Jay County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read), 1864

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read)

Nancy Hawkins is still living, and is now seventy-five 3'ears of age. She is in good health, active and lively. Unusual energy, unfaltering devotion to right principles, and lull-hearted hospitality are, as they always have been, her distinguishing characteristics. She is a passionate lover of home, and has impressed this trait of character upon all her children. She still lives upon the " Old Home Farm," where she and her husband first settled, and until within the last year in the log cabin built by him in 1829, ' She is never so contented as when enjoying the genial warmth of that great fire-place. Of this institution, so cherished in Jay County - the crowning charm of all log cabins - we heartily adopt the language of Mrs, Stowe, in her "House and Home Papers:"

Najs'Ct Hawkins

" Best of all, there was in our parlor that household altar, the blazing wood-fire, whose wholesome, hearty crackle is the truest household inspiration. I quite agree with one celebrated American author, who holds that an open fireplace is an altar of patriotism. Would our Revolutionary fathers have gone bare-footed and bleeding over snows to defend air-tight stoves and cooking-ranges ? I trow not. It was the memory of the great, open kitchen fire, with its backlog and fore-stick of cord-wood - its roaring, hilarious voice of invitation - its dancing tongue of flame, that called to them through the snows of that dreadful winter to keep up their courage, that made their hearts warm and bright with a thousand reflected memories."

That cabin is the oldest one now standing, and the fourth one built in Jay County, and will never be torn down while the farm remains in the Haw- kins family. Ambrotypes of it, with Nancy's several children and grandchildren, and the old rocking chair in front, have been taken, and are in possession of the family. The cut above represents the old lady standing at the door, though the likeness is not truthful except as to her size. Tlie boy near her is a grandchild. Just beyond the cabin, at the foot of the hill, a spring, overhung with beautiful shade trees, issues from the banks, and the cool water finds its way to the Salimonie through that family favorite, a springhouse. She lately told the writer that if they would only fix the old house so it would not let in the rain, she would much prefer living in it than in the new one. A beautiful farm house, erected by B. W". Hawkins, now stands beside it.

Chorus

'Twas not for its splendor that dwelling was dear - 'Twas not that the gay and the noble were near ; - O'er tlie porch the wild rose and the woodbine entwined. And the sweet-scented jessamine waved in the wind ; 4*

When he was elected County Clerk, in 1859, he persuaded his mother to live with him one winter ; but when the willows put forth their earliest leaves, the bright green grass was peeping from door-yards and fence-corners, and the first gleeful chirping of the spring-birds was heard, she went back to the farm, and the fairest temptations of town life cannot induce her to leave it again. The farm is a rich and beautiful one, lying just at the forks of the Little Salimonie, half a mile froA the village of Autioch

One time the dogs caught a deer near the house, when Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Shaylor were the only occupants. They took the axe and went to assist the dogs, which held the animal down, bat with his fore-feet and horns he would light very briskly. Whenever there was an opportunity the ladies would give the deer a blow with the poll of the axe. But this style of warfare served only to exasperate. Changing the plan of attack, they took the edge and gave " hard blows and fast," to which the deer soon yielded, and after skinning and quartering, the lady hunters carried it home.

The Indians were the only neighbors of the Hawkins family for several years. The tribes who were in the habit of visiting this region were the Miamies, Wyandottes, Pottawatamies, Senacas and Shawnees. The two latter were very friendly. They came in the fall to hunt, and in the spring to trap. While passings through one time an Indian boy stole an axe. About three months afterwards they returned, and the boy's father brought the axe back, saying, "My boy stole hira. No good boy !"

If they found Mr. Hawkins' ducks far from the house, they would drive them home, and sometimes they would find his cow mired in some swamp several miles distant, when they would come and inform him, pilot some one to the spot, and assist in releasing the animal. By such little acts of kindness they showed their friendly feeling toward the white family.

Once an Indian called on Peter Studabaker, at Fort Recovery, and told him that a very rich man had moved into the county, meaning John J. Hawkins. Studakaker inquired ;vvhether he had many horses and cattle. " Ko," said the Indian, "he got heap of children and thirteen dog !" It

All early settlers are familiar with the name of the old Indian, Doctor Duck, who remained in the country a long time after his tribe had emigrated to Kansas. He showed much skill in the treatment of diseases, but could not cure Mr. Hawkins, with whom he lived for six months. He was very religious, and often appeared to be praying to the Great Spirit. One time he attended preaching near Deerfield, after which there was a church trial of an offending member. The old Indian listened attentively until there was some conflicting testimony, when he went to the door, turned round and said to the meeting, " Me go ; no much good here - too much lie."

About two weeks after Mr, Hawkins died this Indian went alone to the grave, and there spent nearly half a day, apparently preaching and performing wild ceremonies. During the year 1835 B. W. Hawkins was employed by a Greenville firm to buy furs, at forty dollars per month and expenses paid. He visited ten counties, and purchased of the Indians, in one lot, fifteen hundred dollars' worth. His employers had offered to their agents that the one buying the best lot of furs should be presented with a new suit of clothes. Mr. liawkins got the suit, from boots to hat.

Chapter Yii The Pioneeks Of 1830

Sketches liave now been given of the first four families who became residents of Jay County. On this account they are given in detail, and, also, because Pioneer Life can be most truthfully sketched by a correct history of several individual families. In the lives of these families, all pioneers can see likenesses of their own. Yet the experience of no two are exactly similar. What golden threads of history might be unraveled at every family hearth-stone ! What family's history would not be full of thrilling interest, were the silver chords of love, and hidden currents of smiles and tears, joys and sorrows, revealed ? Put these are too sacred for the public eye. The limits of this volume admit only of specimens of Pioneer Life. Henceforward families will be mentioned only in more general terms, and the

At the opening of the year 1830, from the low chimneys of but three humble cabins the blue smoke curled gracefully above the tall, vast forests surrounding them, to mark the beginning of civilized life in Jay County, As a few bright stars appear first at evening, and, as the night draws on, multitudes glitter in the sky, so these families - "stars of empire" - were the front lights of that thronging civilization that is following. They were Orman Perring, John [Brooks and tlie Hawkins family. At that time, although Brooks had been a settler there for eight years, the others knew nothing of him, nor did he of them. Thus dimly did the light of civilization shine in that region at the opening of this decade.

