USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 12
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The Remy well operations toward putting down a well about two hun- dred yards from the Mengert well, was begun soon after the famous hole had commanded the attention of the oil world. This well came in March 7. and proved to be almost as good an oiler as the Mengert No. 1. The sand at this point is thirteen feet deep, and the oil is mixed with a good flow of gas. The intermittent spurts of oil in the early stages of this well caused more than one spectator to get a drenching in oil. For a time the flow was pulsating, but it finally settled down to a flow of from twenty-five to thirty-five barrels. Tanks were ready to receive the oil, and there was no waste to speak of.
The Buckeye Pipe line takes charge of the oil at the wells, and after being gauged, it is transferred through pipes by gravity to the loading point at Butler. Here twenty-six cars of oil have already been loaded and shipped away. Some to the Sun refinery at Toledo, and some to the Standard refin- ery in Indiana. Each well receives proper credit for its output, and as the quality is the same, commands the same price at the wells, $1.58.
The Edna Oil company had in the meantime, erected a derrick and begun drilling on the Reed lease, consisting of twenty acres for which $2.000 had been paid. March 21 this well came in an oiler, but gas was a minus quantity, and the oil did not flow from the top of the pipe as is the case with the Mengert and Remy wells. The oil stands about one thousand five hundred feet deep in the pipe, and although the quality is the same, the well will have to be pumped. The Reed well stands on much higher ground to the southeast of the Remy well and is not over two hundred feet from Men- gert No. 2, which came in in due season.
Mengert well No. 3 came in with a flow of gas estimated at about 6,000,000. In less than an hour afterward a heavy flow of oil which spurted
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to a great height. Thirty barrels of the oil came from the well during one night. It is of the same transparent yellow color, which characterizes the other wells in the Butler field. This well is located about one thousand feet from the Mengert No. 1, in a southwesterly direction, and the oil was piped to the tanks at No. 1.
SOLDIERS OF THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
A number of the soldiers of the War of the Revolution are buried in Richland county cemeteries. The list in the possession of the Richland County Historical society is not complete, but the following are given .
Henry Nail, Sr., is buried on lot 1218, Mansfield cemetery. He was born in Germany in 1757; came to America in 1777, and some time later enlisted in the Continental army, and served until the close of the war. He came to Richland county in 1816, and remained here until his death. He was the grandfather of our A. F. Nail, of "Drummer Boy" fame, who was a soldier in the war of 1861-5, and is the son as well as the grandson of a soldier.
John Jacobs, another soldier of the war of the Revolution, is buried in the Mansfield Roman Catholic cemetery. Jacobs died about seventy years ago and was first buried in the old cemetery, but the remains were later removed to the present burial ground.
On Memorial Day list is the name of Jacob Uhlich as having been a Revolutionary soldier. The name should be George Uhlich, a soldier of the war of 1812. Mrs. Miller, of Bowman street, a daughter of this soldier, states that her father served his country in the war of 1812, and that he died in 1836. His father's name was also George, but he was not a soldier. Mrs. Miller accounts for these errors from the fact that after the removal of the remains from the old burial grounds at the corner of Adams and First streets, to the present cemetery, a new headstone was put up, and the mistake in the inscription was not noticed at the time. Mrs. Miller later requested that the inscription be corrected, but it was never done.
The Memorial list also gives the name of Jacob Cook as a Revolutionary soldier buried in the Mansfield cemetery. This statement is also incorrect. On the Cook monument are several cenotaph inscriptions-those of Jacob Noah and Jabez Cook.
Jacob Cook was the great-grandfather of the late J. H. Cook, and died in 1796, aged eighty-four years, and was buried in Washington county, Pa.
Noah Cook, son of Jacob Cook, served several terms of enlistment in the Revolutionary war, and at one time was chaplain of the Fifth regiment of Continental troops in General Sullivan's brigade.
Noah Cook came to Lexington, Richland county, in 1814, and died in December, 1834, and is buried at Lexington, but has a cenotaph inscription on the monument of his grandson, the late James Hervey Cook.
