HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 357 CHAPTER IX. MIAMI TOWNSHIP - ORGANIZATION - TERRITORIAL CHANGES - PIONEER CIVILIZATION - PROMINENT CHARACTERS OF THE EARLY COMMUNITY - CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. MIAMI TOWNSHIP of the earliest records was not very much like the town ship of that name to-day. When the first white settler penetrated its unbroken wilds, and sought a home in the valley of the Miami River, he formed a township extending "from Urbana to the lake," and bearing the name of the river. the valley of which offered the great-est hope of the township's future growth. In 1818 the newly elected Commissioners continued the name of Miami, the most westerly township of the four into which they divided the territory of Logan County. In 1832 the original township was divided into nearly equal part, the northern half being known as Bloomfield. Of this upper part. Stokes was taken off in 1838, and Bloomfield and Washington became separate townships in 1839. Two years later, Pleasant Township was taken off the northern part of Miami, leaving the latter a rectangular body about seven miles long, front east to west, and about three miles wide. As constructed now, it is the corner township of Logan County in the southwest, is bounded on the north by Pleasant, on the east by Union, on the south by the Champaign County lice, and on the west by the Shelby County line. Two villages, Quincy and DeGraff, located on the Miami River and the Indianapolis branch of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway, are the centers of population and business in the township. The principal stream of the township is the Great Miami River, which reaches some fifty yards in width in this region. It takes its rise in the Lewistown reservoir, in the northern part of the county, and, flowing in a southerly course, enters Miami a little east of the middle point of its northern boundary. After penetrating the township in a southerly course for a mile or two, it takes a sudden torn to the west, passing along the northern part, leaving out the northwest corner. Its principal tributaries on the south or east are the Stony Creek and Buckongehelas. The latter enters the township from the north, just east of DeGraff and, passing around the village, joins the Miami just south of it. Stony Creel:. wish its branches, carries off the drainage of the whole. of the eastern part of the township, at the same time affording an outlet for Black Lake, a body of water in the eastern part of the township, covering a few acres of ground. The banks of these minor streams are low. and in the early time allowed the accumulated floor s to sweep over the low valleys, converting them into marshes. The timber was thus exterminated, and a rank growth of grass gate this section the appearance of a low, w. t prairie, and is often spoken of in this way by the older citizen::. This part of the township, though embracing; soma of the finest land. was fin some time avoided by the early pioneers as unfit for cultivation, and dangerous on account of the miasma that hung about it. The process of "clearing," however, has wrought great changes, and this is some of the choicest farming lands in Miami, though not entirely free from miasmatic influences. With this exception the whole township was heavily wooded, the prevailing timber being oak in the eastern part, and beech in the western. The soil is a 358 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. substantial clay, mired and underlaid with extensive beds of limestone gravel. The soil in the western part of the township, as indicated by the beech timber, is rather thin and adapted principally to grazing, though large crops of corn are raised, which are shipped, or fed to the large number of hogs that are raised along the valley of the Miami. In the eastern part, wheat is grown to a considerable extent, and yields second only to the rich galley of the Mad River. The extent of bottom lands is very small, the hanks of the Miami, as well as that of its tributaries, rising abruptly, almost at the brink of the stream, to a considerable elevation. Back from these streams the land is pleasantly rolling, but nowhere becoming broken and untillable. The eastern part of the township is given principally to the raising of grain, while the western is divided somewhat between corn and the raising of stock, hogs being the principal feature of the latter business. In the early traditions of Miami is found the history of the whole western portion of Logan County. The tide of population coming from the southern counties, true to the traditions of pioneer emigration, sought the galleys of the larger streams. In this section of the county, the Miami River, which gave name and its valley lands to the township, attracted the early settlers, and following the eastern bank, the early community settled in a narrow tract of country, from what is now the upper part of Washington Township, to the site of Quincy, in this township. The community, thus extending over miles of territory, were bound together by all the social ties of the early times, and the traditions harmed down to us are of this community as a whole. In following the necessary scope of this work, it is obviously a difficult matter to make at) equitable division of those traditions that are the common heritage of all. The union of Pleasant with Miami is still more closely joined, as it was not until 1841 that their interests were divided. The first actual settlement in what is now Miami, or closely contiguous to its territory, was made in 1805. Hearing of the Mad River country, as this whole section was popularly called by the members of the various military expeditions, Jeremiah Stansbury broke up his establishment at Chillicothe and came into the territory of what is now Logan County. Attracted by the open character of the valley of Stony Creek, he entered a quarter section on that dream in the eastern part of the township. Two sons, Jesse and Isaac, accompanied him, the former, it is said, brining with him the wife of another man. It appears that the woman brought a span of horses belonging to her former lord, probably as pay for her services as housekeeper. The deserted husband. in order to get even with Stansbury, sent officers to arrest him, but the woman proved her loyalty by insisting that she brought the team with her, and that Jesse only followed her. which saved him from the hands of the officers. The father was extremely migratory and felt uneasy in anything but a new character. He was inclined to be vindictive, and did not hesitate to use am means to defend what he conceived to be his right. In this same year George McCulloch came here with a negro from Urbana to erect a cabin for his uncle. The Indians were still in full possession of this territory, and were viewing the steady advance of the settlements with ill-disguised feelings of jealousy. The operations of these two families aroused the savages to the necessity of immediate action if the impending danger was to be averted. Tecumseh had long been inciting the Indians to do something to stay the progress of the white, and this incident seems to have precipitated their movements. The Indians HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 359 suddenly convened a council to determine upon their action. The great warrior chieftain, Tecumseh, was present and used his most persuasive eloquence to bring about a collision with the settlers, but under the influence of Kenton and others, their fear of the power of the whites, whose vengeance they had so often felt on many a disastrous field, gained the control and a peaceful course was decided upon. A feast, at which all the delicacies that the Indian could command were server. was set forth in token of their. peaceful sentiments. The forest was lighted by hundreds of torch lights, manufactured from the fat collected from the game, and the woods rang with the whoop of the Indians during the festivities of this ratification meeting. After several days the feast closed, but confidence was not so easily restored to the whites. They were too well acquainted with the character of the Indian, to think that so momentous a question should be so readily settled, and for u year or two the Stansbury's were rite only families in the wilderness of Miami. In 1808 Benjamin Schooler and the three Makenson brothers came to this vicinity. They had been old neighbors near Lexington, Ky., and hearing of the glories of this Northern country, made haste to get the first choice of the lands. They former. however, that others had been before them, and though Here was but one or two families on the ground, others had bought the land in the southern part of the township. They went up on the Stony Creek, near the line of Pleasant Township, and put up their cabins. The Makenson brothers, John and Thomas, were unmarried men. Andrew had a wife, and made a home for alb while they cleared up their purchase. In the same year came William Lee, and settled near where Mr. Hoist lives; Samuel Black settled on the east side of the lake which bears his