USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 40
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
been used by the Harding Automatic Screw Machine company, which during the World War has been manufacturing small parts for airplane machinery, on government contracts.
East Liberty is not an incorporated town, but has independent telephone exchange, and volunteer fire department with hand en- gine, and convenient fire cisterns, and everything in the way of public works is compassed by co-operative effort, which is charac- teristic of its five hundred citizens. One of the great natural ad- vantages possessed by the village is its abundance of pure water which is obtained at a minimum of trouble, every well being a flow- ing well, gushing water of a delicious coldness. The situation is excellent and sanitary, and provides pretty sites for homes, of which few towns of its population can boast as large a number of the strictly modern type, architecturally, fitted with lighting and plumbing systems operated by individual power plants, electricity being provided from the municipal electric plant-which is another institution of which the enterprising little town can boast.
The Odd Fellows' Hall is the finest as well as the most preten- tious structure in the village, and the Odd Fellows are themselves, doubtless, a match for their building. The old Town Hall, while not ornamental, is of ample size, wide open and busy, with the intrinsic dignity that comes from real public service.
The P. J. Humphreys well-kept and extensive lumber plant fronts on Main street above the T. & O. C. depot, while beyond the latter is the elevator, owned by Johnson & Harvey, who ship out, every year, an average of twenty thousand bushels of grain. In 1918 this output was chiefly wheat, although oats is usually the preponderant export. Stock raising is a chief industry of this sec- tion of the county, and stock feeding is so extensive that a large import of corn is necessary. Seventy-five carloads of livestock leaves East Liberty yearly by rail. A. L. Benton, stock dealer, also exports about twenty carloads of horses. Hay is also a heavy export item from this and all the eastern border towns. Near the old mill the Mabel Dill & Son firm of poulterers handles a shipping business of ten thousand dollars yearly, besides dealing in hides, furs and junk. An equally large plant of the same nature is situated farther down the tracks. The Raymond creamery and another local milk depot ship fresh milk, cream or butter fat, and con- densed skimmed milk, in large quantities, the Raymond concern handling as high as six thousand pounds of milk daily.
The Hamilton bank, now nearing its twentieth birthday, is a private institution, organized and founded in 1899 by Fremont C. Hamilton, its president. The first cashier was Earl M. Smith. The second to serve the bank in this capacity was Bernice F. Skidmore, who afterward became assistant commissioner of securities in the state banking department. The present official family of the bank is F. C. Hamilton, president; Helen E. Herd, cashier; E. Helen Smith, assistant cashier ; H. W. Harshfield, bookkeeper. The capi- tal stock is $19,000, and the deposits approximate $300,000. Mr. Hamilton's office is in the same room-though the building has been reconstructed-where his father, Dr. J. C. Hamilton, East Liberty's first physician, began his profession. Dr. Hamilton, who
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was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, located in the new village in 1836, at a time when a doctor was sorely needed, and for fifteen years he practiced at high speed, keeping four saddle horses for professional visits alone. During the malaria, milk-sickness and cholera scourges of those fifteen years it was a not uncommon occur- rence for him to prescribe for one hundred patients in a day, while once, at least, the number reached one hundred and forty. Perhaps it should be explained, lest some who read should cavil, that every member of some extraordinarily large family often needed medi- cal attention at the same visit. (During this period, in 1843, an epidemic of influenza ravaged the country. People called it "the Tyler grip.") No fewer than ten young doctors began their medi- cal studies under Dr. Hamilton's direction, all of whom became prominent physicians. Among them were his three brothers, and Dr. S. N. James, who succeeded to the village practice, and whose daughter became Mrs. Fremont Hamilton. Dr. Smith, who suc- ceeded Dr. James at East Liberty, was the latter's pupil. Drs. Adams and Unkifer were also early physicians. Following Dr. Hamilton's retirement, he entered other business, in which he was successful. He died in 1879. Dr. Smith continued in practice for a long term of years. East Liberty is now a remarkably healthy town, and during the last summer and fall (1918) has had no resident physician, Dr. Clippenger having entered army service ; but since the cessation of hostilities with Germany, it is expected that he will return to his clientele. The railway through East Lib- erty has given the town an assurance of continued prosperity, as it is in direct communication with the county seat and the state capi- tol, and as a shipping point has few equals for the variety of produce furnished by the district.
