PAGE - 235 - PICTURE OF ISAAC K. STEDDON
PAGE - 236 - BLANK
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 237
CHAPTER IV.
PIONEER HISTORY.
"Bold forest settlers! they have scared
The wild beast from his savage den,
Our valleys to the sunshine bared
And clothed with beauty, hill and glen.
"The car of steam now thunders by
The place where blazed their cabin fires,
And where rang out the panther's cry
Thoughts speed along electric wires.
"They vanish from us one by one,
In death's unlighted realm to sleep;
And Oh! degenerate is the son
Who would not some memorial keep."
NO permanent settlements were attempted within the limits of Warren County for more than six years after the first adventurers had established themselves at Columbia, Cincinnati and North Bend. Yet extensive purchases, of land had been made in this region long before its first settlement. Before three years had elapsed after the establishment of the first colony at Columbia, Symmes had sold sections, half-sections and quarter-sections in every range and township of his purchase. Why this long delay in occupying the healthy and fertile lands of Warren County? The explanation is easy: The Indians had manifested their hostility as soon as the white settlements had been commenced, and parties of savages were constantly lurking in the woods awaiting opportunities to kill and plunder. Even at the stations, as they were called, near each other and near Fort Washington, and protected by block-houses and pickets, the inhabitants were kept constantly on the alert, and went to church with their guns. To have attempted the occupancy of any lands within the limits of this county prior to Wayne's victory would have been extreme temerity.
STATIONS FOR DEFENSE AGAINST THE INDIANS.
Many of the first settlers of Warren and Butler Counties remained at Columbia, Cincinnati, or some of the " stations " within the present limits of Hamilton County for several years after they had purchased the lands which became their permanent homes. The unhappy condition of many of these adventurers who were prevented from occupying their lands, and the methods adopted of building stations of defense, are described by Judge Burnet in the following extract from his Notes:
"A large number of the original adventurers to the Miami Purchase had exhausted their means by paying for their land and removing their families to the country. Others were wholly destitute of property, and came out as volunteers, under the expectation of obtaining, gratuitously, such small tracts of land as might be forfeited by the purchasers, under Judge Symmes, for not making the improvements required by the conditions stipulated in the terms of sale and settlement of Miami lands, published by the Judge in 1787. The class of adventurers first named was comparatively numerous, and had come out under an expectation of taking immediate possession of their lands, and of commencing the cultivation of them for subsistence. Their situation, therefore, was distressing. To go out into the wilderness to till the soil appeared
238 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
to be certain death; to remain in the settlements threatened them with starvation. The best provided of the pioneers found it difficult to obtain subsistence and, of course, the class now spoken of were not far from total destitution. They depended on game, fish, and such products of the earth as could be raised on small patches of ground in the immediate vicinity of the settlements.
" Occasionally, small lots of provisions were brought down the river by emigrants, and sometimes were transported on pack-horses from Lexington, at a heavy expense, and not without danger. But supplies thus procured were beyond the reach of those destitute persons now referred to.
" Having endured these privations as long as they could be borne, the more resolute of them determined to brave the consequences of moving on to their lands. To accomplish the object with the least exposure, those whose lands were in the same neighborhood united as one family; and on that principle, a number of associations were formed, amounting to a dozen or more, who went out resolved to maintain their positions.
" Each party erected a strong block-house, near to which their cabins were put up, and the whole was inclosed by strong log pickets. This being done, they commenced clearing their lands and preparing for planting their crops. During the day, while they were at work, one person was placed as a sentinel to warn them of approaching danger. At sunset, they retired to the blockhouse and their cabins, taking everything of value within the pickets. In this manner they proceeded from day to day and week to week, till their improvements were sufficiently extensive to support their families. During this time, they depended for subsistence on wild game, obtained at some hazard, more than on the scanty supplies they were able to procure from the settlements on the river.
" In a short time, these stations gave protection and food to a large number of destitute families. After they were established, the Indians became less annoying to the settlements on the Ohio, as part of their time was employed in watching the stations. The former, however, did not escape, but endured their share of 'the fruits of savage hostility. In fact, no place or situation was exempt from danger. The safety of the pioneer depended on his means of defense, and on perpetual vigilance.
" The Indians viewed those stations with great jealousy, as they had the appearance of permanent military establishments, intended to retain possession of their country. In that view they were correct; and it was fortunate for the settlers that the Indians wanted either the skill or the means of demolishing them.
" The truth of the matter is, their great error consisted in permitting those works to be constructed at all. They might have prevented it with great ease, but they appeared not to be aware of the serious consequences which were to result until it was too late to act with effect. Several attacks were, however, made at different times, with an apparent determination to destroy them; but they failed in every instance. The assault made on the station erected by Capt. Jacob White, a pioneer of much energy and enterprise, at the third crossing of Mill Creek from Cincinnati, on the old Hamilton road, was resolute and daring; but it was gallantly met and successfully repelled. During the attack, which was in the night, Capt. White shot and killed a warrior, who fell so near the block-house that his companions could not remove his body. The next morning it was brought in, and, judging from his stature, as reported by the inmates, he might have claimed descent from a race of giants. On examining the ground in the vicinity of the block-house, the appearances of blood indicated that the assailants had suffered severely.
" In the winter of 1790-91, an attack was made, with a strong party,
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 239
amounting, probably, to four or five hundred, on Dunlap's Station, at Colerain. Tho block-house at that place was occupied by a small number of United States troops, commanded by Col. Kingsbury, then a subaltern in the army. The fort was furnished with a piece of artillery, which was an object of terror to the Indians; yet that did not deter them from an attempt to effect their purpose. The attack was violent, and for some time the station was in imminent danger."
PREMIUMS FOR INDIAN SCALPS.
The long war which was ended with Wayne's treaty at Greenville was a cruel one. The Miami country was known as the " Miami Slaughter-House." The depredations of the savages led the settlers into some measures of defense which it is not pleasant to record. It is perhaps not generally known that men of high standing formed a committee to publish a notice offering premiums for Indian scalps. Warren County was included in the district within which young men were offered inducements to range the woods " to prevent savages from committing depredations on defenseless citizens." Early in the spring of 1794, a subscription paper was in circulation at Columbia to provide premiums for scalps of Indians. And in the Centinel of the Northwest Territory of May 17, 1794, a committee, consisting of L. Woodward, Darius C. Orcutt and James Lyons, of Cincinnati, and William Brown, Ignatius Ross and John Reily, of Columbia, publish a notice offering rewards for Indian scalps taken between the 18th of April and the 25th of December, 1794, in a district beginning on the Ohio ten miles above the mouth of the Little Miami, extending ten miles west of the Great Miami, and twenty-five back into the country, above where Harmar's trace crosses the Little Miami, and in a direct line west. Rewards were offered as follows:
" That for every scalp having the right ear appendant, for the first ter Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid, by those whc are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever collected, be paid the sun of $136, and for every scalp of the like number of Indians, having the right ear appendant, who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid 1)3 those who are not subscribers, the Federal troops excepted, shall, whenever col lected, be paid the sum of $100; and for every scalp having the right ear ap pendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limit aforesaid, by those who are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever col lected as aforesaid, be paid the sum of $117; and for every scalp having the right ear appendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are not subscribers to the said article shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $95."
