Knox County, Ohio - Chapter 21: Settlement and General Development of the County, 1881

Settlement And General Development Of Race

AREA - PRIMITIVE CONDITION - SETTLEMENT ON THE LICKING - ANDY CRAIG - CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS - MILITARY LANDS - NATHANIEL M. YOUNG - FIRST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS - THE QUAKERS - FIRST ROADS - TRANSPORTATION - THE PRODUCTS OF THE COUNTY - MILLs - THE AcT CREATING KNOX COUNTY - FIRST ELECTIONS - DIVISION INTO FouR 'TOWNSHIPS - ITEMS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS' RECORD - SEELEY SIMPKINS RACE,

NOX county occupies a position near the .geographical centre of one of the greatest States in the Union, and contains three hundred and twenty-four thousand four hundred and four acres of land, of which about two hundred and sixty-five thousand are cultivated or cultivable, fifty-four thousand in timber, and a little more than five thousand waste or uncultivated. In its primitive condition it was covered with a dense growth of timber, but about the time of the advent of the first settlers three or four little patches of prairie or cleared land appeared along Owl creek and other parts of the county, that had probably been cleared by the Indians for the purpose of raising corn. These were long known as the "Indian fields."

At the beginning of this century no white man had set foot on the virgin soil of Knox for the purpose of settlement. It was a vast wilderness, occupied by wild animals and wilder men. The territory then belonged to Fairfield county, and so remained until 1808, when it was organized into a separate county and named in honor of General Knox, Washington's Secretary of War.

Perhaps the nearest white settlement to the present border of Knox county at the beginning of this century, was that on the Licking river, about four miles below the present city of Newark, on what was known as the "Bowling Green" prairie. Here Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, with their families, settled in 1798, and were the only settlers here early in 1800. The wave of white emigration was at that time approaching this territory, and within the next three years came the "first low wash of waves where now rolls a human sea." This was in the shape of Andy Craig, who, however, can hardly be called a settler in the proper sense of that term. He was one of those restless, reckless creatures who continue while they live the picket-guard of civilization. They are always just beyond the white settlements, but never settle permanently anywhere. Andy Craig was here, however, just in advance of the permanent white settlers, and remained here until 1809, though it is not believed that he purchased any land or ever intended to make this his abiding place. His character may be fairly inferred from what Norton writes of him, as: follows :

From our research into early statements, we are led to believe that Andrew Craig was the first white man who located within the present county limits. He was, at a very early day, a sort of frontier character, fond of rough and tumble life, a stout and rugged man - bold and dare-devil in disposition - who took delight in hunting, wrestling and athletic sports, and was "hail fellow well met" with the Indians then inhabiting the country. He was from the bleak, broken, mountainous region of Virginia, and as hardy a pine knot as ever that country produced. He was in this country when Ohio was in its territorial condition, and when this wilderness region was declared to be in the county of Fairfield, the sole denizen in this entire district, whose history is now being written, tabernacled with a woman in a rough log hut close by the little Indian Field, about one-half mile east of where Mount Vernon city now exists, and at the point where Centre run empties into the Kokosing. There Andrew Craig lived when Mount Vernon was laid out in 1805 - there he was, upon the organization of Knox county, its oldest inhabitant - and there he continued until 1809. Such a harumscarum fellow could not rest easy when white men got thick around him, so he left and went to the Indian village - Greentown - and from thence migrated further out upon the frontier, preferring red men for neighbors,

The early settlers of this region were largely from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, with quite a "sprinkling" from the New England States. They were generally Revolutionary stock, and this may be the reason why Ohio has taken such a prominent position in the Nation, politically and socially. The sub-stratum of its population was composed of Revolutionary heroes, whose seven years of struggle and privation had made them men - giants they might be called. From such stock and from the veterans of the War of 1812, the people of this county largely trace their ancestry. It was fortunate for Ohio that her territory was upon the frontier at the close of the Revolution. 'The old soldiers, without money, but with land warrants in their pockets, sought the wilderness beyond the Ohio for their future homes. This State caught the larger share of these most desirable emigrants, for the reason that it was the most promising territory then open to settlement in the west. A treaty with the Indians had been made by the Government which opened the 'larger part of the State to white settlement, and a considerable portion of the State was especially reserved for the soldiers, and was known as United States military lands. These lands amounted to two million six hundred and fifty thousand acres. The tract was bounded on the east by the west line of the seven ranges; on the south by Congress lands and the Refugee tract; on the west by the Scioto river, and on the north by the Greenville treaty. boundary line, which passes through the northwest corner of Knox county, and forms a portion of its northern boundary line. All of this county was, therefore, "' Military Lands," except fractions of Middlebury, Berlin and Pike townships.

maker," who came in 1803, soon after Andy Craig, and following up Owl creek, some ten miles beyond Craig's cabin, settled on a branch of that stream, in what is now Wayne township. This settlement, subsequently known as the "Jersey settlement" receives attention in the chapter on Wayne township.

