USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 6
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VALUABLE PLASTERING SANDS.
"By far the larger part of the comity is covered with another order of drift-deposit, viz .. those that have been modified and re-arranged during a period of submergence to which the original beds have been subjected. If a bed of the yellow clay already spoken of as formed from the weathering of the blue clay were exposed by a slowly advancing submergence to the action of waves or currents, it is easy to see that its clay, sand and gravel would be assorted and separated. The coarser materials would be moved the least distance. and the finer clays the greatest distance from their original beds. As the submergence was gradually extended we ought to find beds of gravel overlying the blue clay, themselves overlain by sand, and finally covered with the finest grained clays. Such is precisely the general order of the arrangement in all of these districts. We ought, furthermore, to expect that on the highest grounds of the county. beds of gravel and sand would abound. This also is exactly the case. Ohlingers hill, as high a point as is contained in the county, is the resort of the whole country for miles around for plastering sand, extensive deposits of which occupy the highest parts of the dividing ridge.
"The same line of facts is met with on the high ground west of London. a ridge scarcely inferior in elevation to the one already referred to. It is, in fact, a part of the same watershed-separating the drainage of the Scioto from that of the Little Miami. Almost the whole of this region is occupied with heavy beds of well-washed gravel. The whole supply for London and its vicinity is derived from this locality. It must. however. be noted that these high grounds also contain remnants of the old glacial clays, which furnish. as at Ohlingers hill, a soil of entirely different properties from
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any other soils in the county. The difference lies in the fact that the high location of the masses has prevented the accumulation of vegetable matter in them. They pro- duce fruit well, and are good wheat lands when properly treated, but they are decidedly inferior as grass lands to the rest of the county. In fact, but a thin sod establishes itself upon them. unless special care is taken to secure this result.
"The submergence of this district, and the consequences resulting from such a fact, have been spoken of. It is easy to see that the emergence which converted it into dry land again, must have been attended with equally marked results. As drainage sys- tems began to be established or re-established, the accumulations of clay, sand and gravel of the rearranged drift would often be withdrawn from the surface over which they had been distributed. and the broad valleys through which currents were moving would be sure to receive them. The boulder clay would thus be exposed on portions of these areas. The northern and central districts of the county contain almost all of the exposures of this sort. while the southern tiers of townships, which lie a hundred feet or thereabouts lower than the above named districts, hold by far the most gravel.
THE AGRICULTURAL POINT OF VIEW.
"The facts now enumerated will be seen, upon a little reflection, to lay the founda- tion for an excellent scope of country in an agricultural point of view. Generous and lasting soils and an abundant water supply are certain to be provided from such modi- fications of the beds of glacial drift in central and western Ohio. In accordance with these probabilities. Madison county is found to be one of the finest agricultural districts of the state. There is scarcely a foot of waste land in it, and most of it, if not already highly productive, is easily susceptible of being made so. The surface clays are gen- erally black for at least one or two feet in depth. In land lying as nearly level as Madison county does, there would necessarily be enough detention of organic matter in the soil to produce this result. Even the lands underlain with gravel might have been swampy in their earliest history, but after a forest growth had established itself upon them and the roots had penetrated to the porous beds below, a natural drainage would be secured, which would do much toward their amelioration. The gravel washed out of the boulder clay is largely limestone gravel. Whenever an insulated area of this gravel has been left uncovered by the finer clays and has itself undergone atmospheric agencies by which it would be converted into soil, we find the productive belts known as mulatto lands. The reddish soils thus designated certainly have just such a history.
"The forest growths on these several sorts of areas are. in every case, characteristic. The last-named division is the warmest and most fertile land in the county. It is occu- pied quite largely by black walnut, sugar-maple, etc., and is, therefore, frequently styled 'black-walnut land.' It is confined to patches and acres, and is nowhere extended in large tracts, or at least not in the central portion of the county. More of it is shown in the southern townships. The division last preceding this, viz .. the clays underlain by gravel or sand, are quite generally covered with bur-oak (Quercus macrocarpa). This tree marks very definitely all the better portions of the areas now under discus- sion. and as this kind of land constitutes the most important element in the surface of the county. the bur-oak may be said to characterize the county. The colder lands referred to, the weathering of the boulder clay. are covered for their natural forest growth with swampy oak (Quercus palustris). post oak (Q. obtusiloba) and occasion- ally white oak (Q. alba). The natural differences between these soils, as attested by their original forest growths, are clearly shown in their subsequent history under culti- vation.
VALUABLE BLUE-GRASS LANDS.
