(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 674 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY CHAPTER XXVII.* DALLAS TOWNSHIP-TOPOGRAPHICAL-EARLY TOWNSHIP OFFICERS-INDIANS-THE PIONEERS-FRONTIER LIFE-EPIDEMICS-RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL. ABOUT the township of Dallas, there clusters much that must ever awaken an interest in the minds of the present generation, and that will be valuable to the future "lords of the manor." In its configuration, none in the county, and few in the State, are more irregular. This irregularity is due to the change of the original boundary line of this county, which is mentioned more at length in another part of this work. * Contributed by F. S. Monnett. Previous to 1844, some considerable pressure was brought to bear upon the Commissioners, to have the county seat removed from Bucyrus to a more central location. Those in authority succeeded in obviating this by effecting some radical changes in the southern and western boundary lines of the county. Upon the southwest, a strip of territory, six miles in length east and west, and two miles north and south including Sections 1-12, in Range 16, was taken from Scott Township, Marion County. PAGE 675 - PICTURE OF THOS. F. JOHNSTON PAGE 676 - BLANK HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 677 Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 35 and 36, of Range 15; were taken from Grand Prairie Township; Marion County and Sections 23-25 from the Wyandot Reservation; all combined were incorporated into one township in 1845, and christened Dallas, in honor of the newly elected Vice President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. Why a township with a strong Whig majority, should have chosen as her namesake one of opposite political faith, we were unable to learn, unless the newly-born child was named by the Archons, at Crawford's capital. Dallas has for her present boundary, Todd and Bucyrus on the north, Bucyrus and Whetstone on the east, Scott on the south, and Antrim on the west. This portion of territory was originally surveyed in 1819, by deputy Surveyor Gen. Sylvanus Bourse, assisted by Samuel Holmes, for whom Holmes Township was named. It lies wholly in the celebrated Sandusky Plains, a tract of exceedingly level and rich land, extending east and west through Marion and Wyandot Counties a distance of fifty miles, with a width north and south of an average of twenty miles. No more fertile or productive soil in the entire extent of these plains exists, than is found in the southern portion of Dallas Township. It has been variously denominated by early writers, as one of “Nature's most beautiful meadows:" “The bluegrass region of Ohio." etc., which appellations would he more appropriate at the present writing than in pioneer days. For in the first quarter of this century, these now measured meadows, were fenceless fields, all overgrown with the rank sedge grass and “yellow-blossomed weeds," with many a broad parterre of the purple iron-weed-of such luxuriant growth that men mounted on horseback could not be observed a few rods distant. Instead of the “owing herd that now winds slowly- o'er the lea,” there were but the few domestic “bosses " that made known their presence by the tinkling bell. By an efficient system of drainage and cultivation, this over-growth of rank needs and wild grasses-exponents of an exhaustless soil now return a royal revenue to their opulent owners. Dallas is favored in having two of the principal rivers of the State pass through its territory-the Sandusky, with its two sources, in the eastern part of the county enters the northeast corner of this township three-fourths of a mile from the Todd line, passing diagonally the western portion of its territory in a southwesterly direction, crossing the Wyandot County line at the center of the western boundary of the township. The bed of this portion of the Sandusky is composed of a coarse wash gravel, that is used in repairing the neighboring roads. This gravel bottom and these extended sand-bars make this part of the river favorable for the hatching of minnows, which have often been noticed by myriads in the summer season. The beautiful banks and solid bed of the Sandusky River made it an attractive rendezvous of the Wyandot Indians. Many interesting reminiscences were related by the Wyandot chiefs concerning the " Sahunduskie." as they termed it-signifying - clear water." Sahunduskie " was the facetious appellation the Wyandots give to their ardent beverage fire-water. When one of the men would become so exuberant from the contents of his leathern bottle, that he could not restrain himself in the presence of his dusk mate: instead of grasping the happy idea of the "Christian pale-face." and tell her he had been to the “club-house, chatting with the boys " he would gruffly excuse himself for the evening by saying “Drink much Sahunduskie." The Eastern Branch of the Scioto, taking its rise three miles south of Bucyrus, flowing in a southeasterly direction, enters Dallas one fourth of a mile east from the Marion road, passing into Marion County one and one-half miles from the Wyandot County line. Nothing of particular interest is connected with this 678 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. part of the Scioto, except that it adds greatly to the value of the stock farms that lie along its banks, by furnishing a constant supply of water. The only other stream of any note, is a tributary to the Olentangy, called "Mad Run,” which passes near the Whetstone Township line. It is partly natural and partly artificial. During the spring freshets, owing to its sluggish current, it is swollen into a very wide stream. Another small stream, now a tributary to the Sandusky, passing through the Hoover farm and called the “Outlet of the Plains," was at first a dug ditch: but, in recent years, on account of its swift current, a gully has been eroded fifteen to eighteen feet deep, reaching, at that depth, veins of perennial flow. Extending, as do the two divisions of Dallas Township, from the west bank of the Olentangy to the limestone and clay soil of Todd on the north, most all varieties of timber that are indigenous to this portion of the State are found within its limits. That which first catches the eye of the stranger, in driving through the southern part of Dallas, are the exceedingly picturesque clumps of jack-oak trees of a comparatively recent growth. Many of these groves have sprung up within the memory of our oldest citizens. There is nothing in the geological formation of the soil that prevented this growth of timber at an earlier date. Perhaps the system of drainage of more recent years may have been advantageous. A simpler and more satisfactory reason is suggested in an account of a “ring hunt," as given by Col. James Smith, who was a captive of the Wyandot Indians as early as 1760. Col. Smith says: “With much difficulty, we pushed up our wooden canoes over the Sandusky falls. Some of the men went up the river, and the rest of us by land with our horses, until we came to the great meadows or prairies that lie between the Scioto and Sandusky. When we came to this place, we met with some Ottawa hunters, and agreed with them to take what they called a ‘ring hunt,' in partnership. We waited until we expected rainfall, to extinguish the fire; then we kindled a large circle in the prairie. At this time, or before the bucks began to run, a great number of deer lay concealed in the grass in the day-time and moved about in the night,. but, as the fire burned toward the center of the circle, the deer fled before the fire. The Indians were scattered at some distance, and shot them down at every opportunity, which was very frequent, especially as the circle became small. When we divided the deer, there were about ten to each hunter. All this number was killed in a few hours. The rain did not come on that night, to put out the outside fire, and, as the wind arose, the fire extended through the whole prairie, which was abont fifty miles in length, and, in some places, about twenty miles in breadth. This put an end to our hunting for this season, and was, in other respects, an injury to us in the hunting business; so that, upon the whole, we received more harm than benefit by our rapid-hunting policy." This little account explains sufficiently the cause of the annual destruction of the young growth of timber. Upon the islands, however, as they were termed, the growth of sedge-grass was not so rank, and trees