History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 5

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 5

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

CHAPTER XVI.

BERLIN TOWNSHIP: THE GREAT SCARE -- HISTORICAL SCRAPS-HISTORY OF VILLAGES, ETC.

" A man, that fortune's buffets and rewards, Hast ta'en with equal thanks."-Shakespeare.

TT was all woods about here." Such is the ex- pression which invariably meets the ear of the one seeking information in regard to the early settle- ments. To the generation of to-day the phrase has become trite and nearly meaningless, but the thoughtful observer cannot fail to notice that it is far otherwise to the man who knew the country at that period. To him the phrase presents in one vivid flash all that history tells of the stern, inev- itable experience of the pioneer. Like a bugle blast of Roderick Dhu in Clan-Alpine's glen, it calls up the trackless forest, the unbridged streams, the pangs of hunger felt, days of toil and nights of fear, and

* * " Mast disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field."

And to get any adequate idea of pioneer life we must put ourselves with him, and then the phrase will mean something. In the whirl and bustle of the nineteenth century, with one invention hurry- ing another out of date, we are apt to forget that there was ever any need of pioneers. The pioneer of to-day is unworthy the name. Seeking a home in the West, he travels with the rapidity of steam and the case of a railway car. Set down in some thriving village, he goes not into an unknown country. The great newspapers of the day have been before him ; a special correspondent has been over the spot and has collated the evidence as to soil, water, products, transportation, markets, social privileges and the thousand things affecting the emigrant's business and pleasure. His pockets are crammed with maps and information of the great railroad corporations, which offer him land on " long time and easy payments." Deciding to buy land, his household goods and a house framed and ready to put up are shipped at reduced rates, while improved implements and all the advantages of a pioneer experience of a hundred years, unite to make his work effective. In ten years he is in the center of a civilization combining more privi- leges than the proudest and oldest comnmnity of New England knew when the pioneers of this land

were young. What difficulties they encountered and with untiring fortitude overcome, it is the pur- pose of these pages to relate. When they sought the untried country of the West, they launched ont like a mariner on an unknown sea. Following a wagon track until that ceased, they passed the frontier and entered an unmapped wilderness, guided only by compass and deed. Arrived at their des- tination, they found themselves alone, in a forest that practically had no limit. with not only a house to build from such material as they could secure unassisted by mill or machinery, but they had to quarry out of the forest a spot on which to place it. The log house, with mud to make it tight, the rude doors and windows, the chimney made of a tottering mass of mud and sticks, the remains of which here and there are yet to be seen, was their home. The fitful flame of the hickory brand was their light and defense by night, and the house- hold dependence by day. The babbling brook furnished a doubtful supply of water until the creaking "sweep" drew from the surer resource of a well the all-important factor in human economy. But all this has long since passed away " like a tale that is told." About us are gathered the fruits of their toil in a civilization to which the world else- where is a stranger, and, looking back along the way the guiding hand of Providence has led the pioneer, we can but with the poet Bryant say,

" What cordial welcomes greet the guest By thy lone rivers of the West ; How faith is kept, and truth revered, And man is loved, and God is feared, In woodland homes."

Township 4, Range 18, of the United States Mil- itary Survey, was divided between the townships of Berkshire, Delaware and Liberty from 1806 to 1320. In 1806, Sections 1 and 4 were, with the rest of Berkshire Township, as it then was, erected into a township. This was the shape of Berlin when the first settlers came here. Col. Byxbe owned Section 1 of the fourth township in Range 18, a fact which probably accounts for the strange division of townships when Berkshire was laid off. and it was not until January 8. 1820, that Berlin

