Youngstown City (part 3 of 33)

Chapter. Xi The Connecticut Land Company

Articles of Association - The Excess Company - 77k- Company's Title Perfected - Ordinance of 1787 - Extinction of the Indian Title Sunry of the Rcscrz'e - Quantity of Land in the Reserve - The Equalizing Committee - Mode of Partition - The Drafts.

The total numter of persons composing' the Connecticut Land Company was fifty-seven, there being several included whose names do not appear in the foregoing list. On September 5, 1797, at Hart/ord, Conn., they adopted fourteen articles of association and agreement, which were as follows :

Article 1. It is agreed that the individuals concerned in the purchase made this day of the Connecticut Western Reserve shall be called the Connecticut Land Company.

Article 2. It is agreed that the committee appointed by the applicants for purchasing said Reserve, shall receive from the committee of whom said purchase has l>ecn made, each deed which shall be executed to a purchaser, and in their hands shall retain said deed until the proprietors thereof shall execute a deed in trust to John Caldwell, Jonathan Brace and J<>hn Morgan, and the survivors of them, and the last survivor of said three persons and his heirs forever, to hold in trust for such proprietor his share in said purchase, and to lie disposed of as directed and agreed in the following articles.

Article 3. It is agreed that seven persons shall be appointed by the company at a meeting to lie holden this day at the house of John 1-ee in Hartford, who shall be a Hoard of Directors for said company, and that said directors.

or the majority thereof, shall have power at the expense of saiil comjxmy to procure an extinguishment of the Indian title to said Reserve, if said title is not already extinguished: to survey the whole of said Reserve, and to lay the same out in townships containing sixteen thousand acres each ; to tix on a township in which the first settlement shall be made, to survey that township into small lots in such manner as they shall think proper, and to sell and dispose of said lots to actual settlers only. To erect in said township a saw mill and gristmill at the expense of said comjKmy. to lay out and sell five other townships, of sixteen thousand acres each, to actual settlers only. And the said trustees shall execute deeds of such part or ]>arts of said six townships as shall be sold by said directors to said purchasers, but in case there shall In- any salt spring or springs in said six townships, or in any or cither of them, said directors shall not sell spring or springs, but shall reserve the same, together with two thousand acres of land including said spring or springs. Said directors shall also have power to extinguish if possible, the Indian title, if any. to said Reserve, and to make all said surveys within two years from this date, and sooner if |Kissible. And when said Indian title, if any. shall have licen extinguished and said surveys made, said trustees, or a majority thereof, shall convey to each proprietor of said Reserve, or any member who shall agree, his or their proportion or right therein, in severalty; the mode of dividing said Reserve, however, is to t>e in conformity to the orders and directions of the major part of the proprietors convened, and holden according to the mode hereinafter marked out.

Article 4. It is also agreed that said directors shall cause the persons employed by them in surveying said Reserve to keep a regular field 1*>ook, describing minutely and accurately the situation, soil, waters, kinds of timlier. ami natural productions of each township surveyed by them, which book said directors shall cause to Ik' kept in the office of the clerk of said directors, and the said book shall lie open to the inspection of each proprietor at all times.

Article 5. It is agreed that said directors shall awiiit a clerk, who shall keep a regular journal of all the votes and proceedings of said directors, and of the money disbursed by them for the use of the company; and said directors shall determine the wages of such clerks: and the said directors shall, once in a year, settle their accounts with the proprietors; and that all moneys received by the directors for taxes and the sale of lands, shall be subject to the disposal and direction of the company.

Article It is agreed that the trustees shall give certificates, agreeable to the form hereinafter prescribed, to all the proprietors in the original purchase made from this State, and that the grantees from said State shall lodge with the trustees the names of the proprietors for whom the}- respecti vclv receive deeds, and the pro;>ortioti of land to which said proprietors are entitled, a copy of which shall he lodged bv ihe trustees with the clerk of the directors. It is further agreed that all trans fers made by any proprietors shall he recorded in the book' of the clerk of the directors, and no person claiming as an assignee shall l>e acknowledged a- s-.-ch until his deed shall h ive In-en thus recorded.

said 15, ard of Directors to perform and accomplish the business assigned them, that they shall he ]>aid a tax, in the proportion of ten dollars on each of the shares of the company, to the clerk of the directors, to he at the disjx>sal of said directors for the purpose aforesaid, which said tax shall be paid to said clerk mi or liefore the sixth day of Octolxrr next.

Article 8. It is agreed that the whole of said Reserve shall be divided into four hundred slwres. and that the following shall be the I mode of voting by the proprietors in their meetings : Every proprietor of one share shall have one vote, and every proprietor of more than one share have one vote for the first share and I then one vote for even- two shares till the number of forty shares, and then one vote for every rive shares provided that un the question, of the time of making a partition of the territory, every share shall l>e entitled to one vote.

Article It is agreed that the aforesaid trustees shall, on receiving a deed from any ' purchaser, according to the tenor of these articles, give to such proprietors a certificate in the following words: trust and benefit of twelve-hundredththousandths of the Connecticut Western Re serve, so-called, as held by John Caldwell. Jonathan Brace and John Morgan, trustees, in a deed of trust, dated the fifth day of Se]>- tcmfier. one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, to hold said pro|>ortion or share to according to the terms, conditions, covenants, and exceptions contained in the said deed of trust and in certain articles of agreement, entered into by the jiersons composing the Connecticut Land t'omprmv, which said share is transferable by assi^unent. under hand and seal, witnessed by two witnesses, and acknowledged by any justice of the jx-ace in the State of Connecticut, or hefore a notary public or judge of the common pleas in any of the I "nitcd States, and to he recorded h> the clerk < A the I'.nard of Directors, which said certificate shall be complete evidence of such person of his right in said Reserve, and shall be recorded by the clerk of the directors in the book which said clerk shall keep for the purpose of registering deeds.

Article 10. It is agreed that the first meeting of the said company be at the State House, in Hartford, on Tuesday, the 6th of October next, at two of the clock in the afternoon, at which meeting the nvxle of making partition shall be determined by the major vote of the proprietors there present, taking such votes by \ the principle hereinbefore marked out.

It is also agreed that in all meetings of the company the proprietors shall be admitted to vote in person or by their proper attorney, legally authorized; and it is further agreed that there shall be a meeting of the company at the State House, in Hartford, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the .Monday next before the second Tuesday in October, 1796, and another meeting of said comjwny, at the same place, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Tuesday next before the second Tuesday in October, 1797, and that the said directors shall have power to call occasional meetings at such times as they think prof>er ; but such meetings shall always be at Hartford, and said directors shall give notice in some one newspaper in each county in Connecticut where newspapers are published, of the time and place of holding said meetings, whether stated or occasional, by publishing such notification in such papers, under their hands, for three weeks successively, within six weeks next before the day of such meeting.

Article 11. And. whereas, some of the proprietors may choose that their proportions of said Reserve should lie divided to them in one lot or location, it is agreed that in case one-third in value of the owners shall, after a survey of said Reserve in townships, signify to said directors or meeting a request that such third part l>e set off in manner aforesaid, that said directors may appoint three commissioners who shall have power to divide the whole of said purchase into three parts, equal in value, according to quantity, quality, and situation; and when said commissioners shall have vi divided said Reserve, and made a report in writing of their doings to said directors, describing precisely the boundaries of each part, the said directors shall call a meeting of said proprietors, giving the notice required by these articles; and at such meeting the said three parts shall be numbered, and the number of each part shall be written on a separate piece of peper, and shall, in the presence of such meeting, be by the chairman of said meeting put into a box, and a person appointed by said meeting for that purpose, shall draw out of said box one of said numbers, and the part designated by such number shall be aparted to such person or persons requesting such a severance, and the said trustees shall, upon receiving a written direction from said directors for that purpose, execute a deal to such person or persons accordingly; after which such person or persons shall have no power to act in said company.

Article 12. It is agreed that the company shall have power by a major vote, to raise money by a tax oti the proprietors, to be apportioned equally to each proprietor according to his interest : and in case any proprietor shall neglect to pay his proportion of said taxes within fifty days, when the proprietor lives in the State - if out of the State within one hundred and twenty days after the same shall have become payable - and, after the publication thereof in the newspapers of this State, in the manner provided for warning meetings, that the directors shall have power to dispose of so much of the interest of such delinquent proprietor in said Reserve as may l>e necessary to pay the tax so aforesaid due and unsatisfied; and. in case any proprietor shall neglect to pay the lax of ten dollars upon a share agreed to by these articles within fifty days after the time of payment, so much of his share as will raise his part of said tax may l>e sold as aforesaid.

Article 13. In case of the death of any one or more of the trustees, the company may app>int a successor to such deceased person or I arsons in said trust; and. upon such ap|»>intment lx-ing made, the surviving trustee or trustees, shall pass a deed or deeds to such successor or successors, to hold the prcm-ses as co-trustees with the surviving trustees, in the maimer as the original trustees held the same.

in transacting the business of said company according- to the articles aforesaid shall be subject to the control of said company by a vote of at least three- fourths of the interest of said company.

The first Hoard of Directors consisted of Oliver Phelps, Henry Champion 2d. Moses Cleveland. Samuel W. Johnson, Ephraim Kirby, Samuel Mather, Jr., and Roger Newbury. William Hart was moderator of the first meeting. At a meeting of the company on the first Tuesday in April. i~</>. Ephraim Root was appointed clerk, which office he continued to hold until the company was dissolved in 1 So*;. A moderator was chosen at each meeting to preside at that meeting, and the directors were changed from time to time. A mode of partition was agreed upon at the meeting held in April. 1796.

