History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 27

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

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endurance, were chiefly used. They were impractic- able in hauling the immense emigrant wagons over the mountains, and hence were comparatively unknown in Ohio. Until 1828, draft horses were chiefly used here, the best strains being brought by the "Tunkers," "Mennonites," and " Ormish," -- three religious sects, whose members were invariably agriculturists. In Stark, Wayne, Holmes, and Richland Counties, as a general thing, they congregated in communities, where the neat- ness of their farms, the excellent condition of their stock, and the primitive simplicity of their manners, made them conspicuous.

In 1828, the French began to settle in Stark County, where they introduced the stock of horses known as "Selim," "Florizel," "Post Boy" and "Timolen." These, crossed upon the descents of the Norman and Conestoga, produced an excellent stock of farm horses, now largely used.

In the Western Reserve, blooded horses were in- troduced as early as 1825. John I. Van Meter brought fine horses into the Scioto Valley in 1815, or thereabouts. Soon after, fine horses were brought to Steubenville from Virginia and Penn- sylvania. In Northern Ohio the stock was more miscellaneous, until the introduction of improved breeds from 1815 to 1835. By the latter date the strains of horses had greatly improved. The same could be said of other parts of the State. Until after 1825, only farm and road horses were required. That year a race-course-the first in the State-was established in Cincinnati, shortly followed by others at Chillicothe, Dayton and Ham- ilton. From that date the race-horse steadily im- proved. Until 1838, however, all race-courses were rather irregular, and, of those named, it is difficult to determine which one has priority of date over the others. To Cincinnati, the prece- dence is, however, generally given. In 1838, the Buckeye Course was established in Cincinnati, and before a year had elapsed, it is stated, there were fifteen regular race-courses in Ohio. The effect of these courses was to greatly stimulate the stock of racers, and rather detract from draft and road horses. The organization of companies to import blooded horses has again revived the interest in this class, and now, at annual stock sales, these strains of horses are eagerly sought after by those having occasion to use them.

Cattle were brought over the mountains, and, for several years, were kept entirely for domestic uses. By 1805, the country had so far settled that the surplus stock was fattened on corn and

fodder, and a drove was driven to Baltimore. The drove was owned by George Renick, of Chillicothe, and the feat was looked upon as one of great im- portance. The drove arrived in Baltimore in cx- cellent condition. The impetus given by this movement of Mr. Renick stimulated greatly the feeding of cattle, and led to the improvement of the breed, heretofore only of an ordinary kind.

Until the advent of railroads and the shipment of cattle thereon, the number of cattle driven to eastern markets from Ohio alone, was estimated at over fifteen thousand annually, whose value was placed at $600,000. Besides this, large numbers were driven from Indiana and Illinois, whose boundless prairies gave free scope to the herding of cattle. Improved breeds, "Short Horns," "Long Horns" and others, were introduced into Ohio as early as 1810 and 1815. Since then the stock has been gradually improved and acclimated, until now Ohio produces as fine cattle as any State in the Union. In some localities, especially in the Western Reserve, cheesemaking and dairy interests are the chief occupations of whole neighborhoods, where may be found men who have grown wealthy in this business.

Sheep were kept by almost every family, in pio- neer times, in order to be supplied with wool for clothing. The wool was carded by hand, spun in the cabin, and frequently dyed and woven as well as shaped into garments there, too. All emigrants brought the best household and farming imple- ments their limited means would allow, so also did they bring the best strains of horses, cattle and sheep they could obtain. About the year 1809, Mr. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker, emigrated to Stark County, and brought with him a small flock of Merino sheep. They were good, and a part of them were from the original flock brought over from Spain, in 1801, by Col. Humphrey, United States Minister to that country. He had brought 200 of these sheep, and hoped, in time, to see every part of the United States stocked with Me- rinos. In this he partially succeeded only, owing to the prejudice against them. In 1816, Messrs. Wells & Dickenson, who were, for the day, exten- sive woolen manufacturers in Steubenville, drove their fine flocks out on the Stark County Plains for the summer, and brought them back for the winter. This course was pursued for several years, until farms were prepared, when they were per- manently kept in Stark County. This flock was originally derived from the Humphrey importation. The failure of Wells & Dickenson, in 1824, placed

