Muskingum County, Ohio - Chapter 45, 1892 (part 2 of 31)

Temple mounds are less numerous and generally larger than the preceding classes, and in form are oftenest circular or oval; but whatever their form, circular, oval, round, square, oblong, or octangular, they are invariably truncated, presenting the appearance of never having been finished. They are frequently surrounded by embankments, and many of them have spiral pathways, steps or inclined planes leading to their summits. They are usually of large base and small height. The supposition of scientists is that the summits of these mounds were crowned with wooden structures that served the purposes of temples, all traces of which have, of course, disappeared. They were used also, to a limited extent, as burial places, as well as for purposes of religious ceremony. Mounds of observation are generally situated upon eminences and have been variously designated "observatories," "alarm posts," "watch-towers," "signal stations," or "look-outs," being believed to have served the purposes indicated by these titles. Some writers have asserted that they occur in chains or regular systems, and that "many of them still bear traces of the beacon fires that were once burning upon them." One of this description is situated two miles west of Newark, in Licking county, and though somewhat mutilated, has a present height of about twenty-five feet. Mounds of observation are comparatively numerous in some parts of the State, and lines of them have been traced through the Great and Little Miami valleys and along the Sciota valley from Delaware county to Portsmouth. Memorial or monumental mounds belong to the class of tumuli that were erected to perpetuate some important event or in honor of some distinguished character. They are mostly built of earth, but some of the stone mounds found in various sections of Ohio probably belong to this not numerous class. It has often caused surprise that mounds which have been thoroughly explored have yielded no human skeletons. The reason may, in some cases, be that they belong to this class, which were erected to perpetuate events, and not for purposes of sepulture. Effigies or animal mounds are simply raised figuresof gigantic proportions, representing men, beasts, birds, or reptiles, and in some instances inanimate objects. Their altitude is usually from one to six feet above the natural surface of the ground. Schoolcraft calls this class of ancient works emblematic mounds, and expresses the belief that they were " totems " or " heraldic symbols." Prof. Wilson and other writers of distinction call them symbolical mounds, and hold the opinion that they were erected as objects of worship, or for altars upon which sacrifices were offered, or that they served some other purposes connected with the religious worship of their idolatrous and superstitious constructors. Of the three most notable examples of effigies in Ohio, two are situated in Licking county. One of these, near the center of an ancient earthwork commonly called the Old Fort, an enclosure of high banks about a mile from Newark, containing an area of about thirty acres, is called Eagle mound, from its supposed resemblance to an eagle on the wing. Its length is approximately 200 feet and it measures about the same distance from tip to tip of wings. Excavations into the middle of this effigy brought to light an altar which gave indications of the action of fire upon the stones and earth composing it, while the presence of charcoal and ashes strongly suggested sacrificial offerings. The other, called Alligator mound, is situated upon the summit of a hill about six miles west of Newark. The shape and form of this reptilian monster are distinctly presented. Its greatest length is 200 feet; the greatest breadth of the body is 20 feet, and the distance from the fore legs to the hind legs is 50 feet, while the legs are each 25 feet long. The head, foreshoulders and back have an elevation varying from three to six feet, but that of the remainder of the body averages considerably less. The head, limbs and tail gradually taper off to their termination. Prof. Wilson expresses the belief that it symbolizes some object of special awe and veneration, and it appears quite probable that this effigy was an object of worship. Perhaps the most extensive and remarkable effigy mound in Ohio is situated near Brush creek, in Adams county. It is serpentine in form and more than 1,000 feet long, the body forming graceful curves and the tail terminating in triple coils. The embankment, which constitutes the main body of the serpent, is about five feet in height and thirty feet in width, and diminishes in size toward both the head and tail. "The neck of the figure," says the American Cyclopaedia, " is stretched out, an d slightly curved, and the mouth is opened wide, as if in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure which rests partly within the distended jaws." This oval figure is formed by an embankment four feet high, and is perfectly regular in outline, its transverse and conjugate diameters bcing 103 and 39 feet, respectively. The combined figure has been regarded by some as a representation of the oriental cosmological idea of the serpent and the egg. Defensive inclosures are of irregular form, are always on high ground and in naturally strong positions, frequently on the summit of hills and steep bluffs, and are often strengthened by exterior ditches. To this class of inclosures belongs one of stone walls situated on the top of a high hill, five miles north of Somerset, in Perry county, which embraces about twenty acres, its general form approaching a triangle with two long sides. Its natural position is one of great strength and is quite defensible. Another occupies a very high hill near Bourneville, Ross county. Still another is situated on the summit of a hill, a mile east of the Alligator mound, in Licking county. The most notable of this class of works, however, is " Fort Ancient," in Warren county, which is situated on a plain 230 feet above the level of the Little Miami river. The embankments measure nearly four miles in length, varying in height, according to the natural strength of the point to be protected, from ten to twenty feet, and inclose several hundred acres. These inclosures, and all similar ones having the same general features and characteristics, are indisputably of a military character. Low parallel walls of earth, called "covered ways," are frequently found contiguous to inclosures, sometimes connecting. them by extending from one to another. One of their purposes, at least, seemed to be the protection of those passing to and fro within them. Sacred inclosures are mainly distinguished from military inclosures by the regularity of their form and their more frequent occurrence. They are of all shapes and forms, and when they are provided with moats or ditches such were invariably within, not outside, the embankment. Sometimes they are situated within military inclosures. Frequently there is in their central portions a mound or elevation supposed to have served the purpose of an altar. Within these sacred inclosures were doubtless celebrated religious festivals, and upon their high central places or altars were undoubtedly performed by priestly hands the rites and ceremonies demanded by the sacrificial and idolatrous religion of the mound- Builders.

"The very extensive and labyrinthian works near Newark," says Sijiucker, "which covers an area of little less than two miles square, and probably comprise ten miles or more of embankments, ranging from two feet to thirty feet in height, are generally believed to be sacred inclosures, particularly that interesting portion of them known as the 'Old Fort,' now called the Fair Grounds, Some archaeologists, however, maintain that many works called sacred inclosures were erected for and used as places of amusements, where our predecessors of pre-historic times practiced their national games, and celebrated their great national events; where they held their national festivals and indulged in their national jubilees, as well as performed the ceremonials of their religion. And it may be that those (and there are many such) within which no central elevation or altar occurs, were erected for the purposes last named, and not exclusively (if at all) for purposes connected with their religion, and are therefore erroneously called sacred inclosures. Other ancient peoples, if indeed not all the nations of antiquity, have had their national games, amusements, festivals, and jubilees, and why not the Mound-Builders, too? Notably in this regard, the ancient Greeks may be named, with whom, during the period known as the "lyrical age of Greece," the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian games became national festivals. And without doubt the Mound-Builders, too, had their national games, amusements, festivals, and jubilees, and congregated within their inclosures to practice, celebrate, and enjoy them."

The growth of large trees upon these works, the material of their composition, in some instances different from the soil in the vicinity, and the ignorance of the Indians concerning them, all prove their construction in a far-away time. It is asserted that a solicitude was shown by the Indians that the mounds should not be effaced or marred, but whether this was the result of veneration or superstition, or both, is unknown. Reference has been made to wonderful mounds and earth-cemeteries in the adjoining counties of Perry and Licking, and it cannot be doubted that the mysterious people who constructed them inhabited the territory now included in Muskingum county as well, yet here they left no such conspicuous examples of their skill and their civilization. On the Neff farm, in Wayne township, a mound circle was formerly visible, and between the Muskingum river and Moxahala creek, at the mouth of the latter, was a covered \vay that was probably once employed by some one as a secret passage between the two streams. It is a curious fact that the Moxahala flows "up stream" into the Muskingum instead of flowing down into the latter stream. Archaeological discoveries alleged to have been made in Brush Creek township about twelve years ago, and which caused much comment at the time, do not appear to bear the stamp of genuineness, and it is believed that they may be passed by in these

Naturally, we indulge in speculation as to the antiquity of such ancient works as have been described or referred to. Probably none of them have been constructed since the discovery of America by Columbus.