Noah Cook did much to promote the religious interests of Troy town- ship. He announced a meeting for a religious service at the schoolhouse but at the appointed hour, "Uncle Noah" was the only one there, but he held
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the services. Some passers-by heard him singing and stopped to listen. Then he prayed, and read, and preached, as though the benches were listen- ers with ears to hear and souls to save. The report of this service was noised abroad, with the result of good congregations of people at subsequent ser- vices. Noah Cook was descended from Francis Cook, one of the Mayflower passengers, who with other pilgrim fathers, came from Holland.
James MeDermot, a Revolutionary soldier buried in the Koogle ceme- tery, east of Mansfield, was a native of Pennsylvania, and served two years at Fort DuQuesne, then marched over the Allegheny mountains and joined Washington's army at Valley Forge. He was at Princeton and other bat- tles. He died in Mifflin township, this county, June 25, 1859, aged over one hundred years.
Christian Riblett enlisted in the Continental army in Pennsylvania in 1779, at the age of eighteen years, and served to the close of the war. He died April 6, 1844, and is buried at the east line of Sandusky township, on the road leading from Mansfield to Galion. Daniel Riblett, a son of this Continental soldier, represented Richland county in the legislature (senate) in 1854.
William Gillespie was a major in the Revolutionary war, and is buried at Bellville, and a headstone marks his grave, which is yearly dec- orated with flowers by the comrades of Miller Moody post, G. A. R. Major Gillespie died February 17, 1841, aged one hundred and four years.
Samuel Poppleton was one of the Green Mountain boys who fought under Colonel Ethan Allen, and, as color sergeant, planted the American flag upon the walls of Fort Ticonderoga at its surrender and heard the historic words: "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental congress." Major Poppleton died in 1842, aged ninety-nine years, and is buried in the Evart graveyard, a mile south of Bellville. The inscription on his head- stone has been somewhat effaced by the frosts and storms of time. The major was the grandfather of the late Hon. E. F. Poppleton.
Adamı Wolfe, another Revolutionary soldier, is buried at Newville. He was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 15, 1730, and came to Rich- land county, Ohio, in 1816, and entered the southeast quarter of section 26 in Monroe township. He died April 24, 1845. AAdam Wolfe was the grand- father of Judge N. M. Wolfe and a great-great-grandfather of Harry L. Goodbread, of Wyandot county, and of Verner Z. Reed, of Colorado. Hiram R. Smith, then with MeFall, frequently cashed Adam Wolfe's pension draft.
While the victories and achievements of our recent and present wars take the attention of the people of today, the soldiers of other American conflicts, especially the war of the Revolution, must not be forgotten. for to that struggle we owe our existence as a free and independent nation. And in no other period of the world's history were events more deeply fraught with interest or more full of moral and political moment than in the era in which American independence was achieved.
It is said the noblest work of the pen of history is to state facts, describe conditions and narrate events which illustrate the progress of the human mind; that in the coming age the history of wars, even when presented in
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the fascinating garb of brilliant achievements, will be read more with sor- row and regret than with satisfaction and delight.
But who would obliterate from Roman history the record of the heroism of those who drove the Persian hordes into the sea at Marathon? No Englishman desires to take from the history of his country the deeds of her Wellington or her Nelson. The French point with pride to the man whose frown terrified the glance his magnificence attracted. What patriot would rob American history of the record of the victories of our army and navy in the several wars in which our nation has been engaged, and deprive the people of the benefits and results of those grand achievements?
Memorial Day is a tribute to patriotism-a tribute of utility to gratitude -- a confession that war is at times necessary, that life has nobler things in it than mere business pursuits, and that men sometimes rise to those sublime heights when life is looked upon as of secondary consideration, and that honor and liberty and law are the only things for which the heart beats in pulsating flow.
The people of today are far removed from the events of the war of the revolution, but the principles for which the patriots fought underlie our political superstructure and permeate every department of the government. and the heroism of the Continental soldiers shine with effulgent glory through the mists of a century.
John Stoner served through the entire war of the Revolution. He was born in 1758 and died in 1845, in Blooming Grove township, this county, aged eighty-seven years. He was buried with military honors in the Pres- byterian cemetery at Rome, this county. There is no monument nor head- stone to mark his grave.
A MASSACRE BY THE INDIANS.
At the northern limit of the Blackfork settlement, to which reference has heretofore been made, lived a Pennsylvania German, Martin Ruffner by name. The Ruffner cabin stood about a mile northwest of Mifflin, and about a half mile west of the Staman sawmill on the Ruffner run. Ruffner had in his employ a German boy who is known by the histor- ical sobriquet of "Billy Bunting."
