Fairfield County, Ohio - The whole text, 1877 (part 4 of 7)

Statement Of Nicholas Stemen

Henry Stemen came from Virginia, and settled on Raccoon, in 1803. His wife was Mary Beery, sister of the late George Beery. Nicholas Stemen was one year old at the time his father came to Fairfield County. He continued to reside in Fairfield until he was about thirty years old, and then moved across the line into Perry County, where he still resides. Mr. Stemen stated that his father helped to clear off some of the first ground where Lancaster now stands. Below is his statement of the

Beery Family

Who came into the Raccoon neighborhood a little before the Stemens. Nicholas Beery was the father of eight sons and seven daughters, viz.: John, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Henry, George, Joseph and Christian; Barbara, Magdalene, Elizabeth, Mary, Susanna, Fanny and Rebecca. Most of his large family settled in the east part of Fairfield County, and became thrifty and useful farmers and citizens. Most of them are buried in the county.

The Huffoeds

Caspar Hufford settled on the Raccoon at a very early day. He built the first mill, on the site where Lobenthall's, and since, Mike Moyer's mill stands. It was a small Raccoon Burr Mill, of the capacity of eight or ten bushels of corn a day. Mr. Hufford's sons were : Solomon, Abraham, Daniel, Jacob and John, These all settled on the Raccoon. Catharine Hufford, daughter of Caspar, married John Friezner ; and Susan married David Beery, son of John Beery, and grandson of Nicholas Beery. David Beery built the brick house in which Solomon Beery, son of George, now lives, on the Bremen road.

Mr. Nelson built a mill on Raccoon in 1805, on the land now owned by James Driver. Mr. Stemen remembers that, when a mill-boy, about 1812, he saw the miller carrying the ground wheat in a half-bushel up the steps, and turning it into the hopper of the bolting-chest, while the owner of the grist stood turning the bolting-cloth by means of a crank. (The writer has witnessed the same operation many times about the same era.) William Johnson built a mill on Rush Creek, a little below Rushville, during the year 1812, or about that time. Johnson's mill is well remembered. Jacob Rhodes built a stillhouse on Rush Creek at a very early day. Mr. Harmon, father of Fred. Harmon, erected a distillery in Pleasant Township.

The first religious societies formed in the Raccoon settlements were : Dunkers, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Seceders, German Reforms and Methodists.

Were kept in small log school-houses about three months in the year. Reading, writing, and "cyphering," as far as the Rule of Three, was the course of instruction. Webster's and Dillworth's spelling-books, and Pike's Arithmetic were used. For readers: The Testament, English Readers, Columbian Orator, and the American Preceptor. This was the English course. Some of the first schools were exclusively German, and others were German and English.

Manner Of Living

Corn-bread, vegetables, milk and butter, and wild meats, constituted the principal subsistence, but even these were sometimes scanty. When the mills were stopped for lack of water, breadstuffs became very scarce, and the neighbors would borrow from one another as long as there was any in the community. Venison was quite plenty, and also wild-turkey. Coffee and tea were dear, and hard to come at. As substitutes the people used spice-wood and sassafras teas; and for coffee, burned rye and wheat. Pounded and lye hominy were universal. The forms of corn-bread were johnny-cake, hoe-cake, dodger, ash-cake and pone.

Wearing Apparel

The wearing apparel of the settlers was nearly entirely home-made, consisting of flax and tow linens, linsey and flannels. Every farmer raised a patch of flax, from which the linens were made. The flax and tow were spun. on handwheels. Wool was carded at first on hand-cards, and afterwards by carding-machines run by water or horse-power. The weaving was done on hand-looms. Every neighborhood had its weavers, and sometimes nearly every house. The girls often spun, wove and made up their own wedding-dresses in the most primitive times of frontier life. Puckskin pants, and sometimes vests, were very common as men's wear. Shoes were almost wholely home-made, and boots were nearly unknown.

In common with all the frontier settlers, the inhabitants of Raccoon and Rush Creek Valleys practiced the plays common to the times. Mr. Stamen's parents did not approve them. In those times the family discipline was very rigid. The same ruling would be tyranny now. Nevertheless, that kind of discipline gave the world a more noble class of men and women than we shall ever see again.

Wild Animals

Wolves were very numerous, making it difficult to keep sheep. The State paid premiums for their scalps. Panthers, bears and wild-cats were plenty, deer abundant. Bear's meat was common. Catamounts were also often seen in the woods. (The catamount is of the feline species, and in size is intermediate between the domestic cat and the American panther. They were greyish, and sometimes spotted). When wounded, or enraged, they were dangerous enemies.

There were bands of various tribes of Indians wandering about the country during several years after the white settlements commenced. They were peaceable for the most part, but had to be kept in a good humor. Mr. Stemen spoke of an instance where several Indians came to his father's house and asked for something to cat. His mother had a corn pone baked for her familj'^, and little besides to give them. She gave them half of the pone, and they went away, but soon returned and demanded more, and to pacify them she gave them all she had.

The writer remembers many similar instances in another part of the State, but there, the Indians, for the most part, had something to give in exchange for what they wanted, such as furs, peltry and venison hams, and sometimes cut money. On one occasion a company of Miarais came to our house when my mother was a hundred yards away at the spring rinsing her clothes. I was the baby, and had been left alone in the cradle in the cabin. As was their custom, they stopped out in the grove, and sent their commission of two squaws into the house, who finding no one in besides the baby, took me from the cradle and carried me out to their comrades for a show. In a few minutes my mother returned, and finding the cradle empty, ran screaming out into the yard, when the squaws seeing her distress, hastened to meet her and restore the object of her alarm. She at once gave them everything she had about the house that could be eaten, and they left in good humor.

They were Miamis, and their town was seven miles from our house. I never heard of them plundering or stealing in time of peace. They always asked for what they wanted.

Hon. Thomas Ewing

Of this truly distinguished citizen and Jurist, I need not write much. His fame is as wide as American history. It is written in books, and in the hearts of the people. I speak only of his citizenship in Fairfield County.

Mr. Ewing settled in Lancaster in 1815, and commenced the study of law with Hon. Philemon Beecher, and was admitted to the bar in 1816. He continued to reside in Lancaster until the time of his death. Of the high positions of trust and honor he was called to fill in the nation, I do not speak ; they are recorded in the archives of the nation. It will not be too much for my humble pen to say, that Mr. Ewing was in some respects a remarkable man. No man living, perhaps, possessed the powers of speech and logic in a superior degree. He used no needless or superfluous words. He was not verbose. This was his strong forte in argument. He said much in few words. All understood him at once.

Of Mr. E wing's family still surviving, are Mrs. General Sherman, Mrs. Colonel Steele, Hon. Hugh Boyl Ewing, Gen. Thomas Ewing and Gen. Charles Ewing. On the lid of his burial-casket was engraved -

Mrs. Maria Ewing, consort 'of Hon. Thomas Ewing, was born in Lancaster. She was daughter of the late Hugh Boyl. She was married to Mr. Ewing in January, 1820, and died in February, 1864. They are buried in the Catholic Cemetery,

Judge Charles Sherman

Charles Sherman was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, May 26, 1788. In 1810 he was admitted to the bar, and in the same year married Mary Hoyt, also of Norwalk. In the following year, with his wife and infant child, he came to Lancaster, 0., and began the practice of law. In speaking of his emigration. Gen. Wm. J. Reece, one of his sons-in-law, says : " The way to it (Lancaster) from their New England home was far and weary, beset with hardships, and exposed to dangers. They were obliged to journey the greater part of the distance on horseback, carrying their infant child on a pillow before them. * * * * The littlfe boy they carried on the pillow before them is now the Hon. Charles Taylor Sherman, United States District Judge of the Northern District of Ohio."

Judge Charles Sherman was elected by the Legislature of Ohio to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1823, which place he filled a few months over six years with distinguished ability, when his labors were ended b}' death. He died at Lebanon, Ohio, while attending Court, on the 24th day of June, 1829, in his 41st year. His companion, Mary Hoyt Sherman, survived him many years. Their tombs are in Lancaster Cemetery. »

Judge Sherman was the father of Gen. W. T. Sherman, and Hon. John Sherman, U. S. Senator ; also of Mrs. W. J. Reece, now of Lancaster, besides several other sons and daughters, with whom the writer was not acquainted.

Hon. Hocking H. Hunter

Hocking H. Hunter was one of Ohio's leading lawyers. He was once elected to the Senate of Ohio, and subsequently declined the poll for Governor. As a lawyer he was eminently successful. He began life in a very humble way, as most of the sons of pioneers did, and worked his way up to fortune and fame by his own personal application and diligence. Mr. Hunter was a man of stern integrity of character, and unsurpassed administrative ability - pre-eminently just and upright in all the afifairs of life. He was the son of Joseph Hun-

Mr. Hunter was born in the month of August, 1801, and died February 4, 1872, in the 71st j'ear of his age. Of his children there are six yet living, viz. : three sons and three daughters. It has commonly been believed that Mr. Hunter was the first white male child born in Fairfield County. There are, however, two or three other aspirants to that distinction, but the matter is too far back in history to be settled at this late day.

