Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 62

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 62

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).

It is stated by Mr. James, a British historian, that Tecumseh, after he fell, was not only scalped, but that his body was actually flayed, and the skin converted into razor-straps by the Kentuckians. Amid the great amount of conflicting testimony relating to the circumstances of Tecumseh's death, it is extremely diffi- cult, if not impossible, to ascertain the precise facts. It is, however, generally believed that he fell by a pistol-shot, fired by Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Ken- tucky, who acted a most prominent part in this battle.

Springfield was the scene of an interesting incident in the life of Tecumseh, which is given at length by his biographer.

In the autumn of this year [1807] a white man, by the name of Myers, was killed a few miles west of where the town of Urbana now stands, by some straggling Indians. This murder, taken in connection with the assem- blage of the Indians under Tecumseh and the prophet, created a great alarm on the frontier, and actually induced many families to remove back to Kentucky, from whence they had emigrated. A demand was made by the whites upon these two brothers for the Indians who had committed the murder. They denied that it was done by their party, or with their knowledge, and declared that they did not even know who the murderers were. The alarm continued, and some com- panies of militia were called out. It was finally agreed that a council should be held on the subject in Springfield, for the purpose of quieting the settlements. Gen. Whiteman, Maj. Moore, Capt. Ward, and one or two others, acted as commissioners on the part of the whites. Two parties of Indians at- tended the council ; one from the north, in charge of McPherson ; the other, consisting of sixty or seventy, came from the neighbor- hood of Fort Wayne, under the charge of Tecumseh. Roundhead, Blackfish and sev- eral other chiefs were also present. There was no friendly feeling between these two parties, and each was willing that the blame of the murder should be fixed upon the other. The party under McPherson, in compliance with the wishes of the commissioners, left their arms a few miles from Springfield. Te- cumsch and his party refused to attend the council unless permitted to retain their arms. After the conference was opened, it being held in a maple grove a little north of where Werden's hotel now stands, the commission- ers, fearing some violence, made another ef- fort to induce Tecumseh to lay aside his arms. This he again refused, saying, in reply, that his tomahawk was also his pipe, and that he might wish to use it in that capacity before their business was closed. At this moment

a tall, lank-sided Pennsylvanian, who was standing among the spectators, and who, per- haps, had no love for the shining tomahawk of the self-willed chief, cautiously approached, and handed him an old, long-stemmed, dirty- looking earthen pipe, intimating that, if Te- cumseh would deliver up the fearful toma- hawk, he might smoke the aforesaid pipe. The chief took it between his thumb and finger, held it up, looked at it for a moment, then at the owner, who was gradually reced- ing from the point of danger, and imme- diately threw it, with an indignant sneer, over his head into the bushes. The commis- sioners yielded the point, and proceeded to business.

After a full and patient inquiry into the facts of the case, it appeared that the murder of Myers was the act of an individual, and not justly chargeable upon either party of the Indians. Several speeches were made by the chiefs, but Tecumseh was the principal speaker. He gave a full explanation of the views of the prophet and himself, in calling around them a band of Indians-disavowed all hostile intentions towards the United States, and denied that he or those under his control had committed any aggressions upon the whites. His manner, when speaking, was animated, fluent and rapid, and made a strong impression upon those present. The council terminated. In the course of it, the two hostile parties became reconciled to each other, and quiet was restored to the fron- tier.

The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, and on several occasions amused themselves by engaging in various games and other athletic exercises, in which Tecumseh generally proved himself victorious. His strength and power of muscular action were remarkably great, and in the opinion of those who attended the council, corresponded with the high order of his moral and intellectual character.

The following article upon the early history of the county was written in 1847

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for the first edition by a gentleman of Springfield, who just after our visit called Messrs. Humphries, Lowry and Foos into his office and took these notes. He is spoken of in a near succeeding page.

"There are three old men now living in this county, viz., John Humphries, David Lowry and Griffith Foos, from whom we have gathered the following par- ticulars respecting the early history of Springfield, and also some incidents con- nected with the first settlements made in the vicinity. Messrs. Humphries, Lowry and Foos are all men of great respectability, and are well known to all the early settlers of this region of Ohio.

John Humphries is now eighty-three years of age, David Lowry about seventy- seven, and Griffith Foos about seventy-five.

