HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 339

CHAPTER VII.

BOUNDARIES OF MADISON COUNTY-ERECTION OF TOWNSHIPS-AREA AND
STREAMS -TOPOGRAPHY-APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY WHEN FIRST
SETTLED-PRAIRIE FIRES-TIMBER-GEOLOGICAL SERIES-DRIFT AND
SOILS-WATER SUPPLY-WILD ANIMALS AND REPTILES.

MADISON COUNTY is bounded on the north by Union, on the east by Franklin and Pickaway, on the south by Fayette and on the west by Greene, Clark and Champaign Counties. It is divided into fourteen townships, six of which were erected April 30, 1810, viz., Darby, Jefferson, Deer Creek, Union, Pleasant and Stokes. They embraced all of Madison, as well as a portion of what is now in Union and Clark Counties. In the course of time, other townships became a necessity, and were erected in the following order : Range, December 7 , 1812; Pike, September 5, 1814; Monroe, March 16, 1819; Phelps, which title was subsequently changed to Canaan, June 7, 1819 ; Fairfield, June 2, 1835 ; Somerford, March 4, 1839; Paint, June 7, 1853, and Oak Run, March 5, 1856. The county contains an area of 470 square miles, and is divided into four principal water-sheds by Big Darby, Little Darby, Deer Creek and Paint Creek. The head-waters of Big Darby are located in the northeast part of Champaign County and southeast portion of Logan. Taking a southeast direction across Union County, it enters Madison at Plain City; passing thence through Darby and Canaan Townships, it forms the boundary line between Madison and Franklin Counties along the greater portion of Canaan and Jefferson Townships; leaving the latter at its southeast corner, it passes on through Franklin and Pickaway Counties and empties into the Scioto River near Circleville. Little Darby rises in the northeastern part of Champaign County and southwestern part of Union : flowing thence in a southeasterly direction through Pike, Monroe and Jefferson Townships, leaving the latter subdivision near its southeast corner, and forming a junction with Big Darby at Georgesville, in Franklin County. The fountain-head of Deer Creek is, we might sac, in Somerford Township, although it extends across the line into Clark County. Taking a southeastern course, it drains the townships of Somerford, Deer Creek, Union. Oak Run, Fairfield and Pleasant; thence passing through the counties of Fayette and Pickaway, empties into the Scioto in the northern part of Ross. Paint Creek, which drains the southwestern portion of Madison County, takes its rise in the southeast part of Clark. Meandering in its southern course through Paint and Stokes Townships. it flows on through Fayette, Highland and Ross Counties, discharging its waters into the Scioto below Chillicothe. Big Darby was called after a Wyandot chief named Darby who dwelt upon its banks, and the smaller stream of that name derives its title from the same source. Deer Creek traces the origin of its name back to the time when the Indians camped upon its banks and the white race had not yet disturbed their freedom or encroached upon their domain. Upon the banks of Deer Creek grew a moss which was a favorite food of

340 - TORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

the deer, and here they came in herds to feed upon this succulent growth of provident nature, only to meet death from the arrow or unerring rifle of the red man. After the coming of the whites, the deer still frequented this stream, and the Indian name was retained. Paint Creek was named by Nathaniel Massie on account of a certain clay which the Indians found along its banks or in its bed, and used in painting or bedaubing their bodies. Beginning in the northern portion of the county, the main streams are fed by many tributaries throughout their entire course, principal among which are Spring Fork, Barron Run, Sweeney's Run, Mammoth Run, Three-Mile Run, George's Creek. Oak Run, Glade Run, Crooked Run, Coniac Run, Price's Run, Walnut Run, Opossum Run, Sugar Run, Bradford's Fork, Thompson's Fork, laud Run, Willow Spring Branch, East, West and North Forks of Paint Creek, and Duff's Fork. In the southwestern corner of the county. South Branch of Massie's Creek, a tributary of the Little Miami. assists the drainage in that direction, but as nearly all these tributaries are local we refer the reader to the histories of the different townships, where a fuller description of them will be found.

