History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 92

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 92

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I remember near this place (Attica, Seneca county, Ohio), or within a few miles of there, of crossing what we then called the Swamp bridge. The people on the west side of the bridge said they would go over

the bridge to hear Long preach. There were about seventy on the bridge at once. It was built with great logs-they were all afloat and would not lie still, and some of the people got a very little wet, but on they went. They reached the place of worship, and we had a good time, as some of them, no doubt, remember well. I am not a little happy to look on some of those faces at this convention. Little did I think that I would live to see a ministe- rial association hield on my missionary ground. I will now speak of some other circumstances.

I well remember when I travelled in the Maumee country, I would pass trains of Indians near half a mile long. I recollect preaching on this side of the Maumee River and then would ford the river and preach on the west side, and when I crossed the river I would take corn in my saddle-bags to feed my horse. One place I preached at they were real old Yankees. I asked them what they thought I was ? They said they could see that I was a Yankee. I just let them have it so. We did not quarrel over our pedigree, nor over what we had to eat; it ail tasted good so long as it lasted. We were thankful those days if we had a little corn-bread and a little venison. There was a difference between those days and the present. Oh, Lord, bring back some of the old kindred feelings that used to characterize this church. In those days there were but few bridges across the rivers in this country. When on my first mission in Hancock county I liad to cross the Auglaize River some nine times; my mission was so assigned that I could not do otherwise. I often would swim my horse across the river. I recollect of one time at- tempting to cross on the ice, to go to my quarterly meeting-Rev. Z. Crom was my presiding elder, and my mission was his district. In those days we had local presiding elders; they would have one, two, thrce, or four circuits to preside over. I was the first man that spoke out in the conference in answer to the bishop when the question was asked, "Will you have local or traveling presiding elders ?" I said travelling, and it raised a commotion for a little while, but it subsided. My elder and I, in crossing the Auglaize River, near the mouth of Riley Creek- it was in the spring of the year, and the ice was then very rotten. The elder's horse being the smallest I told him to cross first. He got across all right. I took off my saddle and saddle-bags, took my horse by the bridle and started, and when I got near the middle of the river the ice broke and my horse went under all but his head. I kept ahead of the horse; the bridle pulled off, and when I caught hold of the halter he made a number of springs. He finally suc- ceeded in getting nearer the shore, and the ice bore him up. I then led him to the shore, put my sad- dle on him, and, having but about two miles to go to the appointment, I went those two miles in pretty quick time. My horse came out all right.

I recollect another circumstance in going from El-

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more to the lake. The first four miles (all the way forest) brought me to Tousaint Creek. It being high I swam my horse across. I then had eight or ten miles yet through the woods to the lake. When I came to the prairie I came into a French settlement. It was so fenced up that there was no way getting through without going through the field or through Turtle Marsh. I called at a house. A French woman came out and muttered her French and motioned across the marsh. I started across, but had not gone more than one rod when my horse fell over some timbers of some kind. I slid off from my horse into the marsh, held on to the bridle, and got out on the same side. . I think it was a little different from the Slough of Despond that Bunyan speaks of. I know the Lord did not want me to go through Turtle Marsh. The citizens told me that some French ponies had gone through, but an English horse could not. By that time a boy caine there. I told him I wanted to go through the field. He opened the fence and let me through. I asked him if they had any meeting in their place. He said they had. I wanted to know who preached for them. He said the priest. I asked no more questions-I conjectured the rest. It was enough; the Lord deliv- ered me out of Turtle Marsh.

Well, you see something of the trials of one of the old itinerants of Sandusky conference. I recollect when my circuit led through Wood county, at one time I came to the Portage River, near New Roches- ter; the river was very high. It extended all over the bottom about forty rods. The water had taken away part of the bridge. The middle bent and the one that extended to the shore on the east side was all that was left. Heavy timbers being laid on the bridge held those two bents and stringers together. I first got on the bridge and tried its strength. I then led my horse on the first part; then he had to jump down about two feet on the middle part of the bridge. I then led him to the end of that part, then made him jump into the water. It was about mid- sides to my horse. He then was so far from me that I jumped into the water and waded a few rods. I saw a stump extended above the water. I got onto the stump and then onto my horse, and after riding twenty or thirty rods my horse had to swim the rest of the way. Whenever I started for the west branch of Portage I had about one-half a mile from the river to the main woods. Before I got to the woods I heard a wonderful noise. I could not tell what it was till all at once a terrible storm broke upon me.

