History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 34

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio > Part 34

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"Fight their battles o'er again,"

and in imagination to recall the pictures of three- score years ago-yet we acknowledge that we are not of the number of those who say or feel that the "former times were better than these." The present times are good enough, if we but try to make them good. We have no sympathy with those who wail and groan over the sins and wicked- ness of the world, and the present generation in particular.

The first births, deaths and marriages are events of considerable interest in pioneer life. The first child born in a community is generally a noted character, and the first marriage an event of more than passing interest, while mournful memories cluster around the first death. Some of these inci- dents have several contestants in Delaware County. The first birth is claimed for two different individ- uals, viz., Jeremiah Gillies and J. C. Lewis. From the most reliable information on the subject, the honor doubtless belongs to Gillies, who was born in what is now Liberty Township, on the 7th of August, 1803, a little more than two years after the first white settlement was made in the county. Other authorities, however, are of the opinion that J. C. Lewis was the first born. Says Everts' "County Atlas," published in 1875 : "On the 29th of Sep- tember, 1806, the first white child was born in Delaware County. His name is Joseph C. Lewis, a native of the ' Yankee' colony of Berlin. He became a minister of the Baptist persuasion at his maturity, and removed to Washington, District of Columbia." Just which of these was the first birth, or whether either was first, is a point that probably will never be satisfactorily settled. But, as

we have said, and to repeat it in legal parlance, the " preponderance of evidence " is in favor of Gillies. The first marriage is lost in the "mists of anti- quity." That there has been a first marriage, and that it has been followed by a second and a third, and so on, ad infinitum, the 30,000 people of the county bear indisputable evidence.

Death entered the county through Liberty Township-the pioneer settlement-and claimed Mrs. Nathan Carpenter. She died August 7, 1804. One of the Welches died soon after. There were three brothers, viz., Aaron, John and Ebenezer Welch, who settled there in 1804, and, in a short time, one of them succumbed to the change of cli- mate. He was the first white man buried in Dela- ware County. Mrs. Vining, who died in Berkshire Township in 1806, was another of the early deaths. Since their demise, many of their fellow-pioneers have joined them upon the other shore. In fact, of those who united in paying the last tribute of respect to them-all, perhaps, have followed to "that bourne from whence no traveler returns." Upon them the rolling years marked their record, and, one by one, they have passed from the shores of time, and their mortal bodies have mouldered into dust in the old churchyards. This has been the immut- able fate of the band of pioneers who subdued this region and laid the foundation for a happy and prosperous community. The Carpenters, Powerses, Welches, Byxbes, Cellers, Hoadleys, Eatons, Rose- cranses, Lees, Williamses, Fousts, Perrys, Pughs, Mortons, Philipses, Bennetts, Hintons, Spragues, Hills, Lotts ; they are gone, all gone !

" They died, aye! they died : and we things that are now-

We walk on the turf that lies over their brow."

The beginning of the mercantile business in Delaware County is somewhat obscure, and the facts pertaining to its early history meager and almost unattainable. Just who was the first merchant, and upon what- particular spot stood his palace storehouse, are points that are a little indefinite. With all of our research, we have been unable to learn who opened the . first store in Delaware, or whether the first store in the county was in Delaware or in Berkshire. We are inclined to the opinion, however, that the honor belongs to Berkshire, as it was laid out as a town sometime before Delaware, probably three or four years before, and, doubtless, a store was established soon after. Major Brown is said to have been the first tradesman at the place, but did not remain very long in the business.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Stores were not so much of a necessity then as they are now. After Brown closed out, a man named Fuller brought a stock of goods to the place, but neither did he remain long. Fuller, it is said, came from Worthington to Berkshire, but whether he had a store at the former place, before removing to Berkshire, our authority on the subject is silent. The first merchant at Delaware of whom we have been able to learn anything was Hezekiah Kil- bourn, but at what date he commenced business we could not learn. Lamb and Little were also among the pioneer merchants of Delaware, as was Anthony Walker. The latter gentleman had a store-a kind of branch concern-in Thompson Township at quite an early date, which was carried on by one of the Welches, as agent of Walker. Williams & Cone were early merchants at Delhi, and a man named Dean kept a store on Goodrich's farm, in Liberty Township, for a number of years. In what is now Concord Township, was estab- lished one of the early stores of the county. It was owned and operated by a couple of men named Winslow (sons, perhaps, of Winslow's Soothing Syrup), and consisted of a box of cheap goods, exposed for sale in a small tent, at the mouth of Mill Creek. Shortly after this mercantile venture, Michael Crider opened a small store on the farm of Freshwater, and eventually moved to Bellepoint.