Smucker states that a friend of his, about seventy-five years ago, cut down a tree upon the bank of one of the great inclosures mentioned, at a point where said bank was twenty feet high, whose concentric circles numbered 550, thus proving conclusively that said inclosure was constructed at some time prior to the year 1245. It is thought not improbable that at least 1000 years have elapsed since the Mound-Builders ceased to occupy the country between the Ohio river and Lake Erie. Authorities differ as to many things relating to our mysterious predecessors; but a few facts seem to be fully established by their works which still remain. They were without iron or other suitable metal instruments with which to perpare their feats of engineering skill, so elaborate and at the same time so gigantic, and hence it must appear that they were a numerous people. "The number and magnitude of their works and their extensive range and uniformity," says the American Cyclopedia, "prove that the Mound-Builders were essentially homogeneous in customs habits, religion and government. The general features common to all their remains identify them as appertaining to a single grand system owing its origin to men moving in the same direction, acting under common impulses and influenced by similar causes." It could scarcely be otherwise than that they were the subjects of a single, strong government, because under any other the performance of such an immense amount of probably enforced labor could not have been secured. Very likely some sort of vassalage or servitude prevailed. The building of their defensive works in naturally strong positions evidences the military skill of the Mound- Builders, and the construction of their many other works in the forms of various geometrical figures show that they were not devoid of a practical knowledge of mathematics. They were somewhat skilled, too, in working metals and in making horn and bone ornaments, as is suggested by the small articles of use and ornament found in their works; but they probably made few, if any, large metal implements of utility serving the purpose of the ax, hoe or mattock. They were evidently so numerous and so much civilized that they could not have subsisted by hunting, and would not have wished to, hence it is plain that they must have cultivated the soil. They were not barbarians. They were evidently a superstitious people, cherishing faith in some religious system. The sacrificial character of their religion is fully established. The late Doctor Foster maintained that they were worshipers of the elements - that they worshiped the sun, moon and stars - and that they offered up human victims as an acceptable sacrifice to their Gods. Prisoners of war have been thus disposed of by nations who have attained to as high a grade of civilization as that reached by the Mound - Builders, and in the case of this people charred and calcined bones cover the altars they erected. Many high authorities unhesitatingly assert that there is convincing proof that they were fire-worshipers. "And now," to quote from Smucker, "a word as to what is not known. We do not know where they came from, when and how they came, when and how they disappeared - whether they were extinguished by war, pestilence, or famine, or ultimately degenerated into barbarians, or whether they slowly moved to the Southwest, and finally came within the domain of history as Aztecs, or some more ancient people, once of pre-historic times, in Mexico or Central America! The question of origin has exercised the public mind more, probably, than any other one pertaining to the race of Mound-Builders, and still it remains unsettled. The preponderance of testimony probably makes them Mongolians, although Morton, an authority in matters pertaining to craniology, holds differently, as doothers. They probably held an intermediate position, considered physically, intellectually and morally, between the Caucassians and the most civilized portion of Mongolians above them, and the uncivilized inhabitants of the interior of the Malay peninsula below them. The fact, how ever, remains that archaeologists differ widely on this point, some maintaining that they were of Hindoo origin; some that they were of Hebrew, Jew-Tartar, or Persian origin; still others believe that our original Mound-Builders were either Celtics, Egyptians, or Tartars; while still others (Morton included), maintain that the Toltecs, an original race, were probably their progenitors, thus in fact making the Mound-Builders the descendants of an aboriginal race, or the continuation of one, and were therefore 'natives and to the manner born,' and differing from all others. But this opinion derives no strength from a belief that there existed any insurmountable difficulties in reaching this continent from the other quarters of the globe, thousands of years ago. We know that the Northmen reached it from Greenland in 999, A. D., and so might Africans, Phenicians and Europeans have done, long before that period; and Asiatics might have coasted along the Pacific until they reached Behring's Straits, or arrived at that point by an overland journey, and there crossed over to our northwest coast, a distance of only thirty-six miles, and so interspersed with islands that the navigator would never be out of sight of land, if the atmosphere was clear, while crossing the straits. And moreover all difficulties in effecting the passage of Behring strait vanish at once in the. light of the fact that it is frozen over every winter. And Europeans, P'gyptians and Asiatics might have voyaged across the Atlantic by way of the Western Islands, Iceland and Greenland, or as the Welsh expedition of Madoc did, in 1 1 70, A. D., or as Columbus did in 1492, A. D.; or as might have been done by an earlier, bolder navigator, by way of the mid-ocean island, Atlantis, of which we read, though always doubtingly, in Plato, and which the weight of authority, pronounces fabulous." Of necessity, further remarks in reference to other questions of ethnology, history and archaeology connected with the mysteriously interesting Mound-Builders are omitted in this connection.

Nothing reliable or authentic is known of the various Indian tribes that occupied the territory that now constitutes the State of Ohio from the time of the disappearance of the Mound- Builders until the closing years of the first half of the eighteenth century. It is true, however, that there are traditions running back to the year 1656 relating to the destruction by the Iroquois of the once powerful Eries, who inhabited the southern shore of Lake Erie, except a small remnant, which ultimately was absorbed by the Senecas. But comparatively little is known, with the certainty of authentic history, of the Indians of Ohio until after Col. Bouquet's expedition to their towns on the Tuscarawas and Muskingum rivers, in 1764. The principal tribes were the Wyandots (called Hurons by the French), the Delawares and the Shawnees (botli of the Algonquin group), the Miamis (also called Twigtwees), the Mingoes (anoffshoot from the Iroquois or a fragment of the Six Nations), and the Ottawasand Chippewas. The Wyandots occupied the valleys and plains bordering the Sandusky river, and some other points; the Delawares occupied the valleys of the Tuscarawas and Muskingum rivers, and a few other places between the Ohio river and Lake Erie; the Shawnees were found chiefly in the valleys of the Scioto and Mad rivers, and at a few points on the Ohio river and elsewhere in small numbers; the Miamis were the chief occupants of the valleys of the Little and Great Miami rivers; the Mingoes were in greatest force on the Ohio river about Mingo Bottom, below Steubenville, and at other points on said river; also on the Scioto river, and at a few places between the Ohio river and Lake Erie, the Ottawas occupied the valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky rivers; and the Chippewas, small in numbers, were chiefly confined to the southern shores of Lake Erie. By the treaty of Fort McIntosh, formed in 1785, the Ottawas, with the Wyandots and Delawares, were assigned to the northern section of what is now the state of Ohio, and west of the Cuyahoga river, having relinquished by the terms of said treaty whatever of claims they had to other portions of the territory that now constitutes our state.

The first treaty establishing boundaries in Ohio between our government and the Ohio Indians was entered into at Fort McIntosh, in January, 1785. Thiswas followed on May 20, 1785, by an ordinance of Congress which provided for the first survey and sale of the public lands within the present limits of Ohio. Under that ordinance the tract known as "the Seven Ranges," was surveyed and sales effected at New York in 1787 to the amount of $72,974. The tract of the Ohio Land Company was surveyed and sold pursuant to the provisions of an ordinance of July 23, 1785; and Fort Hamar, situated at the mouth of the Muskingum river, was built during the next year, for the protection of the immigrants that might settle upon it. The title to the Ohio Land Company's purchase was not perfected until October 23, 1787, and until then settling upon the public lands was discouraged and indeed forbidden by the government; but, notwithstanding, a number of settlements were made between the time of the treaty of Fort McIntosh, in January, 1785, and the perfecting of the title of the Ohio Land Company, in October, 1787. These were principally along the Hockhocking and Ohio rivers, and were broken up by military force and the settlers dispersed or driven east of the Ohio river. Settlements that were attempted at the mouth of the Scioto and other places were prevented. Proclamations by Congress were issued against settling upon the public domain as early as 1785, and enforced by military power when disregarded. It is probable that hundreds of families had attempted to settle permanently west of the Ohio river previous to the arrival of the colony of New Plnglanders, at the mouth of the Muskingum, in April, 1788, but were not permitted to do so. The fact therefore remains that the settlement at Marietta was the first permanent one within the present limits of Ohio, all others having been but temporary, by reason of the compulsory dispersion of the settlers elsewhere and the destruction of their huts. After these events, settlements were rapidly established in many portions of what is now the State of Ohio.

In 1750, Christopher Gist, an agent of the "Ohio Land Company," which had been organized in 1748 by the Washingtons, one or two of the Lees, and other Virginians and some Englishmen, came over the mountains from Virginia, and crossing the Ohio at or below the "Forks" (now Pittsburg), passed over to the Tuscarawas river, which he descended to its junction with the Walhonding. From thence he traveled down the Muskingum, following an Indian trail to the mouth of the Wakatomaka (now Dresden, Muskingum county), where there was an Indian town. He then followed the Indian trail across the Licking river to King Beaver's town, situated on the head waters of the Hockhocking river, about equi-distant from the present cities of Lancaster and Columbus. The trail he followed must have led him near the "Big Lake," as the Indians called it, now the "Reservoir," a famous fishing resort, situated in the counties of Licking, Fairfield and Perry. In this exploring expedition Gist was joined at the Walhonding by George Croghan, and probably by Andrew Montour, a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief, who often acted as an interpreter between the whites and Indians. They crossed the Scioto and traveled on to the Great Miami, which Gist descended to the Ohio, and voyaged down said stream to a point fifteen miles above the "Falls," from whence he traveled through Kentucky to his home in Virginia, where he arrived in May, 1751. This was probably the first visit of white men to this section.