name, in the eastern part of the township. This property had been entered originally by Turner Davis, but he failed to come on it to live. Black was of Irish parentage, and had but little money. This he put into his purchase, and, destitute of almost everything, he lived in a little cabin , on the border of the lake, subsisting his family for some time almost entirely upon fish, which were found in the lake in abundance. In the following year, Phillip Matthew, came with his four sons-David, Philip, Jr., Henry and Alfred. The head of the family was a man of extraordinary size, and well advanced in years, and was considered in every way a great acquisition to the new community. About the came time, Robert Moore come from Pennsylvania and settled where Mr. Huling now lives. He bought a quarter section, and by his stability of character and friendly disposition, won the esteem of the pioneer settlement far and near. "The Moore family," in the language of one of that time, "was a noted, number one family.'' John Moore, a son of this man, was early killed, by .r horse running away with him and crushing him in the woods. Of the new-comers in 1810, perhaps the most notable was the family of James Shaw. Mr. Shaw was a native of Ireland and had been trained to a rigid observance of the Sabbath and Christian principles. It is said treat the children marked the day by the regular weekly luxury of coffee, which was served once on this day alone. But even this reminder failed to keep the days of the week clearly in Mr. Shaw's mind, and he was found by a neighbor, one Sunday morning, industriously plowing out his corn. It was some time before he could be convinced that he was violating his deeply cherished principles, and he related afterwards that he could not sleep well for several nights on account of this serious miscalculation. He came from Berkeley County. Va., in 1807, and settled in Clarke County, Ohio. Three rears later, he sold his property here and came to Miami, 360 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. getting here in December, of 1810. He first settled an the place now owned hr George Kinsinger, and later, moved to the place where his son, now an old man, resides. There were two girls and four boys in his family, none of them grown up. In this year James Murphy came and settled on land just over the line, in Pleasant Township, He brought no family, but put up a cabin and made a deadening. This was a lonesome life, and he soon left, to return a few years later, however, with a family, On the other side of the river, John Means came about this time and erected his cabin. This was familiar territory to him, as he had carried chain for the surveyor who made the original surveys in this country. Tory and Neal were the names of some squatters who took. up their. residence on the west side of the Miami River, and gave their names to two of the smaller branches of that river. Means was the first settler west of the river, and a reran of some property ; a fact drat carried considerable influence with it in the early community. The little community, thus Planted in the wilderness, was principally made up of settlers of limited means, and not generally well provided with the requisite means to mitigate the severities of frontier life. The purchases of land made by a large number of persons for speculative purposes, or held unoccupied for their children, caused the growth of the community to lag, and, thrown upon their own resources, it required the assembling; of tire settlers for miles around, to erect a simple log cabin. This was no easy undertaking at that time and under the disadvantages which they were forced to work, and it may not be inappropriate to copy a description of the manner of those " railings,' from the pen of Judge Patrick, of Urbana, not, as he says, "for the enlightenment of the present veneration, but from a desire to hand down to posterity the primitive structures up to 1820, believing that before 1920, this mode of building will have become obsolete and unknown." To this end, he says: "if a cabin was to be built from the forest, a leader was chosen, who was always a man of experience, and dubbed captain. As an initiators step, he would classify the congregated settlers, and assign to each their respective duties, about in this order: "1. He would select four of the most expert axmen as corner men, whose duty it was to first clear off the site, square it, and place a boulder at each corner to build upon, after having duly leveled, then saddle and notch down the logs in good, workman like order, "2. He would assign a sufficient number of suitable men to select, as near the site as possible. the Nest large-growth, straight grained white oak tree for clap-hoards, whose further duty it was to fell it, and cross-cut it into suitable lengths, split the cuts into square bolts, and with a fro rive them, Another branch of this classification was required in like manner to prepare puncheons for floors, doors, windows, and chimney-corner jambs, out of such timber as was list adapted fur the purposes, such as oak, chestnut or ash which, when properly selected, could be made of sufficient length and width to male a good solid floor, when spotted on the underside at the ends out of wind, and to rest upon sleepers placed at proper distances apart. with h dressed, straight ht upper surfaces. and whirl:, when top-dressed by a skillful adz-man, made a good substitute fur plank, which, at an early day, could not be procured, for want of sawmills. "3. He would select and detail such a number as seemed necessary to cull out, as near the site as possible, straight, suitably sized standing trees, and fell theta and chop them off at suitable lengths for the proposed structure, with teamsters to haul them in as they were logged off. To this force were.added HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 361 other teamsters, provided with rough wood sleds to haul in the clapboards; puncheons, and such other materials as would be necessary in the completion of the cabin. These preliminaries being all successfully arranged, and being carried into effect, the leader would take his station and make proclamation to the balance of the forces, directing them to forth-with prepare smooth skids, the necessary number of forks, with grape-vine or hickory withes around the prongs, :tad two or three cross-sticks inserted through holes bored in the lower ends to give hand-hold to push by; and also to provide a sufficient number of handspikes, of tough, small, round hickory, dogwood or iron-wood, some four feet long, with ends shaved smooth, to be used by the men to bear up the logs while in transit to the corner men, or to the loot of the skids, as the case might be. Then the order would be promulgated that no one but the captain should give any direction in the turtle-r progress of the enterprise: and, as the logs would be hauled to the spot he, with a glance of the eye, would make the necessary directions, and which would, by his order, be conveyed to the corner-men , upon handspikes, with sturdy men at the ends, walking abreast on both sides of the log, bearing it up to its destination; then the second log was borne in like manner, each being placed, after being spotted flat on. the under side, so as to rest level upon the corner-stones, as the end logs of the structure, equidistant apart between the ends; then the ends would be prepared by the corner-men with what was familiarly known as the saddle, which consisted in this: The expert corner-men would chamfer or bevel off at an angle of, say, forty-five degrees each side of the ends of the logs, the two chamfers meeting; at a point on the top center of the log, presenting an end view of the upper half of the log. This preparation is to receive the transverse logs, notched at each end so as to nicely fit over the saddles. The two end logs having been placed and fitted as above described, the leader would select the two largest logs being straight for the front and rear bottom logs; being sills, these two logs, when in the hands of the corner-men, would be notched deeper than the other logs of the building, so as not to throw the floor too high from the ground. The corner-men at each end of the log would cut their notches so exactly, at the same angle and at the same time, so as to exactly fit their respective saddles, that when put to the proper place would male a solid fit and out of wind. This dexterity in corner-men, no doubt, gave rise to the old aphorism. He cuts his notches close. "The four foundation logs having all been properly notched and saddled, and in their places, and, upon the usual tests, being found square, the nest thing to be done was to cut in the sill the slots, or gains, to receive the sleepers, which, if on the ground, and pre-pared as already intimated by being scotched straight on the upper sides, wire cut to right lengths and fitted at the ends so as to rest solidly upon said slots, and put in their places, though, this was frequently done after the building was raised. "All things prepared for the superstructure. the leader, still at his post, with