Richland Township (part 3 of 3)

An incident of her romance is well worth telling, because such occurrences were common to the pioneers. Returning from Lancaster, she came upon a young fawn in the woods, at a point somewhere near the cabin of Joseph Hunter. She knew it had straj'ed from its mother, and springing dextrously from her horse, she threw the bridle over a limb, made chase, and captured the little spotted fugitive, carried it home, and raised it as a pet.

Her second husband, and father of the present B. W. Carlisle, who is remembered as Thomas Carlisle, late of Green= field Township, entered what is known as the war of 1812 the same year of his marriage, viz. : 1813. He served in Captain Richard Hooker's mounted men, who went to the relief of Colonel Croggan, who was besieged by the Indians at Sandusky.

Thomas Carlisle came from Virginia, and setted in Fairfield County in 1811 ; was married in 1813, and lived on what is known as the Carlisle farm until the time of his death, in 1844. Mr. Carlisle was an active business man and a highly useful citizen. He served many years as a Justice of the Peace. At the time of his death he was one of the acting Commissioners of the county.

Statement Of Nicholas Stemen

Henry Stemen came from Virginia, and settled on Raccoon, in 1803. His wife was Mary Beery, sister of the late George Beery. Nicholas Stemen was one year old at the time his father came to Fairfield County. He continued to reside in Fairfield until he was about thirty years old, and then moved across the line into Perry County, where he still resides. Mr. Stemen stated that his father helped to clear off some of the first ground where Lancaster now stands. Below is his statement of the

Beery Family

Who came into the Raccoon neighborhood a little before the Stemens. Nicholas Beery was the father of eight sons and seven daughters, viz.: John, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Henry, George, Joseph and Christian; Barbara, Magdalene, Elizabeth, Mary, Susanna, Fanny and Rebecca. Most of his large family settled in the east part of Fairfield County, and became thrifty and useful farmers and citizens. Most of them are buried in the county.

The Huffoeds

Caspar Hufford settled on the Raccoon at a very early day. He built the first mill, on the site where Lobenthall's, and since, Mike Moyer's mill stands. It was a small Raccoon Burr Mill, of the capacity of eight or ten bushels of corn a day. Mr. Hufford's sons were : Solomon, Abraham, Daniel, Jacob and John, These all settled on the Raccoon. Catharine Hufford, daughter of Caspar, married John Friezner ; and Susan married David Beery, son of John Beery, and grandson of Nicholas Beery. David Beery built the brick house in which Solomon Beery, son of George, now lives, on the Bremen road.

Mr. Nelson built a mill on Raccoon in 1805, on the land now owned by James Driver. Mr. Stemen remembers that, when a mill-boy, about 1812, he saw the miller carrying the ground wheat in a half-bushel up the steps, and turning it into the hopper of the bolting-chest, while the owner of the grist stood turning the bolting-cloth by means of a crank. (The writer has witnessed the same operation many times about the same era.) William Johnson built a mill on Rush Creek, a little below Rushville, during the year 1812, or about that time. Johnson's mill is well remembered. Jacob Rhodes built a stillhouse on Rush Creek at a very early day. Mr. Harmon, father of Fred. Harmon, erected a distillery in Pleasant Township.

The first religious societies formed in the Raccoon settlements were : Dunkers, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Seceders, German Reforms and Methodists.

Were kept in small log school-houses about three months in the year. Reading, writing, and "cyphering," as far as the Rule of Three, was the course of instruction. Webster's and Dillworth's spelling-books, and Pike's Arithmetic were used. For readers: The Testament, English Readers, Columbian Orator, and the American Preceptor. This was the English course. Some of the first schools were exclusively German, and others were German and English.

Manner Of Living

Corn-bread, vegetables, milk and butter, and wild meats, constituted the principal subsistence, but even these were sometimes scanty. When the mills were stopped for lack of water, breadstuffs became very scarce, and the neighbors would borrow from one another as long as there was any in the community. Venison was quite plenty, and also wild-turkey. Coffee and tea were dear, and hard to come at. As substitutes the people used spice-wood and sassafras teas; and for coffee, burned rye and wheat. Pounded and lye hominy were universal. The forms of corn-bread were johnny-cake, hoe-cake, dodger, ash-cake and pone.

Wearing Apparel

The wearing apparel of the settlers was nearly entirely home-made, consisting of flax and tow linens, linsey and flannels. Every farmer raised a patch of flax, from which the linens were made. The flax and tow were spun. on handwheels. Wool was carded at first on hand-cards, and afterwards by carding-machines run by water or horse-power. The weaving was done on hand-looms. Every neighborhood had its weavers, and sometimes nearly every house. The girls often spun, wove and made up their own wedding-dresses in the most primitive times of frontier life. Puckskin pants, and sometimes vests, were very common as men's wear. Shoes were almost wholely home-made, and boots were nearly unknown.

In common with all the frontier settlers, the inhabitants of Raccoon and Rush Creek Valleys practiced the plays common to the times. Mr. Stamen's parents did not approve them. In those times the family discipline was very rigid. The same ruling would be tyranny now. Nevertheless, that kind of discipline gave the world a more noble class of men and women than we shall ever see again.

Wild Animals

Wolves were very numerous, making it difficult to keep sheep. The State paid premiums for their scalps. Panthers, bears and wild-cats were plenty, deer abundant. Bear's meat was common. Catamounts were also often seen in the woods. (The catamount is of the feline species, and in size is intermediate between the domestic cat and the American panther. They were greyish, and sometimes spotted). When wounded, or enraged, they were dangerous enemies.

There were bands of various tribes of Indians wandering about the country during several years after the white settlements commenced. They were peaceable for the most part, but had to be kept in a good humor. Mr. Stemen spoke of an instance where several Indians came to his father's house and asked for something to cat. His mother had a corn pone baked for her familj'^, and little besides to give them. She gave them half of the pone, and they went away, but soon returned and demanded more, and to pacify them she gave them all she had.

The writer remembers many similar instances in another part of the State, but there, the Indians, for the most part, had something to give in exchange for what they wanted, such as furs, peltry and venison hams, and sometimes cut money. On one occasion a company of Miarais came to our house when my mother was a hundred yards away at the spring rinsing her clothes. I was the baby, and had been left alone in the cradle in the cabin. As was their custom, they stopped out in the grove, and sent their commission of two squaws into the house, who finding no one in besides the baby, took me from the cradle and carried me out to their comrades for a show. In a few minutes my mother returned, and finding the cradle empty, ran screaming out into the yard, when the squaws seeing her distress, hastened to meet her and restore the object of her alarm. She at once gave them everything she had about the house that could be eaten, and they left in good humor.

