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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF MAHONING VALLEY, PART I. REUNION OF 1874. IN May, 1874, a few persons—three in number—met, accidentally, in Youngstown, and were talking of the past, when it was proposed to have a gathering of the old citizens ; and the following was drawn up and published in the papers of the city : "All who are in favor of a reunion of those who have been for thirty-five or more years residents of Youngstown, are requested to meet at the Tod House, Saturday, May 30th, at seven o'clock, P. M., to make arrangements for a reunion of old settlers," and signed by Timothy Woodbridge, H. B. Wick, Wm. Powers, G. King, J. M. Edwards, Madison Powers, Alex. M'Kinnie, John Manning, J. Van Fleet, Joseph Barclay, Henry Tod. The result of that call was, a number of persons met at the Tod House on Saturday evening, May 30th, and the following committees were appointed to make arrangements for a reunion, to be held on the 10th of September, 1874, at the Opera-house, in this city. Dr. T. Woodbridge was selected chairman, and C. B. ,Wick and W. G. Moore secretaries. A committee of five, composed of die following- named- gentlemen, were appointed to collect historical. facts, and report : Timothy Woodbridge, J. R. Squire, J. M. Edwards, R. Holland, Ashael Medbury. The above committee were also to act as an .Invitation and Reception Committee. An Executive Committee was also appointed, as follows: Wm. Powers, Chairman ; Joseph Barclay, Henry Tod, John Stambaugh, and A. J. Woods. The meeting then adjourned, to meet at the call of the chairman. 8 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. On July 24th the Committee on Invitation published the following notice : "At a meeting, held at the Tod House, May 30th, by a number of our citizens, who were residents of this township thirty-five or more years ago, it was resolved to hold a grand reunion of those who were then citizens, on Thursday, September 10, 1874, and committees were appointed to make suitable arrangements. The Committee on Invitation and Reception cordially invite all, whether now residing here or elsewhere, without further or other special notice or invitation, to meet with us on that day; namely, 10th of September, 1874, at 10 o'clock, A. M., at the Opera-house, in this city, and participate in the reunion. Ample accommodations will be provided for all. Those who can meet with us are requested to notify us by letter or otherwise previous to that time. Those who can not meet with us are requested to communicate to us their present residence, with sketches of the history and reminiscences of the olden time, citizens, etc." On September 1st, the following was published : "TO THE PIONEERS: " Circulars of invitation have been sent to all whose names and post-office address were known to the committee. It is probable that some have been omitted. We would say to all who resided in this township thirty-five or more years ago that they are invited to attend the reunion on the 10th of September, at the Opera-house, in this city, although they may not have received circulars. " Furthermore, a general invitation is extended to all in the Reserve to meet with us on that occasion. Wives and husbands respectively of those invited are also included. " T. WOODBRIDGE, Chairman Committce." Also, the following order of exercises was agreed upon for the day : "The meeting will be called to order by H. B. Wick, Chairman, at 11 o'clock. After music and prayer the welcome address will be delivered by J. M. Edwards, Esq. " Dinner will be served at the Tod House for all at 2 o'clock, P. M. " After dinner, at half-past 3 o'clock, P. M., the pioneers will reassemble at the Opera-house, when the ancient music, reminiscences, and toasts, will be given, etc. MAHONING VALLEY - 9 " The committee have received some relics and souvenirs of the early times, and would be glad to have every person having articles of interest to bring them for exhibition. There will be suitable provision made for their exhibition, safe-keeping, and return to their owners. "PROGRAMME. " 1. Chairman H. B. Wick, Isq., will call the meeting to order. " 2. Music—' Home, Sweet Home.' " 3. Prayer by Alexander M'Kinnie. " 4. Music—' My Country, 't is of Thee.' " 5. Welcome Address by J. M. Edwards. " 6. Music—` Old Folks at Home.' " 7. Reading of Correspondence by Lemuel Wick. " 8. Music—' Hail Columbia.' "Adjourn to Tod House for dinner at 2 o'clock, P. M. "Music by the band. " The chairman will read the toasts, and, after each one has been responded to by the person called, short volunteer speeches will be expected from others. " TOASTS. "1. 'Amusements of our youth.' Responded to by Timothy Woodbridge. " Music. "2. Hardships of pioneer life.' Responded to by Ashael Medbury. " Music.. " 3. Our education.' Responded to by Reuben M'Millan. " “ Music. "4. 'Our mothers, sisters, and wives.' Responded to by W. S. Crawford. " Music. "5. 'Our husbands.' Volunteers wanted to respond. "Music. "6. ‘Our fellow-comrades.' Responded to by John Kirk and Thomas H. Wells. "Music. Benediction. "First floor of the Opera-house reserved for pioneers and invited _guests. Second and third floors open to the public. " WILLIAM POWERS, " Chairman of Corn. on Arrangements." 10 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. The following interesting letter from Dr. Kirtland was published upon the 10th instant in the city papers : "EAST ROCKPORT, O., August 29, 1874. "To JOHN M. EDWARDS, ESQ. : "My Dear Sir,—Your polite invitation to meet with the pioneers of Youngstown, on the 10th of September next, is received. Though never an inhabitant of your city, I shall, if possible, do myself the honor and pleasure to be present on the occasion, yet the pressure of eighty-one years renders it somewhat doubtful. I will, therefore, transmit to you some reminiscences of old times. " On reviewing the diary of the late Turhand Kirtland (my father), who annually visited New Connecticut in the years 1798, '99, and 1800, I find several items which have a bearing on the early history of Youngstown. He, at that time, was agent of the Connecticut Land Company, and transacted most of the business connected with the purchase of that township from that company by John Young, and after whom it was named. " From that diary we learn that Judge Kirtland, in the fulfillment of his duty as agent, laid out and opened a road through the wilderness, from the Grand River, near Lake Erie, to Youngstown, in 1798. He arrived at the last-named place with surveyors, chain men, etc., on the 3d of August, and, with Judge Young, engaged in running out the town. At the same time, he surveyed the township of Burton and of Poland. In the latter he then located the seat of the mill, in the village, during the Summer. His stopping-place seems to have been, while in Youngstown, at a Mr. Stevens's, while Judge Young had a residence in Warren. " August 30th he sold two lots and a mill seat (near the mouth of Yellow Creek) to Esq. John Struthers, the locality in Poland now known as Struthers. "In 1799, May 18, he again was in Youngstown, stopping with Mr. Robert Stevens. His brother-in-law, Jonathan Fowler, and film- ily, arrived there in a canoe from Pittsburg (by way of the Ohio, Big Beaver, and Mahoning Rivers). At evening, Judge Kirtland carried them to Poland in his wagon, where they all lodged for the night by the side of a fire (with no shelter save a big oak tree and the canopy of heaven. The exact location was on the home lot of the late Dr. Truesdale, a few rods west of Yellow Creek.) [Jonathan Fowler was father of Mrs. Thomas Riley, of Poland, and Dr. Chauncey Fowler, of Canfield, and grandfather of Dr. C. N. Fowler, of Youngstown.] MAHONING VALLEY - 11 "1799, September 1, Sunday, he attended public worship at Youngstown. The Rev. Wm. Wick, from Washington County, Pennsylvania, delivered the first sermon ever preached on the New Connecticut Reserve. " October 19th John Struthers and family arrived at Poland. "1800, June 16th, he (T. K.) went from Poland to Youngstown to agree on the place where the county-seat should be located. "June 19th Messrs. Canfield, Young, and King met J. S. Edwards at Fowler's tavern, in Poland, to advise as to the location of the county-seat. "July 1st John Atkins, an old salt, returned to Poland with a mail from Pittsburg, the then nearest post-office There he obtained two lemons from another -sailor who had turned pack-horse man. T. Kirtland and Atkins immediately started, with the lemons in charge, for Burton, and probably the first lemons on the Western Reserve. "July 4th the good people of Burton, and others from Connecticut, assembled on the green, forty-two in number, partook of a good dinner, and drank the usual patriotic toasts. Then the president of the day (T. K.) caused the lemons to be mixed in a milk-pan of punch, when he offered and drank as a toast, Here 's to our wives and sweethearts at home.' The vessel of punch and the toast passed around the table till at length it came to a Mr. B., who, a few weeks before, had fled from a Xanthippe of a wife in New England, to obtain a little respite, and had joined the surveying party ; he promptly responded thus to the toast : 'Here 's to our sweethearts at home, but the d-1 take the wives.' "August 23d Turhand Kirtland had partially recovered from an attack of fever and ague. He went from Poland to Youngstown to get his horse shod ; was required to blow and strike for the smith. This threw him into an aggravated relapse of the disorder, which was at length cured by taking teaspoonful doses of the bark every hour. He adds: found that Joseph M'Mahon and the people of Warren had killed two Indians at Salt Spring, on Sunday, 20th, in a hasty and inconsiderate manner ; and they had sent after a numer (of Indians) that had gone off, in order to hold a conference and settle the unhappy and unprovoked breach they had made on the Indians. They had agreed on Wednesday, 30th, to hold a conference at Esq. Young's, and had sent for an interpreter to attend, who arrived this day, in company with an Indian chief and his lady on horseback.' " Wednesday, July 30, went to Youngstown (from Poland) to attend 12 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. the conference with the Indians on account of the murder of two of their principal men at Salt Spring, on Sunday, 20th, by Joseph M'Mahon and Storer. We assembled about three hundred (whites) and ten Indians, had a very friendly talk, and agreed to make peace and live as friends. "Monday, August 25th, went to Warren, met the judges and justices of the county, when they all took the oaths of office, and proceeded to open the Courts of Quarter Session and Common Pleas; appointed constables, and summoned eighteen grand jurors. Bills of indictment found against Joseph M'Mahon and Richard Storer for murder. "Sunday, September 14th, Sample, the counsel for M'Mahon, went on to Youngstown. The prisoner is on the way from M'Intosh (Beaver) with the sheriff, and an escort of twenty-five troops from the garrison at Pittsburg, to guard him to Warren, where a court is to be held on Thursday, for his trial for the murder of Captain George and George Tuscarava (Indians)' at Salt Spring. "Wednesday, September 17th, went to the court at Warren, Meigs and Gilman the judges. Messrs. Edwards, Pease, Tod, Tappan, and Abbott admitted as counselors-at-law by this court. "Thursday, September 18th, prisoner (M'Mahon) brought in ; traverse jury summoned. "Friday, September 19th, witnesses examined. "Saturday, September 20th, case argued; verdict, acquittal. " The above items are collected from Turhand Kirtland's diary, a transcript of which is deposited with the Historical Society, of Cleveland. It abounds with many facts relating to the early settlement of the Connecticut Reserve, especially of the townships of Poland, Burton, and Youngstown. "Allow me here to add a fact of general interest, but not specially connected with Youngstown. The company of surveyors, who run out the Western Reserve in 1796, placed the south-east corner stake at the south-east corner of Poland, one-half mile south of the forty- first degree of north latitude, there drove a stake, built a stone cairn, and from thence ran a line one hundred and twenty miles west to the south-west corner of the Fire Lands, which was on the exact line of the forty-first degree, on which line, at Poland, the cairns should have been established. This error caused much trouble between the Connecticut Land Company and the United States, till, after some years of delay, Congress sanctioned and established that line. These facts seem not to be known by Ohio historians and map-makers. MAHONING VALLEY - 13 "I would further add a few early experiences of my own respecting Youngstown. "June 10, 1810, on the way from Wallingford, Conn., to Poland, Ohio, I spent the night at Adams's tavern, in the