USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 19
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Soon after the war began prices went up and money went down. Calico, which was generally worn then, jumped from five to fifty cents a yard, and coffee went up from ten to fifty cents a pound. And gold, the sneaking coward that it was and is, hied to the other side of the Atlantic at the first sound of war and hid itself away in the vaults of the monetary centers of Europe, and soon silver, too, began to disappear, being laid away by the timid to await events and hoarded up by avaricious and speculative persons, who hoped to make money by its retirement, and many of them made large amounts by selling their coins at a high premium. Coins, save those carried as pocket pieces and exhibited as curiosities, were not to be seen from 1862 until the close of the war.
To meet the conditions existing on account of the retirement of gold and silver many merchants got scrip notes printed calling for five, ten and twenty- five cents each, which was received as money for goods bought and were re- deemable at their places of business when presented in amounts of five dollars. This scrip was given to customers as change and was received as such in return. Every town had its scrip currency, and it was a point of honor among. business men to accept each other's scrip as change. Thomas J. Robinson was treasurer of Richland county at the time and issued treasury tickets in amounts from ten up to fifty cents, redeemable in money when presented in amounts of five dollars at the treasurer's office. This was a personal matter
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with Mr. Robinson, he having no authority as county treasurer to do so. But his "tickets" met a pressing need of the times and was a great convenience to the people, and Mr. Robinson faithfully redeemed them all. Later the general government issued fractional notes-called "shin plasters"-which took the place of the merchants' scrip.
In time relief commissions were organized, whose work was somewhat like that of the soldiers' relief commission of today. There were Mansfield families of wealth who tried to economize, that by practicing economy they might be more able to assist soldiers' families which, through the exigencies of the war times, were in need of the necessaries of life.
As the war continued and a draft was impending, people became more liberal and offered bounties to recruits. At a meeting held in Mansfield Friday, August 1, 1862, a fund of $18,279 was raised for local bouunties. To this fund B. S. Runyan, Willard S. Hickox and seventeen others gave five hundred dollars each. Other contributions in sums of from five dollars to three hundred dollars were added to the fund. Supplemental to the citizens' fund, the county commissioners levied a tax of $25,000.
The One Hundred and Second Regiment, O. V. I., was organized at Mansfield and left for the South on September 4, 1862, one thousand men strong. The regiment was mustered into the United States service at Cov- ington, Kentucky. Jonas Smith, then county auditor, and T. J. Robinson, then county treasurer, accompanied the regiment to Covington, and after its muster gave each Richland county soldier ninety dollars as a local bounty. Nine-tenths of this money the soldiers sent back with Messrs. Smith and Robinson to their families and friends at home.
An old copy of a Mansfield paper of that period states that "On the streets, in the public square, as well as in the surrounding camps, can daily be heard martial music and the tread of the volunteers."
Fathers, sons, brothers and husbands left the old home to go to the war. A few carried shining swords and wore beautiful uniforms, but the majority of the volunteers were private soldiers, but were none the less dear to those they left behind.
"Then mothers put motherly fears to flight, And wives hid their tears away ; For men must fight when their cause is right, While women in patience pray."
As the soldiers marched away people lined the streets, with faces beau- tiful with sympathy and eyes moist with pity and with love. The people at home had cares and sorrows to bear, while the soliders at the front met the foe upon fields of battle. To show the magnitude of the Civil war the follow- ing comparison with other wars is here given. The number of soldiers engaged in the War of the Revolution was 184,038; in the war of 1812 with Great Britain, was 286,730; in the Mexican war the number was 78,718, and in the Civil war was 2,213,363. There were 1,676,438 more soldiers in the Union army in the War of the Rebellion than in all the other wars put
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together in which the United States has been engaged, and the number of families bereft by the Civil war is proportionately large.
To show the strenuous feeling that existed in the North during the Civil war the following incident is given: In the spring of 1861, when the soldiers were encamped at Camp Jackson, Columbus, the soldiers frequently attended theaters in the evenings. There were hundreds of young soldiers from the country and small towns who had not previously had opportunities to attend theatrical performances.
