USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 9
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"We settled on beech land, which took much labor to clear. We could do no better than to clear out the smaller stuff, and burn the brush, etc., around the beeches, which, in spite of the girdling and burning which we could do to them, would leaf out the first year and often a little the second. The land, however, was very rich and would bring better corn than might be expected. We had to tend it with the hoe : that is, to chop down the nettles. the vater-wiel, and the touch-me-not. Grass, coreless, lamb's quarter and Spanish needles were reserved to pester the better prepared farmer.
"We cleared a small turnip patch, which we got in about the Toth of August. We sowed in timothy seed, which took well, and the next year we had a little hay besides. The tops and blades were also saved for our horse, cow and two sheep. The turnips were sweet and good, and in the fall we took care to gather walnuts and hickory nuts, which were abundant. These. with the turnips, which we scraped. supplied the place of fruit. I have al- ways been partial to scraped turnips, and could now beat any three dandies scraping them. Johnny-cake. also, when we had meal to make it, helped to make up our evening's repast. The Sunday morning biscuit had all evap- orated. but the loss was partially supplied by the turnips and nuts. Our regu- lar supper was mush and milk, and by the time we had shelled our corn.
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stemmed tobacco, and plaited straw to make hats, etc., the mush and milk had seemingly decamped from the neighborhood of our ribs. To relieve this difficulty my brother and I would bake a thin Johnny-cake, part of which we would eat, and leave the rest until morning. At daylight we would eat the balance as we walked from the house to work.
"The methods of eating mush and milk were various. Some would sit around the pot and everyone take therefrom for himself. Some would set a table and each have his tin cup of milk, and with a pewter spoon take just as much mush from the dish or pot, if it were on the table, as he thought would fill his mouth, then, lowering it into the milk, would take some to wash it down. This method kept the milk cool. Others would mix mush and milk together.
"To get grinding done was a great difficulty, by reason of the scarcity of mills, the freezes in winter, and drouths in summer. We had often to manufacture meal, when we had corn, in any way we could get the corn to pieces. We soaked and pounded it: we shaved it; we planed it; and at the proper season, we grated it. When one of our neighbors got a hand mill, it was thought quite an acquisition to the neighborhood. In after years, when in time of freezing or drouth we could get grinding by waiting for our turn no more than one day and a night at the horse mill, we thought ourselves happy. To save meal, we often made pumpkin bread, in which, when meal was scarce, the pumpkin would so predominate as to render it next to im- possible to tell our bread from that article, either by taste, looks, or the amount of nutriment it contained. Salt was five dollars per bushel, and we used none in our corn bread, which we soon liked as well without it. Often has the sweat run into my mouth, which tasted as fresh and flat as distilled water. What meat we had at first was fresh, and but little of that, for had we been hunters we had no time to practice it.
"We had no candles and cared but little about them, except for summer use. In Carolina we had the real fat light wood-not merely pine knots. but the fat. straight pine. This, from the brilliancy of our parlor of winter evenings, might be supposed to put candles, lamps, etc., to blush. In the West we had not this, but my business was to ramble in the woods every morning for the seasoned sticks, or the bark of the shelly hickory, for light. 'Tis true that our light was not even so good as candles, but we got along without fretting, for we depended more upon the goodness of our eyes than we did upon the brilliancy of the light."
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EARLY HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
In the matter of dress and furniture the early pioneer knew nothing but the strictest simplicity. Every bit of food, all the dress and furniture was manufactured and conceived at the home. The men raised their meager crops, hunted the game in the forest, and drew the fish from the streams while the women took care of the children, cooked, and spun the rough clothes of homespun and linsey-woolsey. Animal skins, roughly cured, formed a large part of the dress of the pioneer and the tails of fur-bearing animals often served the purpose of my lady's aigrettes today. Moccasins formed the chief foot wear, being stuffed with dry leaves or hair in the winter time to keep the feet warm.
Every cabin was fitted with loop-holes, bored at the height of a man's head. Block houses were constructed within a settlement and to these the inhabitants gathered in time of danger from the Indians.
