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 17
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It was seldom we had any preaching, but if a travelling minister should come along and make an appointment, all would go out to preaching. If the preaching was on a week day, the men would go in their hunting- shirts, with their guns. On Sabbath, the gun was left at home, but the belt and knife were never forgotten.
Misfortune Met Philosophically .- After two or three seasons had passed he met with a great misfortune ; lost all his property, one hundred acres of good military land, with all the improvements, by going security for a man who had run away. He took it philo- sophically. "I consoled my wife," says he, 'as well as I could, and told her we were
young, and had begun the world with noth- ing, and would do it again. I requested her to stay at home and keep house, and I would take to the woods and hunt." Bear-skins commanded a good price ; from three to seven dollars, according to size and quality. I spent the winter mostly in the woods, and suffered much from lying out at night with- out bedclothes or bed, only as I could make one out of dry bark. I wrapped skins about me and laid by the fire. It was a prosperous winter, and success, the most sanguine, crowned my days and nights of toil and pri- vation. From the proceeds of my winter campaign, I was enabled to purchase as good a home as that from which the law had ejected me.
Thus I passed seven years, farming in the summer and hunting in the winter, and add- ing to my resources till I had a comfortable home, with everything necessary to make the back woodsman happy.
The Grand Old Woods .- But my neigh- bors beeame too numerous, and my hunting- grounds were broken in upon by the axe of civilization ; game became scarce and hard to take ; my ranges were broken up, and I had about come to the conclusion to go to a new country. It seemed as though my happiness depended upon a life in the woods, "the grand old woods," where Nature had erected her throne, and where she swayed her sceptre.
Alone in the deep solitude of the wilder- ness man ean commune with himself and Na- ture and her God, and realize emotions and thoughts that the crowded city never can produce. To be sure, one has said, " A great city is a great desert," but it is a desert of depraved humanity, where every one is wrapped up in selfishness, and guards himself against his neighbor while his heart rankles with envy at his prosperity, or his wild, un- bridled ambition urges him on the reckless course of outstripping all his competitors. Not so in the woods. There pride, envy, selfishness, and ambition have no abode. The only evil spirit that haunts the woods is Melancholy. This will often steal upon the heart of those who have not found the satis- fying portion that religion imparts.
Mr. Finley's account of his conversion and final entrance into the ministry of the Methodist Church is vividly told. "He was," he says, "raised by Presby- terian parents, and taught the catechism." From this he learned that God from all eternity had elected some men and angels to everlasting life and passed by the remainder, ordaining them to eternal death. This doctrine seemed to him unjust. There was no use in prayer. That would not convert him unless he was one of the elect, and if so, he would be saved anyway. "This doctrine," he says, "well nigh ruined me. I thought if God had brought me into the world without my consent for his own purposes, it was no concern of mine, and all I had to do was to be honest, enjoy life, and perform the errand of my destiny." So he entered freely into pleasure, took a hand at cards, but never gambled ; was passionately fond of dancing ; sometimes went on a spree ; would swear when angry, and fight when insulted. " Backwoods boys were brought up to the trade of knock down . and drag out." The people called him the " New Market Devil," so wild was he.
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PREBLE COUNTY.
In the midst of all this mirth and revelry he dare not think of death and eternity. About this time a great revival of religion broke out in Kentucky, accompanied by that alarming phenomena called the jerks. In August, 1801, learning there was to be a great meeting at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in his fa- ther's old congregation, he left, with some companions, his woody retreat in Highland county, near what is now New Market, and went down to visit the scenes of his boyhood.
CAMP MEETING SCENES.
When he arrived on the camp-ground he found an awful scene. A vast crowd was col- lected, estimated at 25,000. The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings were agitated as if by a storm. He counted seven ministers all preaching at once from stumps, fallen trees, and wagons. Some were singing, others praying ; some piteously crying for mercy, and others shout- ing most vociferously. He became weak as a kitten at the sight and fled to the woods.
"After some time," he says, "I returned to the scene of excitement, the waves of which, if possible, had risen still higher. The same awfulness of feeling came over me. I stepped up on to a log, where I could have a better view of the surging sea of humanity. The scene that presented itself to my mind was indescribable. At one time I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them ; and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. My hair rose up on my head ; my whole frame trembled ; the blood ran cold in my veins ; and I fled for the woods a second time, and wished I had stayed at home. While I remained here my feelings became intense and insupportable. A sense of suffo- cation and blindness seemed to come over me, and I thought I was going to die.