East Liberty is the headquarters of the Slenker depot for fur pelts, an interest that has in the last two or three years had a sudden and profitable revival in this county, in which the smaller fur-bearing animals, mink, muskrat, skunk and others, are still numerous, especially in the northwest and northeast portions. An idea of the value of this trade to Logan county may be conveyed by the authorized statement that full $300,000 worth of fur pelts passed through the Slenker warehouse in 1918, probably four times the value of the output a few years ago.
The first settler in the Rush Creek valley was Thomas Stan- field, who brought with him in 1805 his wife and their family of nine daughters and one son. Mr. and Mrs. William Reams came soon after, with their family, nine sons and one daughter. The Stanfields were Quakers, and as usual with that society they made friends with Indians, who were numerous in that vicinity. During the troubles of 1812, however, the anger of the Indians became in some mysterious way inflamed against the Stanfields, whom they planned to surprise and massacre. Word of the situation having come to the knowledge of Daniel McCoy, of the Zanesfield settle- ment, he not only assisted the family to make a good escape, but by a brave strategy made the lurking Indians believe that he was accompanied by troops, so that the cabin itself was found un- harmed when the Stanfields returned a few days later.
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
May, 1814, the only daughter of the Reamses was married to the only son of the Stanfields, the first marriage in the district. Thomas Sutherland, whose wife was Phoebe, a daughter of the Stanfields, settled in 1816 on land where William Reams' son Aaron had built the first cabin. No other names appear to have been entered prior to 1820, settlement continuing to be very slow in this section. Richardson and Rodaker are the first after 1820, and thereafter came McClure, Thomas, Wilson, Smith, Collins, Tyler, Green, Anderson and Fry, with a few others, up to 1830. "Squire" Rodaker was one of the first justices of the peace, and an amusing anecdote is preserved of a case in his court, in which Anthony Casad persisted in making a speech in behalf of his client, in defiance of the Squire's prohibition. Mr. Casad was rewarded for his very conclusive eloquence by an adverse decision from the rural "bench."
From the edge of the Miami watershed northwest of Rushsyl- vania, and winding down in a belt of varying width toward the eastern boundary of the county, near West Mansfield, is a region which, agriculturally, is the poorest to be found in Logan's borders. A large portion of it was originally covered with swamp and marsh land, once heavily timbered, but in a day when timber was a nui- sance when enough of it had been felled to build the settler's log cabin, a shelter for his cattle, and a few rail fences. Rush creek lake, lying about two miles southwest of Rushsylvania, is about ninety acres in extent, but before the development of Logan county's thorough system of drainage it was surrounded by vast marshes, often covered deep in water, which are now reclaimed and cultivated. Rush creek, a pretty stream for the greater part, varies from clear rapids to muddy levels spreading, originally, into wide marsh regions which in early days generated miasma which hung like a pall over the district, retarding settlement and creating a fabulous market for quinine among the hardy pioneers for more than fifty years.
The historic tornado of 1825, which swept across the entire county, disturbed the settlers in Rush creek and vicinity, but in- jured no one. In this teriffic but freakish windstorm, which dashed mud from the lake marshes against trees a quarter of a mile away, surrounded the cattle of Joel Thomas with an area of fallen tim- bers, but did not hurt one animal; Enoch Lundy's cabin was de- molished by a falling tree, but himself, his wife and four children escaped uninjured. Never did an ill wind blow more good than - this, for it opened a track through and into a new country, and the footsteps of settlers soon found it.
The first industry of the pioneers of this district was trading, their early harvests producing too little to live upon. The first wheat went far to grinding or to market, and sold at fifty cents the bushel at best, pay was usually taken in salt or other necessities, and happy was the pioneer who bought home enough cash to pay his taxes.
The earliest church built among these difficulties was the little log chapel of the Quakers, the ground being given by Thomas Stanfield, first settler. Here Thomas Antrim came periodically to
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MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
preach, and here the first school was conducted, until the build- ing of a log school house near by. Isaac Myers and Justice Ed- wards both taught this school previous to 1820. A cemetery after- ward occupied the site of the little Quaker meeting house, and in it the remains of Thomas Stanfield rest. A Baptist church was the second to be built, in 1827 and the early preachers who ministered there were Revs. Haines Parker, George McColloch, Hiram Hukel and Clark. The chapel, known as "Rush Creek church," was a hewn log cabin, and a public burying ground was established by it, on land donated by Solomon Cover. Samuel Patrick, who died October, 1831, was the first person to be buried there.
