Springfield Township (part 13 of 69)

was fixed at the town of Springfield at the house of George Fithian nutil the permanent place could be fixed bj' law. Urbana was laid out in the same year that the County of Champaign was formed, and being perhaps nearer to the center of the territory, and augmented largely by the self-interest of the persons who had platted the town, the county seat was removed, to that place. Urbana had assumed to be a place of considerable importance in the war of 1812 ; it was a government military post and the army of General Hull, from Dayton, and that of General McArthur, from Chillicothe, met there on their way to Detroit, but Springfield was also growing, and. the rivalry of the two towns became rather sharply developed, and it was not long until the agitation for the formation of a new county began to be felt.

December 24th, 1814, Mr. McBeth of the House of Representatives presented petitions from the inhabitants of Champaign, Madison, Miami, and Greene Counties, praying for a new county. Mr. Newel presented remonstrances from the inhabitants of Champaign. Afterwards the matter was referred to committees and passing over the usual matters occurring in legislation of that kind, on Monday, December 15, 1817, the bill admitting the coimty was read for a third time; it received upon its passage in the Senate seventeen ayes and ten nays. On December 23rd it was passed in the House and on December 25, Christmas Day, 1817, the County of Clark received its existence. The fight had been long and not free from acrimony; almost all of the distinguished men of the time were arraigned on one side or the other. Naturally the citizens of Springfield were very much elated over

Systems Of Survey

"The struggle for independence of the thirteen American colonies with Great Britain, although a successful one, left the colonies with a heavy burden of debt to pay. The fact, however, that several of the colonies (now states had an interest in what) was then known as the Northwest Territory, proved one of the most powerful influences which kept the new born nation from dropping to pieces, and a fruitful means to assist in clearing off the burden of debt.

Tlie four states, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia, which claimed all the land north of the Ohio River, west to the Mississippi, agreed to give it to the United States, to be disposed of for the common good, and in 1787 Congress passed an ordinance for the government of this territory, and also for establishing a definite method for the survey and sale of these lands, which were now designated as "Public Lands."

The ])lan arranged by James Mansfield, surveyor general of the Northwest Territory, adopted by Congress in 1802, and called the Ignited States Rectangular Survey, may be liriefly described as follows :

First, a north and south line is run through the tract determined upon to be surveyed. This line begins at some prominent or easily distinguished point, and is designated as a "principal meridian." Then a line running east and west, at right angles with the first line, is run through the tract, called the "base line."

The first principal meridian west of Washington is the west boundary of Ohio, which was run north from the mouth of the Great Miami river. It is 80° 51' longitude west from Greenwich.

Lines are then run north and south parallel to the principal meridian, and six miles apart, which divide the territory into long north and south strips, called ranges, which are numbered in their order, 1, 2, etc., east of the meridian, also the same west of it. Across these are run lines six miles apart, parallel to the base line, cutting the territory into long east and west strips called Towns, and these are numbered north and south from the Base Line.

By this "cross-lining" the territory is diA^ided into squares, six miles on a side. Each of these squares is a congressional township. Such "townships" sometimes, but often do not, corresi)ond to the civil townships, which are known by popular names. The only designation of congressional townships is their range and town numbers.

After the tract is thus surveyed into townships sLx miles square, the townships are divided into thirty-six tracts, called "sections," each containing one square mile, more or less.

The sections are run off very much as were the townships, using each township's east range line and south town line as bases. Commencing one mile west of the southeast corner of the township, the surveyor runs north a mile, then east a mile to the east rana'e line and mrrects back to the northwest corner of the section. He sets a quarter post (or half mile post) on the west line of the section at forty chains north of the starting point, and sets the quarter jjost on the north line of each section half way between the northwest and northeast section corners. The surveyor proceeds to run otf the remaining sections on the east tier, up to the north line of the township, placing tiie last section corner where his north and south line intersects that north town line, whether this point is east or west of the section corner previously established in the township survey. The distance between the two corners, if any, is called the "jog," and is recorded.

The government sub-divisions of the section (although they are not actually surveyed by the government surveyor) by which the lands are sold, are "quarter" sections or 160 acres, "half-quarter" sections or 80 acres, and "quarter-quarter" sections or 40 acres. The section is divided into quarters by nmning a straight line north and south, and one east and west between the quarter posts on the sides of the section. The quarter sections are "halved" by running a straight line north and south or east and west (whichever way it is wished to divide it) from points midway by measurement of opposite sides. The quarter sections are (piartered by running lines north and south and east and west between points at the center of each side of the (juarter section. Other .smaller sub-division can be inade on the same principle.

It will I)e seen from this that if a section is perfectly square and contains the exact number of acres, that this method would sub-divide it into tracts of equal areas, but it hardly ever occurs that a section is exactly square or contains the exact number of acres. Consequently it almost always occurs that the sub-divisions will differ more or less in quantity.

Yet the government has established this as the only method by which the sub-divisions shall be made, and making the eight corners established on the exterior lines of each section "the corners," however incorrect they may be.

The sub-divisions of the section in the jireceding diagram, as it is divided into the "Cxovernment Descriptions," are each described in brief on the diagram.

The above title describes the more elaborate system of survey in northern parts of Ohio and thence west to the Pacific. The survey of that part of Clark County which is sectionized illustrates a step in the development of that system. The land between the Miami rivers, north of

Sjinmes' purchase, was surveyed (1802 and prior) as government land, by Col. Israel Ludlow, who platted Cincinnati and Dayton. This survey was in six mile townships, which Colonel Ludlow divided into squares of two miles, and which were afterward sub-divided into sections one mile square, "more or less." - Ludlow used "towns" and "ranges" in reverse order to the plan above described. In this county the towns are the north-south tiers, numbered eastward from the Great Miami, and the ranges are the east- west rows, numbered northward. The sections are numbered from the southeast corner of the township, north, and the successive westward tiers in the same order. Many sections are divided, instead of into regular subdivisions, into preemption tracts, land taken up at the time of the survey. Some of these preemption lines still figure in descriptions. Complete descriptions of regular sub-divisions in the sectionized part of Clark County are the same as above described, except that instead of range east (or west) town north (or

The sections of this survey are irregular, and generally contain more or less than 640 acres, according to the original plats. Those assumed to contain 640 acres generally overrun in modern surveys, as do the section lines. The mode of survey, though quite primitive, was a wonderful improvement on the irregular tract, estimated to contain tba number of acres called for, was laid out by the surveyor where the claimant desired, the only rule being to keep off a previous survey. Even this rule could hardly be maintained, and the tracts often overlap. Each tract was numbered, but not the same as the land warrant. Sometimes a tract bears two or more numbers. The surveys of these tracts are on record, but the recorded length of lines cannot be depended upon.

The Ludlow Line, which forms part of the boundary of the Military Lands, and the lands between the Miami Rivers, was run north from the headwaters of the Little Miami River, in a course at that time 20 west. Another line was run for the same purpose by Roberts, but afterward discarded. The beginning of this line is in Madison Town.ship. and was supposed to run from the head waters of the Little Miami River to the head waters of the Scioto. However, now it only extends to a point where it intersects what is known as the Greenville treaty line, a few miles above Bellefonlaine.

"Preemption" lots are small parcels of land scattered here and there through the entire tract known as the Symmes' Purchase. The history of these lots seem to be this : During the time the surveyor.-; were running out the public lands, if any member of the party, for himself or his principal, desired to select and secure a choice lot of land, he did so, and the lines and corners were immediately established by tlie surveyors in the field, and the -'field notes" of these special surveyors were incorporated with the notes of .^he general survey, thus enabling the woul -''- be owner to locate and describe his choseo tract at the Government Land office Nearly all of the old preemption lines and corners have disappeared, and are known only to the professional surveyor, who prizes them as monuments and reference data.

The surveyed townships are not identical with the civil townships; for instance, the civil town.ship of Springfield is composed of thirty-six sections (one entire township) known as "Town 5, Range 9," and fourteen whole and three fractional sections in Town 4, Range 9.

Just who suggested the name that should be given to this territory is a problem that remains hidden in the mysteries of the past. It was certainly appropriate that some county in Ohio should bear down to posterity the name of that distinguished general who had done so much upon Ohio Territory in assisting the cause of the Revolution. And if any territory should be so named, what would be more appropriate than that that county which had within its borders the location of one of his most famous battles should be the favored one. The Act granting this county described the boundaries as follows,:

"That so much of the counties of Champaign, jMadison and Green as comes within the following boundaries, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate county, which shall be known by the name of Clark, to-wit : beginning on the line between the counties of Miami and Cham- paign, on the north boundary of the fifth tier of sections in the tenth range between sections thirty-five and thirty-six, thence east with the sectional line between the fifth and sixth tier of sections in said range, to the line between the United States land and the Virginia Military Land, thence eastwardly to the line of Madison County; thence southwardly to the line of Madison County to a point on said line six miles north of the southeast corner of Champaign County; thence diagonally so as to intersect the south line of Champaign County two miles west of the southeast corner of said county; thence west with the line of Champaign County one mile; thence south five and a half miles into Madison County; thence west to the line of Greene County: thence to continue west five miles in said county of Greene; thence north one-half mile; thence west to the line between township four and five in the eighth range; thence north with said township line to the line between sections three and four; thence west with said sectional line to the line of the third township; thence north with said line to the sectional line between the fourth and fifth tier of sections in said range; thence westwardly with said line to the east line of Montgomery County; thence north with the line between the counties of Miami and Champaign to the place of beginning."

