USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of Huron County, Ohio, Its Progress and Development, Volume I > Part 17
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Among the young ladies who smiled bewitchingly upon the returned soldier was Ellen Moore, whose father, during Thomas' absence, had moved into the neighborhood and bought a farm whose broad acres covered the valley and skirted the hills. Ellen, even as a girl, was as plain as her name, but one of the most estimable of her sex. Ellen was the very opposite of Kathryn, for the latter was talented, brilliant and beautiful and capable of adorning any station in life.
The beautiful girl on the Pacific coast was neglected, if not forgotten, and Thomas Ream paid court to the matter-of-fact Ellen Moore, and within the year they were married.
In the meantime, Kathryn Rolfe, hearing of Ream's return, waited long and impatiently for him to visit her. She had given him her love, had promised to be his bride and how prayerfully, how hopefully, how despondently at times, she had waited during five long years for his return and for the fulfillment of his promise. But as he came not she must come to him, she must see him once more. must hear from his own lips if he still loved her. She crossed the continent and arrived in her old home village on a Saturday night. The next day she accom- panied the family to church. A few moments later a bride and groom entered the church, it being their "appearance" day. The groom was Thomas Ream and the bride was Ellen Moore, that was.
This pen will not attempt to describe the feelings of disappointment, of chagrin and of sorrow that may have swayed poor Kathryn's mind, or how the blow may have bruised her heart. Upon leaving the church their eyes met for a moment, then they passed on. What each read in the other's eyes is among the things that are sealed.
Kathryn returned home, where, a few years later, she married a prominent lawyer, and they live and rank with the best of the people in the city at the Golden Gate.
Thomas Ream and wife settled upon a farm. have prospered in the world and seem to be happy.
As the purpose of this article is to state facts, not to explain actions, no cause can be given for Ream's actions in discarding the girl whom he loved in his youth.
In his courtship with her he looked hopefully forward to a professional career, in which he expected to succeed, for, as Bulwer wrote, in the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for a bright manhood, there is no such word as fail. But when he concluded to be a farmer, as his father was before him, then he wanted a wife whose mind would be content with counting the profits on butter and eggs, rather than attending club meetings, dances and theaters.
There may still be a romantic warm spot in Ream's heart for the Kathryn of long ago, who has no connection with his present life.
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CENTRAL AND SOUTH SIDE OF FIRE-PROOF MUSEUM. NORWALK
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PIONEER MEN AND WOMEN OF OHIO.
BY A. J. BAUGHMAN.
PAPER READ AT THE MEETING OF THE FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY HELD AT CLARKSFIELD, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1899.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :-
I have read of the "Firelands;" I have from passing trains looked with admira- tion upon your fertile fields and well-kept farms, and from the late Rev. D. Bron- son, whose early life was passed in this part of the state, and who was my rector. for eighteen years, I learned much that was interesting of the early history of your county. I know your first settlers came from Connecticut, and I have never yet known a people who were ashamed of a New England ancestry.
I come from old Richland county-from the crest of the great "divide," the water-shed between the lake and the gulf. I come from a county made somewhat famous as having been for a number of years the home of John Chapman-better known as. "Johnny Appleseed"-who came west abreast with civilization and planted nurseries along our streams and throughout our valleys that the pioneers and their children might enjoy the fruits of the earth. Johnny lived an exemplary Christian life and was a benefactor of his race. He loved to ramble in the forests, to listen to the singing of the birds, to look at the stars, and in his Swedenborg faith, commune with ministering spirits and angels. Chapman's death was in har- mony with his blameless life. When the death-angel touched him with his cold finger, Johnny's eyes shone with light supernal, a smile wreathed his lips as they moved in prayer and a halo seemed to crown him with the glory of a saint as he passed from the life here to the life eternal. Since then, more than fifty years have come and gone down the echoless aisles of time, but the story of "Johnny Appleseed" is told from generation to generation, and his good deeds live anew every springtime in the beauty and fragrance of the appleblossoms he loved so well.
