INTRODUCTION. Families form nation's and place themselves under the aegis of the state, which is the higher form of organized, human society. Yet even the nation is not its final term; it forms part of a vaster, broader community—mankind. itself. While the individual always retains his proper value and can never be regarded as the transitory form of one great substance, as a mere wave, lifted for. a moment on the ocean of humanity ; yet humanity is not a mere abstraction, it is an unquestionable reality. It is just this indestructible kinship among all the sons of humanity which explains the great and powerful fact of human solidarity,, in which we are all included, and which brings us -under the most various influences in the sphere of the family, the nation, or the race, so that we can hardly distinguish in ourselves that is our own, or that which we derive from heredity, or from the influence of environment or of history. The study of man as a social being is based upon the study of man as an individual; and requires,' in. order to give consistency to history, a knowledge of the general conditions under which individual life manifests itself. As presented to us in the writings of the old historians, history consisted, for the most part, of the bare recital of events, unaccompanied by philosophical reflections, or by any attempt to discover the mutual relations and tendencies of things. Writers of more modern times not only narrated events, but fringe them with the hues of their own thought, and impress upon them the bias of their own opinions, and, as a result, we have what is known as the Philosophy of History. Men began. to think of events in their sources and issues, all national changes, all events upon the mighty stream of tendency, might be subjected to philosophical analysis. As the years went by the survey of the past took a higher, loftier stand, and spread over a wider range. The causes of the rise and fall of empires ; the elements of national prosperity or decline; the obsoleteness or adaptation -of various forms of government; the evidences of 14 - INTRODUCTION. growth and transition among the people of mankind; all in their turn were made matters of historical inquiry. History, at first narrative and then polemical, has become, in our day a record of progress, a triumphal eulogy of the growth of civilization. But even now writers and readers of history form an unworthy estimate of its province, if they restrict it within such limits. They only realize its mission who see in it "The divinity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them as we may." It is not enough, if we study history aright, that we should follow in the track of battle, and listen to the wail of the vanquished, and to the shouts of the conquerors ; it is not enough that we should philosophically analyze the causes of upheaval and remodelling; it is not enough that we should regard it as a chaos of incident, a troubled maze without a plan ; we realize the true ideal of history when we discover the Mighty Civilizer, shaping its ends for the evolution of Hs own designs, bringing order from its vast confusion, resolving its parts into one grand and marvelous unity, making it a body of completeness and symmetry. In the study of the history of our own county, we must remember certain peculiarities, which, though apparently of small account, are influential elements in material progress, and means toward the formation of its character. The early traditions are potent factors in its progress. The memory of its heroes, and the battle fields where their laurels were won; of its seers of science, its prophets of cultured minds of its poets who have won the people's heart; all the stirring recollections of the romantic past, which flush the cheek and brighten the eye; all these are substantial tributaries to a country's education, and aid in forming an estimate of its career and destiny. The historian who attempts to write an authentic and impartial history of a community or state, going back a century for his facts and fancies, has a very difficult task to perform. The story, of the labors, dangers and hardships, endured by the pioneers who first peopled the Northwest Territory, would fill many pages with interesting facts, which, when interwoven with the wild scenes and adventure, would read like a romance to the people of the present age. Many of these facts may seem homely and lowly when contrasted with the rush of events, after a century has advanced the race, and covered the graves of these hardy sons of toil with the grasses of untold years; yet none the less necessary and important in shaping INTRODUCTION - 15 the destiny for the future in all its advance and progress. Just such men and women were needed, strong, active, fearless, who with axe and gun prepared the way for the peace and plenty of the present. Men who chased the deer, or with noiseless foot fall trailed the wild Indian, and, in turn, were hunted by him, have made their names immortal by their