In the spring of 1830, James Stone and William Cummings visited Ft. Recovery. They knew Peter Studabaker, for, three years prior, while on a visit to the St. Joseph country, they had enjoyed his hospitality. They selected land in Noble Township and went to work, planted corn, killed large numbers of deer and found many bee-trees. Greatly pleased with the country, when autumn began to tinge the forest with yellow, Mr. Stone brought his family from Gallia County, Ohio. This time he was accompanied by Henderson Graves, who had married his daughter the evening before starting. William B. Lipps was living

The two families lived in a camp about six weeks, then built a cabin. In October, John J. Hawkins came there, hunting some cattle, and they learned, for the first time, that they had a neighbor within six miles.

The country abounded in such luxuries as turkeys, venison and honey. The greatest dithculty was the want of a mill, there being none nearer than Greenville. But Peter Studabaker dressed a couple of " gray heads," and constructed a horse mill which served the neighborhood for some years as a corn-grinder. This mill was turned by a "tug" instead of cogs, which was made of raw cowhide. In dry or frozen weather the tug would contract and become too short, and in wet weather stretch and get too long. Corn was raised in abundance, with but little work. In 1831 James Stone sowed 1^ bushels of wheat on 1^ acres of ground. "When [harvest time was at hand, the blackbirds came by thousands, and destroyed much of it ; yet he got 37^ bushels. He was the first settler in what afterward became Noble Township, and entered the first piece of land ever entered in Jay County, November 9th, 1832. He had this honor, however, by but one day, as Thomas Scott entered forty acres the next

Henderson Graves says that about this time, he and Conaway Stone cut a bee-tree, and, to their great surprise, found two swarms in it, from which they got ten gallons of strained honey. At another time when they were hunting, and at some distance apart, both shot at the same deer, at the same instant, neither one hearing the report of the other's rifle, and each fatally wounded the animal. These settlers saw that sublime phenomenon of the shooting stars, which occurred in 1833.

In October, 1830, a boy fifteen years old, and small of his age, started from his father's house in Darke County, Ohio, on horseback, to select a piece of land for their future home. He stopped for the night three miles north of Fort Recovery, with David Beardslee, who desired that they should settle near him. But the boy's father instructed him not to select land near another family, for near neighbors were apt to quarrel. Taking a bridle path which Orman Perring had made from Fort Recovery to the Wabash, he followed it till he came to the land which was afterward the farm of the late Elder Ebeuezer Drake. Dismounting, he hitched his horse, blazed a path to the Liniberlost, and returned just before night.

The Pioneees Of 1830

Hoppling his horse and putting a bell on him, he let him loose. Then, lighting a lire, he lay down by it, on some bark, and, without even a blanket, slept soundly. The next day he built a half-faced camp, (which he called " a three-ended cabin,") justliigh enough for the boy to stand up in, -and in that he ate and slept for two weeks, as happy as a lark, seeing no one except Indians, and an occasional traveler on the Quaker trace. The Indians were very good-natured and familiar. He traded a pint of whiskey to one of them for a ham of venison. Asking what w^ould he take it in, the Indian took a deer's bladder, still wai-m, from his breast, and received the drink in that. The wolves would come around the camp every night and howl terribly. The youth would sometimes get up and stir the fire in order to see them, but could not. That boy was Hamilton Gibson. He was building a cabin for his father's (William Gibson's,) family. William W. Dole, Peter Studabaker and three others from Fort Recovery helped raise the cabin, which was the third one in Wabash Township. The next month William Gibson and his family came, his daughter Jane, now the wife of Samuel Arbaugh, being the housekeeper, her mother having died in Ohio. After Hamilton was married and had fifteen acres cleared, a man attempted to enter the land, and so cheat him out of his im- provements. Tins was a common and shameful method by which speculators defrauded the industrious early settlers out of their homes and the fruits of their labor. Afriend loaned him $50, and without one cent to pay his expenses, he went on foot to Fort Wayne, and saved his home.

One winter Hamilton went with a team and sled into Ohio after provisions, to procure which was a source of great labor and inconvenience to all the pioneers. When he was crossing Still Water the ice broke and let him into the stream. Unhitching the horses, he tied them to a tree, and went to a neighbor's and staid all night. In the morning the stream had risen so that he could not get in sight oi his horses, and they had to stand there nearly two days and nights before the water subsided !

In those early times Mr. Gibson was quite a hunter - has hunted four days without seeing a house. At night, in the winter, he would build two log heaps, set them on fire and sleep between them on bark. At one time, hunting a horse that had a bell on, he did no't find it until it was too dark to go home. He mounted the animal and let her go, but, after traveling two hours, she came back to the place from which thej^ started. Dismounting, he lay down at the roots of a tree, without a fire, sung awhile, and went to sleep, not waking until the morning sunlight was stream- ing through the forest. Reaching home, he found his wife had been lisrhtinoi: tire from the fences nearly all night, and was very anxious for his safety. This was the year to take the census, and Judge Jer. Smith, of Winchester, then quite a young man, was appointed Assistant Marshal of Randolph County and the territory attached thereto, extending northward to the line between Congressional Townships 25 and 26. This was the dividing line of the territory attached to the counties of Randolph and Allen, respectively, they being the only counties then organized between the north line of Wayne County and the north line of the State. J^ear the close of the summer Mr. Smith came to the Salimonie, census-taking. Had he desired to enumerate the rich bee-trees, the droves of beautiful deer, the families of bears and wolves, with which the forests were then populous, the result would have ranked the county among the first in the State. But he found human beings and the products of labor scarce indeed. While following a trace, in search of some inhabitants, he met Samuel Hawkins, and took from him the census of that family, and learned that there were two other families in the region.

turns of 1930, when we, who now make the life of the county, shall all be gone, and our beloved forests and then- delightful haunts for game have faded ^before a busier - perhaps not better - civilization, and when other men and women, other enterprises and interests, occupy the places we now. hold - with what strange, intense interest would we look upon the exhibit !

