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 33
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Jonas Carter was also a pioneer of 1810. He made some improvements, but after remaining a few years, sold out, and took up his course with the star of empire-westward. A man named Duell, a doctor, came from Vermont, and located in the neighborhood, where he remained several years, and then moved away.
In Kingston, the first settlers located in the southeast quarter of the township. Pennsylvania contributed the larger portion of them, and as early as 1807, sent out George Hess and John Phil- ips. In 1809, James Stark, John Rosecrans, Daniel Rosecrans and David Taylor moved in, and com- menced the business of preparing the wilderness for human habitations. The Rosecranses were a prolific people, if we may accredit the early chronicles. from which we learn that Jolin brought with him four stal- wart sons, to say nothing of his daughters. With a profound respect for the patriarchs and prophets, he called his sons Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and John. Daniel Rosecrans' family consisted of Na- thaniel, Jacob, Purlemas and Crandall. Joseph Patrick and his wife came to the neighborhood with the Rosecranses. This constituted the sum total of the settlements in this township, so far as we were able to learn, prior to the war of 1812. We quote the following from a local record : "The Anways were settlers in 1815, and escaped the suspense suffered by their earlier neighbors. The neighbors in Pennsylvania were nearer neighbors here. Common interest grouped their cabins, and gave them security against attack. To the north- ward they knew there were no settlements, and the presence of the foe would be the first indication of danger. In the year 1812, a block-house was built at Stark's Corner. The more cautious retired hither nightly. Drake's historic defeat drove the entire settlement to the little fortress. where they awaited the onset." When the truth came out, the people returned to their homes, and doubtless (we may venture the remark with safety), when they did learn the truth of the matter, they in- dulged in a few pages of profane history, at the man who, in such squally times, would perpetrate a practical joke, and we don't Name them either. The most famous event perhaps connected with the history of Kingston Township, is the fart that it gave birth to Maj. Gen. Rosecrans, a gallant officer of the late war.
The first account we have of a settlement in what is now Delaware Township, was made in the present city of Delaware. In the fall of 1807, one Joseph Barber built a cabin at the Sulphur
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Spring. The spot on which it was located is now embraced in the University Campus. Says Howe in his "Historical Collections," from which we have several times quoted: "It stood close to the spring, and was made of poles, Indian fashion, fif- teen feet square, in which he kept tavern. The principal settlers were Messrs. Byxbe, William Little, Dr. Lamb, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake (Baptist preacher), Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In 1808 Moses Byxbe built the first frame house on William Street. Lot 70, and the first brick house was ere cted the ensuing fall. by Elder Drake, on Winter street. Being unable to get but one mason, his wife laid all the brick of the inside walls." (Lady readers, how many of you, who grow up like hothouse plants, could, in case of the most extreme emergency, perform such work as laying brick ?) But few settlements were made in this division of the county, until the lay- ing-out of the town in 1808 (about the time of the formation of the county). After it became the seat of justice, it settled up rapidly, as more particularly noticed in another chapter.
In 1807, a settlement was made in the present township of Marlborough, by Jacob Foust. The following account of his trip to this section is of some interest : "Foust left Pennsylvania in 1799, with the aim to settle in the Scioto Valley. He had with him a good team of horses, a wagon, a cow, and his wife and seven children. He crossed the Ohio at Wheeling, and, leaving the few habita- tions of the river, entered the forest, which lay un- broken for miles before him. Twenty miles through the woods brought the family to a large building erected as a 'travelers rest,' capable of holding fifty persons. Here they resolved to pass a night. Morning came, and discovered the fact that some raseal had stolen the best horse. Foust rode to Will's Creek, and hired help to bring the family to that point. Thence they were advanced to Zanes- ville, where, arriving at night and finding a black- smith-shop near the center of the town, they took possession. The smith was much surprised in the morning to find his shop converted into a dwelling, but kindly provided some provision for their break- fast. Foust leased land of a man named Brown, and raised a good crop of corn. A woman came along one day with an empty wagon and four horses-her share of an estate. Foust engaged the wagon and team, and hired a man named Bow- man to convey his family on to Coleraine Township, of Ross County, where the family remained until 1807. In April of this year, Foust moved up to the !
forks of the Whetstone, and squatted on lands belonging to the Campbell heirs-the first settler in that section. and only the cabin of Barber, near the spring at Delaware, between his cabin and the Carpenter settlement." The next settler on the river in this section was Ariel Strong; the third was a newly married pair of young people, named Swinington. These three families were all the set- tlers in this immediate section, prior to 1808. At other points in the township, there were Nathaniel Wyatt, from New York, William Brundage and his son Nathaniel, William Hannaman, Levi Hin- ter, William and Allen Reed and families. Joseph Curran, Isaac Bush and Silas Davis came in prior to 1812.