town of Liberty. At noon of the following day I dined with Dr. Charles Dutton in Youngstown, a sparsely settled village of one street, the houses mostly log structures, a few humble frame buildings excepted ; of the latter character was the dwelling-house and store of the late Col. Rayen. "Dr. Dutton was the leading physician and surgeon of the vicinity, and sustained a favorable reputation in that capacity for energy and good judgment. He; at the close of the last century, was a student of medicine under my grandfather, Jared Potter, M. D., of Wallingford, Conn., while I was a school boy; I had many a playful romp with him. In April, 1801, he prepared to emigrate to New Connecticut, then a long and tedious journey of several weeks, now of twenty-four hours. My father had provided three four-horse covered wagons, filled with emigrants and goods ready for starting. The doctor, somewhat eccentric and peculiar in his ways of thinking and acting, sprang upon the driver's seat of one of these wagons, and, at that moment, his aged and widowed mother, with eyes suffused with tears, and other relatives and friends, gathered around to bid him 'farewell.' He, without noticing them, gathered up the reins, cracked his whip, and started off his team, at the same time singing in an elevated strain the chorus of 'Jefferson and Liberty,' the political song of that day : " 'Rejoice, Columbia's sons, rejoice! To tyrants never bend your knee, But join with heart and soul and voice For Jefferson and liberty.' "After dining with the doctor and enjoying a pleasant interview, he mounted his horse and rode with me to join my father's family at Poland, from whom I had been separated since the year 1803. "No bridges then spanned the Mahoning. We passed over at Powers's ford, the water high and muddy from recent rains; but the doctor pointed out a rock in the river, with its top barely above the water, which, he said, was an index that when the top appeared it was safe to ford the stream. "A small framed-house, one story high, and painted with indigenous red ochre, stood near the present residence, on the Isaac Powers farm. It was then occupied by him. Since, it has been moved down to the creek, and still serves as a dwelling-place. 14 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. " On the Stambaugh farm, in Boardman, at the Four Corners, a small clearing, a fine young orchard and a log house were observed. A view over the Mahoning Valley, taken at that point, embraced, at that day, an unbroken wilderness. The public highway to the village of Poland had been already effectually cleared, and parts thrown up as a turnpike, but was an universal bed of muck and mud. "In the following week 1 took charge of the district-school in the village of Poland, consisting of sixty scholars, which I taught till late in September, in a log-house on the public square. I soon learned that Joseph Noyes, a former schoolmate of mine, had charge of a school of similar size in Youngstown. It occupied a log building on Main Street, next adjoining Mr. Bryson's log store, near where Col. Caleb Wick formerly resided. Mr. Noyes and myself soon established the rule to visit each other's school on every alternate Saturday and counsel each other on school teaching. Reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, and geography, were the branches required to be taught. I have the vanity to believe that, in the three first-named, the progress of our classes was as satisfactory as in the classes of the present day. Those three branches were rather specialties with both of us. Neither found use for the rod. "Those bi-weekly visits to that school established an acquaintance with nearly every individual, old or young, in the village. I now know not a surviving one of that number. "Mary Tod (the late Mrs. Evans) was a member of Mr. Noyes's school. She then was just entering her teens, and a more lovely face than hers I have never seen. But, what do our fashionable and ambitious mothers of the present day imagine were the texture and style of the dress of that beautiful girl ? Her external costume a homemade mixture of linen and cotton, cut after the fashion of the female disciples of Mother Ann Lee, with no plaits and few gores, unmodified by either corset or bustle. The lower margin was adorned with a two-inch stripe of madder red, followed next by one of indigo blue, and a third one of hickory bark yellow, very much like the balmorals, which, a few years since, our fashionable city ladies were sure to exhibit (accidentally, of course,) at every street-crossing, much to the admiration of the crowds of idle loafers. "Early in September, 1810, I attended a regimental muster in Youngstown. A war with Great Britain was anticipated, and the Indians on the frontiers were committing depredations. A thorough military spirit pervaded the country, and a full turnout of every able- bodied man was evident on the occasion. It was a matter of surprise MAHONING VALLEY - 15 to see an apparent wilderness furnish some six or seven hundred soldiers. The regiment formed with its right near Col. Rayen's residence, and marched to a vacant lot between Main Street and the Mahoning River, near the mouth of Mill Creek, and was there reviewed. Simon Perkins was Brigadier-general; John Stark Edwards, Brigadier-major and Inspector ; William Rayen, Colonel ; George Tod, Adjutant, and John Shannon and _____ M'Connel were Majors. A heavy fall of rain after midday seriously interrupted the exercises. No one, at that period, was disposed to evade his duties, and, two years afterward, the efficiency and patriotism of that body of men were thoroughly and favorably tested. " The Spring and Summer, till late in July, 1810, and of two following seasons, were remarkable for the amount of rain-fall. Heavy thunder showers or continued rains were almost of daily occurrence. As a consequence, the streams frequently overflowed their banks, cornfields were not worked, and the heavy crop of wheat was generally grown or sprouted, much to the displeasure of the housewife and joy of the whisky distiller. The latter found his grains half malted by nature, while the former could hardly restrain her loaves from running. " Every public road was almost impassable, and some of the recent emigrants left the West, discouraged and disgusted. "With great respect, your fellow-citizen, " JARED POTTER KIRTLAND." PIONEER REUNION. GATHERING OF OLD CITIZENS. THE reunion of old citizens, which took place here on Thursday, the 10th inst., transcended in interest all that had been anticipated from it. Quite early in the day the streets began to be thronged with men and women of the olden time. There were those here who had seen Youngstown when scarcely a score of houses stood to indicate the future that was in store for her. The greetings on all sides were interesting to hear, and the jokes that had not been told for many and many a year were revived and provoked a laugh as fresh and hearty as if they had happened but yesterday. Of those that gathered on that day there were not a few who had not seen the business and hum of life for many years. Weighed down with age, they had remained at home, passing in quietness and rest the close of lives which had begun amid the excitements and toils and vicissitudes of settling a new country. Some could tell of 16 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Indian wars and massacres, of the hard battle for existence which was fought in an unsubdued wilderness with the savage foe. There were here on that day soldiers of the War of 1812, and men who had lived in Ohio while she was yet a Territory. It is the story of three- quarters of a century—the history of the Western Reserve.. The oldest man present was William Smith, now living in this township, near Lanterman's mill, about ninety years of age. Of the veterans of 1812, there were present James Foster, aged 83 ; Samuel Fitch, 80 ; Jacob Vail, and Rev. Wilson. Of the widows of soldiers of 1812 there were Mrs. Polly Jackson, Mrs. Wm. M'Farland, and Mrs. Polly Smith. Among the oldest persons, Jacob H. Baldwin, aged 84, now of Kinsman; William Rice, aged 80, now of Painesville; John Kimmel, aged 79 ; Philip Stambaugh, aged 79; Alexander M'Kinnie, aged 75 ; Peter Kline, aged 72; Dr. Lemuel Wick, aged 71 ; J. F. Hogue, aged 70 ; B. P. Baldwin, aged 73 ; Ray Noble, aged 70. The oldest native of Youngstown was Osirus Case, born in 1804. The oldest lady present, Mrs. Nancy Hine, of Painesville, aged 84. MEETING IN THE OPERA-HOUSE. The meeting at the Opera-house took place at 11 A. M. The house was filled, and a deep interest manifested in the exercises. The oldest of the pioneers occupied seats on the stage, while the body of the house was filled with men and women who were residents of Youngstown thirty-five or more years ago. In the dress circle and galleries were the citizens of the city and neighborhood, who, though not among the pioneers, yet were many of them their children, and therefore deeply interested in the exercises. H. B. Wick, Esq., having been designated by the Committee of Arrangements to act as chairman, called the assemblage to order. He said : "Ladies and Gentlemen,—We have met here to-day to have an old-fashioned love feast—to recount our early experiences, and live over again our early days. It is to be hoped that speeches will be short and to the point." The Chairman then read the order of exercises for the day. This was followed by a very earnest and appropriate prayer by Alexander M'Kinnie, Esq., After which, the President introduced J. M. Edwards, Esq., of this city, who delivered the address of welcome. "This address is, in every respect, worthy the occasion, and an invaluable contribution to the history of the Western Reserve. To MAHONING VALLEY - 17 extract from tradition the facts of history, to examine ancient and, sometimes, contradictory records of courts and of land-offices, and the memoranda of men, often carelessly made.; to discriminate between the accounts of transactions given by early settlers, separating the true from the false, requires an amount of patience and a kind of ability which few men have. This task has been performed for Youngstown by Esquire Edwards with remarkable success, and, while we give him the credit due, let us also acknowledge the obligation we are under:" (Mahoning Register, Sept. 17, 1874.) ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY JOHN M. EDWARDS, ESQ. "My Friends,—The pioneers of the West, of this land we now inhabit, were a race of heroes. Less than one hundred years ago the State of Ohio, and more especially the Western Reserve, was an almost unbroken -wilderness, the haunts of savage men and savage beasts. To subdue this wilderness, to convert the pathless forests into fertile fields, to replace the wigwam of the Indian with the comfortable abodes of civilization, and eventually to make this wilderness to blossom like the rose, those noble pioneers, taking, as it were, their lives in their hands, left their homes of comfort and luxury in the East, and, with stout hearts and strong hands, struck their axes into the huge growths of the forest, and prepared for us, their descendants and, successors, a land whose superior in all the resources which, properly used, may make men prosperous and happy, is not to be found in any other portion of country on this earth. "Those pioneer men and women have mostly passed away. To cherish their memory ; to recall the history of those early days; to renew ancient friendship; to greet, as of old, companions and acquaintances from whom we have been long parted, we, their successors and. early settlers of this, one of the earliest settled townships of the Reserve, have assembled here to-day. To all those present, to those who were residents of this township thirty-five or more years ago, to our invited guests and visitors, and those, as well, who have become residents at a more recent period and are here as spectators, we extend a cordial welcome. "I have said that within one hundred years this country was a wilderness. I might have said, with truth, that it was so within three-quarters of a century, within the lifetime of many now living, and, perhaps, of some here present. And yet it seems to the more youthful portion of those now on the stage of active life as if the period of the settlement of the Reserve, so recent, in fact, compara- 18 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. tively, was an event so remote in time that its facts and incidents are among the dim and hazy memories and traditions of antiquity. "A large portion of the history of the settlement of the Reserve is unwritten, and exists only in tradition. It is peculiarly so of this township. And yet this history is well worth collecting and preserving in durable form. We trust that this will be one of the results of our reunion to-day. I have gathered a few facts and incidents of this history, partly from