They were Miamis, and their town was seven miles from our house. I never heard of them plundering or stealing in time of peace. They always asked for what they wanted.

Hon. Thomas Ewing

Of this truly distinguished citizen and Jurist, I need not write much. His fame is as wide as American history. It is written in books, and in the hearts of the people. I speak only of his citizenship in Fairfield County.

Mr. Ewing settled in Lancaster in 1815, and commenced the study of law with Hon. Philemon Beecher, and was admitted to the bar in 1816. He continued to reside in Lancaster until the time of his death. Of the high positions of trust and honor he was called to fill in the nation, I do not speak ; they are recorded in the archives of the nation. It will not be too much for my humble pen to say, that Mr. Ewing was in some respects a remarkable man. No man living, perhaps, possessed the powers of speech and logic in a superior degree. He used no needless or superfluous words. He was not verbose. This was his strong forte in argument. He said much in few words. All understood him at once.

Of Mr. E wing's family still surviving, are Mrs. General Sherman, Mrs. Colonel Steele, Hon. Hugh Boyl Ewing, Gen. Thomas Ewing and Gen. Charles Ewing. On the lid of his burial-casket was engraved -

Mrs. Maria Ewing, consort 'of Hon. Thomas Ewing, was born in Lancaster. She was daughter of the late Hugh Boyl. She was married to Mr. Ewing in January, 1820, and died in February, 1864. They are buried in the Catholic Cemetery,

Judge Charles Sherman

Charles Sherman was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, May 26, 1788. In 1810 he was admitted to the bar, and in the same year married Mary Hoyt, also of Norwalk. In the following year, with his wife and infant child, he came to Lancaster, 0., and began the practice of law. In speaking of his emigration. Gen. Wm. J. Reece, one of his sons-in-law, says : " The way to it (Lancaster) from their New England home was far and weary, beset with hardships, and exposed to dangers. They were obliged to journey the greater part of the distance on horseback, carrying their infant child on a pillow before them. * * * * The littlfe boy they carried on the pillow before them is now the Hon. Charles Taylor Sherman, United States District Judge of the Northern District of Ohio."

Judge Charles Sherman was elected by the Legislature of Ohio to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1823, which place he filled a few months over six years with distinguished ability, when his labors were ended b}' death. He died at Lebanon, Ohio, while attending Court, on the 24th day of June, 1829, in his 41st year. His companion, Mary Hoyt Sherman, survived him many years. Their tombs are in Lancaster Cemetery. »

Judge Sherman was the father of Gen. W. T. Sherman, and Hon. John Sherman, U. S. Senator ; also of Mrs. W. J. Reece, now of Lancaster, besides several other sons and daughters, with whom the writer was not acquainted.

Hon. Hocking H. Hunter

Hocking H. Hunter was one of Ohio's leading lawyers. He was once elected to the Senate of Ohio, and subsequently declined the poll for Governor. As a lawyer he was eminently successful. He began life in a very humble way, as most of the sons of pioneers did, and worked his way up to fortune and fame by his own personal application and diligence. Mr. Hunter was a man of stern integrity of character, and unsurpassed administrative ability - pre-eminently just and upright in all the afifairs of life. He was the son of Joseph Hun-

Mr. Hunter was born in the month of August, 1801, and died February 4, 1872, in the 71st j'ear of his age. Of his children there are six yet living, viz. : three sons and three daughters. It has commonly been believed that Mr. Hunter was the first white male child born in Fairfield County. There are, however, two or three other aspirants to that distinction, but the matter is too far back in history to be settled at this late day.

Dr. John Williams

Dr. Williams is not mentioned as a pioneer of Fairfield County, though he deserves a place in its history. He is one of the living men who has made his mark, and who will leave a record. He has a brain seldom equaled or surpassed. Few men have lived of his mental capacities in his specialties. As a mathematician, grammarian and general scholarship, he stood, at his meridian, unrivaled. He has been a teacher, and author of school text-books. He was not brilliant ; but as a teacher and general educator he was forcible, clear and concise. There are probably more men to-day who owe their success in the professions and other vocations in life to having been pupils of Dr. Williams, than to any one man living. He was proprietor for several years of an Academy in Greenfield Township, known as "Greenfield Academy ;" and subsequently teacher and Superintendent of Lancaster schools. From age and infirmity, he, five or six years since, retired to his small farm, four miles north of Lancaster, where at present he resides.

Letter Of George W. Beery

Dr. H. Scott - Dmr Sir : I learn that you propose to publish a history of Fairfield County, and desire information in aid thereof. ' I herewith inclose a letter prepared by me for Dr. Tom. O. Edwards, in 1871. If of any use to you in your work.

you are at liberty to use the same as you may think proper. When your book is ready, please send me ten copies, and I will remit the price at once.

George W. Beery. Hon. Tom. 0. Edwards : Your favor of the 8th inst., containing request to furnish dates and names of early settlers of Fairfield County, is received. In answer, I am only able to state, from memory, conversations had with my father on the subject of his first settlement in your county. He was the youngest of six brothers of his father's family, in the order here given : John, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, Henry and George. There were two half-brothers. Christian and Joseph, all of whom were among the first settlers of Fairfield County.

George, my father, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in the year 1783, and emigrated to the almost unbroken wilderness of your county in the year 1800. He came down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers in a flat-boat, and up the Hocking to the falls, thence through the woods on foot to Lancaster, and remained over winter, clearing land for others by the acre. He returned to Virginia the next spring, and finally returned to Fairfield County in the fall of 1801, and settled on the Raccoon Creek, near Bremen, clearing land and working for others, thus enabling him to enter eighty acres, which he did in the fall of 1807.

In 1809 he married and settled on this small tract of land, continuing to live thereon, and in the neighborhood of Bremen, until the spring of 1832, when he moved to the little Raccoon, five miles east of Lancaster, where he died in 1856.

John Beery, his eldest brother, came to the county in 1805, and the other brothers soon after, all settling on and near the streams mentioned, in Rush Creek and Berne townships. They were a hardy, stout and industrious set of men, and did their full share of clearing and improving that part of the county. They are all dead, leaving families scattered all over the country.

Their education being very limited, and their habits sober and industrious, were content with the occupation of farming, except my father, who was always far in advance of his neighbors in schools and public improvements. He took an active part in the construction of the canal from Carroll to

Lancaster ; also in . building the Zanesville and Maysville Turnpike-road; was one of the Commissioners of the county, I think, in 1828; and assisted in locating and building the County Infirmary.

