350 - CHAMPAIGN AND evidence of habitual good looks of the family. A platter was shown by Mrs. McNay, 100 years old. A map of the hemisphere made with a quill pen in 1832. Several articles were next exhibited by Mrs. B. A. Haines, as follows: A watch bought by the late Dr. Gould Johnson, at Winchester, Va. ; a smelling bottle fifty years old ; a curious sugar bowl forty-five years old, a china cup and saucer fifty years old, and a breast pin 150 years old. Mrs. Dr. Ordway exhibited some teaspoons formerly the property of Mrs. McGruder's grandmother. Next were shown some very beautiful linen table-cloths and sheets, the flax for which was pulled, scutched, spun and wove by Mrs. Wm. Woodward and sisters, twenty-eight years ago. A vote of thanks was tendered to the ladies for the display of relics. After recess Judge N. Z. McColloch read an address, already printed. The "Old Folks" singing club was called and several soul-stirring songs were rendered. "Liberty," beginning with the well-known line, "No more beneath th'oppressive hand of tyrants," &c. "Newtopia" and the "Easter Anthem," followed. John Enoch, Sr., came forward, and said that this was his first attempt at public speaking, but as this was a pioneer meeting, he now proposed to commence. His father came to the then territory of Ohio, in 1797 and landed at Cincinnati from a flat-boat ; and in 1802 he was born on the banks of the Miami. He lived there until the year 1808, and then moved to Franklin, where he resided for two years. He then removed to Clarke County, where he resided at the beginning of the war of 1812. He then came to Mac-a-cheek in 1813 and built a log but in Gen. Piatt's log-yard. He recalled the reception of the news of the defeat of Winchester at Raisin and the great gloom which it cast over the community. They daily expected to be attacked by the Indians. On the same day with the reception of the news came the welcome faces of Robert Armstrong and family. He was in Urbana in 1812; in 1815 his father began the West Liberty mill. He had dealt out many a bushel of flour to the Indians, and Col. McPherson had instructed him how to deal with them. He "graduated from college in 1820, never having gone to school but one day." He recognized his preceptor among the audience. He LOGAN COUNTIES - 351 then took to the woods, when his father had a contract to cut t road through to Fort Findlay, starting out in loading up their store, the principle features of which were three barrels of whisky and bacon. Those days were fraught with the usual gloom until the better days came. Remarks by Thomas Cowgill, M. D. Dr. Thomas Cowgill read an interesting sketch of pioneer life : About the 20th of October, 1817, our family had made the necessary preparation and started on our journey toward the setting sun, leaving our family home in Columbiana County, Ohio. On the 30th day of that month, being the seventh day of the week, we ate breakfast at the house of George Harris, on Darby Creek, six miles south of this place ; we traveled up the valley of Darby nearly on the same track of the common road now traveled, and arrived at the house of Job Sharp and Joshua Sharp—both living in one house--about noon ; there was than a large connection of the different families of the Sharps, Garwood, Stokeses, Bishops, Inskeeps, Euanses, and Ballingers, living in this neighborhood, most of whom my parents had been acquainted with in Virginia or in the east part of this state. There was Thomas James, Sr., father of the late Thomas James of East Liberty ; Joseph Curl, near this place ; my uncle John Cowgill, Dr. John D. Elbert, Sr., and John Warner, and Abisha Warner, also old Virginian acquaintances of my parents. Many of them hearing of our arrival, same to see my parents during the two days of our stay at Job Sharp's. A Friends' meeting was then held at the site of the grave yard about one mile north-east of here on the road to East Liberty, which appeared to be largely attended on the Sabbath day of our stay in this neighborhood. As I remember, I think William Grubbs lived about on the site where Middleburg now stands, and had a small improvement. There was a cross road of the road lead- ing up Darby Valley and Northwesterly, and the road leading from Urbana to "Garwood's Mills," now East Liberty, about where the public sqare now is in Middleburg, end those roads were then mere pathways, through the woods, and there was a few small improvements along the road on Darby. I was then about five years of age, and I well remember how kind and sociable the people appeared to be at Madriver, (as I had been used 352 - CHAMPAIGN AND to call all this country,) especially Job Sharp's family I thought were very good people. Many of the neighbor men who came to see us, and many of whom I saw going to and returning- from meeting on the Sabbath day were dressed partly in buckskin clothing; buckskin pantaloons and vests were quite common, and sometimes buckskin coats were worn, and moccasins were quite fashionable. On the morning of November 1st, we started and traveled on the laid out road from Urbana to Garwood's mill—now East Liberty—and at about 11 o'clock, A. M., on that day, being the second day of the week, arrived in Mingo Valley, at the spot which was after that time the home of my parents during their lives, and still belongs in the family. The place was entirely in the woods, except a small cabin 17x20 feet, by a fine spring of water, which had been built and used vs a school-house. In this house our family of ten persons lived about eighteen months. Here at our cabin we entertained many friends, in good old-fashioned order. At that time I think there was no store or trading point nearer to this neighborhood than Urbana ; and as the road from Urbana to East Liberty—the main thoroughfare of the country—passed very near to our house, and the distance to travel from this neighborhood to Urbana and back, and to do the trading desired, was too great an undertaking for one day, and as persons from this vicinity could go to town and conveniently return as far as our house in one day, that seemed to be a general stopping place for many of our friends and acquaintances living in this neighborhood. Hence our family was quite intimate with many of the families living here, as we were wish our nearest neighbors. We had very frequent calls from members of the families of Thomas James, Levi Garwood, John Garwood, Daniel Garwood, Job and Joshua Sharp, Joseph Stratton, Joseph Curl, Abisha Warner, Joshua Inskeep, Dr. John D. Elbert, Joseph Stokes, John Inskeep, and many others. Frequently. the youngfolks of several families would join and come down in a wagon, drawn by a four-horse team; and stay ill night at our house, and would seem to make the time pass very pleasantly. Then, as now, there were very many good-looking girls in the vicinity of this place. They did not dress as fine then as they do now, and wore quite a different style of bonnet, which I can not now well describe. The beautiful young women of that time were gener- LOGAN COUNTIES - 353 ally clothed in home-spun, mostly the work of their own hands. Not only their own clothing, but that of their fathers and brothers as well, was mostly made by the hands of the industrious girls of that period, to whose cheeks, health and the constant practice of industry and exercise imparted a glow of beauty which can never be equaled by paint or other artificial appliances. "The old men and matrons, those loved ones of yore, I ask not for them, they can greet me no more. But the young men and maidens, all! they are scattered and gone, And I travel onward and am nearly alone." Of all the venerable pioneers of my early acquaintances, I remember Joshua Inskeep with love and affection, at least equal to any other person who was not related to me ; as he was the friend and companion of my father almost from my earliest recollection, he spent many days and evenings at our house in social and religious conversation with my father and our family. The last time I saw Joshua Inskeep was on a beautiful Sabbath day in October, not long after my father's death; he called at, our house ; his aged and excellent wife was with him ; he seemed to be remarkably solid and serious in his deportment. When we sat down to dinner, the good old man in a solemn manner raised his hands and offered a beautiful prayer, asking that the choicest of heaven's blessings might rest upon my mother and upon all of us through life, and that when we were called to die we might be prepared to meet my father in that better land where we believed his spirit was at rest. "There are many dreams of gladness, That cling around the past, And from the tomb of feeling Old thoughts come thronging fast. The forms we loved so dearly In the happy days now gone— The beautiful and lovely So fair to look upon. Whose smiles were like the sunshine In the spring-time of the year— Like the changing gleams of April They followed every tear. 354 - CHAMPAIGN AND They have passed like hope away— All their loveliness has fled; Oh! many hearts are aching That they are with the dead. Like the bright buds of the summer They have fallen from the stem, Yet oh, it is a lovely death To fade from earth like them. And yet the thought is saddening To muse on such as they,: And feel that all the lovely Are passing fast away." PIONEER INCIDENTS. Mr. Samuel Carter, one of our oldest residents, thus describes the first general religious services held in Logan county. The settlement of Belleville consisted at the time of a few families who lived in primitive log houses with puncheon floors and thatched roofs. In the latter part of April, 1817, the inhabitants assembled at his dwelling near the present site of the fair grounds, on a Sabbath morning. The fence surrounding the house was partially torn down and the rails were placed on the floor in the form of a hollow square ; thus it was that seats were provided. More than fifty persons had congregated at this first gathering, and the announcement had awakened general interest. The minister, Rev. John Strange, delivered an impressive sermon to the colonists, and invoked God's blessing upon them. The people had early divided into three classes. There was formed a party styling themselves the Regulators, a sort of vigilance committee, who made it their duty to administer justice to all offenders who should transgress the laws of the State and the community. Public whipping posts were erected, and Mr. Carter says that he has seen several persons publicly flogged. In decided contrast to this element were the men and women who met on that day for religious service. They were quiet, unoffending people, who preferred to deal out judgment to the wicked mildly and ever bad at heart the best interests of the settlement. There was, also, another party who, although holding to no definite religious convictions, cast in their lot with the better branch of the community. It was from this field that the converts came. The Regulators were, in the main, an incorrigible set of persons, who had little fear of God, and less of man, before their eyes. 356 - CHAMPAIGN AND The services concluded with singing and prayer. Another meeting was held soon after in the house of a neighbor, and a revival soon began in their midst. Class meetings were held, and although the Methodist faith was held by many, there was perfect harmony and unity in the common cause of Christianity. Belleville disappeared from the map, and further to the northward rose the now prosperous town of Bellefontaine. Of all those who assembled at these meetings there remain but Mr. and Mrs. Carter. Their descendants, however, are to be found scattered throughout the length and breadth of the country. Mr. Wm. Henry gave account of his first assessment of Zane township, then comprising Logan and part of Champaign counties. He traversed that territory from Dan to Beer-Sheba, wherever inhabited, and charged ten dollars for his services. But the Commissioners cut him down one dollar. At that time he had to go to Urbana and pay four dollars a bushel for salt, and " tote " it home on bare back, considerable of it dripping out before getting home. Dr. Brown then .read a paper, which was ordered to he put among the archives of the Association. Mrs. Sallie Moore handed in a paper which was read by Dr. Cowgill, and ordered to be kept among the archives of the Association. Another paper was also read, and disposed of in the same way. Dr. B. S. Brown, T. Cowgill and Joshua Antrim were appointed a committee for collecting a history of Logan County, in book form, and report at next meeting of the Association. Twenty dollars were appropriated for paying expenses of same. Address by Archibald Hopkins. In the year 1797, my father emigrated from the State of Delaware to the Northwestern Territory, now the State of Ohio. He started in search of it. better country, and came to Redstone, Old Fort; and there a company of five persons was raised, four besides himself. They gathered up a set of plow-irons, and a supply of pumpkin and turnip seeds, and seeds of various kinds, and traveled on to the Peepee prairie, twelve miles below where Chillicothe now stands, on the Scioto River ( on the west side ). Here they broke about twelve acres of prairie, and planted it in LOGAN COUNTIES - 357 corn, pumpkins, etc., and made rails and fenced in their crop, to keep the Indian ponies out. Besides what provisions, salt, etc., they packed on their horses, they lived on deer, bear, turkey, etc., a part of the time without bread, until