John Humphries came to what is now Clark county with Gen. Simon Kenton, in 1799 ; with them emigrated six families from Kentucky, and made the first settlement in the neighborhood of what is now Springfield, north of the ground on which was afterwards located the town. At this time, he is the only survivor of those of his companions and associates who were as the time heads of families. Mr. Humphries speaks of a fort which was erected on Mad river, two miles from the site of Springfield ; this fort contained within its pickets fourteen cabins, and was erected for the purpose of common security against the Indians.

David Lowry came into Ohio in the spring of 1795. He built the first flat boat, to use his own language, " that ever navigated the Great Miami river from Dayton down, which was in the year 1800." He took the same boat to New Orleans, laden with pickled pork, 500 venison hams, and bacon. Lowry, with one Jonathan Donnell, made the second settlement within what is now the limits of Clark county ; Demint's was the third settlement. The first corn crop raised in the neighborhood of Springfield was in 1796. Two men, whose names were Krebs and Brown, cultivated the crop. Lowry hunted for the party while they were engaged in tending the crop; the ground occupied was about three miles west of the site of Springfield. He raised a crop of corn the ensuing year, and also accompanied the party that surveyed and laid out the first road from Dayton to Springfield. He and Jonathan Donnell killed, in one season, in their settle- ment, seventeen bears, and in the course of his life, he states he has killed 1,000 deer ; and that he once shot a she-bear and two cubs in less than three minutes.

Griffith Foos, with several other persons, came into what is now Springfield, in the month of March, 1801. They were in search of a healthy region, having become wearied with the sickly condition of the Scioto valley. The laying off what is now called the old town of Springfield was commenced March 17, 1801. Mr. Foos commenced the first public house ever kept in the place; it was a log- house, situated on the lot directly opposite to the National hotel, now kept by William Werden. He opened his house in June, 1801, and continued it without intermission until the 10th of May, 1814. He states that he and his party were four and a half days getting from Franklinton, on the Scioto, to Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. In crossing Big Darby they were obliged to carry all their goods on horseback, and then to drag their wagon across with ropes, while some of the party swam by the side of the wagon to prevent it from upsetting. In 1807, in consequence of the alarm which the neighborhood felt on account of the Indians, Mr. Foos' house was turned into a fort. This was the first building erected in the place. Saml. Simonton erected the first frame house in the county in 1807. Wm. Ross built the first brick house, which is still standing on the southeast corner of South and Market streets.

These early settlers represent the county at that day as being very beautiful. North of the site of Springfield, for fourteen miles, upon the land which is now thick with woods, there could not, from 1801 to 1809, have been found a suffi- ciency of poles to have made hoops for a meat cart. The forest consisted of large trees, with no undergrowth, and the ground was finely sodded. Mr. Griffith Foos speaks of an old hanter by the name of James Smith, from Kentucky, who was

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at his house in 1810, who stated that he was in this neighborhood fifty years pre- viously with the Indians, and that up the prairie, northeast of the town of Spring- field, they started some buffalo and elk.

The first house of worship built in Springfield was in 1811 : one man gave the ground-Foos gave a handsome young horse ($10) towards hewing the logs and preparing the shingles. It was a place of worship free to all denominations, and was built right south of a public house which stands directly west of Mill run, on the south side of the national road. The early settlers were unequalled for their kindness, honesty and hospitality. Mr. Foos says that, at his raising, there were present forty men before breakfast, and from a distance of from seven to ten miles , and Lowry says, that at Isaac Zane's raising, there were persons from forty miles distance."

SPRINGFIELD IN 1846 .- Springfield, the county-seat, is forty-three miles west of Columbus on the National road, and on the line of the railroads connecting Cin- cinnati with Sandusky city. It was laid out in 1803 by James Demint. It is surrounded by a handsome and fertile country, is noted for the morality and in- telligence of its inhabitants, and, by many, is considered the most beautiful village within the limits of Ohio. The eastern fork of Mad river washes it on the north,

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

EAST VIEW OF SPRINGFIELD.

a stream described "as unequalled for fine mill seats, its current very rapid, and the water never so low in the driest season as to interfere with the mills now upon it." Through the place runs the Lagonda, or Buck creek, a swift and unfailing mill stream. Within a range of three miles of the town are upwards of twenty mill seats. Springfield suffered much during the era of speculation, but is now prospering, and from its natural advantages is destined to hold a prominent place among the manufacturing towns of the State. The engraving shows its appear- ance as viewed from the National road, a quarter of a mile east; the main street appears in front, on the left the academy, and on the right the court-house and one of the churches. The view is from a familliar position, but the village, like many other beautiful towns, is so situated that no drawing from any one point can show it to advantage.