A Drunken Revelry .- There being a tavern about half a mile off, I concluded to go and get some brandy, and seo if it would not strengthen my nerves. When I arrived there I was disgusted with the sight that met my eyes. Here I saw about one hundred men engaged in a drunken revelry, playing cards, trading horses, quarrelling, and fighting. After some time I got to the bar, and took a dram and left ; feeling that I was as near hell as I wished to be, either in this or the world to come. The brandy had no effect in allay- ing my feelings, but, if anything, made me worse.
Convicted of Sin .- Night at length came on, and I was afraid to see any of my com- panions. I cautiously avoided them, fearing lest they should discover something the mat- ter with me. In this state I wandered about from place to place, in and around the en- campment. At times it seemed as if all the sins I had ever committed in my life were vividly brought up in array before my terri- fied imagination ; and under their awful pres- sure I felt that I must die if I did not get re-
lief. Then it was that I saw clearly through the thin vail of Universalism, and this refuge of lies was swept away by the Spirit of God. Then fell the scales from my sin-blinded eyes, and I realized, in all its force and power, the awful truth ; and that if I died in my sins, I was a lost man forever.
Notwithstanding all this, my heart was so proud and hard that I would not have fallen to the ground for the whole State of Ken- tucky. I felt that such an event would have been an everlasting disgrace, and put a final quietus on my boasted manhood and courage. At night I went to a barn in the neighbor- hood, and, creeping under the hay, spent a most dismal night. I resolved in the morn- ing to start for home, for I felt that I was a ruined man. Finding one of the friends who came over with me, I said, "Captain, let us be off ; I will stay no longer." He assented, and getting our horses we started for họme.
A Struggle-Conversion-Joy .- The next night they reached the Blue Lick Knobs, when, says Finley, "I broke the silence which reigned mutually between us, and ex- claimed to my companion, Captain, if you and I don't stop our wickedness, the devil will get us both." Then both commenced crying and weeping. The next morning he went into the woods to pray. His shouts at- tracted the neighbors, who gathered around,' and among them a Swiss German who had experienced religion. He understood his case ; had him carried to his house, and put on his bed. The old Dutch saint directed me to look right away to the Saviour. He then kneeled at the bedside, and prayed for my salvation most fervently in Dutch and broken English. He then rose and sung in the same manner, and continued singing and praying alternately till nine o'clock, when suddenly my load was gone, my guilt removed, and presently the direet witness from heaven shone full upon my soul. Then there flowed such copious streams of love into the hitherto waste and desolate places of my soul, that I thought I should die with excess of joy. I cried, I laughed, I shouted ; and so strangely did I appear to all but my Dutch brother that they thought me deranged. After a time I returned to my companion, and we started on our journey. O what a day it was to my soul 1
.
I told the captain how happy I was, and was often interrupted, in a recital of my ex- perience, by involuntary shouts of praise. I felt a love for all mankind, and reproached myself for having been such a fool as to live so long in sin and misery when there was so much mercy for me.
Becomes a Circuit Rider .- Soon after his arrival at home, Finley joined the Methodists, developed extraordinary eloquence, and even- tually was appointed to the Wills creek cir- cuit. He sent for his family, put them into a cabin ; their entire earthly possessions being nothing but a bed and some wearing apparel, and then, he says, "My funds being all ex- hausted, I sold my boots off iny feet to pur-
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PREBLE COUNTY.
chase provisions with." Then he started on his circuit, to be absent four weeks.
Wills Creek Circuit was computed to be 475 miles round. Its route was as follows : Beginning at Zanesville and running east, it embraced all the settlements on each side of the Wheeling road, on to Salt creek and the Buffalo fork of Wills creek ; thence down to Cambridge and Leatherwood, on Stillwater ; thence to Barnesville and Morristown ; thence down Stillwater, including all the branches
on which there were settlements, to the mouth ; thence up the Tuscarawas, through New Philadelphia, to One-leg Nimishilling ; thence. up Sandy to Canton, and on to Car- ter's ; thence to Sugar creek, and down said creek to the mouth ; thence down the 'l'us- carawas to William Butt's, and thence down to the mouth of Whitewoman ; thence, after crossing the river, including all the settle- ments of the Wapatomica, down to Zanes- ville, the place of beginning.
Many were his difficulties and perils. The country was wild ; the people gen- erally ignorant and inexperienced. They often interrupted him in his preaching by mockings and curses and threats of punishment, and sometimes he felt it his duty to "go in" on his muscle ; and lie was strong as an ox. They used to tell a story of his thrashing a notorious bully, and then bringing him within the fold.
