USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. I > Part 9
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The machinery was often crude in its construction and hard to manage, but year by year these things gradually righted themselves, until much of the heaviest work could be easily performed by machinery in an improved state. First the grain cradle, then the reaper and mower, combined in one, then the single mower and the perfected self-binder. But it really took several gen- erations to bring about all of these things which the twentieth-century farmer enjoys and profits by.
Commonly, at an early day, little stock was kept other than to supply the family with meat and provide teams of oxen and horses for conducting the place with. This was on account of the great distance to markets, there being no means of transportation by water or rail in those days. Blooded horses
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were not introduced into Ohio until 1825, up in the Western Reserve. A few had been shipped in as early as 1818. Cattle were brought over the moun- tains and kept only for domestic use for a number of years. However, in 1807, some were driven to the far-away Baltimore markets, from about Chil- licothe; in Knox county not nearly so early. Some sheep were kept by all families, for on these depended the wool from which was made most of the home-made clothing for both sexes. The hog of today is not much like his forefathers, for really the early "rail-splitters" found in Knox county in 1815 to 1829 were a poor substitute for a hog, yet they did produce lard and "side meat" for the pioneers. The Ohio hog is now as good as the earth affords, one at the late state fair weighing fourteen hundred pounds.
As to fruit and the science of raising the same in Knox county, it may be stated that it has its full share of thrifty orchards and that their owners know how to propagate and care for the same, aided by experience and all that scientific horticulture has done for the country in the last century. To John Chapman. a singular character, who was a Swedenborgian minister, but who went about doing good at collecting and planting apple seeds here and there in Ohio and Indiana, throughout a long term of pioneer years, must be given much credit for the first orchards here. He went by the name of "Johnny Appleseed." He planted and tended nurseries as a religious duty, as well as for pleasure and profit. More may be said of this odd character in other chap- ters of this work. His work along Owl creek in tree-planting was about the first successful attempt at producing good apples. He was a property owner here in Mt. Vernon in the twenties.
Fruits of almost an endless variety make glad the heart of the husband- man in Knox county today. Here may be found an abundance of fine apples, plums, pears, berries of all kinds and peaches of the finest flavor. Besides the amount consumed at home, large quantities are annually sent to distant parts of the country.
The potato crop is one of great importance here, too. For many years it has been the banner county in this respect. The soil and climate seem pe- culiarly fitted for its production.
The early farmer here, as elsewhere in the United States, had his whims of "planting in the moon," and many another amusing way of doing things, yet as the country settled up, the numerous old and superstitious notions, gained from his forefathers beyond the Alleghany mountains, one by one de- parted from the minds of men engaged in agriculture, and now all farmers depend upon a scientific, rational care of the native soil and the selection of the best, most highly improved kind of seeds. With this and plenty of God's own sunshine and frequent showers, the harvest is sure to follow in Knox county.
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In 1910, the reports made by the state authorities showed that in Knox county there were 115,312 acres of land under cultivation; 123,829 acres in pasture; 33,446 in woodland and waste land to the amount of only 3,005 acres.
The last state census makes the following showing for products of the farms in the county in 1910: Number horses, 6,921; cattle, 13,814; sheep, 117,451 ; hogs, 13,992 ; pounds of wool, 977,941 ; acres of corn, 33,- 673; wheat. 30,291 ; oats, 9,056; potatoes, 136,545 bushels; butter, 836,000 pounds ; eggs, one million dozen.
THE FAIR OF 1878.
The following may be of interest to farmers and all others who take a deep interest in agricultural and kindred vocations in Knox county. It is extracted from a lengthy report made in 1878-a third of a century ago -by the worthy president of the Agricultural Society of that year, John C. Levering :
"With this, the report of the twenty-fifth annual fair held in this county, it may be stated that it was never better attended. Crops are as good this season as ever seen in this county. Our farmers have at last engaged in mixed farming. Wheat, corn, oats and hay are our principal crops. The wheat crop is the largest ever produced here, both as to acreage and yield per acre. A large percent of Knox county is adapted to corn growing, especially the west half along the famous Kokosing valley. It is usually fed to stock, thus bringing the largest possible yield. Norway or black oats are entirely discarded. The yellow spangled variety seems best for this section. Potatoes have come to be looked upon by many farmers as the chief crop of this county. Of fruits, apples are our main crop. The yield in 1878 was the largest we have ever raised, and of an excellent va- riety and quality. Peaches were but a fair average crop. In live stock there seems to be a manifest improvement in breeds. Of cattle, we have the shorthorn, which, crossed with the common cows, produce good feeding steers, which find ready market. We have several fine herds in this county now. In sheep and wool produced, there has been a steady decline for a number of years.
