USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
To secure subscriptions and look after all the details, leading up to the
367
UNION COUNTY, OIIIO.
completion and erection of this memorial, has been no easy task. The com- mittee has worked untiringly and the patriotic citizens have responded cheer- fully and generously to every financial call, and by helpful assistance in ar- ranging for this patriotic service.
In the sealed receptacle inside the monument is deposited the name and service of every soldier who enlisted from the township, the name of every subscriber to the monument fund, the names of the school children of the township, photographs of upwards of sixty soldiers of the Civil War, a copy of the program of the day, with songs, and names of the committees who have had charge of all matters pertaining to the erection of the monument.
You all have an interest in this memorial, and some day in the far fu- ture, perhaps one hundred years hence, this receptacle will be unsealed, and your names will be read by your descendants.
Fifty-two years ago-April 24. 1861-the first war meeting was held in this church and the older citizens, Presbyterians and Methodists, were prominent in that meeting. Rev. B. D. Evans, a Presbyterian minister, made an enthusiastic, patriotic speech and, although three-score years of age, he afterwards enlisted as one of the Minute Men and went to Cincinnati to assist in repelling the invasion of the Confederate army into Ohio. The Bible and the munitions of war were side by side on the old pulpit. Much enthusiasm was manifested and David O. Taylor, the first to enlist, was killed on the battlefield at Dallas, Georgia, May 27, 1864.
Doctor James Cutler. a young physician of this village, who had served in the regular army during the Mexican War, was elected captain of the company. The company commenced at once to drill in the fields and mea- dows surrounding this village, and the shrill fife and the rattling drum were heard two or three times each week.
The busy hands of mothers and sisters in a few days furnished the first uniforms, consisting of red jackets and black caps. Young ladies of the neighborhood purchased silk in Columbus and made a large silk flag, which was presented to the company down on the square, July 4, 1861. Be- fore the company was recruited to the required number, a call was made for three years' service and this company did not enter the field as an or- ganization, yet every one of them enlisted in the three years' service in many different regiments.
These boys marched gaily away to the wild music of war drums, the blare of trumpets, the bright banners and uniformns, fathers, mothers, sis- ters and brothers, cheering them on: but they did not all return. Three score and ten of your boys sleep on the battlefields of the South. Those
368
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
who did return came with banners blackened with the smoke of battle. faded uniforms and sun-bronzed heroes of many battles. They served in forty- two different regiments, batteries and other organizations.
Some of your boys, my fellow citizens, fought on almost every great battlefield of the war. They were at Gettysburg, where forty-one thousand boys of the North and South fell in two days; they were at Chickamauga, where thirty-five thousand boys fell in two days : they were at Shiloh, Stone's River, Cheat Mountain, Port Republic, Antietam, Vicksburg and on many of the battle fields of Virginia: they were in the "one hundred days inder fire from Chattanooga to Atlanta"; some of them marched with Sherman to the sea. and others were at Appomattox at the surrender of Lee's army. This is the true story of the services of the soldiers of this township to whom you pay tribute today, by this ceremony of dedicating this monument and the strewing of flowers. Three score and ten died for you and me, that we might live and enjoy the many blessings of a free and united nation.
Upward of two million six hundred thousand soldiers served in the Union army during the Civil War. Of that number Ohio furnished 313, 180. and the losses killed, including those who died of wounds, were 35,475. Union county sent to the battlefield three thousand soldiers, one-tenth of whom enlisted in this township. Upwards of five hundred who enlisted from the county were killed or died of wounds and disease in the service and the total casualties were one thousand and thirty-five. About one-eighth of that number were from Jerome township.
We had no officers of high rank in the Civil War. One reached the rank of colonel, one of major, five of captain, but the rank and file who car- ried the musket. the carbine and knapsack, did the fighting and won the battles that saved the nation.
The erection of monuments and memorials to commemorate the sacri- fices, sufferings of the fallen heroes, of all our wars, is very commendable. How appropriate the inscription on your monument which reads as follows:
"In honor of the men who served in the Army of the Union. Those who fought and lived and those who Fought and died. May this shaft ever call to memory The story of the glory of these men who wore the blue."
