Fairfield County, Ohio - Chapter 4: Dawn of Civilization in the County, 1912

Chapter 4: Dawn of Civilization in the County

Organization of the County- - Its Sice when Organised - Nimiber and Names of Townships - - Why Called "Fairfield" - Population - Principal Cities - Counties in the State and Their the Pioneer and His Work - His Reward - His Highzvay - Capt. Joseph Hunter, Founder of the County - First White Child Born in the County - First White Woman Settler - Mrs. Ruhamah Green (Mrs. Chas. Builderback) and Her Adventures - Charles Bitilderback - Historical Paper by General George Sanderson - The Log Cabin - First Funeral - Fourth of July Celebration in 1800 - "Johnny Appleseed" - Roster of County Officials - Senators and Representatives.

This grand old county of Fairfield was organized in 1800 by proclamation of Gov. Arthur St. Clair. At the time of its organization this county was very much larger than at present (1912). It then included all or nearly all of Knox and Licking and parts of Perry, Hocking and Pickaway counties. Other counties were formed as the population increased, and this lessened the size of Fairfield to nearly its present area, 470 square miles. There are 13 townships as planned about 1840 - Amanda, Berne, Blpom, Clear Creek, Greenfield, Hocking, Liberty, Madison, Pleasant, Richland, Rush Creek, Violet and Walnut.

The history of each of these townships will be given under Chapter VI. The name of the county was suggested by the fertility of the soil, the beauty of the landscape, and the fairness of the fields - Fairfield - these champaign fields being especially attractive to the settlers in the northern part of the county. The population of the county has kept pace with that of the state, except in more recent years.

Distribution

Population of the state. - The population of Ohio is 4,767,121. Compared with a population of 4,157,545 in 1900, this represents an increase during the last decale of 609,576, or 14.7 per cent. During the same period the total population of continental United States increased 21 per cent. The population of the state has grown at about the same rate during each of the last three decades. The following that during the first 40 years the population of table shows the population of Ohio at each the state increased very much faster than did census from 1800 to 1910, inclusive, together that of continental United States. Since 1S40, with the increase and per cent of increase dur- however, the rate of increase for the state during each decade, in comparison with the per ing each decade has been lower than that of cent of increase for continental United States continental United States, as a whole. Principal cities. - Ohio has 82 cities. Cleve- siderably more than doubled. Since 1840 the inhabitants, respectively. The aggregate popthe growth of the state has been very much ulation of the 82 cities is 2,467,054, or 51.8

Forty-nine counties have increased in population during the last decale, the rates of increase ranging from one-tenth per cent in Fayette county to 65.6 per cent in Mahoning county, and the absolute increases from 19 in Fayette county to 198,305 in Cuyahoga county. Eighteen counties show a larger rate of increase than is shown for the state as a whole, which, as before stated, was 14.7 per cent. Thirty-nine counties have decreased in population during the last decade, the rates of decrease ranging from one-tenth of i per cent in Lawrence county to 17.4 per cent in Paulding county, and the absolute decreases from 46 in Lawrence county to 5,225 in Wood county. The aggregate increase of population from 1900 to 1910 in the 49 counties that show an increase is 677.170; the aggregate decrease of population in the 39 counties that show a decrease is 67,594. The difference, 609,576, is, of course, the total increase of population in

This population is now largely Ohio-born, though you will find in the county large numbers of foreign birth - Germany, Ireland, England, Italy, Greece, Virginia, New York, Indiana and many other states being represented in the population of today. The native inhabitants have been noted for their thrift, earnestness and honesty. The county has long been the home of great men and women - as will be fully shown before we close.

