Ashland City (part 8 of 57)

At the time of the first settlement on the Blackfork there was not a white man in Montgomery, Milton, Clear Creek, Orange, Jackson, and the three northern townships. The number of the cabins in the lower part of Vermillion, in Lake and Perry, as well as all over Mohican, was rapidly on the increase; and the prospect for a large influx of settlers in 1812 was fair. The pioneers were keenly alive to their interests, and traveled far and near to aid each other in raising cabins, felling the forest, rolling logs and fencing new fields. Many hardships were encountered the first year or two, by reason of unripe grain, and the great distance to be traveled in reaching mills. Still, those difficulties were met with fortitude and soon overcome.

In the early settlement of the territory now constituting Ashland county, the system of education adopted by the pioneers were very ineffective. The schools of that period were supported almost exclusively by individual subscriptions, the only aid being a nominal sum received in each township, from leases on section 16. Teachers were employed for low wages, or it would have been impossible for the sparse settlers to have maintained or supported any schools. At first, a few pupils were collected in a cabin of one of the pioneers, for instruction, by a volunteer teacher, deemed capable of imparting a knowledge of the elementary branches.

The Narrows

The course of instruction in those days was generally limited to elementary branches, such as spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, to the rule of three.

The earlier teachers were from Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and the New England states. Sometimes an educated Irishman sought and obtained employment as a teacher. In a general way, good order, in school hours, was rigidly enforced; and if a ready compliance, on the part of the pupil, was not yielded an application of birch readily induced the recreant scholar to comply. The theory of moral suasion was not so popular then as now. The commands of the teacher were obeyed, much as those of the military officer, where no argument, as to the right or wrong of a command, is permitted.

The forest abounded in an abundance of game, and these early pioneers could easily supply their families with a sufficient quantity of flesh, though salt to cure and preserve it was a rare article.

Making sugar was rare sport for the young people. Small camp houses of poles were erected and covered with clapboards or bark, and a furnace of stones, cemented with yellow clay, and sufficiently long to receive eight or ten large iron kettles, in which the sugar water was speedily evaporated, and prepared for granulation. When large iron kettles could not be obtained, iron pots, brass kettles and other cooking utensils were brought into requisition. The large iron kettles were generally purchased at Zanesville, Pittsburg, and Portland. Large troughs, dug-outs of white ash, holding two or three hogsheads, were made for the surplus water in a good run. The usual mode of tapping, sugar trees being abundant, was to notch, and bore a hole so as to intersect the inner part of the notch, which sloped down and back, so as to fit in a spile of elder or alder to convey the water into a trough or other vessel. The troughs were generally made of black and white ash, dug out, and would hold two or three gallons each. It was not uncommon for a pioneer to tap from three hundred to six hundred trees, and make from one thousand to one thousand five hundred pounds per season.

Settling In The Wilderness

"My father settled in the wilderness one mile northeast of where Ashland now is, on February 12, 1812. I was then between nine and ten years of age (being born May 23, 1802) just the age for such events as then occurred to make a deep and lasting impression on my memory. My father's place was six miles beyond the then frontier settler. That spring Benjamin Cuppy, Jacob Fry, Mrs. Sage and family and Stephen Trickel moved into the neighborhood, all built cabins, cleared land, planted corn and potatoes and all went well for some time. The Indians were living at their villages, Jerornetown and Greentown and came frequently to our house. Sometimes there were forty or fifty of them at a time, but they were always peaceable and friendly. Father and mother always tried to treat them kindly; fed them when they came hungry, lodged them as best they could, which had its effect when they made their raid on the frontiers. The British were trying to influence all the tribes of Indians to join them and fight the Americans. A chief of some tribe visited Chief Pipe at Jerometown and Armstrong, the chief of Greentown, and used his best endeavors to persuade them to join the British in the war against America. The Indians agreed to call a council and decide on the course they would pursue. The council was held and they decided to remain neutral. I was sent to Odell's mill with a sack of corn and had to go through Jerometown as there was no other trail. When I returned in the evening they were holding their war dance. They wanted me to stay and see the performance. I hitched my horse and staid till the dance was over, then rode home, a distance of nine miles through the wilderness, arriving at home about two o'clock in the morning.

"This chief visited all the states and territories. Where he could get their consent to join the British he would give them a red stick in token of blood. Consequently he was known as the chief red-stick. This council at Jerometown was held about the- last of June, 1812. But after Hull's surrender August 16, 1812, the government thought best to remove them; not so much for fear of their making trouble, but to keep them from harboring unfriendly Indians.

"When Captain Douglas informed them that he came with orders to remove them they were much excited and would not consent to go. Captain Douglas called on Mr. Copus to go with him and use his influence to obtain their consent. Mr. Copus replied that he and the Indians were on friendly terms and they would not think it kind in him to persuade them to leave against their wills. But Douglas threatened to arrest him as a traitor if he refused. He consented on condition that their town and property should be respected. As they could not talk with them Mr. Copus was prevailed upon to go as an interpreter. He told them that if they would consent to go their property should be taken care of and that the officer had authorized him to say so, on the strength of this promise they reluctantly consented to go. They packed up what they could take with them and started. They had not gone more than two miles when looking back they saw their village on lire, some of Douglas' soldiers having lingered behind and applied the fatal torch.

"They were greatly excited in viewing the smoky ruins of their village and property when they had the pledge of soldiers and friends that their property should be taken care of. They were removed immediately after Hull's surrender and taken to Urbana. They were not kept very long for they had asked the privilege of going to their friends at or near Sandusky, on the pledges that they were to remain peaceable and quiet they were permitted to go. On the lOtli of September, 1812, a band of about forty-five of them returned, no doubt, with the intention of avenging the wrongs done them, and at this time Martin Ruffner, Fredrick Zeimer, his wife and daughter Kate were inhumanly murdered in cold blood. Five days after this, on the 15th, occurred the massacre of James Copus and three soldiers.

"Immediately after the attack and repulse at the Copus place, they came over into the Jerome Fork valley and burned Robert Newell's house, situated three and a half miles southeast of the present site of the village of Ashland. Previous to these Indian raids Captain Murray came with a company of soldiers to where Jcromeville now stands, as a guard to the frontier settlers and built a blockhouse. When we got the news of the Zeimer family murder, all excepting father's family fled to the blockhouse. In about five days after the Copus family were attacked the news reached Captain Murray, when he immediately dispatched thirty soldiers for our relief. The news came to Captain Murray the morning after the Copus murder. At the same time Absolom Newell volunteered to go on foot to give us notice to flee, but when he got in sight of his father's house in flames, he ran back to the blockhouse. Father had just got in with his horses from the woods. David Noggle mounted a horse, took his rifle and rode as fast as he could to give us notice to flee to the blockhouse. Father and Noggle threw the harness on the horses and hitched to the wagon while mother and us boys threw some bedding in the wagon and tumbled in. Father with gun in hand mounted one of the horses and drove as fast as he could while Noggle on horseback rode ahead.

"When the Indians were told that they had to leave they told father to remain right where he was, that they would not harm him, that he had been their friend, and had always used them well. Their passing within eighty yards of the house when we were there on their revenging raid shows that they had kept their pledge in good faith. In about a week father with a guard of soldiers returned for the balance of our goods. I went along with them. We counted the tracks of thirty-seven Indians who had passed through our corn field going in the direction of Cuppy's which indicated a loss of eight killed and wounded at the Copus battle. They had passed before we left and before soldiers got there. The soldiers found Cuppy's house on fire and saw the Indians run out of the corn field into the woods and a little further up found Fry's house on fire. I have no doubt that had Newell, Cuppy and Fry been at home they would all have been murdered, as it was known that they had not treated the Indians well. Newell, although a good neighbor, would not allow the Indians around him, neither would he feed or harbor them, but drove them away when they came about his premises. Cuppy, when they came hungry and asked for anything to eat, would order them away without giving them a bite. Fry, although a preacher, would not allow them around him.

"After getting the balance of his goods father concluded to go back to Canton ; got as far as Massillon and met William Rhodes, an old acquaintance, who invited him to come and stay with him as he had an empty house and could give us work to do so that we could earn ourselves a living, where we remained until about the 10th of February, 1813. As there was no disturbance along the frontier we found our corn all standing in the field excepting what the turkeys had eaten. We then opened our sugar camp and commenced making sugar when the news came that the Indians had made their appearance at Colonel Colyer's about four miles below the blockhouse. We had almost two kettles of syrup almost ready to sugar when we received the news to flee. We set the kettles otf the fire, covered them and fled to the blockhouse about the 5th of March. Colonel Colyer was living on the Muddy Fork of the Mohican. Three Indians made their appearance at the door and asked for something to eat. Colyer told them that if they would give up their guns and tomahawks to him that he would give them something to eat. They handed him their guns and tomahawks, when he set them back in the house where he could stand between them and their guns and told Mrs. Colyer to set on the table what meat and bread she had, calculating that when they got seated at the table that he would arrange to shoot two of them at one shot and kill the other with the breech of his gun. Mrs. Colyer was a weak woman and was nearly scared to death, and when he raised his gun Mrs. Colyer screamed, fainted and fell to the floor. This alarmed the Indians; they sprang to their feet, held up their hands and begged him not to shoot as they were friendly Indians and meant no harm; that they were on their way to their friends in Goshen, in the Tuscarawas valley. Colyer told them to go out and come around to the window, and if they would promise to go off he would hand out their guns and tomahawks and what they were to eat. Colyer then raised his wife and put her on the bed, then took out the flints from the guns threw out the priming, plugged the vents and handed them out together with their food and told them to leave and not be seen again around there or they would be killed. Colyer and his wife started to the eagle blockhouse as soon as the Indians were out of sight. Colonel James Colyer was a stout, resolute man, who scarcely knew fear by that name unless the odds were too great.