shrill, emphatic voice, selects a log and his forces bear it to the corner-men, as already intimated, resting one end of the handspikes on the top log already placed, rolling it upon the two saddled logs; it was then fitted and prepared in Droller manner, and placed plumb on the wall by the practiced eye, aided by the pendulous as held loosely at tip of helve, between the thumb and forefingers of the experts, This routine being continued until the building was too high to reach and rest the handspikes, as heretofore described, upon the wall, then the skids, resting on the ground at the butt 362 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. ends, would be reared up to the corners on the front side, and one end of the building, nearest the collection of the hauled-in timber; the logs one by one, selected as aforesaid, would be carried as before to the foot of the appropriate skids, and placed on them, and rolled up as far as the men could conveniently reach, and being stanchioned and held, the necessary number of forks were placed under each end of the log inside the skids, with lower ends held firmly down to the ground, were, by the order of the leader, manned at the cross-handles already described, at each end of the log, which was, at a given word, slid up the skids to the top, where, by handspikes, it would be thrown on top of the logs prepared to receive it. In this manner the building progressed to the required heighth, all being done with exact uniformity and celerity, and with dispatch and neatness fitted to their respective places in the wall. When the structure had been carried up to the square, the eave-bearers would be raised upon the two ends of the building. These projected some twenty inches beyond the wall, and would be notched down and saddled back far enough to receive the timbers hereafter described. Then the butting pole for the back side of the cabin would be shoved up to the front corner-man, and rolled to the back eave and notched down upon the saddles, projecting some fifteen inches beyond the outside plumb of the wall, then the first rib would be sent up in the same manner, and rolled back to a proper distance inside of the butting pole, and notched down so as to give the pitch of the roof from the center of butting pole to the top surface of said rib; then the corresponding timbers for the front of the cabin were placed: then the first two gable logs would be placed in notches cut into the ribs and chamfered at the ends to snit the pitch of the roof. The remaining ribs and gable logs being placed, the roof was then ready for the clapboards, which are laid down upon the ribs with the lower ends resting against the butting poles, with small spaces between, which are top-covered so as to break joints. knees out of the hearts of the clapboard bolts of proper length are prepared at each end, resting endwise against the butting poles to hold the weight poles in place, which are laid upon the ease-courses as nearly over the ribs as possible. In like manner, another course of clapboards is laid down with the lower end resting against the weight pole of the lower course. In this manner the roof is completed." This minute account from an eyewitness is a graphic picture of an undertaking which the present generation is apt to Took upon as a very simple matter. But it needs only a careful perusal of the foregoing description to learn that scarcely less skill was required under the disadvantages of that time-without tools save an ax, without nails and with no mills-to put up a substantial dwelling that would last for a score of years, and comfortably keep a family through the severest weather. And these structures were generally completed in a day, with fire-place, chimney, doors and windows of the most primitive fashion, the whole being dedicated to the household gods by a frolic that lacked none of its relish because it had been earned by hard work. It is not difficult, however, to under-stand from this description. that in an undertaking which required only numbers in addition to what nature and the ordinary providence of the pioneer provided, to successfully accomplish, would prove anything but an easy task to the little community on the Miami. Their first efforts at farming were carried on under equally disadvantageous circumstances. They were pioneers in the strictest sense of the word. \o settlements had gone further north, leaving a well-defined trail * Antrim's History. HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 363 behind them, but each family hewed his own way through the dense forest, and once settled, began to clear a space where the unobstructed sunshine could warm the earth into yielding a harvest. Dogs were the only thing that the community seemed to have in abundance. For some time a wagon belonging to Philip Matthews was the only vehicle of any sort for miles about, and that was practically useless on account of the forbidding character of the trails. Each man had cut so much of a trail as was was necessary for his ingress, and had, since then, found no time for the working of any road. When Shaw came to Miami, he sold his wagon and most of movable property, dud brought his family and household goods in a borrowed wagon, pulling it over such togs as would admit of such summary proceedings, and evading others of a more formidable Size. This was tree of this part of the county until about 1813, when Mr, Shaw went sixteen miles to "work on-the road." He was obliged to start in the middle of the night, carrying the day's board with him. Thus almost entirely cut off from the outside world, their dependence for subsistence was almost wholly upon the soil. Indian corn grew readily with such cultivation as could be given with the crude implements of the time-right-hand plows with wooden moldboards, harrows with wooden teeth, or the top of a small tree for a substitute, In the second or third year an attempt was made to raise wheat, sowing it broadcast among the standing corn. This proved for years an almost total failure. Clouds of blackbirds Hocked to the field and picked the grain up before hardly a kernel could be covered. Mr. John Shaw relates that, to defeat the birds, his father would sow between but two rows of corn at a time, while his boys would follow close after him, chopping the ground with hoes, to cover the wheat. In some places, even after this laborious effort to secure wheat, it seemed to draw such rank growth from the soil that it proved unfit for food. When once grown, it had to be carried to Urbana, and later to Spring Hill, to be converted into flour. For some years, however, all flour was obtained at Springfield. Wheat could not be raised under the various drawbacks, and flour was bought in Kentucky and brought to the principal town on the frontier, which was then the only market. Here, after a tedious journey by bridle-paths, through thickets and underbrush, the pioneers of Miami went to get salt and such other necessities that corn could not supply. Game was found in great abundance, which helped to solve the problem of how this land was to be settled. Without this addition to the resources of the pioneer, this land mist bare remained a waste wilderness for wears, But, for all that, the game was not an unmixed blessing. The limited amount of stock owned in the Miami settlement was in constant danger from the attacks of wolves dud bears, while the birds and raccoons exacted heavy tolls from the growing crops. Most of the settlers had firearms, but a larger proportion of them than we of a later day are want to suppose were poor hunters, or did not find time to hunt more than necessity compelled. Trapping, however, served an excellent purpose at this juncture, securing the needed provision and, at the same time, allowing the farmer to devote his time to his improvement mode of capturing wild turkeys. which yielded large results, was to build a square pen of common fence rails some three feet high, covering; it with the same, A trail of corn or wheat was laid, leading to an opening at the bottom of the pen. A trap thus constructed and baited would frequently catch a whole flock, which, attracted by the grain. would follow up the trail and unconsciously pass into the rage, and, becoming bewildered, would fail to find a way out again. For deer, 364 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. wolves and smaller game, a snare was constructed of a tough, elastic undergrowth sapling, to the end of which a rope with running noose was attached, The sapling bent over, and the noose adjusted so that an animal must put its head through it to obtain the bait, was the whole plan. This required some care, however, and made satisfactory returns only to the most skillful. The dead-fall was used more particularly for wolves and small " varmints." This consisted of a trap with weighted slab, which, when sprung came down upon the victim with crushing force, The larger ones, intended for wolf-catching, were very powerful, and sometimes proved dangerous to the trapper, if carelessly placed when baiting it. From such sources came a not inconsiderable revenue. Wolf scalps