Ebenezer Zane and his wife, Hannah, had a camp on Mill creek, and upon occasions the many Indians in the district were preached to by a son-in-law of Ebenezer, "Doctor Gray-eyes," an Indian Mis- sionary from the Sandusky reservation, who addressed them in their own tongue. Other settlers attended these preachments, and the whole congregation were once dined at the Zane camp by "Aunt Hannah," the piece de resistance being bear meat furnished by Ebenezer's rifle, with wild honey for a savor. The incident is significant of the friendliness between the settlers and the red man. But pioneer churches were few, and meetings of a religious char- acter were held chiefly in schoolhouses. The Methodists were great missionaries, however, and by means of revivals at these places kept the church spirit alive. Their first church was built in Rush- sylvania, and was remodeled into a dwelling when in 1867 the Presbyterians united with them in the building of a larger church. In 1870 they purchased and remodeled the old Reformed Presby- terian chapel, its original congregation organized by Rev. J. B. Johnston of Northwood, having scattered. The Disciples, first established in 1840, erected a brick church at Rushsylvania in 1868.
The old Sandusky road, opened in 1824, traversed this territory from southwest to northeast, and along this route, at Big Springs, the Buckminster tavern, a frame and log structure, stood in 1830, while at the point where the pike now turns to cross the railroad, John May also kept a tavern at the same time. Squire Rodaker built the first sawmill in 1830, and in 1832 the Sutton sawmill was built on Rush creek, about a mile east of the Sandusky road, John Basil building one on the Miami fork about the same time. The first grist mill was built near the Rodaker sawmill, the same year, and John Basil added a grist mill at his own site, fashioning the buhrs himself from boulders. No town was projected until 1834, but the population was gathering. A blazed road was the only means of travel between Rushsylvania and the Cherokee mills at this time. The May tavern was the location of the first postoffice, as well as a stage stand and resort for travelers. The first tannery was set up by James Clagg, who bought the land where Rushsyl- vania stands and the town, which was platted in 1834, was at first nicknamed "Claggstown." Clagg had settled first on the Miami, where he sold out to Enos Pickering, purchasing the site of Rush- sylvania from the heirs of James Qua. The tale of the Miami mills, near which region was the settlement known as "White's Town," is perhaps best explained by the fact that the mysterious "milk-
PUBLIC SCHOOL, DE GRAFF, D.
M.E. CHURCH, WEST MANSFIELD, O.
CHURCH of CHRIST, BELLE CENTER, O.
METHODIST CHURCH, RUSHSYLVANIA, O.
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
sickness" made its worst ravages there, John Basil, the miller, and his wife and child being included among its victims. Whole families were wiped out. Rushsylvania, therefore, had no rival in that section of the county. Four "hotels" sprang into being in the new town, kept by James Elam, Robert Stephenson, Thompson Hughes and Jacob Niglebarger. Both of the latter kept stores in connection with their taverns, the same hosts being postmasters in the first years. They were succeeded by Dr. Doran, who re- tained the position of postmaster for at least forty years.
The village as at first built was all of log houses, three of the taverns on as many corners at the intersection of the two main streets, the Hughes store occupying the corner where the Bennett drug store afterward was opened. Benjamin Green had a pottery shop, and William Gibson and S. B. Stillwell were early wagon makers. Stillwell was the first blacksmith. Whiskey was "a lead- ing commodity of trade," quinine being its only rival, according to a statement by Dr. Doran, who, after Dr. Green and Dr. Kings- ton, was one of the earliest physicians, his practice having required "horseback travel enough to go twice around the world and part way again."
The first frame house was built for Thomas Hughes, by John Basil, who finished all the lumber for the outside by hand, and re- ceived for the entire work, including all materials, the princely sum of fifty dollars.
In 1853 the Big Four (then the Bellefontaine & Indiana) rail- road was completed through the county, giving to Rushsylvania all the advantage which the young community needs and desires. A fire destroyed practically all the business portion in 1857, but gave an opportunity to rebuild in better fashion. Jacob Pym bought and improved the Rubart grist and saw mills, and in 1862 the Pym brothers built a stone mill in the town, Robert Porter and the Day brothers being later owners of the same mill, which was a steam mill and had a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. James Adams started a woolen mill at the old Pym grist mill on Rush creek, which, running night and day, promised great success. A freshet in 1868 washed out the dam, which was rebuilt, but washed out a second time, after which the disheartened owner sold out to William George, who operated it until 1870, when the plant was destroyed permanently by fire. Up to this time the business history seems to be a long chapter of discouraging disasters which only the hardiest courage overcame. Blacksmithing, however, must have been a fairly good trade, in those times, for we find that at the time of the removal of the Indians to the far west, the local blacksmiths, Jacob Good, Daniel Hall and Joseph Ellsworth, shod seven hundred ponies for the trip. The animals had to be thrown and tied with ropes in order to do the work.