here and there escaped the ravages of the Indian fires. Upon these ridges the celebrated “shellbark," the prolific nut bearing hickory, may be found scattered in the southern and western portions of the township. The productiveness of the hickory in this portion of the county, became, to the possessor, a burdensome annoyance. Previous to the strict trespass laws that were enacted within the last decade, the farmer possessing a hickory grove was tacitly considered by his urbane neighbor: as keeping a public park for their especial accommodation. One of the present owners, referring to this annoyance, said: “My groves, on the Sabbath Day in the hickory-nutting sea- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 679 son resembled a camp-meeting ground, in point of teams and number of persons, and, when they had finished their nut-gathering, it was not an uncommon occurrence to have our fences so dilapidated that the stock could go from one section cross-road to another. Many of my trees are now dead, the result of the nut-gatherers using battering-ram to jar the nuts from the tree.” This Sabbath desecration and general trespassing upon the farmer has been almost entirely broken up by the recent revision of the law. Among the other timber and shrubbery that might be mentioned are the buckeye, dogwood, ironwood, sassafras and hazel in abundance. Along the Sandusky and Scioto, some fine growths of walnut timber may be found. In the northern part there is considerable maple which is annually turned to account in the family sugar camps. Ash and other varieties are extensively used for building purpose. The soil of Dallas in the southern part consists of deep black earth, that is excellent for corn, and what was once too rich for wheat, is now, since it has been drained and tamed by cultivation. rendered highly suitable for that cereal. It can be safely said its productiveness is not to be excelled in the State for wheat, corn, oats and rye. In the northern portion of the township, the soil changes to that of a clay loam, with an occasional “white oak ridge," as it is termed in common parlance, which is not unfrequently found to be a thin and sterile soil: but, when cleared and artificially enriched. these ridges also make fine wheat farms, as well as pasturage. The character and productiveness of the soil have made this township peculiarly favorable for grazing and the feeding of stock. Hence, the south part is held in large tracts by a few heavy dealers in live stock, two or three farms including several thousand acres each. The cattle trade is still pursued by the larger land-owners, but, as the extensive tracts of pasture lands open up in our Western Territories, and railroad transportation is becoming so general, the competition in cattle-raising has reduced the profit to a very small margin, so that many of the lesser farms are being tilled and turned into wheat and sheep farms. Some considerable attention has been given to the breeding of short-horn cattle by the stock dealers of Dallas. The principal dealer for many years in this department, was John Monnett. In later years, Ephraim Monnett dealt considerably in the Durham thoroughbreds. Mr. John Monnett was an annual attendant upon the Kentucky stock sales, from which State he imported many choice animals into Crawford County, and for many years was the heaviest exhibitor at the county fair in thoroughbred and grade cattle. To him should mach credit he given for the fine quality of beef cattle that Marion and southern Crawford can now so proudly boast of. Mr. Monnett removed in 1873 to Iroquois County, Ill. where he is at present engaged in the same business. Of the early officers of Dallas, little can he learned definitely as there was no village or any special building in which the Clerk's books were filed: but they were passed around from one private residence to another. An inadequate file of official proceedings is all that has been preserved. The returns at the Recorder's office in Marion give the Justices of the Peace of the township that Dallas was formed from. The first recorded is Alsan Packard, sworn in as Justice of the Peace of Scott Township. .January 27, 1825. Little is remembered of Mr. Packard, only that he was a man of more than the average education and refinement of those days, and, as a reward for the faithful discharge of his official duties, he was reelected for the two succeeding terms in the years 1826-27. The second Justice of the Peace of Scott was Jacob Shaffer, one of the first real estate owners of the present territory of Dallas; having moved from Pennsylvania in 1824, to 680 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the present farm of Isaiah Monnett, and entered twenty acres, to which he afterward added several quarter-sections. The third Justice of the Peace was William Van Buskirk. The first commissioned .Justice of the Peace of Grand Prairie Township, that included the present western half of Dallas, was Zach Welsh, July 5, 1824, the grandsire of the numerous Welsh progeny now so prominent in Wyandot and Crawford Counties. The second Justice of the Peace was John Page, 1825, who lived to be a centenarian. Mr. Page was succeeded after a second term by Daniel Swigart. Whether the duties were too arduous, or Mr. Swigart's business demanded his exclusive attention, is not known, but he resigned his office, and William Howe was chosen his successor in the same year, 1827. Under the re-organization, Andrew Kerr was the first installed Esquire. April 7, 1845. The second was William Hoover, April 7, 1847. To the Dictators in Dallas already mentioned. we may add the following line: Daniel Swigart, April 3, 1848; Ezra Huntly, January 12, 1850; William Hoover, April 1, 1850; Isaac N. Monson, October 14, 1851; Samuel P. Shaw. April 5, 1852. It is not definitely known who can claim the honor of being the first settler in this present flourishing township. The first land taxes that were paid upon the land in Dallas, is recorded in the Marion County records in 1828, and the land at that time, and for five years succeeding, was only valued at $1.25 per acre. So that we conjecture that the permanent owners did not enter the land previous to 1823, and several sections as late as 1828 were not reported as yet entered. As early as the year 1818 there was an occasional squatter, whose whole sustenance was nearly allied to that of his red-skinned neighbor. These squatters usually settled along the Whetstone or Scioto, clearing a patch of ground large enough to raise a very limited supply of the coarser vegetables. The number of these early and transient settlers may be judged by the statement made by Abraham Monnett a few months ago. Said he: “In that strip of land from the turnpike west to the Wyandot County line, p) to the Bucyrus Township line, I have in my memory more than fifty cabins that are now wholly destroyed, or at least but a few decayed timbers left to mark the former residence of some do-less squatter.” The good morals of this class of settlers were conspicuous for their absence. While we cannot obtain any sufficiently authenticated case, yet very many stories are still told among the old people concerning the daring robberies and in one case strong evidence is still related by old settlers of a stranger, purporting to be a man of means, who was made the chief character of his unrecorded tragedy in a log cabin that stood upon the east side of the turnpike, at the northern edge of the township. The intrinsic value of this territory, however, could not long leave it in the hands of a class of people, who, at best, would be honored in being called “the connecting link between the Indian and the white man.” As the men and woman of intelligence moved in from older counties of the South and East, our squatter friends found the rays of the rising civilization too glaring for their squalor and filth, and they pandered to their nomadic tastes by keeping pace with the twilight belt as it gradually moved onward over the unbridged streams and fenceless prairies of the West. As would be expected. the plain kind of Dallas was entered by a class of permanent dwellers, coming from a country similar in soil and resources, and of like general features. Among the first of these was George Walton, a middle aged man, of large family, who moved into Dallas from the “Pike-Whole-Prairie," in Pickaway County, in the fall of 1820. Mr. Walton moved into a squatter cabin that was located near the present residence of Maj. Matthew Carmean. To this cabin he built