The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 49

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Ohio > Madison County > The history of Madison County, Ohio > Part 49

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There is in each county in the State a board of examiners appointed by the Probate Judge, their official term being three years. The law provides that " it shall be the duty of the examiners to fix upon the time of holding the meetings for the examination of teachers, in such places in their respect- ive counties as will, in their opinion, best accommodate the greatest num- ber of candidates for examination, notice of all such meetings being pub- lished in some newspaper of general circulation in their respective coun- ties, and at such meetings any two of said board shall be competent to exam- ine applicants and grant certificates; and as a condition of examination,

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

each applicant for a certificate shall pay the board of examiners a fee of 50 cents." The fees thus received are set apart as a fund for the support of teachers' institutes.

In city districts of the first and second class and village districts, hav- ing a population of not less than 2,500. the examiners are appointed by the boards of education. The fees charged are the same as those of the county boards, and are appropriated for the same purpose.

There are in the different townships, subdistricts, in which the people elect, annually, a local director, whose term of office continues for three years. From this it will be seen that each subdistrict has a board consist- ing of three directors. These directors choose one of their number as clerk, who presides at the meetings of local directors, and keeps a record thereof. He also keeps a record of the proceedings of the annual school meetings of the subdistrict. The board of education of each township district consists of the Township Clerk and the local directors, who have been appointed clerk of the subdistricts. The law provides that " in every district in the State, there shall be taken, between the first Monday in September and the first Monday in October, in each year, an enumeration of all unmarried youth, noting race and sex, between six and twenty-one years of age, resident within the district, and not temporarily there, designating also the number between sixteen and twenty-one years of age, the number residing in the Western Reserve, the Virginia Military District, the United States Military District, and in any original surveyed township or fractional townships to which belongs Section 16, or other land in lieu thereof, or any other lands for the use of schools or any interest in the proceeds of such land: Provid- ed, that, in addition to the classified return of all the youth residing in the district, that the aggregate number of youth in the district resident of any adjoining county, shall be separately given, if any such there be, and the name of the county in which they reside." The clerk of each board of edu- cation is required to transmit to the County Auditor an abstract of the re- turns of enumeration made to him, on or before the second Monday of Oc- tober.

The County Auditor is required to transmit to the State Commissioner, on or before the 5th day of November, a duly certified abstract of the enu- meration returns made to him by clerks of school districts. The law pro vides that "the Auditor of State shall, annually, apportion the common school funds among the different counties upon the enumeration and returns made to him by the State Commissioner of Common Schools, and certify the amount so apportioned to the County Auditor of each county, stating from what sources the same is derived, which said sum the several County Treas- urers shall retain in their respective treasuries from the State funds; and the County Auditors shall, annually, and immediately after their annual settlement with the County Treasurers. apportion the school funds for their respective counties, according to the enumeration and returns in their re- spective offices."

The law provides that the school year shall begin on the 1st day of September of each year, and close on the 31st of August of the succeeding year. A school week shall consist of five days, and a school month of four school weeks. The law also provides, in relation to common schools, that they shall be "free to all youth between six and twenty-one years of age who are children, wards or apprentices of actual residents of the school dis- trict. and no pupil shall be suspended therefrom except for such time as may be necessary to convene the board of education of the district, or local di-

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

rector of the subdistrict, nor be expelled unless by a vote of two-thirds of said board of local directors, after the parent or guardian of the offending pupil shall have been notified of the proposed expulsion, and permitted to be heard against the same; and no scholar shall be suspended or expelled from the privilege of schools beyond the current term: Provided. that each board of education shall have power to admit other persons, not under six years of age, upon such terms, or upon the payment of such tuition as they pre- scribe; and boards of education of city, village or special districts shall also have power to admit, without charge or tuition, persons within the school age who are members of the family of any freeholder whose residence is not within such district, if any part of such freeholder's homestead is within such district; and provided further, that the several boards of education shall make such assignments of the youth of their respective districts to the schools established by them, as will, in their opinion, best promote the in- terests of education in their districts; and provided further. that nothing contained in this section shall supersede or modify the provisions of Section 31 of an act entitled an act for the re-organization, supervision and main- tenance of common schools, passed March 14. 1853, as amended March 18, 1864."