Upon representations made to Governor Dunmore of outrages that clearly indicated a hostile disposition of the Indians toward the whites and a determination to make war upon them, that functionary, in 1774, commissioned Colonel Angus McDonald and authorized him to organize the settlers of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers for the defense of the frontiers. Lord Dunmore, knowing Michael Cresap to be a man of courage, energy and force of character, personally tendered him a captain's commission with a view to the immediate enlistment of a force for co-opera- tion with the troops rapidly organizing by McDonald west of the Alleghenies. Captain Cresap accepted the commission and entered upon his duties promptly. Such was his popularity, that more than the required complement of men were recruited in a very short time, and at once marched to join the command of McDonald, the ranking officer of the expedition. The combined forces, numbering four hundred men, after a dreary march through the wilderness, rendezvoused at Wheeling, sometime in June. The invasion of the country of the Ohio Indians was their purpose. In pursuance of their object, they went down the Ohio in boats and canoes to the mouth of the Captina creek, and from thence they pursued their march to the Indian towns at and near the mouth of the Wakatomaka creek (now Dresden), a point about equally distant from the present city of Zanesville and the town of Coshocton, both on the Muskingum river, Jonathan Zane being the chief pilot of the expedition. About six miles from Wakatomaka, a force of forty or fifty Indians lying in ambush, gave a skirmish, in which two of McDonald's men were killed, and eight or nine wounded, while the Indians lost one or more in killed and several wounded. When McDonald arrived at the chief Wakatomaka town, he found it evacuated, and the whole Indian force were in ambuscade a short distance from it, which being discovered, the Indians sued for peace. A march to the next village, a mile above the first, was effected; a small skirmish ensued in which some blood was shed on both sides. The result was the burning of the towns and the destruction of their cornfields. There was the usual perfidy on the part of the Indians, and really nothing substantial was accomplished, when the expedition returned to Wheeling, taking with them three chiefs as captives, or hostages, who were sent to Williamsburg, the seat of the colonial government of Virginia. This expedition was designed only to give temporary protection to the frontier settlers, and was preliminary to the Dunmore expedition to the Pickaway Plains, or " Old Chillicothe," towns, near the Scioto, later in year.

In 1761, Rev. Christian Frederick Post visited the Delaware Indians, living on the Upper Muskingum River, and took the preliminary steps to establish a Moravian missionary station among them. After building a cabin he went to Pennsylvania to find a suitable associate, one qualified to teach the Indian children to read and write, and thus assist him in his missionary labors, This companion he found in John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem, who was then engaged at some mechanical employment. In March, 1762, they started for their western mission, Heckewelder being then a youth of only nineteen years. After thirty-three days of weary horse-back travel, they arrived at the Muskingum (now called the Tuscarawas), and with expressions of gratitude for their protection during their long and perilous journey, they at once took possession of the cabin built by the selfsacrificing missionary the preceding year. Other appropriate devotional exercises signalized their safe arrival in the wilderness of the Muskingum,, which, however, was then to be the scene of their missionary operations for a very brief period. They cleared some ground around their cabin and cultivated corn and vegetables for their subsistence, but before the autumn months had gone by, the jealousy and hostility of the Indians rendered their condition not only unpleasant but unsafe, and the mission had to be abandoned, the missionaries returning to Pennsylvania.

Ten years later, (1772,) Rev. David Zeisberger renewed the attempt to establish missions on the Upper Muskingum. The first settlement, station, or village that he founded was called Schonbrun, meaning a "beautiful clear spring," and was situated on the west side of the Muskingum, two or three miles from the present town of New Philadelphia, the county seat of Tuscarawas county. The second mission station was established later in the year 1772, and was called Gnadenhutten, that is "tents of grace," and was situated on the east bank of the Muskingum, seven miles below Schonbrun. In this year Rev. John George Jungman located as a missionary at Schonbrun, and in 1773, Rev. John Roth, also a missionary, commenced his labors at Gnadenhutten.

In 1776, the Moravians, under the lead of Rev. David Zeisbcrger, established the town and mission station of Lichtenau, within two miles of the "Forks of the Muskingum" (now Coshocton); and in 1780, Salem, situated on the west bank of the Muskingum, about five miles below Gnadenhutten, was established under the leadership of the same indefatigable missionary. Rev. John Heckewelder was its early minister, and it was here in July, 1780, he entered into the married relation with Sarah Ohneberg, a teacher at the Muskingum mission stations. Revs. Adam Grube, Edwards, Senseman, and others were missionaries at the above named villages at various times.

ingum to Sandusky, by Elliott an emissary of the British, in September, 1781, and the murder of ninety-four of them who, in February, 1782, had returned to gather the corn they had raised the previous season, terminated Moravian missions for many years on the Upper Muskingum. Until 1786 there were none within the present limits of Ohio. During said year Rev. John Heckewelder, and others, established a mission on the Cuyahoga River, twelve miles from its mouth, which was composed mainly of those who had formerly lived on the Muskingum, and who had spent the past few years at New Gnadenhutten, on Huron River, thirty miles north of Detroit. This mission station on the Cuyahoga, known in Moravian history as " Pilgrims' Rest," was abandoned in 1790, the members returning to the vicinity of Detroit, and ultimately locating near the river Thames, where they built the town of Fairfield.

The subsequent history of Moravian missionary effort in Ohio belongs to territorial and later times, but it may be here stated that Revs. Heckewelder and Edwards, in 1798, again established a mission at the Muskingum, upon the site of Gnadenhutten; and in the autumn of said year their fellow-laborers, Revs. Zeisberger and Mortimer, established another upon the Schonbrun tract, and named it Goshen. It was situated seven miles from Gnadenhutten, where the venerated Zeisberger labored until his death, in 1808, and where he and Edwards are buried. The Muskingum Moravian mission stations were finally brought to a close in the year 1823, the general government having purchased at that time all the interests previously acquired by the Moravians.

Rev. John Heckewelder was conspicuously identified with our pre-territorial, our territorial, and state history, and has been called one of the founders of Ohio. He was a man of talents, of character and integrity, and was one of the associate judges of Tuscarawas county in 1808, 1809, and 1810, when he finally left Ohio, and returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he died January 31, 1823, having passed into the closing months of his eightieth year. His influence as a philanthropist, philosopher, pioneer, teacher, author, diplomatist, statesman, ambassador, jurist, and as a Christian missionary, was invaluable.

An interesting appendix to Hutchins' history of Bouquet's Pixpedition describes five different routes from Fort Pitt through the Ohio wilderness. One of these was 128 miles to the forks of the Muskingum, at Coshocton; six to Bullett's Town on the Muskingum (Virginia township); ten to YVakatomaka, now

Dresden, Muskingum county; twenty-seven to King Beaver's Town, near the source of the Hockhocking; forty to the lower Shawnees Town, or the Sciota; twenty to Salt Town, near the source of the Scioto; 190 northeast to Fort Miamis, now Fort Wayne, Indiana; a total distance of 426 miles.

Years before the settlement of this country by the white man, there was an Indian trail from Grave creek on the Ohio river to the Scioto towns. It was the route for Indians to travel on their marauding expeditions in Virginia. No doubt many white captives passed over the route, never again returning to their Virginia homes. From Renrock, Noble county, it crossed the line of the county into Meigs township, passing up Negro ridge, crossing Meigs creek near Joseph Trainer's store, thence past the present residence of Mr. Perley Sevall, the M'Cune farm, Rural Dale and crossing the Muskingum river at Gaysport, thence by Union Hill across the Morgan county line. The earliest route of travel in the southern part of Muskingum county was the old Federal or Indian trail. The name Federal trail was given it by a portion of St. Clair's army who were unable to obtain water transportation to Fort Washington, passing over it in 1791. John F. Talley, an old settler in Muskingum county and an ex-surveyor of Morgan county, says: In 1820 the seventy-fourth mile tree was standing near the location of James M'Cune's barn in Blue Rock township. This tree was marked "Seventy-four miles from Grave Creek, 1791." In 1820, some vandal destroyed the mark with his ax. From Gaysport to Rural Dale this trail was used by the settlers. P'allen timber had only to be removed, then it was a road for wagons. About the year 1836, it was found necessary to have the road established by law. The county engineer and viewers, examined the route and the road was laid out on the old Indian or Federal trail.

"The latter part of June" ( 1788), says Hildreth, a party of thirty men under the command of Fieut, McDowel, of Fort Harmer, was sent up by water with provisions and presents of goods to the falls of Muskingum, in preparation for the approaching treaty, which was expected to be held with the Indians on the arrival of Gov. St. Clair. The place chosen for this transaction is about sixty miles from the mouth, on the right bank of the river, where the town of Taylorsville now stands. They were ordered up by Col, Harmer, to erect a council house and build huts for the comfort of the men and the security of the goods against the weather, This remote spot was selected by the Indians, in preference to Fort Harmer, as being nearer their own homes, a well-known and favorite locality and not under the influence of a military post. They had commenced assembling from the different tribes, especially in large numbers from the Delawares. Among them was a band of Chippewas, and other Indians, outcasts from different tribes, amounting to about twenty. On the night of the 12th of July, these desperadoes crept slily around the tent containing the goods and fired on the sentries, ten in number, with the intention of plundering them. By this discharge two men were killed and one or two wounded. The sentries returned their fire, and the rest of the guards running to their assistance, the Indians retired without accomplishing their object. One of the assailants was killed and one wounded. The same night they killed and scalped a mulatto man, servant to Maj. Duncan, a trader who was waiting for the assembly of the tribes, with goods to barter for their skins and peltries. The falls were soon after named Duncan's Falls; which it retained until the slackwater improvement of the Muskingum obliterated the rapids at this place. The next day, on examining the dead Indian, the Delawares pronounced him to be a Chippewa, and that they had no knowledge of, or concern, in the attack. As a test of their ignorance, the Delawares came fearlessly into the camp, bringing with them their women and children. In addition they seized upon six of the offending band, tied them with thongs and handed them over to the commandant of the troops, to be dealt with as they might deserve. They were brought down to Fort Harmer by the reinforcement which went up the next day, and kept in irons for some time, but were finally allowed to escape, either by design or the carelessness of their guards. The large boat belonging to the Ohio Company was sent up, and the goods, stores and troops transported to Fort Harmer This untoward event postponed the treaty for several months.