In 1878, Prof. Edward Orton, Assistant State Geologist, made a geological survey of Madison County, and in that article gives the following description of its topography. He says : Its surface is comparatively level. Its lowest land is found in the southeastern corner, near Mount Sterling, in the valley of Deer Creek. Its highest land lies to the west and northwest of London, and is about 1,100 feet above the level of the sea. The range of the county does not probably exceed 300 feet. The altitude of a few of the principal points in the county are subjoined: London. 1,010 feet above tide water ; West Jefferson, 880 feet ; Mount Sterling, 865 feet ; Midway, 950 feet; county infirmary: 1,100 feet; county line on Xenia pike, west of London, 1,100 feet, and Ohlinger's Hill. west of Somerford, 1,100 feet above tide-water. Of these altitudes, all but the first were obtained by the barometer, and must be taken as approximations only. They suffice to show, however, the very great degree of uniformity that prevails in the surface of the county. A very large part of its area lies at altitudes varying between 950 feet and 1,050 above the sea. Notwithstanding this uniformity of level, there is but very little swamp land in Madison County. The slopes, though very gradual, are so distributed that the water always knows which way to go. Between those sources of Little Darby Creek that lies within the county, and the point where the creek crosses the county line, there is a fall of scarcely less than 200 feet. The distance is about fifteen miles, and the average descent is between thirteen and fourteen feet to the mile. Deer Creek descends, from its head-springs near Somerford, 300 feet in its diagonal course of twenty miles across the country-an average fall of fifteen feet to the mile. The surface of the county, however, has been greatly relieved by drains and ditches, and is susceptible of almost indefinite improvement by such agencies. None of the streams have deep valleys, but the surface lies in gentle undulations between the channels of contiguous water-courses. In the northeastern corner of the county, the low summit that divides the waters of Little Darby from that of Big Darby, extends in the broad and productive tract known as the Darby Plains, one of the most famous grazing districts of the State."

It is a well authenticated fact that a great portion of Madison County

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 341

was originally, covered with water most of the year. The first settlers called these lands "barrens," and looked upon them as utterly unfit for farming purposes. The pioneers located upon the streams, where the lands were elevated and dry, and the best of timber grew in abundance. Land speculators cared little for the prairie lands ; therefore all the first warrants were laid upon the territory adjacent to the streams. The prairies consisted of level stretches of country covered with sedge-grass, and dotted here and there with patches of scrubby burr-oak growing upon the highest points of land. The sedge-grass grew to an enormous height, sometimes sufficient to hide man and horse when traveling through it; but it proved a blessing to the first settlers, being very nutritious food for stock, which had extensive ranges where now stands some of the finest producing farms in Madison County. The pioneers would cut this grass in June and July, and upon it the stock were fed throughout the winter months. Nearly every autumn prairie fires swept over the country, destroying everything in their path, endangering the lives and property of the pioneers, as well as the existence of the denizens of the forest that fled before the devouring elements to places of safety ; but with the gradual settlement of the country these fires grew less frequent, until at last they became a thing of the past. We have been told that the timber on the east bank of the streams was always the largest, as these fires generally ran from west to east, and being checked by the intervening waterways, the trees on the east bank were generally spared the withering destruction that befell those upon the opposite side of the stream. The growth of the burr-oak on the prairies was impeded by these periodical fires, and the greater amount of the present timber of Madison County has grown up since the first settlement of the country. There was then little or no spice-brush growing on the flat prairie lands, as the seed scattered by the wind and carried by the birds was destroyed by the fires ere it took root in the soil. Dr. Converse says: It was majestically grand to see these prairies on fire, fifty years ago : The blaze of the burning grass seemed to reach the very clouds ; or, when driven by a fierce wind, would leap forty or fifty feet in advance of the base of the fire. Then add to all this a line of the devouring element three miles in length, mounting upward and leaping madly forward with lapping tongue, as if it were trying to devour the very earth, and you have a faint idea of some of the scenes that were witnessed by the early settlers of this country. In order to save the dwellings, fences, hay stacks and other property from these devastating raids, it was necessary to resort to what was called - back-firing,' which was done by selecting a still day, or evening, anti burning a strip of grass twenty or thirty feet wide around the entire premises."