the latter part of July. After sowing their turnip seeds, they returned home, to prepare to move their families to their new home. My father made preparation to move to Robstown, above Wheeling, in wagons, and there prepared a flat-boat, and floated down the Ohio River to the mouth of the Scioto. And the night we arrived at the Scioto, the river was frozen over, and remained so till the winter broke. The other four families had been at the improvement at Peepee prairie for some time, and had taken care of our crop of corn. We had to pack our goods as well as we could, up the river to the improvement, which was probably about twenty-four miles. The next day after we arrived there, every one that was able turned out to help us build a house; against evening our house was raised and covered, a door cut out, and our goods put in it the same evening, and a fire built on the ground floor in the middle of our cabin. The next morning the snow was knee deep to the men, and lay so till the winter broke. Our house was quite open, and the wind blew in at one side, and the smoke went out at the other side, so that we remained on the side that the wind blew to keen out of the smoke. We manufactured furniture for our house from the stump ; a bedstead was made by driving two forks into the ground-floor, about three and a half feet from the wall, and laying on clapboards, one end on the pole, and one end in the crack of the wall for bed-cord. We made a side-table by boring two holes in the wall, and driving in two pins about two feet long, and laying a puncheon on the two pins about two feet broad and six feet long. We had plenty of corn, but no way to make bread, and had plenty of the best wild meat and hominy, and lived well, and enjoyed ourselves finely, and were comparatively happy, though we lived about six weeks of the time without bread. We lived there one year from the following spring, and had the most kind and sociable neighbors. A man then came and claimed the land on which we lived, and wanted us to pay him rcnt, which my father refused to do, and we moved six miles down the river, and settled on the east side, on Congress land, and remained 358 - CHAMPAIGN AND there about two years after the land sales. Being disappointed in getting his money from the east, my father could not buy the land on which he lived. We remained in this neighborhood two years after the land sale, then my father bought land in the Pickaway Plains, Ross County, and moved there. My father and mother died within four years of the time we moved to Pickaway Plains. I still remained there until the spring of 1814, when I settled in what is now Logan County, about three miles east of where West Liberty now stands, on land now owned by the widow of Henry Enoch, deceased. My neighbors at my new home were Isaac Titsworth and Robert and John Smith, who had been living there several years. Samuel Scott, Isaac Thomson, and Griffith Evans, had lived here a few years, and Robert Frakes lived a few miles north. Robert Smith had a little mill within one mile of my house, and our nearest store was at Urbana. John Reynolds and Thomas Gwynne each had a store at Urbana at that' time. Champaign County then extended to Lake Erie. The first religious meeting I attended here was held at Griffith. Evans' house. About the year 1816 a small log meeting-house was built at Mt. Tabor. The first camp meeting was held at Mt. Tabor, in 1816, which was continued there a few years. I heard Lorenzo Dow preach at Mt. Tabor in 1826. The first election I attended in what is now Logan County, I think was held at Robert Frakes' house, on Macacheek. My home here was near the place where Simon Kenton was once tied on a wild colt (as I have often heard him relate) by the Indians, with the expectation that the colt would run through the plum thickets and soon tear him to pieces. Instead of that the colt was as gentle as a lamb, and quietly followed the Indians without doing him any harm. Simon Kenton told me that the Indians made a mound, yet standing in John Enoch's field, on which the Indian Chiefs used to stand and see white men run the gauntlet on the track in the prairie near by. THE PIONEERS. First Quarterly Meeting. In pursuance of notice previously given, the Western Pioneer Association met at the Fair Grounds, at Bellefontaine, Logan County, to hold their first quarterly meeting and picnic. The day was warm, pleasant and beautiful, and the attendance very respectable in numbers, considering the fact that the ceremony of laying the corner-stone the day before prevented as large an attendance as would otherwise have been anticipated. All who came from a distance arrived early in the forenoon, and spread their cloths about the grounds for dinner. At half-past eleven the Bellefontaine Band marched down playing lively airs and joined the assembly, partaking, on invitation, of a sumptuous dinner with the pioneers. Our reporter shared the excellent and bountiful dinner prepared by Mrs. Volney Thomas. Among the pioneers and old citizens present, whose names we knew, were: Dr. B. S. Brown, Cartmel Crockett, James Moffatt, Joshua Buffington, Ephraim Vance (87) Gen. I. S. Gardner, Volney Thomas, Capt. Wm. Watson, G. Walls, Wm. Henry, Isaac Painter, Samuel Carter, Robert Dickinson, Capt. Job Inskeep, Capt. J. A. Jones, Hon. William Lawrence, J. R. Van Meter, Thomas Cookston and others. Capt. Job Inskeep was one of Capt. James Euans' company who were quartered in the block-house at Zanesfield in 1813. Capt.' Wm. Watson, an old citizen of this county, now of Paxton, Illinois, who has for some time been on a visit to friends here, is mentioned in Dr. Brown's speech at the laying of the corner-stone, and also in that of to-day.' After dinner and meeting of old acquaintances, and the arrival 360 - CHAMPAIGN AND of many more people, at 1 o'clock President Gardner called the meeting to order and a touching and appropriate prayer was offered to the Throne of Grace by the venerable Chaplain, George McColloch, Then came the reading of the proceedings of the previous meeting on July 30, by Secretary Joshua Antrim, preceded and followed by fine music by our excellent band, when the venerable President Gardener arose to welcome in a few brief and feeling words his fellow pioneers and citizens, on the occasion of their first meeting. He was pleased to meet them all, but regretted the absence of many who would have been present and renewed old acquaintance hut for the meeting yesterday, but was glad to meet those who had resolved, notwithstanding, to be here to-day. When he came to this county forty-four years ago, nearly all who lived here then had since died, but few were left, and they would soon be called away, and before they went it behooved them all to write out and state their experience of the early settlement of the county and the manner of life and customs of the early settlers, that some record should be made for future history, otherwise the unwritten history of our county will soon pass away with the last of the actors in it and be lost forever. When he saw so many younger people around him who had been born since he came into the county, he thought he might well say he was getting to be an old man. He did not intend to make a speech, but as presiding officer of the Association found it his pleasant duty to welcome all, old and young, and hoped for a larger gathering at their next meeting. He then introduced Dr. B. S. Brown as one of the speakers chosen for the occasion,, who arose and read a well-written and very interesting sketch of the early history and life of the pioneers, which was listened to with marked attention, which we here reproduce: Remarks by Dr. B. S. Brown. As I understand it, the principal objects of this association are to bring together as many of the early settlers of this section of the country as possible, for the purpose of collecting the various data which go to make up the history and reminiscences of its first settlement by our race. And also that what few of the very early-settlers are left, may by meeting in this friendly, social manner, enjoy the company of one another and remind one another of cir- LOGAN COUNTIES - 361 cumstances and incidents which occurred more then half a century ago, which by bringing up afresh, would be very interesting, not only to all who lived here at the time, but to the present inhabitants, and (if properly collected and preserved) perhaps to generations unborn, who are to come after us. The alterations which have taken place in this section of the country since Its Brat settlement, are so great, not only as to the country itself, but also to everything in it, and that belongs to it, that a person who might have been living here then, and been intimately acquainted with the whole country around, its inhabitants, their manners and customs, their privations and enjoyments, and then left and settled in other parts of the country—as many have done—would, upon, visiting here now, be entirely unable to recognize it as the same country or the same people, he had left sixty years ago. Every thing has changed, but the changes have bean so gradual that persons living here all the time, and assisting and participating ins them, scarcely notice them, unless something like this society calls up recollections of the past—of early times. This idea, tben,. might in some measure point out the duty as well as the privilege of every member of this society—the women as well as the men—for I believe the former are equally eligible to become members.. Many of our members have lived here when the whole of this region was "a vast and howling wilderness," thickly covered nearly all over with the primeval forest, where the wild beasts of the region ranged at large, with but little to " molest or make them afraid." The wild deer and turkeys were very plenty, and were a great advantage to the early settlers, as in many families they afforded the principle animal food a great part of the year. Besides this advantage of their furnishing such an abundance of what would now be considered a really luxurious diet, the hunting for them was A very pleasant and excising recreation, exercise and amusement, much more beneficial to the health and comfort, and I might say to the morals of those engaged in it, than the very popular, senseless base ball exercise of the present time ; or the daily and nightly resort to the gambling billiard saloons, which have also become very popular with many of our young men. In order that some idea may be formed of the plenty and abundance of the wild deer of those days, I may state that after Bellefontaine had become something of a brushy town, and the 25 362 - CHAMPAIGN AND courts had been held in it a number of years, many, perhaps a hundred deer were killed so near that the report of the rifle could be heard all over town ; and, indeed, in several instances, were killed within the present incorporated limits of the village. Capt. Wm. Watson, who was a citizen of this town at the time, and who hunted some, has told me that he could, by going out early, almost any morning, kill and bring in a deer before the usual breakfast time, and that without going more than half a mile, or a mile from town. Bears and wolves were also here—the latter so numerous as to be a great annoyance to the early settler, especially to those who were trying to raise sheep. Their dismal, doleful howlings could be heard reverberating through the wilds of the forest almost every night, and woe be to the sheep or lamb which was not sufficiently protected from their voracious and devouring jaws. The depredations of these animals became such a nuisance, that the Legislature had to take the matter in hand to endeavor to abate it by the extermination of the whole race. For this purpose they enacted a law allowing a premium for every wolf scalp which :any person would present to the proper officer— -the county clerk, believe, and some persons made considerable amounts of money by killing and scalping the "varmints." The premium on the scalps, however, was not the principal inducement for killing them ; it was more to rid the country of their, annoying depredations. These animals were so wild and watchful, and as they trav, Bled principally in the night, it was very seldom that a hunter could get a shot at them with his rifle, and, therefore, other means had to be resorted to—the principal of which was the steel trap. The habit of wolves was generally to go in gangs of from five or six to a dozen together. When they would find a neighborhood that would suit them, they would perhaps it every night for weeks together, although their hiding places by day might be in tangled thickets of brush many miles away. The principal wolf-trapper with whom I was acquainted was Job Garwood, a son of Levi Garwood, who was one of the Associate Judges of Logan county. Job had become so well acquainted with ,the habits. and haunts of these beasts, that he has told me that when a gang of them came into any neighborhood where he was acquainted, that he could and often did catch and kill the last one of them bofore they would leave. His plan was, when he heard of a particular Ideality where they prowled at night, (and that was easily known by LOGAN COUNTIES - 363 their howling,) he would procure a part or the whole of the carcass of some dead animal, and drag it with horses or oxen on the ground, perhaps for miles through the woods where they had been heard. In the trail made by this dragging, he would place his traps, at suitable distances