USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 16
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In 1830 W. B. Beall purchased a store which had been es- tablished by John McNeal in 1827. Beall was soon joined by Francis Waring, who several years later took over the entire business and continued the same until 1876. Their place of business was first on the corner of the public square opposite the present site of the James hotel, and later on the present site of the Masonic Temple on the east corner. Allen LaMott and Josiah D. Farrar formed a partnership and opened a store about 1830 on West Main street, moved later to the west corner of Third and Broadway and continued until 1840. John C. Potter opened a store in 1834 on the west side of
ABRAHAM SCRIBNER, PIONEER MERCHANT
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Main street between the public square and Sycamore street. Later he built a substantial brick building on the public square where the postoffice now stands and continued until 1849, when he, his wife and daughter died of cholera. His brother Hiram formed a partnership with Samuel Davis in 1835 and opened a store on the present site of the fire de- partment. Later this firm moved to East Main street between the square and Walnut street. Davis soon sold out and Pot- ter continued until his death in 1845. Abraham Scribner, be- fore mentioned, started a store on the present site of the arti- ficial gas plant, then moved to the southwest corner of Main and Elm streets and finally to lot 59 between Sycamore and the square where John Schubert lately had a grocery and where Hezekiah Woods now lives.
Besides those mentioned above others started stores and carried on business for a few months but were unable to become established. Stores in those days did not specialize on one line of goods, as the population was not sufficient to justify this, but carried a general line, including groceries, hardware, dry goods, drugs, boots and shoes, quensware, etc. It is interesting to note that about this time corn sold for 15 cents per bushel ; pork and beef, when it could be sold, at two or three cents a pound ; maple sugar at 6 to 8 cents per pound, while wages ranged from two to three shillings a day. To a large extent cloth was manufactured and cloth- ing made at home, and the farmer depended on the local mar- ket to dispose of his produce. It will be noted that the first stores were on West Water and Main streets, later they grouped about the public square, and finally invaded Broad- way, which has become the main business thoroughfare. Men- tion should be made here of other business enterprises which flourished in early days, but in later years practically became extinct. Wm. Sipe conducted a pottery on the northwest corner of Fourth and Walnut streets, where he made crocks and jugs for many years. Another pottery was located on the rear of the lot now occupied by M. B. Trainor's residence on Vine street near Water, and a third on West Fourth street, just beyond the present site of the M. E. church.
Early attempts were made to establish tanneries, one above the present site of the Mud creek bridge, and the other on the site of the O'Brien greenhouses, in Minatown, but both proved abortive.
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About 1820 a tannery was started on the southeast corner of Water and Walnut streets by Baldwin and McGregor, which continued under various management and with little or no profit until 1855. A tannery was established between Greenville creek and West Water street just west of Sycamore street by Jacob Herkimer in 1831 or 1832, which continued in operation for some fifty years under different owners. The last operators were Thos. B. Waring and F. M. Eidson. Win. W. Jordan started a tannery on the west side of North Broad- way, just south of the present site of the O'Brien greenhouses, whose history covered about the same period as the above mentioned enterprises. This, also, changed hands until it came into the possession of the Porters, who operated it for quite a period. Fine springs were found on both the latter sites, which were valuable assets in the business.
Mention should be made of David and Alexander Craig, twin brothers, who were blacksmith and wagonmaker re- spectively ; Wm. McKhann, Sr., and Jesse McGinnis, cabinet- makers; Benj. Brown, wheelwright; Wm. Lipp and Sam Pierce, fur and skin dressers ; Philip Stoner, basketmaker, and Rural Risley, wool carder, as representing occupations either defunct or declining.
Early Taverns.
