Stark County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 7 of those read), 1881 (part 2 of 2)

The settlement made in Montgomery County was begun early in the spring of 1796. As early as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying out a town to be named Venice. They agreed with Judge Synimes, whose contract covered the place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian war which broke out at this time prevented an extension of settlements from the immediate neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the project was abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after the treaty of 1795, a new company, composed of Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair, James Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow, purchased the land between the Miamis, around the mouth of Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of November, laid out the town. Arrangements were made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and donations of lot.s, with other privileges, were offered to actual settlers. Forty-six persons entered into engagements to remove fiom Cincinnati to Dayton, but during the winter most of them scattered in different directions, and only nineteen fulfilled their contracts. The first families who made a perniauent rcMilciicL' here, ari-ivod on the first day of April, ITSHi, and at once set about establi.sliintr liomes. Judge Symmos, however, becomiiiu: unable soon after to pay for his jiureha-se, the land reverted to the United States, and the settlers in and about Dayton found themselves without titles to their lands. Congress, however, eauie to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had purchased laud of Syinnies, and pa.ssed a jire-emption law, under which they could enter their lands at the regular governmenl price. Some of the settlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly from the United States; others made arrangements with Daniel (". Cooper to receive their deeds from him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. He had been the surveyor and agent of the first company of proprietors, and they a.ssigned to him certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he became the titular owner of the land.

AV'lien the State government was organized in 18(i3, Dayton was made the seat of justice for Montgomery County, erected the same year. At that time, owing to the title question, only five families resided in the place, the other .settlers having gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other parts of the country. The increase of the town was gradual until the war of 1812, wlien its growth was more rapid until 182((, when it was again checked by the gcmeral depression of business. It revived in 1827, at the commencement of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has always been prosperous. It is now one of the best cities in (_)hio. The first canal boats fi'om Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, lS2il, and the first one fi-om Lake Krie the 24fh of June, 184.5. In 1823, a weekly lino of stages was e.stablishcd between Columbus and Cincinnati, via Dayton. One day was occupied in coming from Cincinnati to Dayton.

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton Repfflon/ wa.s established by William McCIureand George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number of competitors in the field.

In the lower part of Miamisburg. in this county, are the remains of ancient works, scattered about over the bottom. About a mile and a rpiarter southeast of the village, on an elevation more than one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, is the largest mound in tlie Northern Staters, excepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on the ()hii>, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet around the base, and rises to a height of nearly seventy feet. When first known it was covered with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. The Indians could give no account of the mound. Kxcavalions revealed bones and charred earth, but what wa.s its use, will always remain a conjecture.

One of the most important early settlements was made cotemporary with that of Dayton, in what is now lloss County. The same sj)ring, ITOti, i|uite a colony came to the banks of tlu; Scioto River, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The site had been selected as early as 17!'2, by Col. Nathaniel Ma.ssie* and others, who were so delighted with th(; country, and gave such glowing descrijitions of it on their return - which accounts soon circulated through Kentucky - that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Cancridge and Concord, in Bourbon County, under Kev. llobert W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were, in a measure, indviced to take this step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire for freedom from its baleful influences and the unccirtiunty that existed regarding the validity of the land titles in that Slate. The Rev. Finley, as a ]ireliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addres.sed to Col. Ma,ssie a letter of inquiry, in December, 1794, resi'arding the laud on the Scioto, of which he and his people had heard such glowing accounts.

"The letter induced Col. Massie to vi.sit Mr. Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse of people, who wished to engage in the enterprLse, assembled on the occa.sion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands, in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania

* Nathaniel Musfcie was born in Goochland County, Vs., December 28, 17(a. In 1780, hn i-ngagecl, for n short timi>, in the Revolutionary war. In 1783, he left for Kentucky, where ho acted as a Burveyor. He was afterward made a Government surveyor, and labored much in thatcapacity for early Ohio proprielora lieinp paid in laiidH, the aniounls graded by the danger attached to the aitrvey. In I7!ll, ho estibliahed Ibe sellleuient at Manchester, and a year or tinually in preat danger from the Indians, but knew well how tc guard aealiiat them, and thus preserved himself. In 1790, ho eatah lislied the C'hillicothe settlement, an'l made his home in the Scioto Vallev, b.ing now ar. ext.ri.;ive land owner bv reason ot hia Ions surveying service. In 1K(17. he and Return J, Meigs wore cnipetitnra for Iho office of Governor el Ohio. Meiga was elecl.-l. but Maasie contested hia eligibility to the .iftice, on the ground- ef his ahaeucofrom the Slate and Insumciency of time a« a resident, :oi required by the Constitution. Meigs was di-clared ineliirible by the General Assembly, and Masaie declared Governor. He. however, resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He waa often Bepreaenlative afterward. He died November 13, 1813.

" About sixty men met, according to appointment, wlu) were divided into tliree companies, under Jla.ssie, Finley and Falenash. They proceeded on their route, without interruption, until they struck the falls of Paint Creek. Proceeding a short distance down that stream, they suddenly found themselves in the vicinity of some Indians who had encamped at a place, since called Keeve's Crossing, near the present town of Bainbridge. The Indians were of thase who had refused to attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to give them battle, it being too late to retreat with safety. The Indians, on being attacked, soon fled with the loss of two killed and several wounded. One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was mortally wounded, and, during the action, a Jlr. Armstrong, a prisoner among the savages, escaped to his own people. The whites gathered all their plunder and retreated as far as Scioto Brush Creek, where they were, according to expectation, attacked early the next morning. Again the Indians were defeated. Only one man among the whites, Allen GilfiUan, was wounded. The party of whites coutinued their retreat, the next day reached Manchester, and separated for their homes.

"After Wayne's treaty. Col. Massie and several of the old explorers again met at the house of Ilev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to make a settlement in the ensuing spring (1796), and rai.se a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint Creek. According to agreement, they met at Manchester about the first of April, to the number (jf forty and upward, from Mason and Bourbon Counties. Among them were Joseph McCoy, Benjamin ami William Koilgers, David Shelby, -lamL'S llurrod, Henry, Bazii and Reuben Abrams, William Jamison, .James Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William and James Kerr, George and James Kilgrove, John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton, Ferguson Moore, William Nicholson and James B. Finley, later a prominent local Methodist minister. On starting, they divided into two companies, one of which struck across the country, while the other came on in pirogues. The first arrived earliest on the .spot of their intended settlement, and had comnien -ed erecting log hut.s above the mouth erf Paint Creek, at the ' Prairis Station,' before the others had come on by water. About three hundred acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season.

" In August, of this year - 179C - Chillicothe* was laid out by Col. Massie in a dense forest. He gave a lot to each of the first .settlers, and, by the beginning of winter, about twenty cabins were erected. Not long after, a ferry was established across the Scioto, at the north end of Walnut street. The opening of Zane's trace produced a great change in travel westward, it having previously been along the Ohio in keel-boats or canoes, or by land, over the Cumberland Mountains, through Crab Orchard, in Kentucky.

" The emigrants brought corn-meal in their jiirogues, and after that was gone, their jirineipal meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in hominy mortars, which meal, when made into bread, and anointed with bear's-oil, was quite jjuIatable.

" When the settlers first came, whisky was $4. .50 per gallon; but, in the spring of 1797, when the keel-boats began to run, the Monongahela whiskymakers, having found a good market for their firewater, rushed it in, in such quantities, tliat the cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 cents. Men, women and children, with s<.>me exceptions, drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became inebriates. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that, for a time, it became a town of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There was, however, a little leaven, which, in a few months, began to develop itself.

"In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his wife absconded, were pursued, caught and brought back. Samuel Smith was appointed Judge, a jury impanneled, one attorney apjiointed by the Judge to manage the prosecution, and another the defense; witnesses were examined, the case argued, and the evidence summed up by the Judge. The jury, having retired a few moments, returned with a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sentenced according to the discretion of the Judge. The Judge soon announced that tlie criminal should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that he should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his pony, and that his wife, who was supposed to have had some agency in the theft, should lead the p<iny to every house in the village, and proclaim, 'This is

appears to have been a favorite name among the iTidians, as many localities were known l>y that name. Col. John Johnston says : "Chillicothe is the name of one ol the principal trilies of the Shawanees. They wonld .say, CliU-i-rolht, olmiy, i. e, Chillicothe town. The Wyandots wonld say. tor Chillicothe town, Tat-u-ru-ra, Do-tta, or town at the leaniug of the bank."

Bi-duuou, wlio stole the g:reat coat, handkerchief auil sliirt ; ' and that Jauies B. Finley, afterward Chaplain in the State Penitentiary, should see the sentence faithfully carried out. Brannon chose the latt<>r sentence, and the ceremony was feithfully performed by his wife in the presence of every cabin, under Sir. Finley 's care, after which the couple made ofl'. This was rather rude, but effective ] urisprudence.

