History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 74

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 74

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1807, Ichabod' Plumb, with his family, and - Dr. Reuben Lamb, with his wife and child, came to Berkshire Corners. Some years before, Dr. Lamb, then an unmarried man, had started for the Mississippi Valley, but, meeting Col. Byxbe at. Pittsburgh, was persuaded to come to Berkshire. He was disappointed with the place, however, and, thinking that Worthington promised to be a pros- perous place, he left Berkshire after remaining a few months and settled in the former place. Here he married his wife and became intimate with Mr. Plumb, who was one of the original members of the Scioto colony, which went out from New Haven County to Worthington in 1803. A little previous to the time of which we write, Messrs. Plumb and Lamb had sold out their property in Worthington, and, on horseback, had made a tour of inspection through the country toward the Wabash River. On their return journey they passed through Urbana, and, attracted by the place, they decided to locate there. Soon after their return to Worth- ington, some member of Col. Byxbe's family fall- ing sick, Dr. Lamb was summoned. Mr. Byxbe, finding, in this interview, that the doctor had not bought land elsewhere, set about securing so valu- able a member for his colony at the Corners. This point, though considerably improved since Dr. Lamb's first visit, was even then not so promising as many other points, but the Colonel made him large inducements in the way of land donations, and, in view of subsequent events, doubtless gave him an insight to his plans which won him over to Mr. Byxbe's project. Nevertheless, he had given his word to join Maj. Plumb, and he did not feel dis- posed to break his pledge to his friend, but he set about bringing Maj. Plumb over to the new plan. When these two old friends met, and Dr. Lamb broached the subject, there was a warm discussion which lasted nearly all day. The result was that they both moved into the settlement, with the un- derstanding that when the county of Delaware should be formed, the county seat should be located at the Corners. In the same year came John B. Grist, a native of Luzerne County, Penn. Mr. Grist depended upon his labor for the support of his family, and had spent the previous winter log- ging in the woods. He had thus secured consider- able lumber, and, deciding to go West, he sought

432

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

to accomplish the double objeet of taking his lum- ber to market, and, at the same time, forward his family toward the destination he had chosen. Placing his family, household goods, his eart, oxen and horse upon a raft which he had constructed of his lumber, he launehed out on the Susquehanna River. On reaching tide water he sold his lumber, and, with the proceeds of the sale as his sole capital, he prepared to strike out into the wilder- ness. At that early day the sale of his raft did not bring a fortune, and he had gone only a little west of Zanesville when his money gave out. Here he was forced to stop for some time, while he earned means to continue the journey. On reaching the Big Walnut he made a short stay, and while here spent his last eent for three bushels of corn, which he bought of a settler. Here he fell in with David Armstrong, who was, within a few eents, in as poor a financial condition as him- self. Thus barehanded they came into the forests of Berkshire Township, and seeured land of Col. Byxbe, a half a mile north of Sunbury. Their families were illy provided for the winter that was fast approaching. There were no cabins in the immedi- ate vieinity, their larder (to adopt the name of a latter-day convenience) was empty, and only the corn which they had purchased a few days before, stood between them and starvation. Hastily setting up some poles in tent fashion, they covered them with bark, and in this rude tabernaele placed their families and household goods. While on the Wal- nut, Armstrong had bought some corn, and, desir- ing to take it all to mill, they each mounted a horse for the purpose of carrying it to Chillicothe. The distance was considerable, but there was a blazed traek most of the way, and the knowledge of the destitute state of their families spurred them on. They were soon on the return road and rapidly nearing their destination, when a heavy rain began to fall. Covering the bags containing the meal with deerskins, they experienced no difficulty in making their way across rivers and through the mud until they reached Alum Creek. This stream they found swollen to the brink, the water rushing along its course, threatening to sweep them away with its current, should they attempt to foree a passage. The situation was distressing. Beyond the angry flood, their poorly sheltered families were without food, and with them was their only means of present subsistence. They were not long in de- eiding upon their action. Finding a hollow syea- more log in which they carefully bestowed the larger part of their meal, and fixing the bags eon-

taining the remainder firmly to their horses, they plunged into the stream. The issue of the event for some time stood in doubt, but the heroic forti- tude which made the early settler the fit pioneer of the nineteenth century, carried them safely through. Hurrying to their wigwam, they found their families anxious for their safety, and with the last morsel of food consumed. The meal was found thoroughly mixed up, and, without more ado, was transferred to the bake-kettle, and soon set before the half-famished family.

