Portage County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 2 of those read), 1885 (part 5 of 6)

** Fort Ancient " is near Lebanon in Wanen County. Its direct measurement is a mile, but in tracing its angl^, retreating and salient, its length would be nearly six miles. Its site is a level plain, 240 feet above the level of the river. The interior wall varies in hciglit to conform with the nature of the ground without - ranf^intr from 8 to 10 feet. On the plain itre<ache9 100 feet. This fort has 58 gateways, tlirough one of which the State road runs, passing between two mounds 12 feet high. Northeast from these mounds, situated on the plain, are two roads, about a rod wide each, made upon an elevation about three feet high. They run parallel to each other about a quarter of a mile, when they each form a semicircle around a mound, joining in the circle. It is probable this was at some time a military defense, or, on the contrary, it may have been a general rendezvous for games and high holiday festivities.

Near Marietta, are the cdebrated Muskingum River imtkM, being n hal^ mile from ita jonetore with the Ohio. They eonsiat of moonda and walls of earth in eiroolar and square fornu^ also tracing Oireet lines.

The laigeat aqnare Hart covers an area of 40 aeres, and is indosed hj a wall of earth, 6 to 10 feet in heig|it» and from 25 to 80 ftet at its base. On eaeh side are three gateways. The oenter gateways exceed the others in aiae, more eapeeially on the side toward the Mnskingam. From this outlet rons a cohered means of egress, between two parallel walls of earth, 231 feet distant from each other, measuring from the centers. The walls in the interior are 21 feet high at the most elevated points, measuring 42 feet at the base, grading on the extent to about five feet in heigth. This passage-way is 360 feet in length, leading to the low groonds, which, at the period of its constmetion, probably reached the river.

At the northwest corner, within the inclofiure, is a plateau 188 lect long, 132 feet broad and 9 feet high. Its sid^ are perpendicular and its surface level. At the center of each side is a graded pathway leading to the top, six feet wide. Another elevated square is near the south wall, 150x120 feet square, and S feet high, similar to tlie other, with the exception of the graded walk. Outside and next the wall to ascend to the top, it has central hollow ways, 10 feet wide, leading 20 feet toward the center, then arising with a gradual dope to the top. A third elevated sqnare is sitoated at the eontheest comer, 108x54 feet square^ with ssoents at the ends. This is neither as hi^ or as perfect as the others.

Another anoait mxk is ibimd to the aoutheoBt, eomng ta area of 20 aiera iriih a gateway in the eenter of each ode, and others at the oomers - each of these haying ^e mound defense.

On the outside of the smaller fort, a mound resembling a sugar loaf was formed in the shape of a circle 115 feet in diameter, its height being 30 feet. A ditch surrounds it, 15 feet wide and 4 feet deep. These earthworks have contributed gnaJ^j to the satisfactory results of scientific researches. Their builders were evidently compose*! of large bands t}iat have succumbed to the advance of enlightened humanity. The relies found consists of ornaments, utensils and implements of war. The bones left in the numerous graves convey an idea of a stalwart, vigorous people, and the conquests which swept them away £rom the face of the country must have been fierce and cruel.

Many sculptured rocks are found, and others with plainly discernible tracery in emblematical designs upon their sor&ce. The rock on which the inscriplrons ooeur Is the grindstone grit of the Ohio exfortt - ^ stratum firand in N<»them Ohio. Arrow-points of flint or chert hare been frequently Ibnnd. From all inTestigstions, it is endent that an extensiTe flint bed existed in Licking Oonnty, near Newark. The old pits can now be recognised. They extended 07er a hundred acres. They are partially flUed with water, and sorroonded bj pfles of broken and r^eoted fragments. The flint is a grayishwhite, with cavities of a brilliant quartz crystal. Evidently these stones wm chipped into shape and the material sorted on the ground. Only clear, homogenous pieces can be wrought into arrow-heads and spear-points. Flint chips extend over many acres of ground in this vicinity. Flint beds are also found in Stark and Tuscarawas Counties. In color it varies, being red, whitO) black and mottled. The black is found in Coshocton County.

Ohio, as a State, is renowned as an agricultural section. Its variety, quality and quantity of productions cannot be surpassed by any State in the Union. Its commercial importance ranks proudly in tiie galaxy of opulent and industrious States composing this Union. Her natural resources are prolific, and all improvements whidi could be instituted by Ihe ingenuity of mankind have been added.

From ft quarter to a durd of its area is hilly and brdcen. About die headwaters of the Muslongnm and Scioto^ and between the Scioto and the two Bfiami Rivers, are wide prairies ; some of them are elevated and dry, with fertile soil, although they are frequently termed barrens." In other parts, they are kfw and marshy, producing coarM, rank grass, which grows to a height of five ftet in some places.

The State is most fortunate in timber wealth, having large quantities of black walnut, oak of diffiarent varieties, maple^ hickory, birch, several kinds of

The siimmen are usually warn, and the winten aie mild, ooaaidflring ihe laititade of the Stato. Near Lake Erie, ihe winters are aerare, oorreeponding irith aeetiona in a line irith that locality. Snow fihila in aofficient qnantttieB in the northern part to afibrd ieveral weeks of fine sleighing. In the sontheni portion, the snowslonns are not frequent^ and the fiJl niely remains long on the ground.

The Ohio River washes the southern border of the State^ and is navigable for steamboats of a large size, the entire length of its course. From Pittsburgh to its raouth, measuring it meanderings, it is 908 miles long. Its current is gentle, having no falls except at Louisville, Ky., where the descent is twentytwo and a half feet in two miles. A canal obviates this obstruction.

The Muskingum is the largest river that flows entirely within the State. It is formed by the junction of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers, and enters the Ohio at Marietta One hundred miles of its length is navigable.

The Scioto is the second river in magnitude, is about 200 miles long, and flows into the Ohio at Portsmouth. It affords navigation 130 miles of its length. The Great Miami is a rapid river, in the western part of the State, and is 100 miles long. The Little Miami is seventy miles in length, and enters the Ohio seven miles from CindnnatL ^

The Manmee rises in Indiana, flows tbioa^ the northwestern part of the State^ and enters Lake Erie at Manmee Bay. It affinds navigation as fiur as Perryshug^ ei|^teen mfles from the lake^ and above the n^ds, it is agsin nav* igsble.

We have, in tracing the record of the earlier counties, given the educational interests as exemplified by different institutions. We have also given the canal system of the State, in previous pages. The Governor is elected every two years, by the ])eople. The Senators are chosen biennially, and are apportioned according to the male population over twenty-one years of age. The Judges of the Supreme and other courts are elected by the joint ballot of the Legislature^ for the term of seven years.

During the early settlement of Ohio, perfect social equality existed among the settlen. The line of demarkation that was drawn waa a separation of the good from the bad. Log-iollingB and cabin-raisingB were mntoal aflaira. Their sport nsnaDy eoaisisted of shooting, rowing and hunting. Hunting shirts and boofcskin pants were in the ftshion, while the women dressed in ooarse material, woven by their own hands. A common American cotton check was oonaidered » magnificent addition to one's toilet. In those times, however, the material was $1 per yard, instead of the shilling of to-day. But five yarda waa then a larjje "pattern," instead of the twenty-five of 1880. In cooking utensils, the pot, pan ami frying-pan constituted an elegant outfit. A few plain dishes were added for table use. Stools and benches were the rule, although a few wealthy families indulged in splint-bottom chairs. The cabin floors "were rough, and in many cases the green sward fonned the carpet. Goods were very expensive, and flour waa considered a great luxury. Groods were brought by horses and mules from Detroit, or by wagon from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and then down tlic Ohio. Course calicoes were ^1 per yard ; tea $2 to ^3 per pound; coffee 75 cents; whisky, from $1 to $2 per gallon, and salt, $o to $6 per band. In thoee towna where Indiaa trade oontlitiited a deairable interest, a bottle ma set tt each end of the .counter - a gratoitoiia offering to their red firiends.

Should we group the rocks of Ohio, according to thttr litholcgical diaraetera, we ahonld give five distinct diviaiona. Thej are maiked by difference in appear* ance, hardneaa, color and composition :

They are all stratified and sedimentary. They are nearly horizontal. The lowest one visible, in a physical as well as a geological sense, is " blae limestone."

The bed of the Ohio River near Cincinnati is 133 feet below the level of Lake Erie. The strata incline in all directions from the southwestern angle of the State. In Scioto County may be seen the outcropping edges of all these rocks. They sink at this point in the direction sooth 80|° east ; easterly at the rate of 87^ feet per mile. The diff limestone, the upper stratum of ^e limeatone deposit, is 600 feet aboTO the river at Cincinnati ; at West Uniony in. Adams County, it ia only 350 feet above the same level

The findj grained sandstone found on the summit of the hilla eaat of Brush Creek and west of the Scioto sinks to llie base of the hills, and appears beneath ihe coDn^omerate, near the Little Scioto. Although the rook formations are tha same in all parti of the State, in the same ord«r, their thickness, mass and dip, arc quite different.

Chillicothe, Ileynoldsburg, Mansfield, Newburg, Waverly and Rockville^ are situated near the western border of the " fine-grained limestone." Its outcrop forms a continuous and crooked line from the Ohio River to Lake Erie. In the southwest portion of the State is the ''blue limestone," occupying a circular space from West Union via Dayton, to tlie State line. The conglomerate is to the east of the given towns, bending around from Cuyahoga Falls to Burton, in G«aiiga Ooontj, and then eastward into Pennsylvania. Near this outcrop are the coal-hearing rooks which occupy the east and sontfaeastmi portions of Ohio. Tnm Boekvillo to Ghillicothe^ the ooww is north, abont 10^ east, and nearly oorreaponds with the line aS oaterop of the fitko-grained sandstme for an eqnal distance. The dip at Bookville, given hj Charles Whitdes^^ is 80}^ ahnost at a right ao|^ and at ihe rate of 87 fbet per mik.

At Chillicothe, the other end of tiie line, the general dip is sonth 70^ east, 80 r r t n the mile, the line onnring eastward and the dip Une tothe soothward. This is the universal law.

The northern boondaiy of iho coal fields passes through Meadville, in Pennsylvania, and turning south arrives at Portage Summit, on the summit of the Alleghanies, l!,500 feet above the ocean level. It then plunges rapidly to the westward. From the Alleghanies to tlie southwest, through Pennsylyania, Virginia and Tennessee, sweeps this great coal basin.

