Champaign County, Ohio - The whole text, 1881 (part 8 of 32)

This accession to Gen. Hull's army completed the organization, and the entire force, in a short time, was ordered to Detroit, and opened the army road afterward known as Hull's Trace. The reverses which followed in the North continued to make Urbana an objective point. Gov. Shelby, of Kentucky, for the protection of the exposed frontier settlements, called out and took command in person of some 5,000 mounted men, and encamped on the south border of the town, reaching from the place where the upper factory pond now is, westward through the Weaver and Ward lands to the old mill near the water works, where they remained some days before being ordered to the front.

Gov. Meigs, immediately after the surrender of Detroit, made a requisition for a large Ohio force, under command of Gen. W. Tupper. Urbana was made the place of rendezvous, and the encampment was on the high grounds north of the ravine bordering what is now known as Laurel street.

During the siege of Fort Meigs, in May, 1813, runners were sent through the surrounding country, urging the male inhabitants to assemble immediately at this point to take measures to relieve the besieged fort. The summons resulted in a large mass-meeting, from all points south to the Ohio River, and the greater part, being armed, volunteered to march at once to the relief of the fort. Joseph Vance, Simon Kenton and other citizens of Urbana took an active and prominent part in the movement. The force was officered by acclamation, and immediately moved north under command of Col. McArthur. Four days' forced march were made through the wilderness, when they were met by Col. William Oliver, John McAdams and Captain Johnny, an Indian, who had been sent as spies with the intelligence that the enemy had abandoned the siege. The force then returned to Urbana and were discharged.

The concentration of forces and supplies at this point, necessarily required the establishment of appropriate agencies. Among these, the Quartermaster's Department was managed by William Jordan. Alexander Doke had charge of the armorer's -yards and shops. Zephaniah Luce was Issuing Commissioner. Dr. Gould, Physician and Surgeon to the hospital. Jacob Fowler, being at the head of the Quartermaster's Department, was general agent and contractor for Government supplies. Maj. David Gwynne here made his headquarters as Paymaster, and Josiah G. Talbott, formerly a Lieutenant in the regular army, opened a recruiting station and enlisted a number of soldiers.

Joseph Vance organized a volunteer company of riflemen from the surrounding country, who elected him Captain; William Ward, Jr., Lieutenant; and Isaac Myers, Ensign. They were mostly old hunters, and could hit the "bull's eye " at seventy-five yards' distance. It has been asserted that the hunters were so expert with the rifle that, a deer bounding through the grass, and fired at by a number, the hand would cover the space where the bullets struck. This company was denominated Minute-men and Rangers, and, when danger from Indians was apprehended - which occurred several times during the war - they promptly responded to the call and moved to the point of danger. Other companies, from Urbana and the surrounding country, were also organized, which did efficient service. Among these was a company under Capt. John McCord, one of Capt. Barrett and one of Capt. Kizer.

From the first settlement, and until after the close of the war, alarms of threatened Indian raids were frequent. Reports of massacres of whole families, in close proximity, added to the alarm. In the earlier times, the rumor of the approach of hostile savages would send the few settlers to the more strongly built and roomy log-houses, where they would barricade the doors and windows. On one occasion, it is reported that Zephaniah Luce, receiving information that a body of Indians in the neighborhood intended to make an attack on the place during the night, went around among the settlers, urging them to repair to the house of George Fithian, and carry with them all their guns and ammunition, and barricade it as the most secure stronghold in the place. The advice was followed, and the night was one of intense anxiety and excitement. The attack was not made, and in a day or two they returned to their deserted cabins. These alarms suggested the expediency of building a block-house, which the people erected shortly after on lot No. 104. This house was used during the war as one of the artificer's shops for the army. The neighboring frontier tribes of Indians professed friendship, yet many distrusted them, and were suspicious that through the representations and influence of Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, they might be induced to join the Pottawatomies and other hostile tribes. At the battle of Tippecanoe, fought in November, 1811, though the forces of Gen. Harrison met with heavy losses, the Indians, under Tecumseh, were, after much slaughter, routed. This being late in the fall, no fears were entertained that they could be reorganized before the next summer. To provide against their reassembling and renewing hostilities, precautionary measures were taken by Gov. Meigs by calling a council of Indians, and especially those who professed friendship for the United States, to meet with him at Urbana on a given day. To make the call successful, Col. James McPherson, Zane and Walker were employed to visit the several tribes, over whom they were supposed to be able to exert a favorable influence. The result was that the chiefs of the Shawnees and Wyandots, with leaders of other tribes, accompanied by their braves, made their appearance on the appointed day. A platform stand had been erected at the place where the Indian councils were generally held - in a grove a few rods southwest of the old graveyard, marked on the city plat as inlots Nos. 197, 198, 199, 200, 207, 208, 209 and 210. The stand was about the center of the block inclosed by Church, Locust, Ward and Kenton streets. The time was a little after the declaration of war. The result was considered satisfactory. The Indians avowed their determination to take sides with the United States, and the Governor agreed, on his part, to guarantee protection and support to their families against hostile tribes in league with Great Britain. To carry out the agreement in good faith, a block-house was erected near Zanesfield, in Logan County, for the protection of the women and children, who, at the public expense, were furnished with provisions, etc.

Mexican War

The war with Mexico made no great stir among the people of Champaign, though the progress of the victorious troops from Vera Cruz to Mexico was hailed with an enthusiasm similar to that over the country generally. There was a sentiment very widely prevalent that the war was unnecessary, and that the United States, strong in its resources, ought not to have attacked a sister Republic ; but, being in, the patriotism of the county was for the country, right or wrong. The newspapers of the county do not return any names of the volunteer soldiery who were at Buena Vista, the heights of Monterey, or the storming of Chapultepec, but a green memory has kept in remembrance the names of Evan Jenkins, Oliver Jenkins, Frank Jenkins, Thomas Lowe, Isaac N. Pierce, George Hoover, Thomas Connerton, Thomas Wilson, Stephen Hagerbaugh, George Seibert, Finley Dunham, Robert Wallace, John Needier and Johnson K. Putman - all of whom were from Champaign, who volunteered in the Army of the Rio Grande. To these may be added the name of Gatch Ambrose, youngest son of Frederick Ambrose, whose name has appeared in these pages as one of the oldest pioneers. Young Ambrose was engineer on a Mississippi River steamboat, which he left for the war. Passed safely through its dangers ; afterward joined the ill-starred expedition of Walker, " the gray-eyed man of destiny," and, with other young men deceived into participation in the Nicaraguan expedition, paid the penalty with his life.

The Civil War

The election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency was the signal for the bursting forth of the volcano which had smoldered many months, and which the country had hoped would die out without a general conflagration. The country did not believe that the States which claimed the right of peaceable secession from the Union would proceed to extremities. In the supposition that such might be the case, men's minds were confused, and the thoughts of what ought to be done, under the circumstances, had not taken a tangible shape. The air was full of rumors, anxieties and fears, but confusion and discordant counsels everywhere prevailed. The very few, by intuition, saw an impending calamity ; time was required to develop its magnitude and create a common sentiment.

The successive stages in the great drama tended to arouse a commotion over the entire country, and to bring men together to consult as to the common welfare. The secession of South Carolina was the tocsin which brought men together for thought - the shot at Fort Sumter brought them together for action.

Champaign County was equally moved with the rest of the State. Every section held its indignation meeting, but a public meeting, called by the Mayor of Urbana, and held in the court house, took precedence in point of force, character and numbers. William Patrick was Mayor, and, believing that the time had come both for thought and action, called a meeting of the citizens and appointed a committee to present resolutions representing the sentiments of the people of Champaign County in relation to the condition of public affairs.

The meeting was held on the evening of January 17, 1861, and at an early hour was densely packed by men and women, who for hours stood in their places, and taking an active interest in the proceedings. The Mayor was called to preside over the meeting, and John Russell was chosen Secretary. The President stated the object of the meeting was to consider the state of the Union, and, by a few appropriate words, with great earnestness reviewed the situation, the value of the union of the States, and the importance of prompt, considerate and efficient means to meet the impending crisis. The band, while the applause which followed the Mayor's speech was being made, struck up " Hail Columbia," which added to the enthusiasm, and gave the crowd the appearance of a tumultuous assembly.

Silence being restored, Rev. I. I. Thompson was called on, and prayed for the peace and safety of the country, and for wisdom to guide in their proceedings. Mr. John H. Young nominated Joshua Saxton and Christopher Ryan to sit as Vice Presidents, which was carried, and the two gentlemen - the opposite of each other in size, appearance, politics, religion, business and general make-up - cordially shook hands as they ascended the rostrum, and the band again brought forth bursts of applause on playing "The Star Spangled Banner," many of the audience joining with rapturous enthusiasm in the chorus.