records and documents, and partly from conversations with the pioneers and with our early settlers, which may be of interest, and propose to occupy your attention for a short time in their narration. "In 1662 King Charles II granted a charter to the colony of Connecticut, and defined the limits of the colony to be Massachusetts on the north, Long Island Sound on the South, the Narragansett River on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west, excepting certain portions granted previously. By virtue of this charter, subsequent to the Revolution, Connecticut claimed the land west of Pennsylvania. The controversy in relation to this claim was at length settled by the cession, by Connecticut to the United States, of all land west of the State of Pennsylvania, reserving a tract one hundred and twenty miles in length, and between Lake Erie and the forty-first parallel of north latitude. This cession was accepted, and was considered an acknowledgment that the claim of Connecticut was well founded. This tract received the name of the Connecticut Western Reserve. "Excepting the Fire Lands,' containing half a million of acres on the western end of the Reserve, so-called from being given by the State of Connecticut to certain sufferers by fire and the destruction of their property in that State during the Revolutionary War, and the Salt Spring tract lying in the townships of Austintown, Jackson, Weathersfield, and Lordstown, and a few other parcels previously sold or negotiated, this tract was sold by the State in 1795 to the Connecticut Land Company. "In 1796 the survey of the Reserve into townships five miles square was commenced, and, in January, 1798, the survey being then completed, the land was partitioned among the stockholders of the company by draft. When the partition was completed, the stockholders of the company received from the trustees deeds of the land they had drawn. Many of the grantees removed soon thereafter to their land, and made it their future home. Others sent out agents. Purchasers from the grantees removed to the new country, clearings MAHONING VALLEY - 19 were made in the forests, log-houses were erected, crops were put in the ground, and thus, in the Spring of 1798, was commenced the regular settlement of the Reserve. "Prior to the draft some portions of the land had been sold by the company to individuals not stockholders. Youngstown was not included in the land partitioned in the draft, and the name of John Young does not appear among the stockholders of the company. Hence, we infer that he contracted for the purchase of the township directly from the company and prior to the draft. But at what time or in what manner this contract was made, the records do not show. The records, however, do show that on April 9, 1800, the trustees of the company conveyed to John Young township No. 2, in the second range, called Youngstown, containing 15,560 acres of land, for the consideration of $16,085.16. On the same day Mr. Young executed to the trustees a mortgage of the township to secure the payment of the purchase money. "Mr. Young, according to tradition, visited the township about 1797 with Alfred Wolcott, a surveyor, for the purpose of surveying it into lots and commencing a settlement. The late Col. James Hillman, who •then resided in Pittsburg, and had been for a number of years engaged in trading with the Indians on the Reserve, making his voyages up the Mahoning in a canoe, in returning from one of his expeditions, saw a smoke on the bank near Spring Common. On landing he found Mr. Young and Mr. Wolcott. He stayed with them a few days, when they went with him to Beaver, on the Ohio River, to celebrate the Fourth of July. Col. Hillman, at the instance of Mr. Young, returned with him to Youngstown, and they commenced the settlement of the town by the erection of a log-house. This house stood on the east bank of the Mahoning River, near Spring Common, and, as I have been informed by some of the earliest settlers, on Front Street, on the site of the house occupied until recently by Wm. S. Crawford. This was, probably, the first log-house erected on the Reserve, and the first regular settlement on the Reserve was, probably, commenced in this township. "Mr. Young laid out a town plat, which is now embraced within, and is only a small part of, the present city, and divided it into building lots. Adjoining the town plat he laid out lots of a few acres each, which he named out-lots, and the rest of the township he suoruvey, eed into larger tracts, suitable for farms. The town plat was not recorded until August 19, 1802. On June 1st of that year, Mr. Young executed an instrument, commencing, ' Know ye that I, John 20 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. Young, of Youngstown, in the county of Trumbull, for the consideration of the prospect of advancing my property, have laid out and established in the township of Youngstown aforesaid, on the north side of the Mahoning River, a town plat of the following description, namely : Federal Street is a hundred feet in width, and one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two feet in length, beginning at a corner-post standing in front of Esquire Caleb Baldwin's house, a little west of his well, running south 62̊ 30' east through the middle of the plat and public square.' The well here spoken of still exists, and is in daily use in the yard in front of the residence of Dr. Timothy Woodbridge. The post, a little west of the well, has disappeared; but its precise location has been carefully recorded by surveyors,. and can be readily found. North, now Wood, and South, now Front Streets, parallel with Federal, are then described, and bound the plat on the north and south, and these three are the only east and west streets named. The other streets, running north and south, and the public square, are then described. There are one hundred lots in the plat contained in the instrument, the south-east lot being No. 1, and the north-east lot No. 100. Lots No. 95, on the west, and No. 96 on the east side of Market Street, and bounded north on North Street, are designated on the plat as burying ground,' but are not so noted in the deed. The instrument concludes as follows : 'And all the land contained in the before-mentioned streets I have appropriated to the use and benefit of the public, to remain public high ways so long as said plat shall remain unvacated.' The instrument is signed and sealed by John Young, and witnessed by Calvin Pease, but not acknowledged before a magistrate. The city, a few years since, obtained a quit claim from the heirs of Mr. Young, which cures any defect in the execution of the instrument, and conveys to the city the title to lots No. 95 and 96 above named. "The Western Reserve was organized, under the Territorial Government, in the year 1800, as Trumbull County, with Warren as the county-seat. The first Court of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions was there held on August 25, 1800. At that Court the county was divided into townships for civil purposes. The township of Youngstown, as then organized, comprised the now townships of Poland, Coitsville, Hubbard, Liberty, Youngstown, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Jackson, and Ellsworth. George Tod was appointed prosecuting attorney of the county, and James Hillman was appointed constable of Youngstown, and the oath of office was administered to them. MAHONING VALLEY - 21 "At the Court of Quarter Sessions, February term, 1802, it was ordered that town-meetings be held on the first Monday of April next. Our first town-meeting was held, accordingly, on that day. The record of this meeting is in the hand-writing of the late Judge Tod, and we copy it entire and verbatim : "'At a legal township-meeting, begun and held in and for the township of Youngstown, in the county of Trubull, at the dwelling- house of William Ray en, on the fifth day of April, in the 'year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two, the following proceedings were had, namely : "'The persons hereinafter mentioned were chosen to the offices respectively affixed to their names : " 'John Young, Chairman. George Tod, Town Clerk. " ' Voted, that there be five Trustees chosen. Accordingly, James Doud, John Struthers, Camden Cleveland, Samuel Tylee, and Calvin Pease, were duly elected. "'Voted, that there be three overseers of the poor chosen. Accordingly, Archibald Johnson, James Matthews and John Rush were duly elected. "'Thomas Kirkpatrick and Samuel Minough were duly elected fence viewers. "'James Hillman and Homer Hine were elected appraisers of houses. "'George Tod was chosen lister of taxable property. "'William Chapman, Michael Seamore, James Wilson, Benjamin Ross, William Dunlap, Amos Loveland, John Davidson, William Service, and Thomas Packard were elected supervisors of highways. "'Calvin Pease and Phineas Reed were elected constables. "'Voted, that the next stated town-meeting be held at the house now occupied by William Rayen aforesaid. "'The meeting was then adjourned without day. " 'Attest: GEORGE TOD, Town Clerk.' " Of the above-named trustees, James Doud resided in the pres¬ent township of Canfield, John Struthers in Poland, Samuel Tylee in Hubbard, and Calvin Pease and Camden Cleveland in Youngstown. " Their first meeting was held at the dwelling-house of William Rayen, innkeeper,' on April 18, 1802. This house, as we are informed, was a log-house erected by Mr. Young on the lot where William S. Parmelee lives, to which, however, from time to time, additions were made. The township-meetings were held ' at the dwelling-house 22 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. of William Rayen' until after 1813, he being, most of the time, township clerk. Dr. Manning, on his arrival at Youngstown, in 1811, stopped at that house, or, as he stated it, at Col. Ray en's tavern.' He described the house thus : 'It was a two-story white-house, shingled on the sides instead of weather-boarding. There was a log-house attached to it on the north, and a kitchen at the back built of round logs. Between ..the log and frame part was a wide hall, open at both ends, and wooden benches on the sides for loungers.' "The first mail route through Youngstown was established and opened in October, 1801. Prior to that time the nearest post-office was at Pittsburg. The route then established ran from Pittsburg through Beavertown to Georgetown, on the Ohio River, and thence through Canfield and Youngstown to Warren. The contract for carrying the mail, once in two weeks for the term of two years, was made with Eleazor Gilson, of Canfield, at the price of $3.50 per mile per year, counting the distance one way. Samuel Gilson, a son of the contractor, carried the mail the principal part of the time, and generally on foot, carrying the mail-bag on his back. This was the first mail route on the Reserve. " Calvin Pease was appointed postmaster at Youngstown, Elijah Wadsworth at Canfield, and Simon Perkins at Warren ; and these gentlemen were the first postmasters on the Reserve. "The first building for public worship was a log edifice erected by the Presbyterian Society on the brow of the hill north of the public square, and stood near what is now the south-east corner of the Rayen school lot. It was, probably, erected in 1801 or 1802. Rev. Wm. Wick officiated for some years in this church. From a public record, which I shall quote presently, it appears that he was here officiating as a minister of the Gospel as early as November, 1800. He, probably, came here before that time. He was the first minister, in Youngstown, of the Presbyterian Church, and, perhaps, of any Church, although traveling preachers or missionaries may have preached here occasionally before Mr. Wick. In the old cemetery, near the scene of his labors of usefulness, stood a gravestone, now removed, we presume, to the new cemetery, with the following inscription : "'In memory of the Rev. 'William Wick, who died March 29, 1815, aged forty-six years and nine months. The father of eight sons and five daughters. He was a native of Long Island, New York ; ordained a preacher of the Gospel September 3, 1800 ; was pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Youngstown and Hopewell fif- MAHONING VALLEY - 23 teen years. In the curse of his ministry preached 1,522 sermons and married 56 couples. He was highly esteemed as a faithful minister of Christ, a respectable and punctual member of the judicature of the Church, lived much-beloved and died much-lamented. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.' "The first school-house was a log building, which stood on the south-west quarter of the public square. The late Singleton King, Esq., informed me that when he came here in 1805 the house looked new, and might then have been built two or three years. James Noyes, from Connecticut, a tall, slim man, was the first teacher after he came. Per Lee Brush, a gentleman who afterwards resided in Trumbull County, and whom some of you may remember, also taught in that school before Mr. King came, and was, probably, the first teacher. Mr. King, remarked, also, that - there were very few scholars to attend at that time.' "Dr. Manning, in speaking of the condition of schools and schoolhouses in 1811, when he came here, says : There was a log schoolhouse on the Diamond—there was another building used as a school-house near the residence of Isaac Powers (near the south line of the township)—one that served both as a church and school-house at Cornersburg, and another near Parkhurst's mill. Besides these, a few old buildings where schools were occasionally kept. The qualifications for a school-teacher in those days were few and moderate. If a man could read tolerably well, was a good writer, and could cipher as far as the rule of three, knew how to use the birch scientifically, and had firmness enough to exercise this skill, he would pass muster! " I have in my possession an ancient document which may throw some light on our school-history a few years later. It is a contract to teach school in the Summer of 1818. As it is brief I will quote it in full: " This article, between the undersigned subscribers of the one part, and Jabez P. Manning of the other, witnesseth, That said Manning doth, on his part, engage to teach a school at the schoolhouse near the center of Youngstown for the term of one quarter, wherein he engages to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and English grammar ; and, furthermore, that the school shall be opened at 9 o'clock, A. M., and closed at 4, P. M., on each day of the week (Saturday and Sunday excepted), and on Saturday to be opened at 9 and closed at twelve o'clock, A. M. And we, the subscribers, on Our part, individually engage to pay unto the said Manning one 24 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS dollar and 75-100 for each and every scholar we subscribe, at the end of the term ; and we furthermore engage to furnish or to bear the necessary expense of furnishing wood and all other things necessary for the use of the school. " ‘Furthermore, we do engage that unless, by the sixth day of April of the present year, the number of scholars subscribed amount to thirty-five, that the said Manning is in no way obligated by this article. " ‘Furthermore, we allow the said Manning the privilege of receiving five scholars more than are here specified. " 'J. P. MANNING. " ‘YOUNGSTOWN, March 31, 1818.' "Subscribers names and number of scholars, George Tod, 3.; John E. Woodbridge, 4; Homer Hine, 2; Henry Wick, 2; Philip Stambaugh, 11; Samuel Vaill, 2; Robert Kyle, 2; George Hardman, 1; James Davidson, 2; Polly Chapman, 1; Jerry Tibbits, 32; John F. Townsend, 2; Henry Manning, 1; William Bell, 1; Jonathan Smith, 1; Moses Crawford, 1.; William Cleland, 11 ; Margaret Murdock, 1; William Potter, 2; William Rayen, 11; William Morris, 1; Noah Chamberlain, 1; Richard Young, II; James Duncan, 1; Mrs. M'Cullough, Byrum Baldwin, 2. Total, 4012. "The township was first divided into school districts on May 22, 1826. There were seven districts and two fractional districts. The first or center district, which included the present city and some additional territory, contained fifty-four householders. The whole township, as then enumerated, contained two hundred and six householders, of which twelve were women. "The first mill was erected by John Hill and Phineas Hill about 1798 or '99, at the falls on Mill Creek, in the south-west part of the township, on the site where German Lanterman's large flouring-mill now stands. It was built of round logs, and contained machinery for both grinding and sawing. Mr. William Powers informs me that his grandfather, Abraham Powers, one of the earliest settlers, who was a practical millwright, put in the machinery. It was a small and rather primitive affair, but answered, in a measure, the needs of the inhabitants. It was one of the first, if not the first, mill on the Reserve. "The late Nathan Ague, who was; at that time, a lad about seven or eight years of age, and residing at Flint Hill with his parents, who had recently arrived, informed me that he was at the raising of this mill. He said there were not men enough in the MAHONING VALLEY - 25 neighborhood to raise it, and they sent to Greersburg, now Darlington, in Pennsylvania, for hands, and got a keg of whisky for them. On that day his father killed a bear, which furnished the meat used by the men who raised the mill. The family used the bear's skin afterward for a bed. " When and where did the first marriage on the Reserve occur, and who were the parties married? is a question of some interest. On the records of Trumbull County we find the following certificate : "'This may certify that, after publication, according to law of the Territory, Stephen Baldwin and Rebecca Rush were joined in marriage on the third day of November, 1800. " ‘By WILLIAM WICK, V .D. M.' "On the 11th of February prior, according to a record kept at Canfield, Alfred Wolcott, the surveyor who came out with Mr. Young, and then resided at Youngstown; was married to Mercy Gilson, of Canfield. They were married in Pennsylvania for the reason that no person in this vicinity was authorized to solemnize marriages. Hence, we infer that the first marriage in Youngstown was that of Stephen Baldwin and Rebecca Rush; and this was, probably, the first marriage solemnized on the. Reserve. "The first male child born in the township was Isaac Swager, son of John Swager. The first female child was a daughter of Robert and Hannah Stevens. They were born prior to 1800 ; but I have not the date. John Young Shelly, son of Daniel and Jane Shelly, was one of the earliest children born here, and tradition says that John Young deeded him a town lot for his name. In corroboration of this I find on record a deed from John Young to John Y. Shehy, dated March 24, 1807, of town lots 83 and 84, which are located on the east side of North Market Street, and south of the graveyard lot. The consideration expressed is one hundred dollars, received of Daniel Shehy. Tradition also says that Mr. Young gave lots to the two other children, but I do not find .deeds on record. "The first funeral was the burial of Samuel M'Farland in the north-west corner of the west lot of the old graveyard. All the population, including Mr. Young, as stated to me by Mr. Nathan Ague, were at the funeral. The following is the inscription on the gravestone: At the top the figures ' 1811,' probably the date of its erection. Then, 'In memory of Samuel M'Earland, teacher of vocal 26 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS music, late from Worcester, Massachusetts, who departed this life September 20, 1799, aged twenty-eight years.' This stone is now removed to the west part of the Mahoning Cemetery. "I now pass to a brief notice of our industrial interests. At an early day mineral or stone coal was discovered in different localities in the township and vicinity. It was ascertained to be good for blacksmith fuel, and was used to some extent by smiths in this section of country. It was not to any extent used as fuel for domestic purposes, as wood was plenty and cheaper. The early citizens little thought that this black stone, which would burn, cropping out here and there in the ravines, was destined to become a source of great wealth to their successors, and, while some of them were still living, to develop this valley into one of the most wealthy manufacturing regions of our country. "After the opening of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal in 1840, our late fellow-citizen, David Tod, sent from his Brier Hill mines a few boat loads of coal to Cleveland as an experiment. The coal was tested for steamboat and other purposes, and approved. It soon became a regular traffic, and the transportation, now by railroad, has continued, constantly increasing to this day. An idea of its extent may be formed by witnessing the long trains of cars, loaded with the precious black diamonds, passing almost hourly. "About 1846 it was ascertained that the Brier Hill, or that variety of coal termed block coal, could be used in its raw state as a fuel for the reduction of iron ore, and the first blast furnace in Youngstown, constructed for its use, was erected in that year. This was the Eagle Furnace, built by William Philpot, David Morris, Jonathan Warner, and Harvey Sawyer, on land purchased of Dr. Henry Manning, lying between the present city limits and Brier Hill. The coal used was mined from land contiguous, leased from Dr. Manning. The terms of this lease, as to price, were one cent per bushel for the first 25,000 bushels, and one-half cent per bushel for all over 25,000 bushels dug in any one year, and to mine not less than 75,000 bushels per year, or to pay for that quantity if not mined. The money paid for coal not mined in any year to be -applied on the excess mined in any other year. The bushel of coal to weigh seventy-five pounds. The lease to continue in force for twenty years. This lease, Dr. Manning stated, was the first coal lease made in this township. "We copy from Howe's 'Historical Collections of Ohio,' published MAHONING VALLEY - 27 in 1848, but who collected his materials in 1847, his statements of the condition of the coal and iron interest, and of our township generally at that time : "'Youngstown is the largest and most flourishing town in Ma- honing County. It contains about twelve hundred inhabitants, has twelve mercantile stores, three warehouses for receiving and forwarding goods and produce on the canal. Four churches—one Presbyterian, one Episcopal Methodist, one Protestant Methodist, and one Disciple. The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal passes through the village, and the products of the surrounding country are sent here for shipment. Few places in Ohio are more beautifully situated ; few have greater facilities for manufacturing, or bid fairer to become a place of wealth and importance. Bituminous coal, and iron ore abound in the immediate vicinity of the village and along the line of the canal, adequate, it is believed, to the wants of a large manufacturing place. Several of the coal banks are already opened, and successfully and profitably worked. The mines of the Hon. David Tod furnish about one hundred tons of coal per day, and those of Crawford, Camp & Co. about sixty ; all of which have hitherto found a ready market at Cleveland for steamboat fuel. It has recently been ascertained that the coal in the valley of the Mahoning is well adapted,, in its raw state, to the smelting of iron ore, and three furnaces, similar to the English and Scotch furnaces, each capable of producing from sixty to one. hundred tons of pig metal per week, have been erected in the township and near the village. A large rolling-mill has been erected in the village, at which is made the various sizes of bar, rod, and hoop iron, also sheet iron, nails, and spikes. The "Youngstown Iron Company" and the " Eagle Iron and Steel Company " contemplate the erection of machinery for the purpose of making T and H rail, and it is more than probable that the various railroads now projected in Ohio and the adjoining States will be supplied with rails from this point. In addition to the above there are quite a number of small manufacturing establishments for making tinware, cloth, axes, wagons, etc. The amount of capital invested in the manufacturing of iron is probably $200,000.' "The three furnaces, spoken of above, were the Eagle and Brier Hill furnaces, since rebuilt and capacity greatly enlarged, and the Mill Creek furnace, built in 1826 for a charcoal furnace, but being in an unfavorable location in regard to transportation facilities, and 28 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS getting old and dilapidated, it was taken down ,some years since. The large rolling-mill, chronicled by Mr. Howe, was the old mill north of the canal, which was the nucleus, and but a fraction, of the present extensive mills of Brown, Bonnell & Co., which are among the largest in the State. " The growth and prosperity of the township from that day to this have been onward and constant, as is evidenced by our eleven , furnaces, capable, when in full blast, of pouring out over four hundred tons of pig metal daily, and our four rolling-mills, one of them a rail-mill, and the other three manufacturing the best qualities of bar, band, round, and hoop iron, nails, etc., all employing a capital of not less than five millions of dollars ; by our foundries and machine-shops, spike, nut and washer, boiler, carriage, and other manufactories and mills; numerous and extensive mercantile stores, six spacious schoolhouses, eighteen churches, and fifteen thousand inhabitants'. And our progress is still onward. "A few words as to the day we have selected for our reunion. In 