In the early day a wedding was the great social event of the year. It was a signal for everybody to garb themselves in their best and meet, gen- erally, at the cabin of the bride. The use of whiskey by the young men on the way to the wedding, even the groom, was not uncommon; in fact, there was a sport called the "race for the bottle," when a group of hot-bloods would race their ponies through thickets and over hills and streams for a bottle of rum. The winner got the liquor, but, of course, he had to "treat" the rest when he returned. The marriage ceremony over, the big feast came. All kinds of wild meats, vegetables, etc., loaded the table. Dinner over, dancing began, consisting of reels, jigs and square sets. Later in the even- ing a crowd of the young girls would assist the bride up the ladder to the room above and see that she was put to bed properly. Later a bunch of young men took the groom and saw to it that he was placed safely by the side of his wife. Then they were left, but not forgotten, for in the progress of the evening's hilarity the bottle, or "Black Betty," as it was called, was passed up to them and they were obliged to partake. Food in quantities went up the ladder also and it was a serious breach of custom if the young couple did not pretend to eat anyway. The neighbors who were not invited often stole to the corral where the horses were and clipped their manes, fore- tops and tails in spite.
There was also a custom of "settling" a young married couple. The first day choppers would prepare the logs and clapboards for a new cabin. Puncheons were shaved and sometimes the foundations were laid on the evening of the first day. In the morning of the second day the neighbors
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collected for the raising of the house. Each man was assigned to a certain duty and at a signal the work began, often being completed before nightfall.
Before the young couple were permitted to move into their new home, there had to be a house-warming. This was, in other words, an all-night dance. On the following day the bride and groom were left to themselves.
Thefts were uncommon among the settlers. When one did occur the culprit was usually whipped and ordered to leave the community. Disputes were usually settled by well-refereed fistic contests. Morality was high in the early settlements, an offense being punishable by extreme methods in the hands of the offended family. Tattling in the early day had a remedy which could well be utilized in this day. A tattling woman was given the consent to say as much as she pleased, but nobody believed her. She was said to be harmless and she grew to be sort of an amusement.
MILLS AND MILLING.
Agriculture was the first great labor of the pioneer of Fayette county. Hand in hand with this pursuit came the mills. Crude they were at first. but they served their purpose. The block and pestle was the first contrivance for the grinding of the grain. A block of hard wood was selected and, by means of boring, hacking and burning, a depression was made in the block having a capacity of about a pint. A rough pestle was made to fit into this cavity and was worked by hand. The stone mill was the next step.
The first corn-cracker in the county was built by Jacob Coile in 1809 on Sugar creek, in Union township. The Yeargon horse mill was constructed a little later and perhaps the second corn-cracker in the county was put up by Isaiah Pancoast on Deer creek in 1810, about a mile from Waterloo, close to the county line between Fayette and Pickaway. It was made of solid bould- ers with a hole drilled through. This primitive machine was subsequently converted into a mill for grinding wheat, then into a fulling mill, next into a woolen factory and later into a flouring mill.
This unique structure consisted of an upright beam, or shaft, running on pivots at both ends ; passing through this, below at right angles, was an- other shaft, about twenty feet long, at the end of which was attached a team of horses, who walked in a circle as in our modern horse powers. At the top of the upright shaft was attached a large wheel, which communicated its motion by means of a rawhide belt to another wheel, which in turn worked in a cog-wheel attached to the stones.
(7)
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These burrs, or stones, were generally made out of the native boulders with holes drilled through them, roughly dressed, and running upon each other, which ground the corn very coarse and left it with all the refuse ma- terials accompanying it, which were removed by means of a sieve, made by taking the green hide of a deer, removing the hair, stretching it tightly over a hoop and piercing it full of holes.
Bolting was done by hand, or rather the apparatus, which was a cloth cylinder, turned with a crank, which it was expected the man or boy bringing the grist to operate.
Before these mills were constructed, Springfield, Clifton and Chilli- cothe were localities to which the settlers carried their grain to be ground. Several neighbors would go together to make a full load, taking provisions and forage, and make the journey in about ten days. Horse mills were soon established at different points and hand mills were built. The hominy block was another invention of the times ; it was made by burning a hole in the end of a block of wood. They pounded the corn in these mortars with a pestle. The mills of early days ground very slowly. The settler went to mill very early and remained late to get his sack of meal. The flour made in the horse mills was like the brown, unbolted flour of the present. Thomas Moon, Sr., erected the first flour and saw mill and the first distillery in the county during the year 1810, upon a good site ten miles south of Washing- ton C. H.