In the way of taverns early Greenville seems to have been well supplied. As will be noted these were mostly grouped about the public square for the convenience of travelers and the general public. Early writers mention the Bascom hos- tlery on the present site of the fire department ; a public house on the opposite corner to the west, originally built by Dr. Perrine as a residence, later occupied by Jno. Hufnagle as a residence; the Wayne House on the northwest corner of the square, built by Jas. Craig about 1830, later occupied by Dr. Miesse, still known as the Wagner House and now in an enlarged and extensively remodeled condition as the Hotel James ; the Broadway House, built by Chas. Hutchin on the southwest corner of the square (Farmers' Bank site) in 1837, and operated by various proprietors for some forty years thereafter; "Travelers' Rest," erected by Joshua Howell in 1830 on the northwest corner of Broadway and Fourth streets and continued for a similar period of time ; Hamilton House, erected in 1830 by Francis L. Hamilton on the corner of Main street and the square, across from the Wayne House.
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The bar seems to have been one of the principal features of these establishments, when practically everybody drank liquor. They were a place of general resort and discussion, where free exchange of ideas on politics and public questions took place and where. the news and gossip of the community was made public.
Fur Trade.
Hunting and trapping wild animals for their valuable furs was the employment of several men about town for at least part of the year. Wm. Sipe, the potter before mentioned, was also a professional hunter. In 1829 all the buildings in town, about thirty in number, were on Water and Main streets, including the public square, except the log house of Sipe on the northwest corner of Fourth and Walnut, where he enjoyed the seclusion coveted by the typical hunter. The farmers, no doubt, also did much hunting and trapping, as the woods and creeks abounded in fur producing animals, and the local merchants were eager to take furs and skins in ex- change for merchandise. Speaking of LaMotte and Farrar's store, an early writer says: "They sold goods, bought furs and skins, and for many years packed a large quantity of pork. It was a wonderful sight to be taken into the fur room of these men, a whole room twenty by fifty feet nearly stacked full of bales of raccoon, mink, muskrat, deer skins, etc."
For a true picture of the life and men of Greenville prior to 1830 we herewith quote the words of an old resident : "About one-half of them were very good and decent men for the rough times in which they lived. The other half were of the lewder sort, drinking, carousing and quarreling, with oc- casional fights, and as it cost but little to live in those days, one-half their time was spent about the taverns in gambling, telling hard stories, pitching quoits, throwing large stones from the shoulder, kicking the pole, wrestling, jumping, run- ning foot races, horse races, fishing, hunting, desecrating the Sabbath with all these practices, irreligious and semi-civilized. These were the men of which strangers took their idea of the character of Greenville, and always scored it on the bad side. The good, the industrious, did not go about to see. The vicious they could not avoid; they were like yellow jackets at the cider barrel, buzzing generally a little too close, putting in dread of being stung and hasting the time of departure, and retarding the progress and improvement of the town."
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No doubt the testimony of this early observer is correct as the reputation for gambling and hard drinking in Green- ville lingered to almost the opening of the twentieth cen- tury. Neither is the biblical saying inappropriate even in these days: "The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," as testified to by a host of temperance workers who have struggled long and desperately to improve the public sentiment and reduce the evil connected with these ancient practices.
Early Mills.
In these days of good roads and railways, of easy communi- cation and quick transportation, when the physical needs of the community are readily supplied, it is difficult to conceive of the hardships encountered by the pioneers in securing flour and meal for their daily bread. The earliest settlers were compelled to go to Montgomery or Miami county to mill on horseback as there were no roads suitable for wagons. It was a common practice to travel thirty or forty miles to mili seated on top of a two bushel sack of corn thrown across the animal's back. Such a trip would often require two or three days of travel through an almost unbroken forest, during which time the traveler would probably not see over five or six houses or clearings.
The first mill in the county was built by Enos Terry, for- inerly mentioned, on his land at the bend of Greenville creek a short distance above the present site of Main street bridge. A grist and saw mill were attached to the same power. It is said that this little mill ground corn for the Indians who attended the ceremonies attendant on Harrison's treaty in 1814, and that the dam was destroyed by the garrison at the fort on the pretext of military necessity, inasmuch as it backed water and caused the Mud creek prairie to overflow, thus creating a shallow, stagnant lake which bred disease.