Provision is made by law for the establishment and maintenance of teachers' institutes, which are established for the professional improvement of teachers. At each Session, competent instructors and lecturers are em- ployed to assist the State Commissioner, who is required by law to superin - tend and encourage such institutes. They are either county, city or joint institutes of two or more counties, and the examination fees paid by teach- ers to boards of examiners are devoted to the payment of the expenses in- curred by these institutions.

It is said that a State consists of men. and history shows that no art or science, wealth or power, will compensate for the want of moral or intel- lectual stability in the minds of a nation. Hence, it is admitted that the strength and perpetuity of this Republic must consist in the morality and intelligence of the people. Every youth in Ohio, under twenty-one years of age, may have the benefit of a public education, and since the system of graded and high schools has been adopted, may obtain a common knowledge from the alphabet to the classics. The enumerated branches of study in the public schools of Ohio are thirty-four, including mathematics and as- tronomy, French, German and the classics. Thus the State, which was in the heart of the wilderness one hundred years ago, and has not been a State but eighty years, now presents to the world, not merely an unrivaled devel- opment of material prosperity, but an unsurpassed system of popular edu- cation.

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

CHAPTER XIII.

AGRICULTURE-ITS GROWTH AND PROGRESS-BUILDINGS, IMPLEMENTS, CROPS AND STOCK OF THE EARLY SETTLERS-PIONEER FARMING-MADISON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-THE MADISON COUNTY STOCK IMPORTING COMPANY-MADISON COUNTY STOCK SALES.

B' Y reference to the topographical description of the county in another chapter, the reader will readily infer that, although covering a small area of territory compared with other counties, few possess finer agricultural advantages. In the earlier settlement of this section, ponds, marshes and swamps abounded where to-day are found fertile and well-cultivated fields. The low and flat places were avoided for the higher grounds, not only on account of the wetness, but for sanitary reasons. The proximity of a spring, also, had much to do with the location of a cabin: but in the selec- tion of places for the erection of other buildings, convenience was the ordi- nary test. The corn-crib. made of rails or poles, and covered with prairie hay or clapboards, as convenience suggested, was as apt to be in close prox- imity to the " front door " as at the rear of the building, or near the stable. In the matter of stables and corn-cribs, very little improvement took place until long after material changes had been made in the dwellings, and we won- der, at this day. at the want of consideration shown. not only in the general arrangement of these outbuildings, but of many things connected with the household work, which now are considered of prime importance. Agricult- ural implements were, at the first, necessarily rude, and the state of agri- culture of a corresponding character. Even had such a matter been known, there was little need for "scientific " agriculture. The soil was new and productive. and it was a question simply of home supply. while for many years the markets within reasonable distance scarcely repaid the labor of hauling. The methods and implements employed fully answered the pur- poses for which they were intended.

The first substantial inclosures were constructed of rails in the form still used, called the worm fence-in a new country, with abundance of tim- ber, the cheapest, most substantial and durable fence that may be built. After the sod was broken, the ground was mellow, and plowed with oxen. The plow in common use was a long wooden one, somewhat after the shape of the plow now in use, with an iron sole and point and an iron cutter. The immigrant usually brought his plow with him. but many did not own one until he made it, or had it made by some mechanic of the settlement. If the field was too full of stumps and roots, the mattock and hoe were re- quired to do good service, and the field was planted in corn. The corn was dropped by hand-in which work the girls took part-and was covered and cultivated with the hand-hoe. Many farmers in the later days fol- lowed the same method, but the horse-hoe, or shovel-plow, soon began to be used, and gradually worked its way into general use, to mark out the rows and cross-furrows for the " dropper," and to follow after to cover the seed. Finally the " double-shovel " plow drove the hand-hoe from the corn-field, while the horse, with the changes in implements, superseded the ox. In-