apart, carefully covering them with leaves, so that they could not be seen. The wolves would follow this trail by the scent, and, suspecting no danger, step into some of the traps and be fastened. The traps were large and weighed several pounds, but it would not do to chain them fast, as it was said the wolf would gnaw his own leg off and escape, but while he could drag the trap he would not do that, but make off as best he could through the bushes and brush, taking the trap with him. In this way they sometimes got miles away, before the trapper could overtake them by the next day, with the assistance of his dogs, which were trained to follow them up by the scent. After being caught in this way, they generally had to be killed by a rifle shot at last. In addition to those I have mentioned, there were several other wild animals, of smaller kinds, that inhabited our woods, the principal of which was the raccoon, which were very plenty, and, although they were very destructive to the cornfields, yet they afforded fine amusement and considerable profit to the hunters. They were generally hunted in the night with dogs, which were so well trained to finding and following their tracks, that they could- readily distinguish them from the tracks of other animals, and would not follow up such small game as the possum, rabbit, or skunk. The raccoons were mostly hunted for their skins, which had very good fur, and brought a good price. It was quite a profitable business for fur dealers to collect add send off these skins, as thousands were sent off every year, and brought considerable means into the county. I am aware that it is not the wild animals alone which were so plentiful in our woods in early times, that we are to speak about, and bring up to the remembrance, although much might he said and written about them that would be interesting. There are many other subjects which would doubtless be equally, if not more interesting, and perhaps more in accordance with the objects and the designs of the Pioneer Association. The clearing up of the forests, and preparing the land for cultivation ; the building of log cabins, and the manners and customs of living in them ; the kind, and usual amount of crops raised; the log-rollings and corn-huskings; the parties of pleasure 364 - CHAMPAIGN AND and amusement, and vary many other subjects too tedious to mention here, might be spoken of and written upon, which would, bring up interesting recollections, which, if properly collected and preserved, would be sufficient to fill volumes, which might be valuable as well as interesting to the present, rising and future generations. And I would here suggest, that each and every member be requested to contribute something towards the furtherance of this object. If some of them are not in the habit of writing their thoughts and recollections, they all can remember, and tell of things of the past which would be valuable in such a collection.—Then let them tell it, and get somebody else to write it, and let it be brought and filed with the archives of the Association, and thereby contribute their share to so valuable an undertaking.—Everything has so changed that almost anything in regard to those times would seem new and interesting now. The construction of log cabins, and the manner of living in them are worthy of remembrance, for they have so nearly gone out of date, that it will not be a great many years before the people here will scarcely know what they were. They were generally constructed of round logs, one story high, covered with clap-boards which were not nailed down, but kept to their places by weight-poles, laid lengthways across every row of boards. In fact, many very comfortable dwellings were built and lived in without so much as a single iron nail being used in their construction. As there were no saw-mills in the country at its very early settlement, the floors of the cabins were made of what was called puncheons. They were made by splitting large logs into slabs three or four inches thick, and by nicely hewing them on the upper side, and neatly fitting the joints, they made a very good and permanent floor. The open spaces in the walls between the logs were neatly filled up, and made smooth by "chinking," and daubing with clay inside and outside. The fire-place was at one end of the building, generally outside, an opening being cut through the log wall for that purpose. The flue was built up above the comb of the roof, with what was called "cat and clay." The fire-places were large, sufficient to take in back logs from twelve to eighteen inches thick, and four to six feet long. These buildings varied in size from fourteen by eighteen feet, up to eighteen feet wide by twenty-four feet long. A room of that size, and built in that way, was used for kitchen, dining room, parlor and bed-room. The bed, and sometimes LOGAN COUNTIES - 365 'three or four of them, were placed in the back end of the room, and here the whole family slept. And when they had visitors, which was very frequently in those days they were accommodated in the fame way. Where the family was large, however, the boys frequently had to sleep up in the loft, on the floor, which was laid with clap-boards, the same as the roof. In order to get up to the loft, a ladder was placed close in one corner of the house, generally in the end near the fire place. This description, however, applies only to the very early settlers. They soon began to add to these -cabins such improvements as seemed necessary for comfort and convenience, but many well-to-do farmers still held on to the first comfortable log cabin for many years. And in this way, we may adopt the words of the old Scotch poet, and say, that many " Noble lads and winsome misses, Were reared in sic a way as this is." In reflecting beck upon those past times, their houses, farms, manners and customs, pleasures and enjoyments, and then on comparing them with those of the present time, the question will obtrude itself upon the mind as to which is the best calculated to promote real comfort,health and enjoyment; the old-fashioned cabin fashions, manners and customs of those times, or the very different ones of the princely palace residences and their fashions, manners and customs of the present time. Before I close, I think I must say a few words to the ladies. I have Fetid before tbat the women were equally eligible with the men to become members of this Association, and if they would avail themselves of the privilege, they migbt and should bring to remembrance and relate incidents and circumstances of the "olden times," which would be very interesting and instructive to the present and rising generation. The subject of woman's sphere and her proper position in society has been much discussed by lecturers of both sexes, and in the public papers for a few years past, but whether that discussion has had much effect in making the change or not, one thing is very certain—that a very great change has been made in regard to woman's duties, and her occupation as housekeeper, within the past fifty or sixty years. This will be very apparent if we contrast the duties and occupation of the women of that period (for they were real women then as well as now,) with those of the ladies (as 366 - CHAMPAIGN AND they must be called now) of the present time. Everything has changed. Wives and heads of families considered it their duty, to card, spin and weave the materials, whether of flax or wool, for their husband's and children's clothing, and their own, and then make them up, also, as tailors and -milliners were almost unknown at that time. A farmer's or mechanic's wife who did not keep her family decently and comfortably clothed in this way, was not considered a very valuable " help meet" by the community. They must, however, have some "Sunday-go- to-meeting" clothes, but these were often of their own manufacture, made with more care for this special purpose. Some few had Sunday clothes of finer quality, brought with them from the older settlements of the East, where they had moved from ; these were preserved and kept with great care. for many years. As improvements advanced and the country became more thickly settled, dry goods stores of course would be gradually introduced, though often at considerable distance away ; and many women and their daughters have traveled from this vicinity to Urbana to get "store boughten" calico or finer dresses, which they paid for with ginseng, which they had dug in the woods with their own hands. This "seng digging" and trade is well worthy of description, but there is not room or time now. A few more changes I must briefly mention. The sweet music of the spinning wheel and the weaving loom in the cabin, has given way to the piano and melodeon of the splendidly furnished parlor. And perhaps in too many instances the rough board book-shelf on the wall of the cabin, with the Bible and a few religious and good historical books upon it, has been displaced by the splendid center-table in the gaudily furnished parlor, loaded with sensational novels and the "yellow-back literature" of the present day. In the women's department, perhaps as great a change has taken. place in regard to cooking as in any other. Cooking stoves were not even heard of in those days. The Cooking was done by the big log fire in the same room where they ate and slept. The implements used were a large dutch-oven, stew-pot, long-handled frying-pan, and sometimes a tea-kettle. With these utensils a woman of those days could get up a meal good enough for a prince, if she only had the "wherewithal." I should not have left out the Johnny-cake LOGAN COUNTIES - 367 board, which was very important, but as the ladies now do not know what this is, I will omit it for the present. At the close of Dr. Brown's speech, President Gardner introduced Samuel Carter, a venerable citizen living near this place, who had been with us since the foundation of the county was laid. Mr. Carter spoke in a clear and earnest manner for some minutes, graphically detailing incidents and scenes of 'early life, much to the interest and amusement of the assembly. He said when his father came to this county sixty-three years ago, there Were three Indians to one white man. Then cabins had but one room, in which they lived, ate and slept. Furniture was scarce. When he was married fifty years ago and moved into his cabin, he made a cupboard by putting together some rough clapboards with wooden pins, for the were no nails then nearer than Urbana, which was their "dresser." The first table they ever had he made with an ax, hewing out rough boards and pinning them together. The first thing he ever put salt in was a gum. In their room was a spinning-wheel, beds, bin, &c. In 1818, when he moved here on the place he now lives, he built a log house, without door or window ; he sawed a hole to go in and out at, and as there was no floor below they slept upon the loft and cooked outside. The stock took shelter beneath. In the day he worked hard cutting hay, and at night worked at his house, and when they got a mud chimney completed so they could have a fire in the house, it was the happiest moment of their life. He wore homespun then, and all he had was a pair of tow-linen pants and a shirt, but no drawers or boots, and considered he was very well prepared for winter. Like a great many he bought land and had to work hard to clear and pay for it. This was slow work without money or markets, but he kept on and after a while population increased a little, but they could not sell anything. A bushel of wheat could not be sold for twenty-five cents. They had no means, and the only way they could •pay for their land was to raise hors, cat tle, &c., which brought but little profit. He had raiscd many a fine steer for ten dollars which would now be worth sixty dollars. They had no other means of getting money except by hunting for furs; and could not buy coffee, tea, but they had plenty of venison and raccoon, and many -a good meal tie had made off it. He thought society was better then than now ; they had not 368 - CHAMPAIGN AND so much to do, and time was not so precious as now. Now we had not time to visit ; but then people went several miles, and when they had got a good fiddler and a puncheon floor, would dance all night and as another old pioneer added, "go home with the girls in the morning." After a while, the speaker said, he began to advance in the world and prosper. He bought a new cotton shirt, and thought he was coming out. After a short time he bought another, and then he had a "change." But there had been a great change. When he looked around him he found that all those whom he used to meet at raisings, log-rollings and musters, were all gone—his company had all gone before, and he must soon go too. Life had not much charm for him now, and life was like a calm summer evening to him now. He said he would probably meet and be heard again on a like occasion, but if he did not they could say he had gone before them to another and better land. With a fervent blessing, he retired. *Joshua Antrim was next introduced, and made an excellent and able address which we re-print in full on our first page. He said it was due the audience to make some explanation for the authority of some statements he was about to make, and cited living witnesses then present ; among others he mentioned Mrs. Esther Robinson, daughter of the first white settler in Logan county. He also stated that Sharp's mill was built and running in 1803. But the reader will find his speech