Historical collections of Ohio in three volumes ; an encyclopedia of the state : with notes of a tour over it in 1886 contrasting the Ohio of 1846 with 1886-90, Vol. III, Part 14

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Columbus, Ohio : Henry Howe & Son
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in three volumes ; an encyclopedia of the state : with notes of a tour over it in 1886 contrasting the Ohio of 1846 with 1886-90, Vol. III > Part 14

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This party had murdered several families, and with the " phinder" had recrossed the Ohio before effectual pursuit could be made. By Brady a party was directly summoned, of his chosen followers, who hastened on after them, but the Indians having one or two days the start, he could not overtake them in time to arrest their return to their villages.

Near the spot where the town of Ravenna now stands, the Indians separated into two parties, one of which went to the north, and the other west, to the falls of the Cuyahoga. Brady's men also divided ; a part pursued

the northern trail, and a part went with their commander to the Indian village, lying on the river in the present township of North- ampton, Summit county. Although Brady made his approaches with the utmost caution, the Indians, expecting a pursuit, were on the look-out, and ready to receive him, with numbers four-fold to those of Brady, whose only safety was in hasty retreat, which, from the ardor of the pursuit, soon became a per- feet flight. Brady directed his men to sepa- rate, and each one to take care of himself; but the Indians knowing Brady, and having a most inveterate hatred and dread of him, from the munerous chastisements which he had inflicted upon them, left.all the others, and with united strength pursued him alone.

The Cuyahoga here makes a wide bend to the south, including a large tract of several iniles of surface, in the form of a peninsula ; within this tract the pursuit was hotly con- tested. The Indians, by extending their line to the right and left, forced him on to the bank of the stream. Having in peaceable times often hunted over this ground with the Indians, and knowing every turn of the Chy- ahoga as familiarly as the villager knows the streets of his own hamlet, Brady directed his course to the river at a spot where the whole stream is compressed by the rocky cliffs into a narrow channel of only twenty-two feet across the top of the chasm, although it is consid- erably wider beneath, near the water, and in height more than twice that mmuber of feet above the current. Through this pass the water rushes like a race-horse, chafing and roaring at the confinement of its current by

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1816.

BRADY'S POND.

When pursued by the Indians, after his leap, Brady secreted himself under a log in this pond.

F. E. Poister, Photo., Kent.

THE SPOT OF BRADY'S LEAP,

On the Cuyahoga river, a few hundred yards above the bridge at Kent.

105 -100

107

PORTAGE COUNTY.

the rocky channel, while, a short distance above, the stream is at least fifty yards wide.

As he approached the chasm, Brady, knowing that life or death was in the effort, concentrated his mighty powers, and leaped the stream at a single bound. It so hap- pened that on the opposite cliff the leap was favored by a low place, into which he dropped, and grasping the bushes he thus helped him- self to ascend to the top of the cliff. The Indians, for a few moments, were lost in wonder and admiration, and before they had recovered their recollection, he was half-way up the side of the opposite hill, but still within reach of their rifles. They could easily have shot him at any moment before, but being bent on taking him alive, for torture, and to glut their long-delayed revenge, they forbore to use the rifle ; but now, seeing him likely to escape, they all fired upon him ; one bullet severely wounded him in the hip, but not so badly as to prevent his progress. The Indians, having to make a considerable cireuit before they could cross the stream, Brady advanced a good distance ahead.

His limb was growing stiff from the wound, and as the Indians gained on him, he made for the pond which now bears his name and, plunging in, swam under water a considerable distance, and came up under the trunk of a large oak, which had fallen into the pond. This, although leaving only a small breathing place to support life, still completely sheltered him from their sight. The Indians, tracing him by the blood to the water, made diligent search all around the pond, but finding no signs of his exit, finally came to the conclu- sion that he had sunk and was drowned. As they were at one time standing on the very tree beneath which he was concealed, Brady, understanding their language, was very glad to hear the result of their deliberations, and after they had gone, weary, lame and hungry, he made good his retreat to his own home. His followers also returned in safety. The chasm across which he leaped is in sight of the bridge where we crossed the Cuyahoga, and is known in all that region by the name of Brady's Leap.