" Dr. Kdward Tiffin and .Mr. Tlinnia< Wortliington.of Berkley County. \' a., were brothers-in-law, and being moved by abolition principles, liberated their slaves, intending to remove into the Territory. For this purpose. .Mr. M'lirthington visited ChilHcothe in the autumn of 17117, and iiurchiUM-d several in and out lots of the town. On one of the former, he erected a two-story frame house, the first of the kind in the village. On his return, having purcha.sed a part of a farm, on which his family long afterward resided, and another at the north fork of Paint Creek, he contracted with Mr. Joseph Yates, a millwright, and Mr. George Haines, a blacksmith, to come out with him the following winter or spring, and erect for him a grist and saw mill on his north-fork tract. The summer, fall and following winter of that year were marked by a rush of emigration, which spead over the high bank prairie. Pea-pea, Westfidl and a few miles up Paint and Deer Creeks.

" Nearly all the first settlers were either regular members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian Church. Toward the fall of 1797, the leaven of piety retained by a portion of the first settlers began to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting-house was erected near the old graveyard, and llev. William Speer, from Pennsylvania, took cliarge. The sleepers at first served ;is .seats for hearers, and a split-log table was used its a jiulpit. Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of the Revolutionary era.

'-Thomas Jones arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the Scioto Vallev, and about the same time Maj. Elias Langham, an officer of the Revolution, arrived. Dr. Tiffin, and his brother. Jo.seph, arrived the same month fi'om Virginia and opened a store not far from the log meeting-house. A store bad been openi'il previously by J(phn McDougal. The 17th of .Vprii. the families of Col. Wortliington an<l Dr. Tiffin arrived, at which time the first marria;;e in the Scioto A'^alley was celebrated. The parties were Georire Kilirore and Klizabeth Cochran. The ponies of the attendants were hitched to tlu^ trees along the streets, which were not then cleared out, nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Josepli Yates, (icorge Ilaincs, and two or three others, arrived with tlu' families of Tiffin and Worthington. On their arrival there were but four shingled roofs in town, <in oni' of which the shingl(« were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington's house was the only one having glas« windows. The sash of the hotel windows was filled with greased pa])er.

" Col. Worthington was appointed by Gen. Rufus Putnam, Surveyor (reneral of the Northwest Territory, surveyor of a large district of CongTess lands, on the c;i.st side of the Scioto, and Maj. Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were apjiointed to .survey the residue of the lands whiih afurward composed the Chillicotlu? land district.

"The same .season, settlements were made about the Walnut Plains by Samuel McCulloh and others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and Hiijah Cheiiowith, on Darly Creek ; Lamberts and others on Sippo; on Fost<'r's Bottom, the Fosters, Samuel Davis and others, while the following families .settled in atul about Chillieollie: .iohn Cnmse, William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John McLanberg, William Chandless, the Stoctons, Greggs, Bates and somi; others.

'- Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodist.-i in the Sciotii ^'alley. He was a local preacher. Li the fall, Worthington's gTi.st and saw mills on the north fork of Paint Creek were fini.shed, the first mills worthy tlie name in the valley.

"ChilHcothe was the point from which the settlements diverged. Li May, 17!'!t, a post ofiice was established here, and Joseph Tiffin made Postmaster. Mr, Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns; the first, under tlu; sign of Gen. Antlnmy Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets; and the last, under the sign of the 'Green Tree,' was on the corner ol' Paint and Water streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and established the Scioto Gazette, probably, the second paper in the Territory,"*

In 1800, the ,';eat of government of tlie Northwest Territory was removed, by law of Congress, from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The .ses,sions of the Territorial A,sseinbly for that and the next vcar were held in a small two-story, hewed-log house, erected in 1798, by Bazil Abrams. A wing was added to the main [lart, of two stories in height. Ill the lower room of this wing, Col. Thomas Gibsou, Auditor of the Territory, kept hi.s offii^e, aud in the upper room a small fiiniily lived. In the upper room of the main building a billiard table \v;w kept. It was also made a resort of gamblens and disreputable characters. The lower room was used by the Legislature, and as a court room, a church or a school. In the war of 1812, the building was a rendezvous and barracks for soldiers, and, in 1840, was pulled down.

Tlie old State House was commenced in 1800, and finished the next year for the accommodatiim of tlie Legislature and the courts. It is said to be the first public stone edifice erected in the Territory. .Maj. William Kutledge, a llevolutionary soldier, did the mason work, and William Guthrie, the carpenter. In 1801, the Territorial Legislature held their first se.ssion in it. In it was also held the Ci institutional Convention of Ohio, which began its sessions the first Monday in November, 1802. In March, lb03, the first State Legislature met in the house, and continued their sessions here until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811- 12, were held in Zauesville, and from there removed back to Chillicothe and held in the old State IIousj till 1 81 C, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State.

ftlaking Chillicothe the State capital did much to enhance its growth. It was incorporated in 1802, aud a town council elected. In 1807, the town had fourteen stores, six hotels, two newspapers, two churches - both brick buildings - and over two hundred dwellings. The removal of the capital to Columbus checked its growth a little, still, being in an excellent country, rajiidly tilling with settlers, the town has always remained a prominent trading center.

During the war of 1812, Chillicothe was made a rendezvous for United States soldiers, and a prison established, in which many British prisoners were confined. At one time, a conspiracy for escape was di.scovered just in time to prevent it. The plan was for the prisoners to disarm the guard, proceed to jail, release the officers, burn the town, and escape to Canada. The plot was fortunately disclosed by two senior British officers, upon which, as a measure of security, tlie officers and chief conspirators were sent to the penitentiary at Frankfort, Kentucky.

Two or three miles northwest of Chillicothe, on a beautiful elevation, commanding an extensive view of the valley of the Scioto, Thomas Worthington,* one of the most prominent and influential men of his day, afterward Governor of the State, in 1806, erected a large stone mansion, the wonder of the valley in its time. It was the most elegant mansion in the West, crowds coming to see it when it was completed. Gov. Worthiugton named the place Adena, " Paradise " - a name not then considered hyperbolical. The large panes of glass, and the novelty of papered walls especially attracted attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of Wasliington City, from which place most of the workmen came. The glass was made in Pittsburgh, and the fireplace fronts in Philadelphia, the latter costing seven dollars per hundred pounds for transportation. The mansion, built as it was, cost nearly double the expense of such structures now. Adena was the home of the Governor till his deatli, in 1827.

Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit Hill, the seat of Gen. Duncan McArtliur,| and later of ex-(lo v. William Allen. Like Adena, Fruit Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto Valley. Many of Ohio's best men dwelt in the valley ; men who have been an honor and ornament to the State and nation.

Another settlement, begun soon af^cr the treaty of peace in 1705, was that made on the Licking Bivcr, about four miles below the present city of Newark, in Licking County. In the fall of 1798, John Ratlifi" ami Elias Hughes, while prospecting on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, and determined to locate. They were from Western Virginia, and were true pioneers, living mainly by hunting, leaving the cultivation of their small cornfields to their wives, much after the style of

* Gov. W'ortbington was born in Jefferson County, Va , about the year 1769. He setlleit in Obioin 17'J8. lie was a firm believer in liberty and came to the Territory after liberating bio slaves. He wm oti6 of the niiisi efficient men of bis day ; was a member of tlio ConstitutiniKiU'nnvHuiion, and was sent on an important mission toCon^^ti- i>l:i;-. I. the admiesiun of Ohio to the Union. Ho was afi III Jr to Congress, and then Governor. On tGen. Mc.irlhur w.as born in Dnlchess County, N. Y., in 1772. When tight jeara of age, his father removed to Western Pennsylvaiiia. When eighteen years of age, he served in Harmar'a campaign. In 1792, he was a very eflRci-ntsoldier aniungtbe frontiersmen, and gained their approbation by bis bravery. In 1793, he was connected with Gen. Massie, and afierwaid was engaged in land speculations and became very weallliy. He was made n member of the Legislature, in 1S05; in ISUO, a Colonel, and in ISI18, a Majc.rGaneral of the militia. In this capacity he was in Hull's surrender at Detroit. On his return ho was elected to Congress, and in 1S13 commissioned Brigadier General. He was one of the most efficient olTicers in the war of 1812, and held many important posts. After the war, lie was again sent to the Legislature ; in 1822 to Congress, and in 1830 elected G..vernor of the State. By an unfortunate accident in 183(!. he was maimed for life, and gradually declined till death came a few years after.

their dusky neighbors. They were botli inveterate Indian haters, and never allowed an oj)portuuity to piiss without carrying out tluir hatred. For this, tliey were apprehended after the treaty; but, though it was clearly proven they had murdered some inoffensive Indians, the state of feeling was such that they were allowed to go unpunished.

