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 58

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 58

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OUTRAGES ON TRAVELLERS.

My father removed his family from Upper Middletown, Middlesex county, Conn., in May, 1820, to the town of Chillicothe, O., in two-horse covered wagons via. New York city ; thence through New Jersey and Penn- sylvania to Cumberland, Md., and thence fol- lowed the line of the Cumberland or National Road (which was being built in different sec- tions, and large gangs of Irish laborers with some negroes were at work). These men often committed ontrages on travellers by felling trees across the road, and demanding pay for their removal. They tried the game on father, but as he was a large and powerful man, well armed and resolute, he soon taught them better manners, and we were suffered to pass, where others had been forced to pay these highwaymen. . There were very few houses (cabins) along the road, and our jour- ney was very slow. We usually encamped at night, sleeping in our wagons, building camp fires and setting a watch to guard against horse thieves, then numerous in the moun- tains. Near the top of Laurel Hill we passed a new grave, surrounded with new pickets made out of oak, said to be the grave of a traveller murdered for his horse and money but a few days before. . . .

A FAMILY DISGRACE.

We crossed the Scioto river, and went,

via Springfield and Troy, to Piqua, on the Great Miami river. Here were a few log- cabins strung along the west bank. A hewed two-story log-house was TOMPKIN'S TAV- ERN, where we took lodging, one stone house, the old Council House, occupied by Dr. Shappie as a residence, John Johnston, Esq. (Indian agent), Samuel Young, Stephen Widney, an Irish gentlemen, and some few others. While we were at supper, in rushed Mrs. Widney, wringing her hands, crying out : "Oh, gentlemen, my poor son John is lost in the woods; och hone! och hone! What shall I do? The opossums will kill him, and the deer will eat him ; och hione ! ! och hone ! It will be such a disgrace to the family !" All turned out, fired guns, made a bonfire, and in about half an hour John Widney made his appearance, a strapping fellow of sixteen years of age.

"DEVIL'S RACE GROUND."

Proceeding on their journey, Capt. Riley's party arrived, in January, 1821, at the tem- porary cabin which had been prepared for them, "about one-fourth of a mile south of the present bridge in the town of Willshire." . . The wolves prowled around us all night, keeping the children pretty well scared. This was the first night of the first settlers in Van Wert county at the "Devil's Race Ground." The winter proved rather a mild

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one, and by spring a large two-story cabin had been built on the east bank of the river, at the foot of the rapids, near the site of the mill. This cabin was, I think, sixty feet in length, built in three sections of twenty feet each. The floors were split and hewed puncheons, with clapboard doors, with win- dows with sash and glass, the first glass win- dows seen north of Piqua.

A GUARDIAN SPIRIT.

The woods swarmed with Indians, who came to grind their knives and tomahawks on the grindstone, the only one north of Piqua. They would camp around for weeks, but we never allowed them to have any whis- key, although it was always on hand by the barrel, and each hand had to have his rations. They always treated us with the utmost kind- ness. My mother often doctored their papooses, and they appreciated it. My father's portrait, a very fine likeness, looking straight at the beholder, hung in our big room. The Indians had all seen him while surveying, and all crowded in to see him, or his spirit, as they believed was there to re- port to him in the woods that they were dep- redating upon his fields or insulting his family. Finding that to be the ease, he did not deny it, and in the whole eight years that we were surrounded by thousands of them, we were never injured to the value of a dollar, but treated politely and kindly by all tribes.

A GRAND RAISING.

During the winter, men were engaged hewing and hauling timber for a large frame grist mill. Father and his surveyors were in the forests on the Auglaize until the time for raising the frame of the mill arrived, when all hands came in, and invitations were sent to Fort Wayne, St. Mary's, and Fort Re- covery, and great preparations were made for their entertainment by the hunters and In- dians bringing in venison, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, and plenty of wild honey, maple-sugar and molasses, not forgetting eggs and whiskey with which to make egg-nog, without which no crowd could be gotten together ; all used it, and tobacco, when they could get it, ex- cept my father, brother, and the Quakers in his employ, Messrs. Louis and Powell, who used neither. On the appointed day, people came from Fort Wayne, Fort Recovery, St. Mary's and Piqua, to the number of about fifty, which, with the surveyor, settlers and millwright, swelled the number to over one hundred. But very few had assisted in rais- ing a frame of such large timbers ; they were very awkward.

