USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 13
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The labor of making a cabin was usually performed in two or three days, but after the family moved in they were occupied for several weeks or even months in finishing and fur- nishing it. The walls had to be chinked and daubed, and various arti- cles of rude furniture manufactured. A table was made of puncheons cleated together and resting upon four posts.
Stools and benches were constructed for seats, and pegs were driven into the walls upon which shelves were laid. Bed- steads were made by forked sticks set in the floor and holching one end of poles, of which the other ends rested upon the logs forming the walls of the cabin.
Under the large bed, usually placed in the corner, was to be seen a trundle- bed, which was drawn from its hiding- place at night and occupied by the children. In another corner stood the old-fashioned spinning-wheel, with a smaller one (used for spinning flax) near it: in another the table, and in the remaining corner was a rude cup- board or set of shelves, which contained the few dishes of earthenware and pewter the family possessed, with the plates set up edgewise to make the dis- play of table furniture as conspicuous as possible. Over the doorway, in forked cleats, hung the pioneer's trusty rifle and powderhorn.
The cooking utensils were few and simple. Such articles as could be boiled were cooked in kettles hung over the fire. A long-handled spider or frying-pan, set upon a bed of coals, was used for cooking meat, frying flap- jacks or battercakes, etc. Bread was baked sometimes on a board set up be- fore the fire; but a better utensil for this purpose was the "Dutch oven," a shallow, cast-iron kettle with a cover, over and under which coals were placed. Meat was sometimes roasted by suspending it before the fire, a dish being placed underneath to catch the drippings. The food was simple and coarse, but wholesome. The pioneers suffered little from indigestion or dys- pepsia, as their manner of life gave them plenty of healthy exercise in the open air.
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In early years many of the settlers depended, to a considerable extent, for their food upon the fish in the Mus- kingum, which were abundant and eas- ily caught. Several varieties of catfish, perch and suckers, also pike, sturgeon and salmon, were found in the stream, and instances are related of single spec- imens of pike and catfish weighing anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds. Dur- ing the spring fish were generally caught with the hook; but in the fall months, when the water was low and clear, they were taken at night by torchlight with the spear. There were expert fishermen among the pioneers, and their "luck" was such as would seem incredible to modern sportsmen.
Other sources of food were not lack- ing. On this subject we cannot do bet- ter than quote from Judge Gaylord's reminiscences :
"I have been reminded by an old citizen of the large flocks of wild pig- eons that flew over our village in 1819. The heavens for many days were fairly dark with these birds, in their passage in the morning from the West and in the evening in their going back.
Since that period we have witnessed similar and partial flights. but nothing equal to that of 1819. Their evening passage was from their feeding-grounds in the East and South to their roosts far off in the West. They are birds of rapid flight ; no others can equal them. They have been taken at their roosts here in the Western country with fresh and undigested South Carolina rice in their craws, showing that they fly long distances with great rapidity. Hunt- ers with torches and poles visit their roosts and slay thousands of them. In this neighborhood they were taken on the wing, the hunter placing himself
upon the highest hill in the vicinity, where the flight of the birds was necessarily low.
"This great pigeon flight in the early history of the country reminds me of an unprecedented migration or traveling of gray squirrels. About this period, when the sky was obscured by the flight of wild pigeons, the Mus- kingum River was literally covered with squirrels swimming across it from the east to the west. This particular migration of squirrels was remarkable, and their numbers immense. In their course they leaped and swam over every obstacle and stream in their way. There was no stopping them in their appointed course except by the club in the hands of men and boys, who woukl meet them in the stream and slay them by tens, hundreds and thousands, mak- ing them into potpies, fries, stews, etc. Equal and perhaps more savory were these dishes to the appetites of our people than were the quail and manna bestowed upon Moses and his party of Israelites in the wilderness of Egypt.
"There has been no such migration of the squirrel since the period men- tioned. Previous to 1819 it is related that in the fall of certain years the gray squirrels became itinerant, travel- ing simultaneously in millions from the North to the South, destroying whole fields of corn in a few days if not immediately gathered, and eating every- thing in their way, like African locusts or the modern Colorado potato-bugs. while they traveled forward without stopping long in any place, swimming large rivers, and perhaps before winter returning again by the same route toward the North.
