(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY. " IN the immediate valley of the Hocking, we find the modified Drift, in the form of sand and gravel terraces, which were once great sand flats and bars, formed by the stream when it stood from eighty to one hundred feet higher than now. Much of the city of Lancaster is built on such terraces. Underneath the sand and gravel, and elsewhere in the lower grounds, we often find the blue Drift clay, containing scattered boulders. In this day we obtain trunks of trees, roots, twigs, etc., generally of the coniferous type, They represent the vegetation which grew in the valley, or along the hillsides, at the beginning of the Drift era." It is true that Lancaster stands on this accumulation of Drift material ; and also true that trunks of trees, roots and other vegetable growths that once flourished on the surface, are now found from thirty to seventy feet below the surface in sinking wells, specimens which, the report says, ''grew in the valley, and along the hillsides, at the beginning of the Drift era." How, then, is it possible to conceive the idea that the bed of the pre-glacial river once stood from eighty to one hundred feet higher than now. It is also true that beds of blue Drift clay, varying from two or three to twenty or more feet in thickness, are found deep down below the surface on which Lancaster stands, and that in this blue clay are found granite boulders, which are known to have conic from near the Arctic regions. Shallow strata of yellow drift clay are likewise found in the same deposits, and the entire Hocking, as far down as the lower falls, at Logan, presents the same evidence of accumulated Drift, with sand and gravel terraces, the sand and gravel being foreign deposits, and not native to the Hocking Valley or to the surface of the County, which is almost entirely sand stone. At the falls, the bed of the stream strikes the bed rocks. All above the falls, so far as is known, the water flows on the bed of the Drift deposit. But not only the immediate valley of the Hocking, but the entire area of the County, lies within the field of the Drift. The Drift clays, both the blue and the yellow, are also found in sinking wells and other excavations in all the low lands of the County, at various depths and of various thicknesses, but chiefly the blue. The sand and gravel terracing also follows the water courses and table lands. The Drift boulders are found all over the County, as well on the highest hills, as in 2 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. the lowlands, and of weights varying from a few pounds to several tons. The largest one yet discovered in the County lies partially buried in the ground, in the corner of the enclosure near the east bank of Baldwin's run, about two miles northeast of Lancaster. Its two principal diameters have been estimated to be eighteen and sixteen feet. Another of very considerable dimensions lies on the slope of Mount Pleasant, and near its summit. They are Quartzites, Granites and Diorites, as also of other kinds of haled rock. Some of them are exceedingly hard, as they must have been to withstand the grinding processes they were subjected to in floating, or perhaps rolling down from the mother beds far to the north, and from which they were torn away by the ponderous ice glaciers that moved down the continent, grinding and forcing their way over rocks and mountains as they came, until, by the melting of the ice, they were left scattered all over the face of the country. Some of these boulders were found to be limestone ; and in some localities of sufficient quantity to be collected and broken up for the lime kiln. Such use has been made of them in Fairfield County. The drift clay is not found in the elevated lands, but always in the table lands, and always below the gravel terraces, which shows it to have been deposited by the waters before the glacial Drift set in ; and it is believed a long interval of time intervened between the two eras. The material of which these border terraces are formed was undoubtedly brought down by the general Drift flood, and distributed along the valleys and water courses in the form of deposits, merely. The terrace planes are found mixed, however, more or less, with the wash from the adjacent hillsides, in particular localities. The Drift beds, from their light and gravelly make up, are usually easily drained, and lying on the borders of water courses, for the most part, they become' eligible sites for towns tied cities, many of which are built upon them. Lancaster stands on a drift bed—all that part of it lying below the bill, and it is more than probable that the elevation passing through the town from north to south, and known and spoken of as the "hill," was entirely formed during the Drift age. It contains no ledges of sand. rock, . as the hills surrounding the town do ; and besides, beds of blue clay have been found on its slopes, at great depths below the surface. In sinking a well on the east slope, in 1862, at the depth of from forty to seventy feet, trunks and limbs of corniferous trees were found imbedded in the blue clay Drift. Professor Andrews, in his Geological Report for 1872 and 1874, says : "When we carry back the study of our surface Geology to the per- iod immediately antecedent to the Drift, we find that all the leading valleys had been (waded by the same system of surface drainage which now exists. The general surface features of the whole State were the same as now. The Scioto, Hocking and Licking rivers drain by their upper waters much of the central and level portion of the State, a region now covered with a mantle of Drift materials. They drained the same area before the Drift. "The Drift period was of immense duration, and the great northern currents, with their floating ice bergs, with loads of debris from northern regions, would, in time, be able to cover the bottom of the shallow sea with the materials we now find, and arranged as we now find them. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 3 Again, what force, or is a nergo, would have been exerted to impel the vast glacier across the great valley of the lakes, and up and over the high ground to the south. In all recorded movements of glaciers, the ice is carried down slopes, so that gravity, if not positively aiding, could not retard the movement. " If a glacial sheet extended into Southern Ohio, it must have passed over the vast distance between the lakes and Hudson's Bay (now reported to be 1,500 feet high, which is not as high as the highest lands of Ohio water shed, as reportad by Dr. Newberry), across a general depression in which lie the lakes, and up over the water-shed, dividing the waters of the lakes and the Ohio river." There are sufficient reasons for the belief that, at a very remote period in the past, the present bounds of Fairfield county contained a number of small lakes, or lakelets. If lakes ever had a place here, their existence must have antedated the Drift period. Among the localities likely to have been lakes in the long ago, may be mentioned the prairie lying immediately west of Lancaster, extending from the crossing, of the Logan road over the canal, south of Lancaster, embracing the marshy grounds on the south side of the East graveyard, and extending up the Hocking as far as opposite the residence of Isaac Claypool, in Greenfield township, a distance of about five miles. This was undoubtedly once a lake, receiving at its head the waters of the two branches of the 'locking, and with its outlet at the south end. The muddy prairie gives evidence of having been once a small lake, of two or three miles in length, by a mile or so in width. . Also the flat lying along the track of the Muskingum Valley railroad, in the direction of Berne station, and extending perhaps as far as Bremen, of widths varying from a quarter of a mile to over a mile, and with probably arms running out in the Raccoon valley, and indented by the spurs of hills. There are likewise evidences of the existence of ancient lakelets along the course of Clear creek, in the southwest part of the county also, in Walnut township, and in the vicinity of Carrole, in the north end of Greenfield township. It is probable, since the entire bounds of the county are within the Drift range, that these basins were filled with the debris carried down from the north by the mighty flood of waters, though thousands of years may have passed since. The most interesting features of Fairfield county; in a geological regard, are those already described as being the product of the Drift era. Beyond that, the sandstone formations demand the next consideration. The sandstone of Fairfield county is the Waverly, so named from the circumstance of its having been first quarried at that place. The stone at Waverly is, however, of a much finer texture than that of Fairfield, and is shipped to all parts of the State, to be used as flag-stone, and for other purposes. Waverly is the county seat of Pike county, and is situated on the alluvial table land of the Scioto, sixteen miles south of Chillicothe. Fairfield county lies directly within the range of Waverly formations, but the texture' of the stone is different, the most of it being coarser grained, especially those cropping out at Mount Pleasant and the ledges along down the Hocking and its adjacent hills for a considerable 4 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. distance back in both directions. The color of the Fairfield sandstone varies from a clear white to yellow of different tints, some of it quite dusky. The greater portion of it is, however, of a light yellowish hue. Some of the formations are considerably firm in texture ; others softer. It has been found that when dressed and laid in walls, it hardens by exposure, and it is believed it will endure the ravages of time (mien better than limestone. Fairfield sandstone is largely shipped to other parts of the State for building purposes. The cathedral, at the corner of Broad and Fifth streets, Columbus, is almost entirely built of Hocking sandstone, and the new court-house at Lancaster is wholly of sandstone, quarried in sight of the building. There is sandstone sufficient in Fairfield county to build a hundred cities. Some of the ledges are of great thickness, without a fissure in them. They underlie all the hills of the southern part of the county, and crop out from many of them, especially along Hocking quite down to the county line. Mount Pleasant is simply an immense sand-rock from top to bottom, and extending to an unknown depth below the surface. In some instances the ledges extend hundreds of feet without a crack ; in some places they are cleft and fissured, and it is not uncommon to see large masses of the solid rock detached from the main body, and pre-, cipitated down to the low lands, as if by some internal convulsions' of the earth. There are detached fragments of all sizes, some of them possibly amounting to hundreds and thousands of tons weight. Some of the sandstone formations show supposed traces of iron. A very wonderful geological phenomenon presented itself a number of years ago, to which the attention of the writer was called at the time. The Lilly brothers, stone cutters, in the preparation of a large block of yellow sandstone that had been brought from the hills south of Lancaster to be wrought into a monument, came across an Indian flint arrow head imbedded in the solid sandstone. The sandstone was moulded nicely to it on all sides, so that the flint, when finally liberated, left its mould perfect and smooth. The flint was very white, forming a sharp contrast with the yellow sandstone in which it was imprisoned. The position where it was found was several inches from the outside of the block. The stone-cutter fixed the pmt at which the flint was found at about ten feet from the outside surface of the rock, as it originally existed before the quarry was opened. Two points are indisputably settled by the discovery, viz : first, that the flint arrow point was artificially formed ; and secondly, that it was formed before the rock, no matter at what age of the world either event occurred.. In some of the hills about Lancaster, as also in other parts of the county, the sandstone material is found in concrete masses in combination with gravel, sand, and clay, thus forming conglomerates of exceeding hardness, and which are used for bouldering, and as foundations for buildings. They are also found to make very strong walls for adobe work. What has been known as " Green's Hill," and the hill upon which the South Schoolhouse stands, are examples. The bodies of both hills, as far as they have been penetrated, are conglomerate, underlaid with deep beds of a fine quality of building sand, especially Green's Hill. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 5 The upper strata of the Waverly sandstone, which is known to lie immediately below the coal measures, is found in the hills facing Rush creek, where it passes between the two villages of Rushville. It is finer grained than the stones at Waverly, but not sufficiently hard to be used for building purposes. In Rush creek bank, a little below the mill south of the village of Rushville, there is a vein of sandy shale of a bluish brie, indicating vicinity of coal. Its thickness is ten or twelve feet„ and in it are contained moluscan fossils ; but those that belong to the Waverly formation are found in the upper strata. There is also, in the same vicinity, a very -thin stratum of coal, and rocks that usually characterize coal beds. Beyond this there are no other evidences of the presence of coal; not are there within the bounds of the county, so far as has ever been discovered, any available coal beds. The lower stratum of the Waverly stone appears in the margins of the ravines at Lithopolis, in Bloom township. This specimen is exceedingly fine grained, and bears alI the characteristics of the typical Waverly stone, as originally discovered. Its color is light drab, its tissue even, and easily worked. Fairfield county is not known to have any coal. If there be coal below its surface it is out of reach by the ordinary means of mining now in use. But the near proximity of apparently inexhaustible coal fields, and with easy and rapid facilities for transportation, it can never feel the privation. The same is true of iron. So far as known there is no iron in Fairfield county. Some of its surfaces indicate the not very remote presence of iron ore, and some specimens of sandstone show • apparent streaks of the iron tinge. Some of the fragments of rock, when lifted, are of a greater weight than ordinary stone, which has given rise to the belief that iron ore existed in the hills, but none has ever been found. The great wealth and sources of wealth of the county exist in its vast stone quarries, and in the richness and arability of its soil, so that in all time to come it can never fail to vie with any other interior county of the State in the extent of its resources. Its timber, with prudent economy and with coal for fuel---coal obtained from the Muskingum mines, the Sunday creek mines, Perry county mines,, from Shawnee, Straitsville, and the Hocking Valley, all lying within distances ranging from twenty-five to not exceeding thirty-five miles—places Fairfield in a position equal, if not superior, to any interior county of the West. The idea is riot yet wholly abandoned that lead exists in the county, and that it will some day be discovered. The reliance, however, rests wholly on the traditions brought down from the Indian times, the circumstances of Which are written in the chapter on Indians, found in another part of this volume. 