USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County and Ohio > Part 30
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the memory of middle-aged people, the marsh was almost impenetrable, except when frozen, on account of the water and mud, and, although many portions are yet wet and impassable, ex- tensive and costly systems of drainage promise a speedy preparation of these rich alluvial basins for cultivation. The peat in this marsh when dry will readily burn, and occasionally catches fire, burning until extinguished by rain or otherwise. Owing to its impurity and meagerness, however, and an abundance of cheaper and better fuel, the peat is not likely to become utilized in this respect.
The principal feature of this marsh in early years was the prevalence of cranberries, which grew there in great abundance. The berry is a member of the Heath Family, and is known to botanists as Oxycoccus macrocarpus. The plant is a creeper, or trailer, with slender, hardy, woody stems, and small evergreen leaves, more or less white underneath, with single flowers, borne on slender, erect pedicles, and having a pale rose corolla. The berries, which get ripe in autumn, are red, with some yellow, and are very acid. The stems are from one to three feet long, and the flowers are lateral, rendering easy the gathering of the berries. Hundreds of bushels grew annually in this marsh when the county was first settled, and from informa- tion obtained from the Indian tribes, they gath- ered the berries for many years before the ap- pearance of white men, conveying them on ponies to cities in Eastern and Northern Ohio, and even to those in Pennsylvania and New York. Cranberry gathering was an important industry to the early settler, as it furnished him an annual revenue, proportioned to his energy. With the price of $3 or $4 per bushel, a cranberry marsh could be made profitable at present, as it is done in several localities farther east. But the conditions for the possi- ble life of the plant have been removed, or al- tered, and cranberries, with insignificant excep- tions, no longer grow in the county. They also
180
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
previously grew in the Bear Marsh, in northern Sandusky, on the wet land in Southern Vernon, and on other low lands in the county, but not in sufficient quantity to become available or valuable to the citizens. In Southern Huron County was an extensive cranberry marsh, a portion of which, comprising about 300 acres, lay in northern Auburn Township. This fur- nished large quantities of berries, and was vis- ited annually by scores of citizens for miles around. The marsh also contained peat, al- though not as pure nor as deep as that in Cran- berry Township. Sluices and trenches have been dug to convey the standing water into Honey Creek or its branches, and the marsh is now quite dry, and in a few years will be culti- vated. In the margins of these marshes and other depressions in the county is found an im- pure bog iron ore, although not in sufficient quantity to become of economic value. While no effort has been made to extract the iron, yet the ore has been dug and used for roads and private walks.
It is in Crawford County that the vast prai- ries prevailing in Western States are first made manifest. A large one, about thirty miles long, and having an average width of five or six miles, begins in northeastern Whetstone Town- ship, extending southwestwardly across Buey- rus and Dallas Townships, far down into Ma- rion County. This large section of country was named " Sandusky Plains " by the Indians, from its proximity to the river of that name. Why this land was not covered with a heavy forest like the country surrounding it, is difficult to explain. The character of the soil seems to indicate that the plains were covered with wa- ter, or were at least wet, after the surrounding country had become dry. This is shown by the fact, among others, that the soil contains more decaying vegetation, and is more largely alluvial than in other townships in the county. These facts also imply that the plains were somewhat depressed, and were silt basins, in
which were collected the washings of the sur- rounding soil. So far as examined, the drift and washed soil of the plains is deeper than in other portions of the county. The drift is not found distributed at about the same depth over the plains, but occurs in knolls and embank- ments, scattered at irregular intervals over tlie surface. These knolls were about the only por- tions covered with timber when the settlers first appeared. The other portions, notwithstanding their exposure to the heat of the sun, were quite wet, and covered with a rank growth of weeds, sedges and coarse grass. The growth of the timber in comparatively late years, was no doubt prevented, in a measure, by destructive fires, which swept over the plains annually, destroying the young trees, and extending far enough into the surrounding timber to prevent its encroachment on the prairie. It is likely, also, that the character of the soil had some- thing to do with the non-appearance of the timber. The plains are frequently crossed with uneven belts of woodland, dividing their extent into a succession of prairies. Since the coun- try has become well settled, and the surrounding timber has been largely cut away to make room for the farins, and since rapidly-growing varie- ties of trees have been planted in groves upon every farm, the prairie can be scarcely distin- guished from other portions of the county. The soil of the plains is well adapted for the growth of corn ; much better than other portions of the county less alluvial in nature. A dearth of bowlders and other surface stones on the plains is noticeable, and the gravel and sand beds occur less frequently than in surround- ing localities.