The boundaries were afterwards changed in a slight manner near Clifton, so as to place the residence of General Whiteman in Greene County, he not desiring to be cut oi¥ from that old county. This old residence is still standing a short distance east of Clifton. It will be observed in this description of Clark

County that it is taken from Greene, Champaign and Madison. An interesting (piestion then will be, "What part of the present county was taken from these three!"

The township line between Springfield Township and Green Township, extended east and west, will form the dividing line of that which was taken from Champaign and that which was taken from Greene, that north having belonged to Champaign, and that south to Greene County.

When Champaign County was formed, a distance of six miles was added to it on the east from Franklin County, out of which latter county, Madison was afterwards formed.

This would have made a jog in the eastern boundary line of Clark County wtien taking in a part of Greene County, therefore with some slight changes the Clark County line was continued south in the same direction as its eastern boundary line, five and one-half miles into Madison County, and thence west through Madison County to the Greene County line, so that, about one-half or more of Madison Township off of its eastern end in this county was taken from Madison County. The county is twenty-nine miles long from east to west and about seventeen miles wide from north to south and contains 412 square miles.

The establishment of Clark County from the counties of Greene, Champaign and Clai'k. was not the only question that the Legislature had to contend with at the time the county was organized. Quite a settlement had grown up on and near the location of the Indian village of Piqua. This town was called New Boston, and it was a formidable rival to Springfield in the settlement of the county seat of Clark County.

General Keifer informs me that it lacked but two votes of being chosen as the seat of justice for our county, so we can well understand what a slight circumstance, such as two votes, might have changed the destiny of our now thriving city of Springfield. Chosen as it was, the county seat, the people of Springfield had a double reason to be grateful and thankful for what the Legislature had then done.

In Mr. Martin's history of Spring-field, it is said, "It will be sufficient to state here that the accomplishment of this advanced movement was due lai'gely to the efforts of Madox Fisher, who as a successful lobbyist visited Chillicothe, where the legislature was in session, and by persuasive effort finally succeeded in having the bill passed which only provided that Springfield should be the county seat. "When he returned from Chillicothe with news of the successful measure he was received with shouts of gratification.

That some must die that others may live is well illustrated in the fate of New Boston. It now exists not even in the memory of the ]iresent generation. By looking upon the map of Clark County gotten out by Colonel Kizer in 1850. it will be seen that this village is platted along Mad River, about Vo or % of a mile

New Boston was laid out by Henry Bailey in November, 1809. Jonathan Donnel was the surveyor. The inlots were a poles wide by 10 poles in length; the outlots 2:1x29 poles. The streets were fotir poles wide and the alleys one pole.. This plat of Boston was abandoned bj'' order of Coitrt of Common Pleas of this county, December 1.3, 18(36. Thus it will be seen that the New Boston like its predecessor Piqua has absolutely disappeared; the part of Bethel Township in which it was located was a precinct designated by the name of Boston. The following letter gives the best description of this town that I know of:

"Mr. T. F. McGrew - Dear Sir: If you wish to say anything in your address about Boston on the occasion of the celebration at the place where the town of Boston was located, I will here state what I remember of it in its prosperous days. Just after you pass the toll-gate, near The place named, the turnpike road turns more directly to the west, and it rims in nearly a straight line parallel with the river, until it slopes down to the lower lands forming the long stretch of river bottom. It was on this little piece of table land that the town of Boston was located. The old wagon road ran south and parallel with the present turnpike, and it was along this road in a single line that the town of Boston once stood. The houses were not more than ten or a dozen in number and they were scattered the road for a distance of perhaps forty rods, most of them on the south side, and were nearly all built of logs. One house on the south side was a frame house, where a tavern was kept by a man by the name of French. The last house on the west end of the street was an old log house, when I first remembered the place, about the year 1818. It stood on the edge of the sloping ground that goes down abruptly into the prairie bottom. At that time there lived in this old house a man and his wife, by the name of Powell, who always excited my boyish curiosity on account of their extreme old age, as I then passed frequently through the village on my way to the house of my aunt, who lived a short distance below.

At this period of 1818, the town of Boston was a competitor for the county seat of justice; and after it was located at Springfield, the town of Boston lost its prestige, and began its work of decline. The houses, poor at the best, one by one went into decay, and disappeared, and it must be at least a quai'ter of a century since the last one disajipeared that stood there in 1818. The graves of some of its citizens are now inclosed with an old picket fence, near the decayed town's location.

We have already in giving a description of the battle of Piqua and the important events enacted in the northwest during the War of the Revolution, had occasion to speak of the distinguished military talent and patriotism of George Rogers Clark; however, as our county received its name from him, it will certainly not be inapi:)ropriate to give a more extended sketch than is contained in the places referred to.

George Rogers Clark was born in Al- Ijemarle County, Virginia, November 19, 1752, and died at Locust Grove, near Louisville, Kentucky, February, 1818. He was of a good, though not prominent family, and was a brother of Captain William Clark, whose great journey with Captain Lewis in their noted trip across the Rocky Mountains was one of the great distinguishing events in the colonization of what is now known as the north and the noi-thwest portions of this country. In honor of that event the World's Fair at Portland was held in 1905.

General Clark's education was the meager one offered by the cabin schools of Virginia in his time, but he had shown a marked talent for mathematics and geography and at the age of seventeen had chosen surveying as an avocation that better suited his gifts and his love of adventi;re.

^\Tien Lord Dunmore's War broke out with the Indians he volunteered, and as a non-commissioned officer had conducted iiimself with such bravery and had shown such marked military talent that lie was offered a commission of lieutenant in the British army : but the spirit of the Revolution was in the air and although the offer was a very tempting one, especially to one of his military spirit, patriotism was stronger and he declined. He had tasted and felt the fire of frontier fighting and had found himself in love with its hazards and perils.

In tlie spring of 1775, yielding to liis love of adventure, he found himself with Daniel Boone and other early kindred spirits in the "Blue Grass Regions" of Kentucky. During his visit there he was temporarily placed in command of the militia of that country. At this time there had been but three settlements in all Kentucky. These were only small groui^s of log cabins surrounded by stockades continually exposed to the attacks of fierce and cunning Indians. The lives of Boone, Kenton, Logan, Harrod, and Todd fully attested their war-liko spirit. Clark fouglit the Indians, hunted the wolf, bear and panther, and explored the wilderness, and like other pioneers had many hair-breadth escapes. It was no doubt by reason of the natural ability of General Clark that he was chosen to command the militia of that rude settlement.

In the fall of 1775, he returned home and for some time he contemplated entering military service with the Virginia Continentals, but the fascination of the unbounded wilderness of the west with its perils, was more to his liking than services in the regular organized army; but that was not all that induced him to again try his fortunes in the west. He had dreamed of a great empire. He realized perhaps better than most men of his time the boundless resources of the country, unknown yet, beyond the Alleghanies.

So in the spring of 1776 he again took up his perilous trail to the wilds of Kentucky. Upon his arrival he visited all the settlements and proposed a meeting of the colonists at Harrodstown, for the purpose of forming some plan of defense and military aid and furthermore, to formulate an effective appeal for aid to the parent state, Virginia. This having been done he returned to his mother state and visited Jefferson who was then governor and pleaded for aid to pursue his desired object.

The revolutionary war was now taxing all the energies of the east and the colonists had thought little of this western country, but Clark's persistence and firmness had never faltered. His official character was recognized. Kentucky was declared a county of Virginia and Clark himself was niaile a major of the Virginia militia. An order was also obtained by Clark directing 500 pounds of powder to be delivered at Fort Pitt for the use of the settlement.

To transport this munition to Kentucky, a ijerilous trip was taken down the Ohio. Embarking on a flat-boat, he and his colleague Jones, with five other men launched out, secretly for Fort Pitt early in the spring of 1777. Scarcely were they beyond sight of Fort Pitt when they discovered that Indians were running along the shore. The savages at every bend of the stream tried to cut Clark's men off, and they constantly augmented in numbers. All of Clark's men, with the exception of Jones, counseled the abandonment of the boat and escape into the woods while their lives were yet their own. To do this however would have been to have abandoned Clark's cherished object. AVhile almost exhausted from constant vigil, Clark managed to elude the savages in the night and ran the boat into a creek in the boimdaries of Kentucky, hastily concealing the powder on shore, and with his companions pushed on to the settlement for aid. The nearest place, however, was too weak to send aid, so leaving Jones and his men behind, Clark, guided by the famous Indian fighter, Kenton, wliom he had found at this first settlement, started out for Harrodstown. Here Clark got help and bi'ought his powder safe into the heart of the wilderness whose constant warfare had won for it the name of the "Dark and Bloody Land."