Beside Brady's Pond there are quite a number of small lakes in this part of the county. One, just south of Ravenna, is called " Mother Ward's Wash Tub." It is a phenomenal reservoir, with a hidden outlet eastward, and the water is very soft and remarkably well adapted for washing purposes.

The late Col. Charles Whittlesey, a few weeks before his decease in the fall of 1886, sent me from Cleveland the following communication, in the course of which he speaks of a noted natural object in Kent :

In your first edition, in Lucas County, you have "Roche de Beuf,"-an error of the printer, probably. It should be Roche de Bout, the French for standing stone or rock on end. They are natural columns, common in Ohio and in the Northwest.

Lancaster, Ohio, was at first known as the "Standing Stone." There was a very sin- gular one in the gorge of the Cuyahoga at Kent, Portage county. It stood in the midst of the rushing waters with a small pine on the top, not far above the present bridge and near where Brady made his famous leap. The great Indian trail to the lake, Old Port- age and Sandusky, crossed just above the place, being known as the " Standing Stone." The rock here is conglomerate, that at Mau-

mee limestone. There was another in Ran- dolph, Portage county, about a mile south- west of the centre, and another in the channel of the south fork of Mahoning river, where the east line of Deerfield crosses it. These were sandstone. I gave sketches and de- seriptions of these in Portage county in the Family Visitor, Hudson, 1850, edited by Prof. G. P. Kirtland, of which there are files in our Historical Society.

There are on our files here several literal reports of interviews with old settlers, of which the professional county historians made very little use. Also, a statement of the " Boston Bankers," alias the counterfeiters, Jim Brown, Wm. Ashley and their confed- erates, most of whom I knew.

BIOGRAPHY.

LUCIUS FAIRCHILD was born in Franklin, Portage county, Ohio, December 31, 1831. At the age of 16 he removed with his parents to Madison, Wisconsin. In 1849 he went from Wisconsin, where his family had moved, to California ; but six years of speculating and mining did not bring substantial returns, and he returned to Madison. In 1859 he was admitted to the bar, and was the first man from the Badger State to head a reeruit- ing party when the war broke out. As lieu- tenant-colonel of the Second Wisconsin hc made a noted career in the field. Ile was

the last man to leave the field at the second battle of Bull Run. He lost his left arm at the shoulder in a desperate charge at Gettys- burg. His military career closed with the rank of brigadier-general at the age of 34. He was originally a Democrat, but the Re- publicans of Wisconsin elected him secretary of state in 1864 and governor in 1865, re- electing him in 1867. In 1869 he was elected governor for the third time. In 1871 he was appointed eonsul to Liverpool, and remained abroad nearly ten years, as he was transferred to Paris as consul-general and to Madrid as

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PORTAGE COUNTY.

minister. In 1866 he was elected Command- er-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Re- public.

FLORUS B. PLIMPTON was born in Pahnyra, Portage county, Ohio, September 4, 1830. His father, Billings O. Plimpton, removed from Connecticut at the beginning of the century and engaged in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church as an itinerant. Ile died the day after Florus was born, aged 90. Florus worked on his father's farm in Hartford, Trumbull county, attended Alle- gheny College, Meadville, Pa., for three years, and in 1851 entered into journalism at Warren, Ohio. In 1853 he married Miss Cordelia A. Bushnell, of Hartford, Ohio. He was connected with newspapers in Niles, Mich., Ravenna, Ohio, and Elmira, N. Y., until 1857, when he became one of the edi- tors of the Pittsburg Dispatch. In 1866 he became one of the staff of the Cincinnati Commercial, and his labors with it and with the Commercial-Gazette continued without interruption for : quarter of a century, and were of an unusually important character,

breadth and responsibility. He died April 23, 1886, and in accordance with his request his remains were cremated.

