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 2
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The falls of Rattlesnake, some fifty feet in height, were once util- ized for mill purposes, but it seemed impossible to build anything of sufficient strength to resist the force of the waters when the creek was flooded with heavy rains. We are informed by fishermen that the entire frame work of a mill is sunken in the deep pool beneath the falls. The Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern crosses this stream just above the falls, and when a wreck occurred at the bridge cars were lost in the deep water below. East Monroe, a small town in High- land, is situated about one-half mile from the falls of Rattlesnake and is the headquarters for the sightseers who visit them.
Numerous caves in the cliffs and hills of the county were in the early days of settlement used by wild animals as places of resort in winter, and of refuge from hunters. The author was told by an aged man, who in his young days was famed for his hunting skill, that he had often chased wolf into an opening near the base of Fort hill and that when once they reached this place he had never been able to dis- lodge them. He was of the opinion that Fort hill was hollow and that other openings known to these animals allowed them to escape. There is a story of one Samuel Jackson, who passing along a trace down the banks of Sunfish creek, about three miles from Sinking Spring, saw a large bear crossing the path before him. The bear seeing him went into a hole in the rocks, and Jackson, wanting that bear, but knowing he could not effect its capture alone, went to the nearest cabin, which was John Lowman's, for assistance, and imme- diately returned with him to the den of the bear. They carried some fire with them and when they reached the place filled the opening
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ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES.
full of dry branches and leaves and set fire to it ; then stationed them- selves some thirty yards away, and waited for Mr. Bruin to come out. The smoke soon filled the shallow cave and compelled the bear to vacate, and as he emerged Jackson fired and wounded him. The bear retreated to another hole, which the hunters found was just large enough for him to enter, but increased in size further in. Here they again tried to smoke out the animal, but without success, and obtaining a torch, they followed into the cave and found the bear dead. The body they hauled out, but had great difficulty in getting through the entrance and were in danger, on account of a fresh start of their fire, of being smothered. Mr. Lowman was long a most worthy citizen in the vicinity of Hillsboro, and the Jackson family is yet represented near Sinking Spring. David Jackson served as commissioner of Highland county, and was killed in returning from the World's Fair, in a railroad collision.
The names of the water courses in Highland county are suggestive of local conditions which made the name appropriate at the time it was bestowed by the Indians or early white settlers. Paint creek, which forms a large portion of the eastern boundary of the county, was so named by the Indians. Near and a little below Reeves' Crossing there are two high banks, which are washed by the stream, called Copperas mountain. At an early day the Indian came to these banks to procure the red earth, which they used in the absence of true vermilion, to decorate their faces and persons, and that for this reason the name "Paint creek" was given. Rattlesnake was so named because of the immense number of rattlesnakes found in its cliffs and the rocky crevices along its banks in an early day. They were generally of the large spotted and black species, though snakes of almost every known variety were found in that locality. It was emphatically a snake country. The old settlers tell the story that in the early spring, after a few warm days, when the snakes came out of their dens to sun, that they were often seen rolled up in large bundles half the size of a barrel, with their heads sticking out in every direction, forming a most "frightful" circle of heads, glaring eyes, and forked tongues. These bundles were not alone composed of rattlesnakes, but often other varieties were found united with them in this living, sickening, and dangerous bundle. Humboldt, in his travels in South America, describes the serpents of that country as frequently found banded together in like manner. He supposed the object was defense against the attack of some dreaded enemy.
As no history is complete without a "snake story" it becomes our duty to write out the narrative of one of the old men on Rattlesnake, as told some years ago. In the spring of 1802, William Pope, John Waters, and Hezekiah Betts were passing up the trace along Rattle- snake from the falls of Paint, where they had been for milling and other purposes. This trace was on the north side of the creek. A
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
short distance below the mouth of Hardin's creek, and nearly opposite the present town of New Petersburg, a strong and remarkably cold spring breaks out of the cliffs and the branch there crosses the trace. The spring was a favorite stopping place for all thirsty travelers over the lonely route. When the party reached the branch William Pope dismounted and left his horse standing near the others, who declined drinking. He walked to the spring, some two or three rods, and was just in the act of stooping down to take a drink when his eyes detected the presence of a huge rattlesnake. He happened to have the wiping stick of his gun in his hand with which he soon killed the snake. By the time, however, he had accomplished this, he saw others, and he took his tomahawk and cut a pole and kept on killing until they became so numerous that he became greatly alarmed and started for his horse, literally cutting a path through them to where he had left his company. It appeared that they had all rushed out to the aid of the first which was attacked and slain. After Pope reached his horse he was so overcome with the nauseous odor emitted by the snakes that he was unable to stand and was obliged to lie down on the ground where he vomited violently. His companions were also sickened. Pope wore buckskin breeches and heavy blue cloth leggins. During the fight with the snakes several struck him on the legs and fastened their fangs in the leggins, and hung there until he cut them off with his butcher knife. Walters and Betts went back afterward to see how many Pope had killed and counted eighty-four dead snakes. So the creek was well named Rattlesnake.