1812, Hull's surrender, and the dark and doubtful times which followed, cast a gloom over the north-west. Men were in dread of the destruction of their families and homes by the hostile armies of Great Britain, aided by the merciless Indian. savages. On the 10th of September, 1813, sixty-one years ago, the glad tidings spread through the length and breadth of our Union that the gallant Commodore Perry and his noble and hardy tars had achieved a brilliant victory over the British fleet on the waters of Lake Erie. His brief dispatch, 'We have met the enemy, and they are ours,' as it ran through the land, was every-where hailed with loud acclamations of rejoicing. "The contest was then virtually decided. The West was safe. The gloom was dispelled, and the pioneers, scattered sparsely over the Reserve, felt secure in their homes. "This day has ever been considered, in Ohio and the West, as second only to the anniversary of our National Independence. What day more appropriate for our reunion "Again, I bid you all welcome; may we have a 'good time,' and may this be the percursor of many happy reunions of the early and the later settlers of Youngstown." The reading of the correspondence, by T. H. Wilson, followed the address. MAHONING VALLEY - 29 LETTER FROM DR. GARLICK. BEDFORD, August 18, 1874. MESSRS. TIMOTHY WOODBRIDGE„ JOHN R. SQUIRE, JOHN M. EDWARDS, and others of the Committee of Invitation : Your letter of invitation to attend a reunion of the old citizens of Youngstown, to be held in your city on the 10th of September next, was received in due time. Few things, indeed, would afford me more pleasure than to meet with you on that occasion. I regret to say that I fear I shall not be able to gratify that wish on account of ill health. It will be forty years on the 9th day of September next since I located in the village, now the city, of Youngstown, for the purpose of practicing medicine and surgery, and remained in that very pleasant village until the Fall of 1853, when I removed to Cleveland. I have not visited your city for about fifteen years (I am ashamed to say it), and should hardly know the place if I were to go there, so rapidly has your city and neighborhood increased in richness and importance. When I settled in Youngstown there was then living many of the pioneers, many of whom I numbered among my intimate friends. Among these was Hon. George Tod, Hon. William Rayen, Dr. Henry Manning, James Hillman, James Mackey, and some others. All these have passed away, I believe. Pioneers are always men that possess some very strong traits in the composition of their make-up. They possess enterprise, and, I believe, are generally what may be called "good fellows." Certainly, so far as my acquaintance extended among the Youngstown pioneers, they were the very best of men. I hope, as I expect, you will have a very pleasant reunion, a good time, and I wish I could be with you. I have not been so well as usual for some weeks past, and have to write this letter lying on my lounge. If, however, there shall be some improvement in my health, I may be among you. With kind wishes, I am, most respectfully, yours, T. GARLICK. LETTER FROM J. D. GIBSON. AMERICUS, LYON CO., KANSAS, August 25, 1874. MR. JOHN M. EDWARDS, Youngstown, Ohio: Dear Sir,—Yours of the 18th to hand, inviting my father, John F. Gibson, to attend the reunion of old citizens, to take place September 10th, for which you have our sincere thanks. 30 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS My father died the 11th of last June. He was born in 1809 on the old Gibson farm, close to the Flint Hill school-house. He spent forty years of his life close to Youngstown.. His grand parents lived to a great age, and I think were among the first buried in the old grave-yard on the hill. When David Tod was minister to Brazil, his mother, then quite old and feeble, sent for my grandmother to come and see her, and during her visit remarked that in early days she had at different times waded the Mahoning River and walked to our farm in time to eat hot biscuit for breakfast at Grandmother Gib- son's. I have frequently heard my father mention the names of your committee, and were he living nothing would have given him more pleasure than to meet the friends of his youth. If not too much trouble please have a notice of my father's death inserted in your county papers. I left Youngstown twenty-four years ago when a boy fourteen years of age. I took a canal-boat at Park's warehouse, and directed my course to the west; yet during these long years it has 'ever been my boast that Ohio was my native State. Hoping that you will have a pleasant time at your reunion, and that you may long live to enjoy the prosperity which your wisdom and energy has given to your city, yours, truly, J. D. GIBSON. LETTER FROM ROSWELL M. GRANT, UNCLE OF THE PRESIDENT. MAYSLICK, MASON CO., KY., September 7, 1874. GEORGE A. YOUNG, ESQ. : Dear Sir,—I have just received yours of August 28th, also a circular inviting me to a reunion of old citizens and pioneers of Youngstown, Ohio. Nothing would have given me more pleasure than to meet you- on that occasion. Had I only received a notice ten days sooner I would certainly have done so. As I am a farmer, and Thursday next is the day set, it is impossible for me to leave on so short a notice. Looking over the circular it has brought to my mind many old reminiscences. My mother died in Deerfield in 1805. My father moved to Youngstown same year. He carried on tannery business. My sister Susan and brother Jesse lived with Judge George Tod. Margaret and myself lived with Colonel James Hillman on a farm over the river and opposite town. My father sold his tan yard to John E. Woodbridge, and moved to Maysville, Ky., leaving Margaret and myself with Colonel Hillman, about the year 1820. Colonel Hillman about the same time sold his farm and moved over to town to keep a hotel. MAHONING VALLEY - 31 At that time the citizens were as follows : 1st, above Colonel Rayen was J. E. Woodbridge; 2nd. John F. Townsend, hatter; 3rd, Colonel William Rayen, farmer; 4th, William Sherman, hatter; 5th, opposite, George Tod ; 6th, Mr. Abraim, chair-maker; 7th, Samuel Stuart, tavern, (Colonel Hillman bought Stuart out); 8th, opposite, Dr. Dutton; 9th, Esquire Baldwin, farmer; 10th, Kilpatrick, blacksmith; 11th, Henry Wick, merchant; 12th, Hugh Bryson, merchant; 13th, Lawyer Hine ; 14th, Mr. Bissell; 15th, Mr. Bruce, shoemaker ; 16th, Rev. Mr. Duncan. The above is all the citizens there were in Youngstown, from 1805 up to 1810. I well remember the Indians coming down the river in canoes and camping in Colonel Hillman's sugar camp, at the lower end of the farm, and upon the river bank. They would stay some days. Also the old chief would come to see Colonel Hillman to settle some dispute between them. They would bring some thirty or forty warriors with them. They would stop at the plum orchard, at the upper end of the farm. These visits were often. I had forgotten to mention the names of Mr. Hogue, a tailor, and Moses Crawford, who lived below Judge. Tod's, on the bank of the river. Crawford tended Colonel Hillman's mill. Bears, wolves, deer, and wild turkey were plenty. I went to school in the old log school-house eight years; to Master Noyes five years of the time. David Tod, Frank Thorne, and myself were leaders of all mischief; so said Master Noyes. In the war of 1812, the whole country was drafted, and rendezvoused in Youngstown. After they left, Captain Applegate, Lieutenant Bushnell, and Ensign Reeves enlisted one hundred men for one year. During the enlistment, Captain Dillon's son, with an elder fife, and myself with a drum, furnished the music. Colonel William Rayen commanded the regiment. Judge Tod had a colonel's commission in the regular army. Colonel Hillman volunteered, and after arriving at Sandusky, General Harrison appointed him Wagon-master General of the United States Army. John E. Woodbridge was paymaster. Mr. Hogue, Moses Crawford, Dr. Dutton, Henry Wick, Hugh Bryson, and Mr. Bruce were all the men left in Youngstown during the war. I had forgotten Mr. Thorne, a cabinet-maker, who lived near the old school-house. Had I time I could relate many, very many, incidents, but I have just received your letter and have just time to answer it. Jesse R. Grant left Judge Tod's in 1810. Went to Maysville, Ky., and finished his trade with my brother Peter. Went to Deer- 32 - MAHONING VALLEY field, Ohio, about the year 1815. Took charge of my father's old tan-yard. Sold out and went to Ravenna. Carried on the business until 1821. He then went to Point Pleasant, forty miles below Maysville. Sunk a tan-yard there. Same year he married Miss Hannah Simpson, where U. S. Grant was born April 27, 1822. I left Youngstown in 1818. Went to Ravenna. Stayed there until 1820. I then went to Maysville, Ky. Finished my trade with my brother, Peter Grant. After following my trade for twenty- eight years, I quit tanning, bought me a farm of seven hundred and seventy-five acres on the great Kanawha River, nine miles below Charleston, the capital of West Virginia. During the late war I was so annoyed by both armies, I rented the farm out, came here in 1862, bought a small farm where I now live, thirteen miles south of Maysville, and one mile from Mayslick, Mason County, Ky. I am now seventy-three years old, weigh one hundred and eighty-five pounds, hale and hearty, never sick. 'In the last fifty years I have n't taken ten cents' worth of medicine. Hardly a gray hair in my head. Some think I am not over fifty-five or sixty. I must now come to a close and take this to the office. I forgot to say that I have voted the true Democratic ticket for fifty-two years, with one exception. I did not vote for Horace Greeley. His Democracy did not suit me. If there should be any old citizens at the meeting that recollect me, I would be pleased to have them write to me. I now think I will make you a visit soon. If this should reach you before the 10th please give the old pioneers my very best wishes, and I am truly sorry I can not be with them. It would have been one of the proudest days of my life. If the proceedings of the meeting are published please send inc a copy. I have not been in Youngstown since July, 1824. This is written in great haste. Please excuse all mistakes. Your letter and circular was sent to me from Maysville. I remain, yours truly, ROSWELL M. GRANT. LETTER FROM HON. J. M. LOUGHRIDGE. OSKALOOSA, IOWA, September 1, 1874. JOHN M. EDWARDS and others, Youngstown, Ohio : Gentlemen,—Your kind invitation to me to be present with you on the 10th of September, on the occasion of the grand reunion of those who were citizens of Youngstown township thirty-five years ago and upward, I have received. I can scarcely imagine any thing that would give me more pleasure than to meet on that day with those old citizens who were the neighbors of my father HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS- 33 and mother, and with those who were my associates in my youthful days and if my life is spared I expect yet to visit Youngstown, to once more look upon her hills and valleys, and look up all the old landmarks that remain among the thirty-five-year-old citizens. And yet the pleasure that I would anticipate in meeting with you I fear might not be unmingled with a feeling of sadness. In your cemetery I would see something to remind me of my dear parents and a sister. I would miss many once familiar faces. Oh, how rapidly have those thirty-five years passed away, and with them what changes. My memory carries me back to the time of the Revs. Bouton, Harvard, and Stafford ; back to the time when I, with my parents, brothers, and sisters attended Church in the old log meetinghouse on the hill ; to the time when I daily saw Dr. Manning, Henry Wick, Judge Tod, Dr. Dutton, Homer Hine, Dr. Cook, Mr. Woodbridge, R. Montgomery, and many others who have long since passed away; to the time when I attended school in the old " academy," when I sometimes played truant with Homer Hine, Paul Wick, John Manning, and others, and spent a portion of the day in picking Wintergreens on Rayen's Hill, and wading in the Mahoning River (although I see by a certificate now lying before me, signed by Moses G. Haseltine, and dated October 30, 1830, that " by good conduct and attentive application to my studies I merited the approbation of my teacher on that day)." I sometimes spend an hour meditating on these things, and the meditation invariably causes a feeling of sadness in my bosom.. And perhaps if I could be with you on the 10th inst. I might be compelled to say, "I am pleased and yet I'm sad." Although it has been near a quarter of a century since I left Youngstown, the associations that cluster around it are so dear to my heart that I can say that I love the place above all others. I was born in Elizabethtown, Alleghany County, Penn., on the Gth of December, 1821. My parents removed to Youngstown when I was an infant, and I remained there, with the exception of four for five years, until I removed to Sewickleyville, Penn. I remained there about four years, and then removed to the city of Oskaloosa, here about Mahaska County, Iowa, where I have since resided, having been here about twenty years, the last fifteen of which I have spent in public life. I have two children (daughters) one of whom is a native of Youngstown. Both are married. Hoping that you may have a pleasant reunion, and that I may be able meet with you on a similar occasion at some future time, I remain, your friend,  J. M. LOUGHRIDGE. 