A few days after the burning of Greentown, a party of Indians were seen sitting upon a small elevation of ground not far from the Ruffner cabin. The Indians were seen by Billy Bunting, who hastened to inform Mr. Ruffner of his discovery. Ruffner at once took his rifle and followed the Indians who were making directly for the Zeimer cabin farther down the valley. Ruffner deployed around the Indians and reached the Zeimer cabin in advance of the savages.
The Zeimer family consisted of Frederick Zeimer and wife, their son Philip and their daughter Kate. Soon after Ruffner arrived at the Zeimer cabin the Indians put in their appearance.
Philip Zeimer, leaving Ruffner to protect his family, went to inform James Copus, John Lambright and other settlers of the approach of the
ZEIMER (SEYMOUR) CABIN
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Indians, and to secure their assistance. As the settlers lived some miles apart it took Philip several hours to make the trip.
Soon after Philip had left the house the Indians came and seemed sur- prised upon finding Ruffner there. The friendly Kate, thinking to appease them, got them supper, but they still seemed sullen, showing that they meant harm to the family. For some time a desultory conversation was held at intervals, but finally the actors to the impending tragedy sat and eyed each other in silence, conflicting emotions, no doubt, passing through the mind of each. Ruffner, the valiant German, sat like a Trojan soldier between the helpless family and their savage foes. Finally, when suspense could be borne no longer, the Indians sprang to their feet with a yell of demoniacal fury, and made a rush at the brave Ruffner, who shot his fore- most assailant dead, and, clubbing his rifle, felled another prostrate to the floor. As he struck at the third, he accidentally hit the stock of his rifle against a joist, and the Indians, taking advantage of the mishap, fired upon him, two shots taking effect, either of which would of itself been fatal. They dragged the body of the dying man into the yard, and inhu- manly removed his scalp ere he expired !
At the beginning of the assault Kate fainted. When she regained consciousness she realized that Ruffner had been killed, and, seeing them assault her aged parents, she again fell in a swoon, unconsciousness kindly veiling from her sight the horrible spectacle.
When Kate recovered and realized the awful butchery that had been committed, her grief gave vent in heart-piercing shrieks and lamentations, whose intensity should have reached the calloused hearts of even those inhuman savages. But, instead, she was ordered by her relentless foes to give them her father's money and the valuables of the family, and as she complied with their demand, her betrothal ring was rudely taken from her finger. But they did not then spare her life, for Kanotche, raising his toma- hawk, buried it in her brains, and she fell upon the hearth, mingling her life's blood with that of her parents!
The account of this tragedy was given some time later by Kanotche himself, while he was confined as a prisoner in the jail at New Philadelphia.
The principal motive which lead to the murder of the Zeimers was that of robbery, as they were regarded as quite wealthy and were known to possess considerable money.
When Philip returned with his party, nature had already thrown her sable mantle of night over the valley. Except for the occasional hooting of an owl, there was almost deathlike stillness. No breath of wind stirred the leaves of the forest, and the stars shone with a pale, flickering light. As the party neared the cabin, no light was seen and all was quiet and still' within. After a consultation, Mr. Copus advanced alone to the rear of the house and tried to peer through its four-light window, but nothing could be seen in the darkness within. He then cautiously crept upon his hands and knees around to the front of the building, and, finding the door ajar, endeavored to push it further open, but found something against it like a
1
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body, on the inside. He then placed his hand through the opening of the door and found that the floor was covered with blood.
Returning to the party, he thought it best not to tell Philip what he had discovered, fearing that the Indians might still be in the house awaiting the son's return. Enjoining silence, he led them quietly away, and when at a safe distance, told them that he feared the family had been taken prison- ers, and that they had better go to the block-house for assistance.
Philip's anxiety for the safety of the family made him want to rush recklessly inside the house to learn their fate; but his friends restrained him, and the weary, groping walk through the darkness to the block-house was commenced. A halt was made at a Mr. Hill's, where the town of Lucas now stands, and upon the break of day they proceeded to the Beam block- house on the Rocky Run, where the first settlement in the county was made, and there got a detachment of troops and some settlers, who accompanied them back to the Zeimer cabin, where they found the dead and mutilated body of the brave Ruffner in the yard, and those of the family inside the house.
