The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 34

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

USA > Ohio > Tuscarawas County > The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio > Part 34

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Dohrman's Grant is a six-mile-square tract, consisting of Township 13, Range 7, of the seven ranges. It was granted by Congress in 1787, to Arnold Henry Dohrman, formerly a wealthy Portuguese merchant in Lisbon, for and in consideration of his having, during the Revolutionary war, given aid and shelter to American cruisers and vessels of war. One half of the grant is in Tuscarawas County, being the east portions of Rush and Mill Townships; the other half lies in Harrison County.

As an inducement to faithful and continued service in the Revolutionary war, the Continental Congress passed a resolution September 16, 1776, grant- ing to soldiers and officers who should serve during the war or until dis-

Digitized by Google

324

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

charged, or to their representatives, lands, to be provided in the following proportions: To a Colonel, 500 acres; to a Lieutenant Colonel, 450 acres; to a Major, 400 acres; to a Captain, 300 acres; to a Lieutenant, 200 acres; to an Ensign. 150 acres; each non-commissioned officer and soldier, 100 acres. By resolution of August 12, 1780, the above provision was extended to other of- ficers.

For the purpose of satisfying the warrants given for land in consequence of the above resolution, by act of June 1, 1796, Congress directed the survey of the following tract: "Beginning at the northwest corner of the seven ranges of townships and running thence fifty miles due south; thence due west with (to) the main branch of the Scioto River; thence up the main branch of the said river to the place where the Indian boundary line crosses the same; thence along this line to the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum River at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence up said river to the point where a line run due east and west from the place of beginning will intersect the said river; thence along the line so run to the place of beginning." The language is geographically inaccurate, for when the Greenville or Indian boundary line reaches the site of Fort Laurens, there is no need of ascend- ing the Tuscurawas to reach a point due west from the place of beginning. The act further provided for the survey of the tract into townships of five miles square, and the division of the townships into quarters, two and a half ' miles square, containing 4,000 acres each. Besides the land included in Tus- carawas, this United States Military District included all of Coshocton, the greater part of Holmes, Delaware, Licking, Guernsey and Knox, the northern portion of Muskingum, about one-half of Morrow, the northeastern portion of Franklin, and a fraction of Noble County. This tract was surveyed into quar- ter townships, under the direction of the United States Surveyor, during the years 1797 and 1798.

As originally enacted, lands could be located in this district only by quar- ter townships of 4,000 acres each, and the evils of this provision of the law soon became manifest. As the warrants held by Revolutionary soldiers for small tracts could not be located, they were held in low esteem, and speculators made a business of purchasing them for a trifle, until a sufficient number of them were obtained to enter a quarter township. It is said that many a war - rant for one hundred acres or more has been sold for a quart of rum. Within what is now Tuscarawas County, thirteen quarters were located and entered. They are as follows: The third quarter of Township 10, Range 1, now the southwestern part of Sandy Township, granted by President John Adams to Godfrey Haga by a patent dated March 28, 1800, and signed at Philadelphia.

The first quarter of Township 10, Range 2, the northeastern portion of Law- rence Township, granted under date of May 23, 1800, to Abraham Moser, of Washington County, Penn., and to Thomas Boude, of Lancaster, Penn., tenants in common.

The fourth quarter of Township 10, Range 2, now constituting the south- east part of Lawrence Township, was entered by Jonathan Dayton, a United States Senator from New Jersey.

Digitized by

Google

325

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

The third quarter of Township 9, Range 2, situated in Dover Township and including the village of Dover, was granted to Col. James Morrison, of Lex .. ington, Ky., by patent of April 22, 1800.

The fourth quarter of Township 9, Range 2, comprising about 4, 000 acres in the eastern part of Dover and the northwestern part of Goshen Townships, was granted to John C. Reich, John Shropp and Christian Lange, by patent dated March 28, 1800.

The first quarter of Township 8, Range 2, in Goshen Township, including New Philadelphia, was granted to Godfrey Haga, by President Adams, March 28, 1800.

The second quarter of Township 8, Range 2. comprising the southeastern portion of Dover Township, besides a small part of western Goshen and of northern York, was granted to John Heckewelder by patent bearing date March 28, 1800.

The first quarter of Township 7, Range 1, comprising the northern part of Mill Township, together with a small fraction of Union, was granted by patent. to David Galbraith, who was a New York merchant, and to Thomas Elms, ten- ants in common.