identification with the civilization that was to follow the development of the Mississippi Valley. As long as the history of this Eden of America is read their names will be cherished and revered ; while a numberless host whose "names are unknown and unsung" are alike worthy of a place upon the pages of history and in the hearts and homes of their children's children. It is with this object in view that we attempt the present history—to weave together the story of those early years, describing, as best we can, in name, character and circumstance the noble fathers and mothers of the race that have peopled the hills and valleys of Highland county ; stealing glances through the cabin door at the busy housewife at her wheel or loom, or standing with uncovered heads in the dim old forest aisle, whose silence was unbroken save by the ring of the woodman's axe or the sharp crack of his unerring rifle. We could not hope to succeed in this history writing without availing ourselves of the earnest, efficient and untiring effort of Judge R. M. Ditty in his careful compilation and publication of the early history of Highland county by Daniel Scott. Scott began this publication in 1858 in newspaper articles, intending to bring the record down to June, 1851, but did not complete the work as contemplated, and when after the lapse of only thirty years, Judge Ditty began the search for the brief sketches of this facile and scholarly writer, many missing links made the effort one of great labor and research. Few counties have had such able pioneer historians as Daniel Scott. No worthy history of the County of Highland can be produced without liberal use of what he so carefully collected and so' well set down. T. W. K. THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. CHAPTER I. ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES. FROM our first knowledge of the prehistoric earth works of Ohio there has been a constant interest in them and an earnest desire to learn something in regard to the people who planned and completed them. Unfortunately the hunger for information has not been satisfied with facts entirely but largely with pictures of fancy. In the superficial investigation carried on by relic hunters, a large scope for the indulgence of the imagination is found, and much is taken for granted which has no foundation in fact. Partial examination over a limited field becomes the starting place for arbitrary deductions ; hasty surmises assume the form of definite assertions; indications and possibilities are brought together by wild guesses and perpetuated on the printed page, as the records of history. Some books have been published and have received recognition and favor at the hands of the public, even becoming text books of scientific knowledge, which are distinguished mainly by florid rhetoric, untrustworthy statements and superficial romances. Some of these books bear the names .of distinguished men, who, in other departments of science, have earned the title of investigators and discoverers ; but who have, possibly as a, matter of recreation, dabbled with little profit in the pool of archaeology and, culling from the writings of others things unsubstantial as a dream, have sent forth volumes full of confusion for the public mind. As a writer has truthfully said when speaking of the wild. speculation about the "Moundbuilders" printed and spread broadcast, "It conjures up the shadowy outline of a being unlike any that ever existed on earth ; who combines in harmonious relations qualities found only in the highest of educated races with those who never survive a state 18 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. of savagery. Ignorant of metals, he was a skillful engineer ; without a single animal that could be used as a beast of burden, he was a successful fanner; with no means of communication except canoes and messengers on foot, a central power, somewhere, was kept fully informed of all that occurred within the radius of a thousand miles. Moreover, almost his entire time was spent in conducting some sort of religious exercises or defending himself against the attacks of enemies. There passes before us a panorama of priests, warriors, bloody wars, ambuscades, sieges, endless sacrifices, and all the characteristics of an empire, like that of ancient Persia or Egypt; with the turning of a page we are in the midst of weapons, fortresses, lookout stations, battles, and refuges of last resort." There is always room for differences of opinion on questions which must be solved by comparative or analytic study. But in matters where exact conclusions can be reached by any one who will be at the trouble to investigate properly, there is but one side. Systematic study has broken up this myth of a prehistoric nation, into separate tribes whose relationship to one another, if indeed there be any, is very remote and obscure. The variations in size, design, outward appearance, interior arrangements and contents, of enclosures, mounds, earthworks and stone structures