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Township was erected, taking from Berkshire the first and fourth sections, from Delaware the sec- ond section, and from Liberty the third section. Asa Scott is credited with starting the petition and with giving the name to the newly formed township. The township thius formed retains its shape to the present time, bounded on the north by Brown, on the east by Berkshire, on the south by Orange, and on the west by Liberty and Dela- ware Townships. Alum Creek, which rises in the southern part of Morrow County, passing through Brown, takes a southerly course through the east ern part of Berlin. . This stream affords drainage for a wider area of country on the east side than on the west, which makes it almost a dividing line between the dry soil of the eastern part of the township and the swampy land on the west. Along the eastern bank of the creek the surface is in- clined to bluffs near the streani, and is somewhat broken as one proceeds back. Going south on this side, below the middle line, the land becomes less broken, and fine bottom lands are found, which abounded in an early day with basswood, butternut, buckeye, walnut and a sort of burr-oak timber, with an underbrush consisting principally of spice- bush and papaw. On the high land there is the usual variety of oak, hickory and maple. The line between the high and low land of the township is that which divides the township through the mid- dle from north to south. West of this line was at an early date an almost continuous elm swamp, bearing burr oak and elm timber. As the land has been cleared, the swamps have gradually dried up, but not without a large amount of ditching: some of the ditches being seven feet deep and from sixteen to twenty feet wide. The soil in the east- ern part is the usual mixture of clays well adapted to grass and corn. The low land in the other part of the township is rich soil, but a large part of it has, until recently, been covered with stagnant water. The system of ditching carried on by the township trustees is rapidly draining this land, which will add greatly to its productiveness. Con- siderable stock is brought in to feed for market, and some attention is paid to stock raising. farmers showing some fine-blooded animals. The town- ship has two centralized communities. the one about Cheshire, a small hamlet on Alum Creek, a little south of the middle line of the township, and Ber- lin Station, on the Columbus Division of the Cleve- land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- way, in the western part of the township, a short distance north of the middle line.

The first purchaser of land in Berlin was Joseph Constant, of Peekskill, N. Y. He bought Section 4 fron the Government, paying two dollars per acre, and receiving a deed signed by John Adams. He was known as Judge Constant. Whether he re- ceived his title from a popular feeling that he was good as a judge or because he had enjoyed that honor, is not clearly known. He is said to have been a colonel in the army. and engaged in the war with the Seminoles in Florida, where he con- tracted an illness which terminated in his death. Some time before his death he gave David Lewis, Sr., fifty acres of land in his section on condition that he would settle on it, a condition that he at once proceeded to fulfill. The first settlement, however, was made by George Cowgill, who located in November of 1805, about a mile above where Hall's 'mill stood. Closely following him came David Lewis, Sr., with his daughter Hannah, and sons John and David, Jr. The latter was married, and, on September 29, 1806, had a son born, whom he named Joseph Constant Lewis, for Judge Con- stant. This was the first birth in the settlement. On their way to their new homes the Lewises had come through Berkshire Corners, and, leaving their families there, proceeded to their claim to erect a home. Starting from the center line of the town- ship on the line of the section they followed west to Alum Creek, then south, getting their direction by a pocket compass and making their measure- ments with a bed-cord. Reaching, as they sup- posed, the point described in their deed. they put up a cabin into which they moved their family. On surveying the land a short time afterward they found themselves too far south by some thirty rods. They at once built another cabin on the hill, across the creek from Cheshire, on the spot now owned by Mrs. Platt, which they occupied about the 10th of January, 1806. The following spring saw the arrival of Joseph Eaton. Sr., and John Johnston, with their families. from Huntington, Penn. They settled on the west side of the creek on the Byxbe tract, near a tributary of Alum Creek, called Olive Creek or Big Run, about two miles above Cheshire. Later in the year came David Isaac, Philander Hoadley. and .Chester Lewis, with their families, from Waterbury, Conn., and settled on Section 4. In 1807, two more families came, those of Philo Hoadley and Asa Scott. James Kilbourn became agent for the Constant property, and sold all that remained in New Haven County, Conn. The Hoadleys and Scott, anxious to secure a soil less sterile than their native

(s)

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

State presented, were glad to believe the exagger- ated description of the West, and, purchasing their land, started in two wagons. Philo Hoadley, be- sides his wife and three boys, afforded accommoda- dations for Lovell and Lucy Caulkins. Brother and sister went to work, he to clearing a place to raise a support for his father's family, which was to come, and she to teaching school. After clear- ing some three acres, raising a crop of corn and planting seeds for fruit trees, he set about return- ing home. This he did in 1808, and. accompanied by a younger Lewis, went to Fredrickton the first day, thence to Jerometown Indian Camp, thence a third day's journey to a camp in the wood, and from there by way of Cleveland to Connecticut. His report of the country soon raised the Western fever to the highest pitch among those who had known no soil better than the stone-fields of Con- necticut. A company of emigrants was immedi- ately made up, consisting of four families, including those of Roswell Caulkins, Samuel Adams, Jonathan Thompson and John Lewis-in all forty persons. On the 20th of September, 1809, the little colony set its face toward the Hudson River and com- menced its tedious journey to the West. Mrs. Ripley, known then as Julia Caulkins, has left an interesting account of their journey to Berlin, which we quote: "The crossing of this river was to us an object of terror. We arrived on the sec- ond day at Fishkill and took passage in three boats. The one taken by our family proved a leaky affair, the water pouring in on all sides, and it was only with the utmost difficulty that we reached the other shore. At that time I saw a boat slowly moving down stream, without sails, from which issued a dense column of black smoke. 'See! father,' I cried, 'there is a boat on fire!' He replied, 'That is the great wonder, Fulton's experiment, that we have read so much about in the papers.'