The second quarter of Township 7, Range 1, constituting the northeast corner of Warwick Township, a tract of about 4,000 acres, was granted to Will- iam Alman, of Washington County, Penn., by patent dated February 17, 1801.

The third quarter of Township 7, Range 1, now forming the southeastern part of Warwick Township, was granted to John Heckewelder March 28, 1800.

The fourth quarter of Township 7, Range 1, located wholly in Mill Town- ship, and including the village of Uhrichsville, was entered by John Rathbone, a merchant of New York City.

The second quarter of Township 6, Range 2, containing 3,662 acres, and comprising the northeast corner of Salem and the northwest portion of Clay Township, was granted to Godfrey Haga, March 28, 1800.

The second quarter of Township 5, Range 3, constituting the northwest por- tion of Oxford Township, was entered by John Beaver in 1800.

Excepting the eastern half of Township 7, Range 1, which is watered by Stillwater Creek, all these quarters are located on the Tuscara was River, and include nearly all the fine bottom lands found in the county.

At length the claims of soldiers and their representatives were recognized, and an act of March 1, 1800, provided for the survey of fifty sections or quar- ter townships, unlocated, into 100-acre lots for the convenience of those hold- ing warrants for small amounts. Within Tuscarawas County there are about eighteen quarter townships, divided into 100-acre lots. The survey was made within a few years after the passage of the act, and though much of the land was still entered by speculators, quite a number of soldiers or their descend- ants, by the provisions of this act, secured for themselves homes in the then far West.

It soon became evident that the warrants issued were not sufficient to enter

Digitized by Google

326

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

this entire tract, and in consequence, by an act of March 3, 1803, the unap- propriated lands of the military district were ordered to be surveyed into half sections, and the land office, for their sale east of the eleventh range, was lo- cated at Zanesville. The sections are one mile square and contain 640 acres each. At first this land could be purchased only in quarter sections of 160 acres, but by subsequent legislation eighty acres and afterward forty acres might be entered.

In 1802, in the act passed by Congress, authorizing the organization of the State of Ohio, among other inducements, that Ohio should not tax Con- gress lands until five years after they had been sold, it was proposed that Section 16 of every Congressional township should be granted to such township for the use of schools. The Ohio Convention accepted the proposi- tion with the important condition that "a like donation, equal to the one thirty-sixth part of the lands in the United States Military Tract, shall be made for the support of schools within that tract, and also that a donation of the same kind, or such provision as Congress shall deem expedient, shall be made to the inhabitants of the Connecticut Reserve," and with similar condi- tions for the benefit of schools within other tracts in the State.

Congress, by act of March 3, 1803, assented to these conditions and appro- priated eighteen quarter townships in the United States Military District " for the use of schools within the same." None of these eighteen quarter townships, comprising about the one thirty-sixth part of the United States Military District, lie within Tuscarawas County. By the provisions of the same act, fourteen quarter townships, also situated in the United States Mili- tary District, were granted " for the use of schools in that tract commonly called the Connecticut Reserve." Of the fourteen, eight were situated within the bounds of Tuscarawas County, viz. : The third quarter of township 9, and the fourth quarter of Township 10, Range 1; the first and second quarters of Township 9, Range 2; the second and third quarters of Township 9, Range 3; the first quarter of Township 9, and the fourth quarter of Township 10, Range 4. These Connecticut Reserve school lands were surveyed into square lots of 160 acres each, and leased until 1831, when they were sold and the proceeds became a part of the irreducible school fund of Ohio for the West- ern Reserve. The land office was located at Millersburg, Ohio, and Harvey Rice was the appointed land agent.

After the retrocession of the Moravian tracts to the United States in 1824, by act of Congress passed the same year, a lot in each tract, not exceeding the one thirty-sixth part of the land, was set apart for the use of the schools in these tracts, in the same manner that lands in other districts had been granted for the same purpose.

The land in the bend of the Tuscarawas River, about 600 acres, annezed to Tuscarawas in 1847, from Stark County, is Congress land, fractions of Sections 25, 26, 35 and 36, of Township 9, Range 9.