"All around and about the blockhouse took shelter. There were eight families in all who took shelter at the Jerome blockhouse. We were almost without food or raiment. There were about fifteen acres belonging to Mr. Carr and Warner of Cleveland. We all joined in plowing, planting and working that to corn and potatoes. Some worked while others were posted as sentinels. In this way we got some corn and potatoes and in the spring of 1814 we all left the blockhouse. Some of these families had sold their lands and began again in the woods.

"As I had frequently seen Captain Pipe, chief of the Jerometown Indians, perhaps it would not be amiss to give a short description of him. He was about six feet in height, straight and well proportioned, rather round features, slightly pale face with a grave countenance and to appearance was about fifty years of age and I should judge had perhaps one-fourth white blood in his veins.

"I have also seen Armstrong, the chief of the Greentown Indians, and think he had a mixture of white blood in him. I will give the location of those towns for the satisfaction of those who were not here until the last traces of them were wiped out.

"Jerometown was situated one and one-fourth miles a little southwest from Jerome ville, on the state road from Wooster to Mansfield. Greentown was in the Black Fork valley about five miles southeast of Petersburg.

"I saw Captain Lyon, one of the Jerometown Indians shortly after the war was over. He knew me and asked if we had seen them when they went up to burn Cuppy and Fry's houses. I answered 'no.' He then asked if we had seen their tracks in the corn field? I replied 'yes.' He then said, 'we saw you and would have gone to the house and got something to eat but we were afraid you would be frightened ; we did not wish to scare you. ' ' '

Stage Lines, Taverns And Flatboats

Before taking up the history of townships, there are matters of a general character that should be given a separate chapter, and one of these is the state and other leading roads of the county and the travel and traffic over them.

When the first settlement was made in Ashland county in 1807, there were no roads within its borders, except the Crawford route (if that could be called a road) and some blazed trails. The first road that could be called by that name was from Wooster by way of Greentown to the Newman settlement, thence to Mansfield. The next road was from Mt. Vernon north through the McCluer settlement (Bellville) to Mansfield and on to Huron on Lake Erie. History states that a road from Wooster to Mansfield was opened in 1810. Soihe claim it was at an earlier day. Beall's trail opened up the country in northwest Ohio in 1812, and General Crook's army opened a road from Mansfield west to Upper Sandusky the same year. The road from Mansfield to Ashland was cut through the forest in 1813, at a cost of nine dollars per mile. One of the most important and most used of the early roads was the one from Mt. Vernon through Mansfield to Lake Erie. This later became a state road, and the greatest stage and freight route between central Ohio and Lake Erie. Portland (now called Sandusky) was the great mart upon the lake for Ohio trade and traffic.

From Mansfield the state road ran directly north to Brubaker's creek, thence to the northwest through Ganges to Planktown, where it struck the Beall trail - the stage road running through Ashland to Tiffin. From Planktown there were two roads to the lake, one through Paris (now called Plymouth) to Sandusky, the other north to Huron.

Prior to the opening of the New York and Erie canal there was but little market for the farm products of this part of Ohio. Wheat sold at twenty-five cents a bushel, with other cereals proportionately low - too low to pay for transportation. The principal commodities at that time for shipment were ginseng, beeswax, feathers and maple sugar. Merchants then bought their goods in the eastern cities, usually in Baltimore, and the same were hauled through to Ohio in wagons. The wagons then used were generally of the style called "Pennsylvania wagons" or freighters. These wagons had long, deep beds, and these were covered with canvas. The bed of the Pennsylvania wagon was a frame work mortized together, the slats both horizontal and perpendicular, conformed in curve to their respective body pieces and made the top of the bed longer than the bottom and curved upward. The poles of these wagons were known as "stiff- tongue" and were not supported by neck yokes, as the Ashland county wagons are today. The poles were used to guide the wagon and to hold the same back when going down hill, for which purposes breast-chains were attached from the hames to the end of the pole. Teams of from four to six horses were attached to these wagons and the driver used but a single line in driving them. The line was attached to the bridle rein of the near lead horse, and might be called the signal rein, for whenever the driver wanted the team to turn to the left, he called out "haw," and pulled on the line, and if he wanted the team to turn to the right, he called out ' ' gee, ' ' and gave the line two or three jerks. A trained leader obeyed these signals. There was a saddle on the near wheel horse and the driver could ride or walk at will. The route of these freighters was along the National road, after it was completed, and it took weeks to make the trip from the seaboard to Ohio. The first transportation line established through Mansfield was by Barney & Marsh, and its purpose was to carry freight between Mt. Vernon and intermediate points to the lake.

After a lake market had been made by the opening of the Erie canal many farmers hauled their own products to the lake, and after harvest as high as two hundred teams have been known to pass through Mansfield in one day, hauling grain from the central part of the state to Huron and Sandusky.

The old Portage road deserves special mention. It was cut through the wilderness in 1812, by General Harrison's army. This road enters Worthington township in the south part of Richland county, and runs diagonally through the same from the southwest to the northeast and crosses Gold Run valley in the vicinity of the Butler oil region, thence through to Bunker Hill, the Davis settlement and Ashland county, to its terminal at Old Portage on the Western Reserve. It was called the "Portage" road from the fact that it terminated at Portage, on the divide between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers. Old Portage, on the Cuyahoga side of the divide, was an old trading post for both whites and Indians, and in the war of 1812, it was a rendezvous for troops.

The old Portage path, between the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers, in Summit county, was one of the most important trails for its length (eight miles) in the state. This path was defined as a portion of the western boundary of the United States in the treaties of Fort McIntosh, in 1785, and Fort Harmar, in 1789, and thus this Portage path became a noted land mark, and when General Harrison opened a military road across Ohio from the southwest to the northeast it took its name Portage road from the Portage path.

Since the opening of the Portage road no other period of equal length in the world's history is fraught with so many marvelous, industrial and scientific achievements as are crowded into the years since this part of Ohio was settled. Railroads have been made since then to span the continent; wires have been strung to carry tidings of the world's affairs around the earth and under the waters of the sea ; the human voice to steal swiftly over the mountains and across the plains to convey to distant ears messages of comfort and of love, and the dark places of the earth have been made luminious by electric lights and trolley \

In referring to the early transportation facilities, it should here be stated that flatboats were built at different times at Perrysville and Loudonville and sent down the Mohican to the Ohio river and thence to New Orleans, where the cargoes found a money market. The volume of water in the streams of the county at that time was larger than it is now. There were no dams in the

Mohican nor its tributaries at that time. One or more flatboats were built at Newville, loaded and sent down to the Cresent city. One boat built at Loudonville carried a cargo of fifty tons. How to get grain and other products to market was a perplexing question with the pioneers. To relieve the situation, the National road was built and canals were made. As early as 1816, the Hon. Jeremiah Morrow was placed at the head of a committee of the United States senate, to whom was referred so much of the president's message as related to roads and canals, and on the 6th of February of that year, he presented a report recommending a general system of internal improvements. When Mr. Morrow's term in the senate expired, in 1819, he declined a reelection and returned to private life. But public sentiment was against his retirement and he was appointed a canal commissioner in 1820 and again in 1822. Having, however, been elected governor in this latter .year, he declined to act as commissioner. But during the four years he occupied the gubernatorial chair, he was industriously encouraging the construction of roads and promoting the great enterprise of connecting the Ohio river with Lake Erie by means of a canal - the success of which had a remarkable influence over the future character of the population of Ohio, and of advancing the grade of the state in the Union.

The two laws of 1821 and 1825 for the construction of the Ohio and Erie canal were secured by a coalition of the "school party" and the "canal party" as certain factions in the Ohio legislature were then called, and neither of which could secure an enactment without the aid of the other. The school party wanted a free school system and the canal party wanted canals constructed as waterways for commerce. The two parties worked together and won both schools and canals.