in different sections of the country, compel a belief that their conception and construction is due to several disconnected tribes. If the soaring student who attempts dizzy heights in his flight after prehistoric empires of beauty and civilization, would return to earth and take a careful walk over prehistoric grounds in Highland county, the "pomp and circumstances" of his fancy would vanish like the "baseless fabric of a dream." The evidence now at hand will clearly show that this wonderful civilization of which poets dream rests upon no other foundation than "earthen enclosures demanding only ordinary sighting and easily contrived apparatus to originate, patience and brute force to execute; and the excavations from tumuli of articles not surpassing in any sense or respect similar things made by modern Indian tribes in various parts of the country." Ohio stands first in the list for number and extent of her prehistoric remains. There is not a county in the state where these earth or stone works are, not found, and it has been estimated that not less than seventeen thousand would be found in Ohio. The number reported; for Highland county by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical society is thirty-five, distributed over the county as follows : Paint township, nine ; Madison, two ; Clay, two ; Liberty, two ; Dodson, one ; White Oak, four ; Fairfield, two ; Concord, eight ; Brush Creek, three; Jackson, two. No mention is made in this report of Marshall, Salem, Washington, New Market, Hamer, Penn and Union townships. In Marshall township we have investigated and excavated two burial mounds upon the farm of Thomas Watts, in ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES - 19 which. were found calcined bones, human teeth and a very large log of charcoal, which, when submitted to the action of fire, burned indifferently but turned to a brown ash filled with grains of sand. In Washington township are mounds of like character ; while in Salem there is quite a fortification called by the people of the township Fort Salem. These would increase the number as reported in the county- to some forty-five or fifty. The most remarkable in the county, if not the state, for size, locality, and character, is located in Brush Creek township, and is known by the name of Fort hill. Howe, in his History of Ohio, is a brief mention of Highland county, gave a description of this fort in a general way : "It is especially interesting," he said, "because it presents more of the characteristics of a defensive work than any other in the state. It is situated seventeen miles southeast of Hillsboro, and three miles north of Sinking Spring. The work occupies the top of an isolated hill, which has an elevation of five hundred feet above the bed of the East fork of Brush creek, which skirts the base of the hill on the north and west. The top of the hill is a nearly level plateau of thirty-five acres, enclosed by an artificial wall of stone and earth, excavated around the brink of the hill, interior to the fart. The ditch formed by the excavation is nearly fifty feet wide. The Ivan is 8,582 feet long, and contains about fifty thousand cubic yards of material; has a base of twenty-five feet, and an average height of ten feet. There are thirty-three gateways or entrances in the embankment at irregular distances, and ranging in width from ten to fifteen feet. At eleven of these gates the interior ditch is filled up." Fort hill is one of the western peaks of the Sunfish hills, entirely detached by Brush creek and deep ravines from any other elevated area. The sides of this hill present a succession of minor cliffs, shale banks, washouts, and loose broken rock; in only two places can a continuous grade be found on the top of the hill. A sandstone ledge crops out at the top of the hill, and the weather-worn fragments are piled up in a rude wall around the hill, conforming in some measure to the irregular outline of the hill top. The height of this wall was increased by throwing earth, taken from the inner side over the rock, so that there is a considerable ditch or moat within the enclosure. Overman estimates the length of the wall at 8,582 feet and its contents in cubic yards at 50,856. Thirty-five gateways without regard to regular distance open through the wall, and the general outline and character suggest a place of refuge and defense. There are no evidences of an advanced state of civilization in the builders. It is simply a work which strength and the ordinary instincts of self-preservation would suggest. The stones are undressed, the wall unfashioned by any artistic skill, and no more suggestive of geometrical knowledge than the sand forts of a child on the ocean beach. The dream of a mighty people with .a centralized form of government, - 19 - 20 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. with untold numbers of slaves or serfs to do the bidding of a despot, vanish when confronted by the simple, rugged outline of Fort hill. That it was peopled by a