PART I Hanging Rock Iron Region CHAPTER I LIMITATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS HIGH-WATER MARK OF IRON INDUSTRIES-LACK OF SUPERIOR FUEL COAL-VARIED AND MORE SUBSTANTIAL PROSPERITY-COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES-DISTINCT COAL BASIN--THE GIFTS OF NATURE-TOPOGRAPHY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY-THE SCIOTO RIVER-ITS DRAINAGE SYSTEM-OHIO RIVER DRAINAGE-MINERAL PRODUCTS-. PREHISTORIC READINGS- EARLY FOREST GROWTHS-TREE COLONIZATION-FLOWER GARDEN OF THE SCIOTO-THE BEASTS-SCIOTO VALLEY BIRDS-FISH-SNAKES--ALL A BACKGROUND FOR MAN. The Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio designates fully one thou-sand square miles of territory in the extreme southern part of the state which has a distinctive interest to all who are familiar with the history or the natural features of that section of the commonwealth. With the Scioto Valley as its backbone, and numerous tributary streams and eroded grooves as its arteries, under its exterior beauties lie the riches of Nature in the form of rich deposits of coal and iron ; although the fuel mineral has never reached the standard attained by the iron ore under ,the indus-trious and wise manipulations of the workers and wise business men who, years ago, made the 'region, famous throughout the world. HIGH-WATER MARK OF IRON INDUSTRIES The richest and most widely known of the iron deposits in the old Hanging Rock Iron Region trend toward the northeast and the Hocking River Valley, and may be said to disappear, from the standpoint of com-mercial value, southeast of Columbus, on the borderland between Perry and Hocking counties. But the lower Scioto Valley and region embraced in the southernmost bend of the Ohio River, long known as Lawrence County, embraced the richest of the treasures of ore and was for three-quarters of a century an industrial hive; the products of whose furnaces were regarded as unexcelled from the Crimea of Russia, to the Valley of the Mississippi. - 3 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 5 The high-water mark of the prosperity attained by the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which also embraced districts in Virginia and Kentucky across the Ohio River, was during the period when that great waterway was the chief means of communication between the East and the South Atlantic States, with the Mississippi Valley and its prosperous entrepots, St. Louis and New Orleans. Fourteen miles northwest of the point where the Ohio. River reaches its southernmost latitude in the Buckeye State is a bold sandstone promontory, or rock, 250 feet high, which at floodtime seems to hang over the rushing waters. East, west and north are rich deposits of iron, and several of the most famous furnaces of the region were operated in the vicinity of the Hanging Rock for three score years and ten, at least. Nearby, to the southeast, Ironton was founded as the chief shipping point, the virtual gateway of the Hanging Rock Iron Region. LACK OF SUPERIOR FUEL COAL As the years passed, it became evident that one necessity was lacking to make the Hanging Rock Iron Region a great industrial section of the United States ; that was a superior fuel coal. The earlier manufacturers used charcoal, but after they had denuded the adjacent country of the raw material for furnace fuel they found it impossible to oompete with the iron masters in Virginia, Pennsylvania and even Kentucky, who had the richest coal in the world at their very doors. Hence the shutting down of so many of the old furnaces within the past quarter of a century. VARIED AND MORE SUBSTANTIAL PROSPERITY But the people of the rich ,and beautiful valley of the Lower Scioto have for a number of years past been turning to many neglected opportunities to achieve a permanent prosperity, in comparison with which its farther state would be insignificant. Its wonderful clays are being commercialized to a large extent; its horticultural and agricultural advantages being developed; live stock, as in the earlier days, is being raised to advantage ; large areas that the pioneer iron workers cleared of their hardwood timber in the manufacture of charcoal have been reclad with second and third growths, and are already valuable properties ; and, with the extension of railroads from the richer coal fields of the East and South, and the consequent cheapening of transportation rates, the old-time iron industries themselves promise to regain much of their former reputation both as to the quantity and quality of their output. COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES Geologically speaking, the Hanging Rock Iron Region as a whole is in the basin in which converge the Kanawha and Guyanclotte rivers of West Virginia; the Big Sandy bordering that state and Kentucky, and the Scioto of Ohio. A seemingly inexhaustible field of superior coal well 6 - HANGING. ROCK IRON REGION adapted to coking purposes has been developed in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. The down-grade haul from those fields-to the Hanging Rock Iron Region can be accomplished at a low cost ; ore from the Lake Superior region can be transported to Lake Erie, and thence largely by down-grade haul across the State Of 'Ohio. In short, an abundance of iron ore and coking coal within economic reach, the great natural storehouse of grain on the west, and the roads already built and in process of construction, leading east to the nearest Atlantic seaboard, give to the Hanging Rock district of Ohio a position of .distinct commercial advantage. DISTINCT COAL BASIN The coal basin in Ohio is bounded on the west by a continuous but irregular line running from the Ohio River in Scioto County to the Pennsylvania line near Sharon, within a line running from that place to Ravenna, Akron, Wooster, Dover, Brownsville, Logan and Hanging Rock. The general course is southwesterly from the northern boundary of Mahoning County to the interior of Licking County, with the exception of two well-defined narrow spurs extending into Geauga and Medina counties. From the southern part of Licking County it passes near the line between Fairfield and Perry counties, with a deep indentation at the Hocking River Valley extending to the west line of Athens County ; thence westward and southwest to include the southeast part of Hocking County, three-fourths of Vinton, nearly all of Jackson and the eastern part of Scioto County. It is evident that there are all the requisites for interesting and instructive reading in a review of that region ; in the tracing of its early rise as an industrial section of the state ; in its later transformation into a land of varied, progressive and substantial activities, and in a consideration of the probabilities of a revival of its iron manufactures on a broader scale than they have ever attained. For the territorial scope of that review we shall embrace the four counties in the Lower Scioto Valley which were the first to utilize the iron ore of Southern Ohio, and the furnaces of which mainly established the high and broad reputation of the Manufactures which, for so many years, were shipped along the Ohio River to all parts of the country and even abroad. THE GIFTS OF NATURE History and political economy are founded on physical features and the primal gifts of Nature; hence, what follows. The Scioto Valley runs due north and south, and is one of the richest river sections of the state, both from an agricultural and mineral point of view. Its deep, alluvial soil is remarkably productive and the same may be said of its deeper deposits of iron ore, its quarries of stone and its beds of fire clay. Especially was the mineral region of the Lower Scioto Valley the theme of wonder for its richness, ease of mining and HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 7 quantity and quality of material. Nature has seen fit to satisfy nearly all the wants of man within the area of this wonderful and fertile valley. That portion of the state is drained by the Scioto Valley and its eastern tributaries, with a few streams which flow directly into the Ohio, and' the four counties named lie wholly within the mineral belt. Jackson County, about one-half of Scioto and large portion of Lawrence County are within the coal measure. The Scioto Valley bottoms contain a very large amount of gravel belonging to the drift period. The eroding of the hills and the decay of vegetable matter make a soil fertile in the extreme. The soil scoured from the limestone ridges is also durable and productive. TOPOGRAPHY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY The topography of the Lower Scioto Valley presents a great variety of interesting features, embracing a magnificent array of fruitful farms and orchards, interspersed with hills, ravines and rolling lands. The wild and romantic scenery up the little valley of Salt Creek, in Jackson County, is hardly to be surpassed in the beauty of its ever-changing appearance. Following the eastern divide of the Scioto Valley beginning at its southern extremity and traveling northward, Nature varies the prospect with every change of horizon. The curves of the watershed, which drains the mineral region of the Lower Scioto Valley, seem to change their course in every few rods of advance. At one time you are climbing a high conical peak from which your view is quite extended and enchanting. Again you descend into a low gap in the divide, where your outlook is circumscribed by surrounding ridges and protracted spurs, shooting forth from the chief divide. In this manner you travel, up and down, to the right and to the left, until, passing around the heads of the eastern confluences of the Scioto, and noting all their hills, spurs; gulches, ravines and tributary valleys describing its northern curve, you arrive at the extreme head of the coal measure which bounds the eastern and northern limits of the valley. The land surfaces in the Scioto Valley present a continued succession of bottom lands, more or less extended. Above ,these low creek and river bottom lands are a few plains, scattered here and there, while the higher lands consist of side-hills, slopes or plains, forming with the horizon every possible angle of inclination. Other portions of the surface form coves under which were the early creek and river channels, now covered by ancient land-slides to the depth of twenty to fifty feet.- The crests of the spurs and principal ridges are usually very narrow. Sometimes, however, they are broad, rich and well adapted to grain and fruit culture. In the Scioto Valley, consisting of the river trough, its tributary valleys, its ravines, gulches, plains, river and creek bottoms, coves, side-hill slopes, spurs, and their main ridges, we can find but little waste land. A few acres of swamps and ponds, the remaining parts of old beds of the river and branches, are to be found in the Scioto Valley. It now 8 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION remains to introduce the agency by which these physical changes, already described, were formed, which refers almost exclusively to the mineral region of the Lower Scioto Valley. But first, as the beautiful river from which the valley takes. its name. THE SCIOTO RIVER The Scioto Valley is, noted far and wide for the richness, the fertility and the 'inexhaustible quality of its soil, the beauty of its landscape, and the wealth, culture, and refinement of her enterprising and hospitable people, but no, less so is the beautiful and gentle Scioto River known for its extraordinary length and the fan-like shape shown by its numerous heads. It takes its rise in no less than six different counties, with as many fountain heads, forming a fan-like shape from just above Chillicothe, each stream which centers there being the framework of a fan. The headwaters of the river are formed in Hardin, Marion, Crawford, Union, Delaware and Richland counties. Its branches, like itself, are long and numerous, and are called "long legs," for their size. On the east are the Oleutangy, Gahannah or Big Walnut, Little Walnut and Salt Creek. On the west side of Rush Creek, Mill Creek, Boke's Creek, Darby, Deer, Paint and Brush creeks. They all rise in a comparatively level and alluvial country, excepting the Salt Creek, whose magnificent scenery embraces the grandeur of its bold bluffs, the rugged outlines of its massive ranges of hills, of its dark, deep and gloomy gorges, and its little valleys that here and there admit' the shimmering rays of the glorious sunlight. South from Chillicothe, where this fan-like shape unites into one noble stream, it enters the sandstone region and breaks through these hills, spreading out again into the beautiful and far-famed valley which has become so noted. The River Scioto is fully 200 miles in length, and from its headwaters to its mouth it has a distance of an air line of 130 miles, with a breadth averaging from fifty to seventy miles. ITS DRAINAGE SYSTEM The surface configuration of the Scioto Valley from its headwaters to its mouth, the land formations, are a series of effects of adequate causes. The principal agent that has operated through many geological ages to bring about such stupendous results is water. That fluid is an erosive agent, as well as a constructive. The Scioto River takes its rise in the northwestern part of the state. It is by far the longest river in the state in proportion to its water flow or supply. It drains in its northern and central portions a magnificent agricultural country. Its course is southeast and east to south until it reaches Columbus, when it curves slightly and runs almost due south, except one big bend to the east in the lower part of Ross County, coming back to its general course in the northern part of Pike County, and then as before running due south until its waters mingle with those of the HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 9 Ohio. The Big Scioto River, passing as it does nearly through the center of Pike County from north to south, with its tributaries, gives a very effectual drainage to that county, its slopes all tending, although in devious courses, to be drained by that river. Coming into Jackson County there is a peculiarity of this drainage system which is worthy of attention. The backbone or ridge which runs through the east side of the county divides its surface drainage. Raccoon Creek, which rises in the northern part of Vinton County, passes close to Jackson, runs south and southeast through Gallia, and empties its waters into the Ohio. Little Raccoon Creek, one branch of its head rising in Vinton County, the other in Lick Township, Jackson County, WHERE THE OHIO AND SCIOTO RIVERS MEET runs east and southeast and unites with Big Raccoon. Then comes Symmes Creek, rising in Madison Township, Jackson County, runs nearly due south, passing through a portion of Gallia, and through Lawrence from north to south, and empties also into the Ohio. Therefore the east portion of Jackson County is drained by the waters of these creeks, passing through the southwest portion of the Hocking Valley, while the watershed of the Scioto River lies within a mile or two of their