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

vention has kept pace with the demand for better improved machinery, but, after the lapse of more than three-quarters of a century, the science of corn- raising is still far from perfect. Though great changes have been made in modes of planting and culture, as well as in the style of the implements used, it is questionable whether larger corn crops are raised than were pro- duced fifty years ago. The future will probably show material changes in the use, rather than in the form of the machinery, and the past ten years have made great changes in both respects. To-day, save in the cutting, shocking and husking, the use of machinery enters into every process, while in Illinois a machine is now in use for cutting and shocking corn at the same time. Invention bas come to the assistance of the farmer, as it has come to all other industries, and lifted from his life the drudgery of toil; yet it is a matter of surprise that none of the great labor-saving agricult. ural implements have been invented by farmers.

In the cultivation of wheat, greater changes have perhaps taken place than in the planting and gathering of corn. The land was plowed the same as for corn, and harrowed with a wooden toothed harrow, or smoothed by dragging over the ground a heavy brush, weighted down, if necessary, with a stick of timber. It was then sown broadcast, by hand, at the rate of a bushel to a bushel and a half per acre, and " harrowed in " with the brush. Though corn meal was the main reliance for bread, and continued to be for many years, yet wheat was raised at an early day. Occasionally a field would be grown producing what was called " sick wheat," so named from its tendency to cause vomiting. Various devices were adopted to obviate this difficulty, but none of any avail; but this class of grain was usually converted into whisky. The cause of this poison in the wheat has never been definitely ascertained; whether it was on account of the malarial lo. cality in which it was grown, the variety of wheat, or simply caused by the wheat getting wet and sprouting, is yet a matter of dispute. It has been described as differing little or none from the wheat now grown, except in the appearance of a red spot on the grain, indicating a sprout; but what- ever the canse, it has totally disappeared.

The wheat harvest ripened in the earlier part of July, and farmers ex- pected to be pretty fairly in the field by the " Glorious Fourth." The im- plement used was either the sickle or cradle, and, not infrequently, both in the same field. The sickle was at first the only instrument; but soon the cradle came into common use, and finally superseded altogether the more primitive implement. The reaper followed in the course of time, and has now as well-nigh effectually displaced the cradle as the latter did the sickle. Life on the farm necessarily compels the husbandmen to be a "jack-of-all- trades, " and there were many farmers over the county who could not only make a tub or a barrel, but the frame work and fingers for the cradle. Sometimes an ingenious backwoodsman made it a business of repairing all classes of farm implements, and manufacturing new ones. When such a man lived in a neighborhood, he was usually well patronized.

There were few farmers who did not know how to swing the scythe and cradle, and there was no more pleasant picture on the farm than a gang of workmen in the harvest field, nor a more hilarious crowd. Three cradles would cut abont ten acres a day, and one binder was expected to keep up with each cradler. Barns for the storage of the unthreshed grain are a comparatively modern invention, and, as soon as the shock was supposed to be sufficiently enred, it was hauled to some place on the farm convenient for threshing and feeding, and there stacked. Prior to the introduction of

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

threshing machines, the work was performed by flail, or tramping with horses, but generally the latter plan was adopted. The flail was used in stormy weather, on the sheltered floor, or when other farm work was not pressing, the threshing by tramping, commonly in clear weather, on a level and well-tramped clay floor, or, in later days, if the space was sufficiently large, on the barn floor. When sufficiently tramped, the refuse straw was thrown into a stack, and the wheat cleaned by a fanning-mill, or, prior to the use of these mills, by letting it fall from a height of several feet, subject to the action of the wind. Other modes were also in vogue, which the de. scendants of the pioneers are familiar with.

