untitled

ships, and toils, and privations, and the sickness of a new and uncultivated country. Their descendants know nothing of how they lived, and how they did, nor can a written work convey any just conception of it all. These men and women have passed away and are forgotten—nearly forgotten—the largest mumber of them are totally forgotten ; a few only are remem-bered—those of them who did prominent deeds. And when another generation comes up to displace the present, the pioneer fathers, and all they did, will have been lost to the world forever. History tells us the numbers that went into the field in the revolution one hundred years ago, but that is all; we do not know who they were, or how they appeared. The most prominent officers are all we have any conception of—all have turned to dust.

But the immediate descendants of the pioneer fathers of Fairfield County, many of them, are with us, and many who came at an early day, but after the settlements had made considerable progress. From them we glean much that pertains to the early history of the county. The times of the log-cabin era of the Hocking Valley have not faded from their memories, but the realization is lost.

But recurring again to the tax-payers of 1806. They have gone from the scenes of earth forever—all they did, what they endured, how they loved, and joyed, and sorrowed, is all nothing now. Their voices have all been hushed into eternal silence, so far as earth is concerned ; their faces have faded from memory ; the waves have closed over them forever more. They were a noble, enduring race of men and women ; their names and deeds ought to be carried down to posterity, far into the coming ages. Their names have mostly faded out; only a few of them are to be seen chiseled in the cold marble or sand-stone that marks their last resting-places. Would-that their virtues and patriotism were written in imperishable script on every threshold and on every wall, the pioneers of Fairfield County.

To one familiar with the present population of the county, traces of many of the pioneer families are recognized in all the townships and original settlements, by the names and families of their descendants, but the largest number of the families of the tax-payers are extinct in the county. Most of the names are entirely lost ; moving away, intermarriage, and death,

accounts for this. Many of the oldest inhabitants at present residing in the county came early, but subsequent to 1806. In personal notes, elsewhere, will be found notices of such prominent early settlers, both before and after 1806, as facilities have enabled me to secure. These older citizens still cherish the memory of the log-cabin age of the county. The house-raising, the log-rolling, the corn-husking, the quilting, the country wedding, country dance; " Sister Phebe ;" " Marching to Quebec ;" " Thus the farmer sows his seed ;" " As oats, peas, beans and barley grows ;" " Kilimacranky ;" and other plays then so universal. The hominy block, lie hominy, the Johnny cake, hoe cake, corn dodger, the tinkling cow bell, sound of the woodman's ax, the dinner horn, drumming pheasant, and the thousand things peculiar to frontier life sixty years ago and more; all have passed away forever, but the recollection of them is precious to the aged yet living—hal-lowed, priceless. The writer has passed through all the phases of frontier life in another part of the State. There is nothing so dear to the aged as the remembrances of the past, the long ago, of life's first young dreams, its loves, and joys, and dear associations. It is a thrilling comfort to the aged Christian man or woman, when recollection falls back to the humble cabin with its slab benches, rude corner cupboard, and wide fire-place, and dwells upon the sincere, simple and true worship of other days, days that were before the carking cares of the world, and the follies and absurdities of fashionable life were brought in to ornament the simplicity of the religion of the great founder of the church. Reader, did you ever let your thoughts go back to your young days, where, unbidden, the scenes of the past, with all that was precious to memory, came grouping around you? Is there anything this world can afford that you would be willing to exchange for that hour of elysium, that bliss that is all your own, and that cannot be taken from you, nor marred by enemies? These good old days are all gone, never to return, and the old mourn unavailingly their departure. There is really nothing now that was sixty years ago, or nothing as it was then; grey heads and bent forms remain, and tender emotions come up, but the loves and endearments of other years have drifted back into the dim vista of the past.

Regarding the pioneers of Fairfield County during the first fifteen or twenty years of the-present century, with all they

were and what they did, they appear to the contemplative mind as a wave of humanity that laved the shores of time for a brief season, only to ebb away into the vast ocean of what, to mortals in this mundane sphere of existence, seems oblivion. They were here and did the work of their day, but they are gone, and that is all we can say. No visible work of their hands stands out in relief. And what has their lives and deeds availed? Much ; but the present age fails in due appreciation. To the busy throng of to-day, in their irrational race for riches and fame and enjoyment, the former age is oblivious. We rush almost frantically, at best heedlessly, over their sleeping dust to grasp the baubles that even our own experiences tell us will dissolve in our grasp. And for what? A few more brief decades of years. and we will be as the pioneers are now—gone—forgotten. We do not even pause an hour to remember, and possibly appreciate how much we owe to that noble and sturdy race. By their hands the forests and jungle have been cleared away, by which the pestilential fogs and fens have been disarmed of mischief, mostly. They did the hard work and gave us a clear soil to till. Can we say we are carrying forward their virtues, their practical common sense, their good manners, humanity and worship ? Have we inherited their patriotism ? We have grown wiser, possibly, and gained wealth, material wealth. Have we grown in goodness?

The first judicial records for Fairfield County were entered in a small blank book of 231 pages. The paper is very coarse, of a dull white color, and unruled. From it I am able to make some highly interesting extracts. The first dates are in 1803. The manner of keeping the records would appear strange enough at this day. Though one year after the State was admitted into the Union, the word Ohio occurs but seldom in the volume. The records are strangely deficient in another respect, which is, that with the exception of the names of judges, jurors, and parties to suits, no others appear, save that of Hugh Boyl, who was appointed Clerk of the first Court. One fails, in passing quite through the book, to learn the name of a Sheriff, or any other officer of the Court. Another peculiarity is, that in giving the verdicts of juries—it is simply

written that the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, or defendant, as the case might be, but with few exceptions the amount of damages is not stated. The record in this quaint old book runs over a period of six years, viz.: from 1803 to 1809; but there are no dates given to any of the entries, other than that they were a part of the proceedings of the May term, the March term, or the June term, etc. And again, at the opening of each term it is a part of the record, that "The following jury was elected and sworn in." Sometimes it is said the jury was impaneled ; at others, that the jury appeared; and at the July term of 1806 it reads : "Came a Grand Jury." Indictments are given, with name of accused, and crime, a few interesting examples of which will appear.

"Minutes of the proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas for Fairfield County, beginning at May term, 1803."

At this first term of the Court of Common Pleas for Fairfield County, which commenced on the second Tuesday of May, 1803, the record stands : "Before Wyllys Sillman, Esquire, President, and his associates." The following are the names of the Grand Jurors who were sworn in at that term : David Resse, foreman; Joseph Hunter, Henry Mesner, Jacob Lamb, John McMean, Thomas Cisna, Frederick Leather, Thomas McCall, Joseph Work, James Black, John Shepler, John Mills and David Shellenberger. "And after being duly sworn, retired to their room, and after some time returned into Court, and having made no presentments, nor found any bills of indictment, were discharged."

Immediately succeeding is the following, which seems to have been the first action of the Court in a business way :

" A petition, or recommendation for a tavern-license for Peter Biver was read to the Court. Ordered, that license be granted to the said Peter Biver for one year from this term. " Following this were orders to grant license for one year from " this term" to James Black, of Newark (Newark was then within Fairfield County), and Samuel Hammil, to keep tavern, "and then the Court adjourned till to-morrow morning. "

"The Court proceeded to the appointment of a clerk pro tem., when Hugh Boyl was duly appointed. "

A license was then granted to William Trimble to keep a public house on the road leading from Lancaster " towards the Muskingum river" (on Zane's trace). And then

"A petition for a road from Hunter's saw-mill was read, April term, and ordered to lay over to May term." The quotation is literal.

The Court then proceeded to the trial of a number of civil cases, the first of which was styled, William Austin vs. James Philips ; 2nd, William Peek vs. Nathan Kennedy ; 3d, Moses Reese vs. Thomas Laplana; 4th, Amassa Delano vs. Jeremiah Conway.

The first term of the Common Pleas for 1804 commenced on the fourth day of January, and seems to have been held by the three Associate Judges, as no mention of a presiding Judge appears in the record. The Associate Judges were: Samuel Carpenter, Daniel Vanmeter and William Irwin. At this term a Grand Jury was sworn, but it does not appear that they did any work. The associates proceeded ,to try and determine several civil cases, of which Charles Friend vs. Elijah Anderson was the first, and James Crane vs. John Elder was the second. At this term John Cullerton, Methodist Minister, was authorized to solomnize marriages. Some cases of a civil nature seem to have been tried before a jury of nine; at least only nine names are recorded. In others, twelve are entered. Several cases were, by consent of the parties, referred to three arbitrators. The first was George Thompson vs. George W. Shelby, referred to Elanathan Schofield, Joseph Hunter and John Irwin.

The number of civil cases tried in a single term of the Common Pleas at this early day, is surprising. At the January term of 1804 alone, there were on the docket no less than forty-three cases.

At the opening of the April term of 1805, Robert F. Slaughter appears first on the bench. He is styled the "President." His associates at that term were William Irvin and Robert Cloud. Here a Grand Jury of twelve were discharged from further attendance on the ground of not having been legally summoned. The first case tried was Levi Merrit vs. Jacob Resler ; the fifth was Thomas Hart vs. Alex. Sanderson. During this judicial year there were docketed 136 civil suits on forty pages of the small book of records. No names of counsel

appear, and the awards of juries or amount of damages are named but in a few instances.

The March term of 1806, Robert F. Slaughter, President, and Henry Abrams and Jacob Burton associates, opens its proceedings with the hearing of several criminal cases. We quote from the docket literally, thus : " State of Ohio vs. William Long;" "same vs. Samuel Chaney ;" "same vs. Reason Reckets ;" "same vs. same;" "same vs. same;" "State of Ohio vs. James Lambert." In no instance is the nature of the offense or crime specified. Wm. Long was fined one dollar and costs; Samuel Chaney was acquitted; Reason Rickets was fined in one case three dollars and costs; in the two others he was acquitted.

At the March term of 1807, Hon. Leven Belt was presiding Judge, and the Grand Jurors were Elenathan Schofield, Abraham Miller, John Johnson, John Carpenter, James Love, John Shepler, Thomas Ijams, Abraham Heistand, Elijah Spurgeon, Abraham Courtright, John Brinkley, Peter Fetter and Jacob Shellenbarger. At this term the Grand Jury indicted Susan Pealt for larceny, and were discharged. George Renie sued Emanuel Carpenter in attachment. The record says: "the defendant being called three times and defaulted. " Further on is a case, " State of Ohio vs. Daniel Reese, John Elder, John Edgar, James Taylor, Joseph Barr, George Reese, Benjamin Feemen and John Baker." The offense was for nonattendance as Petit Jurors, and the entry has it; "David Reese and John Elder, under attachment, thereby appeared and is discharged."

At the June term the Grand Jury were, Timothy Sturgeon, Joseph Work, Andrew Barr, Edward Murphy, I. Maclin, Sampson Ream, Christian King, Thomas Ijams, John Beery, Elijah Spurgeon, Johnathan Simpson, Jno. Stalter and Daniel Thompson. This jury presented several indictments, viz. : " One against George Livingston and Jacob Leather for assault against each other; one against John Tent and John Foglesong for assault on each other ; one against Abraham Johnson for keeping a public house and retailing spirituous liquors; one against Samuel Taylor and Samuel Pot for assault on each other; one against John Spencer for assault on Oliver Stoker; one against Joseph Cunningham for assault on Oliver Stoker; one against Morris A. Newman for disorderly conduct in his own house."

