UNION COUNTY, OHIO 1883 HISTORY - CHAPTER III

262 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

CHAPTER III.

THE VIRGINIA MILITARY DISTRICT.

ORIGIN OF TITLE - EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS-PROMINENT SURVEYORS-FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE DISTRICT.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1783. Congress stated the terms on which a cession of the land belonging to Virginia, for the benefit of the General Government, would be accepted. The Virginians acceded to the terms, and on the 20th of December authorized their delegates to make a deed to the United States of all their right in the territory northwest of the River Ohio. "Upon condition that the territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into States, containing a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square or as near thereto as circumstances will admit; and that the States so formed shall be distinct republican States, and admitted members of the Federal Union. having the same rights of sovereignty freedom and independence, as the other States.

" That the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by this State in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts and garrisons within, and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States; and that one Commissioner shall be appointed by Congress, one by this Commonwealth and another by those two Commissioners, who, or a majority of them, shall be authorized and empowered to adjust and liquidate the account of the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by this State, which they shall judge to be comprised within the intent and meaning of the act of Congress of the tenth of October, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, respecting such expenses. That the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskas-

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kies, St. Vincents and the neighboring villages, who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of, their rights and liberties. That a quantity not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, promised by this State, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now General George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the posts of Kaskaskies and St. Vincents were reduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have since been incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, the length of which not to exceed double the breadth, in such place, on the northwest side of the Ohio, as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be afterward divided among the said officers and soldiers in due proportion, according to the laws of Virginia. That in case the quantity of good land on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of the Cumberland River, and between the Green River and Tennessee River, which has been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the deficiency should be made up to the said troops, in good lands, to be laid off between the Rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the River Ohio, in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia. That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or appropriated to any of the before mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the American Army, shall be considered a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever."(1)

In agreement with these conditions, a deed was made March 1, 1784, and accepted by Congress.

April 26, 1852, Hon. Benjamin Stanton, of Ohio, then in Congress from the district which included Union County, delivered a speech in opposition to the passage of " A. bill to further extend the time for locating military warrants and returning surveys thereon to the General Land Office," in which he included the following facts:

During the Revolution, Virginia raised sixteen regiments which she furnished to the continental army, and which were called the "Virginia line on continental establishment;" also, three regiments for the more immediate defense of the State, Which were under control of the State authorities and were called the "State line;" also twenty or twenty-five small vessels of war, called the "State navy," equal to one regiment of land forces; also several "partisan corps," such as troops of cavalry, battalions and legions of infantry, and artillery companies, equal in the aggregate to two regiments, making twenty-two regiments in all. At the earnest solicitation of the Continental Congress and Gen. Washington, she held out the strongest inducements to her people to enter the service, by offering large bounties in land to such as would enlist and serve for three years or during the war. The State Legislature, from 1778 to 1784, passed various laws providing as bounties for her officers who had enlisted, or should enlist, for three years or during the war, the following amounts of land:

For a Major General ..................................................15,000 acres.

For a Brigadier General ............................................ 10,000 acres.

(1) annals of the West, from Land Laws, p. 98.

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For a Colonel .............................................................. 5,000 acres.

For a Lieutenant Colonel ............................................ 4,500 acres.

For a Major ................................................................. 4,000 acres

For a Captain .............................................................. 3,000 acres.

For a Subaltern ............................................................ 2,000 acres.

For a -Non-commissioned officer ............................... 400 acres.

For a ,oldier or sailor ................................................... 200 acres.