The persons who subscribed to the "Articles of Association and Agreement constituting the Connecticut Land Company" were as follows: Ashur Miller Roger Newbury

Oliver Phelps, the heaviest investor in the Reserve, had l>een owner with Henjamin Gorham of an extensive tract or land in Western New York, which they sold to Robert Livingston of Philadelphia. The Reserve at that time being supposed to contain more than 4.000,000 acres, Livingston, who had sold his New York lands to a Holland company, proposed with Phelps and others to take the excess, or surplus, over 3,000,000 acres. This scheme, which contained a large element of spallation, proved so attractive that an "Excess Company" was formed, the shares of which were eagerly sought. The largest owner in this company was General Hull, who became conspicuous in the war of 1812 by his surrender of Detroit. There was great dissatisfaction among the shareholders when it was discovered from the surveys that the company had no "excess" lands whatever, the total amount proving to be less than 3,ooo,rxx> acres.

The Company'S Title Perfected

Immediately after their organization the Connecticut Land Company found themselves confronted by several important tasks. These were, to obtain a perfect title to their purchase, and to survey and make partition of their lands. To perfect their title it was necessary for them to nhtain a full release of the claim of the United States to the soil of the Reserve, and also to extinguish the Indian title. Through the treaty made with Great Britain at the close of the Revolutionary War. the United States had come into possession of whatever interest Virginia. Massachusetts, and New V>rk may have had in the Western Reserve under the terms of their Colonial charters, and though long disregarded by Connecticut, this was a verv real and substantial claim. Willi the responsibilities of their great enterprise upon them the Associates were uvder si >me*oIicitude as to whether it might int. tn-on trial, prove more valid than that of Connecticut, the company's grantor. They were also greatly in need of a regular and adequate form of government. They found themselves too far away from Connecticut for the laws of that Slate to be put into successful operation ; and to profit by the Ordinance of 1787. which had been passed by- Congress for the government of the Northwest Territory, it would have been necessary for them to admit the validity of the General (knernment's claim, and, as a consequence the insufficiency of their own title, which depended upon that of Connecticut. Tn January, 1797, the company resolved that they would apply to the legislature of Connecticut to erect the Western Reserve into a county, under a tem- |M»rary government and suitable laws, to be administered at the sole expense of the proprietors. At the same meeting they appiinted Daniel llolbrook. William Shepperd, Jr., Moses Warren. Jr.. Seth Pease and Amos Spafford. a committee to divide such part of the lands as were free from Indian claims, in accordance with the mode of partition that had been previously agreed upon. At the October meeting in the same year the directors and trustees were given power to pursue such measures as they should deem calculated to procure legal and practical government over the territory belonging to the company. Nothing effectual, however, was done in consequence of these resolutions, and the State of Connecticut did not attempt to exercise any jurisdiction over the territory. Connecticut was then urged to obtain from the United States a release of the Governmental claim. "The result was that Congress, on the j8ih day of April. 1800, authorized the President to execute and deliver on the part of the United States, letters patent to the government of Connecticut, releasing all right and title t<> the soil of the Reserve, upon condition that Connecticut should, on her p;irt, forever renounce and release to the United States entire and complete civil jurisdiction over the Reserve. Thus Connecticut obtained fmni the I'nited State* her claim to the soil, and transmitted and continued it to the Connecticut 1-md Company and to those who had purchased from it, and jurisdiction for the

A temporary plan of government for the Western territory bail lieen reported by Mr. Jefferson and adopted by Congress in April, 1784; but l>eing found ineffective, it was repealed by the Ordinance of 17S7, which created a practical machinery of government for immediate use, provided for the creation of the long-promised new States, and defined those high principles of civil polity which have continued in successful operation down to the present flay. They included religious liberty, the right of habeas corpus, trial by jury, proportional representation in the legislature, and the privileges of the common law. Article III contained these words: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being neccssarry to good government, and to the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever l>e encouraged." It was also provided

1 may be formed therein shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as might l>e made, and to the laws enacted by Congress." With this Ordinance, which was, in fact, a model constitution, the settlers in the Northwest were provided with a solid foundation upon which they might proceed to build a stable and enduring society, secure from any future danger of radical alterations on the assumption of Statehood, or from the needs of a larger and more complex population.

Extinction Ok Thk. Inihan Titi.K.

of Commissioners for that purpose in 1784. Tliese officials, fiowever, instead of seeking peace and friendship through the Great Council of the Northwestern Confederacy, which now held annual meetings near the Rapids of the Maumee, adopted a policy of dealing with the tribes separately. Tims the treaties of Fort Stanwix, in October, 1784; Fort Mcintosh, in January, 1785; Fort Finney, in January, 1786, and Fort Harmar, in January, 1789, had been made only with gatherings of unauthorized and irresponsible savages. The error of the commissioners was pointed out in a memorable remonstrance sent to Congress by the Council of the Confederates, in December. 1786, and l>orc fruits in numerous raids and murders perpetrated upon the settlers of the Government lands by the very tribes who were ignorantly reported and supposed to have ceded the \ territory. It led later to more general and widespread hostilities, involving the defeat of General Harmar's expedition in 1790. and the more disastrous defeat of St. Clair, in November, 1 79 1, after which no white man's life was safe on the frontier until Wayne's great victory over the Indians at the battle of the Fallen Timber, August 20, 1794. The thoroughness of Wayne's methods so impressed the savages that they concluded with him the treaty of Greenville, which brought peace and security to the settlers. It was never violated by any of the Indian trilx-s who were parties to it. By it the Indians yielded their claims to the lands east of the Cuyahoga, and thereafter the Cuyahoga river and the portage lie t ween it and the Tuscarawas c< instituted the lxnindarv In-tween the United States and the Indians upon the Reserve until July 4. 1K05. "On that day a trentv w as made at Fort Industry, by which the Indian title to all the Reserve west of the Cuyahoga was purchased. Tuns the Indian title to the soil of the Reserve was forever set at rest, and ii" tlaw now existed in the Connecticut Land < ompany's claim to the ownership of the lands of the Reserve."

portion of the Reserve lying east of the Cuyahoga river. This narty consisted of about fifty persons, including General Moses Cleaveland, superintendent, Augustus Porter, principal surveyor and deputy superintendent ; Seth Pease, astronomer and surveyor ; Amos Spafford, John Milton Holley, Richard M. Stoddard and Moses Warren, surveyors; Joshua Stow, commissary, and Theodore Sheppard, physician. There were thirty-seven employees who had been engaged as chainman, axemen and boatmen, and whose names were respectively, Joseph Tinker (principal boatman). George Froudfoot, Samuel Forlws, Stephen Benton. Samuel Hungcrford. Samuel Davenjmrt. Amzi Atwatcr. Flisha Avres, Norman W ilcox. George Gooding, Samuel Agnew, David Beard, Titus V. Munson. Charles Parker, Nathaniel I>oan. James Halket, Olnet F. Rice, Samuel Barnes. Daniel Shulay, Joseph Mclntvre, Francis Grav. Amos Sawtcl, Amos Barber, William B. "Hall. Asa Mason. Michael Coffin, Thomas Harris. Timothy Dunham. Shadrach Benham, Wareham Shepard. John Briant, Joseph Landon. Fzekiel Morly, Luke Hanchet. James Hamilton, John Lock, and Stephen Burbank. There were also Flijah Gun and his wife, Anna, who came with the surveyors and took charge of Stow's castle at Cotineaut; Job P. Stiles and his wife Tabitha. who took charge of the Company's stores at Cleveland, and two men - Chapman and Perry - who furnished the stirveyors with fresh Irci and lrade<I with the Indians. There were also one or more children.

The party proceeded in flat-bottomed floats up the Mohawk river, and Wood Creek, towards Lake Ontario. At Oswego there was a British fort, which they were obliged to pass by a strategem, permission to do so having K'en refused by the officer in charge, in the absence of the regular commandant. Once on the v. .iters of Like Ontario they proceeded by way of Niagara and Ottcenstown to Buffalo. Here on June J_\>\ they attended a council of the Six XatMiis. made presents to the Indians, and exchanged speeches with Red Jacket. Cap- 1 nil Bran.lt and < thcr-. Several of the chiefs to,k- dirtier with the c .mmissioncrs. On this occasion Kctl Jacket delivered himself of some remarks on the subject of religion, which, as they probably embodied the sentiments of many, if not most, of the Indians, are here reproduced in substance. "You white people make a great parade about religion. You say you have a book of laws and rules which was given you by the Great Spirit ; but is this true? Was it written by his own hand and given to you ? Xo, it was written by your own people. They do it for deception. Their whole wishes center in their pockets ; all they want is money. White people tell us they wish to come and live among us as brothers, and teach us agriculture. So they bring implements of industry and presents, tell us good stories, and all seems honest. But when they are gone all appears as a dream. Our land is taken from us, and still we don't know how to farm it."