This inscription should be memorized by every pupil in your schools, for the erection of memorials arouses the patriotic enthusiasmn of the youth of our land and instills in their minds loyalty to our flag and all that it implies.
369
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
The public school is the nursery of patriotism. Its best fruits are Amner- icans and the making of the loyal and intelligent citizen. Then how appro- priate it is that they should take part in these patriotic ceremonies. It will be an ominous day in the history of any family when it no longer remem- bers with gratitude the worthy deeds of its ancestors, and there is no cause, except religion, holier than the service to country and state. First comes the cross, then the flag, for Christianity and patriotism go hand in hand.
One word more, my old neighborhood friends: always keep in mind and teach your children that this is the most sacred and pathetic of all Amer- ican holidays ; let it not become a day of noise and a gala affair. Remem- ber the religious sentiment of honoring the dead and perpetuating their deeds of valor in the beautiful ceremonies which make this day more sacred and nobler than any other holiday.
In the "brave days of old." each year on the anniversary of the battle of Marathon, the Greek sires would take their boys to the battlefield of Mara- thon, show them the monument erected to their heroes who there fell in de- fense of their land, and exalt the example of those who sacrificed life and limb for their country.
So should we, the friends and descendants of these brave men and he- roes of all our wars, from Lexington in the war of the Revolution, to Appo- mattox, kindle the fires of patriotism in our boys by holding up to them the imperishable deeds of our soldiers on all our battlefields.
My fellow citizens, when the last survivor who enlisted here has an- swered his last roll-call on earth, we can see with prophetic eye the descend- ants of these heroes gathered about this monument, reciting to their chil- dren's children the heroic deeds of their ancestors on the battle field.
The victories were not all won by the soldiers at the front, for there was a loyal battle line in our homes in the North. There were heroes and heroines in the old homesteads who were not permitted to go to the front during the dark days of the war. Some citizens with families, others physi- cally disabled, but all through those long and weary years their patriotism never faltered and they were ever ready to open their purses for payment of bounties and to care for families of the soldiers on the battle lines.
Then there were the mothers, the wives, the sisters, and the sweethearts -it has been truly said that there was one line that was never broken during the war; and that was the line of the loyal women. Some of them are here today, who cheered father, brother and sweetheart as he marched away to
(24)
370
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
the music of the drums in 1861-65. You waited anxiously for many of them who did not return.
You loved them better than life, but you could only hope and pray. Your hearts were on the battle line at the front, for your dear ones were there, and you would have scorned him had he failed in his duty to home and country. Your love and prayers following him on the march and in the carnage of battle, and he could not have been otherwise than brave.
Through all the long and weary years of the war you did not lose faith; you wrote messages of cheer, suffered for every shot that pierced a loved one, and those who were spared returned victorious to receive your blessing. Of the many bright and happy girls who with their willing hands made and presented the silk flag to your boys within a stone's throw of this spot, July 4, 1861, not more than half a dozen reside in this community today.
The fathers and mothers of that day have all passed away and the boys and girls of 1861 are now the older generation. There are some sad hearts here today-widows of soldier husbands who have passed to the other shore, there awaiting the happy reunion, perhaps but a few years hence.
But to you, with all its sadness, you rejoice that your loved ones-hus- band or father-fought the good fight and is so highly honored today by this patriotic service and memorial.
And where are the boys who marched and drilled over meadows and along the streets of this village fifty-two years ago? Were the first ser- geants of the forty-two organizations in which these boys served here today and would give the command "Attention to roll call!" they would not all an- swer "Here." But on parade he could report to the adjutant : "Sir, all pres- ent or accounted for." Three score and ten died with honor on the field. two hundred sleep in the cemeteries of the North, only a remnant of the old guard survives, but "all present or accounted for" would be the answer.
One parting word, comrades of the Great March. You are not only veterans in service, but veterans in age now. Your heads are graying, your step is halting, but you are young in heart-steadily marching behind the great recruiting officer-Death. The ranks are thinning-one hundred go- ing down each day. We will not all meet on this historic ground again, but there are some here today who may live to see the Memorial Day when there will not be a veteran of the great war on earth.