The grief of Philip was so great that many of the strong men present were moved to tears by witnessing his sorrow. Father, mother and sister all gone, and he left alone! Would that he had shared their fate with them, was his wish. Kind friends tried to console him, while others dug graves and performed the last office the living can do for the dead. Then they returned to the block-house.
Philip gave his service to his country during the remainder of the war. Several years later he sold the farm to a Mr. Culler, whose descend- ants own it today, and upon the site of the ill-fated cabin a monument now stands, erected to the memory of the Zeimer family and Martin Ruffner, who fell in their defense.
The Indians who committed these crimes were stragglers from the Greentown tribe, who returned for rapine and murder. Of the five who constituted the party, Ruffner killed two, whose bodies were carried away, as was the custom among the Indians, and the three survivors were afterward captured about five miles below New Philadelphia, on what is now called Fern Island, a picnic resort on the C. L. & W. railway, near the Royal Clay works.
The massacre of the Zeimer family aroused the feelings of the people not only in Richland, but also in other counties, almost to frenzy, and com- panies were organized at Wooster, New Philadelphia and other places to protect the settlers. Captain Mullen commanded the Wooster company, and Alex. McConnel, the one at New Philadelphia.
Fern island is an isle in the Tuscarawas river, one of the most poetry- inspiring streams in the state. It courses through one of Ohio's most fertile valleys with an ease and grandeur that is both restful and inspiring, as rays of light shine upon its dark waters that reflect emerald tints as though the bottom was paved with precious stones. But the Indians had not sought that locality because of its romantic beauty, nor because the waters of the Tuscarawas were wont to dazzle one with their diamond-like gleams, but for
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the protection the dense forest of that secluded isle would give them. The mark of Cain was upon them and the avenging Nemesis was following their trail. In that forest-embowered isle stood armies of ferns with nodding plumes and crimson falchions, and among these the tired savages lay down to sleep.
Captain McConnel, hearing that the Indians were upon the Island, marched his company over the "Plains," and when the destination was reached, he left his men on the bank and swam his horse across the castern branch of the river, and, surprising the redskins, took them prisoners. On reaching the company with his prisoners, some of the men suggested that the Indians should be put to death. "Not until they have a trial according to law," said the captain. The prisoners were then marched up past the old site of Shoenbrun to New Philadelphia, and there incarcerated in jail. When the news of this capture reached Wooster, the excitement there became intense and Captain Mullen marched his company to New Philadelphia to take summary vengeance upon the captives. Henry Laffer, then sheriff of Tuscarawas county, called upon the citizens to turn out and protect the prisoners, which they refused to do. John C. Wright, an attor- ney from Steubenville, was in town, and volunteered his services to the sheriff. Mr. Wright was afterward the judge of the court of that circuit. Captain McConnel, Sheriff Laffer and Mr. Wright pleaded with the atttack- ing party for the lives of the Indians and declared if the prisoners were molested it would be after they had walked over their dead bodies. The attack was finally abandoned and the company returned to Wooster.
While in jail there, Kanotche made a confession to the Sheriff, detail- ing the Zeimer-Ruffner murder and the part he took in the same, admitting that he had killed Kate, and that the principal motive for the crime was robbery. The other prisoners did not confess and Kanotche refused either to implicate or exonerate them.
The Indians were kept in jail until Governor Meigs arrived in New Philadelphia, when they were turned over to the military authorities and were conducted by Lieutenant Shane, of the regular army, to the western part of the state, where, under the terms of a cartel, they, as prisoners of war, were released, the charge of murder not being placed against them.
While enroute Lieutenant Shane, with his troops and prisoners, stopped over night at Newark, where an attempt was made by two recruits to buy drugs to poison the Indians, which shows the deep-seated feeling then exist- ing against them on account of the atrocities and murders they had com- mitted.
The fact that Kanotche, one of their Indian prisoners, was the self- confessed murderer of Kate Zeimer and other white persons, doubtless incensed the soldiers to such a state of mind that they made the attempt to buy the poison. Although Kanotche was not punished by the law, about a year later he met his death by the hands of one of his own people. His punishment came according to Bible lines, that whoso sheddeth human blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
Kate Zeimer was described by the writer's father. who lived a few
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miles further down the valley and often saw her, as being a beautiful girl, a brunette, rather stout in build, and of cheerful disposition.