From Buffalo the party journeyed by way of Lake Erie to the mouth of Conneaut creek, where they landed on July 4. 1796. As these pioneers of the Western Reserve, and the advance-guard of civilization, thus first touched soil on Inde|>endence Day. the birth-day of the Nation, it was doubly fitting that the occasion should l>e properly celebrated. This they accordingly proceeded to do with such means as they had at hand. In the Journal of General Moses Geavcland is found the following reference to the occasion :

"On this Greek (Conneaut) in New Connecticut land. July 4, 1796, under General Moses Cleaveland. the surveyors and men sent by the Connecticut Land Comjxiny to survey and settle the Connecticut Reserve, were the first English people who took possession of it. The day. memorable as the birthday of American Independence and freedom from British tyranny, and commemorated by all good frecWn sons of America, and memorable as the dav on which the settlement of this new country was commenced, and in time nny raise her head amongst the most enlightened and improved States. And after nnny difficulties, perplexities, and hardships were surmounted, and we were on the good and promised land, felt that a just tribute of respect to the day ought to lie paid. There were in all, including men, women, and children, fifty in number. The men. under Captain Tinker, ranged themselves on the beach, and fired a Federal salute of fifteen rounds, and then the sixteenth in honor of New Connecticut. Wt gave three cheers and christened the place Fort Independence. Drank several toasts, viz :

. On the next day two boats were dispatched under the direction of Tinker to Fort Erie to fetch the remainder of the stores. On the 7th an interview was had with a deputation of the Massasagoes Indians, under chief Paqua, who wished to ascertain the settlers' intentions with resjject to themselves, they being the occupants of the land in the vicinity of Conneaut. General Cleaveland reassured them as to the intentions of the |»rty, and gave them some presents, including the inevitable whisky, at the same time warning them against indolence and drunkeness. "which checked their begging for more whisky."

The surveyors then began the main work of the expedition. Proceeding to the south line of the Reserve, they first "ascertained the ]x>int where the forty-first degree of north lattude intersects the western line of Pennsylvania, and from this line of latitude as a base, meridian lines five miles apart were run north to the lake. Lines of latitude were then run five miles apart, thus dividing the Reserve into townships live miles square. As the lands lying west of the Cuyahoga remained in possession (»f the Indians until the treaty of Fort Industry, in 1805 the Reserve was not sur- ! veved at this time further west than to the

Cuyahoga ami the portage between it and the Tuscarawas, a distance west from the western line of Pennsylvania of fifty-six miles. The remainder of the Reserve was surveyed in 1806. Tlie surveyors Ixrgan. as we have seen, at the southeast corner of tlie Reserve, and ran parallel lines north from the base line and parallel lines west from the Pennsylvania line five miles apart. The meridian lines formed the ranges, and the lines of latitude the townships."

Quantity Ok Lan U In Th K Reserve

Land east of the Cuyahoga, exclusive of the Parsons tract in acres 2,002,970 Land w est of the Cuyahoga, exclusive of surplus land, islands, and

The Eoi Ai.I7.Ing Committee

The method in which the land was divided is so clearly and succinctly described in the History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties ( Cleveland. 1882). that we shall close this chapter with a partial transcription of the account of that work.

"After this survey was completed the I-and Company, in order that the share holders might share equitably as nearly as possible the lands of the Reserve, or to avoid the likelihood of a part of the shareholders drawing the he-it, and others tlie medium, and again others the poorest of the lands, appointed an equalizing committee, whose duties we shall explain.

one share, therefore., had one four-hundredth undivided interest in the whole tract, and he who held four or five or twenty shares had four or live or twenty times as much interest undivided in the w hole Reserve as he who beld but one. As some tow nships would be more valuable than others, the company adopted, at a meeting of shareholders, at Hartford, Conn., in April, 1796, a mode of making partition, and appointed a committee of equalization to divide the Reserve in accordance with the Company's plan. The committee appointed were Daniel Holbrook, William Shcppard, Jr.. Moses Warren, Jr., Seth Pease, and Amos Spa fiord.

'The Directors of the Company * * » selected six townships to be offered for sale to actual settlers alone, and in which the first improvements were designed to be made. The townships thus selected were numbers eleven in the sixth range; ten. in the ninth range: nine in the tenth range; eight, in the eleventh range; seven, in the twelfth range; and two, in the second range. These townships are now known as Madison. Mentor, and Willoughby, in Lake County: Euclid and New burg, in Cuyahoga County; and Yonngstown. in Mahoning. Number three, in the third range, or Weathersfield, in Trumbull County, was omitted from tlie first lira ft made In- the company, owing to the uncertainty of the boundaries of Mr. Parsons' claim. This township has sometimes been called the Salt Spring township. The six townships above named were offered for sale liefore partition was made and parts of them were sold. Excepting the Parsons claim and the seven townships above named, the remainder of the Reserve east of Cuyahoga was divided among the mcmt>ers of the company as follows :

"The f ur l»est townships in the eastern part of the Reserve were selected and surveyed into lots, an av erage of one hundred lots to the township. As there were four hundred shares, the four townships would yield one lot for each holder or holders of one or more shares every share. When these lots were drawn, participated in the draft. The committee selected township eleven in range seven, and townships five, six, and seven, in range eleven, for the tour best townships. These are Perry, in Lake County, Northficld, in Summit County. Bedford and Warrenville, in Cuyahoga County.

"Then the committee proceeded to select from the remaining townships certain other townships that should be next in value to the four already selected, which were to be used for equalizing purposes. The tracts thus selected, being whole townships and parts of townships * * * are now known as Auburn, Newbury, Munson, Cardon, Bainbridge, Russell and Chester townships, in (Geauga County; Concord and Kirtland. in Lake Comity; Springfield and Twinsburg. in Summit County ; Solon. Orange and Mayfield, in Cuyahoga County. The fractional townships are Conneaut gore, Ashtabula gore, Saybrook gore. Geneva, Madison gore. Painesville. Willoughbv gore. Independence. Coventry and Portage.

"After this selection had been made they selected the average townships, to the value of each of which each of the others should be brought by the equalizing process of annexation. The eight best of the remaining townships were taken. * * * They are now known as Poland, in Mahoning County; Hartford, in Trumbull County; Picrpont. Monroe. Conneaut, Saybrook and Harpersfield, in Ashtabula County; and Parkman. in (icagtia County. These were the standard townships, and all the other townships of inferior value to these eight, which would include all the others not mentioned above, were to be raised to the standard value of the average townships by annexations from the equalizing townships. These last named were cut up into parcels of various sizes and values, and annexed to the inferior townships in such a way as to make them all of equal value, in the opinion of the o-.mmittee. When the committee had performed this task it was found that, with tVe exception of the four townships first selected, the Parsons tract, and the townships that had been previously set aside to be sold, the whole tract would amount to an equivalent of ninetythree shares. There were, therefore, ninety- ; three equalized townships or parcels to be drawn for east of the Cuyahoga.

The Drafts

"To entitle a shareholder to the ownership of an equalized township, it was necessary for him to be the proprietor of $12,903.23 of the original purchase of the company, or, in other words, he must possess alxiut three and threetenth stares of the original inirchase. The division by draft took place on the 29th of January, 1798. The townships were numbered from one to ninety-three, and the numbers, on slips of paper, placed in a box. The names of shareholders were arranged alphabetically, and in those instances in which an original investment was insufficient to entitle such investor to an equalized township, he formed a combination with others, in like situation, and the name of that person of this combination that took alphabetic precedence was used in the draft. If the small proprietors were, from disagreement among themselves, unable to unite, acommitteewasappointed to select and classify them, and those selected were compelled to submit to this arrangement. If, after they had drawn a township, they could not agree in dividing it Iwtween them, this committee, or another one appointed for that purpose, divided it for them. That township designated by the first number drawn belonged to the first man on the list, and the second drawn belonged to the second man, and so on until all were drawn. Thus was the ownership in common served, and each individual secured his interest in severalty. John Morgan, John Caldwell, and Jonathn Brace, the trustees, as rapidly as partition was effected, conveyed by deed to the several purchasers the land they had drawn.

" The second draft was made in 1802. and was for such portions of the seven townships omitted in the first draft as remained at that time unsold. This draft was divided into

"The third draft was made in 1807, and was for the lands lying west of the Cuyahoga, and was divided into forty-six parts, each representing $26,687.

"The fourth draft was made in 1809, at which time the surplus land, so-called, was divided, including sundry notes and claims arising from sales that had been effected of the

Chapter Xii The Settlement Of Ohio

Land Hxioiti.-s - Tth- Ohio Comfany- founding ,>f Marietta - Abnndamc »f o'ame- The Moravian SeMe.nenfs - Founding <>f Columbia, Cincinnati, ami X^rth Haul - -Floods Damacc the Settlements - The Scioto Land Swindle - The I 'ir^ni,, Military District.

or less satisfactory condition of progress along the banks ot the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, lnuncdiatelv mi the d-.«e >>i the Ke\< Outnm ny li oked anxiously in the W estern lands for new homes, or as a means of repairing their shatereil nit tines I lieir lii.mjjhts had liwi turned rn tliis direction by tlie several acts passed hy Congress in 1 77* >. and subsequently (luring the war, providing t"r land bounties to the Con- their rank m the service. Thus, a major general was entitled to eleven hundred acres, a brigadier-general t«> eight lumdred and fifty, a colonel to five hundred, n lieutenant-colonel to four lni'idve.' am! !iit\, a major four lain dred, a captain three lumdred. a lieutenant two hundred, an ensign one hundred and fifty, and privates and non-commissioned officers one hundred aeres each, Those who lived in the South were i'i .rtiMi.itf in hiving ready access 1" the lands m" Keuiia. ], v , Tennessee . ami the hack parts ,,f Georgia: hnt owirv to the disputes in Congress over the lands of the Xorth- rdmatice p.r the slH ve\ of >iic ptib'ic lands ui'M df the ' 'hio River was passed hy Congress two \ears later, and provided for the system of rectangular surveys by sections, townships, and ranges. The first surveyor general was I In mas 1 hiK'hins. a man of high soicnttlu: at t.dnments, who had -cf.c,! in the West as an officer of engineers in the >i\i:e-.!i I'.ntis], Infantry .\"i-t,si hy Kittenlianse. the official geographer of 1 'em '. : at na, he established a base hue extending due west fr« mi the \» where the north bank id the Ohio River is intersected by the west line of Pennsylvania, and up- 'ii this laid «nl the Seven Ranges which were the beginning of the land system of the United States. General Rufus L'utnam of Massachusetts, who had taken a leading pu t in preparing the mem. to which refen n has been made, was appointed by that hod) one "t the surveyors: but lining work oi a >>i!i:lar nature to do :u Maine for the slate of Massachusetts, lie obtained the appointment of General Benjamin Tupper temporarily in his place. From Tupper General l'utnam suhsc- qucntly received so favorable an account of the country as to cause him to enter with great earnestness into a plan of western colonization.