As soon as he had returned to Kentucky he dispatched two young hunters to spy out the Illinois country which was the name given to all beyond the Ohio River. From these spies he gathered that the French in the settlements there were not very enthusiastic in their loyalty to the British Crown, and he came to the conclusion that a successful expedition into that country would wrest all of that territory from the British Government. The same patiiotism that led him to decline the lieutenant's commission in the British army fired him here in a scheme of subduing the entire northwest. It had such effect upon him that be again undertook the perils attendant upon a trip to his native colony.

Patrick Henry was then governor of Virginia. Henry's patriotism was of that dash and spirit that easily led him to endorse what to his friends seemed the visionary scheme of Clark, but Virginia was so much engaged then in the Revolutionary warfare at home that her resoui'ces were ahuost exhausted, and the state was not able to give Clark the assistance he desired. Governor Henry consented, however, to lend Clark the weight of his name, and authorized him to raise seven companies of fifty men each among the settlers of the Alleghany Mountains, and as an incentive to the military men, they were each promised

300 acres of land to be selected from the richest valleys of the conquered territory. Thus originated the "Vii-ginia Military Lands," between the Scioto and the Miami Rivers, j^art of which are in Clark County.

In May, 1778, Clark re-crossed the mountains and again recruited his forces. Governor Henry had advanced him 1,200 pounds and an order on the commandment at Fort Pitt for all the powder he might need, together with supplies.

From this Fort the little band of 250 men - adventurers and settlers - embarked on flat-boats, and on May 27th, the flotilla reached the falls of Ohio, where they established a post, which afterwards became the city of Louisville. I cannot go into detail of all of General Clark's adventures and expeditions of heroism, they are certainly not surpassed in American history.

The first object of attack was the settlement of Kaskaskia. Having met three American hunters who had recently returned from that trading post, Clark learned that the fort there was strong and in good repair. That there was a force there three times as strong as his own, and that a large number of Indians friendly to the British and hostile to the Americans, had recently been in conference with the commandant at the post, did not deter General Clark.

After several days of perilous travel they reached the banks of the Kaskaskia River, three miles below the town, the strictest silence being enjoined under penalty of death.

long straggling column surrounding the town, the other consisting of picked men, was led by Clark himself straight to the walls of the fort. When everything was in readiness, Clark crawled to within a few feet of the stronghold to reconnoiter. He discovered that a ball given by the officer of the garrison was in progress. Under cover of the river bank some of his men were directed to come forward and seize the two sentinels at the gate, if possible without causing an alarm, and now Clark who was very fond of adventure entered by the rear gate alone, and making his way to the door of the' ball-room, leaned against the door jamb and watched the merry festival. So high ran the mirth-making spirit that it was some time before Clark was discovered. Then an Indian chief who sat on the floor saw him and made a frightful war-cry. Upon hearing this cry Clark's men came rushing into the fort and seized the officer. The scene was highly dramatic and greatly to Clark's taste.

The pretty mirth-loving French girls sliiieked and swooned upon the floor and the captured officers swore loud and long, uttering ereole oaths, amidst the hairraising war whoops of the visiting Indian chiefs. Fortune had favored the brave; the victory was theirs. Not a gun was fired. In two hours Clark was in complete possession.

Clark's conduct here gives a pretty good index of his character and love for the spectacular. For two days his haughty and stern attitude added to the terror of the simple folk and then, when they were crouching at his feet, calling him "Sovereign Lord," he suddenly flung off his sternness and waxed mild and forgiving. He discoursed to them the joy cf a free country which should be theirs if they would forswear British rules and become citizens of a new Republic. The fickle French were now enraptured. Clark completely won their hearts and dazzled their understanding. The color-loving Creole girls tore up their gowns to make flags, and the stars and stripes were fluttering everywhere. The yong men organized a militia with which to fight for their new country. This was his first conquest in the northwest.

General Hamilton, who countenanced, if he did not aid in the cruelties of the Indians not surpassed by them anywhere, was commandant at the British post at Detroit. He learned of this bloodless conquest of Kaskaskia, by General Clark, and determined to check that adventurous and successful general in his career of conquest.

In the next spring he set out with quite an expedition, with the object in view not only to regain the lost country, but also to destroy Clark and sweep the settlers from the country and capture Fort Pitt. He made vast preparation, laid in great stores, and hastened toward Vineennes. This fort was in command of a Captain Bowman but was not prepared to resist so large an expedition as Hamilton's and capitulated. Hamilton had hoped to push on to Kaskaskia and capture Clark, but the hardships of winter prevented it.

When Clark heard of this move of Hamilton's he recognized at once his critical position, but met the situation with his usual resourceful skill. With a bravery, dash and hardiness that has seldom been equalled, he took up offensive operations against the enemy, and after a campaign in which his troops suffered every hardship and privation, he once more signalized his ability by capturing Hamilton. This stroke was a decisive one, and thereafter Clark's forces held authority over the entire northwest, except Detroit. The American colors were again hoisted over old Vincennes and the fort, in honor of Virginia's patriotic governor, was re-christened Fort Henry.

Clark was now about twenty-seven years old, a period when most men have only begim their careers of usefulness. Virginia made him a brigadier general and granted him a tract of land in Kentucky. Congress only presented him with a sword, and a vote of thanks.

It is a matter of regret that a man capable of such achievements should not have entered into one of the many useful careers that were then opening to men of his ability, but his temperament was such that he could not settle down and habituate himself to the calmer scenes of a peaceful life, and unfortunately, moreover, this nervous temperament of his led him to the use of intoxicants. Besides, he felt the government had never properly recognized his services, it not having even reimbursed him for the money he had spent. He was stung by the taunts and jealousy of the regular army officers.

And allowing these matters to sour his temper and give a morose tinge to his disposition, he gradually lost the esteem and resi)ect of his subordinates. Broken by ill health and bowed down by disappointment he retired to private life in bitterness and passed his remaining years in obscurity and poverty.

A few years before he died, friends called attention to Clark's condition and the Legislature of Virginia with a flow of words which would have been more appreciated if it had been accompanied by a draft of money, sent him a jeweled sword. The old general's anger was aroused. "When Virginia needed a sword, I gave her one^ she now sends me this toy; I want bread," and he thrust the blade of the costly gift into the ground and broke it.

Clark never married. In the height of his distinguished career he became engaged to a daughter of the Spanish governor of St. Louis District, but when that general in an interview betrayed a spirit of pusillanimity Clark jDromptly broke the engagement, declaring with heat, "I will never be the father of a race of cowards." And thus ended the life and career of Gen. George Rogers Clark.

Chapter Vi Pioneers And Pioneer Days

No Time Like the Old Time - The Squatter - The Pioneer and his Times - First Settlers and Settlements - Present Pioneers- -Wild Animals and Their Extinction- - John Paul, the First Settler - Johnny Appleseed and other Characters - Simon Kenton.

As an intermediate link between the passing away of the Indian and the coming of the white man, trenching on the border line of both periods, there appeared in the settlement of the northwest the unique character of the squatter, an individual who had little respect for the laws of God or man. Wherever he took off his hat and made his bed, that he claimed as his own. He knew nothing of the laws recognizing society, he cared nothing for those relating to morality. Very often too lazy and indolent to look after the cares of the household, he married a squaw solely for the purpose that she might perform that drudgery. A dare-devil fellow who enjoyed a fight as much as a frolic. He loved the products of the still, and sometimes raised energy enough to have a small one of his own. If he had any occupation at all, it was of that kind that excited his love of sport, such as hunting and trading.

liim to exercise his own sweet will. Sometimes he was a fugitive from justice from the older colonies and at other times he had drifted into this mode of living easily because he did not have talent and energy enough to enter into a more respectable one.

As the pioneer came he vanished. To have given him the title of "pioneer" would have been as much a misnomer as to have mentioned him as one of "the 400" of society.