Chalklly Frame, under date of August 4, 1887, gave to the Ohio State Journal , this interesting history: "Years before this fine valley was known to the whit man, a branch of the once great Shawnee nation built Old Town, an Indian village on the site of Duncan's falls. For years White Eyes, the chief, was on friendly terms witli the white people, and rendered them assistance in his Indian way. The legendary and historical interest of Duncan's falls has more than interest imparted to it by the tragic fate of the adventurous trapper who gave his name to this place. The different accounts of this intrepid trapper are the same excepting in dates of his death. One places it in 1774, and another in 1794, the evidence being in favor of the first date. He came from Virginia to this place, and being on friendly terms with the Indians at the Old Town village, he was permitted to remain by their chief, White Eyes, to hunt and trap and carry on a little trade with them. This continued for perhaps four years, when he discovered his traps had been meddled with and some of his game stolen. This so enraged him that he resolved to watch and see, if possible, who the guilty party was, when he discovered an Indian taking game from his trap, whereupon he shot the thief. He continued to watch for some months, and made it a point to shoot all Indians who meddled with his rights. He found it necessary to keep himself concealed from them. They were not the friendly Indians of Old Town, but a hostile band who roamed on the west side of the river. They were enraged, and sought an opportunity to capture him. Duncan's place of abode was unknown to them, and when sometimes they saw him on one side of the river and again on the other side, they watched to see how he crossed and could find neither skiff nor boat. This was a great mystery and he baffled them for a long time. Finally they discovered he crossed the river on rocks with a stout long pole, and his manner of crossing was to skip from rock to rock with the aid of the pole, or lay it down from one rock to another where the water was deep and walk over; then move the pole and so get across. This he generally did in the night. On the fatal night, two parties of the bravest Indian warriors, lying in ambush watching, saw him equipped with his gun and pole, leap lightly from rock to rock, till he approached the main channel. Here he placed his pole one end on each side of the channel, and had passed half way over, when a volley from the Indians struck him and he fell dead in the middle of the river. Next day his body was found one-half mile below, on a gravelly ripple. This point was given the name of ' Dead Man's ripple,' from the fact that the dead body of Duncan was found on it and the falls at that place were called Duncan's falls because it was there that Duncan fell.

After the death of Duncan his habitation was found up a small stream on the cast side, a short distance below the ' Dead Man's ripple.' The rock cave has ever since been known as Duncan's cave. On the island between the river and the canal, years ago, a gun was found. The gun was purchased by Mr.

Brelsford*, of Zanesville, a gunsmith, who shortened the barrel and put on a new stock, as the old one was worthless, and took from it a load of powder that had probably been put in it by Duncan. The gun is at present owned by Col. Z. M. Chandler, of the 78th regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, of the Ninth ward, Zanesville, who highly prizes it for its great antiquity and being the gun, as is supposed, that was carried by the daring Duncan. Much of this account of Duncan is gathered from the 'Indian Wars,' a small book published in Virginia the beginning of this century."

In nearly all parts of the county Indian relics have been found, but it is thought that there was no permanent Indian town within the present borders of Muskingum, except that at Dresden previously referred to, and Old Town southeast of Duncan's falls. Duringthe pioneer days many Indians camped temporarily within or passed through the county, but they were for the most part friendly to the whites. Red men became fewer and fewer as the years went by, and finally they disappeared entirely before the march of civilization. Some incidents in which Indians figured will be referred to in the histories of some of the townships of the county.

Settlement, Reminiscences, Etc

FROM an official source, the compiler derives the following account of titles in Ohio, which will be found to cover the whole ground fully and explicitly: The territory that now constitutes Ohio was first of all, so far as we can judge, in the full possession of the race of Mound-Builders; afterwards (but still in prehistoric times), its sole occupants and owners for some centuries were unquestionably those Indian tribes or nations already named, and probably the Eries and others that had been subjected to expulsion or extermination. They, as well as the Mound-Builders, held titles acquired probably by priority of discovery, by conquest, by occupancy, or possession. Possessory titles they might be appropriately styled.

It is stated by Parkman, and probably by other accredited historians, that the adventurous La Salle, in 1670, accompanied by a few heroic followers, passed from Lake Erie south, over the portage into the Allegheny river, perhaps by way of one of its numerous tributaries, and from thence down into the Ohio, which they descended as far as the "falls" of said river (at Louisville;) and that they were therefore the first white men - the first of European birth - to enter upon the soil of Ohio; the first civilized men to discover and explore the territory that constitutes the now populous State. It must be admitted that some shades of doubt rest upon the foregoing problematical expedition of Cavalier LaSalle; but whether he voyaged down the Ohio or not at the time named, his name must ever be identified with the State as one of its earliest explorers, if not its discoverer, so far as the white race is concerned, as will be made apparent in the following paragraphs. In 1679, this intrepid explorer accompanied by thirty-four Frenchmen, sailed along the entire length of the southern shore of lake Erie, in the "Griffin," a vessel of about sixty tons burthen, which he had built in the Niagara river, above the "falls," and which was the first vessel that ever unfurled a sail on said lake, or upon any waters within the present limits of Ohio.

Again, in 1682, La Salle descended the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to the mouth of the latter; and in 1684 he sailed past the mouth of the Mississippi (which he intended to enter, but failed), and along the Gulf of Mexico to some point on the coast of Texas, and landing there, became its discoverer. And it is upon these three last named voyages, and upon the provisions of some European treaties, more than upon the somewhat doubtful and uncertain voyage of discovery by LaSalle down the Ohio river to the "falls," in 1670, that F'rance rested her title, claiming that the Upper Valley of the Ohio (at least the portion northwest of the

Ohio river), was a part of Louisiana, thus acquired by La Salle for France, and held by said power by right of discovery and possession. There was, of course, little controversy between Great Britain and France as to title northwest of the Ohio river, before the formation of the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, when and by which certain matters in dispute between those governments were adjusted. And France not only asserted ownership and held possession of the territory that now constitutes Ohio, from the time of the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, until the treaty of Paris, in 1763, by which peace was established between France and England, but also exercised authority therein, and maintained control over it by military force. And this, too, in defiance of titles set up by Great Britain, one of which being based upon treaties with the Iroquois or Six Nations of Indians, who claimed to have conquered the whole country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to Carolina, and hence were its owners, and authorized to dispose of it.

By conquest and treaty stipulations, Great Britian came into possession in 1763, and substantially retained it until the close of the Revolutionary war, when, by the treaty of peace concluded at Paris in 1783, and ratified by the American congress in January 1784, ownership was vested in the government of the United States, which in October, 1784, by the terms of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, extinguished the title of the Six Nations to the Ohio valley, and which, from time to time, by treaties concluded at various times and places, extinguished all other Indian titles, and thus acquired full right to the soil, and complete and undisputed territorial jurisdiction. By the treaties of Forts McIntosh and Finney alone, held respectively in January, 1785, and 1786, all Indian titles to Ohio territory were extinguished, except that portion situated chiefly between the Cuyahoga and Maumee Rivers.

New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, after the ratification of the treaty of peace, in 1784, between Great Britain and the United States, and for some time before, had asserted claims to portions of the territory now composing the state of Ohio, and Virginia claimed title to the whole of it and much more, even to the "entire extent of the territory northwest of the river Ohio," organized four years thereafter. Virginia had asserted ownership, and exercised a nominal jurisdiction over the territory of the state, by establishing the county of Botetourt, in 1769, whose western boundry was the Mississippi river. The State's claim was founded, as heretofore stated, upon certain charters granted to the colony of Virginia by James I, bearing dates, respectively, April 10, 1606; May 23, 1609; and March 12, 1611; also upon the conquest of the country, between the the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the northern lakes, by General George Rogers Clark, in 1878-79. But whatever the claim was founded upon, the state legislature waived all title and ownership to it (except to the Virginia Military district), and all authority over it, by directing the representatives of said state (Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Moore) to cede to the United States all right, title, and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, with the exception named, "to the territory of said state lying and being to the northwest of the river Ohio;" which was accordingly done, March 1, 1784.

The charter of Massachusetts, upon which that state's title was based, was granted within less than twenty-five years after the arrival of the Mayflower; and that of Connecticut, bearing date March 19, 1631, both embracing territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and that of New York, obtained from Charles II, on March 2, 1664, included territory that had been previously granted to Massachusetts and Connecticut, hence, the conflict of claims between those states, their several charters covering, to some extent, the same territory; and hence, also, their contest with Virginia as to a portion of the soil of Ohio. Probably the titles of some or all of the aforesaid contesting states were in some way affected by the provisions of treaties with the Iroquois, or by the fact of their recognition by them, as appendants of the government of New York.