The Ohio Company

A meeting of officers and soldiers, chiefly of the Massachusetts. Rhcxle Island and Connecticut lines, was held at Boston on March ist, 1786, at which a new Ohio Company was formed, in shares of $1,000, for the purchase and settlement of Western lands. The directors, General Putnam, General Samuel H. Parsons, and Rev. Manasseh Cutler, selected for their purchase the lauds on the Ohio River situated on both sides of the Muskingum and just west of the Seven Ranges. It bad been provided by Congress that the Continental currency in which the soldiers had received their pay, and which had greatly depreciated during the war, should be accepted at its par value in payment for public lands. There were many delays before the grant was finally ratified by Congress. Some months were spent in waiting for a quorum of that body to assemble, and even after Congress had passed the ordinance, a long and tedious game of politics had to be played before the contract for the purchase was finally signed. The chief question Tit issue was the appointment of officers for the territory. The company wanted General Parsons for Governor, while there was a strong counter influence in favor of General St. Clair, who was then president of Congress, but who seems to have taken no active part in advancing his own interests. Dr. Cutler, who represented the company, had also to contend against the influence of several rival companies of speculators in Western lands, one of which, cotU|>oscd of a number of prominent New York citizens, was represented by Colonel William Duer. then Secretary of the Treasury Hoard. A secret arrangement was at last effected whereby St. Clair was made governor of the territory and the domain of the Ohio Company was enlarged bv an addition of laud on the west side for the benefit of the New York associate^. After some further delay on the part of Congress the contract for the purchase was

Thh Founding Of Marietta

In the following months of December and J.muary, two companies, including surveyors, boat-builders, farmers, carpenters, and laborers, were sent forward under the leadership of General Putnam. Uniting on the Youghiogheny River, they constructed boats, in which after having embarked their stores, thev descended the Ohio River, and .n the 7'th of April. 1788. landed at the Muskingum. On the upper point, opposite Fort Harmar, they founded their town, which in July following received the name of Marietta, in honor of the French Queen, Marie Antoinette, the word being a compound of the first and last syllables of the Queen's name. On the arrival of Governor St. Clair, which took place on July 17th. the government of the Northwest territory was formally installed, Washington County, with its courts and officers, was established, and by the end of the year the little capital had a population of one hundred and thirty-two men, besides women and children. To these were added in the following year one hundred and fifty-two men, fifty-seven of them with families. Major Denny, one of the army officers stationed at Fort Harmar, thus describes these settlers in his diary:

"These men from New England, manv of whom are of the first respectability, old Revolutionary officers, erected and are now living in huts immediately opposite us. A considerable mimlier of industrious farmers purchased shares in the company, and more or less arrive every week. * * * These jxwplc appear the most happy folk in the world, greatly satisfied with their new purchase. They certainly are the best informed, most courteous and civil strangers of any I have yet met with. The orrler and regularity observed by all. their sober deportment, and perfect submission to the constituted authorities, must tend much to promote their settlements.

cr increased in 1790, owing to the survey and ] distribution of the Ohio Company's lands, so that the place could now boast of eighty houses. Settlements were extended to Belpre, to Newbun,-, twelve or fifteen miles down the Ohio, and to Big Bottom, about thirty miles up the Muskingum. In January, 1791, there were in all these settlements some 280 men capable of bearing arms. The danger from Indians was proved by the destruction in that month of the settlement at Rig Bottom by a party of Delawares and Wyandots. Strong block houses were erected at each of these points and all possible measures were adopted to ensure the safety of these infant communities.

The Abundance Of Game

Thesettlerswerein no danger from hunger. The land in which they had cast their lot was veritably a land flowing with milk and honey. The soil was rich, and produced abundant crops: fruit was soon successfully cultivated, and fish, flesh and fowl were to be had in inconceivable quantities. Buffalo, deer and bear werenumerous; geese, ducks and pigeons were everywhere in immense flocks, and the rivers fairly swarmed with fish. A story is told by Captain May of a pike weighing 100 pounds that was served up at the Fourth of July bar- j becue, and it was no uncommon tiling to catch catfish sixty to eighty pounds in weight.

The Moravian Settlements

Marietta was the first permanent settlement on the soil of Ohio. Other white settlements, however, which it is necessary to mention, had been previously made by thcMoravianmissionarics, who in' 1772, planted villages on the banks of the Tuscarawas river, and devoted themselves to the conversion of the Indians, in which work they were remarkably successful; their earnest, true, and simple character, with their sweet devotional music, made a great impression on many of the savages. The population of their villages on the Tuscarawas and Muskingum rivers at the close of 1775, numbered over four hundred persons. That they were peculiarly adapted to the work in which they were engaged is shown, not only by the number of their converts, which was large, but by the conduct of the Christianized Indians, who repeatedly, in spite of great provocations, refused to go upon the war path, refrained from drunkenness, showed hospitality to their enemies, and cheerfully cultivated other Christian virtues. They included in their ranks a number of distinguished chiefs.

Lord Dunmore's war, and. above all, the Revolutionary War, proved disastrous to the Moravian missions. Situated on a line between Pittsburg and Detroit, they lay directly in the path of hostilities. Marauding parties were constantly passing that way. In the death of White Eyes, head war-chief of the Delates, they lost a powerful and influential friend, and their misfortunes were increased by the arrival at Goschocking (or Coshocton), one of their settlements on the Muskingum, of the frontier desperadoes McK.ee, Elliott and Simon Girty. These men, who had escaped from imprisonment at Pittsburg as spies and secret agents of the Tory cause, spread false reports among the Indians against the Moravians and instigated two attempts to assassinate Zeisberger, the leader of the missionaries.

In 1780, some American militia, part of a force that had been sent out under Col. Broadhead from Pittsburg to surpress a hostile rising on the Muskingum, attempted to destroy the Moravian missions, under the impression, which seemed to be general among the lower class of whites on the frontier, that the missionaries were secretly their foes, and were with difficulty prevented from doing so by a detachment of their comrades under Colonel Shcpard of Wheeling.

In the following year the missionaries were made to feel the hostility of the British commandant at Detroit, who had ascertained that they were friendly to the American cause, and were even in correspondence with American officials to the prejudice of British interests. Through the agency of the Six Nations, who delegated their task to the Wyandots (the work having been first declined by the Ottawas and Chippewas), and assisted by Elliott, Girty and McKce. the missionaries were seized early in Septcmlier. tlieir houses pillaged, their families turned nut of (lours and their hooks and papers destroyed. The Christian Indians were also rohhed. and a famous Delaware chief among them - ( dickhican - arrested. Though n<> bl< m «1 was spilled on this occasion, the Wyan dots having accepted their task reluctantly, the people suffered greatly during the following winter from ex]H.surc and famine. In the spring of the next year, i^j.a party of ninetysix Christian Delaware* - men and w"inen-- while on a peaceable errand, were treacherously decoyed into two houses, shut up and mercilessly slaughtered, by a force of ninety men fr^ni the Ohio under one David Williamson, who passed for Colonel. About two months later another expedition under Colonel William Crawford, a worthy man who. without any desire or effort on his part, had l>een elected to command over Williamson, w as sent out tor the purpose of destroying what was left of the Moravian Indians at Sandusky, and also to by waste the Wyandot towns. This force was ambushed and utterly routed by a party of Wyandots. Williamson, who had accompanied the expedition in a subordinate capacity, es c.i[>ed with a part of the force. Colonel Crawford was taken prisoner ami fell into the hands of Chief Pipe, who in rage for the massacre of the Christian Indians, whom he had for some time protected, caused him to he tortured and burned at the stake. This was the end of the Moravian missions on the Muskingum. Though the pious founders lingered for some tune ab ut the scenes of their early lab>rs and successes, their triumphs were over: the partly civili/cd Indian c< .mmi'm'tie- which they had built tip were forever scattered and g me. Hut in spite of their failure, their work at any rate "was unexcelled as an attempt to bring the Indian run I whin- races 0,1 this continent into just co-ordination." Savs Rut us King (Ohio; American Commonwealth Series 1. -'That these imputed, were no-ie the less the primordial establishment of < >hi. -. is as true as that Plymouth was the beginning of Massachusetts Neither' lasted I. ng. but that wa- no fault or the Moravians. Plymouth, though equally obsolete, is proudly commemorated by the sons of Missachusetts. The Moravians may justlv be retnetnlnrred and honored as the pilgrims of

The settlements by the Ohio Land Company on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers were followed by others along the Ohio, the Scioto and the Miami,, but by a different class of settlers from the sturdy. soU-r, New England pioneers who had begun the work of civilisation 1:1 the southeastern part of (he territory. These latter w ere of substantially the same stock

I similar s.*"ety, identical in all its leading features and haying as a mutual goal the same moral political ideals. The first settlers on the Miami's came, as it chanced, from New Jersey. Benjamin Stites, or Stiles, a trader from that State, who had joined a party of Kentuckians in a chase after some thieving Indians, after the party had given up the pursuit, crossed over with them to the Pig Miami, and obtained a view- of the rich val:e\s formed by these rivers. On his return home he immediately confided i'- ' ", rr, to Mr. J hi ( 'lews S\ unties at I other men of induence. Symmes. after himself making a trip down the Ohio to personally investigate the truth of Stites' story, organized a company of associates somewhat similar to the Ohio company, which included General Jonathan Dayton, Elias Boudinot. and Dr. Withersp,Min. as uell as Stites. On August 20. Congress was petitioned for a tyrant to the association of all the lands on the Ohio. I'ctvveen the Miamis, to he Ik winded on the north by an extension of the north line of the Ohio Company. In October this petition was relcrred to the Treasury Hoard, but without waiting for the result Symmes proceeded as new territory in the most vivid colors, ami further announced that a contract had l>ecn entered into lietween the associates and the Treasury Board, and offering: >' '' sale any township, section, or quarter-section in the 4.- ooo.coo-acre tract for which lie had applied, lie reserved for himself, as the site of a town that he proposed to lay out. an entire township at the confluence of the hip; Miami and the Ohio, besides fractional townships on the north, south, and west sides of it. The land was offered until May 1st following at two- thirds of a dollar [>er acre; after that the price was to he raised to one dollar.