Chapter Yiii Settlers And Incidents Of 1831 And 1833

During these years new settlers came very slowly. So, at least, thought the small " advance guard" of pioneers who were waiting and hoping for neighbors to come in, and the germs of society to spring up around them. It was in the autumn of 1831 that the tinkling of the cow-bell and the sound of the white man's axe first broke the wild stillness of w^hat, four years later, became Madison Township. John Eblin and William Denne}', with their families, settled there at that time, and were the first settlers in the township. By coming together, they avoided much of that dreariness and many of the severer trials which met those families who lived their first years in the county alone amid the wild woods, wild men and ferocious beasts. However, they passed through those privations which necessarily follow the pioneer iii his aggressions upon the territory hitlierto the home of the aborigines. William Denney lived upon the land he entered, having done his part toward the development of the country by opening a large farm, until a few years since, when he died. John Eblin also cleared a line farm, then moved into the Osage country, in Missouri, where, being an unflinching lover of the Union, he became a victim of rebel hate, and lost his property, being obliged to flee to Iowa, where he died in 1863.

'Not long after these men moved in. Con away Stone built a cabin near where Mr. Abraham Lotz now lives ; but soon moved across into Noble To\ynship. About this time, also, Henry Crowell and John Fox settled there, making quite a neighborhood.

It was during this year (1831) that Thomas Shaylor moved into the county, occupying the vacated " shanties " of Mr. Hawkins until he could build a cabin. This he did upon a branch of the Salimonie, on what was afterward the Hardy Farm, now the property of Lieutenant C. II. Clark. In 1833 Mr. Shaylor moved down the Salimonie, and became the first settler in Green Township.

In E"ovembcr, 1831, Mrs. Sarah Riddley - a woman who, during her lifetime, was the wife of seven ditferent husbands - settled with her family in the southeast corner of Pike Township. Beside the enterprising settlement in Madison Township and the coming of Mr. Shaylor and Mrs. liiddley, there were no other additions to the meagre population of the county during that year. Mr. Philip Brown was the first to arrive in the new country in 1832. He came March 8th, and built a cabin just across the road from the north side of Liber, on the southwest corner of the farm now owned by Dr. D. Milligan. It was the first house built in Wayne Township. Though the cabin has long since been gone, until lately a solitary peach tree had marked the spot ; but now nothing remains to remind the passer-by of the place where it stood. The next year, when Brown had quite a comfortable improvement made, James Wier was passing through the country looking for land. Being much pleased. , with Brown's place, and learning that it was not entered, he told him that he (Wier) had entered the land. As it was then termed. Brown had " squatted upon Congress-land," and had not yet been able to purchase it. But now, by this unfair - ^means, he must be driven from a spot he began to call home, to commence again in the woods. He was greatly enraged, and made some threats - against Wier, who went to Randolph County and swore his life against Brown. A constable named Robert Parsons came into the settlement and summoned B. "VV. Hawkins and Joseph Williamson to assist him in the arrest of Brown, who, meantime, had started to Fort Recovery. The settlers in the neighborhood sympathized with Brown, and would do every thing to aid him, for they were all mutually interested in seeing that the rights of all " squatter sovereigns " were maintained against the speculating land-sharks. The constable and his "aids" followed Brown's track, the deputies taking care that their progress should be very slow. They found John R. Maj's and his boys grubbing near their house. Hawkins asked some rather indirect questions about Brown, at the same time giving Mays the "wink," who, knowing the circumstances, gave the constable the impression that if Brown was not already, he soon would be, in Ohio ; at the same time privately informing Hawkins that Brown was then in the house eating dinner ! Hawkins then put in the plea that, it being Saturday afternoon, they might not catch Brown before the Sabbath. The constable replied that it was " State's busineBs," and he should pay no attention to the Sabbath. After other arguments, which did not change the purpose of the constable, the deputies declared'* they would go no further unless their expenses ;^ere borne. This led the constable to/abandcn the chase and return home, while the de^Duties went to the house to congratulate Brown. This was the first attempt ever made in Jay County to enforce the law. Soon after this Brown and Wier compromised by the latter agreeing to pay the former for the improvements made on the land. Wier then went to work and built a cabin on the northeast of what is now College corner. B. W. Hawkins was carrying the mail, and the next trip he examined the records, and ascertained that "Wier's story was entirely false. On his return he at once notified Brown of his discovery. But Brown had no money and no saleable property except one horse. The neighbors showed their generosity by making up $20 for him, and mounting his horse, he set out for Fort "Wayne. He went to Colonel Samuel Hanna, told him the circumstances", and offered his horse for $30. Learning that it was the only horse the stranger had, Hanna^ told him to keep it, loaned him the money,, took him home with him for the night, and next day Brown, having entered the land, went on his way rejoicing. On reaching home, he ntlified Wie^to leave tfie premises, which order was soon obeyed. "While Brown lived there his daughter, about fourteen years of age, and a dog, ehased a bear up a tree in the cdrnfield, near the house. Obadiah Winters was notified, and on coming over, found two or three families gathered around the tree to see the sport. Some of them begged of him not to shoot the bear in the head, as they had heard that a bear's skull would turn a bullet, and then the animal would come down and kill them all. But Winters aimed at the -head, and the bear fell harmless at the roots of the tree. About the time Brown settled there, William and Jeremiah Brockus commenced a clearing where Obadiali Winters now lives ; but in a few months sold to James Morrison, who soon after sold to Mr. Winters.

