Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 5

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

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While I was at table she started the fire in the box-stove in the room I was in, and it roared for my drying ; for I was wet through from knees down. Then she left me todry and cogitate ; and hanging myself over two chairs, I smoked my cigar and meditated, while the old clock ticked away the hours from its wall- perch.

To the young waiting is dreary ; action and acquisition is their occupation. To the old the passing of time is as nothing. The leaves of the book of life are full, when memory glides in and turns over to their vision page after page of the mor-

LAKE COUNTY.

tal panorama, made sacred in the dim hallowed light of the vanished years. And when the life has been imprinted with blessing thoughts and deeds, these retro- spective hours are as calming to the spirit as the mellow suffusing glow of an autumnal sunset.

A WELL-FIXED PEOPLE.

The cars eame. My cigar was in ashes, my clothes dry ; and I was done with Mentor. Three hours later I was seated ruminating in a chair on the pavement in front of the Stockwell House, Painesville. The storm had passed ; the stars looked down with their silent eyes, and my ears were open. Two old men were sitting near me in the darkness, sounding the praises of the Western Reserve; and they both agreed. One of them was a retired general officer of our army, over seventy years of age. He had lived in every part of our country ; at the far East and the far West ; in Kansas and California ; was familiar with Canada and every part of the Mississippi valley. "Elsewhere," said he, "in places they pro- duce larger single crops, some in corn, some in wheat, and some grow more hogs ; but here the soil is rich and of that nature that it gives a wonderful variety of everything; grain, fruit, vegetables, etc., which, with the climate, makes it the choicest spot of our land."

And he might have added a word more upon the people, their general thrift and intelligence, fortified with the truthful statement that the Reserve exceeds all other populations of equal number in the amount of domestic correspondence, and books, magazines and newspapers received through the mails. This old veteran who spake with such enthusiasm, was General R. B. Potter, President of the Mil- itary Commission before whom C. L. Vallandigham was tried for treason. The old soldier has since that night answered his last roll-call.

BIOGRAPHY.

JOHN FLAVIAL MORSE, born in Massachusetts in October, 1801, removed with his father to Kirtland in 1816. He was a third time member of the Ohio legislature in 1848, when, in connection with Dr. N. S. Townshend, he was in- strumental in the election of Salmon P. Chase to the United States Senate, and in the repeal of the Black Laws. (See Vol. I., page 100.) In 1851 he was Speaker of the Ohio house of representatives; in 1860 elected to the State senate. In 1861 was captain of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1862 Sec- retary Chase offered him employment on the public buildings, in which service he continued until 1876. Mr. Morse died January 30, 1884.

WILLIAM H. BEARD was born in Painesville, April 13, 1825. He is famous for his caricatures of the vanities and the foibles of men through the portrayal of their prototypes in the animal kingdom. He began his professional carcer about 1846 as a travelling portrait painter. In 1856 visited and studied in Europe. In 1860 settled in New York city, and two years later was elected a member of the National Academy.

His brother, JAMES H. BEARD, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1814, and then in infancy was brought to Painesville, where he spent his boyhood days. Later was for a number of years engaged in portrait and other painting in Cincinnati. In 1870 he settled permanently in New York, and two years later was elected a full member of the National Academy, of which he had been an honorary mem- ber since 1848. Of late years he has devoted himself to animal painting, and has attained great eminence as an artist.

The works of the brothers are largely permeated with the spirit of humor. James H. has several sons, all artists of fine capacity. When in Cincinnati James H. designed the engraving, for distribution by the Western Art Union, entitled " Poor Relations." A family of aristocratic dogs, consisting of a mother dog, with her plump, well-fed pups, are in their parlor receiving their poor relations, consisting of a mother dog, with her pups, lean and of a half-starved look, who

LAKE COUNTY.

have just entered the door. The expressions of contempt and pride on the faces of the first are in marked contrast with those of the visitors, whose abject, crouch- ing forms are pitiful to behold.

While in Cincinnati Beard painted his celebrated picture, "The Last Man," which for a long term of years has been hanging on the walls of the Burnet House there, and has been the admiration of thousands of the guests of that famous hostelrie. The last man is the last victim of the ancient flood, who awaits, on a crag, the closing in upon him of the angry waters. His wife has perished, and floats in the surges at his feet. The rain still beats down from the black wind- tossed sky. The storm-pelted man knows his fate, and awaits it with a stern sad- ness and a grand fortitude. Few paintings equal this as a dramatic conception, and few aronse the same deep feeling by suggestion.