In the same year as given above (1807), settle- ments were made in Trenton Township. William Perfect and Mordecai Thomas were the first squat- ters, and came from the "dark and bloody ground." A man named Spining owned 1.000 acres of military land, and Thomas and Perfect each bought 100 acres of this land, located at the mouth of Perfect Creek, a little stream named for the family. Bartholomew Anderson also came from Kentucky, and settled just east of Perfect. in 1810. John Culver. Michael Ely and their fami- lies were the first settlers north of Culver's Creek. and located in the settlement in 1809. Shortly after them John Williamson came and bought land of Ely, and during the year, married his daughter Rosanna. A man named Roberts is noted as the first permanent settler on Rattlesnake's Run. where he lived for twenty years or more. John Gim set- tled on the Creek near by, as early as 1807-8. William Ridgaway came a few years later and set- tled on a farm adjoining to that of Gim's. We make the following extract referring to the settlers of this township: "The northern part of the township was settled by industrious people from New Jersey. A colony from Ithaca. N. Y. settled in the south, and one from Pennsylvania in the west part of the township, all strong men, well fitted for toil in the forest. Of the early settlers was Gratax, who wore 'leather breeches full of stitches,' a fawn-skin vest, and a coon-skin cap One farmer ran two large asheries. and supplied Delaware with salt and window glass for more than twelve years. These articles he wagoned from Zanesville. Jonathan Condit, whose descendants are scattered over the east part of the township, came from New Jersey, and settled on Little Wal- nut. . Oliver Gratax came a single man, and mar- ried a Miss Rosecrans."
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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The wilderness of the present township of Har- lem was broken by white men also in 1807. In this year, one Benijah Cook emigrated from Con- necticut, and built the first cabin. and is recorded as the first settler in the township. A man named Thomson ( without the p) built the next cabin, and in 1811 sold his improvement to a Mr. Adams. Daniel Bennett had settled in the neighborhood prior to the coming of Adams. He was a preacher (Bennett), and lived on the farm until the time of his death, years later. John Budd came in about this time and bought land where the village is located. From Pennsylvania came William Fan- cher and family, and, following him, Waters and family. Fancher built the first brick house in the township, in which he spent the remainder of his life. " Porter Township * drew her first settlers from the Susquehanna. and from Western Pennsylvania. They were an energetic people, and entered the dense forest with a resolution to create for them- selves comfortable homes. Each made his effort the first year to consist in clearing six to eight acres, and planting a crop of corn. Christopher and Ebenezer Linberger were the first settlers in the township. The third settler was Joel Z. Mendenhall -all three located in and near the village of Olive Green. The settlement of Porter began after the organization of the county. Tim- othy Murphy settled north of Olive Green, and Daniel Pint in the same locality. Their improve- ments were made on land owned by Robert Porter, after whom the township was named, and the set- tlers were called squatters. Joseph Patrick became the agent of Porter. and leased lots containing one hundred acres to each settler." In 1811, Peter and Isaac Place settled in the southeast portion of the township, and Abraham Anway settled near Liberty. Other settlers came in after the war of 1812, and the township was rapidly taken up.
