USA > Ohio > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Ohio : containing a history of the county, its townships, towns portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, history of the Northwest Territory, history of Ohio, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc > Part 13
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
The banking system in Ohio has, by reason of State surveillance, not been subjected to those whirlwind speculations and questionable failures which have marked many Western States, in the establishment of a firm basis upon which a banking law could be sustained, with mutual benefit to the institution and the people.
THE CANAL SYSTEM.
In the first part of 1817, the Legislature considered a resolution relating to a canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. No action was taken and the subject was not again agitated until 1819. Gov. Brown appointed three commissioners in 1820, for the purpose of employing an efficient engineer and such assistants as he deemed necessary, for the purpose of surveying a practical route for this canal. The commissioners were restricted in their actions until Congress should accept a proposition in behalf of the State, for a donation and sale of the public lands lying upon and near the route of the proposed canal. A delay was thus occasioned for two years.
In 1822, the matter was referred to a committee of the House of Repre- sentatives. This committee approved and recommended the employment of the engineer. They furthermore added illustrations to prove the feasibility of the project.
James Geddes, a skillful engineer of New York, was in due time appointed to the position and instructed to make the necessary examinations and sur- veys.
The surveys were made, and estimates given of the expenses, which docu- ments were laid before the Legislature at several sessions.
In 1825, an act was passed providing for the internal improvement of the State by navigable canals. Directly thereafter, the State set vigorously about the work of constructing two canals, one leading from the Ohio to Lake Erie, by way of the valleys of the Scioto and Muskingum, the other from Cincinnati to Dayton.
The first canal-boat from Cincinnati to Dayton, reached her destination in 1829, on the 25th of January. This outlet of communication was extended to Lake Erie, and was completed in 1845. The largest artificial lake now known is on the elevation between the Ohio and the lake, in Mercer County, and supplies the St. Mary's feeder of the Miami Canal, about three miles dis- tant, eastwardly. This reservoir is about nine miles long, and from two to four broad.
Two walls of earth, from ten to twenty feet high, were formed, on the east and west, which united with the elevations north and south, surrounded this basin. When the water was admitted, whole farms were submerged, and the "neighbors" complained lest this overflow should tempt miasma. So great was the excitement, that over one hundred and fifty residents of the county united, and with shovels and spades, made a breach in the embankment. Many holding prominent positions in the county were engaged in this work,
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and all laid themselves liable to the State laws, which made the despoiling of public works a penitentiary offense.
The matter was taken up by the courts, but a grand jury could not be found in Mercer County to find a bill of indictment.
The officers who had charge of the work, ignored the law requiring the cut- ing and saving of the timber on lands appropriated, for canal reservoirs. The trees were ruthlessly girdled, and thousands of acres of valuable timber that might have been highly desirable in the building of bridges, etc., were destroyed. However, an adjustment was finally effected, and the work was prosecuted with the entire approbation of the people, who were convinced that convenient transportation was to be desired.
OHIO LAND TRACTS.
After the Indians relinquished all claims against the lands of those States west of the Alleghanies, as they had been obtained by conquest, the United States, as a government, owned the soil. When Ohio was admitted into the Union, a stipulation was made that the fee simple to all the lands within its boundaries, with the exception of those previously sold or granted, should vest in the General Government. At the present writing, but few tracts remain that can be called " public lands." In this, as in other States, tracts are des- ignated by their pioneer signification or the purpose to which they were origi- nally devoted. In Ohio, these tracts are known as :
1. Congress Lands. 8. Symmes' Purchase. 15. Maumee Road.
2. United States Military.
9. Refugee Tract. 16. School Lands.
3 Virginia Military. 10. French Grant. 17. College Lands.
4. Western Reserve. 11. Dohrman's Grant. 18. Ministerial Lands.
5. Fire Lands. 12. Zane's Grant. 19. Moravian Lands.
6. Ohio Company's Purchase. 13. Canal Lands. 20. Salt Sections.
7. Donation Tract.
14. Turnpike Lands.
The lands sold by the direct officers of the Government, under the direc- tion of Congress, according to the laws, are known as Congress lands. They are properly surveyed, and laid out in townships six miles square, under the direction of the Government, and the expense incurred settled by Congress. These townships are subdivided into sections, containing 640 acres. One sec- tion is reserved, in every township, for educational purposes, to be utilized in any manner approved by the State as being the best to aid the cause for which they are assigned.