On the 4th of July, 1825, ground was broken for the Ohio and Erie canal by DeWitt Clinton, then governor of New York, and Governor Morrow of Ohio. But it required years of work before the canal was ready for business. The first passenger packet to reach Massillon was on August 21, 1828, and it was (allied the "Monti cello." The completion of the canal was hailed with great joy by the people, especially by the fanning- community, for with its opening the price of wheat advanced from twenty-five cents to seventy-five cents a bushel. The canal extends from Cleveland on the lake to Portsmouth on the Ohio river, a distanhe of three., hundred and six miles.

In 1842 the Wal bonding canal was projected, which was to extend from Coshocton up the Mohican to Ganges, Richland county, but at that time the building of railroads began and the canal was never finished farther than to Rochester, a distance of twenty-five miles. The legislature had previously passed a law declaring the Blaekfork of the Mohican a navigable stream up as far as Ganges.

This reference to the Ohio and Erie canal is given to show the great value of the canal, as it opened nearer and competitive markets for farm products. Had the canal been completed to Ganges and the old conditions continued Ganges would have been the metropolis of the part of Ohio lying between the "divide" and Lake Erie. Doubtless large warehouses would have been erected at Ganges and the water power of the Blaekfork been utilized to operate mills and factories, and by the schemes for new counties prevalent at that time, Richland would probably have been divided from east to west instead of from north to south, and Ganges would probably have been the county seat of a new county to the north, but things went the other way, and Ganges barely holds its place on the map today. And pleasure seekers and other transient persons hurrying through the old village today neither know nor care about the history of the little place that was named after the famous river of the Hindus,

The people of today doubtless know very little of the blockhouses of the pioneer period. They were usually constructed of hewn logs, closely fitted together, were two stories high, the length and width of the building being about twenty feet. The logs resting on each other, prevented balls from the enemies guns from entering cracks or crevices, which would otherwise have been between the logs. The doors were made of thick planks or puncheons, hung on strong hinges and bolted on the inside. A door was sufficiently thick to prevent ordinary musket balls from passing through it. The first story of these blockhouses was generally about eight or nine feet high. Sometimes the floor consisted of well packed earth. The second story projected over the lower story about three feet on the sides and end. This over- jet rested upon logs or joists, which were allowed to project over the lower story. The second story was about seven or eight feet high, and was perforated by numerous port-holes-, pointing in every direction, so as to guard against the approach of an enemy. The floor of this story was thick and strong, and had port-holes pointing downward, so that if an enemy came under the projection, to set fire to the building, he could be shot from above. There were also port-holes in the lower story, from which the savages could be seen and cut off before they reached the building. The roof was of clapboards, supported by logs. These blockhouses were generally erected in an open space upon some slight elevation of ground, so as to prevent the approach of the savages without being seen by the inmates. Another point to be considered in the location of a blockhouse, was to be near a . spring of water. The blockhouse at Jeromeville had a well of water within it. In such a blockhouse, twenty or thirty families could be accommodated, by spreading their beds upon the floors. During the day the inmates could pass in and out most of the time and attend to their duties without being molested by the Indians; their raids being only semi-occasionally and very unexpectedly. Dr. Hill says in his history that there were only two blockhouses in the county which were surrounded by stockades.

Life in blockhouses was extremely irksome and monotonous, and the inmates were always pleased when assured they could return to their deserted cabins with safety.

Seek Refuge In The Blockhouses

The pioneers along the different branches of the Mohican creek were almost panic-stricken upon hearing of the murders of Martin Ruffner and the Zeimer family by the Indians, and immediately sought refuge in the blockhouses.

Pack-horses, wagons and carts were in demand - in fact, every means of conveyance was put into speedy requisition ; and such articles of bedding and wearing apparel as could not be dispensed with, were put in packs and conveyed along with the fugitives. As near as can be remembered, the following families fled to Clinton : Ebenezer Rice and family, Joseph Jones and famiiy, Calvin

Hill and family, Moses Adzit and family, Abraham Baughman and family, Allen Oliver and family, and J. L. Hill and family. There were in all about thirty persons, and they made their way, as rapidly as possible, along the paths leading through the forests to the village of Clinton, near the present site of Mt. Vernon, then a sort of depot for supplies for the army.

The upper settlement on the Blackfork hastened to the blockhouse on the Clearfork, owned by Samuel Lewis. At that time, some twenty or thirty soldiers, under Lieutenant Barkdall, were there as a guard. Those seeking refuge there were Peter Kinney and family, flames Cunningham and family, Andrew Craig and family, David Davis and family, John Davis, William Slater and family, John Wilson and family, Peter Zimmerman and family, Harvey Hill and family, Henry McCart and family, and Henry Nail and family. Most of these families made a temporary stay at the blockhouse, returning to their cabins frequently, during the fall months, to keep watch over such household goods as were left in them, and to take care of their abandoned stock.

The next day after the flight to the Lewis blockhouse, Harvey Hill and John Coulter, who aided the fugitives in driving along most of their cattle, returned ; and by the aid of the Tannahills and others, whose names are not now remembered, the roof of the cabin of Thomas Coulter was thrown off, and a second story put on, and the cabin thereby became "Coulter's blockhouse." The Coulter cabin was perhaps sixteen or eighteen feet, built for their first dwelling in the fall of 1810, the over jutting part being put on as referred to above. It stood at the base of a bold bluff, on the bank of the Blackfork, near where the mill-dam now is, about half a mile southeast of the village of Perryville, and furnished a safe retreat for the neighbors of Mr. Coulter, when endangered by the savages. As soon as this blockhouse was completed, the following persons occupied it: Thomas Coulter and family, Allen Oliver and family, Melzer

Tannahill and family, Jeremiah Conine and family, and George Crawford and family. When the foregoing families had gathered in, Thomas Coulter and Harvey Hill volunteered to go to Wooster, through the forest, to secure soldiers to defend the settlement against Indian incursions. They succeeded in obtaining a guard of eleven soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant Winterringer, of the Tuscarawas militia, of the army of General Beall, then collecting at. Wooster, for an expedition to Upper Sandusky. The guard accompanied them home, and in the daytime skirmished about the hills, and up and down the valleys for Indian signs, and then stood guard at night to prevent an attack by the Indians.

While a resident of the blockhouse, the wife of Jeremiah Conine died and was buried in the cemetery at Perryville. She was the second person interred in that ground, the first being Mr. Samuel Hill who died the preceding June.

The settlers along the Jeromefork and its branches were also greatly excited and alarmed over the murder of Ruffner and the Zeimers. Thomas Eagle hastened to Wooster for assistance. The blockhouse at Wooster, then a mere village, was under the command of Captain Stidger, whose company constituted a part of the army of General Beall. The company of Captain Nicholas Murray, composed of about sixty soldiers, immediately hastened to the relief of the Jerome settlement.

A blockhouse was erected by his men, a short distance northeast of the present site of the mill, on a gentle rise of ground, where the settlers commenced at once to concentrate. Mr. Eagle also conducted a guard of eight or ten men to protect a small blockhouse or cabin at the Finley and Collyer settlement, about five miles down the Jeromefork, near where Tylertown now. stands.

In the meantime, Robert Newell and family, George Eckley and family, Jonathan Palmer and family, James Wallace and family, Christopher Trickle and family, James Bryan and family, Ezra Warner and family, and David Noggle and others, not now remembered, gathered at the new blockhouse. The families of Benjamin Cuppy and Jacob Fry did not remain at the fort, but passed on east. It was noticed, when all had gathered in, that Daniel Carter and family were missing. Much uneasiness was evinced concerning the safety of Mr. Carter and family. He resided up the stream, about nine miles from the blockhouse, and one mile northeast of the present site of Ashland. Absolom Newell, the eldest son of Robert Newell, volunteered to go and inform Mr. Carter and family of the danger that threatened them. Being an active young man, he soon reached the cabin of his father, some five miles up the Jeromefork which he found almost consumed by fire. Supposing Indians had set it on fire and were concealed in the vicinity, he hastened back and related the circumstance to the company at the blockhouse. David Noggle, a warm friend of Mr. Carter, at once offered to undertake the hazardous task of reaching him on horseback. Thirty soldiers were detailed for the expedition. Mr. Noggle and the soldiers followed a trail cut through the forest by Mr. Carter when he removed his family to his new cabin, which passed south of Newell's, thence over lands more recently owned by Mr. Smucker, Samuel Swinford, and the late farm of Daniel Carter, Jr., and so on to his cabin. Mr. Noggle reached the cabin sometime before the soldiers and found Mr. Carter at work with his team, all safe. From circumstances afterwards developed, it appears that a body of Indians had that very morning passed through the cornfield near the cabin, but had offered no harm to Mr. Carter and his family.

Mr. Carter hastily placed such clothing and bedding on his wagon as he could conveniently remove, and taking his family, accompanied Mr. Noggle. They had gone but a short distance when they met the guard. The soldiers continued in the direction of the deserted cabins of Cuppy and Fry, and on approaching the former, found it yet burning, and some of the soldiers discovered the rear guard of the Indians skulking in a cornfield. On looking towards the cabin of Mr. Pry, a half-mile west, they could see the smoke ascending from it. They then turned about, and retraced their steps to the blockhouse at Jerome's place, where Mr. Carter and family had arrived a short time before. Mr. Carter and family did not remain at the blockhouse; but passed on through Wooster to New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, where he and his family remained until February, 1813.