" In 1819 and prior thereto wild game, such as deer and turkey, was
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plenty. Turkeys in large flocks and deer in droves of ten and twenty were common at certain seasons of the year. Venison and turkey were common and favorite dishes. The Wards, Priests and other hunters, from Wolf and Sun- day Creeks, in a later day kept on people in bountiful supply of these desirable meats, so that in the greater part of the year every cabin-joist was kept well hung and burdened with large, fat and juiey saddles of venison. In the fall the beech most abounded in the woods along the river and creek bottoms, which attracted the turkeys in large flocks. The wild turkey would sometimes depredate upon the corn- fields and grainstacks, compelling the inhabitants to gather their corn early and to cover their grainstacks with brush. Great numbers were killed with the rifle, caught in pens, killed with clubs and dogs.
" The manner of taking the wild tur- key in pens was to build an inclosure out of fence rails or poles about two feet high, covered close, and well secured with like material. A trench was dug a foot or eighteen inches deep, commencing on the outside of the pen and terminating about the centre, both ends graded. Corn was then strewn for some distance to the right, left, and in front, along the ditch, and through- out the pen. The turkeys coming in flocks would follow up the cornrail, and in a few minutes the pen would be full of game. After eating the corn the turkeys would attempt to escape, but invariably failed, it being the na- ture of the bird to elevate the head, ex- cept when feeding, and look for a place of escape at the top, not looking down- ward at the place of entrance. By this mode large numbers were taken."
The habits of the pioneers were of a simplicity and purity well correspond- ing to the character of their surround- ings. There was constant daily toil both for husband and wife and son and daughter in summer and winter. The men and boys were constantly engaged in the work of girdling the trees, feil- ing and burning them. and clearing away brush and stumps, planting, har- vesting and caring for the few do- mestie animals on the farm. The agri- cultural implements were few and of the rudest character. Picks, spades and hoes, constructed by some neigh- bor who possessed a few blacksmith's tools, or brought from the former home of the settler, were among the tools most used. Plows were made of wood and strips of iron -in- capable of turning a furrow, but serving to stir the ground a little. Harrows, when any were used, were made from brush and wood. Scythes of a rude pattern, short and with a broad blade, were used for cutting grass; while the sickle served in place of the modern harvester. Thrashing was done with a flail, and winnowing performed by hand, by the aid of a strong breeze. Wagons and carts were heavy, awkward and cumber- some. Sometimes the wheels of these vehicles were made, each consisting of one piece, by sawing cuts from large logs.
If the labor of the men was ar- duous, that of the woman was none the less so. In addition to the ordi- mary household duties the women and girls usually spun and wove the cloth and manufactured every article of ap- parel worn by the different members of the household. Every cabin con- i tained two spinning-wheels. One
Nicholas Coburn 2.
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wheel was the old-fashioned spinning- wheel, still occasionally to be seen, used for the manufacture of yarn ; the other, a small wheel, run by foot-power, and used for spinning fax. The loom was not less necessary than the spinning- wheels, though not every house had one, as one loom had a capacity to supply the wants of several families. Settlers, who in spite of wolves and bears, succeeding in raising a few sheep, commenced the manufacture of woolen cloth. The wool, after being washed, dried and oiled, was carded into rolls by broad hand-cards, and was then spun on the " big wheel." A common article woven on the looms was linsey- woolsey, of which the warp was linen and the filling woolen. This eloth, after being dyed gray, drab or some other sober color by the aid of barks and other common agencies which the mothers and grandmothers were adept in using, was made up in gowns for the women and girls.
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knees, and was wide enough to lap over a foot upon the chest. This generally had a cape, sometimes fringed with a piece of raveled cloth of a different color from the rest of the garment. The hunting-shirt was always worn belted, and the bosom of it afforded a convenient receptacle for the varions articles needed by the hunter or woods- man. Breeches were made of heavy cloth or of deerskin, frequently with leggins, of similiar material. The deerskin trousers when dry were very comfortable, but after been soaked with rain they became almost as stiff as boards. Hats and caps were made of native fins, tanned and fashioned by the wearer. A few years after the country became settled hatters took little shops in every village and made woolen hats for nearly all the men of the surrounding country. Drawers and undershirts, as well as overcoats. were articles almost unknown. When the weather became so severe as to make heavier clothing a necessity an extra garment or two was drawn on over those nsnally worn.