Mr. Murat Halstead, his intimate associate and friend for more than twenty-five years, said of him : "He was a man of absolute probity, of perfect truthfulness, of unques- tioned sincerity. He was a man of marked characteristics and individuality, whose opin- ions, whose modes of thought, whose meth- ods of labor were all his own. He was a man of singularly fine independence, and there was never any doubt or question as to where he was to be found."

Mr. Plimpton was a born poet and began to write poetry as a boy. To devote himself to poetry would doubtless have been the ideal life for him, but the arduous duties of a jour- nalist did not admit of his devoting much time to his muse. The small collection of his poems gathered by his wife, and pub- lished after his death, bear testimony to his genius. His lines are very musical, and owe their melody to an inborn sense of rhythm.

We quote the last three verses of a poem of The Police Court, in dialect, and entitled.

"MAKE IT FOUR, YER HONER."

Shakin' her gray hairs backward Out of her eyes and face ;

" It's thrue that ye say, yer Honer, It's thrue is my disgrace.

"Sind me back to the prisin, For the winter it is could,

An' there isn't a heart that's warmin' For the likes av me that's ould ;

It wasn't the coat I cared for ;

It's stharving I was to ate,

There isn't a heart that's warmin', Nor a hand that takes me in-

And I want a friendly shilter Out av a friendless sthrate.

If I sthale to kape from stharvin', May God forgive the sin ! "

Then kindly spakes his Honer : " Well, Mary, will it do If I sind ye to the prisin For jist a a month or two ?" "The prisin's a friend," says Mary ; "I fear the winter more- An' it's all the same, yer Honer, Ye'll plaze to make it FOUR."

ALBERT GALLATIN RIDDLE was born in Monson, Mass., May 28, 1816. A year later his father removed to Geauga county, Ohio, where he died when Albert was seven years of age. The family was broken up and Albert was apprenticed to Seth Harmon, a farmer living near Mantna, Portage county. In 1831 he returned to Geauga county, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became a famous advocate, with great power as an ora- tor. He was a member of the Ohio legisla- ture of 1848-49, and called in 1848 the first free-soil convention in Ohio. Two years later he removed to Cleveland. His able conduct, in 1859, of the celebrated Oberlin "slave rescuers" case, gave him a wide- spread reputation. He was elected to Con- gress as a Republican in 1861, and made the first speeches delivered in Congress in favor of arming slaves. In 1863 he was appointed

United States consul at Matanzas. For the past twenty-five years he has practised law in Washington. ITe aided in the prosecution of John H. Surratt for the murder of Pres- ident Lincoln ; from 1877 to 1889 was law officer for the District of Columbia, and for several years had charge of the law depart- ment of Howard University.

Mr. Riddle is the author of a "Life of Garfield," also one of Benjamin F. Wade, a number of novels and other publications. His " Bart Ridgely, a Story of Northern Ohio," is a work of great power. "The Portrait, a Romance of Cuyahoga Valley," describes many of the scenes and events of his boyhood life in Portage county.

MARVIN KENT was born at Ravenna, Portage county. Ohio, September 21, 1816. He attended Tallmadge Academy, and in mer- cantile pursuits early displayed unusual sa-

ADAM G. RIDDLE, Lawyer and Author.

FLORUS B. PLIMPTON, Journalist and Poet.

HIRAM COLLEGE. The institution where Garfield received his early education and of which he was subsequently President.

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PORTAGE COUNTY.

III

gacity and executive ability. In 1850, while engaged in manufacturing in Franklin Mills (now Kent), he devised, planned and pro- jected the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, designed to connect the Erie with the Ohio & Mississippi, forming a grand trunk line from New York to St. Louis. He was elected president of the company then incorporated, and conducted its affairs through all its trials and vicissitudes, save for a period of three years, until the completion of the road in 1864. The construction of this road encoun- tered, perhaps, more obstacles and greater opposition than any other in the country.

Upon its completion Mr. Kent retired from active business life. In 1875 he was elected to the State senate. He has been a generous promoter of the interests of the city of Kent, which bears his name.