"On reaching the Blue Ridge, the first range of the Alleghany Mountains, the ascent was found so difficult, and the roads so cut up by the heavy team- ing, that it was found necessary to lighten the teams as far as possible. The men stayed back with the teams, which, forced to stop frequently to breathe, made slow progress. The women formed the advance guard, carrying rifles and shot-guns all the way over the mountains. What added to the difficulties of the journey was the frequent meeting with the immense wagons that transport goods over the mountains. Three small bells worn in a brass frame above the head of each horse,

announced the approach of these land-ships. On our journey we often fell in with other emigrants. and sometimes saw the adventurous bridegroom walking beside his hopeful bride, mounted on a pack-saddle which contained all their earthly treas- ure. From Zanesville to Newark, and thence through Granville, we reached a cluster of cabins called the Welsh settlement, on the border of the 'long woods,' where we prepared for a night in the wilderness. We at once plunged into the forest with no guide save the blazed trees, starting up, as we traveled, flocks of wild turkeys and numbers of deer. Our camp was pitched on the bank of a brook, where the gay attire of the leaves combined with our brilliant eamp-fires to render the scene a grand one. The wolves did not seem to approve of our demonstration, and made the woods vocal with their howling. We proceeded early next morning, and before sunset on October 30 we reached our destination, having been forty days on our journey."

Capt. John Lewis, of this party, was the first permanent resident in the southeast quarter of the township, east of the creek. From time to time, others arrived to gladden the hearts of the settlers, and to help bear the burdens of frontier life. In 1806, Berkshire, of which Berlin was then a part, took on the functions of a township as a part of Franklin County. The post office was at Franklinton, and the place of voting at Worthington, then at Berkshire Corners, and later at Joseph Eaton's and Dr. Loofbourrow's. There were small stores of groceries and dry goods within eight miles, where British calico might be purchased at 50 cents per yard, and common tea at $1.50 per pound. During the war of 1812, and afterward, these goods advanced to almost double this price, while wheat sold for only 373 cents per bushel, and dressed pork sold for only $1.50 per hundred weight.

A prominent factor in the society of this com- munity, at this time, were the Indians. To ex- press it in the language of one of the pioneers, they were " thick as blackbirds," and, while they never disputed the settler's right to settle and shoot the game, they felt that they had a right to a part of the corn and vegetables grown in the settlement. It was some time before the early settlers could look upon them with equanimity. The stories of the horrible massacres during the early history of the New England States were fresh in their minds, and the unprotected situation in which they found themselves gave rise to not unreasonable