The band of Indians that burned the cabins of Newell, Cuppy and Pry was undoubtedly the same that the day before made assault on the Copus cabin.

At this time there were six or eight families in the Vachel-Metcalf settlement, some two and a half miles southeast of the fort on Jerome's place, among whom were those of William Bryan, James Conley, Elisha Chilcote, Benjamin Bunn, James Slater and James Bryan. These met and constructed a fort two stories high, the walls of the second story projecting beyond the first on all sides. The floor and sides of the second story were pierced with port-holes. The pioneers with ox teams, axes and strong arms soon erected the fort. The lower story had strong doors securely fastened, and were occupied by the women and children, while the men with their rifles occupied the second story in hours of danger and alarm. A patch of ground was cleared around the fort and enclosed by a palisade twelve feet high, with a strong gate, which enclosed about one fourth of an acre, and all the families of the neighborhood gathered into this fort, while their horses and cattle were placed within the palisade. The settlers remained in this fort during the winter of 1812-13, and a part of the summer of 1813, while cultivating, by occasional visits, small patches of corn and vegetables with pickets to prevent surprise by the Indians.

Hill's Plistory of Ashland county says that the Priest fort was erected near the banks of the Mohican, not far from the point where the Pittsburg, Port Wayne & Chicago Railroad crosses that stream at Loudon ville. The fort was surrounded by a picket of heavy split timber about twelve feet high and enclosed about one-fourth acre of ground. It had a strong gate hung on wooden hinges. In cases of necessity the horses and cattle were brought withirf the enclosure.

Adventures And Life In The Blockhouses

General Crook's command, which passed through the southern part of Ashland county and moved to the northwest in the fall of 1812, saw very hard service after leaving Upper Sandusky. The command was ordered to Port Meigs, with an artillery train and stores, which were dragged through the rain and mud by the soldiers. The command endured great hardships and suffered severe exposures, part of the time wading through mud and water two or three feet deep and being compelled to cut brush and logs to lift them above the water when they encamped at night. General Winchester had advanced with his army, about one thousand strong, to within eighteen miles of Malden, where he was surprised by General Proctor, with his British and Indians, and a battle ensuing on the twenty-second of January, 1813, Winchester was defeated with great slaughter. The loss of the Americans was about four hundred in wounded, killed and missing, being fully one-third of all the force engaged in the battle ! General Winchester was taken prisoner in the commencement of the engagement ; and many of his soldiers, after having surrendered, were butchered by the savages in the most wanton manner, without the interference of the British commander to prevent it. This misfortune disconcerted all the plans of General Harrison for the spring campaign; and compelled him to fall back to Fort Meigs, until the troops ordered into the field by Governor Meigs, should arrive. While these bloody scenes were transpiring, the people of Richland, Wayne, Knox and what is now Ashland counties were again compelled to seek safety in the blockhouses, not knowing what moment the infuriated savages, led on by Tecumseh, might appear in their midst. Along the Blackfork and Clearfork the fugitives that found safety at Clinton, the fall before, had returned to their homes in the vicinity of Coulter 's blockhouse and that of Samuel Lewis, on the Clearfork; though they had spent most of the winter at their own cabins. Their corn crops, though small, had been secured and safely stored ; their cattle and swine were under their control. The mills in Knox county, and below Wooster, had been visited and a stock of corn meal laid in for the winter, so that they had an abundance of cornbread and meat; and by the aid of hominyblocks, there was no imminent danger of starvation, though the situation was rather exciting.

Along the Jeromefork, the majority of the fugitives remained in the blockhouses during the winter. In the fall of 1812, when Captain Nicholas Murray, with a company of sixty men, was ordered by General Beall to advance to Jerome's place, to build a blockhouse, just after he had crossed the Killbuck, he met the fugitive families of John Carr, Christopher Trickle, Matthew Williams, Robert Newell, Ezra Warner, Daniel Carter, Jacob Fry, and Benjamin Cuppy. Captain Murray offered all these families protection, and they all returned with him to Jerome's place, except Mr. Carter and family, who continued their flight to New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county. These families remained in and around the blockhouse all winter. About the middle of February, 1813, Daniel Carter and family returned from New Philadelphia, and again occupied his old cabin, one mile northeast of the present site of Ashland, where he found everything as he had left it the fall before. His corn was yet standing in the field undisturbed, except what had been devoured by deer, wild turkeys and small animals.

"About the first of March, 1813, in the morning four strange Indians appeared at the 'cabin of James Collyer, then residing about two miles above the junction of the Jerome and Muddy forks of Mohican, a short distance from Findley's bridge, and asked for something to eat. They appeared to be well armed, and his suspicions were excited. There had not been an Indian seen in that neighborhood for several months, the last of the Mohican John Indians having been sent away by order of General Beall, when he cut his trail the fall before. Putting on an air of confidence and calmness, he invited them into his cabin, entering which, they leaned their guns against the wall near the door, and were seated. Mr. Collyer told his wife, who was much alarmed, to set some cold victuals on the table for them to eat. She did so putting on a lot of meat, cornbread and such other articles as she had at hand. Mr. Collyer motioned for them to sit down and eat. They went to the table and were seated, and began to eat heartily of the food. While they were eating Collyer moved cautiously to the point where he kept his gun, which was always loaded, and securing it, placed himself, unobserved, between the Indians and the door, and carefully raising his gun so as to get a range on two of them, prepared to fire, seeing which, Mrs. Collyer shrieked out, and fainting, fell to the floor. This alarmed the Indians, and they sprang to their feet; but seeing the threatening attitude of Collyer, raised their hands and begged him to spare their lives, saying, 'me Goshen Injun, me no harm you.' Thereupon Collyer withheld his fire, still keeping his gun pointed at them - his intention having been after killing or wounding two of them at the table, to club it over the other two, and thus secure them all - he being a powerful man and having had a good deal of experience as a hunter, and in Indian warfare. They continued to protest their innocence of any intended harm to him or his family, when he told them he would spare them on condition of retiring from the cabin and leaving their guns within, when he would remove the flints and priming, and hand them the balance of the food on the table, out at the window, when they should immediately leave the neighborhood and never return again. They accepted these conditions, and retired at once from the cabin. After securing the door, Mr. Collyer placed his wife on a bed, and proceeded to remove the priming and flints from the guns of the Indians, and having done which, he passed them out at a small window ; after doing so, he handed them the balance of the food, and they disappeared in the forest. After waiting until he was satisfied they were gone and were not intending to attack him, he took his wife and such valuables as he possessed and hastened to the ' Eagle ' blockhouse, a strong cabin prepared by Thomas Eagle for himself and neighbors."

The news of this exploit soon reached the blockhouse at Jerome's place, and word of it being sent to Daniel Carter, he again took leave of his cabin, never to return to it, for he was compelled to remain at the blockhouse until the spring of 1814. A few days after this, a number of Indians appeared in view of Eagle fort, and made some hostile demonstrations, but owing to the strength of Eagle's force, they retired in the direction of Jerome's place, killing a number of hogs on their way, and finally disappeared from the neighborhood without doing further mischief. This added to the excitement produced by Winchester's defeat, the particulars of which were now understood at the blockhouse.

On the approach of the season for planting corn, a few fields were put out by the pioneers of the blockhouse. J ohn Carr had about twenty acres cleared ; Ezra Warner had about the same number of acres ready; and Jerome had some thirty acres, on the bottom beyond the blockhouse. Mr. Carter had four or five acres near the old Indian village, across the Jerome fork. These fields were plowed, and the planting was done, by the residents of the blockhouse, as a community. While part of them planted and cultivated the corn, during the summer, the others patroled the forests in the vicinity of the fort, to prevent surprise and capture by the Indians. When the corn had become sufficiently matured for use, the same vigilance prevailed in and about the neighborhood, to prevent surprise. When the crop was gathered it proved to be quite large.

The summer months in this way seemed to pass slowly. The inmates could rarely get news from the frontiers. The defense of Fort Meigs by General Harrison, and his victory of the 5th of May, 1813, sent joy to the blockhouse along both forks of the Mohican. Harrison and his army had endured, in the most heroic manner, the fierce assault and cannonading of the British army, and finally compelled them to march down the Maumee river. In August, the monotony of the blockhouse was again removed by the reception of the intelligence of the splendid defence of Fort Stevenson (Lower Sandusky) by the heroic Major Crogham and his men. The signal repulse of the British under Proctor, and their hasty retreat from the locality, gave renewed hope and confidence. On the tenth of September, Commodore Perry captured the whole British fleet on Lake Erie, and by that great achievement the territory of Michigan passed into the possession of the American forces.