All the clothes worn by men and boys, excepting shoes and sometimes hats were also of home manufacture. Nearly every farmer had a patch of For covering of the feet, moccasins of deerskin, or shoes of cowhide, were worn. Boots are of more modern use. Shoes were made either by some itin- erant shoemaker or by some man in the settlement who had a few tools and some knowledge of the craft. Every pair of shoes was expected to last at least a year, and as leather was high they were worn sparingly, men, boys women and children going bare-footed whenever the weather and the nature of their labor permitted. It was cis- tomary for women and girls when go 1 ing to church, to town, or to visit a neighbor, to carry their shoes and Hax, which formed a most essential part of the material for cloth. Bo- fore it was spun and woven it had to go through the operations of " hack- ling" and " scutching." and these op- erations frequently took place at " bees " in which all the young people from far and near participated. " Store- clothes" of broadeloth or doeskin were rarely seen, and when worn were con- sidered an evidence of vanity or else a sure indication, if the wearer was a young man, that he contemplated matrimony. A very common garment for men's wear was the hunting-shirt, or frock, which came nearly to the stockings in their hands until near their
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destination, when they would seat themselves on a stone or a fallen tree and clothe their feet properly.
The ladies had few articles of jew- elery or other ornaments. Ribbons, laces, fine feathers and gay colors were not known until the settlements had become far advanced in the ways of wealth and Inxury.
The pioneers generally were not men of literary tastes or of extensive educational attainments. However, al- most every family had a few books. the chief and most important of which was the Bible, which was perhaps more read then than now. Among the most common books were such works as " Pilgrim's Progress." " Paradise Lost," " The Saints' Rest." " Esop's Fables" and the like. Newspapers were rarely seen, and if a letter came to any house- hold by the weekly post such an event was a nine days' wonder.
The settlements were visited now and then by itinerant preachers. Fore- most among these pioneer missionaries were the Methodists, who very early in the history of Ohio established circuits and appointed ministers for them in all the settled portions of the State. Some of these circuits extended for hundreds of miles, and the good missionary, traveling on horseback from place to place, was several weeks, sometimes months, in making his rounds. He preached not only on Sundays but many times during the week, holding both day and evening services. Whenever he reached a neighborhood where sev- eral families could be gathered at some convenient cabin, notice was given that divine services would be held at a cer- tain hour; and at the appointed time he preached to a devout and attentive audience. Representatives of other de-
nominations were equally as active as the Methodists in promoting the spread of the gospel in the wilderness, though perhaps less numerous.
School advantages were very meager, and many, not fully appreciating the importance of education, neglected to give their children any opportunity to obtain knowledge from books. But there were usually found in all settle- ments men of intelligent views and some culture, who, as soon as the settlers were in a condition to bear the expense, exerted themselves to establish schools and procure teachers for them. Fre- quently a school was taught in a de- serted log cabin; at other times in a spare room of a double log house (the style of residence that came into fash- ion after the cabin epoch had passed away). When a schoolhouse was built it was of a rude style, and most uncom- fortable in its arrangements. It was made of hewed logs, and had a huge chimney of stones or of sticks and mud at one end. The fireplace was wide, and deep enough to receive a five- or six-foot back-log, and a considerable quantity of smaller fuel. This served to warm the house in winter and to ventilate it in summer. Where only one term of school was taught in a neighborhood each year, as was fre- quently the case, it was always held in the winter time, as the larger boys could then best be spared from their work to attend. The windows of the log schoolhouse were made by cutting away a log in two sides of the building, and in the aperture a few lights of seven-by-nine glass were set, or else greased paper was pasted over the opening. The writing-desk consisted of a heavy oak plank, or hewed slabs laid upon wooden pins, driven into the
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wall in a slanting direction. Four- legged benches, without backs, made from a split log, furnished the seats. The bench upon which the scholars sat while writing was usually so high that the feet of the younger pupils, some of whom had to be lifted upon the bench, could not touch the floor.