Ebenezer Zane

The early history - the very beginning of history in Fairfield county - is intimately connected with the name of Ebenezer Zane. This intrepid pioneer, in the service of the Government, constructed in 1797 a noted roadway, an account of which appears in Chapter five of this volume. For this service Zane was granted by the Government three tracts of land, one mile square each - one located on the present site of Zanesville, another on the Hocking, embracing the present site of Lancaster and the third embracing the present site of Chillicothe. This famous old roadway was known for fifty years or more as "Zane's Trace." It led from Wheeling. W. Va. to Maysville, Ky., - being 226 miles in length and passing through Zanesville, Lancaster, and Chillicothe. This highway brought many settlers into the Hocking Valley, and in April of 1798 a bold and restless pioneer from Kentucky, Capt. Joseph Hunter, came with his family to this beautiful and fertile valley and settled on "Zane's Trace," on ground now occupied by Lancaster. Here he built his cabin and his home. He is even regarded as the founder of the county, and his son, the noted attorney. Hocking H. Hunter, was the first white male child born in the county. The mother of Hocking H. Hunter was the first white woman to settle within the limits of the county. These claims are somewhat in doubt, as the noted historian, Henry Howe (Vol. I, page 589) claims that the first white male child was a son of Mrs. Ruhamah Green (Builderback), whose tragic history is here given as it appears in Howe's "Ohio," written by Col. John McDonald, of Ross County. (Page 589- 590, Howe.)

married to Charles Builderback, and with him crossed the mountains and settled at the mouth of Short Creek, on the east bank of the Ohio River, a few miles above Wheeling. Her husband, a brave man, had on many occasions distinguished himself in repelling the Indians, who had often suffered from the sure aim of his unerring rifle. They determined at all hazards to kill him.

"On a beautiful summer's morning in June, 1789, at a time when it was thought that the enemy had abandoned the western shores of the Ohio, Capt. Charles Builderback and his wife, and brother Jacob Builderback. crossed the Ohio to look after some cattle. On reaching the shore a party of some 15 or 20 Indians rushed out from ambush and fired upon them, wounding Jacob in the shoulder. Charles was taken while running to escape, but Jacob returned to the canoe and got away. In the meanwhile Mrs. Builderback secreted herself in some drift wood near the bank of the river. As soon as the Indians had secured and tied her husband, and not being able to discover her hiding-place, they compelled him, by threats of immediate death, to call her to him. With a hope of appeasing their fury, he did so. She heard him but made no answer. 'Here,' to use her own words, 'a struggle took place in my own breast which I cannot describe. Shall I go to him and become a prisoner, or shall I remain, return to our cabin and provide for and take care of our two children.' He shouted to her a second time to come to him, saying that if she did it might be the means of saving his life. She no longer hesitated, but left her place of concealment and surrendered herself to his savage captors. All this took place in full view of their cabin on the opposite shore of the river, where they had left their two children, one a boy about three years of age and an infant daughter. The Indians, knowing that they would be pursued as soon as the news of their visit reached the stockade at Wheeling, commenced their retreat. Mrs. Builderback and her husband traveled together that day and the following night. The next morning the Indians separated into two bands, one taking Builderback and the other his wife and continued a western course by different routes.

"In a few days the band having Mrs. Builderback in charge reached the Tuscarawas river, where they encamped, and were soon rejoined by the band that had taken her husband. Here the murderers exhibited his scalp on the top of a pole, and to convince her that they had killed him, pulled it down and threw it into her lap. She recognized it at once by the redness of his hair. She said nothing, and uttered no complaint. It was evening and her ears were pained by the terrific yells of the savages, and wearied with constant traveling, she fell into a profound sleep and forgot all her sufferings until morning. When she awoke the scalp of her murdered husband was gone and she never learned what became of it.

"As soon as the capture of Builderback was known at Wheeling, a party of scouts set off in pursuit, and taking the trail of one of the bands, followed it until they found the body. He had been tomahawked and scalped and had apparently suffered a lingering death.

"The Indians, on reaching their towns on the Big Miami, adopted Mrs. Builderback into a family, with whom she lived until released from captivity. She remained a prisoner about nine months, performing the labor and drudgery of squaws, such as carrying in meat from the hunting grounds, preparing and drying it, making moccasins, leggings and other clothing for the family in which she lived. After

"In a few months after her capture some friendly Indians informed the commandant at Fort Washington that there was a white woman in captivity at the Miami towns. She was ransomed and brought into the fort, and was sent up the river to her lonely cabin and the embrace of her two children. She then recrossed the mountains and settled in her native county.

"In 1796 Mrs. Builderback married John Green, and in 1798 they settled about three miles west of Lancaster, where she continued to reside until the time of her death in 1842. She survived her last husband about ten years."