The same writer, in speaking of the physical appearance of the county during the pioneer times, says : "This whole country was a sea of wild grass, and flowering herbs. Upon the lower portions of the prairies grew a kind of grass that came up in single stalks, very thick on the ground, with a large round straw, very tough, long, broad blades, and on top a head somewhat resembling barley. This species grew from six to eight feet in height, but was of no value for grazing purposes, except when it first came up in the spring. There were two other varieties that grew upon the more elevated portions of the prairie, the ' limber-will' and `sedge-grass.' The former of these came up in single stalks, very thick on the ground, with long,

342 - HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

drooping blades and slightly sickle edged. The latter variety grew in bunches, or tufts, very compact, with fine blades, and center stalks very tall, smooth and round, like rye. These latter varieties were very nutritious, not only in a green state, but equally so when cut and made into hay. There were some other varieties, but not of sufficient importance to attract attention. It would be almost impossible to give a full and accurate description of the flowering portion of its vegetation, but I will allude to a few, among which was the 'prairie dock,' with large, brittle roots, long, broad leaves, and every alternate year. large center stalks. It grew to a height of six or eight feet, and very branching near the top, upon each of which was a beautiful yellow blossom. When the stalks were cut near the ground, or the leaves punctured, a thick, gummy exudation took place, which soon became semisolid, and was gathered by the young people for ' chewing-gum,' it being far superior to the manufactured article of the present day. The wild "sunflower " was a kind of weed that grew with a large, strong stalk, very high, with numerous branches, having a yellow blossom on each about three inches in diameter, and drooping like the cultivated species. All of the ponds were surrounded with tine wild 'blue-flag,' and, on the top of each center stalk, was a large blue blossom, very pretty in appearance, but its fragrance was of an offensive and sickening character. There were many other varieties that grew upon the prairies besides those that were found skirting, and in the oak-openings, such as the daisies, butter-cups, wild pink, coxcomb, lilies and many others equally beautiful. It was, indeed, a grand sight to a nature-loving mind, to look over these extensive prairie fields and behold them mantled with so luxuriant a growth of vegetation, and decorated so lavishly with an almost endless variety of flowers, variegated with all the colors of the rainbow, and so blended in beauty that the inmost soul would almost involuntarily praise God for the grandeur of His omnipotent wisdom and power; but to that class of persons who cannot appreciate any loveliness or beauty in the works of nature, it might appear as a God-forsaken wilderness, and not intended as a home for civilized humanity."

The only portion of Madison County that was entirely covered with timber, is Somerford Township, no prairie land lying within that subdivision. Along the streams the timber is principally white and black oak, hickory, beech, ash, maple and elm, interspersed with basswood, sycamore, white elm and walnut. The lands contiguous to the streams are generally rolling or hilly, and in many places broken, with here and there rich bottoms, which are much prized by the agriculturist. There is very little diversity in the topographical appearance of the county, the prairies and timbered lands being about the same in every portion thereof, and for a more minute description of the several localities, we refer the reader to the township histories, in each of which will be found a topographical outline of the same.

As the county began to be settled more thickly, it became evident that if the pioneers intended to remain they would be compelled to drain the prairies and wet lands, which they soon recognized as a necessity, and ditches began to appear in different portions of this county. In the course of time the Legislature passed drainage laws, which, together with private enterprise, soon changed the face of the country by gradually draining these wet lands, until to-day they are among the most valuable in the coun-

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 343

ty, yet the work goes steadily forward, fostered and encouraged by the State. This one enactment, with its subsequent amendments, has done more toward the development of the agricultural wealth of Madison County than all other laws combined. During the first years of pioneer life there was a vast amount of malarial sickness, which retarded the general progress of the settlement, but the prospective advantages of the country, with its rich soil, fine stock ranges and abundance of all classes of frame, sustained the spirit of the wavering settlers and re-animated them with a firm resolution to make this their future home. So they remained and erected their cabins beside the beautiful streams that traversed the surface of the county; here their children were born, lived and died, blessing the foresight and enterprise of these sturdy pioneers who did so much for the coming generations.

GEOLOGICAL SERIES.

The history of geology in Madison County was compiled a few years ago by Prof. Edward Orton under the supervision of the State, and as the survey made by him is official, we cannot do better than to give a verbatim copy of his report. He says : " The geological scale of the county is very much contracted. But two formations beside the drift occur here, viz., the Helderberg and the Corniferous limestones. There are in the county two exposures of the former and but a single one of the latter. The Helderberg limestone (water lime) has been quarried in small amounts for many years on the farm of Asa Hunt, Pike Township (Survey 6,965). A branch of the Spring Fork of Little Darby, known as Barron Run, has cut its bed down to the limestone for a number of rods, and the stone is raised from the quarry at such times as the water is lowest. It has been used for lime and also for building stone. The first purpose it is very well adapted to ; the second, it answers but indifferently well, as the stone is thin and shelly. It holds its characteristic fossils which, however, are not necessary for its identification, as the lithological characters are too plain to be mistaken. The second exposure of this limestone is much more considerable. It occurs on the Stoner farm in Jefferson Township, two miles south of the village of West Jefferson. A section of fifteen feet of this formation is shown in the banks of Little Darby, very near the point where the stream leaves the county. The ledge is resorted to for the same purposes as the exposures first mentioned, viz., for lime and building stone. The same remarks as to quality will apply in this case as before. The lime has an excellent reputation, being much milder than the Columbus lime.