New York's deed of cession was favorably reported upon by a committee of congress May 1, 1782; and by like acts of patriotism, magnanimity, and generosity to those of New York and Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut soon followed by similar acts of relinquishment of title or by corresponding deeds of cession to the United States. The legislature of the state of Massachusetts, on the 13th day of November, 1784, authorized her delegates in congress to cede the title of that state to all the territory west of the western boundary of the state of New York to the United States, and the measure was consummated in 1785. Connecticut, in September, 1786, ceded all her claim to soil and jurisdiction west of what is now known as the Western Reserve, to the United States. Five hundred thousand acres of the western portion of the Western Reserve was set apart for the relief of the Connecticut sufferers by fire during the Revolution, since known as the "Firelands"; the Indian title to which was extinguished by the treaty at Fort Industry (now Toledo), in 1805, Charles Jouett being the United States commissioner, and the chiefs of the Shawnees, Wyandottes, Chippewas, Ottawas and some minor tribes representing the interests of the Indians. The remainder of the Western Reserve tract, amounting to about three millions of acres, was sold, and the proceeds dedicated to educational purposes, and has served as the basis of Connecticut's common school fund. Jurisdictional claim to the Western Reserve was ceded by Connecticut to the United States May 30, 1801.

The Indian treaties by which the lands in Ohio were purchased are thus set forth by Atwater: "By the treaties with the Indians of 1785-6, congress acquired the lands watered by the Muskingum, Sciota, Little and Great Miami rivers. In 1788, another treaty was made, by which the country was purchased, from the mouth of the Cuyahoga river to the Wabash, lying south and east of a certain line mentioned in the treaty. The Indians were dissatisfied with this treaty, and it was not relied on by our government. In 1795, twelve tribes attended on General Wayne, and treated with him for the sale of a considerable portion of the now territory included within our limits. In 1805, seven tribes sold to the United States all that part of New Connecticut lying west of the Cuyahoga river. In this treaty the Connecticut people joined, and paid $4,000 to the Indians, and agreed to pay them $12,000 more. In 1807, that part of Ohio which lies north of the Maumee, and east of the meridian line, passing through the mouth of the Auglaize river, was purchased of the Indians. In 1808, a strip of territory, two miles wide, was acquired by treaty, running from the western boundary of the Western Reserve to the Maumee river at the rapids. And in the same treaty, another strip, 120 feet in width, was acquired, also running along the bank of the Maumee. These cessions were intended for roads. By all these several treaties, theUnited States acquired fourfifths of this State. That portion of the ceded tracts above latitude 410 north, extending from Pennsylvania, on the east, to the western limits of Sandusky and Seneca counties, was given by Congress to Connecticut, and is called the Western Reserve, or New Connecticut. It extends 120 miles from east to west, and on an average is 50 miles in width, from north to south. Its area contains about 3,800,000 acres. Five hundred thousand acres of this tract, off the west end, the State of Connecticut gave to certain sufferers by fire in the Revolutionary war. A part of the ceded lands lying along the Ohio river, including the mouths of the Muskingum and the Hockhocking rivers, was sold by the old congress to the Ohio Company. This was the first sale of lands before the present constitution of the United States was adopted. It was sold for one dollar an acre, payable in congress notes, at twenty shillings in a pound, whereas the interest on these notes made them worth twenty-eight shillings and sixpence on the pound at that time. These securities were funded under the constitution of the United States, and became a part of the national debtfrom that time forward, until paid off. So the Ohio Company made a very bad bargain for themselves with Congress. John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, was the next purchaser of land in Ohio. He bought of the old congress the land lying between the mouths of the two Miamis, and extending northerly so as to contain 600,000 acres. Symmes gave sixty-six cents an acre for his land. On the 13th day of July, 1787, congress assumed the jurisdiction of this territory, and passed an ordinance for its government, by the provision of which ordinance the territory was to be governed by a governor, secretary and three judges. The president appointed these officers. These persons were to make the laws and execute them. This form of defective government was to continue until the Northwestern territory contained 5,000 free white male inhabitants over 21 years of age, when the people were authorized to elect a legislative house of assembly. The house of representatives of the United States congress were to nominate a legislative council,, and the assembly were authorized to appoint a delegate to congress. This second grade of colonial government was to continue until the population of each part of the Northwestern territory, into which it was eventually to be divided (not less than three nor more than five states), amounted to 60,000. Then this colonial government was to cease, and such territory was to become a state, and be admitted into the Union on the same footing with the original thirteen states. This act of the old congress of 1787 contained other provisions of the greatest value. By that ordinance there was never to be either slavery or involuntary servitude in the territory northwest of the Ohio river. All the larger streams were declared forever to be highways, and remain free from all obstructions to all who wished to navigate them. They were declared to be highways, and so to remain forever.

These are the most material provisions of this ordinance of the old congress. Virginia had reserved the lands lying between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, which she gave to her soldiers of the revolution belonging to the continental army as a reward for their services. This we call the Virginia Military tract. And the United States had promised her soldiers who had served during the war of the revolution lands for their services, so congress laid off a tract for that purpose, lying south of New Connecticut, extending from the Ohio river on the east to the Scioto on the west. This is the United States Military tract. There were some refugees during the revolutionary war, from Nova Scotia, to whom congress gave a strip of land, extending from the Muskingum, opposite Zanesville,tothe Scioto atColumbus; it isseveral miles in width. The remaining parts of the state were surveyed by congress, and are now ( 1838) mostly sold. That portion of our state, not until then purchased of the Indians, was ceded to us during Mr. Monroe's administration, except some small reservations. In the United States' lands, the Virginia Military, and in p rt of Symmes' purchase, the original owner obtains his patent from the United States' land office. Lands ceded to Ohio by congress, on condition of making certain canals, are deeded to purchasers by our governor and secretary of state." On the first of December, 1787, the advance detachment of the Ohio Company's first band of pioneers departed for the West from Danvers, Mass., under the command of Maj. Haffield White, being sent ahead to build boats upon the Youghiogheny, a small affluent of the Monongahela, in Western Pennsylvania. Another party, including the surveyors and a member of the Ohio Company, under Col. Ebenezer Sproat, left Hartford, Conn., January 1, 1778. Cen. Rufus Putman, who was to have commanded the march, was detained in New York, and overtook the company in Eastern Pennsylvania on the 24th of the month. On the 14th of February they arrived at Sumrill's ferry, on the Youghiogheny, where they met the men who had preceded them. The remainder of February and the whole of March were consumed in the building of boats, and on the 1st of April the united company, embarking upon a little flotilla, consisting of three log canoes, a fiat boat and a galley of fifty tons burden, called originally the "Adventure Galley," but afterward the" Mayflower," left Sumrill's ferry, and floating down the Youhiogheny to the Monongahela, was borne onward to the Ohio. Peacefully and uneventfully the great river swept them southward. They arrived, and disembarked at the site of Marietta on April 7, 1788, and thus by forty-eight men was begun the settlement of the State of Ohio and of the Northwest territory. Following this and other events previously referred to, settlements were rapidly established at other points.

A Virginian, named Duncan, clad in buckskin, appeared on the banks of the Muskingum, near the Indian village known as Old Town. His life, exploits and death and the naming of the falls near the present site of Taylorsville in his honor, are elsewhere referred to. The need of a known route, along which the settler might proceed to find for himself a home in the forests, induced congress to pass a law, in May, 1796, authorizing Ebenezer Zane to lay out a road from Wheeling, Va., to what is now Maysville, Ky. In 1797, Zane, in company with his brother, Jonathan Zane, and his son-in-law, John Mclntire, experienced woodsmen, surveyed the desired road, and the latter two proceeded to cut out obstructions, so as to make the route passable on horseback. To remunerate Mr. Zane for locating this road, congress gave him the privilege of selecting three sections of military land, each one mile square. The first of these was located where the "Zane trace," as the road was called, crossed the Muskingum river, the second at the Hockhocking river, and the third at the Scioto river. A distinction is made between an actual grant and a permit to locate on unappropriated lands. The law clearly indicated the latter. Duncan's falls was the first point chosen for a crossing of the Muskingum, but the immense and valuable hydraulic power furnished by the falls at the present site of Zanesville, induced Zane to cross at that place, and thus gain the privilege of locating the section of land including the falls. For their assistance in making the trace, Jonathan Zane and John Mclntire received the Muskingum section, on which they laid out nineteen squares of the present city of Zanesville. The place was first given the name of Westbourne, and was so known until a postoffice was established, under the name of Zaneville.