This was for soldiers who served during the war. For three years' service,. each non-commissioned officer received 200 acres, and each soldier or sailor 100 acres. The heirs of any officer or soldier who died in the service were entitled to the same as their relatives would have been had they served through the war. Warrants were to be issued by the Governor upon proof of Service. In May, 1779, a tract bounded by Green River. the Cumberland Mountain, the Carolina (now Tennessee) line, the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, was set apart by the Virginia Legislature to satisfy these warrants. In November, 1781, a further tract of land. included within the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers and the Carolina line, was granted for the same purpose and said to be in lieu of a part of the former tract which had fallen to Carolina in the extension of the Carolina line westward. In 1784, Virginia ceded to The United States all the land claimed by her, exclusive of the tract north of the Ohio River, between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers, reserved to satisfy any unsatisfied balance of land that might be due to soldiers of the Virginia line on Continental establishment, after exhausting the Kentucky reservation. In July, 1788, Congress, being satisfied that the Kentucky lauds were sufficient for the purpose, passed a joint resolution declaring all locations between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, in Ohio. void until the deficiency in the Kentucky reservation was ascertained and established locations having been begun in the Ohio reservation in August, 1787. (1) Soon after this, the Superintendent of the surveys reported to the Executive of the State of Virginia that the deficiency of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, contemplated by the deed of cession, had been ascertained, and Congress passed an act August 10, 1790, legalizing the locations that had been made, and prescribing the mode of perfecting the title, This act required the Secretary of War to furnish the Governor of Virginia with a list containing the names of the officers and the privates of the Virginia troops and the a aggregate number of acres to which they were entitled, which was done. In 1804, Congress passed an act requiring all lands within this district to be located within three years, prohibiting further locations after that time. The limit was extended from time to time thereafter. In the portion of the military lands lying north of the Greenville treaty line, the lands, with others, were coded to the United States by the treaty of Ft. Meigs, September 29, 1817, and they became subject to entry July 4, 1819, and the military lands north of said line were nearly all located and surveyed in the next five years. The total number of men in the Virginia continental line was as follows:

Major Generals, only one of whom received bounty ................. 2

Brigadier Generals ..................................................................... 13

Colonels ..................................................................................... 47

Lieutenant Colonels .................................................................. 31

Majors ....................................................................................... 55

Captains .................................................................................... 372

Lieutenants (or Subalterns) ...................................................... 440

Non-commissioned officers ...................................................... 258

Soldiers .................................................................................. 8,459

Total ....................................................................................... 9,677

(1) The military claimants of land, under the laws of Virginia, began their locations in 1784. The continental line chose Col. Richard C. Anderson principal surveyor on their behalf in 1783, and on the 17th of December, in that year, concluded with him a contract under which he opened an office near Louisville, Ky, July 20, 1784, and entries at once began. The first entry north of the Ohio, however, was not made until August 1, 1787.

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If each one had received the lands due according to the above numbers, 4,722,730 acres would have been sufficient to satisfy all claims; but by the year 1852. there had been located in Kentucky and Ohio, on land warrants and scrip issued by Congress at various times, 4,944,118 acres. or more than 200,000 acres too much-and still there was a demand for extension of time on warrants, which was created entirely by sharp lawyers and speculators, who saw a way of making large amounts of money out of the scheme, Very much litigation was indulged in for many years, and the later owners of the lands found they had paid dearly for them.

In perfecting a title, the practice was, after first obtaining a warrant. to locate the. land by entering a general description thereof upon the books of the principal surveyor. The land was afterward surveyed by the surveyor or his deputy. The survey, with the warrant-or certified copy-were then forwarded to the general land office at Washington, and from thence a patent issued. The last act limiting the time for a return of surveys was passed on the 3d of March, 1855. It gave the further time of two years to those holding lands by entries made prior to January 1, 1852, to have the same surveyed and patented. After the expiration of these two years the unappropriated lands became the property of the United States. February 18, 1871. that, portion of these lands remaining unsurveyed and unsold was ceded by the United States to the State of Ohio; and in March, 1872, the Legislature gave them to the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. An article in the Marysville Tribune of October 4, 1882, taken from the Kenton Republican. upon "Quiet Titles," contains the following language:

"It, was clearly the intention of Congress to convey to the State of Ohio only such lands as were unappropriated. But in addition to unappropriated lands, which were comparatively small in amount, there were and are in the Virginia Military District not less than 130,000 acres of land which have never been patented; 30,000 acres of it rest in entries and surveys alone; 100,000 acres of it rest in entries and surveys made prior to March 3, 1857. Besides, through the frauds of those locating and surveying lands, the amounts actually surveyed exceeded by from 50 to 500 per cent the amounts authorized by the warrants. Notwithstanding the evident intention of Congress, it soon became apparent that it was the design of the Trustees of the college to claim under their grant not only the unappropriated lands, but the unpatented and fraudulent excess lands as well. A contract was made by them with an agent who agreed to hunt out these lands and dispossess the present occupants for 33 1/3 per cent of the proceeds. Some of these lands had been occupied from ten to eighty years. They had been sold and resold again and again. They constituted some of the richest farming lands of the State. They were divided among hundreds of small owners. Valuable improvements had been made thereon, and to many they represented a lifetime's hard labor."