race anterior to the Indians present when the country was first settled by the white man, is quite true; and that they differed somewhat in character and conduct from the red man, but not to the extent to warrant the assumption that they were of a distinct race of people, whose origin can be traced to the Hebrew or Welsh stock, from which, by some they are supposed to have sprung. Within this enclosure there are two ponds which would, with care, supply for months the demands of all the purposes of a rude people. About a mile south of the summit of Fort hill there are evidenCes to show that a village of, some extent had been established and had lasted for some time. But this class of people, whoever they were, have gone from the land that was once their home. Whether pushed from their possessions by strong and more numerous tribes, or swept by storm and pestilence they perished from the earth, as some suppose, or migrated toward the south and were lost in the: peoples of Mexico and South America is unknown. This we do know, that two great tribes must have either mingled as one, or striven for mastery with rude weapons of savage warfare. Two classes of human skulls are found in close proximity, one called the "Round Head" and the other "Long Head." These, of course, indicate differences, but not greater than often observed in members of the same tribe. Efforts have been made to place Fort hill under the care and protection of the government, but thus far without avail. A writer in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette thus describes some scenes in the county of Highland under the caption of "Ohio's Wonderland," which, we have abridged to a certain extent, without, we hope, destroying its beauty in diction and style. "The lover of the wild, the rugged and the romantic can in this locality find something new at every step he takes. There are no high mountains to climb, but there are caves to explore, and chasms, cascades, terraces, waterfalls, grottoes, without number. As the crow flies it is about seventy-five miles east from Cincinnati, and fourteen east of Hillsboro 'a pleasant way to get there from Hillsboro is by carriage. There is a well kept hotel conveniently located, with all the necessary outfit for boating, fishing and exploring. Professor Orton, in his geological report for 1870, says : This stream (the Rocky Fork) is important in the geography of the county. It is bedded in rock from its source to its mouth, which exhibits its geology most satisfactorily. In its banks and bordering cliffs it discloses every part of the great Niagara formation of the country. At its mouth it has reached the very summit of the system and the structure of these upper beds it reveals in a gorge whose vertical walls are ninety feet high, and the width between them some two hundred feet. Certain portions of the ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES - 21 limestone, weather and rain dissolve more easily than the rest, and have been carried away in considerable quantities, leaving overhanging cliffs and receding caves along the line of its outcrop, and the scenery is the most striking and beautiful of its kind in southeastern Ohio. "The visitor must enter this gorge at the 'Point,' and go up through and along it. Weird wonders are revealed at every step. One moment you are in the shadow of an overhanging cliff bedecked with trailing vines, and ferns and bright-hued wild flowers nodding and waving in all their beauty—nature's own grand conservatory. Then a placid sheet of water comes to view as well as cascades dancing in the sunlight. There are overhanging cliffs where half a hundred people could find shelter, and numerous caverns, aside from the four large caves. The 'Dry Cave' is the first of these. It is not so extensive as the others, having a length of about three hundred feet, but some of the chambers are so beautifully set with stalagmite and stalactite formations that it will well repay a visit. This cave is perfectly dry and the air is bracing. The 'Wet Cave,' so called from a' spring of cold water some six hundred feet from its mouth, is a series of chambers in which are found large quantities of white soapy clay. The arches of this cover have been carved in strange and curious fashion by the water that constantly percolates through the rocks and crevices. The drops of water reflecting the light from the explorer's's torch give a weird effect, looking like diamonds in the uncertain light above. The 'Dancing Cave' takes its name from the use it is put to by parties visiting the locality. The large dancing chamber is light, and nature has kindly provided stalagmite seats around the sides for the convenience of her guests. Near this cave are two stone `cairns,' but their origin and use are buried in the mystery of the past. Two hundred yards further up is a glen? the entrance to 'Marble Cave,' one of the most beautiful of the group, being especially rich in formation and variety. There are quite a number of chambers in the Marble