Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 140

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 140

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

MT. BLANCHARD is 10 miles southeast of Findlay. It is on the line of the C. & W. Railroad. It is in a fine farming and wool-growing district, and oil and gas are found in abundance. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Methodist Protestant, and 1 Presbyterian. Population in 1880, 285.

McCOMB is 85 miles northwest of Columbus, 40 miles south of Toledo, and 116 miles west of Cleveland, on the line of the N. Y. C. & St. L. and MeC. D. & T. Railroads. It is surrounded by fine farming lands. Oil and natural gas are found in abundance. Newspaper : Herald, S. B. Davis, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Disciples, and 1 German Lutheran. Principal Industries : Manufacturing handles of all kinds, planing mills, etc. Population in 1880, 417. School census, 1886, 337; H. Walter Doty, superintendent.

ARCADIA, on the L. E. & W. and N. Y. C. & St. L. Railroads, is 9} miles northeast of Findlay. It has 1 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Lutheran church. Population in 1880, 396.

VANLUE, on the I. B. & W. Railroad, 10 miles east of Findlay. Population in 1880, 364. School census, 1888, 142.

VAN BUREN is on the T. C. & S. Railroad, 7 miles north of Findlay. Popu- lation in 1880, 130.

BENTON RIDGE is 8 miles southwest of Findlay. Population in 1880. 179. School census, 1888, 96.

875

HARDIN COUNTY.

HARDIN.

HARDIN COUNTY was formed from old Indian territory, April 1, 1820. Area abont 440 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated v e 132,898; in pasture, 30,697, woodland, 47,516 ; lying waste, 8,167; produced in wheat, 359,060 bushels ; rye, 12,526; buckwheat, 635; oats, 340,047 ; barley, 315; corn, 1,187,035 ; meadow hay, 22,771 tons; clover hay, 5,243; flax, 2,012 lbs. fibre ; potatoes, 114,506 bushels ; butter, 550,396 lbs. ; cheese, 574 ; sorghum, 1,488 gallons ; maple syrup, 2,810; honey, 25,358 lbs .; eggs, 524,031 dozen ; grapes, 5,085 lbs .; sweet potatoes, 40 bushels; apples, 53,791 ; peaches, 255 ; pears, 403 ; wool, 209,683 lbs. ; milch cows owned, 5,954. School census, 1888, 9,306 ; teachers, 264. Miles of railroad track, 91.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

Blanchard,

241

2,423

Lynn,

922

Buck,

1,610

Marion,

177

982

Cessna,

259

966

McDonald,

285

1,449

Dudley,

349

1,418

Pleasant,

569

5,492

Goshen,

549

1,030

Roundhead,

564

1,035

Hale,

267

1,740

Taylor Creek,

400

1,189

Jackson,

260

2,176

Washington,

203

1,291

Liberty,

170

3,295

Population of Hardin, 1840, 4,583 ; 1860, 13,570; 1880, 27,023; of whom 22,328 were born in Ohio ; 1,047 Pennsylvania ; 480 Virginia ; 320 New York ; 187 Indiana ; 85 Kentucky ; 738 German Empire; 386 Ireland ; 147 England and Wales; 57 British America ; 20 Scotland ; and 18 France.

Although Hardin was formed from old Indian territory as early as 1820, it was not organized until January 8, 1833, previous to which it formed for judicial purposes a part of Logan county, and when Champaign was organized of that county. About half of the county is level and the remainder undulating, and all capable of thorough drainage. The soil is part gravelly loam and part clayey and based on limestone and rich. Its original forests were very heavy in timber and of the usual varieties.

Originally the deep woods of the county were singularly free from underbrush, so that the pioneers could see a long distance between the trees. It is supposed that this arose from a habit of the Indians of annually burning the underbrush to facilitate the capture of game. Owing to the heavy timber the county slowly settled, so that as late as 1840 it had but nine inhabitants to the square mile. The county, like Marion, is on the great watershed of the State, the southern part being in the Mississippi valley and the northern part in the Lake Erie basin. Its principal streams are the Scioto and the Blanchard, the waters of the first going into the Ohio and the other into Lake Erie. The Blanchard, Hog Creek and the north branch of the Miami head in this county, while the Scioto heads in Auglaize county, enters Hardin from the southwest, flows through the great Scioto marsh, first goes northeast and then southeast by Kenton.

