Thompson Township (part 2 of 5)

It would be interesting to compare the quality of stock of those first fairs with that of the present day; but there is no criterion from which to judge, as neither the size, weight, or condition of cattle has been kept. It would be well to offer premiums to be adjudged on such conditions, and keep a record of cattle so exhibited. Other premiums are omitted, because the records do not generally show the weights or measurements - only the best exhibited.

The foundation for an improved stock of cattle was laid in this county by the introduction of breeding stock, from the east, by Deacon Holbrook, of Kirtland, and Stephen Bassett, esq., of Chester. They were of the long-horn Durhams, or a cross of that breed, and frequently known by the local names of the owners or places from whence they came - as Holbrook, or Bakewell. They were certainly the means of improving the stock in that section, taking the premiums for several years over other kinds of stock. Eleazer Hickox, of Burton, was one of the early enterprising pioneers in the improvement of stock, who bought a fine, full-blooded Devonshire bull, in Philadelphia, about 1823 or 1824, and had him driven home. The journey was accomplished on foot by driver and animal. Thus was commenced a cross of that beautiful, blood-red, active stock, famous for working qualities, and well-known in home and eastern markets. Other enterprising dealers in stock - Hon. Peter Hitchcock, and other associates - have, from time to time, introduced the red Durham c&ttle, thereby perfecting that class of the finest stock, and of superior quality, commanding high prices, of which Burton has been an acknowledged centre. In 1824, Colonel Stephen Ford, of Burtdn, was principal in collecting, fitting up, and driving to Chardon, at the fair, sixty-two yoke of oxen and steers, well broke, and led by a large Devon bull in a yoke fitted for that purpose, which excited universal admiration. Philander Thompson, Alanson and Lester Moffet, of Middlefield; Virgil Barnes, of Huntsburg, and the Messrs. Carrolls, of Munson, are among the number who have introduced blooded stock. Lyman Millard, in 1832, purchased, in Onondaga county, New York, a cow and bull calf of Durham, crossed with some other valuable stock, had them shod, and drove them to his home, in Huntsburg, in person, in the winter time, being six weeks on the road on the account of being detained by snow drifts many times. What does "Young America" think of such an experience? Colonel Erastus Spencer, introduced, from the famous Blue Grass region of Kentucky, the "Land of the Clays," those heavy-quartered, clean-limbed, strawberry-roan Durhams, known as the "Improved Durhams," which were very popular in some sections. At other times he introduced the same breed from the Scioto valley, from wdiich the farmers crossed to great advantage, for beauty, weight, ahd commanding high prices.

The Introduction Of Swine And Sheep

Hon. Ebenezer Merry, one of the early pioneers of Mentor, and subsequently one of the early settlers of Huron county, informed me, during the session of the general assembly of 1831-32, that he purchased some hogs in Pennsylvania, drove them through Trumbull county, and found the west branch of the Cuya- hoga, above Claridon pond, had overflowed its banks by the fall rains, and had to push them into the water, and direct them by a pole, wading until he came to the mam channel, and, when they had swum across, he found a tree across the channel on which he passed over. It was then raining, and growing dark. On reaching the uplands he found a ledge of rocks, under the shelter of which the swine bedded, whilst he lay under a tree, wet and cold, and in the morning found some snow, and reached home, in Mentor, that night. I do not remember the date; but in Judge Kirtland's diary I find an allusion to the subject, which fixes the date in October, 1799.

Mr. Elijah Hayes, now eighty-three years of age, one of the respected patriarchs, standing almost alone from his generation, informs me, by letter: "My father, Eli Hayes, brought a few sheep to Burton, in 1802. We came, in 1801, with a yoke of oxen to the wagon ; bought a cow in Bedford, Pennsylvania, tied her to the wagon, and brought her thus to Burton." I have no information of any earlier introduction of those kinds of stock.

The marginal difference in value of productions, between good farming and slovenly farming is far greater now than formerly, when, with a virgin soil, crops were generally abundant, which reduces the aggregate product of the present time at the expense of good husbandry.

From 1840, to 1854, the fairs were held at Burton and Chardon, alternating at those places, generally. The inconvenience was so great that the society located permanently at Burton in 1853-4, after a spirited competition. About twenty acres of land was appropriated near the town, with a beautiful grove on the eastern part, a circular trotting track, graded with half a mile drive, large and commodious buildings for exhibition erected, with suitable offices, and conveniences for seating attendants.

Notwithstanding other local agricultural societies have been formed and sustained by local enterprise, the county society has flourished, and is one of the fixtures of the county. The society now numbers four hundred and sixty-two members. The largest receipts for any one year, including those from the horse fair, were two thousand, five hundred and nineteen dollars and fifty-nine cents.

It appears from ffie records that the following persons have discharged the executive duties as president of the society : John P. Converse, Vene Stone,

The distinctive breeds of horses have not been kept with purity of blood, as horses of all kinds of business are mostly raised and sought for. The Morgan and other popular blooded horses have been introduced and crossed with apparent improvement.

The county is indebted to Lewis Hunt, esq., of Huntsburg, for the introduc- -tion and propagation of improved fruit. He was an honorary member of a Massachusetts horticultural society. His knowledge of fruit and cultivated taste, induced him, at an early period of our settlement, to put out an orchard gf pear and apple trees of superior fruit, which has proved a great blessing to a large section of country around that town. The only extensive nursery now in, or ever established in Geauga, is that owned by J. V. Whitney & Sons, in Montville, where every kind of fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers, indigenous and exotic, usually grown in extensive nurseries, may be found. In that vicinity, and in every locality where there is a good nursery, a marked improvement is noticeable in the superior fruit and more numerous trees adorning the yards and road sides, the parks and cemeteries, and their arrangements in better taste than at a distance from such an establishment.

A good nursery, with an intelligent and honorable proprietor, is a blessing to any community. The progress of science has developed that knowledge of natural law by which intelligent 'beings can exercise a controlling influence over the climate.

We have experienced the climatic changes which always occur in the cutting off the forests. A general cultivation of forest trees, by the road sides, along the wash banks and ravines, with a suitable proportion of wood land for building, fencing, and fuel, would not only result in a pecuniary advantage, but produce a greater equilibrium between the extremes of heat and cold, humidity and drought, so that future generations might rise up and call you blessed.

County Buildings

The first court house in Chardon was a log building, and had but one door and one room. The fire-place had no jams, and the chimney was built of split sticks, laid in mortar, and the floor was laid with rough boards, had one window in the east end, and no floor overhead. The judges occupied a large split log, or puncheon, supported by blocks, for a seat, and a similar one for a desk. For the lawyers, was placed a long, cross-legged table, belonging to Captain Paine, and the only table owned by him. Of course, the jury, witnesses, spectators, and parties, were provided with very rude and uncouth seats.

When a case was submitted to the jury, they retired to a log, in the woods, for deliberation. Perhaps the court, jury, and council, with all their primitive surroundings, might have been actuated by as high a sense of honor, as keen a sense of right, as just perception of facts, and as unsullied and unwavering integrity, as could then, or now be found, amidst all the splendor, pomp, and magnificence of court edifices of the most wealthy and cultured communities.

The first jail built in Chardon was an eight-by-ten, low-roofed, unpretending structure of logs, attached to the west end of Norman Canfield's tavern; was without fire-place, and only a primitive mode of fastening. Its first and only inmate was Hugh McDougall, for nonfulfilment ofY>romise to pay.

There was no tavern in Chardon when the first court was held there, and the court and council traveled more than three miles to Norman Canfield's, on the old State road, in Bondstown (now Hambden), to stay at night, and return next day. They persuaded Mr. Canfield to remove to Chardon, which he did, on the fourth of March, 1812, into his log cabin - first-class hotel.

The next court house was built in 1813, by Samuel King, for the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars, and court was held in it in the fall of that year. Captain Edward Paine was the first clerk of the court of common pleas, and remained as such until 1828. The first jail, referred to above, cost 23.50. I find in the "Ohio Statistics," for 1876, that the estimated value of the Geauga county buildings is $108,950.

The present court house is a substantial and elegant fire-proof brick, erected the year after the destruction, by fire, of the county buildings, July 25, 1868.

The only conviction and execution for murder, was that of Benjamin Wright, jr., who was executed on Thursday, May 15, 1823. The murder was committed in Leroy township, without the limits of the present county lines.

For the benefit of the legal profession, and to show the genius of the criminal laws in 1809, I select the following recorded criminal case:

"State of Ohio vs. Robert Meeker - indictment for larceny. Defendant, being arraigned, plead guilty, and put himself upon the mercy of the court. Whereupon it was considered, sentenced and adjudged, that the said Robert Meeker shall be publicly whipped, ten stripes, upon his naked back, that he return the property stolen, and confess and pay to William A. Harper, the person from whom the property was so stolen, the value thereof, to wit: - one dollar and fifty cents. That he pay a fine of three dollars into the treasury of the county of Geauga, and also pay the costs of suit, and be committed to prison for the term of twenty-four hours, and stand committed until sentence is complied with."