Dr. John Williams

Dr. Williams is not mentioned as a pioneer of Fairfield County, though he deserves a place in its history. He is one of the living men who has made his mark, and who will leave a record. He has a brain seldom equaled or surpassed. Few men have lived of his mental capacities in his specialties. As a mathematician, grammarian and general scholarship, he stood, at his meridian, unrivaled. He has been a teacher, and author of school text-books. He was not brilliant ; but as a teacher and general educator he was forcible, clear and concise. There are probably more men to-day who owe their success in the professions and other vocations in life to having been pupils of Dr. Williams, than to any one man living. He was proprietor for several years of an Academy in Greenfield Township, known as "Greenfield Academy ;" and subsequently teacher and Superintendent of Lancaster schools. From age and infirmity, he, five or six years since, retired to his small farm, four miles north of Lancaster, where at present he resides.

Letter Of George W. Beery

Dr. H. Scott - Dmr Sir : I learn that you propose to publish a history of Fairfield County, and desire information in aid thereof. ' I herewith inclose a letter prepared by me for Dr. Tom. O. Edwards, in 1871. If of any use to you in your work.

you are at liberty to use the same as you may think proper. When your book is ready, please send me ten copies, and I will remit the price at once.

George W. Beery. Hon. Tom. 0. Edwards : Your favor of the 8th inst., containing request to furnish dates and names of early settlers of Fairfield County, is received. In answer, I am only able to state, from memory, conversations had with my father on the subject of his first settlement in your county. He was the youngest of six brothers of his father's family, in the order here given : John, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, Henry and George. There were two half-brothers. Christian and Joseph, all of whom were among the first settlers of Fairfield County.

George, my father, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in the year 1783, and emigrated to the almost unbroken wilderness of your county in the year 1800. He came down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers in a flat-boat, and up the Hocking to the falls, thence through the woods on foot to Lancaster, and remained over winter, clearing land for others by the acre. He returned to Virginia the next spring, and finally returned to Fairfield County in the fall of 1801, and settled on the Raccoon Creek, near Bremen, clearing land and working for others, thus enabling him to enter eighty acres, which he did in the fall of 1807.

In 1809 he married and settled on this small tract of land, continuing to live thereon, and in the neighborhood of Bremen, until the spring of 1832, when he moved to the little Raccoon, five miles east of Lancaster, where he died in 1856.

John Beery, his eldest brother, came to the county in 1805, and the other brothers soon after, all settling on and near the streams mentioned, in Rush Creek and Berne townships. They were a hardy, stout and industrious set of men, and did their full share of clearing and improving that part of the county. They are all dead, leaving families scattered all over the country.

Their education being very limited, and their habits sober and industrious, were content with the occupation of farming, except my father, who was always far in advance of his neighbors in schools and public improvements. He took an active part in the construction of the canal from Carroll to

Lancaster ; also in . building the Zanesville and Maysville Turnpike-road; was one of the Commissioners of the county, I think, in 1828; and assisted in locating and building the County Infirmary.

In 1834 he laid out the town of Bremen; and in the next year, in partnership with Mr. Hedges, commenced the business of selling goods, an occupation yet followed by several of his children, who received their first lessons under his supervision.

In the war of 1812, he was pressed into the service with his team, and while Major Crogan was defending Fort Stevenson, at Lower Sandusky, with team and provisions he was encamped at Fort Ball, now Tiffin, and within hearing of the guns of the fort.

He was a personal friend and admirer of Hon. Thos. Ewing, claiming that he had no superior as a lawyer and statesman in the Union. Such was his admiration of this truly great man, that he' called his tenth and youngest son Thos. Ewing.

As a citizen, he was public-spirited ; as a neighbor, kind and benevolent ; as a father, strict in his requirements, yet tenderly devoted to his children.

My mother was a Cradlebaugh, a daughter of a revolutionary soldier, a German Reform minister, and a man of considerable influence in his day. He emigrated to Western Pennsylvania soon after the war closed, and in 1810 or 1811, to Fairfield County, where he soon afterwards died. My mother was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1789, emigrated to Fairfield County in 1806 or 1807. and died in 1870. She was a woman of more than ordinary force of character; positive in her opinions, and free to express them ; industrious and economical ; loving right and hating wrong; prompt and active in every duty ; exercii-ing a marked and controlling influence over her husband and family - a mother of the old type, in every, sense of the word. They had twelve children, nine of whom still survive. Four are living here, one near Urbana, Ohio, and the balance in and near the family village

William McClung died at the residence of his daughter, in West Rushville, on Friday, September 8th, 1876, aged 83 years, 7 months and 19 days.

Judge McClung came into Fairfield County in 1803, where he resided continuously until his death, and was among the last of the surviving pioneers. Few men have lived and passed away within the limits of the county, who more eminently deserved the reputation of a good man. He was upright, just and reliable in all the affairs of life, and, so far as the writer knows and believes, he had few, if any, enemies. Of him it may be very justly said, that he was one of that noble class of first men who helped to break the wilderness, and who lived to give character and prosperity to the country - a class that, very much to the world's detriment, is rapidly passing away.

Judge McClung, during his protracted and useful life, filled successively, and with the popular approval, the offices of Justice of the Peace, State Legislator, and Associate Judge under the old Constitution, as also many minor positions of trust in the civil and military service. He was one of the volunteers who enlisted under Captain George Sanderson in the war of 1812, and was included in the surrender of Gen. Hull in front of Fort Detroit.

He was likewise an officer in the church of his choice ; and it is said of him, by those who best knew him, that Christianity was illustrated by all his intercourse with the world, both in his public and private walks.

Statement Of Mrs. King

One of Fairfield's pioneer mothers is still living in Lancaster, at the venerable age of 87 years. Mrs. Flora Buttler King has been in most respects a very remarkable woman. Following is a condensed synopsis of her statement recently made to me: born in Onondagua County in January, 1790, and during her early childhood and youth was the school companion of Gerrit Smith. She was the first female child born in that county. In 1812 she came to Ohio, and soon after to Lancaster. She was the first female teacher in Lancaster. Her school-house was a rough cabin built bj' Christian King, and stood where Doctor Turner's office now is, on Main street. In February, 1813, she was married to Christian King. She was mother of two children - William, who died many years ago in California, and Flora, wife of Charles Deshler, of Columbus, 0.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. King devoted herself to painting and drawing, by which she accumulated a considerable amount of cash. Receiving intelligence of the death of her son in California, she made the trip there alone, by the Isthmus, and brought back his three children, their mother also being dead. She raised two of the boys, who are now in honorable positions. The other one died young. She witnessed the riot at Panama, when one hundred Americans were killed, and barely escaped with her own life by paying the natives a gold bonus.

William and Christian King came t5 Lancaster in 1799, and sold goods under the firm name of W. & C. King. Christian King built a toll-bridge across the prairie, west of town, on the track of the present turnpike-road.

Mrs. King remembers, that in 1812 the Kings and John Creed were merchants; Philemon Beecher, Robert F. Slaughter and William Irvin were practicing law ; Drs. Wilson, Torrence and Shawk were practicing medicine ; Thos. Sturgeon kent tavern where Mrs. Creed now lives, and Mr. Swoyer on the Shaeffer corner.

Statement Op John Ashbaugh

John Ashbaugh was my grandfather, and Andrew Ashbaugh was my father. They came into Fairfield County in 1801, and settled near where Bremen now is, and died there. My father's

The Indians stole our horses, and were followed, and the horses recovered at Bowling Green, north of Zanesville, by paying the Indians one dollar a head for them.

Andrew Ashbaugh, my father, and a big Indian had a hopping-match, in which the Indian got beaten, and became angry, but others interfered, and all ended well.

On one occasion the Indians removed the bells from some horses and slipped them away, but fearing the consequence, as was believed, they restored the bells and the horses.

The Ream Family By Jonas A. Ream

Abraham Ream was born in Reamstown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1746, and removed to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1798, at the age of fifty-two years. He came to Pittsburg in wagons, then down the Ohio river in a flat-boat as far as the mouth of the Hocking river, thence up that river to its falls (now one mile above Logan), in dug-outs, or canoes, thence by land up the stream to the point yet known as Ream's mill, where he settled down. He there entered four and a half sections of land in a body. His family consisted at the time of twelve children, viz.: five sons and seven daughters. In 1804 he built the mill which still retains his name.

His daughters were married to the following persons, viz : John Panebaker, Abraham Sheafer, Isaac Sheafer, Joseph Stukey, Lewis Hershberger, Henry Aneshensel. The youngest of the daughters died single, from the effects of a stroke of lightning.

His sons' names were : Sampson, William, Absalom, Abraham and George. Abraham died at the age of twenty years (single). The others married and raised families. Not one of the children of Abraham Ream are now living.

When they arrived in Fairfield County they were the sixth family of white settlers. The Indian villages were not entirely broken up where Lancaster is.

Jacob Ream, half-brother to Abraham, came a little later - four years, I think. He located south of Ream's mill, about one mile. Jacob L. Ream, who died recently, was his son. The Ream family was very numerous, and are widely intermarried, so that in that region, now, almost every third person one meets can «laim relationship to them.

Of Sampson Ream's family, there are but three out of thirteen living. Two died in the Mexican war, and one in California. Of the sons-in-law of Abraham Ream, two yet survive - Aneshensel and Hershbergef. The first winter the family were here they killed eighteen bears and twenty-seven deer. They also killed numerous wolves, wild-cats and panthers. A bear-skin then was worth seventy-five cents, and a deer-skin fifty cents. Deer-skins were dressed and made into pantaloons and moccasins, and bear-skins were used for bed-covers.