In 1797 two old frontier scouts from Virginia squatted at the mouth of the Licking, and erected the pioneer .cabins Their names were Elias Hughes and John Ratliff. A number of families joined them in 1798, and the "Mouth of Licking" settlement grew in importance. These two remained but a year, and then removed twenty miles up the Licking. Among their early successors was John Channel, a noted hunter, who, likewise, in 1804, moved up the Licking. In 1798 three pioneers came on from

Virginia, accompanied by wives and children. The Blands started with four children from Pendleton county, Va., to find a northwestern home. Hundreds of miles they rode on packhorses, along blind bridle-paths, over the Alleghany mountains to Marietta, thence up to the "Mouth of Licking." No cabin stood ready to receive the travelers, and rest was taken in a sugar-camp. Before Bland had a cabin ready to occupy, a son was born to him, and Silas Bland, the child of the sugar-camp, was rocked to sleep in a sugar-trough, and began his long and honorable career in the hardships of a savage life. Henry Smith was a justice of the peace, appointed by Gov. St. Clair in 1799; his wife, born at Hagerstown in 1770, lived fifty years on the frontier, and died at the age of ninety-seven. The third of the Virginians, the Priests, lived several years at the "Mouth of Licking," and thence removed to a settlement established at the mouth of the Wakatomaka, now Dresden. As an evidence of hardship, associated with energy, it may be said that Mrs. Priest walked from Culpeper to Muskingum, 400 miles, carrying an infant. The entire furniture and the five elder children were conveyed on pack-horses. The journey was of thirty-two days' duration, and Winchester and Wheeling were the only villages worth noting on the route. Mrs. Priest lived to the age of one hundred and two years. In 1801, two pioneers occasionally visited the little village of Zanesville; one was Maj. Cass, from Wakatomaka; the other, Squire Reeves, from Salt creek. The former secured a tract of 4,000 acres of rich bottom lands between the Wakatomaka creek and the Muskingum, and there closed an eventful life. He was the father of Gen. Lewis Cass. The latter crossed the mountains, an adventurous pioneer, and located on Salt creek in 1801. He was of that enterprising and manly class to whom, in a great degree, is to be ascribed the later successful development of the county.

The following incidents of pioneer life and mention of pioneers and early conveniences and improvements are from the storehouse of the memory of many an old resident of the county and were penned by one long familiar with Muskingum and its history. Pioneer adventures and settlers' journeys, early customs and rude structures are priceless legacies to the later generations, and the simple reminiscences of Muskingum's first residents are pleasant reading and valuable reference.

Reuben Atchinson was engaged as principal chainman to Mr. Buckingham in 1802, and from then till 1812 aided in the survey of Muskingum and other counties. About half a mile down the Muskingum river, and separated from South Zanesville by a bluff, is Putnam. The land on which it stands was purchased at Marietta in 1801, at the first public sale of United States lands held in this county, by Rufus Putnam, Increase Mathews and Levi Whipple. During the same year they laid out the town, and in 1802, the first houses were erected. The name of Springfield was given to the place, and retained till 1 8 1 ? . The early settlers of this part of Zanesville were from New England, and among them lived Mr. Atchinson, of the surveying party. He used to tell of traveling down the old Marietta and Zanesville trail, blazed through the woods when not a single clearing existed on the way. When starting upon the trip, he would place a blanket and pack-saddle upon a horse, mount and ride on till night or weariness overtook him, then camping by the way, he would build a fire as a defense against the wolves while he slept. When nights were bright and moon-lit he could see wolves trooping and capering along the hillsides, while their howling made hideous discord on the air. In 1815 he located on the west branch of Wills creek, and was a schoolteacher as early as 1817.

The log cabin is an American habitation. Its history is associated with all the dear old memories which cluster around the life of a pioneer. Its roof sheltered the noblest citizens of the broad State. Its school or church is dear as the scenes of our childhood. To raise the cabin was a duty and pleasure. The new settler notified the pioneers within a circuit of eight or ten miles. These promptly assembled at the site. Ox-teams hauled the logs, while choppers cut them in right lengths. Some split clapboards of oak for the roof, each six to eight inches wide, four feet long, and half to three-fourths of an inch thick. When all was ready, a good axeman stood at each corner to notch the logs, while others shoved them into position. A story completed, straight saplings were placed across to rest a clap-board loft. From the second story the logs were cut shorter and the ends tapered to form a roof by placing straight logs three or four feet apart as rests for the clap-boards, the last log of the main round jutting over for the eaves, upon which was placed a log for the first course of clap-boards. Each course was secured by a roof-pole, supported by blocks extending from pole to pole. The chimneys were very large. On the outside they were built of split timber, and lined with stone and clay. A section of the logs was cut out for a door, chimney and a window or two. The floor was made of split timber, called puncheons. Many of the cabins had only earth floors for several years. Generally the settler was influenced in his location by the vicinity of a fine spring. The cabin being finished, congratulations followed, and all hands dispersed. Their homes, built by generosity, were ever the abode of hospitality, and the pioneers of Muskingum passed in them the happiest of their many years.

Names and dates will make the following apply to many a scene in the early days of old Muskingum. The dense forest yielded to the united strength of the settlers. Custom assembled the pioneers for miles to cut and heap the logs. To secure advantageous work the hands were divided into squads, and, aided by oxteams, the piles were made ready for firing. These loggings required strength, and the strong backwoodsmen competed for the championship. With rugged frame, the pioneers were full of fun and frolic. Often when the rolling was done a foot-race, a wres.tle or a boxingmatch was in order. If blows followed, hands had to be shaken, a mutual drink taken and the parties agree to be good friends. It was held cowardly to hold resentment.

The finest enjoyment of the youth was at corn-huskings, flax-scutchings and quiltings. The corn was broken from the stalk, hauled and piled in a long row, and an invite sent out. When gathered captains were chosen, who selected their hands; the pile was measured and a rail marked the centre. The captains took positions next the rail to see fair play. "Husk!" is the signal for a lively, exciting rivalry. A song, a drink of whisky, shouting and hurrahing were all in keeping. Some hid away unhusked corn, and, if undiscovered, were esteemed shrewd. Work done, supper was called, and then the women folks were found to have had a good time quilting and preparing a bountiful meal. Then came the "French Four" and the "Old Virginia Reel"; and the

Cottons, calicoes and other goods were costly. Home manufacture supplied the want. Flax was heavily raised by the early settlers, who of the linen made general wearing apparel. Mixed with wool, it was known as "linsey-woolsey," and worn by both sexes. The men wore hunting-shirts, which had a cape, a belt and fringe upon the edges, and were a favorite garment of that day. The women were no laggards, and every rude home contained a wheel, and most housewives could use the loom. Young men a-nd women gathered to scutch the

Roads were prime necessities, and we have seen the bounty paid to Zane for brushing out a trace. The first road was the Zanesville and Marietta highway. It kept along the ridges eastwardly at the head of the three valleys. Roads were opened up the valley to intersect this road as early as 1816. In 1804 Andrew Crooks opened a wagon-road to Jonathan's creek, Newton township, and, locating at the point where it crossed Zane's Trace, opened a public house, which was known for many years as Cook's tavern. The acts of commissioners are chiefly relative to the survey and location, on petition, of roads to convenient points. The early road was but ten or twelve feet wide. Brush was cut and piled beside the road. There were too few to keep the roads in order for them to be good. The road-master was a public benefactor and a person of importance. Logs were cut, ruts were filled and bridges made, and much hard labor done. Slowly and with difficulty loaded teams proceeded, and the journeys over the routes to Marietta or to Pittsburg are still a memorable portion of the early history of other than the Muskingum pioneers.

game. They obtained meat, grease for cooking, skins for bedding and much exciting pastime by hunting. In the winter of 1792 two hunters from Marietta, named Hamilton Kerr and Peter Nighswonger, killed six buffaloes. In one day these men killed forty-five deer in Washington county, and afterwards secured the venison. The bear and the wolf disappeared from Muskingum about 1820. Among the last bears killed was one which made its appearance near the home of Joshua Brown. It was seen by a party of men at work on the roads and killed with their tools. Deer and turkeys remained as late as 1840, but few of either are seen now east of the Black Swamp, in the northwest part of the State. The disappearance of certain animals was the signal for the arrival of others. The gray fox appeared and became numerous. In time this animal gave way to the small, active red fox.

In 1819, the people grew accustomed to seeing vast flocks of wild pigeons flying over the county. Flock after flock - their line reaching as far as the eye could penetrate - followed in swift succession, flying westward and returning. Their number was incalculable; and when descent was made upon the new-sown wheat in fall, the clash of countless wings, as they rose in a blue cloud, gave forth a sound like muffled thunder. During the same year an immense migration of squirrels south took place. In their instinctive route they reached the banks of the Muskingum. The stream proved no bar to their progress: they swam across by thousands; and the men and boys of the time, armed with sticks, killed many as they reached the farther bank exhausted.

In these prosperous days of fractional currency and sound banking, the expedients of the old-time citizens to secure change are truly interesting. The demand for small money authorized a resort to cutting coin in quarters. The quarter cut in four pieces gave as many picayune bits; in two pieces, a pistareen for each. It was no unusual matter for five quarters to be made from one piece, and a financial gain resulted to the operator. This cut money continued till the issue of paper, which drove all silver out of the country. As a memento of the early days at Zanesville, we have before us a dingy piece of paper, three by five inches in dimensions, printed by Putnam & Clark, and bearing date of January 23, 1816. It is embellished by a wood-cut of Zanesville market house, is numbered fifty-one, and reads as follows: "We promise to pay the bearer fifty cents in current bank paper, when a sum is presented to either of us to the amount of one dollar. John Nouch, William Craig." Originally the amount was "five," but erased and written "one."

John Mathews was the founder of the Moxahala mills. Useful and liberal, he was invaluable to Muskingum county. While the tide of immigration was sweeping westward, and the country was filling up, the traveler and new settler consumed the surplus produce of the pioneers at liberal prices: but when the lands were entered, and the farmers had raised more than they needed, grain became a perfect drug.