There will be eloquent words spoken; there will be patriotic songs by the children: there will be strewing of the sweetest flowers of springtime over the graves of your departed heroes, but not one will answer "Here,"
371
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
when the roll is called. My comrades, when we have all been mustered out by the Great Commander, when we have heard the bugle sounding reveille, for the last time calling us to duty, when "taps" and "lights out" have been sounded for the last time, let us be ready to join our comrades on the other shore. It will be "good night" here and "good morning" over there. Salute the flag! Break ranks! Farewell !
CHAPTER XVIII.
REMINISCENCES AND MEMOIRS.
INTERESTING EARLY INCIDENTS.
The following interesting article was written by Captain H. C. Hamil- ton, who resided in Union county so many years, and whose gallant military service is noted elsewhere in this volume. It was written about a third of a century ago and is a part of the permanent annals of the county :
July 4, 1838, was observed in good style at Richwood. The people turned out enmasse: a martial band was employed, consisting of James Landon, Cyrus Landon and Payne Landon. They were paid fifty cents apiece and came on foot, carrying their drums from Prospect. a distance of six miles. Rev. Jacob Young delivered the oration. In the morning, while the people were gathering, a foot race was arranged between William Ben- nett and Benjamin M. Hamilton. The latter was young and quick in his motion : he had been in the habit of outrunning his schoolmates in Muskin- gum county, and gave out word that he could outrun anyone in Richwood. Bennett was an old hunter and once a very powerful man, in which respect he was like all his brothers. They started from what is now the center of town and ran south on the Marysville road. At first Bennett allowed Hamil- ton to lead by twenty feet or more, but when about half way he began to lope off something like a deer. and in a few jumps he was in the lead. He then turned and ran backwards, calling on Hamilton to "come on" and not to be discouraged. Bennett won the race. making half the distance backwards. He then said he could beat Hamilton any distance and carry old man Cade -- who would weigh over two hundred pounds -- on his back.
In the summer of 1842. when I was twelve years old. and a small boy carrying the mail from Richwood to Marysville and back every Friday, I chanced to see an old-fashioned militia muster at Pharisburg. Captain Westenhoover was in command. The ground was wet and muddy; the captain had on a large bell-crowned beaver hat and a blue spike-tailed coat with a great many brass buttons. He was in his bare feet and had his home-
373
UNION COUNTY, 01110.
made pants rolled up to his knees. As 1 came into Pharisburg from Marys- ville, Captain Westenhoover came leading his company south with David Welsh in the lead and the Scott boys next. At what is now the south part of town, the Captain countermarched his company and started north and all went well until they came near the cross-roads and to a large oak stump which was near the road. At this point Welsh gave a knowing wink to those around, and then aimed for the stump and fell over it. and was fol- lowed by all the company until they all lay in one pile around the stump, with their broomsticks and cornstalks in their hands and raising a roar of laughter. This broke up the muster in a row.
About the year 1841 I chanced to go to Marysville on an errand. I went across the square to the southwest side to Rodney Picket's store where I heard some men indulging in loud laughter. I was a timid boy, but got close enough to overhear the cause of laughter. A man, whose name I did not learn, had taken a contract to paint the court house, and had prepared his paint by mixing in buttermilk in order to save money ; but when he carried it to the building to commence work he left it for a short time and some hogs drank it all up, and this was what the men were laughing at.
In early times there lived on the knoll east of the present residence of G. B. Hamilton a person of some notoriety, known by the name of "Dick," and such we will call him in this article. Dick was an innocent kind of a fellow whose life was of the kind to make mischief and whose stealings were on a small scale and of such things as he stood in need of. It was said of Dick that if he borrowed a horse he would feed it well if he had to steal the grain of its owner to do so. He was always ready to do a kind act and was looked upon as rather a good kind of a fellow despite his weakness. He was a man of some talent. had a passion for polemics and was fond of talking of his skill as a debater. He had one besetting sin that was not offset by virtue sufficient in the eyes of his neighbors; it was that of whipping his wife, whose name was Hannah. The old men of the community tried to scold and shame him out of so bad a habit, but it was of no use. Very fre- quently Hannah's screams would be heard all the country 'round, and the neighbors would be disturbed by his efforts to correct his wife. It was finally proposed that the young men of the neighborhood should take the matter in hand and try the effect of a debate on "Poor Richard." The matter was duly considered and plans matured. It was arranged to hold the debate in the upper room of Samuel Hamilton's house, which was the best room of the kind in the county, save the two churches in Richwood. The time for meet- ing was set for two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. that all might attend.