The Western Reserve will be remembered as the tract originally belonging to Connecticut. It lies in the northeast quarter of the State. A half-million acres were donated by the old Eastern State, when her claim was in force, to sufferers from fire during the Revolutionary war, which created the name, " fire lands." Many settled here whose homes were destroyed by the British during the war.
It will be remembered, that on account of discoveries by subjects of empires, in the New World, the "Old World " kings laid claim to different portions
Robert & Suites)
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
of the young continent. At that period, European knowledge of American geographical positions and limits was exceedingly meager. which occasioned several wars and more discussions. These Old-World sovereigns also assumed the authority to sell or present tracts of land to their subjects, in those terri- tories they deemed their own.
King Charles II of England granted to his loyal subjects the colony of Connecticut, in 1662, placing with them a charter of right to all lands within certain prescribed boundaries. But these " boundaries " frequently conflicted with those of others, and sometimes extended to the Pacific Ocean, or " South Sea," as it was then termed. Connecticut, by her original charter rights, held all lands between the forty-first and forty-second parallels of north latitude, and from Providence Plantation on the east, to Pacific Ocean on the west, except- ing the New York and Pennsylvania colonies. As late as the establishment of the United States as an independent government, those colliding claims fre- quently engendered confusion and warm discussion between the nation and Connecticut, regarding the original colony claim. This was compromised by the national claims being relinquished in regard to the territorial claim in Ohio, and Connecticut holding the 3,800,000 acres described as the " Western Reser- vation." The Government held the right of jurisdiction.
In 1796, Congress set aside a certain division of land, to satisfy the claims of officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary war. It includes the 2,500,000 acres between the Greenville treaty line and the Congress and refugee lands, and " VII ranges of townships," on the east, and the Scioto River, west. This constitutes the " Military Tract." The " Virginia Military Tract " lies between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers, and extends south to the Ohio.
James I, in his authorized charter to the Virginia colony, in the year 1609, made rather visionary boundary lines, sweeping over the continent, west of the Ohio River, " of the north and south breadth of Virginia." Virginia reconciled the matter by relinquishing all her claims northwest of the Ohio River, with the exception of a tract for the purpose of donating the same to her troops of the Revolution-their claims demanding such a return in some section. Unfortunately, this tract was not regularly surveyed, and conflicting "lines " have given rise to litigation ever since that stipulation was made.
The Ohio Company's Purchase has already been described-as has the Symmes Purchase.
The Refugee Tract covers an area of 100,000 acres, extending eastwardly from the Scioto River forty-eight miles, in a strip of country four and one-half miles broad, north to south. Columbus, the capital of the State, is situated in the western portion. This land was donated by Congress to those individuals who left the British dominions and rule, during the Revolution, and espoused the American cause.
The French Tract borders on the Ohio River, in the southeastern quarter of Scioto County. It includes 24,000 acres, and was ceded to those French
7
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
families that lost their claims at Gallipolis, through invalid titles ; 1,200 acres were added, after the above grant of 1795.
Dohrman's Grant includes a section, six miles square, in the southeastern portion of Tuscarawas County. It was granted to Arnold Henry Dohrman, a Portuguese merchant, as a token of appreciation of the aid and shelter he ren- dered American cruisers and vessels of war, during the Revolution.
The Moravian Lands were originally grants by the old Continental Con- gress, in 1787, and confirmed by the act of the Government Congress, in 1796, to the Moravian Brethren, of Bethlehem, Penn., in sacred trust, and for the use of those Indians who embraced Christianity and civilization, desiring to live and settle thereon. These three tracts include 4,000 acres each, and are situ- ated in Tuscarawas County. In 1823, the Indians relinquished their rights to the 12,000 acres in this county, for 24,000 acres, in a territory designated by the United States, together with an annuity of $400.
