History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 2

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2 > Part 2

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Up to 1808, when the county was formed and its offices located at the town of Delaware, Berk- shire Corners continued to thrive as the probable location of the future county seat. Indeed, it was expressly promised by Col. Byxbe to the early settlers of Berkshire, and it had, doubtless, great weight in determining the settlement of many others. The formation of a new county, and the close proximity of its capital, offered peculiar in- ducements to the laudable ambition of the culti- vated pioneer, and, although the county seat was located at Delaware, the county has honored itself and Berkshire in elevating several of its pioneers to positions of honor and trust. Hon. Ezekiel Brown was elected County Commissioner, and Thomas Brown as Associate Judge, at the first. organization of the county. There had been some local consideration of the feasibility of removing the State capital to the Corners. It was shown with considerable plausibility that the location was central, it was as easy of access as any location, and the over-sanguine felt, that, with the county seat there, it was only a question of time wben Berkshire would put off its rustic garb, and, don- ning urban habiliments, would grow prosperous and influential. What might have been can hardly be determined at this date. It is suthi- cient to say that the first requisite for such an event was wanting. The leading genius of the place had opposing interests to satisfy. After disposing

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

of his land in the vicinity of the "Corners," in company with Judge Baldwin, Col. Byxbe came into possession of some 16,000 acres situ- ated about the present site of Delaware City, and at once transferred his family and interests to that place. Following the same line of action as at the "Corners," he called about him a colony which soon organized the county to their own liking, much to the dissatisfaction of the Berk- shire community.

In 1808, Nathaniel Hall erected the first mill in that section of the county, on Alum Creek. The structure was a saw-mill, grist-mill and dis- tillery combined, and was situated on the creek, near the place now spanned by the covered bridge, on the Delaware and Sunbury pike. This site, though situated within the present limits of Berlin, was essentially a Berkshire institution. The project, however, commanded the hearty co- operation of all the settlers around, who took their dinners with them one day and helped to build the dam. The science of engineering was in a crude state in the settlements at that time, and the dams constructed were rough expedients made tolerable only by the stern necessities of the situation. Log pens were constructed six feet square, roughly locked and pinned together at the corners. A succession of these constructions were placed across the stream at short intervals, and filled with stone. These were the anchors of the dam, which were further strengthened by a mass of stone placed in front. Behind these was piled a quantity of brush, which formed a support for the mass of earth which was placed upon it. Such a structure at its best estate could offer but little resistance to the dislodging power of a freshet, and required constant repairs, which made mill- ing a discouraging business. This mill was situ- ated on the main Indian trail which led up along Alum Creek from the south and east, and passed up the stream into Brown and on to San- dusky. Here the Indians brought their corn and traded for meal, but not always with complete satisfaction to themselves. They took some ex- ception to the way of dealing and threatened to burn the mill, a threat they fortunately failed to carry out. The mill proved to be a great boon to the community. Heretofore, " going to mill " had been an arduous undertaking. Mills were at first from fifty to seventy-five miles away, involv- ing a long, tedious journey through trackless woods and over unbridged streams. Such a jour- ney took nearly a week's time, and, as but a small

amount of corn or wheat could be carried, it in- volved a cost of time which the busy frontier farmer could illy afford. To obviate such diffi- culties, the early settler had recourse to various expedients. A common one learned of the In- dians was to cut off a stump level on the top and burn out a large basin in the prepared surface. A conveniently placed sapling was bent over and made to do duty as spring-pole, to the end of which was attached, by a grapevine, a heavy wooden pestle. With these crude arrangements the early settlers crushed bushels of corn and wheat. Gradually mills were built nearer the frontier settlements, and the boys, as soon as they could balance a bag of corn or wheat on horse- back, were " sent to mill." Owing to the faulty construction of the dams, grinding could be relied upon only about six months in the year, a fact which proved a great inconvenience. It is related of an early settler, that, starting out with a bag of wheat to be ground, he went from mill to mill without success, and, after riding 150 miles, he reached his cabin with his wheat unground. At other times the crude machinery would get out of repair, or several bags of grain would be on hand, delaying the new-comer till late in the night. An incident of this nature is related by the widow of David Lewis, Jr., at this writing still living in Berlin, at the age of ninety-six. Going to mill with her husband one day, she mounted the horse and balanced the grain, while he led the way on foot. Arriving at the mill, they found themselves forced to wait until nearly night. Starting as soon as they could get their grist, they took the beaten track for home. After going some distance, and finding night fast approaching, Mr. Lewis de- sired to take a short cut across the untracked for- est. To this Mrs. Lewis demurred, but finally, confiding in the judgment of her husband, at his suggestion, she headed the horse in the proper direction, gave him rein and trusted to his pilot- ing them home. After proceeding in the dark for some distance, guided only by the instinct of the animal, they began to entertain some misgiv- ings as to where they were going. Their fears were finally confirmed when the horse, turning into an open space in the forest, began to graze They at once recognized the place as a favorite pasturage where their horses got the bulk of their living, and that there was nothing to do but to wait for the moon to rise, by which they could shape their course. They succeeded in coming out within a mile of their cabin, though obliged to