In the American Magazine for December, 1889, is an article upon Mr. Beard, by Leon Adams, from which the following is derived. It is entitled "The Ap- prenticeship of an Academiciau." Mr. Mead begins with an extraordinary fact :

"James H. Beard has devoted more than sixty years to the art of painting, and has long been a member of the National Academy of Design. He has painted the portraits of some eminent personages, and, both as por-

JAMES H. BEARD.

trait painter and animal painter, has had numerous admirers that have paid good prices for his productions ; and yet, he has never had any instruction in either drawing or color, has never studied the anatomy of either man or beast, and has not had more than a year's schooling in his life. This ca- reer is a noteworthy instance of how a strong natural bent will assert itself in spite of very discouraging obstacles."

Mr. Beard was born in Buffalo. His father, James Beard, a shipmaster on the lakes, commanded the first brig that sailed on Lake Erie. His wife was the first white woman that visited the post where Chicago now stands. The subject of this sketch be-

gan to draw when he was a small boy, and grew to manhood in Painesville, Ohio, and Cleveland. At sixteen he met at Painesville a wandering sign and portrait painter, and concluded to try his own luck with the brush. He found sitters who were not very critical, and painted them in red, white and brown- the only colors he could find at a cabinet- maker's. He made his own implements, except the brushes, and prepared his own canvas. There was something about his pic- tures that rendered them a success, and in- sured his popularity. At length he visited Ravenna and painted a full-length portrait for ten dollars, a sum that he considered munificent, for it cost him but $1.25 a week for his board, lodging and washing at the Ravenna hotel.

From this time until he was eighteen Beard was a wanderer chiefly, and experienced many hardships. He reached Pittsburg, and saw for the first time in his life a paved street and the wonders of an early Western museum. A keelboat, on which he worked his passage, brought him to this city. At Cincinnati he was paid off with the rest of the hands, and within an hour after landing he parted with his friend, the sign-painter. having deter- mined to take a trip to Louisville. The deck passage was two dollars, but no one came to collect his fare, and so he enjoyed a free sail, though it was not his intention to defraud the steamboat company. Not knowing but that he was entitled to them, he took his meals regularly in the cabin. At night, to- gether with a young man who had two blank- ets, he slept on a pile of pig iron. He spent a week wandering about Louisville, adding several unimportant experiences to his bud- get, and then returned to Cincinnati with about eight dollars in his pocket.

Putting on a bold face, Beard obtained work in Cincinnati as a chair painter who had had "experience." No one ever discovered that he was not an experienced chair painter. During his leisure time he used to make pen- cil drawings at the house where he boarded, of different things, and drop them carelessly on the floor so that they would attract atten- tion. The landlord possessed a strong, char-

LAKE COUNTY.

acteristic face, and Beard drew him in uni- form, he being a colonel in the militia. The young artist also dropped this drawing on the floor of his chamber. His chief ambition was to get to painting portraits again. He thought this drawing would please the colo- nel, and it did. In short, it led to Beard's receiving a commission to paint the portraits of the colonel and his entire family, consist- ing of five members, at five dollars a piece. With this work to occupy him, Beard left the chair factory and resumed his portrait painting. But the income was precarious, and he was often " hard up."

The article concludes as follows : Mr. Beard was about twenty-two when he married Miss Mary Caroline Carter. Her father, Colonel Carter, was a river-trader. Soon afterwards he went down the river, taking charge of one of the boats of his father-in-law. Before reaching New Orleans he confronted many dangers, and passed through many adven- tures with the river pirates and dishonest traders.

On one of his trips to New Orleans Mr. Beard stopped at Baton Rouge, and painted a three-quarter length life-size portrait of Gen. Taylor. At this time it was generally conceded that Taylor would be nominated for the Presidency. One day, while at work on the portrait, the artist said to his distin- guished sitter, "General, I will vote for you, but under protest. I never knew you as a statesman, and I am not certain that a mil- itary man is qualified for the office." Taylor replied, "You are right. I am no more fit to be President than you are. Don't vote for me." Afterward Mr. Beard made a copy of this portrait of Gen. Taylor, and sold it to a

gentleman who presented it to the city of Charleston. In 1840 he painted for the city of Cincinnati a full-length portrait of Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison.

Since 1863 he has devoted himself princi- pally to animal painting. His animal pic- tures appeal to popular taste, being generally intended to tell a story, humorous or pathetic, and the intention of the painter is easily dis- cernible. There is no better example of his work in that line than "The Streets of New York," which he sold for $3,000.