Mrs. FANNIE B. WARD, correspondent, is a literary lady of Ravenna, who wields an interesting and instructive pen. Moved by a spirit of professional enterprise, early in the eighties, she singly and alone went down into Mexico and lived among the people that she might properly describe the domestic life of these, our neighbors, and thus has greatly added to our knowledge of them.

HIRAM occupies the highest elevation on the Reserve, being 1,300 feet above sea-level, which gives it great salubrity and healthfulness. This is a fine fruit and dairy region. It is twelve miles northeast of Ravenna, two miles from the N. Y., P. & O. Railroad. It has one newspaper (Bugle Echo), D. H. Beaman, editor, and about 500 inhabitants. It is especially noted as the seat of Hiram College, the institution where James A. Garfield was educated. Its president is George H. MeLaughlin. It was opened in 1851 as the Western Reserve. Eclectic Insti- tute, received its charter in 1867, and was rebuilt and enlarged in 1886.

JO. SMITH-The Mormon Prophet.

In the winter of 1831 JOSEPH SMITH and SIDNEY came to Hiram, held meet- ings and made many converts to the then new faith of the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormonism. But after a while it was rumored that they designed even- tually to get possession of all the prop- erty of their converts. The people became alarmed ; among them were some of their dupes, who went to the house of Smith and Rigdon, stripped them, gave them a coat of tar and feathers, and rode them on a rail- whereupon they left the place.

Jo. Smith in his personal appearance was well adapted to impose upon the weak and credulous. His complexion was of corpselike paleness and waxy, his expression grave and peculiarly sanctimonious, his words few and in sepulchral tones. At Nauvoo he claimed a revelation from Heaven to take spir- itual wives and established polygamy.

GARRETTSVILLE is twelve miles northeast of Ravenna, on the N. Y., P. & O. Railroad. Newspapers : Journal. Independent, Charles B. Webb, editor and publisher ; Saturday Item, Independent, O. S. Ferris, editor and publisher. Churches : one Congregationalist, one Methodist and one Baptist. Bank : First National, W. B. McConnell, president, J. S. Tilden, cashier. Population, 1880, 969. School census, 1888, 290 ; J. J. Jackson, school superintendent. It is in a rich agricultural and dairy region.

EDINBURG is seven miles southeast of Ravenna. It has one Congregational and one Methodist Episcopal church. School census, 1888, 66.

MANTUA is twelve miles north of Ravenna. It has one Methodist, one Disci- ples and one Congregational church. Population, about 750. School census, 1888, 159.

MANTUA STATION is nine miles north of Ravenna, on the Cuyahoga river and

87 K

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PORTAGE COUNTY.

N. Y., P. & O. Railroad. It has one newspaper, Gazette, Independent, D. B. Sherwood, editor ; one bank, Crafts, Hine & Co., and a population of about 600.

PALMYRA is one and a half miles from Palmyra Station, on the L. E. A. & S. Railroad. It is eleven miles southeast of Ravenna. School census, 1888, 120. RANDOLPH is nine miles south of Ravenna. School census, 1888, 77.

WINDHAM is twelve miles northeast of Ravenna, on the N. Y., P. & O. Rail- · road. School census, 1888, 100. It has one newspaper, the Herald, F. D. Snow, editor ; one Congregational and one Methodist Episcopal church ; a tub and pail and basket factory, and stone quarries.

II3

PREBLE COUNTY.

PREBLE.

PREBLE COUNTY was formed from Montgomery and Butler, March 1, 1808; it was named from Capt. Edward Preble, who was born at Portland, Maine, August 15, 1761, and distinguished himself as a naval commander in the war of the Revolution, and particularly in the Tripolitan war, and died on the 25th of August, 1806. The soil is various ; the southern part is a light rich soil, and is interspersed by numerous streams ; the remainder of the county is upland, in places wet, but fertile when brought under cultivation. There is an abundance of water power for milling purposes, and large quantities of flour are manufactured.

