Rock and their respective furnaces. They stopped and talked about the failure of the scheme to build at Hanging Rock and of Mr. Campbell's project to build a railroad above Hanging Rock and locate a town. These two gentlemen turned their horses' heads to the rock and, riding all night, awoke Mr. Campbell just before daylight. His astonishment at the sudden awakening was great, but he was delighted to find that they were in favor of the new town. The next day, November 1st, an article was drawn up in which they agreed to stand by Mr. Campbell in his purchases of land for the town. At that time Dr. Caleb Briggs had his office beside Mr. Campbell's, and he also signed the agreement. James W. Means, a brother-in-law of Mr. Campbell, also signed, making five signers in all."

Mr. Campbell lost no time in arranging with Mr. Kelly to buy the new town site, the following being the letter which he wrote him on the very day the five signed the paper at Hanging Rock :

"Hanging Rock, Nov. 1, 1848—Mr. William D. Kelly—Dear Sir :—I accept your offer to sell to me your two farms above the mouth of Storm's creek, and your offer to sell the right of stone coal in your hill lands on the conditions expressed in the agreement made by us on the 18th of October, 1848, which agreement was to be binding on you if accepted by me in fourteen days, provided you could buy the farms of Neff, Copenhaver, Collins and Davidson, and a lot from Adams. You will buy these farms as low as you can, in your name, not to exceed $35 per acre, and the Adams lot at not over $300 ; also buy Jones' land at not over $13 per acre, and Lyenbarger's two acres at not over $800. If you cannot get them for those prices come to see me. Get as long time as you can on all payments, and do the best in every way you can for the company. I can and will give you $2,500 at any time in three days notice to assist you in buying. I have signed your offer and wrote on it that I accepted of the offer.

These purchases were made, Mr. Kelly reporting to Mr. Campbell daily as he passed Hanging Rock from his home below on the river; it is said that the people wondered much where he obtained the money for such large purchases.

The proposed Hanging Rock Railroad was to be from Pine Grove Furnace to Garret Hollow, it being a continuation of Mr. Hamilton's railroad from Hanging Rock to his furnace. Various meetings were held in the fall of 1848, chiefly at the Lawrence and Mount Vernon furnaces, at which were representatives from those plants, as well as Buckhorn, Etna, Vesuvius, Centre and Olive—in fact, all the iron men of Lawrence

County were present to discuss the railroad. Profits were estimated on the basis of 2,000 tons of freight from each furnace. It was estimated that the total expenditures in the construction of the road would amount to $100,000.

The only explanation for the final abandonment of the Hanging Rock Railroad, in detail, which the author has ever seen formulated is thus given by a special committee of furnace men which met April 23, 1849. This paragraph from its long report is in point : "At all times Mr. Hamilton said we should have the road at its appraised value at the end of fifteen or twenty years. After all prospect of making a contract had ceased, 'as understood by both parties, John Campbell told Mr. Hamilton, at the depot in presence of Mr. Torrence, in an earnest, high tone of voice, that he, as well as some of the other directors, thought that he (Hamilton) should not ask any more than the value of building a similar road, or a road of the same quality ; that if he extended the road to Chillicothe, and threw a heavy amount of business on his road so as to make him an annual profit of $12,000 or $18,000 per year, the road might be appraised at what that would pay the interest on—$200,000 to $300,000 ; that he never would agree to make the company liable to pay it, but if he (Hamilton) would say in the agreement that we should have the road at the cost of construction, possibly something could be done hereafter, but not now that the partners were displeased. Mr. Hamilton replied that he intended to have the worth of his road.