On the first night of an engagement of Caroline Richings an exciting incident occurred. Miss Richings was an accomplished and beautiful woman as well as a popular singer. It was customary at that time to sing songs between the acts. At the close of the first act Miss Richings appeared in a gorgeous costume with an American flag in her hand. She sang the "Star- Spangled Banner," and as she sang she waved the flag and the audience went wild with enthusiasm. Amid the deafening cheers and applause which nearly shook the house there was the sound of a hiss, which brought forth exclamations of surprise and indignation. At once a man was seen climbing on the stage and, straightening up, stood fully six feet in height, a perfect specimen of manhood. He had a revolver in his hand and requested the man to be pointed out to him who had hissed, but the man could not be located, and the song was sung through without further interruption. The day fol- lowing the Ohio State Journal stated that the man who had threatened to shoot was Murat Halstead, of the Cincinnati Commercial, one of the great newspaper men of his time. In July, 1878, Miss Richings played an en- gagement at Miller's Hall in Mansfield. In an interview with her upon that occasion she told the writer she had not forgotten the scene which ensued on the night the American flag was hissed at a Columbus theater.
A BIG DEMOCRATIC MEETING.
A big Democratic meeting was held in Mansfield, August 17, 1840.
President Martin Van Buren and Vice President Richard M. Johnson were then candidates for reelection on the Democratic ticket. General William Henry Harrison and John Tyler were the Whig nominees. There was not much at issue in the campaign, and had it been fought on party lines the Democratic nominees would doubtless have been reelected. The Van Buren administration had been a creditable one, but a financial depression had overspread the country soon after Mr. Van Buren had been inaugurated, and such financial conditions are usually charged against the administration, without much inquiry as to its responsibility in the matter.
In this 1840 campaign for the first time in American history the power of song was invoked to aid a presidential candidate. A Democratic editor in describing General Harrison's home, stated that he lived in a log cabin lined. with coon skins and that he was better fitted to sit there and drink hard cider than he was to be president of the United States. This, like the fateful "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" of the Blaine campaign of 1884, had a different result from what had been intended. And the statement made by the Democratic editor was at once taken up by the Whigs and was made the
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party slogan of that memorable campaign. General Harrison was called the log cabin candidate, which touched a sympathetic chord in the minds of the voters, as the majority of the people lived in log cabins in those days. The people of Ohio and of other states in the West had not fully emerged from the log cabin era, and the early association and the sentiment of their home- lives were identified with the log cabins in which they had lived, as had their parents before them, and to resent the reflection cast upon the homes of the pioneers, people rallied to the support of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too." Among his other military achievements General Harrison was called the hero of Tippecanoe, for on the banks of the Tippecanoe river, on November 5, 1811, General Harrison defeated the Indians under the brother of Te- cumseh.
Colonel Richard M. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for vice presi- dent, also had an enviable military record, and was called the hero of the battle of the Thames, fought October 5, 1813, in which Tecumseh was killed. A. Democratic shibbolethic inquiry of that campaign was, "Who fought the battle of the Thames?" with the answer, "Richard M. Johnson and his brother James !"
During that log-cabin campaign there were political songs galore, many of them being parodies on familiar ballads. George P. Morris' parody on "The Old Oaken Bucket" was very popular, and ran like the following:
"Oh, dear to my soul are the days of our glory, The time honored days of our national pride ; When heroes and statesmen ennobled our story And boldly the foes of our country defied ;
When victory hung o'er our flag, proudly waving, And the battle was fought by the valiant and true
For our homes and our loved ones, the enemies braving, Oh, then stood the soldier of Tippecanoe- The iron-armed soldier, the true-hearted soldier, The gallant old soldier of Tippecanoe."
The preponderance of songs was with the Whigs, and one of the most catchy was a buckeye cabin song. The first portable campaign cabin was of buckeye logs and was made in Union county. It was first used in a parade at a Whig meeting in Columbus. Similar cabins, mounted on trucks, later appeared in Whig processions, not only in Ohio, but also in other states. In this way the "buckeye" got an historical association, for that campaign irre- vocably fixed the name "Buckeye" upon the state and the people of Ohio.
