USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 1 > Part 28
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To-day, Ohio stands in the van of the Western States in agriculture and all its kindred associa- tions. It only needs the active energy of her citizens to keep her in this place, advancing as time advances, until the goal of her ambition is reached.
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CHAPTER XVI.
CLIMATOLOGY-OUTLINE-VARIATION IN OHIO-ESTIMATE IN DEGREES-RAINFALL-AMOUNT -VARIABILITY.
T HE climate of Ohio varies about four degrees. ! Though originally liable to malaria in many : districts when first settled, in consequence of a dense vegetation induced by summer heats and rains, it has became very healthful, owing to clear- ing away this vegetation, and proper drainage. The State has became as favorable in its sanitary char- acteristics as any other in its locality. Ohio is re- markable for its high productive capacity, almost every thing grown in the temperate climates being within its range. Its extremes of heat and cold are less than almost any other State in or near the same latitude, hence Ohio suffers less from the ex- treme dry or wet seasons which affeet all adjoining States. These modifications are mainly due to the influence of the Lake Erie waters. These not
only modify the heat of summer and the cold of winter, but apparently reduce the profusion of rainfall in summer, and favor moisture in dry pe- riods. No finer climate exists. all conditions con-id- ered, for delicate vegetable growths, than that por- tion of Ohio bordering on Lake Erie. This is abundantly attested by the recent extensive devel- opment there of grape culture.
Mr. Lorin Blodget. author of "American Clima- tology." in the agricultural report of 1853. says; "A district bordering on the Southern and West- ern portions of Lake Erie is more favorable in this respect (grape cultivation ) than any other on the Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains, and it will ultimately prove capable of a very liberal extension of vine culture."
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164
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Experience has proven Mr. Blodget correct in his theory. Now extensive fields of grapes are everywhere found on the Lake Erie Slope, while other small fruits find a sure footing on its soil.
" Considering the climate of Ohio by isother- mal lines and rain shadings, it must be borne in mind," says Mr. Blodget, in his description of Ohio's climate, from which these facts are drawn, " that local influences often require to be considered. At the South, from Cincinnati to Steubenville, the deep river valleys are two degrees warmer than the hilly districts of the same vicinity. The lines are drawn intermediate between the two extremes. Thus, Cincinnati, on the plain, is 2º warmer than at the Observatory, and 4º warmer for each year than Hillsboro, Highland County-the one being 500, the other 1,000, feet above sea-level. The immediate valley of the Ohio, from Cincinnati to Gallipolis, is about 75° for the summer, and 54° for the year; while the adjacent hilly districts, 300 to 500 feet higher, are not above 73° and 52º respectively. For the summer, generally, the river valleys are 73° to 75° ; the level and central portions 72° to 73°, and the lake border 70° to 72°. A peculiar mildness of climate belongs to the vicinity of Kelley's Island, Sandusky and Toledo. Here, both winter and summer, the cli- mate is 2° warmer than on the highland ridge ex- tending from Norwalk and Oberlin to Hudson and the northeastern border. This ridge varies from 500 to 750 feet above the lake, or 850 to 1,200 feet above sea level. This high belt has a summer temperature of 70°, 27° for the winter, and 49° for the year; while at Sandusky and Kelley's Island the summer is 72°, the winter 29º, and the year 50°. In the central and eastern parts of the State, the winters are comparatively cold, the average falling to 32° over the more level districts, and to 29º on the highlands. The Ohio River valley is about 35°, but the highlands near it fall to 31° and 32° for the winter."
As early as 1824, several persons in the State began taking the temperature in their respective localities, for the spring, summer, autumn and win- ter, averaging them for the entire year. From time to time, these were gathered and published, inducing others to take a step in the same direction. Not long since, a general table, from about forty local-
ities, was gathered and compiled, covering a period of more than a quarter of a century. This table, when averaged, showed an average temperature of 52.4°, an evenness of temperature not equaled in many bordering States.