Its elevated situation and proximity to Lake Erie give to Crawford County a fine, healthy climate. The rigor of winter is modified, as is also the heat of summer. From meteorological tables, it is ascertained that the isothermal line passing through Crawford County reaches one of its points of highest latitude in the county,
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
181
showing a temperature corresponding to that in other localities about 100 miles south. A great difference is noticed in the Michigan Pen- insula, where the temperature in the center of the State corresponds with that in Northern In- diana. Palmetto, and other timber growing in the warm climate of the Southern States, has been found in Northern Ohio, near Lake Erie, and far up into Michigan, giving unmistakable proof of the mildness of the climate, even if other proof were lacking. The climate near these bodies of water is less subject to great and sudden extremes of heat and cold than country farther removed from such water. The mildness and salubrity are undoubtedly due to the proximity of the lakes, which temper the cold of winter and the heat of summer. Phys- icists account for this phenomenon by the state- ment that large bodies of water during the summer absorb the heat poured by radiation into the atmosphere from the heated land near the water, and that, during the winter, the water
slowly parts with its latent heat accumulated in hot weather. Crawford County shares, in a measure, the mildness of climate due to the modifying influence of the lakes. Although the county is somewhat removed from the lake shore, yet thermometers show a comparatively equable temperature. The uniformity of the climate, however, is not so perfect as in counties bordering on the lake. A failure to record meteorological phenomena in the county pre- vents an accurate knowledge of the state of the weather in past years.
The mean temperature for the winter months at Urbana is 28.75°, while that for the summer is 71.11º, giving a mean for the whole time, with observations taken during six months of each year, of 50°. It will also be seen that the greatest cold recorded was 17º below zero, and the greatest heat 95° above the same point.
The following table is taken from the report of the Secretary of State for 1877 :*
JANUARY.
FEBRUARY.
DECEMBER.
YEAR.
Minimum.
Maximum.
Mean.
Minimum.
Maximum.
Mean.
Minimum.
Maximum.
Mean.
Mean of the three
months.
1835
4
51
31.69
17
46
20.06
10
53
29.66
27.14
1840,
5
46
22.53
10
52
41.10
5
52
29,91
31.18
1845
14
57
33.97
9
63
36.36
4
46
23.94
31.42
1850.
5
55
33.81
16
55
32.61
9
56
31.29
32.57
1855.
6
61
29.55
5
52
22.53
5
50
28.77
26.95
1860,
11
57
29,11
0
66
30.61
5
43
26.23
28.65
1865.
5
42
18.55
2
50
30.08
1
64
31.30
27.11
1870.
4
54
29.90
7
55
29.07
12
53
26.93
28.63
1875
14
41
19.08
16
64
19.04
0
69
38.78
25.63
Means
27.58
29.05
29.65
28.78
It will be observed from the above table that the means, except in the last column, are for the entire month during the year at the left ; and also, that those in the last column are for the three winter months during each year, while the figures below each column of means give
the total for the whole time from a quinquen - nial statement. The following table for the summer months during the same years is ob- tained from the same report as the above :+
*From records kept by Judge Reynolds and others. +From the records of Milo G. Williams.
182
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
JUNE.
JULY.
AUGUST.
YEAR.
Maximum.
Minimum.
Mean.
Maximum.
Minimum.
Mean.
Maximum.
Minimum.
Mean.
Mean of the three
months.
1835.
80
45
67.98
84
44
68.81
82
49
66.64
67.81
1840.
84
45
67.23
88
48
69.94
90
48
68,58
68.58
1845
88
48
70.02
88
49
71.69
85
54
74.32
72.01
1850.
85
45
70.75
90
57
76.56
87
50
72 68
73.33
1855.
94
41
67.12
95
55
75.08
92
46
72.50
71.57
1860
93
46
69.77
90
48
72.73
92
44
71,68
71.39
1865
90
50
74.50
94
48
71,81
88
44
69.70
72.00
1870.
93
51
70.79
94
53
76.26
95
50
73.13
73.39
1875.