In February, 1808, Judge Belt was still on the bench. Associates at this term : Leonard Carpenter, Henry Abrams and Jacob Burton. Two indictments were found: one against John Inks and Peter Pence for assault and battery on one another ; one against John Fisher, for what offense is not stated. During this year, as in the Courts of the four preceding ones, a great number of civil suits were entered on the docket.

Through the proceedings of the sessions of the Common Pleas for the six years, viz.: 1803 and 1808, inclusive; are found a great many indictments for retailing spirituous liquors without license. Other offenses against the State, so far as specified, are mostly for assault and battery. In addition to the usual business of the Courts, orphans, guardianships and the like, received due attention.

The foregoing is but a very brief synopsis of the constitution. and operation of the early courts of Fairfield county. The reader will comprehend that a fuller account would be incompatible with the bounds this volume must assume.

ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD! — Ran away from the subscriber, living near Moorfield, Hardin County, Virginia, on the 29th of April last, a negro man, named Berry. He is about twenty years of age, five feet eight or nine inches in bight, round-shouldered, rather slender made; he is active and undaunted, but not viciously inclined; reddish lips; stutters when closely examined. Whoever will secure said slave, in any jail in the United States, so that I can get him again, shall receive the above reward, and all reasonable charges paid, if brought home. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, SR.

GINSANG WANTED.—I am now buying ginsang on every Saturday, at my tan-yard in New Lancaster, and giving seven cents per pound.

Mr. Heylin is also buying it at this time, at the above price, on every day of the week, at J. Bush's store in Toby Town.

BOOT AND SHOEMAKING.—Jacob Embich (late of Hagerstown), respectfully informs the inhabitants of Lancaster and its vicinity, that he has commenced the Boot and Shoe-making business in all its various branches, in the house lately occupied by Christian Neibling as a tavern.

MARRIED—On Sunday last, by Thomas Fricker, Esq., Mr. John W. Giesy, of this town, to the amiable Miss Magdalen Mensil, daughter of Mr. Michael Hensil, of Berne township.

There are some slight discrepancies among old citizens now resident in Lancaster, as to the exact year in which the Ohio Eagle was established. Its present issue fixes its origin in 1809, as will be seen by reference to number of volume at the top of first page. It is possible, however, that its first beginning as a German paper was a little earlier. I am told by a citizen, that General Sanderson told him, that it was first issued in 1807. The history then may be given briefly thus :

A little previous to 1810, Jacob D. Detrich began the publication in Lancaster of "Das Ohio Adler," and continued it for some time as a purely German paper; subsequently the establishment fell into the hands of Edward Shaeffer, who continued the publication during the war of 1812, in the English language. It was at that time a very small sheet, of coarse, dull, white paper. Some of its literature at that time will appear a little odd to the present age. Here are a few specimens copied from a number before me, of the date of 1815 :

"A QUANTITY OF upper and sole leather will be exchanged by retail for good merchantable wheat, rye and corn, at Carpenter's Mills, by

"TAKE NOTICE.—I take this method of informing the public that I do not offer for sale any tickets in my lottery of personal property, nor do not know that I shall dispose of any in the State of Ohio, but that I am about to draw a lottery in the State of Pennsylvania, of property in

Beyond current news, advertising and other printed matter belonging to county newspapers, the Eagle has been a strictly

political partisan sheet. In 1832, under the editorial control of T. U. White, it supported the claims of Andrew Jackson for the Presidency, and in 1836, those of Martin Van Buren. It will be remembered, that during the campaign of 1832, the Jackson party assumed the name "Democratic Party," and from that time to the present the Eagle has been the county organ of that party. During most of the time it has been ably conducted, and has stood high among the Democratic papers of the State.

With some trouble and research I have been able to procure a list of the editors of the Eagle, from 1809 to 1876, which I believe are here put down in the order of their succession. There may be a single exception or two, but the list may be accepted as about correct. I am indebted for the information to Mr. John Wright, who has been identified with the press of Lancaster for more than half a century, and to the courtesy of Thomas Wetzler, the present editor, in referring to his files. Thus: Jacob D. Detrich, Edward Shaeffer, John Hermon, T. U. White, John and Charles Brough, Dr. Casper Thiel, Samuel Pike, Robertson, Robinson, F. M. Ellis, John Tuthill, Charles Roland, Baker, Zahm, Thomas Wetzler.

The Gazette was established in 1826 by General George Sanderson. Like the Eagle, it has been a partisan political weekly. In the Presidential campaign of 1828, the Gazette supported John Quincy Adams. And as the Jackson party took the designation "Democratic party" in 1832, so the Adams and Clay party took the title "Whig party" in the same year, and the Gazette was the Whig county organ until 1854, when that party disbanded to give place to the American, or Know Nothing party. During that year the Gazette advocated the Know Nothing ticket. In 1856 it adopted the Philadelphia, or Republican platform, which party it has been the persistent and able defender of to the present. The Gazette has doubtless earned the reputation of a leading county Republican weekly of the State. Its succession of editors compare favorably with any similar weekly publication in Ohio. I have before me some of its earliest issues, from which a few extracts are taken, that will recall to the mind the earlier days of Fairfield County. The following samples will suffice :

You are ordered to parade in front of Mr. Reed's tavern, at Monticello, on the Fourth of July, at nine o'clock, for the purpose of saluting the canal boat "Hebron," which will be the first to run on the Ohio Canal. By order of the Captain.

AN ORDINANCE, entitled an ordinance for levying a tax for the year 1827.—Be it enacted and ordained by the President, Recorder and Trustees of the town of Lancaster, that a tax of three-eighths of one per centum, or thirty-seven and a half cents on every one hundred dollars, be levied on the assessment for the current year, for the use of said town. Done in Council, this 25th day of May, 1827.

MILLINERY.—MRS. ELIZABETH DEITRICH respectfully returns thanks to her friends, and the public generally, for the very liberal encouragement she has heretofore received, and informs them that she continues at her dwelling-house the making of plain dresses and Calash Bonnets. Also, Leghorn and Straw Bonnets bleached in the very best manner, and altered to any fashion desired.

The editors of the Gazette have been: George Sanderson, Wm. J. Reece, D. L. Moler, James Percivill, George Weaver, Thomas Slaughter, George McElroy, Joshua Clarke & Son, Dr. H. Scott, Robert Clarke, A. P. Miller, and S. A. Griswold, present incumbent.

There have been a number of other weeklies and campaign papers started in Lancaster at various times, and one daily; but none of them were of long continuance. We mention the "Independent Press," of 1812; the " Enquirer," by P. Vantrump; "Telegraph," King & Gruber; "Fireside," by A. P. Miller; "American Democrat," by W. S. Beaty; " Union," by Miller & Fritter.

The following are the names of the physicians who have practiced in Lancaster from its organization up to the year 1876. To Dr. Charles Shawk and Dr. Paul Carpenter, old physicians of the place, and both still living, I am indebted mainly for the information. The list may be relied on as en-

tirely correct. It has not been possible, for the lack of data, to fix the exact time of settlement of the early practitioners. The list, however, begins with those who are known to have settled first in the place, Dr. John Shawk being the first who came to Lancaster and erected his cabin in the woods. Thus : John M. Shawk, Dr. Erwin, Dr. Carr, Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Florence, Dr. Robert McNeal, Dr. James White, M. Z. Kreider, Dr. Clark, Dr. H. H. Wait, Dr. Deepe, Dr. Wolfley, John M. Bigelow, Dr. Paul Carpenter, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Saxe, Dr. Gou-cher, Dr. Brecker, M. Effinger, Dr.Lynch, A. Davidson, G. W. Boerstler, T. O. Edwards, P. M. Wagenhals, J. M. Lewis, Geo. K. Miller, Geo. Boerstler, Dr. Turner, Dr. Jackson, Dr Frampton, 0. E. Davis, Dr. Dawson, Dr. Kinsman, Dr. Goss, Dr. Flowers, Dr. Harmon, Dr. Myers, Chas. Shawk and Dr. Shrader.

Of these, the following are still resident practitioners in Lancaster, viz.: Paul Carpenter, Dr. Lynch, Charles Shawk, M. Effinger, Geo. Boerstler, J. M. Lewis, Dr. Turner, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Goss, Dr. Flowers, and Dr. Harmon.

Of those who have removed to other parts, and are known to be still living, are : J. M. Bigelow, O. E. Davis, P. M, Wag-enhals, Dr. Shrader and Dr. Kinsman. Dr. Andrew Davidson purchased the drug establishment of George Kauffman, on Main street, where he still continues.

Those who are known to have deceased previous to 1876, are: John M. Shawk, James White, Robert McNeal, M. Z. Kreider, Dr. Clark, H. H. Wait, D. Deppe, Dr. Wolfley, Dr. Saxe, Dr. Goucher, Dr. Brecker, Geo. W. Boerstler, Dr. Dawson, George Miller, Dr. Ervin, Dr. Carr, Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Florence, Dr. Myers and T. O. Edwards.

I have not at my command the facilities for learning the names of all the physicians who have practiced in the villages and other parts of the county since its organization, but mention the following from memory : Baltimore : Dr. Gohegen, Dr. Helmic, Dr. Horr and Dr. Sprague. Lithopilis: Dr. Minor and Dr. Eels. Jefferson : Dr. Tolbert. Royalton : Dr Paul, Dr. Dawson and Dr. Reed. Amanda: Dr. Daugherty, Dr. Peters, and the brothers Hewitson. Oakland: Dr. Shaeffer. Clear Creek: Dr. Porter. Sugar Grove: Dr. Brown, Dr. Foster, Dr. Sharp and Dr. Brooks. Bremen: Dr. Evans, Dr. Holcom, and Dr. Frampton. Rushville : Dr. lde and Dr. Turner. West Rush-

vine: Dr. Dolison and Dr. Lewis. New Salem: Dr. Brock and Dr. Yontz. Pleasantville: Dr. Goss. Millersport: Dr. Brison & Son. Basil: Dr. Maines. Carroll: Dr. Aldred. Dumont-ville : Dr. Mills and Dr. Bright.

I am aware that this list is not quite complete, but it is as nearly so as my possibilities will permit.

" Emanuel Carpenter, died in 1832." [Mr. Carpenter came into the county in 1802, and built his first cabin where Salem Wolf recently resided, near Lancaster].

"Sarah Slaughter, wife of Judge Robert Slaughter, died in March, 1858, aged 63 years."

The mental and intellectual status, as well as the social constitution of society, was about the same throughout the whole of the north-western territories, at, or during the log-cabin era. The emigrants at first brought with them from the old States their religion, their social habits, their manners and customs ; but residence for a few years in the wilderness, far away from the more densely populated and better conditioned ultra montane lands of their birth, created by a kind of necessity, a state of society peculiarly western, which, passing into history, constitutes an era. The times are referred to as pioneer life, frontier life, backwoods life, the log-cabin era, and the like. The prejudices and superstitions were about the same everywhere; they belonged to the age ; they were not peculiar to backwoods life ; old and aristocratic, and what it is common to call refined and more enlightened countries, have had their ghosts and witches; Fairfield County has had its ghosts, and apparitions, and witches. The story I am about to tell did not belong to this county, but to a western county of Ohio, and it reflects the times of its occurrence.