were a legal tender for taxes; deer furnished not only meat for the table, but material for the hunters clothing, and the various fur-bearing animals supplied the table with those commoner luxuries to be obtained only at the store, miles away. Since the coming of the first families, the Indians had maintained, so far, a friendly attitude toward the settlers, The disturbing element had withdrawn and had met a severe chastisement at Tippecanoe, A village of the Shawanoes or Shawnees, known among the settlers as Oldtown, was located on the bank of Stony Creek, about a mile and a half southwest of the present town of De Graff: A good many of its inhabitants, however, soon left after the accessions to the settlement began to be more numerous, so that there was barely a representation of the natives in 1812. But a few miles north there was no such lack of the native lords of the forest, and the "troublous times " that were ushered in by this year, brought to this community, as to many others in the Northwest, days of anxiety and nights of fear. It was a matter of momentous interest to this community to learn the attitude of the tribes that occupied the adjoining territory, Opposite Oldtown, or nearly so, on the banks of the same stream, a block house was put up by Hiram Curry, at the suggestion of the settlers, who feared that the Indians here might not prove friendly, but, fortunately, was never needed for warlike purposes. The part played by the Indians in these times has keen set forth elsewhere, in this volume. and need not be recited here. Suffice it to say, the friendly tribes were collected elsewhere in the county anti guarded, while they were protected from the assaults of the hostile savages. Every precaution, however, was taken to protect this settlement from hostile incursions. The unarmed settlers were furnished with muskets and packages of cartridges, though there is no record of any of them being used against the savages. Notwithstanding these measures, the settlers knowing the weakness of their position. were easily alarmed . Soldiers passing through this section, kept them alive to what was going on beyond their sight and hearing, and vague rumors finding means of spreading in some incomprehensible way, kept many in a chronic state of fear. Mr. Shaw relates that the dogs of the settlement could be heard for three miles about, anti when one began to bark, the whole dog community set up a disturbance that made every settler believe the Indians were right upon them, Old Mr, Shaw was seriously ill with a miasmatic fever at that time, and he had made up his mind to make no struggle if attacked, His wife, frequently alarmed by the dogs, would leave the cabin, and, with the gun near her, hide in a brush-heap until the cold drone her back to the cabin again. With the return of peace, the Indians resumed their old haunts, but only for the temporary purposes of hunting and begging. Bead-work and fancy baskets were sold by the squaws, and their camps often presented a picturesque picture of the "noble HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 365 red men '' lolling shout the fires, while the squaws, busy with the colored strips of wood with which they made their baskets, worked by the fire-light. The baskets, filled with cranberries, which the marshes further north bore in abundance, were very tempting and found a ready sale at the larger settlements. In the meanwhile the settlement began to think shout assuming the duties and responsibilities of citizens. It was with considerable difficulty that the requisite fifteen voters were Found. Lot they were at length mustered at Mr. Shaw's house for an election of a Justice of the Peace. The candidates were Robert Dickson and Benjamin Schooler, and each tuck up his position on either side of the broad fire-place, one with a two-gallon jug and the other with a small cask containing whisky: as each man voted he took a drink of his candidate's whisky. Each of the contestants had thus polled seven votes, including his own, and only Shaw had not voted. Here was a dilemma, the old man feeling that he could be "happy with either, were t other dear charmer away," vacillated between the two, finally voting for Schooler. The defeated candidate at puce contested the election, on the ground that Shaw had voted after the prescribed hour for choosing, the polls. and the result was set aside. In the next election the procedure was followed, but anxious to do equal justice. Shaw cast the final vote, but cast it for Dickson. He declined the whisky before, but on this occasion he was forced to drink from both jug and cask. The demand for milling facilities was a very urgent one from the first. Removed from the nearest mill by miles of almost trackless forest, the settlers found it an almost intolerable burden to go to mill with their corn and wheat. Various devices were resorted to, to obviate this necessity. A rude mortar was fashioned out of a large block and a spring-pole made of a strong sapling to which was attached a pole in the end of which was fastened an iron wedge. With this contrivance bushels of corn were " cracked'' for the family use. Stansbury had a hand - mill of his own construction that would grind a kernel of corn at a time into a coarse sort of meal, but it was not available for the settlement. With a shrewd eye to business, how ever, he set shout building a mill on Stony Creek, near his place, as early as 1806, but it was a slow business single handed, and it was not until 1810 that he got it into successful operation. The character of the stream presented some difficulties that were found difficult to overcome with the means at command in that early day. The low banks of the river were easily overflowed and the stream in this vicinity became a broad lake that it was necessary to dam before the mill could become an active member Of the community. The dam was some ten rods long, acid was made of brush and logs in the ordinary way of such structures. When completed, the mill was leased to John Provolt, who continued operating for some months. when it was burned. This was a serious calamity, but what added to the seriousness of the occurrence was the fact that it was generally believed to have been fired by an incendiary, Stansbury had some serious disagreement with Provolt, in regard to the milk and, from the known character of the man and other evidence, public suspicion pointed at once to Stansbury as the author of the conflagration. The mill was not rebuilt, and the settlement was forced to send once more to other mills. Spring Hill being at the time the nearest point. The settlement of ether parts of the township was much later than at the bend and upper part of the Miami River. A little colony of substantial people gathered in the vicinity of where Olive Chapel now stands, among whom were the families of Abner Newman, 366 -HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. Nichols, Joseph Cannan, Jacob Kress, and Thomas Spellman. The most of these families came from Kentucky or Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1828. Farther west was John Leash, from Kentucky, and on the river, on the site of Quinsy, was James R. Baldwin from Berkeley County, Virginia. He was the earliest settler at this point. He was a tanner by trade, and early set about building up a business in the new country. It may be said, in passing, that this point seemed especially adapted to the tanning business little later John Saylor set up in the business a mile and a half southeast of Quinsy and Thomas Turner shout a mile down the river. He bought a quarter section of land situated on the high bluff on the south bank of the river, and hoped to make his fortune out of the rise in land when the canal curve up to that point. In 1825 James Canby same from Lebanon, Ohio, and settled near the present site of De Graff. He was the first doctor in this part of the county, but, aside from Iris professional character, he was a stirring business man, and soon found out a way to employ his activities. He seems to have shared in the belief that slack water navigation would extend up the river at that point, and, purchasing land here, he put up a grist-mill in 1828. Baldwin was the only resident at this point then, but the mill soon attracted emigration. Everybody turned out and built the brush dam, which was unusually well strengthened and remains to this day, where the curious may see a sample of the engineering of the early time. Two run of stone were placed in the mill; one set of burr stones were got from the "Raccoon Quarries, " while the other was the common "signer head," and were used simply to "crack " corn. Some years later, a saw-mill was added. These industries attracted settlers from Clarke and Champaign Counties, and quite a community gathered about the future head of slack-water navigation. In September, 1831, John Bell with his wife came to Quinsy. He was a native of Berkeley County, Virginia, and an old acquaintance of Baldwin's. He had settled at Springfield, Clarke County, Ohio, and had carried on the tanning business, renting the property he used. Unable sable