6 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. CHAPTER II. TOPOGRAPHY. FAIRFIELD COUNTY is bounded on the east by Perry, on the south by Hocking, on the west by Pickaway, and on the north by Licking counties. It is situated in the eastern part of the State, and in the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude, its northern boundary being about ten miles south of the fortieth degree. Its seat of government is twenty-one miles east of the Scioto river, and twenty-one miles south of the National Road. It contains fourteen townships, viz. Clear creek, Amanda, Bloom, Violet, Madison, Hocking, Greenfield, Liberty, Berne, Pleasant, Walnut, Rush creek; Richland and Lancaster. Clear creek,. Amanda, Bloom and Violet form the western tier ; Rush creek and Richland lie on the east Madison and Berne on the south, and Violet, Liberty and 'Walnut make the north tier. Its outlines are irregular. Rush creek and Richland project beyond the direct south and north range of Berne, Pleasant and Walnut, thus forming two abrupt offsets. On the south, the direct line is notched by offsets in Madison and .Berne townships, occasioned by detaching Auburn and Perry townships since the original formation of the county, and attaching them to Hocking county. The west and north lines are direct, with the exception of a notch on the west side of Violet township; formed by detaching a tier of six sections, including the village of Winchester, and attaching them to Franklin county. But Violet being originally an eight-section township, its two north sections still remain bordering on the east of the old Franklin line. Clear Creek, Amanda, Bloom, Rush Creek, Hocking, Greenfield and Pleasant townships each contain thirty-six sections ; Liberty, Walnut and Berne each forty-eight sections ; Madison thirty ; Richland twenty-four, and Violet forty-two sections, thus making the area of the. county- four hundred and ninety-two square miles. In making this computation, no notice is taken of the township of Lancaster. The dimensions of the township are two miles square, but its area was included in the original townships from which it was taken. The diameter of the county, on its western line, is twenty-six miles ; its east and west diameter, from the east line of Rush Creek township to the west line of Amanda township is twenty-four miles. The principal water course that cuts the surface of the county is the Hocking river. It is a small stream, scarcer.- deserving the title of river; and is termed by the junction near Hooker's Station of its two branches. The west fork, which is the principal, and therefore called Hocking, .or originally Hockhocking, takes its rise from a spring near Greencastle, and near the center of Bloom township. The Maps differ a little as to the head of Hocking, but old residents of the township fix it a little southwest of the village of Greencastle. From its source it HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 7 meanders along to the rocky precipice just within the edge of Greenfield township, sometimes spoken of as the upper falls of flocking, and having received the waters of two or three tributaries, becomes the water power of the Rock Mills," the appellation by which the place has long been known. The east branch. sometimes spoken of as Claypool's run, rises in the north part of Greenfield township, and runs in a nearly due south direction until it unites with the main branch a short distance above Hooker's station. From the junction, the course of the Hocking is due southeast, until it enters the north east of 'Hocking township, and after skirting the west border of the city of Lancaster, enters Berne township less than a mile, below the city, it then curve's more to the west, and flows in a nearly due south direction to Sugar Grove, where it receives the waters of Rush creek, and about one mile and a quarter below passes out of the county through section ten of Berne township. Rush creek is the next stream of importance in Fairfield county, and is something larger than Hocking. It, likewise, has two branches, both of which have their origin beyond the county. The principal or north fork enters Richland township from the east, and about at its center, and pursuing a nearly due west course across about two-thirds of the width of the township, takes a direction a little east of south ; passing between the Rushvilles, still continues a south course to Bremen, after which it curves something to the west, and passing across a part of Marion township, Hocking county, turning nearly due west, re-enters Fairfield county and unites with the Hocking at Sugar Grove. The east, or south branch, takes its origin in Perry county, and tern Rush creek township at its northeast cornet, and forms a junction with the north branch about one mile south of Bremen. Both branches have numerous small tributaries. Clear creek, in the southwest part of the county, has its origin in Amanda township, and embodies in its course several small tributaries. It drains some of the richest lands in Fairfield county, especially in Amanda and Clear creek townships. Its course is very serpentine, especially in Amanda township. Its general course is southeast, to where it passes into Mocking county across the eastern line of Madison township, at the north corner of section twenty-four ; then passing across the northeast corner of Clear creek township, entering Madison diagonally from northwest to southeast, and near its center enters the Hocking river several miles below Sugar Grove. There are three small streams, all passing down out of Pleasant township, and known respectively as Pleasant run, Ewing's run, and Fetter's run. Of these three, Pleasant is the largest, They are all tributaries of the Hocking. and mingle with its Waters at different points below Lancaster. The latter two, viz., Fetter's and Ewing's runs, form a conjunction at a point idiom northeast of Lancaster, from which, until it enters the hocking a short distance below Lancaster, it has been known as Baldwin's run. Pleasant run enters the Flocking some miles below Lancaster. They all three rise in the north half of Pleasant township, just south 01 the dividing ridge between the waters of the Hocking and those of the Scioto. The divide which determines the flow of the waters respectively be- 8 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. tween the Scioto and the Hocking, so far as the surface of Fairfield county is concerned, takes an irregular direction. The northern portion of the county, including the townships of Walnut, Liberty, and Violet, and the north third of Pleasant, are drained by the Little Walnut, a tributary of the Scioto. The divide is therefore shown to be between the south two-thirds and the north third of Pleasant township, thence West to near the center of Bloom township, thence south through Bloom, Amanda, and Clear Creek townships, approaching nearest the west line at the south part of Clear creek, for the rivulets in the western portions of these townships run of in the direction of the Scioto, and become its tributaries. PRAIRIES.—Fairfield county never has had any extensive prairies. The largest one within the bounds of the county is that which has been known as the " Muddy Prairie," situated in Amanda township, eight miles west of Lancaster. It is of two or three miles in diameter from south to north, and about one mile wide from east to west. On its north margin, and extending in the direction of Royalton, the character of the timber, and the general appearance of the country, gives one the idea pretty distinctly, of barrens, commonly so called, such as are seen west of the Scioto. The next largest spot of prairie in the county is at Lancaster, extending from Kuntze's Hill along up the Hocking to near Hooker's Station, in Greenfield township. The average width of this strip of prairie land is probably about a half mile. Much of it was at an early day a swamp, and portions of it are yet too soft for safe travel. There is also a strip of true prairie ground extending across the north end of Berne township, along the line of the Zanesville Railroad, as far as Berne Station, and again in the vicinity of Bremen, and along the Raccoon. There are- also spots of prairie land along Little Walnut creek,, in Walnut township, and along Clear creek, in Clear Creek township. Also at several other points in the county there are typical dispositions of the timber and surface conditions sufficiently marked to Inspire the idea of barrens. Fairfield county has no body of water within its limits, or ever has had within the historic age, that deserves the name of lake or lakelet. That which approaches nearest to it is the " Big Reservoir'' 'in the north part of Walnut township ; but this is almost entirely artificial, and Only a part of it lies within the county. Previous to the making of the Ohio Canal there existed there a natural pond of water, the exact area of which can not now be ascertained. But upon the construction of the canal all that low body of land now constituting the reservoir was filled with water by artificial systems of draining, for the purpose of forming a feeder for the canal in times of low water. Its present area is something over three thousand acres. In some of its parts the water is of considerable depth. About one-third of its surface lies within Licking county, a portion in Perry, and the remainder in Walnut township of this county. The next considerable body of water in the county is the small reservoir at the north-west corner of the city of Lancaster, which is a feeder to the hocking canal ; but it is also chiefly artificial. This little reservoir has a water surface of probably thirty acres, but unlike the big reservoir contains few fish. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 9 In the pioneer age of the county there were numerous small ponds of water distributed all over its surface, but they have been so far drained and dried up that, outside of the two reservoirs, there is nothing within the county that would at this day claim hardly the dignity of a respectable small pond. One of the principal of these was Neibling's pond, on the site of the present Lancaster, and which is elsewhere described in this volume. Also, at Muddy Prairie and in the prairie west of Lancaster, were once considerable ponds, but there are no ponds in either of them now, Fairfield has at no former time been characterized for extensive swales or marshes. One of the most considerable shoales, probably, that ever existed in the county was that which passed directly through the center of the present Lancaster, crossing Main street just where Shawk's alley is and where it originally dipped into a considerable pond. This has aiso been particularly described in the first chapter on Lancaster. There were also a few swales in the northern townships, but they have been drained and changed into arable land. The principal boggy spots were in the prairie along the western bank of the Hocking, along the line of the present Muskingum Valley Railroad, in the direction of Bremen, at the Muddy Prairie, Claypoole's run, and Clear Creek. SURFACE.--There are few, if any, counties in Ohio with less waste land than Fairfield. There are few acres within its entire borders that are not capable of cultivation, varying, however, somewhat in richness of soil. The eastern part of the county is mostly of a gently undulating surface, and generally well adapted to wheat growing. The southeast part, embracing a portion of Berne township, and the most of Rush Creek, is level, and a great deal of it quite fertile. At Rushville, in Richland township, along the borders of Rush Creek, there is considerable interruption in the surface, especially in the vicinity of the two villages. The creek, in passing between East and West Rushville, cuts through a very considerable elevation, forming high and precipitous banks on both sides, which are underlaid with a line quality of the Waverly sandstone. These interruptions continue more or less, until the stream pushes out of the county, at its southern border. In the vicinity of Bremen, and Rush Creek bottom, it widens out into a considerable space of rich table hand. The northern part of the county, comprising nearly all of Richland, Pleasant, Walnut, Liberty, Violet, Bloom, Amanda, Greenfield and the northern part of Hocking, is either gently rolling, or level, the exception of the bluffs along Ewing's and Fetter's runs, and a ridge of hills running north of Lancaster, and again up I locking, in the vicinity of the Rock mill: The staple products are corn, wheat, grass, and all varieties of small grains and vegetables. About Lithopolis, in Bloom township. there are also considerable interruptions in the surface, in the vicinity of a small stream that passes the north border of the village. Going west from Lancaster to Amanda, the face of the country is considerably broken into hills and ledges of sandstone, especially within the first tour miles out from Lancaster. Upon reaching the Muddy prairie, two miles east of Amanda, the surface drops to a level, and continues so, with only moderate undulations about the village of 2 10 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY Stoutsville. until the Pickaway county line is reached. The largest portion of Clear Creek township. which lies directly south of Amanda, is level, and for the most part highly fertile. Immediately south of Lancaster. the hills set in, and continue more or less rugged to the south county line, embracing the southern part of Hocking township, all of Madisein, and a considerable part of Berne. The idles of the Hocking, below, or south of Lancaster, and on its east side, for a considerable part of the distance to Sugar Grove, is lined with out-cropping ledges of sand rock, which gives the valley a highly romantic appearance, especially from the elevated lands about the State Farm on the west, from some points of which the ranges of sandstone are seen at a distance of three or four miles on the east side of Hocking. Some of the hills rise to a considerable height. The site of the Reform Farm is six hundred feet above the level of the Hocking table lands, situated only 'four miles to the east, and about five hundred feet above the site of Lancaster, six miles distant. Some of the interruptions south of Lancaster, and within the bounds of Berne township, are exceedingly rugged and romantic. The Kettle hills, so called, a romantic place, two miles south of the Court House, is not, perhaps, equaled or surpassed in Ohio for wildness and beauty of scenery. It is a dip down of about one hundred feet, forming an area of nearly level laud at the bottom of about two acres, which is thickly set with forest trees and underbrush. Then precipitous and nearly perpendicular sand rocks stand up on all sides, surmounted with pines and cedar, and other growth of timber, which, frowning down into the depths, give it rather a gloomy appearance. The usual place of descent is at the northeast corner, and down through a cleft in the rock by means of projecting points, and by grasping the bushes and roots of trees that grow out from the fissures of the rocks. At the north side of the basin there are projecting rocks, forming beneath dark cavernous recesses quite away from the world above, with all its noise and clamor. It is a lonely, gloomy spot to visit ; but to the lover of nature's wild freaks, one well worth visiting. The passage from Lancaster to the Reform Farm is, in its entire length of six miles, over an elevated ridge, from which, to look off on either side, brings into view landscapes and views not surpassed in grandeur and sublimity by the wildest views of western Virginia or Pennsylvania. The hills, far and near, are covered with a mixture of evergreen and forest trees, presenting to the eye a variegated scene not often equalled—a view one loves to linger over. Passing south of the farm a still more wild and rugged section is entered, which continues over the entire area of Madison township to the Hocking county line, yet the soil on much of this elevated land is productive, some of it yielding fine crops of corn, but is probably better adapted to fruit growing. The rocks of these hills are mostly of the Waverly sandstone kind, cropping out more or less along the rugged declivities. There are few and very small spots of table land in Madison township. As in all other counties of the State of similar topographical and geological construction, Fairfield contains numerous fine springs of pure limpid water, mostly of the kind called hard or limestone water ; but of HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 11 springs denominated mineral there are few, if any. Springs issue from the hill sides and from beneath ledges of rocks, and also from the lowlands. Every part of the county abounds more or less with good springs, among which Cold Spring, at Cold Spring Hill, near Lancaster, is probably one of the best. At the west end of Wheeling street, Lancaster, there were originally a number of excellent springs, and on that account Mr. Zane, the original proprietor of the town, donated the lot of ground containing them to the citizens for public use, but in the construction of the Hocking Valley canal the lot was taken for its use, and now forms the basin, so–called, at the foot of the street, by which they have been destroyed. There is at the fourth lock, on the southeast border of Lancaster, one of the strongest springs of water in the county. None of these springs afford the same quantity of water they did in the early days of the country. The flow has been diminished by the general drying up of the surface. 