headwaters, and empties into either the Ohio or the Big Scioto River. Jackson County, however, is given a place in the geographical department, known as the Scioto Valley. The Little Scioto River, of which its confluences, the Rocky Fork and Brushy Fork, unite and form this stream in the northwest corner of Bloom Township, takes a generally southwestern course, sinuous in the extreme, and mingles its waters with the Ohio about six miles above the City of Portsmouth. Pine Creek, which rises in the southern part- of Jackson County, is another tortuous stream, flowing first southwest, then south, touching. Lawrence County, then west and northwest, emptying into the Ohio. It waters Bloom, Vernon and Green townships. Its northern arm is called Hale's Creek. These are the principal streams 10 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION that take their rise in the watershed that slopes to the southeast and south directly to the Ohio River. Within Scioto County, the Scioto River has no large tributaries on the east side, the dividing • ridge giving the streams a southerly course, like the Scioto itself, emptying into the Ohio. On the west the Scioto's largest tributary within the limits of the territory embraced in this work is Brush Creek, as distinguished from Brushy Creek, a fork of the Little Scioto. This stream rises in Highland County, and finds its way through a serpentine course, coming into Scioto County at its northwest corner, and flowing southeast and east unites with the Scioto near the center of Rush Township. Its principal tributaries are South Fork and Bear Creek, the latter rising in Brush Creek Township, the other in Adams County. A. short stream called Pond Creek, which takes its rise in Union Township, after a sinuous northeast and southeast course flows into the Scioto River at the northeast corner of Washington Township, opposite Big Island. Pond Run with its three forks, takes its rise and is wholly within the limits of Niles Township. The extreme southwest like the southeast drains its waters into the Ohio. There are numerous streams and tributaries besides those mentioned. Thus in a measure has been recorded the drainage system of the Lower Scioto Valley, with its ridges and cross ridges, giving its waterways, which take their rise within a short distance of each other, in diametrically opposite courses. OHIO RIVER DRAINAGE Lawrence County embraces the southernmost lands of the state. It lies just east of the Little Scioto Valley, which extends northeast into Jackson. County, and is itself mainly watered and furrowed by Symmes and Guyandotte creeks. Both in the interior and along the Ohio banks it is one of the most hilly and rugged sections of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, and was formerly quite heavily timbered. The creeks named, and numerous other smaller streams, drain southwardly directly into the Ohio River. MINERAL PRODUCTS In the lower portions of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, or in the territory covered by this work, the deposits of ore are usually found contiguous to coal ; in other words, the vein of coal is commonly the floor of a s,eam of iron ore. They occupy different horizons of the same geological area. One of the old veins yielded, on analysis, 33 per cent of pure iron ; another, 55 and a third 60 per cent. The seams extend for miles, cropping out from the opposite slopes of the same hills. Three veins of limestone extend over the greater portion of the Scioto Valley, and quarries in various parts of the lower counties have been worked to advantage both for paving, road making and building. Sandstone deposits are also numerous and easily worked. But the development of the fire clay deposits, especially in Scioto HANGING. ROCK IRON REGION- 11 County, has been remarkable within the past decade, and the manufacture of brick and paving blocks has become a leading industry. Valuable cements have also been uncovered and brought into commercial prominence. PREHISTORIC READINGS There is evidence that the primitive inhabitants of the Scioto Valley utilized some of these mineral riches. There are no remains of any structure that indicate any extended use by the Indians, or a more ancient race, of its limestones, sandstones, shales, fire-clay, coal or iron ore ; but both iron and clay appear to have been put to various artistic uses. Flint usually supplied the place of iron ; cones of earth, that of stone monuments. The most numerous evidences of a civilization ante-dating the Indian period—that is, so far as they apply to the Scioto Valley—are found in its upper stretches, especially in Ross and Pickaway counties. The regions centering in Chillicothe and Circleville are quite rich, archaeologically. At and opposite the mouth of the Scioto (on the Kentucky side) are impressive evidences of the work of the Mound Builders. Opposite Portsmouth, or, more properly speaking, the old site of Alexandria, the first county seat of Scioto County, once stood a large fort, and all the evidences go to show that a flourishing settlement once stood on both sides of the Ohio River at that point. The following was published by the American Antiquarian Society in 1820 : "On the Kentucky side of the river, opposite the mouth of the Scioto, is a large fort, with an elevated mound of earth near its southwestern outside angle, and parallel walls of earth. The eastern parallel walls have a gateway leading down a high, steep bank to the river. They are about ten rods asunder, from four to six feet in height at this time, and connected with the fort by a gateway. Two small rivulets have worn themselves quite through these walls from ten to twenty feet in depth since they were deserted, from which their antiquity may be inferred. The fort is nearly a square, with five gateways, whose walls of earth are now from fourteen to twenty feet in height. From the gateway to the northwest corner of this fort commenced two parallel walls of earth, extending nearly to the Ohio, in a bend of that river, where in some low ground near the bank, they disappear. The river seems to have moved its bed a little since these walls were thrown up. A large elevated mound was at the southwest corner of the fort, but outside of the fortification. It had some twenty feet or more elevation, and was undoubtedly a signal station, and covered some half acre of ground. Buried in the walls of this fort have been found and taken out large quantities of iron manufactured into pickaxes, shovels and guns, supposed to have been secreted by the French when they were driven from the country by the English and American forces." On the north, or Ohio side, still more extensive works were found by 12 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION the early settlers ; but before the inroads of modern improvements and progress they have disappeared. Thirty years ago they were thus described by a resident of Portsmouth : "Commencing near the banks of the Scioto are two parallel walls of earth, a counterpart of those built on the Kentucky side. They leave the Scioto River bank eastwardly for about 150 feet and then widen, and at about the same elevation, keeping, some twenty rods apart, climb a hill some forty to fifty feet in height. On the top of this is a level plain and a well some twenty-five feet in depth, but supposed to have been filled up fully as much, if not more ; or, in other words, from the surroundings the well must have been from sixty to seventy-five feet deep. "On this plain are all the evidences of a large city. Three circular tumuli are elevated about six feet above its surface, while not far distant is another some twenty feet in height, and yet another of conical shape twenty-five feet or more in elevation. Two other wells were found, and parallel walls running for two miles to the Ohio, averaging from six to-ten feet in height: but were probably of uniform elevation when built. The earth between these walls was smooth, and made so probably at the time the walls were constructed, being like a wide level avenue." At Circleville, at Newark and on the Little. Miami duplicates of these works are found; near Piketon, Pike County, two such parallel walls, of earth were found fully twenty feet in height; the land on each side seems to have been leveled. These walls lead directly to a high mound which seems to have been a place of sepulchre. From the number and size of these mounds on both sides of the stream near. Piketon, it is believed that a great population once existed there. It would seem as if more people were buried in these mounds than were living in the State of Ohio at the time these first researches were made, between 1815. and 1825; or, in other words, that over three-quarters of a million people occupied the Ohio Valley and the valleys of the Scioto, Miami and Muskingum, its tributaries. Brackenridge, the antiquarian, estimates that there were 5,000 villages of these people in the Valley of the Mississippi, and it is believed that the Valley of the Ohio was fully as populous. Many of the mounds at the mouth of the Scioto, and others mentioned, contained an immense number of skeletons, and it would seem that the arts and agriculture must have been extensive to support such a number of people ; and the remains uphold such a supposition. Gold and silver ornaments have been found in these tumuli, and good brick in others, besides copper bowls and kettles, medals and arrow-heads of the same metals; urns made of fire-clay, holding bones-all buried from six to sixteen feet beneath the surface. One of the medals found by Judge Crtill, of Scioto' County, represented the sun with its diverging rays. It was made of very fine clay, colored, and hardened by heat and was about three inches in diameter. Idols of clay have also been unearthed. It will thus be seen that these ancients were alive to the enduring qualities of the fire-clay .of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which has been made the basis of such an important present-day industry. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 13 EARLY FOREST GROWTHS When the first white men came into the valley of the Scioto all the bottom lands of the region were covered by a heavy growth of sycamore, poplar, black and white walnut, black and white ash, buckeye, beech, soft and rock maple, and white, black, red and yellow oak. The hills were also. clad abundantly with oak, hickory and ash, and sparsely with pine, poplar and maple. The ravines, slopes and plains were covered with a mixture of bottom and upland growth. These forests, so mutilated and often destroyed, have been the necessary servants of the citizens of the valley, by supplying them with fuel, bridge, fencing and building materials, and by satisfying various other wants. There has been, however, a great waste of timber ; thousands of acres of choice timber were burned or made into charcoal. The "log rollings" of early times are sufficient testimony of the truth of the assertion. Could that choice timber have been sawed into lumber, and have been protected, it would have supplied the wants of many generations ; but where then were their portable saw-mills and the men to work them? Steam, itself, was yet slumbering. TREE COLONIZATION Relative to the flora of the Scioto Valley, something should be said as to its tree families, their location, growth, and particular habits. Many families, each consisting of several members or species of trees, formed the vast wilderness of this valley. Sometimes miles were occupied by the members of a single family, such as the oak family ; in other localities the family of hickories held almost exclusive possession ; in another, poplar ; beech another, and so on through the catalogue of families, each family occupying the land that best suited it, forming all over the valley little "squatter sovereignties." Other localities were covered with family mixtures. Not that they amalgamated, but that they were not exclusive in their habits; they grew up quietly in the same beautiful grove. Each geological formation has its distinct flora. It is not our purpose to discuss fossil botany, but simply to give some account of what might be the origin of the forests. These forests sprang up among the debris of the lower coal measures ; yet they are infants in age compared with the duration of those measures. To the cretaceous formation many of the genera now living are said to belong. "They formed the forests of that period, and the fossil remains show that their appearance was much the same as now. Among the living genera represented were the oak, poplar, plane, willow, beech, sassafras, magnolia, fig, maple, walnut, tulip tree, etc." That the seeds were long in their various localities, and were not therefore brought from the Old World, will appear when we learn that many are natives of America, such as maize (Indian corn) and the potato. 14 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION FLOWER GARDEN OF THE SCIOTO "The wild flowers of the Scioto Valley," says an old settler, "were exceedingly numerous and of many varieties. We have not data by which any botanical description can be given, neither will the limited space permit such a scientific notice. We simply describe it as the first settlers saw it. Wherever the sun was permitted to warm the earth, seeds of unknown plants germinating spring up in profusion. The deep soils of the river and creek bottoms soon brought them into bloom. One of Nature's flower gardens would extend many miles, showing every size, shape and shade of color. "Such a profusion and commingling of odors and tints can exist only in the gardens of nature's planting. You might walk seventy miles and still be surrounded with this wild Eden bloom. The rose, the pink, the violet, the tulip and the lily ! Who could count the numbers or tell their varieties ? We have floral exhibitions of our times, but they would not favorably compare with one of Nature's exhibitions in the Scioto Valley of those early days. Over hills, up ravines, along the slopes, on the plains, in the valleys, over a space of 2,000 square miles, from April till September, was this beautiful flower garden on exhibition." THE BEASTS Besides the Indians, the pioneers of the Scioto Valley and Southern _ Ohio had to contend with pumas, panthers, or, as they generally called them, wild cats, as well as with bears and wolves. Although the panther did not often attack man, it had an unusual and inconvenient thirst for warm blood. It has been known to kill fifty sheep in one night, drinking a little blood of each. These monarchs of the forest were not numerous in this valley, but their names always carry terror with them. When it was reported that a panther had been heard or seen in any district, the whole country turned out for a hunt, each man hoping to be the fortunate one to give it the death shot. This animal was the prince of beasts, though sometimes mastered and killed by a single dog. The American black bear was found in abundance all over the valley. It was rather timid, but had great muscular power. It usually fed on berries, seldom made an attack on man, but when attacked it was very dangerous. The