. In Orange Township we have Joab Norton recorded as the first settler. The following is from a published account : " In the family are old-time letters from Worthington, asking him to migrate to that village and bring with him all his tools for shoemaking, and a quantity of dressed calf-skins. The letters bear date of the spring of 1807, and indicate an anxiety for his arrival. Responding to the call, Norton started with his family from Con- nectient in 1807, reached Worthington, where he remained one year, and then moved up into Orange, and settled one mile west of Orange Station, on
land purchased of James Kilbourne. Norton started a tannery in 1808, the first in Delaware County, and combining the manufacture of shoes with his tannery, he employed for his work- man Charles Hempstead." From the Empire State, the township received as recruits N. King in 1810, and C. P. Elsbree and J. McCumber in 1811. The two latter settled north of Orange, and King settled on the place known as the Conk- ling Farm. John Higgins came from Vermont in 1808, soon after the settlement of Norton, and was followed shortly by others of his family. who set- tled in the southwest quarter of the township. Lewis Eaton and family were from New Hamp- shire. and located just south of King's place. E. Luddington settled just south of Norton, toward the close of 1808. His wife died in 1810, and is recorded as the first death occurring in the settle- ment. The early settlers on the east side of Alum Creek were William Stenard, John Gordon, and Ira Arnold, who came in and located, in the order mentioned. Randall Arnold, Isaac Black, Chester Campbell, Lee Hurlbut, and Cyrus Chambers, were all early settlers, and came to the township before the war of 1812.
The territory embraced in Brown Township was not occupied by the whites as early as many of the other divisions of the county. The follow- ing notice from the County Atlas, is about as ap- propriate as any matter we have obtained in regard to this settlement. "The earliest settlement of the township was made along the west bank of Alum Creek. The northeast quarter was known as the ' Salt Reservation,' and strong hopes were raised of finding salt water, by boring wells, sufficiently salt to pay for the establishment of works thereon. Daniel G. Thurston, F. Cowgill, and Stephen Goram had a well sunk and some salt made, but the brine was not strong, and the work was abandoned. The Smiths, Cunninghams, and Longwells were leasers and settlers of the early times. Hugh Lee, father of John C. Lee, Lieu- tenant Governor of the State for two terms. was an inhabitant of the southern part of Brown. Daniel Thurston was the first Justice of the Peace, etc."
Oxford Township claims white settlements as early as 1810. The first to locate within its borders were Ezra and Comfort Olds, who moved in from Sunbury. John Foust was the next man. He came from Marl- borough, and Henry Foust moved in shortly after. Their cabins were of the rude architecture of the time. Foust's, we are told, was innocent of any floor, except mother earth, for several years. Old's
* County Atlas.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
house was but twenty feet square, and contained but one room. It was large enough, however, (in that day) for a family of six persons, and had plenty of room to spare, as the sequel will show. A family of the name of Clark moved into the settlement late in the fall, and Olds took them in for the winter. There were mine of them, thus making a total of fifteen persons in a room twenty feet square. But such was the feeling toward the new-comer in the early days, that one was never turned empty away. George Claypool located in the northwest corner of the township, and opened a tan-yard near the river, and with it he connected the manufacture of shoes. The early settlers on Alum Creek were Andrew Murphy, James Mc- Williams, Hugh Waters and Henry Wolf. Murphy was comfortably situated in his Pennsylvania home, but was induced to come West, was borne down by hardships, and died on his new lands. Walters built a mill on the creek, the first in the neigh- borhood. Ogden Windsor built the first frame barn, and Foust the first frame house in Oxford Township.
Next in order, we have account of settlements made in what is now Concord Township. George Hill, a native of Pennsylvania, came to this local- ity in 1811. Others of the Hill family accompa- nied him to the "Great West; " also Christopher Freshwater. Hill is said to have built the first cabin in this division of the county. It was lo- cated just north of the old Mansion House, erected at the White Sulphur Springs, and stood on a lot once owned by Joel Marsh. Freshwater, who was a brother-in-law of Hill, built the second cabin in this section. Benjamin Hill, a son of George Hill, still lives in the township. At the time these settlements were made, there . were no residents nearer than Whetstone, Radnor and Dub- lin ; nor were there any roads through the forest. A "pack-horse trail " wound along the west bank of the Scioto River, from Columbus to San- dusky. There is a tradition, erroneous though we believe it to be, that the old colored man, Depp, with his family settled here in 1790. That they came in early, there is no question, but, that they were here at that remote period, is ex- tremely doubtful. The Sulphur Springs, and the " Industrial Home," are matters of historical in- terest, that will be appropriately noticed in another chapter.