Hon. Henry L. Dickey spoke as follows on the subject: "The threatening attitude of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College toward the holders of these lands, together with the fact that by it caveats have been filed in the General Land Office to prevent the issuing of patents even upon the lands that were located and serveyed three-quarters of a century ago, is well calculated to disturb the farmer who for many years had paid his taxes and knew nothing of legislative schemes and tricks of law. In hundreds of instances, lands are held and have been for years simply upon location and survey, and in all 'there, is excess.' Homes where the hardy pioneer built his cabin, cleared his fields, and sowed and reaped for years, and where his children had grown to manhood and womanhood, now in his old age the old farm, 'the dearest spot on earth' to him, where his children and his grandchildren

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return to cheer his declining years and receive his fatherly blessing, is found to be no home. A cloud has intervened, and its darkness is more chilling to his soul than even the approach of that invisible reaper whose sickle he knows to be near. His home is more than shackled. Those fields are more than bound. The very landmarks that have grown mossy with age and peace are no longer pointed to with that honest pride and satisfaction which had for so many years been his. The despoiler has come; he would 'cause the naked to lodge without clothing,' and, in violation of the divine injunction, "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it,' would 'pluck the fatherless from the breast and take a pledge of the poor.,'"

The attention of Congress was called to the matter. and soon, action being necessary, an act was passed May 27, 1880, in effect limiting the rights of the College to the unappropriated lands. The previous acts extending the time for making and filing surveys had been passed chiefly through the influence of unprincipled speculators in military lands. Congress effectually thwarted their schemes in 1855, but in the act of 1880, referred to, such provisions were inserted as to throw open to litigation between the present occupants and the heirs of the original locators the whole of the 130,000 acres of unpatented lands. and, "having secured this legislation," says the article before quoted, "the land-sharks of Ohio and Virginia organized for a campaign of blackmail and ejectment." Much trouble ensued, and in some cases large sums were paid by present occupants to satisfy unjust claims. Gen. James S. Robinson, of Hardin County, representing in Congress the district which included Union County, fought a bill through at the last session (1881-82) protecting the present occupants of military lands in their just rights, and has another bill on foot in the present Congress, granting patents to the just and equitable owners of these lands and affording absolute protection against the endeavors of speculators and swindlers. Gen. Robinson's endeavors were highly appreciated by his constituents residing on the military lands, and beyond a doubt aided largely in returning him to Congress in the fall of 1882.

The Greenville treaty was concluded on the 3d of August, 1795, and its! provisions are elsewhere given. The boundary line as then agreed upon between the Indians and the whites passed through the lands in Ohio reserved by Virginia for her soldiers, and the portion thus cut off was not ceded by the red nations until 1817, as before stated. F. J. Sager, of Marysville, in an article read before the County Surveyors' Association, at Columbus. January 13, 1881, includes the following interesting notes concerning the treaty line, and other matters connected with the Virginia Military Lands:

"The most important feature of this boundary to surveyors was that it departed from natural boundaries and involved the running of lines. The one which crosses what is now Central Ohio was nearly 145 miles in length; the point designated on the Tuscarawas River was near the present village of Bolivar, and in what is now the line between Tuscarawas and Stark Counties. The western terminus was in McLean Township, Shelby County, near the outlet of the Berlin reservoir. It is related that the surveyors, accompanied by several Indian chiefs, among whom was the renowned chief Little Turtle, commenced at the western end of this line. The surveyors, not knowing the position of either end of their line, were at a loss to determine their course. They finally determined upon the novel method of solving this difficulty by requesting the Indians, one at a time, to stand in the same place and point in the direction in which they thought the line should run. From personal observations on this line, and from the testimony of others, it is evident that

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they were governed in their course by the magnetic needle, which was almost constantly affected by local attraction and continually throw them out of line either to the right or left, while the needle at any place on this line would uniformly indicate about 80' east of north, showing apparently a straight line. This line, when mentioned in the laws and records of Ohio or the United States, is considered and treated as a straight line, but when examined independent of the magnetic needle it prover, to be a very crooked one.

With all respect to those who are careful and honest in their work as surveyors, land lines, monuments and records are becoming more obscure and complicated. At least this is so in the irregularly surveyed districts, such as the Virginia Military Lands."

