USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County : together with historic notes on the Northwest, and the state of Ohio, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and all other authentic sources > Part 35
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The regiment was now twelve miles from any support, with a fresh and victorious enemy (more than ten times superior in num- bers) close to the rear; and to successfully conduct a retreat of raw troops under such circumstances required the most thorough ability on the part of the commander, and the most undoubted confidence on the part of the men. The regiment toiled along the hot and dusty road, Colonel Frizell, Captain Drury, and other officers, fearlessly exposing themselves to prevent straggling, but their ut- most efforts could not prevent quite a number of their almost ex- hausted men from falling by the wayside, and becoming an easy prey to the closely pursuing enemy.
At 4 o'clock the regiment reached Lexington, to the great sur- prise of every person who knew they had been sent out on that expedition. The order sending it to the ford was a blunder, and probably the only thing that prevented its capture was the very boldness of the movements made. Our army that had retreated from Richmond, had already left Lexington, still in retreat, towards Louisville, and all stores that could not easily be transported had
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IN THE REBELLION.
been destroyed. With the exception of coffee and crackers on Sunday morning, the men of the Ninety-Fourth had had but little to eat since Saturday morning, were tired and footsore, and in bad condition for further marching. In the absence of instructions to the contrary, it was Colonel Frizell's intention to remain in Lex- ington (unless driven out) until his men had procured the much- . needed food and rest; but the order for continued retreat reached him and was obeyed. At daylight the retreating army reached Versailles, and a halt for breakfast was ordered, but just as the coffee began to boil another order to " fall in immediately " came from the officer in command.
The season was very dry, and but little water could be obtained. The suffering in consequence of this may be inferred from the fact that Ohio soldiers gave five dollars for a canteen full of muddy water, a dollar for a drink, and many drank from standing pools the water that the horses refused to touch ! The roads were almost ankle deep with dust, and the sun shone fiery overhead. The day's march began at from 2 to 3 o'clock in the morning, and continued till late in the night. The only provisions issued (or to be obtained) were a few hard crackers each night, and what green corn yet remained in fields adjacent to the camping grounds. The troops were nearly all newly enlisted, and, being unused to such a life, it is not to be wondered at that they fell out of ranks by the hundred, and were easily captured by the force of rebels following.
Upon arriving at Louisville, the Ninety-Fourth went into camp, without tents, in the woods, but the men were so exhausted that their only want was to rest as best they could. Having been almost entirely deprived of sleep, water or food, for seven days, marching night and day, with feet and limbs swollen almost to bursting, and every sense dulled by suffering, many of the men were pitiable objects.
In a short time, however, all had regained comparative strength, health and cheerfulness, and were ready to go where duty called.
The first regular report that the adjutant could make after arriv- ing at Louisville, showed a loss of two hundred and eighteen men ! With the exception of two men killed at Yates' Ford, all eventu- ally rejoined the regiment, having been paroled by the rebels as soon as captured.
With the exception of some hard work in the trenches, and on fortifications, for the defense of Louisville, and a participation in
.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
two or three "grand reviews," the regiment had a very easy time until the 1st of October, when the movement began which resulted in the battle of Perryville, and the driving of Bragg's rebel army from Kentucky.
Previous to the battle of Perryville, the Ninety-Fourth had been assigned to Rousseau's division of MeCook's corps, and took a prominent part in this engagement, being highly complimented in general orders.
The regiment broke camp near Nashville on Christmas day, 1862, and was in advance of the army, marching on Murfreesboro, and during the battle of Stone River was engaged every day from Wednesday until Saturday.
The Ninety-Fourth was again in advance on Tullahoma, partici- pating in the fight at Hoover's Gap, in June, 1863, had a skirmish at Dug Gap, and were engaged in the hard-fought battle of Chicka- mauga. At Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge the regiment again took a prominent part, participating in the grand charge upon the ridge; was with Sherman, on the march to Atlanta, tak- ing part in the battles at Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Kingston, Pump- kin-vine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochie River, Peach- tree Creek, Atlanta, and Jonesboro.