Much of the county of Medina is conglomerate upon the surface, but the streams, especially the South Branch of the Kocky Iviver, set through this surface stratum, and reach the fine-grained sandstone. This is the case with Rocky, Chagrin, Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers - also Conneaut and Ashtabula Creeks. This sandstone and the shale extend up the narrow valleys of these sandstone^ without pehbles, which fiunishes the grindstones fat whidi Ohio is noted. Li Lorain Coon^, the coarse sandstone grit nearly displaces the fine-' grained sandstone and red dialoi thickening at E^iia to tho black shale. South of this point, the grindstono grit, red shale and adi-colored shale vary in thick* ness. The town of ChiUioothe^ the village of Kewbnzg^ and a point in the west lino of Crawford Goun^, are all sitoated on the " black shale.'*

Dr. Locke gives the dip, at Montgomery and Miami Counties, at north 14**, east, six feet to the mile ; at Columbus, Whitel^y gives it, 81^ 52' east, 22^^ feet to the mile. The fine-grained sandstone at Newburg is not over eighty feet in thickness ; at Jacktown and Reynoldsburg, 500 ; at Wavcrly 250 to 300 feet, and at Brush Creek, Adams County, 343 feet. The black shale is 251 feet thick at Brush Creek ; at Alum Creek, 250 to 300 feet thick ; in Crawford County, about 250 feet thick. The congljmerate in Jackson County is 200 feet thick ; at Cuyahoga Falls, 100 to 120 feet ; at Burton, Geauga County, 300 feet. The great limestone formation is divided into several numbers. At Cincinnati, at the bed of the river, there is :

The ooal-fields of Ohio are composed of alternate beds of eoane-grained sandstone^ day shales, layers of ironstone, tliin beds of limestone and numerons strata of ooaL The coal region abounds in iron. From Jaektown to Concord, in Muskingum County, there arc eight beds of coal, and seven strata of limestone. The distance between these two points is forty-two miles. From Freedom, in Portage County, to Poland, in Trumbull County, a distance of thirty-five miles, there are five distinct strata. Among them are distributed thin beds of limestone, and many beds of iron ore. The greater mass of coal and iron measures is composed of sandstone and shale. The beds of sandstone are firom ten to twenty or eighty feet thick. Of shale, five to fifty feet thick. The strata of coal and iron are comparatively thin. A stratum of coal three feet thick can bo worked to advantage. One four feet thick is called a good mine, few of them averaging five. Goal strata are found from six to ten and eleven feet. There are four beds of ooal, and tbree of limestone, in Lawrenoe and Sdoto Counties. There are also eight beds of ore, and new ones are constanflj being disooviered. The ore is'firom faar to twdve inches thidc, occasionally being two ieet. The ealcareons cn rests npon the second bed of limestone^ from the bottom, and is very rich.

The most jNrominent ftssils are trees, pUunts and stems of the eosiMieaiing rocks, shells and corals and cnistacese of the limestone, and the timber, leaves and dirt-beds of the "drift" - the earthy covering of the rocks, which varies from nothing to 200 feet. Bowlders, or lost rocks," %re strewn over the State. They are evidently transported from some remote section, being fragments of primitive rook, granite, gneiss and hornblende rock, which do not exist in Ohio, nor witliin 400 miles of the State, in any direction. In the Lake Superior reL'ion we find similar specimens.

It has, at the bottom, bine day, with grav«l<stones of primitive or sedimentary rocks, containing carbonate of lime. The yeUow day is found second. Above that, sand and gravel, less stratified, containing more pebbles of die hk presenting these formations of the State, we haTeqvoted from the experi> ence and condosions of Charles Whittles^, eminent as a geologist, and who was a member of the Ohio Geologieal Corps.

The patriotism of this State has been stanch, unswerving and bold, ever since a first settlement laid its comer-stone in tho great Weeteni wilderness. Its decisive measures, its earnest action, its noble constancy, have earned the laurels that designate it "a watchword for the nation." In the year 18C0, Ohio had a population of 2,348,739. Its contribution of soldiers to the great conflict that was soon to surge over the land in scarlet terror, was apportioned 810,000 men. In less than twenty-foor hours after the President's proolamation and eall for troops, tiie Senate had matnred and eanried a bill through, q)propriating $1,000,000 for the purpose of placing llie State on a war footing. The inflttoiees of party sentiments were forgotten, and nnited, the State uifiiiled the foig of patriotism. Before the bombardment of old Fort Somter has fiuily eeased its edhoes, twenty eompanies were offered the Governor for 'immediate serviee. When tho surrender was verified, the exdtement was tamnltnoas. Militia officers telegraphed their willingness to reoeive prompt orders, all over the State. The President of Kenyon College - President Andrews - ^tendered his services by enlisting in the ranks. Indeed, three months before the outbreak of the war, he had ezpressed his readiness to the Governor to engage in servioe should there be occasion. He was the first citiaen to make this offer.

The Cleveland Gravs, tlie Rover Guards, the State Fencibles, the Dayton Light (Juards, the Governor s Guards, the Columbus Videttes and the Guthrie Gmvs - the best drilled and celebrated militia in the State - telegraphed to Columbus for orders. Chillicothe, Portsmouth and Circleville offered money and troops. Canton, Xenia, Lebanon, Lancaster, Springfield, Cincinnati,

Dayton, GUrelaiidy Toledo and other towne urged their lariittnoe upon the State. Colombas hegpm to look like a great arm j field. The troops were etationed wherever ihej eould find qaarten^ and food in enffioient quantities was hard to procure. The Governor soon estahliahed a camp at Miamiville, eonfenient to Cincinnati. He intended to i^pfHnfe Irrin McDowell^ of the staff of IdeuL Gen. Soott, to the leading command, bat the friends of Capt. McCIellan became enthnsiaBtic and appealed to the GDvemor, who deoided to investigate his case. Being satisfied, he desired Capt. McCIellan to come up to Columbos. But that officer was busy and sent Capt. Pop^ of the regular army, in his stead. This gendeman did not suit Gov. Dcnnison. The friends of McCIellan again set forth the high qualities of this officer, and Gov. Dennison sent an earnest request for an interview, which was granted, and resulted in the ap]>ointraent of the officer as Major General of the Ohio militia. Directly thereafter, he received an invitation to take command of the Pennsylvania troops, but Ohio could not spare so valuable a leader.

For three-years troops were soon called out, and their Generals were to he appointed by the President. Gov. Deniu&ou advised at once with the War Department at Washington, and McCIellan received his appointment as Major General in the regular army.

Cincinnati and Louisville heeame alarmed lest Kentucky should espouse the Oonfederate cause, and those cities thus be left insecure against the inroads of a emd foe. Four hundred and thirfyHux miles of Ohio bordered Slave States. Kentucky and West Virgpiia were to be kept in check, but the Cbvemor proclaimed that not only should the border of Ohio be protected, hut evem beyond that would the State press the enemy. Marietta was garrisoned, and other river points rendered impregnable. On the 20th of May, 1861, official dispatches affirmed that troops were approaching Wheeling under the proclamation of Letcher. Their intention was to route the convention at Wheeling.

Military orders were instantly given. Col. Steedman and his troops crossed at Marietta and crushed the disturbance at Parkershurg - swept into the country along the railroad, built bridges, etc. Col. Irvine crosse<l at Wheeling and united with a regiment of loyal Virginians. At the juncture of the two tracks at Grafton, the columns met, but the rebels had retreated in mad haste. The loyal troops followed, and, at Philippi, fought the first little skinnisli of the war. The great railway lines were secured, and the Wheeling co{ivention protected, and West Virginia partially secured for the Union.

After preliminary arrangements, McClellan's forces moved in two columns upon the enemy at Laurel Hill. One remained in front, under Gen. Morris, while the other, under his own command, pushed around to Huttonsville^ in iheir rear. Gen. Morris carried his orders through promptly, but McCIellan was late. Rosecrsns was left with Mc01ellan*s advance to fight the battle of Bieh Mountain, unaided. Gaxnett being alarmed at the defeat of his outpost, wtieated. McOlellan was not in time to intercept him, but Morris oontinned the chase. Steedman overtook the rear-guard of Garnett a army at Carrick'a Ford, where a sharp skirmish ensued, Gamett himself filing. The scattered portions of tlio rebel aimj escaped, oad West Virginia was agaia ft<ee from aimed rebels - and ivas the gift of Ohio through her State mifitia to the nation al the beginning of die war.

At this period, Gen. McOellan was ealled to Washington. Oen. Bose eiaas sooeeeded him, and the tiuree-Tears troops left in the field after the disbsading cf the tihree-months men, barely sdlloed to hold tiie comitiy. He leleigraphed Got. Bennison to supply him immediately with re-«iforoement8, the request being made on the 8th of August. Already had the Confederate leaders realized the loss they had sustained in Western Virginia, and had dispatched their most valued General, Robert £. Lee, to r^in the teiritory. Rosecrans again wrote: "If you, Governor of Indiana and Grovemor of Michigan, wiU lend your efforts to get me quickly 50,000 men, in addition to my jt-esent force, I think u blow can be struck which will save fighting the rifled-cannon batteries at Manassas. Lee is certainly at Cheat Mountain. Send all troops you can to Grafton." Five days thereafter, all the available troops in the West were dispatched to Fremont, Mo., and the plans of Kosecr&ns were foiled.

Heav-y re-enforcementa had been sent to the column in Kanawha Valley under Gen. Cox. He became alarmed, and telegraphed to Gov. Dennison. Rosecrans again appealed to Got. Dennison, that he might be aided in vmrdking across the oonntry against Floyd and Wise to Ooz's relief "I want to catch Floyd while Ooz holds him m front."

The response was immediate and effeetim He was enabled to employ tiranty*ihree Ohio regiments in desaring his deportment from rebels, seeoring die oountiy and guarding the exposed rsilroads. With Ihis aafaierement, die direot rdation of the State administrations with the oondnet and methods of canqpaigtts terminated* The General Government had setded down to a system. Ohio was busy organizing and equipping regiments, caring for the sick and wonnded, and sustaining her liome strength.

Got. Dennison's staff officers were tendered better positions in the national service. Camps Dennison and Chase, one at Cincinnati and the other at Columbus, were controlled by the Uniteil States authorities. A l;iboratory was established at Columbus for the supply of ammunition. During the fall and early winter, the Ohio troops suffered in Western Virginia. The people of their native State responded with blankets, clothinir and other supplies.