On the 15th of November, 1832, Mr, Abraham Lotz and family joined the settlement made the year previous in Madison Township. There he has remained for thirty-two years, aiding in various ways the development of the county. On that farm he has raised a large family, most of whom have identified themselves with the interests of the county, and some hold honorable positions as officers. J. C. Lotz, Esq., was appointed Clerk in the Interior Department at Washington in 1861, which office he is now tilling with credit. Abraham Lotz was a member of the first Board of County Commissioners, and for jAany years Justice of the Peace in his Tovn'nship. In the summer of 1833 he opened a Sabbath School in his own house, which was very successful. The place of meeting was accommodated to the convenience of the neighborhood, and the school met at different houses from time to time. That Sabbath School, the immediate successor of the Indian dance, was the first ever held in Jay County ! Mr. Lotz deserves much praise for having been the iirst to plant, when everything was rough and wild, and the moral soil unbroken, that most fruitful nursery of the Church. It was a small beginning ; but now a score or more of schools, scattered over the county, with their many teachers and hundreds of puj)ils, their libraries, celebrations, picnics, banners and speeches, are the ripened fruit of that first moral blossom in the wilderness.

Within the next year or two, John McLaughlin, Edward B. Wotten, "William Money, William Isenhart, Benjamin Goldsmith and others settled in the Township. It was a very common thing then for the Indians to hunt through there. They were very, peaceable, and would often dine with their white neighbors. At one time, a very large, muscular Indian came to help Mr. Lotz roll logs ; but he was so exceedingly awkward as to be of no use whatever. A log is still lying on the bank of the creek there in which the Indians had cut notches to assist them in walking up the bank. Jesse Gray also hunted and camped through those woods at that time.

In August, 1832, John R. Mays, George Bickel and Henry Glassford came to Mrs. Hawkins', and selected land in the vicinity. Mr. Mays chose the farm he now lives upon, because of the beautiful spring in the bank, around which are a clump of trees, and near it a log spring-house, built twentyseven years ago. In September these men raised their cabins, assisted by Eenj. Goldsmith, and Mays' two sons. Bickel moved out the same fall, and Mays, fearing some one would take possession of his cabin and enter the land, staid through the On the 4:th of March of the following spring he and Goldsmith moved to their new homes - the latter settling where the town of Lancaster now stands ; the former having no money, three old horses, a worn-out wagon, a wife and ten children. When Mr. Goodrich, of Winchester, sold the clearing of the Portland State road, Mays took five miles, and cut it out eighteen inches and under, for fifty-one dollars and twelve cents. He and his boys did the work, one hunting while the others chopped. With that money he entered his first land.

Mr. John James, of Randolph County, was one of the Commissioners to lay out the State road from Richmond to Fort Wayne, and Jer. Smith was his Surveyor. In September, 1832, while making the survey, they camped on the north side of the Little Salimonie, where the road now crosses it, probably attracted by the beautiful grove, which is now owned by Mr. Jonas Yotaw. Here they were visited by Philip Brown, of whom they obtained "roasting ears" and squashes. They called him " Governor of the State of Salimonie," which cognomen he wore while he lived. They continued the survey across the Wabash. Previous to this they had surveyed the road on another route, which passed two miles west of Portland. When they reached the Loblolly, Mr. James declared it would sv/amp a black snake, went hack and surveyed the road now passing through Portland.

Daniel Farber and family were the first to move into the county, in 1834. Of course they staid the first night with Nancy Hawkins, whose house was the first resting place for most of the settlers. They lived with Philip Brown until Farber built himself a cabin, just opposite the present beautiful residence of Dr. Joseph Watson, at Collge Corner. They moved into it before there were either doors, windows, floor or chinking. Mr. Farber wanted to put in a floor, but his wife, Nancy, said she would live on the ground until he could plant some corn, and so the cabin remained floorless until September. The cabin is justly celebrated as the one in which the first election in the county was held, and in which the first Postoflfice was established. Enoch Bowden came that year, occupied the house the absconded Wier had built, and afterward moved into Bearcreek Township. Henry H. Cuppy also came and built the house known as the "Conner house," on the south

During this year new settlements were commenced at three different points in the county. The first of these was by John Pingry, who settled where he still lives, near West Liberty, April 10th, having been at Mr, Cuppy's for three weeks, previously. His was the first wagon ever driven on the State road, leading north of Portland. They had a camp already prepared, and retired quite late that night. The next morning, when Mr. Pingry awoke, his wife, Elizabeth, and two of the boys were clearing a garden patch. Similar energy has characterized Mrs. Pingry's life. John Pingry says that spot looked like a paradise then. The grass and leaves were appearing in their bright green, many flowers were out, and he could stand in one place and count 160 walnut trees, that would average three feet feet in diameter. He thought then it was the best land he ever saw, and thinks so still. He cleared ground and put in ten acres of corn, but the birds, squirrels and raccoons destroyed most of it. During that summer he killed twenty-six deer, two bears, and skinned sixty raccoons on the corn-field, which wei'e only about two-thirds of the number he killed, and declares that he " killed squirrels enough to have fenced it," From the raccoon skins he got a hat made, costing $6, which lasted twelve years. Like all the early settlers, they enjoyed a continual abundance of honey, taken from bee-trees. Thqy had two barrels at one time. The woods then were covered with pea vines and wild rye, and grazing was line. Mr. Pingry avers, and it is corroborated by the testimony of many others, that the seasons were very different then from what they are now. There was more rain and high water, and the woods furnished much better grazing for stock.