Very imperfect observations have been made of the amount of rainfall in the State. Until lately, only an individual here and there through- out the State took enough interest in this matter to faithfully observe and record the averages of several years in succession. In consequence of this fact, the illustration of that feature of Ohio's climate is less satisfactory than that of the temperature. "The actual rainfall of different months and years varies greatly," says Mr. Blod- get. "There may be more in a month, and, again, the quantity may rise to 12 or 15 inches in a single month. For a year, the variation may be from a minimum of 22 or 25 inches, to a maxi- mum of 50 or even 60 inches in the southern part of the State, and 45 to 48 inches along the lake border. The average is a fixed quantity, and. although requiring a period of twenty or twenty- five years to fix it absolutely, it is entirely certain and unchangeable when known. On charts, these average quantities are represented by depths of shading. At Cincinnati, the last fifteen years of observation somewhat reduce the average of 48 inches, of former years, to 46 or 47 inches."
Spring and summer generally give the most rain. there being, in general, 10 to 12 inches in the spring, 10 to 14 inches in the summer, and 8 to 10 inches in the autumn. The winter is the most variable of all the seasons, the southern part of the State having 10 inches, and the northern part 7 inches or less-an average of 8 or 9 inches.
The charts of rainfall, compiled for the State, show a fall of 30 inches on the lake, and 46 inches at the Ohio River. Between these two points, the fall is marked, beginning at the north, 32, 34, 36 and 38 inches, all near the lake. Farther down, in the latitude of Tuscarawas, Monroe and Mercer Counties, the fall is 40 inches, while the south- western part is 42 and 44 inches.
The clearing away of forests, the drainage of the land, and other causes, have lessened the rain- fall, making considerable difference since the days of the aborigines.
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PART II.
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY-DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY-THE GEOLOGICAL FEATURES-SECTION IN OLENTANGY SHALE-THE DRIFT, ETC.
" New empires rise,
Gathering the strength of hoary centuries, And rush down like the Alpine avalanche, Startling the nations."-Prentice.
T THE author of Ecce Deus says: "History can never be written; it can only be hinted at, and most dimly outlined from the particular standpoint which the historian has chosen to oc- cupy. It is only by courtesy that any man can be called an historian. Seldom do men so flatly contradict each other as upon points of fact. Incompleteness marks all narrations. No man can fully write his own life. On reviewing the sheets which were to have told everything, the autobiographer is struck with their reticence and poverty." Another writer has said, that " history is an imperfect record of nations and races, diverse in their position and capacities, but identical in na- ture and one in destiny. Viewed comprehensively, its individuals and events comprise the incidents of an uncompleted biography of man, a biography long, obscure, full of puzzling facts for thought to interpret, and more puzzling breaks for thought to bridge; but, on the whole, exhibiting man as moving, and as moving forward." And still another author says, that "history is but the footprints upon the sands of time, by which we trace the growth, development, and advancement of the people constituting a nation." We might add, that it is history that takes note of the humblest tiller of the soil as well as of the scholar, the statesman, the soldier, and the great and good men and women who build the imperishable mon-
uments of a country's greatness. Of the men and things that existed in the world during the many dark centuries that precede the historic period, we. know nothing, except through rude hieroglyphics and vague traditions, handed down through the beclouded minds of unlettered and superstitious people. Beginning with the age of letters and improvements in the languages of the world, fol- lowed by the modern inventions of printing types and presses, and the immense institution of the daily newspaper and telegraph, minute and reliable records of the world's daily doings are chronicled, and out of these veritable history is formulated.
The events that make up the annals of a country will always be of interest to the seeker after knowledge, who may in them learn who has lived and what has been done in the past ages of the world. The time is approaching when ignorance of the world's historic past will be a reproach, however it may be as to a lack of knowledge of the future. America constitutes a great nation of people, made up from the populations of many other nations, and Ohio is one of the greatest and most highly favored by nature of all the thirty-eight states of the American Union. As every portion of a thing goes to make up, and becomes a part of, the whole, so is a his- tory of Delaware County a part of the history of Ohio, as Ohio is a part of the history of America. The population of Delaware County constitutes a part of the forty millions of Ameri- can citizens who people this country, and their absolute wealth and prosperity make a part of our
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
national wealth and material greatness. The intelligence of its people forms a part of our intel- ligence as a nation. The patriotism and self- sacrificing devotion of its sons, the gallantry and prowess of its soldiers, are no mean part of the pride and glory of this great American nation.
The age of Delaware County (as a county) is almost three-quarters of a century, but the date of its settlement extends back a number of years beyond the period of its organization as a county. Within that time the events that have transpired, and the scenes that have been enacted upon its soil, will be the subject matter of these pages. Taking it from its occupancy by the Indians, we will trace its progress from that wild and savage state to its present prosperity, and endeavor to present to its citizens an authentic and impartial history.
