History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 13

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

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Amos Beach emigrated from Vermont to Darby township in 1814. He became the owner of a small farm on the Plains, where he lived and which he successfully managed until about the year 1830, when, selling his property, he removed to Union county. He later returned to this county and lived in Plain City, where he died.

Abner and David Chapman, two brothers, came to this township in about 1810. Abner Chapman, a man of good education, first purchased a farm near Plain City, but

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later sold this and located on the banks of the Big Darby. It was included in Union county on its erection in 1820. He spent a portion of his time for several years in teaching school. His brother, also a young man of good education and a surveyor by profession, taught school and did a great deal of surveying for Walter Dun, of Virginia. At this time there were many small strips of land that had been unentered by former speculators. Many of these were now entered and patented by him. He later married a daughter of Joshua Ewing and for many years lived on his farm on the Plains. He later, however, moved to Union county and from there to the state of Iowa.

William McCune, a step-son of Andrew Noteman, came with the latter in 1803 and settled on the east bank of Big Darby creek, immediately opposite the Indian village or camping ground referred to above. In the creation of Union county he was included within its territory. But the stepson above referred to began to support himself early in life. At the age of twelve, he went to Franklinton to learn the trade of blacksmith. He remained there for some time and, it is said, assisted in the forging of the nails that were used in the construction of the old state house at Columbus. Mr. McCune afterwards went to Buck Creek and learned the tanning business, but, after completing his trade, he came back and purchased and moved onto a farm near Plain City. Mr. McCune's tannery was one of the first in this part of the county. Here was an accommodation kindly appreciated by the people, and his thorough knowledge of the business, in connection with his honesty, won for him a large proportion of the custom of the county. A few years prior to his death, he became entirely blind. His home was cut off from Darby in 1820.

Another pioneer who hailed from New England and who came to settle in Darby township was Richard Morgridge, who came with his family from Connecticut to Licking county, Ohio, in 1816. Here he was compelled to stop and remain a short period because of sickness in his family. He came with more property than was customary among those early, hearty woodsmen. He emigrated with a good pair of horses and wagon, and with him he brought a large box of Yankee clocks, which he had purchased very cheap in his native state, but which he sold at a great profit in the new country. All this property was converted into cash within a short time. However, this cash was in paper and, being issued by many different banks, he went to Marietta and there exchanged it for notes of the Muskingum Valley Bank of that place. This banking house became insolvent a short time afterward and closed business, leaving him penniless and with his property gone. The sickness in his family forced him to remain in Licking county for three years and also forced him to incur expense that he could not meet. In 1819 he purchased a yoke of oxen and moved his family to Darby township. There he purchased. or rather contracted for, one hundred and thirty acres in the Converse settlement of Walter Dun. The debts incurred in Licking county were still hanging over him, and his creditors came and attached all of his chattel property ; but, this being insufficient to satisfy their claims, his body was also taken by the sheriff. to be lodged in the county jail for debt. But, before leaving home with that officer. his wife placed in his hands all the money in their pos- session, being one dollar and thirty cents. After they had proceeded some distance, it occurred to Mr. Morgridge that the law required the creditor to support the debtor while in jail, if he had no means of supporting himself. Therefore. he made an excuse to stop by the roadside. where he secretly placed his money under a rail in the fence, near a large tree. After their arrival in London, a search was instituted, and he was found without any means of supporting himself. The creditor was then asked to give bond for the maintenance of the prisoner while in jail. which he refused to do, whereupon Mr. Morgridge was set free. Richard Morgridge never completed the payments on his farm, but, after his death, the family met those obligations.

There were other pioneers, whose descendants have long since left their ancestral

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homes and pushed on to more remote parts, and among these should be mentioned the Marquis, Petty, Nickels and Frazell families. The emigration to this part of the county from 1812 to 1820, as shown in the pages above, was little short of wonderful. By far the greater portion of them came from the New England states, whose soil was so inferior in fertility to that of Madison county that the fame of the latter became pro- verbial for its fertility and productiveness. The sad years of 1822 and 1823, with their murderous "sickly seasons," cast a great cloud of gloom over the township and draped the previously prospective outlook for a rapid and early development of her resources, with death and disease that threatened depopulation. The shock thus produced was felt all over the county, but the heaviest burden of it seems to have fallen on Darby and Canaan townships. Emigration ceased, practically, until 1890 and 1832. The only resi- dents of the township from 1823 until 1830 were the survivors of those two sickly seasons, and even some of these returned to their native states or moved on to other settlements. The great portion of the present inhabitants of Darby township are the . descendants of these pioneer families.

EARLY STOCK SPECULATORS.

