Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 110

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916

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The Declaration of Independence was signed and promulgated through the Union on the 4th of July, 1776, after which the war continued six years, waged in the most cruel and un- feeling manner by the British. Those amongst our citizens who adhered to the British king were styled TORIES. These men, destitute alike of every feeling and principle, attacked, in a sudden manner, the citizens of their own towns, wreaking their bloodthirsty vengeance alike on their parents, brothers and sisters ; burning towns, villages and the dwellings of their nearest relatives with relentless fury, and plunging the dagger to the hearts of their country- men. Oh, shame, where is thy blush !

But let us turn from these disgusting pictures. Peace was proclaimed, the soldier of the Revolution returned to his home after his severe trials penniless ; his ardent patriotism did not forsake him ; he mingled again with his fellow-citizens, and though neglected by the gov- ernment, which was poor and without means, he uttered not a murmur, but strove to gain a subsistence by his daily labor.

He saw everywhere around him the fruits of his toils and sacrifices. Towns, villages and cities reared their majestic temples where the forests had covered the country, and the beasts of the field, as well as the original inhabitants, fled before civilization and the arts ; every

729

VAN WERT COUNTY.

house was opened and every hand greeted the war-worn veteran. After a lapse of years he is made to partake of the bounty of a grateful government.

Another war, rendered memorable by many battles and by sacrifices of a brave and gen- erous people, has tested the strength and stability of our political institutions.

It was waged by our old enemy. Our navy, though compared to hers was but a pigmy to a giant, yet it rode triumphant on the ocean. Our militia and raw troops again beat the proudest veterans the world could produce, with less than equal numbers, and the boasting conquerors of ensanguined Europe were themselves conquered.

The genius of the free government of our country is daily developing its powers ; its flag waves over every sea. Its commerce extends over the whole globe, and equals that of the proudest nations of the earth ; while the inventive faculties of the American mind in our immortal Fulton furnished to the astonished world the novel spectacle of ships propelled by fire, traversing every sea, and approximating the extremities of the longest river to a span. Our free and happy population has increased beyond any former example. In less than a half a century two millions of people have become twelve millions.

Sciences and the arts have even outstripped our most sanguine expectations, and we now behold our beloved country, blessed by the fostering hand of an overruling Providence, one of the most prosperous, flourishing and powerful nations of the earth.

Examples interest our country in many directions, for the spark that kindled the flame of our Revolution has spread its benign influence over the entire world. In Europe it has been smothered and kept down by bigotry, ignorance, superstition and tyranny, through the most destructive wars occasioned by the French Revolution.

The entire host of tyrants and religious fanatics in the Old World have marshalled them- selves against our principles-they are arrested in Europe-they sleep but to rise again with redoubled vigor, when, bursting asunder their chains, they are destined to overwhelm their tyrants and oppressors throughout the universe.

In their steady march the principles contained in our Declaration of Independence in the New World have fully triumphed, and under the genial influence of our example the republics of Buenos Ayres, Chili, Columbia, Mexico and Peru have recently sprung into existence.

The land of the children of the sun is free ; the holy horrors inflicted by bigoted and mer- cenary Spain under her Christian Cortez and Pizarro, upon the Mexicans and Peruvians, have returned upon her devoted head ; led by the virtuous and patriotic Bolivar, St. Martin, Hieras, Lare, O. Higgins and a host of other worthies the legions of liberty have established their independence.

Kingly tyrants and religious fanatics have received a mortal stab in that portion of the world. The blood of Montezuma, the Incas and hosts of innocents has cried for vengeance, and the Almighty arm has avenged their injuries.

Already the cry of liberty of conscience has been proclaimed, and may we indulge the pleasing hope that this monstrous struggle will satisfy the civilized nations of the beauties and benefits of self-government, destined to extend throughout the globe.

We are assembled to commemorate the day and the patriots who proclaimed and estab- lished the most perfect system of equal rights and privileges; civilization keeps pace with the moral and religious freedom and toleration, and is the most conclusive proof that these States have outstripped the other quarters of the world.

Look at the American female character ! The fairest work of creation here have all the advantages of polite and useful education, and of moral and religious liberty ; as wives, mothers and daughters they hold the rank of equals with their nearest relations, and by their virtues and goodness are esteemed as the greatest blessing a bountiful Providence could bestow on man.

