USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II > Part 37
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The stock is historic and heroic. The Major's mother's maiden name was Mary Caldwell, and she was born in Bryant's Station, a fort near Lexington, Ky., in 1788, in the pristine days of Boone, Kenton and Simon Girty and his red-skinned confreres, the hair- lifting war-whoops. When the Major was thirteen years of age he put on a knapsack, trudged through the wilderness to Urbana, learned to make saddles, and then for fourteen years worked as a journeyman saddler in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. In the meanwhile he studied as he stitched until in 1850, when thirty-eight years old, he launched as a lawyer with six children, as he says, " tugging at his coat tail." Prior to this he had been county sheriff and in the Ohio Legislature; since been an officer in the Union army, in the Legislature, President of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State University, Greenback candidate for Gover- nor, etc., everywhere a leading spirit, and being such took me in his cheery charge.
Piqua's Social Exchange .- After dusk of a fine April day he introduced me to the Social Exchange of Piqua, located on the pavement in front of the tobacco and cigar store of Mr. Charles T. Wiltheiss. There I found a knot of antediluvians-old gentle- men of the town lolling in chairs smoking and chatting over the affairs of the universe,
Jupiter and his moons inclusive, which they often do there, amid the chirpings of the crickets and the amiable disputes of the katydids. Taking a chair and a cigar with them they answered my questions. One happened to be : "Have you any curious trees about here ?" "Oh, yes ! something very remarkable. About two miles north between the river and canal, which are but a few rodsapart, an elm and a sycamore start out from the ground together, go up with embrac- ing bodies and intermingled branches." The next day I walked thither with Mr. Wiltheiss, and found it such a great curiosity that I had it photographed for the engraving that is given and named it the "Wedded Trees of the Great Miami."
Ancient Relics .- Piqua is historically and pictorially interesting. The river winds around the town broad and mostly shallow, with two long old style covered bridges half a mile apart stretched across to help out the scene, both being in one view. Only a few miles above was the earliest point of English indian trade in Ohio. The region was a favorite place with the In- dians and the mound builders, the remains of whose works are extremely numerous around and especially above the town in the river valley. Mr. Wiltheiss has for thirty years been in the habit of opening
256
MIAMI COUNTY.
monnds, making explorations. He has in his cigar store a fine cabinet of relics, and has made valuable contributions to various arch- æological museums. He told me that he was unlettered. But I found his hobby had educated him, added interest to his life and made him an interesting man. He had been a close observer of Nature, and this is all in all. Nature is God's College for Humanity, where old Sol sits in the Presidential chair and lights up things. No one that closely observes and carefully reflects from his facts can be called ignorant.
A Sad Incident .- It was on Saturday morning, April 17th, that Mr. Wiltheiss and myself turned our backs on the old upper covered bridge for a walk to the wedded trees, the canal on our left and the Big Miami on our right. We walked on the towing path. My companion talked all the way, making the walk highly enjoyable. We give some details.
We had gone but a few hundred yards when he said : "The river at this spot is very dangerous ; many boys have been drowned here. On the 12th of July, 1858, a Mr. Jones, who was going to his work in a thresh- ing machine shop, saw two boys struggling for their lives in the water, whereupon he rushed to their rescue. He waded across the canal, ran down the river bank into the water and saved them. Both are now living, men about 40 years of age, Dr. M'Donald and E. B. Butterfield. But Jones lost his own life, sank through exhaustion and perished, leaving a widow, and three children fatherless. 11
Island Formation .- The tremendous fresh- ets late in the Miami, consequent upon forest destruction, make great changes. We soon passed an island made by a freshet only two years before. It was like a flat iron in shape, point down stream, and at its upper part, where it was separated by a rivulet from other land, it was about 200 feet across. Its total length was some 600 feet. It was some two feet high, and in places overgrown with young sycamore and willow bushes some five or six feet high. These, my companion said, had sprung up in the intervening two years : the willows from broken twigs and the sycamores from the seed balls, commonly called button balls, that had floated down and lodged in the rich alluvium.
Thorns .- We passed some locust bushes, with thorns full five inches in length, where- upon he said : "This is what we call the sweet locust, because it bears a bean sweet to the taste, which children often eat. Some sup- pose this to be the identical species grown in Palestine, which John the Baptist, when crying in the wilderness, ate when he partook of 'locusts and wild honey ;' those thorns also may be the identical kind from which came the crown of thorns that Christ wore at his crucifixion." How this may be I can't say, but doubtless the thorns were like those sometimes used in lieu of pins by the pioneer women. Chief-Justice Marshall somewhere speaks of his mother and the old time Vir-
ginia women using such. This was probably as far back as the time when murderers were hung on chains by the road side in Virginia, a ghastly sight for travellers in that then wilderness region. Elkanah Watson, who travelled through Virginia in the revolution- ary war, speaks of seeing such.