to renew his lease, he began to look shout for another opening, when he heard of the prospect at Quincy, and moved immediately. He had learned the tanner's trade in the same yard where Baldwin served his apprenticeship, and soon rented the yard in Quinsy, which he conducted for a number of years. He put up a log cabin in the newly laid-out town, which was the only one beside Baldwin's at this point. Enoch Smith and Thomas Stanage, an unmarried man. were here when he same; and Benjamin Cox farther west. In the December following, Jesse Dodson same and put up the first store in the north part of the old town. His first start was in a small room in the end of his dwelling. His business grew, however, and later, in partnership with Manlove Chambers, did a brisk business. He afterwards met with financial disaster, the first victim of a considerable number among the early business men of the town. In 1830 Mr. Baldwin laid out a tier of lots on either side of Main street, aggregating thirty-four lots, and called it the village of Quincy, to express his admiration of John Quinsy Adams. Three years later he added thirty-two lots adjoining the former on the south, through which passes South street. In this same year, Manlove Chambers, who owned land west of the town, platted a triangular addition of twenty-three lots, about which Darlington, Liberty and Carlisle streets describe the outlines. In 1836, twenty-one lots were laid out on Walnut street, and two years later Thomas J. Harriman added all that part lying directly on the river, and in 1839, the HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY - 267 Chambers addition was extended to take in nine more lots. The business growth of the village at first was rapid, and bade fair to be the only business center of the township. The failure of the canal to come to the aid of the ambitious little village was the first damper upon its prospects. Later, Mr. Baldwin engaged in merchandising, but failed to make a success of it. In his failure, he unfortunately seriously compromised the interests of the town. He had mortgaged the unsold portion of his land, lying between Carlisle and Canby streets, and all south of the two Baldwin allotments. This property was sold on a mortgage of $83,000, and bought in by the mortgagees. These parties lived in the East, and being persons of wealth, and believing the property to be valuable, kept it out of the market for some years, to the great detriment of the town. When the railroad came through, the land had come into the possession of heirs, and they, cherishing the same notion, gave a liberal grant for depot purposes, engaging the railroad company to put up various buildings, besides a water tank, but still held the lots. Whatever impulse that the railroad might have given, the growth of the viliage was thus materially modified. Within the last few years this property has been put in market, and is rapidly being built up. About 1845 W. and D. Josephs brought to Quincy a small stock of goods, and opened a store. They soon established an ashery, which proved to be a valuable investment. They were stirring, shrewd business risen, and soon infused a vigor in the business life of the town that made it seem like a new place. As their trade increased they expanded their business, renting the mills, continuing their ashery, adding a tailoring; department and increasing their facilities for handling dry-goods, groceries, boots and shoes and hardware. It is said that in a two days' trip to Cincinnati they would purchase $10,000 worth of goods, buying as high as ten hogsheads of sugar and fifteen to twenty sacks of coffee at a time, Six and eight clerks were kept busy waiting on the trade that came from all parts of the country, from Bellefontaine, Sidney, West liberty and other points. Their main building was sixty-six feet long, with an L fifty-seven feet long, and the whole eighteen feet wide. In addition to this they purchased everything a farmer had to sell. Corn, wheat; hogs and cattle were bought in large quantities, and it is said every empty building near their place of business was at times filled to bursting with grain. But there was another feature of their business that failed to receive its due weight with the farmers. They were the heaviest borrowers of money in the county, and almost every farmer in this section held their paper, with the most extravagant interest. After continuing business for some fifteen years, there came a time when they found it difficult to meet the payment of a large bill in Cincinnati, and a hurried assignment was made with liabilities at $70,000. It was a terrible blow to the whole country around the village. Many farmers had borrowed money at a low rate to loan to the Josephs at a. higher rate of interest. Others had accepted notes fur produce sold, and were doing business on this paper, and, when the bubble burst, it is said that the town clerk was kept busy recording sales of chattel property which changed ostensible owners to aye being levied on in consequence of this failure, This was the hardest blow at the prosperity of the town that had yet been given. and it seemed for a time as if the fatal symbol Ichabod had been written upon its history to remain forever. The town is now recovering: The Blatchlay lands are being built up, local business, warranted by the steady growth of the community, is showing a thrifty increase, and Quincy will yet justify 368 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. the sanguine hopes of its friends and citizens. The village was incorporated in 1853, and V. E. Bunker was the first Mayor; A. J. Darnels, Recorder. Good stone walks are laid down on Miami street, and the streets ore pitied in a way that answers every purpose of paving. There are the usual number of stores, a hob and spoke factory, a grist-mill, with another to be built the coming year, and two steam elevators that handle upwards of 50,000 bushels of grain per year. The present officers are-Thomas Bell, Mayor, and B. N. Leedom, Recorder. The site of De Graff, with the whole of fractional section 12 (some 503 acres). was entered as early as 1805, by John Boggs, a resident of Pickaway County, Ohio, and laid for years uncultivated and out of the market. In 1826, however, his son, William, desiring to make a start in the world for himself, he gave him this property, which he at once preceded to occupy. In the year named, he came in a wagon with his wife and child, accompanied by a man who had worked for his father, and had taken land in this vicinity in payment. He selected a fine site on a high hill west of the site of the village, overlooking the river and a fine stretch of country to the south, and camped in his wagon on until his cabin was completed, which is still standing, in good condition. In 1833, Mr. Boggs built a saw-mill just below his cabin, going to Columbus for his machinery. In 1840, he built a grist-mill, which is still standing, now owned by Mathias Wolf. In 1850, he laid out the village of De Graff The Bellefontaine and Indiana road, now "Bee Line," had been projected, and even staked out at this time, and John Koke, who had purchased the land of Mr. Boggs. in company with Samuel Gilfillin, platted some sixty lots, one third of which were on the southeast side of the track. It appears that Mr. Koke found it difficult to carry out his contract, and the land, yr a portion of it, reverted to the original owner. It appears that David Lewis, a noted land speculator of that day, and a resident of Cincinnati, tried to secure this section, but was disappointed be John Boggs buying it before him. It was his intention of laying curt a town at once, or as soon as possible, on the very spot where DeGraff now stands. The location of the railroad insured the success of the town, and it was appropriately named after the railroad magnate that pushed the railroad enterprise to completion. The site chosen was on high, rolling ground, in the path of the great tornado of 1825. The great oak trees had not been cleared away, and to add to the unpleasant features of the place, a dense growth of underbrush had sprung up, presenting anything but a desirable building; sent. But railroads were a comparatively new and important thing at that time. and no one hesitated because of the unfavorableness of the prospect. In three years after the original platting of the town, thirty-three lots were added between Miami and Haves streets, and in 1856 nineteen lots between Miami and Race streets were platted, Two years later, fifty-one lots were added north of Miami street, extending into Pleasant Township. Several considerable additions have since been made, until it now ranks second only to Bellefontaine in the county, and some ambitious citizen has studied the census of the present year (1880) until he has arrived at the conclusion that it ranks the thirty-sixth in the State. The first business was introduced in the town by J. M. Askrin, in April, 1851. In the following May, A. J. Lippincott, from Lippincott Station, in an adjoining county, put up a store, and commenced business. It was expected by the proprietors that