Hardin's creek takes its name from Colonel Hardin of Virginia. Hardin, Hogue, Reddick, and some others surveyed a tract of land jointly, extending over a large scope of country above the mouth of Hardin's creek and containing some twenty thousand acres. On the division of this survey, Hardin's portion took in both sides of the creek which bears his name. Fall creek was so called because of the many falls that diversify its channel, while Clear creek was given the name of a like stream in Woodford county, Ky. Rocky fork sug- gests its own name to the admiring eyes of those who love the wild and picturesque. Lee's creek commemorates Gen. Charles Lee, of Virginia, whose military land warrants were located along its course.
There are large areas in Highland county more than one thousand feet above the sea, though the town of Greenfield has an elevation of but 893 feet, and Sinking Spring is only 723 feet above tide water, or about 160 feet above Lake Erie. The highest points in the county, according to the geological survey, are Stultz mountain, 1,325 feet; Fisher's knob, 1,300 feet; Long Lick mountain, 1,254 feet; Slate knob or Bald mountain, 1,250 feet; Fort hill, 1,232 feet, and the Cemetery hill at Samantha, 1,214 feet.
CHAPTER II.
FRONTIER ADVENTURES.
F OR many years before the first white settlements of Ohio, the country northwest of the Beautiful River had been explored by bold and adventurous men from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, while the Indians in their search for the scalp of the white man were constantly on the war path, or lurking in some tangled thicket awaiting for some lonely hunter, or the unprotected emigrant seeking a home in the wilderness. Hunt- ing and trapping were the chief means of support to these wild rangers of the west, and many an unmarked grave in the tangled wild wood is the only heritage of these fearless pioneers.
Joshua Fleetwood, of Virginia, employed by the Ohio Company as scout and hunter, was an example of the class. This man knew no fear, and often when it was known that the Indians were highly incensed against the whites, he would take his gun and dog and range the woods in search of game, or set his traps almost within sight of his bitter foes.
At one time, while engaged in hunting and trapping within about twenty miles of the Indian town of Chillicothe (in Ross county ), the best hunting ground of the red man, yet regardless of the nearness of his relentless enemies, he hunted the bear in the Brush creek hills and set his traps for beaver in the small streams flowing into the Scioto. From late fall until about the middle of February he was thus engaged, when concluding it was time to leave he packed his fur and skins carefully in his canoe ready for an early start on the morrow. The day he had determined to start he was discovered by the Indians ; he succeeded in killing one of them. Then began the race for his life. His ability as a runner did not belie his name, he succeeded in outrunning his enemies, and by a roundabout way through the forest at last reached his canoe, and with all his possessions floated safely into the Ohio.
One of the early pioneers and explorers of Ohio was Capt. James Trimble, of Woodford county, Ky. The history of this brave and daring soldier would read like some improbable story of fiction if
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
written out in careful detail. When in his fourteenth year his home in Augusta county, Va., was suddenly attacked by a band of Indians, who killed and scalped his aged father before his eyes and carried himself and sister, Mrs. Mary Estell, and a colored boy away with them. George Moffit, a half brother to Capt. Trimble, collected some twelve or fifteen men and started in rapid pursuit of this cruel band, who with their prisoners and the spoils of ruined homes had gone to the headwaters of the Kanawha. Moffit surprised the Indians in their encampment, killed four or five of their number and secured all the prisoners. One of the rescue party, by the name of Russell, was shot by Dickinson, the half-breed leader of the Indians, who followed the party and picked him off while lagging behind. Russell succeeded in reaching the encampment of his friends, was carried home upon a litter, and finally recovered.