90
44
68.60
92
55
73.37
85
49
67.81
69.93
Means
69.64
72.92
70.78
71.11
The observations for both of the above tables were made at Urbana, Ohio, with an or- dinary thermometer. It will be noticed that the mean temperature for each month during the nine years given is quite uniform, varying but little through the lapse of nearly half a century. The uniformity of the temperature nearer the lakes is more noticeable, and does not show as great a divergence between winter and summer as is shown by the tables above. The elevated situation of the county, on the " backbone " of Ohio, is favorable for an ob- servance of the direction, force and velocity of the wind. The healthfulness of any locality is largely dependent upon the purity and force of the wind ; and, since observations have estab- lished the fact that the motion of the air may be ascertained for from six to forty-eight hours in advance, the knowledge becomes of great value in serving to prevent loss of life and property in all parts of the country, and espe- cially so on the lakes and oceans. Hence it is that extensive signal systems have been de- vised and put in operation on the shores of all the great lakes and on every sea coast. From measurements made by different railroad com- panies in the county, Bucyrus is found to be elevated 434 feet above Lake Erie and 1,009 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. It is not the highest point in the county, however, Crestline being 1,176 feet above the ocean, and Galion
1,171. Subtracting from these figures 575 feet, the assumed elevation of the lake above the. ocean, will give the elevation of the last two cities above Lake Erie. From observations made at eight points in Ohio, it is ascertained that the prevailing direction of the wind is from the southwest and west, although during the past year, as shown by the report of the Secretary of State, it has been from the south- east at Cincinnati. The approximate move- ment of the atmosphere per annum is about 50,000 miles, with a mean hourly velocity of 6 miles. March is found to be the windiest month, while August is the quietest. The humidity of the air varies with the direction and character of the wind. The majority of heavy storms of wind and rain come from the southwest, and the height of mercury in the barometer varies about two inches, but the an- nual variation is usually less than this. The mean height during the last year was 30.063 inches. Winds from across Lake Erie usually contain a large percentage of moisture, varying with the season and the slant of the wind. Except in times of unusual storms, the veloc- ity of the wind rarely exceeds thirty miles per hour. It is probable that the county is too far removed from the lake shore to be swept by what are known as " sea breezes." Winds thus created by a relative change in the temperature of the atmosphere covering large bodies of
183
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
water and the neighboring land, made by une- qual powers of radiation during the day and night, are usually laden with moisture, and are extremely icy and cold. These winds from the north sweep over Crawford County oftener and with greater velocity during the winter and spring months than at other seasons of the year. The county has been visited by several tornadoes during past years. One of these swept across the northern tier of town- ships about the beginning of the present cen- tury. It must have swept everything before it, as, when the first settlers arrived, in about 1820. no large trees were standing in its course, and the ground was strewn with de- caving timber that had been torn asunder and broken off by the fury of the wind. The ground was covered with a heavy growth of young timber. Another storm of later occur- rence passed across Whetstone Township, and was seen by several old settlers yet living. A description of this storm will be found in the history of the above township. Both of these storms came from the southwest. Other winds of less intensity have visited the county with a greater or less loss of property, and the future will likely bring many others. Every citizen should provide himself with a good barometer in order to avoid the unexpected appearance of great storms of wind and rain.
The winds most likely to be followed by a precipitation of rain or snow are those varying from southeast to southwest. The annual range of the barometer at Cincinnati during the past year was 1.318 inches. The barome- ter rarely fails to give warning of the approach of storms, and, if its language was always heeded, thousands of dollars could be saved annually to the citizens throughout the coun- try. Localities with telegraphic communica- tion can readily receive the knowledge of an approaching change of weather as soon as such knowledge becomes known ; but other sections
lack the means of obtaining such information, and consequently are the oftenest to lose prop- erty and life because of their inability to learn of coming storms. A barometer. costing but a few dollars, would give the desired informa- tion, and, in the aggregate, prevent the loss of valnable property.
