USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 69
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"4. A thin layer of sandy earth, about one inch on the highest part, and increasing in thickness toward the sides.
"5. Charcoal and ashes, the charcoal not plenty nor in large pieces, this indicating that the fire had burned out before being covered up with earth. This fire was hot enough to color all the top rocks, as mentioned of the first one found.
"6. A layer of sand about fifteen inches thick, with pieces of fire- cracked bowlder, burnt limestone, and pieces of human bones, much decayed-or were they partially burned?
"7. Another layer of charcoal and ashes similar to the one below, about three-fourths of an inch thick.
"8. Clayey sand to the top, so soft as to be shovelled without loosening with a pick, and nowhere over two and a half feet thick. No ornaments or implements of any kind were found in this mound."
West and to the south of this tumulus, and on the same continuous sand-ridge mentioned above, are four or five elevations or tumuli, with an average height of three to four feet, being from two to three hun- dred feet apart. The ridge is here under cultivation; numbers of relics, flint chips, and broken bowlders, are ploughed up on this ridge.
·
Northwest of these tumuli, and on the general level of the plateau, one-fourth of a mile distant, is a mound which has a circumference at base of two hundred feet, and an elevation of seven feet. It is as yet unexplored, but cultivated annually.
Four hundred yards to the northeast of this mound, and at the junc- tion of the Wooster and Madison turnpikes, can yet be traced a cir- cular work, which has a circumference of six hundred feet; twenty years ago, I am told by an old settler, the circle had an elevation at that time of three feet, and there was a mound four feet in the centre; at present it is almost obliterated. Its northern side in places has an ele- vation of eight to twelve inches. On the south and eastern side, the work can be traced by the yellow color of the soil. The northeast side is occupied by the Madison turnpike.
Continuing on the southwestward of the small tumuli, and along the previously described sand ridge, we come to what is known as the 'Pottery Field.' Here the ridge slopes gently to the south and southeast, with an elevation of from sixty to eighty feet above the level of the Little Miami river. This field is a plateau of about four acres in extent, sloping back to the higher ground. On this platean fragments of pottery are found in great abundance. Flint chips, arrow points, broken bowlders, burnt limestone, and the shells of the fresh- water muscle (unio), are found all over the surface. Human remains have been found in the adjoining ravines and on the slopes; the graves were isolated and shallow, and the method of burial was not uniform. Bones of various wild animals are also found.
Two hundred yards north of the Pottery field are several small tum- uli. The largest has a circumference at base of about one hundred feet, height five and one-half feet; this mound has been dug into, but not yet explored. The Pottery Field, and also the tumulus, are situated in sections nine, Columbia township, in what is known as Ferris' woods, in 'Still Home Hollow.' The largest trees on the Pottery Field meas- ure as follows: A walnut, fifteen and one-half feet in circumference; an oak, twelve feet in circumference; a maple, nine and one-half feet in circumference, and an elm twelve feet in circumference.
A quarter of a mile farther west, in section fifteen, on the estate of Joseph Ferris, and just southeast of the family homestead, is a circular work, with an inside ditch and a central elevation. Its circumference is about two hundred feet; diameter from east to west about sixty-five feet. This work is almost obliterated. It is distant from the river half a mile, and elevated above it about eighty feet.
2. The group B is situated partly in sections fifteen and twenty-one, in this township. The remainder of the works belonging to and forming much the larger part of the group are in Spencer township, and will be described in another chapter. Our scientific authority gives a full account of the group, from which we extract at present that portion relating to Columbia township:
One-half mile north of Red Bank station, on the second bottom or plateau of Duck creek, immediately southwest of the western end of the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad trestle, is a mound eight feet high and two hundred feet in circumference at base. It has not been ex- plored, but is cultivated annually. Half a mile to the northwest of this mound is another, with an elevation of five feet and circumference of about one hundred and seventy-five feet. It is on the same level as the foregoing one, and on the lands of the Dr. Duncan estate.
The hill northwest of Red Bank station, and distant about two hun- dred yards from it, has an elevation of about two hundred and fifty feet. This hill is terraced on its eastern and southern slope; the ter- races are five in number, and are undoubtedly the work of human hands. On the top of this hill is a mound. Its present elevation is about four feet, and it has not been explored.