Tradition says she was engaged to be married to a man who lived near her former home in the east, but this is not verified by history. Her reputed lover, Henry Martin, like Lilly Pipe, was a myth. Both were the creations of that gifted novelist, the Rev. James F. McGaw.
While June is the month of roses, September is regarded by many as being the most charming of the year. The hazy halo of the atmosphere with its languorous warmth, are conducive to day dreaming. And, to follow the romance of the novelist, there were days of dreaming for the beautiful Kate, whose betrothed lover was soon to come to claim her for his bride. Days of roaming in the leafy forest or rowing upon the crystal lake; days of watching the crimson sunset shining redly through the darkness of the branches and glittering away as golden threads to a paradise too sweet to name; days when love seemed, to fill the air and make music sweet in the rustle of the leaves; days when Kate wondered vaguely whether she was not dreaming happy dreams-dreams too enhancing to last; and they were, for, instead of the bridal robe, the winding sheet was soon to be her habili- ment.
The news of the murder of the Zeimer family caused the settlers to go to the blockhouse for safety, and nearly every cabin was left tenantless, and the country was filled with alarm, and not without cause, for other deeds of blood were soon to follow.
The name Zeimer was pronounced by the settlers somewhat like "Zemer," and McGaw, in his historical romance, changed the name to "Sey- mour." That Zeimer is correct is fully proven by muniments of the Zeimer estate. It is a German name of Swiss origin, and has been Ameri- canized, locally at least in the Blackfork valley, as both "Seymour" and "Zimmer."
In 1799, Frederick Zeimer came with his family from Maryland and entered one-half of section 27 in Washington township, Pickaway county, Ohio, where he settled and lived until he came to Richland county in 1812. Mr. Zeimer was a man of means, and after getting considerable land in Pick- away county, he gave each of his married children.a farm, then removed to Richland county with his family.
After Philip's return from the war, he returned to his former home in Pickaway county, and later sold the Richland county farm to Michael Cul- ler. The deed was executed May 1, 1815, before Thomas Mace, a justice of the peace in and for Pickaway county, Ohio.
On the 2nd of April, 1815, Philip Zeimer was married to Elizabeth Valentine, whose family was a prominent one in Pickaway county.
Philip Zeimer and wife were the parents of five children-three sons and two daughters-all now deceased. Philip's wife died in 1836, aged forty-eight years. Philip died August 8, 1850, aged sixty-five years. The man who was said to be engaged to Kate Zeimer, and to whom McGaw gave the name of Henry Martin, was Jedediah Smith, who came to Ohio and entered land in Washington township, this county, in 1812. Mr. Smith,
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when looking for land, was directed by Johnny Appleseed to the Zeimer cabin, where he met and fell in love with Kate, as is reputed. Mr. Smith, however, was at his old home in Washington county, Pennsylvania, when the Zeimers were killed by the Indians, and he did not return to Ohio until 1816. He did not marry until several years after Kate's death.
THE COPUS BATTLE.
The news of the Zeimer massacre was spread in every direction, caus- ing the settlers to flock to the blockhouses for safety. Every cabin became tenantless. Among the others, James Copus and family took refuge in the blockhouse at Beam's Mills. Mr. Copus, however, remained at the block- house with his family but a few days. Quiet having been restored and hearing of no more depredations, he concluded to remove his family back to his farm. Before leaving the blockhouse one of the officers promised him to encamp at his house with a reconnoitering party that night. A small squad of soldiers was detailed to go with Copus and family and remain with them for several days.
The Copus cabin was down the valley from that of Zeimer's, about half way between Zeimer's and Greentown. It stood at the foot of a high bluff about a half mile from the Rockyford. About three or four rods from where the cabin stood there gushes out of the hill one of the best springs of water in the country. A newly-cut road ran parallel with the bluff at its base and between it and the cabin. The range of the bluff is nearly north and south, and the cabin stood on the west side and a field of corn, then in roasting ears, nearly surrounded the cabin. The place was wildly romantic and well calculated to inspire the soldiers with a spirit of sport, and they enjoyed the afternoon in running, jumping and wrestling exercises until evening.
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