In the month of June, Mrs. Anna Carter, the wife of Daniel Carter, and his son James, a lad of six years of age, died in the blockhouse at Jerome place, and were buried in the Carr cemetery near the fort. In September, Christopher Trickle also died in the blockhouse, and was buried in the same cemetery. These deaths were occasioned from malaria and want of proper medical attendance, there being no physician within the present limits of the county, at that time.

Upon the recurrence of autumn, the pioneers along the Black fork, the Cedar fork, the Lake fork and the Jerome fork, busied themselves in storing their meagre crops for winter. Stibbs' mill, and one or two other mills on the Vernon river, each running one set of bulirs, some of which were "nigger head, " were visited by pioneers with pack horses and small canoes, loaded with shelled corn, to be converted into meal. Their food consisted of cornbread, johnnycake, mush and milk, potatoes, vegetables, and principally wild meat, cattle and swine being very scarce. "Store tea" arid coffee, were exceedingly rare and very costly. "Store goods" were a thing of note; and the calicoes of that day were a luxury few could afford. Homespun and wove linseywoolsey, and flax or linen garments were the best to be seen ; and many a daring, whole-souled pioneer felt proud, clothed in such garments. Salt and flour were luxuries that few could use profusely. Salt was purchased at Zanesville and Pittsburg, and from its price had to be used sparingly. Ammunition, such as lead and powder, was obtained from the supplies furnished the soldiers left to guard the blockhouses. So far, then, as food was concerned, the inmates of the blockhouses "fared sumptuously " - to use an expression of an old gentleman who was quartered in one about two years. Nothing happened in the fall of 1813 to materially disturb the quiet of the pioneers of this region.

The Early Mills

The first settlers of Ashland county experienced many privations and inconveniences. A majority of the first settlers were in moderate circumstances, and had to depend upon their own strong arms and the smiles of Providence for subsistence. Their food was exceedingly plain, and their habits industrious and economical. Their clothing was generally of the most primitive character, and spun and woven by the faithful pioneer mothers.

From 1809 to 1813 there were but two grist mills within a radius of some thirty-five miles. These mills were owned by Messrs. Shrimplin and Stibbs, and were of hewed logs and quite primitive in appearance. The former was located on Owl creek, some distance below Mt. Yernon. This mill could be reached by descending the branches of Mohican to the "Walhonding, and ascending Owl creek or by Indian paths through the forest. By either route it took several days. Stibbs' mill, near Wooster, was less distant, and could be reached by - wagon or bridle paths. Packhorses, ridden by small boys, generally made the trip to Stibbs' in from two to three days, depending upon the throng for their grist. These settlements being somewhat earlier in their improvements, generally had surplus corn crops, and were able to supply the new settlers on the branches of the Mohican.

What was known as the "horsemill" was erected in many parts of the county. They were rude affairs, and the machinery was somewhat complicated. They were propelled by horse power, somewhat like a cider mill. Many produced very good meal and flour, and generally had hand-bolts. A description of their machinery would occupy more space than can be allotted in these notes. They were in very general use for a period of about fifteen years. The buhrs of the horsemills were made, mostly of boulders or "niggerheads" and fitted and secured much like the buhrs now in use in the water and steam grist mills.

An ingenious coffee-mill was invented in the days of the early settlement of the county, and it was known as the handmill. They were made from a large boulder, much after the fashion of the coffee mills of today. A hopper was drilled in a niggerheacl - -stone - and made in the shape of an inverted cone; a cylinder of the same material, exactly fitting the hopper, perforated through the center by a shaft, and also regularly grooved, was placed therein, on a pivot, and propelled by the aid of a lever, by one or two hands, as necessity required. The meal was received in a box below, and sifted by hand. It operated much like the modern coffee mills, and was a great improvement to the former way of putting the coffee in a strong cloth and pounding it fine.

"The numerous small streams throughout the county, during the earlier settlement, furnished valuable mill sites; and a great number of enterprising pioneers erected small grist and sawmills upon them. Before the removal of the heavy forests that covered most of the county, sufficient water was obtained to propel one or two sets of buhrs, in the smaller mills, the major part of the year; but since the forests have been cut away, the water produced by heavy showers is rapidly conveyed by brooks and small streams to the larger ones, while the moisture left on the surface soon evaporates ; the result being, that nearly all the smaller mills were compelled to suspend work three-fourths of the year. The consequence is, that while, in our earlier history, every little stream had a grist sawmill, the number has gradually diminished, until there are not over a dozen good mills left, and these are chiefly propelled by steam.

"It is generally conceded that the first grist mill within the present limits of Ashland county, was erected by Benjamin Cuppy, on a small stream one and a half miles northeast of Ashland, on what is now the Orange road, in March, 1816. It had one run of stones, and ground very slowly, not exceeding four bushels of corn per day. It long since has disappeared.

"About four weeks after the completion of the Cuppy mill, Martin Mason finished a small watermill upon the present site of Samuel Leidigh's mill, on the Troy road, four miles north of Ashland. It had one run of hardhead stones. It was of hewn logs. It was a convenient neighborhood mill for many years, and did fair work.

"About the year 1817, John Raver put up a small grist and sawmill on a run about one-fourth of a mile northeast of the present site of Rowsburgh, in Perry township. It run about one-third of the time, had an under-shot wheel and one set of stones and a hand-bolt. It stood several years, and was replaced by a mill built some years later.

"During the fall of 1817, it is believed that Constance Lake, of Jeromesville, erected a small log gristmill, where what is known as Goudy's mill, was subsequently built. The Goudy mill was accidentally burned about 1850. It had sustained a good reputation, and was a great loss to the community. It was not rebuilt, and the site is abandoned.

"Conrad Kline, about the year 1819, built a small horsemill one and a half miles northeast of Ashland, near the late residence of John Mason. It was constructed in the usual form of such mills, had one run of stones and a hand bolt. It made good meal and flour. It long since tumbled into ruins.

"Jabez Smith, in 1820, erected a sawmill and gristmill half a mile south of the present site of Mohicanville, in Lake township. He sold it to R. F. Chandler, who kept the mill moving until the spring of 1875, when it accidentally burned. It was long a convenience to the farming community, and its destruction was much regretted.

"Robert Crawford, a rugged, enterprising pioneer, put up a large and expensive horsemill on the present land of Albert Tilton, in the southeast part of Orange township, in 1820-21. It had one run of stones, a fine bolt, and did a large business for those times. It was finally abandoned about the year 1837.

"About the year 1823 Thomas Ford put up a small horsemill near what is now known as Fords meetinghouse, in Clear Creek township. It was a neighborhood mill, and did some business for a number of years. It has long since given way to the march of improvement.

"It is believed that Oliver Sloan put a saw and gristmill two miles southeast of llayesville, about the year 1830. It had one run of stones and a bolt, and did a good deal of neighborhood work. It was conducted, for some years, by a Mr. Vangilder. It is now in ruins.

"John Hendricks built a watermill on Vermillion creek, about one mile west of Savannah, in 1823. It had one run of stones, and a bolt, and did some business. He subsequently sold to the late Joseph Roop, who caused a deep ditch, at heavy expense, to be dug from the lower lake, in the hope of increasing

Jeromeville Mills Jeromeville Bridge

"Conrad Kline erected a small gristmill, about two miles east of Ashland, at the foot of Roseberry hill, in Montgomery township, in 1825. It did some business, and was carried on some eight or ten years, when it was abandoned.

"John Haney built a small horsemill, on a run east of the village of Savannah, in Clear Creek township, in 1825. It was chiefly used for chopping, in connection with a distillery. It stood but a few years, and went to ruin.

"David Weitzel erected a small saw and gristmill on the present site of the Ashland woolenmills, about the year 1825. It had a pair of coffeemill stones and was used chiefly for chop work. It had also a hand bolt. It subsequently became the property of the late John Jacobs, and was by him considerably improved. It was superseded by the large brick flouringmill now owned by John Damp & Company. This mill is propelled exclusively by steam, and its work has long been classed among the finest in the county. It has a fine run of stones and can produce seventy-five barrels of flour per day.

"Andrew Newman built what is now known as the Ilershey mill, on the Blackfork, two and one-half miles northwest of the village of Mifflin, in the year 1820. It is regarded as one of the best of its kind. It is chiefly a neighborhood mill, does fine work, and is run by water. It is now owned by Stamen Brothers.

"Silas Longworthy built a small watermill three miles southeast of the village of Mifflin, on the Blackfork, in 1825, and sold to John ITewhey, he to Charles Lewis, and he to Daniel Kauffman. It was carried on until 1845, when Daniel Kauffman, a skilful millwright, tore it down and erected a valuable mill which he sold to John Charles. It is propelled exclusively by water, and is regarded as one of the best in the county. It has a sawmill attached.

"Jonathan Harvout built a small horsemill, about one mile northwest of Ashland, on lands recently owned by James Wells, about the year 1880. It had a brief career, and was used mostly as a ehopmill by the farmers.