"The committee said nothing after that to him about it, but counted the company as disorganized. In a few days after that the subscription paper for another road was started by some of you at Mount Vernon Furnace, as we believe and as it shows. In the winter A. Dempsey applied to Mr. Hamilton and got an offer by which a road could have been run down or up the river, which offer was sent to your J. Campbell by Mr. Dempsey with a request that we should try to make another contract with Mr. Hamilton ; but as J. Campbell had then become an agent for another company (the Ohio Iron and Coal Company), and had an offer out for Lagrange furnace and lands at the mouth of Storms creek, of which Mr. Dempsey knew nothing, he merely mentioned to Mr. Hamilton that he had received a communication from Mr. Dempsey of that kind, and Mr. Hamilton said that he did not understand it in that way—that he did not intend the road to go either below or above Hanging Rock."

From that time on, the interests of Mr. Campbell and Mr. Hamilton diverged. The founder of Ironton appears to have placed much reliance on Doctor Briggs as a diplomat and in the spring of 1849 sent him to Columbus as his personal representative and the agent of his associates, who were looking to the legislature for the incorporation of a land company which should be authorized to buy lands for the establishment of manufactures, the building of railroads and for all other developmental purposes in Lawrence County and adjoining territory. The result was

the passage of an act on March 23, 1849, by which the Ohio Iron and Coal Company was incorporated.

As described in its charter, the objects of the Ohio Iron and Coal Company were as follows : "To develop more fully the mineral resources of Lawrence and adjoining counties, especially their resources in iron and coal, and to convert and encourage the conversion of the raw material into the appropriate manufactured articles and merchandise, and to determine by actual experiment the practicability of substituting the stone coal for charcoal in the reduction of iron ores." It gave the company the right to expend $75,000 "in the purchase of real estate whereon to erect iron works and otherwise to encourage industrial efforts; also to build railroads from the Ohio River to their mines and manufacturing establishments."

The stockholders of the company were John Campbell, John Peters, W. D. Kelly, William Ellison, James 0. Willard, Caleb Briggs, Joseph W. Dempsey, David T. Woodrow, John Culbertson, John Ellison, George Steece, John E. Clarke, Henry Blake, Washington Irwin, James W. Means, H. S. Willard, W. H. Kelly, Hiram Campbell and Smith Ashcraft.

At a meeting of the stockholders held April 23, 1849, it was agreed that the capital stock should be $50,000, divided into 1;000 shares, and the following were elected directors of the company : John Campbell (president), Caleb Briggs (secretary), John Peters, W. D. Kelly, James W. Means, John Ellison and Washington Irwin. It was also resolved

• that the principal office of the company should be on the Ohio River near the mouth of Storms Creek, "where said company propose to lay out a town to be called Ironton, with the view of carrying out the objects of said incorporation."

At the meeting of May 3, 1849, the purchase of the Lagrange Furnace property and such other lands at the mouth of Storms Creek which might be needed for industrial and town purposes was intrusted to John Campbell, James 0. Willard and Doctor Briggs ; but, as has been noted, these purchases had virtually all been made, through Mr. Campbell, several months before. So that the Ohio Iron and Coal Company, as a corporation, did little more than ratify transactions previously made. In the following month occurred the first sale of town lots,. and. Ironton was considered "started."

There was more or less cholera in Southern Ohio during the terrible epidemic of 1849 and Mr. Campbell was active in allaying fear among the furnace workers and the little settlement at Hanging Rock.. The following, as illustrative of his efforts in that direction, comes down to the writer as an unpublished document : "We, the undersigned, will pay the amounts annexed to our names, for the purpose of obtaining plain

and concise printed directions for the prevention and treatment of cholera from Doctor Lawson, or some other eminent physician of Cincinnati, and also for the purchase of the necessary medicines to supply the community during the prevalence of cholera. It is the intention to give the directions and medicines to those who are unable to pay, and to charge others enough to defray the expenses. John Campbell will furnish the necessary funds for this purpose, and the amounts subscribed will not be called for unless some loss should be sustained in carrying this plan into execution." John Campbell subscribed $20 ; James Rodgers, $10 ; William D. Kelly, $5 ; C. Briggs, Jr., $5 ; J. W. Means, $10 ; Robert Wood, $5 ; Andrew Dempsey, $5 ; E. T. Chestnutwood, $5 ; James Martin, $5 ; H. Clark, $2 ; George W. Smith, $2 ; N. F. Hurd, $2, and other small amounts.

