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 22
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commenced erecting log huts above the mouth of Paint, at "the Prarie station," be- fore the others had come on by water. About 300 acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season.
Chillicothe was laid out in August of this year, 1796, 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 about twenty cabins were erected. Not long after, a ferry was established across the Seioto 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 Orchard, in Kentucky.
The emigrants brought up some coru-meal in their pirogues, and after that was gone, their principal meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in hominy mortars, which when made into bread and anointed with bear's oil, was quite palatable.
When the settlers first came, whiskey was $1.50 per gallon ; but in the spring of 1797, when the keel boats began to run, the Mo- nongahela 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 excep- tions, drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became in- ebriates. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that it for a time became 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, wit- nesses were examined, the cause argued and
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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 pony, and that his wife-who was sup- posed to have had some ageney in the theft- should lead the pony 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 exeented. 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, pro- claimed by his wife, he sitting on a bare pack-saddle on his pony. 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 Worth- ington of Berkeley county, Va., were brothers- in-law, and being moved by abolition princi- ples liberated their slaves, intending to re- move into the Territory. For the purpose of making preparations for their removal in in the spring, Mr. Worthington, in 1797, visited, Chillicothe and purchased several of the in and ont lots of the town, and on one of the former he erected a two-story frame honse, the same in which Mr. Campbell now resides on Second street, which was the first frame house erceted 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 reg- ular members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian church. Towards the fall of 1797, the leaven of piety retained by a por- tion of the first settlers began to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting- honse was erected near the old grave-yard on this side of the bridge. and the Rev. W. Speer, a Presbyterian clergyman from Penn- sylvania, took charge. The sleep ersserved as seats for the hearers, and a split log table was used as a pulpit. Mr. Speer was a gentle- manly, moral man, tall and cadaverons in person, and wore the coeked hat of the revo- lutionary era.
Thomas James arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the Scioto valley, and . abont the same time arrived Maj. Elias Langham, an officer of the Revolution. Dr. Tiffin and his brother Joseph arrived the same month from Vir-
ginia, 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 were George Kilgore and Eliza- beth Cochran. The ponies of the attendants of the wedding 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 Putnam, surveyor-general of the Northwestern Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress lands, then to be sur- veyed on the east side of the Scioto; and Major Langham and a Mr. Matthews were appointed to survey the residue of the lands, which afterwards composed the Chillicothe land district.
On their arrival there were but four shin- gle-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 MeCul- loch and others ; Springer, Osbourn, Thomas and Elijah Chenowith, and Dyer settled on Darby creek ; Lamberts and others on Sippo ; on Foster's bottom by Samnel Davis, the Fosters and others. The following families also settled in and abont Chillicothe : John Crouse, William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John MeLanberg, William Candless, the Stocktons, the Greggs, the Bateses and others.
Dr. 'l'iffin and his wife were the first Meth- odists that resided in the Scioto valley. He was a local preacher. In the fall Worthing- ton'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 Chilli- cothe, and Joseph Tiffin appointed post-mas- ter. 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 Na- thaniel Willis moved in and established the Scioto Gazette.
In 1801 the settlers along the west side of the Scioto, from Chillicothe to its month, were Joseph Kerr, Hugh Cochran, Joseph Campbell, the Johnsons, James Crawford, the Kirkpatricks, the Chandlers, Beshongs, Montgomeries, Mountzes, Fosters, Pancakes, Davises, Chenowiths. Sargents, Downings, Combeses, Barneses, Uttses, Noels, Incases, Swaynes, Williams and Collins, at Alexan- dria. On the east side of the Scioto, the Noels, Thompson, Marshall, McQuart, the
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Millers, Boylston, Talbot, Mustard, Clark, the Claypoles, Renicks, Harnesses, Carneses,
and many others whose names cannot now be recollected.
EARLY EXPERIENCES IN THE SCIOTO VALLEY.
The Rev. J. B. Finley, who came with his father to Chillicothe in the year 1796, in his very interesting and instructive autobiography, writes of " the rich- ness of the country, the beauty of its birds and flowers, the softness of the climate, the fragrance of the atmosphere, redolent as Eden." He then goes on to describe the sufferings through the prevalence of bilious fevers, the symptoms of which often resembled those of yellow-fever. "Often there was not one member of the family able to help the others; and instances occurred in which the dead lay un- buried for days because no one could report. The extensive prevalence of sickness, however, did not deter immigration. A desire to possess the rich lands overcame all fear of sickness, and the living tide rolled on, heedless of death."