Common Schools And Academies

The organization and efficiency of our common school system are well understood. The first settlers showed the importance they attached to common school education, from which they had received so much benefit, by volutary associations for district schools, wherever a sufficient number of youths and children could be gathered in any locality for a school, and school-houses built before any legal organizations were effected. From such a beginning the result of universal school educational facilities has answered the most sanguine expectations. Not only common schools, but academical education was instituted. Burton academy was instituted in 1804. The first building burnt, and a commodious one was erected in 1819. In Chardon a brick academical building was put up in 1825, and a school for the higher branches of education commenced that fall. Burton and Chardon academies have been merged into high graded schools, with fine, costly buildings, modern improvements, and convenient arrangements. Parkm&n academy was built in 1839. Chester Geauga seminary was established in 1842, large and suitable building put up in 1843, and the school has been in successful operation since. Every township has, more or less, kept up a school for the benefit of advanced scholars, to study higher branches, during winter months. From all classes of these schools there has been graduated a class of qualified teachers, largely in excess of the home demand, who have for the last forty years gone south and west to teach in the winter, leaving in the fall as uniformly as the wild geese and other migratory birds, and returning to spend the summer in labor.

The number of youths, between six and twenty-one years, enjoying school privileges and funds in Geauga county, in 1876, is 3,704. Amount of moneys paid teachers, in 1876, $22,372 48. Total expenditures in 1876, $33,371 11. Local tax for school and school-house purposes, $26,907.

The eminent British statesman, Burke, signalized " newspaper circulation as a more important instrument of the popular intelligence than was generally imagined." A popular Greek scholar was accustomed to say, that "a single newspaper, published in the days of Pericles (had that age produced any such phenomenon), would, if handed down to us, he a better index of Athenian life and manners than can now be found in any existing memorial of the Grecian civilization."

A part of Bainbridge and Russell townships take their mail at Chagrin Falls. Claridon, Hambden, and Munson take, for some parts of their township, their mail from Chardon, and other townships receive more or less mail matter from other offices, so that the division is not equal.

The township of Middlefield was known as "Batavia" until 1850, and Troy as ' ' Welshfield until 1840. Huntsburgh, Montville, Munson, and Russell, were not down in the census returns of 1820. and their population is probably credited to other townships.

*From other sources we learn that Burton, in 1800, had a population of 42, which had increased, in 1809, to 237; and that the total population of the county, in 1809, was 2,917, then embracing the larger portion of the Reserve.

In the summer of 1877, whilst looking up documents in Chardon, relating to the early settlement of Geauga, and making inquiries about materials for its history, E. V.- Canfield, esq., courteously informed me that he had in his possession an official document, which he put in my hands.

Copy Of The Document

"Statement of the amount of internal duties imposed by the United States (except those on watches and stamps), paid by each person in the Ninth collection district of Ohio, from the first day of May to the thirty-first day of December, 1818, inclusive:

"I do heie certify that the foregoing statement exhibits the full amount of duties aforesaid, paid to me in the ninth collection district of Ohio, from the first day of May to the thirty-first day of December, 1818, inclusive. Daniel Miles,

The thoughtful mind will recognize the changes wrought within the present century of discoveries, improvements, inventions, and their results in application to industrial pursuits. It has opened and amplified sources of wealth and intelligence. The early laborers here strained the muscles of their strong arms to the utmost tension with rude tools - the axes of the common blacksmith, the scythes, the flail, the forks; they used the wild goose drag, and the pointed iron share on the wooden plow, made by themselves or neighboring mechanics. Such implements are now superceded by modern improvements in the skill of manufactured tools, and the motor power of steam has worked a great revolution in the industries and exchanges throughout the world. The old domestic implements of labor, with the large and small spinning-wheels, hand-cards, swifts and looms, may be found in the museum halls, as relics used in the first quarter of the present century. At home, and all around us, such changes of base with labor-saving power may be seen. Large numbers^of our laboring classes have improved the opportunity of attending the Centennial exhibition at Philadelphia. The numbers in this rural county visiting there, would equal about one-fourth of the voting population, as found by a canvass taken in many of the townships. Such had an opportunity to examine the natural productions of every nation and every clime, the achievements in the arts and sciences of every nation, kindred, and language. The responsive exclamations of the wise and curious were, "the half was not told us." Whilst the devout in view of such an exhibition of the ornamental and useful in art and science, up to the triumph of the great force of the Corliss engine, would intuitively turn their thoughts to the Great Unseen, with ascriptions of honor, dominion, power, majesty and glory to him that sitteth on the throne, who has delegated to his finite intelligence such wisdom to devise and execute such improvements within the last hundred years.

The remarks on the establishment of the first newspaper in the county, the number subsequently established, and time of each, are omitted. (See J. O. Conver's article on the "Press").

We have no known mines of wealth below the reach of the plow, no railroads of such magnitude, or such large manufacturing establisdments as to intensify the labor question and excite fears of riotous uprising of the employes. No where is there more regard for law and order. No where are reputation, property, life, and the pursuit of happiness more respected and safe. No where do the rural population travel more on business and recreation. In no locality probably within the State has a greater percentage of the population (from as great a distance) availed themselves of the opportunity ot attending the Centennial exhibition at Philadelphia.

Now, in this centennial year, standing on this hill, more than six hundred feet above the lake's surface, over a thousand higher than old ocean's restless waters,

Where the woodman's axe first resounded, the first cabin built, the first crops raised, the first white child born, the first school established, the first church organized. A retrospective view of only seventy-eight years reveals facts that some of the old pioneers who have stood like faithful sentinels on the watch towers of time, until the frosts o{ so many winters have impressed the white seal on their heads like the summit of old hoary Alps, witnessing the magical changes and wonderful developments since the curling smoke of the wigwam rose amongst the wild shrubberry and thick branches of forest trees, where the Aborigines chanted their war songs with their chorus of avenging "whoops," or celebrated their festivals or religious rites; where no sunlight reached the earth's surface, except occasional rays through the foilage of shrubs and trees in summer months, where were only foot-prints along their bunting trails and tramping courses, and the burthen of transportation was the trophies of Indian experts hunting for sustenance, and carried on the backs of their squaws.

Now, from this standpoint, around which these buildings have been dedicated to industrial exhibitions, where are now gathered a large well-dressed and cultivated audience with " upturned faces, evidently entering into the spirit of this pioneer meeting, where thrilling speeches, both humorous and grave, have been made, interpersed with enchanting music from the Burton brass band with all the improvements of modern musical science, and where are near us, temples of learning and worship - turn your eyes which way you please, what marvelous developments, industry and art have added to the natural scenery, on, and around this beautiful town, "set on a hill " within the hearing of the locomotive's whistle and the rumbling of the railroad cars, and along the line of which the lightning is made subservient to man's control, carrying messages over continents and under the deep ocean's waters. Not exclusively so, within the vision of this hill's landscape, but all along the highways throughout the whole length and breadth of the county, the diversity of ridges and intervals, the varied productions of the soil, the grazing stock of "the cattle on a thousand hills," with houses and out-buildings for convenience and comfort, as seen from farm to farm, many such, elegant in design and beauty of finish, with orchards of delicious fruit, and choice vines congenial to the climate, where the yards and buildings are so beautified and protected from the burning sun of summer and the piercing winds of winter by ornamental trees, the road sides being so often adorned with shade trees, where so many well-arranged and well-painted school-houses meet the eye, where, at convenient centers, so many church buildings may be seen, dedicated to Almighty God, with their steeples pointing heavenward, catching the first rays of the morning sun and the last brilliant hues of evening - all along, the occupants are owners of the soil, and their houses are castles of their sovereignty.

Their occupation imbues them with the love of order by constantly beholding their surroundings, the regularity of day, night and the seasons, of seed time and harvest, looking to heaven through its dews, rains and sun light, that their labors may be crowned with success. Around their homes are entwined the consecrated affection of birthplace, childhood and maturer years. May not such be depended upon for that patriotism which will defend their country in case of emergency,4 and that piety that shall find solace in the hour of extremity.

On the twenty-fourth of July, 1873, a family gathering was held in the shade of the woods on the fair grounds, being the grove on the farm of Col. H. H. Ford, on the old homestead. In response to invitations to two hundred and fifty relatives and descendants of John and Easter Ford, one hundred and seventy-two were present. At the suggestion of W. J. Ford, then of New Castle, Pennsylvania, the reunion had been called, and he was made president of the day. The stories of pioneer times were told by the boys, now old and gray-haired, reminding that not long would any remain to tell of early days. General Garfield was with the company, and in his talk spoke of something being done to save the history of the pioneers.

At the close of the enjoyable day, Homer Goodwin, esq., of Sandusky, offered a resolution, which was adopted, that W. J. Ford, George H. Ford and Peter Hitchcock be a committee who shall consider, and, if they deem it fitting to do so, to report to a meeting to be called for the purpose, a plan for a Historical Society for the county of Geauga.