Ironton and the Iron Railroad were twins, and were both children of the furnaces— Lagrange, Vesuvius, Lawrence, Buckhorn, Etna, Centre, Mount Vernon and Olive. Pine Grove and Hecla were considered rather out of the sphere of influence of the proposed railroad which, within a couple of years from its incorporation, was built thirteen miles to the northward.

The Iron Railroad Company was incorporated by act of the State Legislature on the 7th of March, 1849, with authority to construct a railroad from a point on the Ohio River in Upper Township, Lawrence County, to the south line of Jackson County, with a capital stock of $500,000. James O. Willard was president of the board of directors ; other members, John Campbell, Hiram Campbell, John Culbertson and Caleb Briggs. The building of the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad into the furnace region of Jackson County from the prosperous district of Scioto County restricted the Iron Railroad to the dimensions of a local enterprise ; but for years it well served the needs of Lawrence County.

In 1851, when the last of the thirteen miles actually built were about to be laid with strap rails, President Willard made the following statements : "One great object of the stockholders in building the Iron Road is to afford facilities for the transportation of a large amount of merchandise, provisions, corn, etc., required by the iron establishments located along the line of their road, and for the transportation of their pig iron to the Ohio river, there being no less than nine large blast furnaces which will use the road when only fifteen miles are completed.

"Although the Iron Railroad will be very useful and valuable to the rich mineral region through which it passes, and the larger portion of its business will be derived from the iron establishments, still it ought not to be considered as a mere local road ; on the contrary it is reasonable to suppose it will have important connections. At twenty-four miles from the Ohio river, the Iron Railroad will connect with the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad, now nearly completed. This will afford access

to any part of the state. The Virginia Central Railroad will strike the Ohio river at Catlettsburg, the mouth of the Big Sandy river, the boundary between Virginia and Kentucky. The Big Sandy and Lexington Railroad will reach: the Ohio river at the same place. This last mentioned road is now being surveyed, large subscriptions to its stock have been made by counties and individuals, and there is no doubt but a portion of the road will be put under contract. These two last mentioned roads will touch the Ohio river seven miles above the town of Ironton, the terminus of the Iron Railroad, which will make it .a link in the line of railroad, connecting the Northern and Southern states.

" The owners of the iron works situated along the line of the Iron Railroad are also the principal subscribers to its capital stock ; $115,000 have been expended on the road and $120,000 subscribed; ten miles of the road is completed, including a tunnel through the River Hills 1,040

feet in length ; three miles more are under contract to be completed by December next, and for which the iron has been purchased. The company have one locomotive on the road and another contracted for with Messrs. Miles and Company, of Cincinnati, to be delivered by the first of November. They have also one passenger and twenty-two freight cars, and have contracted for twenty more to be delivered in a few weeks. The cars are now running from Ironton to Lawrence Furnace, ten miles, and are bringing in daily iron from six blast furnaces, and transporting out their supplies of merchandise, provisions, corn, etc. The average daily earnings of the road now amount to about eighty dollars, and when three miles more (on which a large force is now employed) is finished, three more furnaces will use it, and increase its receipts proportionately."

The Ohio Iron and Coal Company had already commenced to promote the industrial life of Ironton, thus also adding to the business of the

railroad. In 1851 it donated a lot to the Ironton Rolling Mill Company, whose plant, the first of the town's important industries, was completed within the year.

Shortly afterward came the Lawrence Rolling Mill, the Star (Belfont) Nail Mill and the Olive Machine Shops, and in 1853 John Campbell, John Peters and others founded the Washington Furnace in the extreme northern, part of the county. Its original capacity, seventeen tons daily, made it one of the largest of the early plants.