"The principal interest of this locality, however, lies in the fact that it furnishes the junction of the Silurian and Devonian formations. A few rods from the exposure of the Helderberg limestone just mentioned, ten feet of another formation comes in, which it is easy to identify by all tests as the Corniferous limestone, known in this portion of the State as the Columbus or State quarry limestone. The beds furnish quite serviceable building stone, and are brought into neighborhood use. On the opposite side of the creek, and a mile or two further down, there is a still more extended section of the same elements. It is found on the farm of the Roberts brothers. It does not deserve to be called a new exposure as the outcrop of the rock is scarcely interrupted from one point to the other.

344 - HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

"A somewhat anomalous fact meets us in this section. There is interpolated in the Coniferous series a few inches of a very pure, saccarhoidal sandstone. The occurrence of such a deposit at about this point in the scale is not, however, named here for the first time. Rev. H. Herzer reported several years since a similar deposit in the Corniferous at West Liberty, Logan County, and Mr. Franklin C. Hill, in his report for the survey on this county, shows that sandstone holds the same relation there that it has in Madison County. It is not found at the base of the Corniferous series in either instance, but it occurs in thin beds distributed through five or more feet of the limestone at an elevation of about fifteen feet above the base of the series. It is underlaid by undoubted beds of Corniferous limestone, and cannot, therefore, in these instances, be considered as the southward extension of the Oriskany sandstone. It is rather the counterpart of the Hillsboro sandstone, which, in like manner, is interjected into the Niagara series-in the southern part of the State. These two aberrant sandstones furthermore agree very closely in lithological character. The sand from the Roberts quarries has long been known throughout the adjacent country and has even found its way as far as Columbus. Whenever plastering of unusual excellence is attempted in this vicinity, recourse is had to this deposit. The sandstone is nowhere more than six inches in thickness and it lies between ledges of rock so heavy that it cannot be profitably obtained except when the quarry is worked for other purposes. Its interest, in other words, is geological rather than economical.

"These are the only known localities in Madison County in which the bedded rock is exposed to view. On the extreme eastern edge of the county, in Jefferson Township, it has been ascertained in the driving of wells that the rock lies about forty feet below the surface. There are a few other points in the county in which the underlying rocky floor has been, in like manner, reached. but these cases are of very rare occurrence. Borings of fifty or even sixty feet are often made which do not exhaust the drift beds. There is no region of the State in which the basement rock makes a more insignificant show or exerts less influence upon the present surface of the country. Even the details of the topography are seen to depend very largely on the modification of the drift surfaces, and these details can, in many cases, be very well expiained without any recourse to the underlying beds. All of the questions which concern the county, whether relating to its topography, its soil or its water supply, connect themselves with the origin and history of the deep drift-deposits, by which its entire surface is now covered.

DRIFT AND SOILS.

The subject of the drift has been taken up so many times, and from so many points of view in the reports of the survey already published, that it is unnecessary here to treat of it from a general or theoretical point of view. The deposits of the drift in Madison County fall under the ordinary heads. The lowest and oldest of these deposits is a heavy bed of bowlder clay, which covers the face of the country universally. It is a tough, waxy, dark-blue clay, in which scratched and striated pebbles and bowlders are abundantly distributed, and occasionally seams of sand and gravel, varying in thickness from one inch to two feet are found, but without regularity or constancy. This member of the drift series exceeds the rest very largely in

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 347

volume and also in the importance of its offices. As has been before stated, borings of sixty feet are sometimes made without exhausting the bowlder clay. These facts seem to indicate that the average thickness of this member of the series is not less, certainly, than sixty feet.