It is more than half a century since—three-fourths of all the people concerned are dead; three-fourths of all the people of our settlement believed in apparitions, witches and supernatural omens. Salem Witchcraft, so-called, had infused itself over the entire country, and there were few neighborhoods that had not had, at one time or another, their ghosts, and witches, and occasional visitants from the land of "Deepest Shade." Sounds and appearances now well understood, and that disturb nobody, were then supernatural. Several volumes would scarcely suffice to narrate all the signs and wonders and incidents that, during that more diffused dominion of superstition, held the people in awe. The celestial realms, as well as the land of demons were represented on earth occasionally. But as the fogs and miasmas of the wilderness have lifted, so has the mind been cleared of much of its superstition by the brightening rays of science. But neither have the fogs nor the mental sombre quite all gone, though the luminaries seem well up from the horizon. But no matter for all that, our neighborhood had its ghost, which the writer never saw but once, and we shall presently see how.

A majority of all the people within a radius of five or six miles around had seen the apparition at some time ; it usually assumed the size and form of a human being, and always clothed in pure white. It was seen by persons returning from night meetings and other gatherings, and sometimes by solitary persons who chanced to be abroad after night. There were two small graveyards in the settlement, and two or three waste cabins by the road sides that had been once occupied, and afterwards vacated. These were the points where his ghostship usually chose for his materialization as mortals passed by in the dark. The neighborhood had been in the utmost terror at times during more than two years, and it came at last to be, that only a few could be found brave enough to undertake to pass either of the graveyards or waste cabins alone in the dark. Even those who assumed to ridicule the stories that were told about the ghost, would always prefer to have company when their business required them to pass those places in the night time.

Two theories were canvassed, the first of which was, that a peddler had previously disappeared from the settlement, and under the dark apprehension that he had met with foul play,

it was believed that his troubled spirit was hovering about The other theory was, that a company of North Carolina explorers who had penetrated the county before the settlement began, had foully murdered one of their number, and buried his body in the forest not far, as was believed, from there, and that his perturbed spirit could not go to rest unavenged.

My father's farm was separated from that of neighbor H. by a partition fence, ours being situated on the north side. The distance between the two houses was about one-third of a mile. On their side was a stubble-field and peach-orchard; on ours was a cornfield. At the crossing of the partition fence was one of the little graveyards before referred to. It was grown up with scrubby bushes, which partially concealed a few mossy palings and log-pens that were placed over some of the graves. Altogether, the graveyard was a neglected spot.

There was a corn-husking and quilting at the house of our neighbor. It was the latter part of October, and the weather was mild, and of that kind commonly spoken of as Indian Summer. At about two o'clock in the night the work had all been finished, and the supper over, and the folks were begining to depart for home. Two brothers, two sisters and myself, with half a dozen other young folks were going to cross the field, which would take us directly past the graveyard. We were strongly fortified, and believed we should not be much afraid of ghosts ; still, all of us, I think, would have preferred daylight for the walk. We had got as far as the door of the new house, where part of the young people were going to finish the night with a dance, and were halting a little to listen to the fiddle, when, by accident, I chanced to turn my face in the direction of the old house, some three or four rods distant, when I caught a glimpse of three chaps as they came out of the kitchen door, and whipped around the corner to the right. But their movement was not so quick as to prevent me from seeing a roll of something white under one of their arms by the aid of the burning candles in their rear. It oc-cured to me at once that the scamps, knowing that we were starting, were intending to anticipate us at the graveyard and give us a fright. I plucked the boys to one side and whispered my discovery and my suspicions. We called the girls, and hurried across the peach-orchard to where the stub-bles set in. Here we left them under cover of a peach tree,

while six boys of us hastened across to the fence. The would-be-ghosts we knew would have about three times our distance to go, and we knew we were ahead of them time enough to complete our plans.

One of our number stood six feet in his stockings. He was, moreover, not much afraid of spirits, either in or out of the body, and he at once volunteered to take the role of ghost. He wore at the time white pants, and when divested of coat and vest, was white all over. He then went in among the bushes and laid flat down by the side of one of the little log-pens, where he was entirely hid from view, while the balance of us prostrated ourselves snugly in the fence corners to await what might follow. It was not more than a couple of minutes before the rustling leaves and cracking sticks hearalded the approach of the ghosts. They were coming from the east, and on our side of the fence. They advanced exactly opposite to where the figure lay, and having halted, began to unroll the sheet. I could easily have put out my hand and grabbed one of them by the calf, but I waited. Presently an awful groan issued from the bushes. The scamps were instantly transfixed and petrified. Another groan, and with it a white form began to rise up apparently from the little log-pen; slowly it ascended, until it had probably attained the altitude of twenty feet or more, in the enlarged imaginations of the boys who were standing in breathless awe.

Then a voice, solemn and sepulchral, was heard. It said : " Why, vain mortals, do you come at this silent hour to disturb the peaceful sleepers of the grave 1' Retire and pray, for where we are, you too soon will be ;" and then the apparition sank back apparently into the ground.

The fence was eight rails high, and without stakes or riders. I believed my time had come, and so I reached out from my dark corner and laid hold of a leg, and in the twinkling of an eye the fence rails began to tumble about us with such fearful profusion as to require the greatest activity on our parts to escape with sound skulls and bones, while three pair of long legs were seen making the quickest time on record across the stubble-field, to where the forms disappeared under the peach trees.

It is about fifty-three years ago, but from that day to the present, so far as I have ever heard, no ghost has been reported in that settlement.

There was but one wonder in the matter, and that was, how these boys had so long escaped detection.

While we are chronicling what the world denominates the dead past and the living present, it will be well if we take plenty of time to think the time all over and see if we can consent that all the claimed advancement of the age is in fact, in every respect, advancement to a higher and better condition of mankind. The world is surely growing wiser (the world of man), but is it growing better? We ought to try to satisfy ourselves whether, in getting wisdom, we are getting good hearts. I am impelled to introduce this suggestion because I fear that morals and religion and secular governments are not as good as they were when the world was not as wise as it is to-day. The art of war, and the art of getting rich are controlling forces now. Are these forces civilizing ? I know it is a common belief that civilization and religious faith are growing rapidly in this second half of the nineteenth century. I do not contradict the claim, but let us pause and consider whether we are not leaving behind the essential maxims, and let me say good manners, good, sense, and the golden rule. Where is the golden rule in war and the race for riches, and other popular movements of the age. These are all subjects for grave thought and more earnest and candid consideration than men, in their hurry, are in the habit of thinking. We ought never to lose sight of the fact that there is such a thing as educating the intellect far in advance of the heart and the moral and religious sentiments. And I think none who are careful observers can say, that such is not the present course of training the rising generations.

We demand of our orators and writers now elegance of expression and diction, and hence more attention is given to brilliancy and finely-uttered sentences than to truth and humanizing thought and practice, and the really useful lessons of life. If more pains were taken in the matter of speech than the manner, higher wisdom would be displayed. Teachers should labor more to instruct than to please or amuse. Ambiguity, it seems to me, has usurped the place of simplicity and unostentatious words that convey understanding and use-

ful thoughts. The world will condemn a man more for a blunder in grammar, or orthography, or elegance of expression than it will for gross immorality, often, or for the violation of the rule of good manners. To be scholarly is to be correct in grammar, and to be able to quote fine sentiments from popular authors. But he is not fit to be an educator who cares more to please his auditors by brilliancy that he may gain popular applause. And I shall insist that, with all our learning, we can profit much every way by reverting often to the old maxims and usages that we have run away from.

There are some beautiful maxims in the old school books of sixty years ago that the world has discarded, mainly. At least they are no more printed. But they are not forgotten by the old people, who, in their school days, were familiar with Webster's Spelling Book, "the easy standard of pronunciation." They will be easily recalled, and will bring the mind back to the little log school-house with its slab benches and oiled paper windows, and to pleasant scenes and joys departed, never again to return. The book has long been out of print; scarcely a copy of it can be found in existence; but its precepts live in the memories and hearts of those who were in school sixty years ago, and are still living. I quote from memory the following, which were the first reading lessons, my older readers, you and I learned. How delightful to pass over the lines which bring back fond recollections, and group around us delights we once felt, but which we shall feel no more. The mind at once takes in the twenty or thirty boys and girls and theteacher, every one of whom we knew so well, and we instinctively ask : where are they all now ? Here is the very first reading lesson :

Here is a beautiful poem which will be remembered as standing just before "the pictures" of this old spelling book. The moral it teaches was not taught us by our teachers, and I can remember that we saw nothing in the lesson but the girl, the lamb and the cold blast.

Those who have been once familiar with the quotations, will be all the better men and women by the reproduction and review, because they place the thoughts back before the beginning of the turmoil of life, to where innocence, truth and purity reigned. One more quotation, and we leave the old spelling book. I feel sure my reproductions are literal, though I quote from memory across a chasm of more than fifty years.

"An old man found a rude boy upon one of his trees stealing apples, and desired him to come down, but the young sauce-box told him plainly he would not. Won't you ? said the old man, then I will try to fetch you down, so he pulled up some tufts of grass and threw at him, but this only made the youngster laugh to think that the old man should pretend to beat him down from the tree with grass only. Well, well, said the old man, if neither words nor grass will do, I will try what virtue there is in stones, so the old man pelted him heartily with stones, which soon made the young chap hasten down from the tree and beg the old man's pardon."

I am indebted to Mr. J. F. Bovring, of Lancaster, for the following approximative synopsis of the grape culture of Fairfield County. It is in place here to say, that a large proportion of the surface of the county is adapted to the grape, but most especially the south part.

Mr. Bovring estimates, from facilities at his control, the number of acres now planted in vineyards within the county, more or less productive, at three hundred ; others place the number higher. He thinks grape growing, as a business, began in the county about the year 1864. Average product to the acre, in a fair season, 2,000 pounds, equal to 200 gallons of wine. The leading varieties grown in the county are, Catawba, Isabel, Concord, and Ives' Seedling.

Below is a tabulated statement of the valuation of real and personal property within the county, as returned for taxation for four consecutiv3 years. This, however, does not represent the true valuation, as property is never, or seldom, placed on the tax duplicate at its selling value.

Valuation.

Taxes.

1873

1874

1875

1876

$17,840,970 00

18,167,540 00

18,442,370 00

18,422,840 00

$260,499 59

245,432 25

223,016 13

215,741 99

The following letter from W. J. Reece, Past Worthy Grand Master, is the history of Free Masonry in Lancaster, from its inception :

DR. H. SCOTT—Dear Sir: The Masonic Fraternity obtained a formal and recognized status in Lancaster at an early period.

On December 15th, 1820, Lancaster Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was constituted under charter from the most worshipful Grand Lodge of Ohio, with James Wilson for its Worthy Master, Charles R. Sherman First Seignior Warden, and Jacob D. Detrick First Junior Warden.

Lancaster Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized under authority from the M. E. Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ohio, on the 12th day of January, 1826, Charles R. Sherman being first High Priest.

Lancaster Counsel of Royal Select Masons was instituted on the 11th day of January, 1828, by John Barker, Esq., as Sovereign Grand Inspector of the Supreme Council of the 33d Degree, Charles R. Sherman its T. I. Grand Master.