Col. JOHN HARDIN, from whom this county was named, was an officer of dis- tinction in the early settlement of the West. He was born of humble parentage, in Fau- quier county, Virginia, in 1753. From his very youth, he was initiated into the life of a woodsman, and acquired uncommon skill as a marksman and a hunter. In the spring of 1774 young Hardin, then not twenty-one years of age, was appointed an ensign in a

militia company, and shortly after, in an ac- tion with the Indians, was wounded in the knee. Before he had fully recovered from his wound he joined the noted expedition of Dunmore. In the war of the revolution, he was a lieutenant in Morgan's celebrated rifle corps. He was high in the esteem of General Morgan, and was often selected før enter- prises of peril, requiring discretion and in- trepidity. On one of these occasions, while

876

HARDIN COUNTY.

with the northern army, he was sent out on a reconnoitring expedition, with orders to take a prisoner, for the purpose of obtaining in- formation. Marching silently in advance of his party, he ascended to the top of an abrupt hill, where he met two or three British soldiers and a Mohawk Indian. The moment was critical. Hardin felt no hesitation-his rifle was instantly presented, and they ordered

to surrender. The soldiers immediately threw down their arms-the Indian clubbed his gun. They stood, while he continued to advance on them : but none of his men hav- ing come up, and thinking he might want some assistance, he turned his head a little and called to them to come on ; at this mo- ment, the Indian, observing his eye with- drawn from him, reversed his gun with a rapid motion, in order to shoot Hardin ; when he, catching in his vision the gleam of light reflected from the polished barrel, with equal rapidity apprehended its meaning, and was prompt to prevent the dire effect. He brings his rifle to a level in his own hands, and fires without raising it to his face-he had not time, the attempt would have given the Indian the first fire, on that depended life and death-he gained it and gave the Indian a mortal wound ; who, also, firing in the succeeding moment, sent his ball through Hardin's hair. The rest of the party made no resistance, but were marched to camp. On this occasion Hardin received the thanks of General Gates. In 1786 he settled in Washington county, Kentucky, and there was no expedition into the Indian country after he settled in Kentucky, except that of General St. Clair, which he was prevented from joining by an accidental lameness, in which he was not engaged. In these, he

generally distinguished himself by his gal- lantry and success. In Harmar's expedition, however, he was unfortunate, being defeated by the Indians when on detached command, near Fort Wayne. Colonel Hardin was killed in the 39th year of his age. He was-says Marshall, in his history of Kentucky, from which these facts are derived-a man of un- assuming manners, and great gentleness of deportment ; yet of singular firmness and in- flexibility as to matters of truth and justice. Prior to the news of his death, such was his popularity in Kentucky, that he was ap- pointed general of the first brigade.

Colonel Hardin was killed by the Indians in 1792. He was sent by General Washing- ton on a mission of peace to them-and was on his way to the Shawnees' town. He had reached within a few miles of his point of destination, and was within what is now Shelby county, in this State, when he was overtaken by a few Indians, who proposed encamping with him, and to accompany him the next day to the residence of their chiefs. In the night, they basely murdered him, as was alleged, for his horse and equipments, which were attractive and valuable. His companion, a white man, who spoke Indian, and acted as interpreter, was uninjured. When the chiefs heard of Hardin's death, they were sorry, for they desired to hear what the messenger of peace had to com- municate. A town was laid out on the spot some years since, on the State road from Piqua through Wapakonetta, and named, at the suggestion of Col. John Johnson, Hardin, to perpetuate the memory and sufferings of this brave and patriotic man : it is about six miles west of Sidney.

FORT M'ARTHUR was a fortification built in the late war, on the Scioto river, in this county, and on Hull's road. It was a low, flat place, in the far woods, and with but little communication with the settlements, as no person could go from one to the other but at the peril of his life, the woods being infested with hostile Indians.

The fort was a stockade, enclosing about half an acre. There were two block- houses ; one in the northwest and the other in the southeast angle. Seventy or eighty feet of the enclosure was composed of a row of log corn-cribs, covered with a shed roof, sloping inside. A part of the pickets were of split timber, and lapped at the edges : others were round logs, set up endways, and touching each other. The rows of huts for the garrison were a few feet from the walls. It was a post of much danger, liable at any moment to be attacked.

The site of this fort is about three miles southwest of Kenton, and not a vestige of it now remains. It must have been au exceedingly dreary spot and largely fatal to the soldiers, as it is in the vicinity of the great Scioto marsh. The graves of sixteen of the garrison are near by. The prompt building of this fort reflects great credit upon the foresight of Governor Meigs. On the 11th of June, 1812, one week before the declaration of war, he despatched Duncan M'Arthur with a regiment of soldiers from Urbanna, to open a road in advance of Hull's army and build a stockade at the crossing of the Scioto. On the 19th Hull arrived with the residue of his army. His trace is still discernible, after a lapse now of seventy-seven years, in various places through the northwestern counties as he passed on his way to Detroit. Not a vestige of the fort now re-

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

KENTON.