I claim a lineal right to speak for the pioneers of Richland county, for my grandfather Baughman was the first white settler in the Blackfork Valley, near the historic old Indian village of Greentown, now in Ashland county. And my mother's father-Capt. James Cunningham-built the third cabin in Mansfield, boarded the surveying party that platted the town site, and later served his country as a captain in the war of 1812, as his father-John Cunningham (an Irishman)- had served as a soldier in all the long and bloody struggle of the war of the Revolution.
Europe was peopled by larger bodies of men moving from one country to an- other. But America was settled by a slower process. Those men emigrated col- lectively-here they came severally, and were called "pioneers," because they fore- ran the column of civilization.
The pioneers of Ohio were men of "brain and brawn," of courage and perse- verance. Of their work, adventures and achievements enough has not been writ- ten. for theirs was not the age of literature. It has been said that the annalist of that period left his note-book to his son, who lost it while moving farther west. We know, however, that they endured privations, that they encountered dangers, that they worked hard and accomplished much.
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The early history of Ohio tells of a period in the settlement of America when civilization crossed the crest of the Alleghenies in its march across the continent, as "Westward the Star of Empire took its Way."
Ohio, being on the frontier, was, in part, the battleground of the war of 1812, and the result of the conflicts. engagements and battles may be summarized in the dispatch of the immortal Perry: "We met the enemy, and they are curs."
During that war a great number of volunteers passed through our part of Ohio, and observed the gentle swell of its uplands, the fertility of its valleys, the magnificence of its forests, its copious springs and abounding streams, and when the war was over, many who had traversed the country as soldiers returned after their discharge, entered land, built cabins and made Ohio their home.
We feel grateful as a people and proud as a nation when we reflect upon the wonderful achievements of the century ! In all the history of the world we find no parallel to American progress. Beautiful cities have supplanted the wigwam villages of a hundred years ago, and where unbroken forests then spread their leafy branches, and tangled weeds held undisputed sway in the valleys, the land is now teeming with its wealth of fruitful orchards and fields of golden grain.
As I have spoken of men as pioneers, permit me in conclusion to pay a tribute to the women of that period.
The pioneer women did not clerk in stores, but she sold butter and eggs, knit socks and made garments and ministered to the wants and comfort of her family. She did not write shorthand, nor keep books, but she wrote on the un- stained tablet of the human heart that line upon line and precept upon precept by which life is made a holy thing, and which, if a soul heeds, it may bask in the Father's house in which there are many mansions. She did not build memorials in brick and stone, but she built that best earthly house-a home, in which children grew up in her love and care.
The pioneer woman did not ride a wheel, but she had a spinning-wheel, and the thread she spun was fine and smooth, and the hum of the spinning was music sweet to the household.
The pioneer woman did not build hospitals, but her cabin was a wayside inn, and she herself was both physician and nurse. And not in her own home only, but wherever fever burned or disease wasted, there her hand ministered, for every true pioneer woman was a sister of mercy and a friend of the poor.
The pioneer woman did not paint on china, but there are pictures in our men- ory in which our dear old pioneer mother is the central figure ; pictures that all the storms of life cannot blot, nor scorching sunlight fade. Pictures of home, pictures of the scenes of our childhood, pictures dear to every man who loved his mother.
After the reading of the paper by Doctor Shelden, Judge Wildman arose and spoke as follows: "I am told that in the absence of the Hon. Rush R. Sloane, as president of the Firelands Historical Society, the duty devolves upon me, as first vice-president, of presiding at your gathering today. It is a great delight to me to come back to Clarksfield where I was born and where I spent some of the hap- piest years of my boyhood, as many of you know, especially of the older people here, and to see so many familiar faces and so many familiar places. In a letter which I received some days ago from Doctor Weeks, he suggested that it is now one hundred years since the organization of what is known as the Northwest
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Territory, comprising what is now the state of Ohio and some of the other states of the Union ; he also suggested that this would be a fit occasion for the presenta- tion of a talk or paper upon the event which is now one hundred years gone,-the beginning of organized government in the territory embraced in that great extent of what was then mainly a wilderness, known as the Northwest Territory. Doctor Weeks has prepared a paper on this subject and it will be read at this time."
PIONEER TIMES.
A description of a pioneer log-cabin and of the pioneer home-life, may not be without its interest to the reader of the present day.