A short time after their settlement, others joined them, and, in a few years, tpiite a colony had gathered on the banks of the Licking. In 1802, Newark was laid out, and, in three or four ye;irs, there were twenty or thirty families, several stores and one or two hotels.

The settlement of Granviile Township, in this county, is rather an important epoch in the history' of this part of the State. From a sketch published by Rev. Jacob Little in LS48, in Howe's Collections, the subjoined statements are taken:

"In 1804, a company was formed at Granville, Mass., with the intention of making a settlement in Ohio. This, called the Scio/o Compdiii/, was the third of that name which effected settlements in Ohio. The project met with great favor, and mui'h enthusiasm was elicited, in illustration of which a .song was composed and sung to the tune of ' Pleiusant Ohio ' by the young people in the house and at labor in the field. We annex two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical:

" The Scioto Company consisted of one hundred and fourteen proprietors, who made a purcha.se of twenty-eight thousand acres. In the autumn of 1805, two iiundred and thirty-four persons, mustly from East Granville, M;iss., came on to the purchase. Although they had been forty-two days on the road, their first bu.sinc.ss, on their arrival, having organized a church before they left the East, was to hear a sermon. The first tree cut was that

On the first Sabbath, November Itj, although only about a dozen trees had been felled, they held divine service, both forcmoon and afternoon, on that spot. The novelty of worshiping in the woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles each way; the hard.ships of the journey, the winter setting in, the thoughts of home, with all the friends and privileges left behind, and the impression that such must be the accommodations of anew country, all rushed on their minds, and made this a day of varied ilitercst. When they began to sing, the echo of their voices among the trees was so different from what it was in the beautiful meetinghouse tliey had left, that they could no longer restrain tluiir tears. T/iej/ uijit ichintheij rememhrrtd Z!<in. The voices of (lart of the choir were, for a sea.son, sujipressed with emotion.

incident occurred, which many said Mrs. Sigourncy should have put into verse. Deacon Theophilus Ree.se, a Welsh Baptist, had, two or three years i)efore, built a cabin, a mile and a half north, and lived all this time without public worship. He had lost his cattle, and, hearing a lowing of the oxen belonging to the Company, .set out toward them. As he ascended the hills overlooking the town plot, he heard the singing of the choir. The reverberation of the sound from hilltops and trees, threw the good man into a serious dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, then in the tree-tops, or in the clouds. He stopped, till, by accurate listening, he caught the direction of the sound ; wcnit on and pa.ssing the brow of the hill, he saw the audience sitting on the level below. He went home and told his wife that ' the promise of God is a bond ' ; a Welsh proverb, signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, that religion will prevail everywhere. He said : ' These must be good peoj)le. I am not afi'aid to go among them.' Though he could not understand English, he ci instantly attended the reading meeting. Hearing the music on that occasion made such an impicssiun on his mind that, when he became old and met the first settlers, he would always tell over this story. The first cabin built was that in which they worshiped succeeding Sabbaths, and, before the clo.se of the winter, they had a schoolhouse and a school. That church, in forty j-ears, received more than one thousand persons into its membership.

Churcli was organized in the cabin of David Thomas, September 4, 1808. April 21, 1827, the (iranville members were organized into the (Jranville Cluireli, and the corner-stone of their house of worship hiid September 21, 1829. In the fall of 1810, the first Methodist sermon was preached here, and, soon after, a class organized. In 1824, a church was built. An Episcopal church was organized in May, 1827, and a church consecrated in 1838. In 1840, there were in this township 405 families, of whom 214 sustain family worship ; 1431 persons over fourteen years of age, of whom over 800 belong to church. The town had 1 50 families, of whom 80 have family worship. In 1846, the township furnished 70 school teachers, of whom 62 prayed in .school. In 1840, the township took 621 periodical papers, besides three small monthlies. The first temperance society west of the mountains was organized July 15, 1828, in this township; and, in 1831, the Congregational Church passed a bylaw to accept no member who trafficked in or used ardent .spirits."

It is .said, not a settlement in the entire West could present so moral and upright a view as that of Granville Township; and nowhere could so perfect and orderly a set of people be found. Surely, the fact is argument enough in flivor of the religion of Jesus.

The narrative of Mr. Little also states that, when (xranville was first settled, it was supposed that Vforthington would be the capital of Ohio, between which and Zanesville, Granville would make a great half-way town. At this time, wild animals, snakes and Indians abounded, and many are the marvelous stories preserved regarding the destruction of the animals and reptiles - the Indians being bound by their treaty to remain peaceful. Space forbids their repetition here. Suffice it to say that, as the whites increased, the Indians, animals and snakes disappeared, until now one is as :nuch a curiosity as the other.

The remaining settlement in the southwestern parts of Ohio, made immediately afler the treaty - fall of 1795 or year of 1790 - was in what is now Madison County, about a mile north of where the village of Amity now stands, on the banks of the Big Darby. This stream received its name from the Indians, from a Wyandot chief, named Darliy, who for a long time resided upon it, near the Union County line. In the fall of 1795, Benjamin Springer came from Kentucky and selected some land on the banks of the Big Darby, cleared the ground, built a cabin, and returned for his family. The next spring, he brought them out, and began his life here. The same summer he was joined by William Lapin, Joshua and James Ewing and one or two others.

When Springer came, he found a white man named Jonathan Alder, who for fifteen years had been a captive among the Indians, and who could not speak a word of English, living with an Indian woman on the banks of Big Darby. He had been exchanged at Wayne's treaty, and, neglecting to profit by the treaty, was still living in the Indian style. When the whites became numerous abnut him his desire to find his relatives, and adopt the ways of the whites, led him to discard his squaw - giving her an unusual allowance - learn the English language, engage in agricultural pursuits, and become again civilized. Fortunately, he could remember enough of the names of some of his parents' neighbors, so that the identity of his relatives and friends was easil}' established, and Alder became a most u.seful citizen. He Wiis very influential with the Indians, and induced many of them t^i remain neutral during the war of 1812. It is stated that in 1800, Mr. Ewing brought four .sheep intd the community. They were strange animals tuthe Indians. One day when an Indian hunter and his dog were passing, the latter caught a sheep, and was shot by Mr. Ewing. The Indian would havi; shot Ewing in retaliation, had not Alder, who' was fortunately present, with much difficulty prevailed upon him to rt'frain.

While the southern and southwestern pai'ts of the State were filling with settlers, assured of safety by Wayne's victories, the northern and eastern jiarts became likewise the theater of activities. Ever since the French had explored the southern shores of the lake, and English traders had carried goods thither, it was expected one day to be a valuable part of the West. It will be remembered that Connecticut had ceded a large tract of land to the General Government, and as soon as the cession was confirmed, and land titles became assured, settlers flocked thither. Even before that time, hardy adventurers had explored some of (he country, and iirunouiiccd it a "goodly land,'' ready for the hand of enterprise.

The first settlement in the Western Reserve, and, indeed, in the northern part of the State, was made at the mouth of Conneaut* Creek, in Ashtabula County, on the 4th of July, 1796. That

(lav. the first surveyiiv.; juirty lamlcil at tlic! mouth of tills CRi'k, and, (ii iis i'a.sl<-'iu bank, iioar tho hike shore, in tin cups, pledged - as the}- drank the limpid waters of the lake - their country's welfare, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling-pieces, discharging the recjuired national salute.

The whole party, on this occasion, iniinbered fifty-two persons, of whom two were i'cnialcs (Mrs. Stiles and Mr.s. Gunn) and a child, and all deserve a la.sting place in the history of the State.

The next day, they began the erection of a large log huilding on the sainly beach on the ca.st .side of the stream. When done, it was named " Stow Ciistle," after one of the party. It was the dwelling, storehouse and general habitation of all the pioneers. The party made this their head<|uarters part of the summer, and continued busily engaged in the sun'cy'of the Ileserve. James Kingsbury, afterward Judge, anived soon after the party began work, and, with his family, was the first to remain here during the winter following, the rest returning to the Ka.st. or going .southward. Through the winter, Mr. Kingsbury's family suff'ered greatly for provisions, so much so, that, during the absence of the head of the family in New York for provisions, one child, born in his absence, died, and the mother, reduced by her sufferings and solitude, was only saved by the timely arrival of the hu.sband and father with a sack of flour he had carried, many weary miles, on liis back. Ho remained here but a short time, removing to Cleveland, which was laid out that same fall. In the .spring of 17!)S, .\le.\ander llarjier, William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with thoir families, started from IIarpersfi<>ld, Dt^laware Co., N. Y., and arrived the la.st of June, at their new homes in the Far West. The whole ])opulati(in on the Reserve then amounted to le.ss than on(^ hundred and fiftj' persons. These were at Cleveland, Youngstown and at Mentor During the summer, three families came to Burton, and Judge llud.son settled at Hudson. All these ]noneers suffered severely for food, and from the icver induced by chills. It took several years to become acclimated. Sometimes the entire neighborhood would be down, and only one or two, who could wait on the rest "between chills," were able to do anything. Time and courage overcame, final!}'.