About the first of May, the same year, Samuel Grissell and Moses Hamilton, from Columbiana County, were in Winchester, hunting land, but had not found any that 'pleased them. B. W. Hawkins saw them, and, by much hard persuasion, got them to come up into this region. They did so, and stopped with Thomas Shaylor, who lived in a cabin without floor or chinking. The ground had been swept so nii*ch that there was quite a hole in the middle of the house. It rained hard during the first night of their stay, the ground on which they were sleeping became very wet, and the hole fall of water. They made selections of land, Mr. Grissell's being that upon which he still lives. They went home by way of Fort Wayne, where they bought a canoe and paddled down the Maumee. Mr. Hamilton soon moved out, and he became the first permanent settler of Penn Township. Mr. Grissell followed in October followino^, accompanied bj his iamily of wife and seven children, and Jonathan, Zachariah and Joseph Iliatt. Ilis log house was twenty by twenty-live feet, fire-place eleven feet wide. They often drew backlogs into the house with a horse who had to go across the room and put his head out the window. That horse is still living, is thirty-three years old, and the oldest inhabitant of his kind in Jay County.

In November, Mr. John McCoy moved into the cabin Shaylor had occupied. He says four ten cent pieces were all the money he had in the world. He had to depend npon his gun for a living. He was as contented as the young man from Jay, who, while traveling out from Dayton with four cents in his pocket, wrote to his friends that he felt just as well as if he had had " double that amount." In three years McCoy killed three hundred deer.

The great distance to provisions, and there being no roads cut out, led the early settlers to make meal by pounding corn in a " hominy block." Mr. McCoy and all his neighbors had to go to Newport and Richmond to find a mill and store. In a year or tv70 the settlers were greatly delighted that Job Carr was going to build a horse-mill, but they were as much disappointed when the first grist ruined the mill, and their hominy blocks had to be used asain.

Settless And Incidents

The other settlement made during this year was in Jefferson Township. Mr. Aaron Dillie was the tirst settler there. But little is known of him now except that he was an earnest, consistent Christian. Mr. Joseph Flesher, who died a few years since, came next, and, very soon after, in the autumn of 1834, Joshua Hudson settled on the land now known as " Baker Johnson's farm," having lived for a year previous on Day's Creek, Bandolph County. While living at the latter place, after they had retired for the night, there came quite a shower of rain. When Mr. Hudson rose in the morning he found the puncheon floor floatinoj and the house surrounded with water for fifty yards ! He carried his family to a place of safety and, by the next night, the water subsided.

In 1S37 Mr. Hudson died, and the family was scattered. Wm. C. Hudson, Esq., his sou, and the surviving members of Mr. Flesher's family, are the oldest living inhabitants of that township.

This year (1834) is known among the settlers then living in the county as the " hard year" and the " squirrel year." It was a time of great hardships, caused by the coming of squirrels in vast numbers, who destroyed the crops. It was called the " squirrel march or stampede," as those animals seemed to be emigrating, by hundreds and thousands, for some cause yet unexplained. The inhabitants would stand around their fields and 5* shoot them all day, but could i^either frighten them nor percoivably lessen their numbers. The Hawkins family had fifteen acres of splendid corn, which, in order to save, they gathered as soon as it began to harden, and had but fifteen bushels, which they picked from the centre of the field. For the same cause the crops failed in Darke County, Ohio, and the settlers had to go to Eaton to buy meal. There was not a wagon then in the Hawkins settlement, and they went by turns on horseback, occupying five days in making a trip.

The first marriage in Jay County took place in this year. Mr. Joseph Williamson married Miss Maky Ellen Hartup, May 21st, 1834. The wedding was at Henry H. Cuppy's, and the Justice was Oliver Walker, of Randolph County. The license was issued at Winchester. Mr. Williamson now lives in Wells County. The next marriage was that of Mr. James Simmons to Miss Christena Avaline Hawkins, June 24:th, 1834, by Joel Ward, Esq.

Mr. David Baldwin selected land near John Pingry in the fall of 1834, and in April of the next year he and William Baldwin settled there. They thought it a very wild place, for they would sometimes stand in their cabin door and shoot the deer that were browsing on the trees which had been cut down to keep them from falling on the house. David Baldwin opened a blacksmith and gunsmith shop that year (1835), which were the hrst shops of the kind in the county. The Indians were frequent travelers through there then. David Baldwin was a true pioneer - an active and very useful man. As a Christian, he was a Methodist local preacher ; as a mechanic, he was a blacksmith and cabinet-maker, and as a pioneer, a farmer, good bee-tree and deer hunter. He afterward emigrated to Kansas, where he served under the famous John Brown. William Baldwin still lives upon the same place.

During 1835 many persons visited the county and selected land. Every settler's cabin was crowded with travelers. Early in the spring, "William and Uriah Chapman came out and camped near by the spring, where James Whiteman now lives, in Bear Creek Township. Two corners of a blanket fastened to the ground, the other two tied up with lind bark, in a slanting direction, served for their camp, in front of which they kindled a fire. On the 22d of April, William, with his family and father-in-law, George Lipps, arrived on the spot where he lived until his death, February 15th, 1862. He first built a shed, under which they lived, cooking by a log-heap, for two months, until compelled to build a cabin for protection against the mosketoes. Like many others, Uriah Chapman had to travel by night in great haste to Fort "Wayne to save their land from speculators. For several seasons Mr. Chapman did little besides provide for travelers. About half of his time was occupied in hunting to get meat, and the other half going south for provisions.

Mr. Joel Wilson was the first settler in Richland Township, arriving tliere in the fall of 1S35. James Green had, however, visited the county previously, and built a cabin in what he then supposed was Delaware County, but which the survey afterward proved to be in Jay ; but Mr. Wilson was the first to move with his family into the township. Most of the earliest pioneers of Richland Township have either moved away or gone to their final rest ; but Mr. Wilson still remains, a respectable and influential citizen of the township. Mr. Green's cabin and an orchard he set out were situated on Isaac Ketterman's farm, and were the first improvements of the kind made in that township. The same fall John Rooth, Renjamin Manor and William Richardson opened a settlement in the southwest corner of the county.