After many years of solitary residence on the beautiful Kokosing, the solitude of Craig's retreat is broken by the entrance of alone Jerseyman, who, in the spring of 1803, penetrates some ten miles further into the wilderness, so as not, by too close proximity, to annoy each other, and there raises a little log cabin and settles down. This follower of the trade of Vulcan soon gets in readiness to blow and strike, and sets about supplying the sons of the forest with the first axes they had ever seen, and by making for them tomahawks, scalping knives, etc., he acquires the sobriquet of the ''axe-maker," which for more than half a century has attached to Nathaniel Mitchell Young.

A year passes by before any white accession is made to society on Owl creek. Then a stalwart backwoodsman breaks the silence by the crack of his rifle, and at the spot where James S. Banning now lives, near Clinton, the pioneer, William Douglass, drives his stake.

The skilful navigator plies his oar, and Robert Thompson ascends Owl creek to where Mt. Vernon now stands, and on the tich bottom land, about one mile west, commences another improvement. George Dial, of Hampshire county, Virginia, in another pirogue comes up the creek, and, pleased with the beautiful country about where Gambier now flourishes, pitches his tent at the place now occupied by John Troutman. Old Captain Joseph Walker, from Pennsylvania, settles on the bank of the creek where Mt. Vernon nowis. John Simpkins, from Virginia, with his son, Seeley, for capital, located about a mile above Douglass, where George Cassel's beautiful farm now exists. While these plain men from Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are preparing their cabins for occupation, and making a little clearing, a stray Yankee, solitary and alone, with a speculative eye and money-making disposition, is, with pocket compass, taking his bearings through the forest, soliloquizing about the chance of making a fortune by laying out a town and selling lots to those who may come after him into this charming new country. Having, as he thought, found the exact spot for his future operations, he blazes a tree, and wends his way to the nearest town - Franklinton - west of the Scioto, then a place of magnificent pretensions, where he gets chain, compass, and paper, and returns and lays out the town of Clinton, in section number four, township seven, range four, United States Military district, with its large '' public green,"' its North street and South street, its Main street, First, Second, Third, and Fourth streets, and one hundred and sixty lots, and, taking his town plat in his pocket, he walks to New Lancaster, being the first white person ever known to have made a journey in that direction from this infant settlement, and before Abraham Wright, justice of the peace, acknowledges the important instrument, and on the eighth of December, 1804, places it upon record. Thus Samuel H. Smith, subsequently the first surveyor of Knox

Shortly afterwards a large accession was made to the population of the county by the emigration from Ten Mile, Washington county, Pennsylvania, of John Mills, Henry Haines, Ebenezer and Abner Brown, and Peter Baxter, who settled a short distance south of Owl creek, where the Beams, Merits and Lafevers have since lived. This settlement, by the increase of the Leonards, wasin 1805-6 the largest and best community in the county, and upon the organization of the county, and for several years thereafter, it furnished the leading men. This settlement is referred to elsewhere.

Benjamin Butler, Peter Coyles, and Thomas Bell Patterson, in the spring of 1805, augment the Walker settlement, where Mount Vernon was located shortly after. William Douglass is joined by James Loveridge, who emigrates from Morris county, New Jersey, and with his wife takes quarters on the sixth of July upon the clapboards in the garret of his little log cabin, and is mighty glad to get sucha shelter as that to spend the year in. Thenext year Loveridge starts off, under pretense of hunting a cow, and goes to the land office and enters and pays for the tract of land, where shortly after he erected a dwelling, and has ever since resided. Upon this land there is an uncommon good spring, which caused him toselect it, and he tells with much glee the circumstances under which he obtained it. The only Yankee then in the county claimed to have located it, and proposed to sell it to him at a higher price than the Government rate, which was then two dollars per acre. Concealing his intention from all but his wife, Loveridge slipped off and examined into and purchased it himself from the Government, and when he returned with his patent, Bill Douglass laughed heartily at the Jersey Blue overreaching the cunning Yankee. Amariah Watson, of Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, also put up with Douglass, and thus this settlement was made up of Douglass, Smith, Watson and Loveridge, in 1805. The old axe-maker, in the meantime, is followed np by some of his relations and friends, who start what has ever since been known as the Jersey settlement. Jacob Young, Abraham Lyon and Simeon Lyon are the first to settle upon the South fork of Owl creek, and are succeeded by Eliphalet Lewis, John Lewis, and James Bryant. The Indians they found very numerous. and through the kind feelings towards the old axe-maker, they were very friendly, and really quite an advantage in ridding the country of wolves, bears, and other varmints.