A third mill was built during the War of 1812 by Asa Davis, on main Paint, two miles south of the county seat. A Mr. McDonald built a water mill two miles north of the town in 1850 and later sold to Mr. Stafford. An effort was made to establish a mill on main Paint, ten miles northwest of town by Solomon Salmon ; but the dam, being established on a bed of quick- sand, continually broke away and prevented success. Still another water mill was erected in Washington C. H. by Jesse Millikan. The saw mill was in operation in 1817 and a year later a grist mill was operating. Millikan died in 1836 and in about 1840 his son, Curren, applied steam power. A water mill was built on Sugar creek. four miles south of town, with which a distillery was connected. The mill was erected in 1820 by Adam Caylor. There was also a horse mill erected by Mr. Dughan, three miles northwest of Washington C. H., near Big run, prior to 1814. All of these mills were soon superseded by steam and water power.
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TAVERNS.
The granting of licenses for keeping tavern was in accordance with a territorial law passed by the first General Assembly of the Northwest terri- tory, and approved December 6, 1800. By this law no person was permitted to keep any tavern or public house of entertainment in any town, county or place within the limits of the territory, unless first recommended by twelve respectable freeholders of the county in which such house was to be kept. All persons, except tavern or inn keepers, were forbidden under severe penalties to sell liquor in small quantities.
The taverns of those days were very small, but very hospitable. One room often served as sleeping quarters for all of the guests and the landlord and family, also the domestic animals of the place.
In the beginning of the year 1817, on motion of the common pleas court, William Vaughan was granted a license to keep tavern at his house in Madison township, one year, on complying with the law.
It is said that the first tavern in Fayette county was kept in 1810 by William Harrison, on the then Parin lot, north of the court house, in an old cabin. Another was kept on the Vandeman corner by John Torbin, in 1810 or 1812; Norman Jones, 1811 and 1812; Evans and sons on Court and Fayette streets about 1816.
On December 18, 1817, John Evans and Nicholas Neely received licenses to keep taverns in Washington C. H. In the following April, William Rankin was allowed the same privilege at his residence in Paint township. Also Joseph Parrott and Matthew Gillespie in the same township, and in September, Sanford Corder, John Evans and Aaron Johnson started the same business in Union township. Immediately following this Aaron John- son was arrested for gambling, but plead not guilty.
As travel increased and improvements advanced, these unique places of entertainment disappeared and with them a great deal of the old-fashioned hospitality.
CORN HUSKINGS.
The festivity of corn husking was one of the most popular in pioneer times. The whole assembly went into the fields and jerked the corn off the stalks, throwing it into a pile until dinner. In the afternoon it was hauled in. When the crop was all gathered preparations were made for a night's husking. The neighbors for miles around were invited in. Two captains
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were chosen, who each selected an equal number of assistants. The pile was then divided equally, by placing a pole in the center. When all was ready "Black Betty" was passed around to get the proper spirit and work began in good earnest, the object being to see who could husk out on his side of the dividing line first. After many whiffs at the liquor the victorious party placed the bottle in the hands of the captain, and two stout men would seize him, one by each leg and, amid the shouts of "hoist the captain." lift him up and carry him over to the other party and, with swinging of hats and yells of victory, parade him along the lines of the vanquished huskers. Then "Old Betty" was again passed from mouth to mouth until all felt gloriously happy.
HUNTING.
In the early times the rifle was found in every household, in the use of which our forefathers were very familiar and were very careful in keeping it in good working condition. Those who could afford it kept two rifles, one for large game, carrying bullets about forty to the pound, and a smaller, or squirrel rifle, running over one hundred and twenty to the pound. The powder flask was made from the horn of an ox, boiled and scraped so thin as to transmit the rays of light ; a round block of wood fitted in the bottom and a plug was inserted in the smaller end, with usually a buzzard's quill for a charger.