The farewell address of Washington was then read by A. M. Pence. After the reading, the committee previously appointed by the Mayor to consider the situation and to present resolutions as to the condition of affairs, composed of Messrs. A. F. Yance, F. M. Wright, John IT. Young, Levi Geiger and John D. Burnett, were called and reported resolutions. The committee, perhaps, gives a fair index to the mixed elements composing the meeting, and one may well wonder, not that there were diversities of opinion, but that persons having such diverse views could ever be brought into harmony at all. Yance represented the Bell-Everett wing of politics ; F. M. Wright was a radical of the Chase school ; John II. Young had faith in the Douglas Democracy ; Levi Geiger was considered a conservative and supporter of Lincoln, and John D. Burnett, in ceasing to be a Whig, was identified with the Breckenridge section of the Democracy. Notwithstanding the discordant elements composing the committee, the times and the situation demanded an abeyance, if not an entire surrender of, previous political affinities, and a new and single plank in a platform on which all might stand, the advocacy of a principle paramount to all partisanship, and, for the time being the disintegration of all political parties.

The committee reported four resolutions, in substance, that the citizens are attached to the Constitution and Union, and that the preservation of the General Government and the Union of the States are essential to the tranquillity and safety of the people at home and their security and respect abroad ; that the constitutional rights of every State and citizen must be preserved ; are opposed to the citizens of any State intermeddling with the domestic relations of another State, and the legal and constitutional obligations of the people of one State to be carried out in spirit and letter to the citizens of other States ; that the power and authority of the General Government must be maintained, and the laws of Congress enforced in every State and Territory, until repealed or adjudged unconstitutional by the proper judicial tribunal, and that attempts by the authorities of any State to nullify the Constitution of the United States or laws of the Federal Government, or to resist the execution of them, are revolutionary in their character and tend to the destruction of the country. After some discussion, the three resolutions were adopted by the meeting.

The fourth resolution was divided into sections, and gave rise to an acrimonious debate, protracted to some length, and marked throughout with an impassioned oratory such as the speakers themselves were rarely capable of and the court-room was a stranger to.

(2) That the Fugitive Slave law be amended for the preventing of kidnapping, and so as to provide for the equalization of the Commissioners' fees, etc.

(6) That the line of 36° 30/ north latitude shall be run through all the existing territory of the United States ; that north of that line slavery shall be prohibited, and south of that line neither Congress nor the Territorial Legislature shall hereafter pass any law abolishing, prohibiting or in any manner interfering with African slavery ; and that when any Territory, containing a sufficient population for one member of Congress in any area of 60,000 square miles, shall apply for admission as a State, it shall be admitted with or without slavery, as its constitution may determine.

The fourth resolution, with its various sections, was discussed by a number with great earnestness and eloquence, when Henry T. Niles offered as a substitute the following, which he supported with great ability :

No second was made to the amendment, and consequently no action was had on the resolution. The fight of the meeting was mainly on the fourth resolution, the first three meeting little or no opposition.

Joseph C. Brand and John A. Corwin opposed, and Xchabod Corwin, John S. Leedom, A. F. Vance, L. H. Long and R. C. Fulton spoke in favor of the adoption of the fourth resolution. Levi Geiger, A. C. Denel and George B. Way replied adversely to its adoption, making the key-note of their speeches that the Constitution needed enforcement, not amendment, when Levi Geiger moved to lay the resolution on the table, which was carried.

A communication was then read by the Secretary, which was a copy i a letter from Gen. E. P. Fyffe to Gov. Dennison, pledging the valley to promptly respond to a call for 5,000 men whenever the Governor thought proper to make the call, which called down the applause and a vote of thanks to Gen. Fyffe by the House.

We, the people of the town of Urbana, are unalterably and forever attached to, and in favor the supremacy of the Constitution, and of all laws passed in pursuance of it, and of the union ithese States ; and for the maintenance thereof against all attacks from all quarters we pledge to inch our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

This little reminiscence of the ante-war days is significant of the popular thought then in its formative state. The time was soon to come when thought was to take shape in action.

April 12, 1861, the Confederate forces at Charleston, S. C., bombarded Fort Sumter - a fort built on an artificial island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, and under command of Gen. Robert Anderson. The evident object of the bombardment was to give assurance to the world that the dissolution of the Union was complete, and, by the overt act of treason, remove all hope of a reconciliation of differences between the North and South, and to intimidate the States which remained loyal to a continued union of all the States into acquiescence in the dissolution.

If such were the purposes, the result proved them fallacious. The firing on Sumter only gave assurance to the country that the issue had to be fought out on the battle-field, and that compromises and proclamations were empty trifling. Delay gave strength and opportunity to the rebel cause. In the excitement that followed, Champaign wheeled into line for the Union.

Whatever latent patriotism may have remained in the South, or whatever mental reservations may have been made, under an apparent devotion to the newly formed Confederacy, the revolting States, to all intents and purposes, were a unit. It was no spasmodic effort, excited by some fancied or real danger, but the result of a long-contemplated purpose. The previous Presidential term had given unusual facilities for preparation, and the confederated States in rebellion entered the contest organized, armed and equipped with all the appliances necessary to carry on a deadly and protracted war.

The lapse of a few years has removed much of the rubbish which obscured the facts. The South charged that the interests of its section were endangered, and that for the maintenance of its interests any State had the right to withdraw from the Union and set up an independent government for itself, or join any other political organization, without interference or objection on the part of the Government from which it had seceded. The Northern States denied the right, and asserted that, if granted, it involved not only the disintegration of the nation, but the building-up of hostile and belligerent States, dangerous to the common welfare, and entailing a civil wrar, to be continued until one or the other should be exterminated.

It required no prophetic vision to see that, if slavery were restricted to a limited territory, its extinction would be inevitable. It would break down from its own weight. In this anticipated danger lies the unwritten history of the civil war. The ambition of a few disappointed politicians and the cruel selfish- ness of less than a hundred thousand slave owners cost the nation more than three thousand millions of treasure and over half a million of lives.

The distinctive opinions which had divided the political parties of the country became merged in the more important question at issue, which was to be settled by the wager of battle. The great body of the men of all parties in the Northern States were loyal to an unbroken union of States. A considerable element remained to give aid and comfort to the enemy, terror-stricken at the chances of a forced draft, and too cowardly to enlist ; many blinded by the contaminating influences of slavery; and not a few from "unadulterated cussedness." In the contest, differences of opinion unavoidably arose as to the best mode of prosecuting the war, and of the conduct of officials. But two parties were recognized, patriots and traitors. The latter were too insignificant in influence and numbers in Champaign to require special notice. If the nation in the hour of its success could afford to restore to the active and unrepentant rebel the privileges of citizenship which he had vilely thrown away, it can, with equal magnanimity, forgive and forget the sympathizer, who, with mistaken judgment, gave aid and comfort to treason.

In the Army of the Republic, in the organizations from Ohio, Champaign County, in whole or in part, was represented by the following-named regiments :

Second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Third Cavalry, Twelfth Cavalry, Thirteenth Infantry, Twenty-sixth Infantry, Thirty-second Infantry, Forty-second Infantry, Forty-fifth Infantry, Sixty-sixth Infantry, Ninety-fifth Infantry, One Hundred and Thirteenth Infantry, One Hundred and Thirtyfourth Ohio National Guards, to which are to be added colored troops and citizens of Champaign enrolled in other organizations. Total number, 2,025.

The total losses of the county were: Killed in battle, 151 ; died of wounds, 78 ; died in Confederate prisons, 48 ; died by drowning, 3 ; died by steamboat explosion, 6; died by disease, 292. Total, 578.

The Militia. - The early settlers of the county were generally good marksmen, and it was usual for each family to own a trusty rifle. In anticipation of Indian raids, volunteer companies were formed as minute-men, at an early day, and a common danger made all soldiers for the time. The war of 1812 gave encouragement to the hostile Indians, and induced the formation of companies for the common defense. Among these was a rifle company under command of Capt. Joseph C. Vance. Also, companies were enlisted by John McCord, Abner Barrett and Philip Kizer, of which they were respectively elected Captains. When the necessity for their services was past, these companies disbanded. The holiday parade had little attraction for them. From time to time, volunteer companies were organized, but after one or two years' service at "general muster," 4th of July and drill days, they went quietly out of existence, to make way for other patriotic young men to follow in the same way. The inducements offered by the State were not sufficient to continue the organizations, and the glory was a poor substitute for the loss of time and money. A State law was enacted, requiring the enrollment of citizens of twenty-one years of age, and their formation into companies in their respective precincts. These companies were required to spend one day of each year in drill, and on the following day to meet at a place designated, for what was called the general muster, for inspection by the Brigadier General, and the performance of the various evolutions required of large bodies of militia. The Captain and other officers were elected by the company to serve two years, and due public notice was given of the time and place of parade. The grand muster was held in July or

August, and several times on the farms east of the Ludlow line, in Union Township, then belonging to John Protsman and the Rohrers ; now owned by the Protsman heirs and William Madden, and also in Mad River Township, near Westville.