"Joseph Sellers put up a small watermill, on Clear Creek, two miles west of Savannah, in 1880. It struggled along a few years and went down.

"Colonel John Murray erected, for himself, a grist and sawmill, on Mohican creek, one and a half miles north of Orange, in 1831. It did considerable business in wet seasons, but finally became of little value, because of a want of water.

"George McCartney constructed a small watermill in connection with a carding machine - on lands since owned by the late Samuel l Trie, in Milton township, in 1830. It had insufficient power, and the enterprise failed and brought disaster upon its owner.

"William Goudy and sons put up the present large gristmill at Jeromesville, about the year 1836. It passed through many hands, and is yet regarded as a valuable property. It has fine water power. It has a good sawmill connected with it.

"Armstrong Meanor erected a small gristmill three miles north of Loudonville. on the Ilayesville road, near a small stream, about the year 1831. It was subsequently rebuilt.

4 'About the same time (1831), Mr. Newman built a gristmill three miles northeast of Hayesville, on a small stream in the Finley settlement. It was carried on for many years, and did a prosperous business. A new mill, not known as Smith's mill, was erected in the neighborhood some twenty years since, and the old mill is going to decay.

"Jacob Mason built a small undershot mill about four miles north of Ashland, on Leidigh's run, in 1831. It was used principally as a chopmill for a distillery. It has long since disappeared.

"Daniel Beach built a sawmill in 1824, and a gristmill on Vermillion river one fnile north of Ruggles corners, in 1832. It run to about 1858, and is now in ruins. It passed through four or five hands.

"Daniel Carter, Jr., put up a watermill two miles east of Ashland, near the Wooster road, in 1832. It did a fair business eighteen or twenty years. It is now in ruins.

' ' The Loudonville mill - a frame - two runs of stones, was built by Alexander Skinner in 1818 ; Caleb Chapel was carpenter and first miller. He died in 1821, and T. J. Bull became the owner of the mill ; he sold to Thomas Carlisle ; and in 1835 the mill became the property of Gray & Freeman, of Cleveland. They run it until 1845; then it passed into the hands of James Christmas and John C. Larwill, and in 1861, A. A. Taylor, who erected a new mill. "

Haney and Smith, from Rochester, New York, put up a large flouring mill on the Lakefork, three miW southeast of Mohicanville, in 1836. It had fine water power and did a thriving business.

Thomas Stringer erected a large gristmill on the Blackfork below Perry sville in 1839. He owned it but a short time. It had a stirring career and passed through many hands.

References are frequently made to the distilleries of the olden time, from which it might be inferred that the pioneers were noted for intemperance, but such is not the fact. Chopmills and distilleries were then considered necessities. There was a surplus of corn and of rye, while there was neither a purchaser nor a market for them. Transportation by wagon to the eastern markets was attended with much expense. The only way surplus corn and rye could be made available was to convert them into whiskey, which could be exchanged for groceries and other goods. The result was that many distilleries were erected, which since our improved modes of transportation have long since gone out of commission. But whiskey is still an "institution," nevertheless. It pays an enormous revenue, and is feared alike by moralists and politicians. It has been said that "the mills of the gods grind slow but exceedingly fine." But the mills of the pioneers ground not only exceedingly slow, but exceedingly

Reminiscence Of Pioneer Times

In those early days when mills were distant, the pioneers often pounded corn* in a hominy block. When sifted, the finest meal made bread, the next mush and the third grade was grits, or hominy. These, with butter and milk, constituted a large part of the daily food. The mush made by the pioneer women was remembered by the pioneer boys long after they became men as the best they had ever eaten, and it was a compliment to their wives if they said they made as good mush as their mothers had.

An Ashland county farmer gave an interesting account, a few years before his death, of the conditions that prevailed in his part of the county in the '40s. He said: "I had to go as far as forty-five miles to the city of Akron to get a grist of flour. The home mills were run by water then, but owning to drought we were compelled to go elsewhere. We would drive mostly with oxen. I remember one night when I came to Huron with a load of wheat on my way to Milan, here all hauled their wheat at that time, I stopped at Ruggles' Corners. There were two hotels there, and I counted one hundred teams, all headed for Milan with wheat. I will never forget the time I walked to Savannah, a distance of four miles, through the mud, and carried butter and eggs, which I sold at the store at five cents a pound for butter and three cents a dozen for eggs."

The late Francis Graham, father of Mrs. J. II. Black, of south Main street, Mansfield, in giving reminiscences of pioneer life, a few years before his death, stated that he located at Ashland, then called Uniontown, in 1821, and engaged in the mercantile business. Uniontown then contained about fourteen or fifteen houses. The prices quoted by Mr. Graham were, no doubt, the same at Mansfield that they were at Uniontown. The products of the country brought low prices at that time, from the fact that there was no market or demand for them beyond home consumption. It was difficult for people to get money to pay their taxes. Wheat was twenty-five cents a bushel, oats from twelve to fifteen cents, and corn from fifteen to twenty cents. Butter from five to six cents a pound, and eggs from four to five cents a dozen. Maple sugar was an important article of trade in Ashland county, not from the high prices it commanded, for it only brought from five to six cents a pound, but from the large quantity made, some "camps" making a yield of from fifteen hundred to twenty-five hundred pounds a season. One season Mr. Graham bought maple sugar that filled forty-two barrels, of about two hundred and fifty pounds to the barrel. About the year 1825 John Stewart, for many years surveyor of Richland county, built a flouring mill on Bentley's Run, a branch of the Rockyfork, three miles southeast of Mansfield. Mr. Stewart advertised that he would pay thirty-one and one-fourth cents cash per bushel for good merchantable wheat delivered at his mill. The farmers for twenty-five miles around hauled their wheat to this mill, pleased with the idea they could sell it for cash. Money continued scarce until after the opening of the New York and Erie canal, after which produce of all kinds gradually advanced in price and the volume of currency increased. Swindling, theft or robbery was of rare occurrence in northern Ohio at that time, Mr. Graham stated.

Wolves were both numerous and troublesome when Ashland county was first settled, and the pioneers had to put their sheep and hogs in enclosures at night to protect them. When driven by hunger the wolves would sometimes succeed in getting inside of these enclosures and kill pigs and sheep. Upon such occasions they usually gorged themselves to such an extent that they could not get out of the pen as easily as they had entered, and were killed the next morning by the proprietor.

along a path one evening and when nearing his home discovered in the gloaming a' pack of wolves ahead of him. One broke from the pack and jumped at his horse's head. The frightened animal sprang so suddenly to one side that the farmer was unhorsed and falling to the ground was at once attacked by the wolf. His half wolf-dog came to his rescue and attacked the wolf with such ferocity that it turned from him to defend itself and ere the pack could come to its relief, the farmer had taken refuge in a tree, where he remained until the wolves had left. The horse did not wait to see the program through, and the dog put in his appearance at home the next day and his looks indicated that his fight had not been a "glove contest."

Hogs in those days ran at large and in the fall they fattened on chestnuts and acorns, then so plentiful in the forest. And one day as the farmers were making hay a wolf chased a pig into the meadow. It was followed by the drove of hogs, which came to the relief of the pig, and, catching the wolf, tore it into shreds in a few moments.

Although those old stage days are numbered with the past, many things connected with that period are interesting to the people of today. The stage was the only public mode of travel then, and stage drivers were important personages in their time and were character readers of both men and horses. They were terse and sententious in expression upon lines of their duties and could be entertainingly loquacious in narrating events of the past and in giving the history of the country through which their line passed. They would talk to their horses, which, as a rule, intelligently obeyed the orders given them.

A story is told of a stage driver who had inherited a farm, bade good-bye to the hardships of the road and settled down to the pleasures of sheltered prosperity. After enjoying the seclusion and quietude of the farm for a week, he went out to the road to see the stage pass. The driver gave him a salute, and, snapping his whip, the horses started ahead on the gallop, the coach bounded on and disappeared. The farmer felt lonely, and as he leisurely walked back over the fields to his new home, he formed the resolution to again go on the road. Accordingly he packed his carpet bag, went to the nearest stage office, reentered the service, and two days later drove down the same road on the same coach, snapping his whip and waving a good-bye to his farm. He had one week of farm life, and that was enough for him. He preferred the excitement of the road and liked to be in close touch with the living, moving world. He left a record of having driven one hundred and thirty-five thousand miles during his stage service - more than five times round the globe.

When stages were relegated to the past in England, stage men refused to realize the fact that their occupation was gone. This was not the case in

America, where, with Yankee shrewdness, they adjusted themselves early in the day to altered conditions and obtained employment with the railroad companies, and many were advanced in position, and finally obtained wealth. American stagedrivers accepted the railroad and profited by it, and we should accept the improved utilities of our generation.

What changes a hundred years have brought. Ohio is but one of five great states that have been created from what was once known as the "territory lying northwest of the river Ohio." Our forty thousand square miles of area are covered with all the improvements, conveniences, facilities, beauties and adornments of Christian civilization, and Ohio is but typical, not only of that original northwest territory, but also of that further west lying still beyond and stretching away to the golden shores of the Pacific.