"The swampy condition of the land before drains and ditches provided an easy way of escape for the surface water, is the probable cause of the defective condition
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of the timber produced here. Many of the trees are hollow hearted. Another expla- nation is offered in the fires that the Indians were accustomed to kindle ammally throughout this part of the state. The sparseness of the timber ean no doubt bo attri- bnted to the last-named cause. While some of these varieties of soil are much warmer and kinder than others, all of them form blue-grass land. As soon as the surface water is withdrawn, this most valuable of all forage plants-Pod pratense, or Kentucky blne-grass, comes in to displace the wild grasses that have occupied the grond hitherto, and it comes to stay. This is not the place to take up in detail this great source of agricultural wealth. It is enough to say that all of its characteristic excellences are here shown. The best rewards of agriculture in Madison county have hitherto been drawn from this spontaneous product of its soil. The lands of the county have been turned into pasture grounds since their first occupation. Under judicious management, cattle do well upon them throughout our ordinary winters, without hay or grain.
"It is to be remarked that Madison county is a blue-grass region, not so much because of the composition of its drift-beds as from the fact that these drift-beds are extended, owing to the accidents of their recent geological history. in wide plains which allow the abundant accumulation of vegetable matter in the forming soil. These same drift-deposits, when they lie on well-drained slopes, form a stubborn, yellow clay, that can hardly be kept covered with sod of any description. It must not. however, be inferred that all level drift-tracts will become blue-grass land, irrespective of their composition. Clays derived in large part from the waste of limestone, as are those of Madison county. are especially adapted to the growth of blue-grass. Madison county has no monopoly of this important prodnet but all the flat-line tracts of the counties around it. as they have shared in its geological history, share also in its agricultural capabilities.
"These districts were shunmed in the early settlements of this general region on account of their swampy character. but discerning men soon came to see their great possibilities, and as the price per acre was scarcely more than nominal, they were bought in large tracts and have been so held until the present time. Farms of two thousand acres are not unusual in the county, and fields of five hundred acres are com- mon. The recently divided estate of William D. Wilson, in the Darby Plains of Canaan township, embraced nine thousand acres. The county is famous not only for the num- ber of cattle it produces, but also for the quality. It holds some of the finest herds of imported cattle to be found in the state or country.
"The lands of the second and third divisions, as might be judged from their con- stitution, are excellently adapted to the production of corn and other cereals and are coming to be used for grain-growing. as well as for grass-growing. The varied elements of our ordinary American farming are thus becoming established here as elsewhere.
WATER SUPPLY.
"The last point to be taken up in the geology of the county is its natural water supply. Madison county may be said to have an abundant and excellent supply, but it does not show itself in the ordinary modes, in springs, and frequent watercourses. The supply, indeed, is under ground and must. for the most part. be brought to the surface by artificial means. The ordinary rainfall of central Olio being granted. the geological conditions already described necessitate an immense accumulation of water beneath the surface: such an accumulation, we find, lying within easy reach. The sur- face of the bowlder clay is a common water bearer, though many wells descend into the clay to some of the irregular veins of sand and gravel, to which reference has already been made. The beds above the boulder clay, varying in thickness from five to fifteen feet. constitute an efficient filter for the surface water in most instances. It must be remarked, however, that all of the dangers pertaining to such a supply show
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themselves here. The drift-beds are freely permeable. They have no power to shut out the products of surface defilement, or prevent cesspools and other sinks of impurity from discharging their offensive and poisonous drainage into adjacent wells and springs. There is abundant and positive proof that drinking water contaminated from such sources is very often made the medium for distributing fever and pestilence through families and neighborhoods.
"Of late years. the agency of the wind has been quite extensively utilized in pump- ing water from wells into reservoirs for the use of stock. The windpumps have been improved in so many ingenious ways that they work almost as if they were intelligent agents, matching supply with demand, and adjusting themselves to the force of the wind. The common method, however, of providing stock water on those farms which are not traversed by living streams is by means of pools, which obtain their supply directly and entirely from surface accumulations of rain. The water of such pools is always foul with mud and manure, and is heavily charged with vegetable and animal organisms in every stage of existence and decay, and yet it is claimed to be a safe and wholesome supply. Still another source of stock water is found in some sections of the county. The water delivered by draining tile in underground ditches is gathered and conducted to troughs in the pasture grounds. Where the make of the country admits of this system, a supply in every way advantageous is secured.
REMAINS OF PRE-GLACIAL MAMMALS.
"Buried vegetation is less frequently met with in the drift of Madison county than in the regions further to the southward, but it can scarcely be said to be of rare occur- rence. Considerable accumulations of vegetable matter are needed to explain certain facts met with in a little settlement called Kiousville, in Pleasant township. Several attempts to obtain wells have been made here without success. The trouble has been in every instance, that after reaching a certain depthi, choke damp or carbonic acid escaped in such quantity as to render further work impossible. Several wells have been lost in these attempts, and one during the summer of 1872. The section traversed is: Yellow clay, ten feet; blue clay. abruptly bounded on the upper surface, twenty to thirty-one feet; then cemented sand and gravel. On breaking through the crust of cemented gravel, the gas issues in strong volume. No water has ever been found in the gravel. The section is somewhat anomalous, but it seems safe to conclude that some such accumulations of buried vegetable matter as has been described in previous reports as existed in Montgomery, Warren and Highland counties, are to be found here.