Delaware County is located near the geological center of the State, and is bounded on the north by Marion and Morrow Counties, on the east by Licking and Knox, on the south by Franklin (which contains Columbus, the capital of the State), and on the west by Union County. Its area, officially stated at 283,289 acres, embraces 81,975 acres of arable land, 104,649 acres of meadow or pasture land, and 96,665 acres of un- cultivated or wood land. Its average value per acre, exclusive of buildings, is $33.44, that of Franklin County (according to official records) being $57.42, and Hamilton, which contains the city of Cincinnati, $84.39. The Scioto and Olen- tangy Rivers cross the central portion of the county from north to south. These streams, with their tributaries, constitute the drainage system of the county. The Scioto is the larger stream ; both, however, are subject to sudden and very great increase of volume in freshet time. They afford many excellent water-power privileges, some of which have been improved by the erection of mills, for flouring and manufacturing. As they are inclosed, throughout most of the county, by high banks that are often rocky, they may be dammed with ease, and security to adjoining lands.
" The eastern portion of the county is rolling, particularly the sandstone districts. This is due partly to the original unequal deposit of the Drift,* and partly to the effect of streams which have dug their channels through it, and into the rock, in some instances, to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. The area of the shale and black slate
was at first generally flat, but the streams and all little ravines have so roughened the surface that it should now be called rolling, or undulating, although there are yet many wide flat tracts. The belt underlaid by the shale and black slate is sep- arated from the limestone belt by the valley of the Olentangy, which, with its tributaries, constitutes an important system of drainage. The whole lime- stone district which embraces all that part of the county west of the Olentangy River, except that underlaid by the waterlime, is moderately undu- lating, the surface being worn by erosion into shallow depressions, which, near their junction with larger streams, become ravines bounded by steep bluffs. The district of the waterlime is flat, especially in the townships of Radnor, Thomp- son, and Scioto. The deeply eroded valleys of the Scioto and Olentangy constitute the most marked topographical features of the country. In the southern part of the county these valleys are deeply cut in the underlying rock. The divide between them at a point west of Powell is 125 feet above the Scioto. That interval is made up mostly of the beds of the underlying limestone, the Drift not having an average thickness of over twenty-five feet. The descent to the Olentangy is usually very gentle, occupying sometimes the space of a mile or more on either side ; while the valley of the Scioto is narrower, and its banks more frequently rocky and precipitous. The valley of the Olentangy is excavated for the most part in the black slate or the underlying shale, but that of the Scioto is cut in solid limestone strata. This fact may account 'for the greater breadth of the former."
" In the northwestern part of the county the valley of the Scioto is strikingly different from the southern part. It has here the features that the same valley presents in Marion and Hardin Coun- ties. The bluffs are never rocky. The general level of the country is but little above the level of the water in the river. The stream has not yet cut its channel throughout this part of its course through the Drift, and in traveling along its valley, one is forcibly reminded of the strong resemblance of the face of the country to the Black Swamp region of Northwestern Ohio. It is a natural and reasonable inference that this portion of the coun- try has had a very different superficial history from the southern and eastern parts, and one that allies it more to the Lake Erie Valley than to the Ohio slope. These Black Swamp features prevail in the townships of Radnor and Thompson, and in the northwestern part of Scioto."
* Geological Survey.
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
167
The following official table is of some interest in this connection, as showing the railroad elevation in this section of the country :
Ft. above Ft. above Lake Erie Ocean
Morrow Co. line (C. C. C. & I. R. R.). 405 970
Ashley (C. C. C. & I. R. R.) ..