In the winter of 1805-6 that settlement entered into a written agreement to give nine bushels of corn for each wolf scalp that might be taken; and three of the men caught forty-one wolves in steel traps and pens! The description of these pens, and one of the stories told of their operation, we give in the words of an old settler: 'Wolf pens were about six feet long, four feet wide, and three feet high, formed like a huge square box, of small logs, and floored with puncheons. The lid, also of puncheons, was very heavy, and moved by an axle at one end, made of a small, round stick. The trap was set by a figure 4, with any kind of meat except that of wolf's, the animals being fonder of any other than their own. On gnawing the meat, the lid fell and caught the unamiable native. To make sport for the dogs, the legs of the wolf were pulled through the crevices between the logs, hamstrung, and then he was let loose, when the dogs soon caught and finished him. In Delaware county an old man went into a wolf trap to fix the spring, when it sprung upon him, knocking him flat upon his face, and securely caught him as though he were a wolf. Unable to lift up the lid, and several miles from any house, he lay all one day and night, and would have perished but for a hunter, who passing by heard his groans and came to his rescue."'

North, west and east of these embryo settlements all was wilderness for many long miles. A place bearing the name of Newark had been laid out by General W. C. Schenck, bni it had not any greater population than these little scattered settlements aforementioned. The principal towns of note to the earjy settlers were Lancaster, Chillicothe and Zanesville. Neither of them were much larger then than our usual p4 roads' villages now are. The people were exceedingly neighborly, and performed all manner of ''kind chores'' for each other, in going to mill, laying in goods, dividing what they had with each other, etc. The nearest mill in 1805, was in Fairfield county. Our old friend James Loveridge informs us of a trip he made to that mill, which was seven miles up the Hockhocking river from Lancaster, It belonged to Loveland & Smith, and was situated in a little crack between some rocks, and he went down into the mill through the roof. He made the trip there and back, about one hundred and twenty-five miles, and brought home with him in his wagon about nine hundred pounds of flour, one barrel of whiskey, and one barrel of salt. How the settlement must have rejoiced at the arrival of the great staples of frontier life, salt, whiskey and flour.

The spring of 1806 brought with it a new element into the wilderness region, in the form of the Friends - the forerunners of large numbers of that society, who by their quiet yet industrious ways have contributed very much to the prosperity and peacefulness of our people. The venerable father Henry Roberts may be justly regarded as the head of this emigration from Maryland. In 1805 he left Frederick county, in that State, with his family, and directed his course to the far west, but on reaching Belmont county, found it necessary to winter his family there, and sent his wagon and team back to Maryland with a load of ginseng and snake-root, and on their return with a load of goods he started with his family and plunder, and .on the seventh of April, 1806, he Janded at Henry Haines', in the Ten Mile settlement,* and after spending a week looking for a good location, on the fourteenth of that month settled down with his family at the little prairie five miles above Mount Vernon, of late widely known as the Armstrong section. The family consisted of his wife, his sons - William, now living in Pekin, Illinois; "Isaiah, now residing near Pilot Knob, Missouri; Richard Roberts, of Berlin - and a daughter, Massah, who married Dr. Timothy Burr, and died at Clinton, March 9, 1814. Nine acres of that beautiful prairie were at once broken up and planted in corn. It was very hard work to break the virgin soil with a first rate four-horse plow team, but it paid for that labor by one of the finest crops of corn ever raised in this country. In the fall William Y. Farquhar, a cousin of Henry Roberts, came with his family, and after him came William W. Farquhar with his family. They all stopped with Henry Roberts, and thus composed the first settlement of Friends in this district. From this nucleus came the numerous society of Quakers in Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin, in after years. Shortly after this we find other Quakers, Samuel Wilson, and John Kerr in what subsequently became Wayne township, and John Cook and Jacob

* So called from the fact that the settlers were from Ten Mile, Pennsylvania. The settlement was made a short distance below Mount Vernon, near the present residence of Hon. Columbus Delano.