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a good portion of this flock in the hands of Adam Hildebrand, and became the basis of his celebrated flock. Mr. T. S. Humrickhouse, of Coshocton, in a communication regarding sheep, writes as fol- lows:

" The first merinos brought to Ohio were doubt- less by Seth Adams, of Zanesville. They were Humphrey's Merinos-undoubtedly the best ever imported into the United States, by whatever name called. He kept them part of the time in Washington, and afterward in Muskingum County. He had a sort of partnership agency from Gen. Humphrey for keeping and selling them. They were scattered, and, had they been taken care of and appreciated, would have laid a better found- ation of flocks in Ohio than any sheep brought into it from that time till 1852. The precise date at which Adams brought them cannot now be as- certained; but it was prior to 1813, perhaps as early as 1804."

"The first Southdowns," continues Mr. Hum- rickhouse," "New Leicester, Lincolnshire and Cots- wold sheep I ever saw, were brought into Coshocton County from England by Isaac Maynard, nephew of the famous Sir John, in 1834. There were about ten Southdowns and a trio of each of the other kinds. He was offered $500 for his Lin- colnshire ram, in Buffalo, as he passed through, but refused. He was selfish, and unwilling to put them into other hands when he went on a farm, all in the woods, and, in about three years, most of them had perished."

The raising and improvement of sheep has kept steady tread with the growth of the State, and now Ohio wool is known the world over. In quan- tity it is equal to any State in America, while its quality is unequaled.

The first stock of hogs brought to Ohio were rather poor, scrawny creatures, and, in a short time, when left to themselves to pick a livelihood from the beech mast and other nuts in the woods, degenerated into a wild condition, almost akin to their originators. As the country settled, however, they were gathered from their lairs, and, by feed- ing them corn, the farmers soon brought them out of their semi-barbarous state. Improved breeds were introduced. The laws for their protection and guarding were made, and now the hog of to- day shows what improvement and civilization can do for any wild animal. The chief city of the State has become famous as a slaughtering place; her bacon and sides being known in all the civil- ized world.

Other domestic animals, mules, asses, etc., have been brought to the State as occasion required. Wherever their use has been demanded, they have been obtained, until the State has her complement of all animals her citizens can use in their daily labors.

Most of the early emigrants brought with them young fruit trees or grafts of some favorite variety from the " old homestead." Hence, on the West- ern Reserve are to be found chiefly-especially in old orchards-New England varieties, while, in the localities immediately south of the Reserve, Penn- sylvania and Maryland varieties predominate; but at Marietta, New England fruits are again found, as well as throughout Southeastern Ohio. One of the oldest of these orchards was on a Mr. Dana's farm, near Cincinnati, on the Ohio River bank. It consisted of five acres, in which apple seeds and seedlings were planted as early as 1790. Part of the old orchard is yet to be seen, though the trees are almost past their usefulness. Peaches, pears, cherries and apples were planted by all the pioneers in their gardens. As soon as the seed produced seedlings, these were transplanted to some hillside, and the orchard, in a few years, was a productive unit in the life of the settler. The first fruit brought, was, like everything else of the pioneers, rather inferior, and admitted of much cultivation. Soon steps were taken by the more enterprising settlers to obtain better varieties. Israel Putnam, as early as 1796, returned to the East, partly to get scions of the choicest apples, and, partly, on other business. He obtained quite a quantity of choice apples, of some forty or fifty varieties, and set them out. A portion of them were distrib- uted to the settlers who had trees, to ingraft. From these old grafts are yet to be traced some of the best orchards in Ohio. Israel Putnam was one of the most prominent men in early Ohio days. He was always active in promoting the interests of the settlers. Among his earliest efforts, that of improving the fruit may well be mentioned. He and his brother, Aaron W. Putnam, living at Bel- pre, opposite Blennerhasset's Island, began the nursery business soon after their arrival in the West. The apples brought by them from their Connecticut home were used to commence the busi- ness. These, and the apples obtained from trees planted in their gardens, gave them a beginning. They were the only two men in Ohio engaged in the business till 1817.