The chief draw-back to stock raising in pioneer times was the great difficulty of marketing the animals. It was neither expensive nor difficult to raise the cattle and hogs, but they must be driven to distant market places. Moreover, there were just a few marketable points within the reach of the settlements, and the demand at these markets was limited. At Sandusky and Detroit the government agencies were ready purchasers of small amounts of this kind of produce. In addition to these places, Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Cleveland did a small amount of this kind of business. Here, then, were the points of marketing, but the serious problem was that of transportation. The only method possible at that time was by driving. But the driving on foot of a great amount of stock a distance of from one to two hundred miles, with such surroundings as were peculiar to a new country such as this was, was a great task, beset with many difficulties and dangers.

Perhaps Butler Comstock, of Worthington, was the first of the extensive cattle buyers and speculators who operated in Darby township. His purchases were usually made in the spring and comprised one hundred or more head of four-year-old steers, for which he paid, on the average, between four and seven dollars a head. These cattle were herded and grazed on the prairie until early autumn, and then driven to one of the above- mentioned markets or to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.

In 1818 a young Canadian by the name of James Guy came to this township. He possessed fine business qualifications and at once began buying cattle-in limited quan- tities at first, however, but increasing as his means increased. The points of trade sought by him were in keeping with the kind and condition of his stock. His fat cattle were driven to Sandusky or Detroit, but his stock cattle were taken to the neighborhood of Chillicothe and sold to the feeders of the Sciotio bottoms. This method of doing business was too circumscribed to meet his enlarged views and speculative usefulness. This increased trade upon his part was in keeping with the increased supply, for, by this time, the people had learned that stock-raising was the most profitable, if not the only, industry that brought the ready cash. The current price for a four-year-old steer during the years from 1830 to 1840 was from seven to ten dollars per head. In his traffic in cattle, Mr. Guy did not limit himself to this township or county, but purchased large droves of cattle that were driven on foot over the Alleghany mountains to Pittsburgh or Phila- delphia. Sometimes his herds assumed mammoth proportions, numbering from three to five hundred head. He followed this business for nearly twenty years. At one time he was the owner of fifteen hundred acres of the finest grazing land on the plains. In 1846

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he, in company with David Mitchell, son of Judge Mitchell, entered on an extensive scale into the pork-packing business in Columbus. Many thousand head were slaughtered, for which they paid from five to six dollars per hundred pounds; but before this great bulk of packed meat could be put on the market, there came that great financial crash of 1847, wrecking them upon the sand-bar of finance. He lost all and made an assignment to his creditors. However, he was not the kind to sit idle and brood over his reverses of the past and, when the California gold fever swept the country, he joined that pro- cession of "Forty-niners" to "Ophir" to gather the precious dust. He remained there for four years and came back with five thousand dollars in nuggets, with which he pur- chased a farm, partly in this and partly in Union counties, where he lived until his death in 1882.

A stockman of great prominence at a later date was Daniel Boyd. He was the grand- son of James Boyd, who came to Canaan township in 1820 and lived there until his death in 1831. As the railroad lines extended westward, many of the old stock speculators and drovers retired from business and a new generation stepped to the front. One of the leaders of these was Daniel Boyd. His early business training was in connection with the cattle herds of Darby township. Accordingly he made his first shipments to the Eastern markets in 1855. After a few years' experience, he practically abandoned the shipment of cattle and confined his efforts to the shipment of hogs, sheep and wool. He was engaged in this business in the county for over thirty years and many of the older residents remember the times when his business was most flourishing.

ERECTION OF THE TOWNSHIP.

After a careful search among the commissioners' records, the following is found, under the date of April 30, 1810:

"Ordered, that all that tract of country comprised in the following boundaries be, and the same is hereby, created into a separate township, to be known by the name of Darby, and bounded as follows, to wit:

"Beginning at the upper corner of Jefferson township, thence north with line to Dela- ware county; thence with said line east, to the northwest corner of Franklin county; thence with said line to the place of beginning."

This creation lasted for only one year, when it was declared void. The reason for this action is not given, but the following is of record under date of June 11, 1811:

"At a meeting of the commissioners of Madison county, ordered, that all that tract of country comprehended in the following boundaries be, and the same is hereby, created into a separate township by the name of Darby, and is bounded as follows :

"Beginning at the northeast corner of Madison county, thence south with Franklin county line, so that a point turning west will strike Calvin Cary, Sr.'s lower corner ; thence westwardly to Abraham Johnson's lower corner, on Little Darby; thence to Peter Paugh's southeast corner; thence westwardly so as to strike the Champaign county line. two miles north of William Frankabarger, Sr.'s; thence with said line to Delaware county line; thence with Delaware county line to the place of beginning."

This creation has been greatly reduced by subsequent creations; Canaan township was taken from Darby in the year 1814 and Pike township was formed from Darby in 1819. And when Union county was created in 1820, from the territory of Delaware and Madison counties, a strip of land two and a half miles wide was taken from the northern boundary of Darby township. Thus it has been reduced in territorial advantages until it is among the smallest townships in the county.

