Richland County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 19 of those read), 1880

The Good Old Days

Cabins AND THEIR FurNitTuRE - Earty Enucationat Facinities - Croraina AND Its MANUFACTURE - SUPERsTiTIONS - Satt - Hominy BLnocks - MEAL - DIsTILLERIES - WHUISKY AND ITS Usre - SINGING, SPELLING AND Danoina Scuoors - Camp Merrinas - Mopves or Emiaration - EmiGrants' TRIALS - OBSERVANCE OF THE SappaTH - Marriaces - Dratas - Incipents - Mitis ann Mriiinc - -FnLat-Boats on THE BLAack ForK - MinittA Dritts - Pronerr JokKes - Jounny ApPLESEED's NursertesS - OLp INDIAN LANDMARKS.

were rarely double. They were generally 14x 16 feet, covered by clapboards held on by weight-poles placed on each tier, a ridge-pole in the center. The floors were made of puncheon, split out of logs, and roughly hewn with a broad-ax. The windows were square or long holes, made by sawing through one or two of the logs; slats were nailed across, and the orifice made into a window by covering it with greased paper, which was pasted over. Instances are well remembered in which there was no flour of which to make the paste, and burnt fingers and scowling brows attested to the inefficiency of corn-meal for that purpose. Bedsteads were improvised of rough dogwood poles, with the bark left on, and bottomed very serviceably with strips of elm bark, woven in and out skillfully; or, they were made fast to the wall, requiring only two posts. <A substitute for chairs was found in small benches, hewn out roughly, as were the puncheons. The cupboard, or "dresser," was made by boring holes in the wall, driving wooden pins therein, and placing boards on them. <A row of wide shelves, made the same way, was likewise necessary, and considered an article of furniture, furnishing a place to store bed-clothes. If the family had not a square, four-legged table, they

The chamber, or "loft," was reached by a ladder from the outside; or, if the family could spare the room for it, the ladder was placed inside, and if, from lack of skill or thrift, this. necessary manner of ingress was wanting, a row of stout pegs, placed equidistant apart, could be climbed with wonderful agility. The rosy, bright-eyed nieces of Johnny Appleseed never appeared so beautiful and graceful as when they ran, hand over hand, with twinkling feet, lightly touching the smooth pins that served them well for a stairway.

The fireplace occupied the greater part of one end of the cabin. Sometimes it had "wings," that came in reach of the hand. In the more modern cabins, jambs were built on the hearth. The trammel and hooks were found among the well-to-do families, as time progressed. Previous to this, the lug-pole across the inside of the chimney, about even with the chamber floor, answered for a trammel. A chain was suspended from it, and hooks were attached, and from this hung the mush-pot or tea-kettle. If a chain was not available, a wooden hook was in reach of the humblest and the poorest. When a meal was not in preparation, and the hook was endangered by fire, it was shoved aside to one end of the lug-pole for safety. Iron ware was very scarce in those days. Instances are related where the one pot served at a meal to boil water in for mint tea or crust coffee, to bake the bread, boil the potatoes and fry the meat. By fine management this was accomplished. Frequently the kettle had no lid, and a flat stone, heated, and handled with the tongs, was used instead of one when a loaf, or pone or pumpkin pie was baked. A short-cake could be baked by heating the kettle moderately, putting in the cake, and tipping it up sidewise before the glowing fire. Bannock, or board-cake, was made by mixing the cornmeal up with warm water, a pinch of salt and a trifle of lard, into a thick dough, spreading it on a clean, sweet-smelling clapboard, patting it into shape with the cleanest of hands, and standing it slanting before the fire, propped into the right position by a flat-iron behind it. Baked hastily, this made a delicious cake, sweet and nutty and fresh, and the pretty stamp of the mother's dear, unselfish, loving fingers was plainly detected in the crisp crust. There was little in the way of ornament in the homes of the pioneers. The looking-glass, with a snow-white towel ironed into intricate folds and checks, hung under it against the bare mud-daubed wall; a pin-cushion, that puzzled the novice by its points and corners, made out of gay pieces of plaid and bombazine and bombazette and camlet; a row of tiny pockets; a black cloth cat with a rickety head disproportionate to its size, and a comb-case, completed the list of embellishments. If the family owned a Buckeye clock, abundant room for the ample sweep and swing of its pendulum was granted, but generally the time was marked by the sunshine on the puncheon floor, the cracks measuring off the hours with a tolerable degree of certainty. The pouch and powderhorn held the place of honor beside the clock ; the gun rested on two wooden hooks, secured to a joist overhead. The saddle, wheels, reels, quilting frames, beds, " chists," meal-bag and a few rude, splint-bottomed chairs completed the herbs, dipped candles, little pokes of dried plums, blackberries, hazel nuts, yarn, ginseng roots and golden-seal, hops, stockings, and generally an old pair of white linen breeches stuffed full of dried pumpkin.