Recollections Of Levi Stewart'

Levi Stewart (now a citizen of Lancaster) was born in Greenfield Township, in 1800, and is therefore now in his 77th year. His father was one of the Lrst settlers of Fairfield County. He came in 1799, and settled near the Hocking, immediately south of the residence of the late Judge John Grabill, two miles north-west of Lancaster, on the Columbus pike.. Mr. Stewart has spent his long life in the vicinity of the place of his birth, and has made it his care to preserve a recollection, not only of the first settlers, but of the places where they located, as well as of the general condition of the country, and domestic life of the pioneers. The following is a condensed note of his statement : one story high. The country abounded with wolves, deer, bears, wild-cats and panthers. Indians were more or less numerous, who lingered about until about the year 1810, before they entirely disappeared.

First Settlers

Samuel Bush came in 1802, and settled on the spot which is the present farm of Daniel Bush, his grandson, one and a half miles north-west of Lancaster, on the Columbus road. David Fink settled near the same time one and a half miles north of Lancaster, to the right of the Baltimore road. Ralph Donelson settled first where Samuel Bush (son of the pioneer) now lives. Henry Cline, about the same time, settled on the farm, as he thinks, now owned by Judge Shaw, near Shimp's Hill. Alexander Sanderson (father of the late Gen. Sanderson), settled in 1798, and located in the same neighborhood. Jacob Sells, in 1800, entered a large tract of land embracing the site of the present village of Dumontsville, four miles north of Lancaster. John Sells came in the same year. David Bright (father of the present David and John Bright), came in 1800, and located where .Tohn Bright now resides. Henry Abrams came in 1800, and settled on the place now owned by David Bright. John Bailar settled where James McCleary now lives, in 1800. Adam and John Westenberger, brothers, settled in the McCleary neighborhood in 1800. Mr. Nail, about the same time, located on the William McCleary place. John McArthur settled where Newton Peters at present resides, probably in 1800. John Morgan located about the same time on the John Grabill farm. Joseph Stewart, father of Levi, first settled a short distance south-west of the Grabill place, in 1799, and on the north side of Hocking. In the year 1805, Samuel Grabill, father of John, Jacob, Gabriel, Christopher and Samuel, succeeded Mr. Morgan on what has ever since been known as the Grabill farm, where Judge Grabill was born and died. In the year 1800, Gideon Geary settled on the place now known as the G. H. Smith farm, on the pike, west of Grabill's. About the same time, Samuel Tallman located immediately joining the Smith farm on the west. At Yankeytown (Claypool's), James Brooks, Mr. Cook and Drake Taylor squatted in the year 1799.- Jacob Claypool, father of Isaac, bought them out in 1805, and opened a farm

Isaac Meason came into Greenfield, in 1798, first locating on the Carroll road, where the late Elijah Meason resided. Isaac Meason was the father of the late John Meason. Patrick Lusk, in 1800, settled on the place afterward known as the Isaac Wilson farm, south of Carroll. John McFarland, father of the late Walter McFarland, in 1798, located on the spot where Walter lived and died. Isaac Rice located near the present woolen factory, below the rock-mill, in 1799. William and James Reed, brothers, in 1798, settled a little east of the subsequent Rice place, in 1798. Their places were near the Hocking. Thos. McCall, about the same time, settled near the Reeds. James Wells settled on the present Hooker land, in 1799.' William Wilson, in 1798, located a little south of Hooker's. His son James now resides on the same place. Samuel Wilson settled the same year, adjoining William. James Wilson, Sr., settled on the Carlisle farm. He was the first husband of the late Mrs. Thos. Carlisle.

David Pence, Henry Gearhart, Daniel Gearhart, David Wintermuth, Daniel Wintermuth, Adam Wagner, David Baugher, John Hanna, James Hanna, Abraham Fairchildj William Wiseley, Edmund Wiseley and John Miller settled in the north-east part of Greenfield Township, in the years 1800 to 1805.

Henry Abrams built the first hewed log-house in Greenfield. David Bright built a still-house near where John Bright lives, at a very early day. William and James Reed built a saw-mill on the Hocking, below rock-mill, very early. John Goolthrite taught the first school that is remembered in Greenfield. Another school is said to have been taught in the " Spook's Hollow, " east of the Grabill farm, at a very early day. School-houses were log-shanties with oiled-paper windows.

The Indians procured lead not far from the present rockmill, but the mine, if any, has not been discovered to this day. No inducements could prevail on them to tell where they got the lead. They had rifles, and knew how to handle them.

The intercourse between the log-cabins of the pioneers of Greenfield was over paths worn by following the blazed trees, at first. Mr. Stewart remembers a tornado which passed over the country in 1809, that he has not seen equaled in his nearly

The subsistence of the pioneers was corn-bread, wild meats, wild-honey, milk and butter, and vegetables. Roasted rye and wheat were used for coffee, which could not be had, or seldom, and then at enormous prices. They carried their corn on horseback to the falls of Hocking (Logan), to get it ground, and sometimes had to wait several days for their turn. Salt was packed from the Scioto below Chillicothe, and from the Muskingum, and cost about $5.00 a bushel. He had known seasons of three to five weeks when the whole community was out of breadstuff, because the mills were stopped for want of water. They pounded hominy, grated corn, and' cooked vegetables, and made other shifts.

The sports and pastimes of the settlers were pitching quoits, jumping, running foot-races, wrestling, dancing, plays of a great variety, and in rough and tumble fights. Fighting was very common at public gatherings, such as sales, log-rollings, corn-huskings, house-raisings, and the like. Horse-swapping was almost universally practiced. The most of it was done at gatherings. Sometimes the family fire went out over night, when some member of the family had to go to neighbors to procure it before the breakfast could be started. The first and only chairs known were called split-bottoms. Many families at first sat on slab-stools of their own make.

One pair of shoes a year was all that could be had ; the remainder of the time they went barefoot. The boys had two suits of home-made flax and tow-linen in summer, and in winter one suit of linsey - no underclothes. The young ladies thought they were fine if they had one calico dress in a year. Wheat was worth twenty-five cents, and corn from five to twelve and a half cents a bushel, in trade. A day's work was from sunup to unsdown, and the wages was 25 cents.

Henry Leonard'S Communication

Dr. H. Scott - Dear Sir: Having learned that you are engaged- in preparing a history of Fairfield County, I hereby send you a few pioneer items and incidents of the early settlement of Liberty Township, for your disposal.

I was born on the 14th day of February, 1812, just 65 years ago this day. My object is not so much to speak of what I know personally of the early history of our township, as it is to refer " to facts that transpired prior to my coming on the stage of action, and for such information I am indebted mainly to several of the descendants of the very first settlers. Among these I mention the names of Jacob Bibler, Joseph Alt and Noah Gundy, still living, and whose united ages are over two hun^ dred and forty-four years.

Old Pioneers David Brumback

^03 or 1804, and settled half a mile south of the ..^u i/o.ni of Baltimore, near Walnut Creek bridge, on the west side of the present pike. The farm is now owned by Emanuel Rinch. Mr. Brumback afterwards settled on Poplar Creek, where his son now lives. Martin Brumback, the son, has the most extensive vinyard in the county.

Bader And Showley

In 1804, Nicholas Bader and Jacob Showley came and entered a half section of land south of the Brumback place, where they lived and died. They came from Switzerland. At Pittsburg they embarked on a flat-boat and paddled down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Hockhocking. Here they put their chests and bedding in skiffs, or canoes, and poled and paddled them up to the falls of Hocking (Logan). From there they

Joseph Alt And Family

Came from the same country, one year afterward, passing over the same route. While floating down the Ohio river their boat struck a snag, and sprung a leak and sunk. They got ashore safely, but with soaked clothes and baggage. While they were waiting on the bank for another boat to come along, they built a fire and dried their clothes. At the mouth of Hocking the wife and three young children were left alone, while the father and son Joseph started on foot up stream, over hills and gullies, in search of their countrymen, Showley and Bader, in this township, and make arrangements with one of them to go to Chillicothe and enter land. The second night, while they camped in the wilderness, about midnight they heard a noise such as they never heard before. Old Joseph got up and began to stir up the fire until the sparks and flames made it light all around, and took up his gun, but the animal had fled. The next day they were told it was a panther.

Going To Mill

Old Father Bader, son of Nicholas Bader, has told me, that when a small boy, his father sent him to Ream's mill with a bushel and a half of corn, and that it required three days to make the trip. Noah Gundy says that the first grist of corn his father took to mill he carried to Newark, in Licking County. I asked how his father found the way. He said, over an Indian trail. The first horse-power mill in Liberty was built by Jacob Showley. Almost every pioneer family had a hominy-block.

Francis Bibler

Of Shenandoah County, Virginia, landed here in the woods in 1805, with four sons and four daughters. Their log-cabin was built on the spot of ground where John W. Chapman, Postmaster of Basil, now resides. This family moved into their cabin late in the fall, and before the chinking or daubing of the cracks was done.

No Bread

This family had not had a mouthful of any kind of bread in their house for over five weeks. Old Father Bibler went to Chillicothe to buy some corn. Owing to the short supply there, he only goi one bushel, for which he had to pay two dollars. This he brought home, and sent his son Jacob (my informant) to Woodring's mill, about five miles west on Walnut Creek, where he had to wait for his turn. He said that when the warm meal was running from the spout out of the burrs, he caught some in his hand, and that he never tasted anything so good in all his life.

Coons And Squirrels

The first season they planted about three acres of corn, but they did not even get a peck of ripe corn. The squirrels visited the cornfield in day-time, and the raccoons in the night. Jacob told me that his father, Abraham, went out with his rifle one morning and killed thirty-eight squirrels ofi" of one tree, and then he was not able to count the remainder on the same tree. On another occasion he brought down eighteen raccoons from a single tree.