In January, 18G2, David A. Tod entered upon tlie dutie.s of Governor. The first feature of his administration was to care for the wounded at home, sent from Pittsburg Landing. A regular system was inaugurated to supply stores and clothing to the suffering at home and in the field. Agencies were established, and the great and good woiic was found to be most effieaeioas in tUofiating the wretchedness oonsequent upon fearful battles. A. B. Lyman had charge of affairs in Cincinnati, and Royal Taylor held the same position in Louisville. J. C. Wetmore wu stationed at Washington, F. W. Bingham ftt Memphis, Weston Flint at Oairo and St Lonia. Thus the care which Ohio expended o?er hot troops at home and in the batde-field, fornidied a praetical example to odier States, and was the foundation of that commendable system all over the Union. StemewaU Jackson's sadden advent in the valley eraated the greatest consternation lest the safe^ of the capital be jeopardised, and the War D^arlDMOt called fi>r more troops. Gov. Tod immediately issoed s proclamation, and the people, never shrinking, responded heartily. At Cleveland a large meeting was held, and 250 men enlisted, indnding 27 ont of 82 stadsDts attending the law school. Fire bells rang out the alarm at Zanesville, a meeting was convened at 10 in the morning, and by 3 in the afternoon, 800 men had enlisted. Court was adjourned siite die^ and the Judge announced that he and the lawyers were about to enter into military ranks. Only three unmarried men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three were left in the town of Putnam. Five thousand volunteers reported at Camp Chase within two days after the proclamation.

Again in June, the Presi<ient called for troops, followed by yet another call. Under these calls, Ohio was to raise 74,000 men. The draft system was advised to hasten and facilitate filling regiments, li hits always been a repulsive measure. To save sections from this proceeding, enormous sums were offered to indnce men to volunteer, and thos fill the qnota.

Connties, townships, towns and individuals, all made bids and nrged the rapid enlistment of troops. The result was, that the reg^ents were filled rap^ idly, bat not in sufficient nomberii to prevent the draft. Twen^ thousand four hundred and twenty-seven men were yet lacking, and the draft was ordered, September 15. At the dose of the year, Ohio was ahead of her calls. Late in the fall, the prospect was disheartening. The peninsula campaign had failed. The Army of Northern Virginia had been hurled back nearly to Washington. The rebels had invaded Maryland ; Cincinnati and Louisville were threatoied^ and the President had declared his intention to abolish slavery, as a war measure. During the first part of 1862, artillery, stores and supplies were carried away myiteriously, from the Ohio border ; then little erniails ventured over the river to plunder more openly, or to burn a bridge or two. The rebel bands came .swooping down upon isolated supply trains, sending insolent roundabout messages regarding their next day's intentions. Then came invasions of our lines near Nashville, capture of squads of guards witliin .sight of camp, the seizure of Gallatin. After Mitchell had entered Northern Alabama, all manner of depredations were committed before his very eyes. These were attributed to John Morgan's Kentoeky cavalry. He and his men, by the middle of 186^ were as active and dangerous as Lee or Beanregard and thdr troops. Morgsa was a native of Alabama, bat had lived in Eentncky since boyhood. His lather was huge dave-owner, who lived m the center of the ''Blue Grass Country.*' His life had been one of wild dissipation, adventure and recklessness, although in his own family he had the name of being most considerate. The men who followed him were accustomed to a dare-devil life. They formed and independent band, and dashed madly into the conflict, wherever and whenever inclination prompted. Ohio had Just raised troops to send East, to assist in the overthrow of Stonewell Jackson. She had overcome her disoouragements over failures, 6r the prospects ireore brightening. Beuunigaird had evacuated Corinth ; Mem- . Tpbm had ftllta ; Bnel] waa moving towud Chattanooga ; Mit«diell'B tnapB held Korthem TenneeBee and Northern AJabama ; Kentacky was virtnaUy in the keepiiig of the home gnarda and State militarj hoard. And now, here wae Moi^gan, cxwiing oonfaaion in Kentoc^ bj hk fhrions raids I On the 11th of Jvlfyf the little post of TompkinsviUe fell. He isnied a call fiir the Kentnckisns to rise in a body. He marohed toirard Lexington, and the southern border of Ohio was again in danger. Cincinnati was greatly excited. Aid was sent to Lexington and home guards were ready for duty. Morgan was not prominent for a day or so, but he was not idle. By the 9th of July, he held possession of Tompkin«vi]le and Gl'usgow ; by the 11th, of Lebanon. On the 13th, ho entered Ilarraldsburg ; Monday morning he was within fifteen miles of Frankfort. He had marched nearly 400 miles in eight days. Going on, toward Lexington, he captured the telegraph operator at Midway, and his messages also I He was now aware of the plans of the Union armies at Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati and Frankfort. In the name of the operator, he sent word that Morgan was dri\nng in the pickets at Frankfort ! Now that he had thrown his foes off guard, he rested his men a couple of days. He decided to let Xiexington alone, and swept down on Cynthiana^ ronling a ftfw hundred loyal Kentnekj caTaliymen, capturing the gun and 420 prisoners, and nearly 800 horses. Then he was off to Paris ; he marched throngh Windiestery Ridmioad, Crab Orchard and Somerset, and again crossed the Comberland Birer. He started with 900 men and retnmed with 1,200, having cqitiired and paroled nearly as many, besides destroying all the Government anus and stores in seven* teen towns. The excitemoit continned in Cincinnati. Two regiments were hastily formed, for emergencieSf known as Cincinnati Reserves. Morgan's raid did not reach the city, but it demonstrated to the rebel forces what might be accomplished in the " Blue Grass " region. July and August were pa.<)sed in gloom. Bragg and Buell were both watchful, and Chattanooga, had not been taken. Lexington was again menaced, a battle fought, and was finally deserted because it could not be held.

September 1, Gen. Kirby Smith entered Lexington, and dispatched Heath with about six thousand men against Cincinnati and Covington. John Morgan joined him. The rebels rushed np(m the borders of Ohio. The failure at Richmond only added deeper appreheiDiioii. Soon Eiiby Smith and his ngfanents occupied a position where only a few unmannred siege guns and the Ohio prevented his entrance through Covington into the Queen City. The city was fully armed, and Lew. Wallace's arrival to take command inspired all with fiwdi OMing^. And Itefort the people were liardlj awtie that danger was so near, the naa proclaimed under atrict martial law. ** OitiMOB ibr labor, eddieia^ battle.*'

There was no panic, becanse the leaden were confident. Back of Newport and Covington breastworks, riflepits and redoubts had been hastily thrown np, and pickets were thrown ont From Cincinnati to Covington extended a ponton bridga. Vblnnteen marched into the citj and those already in service were sent to the rescue. Strict military law was now modified, and the city being secured, some inconsiderate ones expressed themselves as bttng outraged with much ado about nothing. " But Gen. Wallace did not cease his vigilance. And Smith's force began to move up. One or two skirmishes ensued. The city was again excited. September 11 was one of intense suspense. But Smith did not attack in force. Ho was ordered to join Bragg. On the Monday following, the citizens of Cincinnati returne<l to their avocations. In the spring of 1863, the State was a trifle discouraged. Her burdens had been heavy, and she was weary. Vicksburg was yet in the hands of the enemy. Rosecran.H had not moved since his victory at Stone River. There had been fearful shiughter about Fredericksburg.

But during July, 1863, Ohio was aroused again by Bragg's command to Moi-gan, to raid Kcoitoeky and captore LooisTille. On the 8d of July, he was in a position to inTsde Ohio, Indiana and Koitacky. He oontinaed hia depredations, bewfldering the militia with his movements. His avowed intention was to bum Indianapolis and take Cincinnati alive." BIbigMi*s pnrpoecs were never dear. It was his aadadona and sodden dishes^ here and there, whieh gave him saooess. Belbre Cincinnati was aware^ he was at Harrison - 18th of Jnly. He expected to meet tiie forces of Bnmside and Judah, and to cat his way through. His plans here, as everywhere, were indefinable, and he mooeeded in deceiving everybody. Wliile printers in Cincinnati were setting up ** reports " as to his whereabouts, he was actually marching through the suburbs, near troops enough to devour them, and yet not encountered by a single picket ! They fed their horses within sight of Camp Dennison. At 4 o'clock that day, they were within twenty -eiglit miles of Cincinnati - having marched more than ninety miles in thirty-five hours.

The greatest chagrin was expressed, that Morgan had so easily eluded the great military forces. A sudden daah was made to follow him. There was a universal bulling of doors, burying of valuables, hiding of horses, etc., all along the route of the mad cavalryman and his 2,000 mounted men. They plundered beyond all comparison. They made a principle of it On the 14th of July, he waa feeding his horses near Dennison ; he readied the ford at Bnffington Idand on the evening of the 18th ; he had encountered eeveral littile skirmisher but he had marched through at his own -will, mostly ; all the troops of Kentucky had been outwitted. The Indiana forces liad been laughed to scorn. The 50,000 Ohio militia had been as straws in hia way. The intrepid band would soon he upon friendly soil, leaving a blackened trail behind. But Judah was up and marching after him, Hobson followed and Col. Runkle was north of hira. The local militia in his advance began to impede the way. Near Pomeroy, a stand was made. Morgan found militia posted everywhere, but he succeeded in running tiie gantlet, so far as to reach Chester. He shoold haTft hastened to cross the ford. Fortunately, be paused to breaUie his hofMB and secure a gmde. Th« hour and a half thw lost was fintmiiiaka Morgan is known to have made in hk mililaiy career. They readied PortJand, and only a fitHe eardnroik, guarded by about 800 men, atood between bim and eaftly. Wb mm were eshansted, and he feared to lead lliem to a night attack npon a poeitifln not nndentood perfedfy; he would not abandon hie wagon train, nor his wonnded; he would save or lose all. As Moigan was preparing next monuni^ having found the earthworks deserted through the night, Judah came op. He repulsed the attack at first, capturing Judah's Acjintsnt General, and ordering him to hold the force on his front in check. He was not able to join his own company, mtil it was in full retreat. Here Lieat. O'Neil, of the Fifth Indiana, made an impulsive charge, the lines were reformed, and up the Chester road were Hobson 's gallant cavalrymen, who had been galloping over three States to capture this very Morgan ! And now the tin-clad gunboats steamed up and opened fire. The route was complete, but Morgan escaped with 1,200 men! Seven hundred men were taken prisoners, among them Morgan's brother, Cols. Ward, Duke and Huflfman. The prisoners wi re brought to Cincinnati, while the troops went after the fugitive. He was surrounded by dangers \ hia men were exhausted, hunted down ; skirmishes and thrilling escapes marked a series of methods to escape - his wonderful sagacity absolutely brilliant to the very last - which was his capture, on the 20lih, wi<]i 846 prisoners sad 400 horses and arms. It may be added, that after several months of confinement, Morgan and six prisoners escaped, on the 27th of November. Agsin was he fiee to raid in the "Kne Grass" comitiy.