"Of farm products, the display was most excellent. The condition of agriculture in this county is improving. The farmers are taking more pains in the cultivation of the soil, by underdraining and a more thorough system of rotation of crops.
"JOHN C. LEVERING, President."
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AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
The Morris Agricultural Club, as it was termed, was the first attempt at a society for the promotion of agriculture in Knox county. It was or- ganized in the winter of 1846. It was not a fair association, in any sense of the word, but a club which met weekly for the discussion of farm and do- mestic topics, same as "farmers' clubs" do at this date. The founders of this club were William Bevans, B. F. Smith, Isaac Nicodemus, Adam Rinehart and John and William Bonar. Its first president was William Bevans. The discussions sometimes waxed hot and animated. For example, when such resolutions as this were before the membership of the club: "First, does the moon, or the twelve signs of the zodiac, or both combined, exert such an in- fluence on vegetation as to make it necessary, in order to insure the best re- sults, to be guided by their different phases, in our planting and sowing."
At that date there were numerous unreasonable whims going the rounds of the press and in the minds of not a few otherwise intelligent men and women. One was, "If you plant a cucumber seed when the moon is in the sign of the virgin, they will bloom, but not bear; but plant them in the sign of the twins, and they will bear abundantly."
It seemed the prime object of this club to sift out the wheat from the chaff in all such matters and try to come to some definite understanding con- cerning the planting and growth of crops.
On a Saturday, in November, 1847, the Morris Agricultural Club held a fair on the farm of William Bonar, of Morris township, in which Dr. J. N. Burr, an honorary member, took an active part and spoke. The day was rainy, but the display was excellent in grains, fruits and stock. Byram Leonard, of Wayne township, was there with his short-horn cattle and Henry Wider and Adam Rinehart each had a fine display of apples. Disgusted at not receiving the first award for his apples, it is related that Wider would never participate at county fairs thereafter. At this fair the reasons ascribed for not offering premiums for this article was, first, that the wheat had been planted before the society had been legally organized, and, secondly, that the grade of wheat produced that year was uniformly poor in Knox county! Both good and sufficient reasons.
From this humble, simple beginning has grown up what is now known as the Knox County Agricultural Society.
The year 1849 seems, from fragmentary accounts, to have been the next attempt at a county fair after the exhibition of the Morris Club in 1847. Even of the 1849 fair but little can now be recorded in the annals of the county. One year the court house was used for the place of meeting; again (7)
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the lecture room of the Union church-the old "Peacock church;" then in the Presbyterian church. For the stock grounds, the vacant lot on East Chestnut was used, opposite the jail of those days. To make pens for the sheep, swine and small animals, the committee on "buildings" had to ransack the near-by farms and borrow rails with which to build the enclosures. This required three days and after the fair was over as long to place them back on their respective fences. The spacious fields of D. S. Norton, at the west of town, were thrown open for racing. The stock had to be herded and hitched by the roadside, here and there, and to shade trees, and when needed to award premiums on, or to enter the track for race purposes, were brought inside, and when through with, were sent home.
Before 1854 or 1855 fairs were thus slipshod and worked under very discouraging conditions. In 1857 and 1858 fairs were held at Fredericktown, but the press is silent as to what the outcome was of such annual exhibitions. The first officers named, and they for the fair of October 23-24, 1849, were : William Bonar, president, and Thomas W. Tress, secretary. It appears that cattle to the number of four hundred were on the grounds that season, all claiming to be the best of their entry. Forty sheep were exhibited. Fruits and domestic articles were in evidence and a general good time had.