Lancaster Encampment, or Commandary of Knight Templars and the appendant orders, was organized December 16th, 1837, under warrant from the General Grand Encampment of the United States. William

J. Reece was its First Grand Master, George Sanderson First Generalisimo, and Joseph Greet First Captain General.

Within these respectable and associated bodies, some of the most prominent and influential and best citizens of Lancaster and Fairfield County, found elevated and congenial fellowship.

The fundamental life-sustaining principles of Masonry have been sometimes misapprehended, and therefore misunderstood. Its mission upon earth has been superbly consequential through all the rough, rude, barbaric, the ignorant, clashing and conflicting ages of the past. It has preserved inviolate and intact the knowledge of one Supreme Creator and universal God ; and it has grandly helped to nurse into activity the beneficent idea of human brotherhood. It will culminate and end whenever the prohphetical lion everywhere lies down with the typical lamb, actuated with the spotless innocence of the lamb.

Salem Lodge of F. & A. M., No. 87, at New Salem, was instituted in 1842. The charter-members were : M. D. Brock, S. Baker, W C. Galleher, Caleb Coplen, J. Linville, J. Baker, J. H. Baker (7). Number of members in March, 1877, 84.

Baltimore Lodge of F. & A. M, at Baltimore, was instituted October 22d, 1873. Charter-members: Harrison Applegate, William Myres, W. W. Luckey, J. H. Schaertzer, D. H. Sands, J. R. Brandt, William Cook, John Sauns, Samuel Fenster-maker, E. K. Grube, G. W. Watson, Thomas Smurr, J. W. Buchanan, Daniel Albright, Lewis Shearer. Number of members in March, 1877, 42.

Napthalia Lodge of F. & A. M., at Carroll, No. 262. Date of charter, October 15th, 1855. Names of charter-members : Jos. Grubb, A. T. Aldred, James Holmes, Andrew Saylor, E. H. Davis, Thos. W. A. Wilson, William Jacobs and John P. Gutelins. Number of members in March, 1877, 40.

[There has occasionally occurred a name in the lists sent me, that it has been impossible for me to be absolutely certain of the correct orthography. The last one in the Carroll list was one of that kind.—ED.]

Rushville Lodge, No. 211, F. & A. M., at Rushville, was instituted in 1852. Charter-members: Wm. Coulson, David Wilson, D. M Rea, Wm. Harper, John P. Hodge, N. B. Coulson, N. B. Teel, Daniel Baker, W. Vansant. Number of members in March, 1877, 40.

Lithopolis Lodge, No. 169, F: & A. M., was instituted Janulry 21st, 1848. Charter-members: Joshua Glanville, William Teegardin, Daniel Teegardin, Peter Teegardin, John B. Moore,

Zebulon Perril, Jacob Teegardin, Daniel Miller, Joseph Miller, John Smith, W. W. Hite, William Riley, Jacob Shrock and William Jacobs. Number of members in March, 1877, 75.

The regular meetings of this Lodge are held on Friday evening preceding each full moon, but if the moon fulls on Friday evening, then the meeting takes place on that evening.

Amanda Lodge of F. & A. M., No. 509, was instituted October 28th, 1876. Names of charter-members: H. G. Trout, Edward Griner, Levi Lawrence, J. D. Landis, B. F. Rambo, Jacob Bal-thaser, D. M. Miesee, J. A. Julien, D. J. V. Wolf. Number of members in March, 1877, 20.

Charity Lodge, No. 7, of Odd Fellows, was organied in Lancaster, Feb. 8th, 1838. Its charter-members were : Jacob W. Holt, B. R. Banes, R. Timber, Jacob Grubb, George H. Arnold, R. P. Hazlett. Number of members at the beginning of the year 1877, two hundred and twenty.

Alpine Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 566, was " instituted in Lancaster, June 2d, 1874, by Jos. Dowdall, P.G. Representative and Special Deputy." Following are the names of the charter-members :

R. G. Shugert, P. G. ; B. F. Reindmond, P. G. ; A. Breneman, P. G. ; H. J. Reinmond, P. G. ; J. C. Hite, P. G. ; Thomas H. Hall, Geo. M. Bell, Geo. W. Boerstler, Thomas H. Dolson, Leonard Kissner, Thomas Reap, Lewis Boyer, Abe. Myres, Charles Elliott, C. F. Ochs, Leo. Billhorn, John A. Heim, Allen Titler, Jacob Heinbarger, Simpson Sturgeon, J. E. Hall, Geo. A. Bryant, John McKown, Henry Borneman, E. W. Daniels, P. G. ; J. W. Faringer, P. G. ; Wilber Downs, P. G. ; H. C Out-calt, P. G. ; H. F. Smith, P. G. ; W. W. Davis, M. S. Harps, Wm. Kooken, J. M. Sutphen, Wm. Strayer, Wm. Ditto, D. W. Boyer, B. H. Saunders, R. J. Harris, Wm. Dennis, John Billhorn, W. H. Walker, Christian Gaiser, O. S. Stoneburner, Jas. H. Smith, A. Beery, J. K. Davis, A. W. Swartz, Wm. F. Getz, James Wilson. Present number of members, 108.

The Hocking Encampment of Odd Fellows, No. 28, was instituted Dec. 4th, 1847. Charter-members : Jacob W. Holt, Thomas Hyde, Joseph C. Kinkhead, Wm. Baker, Josiah Wilson, B. F. Brannon, James W. Pratt. Present number of members, 220.

Crescent Lodge, No. 561, at Bremen, was instituted Oct. 2d, 1873. The charter-members were : C. B. Holcomb, H. Shull, N. Westenberger, S. F. Abell, W. H. Hartsough, Wm. Wehr, S. H. Alexander, J. M. Work, S. A. McCullough, J. S. Johnson, W. S. John:on. Membership in Feb., 1877, forty-four (44).

Sugar Grove Lodge, at Sugar Grove, No. 654, I. O. O. F., was instituted Aug. 4th, 1876. The charter-members were : J. V. Sharp, G. F. Hummel, W. H. Elder, W. F. Noggle, L. C. Mathena, R. F. Brown, Joseph Sharp, James H. Foster, Jacob Walter, G. W. Vannabaker, Abraham Ream. Membership in Feb., 1877, eighteen (18).

Central Valley Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 548, at Amanda, was, instituted July 10th, 1873. The charter-members were : W. H. Dickson, B. Balthaser, T. J. Barr, C. H. Sunderman, T. L. Hewetson, Wm. Acton, W. B. Sunderman, P. Hewetson, H. D. Aldenderfer, George Aldenderfer, David Crites, Joseph Bechtel, Andrew Laps, Samuel Griffith, Sr. Whole number of members in Feb., 1877, forty-five (45).

Weaver Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 486, at Greencastle, was organized July 20th, 1871. The charter-members were : M. B. Custer, A. S. Beaty, Wm. Kiger, Samuel Crist, Samuel Wiser, Elijah Alspach, Y. Courtright, Paul Alspach, H. R. Roller, R. H. Mason, S. P. Crist, J. T. Williamson. Membership in Feb., 1877, fifty-nine (59).

Baltimore Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 202, at Baltimore, was instituted June 11th, 1852. The charter-members were : Casper Fiddler, A. L. Simmons, H. L. Nicely, Wm. Potter, J. Bartholomew, Win. J. Smart, J. Schlosser, James Pugh, Job McNamee, Thomas M. Watson, Jacob Ketner, John H. Weekly, Frederick Graff, Wm. Paul, Elijah Warner. Whole number of members in Feb., 1877, eighty-three (83).

Liberty Encampment of Baltimore, No. 169, was organized July 14th, 1873. The names of the charter-members were:

Jonas Messerly, J. J. Hansberger, A. L. Gearhart, Daniel Langle, V. H. Ginder, J. W. Whitely, Samuel Rader, Daniel Clinger, W. P. Littlejohn, J. Norris, F. G. Littlejohn, W. H. Oliver, John Javoi, T. I. Arnold, Peter Roshon, J. W. Chapman, R. S. Broch, S. S. Weist, Frederick Born, Wm. Cook. Membership in Feb., 1877, thirty-five (35).

Fairfield Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 163, at Pleasantville, was instituted Oct. 7th, 1850. The charter-members were : Thos. O. Wilson, Wm. Buchanan, Wm. Cupp, Jacob Bope, Thos. Andrews, Benjamin Walters, John F. Irick, Solomon Weaver, Job McNamee, Adam Shaw, Thomas A. Bratton, Martin Kagay, N. C. Miller, Samuel Cupp, James Brown, Thos. Kidwell. Number of members in Feb. 1877, seventy-one (71).

Philo Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 392, at West Rushville, was instituted July 12, 1867. Following are the names of the charter-members : W. B. Strickley, Joseph McFee, H. L. Whitehead, J. M. Strickler, Chas. McClung, James Henderson, Michael Keelm, C. C. B. Duncan, Jacob Lamb. Membership in Feb., 1877, fifty, (50).

Mount Pleasant Lodge, No. 48, of the order of Knights of Pythias, was instituted in Lancaster on the 20th day of February, 1873. The charter-members, twenty-seven in number, were : H. B. Gray, J. H. Heed, Leo Bilhorn, R. R. Pierce, John A. Hern, J. A. Richards, C. A. Scoville, William Ditto, J. D. Heilbron, R. M. Wiley, J. A. Bartholomew, N. C. Rudolph, H. Getz, C. H. Towson, W. W. O'Bough, O. S. Stoneburner, N. N. Gates, T. C. Ochs, J. Bilhorn, H. Boneman, F. Etzel, J. D. Widner, W. F. Getz, M. H. Harps, S. H. Beck, A. Deitz, C. Bartholomew. Number of members in March, 1877, 110.

Columbia Lodge, No. 27, of the order of the Knights of Honor, was instituted in Lancaster September 9th, 1874. The charter-members were fourteen, as follows : Jno. W. Faringer, John C. Tuthill, John C. Hite, J. M. Sutphen, A. M. Beery, Wm. B. McCracken, Wallace W. Hite, Wm. Bush, Dr. George

Boerstler, J. D. Allen, Robert Durane, Henry B. Peters, Solomon Weaver, M. A. Philips. Number of members in March, 1877, 54.

DR. H. SCOTT—Dear Sir: I herewith hand you the information you requested. The " Grange was first organized in Washington City, in July, 1867, with Wm. Saunders, Master, and O. H. Kelly, Secretary. The first Grange organized in Ohio was in February, 1871, which was the only one organized in that year.

In 1872 In 1873 In 1874 In 1875 In 1876

there were organized

”

“

315

779

128

Granges.

“

Total number in Ohio

1292

Granges

S. H. Ellis, Master, Springboro, Ohio ; W. S. Miller, Secretary, Cas-talia, Ohio.

J. H. Brigham, Chairman, Wauseon, Ohio ; J. P. Schenck, Franklin, Ohio; C. C. Cummings, Painesville, Ohio; A. R. Keller, Lancaster, Ohio ; N. H. Albaugh, Tadmer, Ohio ; H. McDowell, Canton, Ohio ; H. S. Ellis and W. W. Miller, Ex-officio. General Business Agent, Box 50, Cincinnati.

