History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 73

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798

USA > Ohio > Logan County > History of Logan County and Ohio > Part 73

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About the year 1850, there was a log school- house built in the northeast corner of the township. A few years after on the same site there was a frame house built, but was burnt to the ground a few months after. School was afterwards held in an old log house, now belonging to Ross Williams. In the year 1810, the house was built which is now stand- ing. Its size is twenty-two by twenty-eight feet. The burning of the schoolhouse above mentioned, was supposed to be the work of a man in the fallen timber, whose object was to

bring the school within the reach of his family. There was accordingly a schoolhouse built on the corner of the farm now owned by Robert Early, but has been abandoned. there being a schoolhouse built in that settlement about the year 1876, called the " Quaking Ash Schoo !. " The following is the last school report, made to the County Auditor: Amount paid to teachers, $2,056, amount paid for fuel, etc., 82,- 361.36; number of sub-districts, 9; num- ber of schoolhouses in township. 10: total value of school property, $3,000; number of teachers to supply the schools, 11; number of different teachers employed during the year -males, 13; females, 8; total, 21. Average wages paid teachers per month-males, $31; females, $20. Number of pupils enrolled- males, 199; females, 163; total. 362.

We are indebted to Doctor Whitaker for the following history of the West Mansfickl Schools : " When the village first began to assume the appearance of a town there was no school. The children then went to the nearest country schools, which were in exist- ence long before any town was known here. The Chase Schoolhouse, three-fourths of a mile north of the town, being the nearest. The. Skidmore School, two miles south of town, in Perry Township, was the school of pioneer times, a sort of parent to the other schools which sprung up around it. The first schoolhouse in the village was the house How occupied by Mrs. Robinson, and the first and only term taught in it was by Alonzo Harvey. This, was, perhaps, twenty-five years ago. Sub- sequently a schoolhouse was built at the north end of town (size twenty-four by twenty-six), and the first teacher was Rounce Ilathaway. a thorough-going, rough-and-ready old gentle- man, who chewed a "fip's worth " of " dog- leg" tobacco every day: the motion of his jaws being almost incessant. He made the big boys toe the mark and explode the vowels like pop-guns. Other teachers were

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

Alonzo Harvey, Louis Harvey, and others whose names are not now recalled. The schools were generally full, for this part of the country increased fully as rapidly in popu- lation as in improvements. At a later day the schools was taught by Louis Votaw, Wm. Reid, Emanuel Whitaker, James Skidmore, and others equally as meritorious, whose names are not remembered.

In 1813, in consequence of the rapid growth in numbers, the old schoolhouse, it was decided, was too small for the proper instruc- tion of the pupils, and a new two-story build- ing was erected, seated with the improved patent seats and desks. and costing about $1,400. The first two terms were taught by E. Whitaker, Principal, and Miss Ella Elliott (now Mrs. W. Southard), as teacher of the Grammar Department. These rooms were al- most over-filled from the first. and a deep in- terest was manifested by the pupils in their studies. Punctuality, order and good les- sons were the requirements of the teachers, and were faithfully lived up to by the pupils. Since then William J. Watkins and Alice Inskeep; Coleman Inskeep, Lewis Votaw, Knowlton Keller, R. S. Plotner, Lydia Maris, William M. Carson, Laura Carson, John Ham- ilton, Joseph H. Wylie, Ella Votaw, Harvey (. Sutton and Maggio Embry, have severally taught, most of whom were professional teachers, and have had good success. Mr.

Sutton has taught the past two terms as prin- cipal and gives good satisfacton. The school is at the present time in a flourishing condi- tion, and it has been decided by the Board to build another room for the benefit of the in- creasing number of pupils, At the commence- ment of the last school year the school was separated from the control of the Township Board and established into a village school, under the law establishing and maintaining village school districts. The present mem- bers of the Board are James T. Robinson, J. R. Skidmore, Nathaniel Grant, Jerry Benedict, Samuel Forrey and P. M. Keller. Prices paid teachers are $50 a month in the higher department, and $25 and $20 in the intermediate and primary departments.