One would presume that the weeks spent by pioneers in block-houses where they fled for safety, would have been doleful in the extreme, but assurances are frequent that they were not yet over the fun they experienced in those times. In the twilight the roll would be called, and men and boys would answer in different voices, so that if Indians were prowling about meditating an attack, they would be surprised at the vast number ready to confront them in a fight. Names would be called and responded to, of men living away back in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York and Massachusetts, or perhaps they would be names made up for the occasion. This constituted an immense amount of fun.

Girls would steal out some of the horses and run races and chase one another up and down the hills, recklessly, excusing themselves before angry parents, "I didn't think!"

A heedless lad, given to wandering along the trail out of sight of one of the forts, was suddenly scared by one of the men hiding behind a tree, who gave a piercing yell imitating an Indian. The boy flew back to the fort screaming piteously, "Oh! mam, they're a-comin', they're a-comin!" "Who is it coming, son?" said the mother ; but heonly cried the harder, * Oh!mam, they're a-comin', they're a-comin'!" In after years when the boy became a man and held offices of trust, his laugh was a dry, little abashed sniff when dent.

times. Instances related of the father teaching spelling and geography while at work out in the clearing with his boys. He could drill them on the geography of other countries while they sat nooning, and eating their cornbread and butter. and boiled turnips, under the trees and beside the brook.

In the evenings they could study the multiplication table and the rules. and have good times spelling aloud. 'Once a week the young men in some localities met to compare writing and see how much or how little they had improved. Paper was very scarce. and narrow strips only were used. It was no disadvantage to the eager*boys of those days to browse among the few old books that had been their father's and their grandfather's. (ne boy. after he had mastered the alphabet, which was pasted on a smooth, board paddle, set traps and caught rabbits, and sold the skins for one cent apiece. and bought a new spellingbook with a nice wooden back.

Any kind of a book was a school-book in pioneer times. The large reading class was the History of the United States, the lesser ones read in the Life of Capt. Riley, English Reader, Buck's Theological Dictionary, Book of Martyrs, Encyclopedia, Introduction, ete. Teacher's wages in the winter were $8 or $10 a month and boarding round - the pay raised by subscription and left at any of the mills within a dozen miles. More than usual was the preparation made for the master's week - the time when the family expected the teacher to board with them a week. If they all slept in the same room. the teacher and his host, or one of the hig boys. * sat close to the fire and patted in the ashes." until the women retired, then the embers were buried, the room in darkness, and he could retire. In the morning he lay biding' his time, with one eye open. The pounding or grinding of the coffee was the signal bell that intimated it was time to "face the music." When the wemen went out to get the sausage in the lean-to. or to cut the meat, the delay was

Then, if ie pulled down his vest, cracked his knuckles, milked his beard, or did anything else that betokened his embarrassment, his host understood, and, giving his head a side-wise jerk, said, "down to the brook " - then down to the brook, where there was plenty of water, went the master, and washed openly, and under the canopy of heaven, where there was no stint of accommodations, and where the oxygen was fresh and free. Nowadays, people dignify the calling, and don the teacher, professor; but then, wherever he went, a stranger and unknown, the parents of his pupils invariably, and away ahead of Young America, jovially called him "Jimmy," or "Johnny," or "Georgie," or " Billy." He was fortunate if he escaped a nickname. They liked him. They wanted to prove it by making him "one among 'em," and very often he was called " Nosey," or " Boots,' or " Parson," cr "Blinkey." It was not uncommon for the teacher to be obliged to sleep with a couple of little scratching boys - all packed into one bed, like sardines ina box. A treat was expected on or about Christmas. Sixty years ago the treat was the bona-fide one of good whisky. Sometimes the master and the boys held their pow-wow in the schoolhouse, but generaily, perhaps on account of the girls, they adjourned to a fence, where they sat like a row of rooks on the top rails, and passed the grog from one to another, with bits of jokes and repartee following the bottle in quick succession. An instance is recalled in which the teacher, a confirmed smoker, lighted his pipe, and passed it round among the boys and girls, inviting all to partake of the treat. Candies and raisins formed the staple of the more modern treat. If the teacher ignored the custom, or was too stingy to conform to it, he was "barred out,' - the windows were fastened securely, the benches piled high against the door, and his entrance was impossible, unless some

This foolish and barbarous custom was such an engrafted and fixed one that it has not become entirely rooted out yet, after all these years. ven parents and school officers smile half-approvingly, still, when their boys threaten to "bar out the master."