The general muster brought out a great concourse of people, and to a large number it was a day of hilarity and fun. Raids on the watermelon patches within miles of the parade-ground were made, and, if roasting-ears were ripe, the corn-fields of the neighborhood offered extensive facilities for foraging. Whisky and hard cider were plenty, and so were fights and black eyes. Insubordination in the ranks was unusual ; but there was not great effort made to keep "eyes right" and "toes out," nor to form in a mathematically direct line. The law required each man to carry a gun, but scarcely one in ten complied with the requisition. Walking-sticks, broom-handles and pieces of board, sawed and whittled into the shape of a fowling-piece, supplied the omission. It was Falstaff's company on a large scale. The home companies were still less particular. Many, to avoid the fine for that day's omission, would then turn out who would not attend the general parade. The common impression was that, for the purpose of teaching military tactics, or to hold the body of the county as minute-men for any emergency that might arise, the whole thing was a miserable farce. Yet there were plenty of men ambitious to serve in the capacity of Captain or Lieutenant. The office of General, Colonel or Major gave a certain prominence which was not without its political or professional value, and the higher officers exhibited a military pride in the parade. The review by the commanding officer and his suite, and the orderly march of the regiments, in battalions and companies, led by volunteer companies in uniform, with bands of music, "with plumes and banners gay," made no mean show; while a march through the town, filling up the street for the distance of several squares, was quite as imposing as more modern shows of no more practical value.

Gen. Hamilton, for many years and until his death, in 1842, was the commanding officer of the brigade. He was a small man, about five feet six inches in height, sat erect on his horse and led the troops with all the dignity of the profession. He knew more of the law than- of military evolutions. He rode a fine, large, gray horse, stringhalted in the right leg, which, in his cavorting around, was jerked up and down in time with the music.

l)r. Fyffe was a large, fine-looking officer, with short legs and long body, who always rode a magnificent bay horse, and rode well. He had a sonorous voice, which could be heard above all the din of the field. Col. Dye was tall and military looking, felt the importance of his position, but was nervous and excitable. To him the whole affair meant business, and he wore a face as solemn as one going to a funeral. The Major, Joseph A. Nelson, when on duty, made the most of it. He was of small stature, five feet six inches in height, and well proportioned, athletic and muscular. He was a man of rare common sense. To him the military parade was a spectacle to be enjoyed by others. Generally simple in his tastes and dress, on dress parade, he believed in " fuss and feathers." His uniform then was faultless, and he wore a profusion of ruffles on his shirt-bosom - stylish and showy. When the regiment was dismissed, the ruffles and buttons were laid aside with his other military trappings, and he was again the man of simple tastes and business habits.

Volunteer companies have been organized from time to time, but have generally been of short life. In 1876, a volunteer company, styled the Urbana Guards, was organized in Urbana, under the revised laws of the State. The company, as organized, numbered eighty-nine members, and elected for officers : Captain, B. F. Ganson ; First Lieutenant, Charles Kulencamp ; Second Lieutenant, Thomas Binkard ; First Sergeant, J. M. Knight ; Second Sergeant, R. J. Winder; Third Sergeant, George McDonald; Fourth Sergeant, C. S. Kirtland; Fifth Sergeant, C. E. Colwell.

Meteorological Observations

We here present the result of meteorological observations made by Mr. Milo G. Williams, at Urbana, during a period of twenty-five years, from 1852 to 1877. The observations and records were made in accordance with the forms adopted by the Smithsonian Institution ; the regular hours of observation being 7 o'clock A. M., 2 P. M., and 9 P. M.

The temperature at sunrise, as indicated by the thermometer, is recorded as the minimum for that day. The annual minimum and maximum are the lowest and highest points for the year, without regard to the regular times of observation.

The degree of cloudiness is indicated by numbers, the scale being from 10 to 0, 10 indicating entire cloudiness, 5 one-half, and 0 entire clearness. The course of the clouds is given to eight points of the compass, and the prevailing course for each day recorded.

Table I. Thermometer

The number of clear, fair and wholly cloudy days ; the number of days on which there was rain, snow, or thunder ; the quantity of snow and rain in inches ; the degree of cloudiness, and the point of the compass from which they came, and the means of each for 25 years :

The quantity of rain in inches for each month and year, and the annual means for twenty-fire years ; also the mean force of the wind each year, and the number of days the prevailing course of the wind was from eight points of the compass ; and the number of days calm :

Cincinnati , Sandusky $ Cleveland Railroad. - This road, first called the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, under which designation it was chartered and built, was the first railroad to enter Champaign County. It was many years in building, and, being the first road proposed through this county, its advent was looked for with great interest by the citizens of the county, many of whom had subscribed liberally to the stock. The northern end of the road was early placed under contract, and work was also begun from Cincinnati to the north during the year 1847 or 1848. The first passenger train arrived at Urbana, from Sandusky City, on Thursday evening, July 80, 1848, and was welcomed by a large and enthusiastic concourse of citizens, who had assembled at the depot to witness the long-expected and gratifying event. The completion of the line to Urbana left but fourteen miles of staging between Urbana and Cincinnati, and this soon gave way to the iron track and cars. The progress of this great thoroughfare has been rapid, and to-day it is one of the great lines among the many in this State.

The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati $ St. Louis Railroad. - This is a branch of the great railway system of the country, and was first projected and built as a connecting line between Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind., and was called the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad. It was completed from Columbus to Urbana some time in 1858, and the work was slowly pushed westward, reaching Piqua in 1854. The first regular through train passed over the line on Monday, April 4, 1859, and from that time forward the road has advanced rapidly in importance until it is now one of the greatest of the great east-and-west railroads, with a press of both freight and passenger traffic that has assumed mammoth proportions. The original road received material aid from the citizens of Urbana and Champaign County, and the road, in turn, has been of incalculable benefit both to the city and county.

The New York , Pennsylvania £ Ohio Railroad. - This name was adopted in April, 1880, for the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. This road was some years in building, and was finally completed to Urbana in 1865, since which time the road has been twice in the hands of a receiver ; the last occasion it was secured by the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company, which now controls it. The road was originally constructed as a broad gauge of six feet in width, and continued as such until the 22d of June, 1880, on which day the entire route of 389 miles was changed, in the short space of four hours and fifteen minutes, to the standard width of four feet and nine inches.

The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati Indianapolis Railroad. - This road runs through the southeast corner of Champaign County, through Union and Goshen Townships and the town of Mechanicsburg in the latter township. The original company was called the Springfield, Mt. Vernon & Mansfield Railroad Company, and the road was built through this county in 1851 and 1852. Its advent at Mechanicsburg was celebrated by a grand free excursion to Springfield, and general rejoicing by the people. The people of Goshen Township voted $25,000 in aid to the road, and later some litigation was had, but seems to have been decided favorably to the road, after an outlay of nearly as much more in the legal test. Some 234 car-loads of stock werp shipped from Mechanicsburg in 1879, and 100 car-loads of lumber. The road opens up a fine country, and will, no doubt, continue to prosper and prove a great benefit to the county.

The United States Express Company

This company has indeed become a national institution, and the agency at Urbana has well kept pace with the general advancement of the business throughout the country. The agency at Urbana was established about March, 1848, with the advent of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, and was then known as the W. A. Livingstone & Co. Express, until merged into the United States Express. W. W. Helmick, now an old citizen and Justice of the Peace in Urbana, was the first agent, and he relates how strangely the business was conducted in those days. People were singularly honest. They intrusted their money and valuables to the care of the agent without receipt, and the agent, for want of better facilities, frequently carried large sums of money around in his pockets, and no man molested or made him afraid. Mr. Helmick served as agent for about two years, the first year attending to the business as an accommodation, and latterly receiving, in all, about $50 as compensation. He was succeeded by Lucien Barney, who held the position two or three years, and was, in turn, succeeded by Mr. William Hamilton. The business gradually increased and became systemized, as other railroads were completed through Urbana. Mr. A. C. Humphreys took the agency in 1859, and conducted it successfully until about September, 1861, when he retired to go into other business, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Mr. 0. B. Happersett. Since that time, from a limited business, employing only the agent and one occasional assistant, the business has increased until now six men are required to properly attend it, and some nineteen express trains, arriving and departing by day and night, require their almost constant attention.

In the removal of papers, etc., incident to the rebuilding of the court house, statistics of agricultural reports cannot be ascertained to any extent. We are able to present a few years only.

Party Politics

A detailed history of the political parties of Champaign County would occupy unnecessary space, and is consequently neither contemplated nor desired. As in other matters of current history, we shall endeavor to group this topic into separate periods, sufficiently indicating the political complexion of the community. It does not fall within the scope of our plan to investigate the causes which have given marked and continued differences of political opinions in townships separated only by an arbitrary line, nor to seek to know what man, by the force of his intellect, was able to impress upon the people within his reach the convictions which have remained with them. Three periods may be more particularly noticed, as indicating the changes that have occurred in partisan politics and in the character of party organizations ; these are 1800, 1840 and 1880.

1800. - In the organization of the Republic, men's minds were naturally divided as to what power should be conferred on the General Government, and after the ratification of the Constitution, as to the doubtful line of powers conferred on or restricted to the legislative department of the nation. The question has in a large measure entered into the political principles of the leading parties of the country, from that day to this, and was indicated in the beginning by the names adopted - Federal and anti-Federal. The evil results that followed were not from the differences of opinion, but from the bitterness of controversy.