Wayne's decisive victory over the Indians on the ,20th of August, 1794, put a check to their depredations, but did not at once reduce them to absolute submission slog. The first settlements in Warren County were begun in 1795. During th winter and spring of this year, six months after Wayne's victory, there were occaisional reports of murders of white men by the Indians. In February, two whit men were killed near the mouth of the Great Miami, and in March, one man wa killed and eight horses stolen in the village of North Bend. On the 7th May, the Indians stole nine horses from Ludlow's Station, only five miles frog Cincinnati, and, though pursued, made their escape. The treaty of peace Greenville, concluded August 3, 1795, put an end to the murder of white me by Indians in the Miami settlements, but horses continued to be stolen by then Judge Symmes thought that white men who bought horses from the Indians were to blame, as the Indians would steal horses to take the place of those the had sold. The Judge wrote to Gen. Dayton, in 1796, that he wished Con-
240 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
gress would make it a penal offense for a white man to buy a horse from an Indian, as no Indian would walk when he could steal a horse.
Sometimes, however, a white man would steal a horse from the Indians, and we have the record of the conviction of at least one man for this offense. In March, 1796, at Cincinnati, the seat of justice for the whole Miami region, Daniel McKean, lately arrived from New Jersey, was found guilty of stealing a horse from an Indian. He was sentenced to pay the red man $1, and to receive thirty-nine lashes in the most public streets of the town, and bear on the front of his hat, during the infliction of the punishment, a paper, with the inscription, in large letters: " I stole a horse from the Indians."
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first settlement within the limits of Warren County is involved in some obscurity. Many of the earliest settlers had purchased their lands long before it was safe to settle upon them. They may have made frequent visits to their lands, and perhaps have begun the work of clearing and making improvements, before becoming permanent residents thereon.
Several written accounts concur in representing the settlement at Bedle's Station as the first in the county. The only block-house in the county for protection against the Indians was here erected. It was built of logs, and constructed in the ordinary manner of block-houses. The distinguishing feature of block-houses was that the upper part of the building above the height of a man's shoulder projected one or two feet over the lower part, thus leaving a space through which rifles could be thrust on the approach of enemies. Bedle's Station was about four miles west of Lebanon and one mile 'south of Union Village, and was a well-known place among the early inhabitants. The date usually given for the commencement of this settlement is September, 1795. Although this is one month after Wayne's treaty of peace, it should be remembered that it could not at that time be known that the Indians would respect the treaty. Hence the block-house was erected. William Bedle, who, in connection with his son and sons-in-law, established this station, was a native of New Jersey. At what time he came to the Western country is unknown. In Littell's Genealogies of the Passaic Valley of New Jersey, it is stated that " William Bedell sold his lands in October, 1792, to his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Littell, and, with his son-in-law and son (James) and their families, removed to a section of land that he purchased of Daniel Thompson for $250, between the two Miami Rivers, in Warren County, Ohio, where they all settled." The family surname is variously written, but Bedle is the most common orthography in the Warren County records. There were several families of this name among the early settlers of Turtle Creek Township, and all of them were from New Jersey. William Bedle probably purchased from Daniel Thompson a land warrant issued by Symmes, as his deed for Section 28, Town 4, Range 3, was executed by Jonathan Dayton and dated November 30, 1795. At the time of the erection of Bedle's block-house, White's Station, on Mill Creek, was probably the nearest and most accessible settlement.
Family traditions give September, 1795, or the month following Wayne's treaty, as the date of the settlement of Mounts' Station, on the south side of the Little Miami, two and one-half miles below the mouth of Todd's Fork. Here, on a tract of broad and fertile bottom land, Mounts, with his family and four other families, established themselves, and were afterward joined by others. They erected their cabins in a circle around a spring, as a protec-
tion against the Indians.
In the spring of 1796, settlements were made in various parts of the county. The settlements at Deerfield, Franklin, and the vicinities of Lebanon
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 241
and Waynesville, all date from the spring of 1796. It is probable that a few cabins were erected at Deerfield and Franklin in the autumn of 1795, but it is not probable that any families were settled at either place until the next spring. The towns of Waynesville and Franklin were both laid out early in 1796, and it is probable that Deerfield was platted about the same time. Samuel Heigh- way, the projector of Waynesville, built what appears to have been the first cabin in that town March 9, 1797, but numerous tracts in the vicinity of that place had been sold and settled prior to that time.
Among the earliest white men who made their homes in the county were those who settled on the forfeitures in Deerfield Township. They were poor men, wholly destitute of means to purchase land, and were willing to brave dangers from savage foes, and to endure the privations of a lonely life in the wilderness to receive gratuitously the tract of 106 2/3 acres forfeited by each purchaser of a section of land who did not commence improvements within two years after the date of his purchase. In a large number of the sections below the third range, there was a forfeited one-sixth part, and a number of hardy adventurers had established themselves on the northeast corner of the section. Some of these adventurers were single men, living solitary and alone, in little huts, and supporting themselves chiefly with their rifles. Others had their families with them at an early period. Tradition gives the date of the settlements on some of the forfeited tracts as prior to Wayne's treaty, and, while the exact history cannot now be learned, it is not improbable that some of the claimants of forfeitures may have begun a clearing and erected some kind of a dwelling not long after Wayne's victory over the Indians, and prior to the building of Bedle's block-house. Under the terms of sale and settlement of the Miami Purchase, claimants of forfeitures were required to make and continue improvements thereon for a period of seven years, when they were entitled to receive deeds therefor. The claimants were permitted to reside in some station of defense. Several claimants in Deerfield Township were unsuccessful in perfecting their titles to the tracts on which they had made improvements.
It may be safely assumed that September, 1795, the date given in Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, is not far from the correct date of the first settlement of Warren County. The following dates exhibit the progress of settlements up the Miamis:,
August 20, 1794, Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers.
December 17, 1794, Hamilton laid out at Fort Hamilton.
August 3, 1795, Wayne's treaty of peace.
September, 1795, Bedle's Station commenced.
November 4, 1795, Dayton laid out.
Spring of 1796, Waynesville, Franklin and Deerfield settled.
April 1, 1796, permanent settlements at Dayton commenced.
April 7, 1796, first cabin raised in Greene County.
As soon as it became known that the treaty of Greenville had secured peace, and that block-houses and pickets were no longer necessary, the tide of immigration, so long delayed by savage hostility, flowed in, and before two years elapsed, the pioneer's ax rang out in every township between the Miamis, and settlements extended up Todd's Fork far into the Virginia Military District.
RAPID GROWTH OF THE COUNTY.
The rapidity With which this region was populated and improved is well known. The rapid growth of Ohio had perhaps never been equaled in the history of the world by any State not possessing mines of the precious metals; of the whole State of Ohio, the growth of the Miami Valley was by far the most rapid; and of the Miami Valley, if we are allowed to judge from the imperfect
242 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
census of the white male inhabitants twenty-one years old and upward, taken by the Tax-Listers in August. 1803, Warren County contained, the year it was organized, more inhabitants than Butler, Montgomery, Greene or Clermont--- Clinton was not then formed and stood among its neighbors second to Hamilton only. Below is given the number of white male inhabitants twenty-one Years old and upward in the different counties of the Miami Valley, according to the census of the Tax-Listers, August, 1S03:
Hamilton, 1,700; Warren, 854; Butler, 836: Montgomery, 526: Greene. 446; Clermont, 755.