Cook just above, in what is now Middlebury township, aad Amariah Watson goes from Douglass' to the tract of land above, where Fredericktown was the next year laid out, and which he subsequently sold to Jacob Ebersole, a place now easy to be identified by all. In the spring of 1806, there were within the after limits of Knox county but fifteen persons who turned out to vote, and but nine liable to perform military duty out to muster,

The earliest settlers in this, as in all other parts of the State came into the country by Indian trails, and by canoes up the streams. A few of the earliest settlers in Mount Vernon came up the Muskingum and Whitewoman rivers in canoes, and thence up Owl creek; but these primitive modes of ingress and egress could not long be endured, roads must be cut through the great woods. As early as January 23, 1800, Mr. Holden presented at the clerk's table of the house of representatives of the State, a petition from sundry inhabitants of Licking county; also a petition from sundry inhabitants of Licking and Knox, setting forth their remote situation from water carriage, and the necessity of having good roads; ''that they have no road whereby they can receive letters, or any kind of intelligence, or any property from any part of the United States, or this State, except by chance or private conveyance, nearer than Newark or Zanesville; and praying for the establishment of a road from Newark, in Lick-

On motion, and on leave being granted by the house, Mr. Merwin presented at the clerk's table a petition from sundry inhabitants of Fairfield county, of a similar nature to the before mentioned petitions, praying for the establishment of a road from Lancaster, in said county, through Mount Vernon, in Knox county, to the portage, in Cuyahoga." - House Journal, page 177.

The north and south road was the first one opened at the public expense. , Private roads were made by the pioneers themselves, to the different settlements in the county limits.

It was not until February, 1829, that the State road from Mount Vernon to Columbus was authorized, by act of legislature, to be opened. Prior to this, however, a road had been cut by the pioneers along Dry creek, and the commissioners, James McFarland, of Knox, Adam Reed, of Franklin, and John Myers, of Licking, established the State road partly upon the line already opened. The road south to Newark, va Martinsburgh, was among the first opened. Over these crude roads the advancing pioneers made their way, among stumps and over corduroy bridges, the only kind of bridge then known in the new country.

The War of 1812 checked immigration somewhat, but after it ended the tide began again to flow in greater volume than ever. The passage of troops during the war had served to make new roads and widen the old ones, and the war also introduced to the new country hundreds of men who would not otherwise have known of its beauty and advantages, and who, when at liberty to do so, returned and settled in it. The country no doubt settled far more rapidly than it would have done had there been no War of 1812.

The most important of the early roads, to the prosperity of Mount Vernon, was the one leading north to the lake. This was the great out-let for grain and other produce. Great covered freight wagons, with tires seven or eight inches broad and an inch thick, drawn by six horses or mules, made regular trips from Baltimore and Philadelphia over the National road to Zanesville; thence over this "mud road," stopping at the little stations on the way to receive and discharge freight. .Many of these teamsters were men of high character, standing, and credit, and in transacting their business, would require persons who shipped goods by their wagons to make out three bills of lading, all properly signed, with as much regularity as a ship at sea, or the freight trains of to-day; one bill to accompany the goods, one to be retained by the shipper, and one to go by mail to the consignee. One of these teams would to-day be a greater curiosity than a steamer or a train of cars. They are yet to be found on the great praries of the west, transporting freight to points not yet reached by the iron horse.

These wagons did most of the carrying trade for the country. The merchant who wished to purchase goods in the east sent his order and received his goods by these wagons, and in order to pay for the same often intrusted large sums of money to the teamsters. The products of the country, received by the merchant in exchange for goods, consisting mostly of wheat, whiskey, furs, etc., were also shipped by these wagons, going, generally, to the lake, wheré they were sold or shipped on a vessel for some point east, and months would often elapse before returns could be received.

Another source of out-let for the produce of the country was by the water-courses, which were then untrammelled by mills or bridges; and, by reason of the swampy condition of the country and consequent abundance of water, were navigable for small boats to points which would seem incredible at this time. Flat-boats were built, carrying from twenty to fifty tons. 'These were loaded with pork, flour, whiskey, the products of the chase, etc., and taken down the Kokosing, Walhonding, Muskingum, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where the cargo and boat were sold, and the pioneer, with his money in his pocket, would return across: the country, walking, perhaps, the entire distance, or may be, purchasing a mule or horse by the way, or taking occasional advantage of the wellremembered stage coach for short distances. In this primitive way the pioneers of Knox communicated with the outside world. About forty years elapsed from the time of the first settlement before these means of transportation were superseded by that great civilizer - the railroad.

The products of the country, for want of a market, brought very low prices - the average for wheat being thirty-five cents per bushel; oats twelve cents; corn twenty cents; whiskey fifteen cents per gallon; pork one dollar and fifty cents per hundred weight; cows eight to ten dollars each, and horses from thirty to forty.dollars each. Coffee brought from seventy-five cénts to one dollar per pound; salt from four to six dollars per barrel; calicoes from fifty cents to one dollar per yard, etc. Money was the exception, traffic and trade the rule. The great wagons carried the produce to Portland (now Sandusky city) and returned with salt, fish, etc.