Indians And White Boys Playing

It was a common thing for the boys of both races to meet and engage in testing their skill and activity by running footraces, jumping and tusseling.. My informant spoke of Thos. Warner's, in Walnut Township, and of Tutwiler's, and at his father's, where Basil is, as frequent meeting-places of these boys of both races. He referred by memory to the spot where A. T. Mason's residence is, and the foundry, as these old play-grounds.

"I remember," said the narrator, "of hearing ray father and other old men tell, that one time when a township election was to be held, they had to send around word and hunt up seven men in order to be able to hold an election for township officers." We have none of that kind of trouble now, and there are six to seven hundred voters in the township.

First Ministers Of The Gospel

The first resident minister was Rev. Martin Kauffman, a Baptist. Rev. John Hite, of Walnut Township, also preached in the neighborhood for many years. Rev. Fenedum, of the United Brethren, preached for a long time at the house of Mr. Showley. He was a resident of Bloom Township. Rev. Geo. Weis, of Lancaster, was the first German Reform minister who came about. He preached first at Amspach's, two and a half miles north of Basil, where St. Michael's Church now ip. This was about 1817.

Camp-Boy

In conversation with Gen. Geo. Sanderson,of Lancaster, some fifteen years ago, he told me that when he was a small boy he came with a couple of hunters into this (Liberty) township, and served them as camp-boy about a week, at a time when there was not a cabin or white man within its limits. He spoke of the site of their camp as being just above the spring, or on the hill immediately north of where Pugh's warehouse stands, at Basil, on a lot now owned by my sister, Mrs. Musser. Where now, are the hunters, and the camp-boy, and the camp?

First Tavern In Basil

Henry Yanna built the house now owned by Jacob H. Campbell, our hardware merchant. This was our first tavern. Mr. Y. was a Swiss, and a professional butcher. Many thousands of pounds of beef did he haul on the " Deep Cut " to Monticello (a town then near the present Millersport). But now Monticello is a cornfield. Beef then was sold at three cents per pound. There were more than a hundred hands constantly at work. Mr. Yanr a had for his tavern-sign an ox painted on the board.

Peter Daring

Also a Swiss, had the second tavern. There was business then for two taverns in Basil, not so much for entertainment as for the sale of whisky and " stone-fence cider," which meant four gallons of whisky in a barrel of water, to make it to keep. For his sign he had the Swiss hero, Wilhelm Tell.

First Store In Basil

Henry D. BoUe, a Frenchman, on the day of the first sale of town-lots, purchased the old homestead, which consisted of a hewed log house, and the old vacated log-cabiu, built in 1809. The purchase price was about sixty dollars. This was inlot No. 9. ^ He put one shelf up-stairs, twelve feet long and one foot wide. On this shelf he was able to put his entire stock of goods.

One year after, he put up shelving and a rough counter in the old log-cabin. In this cabin he did business for two years. In 1828 he called at our house and wanted to sell his store to my father. My father replied, "Wat do I want wid your store?" Bolle replied, "You put little Henry in dere; he make sthore-keeper some day." He left the goods in the cabin for us to sell in a year, promising to take back what was not sold. We took them at retail price, but could not make one cent on them. But father had one hundred dollars in silver, which he kept in a wooden box on top of the clothes-press. He sold a horse for fifty dollars. This made a capital of one hundred and fifty dollars, which wos carried to Lancaster on the 15th day of April, 1828, and with that amount our first purchase of merchandise was made.

Our sales did not average two dollars a daj"- during the first year, the aggregate amount sold being no more than S500. But by perseverance, diligence and attention, the Leonard brothers were enabled to navigate the turbulent waters of trade for nearly fortj' j'ears, without meeting any serious disaster from the frequent and fierce storms and hurricanes caused by the risky and unreliable trade-.winds, on account of which so many mercantile ships were swamped or sunk.

Pigeon-Hunt

There was a time in the early history of this country when wild-pigeons were so very plenty, that they literally " darkened the heavens " in their flight to and from their roost in Licking County.

On one occasion five young men set out from this neighborhood for the pigeon-roost, to bring back, as they doubted not, large numbers of these birds. Th-e company consisted of Samuel Bader, John Hively, Jacob Showley, Jacob Bibler and

Jacob Goss. The two latter are still living. They provided themselves with punk, flint and steel, for the purpose of raising a fire at night. But alas ; a cold, driving rain set in, and they were soaked to the skin, with no possibility of starting a fire, as everything was dripping wet. Their expedition was a failure, of which they never heard the last. Old Father Shriner, who was auctioneer in the settlement, or '' sale-crier," as the term was then, loved to twit the boys when they were present. " Here, Jacob," he would say, "is a tub; it will do to salt down your pigeons. How much will you give ?" Or, if he offered a small vessel, he would say, " Sell ist gut fuer Saltz," by which he meant, this will answer to carry salt for salting down your pigeons. Old Father Shriner was a jolly old pioneer. His grandchildren are now grandparents. Such is the flight of time.

Nailing Coffins Shut

Our old pioneer, David Brumback, was the undertaker in our township. He buried, or rather made all the coflSns when I was a small boy. I remember once I went with my grandfather to a funeral at Showley's, and as screws were scarce in those primitive times, nails were used to fasten down the lid of the coffin ; and I heard my grandfather tell my mother this : " Barbi, wenn ich sterbe, will ich nicht mit dem Hammer zugenagelt sein." Barbara, when I die, I will not have my coffin nailed with a hammer.

Whisky-Bottle At Funerals

I remember, too, when it was customary to carry, or hand round a bottle filled with whisky before the funeral would leave the house. I had the honor myself, when called on, to hand the long-necked green bottle around, and a young lady would follow with cakes and pies.

Indian Squaw Wounded

Mr. Noah Gundy, who has been living in the vicinity more than seventy years, told me, that the Indians almost every spring would come on Walnut Creek, near their farm, for the purpose of boiling sugar. One time a man came to hunt, and seeing some object moving among the pawpaw bushes, and be- lieving it to be a bear, fired at it, and was startled by the scream of a squaw, and alarmed, he lost no time in giving "leg-bail." The Indians were soon on his trail, but he eluded them by his fleetness, and by taking to the bed of the creek, thus causing them to lose his track; and he kept safely out of their way until the matter was settled and the Indians pacicified. Dr. Shawk, of Lancaster, was sent out to dress the wounded arm, and he partially succeeded in persuading them that it was unintentional, though they for a long time entertained lingering doubts. The squaw, however, got well, and all was over.

[This I believe to be the story that is told of the late Judge David Ewing, of Pleasant Towiiship. The circumstances are nearly the same in both statements. The friends of Mr. Ewing, however, do not locate the scene on Walnut Creek, but in the Arnold settlement, in Pleasant. They also say that the Indians refused the services of a doctor, and that the affair was settled by Daniel Arnold and others, by the payment of money and other things. - Ed.]

A Hog Story

At o»e time old Father Gundy drove forty head of fat hogs all the way to Zanesville, Ohio, for which he expected to receive $1.50 per hundred, but it seems that when he arrived with the porkers, Mr. Buckingham backed out, and said that he could not pay more than $1.25 a hundred, that they had come too late. Mr. Gundy was displeased, an I said, "You shan't have them." So the old man left the forty fat hogs to take care of themselves, and returned home in a bad humor. Strangely enough, in about three weeks every one of the hogs straggled back to the Gundy farm, over a distance of more than forty miles, and were afterwards sold to a Chillicothe man for $1.50 per hundred pounds. Hogs were then sold by net weight.

In the early settlement of our township, especially before we had a canal, our farmers would go to Zanesville with their wagons and exchange their wheat for salt. At one time six or eight teams from Walnut Creek went in company, and after they had sold and unloaded their wheat, they drove to the, salt-house. Mr. Fairchild (long since dead") said to the clerk, or salt man, " We will bet you a gallon of brandy that we have a man in our crowd that can pick up a barrel of salt by the chimes and lift it into the wagon. " After the salt man had eyed the crowd closely, and could see no giant among them, he said, "Agreed." Mr. Fairchild then called out, "John Huntwork,- pull oflf your coat and go to work." And John did not only load one barrel, but, as one wagon after another drove up, he picked up the barrels of salt as though they were firkins of butter, and loaded the wagons. And it is to be remembered, that at that time a barrel of salt weighed more than 280 pounds ; many of them weighed over 300. Mr. Noah Gundy (my informant) further told me, that John Huntwork at one time carried eleven bushels of wheat up a pair of steps at one load. The wheat was put in one large sack especially for the occasion. .

An Indian Scare

It was rumored that the Indians were coming in to plunder the pioneers. Bibler'.s cabin was the place of rendezvous. It was not long before several guns were heard at a neighboring cabin, when the women began to scream. One old lady said : " ! I wish the Indians had killed me long ago." My mother wanted father to go, but he said no, he would not run away from his own house. They all stayed at home, but no savages appeared. The rumor had been started and the guns fired by rowdies, for fun, but the neighbors did'not recognize the fun.