of absorbing interest. After more delightful music from the band, who by the way have acquitted themselves with honor during the past week, furnishing music to thousands of delighted hearers, the President in a few happy words introduced the Hon. Wm. Lawrence, who he said had grown up among us from a boy. Mr. Lawrence came for-Ward and said : I did not suppose I would be called upon in the presence of these venerable and venerated pioneers to say one word to-day. I came here to listen to what ethers might say, and by my presence to testify my respect for those who are here and my interest in the occasion. But called upon as I am, I will say a few words which I hope may be pertinent to the occasion. I first visited Logan county in 1836, before I had reached the years of manhood. I came to* * Reported for the BELLEFONTAINE PRESS. LOGAN COUNTIES - 369 Bellefontaine to reside a little over thirty-nine years ago. The hills and valleys and streams were here then as now ; but almost all else has changed, wonderfully changed. Forests have become cultivated fields, mud roads have given place to turnpikes and railroads, and villages have sprung up and grown in size and population, where primeval forests stood. School buildings, and churches with spires pointing heavenward, have arisen where there were none before, or only the rudest log buildings. Bellefontaine then had a population of less than 600, and its frame and log buildings looked old and dilapidated. The only brick buildings in it were the court house and county offices, two old churches, and less than half a dozen brick dwellings of antiquated architecture. Comparatively few of the people who then were in the county yet remain. Emigration and death have done their work. A stream of population has poured in among us from other counties and States, and a new generation has been born. The Bar of Logan County then consisted of Anthony Casad, Hiram McCartney, Samuel Walker, Richard S. Canby, Benjamin Stanton, Royal T. Sprague, and myself. Of all these I am the sole surviving resident lawyer, and my friend who sits before me, Gen. Gardner, is the only merchant now in busines3 who was in business when I first made Bellefontaine my home. [General Gardner responded "That's so, my friend ; give me your hand ;" and Gen. Gardner and Judge Lawrence took each other by the hand in a warm and cordial greeting.] Judge Lawrence proceeded:: The Bar, as I first knew it, here, was one of ability, learning and integrity. The pioneers before and around me, I know will bear testimony to this. But the Bar is changed ; McCartney, Walker and Casad repose in mother earth, lie buried in the county of Logan, where they lived honest lives and adorned the profession of the law. Peace to their ashes and honor to their memories. Richard S. Canby is now a Judge in Southern Illinois ; Benjamin Stanton does honor to his profession in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Royal T. Sprague is a Judge of the Supreme Court of California, a position which he fills with much distinction. Among these members of the Bar I would not draw any invidious comparison, for they jointly shared the confidence of all who knew them. Two of them served in Congress, Stanton and Canby. In forcible argument and logical point, Ohio never had an abler man than Benjamin Stanton, and when Richard S. Canby once became thoroughly aroused and 370 - CHAMPAIGN AND enlisted in the discussion of a subject, with his scholarly attainments, he was the most eloquent and impressive orator I ever beard. The law practice has changed much since I first engaged in it in Logan county ; then money was a scarce commodity. A lawyer then would ride on horseback five, ten or fifteen miles, through the mud, with "leggings" regularly strapped or tied in proper position to shield the lower extremities, and before a justice of the peace would manage a lawsuit for a fee of five dollars, generally secured by a note at six months, and finally paid in trade. We had no livery stable, and if a lawyer did not keep a horse he borrowed one from some accommodating neighbor. Now, a young lawyer, if he goes on such an errand, must have a top buggy with at least one and sometimes two horses to carry him. Joseph R. Swan, one of the ablest, purest and best rues Ohio ever had, then presided on the Common Pleas; and Joshua Robb and Gabriel Slaughter were Associate Judges, all. men of sterling good sense and practical good judgment. Then the lawyers regularly attended the courts in the adjoining counties, to which they traveled on horseback. The courts of Logan county were regularly visited by Samson Mason, Win. A. Rogers and Charles Anthony of Springfield ; John H. James, Moses D. Corwin, Richard. R. McNeemar, of Urbana; Patrick G. Goode, Jacob S. Conklin and Joseph S. Updegraff of Sidney ; Wm. C. Lawrence of Marysville, and others. Judge Lawrence proceeded at a considerable length to describe the early condition of affairs in Logan county. He said farmers had no cash market for any of their products at an early day. There were no railroads to send any thing to market. A farmer would raise a small crop of wheat, and in the fall load up a two-horse wagon, take oats to feed his horses, and some bread, butter and ham for himself, and drive off a hundred miles to Sandusky, sleeping at night in his wagon, to sell his load of wheat. With the proceeds he bought a barrel of salt, roll of leather and muslin, and reserved enough money to pay taxes. Hogs were bought by drovers and driven. to Sandusky. He said he had seen wheat sell here for forty cents, and pork and beef for a dollar per hundred pounds. Mechanics were paid in trade, houses were built for trade, lawyers and physicans paid in trade. The people were social, and hospital LOGAN COUNTIES - 371 ity was oneof the essential characteristics of all the people. Our space will not permit us to give a fuller sketch of the Judge's remarks. Judge Lawrence then read a note from our venerable and respected fellow citizen John Kirkwood, living two miles west of West Liberty, stating that he was confined to his room and could not be present. He stated he had an apple tree growing on his farm, planted in 1804, which now measures eight feet and three inches in circumference, and has never failed to bear some apples each year since it began bearing. He said he would send samples of fruit, but it did not come to hand. The president next introduced Volney Thomas, who made a brief but interesting speech, describing customs of early days. He was born in Champaign county in 1810. He. told how they went to church. Churches and school houses were made of logs and polls, and in these colleges, they got their education and religious teaching. He went to school in the first church built at Mt. Tabor. It had a big fire place in one end, and one morning when they went to school it was found that during the night the back-log had rolled out on the floor and burnt up the house. Then the only school book was the New Testament, and their task was to commit certain portions to memory. It was a fine thing in those days to have a pair of morocco or squirrel skin shoes, and- when the young men and women went to church the young woman would tie her shoes up in her handkerchief and her beau would carry them in his hand to church, when she would put them on; after meeting she pulled them off and again went barefooted home. When the women wanted a new calico dress, they went to the woods and dug gensang, which they tonic to Urbana and traded to the merchant.. He recollected seeing old Mr. Hopkins, who lived in Champaign at the time, come to church many a time with nothing on but a pair of tow-linen pants and shirt, barefooted and bareheaded, and for a half dour preach with great power. When there was a log-rolling, flax piffling, or social gathering, all turned out and had a good time. Being all Quakers then they didn'• dance, but played plays such as "Sister Phebe" and "Marching Round Quebec." This was the way they were raised. The President then showed some relics, one a photograph of the first house built in the county, and the other a large pewter dish, presented to the Association by Andrew Stiarwalt, of Bellefontaine. It was purchased in Pennsylvania about the year 1750, by 372 - CHAMPAIGN AND Thomas Guy. He owned it 48 years and at his death gave it to his nephew, Thomas Guy, who owned it forty-two years, and at death gave it to his daughter, Mrs. Mary McFadon, who brought it to Logan county in 1831. She owned it eleven years and at death gave it to her daughter, Mrs. Martha Stiarwalt, who has had it since 1814. It is a quaint and venerable relic, 120 years old. After the reading of an old poem, which we shall present at another time, with some preliminary remarks, the Association proceeded to elect offrcers for the ensuing year, when the following were unanimously declared elected : President, J. M. Glover, West Liberty ; Vice President, Joshua Antrim, Middleburg; Secretary, Thomas Hubbard, and Treasurer, Gen. I. S. Gardner, of Bellefontaine. George McCulloch was elected Chaplain for life. Trustees—B. S. Brown, Samuel Carter, Wm. Lawrence, of Bellefontaine ; Volney Thomas and Joshua Buffington, of West Liberty. Books were declared open for members' names and many were recorded, which will be given at another time. The next quarterly meeting was appointed at the Town Hall, West Liberty, December 3, 1870, with Judge Lawrence to deliver the opening address. After the doxology by the band, and an affecting and solemn benediction by the Chaplain, the meeting was dismissed, and all went home happy, feeling that 'the occasion had been one of rare interest and amusement. Third Quarterly Meeting. The third quarterly meeting of the Western Pioneer Association was held, according to appointment, at West Middleburg, in this county, on Saturday, March 4, 1871. The day was warm, sunny and pleasant, and although the dirt roads were in a bad condition, the attendance was larger than was anticipated, the house being completely filled. In addition to the large number of citizens of the town and vicinity who expressed their appreciation of the occasion by attending, there were present many of the pioneer men and women of the neighborhood, who took much interest in the proceedings, and added to the exhibition a large collection of relics of the early days. In the absence of the worthy Treasurer and other active mem LOGAN COUNTIES - 373 bers no business was transacted, though much was to be done. The time was pleasantly occupied until the adjournment with speeches, songs, etc. It is much to he regretted that the large collection of relics of other days could not be presented to the Association to he preserved in its archives for the benefit of future generations. They are of little use as they are, but gathered together would form an interesting and speaking chapter in history which could not be supplemented by written description. The donor would also have the satisfaction of contributing an article to the museum which would carry his name in connection down to posterity. We hope these relics may be gathered up from all over the county and sent in properly labeled with their history and donor's name, to the President of the Association. The meeting was called to order at 2 o'clock P. M., and after prayer by Rev. Mr. Flood, President J. M. Glover gave an interesting review of social life running back to pioneer times, explained the social, benevolent and historical object of the society, and urged on all old people the importance and duty of joining it, to collect and preserve the history of the county. "A Requiem to the Departed Pioneers," composed by Professor Joshua Antrim, very touching and impressive, was next given by Miss Mollie Bales and Prof. Sharp. 