In 1834 he laid out the town of Bremen; and in the next year, in partnership with Mr. Hedges, commenced the business of selling goods, an occupation yet followed by several of his children, who received their first lessons under his supervision.

In the war of 1812, he was pressed into the service with his team, and while Major Crogan was defending Fort Stevenson, at Lower Sandusky, with team and provisions he was encamped at Fort Ball, now Tiffin, and within hearing of the guns of the fort.

He was a personal friend and admirer of Hon. Thos. Ewing, claiming that he had no superior as a lawyer and statesman in the Union. Such was his admiration of this truly great man, that he' called his tenth and youngest son Thos. Ewing.

As a citizen, he was public-spirited ; as a neighbor, kind and benevolent ; as a father, strict in his requirements, yet tenderly devoted to his children.

My mother was a Cradlebaugh, a daughter of a revolutionary soldier, a German Reform minister, and a man of considerable influence in his day. He emigrated to Western Pennsylvania soon after the war closed, and in 1810 or 1811, to Fairfield County, where he soon afterwards died. My mother was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1789, emigrated to Fairfield County in 1806 or 1807. and died in 1870. She was a woman of more than ordinary force of character; positive in her opinions, and free to express them ; industrious and economical ; loving right and hating wrong; prompt and active in every duty ; exercii-ing a marked and controlling influence over her husband and family - a mother of the old type, in every, sense of the word. They had twelve children, nine of whom still survive. Four are living here, one near Urbana, Ohio, and the balance in and near the family village

William McClung died at the residence of his daughter, in West Rushville, on Friday, September 8th, 1876, aged 83 years, 7 months and 19 days.

Judge McClung came into Fairfield County in 1803, where he resided continuously until his death, and was among the last of the surviving pioneers. Few men have lived and passed away within the limits of the county, who more eminently deserved the reputation of a good man. He was upright, just and reliable in all the affairs of life, and, so far as the writer knows and believes, he had few, if any, enemies. Of him it may be very justly said, that he was one of that noble class of first men who helped to break the wilderness, and who lived to give character and prosperity to the country - a class that, very much to the world's detriment, is rapidly passing away.

Judge McClung, during his protracted and useful life, filled successively, and with the popular approval, the offices of Justice of the Peace, State Legislator, and Associate Judge under the old Constitution, as also many minor positions of trust in the civil and military service. He was one of the volunteers who enlisted under Captain George Sanderson in the war of 1812, and was included in the surrender of Gen. Hull in front of Fort Detroit.

He was likewise an officer in the church of his choice ; and it is said of him, by those who best knew him, that Christianity was illustrated by all his intercourse with the world, both in his public and private walks.

Statement Of Mrs. King

One of Fairfield's pioneer mothers is still living in Lancaster, at the venerable age of 87 years. Mrs. Flora Buttler King has been in most respects a very remarkable woman. Following is a condensed synopsis of her statement recently made to me: born in Onondagua County in January, 1790, and during her early childhood and youth was the school companion of Gerrit Smith. She was the first female child born in that county. In 1812 she came to Ohio, and soon after to Lancaster. She was the first female teacher in Lancaster. Her school-house was a rough cabin built bj' Christian King, and stood where Doctor Turner's office now is, on Main street. In February, 1813, she was married to Christian King. She was mother of two children - William, who died many years ago in California, and Flora, wife of Charles Deshler, of Columbus, 0.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. King devoted herself to painting and drawing, by which she accumulated a considerable amount of cash. Receiving intelligence of the death of her son in California, she made the trip there alone, by the Isthmus, and brought back his three children, their mother also being dead. She raised two of the boys, who are now in honorable positions. The other one died young. She witnessed the riot at Panama, when one hundred Americans were killed, and barely escaped with her own life by paying the natives a gold bonus.

William and Christian King came t5 Lancaster in 1799, and sold goods under the firm name of W. & C. King. Christian King built a toll-bridge across the prairie, west of town, on the track of the present turnpike-road.

Mrs. King remembers, that in 1812 the Kings and John Creed were merchants; Philemon Beecher, Robert F. Slaughter and William Irvin were practicing law ; Drs. Wilson, Torrence and Shawk were practicing medicine ; Thos. Sturgeon kent tavern where Mrs. Creed now lives, and Mr. Swoyer on the Shaeffer corner.

Statement Op John Ashbaugh

John Ashbaugh was my grandfather, and Andrew Ashbaugh was my father. They came into Fairfield County in 1801, and settled near where Bremen now is, and died there. My father's

The Indians stole our horses, and were followed, and the horses recovered at Bowling Green, north of Zanesville, by paying the Indians one dollar a head for them.

Andrew Ashbaugh, my father, and a big Indian had a hopping-match, in which the Indian got beaten, and became angry, but others interfered, and all ended well.

On one occasion the Indians removed the bells from some horses and slipped them away, but fearing the consequence, as was believed, they restored the bells and the horses.

The Ream Family By Jonas A. Ream

Abraham Ream was born in Reamstown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1746, and removed to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1798, at the age of fifty-two years. He came to Pittsburg in wagons, then down the Ohio river in a flat-boat as far as the mouth of the Hocking river, thence up that river to its falls (now one mile above Logan), in dug-outs, or canoes, thence by land up the stream to the point yet known as Ream's mill, where he settled down. He there entered four and a half sections of land in a body. His family consisted at the time of twelve children, viz.: five sons and seven daughters. In 1804 he built the mill which still retains his name.

His daughters were married to the following persons, viz : John Panebaker, Abraham Sheafer, Isaac Sheafer, Joseph Stukey, Lewis Hershberger, Henry Aneshensel. The youngest of the daughters died single, from the effects of a stroke of lightning.

His sons' names were : Sampson, William, Absalom, Abraham and George. Abraham died at the age of twenty years (single). The others married and raised families. Not one of the children of Abraham Ream are now living.

When they arrived in Fairfield County they were the sixth family of white settlers. The Indian villages were not entirely broken up where Lancaster is.

Jacob Ream, half-brother to Abraham, came a little later - four years, I think. He located south of Ream's mill, about one mile. Jacob L. Ream, who died recently, was his son. The Ream family was very numerous, and are widely intermarried, so that in that region, now, almost every third person one meets can «laim relationship to them.

Of Sampson Ream's family, there are but three out of thirteen living. Two died in the Mexican war, and one in California. Of the sons-in-law of Abraham Ream, two yet survive - Aneshensel and Hershbergef. The first winter the family were here they killed eighteen bears and twenty-seven deer. They also killed numerous wolves, wild-cats and panthers. A bear-skin then was worth seventy-five cents, and a deer-skin fifty cents. Deer-skins were dressed and made into pantaloons and moccasins, and bear-skins were used for bed-covers.