After the war John Dean erected a mill about three and a half miles above Greenville on the creek (now Weimer's) and John Devor started a saw mill on the West Branch half a mile to the south of it. Major Adams built a little mill on the creek five or six miles below Greenville about this time. This was later known as Baer's mill and now as Cromer's.
Samuel Kelly built the first wool-carding mill about 1824 just above the site of Terry's destroyed mill and in about a
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year prepared to grind grain also. About 1828 he sold out to John Swisher, who continued it until 1835 or 1836, when the dam was destroyed by a mob under the same pretext that Terry's mill had been destroyed before, and at a loss of some four thousand dollars to the owner. Dr. Perrine, who was a very eccentric character, owned land on Mud creek about a mile south of town and was induced to commence a suit for damages on account of back water. The jury in this case rendered a verdict of fifty dollars' damages in favor of Perrine and immediately a mob leveled the dam, showing the state of lawlessness prevailing at that time.
David Briggs erected a mill about a mile and a half below Greenville in 1825 or 1826, which was operated by different proprictors until 1880, when it was decided to remove the dam to allow the proper drainage of the Mud creek bottoms. William Martin built a saw mill near the mouth of the Dividing Branch about 1822, and operated a tan yard nearby. This mill was rebuilt several times and operated on and off over fifty years. John W. Harper built a saw mill about half a mile further up some fifteen years later. About 1830 Jas. and Benj. Devor erected a fulling mill on the West Branch on the site of their father's saw mill. They afterward sold to Wm. Akins, who greatly enlarged and improved it by adding a spinning jack and several power looms. This mill did a large business and relieved the women of the community of the former drudgery of hand carding.
About 1841 Mane Flora, Sr., erected a saw mill on the West Branch just north of the crossing of the present Winchester pike. Later John Fox bought this property and added a grist mill.
A mill was erected on Stillwater in Wayne township called Webster's mill; one near the head of Mud creek in Neave township by Ernestus Putnam ; one on Crout creek in Wash- ington township by Ludlow Clapp, who sold it to John Mc- Clure. At a later date John C. Potter erected a substantial mill on Greenville creek a mile and a half above town which was operated afterward by Odlin Spiece, and John Hershey built one at Gettysburg.
In 1880 there were in operation in the county twenty-one grist mills with sixty-two run of buhrs, and valued at about $100,000.
The law enacted to clean up the streams of Ohio, no doubt, sounded the death knell of many an old mill as witness the
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Knouff mill on the creek about a mile below Greenville. This mill caused the water to "back" up to the town and probably created an unsanitary condition by interfering with the cur- rent and choking the channel.
The old water power mills have long since been discon- tinued or remodeled and have given way to the steam roller flouring mills located in the larger towns which have a daily capacity far beyond those of early times. In a few years even the sites of most of the first mills will be practically unknown.
Early Schools.
It is difficult in these days of compulsory education and expensive school equipment to form a proper estimate of pioneer educational conditions, to conjure up a mental picture of the settlers' attitude toward culture and refinement. A hasty survey of the situation would probably lead the average student to the conclusion that the pioneers knew little and cared less for such matters. This conclusion, however, is scarcely just when we reflect that life in those days was, per- force, a constant struggle with the forces of nature, a round of coarse, hard labor to fell the thick timber and wrest a decent living from the newly plowed clearings.
No doubt many of these settlers came from homes in the east where the school teacher and the school house were con- sidered prime factors in the life of the community, and longed to see the day when their children could enjoy educational privileges at least equal to their own. In this connection the following brief quotation from the pen of the late J. T. Martz. one of Darke county's most noted educators, is of interest : "While the early settlers of Darke county did not neglect edu- cation, the date of the first establishment of schools, and the building of school-houses is not accurately known.