In the inaugural address of Jefferson, March 4, 1801. was enunciated the policy of the President, which showed that he desired to effect a unity of action between the parties which divided the country. To a great extent this had the desired effect, and for a long time constituted a creed of political faith for great numbers of the people. The political principles then announced have been made the primer of all politicial parties, and make the glittering generalities of platforms in modern days.

In the earlier period, politics was more a question with the individual than with the masses, and, consequently, organization was the work of a subsequent generation. Caucuses were unknown, and would not have been tolerated. As late as 1820, a call was made by Samuel Smith for a nominating caucus of the House of Representatives ; but it received so little favor that the few who attended adjourned sine die. For local or county officers, the field was open for all who chose to present their names. Population was so sparse that every voter could be seen on the day of election ; and fitness for office was considered of more importance than opinions on abstract questions of government. In Mad River Township, a certain man was candidate for the office of Assessor on one occasion. The year previous he had filled the same office, and employed twelve days in the work. John Taylor refused to vote for him for the reason of waste of time in his official duties. This was sufficient groundwork for the election of Taylor on the spot, and this spirit largely pervaded the old settlers.

Candidates, or sometimes political friends, announced names for election. Thus we have elsewhere seen that, as late as 1828, Mr. John H. James, Mr. Abram R. Colwell and Mr. Charles Anthony were each before the public for election to the Legislature, presented without the dictation of a caucus or the manipulations of a convention of delegates.

The system commends itself for its simplicity and honesty, and is substantially reached, in 1880, by what is called the "primary election " system. Jefferson's inaugural of 1801 had its influence in molding the politics of Champaign, and the political complexion of the county was what was then distinctly called Republican, and for some time Democratic Republican. The party afterward divided into two sections, one following the lead of Jackson and Crawford, the other of Adams and Clay. The former were called Jackson men, and Democrats - a title by which the Jacobins of France were known, and which this branch of the party accepted as their distinctive title ; the other branch styled themselves Whigs. In the division, the body of the county followed the Whig standard.

1840. - Prior to the canvass of 1840, material changes had taken place in the political machinery of the county. Some knowledge of the general politics of the country is necessary to understand these. The election of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency introduced a new element into politics, afterward called the "spoils system," from an expression used by William L. Marcy, " To the victors belong the spoils." The President removed 690 men from Federal offices, and in connection with the removal said that " he was too old a soldier to leave a garrison in the hands of his enemies." A proscriptive policy was novel in politics, and at once suggested the expediency of combination to' secure success. Prior to 1881, nominations for President and Vice President had been made by members of Congress composing the distinctive parties.

The first National Convention ever assembled in the United States, met in Baltimore in September, 1881, and nominated Mr. William Wirt for President on an Anti-Masonic ticket. The "National Republican," or Whig party, met in the same city in December, and nominated Henry Clay. In May following a ratification meeting was held in Washington City, and a " platform " adopted favoring a protective tariff and internal improvements, and opposing removals from office. Mr. Lemuel Weaver represented Champaign County at the ratification meeting. The Democratic Convention met in Baltimore in 1882, and nominated Andrew Jackson. From this period dates more thorough party organizations. Martin Van Buren was chosen successor to Andrew Jackson as President, and continued the same general policy.

The year 1887 was one of great financial depression. The banks suspended specie payments, which was followed by great commercial distress, prostration of business and depreciation of property, all of which was attributed to the policy of the administration. To make matters worse, the prices of wheat, corn, oats, pork and other farm products, were high, selling in 1888 at better figures than those of 1880. The policy is more clearly set forth in questions growing out of the establishment of the U. S. Bank, and which were usually termed "the removal of the deposits," or placing the moneys belonging to the United States in the hands of certain agencies specified by the Secretary of the Treasury instead of the bank ; " the specie circular," or an order requiring payments for public lands to be paid in gold and silver, and a " Sub-Treasury," or agency, to be established by law for the deposit and safe-keeping of the national moneys.

The Presidential campaign began in fact very soon after Yan Buren had taken his seat. Pursuing the policy of Jackson, to which was charged the general distress, aroused fears of a continued depression of business ; and the general stagnation of trade gave ample time to discuss the situation. The Whig papers, at an early day, opened the attack and very generally expressed preferences for William Henry Harrison for President, Thomas Corwin for Governor, Thomas Ewing for United States Senator, and Joseph Vance for District State Senator. Conventions composed of delegates were not then in fashion. February 18, 1838, a mass convention of the county was called to Urbana to select delegates to attend a convention to be held in Columbus. Of this meeting, A. R. Colwell was Chairman, and Moses B. Corwin, Ira Bean, James R. McBeth and R. R. McNemar, a committee to report resolutions. The committee reviewed the general condition of the country and the causes from a Whig standpoint ; expressed a preference for W. H. Harrison for President; concurred in a convention at Pittsburg, and recommended 123 delegates for a convention in Columbus. William Patrick, John Owens andE. P. Fyffe were appointed a committee to report names of delegates, all of which was concurred in by the meeting. May 31, 1838, the Columbus Convention was held. Among the delegates from Champaign were William McDonald, William Vance, M. B. Corwin, Absalom Fox, James A. McLain, William Rock, W. L. Converse, Joseph Hill, James Grafton, John West, J. R. McBeth, Joseph Wiley, Henry Funk, Decatur Talbott, I. F. Noble, S. H. Robinson, Harvey B. Corwin, J. C. V. Taylor, James Rock, J. C. Phillips, William Barrett, Thomas Moore, A. S. and C. Hunter, Elijah Breedlove, W. W. Helmiek, W. Nichol- son, W. W. Crabb, D. C. Whitehall, William Patrick, William McGill, John A. Corwin, William Thomas, Oren F. Mann, Joel Burnsides, E. Burnham, Joseph Irwin and David Parry. All the counties of the State sent to the convention at Columbus large delegations, and multitudes went from interest and curiosity. Never before nor since has the city been so crowded. In August, the Central Committee made a call for a new convention of all the Whigs of the county to agree on a list of candidates, and appointed a committee to draft an address to the people of the county. The Democrats also had a mass meeting in Urbana, August 4. Wm. Hunt, Israel Hamilton and Andrew Ebert, the Committee on Resolutions made report in which they declare that the parties now represent the distinguishing features of 1798, 1800 and 1812 ; that the Whigs represent the monopolies and exclusive privileges ; the Democracy, the cause of equal rights ; that the policy of the Whig party tends to establish an aristocracy by aid of concentrated and incorporated wealth ; that the main point at issue was the establishment of a United States Bank, which was opposed by the Democracy because anti- republican and dangerous, and was supported by the Whigs because it gave an aid to political designs ; that the body of the people were in favor of Republican principles and the administration of Van Buren, who was abused by the banks and their Whig allies, and that the election which had been carried by the Whigs in several States had been carried by pressure and panic, and the authority thus acquired had been exercised to create alarm and an apprehension of danger.

The Whigs held a mass meeting August 25, Samuel McCord, Chairman, and Joseph C. Brand, Secretary. The resolutions adopted averred that the measures of the administration were at war with the interests of the country - opposed to the long-settled policy of every administration until Jackson's ; that innovations and experiments had been persisted in which were destructive to national prosperity and destroyed confidence in the future, the effect of which had been to derange foreign and domestic commercial relations, depreciate a healthy currency, suspend improvements and individual enterprises, lessen credit abroad and cripple credit at home ; that the obstinacy of the administration in seeking to force the adoption of the Sub-Treasury bill indicated a determination to follow the policy of Jackson ; that the administration looked to the interests of office-holders, and not of the country ; and that a change of policy could be had only by a change of men.

In the abstract of the resolutions adopted by the respective mass conventions above stated, is shown the key-note to the campaign. Beginning so early to prosecute the Presidential canvass, we might conjecture that the enthusiasm would die out long before the time for a vote for Presidential Electors. But every mass convention seemed to give intensity to the movement. The conventions brought out the masses as well as the politicians. Delegations came from every quarter, with banners, transparencies and music, in wagons, on horseback and on foot. The rural districts came in all sorts of vehicles, bearing strange mottoes and devices. The processions and assembled crowds were vociferous in their demonstrations, and full of humor. The outpouring of the people and their noisy enthusiasm secured the nickname of the " Log Cabin " and " Hard Cider Party." This was accepted as the rallying cry of the masses, and suggested a multitude of devices for delegations, transparencies and clubs. Log cabins were built and placed on wheels, drawn by six horses, with a coonskin stretched and nailed to the outside ; sometimes a live coon perched on the ridge-pole. A barrel of cider usually was found in the " log cabin," and the significant motto, " The latch-string always hangs out," gave license to all who desired a cup of cider. The Democrats charged that the barrel generally had " buckeye chips " in it to give the cider additional strength. Bands of music preceded and appeared at regular intervals in the procession ; but a marked feature of every club, local meeting, procession, or mass convention, was the songs. These were published in the newspapers and soon learned by all, and were sung to the well-known, popular airs of the day. Every week furnished new ballads. No more efficient means was used to heap ridicule on the administration and its supporters, and to ride the opposition into power. It was then popular, and had the merit of keeping up the enthusiasm ; but the "sober second thought" calls it most execrable doggerel. A vast deal of it was not even funny. No one was ever crazy enough to call the best of it poetry. A few samples may not be amiss :

One of the most popular of the earlier songs or ballads was entitled the " Log Cabin," written by Otway Curry, a lawyer, politician and scribbler, of Union County, who at one time was suspected of being a favorite of the Muses, but who, so far as we know, has no higher claim to immortality than a popular campaign song of 1840. It was sung to the tune of the " Highland Laddie." We give the first verse. The " poem " may be found in the notes on Rush Township.