For years Judge Taylor had been interesting the people on the subject. Goodwin thought the time had come. A meeting fair was called, and General Garfield engaged to make the address, and the time set September 16, 1873. The people came early and in large numbers on that dpy. A stand had been erected in front of- the permanent rows of seats on the grounds, to which, as the post of honor, as many of the pioneers as could be seated, were appropriately invited. The meeting was called to order at half past eleven a. m., by W. J. Ford, esq., chairman of the local committee, and a temporary organization effected by the appointment of Hon. Peter Hitchcock as chairman, and O. S. Farr, esq., as secretary.

The Hon. Peter Hitchcock, from the committee on "plan of organization," reported the order of the day and a draft of a constitution. The report was adduced, as follows :

Order Of The Day Constitution

The name of this society shall be the Historical Society of Geauga county. Its object the gathering up and preserving in permanent form the names of early settlers, with date of their arrival *-n the county, facts, incidents and reminiscences connected with the early settlement, together with such relics as may be of interest and value.

The officers of the society shall be a president, one vice-president from each township in the conn tv, a recording secretary, a corresponding secretary, who shall also discharge the duties of usurer, and an executive committee of three, who, with the president and corresponding secretary, shall constitute the board of managers of the society, and a majority of whom shall be a quorum for business.

Officers shall be elected annually, and their duties be the same as those of similar officers in other Kke organizations. Vice-presidents shall be advisory members of the board of managers, charged with looking up historical data and relics in their respective towmships.

The society will meet annually, on the fair grounds in Burton, on the tenth day of September, except, when the tenth comes on Sunday, it will meet on the Saturday preceding. Will also hold other meetings on call of the president, at request of the board of managers.

Board Of Managers

The society was a fixed fact - organized and ready for work. Ample provision for dinner was made, and it was enjoyed by the "old folks," at tables prepared for them. Songs were sung, and stories told. The address was made - full of historic lore, commanded by a great intellect, and, uttered from the breast of so able an orator, it was the magic repeat of lives that- are gone, and a grand close of the day. Many quaint things were brought, looked upon, and noted down at the time, by the secretary, Mr. Farr, which adds to the record.

Stirrups and saddle-frame, found while clearing on the farm of Mr. Canfield, in 1846, supposed to have hcen lost by one of General Wayne's men.

Mrs. Sarah White, Auburn, a hair wreath, 129 years old; a creamer 60 years old; and a piece of table linen spun by her mother at the age of 65, thirty-five years old.

L G. Maynard, Hambden, a copy of the City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, published at Charleston, South Carolina, and bearing date November 24, 1797. Among the advertisements, were some for runaway slaves.

Mrs. P. Parmele. an account-book, bought by Merriman Cook, January 7, 1795. Price $1.37#- Several evangelical magazines, published in Connecticut, in 1814 and 1815. Sheet and towel 200 years old. The sheet was made and kept for a winding sheet. Set of silver teaspoons made of the knee-buckles and shoe-buckles of the great-grandfather of Mrs. Parmele. The first set of commuuion cups used in the Congregation society of Burton. Part of the small clothes and buttons worn by the ffreat-grandfather of Mrs. Parmele. A copy of Watt s Hymns, published in 1809.

Probably the oldest relics exhjbited were two earthen plates, formerly the property of Governor Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth colony. They were brought by him from England, in the pilgrim ship "Mayflower,'' in 1620. They are now in the possession of Mrs. Rebecca Crane, of Burton, who is a lineal descendant of Governor Bradford.

Chief engineer Sharpless, of the Painesville and Youngstown railroad, sent from Youngstown a deed from William Penn to James Wallis, of five hundred acres of land, on Brandywine creek, Chester county, Pennsylvania, dated 1st day 12 mo., in 1st year of Queen Anne, A. D. 1702. Witnessed by Edward Shippon, Griffith Owen. Thomas Story, James Logan. The seal is of wax, indosed in a tin box. and was attached to the deed by a string. It is four inches in diameter, and three-fourths of an inch thick.

Bills for change issued bv Paikman & Paine, in 1815, fifty cents, twenty-five cents, twelve and onehalf cents. and six and one-quarter cents.

Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer, dated Monday, Decembers, 1874, contiming the "Freshest advices, both foreign and domestic."

Sentiments Offered

The Press. - \jc\ her advance boldly in all her field, under a high moral standard, and she becomes the giam power of our country and the world.

From the first, the annual meetings have been largely attended. Many articles of historic value are given the society, or brought for exhibition on these occasions. Clocks, spinning-wheels, shoe-brushes, razors, pincers, pitchforks, Indian tools, arrows, books, maps, newspapers, and a great number of things, accounting upwards of one hundred on the list of relics, have been placed with the society in the office room of the town hall. So much of peculiar interest attaches to these " olden time mementos," that a portion of the address of the corresponding secretary before the society, September 30, 1875, relative to them, is here given.

Mart passes away, but his works remain; some of them to endure through the ages that are beyond his day. The king dies, and his crown passes to his heir, and is kept in the royal family, while the kingdom stands, or the empire is known among men.

In the grand free land where we have found our homes, thanks to the true and tried men of an early time, there are no crowns to be inherited, no kingdoms to break, no empires to fade or pass away, but a nation of men, free born, or free by the enactments of a people, bravely fitting the broadest and largest types of humanity to the God given rights of the human race, are dwelling in peace, and to-day, are thankful to the fathers that have passed, and are passing away, for the untold blessings handed down by them - in these priceless homes of liberty - an inheritance greater to be desired than all the crowns and kingdoms of earth.

And not only this, but they leave unto us relics of their days of toil, of their years of trial and times of privation, upon which we may look and read lessons of care and prudence, of patriotism and service, such as may justly make us prouder than if we were the sons and daughters of kings and conquerors.

In the exhibit, first, I bring to your attention, the singular and costly specimens of work presented by Mrs. Polly Norton, of Troy, Ohio, in 1873, a widow lady, seventy-seven years of age, and an early settler in that township. Her husband was a farmer, and died some years ago. First, the waist of a dress second, a portion of the skirt to another dress ; third, a window curtain - all made of linen, the waist being striped with blue, the other two pieces white, all worked in flowers, made of woolen floss. In this floss may be found, at this date, twenty-three different shades of color, and upon the waist are forty-seven different kinds of buds and flowers. Upon the skirt, which is supposed to be about one width, there are one hundred and sixty kinds, and it is estimated that upon the whole skirt there must have been no less than eight hundred buds and flowers worked. Upon the curtain there are one hundred and thirteen kinds, no two of which are considered to be alike. The flax was carded, spun and wove for the fabric of these relics, and the wool was carded and spun for the floss, and it was colored into all the various shades, and then worked into the almost countless flowers upon the fabric. Then the dresses were made, and the curtains stitched and worked, all this having been done by one and the same person, the great-great-grandmother of Mrs. Polly Norton, thus running back, on the line of descent, four generations, or more than six generations of the average life of men. These garments, so skilfully made, must have cost more than twelve months of work to perfect them, including the full set of curtains. The dresses look like the conpletion of a "sensation" toilet upon the charming person of this great-great-grandmother, as she moved in society more that two hundred years ago, in the colony of Massachusetts. Indeed, they take us back to the threshold of the days of the Pilgrims, and it would almost seem that this dress had brushed against the sword at the side of Miles Standish, or touched the gallant arm of a Governor Carver or Bradford. It was made in the old Bay State, far back beyond the days of cotton mills and whizzing spindles.

General Putnam left the plow in the furrow, and a thousand sons rallied to the call of the piping fife and the flying messengers that told of blood spilled at Lexington one hundred years ago, and to-day the fourth relic I lift before you is a powder-horn, which bears the date "1775," carved upon its side. Cut with the point of a knife, upon the larger end, are the figures of a crane and a rooster, and also representations of flowers from the primitive forests. This is undoubtedly an American rooster, as there were no Democratic roosters known until a later day. The wire to which was attached the shoulder-straps still remains upon either end of the horn, as does also the iron hoops upon this fifth gift, a wooden canteen which is presented with the horn. Upon the horn are the initials " E. C.," and on one side is a scar, which may have been the bruise of a bullet glancing upon the old horn. Upon the canteen, also, is marked UE. C." These initials stand for Ephraim Clark, a patriot of 1776. These gifts descended to Jonathan Brooks and his daughter, Sovira Hoadley, and to John Hoadley, great-grandson of Clark, and were presented by him to the society.

A pair of wooden shoes, found on the farm of Hiram Canfield, in Auburn, while clearing in 1846, and supposed to have been lost by one of Anthony Wayne's men.

A bill of continental money - four ddllars - issued according to act of congress, passed at Baltimore, February 26, 1777, to pay four Spanish milled dollars, or value thereof, in gold or silver, and signed " J. Kelso," in black ink, ,4K Cromwell," in red, "No. 27,958," in red ink; presented by W, C. Dutton, of Auburn, September 9, 1874.