THE DINNER, DANCE, AND SONG.

The oration being ended, the people, to the number of about seventy-five, took their places at the table, which had been loaded with all the luxuries the country afforded, and well cooked. Mr. Golden Green, of Shane's Crossing, asked a blessing, and those who were skilled commenced to do the carving. A small roasted pig happening to be in front of one old gentleman, the skin beautifully

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VAN WERT COUNTY.

browned (it was roasted before the fire), he deliberately took off the skin and placed it on his plate, remarking, " Some folks like meat best, and some folks like skin best; for my part I like skin best," and carved the pig for the rest, no one ob- jecting to his gratifying his taste, and all went off delightfully.

After dinner toasts were drank, using what we called metheglin, made from honey, very delicious, but not intoxicating. I only remember my father's toast, which was, "The State of Ohio, the first-born of the ordinance of 1787. May she lead the van in the cause of freedom and equality until our glorious Declara- tion shall be fulfilled, and we can with truth 'proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof.'" All cheered the sentiment ; then followed many more of like patriotic sentiments. My father, brother James, Uncle Roswell Riley, J. W. Milligan, Dr. Edmiston, Tom Sweeny, and James Hagar, with mother, and sisters Amelia and Phebe, Mrs. Milligan, Mrs. Roswell Riley, and Mrs. Edmiston were all good singers. Uncle Roswell sang comic songs as well as I ever heard since on the stage. He sang several, and then "Perry's Victory " and " Hull's Surrender." Mrs. Edmiston sang " The Meeting of the Waters" (Vale of Avoca). She was a highly accomplished musician, and all wound up with Burns' "Auld Lang Syne," shaking hands across the table. Those that did not know the words joined in the chorns. A plank floor had been laid upon scantling on the ground, and a dance by torchlight wound up the first celebration of the Fourth of July in Van Wert county, Ohio.

There must have been present nearly every person then in the county, includ- ing the infantry in arms. As stated above, "about seventy-five took their places at the table." As by the census of 1830, five years later, the entire population of Van Wert county was but forty-mine, it is surmised the surplus were " distinguished guests from abroad."

The large and flourishing town of DELPHOS lies on the line of this and Allen county, about equally divided between the two. The post-office is in this county. Delphos is described in Allen county, vol. i., page 249.

WILLSHIRE is fourteen miles southwest of Van Wert, on the T. St. L. & K. C. R. R. It has 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church. Population, 1880, 508. School census, 1888, 224.

CONVOY is eight miles northwest of Van Wert, on the P. Ft. W. & C. R. R. It has churches : 1 Lutheran, 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 Catholic. Population, 1880, 386. School census, 1888, 189.

MIDDLEPOINT is eight miles east of Van Wert, on the Little Auglaize river and on the P. Ft. W. & C. R. R. Population, 1880, 386. School census, 1888, 152.

SCOTT is eight miles north of Van Wert, on the C. V. W. & J. R. R. School census, 1888, 136.

73%

VINTON COUNTY.

VINTON.

VINTON COUNTY was formed March 23, 1850, from Gallia, Athens, Hocking, Ross, and Jackson counties, comprising eleven townships, with a combined popula- tion of 9,353. It is watered by branches of the Scioto and Hocking rivers. Its surface is mostly hilly, with some broad, fine, fertile, level land on the streams. The land is well adapted to grazing, and it is a good county for sheep, horses, cattle and hogs. While the hills are generally sloping, in many places they are cultivated to their summits, and have been successfully devoted to grape culture and other fruit. Its great wealth is in its coal, fire-clay and iron. There are four furnaces in the county : Eagle, Hope, Vinton, and Hamden, but not now in operation.

Area, 402 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 41,645; in pasture, 69,217 ; woodland, 48,376 ; lying waste, 6,794; produced in wheat, 80,134 bushels; rye, 252 ; buckwheat, 412 ; oats, 45,907 ; corn, 202,241 ; broom- corn, 50,050 lbs. brush ; meadow hay, 11,155 tons; clover hay, 38; potatoes, 15,658 bushels ; tobacco, 850 lbs .; butter, 194,689 ; sorghum, 4,525 gallons ; maple sugar, 2,248 lbs .; honey, 2,104; eggs, 189,694 dozen ; grapes, 550 lbs. ; sweet potatoes, 386 bushels; apples, 11,232 ; pcaches, 1,451 ; pears, 78 ; wool, 163,853 lbs. ; milch cows owned, 2,541. Ohio Mining Statistics, 1888 : Coal, 108,695 tons, employing 225 miners and 57 outside employees; iron ore, 11,761 tons. School census, 1888, 5,931 ; teachers, 158. Miles of railroad track, 68.