The people are intelligent, enterprising, thrifty, and generally religious. There has not been a murder committed in the township since its settlement. Considering the late period of its settlement, and numerous dis- advantages and drawbacks, the improvement and development of Bokes Creek Township has been more rapid than any other township in Logan County. It has surmounted every obstacle, and rose above every difficulty, till to-day finds the forests that were so dense fifty years ago that the settler could find no bare spot on which to orvet a cabin, turned into green fields and productive farms.

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

CHAPTER XX.

UNION TOWNSHIP-PHYSICAL FEATURES - EARLY SETTLEMENT-INCIDENTS OF PROMINENT PIONEERS-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

TX the southern tier of townships in Logan 1. County, just west of the middle part, lies Union Township. It is a rectangular body, about four and a half by five miles square, and is bounded on the north by Harrison, on the east by Liberty, on the south by the county line, and west by Miami. Stony Creek enters about midway from the north and south ends of the township from Liberty, and passes across in a general northwesterly direction, with its branches running north and south from the main streams. This affords the only natural drainage, save as the numerous lakes in this township subserve the same purpose. The surface of the township is high, rolling ground, abounding in those finely-fashioned hollows that look like dimples in the face of nature, and in many of these some of the little lakes for which Logan County is noted have found place. The principal ones are the Twin Lakes, located on the farms of John and William Carter; in the northeastern part of the township, which cover some four acres. "Opossum Lake " is a small sheet of water on the farm of David McCracken. A larger lake, though without a name, is on the property of John Branden, and covers about eight acres. Another, on an adjoining farm, covers some six acres. The water of these lakes is pure, and reaches a depth of some forty feet. In an earlier day, these lakes afforded an excellent opportunity for hunters, that was well im- proved, but of late years, with the clearing up of the land, game has taken to the more se- cluded ponds, and even fishermen find here small inducement to come frequently. Stony Creek is a small stream as it passes through

the township, and affords but little induce- ment for the location of mills upon its banks. A grist-mill in the northwestern part of the township depends wholly upon it for power. and, by utilizing all the means at command to increase that power, it generally proves suf- ficient, though an occasional drought will stop business for awhile. The timber of all this region is largely oak, beech and maple, the latter, however, not appearing in such quan- tities as in the eastern part of the State. The soil is principally clay, underlaid with lime- stone gravel. There are some lowlands that are of the loam order, but this lies in small tracts. The valley of Stony Creek is not very broad, and the low banks of the river allows a general overflow on every occasion of freshets, making the contiguous territory not so desira- ble a tilling land. On the higher grounds the clay predominates, which is remarkably productive as found in this county. It is ad- mirably adapted to corn and wheat, which are everywhere grown in great abundance. A belt of open land along the creek is known as the prairie. ' This is a characteristic of Stony Creek throughout its course. The first set- tlers found the margin of the stream denuded of timber and occupied by a marsh that grew a crop of wild grass of wonderful luxuriance, and called this the prairie.

There is no town or postoffice in Union Township. The old Wall map, one of the earliest publications of the kind in the coun- ty, designates a cross-roads as Noodletoozy. This incongruous title had its origin, it is said, in the whim of a Pennsylvanian who moved into the place. It appears that he came from

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

a place in his native State that bore the same name. Its characteristic, he said, was that easily portable commodities seemed to be considered common property, and were used without regard to the question of ownership. Whether he conerived that this was a fit place to inaugurate that system, or thought that the West took naturally to the free-and easy-system, has not been explained. The name has been rejected by common consent long ago, and Union Township recognizes no center of attraction, save its voting precinet. The carly history of the township is closely allied to that of Miami, from which it was formed in 1820. Among the first settlers we're Robert Moore, Samuel and James Me- Ilvain, William Carter, John and Thomas Makenson, John and Benjamin Schooler Robert Porter, William and Archibald Moore, David Askrin, Robert Nowell and his four sons, Samuel, William, Hugh and John. William and Joseph MeBeth, Robert Crocket. David Kirkwood, William Gray, John and James Wall, and Martin Shields, At a later date Hiram White. JJames Stockhouse, Adam Rhodes, Jonathan Norton, Henry Culp, and others, joined the community gathered within the limits of I'nion Township.