The Democracy endeavored to meet the political storm by similar means ; hut the ball was rolling on for " Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and the enthusiasm aroused, expired with the effort. John Brough, William Allen, John B. Weller, Wilson Shannon, Richard M. Johnson and Samuel Medary were the champions of the administration, and, at different times, discussed the situation in Champaign. Alfred Kelly, Thomas Corwin, Samson Mason and Thomas Ewing represented the opposition. Conventions and barbecues were held frequently, and always well attended. Newspapers published the names of former Democrats who << Came out from among the foul party,

Applause attended the man who deserted his former colors. Men rode in the log cabins hauled in processions, wearing their coats wrong side out. " Strike my name from the Nottingham list" headed the column of turn-coats in the newspapers. The women everywhere entered into the canvass with the same enthusiasm as the men, frequently joining in the dusty procession. Tables were placed on the sidewalks, covered with cold ham, beef, chickens and bread.

Hotels Were insufficient to accommodate the throngs of strangers, and committees quartered all who applied for accommodations on private citizens. In this way Dayton twice entertained an uncounted multitude, variously estimated at from one hundred and eighty thousand to three hundred thousand men. Badges, made of red or crimson silk, three by four inches in size, with the design of a spread eagle and Harrison and Tyler, were generally worn. It was a national holiday.

Champaign, with other counties of the State, had its grand convention and barbecue. The largest, perhaps, ever held in the county was on September 15, 1840. Delegations commenced coming in early in the morning - from the north, out of Logan, Hardin, etc.; from the east, from Union, Franklin and Madison ; from the south, from Clark, Greene and Montgomery. A delegation met Harrison, escorted from the west with an immense cavalcade, miles in extent. A platform had been erected on the public square, which, with every avenue leading to it, and every window and house-top within sight, was filled with eager spectators.

Gen. Harrison was introduced by Moses B. Corwin, in a very short speech, which was responded to in a speech of two hours' length, in a voice not loud nor strong, but clear and distinct, in which he reviewed the attack made on him as a soldier and man, the condition of the country and the public policy of the administration. The delivery and substance of the speech gave general satisfaction, though the age of the General was such that his best days were past. The crowd was too large to hear what was said in the square, and stands for other speakers were erected. Dinner was had in the grove of Mr. John A. Ward, in the southwestern part of town, where twelve tables, each over three hundred feet long, had been erected and laden with provisions. Oxen and' sheep were barbecued, and an abundance of cider supplied the drink for the day. In the evening, addresses were made by Arthur Elliott, Ex-Gov. Metcalf, of Kentucky, who wore a buckskin hunting-shirt, Mr. Chambers, from Kentucky, Mr. Christie, from Louisiana, and Richard Douglass, of Chillicothe. The day was one of great hilarity and excitement, and passed off without a single accident. The delegations and processions had every conceivable mode of conveyance, and carried flags and emblems with various and strange mottoes and devices. Among them was one, " The people is oil korrect," which gave rise to the use of the letters " 0. K.," not uncommon at this day.

1880. - In the electoral vote of 1840, out of two hundred and sixty -four votes Van Buren received only sixty. From so triumphant a victory, the jubilant Whigs were destined to ignoble defeat and ultimate annihilation. As the years ran on, the moral sense of the States, in which slavery did not exist, increased and gave efficient aid and comfort to the Abolition, or 44 Liberal," party. Multitudes who cared nothing about slavery became alarmed at the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the claims of slavery on free territory. The passage of the Fugitive Slave law exasperated thousands who cared naught for the negro or his master, or the political question involved in the controversy. The contest between the parties was a fight for place and power, and in the struggle a new party came into power, and, to a great extent, new men manned the ship of state. For twenty years the Republican party controlled the public affairs. Under its administration, slavery was not only abolished, but the former slave was made a citizen, with all the rights and privileges before the law, as his former master, and which was made part of the fundamental law of the nation. In June, 1880, a National Convention of the Republican party was held in Chicago, composed of delegates representing Congressional districts and chosen by State Conventions. The Chicago Convention was divided between Ex-President Grant, James G. Blaine, John Sherman, Senator Edmonds and a few scattering votes. On the thirty-fifth ballot James A. Garfield's name was announced, and on the thirty-sixth he was declared the nominee.

In the same month, a National Democratic Convention assembled in Cincinnati and nominated W. S. Hancock for the same office. Both conventions issued a platform of principles, each abounding in professions of loyalty to the Constitution, country and laws. The Democratic platform pledged the Democracy to the constitutional doctrines and traditions of the Democratic party as illustrated by the teachings and examples of a long line of Democratic statesmen and patriots. In the presentation of twelve resolutions are averred opposition " to centralization " of powers ; an advocacy of " home rule," and "a tariff for revenue only; " " congratulate the country upon the continuation of prosperity at home and the national honor abroad, through a Democratic Congress, and upon the promise of such a change in the administration of the Government as shall insure a genuine and lasting reform in every department of the public service."

" The Republican platform appeals to the history and acts of the party it has represented during tfie past twenty years, and asks the continued confidence and support of the people; and charges on the Democratic party the habitual sacrifice of patriotism and justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for office and patronage."

The canvass for the respective candidates opened in August, and during the month of September a meeting to be addressed by political speakers was held in some portion of the county nearly every night. Each of the parties erected on Miami street, below Monument Square, on nearly opposite sides of the street, board structures at considerable expense, capable of containing six hundred to one thousand persons each. They were lighted by gas, and the walls were decorated with transparencies, mottoes, flags, rude portraits and evergreen boughs. Both parties were equally sanguine of success. During the campaign the Democracy charged that if the party in power should win, the result would give the sanction to corruption, encourage centralization of power in the hands of the Federal Government, destroy the right of independent State action and introduce an era of despotism. The Republicans, on the other hand, charged that if the Democracy should win, the result would be repudiation of the National debt; the recognition of the right of persons lately in rebellion to payment from the Government for property lost or destroyed during the civil war, including the valuation of the slaves set free; the disfranchisement of the colored race ; the sanction of nullification ; the issue of which will be a dissolution of the Union, with anarchy or despotism.

The patriotism of the people outside the late slave-holding States cannot be questioned, and the sincerity of the opinions entertained by the members of both parties, both as to the good to be attained by the adoption of the principles they advocate and the evils which will follow if the policy of the opposing party shall prevail, is also equally true. Each party suspects in the other the greed and lust of power and patronage, and imagines, on the part of the opposing faction, no villainy too great to secure its ends. A calm and deliberate judgment sees only the sincerity of purpose and the earnestness of conviction on questions of public policy, which are believed to be essential to the peace, prosperity and perpetuity of the Republic. To this sincerity of opinion is due the personality and bitterness of the controversy. Truth has nothing to fear so long as a public press is left free to combat and expose error. A mistake now would be a virtual recognition of the failure of the public-school system.

The canvass of 1880 differs from that of 1840 in this : Notwithstanding the vastly greater facilities for travel, the conventions of to-day do not compare with the immense assemblages which met in 1840 ; then it was a national holiday and jubilee, and the tidal billow that swept over the country did away with partisan bitterness. In 1880, evening parades with torches, and the discharge of rockets and Roman candles, take the place of the day processions of 1840, and there is an under-current of bitterness and hostility.

The machinery of party politics has also changed. In 1800 there was none ; political opinions were no less decided than now, but the work of nominating candidates and discussing their merits were personal matters. As population increased, changes were made.

In 1840, conventions of the people were in order. A mass meeting elected a central committee, who had a general supervision of all matters appertaining to the county canvass.

In 1880, the machinery was more complicated, but less liable to control. A central committee, composed of representatives from the several townships, have a general supervision of the affairs of the party within the county or district, the local representatives having charge of the work in their respective precincts. Meetings are called by the central committee in each township and precinct for the election of delegates, in the ratio of the number of votes cast at the previous election for Secretary of State. The representatives thus chosen attend a general convention of delegates called by the same committee, when nominations are made and ballotings had for candidates for various offices, the entire proceedings being conducted in accordance with the usual parliamentary laws. It is understood and agreed, that all persons whose names are presented for the votes of the convention for any office will accept the result of the vote in good faith and support the nominee. And the successful candidates are taxed by the committee, in the ratio of the salaries of their respective offices, for the expenses of the campaign. Both the leading parties pursue substantially the same modes of political management.