This table, upon which rest the relics we are examining to-day, is in possession of G. H. and R. N. Ford, sons of the late ex-Governor, Seabury Ford. It was used in his office, now the north wing of his old home. In this office he used to compile the facts and figures, and lay out the frame-work of his message, when governor of Ohio, and many a State document has been written, re-written, crossed, revised, and perfected upon this table, to say nothing of the pleas and answers drawn up for court, that have rested in the department of this tablefewer, which is divided off with tin partitions. The ink spots upon a lawyer's table are countless; this one has few.

The chair, occupied by our worthy president, Judge Taylor, has a piece of oak wood veneered upon the front of the back, which was cut from a plank sawed from a tree felled by O. B. Hoadley, in the fall of 1812, upon the old homestead of John A. Ford, just west of Burton village. The tree, by count of rings, or growths, was two hundred and sixty-five years old. This cut shows the work of an axe-man chopping to fall a tree, which, after being partly cut down, was left standing, and the oak wood, in a handsome curl, has knotted in and filled the cut solid, the wood growing over on the outside of the cut, until it became a great tree. A letter from General Garfield to W. J. Ford, relating to this axe-cut, mentions 14 that the rings of wood indicate the chopping was done more than two centuries ago"; and says further:

" Since meeting you, I have heard of two other facts which probably relate to the same period. Mr. Zeb Rudolph, of Hiram, Ohio, informed me, that, on the farm of Harry Paine, son of General Paine, near the mouth of Grand river, very early in the present century, an oak tree was found nearly two feet in diameter, and near its heart an old cut, bearing plain marks of an axe, with a stone lying in it as large as a man's fist. Also, on the farm of General Paine, on the bank of the Grand river, between Fairport and Painesville, where the bank of the river caved off, a stone fireplace was found, evidently the work of civilized man. These relics doubtless relate to the same period as the one exhibited in the back of your chair."

" We have portions of two trees with clearly cut axe marks of about that age, and I have heard of three more besides yours. As yet we have no reliable history to show bv whom they were made. We hope the Magury manuscripts, which General Garfield and other members induced congres to purchase, may solve the mystery. Evidently white men were here about that time, and probably Ea Salle crossed from Lake Erie to the Ohio, but precisely when, cannot yet be decided. To make so many choppings upon trees there must have been either a large number of white men, or they must have remained here a considerable period. "

A piece of linen bed curtain, over one hundred years old; a piece of English chintz calico, from a dress worn by a Mrs. Goodwin, of Litchfield, Connecticut - great-grandmother to Mrs: Tuttle, and related to the Doctor Goodwin family, of Burton. Mrs. Goodwin's husband was in the Revolutionary war, and her brother died in the terrible prison-ship, "Jersey." She wore the dress one hundred and fifty years ago. It cost forty English shillings, the pattern, or one dollar and sixty-six cents per yard.

Enclosed in a frame, and glassed to preserve it, is the most precious relic of all. It is parts of the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Matthew, on a leaf from a Bible that came over in the " Mayflower," in 1620, and it has come down to Mrs. Tuttle.

Here is an exhibit - a piece of the Plymouth rock itself. It is the same rock upon which Mary Chilton pressed her foot, gallantly aided by John Alden, as she stepped from the boat of the "Mayflower," December 22, 1620, and was the first to land from that band of pilgrims who came to plant the "Tree of Liberty " on American soil. This specimen of the rock was brought from Pilgrims hall, Massachusetts, by VV. J. Ford, in 1867, and has only about three-fourths of an inch face surface, but is laid in marble, for a paper weight. It was sold by the keeper of Pilgrims hall, at three dollars for three-fourths of an inch of this granite rock.

While all these relics are interesting, as relating to the past, these two lastnamed call out solemn reflections. This Bible was on the "Mayflower" when the pilgrims bound themselves in a sacred obligation, or contract, for the control of the colony which they had undertaken to plant " For the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith," upon a shore to which they had come, fleeing from the bigotry, tyranny, and oppression of the established church of England - and this rock was a granite base of hope beneath their flying feet. Before the first of April, the following year, forty-four of the one hundred and one that landed, were buried in the hill by the sea, and the graves were leveled and sown with grain to cover the losses from the knowledge of the wild Indian tribes. April 5th the "Mayflower" sailed for England, and the little band was alone. What hope for the world now? On a barren coast, a continent of wilderness before them, savages threatening, and all the dark day of disease fallen until it had shrouded nearly half their number in the sleep of death; their ship gone, the dawn of liberty seemed but the beginning of endless night.

Leap the mountains and pass the valleys, as swiftly as have swept the two and one-half centuries since that trial day, and we stand by graves on another hill, which is back from the sea shore. Beyond us three thousand miles of a cultivated and civilized land spread westward, and northward, and southward. The descendants of those pilgrims have been on trial for the rights of mankind, and in defence of liberty. How well they, the children, have preserved the sacred truths that came with that lonely band, left by the "Mayflower," let the history' of the great war for the Union answer; and, standing, as it were, by the graves of Gettysburg, after the serried hosts and broken columns of that terrible field have passed away, let the song of one who has written well remind us of the sacrifice made in our day :

In the outset, attention was called to the remarkable dress of two hundred years ago, and the curious kind of labor spent upon it, being not less than six months for the garment - twelve months for all.

Think of the progress that has been made, and how swift are the feet of the children of such ancestors; how nimble the fingers of this day, with its vast machinery', its railroads and telegraphs, all built in the sunlight of the liberty that was born in the blood of the Revolution.

To mark the contrast between Massachusetts and New York, in the day of the linen dress and curtains, which it took twelve months to make, that earnest friend of the society, Henry Rice, esq., who has given me timely aid in arranging the relics, has clipped from the Geauga Leader , of September 3, 1875, the following:

"The feat of that Yorkshire woolen manufacturer who sat down to dinner at seven o'clock in a suit made from the wool that was sheared from the sheep after sunrise on the morning of the same day, has been rivaled by a man in Chautauqua county, New York, who had a pair of Angora goats sheared at sunrise, their fleece carded, spun, woven, dyed and finished, and the cloth made into a fashionable dress which his wife wore at sunset. The cloth was ready to be made up early in the afternoon. Four dressmakers at once took it in hand, and at the appointed time not a flounce or furbelow was lacking or imperfectly finished."

To the old fathers and mothers, in whose toils we have joined, in whose privations in the years that are gone, we, the children, have secured more of education, more of knowledge, if not more of w'isdom, and in the fruits of whose labors we now find a cultivated land of broad farms, good houses find kind Christian homes, in which churches and free schools are yielding their immeasurable blessings to us, and, while we may sometimes seem proud and overhaughty, as though we forget the cost of all this, and not thankful, yet, I trust, this day may show that we are not always unmindful, but do think of the rude cabin and the hickory torch, the rough log-way and the wild forests, the cold damps of the fevery days of fall, the sickening chills and sallow faces that lived through the early privations, the rude stones that you set in the burial ground to mark the place of those that endured with you, and fell by the wayside of that hard road. Again, I repeat, we do not forget, but will ever be thankful that through your patience and perseverance, and your unyielding trust in the right, we are the rich inheritors of a cultivated land, dedicated by your blood and suffering forever to freedom , and preserved in its great day of trial by the sacred blood of your sons. So we have it, and by the blessing of God will preserve it.

Piece of brick, presented July 5, 1876, by William Cay. This brick was taken from the fire-place of the house in which Washington had his headquarters on Staten Island.

Brick, presented by S. D. Cook, October 5, 1876 ; made on the farm of Ephraim Cook, Burton* in 1819, and has plain stamp of a deer's foot in it.

PainesviJle Telegraph , presented by Lucius Merriman, October 5, 1876, and published by E. D. Howe, August 30, 1831 ; contains oration of J. Q. Adams, on nullification and anti-masonry.

A case-knife, used by a rebel in the late war ; notched on the back edge of blade foi sawing meat, and marked on the handle " L. M." It was found on the battle-field of Chicamauga, September 19, 1863, by C. P. Bail, of Chardon, Ohio, who was in the fight. Left by him in care of the society October 6, 1876.

A letter, name of writer torn off. This letter was written and dated New York, September 6, 1776 ; tells about the battle on Long Island, which the writer says continued several days, and that the Americans lost more men than in any battle since the war began ; presented October 6, 1876 ; donor's name not given.

Pocket compass, ow ned and used by Jacob Burroughs in tracing through the forests in early time. This compass was so arranged that on sunny days it showred the exact time. The little glass through which the sun shone on the figures to indicate the time, is lost. Presented by L. A. Burroughs, August 27, 1877.

Ancient grain fan, used before fanning mills, woven of willow ; presented by Mrs. Rev. William Potter, of Hambden, formerly Miss H. Melissa Wells, of Claridon, October 15, 1878.

A China pitcher, presented October 15, 1878, by Mrs. Elizabeth Abell, used by her grandmother before the Revolution, and in it a skein of worsted yam spun by her more than one hundred years ago. This pitcher was presented to Mrs. Abell's grandmother, at her wedding, in the time of th« Revolution, and by her to her daughter at her marriage during the war of 1812.

Judge Taylor's centennial address was prepared for 1876, and delivered at the regular meeting in 1877. . In May, 1878, the society undertook the publication of this pioneer history of the county. The Agricultural society cordially extended their aid in this work, by resolution passed in the board meeting May 18th.