In trading with the Indians Gilman Bryant used to set a bottle of whiskey on each end of the counter in order to facilitate business. Cabins for the purpose of trade and traffic sprang up all along the new roads, and were occupied by some pioneer family, who procured a living partly by hunting, partly by working the "truck patch," partly by trading whiskey, tobacco, knives, blankets, tomakawks and trinkets with the Indians and settlers, and as travel on the roads increased, by keeping travellers over night, finally converting the cabin into a tavern. Frequently these taverns were the means of starting a town, which grew and prospered, or became extinct, according to circumstances. Establishing a town was like investing in a lottery ticket, which might draw a prize orablank. Nothing now

The first grist mill in this county was of a decidedly primitive character.- It wasin the Hains, or Ten Mile settlement, and constructed without the sound of the hammer upon iron. It was the joint work of Ebenezer and Abner Brown, assisted by the mechanical skill of the whole neighborhood, and was built on what was called by the early settlers ''Big run," though in later times it is spoken of as the little lake, through which the road to Granville has since been laid out. The water has almost disappeared - having been in its appearance greatly changed by ditching, and in some parts obliterated by filling up the hollow. The mill stood where Isaac Beam's house now is, and the dam was where the bridge now stands in the lane. It was all of wood - a sugar trough made its meal trough - a little box its hopper - the stones were about two feet through, and hooped with elm bark for want of iron. It cracked corn pretty well with a good head on, but the stream was generally dry, and the mill was only able to run when big showers of rain came.

nail or a bit of iron could be had when it was made, The stones of this ancient mill are certainly a curiosity; they are yet to be seen, being the property of Moses Farquhar, of Berlin, who since that day has attempted experiments with them. Robert Richards at one time took a grist to this original mill and had it ground. He was then about seventeen years old, and not much acquainted with the milling business, but he was greatly impressed with its mechanism, and ready to exclaim, with our old friend Hadley : '' The works of God are wonderful, but the works of man are wonderfuller!'' He thought that it worked first rate, though Henry Haines at that time had got a little hand-mill which he claimed was a great improvement on the little wooden mill.

Mr, Roberts recollects of having at one time packed a bag of corn from Tom Butler's down on Whitewoman home, and thence to a mill near Newark, and back home again, less a heavy toll. While at the mill he saw Hughes, and from his own lips had a true account about the killing of Indian horse thieves, whom jack Ratliff and himself had pursued into the Owl creek country and killed as they came upon them in the bottom just below where Fredericktown now stands.

In 1804, William Douglass, of Morris township, built a flouring-mill in connection with a saw-mill, and a few years later put up a carding and fulling mill, greatly to the benefit of the pioneer settlers, enabling them to convert the product of their small flocks into material to clothe their families. In 1807, John Kerr built a grist- and saw-mill at Fredericktown. About the same time Jacob Young built mills four miles west of that place, and Samuel Gregg one about one and a half miles south. In the eastern part of the county Hibbitt's mills, on the Mohican, and Shrimplin's and Dial's on Owl creek, made their appearance about the same time. In 1816 Henry Davis purchased a flouringand saw-mill in the southern suburbs of Mount Vernon, erected about the year 1810. From that time onward mills sprang up rapidly all over the county, until Knox was regarded as one of the most favored counties in the State, on account of the number and excellence of her mills, and dura- The Miller mill in Pleasant township was erected by Mr. John Kerr, in 1815.

Time, however, has worked a marvellous change. The mill-streams are not what they once were; and now there are mills all over the county, that were once a benefit to their respective neighborhoods, and a source of profit to their owners, rapidly going to decay, and steam is taking the place of water-power. The fact is, that since timber has been cleared away and the swamps drained, the volume of water has been greatly lessened, and streams that were considered good mill streams in an early day, became, subsequently, very insignificant,

Five years after the first settlement of this territory, the county was created. January 30, 1808, the legislature passed an act establishing Licking and Knox counties. The act relating to Knox reads as follows:

SECTION 2. Be it further enacted, that all that tract of country included in the following boundaries be, and the same is hereby laid off into a separate county, which shall be known by the name of KNOX: beginning at the southeast corner of the fifth (5) township of said tenth (10) range; thence west along the northern boundary line of said county of Licking, to the line between the fifteenth (15) and sixteenth (16) rage aforesaid; thence north to the northern boundary of the military land aforesaid; thence westwardly along said northern boundary line to the western boundary of the twentieth (20) range of the lands of the United States, lying north of said military lands; thence north on said western boundary line to the northwest corner of the seventeenth (17) township in said range; thence east until it intersects the said north boundary line of the military land; thence eastwardly along said northern boundary line to the east boundary of said tenth (10) range in the military lands; from thence south along said range line to the place of beginning.

