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150 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO., CHAPTER XVIII EARLY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. Zane's Trace the First Road in the Wilderness.---Tod's Trace.—The College Township Road.--Early Mails.—Post-offices Established at Chillicothe and New Market.—Flat-boat Navigation of the Scioto.— Stages.—The Long Continued Existence of the Scioto Valley Line. —The Ohio Canal.—DeWitt Clinton as the Father of Internal Improvements.— Opening of the Work.—Celebration in Chillicothe of the Opening of the Canal.—Chillicothe Rivaling Cincinnati as a Grain Market.—Decline of Canal Commerce.--The Era of Turn- pikes.—First Inexpensive Road Improvement West of the Alleghaneys. ZANE'S TRACE. The earliest established line of travel through the woods was Zane's trace cut as far westward as Chillicothe in 1796. It was by this trace that some of the early settlers came into the county. Colonel Tod cut a trail through the woods to the Ohio river, opposite Limestone (Maysville), which was known as Tod's trace. This was a continuation of Zane's trace. It ran westerly from Chillicothe, and thence, southerly to Manchester or Massie's station. After the settlement of Chillicothe it was not very long in use. Soon afterwards a road was HISTORY OF ROSS AND I-IIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 151 made, which ran from Chillicothe, by way of the falls of Paint, near where the present pike is. Very early in the history of the settlements a road was cut through the woods, along the west side of the Scioto, from Chillicothe to Franklinton. It was by this road that the early mails were carried. The old Limestone road was a few years later opened by Andrew Ellison. This road passed through what is now the village of Sinking Springs, Highland county, and thence, ran southerly to the site of West Union. The Anderson State road passed through Chillicothe, and through Highland county, north of the present town of Hillsborough, to Cincinnati. The college township State road, from Athens westward, passed through Chillicothe, Greenfield, Leesburgh, Lexington, to Oxford, in Butler county. It was along these early roads that the first settlements were made, especially in Highland county. The Anderson State road, which passed from Chillicothe to Cincinnati, through what is now Highland county, was surveyed and opened under the superintendence of Col. Richard C. Anderson, by authority of the State, in 1804 and the following year. It was cut about forty feet wide, and cost, at an average, about eighteen dollars per mile, the little bridging that was done excepted. It was at one time the great thoroughfare from east to west. The College township road was laid out by Duncan McArthur, in 1799. He was assisted by Gen. James Manary, William Rogers, and Joseph Clark, viewers. It was afterwards established as a State road, and cut wider, the surveyor being a Mr. Erwin. In the year 1805, several roads were opened in Highland county, through the township of Fairfield and New Market, but these were merely local. Several such were opened about the same time in Ross county. A road was opened in 1803, from Old Town (now Frankfort) to Chillicothe. EARLY MAILS. A post-office was established at Chillicothe in 1799; and from this point mail was distributed throughout the Scioto country. The mail was brought through from the east by way of Zane's trace, and carried beyond to Limestone by Tod's trace, which was the continuation of Zane's. There was no regular carrier up and down the Scioto until 1805; and previous to that time people residing rn the small settlements within the present limits of Pickaway, Franklin and Delaware counties were all accostomed to hire a man by subscription, to go to the post-office. Andrew Mcllvaine, who came from Kentucky with his father, in 1797, began to carry mail northward to Chillicothe and along the west side of the Scioto, in 1805, when he was only thirteen years of age. When the route was established there was no post-office between Chillicothe and Franklinton; but during the first winter there was one established at West Fall, and later, at Markley's mill. It was not until several years after this that Ftanklinton or Columbus received a mail directly from the east. In the fall of 1799, the same year that a post-office was established at Chillicothe, there was also one opened at New Market, which, it will be remembered, was Henry Massie's embryo town, which was to rival his brother's settlement at Chillicothe. A weekly pack mail was carried by way of this post-office, between Chillicothe and Cincinnati, along the trace which Henry Massie had caused to be cut from New Market, to connect with the trace leading from the Falls of Paint to Chillicothe. The mail was carried upon pack horses. FLAT BOATS ON THE SCIOTO. In the early days of the settlements, the