USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 6
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DOHRMAN'S GRANT.
Congress granted all of township 13, range 7, in Tuscarawas county to one Henry Dohrman, a Portuguese citizen, who rendered valuable services to the colonies during the Revolutionary War.
THE MAUMEE ROAD LANDS.
In 1823 Congress granted to the state of Ohio about sixty thousand acres for the purpose of constructing a road from the lower rapids of the Maumee river to the western limits of the Western Reserve of Connecticut.
THE TURNPIKE LANDS.
In 1827 Congress granted to the state of Ohio forty-nine sections of land in Seneca, Crawford and Marion counties, for the construction of a road from Columbus to Sandusky.
CANAL GRANTS.
Between 1825 and 1845 Congress at different times made special grants of land to the state of Ohio for canal purposes, and a total of about one million acres were thus secured by the state. By the year 1842 the state had completed six hundred and fifty-eight miles of canals, at the staggering cost to the state of $14,688,666.97, although before they were all completed the railroads were in operation in the state.
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SALT SECTIONS.
In the early history of the Northwest Territory salt was a commodity hard to secure and necessarily high in price. Congress reserved every place where it was thought salt could be obtained and in this way helped the settlers to get salt at the least expense. In Ohio an entire township within the present county of Jackson was reserved, as well as about four thousand acres in Delaware county. In 1824 Congress relinquished its claim in favor of Ohio.
THE ZANE SECTIONS.
Ebenezer Zane, one of the most prominent of the men in the early his- tory of the state, was granted three sections by Congress in 1796 in return for his services in opening a road from Wheeling to Maysville. These three sections were located at Zanesville, Chillicothe and Lancaster. Isaac Zane was granted three sections in Champaign county by Congress for valuable services to the colonies during the Revolution. Isaac Zane had been cap- tured by the Indians when a small boy and spent the major portion of his life with them, and his influence with the Indians was such that he proved to be of great assistance to the colonies in handling them.
THE MINISTERIAL LANDS.
These lands have been previously mentioned and were reserved only in two grants, those of the Ohio Land Company and the Symmes Purchase. The grants to both set aside section twenty-nine of each township for religious purposes.
SCHOOL SECTIONS.
Provisions for public schools were made in all states created by the United States after the adoption of the constitution. The Ordinance of 1787 had made specific mention of the value of schools and a wise Congress set aside section sixteen of every township, which was surveyed into town- ships six miles square. The United States military lands were surveyed into townships, five miles square, but Congress reserved one thirty-sixth of the whole area for school purposes. There are no reservations in the Connecti- cut Reserve and Virginia Military District for school purposes, but Congress made up for this by setting aside an amount equivalent to one thirty-sixth of
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the area in each tract from other lands belonging to the United States. As a matter of fact, one thirty-sixth of the whole state was reserved for school purposes as well as three townships for universities.
OIIIO POLITICS.
The politics of Ohio presents many interesting features, but this brief summary can do little more than indicate the more important landmarks in the political history of the state. The first governor of the Northwest Terri- tory, Arthur St. Clair, was an ardent Federalist and undoubtedly his pro- nounced political views had something to do with his removal from the office on November 22, 1802. From that time until 1836 the Democratic party, or the Republican or Democratic-Republican, as it was at first called. controlled the state, and it was not until William Henry Harrison, a "favorite son," became a candidate for the presidency, that the Whigs were able to break the strength of the Democratic party of the state. In 1836, 1840 and 1844 the Whigs carried the state for the President. The panic of 1837, the popularity of Harrison and the Texas question were largely determining factors in the success of the Whigs. The Democrats regained sufficient power in 1848 to carry the state again, and repeated their victory in 1852. In 1856 John C. Fremont carried the state for the newly organized Republican party and from that year until 1916 there was only one Democratic electoral vote in the state of Ohio. In 1892 Grover Cleveland received one of Ohio's twenty-three electoral votes. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson carried the twenty- three electoral votes of the state. Ohio has furnished five Presidents of the United States : William Henry Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield. William Mckinley and William H. Taft.
While the state has been registering Republican votes for the President, it has had nine Democratic governors since 1856 and has frequently elected them by large majorities. A complete list of the governors of the state, with the years of their tenure and their politics, is given at this point of reference :
Governor.
Tenure.