an addition, and in two years had his place sufficiently improved HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 681 to appear like living. He was of the Methodist belief: and the first Methodist meetings held in the township were at his residence. To the hospitable board and hearth of this enterprising settler, all the early itinerant ministers of the early times were welcomed. Through Mr. Walton's fostering care and devotion to his faith, an interest in religions matters was awakened at a very early day. and the Methodist organization, now known as the “ Sixteen Chapel," had its rise in these “cottage prayer meetings. " Mr. Walton, having reared an enterprising family and seen them all comfortably established upon farms and in other avocation finally removed to Iowa and died there in 1857. A neighbor of Mr. Walton was a Mr. Van Horne, well known to the early settlers. He also came from Pickaway County in 1821. Mr. Van Horne had a family of three sons. He never extended his farm family more than two eighty-acre lots. The family remained here until the old gentleman died. The Mason family were among the early settlers of the southeastern part of the township. The fattier and three boys, Thomas, Joseph and John, came from England to America in 1825, and followed ditching for an avocation. Mr. Mason, being a widower, with his three sons, kept bachelor's hall in a cabin erected on a forty-acre lot which he purchased, and which is now a part of the present farm of the widow of John Mason. It is told of the old gentleman that his skill in the culinary art enabled him to give some valuable lessons to his neighbors of, the opposite sex, who made household duties their exclusive business. His bread, especially, on account of its whiteness anal fleeciness was the envy of the worthy dames who presided in the neighboring establishments. Mr. Mason was never remarried and died at a ripe age in our centennial year. One of the most prominent of the early settlers, that still blesses this territory with his inspiring presence, is Charles Wesley White, who was raised in Ross Countv by fervent Methodist parents. He came by way of Waldo, and, after remaining for a short period, traveled northward until he reached Upper Sandusky, in 1822, where he engaged himself to the Indian Mill, receiving $15 per month, boarding himself. Mr. White was an important participant in one of the first weddings of Dallas, the notice of which reads as follows: "Married Mr. C. W. White to Miss Hannah Hoover, daughter of Christian Hoover, by Zalmon Rowse. November 25, 1830." He commenced housekeeping in a small log house on the south side of the Wyandot road, opposite his present residence-just a half-century ago. He entered 200 acres of land, which lie to the west and join the present Ephraim Monnett farm. Mrs. White died in 1851, and Mr. White has never married again. He has, for many years, been one of the principal land-owners and stock dealers of the central part of Dallas Township and is still pushing his business with the same ardor that has characterized his whole life. He spends his winters with his son-in-law, .J. .J. Fisher. of Bucyrus. Matthew Mitchell was another of the early land-owners of this township. He came, from Richland County in 1820, entered the old Welsh farm, afterward moved to Wyandot County, and died there, in 1878, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. G. H. Busby came from Fairfield County, in 1820: was a house joiner by trade; purchased land in Section 7: followed his trade and farmed. In 1830, he was elected Clerk of Marion County, which office he filled for inane years. Alex Scott was the first owner of the present Ephraim Monnett farm. He entered it about 1822. His wife and children all died on this farm. Mr. Scott returned to his native State, Pennsylvania. Christian Hoover was one of the first permanent settlers of central Dallas. He bought 682 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. out the heirs of William Johnson, in 1830. This land is now the property of Christian Hoover. Jr.. Mr. Hoover had a family of two children. Hannah and William; the former of whom, as already mentioned, married Mr. C. W. White. The latter is at present a resident of Bucyrus. Mr. Hoover was one of the principal wheat growers in this township. He purchased a thresher as early as 1835 which in some particulars is excelled by the threshing machinery of the present day. This thresher brought the straw, chaff and wheat, all combined from the cylinder to the ground, but, as compared with the slow process of flailing, Was a grand improvement. Mr. Hoover died in 1849, at the age of sixty years. His wife died the following year. David Bibler, another early settler, was citizen of considerable celebrity in this and the adjoining township. In 1826, he moved to a resideuce adjacent to a spring, which has ever since been known as the “Bibler Spring." This land which had been entered by Christian Stahley a few years previous to Mr. Bibler's advent, is now the property of Mr. James Hufty. At the old cabin which is still standing upon the Wyandot and Bucyrus road. on the county line. Mr. Bibler kept tavern for many years, and was one of the “stops twenty minutes for dinner," along the old stage line. He ran a still-house upon the south bank of the Sandusky: also a saw-mill: dealt some in livestock, cultivated a farm, etc He was twice married. His first wife died December 9, 1856, and his second died a few years later, after which he removed to Hardin County. In the year in which his first wife died he lost a son, who committed suicide. His daughter Susan died within the same year. An authentic and accurate sketch of some of the real experiences of these early settlers is not inappropriate here, and we give an extended account of early life as related by Mrs. Martha Johnston, a lady of seventy-eight years, with a remarkably well preserved memory, and who has been a resident of Dallas nearly all her life. Thomas F. Johnston, better known among his contemporaries as “Squire Johnston," was born in the year 1800, in Lycoming County, Penn After having leaned his trade, that of cabinet-maker, and acquired some means, he determined to emigrate with his young wife to the capital of the new and prosperous State of Ohio. All necessary preparation were made and in the fall of 1825, a four-horse train attached to a covered wagon containing Mr. and Mrs. Johnston with an infant child. Mr. Benjamin Warner and wife and an infant son, started for the untamed West. Their Brother-in-law's George Walton already mentioned, who settled in Dallas two yeard previous. Was the location first aimed for, from thence to the capital. After a three weeks drive, the snow became so deep and the road, almost impassable. which obliged them to winter in the eastern part of the State. They resumed their Westward march in the early spring, having made their journey with the usual privation: incident to such trip: they reached the eastern borders of the present county line, when again they were obliged to halt the wagon mired to its bed. With Spartan endurance, the women mounted the bare-back horses and carried the children, while the men guided by the blazed tree, preceded them with their rifles. When they arrived at the present Archy Clark farm, it had grown intensely dark. Not wishing to stay all night, a Mr. King, who lived near there. With pioneer courtesy, prepared hickory-bark torches and conducted them to Mr. Walton's. It was now 2 o'clock in the morning. For the consolation of the modern young blood who is searching for precedents, we will record that even this hour did not find them all retired. Providence had favored Miss “Tishy," the eldest Walton daughter, with a blushing beau, neighbor Van Horne's son. It may likewise be HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 683 recorded, we regret to say, that Miss Tishy never married her late caller. It was not the smiles of love nor Cupid's cunning capers that so much interested the subjects of this sketch then, as the warm reception that the spacious fire-place with its glowing coals and blazing logs gave to them. Mrs. Johnston, having exchanged her child for her husband's rifle, was taking the lead. On her near approach to the house, she ran past the outer sentry, the baying watch-dog and rustled into the cabin very unceremoniously. It can be better imagined than described, with what consternation the lovers, as well as the sleeping inmates were aroused. Their muddy appearance and strange entry, on account