The best men on American soil once belonged to this profession, and among their older memories and reminiscences they treasure the recollections of " keepin' school and boardin' 'round;" of grandfather's stories of the Revolution, told from his seat in the warmest corner ; of the suppers of mush and milk; of the farmer's rosy, robust daughter, toward whom they cast "sheep's eyes ;" of the nightly feast of walnuts and doughnuts and cider; of the country singing-schools, and of the jealous swain in gay wamus; of the first love that only survived one winter ; of the money they earned all themselves, and of the pride that swelled them when the school officers said " Well done." The venturous boy of a few months before stood up, strong in his new manhood, full of a sound, sweet faith in himself, feeling the force of the poetaster's creed, when he sang: a marvel beyond their comprehension. How could they do it, those nursing mothers with large families! They rose early and worked late, and improved every moment of time. They did nothing by halves. When they went visiting they took their work, not embroidery, or migniardise, or crocheting, as of present times, but substantial sewing or knitting. The minister's wife, for an afternoon's employment, one time, took a bed-tick and a pair of pantaloons, both new linen, and made them with her deftly flying left hand too. She was the woman who hurriedly told her day's work, saying, "I've washed an' baked an' ironed six pies to-day." Linen for Sunday clothes was made of copperas and white, checked or striped, and when bleached was very pretty and soft. For very choice wear it was all flax; for every day or second best, the warp was flax and the filling tow. Linsey-woolsey, or linsey, was wool and covton, very much the same as water-proof or repellent is now, only that it was harsh and not finished. Dye-stuffs in early times were in reach of all - butternut or walnut hulls colored brown; oak bark with copperas dyed black ; hickory bark or the blossoms of 'the goldenrod made yellow; madder, red; and indigo, blue ; green was obtained by first coloring yellow, and then dipping into blue dye. Stocking yarn was dyed black, brown or blue; and, for' very choice stockings, strips of corn husks were lapped tightly in two or three places around a skein of yarn, and dyed blue. When the husks were removed, whitish spots were found, and the rare "clouded yarn," was the result. The little tub of blue dye, with closefitting cover, stood in the warm corner in every well-regulated household, and it made a very convenient seat, and the cover was always worn smooth. Many a lad inclined to matrimony has sneaked slyly along and seated himself on the dye-tub as soon as the old folks retired. When carding machines came and lessened the labor of the toiling women, one of the first indications of anything as fine as "store clothes" was the soft, pressed flannel. grand enough for any uncommon occasion, called "London brown," The folds lay in it, and it shone to eyes accustomed to look upon nothing finer than homemade barred flannel, like lustrous satin. It smelt of the shop, however; the odor of dyestuff and grease and gummy machinery clung to it for a long while. About this time a better quality of men's wear appeared in the same wonderful color of London brown; and, to young men coming of age, who had been indentured boys, the beautiful "freedom suit" was valued higher than the horse, saddle and bridle. Previous to this, the suit was often home-spun jeans, or home-fulled cloth in the rough, dyed a dark yellow or a snuffy brown ; coat, pants and yest cut and made by the handiest woman in the vicinity. The wamus was the common garb of the pioneer ; in color red, blue, brown, yellow or plaid, and not unfrequently, plain white flannel, made in a hurry, at the sudden approach of cold weather, and worn temporarily, which meant only until the time came in which the over-busy wife or mother could concoct a simple dye and give it a solid color. Long before this period of fulling-mills, the ingenuity of the pioneer and his thrifty wife had devised a novel method of thickening the texture of flannel so as to make it suitable for men's winter wear. It may not have been a practice everywhere. The web of goods was stretched out and held loosely at each end, while men with bare feet and rolledup trousers sat in rows on each side of it. Then the women poured strong hot soapsuds onthe web while the men kicked it with all the vigor possible, making the white foam of the suds fly all over their persons. It proved a very good substitute, and caused an immense sight of fun and laughter.

This was always done in the evening, was a "bee" the same as a husking bee or a chopping bee; and, if the work was clone by the beaux, the belles poured on the hot suds and shared in the fun and witnessed the agility of the contestants, and afterward refreshed themselves by a dance on the wet puncheon floor. This way of fulling cloth was called a "kicking bee,' and was a feature of those times of privation and exigency. The stiff new linen shirts, trousers and sheets could hardly be ironed into smoothness in those days, when no family owned more than one flatiron, and there was not much time to be given to unnecessary work. Garments were generally drawn back and forth, briskly, over the top of a chair-back, to take out the big wrinkles and give them a tolerable degree of softness, while plain wear, such as bed and table linen, and petticoats and aprons, were folded down as smoothly as possible on a chair, and the woman who spun at the little wheel sat upon them a day or two. A new tow-linen shirt could be compared to nothing else than a very euilty conscience by the man who wore it. The shives sticking in the linen pricked into the flesh continually, and were a source of great annoyance.