Upon the tax duplicate of Tuscarawas County for 1880, 356, 740 acres of land were entered. Of this about 50,000 acres compose the land that was en- tered in tracts approximating 4,000 each; 12,000 acres is Moravian land;

Digitized by

Google

327

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

32,000 acres is Connecticut Reserve School Land; 160,000 acres is Congress land in the United States Military District; about 70,000 acres in 100-acre tracts, and about 34,000 acres Congress land in the seven ranges.

THE GREENVILLE TREATY LINE.

A portion of the northern boundary line of Tuscarawas County is the Green- ville treaty line. This line was first established at a treaty with the Wyan- dots, Delaware, Chippewas and Ottawas, held at Fort McIntosh, January 21, 1785, in which George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee were the United States Commissioners. The third article of the treaty established the boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware na- tions in the following terms : " To begin at the mouth of the River Cuyahoga, and run thence up the said river to the portage between that and the Tuscara- was branch of Muskingum; then down the said branch to the forks at the crossing-place above Fort Lawrence (Laurens); then westerly to the port- age of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in 1752; then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Ome River, and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth, thence along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of Cuyahoga." All the land within these bounds, except several small reserva- tions, was to be the territory of the Delawares, Wyandots and such of the Ot- tawa nation as then lived therein.

Indian hostilities were resumed soon after and the treaty broken. The dis- astrous expeditions of St. Clair and Harmar followed, then the victory of Gen. Wayne. Having completely subdued the Western tribes, Gen. Wayne as- sembled the Indian chiefs at Greenville (now in Darke County), and there, August 3, 1795, concluded a treaty of peace in which it was stipulated that "the general boundary line between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and run thence up the same to the portage between that and the Tus- carawas branch of the Muskingum River, thence down that branch to the cross- ing.place above Fort Laurens, thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River, running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Lora- mie's store, and where commenced the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and St. Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami, which runs into Lake Erie: thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southerly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucke or Cuttawa River."

The survey of this line was commenced near the mouth of Sandy Creek, continuing westerly in a straight line. It forms the northern boundary line of Tuscarawas County west of the river. The record of the original field notes, in the possession of County Surveyor O. H. Hoover, contains this entry : "Sun- day, July 9, 1797 .- Began a survey of the line, according to the treaty by Gen. Wayne of August 3, 1795, at the crossing-place of the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum River above Fort Lawrence." The notes of the survey fol low this entry.

Digitized by Google

328

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

CHAPTER VII.

THE PIONEERS.

THE EMIGRATION-SELECTION OF A HOME-THE CABIN-THE EARLIEST PIO- NEERS-PREPARING THE SOIL-MILLS-WILD GAME-GINSENG-HUNTING -DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND THEIR ENEMIES-WHISKY-CLOTHING -SOCIAL GATHERINGS-CHURCHES-SCHOOLS-FIRST ROAD -- GLEANINGS FROM THE "CHRONICLE "-THE PIONEER ASSOCIATION. " I hear the tread of pioneers, Of nations yet to be, The first low wash of waves, where soon Shall roll a human sea."- Whittier.

TN every country there is but one generation of pioneers. The history of that generation possesses a value and an interest which belong to no subsequent period. Leaving behind them the comforts and influ- ences of a civilized community, the pioneers came to a new country, densely forested, and applied the energies of sturdy and earnest men to the destruction of the towering timber, and the rearing upon its ruins of a new civilization, similar to that from which they migrated. The struggles and dangers they must undergo, the habits and customs which their new environ- ment engendered, the gradual approach of their institutions from the inade- quacy at their inception to the present stage of efficiency and the self-deny- ing mode of life they were obliged to adopt, present a phase of life that has now departed from the State forever, and can never be here reproduced.

Most of the earliest settlers of Tuscarawas County were of German ances- try, and Pennsylvania birth or residence. A fair proportion, however, hailed from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and a few came from North Carolina, New York, Connecticut and other States, while others emigrated directly from the Emerald Isle, or "der Faderland." The journey was performed in many instances afoot. Others crossed the Alleghanies with all their worldly posses- sions packed in a two or four-horse wagon, in which only the very aged or very young were allowed to ride. The rest trudged uncomplainingly behind, or went in advance to clear the path. Some came with ox teams, some in two- wheeled carts, while others conveyed their effects to the land of promise on & couple of "old critters." Streams had to be forded frequently, roads had to be cut occasionally, and oftentimes a team would give out from drawing its burden through marshy ground, or over rough, steep hills. From fifteen days to several months were consumed in completing the tedious journey, and it was with at sigh of relief or exclamation of joy that the weary traveler at last reached his destination, though his labors had then only begun.