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cross a stream on a log over which the water was flowing to the depth of eighteen inches, to reach it. This they accomplished in safety, Mr. Lewis supporting his wife, while he felt his way with his foot.

In 1811, Maj. Brown built the first brick house in the township, placing it southeast of the "Corners," where it now stands. There is a tra- dition that the walls were pierced by portholes for muskets, and certain marks are pointed out to the visitor as the traces of these holes. This is a mis- take. The house is the immediate successor of the log cabin, and was built of brick made near the spot where the building stands. It was a peculiarity of Berkshire that brick houses preceded " framed " houses, but it is explained by the fact that there happened to be a brickmaker and mason in the community. During the war of 1812, this house was used as a rallying point, and a place of security, for the families of the little settlement, but it was never called to face the foe. The war of 1812 affected Berkshire not essentially differ- ent from the other townships of the county removed from the frontier. Judge Carpenter furnished a large quantity of oats for the army, and John B. Grist and David Armstrong, who had been drafted, were detailed as teamsters to haul them to their destination. After Hull's sur- render, in common with the whole Northwest, the Berkshire community shared in the fear that the Indians, unchecked by the presence of an army, would pour over the boundary line and carry fire and bloodshed into every exposed settlement. Nothing, however, occurred to excite special alarm until the scare occasioned by "Drake's defeat." When this alarm spread, causing the people to for- sake their homes, and, frantic with fear, to rush on blindly in search of safety, many took the main road through Berkshire Corners. When ques- tioned, the terror-stricken refugees could give no intelligible answer save that the Indians were upon them. The alarm appeared to be so general that it excited some apprehension in the mind of Maj. Brown, and, in the course of a conversation with Crandall Rosecrans, the father of Gen. Rosecrans, he said he wished some one would go up the road and find out what the matter was. Rosecrans at once volunteered to go, and, setting out on foot, armed with a rifle, he prepared to meet the fue. He had got out about a mile, when he descried a horse- wan coming rapidly toward him. Stepping behind a stump, he awaited his approach. It proved to be an officer sent to inform the refugees that the

alarm was a false one. He delivered his message to Rosecrans and returned. This alarm, though it proved to be a false one, put the people in a chronic state of fear. At another time, two men, coming in from Mount Vernon, camped out in the woods near the Corners. Toward morning they were aroused from their sleep by an unusual noise. and they rushed forthwith into the settlement with the alarm of Indians. They declared that they had heard Indians singing their war songs as they danced, and begged the people to put themseives in a state of defense. The fighting force at once rallied, and a party went out to investigate the disturbance. After a careful examination of the whole ground, nothing of a suspicious nature could be found. A large hog's nest was discovered, and, as the night was cold, it is probable that they made this noise which the terrified imaginations of the travelers construed into Indian war songs. Not long after, another alarm was given, but not gen- erally credited by the settlers. Two men by the name of Sturdevant had been out for some time in the woods of Kingston Township, ostensibly boring for salt, though generally believed to be engaged in counterfeiting. They came rushing into the settlement one day, declaring that they had been fired at, but had escaped. and, in returning the fire, had hit an Indian. To satisfy the timid, a party went out to look up the matter. The spot where the supposed Indian fell was found. and a single drop of blood, but nothing more. It was simply a ruse of these fellows to get a plausible reason for leaving. These alarms had but a transitory effect upon the settlement at Berkshire Corners or else- where in the township ; not even the most timid entertained for a moment the thought of abandon- ing their new houses. Nor did it interrupt the regular business of clearing the forest or improv- ing their farms ..