After pursuing Hood, the Ninety-Fourth participated in Sher- man's grand march to the sea, arriving in Savannah before Christ- mas. On the 20th of January, 1865, it was again on the march through South and North Carolina, and after participating in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, arrived at Goldsboro on the 23d of March, 1865.
The Ninety-Fourth was the first regiment to enter Raleigh, North Carolina, and soon after the surrender of Johnston, marched to Washington, via Richmond and Alexandria, participated in the grand review before the president, General Grant, and others, and was mustered out of service at Washington, on the 6th of June, 1865, with an aggregate of three hundred and thirty-eight men- " all that were left of them-left of one thousand and ten!"
SUMMARY.
We have now endeavored to unfold the history of this county, from its earliest settlement to the present. While it has been im- possible to note each fact specifically, in the process of its evolu- tion, or enter into the details of each step in its development, yet we have taken it in its infancy, and during its initial, tottering steps, we have guided it with care, and as the framework of its organism grew into shape, and its proper functions gave it strength and di- rection, so have we, in proportion, withdrawn the minutiæ of our description, until now she stands before us in perfection, the ex- ponent of her own beauty and power, from which she can look back to her feeble genesis and exclaim, Ultima thule! Look in the past, and see the four posts supporting poles, covered with brush, leaves, and earth, that protected the first mill, in its transition to the round log, the hewed log, the frame, and finally the brick and steam. From the huge boulder, rudely fashioned into a millstone, with a boy to turn the bolting apparatus, to the present grand flour- ing establishments of endless capacity; from the little copper still, to the immense manufactories of rot-gut and tangle-foot; from the old-fashioned flax-break to swingling and fulling, the spinning- wheel and tow to the carding mill and spinning-jenny, with its thousand spools. The former process is so peculiar, that we de- scribe it in this connection. In fulling the home-made clothing in this county, the neighboring men gathered at the house of one of their number-say six or eight. Taking seats on the old-fashioned split-bottom chairs, in a circle, with a rope around the backs to keep them in place, and with the web of cloth in the center, and with pants rolled up, they placed their feet so as to press in con- centric opposition to each other, and a good woman, with gourd in hand to dampen the web with hot soap suds, they worked, kicking and pushing against the cloth, till a late hour at night, when the woman of the house, with yard-stick, measured the shrinkage, and finding it complete, pronounces it "thick enough," and the process
367
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
is finished. From "hog and hominy," venison, potatoes, corn bread, sassafras or spicewood tea, to pies, pastries, and preserves, baking-powder, biscuit, etc .; from rosy cheeks, round waists, and sound lungs, to arsenie hue, sunken chests, attenuated coupling; from the sugar-trough, to the rosewood, automatic crib; from the old wooden mold-board, with attachments, and held together by hickory withes, collar of leather, stuffed with husks, to which a hemp rope was tied, and with a boy on the horse-it is said that this unique machine among the beech roots, would kick a man down, kiek him over the fence, and kick at him after he was over -from this grotesque apparatus we pass to the glittering steel mold-board, gliding smoothly between two wheels, surmounted by a whistling boy, while the furrow is turned unbroken from end to end; from the shovel-plow, the bare-footed boy, and the hoe, we pass to the modern planter, which furrows out, drops, and covers the corn; from the sickle we go to the self-binder; from the flail, and the hoof of the horse, and winnowing-sheet, to the steam sep- arator; from the blazed path, meandering through the woods, to the countless turnpikes; from the lumbering ox team, to the light- ning speed of the railway ; the corduroy bridge in the shady swamp is succeeded by the magnificent iron structures that now span our streams; from the circle around the fire, shelling the corn by hand, to the steam-power capacity of a thousand bushels a day; from the hickory-bark bureau and clothes-press, to the inlaid productions of the cabinet-maker; from the three-legged stool, that only would stand on the pioneer floor, in its transitions to that acme of seden- tary bliss, the reclining, rep-covered mahogany chair; from the homespun linsey-woolsey, to the flounced silk and satin polonaise and real point lace; from the plain sunbonnet, to the coronal flower garden ; from the rude log cabin, stick chimney, capacious fire- place, greased-paper window, to the brown stone front, polished base burner, French plate, and silver call; from the old dandy wagon, to the elliptic-spring phaeton. Such were the times then; such are the times, customs, and people of to-day ; and we may conclude, in the words of Cicero, O tempora, O mores! The old fireside home-
"Where, piled with care, the nightly stack Of wood against the chimney back ; The oaken log, green, huge, and thick, And on its top the stout back stick ;
369
SUMMARY.