Rushsylvania had some advantages, however, which count heavily, and, in spite of some reverses to the village, the general outlook is good. The finest limestone in the county is quarried close to the town, this industry giving employment to a good num- ber of inhabitants, and the manufacture of bricks is also a local in- dustry. The discovery, about 1879, of the fine marl deposits along
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MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
Rush creek led to the development of the cement industry, it being found that Portland cement of the most superior wearing quality and whiteness as well as tensile strength ever put on the market could be produced here. The Buckeye Portland Cement works, organized in the eighties, had a great success, becoming famous all over the country, and boosting the prosperity of the Rush creek district as well as the town of Rushsylvania. The pavement around the courthouse in Bellefontaine was made from it, and after twenty- nine years is still in good condition, far less worn than stone would have been in less time, and defying comparison with any other paving material ever used in this part of the country. The cement blocks laid in Bellefontaine were the first street paving done with cement in America, and blocks from the street were taken up after three years' use and exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. Temporarily at least the cement is now off the market, it having been found that limestone cement can be made at much lower cost, than the marl product, but it is not impossible that a revival of the manufacture may be effected. The plant is now be- ing used as an experimental station by the American Refractories company. The Buckeye plant, seen from the pike and the railroad, is but a short distance south of Rushsylvania, while still farther to the southwest is the ruin of the Alta Cement works, once a flourish- ing plant, which benefited both Harper and Rushsylvania, but was destroyed by fire several years ago. The marl deposits were found in greatest depth on the McAdams farm, near the Buckeye works.
In general this territory is not as rich, agriculturally, as most other parts of the county, but furnishes good grazing ground, and the largest exports by rail are of livestock, eighty-five or more carloads going yearly to market. Hay and straw aggregate near- ly as many carloads, while wool, lumber, poultry and eggs as well as milk are shipped by rail and carried by motor trucks to a far greater amount than can be shown by figures here. The milk products go to the condensery at Ridgeway, on the Hardin county line.
The Rushsylvania of today is holding its own, and retail busi- ness is in good condition, if not rushing. It is a fairly built town, and has good sidewalks, but no pavements. The world war con- ditions have hampered the district here perhaps a little more heavily than elsewhere, but that will pass. The W. A. Wright furniture and undertaking business is a large concern, established in 1873, Mr. Wright, though not a native, having been a citizen since 1862. The elevator, owned by W. S. Lehrer, is a capacious affair, hand- ling all the grain produce of the surrounding territory, and builders' and farmers' supplies. Some of the older residents, who have stood with the town through its bright and stormy days, are David Roberts, the first agent of the Big Four railroad there, and David Lawson, the well-known stock buyer. H. A. Shoemaker, the straight- forward editor of the Rushsylvania Record, is a farmer as well as an editor, and while the Record is kept with faithfulness, it some- times "skips" a number (because the editor has to supply the short- age of labor on the farm, and patriotically deserts the type-cases for the harvest field), but in the long run nothing of importance to
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
Rushsylvania escapes Mr. Shoemaker. The Record was estab- lished in 1879.
firee churches, survive in Rushsylvania, all in flourishing con- dition, the buildings having been modernized or rebuilt. Rev. John W. Alexander, the shepherd of the Presbyterian flock for forty- three years, has lately (1918) resigned on account of advancing years, and as yet a successor to the pulpit has not been secured. Rev. Alexander still resides in Rushsylvania, and occasionally preaches. The professional roster of the village at present (1918) numbers Dr. F. M. Lewis, dentist ; Mr. John P. Bower, attorney, and well-known member of the Logan county bar; and Drs. John C. Blinn and Zurmley. The latter is still in army service, stationed at a camp near Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are two well- kept drug stores, a good restaurant, and for more than forty years there has been no saloon in the district. Electric light is obtained from the plant at Mount Victory, the telephone is independent, and water is supplied from wells which yield a flowing abundance.
The Citizens' Bank company was organized and incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio in 1907, with a capital of $25,- 000. Its officers are: Samuel Jenkins, president; Lewis W. Faw- cett, vice-president; John W. Ansley, cashier; the additional di- rectors being Will Irick, Charles Kimmel, Martin McAdams, Frank McColloch and Lewis J. Shoots. This bank has made Rushsylvania financially independent, and is a solid institution in which the sur- rounding population place confidence.