Politics.
Edward Tiffin
1803-07
Democratic-Rep.
Thomas Kirker (acting )
1807-09
Democratic-Rep.
Samuel Huntington
1809-1I
Democratic-Rep.
Return Jonathan Meigs
1811-14
Democratic-Rep.
Othniel Looker (acting)
1814-15
Democratic-Rep.
Thomas Worthington
1815-19
Democratic-Rep.
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Governor.
Tenure.
Politics.
Ethan Allen Brown
1819-22
Democratic-Rep.
Allen Trimble (acting)
1822-23
Democratic-Rep.
Jeremiah Morrow
1823-27
Democrat
Allen Trimble
1827-31
Democrat
Duncan McArthur
1831-33
National Republican
Robert Lucas
1833-37
Democrat
Joseph Vance
1837-39
Whig
Wilson Shannon
1839-41
Democrat
Thomas Corwin
1841-43
Whig
Wilson Shannon
1843-44
Democrat
Thomas W. Martley (acting)
1844-45
Democrat
Mordecai Bartley
1845-47
Whig
William Bebb
1847-49
Whig
Seabury Ford
1849-51
Whig
Reuben Wood
1851-53
Democrat
William Medill (acting, 1853)
1853-56
Democrat
Salmon P. Chase
1856-60
Republican
William Dennison, Jr.
1860-62
Republican
David Tod
1862-64
Republican
John Brough
1864-65
Republican
Charles Anderson (acting)
1865-66
Republican
Jacob D. Cox
1866-68
Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes
1868-72
Republican
Edward F. Noyes
1872-74
Republican
William Allen
1874-76
Democrat
Rutherford B. Hayes
1876-77
Republican
Thomas L. Young
1877-78
Republican
Richard M. Bishop
1878-80
Democrat
Charles Foster
1880-84
Republican
George Hoadley
1884-86
Democrat
Joseph Benson Foraker
1 886-90
Republican
James E. Campbell
1890-92
Democrat
William McKinley
1892-96
Republican
Asa S. Bushnell
1896-00
Republican
George K. Nash
1900-04
Republican
Myron T. Herrick
1904-06 Republican
John M. Patterson (died in office)
1906
Democrat
Andrew Litner Harris 1906-09
Republican
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Governor.
Tenure.
Politics.
Judson Harmon
1909-13
Democrat
James M. Cox
1913-15
Democrat
Frank B. Willis
1915-17
Republican
James M. Cox
1917-
Democrat
The political history of Ohio can not be dismissed without reference to the amendments incorporated in the new constitution in 1912 which have made the constitution practically a new instrument of government. The general tendency of the thirty-three amendments is to make a freer expression of democracy through the medium of the initiative and referendum, direct pri- maries and home rule for cities. A workmen's compensation law was enacted which provides for compulsory contributions to an insurance fund by the employers of the state. Many changes were made in providing for improve- ments in social and industrial conditions. Ohio now has a constitution which is sufficiently flexible to allow changes to be made by amendment with- out the trouble of a constitutional convention.
BOUNDARY LINES.
The state boundaries of Ohio have been the cause for most animated discussions, not only in regard to state limits but county and township lines as well. In 1817, and again in 1834, a severe controversy arose over the boundary between Ohio and Michigan which was settled only after violent demonstrations and governmental interference.
In primitive times the geographical position, extent and surface diversi- ties were but meagerly comprehended. In truth, it may be asserted they could not have been more at variance with actual facts had they been laid out "haphazard." The Ordinance of 1787 represented Lake Michigan far north of its real position, and even as late as 1812 its size and location had not been definitely ascertained. During that year Amos Spafford addressed a clear, comprehensive letter to the governor of Ohio relative to the boundary lines between Michigan and Ohio. Several lines of survey were laid out as the first course, but either Michigan or Ohio expressed disapproval in every case. This dispute came to a climax in 1835 when the party beginning a "perma- nent" survey began at the northwest corner of the state and was attacked by a force of Michigan settlers who sent them away badly routed and beaten. No effort was made to return to the work until the state and various parties had weighed the subject, and finally the interposition of the government became
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necessary. A settlement resulted in the establishment of the present boundary line between the two states, Michigan being pacified with the grant of a large tract in the northern peninsula.