In considerable areas of the county, the bowlder clay forms the present surface, or rather the bowlder clay as modified by the action of the atmosphere and of vegetable growth, and other organic agencies upon it. These areas constitute the coldest and most untractable lands of the county. The soil formed from their weathered surfaces is a black clay, one foot or a foot and a half in thickness. The action of the atmosphere is shown to have reached below the surface in the conversion of one or two additional feet of the blue clay into yellow clay. These weathered deposits pass by insensible gradations into the underlying deposit. The lands of this description are less varied in the natural forest growth than the other lands of the county. They are susceptible, however, of considerable amelioration by underdraining, and possess all the elements necessary for long continued productiveness.

"By far the larger part of the county is covered with another order of drift-deposit, viz.: Those that have been modified and re-arranged during a period of submergence to which the original beds have been subjected. If a bed of the yellow clay already spoken of as formed from the weathering of the blue clay, were exposed by a slowly advancing submergence to the action of waves or currents, it is easy to see that its clay, sand and gravel would be assorted and separated. The coarser materials would be moved the least distance, and the finer clays the greatest distance from their original beds. As the submergence was gradually extended, we ought to find beds of gravel overlying the blue clay, themselves overlain by sand, and finally covered with the finest grained clays. Such is precisely the general order of the arrangement in all of these districts. We ought, furthermore, to expect that on the highest grounds of the county, beds of gravel and sand would abound. This also is exactly the case. Ohlinger's Hill, as high a point as is contained in the county, is the resort of the whole country for miles around, for plastering sand, extensive deposits of which occupy the highest parts of the dividing ridge.

"The same line of facts is met with on the high ground west of London, a ridge scarcely inferior in elevation to the one already referred to. It is, in fact, a part of the same water-shed--separating the drainage of the Scioto from that of the Little Miami. Almost the whole of this region is occupied with heavy beds of well-washed gravel. The whole supply for London and its vicinity is derived from this locality. It must, however, be noted that these high grounds also contain remnants of the old glacial clays, which furnish, as at Ohlinger's Hill, a soil of entirely different properties from any other soils in the county. The difference lies in the fact that the high location of the masses has prevented the accumulation of vegetable matter in them. They produce fruit well, and are good wheat lands when properly treated, but they are decidedly inferior as grass-lands to the rest of the county. In fact, but a thin sod establishes itself upon them, unless special care is taken to secure this result.

"The submergence of this district, and the consequences resulting from such a fact, have been spoken of. It is easy to see that the emergence which

348 - HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

converted it into dry land again, mist have been attended with equally marked results. As drainage systems began to be established or re-established, the accumulations of clay, sand and gravel of the re-arranged drift would often be withdrawn froth the surface over which they had been distributed, and the broad valleys through which currents were moving, would be sure to receive them. The bowlder clay would thus be exposed on portions of these areas. The northern and central districts of the county contain almost all of the exposures of this sort, while the southern tiers of townships, which lie a hundred feet or thereabouts Tower than the above named districts, hold by far the most gravel.

"The facts now enumerated will be seen, upon a little reflection, to lay the foundation for an excellent scope of country in an agricultural point of view. Generous and lasting soils and an abundant water supply are certain to be provided from such modifications of the beds of glacial drift in Central and Western Ohio. In accordance with these probabilities. Madison County is found to be one of the finest agricultural districts of the State. There is scarcely a foot of waste land in it, and most of it. if not already highly productive, is easily susceptible of being made so. The surface clays are generally black for at least one or two feet in depth. In land lying as nearly level as Madison County does. there would necessarily be enough detention of organic matter in the soil to produce this result. Even the lands underlain with gravel might have been swampy in their earliest history, but after a forest growth had established itself upon them and the roots had penetrated to the porous beds below, a natural drainage would be secured, which would do much toward their amelioration. The gravel washed out of the bowlder clay is largely limestone gravel. Whenever an insulated area of this gravel has been left uncovered by the finer clays, and has itself undergone atmospheric agencies by which it would be converted into soil, we find the productive belts known as mulatto lands. The reddish soils thus designated certainly have just such a history.

