History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 85

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559

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The territory comprised in Ohio has always remained the same. Ohio's history differs somewhat from other States, in that it was never under territorial government. When it was created, it was made a State, and did not pass through the stage incident to the most of other States, i. e., exist as a territory before being advanced to the powers of a State. Such was not the case with the other States of the west ; all were territories, with territo- rial forms of government, ere they became States.

Ohio's boundaries are, on the north, Lakes Erie and Michigan ; on the west, Indiana; on the south, the Ohio river, separating it from Kentucky; and, on the east, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is situated between 38' 25' and 42' north latitude; and 80" 30' and 84" 50' west longitude from Greenwich, or 3º 30' and 7° 50' west from Washington. Its greatest length, from north to south, is two hundred and ten miles; the extreme width,

from east to west, two hundred and twenty miles. Were this an exact outline, the area of the State would be forty-six thousand two hundred square miles, or twenty- nine million five hundred and sixty-eight thousand acres; as the outlines of the State are, however, rather irregular, the area of the State is estimated at thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four square miles, or twenty-five million five hundred and seventy-six thousand nine hun- dred and sixty acres. In the last census-1870-the total number of acres in Ohio is given as twenty-one million seven hundred and twelve thousand four hundred and twenty, of which fourteen million four hundred and sixty-nine thousand one hundred and thirty-two acres are improved, and six million eight hundred and eighty- three thousand five hundred and seventy-five acres are woodland. By the last statistical report of the State auditor, twenty million nine hundred and sixty-five thou- sand three hundred and seventy-one and three-fourths acres are reported as taxable lands. This omits many acres untaxable for various reasons, which would make the estimate, twenty-five million five hundred and sev- enty-six thousand nine hundred and sixty, nearly correct.

The face of the country in Ohio, taken as a whole, presents the appearance of an extensive, monotonous plain. It is moderately undulating but not mountainous, and is excavated in places by the streams coursing over its surface, whose waters have forced a way for them- selves through cliffs of sandstone rock, leaving abutments of this material in bold outline. There are no mountain ranges, geological uplifts or peaks. A low ridge enters the State, near the northeast corner, and crosses it in a southwesterly direction, emerging near the intersection of the fortieth degree of north latitude with the western boundary of the State. This "divide" separates the lake and Ohio river waters, and maintains an elevation of a little more than one thousand three hundred feet above the level of the ocean. The highest part is in Richland county, at the southeast corner, where the elevation is one thousand three hundred and ninety feet.

North of this ridge the surface is generally level, with a gentle inclination toward the lake, the inequalities of the surface being caused by the streams which empty into the lake. The central part of Ohio is almost, in general, a level plain, about one thousand feet above the level of the sea, slightly inclining southward. The southern part of the State is rather hilly, the valleys growing deeper as they incline toward the great valley of the Ohio, which is several hundred feet below the general level of the State. In the southern counties the surface is generally diversified by

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the inequalities produced by the excavating power of the Ohio river and its tributaries, exercised through long periods of time. There are a few prairies, or plains, in the central and northwestern parts of the State, but over its greater portion originally existed immense growths of timber.

The "divide " or water-shed, referred to, between the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio river, is less elevated in Ohio than in New York and Pennsylvania, though the difference is small. To a person passing over the State in a balloon, its surface presents an unvarying plain, while, to one sailing down the Ohio river, it appears mountainous. On this river are bluffs, ranging from two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet in height. As one ascends the tributaries of the river, these bluffs diminish in height until they become gentle undulations, while to- ward the sources of the streams, in the central part of the State, the banks often become low and marshy.

The principal rivers are the Ohio, Muskingum, Scioto and Miami on the southern slope, emptying into the Ohio; on the northern, the Maumee, Sandusky, Huron and Cuyahoga, emptying into Lake Erie; and all but the first named, entirely in Ohio.