Ohio is situated between the 38º 25' and 42º north latitude, and 80° 30' and 84° 50' west longitude from Greenwich, or 3º 30' and 7º 50' west from Washington. From north to south it extends over two hundred and ten miles, and from east to west two hundred and twenty miles-com- prising thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four square miles.
The state is generally higher than the Ohio river. In the southern counties the surface is greatly diversified by the inequalities produced by the excavating power of the Ohio river and its tributaries. The greater por- tion of the state was originally covered with timber, although in the central and northwestern sections some prairies were found. The crest or watershed between the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio is less elevated than in New York or Pennsylvania. Sailing upon the Ohio the country appears to be mountainous, bluffs rising to the height of two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet above the bed of the river. Ascending the tributaries of the Ohio, these precipitous hills gradually lessen until they are resolved into gentle undulations and toward the sources of these streams the land becomes low and level.
Although Ohio has no inland lakes of importance, it possesses a favor- able river system which gives the state a convenient water transportation. The lake on the northern boundary, and the Ohio river on the south afford convenient outlets by water to important points. The means of communica- tio nand transportation are superior in every respect, and are constantly being increased by railroad and electric lines.
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
Champaign county lies in the valley of Mad river in the western part of the state of Ohio, being bounded on the north by Logan and Union counties, on the east by Union and Madison, on the south by Clark, and on the west by Miami and Shelby. It is crossed by the fortieth parallel of latitude and is therefore in the same latitude as Indianapolis, Indiana, and Madrid, Spain. The climate is variable to an extreme, but the variability is not such that it works a hardship. When it is said that the temperature has a range of more than a hundred degrees, it might be thought that the weather was not con- ducive to good farming, but this does not necessarily follow. There are very few winters when the thermometer does not fall as low as fifteen degrees below zero, and twenty-five to thirty has been recorded on more than one occasion. Each summer sees the thermometer climb to about 100 degrees above zero and frequently a few degrees more are recorded sometime during the summer.
AVERAGE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.
Rainfall is fairly even from year to year, but as every inhabitant whose memory covers half a century can testify, there are some wet seasons and some as distinctly dry. Occasionally there is a year when the average rain- fall for a year mounts to nearly sixty inches, while other years receive only half as much. In 1872 a rainfall of only 28.53 inches was recorded and this stands as the lowest record since statistics on rainfall have been kept. The heaviest rainfall on record was in 1852 when it amounted to 58.84 inches. The famous flood of 1913, the most disastrous which ever swept down Mad river, was due to a rainfall of 3.7 inches. People are wont to say that we have colder winters now than half a century ago, or not so cold, or that we have more or less rainfall, or that the climate is so much different than it was in the "airly days." The facts are that there is no difference in climatic con- ditions. taking them on an average, and that our grandfathers of seventy-five years ago had no more nor no fewer frost-bitten ears than we of today; and it is just as hot in the summer time-and just as cool-as it was fifty, or
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seventy-five, or a hundred years ago. It is undoubtedly true that the cutting down of the heavy forest which covered much of Ohio has had its effect on the climate, but not to the extent, nor in the way, that has gained popular impression. Certainly the denuding of the hillsides and slopes has been a large contributing factor to the floods which have been coming with ever increasing frequency down the Mississippi valley. The dredging and straightening out of rivers and streams and the installation of countless thou- sands of ditches to facilitate the rapid carrying off of the water, has been another factor to be considered in trying to explain the destructive floods of the past few years.
As before stated Champaign county lies largely in the valley of Mad river and practically all the surface water falls directly into this river, one of the chief tributaries of the Little Miami, and flowing into it at Dayton. There is little of Champaign county that is not drained into Mad river and with the dredging of the river within the last few years there is not a county in the state with a better system of natural drainage than is provided by Mad river and its various tributaries. Mad river has played such an important part in the life of Champaign county that it deserves a special chapter by itself. It has cost the county thousands upon thousands of dollars, and the farmers as many thousands more.
MAD RIVER.
History does not record when the river which runs southward through the middle of Champaign county first became known as Mad river. He who first applied the name must have seen it in the spring at a time when it was on one of its annual rampages, but it is certainly no more subject to annual overflowing than hundreds of other rivers in the country. But be that as it may, someone more than a century ago applied the name "Mad" to it-and Mad it will remain as long as it wends its ordinarily peaceful and quiet way down through the placid fields of Champaign county. Certainly the casual observer of the river who stands on its banks at any other time than a few days in the spring would never imagine that it could do the dam- age it has done in the past in its annual overflowing. But man has called it "Mad" and Mad it will forever remain.
