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 8
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
petition to the Legislature, in 1826, and the Olentangy was made the boundary line of Orange, in that corner.
Three places have, at different times, endeavored to concentrate the leading interests of the town- ship within themselves, viz., Williamsville, on the Columbus and Sandusky pike; Orange Station, and Lewis Center. In this case the Bible rule of precedence has been observed, the last is now first. East Orange Post Office, more popularly known as Africa, though, perhaps, not aspiring to metropol- itan distinction, should be mentioned as a marked cluster of dwellings, whose community exercises a decided influence upon the township.
Orange Township was a part of the United States military lands, and in the survey of those lands was known as Township 3, Range 18. When the first settlers came into this township they found Sections 2 and 3 a part of Liberty Town- ship, and Sections 1 and 4 a part of Berkshire Township. On September 3, 1816, a petition headed by Alpha Frisbey, asking that the original survey of Township 3, Range 18, be set off as a separate township, to be known as Virgil, was granted by the Commissioner's Court. This severely classical name was endured by the plain settlers just six days, when another petition pray- ing for a change of name to the more prosaic one of Orange was granted on September 9 of the same year.
It was in Section No. 2, then a part of Liberty Township, that the first cabin of the Orange settle- ment was built. Hither, Joab Norton, with his little family, came in 1807, and built his home near the house now owned by Mr. Abbott. His motive for moving. into the wilds of the West seems to have been to please others rather than himself. His wife's father, John Goodrich, had become interested in the emigration movement, through a colony which had left his native town, Berlin, in Connecticut, and, possessed with the spirit of emigration, he sold his property and pre- pared to join bis former neighbors in Worthing- ton, Franklin Co., Ohio. Mrs. Norton, seeing her father's family about to go, at once urged her husband to accompany them. Mr. Goodrich and James Kilbourn, an agent for Section 2 of this township, added their influence, and won him over to the project. It is not unlikely that he was easily persuaded that the West offered advantages to him which he could not hope for in the East .. fle was a tanner and currier by trade. and the natural demand for the services of such a man in
a new colony seemed to warrant his removal. The journey was at once undertaken. Getting together his worldly effects, he placed them with his family, a wife and three children, one scarcely a year old, in a wagon and started for the West. The start was made in September with an ox team, and it was not until the cold days of November warned them of the fast approaching winter that they reached Worthington. Here they prepared for the winter. Not content to be idle, Mr. Nortou soon sunk one or two vats, and prepared to realize some of the brilliant promises of business which had dazzled his eyes in the East. His was uot an un- usual experience for that day. The business was not forthcoming. Nothing larger or better than woodchuck skins, and an occasional deerskin, could be had. Tired of this prospect, he at once set about finding a new business and a new home. He struck north, probably influenced by Kilbourn, who had land to sell, and bought some 150 acres, where he built his home. At this time the town- ship adjoining on the west, had been somewhat settled, and named Liberty, a name that expressed the feelings of the early settlers, and was broad enougli to take in the future township of Orange. Dr. Delano, the owner of Section 3, a resident of Woodstock, Vt., sought to give the name of his native town to the new township, and this name of Woodstock did gain a local popularity which dis- puted supremacy with that of Liberty. until both gave way before the present name of Orange. So late as 1812-13, commissions were dated at Lib- erty, and letters were directed to Woodstock, both names meaning the same place.