bear was hunted for the value of his fur and oil. Bear-hunting was a chief pursuit in the early settlement of the valley, and a successful "bear hunter" was enrolled among the honorable. Bear meat was a great relish. The gray wolf was the variety usually found in the Scioto Valley, though now and then a black wolf was caught. The wolves roved in packs, and when very hungry disputed with the early settlers the right-of-way through the forests. Wolf hunts were quite common and very necessary. In early times deer were very numerous. Many families depended upon venison for the bulk of their meat supply and the men made deer- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 15 hunting their chief occupation. Among the smaller game were beaver, foxes, otters, muskrats, minks, hares, squirrels, porcupine, badgers and opossums—not to mention skunks, in the same breath. SCIOTO VALLEY BIRDS As to the birds of the valley, the eagle deserves first mention, both because of his majestic beauty and the frequency of his appearance among those who settled early in Southern Ohio. The species most numerous in the Scioto Valley were the white, or bald-headed and the forked-tail eagles. .On almost any clear summer day, the pioneer could discern the noble bird, with expanded wings immovable and forked tail, circling toward the sun with its piercing cry until it disappeared in the heavens. The bald eagle was not so ambitious, clinging more to the earth and doing much damage by carrying off pigs, lambs and other small animals. Then there were hawks galore and owls to match ; wild pigeons in dense clouds; with all the water fowl, game birds of the land and the songsters of field, orchard, valley and household which any region of interior United States can produce. FISH The rivers and streams abounded in fish, the pike being perhaps the most prized for its food qualities. There were also the bass, sucker, salmon and cat fish, the last named being the most abundant in the waters of the Scioto. SNAKES The snakes were not so pleasant to see or discuss, but had to be reckoned with as a natural feature of the region. Among the most common of the reptiles against which the early comers to the Scioto Valley were called upon to raise their hands in extermination were the rattlers, copperheads, the racer, and the black and striped snakes. The copperhead was the more dangerous of the venomous varieties, as he never gave warning of his deadly intentions, but sprung from ambush. The racer was not poisonous, but was swift in attack and attempted to crush his victim like a boa-constrictor. The rattlesnake and the racer were mortal enemies, which was the cause of considerable congratulation among the early settlers and the cause of many a fierce and exciting combat between the hideous reptiles. ALL A BACKGROUND FOR MAN Amid such setting of Nature did the man of history first enter the Valley of the Ohio and explore the riches of its great and beautiful tributary which stretched northward, like a graceful fan, toward the watershed of the Great Lakes. CHAPTER II PREVIOUS TO THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 GREATEST HISTORIC WATERWAYS WEST OF OHIO-FRENCH SCHEME OF COLONIZATION IN FORCE-FRENCH NORTHWEST TERRITORY-FRENCH FORMALLY CLAIM LOUISIANA-ENGLISH SERVE NOTICE OF POSSESSION -FIRST OHIO COMPANY AND AGENT GIST-GEORGE CROGHAN-PARTY STARTS FOR THE SCIOTO VALLEY-IN THE LAND OF THE DELAWARES -GREAT SHAWNEE TOWN ON BOTH SIDES OF THE OHIO-SAVAGE EXHIBITION OF WOMAN'S RIGHTS ( ?) -THE INDIANS OF THE SCIOTO VALLEY - SHAWNEES MIGRATE NORTHWARDLY-THE DELAWARES MOVE WESTWARDLY-BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION-SHAWNEES LAST TO SURRENDER-- A NORTHWEST TERRITORY ASSURED-LIFTING OF INDIAN AND STATE TITLES-LORD DUNMORE 'S SQUATTERS. During the forty years preceding the close of the Revolutionary war, the Valley of the Ohio was the great battleground between the French, English and Americans, with their respective Indian allies. Although the French claimed the land by virtue of discovery and exploration, and seventy years of loose occupancy, the English, as later adventurers, laid claim to the rich and beautiful valley through their powerful red allies, the Six Nations. This claim was of rather dubious strength, considering that the Ohio Valley and the vast domain included within its meshes were never in undisp,uted possession of the Iroquois. But the English point of, contention was finally pressed home through force of English arms and diplomacy. The second distinct phase of the international contentions over the Ohio Valley and the territory to the northwest of it hinged on the conflict between Great Britain and her American colonies, with the result which is world's history. This chapter will therefore enter into certain essential details regarding the discovery, clashes at arms and uncertain occupancy of Southern Ohio and the Valley of the Scioto previous to the establishment of a ghostly civic body over the vast territory northwest of the Ohio River by the Ordinance of 1787. GREATEST HISTORIC WATERWAYS WEST OF OHIO The explorations of Marquette, Joliet and LaSalle from New France to the Mississippi Valley and gradually to its mouth, were conducted for nearly a decade from 1673, but their routes from the Great Lakes to - 16 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 17 the valley of the Great River were by way of the Wisconsin, the Illinois and the Wabash—almost continuous waterways. There was no such feasible, fairly continuous and inviting courses through the interior of Ohio. Actual settlements and even the appearance of the French voyageurs and fur traders were therefore of a later date than like occurrences in regions further to the west. But the discoveries and explorations of these fearless French pioneers placed upon the map of the world the stupendous Territory of Louisiana in which was included the comparatively Lilliputian region included in the Valley of the Scioto. FRENCH SCHEME OF COLONIZATION IN FORCE After the tour of exploration by Marquette and Joliet and the unsuccessful effort at colonization by LaSalle, the French, still ardent in their purpose of securing possession of the fertile lands east of the Mississippi, finally had the satisfaction of seeing a comprehensive scheme of colonization established by M. D 'Iberville, who is considered the founder of French authority in Louisiana. He was sent with an expedition comprising four ships and 200 settlers to explore the mouth of the Mississippi. This he did, erecting a fort on what is now the southern shore of the State of Mississippi and which was afterward abandoned for one on the west bank of the Mobile River. Later he built fortifications at a point corresponding to the City of Natchez, protected the settlers from the incursions of the English, and in other ways strengthened the French claim to the Valley of the Mississippi. FRENCH NORTHWEST TERRITORY Previous to the year 1725 the Colony of Louisiana had been divided into quarters, each having its local government, but all subject to the council general of Louisiana at Quebec. One of these quarters included the territory northwest of the Ohio River. At this time the French had erected forts on the Upper Mississippi, on the Illinois, on the Maumee and on the lakes. Communication with Canada was chiefly through Lake Michigan, but before 1750 a French post had been fortified at the mouth of the Wabash, and a route to New France was established through that river and the Maumee of the Lakes. The French had now established a chain of forts from the mouth of the Mississippi up the valley and its chief connecting waterways with the Great Lakes, along the shores of the lakes and up the Ohio Valley to the English settlements of the Allegheny region. FRENCH FORMALLY CLAIM LOUISIANA The English became alarmed at this systematic occupancy of interior America, especially as the French took formal possession of Louisiana in 1749. This was done by the burial of leaden plates by the royal emissaries sent from New France, in command of Celoron de Bienville, Vol. I-2 18 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION their locations in the Ohio country being at the junction of the river by that name with the Mississippi, and at the mouths of the main tributary streams of the Ohio. That found at the mouth of the Kanawha in March, 1846, nearly a century after it was placed there by the French commandant, has been translated as follows: "In the year 1749, of the reign of Louis XV of France, we, Celoron, commandant of a detachment sent by the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Captain General of New France, in order to re-establish tranquility among some villages of savages of these parts, have buried this plate at the mouth of the river Chi-no-da-hich-e-tha, the 18th August, near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession, which we have taken of the said river Ohio, and of all those which empty themselves into it, and of all the lands of both sides even to the sources of said rivers; as have enjoyed, or ought to have enjoyed the preceding kings of France, and that they have maintained themselves there by force of arms and by treaties, especially by those of Riswick, of Utrecht and of Aix-la-Chapelle." Altogether Celoron planted six plates at the mouths of the various Ohio tributaries, as of the Kanawha, Muskingum and the Great Miami, signifying a renewal of possession of the country. This was done as follows : His men were drawn up in order ; Louis XV was proclaimed lord of all that region ; the arms were stamped on a sheet of tin nailed to a tree ; the plate of lead was buried at the foot, and the notary of the expedition drew up a formal act of the entire proceeding. Celoron planted no plate at the mouth of the Scioto. As he was on his way to the Ohio, one of the plates was stolen from him by a Seneca Indian and in the winter of 1750 fell into the hands of Gov. George Clinton, of New York. Possibly, that was the plate designed for burial at the e mouth of the Scioto. ENGLISH SERVE NOTICE OF POSSESSION For several years previously the English had served notices on their rivals that they would dispute possession of the Ohio Valley ; in fact, that the Six Nations owned it by right of conquest and had placed it under their protection. Some of the western lands were claimed by the British as having been actually purchased at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1744, by a treaty between the colonists and the Six Nations. About the time the French gave the world notice that they claimed Louisiana, the English formed the Ohio Company for the purpose of establishing trading posts among the Indians. FIRST OHIO COMPANY AND AGENT GIST From October, 1750, to May, 1751, Christopher Gist, a land surveyor and agent of the Ohio Company (an association of Maryland and Virginia gentlemen organized to buy lands in the Ohio Valley), explored the country adjacent to the main river and at various points some dis- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 19 tance inland. As he kept a journal of his travels, it is evident that he found a number of traders on the ground, both French and English, the whole region being in the throes of the conflict between the people of the rival nations. In December, 1750, he reached an Indian town a few miles above the mouth of the Muskingum, inhabited by Wyandots, who, he says, were divided in their allegiance between the French and the English. The village consisted of about one hundred families. GEORGE CROGHAN George Croghan was the leading English trader of that region, and had hoisted the English colors at the post. While Mr. Gist lingered there, stories came in of the capture of Mr. Croghan's men by Frenchmen and their Indian allies. He was invited to marry into the tribe, but delicately declined. In January an Indian trader came to town and informed the English traders that the Wyandots of the Lake Erie region had advised him that the region around the Great Lakes was claimed by the French, but that all the branches of the Ohio belonged to them and their brothers, the English ; that the French had no business there, and it was expected that the southern branch of the Wyandots would desert the French and come over bodily to the English. PARTY STARTS FOR THE SCIOTO VALLEY Mr. Croghan, who will figure hereafter, was afterward appointed deputy Indian agent. On the 15th of January, 1751, he and Andrew Montour, an influential man among the Delawares and Shawnees, accompanied Mr. Gist in his visit to an Indian town at the mouth of the Scioto and to the towns on the Big Miami. Their trip to the Valley of the Scioto and down the river to its mouth is described in Mr. Gist's journal. Under date of January 15, 1751, he says : "We left Muskingum and went west five miles to the White Woman's creek, on which is a small town. This white woman was taken away from New England when she was not above ten years old by the French Indians. She is now upwards of fifty ; has an Indian husband and several children. Her name is Mary Harris. She still remembers they used to be very religious in New England, and wonders how the white men can be so wicked as she has seen them in the woods." IN THE LAND OF THE DELAWARES "Wednesday, 16th : Set out southwest twenty-five miles to Licking creek. The land from Muskingum is rich and broken. Upon the north side of Licking creek about six miles from its mouth, were several salt licks or ponds, formed by little streams or drains of water, clear, but of blueish color and salty taste. The traders and Indians boil their meats in this water, which, if proper care is not taken, will sometimes make it too salty to eat." 20 - HANGING. ROCK IRON REGION The course was west and southwest from Licking Creek to Hock-hocking, a small Delaware town, and thence to the Upper Scioto, which . was descended for about twenty miles to Salt Lick Creek. On the 25th he traveled twenty-eight miles, all the way through a country occupied by the Delaware Indians, and on Sunday arrived at one of their towns on the southeast side of the Scioto, about five miles from its mouth. This, Mr. Gist says,. was the last of the Delaware towns to the westward. He remained a few days at that locality, held a council with the friendly Indians who made several speeches. He continues: "The Delaware Indians, by the best accounts I could gather, consists of about five hundred fighting men, all firmly attached to the English interest. They are not properly a. part of the Six Nations, but are scattered about among most of the Indians on the Ohio, and some of them among the Six Nations, from whom they have leave to hunt upon their land. GREAT SHAWNEE TOWN ON BOTH SIDES OF THE OHIO " Tuesday, 28th : Set out five miles to the mouth of Scioto creek, opposite to the Shawnee town. Here we fired our guns to alarm the traders, who soon answered and came and ferried us over. The Shawnee town is situated on both sides of the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto creek and contains about three hundred men. There are about forty houses on the south side of the river and about one hundred on the north side, with a