The geologist tells us that thousands of years ago, and probably hun- dreds of thousands, there swept down from the north a gigantic mass of snow and ice reaching from the Arctic regions beyond the Arctic circle and south- ward into the Temperate zone. It was this sheet of ice and snow, covering
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the earth to the depth of hundreds of feet, which crept slowly southward covering all of the present area of Canada and sweeping as far south as the present central part of Indiana and Ohio, which left behind, when it retreated, the gravel beds we have in Champaign county today, the numerous stock ponds scattered here and there, and Mad river with its many tributaries.
And thus was Mad river born thousands of years ago. A long time ago, centuries before man had called it Mad, it wended its way southward between the water sheds where it has since had its local habitation. It was like the housewife who tried to clean her house each spring, only to have things in a more cluttered condition than when she started in. How many times it has changed its bed, no man knows, but it has been out of its bed many times and wandered hither and thither over a stretch of from three to five miles. In many places it made a bed one spring only to forsake it another and returned to its bed of the previous year still another.
And thus Mad river wandered down and over the wide basin which it had been making for these many centuries. In places its bed was so shallow that a small freshet caused it to overflow its banks. So conditions were in 1805 when Champaign county was organized, and so they continued until 1910, a period of 105 years. Then the commissioners of the county, the county surveyor and his staff, and the residents of the Mad river valley rose in their might as had the river itself risen in its might. They decided that the wandering Mad river should be placed in a bed where it should stay. It was the most extensive bed Champaign county has ever bought-it cost nearly $100,000.
DREDGING MAD RIVER BED.
In 1910 the first step was taken toward dredging Mad river. A con- tract was let in the spring of that year for the dredging of the river from where it is crossed by the Pennsylvania railroad to the Clark county line. The contract called for a bottom width varying from twenty to thirty-six feet with a top width in proportion, the dirt thus excavated to be placed twenty-six feet from the top of the river bank. This stretch was about five miles in length and cost the county $22,950.30, an average of $5,737 a mile. The river was full of meanders and it was straightened as much as possible, every effort being made to do the work in such a manner that it would be a permanent improvement. It was hoped that the excavated material would form a levee of such a height that there would be no danger of the river over- flowing the valley in the future.
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In the following year that part of the river from the Pimtown bridge. about half a mile south of the Logan county line, to the Pennsylvania rail- road crossing, was placed under contract. The dredging of this section of about twelve miles occupied the greater portion of 1911 and the fore part of 1912. Its width was proportioned to the width of the part dredged in 1910. it being narrower as it approached the headwaters.
FARM LAND VALUES AFFECTED.
With the completion of the dredging of the river throughout its entire length in Champaign county there was a sudden rise in farm value in all that part of the county affected by the improvement. There were thousands of . acres which had been of little use up to this time; still other thousands of acres which were not tillable in wet years. This improvement made it pos- sible for the land to be tilled along the valley to the very edge of the river itself. By lowering the mouths of all the tributaries flowing into the river in this county it was possible to reclaim hundreds of acres which were several miles from the main channel of Mad river. Kings creek was dredged from its mouth for about three hundred feet and this resulted in a very appreciable difference in the amount of water carried from the headwaters of Kings creek. This section cost $38,700.
Another interesting result of the dredging of the river was the fact that a large number of the shallow wells up and down the valley went dry, while others were left with only a small amount of their former capacity. It was necessary to deepen all the wells several feet in order to insure a permanent supply of water. The lowering of the river bed had been the cause of the well phenomenon. Interesting as this was it is paralleled by the experience of the farmers in the valley with tile ditches. The lowering of the river bed rendered thousands of rods of tile ditches useless for the reason that the water level was lowered to a depth below the level of the tile. It would be impos- sible to compute the value in dollars and cents which has accrued to the county as a result of the dredging of Mad river. Hundreds of acres of land which had only a nominal value before the improvement are now worth from one hundred to three hundred dollars an acre.
THE FLOOD OF 1913.
