Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 156

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 156

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).

BENJAMIN TAPPAN was born in Northampton, Mass., May 25, 1773, and died in Steubenville, April 12, 1857. He was the son of Benjamin Tappan, a Congregational pastor, and Sarah Holmes, the great-niece of Ben- Jamin Franklin. The original family name was Topham. The Tappans were largely clergymen and educated men. Benjamin Tappan received a public- school education, and was apprenticed to learn copper-plate engraving and printing. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to the bar, and began practice in 1799 at Steubenville ; was elected to the Legislature in 1803; aide to Gen. William Wadsworth in the war of 1812; after which he served for seven years as President Judge of the Fifth Ohio Circuit. President Jackson appointed him Judge for the District of Ohio in 1833. From De- cember, 1839, to March, 1845, he served BENJAMIN TAPPAN. in the United States Senate, as a Dem- ocrat. He was an active leader of his party, but afterward joined in the Free- Soil movement at its inception. Judge Tappan published " Cases Decided in the Court of Common Pleas," with an appendix (Steubenville, 1831).

His brother, Arthur Tappan, was the distinguished Abolitionist and philan- thropist, President of the American Anti-Slavery Society, founder of the American Tract Society and Oberlin College. A son of Benjamin, Eli T. Tappan, LL. D., was from 1868 to 1875 President of Gambier. Later he received the appointment, under Gov. Foraker, of School Commissioner for Ohio, and died in office 1889, much lamented ; he was a man of superior ability and usefulness.

Judge Tappan was widely known for his drollery and wit and anti-slavery sentiments.

HUMPHREY HOWE LEAVITT was born in Suffield, Conn., June 18, 1796, and died in Springfield, Ohio, in March, 1873. His father removed to Ohio in 1800. He was admitted to the bar in 1816, and settled at Cadiz, but later removed to Steu- benville, where he was prosecuting attorney, and successively representative and senator in the Ohio Legislature in 1825-6-7. He was elected as a Jackson Dem- ocrat to Congress in 1830, and resigned in 1834 to accept the appointment of President Jackson as Judge of the United States Court for the District of Ohio,

979

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

which office he held for nearly forty years. Before the war, in 1858, in a charge to a jury in a fugitive slave case, he said : "Christian charity was not the meaning or intent of the fugitive slave law, and it would not therefore answer as a defence for violating the law." He was an authority on patent laws, and during the eivil war decided the Vallandigham case, which Mr. Lincoln said was worth three vietories. He was a greatly influential member of the Presbyterian Church, and sat as a delegate during eleven sessions of the General Assembly.

In his manners he was simple, unosten- tatious and with that quiet dignity and mod- esty that is ever weighty. We never heard him laugh aloud, but his smile was a carrying power. As our neighbor in Cincinnati, we felt as though he was one of those characters that adorned humanity, a much venerated person. He once told us that it was one of the enigmas of his life, how it was that he was given for a middle name the name of "Howe." We were sorry we could not aid him to its solution, but glad that such a man had it to help give it respeet.

JAMES COLLIER was, we believe, a native of Connecticut, born in 1789; an officer at the battle of Queenstown in the war of 1812, after which he settled in Steubenville; be- came eminent as a lawyer ; was, with Thomas Ewing and John Brough, of the High Com- mission on the part of Ohio that settled the disputed boundary line between Ohio and Virginia ; in 1849 was appointed United States Collector for California, and went overland, escorted by a small company of dragoons, fighting his way through hostile Indians. On his arrival, being the only gov- ernment officer there, he for some time acted as Military Governor. He died at Steuben- ville, February 2, 1873, aged 84 years. He was a contributor of valuable facts for our first edition.

Judge JOHN C. WRIGHT was, we think, at one period a partner with Collier ; at any rate, was contemporaneous with him in the practice of law here. In about 1848 he ed- ited the Cincinnati Gazette.

Col. JOHN MILLER, an eminent officer of the war of 1812, was from Steubenville. He commanded the gallant sortie from Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813. driving the British from their batteries. He edited the Western Herald at Steubenville, both before and after the war. He eventually removed to Missouri, of which he was elected Governor. From 1837 to 1843 he represented it in Congress. He died at Florissant, Mo., March 18, 1846. ("Western Reserve Historical Society Tracts," No. 19.)

THOMAS L. JEWETT was born in Maryland about 1810, and was a lawyer in Steubenville -at one time a judge. When he became in- terested in the construction of the Pan Handle Railroad was elected its president, and even- tually became a conspicuous railroad manager. As Virginia was unwilling to grant a charter for a connecting line across her territory for the Penn. Central Railroad, Judge Jewett sought the interposition of the General Gov- ernment. He died in 1875.