The Ohio, the chief river of the State, and from which it derives its name, with its tributaries, drains a country whose area is over two hundred thousand square miles in extent, and extending from the water-shed to Alabama. The river was first discovered by La Salle in 1669, and was by him navigated as far as the falls at Louisville, Kentucky. It is formed by the junction of the Alle- gheny and Monongahela rivers, in Pennsylvania, whose waters unite in Pittsburgh. The entire length of the river, from its source to its mouth, is nine hundred and fifty miles, though by a straight line from Pittsburgh to Cairo it is only six hundred and fifteen miles. Its cur- rent is very gentle, hardly three miles per hour, the de- scent being only five inches per mile. At high stages, the rate of the current increases, and at low stages de- creases. Sometimes it is barely two miles per hour. The average range between high and low water mark is fifty feet, although several times the river has risen over sixty feet above low water mark. At the lowest stage of the river, it is fordable many places between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The river abounds in islands, some of which are exceedingly fertile, and noted in the history of the west. Others, known as tow-heads, are simply de- posits of sand.

The Scioto is one of the largest inland streams in the State, and is one of the most beautiful rivers. It rises in Hardin county, flows southeasterly to Columbus, where it receives its largest affluent, the Olentangy or Whetstone, after which its direction is southerly until it enters the Ohio at Portsmouth. It flows through one of the richest valleys in the State, and has for its com- panion the Ohio and Erie canal, for a distance of ninety miles. Its tributaries are, besides the Whetstone, the Darby, Walnut and Paint creeks.

The Muskingum river is formed by the junction of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding rivers, which rise in the northern part of the State and unite at Coshocton.

From the junction the river flows in a southeastern course about one hundred miles, through a rich and populous valley, to the Ohio, at Marrietta, the oldest settlement in the State. At its outlet the Muskingum is over two hun- dred yards wide. By improvements it has been made navigable ninety-five miles above Marietta, as far as Dres- den, where a side cut, three miles long, unites its waters with those of the Ohio canal. All along the stream ex- ist, in abundant profusion, the remains of an ancient civilization, whose history is lost in the twilight of antiq- uity. Extensive mounds, earthworks and various fortifi- cations are everywhere to be found, inclosing a mute his- tory, as silent as the race that dwelt here and left these traces of their existence. The same may be said of all the other valleys of Ohio.

The Miami river-the scenes of many exploits in pio- neer days-rises in Hamlin county, near the headwaters of the Scioto, and runs southwesterly to the Ohio, pass- ing Troy, Dayton and Hamilton. It is a beautiful and rapid stream, flowing through a highly productive and populous valley, in which limestone and hard timber are abundant. Its total length is about one hundred and fifty miles.

The Maumee is the largest river in the northern part of Ohio. It rises in Indiana, and flows northeasterly, into Lake Erie. About eighty miles of its course are in Ohio. It is navigable as far as Perrysburgh, eighteen miles from its mouth. The other rivers north of the "divide" are all small, rapid-running streams, affording a large amount of good water-power, much utilized by mills and manufactories.

A remarkable feature of the topography of Ohio is its almost total absence of natural lakes or ponds. A few small ones are found near the water-shed, but all too small to be of any particular value, save as watering places for stock. .

Lake Erie, which forms nearly all the northern boun- dary of the State, is next to the last or lowest of Ameri- ca's "inland seas." It is two hundred and ninety miles long, and fifty-seven miles wide at its greatest part. There are no islands, except in the shallow water at the west end, and very few bays. The greatest depth of the lake is off Long Point, where the water is three hundred and twelve feet deep. The shores are principally drift clay or hard-pan, upon which the waves are continually encroaching. At Cleveland, from the first survey, in 1796 to 1842, the encroachment was two hundred and eighteen feet along the entire city front. The entire coast is low, seldom rising above fifty feet at the water's edge.

Lake Erie, like the others, has a variable surface, ris- ing and falling with the seasons, like great rivers, called the "annual fluctuation," and a general one, embracing a series of years, due to meteorological causes, known as the "secular fluctuation." Its lowest known level was in February, 1819, rising more or less each year until June, 1838, in the extreme, to six feet eight inches.