In the summer of 1798 the bloody flux raged as an epidemic with great violence, and for a time threatened to depopulate the whole town of Chillicothe and its vicinity. Medical skill was exerted to its utmost, but all to no purpose, as but few who were attacked re- covered. From eight to ten were buried per day. At length a French trader by the name of Drouillard [Peter Druyer, or Drouillard, who interceded with the Indians to save the life of Simon Kenton], came and adminis- tered to the sick with great success, giving relief in a few hours, and in almost every case effecting a permanent cure.
The first Legislature met on the bank of the Scioto river, near the foot of Mulberry street, under a large sycamore tree. This was entirely democratic, as the people repre- sented thenrselves. The principal matter which occupied the attention of this Legisla- ture was the enaction of a law for the sup- pression of drunkenness.
In the fall of 1796 my father set all his slaves free. ITe had been for years convinced that it was wrong to hold his fellow-men in bondage. Preparations being made for their removal from their Kentucky home to Ohio, about the Ist of December, twelve of the emancipated negroes were mounted on pack- horses and started for Ohio. My father placed me in charge of the company, though I was but 16 years of age. We were accom- panied with parts of three families, with a great drove of hogs, cows and sheep. We carried with us clothes, bed-clothes, provisions and cooking utensils.
After we crossed the Ohio river it became ' intensely cold, and it was with difficulty some of the colored people were kept from freez- ing. Some days we were under the necessity of lying by, it was so intensely cold. After six- teen days of toil and hardship we reached our place of destination on the banks of the Scioto below Chillicothe. Here we built our winter camps, making them as warm as we could. Our bread was made of pounded hominy and corn-meal, and we lived on this, together with what we could find in the woods. Fortunately for us. game was plenty, and we caught opos- sums by the score. The colored people lived
well on this food, and were as sleek and black as ravens. In the spring my father and the rest of the family moved out, and as soon as we could erect a cabin all hands went to work to put in a crop of corn.
It was necessary to fence in the prairie, and every one had to enclose with a fence as much ground as he had planted. The work of fencing fell to my lot. Myself and another lad built a camp, in which we lodged at night and cooked our provisions. We frequently killed turkeys and wild ducks, with which we supplied our larder, and with our johnny- cake, baked on a board before the fire, we had a good supply for a vigorous appetite. After our corn was gathered and laid by the immigrants came pouring into the country. From that time to the beginning of March I travelled over the trace front Chillicothe to Manchester sixteen times. On one of these visits my brother John accompanied me, father having sent us by that route to Ken- tucky for seed-wheat. The wheat which we brought back was, I believe, the first sown in the Scioto valley.
This year our horses ran away, and my father sent me, in company with an Indian, whom he had employed for that purpose. to go and hunt them. We had not gone four miles from the settlement before the Indian was bitten by a rattlesnake on the ankle, be- tween his leggin and moccasin. It was one of the large yellow kind, full of poison. As soon as the Indian had killed his enemy, he took his knife, went a few paces, and dug up a root, the stalk of which resembled very much the stalk of flax, about nine inches long. The root was yellow and very slender, being no thicker than a knitting-needle. This root he chewed and swallowed. He then put more in his mouth, and after chewing it, put it upon the wound. Soon after he became deathly sick and vomited. He repeated the dose three times with the same result, and then, putting some fresh root on the bite, we travelled on. The place where he was bitten after a while became swollen, but it did not extend far and soon subsided. This root is undoubtedly the most effectnal cure for poison in the world-a specific antidote.
AS
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I frequently hunted with John Cushon, an Indian of the Tuscarora tribe, and had good living and much fine sport. I became so passionately fond of the gun and the woods, and Indian life, that my parents feared I would go off with the Indians and become connected with them. They were as fondly attached to me as I to them ; and notwith- standing I had heard so much of their treach- ery and savage barbarity, I felt that I could repose the most implicit confidence in them. The mode of living and manner of life, which consisted in hunting the buffalo, bear and deer in the wild woods and glens, free from care and the restraints of civilization, made Indian life to me most desirable ; and so powerfully had these things taken hold of my youthful mind, that the advice and entreaties of my beloved parents could scarcely restrain me from following it. Let it not be supposed that, though I was a backwoods boy, I had not tasted the sweets of classical literature. In my father's academy I enjoyed the advan- tages of a thorough drilling in Latin and Greek, and even now I can repeat whole books of the "Æneid" of Virgil and the "Iliad " of Homer. I could scan Latin or Greek verse with as much fluency as I can now sing a Methodist hymn ; and I could find the square root of a given number with as much precision in my youthful days as I could drive a centre with my rifle.