Immigrants came in crowds. Stories of the wonderful fertility of the Mi- ami lands were everywhere circulated in the older States. Some of the stories may have been extravagant, but there were well-attested facts that from hills four feet apart grew four or five stalks of corn one and a half inches in diameter and fifteen feet high, and each stalk producing two or three good ears; and that the first corn-fields at Columbia produced, under favorable circumstances, as high as 110 bushels to the acre. The first corn crop grown in the immediate vicinity of Lebanon was raised by Ichabod Corwin, and tended with oxen, after his horses had been stolen by the Indians; yet, though growing among stumps and roots the first year after the ground was cleared. and but imperfectly cultivated, it surprised him at husking time by yielding 100 bushels to the acre. Facts like these were enough to strike with astonishment the inhabitants of the Eastern and Middle States. They heard them, believed them and came West. Jerseymen, Pennsylvanians and Virginians floated down the Ohio in fiat-boats or came with wagons, ox-carts or pack-horses, to find homes in Semmes' Purchase and in the Virginia Military Reserve. The reputation of the Miamis extended to Europe, and in Holland, Germany and Ireland, emigrants to America declared that they were going to " the Miamis."
STATES FROM WHICH THE SETTLERS CAME.
The high official positions and characters of Symmes and his associates in the State of New Jersey drew from that State a large number of immigrants to the Miami Purchase. Semmes was Chief Justice of New Jersey at the time he entered upon his Western land project. Gen. Jonathan Dayton, one of his associates, was a Revolutiotary officer, a distinguished statesman, and, at the inception of the speculation, represented New Jersey in the convention which: formed the national constitution. Dr. Elias Boudinot, another associate, was also a Revolutionary patriot, a President of the Federal Congress, and afterward first President of the American Bible Society. It is not strange, then, that so large a proportion of our earliest settlers were from New Jersey. The lands east of the Little Miami reserved by Virginia for the payment of bounties to her troops on Continental establishment, drew from that State large numbers of Revolutionary officers and soldiers, and others who had purchased Virginia Military land warrants. Among the Revolutionary officers who entered lands in this county, but without settling upon them. were Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates and Col. Abraham Buford. Quakers came from Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas, settling largely in the northern and eastern parts of the county, and Waynesville soon became a noted place among the Friends. Opponents of slavery came from all the slave States to the territory dedicated to freedom. and the first State of the American Republic that never had a slave. Emigrants from the State of Kentucky crossed the Ohio to find better land titles. During the seven years preceding the organization of the county in 1803, there must have been an increase of six hundred persons annually in the territory of the county, and during the seven years succeeding the organization more than eight hundred annually.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 243
PRICES AND COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE.
In the year of the first settlement of this county, Cincinnati, the market and entrance-gate for the whole Miami Valley, was a little village, shown by a census of that year (1795) to contain a population of 500 persons, living in ninety-four log cabins and ten frame houses. A voyage to New Orleans was then made by flat-boats in a hundred days. For the journey eastward, the primitive pack-horses were beginning to be exchanged for the large and heavy old-time Pennsylvania wagons, with four and six horse bell teams. As a consequence of the difficulty attending commercial intercourse, every article the Miami farmer could produce was low; every foreign article he was compelled to buy was relatively high. Corn and oats were 10 or 12 cents a bushel, sometimes 8 cents; wheat, 30 or 40 cents; beef, $1.50 to $2, and pork, $1 to $2 per hundred. On the other hand, here are some of the prices for foreign articles our fathers paid at Cincinnati in 1799: Coffee, 50 cents per pound; tea, 80 cents; pins, 25 cents a paper; ginghams, 50 cents per yard; fine linen, $1 per yard; brown calico, 7 shillings 6 pence to 10 shillings; goslin green and gray cotton velvet, 7 shillings 6 pence to 11 shillings 6 pence; cassimere, $3 per yard; cotton stockings, 6 shillings to 15 shillings; bonnet ribbon, $1 per yard; " thin linen for flour-sifters," 10 shillings per yard; " small piece of ribbon for tying cues," 11 pence.
There was little encouragement for the farmer to raise more than he could use at home. In 1806, a traveler wrote that he had no conception how the farmers can maintain themselves with flour at $3.50 per barrel, and pork $2.50 per hundred. The merchants, however, he said, made an exorbitant profit. In four years, those who came from Baltimore or Philadelphia with goods obtained on credit had paid their debts and lived at their ease. There was little use for corn even for cattle or hogs, as the cattle found subsistence on the wild grasses of the woods, and hogs lived and fattened on the mast of hickory nuts, acorns and beech nuts.
FRIENDLY INDIANS.
For some years after the whites made their homes in this county, small parties of friendly Indians encamped occasionally near the settlements. They came in the fall for their annual hunt to a favorite hunting-ground on Todd's Fork, now in Clinton, then in Warren County, until as late as the battle of Tippecanoe, encamping sometimes in parties of fifty, with their squaws, papooses, ponies and dogs. A considerable party of Shawnees, Wyandots and Pottawatomies visited the Shakers at Union Village in the summer of 1807, representing themselves in great distress for want of food, and were relieved by the Shakers. The numbers of the tribes which roamed over this region had long before been greatly reduced by the wars with the whites, and still more by the ravages of the small-pox.
The Indians encamped frequently, in the spring, in some of the sugar camps, for the purpose of making sugar—a matter they always attended to. They also visited Salt Run, in Hamilton Township, for the purpose of making salt, although the salt there obtained was of an inferior quality, and manufactured with difficulty. These savage parties were generally few in numbers. They were considered friendly, but sometimes stole horses from the settlers.
Rev. John Kobbler, the pioneer Methodist preacher, gives the following account of a visit from a party of Indians while he was preaching at Franklin, rn March, 1799: " In the time of the first prayer, a company of Indians, to the number of fifteen, came to the door. When we rose from prayer, the old chief fixed his eyes on me and pushed through the company to give me his hand. He was much strung out with jewels in his ears, nose and breast, and the round tire about his head was indeed like the moon. His men all behaved well."
244 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
EARLY MILLS.
One of the greatest difficulties attending the settlement of the Northwest Territory was the want of mills to furnish meal and flour. The builder of the first grist-mill in a settlement was justly regarded as a public benefactor. The completion of the mill increased the value of neighboring lands and encouraged immigration. The settlers for miles around not only cheerfully met to help at the raising of a mill, but frequently labored gratuitously in the construction of the dam.
The earliest settlers of Warren County got their grinding done at Wald- smith's mill, on the Little Miami, twenty miles below the central part of the county, and near the site of Milford. The first mill on the Little Miami within the limits of the county was built about 1799, by William Wood, at the site now occupied by King's powder mills, and where the town of Gainesboro was afterward laid out. Wood's mill passed into the hands of Hunt & Lowe, by whom it was owned for many years. About 1799 or 1800, Henry Taylor built a mill on Turtle Creek, within the present corporate limits of Lebanon. There were several small mills erected on the streams 'tinning into the Miamis within ten years after the first settlements, and, although these streams furnished a more permanent supply of water than in later years, yet even then the mills were not able to do much work in the drier seasons, and were generally abandoned. Jabish Phillips built a mill about 1802 on the Little Miami, midway between the sites of Morrow and South Lebanon, afterward long known as Zimri Stubbs' mill, and soon after, Nebo Guantt built one at the site of Freeport. There was a mill erected at an early day at Franklin, and on January 23, 1802, Shubal Vail announced in the Western Spy the completion of his fulling-mill on the Great Miami near the " Big Prairie." In 1806, Brazilla Clark commenced the construction of a mill below the site of Foster's Crossing, which was afterward owned by Piercy Kitchell, and six years later Gov. Morrow built one a mile lower down on the Little Miami. In the county road records, mention is made of Capt. Stites' mill-dam, in November, 1804; " John Haines' mill at Waynesville," 1805; " Robert Each's mill on Todd's Fork," 1805; " Dr. Evan Bane's mill-dam near the county line," January, 1805; and " Samuel Heighway's mill," 1805. Some of these may have been saw-mills.