About this time three new settlers came into the Camden neighborhood. They were Joshua Rond, William Swallow and Elihu Hamilton. William Cofiin then lived in the same house with Shaylor. Mr. Rond was raised in North Carolina - a Friend - was a pioneer in Wayne County, then moved to "Winchester, and owned a farm on which part of that town is now situated. He built the log house in which he still lives, in the winter of 1835-'6. There were not men enough in that region to raise it, and help had to be brought from "Winchester. He is still living, though in his eighty-fourth year.

In November Peter Daily, accompanied by "William Carpenter, settled near Joshua Hudson, in Jefferson Township. For four years his business was hunting, in which he was very successful. Kaccoon skins were worth $1 a piece then, and he caught ten in one evening and one hundred and sixty-eight during the season. For an otter skin he got $8,50. He and Alexander Stein went hunting one day - shot but six times, and killed seven deer. He had hunted so much with a favorite horse that, though turned loose, it would stay near his camp until he was ready to go home. One time he went home without taking the horse, and on going back, six weeks afterward, he found the faithful animal still making the camp his headquarters.

In March, 1885, Colonel Christopher Hanna, with a large family, of which H. P. Hanna was the eldest, settled in Noble Township, where George Bergman, senior, now lives. They shared the usual hardships of the pioneers. During a trip to Greenville for provisions his family suffer- ed severely for want of food. Great was their joy when the returning wagon was heard winding through the woods. Tlie wet season and early frost ruined his corn, and while H. P. Hanna was plowing, a falling limb killed the horse instantly.

In 1836 he moved to Portland, and became prominently connected with the organization of the county ; was the first Sheriff of the county by appointment of the Governor, and first County Clerk, by election. In 1850 he moved from the county, and died, highly respected, in Tama County, Iowa, March 23d, 1859.

This year also witnessed the coming of Daniel "W. McNeal, who was closely identified with the early settlement of Jay County. He came in November, 1835. At the organization of the county he was appointed County Surveyor, which office he filled for many years. In this capacity he laid off the county seat, and suggested to the County Commissioners the name for it, which was adopted. He afterward held the offices of Justice of the Peace, School Examiner, Land Appraiser and Surveyor of Swamp Lands. He also taught school in the county several years. Althougli he had some eccentricities, he was possessed of extensive and varied knowledge ; was especially well versed in mathematics and many of the physical sciences. He gloried in having been an ear-

New Settlers And Theik Experiences

The year 1833 added but few to the scantynumber of pioneers. One was Mr. Obadiali Winters, from Miami County, who reached the Hawkins cabin with his family on the 1st of October, having visited the country the previous summer. He bought out James Morrison, and still lives on the same old farm. It was very common at that time for hunters from the older settlements to hunt in this county. Their camps were every where to be found. But the crack of no one's rifle was heard so frequently, or was so fatal to the game, as that of Jesse Gray. His favorite camping place was near the spring on the Saliinonie, now owned by Samuel Reed. Once when Mr. Winters was hunting, he heard what he M^as sure was a turkey calling her mate. Soon he saw her, and taking the most deliberate aim, was just touching the trigger when Jesse Gray sprang out into open view. It so alarmed Winters that he could scarcely hold his gun the rest of the da}'-, but not a nerve trembled of the veteran hunter, who so narrowly escaped.

When Mr. Winters' son John was about two and a half years old, he was one day at his grandfather's, Philip Ensminger's. In the morning the old man went hunting, and without his knowledge the little fellow followed and got lost. The waters were very high, and it rained hard during that night. Great excitement prevailed throughout the community, and a large number of persons went to hunt him, which they did the whole night in vain. A cat which was wont to play with the child followed them, and repeatedl}^ during the night came to them, mewed, and then went away again. They paid no attention to this until morning, when J. C. Hawkins and Thomas^'Mays followed the cat, and she led them direct to the lost boy. He was insensible, very cold, and nearly dead. When he revived so as to be able to talk he saw the cat and said, " Tom, you and me has been lost." He also said that the cat came to him several times through the night, and that he saw a big dog, which was doubtless a wolf.

were split out of logs, hewed and planed until the J looked as well as sawed lumber. In such a coffin a child of Philip Brown was buried on the north bank of the Little Salimonie, near the road. That was the first death in Wayne Township, In this year also the Highlander family came to the county, consisting of William Highlander, senior, then about eighty years old, and wife, and William, Tandy, James, and several others. They built a log house near Mr. Winters, and after having cleared several acres, a speculator entered the land, and they were again without a home. William and James now live in Portland.

In the autumn of 1833 Edward Buforfl and family settled near where Samuel K. Williams now lives, and was the first settler in Jackson Township, He had been a valuable scout in the war of 1812, and now he and his sons were famous hunters. They had as many as one hundred and fifty traps set at one time. The " pole trap," which was so often used by them and other hunters, should be described. A long pole was cut, then two stakes driven into the ground, one on each side of it, near one end. These were withed together at the top ; then another pole was placed on the first one, the end between the stakes raised up, and triggers set under it. To these was attached a string, which ran back between the poles. Upon the whole was placed a lieavy weight. Animals attempting to pass between the poles would touch the string, spring the triggers, and be caught in the "dead fall." JB. W. Hawkins says Buford was the only man he ever knew who could catch a tbx in a trap of this kind. In a few years Mr. Buford moved into Bear Creek Township, where he died in 184:1.