kind of state house about ninety feet long, with a tight cover of bark, in which they hold their councils. \ "The Shawnees are not a part of the Six Nations, but were formerly at variance with them, though now reconciled. They are great friends of the English interest. Big Hanoahausa, their principal speaker, replied in a good speech, and hoped that 'the friendship now subsisting between us and our brothers will last as long as the sun shines or the moon gives light.' " SAVAGE EXHIBITION OF WOMAN'S RIGHTS (?) While Mr. Gist and his companions were at this town an extraordinary festival was held, which he describes as follows : "In the evening a proper officer made a public proclamation that all the Indian marriages were dissolved, and a public feast was to be held for the three succeeding days in which the women, as was their custom, were to again choose their husbands. "The next morning early the Indians breakfasted and afterward spent the day dancing until the evening, when a plentiful feast was prepared. After feasting they spent the night in dancing. The same way they spent the two next days until the evening; the men dancing by themselves, and then the women in turns, around fires, and dancing in their manner and in the form of the figure eight, about sixty or HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 21 seventy of them at a time The women, the whole time they danced, sung a song in their language, the chorus of which was `I am not afraid of my husband I will choose what man I please.' "The third day in the evening the men, being about one hundred in number, danced in a long string following one another, sometimes at length and at other times in a figure of eight, quite around the fort and in and out of the long house where they held their council, the women standing together as the men danced by them, and as any of the women liked a man passing by she stepped in and joined in the dance, taking hold of the man's shroud or blanket whom she chose, and then continued in the dance until the rest of the women stepped in and made their choice in the same manner, after which the dance ended and they all retired." From the mouth of the Scioto the party set out for the Indian towns on the Miami, which were visited before Mr. Gist returned to North Carolina and .Virginia. THE INDIANS OF THE SCIOTO VALLEY At the time of Gist's visit the Delawares had commenced to come into notice as an expanding tribe or Indian nation in much of the territory now embraced in Eastern Ohio. They were an eastern people, had been traditional enemies of the Iroquois by whom they were probably crowded beyond the Alleghenies, but in their western home rose into power with the permanent decline of their old-time rivals and conquerors. By the commencement of the eighteenth century, the Delawares were a densely settled nation whose territory virtually stretched from the Ohio to Lake Erie, with the center of their power in the Upper Muskingum and Tuscarawas. The Shawnees held the Valley of the Scioto; in fact most of the territory included in the Hanging Rock Iron Region of a later day. The Miamis occupied the valleys of the two rivers upon which they impressed their name, the Ottawas the valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky and the Chippewas the south shores of Lake Erie. All the tribes, however, frequented lands outside of their own prescribed territory, and at different periods, from the time of the first definite knowledge concerning them down to the era of white settlement, they occupied different locations. SHAWNEES MIGRATE NORTHWARDLY Not long after Gist's visit the Shawnees left the mouth of the Scioto and established themselves higher up the river and on the waters of the Miami, building such towns as Old and New Chillicothe. They were steadfast friends of the English until the period of Dunmore 's war in 22 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION 1774, after which they became the most inveterate and formidable Indian enemy of the British. After the return of Mr. Gist the Ohio Company proceeded to take possession of the lands they claimed on the Ohio and established a trading house On the Big Miami about a hundred miles from its mouth. Early in 1752 the French heard of this proceeding and sent a military expedition to the Indians demanding the surrender of the English traders as intruders upon the French lands. As the demand was refused the post was attacked by the French, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas. After a fierce engagement, during which fourteen Indians were killed, the trading house was captured and destroyed and the Englishmen carried as prisoners to Canada. This was considered the first settlement in the Ohio Valley which approached permanency. In the following year Washington, with Gist as his guide, had recommended the erection of an English fort upon the present site of Pittsburg, and the fiercest conflicts between the rivals for the possession of the Ohio Valley were waged in that vicinity for the capture of Fort Du Quesne, the military headquarters of the French. THE DELAWARES MOVE WESTWARDLY The Delawares, by the middle of the eighteenth century, or at the commencement of the French and Indian war, were most numerous in the valley of the Tuscarawas, Eastern Ohio, but thirty years later the center of their strength was near the present center of the state, in the region of the county which bears their name ; at the same time the bulk of the Shawnees had shifted from the Valley of the Scioto westward to the Little Maumee. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the several tribes, whose territories were quite clearly defined fifty years previously, had commingled as a means of defense against the common white enemy, and as the valley of the Ohio became fringed with the cabins and villages of the pale faces, the tribal lines of the red man became more and more obliterated. In Eastern and Central Ohio, where the Delawares and Shawnees once held almost undisputed sway, there were now to be found also Wyandots, Mingoes and even Miamis from the western border. This commingling and union of the Ohio Indians resulted largely from their experiences in the French and Indian war of 1755-64. The prompt action of the French in destroying the English trading post on the Big Miami and taking its occupants to Canada as prisoners of war brought counter-action from the British government. Early in the spring of 1755 General Braddock, with a considerable force, was sent to take possession of the Ohio country. His terrible defeat near Fort DuQuesne was followed by a fruitless expedition, the year after, which was directed against the Indian towns on the Ohio. Finally, in 1758, the French were expelled from Fort DuQuesne, and in 1763 France ceded to Great Britain all her North American settlements. The British then gave their attention to the defiant Indians. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 23 In 1764 General Bradstreet, having dispersed the Indian forces besieging Detroit, passed down into the Wyandot country by way of Sandusky Bay. Having ascended the bay and river as far as possible in boats, the party encamped and concluded a treaty of peace with the representatives of many of the Indian tribes. BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION But the Shawnees of the Scioto River and the Delawares of the Muskingum continued hostile. For the purpose of subduing or placating them, Colonel Bouquet was sent from Fort Pitt into the heart of the Ohio country on the Muskingum River. This expedition was conducted with great prudence and skill ; but few lives were lost, a treaty of peace was effected with the Indians about a mile from the forks of the Muskingum, but not before all the white prisoners, amounting to some three hundred, had been delivered to the colonel and his force. The expedition did not penetrate to the Valley of the Scioto. At -the time it was undertaken, Col. George Croghan, who had traversed that region as a companion of Mr. Gist, was a sub-Indian agent under Sir William Johnson, the head of the department of Indian affairs. The journal of the expedition, which has been published, is interesting reading, but does not directly concern, this history. Accompanying Colonel Bouquet as an engineer was Thomas Hutchins, who afterward became geographer of the United States. Mr. Hutchins • drew a map of the country through which the expedition passed, as well as of the Ohio country to the Miami and Scioto rivers, the territory beyond the line of march being depicted from maps already in existence, mainly French. The map, which was published in London two years after the return of the expedition, locates two Shawnee towns near the headwaters of the Scioto River, as well as a lead mine, and records that stream as being 150 yards in width. Various expeditions were sent against the Delawares, Wyandots, and Iroquois of Western Pennsylvania, Virginia and Eastern Ohio, in 1774, and as they were chiefly under the direction of Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, they are usually designated as "Dunmore's War." These actions did not spread into Ohio, although Lord Dunmore's march took him up the Hocking Valley and over into what is now Pickaway County, where, in the fall of 1774, he made a treaty with all the hostile Indians at Camp Charlotte, near the present site of Circleville. SHAWNEES LAST TO SURRENDER During and after the Revolutionary war, various American expeditions were sent against the warlike Shawnees, but the scenes of these forays and conflicts were in the Upper Valley of the Scioto. In 1779 Colonel Bowman headed an expedition against them, and their Village of Chillicothe was burned ; but the Shawnee warriors showed an undaunted front and the whites were forced to retreat. In the summer 24 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION of the following year General Clarke led a body of Kentuckians against the Shawnees. On their approach the Indians burned Chillicothe themselves and retreated to their town of Piqua, six miles below the present site of Springfield. There they gave battle and were defeated. In September, 1782, this officer led a second expedition against them and destroyed their towns of Upper and Lower Piqua, in what is now Miami County. Other expeditions from Kentucky were directed against the stubborn Shawnees of the Upper Scioto Valley and along the Miami rivers further west, these conflicts covering 1786-8. A NORTHWEST TERRITORY ASSURED In the meantime, by the treaty of Paris concluded between Great Britain and the United States in 1783, the western boundary of the United States was declared to be the Mississippi instead of the Ohio River. The British commissioner stoutly contended that the Ohio was its legitimate limits ; but sturdy John Adams, the American representative, carried the day for the Mississippi River, thus saving for his countrymen the splendid Northwest Territory. LIFTING OF INDIAN AND STATE TITLES The next great step in the building of the nation was to satisfy the land claims of the original occupants of the soil. The first negotiations were with the Six Nations of the East. Finally, at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1784, the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Tuscaroras ceded all their claims to the western lands to the Government of the United States. But citizens could not settle in that great domain until every other Indian title was lifted, and the individual states also relinquished their claims. By the year 1786 all the commonwealths of the Union had ceded their claims to the general Government ; then remained the task of extinguishing the Indian claims other than those ceded by the Six Nations. Efforts had been continuous since the conclusion of peace with Great Britain. But the problem was a difficult one. The Indian tribes were allies of the English, and did not surrender their homes without a struggle. For several years there was a series of hostile movements and numerous acts of revenge, but about 1786, when the general Government had adjusted all the state claims, a conciliatory policy was adopted toward the Indians, and by a series of purchases and treaties, made at various dates, their titles were peaceably extinguished. It is a 'fact worthy of note and pride, that the title to every foot of Ohio soil was honorably acquired from the Indians. LORD DUNMORE'S SQUATTERS But for more than a decade "squatters" had planted themselves in the fertile soil of the Ohio Valley. When Lord Dunmore's army of 1,200 HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 25 men was disbanded at the mouth of the Hocking River in 1774, there is much evidence that not a few of them saw that the land was good to look upon and decided to occupy it. At least, in January, 1785, when the commissioners appointed by the Government to treat with the 'Delawares and Wyandots arrived in the Ohio country they found white settlements at Hocking Falls, at the Muskingum, the Scioto and Miami, and along the north bank of the Ohio. The largest appeared to have been Hocking, and there was quite a town on the Mingo Bottoms opposite what is now Wheeling. The Indian. commissioners,. George Rogers, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee., were compelled to cease negotiations with the Delawares and Wyandots until all the lands west of the Ohio were dispossessed of the whites. Ensign John Armstrong was sent by Colonel Harmer to drive the white invaders from Indian soil, and by March most of them had left the country, although some failed to leave and kept in 'hiding until the titles to the lands were made clear. CHAPTER III THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 AMERICAN SYSTEM OF LAND SURVEYS-JEFFERSON 'S ORDINANCE OF 1784 -CUTLER'S ORDINANCE OF 1787-THE SOUTH ITS WARMEST SUPPORTER- THREE OR FIVE STATES AUTHORIZED-FIRST SURVEYS OF WESTERN LANDS-FIRST LAND SALES-FUTILE HOME-MAKING ATTEMPT OF 1785—MILITARY AND CIVIL FRICTION- WASHINGTON COUNTY ORGANIZED-FIRST JUDICIARY-INDIANS AT LAST SUBDUED. In 1784, ten years after the disbandment of Dunmore's army at the mouth of the Hocking River on the eastern borderland of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, Congress passed an ordinance for the government of the Northwest Territory, all claim to which had been relinquished by Great Britain. So far as the organization of any civil government under it is concerned, it was a dead letter, but under its general provisions one very important step was taken toward the realization of the white man's order and the security of property rights. On May 20, 1785, a supplementary ordinance was passed for the survey of the western lands. AMERICAN SYSTEM OF LAND SURVEYS A surveyor was chosen from each state which originally laid claim to the domain west of the Alleghenies, who was to act under the geographer of the United States, Thomas Hutchins, in laying off the land into townships of six miles square. The geographer was instructed to designate the townships by numbers, from south to north, and the ranges were to be numbered from east to west. It is this simple system of describing land