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, HAMILTON COUNTY, TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO.
This extensive township embraced the greater part of the territory now included in Warren County. It was formed under the Territorial laws, by the County Commissioners, about eighteen months after the first settlement at Bedle's Station. Deerfield, the most important settlement on the Little Miami above Columbia, was the capital, and early elections for the Deerfield district were held at the house of David Sutton, in that town. When the people failed to meet and elect a Constable and Assessor, the County Commissioners filled these offices by appointments. On June 10, 1797, the Commissioners appointed Benjamin Stites, Jr., Assessor, and Isaac Lindley, Constable and Collector for Deerfield Township. The tax return that year for the whole township was $111.15. Stites' fees were $5.20, and Lindley's $2.30.
Peter Drake was appointed Assessor in 1798, and Joshua Drake, Constable and Collector. In that year, the Assessor was paid $11.21 for his fees, and the Constable and Collector, $4.13.
In 1799, Michael H. Johnson was Assessor; fees, $8.22; William Sears, Constable; fees, $6.19; William Mounts, Collector. Total assessment of the township, $366.22. In the same year, Timothy Boothby was Lister of the
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 247
township, and enumerated the white male inhabitants over twenty-one years of age. His fees amounted to $21.
In 1801, Ephraim Kibby was Lister, and Alexander Hamilton and Henry Taylor, Valuers of Property.
ELECTIONS.
The first elections for Representatives in the Legislature were held at Cincinnati. the seat of justice of the extensive county of Hamilton. There was so little of democracy in the government established by the celebrated ordinance of 1787 that the settlers were seldom called on to exercise the right of suffrage. Under that ordinance, no one could vote unless he was the owner of fifty acres of land. All the officers of the Territory were required to be residents for specified periods, and all to be land-owners—the Governor, to own 1,000 acres; the Secretary and Judges, 500 acres each; the members of the Legislative Council, 500 acres each; the members of the House of Representatives, 200 acres each.
The first election for Representatives from Hamilton County was held in pursuance of a proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, on the third Monday of December, 1798. At this election, Robert Benham, who soon after moved from Cincinnati and became a resident within the present bounds of Warren County, was elected one of the Representatives.
On the 12th of September, 1799, a special election was held for the selection of two additional members of the House of Representatives from Hamilton County. At this election the vote stood: A. Cadwell, 347; Isaac Martin, 265; Francis Dunlevy, 260; J. White, 65; T. Brown, 55. Francis Dunlevy contested the election of Isaac Martin, but the House of Representatives decided in favor of Martin by a vote of yeas 9, nays 8.
In October, 1800, an election was held for Representatives in the second Territorial Legislature. This election was held under a law, passed by the first Territorial Legislature, which required the polls to be opened in each county at the court house on the second Tuesday in October, 1800, between the hours of 10 and 11 in the forenoon, and to be kept open until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and again opened the next day from 10 until 5 o'clock, and then finally closed, unless some candidate or the judges desired the election to be continued, in which case the poll was to be open the third day from 10 until 3 o'clock. The election at Cincinnati continued three days. The vote was taken viva vote. There were seven Representatives to elect from Hamilton County, and the following is the vote of the successful candidates: M. Miller, 284; J. Smith, 273; F. Dunlevy, 229; J. Morrow, 212; D. Reeder, 204; J. Ludlow, 187; J. White, 162. On the same day, William Lytle was elected for the ensuing session in place of Aaron Cadwell, who had removed from the Territory. The vote stood: William Lytle, 153; F. Dunlevy, 140. Thirty-five persons had been announced by their friends in the columns of the Western Spy as candidates, and at least twenty-four of them received votes. The total number of votes cast at this election cannot now be ascertained.
The election of members of the convention to form a State constitution in October, 1802, was attended with great excitement. It was the first election north of the Ohio in which entered questions of national party politics. One of the questions before the people was whether a State government at all should at that time be formed. The enabling act of Congress, under which the election was held, provided that, after the members of the convention had assembled, they should first determine, by a majority of the whole number elected, whether it was or was not expedient to form a constitution and State government at that time. The friends of Gov. Arthur St. Clair and the Federalists generally were opposed to the formation of a State government; the Repub-
248 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
licans generally favored an immediate admission of the Territory into the Union as a State. At the last session of the Territorial Legislature, the Opponents of a State government had been largely in the majority, and, under the lead of Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati. had passed an act having for its object he division of the Territory into two future States, a measure, which, had it received the sanction of Congress, would long have delayed the admission of both into the Union. The act passed the Council unanimously, and the House by a large majority. A minority of seven Representatives, two of whom were Jeremiah Morrow and Francis Dunlevy, entered their solemn protest against it, and began an appeal to the people and to Congress with a fixed determination to defeat the division of the Territory and to secure an early State government. They were successful. Congress not only refused to divide the Territory, but passed an act to enable the people to form a State government. The canvass which preceded the election of members of the convention was one of great bitterness; fast friends became enemies for life. The increasing unpopularity of Gov. St. Clair, who was accused of a tyrannical and arbitrary exercise of the powers of his office and the declining fortunes of the Federalists in the States intensified the popular excitement.
Some weeks before the election, Representatives from seventeen Republican societies in Hamilton County met at Big Hill, and nominated the following ticket, all but two of whom were elected Francis Dunlevy, William Goforth, C. W. Byrd, Jeremiah Morrow, J. W. Browne, J. Kitchell, Stephen Wood, John Paul, Thomas Smith and John Wilson. The Republicans were overwhelmingly successful, not only in Hamilton County, but throughout the State.
Hamilton County was entitled to ten members of the convention. Ninety-nine candidates were voted for. The names and the vote of those who received over fifty votes are given below, several of whom, it will be seen, resided within the bounds of Warren County. The first-named ten were elected:
F. Dunlevy, 1,635; John Paul, 1,630; J. Morrow, 1,536; C. W. Byrd, 1,338; John Wilson, 1,381; J. Kitchell, 1,172; W. Goforth, 1,128: J. W. Browne, 1,066; John Smith, 964; John Reily, 924; W. James, 910; Thomas Smith, 887; S. Wood, 791; W. C. Schenck, 638; William McMillan, 621; Jacob Burnet, 541; John Bigger, 500; John Ludlow, 571; James McClure, 458; W. Ward, 315; Jacob White, 251; B. Van Cleve, 248; David E. Wade, 183; Abner Gerrard, 150; J. Corbly, 121.
On the second Tuesday of January, 1803, the first election under the State constitution was held. Hamilton County was at this time divided into election districts, the greater portion of Warren County being included in the Deerfield District, with its voting-place at the house of David Sutton in the town of Deerfield. In counting the votes, the vote of the Deerfield District was excluded on account of some irregularity. In Hamilton County, twenty-two persons received votes for Governer, thirty-six for members of the Senate, ninety-seven for members of the House of Representatives and sixteen for Coroner. The county was entitled to four Senators and eight Representatives.