Wild Animals Indians Fire-Hunting First

The wild animals abounding in the forests of Jay, when civilization commenced its war upon them, were the bear, deer, wolf, wild cat, wild hog, otter, gray fox, raccoon, woodchuck or ground hog, porcupine, mink, muskrat, skunk, opossum, rabbit, weasel and squirrel. Early settlers claim to have killed catamounts. Some of these animals being now rarely seen, should be described. The wolf has the general appearance of a large dog. He hunts in the night, lives chiefly upon deer and rabbits, but kills sheep, hogs, and almost any other animal when he can. Wolves do not go in large - gangs except in the winter ; then twelve or fifteen are sometimes seen in one pack. At other seasons they go in pairs, except when attended by their young. The she wolf generally makes her nest in a hollow log, each succeeding year occupying the same place until disturbed, after which she seeks a new spot near by. The male wolf sleeps a hundred yards or so distant from her nest, on rising ground. At evening, when she has young, she walks a few feet from the nest and howls. He answers with a terrible roar, goes to the nest, then away into the woods, and during the night brings home whatever game he chances to catch. At sunrise he gives apparently a warning howl and retires, while the king of day tills the forest with golden light. The wolf is a shy animal, and never attacks a man unless when very hungry or in defense. B. "W". Hawkins tells the following story : Long before white men inhabited Jay County some Indians were trapping on the head waters of the Salimonie, in Madison Township. One Indian went several miles from the camp, alone, to set some traps. On the way be killed a deer, which he tied across his shoulders. Returning just after dark, he heard wolves near him. They first acted as if playing around him, then came nearer and encircled him, snapping their teeth and showing a determination to attack. He shot, and instantly they were upon him from every side. He seized his tomahawk and struck at them in all directions, but one caught him and ^ore the cords from his leg. At that moment he cut loose the deer, which they seized, and ran away. The Indian crawled to a fallen tree, the roots of which had turned up. Upon these he climbed and remained until morning, when the Indians came in search of him. When Mr. Hawkins saw him he was a cripple, and had to hunt on horseback.

Wild hogs are simply tame ones that have run in the woods until they have become wild, or their progeny. They sometimes live to the age of twelve years or more, become very large, and have a large tusk on each side of the snout. They are the wildest animals that ever traveled the woods. They do not root around irregularly like tame hogs, but always in a straight course, as if surveying, occasionally raising their heads and walking several rods. They never attaclc a man unless cornered. The early settlers killed them rapidly, and now none remain.

Wild cats were very numerous in Jay. They are of a brindle color, have the shape of the house cat, but are four or five times larger. They are a ferocious animal ; will fight desperately when attacked, and can catch and kill a nest of pigs in spite of the efforts of the mother.

Two miles below Bortland there is what the hunters call the " big eddy" in the Salimonie. It is a place one mile long where the waters are unobstructed and calm. It is the best place for

" fire-hunting " on this stream. Before the deer had fled from the destructive axe and fatal rifle of the white man, it was the favorite spot with the Indians for this grand sport. For this reason it is supposed they made the "two-mile reservation," which embraced the eddy. Indians firehunt in this wise : They girdle a large pig-nut hickory near the ground and again twelve or fifteen feet above ; then split the bark open on one side of the tree, which enables them to peel the tree all the way around the body, preserving the bark in one piece. The rough, outside bark is taken off the ends, which are then tied closely. A stick is put crosswise inside the bark, near each end, and the result is, a bark canoe - the lightest boat that floats. At night a very large, lighted wax candle is set at one end, behind which is placed a wide board, which throws the light forward and conceals the hunters in the rear of the canoe. Silent as the night, and slowly the "frail bark" moves down the stream. The distant deer, quietly drinking at the water's edge, sees the glaring light approaching. Beyond is utter darkness. As if charmed, he gazes intently at the strange phenomenon. Gradually nearer draws the canoe. Kot a ripple, nor a breath, breaks the stillness, until the fatal ball strikes its innocent victim, and the shores reverberate with the report.

Indians Fike-Hunting

As late as 1833'the Indians visited this eddy to enjoy, for the hist time, their favorite hunt. Once, having just made such preparations, Jesse Grray, senior, came into the vicinity. They immediate -

First Election

Ij left, and he enjoyed their camp and canoe. At another time, when he was fire-hunting, he came so near the deer that, when shot, it jumped across the canoe the first bound.*

In 1S34, the families scattered over the south part of the county began to think their settlement of sufficient importance to be under the restraint of law. Prior to this they had enjoyed unlimited freedom. When Mr. Goodrich, Collector of Randolph County, came to collect taxes, every man positively refused to pay. The collector laughed, said that any one who dared come out there to open a forest, ought not to pay tax, and returned..

On the 5th of January, 1835, the Board ordered that all the attached part of that county should be organized into Salimonie Township. They also appointed the first election at Daniel Farber's, on the last Saturday in January, 1835, Obadiah "Winters, Inspector. The officer to be elected was - a Justice; the candidates were H. H. Cuppyand- Benjamin Goldsmith. Whiskey was free, a barrel having been obtained for the occasion, and the contest grew very exciting. The only politi -

* Many interesting stories might be related of Jesse Gray, senior ; but the publication of his life is contemplated, in which they will more appropriately appear. .....