Digitized by

Google

829

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

In the selection of land, the river plains were avoided by many. From the scanty growth of forest trees upon them, the soil was judged to be of infe- rior quality. Hillside slopes or secluded ravines were preferred. Those lands that were covered with the heaviest growth of timber, and would require the greatest exertion to clear and prepare for the plow, were chosen, where a choice were possible. A spot for the cabin was always selected adjacent to a spring of water. For days the pioneer family were often obliged to camp on the ground or sleep in the covered wagon until a cabin could be erected. It was not uncommon, though, for the pioneer to first visit his future home alone before the emigration of his family, and build a little cabin, clear a small patch of ground and make the home ready for its destined occupants. This journey was usually performed afout or horseback. If settlers were already in the neighborhood, which included a compass of many miles, and they were apprised of the new-comer's arrival, they would congregate at his place, and by their united, hearty labor, raise the cabin in a single day. This service was cheer. fully rendered for the arrival of each additional settler was hailed with delight in the wilderness land, and the kinship, which mutual privation and isolation in a new country produces, changing strangers into friends and brothers, was manifested in various acts of kindness and assistance.

The primitive cabin was made of rough round logs with the bark still ad- hering, usually about 14x16 feet in size. It was covered by clapboards, which were held on by weight-poles placed on each tier with a ridge-pole in the cen- ter. The cracks were chinked and daubed with clay mixed with water; the floor, if floor there was, was made of puncheons, split out of logs, and roughly hewed with a broad-ax. The fire-place occupied one end of the room, and the chimney was built of mud and sticks. The windows were square or long holes, made by sawing out pieces from one or two of the logs. Slats were then nailed across, and pieces of greased paper pasted over, through which a dim light would glimmer and help dissipate the darkness within. The door was an after consideration, and a blanket sometimes served as a temporary substitute. When finished, the door was fastened by a latch, and rarely locked or bolted. With a string or thong passing through an aperture in the door the latch could be raised from the outside, and it was proverbial among the honest, sim- ple-hearted pioneers for the latch-string to be always out. A stranger, whether red, white or black, was rarely turned away. A dozen, or even a score of peo- ple, sometimes occupied at night the single apartment of the house, and no complaints were made of lack of froom. Genuine hospitality was one of the cardinal virtues. The cabin was often built with a loft overhead, which was usually reached from the outside by a ladder. If, however, the means of in- gress was from within, it was generally by a row of stout pins on one side of the room, up which the youngsters could climb with remarkable agility. For a ladder or stairway on the inside there was no room. Occasionally a few pieces of furniture were brought by the pioneer from his Eastern home; but, usually, table, chairs and bedstead, were fashioned from the rough logs, and were in regular keeping with the rudely constructed cabin.

Digitized by Google

880

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

After a few years had passed away, the settler aspired to a hewed-log cabin, a much better grade of dwelling than the primitive affair. Sawed lumber was used for door, window-frames and floor. Glass took the place of paper-win- dows, and nails were sparsely used. The first cabins were built without a nail, and when the latter first came into use, a bushel of wheat was exchanged for a pound of them. They were then made by hand on a blacksmith's anvil out of old scraps of iron.

The first settlement made in the county was in the Tuscarawas Valley. When cabin after cabin had been raised in various spots along the river course. its larger tributaries were explored and their banks settled. First came the Moravian missionaries to what is now Clay Township in 1798, and in the following year the Warners, Edmonds, Greers and Peters to the same locality. In 1800 or 1801, the Sewards, Knouses and Demuths, who were Moravians, settled in Warwick Township. About the same time Salem Township was occupied by the Pettycoarts, Williams, Corys and Sells. The settlement of the upper valley of the Tuscarawas was not delayed. Godfrey Huff was probably dwelling in the lower part of Sandy Township in May, 1801. Near by in Fairfield Township, the Jennings, Reeves and Williams soon after settled. Samuel Mosser, or Musher, as he was also known, took posses- sion of Lawrence Township soil in 1803. The Harbaughs, who were squatters at first, settled almost as early above Dover. John Knisely commenced the set tlement of Goshen Township in 1804, and Oxford Township was settled as early by John Mulvane. The valleys of Sugar Creek, Sandy, One Leg and Still- water began to be occupied as early as 1806, and in 1812 possessed many residents ; most of the smaller streams were not occupied until a later date, while the hill lands away from the streams were settled last of all. The books of the first merchant in the county, David Peter, at Gnadenhutten, show among many others the following customers whose exact locations are not now known: Abraham Welker, Abraham Richardson and Thomas and John Carr in 1800; Anthony Beaver, Isaac Burroway and Aaron Cone, in 1801; David Williams. James Watson, James. Welch, John Atkinson and Benjamin Bryson, in 1802; Jacob Beedley, in 1803; Christian Weiss, Catherine Long, Walter Griffith, Mat- thew Williams, John Boroway and Joseph Cherryholmes in 1804, and John Fites, James Kelley and Andrew Johnson in 1805.