Then came a long season of inactivity in the building of furnaces in Lawrence County, only broken by the ill-fated Oak Ridge which was erected in 1856-57 by the scholarly Prof. W. W. Mather, famous as the first state geologist of Ohio, and Prof. (afterward Maj. Geri.) O. M. Mitchell. Much against the advice of their friends these able, but somewhat visionary 'men (General Mitchell was' known as the Star Gazer) commenced their furnace and completed' it, in a way ; but they failed completely to make' it profitable,: and their property passed into the hands of John Campbell and N. Ricker. In about two years it was sold' to the Hecla Furnace and others. Oak Ridge Furnace was located in Aid Township.

The Town of Ironton, the Iron Railroad and the Ironton Register were not exactly triplets, but they were born very near together ; the railroad and the newspaper can each lay just claim as a most powerful agent in the development of the locality and the entire region. In January, 1857, when the Register was in its eighth year and still under Stimson and Parker, the iron industry was at rather a low ebb, but the newspaper threw open its columns to the furnace men who pluckily sustained the good points of Ironton, as against Portsmouth, Cincinnati and Wheeling. The following, written by one well posted in the conditions of those times, conveys much practical information of interest to the iron manufacturers of the present : "Much has been said of late in _,regard to the best localities for manufacturing bar iron, nails, etc. The late depression in this branch of the Iron Business has led many thus engaged to examine into the advantages or disadvantages of the many different localities. It is thus that we have been led to investigate this subject. In doing so for our own benefit and satisfaction, we have thought that a few statements of facts in regard to this subject might not prove uninteresting to your many readers. We shall therefore endeavor to show you conclusively that Ironton is the best point for the manufacture, with respect to facilities on the Ohio River, and will do

this by giving you statements and figures, which you may work out at your leisure in order that you may correctly understand and appreciate.

"We will then, in the first place, call your attention to the price of coal per bushel used by the different Iron Works engaged in the manufacture of Bar Iron, Nails, etc., in Cincinnati and vicinity. The mills there will each use say 500,000 bushels of coal per annum, at an actual cost of 10 cents per bushel delivered at the mill, showing the actual amount necessarily invested in coal to be $50,000 per annum ; then take into consideration that the said works are compelled in consequence of the suspension of navigation to keep constantly on hand 25,000 bushels to guard against stoppages which would otherwise of necessity occur, and add 10 per cent interest to the amount already given on six months stock of coal or on $25,000 and you will have $51,250, the actual amount necessarily invested in coal per annum. Compare this with the same amount of coal delivered at one of the mills in Ironton at 4 cents per bushel and you have a difference in favor of Ironton of $31,250 per annum. Coal here being delivered to the mills fresh from the banks from day to day as needed, obviates the necessity of keeping a stock on hand.

"Next we will take up Pig Iron. Suppose a mill in Cincinnati, capable of working up 5,000 tons of Pig Iron per annum, allowing them the advantage of $1 per ton less than it would cost to freight the same iron to Ironton from the lower Pig Iron markets, also $2 per ton, down freights, in order to place the Ironton products upon an equality with the Cincinnati products, and you will have an actual advantage in favor of the Cincinnati establishments of $15,000 '(allowing, as is often said, that the Hanging Rock Pig Iron can be purchased as cheap in Cincinnati as in Ironton; this may have been the case, heretofore, to some extent. But judging from recent events that have transpired, we doubt very much whether such could be done now or hereafter).

"Deducting the advantage that Cincinnati has over Ironton in Pig Iron and being in the market (provided both purchased their iron in the same market), from the advantage Ironton possesses over Cincinnati in coal, and we still have $16,250 in favor of Ironton in the two principal items.

"Again, in the item of Fire Clay, which cost Ironton Mills but $1 per ton, we have in favor of Ironton per annum about $500, and $1,500 in Fire Brick ; we then have an actual balance in favor of Ironton Mills per annum of $18,250 in all. We have an abundance of the best quality of fire clay, convenient to the Mills.