The industrial enterprises engaged in by the early settlers were the outgrowth of their neces- sities and peculiar situation. The first great demand was for mills to grind their grain near at home, and others to furnish lumber with which to make homes and furniture and utensils of various sorts. Close upon these came the distilleries, which proved a mingled curse and blessing. Whisky was used with a freedom that would appear startling at this day, and was not essentially different in its effects then than now. The demand for these distilleries came not from the demand for drink, but from the demand for a market for their corn, which grew in such fruitful abundance.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

There were, at different times, three "stills" in operation within the limits of Berkshire Town- ship. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a '" still." It passed into the hands of Maj. Strong about 1817, and from him to Eleazer Gaylord in 1825. In its palmiest days, the busi- ness was carried on in a two-story stone building, about 25x35 feet. This sufficed to use up a large part of the surplus corn, or, rather, rendered it more to the taste of the pioneer. Here pure whisky was sold at 20 cents a gallon, and the settlers felt bound to support home institutions. Another "still " was erected just north of the village of Galena in 1820, by Joseph and Steven Larkin. This they soon after sold to George Van- fleet, an early settler in Galena, and built another just below the town, near the races which connect the Big and Little Walnut Rivers. A walnut tree and an abandoned well just south of the rail- road depot in Galena, marks the site of the Van- fleet " still." The habit of using whisky without restraint was not contracted in the new country. The early settlers, many of them, brought not only the custom with them, but the means to maintain its practice. The Oosterhaus brothers brought several barrels of whisky with them from the East, and supplied their less fortunate neigh- bors at 3 cents a drink or 16 cents a gallon. It is said that Gideon Oosterhaus' books are still pre- served, which show accounts for whisky at the current rates against many of the names familiar to the present citizens of Berkshire. Nor was this whisky shorn of its intoxicating qualities. A story is related of two intoxicated fellows who became enraged at each other, and proceeded each to "take it out of the other's hide." Long - time the battle stood in doubtful poise. The combatants, with nothing in the way of clothing left but their pants, were captured and separated. No sooner were they left than they sought each other out and began their pounding. At last they were captured and put over the fence in fields on opposite sides of the road, and there, too drunk to get over the fence, they remained breathing forth defiance like two enraged bulls. But the society of Berkshire by no means tolerated such bestiality. The boys of Sunbury, for their own amusement, and to exhibit in some sense the feeling of the community, adopted a summary mode of punish- ing such delinquents. When found drunk upon

the ground, one would seize each arm and leg, and, laying the victim on a barrel face downward, he was rolled until his stomach yielded its con- tents, and he was sobered up. One or two applica- tions of this treatment sufficed to keep the victim off the street when in an intoxicated state. One inveterate old case, who was familiarly known as Uncle Tommy, seemed to defy the correctional force of the old method, and more stringent methods had to be adopted. He was seized one time, thrust into a hogshead, and rolled some fifty yards into the creek. The treatment was severe, but the cure was radical for the time. Next in order came the establishing of tanneries. The distance of markets and the great cost of trans- portation made the tannery of prime importance to the early settler. All the material that entered into the making of shoes or harness, and for a long time a large part of men's clothes, called for a tannery to make it available. As early as 1816, William Myers sunk vats, and began to manufact- ture leather a half a mile southeast of Sunbury Village, across the creek from the saw and grist mill. Three years later, a Mr. Whitehead built a similar building at Galena, and did a thriving business. The business continued through a change of hands, and was discontinued in 1873. The building and tools are still there, near the mill-race, and are owned by Mr. Vanfleet.