The channels of commerce were then un opened, no rattling freight train bore eastward the products of Muskingum, no steamboat's puff was heard upon the river, and the National road had no existance, even as an idea. The only outlet for trade was by flat-boats down the Muskingum, Ohio, and Mississippi to New Orleans, a journey then equal to one now around the world. A shipper to New Orleans had to return the journey of weeks through the wilderness or take ship for New York, and journey over the mountains home. Oats sold at ten to twelve cents per bushel; wheat brought twenty-five to thirty-five cents, payable in store goods. People could not raise money to buy salt, a cash article, nor to pay taxes. In this dilemma Mathews bought wheat at fair prices, payment to be made on getting return from New Orleans. His extensive mill machinery employed many hands. He ran his two saws night and day. His grist and merchant mills required constantly the services of a number of men. Many an old farmer would willingly bear witness to the benefit derived to the county by the business habits of Mr. Mathews.

Moses Dillon, a Quaker by birth and a mason by trade, came to Muskingum in 1806, from Baltimore, and purchased a large tract of land, including the falls of Licking, four miles west of Zanesville, and erected a furnace and forge at the upper fall for the manufacture of iron. Wood assumed a value, and the ores became subjects of interest. Iron was scarce, and Dillon sent out wagons to purchase in neighboring counties. The furnace was a valuable and enduring enterprise, of immense influence to the county. The water-power at the mouth of the Licking was owned by Isaac Zane. The land on the Licking above him was the property of General Van Horne, who, in the fall of 1806, began to erect a dam over the stream on his premises. Zane also erected a dam on his falls, and the lower one rendered the upper worthless. A lawsuit was prospective, when Dillon made a purchase of both dams independent of the lands, and so ended the threatened contest. John Dillon, the oldest son of Moses, was his principal manager. Isaac Dillon, the youngest son, when the old furnace was abandoned for lack of material, erected mills at the mouth of the Licking. He was the first to introduce fine stock into the county. The first agricultural fair in Muskingum was mainly his work. He was the soul and spirit of the Horticultural society, devoted to improving fruit.

leading central route from the East to the Southwest. In the pioneer days all the country round about Zanesville was a wilderness and the road a mere trail. The Indians were kind to their white neighbors, sharing with them their food and aiding them in their work. Several squaws gave help to and received assistance and instruction from the settlers' wives. Only one white man was killed by Indians in this vicinity. His name was Johnson, and his death was a retaliation upon a company to which he belonged for having killed one or two of the Indians as the settlers were passing westward. Remains of Indian labor were abundant in flint fragments lying scattered over the ground in and about Zanesville and other points within the borders of the county. At Dresden was an extensive Indian burying ground, and the habitations of the Caucassian race began to dot the landscape before the aborigines had yielded their reluctant hold. The Indians left the Muskingum country and went to the Northwest in 1803.

Smucker inclines to the belief that the first white person who was born in Ohio first saw the light in this county. His statement concerning this and other claims to the same distinction is extracted from the annual report of the secretary of state for the year 1877:

"Considerable effort has been made by various persons, to ascertain, if possible, who was the first white child born within the present limits of Ohio, also when and where born, and the name as well. The following claims to that distinction have been presented, and I give them in chronological order, with the remark that some Indian traders who resided among the Ohio Indians, before the Bouquet expedition, in 1764, were married to white women, who probably had children born unto them, but the evidence to establish it is lacking. In April, 1764, a white woman whose husband was a white man, was captured in Virginia, by some Delaware Indians, and taken to one of their towns at or near Wakatomaka, now Dresden, Muskingum county. In July of said year, she, while yet in captivity, at the above named place, gave birth to a male child. She and her child were among the captives restored to their friends November 9, 1764, under an arrangement made by Bouquet, her husband being present and receiving them. It was, as far as I am informed, the first known white child born upon the soil of Ohio, but the exact time and place of its birth, and its name, are alike unknown. In 1770, an Indian trader named Conner, married a white woman who was a captive among the Shawnees, at or near the Scioto. During the next year she gave birth to a male child, probably at the above named point. Mrs. Conner, in 1774, with her husband, removed to Schonbrun, one of the Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas, and there they had other children born to them. In April, 1773, Rev. John Roth and wife arrived at Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas, and there, on the 4th day of July, 1773, she gave birth to a child, and which, the next day at his baptism, by Rev. David Zeisberger, was named John Lewis Roth. He died at Bath, Penn., September 25, 1841. It is clear to my mind that John Lewis Roth is the first white child born within the limits of our State, whose name, sex, time, place of birth and death, and biography, are known with certainty. Howe in his " Ohio Historical Collections," states upon the authority of a Mr. Dinsmore, of Kentucky, that a Mr. Millehomme, in 1835 (who then lived in the parish of Terre-Bonne, Louisiana), informed him that he was born of Lrench Canadian parents, on or near the Loramie portage, about the year 1774, while his parents were moving from Canada to Louisiana; but there is nothing definite or authentic in this case either as to time or place. Joanna Maria Heckewelder, daughter of Rev. John Heckewelder, was born at Salem, one of the Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas, April 16, 1781, and she was the first white female child born upon Ohio territory, as to whose time and place of birth, and death, and subsequent history, there is positive certainty. Her death took place at Bethlehem, Penn., September 19, 1868, in the eighty-eighth year of her age. I believe it is generally conceded that the first white child born within our State, after the permanent settlement at the mouth of the Muskingum, was Leicester G. Converse, whose birth took place at Marrietta, February 7, 1789, and who died near said river, in Morgan county, Lebruary 14, 1859."

"Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., that so much of the counties of Washington and Fairfield as comes within the following boundaries, be and the same is, hereby erected into a separate and distinct county, which shall be known by the name of Muskingum, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of the Ninth township, in the Ninth range of the United States Military lands, thence with the western boundary line of said range, south to the southern boundary line of said military lands, thence with the same west to the western boundary line of the Fifteenth range of public lands, thence with the said line south to the southwest corner of the Sixteenth township of the Fifteenth range, thence eastwardly to the south boundary of the Sixteenth township till it intersects the west boundary of the Twelfth range, thence with the sectional lines east to the western boundary line of the Seventh range, thence with the same north to the northeast corner of the military tract, thence with the north boundary line of the Tenth township in the first and second ranges of said military lands, west until intersected by the Indian boundary line, thence with same westwardly to the place of beginning.

"Section 2. That from and after the first day of March next, said county shall be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of a separate and distinct county; Provided, always, that all actions and suits which may be pending on the first day of March next, shall be prosecuted and carried into final judgment and execution, and all taxes, fees, fines and forfeitures which shall then be due, shall be collected in the same manner as if this act had never been passed.

"Section 3. That the temporary seat of justice of said county shall be at the town of Zanesville, until the permanent seat shall be fixed according to law.

The first sheriff of Muskingum county was George Beymer; the first county surveyor, Levi Whipple; William Montgomery appears to have been the first county treasurer; Levi Whipple was the first coroner. It seems that conveyances of land lying in Muskingum were recorded in the office of the Washington county recorder until April 17, 1806. Lrom this date till 1831 the recorder was appointed by the court of common pleas, and the clerk of that court was usually the recorder. The first so appointed was Abel Lewis. Elijah Beall, who served until 1808, appears to have been the first clerk to the county commissioners. On the evidence of Stephen Reeve, Esq., who leased school land of them in 1804, it is stated that the first county commissioners were William Montgomery, Joseph F. Munro and Christian Spangler.

It should be noted here that there is no record of the action of the county commissioners prior to March 2, 1807. Following is the not very complete record, in full, of all meetings from March 2, 1807, to January 27, 1808, inclusive. It is valuable chiefly as stating who were present:

"March 2, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, William Whitten, commissioners. Adjourned until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "March 3, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, William Whitten, commissioners. Adjourned until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "March 4, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Whitten, William Newell, commissioners. Adjourned until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "March 5, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Whitten, William Newell, commissioners. Adjourned until the first Monday in May next." "May 4, 1807. William Newell only met according to adjournment and adjourned until June term next." "June 1, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, William Whitten, Robert Spur. Adjourned until to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock." "June 2, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Robert Spur. Adjourned until Monday next, the 8th of June." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Robert Spur, William Whitten. Adjourned until tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment, Present,

William Whitten, William Newell, Robert Spur. Adjourned until to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Robert Spur, William Whitten. An adjournment took place until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "Commissioners met agreeableto adjournment. Present, William Whitten, Robert Spur, William Newell. Adjourned until to-morrow 8 o'clock." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, William Whitten. Adjourned until Thursday, July l6th next." "July 1 6, 1807. Robert Spur only met agreeable to adjournment and adjourned until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "July 17, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, Will- Newell, William Whitten, Robert Spur, and adjourned until to-morrow at 8 o'clock." "July 18, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Whitten, Robert Spur, William Newell. Adjourned until the 4th Monday in August next." "August 24, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Whitten, William Newell, Robert Spur. And adjourned until tomorrow at 8 o'clock." "August 25, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, William Whitten, Robert Spur Adjourned until to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock." "August 26, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, Robert Spur, William Whitten, William Newell. And adjourned until the second Monday in September next." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Robert Spur. And adjourned until the session in course, when none met, until the 2d Monday in December, 1807." "December 14, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell. And adjourned until to-morrow morning 8 o'clock." "December 15th, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. And adjourned until to-morrow morning 8 o'clock." "Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. And adjourned until to-morrow 8 o'clock." "December 17, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. Adjourned until to-morrow morning 8 o'clock." "December 18, 1807. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. And adjourned until the fourth Monday in January next." "January 25. Commissioners met agreeable to adjournment. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. And adjourned until to-morrow 8 o'clock," "January 26, Commissioners met. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber. And adjourned until tomorrow 8 o'clock." "January 27, Commissioners met. Present, William Newell, Jacob Gomber, and adjourned until the session in course, first Monday in March next." Most of these entries were attested by Elijah Beall, clerk. January 26, 1808, was resolved that all officers entitled to traveling fees to and from the county seat and under their jurisdiction, should be allowed for every twenty-five miles' travel a sum equal to what the law allowed them per day on the same occasion, by rendering a just account of the same to be judged of by the board.