Scioto afforded a valuable means of outlet for the surplus products of the country. The first flat boats that floated down the Scioto were two sent out by.McLaughlin and John Carlisle, in 1804, from Chillicothe, and destined for New Orleans. They were laden with corn and flour. John Waddell went with one of these boats as supercargo, and John Briney and John Cryder served as pilots. In 1807 James & McCoy sent down boats laden with pork. John Cryder and John Renshaw were engaged in the same traffic in that season. This system of disposing of the produce of the country, that was not needed for home consumption, was for a number of years very extensively carried on, and boats were not only sent to New Orleans from Chillicothe and its vicinity, but from Circleville and Columbus, and points even farther north than the latter. The principal articles shipped were flour, grain, pork, and other articles of food supply, even turkeys occasionally forming a cargo. The boats were broken up when they arrived at their destination and sold for lumber or firewood. As each one could only be used for a single trip a vast number were required, and their construction afforded employment to a large number of men. At the old boat yard in Chillicothe, which extended from the foot of Mulberry street to the present bridge, workmen were engaged constantly during the winter months, generally under the superintendence of James Fennimore, in constructing boats which they had in readiness for the spring flood. These craft were usually from sixty to seventy feet long, about sixteen feet wide, and seven feet high or deep. The "Orleans trade" continued until the completion of the canal. At a period later than the beginning of the flat boat navigation of the Scioto, keel boats, laden at points upon the Ohio, floated down that river and were poled up the Scioto and other tributaries. STAGES. Out of the firm of William and Robert Neil, of Columbus, who became mail contractors about the year 1825, grew the Ohio Stage company, which did for many years a vast business, extending over the whole of Ohio and a large portion of the country adjoining. A lingering relic of a bygone age was the stage line along the Scioto from Portsmouth to Columbus. It remained in operation until 1877, when its strong-flanked and fleet horses of flesh were outstripped by the horse of iron. It was, at the time of its discontinuance, the longest stage line in Ohio, and the more aged travelers who rode in late years in its comfortable carriages over the excellent turnpike, were carried back in their recol- 152 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO lections, when such was the common mode of journeying, and not the exception. The line was always a great source of convenience to the people of Portsmouth, Chillicothe, Circleville, and the smaller villages along the route, as well as to the business men who wished to reach any one of these places, or Columbus, It was well patronized, and a source of profit to its several owners. This line was established by Colonel John Madeira, of Chillicothe, who sold out to Darius Tallmadge, of Lancaster, by whom the business was for many years carried on. In April, 1830, Dr. M. G, Krieder and Colonel J. A. Hawkes purchased the Columbus and Portsmouth stage line of Mr. Tallmadge. They ran stages daily, as was required by the post-office department, and carried seven mails per week, After two years of earnest solicitation by the proprietors, the postmaster general consented to a discontinuance of the Sunday mail. Dr. Krieder died in 1854, and Col. Hawkes, who sometime prior to his death, had purchased his (Krieder's) interest, associated with himself Dr. W. B. Hawkes. In 1855, the managers commenced running two stages a day between Columbus and Chillicothe, and increased their stock to one hundred horses. During the last twenty-seven years' operations a very large business was done by this stage line; as a few interesting facts will show. The amount of corn consumed by the horses was in that time, three hundred and sixty thousand bushels; and the amount of hay, twelve thousand tons. The total expenditures reached the enormous sum of one million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The whole number of passengers carried over the route during those twenty-seven years was upwards of one million, two hundred thousand. THE OHIO CANAL. The Ohio canal was a great artery of commercial life until its usefulness was diminished, and finally almost completely superseded by quicker modes of transits, when, to carry out the physiological meataphor the flow of trade became slow and venous, rather than arterial in this channel. An act relating to canal construction was passed by the general assembly as early as 1818, but public opinion was not really aroused upon the matter until 1820, and it was not until the fall of 1821, that the first