It was not until 1798, that a piermanent .settlement was made at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. Those who came there in 179(5 went on with their surveys, part remaining in Cleveland, laid out that summer. Judge Kingsbury could n(it ri'niain at Conneaut, and went nearer the settU'Uieiits made about the Cuyahoga. In thesjiring of 17'.)S, TlKjmas Montgomery and Aaron Wright .settled here an<l remained. Up the stream they tiiund some thirty Indian cabins, or huts, in a good .state of jii-cservation, which they occupied until they c(juld erect their own. Soon after, they were joined by others, and, in a year or two, the .settlement was permanent and pro.sperous.

The site of the present town of Au.stinburg in A.shtabula County was settled in the year 1799, by two families ii-oin Connecticut, who were induced to come thither, by Judge Austin. The Judge preceded them a short time, driving, in 1 company with a hired man. some cattle about one ' hundred and fifty miles through the woods, follow- ' ing an old Indian trail, while the rest of the party came in a boat across the lake. When they arrived, there were a few- families at Harpcrsburg; one or two famihcs at Wind.sor, twenty miles southwest; also a few familicis at Elk Creek, forty miles northeast, and at \'ernon, the .same distance ! southeast. All thc-se were in a destitute condition for provisions. In 1800, another family moved j from Norfolk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, several families came from the .same place. Part came by land, and part by water. During that season, wheat was carried to an old mill on Elk Creek, forty miles away, and in some instances, half was given for carrying it to mill and returning it in flour. i Wednesday. October 21. 18(1], a church of six- ; teen members Wiis constituted in Austinburg. This was the first church on the Reserve, and was founded ))y Rev. Joseph Badger, the first missionary there. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 1802. Mr. Badger moved his family from Ijuffalo I to this town, in the first wagon that ever came from that place to the Reserve. In 180.S, noted revivals occurred in this part of the West, attended by the peculiar bodily phenomenon known as the " shakes " or "jerks."

The surveying party which landed at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, July 4, 179(J, .soon completed their labors in this part of the Reserve, and extended them westward. By the first of September, they had explored the lake coast as far west as the outlet of the Cuyahoga* River, then considered by all an important Western place, and one destined to be a great commercial mart. Time has verified the projihecies, as now the city of Cleveland covers the site.

As early as 1755, the mouth of the Cuyahoga River was laid down on the maps, and the French had a station here. It was also considered an important post during the war of the Revolution, and later, of 1812. The British, who, after the Revolution, refused to abandon the lake country west of the Cuyahoga, occupied its .shores until 1790. Their traders had a house in Ohio City, north of the Detroit road, on the point of the hill near the river, when the surveyors arrived in 1796. Washington, Jefferson, and all statesmen of that day, regarded the outlet of the Cuyahoga as an important place, and hence the early attempt of the surveyors to reach and lay out a town here.

The corps of surveyors arrived early in September, 1796, and at once proceeded to lay out a town. It was named Cleveliind, in honor of Gen. Moses Cleveland, the Land Company's agent, and for years a very prominent man in Connecticut, where he lived and died. By the 18th of October, the surveyors had completed the survey and left the place, leaving only Job V. Stiles and family, and Edward Paine, who were the only persons that passed the succeeding winter in this place. Their residence was a log cabin that stood on a spot of ground long afterward occupied by the Commercial Bank. Their nearest neighbors were at Conneaut, where Judge Kingsbury lived; at Fort Mcintosh, on the south or east, at the mouth of Big Beaver, and at the mouth of the river Raisin, on the west.

The next seas(.)n, the surveying party came again to Cleveland, which they made their headquarters. Early in the spring, Judge Kingsbury came over from Conneaut, bringing with him Elijah Gunn, who had a short time before joined him. Soon after, Maj. Lorenzo Carter and Ezekiel Hawley came with their families. These were about all who are known to have settled in this place that summer. The next year, 1798, Rodolphus Edwards and Nathaniel Doane and their families settled in Cleveland. Mr. Doane had been ninetytwo days on his journey from Chatham, Conn. In the latter part of the summer and fidl, nearly every person in the settlement was down with the bilious fever or with the ague. Mr. Doane's family consisted of nine persons, of whom Seth, a lad sixteen years of age, was the onlyone able to care for them. Such was the severity of the fever, that any one having only the ague was deemed quite fortunate. ]\Iueh suifering for proper food and medicines followed. The only way the Doane family was supplied for two months or more, was through the exertions of this boy, who went daily, after having had one attack of the chills, to Judge Kingsbury's in Newburg - five miles away, where the Judge now lived - got a peck of corn, mashed it in a hand-mill, waited until a second attack of the chills passed over, and then returned. At one time, for several days, he was too ill to make the trip, during which turnips comprised the chief article of diet. Fortunately, Maj. Carter, having only the ague, was enabled with his trusty rifle and dogs to procure an abundance of venison and other wild game, His fiimily, being somewhat acclimated, suffered less than many others. Their situation can hardly now be realized. " Destitute of a physician, and with few medicines, necessity taught them to use such means as nature had placed within their reach. They substituted pills fi'om the extract of the bitternut bark for calomel, and dogwood and cherry bark for quinine."

In November, four men, who had so far recovered as to have ague attacks no oftener than once in two or three days, started in the only boat for Walnut Creek, Penn., to obtain a winter's supply of flour. When below Euclid Creek, a storm drove them ashore, broke their boat, and compelled their return. During the winter and summer following, the settlers had no flour, except that ground in hand and coffee mills, which was, however, considered very good. Not all had even that. During the summer, the Connecticut Land Company opened the first road on the Reserve, which commenced about ten miles south of the lake shore, on the Pennsylvania State line, and extended to Cleveland. In January, 1799, 3Ir. Doane moved to Doane's Corners, leaving only IMaj. Carter's family in Cleveland, all the rest leaving as soon as they were well enough. For fifteen months, the Major and his family were the only white persons left on the town site. During the spring, Wheeler W. Williams and Maj. Wyatt built the first grist-mill on the Reserve, on the site of Newburg. It was looked ujjon as a very valuable accession to the neighborhood. Prior to this, each family had its own baud-mill in one of the corners of the cabin. The old mill is thus described by a pioneer : kT. Tho ruiinor, or upjior, w;i.s tmneJ l)y liaiiJ, by a pule sot in the top of it, near the outer edge. The upper end of the pole was inserted into a hole in a board fastened above to the joist.s, immediately over the hole in the verge of the runner. One person fed the corn. into tho eye - a hole in the center of the runner - while another turned. It was very hard work to grind, and the operatoi'S alternately exchanged places."

In 1800, several settlers came to the town and a more active life was the result. From this time, Cleveland began to progress. The 4th of July, ISOl, the first ball in town was held at JIajur Carter's log cabin, on the hill-side. John and Benjamin Wood, and 11. II. Blinn were managcre; and Maj-. Samuel Jones, musician and master of ceremonies. The company numbered ab(jutthirty, very evenly divided, for the times, between tlie seses. " Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough puncheon floor, and lu) better beverage to enliven their spirits than sweetened whisky, yet it is doubts ful if the anniversary of American independence was ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyful and harmonious comj)any than those who danced the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing and half-moon, that day, in Maj. Carter's cabin." The growth of the town, fi'om this period on, remained prosperous. The usual visits of the Indians were made, ending in their drunken carousals and fights. Deer and other wild animals furnished abundant meat. The settlement was constantly augmented by new arrivals, so that, by 1814, Clevelanrl was incorporated as a town, and, in ISLJO, as a city. Its harbor is one of the best on the lakes, and hence the merchandise of the lakes has always been attracted thither. Like Cincinnati and Chillic(jthe, it became the nucleus of settlements in this part of the State, and now is the largest city in Northern Ohio.