The timbers or trees fell all around me. I turned my horse and ran him back to the river, jumping him over the timber that fell. By that time the storm had passed over. I then again went on my way. When I came to the west branch of Portage I kept up the river, did not cross it. When I came within one-half mile of Brother Crum's the water again ex- tended over the road so that my horse had to swim. When over or through the water I then got down into my stirrups and commenced singing, and sang all the way till I reached the house, and felt fine to preach for them at night-just as happy as I well could be. God said: "My grace is sufficient. As thy day is so shall thy grace be."

Let me state one more recollection. Well do I re- member crossing what was known as the Lance bridge, a little west of Carey. My appointment was at Father Shoup's. The bridge across the prairie was one mile long, and there had been heavy rains, and on the south end of the bridge the freshet had taken away about two rods of the bridge. The rails had been laid tight one against another on the sod. At this place loose rails had been laid for people to walk over, about fifteen or twenty inches apart. It looked rather dangerous; there was no water there, yet I knew not what a wonderful place it was. I took off my saddle and knelt down and implored God to help me as on other occasions. I took my horse by the bridle, intending to lead him by the side of the loose rails, and as I started and stepped quick, intending the horse to walk by the side of the rails, he at once sprang upon the rails and followed me over; I returned my grateful thanks to the Lord. I then walked back and got my saddle, and got upon my horse, and went to my appointment. They asked me what way I came. I told them. They were alarmed when I told them how I crossed the prairie, knowing that some of the bridge was gone, that scattering loose rails were laid for people to walk over. A pole could be run down twenty feet any- where near that place. So I was convinced the Lord safely led me through. Now, my dear brethren, I have just noted down a little of the travels of an early itinerant. Those days were days of grace, and not days of money or high salaries. Those days were days of grace and glory; many loud hallelujahs went up to God. Those days were days of love to God and love toward each other; no sparring, no trying to excel. The glory.of God and the salvation of the world was the grand theme.

GREEN CREEK.

NYREEN CREEK township embraces an G area six miles square, bounded on the north by Riley, on the east by York, on the south by Seneca county, and on the west by Ballville. The surface is more undulat- ing than any other part of the county, ex- cept in the immediate vicinity of the river in Ballville township. Three well defined sand ridges angle through the township in a northeast and southwest direction. The roads on the summit of these ridges are the oldest, the ridges being followed on account of their dryness. These roads in dry weather become almost impassable for heavily freighted wagons, as the wheels sink in the sand to the depth of six inches, causing resistance almost as great as clay mud in spring time. These roads are always best just after a dashing rain.

The township is drained by three creeks of considerable size, all flowing the whole length of the territory from south to north. Farthest east is Raccoon Creek, which passes through the village of Clyde. Through the centre flows South Creek, which rises in this township. The stream of greatest size is Green Creek, the two branches of which meet about one mile and a half from the Seneca county line. The west branch rises in Seneca county, its source being a spring which discharges about six hundred cubic feet of water per minute. The spring which gives rise to the east branch is the most celebrated place in the county.

GREEN SPRING.

One-half mile north of the Seneca coun- ty line is a beautiful valley shaded by

young forest trees, near the centre of which is a spring of rare interest, whether æsthetically or scientifically considered. A river of water forces itself through a fissure in the rock-bed fifty feet below the surface and overflows from a great well ten feet in circumference, and reaching to the depth of eighteen feet without an ob- struction, at the rate of more than two barrels per second. The water is strongly saturated with sulphur and mineral solu- tions which stain every substance coming in contact with it, a rich green, varying in shade under the influence of light. No- where in nature is to be seen a more gor- geous display of coloring than in this well on a clear morning when the angling rays of the sun, reflected by the rising current of clear liquid, give to every object an ap- pearance of moving and gorgeously col- ored forms.