The county had hardly realized the full benefit of the new river before the flood of March, 1913, swept down and within a few hours caused thou-
(5)
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sands of dollars of damage to the newly made river. After the flood had subsided it was seen that it would be necessary to re-dredge the river prac- tically the entire distance. The work was begun in January, 1915, and con- tinued without interruption until February, 1916, before it was completed. The cost of repairing the damage amounted to $34,975, considerably more than half the cost of the entire original dredging. The dredging in 1915 began in section 6 in Harrison township on the farm of Isaac N. Yearian and continued south to the Clark county line. One more point may be men- tioned with the dredging of the river. It was necessary to tear out the thirteen bridges across the river in the county and replace them on new abutments.
BRIDGES OVER MAD RIVER.
The question of providing bridges for Mad river has been an expensive problem since the first bridge spanned the river. In 1917 there were thirteen public bridges and four private bridges over the river. When the river was dredged in 1910-13 it was necessary to remove all the bridges in order to allow the dredging machine to pass and the second dredging of 1915 neces- sitated the same procedure. The 1913 flood took out some of the bridges and swept away the approaches to several others, but these were temporarily fixed and made usable until such a time as the river could be redredged. When the second dredging was completed in 1915 all of the bridges were put in good condition and the experience of the past two years seems to indicate that there is no danger of high water ever taking them out again.
The public bridges are located at the thirteen highway crossings and are all of steel except one wrought iron bridge at Quinn Yocum's, in Salem township. There are three private steel bridges and one private wooden bridge. Quinn Yocum has two steel bridges on his farm, one in Concord and the other in Salem township. J. E. Wagner has a steel bridge on his farm in Concord township, while Wilson Baker has a wooden bridge across the river on his farm in Mad river township. Baker bought his bridge from the county and had put it in place before the 1913 flood. It was swept from its abutments at that time and carried some distance down the river, but he hauled it back and put it in place again, where it has since been doing ser- viceable duty. The three steel bridges of Wagner and Yocum, bought from the Bellefontaine Bridge Company, are sixty-foot span bridges and cost four hundred and eighty dollars each. The concrete abutments on which they are placed cost about one hundred and twenty dollars to the bridge, making the
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total cost of a bridge about six hundred dollars. Since all the Mad river bridges in the county are practically the same length it may be seen that the expense for bridge construction is no small item in the county.
DREDGING OF TRIBUTARY STREAMS.
The dredging of Mad river has been followed by the dredging of most of the tributary streams for a few hundred feet from the point of their con- fluence with Mad river. This has naturally been of direct benefit to all the land in the watersheds of these several streams tributary to Mad river. These streams along the east side of Mad river, beginning at the north are as fol- lows: Machachee (or Mack-a-cheek, or Macochee, or Mackachee), Kings creek, Town branch (or Dugan run or ditch), and Buck creek.
The Machachee, the name being of Indian origin, with as elusive spell- ing as the Indians after whom it was named, rises in Logan county near the old Indian village of that name, flows south in the same general direction as Mad river, and empties into Mad river about a mile below the Harrison- Concord township line. Kings creek traverses the south central portion of Salem township, coursing nearly due east and west, finding its sources in the central part of Wayne township. It is a stream with an unusually stable flow of water, with well defined banks in most places, and with a sufficient fall to make it a good natural drainage agent, especially since the lowering of the bed of Mad river. It furnishes an ample supply of water the year around for a flouring-mill at Kingston, where a mill has been in continuous operation since 1811. The stream variously known as the Town branch, Dugan run and Dugan ditch is an artificial watercourse which dates back to the latter part of the twenties. It was first called the Reynolds ditch, the name being bestowed in honor of Judge John Reynolds, the first postmaster of Urbana, who was instrumental in getting the Legislature to pass a bill in 1827 pro- viding for its construction. It rises in the southeastern part of Salem town- ship, courses west to the Pennsylvania railroad and follows the track into and through the city of Urbana and nearly to its union with Mad river. The other stream on the east of Mad river in the county is Buck creek, which, although it does not empty into Mad river in Champaign county, yet is an important feature of the drainage system of its southern part. The several forks of Buck creek find their sources in the southern part of Wayne and Rush townships and the northeastern part of Urbana township. The main branch of Buck creek leaves Champaign county near the Union-Goshen township line.
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