John Brong^ succeeded CKyv. Tod January 11, 1864. His first prominent work was with the Sanitary Commission. Li Febmaiy, of the same year, the Ihresident called for more troops. The quota cf Ohio was 51,465 men. The call of March added 20,995. And in July was a third demand for 50,792. In December, the Ststo was ordered to raise 26,027. The critical period of the war was evidently approaching. Gov. Brough instttntod a refoim&tion in the ''furamotion system " of the Ohio troops. He waa, in many cases, severe in his measures. He ignorwl " loc«l preat men " and refused distinction as a bribe. The consequence was that he liad niany friends and some enemies. Tlie acuteness of his policy wa.^ so strong, and his policy so just, that, after all Ins se vere administratioxi, he was second to no statesman in the nation during the struggla

When the happy tidings swept over the land that peace iras prodaimed, an ecbo of thanksgiving followed the prodamatioii. The brave sons of Ohio returned to their own eoii - ^those who escaped the carnage. But 'mid the rqoieing there was deepest sadness, for a fragment only remained of that hrave army wliich had set out sturdily inspired with patriotism.

A Brief Mention Of Prominent Ohio Generals

George Briton McClellan, the first General appoints! in Ohio, was bom December 3, 1826, in Philadelphia. His father was a physician of high standing and Scottish descent. Young George was in school in Philadelphia, and entered West Point at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty, he was a brevet Second Lieutenant, tracing lines of investment before Yam Cruz, under the supervision of Capt. R. E. Lee, First Lieut. P. G. T. Beauregard, Second Lieut. G. W. Smith. At the dose of the Mencsn war, old Col. Totten reported hi &vor of them all to Winfidd Scott He had charge of an expbring expedition to tiie mcnntaans of Or^n and Washington, beginning with the Cascade Range. l%is was one of a series of ^Mafio Railway explorations. Returning to Waah« ington, he ifss detailed to visit the West Indies and secretly sdect a ooaling sta* tion for the United States Navy. He was dispatched by Jeflerson Bavis^ Secretary of War, to Europe, with instructions to tske foil reports of the organiisticm military forces coonected with the Grunean war. This wctk elicited entire satisfactUMU He returned in January, 1857, resigned as regular army officer, and was soon installed as engines of JQlin<us Ooktral Railroad. In 1S60, he was President of the Ohio k Mis8iB^|M* He removed to Cincinnati, where he was at the opening of the war.

William Starke Rosecrans was born September 6, 1819, in Delaware County, Ohio. His people were from Amsterdam. He was educated at West Point. When the war opened, he espoused the cause of the Union with enthusiastic zeal, and was appointed by McClellan on his staff as Engineer. June 9, he was Chief Engineer of the State under special law. Soon thero.iftcr, lie was Colonel of the Twenty-third Ohio, and assigned to the coumiuud of Camp Chase, Columbus. On May 16, his conunissitm was out as Brigadier General in the United States Army. This reached him and he was speedily sunmoned to activeserviee, under Gen. McCleDan. After tiie hattie of Rich Mountain, he was promoted to the head of the department.

.In AprU, 1882, he was succeeded by Fremont, and ordered to Washington to engsge in immediate serrioe tor the Secretsiy of War. Aboat the Ifith of May, he was ordered to Gen. Halleek, befine Coiinth. He wif relieved from his command December 9, 1864.

Ulysses S. Grant, whose history we cannot attempt to give in these pages, born on the banks of the Ohio, at Point Pleaiiaut, Clermont Co., Ohio, April 27, 1822. He entered West Point in 1839.

That the son of a tanner, poor and unpretending, without infiaentialfriendl until his parfennaaoe luA won them, ill-iiMd to the world and its ways, should rifle - not snddenlj, in the first blind worship of helpless ignoranoo wbidi made any one who nnderstood regimental tactics illastrious in advanoe for what he was going to do^ not at all fiir what he had done - bat slowly, grade by grade, tfaroogh all the Tieisritades of constant flerrioe and mingled blunders and soocsss, tin, at tiie end of four years' war be stood at tiie head of our annies^ crowned by popular acclaim our greatest soldier, is a satis&ctorj answer to criticism and a suffident yindication of greatness. Success succeeds."

We may reason on the man's career ; we may prore that at few stages has he shown personal eridenoe marked ability ; we may demonstrate his mis* takes ; we may swell the praises of his subordinates. But after all, the career stands "vronderful, unique, worthy of study so long as the nation honors her benefactors, or the State chehshes the gpod &une of the sons who confcribated most to her honor."

Lieut. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman v. lls another Ohio contribution to the great Union war. He was born at Lancaster February 8, 1820. He entered West Point in June, 1836. His " march to the sea has fully brought out the details of his life, since they were rendered interesting to all, and we refrain from repeating the well-known story. *

Philip H. Sheridan was bom on the 6tfa of March, 1881, in Somerset, Ferry Co., Ohio. He entered West Point in 1848. During tiie war, his caieer was brilliant. CQs presence meant victory. Troops fighting under his command were inspired. Gen. Boseerans ssidof him,**Hefight8,hefig|its." A staff officer once said, He is an emphatic human syllable."

Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell was born near Marietta on the 23d of March, 1818. His grandfather on the maternal side was one of the first settlers of Cincinnati.

We find numerous other names of Brevet Brigadier Generals, mostly of late appointments, and not ezercbing commands in aocofdanee with th«r brevet rank, which we omit quoting through lack of spaee. They are the namea d men of rare abilitieB, and in many oases of brilliant achievements.

In looking over the "War Beeord of Ohio," we find the State a gnat leader in men of valor and heido deeds. It was the prolific field of miBtaiy geniuses.

Ohio was draped with the garb of mourning at the close of the war. Her homan sacrifice in behalf of the natbn had been bitter. There were tean and beKt«61i6B all aver the land. Her lanksweresweptbjamiirderoiufiie^fiKHii whidk thej never flindied, aad many olfioen M.

Gol. John H. Patrick irill be remembered aa opening the battle of Looikoiit Mountain. He fill moartallj womded, dnring the Atlanta campaign. May 15» 1862, while aetiyely engaged. He waa atrndL by a caniater ahot> and aspired half a hour tiiereafter.

Col. John T. Toland, in July, 1868, was placed in command of a mounted brigade, including his regiment, and ttos instructed to deatroy the Vii|^ia & Tennessee Railroad. lie reached Wytheville, Ya., on the afternoon of- the 18th of July. The rebels were safely intrenched in the house, and poured a galling fire into the national troops. Col. Toland was on horseback, at the head of his command. A sharpshooter sent a bullet with fatal certainty, and he fell on the neck of his horse, but was instantly caught by his Orderly Sergeant, who heard the fervent words : My horse and my sword to my mother.'*

Lieut. Col. Barton S. Kyle accompanied his regiment to the battle of Tittsburg Landing. The regiment was forced buck, though resisting bravely. Lieut. Col. Kyle was at his post of duty, encouraging his men, when he received a bullet in his right breaat He aorviyed five boiiia.

CoL William G. Jonea waa engaged in the batUe of Chickamauga, June, 1868. BfB regiment, the Thirtj-aizth Ohio, waa indnded in Toiehin'a Brigade cf the Fourteenth Owpa. He wrote in bia pocket memonnda: Off to the left ; merdfiil Father, have mercy on me and my r^gpment, and protect na tnm hginy and dealh " - at 12 o'docL At 6 that afternoon, he waa fitally woonded and exiured at 7 that same evening, on the batlJe-field- Hia remaina were taken by the rebels, but in December, 1868, they were exhomed and interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.

Col. Fred. C. Jones held command of the Tenth Brigade, in October, 1862, nuurching from Wild Cat, Ky., tO Nashville, through a perpetual skirmish, During the battle of Stone River, Col. Jones* regiment, the Twenty-fonrth, was on the front and left of the line. During the afternoon, when the rebel assault upon the left became furious, Col. Jones ordered his men to lie down and hold fire, which was obeyed. They rose to pour a deadly volley into the rebel ranks, and rush f(»rwar(i in a fierce charge. The capture of an entire rebel regiment was thus effected, but Col. Jones waa shot in the right side. lie was carried to the rear. " I know it; I am dying now ; pay no attention to me, but look after my wounded men." He survived about ten hoora. Hia remaina are buried in Spring Grove, CindnnatL

Gol. Lorin Andrewa want with hia command to Weetem Virginia, where be aoccnmbed to exposure and acme duty. He waa removed to hia hcne^ Gambier, Ohic^ where he died aninranded hf fiienda Sqitember 18^ 1861.

Col. Minor MiUiken was sent to repel Uie attacks of the rebels at ike rear. He led a superb cavalry charge against the enemy, vastly superior in numbers, and was cat off with a small portion of his regiment. He disdained to sur* lendor, and ordered his men to cat their way oat. A hand-to4iand conflict ensaed. OoL Milliken, being an expert swordsman, was able to protect himself with his saber. While parrying the strokes of his assailant, another sihot him. The regiment, again chargtng, recovered his body, stripped of sword, parse and watch.

Col. George P. Webster, with his regiment, the Ninety-eighth, left Steubenville for Covington, Ky., August 23, 1862, marching from that point to Lexington and Louisville. He was placed at the command of the Thirty-fourth Brigade, Jackson's division, Cooke's coips. He fell in the battle of PerryviUe, and died on the field of battle.

Col. Lonruler Stem was appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry August 80, 1862. His premonitions that he should fall during his first regular engagement proved too true. As the army wad advancing on Murfrecsboro, the engagement of Knob Gap occurred, when Cul. Stem's regiment charged and took a rebel battery, with sevoal prisoners. The army closed around Hmfreesboro, and on the evening of ^e 80th, the One Hundred and First was engaged in demonstradons against tiie enemy. Next morning, the battle of Stone River began in earnest When Col. Stem's regiment began to wwet, he called ont: Stand by the flag now, fi>r the good old State Ohio ! " and instantly feil» fttally wounded.