3. Dr. Metz's group C lies altogether in Anderson township, and its several works have been described in the chapter devoted to that subdivision of the county. Group D is also mostly in Anderson, comprising the enclosure and mounds in the northeast corner of the township, and also interesting works in southwestern Co-
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
lumbia, across the river, which are thus described in the doctor's essay :
.
No. 6 of this group is a small mound, situated in seetion twenty-two, Columbia township, on an elevated ridge known as Gravelotte, on the estate of T. R. Biggs. It is situated in a corner of a large embank- ment. Its height is three feet, circumference one hundred and fifty feet.
No. 7 of this group is located in section twenty-nine, Columbia town- ship, one-fourth of a mile west of Camden, just south of the Wooster turnpike. It is now only one-third its former size, it being partly re- moved in the construction of the Wooster turnpike. Its present di- mensions are : Height nine feet, diameter seventy feet.
In the southeast corner of section twenty-nine, at the village of Cam- den, and three hundred feet east of the south line of Mr. Galloway's residenee, is the corner of an embankment which extends east and south to the river. It extends three-fourths of a mile east, until it reaches the bank of the river, which is here about forty feet high, the other running south until it reaches the edge of the gravel ridge, and then runs east to the river. It incloses from eight hundred to one thousand acres of ground. This embankment, fifty years ago, was six feet high and twelve feet wide. It is now seareely traceable; but can be seen in spring time and just after plowing, when the peculiar color of the soil discloses it.
At the northwest corner of seetion twenty-eight, half a mile south of the mound No. 7, between the two headwaters of a little stream setting into the Miami, is a eluster of seven small mounds.
4. Some miles from any one of these groups, upon the farm of M. C. Benham, on section thirty, near Pleas- ant ridge, is a fine, large mound, eight feet high, by two hundred in circumference at the base.
5. On the same turnpike, the Montgomery, which passes near the Benham mound, but a mile and a half to the southwest, on Norwood Heights, is the famous mound of observation, one of the most notable ancient works in the county. It is nine feet high and two hun- dred feet in base circumference; and its summit com- mands an extensive view of the surrounding country. From it signals could be flashed or otherwise communi- cated to similar points of observation in the Mill creek valley, and thence rapidly far up and down the valleys of the Great Miami and the Ohio. Many stone imple- ments, as axes, fleshers, gorgets, chissels, flint arrow-heads and chippings, and also mica, have been found in the neighborhood and through the valley.
THE EARLY DAY.
For the following items of township history we are in- debted to the interesting work entitled "Surburban Homes," prepared and published in 1874, by Professor Richard Nelson, now president of Nelson's Business col- lege, Cincinnati:
Though the records of the township have been kept at Madison, we have found it difficult to obtain much information regarding the early settlement of either town or township. The first record of township officers was made April 4, 1803, when Samuel Sheppard was elected chairman, and James Murch, elerk, and James MeKnight, N. S. Arm- strong, John Seeman, and John Elliott, trustees. Two years after- ward, the whole number of votes polled in the township was thirty-two.
During the early history of the township, it was customary to board the poor at the farm houses, the pauper being sold at auetion to the lowest bidder. Some of these bids, we noticed, did not exceed one dollar per week. It was also the province of the constable to notify strangers that were supposed to be in indigent circumstances that the township would not be responsible for their support. The following we extracted from a record made in 1826:
"An order to John Jones, constable, for warning B- R-
and family . to depart the township; also, for warning five supervisors to attend to be sworn into office."
Among the annals may also be seen a book containing the records
of the "ear-marks" for stock. These marks are represented in dia- grams, which are accompanied with a key, and in 1791 numbered up to one hundred and seventy. The last record stands thus:
" Moses Osborn, having removed out of the township, his mark is transferred to Henry Lockwood; which mark is two slits in the right ear."
The oldest of these private marks for animals, recorded as No. I by Judge William Goforth, February 7, 1791, was "a penny on the left ear, and a half-penny the under side of the same." This is accompanied, as in other cases, by a diagram showing the form and position of these marks upon the ear.