The following was the vote in Hamilton County for Senators: John Paul, 1,490; J. Morrow, 1,374; F. Dunlevy, 1,362; Daniel Symmes, 754; John Reily, 749; William Ward, 293.
The following was the vote for Representatives: Thomas Brown, 1,3'42;t John Bigger, 1,336; William James, 1,323; James Dunn, 994; Thomas McFarland, 924; E. Kibbey, 915; Robert McClure, 842; William Maxwell, 692; William C. Schenck, 491; John Wilson, 501; John Kitchell, 446: William Ward, 442; Edward Meeks, 237; Daniel C. Cooper, 226; Daniel Reeder, 175; John W. Browne, 157; David Sutton, 135; John Reily, 132; James Silvers, 100; Jacob White, 55.
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PIONEER. LIFE.
A truthful account of the mode of life among the early settlers of the Miami forests cannot fail to interest and instruct. As the backwoods period recedes, its interest increases. It is to be regretted that more of the traditions of the pioneers, giving homely but, faithful pictures of the every-day life of the early settlers have not been preserved. Their recollections of their journeys from the older States over the Alleghany Mountains, the flat-boat voyage down the Ohio, the clearing in the wilderness, the first winter in the rude cabin and the scanty stores of provisions, the cultivation of corn among the roots and stumps, the cabin-raisings and log rollings, the home manufacturing of furniture and clothing, the hunting parties and corn-huskings, their social customs and the thousand scenes and novel incidents of life in the woods, would form a more entertaining and instructive chapter than their wars with the Indian or their government annals. Far different was the life of the settler on th Little Miami from that of the frontiersman of to-day. The railr oad, the tele grph and the daily newspaper did not then bring the comforts and luxuries a of civilization to the cabin-door of the settler; nor was the farm marked on with a furrow and made ready for cultivation by returning over the sod.
The labor of opening a farm in a forest of large oaks, maples and hickories was very great, and the difficulty was increased by the thick growing spice bushes. Not only were the trees to be cut down; the branches were to be ci off from the trunk, and, with the undergrowth of bushes, gathered together for burning. The trunks of the large trees were to be divided and to rolled in heaps and reduced to ashes. With hard labor he unaided settler could clear and burn an acre of land in three weeks. It usually required six or seven years for the pioneer to open a small farm and build a better house than his first cabin of round logs. The boys had work to do in gathering the brush into heaps. A common mode of clearing was to cut down all the trees of the diameter of eighteen inches or less, clear off the undergrowth and deaden the larger trees by girdling them with the ax and allowing them to stand until they decayed and fell. This method delayed the final clearing of the land eight or ten years, but when the trunks fell they were usually dry enough to be burned into such lengths as to be rolled together.
The first dwellings of the settlers were cabins made of round logs notched at the ends, the spaces between the logs filled in with sticks of wood daubed with the clay. The roof was of clapboards held to their places by poles reaching across the roof called weight-poles. The floor was of puncheons, or planks split from logs, two or three inches in thickness, hewed on the up
side. The fire-place was made of logs lined with clay or with undressed stone and was, at least, six feet wide. The chimney was often made of splits sticks plastered with clay. The door was of clapboards hung on wooden hinges and fastened with a wooden latch. The opening for the window was not unfrequently covered with paper made more translucent with oil or lard. Such a
house was built by a neighborhood gathering with no tools but the ax and the frow, and often was finished in a single day. The raising and the log-rolling were labors of the settlers, in which the assistance of neighbors was considered essential and cheerfully given. When a large cabin was to be raised, preparations would be made before the appointed day; the trees would be cut down,
the logs dragged in and the foundation laid and the skids and forks made ready. Early in the morning of the day fixed, the neighbors gathered from miles around; the captain and corner-men were selected, and the work went on with boisterous hilarity until the walls were up and the roof weighted down The cabin f round logs was generally succeeded by a hewed log-house more elegant ino appearance and more comfortable. Indeed, houses could be
250 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
made of logs as comfortable as any other kind of building, and were erected in such manner as to conform to the taste and means of all descriptions of persons. For large families, a double cabin was common; that is, two houses, ten or twelve feet apart, with one roof covering the whole, the space between serving as a hall for various uses. Henry Clay, in an early speech on the public lands, referred to the different kinds of dwellings sometimes to be seen standing together, as a gratifying evidence of the progress of the new States. "I have," said he, " often witnessed this gratifying progress. On the same farm you may sometimes behold, standing together, the first rude cabin of round and unhewen logs, and wooden chimneys; the hewed-log house chinked and shingled, with stone or brick chimneys; and lastly, the'comfortable stone or brick dwelling, each denoting the different occupants of the farm or the several stages of the condition of the same occupant. What other nation can boast of such an outlet for its increasing population, such bountiful means of promoting their prosperity and securing their independence? "
The furniture of the first rude dwellings was made of puncheons. Cupboards, seats and tables were thus made by the settler himself. Over the door was placed the trusty flint-lock rifle, next to the ax in usefulness to the pioneer, and near it the powder-horn and bullet-pouch. Almost every family had its little spinning-wheel for flax and big spinning-wheel for wool. The cooking utensils were few and simple, and the cooking was all done at the fire-place. The long, winter evenings were spent in contentment, but not in idleness. There was corn to shell and tow to spin at home, and the corn-huskings to attend at the neighbors. There were a few books to read, but newspapers were rare. The buckeye log, because of its incombustibility, was valuable as a backlog, and hickory-bark cast into the fire-place threw a pleasing light over a scene of domestic industry and contentment.
The wearing apparel was chiefly of home manufacture. The flax and wool necessary for clothing were prepared and spun in the family, cotton being comparatively scarce. Carding wool by hand was common. Weaving, -spinning, .dyeing, tailoring for the family were not unfrequently all carried on in the household. Not a few of the early settlers made their own shoes. Wool dyed with walnut bark received the name of butternut. Cloth made of mixed linen And wool, called linsey, or linsey-woolsey, of a light indigo blue color, was common for men's wear. A full suit of buckskin with moccasins was sometimes worn by a hunter, but it was not common. A uniform, much worn in the war of 1812 is described as consisting of a light blue linsey hunting-shirt with a cape, the whole fringed and coming half-way down the thigh, a leather belt, shot-pouch, powder-horn, a large knife and tomahawk, or hatchet, in the belt and rifle on the shoulder. The author of the history of Miami County says he has seen Return J. Meigs, Governor of Ohio, and Jeremiah Morrow, United States Senator, and other high officials, wear this hunting-shirt while on frontier duty during that war.
With the early settlers, almost the only modes of locomotion were on foot And on horseback. The farmer took his corn and wheat to mill on horseback; the wife went to market or visited her distant friends on horseback. Salt, hardware and merchandise were brought to the new settlements on pack-horses. The immigrant came to his new home not unfrequently with provisions, cooking utensils and bets packed on horses, his wife and small children on another horse. Lawyers made the circuit of their courts, doctors visited their patients and preachers attended their preaching stations on horseback. The want of Terries and bridges made the art of swimming a necessary quality in a saddle- horse. " Is he a good swimmer? " was a common question in buying a horse for the saddle. Francis Dunlevy, as President Judge of a district embracing
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 251
ten counties, made the circuit of his courts on horseback, never missing a court and frequently swimming his horse over the Miamis rather than fail of being
present.
