USA > Ohio > Highland County > The County of Highland : a history of Highland County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapters on the bench and bar, medical profession educational development, industry and agriculture and biographical sketches > Part 12
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At this election on the day fixed by the constitution all the county officers made elective were voted for. A record on the books of the commissioners shows the following, November 4, 1805: "In pur- suance of an act passed by the general assembly of the state of Ohio, to elect three commissioners for the county of Highland, has duly elected Nathaniel Pope, Jonathan Boyd and Frederick Brougher." Jonathan Boyd was made clerk of the board. At this election George W. Barrere was elected senator and John Gossett representa-
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tive to the state legislature. A good story is told by an old time friend, and printed some years ago, about the lost shoes of John Gossett, Highland's first representative in the legislature. "Gossett was a very worthy and unassuming farmer, differing in no essential particular from his pioneer neighbors. The era of the leather hunt- ing shirt, breeches, moccasins and coon skin cap had but recently given place to the homespun rig of bark-colored linsey, wool hat and cow skin shoes, most frequently made of fair leather. In this style- all new, of course-our worthy first representative to the legislature made his appearance at the seat of government. Senator Barrere accompanied him. How Barrere was dressed is not known, but doubtless much after the style of his friend and neighbor. They arrived at the capital, Chillicothe, and put up at the best hotel. Being fatigued with their long ride through the woods they retired shortly after supper, giving their shoes to the polite negro boy in attendance and receiving in lieu a pair of old fashioned slippers. In the morning they arose early and went down to the bar room. Bar- rere picked out his shoes from the long row of nicely blacked boots and shoes arranged along one side of the room. Gossett also attempted to do the same but could not see his shoes, so he waited till the landlord came in. He then asked for his shoes. The landlord was busy waiting on thirsty guests at the bar, and in reply pointed to the row against the wall. Gossett again examined with more care, but in vain. He was a quiet, modest man, and did not like to cause disturbance. After a while the boy came in, and Gossett, taking him to one side, told him his troubles, but the boy could give him no com- fort. All the boots and shoes were there that had come into his hands, he was sure, and further he could give no information. Gos- sett began to grow uneasy. He half suspected that his shoes were stolen, but he kept quiet until after breakfast and all the boots and shoes had been picked out and placed upon their owners' feet, except one pair of heavy brogans. These he eyed closely, but they bore no resemblance to his. Finally he determined to speak to the landlord again, for by this time he became fully convinced that he was the victim of foul play. On his second and more emphatic announce- ment that his shoes were missing and he suspected they were stolen, the landlord became interested in the trouble of his guest. He told him all should be made right ; that it should not be said that any man lost his property in his house; that he would get him another pair made as soon as possible, and in the meantime try on the pair stand- ing against the wall and if he could wear them, keep them on, as they seemed to have no owner, till he would have his measure taken and get another pair. Gossett accordingly put them on, and found they fitted him exactly. He was surprised and examined them more closely, when to his astonishment they turned out to be his own shoes,
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much disguised, however, by a heavy coat of blacking, the first that had ever been applied to their leather since it had left the cow's back.
By an act under the Territorial form of government in 1802, and afterward adopted by the State legislature, the people of each township were required to meet on the first Monday of April yearly, at such place in the township as might be ordered at their previous meeting, and elect a township clerk, two or three overseers of the poor, three fence viewers, two appraisers of houses, one lister of tax- able property, a sufficient number of supervisors of roads, and one or more constables. The duties of these officers then were about the same as they now are, and their term of office was for one year. This act was the basis for township organization. Under an act, April, 1803, empowering the associate judges to establish townships, and assign to each township a suitable number of justices of the peace to be elected on the 21st of June following, Biggar Head was elected for Brush Creek, George W. Barrere for New Market, Sam- uel Evans for Liberty, and James Johnson for Fairfield. The com- missioners were busily engaged during this year in laying out and opening up roads in the county.