412 977
Eden "
405 970
Delaware "
378 943
Berlin
381 946
Lewis Center '
387 952
The soil generally is dependent on the nature of the northern drift. In this the various essentials, (State geological survey), such as iron, lime, phos- phorus, silica, magnesia, alumina, and soda, are so thoroughly mixed and in such favorable propor- tions that the strength and fertility of the soil are very great. The depth of the soil has the same limit as the drift itself, which is, on an average, about twenty-five feet. The soil is more gravelly and stony in the rolling traets. The stones come partly from the underlying rock. but mainly from the drift. They are common along all the valleys of streams and creeks and in shallow ravines. They are made to appear superficial by the washı- ing away of the clayey parts of the drift, and are not due to any drift agency acting since the depo- sition of the great mass. The northwestern part of the county has a heavy. clayey soil, with some exceptions. This clayey, flat land is comparative- ly free from superficial bowlders. Very little gravel can be found except in the line of gravel knolls that passes northwestwardly through Radnor Township. The valleys of the streams, however, show a great many northern bowlders, as in other parts of the county. Besides these general char- acteristics of the soil of the county, a great many modifications due to local causes will be seen in passing over the county. There are some marshy accumulations, which, when duly drained, are found to possess a soil of remarkable ammoniacal qualities, due to decaying vegetation. The alluvial river margins possess a characteristic soil, strongly contrasting with the generally clayey lands of the county. They are lighter and warmer, while they are annually renewed, like the countries of Lower Egypt, by the muddy waters of spring freshets, and are hence of exhaustless fertility.
The whole county was originally wooded, and in certain localities the timber was heavy. The pre- vailing varieties are those common to this part of the State, and consist of many of the different kinds of oak, hickory, black and white walut, ash, birch, sugar-maple, and other species unnecessary to particularize. Some of the more common shrubs,
such as hazel, willow, sumac, etc., etc., are also to be found in considerable profusion. With this brief glance at the topography of the county, and its physical features, we will now turn to another branch of the subject.
On the geological structure of a country depend the pursuits of its inhabitants, and the genius of its civilization. Agriculture is the outgrowth of a fertile soil; mining results from mineral resources; and from navigable waters spring navies and com- merce. Every great branch of industry requires. for its successful development, the cultivation of kindred arts and sciences. Phases of life and modes of thought are thus induced, which give to different communities and states characters as various as the diverse rocks that underlie them. In like manner it may be shown that their moral and intellectual qualities depend on material con- ditions. Where the soil and subjacent rocks are profuse in the bestowal of wealth, man is indolent and effeminate ; where effort is required to live, he becomes enlightened and virtuous; and where, on the sands of the desert, labor is unable to procure the necessaries and comforts of life, he lives like a savage. The civilization of states and nations is, then, to a great extent, but the reflection of physical conditions, and hence the propriety of introducing their civil, political and military history with a sketch of the geological substructure from which they originate.
We are not writing the history of a state or a nation, but that which applies to either, geologi- cally, will apply with equal force to an individual county, and it is possible that the people of Dela- ware County feel as great an interest in their geology as if their county comprised a nation. From the geological survey of the State we make some extracts pertaining to Delaware County, which will be found of value to those interested in the subject. Under the head of "Geological Structure," is the following: "The geological range of the county is from the base of the Carbonifer- ous system to the waterlime in the Upper Silurian. The oldest and hence the lowest, geological horizon is in the northwestern part of Scioto Township. The outcropping belts of the formations cross the county from north to south. The townships of Radnor, Marlborough, Troy, Delaware, Concord. Liberty, and Scioto are underlaid by the cornifer- ous, including also what there may be of the Ham- ilton. The belt between the Olentangy and Alum Creek is occupied mainly with the outcropping edge of the Huron shale, inducing the underlying
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
blue shale seen beneath the Huron at Delaware, in the banks of the Olentangy. How far east of Alum Creek the black shale extends, it is impossible to say, but it probably includes the western portions of Kingston, Berkshire, and Genoa. The fragile shales that immediately underlie the Berea grit have a narrow belt of outcrop through Kingston, Berk- shire, and Genoa. The Berea grit underlies the most of Porter, Trenton and Harlem. The over- lying Cuyahoga shales and sandstone, called Logan sandstones in the southern part of the State, have but a feeble representation in Delaware County. They would undoubtedly be encountered by drill- ing in the extreme eastern portions of the eastern tier of towns. The various strata making the series of Delaware County are as follows, in de- scending order :
Cuyahoga shales and sandstones.
Berea grit.
Cleveland shale.
Huron shale.
Olentangy shale.
Hamilton and Upper Corniferous limestone.
Lower Corniferous limestone.
Oriskany sandstone or conglomerate. Waterlime.
At Condit, in Trenton Township, on the line between Sections 1 and 2, may be seen an exposure of the Cuyahoga, in the bed of Perfect's Creek, which has the following section, in descending order : Ft. In.