While on the Wills circuit one man, whose wife had been in great distress of mind from the sense of sin, declared Finley was a wizard and had bewitched her. He loaded his rifle with a charmed bullet, and went two miles into the woods to waylay him. Soon his mind was filled with dreadful thoughts; horrid visions floated in the air ; demon faces gibbered before his vision, when he took to his heels for his home in as much distress as his poor wife. In the result both be- came converts.
As he journeyed his place of study was the forest and his text-books the Bible, Discipline, doctrinal tracts, and the works of Wesley and Fletcher. The influence of the circuit riders in that day in saving the people of the wilderness from degen- erating into savagery was beyond all computation. Such a body of self-denying moral heroes as they were have seldom been known. Generally poverty loomed up to them drearily in the distance. They lived poor and died poor, and left their families in poverty. "Some I know," said Finley, " have spent a fortune for the privilege of travelling circuits, at a salary of twenty-five dollars a year, while their wives lived in log cabins and rocked their children in sugar-troughs."
Eventually Finley was put in charge of the "Ohio district," which included eight circuits, ten travelling preachers, and over 4,000 members. It embraced all Eastern and Northern Ohio, part of Western New York and all Western Penn- sylvania ; and he rode through the woods all around it four times a year, holding quarterly meetings. We close with an anecdote related by him as having oc- curred at St. Clairsville, wherein the later eminent Charles Hammond illustrated his muse :
" I was," writes Finley, "called on by brother Young to exhort. Being much blessed, I suppose I raised my voice to the highest pitch and struck the book- board with my hand. At this a young lawyer, Charles Hammond, who had a considerable reputation for talents, became alarmed, and, urging his way through the crowd to the door, fled for his life. On my next round, the sexton found in the pulpit a very neatly turned maul, with a slip of paper wrapped around the handle, which was directed to me. After meeting it was presented, and on the paper were the following verses :
"'Thus saith the Lord, the preacher now Must warn the people all,
And if you cannot make them hear, I'd have you use this maul.
""" Your hand, dear sir, is far too soft To batter on the wood ; Just take this maul, it is but small, And thunder on the board.
"'Lift up your voice, and loudly call On sinners all around, And if you cannot make them hear, 'Take up this maul and POUND !'"'
CAMDEN is eight miles south of Eaton, on the C. R. & C. R. R. Newspapers :
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PREBLE COUNTY.
Gazette, Independent, C. M. Hane, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Metho- dist, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Universalist. It is quite a purchasing and shipping- point for grain and stock. Population, 1880, 800. School census, 1888, 220.
WEST ALEXANDRIA is six miles east of Eaton, on the C. J. & M. R. R., and in the heart of the beautiful Twin Valley. Newspaper : Twin Valley Times, Inde- pendent, Chas. J. Wilson, editor. Churches : 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Reformed. This is said to be one of the wealthiest villages, per head of popu- lation, in this part of the State, and remarkable for its number of fine residences. The main industries are furniture, Coffinan & Burtner ; washing machines, Adolph Schlingman ; woollen goods, as yarns and blankets, flour, saddlery, harness, wagons, etc. Population, 1880, 796. School census, 1888, 186. E. P. Vaughn, superintendent of schools.
WINCHESTER, P. O. Gratis, is nine miles southeast of Eaton. Population, 1880, 502. School census, 1888, 203.
WEST ELKTON is fourteen miles southeast of Eaton. Population, 1880, 247. School census, 1888, 115.
LEWISBURG is nine miles northeast of Eaton, on the C. J. & M. R. R. Pop- ulation, 1880, 409. School census, 1888, 161.
NEW PARIS is twelve miles northwest of Eaton, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R., six miles east of New Richmond, Ind., on and in the valley of the Whitewater. Newspapers : Mirror, Independent, C. W. Bloom, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 colored Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Chris- tian, 1 Universalist, 1 United Brethren, and 1 Catholic. Population, 1880, 835. School census, 1888, 300. F. S. Alley, superintendent of schools. New Paris is noted for its mineral springs, called Cedar Springs, which are quite a summer resort for invalids. The manufacture of linen is extensively carried on.
ELDORADO is twelve miles northwest of Eaton, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Population, 1880, 337. School census, 1888, 112.
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PUTNAM COUNTY.
PUTNAM.
