History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 87

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 87

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

they had better not trust them too far. Bender was buried in the Campbell graveyard, and his relatives in the east were notified, and they sent money for the erection of a tombstone. This stone contains his name, and the further inscription :

"Born Dec. 6, 1811 ; died Sept. 28, 1836."

Hammer came on to Bucyrus, stopping at the Blue Ball tavern, where he gave John Boyer an account of the murder, and later repeated his story at Bucyrus. He remained at Bucyrus several days until the authorities became as- sured of his innocence. He had $300 with which he purchased land. Years afterward a report was current in the county of a man dy- ing in the west who previous to his death con- fessed to the Bender murder, but the story was never authenticated. Besides erecting a tombstone, the eastern relatives for half a century sent a small sum annually to the Camp- bells to be used in keeping the grave in repair, and the trust was faithfully performed by John Campbell and later by his son. But years ago the descendants of the murdered man's fam- ily had become such distant relatives that the remittances ceased, and the grave is cared for the same as the others.

ANCIENT LAND MARKS.

In the southeast quarter of section 15, Au- burn township the land now owned by the Faulkner heirs, there is an inclosure of nearly four acres, a well defined gateway at the east- ern side, and near it a walled well. This well was dug out to a depth of about fifteen feet, but nothing of special interest was found. Numerous stone relics have been found in and about the inclosure.

About one and a half miles southwest of Galion there is an inclosure of about an acre. It is shaped like a horse-shoe, which would bring it under the head of symbolical mounds. This inclosure has never been thoroughly ex- plored. Relics of stone have been found in it indicating that at one time it was the resort of those who erected it.

The Delaware Indians had a village north- east of Leesville, long before the advent of the first white man; definite record is given of this in the Crawford expedition.

Another village was at the Knisely's Springs. It was there before the war of 1812, and was

then occupied by the Miamis. There was a spring there highly prized by the Indians for its medical qualities. The spring was highly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, it tarnished the silver ornaments of the Indian, and deposited a sulphurous precipitate a short distance from it. The Indians placed great confidence in the healing qualities of the water and mud; the beneficial effects of which they could perceive. Another healing spring much frequented by them was about two miles west of Oceola.

HIDDEN TREASURES

When the first settlers arrived an Indian village was in existence on the Whetstone, southwest of Seccaium Park. In searching among the old records at Pittsburg to locate the ancient Indian village of Seccaium, Hon. E. B. Finley ran across some papers indicating that a few feet from a large tree which stood near a spring some treasure had once been buried. It appears that in the seventeenth century the French traders in going through this region were attacked by a band of hostile Indians, and hurriedly buried what money they had. The tree was a monarch of the plains, standing alone a short distance west of where the vast forest commenced that extended unbroken to the Ohio river. In looking up the ancient village of Seccaium over a quarter of a century ago, Mr. Finley thoroughly ex- plored the surface in that section, and re- membering the reference to the buried treas- ure, found the place where every indication showed there had once been a good sized spring, although long since dried up by the modern drainage. No tree remained, but he made inquiries of the oldest settler in the neighborhood, Edward Campbell, who, when a boy of seven, came with his father in 1823, to the farm on which the spring was located. The two gentlemen went over the ground to- gether, Mr. Campbell very promptly pointing out the location of the spring-the site pre- viously selected by Mr. Finley. Mr. Campbell stated that in his younger days the spring furnished a constant flow of water. He also stated that a short distance from the spring, once stood a large oak tree, the only large tree in that section. It stood there for many years after his arrival, the cattle seeking shel-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

549

ter beneath its broad foliage in the summer days from the scorching rays of the sun, and finding abundant water in the spring. The spring gradually became less and less, and finally dried up, and the tree, with its ex- tensive roots, interfering with the cultivation of the soil, was cut down. Mr. Finley was in search of an Indian village and not of hid- den treasure, so he pursued his investigations no further, and the buried treasure is still there -somewhere.