The following interesting notes on the Virginia Military Lands are from the "Code of Rules, or Instructions for the Government of County Surveyors," prepared by the Secretary of State for Ohio in 1882:

"We have seen that Virginia, in her deed of cession of the territory northwest of the River Ohio, reserved certain lands on the northwest side of the River Ohio, to make up any deficiency which might occur in the lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, reserved for those who, in conformity to the laws of Virginia, were entitled to bounty lands. Congress of July 17, 1788, by resolution, declared all surveys of lands between the Scioto and Little Miami invalid, until it had been ascertained whether there was any deficiency in the lands south of the Ohio. It was also resolved that the Executive of Virginia be requested to inform Congress whether there has been any deficiency of good lands southeast of the Ohio, and if so, what amount, and whether any checks have been provided by that State to prevent troops taking up more lands than are actually due them. This resolution was repealed by act of August 10, 1790. It appears from this act that the agents of the troops had reported an insufficiency of lands on the southeasterly side of the Ohio, and it was enacted that the names of those entitled to lands be returned by the Secretary of War to the Executive of Virginia, with the aggregate amount of acres due said line; that it shall be lawful for the said agents to locate between the Scioto and Miami Rivers such number of acres as shall, together with the number already located between the said two rivers and the number already located on the southeasterly side of the Ohio, be equal to the aggregate amount, so to be returned by the Secretary of War; that the said agents shall enter in a book the bounds of each location and survey, annexing the name of the person originally entitled to each, which book, the entries having first been certified by the agents, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State; that the President should cause letters patent to be made out to those entitled to bounty lands; that the letters patent be transmitted to the executive of Virginia, to be by them [him] delivered to each grantee. This act was modified and amended subsequently, as to the mode of procedure in obtaining patents, as to the persons entitled to patents, and extending the time for the location of lands by numerous acts of Congress.

"It was not long before the question of boundary between the Virginia Military Lands and the Congress Lands west came up, and the issue was not finally determined for a number of years. By virtue of the act of May 10, 1800, a line was run, under the authority of the Surveyor General, by Israel Ludlow. The first section of the act of March 23, 1804, refers to this line. It enacts that the line run under the direction of the Surveyor General of the United States, from the source of the Little Miami toward the source of the Scioto, and which bounds on the east the surveys of the lands of the United States, shall, together with its course continued to the Scioto River, be considered and held as the westerly boundary line, north of the source of

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the Little Miami, of the territory reserved by the State of Virginia, between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, for the use of the officers and soldiers of the continental line of that State;

"'Provided, That the State of Virginia shall, within two years after the passing of this act, recognize such line as the boundary of said territory.'

"By act of Congress, June 26, 1812, the President of the United States was authorized to appoint three Commissioners on the part of the United States, to act with such Commissioners as might be appointed by the State of Virginia, with full power to ascertain, survey and mark the westwardly boundary of the military reservation between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers. The State of Virginia appointed Commissioners, who met those of the United States, and a line was run drawn from the source of the Little Miami to the course of the Scioto. This is called Roberts' line. The Commissioners appointed by Virginia refused to accede to this line, claiming a still larger tract of land, by running from the source of the Scioto a straight line to the mouth of the Little Miami. The lands west were surveyed and divided into sections and parts of sections. The territory between Roberts' line and Ludlow's line embracing a large tract of fertile land, was claimed both by purchase and location, and it became a matter of great importance to the parties to have established by a judicial decision, the western boundary line of the reservation of Virginia. For this purpose a case was agreed and taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, on error. The cause was decided in 1824, and Roberts' line virtually established. See Doddridge vs. Thompson et al., 9 Wheaton, 469. The court, however, did not advert to the act of April 11, 1818, the third section of which provides that from the source of the Little Miami River to the Indian boundary line, established by the treaty of Greenville in 1793, the line designated as the westerly boundary line of the Virginia tract, by an act of Congress passed on the 23d of March, 1804, viz., the Ludlow line, shall be considered and held to be such until otherwise directed by law; and from the aforesaid Indian boundary line to the source of the Scioto River, the line run by Charles Roberts, in 1812, shall be held and considered the westerly boundary line thereof.