PUTNAM COUNTY was formed from Old Indian Territory, April 1, 1820, and named from General Israel Putnam, who was born at Salem, Mass., January 7, 1718, and died at Brooklyn, Conn., May 29, 1790. In 1824, when Williams county was organized, Putnam, Henry and Paulding counties were attached to it for judicial purposes, and in 1834 Putnam was organized as a separate county. The surface is generally level and, much of the land being within the Black Swamp district, is wet but, when cleared and drained, very fertile. Area about 510 square miles. In 1887 the aeres cultivated were 129,123 : in pasture, 16,083; wood- land, 66,297; lying waste, 3,053; produced in wheat, 484,800 bushels; rye, 29,446 ; buckwheat, 567; oats, 210,827 ; barley, 4,826 ; corn, 1,505,147 ; broom- corn, 1,315 lbs. brush ; meadow hay, 16,597 tons ; clover hay, 4,298 ; flax-seed, 90 bushels ; potatoes, 64,466 ; tobacco, 350 lbs .; butter, 498,743; cheese, 4,440 ; sorghum, 7,408 gallons ; maple syrup, 3,007; honey, 8,121 lbs. ; eggs, 755,555 dozen ; grapes, 1,784 lbs. ; sweet potatoes, 375 bushels; apples, 6,511 ; peaches, 234; pears, 193; wool, 51,141 lbs. ; milch cows owned, 7,289. Ohio Mining Statistics, 1888 : Limestone : 1,055 cubic feet of dimension stone, 2,559 cubic yards of building stone, 1,125 square feet of flagging, 6,750 square feet paving, 3,498 lineal feet of curbing, 1,097 cubic yards of ballast or macadam.
School census, 1888, 9,893 ; teachers, 241 ; Miles of railroad track, 96.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840.
1880.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840. 1880.
Blanchard,
670
1,787
Palmer,
929
Greensburg,
275
940
Perry,
266
1,073
Jackson,
1,047
Pleasant,
325
3,013
Jennings,
350
1,443
Richland,
387
Liberty,
125
1,536
Riley,
621
1,484
Monroe,
518
788
Sugar Creek,
405
1,300
Monterey,
1,354
Union,
400
1,398
Ottawa,
690
3,177
Van Buren,
2,444
Population of Putnam in 1830 was 230; 1840, 5,132; 1860, 12,808; 1880, 23,713 ; of whom 19,757 were born in Ohio ; 777, Pennsylvania ; 230, Virginia ; 174, New York ; 174, Indiana ; 38, Kentneky; 1,264, German Empire ; 218, England and Wales ; 117, Ireland; 94, France; 52, British America ; 11, Scot- land, and 5 Norway and Sweden. Census, 1890, 30,188.
PUTNAM COUNTY IN 1846.
A large proportion of the population is from eastern Ohio, and of Pennsylvania extraction. In Ottawa, Greensburg, Riley and Jennings are many natives of Germany. The site of old Fort Jennings is in the southwest part. There were two Indian towns in the county of some note-the upper 'Tawa town was on Blanchard's fork ; two miles below, on the site of the present Ottawa village, was the lower "Tawa town.
Kalida, the [old] county-seat, is on Ottawa river, 114 miles northwest of Cohim- bus. It was laid out in 1834 as the seat of justice, and named from a Greek word signifying "beautiful." It contains a Methodist church, four stores, a news- paper printing-office, and thirty-six dwellings.
In Riley is a settlement of 'Aymish or Omish," a sect of the " Mennonites or Harmless Christians." They derive their name from Aymen, their founder, and were originally known as Aymenites. This seet wear long beards, and reject all superfluities in dress, diet and property. They have ever been remarkable for
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PUTNAM COUNTY.
industry, frugality, temperance and simplicity. At an carly day many of the Omish emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania. When they first came to the country they had neither churches nor graveyards. "A church," said they, "we do not require, for in the depth of the thicket, in the forest, on the water, in the field and in the dwelling, God is always present." Many of their descendants, deviating from the practice of their forefathers, have churches and burial grounds.
The view, "A Home in the Wilderness," represents a log tavern in the western part of the county, on the road to Charloe. It was built about thirty years since by two men, assisted by a female. It has long been a favorite stopping-place for travellers, as many as twenty or thirty having, with their horses, frequently tar- ried here over night, when journeying through the wilderness. The situation is charming. It is on the banks of the Auglaize, which flows in a ravine some fif- teen or twenty feet below. All around stand massive trees, with foliage luxu- riantly developed by the virgin fertility of the soil, while numerous branches lave in the passing waters. We came suddenly upon the place on a pleasant day in June, 1846, and were so much pleased with its primitive simplicity and loveliness as to stop and make a more familiar acqaintance. We alighted from our faithful " Pomp," turned him loose among the fresh grass, drew our portfolio from our saddle-bags, and while he was rolling amid the clover in full liberty, and the ladies of the house were seated sewing in the open space between the parts of the cabin, fanned by a gentle breeze-we took a sketch as a memorial of a scene we shall never forget, and to present to our readers a view of "A Home in the Wil- derness."