The location of the cabin decided upon, the space cleared away, and suitable . timber having been selected, felled, partially hewn, and cut into proper lengths, it remained to "raise" the cabin. Word having been given out, the settlers for miles around gathered to their new neighbor's clearing, glad to lend a helping hand. A man of experience in such matters was selected as captain or leader ; other expert men, axe in hand, were posted at the corners to cut saddles or notches in the logs that they might lie more firmly and closer together, the ends of the logs often overlapping and projecting for a foot or more. The logs hav- ing been previously drawn to a convenient nearness by oxen, to the major part of the company was assigned the duty of conveying the logs to the intended structure ; sometimes the combined strength of the party sufficed to hift them up and carry them, but oftener skids and handspikes were called into use; in either case the work was done with a will scarce needing the energetic tones and sharp commands constantly used by the leader. Accidents were not uncommon ; severe strains often resulted from one man trying to out-do another, while some- times a log slipped or fell, striking a man down in its descent, and breaking his leg or arm. The log-carriers were sometimes divided into squads, or parties, each having a particular end to keep up, and the resulting rivalry made the task a short one, the building being rarely over a single story in height. The cabin fairly raised, and the roof poles put in position, the remaining work of finishing the cabin could be performed more leisurely without the help of so many hands.
The roof was made by laying small logs or saplings, the tamarack being often used, which were placed lengthwise. These formed a support for the shingles or "shakes," as they were often called. These were much longer than the shingles of later years, and, when laid, about three feet was exposed to the weather. They were generally rived or split out of straight-grained, full-grown white-oak trees. Nails being then almost unknown, and those few forged by hand, their use was out of the question, and the shingles were secured by laying poles or logs to keep them in position. The chimney was often composed of "cats and clay," the cats in question not being the familiar household tabby, but small sticks split to a regular size. The base was formed of stone, often undressed bowlders, and on this superstructure the chimney was built, generally outside, and at the end of the cabin, the cats forming a framework which was heavily daubed and plas- tered with clay. As for openings, the door usually was rived planks, unless the neighborhood was the happy possessor of a "thunder-gust" sawmill. The hinges and latches were made of wood. Glass was a luxury rarely met with. Some-
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times greased paper served as a substitute, and the windows were small, tlie usually open door being another medium for the admission of light. Often, for months, the ground served for a floor, but, after a time, boards or "puncheons" were split out for that purpose; they were hewed a little, consequently they were never very smooth, often quite shaky. Holes were bored in the logs and pegs driven in, on which to hang the various articles of wearing apparel and house- hold use-a place to hang the rifle not being forgotten. These pegs served as a support for shelves and even for beds. But regular bedsteads, cheap and com- mon enough looking these days, were soon introduced, many settlers bringing thein with them from Connecticut, and, for the children, "trundle-beds" were in common use. The cabin generally consisted of but a single room. In the warmer months much of the work of cooking, washing, etc., was performed outside, under the friendly shade of some convenient tree. At other times the one room served the purpose of kitchen, dining-room, parlor, closet and bed-room combined. The larger boys generally slept in the garret, access being had by a flight of rude stairs or a ladder ; and in the winter season the snow often found its way between the loosely placed shingles, so that in going to bed they "made tracks" with alacrity. Rude benches, long enough to seat two or three persons, made of planks split and shaved, served as chairs. In the plank, holes were bored and sticks inserted, to serve as legs or supports. Household utensils were as scanty as the furniture, a single pot or skillet often having to do duty many times over in preparing a meal. Tinware was scarce and dear, stoves of course unknown, and as for saving fuel, that was of but little moment, the huge fire- places admitting a stick as long and as heavy as a man would care to carry.
The fire on the hearth is one of the pleasant memories of early days ; on a winter's evening, with familiar faces grouped around, the scene is most inviting. Is the sacrifice of old comforts to modern plans always without loss? The bright light of the blazing logs often rendered candles or lamps unnecessary, and the fire being easily kept up and rarely suffered to die out for months together, the modern invention of matches, now indispensable, was more easily got along without. Clocks were the luxury of the few, but were a few years later intro- duced and sold at high prices by peddlers, the housewife noting the hours by the sunlight streaming through the open door or window and casting a shadow of the wall upon the floor.