One of the earliest settlements made in the Western Reserve, and by .'^ome claimed as the first therein, was made on the site of Youngstown, Mahoning County, by a Mr. Young, afterward a J udge, in the summer of 1796. During this summer, before the settlements at Cuyahoga and Conneaut were made, Mr. Young and Mr. Wilcott, proprietors of a town.ship of land in Xortheastcrn Ohio, came to their po.ssessions and began the survey of their land. Ju.st when they <-amc is not known. They were found here by Col. James Ilillniaii, then a trader in the employ of Duncan & Wilson, of Pittsburgh, '- who had been forwarding goods across the country by pack-saddle horses since

1781), to the mouth of tho Cuyahoga, thence to be .shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit. Col. Hillman generally had charge of all these caravans, consisting sometimes of ninety horses and ten men. They commonly crossed the Big Beaver four miles below the mouth of the Shenango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning - called by the Indians " Mahi»ii" or '' Mahunicb." signifying the " lick ". or "at the lick" - cros.sing it about three miles below the site of Youngstown, thence by way of the Salt Springs, over the sites of Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at thv- mouth of Breakneck and again at the mouth of Tinker's Creek, thence down the river to its mouth, where they had a log hut in which to store their goods. This hut was there when the surveyors came, but at the time unoccujiied. At the mouth of Tinker's Creek were a few log huts built by Moravian Missionaries. These were used only one year, as the Indians had gone to the Tuscarawiis River. The.se and three or four cabins at the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected by the whites prior to 1700, in Northeastern Ohio. Those at the Salt Springs were built at an earlyday for tho accommodation of whites who came from West(!rn Pennsylvania to make salt. The tenants were dispossessed in 1785 by Gen. Ilarniar. A short time after, one or two white men were killed by the Indians hero. In 1788, Col. Hillman settled at Beavertown, where Duncan & Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading with the Iiiilians. He went back to Pittsl)urgh soon after, however, owing to the Indian war, and remained there till its close, continuing in his business whenever opportunity oflered. In 1706, when returning from one of his trading expeditions alone in his canoe down the JIalioning River, he discovered a smoke on the bank near the present town of Y'oungstown, and on going to the spot found Mr. Ycuing and ^Ir. Woleott, as before mentioned. A part of Col. Ilillman's cargo consisted of whisky, a gallon or so of which he still had. The price of " fire-water " then was SI per quart in the currency of the country, a deerskin being legal tender for SI, and a doe.skin for 50 cents. Mr. Young pro])osed j)urchasing a quart, and having a frolic on its contents during the evening, and insi.sted on paying Ilillman his customary price. Ilillman urged that inasmuch as thev were strangers in the country, civility ro- (|uired him to furni.sh the means for the entertainment. Young, however, insisted, and taking the deerskin used for his bed - the onlv one he had -

" Hillman remained a few days, when they accompanied him to Beaver Town to celebrate the 4tli, and then all returned, and Hillman erected a cabin on the site of Youngstown. It is not certain that they remained here at this time, and hence the priority of actual settlement is generally conceded to Conneaut and Cleveland. The next year, in the fall, a Mr. Brown and one other person came to the banks of the Mahoning and made a permanent settlement. Tiie same season Uriah Holmes and Titus Hayes came to the same locality, and before winter ((uite a settlement was to be seen here. It proceeded quite prosperously until the wanton murder of two Indians occurred, which, for a time, greatly excited the whites, lest the Indians should retaliate. Tlirough the efforts of Col. Hillman, who had great influence with tlie natives, they agreed to let the murderers stand a trial. They were acquitted upon some technicality. The trial, however, pacified the Indians, and no trouble came from the unwarranted and unfortunate circumstance, and no check in the emigration or prosperity of tlie colony occurred."*

As soon as an effective settlement had been established at Youngstown, others were made in the surrounding country. One of these was begun by William Fenton in 1798, on the site of the present town of Warren, in Trumbull County. lie remained here alone one year, when he was joined by Capt. Ephraim Quimby. By the last of September, the next year, the colony had increased to sixteen, and from that date on continued prosperously. Once or twice they stood in fear of the Indians, as the result of quarrels induced by whisky. Sagacious persons generally saved any serious outbreak and pacified the nativ'es. Mr. Badger, the first mi'-sionary cm the Reserve, came to the settlement here and on the Mahoning, as soon as each was made, and, by his earnest labors, succeeded in forming churches and schools at an early day. He was one of the most efficient men on the Reserve, and throughout his long and busy life, was well known and greatly respected. He died in 1846, aged eighty-nine years.

The settlements given are about all that were made before the close of 1797. In following the narrative of these settlements, attention is paid to the chronological order, as far as this can be done. Like those settlements already made, many which are given as occurring in the next year, 1798, were actually begun earlier, but were only temporary preparations, and were not considered as made until the nest year.

Turning again to the southern portion of Ohio, the Scioto, MuskingunI and Miami Valleys come jirominently into notice. Throughout the entire Eastern States they were still attracting attention, and an increased emigration, busily occupying their verdant fields, was the result. All about Chillicothe was now well settled, and, up the banks of that stream, prospectors were selecting sites for their future homes.

In 1797, Robert Armstrong, George Skidmorc, Lucas SuUivant, William Domigan, James Marshall, John Dill, Jacob Grubb, Jacob Overdier, Arthur O'Hara, John Brickell, Col. Culbertson, the Deardorfs, McElvains, Selles and others, came to what is now Franklin County, and, in August, Sir. Sullivant and some others laid out the town of Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, opposite the site of Columbus. The country about this locality had long been the residence of the Wyandots, who had a large town on the city's site, and cultivated extensive fields of corn on the river bottoms. The locality had been visited by the whites as early as 1780, in some of their expeditions, and the fertility of the land noticed. As soon as peace was assured, the whites came and began a settlement, as has been noted. Soon after Franklinton was established, a Mr. Springer and his son-in-law, Osborn, settled on the Big Darby, and, in the summer of 1798, a scattering settlement was made on Alum Creek. About the same time settlers came to the mouth of the Gahannah, and along other water-courses. Franklinton was the point to which emigrants came, and from which the}' always made their permanent location. For several years there was no mill, nor any such commodity, nearer than Chillieothe. A hand-mill was constructed in Franklinton, which was eommonl}' used, unless the settlers made a trip to Chillieothe in a canoe. Next, a horse-mill was tried ; but not till 1805, when Col. Kilbourne built a mill at Worthington, settled in 1803, could any efficient grinding be done. In 1789, a small store was opened in Franklinton, by James Scott, but, for seven or eight years, Chillieothe was the nearest post ofiice. OfVen, when the neighbors wanted mail, one of their number was furnished money to pay the postage on any letters that might bo waiting, and sent for the mail. At first, as in all new localities, a great deal of .sickness, fever and ague, prevailed.

The township of Sharon in this county has a history similar to that of (Jranviile Township in Licking County. It was settled by a " Scioto Company," formed in Granby, Conn., iu the winter of 1801-U2, consisting at first of eight a.s.soci:itcs. They drew up articles of ;issociation, among which was on:3 limiting their number to forty, each of whom must be unanimously chosen by ballot, a single negative being sufficient to prevent an election. Col. James Ki'bourne was sent out the succeeding spring to explore the country and select and purchase a township for settlement. He returned in the fall without making any purcluise, through fear that the State Constitution, then about to be formed, would tolerate slavery, in which citse the project would liave been abandoned. While on this visit, Col. Kilbournc compiled from a variety of sources the firet map made of Ohio. Although much of it was conjectured, and hence inaccurate, it was very valuable, being correct as far as the State was then known.

"As soon as information was received that the constitution of Ohio prohibited slavery, Col. Kilbourne purchased the township he had previously selected, within the United States military land district, and, in the spring of 18i);5, returned to Ohio, and began improvements. By the succeeding December, one hundred settlers, mainly from Hartford County, Conn., and Hampshire Count}-, Miiss., arrived at their new home. Obeying to the letter the agreement made iu tlie I'iast, the first cabin erected was used for a schoolhouse and a church of the Protestant Episcopal denomination ; the first Sabbath alter the arrival of the colony, divine service was held therein, and on the arrival of the eleventh family a school was opened. This early attention to education and religion has left its favorable impress upon the people until this day. The first 4th of July was unirjuely and appropriately celebrated. Seventeen gigantic tretw, emblematical of the seventeen States forming the Union, were cut, so that a few blows of the ax, at sunrise on the 4th, prostrated each successively with a tremeudoiLS crash, forming a national salute novel in the world's history."'*

The growth of this part of Ohio continued without interruption until the establishment of the State capital at Columbus, in 1S16. The town was laid out in 1812, but. as that date is considered remote in the early American settlements, its history will be left to succeeding pages, and there traced when the history of the State capital and State government is given.

The site of Zanesville, in JIuskingum County, was early looked upon as an excellent place to form a settlement, and, had not hostilities opened in 1791, with the Indians, the place would have been one of the earliest .settled in Ohio. As it was, the war so disarranged matters, that it was not till 1T!)7 that a permanent .s(!ttlement was effected.