Mr. Beard, with a studio in New York, resides at Flushing, L. I., where he is pass- ing a serene old age, delighting his visitors with some of the incidents of his varied ex- perience. Well preserved, tall, erect, with a yellowish grey beard and abundant white curly hair flowing down his shoulders, wher- ever he appears he is a striking figure, pic- turesque and patriarchal.

We have spoken of the great suggestion in Mr. Beard's "The Last Man." One of his most recent paintings, " It's Very Queer, Isn't It?" is almost equal to a dissertation on Darwinian theory. No one could ever tire of a picture marked by such concentrated humor and philosophy. The contrasted skulls of the man and of the monkey are a powerful illustration-but who can say of what ?

This picture shows an old monkey, with the face of a sage, seated in a chair in a meditative mood. On one side of him is the skull of a man, on the other that of an ape. It is evident that they have been a subject of study, and he is pondering whether man came from the monkey or the monkey from the man.

GEORGE TRUMBULL LADD was born in Painesville, Ohio, Jan. 19, 1842; graduated at Western Reserve College in 1864. He preached in Edinburgh, Ohio, for two years. In 1879 was professor of moral and intellectual philosophy in Bowdoin College. In 1881 was called to the chair of philosophy in Yale Col- lege. The same year the Western Reserve College conferred on him the degree of D. D. He is the author of "Doctrine of Sacred Scripture" (New York and Edinburgh, 1883) and other publications.

THOMAS W. HARVEY was born in New Hampshire in 1821, and removed to Lake county when twelve years of age. He early developed a strong desire for a good education, made a beginning under adverse circumstances, and through life has been a hard student and able worker in the development of education in Ohio. Prof. Harvey is recognized as one of the leading educators of the State. He was for fourteen years superintendent of schools in Massillon, and has served many years in a similar capacity at Painesville. He was three years State commissioner of common schools. As a lecturer and instructor he has a widespread reputation,. and a number of valuable text-books bear testimony to his ability as an anthor.

MADISON is eleven miles east of Painesville, on the L. S. & M. S. R. R., and on the old stage route from Cleveland to Buffalo, and a station on the Under- ground Railroad. The George Harris of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was arrested here and rescued at Unionville. Newspaper : Monitor, Independent, F. A. Williams, editor and publisher. Bank : Exchange, L. H. Kimball, president ; A. S. Strat- ton, cashier. Churches : 1 Baptist, 1 Congregational, 1 Methodist Episcopal. 1 Catholic. Population, 1880, 793. School census, 1888, 197.

MENTOR is near Lake Erie, six miles west of Painesville, on the L. S. & M. S.

LAKE COUNTY.

and N. Y. C & St. L. Railroads. It has 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Catholic church. Population, 1880, 540. School census, 1888, 218.

Little Mountain is said to be about the highest point of land on the Western Reserve. It is seven miles south of Painesville; a small and abrupt eminence of about 200 feet in height above the surrounding country, and can be seen from a far distance. It is much visited, and commands a beautiful prospect of the ad- jacent country and Lake Erie, distant ten miles. A cool breeze generally blows from the lake to brace the nerves of the visitor, while aronnd and below the earth is clad in beanty.

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

LAWRENCE.

LAWRENCE COUNTY was organized March 1, 1816, and named from Capt. James Lawrence, a native of Burlington, N. J., and a gallant naval officer of the war of 1812. Most of the county consists of high, abrupt hills, in which large quantities of sand or free-stone exist : soil mostly clay. There is some rich land on the creek bottoms, and on that of the Ohio river, on which, and at the iron furnaces, are the principal settlements. This county is rich in minerals, and is the greatest iron manufacturing county in Ohio. Coal abounds in the western part, while clay, suitable for stoneware, is found under the ore, in the whole of the iron region. The agricultural products, which are small in quantity, are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, hay and apples.