The territory watered by Deer, Paint, Rattlesnake, Sugar and Compton creeks, now embraced in the limits of this county, when first settled abounded in all kinds of game and had been for many years the favorite hunting grounds of the Indians, and long after the white man's cabin was erected they built their camps and followed the old trails over the white man's fences, and through his tilled fields they stuck the trace in the woodlands.
There was an old Indian fort on the banks of Sugar creek, where the red men would stop on their route from Fort Clark to Oldtown. Captain Burnett, a Virginian and settler of 1810, said that parties of them, during their yearly hunt, were in the habit of camping and resting awhile at the old site years after the white man came in.
Among the first hunters of note in this county was Jacob Alloway, whose territory lay along the valleys of Paint and Compton creeks. Daniel Grubs, moving from Virginia to Kentucky, came thence to Fayette and dwelt on Glaze's run. The trees around bore marks for years of his presence. Edmond Blearage, John Arnold, George and Samuel Viniger, James Stewart, John Hase, David Baldwin, John Gest, and H. H. Harmer, were all men
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who made a specialty of hunting and were noted marksmen. George Rupert claimed to have shot in one season one hundred and twenty deer, two bears, wolves, and many of other game. George Roughner, a hater of Indians, and a Virginian by birth, arrived in the Scioto valley in 1789. His father, while serving under Dunmore in 1774 as a spy, was killed by the Indians, so Roughner's revenge extended to every exposed Indian. His hunting grounds were on the Paint and Rattlesnake and he often met, at Cedar Pond and Cliffs, the hunters from the Hocking and Kentucky. Finally, as a volunteer under General Cass, he was slain by the Indians in 1813.
The Nimrod of old-time hunters was Frederick Berly. The forest was his natural home. He loved solitude and lived a hermit. A camp fre- quently used by him was on Sugar creek. From his record, it appears that he had slain sixty bears, ninety-six panthers, one hundred and six wolves, one thousand elk and deer, eleven buffaloes and ninety-six Indians. His comrades in the chase were Boone, Kenton, Wetzel and others famous in history. At the age of one hundred and one, he died in his cabin on the banks of the Mohican, where a monument was erected to his memory.
William Robinson, Fayette county's first settler, was surrounded by a multitude of game and in 1802 killed fifteen bears, three catamounts, fifteen elk and one hundred deer. He was, on one occasion, hunting upon the head- waters of the Rattlesnake, when a light noise behind him caught his ear. Wheeling, he saw at a little distance an enormous panther following his trail. It was the work of a moment to leap behind a large oak at hand, pick his flint and cock his rifle. A failure to inflict a mortal wound was a prelude to a terrible struggle and carefully the barrel of the gun was leveled as the beast came near. He fired and as the ball struck the center of its head, the panther fell lifeless to the ground. Its length was eleven feet and its height thirty inches.
The number of deer slain in this county in the early days seems incredible. In the winter of 1815-16 there fell a snow of sixteen inches, followed by rain which froze and formed a crust. On this the boys and dogs could travel, but which broke through beneath the deer. Every one turned deer hunter and venison was sold in Washington C. H. at six cents a saddle, or two saddles for a pound of lead or quarter pound of powder.
Wild turkeys abounded in the county till 1830. Their meat was whole- some and preferred to bear or deer. Some weighed twenty pounds. Wolves were dangerous only when famishing. They had here abundant food and were never known to make an attack. The last wolf was killed in 1848 on the waters of Sugar creek by Daniel Carmaen. Hogs ran at large and multi-
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plied rapidly. Hordes of them infested the woods. They had long tushes, long and sharp head and nose and when aroused to anger were more to be dreaded than any beast of the forest. They were swift of foot and ran like hounds. Their favorite resorts were on the banks of Sugar creek, where their nests were made in the jungles. Snakes were numerous. Of these were rattlesnakes, black snakes, the garter, the spotted or "cabin" snake and the copperheads.
EARLY MAILS.
Postal facilities were not so good in the early days, chiefly because of the difficulty in transmitting the letters. The stamped envelope had not been invented. The letter page was simply folded together securely and the ad- dress written upon the back. Red sealing wax answered the purpose of mucilage. In order to send this letter anywhere it was necessary to pay the sum of twenty-five cents. Once every two weeks the blowing of a tin horn announced the arrival of a dilapidated horse and rider, with a small mail- bag containing the semi-monthly news.