Such frequent invasions of western Virginia by the Indians, and the cruel murder of many of the families along the border, called for vengeance upon this treacherous foe, and Governor Dunmore raised a large military force to march against the Indian tribes in Ohio. But this statement of the causes that led to the invasion of Ohio by Virginia troops has been criticised by recent writers, claiming that the true cause was outrages upon the Indians. It has been stated by a prominent writer that "from the time of the peace made with the Indians by Sir William Johnson, at the German Flats on the Mohawk river in 1764, until the spring of 1774, there was no Indian war on the Ohio river," and the aggressions of the red men are ascribed to the killing of Chief Logan's people by the party of Captain Greathouse, in April, 1774. James Trimble was with Gen. Andrew Lewis' detachment of Lord Dunmore's army, and while but seventeen years old, was fully determined to avenge the cruel death of his aged father four years before. He was a member of the company of Capt. George Matthews, who afterward was made a general, and with his comrades participated in the famous battle of Point Pleasant, Va., fought between General Lewis and Chief Cornstalk, on the 10th of October, 1774.
A poem written by John A. Trimble, son of James Trimble, who, when he took part in this battle was a youth of seventeen years, is worthy a place in the history of the county. John A. Trimble was a highly respected citizen of Highland for many years. Some of his children still remain, highly honored by all.
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FRONTIER ADVENTURES.
THE BATTLE OF THE POINT.
Come, listen to a soldier's tale of a battle fierce and sore, That was fought with Cornstalk and his braves on wild Kanawha's shore.
It was near the point of meeting with Ohio's placid stream, This famous combat happened, the burden of my theme. It was a fearful battle, where Virginia blood did flow Among her gallant soldiers, with a savage Indian foe; Where Cornstalk, leagued with Girty, from forest and from fen, Lay close in ambush to surprise brave Lewis and his men, Who from Augusta county came, and men from Botetourt, With Rockbridge ready riflemen, in conflict sore and hot. Our leaders all were brave and true as lions in a fight, And each was noted far and near, and each a fearless knight. There stood the brothers Lewis, on fame's memorial roll, Whose courage and whose chivalry enshrine the patriot soul; The one was chief commander, the younger led the way Where deeds of valor were performed that famed October day. Our march led through the forest, midst perils everywhere, Of lurking foes in front and rear, whose cunnng was a snare, Awaiting us at every step, as our chief was well aware. Yet through the winding labyrinth of mountain pass and glen Brave Lewis led his rangers on, a full twelve hundred men. And yet with all his practiced skill the crafty Indian lay Close in ambush, to surprise our camp at opening day. Our bivouac was near the point where two great rivers met And all was safe within our lines when evening sun was set, It was on the tenth October, and the Indian summer haze Had tinged the forest leaves with Autumn's mellow rays, While peacefully each soldier slept, with picket guards around Our lone encampment, soon to be a fearful battle ground. Quick rallying at a signal gun, that echoed the alarm,
And loud the call of Captains rang for every man to arm. Then each, surprised, the danger spurned, and grasped his rifle true And rallying where the danger pressed, resolved to die or do. First fell our noble colonel, Charles Lewis, none more brave, And by his side Hugh Allen lay, to fill a hero's grave;
While Fleming, leading bravely on throughout the raging fight Was borne by comrades from the field when day was closed by night. Then Moffit, Christian, Matthews led, stern McClanahan,
All captains of renown that day, as chiefs of Scottish clan; And loud the yell of savage rose as fierce each warrior came Face to face with gallant men of tried and dauntless fame. Their noted chieftain's clarion shouts: "Be brave and fight like men," Was echoed through the battle's din from forest and from glen. From early dawn to latest eve the conflict was full sore, And when the fearful work was done four hundred men or more Lay pale in death, to find a grave on that far distant shore. Oh, there were tears of sorrow, where friends and brothers bled, And many a heart with anguish thobbed while gazing on the dead. Here oft the father closed the eye of fondly cherished son, To feel the one consoling thought, "A patriot's duty done." For country, not for fame, they fought, and honored be the name Of each of those twelve hundred men who from the valley came. They rallied at their country's call to face a lurkng foe, While Dunmore's treachery had designed their secret overthrow. Stern vengeance then was braving to crush oppression's laws, As patriots fast were gathering to assert the people's cause, For this heroic battle was a prelude to the storm
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
That gave new light to freemen, and to freedom's laws a form, When the genius of our statesmen and their patriot worth was shown, That illum'd the page of history with a science there unknown, Of man's inherent freedom, and his manhood, to ignore The follies of past ages, and the light of truth restore. This mission came to Jefferson's colleagues to perform, And Patrick Henry to enthuse; and fearless of the storm Of coming Revolution, that held the world amazed, At which all tyrants trembled, and their prison walls were razed, His eloquence of words and mien gave out impassioned power To move the souls of patriots in that imperiled hour.
And when the work was finished and the people's cause was won, The glory of their fame was crowned in the matchless Washington.