step was taken in the series that led to the construction of the Ohio canal. At that time Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, who had been re-elected by the people of Hamilton county to a seat in the house of representatives, began to sound the minds of the other members upon this public improvement. In December he introduced a resolution which provided for the careful consideration of so much of the governor's proclamation as related to canals. The resolution was passed, and in accordance with its provision, Messrs. Williams, Howe, Thomas Worthington, W. H. Moore and John Shelby were appointed as a committee to report upon this measure. Mr. Williams, as chairman, in January; 1822, presented an elaborate report, recommending the passage of a law authorizing an examination into the practicability of con necting the Ohio river and Lake Erie by a canal. Immediately after the reading of the report, Mr. Williams introduced a bill, which finally, after much opposition, passed the house and the senate, and became a law on the thirty-first of December, 1822. The commissioners named in the act were Benjamin Tappan, Alfred Kelly, Thomas Worthington, Ethan A, Brown, Jeremiah Morrow, Isaac Minor, and Ebenezer Buckingham, jr. Jeremiah Morrow having been elected governor of the State, resigned his position upon the board, and Micajah T. Williams was appointed to his place. This board appointed the acting commissioners and the engineers. The commissioners at first employed Hon. James Geddes, of Onondaga, New York, who arrived in Columbus in June, 1822, having already made an examination of the Cuyahoga summit. In the following spring and summer, Mr. Geddes surveyed a distance of nine hundred miles, being assisted by the commissioner. They continued the examination of canal routes during 1823, and the following year, and early in 1825, determined upon the route commencing at Cleveland, and ending at Portsmouth on the Ohio river. In the meantime a board of canal fund commissioners had been created by law, and money had been borrowed, in New York city, in sufficient quantity to carry on the work of excavation for the first year. Messrs. Kelley and Williams were appointed acting commissioners, and David S. Bates, of Rochester, New York, as chief engineer. On the eighth of June, 1825, a public meeting of citizens, from various parts of the State, was held in Columbus, to adopt means for celebrating, with appropriate ceremonies, the commencement of constructing the Ohio canal. At this meeting Governor Morrow presided, and James K. Corry was secretary. A committee of arrangements was appointed, consisting of John C. Wright, of Jefferson county; Abram J. McDowell, of Franklin; Duncan McArthur, of Ross; Alexander Holmes, of Licking; Willis Silliman, of Muskingum; John Barr, of Pickaway; Daniel S. Norton, of Knox; Charles C. Hood, of Perry; Adam Johnston, of Coshocton, and William W. Irvin, of Fairfield, The committee fixed upon the fourth of July as the time, and the Licking summit as the place, for the great demonstration. They also designated Thomas Ewing as the orator, the Rev. Ahab Jenks as the chaplain, and General Adam Johnson, and Colonels Sam. F. McCracken and Abram J. McDowell as marshals for the occasion. Invitations were extended to, and accepted by Governor Clinton, General VanRensaellaer, and Messrs. Lord and Rathburn, of New York. The arrangements were made in a very satisfactory manner. On the fourth of July, 1825, Dewitt Clinton broke ground on the Licking summit, beginning the great work of connecting the Ohio with Lake Erie. The place was about four miles west of Newark. The day was fine, a good omen for the success of the mighty undertaking, and the large concourse of people were in most enthusiastic spirits. Governor Clinton, Governor Morrow, the several aids of each, who were present, and the State officers, went to the summit, and each and every one removed a few shovelfuls of earth. After this ceremony HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 153 was performed, the Hon. Thomas Ewing delivered an address to Governor Clinton and the people. Governor Clinton responded in glowing terms, predicting a glorious future for Ohio, and was frequently interrupted by loud outbursts of applause. When he had concluded speaking, there was a general and spontaneous expressron of the enthusiasm of the people, and "one hundred guns told the people that the Ohio canal was begun." So great and overcoming were the demonstrations of respect and gratitude, and so overpowering the applause, that Governor Clinton, it is said, wept. A dinner was served in the shade of the spreading beech trees that surrounded the little clearing that had been made for the celebration of the day, and toasts were drunk and many fine things said. When Governor Clinton's health was drank all the guns were fired, and the small arms, too. Thus