From the division of the National Republican party into Democrats and Whigs, the majority of the electors of Champaign County were identified with the name and policy of the Whig party, until 1856, when old questions, assuming new shapes and importance, and new men, made sectional issues. These gave rise to the Republican party, and for twenty years a majority of the citizens of the county have supported the principles and policy of this party.

Early Settlers. - In other portions of this work, embracing the local history and incidents of the county, will be found the names of the men who at an early day came to this section and took an active part in laying the foundation for a new order of things. The condition of the country and the sparse population, exacted of each one, however humble or illy prepared, efficient service in the work to be done. This was not limited to promptness in a defense against a common enemy, but in an interest in the common welfare and a friendly aid in assisting poor and sick neighbors and emigrants. Poverty was not only no bar to considerate regard, but was one of the strongest incentives to insure a general interest. The newly-arrived emigrant brought together an entire neighborhood to assist in preparing the family a home, and before the day had closed the cabin would be ready for occupancy. Advice and material help were given as circumstances demanded, and the new comer felt bound to repay the debt by reciprocal kindness and good deeds. The same spirit continued to be a characteristic of the men of that generation under changed circumstances. He who would be insensible to such treatment, or hesitate to fall in with the prevailing current, must be a bad man. With all the mutual help and good will, there was still among the earliest settlers much deprivation. As the country became opened up and more populous, the discomforts were greatly removed. But we are surprised that these men were willing to endure the cares, hardships and dangers from which there was no escape, except to retrace their steps to the older and long-settled sections of the country. To this, it may be replied, that familiarity with danger and deprivation of what are now called necessaries, became a second nature, and they had faith in the future. But, more than all, they felt free and independent. Many of them had come from sections where wealth had drawn social lines not to be passed over ; and there was a servitude and a caste galling to men who looked for better things. We need not be surprised, then, to find that a large majority of the men who for these reasons braved the wilderness, were not ordinary men. The true men counted the cost and never " bated jot of heart or hope," and in the struggle developed the manly character with which they were endowed by nature. There were undoubtedly men of " bad blood " among them. But we can readily believe they were the exception.

We are also surprised at the fact that these men were not mere adventurers, untrained to habits of industry, but, for the most part, were skilled in the mechanical trades. The country at first presented no opportunity for the exercise of their trained skill, and they were of necessity agriculturists, but engaging in their several occupations as the development of the country gave occasion. Without, therefore, indulging in a long list of names of worthy men and women who made their impress on the country, but whose influences were of a local nature, it may not be inappropriate to mention something of a few who became more widely known or who for many years occupied a prominent position in the State.

Joseph Vance

Gov. Vance's ancestors were Irish Protestants, or what were commonly called Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who settled in the colony of Virginia long prior to the Revolution. His father served in Capt. Vail's company, in Morgan's famous rifle regiment. Joseph Vance was born in Washington, Penn., near an Indian town called " Catfish," March 21, 1786. His father moved to Maysville, Ky., thence to Clifton, in Greene Co., Ohio, and in 1805, to Urbana, where he died in August, 1809. Joseph was married when twenty-one years of age, and at once took an active part in matters of public concern. For some years prior to, and during the war of 1812, fears were entertained of hostilities from the Indians, and, to meet these dangers, Mr. Vance was active in organizing an independent rifle company, composed of some of the best marksmen of the county, to act as minute-men as occasion might require. He was chosen Captain of the company, and on several occasions was called out and rendered efficient service ; in addition to other duties, erecting a block-house for the safety of the inhabitants in the exposed quarter. He afterward passed through the several grades of Major, Colonel, Brigadier and Major General. Was member of the State Legislature in 1812 ; served as Representative in Congress, from 1820 to. 1836, and again in 1843; Governor in 1837, and member of Ohio Senate in 1839. His last public service was as member of the Convention of 1851, to revise the Constitution of the State. After the convention had been in session several days, he had a severe attack of paralysis, from the effects of which he never entirely recovered, and died the following year on his farm in Salem Township, two miles north of Urbana.

Like all the men of note of that day, he was " the architect of his own fortune," commencing business in life when a mere boy as a wood- chopper at the salt works, and by his economy saving money enough to buy a wagon and oxteam, with which he hauled and distributed salt to the scattered settlers in Kentucky, and even after his settlement in Urbana making occasional trips to the salt works. It was here where he formed the acquaintance of Thomas Ewing, and an intimacy that continued through life. Under such circumstances, his educational opportunities were exceedingly limited.

It is no place here to speak of his public services as a legislator. His long time in the public service is sufficient assurance of his natural ability, and the satisfactory manner in which he discharged the trusts committed to his hands at a time when political parties were critical and plans to secure elections were not reduced to a science. His long public career brought him in contact with the first men of the nation, and necessarily largely increased his general knowledge and remedied the defects of his early education. In politics, he was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, and a zealous advocate of public improvements.

In 1827, he advocated the repair and extension of the National road, then called the Cumberland road, through Ohio and other States of the West, and, in a speech in Congress in support of a bill before the House, made some hard thrusts at the advocates of State rights. It was a time when the " Code " settled such matters, attacks in the House being satisfied in the field. But it was understood not only that the General would fight, but that he was a dead shot with a rifle, and nothing more was said about fighting.

Gov. Vance was about five feet ten inches in height, with a large frame, inclined to corpulency. He had a large head and forehead, and a strongly marked face. The eyebrows were heavy, and the right eye nearly closed, as though pained by the sunlight. He always wore a standing shirt collar, loose around the neck and not always square with his chin, and a black silk cravat or a neckerchief tied with a small bow-knot. At home and among his neighbors, he was partial to a blouse and jeans pantaloons, and had a great dislike to the fashionable cut of the latter. In his public life, he wore, according to the custom of that day, the conventional suit of black cloth.

To young men with whom he met, he was pleasant and talkative, and had a happy faculty of describing scenes of public life he had witnessed and the public men he had met, talking in an easy, conversational way of the every-day life not often found in the books and papers.

As a speaker, he had a strong, rich voice, speaking with great earnestness and force, and without the arts of the practiced debater, and in the heat of the discussion apt to indulge in an\argument ad hominem.

He not only gave his vote and influence in favor of works of public improvement, but was interested in the private enterprises which contributed to the general good. He was President of the Mad River & Lake Erie (now the C. S. & C.) Railroad. In 1818, he built a mill on King's Creek, a short distance above the junction with Mad River, with all the improvements in milling in use at that day. The patterns for the castings were made on the farmland the castings hauled by wagon from McArthur's furnace, on Raccoon Creek. He was one of the first men in the county to import thoroughbred stock - cattle and horses - into this section.

Pierre Dugan

We are not aware that the name that heads this sketch ever did anything to make the world wiser or better, and his title to being " handed down to posterity " is the simple fact that he lived near the head of the prairie that winds through Salem and Union Townships, which in that day was, at certain seasons, a succession of ponds or lakes, where he trapped and fished, and which, for this reason, bears his name.

It is not known certainly who was the first white man that lived in Salem, or where the first cabin was built, but it is generally accepted that Dugan is entitled to the " honor." Pierre Dugan was a Canadian Frenchman, who had an Indian squaw for his wife, and in 1803 was living in a cabin near the residenc® of Mr. Mark Higbee, not far from the junction of the railway track with the main road, about four miles northeast of Urbana. Dugan was a simple, inoffensive man, who employed his time in fishing, hunting and trapping, for which his location at the head of the prairie gave him unusual facilities. At that time, and for many years afterward, with the exception of here and there an island, it was covered with water, in some parts to a considerable depth. In spring and summer it had the appearance of a lake, winding around the projections of land, interspersed with elevated spots of timber, and extending miles toward the south. To-day, the prairie presents as fine a body of alluvial and black soil as may be found anywhere, and a large portion of it under the plow. The traveler, looking down from any of the hills which skirt its sides, sees stretched out before him, as far as the eye can reach, or bounded only by a jutting piece of timber, a beautiful landscape, dotted with farmhouses and orchards and checkered with fields of golden corn, instinctively says there was the bed of a once mighty river. Great bowlders lie along its channel, seamed and washed in fissures by the once moving waters, and a mountain of sand, now covered with great oaks and hickories, attest the eddy that swept around its base. Sloping banks of clay and beds of marl confirm the conjecture. But conjecture is lost in the time when this bed was a majestic stream. If the supposition be true, King's Creek, breaking away to the west, and Buck Creek, bearing olf on the south, alone indicate the diminished current. Here a vast amount of fish, frogs and turtles were to be found, and countless numbers of water-fowl made it their resort, and the beaver, otter, mink and muskrat had their houses near the margin of the lake. It was a terrestrial paradise for a man like Dugan. " In very dry summers, water on the prairie would get so low that some parts would become entirely dry, and leave large quantities of fish exposed, which would be devoured by the hogs, wild beasts and fowls, or left to rot in the hot sun, causing an intolerable stench and much sickness for miles around."