THE BUCYRUS MASTODON

Among the many interesting historical events which have occurred in Bucyrus was the dis-

near the southwestern corner of the old fair- ground; then extended nearly due north along the east side of the Ohio Central, making a slight bend, and passing east of the round- house and machine shops ; then nearly due west to S. R. Harris' land; then northwest through the northeastern corner of the schoolhouse yard, and, after continuing in the same direc- tion for a short distance, changed to nearly due west, crossing Walnut street, near the present Frank Johnston residence; crossing Main street, on the south part of Dr. Lewis' lot; Poplar street, near the German Lutheran church. While making the excavations for this mill-race, the skeleton was found in the

SKELETON OF MASTODON Found near Bucyrus

covery, by Abraham Hahn, of the perfect skel- eton of a mastodon, during the year 1838. Mr. Hahn, having built a saw-mill on Buffalo Run at the rear of the lot on the northwest corner of Warren and Poplar streets, conceived the idea of constructing a mill-race which would furnish sufficient water-power to run the es- tablishment, and this water-course was finished by a considerable outlay of time and money. The source of this race was the swamps in Col. Zalmon Rowse's fields, later owned by Wil- liam Monnett, and the line it followed to the mill would be, at the present time, about the following route: It crossed the Galion road

swamp, just east of the present site of the Ohio Central shops. This land for many years afterward was very low and swampy; a con- siderable portion in this immediate neigh- borhood was covered by Mr. Hahn's mill- pond. A full account of this discovery was printed in the Crawford Republican extra, of August 14, 1838.

Bucyrus, August 14, 1838.

Mr. Abraham Hahn, while engaged with his work hands in excavating a mill-race, about three-fourths of a mile east of Bucyrus, on yesterday, at a distance of from five to seven feet below the surface of the ground, discov-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

ered the skeleton of a mastodon, in a reclined position. The history of this genus of animals is involved in mystery. No tradition or human record furnishes evidence of its existence at any period. But that it once lived and walked upon the earth, the prince of the quadruped kingdom, is abundantly proven by the numer- ous and almost entire specimens of its organic remains, that have been discovered in various parts of North America; and which have ex- cited the wonder and astonishment of the nat- uralist and antiquarian. From the peculiar structure, and the immense size of its bones, it must have been an animal far exceeding in size and strength any species of the quadruped races now in existence. The place where the skeleton was found is very near the dividing ridge between the northern and southern waters of the state, in a wet, spongy soil. The bones, so far as discovered, are in a fine state of preservation. The upper jaw and skull are perfect in all their parts, as formed by nature. The under jaw was accidentally di- vided in removing it from the earth. This is the only instance in which the skull of the mastodon has been found in a state of pres- ervation; and it furnishes the only specimen from which correct ideas can be obtained re- specting that massive and singularly shaped organ.

Some idea may be formed of the rank this monster held among the beasts of the forest, when clothed with skin and flesh, and nerved with life, from the following dimensions of some portions of it, which have been rescued from oblivion :

The Skull and Upper Jaw

Horizontal length 39 inches Length following curvature of skull

421/2 inches

Breadth across the eyes. 261/2 inches

Breadth back of head. . 25 1/3 inches

Vertical height 22 inches Height occipital bone. 16 inches Diameter of both nostrils II12 inches Diameter of each measuring the other way 5 inches

Diameter of tusk sockets. . 512 to 6 inches Depth of tusk sockets. 22 inches Diameter of eye sockets. .. 6 inches

Weight of skull and upper jaw. . 160

pounds

The Under Jaw

Horizontal length following out- side curvature

311/2 inches

Height to junction with upper jaw 161/2 inches

Weight 69 pounds

Front molars, apart 61/4 inches

Back molars, apart 53/4 inches

Length of back molar 71/2 inches

Breadth of back molar.

4 inches

Length of front molar 41/2 inches

Femur or Thigh Bone

Length 37 inches

Largest circumference 30 inches

Smallest circumference 1572 inches

Tibia

(Largest Bone Between Thigh and Hoof)

Length . 221/2 inches

Largest circumference

241/2

inches

Smallest circumference II inches

Fibula

(Smaller Bone Between Thigh and Hoof) Length

201/2 inches

Largest circumference 1212 inches

Smallest circumference 41/2 inches Humerus (Bone from Shoulder to Knee) Length 30 inches