The Anderson State road, from Chillicothe to Cincinnati, was sur- veyed and opened under the superintendence of Col. Richard C. Anderson, by authority of the state, in 1804-5. It was cut out about forty feet wide, at a cost of eighteen dollars per mile, the bridging excepted. The roads this year were opened through New Market township. New Market town being the county seat, all roads were opened in reference to that fact, and were directed toward that important center or some main road passing through it. Highland's first representative in Congress was Jeremialı Morrow, first elected in 1803, and re-elected until 1813, when he was chosen United States senator. Mr. Morrow was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio "very poor," says a friend, "and without the aid and influence of others, but he gradually, by his native good sense, hon- esty and industry, achieved both fortune and fame." In 1850, when in Hillsboro with General Harrison, Senator Morrow remarked that the first night on his first journey to Congress his camp was in Highland, but he could not recall the exact spot.
In the early days of the county, and in fact in Ohio, county auditors were unknown. The duties now performed by the auditor were then the work of the commissioners, together with about the same work that now commands their service. Seventy-five or eighty years ago, the small amount of taxable property owned by the citi- zens of Highland made but little work in making out the annual duplicates, and could be be easily performed by the board of com- missioners without extending their regular session. The act creating county auditors was passed in 1821, and before the passage of this act the clerk of the board of commissioners performed the duties of
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the auditor of the county. We give some extracts from the record of the commissioners, of interest doubtless to the burdened tax- payers of the present day. "Ordered that Martin Countryman receive an order on the county treasurer for one dollar for carrying the returns of the Brush Creek township elections to New Market, Highland county, October 10th, 1805." "Ordered that Walter Hill receive an order on the county treasurer for five dollars and fifty cents for carrying the elections from New Market to Chillicothe."
The first year of the existence of the county closed with good crops, increased population and a contented and happy people. No social discord disturbed the peace and harmony of the community ; no pride of birth nor arrogance of wealth drew aristocratic lines around the old fashioned fire place but all alike received cordial welcome to hearth and home. They were a part of families; they were to be exalted into a nation. There was to be a transition effected from the simplicity of the pioneer settlements to the superb outlines of a mighty republic. Those pioneer times were the training schools, in which they were to be taught, although sometimes reluctant and indocile learners, the forms of civil government, the theory of sub- ordination and order and the arts and habits of civilized life.
One of our worthy citizens, Colonel Keys, has written of the people of the first decade of the last century: "The population that settled Highland county were a hardy, industrious class of people, a great proportion were from the southern states and had been raised to labor and industry. Early impressed with the necessity of earn- ing their bread with their own hands, they were well adapted to the toil and privations incident to the new country they had chosen for their homes. They were generally in the prime of life-young couples just entering upon the family relation, and ambitious of achieving wealth and position in society. Comparatively few of them were old persons, though in some instances heads of grown fam- ilies sold their possessions in the old states and purchased with the proceeds larger tracts of land in the new settlement of Highland, settling their children around them, and thus in a very few years vastly increased the wealth and thrifty circumstances of their fam- ilies. At this time our country was almost entirely covered with a dense forest of timber of gigantic growth, that just such a population that first settled it and made war upon the great oaks, was required and necessary to bring it into subjection. The days of Indian fight- ing were happily over, and the energy and courage of true manhood was directed to the next great work of civilization, the battle with the stern but relentless forest. This fight was kept up for many years. The stately oak, ash, hickory, sugar-tree, maple, gum, and walnut, which for centuries exhibited the productive qualities of the soil of Highland, were of necessity regarded as enemies to the advance of man and his plans. Extermination was the word. Next to the
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Indian, these beautiful forests were regarded the worst enemy of man. The settlers made common cause in their attacks on the for- ests, and the way our noble young men, who made and carried on the warfare upon them, opening up and clearing farms, in many instances 'smack smooth,' as the phrase is, was in truth no child's play." Another old settler supplies the following: "The first and early settlers of our county were almost entirely deprived of the benefits and blessings of gospel preaching. There were no churches except one or two small congregations too remote from the mass of the inhabitants of the county for their attendance, except in very fine weather and on extraordinary occasions. The consequence was that no religious society or religious meetings were known in many settlements at all. The people were thus totally deprived of the benefits of church organizations and regular attendance upon the worship of God. There were no school houses with very few excep- tions and no schools taught. The youth of that day received no instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, except that which their parents might give them in the long winter evenings. School masters were then unknown, and for long years the means for acquir- ing an education was denied to the children of these wilderness homes."