The pioneers as a rule were strong men and women. The weaklings were left at home. None but the stout-hearted and determined dared to face the hardships and privations essential to success in an undeveloped country. Lev- eling the forests and clearing the ground was arduous toil, and required a gen- eration of men to accomplish it. Feats were then attempted and successfully carried out which would now be regarded with wonder and astonishment. Noble Cordery, who settled early in Warren Township, near New Cumberland, brought with him a fine team of horses. One morning they were missing, and leaving the boys picking brush, he started in pursuit of them, saying, as he went, that he would follow the tracks and return with the horses. Walking several miles, and remembering that his wife would await his coming for

Digitized by Google

331

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

breakfast, he called at a house by the roadside and sent word home by a boy that he would continue the hunt till he found his property. On his bare feet, he walked 270 miles to his old home near Cumberland, Md., and there found the horses. Food and lodging he obtained on the way by narrating his er- rand.

Trees had to be felled, the logs and brush rolled in heaps and burned. The rich soil among the stumps and roots could then be worked and planted. Corn was the principal crop raised, and for years was the staple article of food. Every backwoodsman once a year added to his clearing at least a " truck patch," and in its virgin soil was planted corn, beans, melons, potatoes, squashes, pump- kins, turnips, etc. The corn and beans brought roasting ears and succotash; in August, when the corn became too hard for roasting ears, and was yet too soft to grind, it was reduced to meal by a grater, and, whether stirred into mush or baked into johnny-cake, it made for people with keen appetites and good stomachs, excellent food.

" Next to the grater came the hominy block, an article in commonuse among the pioneers. It consisted simply of a block of wood-a section of tree, per. haps-with the hole burned or dug into it a foot deep, in which corn was pul- verized with a pestle. Sometimes this block was inside the cabin, where it served as a seat for the bashful young buckskinned backwoodsman while "sparking" his girl; sometimes a convenient stump in front of the cabin door was prepared for and made one of the best hominy blocks. Mills soon super- seded the hominy blocks; yet these mills were often so far apart that in stormy weather, or for want of transportation, the pioneer was compelled to resort to his hominy block or go without bread. In winter, the mills were frozen up nearly all the time, and when a thaw came and the ice broke, if the mill was not swept away entirely by the floods, it was so thronged with pioneers, each with his sack of corn, that some of them were often compelled to camp out near the mill and wait several days for their turn. When the grist was ground, if they were so fortunate as to possess an ox, a horse or a mule for the purpose of transportation, they were happy. It was not unusual to go from ten to twen- ty miles to mill, through the pathless, unbroken forest, and to be benighted on the journey and chased or treed by wolves. A majority of the pioneers, how- ever, settled in the vicinity of a stream, upon which mills were rapidly erected. These mills were very primitive affairs, were " corn crackers, " but they were an improvement on the hominy block. They merely ground the corn; the pio- neer must do his own bolting. A wire sieve was thus one of the most impor- tant articles of household furniture. It always hung in its place on a wooden peg just under the ladder that reached to the loft. The meal way sifted and the finest used for bread. How delicious was the " Indian pone," baked in a large, deep skillet, which was placed upon coals raked from the fire place to the hearth. Fresh coals were continually placed under it and upon the iron lid until the loaf, five or six inches thick, was done through. This was a dif- ferent thing from johnny cake, it was better, and could not always be had, for to make it good a little wheat flour was needed, and wheat flour was a very

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 34

Author: Warner, Beers & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017