Charles Builderback, the first husband of Mrs. Green, had commanded a company at Crawford's defeat in the Sandusky country. He was a large, noble-looking man, and a bold and intrepid warrior. He was in the bloody Moravian campaign and took his share in the tragedy by shedding the first blood on that occasion, when he shot, tomahawked and scalped Shebosh, a Moravian chief. But retributive justice was meeted out to him. After being taken prisoner, the Indians asked his name. "Charles Builderback," he replied, after some little pause. At this revelation the Indians stared at each other with malignant triumph. "Ha," said they, "you kill many big Indian ; you big captain; you kill Moravians." From that moment, perhaps, his fate was sealed.

Historical Paper By Gen. George Sanderson

The history of Fairfield county cannot lie written without ample reference to the Sanderson family. The following quotations are from the now noted address before the. Lancaster Library Society - given by General George Sanderson in 1844, and published in pamphlet

Gen. George Sanderson knew the history of the county from the beginning and he was identified with its growth and advancement until his death, which occurred in 1871. He filled many places of trust and responsibility, . and was endowed with a wonderful memory and keen observation. His account is therefore extremely valuable and cannot for any reason be omitted here. \\'e quote direct from Dr. Scott's History.

"In 1797, Zanes' Trace having opened a communication between the Eastern States and Kentucky, many individuals in both directions wishing to better their conditions in life by emigrating and settling in the 'back woods,' so called, visited the Hocking Valley for that purpose and finding the country surpassingly fertile, - abounding in fine spring of pure water, they determined to make it their new home.

"In April 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold and enterprising man, with his famil3^ emigrated from Kentucky and settled on 'Zanes' Trace,' upon the bank of the prairie west of the crossings, and about two hundred yards north of the present turnpike road, and which place was called 'Hunter's settlement.' - Here he cleared off the under-brush, felled the forest trees, and erected a cabin, at a time when he had not a neighbor nearer than the Muskingum and Scioto rivers. This was the commencement of the settlement in the upper Hocking Valley, and Capt. Hunter is regarded as the founder of the flourishing and populous county of Fairfield. He lived to see the country densely settled and in a high state of improvement, and died about the year 1829. His wife was the first white woman that .settled in the Valley, and shared with her husband the toils, sufferings, hardships and privations incident to tlic formation of new settlements in the wilderness. During the spring of the same year (1798), Nathaniel Wilson, the elder, Hohn and Allen Green, and Joseph McMuilen, Robert Cooper, Isaac Shaeffer, and a few others, reached the valley, erected cabins and put in crops.

"In 1799 the tide of emigration set in with great force. In the spring of this year, two settlements were begun in the present township of Greenfield : each settlement contained twenty or thirty families. One was the falls of Hocking, and the other was Yankeytown. Settlements were also made along the river below Hunters, on Rush Creek, Fetters Run, Raccoon, Pleasant Run, Toby Town, Mudy Prairie, and on Clear Creek. In the fall of 1799, Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith erected a log grist mill at the upper falls of Hocking, now called the Rock Mill. This was the first mill built on the Hockhocking.

"In April 1799, Samuel Coates, Sen., and Sanniel Coates, Jun., from England, built a cabin in the prairie, at the 'Crossing of Hocking;' kept bachelors hall, and raised a crop of corn. In the latter part of the year a mail route was established along 'Zanes' Trace" from Wheeling to Limestone. The mail -,\as carried through on horseback, and at first only once a week. Sanniel Coates, Sen., was the postmaster, and kept his office at the Crossing. This was the first established mail route through the interior of the territory, and Samuel Coates was the first postmaster at the new settlement.

"The settlers subsisted principally on corn bread, potatoes, milk and butter, and wild meats, flour, tea and coffee were .scarcely to be had, and when brought to the country, such prices were asked as to put it out of the power of many to purchase. Salt was an indispensable article, and cost, at the Scioto salt works, $5.00 for fifty pounds; flour cost $16.00 per barrel ; tea $2.50 per pound ; coffee $1.50; spice and pepper $1.00 per pound."