In every neighborhood there were a few families who had brought with them the superstitions of their forefathers, and the result was that some poor man or woman was reputed to be a witch. Not much proof was required. If a woman had very black eyes, or stepped stealthily, or spoke in a low tone of voice, and the gossips said she was in league with the prince of the black art, it did not take long to fasten the reputation upon her, and the ignorant looked with awe and fear upon the poor hunted, watched creature. And so they greased their broom handles, and laid dead snakes head foremost in the paths, and hung horse-shoes over the cabin doors, and were careful to spit in the fire, and not look over their left shoulders when they passed the abode of the doomed one. But sometimes her wrath fell upon them, and the oxen would lie down in the furrow, and no power could move them, not even hot coals, nor boiling soap, when poured upon them. One time, when the family of a poor man rose in the early morning, one of them lay still, and slept heavily and breathed noisily. On examination it was discovered that he had been witch-ridden; his sides were black and blue from the kicking heels that had urged him on to his best paces, and the corners of his mouth were torn from cruel bits guided by jerking hands. People who were objects of the witch's spite found a brood of downy young chicks in their chests, and piles of sprawling kittens under the halfbushel; and they overheard deep. cavernous voices, and fine piping ones, in conclave at midnight up in the air and the treetops, and under the dead leaves, and beside the chimney, and tracks, with a cloven hoof in among them, were discernable. Think of the misery of a poor creature reputed to be a witch, met in her own lowly cabin by a weeping mother beseeching her to remove the spell of incantation that her sick child might recover! No denial of the absurd charge could avail her; no sympathy offered was accepted; and the foolish mother could do no more than return home, burn some woolen rags to impregnate the out-door air ; stand the child on its head while she could count fifty backward; grease its spine with the oil of some wild animal; cut the tip hairs off the tail of a black cat, and bind them on the forehead of the persecuted one, while she repeated a certain sentence in the Lord's Prayer. Then, in her own language, "If the child died, it died; and if it lived, it lived."

One very singular old man, a soldier of the Revolution, known to all the early settlers of the county, was remarkable for his peculiarities, his drolleries, and his fund of big stories. One of his little boys was a very good child, and he accounted for it from the fact that the prospective mother had read a book of sermons, and the result had made a favorable impression upon the mind of the boy. Relating this to a neighbor, he said: " Oh, he's the piousest little cuss you ever saw !"

Hauling logs out in the clearing one day with his hired man, the two sat down to rest, and make plans for brush and log heaps. In an idle way the man said he would be satisfied if he had as much money as he wanted - say, a wagon loaded with needles, and every needle worn out with making bags to hold his money.

to pay the interest on mine so long as you could hold a red-hot knitting needle in your ear!" He used to say to his nephew, in his strange, weird way, " After ['m dead, I mean to come back, an' set round on the stumps, an' watch you, an' see how you're gittin' along. TJ) set in the holler yonder, in the gray o' the evenin', an' obsarve you; see 'f I don't." And, though a half-century has elapsed since the old man was gathered to his fathers, the pioneer or his children never pass the "holler," a round, scooped-out basin in an old roadside field, without thinking of the words of the old man ; and involuntarily they turn their gaze upon the few gray stumps remaining, and they seem to see him sitting there with his queer, baggy breeches fastened by a wide waistband, his shirt collar open, and his long white locks tossed by the dallying breezes from the south.. Another superstitious old man used to divine secrets, tell fortunes, foretell events, find the places where money was buried, cure wens by words, blow the fire out of burns, mumble over felons and catarrhs, remove warts,' and, with his mineral ball, search out where stolen goods were hidden. The "mineral ball" to which the superstitious ascribed such marvelous: power, was no less than one of those hairy calculi found in the stomachs of cattle, a ball formed compactly of the hair which collects on the tongue of the animal while licking itself. This man, one of that class whose taint infects every neighborhood, could not from any consideration be prevailed upon to leave a graveyard first of all. "Why, drat it!" he would say, "it's sure and sartin death; never knowed a fellow to leave the graveyard fust but what he'd be the next 'un planted there!" When an old neighbor of his died suddenly, this man said, with his thumbs hooked into his trousers' pockets restfully: "W/'y, drat him, he might a knowed more'n to leave the graveyard fust man! As soon as I seed him do it, I says to myself, says I, "Dan, you're a goner; you're