How Basil Got Its Name

Old Father Jacob Goss landed here in 1807 or 1808, and put up a cabin. He had two sons and one daughter. When the canal was being located, Henry Hildebrand laid out a new town, which was named New Market, but is now the "Baltimore, Ohio." Jonathan Flattery surveyed the lots of Basil, and when he was through he asked Father Goss what he was going to call his town, and he (Goss) decided to leave the naming of it to his neighbors. My father proposed Basil,* and 'Squire Joseph Hustand proposed Geneva, both Swiss names. It was decided to determine by ballot. At this stage of the case, I, a boy, came along on my return from the old Hively log school-house, with my copy-book under my arm. Father told me to write some tickets, which I did, upon a blank sheet torn from my copy-book. The votes were cast, and upon counting out from the hat it was found that there were six for Basil and six for Geneva - a tie. At this point my uncle, John Goss, came up the hill, when my father said : "John, vote Basil." He gave the casting vote, and hence Basil. I was, therefore, the first to write the name of our village, Basil. This was in 182-5, and therefore these two villages are a little over (ifty years old. Henry Hildebrand was first proprietor of Baltimore, and Jacob Goss first proprietor of Basil.

The First Corn Pone

A number of our Swiss families, instead of going to the mouth of Hocking, and up that stream in skiffs, turned up the Muskingum and came to Zanesville, a nearer and more eligible route. Among them were the Weber and Erb families. They laid up a little below Zanesville. In the morning, old Mother Erb went to a cabin near by to get some milk for their coffee. She took with her a silver quarter. The woman of the house had no change. The old lady made motion for her to let her have a piece of what she took to be an egg-pudding, which she saw in the skillet. The woman gave her the whole of it, and she hurried back to the camp with the pudding (?) in her apron, saying: "Now we will have a nice breakfast." The pudding was cut, but no one could eat a bite of it. Even their dog would not touch it. It was a corn pone. But they got well over that before they were five years older.

Cheap Wheat And Corn

Joseph Bibler told me only last week, when speaking of the price of grain, after the little farmers had raised more than they needed, that they would have been glad to have got ten cents a, bushel for their corn, but could not get five cents cash.

At one time he (Bibler) went to Lancaster to see if he could sell some wheat. A prominent citizen and business man there, said to him : " I have no use for any wheat now, but if you will bring it in and empty it into one of these mud- holes, SO our gentlemen can have a clean and dry walk, I will give you twelve and a half cents a bushel." I had heard the story before, but this from my old and reliable friend settled the question.

Conclusion Recollections Of Michael Leist

Michael Lsist was born in Clear Creek Township sixty-six years ago, and has resided within its bounds all his life. The following are the names of the first settlers of the township, to the extent that he remembers them.

John Leist (father of Michael) came in 1805. He is well remembered. He served many years as Justice of the Peace, and was thirteen times elected to the State Legislature. The very first settlers of Clear Creek, as Mr. Leist remembers them, he named as follows - the time of their arrival varying from 1800 to 1810. They settled in difi"erent parts of the township:

Martin Smith, Mr. Binhimer, the Fosnaughts (the descendants of the Fosnaughts constitute a large voting force of the township to this day). John, Nicholas and Daniel Conrad came early. Henry and Daniel Conrad, two descend- ants, are still living, at an advanced age. George Conrad is still living at the age of 82 years. He was a son of John Conrad. Daniel has two sons living, and Nicholas one. George Nigh was a very early settler. His descendants are all dead. Peter Swineford settled east of John Leist. John Welsheimer, Mr. Stott, John Starr, Peter Good, Peter Baker, George Baker. George Stout and Benjamin Chrisman were among the early settlers of Clear Creek. Mr. Dilsaver built the first horse-mill in the township. This was a little east of Stoutsville. . George and John Hammel settled a little east of Dilsaver's. George Augustus was a very early settler. There were either three or four of the Hedges amongst the firstcomers. They had a numerous progeny, and the family is still conspicuous in Clear Creek. John Reynolds came very early. His three sons, Stuart, Thompson and Franklin, are all dead. Mr. Stukey was among the first pioneers in Clear Creek Township. Two or three brothers by the name of Friend came about the same time. Their descendants still reside in the township. Mr. Spangler was among the first settlers. Two of his sons are still living, viz. : Jeremiah and Samuel. Jacob Schuraaker, a pioneer, lived and died in Clear Creek Township. Jonathan Dressback was a very early

Dutch Hollow Church

Mr. Leist described the two-story log church, built seven-ty years ago, in Dutch Hollow. Among the preachers who attended there more or less regularly, were Rev. George Wise, German Reform; Rev. Stake, Lutheran ; Rev. Leist and Rev. Bing. -

* Mr. Leist also gave an interesting description of the first school-house' and school in Dutch Hollow, near the church. School was kept there from two to three months in the year. The back-logs for the fire were drawn in with the log-chain and horse power, through an opening in the wall opposite the fireplace, and in very cold days the opening was closed by banking up the ashes to keep the cold wind out. He learned to spell by rote from hearing his brothers spell, before he knew a letter of the alphabet. On one occasion he cried because the master refused to allow him to stand up with the spelling class ; but to please him, finally he was permitted, and when the hard words passed along down the class, missed by several, he spelled them correctly and went up, very much to the amusement of the school.

The first election for the township was held in a log school house near its center. The same spot has been the voting place ever since, and continues to be at this day. George Valentine was remembered as among the early 'Squires. The pioneer house-raisings, log-rollings, corn-huskings, rail-maul- Ings, grubbings, quiltings, and the like, were referred to as things that had been, but that are never to be again. Also, the old hominy-block, the corn-grater; mills dried up and scarcity of breadstufis - the dear old days of peace, and happiness, and brotherhood.

Joseph G. Wiseman'S Letter

Dr. H. Scott - Dear Sir: The note you intended for Charles Wiseman was placed in my box, there being no man' by that name residing in the neighborhood. Not having come to this neighborhood until 1818, I have most of my information from first settlers.

The first settlement in this neighborhood commenced about 1804, by Samuel Wiseman, Edward Berry, James Miller, John Miller, John Manly, George Hill, Jacob Cagy, Robert Chalfant, Thomas McNaughton, Thomas Watson and John Goldthwait ; also, the Teals and Stevensons, about the same time. Thorn Township, then in Fairfield County, now in Perry, was settled about the same time, by Daniel Snyder, George Stinchomb, Jacob Hooper, Sr., Jacob Hooper, Jr., James Hooper, John Groves, and the Fosters.

came to a man cutting logs for a cabin, his family living in his wagon in the woods. In answer to the inquiry as to his name, he answerd, " Samuel Wiseman. " On returning to his father's cabin, in the Teal settlement, James told his mother the Joyful news, that he had found a neighbor. " What is his name?" said she. "Samuel Wiseman," James replied. " Well, " said she, "he has a wise name ; would to God he is a wise and good man. "

The citizens of Fairfield and Perry counties are indebted to John Goldthwait for the excellent variety of grafted fruit he introduced into those counties at an early day. I have visited fruit-stands in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York, and could find no better fruit than he introduced sixty-five years ago, in his nursery, two miles west of the present village of New Salem. Soon after Goldthwait's orchard began to bear, two lawyers from Lancaster came out to examine his choice varieties of fruit. Goldthwait was a peculiar little Yankee, and a strong Federalist. The lawyers were strong Jefferson Democrats. He showed them his Royal Russet, Seek-No-Further, Golden Pippins, Rhode Island Greenings, and his Federal apples. The lawyers said to him, " You have shown us j^our Federal apples, now show us your Democratic ones. " He said, " Come down this way ; " and he pointed out alittle scrubby tree with a few knotty apples on. " That, " said he, " is the Democratic apple. "

Revolutionary Soldiers

John Manly and George Hill served five years in what was then called Lee's Legion of Horse, in the Revolutionary war. Rev. John Wiseman settled in this neighborhood in 1819. He served two terms in the Revolution, and was with Washington and Lafayette through the memorable winter at Valley Forge, while the British were occupying Philadelphia.

Statement Of Thomas Jackson, Of Berne

My father, "William Jackson, came frop Frederick County, Maryland, in 1805, and settled in Berne Township, Fairfield County. He came over Zane's trace from Wheeling to Lancaster. I was four years old. He left his goods at Wheeling, and came through on horseback, he and my mother, carrying two or three small children before and behind, as was the custom then. At Lancaster he met an acquaintance who had preceded h'im. His name was Sliger. He took us all to his cabin, which was two miles south of Lancaster, on the place which has for many years been known as Clarksburg, from the name of Joshua Clark, who lived there since, and carried on the milling business, in connection with which he run a distillery. My father and Mr. Sliger then rode about the country, and found an empty cabin on the bank of Pleasant Run, on the spot now known as the Reuben Shellenbarger place. There was belonging to the cabin twelve acres of cleared land, on which the timber was deadened. This was in December. We moved into the cabin and spent the winter, I do not know how. In the spring my father planted the twelve acres in corn, and then returned to Wheeling and brought out his wagon and little stock of household goods. We remained in that cabin two years. I cannot remember how we managed to live. At that time I had one brother and two sisters - I was the fourth child. My sister Polly married Joseph Sheets. She is at this time 85 years old, a widow, and living with her daughter, who is the widow of the late John Grabill, Jr. My brother John lives near the Colonel Sharp place, below Sugar Grove, and William lives two miles below Lancaster. My age is 76 years.

My father then took a lease on the lands of Samuel Shellenbarger, embracing the place where Reuben Shellenbarger now lives, and opened a farm. We little fellows had to pick and burn brush, and worked very hard. Afterwards my father bought eighty acres of John A. Collins, and moved on it. i It was the same place now owned by the widow of David Hufifman.

After the death of my mother, in 1836, father came and lived on my place, on the east side of Hocking, where he died about fourteen years afterwards.