The frame of the mill had been partly raised when some of the timbers fell, fortn- nately without injuring anyone, although Capt. Riley narrowly escaped being ernshed to death. All agreed to adjourn in gratitude for their narrow eseape and complete the rais- ing the next day. Accordingly brush and bark camps were made along the bank of the

river to sleep in over night. Long tables were set out, made by putting legs or pins through slabs, and standing them in rows, with similar ones not so high for seats. With abundance of provisions, well cooked, and good coffee, all served in tin eups, and on tin plates, all partook of a hearty meal before dark.

A MOONLIGIIT DANCE.

. Then they determined to have a dance on the green by torch and moonlight; bright fires were burning, so that the smoke might drive away mosquitoes and give light, and many hickory bark torches, held by lookers- on, which they would swing furiously through the air to rekindle once in a while, afforded a fine light, and to all a novel, grand and beau- tiful sight. A man named Freshour, from towards Fort Recovery, furnished music on a~ violin, and, as there were no women to dance, men personated them by wearing their chip hats or fur caps. The dances were Scotch reels, Irish jigs, and Old Virginia hoe-downs, and, as there was ample room, many were dancing at one time. Their joints were lim-, bered by occasional tin cups of egg-nog. One man, Fielding Corbin, who had all day been lying down groaning with rheumatism, be- came so much excited with the dance, or the stimulating effects of the nog, that he forgot his lameness when an Irish jig was played, and jumped up and danced it to perfection, touching every note, keeping perfect time, and excelling all, so that ever after the settlers called him LAMBER JIMMY. Many of the company danced until daylight, and in the morning, in. a few hours, the frame was raised in sections, a hearty dinner partaken, and all started for their homes, delighted with the idea that they would soon have corn meal without pounding, and that they had been to the raising of the first frame building ever erected north of Dayton, Ohio. The irons and millstones were hauled from Dayton, tak- ing four yoke of cattle to haul them through mud and swamps, which they had to bridge with corduroy (poles laid erossways).

MULTITUDES OF FISH.

Finally the mill was set running, and people came from all quarters with bags of corn and some buek wheat (no wheat had been raised as yet) from great distances to get their corn ground, camping out when more than a day's travel. The race was one-quarter of a mile in length, and no sooner was it closed at the mill than the fish began to accumulate below the dam, which was eight feet high, and they could not be sent over. That being the only obstrue- tion from Lake Erie, the river seemed to be perfectly filled with pike, pickerel, lake sal- mon, white fish, large muskallonge, black bass and suckers. Father saw that by opening his waste gates at the mill and letting the water in at the dam, he could soon have the race full, when, by shutting the upper gate and opening the lower a little, they would be on dry land, and could be picked up with the

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hand. He immediately set men to make bar- rels, and dispatched a two-horse wagon to Piqua for salt. Opening his gates, the fish fairly swarmed, until they became so thick that, with a dip-net, they could be thrown out as fast as a man could handle his net. Owing to the time taken by the team, the fish were so thick that they began to die in great quantities. Father caught and salted all that he could with the salt on hand, raised the gate into the pond, and let them go ; thus losing an opportunity to have made a fine fortune for that time. The salt did not ar- rive for several weeks, as he had to go to Dayton, ninety miles and back. The mill proved of inestimable value to the surround- ing country, supplying the settlers with corn meal and sawing lumber, which was rafted down to Fort Wayne and Defiance. Capt. Riley, however, did not reap much benefit from the enterprise.