Quite a little space is here devoted to the early doings of the county commissioners. The period 1807-1815 has been covered pretty fully. The details of the laying out of roads will serve to show the rapidity and the direction of the advancement of settlement. Except in cases of known and glaring inaccuracy, the names of persons concerned are spelled as in the records.

March 7, 1808, a petition from sundry inhabitants of Newton township, praying for an alteration of the county road leading from Springfield up the south fork of Jonathan's creek was read and tabled for a second reading next day, where it was again read and filed to be read at the following June term. A petition praying for a road to be laid out from the town of Zanesville to the northeast corner of half-section Number 4, Township 1, Range 7, was read and disallowed, March 8. March 9, 1808, sundry petitions were presented to the Board asking the incorporation of several townships within the county limits and were granted. The boundaries of the townships were established and ordered recorded. The townships so created were named Cambridge, Salt Creek and Falls. At the same time an alteration was made in one line of Madison township. June 6,1808, the petition which was read and filed at the last session of the board of commisioners praying for an alteration of the county road from Springfield up the south fork of Jonathan's creek was read and ordered to lie on the table for a second reading the following day. A petition signed by sundry inhabitants of the county was presented to the board, together with the proper vouchers, praying for the opening of a road from or near the mouth of Cantwell's run, on the west side of Muskingum river, up said river to the month of Whitewoman. A duplicate order for the viewers and surveyor of the proposed road was issued and "delivered to William Whitten, for

(as is doubtless meant) one of the petitioners to meet at Thomas Cantwell's on Saturday, the eleventh of June, instant, at ten o'clock A. M." Thomas Cantwell, Isaac Workman and Henry Miller were the viewers named, and John Cain was the surveyor. Another petition was presented, praying for the opening of a road from the mouth of Licking creek up said creek on the north side by way of Col. George Jackson's mills to intersect the State road near Jonathan Wood's. William Wells, John Matthews and Ebenezer Ryan were the viewers and Elijah Beall was the surveyor of this road, and to them, as such, a duplicate order was issued and delivered to Col. George Jackson, as one of the petitioners, to meet at the house of Henry Crooks, at Mclntire's upper ferry, on the fourth Monday in June, at eight o'clock A. M. June 7, 1808, sundry persons petitioned that a road be opened from Springfield westwardly on the south side of Licking creek, via Asher Thorp's, to the west boundary line of the county. A duplicate ordered was issued to the viewers and surveyor of this road and to the petitioners, through Doctor Matthews as their representative, to meet at the house of Peter Speck, in Springfield, on the third Monday in June, at eight o'clock A. M. Johnston Thompson, William Reynolds and John Matthew's, of Moxahala, were the viewers; the surveyor was Elijah Beall. Another petition was presented, praying that a road be opened from the lower end of White Eyes plains to the bridge over Will's creek at the town of Cambridge. The viewers were James McCune, James Miskimmins and Abel Cain; John Cain u'as the surveyor. William Whitten was the representative petitioner. The meeting of the viewers, surveyor and petitioners was ordered to be held at the house of George Miller at ten o'clock A. M. on the first Monday in August. The petition for an alteration of the county road from Springfield up the south fork of Jonathan's creek, which had been read the day before and ordered for a second reading on this day, was taken up and the board decreed that said road should be still kept clear until a petition 'be presented for opening a road "from the new' State road on the west side of Shawney run." June 13, 1808, a petition from inhabitants of the northwestern part of the county was presented to the board of commissioners praying to be set off in a separate township, and was granted. The township so erected was called Newcastle, and the first election for township officers thereof was ordered to be held at the house of Thomas Butler on the second Monday in September, at ten o'clock A. M. June 14, 1808, "Jacob Crooks was chosen and appointed to be a county collector for the present year." June 15, 1808, it was resolved by the board that the sum of two dollars be offered as a bounty for each and every w'olf scalp certificate which should be presented to the board agreeable to law, certifying the same to be over the age of six months, and the further sum of one dollar w'as offered for each and every scalp of a wolf under the age of six months. View'ers on the road from the mouth of Cantwell's run to the mouth of Whitewoman reported thereon to the board, June 15, 1808, and after the first reading their report was tabled until the following Saturday. June 15, 1808, a petition from the ininhabitants of Newton township wras presented to the board, praying for a division of said township, which was objected to by reason of a counter-petition from said township. On the following day a petition from sundry inhabitants of the county was handed in, praying to be set off frorfi Salt Creek township and included 'in the Township of Zanesville, which was granted. June 17, 1808, the board appointed Joseph F. Munro a county treasurer, and he gave bond with the following sureties: John Mclntire, Daniel Converse.

state road from Chillicothe to Wheeling, eight dollars each, except those within the towns of Zanesville and Springfield, which shall be respectively rated at ten dollars each. All the other taverns opened within the county, and to be opened hereafter, in any direction whatever, within the county, except in the towns and on the road aforesaid, to pay five dollars each. The ferries: Crossing the Muskingum immediately to or from Zanesville to Springfield to pay a license of twelve dollars each. Crossing the Muskingum on the State road immediately from Zanesville to Franklinton to be licensed at eight dollars each. Throughout the county, except as above, to be licensed at five dollars each. Rates of ferriage throughout the county were established as follows: For a foot passenger, three cents; for a man and horse, twelve and one-half cents; for a loaded wagon and one dollar; for an empty wagon and team, seventy-five cents; for a four-wheeled carriage and team, seventy-five cents; for a loaded cart and team, fifty cents; for an empty cart, sled or sleigh and team, thirty-seven and one-half cents; for horses, mares, mules and neat cattle, each ten cents; for hogs and sheep, each three cents. It was provided that in all cases where the ferry-keeper should be compelled by law to ply in the night, he might demand and receive for a foot passenger six and one-fourth cents and for a man and horse twenty-five cents.

June 1 8, 1808, the viewer's report on a road from the mouth of Cantwell's run to the mouth of Whitewoman was again read, and, no objection being made, the survey thereof was ordered for record. It was ordered by the board that this road "be opened and cut out forty feet wide and be hereafter held, deemed and kept open as a county road, agreeable to an act of assembly, entitled, " An Act for Opening and Regulating highways." September 5, 1808, the viewers' report on a road from Cambridge to White Eyes' plains was presented, read and ordered to lay over for a second reading the following day. The viewers on a road from Springfield up the south side of Licking creek to the west boundary of the county reported the same not to be of public utility. On the next day, the report of the viewers on the road from Cambridge to White Eyes' plains was read a second time and adopted, and, no objections being made, it was ordered that the said road be opened fifty feet wide. The viewers appointed on the proposed road from the mouth of Licking creek, on the north side thereof, by the great falls, to intersect another road near Jonathan Wood's, did not report. December 5, 1808, a petition was presented signed by a number of inhabitants requesting that a road be laid out to leave the road leading from Zanesville to the forks of the Muskingum, at or near the house of John Winner, to intersect the road leading from Zanesville to the mouth of Wakatomaka creek, at or near the forks of Symmes creek. Duplicate orders for viewers and surveyors thereof were given - John Adams, Leverett S. Stillman and John Painter, viewers, and John Cain, surveyor - to meet at Mr. Shire's on the first Monday in January, 1809. December 6, 1808, a petition was presented signed by a number of inhabitants praying for the laying out of a road " from Zanesville to the north end of half-section Number 4, in township Number 1, of Range Number 7, and from thence to intersect the road leading from Zanesville to the mouth of Wakatomaka creek, at or near the school lot now occupied by Josiah Cooksey." Daniel Converse, Samuel Thompson and Robert Taylor were appointed viewers and William Reynolds surveyor, to meet at the house of the latter on the first Monday in January, 1809.

March 6, 1809, a petition was presented for the laying out of a road from Springfield westerly on the south side of Licking creek via Asher Thorp's to the west boundary line of the county to intersect a road leading from Newark. James Jeffries and William Reynolds were appointed viewers and Levi Whipple surveyor, and directed to meet at the house of William Burnham, in Springfield, on the last Monday in March.