Traffic in stock was limited by the necessities of the situation to the breeding and selling of hogs. These easily became acclimated and found a rich support in the nuts with which the woods abounded. Horses could not be raised fast enough to supply the home demand, and cattle were more difficult to keep, and for years were subject to diseases that took them off in herds. The hogs were of a half- wild breed, and were suffered to run at will in the woods. They were sold to dealers, and the whole neighborhood would turn out to drive them to the place of rendezvous. This was no easy task, but then the work was only half completed. Each hog had to be caught, his tusks-which frequently grew to the length of several inches-broken off, and then swung by a band to a pair of steelyards for weighing. A hog turning 200 pounds was con- sidered a heavy weight, and a drove averaging this would be the pride of a dealer and the envy of his fellows. Steven Bennett and David and Joseph Prince followed this business for some years driving them to Baltimore. The task of driving such herds of swine as they took to market can hardly be appreciated at this day. The ani-

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mals were more than half wild, and likely to stam- pede at the first opportunity, and numbers of them were lost on every trip. At an early day, Steven Bennett brought sheep from Kentucky, and traded them for hogs, and it took a good hog of those days to buy a sheep. This was the first introduc- tion of sheep into the township.

There seem to have been two Indian thorough- fares through Berkshire when the red man roamed unmolested over the country. One led from a place known as Raccoon, in Licking County, north- west through Berkshire toward Sandusky. An- other led from the east through the northeast corner of Berkshire to the salt licks in Brown Township, thence northward and west. The earliest of the settlers used these trails to a con- siderable extent when traveling on foot or on horseback, as the safest and most direct route. Much of the hardware and glass used at the Byxbe settlement was obtained at Sandusky, and these trails were used as the most distinct and plain to follow. The necessity for a wagon road soon caused the blazed roads to give way to more direct and more commodious thoroughfares. The road from Galena to Lancaster was an early one, and that from Columbus to Mount Vernon, pass- ing through Galena and Sunbury, was laid out soon after 1810. The information as to particular dates in this matter is very unsatisfactory. Roads improve so gradually from trails to "cut-out" roads and then to graded thoroughfares, that even those who have seen the change almost forget that they were not always improved. As early as 1820, a line of four-horse coaches ran between the ter- minal points of this road, making the half-way stop at Sunbury. The coaches met daily near Galena, and constituted for that point the great event of the day. This was the main artery that connected the Berkshire settlements with the out- side world, and the appearance of the passengers, the change of mails, and the marvelous stories of the drivers, afforded abundant material for gossip. The coaches were of the regulation pattern, so often seen in old prints. They were painted a fawn color, ornamented with red. The body. was swung high above the wheels on heavy leather springs, so that every lurch of the coach seemed to threaten sure destruction to the passengers. Azel and David Ingham were the noted Jehus of that day, and their exploits were the theme of many a thrilling story told about the roaring fireplaces of the settler's cabin. The road was cut up at times so as to be almost impassable, and the theory of the

drivers seemed to be to gain sufficient momentum in rushing into these ruts to carry the coach out of them at the other end. The result of this theory to the passengers can better be imagined than described, and was endured with a patience that has not been handed down to the modern traveler. It was the delight of the young men to be invited by the driver to try their skill at handling a four-horse team. Hon. O. D. Hough relates an experience of this kind, where, just as he was con- gratulating himself on his success, he ran against a post and stuck fast. A tale is told of a driver who was given to drinking, and when in this mood was inclined to give an exhibition of his skill by some foolhardy driving. One moonlight night, having some one on the box with him whom he desired to startle, he whipped his team into a full gallop, and, taking to the woods beside the road, wound in and out among the trees and then to the roadway again without a mishap, enjoying only as such a character can the terrified expression of his com- panion. It is natural that such a road would be greatly prized by the fortunate communities through which it passed, and there was a continual strife between them and less fortunate villages to control the route. Below Galena there was a bad strip of road, which passed through a swampy piece of woods. Effort was made by those living along another and better road to divert the stage line from the old course. This appealed at once to the dearest interests of the people of " Yankee street," and a moonlight "bee" of all interested was made, and the road repaired. La Fayette, when visiting this country, took this stage line in June. 1825, and it is remembered that his cane, which had been lost, coming on a stage a few days after- ward, attracted as much curious attention as did the distinguished visitor. The Delaware, Sun- bury and Berkshire Pike is a much later corpora- tion. The Company was formed in the county in 1868, and the road fitted up to furnish a good thoroughfare from Sunbury and intermediate points to Delaware. Some $40,000 were sub- scribed, but little, if any, over 835,000 was paid. There are two toll-gates, with receipts amounting to about $2,000 per annum, which just about pays | the cost of keeping up the road. No dividends have ever been paid, and none are ever expected. There has been of late some agitation to make it a free road, but the people along the line of road are not disposed to vote a tax upon themselves for that purpose. The Cleveland, Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad came in 1873, and tapped the

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.'

trade which the pike was intended to convey to Delaware, leaving no good reason for its existence as a toll road.