PIGEON ROOSTS.
Beginning at the mouth of Sugar creek and extending down both banks of Paint creek, about one and one-half miles, was a dense grove of cedar trees, known throughout the county as the "Cedar Hole." At these roosts the pigeons congregated to breed and in some cases a single tree would hold one hundred nests. The noise at night caused by the continual fluttering of birds and cracking of overloaded branches could be heard quite a distance and each morning, it is said, the ground was strewn with dead and wounded birds, so that the pioneers in the vicinity were bountifully supplied. Samuel, John and Frank Waddle, Henry Snyder, William Blair and sons, Frank Mclaughlin, Jack Daugherty and all the neighbors for miles around visited the spot at night, arriving about sunset as the pigeons began to come in. It is said that the noise created by their arrival was almost equal to the roar of a cataract, continuing for two or three hours, until they became so far settled down as the breaking limbs would permit, when they knocked them off the trees, wrung off their heads and turned them over to the housewife, who cooked them in many styles.
SICKNESS.
In about the year 1817 a mill was built on the later site of the Milliken mill and a high dam erected, which, during the wet season of the year, backed
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the water up and overflowed the adjacent lands, and when the rains ceased and the waters dried up, produced great miasma and consequent sickness. In time this grew to an alarming extent and threatened the depopulation of the town. Doctors Hilton and McGara were confident that the cause arose from the stagnant waters of the dam and the proprietors were requested to take it down during the season of low water, from June until September, which was accordingly done in about 1825 and the sickness almost wholly disap- peared. It was taken down every year till about 1837, when, through care- lessness, it remained up a year or two, and again the fever and ague mani- fested themselves. The loss of many valuable citizens, among whom was the owner of the mill, Jesse Milliken, rendered prompt action necessary, so the administrator, Curren Milliken, was requested to remove it, but refused; upon which action a number of citizens, among them Z. W. Heagler, Daniel McLain, John C. Eastman, Arthur McArthur, L. D. Willard, David McLain and Peter Wendell, proceeded to the spot with the necessary tools and de- termined to remove the dam. They were met by the owner, at the head of an equal number, equally as determined that it should remain. The forces met in the center and in the struggle L. D. Willard slid down the slippery bank into the mud and was nearly drowned. Curren Milliken finally pro- posed to take it down if the other party would leave, to which they responded that they came to tear it down and it should be done. After considerable parleying and high words, Milliken agreed to take it away if they would desist, which being complied with, the central portion was removed and the parties withdrew.
Milliken immediately went before the grand jury and had them all indicted for riot. Whereupon the "criminals" brought an action against Milliken for keeping a public nuisance. The case was decided in their favor and the court decreed that the dam should be completely destroyed. Subse- quently a race was constructed and a dam built farther north from the town.
One of the greatest scourges to the early settlers of Fayette county was a disease known as milk-sick or trembles, which not only affected cattle, sheep, hogs, horses and dogs, but the human family as well. Human beings and stock would often be infected with the disease without any symptoms manifested until brought into activity by certain conditions, when it would suddenly develop itself with rapid and fatal effects. Stock driven until heated would become sick of the disease if it had fastened upon them. Persons, therefore, who wished to purchase stock, either for trade, service or butcher- ing, took means to heat them up previously. According to the symptoms it was given various names, such as sick stomach, swamp sickness, fires, slows, stiff joints, puking fever, river sickness, etc. Vomiting, purging, extreme
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nervous agitation, constipation, low temperature of body, dry tongue and skin, were some of the symptoms. Many theories were advanced as to its origin. Some claimed that it was caused by lead held in solution by water : some, that it was a weed, while others contended that it was a malarial epi- demic. Among the first remembered cases of death was that of a Mr. Daw- son, who died in 1816. His wife had been sick with it and finally died. After this Mr. Dawson prepared to return to his home in Virginia and on his way stopped at Harrison's tavern in Washington C. H., where he sickened and died. As late as 1879 a case of death from this malady was reported.
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