The food of the settler was "johnny-cake" and mush, or bread of coarsely- ground flour or meal. Milk was freely used, butter often dispensed with and rarely of the best quality, and cheese unknown. Pork and venison were always at hand ; wild turkey, squirrel and other game easy to obtain. Sugar from the maple was frequently to be had, and tea and coffee were often replaced by de- coctions of sassafras, spice-bush and parched corn. As for food, the variety and manner of cooking were quite tolerable to those settlers fortunate in having a good start and a little money, otherwise they often suffered for necessaries, and being put on short rations was not an uncommon experience.
In respect to clothing, the contrast with the present time was more noticeable. Deerskin was largely used for men's clothing. It would wear a long time, but its adaptability was sadly lessened by the ease with which it would absorb water. A man getting a pair of deerskin trousers thoroughly wet would soon find them
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lengthened and dangling at his heels so as to seriously interfere with locomo- tion, and, after hanging them up to dry at night, would, on the following morn- ing, find them almost as stiff as if made of cast iron.
The loom and spinning wheel were found in every household, and the women, besides making and knitting yarn, made cloth of flax and wool, often combining the different materials into a coarse fabric known as linsey-woolsey. The barks of trees furnished coloring matter, and the making of the garments was com- pleted without calling into requisition any greater skill than the household afforded. But these "home manufacturers" could not "compete" with the "pauper labor" of New England; and first came the calicoes and brown muslins, dear at first, doubly so from cost of transportation, handling, and especially from the scarcity, but very soon so cheap no one could afford to invest money to make them. Not long afterwards satinets and jeans were introduced for men's wear, and very soon the loom had no further place in the household, and the spinning wheel was soon afterward laid aside. More recently the sewing machine, books of patterns. and ready-made boots, hats and clothing have come into general use,- the latter commodity no longer content with becoming the apparel of men, but of women also.
The settler provided with shelter, the work of clearing, grubbing and burn- ing away the forest and inclosing his fields must be commenced. This is to be his main vocation, especially in the winter season, for long years to come. He must rise early and work late, nor is the labor itself easy or inviting. As timber and wood have no marketable value, they are simply an incumbrance to be got rid of ; occasionally, however, a fine tree is saved for rails or other use. The manner of clearing, too, is different from that of later years. A shorter, less laborious method must be adopted-the labor of felling the trees is often avoided by "girdling" or "(leadening" them. The ascent of the sap being arrested by cut- ting notches entirely around the trunk, the tree dies, and the trunk becomes dry and is burned in much less time than if it was felled in the first instance and allowed to lie on the damp ground ; and besides, after a time many of the trunks are blown over, and the labor of chopping them down avoided. Some trees, the beech and maple for instance, begin to topple and fall after the third year.
Grain and other crops were often raised in the girdling. After a time the number of fallen trunks interferes with cultivation, and selecting a dry time, they are set fire to. This burning is systematically done; a hundred fires are set, and the woods and skies are soon darkened by the smoke. To watch and tend the fires, to cut down an occasional "stub" which is left standing, is the work of the settler, which is prolonged far into the night, when the bright flames light up the surrounding forests, and make a scene of beauty upon which he loves to linger and look. In order to facilitate the burning of the larger logs, fires are set at different points so as to burn them in two. In some places this is called "niggering." When the work is sufficiently advanced, the settler invites his neighbors, who turn out with the same alacrity and willingness they would to a raising. With long hand-spikes, the burning logs are rolled together into great heaps. Working in the smoke, treading on hot ashes and embers, facing blazing fires, and at the same time exerting all the strength they possess, the task is no
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light or easy one; but the work is done with a will, and a hearty "now all to- gether" that shows them in earnest. The task accomplished, the scene is often changed into merry-making ; a hearty supper is prepared, and liquid refreshments are not wanting.
RUGGLES, FORMERLY IN HURON COUNTY.