"The present generation can form no just conception of the wild and wilderness appearance of the country in which we now dwell, previous to its settlement by the white people; it was, in short, a country

"The lands watered by the sources of the Hockhocking river, and now comprehended within the present limits of the County of Fairfield, were, when discovered by some of the early settlers of Marietta, owned and occupied by the \Vyandott tribe of Indians, and were highly prized by the occupants as a valuable hunting-ground, being filled by almost all kinds of game and animals of fur. The principal town of the nation stood along the margin of the prairie, between the mouth of Broad street and Thomas Ewing's canal-basin, and extending back as far as the Ijase of the hill south of the Methodist Church. It is said that the town contained in 1790 about one hundred wigwams, and fi\e hundred souls. It was called Tarhe, or in English. Cranetown. and derived its name from that of the principal chief of the tribe. The Chief's wigwam in Tarhe stood upon the bank of the ])rairie, near where the fourth lock is built on the Hocking Canal, and near where a beautiful spring of water flows into the Hocking river. The wigwams were built of the bark of trees set on poles, in the fomi of a sugar-camp, with one square open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a man. The Wyandotte tribe at that day numbered about five hundred warriors, and were a ferocious and savage people. They made frequent attacks on the white settlements along the Ohio river, killing, scalping and capturing the settlers without regard to age, sex or condition. War parties on various occasions attacked flat-boats descending the river, containing emigrants from the Middle States seeking new homes in Kentucky, by which, in many instances, whole families became victims to the tomahawk and scalping-knife. * * *

"The Crane Chief Tarhe had a white wife in his old age. She was Indian in every sense of the word, except her fair skin and red hair. Her history, as far as I have been able to learn it, is this : Tarhe, in one of his predatory excursions along the Ohio river, on the east side, near Wheeling, had taken her prisoner and brought her to his town on the Hocking river. She was then about eight years old ; and, never having been reclaimed by her relatives or friends, remained with the nation, and afterwards became the wife of her captor.

"On the 17th of May, 1796, Congress, with a view no doubt to the early settlement of their acquired possessions by the treaty of Greenville in 1795, passed an act granting to Ebenezer Zane three tracts of land, not exceeding one mile square each, in consideration that he would open a road on the most eligible route, between Wheeling, Virginia, and Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky. Zane performed his part of the contract the same year, and selected one of his tracts on the Hocking, where Lancaster now stands. The road was opened by only blazing the trees and cutting out the underbrush, which gave it more the appearance of an Indian path, or trace, than a road, and from that circumstance it took the name of 'Zane's Trace' - a name it bore for many years after the settlement of the county. * * * It crossed the Hocking at a ripple, or ford, about three hundred yards below the turnpike-road, west of the present town of Lancaster, and was called the 'Crossing of

"In 1797, Zane's trace having opened a communication between the Eastern States and Kentucky, many individuals from both directions wishing to better their conditions in life by emigrating and settling in the 'back woods,' then so-called, visited the Hockhocking for that purpose, and finding the country surpassingly fertile - abounding in springs of purest water, determined to make it their new liome.

"In April, 1798, Captain Joseph Hunter, a bold and enterprising man, with his family, emigrated from Kentucky and settled on Zane's trace, upon the bank of the prairie west of the crossings, and about one hundred and fifty yards northwest of the present turnpike road, and was called 'Hunter's Settlement.' Capt. Hunter cleared off the underbrush, felled the forest trees, and erected a cabin, at a time when he had not a neighbor nearer than the Muskingum and Scioto rivers. This was the commencement of the first settlement in the upper Hockhocking Valley; and Captain Hunter is regarded as the founder of the flourishing and populous County of Fairfield. He lived to see the county densely settled and in a high state of improvement, and paid the debt of nature about 20 years ago. His aged companion, Mrs. Dorotha Hunter, yet lives (1851), enjoying the kind and affectionate attentions of her family, and the respect and esteem of her acquaintances. She was the first white woman that settled in the valley, and shared with her late husband all the toils, sufferings, hardships and privations incident to the formation of the new settlement, without a murmur or word of complaint. During the spring of the same year, Nathaniel Wilson, the elder: John Green, Allen Green, John and

"In 1799, Levi Moore, Abraham Bright, Major Bright, Ishmael Due and Jesse Spurgeon, emigrated with their families from Allegheny County, Maryland, and settled near where Lancaster now stands. Part of the Company came through by land from Pittsburg, with their horses, and part of their horses and goods descended the Ohio in boats to the mouth of the Hockhocking, and thence ascended the latter in canoes to the mouth of Rush creek. The trace from Wheeling to the Hockhocking at that time was, in almost its entire length, a wilderness, and did not admit the passage of wagons. The land party of men, on reaching the valley, went down to the mouth of the Hockhocking and assisted the water party up. They were ten days in ascending the river, having upset their canoes several times, and damaged their goods.

