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 47
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* * * * quires a careful study of the habits of the differ- ent forest trees, the conditions of forest growth, and a wise and provident regard for the wants of the distant future, which few are inclined to ex- hibit. *
" The systematic planting of new forests re- *
* * Some of the most obvious con- ditions of forest growth are a congenial soil and a humid condition, both of the soil and of the air, during the season of most rapid growth. In the native forests, natural selection secures the occu- pancy of the territory to the species to which the soil and the environment are the most congenial, while continued occupancy of the soil by one spe- cies or family often renders it less and less fitted for their use, and better fitted for others that are waiting to take possession ; so that a marked tend- ency to rotation, a crowding-out of the old occu- pants and the introduction of new ones, is ob- served in all forests. In mixed forests, these changes are gradual ; in forests composed of one species or family, the change is often abrupt and complete. In artificial forest culture, these tend- encies should be carefully observed and their indications followed. The species that are tending to crowd out the old occupants will be likely to succeed the best when artificially planted. *
274
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
required each year for the ties for the railroads already constructed in the United States and Terri- tories, and the cost of fencing material for the whole country must be vastly in excess of this.
"The Erie Railroad Company classifies timber for ties as follows: First class-Second growth chestnut, white oak, burr oak, rock oak, black locust, and mulberry. Second class-Butternut, cherry, red cedar, white cedar, yellow cedar, South- ern cypress, black elm, rock maple, black oak, pitch pine, and black walnut. Third class - Black birch, first growth ; chestnut, Northern cypress, red elm, white hemlock, soft maple, red oak, tamarack, and yellow pine. If the catalpa was added in first class, the list and classification might be considered as substantially correct, and where trees are planted with the main design of growing railroad ties and fencing posts, trees may well be selected substan- tially in the order above named, according as they are adapted to the locality, and the grounds to be planted.
" An equally early return may be obtained from trees planted for the purpose of producing tough timber for wagon-making, ax-helves, and other wooden handles, and all uses for which small pieces of strong timber are required. For these uses, hickory and white ash are best adapted, and, while generally it will probably be advisable to plant a mixed forest, a plantation exclusively of hickory can hardly fail to yield a profitable return. By selecting the most edible nuts of the shag-bark variety, planting thickly, with rows . not more than four feet apart, and with the trees not more than two feet apart in the row, in a very few years the harvest may begin by cutting hoop-poles, which will be removed from the stump. and produce a continuous yield, the larger thinnings making the very best of firewood, and by the time the planta- tion commences to yield timber for the purposes indicated above, the crop of nuts will be no insig- nificant part of the returns. * *
* * *
" But there are other uses for artificially grown timber, in which the profits may be made much larger -the growing of ornamental woods for cab- inet work and the inside finish of houses; and for this purpose there may be selected the black wal- nut, the butternut, the white ash, the chestnut, the soft maple, the catalpa for the southern half of the State, and probably some others. The arboricul- turist who will be the first to gather a harvest of well-grown trees for these uses, will find that he has received a return for his labor, in money, to an
amount which could not be equaled by any ordi- nary farm crops. The demand for such lumber, to cut into veneers, would for years exhaust the sup- ply, and prices would remain high until the market was fully stocked.
" The sugar maple is not enumerated in the list of trees given above, but the maple sugar and syrup of the future will depend upon 'sugar orchards,' artificially planted, or upon the careful protection of the seedlings in the present forest reserves. The old trees are fast dying out, and, in rare instances only, are the young trees so cared for as to render them secure. There can be but little doubt that ten or more acres of these trees, well established on a farm of ordinary size, even of a few years' growth, would add more to the salable value of the farm than the cost of planting and caring for the plantation. * * *
" The thick planting of trees and encouraging the growth of the 'underbrush' in the forest reserves, which is now largely destroyed, will have another beneficial result in increasing the number of our small insect-eating song-birds. Within a comparatively few years, their number has been greatly diminished, and largely because of the destruction of the thickets and shrubs, which are their favorite nesting places. Let these be per- mitted to grow in the forests, and they will again be vocal with the songs of the birds. They are also one of the natural checks to the undue increase of destructive insects, and we cannot, without great risk, dispense with their aid.