No. 1. Sandstone, of the grit of the Berea, not glit- tering and earthy, in beds of 1 to 4 inches, seen .. 3
No. 2. Shale-blue, hard. 1
No. 3. Sandstone, same as No. 1, but in thicker beds of 4 to 6 inches. 2
No. 4. Shale, like No. 2. 8
No. 5. Sandstone, same as No. 1, seen 4
Total 10 8
Southwest quarter, Section 2, Trenton. In the left bank of Perfect's Creek, the following section may be made out, in descending order : Ft. In.
No. 1. Thin-bedded, shaly sandstone, glittering with mica, especially on the sides of the bedding .. 3.
No. 2. Beds more even, 2 to 5 inches ; grit similar to that of the Berea. 4 6
No. 3. Very thin and shaly, rather slaty 6
No. 4. Beds 2 to 4 inches. 6 No. 5. Slaty sandstone. 4
No. 6. Beds 2 to 6 inches, seen 1
Total 9 10
The slaty beds of this section, which are wavy and ripple-marked, lie irregularly among stone that, is of a coarser grain and heavier bedding, the heavy beds showing the unusual phenomenon of tapering out, allowing the horizon of the slaty lay- ers to rise and fall in the course of a few rods. This section, or parts of it, is seen again in the left bank of the Walnut, below the mouth of the Per- fect Creek, on Mr. Overturf's land. It is also exposed a few rods further north, along the left bank of Walnut Creek, on Monroe Vance's farm. At the latter place some very good flagging has been obtained from the bed of the creek, but the thickest beds are not over four inches, the most being less than one inch. They afford here a fine surface exposure, showing a peculiar sheety and wavy arrangement. They rise and fall, shooting up and down at various angles and in all directions, and are often ripple-marked, reminding . the ob- server of similar thin layers of the waterlime of the Upper Silurian. Similar beds are exposed on John Fenier's land, next above Mr. Vance's. They con- tinue also through the farms of Andrew Wiants, Hosea Stockwell, Nelson Utley, and James Will- iamson, a mile and a half above Mr. Vance's, showing the same characters, and are somewhat used for walling wells and for common foundations. * *
Opposite the mill of Mr. McFarland, Mr. Lan- don owns a quarry situated a little further down. At this place the exposed section is as follows, continuing the numbering from above : Ft. In.
No. 11. As above .. 18
No. 12. Shale, as above. 4 6
No. 13. Heavy sandstone, in one bed, sometimes concretionary. 2
No. 14. Shale. 1
No. 15. In one bed, sandstone 1 10
No. 16. Shale in the bed of the creek, thickness unknown
The shale of No. 12 is apt to contain thin but very even beds of good sandstone. Indeed, one heavy bed of sandstone, valuable for railroad bridges, and for that purpose here quarried, entirely embraced in this shale, gradually thins out hori- zontally toward the north, and disappears. entirely in the distance of 22 feet. This is a valuable quarry and furnishes heavy stone. The same is true of Sprague & Burr's quarry, which is across the creek, and near the mill of Mr. McFarland.
Beren Grit .- Besides the foregoing sections in the Berea grit, it is also quarried by Mr. John Knox, in the banks of the Rattlesnake Creek, about half
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
169
a mile above the junction with the Walnut. This quarry, worked by Messrs. Landon & Fish, shows the following downward section:
Ft. In.
No. 1. Drift. 2
No. 2. Beds 2 to 3 inches .12
No. 3. 6 to 8 3 No. 4. Slaty Beds 2
No. 5. Concretionary rough, worthless. 2
2
No. 6. Heavy beds, 4 to 10 inches 5
No. 7. Interval hid.
No. 8. Thicker beds in creek, not well seen.
Total 24 4
This quarry is probably in the upper portion of the Berea grit. A quarter of a mile above Mr. Knox's quarry, is that of Mr. Alfred Williams This shows about fifteen feet of beds of two to four inches. About a mile and a quarter north of Harlem, along the South Branch of Spruce Run, is Homer Merritt's quarry. The upper portion of this section consists of thin layers of two to six inches. Thicker layers of fourteen or sixteen inches are near the bottom of the quarry. At Harlem, Mr. Carey Paul owns a quarry, worked by Daniel Bennett, which embraces about twelve feet in perpendicular section, of uniform beds of two to six inches. Mr. A. S. Scott's land joins Paul's below, and contains two opened quarries that supply, like Paul's, considerable valuable stone. The horizons of Mr. Scott's quarries are identical, and embrace the following descending section :
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