The proposition proved attractive, and the best lands were soon taken. A large numlter of the purchasers soon found themselves deceived, as the Treasury Hoard refused to concede the entire front on the Ohio, and would execute nr. contract at all until October 15. ; 17SS. when, through the influence of General ; Dayton and Daniel Marsh, they consented to a grant limited to twenty miles along the course of the ( )hi", lx-ginning at the mouth of the llig Miami, and with a northerly Ixmudary to include 1 .000.000 acres. This excluded the lands sold to Stites and others, and also dropped a township that had heen reserved for the use ot an academy. The result was an immense amount of litigation, arising out of the violated contracts Ixrtween Stites and his associ- j ates and the purchasers; and the contentions in Congress and the local courts, in which latter Stites was a judge, were not ended until May, ijgj, when Congress passed acts which extended the limits of the purchase to the original number of acres originally kit-gained for, though with somewhat different boundaries. Reservations were set apart in each township for the supi*>rt of religion, schools, one complete tow nship for an academy and other institutions of learning, a lot one mile square at the mouth of the Big Miami, and one of fifteen acres for Port Washington. The people who had purchased lands from Symmcs were granted the right of pre-emption on further payment of $_» ]>er acre. Other schemes of settlement were soon under way. In XovciuIkt, 17*8. Stites, with a strong party of friends and followers, and provided with all necessary implements for clearing and building, landed just below the Little Miami, built a fort or blockhouse, and founded the town of Columbia.

In the summer of that year, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, who had taken up the entire section of land opposite the mouth of the Licking, and who was ambitions to Income the founder of a town, met at Limestone, Col. Robert Patterson, the founder of Lexington, Kentucky, who was meditating a purchase from Symmcs. Denman accompanied the Colonel to Ix-xiugton. where, in company with John Pilson. they formed a partnership in the town site which he had secured opposite the mouth of the Picking. Pilson was a schoolmaster from Chester, Penn.. who had turned surveyor and emigrated to Kentucky. The three drew up articles, which were formally executed August' 25th, whereby Denman, in consideration of twenty pounds. Virginia currency, to be paid by Patterson to Pilson. transferred to each an equal interest with himself in the section of land opposite the mouth of the Picking. Plans were made for laying out a (own which was to Ik- called Posantiville. the name being a forced and pedantic compound of three different languages - Greek, Latin and Prencb - and intended to signify '"the town opposite the mouth of the Picking." On the _>.:d of September. 17.SS. Patterson and Pilson, with a large company of Kcr.tuckians. arrived on the ground ;mil were there met bv Denman, Judge Symmcs and Israel Ludlow, chief surveyor of the Miami associates. This meeting may he regarded as the iirmgurati- n of Cincinnati. Though it was impossible to proceed to the immediate location of ti e plat. Ludlow was detached to "take the meanders of the Ohio.'" which measurement proved that Denman was within the line. Soon after Pilson. who had accompanied .Symmcs. Patterson and a party of the Kentuckians on an ex]iedition twenty miles into the country, becoming alarmed at the presence of Indians, separated himself from the party and attempted to rejoin tite main body, lie was never more beard of, .'rid undoubtedly met his death at the hands of the savages. Ludlow acquired Piison's in- tercst, and became the surveyor and principal agent in the town affair. Denman returned to New Jersey. Patterson and Ludlow, with a party of twelve. left Limestone December 2.1th. to form a station and lay out (lie town. The time of their arrival, which is sup]x>sed to mark the date of the settlement of Cincinnati is not known.

Floods Iu.Magf. T 1 1 K Settlements

In January. 1780., Columbia and Miami City were submerged by a great Hood, which also caused Fort Finney to l>e abandoned, the garrison, under Captain Kersey, proceeding to the falls of the Ohio. Symmes thereupon, by blazing the trees, marked out the site of another town, which, from its location, he called North Bend. He and his associates also addressed a letter to the Secretary of War. complaining of their desertion by the soldiers, and in August Major Doughty was sent down to "choose ground and lay out a new work for the protection of the people settled in Judge Symmes' purchase."' After reconnoitering for three days in order to find an eligible situation, he reported to Colonel Harmar that he had "fixed upon a spot opposite to the Licking River, which was high and healthy, abounding with never-failing springs, and the most proper position he could find for the purpose." This settled the destiny of Cincinnati. Fort Washington, a substantial structure of hewn timber, about 1 So feet square, two stories high, and with block houses at the four angles, was immediately erected, and on the 29th of December was occupied by Colonel Harmar. with the larger part of his regiment, two companies being left at Fort Harmar. K irlv in J.uunry, 1790. Coventor St. ( lair arrived ami established the County of Hamilton, on which occasion l.osantiville was made the county town, and renamed Cincinnati in honor of the military order of the Cincinnati, to which the Revolutionary soldier*, in Colonel Ilarnnr's command belonged.

For s. .nie wars Cincmnatt remained a mvrr t;;:H - n (, ,-, n : :be :. -:- lr:i. cs v. .-1 r In" cabins, and the inhabitants migratory. General Harrison, then a young ensign, who sawit just after St. Clair's defeat in 1791, when the remnants of his demoralized army were straggling iti, describes it as lacking in almost everything but whiskey, of which everybody seemed to have an abundant supply. "I certainly sawmore drunken men." said he, "in the fortyeight hours succeeding my arrival in Cincinnati than I had in all my previous life." In a few years the place began to improve, but in 1800 the population was but 750.

The Scioto Land Swindle

It will be remembered that when St. Clair's appointment to the governorship had lieen arranged, the domain of the Ohio Comjrany had l>een enlarged for the benefit of certain New- York citizens, represented by Colonel Duer. Congress had authorized the sale of all the land between the Seven Ranges and the Scioto River. It was divided by the Treasury Board into two contracts. One included a tract on the Ohio between the seventh and seventeenth ranges. with a north boundary to include a million and a half acres. There were the usual : reservations for the support of religion and the public schools, with two townships for a university, and some sections in different townships reserved for disposal by Congress. The other contract included the lands I>etwcen the seventeenth range and the Scioto River. By the provisions of the first named contract the Ohio Company were granted jxissession and use of the lands east of the west line of the fifteenth range, containing one-half the purchase, which line intersects the Ohio just below Gallipolis. The Ohio Company then transferred the western portion in accordance with the arrangement which had Iteen made between Dr. Cutler ami Colonel Duer, The New York associates, styled the Scioto Company, then sent Mr. Joel Barlow to Paris, to act as their agent in the disp..vil of the land-, lie was assisted there bv I >e Saisson, a Frenchman, and Wil- Ihm l'lavfair. of Fdinhurgh. who had taken a prominent part in the 1 lest ruction of the Basti!e. Barlow was a poet, of winning address, and ap[virent'y gifted with a most exuberant imagination. He issued some very alluring but mendacious advertisements and maps in which the lands of the colony were described as "being immediately adjacent to the settled and cultivated country, and having charms of climate, health, and scenery such as to rival Arcadia or the Vale of Tempc." All the comforts and most of the luxuries of life - the gastronomic luxuries, at least - were to be obtained at sulistantially no cost of labor or trouble. "A couple of swine,** said he, "will multiply themselves a hundredfold in two or three years without taking any care of them." All sorts of wild game were in plenty, there was no danger from wild animals, no taxes to pay. and no military duty to perform. To tickle French ears the Ohio River was referred to only by the name of I. a Relic Riviere, the name given to it by La Salle. To complete all, the land was offered for sale on easy terms and at the most tempting prices.