Presently Mr. Wiltheiss pointed out a field where were the relics of a large circular. mound. It had been an Indian burial place, and proved for him a rich spot for relics.
Sights, Songs and Sounds .- Pursuing our walk along the beautiful river, I found my- self enveloped in the delights of Nature. It was the breeding season among the birds, and they gave us their sweetest love notes. Among the cries were those of a pair of red birds, the cardinal, from the opposite side of the Miami. We stopped and listened. The female is red on the breast, and the back and wings gray. The male is everywhere red, excepting a black ring around the bill, which is also red. He has a red top-knot which he raises while singing, and lays down when silent. "Wait," said Wiltheiss, "I will call them over." Starting a peculiar whistle in a twinkling over they came in all their feathery beauty, and flying around followed us with their song.
The Indians of the Pacific slope to this day while hunting call various animals, even squirrels, within the range of their rifles. How they do it is a secret, for if a white man is along they will hide their mouths with their hands. This may be called the Art of the Woods, to be a lost art with the extinc- tion of the Indians.
Moving on we were soon saluted by the cackling of hens, the crowing of roosters, the bellowing of a cow, and the hammering of a man driving nails in a fence from an old brown farm cottage near by, and then the voices of two men paddling up stream in a skiff with fish rods along, going for black - bass, it being just the biting season. Vege- table felicity finally arrested us : we had reached the wedded trees.
The wedded trees stand on the line of the towing path of the canal, about six rods west of the river, the flat space between being overgrown with wild hemp and thistles, with paw-paws abounding in the vicinity. The elm is a large, vigorous tree, but far smaller than the sycamore, which embraces and con- ceals a larger part of its body and thus they go up together, perhaps 15 or 20 feet, when they branch, and with interlocking branches. Their height is about 70 feet, and 6 feet from the ground, by our measure- ment, the girth was 24 feet. Observing a slit on the river side of the sycamore, I saw it was hollow within. I doubted if any human being had ever been inside. I did not feel it safe to make the venture. It might be a harbor for some ugly reptile. A sense of duty urged me to the trial. I was dedicated to Ohio and must shrink at noth- ing, and so in I went. The slit was too nar -. row for me to get in without the aid of my companion, and so I was put in sidewise, much
MOSS ENG Lo NY
Gale, Photo., 1886.
THE WEDDED TREES OF THE GREAT MIAMI.
COL. JOHN JOHNSTON.
Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.
UPPER PIQUA. Seat of Col. John Johnston, long an Indian Agent. This is a spot of much historic interest.
259
MIAMI COUNTY.
as one would put a board through an upright slat fence. My feet sank a foot or so lower than the ground outside. I then stood up- right, and the top of the slit came up to about my waist; but little light came in through it. Above me the hole went up in- definitely. The walls were covered with pendent decaying wood. The place was gloomy and musty. I could see but little, and was glad to quickly get out, feeling as though I could not commend it for any per- manent habitation.
Aged trees, like the sycamore here, are apt to be hollow within. This seems to make no difference with their duration of life. The famous Charter Oak lived about 150 years after the secretion of the charter within, and in its last years it held all the members of two fire companies at once. When it was blown down in a gale abont 1854, the bells of Hartford tolled and a military band played a dirge over its remains.
The sustaining life of trees appears to be within a few inches of their bark. I once saw an aged oak that had been destroyed by fire, and all that was left of it was less than half its outer shell, and this had within a surface of charcoal ; yet the shell had suffi- cient vim to carry up the sap for its few re- maining branches that had put forth leaves. That tree, however, was on its last legs. I visited the spot a year later and it was gone. The old sycamore I was slipped into may yet live a century. The Charter Oak was perhaps 1,000 years of age.