" The same difference exists between Ironton and Portsmouth, as between Ironton and Cincinnati, with reference to Coal, Clay and Brick, within a difference of 1 cent per bushel on Coal in favor of Portsmouth over Cincinnati ; but in regard to Pig Iron, Ironton is on a par with Portsmouth—showing an absolute advantage over Portsmouth to be at least $27,250 in favor of Ironton.

"Let us now turn our attention up the river to Wheeling. A majority of the mills in Wheeling have an advantage over our mills in Ironton

of one and one-half cents per bushel on 500,000 bushels of coal, or $7,500 per annum. In regard to Clay and Brick there is no apparent difference. But let us see in reference to Pig Iron. In order to keep up their character for manufacturing a good article of Iron and Nails they are necessarily compelled to make use of about 1,000 tons of Hanging Rock Cold Blast Iron, for which they would pay at present $30 per ton, at the different furnace landings, or $33 per ton delivered on Wheeling wharf on resumption of navigation, which would show $3,000 per annum in favor of Ironton ; admitting that they work it in a proportion of one-fifth with anthracite iron, for which they pay $30 per ton delivered at their mills. The difference in the yield of four-fifths anthracite and all Hanging Rock iron, which is used altogether in the Ironton mills, will equal difference of $2 per ton in favor of Ironton, or $8,000 per annum. To this add the interest on 500 tons of pig iron, necessarily kept on hand to insure steady running, which is on $16,500, at 6 per cent per annum for six months, $495; then add four months' interest at the above rate on 15,000 kegs of nails, on 750 tons of iron, for average amount of products generally kept on hand for want of navigation, or over $51,000, or. $1,020. Also $1 per ton difference in dam freight, showing an advantage in this particular of $3,000, all shows that we have an actual advantage in favor of Ironton over Wheeling of $8,015 after deducting the advantage Wheeling has in coal per annum."

Toward the later '60s there was a revival of the iron industries, as the country had returned to more normal conditions than those accompanying the unduly expanded values of the Civil war period, and three new furnaces started up in Lawrence County.

In 1867 the Belfont Iron Works were built in Ironton by the company of that name and represented the largest manufactory of the kind which had been erected in the Hanging Rock Iron Region. The plant had a daily capacity of forty-five tons, its stack was seventy feet in height, and it was the first of the Lawrence County establishments to burn bituminous coal.

In 1868 John Peters established the Monitor Furnace and W. D. Kelly and Sons the Grant, but they were comparatively small concerns and clung to charcoal as fuel.

Commencing with the early '70s there were few furnaces in the Hanging Rock Iron Region which began operations on any fuel but bituminous coal, for the very good reason that virtually all the hardwood had been used for charcoal. About the same time the cold-blast plants also faded away.

The years 1870-71 are therefore of much interest to: iron men who have lived through both the old and the new experiences, and they will examine with favor these figures from William M. Bolles, secretary of the Hanging Rock Iron Association, showing the status of the industry at that period of transition: Amount of pig iron made during 1870, in the Hanging Rock Iron Region, in gross tons of 2,268 pounds—hot-blast charcoal pig iron, 85,007 tons; cold-blast, 7,050 tons. Total charcoal pig iron, 92,057 tons ; stone coal pig iron, 23,585 tons. Grand total, 115,642 tons.

Amount on hand January 1, 1871 ; Hot-blast charcoal pig iron, at all points unsold, 24,718 tons ; cold-blast 2,300 tons. Total charcoal pig iron on hand, 27,018 tons ; stone coal pig iron, 1,267 tons. Grand total, 28,285 tons.

The year 1875 was a busy season for the furnace men of Lawrence County, especially at and near Ironton. The Etna Iron Works Company started the Alice and Blanche, twin factories, each with a daily capacity of sixty tons and eighty-six foot smoke stacks. They afterward became the property of the Marting Iron and Steel Company.