Several of the first settlers of Springfield still remain in and around it; among them may be mentioned the names of John Humphreys, David Lowry and Griffith Foos, the last of whom occupied the first house built in the town as a tavern.

The Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church has a flourishing high school at Springfield for both sexes. A lyceum has been in successful opera- tion about fourteen years, and the public libraries of the town comprise about

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CLARK COUNTY.

4,000 volumes. Wittenberg College, under the auspices of the Lutheran Church, was chartered in 1845 with both a theological and collegiate department; it has been in operation for one year ; Rev. Ezra Keller, D. D., President. Springfield contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Methodist Protestant, 1 Episco- pal, 1 Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Universalist, and 1 African Methodist church ; 2 or 3 printing offices ; 3 drug, 1 book, 1 hard- ware, and 15 dry-goods stores ; 1 paper, 1 oil, and 3 flouring mills ; 1 cotton, 1 woollen, and 1 sash factory ; 1 foundry and machine shop; and in 1830 had a population of 1,080; in 1840, 2,094; in 1846, 2,952; and in 1847 about 3,500. -Old Edition.

Springfield is forty-three miles west from Columbus, eighty-one miles northeast of Cincinnati, on the C. C. C. & I. R. R. ; and on the P. C. & St. L., I. B. & W., N. Y. P. & O., and O. S. Railroads. It is distinguished for its immense agricultural implement manufactures. County officers in 1888: Probate Judge, John C. Miller; Clerk of Court, Jas. H. Rabbitts; Sheriff, W. B. Baker ; Prose- cuting Attorney, Walter L. Weaver; Auditor, Orlando F. Serviss ; Treasurer, John W. Parsons ; Recorder, Samuel A. Todd ; Surveyor, W. Sharon ; Coroner

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1840.

WITTENBERG COLLEGE.

[Another, a large noble building, now stands beside the above, and the location of the institution is in the midst of some of the most charming of river and forest scenery.]

James L. Bennett ; Commissioners, Wm. H. Sterritt, Douglass W. Rawlings, Charles E. Gillen. It has about forty churches, the most numerous of which are Methodist Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Newspapers : Champion City Times, Republican, daily ; Gazette, Independent, daily and weekly ; Globe Republic, Republican, daily and weekly ; New Era, prohibitionist ; Spring- fielder, German ; Sunday News ; Transcript, Democrat ; Farm and Fireside, semi- monthly ; Ladies' Home Companion, semi-monthly ; Beacon, temperance monthly ; Wittenberger, the college monthly. Banks : First National, B. H. Warder, presi- dent, C. A. Phelps, cashier ; Lagonda National, John Howell, president, D. P. Jefferies, cashier ; Mad River National, James S. Goode, president, Thos. F. Mc- Grew, cashier ; Second National, Amos Whitely, president, J. G. Benallack, cashier ; Springfield National, P. P. Mast, president, F. S. Penfield, cashier ; Springfield Savings, W. S. Field, president, Edw. Hartford, treasurer. Wittenberg College, President, S. A. Ort; students, 88.

Manufactures and Employees .- Mast, Croswell & Kirkpatrick, publishers, 108 hands ; Mast, Foos & Co., wind mills and pumps, 156 ; St. John Sewing Machine Co., 150; Tricycle Manufacturing Co., tricycles, children's carriages, etc., 110; Hendley, Alexander & Co., doors, sash, blinds, etc., 8 ; Blakeney Foundry Co.,

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CLARK COUNTY.