that has been followed by the Government and private surveyors ever since, and may be called the American System. The survey of the western lands was well under way at the time of the passage of the permanent and living ordinance of 1787, which has been described as "the last gift of the Congress of the old Confederation to the people of the States." JEFFERSON'S ORDINANCE OF 1784 The ordinance of 1784, with which Thomas Jefferson was identified, failed to carry with it the clause prohibiting slavery. In the following - 26 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 27 year an attempt was made to put through another ordinance, into which Rufus King, of Massachusetts, had embodied an anti-slavery provision; the measure, as a whole, failed of passage. CUTLER'S ORDINANCE OF 1787 As to the author of the famous ordinance of 1787, credit is now generally accorded to Dr. Manasseh. Cutler, whose depth of scholarship, grace of diction and breadth of practical ability, as well as loftiness of purpose, endowed him with all the qualities which breathe through that noble, document. Undoubtedly, he embodied the views of Thomas Jefferson, as expressed in the ordinance of 1784, with his own commanding personality. Dr. Cutler had come before Congress to purchase for a company composed chiefly of Massachusetts men, a large body of public lands. In the opinion of the associates of the Ohio Company, the purchase would be virtually useless if uncovered by the guarantee of civil law and order. The ordinance of 1787 was the answer, and the necessary predecessor of the first substantial colonization to the Northwest Territory. Congress wisely considered that such a colony would form a barrier against the British and Indians, and that the initial movement would be speedily followed by other purchases and extending settlements. THE SOUTH ITS WARMEST SUPPORTER The southern states had even a greater interest in the West than New England, and Virginia especially was eager for the development of the country beyond the Ohio. The South in general warmly supported the planting of colonies of men in the West whose energy and patriotism were well known ; and this, notwithstanding the anti-slavery provision. THREE OR FIVE STATES AUTHORIZED The ordinance provided that there should be formed from the territory between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers and the Canadian boundary, not less than three and not more than five states. If only three states were erected, the westernmost was to be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash River and Port Vincent (Vincennes) north to the international boundary, and westward along the Canadian line to the Lake of the Woods and the Mississippi River. Thus Illinois. The middle state was to be blocked off between the Ohio and the international boundary, Illinois, and a line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to Canada. That was Indiana. The easternmost state was to be Ohio, whose southern and eastern boundaries were to be the Ohio River and Pennsylvania, and its northern limits the Dominion of Canada. 28 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION But, as is well known, advantage was eventually taken of the proviso that Congress might form two other states from the territory between the Ohio,. the Mississippi and the international boundary, north of a line drawn east and west from the southernmost bend of Lake Michigan. Under that proviso were created Michigan and Wisconsin, and the establishment of the boundaries of Ohio as we know them today. FIRST SURVEYS OF WESTERN LANDS As has been noted, a survey of the western lands had been commenced under authority of an ordinance passed by Congress in 1785. Thus authorized, the Government surveyors laid out the first seven ranges bounded by Pennsylvania on the east and the Ohio River on the soh. In November, 1787, John 0O'Bannon, deputy surveyor, laid out various lands on the Scioto and Ohio rivers in what is now Scioto County ; he had three assistants. They continued their work during that fall, in the Lower Scioto Valley, until driven away by the Indians, and the surveys were not resumed until General Wayne forced the peace of 1795. The first two pieces of land surveyeunder the direction of Mr. O'Bannon were just west of the mouth of the Scioto, and comprised a portion of the site of the Town of Alexandria, the first county seat, which was platted in 1799. By that time several families had settled there. FIRST LAND SALES Sales of several parcels of these surveyed lands were made at New York in 1787, and at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in 1796, the aggregate receipts for which amounted to $121,540. Some of these tracts were located under United States military land warrants held by Revolutionary soldiers. No further sales were made in that district until the land office was opened at Steubenville, on the eastern rim of the Northwest Territory, in 1801. GREAT OHIO COMPANY PURCHASE On the 27th of October, 1787, a contract was made between the treasury of the United States and the New England Ohio Company of Associates for the purchase of a tract of land north of the Ohio River from the mouth of the Scioto to the western boundary of the survey mentioned, thence by a line north to the northern boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio River, thence by a due west line to the Scioto River, and down that stream to its mouth, or point of beginning. The original purchase of the Ohio Company included much of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, but in 1792 its contract with, the Government was so altered that the western bounds of the purchase were set further to the east. The settlement of this purchase commenced at Marietta in the spring HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 29 of 1788, and constituted the first permanent colony planted within the limits of Ohio. FUTILE HOME-MAKING ATTEMPT OF 1785 An attempt at settlement had been made in April, 1785, at the mouth of the Scioto, on the site of Portsmouth, by four families from Redstone, Pennsylvania, but the hostility of the Indians compelled its abandonment. Although it is claimed that there was a French trading post located about a mile below the mouth of the Scioto River as early as 1740, the first attempt at permanent, or domestic settlement, was not made until that year. An account of the disastrous failure was written by George Corwin, of Portsmouth, in the American Pioneer : "In April, 1785, four families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto River, and there moored their boat under the high bank just below where Portsmouth now stands. They commenced clearing the ground to plant seeds for a crop to support their families, hoping that the red men of the forest would suffer them to remain and improve the soil. "Soon after they landed the four men, heads of the families started up the Scioto to see the paradise of the West, of which they had heard from white men who had been captured by the Indians and traversed it while in captivity. Leaving their little colony of four women and the children to the protection of an ever-ruling providence, they wandered over the beautiful bottoms of the Scioto as far up as the prairie above and opposite to where Piketon now stands. One of them, Peter Patrick by name, pleased with the country cut the initials of his name on the beech tree near the river, and upon the margin of a little stream that flowed into the Scioto. These letters afterward being found gave the name of Pee Pee to the creek, and then to the prairies through which the creek flowed. And from this also came the name of Pee Pee Township in Pike County. "Encamping near the site of Piketon they were surprised by the Indians and two of them killed as they lay near the fire, while the other two escaped over the hills, reaching the Ohio River at the mouth of the Scioto just as some white men going down the river in a pirogue were passing. Their cry for help was heard, the two men were taken aboard and rowed to their claim, and the household goods hastily packed away amid the lamentations of the women who had lost their husbands. No time was lost, as their safety depended upon instant flight and, getting their movables, they put off to Limestone, now Maysville, as a place of greater safety, and the owners of the boat there left them and pursued their own way to Port Vincent, their destination." MILITARY AND CIVIL FRICTION In the meantime, under the provisions of the ordinance, Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory. Winthrop 30 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Sargent, secretary, and Samuel H. Parsons, James H. Varnum and John Armstrong, judges. Judge Armstrong declined the judiciary and John Cleves Symmes -was appointed in his place. With the exception of Judge Symmes, the territorial officers reached Marietta on the 9th of July, 1788. The former joined his associates soon after. At first there appears to have been some friction between the governor and the judiciary. The chief executive, a man of long military training and experience, called the attention of the judges to the efficiency of the militia in the conduct of affairs in a new country, but they paid no attention to his suggestions. Instead, they formulated a land-law for dividing and transferring real estate, which was rejected by Congress because of its general crudities and especially because, under its provisions, non-resident land holders would have been deprived of their property rights. WASHINGTON COUNTY ORGANIZED On the 26th of July, 1788, the County of Washington was organized by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, who appointed Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper and Winthrop Sargent, justices of the peace. As will be seen by the following description of the bounds of the new county and the accompanying maps, the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio comprised a large southern slice of this first distinct civil division of the territory northwest of the Ohio : "Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western line of Pennsylvania crosses it and running with that line to Lake Erie ; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the north of Cuyhoga river ; thence up said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the forks, at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be drawn westwardly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami upon which the fort stood that was taken and destroyed by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the Lower Shawanese town to the Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto river down to its mouth, and thence up the Ohio river to the place of beginning." FIRST JUDICIARY Governor St. Clair erected a Court of Probate, established a Court of Quarter Sessions, divided the militia into Seniors and Juniors., and in August, 1788, added three justices of the peace to the three whom he had appointed during the previous month ; the new appointees were Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord, and they were authorized to hold the Court of Quarter Sessions. Return Jonathan Meigs was clerk of the court. THE INDIANS AT LAST SUBDUED Thus did the governor endeavor to maintain a nice balance between the military, civil and judicial authorities of Washington County and HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 31 the Northwest Territory. But the Indians of the Northwest, encouraged and supported by the British, were still to be reckoned with before white settlers felt at all secure in their possessions or lives. It required nearly five years of warfare between the American troops and the Indian warriors, with bloody disaster on both sides, the defeat of St. Clair and the crushing campaign of Mad Anthony Wayne, before the peace of 1795 was effected. In that year the twelve tribes who had given the most trouble signed the treaty at Greenville. This was soon followed by the British evacuation of all western military posts. Thereafter neither the Indians nor the British seriously interfered with the spread of American settlement and civilization in Southern Ohio. CHAPTER IV THE SCIOTO LAND COMPANY AND FRENCH GRANT THE SCIOTO LAND COMPANY AND THE OHIO COMPANY-THE TWO ENTIRELY DISTINCT-SEEMED PURELY SPECULATIVE-WHY THE BUBBLE BURST-CONTRACT TO PURCHASE SHARES IN THE OHIO COMPANY-FAILURE OF THE SCIOTO COMPANY-PUTNAM THE PRINCIPAL LOSER-COURTEOUS TREATMENT BY THE OHIO COMPANY-ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF COMPANY AND I M M IGRA NT S-GALLIPOLI S FOUNDED BY GENERAL PUTNAM-GERVAIS, A FRIEND IN NEED-ALLOTMENT OF THE FRENCH GRANT-THE NINETY-TWO ORIGINAL OWNERS-FRENCH REPLACED LARGELY BY YANKEES-STORY BY THAYER D. WHITE-BURRSBURG A FAILURE-MAKING PEACH AND APPLE BRANDY PROFITABLE-WELL KNOWN SETTLERS-HUNT IMPROVES THE GERVAIS PURCHASE-ASA BOYNTON AND HIS WORK--PIONEER MILLS-ALL THE OTHER BOYNTONS-THE WHITES-THE OTHER PURCHASER OF THE GERVAIS TRACT-FIRST SETTLERS OTHER THAN THE FRENCH-THE SALLADAYS-VERMQNTERS. The Scioto Land Company appears to have come into existence under the wing of the Ohio Company, of which Dr. Manasseh Cutler was the head, but it was an entirely separate organization and there is no evidence to show that the former either originated or remotely condoned the misrepresentations by which the' French emigrants were induced to come to the Valley f the Ohio. The Scioto Land Company contracted for the purchase of a part of the land included in the tract bought by the Ohio Company. Plats and descriptions of the land thus' contracted for were made out, and Joel Barlow was sent as an agent to Europe to push the sales of the lands for the benefit of the company. On February 19, 1790, 218 of these purchasers (representing a colony of 500) left Havre, France, and arrived at Alexandria, District of Columbia, on the 3d of May following. During their passage two were added. to their number. Men, women and children numbered about four hundred. On their arrival they were told that the Scioto Company owned no land. The agent insisted that they did, and promised to secure to them good titles thereto, which he assumed to do at Winchester, Brownsville and Charleston (now Wellsburg). When they arrived at Marietta about fifty of them landed. The rest of the company proceeded to Gallipolis, which was laid out about that time, and were assured by the agent that the place lay within - 32 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 33 their purchase. Every effort to secure legal titles to the lands they had purchased failed, application was made to Congress, and in March, 1795, they secured what has become known as the French Grant, a tract of nearly twenty-four thousand acres in what is now the southeastern part of Scioto County. THE SCIOTO LAND COMPANY AND THE OHIO COMPANY The annexed article respecting the Scioto Company and its connection with the Ohio Company was written by Ephraim Cutler, of Washington County. Judge Cutler was the son of Dr. Manasseh Cutler, who was the agent for the New England Ohio Company in making the contract with Congress for