The ^Muskingum (country w;ts principally occupi(>d, in aboriginal times, by the ^Vyandots, Delawares, and a few Senecas and Shawanees. An Indian town once stood, yeai-s before the settlement of the country, in the vicinity of Duncan's Falls, in Muskingum Count}', from which circumstance the place is often called "Old Town." Near Dresden, was a large Shawanee town, called Wakatomaca. The graveyard was (juite large, and, when the whites first settled here, remains of the town were abundant. It was in this vicinity that the venerable Maj. Ca.ss, father of Lewis Cass, lived and died. He owned 4,000 acres, given him for his military services.

The first settlers on the site of Zanesville were William McCulloh and Henry Crooks. The locality was given to I'Ibenezcr Zane, who had been allowed three sections of land on the Scioto, Muskingum and Ilockhocking, wherever the road cros.sed these rivers, provided other prior claims did not interfere, for opening " Zane's trace." When he located the road across the Muskingum, he selected the place where Zanesville now stands, being attracted there by the excellent water privileges. He gave the section of land here to his brother Jonathan Zane, and J. Mclntire, who lea.sed the ferry, established on the road over the Mu.skingum, to William .McCulloh and Henry Crooks, who became thereby the finst .settlers. The feiT}' was kept about where the old ii]i])cr bridge was afterward placed. The ferry-boat was made by fastening two canoes together with a stick. Soon after a flat-boat was used. It was brought from Wheeling, by Mr. Mclntire, in 171)7, the year after the ferry was establi.«hed. The niad cut out through Ohio, ran from Wheeling, Va., to Maysville, Ky. Over this road the mail was carried, and, in 179.S, the firet mail ever carried wholly in Ohio was brought up from Marietta to JlcCulloh's cabin by Daniel Convers, where, by arrangement of the Postmaster tJeneral, it met a mail from Wheeling and one from Maysville.

JlcCuUoh, who could liardly road, was authorized to assort the mails and send each package in its proi^cr direction. For this service he received $30 per annum ; but owing to his inability to read well, Mr. Couvcrs generally performed the duty. At that time, the mails met here once a week. Four years after, the settlement had so increased that a regular post office was opened, and Thomas Dowden appointed Postmaster. He kept his office in a wooden building near the river bank.

^Messrs. Zane and jMcIutire laid out a town in 1799, which they called Westbourn. When the post office was established, it was named Zanesville, and in a sliort time the village took the same name. A few families settled on the west side of the river, soon after McCulloh arrived, and as this locality grew well, not long after a .store and tavern was . opened here. Mr. Mclntire built a double log cabin, which was used as a hotel, and in which Louis Philippe, King of France, was once entertained. Although the fare and accommodations were of the pioneerperiod, the honorable guestseems to have enjoyed his visit, if the statements of Lewis Cass in his " Camp and Court of Louis Philippe" may be believed.

In 1804, Bluskingum County was formed by the Legislature, and, for a while, strenuous efforts made to secure the kState capital by the citizens of Zanesville. They even erected buildings for tlie use of the Legislature and Governor, and during the session of 1810-11, the temporary seat of government was fixed here. When the permanent State capital was chosen in 1816, Zanesville was passed by, and gave up the hope. It is now one of the most enterprising towns in the Muskingum Valley.

During the summer of 1797, John Knoop, then living four miles above Cincinnati, made several expeditions up the Miami Valley and selected the land on which he afterward lt>cated. The next spring Mr. Knoop, his l)rother Benjamin, Henry Garard, Benjamin Hamlet and John Tildus established a station in what is now Miami County, near the present town of Staunton A'illagc. That summer, Jlrs. Knoop planted the first apple-tree in the Miami * country. They all lived togetlier for greater safety for two years, during wliicli time they were occupied clearing their farms and erecting dwellings. During the summer, the site of Piqua was settled, and three young men located at a place known as " Freeman's Prairie." Those who

*The word Miami in the Indian tongue signified mother. The Miamis were the original owners of the valley by that name, and affirmed they were created there.

settled at Piqua were Samuel Hilliard, Job Garard, Shadrac Hudson, Jonah Rollins, Daniel Cox, Thomas Rich, and a Mr. Hunter. The last named came to the site of Piqua first in 1797, and selected his home. Until 1799, these named were the only ones in this locality ; but that year emigration set in, and very shortly occupied almost all the bottom land in Miami County. With the increa.se of emigration, came the comforts of life, and mills, stores and other necessary aids to civilization, were ere long to be seen.

The site of Piqua is quite historic, being the theater of many important Indian occurrences, and the old home of the Shawances, of which tribe Tecumseh was a chief During the Indian war, a fort called Ftnt Piqua was built, near tlie residence of Col. John Johnston, so long the faithful Indian Agent. The fort was abandoned at the close of hostilities.

When the Miami Canal was opened through this part of the State, the country began rapidly to improve, and is now jjrobably one of the best portions of Ohio.

About the same time the Jliami was settled, a company of people from Pennsylvania and Virginia, who were princijially of German and Irish descent, located in Lawrence County, near the iron region. As soon as tbat ore was made available, that part of the State rapidly filled with settlers, most of whom engaged in the mining and working of iron ore. Now it is very prosperous.

Another settlement was made the same season, 1797, on the Ohio .side of the river, in Columbiana County. The settlement progressed slowly for a while, owing to a few difficulties with the Indians. The celebrated Adam Poe had been here as early as 1782, and several localities are made locally famous by his and his brother's adventures.

In this county, on Little Beaver Creek, near its mouth, the second paper-mill west of the AUeghanies was erected in 1805-(5. It was the pioneer enterjirise of the kind in Ohio, and was named the Ohio Paper-Mill. Its proprietors were John Bever and John Coulter.

One of the most noted localities in the State is comprised in Greene County. The Shawanee town, " Old Chillicothe," was on the Little Miami, in this county, about three miles north of the site of Xenia. This old Indian town was, in the annals of the West, a noted place, and is frequently noticed. It is first mentioned in 1773, by Capt. Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, who boldly advanced alone into the town and obtained the consent of the Inilkn.s to go on to Ki-ntmky and niiiko liis settlement at the falls of the Ohio. His aiulucioiis bravery gained bis request. Daniel Boone \v;i.s taken prisoner early in 1778, with twenty-seven others, and kept for a time at Old Cbillicotbe. Through the influenee of the British Governor, Hamilton, who had taken a great fancy to Boone, be and ten others were sent to Detroit. The Indians, however, bad an equal fancy for the brave fi-ontiersman, and took bim back to Cbillicotbe, and adopted him into their tribe. About the 1st of June be escaped from tbcui, and made his way back to Kentucky, iu time to prevent a univers;il niassiicre of the whites. In July, 17"!), the town was destrojed by Col. John Bowman and one hundred and si.\ty Kentuckians, and the Indians dispersed.

The Americans made a permanent settlement in this county in 1797 or 1798. This latter year, a mill was erected in the confines of the county, which implies the settlement was made a slmrt time previou.sly. A short distance east of the mill two block-bouses were erected, and it was intended, should it become necessary, to surround them and the mill with pickets. The mill was used by the settlers at " Dutch Station," in Jliami County, fully thirty miles distant. The richness of the country in this part of the State attracted a great number of settlers, so that by 1803 tbe county waa establisbed, and Xcnia laid out, and designated iis the county seat. Its first court liouse, a primitive log structure, was long preserved as a curiosit)'. It would indeed be a curiosity now.

Zane's trace, passing from Wheeling to Maysville, crossed the Hockhocking* River, in Fairfield County, where Lancaster is now built. 3Ir. Zaue located one of his three sections on this rivt'r, covering the site of Lancaster. Following this trace in 1797, many individuals noted the desirableness of tbe locality, .some of whom detennined to return and settle. "The site of the city had in former times been the home of the Wyandots, who had a town here, that, in 1790, contained over .500 wigwams and more than 1 ,000 souls. Their town was called Tftiliec, or, in English, the Crane-toiviijUnd derived its name from the prinei-

-The word Hock -hock-ing in the Ddaworo language signifies a bcWe : tlie Shan'ances have it Wen-lha-kiiyh-<iua »t'pv, f c ; boltle river. John Wliite in tlie Anierioan rioneor says: "Alx>nt seven miles norl «e.^t of Lancaster, there is a faU In the noekh..rkinE of alioilt twt nty t.-et. Above Ihe fall for a short distince, the creek is very narr.nv u-\i straight forming a nerk, while at the falls it eiidfienly widens on each side and swells into the appearance of the hody of alMttle. The whole, when seen fmm almve, appears exactly in the shape of a bottle, and from tin-* fact the Indians called the river Hock-hock-ing." - Boioe's CoUccHom.

jial chief of that tribe. Another portion of tbe tribe then lived at Toby-town, nine miles west of Tarhe-town (now Koyaltown), and was governed by an inferior chief called Toby. The chief's wigwam in Tarbe stood on the bank of the prairie, near a beautiful and abundant spring of water, whose outlet was tbe river. The wigwams of the Indians were built of the bark of trees, set on poles, in tbe form of a sugar camp, with one square open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a man. The Wyandot tribe that day numbered about .500 warriors. By the treaty of Greenville, they ceded all their territory, and the majority, under their chief, removed to Upper Sandusky. The remainder lingered awhile, loath to leave the Lome of their ancestors, but as game became scarce, they, too, left for better bunting-grounds."*

In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold, enterprising man, settled on Zane's trace, on tbe bank of the prairie, west of tbe cros.sings, at a place since known as " Hunter's settlement." For a time, he bad no neighbors nearer than tbe settlers on tbe Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. He lived to see the country he had found a wilderness, full of the honu'S of industry. His wife was the first white woman that settled in the valley, and shared with him all the privations of a pioneer life.