The Pioneer Period

When the term pioneer is used it includes the women as well as the men of that period, for the women shared with the men the dangers, work and hardships of the early settlements, and besides their household duties often assisted in the fields and had at times to defend their homes against the attacks of the Indians.

It was not "lady" then, but that better word, "woman." And although clothed in homespun and her hands hardened with toil, she had nobility of soul and character, her courage did not falter at the approach of danger and her deeds well deserve to be written in history and sung in song. The pioneers are sometimes spoken of as an unlettered people. Some of them were, perhaps, while others had scholastic attainments. All classes from the Atlantic states were represented here.

It is true, that that was an age of scanty records, and yet the deeds of those who lived in it were more influential in shaping the civilization which followed than all the other years combined. Pioneer times are as fountains in the wilderness from which rivers are formed, whose waters through all the coming ages will flow in the channels first selected. Ashland county today with slight variations is what the pioneers made it and it will thus continue through generations to come. That I do not exaggerate in my estimate of pioneer times, let us look at the facts of the case in the state of Ohio.

1. Our constitution and laws with all their peculiar differences from other states, are substantially what the pioneers made them, and labor as we will it is impossible to secure any large modifications.

2. Our political divisions into counties and townships, with all their distinctive names and local combinations, which so powerfully affect the daily associations of our people, were all substantially the work of the pioneers.

3. The locations of cities, county seats and roads, in which and through which the public and private life of our people must continue for the most part to manifest itself remain almost entirely as the pioneers decreed.

4. Our religious institutions and tendencies are mainly as the pioneers made them. Men in communities or as individuals develop according to their faith. Unlike an animal, a man's life is the outgrowth of what he believes, and what he believes is for the most part what he is taught in his youth. So a community develops according to its faith, and its faith in its fountain head is the faith of the men who founded it.

In accordance with this law the faith of Ashland county, not only in religion but also in politics is stamped with the image and superscription of John Wesley, John Calvin and Thomas Jefferson, the faith of the pioneers, and so it will remain for generations to come.

5. The equality of our social life with none very rich, and but few very poor, we owe largely to the pioneers. They were mostly men of moderate means and fulfilled the prayer of the Psalmist who desired neither poverty nor riches. There were no great landed proprietors to absorb the public domain and crowd our population into tenant homes, and the result is that today the average size of the farms in Ashland county is less than one hundred acres, and the great body of our farmers own the land they till, and non-resident proprietors are few and far between. The advantages of this are immense and will continue a subject of thankfulness for generations to come.

So in every direction we look we have reason to rejoice in the legacies we have received from the pioneers of Ashland county ; they were wise and prudent in their generation and it is just and fitting that we should honor their memory.

The pioneers of Ohio were a different type of men from those who, for the most part, have settled the prairie states to the west of us. They were hardier and more adventurous, and for the simple reason that the dangers to be encountered and the difficulties to be overcome were greater. Ohio was a gigantic forest, which to subdue was a work in itself so enormous as absolutely to appal the average civilized man. The men in war who volunteer to lead a storming column in battle are honored for life if they survive. So it seems we should honor those who volunteered to charge upon the howling wilderness of Ohio during the early years of the present century.

No wonder Ohio stands today the foremost state in the Union. Her people are the descendants of the mighty men of valor who conquered the wilderness.

Reminiscences Of A Pioneer

Pioneer Jonas H. Gierhart gave the following account of his early life in Jackson township. He removed from Maryland to the vicinity of Polk in July, 1817. The township was then unorganized and formed a part of Perry. His nearest neighbor resided about two miles south of him, while on the north, he believed there was not a single white family between him and the lake. When he came to the county with his wife and child, he placed the two latter in temporary charge of the family of Martin Hester, (being the place owned by David and Henry Fluke,) in Orange township, about three miles distant from the tract he owned. The land above mentioned was in its wild condition, not a tree or shrub being cut, and of course without a cabin to afford him and his little family shelter. On the first day he made a small clearing, and preparation for raising a cabin. This work he done himself, although utterly chopped a cord of wood, made a fence rail, or cut down or even deadened a tree, having previously worked only upon farms long cultivated. On the second day his wife requested to visit the home her husband was engaged in preparing, and accompany him to it with their child. They accordingly set out on horseback, and in due time reached the place, when he proceeded with his work, and Mrs. Gierhart employed herself with her needle and the care of their little child. One of the mares had been belled and hobbled, and, with her mate, was permitted to range for such food as the woods afforded. Thus the day nearly passed, and toward evening the sound of the bell had disappeared, and Mr. Gierhart, taking in his arms his little child, and leaving his wife under the shelter of a tree, started in search of his beasts. His animals had wandered a much greater distance than he had supposed; but he finally recovered the one that had been hobbled, and mounting it with his child, set out on his return to his wife. He had not traveled far before he discovered that he was unable to find the blazed timber; and concluded it the safer way to make for the Jerome Fork, where he would be enabled to intersect the trail that led from Martin Hester's to his land. On his way he met an old hunter, named John McConnell, to whom he explained his situation, and asked aid in finding his way back to his wife. Mr. McConnell gave it as his opinion that he could not that night reach the place, but proposed that he remain at the house of Mr. Hester, then not far distant, until mornong. On their way to Hester 's they struck the blazes which led to the place where he had parted with his wife; and committing his child to the care of Mr. McConnell, with directions to leave it with Mrs. Hester, he determined, against the protest of Mr. McConnell, who assured him of the impossibility of success, (as night was then rapidly approaching,) to go .to the relief of his desolate wife. He accordingly pressed forward on his way, guided by the blazed trees, and continued until the darkness rendered the marks upon the trees undistinguishable. Here was before him a "night of terror" indeed - such a one as he had never passed, and never dreamed that he would be called upon to pass. The thought of a helpless wife, in the depth of a wilderness of which the savage beast was the almost undisputed monarch, and no possible hope of affording any relief before the dawn of another day, was enough to wring any soul with agony. Despite the darkness, he plunged blindly forward a few rods in what he supposed might be the right direction, and then, impressed with the utter hopelessness of proceeding farther, halted; and, raising a voice, the power of which was made terrible by his agony, called to his wife. Its echoes reached her, and were recognized. She sent forth her answer, but her voice having less compass than that of her husband, the sound did not reach his ear. In his despair he laid himself down beside a tree, and maintained his sleepless vigils until morning, when he resumed his search, and finally came upon the trail he was seeking. Pursuing it rapidly, he soon reached Mrs. Gierhart, who had wisely maintained her position throughout the night, notwithstanding the distraction of mind which her anxiety for the safety of her husband and child her own lonely situation, and the distant howling of wolves, were all calculated to inspire. Soon after he had found his wife, and while they were yet relating to each other the experiences of the night, they heard the blowing of horns, and were soon met by neighbors, who had been alarmed b.y Mr. McConnell, who had started forth at the first dawn of day in pursuit of the lost husband and wife.

As Told By Tiie Pioneers

The principal occupation of the first pioneers of Ashland county was clearing the land and farming. In the spring of the year considerable maple sugar was made, which was exchanged for salt and groceries. Clothing was mostly manufactured at home, as each farmer kept a few sheep, and the wool was spun and wove into cloth by members of the family, and made into clothing for winter.

A small piece of ground was sown in flax by each farmer, from the lint of which the summer clothing was manufactured ; all the labor of producing this clothing being performed at home. All farm products were sold at very low prices - wheat seldom so high as forty cents a bushel, and corn brought from eight to fifteen cents. A first class cow would sell for eight or ten dollars, and all other farm products at equally low rates. Even at these rates it was almost impossible to get the cash. Money was scarce and almost all kinds of business was carried on by barter. The merchants would sell their goods to the farmers on time, the farmer agreeing to pay with wheat, or pork, when he slaughtered his hogs.

The wheat and pork were again exchanged by the merchant for goods. Thus trade was carried on with a small amount of money. The wheat was made into flour and packed in barrels, the pork was also packed in barrels, and a considerable quantity of corn converted into whiskey.

The pioneers were also always ready to help each other or a stranger on any and all occasions, and for this purpose would put themselves to great inconvenience and travel great distances. Did one of them want a cabin raised he had only to let his neighbors know (and all were considered neighbors within a circle of five or ten miles) and they would be there promptly.

Log-rollings were a weekly occurrence; every settler would have one or more of these gatherings every year until his lands were well cleared. Settlers for miles around would come with their axes, oxen and hand spikes; the logs were cut, hauled together and piled in great heaps to be set on fire after drying.

The younger members of the community, girls and boys, piled the brush and smaller sticks in immense heaps ; the boys not yet old can remember when these heaps were set on fire at night, and how all the young people for miles around gathered and played "goal" and "round-town" by the light of the crackling brush.