That the Indian has an appreciation of the beautiful in nature is shown by the- historical connections of the place. The surrounding grove was once an Indian clearing and at the same time a place of resort and amusement. Here the chiefs met for consultation and mingled with the sulphurous odors of the waters the smoke of cannakanick, arrow wood and tobacco.

The Senecas, whose reservation included the spring, knew well the medicinal prop- erties of the water, and were familiar with its uses. There are many traditional stories connected with the departure of these Indians and the springs. They are of little historic value, being probably poetic inventions. One of these generally

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

accredited is, that a council of chiefs ordered that the spring should be forever destroyed before their unwilling departure for the unknown regions of the West. Logs were cut and thrown into the well lengthwise, brushes, earth and stones were piled upon them, and the channel thus closed. But the force of the ascending current was irresistible; water would plow its way through the interstices which greatly enraged the Indians. A celebrated chief damned the water, and to emphasize the curse which he had pronounced, placed the muzzle of his heavily charged musket in the stubborn stream, and fired, but the barrel burst, which indicated the disappro- bation of the Great Spirit, and no further attempts to destroy this healer of man's infirmities were made by the red men.

The water has been known to possess healing properties ever since the first set- tlement of the country. Year by year the number who came to receive its benefits, increased, until better accommodations be- came desirable. In the summer of 1868 Robert Smith, the owner of the property, organized a stock company for the im- provement of the grounds and the erec- tion of suitable buildings. Having had the water analyzed, the company became sanguine of being able to build up a great health institution. A large hotel and water cure building was erected, and has been open for the reception of patients and visitors since that time. The com- pany is largely indebted to Dr. Sprague, who, by efficient management, gave the institution a full share of its well deserved popularity.

From the spring a stream capable of turning a large mill, flows through a beauti- ful glen. The water at several places in Green Creek township contains mineral solutions, but nowhere in such per centage as at Green Spring. Fish come up Green Creek to within about four miles of its

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source. The bay near the mouth of Green Creek is filled with bass and other fish, but they are unable to live in sulphur water, except very small solution.

THE SENECAS.

Considerable attention is given this tribe of Indians, or more properly, collec- tion of tribes, in the chapter relating to Ballville, and also in the general history in the fore part of this volume. But as their new council house stood within the present boundaries of this township, and consequently in later years the seat of empire changed, it is proper that some- thing should be said in this connection descriptive of the habits and life of these semi-barbarians.

They had been driven from their native homes in New York, corrupted by contact with the border settlements, and as we find them in this county from 1818 to 1831, confined to a comparatively small tract of forty thousand acres. The gen- eral description which we here present is based upon an interview with Judge Hugh Welsh, of Seneca county, who knew these people well. He, in fact, was one among them. It will be seen that the distance between the red-skin and the white-skin was not so great as is commonly supposed.

The members of the several tribes- Wyandots, Mohawks, Oneidas, and Sene- cas-did not speak a language sufficiently uniform in vocabulary to carry on com- mon conversation. They, however, made each other understand their simple wants. Their vocabularies were very different. The Wyandots called tobacco "hamah- mah," the Senecas and Mohawks, "mah." The Mohawks called a knife "winnasrah," accenting the last syllable, while the Sene- cas accented next to the last.