their lands. His opportunities for accurate information upon this subject render his testimony of great historical value. The paper follows : "The Scioto Land Company has been the subject of considerable mystery and the cause of much misrepresentation. I am not precisely informed concerning its origin. It was probably started during the negotiation of Dr. Cutler with the old Congress, in 1787, for the Ohio Company's purchase. Dr. Cutler arrived in New York, July 5th, and carried on his negotiations for a week ; he was then absent another week on a visit to Philadelphia, where the convention that formed our Federal Constitution was sitting. On his return from New York the project for the Scioto Company was broached to him by Colonel William Duer, as appears by the following extract from the Doctor's journal: `Colonel Duer came to me with proposals from a number of the principal characters in this city to extend our contract and take in another company. THE TWO ENTIRELY DISTINCT "The arrangements of Dr. Cutler with the Government made room for another company. But this other association was entirely distinct from the Ohio Company. Yet it has been represented that the Ohio Company was concerned in the alleged wrongs toward the French emigrants of 1790, who were induced to come over in expectation of beneficial acquisitions of land in this quarter, by the agency of Joel Barlow. But this imputation is entirely groundless. What were the actual regulations and doings of the Scioto Company previous to or connected with that agency I have never learned. Dr. Cutler contracted for a million and a half acres for the Ohio Company. In connection with his negotiations, the Board of Treasury was empowered to sell all west of the seventh range up to the northwest corner of Township 10 to the Scioto, and south to the Ohio. This would have included Zanesville and Columbus. It was estimated at 5,000,000 acres—much below the actual amount. "The arrangements and objects of the Ohio Company and the Scioto Company are believed to have been very different. The aim of the Ohio Company was actual settlement by shareholders. The lands obtained Vol. I-3 34 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION were ultimately to be allotted in shares, of which no one was to hold more than five shares. SEEMED PURELY SPECULATIVE "The object of the Scioto Company seems to have been solely and simply land speculation ; to purchase of Congress—nominally at two-thirds of a dollar per acre—paying mostly in continental money, at that time passing at an enormous discount, so that in fact the actual cost per acre might not be more than eight or ten cents, then to sell at prices which would yield them enormous profits. " That any dishonest intention was entertained by Colonel Duer or the other associates of the Scioto Company, I have no belief. Dr. Cutler speaks of the association as comprising some of the first characters in America.. Their object, no doubt, was to make large profits by the purchase and sale of public lands. "It is understood that Joel Barlow was by them authorized to offer lands in France, and to invite French immigrants, but of his authority or instructions we have no specific information. In this matter the Ohio Company had as little concern as in the South Sea bubble. WHY THE BUBBLE BURST "But the splendid project of the Scioto Company was blighted. Probably they expected to purchase public securities to pay for their purchase of Congress at the excessively low rates of 1787. But the adoption of the Federal Constitution and the successful establishment of the Federal Government under Washington and his compatriots, raised the credit of their securities and blasted the hopes of speculation. Meantime the French immigrants were coming. The Scioto purchase was not effected, and where should these immigrants go? CONTRACT TO PURCHASE SHARES IN THE OHIO COMPANY " Certain persons who styled themselves 'trustees to the proprietors of the Scioto lands' applied to General Rufus' Putnam and Dr. Manasseh Cutler, two of the directors of the Ohio Company, for the purchase of certain interests in this company. The persons who thus styled themselves `trustees' were William Duer, Royal Flint and Andrew Cragie. They bargained with General Putnam and Dr. Cutler for 148 forfeited shares in the Ohio Company. The eight, three and 160-acre lots and the town lots had been already allotted and drawn. The undrawn portions—equal to 100,262 and 640 acres to each share—were to be located in a body, in the southwest corner of the purchase, viz. : Townships 1, 2 and 3 in range 14 ; townships 1, 2 and 3 in range 16 ; townships 1, 2, 3 and 4, range 17 ; and so much of south of township 4, range 16, and township 5 in range 17 as would make up in all 196,544 acres in this compact body. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 35 FAILURE OF THE SCIOTO COMPANY "This contract was ratified by the Ohio Company. The lands for the French settlement of Gallipolis (which is in the fourteenth range), were located/ and occupied, I suppose, in consequence of this arrangement. General Putnam, as agent for Duer & Company, provided, at some $2,000 expense, for the accommodation of the French immigrants there, and by the failure of Duer & Company had to lose most or all of it. PUTNAM THE PRINCIPAL LOSER "The Scioto Company not only failed in securing the large purchase contemplated, but did not succeed in obtaining the interest for which they stipulated in the lands of the Ohio Company. They did not pay, and the contract with Putnam and Cutler became a nullity. All that was required by the contract was, that the Scioto Company associates should pay as much proportionally as the Ohio Company were to pay Congress, and relinquish to the Ohio Company the preemption right which the Scioto Company was understood to have, in reference to lands lying north of the Ohio Company's location. All was failure on the part of the Scioto Company. The French immigrants were planted at Gallipolis, and General Putnam was left to pay some $2,000 expended in behalf of the Scioto Company. COURTEOUS TREATMENT BY THE OHIO COMPANY "It is rather surprising that any complaint should have been made against the Ohio Company for selling the lands in and about Gallipolis to the French for $1.25 per acre. It was, in truth, an act of favor and courtesy in deference to the misfortunes of the French. The Ohio Company was under no obligations to them. They had no agency in inviting or deceiving them. How much blame there was in the case, and to whom it belonged, we are not now able to decide. Barlow was poetic, but we know not that he was intentionally false. Most probably the immigrants were greatly beguiled by their own vivid imaginations. We may well enough suppose there was more poetry than truth in the whole concern." ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF COMPANY AND IMMIGRANTS The following account of this striking phase of the early settlement of the Lower Scioto Valley is taken from Hildreth's "Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley," a book of rare merit and reliability : "On the 16th of October, 1790, the inhabitants of Marietta were much gratified at the arrival of a large company of French emigrants, composed of men, women and children, amounting in all to more than four hundred souls. Their outlandish dress, foreign language and wooden shoes of the lower classes were a matter of rare interest to the dwellers in the wilderness, especially as at that day the deluge of foreign emigration, 36 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION which has since flooded the country, had not yet commenced. They had descended the Ohio in six Kentucky arks, or flat boats. A large portion of them were from the city of Paris, who were equally surprised at the vast forests and broad rivers of the new world of which they had heard, but could form no adequate conception. This company of adventurers had purchased land' of Joel Barlow, the accredited agent of the Scioto Land Company. Their agent rather prematurely sold out a portion of their lands to the French people, before they had completed their purchase from congress. The contract ultimately failed, and the poor emigrants were left without lands for a home. Many of them were destitute of money, the little they had being spent in the purchase, and in the voyage and journey out. GALLIPOLIS FOUNDED BY GENERAL PUTNAM "In the contract with the company, they engaged to build them comfortable dwelling houses on the lands and to furnish them with a year's provisions, until they could clear fields and raise crops of their own. General Putnam was employed by William Duer of New York, the principal man in the Scioto Company, to build houses for them and to furnish provisions. This he kindly undertook and accomplished, at An expense of more than two thousand dollars ; which money he finally lost, as Duer soon after became a bankrupt and the company dissolved. In the summer of that year he employed Captain William Burnham, with forty men under his charge, to perform the work of clearing the land and putting up two long rows of dwelling houses, on the banks of the Ohio three miles below the Big Kanawha. The village of Gallipolis, as the new town was called, when the houses were whitewashed made a very neat appearance from the Ohio, in the midst of the surrounding wilderness. The land on which the village stood belonged to the Ohio Company, which finally sold it to the occupants at a moderate price. "Very few of these emigrants were cultivators of the soil. They were generally artisans and tradesmen of different kinds, such as are found in cities ; and some were broken-down gentlemen bred to no particular calling, so that on the whole they were a very helpless company. A few of the more wealthy adventurers had a number of men in their employ, whose passage money and expenses they had paid, to be refunded by their labor. Among them were a marquis and a viscount, his son, who were the principal leaders. "A few of the French spent the winter in Marietta and became permanent settlers, but the larger portion went down to Gallipolis. In the spring the marquis returned to France. They suffered much during the Indian war which broke out that winter, from want of food and privations of various kinds. The hostile Indians learning that the new village was occupied by Frenchmen scarcely molested them, having an old and lasting friendship for that people ever since the travels and adventures of LaLaSallen the Valley of the Mississippi in the year 1678. " In the year 1795 congress took notice of the wrongs of these much- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 37 injured colonists and gave them a tract of land on the Ohio river commencing about a mile above the Little Sandy and extending down the Ohio eight miles and back.. It was a noble act of justice, and in some measure atoned for the cupidity of their countrymen. A few of the emigrants were educated men, and have held judicial offices in the republic and seats in the halls of legislation. A number of their descendants yet live in Gallipolis and own the cherished homes of their forefathers, while a large portion of the donation tract, or French Grant, has passed into other hands." GERVAIS, A FRIEND IN NEED Some of the French immigrants returned to their native land without even crossing the Alleghenies, being convinced upon landing at Alexandria that there was no bottom to the Scioto Land Company. About a half of the original colony settled in the Ohio Company's purchase at Gallipolis. In their extremity the French strangers found a stanch friend and countryman in the person of Jean Gabriel Gervais, whom they employed to procure them lands from Congress. He went to Philadelphia, where that body was then in session, and engaged Peter S. Duponceau, a lawyer of the city, to assist him. ALLOTMENT OF THE FRENCH GRANT The result was the congressional act of March 3, 1795, by which the French colonists at Gallipolis were granted all of the present Green Township, in Scioto County, except about one hundred and twenty acres, comprising 23,934 acres. It was to front eight miles on the Ohio River, beginning 1 1/2 miles above the mouth of the Little Sandy River, thence down the stream and extending back at right angles. For purposes of division, the French settlers of Gallipolis were to include males above eighteen years and widows residing in that place on November 1, 1795. Each was to have a lot, upon which the owner was to settle within five years from the issuing of the patent and remain at least five years on the grant. John Gabriel Gervais was to have 4,000 acres opposite Little Sandy, but the grant was to be void if he, or his heirs, should not personally settle on the tract within three years and remain thereon three years. The Gervais tract extended from the river to the back line of the grant. The French Grant was surveyed on April 9, 1796, by Absalom Martin, and thirty-four lots of 217.39 acres each fronted on the Ohio River. Lots 1 to 4 lay southeast of the Gervais tract and 5 to 34 southwest of it on the Ohio River. The remaining lots were rectangular. The back lots, 38, 42, 55, 67 and 91, lay southeast of the Gervais tract, and the remaining square lots up to 92 northeast of it. The allotment was made at Gallipolis on November 1, 1795, and ninety-one men and one widow became property owners in the French 38 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Grant. Soon afterward it was discovered that eight persons, who were entitled to allotments had been omitted in the drawing, and on June 25, 1798, Congress passed an act for their benefit, granting them 1,200 acres adjoining the southwest corner of the first French Grant. In 1806 an act was passed repealing the section of the original measure requiring settlement and residence for a specified time. THE NINETY-TWO ORIGINAL OWNERS The original ninety-two owners of the French Grant, with the numbers of the lots which they drew, were as follows : 1, Matthew Berthelot, Sr.; 2, Nicholas Thevenin ; 3, John Baudot ; 4, Peter Matthew Chaudivert ; 5, Francis Valodin ; 6, William Duduit ; 7, Nicholas Hurteux ; 8, Peter Lewis LeClere, Jr.; 9, Peter Marret, Sr.; 10, Michael Mazure ; 11, Louis Ambrose Lacour ; 12, Louis Berthe ; 13, John Baptist Ginat ; 14, Louis Anthony Francis Cei ; 15, Andrew Lacrouix ; 16, John Baptist Berthone (Bertrand) ; 17, Francis Davous ; 18, Anthony Bartholomew Duc ; 19, Philip Augustus Pithoud ; 20, Stephen Bastide ; 21, John Parmentier ; 22, Martinus Vandenbemden (now Vanden) ; 23, Nicholas Prioux ; 24, Francis Alexander Larquilhon ; 25, Nicholas Questel ; 26, Christopher Etienne ; 27, Francis Duverger ; 28, Claudius Chartier Dufligne ; 29, Nicholas Petit; 30, John Baptist Letailleur ; 31, Claudius Berthelot ; 32, Francis Charles Duteil ; 33, John Peter Romain Bureau ; 34, James Francis Laurent; 35, John Baptist Gobeau ; 36, John Julius Lemoyne ; 37, Peter Duteil ; 38, Louis Joiteau ; 39, 'Agnotus Chereau ; 40, Peter John Desnoyers ; 41, Mann Duport ; 42, Augustin Leclercq, Sr.; 43, Nicholas Lambert ; 44, John Brouin ; 45, Augustin Leclercq, Jr.; 46, Anthony Philipeau ; 