"The first teachers in Greenville township were John Beers, who taught in the Thompson, Studabaker and William Arnold settlement from 1818 or 20 to 1830 or 32; John Talbert, who taught near Prophetstown. on the Bishop farm from 1820- 1832; and Henry D. Williams, who taught in the Hayes- Westfall-Carnahan neighborhood from 1820-1830, and in Dis- trict Number 14 in 1835-1838. The first teachers in the county were Dow Roll, Mrs. McIntire, John Townsend and Noah Arnold. These must be considered the pioneer teachers in the county
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"At this time there was no public school fund. The schools were supported by individual contributions from parents who sent their children to school. The teacher received a salary of about ten dollars per month, and boarded himself. The school would continue in session about three months in the year and this amount of thirty dollars was apportioned among the heads of families in proportion to the number of children sent, the teacher holding each parent individually responsible for the amount of his tuition.
"In 1821 a law was passed by our legislature which left it to a vote of each township whether school districts should be formed, and, perhaps four years later, action in this respect was changed, and township trustees were required to divide the townships into school-districts, and a tax was levied by the county commissioners for school purposes, which provided a fund of about ten dollars yearly for each school district. This amount would continue the school in session for about one month, and the remaining two months' services of the teacher was paid by individual contributions as above stated.
"During this time the teacher should be found qualified to teach penmanship, reading, writing and arithmetic. A board of county examiners for teachers' certificates was re- quired under the law. In 1849 the law added geography and English grammar to the required qualifications of the teacher."
Referring to the earliest schools in the Studabaker neigh- borhood, Mr. Jesse Arnold wrote :
"William Studebaker commenced teaching in a cabin in the old Wyllis field. just south of the old Arnold homestead, about 1823. This cabin school burned about 1824 and school was opened up in a similar rude cabin adjoining the residence of Abraham Studabaker. This was continued till about 1829 when it was removed to the end of the Arnold lane and Henry D. Williams was employed to teach during the winter, having taught one or two winters before its removal, then as follows :
In 1830-31 William S. Harper, teacher.
In 1831-32 Henry D. Williams, teacher.
In 1832-34 David Townsend, teacher.
In 1835-6-7 Noah Arnold, teacher.
"A little later the school was removed to a new brick school house at Studabaker's. Abraham Studebaker's brick house, but partially finished, was used as a school house in 1837 or 1838 for a school taught by Conrad Burgner. The little brick
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school house near Studebaker's, built by him at this time, was from this on my only place of school attendance in our own district. The teachers whom I recall in this school house were Daniel Hewitt. 'Master' Jelleff, Sanford Harper, M. Spayde and David Beers."
"The principal books nsed were Webster's spelling book. the New Testament, the English reader and its introduction. and Talbot's arithmetic. Ray's arithmetic was introduced about the time I left school."
The Arnold homestead referred to above was lo- cated on the present site of the brick house on the J. R. Stocker farm just north of the infirmary farm. The first school house mentioned was probably at the turn of the Jaysville pike just south of the Stocker house. The brick school house mentioned is still standing on the east side of the Eaton pike at the turn of the Ohio Electric railway about three-fourths of a mile south of the fair grounds and is said to be the first brick building constructed in the county for school purposes.
It seems incredible at this date that a man could afford to teach school at ten dollars per month, but we find that the necessities of life were much cheaper in those days, clothing seldom changed in style and could be worn with good form until threadbare, and the teacher was employed nine months of the year at other labor. Money was scarce in those days and the teacher was sometimes paid in provisions as in the case of Dennis Hart, who located on Bridge creek in 1819. In the winter of that year he opened a rate school in an old log cabin belonging to Joseph Townsend. In the following winter he taught in a new log school house which had been erected on the Eaton pike some distance south of the present site of the infirmary. This man was married and agreed to accept his wages in corn, meat, potatoes and other produce. Needing some clothing to protect him from the winter's cold. he pro- posed to exchange some of his surplus produce with Abra- ham Scribner for the desired articles, but found that this mer- chant was well supplied with such things. Scribner informed him that he would exchange the clothing for whisky, however, whereupon Hart proceeded to a little distillery between Greenville and Minatown and traded his corn at less than market price for firewater which he disposed of in turn to Scribner at a reduced price. thus paying his account. "Oh,
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times. Oh, customs!" Surely things have changed since then, and apparently for the better.