A fair was "pulled off" in 1850 at what date no one seems to know. Mr. Bonar was again president, with James Lewis, James Elliott, Richard Hunt, Aaron Nevis and James Withrow, vice-presidents. The stock that year was excellent, but few in number. The swine were there and caused the committee on awards to remark, "The long-faced gentry were few, but re- spectable."
The year 1851 saw another fair of about the same grade as the former one. In 1852 another annual attempt was made and but little is on record concerning it, only that its officers were : William Bevans, president; Benja- min F. Smith, James Elliott, William Babcock, Marvin Tracy and John Denny, vice-presidents; recording secretary, A. Banning Norton; treasurer, Henry P. Warden.
In 1853 the fair was full of excitement over the silver cup award to the best lady rider. and the same was handed to Miss Eliza Thompson, but the pleasure of this fair was destroyed by an accident. A grey horse hitched to a rail fence broke away, carrying with it the rail, to which he was fastened about mid-way, and ran into the crowd at his utmost speed, endangering the lives of many. Judge Hurd, who was standing in the crowd, was knocked down and seriously injured, by being struck in the head, rendering him sense- less. After suffering many months the Doctor recovered, but not fully for many years.
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In 1855 the fair was presided over by President Benjamin F. Smith, with William Dunbar as secretary. Stock was few in number and of a very poor quality, reported the committee. C. C. Curtis took the premium for the best corn, which was a two-acre tract, near town, and it yielded one hundred and fifteen bushels per acre. William Turner had the best garden.
The fair of 1856 was held September 18th and 19th. Henry P. Warden was president ; E. Alling, recording secretary. That was reported the best county fair ever held up to that date in Knox county.
In 1857 the fair came off, but just what date is not known. The president was Henry B. Warden and secretary, C. S. Pyle. The executive committee consisted of twenty persons and the full membership of the so- ciety was reported as about three hundred. Total receipts were $2,736, which was $1,236 less than the amounts paid out for the exhibit that year. The following is from the secretary's report to the state board of agriculture :
"We have been struggling for existence several years and until the pres- ent year ( 1857) have not had what might be termed an agricultural fair.
"The executive board of the last year determined to make a bold move- ment, and with the little encouragement and no means, purchased ten and three-quarters acres of land for a fair ground for two hundred twenty-five dollars per acre, enclosed it in a board fence, erected permanent halls, stalls, pens, etc., and two temporary halls and offices. The county commissioners agreed that when the society had expended and paid upon it one thousand dollars, they would appropriate a like amount.
"The fair was a successful one, and a great deal of good has been done. It has breathed new life into the society, and we think that the Knox County Agricultural Society and fairs have become a fixed fact. There were over six hundred entries, made of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, mules, fowls, farming implements, grain, vegetables, fine arts, needle work, domestic manu- factures, painting, fruits and flowers."
In 1858 the total number of entries was seven hundred and six; each township had a man on the executive committee and Henry P. Warden was again president. The society then had a membership of five hundred and ten. The total receipts were $1,985; expenses, $3,536.
The fair in 1859, notwithstanding the June frosts of that year, was a success in many ways. Henry P. Warden was still its president-the right man in the right place. The receipts were $2,186, $320 over the expenses.
The 1860 fair was reported a "success in every particular." The presi- dent was Joseph M. Byers and the fair was held on the grounds of the so- ciety in Mt. Vernon, September 19th, 20th and 2Ist. The society then owned nineteen and a fractional acres of land, enclosed within a good board fence
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eight feet high. A splendid half-mile track had been laid for a beautiful drive. The receipts were $1,989, leaving a deficit of $149.
In 1861-2-3-4-5, the years of the great Civil war, conditions were disas- trous to the agricultural society. Many had gone to the front in defense of their country's flag and things were at a standstill at home. After the fair of 1863 a committee of the following were appointed to collect from the general government the bill for damages done the fair grounds when occu- pied by the Forty-third Ohio Regiment of Volunteers: Samuel Israel, Charles Baker, John Lyal and Columbus Delano.
The fair of 1865, on account of a rainy fall and poor crops, was little else than a dismal failure and it ran behind in expenses. The society on January 1. 1866, was badly in debt.
The fair of 1866 was one of the best in the history of Knox county. The war was ended and the farmer-soldier returned to his plow. The fair receipts, with liberal side donations, put the society in good working order again. George B. Potwin was president that year.