Lake Erie has several excellent harbors in Ohio, among which are Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, Port Clinton, and Ashtabula. Valuable improvements have been made in some of these, at the expense of the gen-

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eral Government. In 1818 the first steamboat was launched on the lake. Owing to the Falls of Niagara, it could go no farther east than the outlet of Niagara river. Since then, however, the opening of the Welland canal, in Canada, allows vessels drawing not more than ten feet of water to pass from one lake to the other, greatly facilitating navigation.

As early as 1836, Dr. S. P. Hildreth, Dr. John Locke, Professor J. H. Riddle, and Mr. I. A. Lapham were appointed a committee by the legislature of Ohio to report the "best method of obtaining a complete geo- logical survey of the State, and an estimate of the probable cost of the same." In the preparation of their report, Dr. Hildreth examined the coal measures in the southeastern part of the State, Professor Riddle and Mr. Lapham made examinations in the western and northern counties, while Dr. Locke devoted his attention to chemical analyses. These investigations resulted in the presentation of much valuable information concerning the mineral resources of the State, and in a plan for a geological survey. In accordance with the recommenda- tion of this committee, the legislature, in 1837, passed a bill appropriating twelve thousand dollars for the prosecution of the work during the next year. The geological corps appointed consisted of W. W. Mather, State geologist, with Dr. Hildreth. Dr. Locke, Professor J. P. Kirtland, J. W. Foster, Charles Whittlesey, and Charles Briggs, jr., assistants. The results of the first year's work appeared in 1838, in an octavo volume of one hundred and thirty-four pages, with contributions from Mather, Hildreth, Briggs, Kirtland, and Whittlesey. In 1838 the legislature ordered the continuance of the work, and, at the close of the year, a second report of two hundred and eighty-six pages, octavo, was issued, containing contributions from all the members of the survey.

Succeeding legislatures failed to provide for a continu- ance of the work, and save that done by private means, nothing was accomplished till 1869, when the legislature again took up the work. In the interim, individual en- terprise had done much. In 1841 Professor James Hall passed through the State, and, by his identification of several of the formations with those of New York, for the first time fixed their geological age. The next year he issued the first map of the geology of the State, in common with the geological maps of all the region be- tween the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. Similar maps were published by Sir Charles Lyell, in 1845. Professor Edward Hitchcock, in 1853; and by J. Mareon, in 1856. The first individual map of the geology of the Ohio was a small one published by Colonel Whittlesey, in 1848, in Howe's history. In 1856 he published a larger map, and, in 1865, another was issued by Professor Nelson Sayler. In 1867 Dr. J. S. Newberry published a geological map and sketch of Ohio in the atlas of the State issued by H. S. Stebbins. Up to this time, the geological knowledge was very gen- eral in its character, and, consequently, erroneous in many of its details. Other States had been accurately surveyed, yet Ohio remained a kind of terra incognita,

of which the geology was less known than any part of the surrounding area.

In 1869 the legislature appropriated, for a new survey, thirteen thousand nine hundred dollars for its support during one year, and appointed Dr. Newberry chief geologist ; E. B. Andrews, Edward Orton and J. H. Klip- part were appointed assistants, and T. G. Wormley, chemist. The result of the first year's work was a vol- ume of one hundred and sixty-four pages, octavo, pub- lished in 1870.

This report, accompanied by maps and charts, for the first time accurately defined the geological formations as to age and area. Evidence was given which set at rest questions of nearly thirty years' standing, and estab- lished the fact that Ohio includes nearly double the number of formations before supposed to exist. Since that date, the surveys have been regularly made. Each county is being surveyed by itself, and its formation ac- curately determined.

On the general geological map of the State, are two sections of the State, taken at each northern and south- ern extremity. These show, with the map, the general outline of the geological features of Ohio, and are all that can be given here. Both sections show the general arrangements of the formation, and prove that they lie in sheets resting one upon another, but not horizontally, as a great arch traverses the State from Cincinnati to the lake shore, between Toledo and Sandusky. Along this line, which extends southward to Nashville, Tennessee, all the rocks are raised in a ridge or fold, once a low mountain chain. In the lapse of ages, it has, however, been extensively worn away, and now, along a large part of its course, the strata which once arched over it are removed from its summit, and are found resting in reg- ular order on either side, dipping away from its axis. Where the ridge was highest, the erosion has been great- est, that being the reason why the oldest rocks are exposed in the region about Cincinnati. By following the line of this great arch from Cincinnati northward it it will be seen that the Helderberg limestone (number four), midway of the State, is still unbroken, and stretches from side to side; while the Oriskany, the Coniferous, the Hamilton and the Huron formations, though gen- erally removed from the crown of the arch, still remain over a limited area near Bellefontaine, where they form an island, which proves the former continuity of the strata which compose it.