At my earliest recollection our neighbors were : Mr. Brooks, father of George, Jacob and John S. Brooks; David Carpenter. Peter Gundy then lived on the Prindle place, in a hewed loghouse ; William Carpenter lived near the Kuntz mill ; Sam'I Carpenter lived on the Kuntz place, the same that is now the residence of Thomas H. White, Esq. Mr. Reynolds lived between the Kuntz mill and Lancaster.

The first school I atterided was in a little log-hut near us on the south, and the teacher was John May; and after him a Mr. Adison. The nexf school-house I went to was on the sixteenth section. It was taught by a man by the name of Skennel. He was a funny Irishman, but was called an excellent teacher. This was in 1813.

The first religious meetings I remember were held in the cabins of Gundy and Reynolds, who were Methodists. Among the preachers that I remember, were Revs. Bright and Jesse Spurgeon. The Baptists preached at our school-house ; and Lewis Seits, Eli Ashbrook, Mr. Baker and Benjamin Caves preached there.

Our nearest neighbor was Mr. Crossen, when we first settled on the bank of Pleasant Run. It was some years before we began to have comfortable roads. At first we blazed the trees so as to go from one house to another. The woods were full of wild-turkeys, which, when the corii got ripe, came into the fields and preyed upon it, and it was a part of the duty of the children to go and scare them away. In the spring and fall the crows and black-birds were often very destructive to the cornfields. In the spring they pulled up the little stalks to get the grain from the root, and in the fall they eat the corn from the cob when the grains were soft. Raccoons were also troublesome. We put up scare-crows, and went round the fields continually to frighten them away. But the greatest enemies the cornfields had in the fall of the year were the squirrels, which some years came in such numbers as to absolutely defy our vigilance.

Wolves were numerous. At the sugar-camp they often came howling around in the night - so near that we could hear the bushes cracking under their feet, and we threw fire-chunks at them, which they paid little attention to.

John Carpenter killed a panther one Sunday, when we were stopping at Sliger's. It was brought to the house, where they measured it eleven feet from the point of the nose to the tip of the tail.

Deer were very abundant, and bears more or less. Venison and wild-turkey meat could be had any time, and they constituted a large part of the living of the early settlers. Turkeys were caught in pens, and taken with the rifle. A bear was occasionally killed.

Mrs. Crossen was at one time coming through the woods to our house, when she discovered a bear in the act of killing a hog. Mr. Garner and my father, with us little fellows, went out with the gun and dogs, and soon found the bear. Upon seeing us approach, he left his prej;- and climbed up a tree. If he had had a competent understanding of the range and power of the rifle in the hands of a back-woods hunter, he would probably have sought another means of safety. As it was, the leaden messenger soon brought him lifeless to the ground. His weight was over three hundred. Wild-cats sometimes carried off our pigs.

At the time of our settling there, the whole country was in a wild condition ; a condition of almost unbroken woods. In the early years breadstuflfs sometimes became scaTce, and we grated meal from the first corn that ripened. Mr. Pitcher had a small raccoon burr-mill, where Green's niill now is, down Hocking ; and Mr. Crossen had a still-house near where Reuben Shellenbarger lives.

The good old days of log-rollings, corn-huskings and houseraisings, and of the social plays of " Sister Phebe," and the country dance, and nearly everybody that had anything to do with them, revive gladness in the heart, but are never to be seen again.

Statement Of Jacob Bope, Of Pleasant

Abraham Bope, father of Gen. Jacob Bope, of this county, and of Philip Bope, of Lancaster, emigrated from Rockingham, Virginia, in the year 1803, and located six miles north of Lancaster, in Pleasant Township. His brother, Frederick Bope, and Henry Ketner accompanied him, and located in the same neighborhood. It was late in the fall, or beginning of winter when they arrived, and a camp was erected by the side of a big log, where they spent the winter. In the spring a cabin was erected, into" which they moved. It is not said whether the Ketner family shared the winter camp b^' the big log, but that is the inference.

In the following fall there came and settled in the same region John and Benjamin Feemen, Casper Walters and Jacob Weaver. The second fall after the arrival of the Bopes and Ketner, a considerable col6ny came out and settled round in the same neighborhood.

Mr. Bope, now in his seventy-ninth year, preserves distinct recollections of the times and incidents of the infant colonies which were begun there over seventy years ago, and detailed them with great readiness.

The Indians, chiefly Wyandots and Delawares, were all over the country in small hunting squads, often camping near the cabins of the white settlers. They were harmless, and the young folks often went out and looked at them while they sung and danced. The first roads through the settlements were over blazed paths. The Bopes and Ketner were two days getting from Lancaster out to their destination, having to cut their way through the thickets. The men of the early settlers were mostly hunters.

On one occasion Abraham Bope was returning from a hunt, or possibly from a trip to some neighboring cabin, when night overtook him before he reached home. He suddenly found himself surrounded with wolves. He fired upon them, but failed to scare them away. They seemed to press him, and becoming alarmed he clambered up into the top of a sapling or small tree. He loaded and fired again, but finding that his unpleasant and most unwelcome comj anions were inclined to stay by him, he set up a volley of stentorian shouts, which at last reaching the ears of some of his nearest neighbors, brought several men to his aid. But the men, on arriving near enough to communicate with the man up the tree, finding that the wolves were not inclined to give up their expected prey, they thought caution the better part of valor, and advised Mr. Bope to remain in the tree till daylight, when the wolves would go away. Which advice he took, and found, to his great joy, that with the disappearance of the darkness the wolves disappeared also.

A bear was discovered near his house. He took his favorite old Virginia dog, and his gun, and went to the attack. His first shot wounded the beast and made him savage. His dog went in, and was gathered to the embrace of Bruin, who was about to press the last breath of life out of him, when Mr. Bope went to his dog's rescue, when the bear instantly dropped the dog and made chase after the man, and was not long in fastening his teeth in the garments of the frightened hunter. At this moment Mrs. Bope arrived, and perceiving the state of affairs, advanced on the beast in a menacing attitude, which seeing, the quadruped released his hold and made for the gentler sex. There was a hickory-tree close b^', that had been broken by a storm, the upper end of the trunk still resting on the stump twenty feet from the ground, and the top lying on terra firma, thus forming an inclined plane of about forty-five degrees with the perpendicular. Mr. Bope called to his wife to run for her life ; but she being in the vigor of young womanhood, at once began the ascent of the angle of forty-five.

The dog by this time recovered his breath, and came again to the attack ; and in the meantime Mr. Bope had re-loaded, and now poured in another broadside, without, however, bringing down his game. Bruin placed his back against a tree, in an upright posture, the better to use his powerful paws; and while he was thus compelled to turn his head in all directions from which a deadly foe might be approaching, his eye caught sight of .^Irs. Bope snugly perched on the stump twenty feet above. In an instant he made for the stump, and began th^ ascent. And now the finale approached, for Abraham Bope, Esquire, comprehending that from the positions of all the actors in the drama he was absolute master of the situation, at once placed a ball in a vital part, and the bear fell dead at his feet. Seven charges were said to have been lodged in his body before he capitulated.

Mr. Jacob Bope said the first school he attended in the new settlement was German, and taught by Henry Camp. Afterward an English school was taught in the neighborhood by Abraham Winters, over on the Newark road. This was previous to 1810, and when he was eight or ten years of age.

The first preacher he remembered to have heard Avas the Rev. Mr. Stake of the Lutheian denomination, and afterward Rev. Wise, of the German Reform Church. Soon af^er this the Methodists and Albrights began their work, and established camp-meetings in some parts of the county, holding them annually.

Everybody had to work hard, but were contented with what they had, and far happier, he believed, than the majority of the people are to-day. Money was seldom seen by anybody, and it was extremely difficult to pay what little tax was levied. A majority of the men of the settlement went out in the war of 1812. Of all those who were of men's age, and entitled to be called pioneers, and who came into the settlement previous to 1810, John Zeigler alone is living, at the great age of ninety-two years.

There was little that could be sold for ca:h. The price of a day's work, from sunup to sundown, was twenty-five cents, which was always spoken of then as a '' quarter of a dollar. " Jacob Bope was a carpenter, and often worked at his trade for fifty cents a day. He referred to the corn-huskings, houseraisings and log-rollings, and other gatherings and usages of the pioneer age, and which were the same everywhere, and need not to be pai-ticularized here.

He remembered Lancaster when there were not more than balf a dozen cabins in it. He was a pupil in music of a Mr. Imboff, and himself taught music when he was sixteen years old. Mr. Bope served as Captain, Colonel and General in the Ohio Militia. He spoke at some length of the pioneer man- ners and customs, and of the social pastimes and the kindly relations that existed between all ranks and conditions, when every one was ready to help his neighbor. And when I repeated : " We're boldly marching to Quebec, where the drums are loudly beating;" and, "As oats, peas, beans and barle}- grows," his face dropped at least twenty-five years of its age.

Thus the past drifts back into the soon-to-be-forgotten, and to be buried beneath the debris of the dead ages. The merest inklings, or perhaps it were better to say scintillations, of the life and times of sixty and seventy years ago, lives to-day in the recesses of the minds and hearts of the aged. They come to the eye and the visage when referred to in speech, or song, or tune ; but with the exception of here and there a breast, no responsive chord is struck. But to the man or woman who lived on the frontier threescore, or threescore and ten years ago, there is no joy on earth so sweet as these reminiscences that come floating through the inward thoughts like angelwhispers, of childhood and youth's first young loves and innocence. There we can go for consolation, and live with our own dear associations, when the present has nothing dear for us. It is the priceless boon which thieves cannot steal, and which none but ourselves can participate in.