The foregoing gives some idea of the commence- ment of a business three-quarters of a century or more ago, which, from the feeble and sickly efforts described, has grown and expanded with the lapse of years, until, at the present day, the trade of the county annually amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mills-those objects of interest to the pioneer and sources of so much anxiety in a new country-have much the same history here as in other early set- tlements, and were rude in construction and of lit- tle force, as compared to the splendid mills of our day. They answered the purpose, however, of the settlers, and were vast improvements, rude though they were, upon the block and pestle and pounding process, of which we often hear the old people speak, and which was one of the modes of obtain- ing meal and hominy in pioneer days. Before there were any " corncrackers " built in this county, the people used to go to Chillicothe to mill, and to other places equally remote. An old gentleman informed us but a few days ago, that one of the first trips he made to mill after settling in Kings- ton Township in 1813, was to a mill which stood ten miles beyond Mount Vernon, and that he was

gone several days. Milling was indeed one of the dreaded burdens of the people, and a trip of the kind meant any space of time from two days to as many weeks. There seems to be no doubt but that the first effort at the building of a mill in Dela- ware County was made by Nathan Carpenter in 1804. Sometime during the year he erected a saw- mill on the Olentangy, to which was added a pair of small buhrs, called in those days " nigger heads," and which were used for grinding corn. Notwith- standing its limited capacity, the people found it a great convenience. In Harlem Township, "a hand- mill " was established at a very early day, and shortly after, a horse-mill. Some years later, a man named. Budd built a grist-mill on Duncan's Run. In what is now Oxford Township, Lewis Powers built a little mill, which is entitled to rank among the pioneer mills of the county, and Philip Horshaw erected one in the present township of Scioto ; also a similar edifice in Genoa Township was built by Eleazer Copely, at an early day. Crider's and Hinton's mills in Concord Township, should be mentioned among these early institutions," and Hall's on Alum Creek in the present township of Berlin. These primitive affairs have been super- seded by modern mills of the very best machinery and almost unlimited capacity.

As pertinent to the subject, we make the follow- ing extract from the " County Atlas," where it is re- corded upon the authority of Elam Brown, Esq. : " In 1805, there were few inhabitants on the Whet- stone. Carpenter built a small mill in 1804. We Berkshire boys used to follow a trail through the woods on horseback (the boys were on horseback, not the trail), with a bag of corn for a saddle. The little wheel would occasionally be stopped, or sev- eral bags of corn ahead in turn would bring the shades of night upon us, and we had to camp out. Nathaniel Hall built the first mill for grinding on Alum Creek, and also a saw-mill. These proved great conveniences for the settlement. In times of drought, I have ridden on a bag of grain on horse- back to Frederick Carr's mill on Owl. Creek. This horseback-milling was done by the boys as soon as they could balance a bag of corn on a horse."

Next to the pioneer miller, the pioneer black- smith is, perhaps, the most important man in a new country. It is true, the people cannot get along without bread, and probably could do without the blacksmith, but he is, nevertheless, a “bigger man " than ordinary mortals. Among the early dis- ciples of Vulcan in the county, we may notice

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

James Harper, the pioneer blacksmith of the Berkshire settlement; Hezekiah Roberts, in what is now Genoa; Isaac Rosecrans, in the Kingston settlement; Thoma's Brown, in the present town- ship of Marlborough, who had his shop. where Norton now stands ; Joseph Michaels, in what is Oxford Township; Joseph Cubberly, in the pres- ent township of Thompson.

Among the early Justices of the Peace, we have Joseph Eaton, Moses Byxbe, Ebenezer Goodrich, Daniel Rosecrans, Ezra Olds, Charles Thompson and others. Their courts were the scenes of many a ludicrous incident, no doubt, from which a volume might be compiled that would rank high among the humorous works of the day. The administration of justice and the execution of the laws were done with the best intentions, but in a way that would be termed very "irregular" nowadays. The Squire usually made up his decisions from his ideas of equity, and did not cumber his mind much with the statute law.