"The remains of a young mastodon were recently found in Range township on the farm of David McClimans. The skull and its appurtenances were in the best state of preservation. The tusks were six feet long, measured on the outside of the curve. A part of the lower jaw had perished, but in the remaining portion a small molar tooth was found in place. It was afterward detached and found to weigh one pound and two ounces, while a larger tooth, but partially developed, lay back of it in the jaw. The occurrence of remains of these pre-glacial mammals is, however, comparatively rare in this immediate area.
"The principal points in the geology of Madison county have now been briefly treated and it is seen that although the story of its bedded rocks is very short. there are still geological questions of great interest suggested by its broad and fertile plains."
CHAPTER III.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
THE FIRST ELECTION.
After the erection of Franklin county, the territory embraced therein was sub- divided into four townships, and from the records at Columbus the following informa- tion has been obtained: "Ordered. that all that tract or part of Franklin county contained within the following limits and boundaries, to wit: Beginning on the west bank of the Scioto river, one mite on a direct line above the mouth of Roaring ron; from thence, on a direct line, to the junction of Treacles creek with Darby creek, which is frequently called the forks of Darby: thence south unto the line between the coun- ties of Ross aud Franklin; thence west with said line until it intersects the county line of Greene: thence with the last mentioned line north, and from the point of begin- ning. up the Scioto to the northern boundaries of Franklin county, do make and con- stitnte the second township in said county, and be called Darby township." This erection was made by the associate judges of Franklin county on May 10, 1803.
The first election was held at the house of David Mitchell in said township. and Joshua Ewing was elected justice of the peace. This was the first election for a mem- ber of Congress ever held in the state. There were four candidates, Michael Baldwin, William McMillan, Elias Langham and Jeremiah Morrow. Darby township cast its full vote, twenty-two, for McMillan; and although Franklin county cast one hundred and thirty votes. Jeremiah Morrow, who was elected to represent Ohio in the halls of Congress, received but two votes from that county.
At a session of the associate judges of Franklin county, held on January 10, 1804. the following was recorded among the proceedings: "Ordered. that there be paid unto James Ewing out of the treasury of Franklin county, the sum of $8.75. it being the compensation due to him for seven days' services in taking the list of taxable property and the enumeration of white males in Darby township for the year 1803." Thus it will be seen that James and Joshua Ewing were the first officials of the territory, subsequently erected into Madison county. At that time a living stream of settlers was pouring into the country west of the Big Darby, and so rapidly were the lands taken up that Darby township soon contained sufficient population with which to found a new county. In accordance with a petition presented by the inhabitants there- of, the Legislature passed an act on February 16, 1810, through which a new county was created, and named in honor of the illustrions James Madison, fourth President of the United States, who was then at the head of the government.
CREATION OF MADISON COUNTY.
The act establishing the same reads as follows: "That all that part of the county of Franklin, lying west of Franklinton. is hereby erected into a separate county and bounded as followeth, viz .: Beginning at the southeast corner of Delaware county ; thence east with the south boundary of the said county line, to a point that a line run- uing due south will be the distance of twelve and one-half miles west of the connty seat of Franklin county : thence on a straight line, to the northwest corner of the county of Pickaway; thence with said line south, until it intersects the line of Ross county ;
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thence west with said line, to the line of Greene county; thence north with the line of Greene, to the Champaign county line; thence with the Champaign line, to the place of beginning.
"That the said county of Madison shall, from and after the 1st day of March next. be, and the same is hereby declared to be a separate and distinct county, and entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining to the same: Provided, that all actions and suits which are, or may be pending, or instituted in the county of Franklin, before the first Monday of March next, shall be prosecuted and carried into final judgment and execution, and all taxes which shall be now due, shall be collected as though the act had not passed.
"That on the first Monday in April next, the legal voters residing in said county of Madison, shall assemble in their respective townships, and elect their several county officers, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election.
"That there shall be appointed, by joint resolution of both houses of the present General Assembly, three commissioners to fix the seat of justice in said county of Madison, agreeable to the act establishing the seats of justice, who shall make report of their proceedings to the court of common pleas, of Franklin county, who shall be governed by the provision of the aforesaid act.
"That the commissioners aforesaid shall be paid for their services out of the treasury of the county of Madison, and that the temporary place of holding courts, until otherwise provided for according to law, shall be at house of Thomas Gwynne, in said county of Madison. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the 1st day of March next."