"Levi Moore settled with Jesse Spurgeon three miles below Lancaster. These pioneers are all dead except Mr. Moore. He resides near Winchester, in Fairfield County, blessed with all this world can give to make him happy. * * *

"James Converse, in 1799. brought from Marietta, by way of the Ohio and Hocking rivers, nearly a canoe load of merchandise, and opened a very large and general assortment of dry goods and groceries, in a cabin at Hunter's Settlement. He displayed his specimen goods on the corners of the cabin, and upon the stumps and limbs of trees before his door, dispensing with the use of flags altogether. He of course was a modest man.

"The General Government directed the public domain to be surveyed. The lands were laid off in sections of one hundred and forty acres, and then subdivided into half and quarter sections. Elenathan Schofield, our late fellowcitizen, was engaged in the service.

"In 1800, 1801 and 1802, emigrants continued to arrive, and settlements were formed in the most distant part of the county. Cabinraisings, clearings and log-rollings, were in ]jrogress in almost every direction. The settlers lent each other aid in their raisings and other heavy operations requiring many hands. By thus mutually assisting one another, they were all enabled in due season to provide themselves cabins to live in. The log-cabin was of paramount consideration. After the spot was selected, logs cut and hauled, and clap-boards made, the erection was but the work of a day. They were of rude construction, but not always uncomfortable."

The Log Cabin

"The log-cabin is the primitive abode of the agricultural population throughout Western America. Almost the only tools possessed by the first settlers were axes, hatchets, knives, and a few augers. They had neither saw-mills nor carpenters, bricks nor masons, nails nor glass. Logs notched and laid across each other at the ends, making a pen in the form of a square or parallelogram, answered the purpose of timber and weatherboarding, and constituted the body of the structure. The gable-ends were constructed of the same materials, kept in place by large poles, extending lengthwise the entire length of the building. Up and down upon these poles, lapping over like shingles, were laid clap boards, split out of oak logs, and resembling staves, which were kept in their place by other poles laid upon them, and confined at the gable-ends. Roofs of this sort, well constructed, were a sufficient protection from ordinary storms. The crevices between the logs, if large, were filled with small stones, chips, or bits of wood, called chinking, and plastered over with mud inside and out; if small, the plastering alone was sufficient. The earth was often the only floor ; but in general, floors were made of puncheons, or slabs split from logs hewed smooth, and resting on poles. The lofts, or attics, sometimes had puncheon floors, and rough ladders were the stairways. Chimneys were built of logs rudely dovetailed from the outside into those constituting one end of th^ structure, which were cut to make room for a fire-place, terminating at the top with split sticks, notched into each other, the whole thickly plastered with mud inside. Stones laid in mud formed the jambs and back walls of the fire-places. The doors, made of clap boards, or thin puncheons pinned to cross-pieces, were hung on wooden hinges, and had wooden latches. Generally they had no windows ; the open door and broad chimney admitted the light by day, and a rousing fire or grease lamp was the resource by night. In the whole cabin there was neither metal nor glass. Sometimes a part of a log was cut out for a window, with a piece of sliding puncheon to close it. As soon as the mechanic and merchant appeared, sashes of two or four lights might be seen set into gaps cut through the logs. Contemporaneously old barrels began to constitute the tops of chimneys, and joist and plank sawed by hand took the place of puncheons.

"The furniture of the primitive log-cabin was but little superior to the structure. They contained little beyond puncheon benches, and stools or blocks of wood for tables and chairs ; a small kettle or two answering the manifold purposes of buckets, boilers and ovens, and a scanty supply of plates, knives, forks and spoons, all of which had been packed on horse back through the wilderness. Bedsteads thev

"The early settlers were a hardy and industrious people, and for frankness and hospitality have not been surpassed by any community. The men labored on their farms, and the women in their cabins. Their clothing was of' a simple and comfortable kind. The women clothed their families with their own hands, spinning and wea\ing for all their inmates the necessary linen and woolen clothing. At that day no cabins were found without their spinning-wheels, and it is the proud boast of the women that they could use them. As an e\Mdence of their industry and saving of time, it was not an unfrequent occurrence to see a good wife sitting spinning in her cabin upon an earthen floor, turning her wheel with one foot and rocking her babe in a sugar-trough with the other.