" Very little has yet been done in Ohio toward renewing or increasing our forests. E. E. Barney, of Dayton, has made some interesting experi- ments, and collected valuable facts in regard to the catalpa and its cultivation. Messrs. Storrs & Har- rison, of Painesville, have made a specialty of the raising of chestnut seedlings, and can furnish them in large quantities, and at very cheap rates ; and, generally, there is a growing interest in all matters pertaining to forest culture throughout the State. It is often a matter of boasting that there is no waste land in the State, that it is all susceptible of cultivation. But if one-fourth of the surface was occupied by hills and mountains, so rocky and precipitous as to repel all attempts at their cultivation, and compel their reservation for forests alone, our future would be much more secure. The extensive ' barrens' in many of the Southern States, supporting a meager forest growth, with a soil so sterile that it will not pay for clearing
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
275
and fencing, serve important climatic purposes, and tend to secure the perpetual value of the ara- ble lands. Apparently better favored, we will suffer irremediable loss if we are unwilling to devote a fair percentage of our ' good lands' to the growth of forests."
The seasons, like many other things, run in cycles-not always of the same duration-but observation extending over the last forty years has satisfied any close observer, that dry, or moderately dry periods, continue not longer, usually, than seven years. The earth, that is called inanimate, has many of the characteristics of the animated being. It cannot run much more than seven years and maintain its reputation for cleanliness and health- fulness, without having a bath; and, the bath being ordered, the rains descend, until the big, rounded form of old Mother Earth has had a good washing and cleansing from the impurities that accumulate.
The year 1828 was a flood year (we are told, it was before our day), so was 1835-36, as also 1844. In the month of June of the latter year, if the traditions be true, there was more water upon the face of the earth, in the Western country, than ever known since the days of Noah's flood. Again, in 1851, much water fell; the next wet spell was some seven or eight years later. The years 1867 and 1868, ending in the spring of 1869, were very wet years in the West and South- west. The last wet spell began in July, 1876. It being the centennial year, there was a high old time, drowning out all the corn on the lowlands, and keeping up the spree for two years.
Having said something of the periodic theory, it has been further observed that when the dry periods occur in the Eastern Continent, we have our wet seasons in the Western Continent, and vice versa. During the past two or three years, when we were so flooded with water that we would have been glad to have given some of it away, there have been fearful famines in portions of Asia and other sections of the world, produced by the want of the rain that fell where it was not wanted. The change has set in which will most probably reverse this order. Thus, it may be observed that Mother Earth, in taking her bath, washes but one side at a time, and it may be further observed that the law of compensation is ever asserting itself in the adjustment of nature's divine order, by action and re-action, which is the safety-valve of the universe.
Planets move in cycles, also, making revolutions in regular periods of time, as do the seasons too.
The tides are periodic, and many of the malarial diseases are periodic, as the doctors (wiseacres that they are) will tell you. There are numerous and gorgeously grand geysers in the Territory of Wyoming, spouting forth immense volumes of water-hot, cold and tepid-to the height of the tallest treetops, and all of them are perfectly periodic-some long and some short-but all prompt and regular in their own time, like the breathing of animals.
The earth has many of the characteristics of an animal. The rise and fall of the tide once every twelve hours is but the respiration of the huge an- imal upon which we live ; the great rivers of water that have their internal passway, as well as those that flow upon the surface, are only the arteries and the veins that supply the life blood to the animal; the great mountain range that extends the whole length of the globe from north to south is only the backbone of the animal; the mountains that swell up from the body of the earth are but moles and warts upon that body ; the great fountain of oil that lies in the bowels of the earth is what the plain-spoken butcher would call "gut-fat ; " the thunders that roll across the vaulted heavens are but the electric sparks that snap and fly from the Thomas cat's back ; the shrubs and trees that grow upon the globe are but the hairs and bristles that cover and clothe the body of the great animal ; the mutterings and rumblings of the earthquake are only the eructations and disturbances in poor earth's bowels ; and the opening of the huge crater, vomiting forth fire, ashes, stones, and red-hot lava, what is that but the discharge of an overloaded and disordered stomach, that may have taken in too much unwholesome food, or. perhaps, too much- strong drink ? Now, who shall say that the earth is not as much an animal as it is a vegetable or mineral substance? and who can maintain that the myriads of animals that creep, crawl, leap and fly over the earth's surface, and the millions of men standing erect upon that same ground, are anything more than parasites that feed and fatten upon the body and blood of this same good old Mother Earth ?
The results of meteorological observations, found on the following page, may be of some interest to the reader. They were made at Urbana, latitude 40° 6' north, longitude 84º 43' west, for the year 1878, by Milo G. Williams, in accordance with the methods adopted by the Smithsonian Institu- tion, the hours of observation being 7 A. M., 2 P. M., and 9 P. M.
1
MEAN DEGREE OF FORCE OF THE WINDS AND COURSE FROM WHICH THEY COME FOR THE YEAR.