TOWNSHIPS ALD CENSUS.

1850.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1850.

1880. 947

Brown,

648

1,241

Knox,

Clinton,

886

1,608

Madison,

2,217

Eagle,

476

1,044

Richland,

493

1,668

Elk,

1,221

2,000

Swan,

1,154 .

1,095

Harrison,

580

1,172

Vinton,

460

1,131

Jackson,

835

1,288

Wilkesville,

1,037

1,812

Population of Vinton in 1860, 13,631; 1880, 17,223: of whom 14,839 were born in Ohio; 594, Pennsylvania; 500, Virginia; 115, Kentucky ; 81, New York ; 32, Indiana ; 327, Ireland ; 160, German Empire; 94, England and Wales; 13, British America ; 12, Scotland; and 11, France. Census, 1890, 16,045.

This county is named in honor of SAMUEL FINLEY VINTON, one of Ohio's eminent statesmen of a past generation. Mr. Vinton is a direct descendant of John Vinton, of Lynn, Mass., whose name occurs in the county records of 1648. The tradition is that the founder of the family in this country was of French origin, by the name of De Vintonne, and he was exiled from France on account of liis being a Huguenot. Mr. Vinton was born in the State of Massachusetts, September 25, 1792, graduated at Williams College in 1814, and soon after 1816 established himself in the law at Gallipolis. In 1822 he was, unexpectedly to himself, nominated and then elected to Congress, an office to which he continued to be elected by constantly increasing majorities for fourteen years, when he voluntarily withdrew for six years, to be again sent to Congress for six years longer, when he declined any further Congressional service, thus serving in all twenty years.

Mr. Vinton originated and carried through the House many measures of very great importance to the country. During the period of the war with Mexico, he was Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and at this particular juncture his financial talent was of very great service to the nation. During his entire course of public life he liad ably opposed various schiemes for the sale of

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VINTON COUNTY.

the public lands that he felt, if carried out, would be squandering the nation's patri- mony. He originated and carried through the House, against much opposition, the law which created the Department of the Interior. Hon. Thomas Ewing wrote of him : "Though for ten or fifteen years he had more influence in the House of Representatives, much more than any man in it, yet the nation never has fully accorded to him his merits. He was a wise, persevering, sagacious states- man ; almost unerring in his perceptions of the right, bold in pursuing and skil- ful in sustaining it. He always held a large control over the minds of men withi whom he acted."

In 1851 Mr. Vinton was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor of Ohio. In 1853 he was for a short time President of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, and then, after 1854, continuously resided in Washington City until his death, May 11, 1862. There he occasionally argued cases before the Supreme Court, and with remarkable success, from his habits of patient investigation and clear analysis. He exhausted every subject he discussed and presented his thoughts without rhetorical flourish, but with wonderful lucidity. His use of the English language was masterful, and he delighted in wielding words of Saxon strength.

In accordance with his dying request he was buried in the cemetery at Gallipolis, beside the remains of his wife, Romaine Madeleine: Bureau, the daughter of one of the most respected French immigrants. His only surviving child is Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren, noticed on page 681 of this work. "Mr. Vinton was of slight frame, but of great dignity of presence. His mild and clear blue eye was very penetrating, and his thin, compressed lips evinced determination of character. His manner was composed and calm, but very suave and gentle, scarcely indicat- ing the great firmness that distinguished him."

OHIO SOUTHERN BOUNDARY LINE.

The question as to what constitutes Ohio's Southern boundary line is one that has never been satisfactorily settled, and the argument made by the Hon. SAMUEL F. VINTON on this question is one of great importance to the people of Ohio, as well as to those of West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

In 1820, when the case of Handly's Les- see vs. Anthony et al. was tried in the U. S. Supreme Court, Chief-Justice Marshall decided that "When a great river is the boundary line between two nations or States, if the original property is in neither, and there be no convention respecting it, each holds to the middle of the stream. But when, as in this case, one State is the original proprietor, and grants the territory on one side only, it retains the river within its own domains, and the newly created State extends to the river only. The river, however, is its boundary."