HUGH J. JEWETT, of Zanesville, the emi-

nent railroad president and politician, was a younger brother.

THOMAS COLE was born in England in .1801. His father emigrated to Steubenville, where the son resided until 1825, when he removed to New York city. IIe became famous as one of the best American land- seape painters, particularly of autumn scenes. He was a warm friend of the poet Bryant, who delivered a memorial address in New York city after his death, which occurred at Catskill, N. Y., February 11, 1848. (See page 463.)

JAMES ALEXANDER WILSON MCDONALD was born in Steubenville, August 25, 1824. In 1844 he removed to St. Louis and while employed in business during the day studied art at night. His first production in marble was a bust of John H. Benton in 1854. Eleven years later he settled in New York city, where several of his works adorn the public parks. He also paints portraits and land- scapes in oils, lectures on art and science and writes criticisms on art and artists.

STEPHEN MASON MERRILL was born in Jefferson county, September 16, 1825. In 1864 he was a travelling preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, four years later became editor of the Western Christian Ad- vocate, and in 1872 was consecrated bishop. He received the degrees of D. D. and LL. D., and has published a number of valuable religious works.

WILLIAM PITTENGER was born in Knox. ville. Jefferson county, January 31, 1840; is the historian and one of the participants in that daring enterprise of the civil war known as Andrew's raid. After the war he became a clergyman in the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and since 1878 he has been a professor in the National School of Elocution and Oratory in Philadelphia. He is also the author of "Oratory, Sacred and Secular" (Phila., 1881), and "Extempore Speech " (1882).

A few miles north of the Jefferson county line, near Hanoverton, in Columbiana county, was born, October 4, 184], the eminent seien- tist, Prof. THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL. From childhood he showed a fondness for the study of mathematics and natural philosophy and acquired by himself a knowledge of those branches of physics in which he has since ex- celled. He has been twice a Professor in the Ohio State University, resided a number of years in Japan as professor of physies in the University of Tokio ; in 1884 became Professor in the United States Signal Service ; in 1886 President of Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Ind. He gave the first public

980

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

lectures on science in Japan to popular audiences. In 1889 was appointed by Presi- dent Harrison Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Beside many scientific papers he has pub- lished A Century of Electricity.

A Scientist's Witticism. - We once heard in Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati, Proctor, the famous lecturer on astronomy, to illustrate the distance of the sun from us, quote this wit-

ticism of Mendenhall's, which naturally brought down the house.

Professor Mendenhall, of the Ohio State University, said he, has stated that if an infant to-day, attracted by the brightness of the sun, should attempt to reach it by thrust- ing forth its hand and it should travel toward it at the rate of a thousand miles an hour and thus finally reach it and burn its fingers, that young one would then have heen dead more than a hundred years !

TORONTO is on the Ohio river and the C. & P. R. R., eight miles north of Steu- benville. It is located in the centre of the great fire-clay industry of Eastern Ohio, there being in this section a half dozen large manufactories engaged in making sewer-pipe, a total of nearly a thousand men being thus employed. Newspaper : Tribune, Independent Republican, Frank Stokes, editor and pub- lisher. Churches : 1 Presbyterian, 1 United Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Epis- copal, 1 Methodist Protestant, and 1 Catholic.

Manufactures and Employees .- Franey's Sons & Co., sewer pipe, etc., 55; Great Western Fire Clay Co., sewer pipe, etc., 75 ; Pennsylvania Manufacturing, Mining and Supply Co., sewer pipe, etc., 55; Bowers & Custer, flour and feed, 3; Myers & McFerren, doors, sash, etc., 8 ; Medcalf, Cooper & Goodlin, doors, sash, etc., 12 .- Ohio State Report, 1888. Population about 2,000. Capital invested in manufacturing establishments, $98,000. Value of annual product, $110,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.

RICHMOND is 11 miles west of Steubenville, on the proposed line of the Lake Erie, Alliance and Southern Railroad. It is surrounded by an agricultural region and noted for fruits, especially fine plums. A skirmish between United States forces and John Morgan's raiders took place near Two Ridge Church, three miles east of here. This is the seat of Richmond College, Rev. S. C. Faris, president. Newspaper : Radiator, Independent, J. B. Sprague, editor. Churches : 1 Meth- odist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian and 1 United Presbyterian. Population, 1880, 491.

ELLIOTTSVILLE (P. O. Calumet) is on the Ohio river and C. & P. R. R., 11 miles north of Steubenville, where are situated the extensive sewer-pipe works of E. Connor and the Calumet Fire Clay Company.