Cornhuskings are even yet occasionally indulged in by the farming community, though rarely, and will soon be entirely unknown. A night was selected for the cornhusking when the moon was full. Sometimes the corn was husked as it stood in the field, and large fields were thus cleared of corn in a single f evening. At other times the owner of a cornfield would go through it a day or two before the husking was to take place, jerk the ears from the stalk and haul them to some dry spot in the meadow, where they were piled in a huge circle.

About this circle, on the outside, the men would gather in the evening, and amid the rattle of husks and the general hilarity the yellow ears would flow toward the center of the circle in a continual stream, while the buskers buried themselves deeper and deeper in the husks, until they emerged and stood upon the inner line of the circle, with a great pile of corn in front and a pile of husks in the rear.

Occasionally the corn was as nearly as possible divided into two heaps ; captains or leaders were chosen by the men, who in turn choosing their men arranged themselves in opposition. Each of the opposing parties endeavored to get through first, the bottle being passed frequently, each one helping himself to as much of the contents as he desired. The successful captain was elevated upon the shoulders of his men and carried around the pile amid prolonged cheers. Sometimes the beaten party was aggravated until knockdowns ensued, after which all would repair to the house of the host and partake of the good things prepared for the occasion.

The settlers exercised a good deal of ingenuity in making traps to secure the wild animals of the forest. This was one of the principal occupations and sources of pleasure for the boys. In certain localities it seemed almost impossible for the pioneers to raise sheep or hogs on account of the -depredations of wolves and bears ; the latter invariably preferred pork to mutton, but the wolves always attacked the sheep in preference. The state offered six dollars each for wolf scalps; this and other considerations stimulated the efforts of the settlers to destroy them. Many of the young men devoted their time almost exclusively to this business. For the purpose of catching them, a wolf pen was constructed of small logs, six feet long, four feet wide and three feet high. It was formed like a large box, with puncheon floor, the lid was made of heavy puncheons, and was removed by an axle at one end made of a small round stick. The trap was set by the ordinary figure 4 combination, and baited with any kind of meat except wolf meat, the animal preferring any other to his own. Upon gnawing the meat the lid fell, enclosing the unwary native for the benefit of the trapper.

Steel traps were generally used for the mink and muskrat, but for the coon the figure 4 arrangement was often used. The habits of this animal (as well as of all others) were taken into consideration. It is well known that the coon frequents swails, swamps and stagnant pools in search of frogs, of which he is very fond, and upon which he subsists largely when roastin gears are not at hand. In his search for frogs he will traverse the logs that are always to be found in the swamp. The trapper understands this, and places his trap upon the log upon which the unwary animal must enter the swamp or make his exit therefrom. The trap is simply a small log, placed lengthwise of the log which the coon must walk, and held up by the figure 4, to the treadle of which three or more strings are attached and stretched along between the two logs in such a way that the coon must come in contact with them in his passage, and thus spring the trap, letting the small log fall upon him. This small log must be made sufficiently heavy by weights to crush him.

Wild pigeons were once very numerous, and were caught in large numbers in traps. During the season when the mast was ripe and plenty, millions of these birds frequented the country. The flocks were so great that they would sometimes be hours in passing over a given spot, and it is said that they would occasionally obscure the sunlight, and bring on twilight in midday by their im- mense numbers. For the last twenty years these birds have been gradually disappearing until at present only small flocks are occasionally seen. Probably the clearing up of the country and the gradual disappearance of the mast-bearing trees has caused them to seek other feeding grounds. They were here slaughtered in great numbers, both by gun and trap, and were considered a great table delicacy.

When the white settlers first touched the borders of this country, a great variety of wild animals contended with the Indian for supremacy. Some of the native animals of this primeval forest had gradually given way to the general westward movement of the white race.

The elk was gone when the pioneers came, but the numerous wide-spreading antlers he once carried, were found profusely scattered in the forest, showing conclusively that he had once been here in considerable numbers, and at no remote period; but probably no living wild elk was ever discovered here by the pioneers.

Panthers were not numerous, but occasionally one was seen or heard, and a few were killed during the first ten or fifteen years after the first settlement. They disappeared from this section about* 1812.

Bears were more numerous and remained longer, an occasional straggler being seen at intervals of many years, until 1846, or later. Bruin was hard on young domestic animals, pigs particularly, he had a good appetite for, and it was with great difficulty that the pioneers were able to raise their own pork.

Wolves were found in great abundance, and long continued to be a great annoyance to the settlers. The legislature encouraged their extermination by laws which authorized the payment of liberal sums for wolf scalps, both old and young. The records of the county commissioners show that large sums were paid the pioneers of the county for wolf scalps, four dollars being the price for full grown and two dollars for those less than full size. They have long since disappeared.

Deer were very abundant, and for many years after the first settlement, supplied the pioneers with most of their animal food. The pioneers were mostly hunters, and the chase yielded them much profit as well as amusement. So numerous were the deer in early times that an hour's hunt was generally sufficient for securing a fine buck or the more palatable doe or fawn. So plenty and tame were they, that they were killed frequently with a shot gun charged only with squirrel shot.

Gray foxes, raccoons and ground-hogs were plenty, and hunting them afforded fine sport. The two latter of these are yet found in limited numbers, but the first has, probably, entirely disappeared.

Red foxes, catamounts, wild-cats and porcupines, were found in large numbers, but they early disappeared, except the first named, which may, perhaps, even yet be occasionally found.

Rabbits and squirrels, if not here before the settlement of the county, came soon after in great numbers, and still remain. They seem to follow rather than precede the settlements.

The beaver and otter were here in considerable numbers, and were much sought after by the trapper for their valuable furs. The former has long

Wild turkeys were also very abundant in pioneer days, and so continued for many years, affording no inconsiderable portion of the food of the early settlers. They were so numerous and tame that they could be procured by the hunter on very short notice. They are yet occasionally found in the woods.

Quails are not natives of the wilderness; neither are crows, blackbirds, bluebirds nor turtle doves, but they all became plenty after the settlement of the county, and still remain in moderate quantities.

Birds of prey, such as turkey buzzards or vultures, hawks, ravens, owls and eagles, were very numerous, but have been slowly disappearing, particularly the eagle, which is now seldom seen.

The streams abounded in fish of large size. The pike were from two to five feet in length. It has almost, if not entirely, disappeared from the waters of the county.

The catfish were plenty and of large size, but there were no eels. The white perch and sucker were numerous and of large size; the black jack and clear jack were here and grew large, but have long since disappeared. The streams, no less than the forests, contributed to the support of the early settlers. Indeed, so plenty were game, fish, fur animals and the fruits and other spontaneous productions, that it was hardly necessary to till the ground to procure subsistence.

Serpents were of many varieties and in great abundance. Especially numerous were the rattlesnake, the copperhead, the viper, blacksnake, the garter and watersnake. They were often found in the cabins of the settlers, and even in their beds. It was not unusual for the settlers to be bitten by them, but few, if any deaths occurred from this cause, as the settlers understood the treatment of snake bites.

The flax was grown in the summer, scutched in the fall, and during the long winter evenings was heard the buzz of the little flax-wheel, which had a place in every cabin. Even those who are not pioneers can remember this flaxwheel, for it was in use as late as 1850, or later. It stood in a corner, generally ready for use by having a large bundle of flax wrapped around its forked stick, a thread reaching to the spindle, and a little gourd filled with water hanging conveniently at the bottom of the flax-stick, and whenever the good pioneer mother had a little spare time from cooking for a dozen work hands, caring for a dozen children, milking a dozen cows, and taking care of the milk and butter, besides doing all the housework and keeping everything clean and neat as a pin, she would sit down to this wheel and with foot on the treadle and nimble fingers, pile thread upon thread on the spindle, to be reeled off on a wooden reel that counted every yard with a snap, and then it was ready for the great loom that occupied the loft. This loom was a wonder - it would be a wonder today, with its* great beams, larger than any beams they put in the houses of today - its treadles, its shuttles, etc. Day after day could be heard the pounding of that loom, the treadles went up and down, the shuttles flew swiftly from one hand to atiother through the labyrinth of warp, and yard after yard of cloth rolled upon the great roller. And then this cloth was to be cut into little and big clothes and made up with the needle, and, remember, this and a great deal more than any one can think of was to be gone through with every year. Wool went through about the same operation, only it was spun on the large wheel, colored with butternut bark and other things, but woven on the loom and made up for winter clothing.

The cultivation of domestic animals, both beasts and fowls, for the purposes of food, began early. Cows for milk, butter, beef, and leather, and swine for pork, were bred, ear marked and turned into the woods to browse. "Root hog or die," was the law for man and beast, but the woods were prolific and the hogs grew fat. The young pigs were exceptionally a sweet morsel for the bear. Bruin always singled out these young animals in preference to any other meat; but the pigs were often successfully defended by the older hogs, who, upon the least signs of distress from one of their number, would go boldly to the rescue and fiercely attack the foe, however formidable ; often the pig was released and bruin, or the panther, compelled to ascend a tree for safety.