In very early times one of the sorest privations that the poor pioneer encountered, was the scarcity of salt. Mush, hominy and cornbread without a savor of salt was very insipid food. It was very precious, and when they had a little, they dealt it out generously to all, even though a teacupful was a man's allowance to carry home to his family. Women used to borrow a "mite of salt," and a "settin' o' butter." The workingmen - and they all belonged to this class - nearly starved at first for meat victuals. They wanted pork. Turkey and bear and venison did not seem to touch the right place. In 1811, afew of them joined in killing a large hog which had been lost so long in the wilderness that he had become wild, and was a ferocious creature, with over-jutting white tushes and standing bristles. After several ineffeetual rifle and musket shots, he was brought to the ground. The meat tasted well to the poor men, and the hide made good sole leather.

Inthose early times, say before the pioneer had raised crops, and when mills were distant, they lived on mush and corn-bread made from the meal of corn that they had pounded in a hominy-block. The block was made by burning out, or hollowing out, a stump. By placing wood in the center of it, and laying on stones to become red-hot, a hollow could be made deep enough foruse. The corn was pounded by an ax, or an iron wedge in the end of a stick. When sifted, the finest of the meal made bread. the next mush, and the third grade was grits or hominy. This, with butter and milk, constituted the daily food. Without salt, one can imagine what the living of the poor pioncer amounted to ; and it must not be forgotten that many of them owned no cow. One of this class of men when interviewed not long ago said, "Yes, times were pretty hard for new-comers, but I want you to remember that there was a smart sprinkling of Virginians ahead of us here in Richland County, and the Lord never made better people. If they killed a deer, or a beef, they always shared liberally with their neighbors, and especially with those in need. I mind the year after we came, my father took down with the ague. and things looked dark enough for a while; but, when old Billy Slater, on the Clear Fork killed a fat cow, he loaded a lot of the choicest on to a horse and brought it to us; and old John Davis, another Virginian, looked after us as though we were his kindred. The hospitality and good will and courtesy of the Virginia pioneer were without a parallel; they were so kind and cordial, so much ahead of the thrifty, selfish Yankees, in their gracious deeds and their generous conduct. That phrase, 'the latch-string is always out,' is full of meaning' - the quivering old voice grew husky with emotions that overpowered him, and he was left alone with his thoughts and olden memories.

Salt was obtained at Zanesville and Sandusky, and, as there were no roads. it had to be packed on horses, following the trail, one behind another. At one time, Andy Craig, in company. with two other men, brought a barrel of salt - 280 pounds - from Sandusky, on the back of one horse. Andy had a daughter, a fair, fat girl. a young woman toward whom Johnny Appleseed was somewhat attracted, and for a time Johnny frequently spoke of "Hanner Craig." Boys and girls laughed slyly, but they did not venture to joke the kind old man.

Distilleries were common. In one township alone there were no less than six in full blast at one time. Whisky was currency for which grain was exchanged. It was a common beyerage among all classes. a social habit. and its use was not abused over-much. It helped men at log-rollings and raisings and gatherings. kept their spirits up, and made them friendly and chatty. Sometimes it was the incentive to fights whisky was to blame." Where stood those six seething still-houses, near beautiful springs and never-failing fountains, now stand churches and schoolhouses, and the pure waters are not polluted to base uses.

Singing schools were a source of enjoyment in early times - healthful, pleasurable and instructive. The music was better, no doubt, than it is now, judging from the pioneer's standpoint, although fine culture was wanting. Those stalwart lads with sound lungs, and the rosy girls with strong, sweet voices, untrained as now, made excellent music. As with spelling schools, the young people went far and near, night after night, some of the young men following the singing master through his week's round of appointments.and not missing a weekday night in a month, Some of them went eight miles and returned home the same night. The rivalry at spelling schools went beyond all bounds. Brothers, proud of their little sisters, took them on horseback behind them, eager to "show off sis;" parents studied the spellingbook with their children, and pronounced to them, encouraged them by cheering words, and were strong incentives in their laudable and zealous efforts.

Dances and dancing schools were one of the sources of entertainment in the long ago. In very early pioneer times, and quite before the heroic and enthusiastic Methodist preacher had pushed his way into the wilderness of the Far West, heads of families sometimes hurried through with their day's work, made a kettle of mush for the children, gave the elder one his orders, about caring for the little ones, told him to bury the embers carefully at bedtime, and, if remiss, would give him a good scutching, and then mounted the same horse from a stump at the door, and hied away on lively gallop to the dance, perhaps five miles distant. But, when the "still, small voice of conscience whispered of a wiser and a better way. and of the mysteries of life and death, and that 'There'll come a day when the supremest splendor Of earth, or sky, or sea, What e'er their miracles sublime or tender. Will make no joy in thee,"

These people had all the warmth and fire in their souls of which to make active Christians. At their camp-mectings in the beautiful wildwood. with their frank, honest, unstudied manners, their native intelligence, and their cordial, winsome ways, religion was attractive and lovely, and they could not help being zealous workers.