Ruggles township was so called after Judge Almon Ruggles, the surveyor of the Firelands. In 1815, eight years before the first settlement in the township, Judge Ruggles owned five hundred and eighty-two acres in the second section. Barlow Sturges also owned one hundred and twenty acres. This is all the ac- count given of the land holders at that time. Ruggles belonged to Huron county until the erection of Ashland county in 1846, to which county it has since been attached.
The central portions of the township are level, the eastern and southern slightly undulating, the western and northern considerably broken and uneven. It was originally a dense forest, of which the beech constituted the greater part. though the maple, elm, basswood, hickory, whitewood and ash were by no means wanting, while the higher lands abounded with the finest oaks, and along the streams grew the black walnut, the butternut and the sycamore.
In the central portions of the township the soil is clayey, while in other parts it is for the most part a gravelly loam, and well adapted to either grazing or the raising of grain. There are two stone quarries, one in the north part on Mir. Charles Curtiss' farm ; the other in the west part, on Wakeman Beach's farm. The township is free from marshes or waste lands, while it is excellently well drained by the Vermillion river and its tributaries. The main stream crosses the south line nearly two miles east of the southwest corner, and flows north- westwardly, leaving the township just south of the northwest corner. Its prin- cipal tributary, Buck creek, comes from Troy, crosses the east line three-fourths of a mile south of the center road, and runs northwestwardly to the north part of the township, when it receives the waters of another creek, which drains the southeast corner, and then runs westerly to join the Vermillion. In the southern part, Whetstone creek runs west to the Vermillion. Another creek, west of the river, runs northeast till it joins the main stream.
In 1823, Mr. Daniel Beach and Bradford Sturtevant came to Ruggles with a view of purchasing lands, and in June of the year above named, bought of Messrs. Jesup and Wakeman, of Connecticut, six hundred and forty acres in the southwest corner of section three, Mr. Beach taking the western and smaller part. This pioneer settler of Ruggles accomplished much towards the rapid settling up of his township, and his memory is gratefully cherished by the people of Ruggles.
Benjamin D. Green was the first blacksmith who settled in Ruggles. He gave up blacksmithing for the carpenters' trade. He was a prominent man in the community, held several important offices, and was a major in the militia.
The first birth was that of Wakeman J. Beach, the son of Daniel Beach, born January 11, 1825.
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The first marriage did not take place until the year 1832, when, on the 18th day of June, Mr. James Poag, widower, was united in marriage to Miss Laura C. Smith. The ceremony was performed by Daniel Beach, Esq.
The first death occurred in 1826, in which year Mr. Cyrus Sanders, a single man, and a nephew of Mr. B. Sturtevant, died of bilious fever.
The first saw mill was built by Daniel Beach in 1824, on the Vermillion river, one hundred rods north of Ruggles' Corners. This mill was of great benefit to the carly settlers. Mr. Beach built a grist mill also, near the site of the saw mill, in 1831 or '32, to which steam was subsequently attached. The first store in Ruggles was opened by Josiah Botsford at Ruggles' Corners, one and one- half miles west of the center, in about the year 1831. The first post-office was established one-half mile south of the Corners.
Prior to 1826, Ruggles was attached to New London for civil purposes, but at the date named it was detached and organized, the first election occurring January 2d of that year. There were just a dozen residents who participated in this first election, as follows: Perry Durfee, Harvey Sackett, Norman Carter. Truman Bates, Reuben Fox, B. Sturtevant, Jacob Roorback, Abraham Ferris, Justice Barnes, Daniel Beach, Ezra D. Smith, and Aldrich Carver. Mr. E. D. Smith was chosen clerk; H. Sackett treasurer ; J. Roorback. D. Beach, and A. Carver, trustees ; B. Sturtevant and H. Sackett, overseers of the poor : J. Barnes and A. Ferris, fence viewers; Reuben Fox and Perry Durfee, appraisers of prop- erty : N. Carter, constable, and T. Bates, supervisor,-thirteen offices filled with twelve individuals. Mr. Sackett had the honor of filling two positions. Another election was held April 3d, when Mr. Ferris was made treasurer, Mr. Bates con- stable. and Messrs. Fox and Sturtevant supervisors, and Harvey Sackett justice of the peace. The other offices remained filled as above.
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