MT. PLEASANT is 20 miles southwest of Steubenville. Churches : 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist Protestant, 1 Friends, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian. Bank : First National, R. W. Chambers, president, I. K. Ratcliff, cashier. Population, 1880, 693. School census, 1888, 281; Wm. M. White, school superintendent.

IRONDALE, 9 miles southwest of Steubenville, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Presbyterian. Population in 1880, 399.

SMITHFIELD is 14 miles southwest of Steubenville. Newspaper : Times, In- dependent, Herbert Harrison, editor and publisher. Bank : First National, C. D. Kaminsky, president, Wm. Vermillion, cashier. Population, 1880, 559. School census, 1888, 196.

BRILLIANT, P. O. La Grange, is 7 miles south of Steubenville; on the C. & P. R. R. and Ohio river. Population about 1,000.

NEW ALEXANDRIA is 4 miles southwest of Steubenville. Population in 1880, 175.

BLOOMFIELD, P. O. Bloomingdale, is 18 miles west of Steubenville, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Population, 1880, 175. School census, 1888, 67. News- paper : Bloomfield Correspondent, Independent, C. T. Athearn, editor and pub- lisher.

981

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

MINGO JUNCTION is on the Ohio river, 3 miles below Steubenville, at the cross- ing of the P. C. & St. L. and C. & P. R. R. It is a famed historical point. It has some manufacturing establishments one Methodist church and a population of about 700.

KNOX.

KNOX COUNTY was named from Gen. Henry Knox, a native of Boston, Gen- eral in the war of the Revolution, and Secretary of War in Washington's admin- istration. It was formed from Fairfield, March 1, 1808. The north and east parts are hilly ; the central, west and south parts, undulating or level. The bottom lands of the streams are very rich, particularly those of Vernon river, which stream affords abundance of water-power.

Area about 540 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 1,141,915; in pasture, 119,622; woodland, 55,262 ; lying waste, 714; produced in wheat, 452,889 bushels; rye, 3,736; buckwheat, 1,397; oats, 410,960; barley, 263; eorn, 1,038,560 ; broom-corn, 4,425 pounds brush ; meadow hay, 33,228 tons ; clover-seed, 5,291 bushels; flax-seed, 5,321; potatoes, 59,562; tobacco, 475 pounds ; butter, 503,720; cheese, 200; sorghum, 436 gallons; maple syrup, 14,832; honey, 3,463 pounds ; eggs, 550,061 dozen ; grapes, 19,620 pounds ; wine, 57 gallons ; sweet potatoes, 76 bushels ; apples, 9,915; peaches, 13,479 ; pears, 685 ; wool, 772,829 pounds ; milch cows owned, 5,831. School census, 1888, 7,897 ; teachers, 283. Miles of railroad track, 73.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS. 1840.

1880.

Berlin,

1,100

910

Jefferson,

994

967

Bloomfield,

1,252

Liberty,

1,205

1,034

Brown,

1,204

1,152

Middlebury,

1,002

911

Butler,

647

788

Milford,

1,157

876

Chester,

1,297

Miller,

977

826

Clay,

1,304

926

Monroe,

1,258

1,031

Clinton,

920

6,213

Morgan,

912

728

College,

895

Morris,

1,077

833

Franklin,

1,343

Pike,

1,216

1,307

Harrison,

833

723

Pleasant,

888

1,032

Hilliar,

1,012

1,141

Union,

1,098

1,728

Howard,

999

983

Wayne,

1,621

Jackson,

994

80€

Population of Knox in 1820 was 8,326; 1830, 17,125; 1840, 19,584; 1860, 27,735; 1880, 27,431; of whom 22,437 were born in Chio, 1,581 in Pennsylvania, 438 in Virginia, 404 in New York, 123 in Indiana, 32 in Ken- tucky, 467 in England and Wales, 378 in Ireland, 182 in German Empire, 44 in British America, 24 in Scotland, and 19 in France. Census, 1890, 27,600.

The early settlers of the county were mainly from the Middle States, with some of New England origin. In 1805 Mount Vernon was laid out, and named by the proprietors of the soil, who were Joseph Walker, Thomas B. Paterson and Benjamin Butler, from the seat of Washington. At this time the county was

982

KNOX COUNTY.

thinly settled. Two years after, the principal settlers were, as far as their names are recollected, the Rileys, Darlings, Shriplins, Butlers, Kritchfields, Walkers, Dials, Logues, and De Witts, on Vernon river. In other parts of the county, the Hurds, Beams, Hunts and Dimick, Kerr, Ayres, Dalrymple, Houck, Hilliard, the Youngs, Mitchells, Bryants, Knights and Walkers. In the spring of 1807 there were only three families living on the plat of Mount Vernon, viz. : Benja- min Butler, tavern-keeper, from Pennsylvania, Peter Coyle and James Craig. The early settlers of the village were, beside those named, Joseph and James Walker, Michael Click, David and William Petigrue, Samuel Kratzer, Gilman Bryant, and Rev. James Smith, who came in 1808, and was the first Methodist clergyman.