One poor woman, in giving her experience, years afterward, unconsciously drew an exquisite picture for the pencil of the beauty-loving artist.

She said she was working near the roadside, poorly clad, when the sound of singing came to her ear - sweet singing of men's and women's yoices mingling together. It came nearer, and her surprise increased, when, in glimpses among the dense branches Of the trees, she saw a procession on horseback. Abashed, she hid herself behind a tree and peeped around. It was a company of men and women returning home to the southern part of the county (Richland), from a great Methodist camp-meeting that had been held at "the springs." The class-leader and his wife rode foremost; her bonnet hung by the ribbons down her back, her light brown hair lay in loose curls on her shoulders. Her face was lighted up beautifully, it seemed the glorified face of an angel ; all their faces glowed with a joy such as she had never known in her life, and, as they rode, some horses carrying | double, in and out among the low hanging branches, their voices blent in harmony and sweetness as they sang that old hymn:

As the musie died away in the grand arches of the wildwood cathedral, the poor woman cried aloud from the great burden of unrest that filled her poor soul, and she sank upon her She wanted to walk in the light, to know the joy of a soul redeemed, to share in the blessedness with those who love the Lord. and. loving Him, find peace.

Religious meetings were held in eroyes and barns and beside woodland springs, and the hospitality of Christian people was heavily taxed, but they were never cognizant of the fact. They enjoyed it; they longed for it ; they were the gladdest when the brethren lay crowded in a great "field-bed." on the floor, so crowded that perhaps the host and hostess had to sleep sitting with their backs against

'the jambs all night, each holding a restless, slumbering child, while the -sisters lay in the "loft." the What must the few remaining pioneers think of

Many of them were poor, and, like Jack in the story, A few came with ox teams ; some with horses. two, three or four of them; some in two-wheeled carts. while others packed all their worldly possessions on a couple of old "eritters." Instances are related of a bag on top, or snugged down in unong the bundles, made somewhat after the fashion of a double knapsack, and a couple of babies poked their little bronzed faces out of the slits in this novel conveyance, and rode along like little "possums." The grandfathers will tell how knapsacks were made. if the uninitiated will inquire, and they will tell how, with their own white-muslin knapsacks slung upon old homes of their early boyhood, with hearts aching and sorrowing. and hungry to look upon the beloved scenery that was so indelibly stamped in their memories. This they did, ten or twenty years afterward, on foot, staff in hand, like pilgrims going to Mecca.

From fifteen to fi fty-five days were required in making the toilsome journey to the Far West, by the first pioneers. Streams had to be forded frequently. Tt was not unusual for a teain to give out on the way and cause a delay of a fortnight or a month to one of the families. The joy was very great when the team hove in sight and the family rejoined the party who had found "the end of the road," or stopped until the men looked for a suitable location. The noisy joy of Paddy in America, meeting Micky, fresh from Ireland, would be a suitable comparison to the welcome given to the new arrival. :

The Sabbath day was observed in very early times by the pioneer families. They met at the largest cabin. some one read a sermon, and they had prayer and singing. Whenever a preacher came, an appointment was made and word sent out to all the families for many miles around.

The first marriages were solemnized by " Parson Scott," a minister living near Mount Vernon. They were conducted as became the solemnity of the occasion. There was no fun, no "running after the bottle." and no undue or rude merriment at weddings in one part of the county, at least. An incident connected with one of the first deaths. in 1812. is touching. It was agreed upon that if the sick man was in danger of death before morning, the musket was to be fired off. Just after midnight the report of the gun was heard, its echo reverberated among the hilltops until the ominous from their humble beds, hardly waiting to clothe themselves entirely, hurried through the thicket path, crossed the creek in the canoe, and when