Moses Byxbe represented Uncle Sam as the first Postmaster General ever in Delaware County .. His duties were not very onerous, and his lady clerks had ample time to read all the postal cards that passed through his office. Letters then cost 25 cents apiece, and were considered cheap at that -when the pioneer had the 25 cents. But Uncle Sam has always been a little particular about such things, requiring prompt pay, and in coin too, and as a consequence, the letter was sometimes yellow with age before the requisite quarter could be obtained to redeem it.

Who kept the first tavern within the present precincts of Delaware County, is not known of a certainty. The first house erected on the site of the city of Delaware was kept as a tavern by Joseph Barber, and was built early in the year 1807. As there were settlements made in the county several years prior to this, it is likely there were taverns at an earlier date. As descriptive of this first tavern in Delaware, we make the following extract from an article in the Western Collegian, written, by the lamented Dr. Hills: "The Pioneer Tavern was a few rods south- east of the 'Medicine Water.' It was on the plateau just east of the ridge that lies south of the spring, and terminates near there, some three or four rods inward from the present street. The first house was a double-roomed one, with a loft, stand- ing north and south (the house), facing the cast, and was built of round logs, 'chinked and daubed.' In course of time, a second house, two stories high,

was added, built of hewed logs, and placed east and west, at right angles with the south end of the first building, with a little space between them. In this space was the well, with its curb and its tall, old-fashioned, but easy-working 'well-sweep.' Around at the southwest of this was the log barn and the blacksmith-shop, and a double granary or corn crib, with a space between for its many pur- poses, as necessary, indeed, as the kitehen is for household purposes. Here was the grindstone, the shaving-horse, the hewing-block, the tools of all kinds, and the pegs for hanging up traps of all sorts. Here the hog was scalded and dressed, the deer, raccoon and 'possum were skinned, and their skins stretched and dried, or tanned. Here also were the nuts dried and cracked. For many rea- sons, it has a bright place in the memories of boy- hood. How few know the importance of the pio- neer tavern of the early days. It was of course the place of rest for the weary traveler, whether on foot or on horse. It was many a day before a 'dearborn ' or 'dandy wagon' was known on the road. But it was much more than this, and seemed the emporium of everything. It was the market- place for all; the hunter with his venison and turkeys ; the trapper with his furs and skins; and the knapsack peddler -the pioneer merchant- here gladdened the hearts of all with his ' bought- en' wares. At his tavern, too, were all public- gatherings called, to arrange for a general hunt, to deal out justice to some transgressor of the un- written but well-known pioneer laws. In fact, it was here, at a later period, that the first organ- ized County Court was held, with the grand jury in the tavern loft, and the petit jury under a neigh- boring shade tree." But to return to the early hostelries of other sections of the county. Thomas Warren kept a tavern in Radnor at an early day. and James Stark kept one at Stark's Corners, in the present township of Kingston.

There is no better standard of civilization than roads and highways. In fact, the road is one of the best signs or symbols by which to understand an age or people. The savage has no roads. His trails through the forest, where men on foot can move only in single file, are marked by the blazing of trees. Something can be learned of the status of society, of the culture of a people, of the enlight- enment of a government, by visiting universities and libraries, churches, palaces and the docks of trade; but quite as much more by looking at the roads. For if there is any activity in society, or any vitality to a government, it will always be

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

indicated by the highway, the type of civilized motion and prosperity.

Delaware County is justly celebrated for its ex- cellent roads. Turnpikes, macadamized and grav- eled roads, traverse the county in all directions, and large sums of money have been expended in their construction. The people and the author- ities have always exhibited considerable interest in building good roads. Almost the first business transacted by the County Commissioners' Court was the passing of an order for making a road through the county. The old Sandusky military road is still known as the route over which sup- plies were conveyed to our army at Fort Meigs during the war of 1812. The history of this road would make almost a volume of itself. Some- time between 1825 and 1830, the Sandusky and Columbus turnpike road was chartered, which runs over the old route of this military road, and which, with some changes and improvements, is still one of the first-class and popular roads of the county. Its early history, however, was " stormy and tempestuous," to say the least. The ideas of internal improvement then were rather vague. The passing of the act chartering the Sandusky and Columbus turnpike road was considered of great importance, and when work actually com- menced, the event was celebrated at Sandusky with pomp and ceremony. The United States Government made a large grant of land to the company, and it was supposed that a magnificent road would be the result. But for a number of years after its completion, it is described as by far the worst road in the county. Although graded and leveled down, yet it was but a "mud road," and, in the winter season, became almost impassable. Notwithstanding its condition, toll-gates were kept up, and toll exacted of all who traveled over it. This frequently brought on a rebellion, and mobs

gathered now and then and demolished the gates. In these mobs and riots several men were shot, though none, we believe, were killed. Finally, the obnoxious act was repealed; but here the Su- preme Court stepped in and decided that the act could not be repealed. But after years of wran- gling and fussing, a new company was organized and the road improved, and eventually graveled. Later, it became a free road.