Small use was made of textbooks in these pioneer schools. The chief books were the Bible and the spellingbook, and a scholar possessing either was considered to be well supplied. Read- ing, spelling, arithmetic and writing were the only branches taught. Geog- raphy, grammar and many other sub- jects that now are taught in the district schools were alike unknown to teach- ers and pupils of the pioneer days. It was several years before they were introduced into the schools, and when at last they were received it was with reluctance, as many parents regarded these branches as useless innovations. There was no uniformity of textbooks, consequently classification of the school was impossible, and, except in reading and spelling, each pupil recited alone. Many who were regarded as successful teachers then could not now, if living, obtain a teacher's certificate even of the lowest grade. Yet the teachers were conscientious laborers and gen- erally worthy of their hire. Their wages were small, indeed, and their work, especially that of government, was not easy. The practice of flogging was almost universally in vogne, and the teacher, in addition to educational requirements, must possess physical strength sufficient to enable him to " handle" the largest of his pupils, should the latter be refactory, other- wise he was deemed but an inefficient schoolnaster.
A custom long practiced in the rural schools was that known as "barring out." It is happily now extinct. Once it was resorted to once a year as regu- larly as the Christmas holidays came around, and both old and young de- lighted in seeing it carried out success- fully. When the master found the door of the schoolroom securely fastened on the inside, and a number of the larger boys within, guarding it to keep him from entering, he knew that he must either treat his scholars to apples, cider. cakes, or some similar refreshment, or sign an agreement to do so at some future time before he could again take up his rod of authority.
The manner of traveling was chiefly on horseback, and women as well as men were accustomed to take long jour- neys over paths leading through the woods, and marked by blazed trees. The packsaddle was used for bringing flour and meal from the mill, carrying provisions to market or bringing pur- chases therefrom. Most of the trading was by barter or exchange, as there was very little ready money in the country.
There were many " squatters " among the early settlers- that is, those who were too poor to pay the fees and en- ter their land properly, would settle on some tract and "trust to Inek " until they could raise enough money to make the purchase. In some cases they re- mained undisturbed, and eventually succeeded in gaining a title to their lands ; but in other instances they were compelled to vacate after making con- siderable improvements. There were minerous speculators on the lookont for opportunities to make money ont of government lands. They were a class despised by the early settlers, who
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called them landsharks, or landgrab- bers. Sometimes one of these sharks, finding that a poor man had made a good improvement but had not yet entered his land. would go to the land- office and secure a title to it, then dis- possess the settler whose labor had greatly enhanced the value of the land. The disputes as to titles and the fear of not being able to secure a perfect title doubtless tended to keep away many who otherwise would have become set- tlers.
The settlement of Morgan County progressed but slowly. Although the region was practically freed from all danger of hostility from the Indians by the peace of 1795, and settlers began to come in soon after that date, there was no rapid influx of population.
But if the growth was slow it was constant and progressive. By degrees the little clearings and cabins became more numerous in all parts of the coun- try, while the first-settled farms could easily be distinguished from the others by reason of more extensive fields, bet- ter buildings, more live stock, and other evidences of prosperity. The sense of loneliness and isolation, which had been especially trying to the women once accustomed to the advantages of the older settlements, now disappeared ; so- cial gatherings became numerous and most enjoyable. Raisings, log-rollings, harvesting-bees and occasional rifle- matches for men, quiltings and apple- butter makings for women, and corn- huskings in which both sexes took part, furnished frequent occasions for social intercourse.
Advancement began to show itself in many ways. Frame houses, substantial barns, fine orchards, began to dot the landscape, while school houses and
churches multiplied. Better roads were made, and innumerable changes and im- provements. A new order of society came into being. The humble work of the pioneers had borne fruit. The peo- ple of Morgan County were "out of the woods," and in the world, keeping pace with the rest of humanity in the march of progress. Now the sons and daugh- ters of Morgan Connty pioneers are to be found in almost every State and Ter- ritory of the Union from the Atlantic to the Pacific slope. Wherever they are they do their duty cheerfully and bravely, and retain in their hearts a lingering affection for the hills and valleys among which they were nurtured and reared.