In 1875 the Iron and Steel Company also established the Ironton Furnace, with a daily capacity of forty tons, which subsequently went into the hands of the Union Iron and Steel Company of Ironton.

H. Campbell. and Son founded the Sarah Furnace, southeast of what was then Ironton just beyond the Alice. It had a daily capacity of thirty tons and its fuel was coke. This plant was absorbed by the Kelly Nail and Iron Company.

In 1883 Means, Kyle and Company also established a coke furnace, the Hamilton, with a capacity of forty tons daily.

The Hamilton, which is still in partial operation, under the management of the Hanging Rock Iron Company, which succeeded Means, Kyle & Company in 1900, was the last of the furnaces to be established in Lawrence County.

Altogether twenty-one furnaces were founded in that county, about the same number in Jackson County, ten in Scioto and six in Vinton. Nearly all of them have been abandoned, the last of the old-timers to shut down being the Pine Grove plant, to whose development Robert Hamilton gave the last years of his life. Means, Kyle and Company came into possession of the property in 1863, as well as of the Hanging Rock Coal Works. They were also the proprietors of the Ohio Furnace in Scioto County, and were altogether the most extensive manufacturers of charcoal iron in the Hanging Rock Region.

Soon after returning from his Civil war service, Eugene B. Willard, son of James O. Willard, one of the veteran iron masters of the region,

became a clerk at the Buckhorn Furnace, and in 1866 became connected with the Ohio Furnace and Means, Kyle and Company. In May, 1868, he entered their employ at Hanging Rock and during the succeeding thirty-four years held successively the positions of bookkeeper, cashier, general manager and president. As stated, it was this company which established the Hamilton Coke Furnace, which, for years, was among

the leaders of its kind in the iron industries of the Middle West. During the last twenty years of his identification with Means, Kyle and Company, and their successors, the Hanging Rock Iron Company, Mr. Willard had the active superintendency of all their varied interests. He retired in 1902 and the Pine Grove Furnace went out of blast in 1897. Mr. Willard is therefore the best known personal link connecting the old iron industries of the Hanging Rock Region with the new.

John Campbell, the founder of Ironton and the largest figure in the iron industries of the region as long as he lived, died in his home town

in 1891, his able lieutenant and close friend, Dr. Caleb Briggs, having preceded him in 1884, at his birthplace, New Rochester, Massachusetts.

The Hanging Rock Iron Company still owns over fifteen thousand acres of land, including about a half of Hamilton Township, a third of Elizabeth, and minor tracts in the northwestern part of Upper. Various portions of this immense domain are covered with second and third growth timber, others are adapted to cattle and sheep grazing, farming and fruit raising, and fire clay, limestone and other commercial deposits have been uncovered in other sections. The company itself, especially near the old Pine Grove Furnace, has gone into the work of agricultural and timber development, and other tracts are being sold and leased to private parties.

Storms Creek divides the lands of the Hanging Rock Iron Company from the 10,000 acres held by the Hecla Iron and Mining Company. Its estate covers about half of Upper Township and laps over the borders of Perry and Lawrence. It extends from six to twelve miles from Ironton and along the Ohio River hills opposite Ashland, Kentucky. The first pronounced break in its holdings was when the company sold fifty acres to the Kelly Nail and Iron Company. The Hecla Furnace continued in operation until 1905.

As has been several times remarked, the Hecla was for many years one of the most famous furnaces in the country. The old stone stack, built in 1833, was 36 by 10 1/2 feet, cold blast open top, and used the local ores and charcoal fuel. As reconstructed in the '90s, the furnace had an iron jacket 53 by 21 feet, with a smoke stack 124 feet high ; blowing engines, elevators, etc., calculated to produce 100 tons daily, if desired.