The knotty fore stick laid apart, And filled between with curious art; The ragged brush; then hovering near, We watched the first red blaze appear, Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam, On whitewashed wall and sagging beam, Until the old, rude-furnished room Burst, flower-like, into rosy bloom," --
Where nuts were cracked, and turnips scraped, and the good old dog and cat lay snoozing by the fire, have all given place to the fashioned blazonry of modern art, style, and stiff formality.
1
GEOLOGY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Greene County is bounded on the north by Clarke, on the east by Madison and Fayette, on the south by Clinton and Warren, and on the west by Montgomery County.
I. TOPOGRAPHY.
The principal features in its topography, are the valleys of the Little Miami River, and of Beaver Creek. Cæsar's Creek also forms a considerable depression in the southeastern townships of the- county. To these three valleys, all of the drainage of the county is directed, with the exception of a single township in the north- western corner, which lies within the valley of Mad River.
Contrary to what might be expected, the valley of Beaver Creek is a much broader, and deeper trough than that of the Little Miami. The drainage effected by it is, however, insignificant in amount when compared with that accomplished by the river. Beaver Creek is a small and sluggish stream, that is almost lost in a wide and fruitful valley. No one can fail to recognize the disproportion that exists between the present stream, and the valley which contains it. The truth is, Beaver valley was never excavated by Beaver Creek. It is the deserted channel of an old river, that must have had greater volume and force, than the Little Miami has to-day. Nor are we left in doubt as to the general course, and connections of the river that did this work. The valley of Beaver Creek connects upon the north with the valley of Mad River. Whether the water of the head springs of Beaver Creek shall be delivered to the Little Miami or Mad River, can be determined by the digging of a ditch, or even by the turning of a furrow. A protracted and expensive law suit, has lately been decided in the courts of Greene County, in which the only question at issue was, to which stream the head springs of Beaver naturally belong. It can, then, be asserted with all confi- dence, that the valley of Beaver Creek is but an extension of the
370
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GEOLOGY.
valley of Mad River, and was occupied by that stream at no very remote period. An examination of the geological map of Greene County, upon which the alluvial valleys of the county are also indi- cated, serves to bring out this point very distinctly.
In Clarke County, an older valley of the Great Miami River is shown to exist, connecting its present valley of that of Mad River. In other words, the junction of these streams was effected below Springfield, instead of taking place at Dayton, as at present. And thus it seems probable that the valley now under consideration, viz., the valley of Beaver Creek, was formerly occupied by the waters of the Great Miami, after they had been re-enforced by the whole vol- ume of Mad River. With such an origin, the present dimensions. of the valley are easy to be understood.
The valley of the Little Miami, in Greene County, consists of two well marked portions, the lowermost of which has been cut out of the shales, and limestone of the Cincinnati series, while in the upper portion, the river has been obliged to hew its was through the mas- sive courses of the cliff limestone. The lower valley is, therefore, deep and capacious, while the upper part consists of a narrow gorge, bounded by precipitous walls. The first of the above-named divisions constitutes one of the most valuable tracts of the county, in an agricultural point of view ; the second has no such economical ap- plications, aside from the water-power which the river here fur- nishes in large amount, but which has not yet been utilized to any great degree. Indeed, it returns but little in dollars and cents, but it furnishes the most picturesque, and attractive scenery, not only of the county, but all of the region around. There is but one point in all southwestern Ohio, where more striking scenery is shown than that furnished by the gorge of the Little Miami between Grin- nell's Mills and Clifton. The limestone is cut down to a depth of from sixty to eighty feet, while the valley never exceeds a few hun- dred feet in breadth ; and at Clifton, it if contracted to a score or two of feet, being sometimes actually four times as deep as it is wide. The geological elements that are shown in the valley, will be treated of in succeeding pages, and the influence of each upon the propor- tions which it assumes will be duly considered.