SECTION 3. Be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the coroner, sheriff, and constables of said county of Fairfield, and all collectors of the county of Fairfield, to make distress for all dues and officers' fees, unpaid by the inhabitants of said new counties, at the time said division shall take place, and they shall be accountable in like manner as if this act had not been passed, and the court of Fairfield county shall have jurisdiction in all actions and suits pending therein at the time of such division; and they shall try and determine the same, issue processes, and award execution thereof.

SECTION 4. Be it further enacted, that the temporary seat of justice in the county of Licking shall be at the house of Levi Hays, and the temporary seat of justice in the county of Knox shall be at the town of Mount Vernon in said county.

SECTION 5. Be it further enacted, that the inhabitants of said new counties shall assemble in their respective counties on the first Monday in April next, at the usual place of holding elections in said counties, and proceed to elect a sheriff, coroner, and commissioners, for their respective counties, who shall continue in office until the next annual election, and until successors are chosen and qualified.

SECTION 6. Be it further enacted, that all justices of the peace'and township officers in said counties, shall continue to exercise the duties of their respective offices until successors are chosen and duly qualified.

SECTION 7. And beit further enacted, that all that tract of country lying north of the aforesaid county of Knox, and south of the Connecticut Western Reserve, and so far east as the line between the fifteenth (15) and sixteenth (16) ranges of Congress lands, shall be, and is hereby, erected into a separate county, by the name of RICHLAND, and shall be under the jurisdiction of the county of Knox, until the legislature may think proper to organize the same.

John Bigger

April 4, 1808, the first election under the act creating the county was held. The officers of the election were Ebenezer Brown, Jabez Beers, and Samuel Kratzer, judges; William Gass and Robert Anderson, clerks. The voters were here from the most remote parts of the county, as well as from the vicinity of Mt. Vernon. The election of the first officers in a new county brings out everybody. The officers were elected by the following vote: For commissioners, John Lewis received fifty-six forty-eight. Silas Brown was elected sheriff. For coroner, Jonathan Craig had forty-five votes, and Francis Hardesty, one vote. For trustees, George Downs had forty-one votes, Henry Roberts, thirtysix, and Joseph Coleman, thirty-six. For overseers of the poor, Moses Craig received twenty-two votes, James Walker, two, and Alexander Walker twelve. The candidates for supervisor were Samuel Kratzer and Peter Baxter - Baxter received thirty-six votes and Kratzer thirty-five. The candidates for fenceviewers, were George Zin, Michael Click and Jesse

Severe. For "house praisers," Archibald Gardner and James Craig, each had twelve votes. For constables, Gabriel Wilkins received thirty votes, Philip Walker, twenty-one, Jonathan Hunt, jr., fifteen, and David Miller, three. For treasurer, Benjamin Butler received twelve votes, and James Walker, jr., two. None of these parties are now living.

Joseph Walker, John Harrod, and John Lewis, commissioners, on the second day of May, 1808, entered on their record the official proceedings dividing Knox county into four townships. These townships were Wayne, Clinton, Morgan and Union.

Wayne township embraced all of the present townships of Franklin and Chester, now in Morrow county - and Middlebury, Berlin, Wayne, and the north half of Morris.

Clinton township included Bloomfield, now in Morrow county; Liberty, the north half of Pleasant, Monroe, Pike, and the south half of Morris.

Morgan township embraced the west half of Clay, southwest quarter of Harrison, south half of Pleasant, and all of Morgan, Miller, Milford, and Hilliar.

These townships remained intact until 1812. The commissioners in the meantime, June 9, 1809, created Madison township in Richland county, which embraced the whole county, Richland, being up to 1813,.under the supervision of Knox county. The boundaries of the different townships were changed from time to time as the increased population demanded. The names of the original four, with some of their former territory attached, still remain.

Present: Gentlemen, Henry Markley, Matthew Merritt, and William Douglass, commissioners, who, at their first meeting, proceeded to the appointment of a clerk, and James was duly elected clerk, and qualified accordingly; then, according to law, proceeded to cast lots relative to their ceasing to continue in the office, and it is by them declared that Henry Markley continue in said office three years, Matthew Merritt two years, and William Douglass one year. Ordered, that this board do adjourn until next Friday.

Thus simply and concisely are given the proceedings of the first meeting of the commissioners of Knox county of which there is any record. On Friday, the twenty-eighth of October, the following business was transacted:

Ordered, that the Clerk issue an order on the County Treasurer of the county for the sum of one dollar and fifty cents tor killing one wolf, proven before William Y. Farquhar, esq., in favor of James Durbin.