The pioneer was an entirely different kind of person, and came to the new country with entirely different objects in view. He usually brought his family with him, if not, he married in his proper station. He was a patriot and respecter of persons, a belie'^er in religion, and an encourager of the cause of education. The first thing that he did was to build himself a home, and the ownership of the home has always been regarded as one of the great safeguards of American liberties. Very often he came from the colonies across the mountains in a wagon bringing all his belongings with him, and while he was putting up his humble log cabin his family lived in the wagon. The log cabin of the pioneer was a structure peculiar in its arrangement and architecture. There was what is known as the single and double cabin, but the single cabin was the one usually constructed. This had at one end a large fireplace chalked up with mud, where brick or stone was not available. At each side, in the middle of the cabin there was a door. These doors were very often placed in the middle of the cabin, for the purpose of taking the horse through in drawing large logs into the house that were put in the fireplace. These cabins usually did not have an upstairs, but if they did, sometimes the stairway was on the outside. The roof was made of clapboards, that is, a thin board split out of timber about three or four feet in length. The logs out of which the cabin was constructed were notched at the corners to fit into each other, the spaces in between were filled with mud, or daubed, as it was then styled. If a floor was made in the cabin, it was made of logs split in two, which were called puncheons. The door was fastened by a latch inside and a string was passed through a hole up above to the outside and all that was required when they wished to lock the house was to pull in the string.

A good many people of this generation have not seen the real log cabin. The double log cabin was merely two cabins put together end to end. As a rule one room was all that the cabin contained, unless some additions were put to it. In this age of convenience we can hardly realize how the pioneer lived. If he wished to read, provided he was able, and if he had anytliing to read, his light at night was furnished by the burning of a pine knot, or if he was dwelling in more luxury, he might have a grease lamp or possibly a tallow candle. If the good housewife forgot to keep the fire going, considerable dirliculty was experienced in making a new one by the friction method of rubbing sticks together or that of striking flint, or if neither one of these methods were successful, possibly a live coal might be carried from a neighbor's.

If a new garment was required, flax was to be raised which had to be "broken" and the fibers woven into homespun, or if garments for winter were desired the wool had to be carded and then spun and knit into the desired articles, such as womases, stockings and suspendders. If the flour bin was empty, the husband would take his horse, throw a sack of wheat over his back and proceed to the mill, sometimes possibly fifty or seventy-five miles away, give his toll and receive flour. If new articles for the house were wanted, trips to Dayton or Cincinnati were required. Money was a thing that was hardly known. The pioneer lived largely by way of barter and exchange. To keep the time of day they usually watched the course of the sun. Clocks were a rarity. One that now would cost a dollar was then worth an ox. If they did not have shoes to wear to church they went bare-footed, and yet with all these inconveniences they lived perhaps as happily as the average man of today. After ihe spot of ground was cleared and cabin reared, the ground was fitted for cultivation. Among the first things that were planted were trees of the fruit-bearing variety, and one of the first luxuries of the early days was cider. Root beer was also a favorite beverage, and home-brewed ale ; and the community was not settled long before there appeared a ' ' still ' ' in the neighborhood. The scarcity of money for articles necessary in good housekeeping or good farming made the pioneers dependent upon each other and perhaps more friendly and sociable in their way than the people of the later and more advanced civilization. In the erection of their cabins and other buildings, a social gathering was usually made and all came in to lend a helping hand. So in making clearings it was a usual thing to have a log-rolling and when all was through with, ending in a good social time. Necessity made them inventors of many of their needed articles. Sugar was made from the sap of the sugar tree, while honey was found in bee trees. The bear and the deer before their final extinction furnished food. One of the earliest animals which proved useful to the pioneer was the hog, the mast in the woods furnished all his needed food, and he required little other attention.

The pioneer by necessity was a jack of all trades, but principally he was an agriculturist. His acres of land, fitted for that avocation, were few, yet from the rude implements at hand it was sufficient to take up all his time and ingenuity. Instead of plowing his land with a gangplow drawn by four spirited horses, breaking two furrows at once or possibly a larger number from an immense plow drawn by a traction engine, he broke his soil with a "jumper" and one horse, or possibly a wooden side-board plow drawn by oxen. AVlien he cut his wheat, his sickle and himself were the implements employed. A^Hien he threshed it, he used the flail or tramped it out with the horse or ox. Cleaned it by shaking it with a wooden fork or with a sieve held in his hand. After the sickle came the cradle, then the reaper, where the grain was raked off by hand; then the self-raker, followed by the dropper; this by the marsh harvester which was a machine carrying two men upon the platform who bound the sheaves of wheat as it was elevated up to them ; after this came the self- binder using wire for binding material, until today we have the binder with twine. The same advance can be noticed in the culture of corn, first a rude mark was made upon the ground with some kind of a plow, and the grain was dropped and covered with a hoe, afterwards it was covered with a plow, called a straddler or straddle-jack, then came the drill, where by drilling one row, the corn being let out by press of the thumb; then the two-horse planter, on which a person sat and dropped the corn, up to our present machine, where it is planted in blocks by means of a check-roller or wire.

The pioneer often combined the trades of cobbler and blacksmith with that of his other trades. If he did not perform these trades for the use of others he did a great deal of his own work. The blacksmith was one of the most useful callings for the pioneer of the vicinity. His place of business was usually combined with a general repair shop for almost everything that was used in the house or upon the farm. The collection in the Historical Society Rooms of this county will repay a visit from anyone, containing as it does specimens of the many rude implements and utensils that our pioneer fathers and mothers were required to use. Theirs was a different age from ours. We could no more cany on our present state of civilization with the meager instruments and implements they had at hand, than they could have performed the required duties of their time with what we have on hand at the present time.

After the raid of General Clark, with the results of the battle of Piqua, followed by the victories of "Mad" Anthony Wayne, resulting in the treaty of Greenville, settlers began to flock into this part of the State of Ohio.

The first white child that was born in our state was christened Mary Heckawelder, the daughter of a Monrovian missionary, and was born April 16, 1781, in the Monrovian towns on the Muskingum River.

The first white child born in Clark County so far as is definitely known was Jesse Chapman, who first saw the light in the year 1800 near the town of Tremont City. It is possible that children were born about the same time, to some of the six families that came with Simon Kenton in 1790, but of this we have no record. It is possible that there were white people of the squatter variety inhabiting the Indian village of Piqua or at a trading post, which tradition says was at one time located near the entrance of Buck Creek into Mad River, prior to any of the dates or settlements that may be given, but so far as we know, a man by the name of John Paul was the first actual settler in Clark County. It is known that in 1790 he was living at the forks of Honey Creek a short distance above the present village of New Carlisle. How long prior to that time he had lived there is not known. Some writers seem to think that there is some doubt about his settlement, but Mr. Young who wrote the history of Bethel Township in Beer's History of Clark County gives it as an undoubted fact. (See subsequent sketch.)

In 1795 David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel came into this county and settled in Bethel Township, Mr. Lowiy near the mouth of Donnel Creek, named after his friend Donnels and Mr. Dounel somewhat further east. A tombstone in the possession of the historical society fixes Lowry's death in this county. Mr. J. E. Lowry, present county commissioner, can trace his ancestry to this pioneer. Both Lowry and Donnels were Pennsylvanians. Donnels was a surveyor. Both of these pioneers married after they came into this county. Mr. Donnels, in a fit of temporary insanity, committed suicide close to where the Moores Limestone Quarry is now.

The next record of anj^ settlement we have in this county was in 1796 when two persons by the name of Kreb and Brown made a settlement a little beyond where the Big Four Railroad crosses Mad Eiver south of Springfield, the second time, and it is not far from what is now known as Limestone City. This settlement is known in history as Kreb's Station. No mark exists at this time of its locality. Tradition has it that a noted character, "Johnny Appleseed" visited this locality and jDlanted some of his trees.

The next person to make a settlement within this county, so far as we know, was James Galloway. He came from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, and from Kentucky to what is now Mad River Township, not later than 1798. Mr. Gralloway was a blacksmith and settled on a track of 400 acres of land one mile and a quarter dii-ectly south of Enon.

After Galloway came John Humphreys and Simon Kenton, in 1799. With these two came James Demint, the founder of Springfield, Philip Jarbo, William Ward, John Richards, William Moore and one other whose name is unknown. They first settled near the Mad River bridge on the

National Road west of Springfield. Here it is said fourteen cabins were raised and a place for retreat made in case of Indian hostility. It seems that this place was not occttpied A^ery long. Jarbo and Ward, and Kenton shortly thereafter moved up along what is now known as the Urbana Pike, Kenton and Jarbo settling near the Hunt and Cassilly farms. Humphrey and Demint came up Buck Creek and founded Springfield. In 1800 John Judy, a native of Switzerland, settled in Harmony Township. He came to Kentucky and afterward, in 1794, to Greene County, and in his next move settled about two miles east of the present site of Plattsburg. In 1802 Joseph Coffey emigrated from Pennsylvania. He came in a true pioneer style with an ox and a cart. He brought with him such articles as were necessary to pioneer life, together with his wife and two sons. His first stopping place was a short distance above Cincinnati, but on May 1st, he came to his final location on the forks of Buck Creek about a mile south of Catawba.

Next in point of time, so far as we know, came the Inlows, Henry stopping at DonneJsville and Abraham settling on section six about two miles and a half northwest of Pitchin. Ho was a Marylander. Samuel and Andrew Black came to Pike Township in 1806, settling on section 25 a mile north of the south line of that town.ship.