The first Grange organized in Fairfield County was Rush Creek Grange, No. 67, located at Bremen, in July, 1873; and the following were instituted in the order named :

Bloom Grange, No. 395; Pleasant Grange, No. 675; Violet Grange, No. 683; Greenfield Grange, No. 725 ; Hocking Grange, No. 706 ; Union Grange, No. 762; Cedar Hill Grange, No. 763; Amanda Grange, No. 815 ; Stoutsville Grange, No 917 ; Harvey Grange, No. 930; Walnut Grange, No. 931 ; Berne Grange, No. 959 ; New Salem Grange, No. 971 ; Richland Grange, No. 838: Clear Creek Grange, No. 1011 ; Summit Grange, No. 1038 ; Fairfield Grange, No. 1148 ; Liberty Grange, No. 929. Total Granges in Fairfield County, 19.

The last organized was Fairfield Grange, April, 1874. A majority of the above were organized by William Funk, of Rush Creek, who was Deputy during 1874, during which year most of the Granges were organized. '

Nos. 706 and 725 (Greenfield and Hocking), have consolidated, as have also 838 and 1,148 (Richland and Fairfield). Halls have either been built or purchased by Pleasant. 675 ; Greenfield, 725; Cedar Hill, 763 ; New Salem, 971, and Fairfield, 1148.

Greenfield Grange has the greatest number of members, aggregating 135. The total membership of the county is about 1,200.. The excite-

ment of organization carried many into the order who were influenced by purely selfish motives, and who expected to grow suddenly rich without effort, and some of this class have expressed dissatisfaction and dropped from the rolls of their respective Granges. But the order is in a much better condition now than ever before, a majority of the most enterprising farmers of each community having become identified with it.

This association was organized in Lancaster, on the 2d day of July, 1861. The following quotations will show the objects and aims of the society :

" This society shall be known as the St. Joseph's Benevolent Association of Lancaster."

" Any member of St. Mary's congregation who has attained to the age of eighteen years, and has not passed his fifty-fifth year, may become a meml2er of this association."

" No active member of the old St. Mary's Society shall be excluded from the privilege of becoming a member of St. Joseph's Benevolent Association on account of his age."

"No person who is not of good Catholic life and standing can become a member of this association. This last condition, viz.: honorable Christian character, shall always remain essential to membership."

"The hour of commencing the stated meetings shall be about 4 o'clock p. m., or immediately after vespers on the first Sunday of each month."

The initiation fees for membership of this society are graduated as follows : From the age of eighteen to twenty-five years, $2.00; from twenty-five to forty years, $3.00; from forty to fifty-five years, $5.00. Monthly dues of twenty-five cents are paid by each member at thee stated meetings. Sick members of six months standing, receive two dollars a week ; and those who have been members one year and upwards, receive three dollars a week; provided in all cases, that the sickness has not been induced by voluntary self-abuse. The society tenders twenty-five dollars for funeral expenses upon the death of members ; but this is contingent upon one hundred and fifty dollars being in the treasury at the time of such death.

Officers of the Association—L. C, Butler, President.; George E. Blaire, Vice-President; Gerhardt Miller, Treasurer; John

Weigle, Recording Secretary ; Charles F. Fuchs, Corresponding Secretary; Leo. Noles, Messenger; Thomas 0. Connor, Banner Bearer ; Joseph Kurtzman, John Bletzacker and Charles Baumeister, Committee for the Sick.

Trustees—Maurice Barrett, Hugh Cannon, Joseph Kurtzman, Rudolph Seiple and John Weigle.

D. C. Butch, Hugh Cannon, M. A. Daugherty, James Mc-Sweney, George E. Blaire, Rudolph Seiple, Joseph Kurtzman, Wolfgang Bininger, Leo. Noles, Barth. W. Vagnier, Sr., John Bletzaker, Charles Baumeister, Lewis Kern, Gerhardt Miller, Jos. Steck, Thos. Malone, John Weigle, Michael Reigamer, Garret Rhyan, Jacob Messenberger, Henry O'Neal, Gotlieb Ebart, Michael O'Garra, Joseph Pfadt, Bernard Vagnier, Benjamin Streigle, Martin Kethinger, John Kuntz, Michael King, John Hines, Thomas O'Conner, Patrick Maher, Peter Miller, Henry Grady, F. A. Steck, John Welker, Maurice Barrett, Barth. W. Vagnier, Sr., Thomas O'Regan Tarpy, Michael Steck, John Ritter, John Welch, Patrick J. Franey, Charles F. Fuchs, Joseph, Bletzaker, Philip Casseley, James Butler, John Bausy, Frank Oger, George W. Smith, Joseph Jounk, Frank Winter, Jacob, Steck, Tall Slough, George H. Brown, Joseph C. Miller, Victor Vagnier, Thomas J. Hanson, Augustus Winchkier, Mathias Thimmis, Alexander Buechler, Adam Bausy, Jacob Loni, Charles Raforth, Gregory Bender, Jerry Shea, Joseph Spezer, Charles Warum, Jr., Jos. Vagnier, Jacob Fuchs, Jacob Host, Thomas Uhl, John Martz, John Cawley, Pins J. Clarke, Edward Binninger, P. W. Binninger, George Binder, John Morris, Thomas Cullen, John Sullivan, Henry Abener, Albinus Trinkle, Mathias Danner, Michael Danner, Henry P. Bausy, Frank Reinman, Lewis A. Blaire, John Sears, Martin Konkle, Dennis Piper, Tobias Banner, William Smeltzer, Joseph Hock, Geo. Messenberger, Anthony Graff, James Tanner, Samuel Sommers, John Kennedy, Patrick Gordon, George Pfadt, Peter Voht, Joseph Sharting, Joseph Flemm, Daniel Sweeney, Charles Warum, Sr., Charles Joss, Henry A. Smith, Robert Shannon, Charles Thomas McGrew, Fredrick Shanting, John Cahill, Henry Landerfelt, John Baumeister, Rob't. Rody, Rob't. Devine, Lewis Brooker, Chas. Baumeister, Jr., Jos. Miller, Michael Oger, Henry Ricker-121.

The order of the Knights of St. George was instituted in Lancaster on the 2d day of November, 1875. The objects of this association are : Beneficial, charitable, benevolent and the cultivation of good Christian character. Eligibility for membership in this order consists, firstly : The applicant must be between the ages of eighteen and forty years; and secondly : He must be of "good Catholic life and standing." The initiation fee is three dollars, and the monthly dues fifty cents. Worthy sick members receive five dollars a week upon the certificate of a physician. The maintenance of "Honorable Christian character shall always remain essential to membership." A funeral benefit of $25.00 is allowed in the case of the death of a member; but all the benefits to which members are entitled, may, at their option or that of their friends in the event of death, be donated back to the association. But benefits are only allowed to members in good standing. In the case of sickness, brought on by drunkenness, no benefits are allowed.

Frank Oger, Gustave A. Hamberger, Anthony Evarst, Joseph Hamberger, Amos Shreller, John D. Binninger, Daniel McShane, John Bonner, Michael Oger, John Baumeister, Paul Evarst, Charles Ruforth, John Bletzaker, John McShane, Andrew Keiser, John Kooney, Cornelius Cormedy, Jerry Anglim, Maximillian Guiana, Hugh Owens, F. A. Buechler, Bernard Bartles, Bernard Cranmer, Edward Binninger, Michael Steck, Jr., Frank Steck, Anthony Ritter, William Donnelly, John Hamberger, George Brown, Edward Seiple.

Names of Civil Officers—Honorary President, Rev. Father Schmidt ; President, Frank Oger ; Vice-President, Anthony Evarts ; Corresponding Secretary, Charles Baumeister; Recording Secretary, J. H. Hamberger ; Treasurer, John D. Bin-ninger; Messenger, Jerry Anglim.

Names of Military Officers—Captain, Joseph Hamberger; 1st Lieutenant, ____; 2d Lieutenant, Michael Oger; Orderly Sargent, John Baumeister.

The Society holds monthly meetings on the first Sunday of each month, at half-past one o'clock.

The first Court of quarter sessions for Fairfield County, and previous to the establishment of the Court of Common Pleas, in May, 1803, was held on the 12th of January, 1801. Emanuel Carpenter, Sr., was the presiding Justice, and Nathaniel Wilson, sr., David Vanmeter and Samuel Carpenter were his associates. The session was held in a log school-house. A Sheriff by the name of Samuel Kratzer, was appointed by the bench.

A Jury was also appointed, which was called a Jury of Inquest. The following are the names of the Jurymen : Jas. Converse, Foreman ; Abramam Wather, Jeremiah Conaway, Arthur Teal, Conrad Fetters, Robert McMurtry, Sam'l. Coats, Abraham Funk, Thomas Cisfina, Amassa Delanoe, John McMullen, Joseph McMullen, Edward Teal, David Reese and Barnabas Golden. There were no indictments found, and the Jury was discharged.

Three County Commissioners were also appointed, viz.: Nathaniel Wilson, Jr., Jacob Vanmeter and James Denny.

Though appearing little in history, the town of Lancaster seems sometimes to have been called the town of Fairfield, for at the quarter sessions just referred to, there was an order issued for the survey of a road " from the town of Fairfield to the head of the muddy prairie;'' and the survey was made by Hugh Boyle.

The first mortgage of which any record appears, was made by John Cleves Symmes to Benjamin Murphy, for the purchase of one hundred acres of land, for which payment was to be made in six years with six per cent. interest. The instrument bears date of August 19th, 1801, and the sum contracted to be paid was two thousand dollars. These figures are probably an error, as twenty dollars per acre for wild lands at that early day was hardly likely.

In October, 1802, and on the 12th day, two members of the Constitutional Convention for Ohio were chosen by popular election. This was the first election for the county. Emanuel Carpenter, Sr., and Henry Abrams were elected, the former

receiving two hundred and twenty-eight, and the latter one hundred and eighty-one votes.

The members of the convention convened at Chillicothe on the first day of November following, and organized by the appointment of Edward Tiffin as President, and Thomas Scott as Secretary. This convention held an adjourned session on the 29th of the same month, when they completed their work ; and the constitution was submitted directly to Congress, and accepted, without being placed before the people of the State for their approval.

Statistics show that there were in Fairfield County, in the year 1870, 2,318 farms, aggregating 232,016 acres of cultivated land; and that there were within its limits the total of 316,420 acres, including all outlying and timbered lands.

In the month of April, 1812, a company of infantry volunteers, under the command of Capt. George Sanderson, was raised, to operate on the northern border against the British, in what is known as the war of 1812. This company formed a part of Colonel Lewis Cass's Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, which was betrayed into the hands of the British General Brock, as was believed, by the cowardice of General Hull, on the 12th of August following, in front of Detroit. They were paroled not to fight against the British until exchanged, which exchange took place in May, 1814. It is said, however, that some of the men went and joined Harrison's campaign to the Maumee and Thames in 1813, and continued until peace was concluded.

There was a second company, partly from Fairfield, which was commanded by --. This company was attached to Colonel Paul's Regiment of Twenty-seventh United States Infantry. They were honorably discharged at Detroit in 1814.

In an old blank book purchased at the sale of the venerable John Leist, west of Amanda, and furnished me by one of the sons of the late William Graham, of this county, I find the records in part of a third company that left Lancaster for the North in 1812. This company was commander by Jesse D.

Courtright; John Leist, First Lieutenant. The record, or journal, was kept by one Samuel W. Taylor, probably an Orderly. The journal opens thus :

"Rendezvoused at Lancaster on the 26th of August, 1812, for a six months' tour on an expedition towards Canada."