"The forest growths on these several sorts of areas are, in every case, characteristic. The last-named division is the warmest and most fertile land in the county. It is occupied quite largely by black walnut, sugar maple, etc., and is, therefore, frequently styled black walnut land.' It is confined to patches and acres, and is nowhere extended in large tracts, or at least not in the central portion of the county. More of it is shown in the southern townships. The division last preceding this, viz., the clays underlain by gravel or sand, are quite generally covered with burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa). This tree marks very definitely all the better portions of the areas now under discussion, and as this kind of land constitutes the most important element in the surface of the county, the burr oak may be said to characterize the county. The colder lands referred to, the weathering of the bowlder clay, are covered for their natural forest growth with swamp oak (Quercus palustris), post oak (Q. obtusiloba) and occasionally white oak (Q. alba). The natural differences between these soils, as attested by their original forest growths, are clearly shown in their subsequent history under cultivation.

"The swampy condition of the land before drains and ditches provided an easy way of escape for the surface water, is the probable cause of the defective condition of the timber produced here. Many of the trees are hol-

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 349

low-hearted. Another explanation is offered in the fires that the Indians were accustomed to kindle annually throughout this part of the State. The sparseness of the timber can no doubt be attributed to the last-named cause. While some of these varieties of soil are much warmer and kinder than others, all of them form blue-grass land. As soon as the surface water is withdrawn, this most valuable of all our forage plants-Poa pratense, or Kentucky blue-grass. comes in to displace the wild grasses that have occupied the ground hitherto, and it cones to stay. This is not the place to take up in detail this great source of agricultural wealth. It is enough to say that all of its characteristic excellences are here shown. The best rewards of agriculture in Madison County have hitherto been drawn from this spontaneous product of its soil. The lands of the county have been turned into, pasture grounds since their first occupation. Under judicious management, cattle do well upon then throughout our ordinary winters, without hay or grain.

"It is to he remarked that Madison County is a blue-grass region, not so much because of the composition of its drift-beds as from the fact that these drift beds are extended, owing to the accidents of their recent geological history, in wide plains which allow the abundant accumulation of vegetable matter in the forming soil. These same drift-deposits. when they lie on well-drained slopes, form a stubborn, yellow chi:, that can hardly be kept covered with sod of any description. It must not, however, be inferred that all level drift-tracts will become blue-grass land, irrespective of their composition. Clays derived in large part from the waste of limestone, as are those of Madison County, are especially adapted to the growth of blue grass. Madison County has no monopoly of this important product, but all the fiat-lying tracts of the counties around it. as they have shared in its geological history, share also in its agricultural capabilities.

"These districts were shunned in the early settlements of this general region on account of their swampy character, but discerning men soon came to see their great possibilities, and as tile price per acre was scarcely more than nominal, they were bought in large tracts and have been so held until the present time. Farms of 2,000 acres are not unusual in the county. and fields of 500 acres are common. The recently divided estate of William D. Wilson, in the Darby Plains of Canaan Township. embraced 9.000 acres. The county is famous not only for the number of cattle it produces, but also for the quality. It holds some of the finest herds of improved cattle to be found in the State or country.

"The lands of the second and third divisions, as might be judged from their constitution, are excellently adapted to the production of corn and other cereals. and are coming to be used for grain-growing, as well as for grass growing. The varied elements of our ordinary American farming are thus becoming established here as elsewhere.

WATER SUPPLY.

"The last point to be taken up in the geology of the county is its natural water supply. Madison County may be said to have an abundant and excellent supply, but it does not show itself in the ordinary modes, in springs and frequent water-courses. The supply, indeed, is under ground and must, for the most part be brought to the surface by artificial means. The ordi-

350 - HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

nary rainfall of Central Ohio being granted, the geological conditions already described, necessitate an immense accumulation of water beneath the surface. Such an accumulation, we find, lying within easy reach. The surface of the bowlder clay is a common water bearer, though many wells descend into the clay to some of the irregular veins of sand and gravel, to which reference has already been made. The porous beds above the bowlder clay, varying in thickness from five to fifteen feet, constitute an efficient filter for the surface water in most instances. It must be remarked, however, that all of the dangers pertaining to such a supply show themselves here. The drift-beds are freely permeable. They have no power to shut out the products of surface defilement or prevent cess-pools and other sinks of impurity from discharging their offensive and poisonous drainage into adjacent wells and springs. There is abundant and positive proof that drinking-water contaminated from such sources is very often made the medium for distributing fever and pestilence through families and neighborhoods.