These advertisements had due effect. Hundreds of people, most of whom were wholly unfitted for the arduous and dangerous life of the frontier settler, were inveigled to the Ohio. Upon their arrival they were soon undeceived. St Clair, on his return from the West, found about four hundred of them "at a place three miles below the Kanawha, which they had named Gallipolis. A hundred more were waiting at Marietta, and another hundred were on their way through Pennsylvania. They were living in long rows of cabins provided for them by the Scioto Company." A deputation of them waited on St. Clair with a paper reciting an account of their wrongs. He promised to investigate the matter, and in the meanwhile counselled them to organize themselves at once, by appointing civil and military officers, as well for their own peace and order as for defense against the Indians. Hut many of these people had been brought up to trades useful only in highly civilized and refined communities, and though some were farmers and mechanics, and a few men of education, as a txnly they lacked the capacity to help themselves out of the unfortunate situation into which they had been so cruelly duped. Without the ready resources and adaptability of the English, Scotch,

Irish and German races, having failed in their main prioject, they were unable to substitute for it any other practical scheme, or to make the best of the circumstances in which they found themselves. They gradually scattered and dwindled away, and though Congress came to their relief in March, 1795. with a donation of land known as the French grant - for the New York promoters of the enterprise not having paid for their lands, all the titles had lapsed - it does not appear that they took any practical advantage of it. Their famous countryman, Volney, who visited them at Gallipolis in the summer of 1796, found them "forlorn in appearance, with pale faces, sickly looks, and anxious air, still inhabiting a double row of whitewashed log huts, patched with clay, unwholesome and uncomfortable." When this scandalous transaction was investigated there was some evidence apparently going to show that the Ohio Company, or at least some of its officials, were to a certain extent implicated in the fraud, but as the subject is obscure and complicated, and moreover, is not closely connected with the history of Mahoning County, it will not here be entered into save by this brief reference. In view of the fact that their culpability was never proven it may be as well to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Virginia Military District

When in March, 1784, Virginia ceded to the United States her claims to northwest territory, it was stipulated that she should be reimbursed for the expense of subduing the British posts, that 150,000 acres at the Falls of Ohio were to be granted to Colonel George Rogers Clark and his officers and soldiers, and that "in case there should not be a sufficient quantity of good lands south of the Ohio River to provide for the bounties due to the Continental troops of the Virginia line, the deficiency should be made up by good lands to be laid off between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers." In the winter of 1790-91 General Nathaniel Massie, who had lx-eii ap|>oitited by Virginia some time beh >re to make a survey of the district, impressed by the flourishing condition of the settlements on the Muskingum and the two Miamis, determined to plant a Virginia colony north of the Ohio. Such a settlement, he thought, would enhance the voluc of the lands of his State, and incidentally be a means of protection of his party while thev were engaged in surveying the wilderness, a work that he had already begun. A site on the north bank of the river was chosen, and a town laid out which received the name of M assies Station. This was afterwards changed to Manchester, by which name the place is now known. Free land was offered to the first twenty-five families who should settle in the town, and this advertisement Ijcing circulated widely throughout Kentucky brought responses from some thirty families who were eager to accept the offer. The settlement was commenced in .March. i~i)t. strevis were marked out, a number of cabins built and surrounded by a stockade as a protection against the Indians, and soon the little station was in a flourishing condition. It enjoyed practical immunity from Indian attacks. This was mainly due to the character of its inhabitants - ail hardy frontiersmen, courageous, watchful, and self-reliant, and long accustomed to brave the toil and dangers of the wilderness. General Massie subsequently attcmptci! to found a town in the heart of the Virginia Military District, but the attempt was not successful, owing to Indian hostilities. A later effort in the fo'l-nv-

I ing year resulted in the founding of Chillicothe, which at the end of two years became the seat of civil government. Civilization in Ohio had now fairly begun. Commencing, as we have seen, at the river, it had invaded that long, dark stretch of forest which lay between it and the lake, and through which the native red man ' had hitherto roamed in undisputed sway. Soon the busy axe sounded here the knell of his approaching extinction. In despair he made one last desperate effort to preserve the Ohio as the natural lx>undary between the white man's territory and his own hunting grounds. The four years' war. beginning with the destruction of the I'.ig Bottom settlement on the Muskingum, January 2. 170,1. and followed by the discomfiture of I larmar and the utter rout of St. Clair, inspired him with a temporary hope that was forever shattered by Wayne's victory of the Fallen Timlier, in August. 1795. to which reference has already been made. The great barrier to white settlement was removed by the subsequent treaty of Greenville, and the full tide of emigration swept in. Settlers' cabins soon liogan to dot the landscape; forest shades gave place to <.;n>n clearings, soon to I* transformed into smiling farms and fruitful orchards; thriving towns sprang up as if by magic, and civilization began its march of progress in f 'lhio, never again to meet with serious interruption.

Chapter. Xiii Settlement And Organization Of Mahoning Covnty

Lines of Development - Date of the First Settlement on the Reserve - First Wheat Cut on the Reserve - l irst Postal Set-vice - Early Conditions of Life - A Primitive Mill - Old Time Threshing - Bounty on Wolf Sealps - Olden Sehool Days - Early Youngstowu Citizens - Draft of 1812- Homemade Soap - The Old Ash Hopper - Soap Spookery - The Old Ashery - The Stage Driver - Matches Unknown - If Fires all Went Out- Wild Pigeons; Where are They.' - Pioneer Milling Enterprises - Slavery - County Seat Located - -Early Elections - First County Sea! Issue - I'seless Legislation - Rene-.eal of the Strife - Some Interesting Old Letters - County Seat Changed.

The conditions of life in the wilderness made it necessary to obtain food from the soil as soon as possible. It was also of vital importance to be within reach of some channel, however difficult and obstructed, through which trade with the outside world could he carried on. As Lake Krie was the best natural highway available for settlers in the W estern Reserve, there was a strong tendencv to build homes near its shores. This, however, was checked in the earliest period of settlement by the menacing attitude of the Hnglish north of the lake, and at its western end. and their influence over the Indian tribes of the region. Home-seekers felt safer, and more surely in American territory when within easy reach ..f the Ohio. Moreover, the soil was more productive, as a rule, and the danger from malaria less, at a pood distance from the lake.

by farming. For a time the latter so far prevailed that Cleveland had a hard and seemingly doubtful race with ether towns in the Connecticut Reserve. As late as iSi_>, when the first bank was established in the Western Reserve, it was not located in Cleveland, but in Warren, Trumbull County.

Date Ok First Settlement On The Reserve

Soon after the partition of the Reserve was completed, many of the grantees removed to their land, and made it their future home. Others sent out agents. Purchasers from the grantees remove* 1 to the new country, clearings were made in the forests, log houses were erected, crops were put in the ground, and in the spring of 1708 was commenced the regular settlement of the Reserve.

Colonel James Ilillman about 1797. This house stood on the east hank of the Mahoning River, near Spring Common, Youngstown. Another early house, which still exists in Canfield, was built in 1800- 1801 by Major-General Wadsworth. hero of two wars, and a member of General Washington's staff during the War of Independence. Major-Gencral Wadsworth received a large tract of land in the Western Reserve before the State of Ohio was organized. When Malioning County was organized, in 1846. the house was used as a jail, sheriff's residence, and general county office, until the new courthouse was built. General Wadsworth died in 1818, and his body now lies buried in the little cemetery not far from the house.

First Wheat Cut On The Reserve

The first wheat reaped by white men within the limits of the Reserve was cut near Conneaut in 1796. That was the year when the first settlement was made in Cleveland, and the date shows that the pioneers lost no time in getting land under cultivation and crops in the ground.

First Postal Service

The first regular postal service in the Western Reserve was established and opened in October. 1801. The route extended from Pittsburg to Warren, passing through Beavertown, Georgetown (on the Ohio River), Canfield and Youngstown. The mail was carried on horseback and delivered once in two weeks. The first mail contract was awarded to Eleazer Gilson, of Canfield. and was for two years, at the price of $3.50 per mile i>er year, counting the distance one way. Samuel Gilson, a sou of the contractor, carried the mail the greater part of the time, and as one source of information says, "on foot, carrying the mail bag on his kick," but it is prolwblc that ;t was only distributed on ftiot in the different towns, as, according to old documents and papers, bequeathed by the late Elmer Kirtland, through Miss Mary Morse, to the Western Reserve

Historical Society, the route between the towns was covered on horse-back. Calvin Pease was appointed postmaster at Youngstown, Elijah Wadsworth at Canfield, and Simon Perkins at Warren, tl>ese three men being the first postmasters on the Reserve. In 1803 the population warranted a weekly delivery, requiring three

Detroit was added to the route in 1805, but not until 1823 was there mention of stage coaches, or any vehicle for the accommodation of passengers. The quarterly account of Dr. Charles Dutton. who was the second postmaster on the Reserve, being appointed in July, 1803, shows the amount of business done by the office at that time. The amount collected on letters was $35; on newspapers, $3.79: total, $38.79. Postmaster's commission, $13.19; paid general postoftke, $25.60; total, $38.79.

Early Conditions Of Life

A description of the conditions under which the early settlers lived, and their manner of life may be found in a small history of Ohio, by Caleb Atwater, published at Cincinnati in 1838.

He says in substance: "The people were quite uncouth in their aspect, but not so unhappy as one would supj>osc. The greatest difficulty with which they had to contend was sickness. The farmer kq>t many dogs to guard his sheep, hogs, fowls and himself. His fences were very high ones, and his dogs were always ready to defend their master's family and property. Hogs lxjcame so numerous in the woods that manv of them became wild and multiplied until the War of 1S1.' gave their flesh a value, and they were killed. Cattle and horses had multiplied greatly in the meantime, and the people had begun to drive them over the mountains at an early d'lv to market.

The people lived in log houses, raised Indian c><rti for their bread, and as to meat, they found deer and wild turkeys in abundance in the woods. Domestic fowls and hogs multi- plied wonderfully in a country where there was so little winter for which to provide (here he seems to l>e referring chiefly to the southern part of the State), and as for pleasure carriages, we do not lielicve there was one in the State when it was first organized. Not a few persons wore moccasins of deer skins for coats or hunting skirts and pantaloons. Thus dressed, equipped with a large knife and a good rifle gun. the men went alxiut their daily business. W hen the State was first organized we do not l>elieve there was even one bridge in it. The loads were few. and it was no easy matter for a stranger to follow them. For ourselves we preferred following a pocket compass or the sun to most of the roads in the Virginia Military Tract, and this even ten years after the organization of the State government. Travelers carried their provisions with them when starting from any of the towns into the then wilderness." What was true in this respect of the Virginia Military Tract was doubtless true of the Western Reserve at this early period.