Samuel Weaver is accredited as being the first settler in the present township of Thompson. and came in 1809. He came from the Old
Dominion, and located on land owned by C. Hill, below Clark's survey. Weaver seems to have been the only squatter in this division of the county, previous to the war of 1812, as the next immigrant noticed is John Cochrane, who came in 1816, and was from Pennsylvania. John Swartz and four sons, also from Pennsylvania, came to the settlement in 1818, and during the same year. Simon Lindsley and John Hurd came from the Green Mountains of Vermont, and settled on the first lot below Swartz. Roswell Field came from New England in 1819, and is noticed as the first Justice of the Peace. In 1820, Joseph Russell and Samuel Broderick settled on Clark's survey. three miles below the " mills." These were all the residents of the township up to 1820, of whom we have any account.
In 1812, Eleazer Main is noted as having settled in the division known as Troy Township. The following account is given of this pioneer of Troy : "Shortly after his settlement in 1812. he responded to the call for troops, and leaving his family in the woods, perhaps forever, went to the relief of Fort Meigs, on Lake Erie. where the gallant Croghan had repelled the British and In- dians. Arrived near the fort, the men anslung knapsacks, and lay down, gun in hand. A dark and rainy night passed away, and before daylight word was given and the line of battle formed. Outlying parties of savages reported to the British that a powerful army was near by, and the hastily spiked guns were buried in the earth and the army hurried away." Lyman Main was also among the early settlers of the town- ship, and had some notoriety as a hunter. From old Virginia the settlement received Joseph Cole and David Dix. John Duncan and William Norris settled on Norris Branch, and are recorded among the pioneers. An- other of the early settlers was David Carter. He met an untimely death at the raising of a barn for James Martin. Henry Cline came to the settlement in 1814. and Henry Worline shortly after, and settled near Cline. Cole erected a grist- mill at an early day. which was an acceptable in- stitution in the neighborhood. Col. Byxbe owned a large body of land here, which he leased to set -. thers as they came in. Some of them built cabins. and, after trying one crop. left in disgust. Not all who went West remained to " grow up with the country," but those who did, found that enterprise and energy were just as essential to success as it is at the present day.
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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Such is a brief notice of the early settlements made | everything pertaining to the pioneers and their in the county in the order they occurred. We ' early settlement will be entered into. A chapter have thus glanced hastily at this part of the work will be devoted to each township, in which all mat- to avoid repetition in the township histories, where ters of interest will be given in detail.
CHAPTER III.
LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS-BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES --- STORES, ETC .- MILLS-TAVERNS- .
ROADS-TOWNS AND VILLAGES-PIONEER ASSOCIATION.
" Angels weep when a babe is born, And sing when an old man dies." --- Anon.
THE pioneers whose names have been given in the preceding chapter, with few, if any, ex- ceptions, have emigrated to that land that is un- disturbed by the Indians' war-whoop -- a land where toil and danger never come. They came to a wil- derness, infested with savages and wild beasts, and for years held their lives, as it were, in their own hands. Many of them were Revolutionary soldiers who had fought for the freedom of their country, and when victory perched upon its banners, and the olive branch of peace waved over the nation, they were forced to accept remuneration from an impoverished Government in Western lands. The privations endured in the patriot army were small in comparison to those which met them in these wild and unbroken regious, and the dangers en- countered in conflict with the hitherto victorious legions of King George, dwindled into insignifi- cance by those of bearding the treacherous red man in his own country. The rifle was their in- separable companion, whether on the hunt, tilling the small patch of corn, or on a friendly visit to a neighboring pioneer, and they were always ready for a tussle with either bear or savage. When they lay down to sleep at night, it was often with a feeling of uncertainty as to whether they would awake in this world or the next.