Gilboa, Pendleton, Ottawa, Columbus, Grove, Madeira and Glandorff are all small places in this county, the largest of which, Gilboa, contains about thirty- five dwellings .- Old Edition.
TRAVELLING NOTES.
The foregoing comprises about all my old account of Putnam county. Indeed, the entire county then was largely forest and water. The most interesting point is my picture of the " Home in the Wilderness." That picture proved to be one of the most attractive things in my old book. It seemed to touch a chord in the hearts of multitudes who had begun life in the midst of such scenes. It is note- worthy that now, after the lapse of forty-three years, I should receive a letter from a stranger, a then boy, who sat by my side when I drew that picture, which telis me all the circumstances, but which I had long since forgotten. His letter is from Dawn, Darke county, Ohio, dated April 2, 1889, and signed S. S. Holden. It gives some interesting things about the old home, long since vanished. It was prompted partly by learning that the painter of an oil painting of it had put in the claim that his painting was an original design of his own. We quote :
"I am by profession a minister of the Gos- pel, of the United Brethren Church (in Christ ).' I will be qualified that the picture on your letter-head is a picture of the man who drew the sketch of our home about the year 1846. I am a son of P. B. Holden, whose name appears on the sign as you drew it. I was then 14 years old, and recollect it about as vividly as if it had occurred but yes- terday-your riding into the yard on horse- back ; getting off your horse; laying your paper, pencils, etc., about you on the old sled or mud boat, which lay in the yard at that time, and is shown in the picture, and watching you draw the scene. Such an oc- currence was too rare not to make an impres- sion on a boy like me. A man named Sebastian Sroufe built the house. He died and was
buried near there. Two of his sons were named George and Albert-the latter was a school teacher. His widow married Judge Perkins, and they moved to Williams county.
" While you were making the sketch, my mother and a lady school teacher sat in the open space between the two rooms, sewing. Before you had completed it, my brother and a Mr. Whiting came through the yard where we were sitting, having been to a deer lick. One of them carried his gun at 'trail arms' and the other carried his gun on his shoulder, and with them was our dog 'Tyler.'"
It was well the dog was along. His name marks the era of the event and helps to con- firm the truth of Mr. Holden's statement. The hard-eider campaign had only passed a few years before, when the old Whigs had
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ENTECLILOL:
& HOLDEN
#
Drawn by Henry Howe on a pleasant day in June, 1846. SCENE ON THE AUGLAIZE-A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.
Les 911.1 11 83h V.3
PUTNAM COUNTY.
137
sung " For Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Hence it was natural for them to thus name their dogs "Tip " for Tippecanoe and " Tyler " for Tyler too. Humor comes from incongruous associations, so Mark Twain named his jump- ing frog Daniel Webster-both were heavy- weights : one from brains and brawn, the other from shot.
The "Home " was on the main route from Kalida to Charloe, about five miles northwest from the former, The Samuel Holden, who lived there as stated, was an United Brethren clergyman. So the home seemed to have done service as both parsonage and tavern. Later, as I have been told, the Rev. Branson Good made it his home, and the building stood until about thirty years since.
Since receiving the letter from his son, I find in the Pioneer Reminiseences of the county a statement by Mr. George Skinner which leads me to believe that this was the first house built in Putnam county. Ile says : "The first building that could be designated a house was erected by two men and a woman on section 21, Perry township, by Sebastian Sroufe." . He then states it was on the Au- glaize, and that he was buried close by.
A Strange Animal .- After leaving this now pet spot in my memory, making my way westward, I discovered a strange animal run- ning on the ground. I sprang from my horse and killed it with a club, it showing no fight. I then tied it on my horse, back of the sad- dle, thinking it might be some valuable game. I bad no sooner got it on, than Pomp began to dance up and down, especially the back part of him ; then, trotting off, I had great . difficulty in catching him, and was fearful I should have to pass the night in these woods of the Black Swamp. Then I saw what was the matter. A quantity of pin-quills were sticking in his back, gathered from the ani-
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