The Mansfield meeting was a great gathering in the Democratic annals of Richland county, and is still remembered by our respected townsman, Hiram R. Smith, whose life has been extended beyond four score years and ten. The day of that memorable Democratic meeting opened auspiciously ; the sun rose in a cloudless sky and a refreshing breeze fanned the August air. At an early hour the people began to arrive-in wagons, on horseback and on foot-and as the day advanced the cry was "Still they come." From the east, west, north and south came the people in seemingly interminable lines of pro-
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cession, with horses and vehicles decorated with the Democratic badge of hickory boughs, presenting somewhat the appearance of moving forests, re- calling the lines of Macbeth :
"I looked toward Birnam, and anon, methought, The wood began to move."
James Arnold, the veteran pole-raiser of that period, had put up a hickory liberty pole in the public square, from which a flag made by the Democratic ladies of Mansfield floated in the mid-summer breeze. A Dem- ocratic brass band came from Canton in their own wagon, having taken a day and a night to make the trip. The band boys arrived in time on the second day to take breakfast at the Wiler House, then kept by John Wiler, whose name is an historical one in this vicinity.
At 7:30 o'clock a procession was formed under the direction of General R. Bentley, chief marshal of the day, and, led by the Canton band, the line of march was taken to the country residence of Judge William Patterson, at Locust Grove, a few miles west of Mansfield on the Ontario road, where the speakers had been entertained the night previous. Judge Patterson was a prominent citizen of Richland county, had represented this district in Con- gress and was personally acquainted with his distinguished guests. The party consisted of Vice President Johnson, Senator William Allen, Governor Wilson Shannon and Congressman George Sweney. The Patterson place is now known as the Crouch farm. The Patterson residence was a large two- story brick house, still standing on the north side of the road, around which are a number of locust trees, hence the name, "Locust Grove." The speakers had addressed a meeting at Bucyrus on Friday, from which place they came by stage to Judge Patterson's on Sunday.
On Monday morning a large delegation from the west came in early to attend the meeting and to have the honor of assisting to escort the speakers into Mansfield. These were joined by a large concourse of people from Mans- field, and a procession was formed at Judge Patterson's, which made a grand escort for the speakers, with music and banners. Arriving in Mansfield, as the carriages containing the honored guests halted in front of the Wiler House, Vice President Johnson and the other speakers were welcomed in behalf of the Democracy of Richland county by the Hon. James Stewart in an appro- priate address, in which he referred to the fact that Richland county in the war of 1812 was on the frontier, and that Vice President Johnson had defended the settlers from the tomahawk of the Indians and from the bayonet of the British, and that the assemblage surrounding him was animated as one man by impulses of gratitude and admiration for his brave and valuable services in that war.
At the conclusion of the reception the procession reformed and marched to the place of meeting-then a grove-between South Main street and Lex- ington avenue, land now well built up by fine residences. The crowd was so large that at least five acres of ground were compactly filled with people. The late Major William MeLaughlin was the president of the day.
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The first speaker was Vice President Richard M. Johnson, who in the battle of the Thames
"Drove the savage legion and the British army, too."
Colonel Johnson was received with rapturous applause and his speech was highly appreciated.
Governor Wilson Shannon followed, thanking the Democracy for the support given him in the past, then excused himself from making a speech on account of an indisposition from which he then labored.
The Hon. William Allen was then introduced, and the distinguished senator spoke at length upon the issues of the campaign, and for three hours held the vast audience by the charms of his matchless oratory. The privilege of attending that meeting was highly appreciated by thousands of Democrats, who in later years told their children and their children's children about that great gathering. A notable feature of the parade was an elegant barouche, containing revolutionary soldiers, in charge of John J. Bell, of Ashland. The vehicle was decorated with American flags and a banner was carried upon which was inscribed "76."
That the presidential election of 1840 resulted in a Whig victory was not the fault of the Democrats of Richland county, for they did their duty faith- fully then, as they have in many succeeding contests.
After the meeting was over the speakers were taken to the Wiler House, where a reception was given them in the evening. The next morning they left by stage for Mount Vernon to attend the young men's state convention.
Following the big Democratic meeting the Whigs also got up a big demonstration in Mansfield on Friday, September 4, 1840. The meeting was addressed by the Whig candidate for president, General William Henry Harrison. Log cabins, decorated with coon skins, were in the parade, and barrels of hard cider were on tap.