Just when a settlement was made by the Stormses around and above Tremont City and German township it is not definitely known, but William Chapman and

From the time these different settlements in the ditf erent parts of the county were made other settlements rapidly followed, and it was not many years until the county was dotted all over with settlements made by the hardy pioneer.

born in tliis county, his father being James P. Leffel, formerly residing in Leffel 's Lane, a man six feet and two inches in height, and the mother weighing 200 pounds. Mr. Leffel is perfect in foi'm, his head, body, legs, feet and hands all being proportionately small. He is the father of three living children and is a wellknown poultry dealer.

That the fertile valleys of Mad River and the Little Miami atforded pasturage for the buffalo and elk, as well as for other herbivorous animals, is not questioned.

While there is no definite knowledge of the time when the buffalo and elk ceased to be inhabitants of our county, the best information that we can get on that subject is that they were last known to be in this part of Ohio about the year 1795. The red deer was known to be here as late as 1843. A bear was killed in Mad River Township in 1810, and a brown bear was found in Green Township as late as 3825. The writer's grandmother, when she was a girl about the year 1820, in driving cows home through the forests saw a she bear and two cubs cross her ]5athway a short distance away from her. She paid no attention to it and the bear ])aid no attention to her.

Jesse Demint, son of James Demint, the founder of Springfield, shot a panther on the roads north of Buck Creek, Springfield, Ohio, which measured nine feet in

Opossums, raccoons, and ground-hogs were found in various places in greater or less numbers. These have not become entirely extinct yet, as occasionally an opossum will be found as well as a "coon." Ground-hogs are more or less frequent. Wild ^turkeys are known to have existed in this county as late as 1857.

Squirrels were in abundance, the gray squirrel being the one noticed at an early date. The red or fox squirrel came at a later period, probably about 1850. The vigilance of the hunter and the thoughtlessness of the Legislature in pei'mitting them to be killed, have all but exterminated these pretty animals in this county.

The streams and ponds in the spring time of the year always afforded a plentiful sight of wild geese and wild ducks. It is related upon unquestioned authority, that less than seventy-five years ago the wild pigeon came in such great numbers along some of the swamp lands in the northern part of the county for their roosting and resting for the night, that trees were broken dowia by their weight, and the settler of that time would come to this swamp and kill them with sticks. Until within twenty-five years great flocks of this bird were frequently seen in various places in this -county, but such a sight now is a rare one. The quail, or partridge, as it is sometimes called, was also frequently foimd but is now fast disappearing; unless protected in some way it will not be long until it will be entirely extinct.

We have before referred to the fact that John Paul was the first white settler, so far as is definitely known, in Clark County. Tn a recent issue, January 16, 1908, of the New Carlisle Sun, Mr. Julius C. Williams, himself a pioneer, has given a very good history of Mr. Paul in which he states the means of his information, and I deem that I can do no better than to quote this article for the history it gives of the early times as well as the life of the person whom so far as is known was the first wliite settler of this county.

"All tlie printed histories have to say of this man Paul is, that he and his family were surprised and killed by the Indians somewhere north of Fort Washington, now the city of Cincinnati, sometime in 1789 or 1790. So far as location is concerned the student of history is left to judge for himself where the massacre took place. Some few persons who have taken a deeper interest in the early history of the Miami Valley have delved into early traditions and have sought to show that Mr. Paul and his family met death at the hands of the Indians somewhere near the forks of Twin Creek. The part Mr. Paul and his son, John Paul, Jr., played in the making of Clark County, would indicate that the slaughter must have taken place somewhere within the county's borders.

"One son and one daughter of the Paul family escaped being slaughtered by the Indians. They remained where the father had built the first cabin in Clark County and continued to farm, the son, Jt)hn, dying at the age of ninety-one years in 1851. He was buried in the New Carlisle ceme- formerly the Mitchell- 1 honn-< Hospitil on E Main street hevond the R R crossing looking westward 1 he ino-,t promniLnt building in the center is the old Werden House now Henr\ Block On the right is the Old Court House The residence on tlii. left was tht first house oLcnp ed h\ tery where now a marble slab marks his last resting place. Mr. Benjamin Suddoth who, until death at the age of eightynine years, two years ago, was one of the pioneer residents of the county and lived with John Paul, Jr., for a period of thirty years during his early life. In this way Mr. Suddoth heard Mr. Paul tell the storj^ of the massacre many times and became quite familiar with all details regarding the death of John Paul, Sr., his wife and three children. Mr. Suddoth related the following narrative of the Paul family to the writer a number of times, going to the Paul farm and pointing out the exact location of the original cabin and the place where the slaughter took place.

"Mr. Suddoth heard John Paul, Jr., relate many times the experiences he had with the Shawnee Indians and heard him tell of the slaughter of his father, mother and other members of the family. According to the boy's story of his father's life, Mr. Paul, Sr., was a member of the Kentucky Squirrel Hunters who marched with General George Rogers Clark against the Indians at the Battle of Piqua. One division of Clark's army pursued the Indians westward from Piqua, near what is now Durbin, until they came to Hone^'^ Creek. Here, near the forks of the creek on what is now the Joseph Kable farm, the last stand was taken with the Indians against Clark's men. This fact is borne out from the finding of cannon lialls and musket lialls that compare with those found in the l)attlegrounds of Piqua. After the skirmish the Indians disappeared in the forests toward the west, and Clark's men retreated to the south, going back to Kentuckr.

"When Mr. Paul, Sr., who was with this division, visited the valley in the vicinity of the forks of Honey Creek he was very much impressed with the fertility of the soil and thereupon resolved to bring his family from Kentucky and settle at this point. Soon after the organization of the Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787, John Paul gathered his family into his wagon and they started northward from Cincinnati to find, if possible, the place where he had visited in his skirmish with the Indians while with the Squirrel Hunters.

"The journey northward must have been fraught with many hardships, as many times it became necessary to use the axe to cut their way through the tangled forest. Mr. Paul and his faniily, on their lonely journey, followed the ^liami River as far as Dayton, then took up the banks of Mad River and proceeded northward toward the point of the former battle. Many nights the Indians prowled about the little wagon, arovmd which one member of the family always stood guard while the others slept lest they be taken by surprise and lose their lives during a night attack of the treacherous Redskins.

"After many days of such experiences, Mr. Paul and his family reached the place with which he had been so impressed during his former visit to Clark Couity.

"All members of the family at once set about to erect the cabin. Little did these folks think that right then and there they were building the first cabin in what is now Clark County. The cabin must have been a rude affair compared with our houses of the iiresent, and there were none of those 'modern conveniences' so desired bj' the present-day tenant. There is evidence that the cabin was built hastily, as Paul well knew that, there were Indians in the vicinity and it was his desire to protect his family from their probable attacks.

"A stockade was constructed about the cabin, just at the base of a small hill which extends either way from the point where the cabin was built. . "The next thing- in order was to clean a small patch of ground on which corn and some vegetables could be raised. The first winter was spent in clearing a plot of ground which lay immediately north of the cabin and between the forks of the creek. When spring came, every day saw Mr. Paul and his family earnestly working in this truck patch to provide supplies for the long winter that was to follow.

"One day in the summer of 1790, when the family was thus engaged in the patch north of their cabin, there was a sudden war hoop came piercing from the woods nearby and a small band of Indians could be seen hurrying from tree to tree making their way toward the cabin. Instantly the Paul family started for the cabin to make ready for defense, but no sooner had they started than a half-dozen of the screaming Indians in full war paint cut off their escape, all the time firing into the terror-stricken little family. In (luick succession the father, mother and three of the children were pierced by the bullets of the Eedmen and fell mortally wounded to the ground. The son, John, picked up his father and started to drag him to the cabin, but the father gasped to him, 'Save yourself, I am dying, you can't help me.'

"In the excitement of the moment and their haste to secure the scalps of the white settlers and get back into cover, the Indians did not notice John and his sister, and they made their escape to the caliin. A moment later, however, there was a crash from one of the port-holes in the cabin from John's trusty musket and one of the Indians who was engaged in scalping the father and mother fell dead. Another flash, a whiff of smoke and the second Indian fell mortally wovmded beside the bodies of their slaughtered victims. This so terrified the remainder of the Indians that they withdrew to the woods a short distance away, carryingthe bodies of their dead members with them, but leaving the bodies of the Paul family, five in all, laying on the ground minus their scalps.

"For two long days following this attack, John and his sister remained at the port-holes in the cabin, rifles in hand, ready to pierce the heart of the first Eedskin who would dare to show his face from the neighboring woodland. On the third day, there having been no further signs of an attack, the sister and brother ventured out where lay the bodies of the loved ones and buried them on the spot where they met death.