12 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. CHAPTER III. FLORA AND FAUNA. FLORA.—Almost the entire growth of timber over the whole area of the county is of the hard wood .kind, including hickory in all its varieties, black walnut. sugar tree, hackberry, beech, water beech, iron wood, wild cherry. swamp beech, and oak. Of the querous, or oak family, there are a great many varieties, including white oak of four or five kinds—black oak, red oak, jack oak, pin oak and burr oak (the latter being perhaps the least abundant in the county), dog wood and laurel. Of the soft woods may be mentioned chestnut, white and pitch pines, poplar, cottonwood, silver leaf, sassafras, and soft or swamp maple. In some of the northern townships the beech predominates sufficiently to have acquired the appellation of the beech woods. South and southwest of Lancaster are the principal pine groves, mostly among the sandstone hills. The hills skirting the Stale Farm road are particularly characterized by thick groves of both the white and pitch pines. The oak family is distributed everywhere, as are the different varieties of hickory. Black and white walnuts are found in certain localities, and occupy generally the bottom and richer lands, as does also the wild cherry, The sugar tree is found on all varieties of soil, but chiefly on the most fertile. The oak family, as a rule, loves best the hills and clay soil. Chestnut timber is most abundant in the vicinity of Lancaster, and on the hills to the south and southwest. The hackberry, iron wood and water beech prefer low, rich lands. The burr oak is also indigenous to the low and rich lands. Pines flourish best among the hills and sandy soils, and in this county they are most abundant along the sandstone hills skirting the I locking Valley. Poplar, cottonwood, and silver leaf belong to rich soil, but none of them are very abundant in Fairfield county. Sassafras grows on all varieties of soil. Swamp or soft maple is not very abundant in the county, though it is a native, and occupies the lowest lands. Dog wood grows everywhere, but best in good soil. The laurel is limited to the sandstone hills along the Hocking, and in the vicinity of Lancaster. Hazel has never been much of a growth in Fairfield county, and .only a few dwarfed bushes here and there are to be seen. The hazel seems to have refused the friendship of civilization. The little clusters of the bush that are still to be found seem sickly and pining away. The paw-paw, however, still flourishes well on the rich flats along the water courses in some parts of the county. The ash and elm were quite abundant in the county at an early day, but have become rather scarce. Of the former there were three varieties—the white, gray and black ; of the latter two, the red or slippery elm and the white elm. Both the ash and elm belong to good land, HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 13 especially the elm. The slippery elm has been chiefly valuable for the medicinal virtues of its inner bark, used as a soothing mucilaginous remedy. The wood of the white elm has been used in the mechanical arts, on account of its hardness when dry. Neither of the elms will burn when green. Ash wood burns well green or dry. Ash wood is valuable in the arts, especially the white. The elm has been largely destroyed on account of its general worthlessness, while the ash has been cut down for firewood and lumber. The white elm bears domestication, and flourishes well along the margins of solid city pavements. But if the slippery elm be transplanted it, after awhile, becomes sickly. The same is true of the black locust ; it decays if planted in town. In some parts of Fairfield county the black locust originally grew luxuriantly in a wild state it is now very scarce. The honey locust still flourishes on the low lands along the streams and flats. Buckeye was at no time abundant, and is now scarce. The spice-wood bush, in the pioneer age, very abundant on the low rich lands, is now almost extinct. It would not survive in juxtaposition with civilization. The twigs of the spice-wood, decocted, formed a highly agreeable beverage of an aromatic flavor, and was much used by the first settlers of the country. Teas made from the spice-wood and the bark of sassafras root, when trimmed with maple sugar and cream or milk, was liked by nearly everybody. The whortleberry (commonly called huckleberry), is a very abundant growth on the sandy hills of the south part of the county. The fruit comes every year, and ripens in June and July. There are thousands of bushels of the berries marketed every summer. Blackberries and dewberries are likewise abundant annual crops, mostly in the south part of the county. The surplus crop is shipped beyond the county. Both the blackberry and the dewberry seek waste fields and fence corners, or along the margins of prairies or the jungle of fallen timber. But they also flourish under cultivation. The ginseng plant was recognized by its unpretentious trilobed single stem, of six or eight inches in height, surmounted by a cluster of three or four red berries in August and September. During, perhaps, the first twenty years after the settlement of the county commenced the ginseng was found in great abundance on the low, rich lands. It grew in clusters, or patches, like the podofillin, or May apple. For many years extensive raids were made upon the ginseng patches by the diggers, because it had a market. Its virtues resided in tile root, which was a tribulb, resembling in it had a market. It was supposed to possess valuable medicinal qualities, and was bought up by speculators and shipped out shape the radish, usually one large central bulb, flanked by two smaller The digging season was in the latter part of August and early September, and was indicated by the ripening of the berry and the yellow color of the leaf. One might search the wild low lands now a whole day without finding- perhaps a single ginseng plant. The sanguinaria lanadensis, or poocoon root, was of two varieties—the red and the yellow, and was very plenty in the early years of the county. It grew on the same kind of soil as the ginseng, which it very much- resembled. It seemed, however, to prefer a limestone surface., 14 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. The roots of the sanguinaria, especially' the red, sometimes called blood root, were valued for their supposed medicinal properties, and were a good deal sought after. It was claimed to be an Indian remedy. This plant has, likewise, nearly entirely disappeared. It seems, with the wild man of the forest, to have been indigenous to a condition of undisturbed nature. The snake root, known as Seneca snake root, Virginia snake root, and black snake root, so• abundant once. and so much used during the pioneer age as teas and bitters by infusing them in whiskey or cherry bounce, are now difficult to find. The black snake root was indigenous to sandy, rich soils, and was recognized by its stalk of eight or ten inches in height, and its lanceolated leaf. Its virtues resided in the root, which was a small, dark brown tuber, giving off a profusion of dark, hair-like libel's. It w as classed among the tonics. The other snake roots grew on higher lands, as a rule. The Seneca snake root sent up a stalk sometimes attaining three or four feet in height. Its root was tuberous, and of a light yellow color. It was also supposed to be used by the Indians as a medicine. These snake roots were used both as tonics and diaphoretics, or sweating medicines. They were found quite profusely around Mount Pleasant, and the low lands along Hocking and the other water streams. An isolated plant of either of them can now and then be found vet in some out of the way place. There were, likewise, in the wild and new condition of the country almost innumerable varieties of stinking weeds, grasses, and plants that are scarcely to be seen at all now, while hundreds of varieties not found here at first have taken their places. The wild nettle was a native of the soil of the Northwest. It grew very luxuriously in certain sections of Fairfield county. It was a rather' majestic weed, and rose up usually from two or three to five feet in height, standing very thick on the ground. Its fibre resembled that of common flax, and when treated in '"the same way was capable of being wrought into fine linen, and was so wrought. A nettle patch is rare now. The May apple was found in immense patches, even in acres, both on the high and low lands. It also appears to be failing with each year, so that at the present very small patches are found, probably less than a tenth of what the woods afforded seventy years ago, and these in the least frequented spots. The wild plum will not tolerate encroachment, nor can it be domesticated and still maintain the full development and richness of its fruit. It is strictly a forest plant. To cut away the forests about a wild plum thicket is to consign it to decay and ultimate death. And there are none of the luscious, large wild plums any more to be found, that seventy years ago were so abundant along the Hocking Valley and in other parts of the county. The few trees that remain are dwarfed, and yield small, sour plums. Black haws, of which the valleys once so abounded, have shared the same fate with the plum. The crab-apple bears the acquaintance of man better. It seems even to be improved by culture. FAUNA.—The wild animals found in the Hocking Valley, when the first settlers arrived, are referred to in more than one place in other HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 15 chapters of this work. A more particular notice of them may be proper under this head. Wolves, bears, panthers, wild-cats mid deer, were native denizens of the forest long before man came. They did not remain long ; even those that escaped the rifle ball and the snare took. their way farther back into the depths of the still wild forests. The grey and red fox lingered longer among the craggy recesses of the hills of the southern part of the county. The grey squirrel was -too much attached to the farmer's corn field to readily part company with his newly formed acquaintance, notwithstanding the continual crack of the cruel rifle, to which they become such easy and frequent prey. The raccoon and black mink have become scarce, mainly owing to the hunter's art and to the marked value of their pelts. The opossum, ground hog and hedge hog, are also becoming rare, while the rabbit multiplies and burrows about, both on high and low lands, an easy prey to the boys and the sportsman's shot gun. There was a class of wild birds that have mostly fled before the face of man, but which were very numerous in every part of the country, at its first settlement. Of these may be mentioned the owl, of all varieties, the great and small hawk, the kite, sometimes called the swallow tailed, or forked tailed hawk, the bald, grey and black eagle. the turkey buzzard and the raven. The most of these have entirely disappeared. Buzzards are occasionally seen hovering over the hills, remote from towns and populous settlements. Black birds and black crows are not one five hundredth part so numerous now as in the early years of the country, while a solitary raven is occasionally seen. Of wild singing birds, there seem to be fewer now than in the former age, though they still continue to make the grove merry with their melody. This seems strange, when it is remembered that that class of birds are known rather to follow than lead the advance of civiiization. It is the opinion of naturalists that the chief of the singing birds were not here at all before the white man came, and that they followed the sound of the woodman's axe, and the tinkling cow bell. Space will not permit special reference to the various kinds of singing birds of the woods. Wild geese and ducks were, likewise, far more numerous than now. The pheasant, once so numerous through the hills of Fairfield, and Whose drumming was so familiar to the ear of the pioneer families, is still about the thickets on the hillsides, but in greatly reduced numbers, owing, doubtless, to the constant raids made upon them with the shot gun and rifle. There were two or three varieties of the crane that often lit down in the ponds and marshy lands, such as the blue crane, the stork and the sandhill crane, but they are now seldom seen near the habitation of man, except in their elevated flights from north to south, and back again, with the changing seasons. The county, in its native state, was infested with such poisonous reptiles as were common to the country, including the viper, copperhead and rattlesnake, besides all the varieties of snakes less harmful. The prairie rattlesnake, and the spotted or mountain rattlesnake, were mostly dreaded. The former inhabited the prairies and meadows, the latter hid themselves about the hills and rocky crevices. Mount Pleasant furnished homes for many hundreds of them, in its fissures and recesses. 16 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. The bite of either of these reptiles was dangerous, and always fatal, The copperhead and the viper have sometimes been confounded, but they were distinct varieties. The black snake, garter snake and water snake were harmless. The mountain rattlesnake is probably now extinct in the county, but the prairie variety is still occasionally found in the low lands along the Hocking and other localities. The big flood of 1873, washed them out by the dozen, and they, were slaughtered by the boys, s they attempted, to make landings. The early settlers were greatly annoyed by the various kinds of insects that filled the air in countless millions everywhere. The principal torment was from the gnat and musquito. Their numbers in modern years are comparatively small. The black hornet and yellow jacket were numerous enough in the early years of the settlements to prove exceedingly annoying. The beaver and otter, once valuable for their rich furs, are now about extinct, especially the former. An occasional otter is still found along the water courses, where they inhabit. The musk rat still burrows himself in the banks of creeks, ditches, and along the canal, and is ready, on the slightest alarm, to sink instantly to the bottom. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 17 CHAPTER IV. ARCHAEOLOGY. THERE are within the bounds of Fairfield county, probably, in all about twenty ancient works, ascribed to the mound builders, consisting of mounds, circles and squares, but none of very imposing dimensions. They are found in nearly or quite every township in the county. The principal ones are in Greenfield, Bloom, Clear Creek, Hocking, Berne, Walnut, Rush Creek and Richland. Their form and general appearance does not differ from others found in various parts of the State and elsewhere. Some of them are simple conical mounds, others are squares and circles. The works at Rock Mill have been regarded as the largest and most interesting of any in the county. They are situated in Greenfield township and on the hill a short distance above the upper falls of Hocking. They consisted, before they were disturbed, of, first, a square of four hundred and twenty feet on each line, and standing towards the four cardinal points. The elevation is several hundred feet above the bed of Hocking, t Lancaster, seven miles down the stream. The embankments of the 'square, when the county was first settled, were about four feet in height. In addition to the square, there were originally two circles of the diameters of one hundred and twenty-five, and two hundred feet, respectively. The smaller circle contained a small mound, so disposed as to overlook all the other works, as well as the surrounding country, for several miles, in all directions. There were no appearances to indicate that anything of the nature of a fosse or moat had ever existed about either the square or the circles. Until within the last few years, the site of these remains was covered with a dense growth of forest trees and under brush. But this has been mostly cleared away, and the embankments leveled down, and plowed over, so that any interest that the works might have possessed for the antiquarian or archaeologist, is mainly destroyed. The clay of which the elevations were constructed was different entirely from that of the hill upon which they stood, and when spread upon the surface by the leveling process, formed a very noticeable contrast with the native soil, it being of a bright yellow color. The settlers of the neighborhood say such clay near vicinity. No archaeological remains were found in these works.   