THE MURDER OF WAW-WIL-A-WAY.
In the spring of 1803 Captain Herrod, a prominent and influential settler residing a few miles west of Chillicothe, was found mur - dered in the woods near his home. The body had been scalped and tomahawked, sup- posedly by Indians, although many of the settlers believed it to have been the deed of a personal enemy. The circumstances are thus told in Finley's autobiography :
The murder created considerable excite- ment in the settlements, and many predicted a general slaughter of whites by Indians.
Several days after the finding of Captain Herrod's body, David Wolfe, accompanied by two other men named Williams and Fer- guson, met on the prairie the Shawnee Chief Waw-wil-a-way, the old and faithful hunter of Gen. Massie, and an unwavering friend to the whites. He was a noble, brave and in- telligent Indian, known and beloved by all the settlers. Wolfe engaged him in conver- sation and made a proposition to exchange guns, and, while examining the chief's gun, unobserved by him emptied the priming from the pan, and then handed the gun back, re- marking that he had concluded not to trade.
After some further conversation and a friendly parting, Waw-wil-a-way continued on his way. As soon as his back was turned, Wolfe raised his gun and shot him through the body. Although mortally wounded :the Indian turned on his enemies, shot and killed Williams, rushed upon Wolfe, stabbed him with his knife in the thigh, and when Fergu- . son came to Wolfe's assistance, the chief felled him with Wolfe's gun. The two sur- viving white men were now lying at the In- dian's feet, but his strength was fast failing him through loss of blood ; his sight became dim ; he staggered forward a few steps, fell to the ground and expired. Wolfe and Fer- guson survived their wounds.
The murder of Waw-wil-a-way created great alarm among both Indians and whites. The scattered whites fled to the settlements, and the neighboring Indians to the heart of the Indian country, near Fort Greenville. Fearing a general uprising of the Indians, Gen. MeArthur, with a large body of men, met the Indians near Fort Greenville, and a council was held, at which the Indians de- elared their purpose to abide by the treaty made eight years before. After the council had elosed, Teeumseh accompanied Gen. MeArthur to Chillicothe and made an elo- quent speech in favor of peace ; the settlers then returned to their homes their fears and alarm allayed.
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 of Piqua, Miami county, and one on the Maumee.
Col. John Johnston says : "Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawanese. The Shawanese 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."
Chillicothe in 1846 .- Chillicothe, the seat of justice for Ross county, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto and on the line of the Ohio canal, forty-five miles south of Columbus, ninety-three from Cincinnati, seventy-three from Zanesville, and forty-five from the Ohio river at Portsmouth. The site is a level plain, ele- vated abont thirty 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
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towns being level and regularly laid out into squares. But here the comparison terminates. The scenery around Philadelphia is dissimilar and far inferior, 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 magnifi- cent as in this vicinity.
In 1800 the seat of government of the Northwest Territory was removed by law of Congress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the territorial legis- lature in that year and in 1801 were held in a small two-story hewed log-house, which stood on the corner of Second and Walnut streets, and was ereeted in 1798 by Mr. Bazil Abrams. To the main building, extending along Walnut street to- wards the Seioto, was attached a hewed-log wing of two stories in height. In the lower room of the wing, Col. Thos. Gibson, 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 rendezvous and barracks for sol- diers, and in 1840 was pulled down.
In 1800 the old state-house was commenced and finished the next year, for the accommodation of the legislature and courts. It is believed that it was the first public stone edifice erected in the Territory. The mason work was done by Major William Rutledge, a soldier of the revolution, and the carpentering 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 commencing on the first Monday in November, 1802. In April, 1803, the first State 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 capital of the State. This time-honored edifice is yet stand- ing in the central part of the town, and is used as a court-house for the county .- American Pioneer.
Chillicothe was incorporated January 4, 1802, and the following officers ap- pointed : Samuel Finley, Ed. Tiffin, James Ferguson, Alexander McLaughlin, Arthur Stewart, John Carlisle and Reuben Adams, members of the seleet council ; Everard Harr, assessor; Isaac Brink, supervisor; William Wallace, collector ; Joseph Tiffin, town marshal.
In 1807 Chillicothe had 14 stores, 6 hotels, 2 newspaper printing-offices, a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, both brick buildings, on Main street, and 202 dwelling-houses.