The last meeting of the society was held at Burton on the fifteenth of October, 1878, at the fair buildings. There were a grand turn-out of the people, a fine day, good speeches and good music; a roll of the people present was made, which will be called at the next meeting, and those who shall have finished their course, will have their names, age and date of death recorded in the secretary's book. Most of the speeches made were on topics selected appropriate for insertion in the history, and are given hereafter.

"A chorus of seventy-five voices, under the leadership of Mr. Benjamin F. Pratt, formerly of this county, but now' a resident of Cleveland, joined in the rendition of old 'Coronation,' in a manner that stirred men's souls, and brought the sympathetic tear to many an eye, and other old tnnes so familiar to the generation of men and women now passed away, by reason of old age. First came 'Russia' and 'Northfield,' then 'Sherburne,' all of them fugue tunes, so w'ell rendered that we doubt whether the choirs of the early days could have excelled it. 'Sherburne' excited a great deal of laughter and applause, being sung by note. The only notes used were 'fa, do, la, mi, fa.' General Northrop, of Mentor, eighty-five years old, led the singing of one tune. He was a leader seventy years ago, and this day favored the audience by singing the ballad, 'The Vale of Avoka.' "

To the above we append the following list: Mrs. Colonel Spencer, Mrs. Theron Smith, Mrs. M. L. Ntaynard, J. C. Hollis. W. Howard, Chardon; Cvrus Kellogg, Mrs. Frank C. Kellogg, Frank Wells and lady, Horace Treat, Mrs. Rufus Waters, Claridon. There are many others whose names \re could not obtain. Some of them, not very old, sang with the peculiarities of the style and voice of a hundred years ago.

Mr. President. - By your direction I come to speak words of welcome to this assembled people. Members of Geauga County Historical society, friends and neighbors, it is with the greatest pleasure and utmost cordiality this welcome is given. Welcome to this beautiful autumnal day, with its changing light and shade: fleeting clouds and chasing sunshine; its sweet balmy air and many colored dressing. Welcome to you, fathers and mothers, links with the past, as you once more gather to rehearse stories of "ye olden times," and aid us in gathering its history. Welcome to that additional beauty which clothes your declining days, as do the many changing hues clothe yon maple woods in surpassing beauty. Welcome to you, young people, who are so soon to fill the places made vacant by us, gathered to-day in such numbers to hear, revere and remember the doings of the early pioneers in our county's history. Welcome to you, "Singists" of the days gone by. And to you, sir (Prof. Pratt), once of our number, who, after so many years of absence, have come to renew old acquaintance, and, by your songs, add so much to our pleasure, bringing, as they do, fresh to our recollection, so many memories of childhood's early days, to you is this welcome extended. To one, and all, is sent most cordial greeting.

For many years since the organization of this society, we have annually met * fat social enjoyment, and with the ultimate purpose of securing a corrupt history of the facts and incidents attending the early settlement of our county. I -welcome you to the probable completion of this work, of which you heard from die president of the society this morning.

- Tbe addresses of Messrs. Hitchcock, Robert Murray, and W. J, Ford, were delivered before We meeting; others, hereinafter given, were subsequently prepared for publication.

Thrice welcome to this spot, where first commenced the settlement of this county. Almost within reach of my voice, near by yonder hillside spring, was planted the first cabin of a permanent settler within its limits. One mile northwest of this was erected a school-house of logs. In this, a few years subsequently, my own father taught school, taking his pay in pork, at ten dollars a month - glad to get it, too, for it came very convenient in supplying the wants of a rapidly increasing family. In 1798, now eighty years since, was this first settlement made. Eighty years ! Almost three generations of men. How long a period in prospect ! How brief in retrospect ! As we turn back the page of time and think of the countless blows required to level its gigantic forests, and the vast labor to bring about the changes accomplished between then and now, long as is this time, it seems all too short for this work. Then, no fire upon the hilltop, or curling smoke from the valley, told of more than the bivouac of the solitary hunter or camp of the Indian. Now the twinkling lights over hill and valley, and the ascending smoke from thousands of chimneys reach. the abodes of civilization. Then, no ringing church bell broke the stillness of the Sabbath morning, calling the people to worship. Now, upon each returning Sabbath day, from hill-top to hill-top, ring out the clear notes, and, answering to their call, the people gather in their accustomed places for church service.

Then, no school-house opened its doors to the rising generation, and there were no children to enter were they thus opened ; now, the white school-house is seen upon all our corners, and daily hundreds of children are found therein acquiring elementary education. Then, the first wheat sown was among stumps and girdled trees, simply stirring the virgin soil with a wood-tooth harrow, or hoeing in the seed among fire weeds ; now, the same thing is accomplished upon well-cleared, well-tilled fields, with the most approved, combined drill. Then, no whirling mill-stones made flour for the thousands. It only could be obtained by mashing the grain by hand, between stones, upon the top of a hard stump, or by carrying it long miles to a remote mill, through woods untrodden, save by wild beasts and wilder aborigines; now, upon our streams, at convenient distances, all over the county, are found these accompaniments of civilization. Then, no bridges spanned the streams, no roads, and scarce a bridle path traversed any portion of the county ; now, good straight roads and substantial bridges make every point easily accessible. Then, mighty oaks, grand old chestnuts, stately poplars, sturdy maples, beeches and hickories, and along her water-courses, and in her valleys, magnificent elms and walnuts, with other woods, covered the entire surface. No village centers, with their beautiful residences; no farm homes, with barns and accompanying out-buildings, were to be seen, but all, from one extreme of the country to the other, was one entire wilderness of woods; now, all is changed. Largely, these grand old monarchs of the forest have been removed - even their very stumps eradicated; substantial and beautiful farm-houses dot every hillside, are found in every valley and along all our well-made highways. Then there was no such county as Geauga, no such I county organization. Not until four years after this first settlement was the State admitted into the Union; now, the county, although shorn of a large I portion of her original territory, limited in extent, small in population, and of - moderate wealth, is, from the known intelligence of her people and the character of the men she has furnished the State, recognized as one of the counties, second t^ none in point of standing and influence.

I have often thought I would love to see this country just as it was when our fathers came to it. One entire, interminable, trackless wilderness of woods. Imagine, if you can, the difference between now and then. In place of finely! cleared, fenced and cultivated farms, straight, smooth roads, and substantial bridges ; of beautiful residences, convenient mills, commodious churches and school-houses ; of towns and villages - one unbroken forest of heavy timber, unscarred even by the woodman's axe. How and by whom has this change been wrought ? Gladly I speak words of welcome to the rush of memories that come thronging upon our minds of those who have gone before. Those pioneers who, by their faith, bravery, strength, labor and endurance, commenced the settlement and laid the foundations of society in this county of Geauga - the result of which has been that, while without mineral wealth, and whatever may be said as to her productiveness of soil, yet with her beauty of landscape, changing scenery, healthfulness of climate, intelligence and general thriftful character of her people, Geauga county is one of the pleasantest places to live God ever made.

Thomas Underfield and Amariah Beard were first settlers in Burton, coming . in 1798. Middlefield was first settled in 1799, by Isaac and James Thompson. Dr. Isaac Palmer made the first settlement in Thompson, in the year 1800. In i8oi4the settlement of Hambden was commenced by Dr. Solomon Bond, and of Chester by Justice Minor. Robert B. Parkman, the first settler in Parkman, commenced the settlement of that township in 1804. In 1807 Stephen Pomeroy commenced the settlement of Huntsburg. Newbury was first settled in 1808, by Samuel Punderson. The following townships were first settled in 1811: Bainbridge by David McConnoughey, Troy by Jacob Webb, and Claridon by Asa Cowles. It is claimed by some that, in the year 1808, Stephen Higby built a primitive grist-mill, and settled just inside of the north line of the latter township, but about this there is dispute. Norman Canfield made the first permanent settlement of Chardon in 1812, although a man by the name of Jordan lived there a short time, some years earlier. Auburn was first settled in 1815, by Bildad Bradley, and the same year was Montville by Roswell Stevens. Samuel Hopson was the first settler of Munson in 1816, as was Ebenezer R. Russell, of Russell, in 1818.

These men, with their families, and others of the earlier pioneers whose names will appear in the history about to be published, under Providence, are entitled to our grateful recognition for laying the foundation of our present prosperity and happiness. Coming almost all of them from New England homes, with their rugged character, sterling worth, economic habits, love of liberty and equality, ideas of religion and interest in education, they indelibly stamped like characteristics upon their offspring. To them toil was nothing, privation nothing, only that they might secure homes for themselves, and competence for their families, surrounding them with churches, schools, and other advantages of civilized life.

Let us revere their memory, emulate their worth, practice their virtues, pacing to those who come after us the rich boon committed to our charge?

As we walk to the humble cemeteries where repose their remains, and upon tbe quaint old stones which mark their resting places read their names, let us ttghtly press the sod, covering their graves, and reverently whisper our acknowledgement of the great debt we owe to them.