The people lived in log cabins, without perhaps a single exception even in the towns. Some of these cabins had lap shingle roof, and possibly a four glass window, which was regarded by some as an undue waste of means and decidedly aristocratic in tendency which ought not to be encouraged. Furniture was not plentiful and what they had was rude and clumsy. The absence of roads and the great distance to be traveled through an unbroken forest made the trans- portation of this class of goods impossible, and few, if any, of the emigrants thought of making the effort. After reaching their new home it required but a few hours to make the needed supply for their one-room cabin. The tables were made by splitting a large tree, dressing the surface of the sides with an adze and then fitting legs of stout timber in them; stools and bedsteads were made in the same manner. Cupboards were always placed in one corner of the cabin, made of clapboards, placed upon pins driven in auger holes in the logs. On these shelves were placed the bright pewter plates, standing upon their edge, their faces toward the front, these were the only table furniture except the cups and knives and forks, these last frequently wooden. The larger dishes were of wood, a skillet and hominy boiler completed the list of household and kitchen furni- ture even of the wealthy. Necessity in this case was not the mother of invention but a leveler of all class distinction in ornamentation and display. There were no physicians in those days and in fact not much need of any, as there was but little sickness, and the old women seemed able to control with herb teas the various cases inci-
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dent to the country. Mrs. Samuel Gibson was noted for her skill and went far and near when needed. In a still later day Mrs. Daniel Inskeep practiced extensively. The implements of hus- bandry were few and clumsy. Chief was the old Virginia bear plow with wooden mold board, weighing much more than one of the splendid steel plows of this day. All the iron about one of these primitive plows was the sheer and coulter, but what it lacked in iron it made up in wood, clumsy and heavy. In length, when hitched up, they were about fifteen feet, and, as remarked by an old man who had used them, "the wickedest thing to kick, except a mule, ever known." It has been said that one of these plows kicked a man over a pole fence, and kicked him after he was over two or three times. Axes were very heavy and hoes were the same. Saws and drawing knives were scarce articles and went the rounds of the neigh- borhood when they could be found. Harness was made of raw hide traces and bridle, while woven or plated corn husks were used for collars. There were no saw mills and such a thing as a plank could not be found in the county.
Much has been written and said of the pioneer fathers, but little mention made of the pioneer mothers who shared the hardships and dangers of those days, when toil was their daily avocation, and the nights found them still engaged until the stars paled before the com- ing dawn. The family had to be clothed. The days of deer skin clothing had passed, and some arrangements must be made to meet the change in the social style of the times. Flax and wool had to be prepared to meet this demand. They had to cultivate flax and raise sheep. The wool had to be carded by hand, and then spun and woven for all the winter clothing. This work must be done by the women of the home and if the children were small, or too young, mother had to do it all. Often she had to help husband in clearing the ground, helped in the harvest, at the threshing and cleaning of the wheat, husk corn, and shell corn, hunt the cows, carry in the wood, range the woods in search of greens to cook with jowl, the remains of last fall's bacon, with corn bread, the meal for which she doubtless pounded or ground upon the hand mill, made an excellent dinner for the hard working husband and sons. With the other labor of the year she had to pull the flax, spread, and when well rotted, bread and hackle it. She must spin and weave the linen for shirts and pants for husband and children, this must be made up, kept clean and whole by washing and mending. All this and more, the patient, loving wife and mother was forced to do to meet the demands of those early times. In this manner from year to year passed the whole of the life of those noble mothers. Justice has never been done to these pure hearted, faithful and devoted mothers. They were the true heroines of the west, yea, of the world, for no
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history of the world has given a better picture of true womanhood than these self-sacrificing women, giving their lives to the faithful and cheerful discharge of their duty. But these mothers and maids of Highland have long since gone down into the silent chambers of the dead, their graves unmarked, perhaps forgotten, their names for- gotten in the annals of the west, except a few, who may have been captured by the Indians, or were prominent in the defense of some fort or blockhouse where husband, sons or brothers were sorely pressed by savage foes. To the unnamed of Highland's pioneer wives and mothers we drop this tribute of love and tenderness-this evergreen, culled from the store house of memory, to place upon their unmarked tombs. May they have in final triumph a heritage of glory, immortality and eternal life in the world to come.