On the east side of the great anticlinal axis, the rocks dip down into a basin, which, for several hundred miles north and south, occupies the interval between the Nash- ville and Cincinnati ridge and the first fold of the Alle- ghany mountains. In this basin all the strata form trough-like layers, their edges outcropping eastward on the flanks of the Alleghanies, and westward along the anticlinal axis. As they dip from this margin eastward toward the center of the trough, near its middle, on the eastern border of the State, the older rocks are deeply buried, and the surface is here underlain by the highest and most recent of our rock formations, the coal meas- ures. In the northwestern corner of the State, the strata

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HISTORY OF OHIO.

dip northwest from the anticlinal and pass under the Michigan coal basin, precisely as the same formations east of the anticlinal dip beneath the Alleghany coal field, of which Ohio's coal area forms a part.

The rocks underlying the State all belong to three of the great groups which geologists have termed "systems," namely, the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous. Each of these are again subdivided, for convenience, and num- bered. Thus the Silurian system includes the Cincin- nati group, the Medina and Clinton groups, the Niagara group, and the Salina and Water-Line groups. The De- vonian system includes the Oriskany sandstone, the Car- boniferous limestone, the Hamilton group, the Huron shale and the Erie shales. The Carboniferous system includes the Waverly group, the Carboniferous Con- glomerate, the Coal measures and the Drift. This last includes the surface, and has been divided into six parts, numbering from the lowest, namely: A glacialed surface, the Glacial Drift, the Erie Clays, the Forest Bed, the Iceberg Drift, and the Terraces or Beaches, which mark intervals of stability in the gradual recession of the water surface to its present level.

"The history we may learn from these formations," says the geologist, "is something as follows":

First. Subsequent to the Tertiary was a period of continued eleva- tion, during which the topography of the country was much the same as now, the draining streams following the lines they now do, but cut- ting down their beds until they flowed sometimes two hundred feet lower than they do at present. In the latter part of this period of elevation, glaciers, descending from the Canadian islands, excavated and occupied the valleys of the great lakes, and covered the lowlands down nearly to the Ohio.

Second. By a depression of the land and elevation of temperature, the glaciers retreated northward, leaving in the interior of the contin- ent a great basin of fresh water, in which the Erie clays were de- posited.

Third. This water was drained away until a broad land surface was exposed within the drift area. Upon this surface grew forests, largely of red and white cedar, inhabited by the elephant, mastodon, giant beaver and other large, now extinct, animals.

Fourth. The submergence of this ancient land, the spreading over it, by iceberg agency, of gravel, sand and boulders, distributed just as icebergs now spread their loads broadcast over the sea bottom on the banks of Newfoundland.

Fifth. The gradual draining-off of the waters, leaving the land now as we find it, smoothly covered with all the layers of the drift, and well prepared for human occupation.

"In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and rested the seventh day," record the Scriptures, and when all was done, He looked upon the work of His own hands, and pronounced it "good." Surely none but a divine, omnipotent hand could have done all this, and none can study the "work of His hands" and not marvel at its completeness.

The ancient dwellers of. the Mississippi valley will al- ways be a subject of great interest to the antiquarian. Who they were, and whence they came, are still unan- swered questions, and may remain so for ages. All over this valley, and, in fact, in all parts of the New World, evidences of an ancient civilization exist, whose remains are now a wonder to all. The aboriginal races could throw no light on these questions. They had always seen the remains, and knew not whence they came. Explorations aid but little in the solution of the problem, and only conjecture can be entertained. The remains

found in Ohio equal any in the valley. Indeed, some of them are vast in extent, and consist of forts, fortifica- tions, moats, ditches, elevations and mounds, embracing many acres in extent.