Very little attempt has ever been made to explore the mounds of Fairfield county, and what has been done, has resulted in finding only a few human bones. In some instances bones have been dug up near the surface, which were believed to be those of the modern Indian, as they were known to bury their dead in these. ancient mounds. A number of years since, Dr. M. Z. Kreider, of Lancaster, conducted 3 18 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY a careful examination of a mound situated about one mile. southwest the city, on land now owned by G. A. Mithoff, but at that time knot' as the Creed farm. The result of his exploration was the finding of few bones and trinkets, probably belonging to some Wyandot warn̊ HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 19 The most thorough and successful examination conducted in the county was by. Professor E. B. Andrews, some two or three years before his death, in the autumn of 188o, at Lancaster. The mound was situated near Greencastle, in Bloom township. He employed workmen, and went through and to the bottom of it. The only discovery made was a large quantity of human bones at the base and center of the mound. The bones were chiefly those of the head and face, the long bones having almost entirely disappeared. The specimens to which the attention of the writer was invited, at the residence of the Professor, consisted of teeth and portions of the superior and inferior maxillary bones, and bones of the head and face, with, also, a few fragments of the cervical vertebrae. There was one entire skull, and several whole and half jaw bones, still retaining the teeth in their sockets. There were,. likewise, a large number of teeth disconnected with the jaws. Most of the bones and teeth were entirely perfect in form, but seemed to be disintegrating from exposure to the open air. In the anatomy and general structure of the teeth and jaw bones, as well as those of the cranium, there were no perceptible differences from those of the Anglo Saxon race. The teeth were sound, though some of them were from the jaws of very aged persons, as indicated by the wearing away from attrition. There were, also, the usual signs on the necks and fangs of old teeth, showing the absorption of the alveolar bones which form the sockets of the teeth ; and even incrustations of tartar, or lime, still adhering to the necks of the teeth, precisely as the dentist of the present clay finds the situation in the mouths of his patients. In one or two cases the teeth were cupped, or worn down, in some instances to the very margins of the alveolar sockets, and showing the same glossy and smooth faces now seen in the mouths of people. In the aggregate there were near a half bushel of these specimens. The Professor subsequently sent them to some institution of learning. Regarding all the circumstances, it seemed probable that they must have been the teeth and bones of the veritable mound builders, as the Indians would scarcely have penetrated to the center of the mound to deposit their dead. Besides, the Indian custom of burying has been known to be superficial, or near the surface. A mound on the land of William Pannebaker, one .mile above Sugar Grove, was opened a few years since by Dr. Brown of that place, with no other result than the finding of a few bones, which were probably those of an Indian. There are three conical mounds near together in Berne township, which are very symmetrical and beautiful. One of them is situated on the farm of Dr. Shoemaker, and from its summit the other two are in view. Their average height is from ten to twelve feet. A little to the south of the mounds there is a curiously wrought stone ledge, that is unquestionably a work of art ; but, isolated as it is, its design would be difficult to conjecture, unless as a breast-work against hostile movements. There are, also, three or four mounds on the Raccoon, in Rush Creek township, that present interesting features, as also in various other parts of the county ; but, beyond those already mentioned, no other examinations have taken place. On the farm of Jacob Crawford, four miles east of Lancaster, and In the north end of Berne township, upon the summit of a considerable 20 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. elevation, are found some highly interesting specimens of stone work. The area of the summit is several acres, and level, with a full growth of forest trees. Some of the margins of the hill, especially at the southwest corner, are precipitous, and faced with out-cropping sandstone. Some of the points are exceedingly rugged and romantic. Near the center of the summit is a stone structure that seems to have been artificially laid together, and bearing the appearance of great antiquity. The material had manifestly been brought from below, as there is no cropping out on the summit. Taken as a whole, one can easily imagine an altar, or a rostrum. At other points of the surface, otherwise smooth, and covered with grass sod, quite ,a number of undressed stones are set in the ground perpendicularly, presenting the appearance of a modern rude cemetery. The compiler visited these works in company with Mr. Crawford, whose theory was, that the summit was a place for the entombment of the dead ; and that the structure near the center was an altar, either for sacrifice or religious orations. How much of this inspiration is due to the existence of grave yards and grave stones in the nineteenth century, must be left to conjecture. On Clear Creek, and in Clear Creek township, not very distant from Abbot's store, is situated an ancient work that seems to have been skillfully engineefed. It is a square of two or three acres, and stands parallel with the four cardinal points. There are, also, hi its vicinity dim evidences of minor works. In what is known as Tarliiil hollow, one or two miles northeast of the Reform Farm, and near the east line of Hocking township, there is HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 21 seen a very handsome conical mound, standing solitary and alone. There are a few ancient works within the county, variously distributed, but all of minor importance. In a lecture given by Prof. Andrews, he expressed the belief that the bones found in some of the mounds, especially those near the surface, were the remains of Indians. While that may be true, it seems quite probable that those taken from the central base of mounds were placed there by the architects themselves, as the Indians could not have reached that point without making extensive excavations, which was contrary to their known habits. Such. excavations, though made even hundreds of years in the past, would have so disturbed the strata of earth as to be noticeable in all time to come. No such disturbances have been discovered. The whole surface of Fairfield county, at its first settlement by the white race, abounded more or less with flint arrow points and stone axes, known to be Indian relics. The flint was unquestionably obtained by them frorn the quarries of Licking and Perry counties, as no flint is known to exist in Fairfield. Tomahawks, and other Indian relics, were likewise found tipon the surface, and were also turned up by the plow. All these evidences of the sojourn of a former race are now becoming quite rare. It is in fact in every respect as if they had never been here at all, and history alone tells that once the Hocking valley and the hills of Fairfield county were alive with the Wyandot and Delaware tribes. 22 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY CHAPTER V. INDIAN TRIBES. AT the time of the treaty of Greenville, concluded August 3, 1795, the Wyandot tribe occupied the present site of Lancaster. By the terms of the treaty, the Indians surrendered all their possessions in the Hocking Valley, and soon afterwards a body of them went away to join their friends in the Sandusky country. A few of their number, however, remained in the valley, and hunting squads of them continued to return during the hunting seasons, until 1812. Their town was situated on the north bank of Hocking, and on the Same ground now occupied by the railroad and agricultural works, on the southeast border of Lancaster. It was called Tarhetown, after the name of their chief, Tarhe. In English, the name was "crane," and hence the town was sometimes called "Cranetown." According to the 011) most authentic information attainable, Tarhetown contained, in 1790, about one hundred wigwams and five hundred souls. The Wyandot tribe is believed to have numbered at that time about five hundred warriors. Nothing is known as to how long they had occupied the Hocking Valley. All that is known is that they were found here by the first white scouts that came up from the settlement at Marietta, to explore the valley, soon after that settlement was begun. It was learned in after years that they considered the Hocking among their best hunting grounds, abounding as it did in all kinds of wild game and fur-producing animals. Some of them were heard to say that they left Tarhetown with a great deal of regret. Those who continued to revisit the valley, and to linger about after the white settlements began, are said, for the most part, to have been entirely civil and well behaved, when well treated, and not under the influence of whiskey. A few exceptions occurred, mostly in. the way of stealing horses, some instances of which may be mentioned. In the spring of 1799, Frederick Harmon, with two or three others, came from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. built two or three cabins and raised some patches of corn, at a point some five miles east of the present city of Lancaster, with the intention of re turning in the fall to bring their families. A few days before they were to set out, the discovetv was made that Mr. Harmon s horse had been stolen. An effort was made to trace the thieves, but all that could be learned was that Indians had been seen in the vicinity of the Hocking, having in possession such a horse. But they had two or three days the start, and the pursuit had to be abandoned. Mr. Harmon walked all the way back to Westmoreland, a distance of over three hundred miles. Whether the horse escaped from the Indians, or whether they traded him off, or sold him, was never learned. He was subsequently recovered near Marietta, and was recognized by a brand on his shoulder. Another time, the Indians stole two horses in the same end of the HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 23 county, and took them to their camp, near where Rushville now is. The owner, in searching for his horses, discovered them at the Indian camp, and demanded them. The Indians shook their heads. He urged his demand, whereupon one of the savages approached him with a large knife, and flourished it around the man's head, thereby indicating what he might expect if he persisted. He was compelled to go away without his property. On the following morning he returned, bringing with him several of his neighbors, and renewed his demand, which was still refused, whereti on the men leveled their guns and told him to go and untie his horses, which he did, and the matter was ended. There were also other frequent depredations of the kind. but the horses were generally recovered. JohN Ashbaugh, related a wrestling match, between his father and a stalwart Indian, .whose prowess at never having been beaten, caused 24 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. him to swagger along in a very self satisfied manner. But in this match he was thrown every fall, at which he became very angry, becoming silent and moody. It was only through the interference of his Indian friends, that he at last became reconciled. Theodore Murphy relates a story of his mother. They lived a mile west of the present Rushville. The Indians came to her home almost daily for something to eat, and tbr salt. She always provided for them. Although they were friendly, she was afraid of them, and did all she could to keep them in a good humor. They were fond of salt, and always demanded the half of what she produced. She learned to brint; out a tincupful at a time, when, upon receiving one-half of it, they would go away satisfied. At one time, when her husband had to go to Chillicothe, to mill, a distance of over forty miles, she took her children and dog and went into the fodder house, and staid all night, for fear,of the Iydians. To keep her baby quiet, she kept it constantly at the breast ; and through fear that the dog would hark, she kept her hand on him. When her husband, Edward Murphy, came to look at the lapd upon which he settled, before he made the entry„an Indian showed ham five excellent springs of water, and tomahawked the trees, so that he could find them again. This was in 18oz, and the springs are still flowing in undiminished quantity and quality. William Murphy was a brother of Edward Murphy, and settled ;II the north part of the county about the same 'time, perhaps one or two years earlier. For a number of years he engaged extensively in trade with the Indians, by purchasing their furs and peltries in exchange for dry goods, and such trinkets as Indians admired, and sometimes a little silver money. For some unknown reason they became prejudiced against Mr. Murphy, and, it was said, threatened his life. Whether there was danger or not, he hid himself when Indians were known to be in the vicinity, and kept out of the way till they left the settlement. A favorite center for the Indians was at and about the Rock Mill, probably mainly attracted there by the whiskey manufactured by Loveland and Smith. Mingling constantly with the white men that came about, their habits and movements were observed. It came to be known that they frequently had supplies of fresh lead, and that they always had it immediately after their squads returned to camp after two or three days absence. This circumstance led to the belief that they procured,the metal near by. They would sell or give it away, but no promise of reward or other logic could ever induce them to tell where they procured it. Many thought the mine was at no great distance from the Rock Mill, but others believed it to be in the hills south of Lancaster. For many years the search was maintained in vain. One thing at least was true, the Indians procured lead in considerable quantity, and there was no place within a hundred miles where it could have been purchased in such quantities. A serious tragedy at one time was barely averted. The Wyandots were on a drunk, for whiskey was plenty, and was sold ad libitum, in the little log cabin village. They became for some reason greatly en- HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 25 raged at Joseph Hunter, the pioneer, and resolved to take his life. The difficulty began in town. Mr. Hunter and his friends found it impossible to appease the whiskey-infuriated savages. He fled to his cabin, which stood half a mile west of the village. Soon finding that they were on his track, and would be upon him, he told his wife to tell the Indians that she did not know where he was, and then grasped his rifle and shotpouch and fled to the woods, burying himself in a brush heap not far from the cabin. The savages were soon there, and after searching the cabin by looking under the beds and in the loft, finally concluded that he had'taken his gun and gone into the woods. They then returned to town, uttering all the way the most demoniac yells. Hunter kept himself out of sight a few days, until his enemies became sober, and that was the last of it. ARROW AND SPEAR POINTS. Old citizens relate that at a very early day the boys of both races collected on the site of the village, and practiced various sports, such as running foot races, hopping, jumping, wrestling, and playing at ball, in the most friendly manner. Others speak of the faithfulness of the In- 4 26 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. dians in keeping their word, and fulfilling their contracts, and of their friendship and hospitality to visitors at their camps. Jacob Shaeffer, of Clear Creek, says they were the best neighbors he had. But when under the influence of whiskey their unreasoning natures became uncontrollable, and when irritated they became dangerous. As a rule, the Wyandots were not thieves, though they had thieves among them. So far as is known, no white person was ever murdered by an Indian within the bounds of Fairfield county, after the treaty of Greenville. Chief Tarhe is said to