of the blunted perceptions of the sleepers so suddenly aroused from sound slumber. Caused their claim to kinship to be challenged. The ominous forebodings of the half-steeping moments on awaking suddenly changed into a happy recognition of a loved sister and brother. The wooer went, and his blushing inamorata suddenly changed the romance into reality by preparing viands for the unexpected intruders. The “corn-pone” and the savor of the melting butter, coming from the open fire on that occasion was more of a cause for faire revir beau a la bouche than a dozen Georgia melons to men of Tanneric appetites. Upon the following day, a team of oxen was taken to the mired wagon. Everything was Ieft unmolested, as travelers at that time of the year were not numerous and what few there were were honest. In a few days the Claridon blazed road was followed, and the new comers went prospecting toward the county seat. As they neared the Sandusky,. they saw a few log cabins surrounded with water up to the very steps. Wild ducks were allowed to run at large within the corporation limits. They approached a cabin, looking with its surroundings very like a river boat, which proved to be "Bish" Merriman's store. His limited stock of goods was the occasion of some facetious remarks from his new customers. The merchant replied: “ If you had to wheel all this stock of goods in a wheelbarrow a distance of forty miles, and sleep on them by night, you would think it was not limited." Among the strange sights to our Eastern visitors were to see from the cabin door the sportive fawns with their dams, the skulking wolves and prairie chickens that had yet to learn the proprieties of civilized life, and keep at respectable distance from their new neighbors. Mr. Johnston soon found a deserted cabin, built by a Mr. Clark. It had all the conveniences usually attached to those primitive domiciles-the stick chimney, clapboard doors, puncheon floors, windows made of brown paper oiled and pasted across open spaces left between the logs and all other domestic arrangements of that ilk. This manner of living was not fully in accord with the Eastern-bred tastes of its occupants, so Mr. Johnston fully determined to remove to Columbus. When it was spread abroad that “Tommy" was going, to leave, and on the very morning which he had arranged to start to take a prospective view of the capital, he was aroused very early by some loud banging upon the clapboard door, which he supposed was caused by an unwelcome call from a company of Indians. On opening the door, he was surprised to be greeted by a number of his neighbors, among whom were Archy Clark, George Clark, Col. Poe, George Walton and others, each hearing a gun. They began by demanding that Tommy go that day with them on a hunt and trying with all the powers of oratory to discourage his intention of leaving by rehearsing exciting hunting incidents, collecting Honey, etc., etc. Having agreed to postpone his intended trip, they offered him land that they had entered, and other inducements. He accepted a gift from Benjamin Warner, which was a choice of the two forty acre lots now composing a part of the Jacob Herr farm. Mr. Johnston accepted the gift upon the 684 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the condition that if wheat could be raised upon land he would stay. Providence performed this part of the covenant, and the Squire was blessed with a bountiful crop. He soon learned from experience that the raising of wheat in this new country was but a secondary matter in comparison with its preparation for consumption. The daily fighting off the clouds of birds that robbed them when the grain was filling; the gathering with the sickles: the long and tedious process of cleaning; a two-days-and-a-night trip to mill, with a single sack, were in no way encouraging to a man with a craving for the capital. The flour from the wheat thus cleaned was so colored and bitter that it was almost unpalatable. A building spot was the next question to be settled. After some searching, Mrs. Johnston suggested that it be at the foot of a large oak-tree then standing near the present Jacob Herr homestead. On felling this tree, they were not a little surprised to find it the chosen home of au adventurous colony. These "heralds of civilization" had sipped the nectar from the lips of many a forest flower, and made this moldering trunk the large receptacle of ambrosial sweetness. Another incommodity was to obtain a healthful duality of water for domestic uses. Materials for walling a dug well were not to be had at any price. The nearest substitute was the gum of the sycamore tree. This, at best, only served for shallow wells, which would fill up with wild water, impregnated with a malarial solution, generating fevers not infrequently of a fatal type. The farm was rapidly improved. Mr. Johnston put up his own cabin. finishing it in true workmanship style. Squarely hewed logs, well jointed and well fitted ; windows, sash filled with glass panes, were among the improvements that Tommy introduced, which gained for him the title of being a “proud man.” This new house was situated near one of the main Indian trails, so that they had semi-annual visits from their copper-colored neighbors as they came in from the Western territory to shoot deer on the Whetstone. For several years, it was not an uncommon sight to behold a band of Indians, in the late fall and early winter, stretched upon the ground with their heads toward the fire, trusting to the moon to warm their feet. Very frequently the squaws would stop to make the “white folks " a neighborly call. The papooses, bound to boards, were set up against the sunny side of the house to amuse themselves as their natures dictated. The old Indian chief's visits were usually made with an eye to business, and, when all other topics were exhausted, he generally drifted upon the subject of “whisk," or .. “fire-water," as one suitable to make him feel as though he had been courteously received by his white host. Mr. Johnston, having become sick of the impure water they were obliged to use; started in search of a more agreeable location. He was favorably impressed with the land and water surrounding Fort Findlay. There he purchased a quarter-section a short distance from the village. This was soon improved and sold at a profit. He bought again in the town and made a second profitable sale. He then returned to Crawford and found the new-comers were rapidly filling up the unoccupied sections, making the neighborhood present a very different appearance. He bought a forty-acre lot half-mile east of his last homestead of Samuel Lyon; to this he rapidly added land on every side. He again moved, this time to Bucyrus, leaving his farm in the hands of his oldest boys and tenants. He returned to the farm and. in 1857-58, he erected the handsome gothic residence that is now owned by Benton Herd. Previous to 1880, no residence of Dallas could be said to have excelled it in finish and quality of work. The lumber was hauled overland from Sandusky City with teams, the shingles coming from York State. Mr. Culliston, the architect, was a man of fine taste, and constructed an edifice that has long been a PICTURE OF MARTHA JOHNSTON HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 685 standing compliment to his skill in this department. Thomas F. Johnston was a prominent Freemason, an active participant in all public improvements and political movements, and a man of fine education for his day. He died December 20, 1862, very unexpectedly, from an attack of heart disease, an ailment that had threatened him for several years. Benjamin Warner, who has been mentioned, was one of the prominent early settlers. His first residence was upon the present Matthew Carmean Farm. Mr. Warner soon had the reputation of possessing one of the best improved farms of eighty acres in that part of Marion County. He was a man who loved adventure and sport. In pursuit of deer and foes, he was the leader of many a venatorial party. Some eight or ten years after his settlement, he sold out his land, provided a comfortable place for Mrs. Warner in one of his dwellings, and took an extended trip through Pennsylvania his native state, and a part of New York. After his return in 1836, he bought and moved to the present home of Thomas McKinstry, on the pike. The improvement upon this farm consisted of a stoutly built double log cabin that was widely known by the traveling public as a tavern of well regulated table. For many years this was