Largest circumference

341/2

inches

Smallest circumference

1434

inches

Rib

Length of outer curve

431/2

inches

Smallest circumference

514

inches

Hahn soon found the enterprise in which he had become involved would not be a financial success, and after several years the business was abandoned. When the town was extended and improved toward the southeast, the mill- pond was drained and the water-course grad- ually filled up with earth, but years after in making excavations for sewers and cellars, the remains of this race have frequently been found. At first Mr. Hahn exhibited the bones of this mastodon, but finally sold them, and the proceeds derived from the same served to pay him for the immense financial outlay he had made in building the race. He died at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, January 19, 1867, and in his obituary notice the following was published in regard to the latter history of the skeleton: "He afterward sold the mastodon to a man

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

in Columbus for $1,000, and it was again re- sold to a Cincinnati man for $2,800; was after- ward taken to New York and put in Barnum's museum, and was consumed by the fire which destroyed Barnum's Museum of lower Broad- way half a century ago.

"JOHNNY APPLESEED"

A history of Crawford county-in fact the history of many another county in northern Ohio-would be incomplete without mention of the eccentric personage known far and wide in the early part of the last century by the name of "Johnny Appleseed." His real name was John Chapman, and he was born in Spring- field, Mass., in the year 1775. From a half sister of his, who came west at a later period it was learned that in boyhood he evinced a great fondness for nature, and used to wander far from home in quest of plants and flowers, and that he liked to listen to the birds singing and to gaze at the stars. These tastes were little, if at all, altered in his later years.

At what precise time he started out on his self-appointed mission has not been definitely ascertained, and as little is known as to the causes which led him to adopt his peculiar vo- cation, which was to plant appleseeds in well located nurseries in advance of civilization, and have apple trees ready for planting when the pioneers should appear. He also scattered through the forest the seeds of medicinal plants, such as dog-fennel, catnip, pennyroyal, hoarhound, rattlesnake root, and the like. As early as the year 1806 he appeared on the Ohio river with two canoe loads of appleseeds ob- tained at the cider presses of western Penn- sylvania, and with these he planted nurseries along the Muskingum river and its tributaries.

His first, or one of his first nurseries, was planted about nine miles below Steubenville, up a narrow valley from the Ohio river, at Brilliant ( formerly called LaGrange), oppo- site Wellsburg, W. Va. From this point he subsequently extended his operations into the interior of the state. For a number of years he made his home in a little cabin near Perrys- ville (then in Richland county), but later he went to live with his half sister, Mrs. Broome, who resided in Mansfield. He usually located his nurseries along the banks of streams and, after planting his seeds, surrounded the patch with a brush fence. He was then accustomed

to visit them yearly to care for the young trees and repair the fences, which obliged him to travel hundreds of miles during the year. When the pioneers subsequently arrived from Western Virginia and Pennsylvania, they found the little nurseries of seedling apple trees on many of the streams in the Ohio Val- ley. He extended his operations into north- western Ohio, and finally into Indiana, where the last years of his life were spent.

His apple trees were nearly all planted near the banks of the streams; one of his orchards was along the Whetstone where Galion now is ; on the Sandusky there were some trees planted by him near the Luke tavern; at Bucyrus, an orchard was where the home of Gen. Finley now is, and this orchard was bearing fruit when Samuel Norton came or soon after, as Norton brought seed with him and planted an orchard himself on the south bank of the San- dusky and stated that he secured apples from the orchard across the river. One of the trees is still bearing fruit. There was a spring in front of the Finley residence, but across the street in front of what is now the Memorial Hospital was a larger spring, which was a fa- vorite resort of Johnny Appleseed when he went through this section. Here he would lay on his back in the grass, under the shade of the trees, and with his bare feet in the air talk re- ligion to any from Bucyrus who from curios- ity crossed the river to see the eccentric char- acter. Another apple orchard planted by him was down the river. On the Daniel McMichael farm on the river above Bucyrus, is an apple tree which was planted by Johnny Appleseed in 1821. The tree is now 91 years old. The eccentric character came along and put up at the log cabin, sleeping on the floor in front of the fire-place, his regular sleeping place. The next morning he and Margaret Anderson planted the tree. She was a daughter of John Anderson, and later married David Mc- Michael, the father of Daniel L. McMichael. Margaret Anderson was only a little girl at the time of the planting.