Recollections Of Levi Stewart'

Levi Stewart (now a citizen of Lancaster) was born in Greenfield Township, in 1800, and is therefore now in his 77th year. His father was one of the Lrst settlers of Fairfield County. He came in 1799, and settled near the Hocking, immediately south of the residence of the late Judge John Grabill, two miles north-west of Lancaster, on the Columbus pike.. Mr. Stewart has spent his long life in the vicinity of the place of his birth, and has made it his care to preserve a recollection, not only of the first settlers, but of the places where they located, as well as of the general condition of the country, and domestic life of the pioneers. The following is a condensed note of his statement : one story high. The country abounded with wolves, deer, bears, wild-cats and panthers. Indians were more or less numerous, who lingered about until about the year 1810, before they entirely disappeared.

First Settlers

Samuel Bush came in 1802, and settled on the spot which is the present farm of Daniel Bush, his grandson, one and a half miles north-west of Lancaster, on the Columbus road. David Fink settled near the same time one and a half miles north of Lancaster, to the right of the Baltimore road. Ralph Donelson settled first where Samuel Bush (son of the pioneer) now lives. Henry Cline, about the same time, settled on the farm, as he thinks, now owned by Judge Shaw, near Shimp's Hill. Alexander Sanderson (father of the late Gen. Sanderson), settled in 1798, and located in the same neighborhood. Jacob Sells, in 1800, entered a large tract of land embracing the site of the present village of Dumontsville, four miles north of Lancaster. John Sells came in the same year. David Bright (father of the present David and John Bright), came in 1800, and located where .Tohn Bright now resides. Henry Abrams came in 1800, and settled on the place now owned by David Bright. John Bailar settled where James McCleary now lives, in 1800. Adam and John Westenberger, brothers, settled in the McCleary neighborhood in 1800. Mr. Nail, about the same time, located on the William McCleary place. John McArthur settled where Newton Peters at present resides, probably in 1800. John Morgan located about the same time on the John Grabill farm. Joseph Stewart, father of Levi, first settled a short distance south-west of the Grabill place, in 1799, and on the north side of Hocking. In the year 1805, Samuel Grabill, father of John, Jacob, Gabriel, Christopher and Samuel, succeeded Mr. Morgan on what has ever since been known as the Grabill farm, where Judge Grabill was born and died. In the year 1800, Gideon Geary settled on the place now known as the G. H. Smith farm, on the pike, west of Grabill's. About the same time, Samuel Tallman located immediately joining the Smith farm on the west. At Yankeytown (Claypool's), James Brooks, Mr. Cook and Drake Taylor squatted in the year 1799.- Jacob Claypool, father of Isaac, bought them out in 1805, and opened a farm

Isaac Meason came into Greenfield, in 1798, first locating on the Carroll road, where the late Elijah Meason resided. Isaac Meason was the father of the late John Meason. Patrick Lusk, in 1800, settled on the place afterward known as the Isaac Wilson farm, south of Carroll. John McFarland, father of the late Walter McFarland, in 1798, located on the spot where Walter lived and died. Isaac Rice located near the present woolen factory, below the rock-mill, in 1799. William and James Reed, brothers, in 1798, settled a little east of the subsequent Rice place, in 1798. Their places were near the Hocking. Thos. McCall, about the same time, settled near the Reeds. James Wells settled on the present Hooker land, in 1799.' William Wilson, in 1798, located a little south of Hooker's. His son James now resides on the same place. Samuel Wilson settled the same year, adjoining William. James Wilson, Sr., settled on the Carlisle farm. He was the first husband of the late Mrs. Thos. Carlisle.

David Pence, Henry Gearhart, Daniel Gearhart, David Wintermuth, Daniel Wintermuth, Adam Wagner, David Baugher, John Hanna, James Hanna, Abraham Fairchildj William Wiseley, Edmund Wiseley and John Miller settled in the north-east part of Greenfield Township, in the years 1800 to 1805.

Henry Abrams built the first hewed log-house in Greenfield. David Bright built a still-house near where John Bright lives, at a very early day. William and James Reed built a saw-mill on the Hocking, below rock-mill, very early. John Goolthrite taught the first school that is remembered in Greenfield. Another school is said to have been taught in the " Spook's Hollow, " east of the Grabill farm, at a very early day. School-houses were log-shanties with oiled-paper windows.

The Indians procured lead not far from the present rockmill, but the mine, if any, has not been discovered to this day. No inducements could prevail on them to tell where they got the lead. They had rifles, and knew how to handle them.

The intercourse between the log-cabins of the pioneers of Greenfield was over paths worn by following the blazed trees, at first. Mr. Stewart remembers a tornado which passed over the country in 1809, that he has not seen equaled in his nearly

The subsistence of the pioneers was corn-bread, wild meats, wild-honey, milk and butter, and vegetables. Roasted rye and wheat were used for coffee, which could not be had, or seldom, and then at enormous prices. They carried their corn on horseback to the falls of Hocking (Logan), to get it ground, and sometimes had to wait several days for their turn. Salt was packed from the Scioto below Chillicothe, and from the Muskingum, and cost about $5.00 a bushel. He had known seasons of three to five weeks when the whole community was out of breadstuff, because the mills were stopped for want of water. They pounded hominy, grated corn, and' cooked vegetables, and made other shifts.

The sports and pastimes of the settlers were pitching quoits, jumping, running foot-races, wrestling, dancing, plays of a great variety, and in rough and tumble fights. Fighting was very common at public gatherings, such as sales, log-rollings, corn-huskings, house-raisings, and the like. Horse-swapping was almost universally practiced. The most of it was done at gatherings. Sometimes the family fire went out over night, when some member of the family had to go to neighbors to procure it before the breakfast could be started. The first and only chairs known were called split-bottoms. Many families at first sat on slab-stools of their own make.

One pair of shoes a year was all that could be had ; the remainder of the time they went barefoot. The boys had two suits of home-made flax and tow-linen in summer, and in winter one suit of linsey - no underclothes. The young ladies thought they were fine if they had one calico dress in a year. Wheat was worth twenty-five cents, and corn from five to twelve and a half cents a bushel, in trade. A day's work was from sunup to unsdown, and the wages was 25 cents.

Henry Leonard'S Communication

I am the third son of Edward Murphy, who settled one mile west of West Rushville, in the year 1802. I was uorn on the farm where I now live, the same where my father first settled. My father came from Virginia, in 1798, returned in 1799, and with his father and brothers moved to Fairfield County in 1800, settling in the north part of Walnut Township, near the present village of Millersport.