Welcome to this- day, to this occasion, and especially to the near accomplishment of that purpose to which, with such earnest zeal, constant labor and eminent success, you have devoted the declining years of your life - the collection and publication of a correct history of the facts attending the settlement, growth and present status of the county of Geauga.

I said "declining years." Allow me, sir, to say that yours is "a green, old age." That, however, the body may "decline" in strength, the mind is in full strength and vigor, of which abundant evidence has been shown during the years of this labor.

Thus welcoming this assemblage of people, the memories that cluster about us, and yourself, sir, I fear in words not fitly chosen, the duty assigned me by you is discharged, and I give way to others.

I commenced driving cattle in 1832. I bought two or three droves that year - prices for oxen from twenty-five to fifty dollars per pair; steers three to four years old, from ten to fifteen dollars a head. In 1864 I paid for oxen from two hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars per pair; steers, three to four years old, from sixty to one hundred and twenty dollars per head. It took trom twenty-eight to thirty days to drive a drove of cattle from Geauga county, Ohio, to Chester county, Pennsylvania. When I first began driving, experience taught me that a slower pace was much better. When we had learned how to drive it took from thirty-five to forty days. In driving fast the cattle would bunch up - get close together - and lame one another ; step on each other's heels. They would get so lame by huddling them together, and fast driving, that many were left on the road, where they would stay until the next drove followed, then if they were well they would go into market. Expense per head for driving when I commenced was from one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars and fifty cents per head; in war times from four to eight dollars per head. If the cattle were wholesaled one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles this side of their destination, then the expense was very much lessened. We had two routes to drive, and could take either - one by Franklin, Philipsburg (old Fort), thence to the Susquehanna river, about fifty miles below Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The other route was by way of Pittsburgh, thence to Bedford, Chambersburg, Carlisle, Harrisburg, and on to Chester county.

In going east from Pittsburgh you soon strike mountains. The first is Chestnut Ridge, and the next, Laurel Hill. It is more than a hill; it is a large mountain, I assure you. Next is the Alleghany mountain, twenty miles over itGrom one base to the other. Soon you come to Bedford, noted for its mineral spriggs, and has been a popular place of resort for a great many years. From Bedford to Bloody Run - a small place - but the stream called Bloody run was so named on account of a battle said to have occurred with the first settlers and Indians. The stream was red with blood, is the tradition. From

Bloody Run to the foot of Siding Hill, six or eight miles, following near the same stream, said to have been blood at one time, then you rise a distance of three miles; then you are on a level for three or four miles; then down three miles to Fannettsburg, a little town, and very old, with three or four hundred inhabitants; thence over what is called the Three Brother mountains. It generally takes two days to cross all three ; but they could be driven in one, as it is but thirteen miles over them. From the top of the last Brother mountain you can see a very great distance; just as far as the eye can behold objects, the sight is a beautiful one indeed. You can see Shippensburg, a distance of thirteen miles. It is fifty miles from Strasburg, a little town at the base of this last Brother, to Harrisburg, and about the same distance to Little York, in York county. Sometimes drovers went by the way of Little York, and at other times by the way of Harrisburg. There were many counties east of the Susquehanna river that were large feeding counties for many years.

Chester and Lancaster counties were both large feeding counties. Chester fed, say thirty thousand, and Lancaster thirty-five thousand head of cattle per year, for many years, but now they do not feed any at all compared with what they did years gone by. So it is all over that district. Feeding cattle, sheep, or other animals, was an almost universal matter of olden times, in that section of the country, but not now, they keep cows and make butter, preferring that the fanners in the far west should feed their beef, pork, and mutton, as the men east say their land is too valuable to raise cattle on.

I get letters from many of my old acquaintances within the feeding districts, who tell me they have gone back pecuniarily - that they are not near so well off as in olden times when they fed from one to five pair of oxen, and from five to seventy-five and even one hundred steers per year. I fully believe they are right in the matter, especially those who bought of us and did not raise their feeding stock then. Would it not be better for us to commence raising good nice oxen and steers again? They are as good as yellow gold to. any and all farmers who have them on hand. Our Reserve cattle, compared with western, were very much better, much more thrifty, and better in color. I think our early breeds came from Connecticut here. The first good cattle I remember, or the first improved cattle, were the Holbrook or Bakewell cattle. They were especially good for working oxen - they had similarity - were made alike, consequently they were easily matched. Many were of the brindle color, and had a white line along the back. Their horns were similar; many had broad, long horns. Next came the Durhams and Devons; and now we have a multitude of breeds, too numerous to mention. The very last drove of oxen I ever bought were bought mostly in Burton. It was in the spring, or in the early part of the year. Almost every pair was a nice red color, and of sufficient age to be a good size. They were the nicest oxen I ever saw or expect to see. I bought two pair of Governor Ford, one or two of Colonel Henry Ford, one of Stephen Ford, one of Noah Page, one of Deacon Cook, one of Deacon Hotchkiss, one or two of Mr. Williams, the old gentleman, a very nice pair of Joel Merriman, one pair of Lewis Welton, one of James Peffers, one of Horace Cook. The most of the drove came from Burton and its immediate vicinity.

Mr. President: The duty to which you have assigned me to-day, to speak of Relics, their Uses and Associations, is only a recall from the now to the past.

Their uses to remind - their associations ! - what memories do they stir along the line of years, and how kindle again the thought of bravery and endurance, of patient suffering and of toil.

Why keep the old axe, with blunted edge, and slivered helve, dropping it away in a comer, or fast on the wood-shed siding? The strong arm that sent its once shining bit, cleaving the wood to the eye, and the pulse that beat steadily to the forest music of its ringing stroke is at rest now. Keep it. Keep it alway, to remind the children, and tfye children's children, of the work of the fathers hewing their way through the wilderness in the march of civilization.

Some eye will look upon the rifle. Its breech may be broken and the rust of an age have gathered on its long barrel. The flint, dusty and unused, will hold its fire, and the heart of some beholder will picture it back again in the loops above the log cabin door, or hear its sharp crack, when the "head was draivn" on the wild game, or see the smoke of its flash defending a home against the knife and the torch of the treacherous red man. Leave it then, that it may forever point as defender against dangers encountered by those who stood to the front of Jhe west, at the dawn of the century just closing.

A chair is by the fire, and the logs of hickory crackle, and the hot flames leap high on the jam stones of the wide chimney, flashing queer shadows on the dog and the children on the floor, and along the bench of pots and baking pans - against the cupboard of blue plate and pewter platters, and give wierd forms to the phantoms that play upon the rude bed in the corner, with the "trundle " beneath, wide enough, lengthwise, for six boys - brown of face, with heads of tow, hand and leg and foot of tan - half of them drowsing with the great dog by the fire; while the patient mother has cleared the "bench table," washed the "trench" and "poked back" the ashes from the hot corn loaf, baked on the hearth stone, and shelved it for the morrow, and before she has had time to "tuck" them side by side on the bark slats of the "trundle," for the night.

That chair, though its arms be worn away, and the legs carry the scratches of dogs ; though its back is scarred with the hacks of the boys, and the woven bark of the seat is half gone, let it stand and recall the days when the father sat there, and the mother, by his side, told of the day when they wed - then came from the hills of New England, from the land nigh the sea; toiling for weeks along the hundreds of miles of rough and wearisome way. Let it stand to call up that old fire-side, for then, by the ashes and glow of the coals they were kept, when chill were the frosts and high were the snows, nor forsook it when the sunshine had smiled. When the gloom of death had shadowed the house, by it they have wept and have prayed. Let us keep it, while thus it calls up the old cabin's hearth-stone.

On the shelves of the Society's case is a Bible, given by Deacon Gervase Spring - the "Book of all books!" what spirit has it cultured? In the spread of civilization, the light of its leaves has been as the " uprising and going down of the sun," in millions of houses - brightening and gladdening always. In the wilds of the then Ohio forests, when the woodman came from his toil, and the rude repast was served, as the evening shadows gathered, the wife took it from the chimney-shelf, and calling the children around, in the blaze of the fire-light he read, (Isaiah xxxv, i) - "The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." And again, (Deuteronomy xxxii, 4) - "He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment ; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." With most implicit confidence in this God of the Bible, he closes the lids and kneels in prayer. Was not this the way of life with Deacon Marimon Cook in the old house days. When the children are grown, and one after another is claimed to make happy other homes, the binding tie that unites them, gains solemnity from its pages. "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder;" and farewell tears are shed over the blessed book.

Come the darkness of the night and the evil day, when the fever rages and wild is the pulse, and father or mother wasting fast, go close down on the borders of the deep sea, waiting the call from the land unknown, when Faith is the angel that breaketh the gloom ; 'tis with the song of Israel (Psalm xxiii, 4) : "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Blessed book! the "old, old Bible that lay on the stand."

Ephraim Clark was in the Revolution, and marched with the flag to push back the drilled armies of the foe. How thought is swift, on the field of Monmouth, as the great commander rides to the front in time to check Lee's retreat, and in the sweep of battle and awful heat of the day, changes defeat to victory. Washington comes before you at the Delaware, Germantown and Yorktown, and starving men stir the snows of winter with bloody and shoeless feet, marching to freedom.