Lieat. Gd. Jonas D. Elliott held his position in May, 18S8. Baring the summer of 1864, ho commanded the left wing of the regiment at Dodsonvill^ Ala.; in September, he was sent after Wheeler, and was ordered into camp at Decatur. On the 23d, he was dispatched to Athens, to participate in the attadc of Gen. Forrest, of the rebels. Col. Elliott was sent out, with 300 men, and being surrounded by Gen. FoiTest, with vastly superior numbers, a forced resistance onubled them to sustain their own ground, until a fresh brigade of rebels arrived, under Gen. Warren. This officer instructed one of his men to shoot Lieut. Col. Elliott, and a moment later he fell. He lingered nineteen days.

Ool. Augustas H. Coleman displayed the abilities of asacoessful commander. He was in the first chaige on the bridge across Antietair Creek. He was fitally woonded. His last wovds wetv inqoiiiee regarding his men.

CoL J. W. Lowe commanded the Twelfth Ohio, and was ordered to assist ihB Tenth in the battle of Camilez Ferry. Cheering his men, in the thickest of the fight, a rifle ball pierced his finehead, and he fell dead-^e first field officer from Ohio killed in battle in the war for the Union.

Bt Of Vhb 8Iatb Of Ohio

Lient. Col. Moses F. Wooster was engaged with bis regiment, the One Hundred and First Ohio, at Penyville, He wa3 raortallj wounded on the Slst of December, 1862, in the grand effort to stem the tide of defeat at Stone Eiver.

Seerataiy Edwin M. Stanton waa one of the most popular war Ministen. He was bom in SteobenTille, Ohh, in 1815 ; he was engaged in the United Stales CSirooit Court, in 1860, in a leading law tait, at Oindnnati, known as the llanny and MeOovmiek reaper trial ; on the dOth of Jannaiy, 1862, he was appointed Secretary of "War by Mr. Lincoln.

Ex-Secretary Salmon P. Chase's pablie aervioes in Ohio have already been mentioned in these pages. In 1861, he was appointed Seeretaiy of the Treesniy, in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet.

Unit<^d States Senator B. F. "Wade made his reputation in Ohio. This Senator of the State stood at the head of the Committee on the Conduct of the War throughout its duration.

Jay Cooke was the financial agent of the Government, furnishing money for the payment of the troops. He was bom in Portland, Huron Co., Ohio.

In our brief review of the war record of Ohio, we have omitted a vast amoiint of detail infbnnation that would prove interesting to onr readers. We believe we have been accurate in whatever we have given, taking as our antfaori^, that accepted encyclopedia " of Ohio war ftcto - Whitelaw Beid, who has published a valnaUe volume on the salject soia oiBOussED strBJEcn. It may be well in glancing over the achievements of Ohio, her momentous labors and grand successes, to refer to the Ordinance of 1787, more minutely than we have done, in relation to many events, since its inherent principles are not only perpetuated in the laws of the entire Northwest, but have since been woven into the general Constitution of the United States. It made permanent the standard and character of immigration, social culture and political and educational institutions. It was thoroughly antislavery and denounced involuntary servitude, which was sanctioned in every other State at that time, with the exception of Massachusetts. It protected religion and property. As late as 18tj:2. Gen. William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana, called a convention for the purpose of considering the slavery question, and the feasibility of introducing the system in the new States and Territories being formed. There was at diis lime a qiiiited contest, and minciB, Lidiana and possibly Ohio, barely escqied a decision that a full support shonld be given its introdnction

An anifimted disensnon arose not long sinoe, ngu^mg the coneet anthos. ship of this important ordinanoe^ and its chief woricer in gaining its sanction hy Congress.

Mr. Webster aseribed its authorship to Mathew Dane, of MasBachnsettSy which statement was immediately refiited by Mr. Benton, of Miasi8sip|n| wh<^ laid claim to it as the birthright of Thomas Jefierson, of Virginia.

It has been almost impossible to obtain accurate reports of the actions of the old Continentid Congress, from the fact that its meetings were held in secret, and any reports either narrated or shown in schedules or lists, were deemed a striking lack of trust on the part (if the person who furnished the information. It was sufficient that its acts and conclusions be proclaimed without any prelude or reasoning process. Hence it has been difficult to obtain early Congressional - documents. But it has been conclusively proven that the great motive power in gaining the approbation of the Ordinance of 1787, was neither Dane nor Jefferson, but Dr. Cutler.

He arrived at New York, July 5 of that year, after a journey from Ipswich, Mass., in his sulky. He obtained lodgings at the Plow and Harrow," and saw that his good horse was properly cared for and ied at the same place. Congress was then in session, and he had come on a miasicn ibr the Ohio Gomt* pany, to negotiate their grant and its privileges in the new Territory of Ohio. He remained ii Xew York three weeks, constantly engaged in the work vital to the interests of the ftitore great State. Bat he secured the installment of the principles deemed the corner-stone of a fbtnre powerM State constitution. Mr. Poole^ Librarian of the Chicago Public Library, searched assiduously tor conclusive proof of Dr. Cutler's right to this honor, and in the North American Review, Vol. 122, this is emphatically set forth with substantiating proof under his signature.

Other facts have been discussed and proven at a very recent date, relative to the State of Ohio, which heretofore have been omitted, and nearly lost from the historic thread which unites the present with the past.

The first settlement of the lands of the Northwest is nec^sarily surrounded with interest. But those were exciting, troublesome times, and a few links were passed over lightly. However, the years are not so far removed in the past hut the line may be traced.

Mr. Francis W. Miller, of Cincinnati, has supplied some missing chapters. The earliest documentary trace extant, regarding the southern settlement at Cincinnati, is an agreement of partnership between Denman, Filson and Patterson, in the fractional section of land to which the city of Cindnnan waa originally limited. It bearathe date August 25, 1788. This was entered on the xeoords of Hamilton County, Ohio, October 6, 1808.

A letter from Jonathan Dayton to the lion. Judge Symmes, dated September 26, 1789, says : You have been selling your lands, I am told, for two shillings specie, the acre. The price at this moment is, and seems to be, and undoubtedly is, a good one; but as much cannot be said of it when you find liereafter that in oonseqaenoe of the rise of certificates, another acre, in aaodier payment, may cost you in specie two ahillingi and rizpenoo."

A letter from John C. Symmes to Gapt Dayton, dated April 80, 1790, aajs: <*Tfae had in the reNrred township s held al maoh too high a prioe. Hot a fbot of land be^xmd Ao fire-acre kta wiD mH. Five ehilliny, epeoifl^ or two doOam In oertifioates, is die atmoet tiiey will brings and they will vuely mU at that"

This state of affidn was in a Urge degree brought about hj ihe breaking-np of North Bend and a removal of the town to Fort Washington, or Cincinnati, later. A search through the old letters and other preserved documents prove that North Bend was at one time the b^pnning of the great city on the Ohio, rather than Cincinnati. Judge Symmes wrote, May 18, 1789: I have not as yet been able to make a decisive choice of a plat for the city, though I have found two [tit'ces of ground, both eligible, but not upon the present plan of a regular squaie. It is a question of no little moment and diflSculty to determine which of these spots is preferable, in point of local situation. I know that at first thought men will decide in fivor of that on the Ohio, from the supposition that the Ohio will command more trade and business than the Miami. * * * jju^ if it were built on the Miami, the settlers throughout the purchase would find it very convenient." ^ '

Another of the earliest selections of town sites was a(jyacent to the most KNidierly point of what is now Delhi Township. To this the name of Sonth Bend was given. Judge Symmes reports Nofomber 4, 1790, of this place, over ftrlj frsmed and hewed-log two-story houses, since the pieoeding spring. Ensign Lnoe is ssid to have taken his ttoapi to North Bend, hnl decided to lemore to Cincinnati, on aeooont of the object of his afiections having settled there - the wift of - settJer. Bnt this stoij is refitted by contndictofy evidence from Judge Symmes' letters, which illustrate die &et that the post of North Bend was abandoned by Ensign Lnoe and his men in consequence of a panic, caused by Indian attacks. The removal of the troops caused a general decline of the town. Again, histoiy and letters from the same eminent Judge, assert that Fort Washington was completed and garrisoned by Maj. Doughty before the close of that same year, and was begun by him during the summer, tliat Ensign Luce must have still been at his post at the bend at that time. It has been, therefore, recently accepted that the traditional ''black cye.s" and the ''Indian panic," had nothing to do with the founding of Cincinnati, and that the advantages of the position gained the victory.

Cincinnati has advanced, not only in prosperity and culture, but in national significance. Our readers must have observed, in perusing these pages, that from tliis city and the State wkidi it TOpwaentB, haTe emanated Bome of tlie superior inteUeets which have need their wise fiMolties and talents, tempered hj » irise judgment, in behalf of the American Union.

The originality of the Senecas and Wyandots hare been debated at some length, while others have called the tribes the same, having two branches. We hare searched the earlier reoords and hare found an aathentieated aooonnt of these two tribes.

The Indian tribes of Ohio were originally bold, fierce and slalwart. The country watered by the Sandusky and its tributaries was frequented by the Wyandot tribe, wlio came from the north side of the St. Lawrence River. The Senecas were blood relatives of this tribe. Both tribes were numbered by the thousands. A war originated between them, in this manner: A Wyandot chief desired to wed the object of his affections, who laughed him to scorn, because he had taken no scalps, and was no warrior " to speak of." To change her opinion, he led out u party, and falling upon a number of Senecas, slaughtered them mercilessly, that he might hasten to the Bide of his dusky belle, with his trophies. This act inaagarated hofitilities, which extended through a century. The Wyandots beg^ to fear extenmnation, and, gathering their entire effects^ the natives escaped to Green Bay, and settled in several Tillages. But the Sen> ecas made up a war party and fiillowed them, killing many Wyandots and burning some of their villages. They then retnmed to Canada. Soon hereafter, ih^ secured fire-arms from the French. A^ain they followed the Wyandots^ filing thdr gnns into their hnts, and frightening them severely. They did not succeed as well as they expected. But the third party nearly exterminated the villages, because the ycnng warriors were nearly all gone to war with the Fpxes. The few at home escaping, promised to return with the Senecas, but desired two days for preparation* The Wyandots sent word to the two villages left undisturbed, and held a consultation. They decided to go as near the Senecas as possible, unobserved, and discover their real motive. They found them feasting on two roasted Wyandots, shouting over their victory. They danced nearly all night, and then fell asleep. A llttlo before daylight, the Wyandots fell on them, leaving not one to carry back the news.