Professor McIntosh, writing in 1880, gives a vivid descrip- tion of early educational conditions in the settlement about Prophetstown as follows: "Many settlers had large families -as many as ten children were found in a single cabin-and, to provide for the future of these young people, the parents came to this county. There was always work to be done, and the services of all hands were needed ; it was only during the winter months that schools could be attended. At these, only the elementary branches were taught, and the predominant idea of the school master was discipline first, learning a.ter- ward. No grammar nor geography were taught. Few studied arithmetic, and these did not proceed much beyond the rudi- ments; and when, at length, grammar was introduced, such pupils were thought well advanced. In any locality, when- ever sufficient families had moved in to form a school, the set- tlers stood ready to build a house and engage a teacher. Tall, strapping youths attended school, and the master had need of decision and courage as well as method and erudition. It was customary for the person applying for the school to call upon the parties within sending distance and canvass for scholars. If enough were secured, school opened. An illus- tration of the old-time method is given as follows: "About the year 1815, a man came into the Rush neighborhood, and offered his services as teacher. The settlers located along Mud Creek, West Branch and Bridge Creek talked the matter over, and concluded to employ him. It was a light labor for all to turn out with axes, handspikes and oxen, upon the day appointed, to chop and draw the logs to a chosen site for the purpose of putting up a schoolhouse. The location was near Rush Fort, on Mud Creek. While some put up round logs, notched down, one layer upon another, until they were of sufficient elevation to form a story, split clap-boards for the roof, chamber floor and door, and puncheons for the floor. others drew stone for the fireplace and prepared sticks and mud for the chimney. The floor being laid, next came desks and seats. Large holes were bored in a log on each side of the room, wooden pins were driven .in, and a slab of un- planed plank laid on these pins. For seats, holes were bored in puncheons and legs driven in, two at each end. Windows were made by cutting out a log nearly the whole length of the house, leaving a hole a foot wide. Into this was filled a
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sort of lattice work of sticks, and upon this greased paper was pasted to transmit the light. Such was the school house of sixty-five years ago. It was not much of a structure, but there was no great contrast between it and the homes of its builders. There was no lack of ventilation, and the wood was not too long for the fire-place. School opened in charge of W. H. Jones, of whom mention has been made in a pre- vious chapter, his services having been secured at a salary of $7 per month. He was severe and exacting ; punishments were the order of the day. Whispering and other indiscre- tions subjected the offender to blows with a rule upon the palm of the hand; and so freely did Mr. Jones administer chastisement, that the patrons were obliged to request him to moderate his punishment, as the hands of their boys were so sore from repeated feruling that they were unable to use the ax. It was a species of torture to strike the tips of the gath- ered fingers with the ferule, and this was disapproved by the settlers, indurated to rough usages as they were. Only two branches of education were taught-reading and writing. The example of this neighborhood was contagious, and soon a house was built near the place of David Studabaker, and a man named Montgomery was hired to teach. Gradually school houses became more numerous, and the demand for teachers in some measure induced a supply. Summer schools were rare. Females made no application till an adventurous woman, named Anna Boleyn, attempted a three months' term during the summer of 1825, but quit in disgust before the ex- piration of that time. Despite liberal provisions favorable to education, little had been done up to 1838 toward perfecting a system of common schools, the result of the scanty means and constant toil incident to pioneer life.
In many of the schools, pupils were required to study in a loud tone, and hence called a loud school, the object being to let the teacher know they were engaged upon their lessons, and not in mischief. Classes in arithmetic and writing were never formed. but each pupil "ciphered away at will." and received personal assistance from the teacher when the same was needed. Writing was taught by the teacher "setting the copy," and the pupil trying to imitate the same. The "quill pen" was used by the pupil, and the "master" was expected to make the pen, and mend the same when the pupil thought it unfit for use. The custom of "barring out" the teacher and compelling him to "treat." about the holidays, was indulged in
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by the pupils as a general custom, and sanctioned by the pa- rents; but this relic of barbarism has almost entirely disap- peared from our schools."
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