SOIL.

The soil of Darby township is of greater variety. Near the streams it is a reddish, gravelly loam, very deep and well adapted to mixed agriculture, such as the production

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of wheat, rye, oats and corn, as well as root crops. After leaving the streams on the east, the soil, on the more elevated lands, partakes of a light-colored clay, with a small admixture of gravel, better adapted for grass and grazing purposes. But the greater por- tion is a black loam, and when once thoroughly drained is well calculated to grow any and all of the agricultural products adapted to this climate. The western portion of the township-the prairie land- is composed of a deep, black loam, presenting the appearance of having been composed of vegetable decomposition, upon which, in its native state, grew a wonderful growth of vegetation.

STREAMS.

The only stream that enters Darby township is Big Darby creek and its tributaries. Big Darby creek finds its source in the northeastern portion of Champaign county, wends its way across the southern portion of Union county, passing through Darby and a portion of Canaan townships, and thence forming the boundary line between Madison and Frank- lin counties. This stream received its name from the Wyandot Indians who named it after a chief of theirs by the name of Darby, who for a long time lived on its bank, near the present Madison and Union county line. Sugar creek rises in Union county. flows through the eastern portion of the township and empties into the Big Darby. To the early settlers of the township this stream furnished important and indispensable water power, with which they ran their grist- and saw-mills.

OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES.

All land to the east of Big Darby creek was covered by heavy timber, made up mostly of walnut, ash, beech, white and black oak. hickory, basswood and white elm on the swampy lands. There were some rather extensive sugar groves along Sugar run and near Big Darby. Spice-bush was the principal underbrush and grew abundantly, especially on the flat lands. The land lying to the west of Big Darby and east of Little Darby creek was widely known as the Darby plains. However, this prairie was dotted here and there by occasional small oak openings, or a narrow, long line of scrubby burr-oaks, whose growth had been fatally interfered with by the annual prairie fires of the Indians. By far the greater portion of the timber of later times grew up after the stopping of these fires. This whole area was covered with wild grass and flowering herbs. The lower portions of the prairies were covered with a species of grass that came up in single stalks, very thick at the ground. with a large round straw, very tough, long, broad blades, and on top a head, somewhat resembling barley. This specie grew from six to eight feet in height, but was of no value for grazing purposes except when it first came up in the spring. On the more elevated portions of the plains grew two other varieties that were known as the "limber-will" and "ledge-grass." The former of these came up in single stalks, very thick on the ground, with long drooping blades and slightly sickle-edged. The latter variety grew in bunches, or tufts, very compact, with fine blades and center stalks very tall, smooth and round, like rye. These last two varieties were very nutri- tious, not only in a green state, but equally so when cut and made into hay. There were other, but unimportant, varieties.

The plains abounded with flowering vegetation. It would be almost impossible, at this late date, to give a full description of the vegetation. but a few species should be mentioned. The prairie dock had large, brittle roots, long, broad leaves, and. every alternate year, large center stalks. It grew to a height of six or eight feet and branched out near the top, upon each stem of which was a beautiful yellow blossom. When the stalks were cut near the ground, or the leaves punctured, a thick gummy exudation took place, which soon became semi-solid, and was gathered by the young people for chewing gum. The wild sunflower was a kind of weed that grew with a large, strong stalk, very

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high, with numerous branches, having a yellow blossom on each, about three inches in diameter and drooping like the cultivated species.

All of the ponds were surrounded by the wild blue flag. This was a very pretty, but very offensive, plant. At the top of each center stalk was a large, blue flower, very pretty in appearance, but its fragrance was of an offensive and sickening character. There were many other varieties that grew upon the prairies besides those that were found skirting and in the oak openings, such as the daisies, buttercups, wild pinks, coxcombs, lilies, and many others, equally as beautiful.

A large portion of these prairie lands was covered with water for most of the year, for what little outlet there was for the surface water was 'filtered through this dense growth of vegetation. The height and density of the wild grasses that grew upon these prairies was such as was calculated to produce a feeling of despondency and desolation.

TOPOGRAPHY.