The Mellvain family was a very carly one, and settled here not far from Jelo, Sammel settling on what is known to met of the old settlers as the Old Dann farm, which has since been divided. He was univers ally respected, and is remembered as one of the staunch men of his time. William Carter was a native of New York, migrating from the vicinity of Rochester, to Fort Meigs, now Perrysburg. Wood County. O., about 1810 or 1811. There " re , halt 6; familie & residing at the foot of 1. . . of the Hammer when the war of 1512 Frek oht. an lamone them was the family of Willem ( ater. The first intimation the set- los ind ef Hall's wiren lor at Detroit, was Is the app trans of a party of British and

Indians at the foot of the rapi ds. a few day after it took place. The Indians plundered the settlers on both sides of the river, and de- parted for Detroit in canoes. The families at onee fled to a place of greater security, leaving all they had that could not be taken with them in their hasty flight. Carter came to what is now Union Township, and took up his abode on the old Dunn place. The land was not in the market then, and he took up a squatter's claim, which was all be owned until his death. lle was killed in early manhood by an accident in raising a log cabin. Of a large family, Samuel is the only one who is remembered by the present generation as one of the pioneers in this land, and perhaps Union Township may present as strong a claim to him as her citizen as any other township, though not living there all his life. He enlisted at the age of 16 in a Spy company under Capt. Kingston and served through the war of 1812. Soon after return- ing home he was married. and as he left his father's cabin his father told him he would beg for a living as long as he lived. His only reply was to assure him that he would never beg from his father at any rate. He was a positive character, plain spoken and courting no friend- ships based on anything but an honest represen- tation of facts. When married he borrowed a hat and a handkerchief: owned an ax and was in debt two dollars. His wife, it is said, had to cut a piece of linen out of the loom to make him a second shirt, that the first might be washed; but before he died, through his in- domitable energy and perseverance he ac- cumulated a fine property, which his sons are enjoying to-day. His first start was to rent two fields for cultivation. While caring for this work, his lan lord came about directing him, as he felt in an offensive manner, when he throw up his lease and declared that he would n ver plant another grain until he plant .d it on his own land. He made good his word, and struggled up to a fine competency. He

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

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was a member of the first jury in Logan county, and heard the first preaching of his life in his own cabin.

A vivid picture of the old time is found in his address to the Pioneer Association, and we give it in his own words. Ile said when his father came to this country, there were three Indians to one white man. "The cabins had but one room, in which they lived, ate and slept, Furniture was scaree. When he was married and moved into his cabin, he made a cupboard by putting together some rough clapboards with wooden pins -- for there were no nails then nearer than Urbana-which was their 'dresser.' The first table they ever had was made with an ax, hewing out rough boards. and pinning them together. The first thing he ever put salt into was a gum. In their room was a spinning-wheel, beds, bins for grain, etc. In 1818 he built a log house, with- out door or window; he sawed a hole to go in and out at, and, as there was no floor below they slept upon the loft, and cooked outside; the stock took shelter beneath. In the day he worked hard cutting hay, and at night worked at his house, and when they got a mud chimney completed, so they coukl have a fire in the house, it was the happiest moment of their lives. Ile wore homespun then, and all he had was a pair of tow-linen pants and a shirt, but no drawers or boots, and considered he was very well prepared for winter. Like a great many, he bought land, and had to work hard to clear and pay for it. This was slow work without money or mar- kets; but he kept on, and after a while popu- lation increased a little, but they could not sell anything. A bushel of wheat could not be sold for twenty-five cents. They had no mon- ey, and the only way they coukl pay for their land was to raise hogs, cattle ete., which brought but little profit. He had raised many a fine steer for ten dollars, which would now be worth sixty dollars. They had no other

means of getting money except by hunting for furs, and could not buy tea and coffee, etc., but they had plenty of venison and raccoon, and many a good meal he had made of it. He thoughit society was better then than now; they had not so much to do, and time was not so precious as now. Now we had not time to visit, but then people went several miles, and when they had got a good fiddler and a puncheon floor, would dance all night, and go home with the girls in the morning. After awhile he began to advance in the world and prosper; he bought a new cotton shirt, and thought he was coming out. In a short time he bought another, and then he had a change. But since then there had been a great change."*

The Moores were early settlers in Union. Robert came from Union Township, in Penn- sylvania, to Cincinnati in 1298, and from thence to Clarke County in 1800, and to the farin now owned by II. A. laling, in 1802. His son Samuel was a cabinet-maker, and plied his trade in the new country, supplying the community with coffins and furniture at very satisfactory prices, if we compare them with the present. It is said that he made a wind- mill that was the wonder and admiration of his time, and they would probably prove no less a wonderment at this day.