The record then proceeds in the form of a diary, until the Maumee country is reached, when it terminates abruptly thus :

"General Harrison arrived at the Rapids, and started next day with a thousand men, commanded by General Perkins, to reinforce General Winchester. They did not get far when they met some of Winchester's men, who told them that Winchester's army was all taken prisoners or killed."

We notice very briefly the Refugee Tract, so-called. It passes through the northern part of this county, from east to west. Its width is two miles, and length eighteen miles. The origin of this reservation was as follows : There were citizens of Canada who, during the revolutionary war, gave their sympathies and aid to the American colonies. Congress appropriated this strip of land, of eighteen miles east and west, and two miles north and south, for their use, hence "Refugee

Lands. " After it had been taken up to the extent of the claimants who presented themselves, the unclaimed portion was sectioned and sold as other Congress Lands.

The first efforts to obtain appropriations and encouragement for the establishment in Ohio of a Reform School for boys through the Legislature in 1857 and 1858, did not issue in any definite or effective result.

Charles Reemelin, of Cincinnati, having returned from a visit to Europe, reported his investigations of several institutions of the kind in that country. His suggestions gave impetus to the idea, and in 1857 the first log-structures were built on the site selected. To Mr. Remelin belongs much of the credit of the inception and subsequent development of the Ohio Reform Farm.

There were ten boys brought there from the House of Refuge in Cincinnati, on the 30th of January, 1858. This was

In 1876 the estimate of all the buildings and the farm was $200,000. Up to that time the total number of boys, who had passed through the institution, as shown by the official report of the Superintendent, was 2,019. The cost of each boy to the State, not including buildings and improvements, for the year of 1875 is put down at $118.53. Geo. E. Howe has been the Acting Commissioner from the first, and still holds the position. In his report in general he says, that "eighty per cent. of the boys leaving have turned out well."

The farm is said to contain eleven hundred acres. The buildings are mostly of brick, and of a fine syle of architecture, and occupy about twenty acres of ground. The land lies some five or six hundred feet above the level of the Hocking Valley, three or four miles to the east. The surrounding hills are delightfully romantic with pine and chestnut groves. Besides farming on a small scale, and fruit growing, the boys are ern_ ployed in the manufacture of cane-seats, brushes of a great variety, shoes, brooms and other wares. There is a chapel where religious instructions are given every Sunday. There are also a number of schools in operation the year round, where all the boys receive competent education in the English language.

There are no lock-ups. Generally the boys are under the care of a select class of young men, denominated "Elder Brothers," and held to close and rigid discipline. Their time is diversified with school, labor and recreation. Many of them show themselves to be entirely trustworthy, and are allowed to go and come, and even to transact responsible business. Mrs. Howe, wife of the Acting Commissioner, is Matron, and it is said by those best acquainted with the institution, that her influence and motherly supervision has had a marked effect for good on the boys.

The farm is situated six miles from Lancaster, in a southwest direction. A good turnpike road leads from the foot of Broadway directly to the farm, most of the distance through delightful pine groves, which, in summer, make the air redo lent with resinous exhalations. The farm is at all times accessible to visitors, who are politely shown round. On Sun-

days, however, visitors, except for the purpose of attending church, are not desired.

The term of detention of those sent there is not fixed, and their discharge, when thought prepared to leave, is left to the Acti ng'Commissioner.

At an early day (1819-1821), and (1821-1829), Philemon Beecher was in the Lower House of Congress. Later, citizens of the county who have been elected in the various districts to which it has belonged, have been : William W. Irvin, John Chaney, William Medill, Charles D. Martin, Thos. O. Edwards, Edson B. Olds and Philadelphus Van Trump. Senate and member of the Cabinet : Thomas Ewing.

Following will be found a brief history of the townships and villages, which is as full and specific as the plan of this work will permit, and it is hoped will be found satisfactory. It is perhaps possible that, in collating such a work, non-important errors may creep in. Such, if any shall be found, will be excused, if the general tenor of the history shall be approved, for, as before said, much has to be taken from tradition, and the recollections of living witnesses vary more or less.

Clear Creek Township is situated in the south-west corner of the county. Its name was suggested from " Clear Creek," a small stream running through it. Its school district system is well arranged. There are nine school-houses, located respectively at the cornerings of the sections.

It contains the villages of Oakland and Stoutsville, the former laid out by Charles Sager, and is twelve miles from Lancaster, on the Chillicothe pike; the latter by Benjamin Stout, in 1854, and is about sixteen miles west, or south-west of Lancaster. Clear Creek formerly extended over parts of the Townships of Madison and Amanda.

We note among the early settlers of Clear Creek, John Leist, who came there in 1807. He was born in 1784, and was a member,of the Legislature from 1813 to 1820. Mr. Leist served in the war of 1812, and was under Harrison at Fort Meigs and Detroit. He died several years since, at a very advanced age. Mr. Dillsaver is said to have built the first horse-mill in the township. Michael Nye was also an early settler. Charles Friend came in 1800, and built the first water-mill on Clear Creek. Among the first teachers were Apple Young and John Young. Jacob Leist was an early Lutheran preacher there. It is believed the Lutherans built the first meeting-house, which was a log-cabin. It was situated near the somewhat historic place, known as " Dutch Hollow. " The last census gave Clear Creek a population of 1,743.

Amanda lies immediately north of Clear Creek. It is commonly understood that the name was given by William Hamilton, who was the first County Surveyor of Fairfield. It contains the villages of Amanda and Royalton. Amanda is eight miles west of Lancaster, on the Cincinnati Railroad. Its first proprietor was Samuel Kester, and its beginning was about 1830. Royalton is six or seven miles north of Amanda. It is a small village, and was known as Toby Town at the beginning of the settlements.

Frederick Leathers is spoken of as the first settler. He kept a tavern on the old Chillicothe road. Isaac Griffith succeeded him as landlord, and remained there until 1834, soon after which the house was burned. Other early settlers were : Disinger, William Ward, Mr. Norris, Mr. Denison, William Hamilton, Thomas Barr, John Christy and Mr. Morris, who acquired notoriety as a ring-fighter at public gatherings. A school-teacher, by the name of Solomon Grover, is spoken of as having school in the upper story of his house, in 1817. A Presbyterian Church was organized in the village, in 1838, by Rev. Dr. Hogue, of Columbus. The first minister was William Jones. The first Sabbath-School in Amanda was inaugurated in 1860, by the Rev. Thorn.

made within its borders during the Southern Rebellion. There were more volunteers than the township quota.

Bloom was established in 1805. The following names have been furnished as first settlers: Abraham Courtright, Jesse D. Courtright, Zephemiah Drake, Christian Merchant, Peter Powel, Conrad Platner, Michael Thrash, John Smaltz, Michael Allspaugh, Jacob Allspaugh, Levi Moore and Daniel Hoy. Bloom Township contains Lithopolis, and Greencastle. Greencastle was first laid out, and Jesse D. Courtright was its first proprietor. This was in 1810. In 1814, one Rougher laid out the town of Lithopolis. It is the largest village in the county, possibly. It has three churches and an academy. Lithopolis is fourteen, and Greencastle ten miles from Lancaster, both on the old Columbus road.

A quaint rule is spoken of as having been established in this township in its early history, viz.: No man was allowed to vote at their elections who could not produce a certificate that he had performed two days' work on the road, removing the stumps.

The first school-teacher in Bloom Township was Abraham Courtright. He taught there in 1805. The first church in the township was built by the German Presbyterians, in the year 1807. It was near the old State road, and is said to be still standing.

The Trustees seem to have occupied much of the time of their meetings in attention to the reports and duties of Road Supervisors and Fence Viewers. The latter office, in Ohio, has long since been abolished. There was there, as in all townships at that early day, provided by law a special Board of Overseers of the Poor. Under the action of this Board, the Overseers sometimes sold the paupers to the lowest bidder for their maintenance.

Saw-mills were very numerous. Of those who run saw-mills at that early day, are mentioned Jacob Allspaugh, Sam'l Kistler, Judge Chaney, and a Mr. Barnett. The last two, Kistler and Chaney, are old citizens of Bloom Township, and refer to the times in the past when goods were brought on horseback from Wheeling, Marietta and. Zanesville, and of going to Zanes-

ville for their grinding, a distance of over fifty miles. As late as 1822, it is said, there were no grinding facilities in Bloom besides one small raccoon-burr mill. Wheat was exchanged for salt, bushel for bushel, which was considered a great point gained by the farmers.

In 1822, there were two hewed log churches in the township, that were used jointly by the Lutherans and German Reforms. Rev. Steck was the pastor of the former, and Rev. Geo. Wise of the latter. Methodists, Presbyterians and others, at that time, held their meetings in private residences.

Jefferson and Lockville are in the northern part of the township. The population of the township of Bloom was, in 1840, 2,288.

This township makes up the north-west corner of the county. It formerly contained the village of Winchester, but an act of the Legislature a few years since, struck off a tier of sections from its western border, which was attached to Franklin County, including Winchester.

The name " Violet," is understood to have been derived from the luxuriance with which the flower bearing that name grew on some portions of its soil. Pickerington is situated in Violet. A man by the name of George Kirk first purchased the eighty-acre tract in which the village stands. Subsequently the land fell into the hands of Mr. Pickering, who laid out the town and christened it with his own name.

Of those who settled in Violet previous to the year 1806, are mentioned : H. Donaldson, A. Donaldson, Edward Rickets, Westenburger Hustand, Dr. Tolbert, A. Pickering and Mordecai Fishbaugh. Waterloo, on the canal, is within this township.

Violet, in churches, schools, and the general spirit and enterprise of the times, is not behind any township of the county. Settlements were first begun in the vicinity of where Pickerington now stands. Residences were located through the township with reference to springs and water streams, as well as the quality of the lands. Some of the first settlers came out in advance of their families and first built their cabins; in other instances the families came together, and took their chances in the forests. Dr. Tolbert was prob-

ably the first physician in the township—at least among the first. He is still living at a very advanced age, and has been for many years a citizen of Jefferson.

Wolves are said to have been very abundant in Violet when it was first settled; but subsequently the premium paid for their scalps had much to do in thinning their ranks.

A large portion of the first settlers of this township were Swiss. The writer has been told that it was at their suggestion that the name "Liberty" was adopted. They came from a country where the liberties of citizens were very much restricted by Monarchical Government, and they seemed to desire that their freedom in the new country of their adoption should be perpetuated in history, hence "Liberty Township."

Baltimore and Basil, on the canal, are in Liberty, and are both places of considerable business. Baltimore is a considerable village, and is quite noted for the strength and respectability of its secret orders. It has the usual amount of church and school facilities. Before the trade of the county was distributed by its two railroads, Baltimore had a heavy grain trade, on account of the facilities of transportation afforded by the Ohio Canal, upon whose banks it stands.

Liberty lies between Violet and Walnut, in the northern tier. I have not the facilities for giving the exact dates of its organization, or that of either of its villages, or the names of their proprietors, but they are both old villages.

The roads through Liberty follow the cardinal points. The first tavern of the place was kept by Michael Allen. The first Methodist class-leader was a Mr. Kniseley Schumaker, who also established the first Sabbath-School. The surface was originally covered with dense forests of beach, sugar, and other forest trees, to clear away which, and make the soil available for farming, was a heavy and tedious work.