Captain J. C, Hartzell, a prominent citizen of Sebring, who has at different times contributed much interesting pioneer information to local journals, describes in a recent article, the days "when our good old mothers told time by a noon mark, and made not only their own soap, but most other useful and needful things in housekeeping. They baked their own bread in a clay or brick or stone out-oven, and lighted the home with a lard lamp or cruisie. a strip of canton flannel, or a hit of candle wick in the melted lard or candle, dipped, and later along moulded them in tin moulds.

"Then they made their own sugar, and plenty of it ; made their own clothes from wool oflf the sheep's back to the woven web, the warm and durable linsey-woolsey dress, or from the flax patch to the linen coat, gown, or towel: doctored their own or ncighliors' fam- : ilics with medicines of their own garnering from gardens, field, and forest. * * * Each old pioneer opening in the virgin forest would have a most interesting story 1o tell of the beginning of civilized home life, if there were only some ready writer to set it down in good black print, while there are yet a few, a very 1

A Primitive Mill

The Captain thusdescril)csa primitivehand mill : "I am reminded of an old hand mill, the stones of which are buried in the earth, and form part of the foot-walk from the front door of the old Snode borne to the little entrance gate into the yard. They are about two feet in diameter, and furrowed faces tell truthfully that this low estate in which we find them today was not the intent of the original designers. Our good mother Snode says they were brought along with the family pioneer wagon from New Jersey, when they came to this neighborhood. The old parchment deed for the home farm, signed, I think, by James Madison, President, is still in their possession. Mother Snode is ninety years old (1907), and hasspent nearly her entire life near where she now resides.

"The mill, of which the stone above mentioned formed a part, was most likely the first grain-grinding machine in the settlement. The stones are perhaps two and a half or three inches thick. The upper stone, or runner, has an oblong eye in the center, and hole or socket' not far from the outer edge, a stout stick reaching from the socket to a fixed timber above, with a like socket directly over the center of the stones all loosely fitted, composed the mill. The grinding, or power, was after the Armstrong patent. The family used it and it was free to the neighbors, and the toll executed by the proprietor was good neighborship. Mrs. Snode says that she has often ground grain upon it, and eaten corn cakes and mush, and all the good things that came from the king of grain. Then in her home you will find an old sun dial, which, with the aid of the compos made the noon mark nearly accurate. Here are also the cards that prepired the wool for the spinning wheel, the big wheel, the little wheel, and the reel, sickles for cutting grain, an old platter with the date of 170-', an old grandfather of mir .Miner on the hill, invaded I "tide Jake's wolf preserve, and, not rcpardttig fanniy lies ..r mates n -1 .iltt-cl i< .ti, killed Initll the mother and her chi'dren, and so destroved tilde's infant industry.' very much to his disgust.

Olden School Days

"In separating" the grain from the straw, the flail was the primitive implement, but quite as O 'mmoiilv the grain was thrown up m the great threshing tloor. and two teams , ,f horses put ti[*>n it, ami round and round they walke and on a cold snappy day the work was accomplished with less lalmr. though by no means a light ,i"b. Flax was pulled he fore the ripening point, tied in -mall bundles and again thinlv and evenly spread up.u the preen meadow and turned until the «i« i]\ stalk was tti-i 1 : ; I i n r. v. ,i -. 1 h !-.im: i:. 'a \ ha vh.-le. 1 and prepared for the spinning whech + + * "lis a I- -tip j- <g forward f: .m the little handmill ('above-mentioned I. which might have reduced from one to two hiishels of grain to fine meal in a day, to the IhlMmrv mills with their daily output of 35.000 barrels of flour.

"Old tliinps are passing away. Wry few arc now here who have lived in these primitive times and seen the wild deer scudding through the native forest on the very site of t*UT thriving town, with its great st icks belching forth

"In his old wagon house 1 attended a geography scIm.,1 m the winter evenings. The itinerant teacher had ,1 set of lVlt"n'> . n:! line maps, and the class, when the term was over.

physical earth. 01 cans g 1 1 1 f s . ha \ s . lake-. rivers, inlets, countries, population, chief cities. Slates and their c ipit iK. !k nunlai 'it-, etc., etc.. and all of this set to a song. F.ach pupil, as the lesson went on. took a turn at the maps with a p 'inter, simewhat ic-eiul'ling a hilliaia! cue. and pointed to each place and gave answer as to the length of the river, or height of a volcano, or ..;hcr mountain, etc.. as requested hy the teacher. '1'hat was a good school, and the know ledge uc pained in that old wagon hou>c has stood us in g.»»| stead all all ;ig tlie journey "f life. Some changes have been nude in boundaries an<I States, hnt otherwise the old world ts al. iir the sum,, as left it when we ruth I'ucle Jake's wagon slid "

-Mv I'ucle Jake, father ot '.'n- elder Mrs Diver of lie; 'it. Used 1" tell me lie talcs of die long ago. when wild game was plentiful. He said Wolves were ~vxh a s< ..nr^e "Kit the Slate offered a bounty of S5 each for wolf | scalps. His people lived then south of Damascus, and he knew the .air of wolves rev- hv : year after year, as the pups came on. he would ' capture and scalp them. 1 helieve he said scalps were receivable for taxis a-,d feh safe for his tav on >nev as I mg as his w ohes were not waylaid in this, t , Mm, 1 1 -< f - il employment; hut after a time Aimer Wo. .Irvn.

the old and the new,'" came upon the scene after the roughest an. I tn .si primitive conditions of pioneer life had Men siipphn led. to some extent at least, hy the comforts and conveniences of a more cultivated society. The world as he knew it "was a pretty comfortable world, and the men who made it so were, many of them, still in the vigor of mature manhood, but many of the primitive habits and customs, either of choice or necessity, still dung to the old homes I. r a long time, and ye scrihc might write on and on to tell of our school life, ^telling schools, an<l the old literal ies on the hill, the old fulling, grist, an. I -,.,v, mil's :" religion, a I so, "f-T we had the g. -; o-| preached to us. and none of yimr snippet, two-for hve sermons, but good, twodiour. all wool and -yard-wide S*Tmons "

And R Epres F.Nt T Ati V E Citizen'S

Dr. Manning, who settled in Youngstown in 181 1, said: "The qualifications fur a school teaeher in those ,l;,y- wl'it ten and moderate, i;' a man emiM read derahlv well, was a good writer, and yould cipher as t:n as the rule of tl ree, knew how to use the liiivh scientifically, au.l hail firmness cn< to c\eroc this skill, he would pass iun-U'r."

Early Youngstown Citizens

Hillman's sugar camp, at the tower etui of the farm, and upon the river hank. They would May some da\s. Also, the old chief would come t>< scv c'olone Hilhtiau to settle some dispute hot ween them. They would bring some thirty or iorty warriors, with them. They would stop at the plum orchard at the upper

I lived below Judge Tod's, on the l«mk of the river. Crawford tended Colonel liiHinan's ui'l'. I tears, wolves. <ieer. and wild turkey were plenty. I went to school in the old log schoolhouse eight years : to Master X -yes live y ears of the time. I >:ivir| 'D-d, Frank Thome, and mw-'-i were leaders in all mischief; so said Master Xoves.

Some further renhniseenees ,.f those limes are f.-tind m a letter from Koswell M. Grant, mule of the late President Grant, who. in writing fiotn Maysltck. Ky.. September 7. 1*7-). in answer to an invitation ii> attend the reunion j «>f old citizens an,| pioneer* held at Yotltlgstown that year. said in part;

"My lather s,,!,| his tan yatd to John I'. Wo. O ridge, and moved to Mav-wlie, Ky.. leaving Margaret and myself with Colonel HiTman, ali. .;it the year iSjo. Colonel Hill man ahout the same time sold his farm asid moved over to town to keep a In del. At that tune the e;ti/eus were as follows; 1st, above

"In the War ot iNi _'. the whole o ntntry was drafted, and rendezvoused in Youngstown. \ticr tliev left. C'aptaiu Applcgale, Lieutenant lmshneH, and Ensign Reeves enlisted one hundred men for otic year. 1 hiring the enlistment Captain Dillon's son, with an elder fife, and myself with a drum, furnished the music. Colonel William Raven o -mm mded the regiment. Judge Tod had a C^onel's o .inmis*;. .» in the regular arm v. < '. >*- .nel Hilhiiau vohtnteered. and after arriving at Sandusky. Ceneral Harrison appointed him Wagon- Master General of the Culled States Annv, John E. \\ o, Ohridge was paymaster Mr 1 !- gue. Moses Crawford, Dr. Dutton. Henry \\ irk. Hugh r.R son. and Mr. i'.rure. wi re all the men left in YotmgStO\vn during the war. I had forgotten Mr. Thome, a cabinet maker, who lived near the old school house

U. S. Grant was bom April 27, 1822.'* With the permission of Captain Hartzcll, we also publish the following- article, which, under the title, "Some Reminiscences of Ye Olden Time." appeared in the issue of The Sebring News, January 29th of the present year (1907):

"Some time ago, as I was rambling through one of our big potteries. I noticed a vessel - containing soft soap. The same looked mighty familiar and 1 made inquiry, only to find that soft soap was imported from England and finds its uses in all potteries.