"John and his sister continued to live in the cabin, and oftentimes saw the Indians skulking- along the creek nearby, but they were never molested by an organized band after this time. Mr. Suddoth stated that it was no uncommon occurrence for John Paul to be riding aboiit his farm on horseback and to shoot an Indian when he saw one, as Mr. Paul was regarded as OTie of the trustiest shots with a rifle with whom the Indians had ever contended. It is said that Paul often came riding up to the door of bis cabin with tbe body of an Indian thrown cross-wise on the saddle, his heart pierced by one of John's rifle bullets. 'There's another of them damn Redskins,' was the remark, it is said, he would make when bringing home his trophy.

this account of the massacre of the Paul family is the most authentic so far recorded cannot be doubted, as the details are more complete and compare very favorably with existing circumstances in later years. The point where the cabin was erected and where the subsequent massacre took place is near the forks, of Honey Creek, about one mile northwest of New Carlisle. A brick house has been erected on the spot and the farm is owned by Fissel Brothers, nurserymen, of this place. Near the cabin was a spring and today the spring still sends out its bubbling stream as it did years ago, though the ground round aliout it has become neglected and has the appearance of a swamp. Mr. Carson, who lives on the farai, says he finds many Indian arrows and other relics as he plows in the fields around the slope of the hill, serving as further evidence that this spot was no strange location to the Redmen who loved to fish and hunt along tlie stream.

"At the Centennial celebration in Warren County a few years ago a contest was conducted and a prize offered for the best authentic account of the family that raised the first corn in the Miami valley. It was here shown that John Paul, the subject of this sketch, produced the first corn in the Miami valley as early as 1792.

founders of the Honey Creek Presbyterian church. That he was a remarkable character and was the first pioneer settler of Clark County is beyond dispute. Mr. Suddoth, to whom the writer is indebted" for much of the information contained in this interesting sketch, was also regarded as a man of his word and the story he related is beyond question one of the important connecting links in the early history of Clark County."

Johnnie Appleseed, whose real name was Chapman, was an eccentric character who wandered over the midland counties of Ohio in the early part of the last century. He received his sobriquet from his peculiar calling, if I may term it as such. Even in the times in which he lived, his habits were such as to term him eccentric. He lived the roughest life, often sleeping in the woods. He was quick and restless in his motions and conversations. His beard and hair were long, his clothing was mostly old, given him generally in exchange for his apple trees. Without any compensation other than that of being alloAved to indulge his eccentricities, he went from place to place planting apple trees wherever his fancy might suggest. He planted nurseries in Licking County and Richmond County and in other places of which we now have no knowledge. That his wanderings sometimes took him through Clark County is more than probable. People bearing the same name - and it is said in his biography that he had a large number of relatives in various parts of Ohio - resided near Tremont

City where the creek flowing through that village is given his family name, and we are informed that his wanderings extended as far as the state of Indiana.

Tradition has it that he planted an orchard at what was formerly known as Kreb's Station, which was located near the western end of where the second Big Four Bridge crosses Mad River south of Springfield. On these wanderings he either carried the apple shrubs or the seeds with him, planted or gave them away just as his fancy might dictate. A harmless character, whose peculiar but well resulting etTorts, humble though they might have been, have left behind a kindly memory, and won for him a fame that people in more distinguished callings have often failed to win.

The famous renegade Simon Girty was probably at no time a resident of this county, otherwise than as a guest of some of the Indians at Piqua. A fairly good sketch of his life is given in the description of the battle of Piquf^. although according to the best authorities now, he was not at that battle.

Likewise the famous Indian fighter and scout, Daniel Boone, was at no length of time a resident of this county, althouoh. engaged in Indian exciirsions that took him through the Miami and ^Mad River Valley. He is ci'edited with having been l^resent at the battle of Piqua. but the better authority is that he was not there at the time the battle was fought, being in North Carolina with his people. Many others doubtless, who have been prominent in forming the history of this county, will fail to receive mention in any historical work. Each pioneer performed duties that were proper and necessary in his day, and while all men have not shone with equal luster, nor have received the recognition that transmits their names and records to posterity on history's page, the fact remains that they were useful and necessary factors in the early history of this county.

It is said upon good authority that when Gen. McPherson fell in front of Atlanta, the surprise was so great that for a few moments he was deserted by all but a single private, who staid to attend him. History has searched in vain for that private's name in citing the incident. So in our county histories while many of the incidents will be cited and remembered, the names of the individuals may never be known. The roster of county officials will give the names of a large number of persons who in various ways participated in the up-building of our county, and so in the descriptions of various trades and callings there will appear the names of those most prominent in such respective fields of industry. Sketches of members of the bar and of the legal profession will also give publicity to the names of some who were or have been prominent in local history, and others, again, may be found in the biographical sketches published in the latter part of this volume.

A monument stands on the right side of the State House at Cohunbus. Upon its pedestals stand the bronze statues of eight of Ohio 's sons - of Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, McPherson, Hayes, Garfield, Stanton and Chase. This monument with its heroic figures stood in front of the Ohio building at the Columbian Centennial.

" 'These are my jewels,' was Ohio's challenge ; did any state answer? Not one. Yet these men only represented one episode in her history, one brief period of fonr years out of her full centurJ^ Mark you ; we could put another monument with eight other of her sons, who would represent all the different periods of her career. I suggest that Rufus Putnam, the revolutionary hero who led the first of emigrants who settled on her soil, should have the first place. Next I would place by his side a statue of Ohio's typical pioneer, Simon Kenton; then I would place our first president, William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe. For the next pedestal I would suggest Thomas Ewing, a great lawyer and statesman, and a cabinet minister under several administrations; then Thomas Corwin, governor, senator and inspired orator. Then should come another of our presidents, McKinley, the well-beloved, who represented American manhood in the turningpoint of our Mstory."

If Simon Kenton is entitled to such a distinguished honor as the quotation above gives him it certainly would not be inappropriate considering his pioneer residence in this countj", in a work of this kind, to give a brief sketch of his life.

Simon Kenton was born in Culpeper County, Va., on the 3d day of April, 1755, and dipd near Zanesfield, Logan county, Ohio, on the head waters of Mad River, on April 29, 183(i, aged eighty-one years. A great many biographies give Fauquier County. Virginia, as the county of his birth, but Culpeper County is given as the proper county on his monument. We know little of his parentage or his early life, otherwise than his parents were poor and that he was never taught to read and write. At an early age, some say sixteen years, he became the suitor for the affections of a young lady of his neighborhood. In this he had a rival and chivalric-like, whether by agreement or by way of banter, a contest was agreed upon between the rivals, in John L. Sullivan style, to determine who should be the favorite one. From Kenton's fiery and fighting qualities, it may be well conjectured that he would not fail to accept such an offer, although he might have realized that his stiength was not equal to that of his adversary, and so it turned out, for Kenton was the vanquished one. He was not a man to accept defeat without some thought of revenge, so he awaited his appointed time, and when he became a man the rivals again met. This was about the year 1771. It can be conjectured that, having suffered the thoughts of his defeat to rankle in his bosom for so long a time, Kenton engaged in this battle with the full strength of his manhood and determined to wreak vengeance at all hazards. It seems that his adversary's hair was long, and after they had clinched and rolled around upon the ground Kenton managed to bring his opponent's head close to a sapling and by a quick turn locked his hair around the branches. Then having him at his mercy, he pommeled him to his heart's content; and he kept up this punishment so long that when he left his victim he thought he was dead. With this fear in his mind, suspicion, and prompted also by his love of adventure, he came westward to where there was a clustering settlement near Harrods, or Boone's Station, in Kentucky. It may be presumed from what we afterwards learned, that he possessed the common idea prevailing among the people of his class, that to steal from an Indian was no wrong, for in 1778, about the first of September, he and two others set off for the express purpose of obtaining horses from the Indians. They crossed the Ohio and proceeded cautiously until they had come to what is now Chillicothe, without any adventure. In the night they fell in with a drove of horses that were feeding on the prairies. They were prepared with salt and halters, and at length succeeded in catching seven. With these they traveled as speedily as possible towards the Ohio River, reaching the ford at Eagle Creek, now in Brown County. There they found the waves of the river so high that they could not force the horses across. The Indians at daybreak had discovered the loss of their property and immediately commenced pursuit. One of Kenton '.s companions was killed and the other made his escape, Kenton himself being cap.tured. The next morning the Indians prepared to return to their Indian village. When ready they got on? of their wildest Jiorses and tied Gen. Kenton on its back. The horse lunged and plunged in various ways, but finally becoming satisfied that he could not get rid of his rider, quietly submitted and followed the Indians. In about three day.'^ they reached Old Chillicothe. Here h° was made to run the gamitlet. Having been informed by one who knew the customs of the Indians, that if he could break through the Indian lines and arrive at the Council House before he was over-taken, they would not force him to run the gauntlet the second time, he attempted the feat and would have succeeded, had he not met a fresh Indian near the Council House. This Indian saw him coming and threw him down and held him until his captors came. The next thing that the Indians did was to decide his method of punishment. After consultation they decided that he should be punished with death, which in the Indian method, meant burning at the stake; and it was further decided that his place of execution should be at Wapatomika, now near Zanesfield, Logan County, and which, as it turned out afterwards singularly enough, was the place where he finally died a peaceful death. I am not sure that the Chillicothe first spoken of was the Chillicothe in Ross County or the old Chillicothe situated three miles above Xenia. Anj-way, on their route they were to pass through what was then the Indian village of Piqua in Clark County, and thence up the valley through the other villages alona: Mad River. At these various villages Kenton was required to run the gauntlet. At one of these places he made an attempt to escape and got about two miles from the towii when he accidentally met some Indians on horse back and was by them recaptured. It was after this recapture that he met with the famous Simon Girty. It seems that previously Kenton and Girty were quite warm friends. When Kenton went to Kentucky he had assumed the name of Butler. Having had his face blackened, which among the Indians was a sigTi that the death sentence had been passed, he was not at once recognized. After Girty recognized him he did all in his power to have the death sentence annulled, but in this he was unsuccessful, and Kenton was a second time sentenced, when the great ^lingo chief, Logan, took an interest in his welfare and it was finally decided to send him to Upper Sandusky. There after some more proceedings had been gone through, he was ransomed and finally was enabled to secure his freedom. After this thrilling experience he revisited his old home and was probably not with General Clark in the battle of Piqua. The first that we know of him again was about 1784 when he came with Captain Logan in the raid that he made against Mac-i-chesk and other Indian villages along Mad River. He then served in various Indian wars and was a major in the army of General AVayne, whose conquest of the Indians resulted in the treaty of Greenville. Of his life in Kentucky we know little, other than that that section seemed to be a place of his abode when not engaged in Indian Excursions.