When the settlers first came, there were two wells, only a few rods apart, on the south bank of Vernon river, on the edge of the town, the origin of which remains unknown. They were built of neatly hammered stone, laid in regular masonry, and had the appearance of being overgrown with moss. Near by was a salt lick, at which the Indians had been accustomed to encamp. Almost imme- diately after the first settlement, all traces of the wells were obliterated, as was supposed, by the Indians. A similar well was later brought to light, a mile and a half distant, by the plow of Philip Cosner, while plowing in a newly cleared piece of forest land. It was covered with poles and earth, and was about thirty feet. deep.

In the spring of 1807 Gilman Bryant opened the first store in Mount Vernon, in a small sycamore cabin, in the western part of the town. A hewed-log and shingle-roofed building stood on the northeast corner of Wood and Main streets ; it was the first tavern, and was kept by Benjamin Butler. The first frame build- ing was put up in 1809, and is now (1846) standing on Iot 138 Main street. The old court-house, erected about 1810, opposite the present court-house, on the public square, was the first brick building ; it was two stories high and thirty-six feet square .. The first brick building was erected in the spring of 1815, by Gil- man Bryant, now standing next to and south of his present residence. The first church, the Old-School Presbyterian (now down), was built about 1817. It was of brick, forty feet square, and one story high; the first pastor was the Rev. James Scott. The first licensed preacher in the county was the Rev. William Thrift, a Baptist, from Loudon county, Va., who came in 1807, and travelled about from house to house. The first erops raised in the county were corn and potatoes. They were grown on the bottom lands, which were the first cleared ; those lands were too rich for wheat, making sick wheat, so termed, because when made into bread, it bad the effect of an emetic, and produced feelings similar to sea-sickness.

At an early day the Indians, in great numbers, came to Mount Vernon to trade. They encamped on the river bank and brought large quantities of furs and cran- berries to dispose of for goods. The whites of the present day might take some beneficial hints from their method of trading at the store in this place. They walked in deliberately and seated themselves, upon which the merchant presented cach with a small piece of tobacco. Having lighted their pipes, they returned the residue to their pouches. These were made of a whole mink-skin, dressed with the hair on, with a slit cut in the throat as an opening. In it they kept, also, some kinnickinnick bark, or sumach, which they always smoked with their tobacco, in the proportion of about three of the former to one of the latter. After smoking and talking a while together, one only at a time arose, went to the coun- ter, and taking up a yardstick, pointed to the first article he desired, and inquired the price. The questions were in this manner : "How many buck-skins for a shirt-pattern ?" or "cloth for leggings ?" etc .; according to their skin currency.

A muskrat skin was equal to a quarter of a dollar , a raccoon-skin, a third of a dollar ; a doe-skin, half a dollar, and a buck-skin, " the

almighty dollar." The Indian, learning the price of an article, paid for it by picking out and handing over the skins, before pro-

983

KNOX COUNTY.

ceeding to purchase the second, when he repeated the process, and so on through the whole, paying for everything as he went on, and never waiting for that purpose until he had finished. While the first Indian was trading, the others looked uninterruptedly on, and when he was through, another took his place, and so on, in rotation, until all had traded. No one desired to trade before his turn, and all observed a proper decorum, and never attempted to "beat down," but, if dissatisfied with the price, passed on to the next article. They were cautious not to trade while intoxicated ; but usually pre- served some of their skins to buy liquor, and end their visit with a frolic.

The early settlers in the town all felt as one family. If one got a piece of fresh meat, he shared it with his neighbors, and when a person was sick, all sympathized. At night, they met in each other's cabins, to talk, dance, and take a social glass. There was no distinction of party, for it was a social democracy. At their weddings, a puncheon table, formed like a bench, without a cloth, was covered with refreshments. These were plain and simple : wild turkeys, that had been gobbling about in the woods, were stewed and eaten with a relish; corn, that had grown on the river flats, made into "pone" served as wedding cake; while metheglin and whiskey, the only articles probably not indigenous, were the beverages that washed them down. Their plates were either of wood or pewter, perhaps both, and no two alike ; their knives frequently butcher knives, and their forks often of wood. A dance was the finale of their festivities. They made merry on the puncheon floor to the music of the fiddle. Cotillions were unknown, while jigs, four-handed reels, the double shuffle and break down "were all the rage. "'