. A SECOND BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

Settlers began to arrive, and about 1824 a Mr. Hoover settled on the road to Shane's Crossing, about a mile south of Willshire. He came from Pennsylvania, and brought with him a tin-plate stove, the first one ever seen in the country-a great curiosity. Next came Ansel Blossom, from Maine. He had a wife named Mercy, and a large family. He had taught school in Maine, and imagined himself a second Benjamin Franklin, and imitated him even to the sticking his thumbs in his waistcoat armholes, and on no ac- count would go faster than a walk, even to escape a thunder shower, as it was undignified to run. And to make sure that his children would bear great names-I will give such of them as I remember, in the order of their ages, I believe, viz. : Horatio Gates, Edward Preble, Ira Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Smith Mathias, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams ; Catharine Bethialt, and Mary- don't remember the other. Benjamin worked for father, and the rest, elearing their land and farming. The first wedding was that of Philip Troutner and Miss Bolenbaugh. About a week before, Mr. Blossom, by his owit vote, beeame justice of the peace, and was entitled to perform the marriage cere- mony. Philip had postponed his nuptials rather than go to St. Mary's or Fort Wayne, but one morning the squire, on going to his milk house, saw a "Weathersfield kitten," i. e., polecat, quietly drinking milk from a milk pan, when he very deliberately walked into the house and asked Mercy to hand him the fire shovel. To her inquiry, "What do you want it for ? " he replied, " You'll be ad- dressed presently." He found the animal with his head over the pan, and brought the shovel down upon his neck, cramming his head into the milk, intending to drown him ; but the animal gave him such a sprinkling as to render him blind for a time, and to per- fume his clothes, including his only white cotton shirt, with a high collar, which he wore on great occasions starched, so as to

give his bald head the appearance of being held up by the ears. He instantly called for Mercy to help him into the house, and changed his clothes as soon as possible, to de- odorize them by burying. This eaused Poor Phil, as he was called, to put off his wedding, the whole settlement having heard of the squire's battle with the odoriferous little animal.

"MOST GREAT MEN WERE BALD."

Ansel Blossom was peculiar even in his having the ague, chills or shakes all together, and instead of wrapping up in blankets he would take off his eoat, and shake until the perspiration would stand in beads upon his bald head and smooth-shaven face, so that children often went to enjoy the sight when told the squire had pulled off his coat to shake. One night, just after he had been elected justice, he spent the evening with my father. The subject of great men was his theme. He remarked, "Capt. Riley, have you ever noticed that most all great mnen were bald ? I remember inany were. Julius Casar of old, our John Quiney Adams, and also Benjamin Franklin, two of our decidedly great men, are bald." Raising his hat, which he always wore even in the house, "Did you ever notice that I am bald ?" Father hu- mored his conceit, and told him that in many respects he reminded him of Franklin, ete. He left for home through the woods. He . heard some one call to him " Who, who, who, who, who are you, ah ?" "I am Esquire Ansel Blossom." "Who, who, who, ah," was repeated from a limb, and he heard the cracking of the mandibles of a huge white owl, the emblem of wisdomt.

HELL LOCATED.

The first religious services were held at our house by missionaries, who visited Fort Wayne whenever the Indians were to receive their amity, when there were a great many Indians and traders assembled from all parts of the country. The missionaries were gen- erally Methodists, but every denomination was invited by my mother to hold meetings (she being a Congregationalist) ; one, Mr. .. Antrem, a Methodist preacher, most fre- quently. He was a large, powerful man, and was considered a revivalist. The Holy Spirit, as he called it, manifested its saving power by giving ladies what they called the jerks, which would commence with a loud groaning,~ ~~ and then the head would jerk back and forth, cansing their long hair, which they braided, to crack like a whip-lash, they jumping np and down and shouting. while the preacher called on the congregation to alternately sing and pray. He would exhort them, telling that hell was raging just beneath them with fire and brimstone. "Yes," said Freshour ; "I know it's just under Shane's prairie, 'cause I dug a well last week, and the water was so full of brimstone and sulphur that they could not use it, and it turned every-

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thing black, and caved in. I don't believe but hell's right under there." To this awful discovery Antrem quoted several passages from the Bible ; read from Dante, John Bun- yan and Milton. Several young women from the prairie jerked until they fell exhausted, froth- ing at the month, with every nerve twitch- ing. They were pronounced by Antrem to be most powerfully converted ; and that ap- peared to be the uniform working of the Spirit at all his meetings in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky.

A QUEER COFFIN.

In the winter of 1841 there died of pneu- monia a poor fellow of the name of Jacob D -. His wife was too poor to purchase a

shroud or coffin. Some of the neighdors were consulted as to what should be done ; they advised that a clean shirt and white drawers be substituted for a shroud. For a coffin, in absence of planks, it was recom- mended that a white oak tree be felled, six to seven feet cut off, split in the middle, each half dug out trough fashion, and the body placed within. These recommendations were adopted, and the next day a funeral proces- sion, consisting of four men, two women, a yoke of oxen and a sled, upon which was. placed the strangely-coffined corpse, pro- ceeded to the grave at the headwaters of Blue creek. Here poor Jake was reverently slid feet foremost into his last resting-place, and the grave duly filled.