Ephraim Clark sleeps. The powder-horn and canteen that were with him on the field one hundred years ago, are with us, and to look upon them stirs our hearts to-day. Our fathers deeded the first public property ever given in Burton - the square - to this soldier, and others, thus honoring his name.

A piece of wood, a present from Mrs. Captain George McFadden, of Lubec, Maine, I bring from that port of the sea, to enlarge the collections. It is "live oak.57 Hold it firmly, for it has trembled beneath the cannonade of a great ship's broadside, closing dowm in the contest with the mightiest naval power of earth, when in the war of 1812, she came to battle on the high seas and swept victory from the best guns that ever manned an English quarter-deck.

Captain Uriah Coolidge, commander of the United States revenue cutter,. "Swift Sure," by order of the government, when the great ship was raised, secured whatever was valuable. He took, also, from the wreck, one of the ship's knees, and it came dow n to his son Uriah, then to his grandaughter Julia, and from her to Mrs. McFadden. With her consent, I cut this block from the knee. It was so hard it seemed an hour's steady work to saw it off.

On the nineteenth of August, 1812, the ship from which it was taken, was commanded by Captain Hull, and with a loss of only seven killed and seven wounded, fought the British ship "Guerriere," causing her surrender with fifteen killed and sixty-three wounded. On the tw enty-ninth of December, when off the coast of Brazil, in command of Commodore Bainbridge, she bore down on the "Java," and a fearful battle ensued, her loss being nine killed and twentyfive wounded. The terrific carnage of that day, in the English ship, given in hist or v, was sixty killed and one hundred and twenty wounded. The mighty ship from which this block wras cut, and that waited silently that day, unmoved by the fire of the enemy, until the right position was gained, then poured broadside alter broadside into the very hull and decks of the foe, crimsoning the sea with blood and darkening the heavens with the smoke of battle, until the British flag went down; while the American stars blazed in triumph from her mast head, was the grand old ship "Constitution."

The last of this recall to-day, is the canteen, cup, haversack and knapsack, from the Forty-first Ohio. The canteen was on the field of Stone River, December 31, 1862, and was presented to the donor by a rebel prisoner. They are all the gift of John C. Chellis. By-and-by, they may not tell the story qf that brave soldier in the war against rebellion, and of the leg he lost at Mission Ridge, nor speak of Talcott and Patchin at Shiloh, or Hitchcock at Perryville, tor the passing years will, in a measure, cover these names from the coming generations, but the sight of these relics will ever revive the fields on which these brave men did such noble duty, and the armies of a hundred more marching from Vicksburg to Atlanta, sweeping by Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain, or swinging from Antietam to Gettysburg - along the Wilderness, to Petersburg and Richmond - and over again the mind will repeat the tramp of the boys with Sherman wheeling for the sea.

The stroke of the pen of Freedom's martyr - Abraham Lincoln - severing the bonds of the slave, proclaming all races free and equal before God - and in the American Union, will be known as the breath of Jehovah sweeping away the darkness of centuries. The march of the millions who trod the clay and mortar in the best blood of the land, that all States in the mighty circuit from sea to sea might be cemented in a union never to be broken, will be the sublime review of the ages that number the flag of the fathers, planted by the heroes of these grand memories on every citadel from shore to shore, unfolding above every bulwark in the land and from our ships on all oceans, the victory of right and the triumph of truth.

The Jews, at the time of, the distribution by lot of the land of Canaan, after its conquest under Joshua, knew nothing of surveying by the use of the magnetic needle. They, like other nations, made their boundaries to correspond with natural objects, such as mountains, rivers, and other objects.

The Romans laid out their cities and lines of estates by getting the meridian by the sun, by marking the distance and direction of the shadow of a rod or pole on a level, smooth surface, say at ten o'clock a. m., and again at two o'clock p. m., and then marking the section of a circle from one point to the other, then equally dividing this section of the circle for the true meridian. This would be very correct at the time of the solstices.

Laud survey was in use by the Egyptians at a very remote period, mostly by angle to re-establish monuments and lines obliterated by the overflow of the Nile.

The Chinese first used the magnet to guide them in the darkness of night and when the sun was obscured by clouds, both on the land and water, more than one thousand years before Christ. It is certain they used the magnetic needle before the birth of Christ

It was introduced into Europe from China about the year 900, for we find in history that King Alfred of England, in the year 900, had the landed estates of his kingdom surveyed, the first surveying with the compass in that country. England was again surveyed in the reign of William the Conqueror in 1080, and again by Charles II in the year 1668.

Down to the year 1180 the mariners of Europe were guided, while on their voyages, by keeping in sight of land, or by the sun and stars. At that time the mariners' compass was first used.

It was first used in Italy in the year 1300. The compass was mentioned by Guyot in his writings in the year 1190, and by Raymond Luly in 1286.

The Vernier plate was first invented by Vernier, a Frenchman, in 1631, but was not in general use for many years. And many of the older compasses now in a condition to be used are without it.

The variation or declination was first discovered by Columbus on his voyage of discovery in 1492, without the knowledge of which no correct retracing of old lines can be made.

One hundred years ago the surveyors' compass was a simple and rude instrument compared to the best now. It was extremely difficult to be very accurate without great labor. Surveyors did not expect to run an accurate line at the first trial, but would stake out a trial line, and#ascertain how far they varied from a true line, and then correct it by moving the stakes into a true line.

When the lands composing the Western Reserve were first surveyed, they were all covered by a dense forest, and were considered of little value, so were surveyed very carelessly. They connected but few or no lines. Many of the townships were surveyed by the job, as it is called.

The townships of our county are called five miles square, but they all vary. Some are more and some less than five miles. The eastern tier of townships average about five miles, but on the north it is more, and at the south it is less. The second tier is much less thon five miles in its whole length - about one hundred rods less. The third tier is about one hundred rods more than five miles, measured east and west; the west tier a little more than five miles. The lots and sections are no better; it is very uncommon to find one perfectly square.

The township line between Huntsburg and Montville, as marked at the original survey at one point, made an angle of ten degrees from a straight line for the distance of thirty or forty rods, and then turned back to ,the original line; the departure from the true line was for the distance of sixty rods. In the township of Huntsburg one tier of lots will lack the quantity of land stated by the original survey, ten or fifteen acres, and the adjoining tier will have that amount more.

Any one can easily imagine what a difficult task a surveyor at the present time has in retracing those old lines. No two running exactly parallel, and no two intersecting in a perfect right angle. There has been a great improvement in the last century in the science, and, perhaps, a greater improvement in the instruments used; and yet there are still existing many defects both in the science and in the instruments now used. First, the defects in the science. The variation or declination from the true meridian is a serious difficulty. This variation being different at different localities, and increasing or diminishing at different points, and in the opposite direction on opposite sides of a certain Une. Again, the needle is affected by heat or cold, the time of day or night, by local attractions, by electricity in the atmosphere, by lightning, and many other things.

Again, there are defects in the best instruments, both in correctness and in precision ; for, as I have stated, it will not point exactly alike, if its surroundings are different; and it is not perfectly precise, for the point may not quite point to the mark on the circle, and a very slight variation will change the line in a great distance enough to make a serious error. An inaccuracy of one-fourth of a degree will, in running a mile, make an error of twenty-three feet. A difference of only one-tenth of a degree, in the same distance, will make an error of nine and one-fourth feet.

Now, all this need not make any one lose confidence in the science. By carefully considering all of the surrounding circumstances and influences, and a correct estimate of the variation, the work can be made correct enough for all practical purposes. For, when an engineer can survey a tunnel through a mountain, five mils long and several hundred feet under the surface, and, beginning at opposite ends, five miles apart, meet in the centre so as not to make an error from a true line of more than one-half of an inch, we need have no fears about the correctness of the science or instruments, if carefully used.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : - I have been invited to say something from a medical standpoint upon this occasion. I am sure that a much better selection could have been made. There are older members of the profession, whose professional career far antedates my own, and whose early experience was made up of incidents connected with the early history of the settlement of the Western Reserve.

I am proud to be able to say that the medical profession has borne its full share of the hardships and privations incident to the early settlement of this county. But it gives me pain when I think that there is not one of those faithful servants of the past generation left to tell us their experience. All are gone! Hard.work and exposure to storms and frosts have done their worst. "The places that once knew them, know them no more." The faces of those who were looked upon by the sick and the afflicted for relief and consolation, during the early part of the present century, are not here to-day, but the memories of their noble work still live in the hearts of all who were in any way connected with the settlement of this and adjoining counties.

Tradition has preserved for us many incidents connected with their lives; it tells us of their self-sacrificing devotion to the work of their chosen profession, under difficulties which none but the most heroic would dare to undertake. In visiting their patients they often had to travel from ten to twenty miles, with no roads, save a bridle-path, and many times naught but marked trees by which they could find their way ; fording bridgeless streams, swollen by recent rains or the melting of the heavy snows which are wont to fall in this region; sometimes becoming lost in the* woods, they had to spend the night without fire, food, or shelter, their ears Saluted by the howls of me wild beasts which beset their pathway. This, my friends, is but a dim picture of what the early practitioners of medicine underwent in the discharge of their arduous duties - battling with disease, a|d' robbing death of its victim.