34 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS LETTER FROM HON. THOMAS STRUTHERS. WARREN, September 4, 1874. DR. T. WOODBRIDGE, Chairman, etc.: Dear Sir,—I have received your complimentary invitation to the pioneer reunion to be held at the Opera House in Youngstown, and regret that it will probably be out of my power to attend. It will afford me great pleasure to do so if I can. You will, at all events, have my hearty good will and wishes for a pleasant and interesting (as I have no doubt it will be) reunion of the pioneers of the Reserve. There, in the township of Poland, I first saw the light of day in the year 1803. It is my native heath, and although circumstances have, since my early manhood, determined my residence in good old Pennsylvania, I confess my returning visits there always reminded me of " Home Sweet Home." I might introduce and dwell upon many reminiscences of interest, relating to the early settlement and pioneer settlers of old Trumbull County, but I will only call your'• attention to one circumstance, which goes to prove that while these early adventurers were intent upon securing for themselves a good home and founding a great State, they were not neglectful of their intellectual cultivation, and the improvement of those moral qualities which mark the good and useful citizen. I was furnished by 'a relative, a few years ago, with the original constitution, rules, and proceedings of a debating society established by my father, John Struthers, my uncle, Thomas Struthers, my eldest brother, Alexander Struthers, and a few other neighbors, namely : Robert M'Combs, Samuel Wilkinson, William Campbell, William M'Combs, James Adair, Wiliam. Adair, and John Blackburn. The manuscript I send you. It was found in the bottom of a chest with other old papers of my father's, and is, as you will see, the worse for age, and somewhat mutilated. The first leaves are gone, and with them the first article and date of organization, but the second article and all the following articles are in readable condition, . as also the signatures of the parties who signed it ; and it appears that after they had read, approved, and signed it, they "adjourned until the third Tuesday in November next, at the house of John Struthers at six o'clock P. M." The next entry has the day of the month and year of their meeting, namely : " Tuesday evening, 21st November, 1803." Then follows the brief record of several meetings, running through the Winter evenings. It is not uninteresting to note the subjects of debate, particularly the following : MAHONING VALLEY - 35 “Whether is the intrinsic value of an article or the probability of obtaining the price to be the rule in selling?" "Is slave-holding proper or improper?" "Ought the Mahoning to be a public high- way or not ?" On this last a vote was taken on the merits, and it was "carried in the affirmative unanimously." Such societies and debates, bringing together the neighbors socially once a week or so, constituted the amusement and entertainment of those hardy fellows of the forest, and I submit whether it was not far better for themselves and the rising generation, than the cards, the billiards, horse-racing, and other like devices of amusement of the present day? You will oblige me by preserving this ancient manuscript, which is to me an interesting memento. You can hand it to me when Hoping you may have a pleasant time of it, I remain, yours, truly, T. STRUTHERS P. S.—I may remark that these same gentlemen, with some others, amongst whom were Robert Montgomery, David Clendenin, Turhand Kirtland, and John Stewart, kept up this or similar debating societies for many successive years, so long, indeed, as to bring them within my memory. I remember well with what interest I listened to their speeches. On the back of the last leaf are the words, " Youngstown, March 29, 1827. The society shall have—" sentence not complete. Whether this indicates that the society was kept alive to that date, and extended itself to embrace gentlemen of Youngstown as members—Query? T. S. LETTER FROM FRANK BARCLAY. AURORA, ILL , August 24, I 874. GENTLEMEN OR COMMITTEE, Youngstown, Ohio : Sirs,—Your invitation to attend a reunion of old citizens at Youngstown on the 10th of September is at hand. Am sorry that circumstances will prevent my meeting the many friends of my father and mother there. My parents, Robert and Laura Barclay, married and settled in Youngstown, in the year 1826. They had three children, of whom I am the eldest, being now forty-seven years old. They continued to reside in Youngstown until 1857, when they came west to live with their children, until two years ago, when both died within six days, having lived a married life of nearly half a century. My father possessed a remarkable memory, to the end of his life, of Scripture, history, and individuals; could give the exact age of every child born 36 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS in Youngstown during his long residence there ; was of genial disposition, warm in his friendship. Old Uncle Nathan Ague can testify to the cordiality of his grip when shaking hands. He numbered among his friends of thirty-five years ago Judge Tod, Judge Rayen, Judge Baldwin, Dr. Manning, John E. Woodbridge, Charles A. Boardman, Esquire Mackey, David Tod, James Hillman, Abraham Powers, John R. Holcomb, Uncle Billy Watt, and many others he held in pleasant remembrance to the end of his life, together with many who will participate in the reunion. I was born in the old log house which stood on the present site of Dr. Woodbridge's residence in 1827. Youngstown was then but a country village. Iron and coal were unknown quantities. The old academy was where the young mind was taught to shoot until at a later period it became a temple for dispensing the Gospel, but that was before the days of Beecherain progress. I well remember my father's building the old arch-bridge, and the Sam Patch leap from, it of Captain Hughes. I was then ten years old. Nor can I forget the celebration upon the arrival of the first canal-boat, nor the stirring events upon training days, when every patriot enrolled himself under the banner of the gallant Captain John Ballard, or the invincible Captain Hughes, nor when cold water failed to quench the-fiery eloquence of the heroic Spencer when addressing his fellow-citizens. Sirs, such scenes, such spirits, with their energy and enterprise, were destined to lead the way from the quiet inland town of thirty years ago to become one of the foremost cities in manufacturing, public improvements, intelligence, and wealth in the State of Ohio. Long may she wave ! With sincere regret that I can not meet you at the reunion, I am, very respectfully, yours,    FRANK BARCLAY. LETTER FROM GENERAL B. H. GRIERSON. ST. LOUIS BARRACKS, MO., August 22, 1874. Gentlemen,—Your invitation to attend the reunion of the old citizens of Youngstown, Ohio, September 10, 1874, is received I regret to inform you that my official duties will, most likely, prevent my attendance. You may rest ass fired that I would be very glad to be present at the time specified, and that I will be there, if possible. If, however, I am unable to attend, please do not fail to remember me kindly to all my old friends and acquaintances, not forgetting to present my most respectful salutation to the ladies, if they take part in the meeting. MAHONING VALLEY - 37 Persons older, longer citizens of Youngstown, and far more capable than myself, will, no doubt, furnish reminiscences of the olden times, citizens, etc., more interesting than I can write or relate. My early history would not be of general interest, and that of a later day inappropriate to the occasion. By reading your letter my boyhood days amidst kind friends in the good old town and Valley of the Ma- honing passed quickly in review, recalling to mind scenes and associations sacred and dear to memory. Earnestly hoping that the reunion may prove to be a most happy one, every way pleasant and satisfactory to all concerned, and that it will result in lasting good, I remain, gentlemen, with high esteem and regard, very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. H. GRIERSON, Colonel l0th Cavalry, Brevet Major-General U. S. A. To DR. T. WOODBRIDGE, and others, Youngstown, Ohio. LETTER FROM WILLIAM R. KING. FOWLER, August 24, 1874. MR. JOHN M. EDWARDS: Dear Sir,—I shall try, by all means, to be at the reunion on the 10th of September. I have not been in Youngstown for some twenty years, yet remember every foot of ground in your city. I also remember the first whipping in the old log school-house. The school was kept by a man by the name of Flint. Many things I might tell you if I could see you. WILLIAM R. KING. P. S.—I was born in Youngstown, August 29, 1813, and lived there till 1837; then moved to the town of Mecca ; stayed there one year; then I moved to Fowler, and have lived here ever since. I live on the township line road, west of the center, in the north-west corner of the township, within a quarter of a mile of the Atlantic & Great -Western Railroad, near to what is called the Johnston Summit. Please excuse the writing ; I have a sore finger. My best wishes to all. Yours, truly, W. R. K. LETTER FROM B. P. BALDWIN. NEWTON FALLS, O., August 31, 1874. DR. WOODBRIDGE. Youngstown, Ohio : Dear Sir,—I observed a notice in the Tribune, a call for the reunion of the old citizens of Youngstown, and I was born there in "larch, A. D. 1802. Would be pleased to be one of your number on that occasion. I remember very distinctly circumstances of the early settlement of Youngstown, school boy affairs, being in the old log 38 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS school-house on the square at the time of the great eclipse in 1806 or '7; got so dark I cried to go home ; was present when you and your brother John were taken out of the river, you almost, and John quite, drowned, just below Mr. Rayen's house, as well as many other circumstances and cases of the kind. I suppose there are very few of the then young people there now, few that were born there before you were. Perhaps some of the Shehys, or Swagers, or Agues, the two Mrs. Kimmels, perhaps. I came away in 1832, but have some reminiscences of Youngstown yet. I have a pair of pants made by Pollock, the tailor, for military officers' equipage. There may be some of the Tibbits or M'Kinnie families. The Wicks, I think, are younger than yours. I have many things I might say to you, but this will suffice for the present. My health is very good. I have given up the care of the farm, and am trying to live a retired life. Meddle but little with the world or politics. May heaven's choicest blessing be yours. Truly, yours, B. P. BALDWIN. LETTER FROM A. J. GARDNER. GRAND RAPIDS, WOOD CO., O., September 8, 1874. DR. T. WOODBRIDGE : Dear Sir,—Owing to my recent visit to Youngstown, and the press of business matters, I am unable to attend the celebration on the 10th. My best wishes for long life and prosperity to the pioneers; and if it should be that we have no more reunions on earth, may we all have a blessed reunion in heaven. Yours, truly and fraternally, A. J. GARDNER. LETTER FROM HENRY WOODBRIDGE. INLAND, O., August 31, 1874. MR. J. M. EDWARDS : Dear. Sir,—In reply to your committee's invitation to a reunion of the old citizens of Youngstown, I would say it will afford me great pleasure to meet with you and take by the hand so many of the survivors of the years gone by. Should I be unavoidably detained, you have my best wishes for a pleasant reunion and a prosperous future. Respectfully, yours, HENRY WOODBRIDGE. LETTER FROM JOHN KIRK. SANDY LAKE, MERCER CO., PA , August 28, 1874. MR. TIMOTHY WOODBRIDGE, Youngstown, 0.: Dear Sir,—Your kind invitation to be present at the reunion of the old citizens of Youngstown, on the 10th of next month, came duly MAHONING VALLEY - 39 to hand, and in reply to the request of the committee beg leave to say, it is now doubtful whether it will be convenient for me to be present, as business calls me to New York at that time. Very truly, yours, JOHN KIRK. After the reading of the correspondence it was ascertained that Mr. G. T. Ford, of Akron, was in the house. He was called for repeatedly, and at last appeared on the platform. REMARKS OF G. T. FORD, ESQ. "I