Arca about 440 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 186,275; in pasture, 35,426 ; woodland, 33,294; lying waste, 5,873; produced in wheat, 529,637 bushels; rye, 1,136; buckwheat, 85; oats, 464,627; barley, 13,563; corn, 1,522,636 ; broom-corn, 17,100 pounds brush ; meadow hay, 8,814 tons ; clover hay, 4,096 ; flax, 81,500 pounds, fibre; potatoes, 30,830 bushels; to- bacco, 1,044,210 pounds; butter, 611,300; cheese, 300; sorghum, 6,668 gal- lons ; maple syrup, 9,169 ; honey, 11,137 pounds ; eggs, 549,135 dozen ; grapes, 30,870 pounds ; wine, 149 gallons ; sweet potatoes, 3,242 bushels ; apples, 1,643; peaches, 61 ; pears, 749 ; wool, 28,183 pounds ; milch cows owned, 5,959. Ohio Mining Statisties, 1888 : Limestone, 64,500 tons burned for lime; 3,000 tons burned for fluxing; 23,750 cubic feet of dimension stone; 10,397 cubic yards building stone; 30,000 square feet of flagging; 12,460 square feet of paving ; 8,571 lineal feet of curbing ; 3,492 cubic yards of ballast or macadam. School census, 1888, 7,139 ; teachers, 183 ; miles of railroad track, 75.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840. 2,165

1880.

Dixon,

1,281

1,162

Jefferson

2,244

Gasper,

836

863

Lanier,

1,624

1,909

Gratis,

1,950

2,186

Monroe,

1,176

1,986

Harrison,

1,696

2,663

Somers,

1,823

2,233

Israel,

1,538

1,807

Twin,

1,676

1,973

Jackson,

1,257

1,398

Washington,

2,459

4,118

Population of Preble in 1820 was 10,237; 1830, 16,296 ; 1840, 19,481; 1860, 21,820; 1880, 24,533 ; of whom 19,293 were born in Ohio; 1,042, Indiana ; 768, Virginia ; 722, Pennsylvania ; 322, Kentucky ; 87, New York ; 478, Ger- man Empire; 425, Ireland ; 51, British America ; 44, England and Wales ; 10, France, and 6, Scotland. Census, 1890, 23,421.

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PREBLE COUNTY.

LIMESTONE QUARRIES.

The quarrying of limestone is an important industry in this county. The lime- stones principally quarried belong to the Niagara group; these in Ohio are very often called cliff limestones, because they stand in the bluffs along the river val- leys. The quarries in the vicinity of Eaton turn out a number of grades of stone, suitable for flaggings and copings as well as for fine and rough construc- tions. It is stated in Orton's Geological Report, that a stone 10 x 12 feet in superficial dimensions has been taken out and that very much larger stones can be obtained. The Clinton limestone has not been so extensively quarried, but is very much in demand for chimney backs and has been found especially desirable for those constructions which are exposed to fire or heat.

Old Block House .- On what is known as the Wolf farm, Harrison township, stood one of a series of bloek houses built and manned by citizen-soldiers in the fall of 1813. Dr. J. W. Miller, of West Baltimore, has given us the following facts concerning it.

This block-house was built by a party of drafted men, belonging to a company of riffe- men which formed a part of the Old Battalion under the command of Major Alexander C. Lanier. This company occupied the block- house during the winter of 1813-14 to protect the settlements on Miller's Fork.

It was one of a series of block-houses, built and manned by citizen-soldiers, in communi- cation with the settlements and line of forts between Cincinnati and the Lakes. The fol-

lowing is a true copy of a discharge which is in my possession.

I do certify that -, a sargeant of my company of Ohio Riflemen, in the Old Battalion, under the command of Alexander C. Lanier, has served a regular tour of duty, and is hereby honorably discharged.

Given under my hand this 5th day of April, 1814. SIMON PHILLIPS, Capt.