A singular occurrence connected with the fall of rain and snow during the year is, that the quantity falling each year at any locality is about the same. The amount varies but few inches from year to year, and it is noticed that in almost every case heavy and continuous rains during a portion of the year are followed by a lack of rain during the remainder. If the spring is unusually wet, one of the other seasons will be correspondingly dry. This uniformity of rain in any given locality is difficult to explain. When the air is motionless, and saturated with moisture, the evaporation from the earth under- neath is decreased. The greater the amount of water in the soil and on the surface, the greater will be the quantity evaporated, other things being equal. It follows that. after the soil is soaked with water by incessant rains, the atmos- phere above becomes thoroughly saturated, and, consequently, much cooler, owing to the absorp- tion of heat during the process of evaporation. It also follows from these facts that the presence of so much moisture above prevents tlie wind from setting in toward that locality, and, conse. quently, prevents the further fall of rain. On the contrary, the winds charged with rain-clouds blow from that locality to others where the atmosphere is lighter, and where the season has been dry. This leaves the locality above men- tioned without rain until the temperature has become warm, and the relative humidity between that and surrounding sections of country has become reversed, when rain clouds again appear, and the same phenomena are repeated. This will account, in a measure, for the uniformity of the fall of rain at any locality during the year. Other circumstances, no doubt, influence and
184
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
vary the causes referred to, although the latter may be regarded as primary. No record of the annual fall of rain, so far as known, has been kept in Crawford County. That at Urbana, Ohio, for the past twenty-eight years, including melted snow, has been 392 inches. This will give the proximate fall in the county, although the mean fall may vary several inches from that
figure. No figures can be given as to the prob- able fall during any season of the year, the quantity being subject to variation from local causes. The following comparative table, show- ing the annual amount of water from rain and melted snow, in inches, at several stations in Ohio, for ten years, was prepared by Milo G. Williams, of Urbana, Ohio :
STATIONS.
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
Cincinnati .
28.91
41.60
39.84
28.03
35.64
32 54
32.78
33.38
41.04
Portsmouth.
45,01
45,09
41.85
40.86
31.11
31.13
45.49
38.32
45.71
41.22
Marietta
46.70
50.03
42.86
40.18
29.02
32.36
47.98
39.57
46.05
48.19
Urbana
31.86
46.31
42.71
32.30
30.64
28.53
37.17
34.03
43.16
41 93
Cleveland
32 83
36.03
39 02
46.96
32.78
37.74
41.40
38.43
39.78
45.22
Hudson.
22.08
20.16
37.44
34.74
29.40
36.45
Toledo ..
31.06
42.94
42.25
32.84
28.72
28.53
35.38
25.81
.....
Little Mountain
40.90
45.21
49.14
60 28
36.60
30.35
47.20
44.45
60 45
48.08
Mean
34.93
40.92
41.89
40.22
32.07
31.60
41.20
36.09
43.66
43.52
CHAPTER II.
THE MOUND BUILDERS-WYANDOT AND OTHER INDIAN TRIBES-THIE BORDER WARS-CRAW- FORD'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST SANDUSKY-PERSONAL ADVENTURE-JOHN ROSE.
" Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind,
Sces God in clouds and hears Ilim in the wind." TTTHE lack of mounds and other evidences of the presence of a semi-barbarous race in Crawford County, before the Indian first lighted his camp-fires on the prairie, or in the forest of the Western Continent, has led archæe- ologists and antiquarians to the conclusion that the county was a portion of the neutral ground which separated the hosts of two or more hostile nations of Mound Builders. That a strange and partially uncivilized people re- sided throughout all the country, in times which ante-date the Indian's occupancy of the soil, is established by conclusive evidence, aside from the denial of the Indian races, of their having had any participation in the erection of the approximate 10,000 mounds scattered throughout the continent. In several places in
Crawford County, the early settlers found ob- scure and imperfect artificial earth embank -. ments, which, in all probability, were thrown up by the Indians and not the Mound Build- ers. One of these is located on Broken Sword Creek, in Holmes Township, although nothing now remains but an irregular and barely noticea- ble ridge. If the county was between two opposing tribes at war, it was, undoubtedly, the scene of frequent battles, where the fate of primitive nations was decided. The soil gives no word of encouragement to such a thoughit, which is purely speculative. The mounds and their contents, however, speak plainly as to the characteristics of this strange people, although nothing is suggested to lead the mind to & knowledge of their origin or final destiny. Some authorities have suggested that the Mound Builders ultimately deteriorated into
42.23
185
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
the ancestors of the Indian races ; but the ma- jority of intelligent writers on the subject dis- courage such a view, and present facts going to show that an interval of many centuries elapsed after the disappearance of the Mound Builders, and before the appearance of the Indian. There is no evidence showing that the Mound Builders ever had a written language ; and the only testimony of their presence and attainments is found in the various mounds, which are fast disappearing before the march of Time, the infinite iconoclast. From their works must be derived the solution of their history, habits, customs, their mode of life and degree of civilization, their knowledge of the arts of peace and war, and their ultimate fate, whether by extinction through war, famine or pestilence, or whether they became the ances- tors of the succeeding Indian races.