Of late years, the agency of the wind has been quite extensively utilized in pumping water from wells into reservoirs for the use of stock. The wind-pumps have been improved in so many ingenious ways that they work almost as if they were intelligent agents, matching supply with demand, and adjusting themselves to the force of the wind. The common method, however, of providing stock water on those farms which are not traversed by living streams, is by means of pools, which obtain their supply directly and entirely from surface accumulations of rain. The water of such pools is always foul with mud and manure, and is heavily charged with vegetable and animal organisms in every stage of existence and decay, and yet it is claimed to be a safe and wholesome supply. Still another source of stock water is found in some sections of the county. The water delivered by draining tile in underground ditches is gathered and conducted to troughs in the pasture grounds. Where the make of the country admits of this system, a supply in every way advantageous is secured.

"Buried vegetation is less frequently met with in the drift of Madison County than in the regions further to the southward, but it can scarcely be said to be of rare occurrence. Considerable accumulations of vegetable matter are needed to explain certain facts met with in a little settlement called Kiousville, in Pleasant Township. Several attempts to obtain wells have been made here without success. The trouble has been, in every instance, that after reaching a certain depth, choke damp or carbonic acid escaped in such quantity as to render further work impossible. Several vesi-- been lost in these attempts, and one during the summer of 1872. The section traversed is: Yellow clay, ten feet; blue clay, abruptly bounded on the upper surface, twenty to thirty-one feet ; then cemented sand and gravel. On breaking through the crust of cemented gravel,, the gas issues in strong volume. No water has ever been found in the ;ravel. The section is somewhat anomalous, but it seems safe to conclude that some such accumulations of buried vegetable matter as have been described in previous reports as existing in Montgomery, Warren and Highland Counties are to be found here.

"The remains of a young mastodon were recently found in Range Township on the farm of David McClimans. The skull and its appurtenances were in the best state of preservation. The tusks were six feet long, measured on the outside of the curve. A part of the lower jaw had perished,

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY. - 351

but in the remaining portion a small molar tooth was found in place. It was afterward detached and found to weigh one pound and two ounces, while a larger tooth, but partially developed, lay back of it in the jaw. The occurrence of remains of these past glacial mammals is, however, comparatively rare in this immediate area.

"The principal points in the geology of Madison County have now been briefly treated, and it is seen that although the story of its bedded rocks is very short, there are still geological questions of great interest suggested by its broad and fertile plains."

WILD ANIMALS AND REPTILES.

Throughout the pioneer days of Madison County, the whole region of country embraced in the Scioto Valley was one vast hunting ground. Here nature's herds lived and flourished; but soon after the coming of the white man, they began to avoid his deadly aim and seek a retreat in the deeper fastnesses of the forest. Year after year passed away, until finally the larger animals became extinct in this portion of Ohio, and nothing was left for the huntsman but the smaller and more insignificant game, and even that is now a scare article. Through the assistance of Dr. Jeremiah Converse, we have been enabled to gather a brief description of the larger wild animals and reptiles that inhabited Madison County ere the progress of civilization destroyed or drove them from its soil.

The elk had become extinct prior to the occupancy of this country by the whites; but that the prairies of Madison County had shortly before been their grazing ground is evident from the large number of horns that were found almost everywhere on top of the ground. partly and wholly buried beneath the soil, and turned up in broken fragments by the plow. The elk horn in a perfect state of preservation, especially the larger sizes, is a-curiosity to persons who have never seen it. The diameter of the horn to the first prong was usually two or more inches, but where it was attached to the head, it often urea urea from three to four inches. If the pair was perfect, with the head of the animal attached, and set upon their points, they would measure from three to four feet in height. Each horn had from five to seven prongs, and so arranged that when the head and neck were in line with the body, as in the act of running, the largest elk could readily pass through the thickest under-brush with the greatest ease. and without any impediment therefrom.

Bears were not very numerous, but enough were left to remind the settler that when bruin made a raid upon the pig-sty, his assured rights were to be respected. Their favorite abode was in the timber along the streams. They were not considered a dangerous animal, except when suffering from hunger, their anger aroused, or their cubs in danger ; but then it required great courage and good generalship to effect a safe retreat and thereby avoid a deadly battle. In the fall and winter, they were hunted for their meat and skins. Their flesh was rich and savory, while their skins were tanned and used for robes and bed covering in the winter seasons.