The Wyandots then procured guns, and began to grow formidable. They set out to return to their own country, and proceeded on their way as far as Detroit, where they met a juu ty uf Senecas, on the lake. A fierce conflict ensued, and the Wyandots beheld the Senecas fall, to the last man, suflering fearful carnage themselves. They soon settled in this part of the world, their principal village being on the Sandusky. Northwestem Olilo was particularly dangoons with new Indian tribes, and the Wyandots were cmelly aggressive. The death of their ehie^ and their total defeat by Harrison, destroyed their power forever* r On the 29th of September, 1817, a treai^ was held, at ^efiwt of the n^ids I of the Miami of Lake Erie* between Lewis CSsas and Ihmoan McArtfaiuv

Gomminioiien of the United States, and the sachems, cbiefe and warriors of the | Wyandot, Seneca, DekmtM, ShftWiiM^ Potsfrattamie, OttewB and Chippewa j nations. AUtkeir lm^ d» Ohio wen ceded to ike United States forever. ^

Thene was really not a Seneea in the Seneea nation. They were chiefly Gayugas, Bfohawks* Onondagaa, Tosoarawas, Wyandots and Oneidae. Bat the Mingoes were oiiginalfy Cayi^^ and thor chief was die celebrated hogjuk. After the mnrder of his fiunily hy the whites, die Hingoes were scattered orer ths territory northwest of the Ohio.

The notorious Simon Girty was adopted by the Seaeeas. Girty's name was a terror and fiendish horror for many years. He not only led the Indians in their atrocities, but he added barbariam to thdr native wickedness.

Conclusion

When peace was proclaimed, after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant, the volunteer troops disbanded, and a return to home industries instituted, Ohio, like many other States, gave direct attention to the interests of returned soldiers. The thrift of the State was augmented by a spasmodic, and thereafter recognized as a fictitious, demand for products, c<miraercial and industrial puryuiis redoubled their forces. But the great wave of stagnation over this &ir land - the re-action of a war excitement Laborers were many, but wages were inadiK|n«ts. Deqier and dscfwr setlkd this lethargy - eeUed by msny hard times** - mitfl the wheeb of commercial life revolved slowly, and firom ibe worhshops and the hie(Uxicm went up the echoes of privar tion and distroM. There was no ftmine^ no ftver, no epidsmie, it was simply exhansticni. In the larger dties there was mnohsnlfering. Idle people loitered about, barely seeking empkyment} the task wwmiing wens than hopdees.

Baring the years 1870, 1871 and 1872, the stringent measures broQ^t abont by the depressed state of business retsrded any material advancement in general matters. The years 1873-74 were marked by a preeeptible improvement, and a few factories were established, while larger numbers were employed in those already founded. The year 1875 was under the direotiMi of a Demo* cratic Legislature. It was marked in many respects by a reverse motion " in many laws and regulations.

The Legislature which convened in 1876, January 3, was Republican in the main. It repealed the " Geghan Law" passed by the preceding body. At the time of its adoption, there was the most intense feeling throughout the State, the charge being made that it was in the interests of the Catholics. Among the general enactments were laws re-organizing the government of the State institutions, which the previous Legislature had ordered according to their own belief to follow new doctrines. The office of Comptroller of the Treasury was abolished. The powers of man»»pal oorporaticns to levy taaras was limited, and their aadiority to incur debts was limited. Forthermore, this body prohibited any monicipal appropriations, unless the actual money was in the Tressniy to meet

The temperanoe canae reoMTad more Tigonms and solid anpport than waa efar rendered by tiie State preTiooaly. A oommoiifaenae^ highly moral and exalted platfimn ma formed and anpported by many leading men.

The State Mine Inq>ector reported 300 coal mines in the State, with only twenty-five in operation. Not over 3,000,000 tone of ooal were raiaed during

The State charities reported the aggregate number under public care to be 29,508. The taxation for the maintenance of these classes was one and one six-hundredth of a mill on each dollar of taxable property.

The growth of mann&etonng indoftriei, the remarkable annual inereaao in atoek and in agricultural prodneta ainoe 1877, leare no room to doubt the rapid advanoement of Ohio i*i general wealth.

Primitive Appearance or the Country - The Claims of VmonaA and Connecticut - The Connecticut Westeiin Reserve - Donation of Firb Lands, and Sale of the Balance to the Connecticut Land Company - Indian Titles Extinguished - Ordinance of 1787 - Arrival ok the First Surveying Corps at Conneaut - The Reserve Surveyed into Townships - Trials and JSufferinos of the Surveyors - Erection of Jefferson and Trumbull Counties - Oikjanization ok Fr.ANKr.ix Towxsini' - Portage Covnty Erected, and Selei'tion of its Seat ok .Justice - First Elkction, the CoMMlssioNRiw - Original Townships - Tax Levies and Collectors OF 1808 - First Year's Receipts and Expenditures - Changes in the Western Boundary Line - PK^:sK^-T Boundaries - Origin of the Name of the County- The Portage Path - Areas and Townships - Population STATnrics.

WHAT is now known as Portage Ck>unt7 was, ut the time of the coming of fhe white men, one vast, nnlirokea fotwt The soil, hf the annual accnmnlations of leaTee and abundant growths of forest vegetation, was luxuriant, and the trees stood close, and wore of gigantic size. The streams and small lakes swarmed with hsh, and the forest abbunded ¥ntb game Where now axe towns and hamlets filled with busy populations iafceain upon the accumulation of wealth, the mastery of knowlsdgs^ and the punraits I of pleasure, the deer browsed and the pheasant dnimmed his monotonons note. -3 Where now stands the glowing furnace from which, day and night, tongues of flame are bufsting, and whwe l£e bnsj water-wheel now farnishee power for nnniecons mills and factories, half naked, dusky warriors fashioned their spears with rude implements of stone, and made themselves hooks ont of the bones of animals, for alloring the hnny tribe. Where now are fertile fields, upon which the thrifty farmer tmms his farrow, whidi his neighbor takes np and mns on until it reaches from one end of the broad State to the other, and where are flocks and herds rejoicing in rich meadows, f^laddened by abundfint stroaras and . fountains, or reposing at the heated noon-tide beneath ample shade, not a ^ blow had been stmck against the giants of the forest, the soil rested in virgin i porily, the streams gli&d on in majesty, nnveied by wheel and nnofaoked hfj derioe of man.

Where now the long train rushes on with the sppetl of the wind ovot plain and mead, across brook and river, awakening the echoee of the hills the long day throqgh, and at the midnight hoar soreaming oat its shrill whistle in fiery defiance, the wild native, issuing from his rude hut, trotted on in his forest path, pointed his bark canoe across the deep stream, knowing the progrees of time cnly by the rising and setting sun, troubled by do meridians for its index, starting on his way when his nap was ended, and etqi^ing for rest when a spot was reached that pleased his fancy. "Where now a swarthy popalation toils oeasele8<^ly deep down in the bowels of the earth, shat out from the light of day in digging the malwial that feeds the fires npon the forge, and gives genial warmth to the poor man's happy home, and to the lovers as they chnt rnorrily in the luxurious drawinpf room, not u mine had been opened, and the vast beds of the black diamond rented unsunned beneath the superincumbent strata where they had been fashioned by the Creator's hand. X^iyili* sation had not yet oome to disturb the eqnanimily of the red man as he ^ smoked the pipe of ])oace at tho council fire, and many a bitter struggle was to ensue before he would surrender to his white foe his goodly heritage by the foreet stream and deep flowing river, and seek fur himself new hunting groonds in less favored regions.

The first authentic record we find of the white man's claim to this portion of the red man's domain is tbo Virginia title to the great Northwest Territory, acqaired through its several charters granted by James I in iOOC, lOOU and 1611, without any recognition of the miginal owiMfs and ooonpants of the soil That colony first attempted to exercise authority over its extensive dominions lying northwest of the Ohio Biver, when, in 1769, the House of Burgessee passed the follow iiii^ act:

WBBREA8, The people situutcd on tbc Missisftippi. iti the ^aid County of Botetourt, will be very remote from the Court House and must necessarily become a separate county as soon m their anmbers are sufficient, which probably will happen in a ah<Hrt time, be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of the said

County of Hotetourt whic h lies on the said waters, shall l>c exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said County Court for the purpose of building a Court Home and priaoo for aeld conaty.

name until 1778, when, after the conquest of tho country by Gen. George Rogers Clark, the Virginia Legislature organized the County of Illinois, embracing within its limits all of the lands lyiug west of the Ohio liiver to which Virginia had any claim. Ool. John Todd received appointment from the Gov* rnor of Virginia as Civil Commandant and Lieutenant of the county. He served until his death, at the battl<« of Blue Licks in 1782. and Timothy de Montbmn was his successor. In 1783 the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act authorising her delegates in Congress to oonrey to the Ignited States all the rights of Virginia to the territory northwest of the Ohio River. Pursuant to this act, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Le« and James Monroe, tho Virginia delegates, ceded to the general Government, on the 1st of March, 1784, all right, title and claim of soil and jurisdiction to said territory previously hehl by Virginia. The deed of cession was accept prl by Congress on the name day, and the United States thus seooied the title of that State to the soil of Ohio.

Another claim, however, still remained to be satisfied, which was room closely connected with the portion of Ohio known as the Western Reserve thaa the preceding ThiH claim reaches back to the founding of Connecticut, the original charter of which was granted by Charles II in lOG'J. It dofinod the limits of the grant to be from the south line of MassachuaettH on the north to Long Island Sound on the eonth, and from the Narraganaett liiver on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west,** which embraced all the country lying between tho 41st and 42 d degrees north latitude. These boundaries inclnded not onlj what i?? now Connecticut, but also portions of Now York and New Jersey, nearly half of Pennsylvania, the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana IlHnoia, and a strip off the aouthem part of Miohigan, beeidM portions of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. There was a clause, however, in the charter, which excepted from it aach territory as was then occupied by prior settlera.