Cave, all of good size. And here, across the glen, is 'Profile Rock.' Following a narrow path we pass through 'Gypsy Glen,' then gaze with awe at 'Bracket Rock' with an altitude of one hundred feet. Then we look with delight on `Mussett Hole,' a deep body of water at the base of towering rocks, and on its margin a huge monarch of the forest, called Boone Tree. Tradition tells the' story that here was a favorite camping ground for the Indians on their way to Sandusky from Kentucky, and that they always stopped here to rest, and fish and hunt." This writer is in the main correct. A slight indulgence of the imagination adorned the facts, but the scene is a wild, savage one, and will well repay a visit. One interesting feature of this scene has not been noticed, either by Professor Orton or' this writer for the Commercial. Huge masses of these overhanging rocks have ben 22 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. detached from the top of the cliffs and fallen at some time in the bed of the creek below. Some are so large that the channel of the creek has been filled by them. The impatient water has crept beneath these obstructions, washing out great deep blue pools which afford a hiding place for the fierce black bass, and many a struggle has the writer had with pole and line, with this, the gamiest fish in American waters. At another point the creek makes a sharp turn at right angles with its former course, striking with all its force against a limestone cliff full ninety feet high. Recoiling in foam and spray it darts on its new made course with almost the current of the dread. Niagara. Just a half mile below the mouth of Rocky fork, on. Paint creek, once lay the "Old Forge dam," and to. the left stood the Iron Forge. These old time relics are gone, but below the site of the dam is a great pool of water, in places ninety feet deep, with an underflow that makes it dangerous to the unpracticed swimmer. The fall of water through this half mile is twenty-two feet, and when the water is. low an ordinary man can step across the channel, which has a depth of twenty and thirty feet a little distance above this pool. Hillsboro capitalists contemplate an electric road to this favorite summer resort,. and on through Bainbridge to Chillicothe. The falls of Rattlesnake, some fifty feet in height, were once utilized for mill purposes, but it seemed impossible to build anything of sufficient strength to resist the force of the waters when the creek was flooded with heavy rains. We are informed by fishermen that the entire frame work of a mill is sunken in the deep pool beneath the falls. The Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern crosses this stream just above the falls, and when a wreck occurred at the bridge cars were lost in the deep water below. East Monroe, a small town in Highland, is situated about one-half mile from the falls of Rattlesnake and is the headquarters for the sightseers who visit them. Numerous caves in the cliffs and hills of the county were in the early days of settlement used by wild animals as places of resort in winter, and of refuge from hunters. The author was told by an aged man, who in his young days was famed for his hunting skill, that he had often chased wolf into an opening near .the base of Fort hill and that when once they reached this place he had never been able to dislodge them. He was of the opinion that Fort hill was hollow and that other openings known to these animals allowed them to escape. There is a story of one Samuel Jackson, who passing along 'a trace down the banks of Sunfish creek, about three miles from Sinking Spring, saw a. large bear crossing the path before him. The bear seeing him went into a hole in the rocks, and Jackson, wanting that bear, but knowing he could not effect its capture alone, went to the nearest cabin, which was John Lowman's, for assistance, and immediately returned with him to the den of the bear. They carried some fire with them and when they reached the place filled the opening. ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES - 23 full of dry branches and leaves and set fire to it then stationed themselves some thirty yards away, and waited for Mr. Bruin to come out. The smoke soon filled the shallow cave and compelled the bear to vacate, and as he emerged Jackson fired and wounded him. The bear retreated to another hole, which the hunters found was just large enough for him to enter, but increased in size further in. Here they again tried to smoke out the animal, but without success, and obtaining a torch, they followed into the cave and found the bear dead. The body they hauled out, but had great difficulty in getting through the entrance and were in danger, on account of a fresh start of their fire, of being smothered. Mr. Lowman was long a most worthy citizen in the vicinity of Hillsboro, and the Jackson family is yet represented near Sinking Spring. David Jackson served as commissioner of Highland county, and was killed in returning from the World's