In 1825, the Legislature passed an act authorizing John Reynolds, of Urbana, to drain the prairie, which he accomplished in a short time at a heavy expense. The ditch begins not far from the boundary line of Urbana, Salem and Union Townships, on the land owned by Joseph Reynolds and more recently by Judge Warnock, thence northwardly, making a wide circuit and washing past the railway stations and depots in Urbana. The ditch not only drained a large extent of country, but has been a blessing to the entire neighborhood through which it passes in removing prolific sources of disease. The ditch for a long time was called the Reynolds Ditch. The lower portion of Dugan, within the past ten years, has been drained by a ditch beginning not many rods from the head of the Reynolds Ditch, thence running south into the waters of Buck Creek. As the waters were removed, the wild grass grew luxuriantly, still furnishing shelter for deer and turkey, and the undrained ponds a resort for wild geese and ducks. It was customary for farmers of the neighborhood to cut the wild grass for hay, though coarse and not very nutritious. Black and prairie rattlesnakes were very numerous. An old settler, who lived in the cabin on the hill, three-fourths of a mile northeast of the crossing of the Milford pike and Ludlow, east of William Madden's residence, according to his own report, went out one morning to cut a pile of hay, not far from a clump of trees opposite his cabin, in the midst of the prairie. His grass hook happened to be a sharp butcherknife, and after cutting what he supposed would make a good-sized haycock, he proceeded to gather it up in a pile, and was surprised to find thirty-seven heads of rattlesnakes, which he had cut off while cutting the grass ! Prairie rattlers are abundant in that locality still, and the serious manner in which the statement is made removes the last vestige of doubt as to the truth of the story. The same party also told of a trip down the prairie one morning, when a thunder-storm came up before he could reach home, and he took shelter beneath a tree. While there, he saw a squirrel on the highest branch of a tree near by, coming down to its nest in a knot-hole, when at the same instant the lightning struck the tree. He had never before supposed that a squirrel could climb so fast, and for a moment he thought the squirrel would escape ; but the lightning was too quick for him, for before he could pull his tail in the hole, the lightning, in passing down the tree, cut it. off ! A volume would hardly contain the stories of the early history of Dugan, and, though marvelous and strange, quite as truthful as the foregoing. A young man named Rohrer, who was much interested in the stories and adventures of the Western hunters and trappers, spent a night at his cabin. There happened to be an old crony present, and the old hunters sat up till midnight, recounting their adventures in hunting bears and other animals. Rohrer enjoyed the stories as much as the old hunters, and closed the talk by saying he had just bought a book containing many anecdotes of hunting and trapping bears, in which he had been much interested ; but after hearing their marvelous adventures and accounts of the animal, he was satisfied that the author knew nothing about bears, and as soon as he got home he intended to burn the book !

Well, we have wandered a little from the subject of our sketch. Pierre Dugan and our story-teller have long since left the margin of the lake and the prairie where they caught fish and killed rattlesnakes. The name still remains. The times in which he lived were full of adventure, danger and heroism. The quiet life of the trapper suggests a life as simple and true as that of Natty Bumpo, and out of it, with the known history of the time, another Cooper may narrate the story of the last of the Shawnees.

Dugan, like Natty Bumpo, loved solitude and the wilderness. The fires that shone out from the distant ridge or gleamed at night from the trees along the margin of his lake, with the sound of the woodman's ax by day, suggested that game would soon be scarce, and it was time for him to be hunting a new home. He accordingly packed up his traps, and with his wife, children, and dogs, wended his way to the head- waters of the Scioto, where he "pitched" his cabin and spent the remainder of his life. Once a year he would visit Urbana, to dispose of his furs and skins, and as Judge John Reynolds had become the owner of his old home, he always called on him for his rent, which was duly honored in the shape of a pound of " pig tail " tobacco, or a calico dress for his papoose.

The following story is told of him by Judge E. L. Morgan, and is a fair instance of the simplicity of his character: Having purchased a bag of corn meal of John Taylor, at his mill on King's Creek, and having no horse of his own to carry the meal home, Mr. Taylor kindly offered to loan him a pony he called Gopher. Pierre thankfully accepted the loan, but after looking at the bag of corn meal, then at Gopher, and finally at himself, concluded that the load was too heavy for the horse, but as the hag was too heavy for himself to carry, he compromised the difficulty by shouldering the bag, then led the pony to a stump and mounted his bare back with the bag of meal on his own shoulders, saying as he did so, "that he could carry the bag and Gopher could carry him," and in this way rode home.

Lorenzo Dow

The names of two other men, Lorenzo Dow and Jonathan Chapman, should be mentioned in this connection, not as having been residents of Champaign County, but as occasional visitors, men without an abiding home, and who were strangely identified with the pioneer life of the country ; names that the world would not willingly let die. Lorenzo Dow, at this day, would be called an "evangelist" preacher. Acting on his own responsibility, making appointments wherever it suited his convenience or whim, and making his " circuit " to traverse a large extent of territory, he generally announced long periods in advance when and where he would preach in the vicinity where he happened to be, and was considered remarkably punctual in filling his appointments. These were made a note of and remembered, and multitudes flocked to his ministry. Before the hour appointed, the entire neighborhood might be seen wending their way to the designated spot. His name and fame attracted large crowds. Many anecdotes are told of his eccentricities and blunt rudeness. It was a rough age, and the "terrors of the law" hurled at his audiences in his vehement and impressive manner, was perhaps the best, if not the only way, to reach the consciences of his more rough and lawless hearers. A writer describing him says that, at the appointed time he came to the place of meeting walking very fast, dressed plainly, with a straw hat and white blanket overcoat. He rushed into the midst of the congregation, pulled off his hat and coat and dashed them on the ground in an excited, angry manner, and with great sternness, began his discourse with the words " Hell and Damnation ! " which were followed by expressions of shocking profanity, which, after a pause, he declared to be the common language of many of his hearers, and then preached a solemn warning sermon against the wickedness of a violation of the second commandment, and was listened to without interruption to the end.

The kindly courtesies extended to him, by persons living in neighborhoods where he had sent notice of his purpose to preach, were not always received with a corresponding good will. An instance in point is given by Dr. Thomas Cowgill, of Salem Township, in an account of an appointment and visit by Lorenzo to Bellefontaine. He had stopped at the house of Eleazer Hunt, in Hardin County. Phineas Hunt, the father of Eleazer, was there with his wagon, and, being about to start for his home in Champaign County, kindly gave Lorenzo a ride. They reached Bellefontaine at the hour appointed, the people generally, who had heard of the appointment, anxiously looking for him. Judge McCulloch and others went out to meet him, and, seeing the wagon, inquired if Mr. Dow were there. He said, "Yes, my name is Dow." Judge McCulloch then invited him to go to his house for dinner, as there was sufficient time before the hour of meeting. Without saying a word, he directed the driver to go a little farther south, where he alighted from the wagon and sat down under the shade of a tree, and made his dinner of some bread and meat taken from his pocket. There was a large crowd in attendance at the meeting, and the preacher took occasion to make personal applications of tattling, slandering one's neighbors, etc. That evening he had a meeting in the house of Phineas Hunt. Next day, being Sunday, a meeting which had been appointed to be held at Mount Tabor, at 10 o'clock, was well attended. On the road to the meeting, he overtook some persons, and walked a distance on the way with them, and, taking a by-way from the main road, was reminded by one of the company that the highway was the direct road to the place of meeting, but, after telling them to go on the road they were following, continued his journey nearly a mile north of Mount Tabor, and then retraced his steps to the place of meeting. Without stopping at the place where the assembly had met, he walked on past the congregation, down the hill among the bushes and timber, southeast of the church, where he immediately began to preach, the people following him, carrying benches and chairs, though most of his hearers continued standing during the delivery of his discourse. William H. Fyffe sent a carriage to convey him to Urbana, where he had an appointment to preach that afternoon at 3 o'clock. He was kindly invited to dinner by several persons, but refused the meal, as usual, from bread taken from his own pocket. The meeting was a large one, and the preacher became very earnest, and, in his excitement, when in his gesticulations, the hymn-book slipped from his hand and struck a lady on the head.

The visit to Champaign was held in May, 1826, though it is understood both previous and subsequent visits were made. He is described as being a spare man, of rather small size ; his beard was long, reaching to his breast ; his hair a little gray, parted in the middle and reaching down to his shoulders, and his dress very plain, clean and neat. He wore a straw or palm-leaf hat, a black piercing. While preaching, he rested on his cane. In manner, he was earnest and impressive, and never hesitated for the precise word he wanted to use. His doctrine appeared to be the same as that held by the Methodists, and he spoke with much severity against proud and deceitful professors of religion. Our description of Mr. Dow is taken from an account of him by Mr. Thomas Cowgill.

In some respects, Lorenzo Dow was a remarkable man ; well fitted to do a missionary work in a rude period, and possessing a certain native eloquence and force that attracted attention and carried conviction to his hearers. His eccentricities were not of a character to provoke ridicule or laughter ; and while his manners, by the way, were not always tempered by the refinement and courtesy which we instinctively assume to be the distinctive mark of a Christian preacher and gentleman, the beneficent purpose of his mission and the work of his life gave character to the man and commanded the respect of his hearers. Still, it is with difficulty we can disguise from ourselves the belief that his eccentricities bordered on insanity, and that an ill-balanced religious zeal enforced the wandering life which he led.