The first death, Mr. Bope said, that occurred in their settlement, that he could recall, was that of his grandfather Bope, which took place soon after they came. He said he was a very good man, and always prayed with the children every night before they went to bed. There are four of Abraham Bope's children living - Jacob and Philip, and two daughters.

Daniel Arnold built the first mill. It was on Fetter's Run. Jacob Weaver built the first still-house ; it stood on the land' now owned by Philip Watson, adjoining the Bope farm". The first wool they had carded into rolls was done where Baltimore now is. Name of the owner of the carding machine not remembered.

Statement Of William Murphy, Of Walnut

My father, William Murphy, came from Virginia in about 1800, and settled in the north part of what is now Walnut Township, one mile south-east of the present village of Millersport. Two brothers came with him and settled in the same neighborhood - Edward and Benjamin. My grandfather, William Murphy, was also of the same company. My uncle Edward afterwards went further east and settled one mile west of the present village of Rushville.

At the time of the arrival of our family there, the whole country wis unbroken and uninhabited, savj by wild beasts and roving bands of Indians. James Homer bought the lands lying between our settlement and where Millersport is. Soon after our settlement my father's cabin became a preaching place, and the Rev. James Quinn, of the Methodist denomination, was one of the preachers who held meetings there. At this time, June 1877, not one of the original pioneers is living.

The first school I remember was in 1824. It was kept in a little log-pen, with the usual log-cabin fixtures of that time. John Griffith was the first teacher I went to. He was followed by John Granthum in the .same house. There were no female teachers employed at that time ; at least not in that neighborhood.

The first mill I went to was on Licking Creek, and stood on the borders of the present town of Newark. It was owned by John Buskirk. Newark was then a log-cabin village. My father took his grain to the mill in a wagon with wooden wheels called "truck-wheels." They were made by sawing offj with a cross-cut saw, sections of a very large oak tree, of the thickness of about four inches, with holes made in the center for the axle-tree. If they were not kept well greased, the creaking they caused when in motion could sometimes be heard a mile or more. He generally drove a four-horse team to his truckwagon.

My father killed a panther on the Muddy Prairie, where Amanda now is. He killed sixty-three wolves and received bounties for their scalps from the State. Of raccoons, foxes and wild-cats, he killed six hundred, with also about six hundred muskrats. He took the skins to WinchesLer, Virginia, on paik-horses, realizing for them money enough to enter three quarter-sections of land, embracing the farm on which I now live. He likewise traded extensively with the Indians for their peltries. The Indians got the impression that he had cheated them, and on one occasion when they returned to the neighborhood he kept himself hid until they went away, though they made no attempt to disturb him.

Statement Op Thomas Cherry, Of Walnut

My age is seventy-nine years. I came to this neighborhood about 1810, and have lived here ever since. At the time I came the settlers in this region were :

William Hane, Samuel Crawford, Andrew Crager,' James Homes, William Bowman, William Murphy, Mathias Miller, William Pugh, Henry Eversole. This was in 1810. Soon after came Abel Williams, Peter Hauer and David Keller.

The first death that occurred in the neighborhood after I came was that of Samuel Crawford, and the next that I can remember was Andrew Crager. The first marriages after I came were Lydia and Jane Cherry ; Lydia married Robert White, and Jane married Robert McArthur.

Nearly every man in the country owned a good gun, and a great many of them were hunters. All kinds of wild game abounded in the forests. William Murphy and William Bowman were distinguished hunters.

Squirrels, crows and black-birds destroyed the corn so fearfully that it was difficult some years to save enough for bread. Raccoons, likewise, often caused a scarcity by preying upon the corn when it was in roasting-ears.

I killed a bear where Millersport stands. I had to shoot him five times before he gave in. At my last shot, he was coming at me with extended mouth, but my ball took effect, and, I believe, saved my life. I killed fifty odd deer in one winter, four of them in a single day. I caught a great many foxes by the chase. I could walk several miles and roll logs all day, and then walk home at night and not feel much tired.

At one time I took my breakfast at home, and then walked thirty miles to Columbus, or rather to Franklinton, and took dinner at two o'clock. When I first visited the site of the present Columbus, it was all in woods. At one time when there was a general squirrel-hunt, my brother Nathaniel killed eighty-four in one day.

My father died in 1863, and my mother two years before that. I had four brothers, all residing in Walnut Township, and all died in the township. Their names were : John, Nathaniel, William and James ; and five sisters : Lydia, Jane, Betsy, Rosanna and Mary. Four of my sisters were buried here, and one near Chillicothe. I was the third in age, and am the only one living.

The " Big Reservoir " was a marsh. The upper end of it was a lake and a cranberry-marsh. It was called " the lake. " It became the reservoir when the Ohio Canal was m'ade.

During the early days and years of the settlement, the people lived very much on wild meat, particularly venison and wild-turkey, and on corn-bread, vegetables and rye-coffee. They also made use of spice-wood and sassafras teas. Milk and butter were always plenty. When cows and horses were turned out to graze in the woods, bells were put on them to make it easy to find them. They seldom strayed far away.

The women spun and made all the family clothing, and the shoes were made by the men of the settlement, a few of whom were shoemakers. There were small tan-yards that furnished the leather. We dressed deer-skins and made pantaloons of them. We had hatters who made wool and fur-hats. In summer we Avent barefoot, and got our shoes about Christmas.

Recollections Op Mrs. Mary Radibaugh, Op

I came from Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1805, and settled in Fairfield County, at first fourteen miles down Hocking, then in Pleasant Township, and afterwards iVi Greenfield, where I have been residing thirty-six years. My father was Jacob Zeller Radibaugh. He died in Greenfield Township in 1841. Of those who came out with our family from Pennsylvania, were : Benjamin Boucher, Frederick Klinger, and their families. They both settled down Hocking, within Fairfield County, and are both dead. There were but few cabins in Lancaster when we came. It was all a wild wilderness country. Our neighbors down Hocking were Mr. Watts and John Zeller. In Pleasant we lived in the Ewing settlement. My husband's father was George Radibaugh. He owned the farm now belonging to William Rigby, joining Frederick Seitz on the south.

The elder Radibaughs who lived in Pleasant were Nicholas and George. They settled there previous to 1810. They have both deceased, and their descendants are largely represented in the county.

Down Hocking we lived in a small log-cabin that had oiled paper for window-lights. Newspapers were often used for that purpose, and hog's-lard and bear-grease for oiling them. We had no mills very near us, and the small ones, that were some distance away, often' failed for want of water, so that breadstuffs were sometimes very scarce. Sometimes several weeks passed when scarcely anybody in the whole neighborhood had a pound of meal or flour. In these times of scarcity we used pounded hominy and vegetables. Nearly every cabin

The first wedding I attended was Mary Cisco to Jas. Philips. The next was my own, in 1811. The first death which occurred in the neighborhood was that of Adam Sellers, a small boy.

The first religious meetings that were held in our neighborhood down Hocking, were held at my father's cabin by the United Brethren. My father was a Brethren preacher. I am 82 years old. The early settlers of Fairfield County that I knew have all passed away.

Recollections Of Jacob Sheapfer, Of Madison

His father, Samuel Sheaffer, came from York County, Pennsylvania, in company with Christly Stalter and George Dush, and settled in Madison Township in the year 1802, and when Jacob was seven years old. He has lived on the same place ever since, and is now eighty-three years of age. They came in wagons all the way - came by Wheeling, and from there over Zane's trace to Lancaster. Lancaster at that time was all forest trees, with the exception of a few rude log-cabins. They stopped over night three miles west, at the place since known as Sheafifer's tavern. There was a cabin there, occupied by a man named Swygart. From there they followed the trace to near where Amanda is, then turned south a few miles, and stoped on the same section of land where Jacob now lives. Stalter and Dush built their tents within a couple of miles. On the route between Zanesville and Lancaster there were at that time not over three or four cabins. The Swygart cabin and the Leathers House were the only structures between Lancaster and where they stopped, on Clear Creek.

At the time of the arrival of this colony of three families in Madison Township, or what is now Madison Township, there had already preceded them Martin Landis, Sr., Mike Shellenbarger, Nathan Owens, Peter Prough, the father of Mathew, John, William, Robert and Joseph Young, who lived one mile east of where M^ Sheiifi'er stopped, and a Mr. Hunter, who lived a little east.

Thev first went to Isaac SheafFer's, and the men went over and built a cabin, cutting out a single log for an entrance, throut^h which the family crawled, on their arrival. The first winter was spent in it without so much as a chink in one of the cracks. There was no other floor than Mother Earth. The fire was built in one corner of the cabin. They at once began the work of clearing off some land for a cornfield and during that winter, Mr. SheafFer testified, he believed they were the happiest people in the world.

Subsequent to the arrival of these families, there came and settled in the adjacent region, George Buzzard, old Mr. Stalter John, Nicholas and Daniel Conrad, Abram Sheaffer, father of the late Joel Sheaffer, and a Mr. Wolf. During the following ten or fifteen years the township filled up rapidly.

Mr. Sheaffer's father hired him to Martin Landis, Sr., for three dollars a month. He said he could not keep himself in clothes at such wages, and before he would be compelled to do so he would run away. Landis told his father, and he said, " Send him home." To satisfy him and keep him at home, his father gave him a horse, saddle and bridle, and he was satisfied.

The first mill in the township was built very early, by Charles Friend. Samuel Sheaffer, father of the narrator, put up a small distillery early after his arrival. Drinking men came there, and it caused a good deal of disturbance.