47, Anthony Henry Meriguy ; 48, Louis Peter Leclere, Sr. ; 49, Mary Magdalen Brunier (widow) ; 50, Remy Thierry Quiffe ; 51, Peter Magnier ; 52, Matthew Bert ; 53, John Baptist Nicholas Tillage ; 54, Anthony Claudius Vincent ; 55, John Gilbert Petit ; 56, Louis Augustin Lemoyne ; 57, Masil Joseph Marret ; 58, John Michau ; 59, Joseph Dazet ; 60, Michael Crawsaz ; 61, Francis D 'Hebecourt ; 62, John Francis Pervey ; 63, Claudius Romaine Menager ; 64, Peter Richon ; 65, Peter Matry ; 66, Peter Serve ; 67, Francis Marion ; 68, Peter Marret, Jr. ; 69, Francis Winox Joseph Devacht ; 70, Nicholas Charles Visinier ; 71, Augustus Waldemand Mentelle ; 72, Stephen Chaudivert ; 73, Peter Robert Magnet ; 74, Stephen Villenni ; 75, John Baptist Ferard ; 76, Francis Alexander Dubois 77, John Louis Malden ; 78, Francis Mennepier ; 79, Peter Serrot ; 80, Anthony Francis Saugrain ; 81, Joachim Pignolet ; 82, Anthony Vibert ; 83, John Louis Violette ; 84, Peter Laffillard ; 85, Peter Chabot ; 86, Peter Thomas Thomas; 87, Michael Chanteron ; 88, Francis Carteron ; 89, Claudius Cadot ; 90, `Louis Victor Vonschriltz ; 91, Peter Francis Augustin Leclercq ; 92, Peter Ferard. FRENCH REPLACED LARGELY BY YANKEES As will be seen in the more detailed account of the early settlement of the Lower Scioto Valley, particularly of Scioto County, by the early HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 39 portion of the nineteenth century, almost with the coming of Ohio statehood, the pioneer French settlers of the grant and Southern Ohio were replaced largely by New Englanders. A colony from New Hampshire, of which the Hunts and the Boyntons were the pioneers, became the purchasers of the Gervais tract and other choice properties originally held by the French colonists: Claudius Cadot was the last distinct survivor of the old French regime identified with the grant, being the son of the Claudius who drew Lot 89, although numerous descendants of later generations are scattered throughout the lower Valley of the Scioto. STORY BY THAYER D. WHITE Among the later New Hampshire Yankees to become land owners in the French Grant, and still entitled to the distinction of real pioneers, was Bethuel White, who settled at Burke's Point in the spring of 1815. His son, Thayer D. White, was also a citizen of that locality and has written an interesting account of some of the early settlers on the Grant, both French and Americans. Extracts from one of his papers follow : "J. G. Gervais laid out a portion of his tract, which included part of the Ohio River bottoms, into town lots and outlots, after the plan of the rural villages, and named his town Burrsburg, in honor of Aaron Burr, who was then quite popular. As the French were poor, Gervais proposed in a letter to Duponceau to give him a number of tickets to draw lots in his town, or to give him 200 acres of land fronting on the Ohio River. Duponceau chose the 200 acres, which Gervais located on the upper corner of his tract, being sixty-four rods fronting on the river and running back for quantity ; made a deed and acknowledged the same before Kimber Barton, the first justice of the peace in the French Grant, and the deed was recorded in Book A, page 1. In 1832 Thayer D. White purchased this 200 acres of Duponceau for $1,000 cash. BURRSBURG A FAILURE "The town of Burrsburg was a failure. Gervais cleared a few acres, built a log house sixteen feet square, set out some fruit trees, and kept bachelor's hall, having no family. It was in this cabin that he entertained the celebrated traveler and scholar, Volney, the professor of history in the Normal School of France, who visited this country in 1797, and who, on his return to France, published an account of his visit to the Scioto settlement. "But few of the French ever settled on the Grant, preferring to remain at Gallipolis. Some that came to the Grant sold out and left, and one, a Mrs. Fisho, who owned the lot now known as Burk's Point, after making considerable improvement, left and was never heard of afterward, and no one ever came to claim the property. The names of those who became permanent settlers on the Grant and are still represented by descendants were Vincent, Chabot, Cadot, Valodin, Duduit, Bartvaux, Lacroix, Duthy, Faverty, Serot and Audre. 40 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION MAKING PEACH AND APPLE BRANDY PROFITABLE " Considering their want of experience in clearing up the wilderness the settlers made good progress, and in a few years had fine farms and fruit orchards. The only thing that would bring money was good peach and apple brandy, and distilling fruit was resorted to and a good article was made by them. The French immigrants suffered much from their want of experience and a fear of the Indians, which was not without cause. WELL KNOWN SETTLERS "Mr. Vincent, on a hunting trip, saw a party of Indians, and, secreting himself, lay out all night, freezing his hands and feet, it being a very cold night, from which he suffered greatly. "William Duduit had been a coachman in Paris, was stout and active, and became very expert in handling the canoe, and made several trips to Gallipolis and to Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky, and always without adventure with the Indians, as he kept constantly on the watch for his ,dusky foe. He married a French woman after he came to Gallipolis, by whom he had four sons and five daughters. They married, and are represented by the names of Gillin, Waugh; Cooper, Stuart, and Phineas Oaks. The sons were William, Frederick, John and Desso, who lives in New York. They all have families. "William Duduit's first wife died and he married Zair Lacroix, by whom he had two sons and four daughters. The sons were Edward, of the Madison Furnace, and Andrew, who lives in Kentucky. They both have families. One of the four daughters died unmarried ; two of the others married, John and Isaac Peters; the other married a Mr. Ridenour. The oldest survivors of the French settlers here in the Grant were John Baptist Burtraux, who died at ninety-four years of age, and Mrs. Vincenet, who was the last survivor of the French colony here. She was very nearly a hundred years old at her death. HUNT IMPROVES THE GERVAIS PURCHASE "About the year 1800 J. G. Gervais sold his 4,000-acre tract (except 200 acres he conveyed to Duponceau), to Samuel Hunt, from New Hampshire, and returned to France. Hunt went to work. and made great improvements in clearing the land of the heavy growth of timber, and built a two-story house of hewed oak timber forty feet square, with a stone chimney in the center nearly large enough for a furnace stack. " There came here with Hunt, Joel Church, who married here and settled on Gennett's creek. When Green Township was organized he was made township clerk, and continued in that office for more than twenty years. He died at his home on Gennett's creek about 1857. "Mr. Hunt kept several men at work besides those engaged in building his house, and undertook to drain the big pond, which was HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 41 mostly on his land. At that time, and many years afterward, about one-third of the Ohio river bottoms was shallow ponds and stashes which would dry out in. August and September, poisoning the atmosphere and causing ague and bilious fevers that few unacclimated persons escaped from. Mr. Hunt died in 1806, a victim to the unhealthy condition of the country ; and his brother in New Hampshire, who would not go to a place where a brother had been so unfortunate, sold out the Ohio property, or traded it' for property in New Hampshire. ASA BOYNTON AND HIS WORK "Asa Boynton, of Haverhill, New Hampshire, after making a journey to Ohio and viewing the property, became the purchaser in connection with Matthew White and Lawson Drury, and they moved to Ohio with their families 1810. White had 850 acres of the Gervais tract, which was taken off the lower side of the tract, and Drury a strip sixty-four rods wide in front, next to the Duponceau lot, on the upper side of the Gervais tract, and covering the back end of the Duponceau lot, the rest belonged to Boynton, and that part of, it fronting on the river still belongs mostly to his grandchildren. Boynton was industrious and enterprising, and of the stock needed to develop a new country. It was difficult at that early day to get money for produce, and Boynton built a flat-boat and took a load to New Orleans; took his return passage home on the steamboat Congress and was thirty-one days getting to Louisville. PIONEER MILLS "Mr. Boynton had built in 1813 the best horse mill then in the country, which enabled him to make good flour. The only disadvantage was, the bolt had to be turned by hand. If he ground for a customer and furnished the team, he took one-fourth toll ; if the customer furnished his team, he took one-eighth toll. Boynton, in connection with his millwright, Mr. Skinner, and Mr. Thurston, built a water mill on Storm's creek, in the hills back of where Ironton now stands, where sawing and grinding were done. Boynton sold E. H. Oaks seven acres off his upper corner on the river, and next to that an acre to Madam Naylor, a sister of Mrs. Serot, who married Dr. Andrew Lacroix in Alexandria. Shortly after the death of her husband Mrs. Naylor, then a young woman, removed to Baltimore, and did not come to Ohio until 1823, bringing with her a daughter, Sally, who married James S. Fulsom. Mrs. Naylor kept the first dry-goods store in Haverhill. ALL THE OTHER. BOYNTONS "Asa Boynton, one of the most prominent of the early settlers, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, March 4, 1760, and was married to Mary Edmunds in 1782, settled in Haverhill, New Hampshire, where he lived until he emigrated to Ohio. His family that came with him besides his 42 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION wife was four sons and five daughters. In 1813 the oldest son, Joseph, married Betsey Wheeler, daughter. of Major Wheeler, settling where Wheelersburg now is, and who emigrated from Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Joseph died in 1817. Charles Boynton, the second son, married Rhoda Sumner, daughter of Captain Sumner, who emigrated from Peacham, Vermont, in 1812 or 1813. They were married March, 1814. Charles Boynton died August, 1837. Cynthia, the second daughter, was married to Benjamin Lock in December, 1814. Lock was from Massachusetts, a carpenter by trade. Lydia, eldest daughter, was married to James B. Prescott November, 1815. Lydia Prescott died February, 1825. The third daughter, Lucy, was married to George Williams, a Pitts-burger, who at first principally followed keel-boating and flat-boating, and then steam-boating, in the capacity of captain. He died in 1832, of cholera. William L. Boynton, the third son, was married to Nancy Feurt January 1, 1822. Polly Boynton was married to Thus H. Rogers January 1, 1822. Rogers followed boating in the capacity of steamboat captain for many years, and led a useful and industrious life. He served one term as county commissioner, and died July 11, 1870, leaving his third wife with one daughter, and four sons and two daughters by his first wife living. "Jane Ann Boynton married Thomas Whittier December, 1822, who died soon after, and his widow afterward married John Duthy, who was of the French stock. Asa Boynton. Jr:, married Julia Bartraux December 25, 1828. Both were good and industrious citizens, and accumulated a handsome property. He died July 11, 1879, and his wife about two years after. "John Boynton, the youngest of Asa Boynton (Sr.'s) children, was born in Ohio in 1811 ; was married to Felicity Bartraux, and died August 15, 1848, Felicity, his wife, dying February 7, 1852, leaving three sons, who served in the Union army and are still living. THE WHITES "The family of Matthew White were but recently from England when they came to the Grant, and consisted of the two old people and two sons, Matthew and Edward, young men when they came. The old people died soon after they came. Matthew married the Widow Rector, sister of Kimber Barton, one of the earliest settlers. Two other sisters of Mr. Barton married respectively Ellis Chandler and a Mr. Day. "Matthew White had three children, twin daughters and a son. Edward, like his Uncle Edward, never married ; he died young. One of the daughters married Dr. James Vanbeber, who subsequently settled in Newport, Kentucky ; the other married Franklin Carrol, a Frenchman, of Gallipolis. The two girls, joint heirs, sold their land, which was composed of all that part of the White tract that lay in the Ohio River bottom, to Alexander Lacroix. Matthew White attended the farm. Edward, although he never learned a trade, was very ingenious, and generally HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 43 employed in pattern making at the furnaces. Both the brothers died at about fifty, and were conspicuous for their intense loyalty to England. THE OTHER PURCHASER OF THE GERVAIS TRACT "Lawson Drury, the other purchaser of the Gervais tract, had four sons and two daughters. The eldest, Ann, married Alexander Beatty and died soon after. Betsey became the second wife of Carter Haley, settled in Kentucky, and is represented by a numerous family of sons and daughters. Lawson married Ann Smith, and in 1831 sold his farm to E. H. Oakes, moved to Illinois and settled in Morgan County. Charles, the second son, went away with Dr. Bivins in 1819, and settled in Missouri. George married Miss Cartney, and he and the Cartney family moved to Indiana and settled. Harvey, the youngest, married and settled in Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, and was killed by lightning while lifting in his porch a few years since. The older Lawson Drury was the first postmaster in the French Grant; kept the first ferry across the Ohio to Greenup ; held the office of associate judge and justice of the peace. He sold his part of the land to Phineas Oaks, having previously sold the ferry property to William. Thomas, and went to his son Charles in Missouri, as he had been living without any of his family for years. His wife died soon after he came to Ohio. FIRST SETTLERS OTHER THAN THE FRENCH "At this distant day it is hard to say who were the first settlers, other than the French. Commencing at the upper line of the French Grant, Thomas Gilruth, Vincent Gurgeson, John Haley all settled here before 1800. Lower down in the Grant, the Feurts, four brothers by the name of Baker, several families by name of Patton, a family of Salladays and William Montgomery at the lower end of the Grant. Montgomery was the most useful and enterprising of that class of settlers. Almost unaided, except by his two oldest sons, he built a dam across Pine Creek and erected a saw and grist mill, which was the first mill on the creek. He afterward built a much better mill for grinding grain at the other end of the dam, on the upper side of the creek, all of which are still standing. The next mill on the creek was built by one of the Pattons, a few miles above Montgomery's, which is still kept. Afterward Charles Kelley built a mill on the creek, near the upper back corner of the