Boggs street would prove the principal street for business, but to this Mr. Lippincott dissented. and erected the first building on the east side of NO PAGES 369 OR 370 HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 371 Main street. The event has justified his judgment, and Main street is now the principal . business street. The "Miami House " is the oldest frame building on Main street. The frame was put up at an early date, but for several rears it stood uninclosed, a rather depressing object to would-be settlers. The platting of a village so close to Quincy naturally excited not a little jealousy and alarm among the citizens of that borough, and it is safe to say that nothing was done by them to help the new venture along. De Graff grew but slowly, yet did not cease its progress, and each year found it a little nearer success. The projected Louisville and Sandusky railroad which promised to go through the village, but was not built. served to attract attention to it, and helped its growth. It was for several years undecided, the business men of De Graff investing liberally in its stock, and so long as it stood in this shape it was a benefit to the town. Later the pike which opened up the Muchinippi Valley brought an increased amount .if trade. This, with the depressing influences at work at Quincy, gave the new town a ,tart which it has not since lost. Mr. Boggs has from the first proved a public-spirited citizen, and has freely invested his money when the prospect promised mere benefit to the growth of his village than financial returns to himself. One of his earliest enterprises was the erection of a warehouse for Aaron Mitchel "old Uncle Ben," us the citizens loved to call him-who, without capital, began to purchase wheat with the aid of Mr. Boggs, and soon made De Graff one of the best markets for grain in the county, with profit both to himself and the town. Of late years the growth of De Graff has been more rapid, during the last decade wresting the second place from West Liberty. In 1864, the depot, freight-office, and the bull: of the business was done in the old warehouse; now, in 1880, it has a large depot with two immense water-tanks and the Nest freight record of any town, save the county seat, on this line of road. In 1864 there was one drug-store; now there are two. There were two dry-goods stores. and now four; beside the addition of two tin shops, a hardware store, two barker shops, two meat shops, a bank, and a fine union school building. There are two warehouses that handle upwards of 200,000 bushels of wheat in a year; a grist-mill that does a large commercial business, and a saw-mill that turned out 250, 000 feet of lumber, on railroad contracts, last year. The village was incorporated in 1864, with the first officers as follows; A. J. Lippincott, Mayor; Mathias Wolf, Recorder, and Frank Kating, Dr. R. S. Gilchrist, G. Shoemaker, Samuel Prince aril James Hays, Councilmen. The first council passed, at their first regular lay session. an ordinance directing that a Marshal. Treasurer and Street Commissioner be elected annually. On the following April, Owen Concklin was made Marshal, and John Shoemaker, Sr., Treasurer. In the following year, grades for the streets were established and sidewalks ordered, and in 1874 improved sidewalks were required on Main, Miami, Boggs, Koke ,Hays, Moore and Church streets, some of them being of bereastone and others of gravel and brick. in 1877 the one half lot No. 20, fronting on Main street, was bought, at a cost of $500, on which to erect a town hall. A fine, two-story brick was at once erected at a cost of $3,300, In this building, on the ground floor, are the engine and hook and ladder truck, the Mayor's office and the "lockup." The latter consists of two roomy cells in the rear part of the building, lined with boiler-iron on a fifteen-inch brick wall and floored, stone on concrete. Until 1873, no provision had been made for defence against fire. In that year a hook and ladder true): was purchased. at a cost of $225, and a volunteer company formed to man it. August 20, 1880, a No. 5 nickel-plated Silsby 372 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. steam fire engine was received, with two hose reels and 1,000 feet of good rubber hose, at a total cost, for the whole apparatus, of $3,750. Two large cisterns, holding about 350 barrels of water each, furnish the supply for a portion of the town, while the millrace, which encircles the town on the south, furnishes an inexhaustible supply for the larger part of the village. The engine is propelled by hand, which is an easy matter where the roads never get muddy. The present officials of the village are; H. H. Barr, Mayor; W. H. Hinkle, Recorder; James Longfellow, Marshal;. A. Weller, Treasurer; M. Wolf, Dr. D. W. Richardson, S. K. \ Neer, James Hays, Milton Richards and H. Thacher, Councilmen. The history of these villages would hardly be complete without some notice of the. terrible tornado of July 7, 1872, which visited them with terrible effect, and we copy an account which appeared in the Cincinnati Gazette, and quoted in Antrim's history of Champaign and Logan counties. "Indications of a storm were apparent to the close observer during the day, but as twilight came on the clearness of the atmosphere and the strange quiet that seemed to affect all things, gave everybody the cue to what was to follow. The whirlwind came from the west, and at about half-past sin o'clock it struck in the vicinity of Quincy, tearing the forest to pieces, and then, after leaving their broken remnants behind it, coming upon the town itself. It looked like a massive balloon as it sped on its mission of destruction, and little clouds appeared to be pursuing each other with lightning rapidity through the upper section of it, while the lower part, corresponding to the lower part of an aeronaut's vessel, seemed like the chimney of a locomotive, 3s it struck the town, houses, barns, stables, outhouses, buildings of every description. went to pieces ,with a continuous crashing that sounded like the shock of armies in battle, and the terror-stricken citizens, such as were unhurt, rushed wildly to and fro with irresolute mind, but feet of courier swiftness. Shouts of joy from mothers, finding their last offspring; from husbands, at seeing their wives again, and from children, being assured of their parents' safety, mingled with lamentations of grief from those whose search was unrewarded. "The scenes were such as would have ensued had the end of the world arrived, and there is, perhaps, no resident of the town who did not, for the moment, thick that such was the case. The terror was universal, and every thought was of self, until the wind had expended its force. When the nature of the shock was understood, however, many persons recovered a portion of their lost courage, and their thoughts reverted to their relatives and friends. They then endeavored to ascertain their whereabouts-and many who left their houses under such circumstances, fell in the streets, struck by flying timbers and debris. After the shock had lasted about a moment, its destroying force was carried onward to De Graff, which is situated three miles from Quincy, and there the same scenes were reenacted among the populace. The destruction was principally wrought in the best section of the town, but was not as extensive as in Quincy. The whirlwind seemed to be traveling in a straight line, at the rate of sixty miles an hour, as it reached De Graff, and it covered territory from fifty to a hundred rods wide. After the hurricane had passed over De Graff, it progressed about three miles farther in its course, and then died away with its force expended. The citizens of the devastated villages were then able to proceed about the mournful task of hunting out the victims of the disaster, and the work was one to which all hands were turned, and which was soon completed. In De Graff about HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 373 fifteen persons were hurt. The house of Jonathan Roll, a large two-story frame, fronting on the main street of the hamlet, was badly riddled and the roof torn off; and, during the alarming crisis, the occupants became overwhelmed with terror, and rushed into the street. Mr. Roll, in person, carried his little daughter Lulie, a girl seven years of age, in his arms, and had scarcely left the building before a mass of flying wreck struck and knocked him to the earth, and covered his body and that of his daughter out of sight in the ruins. When the rescuers reached him, after the accident, the little girl, the pride of his heart, was still clasped in his arms; but her eves could never more twinkle the delight she felt while in his company, and her tiny hand could never more pat his cheek-she was dead; and the form, five minutes before all grace and beauty, was now distorted into a shape drat wrung Hoods of tears from those who witnessed the sight. Her injuries were so terrible that death could not hate been delayed long enough for her to know that she had received them. Mr. Roll suffered a broken shoulder blade and numerous severe