One who saw Johnny Appleseed at Mans- field thus describes his appearance :

"John Chapman was a small man, wiry and thin in habit. His cheeks were hollow and his face and neck dark and skinny from exposure to the weather. His mouth was small; his nose small, and turned up so much as appar-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

ently to raise his upper lip. His eyes were dark and deeply set in his head, but searching and penetrating. His hair black and straight, was parted in the middle and permitted to fall about his neck. His hair, withal, was thin, fine and glossy. He never wore a full beard but shaved all clean, except a thin roach at the bottom of his throat. His beard was lightly set and very black."

Chapman's nature was deeply religious. He was a regularly constituted minister of the Church of the New Jerusalem, according to the revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg, and was also a missionary of that faith. He was a beautiful reader and never traveled without several of the Swedenborgian pamphlets with him, which he generally carried in his bosom, and which he was ever ready to produce and read on request. He never attempted to preach or address public audiences, but in private consultations would often become enthusiastic and arise to expound the philosophy of his faith. On these occasions, as though inspired, he would often soar to flights of real eloquence, his ideas being clearly and forcibly expressed. illustrated with chaste figures, and replete with argumentative deductions.

His life was blameless among his fellow men. He was of a kind and generous dispo- sition, and polite and attentive in manner. So gentle was his nature that he was never known to kill any living thing, ever for food. He is said, on one occasion to have put out his camp- fire, because he noticed that the flies and moths, attracted by the blaze, fell into it and were con- sumed. He was known to pay the full value for old horses, take them from the harness, and, with a blessing, turn them loose to the luxurious pastures of the wilderness, to be- come their own masters. This almost abnor- mal tenderness was indeed a leading trait in his character. He seemed to bear a charmed life. Savage beasts never hurt him, nor did the still more savage Indian warrior. By the latter he was regarded as a great Medicine Man, to injure whom would bring misfortune on the tribe, or individual, guilty of the of- fense.

When on his journeys he usually camped out. He carried a kit of cooking utensils with him, among which was a mush-pan, which he sometimes wore as a hat. When he spent the night at a house, it was his custom to lie upon

the floor, with his kit for a pillow. He de- clined to lie in a soft bed, as, being naturally, he claimed, of an indolent disposition, he feared that such self-indulgence might beget a desire which he could not hope often to gratify in his wandering mode of life. As an illustra- tion of his natural indolence, it is said that he was once seen working in his nursery near Mansfield, and that, lying on his side, he reached out with his hoe and extirpated only such weeds as were within reach.

He was never without money, which he ob- tained from the sale of his trees, his usual price for a tree being a "fip-penny bit," but if the settler hadn't money, Johnny would either give him credit or accept old clothes in pay- ment. Yet, though he, himself, cared nothing for luxuries, and nothing for the ordinary comforts of life, he would often spend his money freely to benefit others. Frequently he would furnish the housewives with a pound or two of tea-a high-priced luxury at that time, and the use of which he regarded almost as a sort of dissipation. On one occasion he was seen with a number of plates, which he had pur- chased at a village store. Being asked what he wanted them for, he replied that if he had a number he would not have to wash dishes so often; but he had really purchased them to present to a poor family who had had the mis- fortune to break their crockery.

He was often oddly dressed and sometimes clothed in rags and tatters, yet was always per- sonally clean. He seldom wore shoes or stock- ings, except in the coldest winter weather, and the soles of his feet in consequence, were of a hard and almost horny consistence. He usu- ally wore a broad-brimmed hat. Some have said that at times he was seen clothed with a coat or garment made out of a coffee-sack, with holes cut in it for the neck and arms, but this story has been doubted by others. It seems clear that, if he ever wore it, it was not his usual dress. He was, however, frequently seen with shirt, pantaloons, and a long-tailed coat of the tow-linen then much worn by the farmers. This coat was an invention of his own and was in itself a curiosity. It con- sisted of one width of the coarse fabric, which descended from his neck to his heels. It was without collar. In this robe were cut two arm- holes, into which were placed two straight sleeves.