Mr. Hunter bad not been long in the valley till he was joined by Nathaniel Wilson, John and Allen Green, John and Joseph JIcMidlen, Robert Cooper, Isiuic Shaefer, and a few otht^rs, who erected cabins and planted corn. The next year, the tide of emigration came iu with great force. In the spring, two settlements were made in Greenfield Township, each settlement containing twenty or more families. One was called tbe Forks of tbe Hockhocking, the other, Yankeetowu. Settlements were also made along the river below Hunter's, on Ru.sb Creek, Raccoon and Indian Creeks, Plea.sant Run, Felter'sRun, at Tobeytown, Muddy Prairie, and on Clear Creek. In the fall, - 171)9 - Joseph Loveland and Hezekiab Smith built a log grist-mill at tbe Tjiper Falls of the Hockhocking. afterward known its Rock Mill. This was the first mill on this river. In the latter part of the year, a mail route was establiiihed over the trace. The mail was earned through on horseback, and. in the .settlements in this locality, was lefl at ibe cabin of Samuel Coates, who lived cm the prairie at the crossings u\' the river.

In the fall of tho next year, Ebenezer Zane laid out Lancaster, which, until 1805, was known as New Lancaster. The lots sold very rapidly, at $50 each, and, in less than one year, quite a village appeared. December 9, the Governor and Judges of the Northwest Territory organized Fairfield County, and made Lancaster the county seat. The year following, the Rev. John Wright, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, came, and ft'oni that time on schools and churches were established and tlieroaftcr regularly maintained at this place.

Not far from Lancaster are immense mural escarpments of sandstone formation. They were noted among the aborigines, and were, probably, used by them as places of outlook and defense.

The same summer Fairfield County was settled, the towns of Bethel and Williamsburg, in Clermont County, were settled and laid out, and in 1800, the county was erected.

A settlement was also made immediately south of Fairfield County, in Hocking County, by Christian Westenhaver, a German, from near Ilagerstowu, Md. He came in the spring of 179^, and was soon joined by several families, who formed quite a settlement. The territory included in the county remained a part of Ros', Athens and Fairfield, until 1 8 1 S, when Hocking t^ounty was erected, and Logan, which had been laid out in 181 G, was made the cuunl}' seat.

The country comprised in the county is rather broken, especially along the Hockhocking River. This broken country was a fiivorite resort of the Wyandot Indians, who could easily hide in the numerous grottoes and ravines made by the river and its aftluents as the water cut its way through the .sandstone rooks.

In 1798, soon afler Zane's trace was cut through the country, a Mr. Graham located on the site of Cambridge, in Guernsey County. His was then the only dwelling between Wheeling and Zanesville, on the trace. He remained here alone about two years, when he was succeeded by George Beymer, from Somers(;t, Pcnn. Both these persons kept a tavern ami ferry over Will's Creek. In April, 1801], Jlr. Beymer was succeeded by John Beatty, who came from Loudon, Va. His family consisted of eleven persons. The Indians hunted in this vicinity, and were frequent visit(jrs at the tavern. In June, 1806, Cambridge w;is laid out, and on the day the lots were offered for sale, several families from the British Isle of Guernsey, near the coast of France, stopped here on their way to the West. They were .satisfied with the location and purchased many of the lots, and some land in the vicinity. They were soon followed by otlier families trom the same place, all of whom settling iu this locality gave the name to the county when it was erected in 1810.

A settlement was made in the central part of the State, on Darby Creek, in Union County, in the summer of 1798, by James and Joshua Ewing. The nest year, they were joined by Samuel and David Mitchell, Samuel Mitchell, Jr., Samuel Kirkpatrick and Samuel McCullough,and, in 1800, by George and Samuel Reed, Robert Snodgrass and Paul Hodgson.

'-James Ewing'.s farm was the site of an ancient and noted Mingo town, which was deserted at the time the jMingo towns, in what is now Logan County, were destroyed by Gen. Logan, of Kentucky, in 17SG. When Mr. Ewing took possession of his farm, the cabins were still standing, and, among others, the remains of a blacksmith's shop, with coal, cinders, iron-dross, etc. Jonathan Alder, formerly a prisoner among the Indians, says the shop was carried on by a renegade white man, named Butler, who lived among the Mingoes. Extensive fields had formerly been cultivated in the vicinity of tho town."*

Soon after the settlement was establi.-hed. Col. James Curry located here. He was quite an influential man, and, in 1820, succeeded in getting the county formed from portions of Delaware, Franklin, JVIadison and Logan, and a jiart of the old Indian Territory. IMarysville was made the county seat.

During the year 1789, a fort, called Fort Steuben, was built on the site of Steubenville, but was dismantled at the conclusion of hostilities in 1795. Three years after, Bezaleel Wells and Hon. James Ross, for whom Ross County was named, located the town of Steubenville about the old fort, and, by lilwral offers of lots, soon attracted quite a number oi' settlers. In 1805, the town was incorporated, and then had a population of several hundred persons. Jefierson County was created by Gov. St. Clair, July 29, 1797, the year before Steubenville was laid out. It then included the large scope of country west of Penn.sylvania; east and north of a line from the mouth of the Cuyahoga ; southwardly to the Muskingum, and cast to the Ohio ; including, in its territories, the cities of Cleveland, Canton, Steubenville and War- rcn. Only a sliort timt;, however, was it allowed to retain this size, as the increase in emigration rendered it necessary to erect new counties, which was ra])idly done, especially on the adoption t"the State jrovernmeut.

The county is rich in early history, prior to its settlement by the Americans. It was the homt of the celebrated JIinj;;o chief, Logan, who resid h1 awhile at an old Ming(j town, a lew miles below t le site of .Steubeiivillo, the jilace whore the troo )s under Col. William.son rendezvoused on their i ifamous raid against the Moravian Indians ; at d also where Col. Crawford and his men met, whf n starting on their unfortunate expedition.

In the Reserve, settlements were often made remote from populous localities, in accordance witli the wish of a proprietor, who might own a tract of couutr}' twenty or thirty miles in the interior. In theprasentcounty of Geauga, three families located at Burton in 1798. They lived at a considerable distance from any other settlement for some time, and were greatly inconvenienced for the want of mills or .shops. As time progressed, however, these were brought nearer, or built in their midst, and, ere long, almost all parts of the Reserveoiould show some settlement, even if isolated.

The next year, 1TU9, .settlements were made at Ravenna, Deerfield and Palmyra, in Portage County. lion. Benjamin Tajipan came to the site of Ravenna in June, at which time he found one white man, a ^Ir. Honey, living there. At this date, a solitary log cabin occupied the sites of Buffalo and Cleveland. On his journey from New England, Mr. Tapjiau fell in with David Ilud.son, the founder of the Huilscin settlement in Summit County. After many days of travel, they landed at a prairie in Summit County. Mr. Tappan left, his goods in a cabin, built fi ir the purpose, under the care of a hired man, and went on his way, cutting a road to the site of Ravenna, where his land lay. On his return fur a second load of goods, they found the cabin deserted, and evidences of its plunder by the Indians. Not long after, it was learned that the man left in charge had gone to Mr. Hudson's settlement, he having set out immediately on his arrival, for his <iwn land. Mr. Taj)j)an gathered the remainder of his goods, and started back for Ravenna. On his way one of his oxen died, and he found himself in a vast forest, away from any habitation, and with one dollar in money. He diil not falter a moment, but sent his hired man, a faithful fellow, to Eric, Penn., a distance of one hundred miles through the wilderness, with the compass for his guide, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the commander at the fort there, a loan of money. At the same time, he followed the township lines to Youngstown, where he became ac([uaintod with Col. James Hillman, who did not hesitate to sell him an ox on credit, at a fair price. He returned to his load in a few days, found his ox all right, hitched the two together and went on. He wa.s soon joined by his hired man, with the money, and together they spent the winter in a log cabin. He gave his man one hundred acres of land as a reward, and iiaid Col. Hillman for the ox. In a j'car or two he had a prosperous settlement, and wdien the county w;is erected in 1807, Ravenna was made the seat of justice.