A DEADLY EXPLOSION.
The late George C. Wise was a member of the squad, but was not with it upon that occasion. Van Buren Hooker was a brother of the J. R. Hooker, who formerly lived on South Main street; Darius Grant was a brother of Mrs. R. R. Smith, of East Fourth street; Mr. Merrell is a printer and resides in Toledo, and Morgan Roop has been in the employ of the Aultman-Taylor Company ever since the plant was founded.
The Frank Pierce campaign of 1852 will always be remembered by sur- viving members of the Mansfield gun-squad of that period and by their friends. There was to be a big Democratic mass-meeting at Ashland on the 14th of August, and the Mansfield battery had been invited to attend and do the "booming" for the occasion. The squad started the afternoon of the 13th, with 80 pounds of powder in the magazine. John Wise, brother of Frank Wise, furnished a four-horse team to haul the carriage and acted as driver.
As they approached Windsor they fired a salute. The bridge across the Black Fork being down, a detour was made to the north, around by where
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Pavonia station now stands, and in passing through a piece of woods on the Horn farm the magazine exploded, throwing John Wise, the driver, and Van Hooker, who sat beside him, up above the tree tops. Mr. Wise received fatal injuries, from which he died the next morning without regaining conscious- ness. Mr. Hooker was severely concussed, survived the disaster and is living in one of the Pacific states.
Finding Morgan Roop in a reminiscent mood, he kindly narrated this thrilling episode of his life, as he was one of the members of the squad, and was only a short distance ahead when the catastrophe occurred.
It is supposed the explosion was caused by a fuse that may have caught fire when the salute was given at Windsor and acted as a slow-match and ignited the powder in the magazine. The explosion occurred at 8:00 p. m.
Of the members of the squad besides Messrs. Roop and Hooker, the names are recalled of Captain Mullen, J. Z. McIlvaine, Darius Grant, George Merrell, James McElroy and Fred Wise.
The first families which came to Mansfield, with the exception of a few from Southern Ohio, were from Pennsylvania. When Samuel Hill and Rolin Weldon came they had to cut the road from Greentown to Mansfield. There were about one hundred naked Indians residing in Greentown at that time, which was in 1810.
The first doctor who practiced in Mansfield was Royal V. Powers, who came from the East and settled here in 1815. The first resident lawyer of Mansfield was John M. May, who also came in 1815. There were about a dozen houses in the village of Mansfield at that time. On what was long known as the Sturges corner, now owned by H. L. Reed, there stood a small one-story frame building, when E. P. Sturges and Buckingham Sherwood came to Mansfield with a stock of goods, and purchasing this little building referred to, opened up a store. At that time there was also a small frame building on the southwest corner of the public square (the present site of the Hotel Southern) where a tavern was kept by Samuel Williams-called Williams' tavern.
Richland county scenery in every direction is beautiful. A gentle diver- sity of hills and valleys stretch away on every hand. There is nothing tame nor lifeless in the landscape. In fact, there are points where nature ap- proaches grandeur in the wild and vigorous beauty that marks, especially the southern part of Richland county, with varied attractiveness.
Within seventy-five miles of Mansfield lie exhaustless beds of bituminous coal.
Mansfield, lying between the lake and the gulf, has rapid drainage, with strong springs of pure soft water gushing from the hillsides.
STORMS AND FLOODS.
Is is frequently stated that storms, hurricanes and floods have been more frequent the past few years than heretofore. Without admitting the correct- ness of this statement, brief mention will be made of some of the storms of the past. In the summer of 1808 there was a furious and destructive tornado
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in this county, its path being diagonally from the northwest to the southeast. It coursed down the north branch of the Honey Creek, cutting a swath from one-fourth to one-half mile in width. On land later owned by Reuben Everts there were thirty acres or more upon which a tree was not left standing. The greatest havoc of this storm was wrought on Chestnut Ridge, further south- east, where it made a clean sweep of the forest. In time a new growth of timber covered the ridge, whose foliage in the summer makes a beautiful background to the lovely little valley which nestles so charmingly on the north. Chestnut Ridge has an elevation of four hundred and fifty feet above the railroad station at Butler.