374 - CHAMPAIGN AND At The Old Home BY WM. HUBBARD. It was just such an Autumn morn as this—how many years ago? Let me see: John is now twelve years old, and was then but, two, I know— We had loaded the wagon the day before, a wagon Staunch and new, And away we hied on the Autumn morn while the grass was wet with dew. The yellow dust was damp and still, on the smooth and quiet road, And gaily the bay and sorrel team moved on with our household load; The leaves were tinted with yellow and gold, and colors of myriad sheen, And the meadows had lost in the early frost their tinge of summer green. I mind me well how the shocks of corn stood in the fields by the way— How the yellow pumpkins, like nuggets of gold, in the open furrows lay, How the luscious apples hung ripe and red as we passed the orchards by, Where the children played in the pleasant shade, all under the misty sky. We were moving away to the Illinoy, where land could be cheaply bought; The homestead farm wasn't large enough for both the boys we thought— But, if it were to do again, peradventure we would stay, For we often sighed in the Illinoy for the dear home far away. The land was cheap, and the yield was great, and we have enough to divide Between the boys, and leave the girl a handsome thing beside; But, one or another, we never were well ; that is, I mean to say, Not quite so well as we used to be in the home whence we moved away. We lived five years in the Illinoy before the Sickly fall—. Ah! that you may very well believe was a trying time for us all! All, all were down, my companion died, and I never got over the blow; Though Jane was grown, and toot care of things right well, as all of us know. And Ephraim now looks after the farm; of boys he is one of the best; He said to me: "Father, you're growing old—it is time you had some rest— So take little John and go back once more to look at the dear old home— You can go by the cars, not the toilsome way by which we had to come." LOGAN COUNTIES - 375 Who is that man yonder?. He looks to me very much like Jason Black; But Jason, I'm sure, walked very straight, while this man crooks in the back; And Jason's hair wore the raven's hue, while this man's hair is white- Ah, me! I forget what time may do in ten years of his flight. "God bless you, friend! Come, sit you down, and tell what I would know Of neighbors well remembered still, whom I knew long ago; I'm back to the dear old stamping ground, and brought little John, my boy, Leaving Ephraim and Jane to care for things at our home in Illinoy." And Jason Said, and sighing said: "Old friend, 'tis sad to tell Of the folks Who were here ten years ago, and whom you knew so well. But few are left, for scoreS are dead, and many have moved away, And the few you meet you will hardly know, so changed are they to-day. "You mind the man who bought your place—a Stout young fellow was he, But he died of a fever the Second year, leaving wife and children three. And they managed bad, and the Sheriff sold the homestead out for debt, And where they went 'tis so long ago if ever I knew I forget. "Your neighbor Gates, across the creek, for a long time be lay low, And died at last—let's see—I think it is just six years ago; And Jonah Gates, his oldest son, I s'pose you have heer'n tell, Gave up to drink and playing cards, and isn't doing well. "I can not name them all. of course, but a score of our young men Were lured away to fields of blood, and never came back again; Some gave up their lives at Gettysburg, sonic fell on the march to the sea, And widows and orphan children left are sorry sights to see. "You well remember Willie Grey, so handsome, kind and true, For his dead father, your best friend, had named his boy for you— They stole him away as a paymaster's clerk, poor boy, and now he sleeps, Where Mississippi's turbid tide in restless surges sweeps." "Enough—enough—more than enough: I very plainly see The old home has no comfort left that it can offer me, So I'll pack my things; and to-morrow morn, with little John, my boy, I'll go back again to Ephraim and Jane, and our home in the Illinoy." 376 - CHAMPAIGN AND Oh, Give Them Bank BY JESSE ROBERTS, Oh, give me back my cabin home Within the forest wild, And give me, too, those hopeful years, I knew when but a child. Oh, let me see the birds again, With plumage bright and gay, And hear their notes as when I trod The tangled, winding way. Oh, give me hack my parents dear, As in their glorious prime; Oh let me see them once again As in the olden time. My brothers and my sisters, too, Let them return once more, A joyful group as when they stood Within the cottage door. Oh, give me back my schoolmates, now In mem'ry cherished dear, Oh, let me join with them again To bail the dawning year. Or let me see them in the class, Within the school room stand, As they were wont with teacher there To head the youthful band. Oh, let me see that maiden fair, With rose bloom on her cheek, I met along the woodland path, My heart too faint to speak. Or give to me those riper years When she stood by my side, In snowy robe of spotless white, A youthful, loving bride. LOGAN COUNTIES - 377 Oh, give me back those loved ones now, Whom we were wont to see. But years ago we laid them down Beneath the church-yard tree. In fancy's visions oft we view Them as in days of yore; Oh, give them back, that we may look Upon their forms once more. Oh, give me back my youthful form, With healthful, ruddy' glow, Those active limbs—then let me stand With those I used to know. Oh, give to me my youth again, If 'tis but for a night, Ere earth's dear treasures one by one All vanish from my sight. If what I’ve asked may not be given, Then let me ask once more, That I may reach that land of light, Beyond this changing shore, Where bloom and beauty never fade, But shine with luster bright, And day's eternal radiance Dispels the gloom of night. HARPER, O., February 6, 1872. 26 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LOGAN COUNTY. BY JESSE ROBERTS. MR. JOSHUA ANTRIM :-I am seated to write down a few items for the Pioneer Association of Logan county, and will begin at. RUSHCREEK LAKE. This is a small body of water of near a hundred acres surface, connected with a swamp extending north on each side of Rushcreek for near three miles, and south to near the Jerusalem Pike, where it crosses Mad River—making an aggregate length of about six or seven miles, with an average width of nearly three quarters of a mile. This whole area has evidently once been a lake connecting the waters of Mad River and Rushcreek, the former running South, and the latter North. The stream of Rushcreek passes through this lake, which embraces a part of each of the townships of Rushcreek and Jefferson, and is in the track of the great tornado which passed over it about the year 1825 or 1826, and constituted what is familiarly known as "The fallen timber." This lake abounds in fish, and has ever been the favorite resort for all lovers of the finny tribes, within reasonable distance of its miry borders. It is much smaller now than when first viewed by the early pioneers of our county, and scarce one hundredth part as large as it originally was. The swamp connected with it is much more firm now than forty years ago.—The tallest corn is now grown in some places where cattle would not then dare venture. The incidents connected with this lake I LOGAN COUNTIES - 379 cannot record with any great degree of accuracy. It was said the great tornado lifted the water to such an extent, that hundreds and thousands of fish could be found upon its shores. There was also a tradition that two Indians, in an attempt to wade into it from the shore, instantly sunk into the mire, and their bodies were never recovered. I give this not as a fact, but as a tradition, currently talked of and generally credited forty years ago, yet I never met a person who could verify the story. I can, however, attest, that all around the margin of the lake, as also in the bed of Rush-creek, so far as the swamp extends, a person attempting to wade would sink beneath the mire as quick as in the water. If the Indians pursued a deer into the water, (as was said,) they could not have escaped being buried in the mire. In the period of forty years since I have known this lake, there has tbeen but four persons drowned in it ; the first happened several years ago. A man by the name of Edsall, who was subject to fits, was fishing alone in a canoe, and in a spasm as was supposed, had fallen out and drowned. He resided near Zanesfield, and the past summer, his son about eighteen years of age was drowned in attempting to bathe in its waters. About ten years ago two men, Thos. Carson and Martin Longstaff, were both fishing in a small canoe and were upset in the water and drowned. In early times the pioneer girls and boys would resort there in companies, and amid the sublime scenery of that secluded spot, whisper their artless tales of love, in the deep shades of the lofty forest trees that stood on the beautiful knoll that overlooks its placid waters, and although it has since been divested of much ()fits romantic grandeur, as seen in the dense forest and heard in the songs of birds, it is still one of the chief features of interest in our locality, especially to strangers who visit here. Extending west along the stream of Rushcreek above this lake, is a small valley surrounded by hills, known as "LAZY HOLLOW." The first settlers of this hollow occupied much of their time in fishing, and manifested so little energy in the improvement of the country, that the above name seemed appropriate, and hence its christening, perhaps, for all time ; and lest this name should make an unfavorable impression on the minds of future genera- 380 - CHAMPAIGN AND tions respecting the first settlers of this hollow, I will say that Mr. James B. McLaughlin, now a prominent lawyer in Bellefontaine, is perhaps responsible for the name, and as he was a resident of the hollow himself at the time, can not reasonably claim exemption from the unfavorable impressions suggested by the title. There are also evidences of moral and intellectual improvement in the immediate vicinity of this hollow, which may be noted as among the first, north of Zanesfield. I will here give the names of some of the first settlers in this vicinity : Daniel McCoy, was evidently the first settler here, and built a cabin on a farm now owned by Mr. Jamison, in the northern part of Jefferson Township, a short distance from the Lazy Hollow School-house. This McCoy was here as early perhaps as 1810, of whom we will speak more particularly hereafter. Shortly after. Stephen Leas and Haines Parker settled in this same school district, perhaps as early as 1812, the former about three and a half miles north of Zanesfield, on the west of Madriver, and the latter on the north of him, on the farm known as the Elliot farm, but now owned by Benjamin Shoots. Haines Parket was what was called a regular Baptist preacher, and in connection with the venerable George McColloch, Tharp's Run, below Zanesfield, established the first church on the waters of Rushcreek. The first-meeting house was erected about half a mile east of the Lazy Hollow School-house, on the road leading from Harper to Zanesfield, near where the Bellefontaine and Walnut Grove road crosses the Zanesfield and Harper road. It was a log house, which stood for many years, but has since almost entirely disappeared. The names of some of the prominent members constituting that church were Haines Parker and his wife, Johnson Patrick, Samuel Patrick, Elijah Hull, Old Father Piatt, and some others, male and female members, whose names I do not now recollect. In 1832 the second meeting-house was built a mile and a half further north, and was called the Rushcreek Baptist Church, after which the former house was vacated, and the latter became the regular place of meeting by the church. Connected with this second house, the first public grave-yard was established. It was donated by Solomon Cover, who then resided on the farm now owned by Lucien D. Musselman, and the first person buried there was Samuel Patrick, in October, 1831. This meeting-house was LOGAN COUNTIES - 381 evidently the first house of worship erected in Rushcreek Township; the former house was built in Jefferson. North of Lazy Hollow, on a high hill in the south edge of Rushcreek Towship, the first school house was built in Rushcreek Township ; it was on the Zanesfield and Harper road, on a piece of land now owned by Oliver Raymond; I can not give the date of its building, but it must have been prior to 1820. I find I was mistaken concerning the first meeting-house built in Rushcreek Township, as stated in the above. The first meeting-house in Rushcreek township was built by the. Quakers. It stood in a field now owned by John Q. Williams, near the Sandusky road, four and half miles northeast of Bellefontaine ; there is a grave-yard at the site of this meeting-house, which was laid out by old Thomas Stanfield, Sr., who was evidently the first white settler in Rushcreek Township. His first cabin stood on the north side of the old Stanfield farm, which is now occupied by Mr. Samuel Hall. It was built of very small logs, or rather poles, indicating the scarcity of hands at that period. Thomas Stanfield planted the first orchard near his cabin; many of the trees can be seen at present, (1871.) He was socially and religiously connected with the first settlers in Marmon's bottom, and his grandson, Samuel Stanfield, told me that he came here in the year 1806. He was here during the war 1812, and continued on the old Stanfield farm up to the year 1823, when he died and was buried in the grave-yard which he had located. His wife, Hannah, died in 1830, and was buried by his side. He was succeeded by his son, Thomas Stanfield, Jr., who died in 1838. There is an incident connected with the history of this pioneer family which is worthy of record. Stanfield was a Quaker, and, like the celebrated William Penn, succeeded in securing the friendship of the Indians to such an extent that he felt comparatively safe to remain among them during the war of 1812. They often visited his cabin, shared his hospitality, and manifested marked friendship for him and his family. But it seems, from some causer they had become angry with Stanfield, and determined on a certain night to massacre the whole family. They accordingly concealed themselves in the bushes which surrounded the cabin about dusk in the evening, and lay there awaiting the darkness of the night, that they might carry out their fiendish plot. 382 - CHAMPAIGN AND It seems however, that Mr. Daniel McCoy, who is mentioned in a former article, had learned of their hellish design, and determined to try to rescue the family at all hazards. He accordingly communicated with the garrison at McPherson's near where our county Infirmary is now located, and proposed an expedition to. save the Stanfields. The garrison was weak at the time, and could not be induced to enter on such a perilous adventure, when McCoy declared he would undertake the rescue alone, against the remonstrances of his friends. After imbibing freeley in a social glass, he mounted a gray horse and started through the forest at dusk in the evening, and proceeded alone to Stanfield's, a distance of near seven