French Grant: THE SALLADAYS "The Salladay family owned and made a good improvement on the lower lot in the Grant, and sold the lower half to Hezekiah Smith ; the upper half belonged to Matthew Curran, whose wife was a Salladay. In the spring of 1815 he sold to Bethuel White and moved to the interior of the state. The Salladay family were afflicted with consumption, and 44 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION had a family burying ground on a ridge, at the lower line of the old farm. Samuel Salladay had died during the fall of 1815 and was buried there. Two or three months after they took him up and Mat Wheeler cut him open and took out his heart, liver and lungs; they were burned up in fire prepared for the purpose, the family sitting round while they were burning, hoping it would arrest the disease. Mrs. Curran was not present, but she and her sister, Mrs. Bradshaw, died within a year. George Salladay was the only one that lived to a reasonable old age. VERMONTERS "The adventurous Samuel Hunt was the cause of bringing a. good many people here from New Hampshire and the contiguous part of Vermont. From Vermont came the Kimballs, Haleys, Campfield, Kellogg, Lamb, Pratt, and a quite prominent person in Captain Sumner, with a married son, Henry, a young son named Horatio and four daughters. The oldest, Rhoda, married Charles Boynton. Friendly married Robert Lucas, afterward governor of Ohio for four years ; Maria married Dr. Reynolds; Margaret married Mr. Whitmore, and Horatio married a daughter of Robert Lucas by a former wife. Sumner bought and settled on the two French lots Nos. 8 and 9, where Joshua Oaks lives, and had built in 1814 and 1815 the large frame house now occupied by the Oaks. He came to the county in 1813." CHAPTER V PIONEER SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS THE SALT SPRINGS OF JACKSON COUNTY-DANIEL BOONE SEES THE COUNTRY-OTHER CAPTIVES VISIT THE SPRINGS-THE OHIO COMPANY CLAIMS THE SPRINGS-FOUND OUTSIDE THE PURCHASE-LOCATED AND MADE POPULAR-PRICE OF SALT REDUCED-SPRINGS UNDER STATE CONTROL- PIONEER SAMUEL MARSHALL-ISAAC BONSER, FORERUNNER OF SCIOTOVILLE- SETTLEMENT ON THE LITTLE SCIOTO-JOHN LINDSEY, MARSHALL 'S CLOSE FRIEND-MAJOR BONSER, A STAYER-FIRST STATE ROAD OF THE REGION-ALEXANDRIA FOUNDED-TRAXLER SETTLES AT PORTSMOUTH-HENRY MASSIE FOUNDS THE TOWN-WATER-LOGGED ALEXANDRIA SINKS-IRONTON AND ITS FURNACE MEN-JOHN AND THOMAS W. MEANS-THE UNION FURNACE–IRON IN CIVIL WAR TIMES—JOHN CAMPBELL, FATHER OF IRONTON-FIRST HOT-BLAST FURNACE IN AMERICA-DEATHS OF FURNACE MEN, 1849-60-DISSOLUTION OF THE OHIO IRON AND COAL COMPANY-THE FAMOUS HECLA FURNACE-NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF THE REGION-CIVIL WAR, THE GREAT STIMULANT-DR. WILLIAM W. MATHER-DR. CALEB BRIGGS-- THE BEGINNINGS OF VINTON COUNTY. In every community, county, section or state there are certain persons and events standing forth as forerunners of permanency and growth. Lands and conditions of a virgin country must be discovered and examined by the adventurous and enterprising before the more cautious builders, the founders of homes and cities, assume the task of substantial development. History gives to these forerunners of the settled state, whether animate or inanimate, the names of Pioneers and Pioneer Events. In the section covered by this work have arisen various rugged pathfinders and events identified with its progress, and the record concerning them is briefly- presented in this chapter. THE SALT SPRINGS OF JACKSON COUNTY. As will be evident by a careful reading of the special history of Jackson County, the magnet which first strongly attracted the attention of the whites to the material riches of the valley was the presence of the salt springs, or salt licks, of that section. Both animal and human-kind have as insatiable craving for salt as for water. The salt springs of Jackson had been known by the Indians before history began, and-from a - 45 - 46 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION French map published in 1755 the outlines of the adjacent country are so clearly given it is evident that, although the springs are not definitely located, the region had been explored before the year named. DANIEL BOONE SEES THE COUNTRY Until the country became firmly occupied by the whites the Indians made annual visits to the Jackson Salt Springs. Probably the first American to visit them was Daniel Boone, who was captured by the Indians in Kentucky in 1778, and was brought to that locality during his short captivity. He had been buying lands for a Carolina company on the south side of the Ohio River, and had built a stockade on the site of what is now Boonesborough, Kentucky. OTHER CAPTIVES VISIT THE SPRINGS Jonathan Alder, taken prisoner in Virginia during 1782, when about nine years of age, was also brought to the Scioto Springs and assisted the Indians to make salt. He remained with his captors, who had adopted him into the tribe, until the peace of 1795. While at the salt works he met a Mrs. Martin, also a prisoner, and he thus describes their meeting : "It was now better than a year after I was taken prisoner, when the Indians started off to the Scioto salt springs near Chillicothe to make salt, and took me along with them. Here I got to see Mrs. Martin, who had been taken prisoner the same time I was, and this was the first time that I had seen her since we were separated at the council house. When she saw me, she came smiling and asked me if it was I. I told her it was. She asked me how I had been. I told her I had been very unwell, for I had had the fever and ague for a long time. So she took me off to a log, and there we sat down ; and she combed my head and asked me a great many questions about how I lived, and if I didn't want to see my mother and little brothers. I told her that I should be glad to see them, but never expected to again. She then pulled out some pieces of her daughter's scalp that she said were some trimmings they had trimmed off the night after she was killed, and that she meant to keep them as long as she lived. She then talked and cried about her family, that was all destroyed and gone except the remaining bits of her daughter's scalp. We stayed here a considerable time, and meantime took many a cry together; and when we parted again took our final farewell, for I never saw her again." THE OHIO COMPANY CLAIM THE SPRINGS When the Ohio Company was formed, steps were taken to manufacture salt from the springs in commercial quantities, as it was claimed that they were within its purchase. The company promptly made the claim in the following words embodying a resolution passed by the associates of the organization : HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 47 "Whereas, It is believed that the great Salt Springs of the Scioto lie within the present purchase of the Ohio Company ; therefore, "Resolved, That this sixth division of land to the proprietors is made upon the express condition and reserve that every salt spring now known, or that shall hereafter be found within the lands that shall fall to any proprietor, be and are hereby reserved to the company, with such quantity of land about them as the agents and proprietors shall think proper to assume for general purposes, not exceeding 3,000 acres; the person on whose land they are found to receive other lands of equal value." FOUND OUTSIDE THE PURCHASE Naturally, as a profitable enterprise, the Ohio Company was anxious to control this manufacture. When the purchase was first made all the salt used by the settlers was packed on horses over the mountains, a bushel of eighty pounds varying in price from $6 to $10. A careful survey of the lands of the Ohio Company, however, showed that the springs were several miles outside the purchase. LOCATED AND MADE POPULAR If anything, this fact stimulated private enterprise, and in 1794 three residents of Marietta, Griffin Greene, Maj. Robert Bradford and Joel Oaks, started for the Scioto Valley to locate the famous springs definitely. Mr. Greene was to have half an interest in any discovery that might be made, as he paid half the expenses of the trip, and his associates shared the other half both of expenses and possible profits. They found the springs several miles southeast of the Indian Village of Chillicothe, and narrowly escaped massacre from a party of infuriated red men whose fathers and forefathers had guarded this treasure of Nature from time immemorial. When tidings of the discovery reached the settlements of the Ohio Company, there was great rejoicing and soon it was not unusual for parties to be seen encamped near the springs, with as large a supply of kettles as their means would allow, boiling the water and gathering a home supply of the precious article. PRICE OF SALT REDUCED It is not known what became of the enterprise of the original settlers at the Scioto Salt Springs, but it is known that the first manufactures produced in commercial quantities were made by persons from Marietta in 1798. The price of salt then fell from $6 and $10 per bushel to $3 and $4, the latter being the ruling price for the next decade in Southern Ohio. SPRINGS UNDER STATE CONTROL When Ohio was formed into a state in 1803, salt was considered such a necessity to the settlers of the new country that Congress set apart 48 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION for the use of the state a tract six miles square, embracing the springs within its limits. The settlers had been using their waters free for some six years, but in 1804 the Legislature of Ohio placed them under state control. An agent was appointed to take charge of the salt springs and the state reservation adjoining, who was authorized to lease a specified tract to any reputable person desirous of making salt, provided there was a free flow of water. When Congress ceded these and other salt springs to 'the state, it was stipulated that they were never to be sold and not leased for a longer period than ten years. But the Jackson Saline Springs were not strongly impregnated with salt and after being worked for some twenty years were abandoned. In the winter of 1825-26 the state secured congressional legislation allowing the disposition of the salt lands, which were thereafter placed upon the market. This put an end to these famous salines, which for years had been of such benefit to the pioneers of the Lower Scioto Valley. Although not strong, they served a good, purpose, both in supplying the early settlers with comparatively cheap salt and in drawing the attention of outsiders to the advantages of settlement in that section of the state. PIONEER SAMUEL MARSHALL But probably the first pioneer and permanent settler in the Lower' Scioto Valley was Samuel Marshall, who came down the Ohio River in company with Gen. Anthony Wayne, in the fall of 1795, and after the Treaty of Greenville, in February, 1796, Mr. Marshall selected a claim about three miles above the mouth of the Scioto nearly opposite the mouth of Tygart's Creek. There he built his cabin of puncheons and installed his family, consisting of a wife and four children. James Keyes, in his "Pioneers of Scioto County," has this 'to say of Marshall : " The very first of these (true pioneers of Scioto County) was Samuel Marshall. He came to this country and built a small cabin about two miles above where Portsmouth now stands. This was in February, 1796. He passed down the river the year before in company with General Wayne when on his way to make his celebrated treaty with the Indians. He stopped at Manchester, where Nathaniel Massey had built a small stockade for the protection of his surveyors, and had likewise laid out the town of that name. "Mr. Marshall had sold his property in Pennsylvania for about ten thousand dollars and taken his pay altogether in continental money. He wished to invest a portion of his money in government lands, but he had to wait until the lands were ready for market. While thus waiting, he moved up from Manchester and built his house, as was stated above. He had a large family of children, some of them grown up. His eldest daughter, Nancy, was married to William Rollins and had two children. "As is the case in all new countries, marriageable young women are scarce and men plenty, so while he waited in Manchester for the treaty to be made with the Indians, two more of his daughters got married—one to a man by the name of Washburn; who settled in Adams County, HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 49 and the other to Thomas McDonald, a brother to the celebrated scout, John McDonald. It is well known to all who are conversant with the early history of this country that Colonel John McDonald and Duncan McArthur were, with several others, appointed to act as scouts and keep the Indians at bay while boats were passing down the river. In. Howe's History of Ohio credit is given this Thomas McDonald with building the first house in Scioto County. He came to Scioto County perhaps, with his father-in-law, but did not build a house or make any long stay, but went up the Scioto and settled at or near Chillicothe. "To sum the matter and place it in a nutshell : We claim for Samuel Marshall the credit of being the first settler in Scioto County, who came there with the intention of making it his permanent home; that he built the first cabin and raised the first crop of corn ; that the first person married in the county was his daughter, and that the first Child born in the county was his. We know this is claiming a- good deal for the Marshall family." ISAAC BONSER, FORERUNNER OF SCIOTOVILLE But Isaac Bonser, a young backwoodsman and surveyor, had already made a claim for a tract of land at the mouth of the Little Scioto. In the spring of 1795 he had crossed the mountains from Pennsylvania, in the interest of citizens of that state, and marked some pieces of land in that locality with his tomahawk, supposing that he would thus be entitled to it by priority of discovery. At that time the survey of the French Grant had just been completed, but there was no vestige of a settlement between Gallipolis and Manchester, although surveyors were everywhere abroad in the Ohio country. SETTLEMENT ON THE LITTLE SCIOTO Mr. Bonser's report to his Pennsylvania friends and supporters was so favorable that four families accompanied him to the location at the mouth of the Little Scioto in the spring of 1796.; they did not arrive at their destination, however,- until the 10th of August. The heads of the five families which thus formed one of the pioneer colonies of the Scioto Valley, although they settled at the mouth of the Little Scioto at what is now Sciotoville, were Isaac Bonser, Uriah Barber, John Beatty, William Ward and Ephraim Adams. When these five families located, they found that Samuel Marshall and John Lindsey had moved up from Manchester a few months before, and erected cabins near their claim. A Lindsey son and a Marshall married soon afterward, their union being the first in the county. JOHN LINDSEY, MARSHALL'S CLOSE FRIEND Although Samuel Marshall and John Lindsey were evidently industrious and well-meaning, they were obviously not men of sound business Vol. I-4