The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 36

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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"We had an opportunity the ensuing day, on our road to Fort St. Mary, to see the remains of an old Indian work, which consists of stones apparently from the destruction of a stone wall, which is supposed to have been erected by the same nation. It is situated about three miles west of Piqua, on a bluff elevated about thirty feet above the level of the valley of the river. The wall, which is consid- ered by some as having been erected for purposes of defense, stood near the brink of the hill, facing to the southeast. It has been completely thrown down, but its limits may be distinctly traced by the stones which lay on the ground, forming an ellipsis, whose axes are respectively 1,500 and 900 feet. This work is stated, upon the authority of Col. Johnston, to inclose an area of seventeen acres. The longest axis extends in an east-and-west line ; the distance of the nearest. point of the ellipsis to the river was estimated to be about seven hundred yards. At its southeastern part it is supported by a circular earthen fort, similar to those previously described, and measuring about thirty-six yards in diameter. The stones, of which the wall was built, are all rolled, mostly granite ; few of them are calcareous ; they are in every respect similar to those we find scattered over the country, and especially on the banks of the river. At present they form & loose pavement, about six feet wide, around the ellipsis. The figure of the ellipsis deviates, in some cases, from a strict regularity, probably to accommodate itself to the surface of the country as it then was. In sundry parts, and more especially

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toward the west side, are many gateways, or interruptions in the walls, which are generally from six to eight feet wide. Back of these, and within the area of the ellipsis, we find a number of stones heaped up in the form of mounds, which are supposed to be the remains of small works, thrown up for the defense of the gate- way, and so situated that one mound will protect two gateways. Although the general opinion seems to be favorable to the idea that this stone wall was erected as a fortification, we by no means consider this as proved. All the stones which are found there, if arranged so as to form the highest possible wall, would probably not rise above four and a half to five feet; but in order to afford the walk any degree of solidity, it would be necessary to give it such a breadth as would probably reduce its dimensions to less than three feet. On the part of those who do not consider this as the remains of a military work, it may be argued that we have no proof of these stones having ever formed a wall ; that they may have been gathered for the purpose of forming the elliptical pavement which they now pre- sent. That this may have been constructed for motives which we cannot at pres- ent conceive of, is no proof that such motives may not have existed ; further, it may be said that, admitting these stones to be the remains of a wall, it is not probable that it was made for military purposes, as a work of this kind would certainly not have been erected for the protection of a small force, and as a large number of persons collected in it would have been quite unprotected against the arrows and other missile weapons ; that the situation, though a commanding one, appears quite untenable for want of water, which can only be obtained by descend- ing the hill toward the river, in which case the party venturing out would be exposed to be cut off by the enemy. A spring was, it is true, observed within the elliptic inclosure ; but the small quantity of water which it affords at present, renders it improbable that it should have been, at any time, sufficient for the con- sumption of as large a force as would have been required in the defense of so extensive a work. The number of gateways, it may be said, likewise excludes the possibility of its being intended as a work of defense, for they are very numerous, and sometimes within four or five feet of each other. The unevenness of the ground, part of the wall being along the sides of the hill and much lower than the rest, may be urged as another strong objec- tion to its being considered as a military work. If it be not intended for purposes of war, what was the intention of those who erected it? Its extent, the labor which it required in order to accomplish it, its form and situation, in fine, all its characters, would then concur in leading to the belief that it must have been a religious monument, probably forming an arena for their sacred festivals ; their games, their ceremonies, could be conveniently carried on. The number of the gates, the heaps of the stones which lay near them, all tend to prove that no other origin can be safely ascribed to it. It was suggested that this may, per- haps, be the remains of a pound, similar to those made by the Indians to this day for the purpose of entrapping buffaloes and other game.