In 1803, when Jeremiah Morrow was called to the national capital as the first Representative in Congress from Ohio, he made the journey on horseback, taking with him his wife and their two children, aged, respectively, three years and eighteen months, to the residence of Mrs. Morrow's parents in the old Redstone country in Pennsylvania. Leaving his wife and children at the home of her parents until the close of the session, he continued his journey over the mountains to Washington. For sixteen successive years did Mr. Morrow make this annual horseback ride from his home on the Little Miami to attend the sessions of Congress. The journey was more trying on the strength and endurance of the horse than the rider. Especially was the return homeward in the spring slow and difficult. The forests kept the roads moist longer than they now remain, and in the fresh condition of the soil they often became almost. impassable. With one favorite and hardy horse. Mr. Morrow made twelve trips. over the Alleghanies. But this was exceptional. With no other horse he owned was it deemed advisable to attempt a third journey.
The country was infested with horse-thieves. The unsettled condition of the country made the recovery of stolen horses very difficult. The horse-stealing proclivity of the Indians was one of the chief causes of the hatred of the early settlers toward the red men; but, after all depredations by the Indians had ceased, the farmers continued to suffer much from horse-thieves, who were believed to be often organized into gangs. The great value of the horse and the difficulty of recovering one when run away, caused the pioneer to look with malignant hatred upon the horse thief. The early Legislatures were composed almost entirely of farmers, and they endeavored to break up this kind of larceny by laws inflicting severe penalties—corporal punishment, fines, imprisonment and even mutilation. The following is the penalty for horse-stealing prescribed in an act passed in 1809: " The person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, for the first offense, be whipped not exceeding one hundred and not less than fifty stripes on his naked back, and on conviction of each succeeding offense of a like nature shall be whipped not exceeding two hundred nor less than one hundred stripes on his naked back; for the third offense shall have both ears cropped, and in either case shall restore to the owner the property stolen or repay him the value thereof, with damages, in either case, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years, and fined not exceeding $1,000 at the discretion of the court; and be ever after the first offense rendered incapable of holding any office of trust, being a juror, or giving testimony in any court in this State."
Ear-cropping was prescribed for no other offense, and, as it was the penalty for the third offense of the horse-stealer, it is doubtful if it was ever actually inflicted in Ohio. The railroad and the telegraph, by affording the means for the more certain detection of the criminal and the recovery of the stolen property, did more to put down this crime than the most severe penalties.
The little copper distillery was to be found in most neighborhoods throughout the county. Rye and corn whisky was a common drink. It was kept in the cupboard or on the shelf of almost every family, and sold at all the licensed taverns, both in the town and country. The early merchants advertised that good rye whisky, at 40 cents a gallon, would be taken in exchange for goods; houses and lots were offered for sale, flour or whisky taken in full payment. It was a part of hospitality to offer the bottle to the visitor. Whisky in a tin-cup was passed around at the house-raising, the log-rolling and in the harvest field. It is a mooted question not easily settled whether intemperance was more common then than now. That the spiritous liquors of those days were
252 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
purer is admitted, but the notion that they were less intoxicating seems not to have been well founded. Excess in drinking then as now brought poverty, want and death. The early settler with the purest of liquors could drink himself to death.
CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS.
The early immigrants to Warren County may be described as a bold and resolute, rather than a cultivated people. It has been laid down as a general truth that a population made up of immigrants will contain the hardy and vigorous elements of character in a far greater proportion than the same number of persons born upon the soil and accustomed to tread in the footsteps of their fathers. It required enterprise and resolution to sever the ties which bound them to the place of their birth, and, upon their arrival in the new country, the stern face of nature and the necessities of their condition, mad( them bold and energetic. Individuality was fostered by the absence of oh familiar customs, family alliances and the restraints of old social organizations. The early settlers of Warren County were plain men and women of good sense, without the refinements which luxury brings and with great contempt for all shams and mere pretense.
A majority of the early settlers belonged to the middle class. Few were, by affluence, placed above the necessity of labor with their hands, and few were so poor that they could not become the owners of small farms. The mass of the settlers were the owners in fee simple of at least a quarter of a section of land, or 160 acres. Many possessed a half section or a section. After the settlements were begun, few persons owned land in large tracts of two or more thousand of acres; while the poorest immigrant, if industrious and thrifty, could lease land on such terms that he would soon become the owner of a small farm in five or six years.
A large majority of the pioneers were anti-slavery in their sentiments. Although many of them were from slave-holding States, they fled from the evils of slavery and were the strongest opponents of the slave system. Many had manumitted their slaves before emigrating to the Northwest Territory. As a consequence, that form of pride which looks upon labor as degrading never had a foothold in Warren County. Rev. James Smith, the ancestor of many families in Warren County, noted this fact on his first visit to the Northwest Territory. He had been reared in Virginia, but had a great abhorrence of every form of human bondage. In his journal he says: "Here the industrious farmer cultivates his farm with his own hands, eats the bread of cheerfulness and rests contented on his pillow at night. The mother instructs her daughters in the useful and pleasing accomplishments of the distaff and the needle, with all things else necessary to constitute them provident mothers and good housewives. The young man, instead of the cow-skin, or some other instrument of torture, takes hold of an ax or follows the plow. The ruddy damsel thinks it no disgrace to wash her clothes or milk her cows or dross the food of the family. In a word, it is here no disgrace to engage in any of the honest occupations of life, and the consequence is 'the people live free from want, free from the perplexity and free from the guilt of keeping slaves."
The backwoods age was not a golden age. However pleasing it may be to contemplate the industry and frugality, the hospitality and general sociability of the pioneer times, it would be improper to overlook the less pleasing features of the picture. Hard toil made men old before their time. The means of culture and intellectual improvement were inferior. In the absence of the refinements of literature, music and the drama, men engaged in rude, coarse and sometimes brutal amusements. Public gatherings were often marred by scenes of drunken disorder and fighting. The dockets of the courts show a
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 253
large proportion of cases of assault and battery and affray. While some of the settlers had books and studied them, the mass of the people had little time for study. Post roads and post offices were few, and the scattered inhabitants rarely saw a newspaper or read a letter from their former homes. Their knowledge of politics was obtained from the bitter discussions of opposing aspirants for office. The traveling preacher was their most cultivated teacher. The traveler from a foreign country or from one of the older States was compelled to admit that life in the backwoods was not favorable to amenity of manners. One of these travelers wrote of the Western people, in 1802: "Their Generals distill whisky, their Colonels keep taverns and their Statesmen feed pigs."
Josiah Espy, author of "Memorandums of a Tour in Ohio and Kentucky in 1805," traveled through Warren County. He landed at Columbia July 25, 1805, after a voyage of ten days from Wheeling in the keel-boat " Mary." He visited his brothers, Thomas and David Espy, in Deerfield Township, Warren County, and afterward, his mother, who resided in Greene County, and whom he had net seen for seventeen years. He thus recorded in his journal his impressions:
" The emigration to the State of Ohio at this time is truly astonishing. From my own personal observations, compared with the opinion of some gentlemen I have consulted, I have good reason to conclude that during the present year from twenty thousand to thirty thousand souls have entered that State for the purpose of making it their future residence. These are chiefly from Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee, but, on inquiry, you will find some from every State in the Union, including many foreigners. The inhabitants of the State of Ohio being so lately collected from all the States, have, as yet, obtained no national character. The state of society, however, for some years to come, cannot be very pleasant—the great body of the people being not only poor, but rather illiterate. Their necessities will, however, give them habits of industry and labor and have a tendency to increase the morals of the rising generation. This, wish that respect for the Christian religion which generally prevails among that class of people now emigrating to the State, will lay the best foundation for their future national character. It is to be regretted, however, that at present few of them have a rational and expanded view of the beauty, excellency and order of that Christian system, the essence of which is Divine wisdom. The great body of the people will, therefore, it is to be feared, be a party for some years to priestcraft, fanaticism and religious enthusiasm."