We cannot dismiss this question of social conditions without speak- ing of some of the vices common in that day as well as our own. The vices and follies indulged in were given the general title of sport, without taking into consideration the influence over the young, which was pernicious and damaging. "In Highland county, New Market was then the center of fashion and refinement, as well as vice and profligacy." Whiskey was the prime cause of much of the evils of the social conditions then, as it is now, and to this fiery beverage can be traced some of the tragic events that marred the beauty of those early days. But there was much more rough sport than tragedy, and a volume could be filled with amusing stories that were familiar to Highland county pioneers. None is more lively than those that concern the exploits of James B. Finley at a time when he was known as "the New Market Devil."
Late in the fall of 1805 Adam Barngruber came to New Market from Kentucky with a four-horse wagon load of merchandise, includ- ing a barrel of whiskey and a keg of tobacco, as well as remnants of calico, cotton handkerchiefs and shawls. These goods he placed on sale in a small cabin about twelve feet square, and his partner, a Dutchman, named Fritz Miller, undertook the selling. This was the first trading store in New Market, and it is believed the first in the county. Fritz, by reason of his whiskey and tobacco, soon had lots of friends, and Barngruber soon returned from Kentucky with another load of goods of the same character. Winter came and dur- ing the long nights Fritz Miller's was a favorite resort. At these gatherings James B. Finley was prominent, and many were the tricks played upon poor Fritz for the amusement of the company. The following winter there was organized in Fritz Miller's grocery a bogus lodge of Freemasons, the master of which was J. B. Finley. This new order soon became very popular, and petitions for initia- tions were numerous at each regular meeting, which was in the dark of the moon in each month in any old shanty they could get, and
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frequently in the woods and corn fields during the summer. Among those who petitioned for membership was Fritz, who seemed to be the butt of most of their pranks. Tradition says that the ceremony of initiation was performed in the most solemn manner. At the con- clusion of the rehearsal of the ritual of the order, the candidate was branded with a red hot nail-rod, and duly pronounced by the master a "free and accepted mason." So thorough was the branding, and so hot was the nail-rod, that the smoke rose to the roof and Fritz howled in Dutch from the pain inflicted.
Soon after this event James B. Finley visited a camp meeting in Kentucky, which was attended with strange physical manifestations, violent and unnatural. - The persons brought under the religious influence of the hour, and they were generally the most wicked and desperate sinners in the congregation, would be taken with a sudden twitching and jerking over the entire person, but this would ulti- mately be confined to the head alone, which would jerk backward and forward with such violence that the hair of the head of women would crack like whip lashes, so violent was the motion. Becoming exhausted, the person would fall to the ground, many remaining unconscious for hours, who when returning to consciousness would shout the high praises of God, and tell the wonderful things they had seen and heard while out of the body. Finley was greatly exercised and frightened by these manifestations, and feeling the symptoms of the jerking coming over him, fled from the ground greatly agi- tated and filled with dreadful forebodings of death and hell. Stop- ping that night at an old German's who was a devout Methodist, he told or explained the state of his mind as best he could to his host, who told him in his broken manner that it was the "defil" coming out of him. With strong cries and tears he besought the Lord to save a poor sinner from the power and dominion of the evil one. Before the morning light had chased away the night a great calm fell upon his troubled spirit. Fear had gone, and such a full sense of peace and joy filled his soul that he began shouting. From that hour he was a changed man, the whole current of his life directed into another channel. He joined the Methodist church, was licensed to preach, entered the traveling connection, and for years was a faith- ful, earnest and intelligent minister of the gospel. He was at one time chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary.