In 1867 the same president and many of the old officers held over. The fair was a great success. The excess of receipts over the expenses amounted to $717.73.
In 1868 the fair was on the society's own grounds in October. George B. Potwin was still president.
In September, 1869, the fair met disaster on account of two rainy days in the start. Mr. Potwin was president. The number belonging to the society that year was about four hundred.
In 1870, with the same president in charge, the fair was held the last week in September and the board was authorized to borrow one thousand dollars to help out some deficit.
In 1871 Robert Miller was president and the fair was the last week of September. Fifty new stalls were made that year ; also a new deep well was made. The exhibits were never finer to that date.
In 1872 the fair came off the last of September with over one thousand entries. Receipts were $3,300; besides paying old debts of $600, $2,000 was paid in premiums. Robert Miller was president that year.
On motion, a resolution was adopted "that it is expedient to sell the present grounds in accordance with a petition of the city council and signed by numerous citizens." George W. Steele, president.
The 1873 fair was held the last week in September. Half the week was fair and half rainy. One thousand entries were made and the receipts were about three thousand dollars. A small debt was still hanging over the so- ciety at that date. During that season the following was produced in Knox
KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. IOI
county : Wheat, 20,858 acres ; potatoes, 926 acres; oats, 15,136 acres ; mea- dow, 19,196 tons ; corn, 30,639 acres ; butter, 634,443 pounds.
The president in the year 1874 was George W. Steele; 1875, C. A. Young; 1876, Alexander Cassil, who also served in 1877; 1878, John C. Levering; 1879, John C. Levering; during that year eleven hundred entries were made. In 1880 John C. Levering was president, and the fair was held in October; gate receipts were $2,780. In 1881, E. A. Pealer was elected president. At the annual meeting of the Ohio State Agricultural Society, that year, John C. Levering was chosen one of the board of managers, the first time such honor had come to Knox county. He was appointed to the department of mechanics' and manufacturers' products.
This was the wind-up of the fair holding its annual exhibits at the fair grounds purchased many years before. The society became financially involved; the people did not come to the rescue of the society, as they had previously, and the result was, the society went down, as had many another in the state, for lack of interest and support. For about a dozen years the county was without a regular agricultural association. In 1894 the matter was taken in hands by enterprising farmers and live business men in Mt. Vernon and in the smaller towns of the county. A new society was or- ganized, which is still in existence, and bids fair to become one of more value and strength than any of the former attempts. The grounds once improved and owned by the old society have long since gone to other uses, buildings erected thereon and nothing left to mark the spot but a few old evidences in way of seats, sheds, etc., in decay.
The present agricultural society holds its annual exhibits at Hiawatha Park, the "prettiest spot in Ohio," as it is termed over its entrance. This place is leased for fair week each season and great crowds assemble from all over the county.
The fair held this year, 1911, bade fair to be one of the best in the history of the county, but two days of rainy weather nearly ruined the attendance. Yet it was a success and farmers believe that they should own the park them- selves, and a move is on foot to secure control of it, by lease or otherwise, that the society may make ample improvements there and keep alive the in- terest in agriculture, horticulture and stock raising. The display of fruits and live stock was never as good as the present season. The dates of exhibition days in 1911 were September 12th to 15th, inclusive.
The officers for this year have been: Charles B. Jackson, president; J. F. Beatty, vice-president ; Howard C. Gates, secretary ; L. G. Simpson, treas- urer.
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TEACHING AGRICULTURE.
The state commissioners of common schools has issued, recently, the following bulletin to the board of education in the southeastern agricultural district, of which Knox county is a part :
"The new day and the new subject for our schools is here. Ohio has formally entered the play and the work of her children in the schools and in their homes to better weld these together for a more complete education of her Buckeye boys and girls by a closer study of plant and animal life; our school system will be more helpful outside the school house and off the school grounds.
"The Legislature provided that agriculture must be taught in our schools, but wisely left the manner in which it was to be taught and how much was to be done to the boards of education, superintendents and teachers.
"Do your pupils know how to market their produce so as to receive a proper share of the profits as a reward for the excellence and quantities of their productions? Is not the teaching of this good geography and good arithmetic practice ?