The first tavern in the township was kept at Berkshire Corners by Adonijah Rice. He was also the first Postmaster, and kept the office in his hotel. Maj. Brown opened his house for hotel purposes about the same time. The prices charged in these primitive inns have a pleasant sound in these times. Board by the week was only from $1 to $1.50, and single meals from 15 to 20 cents. Rice's "hotel" was the great attraction for the loungers of the neighborhood, and many a tale is told where

" Care, mad to see a man sae happy, E'en drowned himself amang the nappy."

At this time, the people who lived near Galena were obliged to come to the Corners for their mail, and some one of the neighbors would get the mail for the whole neighborhood. Mr. O. D. Hough relates that one cold afternoon he persuaded his father to let him get the mail. He is represented as being a bashful, timid lad when young, and, when he got to Rice's establishment, he found it crowded with a boisterous company of men, drink- ing, shouting and scuffling. This was more than he had counted upon, and the longer he stayed the more frightened he got. Finally, as the fun grew fast and furious, he incontinently broke for the door and made for home as fast as fear could impel his nimble feet, without so much as hinting his errand to any one. When he reached home, his pride returned with his courage, and he informed the expectant neighbors that there was no mail at the office. Other hotels were afterward erected at Sunbury and Galena, which are noticed hereafter.

The information in regard to the organization of the township of Berkshire, is very meager. The name was given by Maj. Thomas Brown from the county of which he and Col. Byxbe were formerly residents. For some years this name in- cluded considerably more territory than now, the community gathering at Joseph Eaton's house, in Berlin, to vote and afterward at Dr. Louf bourrow's. Here was the general muster-ground in the palmy days of the early militia, the townships of Orange, Berlin, and Berkshire, uniting to form a company. Of the first township officers, it is known that Asa Scott, of Berlin was the first Treasurer, before the organization of that township, and Mr. David Prince was one of the Trustees. In 1819 Henry Hodgeson, now known as 'Squire Hodgeson, of

Galena, was Township Clerk, but who his prede- cessors were is not known. Maj. Brown was the first Justice of the Peace, followed by Solomon Jones, David Prince, and James Gregory. As to the first birth, there seems to be a diversity of opinion, but it is pretty well established in the minds of those who have carefully gone over the ground, that Albert Root, born in 1807, was the first white child born in Berkshire Township. A son of Ralph Slack was an early birth, and. when this boy was born, Mr. John Patterson, one of the earliest settlers, told Slack, if he would name the boy for him, he would give him three months' schooling, both parts of which contract were car- ried out. The boy died an old man some few years ago in Berlin Township. The first death was that of Mrs. Vining, wife of Elem Vining, Sr., in 1806. The incident in regard to her burial illustrates the straitened circumstances of the set- tlers in a very forcible way. Of course, under- takers and cabinet-makers were unknown in the woods, and, what was worse, there was nothing but the standing timber, with an ax and a cross- cut saw to supply their absence. These were made to furnish the burial casket, and Mrs. Vining sleeps, some forty rods south of the "Corners," as peacefully as though above her was reared the "storied urn or animated bust." Doctors and ministers were the only professional men that the earlier settlers had need of in their simple life, greater, perhaps, of ministers than of doctors. The earliest follower of Esculapius was Dr. Lamb. who came from Worthington to the "Corners," and later to Delaware. Dr. Skeel is another name which appears early in Berkshire's history. The first improvement on log cabins was a brick house built by Maj. Brown. About the first frame house was built some five years later in 1816, by David and Joseph Prince. The work on this house was done by Lovell Caulkins, an early set- tler in Berlin, and now stands on property owned by Hon. O. D. Hough. Two years later David Armstrong put up a frame building. An incident connected with the digging of the well near this house illustrates the fact that all the marvelous stories are not of a latter-day growth. John B. Grist did the digging. and, in going down, struck a six-foot stratum of slate stone. About midway of this layer, Grist found, imbedded in the solid stone, a toad, to all appearances lifeless. He tossed it out upon the ground, where it soon showed signs of animation, and before long hopped off as natural as though it had never

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History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 2

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 836

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836