When the first grist-mills were made the early settlers felt that they would begin to enjoy a luxury in bread made of good ground corn-meal. Going to mill meant riding off from fifteen to thirty miles on horseback, in a path through the woods, not wide enough for a wagon. A boy, bundled up in the spare clothes of his "daddy and mamma," with a chunk of corn-bread in his pocket, generally made the trip in two days. At night he lay in the mill, or in the miller's cabin, on the floor, with his feet to the fire. If it was at Beam's mill, Mother Beam invited the lad to eat mush and milk with her family. The fame of " Mother Beam's good mush" lives yet, and the pioneer boy remembers how she made it, and he can give no higher meed of praise to that article of food nowadays, than to say, " Oh, it tastes just like Mother Beam's did ! carries me away back to my boyhood! You must have cooked this three or four hours, slowly, like she used to!" There are instances of the bag of meal falling off the horse, and of the boy erying and despairing ; but, like the good ending to Sindbad's stories, a woman, a willing, tender hearted woman, with cheery words came bareheaded and bare-armed from the nighest cabin, and flopped the heavy bag back where it belonged and swung the lad in place upon it, and patted his shoulder and sent him on his way thankful and rejoicing

In 1820 Judge Thomas Coulter, of Green Township, devised the plan of constructing a large flat-boat, capable of carrying three or four hundred barrels, and taking produce to New Orleans. This opened a new branch of trade, and was successful, and was a means of exchanging surplus produce for money. The boat was made large and strong. framed together, and the plan was feasible during the early spring months, or the breaking-up of or twenty-five boats went from Perrysville, though they were nearly all loaded at Loudonville, below the dam. The Legislature had declared the Black Fork to be navigable to Truxville - now Ganges - and some men taking advantage of this decision loaded a boat at Perrysville and ran over the dam at Loudonville, carrying it with the boat. In the letter of the | law it was an obstruction.

The boats were loaded with pork, flour, beef and whisky. One very enterprising young man took a load once of thirty barrels of good whisky pickles, of his own raising and making. He raised the cucumbers on one acre of rough ground, and tended them himself. He took the boat to New Orleans, sold at good figures, sent the money home, went away into the mountains, was abundantly prospered, hired a tutor for his five brothers at home, bought farms in time for all of them, struck into the territories bravely, and at last was shot by the Indians, and, Smith was his name.

After the Ohio Canal was made, there was a dam at Roscoe. hut, previous to this, no obstruction was found save the dam at Loudonville. After boats reached the Muskingum River they could travel all night. In the tributaries they fastened to the bank at night. They floated with the current, and men with long poles guided when necessary

If they had purchased part of the boat load on credit, the notes were given payable at ninety days. One man took a boat on to Richmond. Va., sold out there and walked home. Judge Coulter took one to New York They were at no expense going down the rivers, and not much on their way back. Judge Coulter was the leading man in the friend to boys and young men; he was enterprising, conscientious and a sound, honest Christian. His good deeds live after him. He often remarked to his special friends that he was so ashamed one time during court in Mansfield, when he was Associate Judge. His son-inlaw, the Sheriff, lighted candles at mid-day, and went humming around like an old bumblebee. He had been 'looking "upon the wine when it sparkled in the glass."

The military drill, in pioneer days, was the grand occasion. (reneral muster, or regimental drill, was for a long while held twice a year at Mansfield. At that time, the militia of the whole county came together; old friends met, and new acquaintances were formed. They assembled in parade on the square, marched through the streets and then went down to the " meadow " to drill. If they had arms, they carried them, if not, they used canes or mullein stalks. If one of the fathers was sick, one of his boys took his place - by permission of the Captain - with gun, cartridge-box and scabbard, answering to the name of his father when the roll was | eaHed. The men met at 10 o'clock, and were dismissed at 4, some of them walking to their homes, a distance of sixteen miles. Somewhere between the years 1820 and 1822, a very severe storm came up, and the Colonel rode down the lines shouting, -' Dismissed! Dis- 'missed! The Captains repeated the order, and the crowd ran for shelter. Some new buildings just roofed gave shelter to a great many, but there was not room for all in town, and many started home. Some rushed to the

It was common among rude boys, who had disagreements to settle, to fix the time for adjustment on the Fourth of July, the last day of school or next general muster.

The nearest mails were at Mansfield and Mount Vernon. Postage was high, and not many letters were written. Later, the mail was carried to villages once a week by a boy on horseback, who tooted a horn as he rode in ona gallop. The sound of the horn was the gladdest music known to the hills and valleys. A man who took one newspaper was called a large-hearted, liberal man; generally two or three men joined together and subscribed, and took turns reading it. Some people refused to take a newspaper, for fear of spoiling the children, and making them lazy. The mail-boy. who rode on the gallop and tooted the horn, was as attractive to imaginative little boys then, as the circus-rider is now, and more than

Some old jokes among the pioneers were really funny, and they still have the pith and point that they had when the old boys in tow shirts. and deer-skin breeches laughed over them, sixty years ago. One was of a goodfeeling young fellow, who, in singing schools, always sang the line, "Cover my defenseless head," as " Cover my deficient head."