Hiram R. Smith recalls a "wind fall" that cut a swath through the timber between Mansfield and Shelby prior to 1830. Upon making a trip on horseback from Mansfield to Gamble's Mills, as Shelby was then called, Mr. Smith found the road obstructed by fallen trees. The storm in its east- ward course crossed the old state road north of Bollman's. This storm was of great violence and mowed the timber as the reaper mows the grain.
On June 21, 1834, a terrific storm passed over Richland and Ashland counties, felling forest trees in many places, unroofing buildings and, in some places, removing them from their foundations. This storm was particularly severe in the vicinity of Jeromeville.
On November 11, 1835, a severe storm passed to the north of us, doing great damage in New York state, particularly at Buffalo.
In about 1838 a storm passed over the Big Hill, in Weller township, and wrecked the Robinson "castle."
The weather during the years 1816-17 was noted on account of the cold and frosts. In the month of May, 1816, there was a severe snow storm, and in July men wore overcoats while harvesting wheat. On the morning of June 1, 1817, a frost visited Ohio that destroyed the fruit and denuded the forest trees of half their foliage.
On May 15, 1834, the wheat crop was much injured by the frost, there being frosts six nights in succession. The summer of 1835 was extremely wet, with bottom lands greatly overflown and too wet for tillage. The hay crop of that year was particularly damaged.
On May 2, 1841, a violent snow storm, a regular blizzard, swept over this part of Ohio. On July 1, 1843, there was frost that did considerable damage. On September 27, 1844, there was a heavy snow fall that covered the ground for two days, and on October 18th a violent snow storm passed to the north of us and raged furiously in the western part of New York. On May 7 and 25, 1845, there were frosts which destroyed the wheat crop for that year.
The last week of May, 1854, brought a sucession of snow storms, and on the 29th snow fell all day. During the following summer there were ten consecutive weeks of drouth. During the winter of 1854-5 the ground was covered with snow for thirteen consecutive weeks. There was a May storm that year. On December 24, 1855, a rain began falling in the morning and continued all day, changing to snow in the evening. On the next morning, Christmas, there were about seven inches of snow on the ground, and it snowed some every day for six weeks. The snow was deep, and in places
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blown into impassable drifts. The sleighing continued until the latter part of March. The snow melted so gradually in the spring that no flood ensued.
The spring of 1857 was very backward; the peach trees did not bloom until the latter part of May. During the year 1859 there was frost every month in the year, as there had been in 1816. The killing frosts of 1859 are well remembered. On June 1, there was a slight rain, followed by a cold wave for several days, and on the 4th there was a slight snow fall. On the morning of the 4th the thermometer stood at the freezing point, with a strong wind blowing from the north. That evening the wind dropped and the sun went down in a clear sky. During the night the mercury fell fast, the stars shone with an unusual brilliancy, and on the morning of the 5th the sun rose upon a scene of desolation. All vegetation was frozen. Under the reaction of the sun's rays corn and wheat wilted and fell to the earth. The ground was frozen to the roots of the corn. Ice was formed in some places sufficiently strong to bear a man. On the morning of the 4th of July there was another frost, which killed what little vegetation the former one had left. On August 11th and on the 28th, there were also frosts, and on October the 9th there was a freeze.
June, 1837, was noted for its floods. The Clearfork at that time broke all previous records. This was called the Victoria flood, on account of its occurring at the time Victoria became queen of England. During this flood a piece of land called the island, lying between the creek and the upper race of the David Herring mills, in Worthington township, was inundated, and an incident occurred worth relating. A dwelling house stood on the "island." and as the land had become partly submerged it was feared the house might be swept away by the flood. The good wife and mother of the family living in this house was ill at the time, and the men gathered upon the bank and discussed ways and means to rescue the family. A canoe was obtained and a man volunteered to make the several trips necessary to bring the members of the family to the shore. A hero always rises and comes forth equal to every occasion, and this brave pioneer paddled the canoe forth and back until every member of the family had been safely landed on the shore, and during the last trip of the canoe the building, which had stood unsteady upon its foundation for an hour or more, was swept away by the flood.
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