But the depredations of the Indians were not the only dangers and troubles and vicissitudes to which the early settlers were exposed in the wilder- ness. We sometimes find ourselves wondering, as we chronicle the scenes and incidents of early times, what the present generations would do, if all at once they were to find themselves subjected to the " rough habit, coarse fare, and severe duty," which were so well known to the pioneers. The country has undergone a great change. Sixty or seventy years ago, the few scattering settlers were
found in pole cabins, of perhaps sixteen by eight- een feet in dimensions ; the cracks daubed with mud ; a puncheon floor, so well ventilated that a child would almost fall through the cracks between the puncheons, and a chimney of wood and sticks and clay. If a man was so fortunate as to be able to have a glass window in his cabin, his neighbors would pronounce him "big feelin'," " stuck up," etc., and rather avoid him. The furniture of these primitive cabins was scarcely equal to the veneered walnut adorning our elegant homes of the present day. The chairs usually consisted of blocks sawed from a log, augur-holes bored in them, and legs put in. Bedsteads were improvised in quite as plain a manner, while the beds themselves were usually leaves and wild grass, which bonest toil rendered " soft as downy pillows are." To more clearly illustrate the simple mode of life practiced by the early settlers, we quote two separate and distinct authorities on the subject. The one is " Howe's Historical Annals," published in 1848, and the other the "County Atlas," published in 1866. The similarity between the two is some- what striking, but affords rather convincing proof of the truth of the matter under consideration. They are as follows :
HOWE'S ANNALS, 1848. COUNTY ATLAS, 1866.
During the early period of the county, the people were in a condition of complete social equality ; no aristocratic distinctions were thought of in society, and the first line of de- markation drawn was to separate the very bad from the general mass. Their parties were for raisings and log-rollings, and, the labor being finished, their sports usually were shoot- The pioneers lived in a state of perfect social equality - no aristocratic notions of caste, rank, or office were felt. The only demarkation was between the civil and actual offend- ers. Their meetings were for raisings, log-rollings. huskings, weddings, sing- ing-schools, and religious devotions. Their amuse- ments were . frolics," gam- ing, gymnastic evolutions, ing and gymnastic exer- land convivial meetings of
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cises with the men, and convivial amusements among the women; no punctilious formality, nor ignoble aping the fashions of licentious Paris, marred their assemblies, but all were happy and enjoyed themselves in seeing oth- ers so. The rich and the poor dressed alike; the Such was their common men generally wearing hunting-shirts and buck- her bridal attire, she as- skin pants, and the wo- | pired to calico. Silks, sat-
the young. In these sports and meetings there was no punctilious formality or aping the styles of modern Paris. The rich and poor dressed alike. The men wore buckskin pants and hunting-shirts, and the women were attired in coarse, home-made fabrics. dress. If a damsel sought ins, hoops, and flummery -which now burden the
men attired in coarse fab- rics, produced by their own hands ; such was their slender frame, and empty common and holiday dress; our pockets - were never and if a fair damsel wished | dreamed of. Household a superb dress for her furniture was equally sim- bridal day, her highest ple. Bedsteads were fre- aspiration was to obtain a quently original, consisting common American cotton of forked sticks driven in check. Silks. satins, and the ground, and poles to
fancy goods, that now in- support the cord or clap- boards. Etc., etc. flate our vanity and de- plete our purses, were not then even dreamed of. The cabins were furnished in the same style of simplicity ; the bedsteads were home- made, and often consisted of forked sticks driven into the ground, with cross-poles to support the clapboards or the cord. One pot, kettle, and frying-pan were the only articles considered indispensable, though some included the tea-kettle; a few plates and dishes upon a shelf in one corner was as satisfactory as is now a cupboard full of china, and their food relished from a puncheon table. Some of the wealthiest families had a few split-bottomed chairs, but, as a general thing, stools and benches answered the places of lounges and sofas, and at first the greensward, or smoothly leveled earth, served the double purpose of floor and carpet. Whisky toddy was considered luxury enough for any party-the woods furnished abundance of veni- son, and corn pone supplied the place of every variety of pastry. Flour could not for some time be obtained nearer than Chillicothe or Zanesville ; goods were very high, and none but the most com- mon kinds were brought here, and had to be packed on horses or mules from Detroit, or wagoned from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, thence down the river in fiatboats to the mouth of the Scioto, and then packed or hauled up.
Not to man alone, however, is the credit due of transforming the wilderness into an Eden of loveli- ness. Woman. the guardian angel of the sterner sex, did as much in her way as man himself. She was not only his companion, but his helpmate. Figuratively, she put her hand to the plow, and, when occasion demanded, did not hesitate to do so literally. They assisted in planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops, besides attending to their
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