Greenfield was first settled in 1799, and was incorporated as a township in 1805. Isaac Meason, father of the late Venerable John Meason, was among the first to settle in the bounds of Greenfield. At the time of his coming there is said to have been not above half a dozen of families within the boundari

of the then very large township. Their names are : Captain Joseph Stewart, father of Levi Stewart, now of Lancaster, Wm. McFarland, Ralph Cherry, Jeremiah Cherry, Joshua Meeks, Dorsey Meason and Samuel Randall. They expected to hold their lands under the "Tomahawk" Pre-Emption Claim, but, they were subsequently sectioned and sold as Congress Lands at two dollars an acre, without any reference to " Squatter Sovereignty."

Following these first settlers were the Willetts, the Ben-nets, the Fitzeralds, the Drurys, the Rices, the Smotherers, and others.

Yankeytown and forks of Hocking were first settlements hi. Greenfield. The site of the former is now known as the Claypool neighborhood, and the latter as the Rock Mills.

The name of Henry Abrams, father-in-law of the late General George Sanderson, is also prominent among the first settlers of Greenfield, he having arrived in 1800, settling first, I believe, on what is at present known as the Sanderson farm.

The first election for the township was held at Yankeetown in the fall of 1805. The first tax-collector in Greenfield was Colonel Crooks, who was subsequently Sheriff of the county. Emanuel Carpenter is also spoken of as being at that time a citizen of Greenfield. His surviving friends, however, do not remember that he ever lived anywhere but down Hocking.

[A general remark is here proper. At the early times, of which we write, the taxes of Ohio were collected by special collectors. The manner was as follows : A house in the township was designated, and a day named; at that house, on the specified day, the collector remained all day to receive the taxes, it being the duty of the tax-payers to come there and take up their receipts].

Walter McFarland, John Meason and Gideon Martin, old and prominent citizens of Greenfield, deceased during the last year, aged respectively above eighty years.

Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith, New Englanders, built a grist and saw-mill combined at the forks of Hocking in 1800. The place is familiarly known at present as the Rock Mill. It is on the old Columbus road, seven miles from Lancaster. These men are said to have sold goods at their mill which were brought on pack-horses from Detroit. They also sold whisky, charging one dollar a quart for it:" The Indians

often bought it and took a big drunk, always leaving one or two of their number sober to restrain the drinkers, a custom not observed by their more civilized brethern of the " pale-faced " race.

A wrestling tournament between Isaac Meason and a stout Indian is spoken of, in which Mr. Meason was successful in three straight falls, when the Indian, in a very surprised manner, gave up the contest.

It is related that some of the first emigrants erected tents, which they roofed with bark, inhabiting them until they could find the time to put up cabins. Two or three families are said, in some instances, to have jointly occupied one cabin of small dimensions.

The second or third years, after the settlements began, were characterized by a great deal of sickness. A form of disease prevailed that was thought to be yellow fever. Of those who died with it are mentioned: Jeremiah Cherry, Joshua Meeks and Benjamin Edgar. For their interment no better coffins could be provided than rude structures of puncheons.

The first Methodist preacher who came into the township, it is believed, was one John Williams. A Scotch Covenanter, by the name of Wallace, made an effort in 1816 to establish a church, but failed. In 1813 the Lutherans built the first church of the township. A Union Church was built in 1840, which afterwards fell into the hands of the Methodists. It is said to be still in use. It was called Pleasant Summit. The first circuit-riders who preached in it were Hand and Milligan.

There are three villages in Greenfield. Carroll was laid out by William Tong, at the junction of the Ohio and Hocking Valley canals. Havensport, a small village on the canal, was laid off by Isaac Havens; and Dumontsville, four miles north-wet of Lancaster, by Mr. Dumont, from France.

Greenfield ranks among the wealthiest townships of the county. It is situated north-west from Lancaster. The first man who taught school in Greenfield is believed to have been a Mr. May. The township at this time contains seven churches.

An object in this township that merits commemoration, is Greenfield Academy on the Carroll Pike. It was erected in 1830 by Jacob Claypool, and was at first used for school and church purposes, and afterwards converted into an academy.

John Williams was Principal, and under him many of Fairfield's best young men received fine educations.

"Greenfield" was derived from the many beautiful meadows of land within its borders.

In this township Lancaster is situated, near its northern and eastern borders. Its name derives from the Hockhocking river, which flows past its western and southern limits. The history of Lancaster is a large part of the history of Hocking Township. And the history of the first settlements of the county would, in a general way, be the history of all frontier life seventy years ago.

Within this township, and in near proximity to Lancaster, are inexhaustible ledges of the fines sand-stone in the world—sufficient in quantity to build a hundred cities. It will be , remembered this township was the theatre of the Wyandot and Delaware Indians when the valley was first penetrated by the white race. But now not the slightest trace of that swarthy race which once made these hills echo with their wild and discordant shouts, remains ; not a mark to show they were ever here. And the pale faces are gone too, and their foot-prints are nearly faded out; that is, the first corners. Their forms have dissolved away, and their voices are all hushed forevermore.

The first settlers of Hocking township have been mentioned elsewhere, when speaking of the first settlers of Fairfield county, and it is needless to recapitulate.

Outside of Lancaster, there is but one village in the town-ship—the village of Hamburg; five miles to the south-west. It is a place of a few families, and has a little trade.

Hocking, perhaps more than any township in the county, presents more mementoes of the frontier age in the form of remnants of old log-cabins and the like. At present it is the chief grape-growing township of the county. The hills for a few miles south are, to a large extent, covered with the vine in healthy conditions of culture. The State Farm is in Hocking township.

We have said there are no traces of the Indians left. There are no visible traces; but one will learn, by conversation with

oldest inhabitants, that some of the arts of the red man in extracting healing virtues from wild plants have been diffused and are not lost.

Madison Township was honored with the name of one of the illustrious Presidents of the United States, James Madison. It lies immediately east of Clear Creek, on the southern border of the county. It was established with pretty near its present boundaries, in the year 1812. Previous to that time it formed, I believe, a part of Clear Creek Township. The first election for the township after its independent organization was held at the house of Mr. Valentine Wolf.

Still-houses were numerous there at an early day, and their influences were manifested at public gatherings, such as log-rollings, corn-huskings, house-raisings and sales. There is no village of any consequence in Madison.

We mention a few of the first men, who, with their families, settled on her soil: Ewel Shwffer, Mathew Young, Robert Young, Adam Deffenbaugh. Names of other first settlers have not transpired to me.

The first saw-mill in the township was built by Isaac Shaffer. A man by the name of Aker is referred to as having been the first to carry on the blacksmith business, and the first and only tavern for the time was kept by John Sweyer. In the year 1835, there were five mills in the township, owned respectively by Shaeffer, Deffenbaugh, Welsheimer, Griffith and Guy. The Methodists and Lutherans have churches in Madison. There are two hamlets in the township, known as Clearport and Mechanicsburg. Rev. Mr. Steck, Lutheran, preached there as early as 1816. John Wiley, an extensive stock dealer, settled in Madison in 1828. In 1854, a post-office was established at Clearport, commonly called Abbot's store. The Abbot family have kept the office from its beginning till now.

It is said that Berne Township was named in honor of the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland, by Samuel Carpenter, at the time of its organization, a citizen. There are two post-offices in the township—Sugar Grove, eight miles below. Lancaster,

Some of the first settlers were four brothers, Reams, Henry Hansel, James Harrod, William Brandon, George Beery, David Carpenter, and others.

George Reams built the first grist-mill. Daniel Reams built the first saw-mill. The township is at present credited with ten churches and prosperous Sunday-schools.

John A. Collins is remembered as an early Squire. Mr. Collins was favorably known, and lived to a ripe old age. He as Justice of the Peace fully thirty years.

The first wedding in Berne has been brought to my notice ; that of Joseph Loveland to Miss Shellenbarger, as having aken place in 1802.

Judge Joseph Stukey built a grist-mill on Rush Creek, just at the foot of what is now Sugar Grove, at a very early period. Mr. Stukey will be remembered as having been one of the Associate Common Pleas Judges for Fairfield County. He served a number of years, embracing the year 1840. He died several years ago.

A large portion of the surface of Berne is rough and hilly, but it also contains a great deal of rich, fertile land. That part of the township lying nearest Lancaster was first settled.

Pleasant is situated north of Berne. The origin of the name has not, so far as I know, been handed down. There is a creek running through the township, known as Pleasant Run ; but which was named first, or whether one took its name from the other, is not now known. But the township might very properly have been called Pleasant Township, from the extent and quantity of its pleasant and fertile land.

Pleasant Township was early settled. One of the first settlements of the county was in Pleasant; and the first grave of a white man was made on the bank of Fetter's Run, as early, I believe, as 1798. Two or three men pitched their tent near the present crossing of Fetter's Run, on the old Zanesville road, a little more than one mile north-east of the present site of L'ancaster. Within less than a month after their arrival, one of their number, Wm. Green, sickened and died.

There was no possibility of procuring a coffin, and one was improvised by peeling the bark from a kickory tree (it being in the month of May, when the sap was up), and in it he was buried near where the bridge over the run now stands, though I believe no one pretends to point out the spot.

In 1820, a German Reform Church was built in Pleasant, which was in use fifty years, and in 1870 was replaced by a better structure.

Pleasantville is the village of the township, and is nearly on the north line. It has a popular and flourishing seminary. Pleasant was early platted and inhabited. Nearly its entire area is arable, and its farmers are mostly thrifty and in good circumstances. The following may be mentioned as of the first settlers : The Hoovers, Ashbrooks, Trimbles, Beerys, Harmons, Hites, Hampsons, Cupps, Ruffners, Kellers, Ewings, Duncans, Feemens, Foglesongs, Radabaughs, Maclins, Arnolds, Kemerers, John Baldwin, and others.

Walnut is immediately north of Pleasant. New Salem and Millersport are the villages of Walnut Township; the former is a place of some trade, and two churches; it was first settled, and is situated on the eastern border of the township. Millersport is situated at the southern point of the "Big Reservoir," and just where the Ohio Canal enters it. Its thrift and importance is owing, in a large degree, to the fisheries of that artificial lake, which is of several miles in extent in its greatest diameter. The reservoir was formed to supply water to the canal in dry seasons; it is in the northern part of the township. Millersport has the usual churches and schools. Its commerce has been considerable, on account of the shipment of grain and other produce.

Walnut Township dates its municipal existence from the year 1807, since which time, I believe, it has undergone no changes of outline.

In 1806, there were not exceeding a dozen families within its borders, and they were distributed in different parts of its territory. Some of these have reached me. Of them I record, William Murphy, Asa Murphy, the Crawfords, Hendrixes, Watsons, and David Lyly.

A man named Debold is mentioned as having preached the first sermon (of the township, I suppose), at the cabin of William Hauer. He was a Baptist, I believe.

At that early day, Walnut, in common with all the townships and other parts of the frontier country, was without roads. Old citizens speak of a trace having been blazed from the Scioto, at a point probably where Columbus now is, through to Zanesville, pushing through Walnut, which subsequently was opened into a wagon road.