In 1799 he with six other families emigrated to Clark County, first settling near where the National Road crosses Buck Creek west of the city. Afterwards he and his brother-in-law, Philip Jarbo, no doubt following the old Indian trail to Sandusky, moved up to what is known as the Hunt farm in Moorefield Township, Kenton's cabin being a short distance west of the present Hunt residence close to the Urbana Pike and Philip Jarbo 's about a mile east along the little stream.

Some biographies say that in 1802 he moved to Urbana, but this I think is a mistake. Where he resided in Moorefield Township was then or was a short time afterwards considered Champaign County, and from this fact probably comes the other statement that he lived in Urbana. If he did live in Urbana it was but for a verv short time, for in the vear 180(i he moved to what were then the rapids of Buck Creek, and where the village of Lagonda now stands. Here he built a gi'istmill and attached thereto a carding machine which for want of perfect machinery did not prove a success. He also built the first saw-mill upon the same site, the first in the county. His love of adventure, patriotism and military spirit led him to abandon or leave this mill property in 1812, to join the army of this country in the second war with Great Britain. In this war he was a brigadier general of militia, serving under General Wm. H. Harrison. In the year 1820 he moved to his final earthly home, situate near Zanesfield in Logan Coimty, Ohio. That he was a resident of this county in 1818, or at least that he was .supposed to be, would appear from the fact that at the June term of Court of Common Pleas of this coimty, process was issued for him. At his place near Zanesfield he erected a small house and resided there until his death, which occurred as heretofore stated. Through the efforts of one of hi's life-long friends of Urbana, in 1865, his I'emains were removed to Oakdale Cemetery at that place, where a monument was erected to his memory, which bears this inscription on the north side - "Erected by the State of Ohio 1884," on the south side "1775-1886." On the north side is a wolf's head, on the south side an Indian, on the west side a bear's head, and on the east side a panther.

prime of life, weighed about 190 pounds. He never was inclined to be corpulent, although of sufficient fullness to form a graceful person. He had a soft, tremulous voice, very pleasing to the hearer. He had laughing gray eyes, which appeared to fascinate the beholder. He was a pleasant, good-humored, and obliging comjDanion. When excited or provoked to anger (which was seldom the case) the fiery glance of his eye would alrnost curdle the blood of those with whom he came in contact. His rage, when aroused, was a tornado. In his dealing he was perfectly honest; his confidence in man and his credulity were such that the same man might cheat him twenty times, and if he professed friendship he might cheat him still.

"General Kenton, in the prime of life, according to his own statement, was red haired and his face was badly freckled. He walked with a slight limp, because of a cut inflicted in his left foot caused by an Indian tomahawk. Although nearly seventy years old when he took up his abode near Zanesfield, his hair was not entirely whitened, and here and there, until the day of his death, were evidences of its former ruddy color. He was over six feet tall and in younger days weighed about one hundred and ninety pounds. His eyes were changeable, now gray, but when he was roused to anger they assumed a greenish hue. As his years fled, displays of temper became infrequent."

Mad River Country was in October, 1832. I took lodging with Colonel AVarden, then keeper of the National, for the night. When I entered the two-horse hack in the morning, I found seated therein a very elderly and dignified gentleman, who at the first glance commanded my respect. By his side sat a lady, much younger in appearance than himself. We three formed the load. The lady and myself soon fell into a running conversation, and I found her to be a very agreeable and companionable traveler. Among other facts, she told me that Springfield was so named at her suggestion, on account of the many delightful and valuable springs within and around the plat located for the town. While we chatted, the old gentleman sat in silence, and, as his grave appearance was not of a character to invite conversation, with a young and bashful man, I had to be content, for the while, with looking at him, and wondering who he was ! At length, however, when we came into the neighborhood of Major William Hunt's, I ventured to ask him if he were 'going far north.' He said, 'No.' The lady then said they were going to their home near Zanesfield, Logan County. This question happened to break the ice a little, and the gentleman became somewhat talkative - in a slow way. He told me he had been to Newport, Ky., to attend a meeting of pioneers ajopointed fifty years before, but that the cholera had thwarted the meeting. He pointed out along the verge of the road, nearly opposite the Half-Way House (now the residence of L. L. Y'oung), the path along which the Indians had once escorted him, a prisoner, on the way to Zanesfield, to make him run the gauntlet.

and gave me sundry snatches of detail as to his early hardships in the backwoods, and adventures with the Indians, so that by the time we came to Urbana, we had all become quite free talkers. All the time, I did not take any hint as to who he was, though I tried hard to study him out, and thought I had been familiar with his history from my boyhood. When we landed at Urbana, at the house kept by Daniel Harr, Esq., the people collected pretty freely around the hack, all anxious to see and speak to him whom, as I soon learned, I had been traveling with, and whom I had, till then, known only in history - the celebrated pioneer, SIMON KENTON, and his excellent lady."

The reports about Kenton's life and his final home are somewhat conflicting with respect to the fact as to whether he resided alone or with some relative. It would seem from the statements of Mr. Woodward, that during sometime of his residence there, his wife was living, and yet other statements seem to indicate that, at least' at the time of his death, he was living alone. On a stone at the corner of what used to be his log cabin, close to the Indian town of Wapatomika, Zanesfield, Ohio, these words are carved, "This is the comer stone of Simon Kenton, do not remove it." This is all that remains now to indicate the place where this old hero spent his last days. The following from the pen of William Hubbard, a newspaper editor of Bellfontaine, is worthy of quotation :

Chapter Vii County Politics And Roster Of Officers

Whigs and Republicans in Politics - Vote at Presidential Election - Close Calls and Defeats - Log Cabin Campaign - Prominence in Politics - Civil War Spirits - War Politics - Political Meetings - Garfield and Pendleton Debate - Keifer- BitsJinell Contest - Unsuccessful Candidates - Plug Hat Brigade - Incidents Attending Elections Under Former Laivs - State Officials - Apportionment to Congress - Congressional Districts - Members of Congress - State Senators - Representatives - Common Pleas Judges - Probate Judges - Clerk of Court - Prosecuting Attorneys - Sheriffs - Auditors - Treasurers - Recorders - Surveyors - Coroners - County Commissioners - Infirmary Directors.

An investigation of the organization of states and counties and the formation of the general government more than a century ago, will show that in the direction of polities men were much the same then as now. We are inclined to hold up the past and decry the present. Looking back we see only statesmen and patriots. Looking around us today we see only "grafters" and persons who are inclined to look only to the realization of their own personal ambitions, but an honest comparison would make the man in public life today just as good as he was a hundred years ago. In politics our people have always been alert and active. An earlv exhibition in that direction was the fight that was made in the Legislature for the organization of the county, and from that day to this, our people, through their re])resentatives in various branches of governmental affairs, have made themselves felt in the political history of our commonwealth and nation. From the fact that the emigrants to this county came from the regions of Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia, with quite a sprinkling from New England, New Jersey and New York, it would be naturally inferred that the original political complexion of this county would be Wiig, and so it was. The "Wliig ]5arty at that time, if not opposed to slavery, did not favor it, and from that party sprang the Eepublican ]-iarty. and thus it will be seen that naturallv our countv would be

Eepublicau in politics today as it was Whig ra years gone by. It has wavered less in this respect than almost any county in the state ; ever since its organization it has cast a majority vote for the Presidential candidates of either the Whig or the Republican party.