My father intended to enter the land since known as the Buchanan farm, and started to Chillicothe for that purpose, with his saddle-bags full of silver. On the way he met Mr. Buchanan, who had preceded him, and had already made the "entry.

My mother's father first entered the section where I now live ; his name was John Murphy. There were Indians on the tract before he made the entry. One of them showed him five springs on the section, and he marked the spots by tomahawking the trees. The springs are all still running.

My father kept a little tavern. It sometimes happened that so many men stopped for a night's lodging, that it was impossible to give them all beds, and straw was spread down for them to sleep on. Sometimes every room was full.

was produced. If it was a bushel, they would not be satisfied without a half-bushel. My mother coming to understand this, adopted the plan of producing a tinful, and then they would always go away with half a tinful. She was always afraid of the Indians, and on one occasion when my father had gone to Chillicothe to mill, to be gone over night, she took her children and dog and went into the fodder-house and remained till morning. To keep the dog from barking, she kept him by her with her hafad on him ; and for fear the baby would cry, she kept it constantly at the breast. She, however, had never been molested by them.

My mother raised five children of her own, and, in addition, thirty-two orphans. She never failed, when a mother died and left small children that were not provided for, to take one or more of them, A woman named Batson died, and my mother took four of the children, and I, having a family of my own, took two of them off her hands. She raised Joe Blanchard, colored barber of Lancaster.

I have seen fifty or more men and boys at a corn-husking at 'night. It was the custom for a lot of girls to be stationed in the rear of the buskers to take back the husks - some with rakes, and others using their arms. It was the privilege of the boys, when they found a red ear, to take a kiss, a custom also understood by the girls, and no sooner was the red ear brought to light than the lucky finder would break for his girl. This, together with carrying the husks, was the occasion of a good deal of sport. [The writer remembers the custom, and has often participated in itj.

Statement Of John Courtright, Of Bloom

My mother was a sister of the late Walter McFarland, of Greenfield Township. She came with her father, William McFarland, to this county in 1799, and settled first on Hooker's Prairie, four miles north-west of Lancaster. Her father intended to enter the land where the Hookers live, but there were two men who claimed it by tomahawk-right, and he

William McFarland had two sons - John and Walter. John was the father of William, Robert and Walter McFarland, late of Greenfield Township, and Walter was the father of John McFarland, now of Greenfield.

About two years after the arrival of the McFarlands, Abraham Van. Courtright, my grandfather, came into the county, and settled near what is now known as the Betser Church, two miles south of Lockville. He did not remain there long before he bought land and moved over in the vicinity of the present village of Greencastle, where he died fifty-one or two years ago, or about the j'ear 1825. His three sons - John, Jesse and Abraham Courtright, settled in the same neighborhood, where they are all buried. John settled two and a half miles south of Greencastle ; Jesse lived in Greencastle, where he deceased many years since. My father, Abraham Courtright, bought a place from a Mr. v andemark, one mile east of Greencastle, on the old Columbus road, upon which he lived_ many years, and died at a ripe old age.

Recollections Of John Iric, Of Berne

My father, Jacob Iric, came from Maryland in 1805, and stopped first in Lancaster, when it was a cluster of logcabins among the trees and stumps, interspersed with ponds and swales. He did not remain but a short time before he, in connection with his father, a man then in middle life, bought land two miles south of Lancaster, erected a little cabin on it, and moved in. There he lived until the time of his death in 1859, at a ripe old age.

They were unable to meet the deferred payments, and the land was forfeited at the land-office at Chillicothe. My father then went to work with energy, and, by hard labor and careful saving, accumulated money enough to redeem the land, when my grandfather deeded him the half of one hundred and

At my first recollection our neighbors, in part, were General David Reece, Martin Baker, Mr. Pannebaker, near the Kuntz mill ; the Cafpenters and the Shellenbargers. . All these were very early settlers.

My mother was a daughter of Michael Hensel, who lived on Rush Creek. He came out one year before my father, or in 1804. Mr. Hensel and his wife died a little more than thirty years ago. Mrs. John U. Giesy was a sister of my mother. William and George Crook, brothers, married two of the Hensel girls. There was but one brother. He moved up to Big Walnut, and I believe is not living.

The first school I went to was near the present Prindle farm - a Little log structure with paper windows. It was in the woods. A Mr. My res, William McAboy, and Paul Carpenter taught in it; and previously, and before I went there, Hocking H. Hunter was the teacher.

Religious meetings by the Lutherans and German Reformers were held in the cabins of settlers, and in school-houses. Revs. Stake and Wise were the preachers.

There were Indians about when I was a small boy. I do not know whether the people were afraid of them, but I can remember that the men used to carry their guns and shotpouches with them when they went to meeting, though the precaution was probably more on accouut of wild animals. Almost every man was a hunter. A great many bears were killed; and deer and wild-turkeys could be taken at any time with very little trouble, for the woods were full of them.

The first mill my father and his neighbors went to was Grouse's, near Chillicothe. Afterwards little raccoon burrmills and horse-mills were built near us, and in different parts of the county.

The men of our settlement sometimes went as far as twelve miles, and more, to help put up cabins, and to roll logs, and to give other assistance to the settlers. The country was wild and new, and everybody had to work hard and live hard for many years until the lands became improved and the facilities for getting a living increased. I have heard my father say that he and his family experienced six weeks at one time when they had very little else to live on than boiled turnips.

They built a turkey pen, in which more than two hundred turkeys were caught. I heard my father say that he bated the pen, and sat hid near by and saw them flock round it by the dozen ; some of them would go in through the trench. One time he ran from his hiding-place to the pen, and found seven turkeys inside, which he secured. At another time he was loading corn in the wagon, and while he was at work on one side the turkeys were on the other pecking the ears. He tried to kill them by throwing ears of corn at them, but failed.

Nelsy Robinson and Lawrence Beck were married by Rev. Stake, about the year 1820. I was told that old Father Ream, father of Sampson and George Ream, and Henry Shellenbarger, died about 1812. Henry Rudolph, who I think was the father of Peter Rudolph, of Sugar Grove, died about the same time.