"The people of that day, when opportunity ofl^ered (and that was not often), attended public worship; and it was nothing new nor strange to see a man at church with his rifle - his object was to kill a buck either going or coming."

First Funer.'M

"William Green, an emigrant, soon after his arrival sickened and died, in May 1798, and was buried in a hickory-bark coffin on the west bank of Fetters' Run, a few rods north of the old Zanesville road, east of Lancaster. This was the first death and burial of a settler on the Hockhocking. Col. Robert Wilson, of Hocking Township, was present and assisted at the funeral. The deceased had left his family near Wheeling, and came on to build a cabin and raise a crop."

Fourth Of July

"In 1800, for the first time in the Hockhocking settlement, the settlers - men, women and children - assembled on the knoll in the prairie in front of the present toll-house (the tollhouse has since been removed farther west. - Ed.) on the pike west of Lancaster, and celebrated the Anniversary of American Independence. They appointed no President, or other officers of the day - no orations delivered or toasts drank. They manifested their joy by shooting at targets, and discussing a public dinner. It may not be improper to say, that their repast was served up in magnificent style. Although they had neither tables, benches, dishes, plates or forks, every substantial in the way of a feast was amply provided, such as baked pone, johnny-cake, roasted bear's meat, jerked turkey, etc. The assemblage dispersed at a timely hour in the afternoon, and returned to their cabins, full of patriotism and love of country. It was my fortune to be present on that interesting occasion."

Early in 180 1 a strange and striking individual, by many thought to be a myth, but the reality of whose work is proven to this day by the gnarled old apple trees standing all over Ohio, came to Marietta with his half brother. His was a work unheard of up to this time, but it has been a blessing and an encouragement to thousands of people in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

This strange man's real name was John Chapman, and Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, the famous Brooklyn minister, has made him the hero of his novel, "The Quest of John Chapman." Where hundreds knew of John Chapman, thousands knew of Johnny Appleseed, the name by which he was lovingly called by the early settlers. From early life this man had

John Chapman was born in Springfield, Mass., in 1775. I" 1801 he with his half brother came to Marietta, and a year later his father's family followed them. There was a large family and many of their descendants are scattered over Ohio and Indiana.

For more than thirty years this eccentric man was a familiar figure in Central Ohio. He, in 1806, was seen going down the Ohio with his canoes lashed together, laden with apple seeds, which he had obtained from cider presses in western Pennsylvania. Sometimes he carried a bag or two on an old horse, but oftener carried them on his back. If the distance he had to travel was great, he had to provide himself with a leather sack, for the underbrush, brambles and thorny thickets would make it unsafe for a coffee sack.

He preceded the settlers, purposely keeping ahead of them. He would find rich loamy land on the banks of streams, clear a small space, plant his seeds, enclose the ground and leave it till the trees were partly grown. This done he would move on to another favorable place and here make another planting. When the settlers arrived they were rejoiced to find that their friend Johnny Appleseed had preceded them. It was his custom to travel on for a few years, making new plantings and then to return to the spots he had previously visited. If settlers were found he would sell his trees for a mere trifle, often an old coat. All through the river valleys of Ohio were these orchards planted - in Jefferson, Licking. Fairfield, Richland, and in many other counties were found the monuments to this eccentric

He was a blameless man, a Swedenborgian by profession, leading a life like the early Christians, literally taking no thought for the morrow. His clothes were scant, his pantaloons old and short; he wore no coat, except in severe weather. He wore no shoes so much of the time that his feet were hard and horny He was well liked by the Indians and was never molested by them. He would endure pain like an Indian warrior - could thrust pins into his flesh without a tremor. Indeed, so insensible was he to acute pain, that his treatment of a wound or sore was to sear it with a hot iron and then treat it as a burn.