have been a noble Indian ; in stature, tall, and in physical strength and endurance, powerful ; in peace, just and faithful ; in war, terrible. In his old age he had a white wife, who had been his captive from her eighth year. Those who saw her spoke of her as being thoroughly Indian in every respect, save her white skin and,red hair.' Tarhe's own account of her, was that in one of his predatory excursions on the upper Ohio, he had stolen her from the home of her parents when she was eight years old, and brought her to Tarhetown, on the Hocking, and that she had been brought up with his tribe, and afterwards became his wife. The chief's wigwam stood near where the fourth lock on the Hocking canal now is, and close to a large spring that still continues to discharge its waters into the Hocking river. The wigwams of the village were constructed of bark, peeled from trees when the sap was flowing, in May, and set on poles planted in the ground, joined together at the top, forming a conical, or sugar-loaf structure. One side was left open, facing a fire kept burning on the outside in summer, but in winter fire was built inside, an opening being left at the top for the escape of the smoke. Many of the wigwams were still standing at the time of the beginning of the whites' settlement, and were not all removed for many years afterwards. There is no history to show how limg the village existed, but it was there when the white race came. Their burying grounds were in the vicinity. The graves were very shallow, as a rule. In making excavations in the surrounding grounds,_ Indian bones are found to this day. At the time of the beginning of the white settlement at Lancaster, and for many years afterwards, the site of Tarhetown was thickly set with bushes and a few forest trees, the undergrowth being chiefly wild plum. At the first settlement of the valley there existed little or no evidence that the Wyandots had ever practiced agriculture. The remains of a few peach orchards, are spoken of by the oldest inhabitants ; and it may be that they raised small patches of corn. The strongest presumption is, from all that can be learned, that they lived entirely by the chase. The history of the Wyandots, generally, is, that when on the war path they were peculiarly a savage and bloodthirsty people. There was probably no tribe west of the mountains that surpassed, or equalled them, in rapine and murder,and general devastation, especially along the frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Simon dirty, whose memory is forever desecrated by the whole civilized word, was for a time among them. Another Indian village existed within the limits of Fairfield county, situated one mile northwest of the village of Royalton, in Amanda HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 27 township. It is supposed that the Indians forsook it soon after ih Greenville treaty, as it was found in a dilapidated condition by the white settlers at their first coming. The name of the village was obvtown, named from chief Toby, who governed there. In General Sanderson's "Brief notes on the early settlement of the county of Fairfield," published in 1852, he refers to it as "another village of the Tribe," meaning the Wyandot tribe, in these words : "Another portion of the tribe then lived at Tobytown," and located it ou the site of Royalton. The actual site of Tobytown was a mile from Royalton, as has been said, and its inhabitants were Delawares. Toby was a Delaware chief of inferior rank. The village was small, compared with Tarhetown. Its previous history is not known. Like the Wyandots, the Delawares continued to revisit the scenes of their old home for a number of years after the pale faces came. About the year 1812 when the country began to fill with its new owners, and game was growing scarce, with their neighbors, the Wyanuots, they all disappeared and were seen no more. FLINT PERFORATORS. Their presence in the west part of the county is well remembered by the oldest inhabitants. They are mentioned as having deported themselves well, and of giving no cause of complaint on the part of their pale faced brethren. But they required kindness and fair dealing, and to be kept in a good humor. At that early day, attempts were made to educate them in the arts of husbandry and letters, but they manifested no disposition to copy after their white brethren in anything except in using the gun and drinking whiskey. Long after the town had been vacated, and the Indians had left the country, relics of their former residence were found, both on the surface and below, such as flint arrow-points, stone axes, tomahawks and human bones, often accompanied by beads and other trinkets. Neither in the vicinity of Tarheton or Tobytown, were there found any specimens of pottery or other art. A man named William Clark, some years after the evacuation of Tobytown, build a house on the old site, or adjacent land, and in dig- broothe earth for a mortar hole, came upon a quantity of silver rings, Which and other ornaments, mingled with the bones of an Indian, willch indicated that the remains were those of a chief. One of his little 28 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. sons carried some of the trinkets to his mother, but she, imagining that they gave off an unpleasant odor, requested that they be buried again. Tobytown was built on both banks of a small stream, chiefly on the east bank. The stream was in early times called Toby Creek, after the name of the chief, and was so marked on the early maps of the county. Afterwards the name was changed to Little Walnut, by which it is nol known. The Indians who remained about Tobytown drank whiskey freely, whenever they could procure it, and when under its influence, easily became enraged. The Clark family settled at Tobytown in 1799, at a time when they had but few neighbors, and most of those at considerable distances. They stated in after years, that they always got along with the Indians in a friendly way ; but that when they had whiskey, they found it best to let them have their own way, deeming prudence the better part of valor. Squire Cole relates, that Mrs. Clark told him more than twenty years ago, that on one occasion when the Indians were drinking, a number of them came to her house one day and demanded whiskey. Being afraid of them, she managed to slip away with her children out of their sight, and keep hidden until they left to continue their search somewhere else. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 29 CHAPTER VI. SURVEYORS.-REFUGEE LANDS. Very soon after the treaty of Greenville, the general government directed the survey of the public lands lying within the bounds of the territory now composing the counties along the Hocking valley, with the view no doubt of bringing it into an early market, by which immigration and. settlement of the county would receive early attention. The surface of the present Fairfield county was among the first to be sectioned off. It was laid out in full sections, first, of six hundred and forty acres, and subsequently subdivided into half and quarter sections, for the convenience, of purchasers, and for the greater encouragement of a rapid settlement of the county. The section lines were, without any exceptions, run to correspond with the four cardinal points of the compass, for the better convenience of forming townships and ranges, each full section being of the dimension of one mile square. Thus the townships of Fairfield county, in conformity to the original surveys, have their border lines due north and south, and east and west. The average township of the county is a six mile square of thirty-six sections. The variations from this dimension are shown elsewhere ; but all maintaining the same lineal direction. This is within the bounds of the present limit of the county. All the surveys remain precisely as first made. There are, however, great inconveniences constantly arising in regard to bounds, and corners and lines; owing to the lack of carefully prepared and preserved plattings and permanent corner stones. Scarcely a piece of land of any dimension can be, or ever is transferred, without the employment of a surveyor, whose principle business seems to be to find the original bounds. After all, with the best that be done; frequent misunderstandings and litigations arise. The original field notes and plats of each respective surveyor, being private property, have been laid aside, and are probably mostly lost. The sections and city lots are marked by lines on the maps and plats, but each man's farm, or corners, are not. If there are corner stones, they are sometimes hard to find. The same difficulties frequently arise in trying to find just where one man's city lot stops and his neighbors begins. It is often set up, that somebody's wall or fence is a few inches or feet over on somebody else. These are difficulties that it would seem should not exist. It would seem that the surface of terra firma should be so well platted and marked, that the only business of the surveyor would be to measure off portions of the land, sold, or to be transferred. The names of all the original surveyors of land now within Fairfield cannot be ascertained. They did their work, the fruits of which are found on the maps perfect or imperfect, as the case may be. Beyond etched and printed, all else they did is lost. Others follow them to find, or try to find, how near they were right. Quite a number 30 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. of law suits have arisen in Lancaster upon disputed lines, sometimes involving individuals, and sometimes the city in expense more or less onerous. A suit about an original line occurred three or four years since between the city and the Cox heirs, that was attended with considerable expense on both sides, and in which the city lost the case. It grew out of a difficulty as to where the original line of Zane's section was. Another litigation has been going on, and not yet settled, between the heirs of S. McCabe and Christ Rudolph, about one or two feet on the dividing line between their adjoining lots, In this case several times the value of the disputed ground has been paid in costs and attorney's fees, besides getting up a family war, of which the end is not yet. It is a matter of considerable doubt to-day, whether any surveyor could find the original lines of Zane's section of one mile square, on which the city of Lancaster stands, for they did not quite correspond with the subsequent sectioning, nor with the township lines. Among those known to have been engaged in the government surveys, at the beginning of the settlements, were James Dunlap, Elnathan Schofield and Samuel H. Smith. 'There were also others in the service ; but these were perhaps the principal surveyors. Mr. Schofield did a large amount of the work, probably more than any one man in the field. He surveyed the lands as far down Hocking as below the falls, at Logan, hut especially in the east part of the county. The titles to all lots of ground on Zane's section, which make up tile body of the city of Lancaster, are entirely secure, and are liable to no greater difficulties regarding bounds than are any city lots elsewhere. But on the outskirts, where lots border, or are supposed and claimed to border, on the original line of the Zane section, difficulties are likely to occur, and have already occurred. The Cox heirs vs. the city of Lancaster, before referred to, is a case in point, because on the line. A number of surveyors were called to settle the dispute, by fixing the original line, one, from an adjoining county. It may be so in the other cases. The line is lost ; and the oldest citizens differ materially and widely as to where it originally was. The chief difficulty is that the location does not correspond with the established sections. REFUGEE LANDS.---The history of what is known as the Refugee lands is somewhat confused. Historians have described it variously as to its extent and number of acres. In some statements its length from west to east has been given at eighteen miles, while others make it double that, and more. In one statement the length was given at sixty miles. Without attempting to reconcile these discrepancies, it may be stated, generally, that the tract is supposed to have contained one hundred thousand acres, and that it was a narrow strip of four and a half miles in width, and extended from the Scioto River, east, in a due line. Upon the hypothesis that the tract contained one hundred thousand acres, that would give it an eastern extension of near fifty miles, if its width was four and a half miles, which is probably nearly correct. Two miles of this strip belongs to Fairfield county, running along the northern margins of Violet, Liberty and Walnut townships. The other portion of it, of the width of two and a half miles, lies over the line within the county of Licking, corresponding with the width of Fairfield, HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 31 The history of this tract of land is as follows : During the Revolutionary war, there were certain men of Canada and Nova Scotia, who sympathized with, and rendered aid to the United States, some of them joining the American Army. For this lack of loyalty to the crown of Great Britain, that government confiscated their possessions. For their co-operation with the colonists, in their struggle for independence, the government of the United States caused this strip of land to be surveyed and set apart for this use. To what extent they entered upon it, is not known ; but the remainder was subsequently sectioned off and sold as Congress land. 32 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. CHAPTER VII. PIONEER HISTORY. In April, 1798, Captain Joseph Hunter, arrived from Kentucky, and settled on the Hocking, half a mile west of the present city of Lancaster, and a few rods north of the Zanesville and Maysville Pike. This worthy man did not move into a populous region, but the fact that his nearest neighbor on the east, lived somewhere near Zanesville, and on the west at Chillicothe, did not deter him from making a stand to contest the ground with name Nature, who had held the territory undisputed for so long, and who is both a help and an obstacle to advancing civilization everywhere. Captain Hunter was unquestionably the first white man, who settled in the Hocking Valley, and he of all others is entitled to the honor of having established the county of Fairfield. He died in 1829, and was buried near the spot where his hand had first marked "human progress," in indelible characters. His wife died in 1870, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Castle, of Lancaster. The work begun by Captain Hunter, was destined to be helped forward by brave hearts and willing hands, and in May a number of settlers found their way into the territory now included in Fairfield county, among whom were Nathaniel Wilson, Sr., Robert Cooper, Isaac Shaffer, John and Allen Green, John and Joseph ' McMullen. These all settled about three miles west of where Lancaster now stands, and within the limit of Hocking township.* Thrown upon their own resources, in a fertile, but new and wild region, these adventurers found that their lot would henceforth be one of , hardship and inevitable privation, but they faced their self-imposed trials bravely, and after creating a shelter for their families and limited worldly goods, tickled the earth so effectively, that she laughed back with a harvest of corn the same year. This was the beginning. But where the necessity for brave men and true presents, responses are always abundant, and in the spring of 1799 a general tide of immigration made mighty breaches in the forests, which for centuries had stood unscathed by the attempts of the red man for a mere animal subsistence. But mind was now exercising her dominion over matter and these passive grants must bow. One of the first necessities of that period was to get to the most desirable lands to which the trace could not be followed. When the settlers had wagons, the tedious process of cutting a road through the woods with axes was the only resource, and required unlimited patience as well as great muscular exertion. Pack horses could generally be led *The names of subsequent settlers, by townships, will be found in the respective township histories. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 33 between the trees, Where a "blazed" route had already been laid. Roads through the settlements or to the county seat were obtained through the united efforts of the settlers to derive benefit therefrom. A "blaze" was simply ,a large chip cut from the trees between which the route lay ; the “blaze.' of course becoming unnecessary when a path had been worn, unless after a fresh fall of snow, when the first one to make the trip required to bring it again into use. Hickory bark torches were employed to follow one of these "blazed". routes at night. For many years there were no bridges, and when the water at the usual fording places was so high as to forbid either wading or swimming, it only remained for the traveler to tarry, till the overflow had been carried off, and the stream fallen to something like ifs usual channel. Thus the elements often interfered with the best laid plans of the settlers—much oftener than in these days of sublime engineering achievement. The pampered epicure and the enterprising-and public spirited citizen of to-day are almost equally ignorant of tho true import of tho words, "pioneer times ;" for the "short and simple annals of the poor" are not the most eagerly sought, though they are generally instructive and pathetic pages in the book of history ; and the customs, laws and superstitions of the men and women, who laid the foundation for this broad and lofty plane of civilization have already but the place of a child's fairy talc, in every day life. That the thinking people of to-day fail to accord the full meed of praise to those early struggles is not due to ingratitude, but to an imperfect conception of the debt owed them. That which now seems so full of poetry and romance was to them but the monotony of every-day existence, and that which now seems delightful primitiveness was to the pioneers only a weary, painful, and all ut disheartening struggle for a bare subsistence. They had no leisure, if they had a desire, to transmit their simple tale to posterity, for it seemed not that their deeds possessed any degree of heroisin or merit, only continued hardships and toil. Thus the customs, laws and superstitions of the early pioneers of Fairfield county have had a narrow escape from being consigned to the graves of their possessors. The settlement of .a family in Fairfield county, for at least two decades of the present century, meant plenty of "elbow room," but it also meant unremitting toil. The rude cabin had to be built, and it was generally necessary to have a crop of corn planted immediately, for, although game was abundant and varied, the beasts of burden, upon which the settler was so dependent, were not carnivorous, and even the family of the pioneer could not subsist entirely upon animal food. The truck patch was the next necessity, and as nature had never been taxed for the maintenance of man, she was lavish in her responses to his petitions for food. The law of reciprocity was rigid, and the pioneer was compelled both to receive and grant assistance in making these wild places habitable. Thus the men felled trees, notched, trimmed and raised the lop to their places in the rude dwelling ; rolled logs. split rails, fenced, Viand cut out roads together ; the women spun, wove, quilted, and, ultimately, pared apples, made apple-butter and soap, and picked wool in company, 34 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. There is little doubt that the " Rock Mill," built by Hezekiah Smith and Joseph Loveland, in the fall of 1799, was the first structure of the kind in the county. It was built of logs, and wedged in between the rocks, so that the grist had to be taken in at the gable, and let down to hopper by a rope. Smith and Loveland were both Yankees', and possessed the full measure of Yankee shrewdness in all that had to do with money-getting ; and it was not long after they began to serve the public as millers until they went into the distillery business, and: made whisky for Indians and white men. Before Fairfield county was half a dozen years old, its surface was dotted by dozens of still-houses. In those days whisky was regarded as a household necessity much more than now. Everybody drank. It was respectable and fashionable. The bitters were taken in the morning before prayers, and the last thing at night. Doubtless the liquor was as pure as it was possible to make it, or at least contained nothing worse than the strychnine and nicotine compound of to-day ; but the same paradoxical ideas regarding its qualities existed then as now, and men drank it in the winter to sustain animal heat, and in the summer to counteract the same ; and, despite its purity, pioneer whisky made red noses, and ragged raiment, and empty larders. Whisky was generally passed around at funerals, bnt just what the meaning of this custom was, is hard to say--perhaps to drown sorrow. The green glass bottle, with its long neck, was passed around, and to render the fellowship closer, each drank from the same small spout. Not only was assistance given those able to repay in kind and degree, but the helpless were well provided for. The settler who became disabled by sickness or accident had no fear that his pressing work would remain neglected. His crops were tended and gathered • his stock cared for ; his firewood cut, and all without expectation or gathered; for reward ; the golden rule being the only incentive. When dangerous or protracted sickness visited the humble home of the pioneer, his neighbor, perhaps half a score of miles distant, held it no less than his bounden duty to minister to his wants. Even the presence of death was made lighter to bear by the ready, practical sympathy sure to be offered. The expense attending a pioneer funeral was light, being limited to the cost of coffin and shroud. The measure of grief was not seen in the nodding plumes, draped bier and long procession of magnificent equipages. The body was robed for its dreamless repose by familiar hands ; the grave dug, the body placed therein, and the little mound raised by those who had perhaps been associated with the departed one in clearing the very spot where the weary body was destined to find its ultimate rest. The widow's " cruise of oil," or "measure of meal," was not suffered to fail, and her fuel was provided, her grist taken to mill, and all as freely offered as thankfully received. The privations of the pioneer in the matter of clothing arose not so much from the lack of raw material as from an absence of implements and tools for working it up. After the first two or three years, and when the supplies brought to the frontier ran low, the settler had usually a few sheep to furnish him wool for clothing, and an occasional beef was killed, and this furnished leather for shoes, of which one pair was the yearly allowance. Small tan-yards were established through the HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 35 county at an early day, and the leather tanned on the halves. If a man had two hides, he was especially fortunate, for he could then possess a side of upper4 and one of sole leather. The stock was sometimes made up by the head of the family, and sometimes by the itinerant shoemaker. No thought of going shopping for clothing ever entered the head of the early pioneer. Nearly every house had its spinning-wheel and loom, and if a man had no sheep he bartered for wool sufficient to clothe his family. Fulling mills sprang up through the newly opened country, and hither the rough but serviceable "home spun" was brought to receive final treatment before being made up: Fulling was charged for by the yard. At the fulling mills the cloth was sometimes colored, though the latter work was more often performed where the cloth was woven. Black, brown and drab dyes were most generally employed. The great coats were nearly always drab, and made with " shingled capes :" i. e. from two to four overlapping capes, regularly graduated in size, the smallest or upper one being about six inches deep. The number of capes or shingles was considered a sort of measure to the wearer's title to gentility—or, at least, of his pride. An amusing story is told of the wedding coat of a young man then looked upon as a leader of fashion. The material had been woven and dyed after the most approved mode of the time, and taken to a local seamstress, whose skill was highly- lauded. In due time the coat was returned, and so far as appearances went, was perfect. But when the owner tried it on he found that he could not lower his arms to his sides. The sleeves had been sewed in upside down, and the expectant groom was obliged to postpone the ceremony until the error could be remedied. A PIONEER HOME. Sheep and cattle were the main dependance for clothing and shoes, and it will be pertinent in this connection to mention the raising of these, as well as other live stock. Many of the emigrants brought one or 36 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. more milch cows. It was not so difficult to winter cattle, but epidemir diseases were more frequent and more fatal than now, and the pioneer sometimes found- himself without a single cow in the winter season, and with small children to whom milk was almost an imperative necessity. murrain was quite frequent, and hollow horn greatly troubled the mulch cows. The first sheep brought into the county soon became unhealthy, and many died, and it was several years before they became acclimated. The principal malady was it species of influenza, or catarrh, which, if allowed to become chronic, was fatal. It was unquestionably a form of the disease common to horses, and known as glanders. The disease was at that time deemed contagious. but it is more probable that the remote cause was general. Foot rot was also common. and not being as thoroughly understood as now, generally terminated fatally. Hogs were introduced at an early day, and were far less liable to disease than either horses, cattle or sheep. They bred rapidly, and, with the exception of the kidney worm, were but lightly afflicted in any way. In the wild state of the country many small droves strayed from the plantations, and in a very few years the woods contained large numbers of " wild hogs." The hills south of Lancaster were especially rich in this kind of game, which haunted that locality in search of acorns, upon which rood theN thrived and generally kept in a good or-•der through the winter. Many families relied entirely on these dross of wild hogs for their winter's supply of pork. Sometimes the settlers managed to keep their ear-mark on a drove of wild hogs, .and thus established their ownership. All domestic animals, from the necessities of the case, being allowed more or less liberty, it was a matter of law that each stock owner should possess a peculiar mark, called an earmark, because generally made on the ear, although with horses the mark was usually burned into the shoulder. This mark was recorded in a book, kept by the township clerk, and was selected with especial reference to its dissimilarity with the mark of any other man in the township ; and when litigations arose over the dispute of ownership of stock, the book was brought into court, and the mark on the disputed animal compared with the record. Speaking of wild hogs, calls to mind a story told by Henry Leonard, of Liberty township. More than sixty years ago Father Gundy, of that township, contracted forty head of fat hogs to Mr. Buckingham, of Zanesville, for one dollar and fifty cents per hundred, net weight, I which, according to the custom of the clay, was to be found by deducting one-fifth of the gross. Gundy drove his hogs to Zanesville, it distance of forty miles, but Buckingham would not take them, saying that the market price was only one dollar and twenty-five cents Gundy declined to sell his pork at any such figure, and turning away, walked back to his home in Liberty township, leaving the hogs to care for themselves. Within three weeks every hog of the forty was back on the Gundy farm. Almost the entire distance traveled was a wilderness. Gandy afterwards got his price, one dollar and fifty cents, at Chillicothe. The wild turkey was a great favorite with the people of that time, and could be obtained with very little trouble, as vast flocks of this royal game then roamed the whole country. But the white man's rifle, HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 37 and his ruthless destruction of the favorite haunts of the bird, soon thinned the flocks out, so that it became a question both of strategy and markmanship to bring one down. Even the pioneer's grain field would not tempt this wavy and suspicious bird to stay, after the woods became more scanty. Experiments have shown that the wild turkey cannot be domesticated. Eggs brought from their haunts have been hatched under the well domesticated barnyard hen, but when the turkey became half-grown, he seemed to forget any obligation he might be under to his foster-mother, and soon disappeared, preferring the life led by his ancestors, who held a place in his affections far above any ties of adoption. Fabulous stories are told of the enormous flocks of wild turkeys seen here fifty or sixty years. ago. It is said that a Philadelphia merchant, about that time, took a trip through the West, and on his return had business in the neighborhood of Newark. This finished, he hired a man to carry him to Zanesville. Their route lay through Hog Creek valley, which was famous for its groves of beech nuts. The turkey is very fond of beech nuts, and the remembrance of this fact caused the driver to volunteer the statement that he had seen, in that locality,. over a thousand wild turkeys at one time: The merchant, a very tyro in backwoods lore, seemed inclined to shave the driver's story at least seventy-five per cent, but it was finally concluded to submit the subject to the man with whom they were to take dinner, an old pioneer, and a famous hunter. At the table, the driver boldly plunged into the subject, and a direct interrogatory as to the largest number of turkeys ever seen in the valley, at once caused the man to reflect a moment, and then came the reply, with all the positiveness of one who considers himself indisputable authority : " Wall, I reckon about twenty thousand !" But the wild turkeys and wild hogs were by no means the most troublesome dwellers in the forests. Wolves swarmed over the territory in great numbers during the first years of Fairfield county ; and the settlers soon learned that foot rot and influenza were not the only enemies from which they must protect their sheep. The sheep were placed before dark in close pens, built of heavy logs, and from night fall to daybreak, the wolves would keep up their hungry howls, and woe to any unfortunate strays, who had been overlooked in penning up the flock. Their bones, cleaned and polished by the rough tongues of the marauders, would greet the eyes of the frontiersman, who came down in the morning to liberate his frightened sheep, having heard the din of the rapacious creatures during the night with complacent satisfaction, confident that his property was safe from all possible harm. Wolves rarely attacked a human being, but for this the settlers are entitled to as much credit as the wolves, for the pioneer seldom ventured far from his clearing at night alone. The wolves would howl around the sugar camps at night, but as they share with all beasts of prey a wholesome dread of fire, a live brand from under the boiling saps thrown among them always secured the sugar makers a welcome immunity from their company. Panthers were occasionally seen, but they generally found prey enough in the forests, and when this began to fail them, they had for various reasons about concluded to decamp. The rifle, with its small, 38 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. patched ball, was, in the hands of the intrepid hunter, a formidable foe, and even had not large numbers of these been destroyed, they, in common with wild turkeys, wolves, and bears, were unwilling to stay and become part of civilized society, if even permission had been granted them. But one instance is related of any fatal attack on the human species by these savage beasts, among the settlers of Fairfield county. A woman, living in what is now Violet township, went into the woods to look after her cows. 