Contribution Of Thomas Cole, Of Amanda

Dr. H. Scott - Dear Sir: At 3'^our request I send you the following items pertaining to Toby Town, and the early settlers of Amanda Township : Toby Town was the name of an Indian village situated in what is now Bloom Township, section 33, about 80 rods eastward from the west line of said section, and about 20 rods north of its southern line. A small stream, known in early times as Toby Creek, and so marked on the old maps, ran through the village, but its eastern bank was its principal site. Said creek has long been known and called by those living along its entire length, by the name Little Walnut, and so marked on late maps. Tradition says nothing of the origin of the village, but in about 1806, or 1807, the Indians left it, and went to Sandusky, among the Wyan- dot tribes, and no doubt became a part of that people. A few straggling ones were occasionally seen for a year or two afterwards, when they all finally disappeared. A few incidents relating to them I will state :

^ Shortly after they left, William Clark built on the old village site, and in digging for clay to daub his cabin, he came upon Indian remains, supposed to be those of a chief, as a large double-handful of silver rings, brooches, and other ornaments were discovered with the bones. Elijah Clark, a little son of Horatio Clark, being about thirty rods off, brought some of them to his mother, who fancied she could perceive an unpleasant odor, and thereupon ordered the little boy to return them to their sacred resting-place. The next Sunday, however, they were again taken up by two young men named Wintersteen, whose parents lived in section 32, one half mile -westward, at or near the site of an old family grave-yard, where now repose the ashes of several of the Clark family, some of whom settled near Toby Town in 1799.

The Indians would take a short journey eastward, and come back with plenty of lead, which the^traded to the whites. No one ever knew, nor was it ever found out where they obtained it; but from the length of time they were absent, the place could not have been very distant. An opinion long after prevailed that it was obtained near the present site of the rock-mills. But all search for the place has thus far proved futile.

The Clark family, who settled within thirtj^ rods of them in 1799, were never seriously molested by the red-skins, though they frequently found prudence the better part of valor, when their red neighbors paid devotion to Bacchus. About twenty years ago Mrs. Clark related to me, that on one occasion that she remembered, Indians came to her house hunting whisky, and that she took her little children and hid in the brush until after they went away. Mrs. Clark's grandchildren are the present occupants of the farm, and they tell me that for many years human bones, arrow-heads, and other Indian relics -were frequently turned up by the plow. Tradition alone now marks the spot. The village and tribe took their names from their chief, whose name was Toby.

Source changes here: from Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield County, Ohio, by Wiseman, C. M. L. (Charles Milton Lewis), published 1901; 193 words in this source stream.

Richland Township

The early settlers of this township were John I\Iurphey, Emanuel Ruft"ner, Daniel Stevenson, Thomas William and Isaac I jams. The three brothers reared eight sons who became prominent township men, the most distinguished of whom was Joseph I jams, a great merchant in his time. William Wilson and his sons, William, Thomas, Joseph, Isaac and David. The daughters, also Mrs. James Richie, and Mrs. Col. Wm. Sumner and Mrs. Herron were prominent people ; bold and fearless pioneers. William Coulson was not an early settler, but he was the most able and Jistinguished man of Rushvlle, or of Richland township ; a great pioneer merchant. He lived beyond 90 )'ears.

Rush Creek

The first settlers in this township were the Youngs (in 1799), Andrew. Ashbaugh, Fredk. Ashbaugh, John Ashbaugh, Sr., John Ashbaugh, Jr., Joseph Miller and their wives.

The Ashbaugh family arrived at the Carpenter settlement on Hock-Hocking the evening of December 31, 1799, and on the morning of January i, 1800 their son, David, was born in one of the Carpenter cabins.

The early settlers of Violet township were H. Donaldson, A. Donaldson, Ed. Rickets, W. Hustand, Dr. Tolbert, Abraham Pickering and M. Fishpaugh.

Source changes here: from History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, by Miller, Charles Christian, published 1912; 3,084 words in this source stream.

Richland Township

Richland Township is bounded on the north and east by Perry County, on the south by Rush Creek Township, on the west by Walnut and Pleasant Townships.

It is believed that this township was so named because of the richness and fertility of its soil. Richland was cut down in 181 7 by striking off two tiers of sections, from its eastern side to be attached to Perry County, thus reducing its dimensions to four sections wide by six in length - the smallest township in Fairfield County.

Among the first settlers, were: William Wiseman, Theodore Turner, Stephenson and Ijams families and Judge William McClung. Judge McClung was a prominent public man and died in West Rushville in 1876, at a very advanced age. Abram Geil, James Rowland and Jesse Rowles are likewise mentioned as among the pioneers in the township. Mordecai Stevens was an early settler and leading farmer; he lived and died on the land first entered by his father. William Coulson was a leading man of Rushville, both in trade and as an active and devoted Methodist. Patrick Owens is said to have sold the first goods in Richland ; and Moses Plummer, the proprietor of the first mills on Rush Creek, between the two villages, in the year 1802.

These villages, as well as Richland Township, shared with all other parts of the county in the early organization of religious societies and churches; but their first meetings were held in the log cabins of the settlers, Rev.

Dr. Nathaniel Waite was a physician in West Rushville at an early day; and Dr. Ide of East Rushville. The first postmaster was Marquette. Harper is named as the first blacksmith.

In former years vast quantities of tobacco were packed and shipped from both the Rushvilles. It was a staple product of that end of the county. The leading men in the tobacco trade were the Ijams, Coulson and Vansant.

Zane's trace passed through East and West Rushville and in 1840 was made a turnpike. The Toledo and Ohio Central R. R. passes through this township midway between the two villages. East and West Rushville. There are two villages in the township - East Rushville (now known as Rushville) and West Rushville. East Rushville was laid out in 1808 by Joseph Turner and called Clinton. Soon afterwards the name was changed to East Rushville.

The settlers of Richland Township have special religious advantages for in the Stevenson settlement as early as 1806 or '07 there was a Methodist campnieeting - the first in Ohio. James B. Finley, the famous pioneer M. E. preacher, Charles Waddle, James Quinn, Jacob Young, and Asa Shinn were attendants and participated in these meetings. The first church erected in the township was by the Methodists in 1810. It was located on Section 28 in a log cabin. In 1830 it was merged into the East Rushville M. E. Church. Rev. Howard McDaniel is the pastor of this church and he also preaches at Pleasantville, West Rushville and Marsh's Chapel. The teachers of Rushville are R. E. Stone, superintendent ; Guy Garwood, principal ; Harry Dauterman, grammar department; and Amy Beery, primary.