Another was of a woman who prided herself on her systematic housewifely accomplishments; she never did anything slovenly or carelessly, and, one time when making mush. stirring it pompously, she stopped and squinted into the pot, and then, lifting out a little shoe, she said: " Lawful suz! who'd 'a thought Maudy's shoe 'd got lost in the mush! But, then, I might 'a knowed 'twan't lost. for J never lose anything!"

| drowned in the creek, and the body not recovered. The neighbors sought in vain for it many days. One morning, the old man, with his great red, meaty nose, his fishing-tackle

One of the saddest sights that comes to the old pioneer now, is to see the old orchard trees that Johnny Appleseed nurtured and cared for, cut down as worthless, and used to fill up ditches at the roadside. This is a common occurrence in different sections of Richland County. And yet it is a law of Nature; with her there is no death, no decay, everything lives anew in one form or another.

It is related of an apple-tree planted on the grave of Roger Williams, the founder of the State of Rhode Island, who died-in 1683, that the roots of the tree struck down and-spread out into the shape of the man, following his legs, and arms, and trunk, so that learned men ' declare that Roger Williams passed into the apple-tree, and lived again on this earth in another form - that of luscious, red-cheeked apples. Indeed, the question has been asked, "Who ate Roger Williams ?"

The statue of Sir Robert Peel, a very eminent British statesman, was melted over to make. one for Lord Palmerston. We need not shudder at these things, for Nature first set the example. When Hamlet spoke of turning the clay of Alexander into the bung of a beer barrel, he spoke the naked truth. The heathen gods vaguely penetrated this great mystery.

A year means a hundred-fold more now than formerly. History is made rapidly in these days. The red men's trail across the valley, and over the hills, and along the river's bank, could be traced by the fewest number in this day ;,their favorite haunts and play grounds are shorn of their primal charms in the sweeping aside of the grand old woodland. The cattle upon a thousand hills roam over the land that they loved, and quench their thirst in the brooks and pools, that long time ago mirrored their dusky features. The plowman with stolid face upturn in the brown furrow the relic that their fingers deftly fashioned, and the mattock and scraper bring forth to the glare of, day and the gaze of the curious, the crumbling brown bones of the chieftain and his squaw. And the contents of the Indian's grave, the moldering clay, will live anew in a pavement to be trodden under the foot of men. Ah, these old Indian graves on breezy knolls and reedy river banks - who knows but the site was selected by the sleepers therein! Who knows but they dreamed in their moody moments that the tide of civilization was slowly coming nearer and nearer, to crowd aside their people and intrude upon, and finally possess, their vast and beauti-

It is hard to be reconciled to this natural order of things; to see the pioneers passing to see them stand leaning on their staves, dim-eyed, and with white locks tossed in the winds, dazed at the change that has stamped its seal upon the wilderness whose winding paths they once knew sé well. They beheld it slowly laying off its primeval wildness and beauty, and its grandeur of woods and waters, until now it blooms like unto the garden of the gods. How beautiful the labors of their hands! How much we owe them! But the olden time is passing away and bearing on its bosom the dear old men and women whose "like we ne'er shall see again." The glory of | one age is not dimmed in the golden glory of And none more than the pioneers of Richland County can comprehend its growth and its change, or more fully appreciate the sad words of the poet when he sang in mournful strain -

PIONEERS. ROM time to time, for many years, efforts had been made to organize a pioneer association for the purpose of preserving from oblivion important facts connected with the history of Richland County. Meetings for this purpose were occasionally held in different parts of the county. An impetus was given to this movement many years ago by Rey. James R. McGaw, who published an historical romance in the Mansfield papers, and by Gen. Brinkerhoff, who, from time to time, urged the necegsity of it in the public prints. About the year 1856, one of the first, if not the first, pionéer meeting in the county, was held at Hemlock Falls, in Worthington Township. This meeting was probably an informal one, but the matter of rescuing the early history of the county from oblivion was earnestly discussed. The meeting was attended by Dr. Bushnell, Gen. Brinkerhoff, Rev. James R. McGaw, Dr. J. P. Henderson and other influential and interested parties. In 1858, Messrs. Cook and Robinson, manufacturers of axes, offered a certain number of axes to the oldest pioneers then livi ing and a meeting of these pioneers was held in Mansfield for the purpose of awarding the axes thus offered.

It was not, however, until September 26, 1860, that a pioneer society was duly organized at Bellville, at a fair held in that place. This organization, of which the temporary officers were John Redding, of Morrow County, President, and Miller Moody, of Richland County, Secretary,