Several of the more prominent tributaries of the river, exhibit features quite similar to those last described. The valley of Mas- sie's Creek, below Cedarville, presents scenery almost as striking as that furnished by the Little Miami at Clifton. Clark's Run, near
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
the south line of Miami township, shows another of these deep gorges, while the beautiful glen at Yellow Springs, which has had precisely such an origin, is known to thousands of people in south- western Ohio.
Cæsar's Creek flows in a much shallower trough than any of those already described. Its upper branches occupy slight depressions in the Drift beds, that cover so deep the eastern side of the county, and while at the western margin of the cliff limestone it is bedded in rock, it has wrought out no deep channel for itself.
Aside from these principal depressions, the general surface of the county is a plain, having an average elevation above the sea of one thousand feet. Throughout the six eastern townships, and in Miami Township on the north, the surface is quite uniform-one hundred feet, or one hundred and fifty feet at most, comprising the extreme range of variation in level. The remainder of the county lies, it is true, at a somewhat lower average elevation, but there are insulated summits all through it holding the general level above given.
By reference to the geological map, it will be seen that these di- visions agree exactly with the great geological divisions of the county, its northern and eastern portions being underlain with the Upper Silurian, or cliff limestones; while from the western half, though originally present, this formation has been carried away by long-continued erosion, only insulated patches of it now remaining to attest its former extent. It is to be remarked that the occasional summits, already spoken of, in the western half of the county, that are one thousand feet or more above the sea, are in all cases these outliers of cliff limestone, to which attention is now called.
By the removal of the protecting sheet of the cliff limestone, the softer beds of the Cincinnati series have been uncovered, and the wear and waste in them have been much more rapid than in the higher rocks.
The deposits of the Drift have been spread all over the county, reducing the asperities of the surface and hiding many ancient channels, but after all only modifying, and not essentially changing the great features determined by the underlying geological struc- ture. So that here, as in other counties, a geological map becomes in great degree a topographical map, the areas of the cliff lime- stone comprising those districts of the county that have an eleva-
GEOLOGY. 373
tion of a thousand or more feet above tide water, while all other areas belong to the Lower Silurian, or Cincinnati series.
The lowest land of the county is found on its southern boundary, in the valley of the Little Miami, and ranges between two hundred and seventy-five feet and three hundred feet above low water at Cincinnati, or between seven hundred feet and seven hundred and twenty-five feet above the sea. The highest land is found in Cedar- ville and Miami townships, along the water-sheds between the Lit- tle Miami and Massie's Creek, and the Little Miami and Mad River respectively. It may be safely estimated to be not less than six hundred and fifty feet above Cincinnati, or eleven hundred feet above the sea. There is but little difference in the elevations of these dividing ridges. The summits of each consist of stratified beds of sand and gravel belonging to the latest stage of the Drift period. The highest elevation held by the bedded rock is probably in Miami Township, to the north and northwest of Yellow Springs.
The elevations of a few of the principal points in the county are here appended, almost all of which were determined by Franklin C. Hill, Esq., of Yellow Springs. All are counted above low water at Cincinnati:
Feet.
Xenia, grade of railroad at depot, . 491
Yellow Springs, grade of railroad at depot, 541
Osborne, grade of railroad at depot,
410
Spring Valley, grade of railroad at depot, 333
Claysville, grade of railroad at depot, .
321
Harbine's Station, grade of railroad at depot,
370
Oldtown, grade of railroad at depot, 396
Goe's Station, grade of railroad at depot, . 427
Berryhill's Hill, Spring Valley Township (outlier of cliff lime- stone), . 560
Shoup's quarry, two miles southwest of Harbine's (outlier of cliff' limestone), 519
Gravel bank, Yellow Springs, about 625
Railroad grade, one mile north of Yellow Springs (north line of county), about 600
Cedarville (railroad grade), about . 550
Low water at Cincinnati is four hundred and thirty-two feet
24
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
above the sea. By adding, therefore, four hundred and thirty-two feet to each of these elevations, the level above the sea is obtained. 1
II. GEOLOGICAL SERIES.
The geological scale of Greene County is identical with that of Montgomery and Clarke counties. Its rock formations are con- fined to two great series, viz. : those of Upper and Lower Silurian age; and between them the surface of the county is almost equally divided:
A vertical section of the rocks of the county would be found to contain the following elements :
3. Niagara Group.
2. Clinton Limestone.
1. Cincinnati Series, Lebanon division.
The lowest division has an aggregate thickness of two hundred and fifty feet, the middle division of fifty feet, and the uppermost of one hundred and twenty-five feet, making the total section of the rocks of the county four hundred and twenty-five feet.