In the summer of 1854 that terrible scourge, the ASIATIC CHOLERA, became. epidemic throughout the country ; in some localities the mortality was very great ; in Chicago over 900 died, in Brooklyn 650. The epidemic spread throughout Ohio, with more or less fatal results in different parts of the State; the greatest fatalities were in the Black Swamp region, and an account of its ravages in one locality is typical of all others. A description of the conditions preceding its ad- vent, and its results in Willshire, is given by Dr. J. W. Pearce, in the " Van Wert County History," from which the following abridged account is taken :

WEATHER EXTREMES.

The winter preceding the epidemic had been unusually cold. Rivers, creeks and fountains of water were all frozen, and when the spring freshets came the St. Mary's river rose to overflowing, and being gorged with ice and driftwood, the waters spread out and thousands of acres of land became inun- dated.

This was followed by a season of drought. From the latter part of May until July 28 no rain fell ; everything was dried up by the scorching rays of the cloudless sun.

GLOOMY APPREHENSIONS.

The condition of our village, like all others unprovided with town ordinances, was in a most unhealthy condition. Our streets, alleys and byways were filled with animal and veg- etable remains, and the laws of hygiene were entirely overlooked. Thus it was when hot weather and drought set in. The atmosphere in time became surcharged with malaria, or the germ of disease, which commenced pour- ing out its unmeasured fury on the fatal 19th. At this date, Dame Nature, with all her sur- rounding concomitants, appeared unmistak- ably to shadow forth something unusual. Men's countenances were overshadowed with fearful suspense, and there was a fearful looking for something out of the common order of things. The red glare and almost scathing heat of the sun's rays were poured down, and reflected back, as if in mockery, from the already parched earth. The cattle went lowing to and fro, as if in search of food and water. The birds flew screaming through the air, as though pursued by some demon

of hunger. The very dogs, as if in mockery of the fearful doom that awaited us, sent up from their kennels their doleful howls. Will- shire up to this time had remained in statu quo, whilst her people retained their accus- tomed measure of the milk of human kind ness and their liberal share of hospitality and generous feeling, for which she had always been proverbial ; yet we must confess that, in point of morals and religion, Willshire had never been so low.

UNACCOUNTABLE PHENOMENON.

The first case was that of a hard-working, also hard-drinking man, who was attacked on the evening of July 19, and expired within a few hours. Dr. Pearce says : "We will call attention to one of the most remark- able, as also the most unaccountable phe- nomenon connected with the history of cholera, viz., the migration or disappearance. of the entire feathered tribe, together with the house-flies. By the 25th of the month not a bird or house-fly could be seen or heard anywhere, and they remained in blissful se- clusion until about August 7, when our ears were again solaced by the merry song and musical chirp of the birds. But, alas for Willshire, out of a population of abont sev- enty-five souls, forty had migrated to that 'bourne from whence no traveller returns.'' On the 21st, at the suggestion of L. D. Pearce, a committee, consisting of Ira Blos- som, R. MeMannis and Willis Major, was negotiated with to oversee the burying of the dead, and to assist those in distress, as occa- sion might require. And never in the history of any age did three great spirits merit a greater share of gratitude than did this brave

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trio, as they went forth in the discharge of their perilous undertaking. No money con- sideration alone could have induced them to enter the cabin of Starker, and remove there- from five dead bodies, already in an advanced stage of decomposition, and that, too, after they had received orders to fire the build- ing.

They believed, however, that humanity and order demanded of them a different course. Two of them have long since gone to their reward. All lived, however, to receive the plaudit and homage they so richly deserved from a generous community. At this time, . Dr. Meleheimer and myself were the only . practising physicians in town, and, as might be expected, our sleep we got in the saddle. Dr. Pearce thus relates the sickness and death of his wife :

RAPID COURSE OF THE DISEASE.

A short time after we had left the honse, a lady friend called for medicine. Mrs. Pearce at this time was in apparent good health, and left her parlor for the office, where she pre- pared the lady's medicine. On turning to hand her the same, she was noticed to reel and stagger, when, on beholding her counte- nance, the lady was horrified to see the change from the florid red to a dark leaden hue. Mrs. P. was now in the last stages of cholera, and was led to her bed in a dying condition. Messengers were immediately dispatched for us, where we were found seven miles in the country. By the fleetness of our horse, we were able to be by her bedside in a few min- utes, when and where she expired within a three hours' illness.