When a boy is possessed of a hatchet or a jackknife, the temptation to use them becomes irresistable. So it seemed to be with these few social neighbors. By the election of a Justice of the Peace, they obtained the facilities for going to law, and litigation commenced. Before this, all difficulties had been adjusted by third parties, without officers or fees, which generally resulted in the belligerent parties " drinking friendship." Not so when they could boast a " Squire." A law-suit was waiting for Squire Cuppy when he returned from "Winchester, where he had to go to get his commission. Mr. "William Bunch and Philip Brown quarreled about a "cross" dog belonging to the latter, who had made some serious threats, and the former commenced a suit to compel Brown to "keep the peace." The case was docketed " John Doe versus Richard Hoe, etc.," a writ i88ued,a constable deputized. Brown arrested and the witnesses summoned to meet at Cuppy's house. The defendant admitted the charge, and was "bound over " to appear at the higher court. The most difficult part of the trial, for the Justice, now came up viz: how to draw a "recognizance." After much profound deliberation and careful research, a form was found in the statutes, which, though intended for general cases, was given under the vagrant act. Being a poor scribe himself, the Justice procured the services of Henry Welch, who, when he came to that part of the form given thus, " [John Doe and Richard Roe, &c.,] " suggested that the words in brackets did not suit the present case, and inquired what should be done? This was a puzzling question for the " Court," but, having duly deliberated, Ciippy announced with an oath that he wanted it distinctly understood by the people that he was going according to law^ and the form must be copied as given in the Statute. So it was copied, brackets and all, after which the court instructed the securities to " attend the next term of Court in Winchester, and deliver Brown up, in open Court, to stand his trial for vagrancy-'*'' Accordingly, when Circuit Court opened in Winchester, the securities appeared with Brown, when the Judge, upon an examination of the papers, dismissed the case in such terms, as convinced Cuppy of his unfitness for Justice of the Peace, and he resigned - a sensible act, which rarely occurs in these latter days. So ended the first lawsuit.

The records of the Randolph Board of Commissioners, dated May 5th, 1835, state that all the territory included in Jay County was constituted one road district, and William Bunch appointed supervisor. On the same day, Madison Town- ship was organized, an election appointed at Benjamin Goldsmith's, on the third Saturday in June, Abraham Lotz, Inspector. Tliat was the second election. Another election was ordered to be held the second Saturday in October, 1835. At one of these elections James Graves was elected Justice, went to Winchester for his commission, and, on his way home, married William Cummings and Matilda Denney.

The year 1835 witnessed the opening of the first schools in Jay County. The "red man of the forest" was followed by daring old hunters like Jesse Gray, who foundthese woods against which the axe had never been raised, delightful fields for the pursuit of game. Their camp-fires succeeded the wigwam, while soon the rude cabin came. Now, when the wild man was only an occasional visitor, and many hunters were tramping the forest, schools were opened, and the few children of the settlement taught to read and spell. In the summer of this year, two schools were taught. One in a cabin built by a Mr, Wringer, situated where Liber College now stands, and the other in a similar house, situated on what was afterward the farm of James Rhine, in Madison Township. The former was taught by Miss Sarah Tharp, later the wife of Mr. Thomas Ward, of Winchester; the latter by Mr. Edward Bell Wotten, who had recently settled there. These pioneer teachers !iave long since gone to their final reward. The exact date cannot be given when either of the schools commenced, and it is unimportant - both these persons are equally deserving the profound respect which the people of Jay will not cease to cherish for the memories of their first teachers. Soon log school houses dotted the county. Of the teachers ofiiciating in them, some were wise and some were " otherwise." Now the neatly painted frame school house is taking the place of the dear old cabin with its mud-and-stick chimney, its clapboard and weightpole roof, its knotty, unpeeled, sapling benches, wide fire-place and bush of wild roses clambering upon the gable ends. An embryo college now stands upon the very spot made sacred by such a cabin.

The first mail carried through this county was in 1829, by Mr. Ellis Kizer, from Winchester, by way of the Godfrey Trace, to Fort Wayne. The mail was not opened then in the county, but this pioneer herald picked his way on horseback along a barely discernible path, through three score and ten miles of wilderness. At the Godfrey village he could count several times as many Indian huts as there were white families along the entire route. He carried it until 1833, when Samuel Hawkins got the contract, and the route was changed so as* to pass through the Hawkins settlement. On the

11th of June, 1835, the first Post Office was established in Jay (then called Randolph) County, at the house of Daniel Farber, who was Postmaster. The office was then called Saliraonie. It was a great convenience - persons receiving their mail therefrom all parts of this, and some from Adams County. The postage on letters was then from ten to twenty-five cents. Mrs. IS^ancy Farber performed most of the few duties connected with the office. Mr. John Conner carried the first mail by this office, and with the exception of four years, continued carrying it until 1862, since which time Mr. Jacob Conkel has been the carrier. In May, 1837, the office was removed to H. H. Cuppy's, who became the Postmaster, and the name was changed to Jay Court House.

The following shows by townships all the land entered in Jay County prior to 1836, in order of date, and name of the person making the entry, as taken from the record in the County Auditor's office:

Joseph Wilson

In April, 1836, Mr. Joseph "Wilson, afterward County Auditor, selected land near Samuel Grissell, who accompanied him to Fort Wayne, to make the entry. They struck the Wabash at Adam Miller's, went down stream to Henry Miller's, where Bluffton now stands, arriving after dark. Here they met John Conner, carrying the mall - an occurrence familiar to all northward travelers for twenty-five years afterward. The next morning, crossing the river in a canoe, and swimming their horses, they proceeded on their journey. Every where the streams were overflowing, and several times the water ran over their horses' backs. At the St. Mary's river thev left the horses, crossed in a canoe, and walked to the land office. Early in the July following Mr. Wilson brought his family fi;om Champaign County, Ohio. From Joab Ward's they came ma John Brooks', which place they endeavored to reach in one day. Failing in this they were compelled to camp out. They were greatly troubled by the myriads of blood-thirsty mosquitoes that swarmed around them. Having located wife and 6* children upon the load, protected by the "wagon cover, he spent most of the night lying upon a log not far distant, with three or four smoke-tires around him, and bush in hand to fight off the biting, buzzing torments. The next evening they reached Muses Hamilton's, having been two days coming sixteen miles. Sometimes the road was too crooked for their long team, and had to be cut out. In about a week they moved into their own house, and began clearing away the woods around it, " to make it look a little like home," - the first work of every pioneer family. For nearly two months during the following winter all the bread for the family of eight was made by pounding corn in a hominy mortar, sifting out the finest for bread, the next for " mush," while the coarsest was boiled for hominy - a convenient variety, which no mill of later invention can produce from one hopper.