Perhaps the first physician of note who come to this county to settle was Dr. Kennedy. He settled in Burton in 1812, and had quite an extensive practice in the northern part of the county.

Dr. Clark settled the same year on the State road, near the northwest corner of Middlefield. As far as I can learn he did not succeed very well as a practitioner.

Dr. Goodwin settled in Burton in 1814. He was a surgeon in the war of 1812. He was a man of sterling integrity and worth. He possessed a strong will and a fixedness of purpose, which but few possess. He enjoyed the entire confidence of the people of the whole county, and also portions of the adjoining counties. His practice, as a result of that confidence, was very extensive, and on account of the obstacles which at that early day must be overcome, rendered it necessarily arduous.

Dr. Denton came to this county and settled in Chardon in 1820. He was a graduate of Columbia college, both in the arts and medicine. He was an accom-

*An addres prepared for delivery at the annual meeting of the Geauga Historical society, held at Burton, October 15, 1878, by Orange Pomeroy, M. D.

There were other physicians who came into the county at a more subsequent date to those already mentioned, but my time will only permit me to mention but briefly some of them. Among them I will mention the name of Dr. L. A. Hamilton, who located in Chardon in 1830, and continued to practice his profession at that place until his death, which occurred January 7, 1867. He had a fine reputation as a surgeon all over the county. *

Dr. E. Breck located in Huntsburgh in 1826. He had a local reputation as a successful practitioner. He lived there for many years, and finally removed to Brecksville, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where he died a few years ago. There are others who from time to time came to the county, but did not stay long enough to become generally known.

The diesases from which the early settlers suffered were from natural causes - malarial. The soil, in all parts, consisted of decomposing vegetable matter, which, upon the clearing away of the dense forests and the overturning with the plow, exposed this rich compost to the sun's rays, causing the developement of a subtile poison, which becoming mixed with the atmosphere to an extent sufficent to develope intermittant and remittant fevers, which were, at an early day, very general upon the high as well as upon the low lands.

Geauga county is an elevated plateau, and is drained by the following streams : the Grand river drains about one-third of the area on the north and east; the Cuyahoga, the central third ; and the Chagrin river, the western third. The branches of the Grand river are generally rapid, and there is but little swamp land in that portion. Therefore, there is not a suitable field for the developement of the miasmatic poison. The same may be said of the Chagrin and its branches, with the exception, perhaps, of that portion which runs through Munson township; that, however, fora number of years, has been quite free from malarial diseases, but some years ago they prevailed to an alarming extent.

With the Cuyhoga river the condition is different - it has but little fall and therefore the curent is sluggish, from its sourse in the northern part of the county to the extreme southern end of the same. It has broad bottoms, which, in Middlefield, Burton and Troy townships, become very low and swampy. A few years ago a special tax was raised for the purpose of lowering the bed of the river at the rapids and also to ditch the swamp. That work has now been completed, and has resulted in materially lessening sickness, which was formally so severe among the inhabitants in the viciniry. It has also had the effect of reclaiming thousands of acres of, heretofore, worthless land, and rendering it valuable for meadows and pasture.

I will now briefly touch upon the history of the various epidemics which have from time to time visited this county. As I have said before, the first and most Prominent diseases which prevailed here were the malarial fevers. There were some years in which they had more the appeareance of an epidemic, as in such Tears nearly all of the people were more or less severely affected with intermittent or remittent fever. In the years of 1812 and 1814 those diseases were Particularly prevalent, during the autumn and spring. About the same time (I am unable to learn the exact year), an epidemic of erysipelas prevailed in the eastern part of the county, as well as in Ashtabula and Trumbull counties. It was called at the time "black tongue." It was very fatal and was accompanied by puerperal fever, which was also exceedingly fatal in its results.

In 1816, typhus fever made its appearance, and was very fatal, on account of its malignity and the mistaken ideas of its pathology. The most of the physicians having ?ome from New England, where the diseases were of an inflammatory type, requiring, the free use of the lancet and other active depleting agents, were not prepared to meet a new disease differing so completely from those with which they had had to deal - a disease the essence of which was a peculiar blood poisoning, and the treatment best adapted being tonics and stimulants and not sedatives. This fever left an impression which is felt to this day - all diseases being more or less of an asthmic type.

After the typhus fever I have no information to lead me to think that there was any unusual sickness until 1821, when remittent fever prevailed to p n alarming extent in the valley of the Cuyahoga. In Burton it was particularly severe, and there were a great many fatal cases.

An epidemic of dysentery occurred in 1832, which was very fatal, particularly, in Chardon and vicinity. This disease has never been so much of a scourge in this locality as it has along the lake shore.

In 1843, pneumonia made its appearance, and became quite general in the western part of the county, along the eastern branch of the Chagrin river. In 1845, as many here can remember, there was scarcely any rain from April to September. The streams and swamps, as a result of such a drought, were in many places completely dried up.

The following year, 1846, was unusually wet, and as a result of these extremes in the hydrometric condition of the atmosphere, was a development of a severe epidemic of the malarial fevers, which were unusually severe in the valley of the Cuyahoga, particularly in Burton township. Mr. Luther Russell informs me that there were not enough that were well to take care of the sick.

About 1844, typhoid fever made its appearance in the vicinity of North Newbury. It was very fatal, especially at the above locality. From this starting point, it gradually spread over the county, and was the most severe and fatal upon the highest lands and during the winter season. It continued with variable severity till about 1865, since which time it has been so changed by the influence of the local malaria that it has lost most of its destructive features* and gradually merged into what is known as "typo-malarial fever."

In the spring of 1846, small-pox broke out in East Claridon. It was very malignant, though confined within narrow limits. There were about ninety cases of the disease, with nine or ten deaths. There was the greatest excitement among the neighboring community, and the roads leading to the little hamlet were fenced up, and scarce any intercourse was allowed with the outside world for about two months.

No disease occurred from this time, except such as are endemic to certain localities, until i860. In the fall of that year diphtheria made its appearance, first in Chardon, but it soon became general all over the county. It was a fearful scourge among children; it being more fatal among them and feeble adults, than any other class. The epidemic lasted about two years, but as is the case with all diseases, became milder in its form, until it is now not so much dreaded as formerly. There are still sporadic cases of the disease, which occur occasionally to show that it is still alive among us.

The question is often asked of physicians - have diseases changed in their character since the first settlement of this county? I answer in the affirmative. Many causes may be alleged to account for the change - among them I will mention first, as a cause which would be likely to produce such a result, difference in the mode of living. - One need but compare the present style with that of forty or sixty years ago. The dwellings are large and more convenient now, but not as well ventilated as formerly. There was* then the large, open fireplace, with its massive chimney. The crevices between the logs of the structure and the thatching of its roof, giving to the inmates plenty of God's pure air, which fyas not had its vitalizing properties burnt out of it by stoves and furnaces. The dietary is not the same. The coarse bread, from corn and rye, are now seldom seen upon the table, but a substitute, made from finely ground wheaten flour, with its most nutritous parts bolted out of it, forms the chief article of food for all classes, having the effect of enfeebling the digestive organs, and by that means setting in motion all the evils in the train of dyspepsia. I have not the time to mention other articles of food which are not as wholesome as they formally were.

Next among the causes of the change, I will mention the clearing away of the forests - letting in the cold, bleak winds that chilled to the very heart all those that are exposed to their influence, producing catarrhal diseases of the lungs and air passages. And, also, dessiminating over a wider range of country the miasmata which are developed in the valleys of the streams, thus modifying the type of all diseases.

I will lastly mention a condition which has recently challenged the attention of physicians generally. That is the undoubted increase of diseases of the nervous system. The causes are manifold - some have already been mentioned. But there is one other to which I will direct your attention. That is the training of the mental organism to the utter disregard of the physical. To have a healthy and vigorous mind it is necessary that there be a healthy and vigorous physical organization.

There is too much pushing and crowding of the child forward in his mental training. He is kept in school nine months of the twelve, and is expected at ten years of age to be as far advanced in all branches as the youth of forty years ago was at twenty, and at the age of eighteen this modern youth is master of development are taking place, with the effect of checking and dwarfing both mind and body, and laying the foundation for diseases of the nervous system, which unfit the victim for either mental or physical labor. I have not time to go farther with this subject, which is a vital one, and one which demands a

The press, as the chronicler of passing events and the exponent of current sentiments and opinions, writes its own history, which can be found complete only in its pages, and is as voluminous as the files of its daily and weekly issues. Though every paper, especially every one directed by a single mind, must have a certain individuality, recognized by all who habitually read it, and which cannot fail to make its impress upon the community from which it derives its support, it is in this distinctive impersonal character alone that the press is generally known, or its influence permanently felt.