COL. JOHN JOHNSTON .- From near the wedded trees I had a view of Upper Piqua, shown in our sketch of 1846. He was the largest contributor to my original edition. He was of Scotch-Irish and Huguenot stock, was born in Ballyshannon, Ireland, in 1775, and died in Washington, D. C., in 1861. When a lad he came to Pennsylvania with his father's family ; at 17 years was in the
Quartermaster's Department in Wayne's army ; was later Clerk in the War Depart- ment ; participated as an officer at the funeral services of Washington ; was Indian Agent, appointed by Madison, at Upper Piqua for 30 years, having control of the affairs of 10,000 Indians, comprising many tribes, and giving great satisfaction ; negotiated for a treaty of cession of the Wyandots, last of the native tribes of Ohio. In 1844, as a delegate to the Whig convention in Balti- more, he rode on horseback the whole way from Piqua, and made speeches for Henry Clay along the route. He established with his wife the first Sunday-school in Miami county ; was one of the founders of Kenyon College ; a trustee of Miami ; a member of the Visiting Board at West Point ; President of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, etc., etc. His "Account of the Indian Tribes of Ohio" is in the 5th vol- ume of the "Collections of the American Society Antiquarian." Three of his sons were valued officers : one, Stephen, was in the navy, another, A. R., was killed in the Mexican war, and a third, James A., was killed in the civil war.
I remember as of yesterday my first inter- view with Col. Johnston at Upper Piqua. He was a tall, dignified man, and of the blonde type, then 71 years of age. He was at the time plainly clad, but impressive, seeming as one born to command. It was a warm summer's day, and he took me to his well and gave me a drink of pure cold water, the quality of which he praised with the air of a prince. No man had the power and in- fluence with the Western Indians that he pos- sessed, and it arose from his weight of ehar- acter and his high sense of justice. After leaving Upper Piqua he resided for years with his daughter, Mrs. John D.Jones, at Cincinnati. He was indeed a sterling man every way, and Ohio should never forget him.
TIPPECANOE is 6 miles south of Troy, on the Miami & Erie Canal and D. & M. R. R. City officers, 1888 : Ellis H. Kerr, Mayor; E. A. Jackson, Clerk ; John K. Herr, Treasurer ; Thos. Hartley, Marshal. Newspaper : Herald, Re- publican ; Harry Horton, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Methodist, 1 Bap- tist, 1 Lutheran and 1 other. Bank : Tippecanoe National, Samuel Sullivan, president, A. W. Miles, cashier.
Manufactures and Employees .- J. L. Norris, Excelsior, 5; Trupp, Weakley & Co., builders' wood-work, 25; Ford & Co., wheels, 51 ; Dietrich Milling Co., flour, etc., 5 ; The Tipp Paper Co., straw boards, 34 .- State Reports, 1887.
Population, 1880, 1,401. School census, 1888, 444; J. T. Bartmess, school superintendent. Capital invested in manufacturing establishments, $75,000. Value of annual product, $75,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.
COVINGTON is 10 miles northwest of Troy, at the crossing of the P. C. & St. L. and D. & T. Railroads. City officers, 1888 : J. H. Mallin, Mayor; W. H. B. Rontson, Clerk ; A. M. Ruhl, Treasurer ; Wm. Gavin, Marshal. News- papers : Enterprise, Independent, H. J. Pearson, editor and publisher ; Gazette, Independent, R. & W. F. Cantwell, editors and publishers ; Vindicator, Baptist, Jos. I. Cover, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Presbyterian, 1 Christian, 1 Lutheran, 1 Methodist. Bank : Stillwater Valley, J. R. Shuman, president,
.
260
MIAMI COUNTY.
A. C. Cable, cashier. Population, 1880, 1,458. School census, 1888, 504. R. F. Bennett, school superintendent.
CASSTOWN is 4 miles northeast of Troy. It has 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 Lutheran church. Population, 1880, 331. School census, 1888, 121.
BRADFORD is 13 miles northwest of Troy, on the I. & C. Div. of the P. C. & St. L. R. R. It is part in Darke and part in Miami counties. City officers, 1888 : Enos Yount, Mayor ; John S. Moore, Clerk ; David Arnold, Treasurer ; Reuben Enochs, Marshal. Newspaper : Sentinel, Independent, 'A. F. Little, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Catholic, 1 Cumberland Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 German Baptist, 1 Baptist, 1 German Reformed. Manufactures : Railroad repair shops, lumber, tile and furniture. Population, 1880, 1,373. School census, 1888, 281. Capital invested in manufacturing establishments, $75,000. Value of annual product, $75,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.
WEST MILTON is 8 miles southwest of Troy, on the D. Ft. W. & C. R. R. Newspaper : Buckeye, Republican, H. J. Pearson, editor and publisher. Bank :" West Milton, Robert W. Douglas, president, D. F. Douglas, cashier. Popula- tion, 1880, 688. School census, 1883, 301, W. W. Evans, school superintendent. . FLETCHER is 10 miles northeast of Troy, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Pop- ulation, 1880, 384. School census, 1888, 166.
LENA is 12 miles northeast of Troy, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. School census, 1888, 120.