Zane's Tracts included a portion of land on the Muskingum, whereon Zanes- ville was built ; another at the crossing of the Hocking, on which Lancaster is located ; and yet another on the left bank of the Scioto River, opposite Chilli- cothe. These grants were made to Ebenezer Zane, by Congress, in 1796, as a reward for opening a road from Wheeling, Va., to Maysville, Ky. In 1802, Mr. Zane received three additional tracts, one square mile each, in considera- tion of being captured and held a prisoner, during the Revolutionary war, when a boy, by the Indians. He lived with these people most of his life, secur- ing many benefits for the Americans. These tracts are located in Champaign County.
The Maumee Road Lands extend the length of the road, from the Maumee River, at Perrysburg, to the western limits of the Western Reserve, a distance of forty-six miles-in a strip two miles wide. This includes about 60,000 acres. These lands were ceded by the Indians, at the treaty of Brownstown, in 1808. The original intention of Congress was to mark a highway through this strip, but no definite action was taken until 1823, whe a the land was ceded to the State of Ohio, under an obligation that the State make and sustain the pro- jected road, within four years after the transfer.
The Turnpike Lands extended over 31,360 acres along the western side of the Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike, in the eastern parts of Seneca, Craw- ford and Marion Counties. They were designed for the transportation of mail stages, troops and other United States property, free from toll. The grant was made in 1827.
" The Ohio Canal Lands " comprise about 1,000,000 acres, set aside for the purpose of canal construction.
When Ohio was admitted to the Union, a guarantee was given that the State should not tax Government lands until they should have been sold for five years. That the thirty-sixth part of all territory within the State limits should be de- voted to educational purposes, for the general benefit of the population. In
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
order to secure tracts which would prove available, and thus insure returns, they were selected in small lots. No. 16 was designated as the sectional portion, in each township of Congress lands, the Ohio Company's and Symmes Pur- chases, the United States Military Lands, the Connecticut Reserve, and a num- ber of quarter townships. These school lands were selected by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The college townships are thirty-six miles square. A section, thirty-six miles square, in the center of Jackson County, in the vicinity and containing the Scioto Salt Licks, was also reserved by Congress, together with a quarter- mile township in Delaware County. This swept over 27,040 acres. In 1824, Congress authorized the State to sell these lands. The proceeds were to be devoted to literary requirements, such as might be specified by Congress.
IMPROVEMENTS.
We have heretofore briefly alluded to the canal system of Ohio, which in the beginning caused considerable anxiety to settlers directly in the course of its survey. The Legislature passed the "Internal Improvement by Navigable Canals " act, in 1825, and the work was immediately inaugurated and hastened. The " Ohio Canal " extends from the lake to the Ohio, and the " Miami " con- nects Cincinnati with Dayton. The latter was completed to Toledo in 1844, a length of 493 miles. Its total cost, including reservoir cutting and feeders, was $7,500,000. The Ohio Canal. was finished in 1833.
During the construction of these canals, the curiosities which have attracted antiquarians and scientists, in the State of Ohio, were found in various places. Relics were discovered that must have belonged to a giant race. Nearly 3,000 graves were found, of the " mound type."
A third canal was begun in 1836, reaching from Walhonding, in Coshocton County, to Roscoe, its length being twenty-five miles, involving an expense of $610,000. This was completed in 1842. The Hocking Canal, between Car- roll, in Fairfield County, and Athens, in Athens County, a distance of fifty- six miles, was also cut, about the same time, at a cost of nearly $1,000,000.
The Muskingum improvements were also being carried forward. Locks and dams were requisite for the perfection of navigation in this water-course, from Dresden to Marietta, a distance of ninety-one miles. This added an expense of $1,630,000 to the call for improvement appropriations. To the Miami Canal was added a feeder, known as the Warren County Canal-extending from Franklin to Lebanon, which was not completed, although over $250,000 were expended in its construction as far as it went.