1878.
Force.
N.
N. E.
E.
S. E.
S.
S. W.
W.
N. W.
Calm.
January
1.69
4
1
11
4
14
15
6
81
February
1.54
3
12
..
2
8
8
6
7
38
March
2.15
3
3
4
7
16
15
11
8
26
April.
1 96
6
2
4
9
9
20
8
6
26
May
1.97
1
4
1
10
7
17
14
3
36
June
1.43
3
4
3
1
13
17
6
8
34
July
1.11
6
2
2
2
3
14
11
3
50
August
1.11
5
1
3
2
- 2
11
11
4
54
September
1.01
6
3
1
3
10
10
5
4
48
October
1.59
2
3
2
1
3
18
14
8
42
November
1.81
2
1
3
1
9
6
16
6
46
December.
1.38
2
3
1
6
4
10
21
4
42
Means and summaries.
1.51
43
39
35
49
98
161
130
67
473
MEAN DEGREE OF CLOUDS AND THE COURSE FROM WHICH THEY COME FOR THE YEAR.
1878.
Degree.
N. .
N. E.
E.
S. E.
S.
S W.
W.
N. W.
Donbt- ful.
Clear.
January
7.02
2
2
3
5
7
18
4
31
21
February
6.42
3
2
1
1
2
7
14
4
22
28
March.
6.00
3
1
4
7
25
12
17
24
April.
7.02
5
3
2
1
10
12
23
5
14
15
May
6.04
4
2
2
13
28
3
20
21
June.
4.93
1
4
1
1
3
7
25
6
8
34
July ..
4.37
7
3
2
6
8
23
1
12
31
August.
4.89
4
7
1
1
2
6
29
14
3
26
September
3.85
10
1
1
6
11
9
2
11
39
October
4.02
4
1
3
10
22
5
9
39
November
5.37
4
2
5
1
27
7
14
30
December
7.83
3
1
4
2
26
4
39
15
Means and summaries.
5.65
50
22
13
9
52
91
268
67
200
323
SUMMARY OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Minimum temperature.
Maximum temperature.
Mean of the coldest day.
Mean of warmest day.
Mean temperature of the
Minimum of the barom-
Maximum of the barom-
Mean barometer of the
Number of days of snow.
Quantity of snow.
Number of days of rain.
Quantity of rainfall.
No. of daye wholly cloudy.
Number of days fair.
| Number of days clear.
Thunder.
January
10
753
18
7 .50 20 45.00:29.87 28.42 29.35 28.850 7 19.77|
7 4.06
9 2
February
2
4 60
21 4 12.00 21 53.00 22.64 28.18 29.21 28.770 4
2.35 4
2.53
-1 9
4
1
March
18
25 70
29 25 27.50 9 63.25 45.80 28.27 29.09 28.792
1
15
3.65
2 11: 2
2
April
30
7.82
22 6 45.50 23 67.75 57.77 28.29 28.95 28.642
7 3.20
9 13
1: 4
May
32
13 85
2,12 46.50 2 72.75 60.88 28.55 29.00 28.788
11 3.28
8 12 ...: 3
June
47
6 91
30,22 53.75 29 80.50 66.78 28.32 29.05 28.784
8
3.79 . 3;
14 5
4
July
52
23 92
17 22 66.75 17 82.50 76. 17 28.37 29.02 28.790
7
6.16
21 3 7
August
53
26 89
4 26 65.75 9 78.75 72.54 28 61 28.89 28.750
10
5.27
. .
1
14
1
October
23
28 80
1 831.00 1:71.0051.99 28.64 29.15.28.870 1
.50
9
2.85
1 12
8' 1
November
122
2, 30 63!
6 30 30.50: 6:57.50 41.29 28.19 29.22 28.851 1
.35
8
2.26
co 14 4 ... ..
December
12
24 45
924, 1.50| 1 41.25 23.79 28.19 29.33 28.843 10 16.23
4 3.66
7 8 2.
Means and summaries
52.00 28.38.29.29 28.804 24.39.20 98:44.04 47 154 42 31
1878.
Day.
Day.
Coldest day.
Warmest day.
mouth.
eter. .
eter.
month.
17: 4 8
September
41 22, 28 84 7, 8 27 52.25 20 77.00 64.48 28.52 29.25 28.925
8
3.33
-1
276
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
9
1
..
..
277
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
-
CHAPTER IX.
WAR HISTORY-THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE-WAR OF 1812-THE MEXICAN WAR-WAR OF THE REBELLION -- SOME DISTINGUISHED MEN AND SOLDIERS.