miles. When be arrived within a quarter of a mile of the cabin, he raised the yell, saying, "Come on, here they-are !" then doul ding on his track rode back and forth a short distance several times, hallooing all the time for his men to "come on," as though he was accompanied by a legion of cavalry. Then putting his horse under full speed, galloped up to the cabin, informing Stanfields of their imminent danger. The horses were immediately brought up, and the whole family, accompanied by McCoy, proceeded to Zanesfield, a distance of seven miles, where they remained a couple of weeks. On their return to the cabin; they found it had not been disturbed during their absence. They were told by the Indians after peace was concluded, that McCoy had saved their lives in the daring manner of his approach, intimidating them with the impression that he was supported by ft strong force, as no "one man," as they said, would manifest such daring boldness. I have been favored with the family record of Thomas Stanfield, Jr., and from it transcribe the following : "Thomas Stanfield was married to Margaret Reames, on the 30th of the sixth month, 1814, and lived with my father two years, live months and twenty days, then moved to my own house." This will date the occupancy of the old house on the Stanfield farm, on the site where Mr. Hall now lives, about November 20« 1816, which is about fifty years ago. Adding eleven years to this:, in order to reach the year 1805, the date of building the first cabin„ we have about sixty-six years from the beginning of the first settlement in Rushcreek Township. And although sixty-six years have passed since that pioneer family settled here, there are still traces of their early labor. The old orchard trees, one pile of rub. LOGAN COUNTIES - 383 bish designating the site of the first cabin ; the place where the old meeting-house stood, the old grave-yard, and many other things that serve to carry the mind back to those primitive times. In the family record already alluded to, I find the following in the hand-writing of Thomas Stanfield, Jr. "Thomas Stanfield, Jr., departed this life 5th month, the 11th, 1824, aged 76 years, 5 months and 12 days. Hannah Stanfield, his wife, departed this life 9th month, the 28th, 1830, age not certainly known, but something rising eighty years." The bodies of this pioneer father and mother, now sleep side by side in the little grave-yard already noted ; with them also sleep many loved ones, descendants of the family, as also some of the associates of their early toils. Their graves are marked by humble and unpretending monuments, reared by the hand of affection, ere pride and ostentation had corrupted society. On a grave-stone of a pious grand-daughter who lies buried there, the following inscription may be read : "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."—Ps. xxiii:4. Passing through that grave-yard the other day, and trying to read the inscriptions on the moss covered stones, my mind wandered back to youthful days, when I stood with many who repose beneath these humble monuments, and I could but say, "they still linger in memory," calling up many pleasant scenes long numbered in the past, and to their memory I inscribe the following verses : In the folds of mem'ry linger Youthful scenes now cherished dear, When we wandered in the wildwood, With the forms that slumber here. Oft we met in social pleasure, Youths and maidens full of glee; Neatly clad in homespun garment, Free from pride and vanity. And when Sickness sad and dreary Came within our forest home, And their services were needed, Ever faithful they would come. Watching through night's weary hours, In the taper's feeble ray, 384 - CHAMPAIGN AND From the sable shades of evening Till the dawning of the day, Where are now those forms of beauty. Seen by us in days of yore? Gone, all gone, we know not whither, From this ever-changing shore. Yet in mem'ry still they lnger; Hope cloth whisper, "Yet again We shall meet them—yes we'll greet them On the bright eternal plain." Aaron Reems built the first cabin and made the first rails on the Sutherland farm, as early perhaps as 1814. The Dickey farm on the Sandusky road, was first sMr. TadmanThomas McAdams. The farm of Mr..Tadman, by Billy Stanfield ; the Williams farm by the Baldwins. (Daniel and Richard.) North of Greenville treaty line, on the west of Rushcreek and South of the Sandusky road, about the year 1825, we find Jonathan Sutton who came from Kentucky and settled on what is known as the Rushcreek farm. He built a sawmill on Rush Creek in 1833 or 1834, just above Sutton's. On the creek we find two old Pennsylvania Dutch farmers, Solomon Cover and Michael Musselman. They were brothers-in-law, and spent their days here. Lucien D. Musselmen now owns the Cover farm and also part of the Musselman farm. Old aunt Cover, widow of Solomon Cover, is stld alive ; she is over ninety years onld, and for several years her mind has been demented. Later than 1830, we note the arrival of other settlers on. the west of Rushcreek. On the farm of, Mr. James AnsleMcMahill the year 1832, we find James McMahill building a cabin. He came from Kentucky, with his amiable little wife Annie. He moved into his cabin. Hi 3 old flint lock rifle was placed above the door on the rack. One Sabbath morning the fire was out. He took down the rifle t" "Baptist, and. It was loaded. He was a Baptist,.and would not discharge his rifle Oh the Sabbath; he plugged up the touch hole, filled the pan with powder, the tow and "punk" ready, the gun across his lap, the muzzle pointing in the direction where little Annie was sitting in a split bottom chair, putting on her shoes ; he pulls the trigger—"bang" goes the rifle, the ball entering the high post of the chair on which his wife was sitting, lodging in just below the chair bottom. Little Annie has long LOGAN COUNTIES - 385 since taken her place amid the "Angel band." Her husband, James McMah ill, is now in Cabletown, Champaign county, and doubtless has not forgotten the incident. The old chair was seen by the writer many years afterward with the rifle ball still in it, and may be still preserved as an antique relic by Mr. McMahill. Thomas Stanfield, Sr., noted above, immigrated from Tennessee. He had ten children - nine daughters and one son (Thomas Stanfield, Jr.). Old Wm. Reams, father of Mr. John Reams, in Lazy Hollow, immigrated from North Carolina, and settled in or near Marmon's Bottom, near the beginning of the present century, but moved to Lazy Hollow on the farm now owned by his son, John Reams, about the year 1816. This Wm. Reams also had ten children—nine sons and one daughter (Margaret). The latter was married to Thomas Stanfield, Jr., May 30th, 1814. This couple occupied the old Stanfield farm, Rushcreek township, where they also raised ten children—six sons and four daughters ; one of the latter died at the age of twelve years. Abner Cox, who died in Lazy Hollow— first settled below Zanesfield—took a seven years' lease on the land of old Jarvis Dougherty, on Tharp's Run, but subsequently moved to Lazy Hollow, and settled on the east of the Reams farm as early, perhaps, as the year 1814. This Abner Cox died here, and was buried on a hill a little north of where his cabin stood. His widow married a man by the name of Stilwell, who also died prior to 1831. The widow Stilwell's was a noted place forty years ago. Singing-schools, religious meetings, and youthful parties were frequently held at her house. She had four sons by her first husband (Cox) : Abner, John, Ike and Sam, all stout, hearty fellows, rather slack in business, but what was termed good-hearted fellows, fond of company, and ever ready to entertain visitors. The old lady was rather a good worker, and equally fond of company as her sons; hence her house was rather a. favorite place of resort for the lovers of social pleasure in that day, She also had four children by Stilwell, among them a deaf and dumb boy, called "Billy," whose peculiar signs and motions in communicating ideas were indeed novel to those familiar with him. Her oldest daughter, "Patty Stilwell," was rather a fine model of a healthful, and lively pioneer young lady, reared up in the forest, where schools and school-houses, like angel's visits, were "few and far between." She was cheerful and kind-hearted, frank and artless in her manners, above me- 386 - CHAMPAIGN AND dium size, rather graceful and easy in her movements. Not what the world would call a. beauty ; yet good-looking enough to attract a fair share of attention from the beaux, without incurring the envy of her sex. She was "Patty," and nobody else ; uniformly the same every day. She was the first youthful bride Lazy Hollow produced ; I mean the first one born, reared and married there, and her wedding may be noted as among the important events of that period. It was about the year 1833, a beautiful day in summer, or early autumn ; the assembly was large and promiscous ; old, young, middle-aged, married and single, male and female, were present, many who had never seen a wedding before. The bridegroom was a Mr. Wm. Dunston, brother to James Dunston, rather a portly, good-looking young man. The bride's waiter was a Miss Patty Parker, daughter of Rev. Haines Parker. Mr. Joseph Dunstan was waiter to the bridegroom. The officiating magistrate was 'Squire Wm. McAmis. It was his first experience in legalizing the "ancient covenant," and his nerves gave evidence of the weighty responsibility laid upon him. During the ceremony, a death-like silence pervaded the spectators, until the concluding sentence, "I pronounce you man and wife," was heard,. when Mr. John Reams, called out at the top of his voice : "How where's my dollar?" (the legal fee of the magistrate at that period.) This was responded to by a hearty laugh from the whole assembly, after which the congratulations of the guests were tendered to the bride and bridegroom. Many, doubtless, who will read this article, will remember the . time when Patty was married. She shortly afterward left the scenes of her youthful years, and with her husband moved to Michigan, where after a few years she was called to follow to the grave, him who had won her youthful heart. The names of the first settlers in this section who have not been noted, are as follows : John Moore, settled immediately west of Wm. Reams, in 1818 ; 'Old Billy Tinnis, settled on the Whitehill farm, 1816 ; Old Thomas Dunston, settled on the farm where his grandson, Mr. James Dunston now lives, perhaps as early as 1817. Thomas Dunston was a Revolutionary soldier. John Reed first settled on what is now the McLaughlin farm, about 1815; he was succeeded by Samuel Ayers ; Old Johnson Patrick settled on what was once known as the Patrick farm, now owned by Joseph Kitchen. Stephen Marmon was the first settler on the Kitchen farm LOGAN COUNTIES - 387 immediately west of the lake, in 1815. The "Tine Bullar" farm now owned by Dick Kitchen, was first settled by Moses Reams and David Norton, in 1815. The first ministers of the gospel who preached in this section are as follows, so far as known to the writer : Haines Parker, George MeColloch, Mr. Vaughn, and Tommy Price.. These were of the Baptist order, and preached in the old meeting house north of the Parker farm, as heretofore Doted. I will here transcribe a text lead by Tommy Price as a foundation for a discourse in this old meeting-house: "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and lover his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. xv:2. Of the methodist preachers, Robert Casebolt and Thomas Sims, both preached at old widow Stilwell's frequently. Perhaps there are others not remembered now by the writer. In the vicinity of the old Baptist Church and grave-yard on the west of Rushcreek, Thomas Sutherland settled On the old Sutherland farm as early as 1816. His wife, Phebe, was a daughter of old Thomas Stanfield, Sr., remarkable for her industry and perseverance. She was what was called a midwife, and in his profession had a wide practice. She was faithful in her Ministrations to the sick, and if a death occurred in the neighborhood, she could generally refer to some sign or token by which she had been previously warned of the sad event. She earned many dollars by digging "seng" after her location on Rushcreek. About the time of the arrival of James McMahill, as noted above, Mr. Joseph T. Ansley, also from Kentucky settled on the Ansley farm. Dr. Tom Green made the first improvements on this farm. He was also the first local physician in Rushcreek township. At this time (1832) Rushsylvania was not laid out, nor was there a single building on the site. Mr. James Clegg, who settled on the farm now owned by Mr. Qua, first conceiver) the idea of a tows there. He was an old Virginian—a man of considerable intelligence and enterprise, and laid out the town about the year 1834. It was nick-named "Clegg Town," in honor to its proprietor ; but whether he felt particularly complimented by the title I am not advised. Thompson Hews erected a tavern where the drug Aloe now stands;, James Elam kept a tavern and store on the corner where the post office is now kept ; Robert Stephenson kept a tav- 388 - CHAMPAIGN AND ern and smith shop on the corner of Ansley & Day; Jacob Nibarger kept a tavern where Heller's new house stands; he also sold goods. Ben Green had the potter shop ; Wm. Gipson preceded S. B. Stilwell in the wagon shop. Rushsylvania was the seat of elections, petty musters, and was the center of commerce in Rushcreek township