Railway transportation was a subject which engrossed the attention of those in- terested in State perpetuity and general prosperity. About the year 1831, the Leg- islature received applications for railway charters. The first one granted was the " Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad," on June 5, 1832. The "Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad " obtained a charter in 1836, March 11, followed,
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
three days thereafter, by the " Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad." The " Little Miami " was begun in 1837. Notwithstanding these chartered rights, but 129 miles were completed in 1847, and in operation. In 1878, the mileage had increased to 6,264. The valuation of the operating roads was estimated the same year, at $76,113,500. Their taxation summed up $1,128,116.
No State in the Union has been more zealous in her educational interests than Ohio. Public lands were generously granted by Congress, and the State added her affirmation. However, no practical and effectual system was adopted until 1825.
An act was then passed to tax all real property one-half mill per dollar for the establishment of schools in each township, and the support of the same. An act of 1829, increased the tax to three-fourths of a mill. Trustees of townships were instructed to make divisions and locate convenient school dis- tricts. Householders were to elect three school directors, a clerk and treasurer annually. Privileges and restrictions were enjoined in all cases. The house- holders were allowed their discretion, governed accordingly, in imposing taxes for the erection of school buildings. The Courts of the Common Pleas appointed a committee to examine the qualifications of those individuals mak- ing application for the position of teachers. The school extended equal privi- leges to all white children. Those of colored parentage were excluded, and no tax was levied for school purposes upon colored parents. An amendment has admitted the children of colored parents. The system has continued the same, with a few amendments. A State Commissioner of Common Schools is elected every third year, who has general charge of the interests of public schools. A State Board of Examiners, composed of three persons, appointed by the State Commissioner, for two years' term, is authorized to issue life certificates of high qualifications, to such teachers as it may find to possess the requisite scholarship, character, experience and ability. These certificates, signed by the Commis- sioner, are valid throughout the State. A County Board of Examiners, of three members, is formed in each county. Boards of education, for cities, are made up of one or two members from each ward. City Boards of Examiners are also appointed. Section 4 of the law of 1873, was amended in 1877, which made the territory annexed to an incorporated village, at the option of the voters of the village and tributary section, whether it be included with the vil- lage as one school district, or left as two school districts. Section 56 of the law was amended, in its bearing upon cities of 30,000 to 75,000 inhabitants, by limiting to five mills on the dollar of taxable property, the levies in such cities for con- tinuing schools, for purchasing sites for schoolhouses, for leasing, purchasing, erecting and furnishing school houses, and for all school expenses. The public funds are subject to the discretion of voters, and boards are authorized, under instructions, to make the best use of such funds. Taxation is subject to the discretion of the State, certain limits being prescribed.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
In 1878, the number of youth of the school age numbered 1,041,963. On the rolls, 740,194 names were recorded. In the year 1878, 23,391 teach- ers were employed, receiving $4,956,514.46 for their services.
Ohio not only sustains her public schools on a broad, liberal basis, but she encourages educational pursuits in superior universities and colleges throughout the State. These institutions are not aided by State funds, but are sustained by society influence, added to their self-supporting resources. Ohio also possesses a large number of normal schools, academies, seminaries and business colleges. These are not entitled to the privileges of the school fund. Scientific, profes- sional, theological, legal and medical instructions are in no manner limited in their facilities. Industrial and reformatory schools are especially thorough. Institutions for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, and blind, and feeble- minded, are under the best discipline.
We may add, many female seminaries have been established which are entirely sustained by other than State aid. Ohio has, from its inception, been solid and vigorous in whatever tended toward improvement and enlightenment.