After rearing a shelter for his family, Mr. Nor- ton's first care was to establish a business to gain a livelihood. While not neglecting the manifest duty of a pioneer, true to the instincts of his trade, he sunk vats, and prepared to do a little tanning " between whiles." About this time, 1808, Elia- phlet Ludington came from Connecticut, and, buy- ing land in Section 3, of Dr. Delano, built a cabin just south of Mr. Norton, their lands adjoining. A little later in this year came William and Joseph Higgins, with their families, and their mother with the younger part of her family, con- sisting of Josiah, Elisha, Irving, David and two girls. The older boys were well educated, and possessed a high degree of culture for those days. Joseph was especially gifted as a peuman, and it is said did marvelous things in counterfeiting others writing. Such dexterity soon gave rise to a sus- picion that he signed the counterfeit bills which
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
were issued for the South. There was no appar- ent ground for this suspicion, and the family was ostensibly as much respected as ever. A cloud did, however, come over them, and, as they soon left the township, not to be heard of again, it may be related here. It appears, that, before leaving Vermont, the father of the boys had left his fam- ily, running off to Canada with a younger, if not handsomer, woman. About 1812, he came to Orange with a desire to " make up." He seems, like a prudent general, not to have omitted in his arrangements to prepare for d feat, for he brought his companion in sin as far as Berkshire, and then went forward to spy out the land. He came to the house of McCumber, and, finding the latter's stepson, young Elsbre, about to go for an errand, persuaded him to take a token to Mrs. Higgins. Old Mr. Higgins knew his wife's weak point, doubtless, and sent his pocket-book with the sim- ple instruction, "to hand it to the old woman." This young Elsbre, in passing, did, but, while Mrs. Higgins was contemplating the well-known relic of her husband, Mrs. Eaton rushed in on her, telling her her long-lost husband was at hand. The re- sult was a reconciliation, which operated disas- trously to the family. The change was soon marked by the little community. The former high estimation changed gradually to suspicion, then to distrust, and finally culminated in the arrest of the old man, together with the three younger boys, Josiah, Elisha and Irving, for coun- terfeiting. Dies, metal and a large quantity of finished counterfeit coin were captured, together with some paper money. Through some irregu- larity in the papers, the boys escaped, and, later, through some means, the old man escaped the just deserts of his doings. The family at once left the township, and were lost to view.
But to return to 1808. In this year Mr. Nor- ton decided to return to the East on business, the importance of which was, doubtless, greatly en- hanced by his longing to get a glimpse of the civilization left so far behind. Mr. Norton never became thoroughly reconciled to his new home, and it is a family tradition, that, had he not been cut off so early in life, the family would have re- turned to Connecticut. A letter written home, from Sbippenburg, on the Alleghany Mountains, while on his way East, gives some idea of the magni- tude of his undertaking. He writes that the weather was oppressively hot, that he had ridden fifteen tiles before breakfast, and that, though 1
the letter is dated July 26, 1808, he does not
expect to see them again before the last of Octo- ber, or the first of November. He also conveys the unwelcome news of the loss of his pocket- book. containing $25 in bank notes, a note of hand for $300, and sundry memorandum papers. This was no small loss for those days, and he notes in his letter the painstaking search he makes as he turns back to seek the lost property. Unfor- tunately, he found only the memoranda, and learns from some children, who saw the book hanging out of his pocket, the probable spot of its loss. He concludes that it has been picked up by some traveler westward. and adds, " God knows whether I shall ever see it again." He made this journey twice, riding a large, strong bay horse which bore the name of Sifax. This horse was a marked member of the family, and was especially valuable on the frontier. At this time horse-thieves were somewhat troublesome, but Sifax was not to be won, wooed they never so wisely. With a toss of' the head and a parting kick, if molested, he would rush to the cabin, arousing the family with the noisy clatter of the bell he wore.