Johnny Appleseed

The name and life of this strange man are entitled to a place in every sketch, however crude, of the pioneer settlement. The man of to-day, nay, the men who were familiar with the olden time which they made and of which they were a part, and who grew up with the ever-enlarging civilization, are living in a changed atmosphere. So suddenly and so strangely has the genius of change and alteration waved his charmed wand over the land that the early settler has changed and kept pace with the changing years, and the unwritten history of the early days is recalled as one remembers a fading dream. The sharp and hard conflicts of life make heroes, and the fierce struggles of war and bloodshed develop them into self-reliant, stubborn and aggressive men, as fierce and sanguinary as their bitter foes.

We are living in the age of invention and machinery. These have destroyed the romance of frontier life, and much of the strange, eventful realiities of the past are rapidly becoming mythical, and the narratives of the generations that settled the "Far West," abounding in rich treasures of incident and character, are being swallowed up and forgotten in the surging, eventful present. From the dark stories of Indian warfare, of pioneer suffering and want, we turn with delight to another character, the rarest in all the times of which we write.

Few persons of the present generation ever heard of Jonathan Chapman, and his name is rarely mentioned now, save by the few surviving pioneers who remember his quaint appearance, his gentle ways and his good deeds ; and among the heroes of that age, the names of none more deserve to be perpetuated.

Among the older citizens who saw him frequently in the earlier years were Mr. William Patrick, and, in more recent times, Mr. John H. James, who met with him several times in Urbana. A contributor to Harper s Monthly Magazine for November, 1871, gives a sketch of his character and life, and from this and Howe's " History of Ohio " we glean the details of his life, and which, from the recollections of his appearance and labors, are confirmed by those who recall his simple ways.

According to a statement made in one of his less reticent moods, his name was Jonathan Chapman, and he was born in Boston, Mass., in 1775. The first trustworthy trace we hear of him finds him in the Territory of Ohio, in the year 1801, in that section of the country known now as Licking County, where he was engaged in planting apple-seeds in various places on the borders of Licking Creek. The first orchard that originated from this planting was on the farm of Isaac Stadden, in that county. During the next five years, nothing is known of his movements ; but the reasonable conjecture is that, as he had a horse-load of apple-seeds when on Licking Creek, he was following the same occupation.

On a pleasant spring day, in 1806, a pioneer settler in Jefferson County noticed a peculiar craft slowly dropping down with the current of the Ohio River. The occupant of the craft had two canoes lashed together, and the cargo was composed of apple-seeds. It was the same Chapman who, five years before, was on the Licking, and now transporting his seeds to the frontier, for the purpose of creating orchards beyond the limits of civilization. Arriving at Marietta, he entered the Muskingum ; up this river to the Walhonding ; up the Mohican, into the Black Fork, and onward to the head of navigation, now designated on the map as Ashland and Richland Counties. As he stopped at every inviting spot to plant the apple-seeds for the future nurseries, the voyage must have been long and toilsome. The strange craft, managed by so strange a man, engaged in so strange an occupation, naturally attracted attention, and he was called Johnny Appleseed, by which name he became known, in subsequent years, from the Ohio to the lakes, and westward to the prairies of Indiana. The seeds he gathered from the cider-presses of Western Pennsylvania, but, after the time above mentioned, his journeys were made on foot. Having planted his stock of seeds, he would return to Pennsylvania for a fresh supply. Canvas bags being found to be insufficient to endure the hard usage of so long a trip through forests dense with underbrush and briers, leathern ones were substituted, which were sometimes packed on horseback, but more frequently on his own shoulders.

The region which he made the theater of his operations still possesses a romantic beauty. The margins of the streams, near which the first settlements were generally made, were covered with a low growth of timber, while nearer the water a rank mass of long grass, interlaced with morning-glory and wild pea vines, climbing the swamp willow and the clustering alder, grew in rank profusion. The hills were crowned with forest trees, and in the coverts were innumerable bears, wolves, deer, and wild hogs as ferocious as beasts of prey. In the tangled grass lurked the venomous moccasin and rattlesnake, as dangerous and distrusted as the wily Indian. To this day, in the low prairie lands, the farmer cuts his hay or goes through his strip of wild grass suspicious of his insidious enemy, and guarding against attack by wrapping bandages of twisted grass from the ankle to the knee. But Johnny would shoulder his bag of apple-seeds, and, with bare feet, would penetrate to some remote spot, where his fancy or judgment suggested a proper place for his future nursery, and then clearing away the grass and tangled vines, would plant his seeds, place a slight inclosure around them, and leave them to grow until large enough to be transplanted by the settlers to their clearings, as they should fill up the country. Many of the places selected are still pointed out - open spots on the loamy lands bordering the streams, hemmed in by giant trees, beautiful still, after the lapse of more than half a century, with all its changes.

In personal appearance, Chapman was a small, wiry man, full of restless activity. He had long, dark hair, a scanty beard that was never shaved, and keen black eyes that sparkled with a peculiar brightness. Generally, even in the coldest weather, he went barefooted, but sometimes, for his long journeys, he would make himself a rude pair of sandals ; at other times wearing any castoff covering he chanced to find - not infrequently a boot or shoe on one foot and a moccasin on the other. It seemed to be a matter of conscience with him not to buy shoes, and instances are told where, having received the gift of them, he would force them on the first person he saw whom he thought more needy than he, and continue his journey barefoot through mud and snow. His dress was generally composed of cast-off clothing that he had taken in payment for apple trees. In his later years he seems to have considered even this kind of secondhand raiment too luxurious, or probably finding the buckskin breeches and hunting shirt too cumbersome and rigid for his mode of life he discarded them, and substituted as his principal garment a coffee-sack, in which he cut holes for his head and arms to pass through, and pronounced it "a very serviceable «doak, and as good clothing as any man need wear." His headgear was equally unique. His first experiment was a tin vessel that served to cook his mush, and from which he usually ate his meal when he stopped at the settler's cabin ; but this did not protect his eyes from the rays of the sun, and he constructed a hat of pasteboard with an immense peak in front, which, combining utility and economy, became his permanent fashion.

Thus clad, he was constantly wandering, and unexpectedly appearing in white settlements and Indian villages, planting his seeds and dispensing "news right fresh from heaven." But there must have been some rare force of goodness in his face and ways, and such gentle tenderness and love breathing in every word, for everywhere he was treated with cordiality and respect. With grown-up persons and boys he was usually reticent, but manifested great affection for little girls for whom he always carried a bit of ribbon or gay calico. When he stopped at the settler's cabin, and was pressed to partake of the family meal, he would never sit down to the table until he was assured that there was an abundance for the children. We can hardly wonder that the boys forgot to jeer at his outer appearance, or the rudest frontiersman treated him with respect. To the Indians he was a "great medicine man," and not only treated with kindness by the savages, but from their superstitious observances was one not to be molested. He therefore wandered through hostile regions and dangerous places with impunity, and on many occasions gave the settlers warning of approaching danger in time to enable them to take refuge in their block-houses. An effect of Hull's surrender was to send out large bands of Indians and British, destroying everything before them, and murdering defenseless women and children. Johnny's wanderings showed him the impending danger, and day and night he traveled, visiting every cabin and rousing the people to a sense of their danger by proclaiming " The spirit of the Lord is upon me, and He hath anointed me to blow the trumpet in the wilderness and sound an alarm in the forest, for, behold, the tribes of the heathen are round about your doors, and a devouring flame followeth after them." Refusing all offers of food, and denying himself a moment's rest, he traversed the border day and night until he had warned every settler of the approaching peril.

His diet was as meager as his clothing. He thought it a sin to kill any creature for food, or to allow anything designed to supply man's wants to be diverted from its purpose. He was an earnest disciple of the faith taught by Swedenborg,' and always carried with him a few odd volumes, which he was anxious should be read by every one. As he could not carry books for all, he devised an original mode of distributing what he had. These he divided into several pieces, leaving a piece at a log cabin, and at his next round taking up what he had left before, which he replaced by one taken from another. Thus all were enabled to read parts of the same book at the same time, and in process of time the whole volume - a little liable to the objection of a backward course of reading from the unavoidably irregular course of distribution. The book he considered " an infallible protection against dangers here and hereafter." It was his custom, after a weary day's wandering, to lie down on the puncheon floor of the cabin where he was welcomed, and, after inquiring if his auditors would hear "some news right fresh from heaven," he would produce his few well-worn books, among them the New Testament, which he would read and expound with rare enthusiasm. Next to his advocacy of his religious ideas, the absorbing object of his life was the cultivation of apple-trees from what he termed " the only proper way " - that is, from seeds. Upon this, as upon religion, he was eloquent in his appeals, and he equally denounced as absolute wickedness all devices of pruning and grafting, and would speak of the act of cutting a tree as if it were a cruelty inflicted on a sentient being.