The lodges of the town are Masonic Lodge with the following officers : T. H. Fahrer, W. M. ; R. W. Hyde, S. W. ; Dr. E. P. Trumper, J. W. ; B. F. Linville, secretary; C. C. Swinehart, treasurer ; F. G. Love, S. D. ; C. K. Hyde, J. D. ; and W. M. Combs, tyler. The Eastern Star Lodge has the following officers: Mrs. Jennie Murphy, W. Matron; Mr. F. G. Love, W. Patron; Mrs. Etta Elder, A. M. ; Mrs. Rosetta Linville, conductress ; Mrs. Emma Lewis, assistant conductress ; P. R. Murphy, secretary; Mrs. Harriet Kuhn, treasurer; Mrs. Rebecca Clum, Adah; Miss Hattie Parks, Ruth; Mrs. Rosetta Phillips, Esther; Mrs. Virginia Book, Martha; Mrs. Uphemia Crist, Electa; Mrs. Clementine Kerr, chaplain; Miss Ida McDaniels, organist; Miss Catherine Combs, warder; Mr. J. C. Elder, sentinel ; and Miss Emma Kuhn, marshal.

And Representative Citizens

The city officials of Rushville are the following: J. C. Elder, Mayor; J. M. Lidey, clerk; S. B. Neely, treasurer; S. S. Turner, marshal ; and Dr. W. C. Lewis, health officer. The councilmen are C. R. Turner, president of council ; Owen Smith, James F. Morrow, David Funks, T. A. Stoltz and T. G. Swinehart.

The township officers of Richland township : P. F. Benadum, Henry Anneshansley and William Westall, trustees ; John Johnson, constable; D. H. Fahrer, treasurer; R. W. Hyde, clerk; Jesse Steth, justice of the peace; Emanuel Shoemaker, justice of the peace; Jacob Crist, assessor; Rushville School Board is composed of the following members : J. H. Fultz, R. W. Hyde, Ray Nickum and F. F. Lewis.

Rush Creek lies south of Richland, and borders on the east of Berne and Pleasant Townships. Settlements began in this township in 1799. It is a six section township containing 23,040 acres of land. Bremen is its village and is situated about the middle of the township. Rush Creek and Raccoon are the principal streams that pass through it. The Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley railroad cuts it in the center. Nearly all the surface of Rush Creek is arable and fertile. The names derives from Rush Creek, its principal stream.

The survey of this township, and of that part of the country, was made by Elnathan Scofield, an early citizen of Lancaster, soon after the first settlement of the county.

The names of the men who first entered land within the bounds of Rush Creek Township, mostly along Rush Creek, here follow : John Larimore, William Thompson, John Carr. David Martin, William Martin, John

In 1810, Samuel Hammel built the first mill on Rush Creek ; and a little later Mr. Lieb built a saw and grist-mill, also on Rush Creek ; Casper Hufford also built a grist-mill on Raccoon very early in the settlements.

The settlements began along the creeks in 1800, but the eastern portion of the township was settled later. Many of the first comers settled down on the squatter plan, and afterwards when the land came into market, bought their places at two dollars an acre. It is that no competition was gone into in the purchase, which was the result of mutual understanding among the squatters.

One of the Larimores was the first justice of the peace, and Charles McClung was elected to the same office in 1804. William McClung, a brother of Charles, was a prominent citizen of the township. He was a soldier of the War of 1S12, serving under General Sanderson, who was then captain of a company from Fairfield County. Subsequently he represented the county in the State Legislature and was Associate Judge of the Common Pleas in 1840 and 1841.

The Presbyterians were the first to hold religious services in the township and their first church was of hewed log, built in 1807 in the northwest part of the township. There are now two churches of this belief; one in Bremen and one in Section 25, called Bethel Church.

The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in section 34 was built in 1835. Blasius Schmeltzer built the church with all the other buildings and donated these with 80 acres of land to the church.

Two railroads pass through Rush Creek Township, the Toledo and Ohio Central with the only station of the township at Bremen, and the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley with a station also at Bremen. There is no electric line through this township. (1912.)

The township officers of Rush Creek Township are as follows : Trustees - Charles Seifert, Ed. Young and J. W. Rittgers. Treasurer - F. M. Bunn ; clerk - J. W. McCullough ; constable - Elijah Hillyard; school board - Reuben Weltz, Wes McCandlish, Clint Shaw, Sam Rowles, A. H. McVeigh. The tax duplicate is $1,980,340.00.

Bremen is the only village of Rush Creek Township; it was platted in 1834 upon the southeast corner of Section 16. or the school lands, by George Beery. At the end of 50 years it only had about 200 population. In an early day mail came to Bremen only once a week from McConnellsville, being carried on liorseback each Friday morning and the return trip being made on the following day. As late as 1854, twenty years after the village was laid out, it had no railroad, but July 4, 1855, the first train passed through Bremen on the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley R. R., and that caused as much excitement in those days as the finding of gas and oil in these later days.

The families in the early day at Bremen were people of integrity and thrift. Some of the names to be found are : Hughes, Rhodahaver, Beery, Moore, Ashbaugh, Stewart, Rowles, Leib, Stemen, Everett, McCullough, Houston, Cameron, Black, Moyer, Johnston, Kelsey, Davis, Young, Sanderson, Poling, Shaw, Martin, Thompson, Neeley and Mc- Clung. The last twenty years the following have been household words about Bremen; Purvis, Ricket, Cusac, Shelhamer, Strayer, Driver, Kagay, Bell, Black, Ruff and Huddle.

The commercial history of Bremen did not begin till 1907, when the first oil well of the Old Bremen Co. "came in" with a good showing of oil. From that day to this, Bremen has been the center of one of the best oil fields in Ohio, having not only a good quantity of oil but the quality is the same as Pennsylvania oil and commands the same price.

Over 1 50 stock companies have been formed (a more extensive description will be found in Chapter VII.) and the most striking peculiarity of the Bremen field is that nearly all the territory is controlled by local people. Every farmer within the radius of 15 miles from Bremen, who has the price, has a variety of stocks ; some of them pay, some do not.

The town is wide awake, up-to-date, improving all the time, because of its good, substantial citizens. In 1890 its population was 244, in 1900. 466 and in 1910, 925.

The paper, the Bremen Derrick, is published by W. J. Mortal and son. The largest Department Store in Fairfield County is the Shelhamer Store in Bremen. It was established in 1877.

In February, 1903, this store with 15 other buildings burned to the ground. The Shelhamer store, a two-story brick block, was rebuilt the next year, but the other buildin'gs were not rebuilt until the last five years. In this store there is nothing omitted that is to be found in first class department stores. Other stores in Bremen are : Leonard & Kennedy, hardware ; Bell & Bell, hardware ; George A. Staker, furniture and undertaking; Wehr & Son, grocers; Olive & Son, grocers; Rufif & Son, meat market.

There are two banks in Bremen : The Bremen Bank Co., H. H. Shelhamer, president; George Baldwin, cashier; and the First National Bank, H. E. Young, president; and A. D. Hufford, cashier.