PLEASANT HILL is 8 miles west of Troy, on the D. Ft. W. & C. R. R. Pop- ulation, 1880, 461. School census, 1888, 209.
MONROE.
MONROE COUNTY was named from James Monroe, President of the United States from 1817 to 1825; was formed January 29, 1813, from Belmont, Wash- ington and Guernsey. The south and east are very hilly and rough, the north and west moderately hilly. Some of the western portion and the valleys are fer- tile. Area about 470 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 80,516 ; in pasture, 102,206 ; woodland, 65,598 ; lying waste, 8,494; produced in wheat, 193,913 bushels; rye, 2,755; buckwheat, 983 ; oats, 193,581 ; barley, 70; corn, 464,334 ; broom-corn, 6,559 lbs. brush ; meadow hay, 30,420 tons ; clover hay, 854; potatoes, 90,726 bushels; tobacco, 922,447 lbs. ; butter, 527,055 ; cheese, 691,439 ; sorghum, 18,685 gallons; maple sugar, 3,662 lbs .; honey, 5,628; eggs, 667,898 dozen ; grapes, 20,250 lbs .; wine, 2,361 gallons; sweet potatoes, 232 bushels; apples, 8,647 ; peaches, 1,990; pears, 958; wool, 277,837 lbs .; milch cows owned, 8,994. School census, 1888, 9,178 ; teachers, 229. Miles of railroad track, 31.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840.
1880.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840.
1880.
Adams,
897
1,317
Franklin,
1,144
1,251
Benton,
937
Green,
938
1,207
Bethel,
545
1,165
Jackson,
806
1,382
Centre,
2,779
Lee,
1,241
Elk,
535
Malaga,
1,443
1,520
Enoch,
1,135
Ohio,
907
1,905
261
MONROE COUNTY.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840.
1880.
TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.
1840.
1880.
Perry,
980
1,214
Switzerland,
983
1,226
Salem,
910
2,377
Union,
1,351
Seneca,
1,349
1,302
Washington,
533
1,815
Summit,
914
Wayne,
684
1,284
Sunbury,
1,358
1,660
Population of Monroe in 1820 was 4,645; 1830, 8,770; 1840, 18,544 ; 1860, 25,741; 1880, 26,496, of whom 22,461 were born in Ohio ; 804, Penn- sylvania ; 318, Virginia; 49, New York ; 33, Indiana; 9, Kentucky ; 1224, German Empire ; 80, Ireland ; 48, France ; 38, England and Wales; 8, Scot- land, and 6, British America. Census, 1890, 25,175.
The principal portion of the population originated from Western Pennsylvania, with some Western Virginians and a few New Englanders ; one township was settled by Swiss, among whom were some highly educated men.
The valleys of the streams are narrow and are bounded by lofty and rough hills. In many of the little ravines putting into the valleys the scenery is in all the wildness of untamed nature. In places they are precipitous and scarcely acces- sible to the footsteps of man, and often for many hundred yards the rocks bounding these gorges hang over some thirty or forty feet, forming natural grottos of suffi- cient capacity to shelter many hundreds of persons, and enhancing the gloomy, forbidding character of the scenery.
The annexed historical sketch of the county was written in 1846 by Daniel H. Wire, Esq., of Woodsfield :
The first settlement in the county was near the mouth of Sunfish about the year 1799. This settlement consisted of a few families whose chief end was to locate on the best hunting ground. A few years after three other small settlements were made. The first was near where the town of Beallsville now stands ; the second on the Clear fork of Lit- tle Muskingum, consisting of Martin Crow, Fred. Crow and two or three other families ; and the third was on the east fork of Duck creek, where some three or four families of the name of Archer settled. Not long after this the settlements began to spread, and the pioneers were forced to see the bear and the wolf leave, and make way for at least more friendly neighbors, though perhaps less wel- come. The approach of new-comers was always looked upon with suspicion, as this was the signal for the game to leave. A neighbor at the distance of ten miles was considered near enough for all social purposes. The first object of a new-comer after selecting a location and putting the "hoppers" on the horse (if he had any) was to cut some poles or logs and build a cabin of suitable dimen- sions for the size of his family ; for, as yet, rank and condition had not disturbed the simple order of society.