bruises. His wife and Levanda Moses (her daughter by a former husband) met with an equally terrible misfortune in their effort to seek safety. The girl's brains were dashed out, and she was mutilated as badly as her half-sister, and Mrs. Roll had her left forearm crushed, besides severe internal injuries. "The ravages of the wind in De Graff are made plainly apparent to the occupants of passing railroad trains, and they still look confused and widespread, although every effort is being put forth to restore the town to its former shape. The chief thoroughfare abuts on the railway, and a view of it in the present condition is not gratifying. The last building on the east side of the street was a barn, which belonged to Newton Richardson, and adjoining it was the barn of Dr. Hance. Next to the last named came the frame house and stable of T. J. Smith, and then the Methodist Church, a lame frame structure. These buildings were all some distance back from the street, and were leveled flat. In front of the church was the dwelling house, store and barn of Mrs. Christine, and not an erect timber in either building was left standing. Mr. Poll's house and stable were situated next to Mrs. Christine's property, and the stable was wrecked completely. Adjoining the Poll homestead on the west were Mrs. Lippincott's house and barn. The house was bereft of its roof and otherwise damaged, while the stable was resolved into lumber on the spot. The last buildings on this side of Main street were a small brick building. occupied as a tin and stove store by Samuel Pratt, and the frame cabinet shop of .J. H. Rexer, both of which were ruined. "On the west side of the street the destruction was not so great as on the east, but the number of buildings partially destroyed was about even, The list opens with Newton Richardson's frame business house, which lost its roof, as did the adjoining store of Conrad Mohr. The dwelling of John Van Kirk came next, and was similarly treated, and the owner's saddle and harness shop next door also suffered scalping. The: next house was Schriver, Wolf & Co.'s dry-goods establishment, which, in addition to unroofing, was battered and broken in many places. good-sized frame next to this last named, occupied as a dry-goods store, and owned by Benjamin Crutcher, was unroofed and otherwise dammed, and tae hardware store of Grafford, Crutcher & Co., adjoining met with bad luck, being nearly destroyed. On Boggs street, in rear of Main, Mrs. Russell's dwelling house, Lippincott & Hersche's cooper shop and barn, and Lippincott's stable, were all very badly damaged, and on the west side of this street the dwellings of John 374 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. O'Hara and David Gainer suffered severely. "C. H. Custenborder, a farmer living half a mile distant, lost his house and two barns, all of which were blown to atoms. The grist and saw-mills of Schriver, Wolf & Co., near De Graff, were injured to a considerable extent. In Quincy, about seventy buildings are believed to hate been all or partially destroyed, and an estimating committee. who reckoned up the matter, calculated that the loss would reach $60,000. Among the chief losses were the following: Baptist and Methodist churches, frame buildings, both down; William Cloninger's blacksmith, cooper and wagon shops leveled with the ground, and dwelling house rendered uninhabitable for several days; the dwelling was moved twelve feet from its foundation; large frame house occupied by Daniel Clark and Edward Fitzgerald, was rendered almost valueless by the damage inflicted; Henry Keyser's frame house demolished; Elias Walburn's carriage shop partially destroyed; D. S. Wolf's hotel and pump factory, roof off the former, and the latter destroyed. "These were but few of the heaviest loses. Very few buildings in the entire town seem to have escaped the visitation. Several people were caught and imprisoned in the ruins of their own houses as they fell, and had to wait some time before succor came to them. The force of the hurricane was felt vent plainly in Quincy, and, as instances of its might, timbers of a thickness of eight or ten inches were blown from the Methodist Church edifice a distance of ten yards, and in one place, after the storm, a shingle was found driven into some weather-boarding, just as if it had been steel and as sharp pointed as a razor. In De Graff it drew a pump from the well of Alexander Corny, and threw it ten feet over his house. A large piece of tin roofing was carried away from the town hall in the latter village, and was thought by imaginative country men in its progress to be a winged gray horse. Masses of rubbish were carried several miles and deposited in fields, on the top of forest trees and elsewhere. " The first reliable intimation of the coming destruction was given to the inhabitants of De Graff by a countryman, who drone through town with his wagon as fast as his antiquated steed could go, shouting to the people to vacate their premises. Nobody understood the cause of his alarm, however, and many thought the volume of dust sweeping on toward them was caused by a runaway team. When the storm broke, a citizen named Johnson, whose chief physical peculiarity was a capacious abdomen. laid himself down beside a stone wall. He had not teen there thirty seconds before Mr. Graffort, the hardware man, came sailing along and anchored on top of Johnson. In another instant a Kentucky doctor of about Johnson's size capped the climax and buried the latter victim three deep with the lightness and ease of a three-story brick house. " The most miraculous event that occurred in De Graff is believed to have been the escape of a French stallion, a splendid animal, brat was lodged in a. stable on Main street. The stable was leveled flat with the ground, and a surface of perhaps 100 feet square was covered with corn-cobs and rubbish. and the animal was found afterwards standing where his stall ought to be, and calmly feeding cm the loose hay strewn about him. A similar incident was the escape of a brood of pigeons. On Hays street a small frame dwelling-house was turned hall' way around, with the gable end to the street, without displacing a board. The Ministerial Association of the Bellefontaine District was to have met in the Methodist Church on the 12th, but the situation did not promise a comfortable accommodation. In De Graff, the houseless ones were all provided with shelter by their neighbors; HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 375 but in Quincy the destruction was so general that many had to be sent to the country, and thrown on the hospitalities of the farmers. In many houses in Quincy the occupants could to seen at their work, by windows where sash and blind were gone, and in apartments with apertures large enough to admit a horse. The business men evinced that courage which marks the recovery from the blow as sure and certain. Stuck up conspicuously in every direction was the following notice, written in ink; Blown down, but alive and reads to do dusty in my dwelling-house, one door north of the old stand. Sam. Frantz, stoves, queensware, etc. We now come to speak: of the churches. Perhaps the earliest preaching here was in 1813. At that time James Sutton, a Baptist minister, moved into the settlement, and aided the people in their devotional exercises. He was a man some eighty sears old, and Karl a wife some sixty years younger than himself. His wife soon died however, and he left the place, John Gutridge was an early preacher, who found his way through the woods on a missionary tour. He was a native of Kentucky, and when a boy earned the title of "the wagon-boy," while t teaming for his father. The family afterward moved to Adams County, Ohio, and John, at maturity, became a Bap fist preacher. He used to preach in Schooler's log barn, which, though small, afforded ample room for the little congregation that gathered there. Schooler was by no means a devout man. Indeed, it is related of him that he prided himself somewhat upon his skill in profanity, but he courted popularity, and opened his barn to the minister as a part of his plan to secure the applause of his neighbors After the first schoolhouse was built, meetings were held here, and it served the double, purpose of school and meeting-house for years. The first organized church was probably in the Newman neighborhood. Here a log church was erected in 1828, where a Methodist class had been previously organized. To this point the members of this denomination gathered for miles around and constituted an organization of some twenty-five members. The building was arranged as was common in those days. The seats were principally of smooth rails supported on legs, To furnish the necessary warmth, a square box was placed in the centre of the room and filled with dirt; on this a wood fire was built, allow ing the smoke to escape where it could. Fortunately for the comfort of the audience, the character of the early building offered little obstruction to the passage of smoke, and the people suffered no great inconvenience from this source. Later, charcoal was used, and