37; Springfield Malleable Iron Co., malleable castings, 238; J. H. Thomas & Sons, hay rakes, lawn mowers, 152; The P. P. Mast Co., agricultural imple- ments, 330 ; Warner and Barnett, flour, 12; Springfield Engine & Thresher Co., 253; The Standard Manufacturing Co., extension tables, 68; Jas. Driscol Sons & Co., carriages, 64 ; The Rogers Fence Co., 20; Champion Malleable Iron Works, malleable iron for Champion machines, 500 ; Springfieldl Coffin and Casket Co., coffins and caskets, 50; E. W. Ross & Co., agricultural implements, 106; The Champion Machine Co., harvesting machines, 404; Jas. Leffel & Co., water wheels and engines, 66; Warder, Bushnell & Glessner, Champion reapers and mowers, 683 ; Robinson & Meyers, iron castings, 115; The Superior Drill Co., grain drills, hay tools, etc., 105 ; J. W. Bookwalter & Co., grain drills, hay tools, ete., 60; T. L. Arthur, sash, doors, blinds, etc., 11; The Springfield Brass Co., brass goods, 29 ; St. John Sewing Machine Co., sewing machine tables, 41 ; Globe Printing and Publishing Co., publications, 135; Armstrong Bros., foundry and machine shops, 92; Fehl, Johnson & Co., carriages, 30; L. Patrie & Co., furnaces, 12; Ohio Southern Railroad Shops, car and locomotive repairing, 54; The Foos Manufacturing Co., cider mills, etc., 51 ; The Champion Bar and Knife Co., mower and reaper knives and bars, 350; Whitely, Fassler & Kelly, Champion mowers and binders, 2,123; Schneider Bros., lager beer, 24; Common Sense Engine Co., engines and boilers, 42 ; T. E. Harwood, the Gazette newspaper, 24; Springfield Publishing Co., Globe Republican, 22 ; Champion City Times, daily newspaper, 28 .- State Report 1886.

Population in 1880, 20,730. School census in 1886, 8,922; W. J. White, superintendent .

For the following historical sketch of the origin and growth of the manufactures of Springfield up to 1887 we are indebted to Clifton M. Nichols, of the Springfield Republic :

The first productive concern in Springfield, Ohio, now a famous manufactur- ing eity of 35,000 to 40,000 people, was a "grist-mill," built simultaneously with Springfield's first school-house and church in 1804 ; in 1805 the second productive concern, and the first which might be called a factory, was a tannery built by Cooper Ludlow. Much use was made of powder in these primitive pioneer days, and by way of supplying a home demand by a home supply, a powder-mill was built and worked in 1809. Springfield's first newspaper, then known as the Farmer, and now as the Republic, made its appearance in 1817. In this same year, as another means of meeting a home demand for material for men's and women's clothing, Maddox Fisher put up and worked a factory for the production of cotton fabrics, and in that year also Jacob Woodward, Ira Paige, and James Taylor commenced the manufacture of woollen cloth, to meet a want that had certainly not been very long felt. The building then erected for this mill was afterward used by Jacob W and William A. Kills, for the manufacture of print- ing-papers. A few years since it was reconstructed and enlarged by Marsfield Steele, and it is now occupied by the Standard Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of dining-tables. It stands on north Center street, between Columbia and North streets.

At this same time flax was largely cultivated, to provide the fibre for "tow " and linen cloth generally worn by the men, women, and children of the period, in warm weather; and that the seed might be utilized, Griffith Foos, who built the first tavern in Springfield in 1803, erected and worked an oil-mill on a spot now covered by the system of workshops owned by the Champion Machine Com- pany.

In 1838, James Leffel, whose name should be honored here and elsewhere as Springfield's great pioneer inventor and manufacturer, built the first foundry and machine-shop ever erected in this vicinity on the south side of West Main street, opposite the first bridge over Buck creek, or the Lagonda. Here sickles, axes, and knives were manufactured, and various iron implements in use among the people were repaired. Mr. Leffel afterward invented the double turbine water- wheel, which was improved by his son-in-law, John W. Bookwalter, and is now

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manufactured by the firm of James Leffel & Co. in this city, and sent to all points of the globe.

In 1841 Samuel and James Barnett built a large flouring-mill on the Barnett hydraulic, on what is now known as Warder street, in Springfield, and this con- cern having recently been changed into a roller-mill, is now run and managed by the heirs of the late William Warder and Mr. William A. Barnett, son of the late Samuel Barnett, one of the builders of the mill.

In 1848 John A. Pitts came here from Buffalo, N. Y., and laid the foundation of the extensive engine and thresher works now standing on the south side of Warder street.

In 1852 was born the great Champion industry, William N. Whiteley having in that year invented the Champion reaper and mower, which by 1887 has come to be much the largest and most important single harvester industry in the world. The firms of Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly, the Champion Machine Company, the Champion Bar and Knife Company, the Champion Malleable Iron Company, the Champion steel-mills, and the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Company, are all employed in manufacturing, in part or as a whole, the Champion harvesters, and employ 4,000 men in the various manufacturing processes required in producing these machines.