The community here was very slow in its growth. Speculators had bought up the land in this vicinity and were holding it at an ad- vanced price, so that settlers went further on and got cheaper lands. Here the nearest point for milling was at King's Creek, and mail and store supplies could be secured only at Urbana. When they first began to sow wheat, the blackbirds came in swarms and picked up the grain as fast as it could be sown, in spite of every exertion to keep them away. At length, when a crop was grown, it proved to be " sick wheat," i. e., it grew so rank that * Antrim's Ilistory.

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

it caused sickness when it was used, so that it balto be thrown away. The first mills were on Stony Creek, and were known as Thom- -it's and Blaylock's mills. In giving her arly recollections in Antrim's History, Mrs. Sarah M. Moore says: " In those days we hal what was termed Overseers of the Poor, and L'once- viewers, who were duly elected at the annual township election. The duties in- cumbent on the Overseer of the Poor was to order them out of the township if they were dermed villainous or vagabonds. Otherwise, in case of destitution, the children were bound out to servitude until capable of taking care of themselves. The duties of Fener- viewers was to examine the condition of fonces. There were no picket or board fences in those days in our place, but split rails we're fashionable, with a slip gap, or pair of bars at best. According to law, a fence must be in a condition to turn stock of any kind, or the the owner could recover no damages for the breach, or the spoiling of his crops by stock that was running at large. The wild woods and prairies were our past- ures in those days. A hughalde occurrence happened at the spring election one year. The men, wishing to have a little tun, elected Adam Rhodes, a remarkably tall man, and Biram White, a small man, as Fence- viewers. Adam was to chin the fence, and Hiram to look after the pig-holes." Hogs formed an important feature in frontier life, and were to be found everywhere . An incident in rela- tion to the old-fashioned way of "raising" Hmm is told by Mrs. Moore as follows: " Two neighbors got into a dispute about the " myslup of a certain ber, which they both camel. One, bring more shrewd and less Copiar bent limits of truth than the a canto swear & fore a lustig. of To be how the log to be his, now That we med it. It was 'ul tha the way he raised -

it was that he stooped over a low fence and lifted it off its feet by the bristles. Hours had bristles in those days. A Jean shoat could well be compared to a fish, the bristles answering to the fins on the back, while the sides were as flat. with mutton hams to match. Stealing or killing hogs in the woods was a very common occurrence. Very frequently hogs would come running home with torn and bloody ears, and one or two missing. The poor Indian had to bear the blame often when the deed was done by some white sinner. This subject occupied so large a space in the public mind that Robert Moore suggested that the new county should be called Bristle County. It was a common thing for cattle to come up with one missing, and upon search being made it would be found swamped in the mud somewhere. Neighbors would assist each other, and with hand-spikes ail ropes, pry up and drag out. Sometimes the poor creature could stand after it would get on solid footing, and sometimes it would have to be lifted to its feet for days and weeks. Each owner of stock had to have his own peculiar mark, which was done by slitting and cropping, and cutting the cars, and then having their mark recorded in the public records of the county.

" Mon used to have a cruel and silly prac- tice of what they called docking their horses. The manner in which it was done was to part the hair about six or eight inches from the point of the tail, then take a sharp ax and set the pole on the horse's rump. turn the tail up over the edge of the ax and then, with mamul, or heavy mallet, strike it hard. It took four men to do it one to hold the hea I, one to hold the tail, one to hold the ax. an ] the fourth was the executioner. Another procter, which was still more ridiculous, was nicking, which was done by cutting the Colons on the under part of the tail, and tuning it up and fastening it in that position

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

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until the wound would heal up. Young men thought they made a grand display when they rode by with a nick-tailed horse.