After Mount Vernon was laid out, the settlers from the region roundabout were accustomed to come into town on Saturdays, to clear the stumps out of the streets. Early in the afternoon they quitted work, and grew jolly over a large kettle of "stew." This was made as follows : First, a huge kettle, of gallons' capacity, was placed upon the ground, resting upon three stones, and a fire kindled under it. In it was put two or three buckets of water, a few pounds of maple sugar, a few ounces of allspice, which had been pounded in a rag, a pound of butter, and, finally, two or three gallons of whiskey. When boiled, the stew was taken off, a circle was formed around, and the men helped themselves liberally, with tin cups, to the liquor, told hunting stories, wrestled, ran, hopped and jumped, engaged in foot races, shot at mark for goods or tobacco purchased at the store, and occasionally enlivened the scene by a fight.

Upon the organization of the county, there was a spirit of rivalry as to which should be the county-seat, Mount Vernon or Clinton, a

town laid out a mile and a half north, by Samuel Smith-then a place of the most population, now among the "things that were." The commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice first entered Mount Vernon, and were received with the best cheer, at the log tavern of Mr. Butler. To impress them with an idea of the public spirit of the place, the people were very busy at the moment of their entrance and during their stay, at work, all with their coats off, grubbing the streets. As they left for Clinton, all quitted their labor, not "of love ; " and some rowdies, who dwelt in cabins scattered round about in the woods, away from the town, left "the crowd," and steal- ing ahead of the commissioners, arrived at Clinton first. On the arrival of the others at that place, these fellows pretended to be in a state not conformable to temperance princi- ples, ran against the commissioners, and by their rude and boisterous conduct, so dis- gusted the worthy officials as to the apparent morals of the inhabitants of Clinton, that they returned and made known their deter- mination that Mount Vernon should be the favorite spot. That night there were great rejoicings in town. Bonfires were kindled, stew made and drank, and live trees split with gunpowder.

The first settler north of Mount Vernon was Nathaniel M. Young, from Pennsylvania, who, in 1803, built a cabin on the south fork of Vernon river, three miles west of Frederick- town. Mr. Young and his neighbors being much troubled with wolves, got together and made a written agreement to give nine bushels of corn for every wolf's scalp. In the winter of 1805-6 Mr. Young, John Lewis and James Bryant caught forty-one wolves, in steel traps and pens. Wolf-pens were about six feet long, four wide and three high, formed like a huge square box, of small logs, and floored with puncheons. The lid, also of puncheons, was very heavy, and moved by an axle at one end, made of a small, round stick. The trap was set by a figure four, with any kind of meat except that of wolf's, the animals being fonder of any other than their own. On gnawing the meat, the lid fell and enclosed the unamiable native. Often to have sport for the dogs, they pulled out the legs of a wolf through the crevices of the logs, hamstrung, and then let him loose, upon which the dogs sprang upon him, while he, crippled by the operation, made but an ineffectual resistance. In the adjoining county of Delaware, a man, somewhat ad- vanced in years, went into a wolf-trap to render the adjustment of the spring more delicate, when the trap sprung upon him, and, knocking him flat on his face, securely caught him as was ever any of the wolf species. He was unable to lift up the lid, and several miles from any house. There he lay all one day and night, and would have perished had not a passing hunter heard his groans and relieved him from his peril.

Mount Vernon in 1846 .- Mount Vernon, the county-seat, is forty-five miles

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

PUBLIC SQUARE, MOUNT VERNON.

F. S. Crowell, Photo., Mount Vernon, 1887.

PUBLIC SQUARE, MOUNT VERNON.

985

KNOX COUNTY.

northeast of Columbus. It is beautifully situated on ground slightly ascending from Vernon river. The town is compactly and substantially built, and some of the dwellings elegant. Main, the principal business street, is about a mile in length, on which are many brick blocks, three stories in height. The view was taken in this street, at the southern extremity of the public square, looking north. On the left is shown the market and court-house ; on the right the Episcopal church, an elegant stone edifice, and in the centre the tower of the Old-School Presbyterian church and the jail. This flourishing town contains two Presbyte- rian, two Methodist, one Baptist, one Lutheran, one Catholic and one Episcopal church; twenty dry-goods, six grocery, two hardware, three apothecary and two book-stores ; one fulling, four grist and five saw-mills ; three newspaper printing- offices, and had, in 1840, 2,363 inhabitants, and has now over 3,000. The rail- road, constructing from Sandusky City to Columbus, will connect this place with those .- Old Edition.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 156

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