The father of Rev. James B. Finley, Robert W. Finley, opened a classical school in a cabin on Whiteoak, and taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew to all who had any desire for such accomplishments. John W. Campbell, well known in this region as a member of con- gress from the district in which Highland then was, attended this school. The elder Finley gave a most thorough education to his son John, who was regarded as the most brilliant and intellectual mem-
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ber of the Finley family. He also became a Methodist preacher in 1810. In 1822 he was appointed professor of languages in Augusta college, Kentucky. He died in 1825.
On another page we made some extracts from the written narra- tive of Col. William Keys, showing the hardships and trials of a journey from the east over the mountains to Ohio, and left the Col- onel and his train of followers at Paint creek, two or three miles above the Rocky Fork branch of that creek. We copy the following: "On the 20th of November, 1805, we found a spring on our land, and, by cutting a wagon road to it, landed all safe. We cleared away the brush, erected a tent, before which we kept a huge fire, and soon commenced to build a cabin, which being completed, we moved into on Christmas day, 1805. Our cabin was a rough looking con- cern, but it sheltered us from the storm, and kept us dry and com- fortable, and as usual all over the west, we kept the latch string hanging out." The party of Colonel Keys included his wife and child, his mother, four sisters and his two brothers. One of the sis- ters became the wife of Samuel Ramsey, another married Hugh Hill, and another a man by the name of Jones.
Samuel Reece came from Berkeley county, Va., and settled on Fall Creek. He was a man of strong good sense and of consider- able culture, represented Highland county in the legislature and after his removal from the county to Cincinnati represented Ham- ilton county in the same body. Abner Robinson sold out his posses- sions on what was known as the Old Washington road, to Foster Leverton, an Englishman by birth, who resided for a number of years on that farm. He has been dead a great many years but left a large family of children and grandchildren, most of whom reside
in Highland county. The Barretts, Cowgills, Crews, Sharps, Wil- kins, and a host of others moved into the county at the various points that best suited their taste and inclination. One noticeable fact in these early settlements is that the large majority of them were. located along water courses. Some rich bottom lands were found along these streams, which, was doubtless the reason for its selection, while the necessity and advantages of milling privileges may have been an important element in determining locality. Mills soon appeared along the various streams, whose volume of water promised to give permanent work for this very essential industry in the midst of a rapidly increasing population.
On the 26th of December, 1805, the records show that Walter Craig received $87.75 for surveying the county of Highland, and that John Davidson was paid $30 as associate judge, and David Hays received $60 for serving as clerk of the court of Highland, and that Jonathan Berryman, Esquire, was paid $35 for acting as associate judge and for other expenses.
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The public records of 1806 reveal that: "At a court of Common Pleas begun and held in the town of New Market on the 20th of February, 1806; Present John Davidson, Richard Evans, and Jon- athan Berryman, associate judges, the president judge being absent. The sheriff of this county returned a grand jury; came into court Frederick Miller and saved his recognizance. Ordered that Joseph Van Meter receive license to keep a public house in the county of Highland. Collins vs. Kerr, rule to plead at the next term, and continued.
Ross vs. Barrere-On motion of defendant by counsel, a rule is granted herein for dedimus to issue directly to any justice of the peace in the town of Natchez in the Mississippi territory, to take the deposition of Benjamin Gooding, on any day between the 25th of April and the 10th day of May next, to be read in evidence on the trial of this cause. Ordered, that William B. Luckett receive license to retail merchandise for three months. By order of the court, that the laws and journals of the State of Ohio be distributed as follows, towit: One copy of each to each justice of the peace in the county of Highland, one to each associate judge, one to the sher- iff, one to the coroner, one to the clerk and one to each com- missioner."
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