"It is not yet determined," says Colonel Charles Whittlesey, "whether we have discovered the first of the original people who occupied the soil of Ohio. Modern investigations are bringing to light evidences of earlier races. Since the presence of man has been established in Europe as a contemporary of the fossil elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros and the horse, of the later drift or glacial period, we may reasonably anticipate the presence of man in America in that era. Such proofs are already known, but they are not of that conclusive character which amounts to a demonstration. It is, however, known that an ancient people inhabited Ohio in advance of the red men who were found here, three centuries since, by the Spanish and French explorers.

"Five and six hundred years before the arrival of Co- lumbus," says Colonel Charles Whittlesey, "the North- men sailed from Norway, Iceland and Greenland along the Atlantic coast as far as Long Island. They found Indian tribes, in what is now New England, closely re- sembling those who lived upon the coast and the St. Lawrence when the French and English came to pos- sess these regions.

"These red Indians had no traditions of a prior peo- ple; but over a large part of the lake country and the valley of the Mississippi, earthworks, mounds, pyramids, ditches and forts were discovered-the work of a more ancient race, and a people far in advance of the Indian. If they were not civilized, they were not barbarians. They were not mere hunters, but had fixed habitations, cultivated the soil and were possessed of considerable mechanical skill. We know them as the Mound Build- ers, because they erected over the mortal remains of their principal men and women memorial mounds of earth or unhewn stone -of which hundreds remain to our own day, so large and high that they give rise to an impression of the numbers and energy of their builders, such as we receive from the pyramids of Egypt."

Might they not have been of the same race and the saine civilization? Many competent authorities conjec- ture they are the work of the lost tribes of Israel; but the best they or any one can do is only to conjecture.

"In the burial mounds," continues Colonel Whittle- sey, "there are always portions of one or more human skeletons, generally partly consumed by fire, with orna- ments of stone, bone, shells, mica and copper. The largest mound in Ohio is near Miamisburgh, Mont- gomery county. It is the second largest in the West, being nearly seventy feet high originally, and about eight hundred feet in circumference. This would give a superficial area of nearly four acres. In 1864, the citi- zens of Miamisburgh sunk a shaft from the summit to . the natural surface, without finding the bones or ashes of the great man for whom it was intended. The ex- ploration has considerably lowered the mound, it being now about sixty feet in height.

"Fort Ancient, on the Little Miami, is a good speci-

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men of the military defences of the Mound Builders. It is well located in a long, high, narrow, precipitous ridge. The parapets are now from ten to eighteen feet high, and its perimeter is sufficient to hold twenty thousand fighting men. Another prominent example of their works exists near Newark, Licking county. This collec- tion presents a great variety of figures, circles, rectan- gles, octagons, and parallel banks or highways, cover- ing more than a thousand acres. The county fair ground is permanently located within an ancient circle, a quar- ter of a mile in diameter, with an embankment and interior ditch. Its highest place was over twenty feet from the top of the moat to the bottom of the ditch."

One of the most curious shaped works in Licking coun- ty is known as the "Alligator," from its supposed resem- blance to that creature. When measured, several years ago, while in a good state of preservation, its dimensions were two hundred and ten feet in length, average width over sixty feet, and height, at the highest point, seven feet. It appears to be mainly composed of clay, and is overgrown with grass.

Speaking of the writing of these people, Colonel Whittlesey says:

"There is no evidence that they had alphabetical characters, picture- writing or hieroglyphics, though they must have had some mode of recording events. Neither is there any proof that they used domestic animals for tilling the soil, or for the purpose of erecting the imposing earthworks they have left. A very coarse cloth of hemp, flax, or nettles has been found on their burial-hearths and around skeletons not consumed by fire.

"The most extensive earthworks occupy many of the sites of modern towns, and are always in the vicinity of excellent land. Those about the lakes are generally irregular earth forts while those about the rivers in the southern part of the State are generally altars, pyramids, circles, cones, and rectangles of earth, among which fortresses or strongholds are exceptions.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 85

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 559

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559