A strange coincidence connected with her death : one hour after Mrs. Pearce had ceased to breathe, as she lay with her hands crossed upon her bosom, so powerful had been the contraction of the muscular system during the last throes of the fell destroyer, that the in- nate action of the nervo-vital fluid, brought to bear upon the extensor musele of the arm, was sufficient to raise the right arm from her bosom, and lay it at the full length upon my breast as we sat by her bedside. Neverthe- less life had been extinct for one hour.

A DISAGREEABLE SURPRISE.

We had a poor drunken fellow in our town called " Bill." To get drunk and whip his wife was the order of his time. He was a terror to his family, and a pest of the town. Bill took the cholera, and we were called to see him. This was the first time he had ever been sick, and to him it was a disagreeable surprise. This was our time, as we verily believed, to assist him in passing in his checks ; hence we rolled up eight or ten pills of assa- fortida and red pepper, and ordered them to be given two hours apart, and tried as best we could to prepare the mind of the prospec- tive widow for the great change that awaited the little family cirele, and departed.

On calling around in due time to see if Bill

was still alive, to our great surprise and no little chagrin we found him about well, and in due time he was restored to his whiskey and shillalah ; and it has ever been a question with us whether Bill got well from pure cou- trariness, or whether assafœtida and red pep- per was the proper treatment for cholera.

Mother Ruby lay dead three days, one mile from town, before burial then, wrapped in a sheet. She was buried in her own gar- den.

PROFITABLE PHILANTHROPY.

On the 22d of the month, the old Widow Dutcher, a stranger to fear, who kept a sa- loon, agreed to open her doors for the recep- tion of all in distress, upon condition that she be allowed to go anywhere in town to take what she needed for their benefit. This ap- peared reasonable, and the arrangement was entered into. The old lady's house was soon filled with cholera patients, six of whom died. But mark the sequel. When the disease subsided, and the people began to return with their families to their deserted homes, they had nothing to eat. The old woman had ap- propriated the entire stock of provisions to her own use, and had laid in a stock of gro- ceries and provisions sufficient to stand a five-year siege. Nevertheless, she received our united thanks.

OUTRAGEOUS INHUMANITY.

George Miller found he was taking the cholera, and left for his sister's in the coun- try, where he was refused admission. He forced his way in, and threw himself on the trundle bed. The inmates left, and, on their return next morning, George was found dead on the floor beside his bed. He was buried in the garden, without coffin or box. Inhu- manity at that time could not be overlooked. The author of this outrage was driven from the country, and not allowed to return.

DESOLATE HOMES.

Thus it was with our town and vicinity un- til the twenty-eighth day, when, to our-un- utterable joy, the heavens became aglare with lightning, the thunder rolled its deafening roar, the long-coveted rain began to deseend upon the parched earth, and the atmosphere became cold and healthy. The malaria germ was either burned up or beaten down to be trodden under foot, for the disease now dis- : appeared as if by magic. Men with their families began to return to their once happy, but now desolate, homes. There were to be found but two remaining families. Desola- tion and destitution were everywhere to be seen ; doors were thrown wide open ; death- beds were standing in the streets ; sidewalks were white with. lime used as disinfectant ; no merry song or cheerful voice to be heard ; sorrow and gloom reigned supreme. Stout hearts quailed before the desolation and gloom that everywhere met their gaze.

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" Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because they were not," for

about forty kind friends from the town and vicinity had left, never more to return.

AN OLD-TIME FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION,

Held in the Woods at Willshire, O., Independence Day, 1825.

Mr. Riley, in his " Reminiscences," gives an account of the first celebration of Independence held in Van Wert county. His father, Capt. James Riley, filled with patriotic ardor, proposed the celebration and was appointed orator. An arbor was crected under some oak trees on the river bank, just north of the mill, and a very long table of boards formed. The meats were bear, venison, roast, pig, turkey, with chicken pics baked in tin milk basins in old New England style, fish-black bass and pickerel and salmon-with all kinds of vegetables ob- tainable at that season, wild gooseberries, honey, coffee made in a large sugar kettle, maple sugar and syrup, pumpkin and cranberry pies. . The speakers' stand faced the east and was between two large oak trees. A salute was fired by charg- ing the hole in a blacksmith anvil, which made a very loud report.

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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 58

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