Area about 440 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were, 50,421 ; in pasture, 37,048 ; woodland, 37,094 ; lying waste, 20,145 ; produced in wheat, 122,070 bushels; rye, 410; buckwheat, 64; oats, 65,693 ; barley, 145 ; corn, 371,191 ; meadow hay, 6,179 tons; clover hay, 841 ; potatoes, 29,633 bushels; tobacco, 11,940 pounds ; butter, 210,159 ; sorghum, 47,371 gallons ; maple syrup, 60; honey, 11,018 pounds ; eggs, 148,371 dozen ; grapes, 3,280 pounds ; wine, 520 gallons ; sweet potatoes, 7,291 bushels ; apples, 39,403 ; peaches, 5,835; pears, 212; wool, 10,343 pounds ; milch cows owned, 2,839. Ohio mining statistics, 1888 : Coal mined, 137,086 tous ; employing 248 miners and 63 ont- side employees. Iron ore, 104,140 tons. Fire-clay, 15,280 tons. Limestone, 114,652 tons, burned for fluxing. School census, 1888, 13,942; teachers, 202. Miles of railroad track, 55.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

Aid,

610

1,530

Perry,

663

2,217

Decatur,

594

2,043

Rome,

879

2,512

Elizabeth,

1,534

4,586

Symmes,

472

1,099

Fayette,

841

2,308

Union,

1,036

2,460

Hamilton,

1,168

Upper,

1,181

11,663

Lawrence,

425

1,788

Washington,

1,444

Mason,

695

2,021

Windsor,

815

2,229

Population of Lawrence in 1820 was 3,499; 1830, 6,366; 1840, 9,745 ; 1860, 23,249 ; 1880, 39,068, of whom 29,079 were born in Ohio; 2,597, Kentucky ; 2,291, Virginia; 937, Pennsylvania ; 118, Indiana; 117, New York ; 1,116, German Empire ; 615, Ireland ; 513, England and Wales; 33, France ; 22, Scotland ; and 22, British America. Census, 1890, 39,556.

In the INDIAN WAR, prior to the treaty of Greenville, many boats, descend- ing the Ohio, were attacked by the Indians, and the whites in them cruelly massacred. After the war had closed, wrecks of boats were frequently seen on the shore, to remind the traveller of the unhappy fate of those who had fallen a prey to the rifle, tomahawk and scalping-knife. Among the unpublished incidents of this nature is one that belongs to the history of this county, obtained by us orally from one acquainted with the circumstances :

Among the early settlers of Mason county, . Ky., was Mr. James Kelly, who emigrated from Westmoreland, Pa. Shortly after his arrival, the Indians carried on their murder- ous incursions with so much energy, as to seriously threaten the annihilation of the infant settlements. His father, alarmed for his safety, sent another son, William, to Ken- tucky, to bring his brother and family back to

Pennsylvania. They embarked at Maysville, in a large canoe, with two men as passengers, who were to assist in navigating the boat. When about a mile below the mouth of the Big Guyandotte, and near the Virginia shore, they were suddenly fired upon by a party of Indians, secreted behind the trees on that bank of the river. William, who had risen up in the boat, was shot through the body,

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

when James sprang up to save him from fall- ing into the river, and receiving a death wound, fell forwards in the boat. The two men, as yet unharmed, steered for the Ohio shore. The instant the boat touched land, one of them, panic-stricken, sprang ashore, and, running into the recesses of the forest, was never heard of more.

The other passenger, however, was a man of undaunted courage. He determined to protect Mrs. Kelly and her little children, consisting of James, a boy of about five years of age, and an infant named Jane. They landed, and turned their course for · Gallipolis, about thirty miles distant. In their haste they had forgotten to get any provisions from the boat, and the prospect of reaching there, through a wilderness swarming with Indians, was gloomy. To add to the horrors of their situation, they had gone but a few miles, when Mrs. Kelly was bitten in the foot by a copper-head. and was unable to make further progress. As the only resort her companion told her that he must leave her alone in the woods, and travel to Gallipolis, procure a boat and a party, and come for her. Having secreted them among some paw- paws, he started on his solitary and perilous journey. The Indians were soon on his track, in hot pursuit ; and taking inland to avoid them, three or four days elapsed before he

arrived at his destination. He there obtained a keel boat, and a party of thirty men, and started down the Ohio, with but a faint hope of finding Mrs. Kelly and her little ones alive.

During his absence Mrs. Kelly had been accustomed daily to send her little son to the river's edge, to hail any boats that might pass. Fearing a decoy from the Indians, several went by without paying any attention to his cries. An hour or two before the arrival of the aid from Gallipolis, another boat from farther up the river passed down. At first but little attention was given to the hailing of little James ; but feelings of humanity pre- vailed over their fears, and reflecting also upon the improbability of the Indians send- ing such a mere child as a decoy, they took courage, turned to the shore, and took the sufferers aboard. They were then in a starving and deplorable condition ; but food was soon given them by the kind-hearted boatmen, and their perils were over. Soon the Gallipolis boat hove in sight, and they were taken on board, and eventually to Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Kelly, in the course of a few years, married again. The infant Jane grew up to womanhood, and was remarkable for her beauty. The little boy James finally emi- grated to the Muskingum country. From him and his mother our informant derived these facts.