[A brief explanation of what is meant by a blazed road is necessary, because not one in fifty of the present inhabitants of Fairfield County have any knowledge of them. They were a necessity of the pioneer age. They were called at first, "bridle-paths" and "foot-paths." The manner of opening them was in this wise : One or more men set out with axes from one point to another, say; from one cabin to another, and taking trees in range, and from twenty to forty feet apart, chopped or hewed the bark from the two sides facing in the two directions, thus making a "blaze" that caught the eye readily by the contrast between the bark and the bare wood. Then these blazed trees were followed in both directions, on foot and on horseback, until by use a beaten track rendered the blazes unnecessary. I have known guns to be fired and horns blown, at the outcome, or at points along the way, to guide the blazers].

It is related that William Hauer built the first hewed log-house in Walnut, in 1807, and made in it a puncheon floor, leveling them off with a foot-adz.

The first hand-mill used in the township is credited to Mr. Crawford. The first crop of wheat that promised well was greatly damaged by squirrels. A Mr. Holmes has the credit of building the first brick house within the township—prob-ably about the year 1812.

It is believed that this township was so named because of the richness and fertility of its soil. Richland was cut down in 1817 by striking off two tiers of sections from its eastern side to be attached to Perry County, thus reducing its dimensions to four sections wide by six in length, which is its present area.

East and West Rushville, one mile apart, and on opposite sides of Rush Creek, are situated in the southern third of the township. Both these villages have churches and Sabbath-Schools, and their citizens are characterized for temperance and good morals. It is understood that a man by the name of Teal first owned the land upon which West town is built, and a Mr. Turner that where the East town is.

Among the first settlers, the names below are presented : William Wiseman, Theo. Turner, Stephenson and Ijams' families. Judge William McClung was also an early-comer. Judge McClung was a prominent public man, and died in West Rushville in 1876, at a very advanced age. Abram Geil, James Rowland, and Jesse Rowles, are likewise mentioned as among the pioneers in the township. Mordecai Stevens was an early settler and leading farmer; he lived and died on the land first entered by his father. William Coulson is remembered as a leading man of Rushville, both in trade and as an active and devoted Methodist. Patrick Owens is said to have sold the first goods in Richland; and Moses Plummer the proprietor of the first mills on Rush Creek, between the two villages, in the year 1802, or about that time.

These villages, as well as Richland Township, shared with all other parts of the county in the early organization of religious societies and churches ; but their first meetings were held in the log-cabins of the settlers. Rev. Clymer and James Quinn were pioneer Methodist preachers in Richland.

The first marriage in the township was between Edward Murphy and Sarah Murphy, in 1802. The ceremony was performed by William Trimble.

Dr. Nathaniel Waite was a physician in West Bushville at an early day ; and Dr. Ide of East Rushville. The first Postmaster's name is given as Marquette. One Harper, is named as the first blacksmith.

In former years vast quantities of tobacco were packed and shipped from both the Rushvilles. It was a staple product of that end of the county. The leading men in the tobacco trade were the Ijams', Coulson and Vansant.

Rush Creek lies south of Richland, and borders on the east of Berne and Pleasant Townships. Settlements began in this

township in 1799. It is a six-section township; Bremen is its village, and is situated about the middle of the township. Rush Creek and Raccoon are the principal streams that pass-through it. The Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad cuts it in the center. Nearly all the surface of Rush Creek is arable and fertile. The name derives from Rush Creek, its principal stream.

The survey of this township, and of that part of the county, was made by Elenathan Schofield, an early citizen of Lancas ter, soon after the first settlement of the county.

The names of the men who first entered land within the bounds of Rush Creek Township, mostly along Rush Creek, here follow : John Laremore, William Thompson, John Carr, David Martin, William Martin, John Cone, James Young, Charles McClung, Henry Sellers, John Patton, William McGinnis, John Willis, Abraham Geil, and others.

The township was organized in 1804; and its first election was at the house of a Mr. Hammels, soon after.

In 1810, Samuel Hammel built the first mill, I believe, on Rush Creek ; and a little later Mr. Leib built a saw and grist mill, also on Rush Creek ; the same, I believe, is at present owned by the Shaw family. Casper Hufford also built a grist mill on Raccoon very early in the settlements ; this mill, I am told, has entirely disappeared.

The settlmements began along the creeks in 1800, but the eastern portion of the township was settled latter. Many of the first-comers settled down on the squatter plan, and afterwards, when the land came into market, bought their places at two dollars an acre. It is said that no competition was gone into in the purchases, which was the result of a mutual understanding among the squatters.

One of the Larimores was the first Justice of the Peace, and Charles McClung was elected to the same office in 1804. Wm. McClung, a brother, I believe, of Charles, was a prominent

citizen of the township. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving under General Sanderson, who was then Captain of a company from Fairfield County. Subsequently he represented the county in the State Legislature, and was Associate Judge of the Common Pleas in 1840 and 1841, or about that time.

The Presbyterians built a hewed log meeting-Jwuse in 1807, and were the first religious pioneers in the township. Their

preacher for many years was the Rev. John Wright, of Lancaster, where he settled in 1801.

Bremen was laid out by George Beery in very early times, and was so named, I have been told, in honor of the city of

Bremen, Germany. There is likewise a small village a little south of Bremen, called Geneva. The first woman to settle in the township is said to have been Phebe Larimore, who in 1801 married William Martin. Robert Larimore is reported as the first man to die in the township.

I could not descend into more particularity in separate township histories without swelling my work far beyond the plan contemplated. Perhaps, enough has already been recorded to meet the demands of a county history. I would have been glad to have said more about the original settlers of the first ten years of Fairfield County, did the possibilities exist for acquiring correct information; but the possibilities do not exist. As before said, the pioneers have all passed away, and with them much of their history. We are, therefore, obliged to be content to gather up what little the records give, which, together with tradition, as far as it will serve, it is hoped, will make a satisfactory reflection of the times from 1798 to 1876, of Fairfield County, Ohio.

In closing up the separate history of the townships, I must again beg readers to excuse little errors, should any be detected, since no pains have been spared to arrive at accuracy from all the sources of information available. It is believed the main points of history are all correct; and should small errors be found, they will be referable to differences of recollection.

The Fairfield County Agricultural Society was first organized in 1851, and held its first Fair in October of that year. John Reeber was President, and John S. Brazee, Secretary. The first Fairground was on the west side of Columbus street, on lands belonging to John Reeber, lying a little south of the Reservoir. The Fair was a flattering success; but, owing to the disordered and lost state of the papers, it has been impossible to obtain statistics of that, or several of the subsequent years. Never-

theless, the society has held its annual Fairs, viz.: in the month of October, for twenty-five consecutive years, and has grown into one of the best County Fairs in the State.

In 1852, Mr. Reeber, as President, was vested by the Board with power to purchase permanent Fair-grounds, which he accomplished by buying a part of the farm of Thos. Wright, deceased, at the foot of Mount Pleasant, on its western side. The purchase was made from John A. Fetters, Administrator of Thos. Wright, and on very advantageous terms to the society. The first purchase was twelve or fifteen acres, perhaps less. Subsequently the Widner place was purchased and added to the west of the grounds, and two or three acres from Mrs. Van Pearce on the north, thus making the aggregate of twenty-two acres, which is the pi esent Fair-ground.

The trotting park, amphitheaters, exibition halls, music stand and all other appointments of the grounds are of the best, and have been engineered and executed by skillful and competent men. From the first the citizens of Fairfield County have taken the matter of their Fair in hand with a pride and zeal, nowhere surpassed; nor has the interest at any time seemed to flag in the least.

During the last six or seven years a systematic course of book-keeping has been kept up, from the pages of which some extracts are here introduced. I deem it right, however, first to say, that Mr. Reeber, first President, served in that capacity for several years, then was out, and subsequently again elected. I would be glad to introduce the names of the various men who, for the first sixteen or eighteen years, filled the principal offices of the society, but for the want of records at hand I am unable to do so.

In 1868, which begins the regular records, John S. Brazee was President, and John G. Reeves, Secretary.

In 1869, John Reeber was elected President, and John G. Reeves continued Secretary; John C. Weaver, Treasurer.

In 1870, John Reeber was President; John G. Reeves, Secretary; and John C. Weaver, Treasurer.

In 1871, B. W. Carlisle was President; John G. Reeves, Secretary; and John C. Weaver, Treasurer.

In 1872, Andrew J. Musser was President; John G. Reeves, Secretary; and William Noble, Treasurer.

In 1873, Andrew J. Musser was President; John G. Reeves, Secretary; and William Noble, Treasurer.

In 1874, Joseph C. Kinkead was President; John G. Reeves, Secretary; and William Noble, Treasurer.

In 1875, Joseph C. Kinkead was President ; William Davidson, Secretary; and William Noble, Treasurer.

In 1876, T. H. Busby was President ; William Davidson, Secretary; and S. J. Wolf, Treasurer.

The first financial showing on the available records is the total cost of the erection of the two amphitheaters, in the year 1873, which was $2,115.57.

In 1874, the Art and Horticultural Hall was erected at a total cost, as shown by the report of the Building Committee, of $3,111.59.

Other improvements and expenditures for the same year, not including premiums awarded, amounted to $927.39.

For the year 1874, the total receipts of the Society from all sources was $10,369 15

This was the settlement on the 1st of December, 1874, which shows the financial condition at the beginning of the year 1875.

The total amount paid by the Society in the items of premiums, as shown by the Treasurer's report, was $2,800.50.

The receipts of the Society for the year 1876, from all sources, as furnished by the Treasurer, J. S. Wolf, was $6,001.31, and the expenditures for all purposes, for the same year, $5,888.42, leaving a balance in favor of treasury of $112.89.

After nearly'a full year's research, I have at last, and just when my manuscript was nearly completed, succeeded in unearthing a copy of General George Sanderson's pamphlet, pub-

lished in 1851, by Thomas Wetzler, and entitled "A Brief History of the Early Settlement of Fairfield County."

The pamphlet embodies the substance of a lecture delivered by the General in 1844, before the Lancaster Literary Society, but with extended additions. Extracts of his lecture have already appeared in this work ; but, so indispensable to a complete history of Fairfield County are the notes of George Sanderson, that I proceed here to give copious quotations from the pages of the book just come to hand. I give them literally and full, although much of their matter is a repetition, in part, of the same points already incorporated in this work.

General Sanderson, as has previously been said, was identified with Fairfield County from its very beginning until his death' in 1871. He was; moreover, a man of careful observation and wonderful memory, and during a large portion of his life a public man in offices of trust and responsibility. I proceed with the extracts:

" The present generation can form no just conception of the wild and wilderness appearance or the country in which we now dwell, previous to its settlement by the white people; it was, in short, a country

" The lands watered by the sources of the Hockhocking river, and now comprehended within the present limits of the County of Fairfield, were, when discovered by some of the early settlers of Marietta, owned and occupied by the Wyandot tribe of Indians, and were highly prized by the occupants as a valuable hunting-ground, being filled by almost all kinds of game and animals of fur. The principal town of the nation stood along the margin of the prairie, between the mouth of Broad street and Thomas Ewing's canal-basin, and extending back as far as the base of the hill south of the Methodist Church. It is said that the town contained in 1790 about one hundred wigwams, and five hundred souls. It was called Tarhe, or in English, Cranetown, and derived its name from that of the principal chief of the tribe. The Chief's wigwam in Tarhe stood upon the bank of the prairie, near where the fourth lock is built on the Hocking Canal, and near where a beautiful spring of water flows into the Hockingjiver. The wigwams were built of the bark of trees set on poles, in the