THE PRIMITIVE FORESTS.
It is not easy to describe the Miami Valley as it appeared in its primitive luxuriance to the eyes of the pioneers.. No woodland to-day, even in the most unfrequented spot, wears the rich and exuberant garb which nature gave it. Under the transforming power of civilization, the earth assumes a new aspect. Even the woods and the streams are changed. Herbage and shrubs which once grew luxuriantly in our forests have been eaten out by cattle until they can only be found in the most secluded and inaccessible places. Trees cut clown are succeeded by others of a different growth.
The general face of the country exhibited to the pioneer of the Miamis a Wild luxuriance which cannot well be described. The great fertility of the soil Was attested by the variety and exuberance of its vegetation. The native forests covered the whole surface of the county, unrelieved by those open plains- or natural meadows so common fifty or seventy-five miles north. Even without the savage war-whoop, it was a wild country. There stood the forests, not as mow, by their contrast with the sunny fields and dusty roads inviting the trav-
254 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
eler and laborer to repose in their shade, but every tree seemed an enemy to be slaughtered by the woodman's steel. Now the grove is the attractive spot; then the clearing which let in the sunlight seemed only inviting.
One hundred and three species of trees and herbaceous plants, native of the Miami woods, were catalogued by Dr. Daniel Drake at the beginning of this century, thirty of which rose to the height of sixty feet or more. There is no dividing line in nature between a tree and a shrub, but most botanists have agreed arbitrarily upon thirty feet as a minimum height of a species en. titled to be called a tree. The richness of the Miami woods will be seen when it is stated that in all Germany, embracing the whole of Central Europe, there are but sixty species of trees. In France, the number is given by some as thirty; by others, as thirty-four. In Great Britain, there are but twenty-nine species above thirty feet high, and of these, botanists describe but fifteen as large or moderately high.
In Warren County many species of valuable hardwoods grew to magnificent size and of good texture. The white oak here attained a remarkable development of size, if it did not quite reach the same strength attained in West Virginia. This noble tree, at the first settlement, would be found wherever there was a good clay soil, three or four feet in diameter and three or four hundred years old, but still green and flourishing; now these monarchs of the forest no longer flourish. The old and large white oaks are dying throughout Warren County; scarcely any large ones can be found which are not dead at the top. Other valuable trees are also dying slowly but surely from the top downward. The wild cherry, so valuable to the cabinet-worker, was scattered throughout the county, and, in some localities, was abundant. Now itisrarely found. On the plain between Muddy Creek and Turtle Creek, west of South Lebanon, stood an extensive forest of wild cherry trees of large size, which long since disappeared. Large black walnut trees were cut down and reduced to ashes, a single one of which could now be sold as it stood upon the ground for more than an acre of cultivated land in some parts of the county. Along the margins of the streams were seen the giant sycamorea and elms; near by on the alluvial bottoms, the camp of sugar-maples, with its undergrowth of papaw, indicative of a rich soil; on higher grounds, the poplars, hickories and white walnuts grew to a stately height. In some places, the beech tad almost exclusive possession. But a single grove of native chestnut trees was found between the Miami Rivers. It stood near .khe boundary line between Butler and Warren Counties, not far from Pisgah Church. The trees reached a diameter of four feet and produced large quantities of chestnuts. Of the trees and plants whose fruit might furnish food for man or mast for game and swine, the fox grape, fall grape and winter grape, the gooseberry, the black currant, the haw, the crab-apple, the mulberry, the beech, the black walnut, the butternut, the hickory and several varieties of the oak, the hazel nut and the persimmon, were all natives of the Miami forests.
An undergrowth of spice brush was spread over all the richer uplands of the county, almost as impenetrable as the cane brake of Kentucky, and, like the cane, it has disappeared with the encroachments of civilization. The spice bushes greatly retarded the work of the early surveyors. They were abundant on the plat of Lebanon long after the town had become a county seat. The flowers of the shrub appeared early in spring before the leaves, and were suc- ceeded by small clusters of berries, which, when ripe, in September, were of a bright crimson color. The berries are said to have been used sometimes in- stead of allspice. A decoction from the branches made a gently stimulating drink, sometimes used In low fevers, and the shrub was often called the fever-bush.
255 - PICTURE OF T. C. KERSEY M.D.
256 - BLANK
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 257
There was beauty as well as magnificence in the primeval forests. Under the branches of the giant trees grew shrubs and flowers, as perfect as if they had been cultivated by the skillful florist. There were wild lilies and roses. In the early spring were seen the bright green of the buckeye leaves, the pure white blossoms of the dogwood, the purple hue of the red-bud, and on the ground the many hues of more than a hundred species of wild flowers. A tall weed covered the fertile bottoms of the streams, growing thick as hemp and overtopping horse and rider.
The age of the gigantic denizens of our forests has probably been overstated. Some writers have spoken of them as of many centuries' growth. There are probably very few trees now standing in the Miami Valley which had begun to grow before the discovery of America in 1492. The greatest portion of even our largest trees are probably less than three hundred years old. Our hardwood species probably attain a diameter of thirty inches in two and a half centuries. A limited number of species, or a single species having possession of a forest, it is thought, indicates that the forest has but recently sprung into existence, and at no distant period the ground was destitute of trees. The tendency of forests is toward a multiplication of the varieties of trees. The great number of species of trees would indicate that most portions of the Miami Valley have long been clothed with a forest covering.
STREAMS.
When this region was covered with forests, creeks which are now nearly dry half the year, were constant running streams. Mills built on streams like Turtle Creek, would run at least ten months in the year by water-power. It is worthy of notice in this connection that Judge Symmes, in giving information by his pamphlet, to those seeking homes in his purchase, assumed that the streams running into the Miamis would be the mill-streams, and that the two Miamis would be of most value for the purposes of navigation.
"The tract is said to be well watered with springs and rivulets, and several fine mill-streams falling from the dividing ridge into the two Miamis, which lie about thirty miles apart, and are both supposed to be navigable higher up in the country than the northern extent of this purchase, so that the interior farms will have navigation in the boating seasons within fifteen or eighteen miles at farthest."--Symmes' Pamphlet, 1787.
And in fact, for many years, the Great Miami, before it was obstructed with dams, proved of much value for floating loaded flat-boats started for New Orleans, many boat loads of produce having been shipped from Franklin in this county. Little did Judge Symmes anticipate in 1787 that the Little Miami would furnish a mill-seat at every few miles of its course, and that even the Great Miami would be crossed with dams to furnish water-power for thriving cities and towns, and that, with the cultivation of the country and the destruction of the forests, not only would the smaller streams become almost worthless as mill-streams, but even in the Miamis low water would be one of the greatest difficulties water-power mills and factories would have to contend against.
The clearness of the waters of the Little Miami, before the forests were cleared away and the country was cultivated, was noted in the journal of Rev. James Smith. He says it was no uncommon thing to see shoals of fish in the rivers. He stood, in 1797, in the yard of Rev. Francis McCormick's residence, about fifty yards from the Little Miami, and saw numbers of fish near the opposite bank of the river, which was about one hundred yards wide. The same traveler afterward noted the clearness of the waters of Paint Creek, in which he saw a shoal of fish on the farther side, where it was one hundred yards wide.