'Her protracted absence alarmed the family, and going in search of her, they found her body lying in the woods partially devoured, and surprised a large panther in the immediate neighborhood. One of the arms was entirely devoured, and the body horribly mutilated. The squirrels, raccoons, blackbirds, and crows were a source of great annoyance and inconvenience to the farmer of the early days The birds gave the most trouble when the corn was first planted, while the stalks were small and tender. They would follow the rows, and make systematic business of destroying the farmer's work, and the crops had frequently to be replanted part, or wholly. was not so hard to bear when the season was forward, but•it was as apt to occur when the crops had barely time to mature before frost might reasonably be expected, as at any other time. The squirrels were still more ruthless in their attacks ; for they made their appearance in the cornfield in August and September, and when corn is in the milk ; that is, when it is just right for the table in the form of "roasting ears," a slight injury. by beak of bird, or tooth of squirrel, is sufficient to prevent it from ac-' quiring a good, sound, plump grain ; and the squirrels came in-such numbers, and were so dainty in their feasting--perhaps eating but a few grains from each ear—that scarcely enough sound corn was left in a large field to supply the table of the rightful owner. The raccoon ate what he wanted whenever he chanced to stop, but he carried on his raids. at night, and was, therefore, almost as hard to combat as the squirrel. Fairfield county was formally declared by Governor St. Clair, during the session of his territorial council, on the 9th of December, 1800, about two years before Ohio was admitted to the Union as a State. The area of Fairfield county was originally four times as great as now; embracing all of the present county of Licking, nearly all of Knox, probably a portion of Richland, portions of Pickaway and Hocking, and extending into Perry some distance east of Somerset. The name of " Fairfield " is suggestive of the broad, beautiful lands lying at the head of the Hocking Valley to-day, and the possibilities open to these hardy pioneers doubtless prompted them to name the district, in accordance with their prophetic views. Just one month before this formal declaration of Fairfield county, Lancaster had been laid out, and lots sold, so by the same authority it was named as the county seat, and clubbed "New Lancaster." The first contraction of the original bounds of the county, was the creation of Licking county, in 1808, and the northern boundary of Fairfield was thus established as it has since remained. Before that, the city of Newark was a part of Fairfield county. On the 12th of January, 181o, Pickaway county was formed, and the western boundary of Fairfield thus established, has been since changed, but slightly. -Perry county sprang into existence in 1817, and thus fixed the limits of Fairfield on HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 39 the east. Hocking county on the south, was formed March 1st, 1818 ; but this boundary has since been somewhat changed. Nearly all of Auburn and Perry townships were stricken from Fairfield, about thirty years ago, and attached to Hocking county. The townships originally embraced in Fairfield county, were, Hocking, Berne, Clear Creek, Greenfield, Licking, Amanda, Pleasant, Clinton, Thorn, Richland, Reading, Pike, Jackson„ Falls, Perry, Auburn and Salt Creek-17. Many of them embraced a large territory, and some were .for many years very sparcely settled. The townships of Fairfield county at this writing are : Amanda, Berne, Bloom, Clear Creek, Greenfield, Hocking, Liberty, Madison, Pleasant, Richland, Rush Creek, Violet, Walnut and Lancaster-14. The population of this county in 1820, the first year of the decennial census, was 13,508 ; in 1830, 24,753 ; in 1840, 31,858 ; in 1850, 30,261 ; in 1860, 30,623 ; in 1870, 31,149 ; in 1880, 34,283. The decrease in population between 1840 and 185o, is due to a large emigration to California and the less remote West, during that decade. The position of Fairfield county, both geographically and topographically is an important part of its history. Situated at the head of the Hocking valley, Lancaster, its county seat, becomes of necessity the outlet or eye of the valley as far south as Athens, by its canal and railroads. Fairfield, therefore, is within and a part of the Hocking Valley. Fifty years ago the Hocking, Valley was little known to any but its immediate residents. Now, by reason of its mineral wealth, no citizen of this Republic, who takes an active interest in her commercial affairs, and especially in mining matters is ignorant of her location and resources. For fifty years the stage running between Maysville and Zanesville, only stopped at Lancaster long enough to take meals and change horses, and the traveler of the day was ignorant of the resources lying just south of the station, which was merely looked upon as a convenient place to recruit horseflesh and appease the cravings of hunger. Even the citizens of Lancaster, previous to the opening of the canal, knew about as much of the true wealth of the valley, as they did of the geological formations of the South Sea Islands. But this was not to continue ; a wise Creator had not prepared fuel scores of centuries before the advent of those for whose convenience it was intended, only that they, despising or neglecting their opportunities, should lack for what lay at their very feet. But these opportunities were not slighted ; and soon the people of the Hocking Valley had discovered a greater wealth within their grasp, than could be obtained by the most patient pursuit of pastoral or scholarly or sedentary employments ; for coal and salt and iron were discovered, and the canal was dug and operated, and soon found too slow, and was superceded by the swifter, and costlier and noisier steam-giant ; and, the attention of engineers and capitalists was engrossed in calculating and developing the resources of this vast region ; and a few years have sufficed for raising the Hocking Valley from obscurity to a place among the richest mineral posessions of this Populous and wealthy and happy country. Immediately north of this great field of industry and wealth, blocking the outlets of this now fa- tn ous valley, is Fairfield county ; and through it must necessarily pass, in all time to come, the chief products of this vast mining region. 40 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. CHAPTER VIII. GENERAL GEORGE SANDERSON'S NOTES. General Sanderson came from Kentucky to the Hocking Valle with his father, in 1798, when he was a boy, and spent his long life it and about Lancaster. He was identified with the beginning and pro gress of the tOwn and county, and filled several positions of trust ani honor, and died in 1871, at a ripe old age. About the year 1851, he prepared a small pamphlet of some sixh or seventy pages, which he entitled "A brief history of the early settle• ment of Fairfield county." The painphlet was published by That, Wetzler, then of Columbus, and was distributed variously over till county ; but at the end of thirty years, the compiler of this work will great difficulty and search, at last unearthed a single copy in a mutilat ed condition. Extracts from its pages follow, which, though in part! repetition of matter incorporated in othei pages of this volume, will bt excused, because a history of Fairfield county would be incomplete without the notes of General Sanderson. •His sketches were, in fact outside of its political and religious history, the only history of th, county, ever written. The pamphlet formed the text of Howe's lb tory of Ohio, so far as Fairfield county was concerned. But the ex. tracts are chiefly valuable, on account of the familiarity of their write: with the scenes he describes. The following are extracts: "The present generation can form no conception of the wild an'( wilderness appearance of the county in which we now dwell, previous to the settlement of the white people. It was in short a country, Where nothing dwelt but beast of prey, Or men as fierce and wild as they. The lands watered by the sources of the Hocking River, and no comprehended within the present limits of the county of Fairfield, were when discovered by some of the settlers of Marietta, owned and occupied by the Wyandot tribe of Indians, and were highly prized by the occupants as valuable hunting grounds, being filled by almost all kiwi of game and animals of fur. The principal town of the Nation, stoic along the margin of the prairie, between the mouth of Broad Street am Thomas Ewing's canal basin, and extending back as far as the based the hill, south of the Methodist Church. It is said that the town con tamed, in 1790, about one hundred wigwams, anti five hundred souls It was called Tarhe, or in English, Cranctown, and derived its none from that of the principal chief of the tribe. The chief's wigwam stow upon the bank of the prairie, near where the fourth lock is built on thf Hocking Canal, and near where a beautiful spring of water flows int the Hocking River. The wigwams were built of the bark of trees, 42 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. on poles, in the form of a sugar camp, with one square open, facing a fire, and about the height of a man. The Wyandot tribe at that day numbered about five hundred warriors, who were a furious and savage people. They made frequent attacks on the white settlements along the Ohio River, killing, scalping and capturing the settlers, without re. gard to sex, age or condition. War parties on various occasions attacked flat boats descending the river, containing emigrants from the Middle States, seeking new homes in Kentucky, by which, in many instances, whole families became victims to the tomahawk and scalping knife. "The war chief had a white wife in his old age. She was Indian in every sense of the word, except her fair skin and red hair. Her history, as far as I have been able to learn it, is this : Tarhe, in one of his raids on the frontier settlements along the upper Ohio, near Wheeling, had taken her prisoner and brought her to his town on the Hocking, She was then about eight years old, and never having been reclaimed by her relatives and friends, she remained with the nation, and afterwards became the wife of her captor. " On the 17th of May, 1796, Congress, with a view, no doubt, to an early settlement of their acquired possessions by the treaty of Greenville, passed an act granting to Ebenezer Zane three tracts of land, not exceeding one mile square each, in consideration that he would open a road on the most eligible route between Wheeling, Virginia, and Limestone, (now Maysville,) Kentucky. Zane performed his part of the contract the same year, and selected one of his tracts on the Hocking, where Lancaster now stands. The road was only opened by blazing the trees and cutting out the under brush, which gave it more the appearance of an Indian path, or trace, than a road, and from which circumstance it took the name of Zane's trace—a name it bore many years after the settlement of the country. It crossed the Hocking at a ripple, or ford, about three hundred yards below the turnpike road, west Of the present town of Lancaster, called the crossing of Hocking. This was the first attempt to open a public highway through the interior of the Northwestern Territory. " In 1797, Zane's trace having opened a communication between the Eastern States and Kentucky, many individuals in both directions, wishing to better their conditions in life by emigrating and settling in the back woods, then so called, visited the Hock-Hocking for that purpose; and, finding the country unsurpassably fertile and abounding with springs of the purest water, determined to make it their new home. " In the spring of 1798, Captain Joseph ,Hunter, a bold and enterprising man, with his family, emigrated from Kentucky and settled on Zane's trace, upon the bank of the prairie west of the crossings, and about one hundred and fifty yards north of the present turnpike road. Captain Hunter cleared away the brush, felled the forest trees, and erected a cabin, at a time when he had not a neighbor nearer than the Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. This was the commencement of the first settlement in the upper Hocking Valley ; and Captain Hunter is regarded as the founder of the flourishing county of Fairfield. He lived to see the county densely, populated, and paid the debt of nature in the year 1829. HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 43 " The general government directed the public domain to be surveyed. The lands were first laid off in full sections, and subsequently in half and quarter sections. Elnathan Schofield, our late fellow citizen, was engaged in that'service. " In 1800, 18oi and 18o2, emigrants continued to arrive and settlements were formed in the most distant parts of the county, cabin-raisings, clearings and log-rollings were in progress in almost every direction. The settlers lent each, other aid in their raisings and other heavy work requiring many hands. By thus mutually assisting one another, they were all enabled, in due season, to provide themselves cabins to live in. The log cabin was of paramount consideration. After the spot was selected, logs cut and hauled, and the clap-boards made, the erection was but the'work of a day. They were of rude construction, but not always uncomfortable. " About this time merchants and professional men made their appearance. The Reverend John Wright, of. the Presbyterian Church, settled in Lancaster in 1801 and the Reverend Asa Shinn and Reverend James Quinn, of the Methodist Church, traveled the Fairfield circuit very early. “Shortly after the settlement, and while the stumps remained in the streets, a small portion of the settlers indulged in drinking frolics, ending frequently in fights. In the absence of law, the better disposed part of the population determined to stop the growing evil. They accordingly met, and resolved, that any person of the town found intoxicated, should, for every such offense, dig a stump out of the street, or suffer personal chastisement, (the chastisement consisted of so many stripes on the bare back, well laid on.) The result was, that after several offenders had expiated their crimes, dram drinking ceased, and for a time all became a sober, temperate and happy people. " In April, 1799, Samuel Coats, Senior, and Samuel Coats, Junior, from England, built a cabin in the prairie, at the crossing of Hocking, kept bachelor's hall, and raised a crop of corn. In the latter part of the year, a mail route was established along Zane's trace, from Wheeling to Limestone. The mail was carried through on horseback, and, at first, only once a week. Samuel Coats, Sr., was the post-master, and kept his office at the crossing. This was the first established mail route through the interior of the Territory, and Samuel Coats was the first post-master at the new settlement. " The settlers subsisted principally on corn bread, potatoes, milk and butter, and wild meats. Flour, tea and coffee were scarcely to be had, and when brought to the country, such prices were asked as to put it out of the power of many to purchase. Salt was an indispensable article, and cost, at the Scioto Salt Works, five dollars for fifty pounds; flour cost $16 per barrel ; tea, $2.50 per pound ; coffee, $1.50 ; spice and pepper, $1.00 per pound. “The early settlers were a hardy and industrious people, and for frankness and hospitality, have not been surpassed by any community. The men labored on their farms, and the women in their cabins. Their clothing was of a simple and comfortable kind. The women clothed their families with their own hands, spinning and weaving for all their inmates the necessary linen and woolen clothing. At that day no cab- 44 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. ins were found without their spinning wheels, and it is-the proud boast of the women that they could use them. As an evidence of their industry and saving of time, it may be mentioned, that it was not an infrequent thing to see a good wife sitting, spinning in her cabin, upon an earthen floor, turning her wheel with one foot, and rocking her baby in a sugar trough with the other. " The people of that day, when opportunity afforded, (which .was not often,) attended public worship ; and it was nothing new, or strange, to see a man at church with, his rifle—his object was to kill a buck, either going or coming. " In 1799, Levi Moore, Abraham Bright, Major Bright, Ishmael Due and Jesse Spurgeon, emigrated with their families from Allegheny county, Maryland, and settled near where Lancaster now stands. Part of the company came through by land from Pittsburg, with their horses, to the mouth of the Hocking ; and the thence ascended the latter in canoes to the mouth of Rush Creek. The trace from Wheeling to Hocking, at that time, was, almost in its entire length, a wilderness, and died not admit