In early times, in the central part of Ohio, there existed a curious character known as "Johnny

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Appleseed." His real name was John Chapman. He received his name from his habit of planting, along all the streams in that part of the State, apple-seeds from which sprang many of the old orchards. He did this as a religious duty, think- ing it to be his especial mission. He had, it is said, been disappointed in his youth in a love affair, and came West about 1800, and ever after followed his singular life. He was extensively known, was quite harmless, very patient, and did, without doubt, much good. He died in 1847, at the house of a Mr. Worth, near Fort Wayne, Indiana, who had long known him, and often befriended him. He was a minister in the Swed- enborgian Church, and, in his own way, a zealous worker.

The settlers of the Western Reserve, coming from New England, chiefly from Connecticut, brought all varieties of fruit known in their old homes. These, whether seeds or grafts, were planted in gardens, and as soon as an orchard could be cleared on some favorable hillside, the young trees were transplanted there, and in time an orchard was the result. Much confusion regarding the kinds of fruits thus produced arose, partly from the fact that the trees grown from seeds did not always prove to be of the same qual- ity as the seeds. Climate, soil and surroundings often change the character of such fruits. Many new varieties, unknown to the growers, were the result. The fruit thus produced was often of an inferior growth, and when grafts were brought from the old New England home and grafted into the Ohio trees, an improvement as well as the old home fruit was the result. After the orchards in the Reserve began to bear, the fruit was very often taken to the Ohio River for shipment, and thence found its way to the South- ern and Eastern seaboard cities.

Among the individuals prominent in introducing fruits into the State, were Mr. Dille, of Euclid, Judge Fuller, Judge Whittlesey, and Mr. Lindley. George Hoadly was also very prominent and ener- getic in the matter, and was, perhaps, the first to introduce the pear to any extent. He was one of the most persistent and enthusiastic amateurs in horticulture and pomology in the West. About the year 1810, Dr. Jared Kirtland, father of Prof. J. P. Kirtland, so favorably known among horticulturists and pomologists, came from Connecticut and settled in Poland, Mahoning County, with his family. This family has done more than any other in the State, perhaps, to

advance fruit culture. About the year 1824, Prof. J. P. Kirtland, in connection with his brother, established a nursery at Poland, then in Trumbull County, and brought on from New England al ve a hundred of their best varieties of apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and smaller fruits, and a year or two after brought from New Jersey a hundred of the best varieties of that State; others were ob- tained in New York, so that they possessed the larg- est and most varied stock in the Western country. These two men gave a great impetus to fruit cult- ure in the West, and did more than any others of that day to introduce improved kinds of all fruits in that part of the United States.

Another prominent man in this branch of indus- try was Mr. Andrew H. Ernst, of Cincinnati. Although not so early a settler as the Kirtlands, he was, like them, an ardent student and propa- gator of fine fruits. He introduced more than six hundred varieties of apples and seven hun- dred of pears, both native and foreign. His object was to test by actual experience the most valuable sorts for the diversified soil and climate of the Western country.

The name of Nicholas Longworth, also of Cin- cinnati, is one of the most extensively known of any in the science of horticulture and pomology. For more than fifty years he made these his especial delight. Having a large tract of land in the lower part of Cincinnati, he established nurseries, and planted and disseminated every variety of fruits that could be found in the United States- East or West-making occasional importations from European countries of such varieties as were thought to be adapted to the Western climate. His success has been variable, governed by the season, and in à measure by his numerous experi- ments. His vineyards, cultivated by tenants, gen- erally Germans, on the European plan, during the latter years of his experience paid him a hand- some revenue. He introduced the famous Catawba grape, the standard grape of the West. It is stated that Mr. Longworth bears the same relation to vineyard culture that Fulton did to steam navi- gation. Others made earlier effort, but he was the first to establish it on a permanent basis. He has also been eminently successful in the cultivation of the strawberry, and was the first to firmly establish it on Western soil. He also brought the Ohio Ever- bearing Raspberry into notice in the State, and widely disseminated it throughout the country.