The following industries are found there : Oil Well Supply Co., Higbee Tool Co., Westerman Boiler Shop, Voviard and Seyfang Supply Co., Bremen Mill & Lumber Co., Bremen Manufacturing Co., and Turner Mill Co.

The Water System is ideal. There is a reservoir of cement, perfectly enclosed ; water soft and absolutely pure ; capacity of reservoir, 5,000 barrels ; pressure 75 lbs. per square inch.

There are three physicians in Bremen : Dr. A. A. Bradford, who graduated from the Toledo Medical College in 1885 and came to Bremen in 1893; Dr. C. W. Brown graduated from Starling Medical College in 1910 and came to Bremen that year; and Dr. Mc- Adoo. Ray Spurgeon and W. M. Scott are dentists located here. J. F. Thompson is an attorney-at-law, and E. R. Johnston, a Civil Engineer.

A lodge of F. & A. M. was organized at Bremen in the fall of 1909. It worked under dispensation until January 20, 191 1, when it was duly chartered, dedicated and instituted with forty members.

The lodge has been prosperous and harmonious, enjoying a strong spirit of brotherly love. The inspiration of the truth of its teachings and the strong enthusiastic moral character of its members have imbued the institution with strength and zeal not often found in so young a society. Thirteen applicants' petitions were received at its first stated meeting. At this writing, March i, 1912, there is a class of seven apprentices. Not all who have knocked at the door of Free Masonry have entered the sanctum sanctorum. As no society is stronger than the mean average of its members, this lodge recognizes the fact that to be strong, be a force for good, and accomplish results worth while, the standard of moral character must be high.

them. It is to this ambitious spirit of reaching up for higher things, that makes us grow stronger in temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice, and all the other good qualities that ennoble the soul, fitting us for that Celestial Lodge not made with hands, eternal in the heavens above.

The officers of the lodge during its formation period have been men of strong character and prudent forethought. Bro. J. M. Lidey was the first W. M. and it is to his wise counsels that the lodge has been built up and its success achieved. The present officers are: S. W. Crawford, W. M. ; A. F. Turner, S. W. ; H. D. McCandlish, J. W. ; E. T. Purvis, Chaplain ; Ray Spurgeon, S. D. ; J. H. Griggs, J. D. ; L. H. Kennedy, treasurer ; W. C. Ricket, secretary; L. T. Colbourne and C. E. Thompson, stewards; C. E. Miley, tyler.

The following are the officers: Noble Grand, Geo. Jourdan; Vice Grand, E. R. Johnston; Rec. Secy., Ray Spurgeon; Financial Secretary, R. R. Black; Treasurer, Robert Funk. The membership is 87. The lodge was instituted October 4, 1873, and of the eleven charter members nine are still living, two having died in the past two years. The oldest members are Noah Westenberger and S. H. Alexander, each having been a menroer 41 years. The lodge meets every Wednesday night in its own building.

There are four ciiurches in Bremen. The First M. E. church had a humble beginning one hundred years ago. The original society built a small house of worship about two miles northeast of Bremen where Grand view Cemetery now is located. A very few are living who worshipped in this building. In the early fifties the congregation built a church in Bremen on Broad street. This building after ser\'ing for worship for nearly fifty years is now used as a dwelling. In 1900 the present commodious building at the corner of Mulberry and Walnut streets was dedicated. The society consists of about 375 members. J. Vernon Stone, the pastor, graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1906 and from the Boston School of Theology in 1908.

The First Presbyterian Church is served by Walter D. Hanell, pastor. He was graduated from Ohio Northern University and afterwards from Lane Theological Seminary in 1904. He began his work in Bremen, March I, 1911.

Bremen has excellent schools. There is now (191 2) being erected a thoroughly modern fire-proof building, with an auditorium that will seat 500. This building will be used for the grades. It is beautifully located, having a plot of four acres of ground. The following superintendents have served in Bremen: Superintendent Morris, 1888-89; M. E. Osboume, 1889-1905; E. E. Atwell, 1905- 1906; S. M. Archer, 1906-1908; P. W. Fattig, 1908-1909, W. L. Davis, 1909.

The High School is of the first grade and was organized in 1889. Since that year it has graduated 67 - 32 boys and 35 girls. The following is the list of alumni with addresses : 1900 - James Turner, Bremen, Ohio; 1902 - George Blosser, Lancaster, Ohio; Grace Rowels, Athens, Ohio; Raymond F. Kagay,

Teachers - Superintendent, W. L. Davis, M. S. in charge of the schools for three years. Principal, C. F. Kreider; assistant principal, C. W. Brashares; Daisy McCullough, seventh and eighth grades ; Doris Robinson, fifth and sixth grades; Bessie Hufford, fourth grade; Belle Houck, third grade; Jennie Krout, second grade; Rebekah Robinson, first grade.

Dr. Oliver Perry Driver

His preparatory education was obtained at Fairfield Union Academy, graduating in the class of 1877, when that famous old institution was known as "The Southern Ohio Normal School." In the same class with Dr. Driver were Misses Carrie and Addie Ashbrook, Messrs. Will C. Varsant. Dr. C. E. Baker and the writer.

entitled "Drifting." This poem was of marked ability from every point of view. It inspired to higher thoughts, more exalted feelings and nobler acts, evincing the high poetic talent of the author.

To write poetry, and to love it, was characteristic of Dr. Driver. Like Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes - he wrote poems while following the practice of medicine, and his friends always expected a poem at every banquet, or special occasion. He could have said, as truly as Dr. Holmes :

His chosen profession, however, was not authorship, but medicine, and to the faithful practice of this art he gave his life. One can never forget his bright wit which sparkled through all his conversation. His humor was a constant quality - always uplifting the burden of some one, and giving men hope. The rare sparkle of his eye betokened the college prank, the joke, or the humorous story; his pathos showed a heart as tender as a child ; his seriousness indicated a clear logical reasoning upon the things that abide.

It has often been a matter of regret to the writer that Dr. Driver did not devote more of his time to the cultivation of what Goldsmith calls "polite literature," and especially of poetry. While Old Fairfield has produced her Enoch Sites in mathematics ; her Ewings, Hunters. Stanberys, Shermans, Reeses, Beechers and Medills in statesmanship, law and military science, she could have claimed, also, equal rank in the realm of poetry had Dr. Driver devoted his time more largely to this art. Yet his achievements in this line are by no means without merit. The following poem, written in his early manhood, evinces some of the qualities of mind and heart which give to the poet his beauty and his charm. The closing stanza of this sweet lyric is prophetic of his own death - and the whole fulfills the definition "A poem is the very image of life expressed in eternal truth :"