The excellent system of roads is unsurpassed in any county, perhaps, in Central Ohio. At pres- ent, as reported by the Secretary of State, the roads are as follows: One incorporated turnpike, twelve miles of which is in Delaware County; and ten free turnpikes, with sixty miles of road, mak- ing a total of seventy-two miles of turnpike road in the county. Of the railroads, we shall speak in another chapter.

The following are the towns and villages laid out within the county since its settlement by white people, together with the names of original pro- prietors and the date of their survey. Berkshire Village was the first laid out in the county. It was laid out in the fall of 1804, by Moses Byxbe, who owned a large body of land in what are now Berkshire, Berlin, and Delaware Townships. Nor- ton was perhaps the next on record, and was laid out by James Kilbourne and others, but we have been unable to get the exact date of its survey, and refer the reader to the township history. Delaware, the capital of the county, was also laid out by Moses Byxbe, who, with Judge Henry Baldwin, of Pittsburg, was the proprietor. The original town was laid out on the east bank of the Olentangy, but subsequently abandoned, and a new town laid out on the west side. The plat was recorded March 10, 1808, in the Recorder's office of Franklin County. The villages since laid out are as follows :

NAME.

WHEN LAID OUT.

ORIGINAL PROPRIETOR.

Galena * (Zoar).

April 20, 1816

William Carpenter.

Sunbury

November 9, 1816

William and Laurence Myers.

Delhi ..

August 7, 1833.

Edward Evans.

Bellepoint

September 16, 1835

James Kooken.

East Liberty

March 16, 1836

Olive Greene.

May 10, 1836.

C. Lindenberger and Festus Sprague.

Rome ..

September 2, 1836

D. Price and Amos Sarles.

Eden

September 27, 1836.

D. G. Thurston and Isaac Leonard.

Williamsville

December 8, 1836

Anson Williams.

Freedom

April 23, 1841

Jesse Locke and J. G. Jones.

Centerville.

March 2, 1848

Edward Hartwin and B. Roberts.

* Galena was originally called Zoar. See history of Berkshire Township.

William Page and E. Lindenberger.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

203

NAME.

WHEN LAID OUT.

ORIGINAL PROPRIETOR.

Cheshire

March 20, 1849

F. J. Adams.

Ashley * (Oxford).

May 15, 1849

L. Walker and J. C. Avery.

Harlem.

July 23, 1849.

A. Washburn and James Budd.

Stratford

May 11, 1850.

Hon. Hosea Williams and H. G. Andrews.

Edinburg.

Leonardsburg.

March 13, 1852

S. G. Caulkins.

Ostrander

May 20, 1852.

James Liggett.

Orange Station

July 29, 1852

George and H. J. Jarvis.

Lewis Center.

July 30, 1852.

William S. Lewis.

Yanktown

April 3, 1858

John B. Black.

Powell

February 1, 1876.

A. G. Hall.

Hyattsville

February 6, 1876.

H. A. Hyatt.

Radnor

March 9, 1876

Thomas Edwards.

The following post offices, according to a late official directory, are now in existence in the county, and are given without reference to date of estab- lishment :

Alum Creek, Ashley, Bellepoint, Berkshire, Center Village, Condit, Constantia, Delaware (C. H.), Galena, Harlem, Hyattsville, Kilbourn, Kingston Center, Leonardsburg, Lewis Center, Norton, Orange Station, Ostrander, Pickerell's Mills, Powell, Radnor, Sunbury, Yanktown, Vane's Valley, and White Sulphur.

The manufactures of Delaware County are a subject of considerable importance, and will be fully noticed in an appropriate department. The manufacturing interests consist of foundries, facto- ries, machine-shops, mills, etc., and comprise one of the great sources of the wealth and prosperity of the county. Taking up the subject at its begin- ning, it will include the tanneries and carding machines, pioneer institutions that have long ago become obsolete, but in their day were of as much importance to the people as any of the modern manufacturing establishments are to the present generation.