After this severe battle the troops marched to the Pickaway Plains, and young Trimble, on this march, first saw Highland county, as he occupied the dangerous position of spy and scout to the advancing army. Not, however, until the Indians in Ohio were subdued, did Captain Trimble, after the lapse of ten years, revisit Ohio. Then, in company with Colonel Dunlap, he examined and selected several tracts in the county, which he afterward located and surveyed.
During the war of the Revolution, which soon followed the inva- sion by Lord Dunmore, the soil of Highland county was doubtless often pressed by the feet of warriors on their way to spread devasta- tion in Kentucky. The region was traversed, also, by the daring scouts and frontiersmen who contributed to the war for independence by fighting the savage allies of Great Britain north of the Ohio river. Early in 1778 Daniel Boone was taken through Ohio as the prisoner of a company of Indians. . His quick eye noted the rich soil and the many natural advantages and resources of the country. In after years his opinion in regard to Ohio gave it rank with Kentucky, his home and favorite hunting ground. Some months after this event in the life of Boone, Simon Kenton made a journey into the Indian country for the purpose of taking horses. Alexander Montgomery and George Clark were associated with him. They crossed the Ohio river and traveled with great caution until near the site of Frankfort, Ross county. Finding a fine drove of horses near the town and hav- ing salt and halters they captured some of them, and started for the Ohio river, striking that stream near the mouth of Eagle creek. High winds prevailed, and the waves so frightened the horses that they refused to enter the river. For this reason Kenton and his companions were compelled to remain upon the Ohio side over night, and the Indians came upon them the next morning, killing Montgom- ery and capturing Kenton. Clark made his escape. The Indians stripped Kenton and tied him naked to a wild horse, which they then turned loose. After trying in vain to release itself from this unique burden, by plunging, bucking, kicking, and all the wild antics of an unbroken steed, the horse at last quieted down and followed the com-
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FRONTIER ADVENTURES.
pany. The Indians, journeying from the mouth of Eagle creek to the north fork of Paint, must have followed a line through the pres- ent site of Winchester, Adams county, and through Marshall and Rainsboro in Highland. Kenton had taken the same route with his stolen horses, which made him the hero of the most thrilling adven- ture of any name in American history. Arriving at the Indian town of Waughcotomoco, Kenton was tried in Indian fashion and con- demned to suffer death by burning at the stake; but Simon Girty, a celebrated white renegade, who had known Kenton when quite a young man, under the name of Butler, had hunted and trapped with him in their boyhood days and was his warm friend, made an appeal to the council for the life of his friend, and for a time Kenton was secure. But afterward he was eight times compelled to run the gauntlet, and three times tied to the stake, to be at last purchased by an Indian agent named Druyer and taken to Detroit. In June, 1778, he escaped from the British and returned to his old hunting grounds in Kentucky.
Thomas Beals, in later days one of the earliest settlers in the north- ern part of Highland county, was a prominent leader in the Society of Friends, and had conceived the idea that like the good and great William Penn, he could settle among the Indians and by precept and example civilize and christianize them. He left North Carolina in the spring of 1778 in company with seven or eight others to settle in Kentucky. After repeated failures in securing the co-operation of friends in his effort to christianize the red men, he finally, some three years after his first visit, made up a party of emigrants, Caro- linians, and began a settlement at Bluestone. In the fall of the year the men started upon a hunt at some distance from their settlement. Having succeeded in killing abundance of game, they returned home. and sent a party with horses to bring in the bear and deer. The Indians discovered their camp and, hidden in ambush, awaited the return of the men. They shot five of the seven dead at the first fire, and carried captive the other two, James Horton, Beals' son-in-law, and John Bronson. Arriving at Old Chillicothe (Frankfort) these men were burned at the stake. James Horton was the father of Jacob Horton, who became a resident of Fairfield township, High- land county.
Gen. George Rogers Clark, after his famous capture of Vincennes, penetrated Ohio in 1780 and destroyed the Indian towns on Mad river, burning the towns and securing some forty prisoners. Col. Benjamin Logan, commanding part of this expedition, started from Limestone and passed through Highland county, destroying two towns, killing quite a number of Indians and taking many prisoners.