On his return from the East, in the fall of 1808, attracted by the new town, Mr. Norton went to Delaware, where he established the first tannery in that place. He bought a house built on a side- hill in the south part of the town, on the north part of the grounds where the university now stands. The front of the house had two stories, but the back part, from the necessities of the sit- uation, had but one. The tanyard was immediately adjoining. Here business began to brighten, but the Nemesis of the early settler, the ague, laid its hand of ice upon him and shook him until he surrendered unconditionally. . No inducement of gain could make him brave such terrors, and, sell- ing out to one Koester, he returned to his farm. It was in this year, 1810, that Mr. Ludington lost his wife by death. She left an infant boy a few weeks old. This was the first birth and death in the settlement. Mr. Ludington, his home thus broken up and his courage gone, left for Connecticut with his infant son, and was never heard of by his neighbors in the settlement save through some vague rumors which are too indistinct to furnish data for history. In this year, the families of Nahum King and Lewis Eaton joined the settle- ment. These families lived and died here, and their descendants are still to be found in the town- ship. In the following year, 1811, came James MeCumber, with his third wife, and two sons by his former wives. Collins P. Elsbre, then a lad of
6
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
eleven years, accompanied his mother and step- father. Mr. McCumber started from Dutchess County, N. Y., early in November, 1810. Taking a horse team, they came down the Hudson River and across it to Easton, Penn., thence to Harris- burg, through Charlestown, W. Va., and Zanesville, Ohio, to Granville, where the family stayed three
weeks. Meanwhile, McCumber proceeded west to Worthington, and later brought his family there. Their stay here, however, was of short duration. Kilbourn, who seems to have been peculiarly fitted for a land agent, interested Mc- Cumber in the land further north, and, buying 150 acres, he settled on land situated about half a mile north of Mr. Norton on the same road, their farms nearly joining. The intimacy thus begun, increased until, in later years, the families were united by the marriage of young Elsbre to Matilda, third child of Mr. and Mrs. Norton. Mr. and Mrs. Elsbre, at this writing, are still living, a hale and hearty old couple of eighty and seventy-four years respectively, doing the work of the house and farm, upon their own responsibility, with as much apparent vigor as in years ago, and the historian is under obligations to them, and to papers in their possession, for many of the facts which appear in these pages .*
The first actual residence of McCumber's family was in the cabin left vacant by Mr. Ludington. The land purchased of Mr. Kilbourne was then in all its virgin grandeur, untouched by the remorseless ax of the pioneer. A place was to be cleared, and a cabin put up, and the little family found plenty for stout hands and willing hearts to do. While the men chopped trees, cleared away the brush, and rolled up the timber for the cabin, the women folks prepared comforts and such adorn- ments for the inside as only womanly taste and in- genuity could provide in such times. In the fall they took possession of their frontier mansion, about 12x18 feet, and dispensed a hospitality com- mensurate more with the largeness of their heart than the smallness of their home. About this time, the cloud of war which culminated in the following year, began to cast its portentous shad- ows over the new settlement. By the treaty of Greenville, this county had been freed from Indian domination, and the Wyandots were only seen as they came down on hunting expeditions. But the trouble brewing on the frontier seemed to
promise a serious experience for the unprotected settlements. As early as 1809, application for permission to form a rifle company had been made by Joab Norton and others. Permission was granted, and on June 24, of the same year, a com- pany was organized with Mr. Norton as Third Sergeant. The company was composed mostly of Liberty men, and consisted of some forty officers and privates. Mr. Norton's rise in military affairs seems to have been rapid, marking him, inasmuch as the promotions were secured by popular elec- tions, a favorite with his company. On the 12th of September of the same year, he was raised to Sergeant Major, to a lieutenantcy on September 6, 1811, and very soon afterward to a captainey of his company. This organization was composed of the best material that the settlements afforded. and were uniformed and equipped in a way that made their wives and sweethearts envy the bravery of their dress. An old copy of the by-laws adopted by the company sets forth with minute particu- larity the prescribed uniform. It is provided. " That each and every member belonging to our company shall uniform himself as follows, viz., with a black hat or cap, and a bearskin on the same, and a cockade, and a white feather with a red top on the left side of the same, said feather or plume to be of seven inches in length, also a black rifle frock or hunting shirt, trimmed with white fringe, and a white belt round the same, and a white vest and pantaloons and white handkerchief or cravat, with a pair of black gaiters or half-boots and black knee-bands." It was further provided that the wearing of this uniform should be enforced by sundry fines. To be delinquent in the matter of hat, bearskin, plume, frock, vest, pantaloons, or gaiters, subjected the offender to a fine of 50 cents for each and every particular. In the matter of knee-bands, the fine was fixed at 64 cents. To be absent from muster on account of drunkennesss. waywardness or otherwise, threw the delinquent upon the discretionary merey of the majority. Such was the discipline of the carly military forces, and such the brave array in which they decked themselves. To the mind of the casual ob- server, the suggestion of that school-book poetry-
" Were you ne'er a schoolboy And did you never train, And feel that swelling of the heart You ne'er can feel again ? "
is irresistible. But this organization meant more than " boy's play," and it was soon called upon to act a manly part.