" But this opinion is, likewise, excluded by the little resistance which a wall of such small dimensions, formed by the union of uncemented stones but loosely piled together, would have presented to the powerful efforts of the wild animals, which it would have been intended to inclose. Its situation on an uneven ground, likewise excludes this hypothesis from any claim to plausibility. The stones used vary much in size, from that of a walnut to the largest which a man can carry ; doubts may exist whether this wall was raised upon an earthen parapet ; if there was one of this kind, it has certainly disappeared almost entirely, yet in a few places the elevation formed by the stones appeared greater than might have been expected, from the quantity of materials which were observed. It is, there- fore, not impossible that in some places, at least, the wall may have been sup- ported by an earthen parapet. The motive for which these stones were collected will, probably, ever remain a secret, and we must be contented with surmises, all of which are unsatisfactory, because all are founded upon hypothetical manners which we ascribe to the authors of these works. Where we observe a circular

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rampart with a fosse, a gateway and a transverse inside of the gateway, we dis- cover a similarity to our modern fortifications, and we immediately consider that this may have been erected for the same purpose, without inquiring into the foundation which we have for assigning to them the same system of fortification which we have adopted. In examining into the character of man, whether civ- ilized or savage, we are, it is true, struck with the powerful influences which two of the most opposite passions, a warlike and religious spirit, will exercise over him ; and to one or both of these, we may attribute his most astonishing actions, whether good or bad. The experience of every nation proves, that almost all religious faiths have led to the undertaking of vast constructions. Without recurring to the Egyptian and Indian antiquities, we find in the splendid remains of Greece and Rome, in the colossal and magnificent Gothic cathedrals of the middle ages, and even in the more recent edifices of modern times, that religion has at all periods been the principal motive which has induced men to exert their genius and expend their labor in constructions. Judging, by the same test, of the nations long since extinct, which at one time covered the banks of our Western streams, we will not be surprised if the remains of their finest works bear the character of having been undertaken, partly, at least, with religious views."

About a mile south of Piqua is an old Indian cemetery, situated upon a level piece of ground, elevated about twenty feet above high-water mark, in a romantic spot intersected by a small stream. The surface is formed by limestone rocks in horizontal strata, upon which it seems the bodies were laid and covered over with slabs of limestone.

On the south, and higher up on the point of the hill, is a mound described by Mr. Wiltheis as being 240 feet in circumference, six feet in height, and surrounded by a ditch paved with pebbles. In May, 1880 he explored it and found it con- tained a sacrificial altar. After digging through a foot of soil he came to a stra- tum of yellow sand ten inches thick, then six inches of ashes mixed with burnt bones, pressed into a solid mass, then nineteen inches of clay burnt red. One mile south- east of the main fort is another, 160 feet in circumference, with ditch on the inside and entrance on the east and west. One mile south, on Section 7, is another, 300 feet in circumference, with a southeast entrance, gravel embankment and ditch inside. Three hundred yards to the northeast is another, 250 feet in circumference and nine feet in height. Excavations showed this also to contain a sacrificial altar, made of clay burnt red, and covered with ashes, charcoal and burnt bone three inches thick. On this was a layer, eight inches thick, of clay ; on this again was a layer of burnt bone pressed solid, covered with clay ; then five alternate layers of clay and char- coal, five feet thick ; the whole mass covered with gravel mixed with clay two feet in thickness. West of the altar, human remains were found, viz .: a skeleton lying with the head towards the southeast, imbedded in clay. The skull bore the appear- ance of having been crushed with a blunt instrument, as fragments of the cranium were found within the cavity. Near the surface were found broken pieces of pot- tery. Southeast of this, between the river and canal, was an ancient burial ground. Ten skeletons were exhumed by Mr. J. Reyt; they were buried in a circle, with their feet toward the center, which was occupied by a beautifully ornamented piece of pottery. About ten feet from this, he found a single skeleton with a piece of pottery near him. The graves were lined and covered with limestone.

Across the river, in Spring Creek Township, is another burial ground, contain- ing many bodies exposed after the recession of high water. On Section 29, Wash- ington Township, was a stone mound containing many bodies. Near the canal, same section, was a very large mound 400 feet in circumference, and from fifteen to eighteen feet high. Within the limits of the city of Piqua was one of their largest burial places, reaching from Young street to the Rocky Branch. All along the bank of the canal were found many stone graves, but the stones were taken out and burnt for lime as long ago as 1820.