was the Ohio canal auspiciously commenced, though the vast work begun in 1825 was not completed until 1832, and then at an expense of five millions of dollars, October 21, 1831, the opening of the canal was celebrated at Chillicothe. A National salute was fired at sunrise, from the terminus of Paint street, by Colonel Worthington; at eight o'clock a parade was made by the cavalry under Captain McArthur, and the Chillicothe Independent Blues, under Captain Allen, and a dinner was served at the Madeira house. Thomas James was president of the day, and Richard Douglass, John Carlisle, Felix Renick and O. T. Reeves acted as vice-presidents. An address was made by Governor McArthur, and another by William Key Bond. Numerous toasts were proposed, and, amid the booming of artillery and the plaudits of eight thousand people, eight canal boats entered the very heart of the town, being the first that had ever been seen in Chillicothe, The canal has a minimum breadth of forty feet at water line and twenty-six at the bottom, with four feet depth of water. In many places it exceeds the measurements. The walls of the locks are of solid masonry, and they are, as well as the culverts, of fine construction and great solidity. The length of the main line is three hundred and seven miles. There is a navigable feeder of fourteen miles to Zanesville, one of eleven miles from Lochbourne to Columbus, one of nine miles to Lancaster, one of fifty miles to Athens, the Waldhoming branch of twenty-three miles, besides other and shorter side cuts. "The effect of these improvements on the prosperity of the State," says Chief Justice Chase in his historical sketch, "cannot be developed in a few sentences. They have afforded the farmer of the interior an easy access to market, and have enhanced the value of his farm and his productions. They have facilitated intercourse between different sections of the State, and have thus made the people more united, as well as more prosperous. They have furnished the people a common object of generous satisfaction. They have attracted a large accession of population and capital, and they have made the name of the State of Ohio well known throughout the civilized world, as a name and character of which her sons may be justly proud." Although Governor Clinton's enthusiastic predictions as to the profitableness of the Ohio canal were never fulfilled, the improvement undoubtedly well paid the people of Ohio for their investment. An effect worthy of mention in this connection, and indeed directly connected with it, is the change which was wrought in the policy of the State by the creation of the public debt. This was caused and compelled by the construction of the canals, and a complete revision of the system of taxation in Ohio resulted therefrom. That portion of the canal passing through Scioto, Pike, Ross, Pickaway and Franklin counties, has been of greater value to the people along its line, than any other section of the Ohio canal. Its usefulness was not so soon eclipsed by rail transportation, and the amount of traffic was well kept up until the building of the Scioto Valley railroad. To Chillicothe especially, was the canal a very valuable means of communication. It became, very soon after the completion of the canal, an important shipping point—the place of outlet for the grain and produce of an extensive region. Wheat was wagoned from farms that lie within thirty or forty mrles of Cincinnati, to Chillicothe, because at the latter place there was better demand, The growth and prosperity of the old capital never received a more powerful impetus than that from the canal, and from no one cause was its business ever more stimulated or strengthened. EARLY TURNPIKES. The turnpike era may be said to have had its beginning about 1830. Discussion of the subject of extensive road improvements was commenced about that time, but no work was done until several years later. The Zanesville and Maysville and the Milford and Chillicothe turnpike companies were organized about the same time. The first company was incorporated March 7, 1836, and the first meeting of the corporators was held in Chillicothe, in June following. Samuel McCracken was elected president. Work upon the road was begun soon after, but suspended in 1842, on account of the bad financial condition of the company. In the meantime the Milford and Chillicothe turnpike had been built, and this branch of public improvement having been thus inaugurated, was continued in all directions, and the means of travel between the principal towns in southern Ohio was materially simplified, very much to the improvement of trade, and the general development of the country. The turnpike along the Scioto valley has a peculiar history, and, as it was the first of its kind built in Ohio —the beginning of the cheap turnpike system, we give a somewhat extended account of its construction. The