of the passage of wagons. The and party of men, on reaching the valley, went down to the mouth of Hocking and assisted the water party up. They were ten days in ascending the river, having upset their canoes several times, an damaged their goods." HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 45 CHAPTER IX. REMINISCENCES OF EARLY TIMES. The first celebration on the Hocking of the birthday of American Independence occurred in i800. The late General George Sanderson was an eye-witness, and the following account of the occasion .came from his lips substantially as given. The celebration was participated in by the few families, who. had settled in the valley and adjacent country. It was held on the knoll in Mithoff's meadow, west of the Hocking, and on the south side of the pike, The menu of this pioneer banquet contained venison and wild turkey, roasted before a log fire, cornbread, vegetables, and copper-distilled whisky. This last was a very important factor in the day's enjoyment. It was not doled out by the glass, but the barrel was stood on end, unheaded, and dippers provided. The crowd was then given perfect liberty to drink as freely"and as often as desired. Foot-races, jumping and wrestling matches, quoit throwing, and kindred amusements assisted in passing the time. There was no reading of the Declaration of Independence, nor eloquent and patriotic orations, nor costly and magnificent pyrotechnic display, to make the day memorable ; but in their stead patriotic songs, and blood-stirring games and amusements, much better suited to the temper of the people. Towards noon a solitary traveler was seen approaching from the east, over Zane's Trace. He halted, learned the meaning or the gathering, and was pressed to alight and sample the viands provided, and particularly to pledge the health of the young Republic in a generous dram of the favorite beverage. Then came the usual questions, plainly put and candidly answered, as to his residence, destination and business. He was from Virginia, and on his way to the valley of the Scioto, where some of his Old Dominion neighbors had preceded him, and he proposed to become one of their number, if the location was pleasing. The settlers told the traveler that the valley of the Hocking was immeasurably superior to that of the Scioto in productiveness, health, beauty of scenery, and all else, which should be considered in selecting a residence. Warming up to their subject, and influenced, probably, to a certain extent, by patriotism and copper-distilled whisky, they told the Virginian that there were better people in the Hocking valley, than in the land towards which he was traveling. He replied that he could better compare the merits of the two districts when he had visited both ; and as for the people dwelling therein, he was convinced that lat equally as good men could he found in the Scioto valley as in the Hocking, and perhaps, on his arrival at his destination, there would be '. slight preponderance in favor of the former. In those days the term “ a good Man” was used entirely to describe a man capable of engaging in ordinary physical employments, and possessing a large amount of physical courage. In this, sense, therefore, the traveler had thrown down a challenge, which the valor of the settlers forbade them to refuse. 46 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. It was proposed that the matter be conclusively settled then and there, and the stranger gladly acceded, only stipulating that fair play be given him, He was furnished with " seconds" from the throng, who were as much bound to see him fairly treated as though he had always their confidence and their friendship. A ring was formed, the traveler and the man selected to fight him stepped in, stripped, and the bout commenced. No interference was permitted, and, after a stubborn trial, in which both men were well pummeled, the traveler acknowledged his defeat. He was consoled with the assurance that his courage and prowess were highly esteemed, and again invited to remain with this people, whose generosity and bravery he had so satisfactorily tested. He concluded to stay, remarking that, while he knew little Of either valley, there were as good men in the Hocking as he cared to encounter. A roll of paper bearing the date of June 14, 1836, has been found, appended to which are the names of one hundred and sixteen persons, who were citizens of Fairfield county at the time. The document, which is headed " The Anarugens of Fairfield County," is a subscription list for defraying the expenses of a Fourth of July celebration held that year. Less than a dozen of those,whose names appear on the paper, are alive to-day. The following shows the purpose of the paper : "We, the undersigned, do each agree to pay the sums annexed to our names, for the purpose of defraying certain contingent expenses for the celebration of American Independence, on the Fourth of July, by the Anarugens of Fairfield County." The following is nearly, but not quite, the full list, a few names being illegible : David Iric, James Sherman, John McClelland, William R. Claspill, Samuel Matlock, J. C. Weaver, George Bentley, Jacob Hite, Micheal Bissinger, Jacob Young, Nathaniel Cook, Robert Fielding, John Stallsmith, Zachariah Clemens, Henry Cronmer, C. Lobinger, Henry Orman, William Embich, R. M. Ainsworth, G. H. Little, P. H. Cramer, George Leoder, E. Nigh, John Schaffer, J. E. Kinkead, William Hutchison, S. K. Hensell, J. Flemm, Work Galbriath, Michael Garaghty, C. W. Meeker, James Furguson, James Cross, Samuel Sturgeon, A. Crooks, James McMames, William Phelen, David Regg, Jesse B. Hart, William Wiley, Salem Shafer, Hugh Boyl, Robert Sturgeon, Silas Tam, Thomas Edingfield, Jacob Schaffer, William Amsbach, Thomas Pinkerton,, Robert Short, Joseph Work, Louis Levering, W. C. Embich, P. M. Kosser, W. T. Sherman, S. B. Butterfield, William Daugherty, William Richards, H. Cook, William Medill, John Baldwin, Henry Myers, P. Van Trump, M. E. Kreider, John G. Willock, Robert. Dunkin, Isaac Corner, Levi Anderson, Adam Guesman, L. Baker, A. Hunter, John Ramsey, D. B. Light, C. J. Arnett, J. N. Little, Stephen Smith, Riffle, J. C. Allen, Kimball Hall, Samuel S. Nigh, George W. Claspill, Joel Smith, John Van Pearse, Joseph Liffey, Thomas Hardy, George Reber, P. Beacher, Jr., Christian Rudolph, Henry Kestler, John H. Tennant, Henry T. Myers, John B. Reed, Samuel Michaels. Theodore Gunther, John M. Bigelow, B. Morgan, Samuel Hart, Geo. Creed, Louis Thompson, Ewel Jefries, Gabriel Carpenter, Jacob Embich, Sosthenus McCabe, John W. Myers, Charles Beck and William King. There were two parties of the celebrators, the " Anarugens, HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 47 whose rendezvous was Schofield's Mineral Spring, south of the Mithoff farm, and another, to which no name was assigned, who assembled at Cold Spring Hill. There is nothing to show whether or not the two were in any sense rival gatherings. Frederick A. Schaeffer prepared the dinner for the " Anarugens," and Gottleib Steinman for the party at the Cold Spring. The orator of the day at Schofield's spring was John M. Creed ; at the Cold Spring, a young man named Cleary officiated. Two military companies, "The Hocking Spyes," Captain Jonas A. Ream commanding, and the " Lancaster Blues," captain unknown, were in attendance. The occasion was made livelier, if not more enjoyable, by two old-fashioned, i. e., rough and tumble, lights. It was rare, indeed, that any civic or military assemblage dispersed without an entertainment of this nature. One of the belligerents of that memorable Fourth of July is still living in Lancaster, at an advanced age. When the festivities were over, the " Anarugens" found that about thirty dollars of the fund, provided for the day's pleasure, still remained in hand ; and when they learned that Mr. Steinman would lose money on his dinner at the Cold Spring, they turned this sum over to him. It had been the purpose of the " Anarugens " to march to the " Black Bear," a tavern on the Rushville road, about four miles east of Lancaster, with "Pumpkin-head " Bill Green for orator of the day, but this idea was abandoned, and they gathered at the Mineral Spring, as above, stated, with Mr. Creed as 'speaker. The Old Court House bell has a rather romantic history ; although much that is told about it has only a traditional foundation. It was brought to the Island of San Domingo, from Spain, in the early part of the last century, and placed upon a monastery, where it remained for many years. Various stories are circulated regarding the manner, in which it got off the island, all of which inclined to give the pirates a large amount of credit. Some have asserted that it was among the plunder, when these liberal-minded gentlemen sacked the island ; others that it was sent away to prevent it from falling into their hands. As to the manner in which it got into its present prosaic position, there is likewise much speculation. But it was brought to Lancaster by General Williamson, about 1807, and mounted on the Old Court House, where it remained for forty-five years, or until the Temple of Justice was razed to the ground. It was then laid aside for about twenty years, and now, mounted on the engine house, on High Street, does duty as an alarm bell. When the Old Court House was first built, it was necessary to use green elm " back-logs " for the huge fire-places, coal being undiscovered in the valley. By some means, a sprout from one of these logs Mc& root, and grew into a tree, the trunk of which was eighteen inches in diameter. It stood at the northeast corner of the building, about five or six feet from the wall, and just where the curbstone of the pavement now is. Soon after the demolition of the Court House, it went into decay and was cut down. Another tree, a weeping willow, claims some space in the annals of old Fairfield. It stood in front of the old Judge Irwin residence, and was cut down in 187o, after reaching the age of fifty years. It is said to have grown from a sprout carried by Mrs. Irwin, on horseback, and 48 - HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY. used as a riding whip for several days, in a journey of some length, The tree was very large, covering the entire front of the building, Soon after the last member of the Irwin family passed away, it was no, ticed that the tree was slowly but surely- dying, and it soon shared the same fate as the elm tree just mentioned. In the summer of 1825, it was learned that Henry Clay would pass through Lancaster, en-route from his home in Ashland, Kentucky, to Washington. It was resolved to give him a public dinner, and the following paper was circulated for signatures : " July 25. 1825. " We, the undersigned, agree to contribute our proportion of the expense of a public dinner, to be given to Mr. Clay, when he shall pass through Lancaster on his way to Washington City. [Signed.] " William Irwin, Elnathan Schofield, John Noble, Hugh Doyle, William Hanson, James White, Benjamin Connell, E. B. Thompson. Samuel Effinger, Richard M. Ainsworth, Mickel Garaghty, G. D. Campbell, George Myers, Noah S. Gregg, Jacob Schaffer, T. Tenny, Adam Weaver, Hocking H. Hunter, Henry Arnold, Robert McNeill, George Sanderson, R. Sturgeon, Henry Stanberry, John Herman. A. Pitcher, Isaac Church." An invitation having been forwarded in accordance with the above, Mr. Clay's letter, accepting the honor, is appended. The letter, in Mr. Clay's own hand-writing, together with a part of the proceedings of the occasion, can be seen at the law office of Brazee and Drinkle. LEBANON, O., August 1, 1825 "I received intentions very obliging letter on the 27th ultimo. informing me of the kind intentions of the citizens of Lancaster to make me a public dinner, and to know at what time I may pass through your town "I have been detained here upwards of two weeks by the illness of my youngest daughter, whose case has alternately tilled me with hope and apprehension. Present appearances are more favorable, and we persuade ourselves. that she is convalescent. But it will still be some days (how many I cannot say,) before how many I we shall be able to move her. It is my intention to pass through Lancaster, and I shall be extremely glad, if circumstances shall be such, as to admit of my accepting the hospitality, with which you propose to honor me. If it should be the case, I will endeavor to apprise you of the time of my arrival. In the meantime I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, HENRY CLAY." "P. S. Be pleased to offer my respectful compliments to Messrs. Schofield and Ewing."  H. C." Of the twenty-nine men, whose names are affixed to the above subscription, only Hugh S. Gregg is living at this time. Mr. Clay arrived and the dinner came off as arranged. Some time previous to 1820 the southern part of Fairfield county, and indeed all the settled country, lying between Lancaster and the Ohio River, was pestered by a gang of horse thieves and counterfeiters. Their rendezvous was known to be "Sleepy Hollow," among the ragged hills, a few miles south of Lancaster. Their number was not known, HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY - 49 but many citizens had reason to lament their skill and cunning, and some of the band mingled with honest men, seemingly engaged in ordinary occupations. Mr. Thomas Ewing, the prosecuting attorney of this county at the time, was a man of magnificent physique and great courage. The capture of the band had often been tried, and always unsuccessfully, and Mr. Ewing asked to be sworn in as a special constable, which was done. By a careful espionage he ascertained, that eight or ten of the thieves habitually and regularly met at a house in “Sleepy Hollow," and he decided that it was possible to capture them, through several were known to be desperate characters, particularly the leader, who was also a powerful and courageous man. Having defined his plan, he selected the following men, with especial reference to their strength and bravery : Nathaniel Red, Christian Neibling, Adam Weaver, Christian King, David Reese, Elnathan Schofield, and two or three others. This little posse started for the den of the outlaws, sometime after dark on an evening, which was known to be appointed for one of their conclaves. Arrived in the vicinity, they halted under cover of a dense thicket and secured their horses. They- quietly surrounded the house and then broke down the door. The thieves were holding their conference in the second story. and, being surprised, were soon in bonds, with the single exception of Mr. Schofield’s man, who was about to prove more than a match for him. Seeing this. Mr. Ewing, who had selected and overpowered the leader of the gang, jumped to the assistance of Schofield, when the leader rose to his feet and threw himself backwards from the window, bound as he was, and actually succeeded in getting away. It is supposed that the women in the lower part of the house aided him in his escape. The remainder of the band were sent to the Penitentiary, after due trial. Considerable discussion has arisen in the effort to settle the identity of the first white male child, born in Fairfield county. The friends of the late Hocking H. Hunter have claimed that honor for him ; but Mr. Hunter himself once acknowledged his belief, that Captain Levi Stewart, who is living at this writing, was thirteen months older—this, after comparing notes personally with Mr. Stewart. 'Howe's History of Ohio confers the honor upon a son of Mrs. Ruhama Green, and it has been said that a fourth claimant comes from Clear Creek ; but Mr. Stewart i las a preponderance of evidence in his favor. The Mrs. Ruhama Green, just mentioned, was born and raised in Jefferson county, Virginia. In 1785 she married Charles Builderback, and with him the crossed the mountains and settled at the mouth of Short Creek, on east bank of the Ohio, a few miles above Wheeling. Her husband a brave man, had distinguished himself as an Indian fighter, and the red men determined at once to rid the frontier of his unwelcome presence, and to secure a certain measure of vengeance. One beautiful morning, in the month of June, 1789, Captain Charles Builderback, with his wife and brother, Jacob Builderback, crossed the Ohio River to look for some cattle. As soon as the trio reached the shore, a party of fifteen or twenty Indians rushed from cover and fired upon them. They were thoroughly off their guard, as no Indians had been seen for a time sufficiently long to raise the belief that they had abandoned the western shore of the Ohio. Jacob was wounded in the 7