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His immunity from molestation by the In- dians enabled him on more than one occasion to warn settlers of impending Indian attacks, his services in this direction saving a number of lives during the war of 1812. On one such occasion, when the settlers at Mansfield were threatened, there being no troops in the block- house at the time, Johnny volunteered to act as messenger to Captain Douglas at Mt. Vernon, thirty miles away. Setting out in the evening, as the stars were beginning to shine in the darkening sky, bare-headed and bare-footed, he made the trip, over a newly-cut road, through a forest infested by wild beasts and hostile Indians, and, having aroused the gar- rison at Mt. Vernon, accompanied the troops back the next morning, having made the round trip of 60 miles between sunset and sunrise. One writing about 30 years ago of the massacre of the Seymour family, on the Black Fork, near Mansfield, penned the following lines : "Although I was then but a mere child, I can remember, as if it were yesterday, the warning cry of Johnny Appleseed, as he stood before my father's log cabin door on that night. I remember the precise language, the clear loud voice, the deliberate exclamation, and the fear- ful thrill it awakened in my bosom. 'Fly! fly for your lives! the Indians are murdering and scalping Seymours and Copuses!' My father sprang to the door, but the messenger was gone, and midnight silence reigned without."

Johnny's intellectual acuteness in matters of religion, and his acquaintance with the scrip- tures is well illustrated in the following anec- dote :

"The year of the erecton of the old court house in Mansfield, while the blocks of foun- dation stone and the timber lay scattered about the public square, a wandering street preacher of the name of Paine, a man with a long white beard, who called himself 'the Pilgrim,' en- tered the town. After blowing a long tin horn, which he carried with him, he assembled an audience on the stone and timbers of the court house. In the course of his sermon he pointed to where Johnny Appleseed lay on the ground, with his feet resting upon the top of one of the stones, and exclaimed: 'See yon ragged, old, bare-footed sinner, and be warned of the paths of sin by his example.' Johnny rose to his feet, folded his hands behind him, under

his tow-linen coat, and slowly approached the speaker. As the speaker paused a space Johnny commenced in this wise: 'I presume you thank God that you are not as other men ?' 'I thank God that I am not as you are,' returned Paine. 'I am not a hypocrite, nor am I of the generation of vipers. I am a regularly ap- pointed minister, whether you are or not.' 'Lord be merciful to me, a sinner,' said Chap- man, and walked away."

"In 1838, thirty-seven years after his ap- pearance on Licking Creek," says a former writer, "Johnny noticed that civilization, wealth and population were pressing into the wilderness of Ohio. Hitherto he had easily kept just in advance of the wave of settlement ; but now towns and churches were making their appearance, and, at long intervals, the stage- driver's horn broke the silence of the grand old forest, and he felt that his work was done in the region in which he had labored so long. In 1840 he resided near Fort Wayne, in the state of Indiana, where he had a sister living, and probably made that his headquarters dur- ing the nine years that he pursued his eccen- tric avocation on the western border of Ohio and in Indiana." Here he resided until the summer of 1847, his labors by that time having borne fruit over a hundred thousand miles of territory. One day he heard that cattle had broken into his nursery at St. Joseph's town- ship, and were destroying his trees, and he started out on foot to look after his property. The journey proved too much for one of his age and feeble condition, and at even-tide he applied at the home of Mr. Worth for lodging for the night. Mr. Worth was a native Buck- eye and had lived in Richland county when a boy, and when he heard that his oddly dressed caller was Johnny Appleseed, gave him a cor- dial welcome. Johnny declined going to the supper table, but partook of a bowl of bread and milk.

Says Mr. Baughman, from whose "History of Richland County" we quote, "The day had been cold and raw, with occasional flurries of snow, but in the evening the clouds cleared away and the sun shone warm and bright as it sank in the western sky. Johnny noticed this beautiful sunset, an augury of the spring and flowers so soon to come, and sat on the door- step and gazed with wistful eyes toward the

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

West. Perhaps this herald of the spring-time, the season in which nature is resurrected from the death of winter, caused him to look with prophetic eyes to the future and contemplate that glorious event of which Christ is the res- urrection and the life. Upon re-entering the house Johnny declined the bed offered him for the night, preferring a quilt and pillow on the. floor, but asked permission to hold family wor- ship, and read 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven,' 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,' " etc.

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 87

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302