.
374
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
First there was to be a question discussed such as Dick was fond of, and he was to be one of the chief disputants. John Graham was to be president, judge of the first debate and when it closed and the decision of the judge was given, he was to retire from his chair and name his successor. Upon doing so, he chose Dick as the president judge on the debate to follow. The first one was cut short to give time for the second. Richard, upon taking the chair, returned thanks for the honor done him, and stated that the next thing in order was to choose the assistant judges; whereupon Samuel Gra- ham and Eleazer Rose were appointed-they being in league with the others in the scheme to give Dick a scorching. The three were placed on the seats of honor, with Richard in the center. It was further agreed that the ques- tion should be "What crime should sink a man the lowest in the estimation of the community?" James C. Dobie and S. C. Hamilton were appointed leaders in the discussion. Dobie chose J. H. Hamilton and B. Graham as his assistants, while Hamilton chose John Graham and John Wells. Each leader was to choose for himself the crime he saw fit as being the one that should sink a person the lowest in the esteem of his fellow-men, each speaker to be allowed two speeches. Dobie opened the discussion by choosing lying and stealing as being the worst of all crimes. He was a fluent speaker and made a good address, scoring Dick pretty heavily. He was followed by Hamilton, who had great difficulty in finding a crime that was as degrading as lying or stealing. After naming over all the crimes he could think of, he finally concluded to select "Wife-whipping" as the one which above all others should sink a man the lowest in the scale of human existence. Poor Richard now saw that he was caught, but it was too late, for if he had attempted to leave the two assistant judges would have held him to his post. Hamilton opened for his side by admitting all that Dobie had said as to the meanness of the liar and thief, but argued that the man who would whip his wife was meaner still. When it came to John Graham's turn to speak, he made a fine argument, tending to show that in the single act of whipping a wife were found all the crimes in the list-that the wife-whipper was a liar and a perjurer as well as a thief. Dobie's side made an effort to ward off some of the blows and did well for some three hours until it came Hamilton's turn to close the debate. He, no doubt. made the best speech of his life, taking the position that a man might be a liar, a thief, a robber, a pirate or even a mur- derer, and yet, if he had manhood enough left in him to live true to his mar- riage vows he was entitled to some respect from his fellow men. But that when he was so far gone as to beat his own wife-the mother of his children
373
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
-he was so low down in the scale of existence, that he was not entitled to any respect from either men or devils; and the wife-beater was to be shunned and scorned in this life as one would shun a viper ; even in hell, he would not be accounted worthy to associate with the lost, but that in one corner there would be a place by itself in which to confine none but wife-whippers, for the reason they were so low it would be unjust to compel others to associate with them, even in the regions of the damned. Ile then appealed to the judges to decide without hesitating one moment that wife-whipping should of all crimes sink a man the lowest in the estimation of the community.
During all this long debate, of three or four hours, poor Richard sat with his head down and only now and then made an ineffectual effort to look up. Afterward he said to one of his associate judges that it was the hardest question he had ever been called upon to decide! Dick was quite anxious to try the same game on some of his neighbors, with a view to their reformation. He would say to his chums, "Let us have a debate over such a fellow and see if we can't break him of some of his bad tricks?"
Dick lived and died near Richwood, and, so far as I know, was not known to whip Hannah after that debate.
THE STORY OF JONATHAN ALDER.