The first school of the settlement was taught by one Richard Clark. The first remembered death, after the arrival of the Sheaffers, was that of George Lusk and child. The first marriage remembered was George Prough to Barbara Shoemaker.

For a great many years there was very little the farmers could raise that would bring cash. But the taxes had to be paid, and it was often very difficult to scrape up what little money was required for that purpose.

At first it was necessary to blaze the trees in order to go from one point to another with safety, for the country was literally a wilderness - a trackless desert. In one instance the trees were blazed between the cabin and the litte cornfield ; and also to a branch of water where they went to water the stock, though the distance was in one case but a quarter of a mile, and in the other half a mile.

The settlers made all their own clothing, on domestic wheels and looms. Every house had its hominy-block. There was in the neighborhood a hand-mill, where, people went and ground their own corn. The black-birds and crows were very destructive to the corn, both in spring and fall ; but the squirrels and raccoons were far more so. The first salt was brought from the Scioto works, and cost four and five dollars a bushel, which was fifty pounds. Pack-saddles were used. Almost everything was transported on horseback, for the want of wagon-roads.

Recollections Of John Crook, Of Berne

I am a son of William Crook, for a long time a citizen of Berne Township. My father came from Henry County, Virginia, in 1805, and settled in Berne Township, on the farm now owned by George Huffman, two miles south-east of Lan^ caster. My grandfather, Ephriam Crook, came out first and lived on the same place. My father had six brothers, who also preceded him to this county, all residing in the same neighborhood. They are all deceased.

trust. He was in the war of 1812. He went out as a Major, and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He died at his home in Berne Township, in about 1855.

At my earliest recollection our neighbors were Thomas Stone, Emanuel Carpenter, Sr., David Carpenter, William Carpenter, Israel Carpenter, Emanuel Carpenter, Jr., John Carpenter (John Carpenter was the father of Mrs. John Van Pearce), Jacob Vanraeter, John Vanmeter, James Pearce, Abraham Ream, Jacob Ream. Sampson, William, Absalom, Abram and George Ream were sons of Abraham Ream. Jacob Ream had two sons - Philip and Jacob. Peter Sturgeon was one of the earliest settlers. Abram Walker, Nicholas Crawfish and James Mumford were also early settlers of Berne Township. Mr. Jackson, father of Thomas Jackson, Esq., and grandfather of John D. Jackson, of Lancaster, came at a very early day. The father of the late Judge Joseph Stukey and Samuel Stukey was likewise an early comer.

The first mill that I can remember was the Eckert mill. It was built by the father of Jacob Eckert, who was the father of George and Henry Eckert. The mill was built on Hocking, one mile above the Ream mill. The Ream mill was built a little later. The Kuntz mill was perhaps built first. The Shellenbargar mill was built by Samuel and Henry Shellenbarger. Samuel Shellenbarger was the father of the present Reuben Shellenbarger.

The first school I went to was on the land now owned by Mr. Prindle, two miles below Lancaster. John Adison was the teacher. This was in about 1809. He was a humorous man. On one occasion I lost my book, and did not find it until the next day. He asked me where I found it. I told him I found it in the bush. After that, wheni went up to say my lesson, he would lay his hand on my head and say good-naturedly : "This is the boy that found his book in the bush." Hocking H. Hunter afterwards taught in that house, and also a Mr. Burrows.

The Presidential election of 1828 was held where the fullingmill of James R. Pierce is, on the sixteenth section, anS afterwards at the house of Henry Ozenbaugh, who was also one of the early settlers of Berne Township.

We lived at first in a little log-cabin in the woods. It had but one room, which was parlor, sitting-room, bed-room and kitchen for the whole family. The trees were deadened, and the underbrush cleared off, and the logs rolled and burned, and the corn was raised in among the trees. The rails to fence in the fields were for the most part made from trees cut down on the clearing. (The clearing was the ground in process of being prepared for the plow).

My mother used to spread a bed before the fire in cold weather, and five or six of us little folks would lie down in a row, with our feet towards the fire. This was made necessary by the scarcity of beds and bed-clothes.

Dances and country plays were practiced by the young people. There were little or no distinctions among the people ; every well-behaved person was as good as anybody else. Money made no difference then, for we did not have enough of it to get up an aristocracy upon. Of one thing I am sure - everybody then had better manners than they have now ; and there was real friendship and sociability amongst all classes. Everybody was ready to help each other whenever help was needed. And I think everybody was honester than now - a man's woid was worth something. I love to think of those good days, departed never again to return. Our associations, and loves, and friends, are nearly all lost in the now fast-growing dim vista of the past, and we can only strain our eyes towards the better land, where, by faith, we expect to meet them all again.

Recollections Of Mordecai Fishbaugh, Of

I came from Baltimore County, Maryland, in the year 1812, and settled in violet township, three miles east of Pickerington, and oa the same spot where I now reside. My age is ninety years. When I arrived here I found living in the vicinity, or at least within the township, Michael Kraner, Alexander Donald, Philip Ebright, Andrew Peck, James Bight, Edward Rickets, George Fenstermaker, Henry Huntwork, John Bowser, Frederick Showers, Jacob Growley, John Chancy and Thomas Homes. Of all these, and several others who lived in the town.ship at that time, John Chaney and myself are the only ones now living. My brother, Acquilla, came out with me, and we purchased jointly half a section of land.

When we settled down here we were in the midst of wild woods in every direction. We cleared off the ground and put up little cabins, and then began the work of clearing some land for cornfields. To be able to find our way through the settlement from one point to another, we made blazes on the trees by peeling or hewing some bark from both sides ; and these blazes were followed until beaten tracks were formed. As occasion required we cut out wagon-roads. There was a wagon-road that passed half a mile east of us, over which the army of the war of 1812 passed. ' This was in 1813. It was a cold winter, and we could hear the army wagons passing day and night, and could hear the shouts of the drivers.

Upon our first settlement the wolves howled around us day and night. There were also panthers, bears, and wild cats in the woods ; wild-turkeys were in vast flocks in every section of the country, and flocks of them would come up to the rear of our cabin and look in through the little window. I have shot them through the window. We could have wild-turkey and deer-meat whenever we wanted.

Jacob Nepper had a mill at that time, two miles from my cabin, on Little Walnut, and Solomon Barts had one on Poplar Creek, a little farther up the country. A man named Donalson had a still-house three miles south of me, at the place now known as Waterloo.

Almost every little place had a peach-orehard, more or less. The natural seedling peach was all that was known at that early day. The crop seldom failed, and there were peaches in great abundance almost every year ; large quantities of them

The Methodists had a society in the settlement, but there was no meeting-house; the meetings were held in the cabins of the settlers. In 1816 I married Isabella McDonald. She was the mother of my children, and died in 1870, in the month of June.

The first taxes I paid in Fairfield County was two or three dollars a year. My land was not taxed for five years after I entered it. This was provided for in the patent. Money was hard to come at, and there was very little the farmers produced that would bring it, for we had no market and no way to get our little surplus out of the country. What little money we had was almost entirely silver, and much of it was cut money. The men soon learned to make five " quarters " out of a Spanish dollar, and five "ninepences" out of a halfdollar, or five " fipenybits " from a twenty-five-cent piece.

In harvest times the price of a day's work was fifty cents, or a bushel of wheat. Log-rollings, corn-huskings, and houseraisings were universal all over the county. One spring I rolled logs thirty days in succession, and I can't remember now how I got my own work done, but we all got along somehow.

The elections were then, and have been ever since, held at Pickerington. In the war of 1812 a great many went as soldiers. A good many of them did not live to get home.

When we came out from Maryland, we traveled in wagons by the way of Wheeling, and over Zane's trace to Lancaster. There was a tavern then on the SchsefFer corner, in Lancaster, but I cannot remember who kept it. We came from Lancaster to Michael Kraner's in one day, which was considered extraordinary .for the kind of roads we had to pass over.

I have three sons and five daughters living. Timothy Fishbaugh, of Lancaster, and at present County Recorder, is my second son. I have lived to see Violet Township become wealthy, populous and well cultured. I was thirteen years old when I landed in Violet Township, and have lived on the sam« place sixty-five years. Have never returned to Maryland since I first came away.

Recollections Of George Harmon, Of Violet

My father, Frederick Harmon, came from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1800, and settled five miles east of the present city of Lancaster. There were seven families emigrated in the same company, viz. : My father, Lewis and Christ Bonsey, George Henry, John Miller, Jacob Fox, Debolt Macklin ; and all settled in the same neighborhood.

We came in a flat-boat from a point on the Manongahela to the mouth of the Scioto. There the boat was abandoned, and the little stock of household goods and farming implements placed on two or three wagons, and the journey up the Scioto, through the wilderness, began. A road had to be cut most of the route. Myself, with most of the others, walked the greatest part of the way. A number of days were required in coming as far as the Pickaway Plains, above Chillicothe. From the plains to Lancaster the journey was made in two days.

When we arrived on the Hocking, and crossed over, we found on the site where Lancaster now stands, not over one or two cabins; all besides was a forest, with ponds of water and swales passing over it. We encamped that night on the spot^ as I subsequently found, where the old Court-house was afterwards built. On the following day we ^continued our journey to the point of our destination, which was the place since known as the Harmon settlement, in Pleasant Township.

My father and two or three others had been out the previous year and selected the spot, and built two or three small cabins. During their sojourn there, in 1799, the Indians stole my father's horse, and he was compelled to walk all the distance back to Westmoreland County. The horse, by some means, got away from the Indians, and was recovered the following fall in the vicinity of Marietta, having been recognized by a brand on his shoulder.