Portsmouth and Columbus turnpike is one of those great thoroughfares, which before the completion of the Scioto Valley railroad, in the centennial year, was of vast use to the people along its line. Because of its vast extent, its long term of more than commonly important service as a means of communication between Chillicothe and the other towns of the valley, and also from the fact that it was the first road of its kind constructed in the State, we give place to a more detailed statement of its history than it is necessary to insert in regard to the other turnpikes. The great expense of the turnpike roads made it impossible to construct them after the repeal of the law by 20 154 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. which the State became a stockholder of one-half of the whole property. When the Columbus and Portsmouth turnpike was incorporated, a sufficient sum of money to build it upon the old plan could not be raised by subscription. William Renick, of Circleville, proposed a different plan of construction one much cheaper, but good enough for all practical purposes. The road was constructed, after long delay, upon the plan suggested and urged by him, and was the first of the kind in the State of Ohio, or west of the Alleghanies. Mr. Renick proposed that clean, unscreened gravel should be laid down on the line of the old road, except where it was necessary to straighten it, the gravel to be put on to the depth of four to six inches at each covering, until the road was covered with ten or twelve inches of gravel, each covering to be well packed and smoothed before the next was laid. He insisted that an ordinarily good turnpike could be built on this plan at an expense not to exceed one thousand two hundred dollars per mile— not equal to the perfectly constructed Macadam road, but such as would give all the essential advantages of the same, and with a little attention in repairs, could be kept so. Mr. Renick found no one to agree with him. In fact, the directors of the road deemed his plan so chimerical, that, during his absence east, they let the grading of ten miles of the road to a Mr. Robinson, who was a practical road-maker, on the old plan. On Mr. Renick's return home he so discouraged Mr. Robinson about his ever being paid for a road of that character, that he, Robinson, threw up his contract, although he had been at work on the road for a week or more, with a considerable force. The directors then re-let the road to Mr. Robinson to grade, gravel, and finish, for the same price per rod that the grading alone had been contracted for, thus, adopting essentially the plan proposed by Mr. Renick. There was no help for it; there could not be money enough raised to make a more expensive road. Much comment, quizzing, and unfavorable criticism were made during the progress. In time, several sections were finished and put into use. The experiment was a success. The road became sooner packed, was less rough, and constructed at a cost not exceeding one thousand two hundred dollars per mile, bridges included. The road from Circleville to Chillicothe was thus completed, and Mr. Robinson, the contractor, spent his life in building roads of the same character in other sections of Ohio. The company was incorporated by an act of the general assembly of the State, passed February 7, 1831, and Samuel M. Tracy, William Kendall, Ezra Osborn, John Peebles, Nathan R. Clough, and John Noel, of Scioto county; John J. Vanmeter, James B. Turner, William Blackstone, and Robert Lucas, of Pike county; James F. Worthington, David Crouse, Thomas J. McArthur, Thomas James, George Renick and Anthony Walhe, of Ross county; Andrew Huston, G. W. Doan, George Crook and John Cockran, of Pickaway county; and Joseph Ridgeway, Lincoln Goodale, Samuel Parnus, Robert W. McCoy and Joel Buttles, of Franklin county, were the commissioners named in said act. The said act was revised and amended several times before the completion of the road. The company divided the road into sections, or divisions, and these sections had their boards of directors, collected their tolls, kept up the repairs, and made dividends. All that portion of this pike lying north of Chillicothe and within the limits of Ross county, was purchased by the county, under the act of '78, at the appraised value of twelve thousand dollars. The controlling interest in the southern half is owned by James Emmitt, of Waverly. Following the general movement for the construction of toll roads there was a great free turnpike excitement in the years 1868, '69 and '70, during which period a number of roads were constructed in Highland county, bought under the authority of the act of 1868 and made free. Highland county has entered upon another era of turnpike construction, and when the roads now proposed are completed will have one of the most perfect systems of free pikes in the State. |