In 1808, the Hon. Ezekiel Brown, one of the most distinguished of Delaware County's early settlers, eame to Berkshire and settled oo land east and a little north of where Galena now is. Mr. Brown was one who would prove a valuable addition to any community. He came from Lycoming Co., Penn., where he had been elected to Congress for one or two terms. His native place, however, was in Orange County, N. Y., where he was born March 13, 1760. In 1776, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and, joining the forces under Washington just after the battle of Trenton, he participated in several engagements., Some two years later, while on a furlough to visit his home, then in what is now Lycoming County, Penn , he was unfortunately captured by the Indians. The ineident, as related by his daughter, Mrs. Sam- uel Leonard, is as follows: There had been num- erous Indian alarms, and the people had finally betaken themselves to a strong, hewed-log cabin, which was easy of defense. Here they awaited the onset of the savages, but in vain. The In- dians were too wise in their style of warfare to ae- eept such a gage of battle. They kept secreted in the neighborhood for days, until the settlers, lulled into a false feeling of security, sallied forth to their homes. It seems almost incredible at this day that so fatal a mistake could be so easily made. No sooner did the savages see their plans succeeding, than, rushing in upon the unsuspeet- ing and defenseless settlers, they commenced their work of butchery. . Brown's father and mother were ruthlessly murdered, and himself and a sis- ter with her seyen children were carried off into Indian captivity. It was some mitigation of their situation that they were in the same band, but this was not suffered long to continue. The mother was separated from her children, and the children from each other. Meanwhile Brown was forced to pass through the forms preceding adoption into the tribe. Three times during his journey to the main town of the Cayugas, near

433

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

where Scipio, N. Y., now stands, was he forced to run the gantlet. The first time he received a severe wound from a tomahawk; the second time, less fortunate, he received a terrible blow from a war club, which felled him to the ground in a fearfully mangled condition. His life seemed ended, but, finally recovering, he proceeded to the destination of his captors, where, after another trial, he passed through the fearful ordeal un- harmed, and was adopted by a family who had lost a son in the war. He was afterward taken to Canada, where he found his sister and got clue of her children. Here he managed to get into the employ of a trader, and soon bought his freedom, but the ties of kindred were too strong for him to leave his sister in captivity. He at once set about securing her release and that of her seven chil- dren. Through his efforts she was enabled to purchase her own ransom, while Mr. Brown bent all his efforts toward the release of the children. One by one they had been secured until all save the second child, a boy of twelve or fourteen years. It was nearing the time when he hoped to return to his friends, that he learned a party of Indians with the boy was about to start for a distant point to hunt. If this should occur, he despaired of ever seeing the child again, and determined to kidnap the boy. Calling the Indians into the trader's cabin, he treated them with the strongest potations at his commad. When they were drunk, he pushed the Indians out and the boy within, and, barring the door, awaited the issue. This sum- mary treatment was not relished by the savage lords of the forest, and they resented it by sundry kicks and more forcible attacks upon the door. There was no sign of yielding, and, as any other more forcible measures were deemed unsafe, they accepted the philosophy of the "fox and the grapes," and left the boy behind. But the diffi- culty was not so easily surmounted. The lad had become enamored with the wild life of the woods, and longed to be with his Indian friends. One day, when let out to play, his boy companion was instructed to watch him. He soon came rushing in saying that Nathan was going after the Indians. Mr: Brown, hastily going to the door, saw the boy a half a mile away, running with all his strength to regain his friends gone days before. With a sinking heart, almost in despair, he threw off his coat, and started in pursuit. The boy was finally recaptured, and, with the whole family, re- turned in 1783 to their friends in Pennsylvania. Seven years later, Mr. Brown came to Ohio, and,

in 1808, came to Berkshire Township, where he died April 24, 1840. His arrival in 1808 was followed very soon by the families of Joseph Cow- gill and Oliver Still. The next most notable acces- sion to the pioneer ranks of this township was that of the Carpenter families. Judge Benjamin Carpenter, with his family, came in about 1811, and settled a little north of Sunbury Village, while Gilbert Carpenter came about a year previ- ous, and settled near Galena. The Carpenters came from Luzerne County, Penn., and were act- ive leaders in the communities which they left. Judge Carpenter had been a member of Congress, as well as Associate Judge, and his brother Gil- bert a prominent Methodist minister. The effect of such additions to the mental and moral forces of this community was soon made apparent. The whole machinery of society was organized and vigorously in motion, before the other townships about had fully recovered from the retarding shock of transplanting. For some time Berkshire afforded the only church and school privileges of any sort for miles around.

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 when 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 suffi- 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

434

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

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

435

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 io 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, be 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 foe. He had got out about a mile, when he descried a horse- man 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 themselves in a state of defense. The fighting force at once rallied, and a party went out to investigate the disturbance. After a careful cxamination 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 scttlement 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.

436

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

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 74

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