On Section 30, Spring Creek Township, were three circular fortifications, now obliterated ; on Sections 27 and 28, are also two more burial grounds, with human

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remains. On Section 19, Newton Township, are two pre-historic works, situate near Pleasant Hill, on the west bank of Stillwater, on the bluffs forming the west bank. The larger of these works is 700 feet in circumference. On each side of the hill upon which the fort was built, are two ravines of about 100 feet in depth, run- ing back from the river, and forming a junction about three hundred yards from it ; in the angle of these the fort is built. The ravines running northwest and south- west protect it on three sides, and on the west side runs a half-moon embankment, 240 feet in length and six feet high, reaching from ravine to ravine; where the wall. `joins the ravines they are about twenty-five feet deep. Ditches are cut inside and outside of the wall. From the bottom of the ravines, looking up, the fort has the appearance of an immense truncated mound. It presents a formidable front, and its ragged sides look impossible to scale.

Five hundred yards north of this is a smaller one, protected on the north by a similar ravine, running from west to east. The embankment is a circular inclosure, 300 feet in circumference, about three feet high at present. Trees of great age stand within.

RELICS.

This county is prolific of specimen instruments of a pre-historic age, mostly to be met with along the rivers, made of different kinds of stone, viz .: Granite, greenstone, sandstone, quartz, in its various forms, as chalcedony, agate, flint, jas- per, slatestone, bone, horn, shells, and sometimes obsidian.

Mr. Wiltheis, of Piqua, a German gentleman of much intelligence, has in his possession 1,350 specimens of ancient handiworks. He has stone axes, ranging from two ounces to nine pounds ; pestles, from three to six pounds ; rolling-pins, three to four pounds ; hammers and hammer stones, from one-half to three pounds ; zelts, from one ounce to three pounds ; chisels, all sizes ; spades and hoes of dif- ferent sizes ; scrapers, of flint and other material; fish spears, of slender form ; flint knives, of all sizes and shapes; lance, spear and arrow heads, both for war and the chase; stone beads and shell drills of flint, large and small spoons of shells, slatestone shuttles, calendar stones, of various patterns; slings, discoidal stones, war-club plates, pendants, ceremonial instruments, badges of power, beau- tiful in design ; hollow tubes, perforated balls of stone, various kinds of orna- ments, smoothing stones, jasper pipes, inscribed tablets, found one-half mile west of Piqua, in a gravel pit, buried eighteen feet, and fifty feet in the hillside.

They are made of burnt clay. The smaller one has twelve characters inscribed on it, a bow and arrow on one side, and a Grecian cross on the obverse, inside of a square. This tablet is two and one-fourth inches wide, three and one-half feet long, and one-fourth of an inch thick. Through the upper corners are holes, evi- dently for suspension. The other is four inches by two and one-fourth, has twenty- one characters, seventeen on one side, with bow and arrow on the obverse, square, with Grecian cross, inside, holes, as in the former, and a hole through the cross, filled with lead. By comparison, the inscriptions on these tablets bear a striking resemblance to those found at the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. Some of the characters are identical with the Phoenician. Mr. W. has taken casts of these tab- lets, and presented the originals to the Smithsonian Institute. Anyone interested in archeological study will find a splendid collection and a hearty welcome by vis- iting Mr. W. at Piqua, through whose kindness and intelligence we have been enabled to present the above facts.

STATISTICS.

We copy the statistical reports as compiled by Dr. Coleman, which are undoubtedly correct :

All taxes upon lands in Ohio prior to 1827, were by the acre, without refer- ence to improvements, and for State purposes only. Personal property and town lots were taxed for county and local purposes. Lands were rated for taxes, first, second and third, and the tax generally about $4, $3 and $2 per quarter-section

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upon these rates. In 1827, the valuation of lands was placed upon the county duplicate, and, including town lots, amounted to $594,292, and chattel property to $156,941, making an aggregate of 758,238. The population of the county in 1830 (nearest census) was 12,807 valuation of property per capita (poll tax), $58.65.

The agricultural interests of the county had, up to this period, been very slowly developed ; and there had been no advance in the value of improved land since the war of 1812.