" Of all the men
Whom day's departing beam saw blooming there, In proud and vigorous health ; of all the hearts That beat with anxious life at sunset there, How few survive, how few are beating now ! All is deep silence, like the fearful calm That slumbers in the storm's portentous pause ; Save when the frantic wail of widowed love Comes shuddering on the blast, or the faint moan With which some soul bursts from the frame of clay Wrapt round its struggling powers."-Shelley.
T THE patriotism of Delaware County is above re- proach ; the bravery of her sons has been tested on hundreds of battle-fields. Many of the early settlers of the county were soldiers in our great struggle for independence, and some, perhaps, had fought in the old French and Indian war. These wars, however, occurred long before there were any settlements made in Delaware County. The close of the Revolutionary war found the weak and feeble Government bankrupt, and the soldiers who had fought for liberty were forced to accept Western lands in payment for long years of military service. This brought many pioneers to the great wilderness of the West, and particularly to Ohio, where large . bodies of lands are still designated as " United States Military Lands" and " Virginia Military Lands." These were lands set apart for the benefit of Revolution- ary soldiers, by the United States Government. The best years of the lives of these old soldiers had been spent fighting for their country. Peace found them broken down in spirit and in body, and many of them in fortune, and, when a home and lands were offered them in the West, there remained no other alternative but to accept, and, like the poor Indian himself, move on toward the setting sun. Such was the noble and warlike stock from whom sprang the majority of the present generation of Delaware County.
The Revolutionary war, and the causes which led to it, are familiar to every school-boy in the country, and hence require no special notice in this work. The early wars of our country are familiar as household words, and are merely men- tioned in this connection as a prelude to one, "the
half of which has not yet been told," and much of which, perhaps. will never be written-the great rebellion. To it, and the country's par- ticipation in it, we shall have more to say in this chapter.
In the war of 1812, and the Indian wars of that period, Delaware County, comprising then but a population of a few hundreds, came forward with the same lofty spirit of patriotism which has ever since pervaded her sons, and which characterized their Revolutionary sires. There were some who had been present at the surrender of Cornwallis, and others who had been with Gates and Greene in the South, while many others were descendants of such heroic stock; and, when the tocsin of war sounded, and the roar of the British lion was again heard in the land, like the clans of Rod- erick Dhu, who assembled for battle at the " cir- cling o'er " of the " fiery cross "-
" Fast as the fatal symbol flies, In arms the huts and hamlets rise ; From winding gien, from upland brown, They poured each hardy tenant down. The fisherman forsook the strand, The swarthy smith took dirk and brand, With changed cheer the mower blithe Left in the half-cut swath his scythe : The herds without a keeper strayed, The plow was in mid-furrow stayed "-
they took down their old flint-lock fowling- pieces and hastened to offer themselves for the de- fense of their country. Many enlisted upon their arrival in the county as emigrants, even before they had found shelter for their families, and others were drafted into the service while on their way to their destined place of settlement. The whole number who served in the army from this county during the war, cannot, after this long lapse of time, be given, but comprised most all of the able- bodied men. A company of cavalry was raised in the county, of which Elias Murray was Captain, and James W. Crawford, the father of Col. Craw- ford, of Delaware, was a Lieutenant, and did duty for some time; while several regiments, or portions of regiments, of infantry, were recruited; and. upon special alarıns, the militia was called out to defend
278 2.79
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
the settlements. As a matter of some interest to our modern soldiers, we give the following abstract from the Quartermaster's Department during this war. Rations-1} pounds of beef : 3 pounds of pork ; 13 ounces of bread or flour; 1 gill of whisky. At the rate of 2 quarts of salt, 4 quarts of vin- egar, 4 pounds of soap and 13 pounds of candles to every 100 rations. And from the Paymaster's Department: Colonel, 875 per month, 5 rations and $12 for forage: Major, $50 per month and 3 rations; Captain, 840 and 3 rations; First Lieutenant, $30 and 2 rations; Second Lieuten- ant, $20 and 2 rations ; Ensign, 820 and 2 rations; Sergeant Major, $9; Second Master Sergeant, $9; other Sergeants, $3; Corporals, $7; musi- cians, 86; and privates, 86 per month.