As between high and low water mark as the boundary line Justice Marshall in this case set it at the low water mark.

In 1783 the Legislature of Virginia em- powered its delegates in Congress " to convey, transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of said States (proposed new States north- . west of the Ohio), all right, title and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, which this Commonwealth hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of the Virginia Charter, situate, lying and being to the north- west of the river Ohio."

In 1845 Richard M. Garner and others,

who were captured by Virginia officers at the north bank of the Ohio river, near Marietta, in the act of assisting runaway slaves to escape, were tried in the Virginia courts. The case was decided against them in the lower courts, and on an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court was argued at the December term, 1845, by Hon. S. F. Vinton, for the defendants, being assigned to that duty by the Governor of Ohio.

Vinton's argument was based on the ground that Virginia never had a valid claim to the lands northwest of the Ohio river. He held that Chief-Justice Marshall's decision was based on an erroneous historical assump- tion. Vinton says : " All the parties to that case (Handly's Lessee vs. Anthony), both the court and the bar assumed, without any historical investigation in the court below, that Virginia was the original proprietor of the country beyond the Ohio river, and that the question of boundary was to be decided by the laws of Virginia, and by her deed of cession to the United States." He further states that the "Virginia Charter," upon which Virginia's claims were based, was granted in 1609 to "The Treasurer and Com- pany of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London." 'In 1724 this grant was dis-

733

VINTON COUNTY.

solved by the Court of the King's Bench ; henceforth, until the Revolution, Virginia was a crown colony with no claim to the ter- ritory northwest of the Ohio, and that after the Declaration of Independence the territory came under the jurisdiction of the United States by right of conquest.

In May, 1890, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed the decision of Jus- tice Marshall in a controversy between Ken- tucky and Indiana as to jurisdiction over Green River island, in the Ohio river, some six miles above Evansville. The court hield that Kentucky's boundary extended to the low water mark on the north bank at the time Kentucky became a State, and Commissioners were appointed to ascertain and run the boundary line as designated, and to report to the court.

Shortly after this decision had been ren- dered, ex-Governor Cox wrote a letter to Governor Campbell, drawing his attention to the interests involved, and suggesting that he request Attorney-General Watson to inter- vene in the suit (it not being actually closed until the Commissioners' report had been accepted), and that Illinois and West Vir- ginia be made parties. Measures were at once taken by Governor Campbell and Attor- ney-General Watson to interplead in Ohio's behalf before the United States Supreme Court.

Ex-Governor Cox denied the validity of Virginia's claim, and in his letter stated some of the complications likely to ensue if the de- cision of the . Supreme Court was permitted to stand without question.

"The reasons for making the median line of a stream the boundary between private properties arc infinitely stronger when it comes to nations and States. Cincinnati has six or eight miles of river front, on which she

has built levees and public landings, and our merchants and manufacturers have made docks, coal chutes, etc. If the ancient mean- dered line of he low water mark be rigidly renewed, the whole commercial front of this great city may possibly be held to be cut off from Ohio by some narrow strip sufficient to fence us in.

" If Kentucky prudently does not urge such a claim, we may still hold our territory, rather by sufferance than by title of a better kind. Railways have been built up and down the river on the Ohio shore. It can hardly be possible, in the nature of constructions of such a sort, that they have not trenched upon the water line. Shall a quo warranto in Kentucky forfeit their Ohio charters and rights of way ? Kentucky companies plant bridge piers so close to Ohio that the value of adjacent property is destroyed. Must the Kentucky jury on the opposite shore have sole jurisdiction to assess damages ?

"Suppose the war of secession had resulted in the independence of the South, and the Ohio had been the boundary, as the South claimed. The idea of a boundary on the north shore would have made peace forever impossible. The river is too important a highway of commerce to permit any separa- tion of jurisdiction except in the middle of the stream. It has always been admitted that such also is the general rule of law. But an exceptional interpretation is claimed exactly where the reasons for the rule are most overwhelming. There could have been no GOOD reason for Virginia and Kentucky controlling the whole river, and it cannot be supposed that the cession of Virginia saved such jurisdiction for BAD reasons. I believe the publicists of the world would be shocked to see the claim of Virginia recognized as a rule of law."