one of the principal stopping places of the wheat-haulers of the Sandusky and Columbus Turnpike. Mr. Warner went to the West in the fall of 1872 to visit his daughter during which time he was taken with gangrene in one of his limbs. from which he died in the following year. Mrs. Warner survived him five years, dying in the spring of 1878, at the residence of her son, R. K. Warner, of Bucyrus Township. One of the oldest men still living in this township is Samuel Coulter, who although a man of seventy-nine years of age, is still active, and recalls many incidents of early days with great accuracy. Mr. Coulter came from Huntingdon County, Penn., in 1832, and leased a strip of land of Mr. Van Horne. This land he afterward bought, and it is now cultivated by his youngest son, George. The elder Coulter built one of the first large barns of old Pennsylvania style. This well-constructed building was put up by Anthony Houser, and is still standing, a souvenir of early enterprise. Mr. Coulter was a grain farmer and bought out his neighbors, John and Daniel Reecer, and other lots of forty and eighty acres, until he is ranked as one of the prominent landlords of Dallas. His maiden sister, Miss Sarah Coulter, is the oldest person now living in Dallas, being in her eighty-fifth year. Maj. Carmean is another of the heavy land-owners and stock-dealers, and is among the old settlers of Dallas. He in company with his brother “Jimmy," emigrated from Ross County, in the fall of 1827, and entered a piece of land now included in the old Shank farm, in the western part of the township. After spending five years here, he bought of Benjamin Warner 400 acres and moved to his present homestead. He has accumulated wealth in his day by stock raising and dealing until he has no small pittance to enjoy in his ripening years. When a young man, he took a full course in veterinary surgery at Chillicothe, Ohio, in which profession he has for many years had more than a local reputation and name. Perhaps there is no present resident of Dallas so widely known in Crawford and adjoining counties as Mr. Carmean. Even at his advanced age he is not infrequently called great distances to give the diagnosis in critical cases of valuable horses, and is the local referee in all diseases in dispute among the younger veterinarians. His practical knowledge and skill in anatomy gained him, while yet a young man, a position in the Ohio Canal Company, where he practiced human surgery and medicine for the company several years. He was never an excessive sporter with his gun, and yet, in his younger days, few could equal him as a marks- 686 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. man. He usually chose to ride on horseback in his deer hunts, which, from his frequent successful shots, was a great saving of his strength in bearing home the game. He received the title of Major from the position he held in one of the local military organizations of Marion County. Among the other early settlers who should at least have a passing notice, was Robert Griffith, better remembered as “Bob" Griffith. He came from Ross County in 1832, and at first took care of some land owned by Linus Ross, who was then living in Ross County. Mr. Griffith afterward bought this land of Ross, to which he added 200 acres. He was a remarkably successful stock-dealer, and, according to the statements of his contemporaries, “everything he touched turned into money." Finding his farm too small to gratify his increasing wants. he sold out to Mr. Ross in about the year 1842, and moved to Iowa. He is now one of the heavy shippers from that State to the Chicago markets. John Roberts was also one of the early settlers of this section. A short history of this gentleman is given in another part of the work. In fact. there is no citizen of a new country that has lived fifty years amid such varied scenes and rapid improvements as have the citizens of this section for the last half-century, but that can relate to the present generation many interesting reminiscences. To talk to these venerable old men, one can but feel the sentiment expressed by the poet, "The peasant at his cottage door May teach you more than Plato knew. See that thou scorn him not : Adore God in him and thy nature too " It is not uninteresting in these days, when we hear so much discussion concerning capital and labor and the social problems, to listen to the pioneer's story of early privations and hardships. While we would not wish to return to the “good old days,” as they are wont to call them, yet a rehearsal of their story and experience can but enlarge our charity for their criticisms of the “heir apparent '' who goes dashing by with his fiery “coursers" and glittering “side-bar." In their day, it was not a “ten-hours law," but units of labor performed. that constituted a days work. With the wooden mold-board plow that turned a six to eight inch furrow, one and one-half acres was considered a day’s, work. In the wheatfields of 1830, the proprietor, instead; of sitting at one side of the field or riding about on his hack horse after a self-binder, was the leader of a band of robust reapers with sickles in hand. The man that could gather and bind the most sheaves was the hero in the eyes of his fellow-laborers, and the “beau ideal” of the “Maud Muller's at the spring." A day's work in the harvest-fields then was to cut and bind from twenty-five to thirty dozen. Occasionally there were "giants in those days,” even at labor. As an instance, Jacob Monnett cut and bound and shocked in one day forty-four dozen of rye for Abraham Monnett. For the encouragement of the few (?) remaining, posterity of Rev. Jeremiah Monnett, it is recorded that, at an advanced period of his life he bound one hundred and five dozen of oats, and in the, evening walked four miles to a neighboring camp-meeting. Another authenticated case is that of Samuel Morris, who, to win a wager, mowed in one day four acres of grass for Madison Welsh, who then owned the present Eph. Monnett farm. The laborer that had the health and did not perform what was mutually agreed to be a day's work-and the standard was by no means short of measure-was socially ostracised by his comrades and shunned by the fair set, whose penal criticism is always “too grievous to bear." Not infrequently did the feminine progenitors of some of the modern bloods make the harvest-field a “summer resort" and put in sheaf the endless "golden swaths" that their not more enduring mates HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 687 were ever dropping from their swinging cradles. Every frontier colony has its many unrecorded hardships. None was more unfortunately situated in this respect than was Dallas township. Far from all commercial outlets and thoroughfares, her citizens were obliged to drive to Frederick, Knox County, or Mount Vernon, to a grist mill. Each customer had to fall in line and abide his time, making the business of going to mill very often one of a weeks job. Lumber, salt, groceries, dress-goods, when purchased, and all other commercial necessities, had to be bought at Sandusky City (then called Portland), conveyed overland by wagons. These disadvantages, combined with a lack of capital, awakened the inventive genius of the American mind as may be evinces if we glance for a moment at the domestic life of some of these inland pioneers. To make the flour and meal obtained at such labor and expense hold out, home made hominy was manufactured. A hickory log was usually chosen and sawed in a convenient length and stood on end. The artificer of the family would use his experimental knowledge by manufacturing from it a very durable mortar. Into this mortar would be placed a few quarts of corn with a cup of warm water, the pounding of which furnishes the boys with old-time sport. With the peculiar shape of this mortar, all that was necessary was to strike with the pestle in the center, where the largest particles would fall. Another of the customs in providing supplies that has now become obsolete and one that may be interesting to the future Dallasian when he wishes to celebrate the centennial of this dominion, was the home manufacture of wearing material of fifty years ago. Those made of “hempen goods” passed through many stages. First, the flax was pulled up from the root by hand, bound in small bundles, gathered in stacks, and each bundle was divested of its seed by means of an oaken paddle and a temporary static stachion-usually a rail-over which the heads were held. Great care had to be