Other smaller fruits were brought out to the West like those mentioned. In some cases fruits

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indigenous to the soil were cultivated and improved, and as improved fruits, are known favorably where- ever used.

In chronology and importance, of all the cereals, corn stands foremost. During the early pioneer period, it was the staple article of food for both man and beast. It could be made into a variety of forms of food, and as such was not only palata- ble but highly nutritious and strengthening.

It is very difficult to determine whether corn originated in America or in the Old World. Many prominent botanists assert it is a native of Turkey, and originally was known as "Turkey wheat." Still others claimed to have found mention of maize in Chinese writings antedating the Turkish discovery. Grains of maize were found in an Egyptian mum- my, which goes to prove to many the cereal was known in Africa since the earliest times. Maize was found in America when first visited by white men, but of its origin Indians could give no ac- count. It had always been known among them, and constituted their chief article of vegetable diet. It was cultivated exclusively by their squaws, the men considering it beneath their dignity to engage in any manual labor. It is altogether probable corn was known in the Old World long before the New was discovered. The Arabs or Crusaders probably introduced it into Europe. How it was introduced into America will, in all probability, remain un- known. It may have been an indigenous plant, like many others. Its introduction into Ohio dates with the settlement of the whites, especially its cultivation and use as an article of trade. True, the Indians had cultivated it in small quantities ; each lodge a little for itself, but no effort to make of it a national support began until the civilization of the white race became established. From that time on, the increase in crops has grown with the State, and, excepting the great corn States of the West, Ohio produces an amount equal to any State in the Union. The statistical tables printed in agricultural reports show the acres planted, and bushels grown. Figures speak an unanswerable logic.

Wheat is probably the next in importance of the cereals in the State. Its origin, like corn, is lost in the mists of antiquity. Its berry was no doubt used as food by the ancients for ages anterior to any historical records. It is often called corn in old writings, and under that name is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

"As far back in the vistas of ages as human records go, we find that wheat has been cultivated,

and, with corn, aside from animal food, has formed one of the chief alimentary articles of all nations ; but as the wheat plant has nowhere been found wild, or in a state of nature, the inference has been drawn by men of unquestioned scientific ability, that the original plant from which wheat has been derived was either totally annihilated, or else cul- tivation has wrought so great a change, that the original is by no means obvious, or manifest to bot- anists."

It is supposed by many, wheat originated in Persia. Others affirm it was known and cultivated in Egypt long ere it found its way into Persia. It was certainly grown on the Nile ages ago, and among the tombs are found grains of wheat in a perfectly sound condition, that unquestionably have been buried thousands of years. It may be, however, that wheat was grown in Persia first, and thence found its way into Egypt and Africa, or, vice versa. It grew first in Egypt and Africa and thence crossed into Persia, and from there found its way into India and all parts of Asia.

It is also claimed that wheat is indigenous to the island of Sicily, and that from there it spread along the shores of the Mediterranean into Asia Minor and Egypt, and, as communities advanced, it was cultivated, not only to a greater extent, but with greater success.

The goddess of agriculture, more especially of grains, who, by the Greeks, was called Demeter, and, by the Romans, Ceres-hence the name ce- reals-was said to have her home at Enna, a fertile region of that island, thus indicating the source from which the Greeks and Romans derived their Ceralia. Homer mentions wheat and spelt as bread; also corn and barley, and describes his heroes as using them as fodder for their horses, as the people in the South of Europe do at present. Rye was introduced into Greece from Thrace, or by way of Thrace, in the time of Galen. In Cæsar's time the Romans grew a species of wheat enveloped in a husk, like barley, and by them called " Far."

During the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii, wheat, in an excellent state of preserva- tion, was frequently found.

Dr. Anson Hart, Superintendent, at one time, of Indian Affairs in Oregon, states that he found numerous patches of wheat and flax growing wild in the Yackemas country, in Upper Oregon. There is but little doubt that both cereals were intro- duced into Oregon at an early period by the Hud- son Bay, or other fur companies. Wheat was also

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found by Dr. Boyle, of Columbus, Ohio, growing in a similar state in the Carson Valley. It was, doubtless, brought there by the early Spaniards. In 1530, one of Cortez's slaves found several grains of wheat accidentally mixed with the rice. The careful negro planted the handful of grains, and succeeding years saw a wheat crop in Mexico, which found its way northward, probably into California.