The story of the first settlement within the limits of Morgan County, and the melancholy fate of the little colony at Big Bottom, has already been recorded in these pages. The founding of a colony at Olive Green Creek has also been mentioned. We come now to Morgan County with its present limits, within which probably no permanent settlement was made until after the peace of 1795. There appear to have been no centers of settlement. The southern part of the county, lying near- est to the early settlements at Marietta, Belpre, and Waterford, was more gen- erally occupied than other parts of the county in the earliest years of settlement, though it was not long before scattered cabins were to be found here and there in all parts of the county in what were then considered the most desirable loea- tions. Windsor Township, from its position contiguous to the old settle- ment at Waterford, and from its exten- sive bottom lands, probably at first at- tracted more settlers than any other specific locality. Next in order the
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eastern part of the county was occu- pied. The river, navigated by canoes from the earliest years, and therefore a thoroughfare frequently traversed by adventurers and would-be settlers, nat- urally enough attracted settlers to its banks, and it was not many years until the most desirable river farms between the Washington County line on the south and the Muskingum County line on the north were all occupied. Along Wolf Creek were also many early set- tlers.
At the time Morgan County was formed its population was small and much scattered. It is estimated that there were not more than 3,000 inhabi- tants in 1818. and the area of the coun- ty was much larger then than now. The erection of the county and the loca-
tion of the county-seat naturally gave a little impetus to the progress of coloni- zation, and when the census of 1820 was taken the entire population of the county was 5,297, of whom fifteen were colored. The pioneers were chiefly natives of the neighboring States of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland; among them was also a considerable number of New Englanders, and now and then a representative of other old States of the East and South. Not a few came from the older connties of Ohio, to which they or their ancestors had come while the Northwest Territory was still in existence, or else soon after the birth of the State of Ohio. Among others Belmont County in particular sent to Morgan County many of her sturdy pioneers and most excellent citizens.
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CHAPTER VIII.
CIVIL HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
MORGAN COUNTY ERECTED DECEMBER 29, 1817-ITS ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES-FURTHER LEGISLA- TION-ORGANIZATION IN 1819-FIRST ELECTION IN APRIL, 1819-CONTROVERSY OVER THE COUNTY SEAT - MCCONNELSVILLE SELECTED -FIRST ANNUAL ELECTION -INEFFECTUAL ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THE LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF JUSTICE-CHANGES IN THE COUNTY'S BOUNDARIES-TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION-COUNTY BUILDINGS-A JAIL OF HEWED LOGS-THE SECOND JAIL-THE THIRD JAIL-THE FIRST COURT HOUSE-THE PRESENT TEMPLE OF JUSTICE-BUILDING FOR COUNTY OFFICES-MYSTERIOUS BURGLARY-COUNTY INSTITUTIONS- CHILDREN'S HOME-COUNTY INFIRMARY-HOW THE PAUPER QUESTION WAS MANAGED IN OLDEN TIMES-CIVIL ROSTER-COUNTY OFFICERS, 1819-86-MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND OF THE LEGISLATURE-MISCELLANEOUS AND INTERESTING STATISTICS-GROWTH OF THE COUNTY IN WEALTH AND POPULATION.
B y act of the general Assembly, De- cember 29, 1817, a new county called Morgan (named in honor of Gen- eral Daniel Morgan, an officer of the Revolution) was erected from such por- tions of the Counties of Guernsey, Washington and Muskingum as were included in the following boundaries:
" Beginning at the southwest corner of township eight, range thirteen ; thence east to the eastern bank of the Muskingum River; thence down said river with the meanders thereof to a point where it will first intersect the northern boundary of the donation tract ; thence east with the said northern boundary line to the southeast corner of township five, range nine; thence north to the northeast corner of said township; thence east to the western boundary line of Monroe County to the southeast corner of township six, range eight; tlience north to the northeast corner of township seven, range eight ; thenee west to the line of Muskingum
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