Improved farms, of as good land as was to be found in the county, could be pur- chased at $10 per acre, and frequently sales were made at from $5 to $7 in quanti- ties for quarter-sections, one fourth or more improved, and under cultivation. At this period agricultural lands possessed but a nominal value, but at the same time the canal question was agitating in the Legislature, which gave promise of an improvement of the State in the near future.

The second valuation, in 1835, was, of lots and lands, $1,161,050; chattel, $363,145; total, $1,532,193 ; the aggregate more than doubling in eight years. This improvement may, in part, be attributed, no doubt, to the completion of the Miami Canal to Dayton, which opened a limited market for produce. In the course of eight years, 1827 to 1835, agricultural lands advanced 100 per cent.

In 1842 the third valuation was taken : Lands and lots, $1,654,758 ; chattel, $1,400,039 ; total aggregate, $2,054,747.

The population, by the census of 1840, was 19,688, giving a valuation of prop- erty per capita. of $104.37, being an increase of about 100 per cent in fifteen years, and an extension of the Miami Canal to the north line of the county in 1837, and the increase of land from $15 to $25 per acre. 1840 may be considered the termi- nation of the log-cabin period. The increase of wealth created a desire for more commodious and better-appearing habitations, and the faithful log-cabin, that had sheltered them alike from the cold and rain, as well as from the bullets of the Indian, was deserted for the beautiful frame or brick. In 1853 the fourth valua- tion of lands was taken, amounting to $7,722,018 ; chattel, $3,401,082 ; amounting in the aggregate to $11,128,000. The population in 1852, was 25,000, giving & valuation of property per capita of $445.20, being an increase of value of the tax list of more than four-fold, in the last eleven years. The completion of the canal to Lake Erie stimulated the agricultural interests to such an extent, that land ad- vanced from $25 to $50 per acre, which seemed to be the maximum increase by the opening of the canal.

In 1859, the fifth valuation of lands and lots was taken, amounting to $9,852,- 652; chattel, $3,512,927; in the aggregate, $13,365,579. Population in 1860, 30,377, with a valuation per capita of $445.40.

The Legislature failed to make appropriation for a sixth valuation, its approxi- mate estimate can be made based on 100 per cent advance upon the previous. valuation, which would give lands and lots, $19,704,304 ; chattel property in 1868, $6,452,888, making, in the aggregate, $26,057,192, being the approximate amount on the tax list of 1868, with a probable population of 35,000, giving, 730.20 per capita.

The valuation of property in 1870 was $17,478,998; in 1874, $21,938,672. State tax for same year, $70,203,73. Other taxes, amounting to $248,568,41; aggre- gate, $318,772,14.

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BROWN TOWNSHIP.

Brown Township, in the extreme northeastern corner of Miami County, is bounded on the north by Shelby County, on the east by Champaign County, on the south by Lost Creek Township and west by Spring Creek Township, in Miami County. The country round about is watered by several streams of considerable importance; of these, Spring Creek flows through the two northwest sections in the township, and passes from them into Spring Creek Township. Lost Creek, the most important water-course in the township, rises by three heads in the north- ern part of the township, and flows in a southwesterly direction to the central part of the western portion of the township, when it takes a course directly south, and enters Lost Creek Township at its northwestern section. Leatherwood Creek rises in the eastern part of the township, and flows in a northwesterly direction into Shelby County. It was so called from the great amount of that species of timber which skirted its banks. Ramp Run, another small stream in Brown Township, received its name on account of the great abundance of ramps, a vegetable pro- duction resembling Indian turnips, which grew along its course. The township contains some thirty sections, making about 19,200 acres of tillable land. At present, there are not more than ten miles of mud road in the township, which presents a cobwebbed appearance of free pikes, which have been built at an aver- age cost of between $1,200 and $1,600 per mile.