Homemade Soap

"'When I was a boy, both soft and hard soap, in fact all soap, was made by the good house mothers. In our home I was the general roustalxmt, a very present help in time of need - if I could be found. The old Mahoning 'formed the north boundary of our farm and its purling, laughing, hurrying waters, as they glide over on and on to join the brimming river, chattering as they go, often beguiled me from duty's path and I often found congenial company with neighbor's boys, though if they were not present, the river was always inter- -esting. And why not, for when I was a boy, any boy or man could fish with hook and line, seine or gig; so that there were times when, mother being about to set in with her annual --soap-making, and wanting me to set up the ash-hopper and such like needful work, I had a foreboding of the coming siege and retired to the river for a rest, and vacation. But when the head of the house came home, there was always a settlement in which no compromises were admitted and I paid up.

"In those d»ys every home used wood for fuel and the big wide fire-places eat up a big ; lot of timlwr - good timl)er, too - and the ashes | thus resulting during the entire year, were saved and safely garnered to the snap-making season. And when the time was ripe, always spring time, when grass greened and mbins came back to their old haunts, then the old ashhopper went into commission again, repairs, if needed, were made, and serious work began.

The Old Ash Ii0Ppf.R.

"The hopper itself was a crude affair, a thick wide slab four or five feet long from the sawmill nearby with a gutter dug in the center the whole length of the slab to catch the drip, furnished the bottom and the foundation. The hopper part was of very simple construction, made of any sort of boards cut in three and a half or four foot lengths, made wide at the top and narrow at the lower edge, the hoards fitting into the groove of the slab bottom. Aud now we are ready for operation. First, the handy lad is sent to dig sassafras roots to put in the hopper for a starter, and after being lined on the inside with rye straw the ashes are filled in slowly, and tamped down solid until the hopper is filled. When all this is in order, water is poured on the top. perhaps a pail or two a clay, and when the mass is well wet and the lye begins to drip from the groove to the vessel placed beneath for its holding, we may say the enterprise is well started.

"All the waste fat from the butchering and from the cooking, with the meat rinds sliced from the hams and bacon, having been hoarded, are now brought into use and are added to the kettle of lye as needed, the kettle is hung over a fire and the sequence of it all is soap, the same as our potters are bringing over from 'Merrie England' today,

"There was a gnodish bit of spookery about our soap-making of years agone and a common inquiry when neighbor women met was about the soap. Aunt Susan would say, 'Well. Mary has had good luck with her soap.' or mother would take her visitors out to sec her soap, thrust in her long paddle to the bottom of the kettle and pry up the mass until it would bulirc aud crack and split into a thousand tumbling bits, and finally settle back into a solid, livery whole. Then they would say, 'You had gfwxl luck this time!'

A barrel or two of soap was made in this wav each year and when the soap gave out, one neighbor would send to the otlter for a pail of snap, borrow it. Hard soap was made by a little different handling. To roc there was always a bit of mystery in the getting of good soap, but none at all about making and filling the hopper.

The Old Ashery

"As time passed on, my uncle, Nick Eckes. built an ashery on the side or slope of a hill near North Benton, on a farm now owned and occupied by Walter Miller, and after that my architectural genius, so often called out in the building of our homesoap factory, was allowed - a vacation in that direction, but continued to develop as we shall see further on.

"Uncle Nick, to my mind, was a wonderful man. His ashery had several great kettles set in arches where he boiled the lye after it had been leached through hundreds of bushels of ashes. The hoppers were permanent and set well above the tailing kettles, and there he made potash, pearlash, soap and the like, barreling up the two first named and wagoning them to market in some far off place, most likely Pittsburg. He went from house to house with his great wagon and team and gathered the ashes for which he paid ten cents a bushel in trade. He had a high scat on his wagon and a good sized box on either end with secure lid and all fast to the seat. As he sat in the middle of the scat with his treasures on either side where he could lift the lid and take out vast quantities of all sorts of valuables, he was, to my mind, a man to excite a barefoot boy's ambition.

The Stage Driver

"There was only one other man his superior in position, culture and training to whom we boys offered unstinted homage and admiration and that was the jolly stage driver, who blew his horn, cracked his long-lashed whip over his four-in-hand team and went sailing into towrn, where he delivered and took on mail, passengers and such light merchandise as he could carrv.

said when the mail was first started (I think the route was from Cleveland, then a straggling village of a few thousand inhabitants, to Steubenville, the land office of these parts), the road was new and not the best. There were two bad chuck holes, one on cither side of his house and the stage driver told him that if he would fill them up he would give him a free ride in his coach to Salem and back. The offer seemed so generous that Uncle fulfilled his contract with pick and shovel and the stage driver was as good as his word.

"When the stage coach went flying by, my, oh my! The driver fairly scorned the earth and he certainly was a grand figure, so grand that none of us boys could ever hope to gain such a high position. When I was a boy, there were no railroads, telegraph, telephones and such like conveniences and yet we didn't seem to miss them and managed to get along fairly well.

The First Settlement

"My forebears came from near Bethlehem, Pa., and settled about five miles north of Sebring. near the time Ohio was admitted into the Union. The first settlement was made just north of the forty-first parallel and in what has long been know n as the Connecticut or Western Reserve, and by an original charter for the colony, belonged to the State of Connecticut. Connecticut finally disposed of the same to the Connecticut Land Company, and by this land company to actual settlers.

"The reserve was mostly settled by down- East Yankees, a most intelligent, ordetly and enterprising people. Our family formed a colony of Pennsylvania Germans, but good neighborship always prevailed and the location was a happy one.

"The w riter was born in the year in which Queen Victoria began her long reign in England, and the pioneers had passed through the hardships incident to hewing homes out of virgin forests, inhabited by wild game and roving bands of Indians, and had secured homes of great comfort. When I put in my appearance, the men and women who had borne the hardships of real pioneers. who had wielded the axe and the ride, were still living, ami I Mili ha\e a m> »t \ivid memory of them ami Morie> of the hie they lived.

"Matches tor lighting tires were not then known, or at least 1 ha\e in recollection of them. The evening hies m the great fireplace before retiring, were hanked. Tin- manner of it w js this way :

lireplaee was furnished with heavy <]< >g irons and against the Lack wall was placed a great log, preferably of green wood. Lighter wood was laid upon the dog irons and an iron crane was swung in the side of tic wall, pro vided with adjustable hooks to accommodate pots an:', kettles with any length of hail. The forestieks iia\ :ng_ l*'cti pretty well burned out in the evening, the brands were laid in the center and well covered with such cold ashes as had :u cumulated on the genernii- and alwavs In spitahle hearth In the mornings, all the l-1'st fellow Up had t'i do was i . silr (1p 'K. heap, only to find that the ti links had been tinned into a line heap of glowing CoaL and so we soon had a hia/ing. cheery -looking ami vcrv comfortable kitchen. S >u ie" itnes, however, there were lapses anil there were no glow - ing coals in the heap. M.avbc the brands were too dry or the cover too thin - -tncthing anyway. Often yo'ur scrilie has been ruthlessly, cruelly, dragged from his trundle bed when it seemed as it he l id twil) liegmt In sleep ami rest In- tired b dy i'p .m the toils of the previous (lav, and was sharply ordered to run quickly over to e ther I'ncle Billy's or I'llde John's for (ire. which was brought in a brand or a small ton h nl the ever-present hickory liark, chinked wa'.U and clapboard roofs, and the same often held in place by heavy pile- and a bit of chimney laid up in clay mortar. I never knew a rite to occur in my youth, either of a hon-e or a barn, whale h»lav. with our better houses and all the convenient kmck knacks we have ab.ut us. the tire losses arc appalling.

"Well. I was often worried; supple the fires in the ncighltorho. should all go out. what w..nld we thcr : S . one day. I was telling my I 'ncle John of my gloomy fore- I* dings, ai id he v ent into his htrtise and t< m ik down Ins ritle from the wooden hooks over the door. Per abiding place when n t in use. She had a Hint lock. livery family had a little store of punk, and hunters carried it. I'unk is a dry. white fungus and is found on decaying logs and timber anil catches a spark, and ii you have the flint and the steel n« are independent ol these dangerous, modem, ready-made l ie brands, called matches. So I'ncle John, gun in hand, placed a lit! of punk ill the pan of his ride, pulled lire trigger, and lo, m the wink of an eye. im fears were allayed; no more foreb- "lings of disaster to disturb my mind in the line of tit e winters in our itcighltorliood and their prowess in lite chase had supplied the pioneer families with meat and they always talked of their ntles 11*1*1 affectionately and gave to them, in Speaking, the feminine gender. The butts were often ornamented with inlaid silver, -hell or botte devices, and the old powder horns were also decorated. Bullet (touches were real curiosities,

'"When 1 was a lad, the larger game was mostly go!U. hut lite wo...] was full of gray and black squirrel, and lioth pheasant and quail were plenty. The old rides were mostly out of commission and wen- not much used except at butchering time. i»r at an occasional shooting match on the river bottom. Bnl those days passed all too soon; the old hand-made flint and cap-locks gave way to the nuuzledoading

"And. by the way. can any of my old time chums tel! what ever became of the wild pigeons? Yon remember, long ago, when seeding time came, and the mast, beech-nut-., acorns and black and red haws began to ripen and the frosts brought the nuts to the ground, how the wild pigeons came in covies by the thousands, and. after a day's gleaning in newly sown w heat fields or «hc wood lands, with crops filled with everything good for pigeons - they would w ing their way to the old Heaver swamp to s]«>nd the night ; and how the noise of their flight was deafening - and so many, they appeared like a dark cloud; the noise of them when settling to roost, and how in the early ni' >ni they started in every direction for another day's foraging, often in small parties, only to return in the evening to the same roost. 'Twas a tine place, the swamp, when one wanted pigeons. The last pigeon potpie we had at our house, we had Tw ins,' lirooks and Pari** Blackburn for guests. W e took small toll of the pigeons here, hut they seemed to disappear, and in a season or two, were gone.