"Why the Supreme Court overlooked the last recited act of course we cannot say, and we do not know of any cause having been assigned for disregarding it. Be that as it may, however, Congress took immediate steps to fix the line in accordance with its act of April 11, 1818. On May 26, 1824, an act was passed authorizing the President of the United States to ascertain the number of acres of land and the value thereof, exclusive of improvements, of all such lands lying between Ludlow's and Roberts' lines, in the State of Ohio, a may, agreeably to the principles of the decision in the case of Doddridge's Lessee vs. Thompson and Wright, be held by persons under Virginia Military warrants, and on what terms the holders will relinquish the same to the United States. By act of May 26, 1830, the President was authorized to pay to the Virginia Military claimants of lands between Ludlow's and Roberts' lines, south of the Greenville treaty line, located prior to June 26, 1812, the sum of $62,515.25, being the amount at which said lands were valued, exclusive of improvements; provided, however, that before payment the claimants should relinquish by deed their titles to the said lands. The last act upon this subject was that of February 12, 1831, which provided that Philip Doddridge should be paid the sum of $1,765.68, he having relinquished his title to Survey 6,928 for 700 acres to the United States. Congress thus effectually settled the question of boundary by purchasing the title to the disputed lands.

"As we have seen, Ludlow's line constitutes the western boundary of the Virginia Military District from the head-waters of the Little Miami to the

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Greenville treaty line. The records are somewhat defective in regard to this and Roberts' line, but the course, as far as can be ascertained with any accuracy, is here given: Ludlow's line begins at the head spring of the Little Miami, in the Southwest quarter of Section 30, of Township 7, Range 8 (between the Miami Rivers); thence north 20" west a distance of forty miles 5 chains and twenty-five links, to a point, in the Greenville treat line, in the southeast quarter of Section 2, Township 2, Range 15 (between the Miami Rivers); thence the boundary line is transferred to the Greenville treaty line, which it follows in a southwesterly course till it intersects the Roberts line; thence with the Roberts line on the east line of Township 7, Range 9 east of first Meridian, north 20' west, to a point in the southeast quarter of Section 34, Township 5, Range 8; thence north 75' 05' east to a point in Section 36 of the same township and range, where the line strikes the headwaters of the Scioto River. The reader will observe that both lines, although being straight lines, starting at the same point and diverging throughout their entire course, have the same bearing. The record does not explain this discrepancy, which may have been due to the magnetic variation caused by the lapse of time from 1804 to 1812, and which, if not taken into account, would subtend an angle west of the Ludlow line, as indicated by the Roberts line. The variation in eight years would be about twenty-five or thirty minutes, which corresponds very nearly with the angle between the lines run."

EARLY SURVEYORS-FIRST SETTLEMENT IN DISTRICT.

In 1787," says Albach, in Annals of the West, " the reserved lands of the Old Dominion, north of the Ohio, were examined, and in August of that year entries were commenced. Against the validity of these entries, Congress, in 1788, entered their protest. The protest, which was practically a prohibition of Settlement, was withdrawn in 1790. AS soon as this was done, it became an object to have surveys made in the reserved region, but as this was an undertaking of great danger, in consequence of the Indian wars, high prices in land or money had to be paid to the surveyors. The person who took the lead in this gainful but unsafe enterprise was Nathaniel Massie, then twenty-seven years old. He had been for six years or more in the West, and had prepared himself in Col. Anderson's office for the details of his business. Thus prepared, in December, 1790, he entered into the following contract with certain persons therein named:

"'Articles of agreement between Nathaniel Massie, of one part, and the several persons that have hereunto subscribed, of the other part, witnesseth, That the subscribers hereof doth oblige themselves to settle in the town laid off on the northwest side of the Ohio, opposite to the lower part of the Two Islands; and make said town, or the neighborhood, on the northwest side of the Ohio, their permanent seat of residence for two years from the date hereof; no subscriber shall absent himself more than two months at a time, and during such absence furnish a strong, able-bodied man sufficient to bear arms at least equal to himself; no subscriber shall absent himself the time above. mentioned in case of actual danger, nor shall such absence be but once a year; no subscriber shall absent himself in case of actual danger, or if absent shall return immediately. Each of the subscribers doth oblige themselves to comply with the rules and regulations that shall be agreed on by a majority thereof for the support of the settlement In consideration whereof, Nathaniel Massie doth bind and oblige himself, his heirs, etc., to make over and convey to such of the subscribers that comply with the above mentioned conditions, at the expiration of two years, a good and sufficient title unto one in-lot in said town, containing five poles in front and eleven back, one out-lot of four

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acres convenient to said town, in the bottom, which the said Massie is to put them in immediate possession of, also 100 acres of land, which the said Massie has shown to a part of the subscribers; the conveyance to be made to each of the subscribers, their heirs or assigns. In witness whereof, each of the parties have hereunto set their hands and seals, this 1st day of December, 1790.'