The best general section for the study of the strata of the county -and there is no better one for the same geological elements in the state-is found in the valley of the Little Miami River and its tributaries, between Goe's Station and Yellow Springs. At the first named point, Goe's Station, the Little Miami is bedded in the limestones and shales of the Cincinnati series. Fifty feet, at least, of this formation are here shown on the western side of the valley. The Xenia turnpike, the Little Miami Railroad, and the race for the powder mills have all required rock-cuttings. The streams, also, that descend from the uplands, have their channels in the rock, so that the constitution and contents of the beds can be fully studied. The fossils of this portion of the series abound in these outcrops and sections. Among them are to be named Rhynchonella capax, Trematospira modesta, Orthis occidentalis (upper variety), Stro- phomena planumbona, and several of the corals.
The termination of the Cincinnati series is very distinctly shown in the ravine to the south of Mr. Goe's residence. This may, in- deed, be considered a typical locality, for it is from this very point that the phenomena of the line of junction between the Lower and Upper Silurian formations have, in part, been described. Between the fossiliferous beds of the Cincinnati group and the overlying
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GEOLOGY.
Clinton limestone there occur twenty to thirty feet of fine-grained shales in color, light blue or red, and destitute of fossils. Occupy- ing as do these shales the place held by the Medina group to the eastward and northward, it has been suggested that they are a rep- resentative of that period. They are not, however, found at all sections of this horizon, the Clinton sometimes resting directly upon the fossiliferous beds of the Cincinnati series.
A fine display of the Clinton limestone is shown in the wall of rock that immediately overhangs the shales above described. The same limestone occurs in bold cliffs along the river valley, near Grinnell's Mill.
From this last named point the section is prolonged by the Yel- low Springs branch, which shows, in the course of two miles, at least one hundred feet of rock. The artificial sections of the Yel- low Springs quarries are now reached, which constitute, on the whole, the best point in the county at which to study the Niagara series.
There are other fine natural sections of the rocks of the county, but the one now described may be taken as a fair sample of them all.
The separate elements in the geological scale above given will now be briefly treated.
1. The uppermost two hundred and fifty feet, or thereabouts, of the Lebanon division of the Cincinnati series, underlie the western half of Greene County. This area comprises the more eroded por- tions of the county, as has been already stated, and, lying at a low level, is so heavily covered with the deposits of the modified Drift that the rocks are, for the most part, concealed. There are, how- ever, numerous exposures of the series, especially in Spring Valley and Sugar Creek townships, in which all of its characteristics, both as to order of stratification and fossil contents, can be seen and studied to excellent advantage. One hundred feet are shown in the valley of Bear Branch, a small tributary of the Little Miami, which enters the valley opposite Claysville. There is no point in the state where finer specimens of some of the common fossils of the formation have been found than here. Among them may be named Ambonychia radiata, Orthis sinuata, Leptacna scricca, Rhyncho- nella capax, Isotelus megistos. Representatives of at least thirty species of fossils can be obtained from the section here shown.
The line of junction between the Lower and Upper Silurian for-
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
mations is shown as distinetly in Greene County as in any section of the state. One of the favorable points for studying it has already been named, but others almost equally satisfactory are furnished in the neighborhoods of Franklin Berryhill and Thomas J. Brown, of Spring Valley Township, on Cæsar's Creek, where it is crossed by the Wilmington and Xenia Turnpike, and in the vicinity of Reed's Hill, in Bath Township.
As elsewhere in southwestern Ohio, this horizon is marked by copious springs, to which attention will be more particularly called in the subsequent pages of this report.
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