I. N. Hays, Photo., 1890.

COURT HOUSE SQUARE, KENTON.

878

HARDIN COUNTY.

mains, but remnants of M'Arthur's corduroy through the boggy forest are yet to be found.

On page 705 is a sketch of Thomas Coke Wright, who gave for our first edition this interesting incident. It was at one time commanded by Captain Robert M'Clelland, who recently died in Greene county. He was brave, and when roused, brave to rash- ness. While he commanded at Fort M'Ar- thur, one of his men had gone a short distance from the walls for the purpose of peeling bark. While he was engaged on a tree, he was shot twice through the body, by a couple of Indians in ambush, whose rifles went off so near together that the reports were barely distinguishable. He uttered one piercing scream of agony, and ran with al- most superhuman speed, but fell before he reached the fort. An instant alarm was spread through the garrison, as no doubt was entertained but that this was the commencement of a general attack, which had been long expected. Instead of shutting the gates to keep out danger, M'Clelland seized his rifle, and calling on some of his men to follow, of which but few obeyed, he hastened to the place of ambush and made diligent search for the enemy, who, by an instant and rapid retreat, had effected their escape; nor did he return until he had scoured the woods all around in the vicinity of the fort.

The old M' Arthur road, or "Hull's trail," was for many years the principal highway from Bellefontaine to Detroit, while Fort

M' Arthur remained garrisoned for some time after the close of the war.

According to tradition the first family to locate in the county was that of Alfred Hale, who came to Fort M'Arthur in 1817, and in 1819 was born their son Jonas, their fourth child. Hale was a hunter and squatter, and remained but a short time. The first per- manent settlement was made near the site of Roundhead, in the spring of 1818, by Peter C. M'Arthur and Daniel Campbell, where they built cabins, and after planting corn went back to Ross county to bring their families, but from fear of a sudden outbreak of Indians, did not return until 1822. The nearest settlement was about Bellefontaine. It is said that their fire at one time going out, M'Arthur was compelled to walk to that point to obtain a fresh supply. Upon his return he met a squaw, who, laughing at his ignorance, showed him how to make a fire with a flint and a piece of punk. About the next family in that vicinity was that of Samuel Tidd, a blacksmith, who at one time did much work for the Indians. He came in February, 1822, and settled in the forests, where was born, November 15 of the next year, their daughter Jane, the first fe- male child born in Hardin county. In the county history appears her portrait, as Mrs. Jane Tidd Rutledge, a good, strong, womanly face.

The first court held in the county was held March 8, 1834, in a block-house, the residence of Hon. William McCloud, at M'Arthur, McCloud being one of the associate judges. The first county officers were elected the next month. The total vote was only sixty-three. Little or no business was done at the first term of court.

The next year a trial jury was required. The farmers were busy, the country sparsely settled, and the sheriff found great difficulty in impanelling a jury. On the morning of the second day, the judge opened court and asked the sheriff if the jury was full. The sheriff is said to have replied "Not quite full yet. I have eleven men in the jail and my dogs and deputies are after the twelfth

man." The jail at that time was a log-cabin near the fort. The court-room was a shed constructed from the side of the block-house, with clapboards, with forked saplings for uprights. The benches for jury and specta- tors were split clapboards, with auger holes for legs. The "bench " were provided with a table and chairs. The jury retired to the woods for their deliberation.

Kenton in 1846 .- Kenton, the county-seat, is on the Scioto river and Mad river railroad, seventy-one miles northwest of Columbus, and seventy-eight from Sandusky City. The view shown was taken southwest of the town. The rail- road is shown in front, with the depot on the left: the Presbyterian church appears near the centre of the view. In the centre of the town is a neat public square. From the facilities furnished by the railroad, Kenton promises to be an inland town of considerable business and population. It now contains eight dry- goods and four grocery stores, one newspaper printing office, one foundry, one grist and one saw mill, one Presbyterian and one Methodist church, and had, in 1840, 300 inhabitants, since which it is estimated to have more than doubled its population. There is a house in this town, the rain flowing from its north ridge

879

HARDIN COUNTY.

finds its way to Lake Erie, and that from its south ridge to the Gulf of Mexico. -Old Edition.

The old view, excepting that of Xenia, is the only one that shows a railroad in all the 180 engravings of our original edition. The hut in the centre stood a little southwest of the site of Young Brothers' present office. The church in the eentre was the old Presbyterian, now down ; and the taverns on the right were those of the American House, kept by Judge David Goodin, and the Mansion House, built by William Furney.