am no old settler. The primeval forests of Mahoning never bowed their majestic heads to the telling blows of my ax ; and I can 't now recollect that I ever brought a wife from the East over the difficult summits of the Alleghany range to raise a large family here as a starter for future generations, and otherwise experience the peculiar, yet ennobling, hardships of pioneer life. No, I can boast of no such glory. I can only boast that I am but a poor, degenerate descendant of those who worried and suffered that I might enjoy. "But, my dear threescore-years-and-teners, although we who are young had not the honor to be with you when Mahoning was the very frontier of civilization ; although we happened to be absent while you were helping to lay the corner-stone of this country's glorious future, yet we believe we can sympathize with you, and sympathize heartily, too, in the great pleasure you to-day feel in thus renewing with each other your youth. And as we have listened here with a new interest to the reminiscences of your young lives, we have again that feeling of pleasant surprise which, in our younger days, we had as our fathers and our mothers, our uncles and our aunts, at their occasional family gatherings, talked over, in our presence, the events of their childhood, recalled and lived again the good old times of long ago. To the youthful mind nothing, you know, seems half so strange as that the old were ever young. And so it was that not even the Arabian Nights,' teeming, as they do, with all the rare delightful fancies of their blessed author, ever opened our eyes wider with astonishment, or made our young hearts beat to a quicker tune of pleasant wonder than did the stories which these revered old heads then related. I envied them and wondered if, when old age had thrown over me its mantle of years, I, too, should have a story of ancient reminiscence to fill with delight the breasts of my children. But I'm afraid not. It looks a little now as if the breasts of my children are never to be filled with delight. I say this in sadness. But these stories were not 40 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. all of a pleasant nature, for I remember how often, after I had gone to bed at night, and the candle had been blown out, the thought of Spotted John, that unmitigated Indian nuisance of Mahoning Valley seventy years ago, would bring the bed-clothes over my head. I knew he was dead. I had heard, of course, how one bright Summer morning a canoe floated down the Mahoning River bearing the lifeless remains of Spotted John. But when I remember how one day he had snatched from my grandmother's arms her babe, and fled with it to the woods only for the pleasure he felt in wringing its mother's heart, I thought that perhaps the happy hunting grounds were too happy for him, and that the first thing I knew he would be wandering back to earth again, to make things lively for folks in general, and me in particular. "But fast upon the haunting recollections of Spotted John came other and more pleasant ones of domestic circles gathered on Winter evenings around the big back log and its crackling fire in the wide old-fashioned fire-place, of hunting and fishing, of dances and sleigh rides, tea parties and corn huskings, and barn raisings—in short, of all those jolly times which somehow belong to pioneer days, and to pioneer days only. Of course, I believed in them all implicitly—that is, all but one. There was one of these old reminiscences which, in spite of my reverence for those who related them, tested my faith to the utmost. It was that in the parties and dances, and other festivities of that olden time, no one was more prominent than a certain Julia Tod, who, in her stylish red flannel dress, would glide over the floor in a waltz with such matchless grace as consumed with envy her fair companions, and filled the young men with delight and admiration. When I heard this and then turned my eyes upon Julia Tod, my mother, quietly knitting in the cornerupon Julia Tod, who now wanted no better fun or wilder dissipation than a Thursday evening prayer-meeting, or on Saturday night to wash me up for Sunday, and comb me bald-headed with a fine tooth comb, it was too much for my poor weak human nature, and I closed one eye after the manner of a man who wished to know what you take him for. "If all I have heard about it be true, I do n't believe there ever was such another fireside as my grandmother had up here at Brier Hill. There was nothing elegant about it. No delicately chiseled marble mantle-piece surrounded it, no bronze clock of exquisite pattern ticked off the time above it, no costly ornaments of modern time lent to it their charm; it was simply a wide open chimney place, down which the Winter stars shone, with big, clean-swept hearth stones in front: The great back log would alone split up into a full cord of MAHONING VALLEY - 41 our degenerate fire wood, while the small pieces in front roared and cracked and blazed, sending a shower of sparks up the chimney way, and sending such a glow into every nook and corner of the old log house sitting-room as would warm the hearts as well as the persons of all who were fortunate enough to be within reach of its genial influence. The chilled traveler, as he caught sight of the red warmth through the window panes, would wrap his cloak more snugly around him, and urge his horse at a faster speed over the curduroy roads to his destination, while to the group within the bluster of cold winds around the house corners was a pleasant sound, since by its contrast it made them feel still more time comforts of the fireside. And what a friend it was, for the old and young alike brought to it their pleasures and their sorrows. Into the depths of the great bed of red coals the baby would sit and look by the hour, and the deep wonder in its eyes showed it to be dreaming, dreaming the rare blissful dreams that come to infancy only. The youth saw in its changing glow the fancied pictures of his future lifels great successes, while the aged read in it anew the sorrow and brightness of a life that had been spent. And so, dreaming to it in babyhood, planning to it in youth, and thinking to it in old age, it became a sharer in joys and sorrows, clustered so thickly around with dear associations as to be a thing of beauty and a joy forever.' "I am reluctantly persuaded, my friends, that when you pass away these pioneeer meetings will pass away too; and this in the very nature of things. It is impossible in this fast age, that our associations can be in any respect as strong as are yours. The whole world is our neighborhood, and the events of a globe's daily life come thronging to us, claiming our attention and dulling the impressions of our personal experiences: Shut in as you were by almost unbroken wilds, your home was your world. When pleasure entered there it was pleasure indeed, and when sorrow came, it touched your heart-strings, and they vibrate yet. That old man who recently died in his luxurious palace on Fifth Avenue, surrounded by all the comforts unbounded wealth can give, and yet who, in the burning fever of his last sickness, piteously longed, with a constant longing, for just one drink from the old home spring by the log cabin door; the grey- haired San Francisco merchant who, in the delirium of his death bed, kept calling for his mother, long since dead, to sing for him the song that had so often soothed his childish sufferings, and who, when a motherly nurse, recalling the lullaby, sang it to him with all the tender pity that filled her heart, sank quietly to sleep never more to 42 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. awake,—these and a hundred other like instances but show how tenderly strong are the associations which cling to even the least and most unimportant incidents of your long time ago. "There is one blessed thing in your remembrance of the past today. It is that the sorrows you have suffered are softened, while the blessings are made more bright. And even the remembered hardships only serve somehow to heighten your recollected joys, for just as the diamond never sparkles so brilliantly as when set in jet, so do our pleasant memories never seem more bright than when hedged in by what in their day have seemed to us trials and disappointments. "One thing alone saddens. you. It is to miss the faces and forms of some who shared with you your old time joys and sorrows, but who are now gone, never to come back; those whom you honored and loved, and who, if they could, would be here to-day with the same warm hand-shake and cordial word of greeting which you remember so well. The young miss them as keenly as do you, for, while to you they were bound in ties of friendship, they were bound in the closer and more tender ties of relationship. But I believe them to be present nevertheless, still taking pleasure in the society of those whose friendship made them glad in the days that are now long agone. "To us who are young this meeting of yours is a new inspiration, kindling within us a kindlier feeling and a more tender sentiment. We ask no higher glory than to walk as you have walked, no richer earthly reward than the retrospect of such lives as you have lived; and we pledge you now and here to try with renewed effort to keep unsullied the names you leave us, and to band down the example of our sires even to our children's children's children." Mr. Kincaid, of Farmington, then narrated some interesting anecdotes connected with early residents of this city, and reminiscences of his own life here. Father M'Kinnie followed in the same strain, as did also Mr. L. T. Foster. Mr. Foster told about the first school house built on the west side of the Mahoning in 1804, on the farm on which he now lives ; also of the woolen mill built on Mill Creek, and abandoned about thirty-five years ago. Jesse Baldwin then told his experience and explained his aversion to paper money. Mr. Baldwin said: "In the absence of other speakers, allow me to say that I am probably the oldest resident citizen of the town of Youngstown. Dating back to the year 1799, when my grandfather, Jesse Newport, removed from Brownsville, Penn., with his family, including my MAHONING VALLEY - 43 mother and his son-in-law, Josiah Robbins, to a farm about two miles from this city, on the way to Canfield, the farm now being the home of James Smith. It was thus my residence commenced—just sixteen years before I was born—I being born in 1815, and contrary to all of my own desires in the matter, about fifty rods over the south line of the township, in the adjoining town of Boardman. Protesting against this outrage on the desired place of my birth, I ran away from home, with a brother two years younger, to the home of my grandfather, where my residence began in Youngstown, sixteen years before I was born; and while there we were put on the scales and weighed, I weighed forty-two pounds, while my brother weighed forty-four pounds. This difference of weight, at so early an age, so annoyed me that I charged it as the result of stuffing his pockets full of sweet apples, and thus called it a Yankee trick, and chargeable to the Connecticut line of parentage, my father having come in 1801 from Connecticut, and settled in the town of Boardman; but notwithstanding this charge, he thus passed me, in that early age of our boyhood, in all the elements of physical ability, and I was never after able to recover my lost ground. "My education, however, began in this town, in a log school-house ; and if I am sometimes a little wolfish, I attribute it to the fact that my first teacher was Miss Adeline DeWolf. Another teacher was John Kirk, who kept wire money purses and red morocco pocket-books for sale to the boys at school, and others in the neighborhood. The wire purses he recommended as worth, when worn out as such, twice their cost, to be used as fastenings for their vest buttons. I took a fancy for a red pocket-book, and with no money to put in it after bought, nor even any money to buy it with ; yet such was my thirst for the ownership of a red morocco pocket-book, that I borrowed a dime to buy it, agreeing to give, at the end of the month, twelve and one- half cents for the dime thus borrowed. And thus I began my financial history by borrowing money at higher rates of interest than Chase's compound interest or 5-20 bonds—being twenty-five per cent per month. And to pay this debt, I went to work and peeled sassafras bark. My next financial history consisted in uniting with my brothers and the neighbor boys in picking up apples, making a barrel or two of cider, and bringing it down to town to a general training, which was held in the southern part of the city, then covered with burr-oak bushes. This cider was peddled, first selling it at five cents a quart, then down to three cents, two cents, and even as low as one cent a quart, when the business was put into my hands as 44 