Lawrence was settled about 1797, by people from Pennsylvania and Virginia, who were principally of Dutch and Irish descent. When the iron works were first established, only about one-eightli of the land was entered, since which the workmen have accumulated means to purchase more. At that day the inhabitants were principally hunters, and for months together, our informant says, he did not see one wear a coat or shoes ; hunting-shirts and moccasons being the substitutes.

When Lawrence was first organized, the commissioners neglected to lay a tax, and the expenses of the county were carried on by orders, which so depreciated that the clerk had to pay $6, in orders, for a quire of paper. The county was finally sued on an order, and judgment obtained for the plaintiff, but as the pub- lic property could not be levied upon, not anything was then recovered. Event- ually, the legislature passed laws compelling the commissioners to lay a tax, by which the orders were paid in full, with interest.

BURNING A BEWITCHED HORSE.

The annexed report of a case, that came before the Court of Common Pleas in this county, is from the pen of a legal gentleman of high standing. It shows that in our day the belief in witchcraft has not entirely vanished.

Lawrence Common Pleas. Term 1828. Action on the case, for

ENOCH H. FLEECE. - a false warranty in the sale of a horse. Plea, general issue.

The plaintiff having proved the sale and warranty, called a witness to prove the defendant's knowledge of the unsoundness of the horse at the time of sale. This witness testified, that both he and defendant lived at Union Furnace, in Lawrence county, and that the latter was by trade a tanner ; that he, witness, knew the horse previous to the sale to the plaintiff, and before he was owned by

defendant, and was then, and at the time defendant purchased him, in bad health. He saw him daily employed in defendant's bark mill, and was fast declining, and when un- employed, drooping in his appearance, and so continued until sold to the plaintiff. Hav- ing been present at the sale, and hearing the warranty, the witness afterwards inquired of the defendant why he had done so, knowing the horse to be unsound. He answered by insisting that the horse was in no way dis- eased, or in unsound health, but that the drooping appearance arose from his being be- witched, which he did not call unsoundness,

JOHN CAMPBELL, Aged 82 years, the veteran iron-master. "Father and Founder of Ironton."

J. N. Bradford, del., O. S. University.

THE OLD HECLA FURNACE. The celebrated gun known as the "Swamp Angel," of Charleston Harbor, was cast from Hecla iron.

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

and so soon as they could be got out of the horse he would then be as well as ever.

The defendant further stated, that the same witches which were in that horse bad been in one or two persons, and some cows, in the same settlement, and could only be driven out by a witch doctor, living on the head waters of the Little Scioto, in Pike county, or by burning the animal in which they were found ; that this doctor had some time before been sent for to see a young woman who was in a bad way, and on exami- nation found her bewitched. He soon ex- pelled them, and also succeeded in ascertain- ing that an old woman not far off was the witch going about in that way, and she could be got rid of only by killing her. At some subsequent time, when defendant was from home, his wife sent for witness and others, to see and find out what was the matter with her cow, in a lot near the house. They found it frantic, running, and pitching at everything which came near. It was their opinion, after observing it considerably, that it had the canine madness. The defendant, however, returned before the witness and others left the lot; he inspected the cow with much attention, and gave it as his opinion that they were mistaken as to the true cause of her conduct-she was not mad, but bewitched ; the same which had been in the horse had transferred itself to the cow. By this time the animal, from exhaustion or other cause, had lain down. The defendant then went into the lot, and requested the persons present to assist in putting a rope about her horns, and then make the other end fast to a tree, where he could burn her. They laughed at the man's notion, but finally assisted him, seeing she remained quiet-still having no belief that he really intended burning her.

This being done, the defendant piled up logs, brush and other things around, and finally over the poor cow, and then set fire to them. The defendant continued to add fuel, until she was entirely consumed, and afterwards told the witness he had never seen any creature so hard to die; that she con- tinued to moan after most of the flesh had fallen from her bones, and he felt a pity for her, but die she must ; that nothing but the witches in her kept her alive so long, and it was his belief they would be so burnt be- fore getting out, that they never would come back. Night having set in before the burn- ing was finished, the defendant and his family set up to ascertain if the witches could be seen ahout the pile of embers. Late at night, some one of the family called the defendant to the window-the house being

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 5

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