Quite a number of the Indians had shanties built of twelve foot poles, notched at the corners like a corn crib, and cov- ered with bark. The roof was also made

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

of bark weighted down with poles. They lived in these huts winter and summer, except when hunting. They frequently made expeditions to trap, hunt, and make sugar. There was more game here than further west where there were more Ind- ians. There were plenty of deer, bear, and wolves. There never were any beaver in this vicinity. Venison was the staple food, but in winter, while the deer were poor in consequence of snow on the ground, raccoons, turkeys, etc., were used for food instead of venison. Indians are born strategists as well as hunters. Close observation and native ingenuity enabled them to invent calls by which deer and turkeys were enticed almost within reach. Turkeys were called by hiding behind a log and sucking air through the bone of a turkey wing. In this way a sound was made identical with that of a tame turkey hen. The deer call was made by blowing through a hollow piece of wood with one end stopped up and a hole cut in at the side, over which was fastened a piece of metal. The sound was like that of a young fawn bleating ma-a-a-a.

These Indians had a great many ponies, almost every man owning one. Many of the squaws were also expert riders. The only grain they cultivated was corn, which they raised in little patches. The corn raised on a quarter of an acre would keep two or three individuals in that article a whole winter. Several methods were em- ployed for preparing corn, but the common practice was to boil the grain whole, the hull having been removed with lye. There was, however, variety in the manner of serving their plain fare. The corn was sometimes pounded to a meal and sifted through a skin with holes punched in it. The meal was baked into bread, and the coarser pieces remaining in the sieve were made into hominy. The pounding was done in a mortar made by cutting a tree

off square and cutting or burning out the centre. The pestle was a hard piece of iron-wood, made round at both ends. The squaws did the pounding as well as cook- ing. Meat was usually boiled with the corn. A peculiarity of their eating was that only one article was eaten at a time. They never mixed different kinds of food in their mouths.

Their corn was long-eared, and had eight rows of grains, sometimes entirely blue, some almost black, and some a mix- ture of white, blue, and black. It is raised in this county yet sometimes, the seed having come from the Indians.

Their kettles were of copper or brass, and held from ten to fifteen gallons. These were used for making sugar and hominy. They made considerable sugar which was used for sweetening corn. They tapped the trees by cutting in notches with hatchets, and made troughs of elm bark, for catching the sap. Canoes were made of the same material.

In the absence of kettles the meat and corn was placed on sticks and roasted. The Indians were particularly fond of roasting cars. They usually ate in small companies, in relationships rather than in families. At times food was hard to get, the supply of corn having been exhausted, and game scarce in spring time. Occa- sionally they were driven to the necessity of boiling old deer heads, which were any- thing but savory.

The boys used for hunting, bows and arrows. The arrows used for shooting low were made with heavy steel points, bought ready made. Feathers set on with a twist were always used on the sharp ar- rows. They hunted squirrels with a blunt arrow, on which there was no feather. Boys were given the rifle at the age of eighteen. Grown Indians generally hunted with the rifle.

These Indians were almost incessant

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

smokers. Smoking is one of the few cus- toms of civilized society to which the red man takes naturally. Drinking stimulants is another. The inference is that all human- ity is naturally predisposed to both. The Senecas smoked tobacco and the bark of wahoo, which they called kannakanick. They also smoked the bark of a species of dogwood, and sometimes mixed all three of these articles in the same pipe. They were what has been termed æsthetic smokers, never indulging except when at at leisure, which was the greater part of the time.

These Indians did their own tanning. If a hide was dry, they soaked it in the water of a running stream. They then stretched it over a smooth log the size of a man's leg, and with a knife-blade placed in a curved stick, would scrape off all the hair and outside skin; then turning, they scraped off the flesh, and laid the skin out to dry. They then soaked them in deer's brains and warm water worked into a suds. After leaving them to soak two or three days, these self-taught tanners dressed them by rubbing with a stone much like those called axes which are sometimes ploughed up in the fields. The skins were frequently pulled during this opera- tion. The leather thus tanned was col- ored by digging a hole in the ground, hanging the hides on sticks standing up- right in this hole and throwing in burning rotten wood until the color suited.