At Big Springs, northeast of Rushsylvania, Lanson Curtis (of Zanesfield) had started improvements long before the other settle- ments of the north had begun to crystallize into towns, his tavern there being established to catch the custom of the early stage coach travelers. No town was platted, however, until 1852, when the railroad was completed, at which time Henry Rosebrook first sold some lots. It is now a fair sized community with two hand- some churches, the Christian and the Protestant Methodist, which proclaim it the center of a church-going district. There is a goodly collection of neat homes, and all the elements of village life. The Big Springs Elevator Company handles a large shipping business for the farmers of the vicinity, and the small or perishable exports are transported by motor truck service.
The pretty little hamlet at Walnut grove, is not in the line of growth, but as a landmark is agreeable to the traveler. It stands at the crossing of the Treaty Line and East Liberty pikes, and at the edge of what was once characterized as the "fallen timbers," left in the wake of the great cyclone of 1825.
The town of Harper was also the product of the railroad, being laid out in 1852, by John Q. Williams, in anticipation of coming advantages. It is not in the way of becoming a large town, but has become a rural shipping center for all kinds of agriculutral products and has gathered a comfortable population which clusters around the pretty Methodist church, and enjoys the enviable repu- tation of never having suported a grog shop within its borders.
The belt of fallen timber opened a path to settlement farther east in the basin of Bokes (or "bogy") creek. Jeremiah Hill and
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his son, John Hill, came from Greene county in 1827, and purchased a tract in "the windfall," paying $5 an acre for it, which was more than twice the price asked for wooded lands. A Mr. Beli came very soon after, and as the Hills had not secured a good title to their land, they were compelled to forsake their improvements, and take up a new claim on the border of Rush creek, some miles north. A distance from their cabin stood an old Indian council house, built of poles (round logs covered with bark), the remains of which were preserved until a very recent date. The earth about the structure was covered far below plowing deapth with ashes, presumably from council fires. At one corner of the Hill farm existed an Indian "spring" or well, near the bank of the creek. It was about eighteen inches square and walled to great depth with poles six inches in circumference, driven into the ground one above another. It was deemed a mystery that, after the departure of the Indians from the county to the west, this spring should have collapsed and disap- peared; but as it was doubtless not a spring, but a seep well, the walls probably rotted and, in falling, closed the cavity in a most natural manner. The Coffields and Clines, and William Callahan settled on Rush creek in 1829, and about 1830 the Skidmores made their appearance at the estern border of the county, from which point they mutiplied the name over that part of the settlements. E. C. Hathaway came from Massachusetts in 1831 and settled on a farm on Bokes creek, about a mile and a half north of the site of West Mansfield, a district which now exibits some of the finest farms in Logan county. It sold then for $2 an acre. Between the dates 1830 and 1840, the names of Scranton, Gardner, Lewis, Bates, Frederick Keller, Robert and David Ray and James Hatcher are on record as settling south of the Greenville treaty line. Jacob Keller settled in 1839 close to the site of West Mansfield. North of the treaty line, after 1840, Felix Thornton, William Luffel, Archi- bald Wilson, Henry Williams, William Furrow and Jacob Green settled. Land values were evidently increasing by this time (1845), as the latter three paid $4 an acre for their farms. Still farther north, however, on Rush creek, Samuel Higgins, William Richards, Andrew Wilson and John Ramsey secured tracts at $1.25 per acre. Next to tree felling, hunting was the chief occupation, 'coon hunt- ing being an accompaniment to the first. Skins were the sub- stitute for currency-which was scarce-and were traded at their estimate value among neighbors or at market. Wild honey, corn bread of a coarse variety, and hominy, with venison and other wild meat was the extent of the pioneer's bill of fare. Hogs of the razor- back species were the first stock to be raised, and fed in the woods upon acorns and mast. William Callahan sold his first "fifty head" at 75 cents per hundredweight! Maple sugar, also, became profit- able, and passed as legal tender. Jeremiah Hill, jr., a brother to John Hill, was the first birth in the northwest territory, the event occurring in the first year after the immigration of the family. The first burying ground was located on the Hill farm, a little girl named Stiles being the first to be laid to rest there. The first two marriages performed in this part of the county were those of Isaac Cline to Elizabeth Hill, about 1840, and of Christopher Cline to Lida
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