A leaf from one of the old justice dockets, bearing dates of August 22, 26, and 30, 1816, shows for what petty sums suits were sometimes brought in those days. In the case of William Irwin against Singer Smith, judg- ment was rendered against the defendant for two dollars. In that of Moses Kitchell vs. Christopher Leman, judg- ment was given the plaintiff for "the amount that I found between them," as the magistrate puts it-which amount was seventy-seven and three-fourths cents! The "bale" and a witness in one of these cases was the well-known Isaac Giffin, who receives further notice under the head of Madisonville. He is but recently deceased, and is re- membered, among other characteristics, for his inveterate habit of ruminating, or chewing his cud, the same as a cow.
The following document is an interesting but rather painful reminder of its time, as showing for what trifling delinquencies an unlucky debtor could be lodged in prison. It is some satisfaction, in this particular case, that the endorsement upon this writ shows that the debt and costs were paid without recourse to the last resort of an infuriated or determined creditor.
THE STATE OF OHIO, } Hamilton County. § SS.
To John Jones, Constable of Columbia Township, Greeting:
WHEREAS John Armstrong, treasurer, obtained judgment against John and Rachel Withem, before me, a justice of the peace of said township, for a debt of two dollars eighty-three and one-half cents, and ...... dollars ..... cents costs, on the first day of June last. --- You are therefore commanded to levy the said debt and costs, and costs that may aeerue, of the goods and chattels of the said John and 'Rachel Withem, by distress and sale thereof, returning the overplus, if any, to the said John and Rachel Withem, but for want of such property whereon to levy, then take the said John and Rachel Withem to the jail of the county aforesaid, there to be detained until the said debts and costs that may accrue, shall be paid, or ...... otherwise legally discharged: And of this writ make legal service and due return.
Given under my hand and seal, this twenty-second day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and seventeen.
ZACH. BRIGGS, Justice of the Peace.
A justice in those days received four cents for swearing a witness, seven for issuing a subpæna, twelve and a half for a writ, and the same sum for rendering a judgment, except pro confesso, when the fee seems to have been but ten cents. Constables realized twenty to thirty cents costs in a simple case; but a witness was allowed the ex- travagant sum of fifty cents for a day's attendance.
. The following is a partial transcript of the original pauper record of Columbia township, kindly made for this work by Louis W. Clason, esq., of Madisonville, to whom its readers are also indebted for many other favors. He has exhibited an interest and public spirit in the mat-
267
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
ter of recording and perpetuating local history, that are every way creditable to his intelligence and foresight.
1801. This book bought from Mr. Nathaniel Reeder, in Cincinnati, the second day of September, 1801, for the use of the overseeers of the Poor, Columbia Township, Hamilton County, North West of the River Ohio. The Price, one dollar and twenty-five cents, and this Book to be continned and to be delivered over to the next overseeers, and so on from year to year to the overseers for their use of said township.
This Book bought by Wyleys Pierson and Joseph Reeder, overseeers of the Poor for Columbia Township, A. D., 1801.
To the Commissioners for the County of Hamilton North West of the River Ohio.
The overseeers for the Township of Columbia and County aforesaid.
This is to certify that on the fourth day of May, 1801, we sold Thomas McCormick, one of the poor of said Township, for one year, for fifty-one dollars and ninety-nine cents, George Galaspe, Sen., being the lowest bidder.
Likewise, on the sixteenth day of May aforesaid, we sold Sarah Frier, one of the poor of the township, aforesaid for fifty-nine dollars, until the first Monday in May next, the lowest bidder being Susannah Price. Sold by us, Joseph Reeder, and Wyleys Pierson, overseeers of the poor for the township aforsaid.
I80I. On the third Tuesday of November we held a town meeting to vote in Freeholders to andit the accounts of the overseers of the poor for the township of Columbia and County of Hamilton, which is to be done every year for the same purpose. On that day was voted in Wil- liam Logan, Perry Cratchel, and John Mann.
An account of money expended to maintain Moses Trader, accord- ing to an order obtained from two Justices of the Peace for that pur- pose 29th December, 1801.
Paid Noah Strong for two weeks' board, at two dollars per week. $4.00
Paid Noah Strong for three weeks, at $1. 50 per week 4.50
Joseph Reeder allowed him one week. 1.00
9.50
3
Balance due . 6.50
Witness
Joseph Reeder, We have received in part three dollars to be Wyllys Pierson. ) deducted as above.