The next step was to get the wheat to market, but in the early days there was little surplus after the home demands were satisfied. This, how- ever, did not continue many years, as each year added to the number of pro- ducers, and. as early as 1830. the hauling of wheat and other products to distant markets was the general practice. Chillicothe, Columbus, Sandus- ky. Springfield, Dayton and Cincinnati were all patronized from Madison County. The custom was for several farmers to go in company. The roads were heavy and full of marshy places, and the frontiersman's skill with the ax, and ingenuity in " fixing up " a " break-down," were always in requisi- tion. When heavy loads were hauled, it was not unusual to take relays of horses, with provender for the trip. the exchange of horses being made at about the half way house on the road. Teamsters carried their own provis- ions, and camped out whenever nightfall came on, or, if corn and hay taken for the trip were consumed, to turn into the yard of one of the inns to be found along the line of all the great thoroughfares, " for man and beast." After the completion of the National road through this county, much of the hardest work on these trips disappeared, as the largest loads could be hauled with ease, without constant fear of breakages and long delays caused by the terrible state of the muddy roads.

Laborers were abundant, and the farmer had little or no difficulty in supplying himself with " hands," either for the season or for an emergency. Almost every one could swing the scythe or cradle, or perform any other work on the farm. The rule was, not only with the hired laborer, but with the farmer and his boys, to be at work with the early light. A day's work on the farm was the labor that might be performed between " sun and sun," and this was understood and accepted on the part of the employer and em- ploye, though it was usual to perform the " chores " after the return from the field. The price of labor was 50 cents a day, which was also the wages of a harvest hand. A good farm hand could be hired at from $8 to $10 per month. There was no fixed price for produce or stock. Old settlers tell us that they have sold wheat as low as 25 cents per bushel, and stock at cor- respondingly low prices. In 1830, wheat hauled to Cincinnati brought 37} cents per bushel; a cow and calf, $12; and a brood sow, $5. A load of flour, containing eight barrels, was exchanged at Cincinnati, in 1815, for two barrels of salt.

The swing of the early settlers, compared with the hogs of 1883, would present as wide a contrast as it is possible to conceive. Whatever the breed may have previously been called, running wild, as was customary, the spe- cial breed was soon lost in the mixed swine of the country. They were long and slim, long-snouted and long-legged, with an arched back, and bristles erect from the back of the head to the tail. slab-sided, active and healthy; the " sapling splitter " and " razor-back," as he was called, was ever in the search of food, and quick to take alarm. He was capable of

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

making a heavy hog, but required two years or more to mature, and until a short time before butchering or marketing, was suffered to run at large, subsisting mainly as a forager, and in the fall, fattening on the " mast." Yet this was the hog for a new country, whose nearest and best markets were in Cincinnati and Baltimore, to which places they were driven on foot. Persons then, as now, engaged in the purchase and driving of swine or cat- tle as a special occupation, and, by means of trustworthy agents, visited distant sections to buy up large droves. It was not uncommon to see a drove of hogs driven to a certain place to be weighed ere starting them on their long journey. As each porker was caught, it was thrust into a kind of leather receptacle, which was suspended to steelyards. As soon as the hog was fairly in the contrivance, the whole was lifted from the ground, and thus, one by one the drove was weighed and a minute made of each, and with a pair of shears, a patch of bristles was cut from the hind-quarters, or some other mode of marking followed, as evidence of the fact that the hog had been weighed. Two or three days' drive made the hogs quiet enough to be driven along the highway without much trouble, moving forward at an aver- age gait of from eight to ten miles a day. Whenever the animals were wilder than usual. they were enticed into a pen, there caught, and their eyelids " stitched," or this was done during the weighing process. Thus blinded, the hogs seemed instinctively to keep the road, and, reaching their destination, a clip of the scissors or knife made all things right again.

Almost every farmer raised a few hogs for market, which were gath- ered up by drovers and dealers. The delivery of hogs began usually in September, and the business was carried on past the middle of winter. The price ranged at about $1.25 per 100 pounds, though at times running up to $3.25 or $3.50, with a fair margin after driving to Cincinnati or Bal- timore. About 1840, the hog trade was brisk, and speculation ran high. Many men along about this time laid the foundation of subsequent fortunes, while doubtless others lost all in wild speculation. In no stock of the farm have greater changes been effected than in the hog. From the characteris- tics of this wild animal, long-legged, slab-sided, roach-backed, muscular. tall, long, active and fierce, it has been bred to be almost as square as a store-box, quiet as a sheep, taking on 250 pounds of flesh in ten months. They are now ranked into distinctive breeds, which, as far as Madison Coun- ty is concerned, has mainly narrowed to the Berkshire and Poland-China, though other breeds are found here.