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apprehensions. A longer experience and judicious treatment of the savages did much to allay these fears. The Indians accepted the intrusion of the white man as a part of fate, and made a virtue of necessity. A remarkable instance of their tract- ability is related by Rev. John W. Thompson, which we give from an historical sermon, preached in Berlin in 1858. Not long after the arrivals in 1809, " an Indian committed some depredation on Mr. Cowgill's family. The inhabitants from other neighborhoods came to their assistance, and at once proceeded to the Indian camp. The criminal, seeing them approach, and being left to his fate by the rest of the tribe, retired to his wigwam, and covered his head with his blanket, expecting immediate death. The whites instead took him a prisoner to Berkshire. The next morning his tribe came, with their faces painted red, in token of peace. As nothing was done with the prisoner, they soon left, but returned in the afternoon tat- tooed with black, as a declaration of war. . Said they, ' Kill him, we nothing say, but no keep him to torture.' The settlers considering discretion the better part of valor, dismissed him on condi- tion never to come back again. He was never seen there afterward." Another incident illustrates an unusual feature of the Indian. A company of them came one time and pitched their camp within a few rods of the cabin of Jonathan Thompson, who lived on the east side of the creek, on the Constant tract. They were of a generous turn, and made friendly advances to the " stranger," sending him a choice piece of meat when they killed a deer, and lending assistance frequently. Mr. Thompson, noticing that they remained near their wigwams on Sunday, asked them why they. did not hunt on that day. The answer came, " No good Indian hunt Sunday; the Great Spirit see." There were numerous parties of these In- dians attracted hither by the game or the maple trees, which afforded an excellent opportunity of making sugar, of which they were very fond. It was a great source of entertainment to the settlers to go to these camps in the evening, and visits were frequently made. The Indian had his own way of entertaining company, and was quite " put out " if his efforts to make himself agreeable were slighted. This was usually a banter to wrestle. His " hold " was neither " square " nor " side," nor " back hold," but a sort of back and side hold combined, which the settlers called Indian hug, and many of them became very proficient in it. On one occasion, old man Lewis, who was a vigor-

ous man, with several others, was at the sugar camp. One of the braves bantered one after the other of the young men to wrestle, but got only excuses, and finally came to Mr. Lewis. He plead his age as an excuse, but the Indian was not to be put off, and they clinched. The story goes, that. after a vigorous tussle, Lewis got his foot well braced, and threw his antagonist heavily to the ground, who got up laughing as heartily as though he had been the victor. Joe and George Bigtree were Indians who were familiarly known in the Berlin settlement, and, during the war of 1812, were frequently there with faces painted red, indic- ative of their peaceful intentions.

The seeds which had been so thoughtfully planted by Lovell Caulkins sprang up into a fruit- ful orchard-the only one in the settlement-and proved a boon to the whole community. Venison and turkeys were abundant, and the commoner sorts of vegetables ; but there was a lack of salt, leather, cooking utensils and iron goods, that proved a source of great privation. The markets were at Zanesville and Chillicothe, over a tedious path but imperfectly blazed out. The Alum Creek furnished an easier route that was considerably used by the settlers, though it had the same in- convenience with " sliding down hill " -- the neces- sity of walking back. But half the way was a good deal to ride in those days, even at the ex- pense of a canoe. On one occasion, three men made a canoe and went down the river to Chilli- cothe. On their return they walked, one carrying a back-load of salt, another bringing an iron pot, while the third shouldered a roll of leather. A similar undertaking, by David Lewis, Jr., did not result so successfully. Cutting down a large but- ternut on the banks of the creek, at the foot of the hill in front of his house, he fashioned a canoe and launched out for Chillicothe. He had loaded his craft with skins and furs, proposing to buy salt with the proceeds. He was successful so far, and started home, carrying his precious load on his shoulder. It was no small undertaking, and each mile seemed to add weight to his load, but the thought of the comfort it would bring, and his near approach to home, made the burden lighter. This was then the time when the script- ural injunction. " Let him that thinketh he stand- eth take heed lest he fall," would have been most profitable. Crossing a stream on one of the im- promptu bridges of that time-a tree fallen across from bank to bank-he lost his footing, and, with his salt, fell into the water. His perishable load

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 1620312

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dissolved in the stream, and, with his shoulder chafed with the burden, and smarting with the brine, he struggled empty-handed to the shore. His feelings at this loss can better be imagined than described. At another time three men went to 'Zanesville with three yoke of oxen, drawing a load of beef. They were destitute of money, and camped out, depending upon their flint and tinder for fire. Their hardships and difficulties were almost incredible, but by indomitable pluck and a perseverance that conquers all things, they re- turned with a load of hollow ware, which was like a glimpse of civilization to the little settle- ment.