With such events in the forests of Ohio the years passed until 1783, when the independence of the United States was recognized, and the mother country yielded to the young republic her claim to the
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
vast region known as the territory northwest of the river Ohio. Before 1783, the settlement of this region had been discussed in the Continental congress, and the states that claimed dominion in it had been persuaded to give up their pretensions in behalf of the people of the whole country. When Virginia finally made a formal cession of her title in the Northwest, in 1784, a large part of the region, including what is now Highland county, was reserved for Virginia veterans of the war of the Revolution. Consequently the eyes of Virginians were turned specially to this region, called the Virginia Military land, and arrangements were made for taking possession, even before it was certain that the Indians in possession would sub- mit to the argument that they had lost their rights by reason of their alliance with Great Britain.
Col. Richard C. Anderson was elected principal surveyor for the Continental line, and in the spring of 1784 he moved to Louisville and opened a land office for military lands in Kentucky. Small parties of emigrants ventured down the Ohio river to Limestone (Maysville), but the Indians had not yet consented to give up Ohio, and the dangers were great. It was a long dreary journey from Vir- ginia to Pennsylvania ; there was not a settlement nor stopping place, not even a military post on the northern side of the river below the Pennsylvania line. But distance did not deter, nor dangers appal, the hardy pioneers, and some ventured with their wives and little ones not only to make the perilous descent but attempted a settlement in the Indian county as early as 1785. In April of that year four families left Redstone, Pa., and drifted down the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and there tied their boats to the shores where the city of Portsmouth now stands. They cleared some land and prepared to raise a crop. The four men after some little time spent in labor, started up the Scioto on a prospecting tour, leaving the women and children behind. They ascended the river as far as the present site of Piketon and were greatly pleased with the rich bottom lands which greeted their vision upon every side. It is related that Peter Pat- rick, one of the party, cut his initials on a beech tree near the bank of a creek, which, being found in after years, was the origin of the name Pee Pee. But this, like many other explanations of geograph- ical names, is subject to suspicion. Going into camp near Piketon these four men were surprised by a party of Indians and two of their number were killed. The other two made their escape to the Ohio just as a small boat was floating by. Securing this they reached the mouth of the Scioto, and took away their women and children never to return. Some months after this a detachment of United States troops under the command of Maj. John Doughty began the erection of Fort Harmer upon the right bank of the Muskingum where it empties its waters into the Ohio. But this afforded little protection against the hostile craft of the Indian.
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FRONTIER ADVENTURES.
Rev. James B. Finley's description of the journey from his old home to Kentucky may give the reader some idea of the dangers and hardships endured by the pioneer settlers. He says: "I shall never forget the deep-thrilling and interesting scene which occurred at part- ing. This was in the autumn' of 1788; minister and people were collected together and after an exhortation and the singing of a hymn they all fell upon their knees and engaged in ardent supplication to God that the emigrants might be protected amid the perils of the wilderness. I felt as though we were taking leave of the world. After mingling together our tears and prayers the boats were loosed and we floated out into the waters of the beautiful Ohio. It was a hazardous undertaking; but such was the insatiable desire to inherit the rich lands and enjoy the advantages of the wide spreading cane- breaks, that many were the adventures ; and although many lost their lives and others all they possessed, yet it did not for a moment deter others from the undertaking. The Indian, jealous of the white man and fearful of losing their immense and profitable hunting grounds from the great tide of emigration which was constantly pouring in upon them, were wrought up to the highest pitch of fury, and deter- mined to guard, as far as possible, both passes to it, namely, the Ohio river and the Old Crab Orchard road leading from the southern por- tion of Kentucky to North Carolina. They attacked all boats they had any probability of being able to take, using all the strategy of which they were masters, to decoy them to the shore. Many boats were taken and many lives lost through the deceit and treachery of the Indians and white spies employed by them. The day on which the emigrants started was mild and pleasant and all nature seemed to smile upon the pioneer band. They had made every preparation they deemed necessary to defend themselves from the attacks of their wily foe. The boat which led the way as pilot was well manned and armed, on which sentinels, relieved by turns, kept watch day and night. Then followed two other boats at a convenient distance. While floating down they frequently saw Indians on the banks watch- ing for an opportunity to make an attack. Just below the mouth of the Great Scioto, a long and desperate effort was made to get some of the boats to land by a white man, who feigned to be in great distress, but the fate of Mr. Orr and his family was too fresh in the minds of the adventurers to be thus decoyed. A few months previous to this time this gentleman and his whole family were murdered, being lured to shore by a similar stratagem. But a week before we passed, the Indians attacked three boats, two of which were taken, and all the passengers killed. The other barely escaped, having lost all the men on board except Rev. Mr. Tuckey, a Methodist missionary, on his way to Kentucky. Rev. Tuckey was wounded in many places but fought manfully. The Indians got into a canoe and paddled for the boat, determined to board it; but the women loaded the rifles of
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