For several years whisky appeared to be a leading commodity ix trade. The presence of the bottle on the table of the Judges of election on election day, was not very rare ; neither was it a very rare occurrence to see a .dozen men divested of their coats, apparently anxious to fight on a public day. And while there are many citizens in the town who deplore the evils that exist now let them console themselves with the thought that the town has made great improvement in morals, literature and religion. The Big Spring, three miles north of Rushsylvania, was a noted place long before Rushsylvania was thought of. One Lanson Curtis, who used to be a prominent business man in Zanesfield, made the first improvement at the Spring. It is said that Curtis started in business on a cargo of tinware which he borrowed from an Eastern capitalist, in rather a novel manner : He was employed in the East to peddle the ware, and in one of his circuits he became bewildered, and after traveling for several days, found himself with Ms cargo in the wilds of Logan county, where, by "Tin Panning," he soon became a leading spirit in commercial and financial departments of our new county, and gained many devoted, ardent admirers, who were much astonished when he afterwards was called upon to return the original "loan" (?) The earliest improvement in the vicinity of Big Spring, was just South of the old tavern stand—on what was originally known as the "Shepherd farm,"—now owned by the widow Brugler. A man by the name of Shepherd first settled here, and his location was the first of any northwest of Rushsylvania. He had his leg and thigh mashed by the falling of a log in raising a barn on the Stamats farm, near Cherokee. This accident caused his death. Dr. B. S. Brown, then a young man, was present when his leg was amputated, several days after the accident. While Northwood established the principal depot on the line of the underground railroad, Rushsylvania, in an early day, ever stood ready to bring abolitionists to grief should they intrude LOGAN COUNTIES - 389 their odious sentiments on her community. Eggs, tar, feathers, and rails were spoken of in connection with temperance and abolition lecturers. Whether these articles were ever used as "regulators" and protectors of the public weal, I leave for others to say, whose experience might enable them to speak more positive, contenting myself with the narrative of the following incident as an index to public sentiment thirty-five years back. In the Northwest corner of Rushcreek Township, in the vicinity of "White Town," on the Miami, the following incident occurred : Two men from Bellefontaine pursued a couple of runaway slaves into Hardin county, where they arrested them, and started back. When they arrived at Israel Howell's, where Wm. Stewart now lives, they halted and staid all night. In the morning one of the negroes took up a cane belonging to one of the captors, and struck one of the white men a blow on the head, shivering the cane, a piece of which flew and struck a little girl of Mr. Howell's in the eye, as she lay in the trundle-bed, destroying the eyeball entirely. The negroes both broke and run ; one taking up the rivet' and the other down. Both white men started in pursuit of the one who had taken up the river, learning by this time that difficulties attending negro catching, demanded at least two white men to one negro. Thus we see that not only Rushsylvania, but even Bellefontaine, was afflicted with the mania of negro catching at that day. The little girl spoken of, who lost her eye in that fray, is now the wife of Peter Fry, near Rushsylva. Another incident connected with negro catching happened late. A man by the name of Covert kept the Big Spring Tavern; he had a log rolling. Jesse Bryant, the first military captain in Rush-creek Township, was among the hands. Three runaway slaves came along the road, and the "Big Captain" (Bryant) organized a force and arrested them. He, with his accomplices, started with their black prize to Kentucky. When they arrived at West Liberty, some of the citizens there demanded of them their authority for holding the negroes in custody. Bryant replied that the negroes had acknowledged they were runaway slaves, and on this acknowledgement they held them. This did not satisfy the impertinent citizens of West Liberty, who obtained a warrant and had Bryant and his company arrested on the ground of man-stealing. And while they were held in custody, the negroes got 390 - CHAMPAIGN AND away, and the company lost their prize. Bryant and his company were detained until they could have witnesses brought from home to establish their innocence. In concluding this article, I will give the names of the first settlers of the Miami, and dates; as far as I have been able to learn thews : 1823, the Israel Howell farm, now Wm. Stewart's, was first settled by Calhoun, who was succeeded by Simeon Ransbottom - next by Israel Howell, who held the first post-office there, about the year 1825, or 1826. The Crawford farm was settled by Young, in 1827 ;. the Hopkins farm, by Hazard Hopkins, 1828; the Dunlap farm, (formerly White Town) by Wm. White, 1829 ; the Hervey, or old Irvin farm, by Wm. Patterson, 1828; the Clark farm by Wm. Holt, 1828; The Laughlin farm by Hiram Hukill, 1829 ; the Anderson farm, by John B. Anderson ; the farm of W. K. Newman; by Silas Thrailkill, 1826—succeeded by Arthur Roberts, 1828; the K. H. Howell farm by Wm. Patterson, 1829; the Richey farm by James Stephenson, 1827—succeeded by Wm. S. Johnston, 1830 ; the Simon Ensley farm, settled by Almond Hopkins, 1828--succeeded by Moses West, Wm. Creviston, Linus Cutting; John Roberts, and Simon Ensley ; the Wm. Roberts farm, settled by Henry Fry, 1828 ; Melcher Crook settled the Thomas farm, 1830; Ben. Carson settled the Hume farm, 1829; Jonas Fry settled the farm west of Joel Thomas, 1829 or 1830; the farm of John Kerns, by Jacob Kerns ; the Beaver farm, by Mr. Bower, 1832. Besides the above names in this locality, we have the Derwesters, or Whacters, as they were familiarly known. Among them. the noted Ben. Whacter, whose muscular strength was that of a giant ; and who came to his end by a blow inflicted with a pair of fire tongs, by the hand of a female whom he had undertaken to abuse. I will mention some incidents connected with the first school taught by the writer, 1837-38. The school-house on the south-east corner of :Jerome Musselman's land, in District No. 5, Rushcreek township, has long since disappeared, and was rather a rude structure when new; yet I confess that could I see it to-day as it was in the fall of 1837, when I first engaged in the responsible occupation of instructing the youth in that locality, it would be of far more interest to me than the most costly and well arranged school-house that has been built in our township since that time. Its rude floor, clap-board roof, mud and stick chimney, six foot fire-place, LOGAN COUNTIES - 391 bench seats, slab writing-desks, paper windows and rough door hung on wooden hinges are all treasures in memory, and, viewed through the lapse of nearly forty years, they seem more vivid than scenes of but yesterday. But who lived here then? . Henry Rosbrough lived on the Jerome Musselman farm, in the old house which stood near the old log meeting-house, near Mr. Ticen's. Rosbrough sent three children to school, John, George, and little Mary. To say they were good children is certainly clue to the memory of their sainted mother, "Aunt Peggy," as we were wont to call her, who has since then taken her place in the mansions above. Old man Richardson settled on the farm where Rosbrough then lived, sometime between 1820. and 1825. On the farm of William Stephenson, lived the old widow Hews; John Wolf was the first there. The widow Hews was a pious Presbyterian lady, correct in her deportment. Hiram and Perry, her twe sons, young men at the time, and Phebe and Eliza, her two daughters, young women, were with her. Perry and the two girls came to school,.and it is but just to say may acquaintance with this family is a source of many pleasant reflections on the scenes of olden times, when they bore a part with us in them. On the Barney Kautzinan farm, old Jamie McAmis, who married the widow Rosbrongh, (whose first husband, Hilkiah Rosbrough, first settled this farm. "'The Big Spring" here is the source of Millcreek ;) lived with Aunt Susie. Here was little George Rosbrough, Pete, Mike and Tom, all pupils in the school, good fellows, and ever dear to memory and hope. A little to the east was old Benny Hodge, and Abraham Deardorff, Bill Hodge, Jesse, Jim, Henry, and little Betty—all pupils in the school. -And again, Abe Deardorff, John and Susan ; count them also. • A little nearer the fallen timber on the King farm, we find old Jake King, six feet high, of at least two-hundred pounds avordupois, and as terrible as he was big: Here were his four oldest children—Julia Ann, Nancy, Martha and Bill—the two former nearly grown., None could fail to see the parental unkindness had so discouraged them, that youth was but a dreary bondage, only endured by the hope that some thy they would be free from the galling parental yoke. They came to school. That the teacher was "partial" to those children is not unlikely, yet all others would say such partiality was demanded in the case, and none felt that it was wrong. 392 - CHAMPAIGN AND Near the line of Bokescreek township, old Hezekiah Starbuck lived. He had his second wife ; his step-children , Eliza and David Adams, came to school. Eliza was nearly grown, David younger. They were pleasant in. their disposition and highly esteemed in school. But close to Starbuck's was found Lawson Rudasill. He came from the high hills of Old Virginia, and settled in the level country. He was a school director, and rather a well informed man to be found so far out in the woods. Religiously, they called him a "Campbellite"—not a very great compliment at that day. Wesley and Winfield, two of his boys came to school. I always loved them for their independence and dignity, and as I was teaching for ten dollars a month and boarding with the scholars, I often went home with these boys. It was here and about this time that I concluded to engage in a new enterprise. This Rudasill had a girl at home that he did not send to school ; she was perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old—born and reared on the high hills of Old Virginia. It looked rather hard that she should wear out her life amid those "gloomy swails," and therefore, for these and other considerations which may be guessed by the reader; I persuaded her to accompany me to a more elevated locality. This arrangement was consummated during the stormy scenes of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too ;" and as my old friend (silversmith) John Miller was a very acceptable "Campbellite" preacher at that time, his services were solicited and thankfully received on the occasion, and though he has wandered far from where he stood then, I must confess that he did a good strong job—tied a knot that has held for more than thirty years, and I have no longer to go from home to find a school, as we have now one of our own that requires most of our attention. John Miller claims rank among the progressive "Spirits," and I shall not here call in question what he assumes or claims in this respect. On the farm now owned by William George, on Rushcreek, old man Rodaker settled. He was the first Squire in Rushcreek township. An incident connected with his official duties is worthy of note: About the year 1833, the trustees of the township sued some man on Taylorcreek on account of some stray animals those men had taken up. Suit was brought before Rodaker; Anthony Casad was engaged as counsel for the defendants. After the evidence pro and con had been heard, Casad arose to make a speech. The 'Squire told him he would allow no "speechifying" in the case, remark- LOGAN COUNTIES - 393 Old Billy Rubart succeeded Rodaker on this farm, and built a grist mill on Rushcreek, perhaps the first grist mill built in Rushcreek Township. This Rubart. did not find his "affinity" in his first wife, and after raising several children, left her and sought a more congenial spirit. In reviewing the series of Pioneer Sketches which I have written, I find some errors, and withal, a want of systematic arrangement in noting the early settlers of the locality for which I am writing. And should the pioneer book be published it is desirable that it should be as correct in its details as our facilities for collecting material will allow. Although born and reared in the woods, I will say with William Hubbard, that I am scarcely old enough for a correct reminiscent, especially so far as Logan county is concerned, as my location here was fifteen years too late to record experimentally the scenes and incidents of olden times. True, I could tell something about Logan county forty years ago, when Zanesfield and Bellefontaine would almost have envied Harper, as she is now, for her magnificence and grandeur ; when Job Garwood kept the tavern stand in Zanesfield, where S. Y. Leas now owns. It was there we stayed all night, in the fall of 1831, as my father with his family moved from Clinton county, Ohio, to my present home on Rushcreek. I could speak something of the genteel and aristocratic Lansing Curtis, who kept a store in Zanesfield then. I could tell how this dignified personage accommodated my father, and other new comers, by loaning them money at the moderate and charitable rate of twenty-five per cent. interest. I could tell about hump-shouldered Charles Amy, who clerked in the store of Curtis; some said he was lazy, but I rather liked him, and will not hand down to posterity so odious an impression. Let me suggest to those who may still remember his sleepy manner of getting around, that perhaps after all "he was only born tired." I could tell of Dr. Crew. He was here then, and also Dr. Marmon ; and with the old doctors of. Bellefontaine, Brown, Lord and Hartley, whom to the old settlers, whenever the names of these pioneer physicians are mentioned, there arises in the heart emotions of veneration and gratitude, for their vigilance and faithful ministrations when disease and suffering fell within the forest home. And while those who knew them not then, may pass them by to-day with seeming indifference, as though the world was no better off 27 394 - CHAMPAIGN AND by them having lived, we can never, never be so inconsiderate. They have reared a monument of affection and gratitude in the hearts of those who shared with them the toils and privations of pioneer life that will outlive the wastes of time and the ravaging scenes of death. I could tell of Col. Mart Marmon, as he was mounted on his noble charger, in full uniform, as he, with- stentorian voice, gave command at general muster at Zanesfield or Bellefontaine, on the third Friday of September. I could tell of old Billy Henry, who was riding around among the citizens, listing their personal property for taxation, when the uniform price of horsa was forty dollars per head and colts thrown in, and cows eight dollars per head. I could tell when the roads on the east and west cif Mad River, leading north were only narrow cart ways, walled in on either side by mighty forest trees for many miles. I could tell when the head of Mad River near the Jerusalem pike was a lake, when "dugouts" were rowed over it, but now its bed is cultivated by Mr. Easton. 