The old military road Gen. Harrison made in his march to Fort Meigs, or Fort Sandusky, passes through the county and through the city of Del- aware. Through the latter, it is known as Sandusky street, in consequence of its northern terminus. There is also a legend to the effect that Harrison's army spent the winter in Delaware during the 1812 campaign, but how true we can- not say. However. the quiet and peaceable citi- zens of Delaware, as they witness the "Joy Guards" performing their harmless evolutions on the streets, cannot, without considerable effort, re- call the presence of a hostile army in their city, eagerly panting for war, and of-
" Red battle
With blood-red tresses deepening in the sun, And death-shot glowing in his fiery hands."
If Gen. Harrison did encamp in Delaware through the winter of 1813-14, the matter will be brought to light by our township historian, and given the prominence that such an historical occurrence nat- urally demands.
Capt. William Drake, a resident of the county, recruited a company of mounted men in the north part, and, for a period, performed active service. He is still remembered from a circumstance known in history as " Drake's Defeat," and to omit it would detract from the interest of our work. We quote from Howe : " After Hull's surrender, Capt. William Drake formed a company of rangers to protect the frontier from marauding bands of In- dians who then had nothing to restrain them ; and, when Lower Sandusky was threatened with attack, this company with alacrity obeyed the call to march to its defense. They encamped the first night a few miles beyond the outskirts of the settle- ment. In those days, the Captain was a great
wag, and naturally very fond of sport, and, being withal desirous of testing the courage of his men, after they had all got asleep, he slipped into the bushes at some distance, and, discharging his gun, rushed towards the camp yelling " Indians ! In- dians!" with all his might. The sentinels, sup- posing the alarm to proceed from one of their number, joined in the cry, and ran to quarters ; the men sprang to their feet in complete confusion, and the courageous attempted to form on the ground designated the night before in case of at- tack ; but the First Lieutenant, thinking there was more safety in depending upon legs than arms, took to his heels and dashed into the woods Seeing the consternation and impending disgrace of his company, the Captain quickly proclaimed the hoax and ordered a halt, but the Lieutenant's frightened imagination converted every sound into Indian yells and the sanguinary war-whoop, and the louder the Captain shouted, the faster he ran, till the sounds sank away in the distance, and he supposed the Captain and his adherents had suc- cumbed to the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. Supposing he had been asleep a few minutes only, he took the moon for his guide, and flew for home. Having had time to gain the western horizon, she led him in the wrong direction ; and, after breaking down saplings, and running through the woods and brush some ten miles, he reached Radnor settlement just at daybreak, bareheaded, and with his garments flowing in a thousand streamers. The people roused hurriedly from their slumber, and, horrified with his report that the whole company was massacred but him who alone had escaped, began a general and rapid flight. Each conveyed the tidings to his neighbor, and just after sunrise they came rushing through Delaware, mostly on horseback, many in wagons, and some on foot, presenting all those grotesque appearances that frontier settlers naturally would, supposing the Indians close in their rear. Many anecdotes are told, amusing now to us who cannot realize their feelings, that exhibit the varied hues of trepida- tion characterizing different persons, and also show that there is no difference between real and sup- posed danger-and yet those actuated by the latter seldom receive the sympathies of their fellows. One family, named Penry, drove so fast that they bounced a little boy, two or three years old, out of the wayon, near Delaware, and did not miss him until they had gone five or six miles on their way to Worthington, and then upon consultation concluded , it was too late to recover him amid such imminent
G
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 210. 281
danger, and so yielded him up as a painful sacrifice ! But the little fellow found protection from others, and is now (1848) living in the western part of the county. One woman, in the confusion of hurry- ing off, forgot her babe till after starting, and ran back to get it, but, being peculiarly absent minded, she caught up a stick of wood from the chimney corner, and hastened off, leaving her babe again quietly sleeping in the cradle ! A large portion of the people fled to Worthington and Franklin- ton, and some kept on to Chillicothe. In Dela- ware, the men who could be spared from convey- ing away their families, or who had none, rallied for defense, and sent scouts to Norton to reconnoi- ter, where they found the people quietly engaged in their ordinary avocations, having received a message from the Captain ; but it was too late to save the other settlements from a precipitous flight. Upon the whole, it. was quite an injury to the county, as a large amount of produce was lost from the intrusion of cattle, and the want of hands. to harvest it; many of the people being slow in returning, and some never did. Capt. Drake, with his company, marched on to 'Sandusky, to execute the duty assigned to him, without know- ing the effect produced in his rear." Drake was afterward Associate Judge, and filled various other offices in the county. He was a man highly re- spected, hospitable, running over with good humor, and a strong love for anecdote and fun. He was censured somewhat for his joke in this case, and never wholly forgiven, perhaps, by some of those who suffered most in the general stampede caused by his penchant for fun and frolic.
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