In 1838 Johnny Appleseed resolved to go farther west. Civilization was making the wilderness blossom as the rose; villages were springing up and schools were being organized, and this dear old man seemed to think that he was not a part of this changed condition, and so he would seek a new country. He went about and bade his friends goodbye. This must have been a sad task for the old man, who was then getting feeble and one would think that he would have preferred to die among his friends. He came back two or three times in the remaining seven years he lived. March 11, 1845, this benefactor of man died near Ft. Wayne and was buried two and a half miles north of that city. When he died he had on, for clothing next to his body a coarse coffee sack slipped over his head, around his waist parts of four pairs of pantaloons, over this a white pair complete. For his good deeds he is remembered, and not for his eccentricities.

Twelve miles south of Ashland is a monument known as the Copus monument. In 1812 Mr. James Copus and a number of his neighbors were killed in a massacre by the Indians. In 1882 the monument commemorating this event was erected. Under the names of Copus and the slain soldiers was carved, at the suggestion of Miss Rosella Rice, of Perrysville, the name of Johnny Appleseed, whom she knew well, and those good deeds she has commemorated with her pen.

Mr. Hite served to November, 1877, and was followed by Ephraim Ackers, who died in ofiice in November, 1881. Benj. F. Dum was appointed to the vacancy and continued to serve until Sept., 1889.

The first county commissioners, appointed by the Court of Quarter Sessions, evidently in i8oi, were Nathaniel Wilson, Jr., James Denny and Jacob Van Metre.

The oldest commissioners' journal among the old Court House records shows that the incumbents of the office March 6, 1843, were Thomas Carlisle, David Brown and Thos. T. McCausland.

The records of the commissioners' proceedings are missing from May 29, 1868, to Nov. 16, 1 87 1. On the latter date the commissioners were Henry Borchers, A. B. Gillett and Caleb E. Moore.

Prosecuting Attorneys, 1812-I909

In reply to your letter of a few days ago, asking me to furnish you with a list of the prosecuting attorneys of Fairfield County, I am sending you herewith the list with date of holding office, as near as I can gather it from the records. The records in past years are not very lucid, and I have had no little trouble in collecting this data. There is no record of a prosecutor prior to the year 1812, but from that date until the present, I think the record I am giving you to be very authentic. There seems to have been no less than three prosecutors from 1882 to 1886, John Mc- Cormich dying in office and David T. Clover having been succeeded by Levi Hite. Very truly yours,

A complete list of the Probate Judges who have held the office since it was created in 1852. Joel Radebaugh, served from Feb. 9, 1852, to October, 1853, when he resigned and was succeeded by Jesse Loehner, who was appointed by the Governor for the unexpired term, about Nov. 7, 1853. The records do not state at what time Radebaugh resigned or Leohner commenced his term, but the last entry on the journal signed by Radebaugh is Oct. 29, 1853, and the first entry signed by Leohner is Nov. 7, 1853, so the resignation of Radebaugh and the commencement of Leohner's term are on or between these dates.

H. C. Drinkle was appointed by the Governor as his successor and assumed his duties as Judge, Jan. 7, 1899, and served to Nov. 11, 1899, when he was succeeded by George Cimningham, who was elected to fill the vacancy and who served to Feb. 8, 1909.

E. F. Holland from 1906 and whose term will expire Feb. 9, 191 3. The terms of all the above commenced on Feb. 9 with the exceptions above noted.

Clerks Of Courts

I have searched the Court records of Fairfield county, Ohio, back to the year 1803 and I find that the following named men have served as clerk of courts : the older teachers of the county, as well as carefully examining the records in the office, and believe it is practically correct. Respectfully,

July 14th, 1874, A. Freed was appointed for 3 years and on the same day Geo. W. Welsh was appointed for i year. Freed resigned Aug. 26th, 1875. Mr. Welsh served until July 23rd, 1879, when he resigned.

Senators And Representatives

The following is a list of all the members of the General Assembly of Ohio from 1808 to 1912, inclusive, who were citizens of Fairfield County. The date shows the year of their election.

Here the rule changes by the new Constitution under which the legislature is elected every two years, the first General Assembly under it being chosen in 1852 and thereafter every other year. The following dates refer to the meeting of the legislature instead of, as previously, the year of choosing the members. 1852, Christian Baker. 1854, Samuel H. Porter. 1856, John Chaney and David Lyle. 1858, B. W. Carlisle and T. W. Bigory. i860, B. W. Carlisle. 1862, J. C. Jeffries. 1864, Edson B. Olds. 1866, U. C. Butler. 1868, U. C. Butler.