Turn where we may, wherever the foot of civil- ization has trod, there will we find this wheat plant, which, like a monument, has perpetuated the memory of the event; but nowhere do we find the plant wild. It is the result of cultivation in bygone ages, and has been produced by "progress- ive development."

It is beyond the limit and province of these pages to discuss the composition of this important cereal; only its historic properties can be noticed. With the advent of the white men in America, wheat, like corn, came to be one of the staple prod- ucts of life. It followed the pioneer over the mountains westward, where, in the rich Missis- sippi and Illinois bottoms, it has been cultivated by the French since 1690. When the hardy New Englanders came to the alluvial lands adjoining the Ohio, Muskingum or Miami Rivers, they brought with them this "staff of life," and forth- with began its cultivation. Who sowed the first wheat in Ohio, is a question Mr. A. S. Guthrie answers, in a letter published in the Agricultural Report of 1857, as follows:

" My father, Thomas Guthrie, emigrated to the Northwest Territory in the year 1788, and arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum in July, about three months after Gen. Putnam had arrived with the first pioneers of Ohio. My father brought a bushel of wheat with him from one of the frontier counties of Pennsylvania, which he sowed on a lot of land in Marietta, which he cleared for that purpose, on the second bottom or plain, in the neighborhood of where the Court House now stands."

Mr. Guthrie's opinion is corroborated by Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, in his "Pioneer Settlers of Ohio," and is, no doubt, correct.

From that date on down through the years of Ohio's growth, the crops of wheat have kept pace with the advance and growth of civilization. The soil is admirably adapted to the growth of this ce- real, a large number of varieties being grown, and an excellent quality produced. It is firm in' body, and, in many cases, is a successful rival of wheat

produced in the great wheat-producing regions of the United States-Minnesota, and the farther Northwest.

Oats, rye, barley, and other grains were also brought to Ohio from the Atlantic Coast, though some of them had been cultivated by the French in Illinois and about Detroit. They were at first used only as food for home consumption, and, until the successful attempts at river and canal naviga- tion were brought about, but little was ever sent to market.

Of all the root crops known to man, the potato is probably the most valuable. Next to wheat, it is claimed by many as the staff of life. In some localities, this assumption is undoubtedly true. What would Ireland have done in her fam- ines but for this simple vegetable? The potato is a native of the mountainous districts of tropical and subtropical America, probably from Chili to Mexico; but there is considerable difficulty in deciding where it is really indigenous, and where it has spread after being introduced by man. Humboldt, the learned savant, doubted if it had ever been found wild, but scholars no less famous, and of late date, have expressed an opposite opinion. In the wild plant, as in all others, the tubers are smaller than in the cultivated. The potato had been cultivated in America, and its tubers used for food, long before the advent of the Europeans. It seems to have been first brought to Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighbor- hood of Quito, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and spread through Spain, the Netherlands, Burgundy and Italy, cultivated in gardens as an ornament only and not for an article of food. It long received through European countries the same name with the batatas-sweet potato, which is the plant meant by all English writers down to the seventeenth century.

It appears that the potato was brought from Virginia to Ireland by Hawkins, a slave-trader, in 1565, and to England by Sir Francis Drake, twenty years later. It did not at first attract much notice, and not until it was a third time imported from America, in 1623, by Sir Walter Raleigh, did the Europeans make a practical use of it. Even then it was a long time before it was exten- sively cultivated. It is noticed in agricultural journals as food for cattle only as late as 1719. Poor people began using it, however, and finding it highly nutritious, the Royal Geographical Society, in 1663, adopted measures for its propagation. About this time it began to be used in Ireland as

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food, and from the beginning of the eighteenth cent- ury, its use has never declined. It is now known in every quarter of the world, and has, by cultiva- tion, been greatly improved.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 27

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096