About the same time Mr. Tappan began his settlement, others were commenced in other localities in this county. Early in May, 1799, Lewis Day and his son Horatio, of Granby, Conn., and Moses Tibbals and (jreen Frost, of Granville, Mass., lefl (heir homes in a one-horse wagon, and, the 29th of May, arrived in what is now Deerfield Township. Theirs was the first wagon that had ever penetrated farther westward in tliis region than Canfield. The country west of that place had been an unbroken wilderness until within a few days. Capt. Caleb Atwater, of Wallingford, Conn., had hired some men to open a road to Town.ship No. 1, in the Seventh Range, of which he was the owner. This r(jad passed through Deerfield, and was completed to that place when the party arrived at the point of their destination. These emigrants selected sites, and commenced clearing the land. In July, Lewis Ely arrived li-oni Granville, and wintered here, while those wlio came first, and had made their improvements, returned East. The 4th of March, 1800, Alva Day (son of Lewis Day), John Camj)bell and Joel Thrall arrived. In April, George and Robert Taylor and James Laughlin, from Pennsylvania, with their families, came. Mr. Laughlin built a grist-mill, which was of great convenience to the settlers. July 29, Lewis Day returned with his family and his brother-in-law, JIaj. Rogers, who, the next year, also brought his family.

"3Iuch suffering was experienced at first on account of the scarcity of provisions. They were chiefly supplied from the settlements east of the Ohio River, the nearest of which was Georgetown, liirty miles away. The provisions were brought on pack-horses through the wilderness. August 22, Mrs. Alva Day gave birth to a child - a female - the first child born in the township.

November 7, the first wedding took place. John Cainpljcll and Sarah Ely were joined in wedlock by Calvin Austin, E.sq., of Warren. He wa.s accompanied from WaiTen, a distance of twentyseven miles, by jMr. Pease, then a lawyer, afterward a well-known Judge. They came on foot, there being no road; and, as they threaded their way through the woods, young Pease taught the Justice the maiTiage ceremony by oft repetition.

" In 1802, Franklin Township was organized, embracing all of Portage and parts of Trumbull and Summit Counties. About this time the settlement received accessions from all parts of the East. In February, 1801, Ilev. Badger came and began his labors, and two years later Dr. Shadrac Bostwick organizf^d a Methodist Episcopal church.* The remaining settlement in this county. Palmyra, was begun abnut the same time as the others, by David l>aniels, in lUi Salisbury, Conn. The next year he brouglit out his family. Soon after he was joined by E. N. and W. Bacon, E. Cutler, A. Thurber, A. Preston, N. Buis, J. T. Baldwin, T. and C. Giiliert, D. A. and S. Waller, N. Smith, Joseph Fislier, J. Tuttle and others.

'- When this region was first settled, there was an Indian trail commencing at Fort Mcintosh ( Beaver, Penn. ), and extending westward to Sandusky and Detroit. The trail fciUowed the highest ground. Along the trail, parties of Indians were frequently seen passing, for several years after the whites came. It seemed to be the great aboriginal thoroughfare from Sandusky to the Ohio River. There were several large piles of stones on the trail in this locality, under which human skeletons have been discovered. These are supposed to be the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered by their enemies, as tradition says it is an Indian custom for each one to ca.st a stone on the grave of an enemy, whenever he pa-sses by. These stones appear to have been picked up along the trail, and cast upon the heaps at different times.

"At the point where this trail crosses Silver Creek, Fredrick Daniels and others, in 1814, discovered, painted on several trees, various devices, evidently the work of Indians. The bark was carefully shaved off two-thirds of the way around, and figures cut upon the wood. On one of these was dehneated seven Indians, equipped in a particular manner, one of whom was without a head. This was supposed to have been made by a party on their return westward, to give intelligence to

The celebrated Indian hunter, Brady, made his remarkable leap across the Cuyahoga, in this county. The county also contains Brady's Pond, a large sheet of water, iu which he once made his escape from the Indians, from which cii'cumstance it received its name.

The locality comprised in Clark County was settled the same summer as those in Summit County. John Humphries came to this part of the State with G-en. Simon Kenton, in ITUO. With them came six families from Kentucky, who settled north of the site of Springfield. A fort was erected on Mad River, for security against the Indians. Fourteen cabins were soon built near it, all being surrounded by a strong picket fence. David Lowery, one of the pioneers here, built the first flat-boat, to operate on the Great INIiami, and, in 1800, inade the first trip on that river, coming down from Dayton. He took hi.-< boat and cargo on down to New Orleans, where he disposed of bis load of " five hundred venison hams and bacon."

Sjiringfield was laid out in March, 1801. Griffith Foos, who came that spring, built a tavern, which he completed and opened in June, remaining in this place til! 1814. He often stated that when emigrating West, his party were four days and a half getting from Franklinton, on the Scioto, to Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. When crossing the Big Darby, they were obliged to carry all their gocjds over on horseback, and then drag their wagons across with ropes, while some of the party swam by the side of the wagon, to prevent its upsetting. The site of the town was of such practical beauty and utility, that it soon attracted a large number of settlers, and, in a few years, Springfield was incorporated. In 1811, a church was built by the residents for the use of all denominations.

f Tecumseh, or Tecumshe, waa a son of Puckeshinwa, a member of the Kiacopoke tribe, and Methoataake, of the Turtle tribe of the Shawanee nation. They removed from Florida to Ohio soon after theirmarriage. The father, Puckeshinwa, rose to the rank of a chief, and fell at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, the mother, Methoataske, returned to the south, where she died at an advanced age. Tecumseh was born about the year 1768. He early showed a passion for war, and, when only 27 years of age, was made a chief. The next year he removed to Deer Creek, in the vicinity of Urbana, and from there to the site of Piqua, on the Great Miami. In 1798 he accepted the invitation of the Delawares in the vicinity of White River, Indiana, and from that time made the iiiJ Iiiuian town of Piqua, the ancient Pi(iua of the Shawanees, on the north side of JIad River, about five miles west of Sprinirfield. Tlie town was destrojed hy tlie Kentucky Kangr'rs under Gen. (ieorge Rogers Chirke in 17S0, at the suno time he destroj"ed -' Okl ChilUcothe." Immense fields of standing corn about both towns were cut down, compelling the Indians to resort to tlie hunt with mure than ordinary vigor, to sustain themselves and their wives and children. This search insured safety for some time on the borders. The site of Cadiz, in Harrison County, was settled in April, 1799, by Alexander Henderson and his fiuiiily, from AViishinirton Count}', Penn. When they arrived, they found neighbi)rs in tlie persons of Daniel Peterson and his family, who lived near the forks of Short Creek, and who had preceded them but a very short time. The next year, emigrants began to cross the Ohio in gT<^at numbers, and iu five or six j-ears large settlements could be seen in this part of the State. The county was erected in 1814, and Cadiz, laid out in 18U3, made the county seat.

While the settlers were locating in and about Cadiz, a few families came to what is now Monroe County, and settled near the present town of Beallsville. Shortly after, a few persons settled on the Clear Fork of the Little Muskingum, and a few others on the east fork of Duck Creek. The next season all these settlements received additions and a few other localities were also occupied. Before long the town of Beallsville was laid out, and in time became quite populous. The county was not erected until 1818, and in 181,5 Woudsfield Wiis laid out and made the seat of justice.

The opening of tlie sea.son of 1 800 - the dawn of a new century - saw a vast emigration west ward. Old settlements in Ohio received immense increase of emigrants, while, branching out in all directions like the radii of a circle, other .settlements were ccmstantly formed until, in a few years, all j)arts of the State knew the presence of the white man.

Towns sprang into existence here and there ; mills and factories were erected ; po.st ofiices and post-routes were established, and the comforts and conveniences of life began to appear.

With this came the desire, so potent to the mind of all American citizens, to rule themselves through representatives chosen by their own votes. Hitherto, they had been rul(Kl by a Governor and Judges ujipoiuted by the President, who, in turn, appointed county and judicial ofiiccrs. The arbitrary rulings of the Governor, St. Clair, had arrayed the mass of the people against him, and made the desire for the second grade of government stronger, and finally led to its creation.