The above account for necessaries furnished the poor of Columbia Township, allowed by the Court the 2nd March, 1802. at six dollars and fifty cents.
The above three dollars that we rec'd was from Major Benj'n Stites, a former overseeer.
1802. Rec'd of Wyllys Pierson twenty-five cents, for searching record and making of the within account, 5th May, 1801, for John S. Gano, Clerk.
JOHN ARMSTRONG.
To the Commissioners of Hamilton County, North West of the River, Ohio.
This is to certify that, on the third day of May, 1802, we sold Thomas McCormick, one of the poor of said Township, for one year, for the sum of fifty-two dollars, Robert Flack being the lowest bidder. Likewise we sold Sara Frier, one of the poor, for one year for seventy- five dollars on the same day as the above, the lowest bidder Susannah Price.
Sold by us, Wylleys Pierson and Joseph Reeder, Overseeers of the Poor, Columbia Township.
1802. May the 13th, then settled with the Trustees or anditors, and our accounts allowed by them; their names:
Hamilton County,
Columbia Township.
JOHN COMINGS, JOHN SEAMAN, JOSEPH MCCORMICK.
Hamilton County.
Whereas Wylleys Pierson and Joseph Reeder, overseeers of the poor for the township of Columbia, both this day made complaint unto us, John Armstrong and William Brown, Esqrs., two of the justices of the county assigned to keep the peace; and hath reported that Jonathan Covington, of said township, is lying sick with a consumption and hath not enough to support himself; and these are therefore to require yon, the said overseeers, to administer relief to the said Covington in such manner as the law in such cases directs. In testimony whereof we have set our hands and fixed our seals at Columbia the 29th day of January, in the year 1803.
JOHN ARMSTRONG. WILLIAM BROWN.
To the Commissioners for the county of Hamilton, Northwest of the River Ohio.
Whereas we obtained an order from John Armstrong and William Brown, Esqrs., two of the Justices for said county aforesaid at Colum- bia, the 20th day of January, 1803, to sell one of the poor named Jonathan Covington, and we sold him on the eighth day of February, 1803, according to law, until the first Monday of May next, for twenty- three dollars and seventy-five cents, the lowest bidder being Elizabeth Ferris. Sold by us, Joseph Reeder and Wylleys Pierson.
[On page five of the record I find the first entry of notice to depart the township .- L. W. C.]
June 14th, 1806. A Warrant issued warning John Hannah to de- part this Township.
October 14. A Warrant issued warning Mary Highlands to depart this township.
November 17. A Warrant issued warning Jonathan Narree to de- part this township.
[On page forty-nine I find the following entry .- L. W. C.]
24th. Raatis Evans brought from Columbia to James Johnson's, and died, at one dollar per day.
The oldest graveyard in the present township of Col- umbia is at the foot of West Indian hill, on the premises of the Joseph Morton estate. It has not been used for more than half a century. Some of the first bodies in- terred therein were taken from Columbia village, as several members of the Ward family, who were among the first settlers in that region. About the same time with them came John Harbaugh, who seems to have been an invet- erate enemy of the Wards, since he gave directions be- fore his death that he should not be buried in the old cemetery, where their remains reposed, lest the devil, while searching for the body of a Ward, might make a mistake and get him !
The first church built was probably that put up for the Duck Creek Baptist church in 1804. This society was a colony from the church in Columbia, and the secession created a church quarrel which makes considerable figure on the records of the Miami Baptist association. The difficulty was amicably settled by a council, however, be- fore the next meeting of the association. The two earliest pastors were the Rev. William Jones, 1805-14, and Rev. John Clark, 1814-16.
A STATION.
One of the small fortified stations against the Indians, called Nelson's station, is mentioned hereafter in an ac- count of Madisonville; but it makes very little figure in the annals of the early day, and we suspect was little more than an ordinary settlement, with perhaps some - special preparations for defence.
NOTES OF SETTLEMENT.