* Since the above was written, a distressing accident has removed Mr. Elsbre from this world. On February 10, 1880, while attempting to manage a bull, which he had driven into a stable, the infuriated animal turned upon him and gored him to death.
472
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
In June of 1812, orders came from Gov. Meigs to Capt. Norton, to call out his force, and, taking up a position on the "boundary line," to defend the frontier settlements against any hostile incur- sions. Capt. Norton at once promptly prepared to obey. There was a hurried summoning of the members of the company ; there were hasty prep- arations for the husbands, brothers, and lovers, in the cabin homes scattered through the settle- ments, and many a brave but anxious woman's heart suppressed its sorrowful forebodings to cheer their dear ones on in the path of duty. An old copy of an address made to the company by Capt. Norton on the occasion of their final muster before starting on their march, has the ring of the true patriot and enthusiastic leader. Said he : "Fellow officers and soldiers of the Rifle Company : It is with pleasure I see so many of you assembled on this occasion. Many of us have met on this ground frequently and spent a day in the performance of military tactics, drank our grog and retired to our several homes, but this is a more serious call. We are now called on by the Executive of this State to go and protect our frontier from savage hostili- ties, provided they are offered. I have this much to say in your praise at this time, you have ever manifested a willingness to do your duty on every assemblage we have had since I have belonged to the company, but the thing is now not nominal but real. We are now to go into actual service, and let us view the subject on the worst side. Are we to meet with hideous savages painted in hideous warlike colors, threatening us with all the savage barbarity which imagination can paint ? What are they ? They are but the simple tools of British intrigue sent forth to disturb us of those superior blessings which we enjoy above that na- tion. They are hirelings, and of course, cowards, sneaking in here and there and doing a little mis- chief, and then running off. But you, my brave fellows, are freedom's children, born in a land of liberty and plenty, and, of course, will never sub- mit to bondage. Let Britons, let savages, or any others of equal numbers, encounter with us, and we will maintain our rights. Such are the senti- ments of my heart, and such, I trust, are the sen- timents of yours." Here is voiced a knowledge of the causes of the war; a just appreciation of the dangers to be met, and a brave patriotism that expects to achieve success in spite of obstacles. It is not difficult to believe that the hearts of his fol- lowers were fired with enthusiasm, their courage
strengthened, and their confidence in their leader redoubled, by this address. The dramatic utter- ances of a Cæsar or a Napoleon could do no more.
Preparations for breaking camp having been completed, Capt. Norton at once put his command upon the march for the "boundary line." He reached this point just on the north boundary of what is now called Norton Village. The history of the company at this point seems to have been rather uneventful, or the tradition of their doings. has been lost. He afterward proceeded with his command to Sandusky, where he was engaged in building a block-house. He was here when Hull surrendered Detroit, and, in a letter home, gives a brief account of that affair. He also writes that when the block-house is finished he will have the command. In that event, he proposes to bring his family to him, and desires his wife to make the necessary arrangements for renting the farm. Among the papers preserved by his family, relat- ing to this period, are several letters written to Capt. Norton, which present a vivid picture of the situation. One dated Clinton, Knox Co., Ohio, August 4, 1812, reads as follows :
SIR :- By request of Mr. Joseph Rickey's wife, I re- quest you to inform him that his child is in dangerous situation ; has been sick some time, and wishes, if in your power, to give him a furlough to come home for two or three weeks.
I am, sir, with due respect, yours, etc.,
RICHARD FISHBLACK.
CAPT. NORTON, Sandusky.
SIR :- Be pleased to give my compliments to all your company ; and tell James Miller to treat them with a gallon of whisky, and next mail I will send a bill to pay for it. R. F.
Whatever may be the truth as to the traditional character of ladies' postscripts, the one in the above letter was certainly not less important to the com- pany at large than the body of the communica- tion. Another letter informs the Captain that one who has been furloughed to attend the sick-bed of his wife, is still needed at home. His wife is not expected to live from one day to another, but, if the exigencies of the service demand it, his brother will proceed to the company and take his place. Thus, " will a man lay down his life for his friend." Such were a part of the trials of the frontiersman, whose burden was borne in the cabin as well as in the camp. Eventful careers that bear glory in their wake do not measure the cost of a nation's progress. Like the coral reef whose broad dimensions span only the tombs of countless
O
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
myriads of minute workers, so the civilization and country of which we are so proud to-day, have been nurtured and protected through the privations and struggles of thousands who never dreamed of a career. Thus the frontier soldier, patiently bear- ing his trials in obscurity, may draw consolation from the same source with England's inspired poet.