The wolf was the pioneer's dreaded enemy and were of two kinds, black and gray. The former was seldom seen, but the latter infested the country in immense flocks. The wolf is long legged, with heavy fore-shoulders. light hind-quarters, very lean and gaunt through the loins, keen-eyed, with

352 - HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

pointed nose, ears erect and a long bushy tail usually curled between his hind legs, giving him the appearance of a thievish. sneaking cur. The first settlers suffered more from the depredations of these animals than all others combined. They made onslaughts upon the sheep, pigs, calves and colts ; and often great numbers would congregate under cover of night and attack individuals who happened to be belated, or even whole families whose cabins were isolated from the more thickly settled country. The wolf had a peculiar and instinctive howl, which :,vas quickly taken up by others and in an incredible short space of time the bark could be heard in every direction, rapidly concentrating toward one point. Its manner of fighting was very different from the common dog. Instead of grappling with its antagonist. its fighting was done by springing forward. snapping or cutting with the front teeth, which were very sharp. and then retreat for another opportunity. This method of advance and retreat was rapidly repeated so long as its adversary was within reach : but when their numbers were overpowering, they exhibited a greater boldness and dash, thereby demonstrating their cowardly nature. As the settlements increase 1, these pests grew beautifully less in number, their destruction haying been encouraged through a premium for wolf-scalps, offered by the County Commissioners during the first seven years of the county's history. In 1835, an immense wolf hunt was organized in the eastern portion of the county, which proved but a limited success. and was the cause of the Rev. Isaac Jones receiving an accidental shot through one of his wrists, which crippled him for life. He had purposed ascending a tree so as to obtain a better view of the animals that were to be gradually, hemmed in toward that point. and shot by him as they came in sight. As a Mr. Pitcher was handing him his rifle ere he got too far up the tree, the weapon was discharged. with the foregoing result. Soon after this event, the wolf disappeared from this region, although an odd one was seen and dispatched at intervals.

The beautiful animal known as the red deer was a Godsend to the pioneers. From these harmless inhabitants of the forest, that were accessible at all times, they procured most of their meat. Deer were very numerous and more than fifty in one flock have been peen grazing upon the prairie or "stamping flies '' beneath the shady groves; but they were usually found in pairs, or half a dozen at most, except when chased by the wolf or dog. At such times. large numbers were aroused from their slumbers and joined in the stampede. Not only was he deer valuable as an article of food, but its skin, when tanned, served many useful purposes. The stalwart backwoodsman ;generally wore a vest and a pair of "buckskin breeches" male from the prepared hides of these animals. In an untanned condition, or rawhide state, it was cut into strips, twisted, then dried in the sun, after which it served the purpose of tugs or chains for the settlers' harness ; also lines, bridles, mittens, moccasins and other articles used in pioneer life.

Wild hogs were frequently met with, and were more dreaded, perhaps, than any other of the wild beasts. The genuine wild boar, exasperated by the hunters, was the most terrible game of the forest, and the hunt was exciting and dangerous. His attack was too sudden and headlong to be easily turned aside or avoided, and the snap of his tusks, as he sharpened them in his fury, was not pleasant music to the timid or amateur hunter.

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His tusks are known to have measured over a foot in length, and many desperate fights and hairbreadth escapes are recounted in connection with this animal. The wild hog was not valued for its flesh, but was regarded simply as a dangerous pest, and hunted mainly to rid the country of his presence.

There were other animals that once inhabited these parts, viz., the panther, lynx, native wild cat, porcupine, etc., but these, like the elk, the bear, the wolf and the more valuable leer, have long since become extinct. Even the fox. raccoon, woodchuck. opossum and squirrel, together with many other small animals, are growing scarcer year by year under the ruthless hunter's vengeance: and the day is not far distant when Madison County will be entirely devoid of the animal as well as the feathery tribes that once infested its forests and prairies. This is not as it should be. The few specimens that are left ought to be spared, and stringent laws should be passed to protect those innocent dwellers of the forest and prevent their utter extinction.

Among the venomous reptiles that once endangered life and limb were the racers, copper-heals and prairie rattlesnake. The latter were very numerous, as well as formidable and dangerous. The antidote for their bite, however, grew upon the prairie lands, and was a kind of herb called by the Indians " rattlesnake weed." The person bitten, by immediately chewing a considerable quantity of the stalk, swallowing the juice and binding the pulpy chewings upon the bitten part, prevented all ill effects that would otherwise result from the bite. It is well that these reptiles no longer exist in this land. and that all such venomous things disappear before the onward march of civilization.