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. salesman. Soon a fellow came along with a worthless 'Owl Creek' one dollar note, and buying a quart of cider, took away the last cent of change on hand of the previous sales. And thus defrauded, without any change to buy powder and ginger-cakes, the object of the sale of the cider, I was taught to fear all irredeemable paper money, as 'Owl Creek shin-plasters.' Such was my boyish history with this town. And that is my remembrance of it before the day of building the P. & 0. Canal, and after this the railroad, which opened up to the wheat, the coal and iron trade facilities that have enabled Youngstown to grow from a small village to its.present population and extensive manufacturing industries." DINNER AND AFTER. At the conclusion of the speaking in the morning, about one o'clock, Mr. William Powers, on behalf of the committee, announced that ample preparation had been made at the Tod House for the accommodation of all the invited guests, and so many of the citizens as might desire to dine there. He also stated that arrangements had been made at the central table for all the soldiers present of the war of 1812, and the widows of soldiers of that war, to sit down together. The provision made by the proprietors of the house wits indeed sumptuous and ample, and the dinner seemed to be heartily enjoyed by the guests. There was indeed nothing on the tables to remind them of the hard fare of the earlier time, and little in the surrounding magnificent buildings to suggest the forest of oak that had so recently flourished over the very spots where the Tod House and the Opera House now stand. "After dinner we wandered through the crowded office and parlors and listened to the eager chat going on. We like to linger over the strange scenes, over this blending of the activities of the present with reminiscences of the past. There were old ladies quietly sipping their tea, and there was another who had refused the pare Havana' offered, complacently smoking her pipe. There was there an uncovering of the long buried treasures of the memory, an odd jumble of yesterday and to-day, a living of the past in the present, a meeting for one brief hour of the first, second, and third quarters of the nineteenth century of the Mahoning Valley." - (Mahoning Register.) AFTERNOON SESSION. The pioneers reassembled in the Opera House at half-past three, when the toasts were read and responded to. The Hon. Thomas MAHONING VALLEY - 45 Struthers spoke of the amusements of those early days—of the huskings and logging bees, the athletic sports and dances, "Sister Phoebe," and kicking the blanket. He was followed in the same strain by Ray Noble. The Hon: Asahel Medbury followed, speaking on the hardships of pioneer life. Speaking, as he said, more from what he had learned by tradition than from what he knew by experience. The Hon. Sheldon Newton spoke from knowledge with regard to the hardships endured. He had seen the time when men went forty miles from Boardman to Georgetown for their flour or meal; when, during the war of 1812, shin-plasters from Warren, Ravenna, and all the few neighboring towns had driven out silver and gold, and when, still later, the shin-plasters themselves unredeemed, except by Warren, vanished and there was no money. He said that men raised what they ate and made what they wore, that all business transactions were conducted by simple barter, that money was only used in the payment of taxes, and that one hundred and sixty cents for a long time paid the taxes on one hundred and sixty acres of land. He said that the first child born on the Western Reserve was Horace Daniels, in 1800,* and that he drove the first mail coach west from Poland in 1823 (differing from Father M'Kinnie, who made this date 1822). He had seen calico in Boardman selling at seventy-five cents a yard— but when it took only six yards to make a dress. He closed by giving the bill of fare for a dinner he had at a logging in 1817, which was bread, raw pork, raw onions, and whisky. Mr. Fletcher Hogue followed him with some amusing anecdotes. R. M'Millan responded to the toast, " Our Education," alluding to the high character that Youngstown had borne, even in the early times, regarding educational advantages, and giving in order the teachers that had for forty years past given tone to her schools. Mr. W. S. Crawford and the Hon. Robt. M. Montgomery responded to the toast, " Our Mothers, Sisters, and Wives ;" Mr. Montgomery paying an eloquent tribute to the noble women who had molded the characters of the men of the generation just passing away. Thomas H. Wells responded to the toast, "Our Fellow Comrades," and spoke feelingly of the men that he had known when he first came to this city, of their steadfastness of purpose, and of their persist- *Robert and Hannah Stevens had a daughter born before that, also Mrs. Phineas Rill had a child born at Mahoning Falls.—EDITORS. 46 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. ency of endeavor, of Col. Hillman, Col. Rayen, and Mr. Henry "Wick. He was followed by Mr. Osirus Case. The President then invited all to a pioneer dance at the Tod House in the evening. OLD RELICS. It seems not to have been generally understood that the committee desired old relics to be brought for exhibition, and for that reason but few articles of "ye olden time" were in the hands of the committee. We noticed a fine old China teapot, with a card attached, bearing the following inscription : " Five generations from the present this teapot was the property of Mrs. Elizabeth Pitney, of Morristown, N. J,, her mother housekeeping with and calling it The Old Teapot.' " ELIZABETH WICK." Mr. John Van Fleet sent in a very large family Bible one hundred and fifty-four years old. It was printed in Oxford, England. The paper and typography were most excellent, and the engravings fine. An old vest was exhibited, made in 1807 by Mr. Robert Pollock, whom many of the pioneers remembered as a tailor in Youngstown in those early days. We also noticed a cup and saucer, brought over from England in 1808 by Mrs. Jane Drake, the mother of Mrs. Harriet Burnett ; also a copy of the Western Reserve Chronicle, bearing date Warren, O., Friday, June 10, 1825, published by Messrs. Hapgood Quinby. A tin tobacco-box, presented by Anthony Wayne to Ira M'Collum. An old sword, formerly owned by Col. Wick, was also among the relics. A turtle, found near Mill Creek by Mr. James Rudge, was exhibited to the audience. This turtle had an inscription as follows on its belly: "A. Sparks, July 4, 1802." We were informed that about twenty years ago this same turtle was found by Col. Wick, and kept by him for some time, and then let go. The following statement of the number and situation of the houses in Youngstown, in 1823, is handed us by John R. Squire, and is said to be correct : Commencing on the north side of Federal Street, and going west. 1. John Lougbridge, log house. 2. Widow Murdock, log house. 3. James Hillman, frame ; late H. Manning. 4. Samuel Bryson, log; now J. R. Squire. MAHONING VALLEY - 47 5. Corner Diamond, log, owned by Samuel Bryson; now Mrs. Bissell. 6. Presbyterian Church on the hill. 7. William Wick ; now King's feed-store. S. Henry Wick, frame; now Harber's shop. 9. Henry Wick, log; now Wick's bank. 10. Henry Manning, log; now Woodbridge. 11. C. B. Wick, frame; now J. F. Hollingsworth. 12. Philip Kimmel, frame ; now Smith and Medbury. 13. Robert Pollock, frame; now J. F. Hollingsworth. 14. Daniel Morris, log ; town hall on part of it. 15. George Hardman, part frame ; now L. Wick. 16. William Rayen, shingled house, sides and all; now Calvin Shook. 17. William Rayen, log; Decker and Miller occupying. 18. William Rayen, brick; now Parmelee. 19. Jeremiah Tibbitt, log; now A. J. Pollock. 20. Widow Dabney, log; now Westlake. South side, going east. 21. John E. Woodbridge, frame; now Smith. 22. Mr. Hollingsworth, log ; now Smith. 23. Mansion House lot, log house, owned by Judge Tod; now Anderson. Front Street. 24. Jonathan *Smith, log; now E. G. Hollingsworth. 25. Moses Crawford, log; now S. J. Atkins. 26. John Day, frame ; now Thomas Davis. Back to Federal Street. 27. Charles Dutton, frame; now Bissell. 28. Methodist Church, F. Barclay's heirs. 29. William Thorn, log house on the Diamond; now the Tod House. 30. Henry Wick, brick; now M. T. Jewell. 31. Log school-house on the Diamond, where the soldiers' monument stands, where the late Hon. Gov. Tod got his education in boyhood days. 32. Josiah Polly, frame; now the heirs of the late Edward Moore. 33. Henry Wick, frame; now Parish & Nash. 34. James M'Cartney, log; now heirs of J. Pritchard. 35. Robert Leslie, log ; now John Manning. 48 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. AN INCIDENT. One of the most interesting incidents was the meeting of an old lady and gentleman, each being about seventy years of age, who had not seen each other for more than half a century. The lady had been, in her girlhood, quite a belle, as the poetic tradition of the times is full of the celebration of her charms, nor have seventy years diminished a whit her grace and attractiveness. As she was passing down the aisle in the Opera-house she met the old gentleman above alluded to, and they recognized each other. Said he, "Mary ___." Said she, "John ____." They clasped hands, and John, thinking of the time when they sat upon the log piles and gathered sap in the sugar-camp together sixty years ago, began to wind his arm around Mary, and suggested the weakness he used to feel for her. She rewarded his confession with a kiss, while her hopeful son stood solemnly over the two with hands upraised, as though blessing them. THE DANCE. The dance in the evening, at the Tod House, was a happy conclusion of a joyous day. Uncle Hugh Wick was the life of the evening—laughing, joking, and dancing as if he were the youngest among the young. Indeed, throughout the day he was always ready with a question or suggestion that was sure to break the monotony, if it threatened to become oppressive or dreary. Many came to the dance in costumes more or less antique. There were wedding-dresses that had done service half a century ago; capes of great grandmothers ; aprons of great aunts, and head-dresses all the way from Mrs. Methuselah. Several of the gentlemen wore Continental costumes or ancestral uniforms which had been seen at musters or on battle-fields. Among the interesting events of the evening was the pioneer dance. One set, consisting of Dr. Wick, of Cleveland; Mr. H. B. Wick, of this city; Mr. Peebles, of New Castle, and Mr. Horace Steele, of Painesville, as the gentlemen, and Mrs. Peebles, Mrs. C. D. Arms, Mrs. M'Kinnie, and Miss Laura Wick, as the ladies, was danced. It was curious, indeed, to see grandfathers dancing in the same sets with their granddaughters. The Mechanics' Band, of Youngstown, enlivened the day between the addresses and at other appropriate intervals with its music. MAHONING VALLEY - 49 REUNION OF 1875. IN answer to letters of inquiry to a number of old citizens of this valley, such assurance is received as to warrant a call for a reunion of "Old citizens of the Mahoning Valley to be held on the coming 10th of September, 1875." Among the answers received there is an entire unanimity of sentiment expressed. The following letter from Mr. James Brown illustrates the spirit in which the suggestion was received by all: " LOWELL, O. May 26, 1875. "WILLIAM POWERS, ESQ., Youngstown, O.: "Dear Sir,—Your kind letter of the 17th inst. was received by yesterday's mail: with regard to the propriety of holding an old citizens' reunion on the 10th of September next, to embrace the citizens of the whole Mahoning Valley. And in reply would only say that I think such a meeting would be very enjoyable. It does seem to me that for the old people to meet, converse, and have a good time generally, once a year would have a tendency to make the harness of old age fit as well and set as easy as any thing they could do. As to the manner of conducting it, I have no suggestions to make. Only let there be as little formality, ceremony, and red tape about it as possible, as old people usually do n't seem to relish any thing of the kind. Should it be deemed best to hold such a meeting at time, I will, if health and business permit, endeavor "I am, very respectfully, yours, JAMES BROWN." To give the matter such attention as it deserves, it seems to be necessary to have an early meeting to make arrangements. The importance of which will be understood by perusal of Hon. Frederick Kinsman's letter. " WARREN, O., May 25, 1875. "Dear Sir,—Yours of the 27th inst. is at hand, asking my opinion as to holding a meeting of old citizens of the Mahoning Valley similar to the one called for Youngstown last year. I can only say that such meetings almost universally produce a good and kind feeling, renewing recollections, and incidents of olden times that are very