A dispute soon aroae between New York and Odmeetient as to their bound* aries, when the King, in 1664, appointed Commissioners to settle it They decided that the Maronee River should be the western boundary of Conneotioat With this decision against her, Connectioat neglected for nearly a century to assert her elaim to any tenritory west of New York In 1681 a diarter was granted to William Penn of the territory embraced in the limitn of Pennsylvania. This, of course, embraced a large part of the territory inclndod in the charter of Connecticnt, and bitter quarrels now sprung up between the two eolooies as to their respectiTe rights. In 1758 a company was formed! in Connecticut to plant a colony on the Susgmhanna River, on lands they claimed as included in her Charter, A purchase was made of the sachems of the Six Nations by this company in 1754, ab Wyoming, and in 1774 a township waa formed there, called Westmoreland, which seiit a BeproaentattTO to the Legislatnre of Oonnecticut. Pennsylvania and Conneoticnt both sold the same lands, and both agreed to give poBBes5iion, which caused constant quarrels, and roRort was often had to arms to expel those in possession. In 1770 the Legislature of Connecticut sent to England certain questions respecting heat title to the lands west of New York. The answers were favcrable to her claims, and she determined to enforoe them, bat the Bevolationaiy war ooming on soapended the controversy.

In 178 1 the two States appointed Commissioners to determine the dispute, and an act of Congress was passed granting to these Commissioners fall power to act in the final settlement of the conflicting claims. Tho CommiRsionersmet at Trenton, N. J., in 1782, and after a full hearing decided that Connecticut had no right to the lands in dispute, but that they belonged to Pennsylvania. The State of Conneetieat aeqaiesoed in the dedaion, bat still claimed all the lands lying west of Pennsylvania, extending to the Mississippi River. To avoid all future trouble, Connecticut, in 1786. ceded all hor lands west of Pennsylvania to Congrras, excepting only 120 miles from the Pennsylvania line west, and north of latitade 41^, over whioh, however, the ITnited States retained fall jariadiction. This cession was accepted, and the controversy finally settled.

The territory thus confirmed to Connecticut ha.s since been known as the Western Reserve, and lies between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania on the east, the parallel of the 4l8t degree north latitade on the soatii, and the eastern line of Seneca and Sandnsky Counties on the wesl It extends 120 miles from east to west, and averages about fifty miles from north to sonth, although on the Pennsylvania line its width is sixty-eight milee. The lieserve eontains abont 8,800,000 acres, and is snrveyed into townships, each five miles square. Half a million acres from off the west end of tho lioserve were granted by Connecticut in 1792 to the residents of Greenwich, New London, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbory, New Haven, and other villaKCS of that State, whose property waa homed by the English daring the Bevotationary war. This grant is ealled the Fire Lands, beoanso of being donated to compensate for the property destroyed by tiro, and includes the five western ranges of townships in the Reserve. Excepting one township in Ashland County, and a small strip at the eastern end of Otoiwa, the Fire Lands are embraced in

After the donntion of the Fire Lands, the remaining 3,H00.(XX) acres were put upon tlio market, and in 17U5 sold by the State to the Counecticut Land Company for ^1,200,000. This money was invested as a permanent fund, ealled the Coonoolieat School Fond, the intereot of which goes toward the support of common schools in that State. The land company divided the amount into 400 shares of l?3,(MlO each, on paymt'nt of which a certificate was tBsued entitling the holder to one four- hundredth part of the lands purchased. The oompany conveyed it by deed of tmat to Jooathan Aran, John Caldwell and John Mayan, to bold and sell for the proprietoi-s. The certificates were all nuiuberod, and then the proprietom drew for their land, similar to draw* ing a lottery.

Before tibe whites, bowever, could take peaesable possession of their lands lying in the Western Reserve, a title from the Indians was ueoseeaiy, and this was finally acPompHshtMl. Through the treaty of Fort Stanwix, consummated with the Six Nations October 22, 17bi4, the indefinite claim of that confederal to the soil ol Ohio was extingniriied. This was followed in Janaary, 1786, by the treaty of Fort Ifolntosh, by which the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas and Cbippewas relinqniahed ull claim to the territory lyinp; east of the Cuyahoga Hiver, Portage Path and Tuscarawas Kiver, and south of a line running southwest from Fort Lammis, on the Tuscarawas (the town of Bolivar), to the portage between the Big Miami and Maomee Rivers, near the western bound* ary of the State. A similar relinquishment was effected with the Shawnees by the treaty of Fort Finney, January 31, 1780. The treaty of Fort Harmar, January 9, 1780, and that of Greenville, August 3, 1795, re-established and extended the southern boundary line through Ohio laid down by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh. All of the Western rieservo Ivingwest of the Cuvahoj^a Kiver and the Portage Path was secured by a treaty made at Fort Industry (Toledo), July 1, 18UD, and thus the last vestige of Indian title to the lands iu the Bsserye was forever OKtingaished.

When the United States had obtained posses.sioD of the country north aod west of the Ohio Kiver. ('ongress took the great step which resulted in the establishment of a wise and salutary civil government. On the 13th of July, 1787, after a prolonged disoossion of the principles and issoes involved, thers was issued "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Kiver Ohio," which has since been known as "the ordinance of 17S7," or the "ordinance of freedom." By this great and statesmanlike ordinance, provision was made for snceessive forms of territorial gov* erument, a(la{ito<l to successive stepe of advancement in the settlement aud development of the Western oonntrv. " This remarkable instrument," says Chief Justice Chase, " wab the last gift of the Congress of the old confederation to the country, and it was a fit consommation of ttieir glorious labors." Fp to this time the Government, to avoid infringements upon the rights of the Inflinns. had discouraged and ])revented the settlement of the lands northwest of the Ohio, but on the passage of the ordinance emigration was fostered and encouraged in every way, and when the settlers went into the wilderness they found the law already there. "It was impressed upon the soil itself, while it yet bore up nothing but the forest."

In June, 179G, the Connecticut Land Company sent out a surveying party to divide the Beserve into town.ships. It was under the charge of Moees

Cleveland, from whom the city of Clevelaud takes its name. On the 4th of Jnlj the parly arriTed at the site of CSonneant, Aahtabmla Oonnty, where they celebrated our great national holiday, being the first celebration on the Roserve. The expedition consisted of forty-fivo mon, two women and one child. The work was began and vigorously prosecuted during the Bummer wd lall of 1796, and the following spring a eeoond e3q>edition eame oat to finteh the snrvey. Warebam Shepherd, the last survivor of that surveying corps, and Amzi Atwater, who subsequently became Associato Judge of Portage Coantj, were leading members of this party. When surveying at the northeast oomer of Palmyra Township, Portage County, July 5, 1797, Shepherd was taken sick with dysentery, and Miner Biekwell, one of their assistants, with a violent fever. They kept on, however, till they got the line run between Braoeville Township, Tramball County, and Windham Township, in this oounty, when Bi<^well beosme too siek to prooeed f nither. Here was a trying time. In a wilderness, without medioine, and without skill to use it if they had it^ and with no guide but their compass - under snch difficulties the bravest heart might well grow discouraged. But ^*neoessity is the mother of invention, ** and Atwater out two poles and fastened bark to them so they would hang beside a horse like the shafts of a wagou - one horse following the other so far aoart that the Hick man could lie lenrrthwiso between them. With bark and blankets they made his bed as comfortable as possible, and by twisted bark ropes fastened it to their pack saddles.

Shepherd becoming somewhat better, Atwater left him with one assistant to Txm the east line of Range 6 to the lake as best he could, and started for Cleveland with the sick man. They returned back to the northeast corner of Palmyra Township, and then started west on the line between Palmyra and Paris. In this litter Atwater carried Biokwell five days - and a distanoe of fifty miles. He had a high fever all the time, and hi^ reason but a part of the time. On the tifth dnv they arrived at the south line of Independence, Cuyahoga County, on the 25th of July, i7i>7, and Biokwell died about two hoars aner tfadr arrival He was buried near the river, on the sooth line of that town, on the farm subsequently owned by Squire Frazer. He was the seoend white person that died on the Reserve, David Eldridge, one of the party, being drowned the May previous in swimming Grand Kiver. Upon Atwater's return he found Shepherd at the northeast oomer <tf Nelson Township, and they then ran the oast line of Bangs 0 northward to the lake. This finished the township liuos of the Reserve, the eastern line of Portage County being the last one surveyed. The men were nearly all worn out, and sickness prevailed to an alarming extent Peleg Washbom and William Andrews, two of the company, died in Cleveland, in Aagu»t, and nearly every man was Hick. A man by the name of Tinker, the principal boatman, and from whom Tinker's Creek took its name, in going down the lake in the fall was drowned, together with two others, by Uie oapeizing of their boat. One or two boatloads of sick were sent off early in the fail, and the last of the surveying party left the Reserve the fore part of November, 1 707, a Boriy, siokly-looking set of beings, the very reverse of what they were in the Bpring.

Sneh were flie sufferings and trials of those hardy bands of surveyors who prepared the way for the coming of the pioneers, and whose descendants, while enjoying the blensings of the j-irosont. can scarcely realize that only eightyeight year.s ago such was the condition of this beautiful country. So huddeuly and so strangely has the genius of change and alteration waved its charmed wand over the land, that Uie unwritten history of those early days is reoalled as one remembers a fading dream. We are living in an age of invention and maohinezy. These ha've largely destroyed the romance of frontier life, and mneh of the ttraoge^ erontfal iMlitiw of Ihe past an rapidly beeoming mythical, and the narratives of the generation that settled the Western Reserve, abounding in rich treasare of incidents and character^ are baing swallowad ap and forgotten in the surging, eventful present.

At the time the fink aetUemeiit was made within the present limits of Portage County, it formed a part of Jefferson, erected July 29, 1797, and which then embraced all of the territoiy inside the following boundaries, with the seat of justice at Stenbenville:

Begiunin^ upuu the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary of Pennsylvania crosses it. and down the said river to the southern boundary of the fourth township in the third raose (of tboee seven raases of townships that were surveyed in conformity to fhe oidinsnoe of Oongiea of the 20tD of May. 1785). and with the said southem boundary west, to the southweBt corner of the sixth township of the fifth ranjje; thence north along the western boundary of tlie said fifth rno^ii to the termination thereof; thence due west to tlic Mti(skin>^uiii Rivor, nrid up the Muskingiiin and Tuscarawas Rivers to and witli the Portage, between the latter and tiie Cuyahoga River; thence down the Cuyahosa to Lake Erie; thence easterly along the shore of the lake to the Western boilDdsiy Of Fsnnsylva^ oia, and south with the same to ih6 place of beginning.