The windows of the cabin were made by sawing out about three feet of one of the togs, and putting in a few upright pieces ; and in the place of glass, they took paper and oiled it with bear's oil, or hog's fat, and pasted it on the upright pieces. This would give considerable light and resist the rain tolerably well. After the cabin was completed the next thing in order was to clear out a piece of ground for a corn patch. They
plowed their ground generally with a shovel plow, as this was most convenient among the roots. Their harness consisted mostly of leather-wood bark, except the collar, which was made of husks of corn platted and sewed together. They ground their corn in a hand- mill or pounded it in a mortar, or hominy- block, as it was called, which was made by burning a hole into the end of a block of wood. They pounded the corn in these mor- tars with a pestle, which they made by driv- ing an iron wedge into a stick of suitable size. After the corn was sufficiently pounded, they sieved it, and took the finer portion for meal to make bread and mush of, and the coarser they boiled for hominy. Their meat was bear, venison and wild turkey, as it was very difficult to raise hogs or sheep on account of the wolves and bears ; and hence pork and woollen clothes were very scarce.
The mischievous depredations of the wolves rendered their scalps a matter of some im- portance. They were worth from four to six dollars apiece. This made of wolf-hunting rather a lucrative business, and, of course. called into action the best inventive talent in the country ; consequently, many expedients and inventions were adopted, one of which I will give.
The hunter took the ovary of a slut-at a particular time-and rubbed it on the soles of his shoes, then circling through the forest where the wolves were most plenty, the male wolves would follow his track ; as they ap- proached he would secrete himself in a suit- able place, and as soon as the wolf came in reach of the rifle, he received its contents. This plan was positively practiced, and was one of the most effectual modes of hunting
262
MONROE COUNTY.
the wolf. A Mr. Terrel, formerly of this place, was hunting wolves in this way not far from where Woodsfield stands. He found himself closely pursued by a number of wolves, and soon discovered from their an- gry manner that they intended to attack him. He got up into the top of a leaning tree and shot four of them before they would leave him. This is the only instance of the wolves attacking any person in this section of coun- try. Hunters, the better to elude, especially the ever-watchful eye of the deer and turkey, had their hunting-shirts colored to suit the season. In the fall of the year they wore the color most resembling the fallen leaves ; in the winter they used a brown, as near as pos- sible the color of the bark of trees. If there was snow on the ground, they frequently drew a white shirt over their other clothes. In the summer they colored their clothes green.
In addition to what has already been said, it may not be improper to give a few things in relation to the social intercourse of the early settlers.
And first I would remark, on good author- ity, that a more generous, warm-hearted and benevolent people seldom have existed in any country. Although they are unwilling to see the game driven off by the rapid influx of emigrants, still the stranger, when he ar- rived among the hardy pioneers, found among them a cordiality, and a generous friendship, that is not found among those who compose, what is erroneously called, the better class of society, or the higher circle. There was no distinction in society, no aristocratic lines drawn between the upper and lower classes. Their social amusements proceeded from matters of necessity. A log-rolling or the raising of a log-cabin was generally accom- panied with a quilting, or something of the sort, and this brought together a whole neigh- borhood of both sexes, and after the labors of the day were ended, they spent the larger portion of the night in dancing and other in- nocent amusements. If they had no fiddler (which was not very uncommon), some one of the party would supply the deficiency by singing. A wedding frequently called to- gether all the young folks for fifteen or twenty miles around. These occasions were truly convivial ; the parties assembled on the wed- ding day at the house of the bride, and after
the nuptials were celebrated they enjoyed all manner of rural hilarity, and most generally dancing formed a part, unless the old folk.s had religious scruples as to its propriety. About 10 o'clock the bride was allowed to re- tire by her attendants; and if the groom could steal off from his attendants and retire also, without their knowledge, they became the objects of sport for all the company, and were not a little quizzed. The next day the party repaired to the house of the groom to enjoy the infair. When arrived within a mile or two of the house, a part of the con- pany would run for the bottle, and whoever had the fleetest horse succeeded in getting the bottle, which was always ready at the house of the groom. The successful racer carried back the liquor and met the rest of the company and treated them, always taking good care to treat the bride and groom first ; he then became the hero of that occasion, at least.
There are but few incidents relative to the Indian war which took place in this county. worthy of notice. When Martin Whetzel was a prisoner among the Indians they brought him about twenty miles (as he sup- posed) up Sunfish creek. This would be some place near Woodsfield. Whetzel says they stopped under a large ledge of rocks, and left a guard with him and went off; and after having been gone about an hour they returned with a large quantity of lead, and moulded a great number of bullets. They fused the lead in a large wooden ladle, which they had hid in the rocks. They put the metal in the ladle, and by burning live coals on it, succeeded in fusing it. After Whetzel escaped from the Indians and returned home, he visited the place in search of the lead, but could never find it. In fact, he was not cer- tain that he had found the right rock.
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