The railroad shown was opened to Kenton, July 4, 1846, the very year the view was taken, and amid great rejoicings, an excursion train having come from Sandusky. Its name was the Mad River and Lake Erie, then running from Sandusky to Dayton; later, changed to the Cleveland, Sandusky and Cincinnati. The house which shed its rain for both Lake Erie and the Ohio was then the residence of John W. Holmes. The site is the present residence of General Robinson. About the highest point in the county is Silver Creek Summit, 1118 feet above tide. See page 60.

In the spring of 1833 the State committee appointed by the legislature selected a site for the county-seat, on the north bank of the Seioto, on part of sections 33 and 34 in Pleasant township, George Houser, Jacob Houser and Lemuel Wilmoth giving forty aeres of their land as an inducement. The committee having decided upon the site were unable to agree upon the name, but after its selection rode over three miles west with William McCloud to Fort M'Arthur, where he resided in a block-house, to get dinner. MeCloud, who was a great hunter, and his good lady, had provided an appetizing feast of wild meat, for they were very hungry. The subject of the name being discussed, they left it to the decision of Mrs. McCloud, who declared in favor of KENTON, in honor of the friend of her husband, and nobody ever regretted the choice.

A sketch of him will be found on page 376. Father Finley, in his own memoirs, gives these interesting details of his conversion in his mature years to the truths of Christianity.

Simon Kenton was the friend and bene- factor of his race. In the latter part of his life he embraced religion ; in the fall of 1819 General Kenton and my father met at a camp meeting on the waters of Mad river, after a separation of many years. Their early ac- quaintance in Kentucky rendered this inter- view interesting to both of them. The meeting had been in progress for several days without any great excitement until Sab- bath evening, when it pleased God to pour out his spirit in a remarkable manner. Many were awakened, and among the num- ber were several of the General's relatives.

His heart was touched, and the tear was seen to kindle the eye and start down the furrow of his manly cheek. On Monday morning he asked my father to retire with him to the woods. To this he readily as- sented, and as they were passing along in silence, and the song of the worshippers had died upon their ears, addressing my father, he said, " Mr. Finley, I am going to commu- nicate to you some things which I want you to promise me you will never divulge." My father replied, "If it will not affect any but ourselves, then I promise to keep it forever." Sitting down on a log the General commenced to tell the story of his heart, and disclose its wretchedness; what a great sinner he had

been, and how merciful was God in preserving him amid all the conflicts and dangers of the wilderness. While he thus unburdened his heart and told the anguish of his sin-wounded spirit, his lip quivered and the tears of peni- tence fell from his weeping eyes. They both fell to the earth and, prostrate, cried aloud to God for mercy and salvation. The peni- tent was pointed to Jesus, the Almighty Saviour ; and after a long and agonizing struggle, the gate of eternal life was entered, and

"Hymns of joy proclaivied through heaven The triumphs of a soul forgiven."

Then from the old veteran who imme- diately sprang to his feet, there went up a shout toward heaven which made the woods resound with its gladness. Leaving my father he started for the camp, hke the man healed at the beautiful gate, leaping and praising God, so that the faster and farther he went the louder did he shout glory to God. His appearance startled the whole en- campment ; and when my father arrived he found an immense crowd gathered around him, to whom he was declaring the goodness of God, and his power to save. Approach- ing him, my father said, "General, I thought

880

HARDIN COUNTY.

we were to keep this matter a secret." He instantly replied, "Oh, it is too glorious for that. If I had all the world here I would tell of the goodness and mercy of God."

At this time he joined the Methodist Epis- copal Church, lived a consistent, happy Christian, and died in the open sunshine of a Saviour's love. If there is any one of all the pioneers of this valley to whom the country owes the largest debt of gratitude, that one is General Simon Kenton. His

body sleeps on the waters of Mad river, about six miles north of Zanesville, and

"When that winding stream shall cease to flow,

And those surrounding hills exist no more, His sleeping dust reanimate shall rise, Bursting to life at the last trumpet's sound ; Shall bear a part in nature's grand assize, When sun, and time, and stars no more are found.'