Chillicothe contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 2 Methodist, 1 Methodist Reformed, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catholic, 1 Baptist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Methodist, 1 colored Baptist and 1 colored Methodist church, 1 male academy and 1 female 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, 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 paee. On the hill west of the town is a mineral spring, said to possess fine medicinal properties. A beauti- ful cemetery, containing 14 aeres, has recently been laid out, and it is contemplated to supply the city with water from Paint creek by hydraulic power. Its popula- tion in 1807 was abont 1,200; in 1820, 2,416; in 1830, 2,840; in 1840, 3,977 ; and in 1847 about 6,220 .- Old Edition.
CHILLICOTHE, county-seat of Ross, is on the west bank of the Scioto, 47 miles
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Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.
'CHILLICOTHE.
The view is from the hill west and shows the principal part of the town. The tall spire is that of the Presbyterian church, be- side which appears the cupola of the first Ohio State House. To the left is the Madeira House, Scioto River and bridge, and in the distance Mount Logan, rising to the height of about 600 feet.
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south of Columbus, 97 miles northeast from Cincinnati, on the C. W. & B, S. V., D., Ft. W. & C. Railroads and the Ohio Canal. Chillicothe is the centre of a large and rich agricultural region.
County officers, 1888 : Auditor, John A. Somers ; Clerk, Charles Reed ; Com- missioners, Simon R. Dixon, John W. Jenkins, Conrad H. Reutinger; Coroner, Valentine Kramer ; Infirmary Directors, Edwin B. Dolohan, Isaac Lutz, Herman Schiller ; Probate Judge, George B. Bitzer ; Prosecuting Attorney, Marcus G. Evans; Recorder, John F. Brown ; Sheriff, Joshua R. Wischart; Surveyor, Philip J. Laessle ; Treasurer, Nelson Purdum. City. Officers, 1888: David Smart, Mayor; Andrew J. DeCamp, Marshal ; George L. Dawley, Civil Engineer ; Philip H. Griesheimer, Commissioner; Daniel Hammel, Chief Fire Department ; A. B. Cole, Solicitor ; Charles A. Malone, Clerk ; Nelson Purdum, Treasurer ; Dennis Rigney, Chief of Police. Newspapers : Ross County Register, Independent, R. Putnam, editor and publisher ; Scioto Gazette, Republican, A. W. Search, editor and publisher ; Advertiser, Democratic, Harper & Hunter, editors and publishers ; Leader, Republican, Tyler & Carrigan, editors and publishers ; Ohio Soldier, G. A. R., John T. Raper, editor and publisher ; Unsere Zeit, German Independent, J. B. & Chas. Fromm, editors and publishers. Churches : 2 Pres- byterian, 2 German Evangelical, 1 African Methodist Episcopal, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 2 Catholic, 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist. Banks : Central Na- tional, Thomas G. MeKell, president, T. Spetnagel, cashier ; First National, Amos Smith, president, Edward R. MeKec, cashier ; Ross County National, A. P. Story, president, John Tomlinson, cashier.
Manufactures and Employees .- Otto Wisslem & Co., beer, 6 hands ; Jacob Knecht, beer, 6 ; A. Miller, mineral water, 4 ; Marfield & Co., flour, etc., 30; Geo. J. Herrnstein & Bros., doors, sash, etc., 24; Union Shoe Co., ladies' and misses' shoes, 108 ; Duncan Steam Laundry, laundrying, 12; August Schmeider, wagons, etc., 5 ; William Miller, flour and feed, 6; Ingham & Co., book and newspaper, 75; Armstrong & Story, oak harness leather, 16; Valley Manufacturing Co., spokes and rough gearing, 22; Junemann Electric Light Co., electric light, 4; Chas. Olmstead & Son, meal and feed, 3; Elsass & Wilson, oak harness leather, 14; A. G. Yeo, spokes and handles, 8; Smith & Ryan, engines, boilers, etc., 30 ; Chilli- cothe Leader, printing, 8; Daily News and Register, printing, etc, 22; Marfield & Co., grain elevator, 6 ; August Deschler, iron fencing, etc., 3; Thomas J. Gnin, cut and sawed stone, 8 ; Wm. H. Reed & Co., doors, sash, etc., 25 ; Ewing & Studer, machinery, 5 ; C. W. & B. R. R. Shops, railroad repairs, 200; J. H. S. Furguson, ironing boards, etc., 6 .- State Report, 1888. Population, 1880, 10,938. School census, 1888, 3,837 ; John Hancock, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $640,300. Value of annual product, $1,035,300 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. Census, 1890, 11,288.
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