1 can well remember seeing Jack Parkinson, who first settled on the farm where Simon Kenton was buried. And also Jim Parkinson, who first settled on the Sabert Wren farm. Old Jamie Watkins lived on the Lloyd farm. Henry and William Watkins, his sons, and Harriet, his daughter, were well known then. Old Billy McGee with his young folks, Joab, Sally and Jane all come up in memory as but of yesterday. Old Ralph Low, and that oddity of a Sam Surls, is still fresh in Memory. Also Joe Collins, Sam and Jonathan Pettit, with George Parker—four rather adventurous spirits, who were permitted to occupy the old county jail for a period of ten days, in consequence of having disturbed the slumbers of old Stephen Leas at an unseasonable hour. There was Brice Collins, also, , who once built a house on Rushcreek Lake, but was so haunted by the "chills," despite the whisky he sold; he abandoned the enterprise in disgust. On the farm of Jacob Rudy, we find Nicodemus Bousman, 1826; on the farm of Oliver Corwin we find my grandfather, John Roberts, 1830; also a little later we find James Logan, 1832. Old Joel Thomas, father to Joel Thomas of Rushcreek Township, was the first settler on grandfather Roberts' land in 1824. Enoch Lunde. was there about the same time. Wm. McAmis settled in this neighborhood on the McAmis farm in 1830. On the farm of Jacob Arbegast, old John McClure settled, about 1824. His son Jacob LOGAN COUNTIES - 396 was on the Grimes farm. Old John Wilson first settled on the Jasinsky farm about 1824; Thomas Dickinson settled the Dickinson farm in 1830 and 1831 ; Benjamin Butler, the Nieper farm in 1832; Robert Dickinson, the Wm. Wren farm in 1833; Joseph Tenry first settled the Brockerman farm where Isaiah Corwin now lives, in 1832 ; Tenry was succeeded by McNeal. Robert Wilson settled on what was once Downingsville, and kept a small store there, perhaps the first store in Rushcreek Township, in 1832 or 1833; Wm. Roberts and Andrew Roberts first settled Wilson McAdams' old farm in 1830. The old Pugh farm was settled by John Prater, 1824; the Johnson Ansley farm by Wm. Smith, 1825; the George Ansley farm by Mr. Keneda, about 1829 or 1830; the farm of Martin McAdams by Conrad Collins, 1826. This man also first settled on the farm of Mr. Barber, 1832. The farm where David Pugh now lives, was settled by the Baldwins in 1832; the Johnson farm was settled by Jacob Johnson, in 1832; the farm of Peter Kautzman by Nelson Tyler, in 1828 ; the farm of Matthew Hale by Wm. Riley, in 1828 ; the farm of Nathan Rocket by Abraham Deardorff, in 1828 ; the farm of Clark Williams by Samuel Ruth, in 1825; the farm of Martha Bronson by Benjamin Green, in 1823. Walnut Grove was first occupied by William Trent, in 1836. He did not succeed in finding his "affinity" when he married his wife, but lived with her near twenty years before he met the congenial spirit. Elijah and Jesse Fawcet settled on Millcreek about the year 1833 or 1834. Andrew Roberts settled on the farm of W. W. Sutton, about 1838. Old Natty Monroe settled on the Monroe farm about 1834. Old Sterling Heatheock, the first colored resident in Rushcreek Township, settled on what is knows s the Sterling farm, in 1833. RECOLLECTIONS OF MY CHILDHOOD. My memory wanders hack over the path of life fifty years ago, and finds me a small boy, located near Mount Tabor, Champaign County, Ohio. Memory—that inestimable faculty of the mind, without which, all the past would be a blank—with what tenacity it preserves and how vividly it retains the impressions of by-gone years ! How we love to linger among scenes of our childhood ! How enchanting the view I In memory we live our life over again. Oh ! peaceful, happy days, with what reluctance we leave you! But time, the inexorable tyrant, compels ua to leave you. We drop a tear of sorrow and so bid you good bye. I see I am wandering from my purpose, for I propose to give a sketch of pioneer life, scenes and incidents fifty years ago. Let us ascend some prominent point where we can have a commanding view of the surrounding country. Having gained our position, what do we see? Away in the distance it appears to be an unbroken forest, as far as the eye can reach. The lofty tops of the majestic trees, with their rich foliage seem to blend together forming a vast sea of the purest green. Taking a nearer view, we see the landscape more diversified. Here is hill and dale, and beneath our feet runs the far-famed Madriver and Macacheek. Along the banks of these streams are spread out in quiet beauty those prairies with their carpets of green, bespangled with a profusion of the richest flowers; and as if to beautify the landscape, you see small groves of timber closely clustered together in the midst of these beautiful prairies, inviting to their peaceful and cooling shade the nimble and graceful wild deer that has been cropping the luxuriant grass along the banks of those limpid LOGAN COUNTIES - 397 streams that slacked their thirst. How lovely the scene! How inviting the clime ! No wonder that as soon as this country was known, the hardy sons of toil of the older States flocked by scores to these rich valleys, for they are all they were ever represented to be. In this early day the streams were alive with fish, and it is said that nearly every hollow tree was filled with bees, gathering their rich store from the abundance of flowers that grew with such luxuriance all over the country. The forests were alive with the deer, the turkey, the pheasant, the quail and the squirrel—all furnishing the most abundant and richest meat for the table of the hardy pioneer. Nor is this all. We call the attention of the horticulturist to dame nature's garden. See with what munificence she supplies all the wants of her creatures, even in the wilderness. The pioneer gathers in a supply of the rick est of fruits—the grape bower extends over hill and dale for miles around—I might say all over Ohio, and plums of every hue from the white transparent to the orange and the red, with a variety of flavor that would satisfy the taste of the most fastidious epicure. What shall I more say ? Time would fail me to speak of blackberries, strawberries and cranberries that were abundant in the north-east of Logan County. Those unacquainted with the primitive state of things in this country may think I am romancing, but the old pioneers know that I have not exaggerated. But now listen! We hear the sound of the woodman's ax, and anon the crash of the sturdy oak that has defied the storms of ages. Again we hear the bark of the sturdy mastiff or the roar of the hound as lie is in hot pursuit of his favorite game, the fox. And here and there we see the smoke of the log cabin as it ascends in graceful folds from the humble dwelling of the backwoodsman. But I now leave. this rude and imperfect sketch of natural scenery as it presented itself to the spectator in the early day, and attempt to give you some incidents in the life and manner of the first settlers. I might speak of the flax-pullings, where young gents and ladies, side by side, taking the flax by the top, pull it up by the roots, thus working all day in the hot sun, pulling acres of flax and setting it in bunches ; the log rollings, and the dance at night, 398 - CHAMPAIGN AND which all took muscle; and that they had, for it was their entire capital. I now introduce to you one of those pioneer young ladies. She lived near Mount Tabor, about fifty years ago. She was about eighteen years old. Her name was Polly Latty. Though but a small boy, I remember her personal appearance. She was about , the medium size, dark hair, black eyes that sparkled like diamonds, with a figure that a sculptor would be glad to take for a model. With all these personal graces, united with a lovely disposition, and with an intellect of the highest order, and with some degree of culture; it is to be expected that she would be a subject of admiration by the young gentlemen, and of envy by some of the young ladies. Withal, Polly was smart at anything she undertook to do. Spinning flax was one of the common employments of that day. Polly had said she had spun a certain amount in a day, (I forget now exactly how much). It was disputed, numbers saying they could spin as much in a day as she could, and they, though they did not like to dispute her word could not spin that amount. Polly did not like tt be charged witn misrepresenting, and quite a feeling was aroused in the neighborhood. A proposition was made to test the matter. A number of young ladies entered the list as competitors. I do not know what the prize was, but I am informed that James Wall, then a young man, 'but now deceased, told her that if she would spin the amount she claimed she could he would get her the best dress in Champaign county. The day arrived for the trial. It was at Colonel David Kelley's house, or rather his barn, where the spinning was done. Mrs. Archibald Hopkins was to reel the thread. She reeled for Polly that day forty-eight cuts, spinning several cuts more than she had agreed to spin. I would here say that she held her flax in her hand, and not on a distaff, as was the general custom. It is natural for us to desire to know the end of so brilliant a beginning in life. As was to he expected, soon after this she married. and "done well." She emigrated with her husband to some distant portion of the country, but I am not able to ascertain where ; and so far as I know, she is still living. And if this sketch of pioneer life meet her view, I hope she will excuse the liberty I have taken with her name in connection with these reminiscences of my childhood. For the above facts, I am mainly indebted io John Thompson, Miss Ann Cowgill, and Mrs. Randall—the daughter of Col. Kelley. LOGAN COUNTIES - 399 * POLLY LATTY-NEWS FOR MR. ANTRIM. MESSRS. EDITORS:—Little did I expect, after being absent from your county for the term of thirty-two years, that when I returned here on a visit I should be induced to make my appearance in your, columns; but in looking over your issue of the 7th inst. the other evening, and discovering a quotation from the reminiscences of Mr. Joshua Antrim, published from the Bellefontaine Press, I am impressed that I would not be doing respect to Mr. Antrim, to the many readers of your valuable paper, to Polly's many friends and acquaintances, and to her sacred memory, if I did not continue the narrative some further and remove the gloom submerged in itr. It is correct as far as it goes. Then let me say that I am the man with whom the pioneer Polly Laity twined in the year 1826, in whose embraces we lived forty-three and one-half years. On November 30th, 1869, she left these mundane shores for mansions not made with hands, eternal in the skies (as we verily believe.) While encircled in Hymen's chains she lived a prominent member of society, a good partner, a kind mother, and benevolent sister. She rejoiced when she was dying that she was passing the gates to endless joys. We left this county in the year 1839, and settled in Hancock county, Illinois, where she died.̊ She was the mother of nine children and had sixteen grandchildren. Five of her children are dead, and four of her grandchildren. One of the four died in the service during the late war. One of Polly's daughters lives in Plymouth, Ill., one in St. Louis, and two of her sons live in Cass county, Iowa. All are doing well. Your humble servant settled in Champaign county in April, 1807, was united with the pioneer Polly Latty April 15, 1826, and emigrated to western Illinois, Hancock county, October, *From the "Urbana Citizen and Gazette.