About the year 1870, an effort was made to or- ganize a pioneer association in the county, but as a society, it has never amounted to much. One or two meetings were held, officers elected, and a Fourth of July dinner constituted the bulk of its proceedings. We have been unable to get a glimpse at the books of the association, if indeed it has any, and hence, extract the most of our information from the newspaper files, which, in general matters of an historical nature, are usually correct. From the Delaware Herald of June 23, 1870, we gather the proceedings of a meeting of citizens of Delaware, which are as follows: "At a meeting held at

* Ashley was surveyed under the name of Oxford, which was subsequently changed to present name.

Council Rooms, Monday evening, June 20, a com- mittee of fifteen, heretofore appointed for the pur- pose of making arrangements for a pioneer picnic, the same was duly organized by electing Rev. J. D. Van Deman, Chairman, and Eugene Powell, Secretary. It was resolved that all persons who were born or who came into Delaware County prior to 1821, are, in the opinion of this meeting, enti- tled to the honorary designation of being pioneers, and the same are entitled to participate in the meeting as such, to be held at Delaware, Ohio, 4th of July next."

This meeting made all the preliminary arrange- ments for a gathering of the pioneers on the great anniversary, by appointing committees, arranging a programme, etc. S. K. Donavin, A. E. Lee and Dr. H. Bessie, were appointed a Committee on Finance ; E. C. Vining, R. R. Henderson and J. Humphreys, a Committee on Invitation; J. M. Crawford, J. W. Lindsey, H. J. Mccullough, Eugene Powell and B. Banker, a committee to act in connection with the ladies' committee, for pre- paring dinner ; R. R. Henderson, J. W. Lindsey and C. F. Bradley, a committee to arrange time and place ; Rev. J. D. Van Deman, Eugene Pow- ell and Dr. T. B. Williams, a committee to see that the programme of the day was carried out. It was resolved that Hon. T. W. Powell be invited to deliver an address of welcome to the pioneers, Rev. J. D. VanDeman to read the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and Rev. Mr. Chidlaw to deliver an ora- tion on the occasion. It was also resolved that the pioneers, and the citizens of Delaware generally, be requested to participate in the celebration of the day, and that the proceedings of the meeting be published in the city papers.

The meeting of the pioneers on the 4th, and the appropriate celebration of the nation's birth- day, is also chronicled in the Delaware papers. The

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Herald of July 7 says that " great credit is due to S. K. Donavin, Maj. D. W. Rhodes and Dr. Bessie for their kind attention in distributing the invitations to the pioneers." The assembly was called to order by Rev. J. D. Van Deman. Hon. O. D. Hough was chosen permanent President of tlie Pioneer Association of Delaware County. A committee to draft a constitution and by-laws was appointed, consisting of Zachariah Stevens, Lucius C. Strong, B. C. Waters, W. G. Norris and Col. Henry Lamb. A resolution was adopted requiring the Secretary to procure suitable blanks for the collection of the pioneer history of Delaware County. The following persons were appointed a committee to collect the pioneer items in their re- spective townships: Berkshire Township, O. D. Hough ; Berlin, Elias Adams ; Brown, William Williams ; Concord, William Benton ; Delaware, E. C. Vining ; Genoa, George Williams ; Harlem, Daniel Rarick ; Kingston, (. Stark ; Liberty, Thomas C. Gillis ; Marlborough, Hugh Cole ; Ox- ford, Jonathan Corwin ; Orange, Charles Patrick ; Radnor, David Pendry; Scioto, Horatio Smith ; Thompson, John W. Cone ; Trenton, William Per- fect, and Troy, Joseph C. Cole. The organization was more completely perfected by the election of a Secretary and Vice President, and of B. Powers, Treasurer. Finally it was resolved to hold the next meeting on the last day of the county fair, in 1871 ; a rather long recess for a newly formed pioneer historical society. It is not strange that it became Inkewarm before the time of meeting arrived. Of this distantly appointed meet- ing, the Gazette of October 6, 1871, makes this single allusion : "The pioneers were ont in full force." We believe the society has never since held a meeting. The foregoing is about the sum and substance of its birth, life and death, and if it contained any. historical facts in its archives, they are doubtless buried in oblivion through the soci- ety's premature death. It is to be regretted that the association has not been kept np. In many other counties, where our duty as historian has called us, we have found pioneer associations and old settlers' societies of vast benefit in collecting and preserving the history of their respective counties.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 34

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818