There is one peculiar feature in the topography of these lands, which very much retarded the early development and drainage of the prairies. It has only been within the last forty years that the fact was demonstrated and generally understood, that all the prairies lying east of Little Darby creek, with but one or two exceptions, drain to Big Darby. The first opinions were that, as these plains were situated between the two Darbys, that the drainage would be about equal distance to each. However, the dip of the country here is east and southeast. Here, then, was a stubborn obstacle in the way of a complete and thorough drainage, for no one or two men could afford to cut the neces- sary long and deep artificial drains to secure such benefits to the upper lands as were required to make the farming of those lands a success. But right here the legislative enactment of the state came to their relief, namely, that, by petition of twelve interested freeholders to the trustees of the proper township, an artificial drain could be located and the cutting of the same awarded to the land-owners along the line thereof, according to the benefits derived therefrom. The supposed worthlessness of these prairies by the early land speculators, who bought soldiers' claims and laid out their warrants in the Virginia military district, is clearly shown by their leaving out of their surveys as much as possible of the above lands. Another evidence in support of the same conclusion is that the first settlers made their purchases near or adjacent to the streams, supposing the prairie lands would ever remain wet, worthless and uninhabitable. But the scientific truth in regard to this part of the country is, that her altitude is nearly equal to that of any other part of the state; and yet, her reputation has been that of being but little above sea level. There were two distinct periods or phases in the origin of the burr- oak timber that was growing on these plains when they were first discovered by the white man. The oldest of these were scattering and few in number, and are found growing on the highest points of the prairie lands. The limbs of these trees came out almost at right angles with the trunk, an evidence of the tree having stood alone, and dating back to the forming periods of all the forests of this country. The latter are of a more recent origin and date back from two or three hundred years. There is considerable uniformity in the age of the trees of each of these groups .. Why so many years should elapse between the two periods is a question difficult of solution; but, by a thorough knowledge of the topography of these prairie lands, a reasonable hypothesis might be adduced that would remove the obscurity in part at least.

Topographical science has demonstrated beyond all question of doubt that the Darby plains are table-land. Such lands are always surrounded with one or more rims of a greater or less elevation, but of sufficient height to hold, as it were, like a basin. the rain- fall or waters from any cause that may flow into it, and there to remain, unless other- wise dried up by evaporation. Many of the first settlers were greatly deceived as to

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the most natural and available points for the drainage of these lands, and, as a result some very unpleasant law-suits were prosecuted, to the detriment of all parties. The error consisted in mistaking the rim that formed the basin for the natural watershed between the two Darbys. This latter elevation is quite distinctive and is easily traced by the timbers that grow on either side. Upon the one side, it is characterized by the kinds of timber that are found near all streams, and upon the other, by that which is peculiar to the prairies. This natural water-shed is generally found from one-half to one mile east of Little Darby creek, thus continuing for several miles, but gradually leaving the stream until it abruptly circles away, connecting itself with one or more rims of this table land. That these elevations, at some prehistoric age of the world, had been much more elevated than at present, or that the prairie depressions have been much greater, or both, is evident from this standpoint. That there was a time, a prehistoric period, when these lands were covered with water there can be no doubt. But these ele- vations have been slowly worn down by the overflow of water and tread of the buffalo, elk and other wild animals, until some of the more elevated points of the prairie (or lake) appeared as dry land. This process of reasoning would date the period when those few and scattering burr oaks first sprang into existence. Hence, the conclusion that, as this wearing away and filling up continued, much larger portions were brought to the surface, upon which sprang the second growth, that was in existence when the first white men came. As this wearing away and filling up still continued, the whole of these prairies was covered with a heavy coat of vegetation. Thus, year after year, or perhaps centuries, this growth and decay had been going on until the depth of soil is unsurpassed by any other portion of the state. There is one more conclusive evidence in support of the theory that these prairies were for a long time submerged in water, for, when the lowest prairies were first broken by the plow, large quantities of snail and clam shell were turned up, which, however, soon crumbled on exposure to the atmosphere.

GEOLOGY.

From the geological point of view, Darby township differs from many other portions of the county. There are no ores and but few limestone ledges, and these are found only near the banks of Big Darby and below the water, and therefore are inacessihle and of no practical value. Gravel is found in abundance near the streams and of the very best quality, from which most of the excellent gravel roads have been made. In nearly all of these gravel beds, some relics of a pre-historic race, or of the North American Indians, have been found, such as human skeletons, stone hammers or axes, pestles, arrowheads, etc., and in one of these banks there were several skeletons found lying in close proximity to each other. By the side of each was found a piece of yellow ochre as large as a cocoa- nut, and is supposed to have been placed there under the superstitious idea that it would be required as a war paint in fighting the battles of the other world. There is one peculiar freak in the drift formation of the western portion of this township, which was unearthed many years ago. in cutting an artificial drain, east of Little Darby creek, through the only prairie lying west of the natural watershed. This prairie is about two miles in length, quite broad at the upper end, but, going down, the prairie is gradually contracted by the elevated lands and the timber until the latter finally closes in, obliterat- ing the prairie and forming a dense mass of timber. In cutting this drain at the point where the timbers come together, and for some distance below, large quantities of white limestone were found in blocks, scattered here and there, sometimes singly, and at others in close proximity, or lying one upon another; but. to convey the correct idea, they lay scattered in a promiscuous mass. These blocks were irregular in shape, but uniformly flat on either side, varying in thickness from three to ten or twelve inches. They were

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 13

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207