We have also referred to the banking system of this State, as being first established on a basis through a contest between the State and the General Government. Authorities differ regarding the exact date and location of the very first house established in the State for the purpose of transacting banking business. It is highly probable that Marietta is more directly associated with that event than any other town. There are at present over one hundred and sixty-seven national banks, with an aggregate capital of $27,794,468. It also has eighteen banks of deposit, incorporated under the State banking laws of 1845, representing an aggregate capital of $539,904. Twenty-three savings banks, incorporated under the State act of 1875, with an aggregate capital of $1,277,500. Of private banks it has 192, with an aggregate capital of $5,663,898. The State represents in her banking capital over $36,275,770. The First National of Cincinnati has a capital stock of over $1,000,000. The others fall below that sum, their capital diminishing from 10,000 shares of $100 each. The valuation for taxation is $850,000-Merchant's National of Cincinnati-to the valuation of a tax of $5,000 on the First National of Beverly.
BOUNDARY LINES.
We must not omit the subject of the State boundaries. Ohio was especially the field for most animated discussions, relative not only to State limits but county lines and township rights. In 1817, a severe controversy arose, which was settled only after violent demonstrations and Government interference.
In primitive times, the geographical position, extent and surface diversities were but meagerly comprehended. In truth, it may be asserted they could not have been more at variance with actual facts had they been laid out " hap- hazard." The ordinance of 1787 represented Lake Michigan far north of its real position, and even as late as 1812, its size and location had not been
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
definitely ascertained. During that year, Amos Spafford addressed a clear, com- prehensive letter to the Governor of Ohio, on this subject, relative to the boundary lines of Ohio. Several lines of survey were laid out as the first course, but either Michigan or Ohio expressed disapproval in every case. This culminated in 1835, when the party beginning a "permanent " survey began at the northwest corner of the State, and was attacked by a force of Michigan settlers who sent them away badly routed and beaten. No effort was made to return to the work until the State and various parties had weighed the subject, and finally the interposition of the Government became necessary.
A settlement resulted in Ohio being bounded on the north by Lake Erie and the State of Michigan, on the east by Pennsylvania and West Virginia, on the south by the Ohio River, and on the west by Indiana.
It is situated between the 38° 25' and 42º north latitude, and 84° 50' west longitude from Greenwich, or 3º 30' and 7° 50' west from Washington. From north to south, it extends over 210 miles, and from east to west 220 miles-comprising 39,964 square miles.
The State is generally higher than the Ohio River. In the southern counties, the surface is greatly diversified by the inequalities produced by the excavating power of the Ohio River and its tributaries. The greater portion of the State was originally covered with timber, although in the central and northwestern sections some prairies were found. The crest or watershed between the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio is less elevated than in New York or Pennsylvania. Sailing upon the Ohio the country appears to be mountainous, bluffs rising to the height of two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet above the valleys. Ascending the tributaries of the Ohio, these precipitous hills gradually lessen until they are resolved into gentle undulations, and toward the sources of the river the land is low and marshy.
Although Ohio has no inland lakes of importance, she possesses a favorable river system, which, aided by her canals, gives her prestige of a convenient water transportation. The lake on her northern boundary, and the Ohio River on her southern limit, afford most convenient outlets by water to impor- tant points. Her means of communication and transportation are superior in every respect, and are constantly being increased.
ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES AND EARLY EVENTS.
Adams County was named in honor of John Adams, second President of the United States. Gov. St. Clair proclaimed it a county on July 10, 1797. The Virginia Military Tract included this section, and the first settlement made within its boundaries was in this county in 1790-91, between the Scioto and Little Miami, at Manchester, by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. In this town was held the first court of the county.
West Union, the present county seat, was laid out by the Hon. Thomas Kirker. It occupies the summit of a high ridge. The surface of this county is
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
hilly and broken, and the eastern part is not fertile. It produces corn, wheat, oats and pork. Beds of iron are found in the eastern part. Its hills are composed of aluminous shale. The barren hills afford a range for cattle and hogs. A sort of vagrant class derive a support by collecting stones, hoop-poles and tanners' barks from these hills.
Ashland County is one of the finest agricultural sections. It was formed February 26, 1846. Wheat comprises its principal crop, although large quan- tities of oats, corn, potatoes, grass and fruit are raised. Ashland is its county seat, and was laid out by William Montgomery in 1816. It was called Union- town for several years. Daniel Carter raised the first cabin within the county limits in 1811.
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