taken to keep the straw from entangling. After this first step, it was bound in parcels of convenient size, to facilitate its removal to the meadow or stubble field, where it was spread in swaths, to be exposed to the sun and rain from four to six weeks to “rot," as it was termed. The collecting of the fiber thus exposed to the weather, when the grass had grown up among the straw, has made a professional man out of many a one of our ancestors. For, if the pioneers “agree as touching one thing, it is in expressing their distaste for this stage of manufacturing hempen goods, and fully accounts for the rapid strides that the inventive genius has made in this line of manufacture. The breaking of the flax was usually reserved for fall and winter evening exercises. Each boy had his task of so many bundles for the evening. One of the “tricks of the, trade” may be found in the following statement.” It was always necessary to have a fire. Around and above this fire would hang the unbroken flax to dry. The old people, being more expert, frequently would complete their evening task in advance of the rising generation, who, being left alone, would suddenly raise the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere by adding to the flames a fuel whose intrinsic value was not always taken into consideration, nor made a topic of family discussion the remainder of the evening." In the next process, the flax was “scutched," when it passed into the hands of the girls who would hackle it, which left it ready for the spinning wheel and the shuttle. The long and laborious process of threshing and winnowing the wheal, for market and mill; their home-made cheese ; their dip candles ; their out-ovens ; almost a whole vocabulary of domestic terms, that will become practically obsolete to coming generations - could each be dwelt upon with interest, did space allow. 688 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. The fine stock of these fertile valleys which have since gained a reputation and name beyond the State for this branch of profitable trade - in 1824, consisted of thirty-one horses and fifty-five cattle, the former appraised at $40 per head, and the latter from $4 to $8. Sheep and hogs were not enumerated in the tax list; even as late as 1830. The former were usually of the hardy varieties, like the long-legged coarse-wooled that are now called the “Indiana." For their protection, it was necessary to keep constant watch over them, and, in the evening, they were driven into high-built pens to protect them from the ravages of the wolves. The pork trade, in 1824-30, was as equally an uncertain business. Not that the cloven-footed animal could not protect himself from the hostile attacks of those of his own rank in creation, but his roaming nature often made his ownership a subject of litigation. The man who was fortunate enough to own a piece of timber yielding mast, frequently became the possessor of a marketable drove of hogs in the fall of the year. These hogs were hard to capt ure, and, as one of the old purchasers stated it, "In the early days, it was an important matter, when you bought hogs, to have it understood they were to be delivered." The most noted men in the sheep and hog trade were David and Simeon Bryant, who moved to the present Ephraim Monnett farm in the fall of 1829. They would bring in sheep and hogs from the East, and fatten the latter on the mast, when they would either drive them to the Eastern market, or butcher and pack them on the place. Madison Welsh was one of the first porkpackers in this part of the county. He established a packing-house on the land that George Welsh now owns, on the Marion road. This gave an increased value to the forbidden meat. The forests and neighboring swamps were eagerly searched for wild hogs. Some of the thrilling adventures connected with their capture justly entitle not a few of our ancestors to unfading laurels. Concerning the changes in the social customs of the last half-century, our limited space will allow but a brief notice. The building of dwellings, barns, breaking the first sod, all classes of heavy labor, constituted the "sociables" and “soirees " of two generations ago. The lawn fetes of these primitive times were to assemble by moonlight on the green; choose leaders; divide in the center a long pile of corn provided by the host. When the signal was given, each party would strive to accomplish the lawn “feat" of “beating." Not “ to the victor belonged the spoils:" but the successful captain was rewarded by being elevated upon the shoulders of his comrades, and carried about the premises as the recognized champion of the evening. Their isolation from the commercial world. bound them the closer in the ties of neighborly affection, so that in their sports or in their sorrows they enjoyed or suffered as one. The first time the people were called together in a meeting of a sadder nature than the one above described, was in the spring of 1827. The death angel passed over the settlement, and a young man was left lying in a cabin chamber of Jacob Snyder, cold in death. Dying in the spring of the year, when the streams were all swollen and impassable, they were compelled to inter the corpse in a coffin rudely made of split-oaken puncheon. From these a square box was made, by putting one in the bottom of the grave, two at the sides, placing the body within, and the fourth served as a lid. This young mail was buried near the present residence of Mervin Monnett-a graveyard that has no tombstone to mark its location. In the same year, the first burial was made in the White Graveyard, situated in central Dallas, one mile east of the village of Wyandot. Of Mr. McClary, the first occupant of these grounds, but little is remembered. He resided not far from Wyandot Village, and was inhumed with- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 689 out religious rites. In the following year, 1829, Charles Parish died on the farm west of Ephraim Monnett's. He was the first silent partner of Mr. McClary in the new necropolis. An item of more than local historical interest and value is connected with a spring, now owned by James Hufty, commonly called the “Bible, Spring." It is located a few rods east of the Wyandot County line, on the north side of the Wyandot and Bucyrus road. It was told us by several of the early settlers that this was the traditional spot upon which Col. Crawford camped the night before his ill-fated engagement. Upon further inquiry, we learned from Benjamin Welsh, now living in Wyandot, and he is a man eighty years of age, that when he was assisting in putting up one of the first cabins in 1819, an old man rode up to their place of work, and during the conversation, related an account of the encampment at this very spring, claiming to have been one of Crawford’s men. He stated that in the early morning (which probably was June 4, 1782). several of their men saw some Indians, for the first time, coming, toward the encampment from the southeast: but, on observing the whites, they immediately disappeared. This little scrap of such direct tradition, may throw some light upon Heckewelder's supposed fictitious colloquy, which he has recorded as taking place between Chief Wingenund and Col. Crawford, in which Col. Crawrord asks the Chief: “Have any Moravian Indians been killed or hurt since we came ?" Wingenund replies. “None; but you first went to their town, and. finding it empty and deserted. you turned on the path toward us. If you had been in search of warriors only, you. would not have gone thither. Our spies watched you closely; they saw you while you were embodying yourselves on the other side of the Ohio; they saw you cross the river; they saw you where you encamped at night: they saw you turn off from the path to the deserted Moravian town. Your steps were constantly watched, and you were suffered to proceed until you reached the spot where you were attacked." These two accounts, coming from such different sources, have a wonderful agreement. If either story be correct, undoubtedly the Indians seen near the Bibler Spring that morning were some of the spies that Wingenund refers to. Dallas can present a very commendable war record, this being the only township in the county that furnished her full quota of men without having the draft imposed. One of her sons, whose valiant career did her honor, was Lieut. Col. J. W. Shaw, more fully mentioned in another chapter of this work. The borders of Dallas Township have been thrice visited with prevailing