Three years passed by, and on the 10th of July, 1800, Trnmbtill County was erected, partly from territory' previously embraced in Jefferson, and inelnded all <» the lands oonstitating the Western BeserrSb Its oflioia] boundaries were establielhed as follows:

Bf'pnnini: at the completion of the4l9t° of north latitn'le, 120 miles westof the western boundary of Penusylvuniu, and running from thence by uliiie to be drawn nortli. parallel to and 120 miles west of the said west liiu of Pi un-,ylvania,and to continue north until it comes to 4EP, 2' north latitude; thence with a line to be drawn east until it intersects the said western boundary of Pennsylvania; thence with the said western boondsiy of Pennsylvanis south, to the completion of the 41slP of north latitude; and from ttaenos west to theplaoe of beginning.

of that in Trumbull and Summit, was organized under the name of Franklin Township; but soon afterward other townships were cut off from Franklin, and when Portage County was erected it contained six townships in good run* ning order. It remained a portion of IVmnbnll antil the lOQi of Esbmary, 1807, on which date the Legislature passed the following act, to taice efi!ot and be in force from and after the 7th of June sttcoeeding its passage:

1. Be it muuttd, That all that part of the county of Trumbull which lies west of the fifth range of towiishlpi be erected into a separate oounty by the name of Portage, and shall be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of a separate and mstinct county: Provided, That it shall be lawful for the Coroners, Sheriffs, Constables and Collectors of the ("ounty of Trumbull to do and perform all the duties which they are or may he required to do. within the bounds of the said Coimty of Portage, before the said division shall take place; and all suits and actions, whether of aefvil or criminal nature, which shall he ^K'uaing. and all crimes which shall have been committed therein at the time of said division, shall be pros*'cuted to final judgment and execution in the County of Trumbull, as though no division had taken place.

2. That the courts for the said County of Portage shall be holden at the house of Benjamin Tappan. until a permanent seat of justice shall be established.

8. Ttiat aJl that part of the Connecticut Western Reserve tliat lies west of the Cuyahoga River and sonth of the township numbered five, shall be annexed to and become a part of the oounty of Portage: Provided, That the money arising to the county from a tax on land, within the said district, shall be appropriated by the Commissioners of Portace County, and expended in laying out and making rosdi and electing bridges* withio lie boundaries of said district, west of tlie Cuyahoga.

The act also authorized the appointing of Commissioners, under the law establishing seats of jnstioe, to fix upon the place for the oonnly seat ol Fovt* age County. The Legislature appointed Robert iSiinisou, Samnei Hunter and Beain Beall, who made their report to the Court of Gonunon Pleas o(

Portage County at its first session, Angust 23, 1808, haying selected Ravenna, which had been laid out by Benjamin Tappan the previous spring, as the seat ot jastice for the new county. There is a well authenticated tradition that Aaron Olmstead, the original proprietor of the present township of Franklin, was very desirous of having the county seat located on his land, and in the summer of 1807 came out from the East, and with John Campbell, of Campbellsport, selected a site for public buildings a little north of the upper cemetery in the city of Kent. Olmstead made arrangements with Campbell for the latter to use his influence with the State Commissioners in favor of this location, aud to promise that be {Olmstead i would donate the land and erect a Court House at his own expense, if the Commissioners selected that where he soon afterward died, leaving no provision for carrying out hi* promises; and under a will previously executed bequeathing all the unsold lands to his grandchildren, the proi)osed site could not be donated for county pnrpoeee. It is generally believed that had it not been for Olmstead's death, the seat of justice would undoubtedly have been located on the Cuyahoga River, at Kent, instead of Ravenna, and consequently tlie boundary lines in 3807, the new county remained attached to Trumbull for one year longer. On the 8th of June, 1808, an election was held, and Abel Sabin, Joel Gaylord and Lewis Day elected Commissioners; Alva Day, Sheriff; and Lewis Day, Coroner of Portage County. On the same date the Commissioners met for the purpose of organizing and putting the wheels of local government in motion. On the first page of the Commissioners' Journal the following record is made of this important event in the county's history:

The Board of Commissioners proceeded to fix and detennine on a suitable person to do and perform the duties of Clerk to the said Board. Whereupon it was consitlered that Abel Sabin, Esquire, one of the Commissioners, was a suitable person to discharge the said

The Board of Commi.ssioners in and for said county appointen Elias Harmon, Esquire, Treasurer of the county aforesaid, for the year ensuing; who, luiving accepted the said

Ordered by the Board of Commissioners in and for the County of Portage, that the sum of two dollars be allowed a.<«a bounty for each and every wolf or panther Killed, over the age of six months, within said county, and the sum of one dollar for each wolf or panther, under the age of six months, killed within the term of one year, in the county aforesaid, to be paid out of the County Treasury, on the order of the Commissioners, in conformity to the statute in such cases made and provided.

of Summit County, in 1840, also the present townships of Randolph and Suffield in this county. Franklin Township embraced the present townships of fibip then inclndorl Deorfield, Atwater, Palmyra. I'ans and Edinburg. Aurora Township embraced Aurora and Stxeetsboro; and Hiram Township oovered the teiritorj now known as Hiram, Mantua, N«laon, ShalanWlIo, freedom, Windham and GarretUvillG.

The resident land tax levied August 23, 180S, was an follows: Franklin Township, 146.83; Deerheid. $48.78; Aurora, $38. 17; Hiram, $36.31; Springfield, $34.97; Hndflon, $81.71. The personal property tax levied on the same date was: Franklin Township, $35; Deerfield, $48.90; Aurora, $12.30; Hiram, $23.40; Sprintrlield, $20.00; Hudson, $55.00. The following Tax Collectors were also appointed at the same time: Arthur Anderson, Franklin Township ; James Garter, Deerfield; Oliver Forward, Aurora; Isaae Mills, Hiram; Timo* thy Oulver, S|»riogfield; George Darrow, Jr., Hudson.

The entire r©cei|iis of Portage County from June 18, ISOS, to June 17, 1809, were $3,247.71, of which amount $2,227.52 was the tax on lands lying west of the Cuyahoga River, which, by a elanse in the aet of erection, were annexed to this county. The expenditures daring the same period were $2,355.56. of which $1,125.35 were expended in laying out roads and building bridges in the territory west of the Cuyahoga, in compliance with the clause attaching said tarritorf to P<»tage Ciounty. Thus, the total receipts of this county, from the territory lying between the Tmmbull County line and the Cuyahoga River, were, durinj:^ tlio first year of its organized oxistence, $1,020.- 19; truly a very insiguilicant 8um with which to meet its tinancial wants.

By an act passed January 22, 1811, the west line of the eleventh range of townships was designated as the western boundary of Portage County; and on the 18th of Februarv, 1812, Medina County was erected and attached to Port* age for judicial purposes, where it remained until its separate organization, January 14, 1818. The west line of the eleventh range continued to be the western bcondaiy of Portage until the 29th of Januaiy, 1827, when the follow* ing survey was established:

Be;?inning on tlu- south line of the Conncctiriit Western Rcsittp, nt the point where the iniddlr- nf the Tuscarawas River intersoci.s tlif same; thenrt- northt'rly, following the middle ut the >,nid Tuscarawas Riv«r, to tliu range line between the rlt venth afid twelfth T&ugpif HA run h^ the ('onnecticut Land Company; thence north on the course of the rani(e line iMt aforesaid, to the north line of the towilrillp uumhered four: thence east on tbe north line of number four, in the eleventh range, to tiie middle of the Cuyahoga River; thenot; down the middle of said river to the north line of the towo&hlp numbered five, in asidnuises.

No more changes occurred in the boundary lines of Portage County until the erection of Summit, March 3. 1840, when its two western tiers of townships were cut off in the formation of the new county, eetablinhiug the west line of the ninth range as the western boundary of Portage, and thus its boundaries hnvo slnceremained. It is bounded on the west by Summit County, on the north by CTeauga, on th" east by Triiinbull and Mahoning, and on the south by Mahoning and iStark, the last mentioned boundary being also the south- ORk line of the Western Reserve.

Portage County received its name from the fact that theold Indian Portage Path, bf^twecn the Cuyahncja and Tuscarawas Rivers, was, originally, within its limits, though now in Summit County. This historic path was a part of the boundary established in 1784. by the Treaty of Fort Mcintosh, and remained tihe dividing line between the whites and Indians until 1805, when the treaty consummated at Fort Itiilnstry established the western line of the Reserve as the north and south boundary between the two races in Ohio. The Portage Path left the Cuyahoga River at the village of Old Portage, about three milaa nortii of Akron, thence ran westward up the hill about half a mile to the high ground, where it turned south and ran about parallol with the Ohio Canal to near Summit Lake; thenco took the low ground nearly south to the Tuscarawas, which it struck a mile or more above the New Portage. The whole length of the path was, according to the enrvej made by Ifoeea Warren^ in 1707, oight miles, four chains and fifty-five links.

As the county increased in population new townships were organized, and prior to the erection of bummit County, in 184^0, Portage contained thirty townehipa, with a eombined area of abont 740 aqnare miles of territorf, or 473,f^00 acres. The erection of Summit, however, left Portage County with but twenty townships (Garrettsville has since been formed from Hiram and Nelson), and an area of 490 square miles, or 313,600 acres, including streams and lakes; bat the report of the Secretary of State for 1881 ^wm 812,487 acres as the amount of land contained in this county. Its present townshipa are Atwater, Aurora, Brimfield, Charleetown, Doertield, Edinburg, Franklin, Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Mantua, Nelson, Palmyra, Paris, Randolph, BaTenna, Bootatown, ShalenTille, StreetsbOTo, SnflSeld and Win^am.

AND \'iNEs - Roots and HKiuiA(iK - Wild Animals, Bikds and Reptiles - Bio Hi nt^ - Genkhal Toi'ooitAPiiY. Streams and Lakes - Geoloov of Portage County - SuBFAC£ Fjsatukbs and Deposits - Geological Stkucture - Coal Mbasubbs - Coal No. 1 - Goals Nos. 8 and 4 - Fibb Clat - ALTmn>B8 in Porvaob Countt aboyb Lakb Ebib.

ERE the woodman's ax resounded, sombre and silent was the ancient forest^ which, during untold centuries, had overshadowed the hills and valleys of this region. Beauty and variety marked the plants which grew and bloomed beiiMilili va« leafy canopy of the gigantic trees.