As indicative of the political complexion of this county, the following vote at Presidential elections will be interesting: In 1832 Henry Clay, a Whig, received 1,963 votes; Andrew Jackson, Democrat, 730. In 1836 William H. Harrison, Whig, received 1,696 votes and Martin Van Buren, Democrat, 713 votes. In 1840 William H. Harrison, Whig, received 2,382 votes, and Martin Van Buren 894 votes. In 1848 only the pluralities are given. Zachary Taylor, Whig, received a majority of 1,132 over Lewis Cass, Democrat. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, Republican, received 2,865 votes and Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat, 1,581. In 1868 U. S. Grant, Republican, received 3,384 and Horatio Seymour 1,878 votes. In 1872 IT. S. Grant, Republican, received 4,235 votes and Horace Greeley, Democrat and Liberal Republican, 2,751 votes. In 1876 R. B. Hayes, Republican, received 5,136 votes and Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, 3,536. In 1880 James A. Garfield, Republican, received 6,229 votes and W. S. Hancock, Democrat, 4,179. In 1888 Benjamin Harrison, Republican, received 7,128 and Grover Cleveland, Democrat, 5,858. In 1892, Benjamin Harrison, Republican, received 6,151, and Grover Cleveland, Democrat, 5,226. In 1896 William McKinley, Republican, received

7,667, and William J. Bryan, Democrat, 6,382. In 1900 William McKinley, Republican, received 8,806, and AVilliam J. Bryan, Democrat, 6,243. In 1904 Theodore Roosevelt, Republican, received 9,355, and Alton B. Parker, Democrat, 4,565; Silas C. Swallow, Prohibitionist, 345; Eugene V. Debs, Socialist, 764, giving to Roosevelt a plurality of 4,790, the largest plurality that was ever given to any candidate in the county.

Notwithstanding the fact, however, that the county has been heavily Republican or AVliig, once in a while that party would have a close call for its candidate, or receive a defeat. Notably in this line was the congressional campaign of 1868 between John H. Thomas and J. J. Winans, of Xenia, in which Winans was elected by a plurality of ninety-nine. In the county election of 1886, upon the return of tlie votes cast for sheriff as made on the evening of election, William B. Baker, who was a candidate for re-election for sheriff, appeared to be defeated by nine votes and was so considered until the Canvassing Board in going over the returns discovered that the precinct of Selma, -which had just been created, had been over-looked and that that preciact gave a majority of sixteen votes in favor of Baker, and thereupon Baker was declared elected by the bare plurality of seven votes.

Daniel Raffensberger, a Democrat, was elected sheriff in 1846. Jacob Seitz, Democrat, was elected Commissioner in 1867, and John H. Blose, Democrat, in 1872, was also elected connnissioner. Two years previous to this Blose had defeated S. A. Bowman, one of the most distinguished members of the Springtield Bar, as a member of this county to the Constitutional Convention. This is about the extent of the success of opposition candidates in Clark County. In 1886, strange as the combination seemed at the time it was made, the Democrats and Prohibitionists united and elected Chas. E. Gillen as county commissioner. Gillen, however, was a Prohibitionist and not a Democrat. In the roster of county officials it appears that H. S. Showers, a Democrat, was recorder, but that was by appointment and not by election. So Madison over served seven weeks by appointment from a Democratic governor as probate judge in tlie early part of 1891. S. S. Cox, a Democrat, represented this congressional district in Congress in 1863-5, the only Democratic member of Congress that ever represented Clark County.

Although a period of sixty-eight years has elapsed, the exciting political times of 1840 have not been forgotten. The log cabin campaign will be remembered even longer than the present generation. General Harrison was particularly popular in Ohio, having served as its tirst representative in Congress and in various wars and in other capacities throughout the west. The Whigs were particularly exasperated at General Jackson's conduct in the vetoing of the National Bank Act. They looked upon Van Buren as his especial protege; besides, the stringent times that had intervened, made a canvass against Van Buren 's re-election particularly important and one calculated to arouse the feelings of the people. Van Buren was looked upon as an aristocrat, and Harrison as belonging to the hardy race of pioneers. Enthusiasm ran to an extraordinary degree for Harrison in Ohio. Miniature log cabins were built and hauled around in parades. There was one such in Spring-field. A vast barbecue was held, and fifteen to twenty thousand people were present. General Harrison himself was here and made a speech; later on a noted delegation was made up from Harmony Township and traveled all the way to Columbus to attend a monster Harrison meeting. This delegation had a canoe that was thirty-four feet long and wide enough to seat two persons comfortably on cross seats. It was placed on a large wagon and driven to Columbus. Singular as it may seem to us, this was the twentieth of February when weather is not usually agreeable for that kind of campaigning. Flags were flying, songs were sung and there was a general exhibition of enthusiasm for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Arriving at Columbus, a grand parade took place, and it has been doubted whether the city of Columbus ever witnessed a day so full of enthusiasm before or since. In one part of the procession perched upon the roof of a cabin sat General Anthony.

Owing to the very great popularity of Governor Vance, of Urbana, who was a member of Congress at the time Clark County was organized, it was sometime before one of our citizens became a member of the lower national law-making body. It was not long, however, before two men became prominent in state and national affairs, and in 1835 General Mason was sent to Congress and served in that body for eight years. General Anthony served in the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives a number of years during which he was presiding officer of one of those bodies. He took a very great interest in the Whig campaign of 1840, and upon General Harrison's election he was made United States district attorney for the state of Ohio. Mason and Anthony were recognized all over the state as distinguished men in the Whig party, and in 1849 General Mason also served as United States district attorn'ey for Ohio. In 1842 John Gallagher was representative from this county and was speaker of the Lower House at Columbus.

From the time of Mason and Anthony our state has received more or less prominence from the distinguished ability and services of the Hon. Samuel Shellabarger in Congress of the United States, Judge William ^Vhite on the Supreme Bench of Ohio, and General J. Warren Keifer. AYith all due consideration for the lustre and renown which rightfully belong to other citizens of our county, perhaps no one stands above General Keifer - distinguished as a soldier and general in the Civil War (1861-1865), member of the Ohio Senate (1868-80), in Congress from 1877-1885, two years (1881-83) speaker of that body, major-general in the Spanish-American War (1898) and after an interregnmn of twenty years, 1905, again a member of Congress, in which capacity he is still acting.

more or less prominence was given our locality from the fact that one of its best citizens, a most congenial and affable gentleman, Asa 8. Bushnell, was governor of our state in 1895.

Generally, upon the dissolution of the Whig party, its members became' members of the Eepublican party. Clark County having been so largely Whig in its political proclivities, it was natural that upon the dissolution of that party its members would follow the same course, or one similar to that which they had heretofore followed, and this was the case. Clark County became as thoroughly Eepublican as it had been Whig.

Considerable abolitionist feeling prevailed in this part of Ohio. The routes of various "under-ground railroads" were through the territory of this county, and the feeling against slavery was particularly strong. When Fort Sumpter was fired upon, the people arose, we might say en masse, in support of the Union cause. When President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, Clark County's quoto was filled with extraordinary speed.

A meeting was called at once over which Judge William Wliite presided and the late J. K. Mower officiated as secretary. At this meeting a committee was appointed to report at a subsequent one over which General Mason presided. At this meeting appropriate resolutions were adopted to sustain the government with all the power the people possessed, and during the entire continuation of the war. Perhaps in no place in the union was the spirit of the people more strongly in favor of President Lincoln than with us. However, there was a very respectable opposition, most of whom had voted for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Neither Breckenridge nor Bell received much of a vote in the county. Some of this opposition was composed of Democrats who had been in that part}' a long time. There were some of the AVhigs who did not fol-' low the majority of that party into the Republican party, but who, by reason probably of sympathy with the states from which they had emigrated, became members of the Democratic party. The Democratic party comprised a membership of divergent elements^ some of which were not entirely free from sympathy for the cause of the confederacy. This feeling was more or less strong in the townships of German, Pike and Mad River.

The spirit of the times was such that the majority would hardly grant the minority the right to express their own convictions or manifest their feelings on any matter in opposition to the Republican party without accusing the person manifesting such independence of being a "rebel" or a "Confederate sympathizer."

Vallandingliam's arrest and subsequent deportment to Canada aroused considerable sym]jathy for him, although conceded that his actions were not politic nor such as would have been advisable in one who was in thorough sym])athy with the Union cause. It was a time when men's feelings were appealed to more often than their judgment. Many Democrats became Union soldiers, serving in various capacities with abilities and patriotism excelled by none.