Judge Welsh says:

When I first knew the Indians, the men dressed in moccasins and leggins, a calico shirt reaching to the knees or hips, and above a jacket, or some garment. The principal dress was, however, one of the Cana- dian blankets fastened with a belt. The arm was protected with deer-skin from brush in the woods. They wore bracelets and ornaments on the breast. The squaws wore broadcloth long enough to fasten with a belt at the waist. Above they wore a jacket; they had moccasins and leggins. They wore hats got from the whites, when they could get them, oth- erwise nothing. Leggins were worn much by the whites; rattlesnakes could not well strike through

them. The Indians were fond of paints, using them especially in their war dances. For red they used blood-root; for yellow, some other root, the name of which is not recalled; and for black, coal mixed with grease or oil.

The Indians indulged much in gaming, foot-racing, horse-racing, and wrestling be- ing the favorite sports. The burial customs of the Wyandots were like the whites. The Mohawks buried along Honey Creek, in Seneca county. The body was placed in a sort of box made of slabs or poles. The Sauks, Foxes, and Pottawattomies placed the body in a sitting posture on the ground, and built a pen around of sticks and logs.

SETTLEMENT.

Sometime during the war of 1812 Samuel Pogue, a soldier in General Har- rison's army, drove a stake near the spring in the west part of Clyde, and declared his intention of settling at that place after the cessation of hostilities. It is also learned from tradition that after viewing the surrounding country from the eleva- tion on the other side of the creek, he ventured the prophesy that sometime a town would occupy that land. This prophesy was made nearly seventy years ago, when Fort Stephenson and a few army trails were the only evidence, in this county, of the existence of white men; when the forest abounded in the native animals of the locality; railroads existed only in the fancy of dreamy philosophers. But when Mr. Pogue, in 1820, came to take formal possession of the land he had selected, he found a hastily-built cabin occupied by the family of Jesse Benton. Benton had preceded him but a few weeks, and was attracted by the same spring and general surroundings. A squatter's title is possession, and Benton had possession, but being a typical squat- ter Mr. Pogue surmised his weak point and brought to bear on him the strongest temptation to abdicate the favorite tract.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

The offer of a barrel of whiskey accom- plished the purpose, and the cabin was vacated. Benton built a cabin further up the creek, and put out a tavern sign. This was an ideal pioneer tavern. One of the early settlers of York township informs us that he once stopped at Benton's when the table fare consisted entirely of squash. It was not the fault of the proprietor of this forest tavern, for it was simply impos- sible to obtain other food.

But before proceeding with this sketch it is proper that we should go back to mention the first family in the township- the Bakers. Samuel Baker, sr., emigrated from New York to Ohio in the winter of 1818 with a family of one son and four daughters. This was the first family to penetrate the woods of Green Creek and begin life among the Indians. The oldest son, Samuel, who died recently, was ac- quainted with the life of this community from its beginning. A biography of the family will be found in this volume. The Cleveland family settled in this township soon afterwards. A biographical sketch is given in this chapter.

Samuel Pogue was accompanied to the township by his step son, Lyman F. Miller, Silas Dewey, Giles Thompson, and Amos Fenn. The farm on which he built his cabin and commenced a clearing was pur- chased at the first Government sale. After the death of Mr. Pogue it came into possession of his step-son, Lyman Miller, and his son-in-law, George R. Brown, who, after the railroads were built laid it out in lots, as will be seen further along.

These first families, Clevelands, Bakers, Pogue, Dewey, and Fenn, were not squat- ters in the common sense of that term. They came with the idea of staying-im- proving their farms and buying the land when it was placed upon the market. The squatter, in the commonly accepted sense of the term, was one who found a place

to live in the wild country where he could supply the simple wants of his appetite without the inconvenience of hard labor. He reasoned well that it would be folly to stir his blood by swinging an axe for the benefit of the man who would eventually crowd him off. This class of squatters became a peculiar people. Living be- tween the savage red man and the hard working pioneer, they became semi-sav- age. It should, therefore, be remembered that there is a wide difference between "squatters" and "squatter settlers," fo which last-named class the pioneers of Green Creek belong. Thus having given a glimpse of the beginning of white occu- pation, we will now proceed to sketch briefly the general settlement of the town- ship.

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History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 92

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040