Ordered, that an order issue in favor of James Smith for the sum of two dollars, for carrying returns of the annual election to the town of Newark.

"Occasion" did "require" a 'sooner meeting," for wolves had been killed, and it was a "case of emergency," justifying an extranrdinary meeting of the board of commissioners at Mount Vernon, on the very next day. Here is the journal entry:

Ordered, that an order do issue to the county treasurer of this county, in favor of Jesse Morgan, for the sum of three dollars, for killing two grown wolves.

Ordered, that an order do issue to the treasurer of this county, in favor of Jonathan Morgan, for the sum of three dollars, for killing two grown wolves.

At the December term, 1808, the board was in session two days. On the fifth an order for seventy-five cents was granted Philip Walker, constable, for one day's attendance on the grand jury at the May term; to William Y. Farquhar, esq., four dollars and fifty cents for one day's attendance on a called court, on an indictment of the grand jury, in the case of M. Brown; to John Mills, three dollars for the same; to William Gass, three dollars for the same; and the following wolf orders: To John Simpkins, one dollar and fifty cents for killing one grown wolf, proven before Samuel Kratzer, justice of the peace; to John Butler, three dollars for killing two grown wolves, proven before Abraham Darling, justice of the peace. On the sixth day of December:

Ordered, that the treasurer of this county do pay the following sums to the following persons: To James Dunlap twentytwo dollars for fixing the county seat of this county; to Isaac Kook twenty-two dollars for the same; to James Armstrong twenty-two dollars for the same.

Ordered, that ten cents be erast off the collector's duplicate, for an error made by the lister, who personally appeared and confessed the same, in favor of Samuel Lewis.

Ordered, that the treasurer of this county do pay to James Smith, clerk, six dollars and sixty-six cents for his services in elections until the said term, likewise seventy-five cents for blank books.

A petition was handed the board, praying a view of a road from the town of Clinton running to intersect the county line, near the southwest corner of the county ; which review they declare inexpedient and rejected. f

A petition was handed the board, praying a view of a road from the t8wn of Clinton through the settlement of Skenk's creek to the eastern line of Knox county, and it is declared by the board that the said petition is rejected.

A petition was handed the board, praying a view of a road from Mulberry street, in the town of Mount Vernon, to William Douglass' mill, and they declared the same inexpedient.

Ordered, that the treasurer of this county do pay Archibald Gardner the sum of one dollar and a half for killing one grown wolf, proven before Samuel Kratzer, esq.

Ordered, that all persons who shall kill and procure the scalps of grown wolves and panthers within our balawick, and produce a certificate thereof, according to law, after this date, shall be allowed two dollars, and all those who shall kill and procure the same of wolves and panthers of six months and under shall be allowed one dollar.

dista, each of whom had killed a grown wolf. For a time these animals had disputed the mastery with the white man. They had neither the fear of the church ecclesiastic or the military power; they frightened the women and children, and hung about the heels of men, setting all law and threats at defiance. One old settler told of his having on a Sabbath day killed a large wolf near God's barn at Clinton, which was making off with one of Sam. Smith's geese, while the people were serving the Lord; another of his friends having been present with the whole military of the county parading on general muster day, a fierce black wolf attacked one of George Zin's pigs within a stone's throw northeast of the public square, when the army gave pursuit, and it was finally killed by Captain Joe Walker; whereupon a grand spree was taken by the military and citizens of the town, the from the town of Mansfield in a southeast direction, to intersect with the State road, near the fifty-four mile tree, to run in a straight direction as the ground will admit, to intersect the State road, and the board do declare that the same is inexpedient.

On the seventh of June the commissioners ''Ordered," that the license of taverns hereafter obtained for one year in this county shall be as follows: In the town of Mount Vernon, on the public square, and on Market street, shall be rated at six dollars; all taverns in the town of Frederick and in the town of Clinton, and on the road leading from the town of Mount Vernon to Newark, within the county of Knox, at five dollars; all taverns on roads leading through any part of the county, or Richland county, at four dollars.