"The town thus laid off was situated some twelve miles above Maysville, and was called Manchester; it is still known to the voyager on the Ohio. From this point Massie and his companions made surveying expeditions through the perilous years from 1791 to 1796, but though often distressed and in danger, they were never wearied nor afraid; ad at length, with Wayne's treaty, all danger of importance was at an end."

Manchester was the first point within the Virginia Military District at which a permanent settlement was made, and by March, 1791, it contained about thirty families within the stockade which was built. Massie performed much service as a pioneer in extending the settlements and the boundaries of civilization in this part of Ohio. He made surveys over a large portion of the district, and was the pioneer settler in the Scioto Valley. The following incidents from his experience will show to what dangers and hardships the early surveyors of the Virginia lands were subjected:

" During the winter of 1794-95, Massie prepared a party to enter largely into the surveying business. Nathaniel Beasly, John Beasly and Peter Lee were again employed as the assistant surveyors, The party set off from Manchester well equipped, to prosecute their business, or. should occasion offer, give battle to the Indians. They took the route of Logan's trace, and proceeded to a place called the Deserted Camp, on Todd's Fork of the Little Miami [in what is now Clinton County, Ohio]. At this point they commenced surveying, and surveyed large portions of land on Todd's Fork, and up the Miami to the Chillicothe town (now in Clark County); thence up Massie's Creek and Caesar's Creek nearly to their heads. By the time the party had progressed thus far, winter had set in. The ground was covered with a sheet of snow from six to ten inches deep. During the tour, which continued upward of thirty days, the party had no bread. For the first two weeks a pint of flour was distributed to each mess once a day, to mix with the soup in which meat had been boiled. When night came, four fires were made for cooking that is, one for each mess. Around these fires, till sleeping time arrived, the company spent their time in the most social glee, singing songs and telling stories. When danger was not apparent or immediate, they were as merry a set of men as ever assembled. Resting time arriving, Massie always gave the signal, and the whole party would then leave their comfortable fires, carrying with them their blankets, their fire-arms and their little baggage, walking in perfect silence two or three hundred yards from their fires. They would then scrape away the, snow and huddle down together for the night. Each mess formed one bed; they would spread down on the ground one-half of the blankets, reserving the other half for covering. The covering blankets were fastened together by skewers, to prevent them from slipping apart. Thus prepared, the whole party crouched down together with their rifles in their arms and their pouches under their heads for pillows, lying spoon-fashion, with three heads one way and four the other, their feet extending to about the middle of their bodies. When one turned the whole mass turned, or else the close range would be broken and the cold let in. In this way they laid till broad daylight, no noise and scarce a whisper being uttered during the night. When it was perfectly light, Massie would call up two of the men in whom he had most confidence, and send them to reconnoiter and make a circuit

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around the fires, lest an ambuscade might be formed by the Indians to destroy the party as they returned to the fires. This was an invariable custom in every variety of weather. Self-preservation required this circumspection. Some time after this, while surveying on Caesar's Creek, his men attacked a party of Indians, and the savages broke and fled. After the defeat of the Indians by Wayne, the surveyors were not interrupted by the Indians; but on one of their excursions, still remembered as the 'starving tour.' the whole party, consisting of twenty-eight men, suffered extremely in a driving snowstorm for about four days. They were in a wilderness exposed to this severe storm, without hut, tent or covering, and what was still more appalling, without provisions and without any road or even track to retreat on and were nearly one hundred miles from any place of shelter. On the third day of the storm, they luckily killed two wild turkeys, which were boiled and divided into twenty-eight parts and devoured with great avidity, head, feet, entrails and all."

In the early part of 1787, the Virginia Military District was explored by two Kentucky surveyors, Maj. John O'Bannon and Arthur Fox, who wished to obtain a knowledge of the land for the purpose of making entries when the land office for the district should be opened. When that event occurred, on the 1st of August in the same year, O'Bannon entered considerable land and afterward became a prominent deputy surveyor in the district. Others who were deputy surveyors in the same region were William Lytle, John Beasley, James Galloway, Jr., William Barlow, Lucas Sullivant, James Taylor, Walter Dun, Allen Latham, Cadwallader Wallace, E. P. Kendrick, A. D. Kendrick, and perhaps others; not all of these, however, surveyed in what is now Union County.

