or three miles Nw. of Chillicothe, on a beautiful elevation commanding a magnificent view of the fertile valley of the Scioto and its bounding hills, is Adena, the seat of the late Gov. Worthing- ton. The mansion itself is of stone, is embosomed in shrubbery, and has attached a fine garden. It was erected in 1806, at which time it was the most elegant mansion in this part of the west, and crowds came to view it, in whose estimation the name of the place Adena, which signifies "Paradise," did not perhaps appear hyper- bolical. The large panes of glass, and the novelty of papered walls appeared especially to attract attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of Washington city, from which place the workmen also were. Nearly all the manufactured articles used in its construction, as the nails, door knobs, hinges, glass, &c., were from east of the mountains. The glass was made at the works of Albert Gallatin and Mr. Nicholson, at Geneva, Pa. The fire-place fronts were of Phil- adelphia marble, which cost $7 per hundred for transportation. The whole edifice probably cost double what it would have done if erected at the present day. It is now the residence of the widow of the late governor, of whom we annex a brief notice.
THOMAS WORTHINGTON, one of the earliest and most distinguished pioneers of Ohio, was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, about the year 1769, and settled in Ross county in 1798. He brought from Virginia a large number of slaves, whom he emancipated, and some of their descendants yet remain in Chillicothe. A man of ardent temperament, of energy of mind, and correct habits of life, he soon became distinguished both in business and in politi- cal stations. He was a member of the convention of 1803, to form a state constitution, in which he was both able and active. Soon after that, he became a senator in congress
439
ROSS COUNTY.
from the new state, and was a participant in the most important measures of the adminis- trations of Jefferson and Madison. At the close of his career in congress, he was elected governor of the state, in which capacity he was the friend and aid of all the liberal and wise measures of policy which were the foundation of the great prosperity of Ohio. After his retirement from the gubernatorial chair, he was appointed a member of the first board of canal commissioners, in which capacity he served till his death. A large landholder, en- gaged in various and extensive business, and for thirty years in public stations, no man in Ohio did more to form its character and promote its prosperity. He died in 1827.
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