"Please be on the lookout for the new manuals on teaching agriculture; they will be in the hands of the county auditors by the middle of October and there will be one for each teacher and superintendent."
The Grange or Patrons of Husbandry was once very strong in this county, and there are still several granges, one of the strongest being known as the Clinton Grange, whose exhibit at the last county fair was of much interest to everyone present. The grange, now no longer a political ma- chine, is doing good work, like farmers' clubs in other counties are.
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CHAPTER X
RAILROADS, TRANSPORTATION AND TELEGRAPHS.
Freighting is an old business enterprise, but railroading, telephoning and telegraphy are classed among the modern advantages enjoyed by the civilized and commercial world.
The principal towns of note to the first settlers of Knox county were Lancaster, Chillicothe and Zanesville, which were but mere villages at the date of the organization of this county. The people were exceedingly neigh- borly then and would be only too glad to do any errand for a neighbor who wanted some commodity or trinket brought back from one of these far-off trading hamlets.
Freighting did not commence until a much later date, and then was not what it was in many other counties in Ohio, for the railroads made their advent at a pretty early day. Hence, without going into detail about the people who went to mill and market by ox and horse teams in pioneer days in Knox county, the reader will be introduced to the first steam railroad con- structed through this country, together with their original names and some- thing as to how they were built. Suffice to say, in this connection, that the early mails and goods were brought hither by team and wagon and carts, over trackless regions, along winding valleys and over unbridged streams.
The coach stands rusting in the yard, The horse has sought the plow ; We have spanned the world with iron rails, The steam king rules us now.
One of the oldest railroad systems in Ohio runs through Knox county. It was originally known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark line (now Lake Erie division of the Baltimore & Ohio company). That section to the north of Mansfield was granted a charter March 12, 1836, three-quarters of a century ago. It was styled the Mansfield & New Haven railroad, running from the city of Mansfield to a point near New Haven, in the southern part of Huron county. March 9, 1835, a charter had been granted to the San- dusky & Monroeville line, running from one city to the other. This road was
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thirteen miles in length and was finished before the Mansfield & New Haven line. The last named corporation purchased the rights of the former short road, making its total mileage forty-four. Prior to 1853 this road enjoyed the monopoly of the grain trade of this, the central portion of Ohio.
One who was thoroughly posted concerning the construction and opera- tion of this road (now the Baltimore & Ohio through this county) many years since penned the following description of its make-up :
"The purchase of the Monroeville & Mansfield line by this company put a new life into its extension. The roadbed was solid, if a large number of timbers could make it so, for this, remember, was
A WOODEN RAILROAD,
and not iron or steel. First a 'mud sill' was laid down lengthwise of the grade ; strong cross-ties were then spiked on the 'mud-sill,' into these 'gains,' as they were called, were cut, which received the wooden rails, sawed to fit the gains. These rails were about five inches wide, and broadened as they reached the gains, and were about seven inches high. On them the 'ribbon' was spiked, being a strip of hard wood about two and a half inches wide, by one inch thick, and on this the strap-iron rail was laid. Spikes were driven through the strap-rail and the ribbon into the larger, heavier wooden rail be- neath. The heads of the spikes were sunken into 'eyes' in the strap rails, leaving a smooth surface for the wheels. This superstructure required three times as much timber as the present system of ties and steel rails."
An extension farther south than Mansfield began to be talked of before this road was put in real working order. Considerable opposition, however, was exhibited among many classes of citizens at Mansfield, who firmly main- tained that a prosperous railroad town must be a terminal point. A charter for a road, known as the Columbus & Lake Erie, was granted March 12, 1845, and six years later a road was built between Mansfield and Newark, where it could connect with a road from Columbus, then known as the Ohio Central, now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and which was com- pleted in 1854, so that through transportation was begun. Cars were run- ning to Newark by January, 1851. The Mansfield & Sandusky City and the Columbus & Lake Erie lines remained under separate corporations until No- vember 23, 1853, when consolidation took place, the name given being San- dusky, Mansfeld & Newark railroad. The combination did not work out financially, and under an act of the Ohio Legislature, passed in April, 1856, the road was sold and a new company organized, but owing to various things, among which was the coming on of the Civil war, the transaction was not all
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