Lucas Sullivant, whose name appears oftener, perhaps, on the early Union County records than that of any other man, was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., in September, 1765, and at the age of sixteen years joined a volunteer expedition against the Indians, who were threatening the western counties of his native State. His parents died when he was young. and he used his energies and small patrimony in obtaining an education. The new and unsurveyed lands of Kentucky opened a field for his enterprise, and he repaired thither, finding all he could do. He was appointed by Col. Richard C. Anderson (Surveyor General of the Virginia Military District) Deputy District Surveyor, and at the age of twenty-two years (in 1787) became one of the band of surveyors and pioneers who opened up the district to settlement. The savages defeated all his first attempts, but organizing a stronger party at Limestone, now Maysville, they advanced into the wilderness and in due time reached the banks of the Scioto, in what is now Franklin County, Ohio, where he began his operations. They were often threatened by the savages and had many narrow escapes, but Mr. Sullivant continued at his work and pushed it to a fortunate conclusion, He entered many thousand acres of land in the surrounding region. He laid out North Liberty and Franklinton in 1797, and about the same time married Sarah Starling, daughter of Col. William Starling, of Kentucky; building the first brick house in his town of Franklinton, he resided there until his death, which occurred August 8, 1823. He was one of the most prominent of the early pioneers of this State. His brother-in-law, Lyne Starling, settled at Franklinton in 1806, was one of the original proprietors of Columbus, and was appointed administrator of Mr. Sullivant's estate after the death of the latter, and his name also appears very often on the Union County records. Lucas Sullivant was the father of Michael L. Sullivant, owner of the great farm in Ford County, Ill., which he so successfully managed through a long term of years. He died February 29,1879.

274 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

From the field notes of James Galloway, Jr., the following minutes are made:

November 7, 1805-Speaks of "the road from the little lake to Darby."

November 13-"Went down Otter Creek to the mouth," etc.

November 14-" Went down Mill Creek about two miles on a straight line; came back to the forks, where, crossing on a log, it being a rainy day and the log wet and slippery, I fell and broke the glass of my compass, and came to Job Sharp's, where I fortunately got a pane of glass, and succeeded in cutting it under water with scissors so as to fit the compass as well as the one I had broken did."

November 22--Surveying on the South Fork of Treacle Creek, near a large pond * * "here begins good bottom * * thin land * * * good land below a prairie * * encamped all night near a beaver dam. "

November 23--" Went down Treacle Creek to Johnston's, and on the 24th returned home, being out twenty days. Alexander Kerr and James Stevens, chain carriers."

May 22, 1806-" Returned home after an absence of eleven days."

January 2, 1807-Speaks of" road from Springer's old mill to Franklinton."

February 16-" Set out from home in company with David Blue, David Sroufe and Ephraim Myers."

February 20--"Crossed a creek where David Blue and the pack-horse he was riding fell in through the ice and got completely wet. Called the creek Blue's Creek."

February 24-" Steered a course through the woods to Job Sharp's, on Beaver Run."

February 26-" Went to Little Darby and began on the creek ten poles below where the track from Widow Reed's to Buck Creek crosses it at the mouth of a branch."

Same day-" Crossed Treacle Creek to two black oaks in a prairie near the road to George Reed's"

March 7-" Returned home after a tour of twenty-one days."

November 12-"Began on the Spring Fork of Treacle Creek * * ran * * to a stake in a prairie; here we started a large bear, which Samuel Galloway took after with our own and Michael Dickey's dogs; thence [to a point given in the notes] where we found S. Galloway and the bear, which he had killed."

November 19-Speaks of " big road down Darby to Dyer's mill."

November 20-"Arrived at home, having killed among the company one bear, one deer, sixteen raccoons and twelve turkeys, and been absent twenty-four days."

On this trip William Townsley and William Townsley, Jr., were chain carriers, and Samuel Galloway, marker.

May 26, 1808-Speaks of State road from Franklinton to Springfield. Same day, speaks of " the State road" and "the road from Graham's to Urbana." In noting one of his measurements this day, he says, "at 200 yards I killed a buck."

May 28-"Laid off Paul Alder's land I sold him." This was a brother to Jonathan Alder, of whom a sketch is found in Chapter II of this volume.

May 17, 1809-" Lost my horse and spent the next day in hunting him, to no purpose. "

(1) By which name it is still known.

Page 275 - Picture of Wm. T. Fulton

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