Many of the people formerly living in this locality were more or less familiar with the history of this man, and as he lived in Jerome township, it will not be out of place to give an account of him here, taken principally from Howe's "Historical Collection of Ohio:"
Jonathan Alder was born in New Jersey about eight miles from Phila- delphia on September 17, 1773. When at about the age of seven years his parents removed to Wythe county, Virginia, and his father soon after died. In the succeeding March, 1782. while out with his brother, David, hunting for a mare and her colt, he was taken prisoner by a small party of Indians. His brother, on the first alarm, ran and was pursued by some of the party. "At length," says Alder, "I saw them returning, leading my brother, while one was holding the handle of a spear that he had thrown at him and run into his body. As they approached, one of them stepped up and grasped him around the body, while another pulled out the spear. I observed some flesh on the end of it, which looked white, which I supposed came from his en- trails. I moved to him and inquired if he was hurt and he replied that he was. These were the last words that passed between us. At that moment he turned pale and began to sink and I was hurried on, and shortly after saw
376
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
one of the barbarous wretches coming up with the scalp of my brother in his hand, shaking off the blood."
The Indians, having also taken prisoner a Mrs. Martin, a neighbor to the Alders, with a young child aged about four or five years, retreated to- ward their towns. Their route lay through the woods to the Big Sandy, down that stream to the Ohio, which they crossed and from thence went overland to the Scioto near Chillicothe and so on to a Mingo village on Mad river. Finding the child of Mrs. Martin burdensome, they soon killed and scalped it. The last member of her family was now destroyed and she screamed in agony of grief. Upon this, one of the Indians caught her by her hair and, drawing the edge of his knife across her forehead, cried : "Sculp! sculp!" with the hope of stilling her cries. But, indifferent to life, she continued her screams, when they procured some switches and whipped her until she was silent. The next day young Alder having not risen through fatigue from eating at the moment the word was given, saw, as his face was toward the north, the shadow of a man's arm with an uplifted tomahawk. He turned and there stood an Indian ready for the fatal blow. Upon this he let down his arm and commenced feeling of his head. He afterward told Alder it had been his intention to kill him; but as he turned, he looked so smiling and pleasant he could not strike and on feeling his head and noticing that his hair was very black, the thought struck him that if he could only get him to his tribe he would make a good Indian, but that all that saved his life was the color of his hair.
After they crossed the Ohio they killed a bear and remained four days to dry the meat for packing and to fry out the oil, which last they put in the intestines, having first turned and cleaned them. The village to which Alder was taken belonged to the Mingo tribe and was on the north side of Mad river, which, we should judge, was somewhere within or near the limits of what is now Logan county. As he entered, he was obliged to run the gaunt- let. formed by young children armed with switches. He passed through this ordeal with little or no injury and was adopted into an Indian family. His Indian mother thoroughly washed him with soap and warm water with herbs in it, previous to dressing him in the Indian costume, consisting of a calico shirt. breech-clout, leggins and moccasins. The family, having thus converted him into an Indian, were much pleased with their new member. But Jonathan was at first very homesick, thinking of his mother and broth- ers. Everything was strange about him; he was unable to speak a word of their language; their food disagreed with him and, child-like, he used to go
377
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
ont daily for a month and sit under a large walnut tree near the village and cry for hours at a time over his deplorable situation. His Indian father was a chief of the Mingo tribe, named Succohanos ; his Indian mother was named Whinecheoh and their daughters, respectively, answered to the good old English name of Mary, Hannah and Sally. Succohanos and Whinecheoh were old people and had lost a son, in whose place they had adopted Jona- than. They took pity on the little fellow and did their best to comfort him, telling him that he would one day be restored to his mother and brothers.
He says of them, "They could not have used their own son better, for which they shall always be held in most grateful remembrance by me." His Indian sister, Sally, however, treated him like a slave and when out of humor applied to him, in the Indian tongue, the unladylike epithet of "ornary (mean), lousy prisoner!" Jonathan, for a time, lived with Mary, who had become the wife of the chief Colonel Lewis. "In the fall of the year," says he. "the Indians would generally collect at our camp in the evenings to talk over their hunting expeditions. I would sit up to listen to their stories and frequently fell asleep just where I was sitting. After they left Mary would fix my bed, and with Colonel Lewis would carefully take me up and carry me to it. On these occasions they would often say-supposing me to be asleep-Poor fellow ! We have sat up too long for him and he has fallen asleep on the cold ground,' and then how softly would they lay me down and cover me up. Oh, never have I. nor can I, express the affection I had for these two persons."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.