KENTON, county-seat of Hardin, is forty-eight miles northwest of Columbus, seventy south of Toledo, on the dividing ridge of the State, the water running north and south. It is on the I. B. & W. and C. & A. R. R. County Officers, 1888 : Auditor, George W. Rutledge ; Clerk, James C. Howe; Commissioners, Wilber F. Pierce, Andrew Dodds, John L. Clark ; Coroner, John Watters ; Infirmary Directors, John Wilson, Samuel M. Andrews, Samuel Utz; Probate Judge, James J. Wood ; Prosecuting Attorney, Charles M. Melhorn ; Recorder, Dennis W. Kennedy ; Sheriff, John S. Scott; Surveyor, Sidney F. Moore; Treasurer, Ed- ward Sorgen. City Officers: Mayor, W. H. Ward; Clerk, George W. Binckley ; Treasurer, A. B. Charles ; Marshal, Michael Flanigan ; Solicitor, Frank C. Daugherty ; Street Commissioner, W. H. Miller. Newspapers : Das Wochen- blatt, German, Louis Schloenbach, editor; Democrat, Democratic, Daniel Flan- agan & Co., editors and publishers ; News, Prohibition, Henry Price, editor and publisher ; Republican, Republican, E. L. Miller, editor and publisher ; Herald, Republican, L. I. Demarest, editor and publisher. Churches: one German Lutheran, one Episcopalian, one Presbyterian, one African Methodist Episcopal, one Methodist Episcopal, one Disciples, one Baptist, one Catholic. Banks : First National, S. L. Hoge, president, H. W. Gramlich, cashier ; Kenton National, Asher Letson, president, Curtis Wilkin, cashier ; Kenton Savings, L. Merriman, president, James Watt, cashier.

Manufactures and Employees .- Champion Iron Fence Company, iron fencing, etc., 125 hands ; John Callam & Co., doors, sash, etc., 12; Jolin Callam & Co., building material, 6; G. H. Palmer & Co., chair stock, etc., 52; Scioto Straw Board Company, straw boards, 33; Pool Bros., carriages, etc., 6; Smith & Smith, wood and iron novelties, 10 ; Curl & Canaan, chair stock, etc., 24; J. C. Schwenck, handles, etc., 9; Kenton Milling Company, flour, etc., 7; Kenton Milling Com- pany, flour, etc., 6 ; Young & Bro., lumber, 19; William Campbell, staves and headings, 33 .- Ohio State Reports, 1888. Population in 1880, 3,940; school census 1888, 1,403; E. P. Dean, School Superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $583,130. Value of annual product, $566,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887.

The location of Kenton is such that it can be seen on being approached in any direction for five or six miles. Being in a fine agricultural region, it commands a large trade in grain, cattle and pork, as well as lumber, staves, etc. All the principal streets are graded and gravelled. Indeed, but few counties in this part of Ohio have such a complete network of gravel pikes as Hardin. They were begun in 1869, now cover about 230 miles, costing about $2,500 per mile, or a total of over half a million of dollars. They radiate in every direction from Kenton, and the work of building still goes on. The streams are spanned by good bridges, and driving over smooth roads is a luxury to be enjoyed alike in rain and sun.

HISTORIC AND DESCRIPTIVE MISCELLANIES.

THE GREAT MARSHES .- The marsh lands of this county cover 25,000 acres, or an area of about thirty-nine square miles. The largest

of these is the "SCIOTO MARSH," having about 16,000 acres inside of the timber line. It is in the southwest part, through which

881

HARDIN COUNTY.

runs the Scioto river. Next is the "HOG CREEK MARSH" with about 8,000 acres in the northern part, and then also a part of CRANBERRY MARSH of Wyandotte county, of which about 1,000 acres lie in this county. These low prairies attracted large numbers of deer and other wild animals that often found a safe retreat in the high grass, which the Indians would burn to drive them away. Since their departure an annual crop of grass often .ten feet high has been added to the other accumulations of these basins. The bottoms of marshes are drift clay, which is covered from two to ten feet with the vege- table accumulations of centuries and is very rich. The margins, as with the banks of rivers, are lined with willows.

The subject of draining these marshes has long agitated the people. They have been a constant source of malarial poison, and retarded settlement. In 1859 a contract was made by the county with Mr. John Mc- Guffey to reclaim the waste lands of the Scioto Marsh by ditching the marsh and the clearing out the drift of the Scioto for three miles. The work failed it is said from the lack of sufficient fall in the river below the marsh. In 1883 the work under different plans was again begun, and is now progressing to a successful completion. The surface is peaty, and beneath it are found shell, marl and sandy deposits. The marsh is in the shape of a ham, and it is supposed was once a small lake. The main ditch we are told is from 45 to 60 feet wide, 7 feet deep and some 12} miles long. In all, thus far, 150 miles of ditching have been done therein, and 20 miles of the Scioto cleared and straightened. The work on CRANBERRY MARSH was begun in 1865 and finished in three years by a main ditch 20 feet wide and 4 feet deep with two lateral ditches. The water is carried into Blanchard river, and the soil is of the finest, deep, rich and inexhaustible.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 140

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006