Fair, in a railroad collision. The names of the water courses in Highland county are suggestive of local conditions which made the name appropriate at the time it was bestowed by the Indians or early white settlers. Paint creek, which forms a large portion of the eastern boundary of the county, was so named by the Indians. Near and a little below Reeves' Crossing there are two high banks, which are washed by the stream,. called Copperas mountain. At an early day the Indian came to these banks to procure the red earth, which they used in the absence of true vermilion, to decorate their faces and persons, and that for this reason the name "Paint creek" was given. Rattlesnake was so named because of the immense number of rattlesnakes found in. its cliffs and the rocky crevices along its banks in an early day. They were generally of the large spotted and black species, though snakes of almost every known variety were foimd in that locality. It was emphatically a snake country. The old settlers tell the story that in the early spring, after a few warm days, when the snakes came out of their dens to sun, that they were often seen rolled up in large bundles half the size of a barrel, with their heads sticking out in every direction, forming a. most "frightful" circle of heads, glaring eyes, and forked tongues. These bundles were not alone composed of rattlesnakes, but often other varieties were found united with them in this living, sickening, and dangerous bundle. Humboldt, in his travels in South America, describes the serpents of that country as frequently found banded together in like manner. He supposed the object was defense against the attack of some dreaded enemy. As no history is complete without a "snake story" it becomes our duty to write out the narrative of one of the old men on Rattlesnake, as told some years ago. In the spring of 1802, William Pope, John. Waters, and Hezekiah Betts were passing up, the trace along Rattlesnake from the falls of Paint, where they had been for milling and other purposes. This trace was on the north side of the creek. A 24 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. short distance below the mouth of Hardin's creek, and nearly opposite the present town of New Petersburg, a strong and remarkably cold spring breaks out of the cliffs and the branch there crosses the trace. The spring was a favorite stopping place for all thirsty travelers over the lonely route. When the party reached the branch William Pope , dismounted and left his horse standing near the others, who declined drinking. He walked to the spring, some two or three rods, and was just in the act of stooping down to take a drink when his eyes detected the presence of a huge rattlesnake. He happened to have the wiping stick of his gun in his hand with which he soon killed the snake. By the time, however, he had 'accomplished this, he saw others, and he took his tomahawk and cut a pole and kept on killing until they became so numerous that he became greatly alarmed and started for his horse, literally cutting a path through them to where he had left his company. It appeared that they had all rushed out to the aid of the first which was attacked and slain. After Pope reached his horse he was so overcome with the nauseous odor emitted by the snakes that he was unable to stand and was obliged to lie down on the ground where he ,vomited violently. His companions were also sickened. Pope wore buckskin breeches and heavy blue cloth leggins. During the fight with the snakes several struck him on the legs and fastened their fangs in the leggins, and hung there until he cut them off with his butcher knife. Walters and Betts went back afterward to see how many Pope had killed and counted eighty-four dead snakes. So the creek was well named Rattlesnake. Hardin's creek takes its name from Colonel Hardin of Virginia. Hardin, Hogue, Reddick, and some others surveyed a tract of land jointly, extending over a large scope of country above the mouth of Hardin's creek and containing some twenty thousand acres. On the division of this survey, Hardin's portion took in both sides of the creek which bears his name. Fall creek was so called because of the many falls that diversify its channel, while Clear creek was 'given the name of a like stream in Woodford county, Ky. Rocky fork suggests its own name to the admiring eyes of those who love the wild and picturesque. Lee's creek commemorates Gen. Charles Lee, of Virginia, whose military land warrants were located along its course. There are large areas in Highland county more than one thousand feet above the sea, though the town of Greenfield has an elevation of but 893 feet, and Sinking Spring is only 723 feet above tide water, or about 160 feet above Lake Erie. The highest points in the county, according to the geological survey, are Stultz mountain, 1,325 feet; Fisher's knob, 1,300 feet; Long Lick mountain, 1,254 feet; Slate knob or Bald mountain, 1,250 feet; Fort hill, 1,232 feet, and the Cemetery hill at Samantha, 1,214 feet.