258 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
WILD ANIMALS.
The buffalo and elk, probably never numerous in this vicinity, had disappeared before the approach of the white man, but the bear, the deer, the wolf, the panther, the wildcat, the otter, the beaver, the porcupine, the wild turkey, the rattlesnake, racer, moccasin and copperhead of the fauna, which have now disappeared, remained in greater or less numbers for some years after the occupancy by the whites. The streams were infested with leeches. Swine were the chief means of the destruction of poisonous snakes from which the county has been almost entirely free for fifty years.
Wolves were so numerous and destructive to sheep that several acts were passed by the Territorial and State Legislatures providing premiums for killing them. Considerable sums were allowed by the Commissioners of this county for wolf scalps, the bounty varying at different times from $2 to $2.50 for each wolf killed over six months old, and half these sums for those under six months. The wolf-killer, before receiving his bounty, was required by .law to produce the scalp of each wolf killed, with the ears entire. The first law required the whole head of the wolf, with the ears entire, to be produced. He was also required to take an oath, which, in 1799, was of the following form:
I do solemly. swear (or affirm) that the head now produced by me, is the head of a wild wolf, taken and killed by me in the county of within six miles of some one of the settlements within the same to the best of my knowledge, and that I have not wittingly or willingly spared the life of any bitch wolf, in my power to kill, with the design of rncreasing the breed, so help me God.
The same premium was offered for killing panthers as for killing wolves; but only two panther scalps were presented to the Commissioners in this county in the course of eight years; $20 for wolf scalps have been allowed in this county at a single meeting of the Commissioners.
Countless numbers of squirrels were to be found in the woods, and unceasing vigilance was required on the part of the settler to protect his corn-fields from their ravages. They sometimes passed over the country in droves, traveling in the same direction. These animals were a nuisance, and were too common to be regarded as valuable for food. The Legislature, in 1809, passed a singular act having the double object in view of destroying squirrels and providing the people with a currency. It was entitled "An Act to Encourage the Killing of Squirrels," passed and bearing date December 24, 1807. Its first section provided that each and every person within this State, who is subject to a county tax, shall, in addition thereto, produce to the Clerk of the township in which he may reside such number of squirrel scalps as the Trustees, at their annual meeting, apportion to the currency levies, provided that it does not exceed one hundred nor less than ten." Each tax-payer, at the time his property was listed for taxation, was to be furnished with a list of the scalps he would be required to furnish. On failure or neglect to furnish the required scalps, the tax-payer was required to pay into the treasury of the township 3 cents for every scalp he was in default; and every person producing to the Township Clerk an excess of scalps over and above the number apportioned to him was to receive 2 cents for each.
SECTION 6. That if any person shall produce to the Clerk of his proper township any number of squirrel scalps exceeding the number required of him by the first section of this act, such Clerk shall give to the person producing the same a certificate therefor, stating the number so produced in advance, which certificate, on being presented to the Treasurer of such township, shall be a sufficient warrant for him to pay to the person holding certificate the amount thereof, calculating the amount at the same rate preseribed in the second section of this act, out of any money paid into the treasury, under the provisions of the fourth section of this act, which certificate, with the receipt of the persons
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 259
producing the same, shall be by such Treasurer filed in his office as a proper voucher his settlement with the Trustees of the township, so far as relates to moneys paid into such treasury, under the provisions of this act.
The certificates of the Township Clerk furnished the people with a c rency. They were secured by the faith of the township and were received the merchant for goods and by the mechanic for work. The law, however, did not prove a great success and was soon repealed.
A. H. Dunlevy, who came to the vicinity of Lebanon when a boy, in 17' thus speaks of the number of snakes:
"The high weeds in falling down formed fine harbors for snakes, wh were as plenty as one could wish, consisting, mainly, of the black rattlesna the racer, the watersnake, and occasionally was found a moccasin snake, most deadly of all. Near where we first lived was a camp of Gen. Harmar as led his army toward the Maumee, in 1790. He had probably remained th for a week or ten days, as there were three or four graves there and some acre or more cut off and the brush piled in heaps around the camp. Th brush-heaps were decayed in 1798, but afforded fine harbors for snakes, and the warm sun of spring came out, I think hundreds of them could be seer an hour passing from one brush heap to another in apparent merry play. used there to amuse myself in watching their movements, and noting ti peculiar colors; every kind of snake seemed to nestle together in these br heaps. As an evidence of the number of snakes then existing in this country, I will mention one fact. My father took me once with him t neighbors, about half a mile distant, and, in going to and returning from t neighbor's, he killed seven rattlesnakes and gave me the rattles, and that w out any particular search.
" Again, in the first settlements of the country, the water-courses were fested with leeches so numerous that the most active boy would not run ac] any part of Turtle Creek in summer barefooted and barelegged without have a number of leeches fasten upon his feet and legs; and if one would v through slowly, they would cover the feet and legs until they were black. Soon, however, the blood would flow freely, giving the limbs a most disgust appearance. To get rid of them was a task requiring hard scraping wit stick. Many of our cattle died of bloody murrain at that time, and I f have no doubt the disease was caused by drinking in these leeches in g numbers, though I do not now recollect that this was then supposed to be cause of that sickness. But as the country settled, snakes and leeches disappeared. There being no rocks to shelter either, hogs soon destroyed both, for fifty years, this section of country has been almost free from snakes, except the black snake, which is not poisonous."
The same writer thus describes the manner of hunting the bear as he him had witnessed the sport:
" Of all the sports of hunting in early times, the bear-hunt was the r exciting. This usually occurred accidentally. I never knew a bear-hum be regularly organized. Some one in the neighborhood would accident discover a bear, and if at a time when the animal was fat and worth possess he gave the sound of a horn, known in the neighborhood as a signal of discovery of a bear and the call for help to capture the prize. Instar almost, men on horseback, with rifles and dogs, were on hand. The sour the horn indicated the course of the bear and thither the neighbors hastened. For hours, sometimes from morning till nightfall, the chase would continue. The dogs would keep on the track of the bear, but unless they could cause to take to a tree, they could do nothing with him but to keep his trail enable the hunters to follow. If they ventured to attack him, they were soon
260 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
repulsed—sometimes killed on the spot. At last, after many hours chase, sometimes embracing an area of five or six miles circumference, the exhausted bear would take to a tree, around which the dogs quickly gathered, and, by their united noise, gave assurance to the hunters that bruin was at last treed. The signal-horn was sounded and the hunters were soon on the spot. If it was still light, the bear was soon brought down by the unerring rifle. If too dark to see, the tree was watched until morning, and then he was dispatched. The event ended with skinning the bear and cutting up the carcass into as many pieces as would give each hunter his portion, and usually sending a part to each family in the neighborhood. The flesh, though considered by most people a delicacy, I could never eat, but the sport of the bear-hunt had no equal with me at that early day or at any time since."
Other kinds of game were abundant. For some years the red deer were as numerous as cattle to-day. Wild turkeys could be shot or entrapped in great numbers. When mast was abundant, a drove of more than one hundred wild turkeys, all large and fat, might be found in the near vicinity or the settlements, and when mast was scarce large numbers would sometimes come to the barn-yards for grain. The rivers abounded with fish. The white and yellow cat-fish, black bass, red-horse and carp could be drawn from the Little Miami by brush drags in wagon loads.