EARLY HISTORY.

Nearly half a century elapsed after its first settlement before Vinton county was formed. The first settlers centred most strongly around McArthur and Vinton townships. A Mr. Musselman was one of the earliest. Of him but little is known, except that he was the discoverer of the burr stone. He worked a few years quarrying these stones, as did most of the early settlers.

It was in 1805 that Musselman came. He settled in Elk, the pioneer township of the county. He was a miller ; being something of a geologist he discovered the fine burr stone, and in the spring of 1806 began his quarrying operations.

The first permanent settler in Elk was Levi Kelsey, who came about 1802, and was probably the very first settler in the county. Isaac and John Phillips came in 1806 and 1807. Levi Johnson came in 1811, put up the first distil- lery, and, being justice of the peace, performed the first marriage ceremony. Then came, and a little later, Jacob and Paul Shry, Geo. Fry, James and Wil- liam Mysick, Edward Satts, Thaddeus Fuller, David Richmond, Rev. Joshua Green, Lemuel and Allen Lane, Joseph Gill, and Isaac West.

We copy here the personal recollections of early times in Vinton county by one of her pioneer women, Mrs. Charlotte E. Bothwell, given in 1874 at McArthur, when she was 86 years of age. She, with her husband, his brother, and their two children, emigrated here in the summer of 1814 from Silveysport, Md. She was then twenty-six years of age, and her husband twenty-nine.

VINTON COUNTY.

They came down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers by pirogue, which he bought, hired a pilot, landed at Gallipolis, and came thence by wagon, having been just thirty-two days on the way.

It was on a Tuesday morning when they left Gallipolis with Mr. Pierson, her sister's husband, who had come with his wagon to help them on their way. The next morning they took breakfast at what is now Jackson. It was then nothing but "a salt works, a number of rough, scattering cabins, and long rows of kettles of boiling water."

The roads all the way were but mere paths, and the three men compelled to cut out roads with axes, and drive along hillsides, when it was all the men could do to keep the wagons from upsetting. After leaving Jackson, it was nine miles to Mr. Paine's, the first house. The remainder of her narrative we give in her own words.

About the middle of the day it began raining very hard, and rained all day ; everything was soaking with water. My youngest child lay in my arms wet and cold, and looked more like it was dead than alive. Several times we stopped the wagon to examine to see if it was dead. But we had to go on. There was no house to stop at till we got to Mr. Paine's. It was more than an hour after dark when we got there, wet, cold, and still raining. We found Mrs. Paine one of the best and kindest of women. An own mother could not have been more kind. After breakfast next morning, we started and got to my brother-in-law's the evening of the 5th of August, when four days afterward our child died.

My husband had been here the spring previous, entered 160 acres of land, being now (1874) the farm once owned by David Ray, and reared the walls of a cabin upon it. When we got here, it had neither door, floor, window, chimney, nor roof. My husband hired two men to make clapboards to cover it, and puncheons for a floor, we remaining with my brother-in-law until this was done. We then moved into our new house, to finish it at our leisure. Isaac Pierson then " scutched " down the logs, my husband chinked it, and I daubed the cracks with clay.

There was no plank to be had, the nearest saw-mill being Dixon's, on Salt creek, twenty miles away. So I hung up a table-cloth to close the hole left for the window, and a bed-quilt for a door. The back wall of a fire-place occupied nearly one whole side of the house; but the chimney was not built on it, and sometimes the smoke in the house would almost drive me out. We lived in this way five months. I was not used to backwoods life, and the howling of the wolves, with nothing but a suspended bed-quilt for a door, coupled with other discomforts of border life, made me wish many a time I was back at my good old home.

On the 14th of January, 1815, the chimney was built. My husband had some plank and sash, and made the door and window. The hinges and latches were of wood. Our cabin was the only one in the whole country around that had a glass window. On the same day, while the men were working at the house, I finished a suit of wedding clothes for David Johnson, father of George and Ben- jamin Johnson, who still live here. I had the suit all done but a black satin vest when he came here. I didn't know it was a wedding suit, and tried to put him off; but he would not be put off. The next day my third child, Catherine, who is the widow of Joseph Foster, and lives near Sharonville, was born.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 110

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 916

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916