epidemics. The first was the milk sickness. The Wood family was the first fatally affected. Elizabeth and Henry Wood died a few days apart, from this scourge, in the fall of 1833. James Wood, of he same household, died a few days later. Others, whose names are now forgotten, in this, the neighborhood along the Sandusky River, died about the same time. In the same year, several cases of Asiatic cholera developed among the citizens in the southern part of the township. So little is told definitely concerning this, that we omit any of the statements. The second attack of cholera occurred late in the summer of 1854. The epidemic was introduced into Dallas by John Norris. He was a man addicted to strong drink, and endured abstinence as long as he thought possible. Contrary to the pleadings of his wife, he started for Marion at a time when that town was severely scourged by this disease. Although its streets had been fenced across, and every precaution and warning given "to stay out," Mr. Norris went, and in some way obtained his fill of liquor. About forty-eight hours afterward, Dr. John Milot, of Bucyrus, was summoned to his bedside, and found the malady just finishing its work. On the morning of 690 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. August 29, he died from a clear case of Asiatic cholera, and his wife, with the two adopted children, deserted the house for the barn. About 2 o'clock of the morning of September 1, Mrs. Norris awoke in great pain. Doctor Fulton was summoned, but too late. She was sick but twenty hours. It was from this case that the Doctor himself received his attack, mentioned elsewhere. So great was the consternation in the community, that it was a difficult matter to find two persons beside the son to help in the burial. The two children that so faithfully obeyed their mothers command fled to the woods, in which place they remained several days. They were cared for by the neighbors, who carried food and bed-clothing, and left them upon a stump, where these “babes of the woods" could come and get them. The two orphans, thus a second time bereft of parent, escaped the plague, and are still living. Among the houses of “public note " the Ramey Tavern was perhaps most widely known by the traveling public. The Half-Way House, or Ramey Tavern, was situated on the east side of the Marion and Bucyrus road, about midway between the two towns. This first public boarding house was a double log building reconstructed and enlarged by Mr. Ramey, in the fall of 1824. The principal patronage came from the passengers and employees that traveled upon the stage line, run on this road, as early as 1823. In connection with the tavern, was also a feed stable where the stage horses were exchanged and fed. After the death of Mr. Ramey, in 1835. Mr. Knapp of Marion acted as landlord for several years. The stage line was broken up in 1840, and the Ramey tavern was converted into a private dwelling by Mrs. Meissinger. This public inn is remembered as one of a clean record, always being a stronghold of temperance and passable sobriety a statement that cannot always be truthfully made of these rural hostelries. A public building of less notoriety was opened upon tile opposite side of the road, where Oliver Monnett's homestead stands. This place was owned by James Carmean, who sold it to a Mr. Fay Muhlinger, about 1836. The latter “kept tavern” on a small scale for serveral years: the exact time is not known. The third and last hotel was the "Bibler House," that has already been incidentally mentioned. It had a patronage from the stage and mail route, similar to that of the Ramey inn, with a reputation for temperance and order not so enviable as the former. The first saw-mill in Dallas Township was a water-mill, built upon the Sandusky, about 100 rods from the Wyandot County line, by Mr. Bibler. It was a mill run by members of the family when work on the farm was not crowding. Bibler operated this mill as early as 1827, but some ten years later it was sold to Mr. Longacre. Mr. Rumble afterward purchased it and changed it into a grist-mill, running two sets of buhrs. In later years, it was again repaired by Mr. Vail, who put in a steam engine. Having failed the engine and machinery were attached and returned to Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Rex purchased the building, and replaced the water-works. The mill is now owned by Rex, but the dam is out of repair, leaving the mill idle. One of the most prominent Indian trails that crossed the present territory of Crawford was the one leading from Captain Pipe’s town, in Wyandot County, east toward the present site of Leesville. In the memory of the citizens of this section of the township, the Wyandot Indians made this their main highway in traveling to and from Bucyrus. They crossed the Sandusky at an old-time ford, now upon N. Eckert's farm. Previous to the purchase of the Reserve in 1842, by the United States, the citizens of what was formerly Crawford would come in from the western townships to the county seat upon this HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 691 trail, to pay- taxes-Indians and white men in one long, single file, not infrequently reaching seventy or eighty in a company. The scenes along this trail a century ago were familiar to the valorous Pipe and the warrior Wingenund. More than 120 years ago the unresisting Moravian convert traveled this highway of his savage neighbors. Upon it the infamous Simon Girty and his painted companions have frequently ridden to the council house and carried welcome news of massacre to Captain Pipe from the eastern settlements. The first blazed road was that known as the "Claridon” in 1822, leading from Bucyrus to Claridon, passing through the extreme east of Dallas. The Wyandot and Bucyrus road was for the first five years, followed by the blazed trees, but as early as 1825 it became a tolerably well-known route. The main road that passes through Dallas is the Columbus and Sandusky Pike. That which was of the most local interest to the boys of Dallas was the Chapman Toll-gate. This gate crossed rite pike about a half-mile south of the old Crawford County line, near to the present residence of Henry Linn. The turnpike was held by a joint-stock company, which gave bonds to build either a stone or wooden pike. The charter granted the company power to establish toll-gates on the above condition. The company faithfully fulfilled one part of the contract that was to put up the toll-gates, but never finished more than the dirt-bed preparatory for the stone. The citizens endured the mud roads for ten or twelve years and paid their tolls until they suspected the company of bad faith. When the roads received no further attention in repairs, the wheat haulers were not always in a humor to pay the demanded stipend. Capt. Chapman, the keeper, sometimes found it inconvenient to enforce his “ tariff bill" upon a company of teamsters., what would occasionally attach several teams to a chain having such a peculiar relation to the grate, that great damage would be clone to the latter. Johnny Van Vorhis was one of the first men that demanded a “change" in this toll-gate system. In the following year, 1842, when no one could be made to pay but children and feeble men, it was completely demolished and burned by James Arbuckle and Robert Hill. This event led to an overthrow of the toll-gate system. After considerable litigation carried on by Capt. Gideon Chapman in the interest of the company, the case was decided in flavor of the “ incendiaries." This road has since been annually repaired by the special land tax and a poll tax being applied under the direction of a District Supervisor. Several attempts have been made, in late years, to macadamize this, the main road of tile county. The limited supply of gravel and stone along this section of the road, however, will probably delay the project indefinitely. There were no church buildings erected in Dallas previous to 1875. As is customary in most rural regions., divine service was held for many years in the Schoolhouses. In the summer seasons, the ministers would address well-filled pews in “God's first temples." In later years, there have been churches established on every side of this township-the farthest not exceeding a mile, and several within that distance. On the eastern boundary, services have long been held at Winchester and “Sixteen Chapel." At Latimberville on the south, the Methodist Episcopal and Disciple Churches have members from this township. Likewise the