" But we had some noble boys among us in early times-young men who could out and split 200 or 300 rails in a day, pile and burn brush at night, or shell their sack of corn and ride with it on horseback to mill. The girls could milk the cows, churn the butter, make the cheese, pull the flax, spin, weave and bleach it, and then make it up for the boys. They could help shear the sheep, then card and spin the wool, color it and weave it, and then make dresses of it. Such was fron- tier life fifty or sixty years ago.

" About the year 1810 or 1811, there was felt a shock of earthquake, which caused a dis- tinet vibration of some three inches of skeins of yarn that were suspended from the joist of our log cabin. Well do I remember how frightened I was when my father told us what it was.

" Of game there was plenty. Deer were often seen in herds, six, eight or ten together. How beautiful they were, leaping over hills or across the prairies, with their white flags waving. But the poor creatures were hunted and slaughtered without mercy by both white and Indian hunters. The sly and sneaking wolf, too, was often seen skulking through the brush, and woe betide the poor sheep that was unhoused at night. These depredators were often caught in traps, as their scalps brought the round price of $4. Occasionally a bear was killed. A little son of William Moore, living on McKee's Creek, near where the Bellefontaine and West Liberty turn- pike crosses it, was sent after the cows one evening. Hle always carried his trusty rifle on such occasions, and in passing through the woods he espied a huge black bear standing with its paws on a log close by, app: rently watching him. Without waiting to think of the consequences should he miss his aim, he

blazed away, and down came bruin, the ball entering his forehead. Bill at once ran home to tell his father, who could scarcely believe the story. . But, father, just come and see.' said Billy. He went, and there, sure enough, was the bear, a very large animal, weighing nearly 400 pounds. lying dead beside the log. " It would be almost impossible to give the young folks of to-day an adequate idea of the immense flocks of blackbirds that used to collect about our cornfieldIs. They would be seen coming in flocks, by the thou- sand, and alighting on the corn, about the time it was in good order for roast- ing, tearing open the husk and feasting on the soft corn. Then there was work for the boys, with the horse rattler, old tin pails, or anything to scare off the birds. But, not- withstanding this, they destroyed some fields almost entirely. Pigeons, though more plentiful than blackbirds, were not so mis- chievous. At certain times of the year, in favorable seasons, they might be seen flying in such flocks overhead as to almost darken the air, and in continuous lines for miles in length. One season the pigeon-roost was at a place called Beaver Dam, in Union Town- ship, where they collected in such vast nun- bers as to break down the timber. Large limbs would be broken off' trees, and saplings bent to the ground.

" Rattlesnakes were also plenty. Well do I remember the time when quite a large one got into our house, and was found coiled up at the foot of the bed where my brothers were sleeping. Feeling something at their feet, they called father, who, grasping a large iron poker, dexterously pitched it into the fire. Shortly after, the dog was making a great ado outside the house. Father went out, and there was another snake, no doubt mate to the one in the house, which he also killed.

"A very important thing in frontier com- munities, after corn was grown and harvested,

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

was to know how to make it available for family use. In making hominy, the first thing was to prepare the mortar to pound it in. This was done by sawing off a log about two feet in diameter and three fret long, then chopping it in from one end, leaving a rim for the bottom; then dressing it off smooth in the shape of a goblet, setting it up on the bottom and piling chips or bark on the top, and burn- ing it out, on the inside, taking care to leave a rim at the outer edge. When this was done, it was dressed out smooth and clean. Then shell about half a bushel of corn, pour boiling water on it, in some vessel, and let it stand a spell; then pour the water off and turn it in the hominy block. The pestle for pounding it was made by taking a stout stick, about like a handspike, shaving it smooth, splitting one end and inserting an iron wedge, such as is used in splitting rails, taking care to have an iren ring on the stick to keep it from splitting with the wedge while pounding the corn. The chaff, or husk, would part from the grain, and leave it clean and cracked, fit for cooking. Then put on the kettle and boil it.

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History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 73

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin Number of Pages: 798

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798