In 1850 the Lagonda Agricultural Works were organized. They now form an important part of the system of Champion harvester-shops, and with machine- shops, wood-shops, malleable-iron-foundries, bar- and knife-shops, warehouses, etc., form in themselves one of the largest factories in America. B. H. Warder and A. S. Bushnell, of Springfield, and John J. Glessner, of Chicago, are the owners.

In 1855 P. M. Mast, John H. Thomas, and John M. Deardorff organized on Warder street a factory for the production of the Buckeye grain-drill. Out of this concern ultimately grew the manufacturing concerns of P. P. Mast & Co., Mast, Foos & Co., Superior Drill Company, Thomas & Sons Rake Works, and the tricycle factory, all now large and prosperous concerns. In addition to these con- cerns mentioned there are sixty to seventy large factories in the city, and all in a prosperous condition. The products of these factories are, besides grain- and grass-harvesters, grain-drills, water-wheels, and the parts of these implements, cultivators, cider-mills, wind-engines, feed-cutters, pumps, lawn-mowers, plows, sewing-machines, iron fencing, horse hay-rakes, hay-tedders, corn-drills and har- rows, bench and tub clothes-wringers, burial-cases of various kinds, grave-vaults, malleable and gray iron, steam-engines and steam-pumps, linseed-oil, oil-cake, paints, buggy- and dash-mouldings, steam-boilers and sheet-iron products, heating- furnaces, wrapping-paper, books and periodicals, wheelbarrows, bicycles, tricycles, willow-wagons, coaches, buggies, and carriages, ale, beer, whisky, soap, crackers, galvanized iron products, leather, etc., etc. From 7,000 to 8,000 men are em- ployed in these factories.

Springfield is in 1887 one of the most commercially solid and prosperous, as it is certainly one of the most beautiful inland cities of America. With a population of but about 35,000-possibly 40,000-she has a fame exceeding that of many cities four times her size. Not only are the products of her great factories known and used largely in all parts of America, but also in Great Britain, and in France, Germany, Russia, and in other continental lands, and in Australia, South America, and, indeed, in all quarters of the civilized world where grass and grain grow, where water and the atmosphere are used to move the machinery of mills and shops, and where the refining and wholesome influences of civilization call upon the genius of the inventor and the skill of the artisan to lighten and enliven toil, may be found the finished products of Springfield workshops, from devices born in the brains of Springfield inventors. In the great grain-fields of the Northwest, indeed, in all the grain- and grass-fields of America and Europe, one may see Springfield reapers and mowers moving quietly and quickly along and gathering in the harvests of the world. And in all civilized countries may be found one or several of the products of Springfield's skill and industry, the num- bers of which are increasing from year to year.

Frank Henry Howe, Photo., 1887.

SHOPS OF THE CHAMPION MOWERS AND BINDERS, SPRINGFIELD.

[The view is the front of the many connecting buildings comprising the works of the Company. The flooring of the entire connecting group is fifty-four acres, sufficient to construct an avenue sixty feet broad and three and a half miles long, and this it is said is not equalled by any other manufacturing establishment on the globe. In 1886 the Company (Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly) employed over 2,000 men, and turned out a Champion Mower every four minutes.]

FERN CLIFF, SPRINGFIELD, IN WINTER.

(401)

MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST CLAIR.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.

BRIG, GENT ANTHONY WAYNE.

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CLARK COUNTY.

TRAVELLING NOTES.

A Genuine Patriarch .- The gentleman who supplied me with the preceding notes upon the history of Clark county was a lawyer, then forty-three years of age-E. II. Cumming, Esq. On this tour I had the pleasure of again meeting him ; a venerable octogenarian, the Rev. E. H. Cumming, of the Episcopal Church, and in his physique the very ideal of a patriarch. He is somewhat tall, wears a long surtout, walks with a cane, his head- covering a tall, soft, white hat, upper part cylindrical, beard and hair long, white, and flowing down his shoulders, eyes blue, with drooping lids, nose thin, aquiline, and promi- nent, and general expression grave and thoughtful. Ilis portrait is here given as he

A PATRIARCH.

was in 1870, eighteen years ago, and without his knowledge. I hope it will prove a pleas- ing surprise to him if he be living when this is printed. This I do from a sentiment of gratitude to a gentleman, the only one I know of now living of the many who aided me on my original edition. He lives in the old Warder mansion under the hill, with a fine view of the distant spires of Springfield, and upon the margin of the valley of the Lagonda, which stream flows in quiet beauty through grassy meadows around the town.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 62

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