The white male inhabitants of Knox county above the age of twenty-one in 1820, were one thousand two hundred and ninety, located as follows: Hilliar, twenty-one; Bloomfield, sixty-nine; Morgan, one hundred and fifty-two; Miller, seventytwo; Jackson, one hundred and seventy-eight; Chester, one hundred and twenty-two; Wayne, one hundred and sixty-eight; Morris, one hundred and fifty-seven; Union, one hundred and forty-four, and Clinton, two hundred and seven. The county gave its vote for Ethan Allen Brown, for governor ; John Sloane, for congress; William Gass, for State senator; R. D. Simons, for representative; William Bevans, for sheriff; Abner 'Ayres, for commissioner; and E. C. Lee, for coroner. ;

In 1822, the county gave majorities for Daniel S. Norton, for congress; Hosmer Curtis, for representative; William Bevans, for sheriff; John Kerr, for commissioner; W. Y. Farquhar, for auditor; James McGibeny, for coroner. In 1824, majorities were given for Jeremiah Morrow, for governor; Wilson, for congress; Colerick, for sheriff; Stilley, for commissioner; Rigdon, for representative; Runyan, for coroner, and Farquhar, for auditor.

In 1826, the whole number of votes cast was one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, and the county gave majorities for Trimble, for governor; Norton, for congress; Robeson, for representative; Colerick, for sheriff; Runyan, for coroner; Elliott, for auditor; Leonard, for commissioner.

ers, upon a petition of Francis Wilkins and others, a road was ordered to be opened up Dry creek, beginning on the farm of Daniel S. Norton, to intersect the old road on the corner of Frederick Carey's orchard. Jonathan Miller, R. D. Simons, and James McGibeny, were appointed viewers, and J. W. Warden, surveyor.

In 1828, majorities were given for Campbell, for governor; Stanbery, for congress; Shaw, for sheriff; Colerick, for representative; Tracy for auditor; Sprague and Beers, for commissioners; and Neal, for coroner.

In 1829, the population of the county is stated at eight thousand three hundred and twenty-six. There were then eight post-offices, viz.: Danville, Darling's, Martinsburg, Mount Vernon, Miles' Cross' Roads, Sandusky Cross Roads, in Chester township, Fredericktown, and Houck's.

In 1830, the county voted for McArthur, for governor; Stanbery, congress; tive; Neal, sheriff; Tracy, auditor; McFarland, assessor; Lowe, coroner; Wilkins, commissioner. The total vote cast was two thousand and eightysix.

One of the ''Phunny" characters in our county's history is our old friend Seeley Simpkins, who is now in his eighty-ninth year, and was born in West Jersey, the precise spot he doesn't know - nor is it material to the thread of this discourse. In 1804, when five years old, he was brought by his father from Morgantown, Virginia, and his recollection of Mount Vernon runs from the time Captain Walker lived ina little log hut close by the old sulphur spring. Seeley says that its water had a great medicine reputation with the Indians. He was a great favorite with the squaws and pappooses, by reason of his uncommon musical talent. He could mimic any sound of varment or human, surpassed the lute of Orpheus, and outwhistled all creation. He furnished the music for early musters, and when it took four counties to make a regiment, he gave a challenge to out-whistle any man within them. He recollects with much pride the encomiums of Adjutant Stilley; who, he says, was

"the best judge of swill music then in the country." He frequented race tracks and drew crowds and supplied hoe-downs on demand. Foralong time he labored under the disadvantage of making his pilgrimages on foot, but having the good luck to hear at preaching that '' Balaam took his ass and saddled him," he concluded to take the next thing to it - his buil - and saddle and ride him. He was a nice little muscular brute, raised by him, and being gentle, was trained so that he travelled on Seeley's circuit. Often have we seen Seeley in all his glory ride to the mill with his grist, and while it was being ground he would take an airing around the town, whistling as he went. The races were usually in front of Norton's mill, on the flat, and there Seeley acquired ''immortality and fame." On the occasion of a grand race, when the Critchfields, Sam Arbuckle, and the Creek nation were in town in their strength, a race was gottenup by Hugh Neal, John Gregg and John Kellifer, between Seeley's bull and Tom Irvine's horse. The stakes were up, judges took their stand, and expectation was soon gratified by the entrance of the steeds. At starting the little bull's tail received a sudden and severe twist, causing him to bellow lustily as Seeley with "vaulting ambition pricked the sides of his intent ;" and goaded to desperation, the bull pawed the earth and sped on with all his might, while the air was rent with the shouts and yells of the spectators, frightening him almost out of his skin. The horse, altogether unused to such noise and confusion, inclined to balk, shied to one side, and trembling from fear, could not be brought to the ''outcome"' in time, and the judges honestly pronounced in favor of Seeley's bull. Amid the applause of the large concourse, Seeley proudly mounted his charger, and as he stroked his neck, complacently took the wager and rode home a happier man than ever in his life before or since. The poet says: 'Honor and fame from no condition rise Act well your part - there all the honor lies."

Seeley has done this, and his name is inscribed on the page of his country's history, to be remembered long after those who have laughed at his career shall have been forgotten.