. Just here let us relieve the stern aspect of frontier life by a glimpse of life in the cabin. In the hurried review of the progress of the early settlements, we are apt to forget the cabin, where the "busy housewife plies her evening care," and so lose sight of the romance that goes hand in hand with sterner facts. We venture to quote a further passage from Mrs Ripley's manuscript, prefacing it with the remark that the " Clara" re- ferred to, is another name for Miss Julia Caulkins. " One of our number found a devoted lover await- ing her coming. Previous to leaving Connecticut, she had been selected by an aged couple as the companion for a favorite grandson in Ohio, to whom they had willed their large estate, and who was expected to return to cheer and comfort their old age. Clara remembered him only as a noisy schoolboy, who loved play much better than study. She was not a little surprised, therefore, when she found him a tall young man, with an altogether prepossessing appearance. Of a family of six girls and one boy, and he engaged in the care of his own little family, Clara was glad to avail her- self of so useful a companion, and thought it right to take such opportunities as were afforded to judge of his character. Frequent rambles in the woods led to thoughts above the sordid cares of life, but, while she quoted her favorite Thomson ---

"' These as they change, Almighty Father, these Are but the varied God. The rolling year Is full of Thee. Forth in the pleasing spring Thy beauty walks, Thy tenderness and love '-

his conversation inclined to such themes as catch- ing ' coons and possums,' and on the probability of their being plenty of 'shack'." Not to pro- long the story, Clara was sent to the Berkshire Academy. A misspelled declaration and proposal soon followed her, which brought in return an expression of thanks, but regrets, etc. William,

not utterly cast down, went East to enter upon his inheritance, and soon wrote back that he had found a lady who was ready and willing to marry him on short notice.

The years of 1811-13 brought to this com- munity, as elsewhere in the Northwest, days of anxiety and nights of fear. After Harrison's brilliant victory over Tecumsch at Tippecanoe, there was a temporary feeling of tranquillity only to be disturbed -by the declaration of war with England. The foe was aware of the unprotected nature of the frontier settlements, and knew too well the inflammable material which could easily be kindled into a devastating flame of rapine and massacre in the most vulnerable part of our land. The danger proved in the event to be one of ap- prehension rather than reality, but it was none the less trying to the courage and fortitude of the set- tlers. Other counties have events in their history which loom up out of the past as great landmarks by which their progress is measured. In one it is the " deep snow," another dates before or since the " great epidemic," but Delaware County refers to the " great scare," and shows results only less terrible than death. There is something almost ludicrous in the story of " Drake's defeat," of one man stampeding a county with a joke, but when we note the incidents of men, women, and chil- dren frantic with fear, there is no space for levity. The alarm was not puerile nor unfounded. Hull's surrender had removed the last restraint upon the savages, who needed none of England's emissaries to incite them to deeds of blood. This ignomin- ious surrender had inspired them with a disrespect for the manliness of the American army, and it was but natural to expect that the unprotected set- tlements would offer a tempting prize to the savage mind. The report of Drake's defeat was, there- fore, not entirely unexpected, and with it the set- tlements in Berlin knew their last defense on that line was gone. The report spread like wildtire among the settlers, whose anxious forebodings dis- posed them to accept it without question.

" Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all white which but an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness ; * ¥ * * * *

And there was mounting in hot haste."

The creek, unbridged, floating nearly banks high, seemed no impediment in the way of these fear- impelled fugitives. Timid women for the nonce were bold as lions, and fearlessly plunged into the

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stream only to be rescued from dangers that re- quired experience not less than bravery to conquer. But when the re-action came, when the report of Drake's defeat was explained, the scene was not less disheartening. Articles of value, of clothing and food, were found indiscriminately jumbled together. One woman, even in the extremity of her fear, did not forget her silk dress, but, wrapping a package of candles in it, carefully, bestowed it in the bottom of the wagon. When it was after- ward found, the difficulty was to discover which was dress and which candles. The wicks were there, but the tallow had been ground into the dress. leaving only an enormous grease spot to account for their absence. Another woman found a bag containing old boots and a confused mass of pies, bread, etc., which she had put up in case of need. Others had no wagons, or did not wait for them, but, making up bundles, put them on their shoulders, and forded the creek. The wife and children of Asa Scott carried so much in this way that it took a wagon to return the goods to the cabin. It was not until the settlers returned to their homes that the full extent of the disaster was realized. The residents had been absent for one, two and three days, and meanwhile the open doors and gates gave stock free access to corn-field and larder. Bed clothing, wearing apparel, fur- niture, dishes, the whole domestic economy of the cabin, was found in inextricable confusion. The loss experienced in various ways added a heavy burden to those already felt to be sufficiently severe, and gave rise to the determination to there- after face the enemy on their own ground. Prep- arations were made at once for a suitable defense. The valuables of each family were buried in deep. holes in the ground, care being taken to obliterate any traces of the cache.

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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 5

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