The members of this company have been left out of the roster of Ohio's soldiers in the war of 1812, as least so far as Ohio's record is concerned. The Locks, Hapners, McNults and others of Lewisburg, and the Tillmans, Loys, Riees, Abbots, Phillipses, Myerses and others on Miller's Fork, were prominent in the settlements referred to.

TRAVELLING NOTES.

A Caboose Ride .- On Tuesday at noon, April 13, I took the caboose at Ham- ilton, and rode to Eaton, distant some 25 miles. The caboose was at the end of a very long freight train, perhaps a quarter of a mile in length. In the roof of the caboose was a lookout. I took advantage of it, ascended by a few steps, seated myself in a chair on a little platform, when perhaps half of my body was outside and above everything, there being a scuttle-hole in the roof for this purpose.

Our progress was very slow, about 6 or 8 miles an hour, which gave ample opportunity if one passed anything particularly attractive, to fully take it all in ; I especially appreciated this as we slowly went by a scattered village, with a quaint-appearing church, with deep red roof, and red roof's here and there upturned to the sky, which showed that the people whose homes I was gazing upon came to Ohio from the Rhineland. The ride was a delight, and also historically interesting, up the gentle valley in which, in the days of the savage and the wilderness, the armies of St. Clair and Wayne had marched-the one to defeat and massacre ; the other to victory and peace.

I looked down as from the upper deck of a steamer upon our long train, which was twisting and winding under my eyes, with its little black pony ahead ( at least seeming little from its distance from me) sending out its black smoke and doing his work so nicely and honestly, as to fill me with a sense of grati- tude for his marvellous performance. If I. don't give the black pony credit, I must those who first thought him out, and then made him to go (the little creatures generally known as human beings ), and this without a crack of a whip, nor a quart of oats, but

simply with fire, wood and plenty of water, and a strong, brave manly fellow to drive him.

The fields in broad areas were green with the deep verdure of the winter wheat, on which the snow had lain and nurtured, and then the sun came out warm and smiling and it was exhaled to the skies. Thus the bright green wheat. with the black and as yet leaf- less woods, the scattered white houses of the farmers, and now and then a red one, the windings of the Seven Mile or St. Clair's Creek, indicated from my lookout by the un-

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PREBLE COUNTY.

dulating course of our train which was going up it, the tall windmills by the farm houses, called wind pumps, because used for sup- ply of water; the gentle undulations of the country largely open to the view, together with the elear overarching sky, were all pleas- ing, peace-filling objects for my contempla- tion. I had no cares and so drank to my fill from the varied objects of the changing land- scape. Ordinary railroad travelling gives one but a faint idea of the beauties of natural ob- jeets, and so I felt favored.

Aunt Sally and her Pet .- In my original visit to Eaton, the landlady at the village tavern was a comical, good-natured creature, whom, if I rightly remember, the young men of the village ( who largely boarded with her ) addressed as "Aunt Sally."

In those days the pigs had the liberty of the streets in the small towns ; yes, even in Cincinnati they roamed abroad, doing good scavenger work, while sending forth their notes loud and strong.

Whether Aunt Sally was unwedded or wedded I know not, but she evidently felt the want of some object to pet. Woman's heart has many tendrils and sometimes these fasten queerly ; hence Aunt Sally's especial attentions to a pig, which were gratefully re- turned, all to the daily amusement of her boarders.

Piggie was not over cleanly, had only one ear, some dog having appropriated the other, and once, to my astonished eyes, during my stay, dashed into and through the house with the freedom of one of the family. I was told he had once even appeared in the dining-room. I doubted this; it was alto- gether too premature. Odd characters in the olden time diversified village life. There are few such anywhere in our time-a great loss in the line of what Barnum might term "moral entertainment."

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Historical collections of Ohio in three volumes ; an encyclopedia of the state : with notes of a tour over it in 1886 contrasting the Ohio of 1846 with 1886-90, Vol. III, Part 14

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Columbus, Ohio : Henry Howe & Son Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Columbus, Ohio : Henry Howe & Son
Number of Pages: 1200