The first white man who located himself permanently within the present limits of Brown Township was John Kiser, who emigrated from Virginia in the early days of the nineteenth century, and came immediately to Ohio. He settled first near Dayton, but, in 1806, came to this township and purchased the northeast quarter of Section 30, where he built his rude cabin and began life in this section of Miami County as a bachelor; but, soon growing weary of a "life in the forest alone," he took to himself a wife, and began in earnest the work of clearing his farm and making a pleasant home for his family. This, for one man, was no small undertaking, requiring not only a great expenditure of muscular force, but also a will so determined as not to be thwarted by any common difficulty. . Mr. Kiser, however, proved equal to the emergency, and soon had cleared a few acres of ground, from which he raised the first crop of corn and vegetables in the town- ship. Isaac Kiser, the oldest child of this family, was born in the fall of 1810, and was the first white child who had his nativity in Brown Township; besides him, two other sons and two daughters were born to Mr. Kiser. Isaac, the eldest, still lives near the spot of his birth, the oldest resident in the township. He is a man greatly respected by all, who, by his untiring industry, has succeeded in accumu- lating a goodly portion of this world's goods, which he does not hesitate to use for any laudable and benevolent purpose that may come under his observation. His sons, two of whom carry on the mercantile business in Fletcher, are wide-awake citizens. Mrs. Kiser has in her possession one of the coats worn by the Britishers during the Revolutionary war ; it is a sleeveless red jacket, and was taken during the war by a relative of Mrs. Kiser, from whom she received it. This is, without doubt, the oldest article of apparel in the township, the sight of which reminds one not only of the futile attempts of Great Britain to rule the United Colonies, but also of the grand work accomplished by our forefathers, when they obtained for themselves and their descendants such desirable homes as are to be found not only in Brown, but in every township, almost, throughout the United States.

The second settler in the township was John Simmons, a native of Pennsyl- vania, who immigrated here in 1807, with his family of ten children, and located himself on Section 36; he, shortly after his arrival, entered several hundred acres of land in the vicinity, and was for many years the largest land-holder in the town- ship. Upon his arrival here he found the neighborhood sparsely settled, the Kisers being the only white settlers for miles around ; nothing daunted, however, by the

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gloominess of the external surroundings, he went to work with a will to build for himself a home and name in the place he had chosen to live, the initiatory steps to which proceeding was the erection of a cabin of round logs, which contained two rooms, being what was known as a double log house, and the first of its kind in the township, as the house inhabited by Kiser contained but one room and a little loft, to which access was had by means of a small ladder. The Simmons residence was for the time a rather pretentious structure. A porch extended the length of the house, and in summer this served as a dining-room ; the roof was of clap-boards manufactured by Mr. Simmons. The floors and doors were of puncheon- plank ; the latter, swung upon the old-time wooden hinges, made a screeching noise on being opened, not calculated to be particularly soothing to persons of a nervous temperament. Patent locks and modern bolts were not used in the construction of this dwelling; instead, a wooden catch answered every purpose. This was attached to the inside of the door by wooden pins, and was opened from the outside by a leather string which protruded through a gimlet hole and was fas- ened to the latch inside. At nights the house was locked by merely pulling in the string, thus making it impossible to open the door from the outside. The prin- cipal feature of this house was its window, which was of real glass-a substance by no means commonly used to admit light in those primitive dwellings. The cabin of Mr. Simmons, however, was illuminated during the day by a small glass window, about 10x12 inches in size, and thus the use of greased paper for that purpose was dispensed with in that household.

The first year of his arrival here, Mr. Simmons, after building his house, suc- ceeded in clearing two or three acres of land, from which he raised corn enough for family use during the next year. In a few years subsequent to his settling here, he managed to clear more than fifty acres of his wooded homestead, from which he raised good crops of corn and a little wheat. There being no market near at hand, and farm products being exceedingly low, the inducements to farm extensively were not great, even had it been possible ; all grain, beyond what was necessary for home consumption, had to be carried to the neighboring towns for a market ; and there being no regular roads at this time, and wagons not being yet in use, it will readily be seen that the means and modes of transportation were neither numerous nor convenient. Most of the surplus grain in this township was for many years taken to Dayton for sale, till Piqua became a town, after which the narrow - pathway through the woods to that place was frequented more than that which led to the more remote market, and hence the first sale of grain in Piqua from this township was made by a son of Mr. Simmons, who carried to that place a few bushels of corn on the back of the old family horse, which he disposed of after some trouble, for the then enormous price of 9 cents per bushel, which he received in cash. On so small a scale as this began the sale of grain in this township, which has since assumed, in comparison, proportions almost gigantic.

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 36

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051