Methodist and Presbyterian on the west. A quarter of a mile north of the Dallas line. in Bucyrus Township, is the Monnett Chapel, whose membership was for many years largely in Dallas. In 1875, Messrs. Bell, Shearer, Rexroth, Ephraim Oliver, Mervin Monnett, George Welsh and others, organized Scioto society, and built the first church edifice in Dallas, upon land donated for the purpose by Ephraim Monnett. This structure, which in finish and furnishing is 692 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. not excelled by any country church in the county, was dedicated as “Scioto Chapel," by Rev. T. H. Wilson, of the Central Ohio Conference. Zachariah Welsh was a resident of Wyandot, and was one of the first to lead in church work. In the long intervals of ministerial preaching, he would exhort the members to be faithful and zealous in good works. Meetings for prayer and praise were held at his cabin long before schoolhouses were erected. The wonderful man of God. Rev. James Gilruth, a pioneer preacher of this section, deserves more than a passing notice. He was a worthy imitator of the founder of his church, and a man of powerful physique. One old gentleman says of him “When preacher Gilruth appeared upon the camp-meeting ground, the rowdies ceased their disturbances. He could make himself be heard a mile.” Rev. Mr. Gilruth was a prototype of the pioneer minister. Being an officer, a captain, in the war of 1812, he had learned to brave some of the hardships of the soldier. Although a man remembered for his kind and considerate heart, yet he never fully lost that commanding air that made him such a terror to the “rowdies " who seemed to be a necessary adjunct of all the early religious efforts. An anecdote is related of him that illustrates the great strength and physical development he had. At Franklin, the former county seat of Franklin County, a number of youths were practicing throwing a sledge in the court house yard. After Mr. Gilruth had easily excelled in throwing the sledge to a great distance, he astonished the bystanders by taking up a four-pound ax which he hurled over the court house steeple. The circuit of Mr. Gilruth in 1823-24, was one of four weeks' travel. Three of his Sabbath appointments were in the neighboring villages of Delaware, Kenton and Bucyrus. He had intermediate appointments in the lesser villages and country chapels, occupying every afternoon and evening of the week, excepting Saturdays, his only day of rest. His meetings were held in this part of the county in the cabins of some of the members. usually Mr. Welsh's. He was in after years, twice returned to this circuit. No one man seems to have left more of an impression upon the minds and morals of our citizens. than did did James Gilruth He was transferred to an Iowa Conference in 1840, and is still living The immediate successor of Mr. Gilruth, in 1824, was Rev. Mr. Cadwallader. The citizens of the western part of Crawford were frequently spiritually feasted by a quarterly meeting sermon from Rev. James B. Finley, who was Superintendent of the Wyandot Mission in 1827. They were occasionally treated. also to discourses from the celebrated Russell Bigelow, stationed at the Sandusky mission in the same year. The present territory of Dallas was included in the Portland District, Ohio Conference which included in its bounds the State of Michigan. The Rev. James McMahon was the Presiding Elder of this district in the years 1826-30. Another of their early preaching points was in the Welsh barn, a building yet in fair repair, situated opposite the Scioto Chapel. Rev. John Gilbert Bruce is especially remembered as a revivalist in this corner of the moral heritage. In the winter of 1836-37 protracted meetings were conducted by this divine, assisted by Rev. Jeremiah Monnett, Rev. S. P. Shaw, founder of Shaw University, of Tennessee, was also one of the early workers in the vineyard. Rev. Mr. Shaw was a man of wide observation, and remarkably well versed in sacred and profane history. In his views he was uncompromising, and awakened earnest religious convictions in the minds and hearts of his auditors. Many of his quaint and forcible aphorisms are yet remembered by his converts. He was ordained Deacon in the Ohio Conference in the fall of 1827. Others, remembered for their good works, are Revs. Adam Poe, Presiding Elder, in 1836, of Port- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 695 land District, and William Runnels. Presiding Elder in 1840. As already stated, Dallas had no churches previous to 1875. This in itself might imply that the opposite party held sway, which really seemed to he the case at one time. In the midst of the township, and on this side of the river Scioto, lies the "Devil's half-Acre." For an account of the origin of this significant title. we are indebted to Charles Raemer. His account. in substance, is as follows: There was, previous to 1830, a log cabin standing south of this hard-named place, which was used for school and church purposes. In 1830 to 1832, a log schoolhouse was erected at the present site of the new school building, its immediate successor. The United Brethren Church attempted to organize and establish a society here, but failed. In a few winters, Rev. William Mathews, a Methodist, held revival services and toiled hard in the vine vineyard, and met with some considerable success, but the good impressions soon faded The Presbyterian denomination made the next attempt under Rev. Mr. Hutchinson, of Bucyrus. “Many were called. under his preaching, but few were chosen," so that the field was left clear for the Methodists, but they failed to keep the flock beyond the traditional probationary period, Next, the United Brethren Church again rallied her forces and opened the gates of the fold, but the flock came out as it entered. with no desire to make it an abiding-place, Then followed a Disciple minister from Latimberville, to establish his faith in the hearts of the recalcitrants, but, like the others, produced no good results. When this denomination failed. Amos McMullen declared he believed this spot in possession of the devil, from which it was immediately christened by the diabolical title of “Devil's Half-Acre." Since this queer appellation has been bestowed on the place, other attempts have been made, alternately by the Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren Churches, but no permanent society has ever been organized. The first "seminary of learning" in Dallas was a subscription school held in a vacated log dwelling, north of David Bibler's cabin, on the Sandusky River. Miss Clara Drake, daughter of Capt. Drake, taught for the first two years. 1827 and 1828, at $1.25 per week. Her attendance of twelve pupils were from the families of Welsh Bibler and Hoover. Miss Drake afterward removed to Clinton Count, Ill., where she died last summer, at the age of eighty-four years. About the same time, or a little later, a subscription school was held in a new cabin erected for that purpose by a few of the early neighbors, opposite Maj. Carmean's present residence. Osborn Monnett and George Walton were the principal agitators of this enterprise, and it was afterward designated the "Monnett Schoolhouse." Mr. Haney was the first teacher in this school building, at the advanced wages of $10 per mouth Miss Chapman taught the first summer school in the same place This academy, with its puncheon floor and greased paper windows, with its hewn slabs for benches and writing-desks, did not long; remain sacred to the cause of learning. After its successor, in the Huntly Schoolhouse, in 1830, the former was removed by. Maj. Carmean, and appropriated to the sheltering of animals of a lower order in creation. The first frame school-building was erected by Rev. Jackson Doeling and .John Cooper, in the fall of 1838, upon his “Satanic Majesty's" premises .John Bevington was the first pedagogue, at a salary of $15, per month. These schools, in 1840 to 1860, numbered from forty to sixty pupils, which number has gradually decreased until, at present, four of them do not have an average of fifteen students, or about the number in attendance in 1830. The township, however, is well supplied with educational facilities, as compared to the pioneer times, when the first schools were taught 696 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. by “ subscription." Commodious houses, filled with modern furniture, and competent teachers are some of the benefits the present generation enjoys over that which preceded it.