the people were saved from more serious consequences by the free ventilation allowed in the construction of the cabin. About 1840 the present frame building; was erected, and the name shamed from the popular title of Newman Church to Ohio Chapel, About a year later the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination erected a frame building in Quincy, but it has long ago passed away as a society here, and the building is now used as a stable. Baptist society was the next to follow in building a church edifice, but that was blown down in 1872, and the society, too weak to rebuild it, practically disbanded anti joined the Methodist society. This latter society was formed at an early day, and preaching was held in James Baldwin's cabin as early as 1828. A frame building was put up as early as 1852, under the inspiration of Rev, Thomas Simms. This was destroyed in 1872, and in 1874 a fine brick edifice was put up at a cost of some $5,000. There are about 200 members in this organization. The Universalists have a church building here, but the society has lost as vigor, and their building is used for public entertainments, as a public 376 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. hall. With the founding of De Graff, and the gathering of a community. at this point came the demand for church organizations. The fierce jealousy that manifested itself in its rivalry for urban honors. found its way into the church as well as into business. and many who were members of the Quincy churches could not secure permission to organize churches here. Preaching was had. however, at stated times. the people all joining to hear the different preachers. using the old warehouse as the most available place of worship. Somewhere about 1852, a church building was erected by general subscription. which was to be called the Presbyterian Church of De Graff. Here all united for several years. until the different denominations grew strong enough to provide for themselves. Rev. William M. Galbreath supplied the pulpit for the Presbyterians at first. The society was independently organized about 1860, under the direction of Rev. A, Telford. with some eighteen or twenty members. and is still maintaining its services, It has at present some sixty members. with Rev, Francis Linn as "stated supply." The Methodist society erected their first church somewhere about 1855. Revs. Foster and Oldfield were early preachers in the old warehouse, but Rev. William Boggs organized the first class. consisting of same ten persons. among whom were Dennis Warner and wife. Isaac Smith and wife and Mrs, R. S. Gilchrist. The first place of worship was a frame building standing on the lot now owned by Jacob Andie. In the tornado of 1872, it was blown to atoms. It had just been repaired and refitted inside and out. provided with new singing books, organ. etc., when it was all swept away. The only thing saved out of the wreck was the pulpit bible. which was found near by. entirely unharmed. A new lot on Main street was purchased. and preparations at once put on foot to erect another place of worship. In the meanwhile. they used the Presbyterian building until. in 1874, the society dedicated a fine brick edifice which cost some $12,000. The tower is supplied with a fine town clock. which was put in by general subscription, There are now about 250 members. only four of which are of the original class. The Baptist Church was organized in February, 1859 and in the following year their brick edifice was erected at a cost of $1,800. The society had some difficulty in securing a separate organization on account of the jealousy of the home church in Quincy, and for some time it was only a branch of that church. and had preaching once a month. This church started with some twenty-five members. only nine of whom were males. The first regular Pastor was Rev. A. J. Wiant, who served them for six years. They have now about 100 members. In December of 1877, Rev. Thomas Heston organized the Christian Church, with some fifteen members. In just one year their brick church was dedicated, and practically clear of debt, though it cost some $1,500 no. light load for such a small organization to carry. A bell has since been added at a cost of about $90. The first regular Pastor was Mr. Heston, The present Pastor is Rev. Daniel Lepley There are three representatives of the great benevolent societies in Miami Township. At Quincy is Quincy Lodge. No. 285, I. O. O. F,, instituted in 1851, They own the building in which their hall is situated in partnership with a business firm that occupies the lower part of the building, There are about forty members, The officers are as follows: Levi Bitter. N, G.; E. F. Curtis. V. G,; Price Castle, Rec: Sec.; E. F, Clay, Per,-Sec,, and Jacob Allinger, Treas. At De Graff, is De Graff Lodge. No, 549, I. O. O. F,. instituted July 16, 1873. The charter members were-D. W, Harris, Charles Gessner, Samuel Thatcher, Milton HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 377 Steen, A, E. Cory, Jonathan Thatcher, R, J. Smith, Robert Dickson, Adam Martin. George W, Nicewarner, F. H. Goodheart, Marion McAlexander, Robert Brunson, D, H, McKinnon, H. D, Young and Lafayette McAlexander, The present officers are-Thomas Heston, N, G.; William Pash, V, G,; Mark Hiller, Rec,-Sec,; A, J, Smith, Per.-Sec.; S. H. Thatcher, Tress. The lodge has a fine hall in Thayer's block, and has about forty members, Boggs Lodge, No. 292, F. & A. M., own a fine hall here which they built in connection with Mr, Weller, in 1876, at a cost of some $1,400. It has about seventy members.* The first schoolhouse made its appearance in the same year with the first minister, 1813. The people who first settled in Miami were generally of slight education, but they desired better things for their children, and provided school privileges. The first schoolhouse was a round, log affair, with a root of round logs covered with leaves, and mode solid by dirt thrown upon them. This was located about a able north of Shaw's residence. Here Eleazer Piper, Jonathan Rea and Mr. Trust swung the birch and trained the budding intellects of the children of the frontier. These teachers all taught on the good old plan of so much per head, and took payment in produce. Mr, Treat, however, was a man of some means, and consented to teach only for cash, and $8 in cash was therefore paid him. This was quite an undertaking for the settlers, and it is related that Mr, Shaw had to take a couple of hogs to Urbana to defray his share of the expense. About a year later, another schoolhouse was built on the land now owned by Addison Henderson. John Waller taught here, and was the first of the frontier school teachers who could write, and this accomplishment gained him no little distinction. Since then the schools at Miami have made * The writer has failed to receive the further information promised, and is obliged to dismiss the lodge with this statement in regard to it. rapid progress. Six schoolhouses, besides the special districts, to say nothing of improved methods, represent the advance in this direction. The statistics gleaned from the County Auditor's reports make the following showing: Balance on hand, September 1, 1878, $498.99; State tax, $351; local tax, $994.80; total amount paid teachers, $1,256; balance on hand, September 1, 1879, $403.13. Number of schoolhouses, 6, and value of the same, $2,800. Number of pupils enrolled-boys, 92; girls, 89. Of the special districts, that of De Graff was erected first. As early as 1856, it was arranged to have the town set apart as a school district, and, by local enterprise, better facilities were secured, But, in 1864, the special district was organized and a neat, frame building, now used by the Catholic Church as a place of worship, was erected, at a cost of $600. In 1867, a brick structure of four departments was substituted, at a cost of $8,000, which reef the wants of the district until 1877, when it was torn down and the present elegant building put up in its place. This contains six rooms, and is located in spacious grounds on the corner of Boggs and Miami streets, It was erected at a cost of $14,000. The special district at Quincy was erected in 1865, and a two-story frame was erected to accommodate the scholars. This is now doing service as a public hall, etc. In 1876, a commodious brick building was put up, at a cost of $7,000 for grounds and building. The statistics of these districts are as follows; Quincy De Graff. Balance on hand, Sept, 1, 1878................. $ 718 83 7,307 89 State tax..................................................... 193 50 456 00 Local tax.................................................... 2,543 96 3,807 22 Total amount paid teachers during year.... 815 00 1,711 75 Balance on hand, Sept. 1,1879.................. 1,109 77 1,130 68 Number of schoolhouses .......................... 1 1 Value of property...................................... 5,000 00 1,500 00 * No. scholars enrolled, boys 52, girls 46 boys 72, girls 68 * The new building does not appear in this year's report (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)