Although Crawford County contains no mounds, or other works of the Mound Builders, yet, since research has thrown so much light upon their lives and customs and aroused so much interest among scientists, a brief state- ment will be given of the progress that has been made in this branch of archæological re- search. The mounds have been divided into mounds proper, effigies and inclosures. Mounds proper are subdivided into sepulchral, temple, sacrificial, memorial and observatory. Effigies are divided into animal, emblematic and sym- bolical. Inclosures are military, covered or sa- cred .* The most of the above works were con- structed of earth, a few of stone, and a fewer still of earth and stone combined. Sepulchral mounds are usually conical, and some of them are seventy feet in height. They are more numerous than any other kind, and, beyond doubt, were used as memorials over the dead. Within these mounds, implements and orna- ments are often found, supposed to have been placed there when the individual was buried, for use in the Spirit Land. Ashes and charcoal
are often found in proximity to the skeleton under conditions which render it probable that fires were used in the burial ceremony. With the skeletons are often found specimens of mica, pottery, bone and copper beads and bones. The skeletons found in each mound are usually limited in number, although a mound in Lick- ing County contained fifteen, and one in Har- din County contained three hundred. Colonel Whittlesey and others entertain the opinion, however. that the skeletons belonged to the In- dians, who had used the mounds for burial pur- poses. Temple mounds are few in number, and are ordinarily circular. They are invariably truncated, and are often surrounded with em- bankments, inclined planes, or spiral pathways or steps, leading to the summit. It is supposed that these elevations were surmounted with wooden temples, all traces of which have been removed by the ravages of time. These mounds and the buildings at their summits are thought to have been erected for religious purposes. Sacrificial mounds are ordinarily stratified, with convex layers of clay and loam above a stratum of sand. They contain ashes, charcoal, igneous stones, calcined animal bones, beads, stone implements, pottery and specimens of rude sculpture. Altars of igneous clay or stone are often found. Evidences of fire upon the altars yet remain, showing that various ani- mals and probably human beings were im- molated to secure the favor of the Great Spirit. These mounds infrequently contain skeletons, together with implements of war; mica from the Alleghanies ; shells from the Gulf of Mex- ico; obsidian of different colors, red, purple and green varieties of porphyry, and silver, copper and other metallic ornaments and uten- sils. Mounds of observation were apparently designed for alarm-towers or signal stations. Some writers have fancied that they "occur in chains, or regular systems, and that many of them still bear traces of the beacon fires that were once burning upon them." They are often
*Isaac Smucker, in Ohio Statistics.
G
186
HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
found built like towers from the summits of embankments surrounding inclosures. One of the latter, in Licking County, has a height of twenty-five feet. "Along the Miami River," says Judge Force, " are dotted small mounds or projecting highlands, which seems to have been built to carry intelligence by signals along the valley." Memorial mounds are of that class of tumuli intended to commemorate some impor- tant event, or to perpetuate the memory of some distinguished character. Most of the stone mounds belong to this class, and usually contain no bones, for the supposed reason that the mounds were erected to perpetuate great events, and not to be used as sepulchers. They are thought to be coincident in design with the Bunker Hill Monument, and with the beautiful marble column on the field of Gettysburg.
Effigies are elevations of earth in the form of men, beasts, birds, reptiles, and, occasionally, of inanimate objects, varying in height from one foot to six feet above the surrounding surface, and often covering many acres of land. Mr. Schoolcraft expresses the belief that this class of mounds was designed for " totems " or tribu- lar symbols ; while Prof. Daniel Wilson and other writers of distinction entertain the opin- ion that they were erected in accordance with the religious belief of the various tribes of Mound Builders who worshiped, or in some way venerated, the animals or objects repre- sented by the elevations. A large mound near Newark represents a bird of enormous size, with its wings outspread, in the act of flight. Its length is about 200 feet. An excavation in this efligy disclosed a clay and stone altar, upon which were evidences of fire, together with ashes and charcoal. The surroundings indicated that the altar had been used for sacrificial of- ferings. Another mound near Newark repre- sents a huge alligator having a total length of 200 feet. Prof. Daniel Wilson believes that it " symbolizes some object of special awe and veneration, thus reared on one of the chief
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