The McFarland settlement was made in sections twen- ty-four and thirty, near the northwest corner of the town- ship, in the spring of 1705, by Colonel John McFarland, an emigrant from Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He took here a tract of nearly one thousand acres, compris- ing the whole of the first-designated section and the east half of the second, upon which the village of Pleasant Ridge now stands in part. Near this site McFarland made his first clearing and put up his cabin, which he seems to have fortified somewhat, as it is sometimes re- marked as being the last station established in Hamilton county. Life there was comparatively uneventful until some twelve years after the beginnings, when an incident
268
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
occurred which is well told in the language of John G. Olden, in his Historical Sketches and Early Reminiscen- ces:
In the year 1807, on what is now known as Norwood Heights, in the immediate neighborhood of Pleasant Ridge, and almost four miles south of the present village of Reading, then known as Voorheestown, there lived a man named Daniel Wolverton, with a family consisting of a wife and three children-Jemima, about six years of age; John, nearly four; and an infant but a few months old. They lived in an humble cabin on the spot of ground now occupied by the stately resi- dence of Mr. John W. Siebern, a well-known merchant of Cincinnati.
It was the afternoon of a pleasant autumn day that the two children, Jemima and John, by permission of their mother, went out into the woods to gather nuts. This was by no means an unusual occurrence; the children were accustomed to the woods, which at that day sur- rounded every cabin in the neighborhood-in fact, the whole country was one continued forest, except here and there a spot laid bare by the woodman's axe. The mother took little heed of her children until near the close of the day, when, as twilight set in and they did not return, she grew anxious, and, going into the woods, called loudly for them, but, receiving no answer, her mind became filled with forebodings of evil. Darkness now came, and the husband, who had been absent during the afternoon, having returned, both parents made diligent search through the adjacent woods. Again they called the names of their little ones, until their voices reached the neighboring cabins and alarmed the whole settlement; still no answer came, save the echo of their own voices. Soon the neighbors came and joined the parents, and the entire night was spent in a fruitless search. The woods throughout the settlement resounded with the voices of men and the firing of guns, but all to no purpose; morning came, but no tidings of the lost ones.
The entire neighborhood was now alarmed, and a large assembly of people met at the cabin of the distressed parents and determined to continue the search. That the canvass might be more thorough and cover a greater territory, they arranged that each person should go alone, or at most in couples. It was agreed also that each party should carry, what was then a common article in every cabin in the country, a 'dinner-horn, which, it was agreed, should not be used until the chil- dren were found, and then the successful party should sound a blast that would be responded to by others, and thus the news be conveyed to all exploring parties, and reach as a joyous signal the almost dis- tracted mother. This also served the purpose of keeping all parties upon the search, as all would know that so long as the horns were silent the object of their pursuit had not been found.
Though small bands of Indians passed through the country occa- sionally, but little fears were entertained that the children had met with violence at their hands, for they were quite friendly. There was the greater danger from starvation, or death from fright or grief, or from the sting of the deadly serpent. The woods, too, abounded with wild animals. The wolf and the bear were regarded as dangerous; and panthers, though not numerous, had been seen in sufficient numbers to make them a terror to all mothers. With the knowledge that the children had been exposed to all these grave dangers for the entire night, little hope was left of finding them alive. Still, it was thought that whatever their fate, it was better to have it known and put all doubts at rest. Even should they have been devoured by wild animals, it was confidently hoped that at least a portion of their remains would be found within a circuit of a few miles.
With these preparations and these thoughts in their minds, the neighbors went forth again into the forest, some afoot and others on horseback, each party taking different directions; and it would now seem that a few hours would crown their efforts with success. But the day wore away, and evening came; some of the hunters returned, bringing, however, no word of cheer to the grief-stricken parents. The footprints of the children had been seen and followed for some distance down a small ravine leading from the settlement into the Mill Creek valley ; but soon the tracks turned upon the high ground, after which all traces of them were lost, and, what appeared stranger still, the children had not been seen by any one, although quite a number of cabins must have been near the range of their travels.
One of the neighbors, named Ralph Auten, had proposed in the out- set to put his dog, a fine, noble-looking bloodhound and said to have been a very sagacious animal, on the track of the children, but this was objected to upon the supposition that should the dog find the children, he might attack, or at least frighten them seriously, so the project was aban- doned. Notwithstanding the protest of his neighbors, however, Mr.
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