In horses, cattle and sheep, Madison for many years has claimed a high grade. The first sheep were brought into the county by Joshua Ew- ing, in 1800, and since that time their numbers have gradually increased. until to-day this county contains thousands of the finest sheep in the State. The breeding of thoroughbred horses began at a later day. Walter A. Dun and Maj. William A. Neil have done much toward the growth and develop- ment of thoroughbred horses in this portion of Ohio. It has not proven remunerative to these individuals, but nevertheless Madison County derived great benefit from their enterprise, as it raised the grade of her horses to a high standard. This county being the center of the blue grass region of Ohio. it necessarily follows that nature intended it for a great cattle mart, and as such it is recognized throughout the world of trade. The great monthly cattle sales held in London since 1856, as well as the thoroughbred Short-Horns imported from Europe at an earlier day, has made the name of " Old Madison " famous. There is no county of this great State where the buying and selling of stock has proven such a grand success as here in the

James Wilson

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

little county of Madison. Her sale-days are the great events in the lives of stock men for miles in every direction. Over her broad acres, covered with the succulent blue grass, roam vast herds of sleek, well-fed cattle, which are ever in demand at the highest market prices.

MADISON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

In 1846, the Clark and Madison Agricultural Society was organized, which held fairs alternately at South Charleston and London. The last of these fairs was held in London, on the 6th, 7th and 8th of October, 1852. On the 13th of November, 1852, the following agricultural notice appeared in the Madison Reveille : " We, the undersigned, citizens of Madison County, are in favor of calling a county convention, for the purpose of or- ganizing a county agricultural society, within and for Madison County, separate and apart from Clark County; and recommend said convention to be held on Saturday, the 20th day of November, 1852. Paul Smith, Sebas- tian Roberts, Abraham Johnson, Thomas J. Stutson, J. Mccullough, R. Ac- ton, G. W. Lewis, G. B. Olney, N. H. S. Miller, Jennet Stutson, F. H. Olmstead, O. C. Standart, G. E. Hartwell, Nathan Burnham, E. S. Han- cock, B. Crabb, N. E. Davis, Evans Pennington, Henry Alder, Carlton E. Gregg, John G. Dun, Caleb Morse, James Burnham, John T. Maxey, Rob- ert Armstrong, William C. Minter, Dr. J. Stutson, A. Toland, A. J. Ryan, John Williams, William Morris, Washington Withrow. Jackson Brock, W. A. Koontz, Coleman Asbury, William Riddle, D. Haskell, P. R. Asbury." In response to this call, a large and enthusiastic meeting of the farmers. mechanics and business men took place in London on that date.

The meeting was organized by appointing J. Stutson, of Jefferson Township, Chairman, and William H. Creighton, Secretary. The Chair man, in a brief but appropriate address, explained the object of the meet. ing, which was to dissolve the connection which had heretofore existed with Clark County in an agricultural society, and to organize such society for Madison County alone. The necessity of such a course was obvious. The fairs were held in Clark County (except occasionally, by special favors, and by private individuals at London defraying certain expenses). The conse quence was that a very large portion of the county was excluded from its benefits by being so remote from the point where the fairs were held. He urged that Madison County contained the elements within herself to pro- duce the very best agricultural exhibitions of any county in the State. On motion of David Haskell. it was resolved to proceed to organize a Madison County Agricultural Society, and elect such officers as were necessary to conduct the affairs of such society. On motion of John Melvin, it was re- solved that the officers of this society shall be a President. Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and five Directors. The officers were then elected as follows: President, Richard Cowling; Vice President. Dr. J. Stutson; Treasurer, John Rouse; Secretary, W. H. Creighton; Directors, John H. Findlay, John T. Maxey, John G. Dun, Jesse Watson. Jonathan Farrar.

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The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 49

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180