By an act passed January 16, 1818, the following territory was added to Madison county : "That all that part of Champaign county, east of the eastern boundary of Clark county be, and the same is, hereby attached to Madison."
In the erection of Union county, January 10, 1820, a strip of territory two and one-half miles wide, parallel with the old line, was taken from the north part of Madison, in the formation of the new county. while at the same time the following territory was cut off from Franklin county and attached to Madison, viz .: "Begin- ning on the line between the counties of Franklin and Madison, at a point two and one-half miles south of the north boundary of said counties; thence east two miles; thence south four miles; thence west two miles: thence north to the place of beginning, be attached to, and hereafter considered a part of Madison county." It will, doubt- less, be of interest to the general reader to know of the many acts passed establishing and changing the county lines. The official records of the different surveys and changes since the erection of the county are therefore here given.
CHANGES IN COUNTY LINES.
On the 29th of January, 1821, an act was passed declaring "That the line formerly run by Solomon McCulloch, as the eastern boundary line of Champaign county, be, and the same is, hereby, declared the eastern boundary of said county. That so much of said line as lies north of a point six miles north of the southeast corner of the county of Champaign be, and the same is, hereby, declared the eastern boundary of the county of Clark. That the line between the counties of Madison and Union shall be run parallel with the line formerly run as the dividing line between the counties of Madison and Franklin, and the county of Delaware." On February 4, 1825, William Wilson, of Clark county, was appointed to run a line between the counties of Madison and Union. viz. : "To commence at the southeast corner of the county of Union, and run from thence a due west course to the eastern boundary of Champaign county." He was instructed to leave a duplicate of said survey, also the plats and notes thereof, with
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the commissioners of each county, "which line so surveyed, platted and returned, shall be and remain the established line between the counties of Union and Madison."
On January 22, 1827, an act was passed to alter and establish the line between the counties of Clark and Madison: "Beghming at the northeast corner of Clark county, and to run from thence to a point so far east of the southeast corner of the said county of Clark as will leave as much land or territory, in the said county of Clark, as shall be taken by the county of Madison, or in other words, the said line shall be so run as to include in and exclude from the said counties respectively an equal quantity of territory." By the second section of this act, the surveyor of Madison county was authorized and required to run, and have said line plainly marked, agree- ably to the provisions of the first section of the act; to have the same completed by March 20. 1827, and to make a return of said survey to the clerks of the court of connou pleas of both counties, Madison county to defray the full expense of running and marking said line.
Under an act passed on January 29, 1827, a new line was ordered to be rm between Union and Madison counties, to wit: "That Jeremiah MeLene, of the county of Frank- lin, be, and hereby is appointed to run, survey, mark and establish a line between the counties of Madison and Union, to commence at the southeast corner of the county of Union, and running from thence a direct line to a point in the line of the eastern boundary of the county of Champaign, two and a half miles south of the line formerly run between the counties of Delaware and Madison; which line so run, surveyed, platted and returned, shall be and remain the established line between the aforesaid counties of Madison and Union." Each county was to bear half the expense of said survey, which was to be completed before April 1. 1827; and all laws or parts of laws passed previously to such act and inconsistent with the same were declared repealed. It was enacted on January 5, 1828: "That the line run as the line between the coun- ties of Madison and Union, by Levi Phelps, in the year 1820, be, and the same is hereby declared to be the established line between the aforesaid counties."
There has only been one change made in the lines of Madison county since the above date. By an act passed on the 4th of March, 1845, the line between Madison and Franklin counties was changed by making Big Darby creek the boundary from the sontheast corner of survey No. 2677, In Jefferson township, to the southeast corner of survey No. 3313. in Canaan township, and thus the lines have since remained.
FIRST TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS.
In conformity with the legislative enactment erecting Madison county, three com- missioners were elected on the first Monday in April, 1810, viz. : Joshua Ewing, John Arbuckle and William Gibson, who subdivided the county into townships, to the history of which several townships the reader is referred for their official record and erection. On the 7th of May, 1810, the associate judges of Madison county, viz. : Isaac Miner, Sammuel Baskerville and David Mitchell, who had, previously, been elected by the Gen- eral Assembly. ordered the commissioners of said county to advertise the elections in the different townships throughout the county, for the purpose of electing township officers, said elections to be held at the following places: "In Darby township, at the house of Mrs. Robinson; Jefferson, at the house of Thomas Foster; in Deer Creek, at the house of Thomas Gwynne; in Pleasant, at the house of Forgus Graham; in Stokes. at the house of P. Cutright; in Union, at the house of Elias Langham, and agreed upon by said commissioners that William Gibson does advertise said election at differ- ent places."
Up to this time the lines of the county had not been surveyed, the legislative act of creation alone establishing the boundaries thereof. On the 31st of July, 1810, the
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