"They also serve who only stand and wait."
It seems from subsequent events that Capt. Norton for some reason failed to secure the command of the block-house at Sandusky, and retired with his company to his home. While encamped near the lake the troops and inhabitants were greatly distressed by miasmatic diseases, not thoroughly understood, which rapidly undermined the system. This is probably the reason for his early retirement. Other causes, no doubt, contributed their share. The payment of the troops was very irregular and uncertain, the commissary department was none of the best, and the demands of a frontier farm all tended to make the case a pressing one. On his laying down the sword he addressed himself to the demands of his farm. He was soon induced, how- ever, to go at his trade, and, removing to Delaware, engaged in the tanning business, working for Koes- ter, to whom he had previously sold. He worked here but a short time, when the germs of disease which were implanted in his system while at Sau- dusky wrought his death. He died July 17, 1813, leaving a wife and four children-Desdemona, now Mrs. Colflesh, living at Lewis Center; Edward' since dead ; Matilda, now Mrs. C. P. Elsbre, and Minerva, now living in Wisconsin. Thus passed away, in his prime, the first settler of Orange Township-a man of deep piety, of cheerful dis- position and large executive ability. He was born in Berlin, Conn., in 1780, and died in Delaware. He was buried with Masonic honors in the first cemetery laid out in the city. In addition to his military honors, he was commissioned January 28, 1812, as Justice of the Peace. His commission was dated at Liberty, and the seal of the State was affixed at Zanesville. After the settlement of the estate but little was left for the family. The war had prevented the development of the farm, and had deranged business, but what affected the result more directly was a circumstance growing out of his position in the army. While in command of his company, a large amount of rations in his hands was in danger of spoiling and proving a dead loss to the Government. Desiring to save this waste,
he sold them, and turned the proceeds over to the proper officer. After his death, however, Col. Meeker, the Quartermaster General, brought suit against the estate and collected the amount, leaving barely the year's support allowed by law. Mrs. Norton lived to see her children in comfortable homes of their own, and passed her declining years in peace and plenty. She was born October 12. 1779, and died November 27. 1855, and was buried in the Liberty Presbyterian Church cem- etery, where a tombstone bears the name of her husband as well as her own. The wedding of C. P. Elsbre and Matilda Norton occurred in 1825. For a year or two he worked upon a rented farm, but soon after bought the farm he now lives upon. In 1826, he, in partnership with one Tripp, started a "still " in the southwest part of the township. off in the woods near a spring; but the water was too strongly impregnated with iron for successful operation, and the business was removed to the Thomas farm, on the Whetstone. Here they con- ducted the business for a year with tolerable suc- cess, manufacturing about two barrels per day. They found their market at home, and, with no revenue officials to molest them, they did a thrir- ing business in pure whisky at low prices. Mr. Elsbre soon sold his interest to a Mr. Thomas, but the business ran along only about six months and was then discontinued. Mr. Elsbre moved to bis present farm in 1848, and has been working it ever since. He has had eight children, only three of whom are now living; two near by on farms of their own, and the third, a son, lives with him.
A peculiarity of the early settlement of this township seems to have been that there were two distinct streams of emigration coming in. One passed up where the turnpike now is. in the wake of Norton, and the other following the trail which passes along Alum Creek. The earliest settler on this stream, now in the township, seems to be Mr. Samuel Ferson, who, with his father and family. came from Pennsylvania, and lived in various parts of the State for short periods, finally coming. atter the death of his father, to the place where he now lives. This was about 1819. With Mr. Ferson came his brothers, James, Paul and John. his sister Sallie, and a young lady, Margaret Patterson, who afterward became the wife of JJohn: all, at that time, unmarried .. They found a Methodist settle- ment on the ground, most of whom had become involved during the panic, which succeeded the war of 1812, and selling out left the country. Among the names which tradition has preserved
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