During the Civil war the Hecla furnished armor for the gunboats that stormed Forts Henry and Donelson, and all the metal that could be spared was engaged by the Government in the manufacture of ordnance at Pittsburgh. Many of the guns used in the siege of Charleston, S. C., were of the Hecla metal. Among them was the celebrated gun known as the Swamp Angel, which threw 100-pound shell 5 1/2 miles, which then was considered a wonderful feat in artillery warfare. It is said that when the colored people first heard the firing they cried out "Hark ! It is an angel shouting freedom."

Hecla Furnace was a great producer of pig iron and the company which inherits its property vies with the Hanging Rock Company in the extent and value of its lands, whose products will eventually be diverted into many channels of profit. It is of interest to know that Hecla also adopted the Hamilton reform of closing down on Sundays.

The reputation of the iron turned out by the furnaces of the Hanging Rock Region became so pronounced during the first year of the Civil war that the leading men of Ironton endeavored to have a national armory established in their midst. Ralph Leete and Judge W. W. Johnson have the credit of drawing up the "Memorial to Congress for the Establishment of a National Foundry and a Gun-boat Yard at Ironton, Ohio," which was signed by him and Messrs. W. W. Johnson, C. Briggs, John Campbell and J. P. Morris on the 7th of April, 1862. The judge and Mr. Leete made a special trip to Washington to push the matter before the national legislators. After describing the geographical, railroad, water navigation and other advantages possessed by Ironton, the document makes the following specific claims and statement of facts : "The cold-blast charcoal pig made in Lawrence county is sought after by machinists and car-wheel manufacturers at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Buffalo and Troy, and by all leading establishments of the kind in the West and Southwest. The machinery used in propelling the water-craft of the Mississippi and of its branches, and of the northwestern lakes, for the ..past twenty-five years has been principally made from the cold-blast iron here produced. In closeness of texture, firmness, strength and length of fiber, this iron is not surpassed by any produced on the Juniatta, or elsewhere in the United States. It has been worked into the finest and best of steel. The shafts of steam engines used in the navigation of steamboats on the western waters made of this metal have proven to be capable of bearing a heavy and continuous strain much longer than those 'made from any other quality of iron. The plates covering the gunboats engaged in storming Forts Henry and Donelson and now employed in the, naval service of the United States on the Mississippi, were manufactured from this material. The superior quality of this metal is so well known, that it may be thought unnecessary t6 add anything further."

Notwithstanding, strong testimonial letters were reproduced from John Rodgers, commander in the United States Navy, and from practical iron workers and experts in the region, who had had experience with the best irons of the United States and England. Perhaps the strongest testimonial and the most interesting was from John Christopher, a professional mineralogical chemist and machinist, who, during the Crimean war, was in the employ of the English government both in Yorkshire and South Wales. While thus engaged as an expert, he made many experiments on the metals of Great Britain, Northern Europe and the United States for the purpose of ascertaining their comparative qualities in the manufacture of heavy ordnance. He says : "I have made a great number of experiments upon the various kinds of American iron used for the purpose of heavy ordnance and machinery, including, among others, the Salisbury, Juniatta and Hanging Rock Irons; but have not now at hand the exact data from which to give the definite results, but I can, from recollection, say that the Hanging Rock Cold-blast Pig, made

at the Cold-blast Charcoal Furnaces in Lawrence county, as compared with the Juniatta and Salisbury, is superior to. the Juniatta in tension, deflection and in specific gravity by about 14 per cent, and to the Salisbury by about 10 per cent. As compared with the best English iron, the difference is about 30 per cent in favor of the Hanging Rock metals."

In succeeding pages the memorial states that the rolling mills, foundry-and machine shops at Ironton were then consuming 1,500,000 bushels of coal, at about 4 cents, per bushel. Besides the presence of two seams of good bituminous coal are also noticed the deposits of fine moulding sand and fire clay ; the latter already supplying various mills in Cincinnati.

Again, the mineral district bordered upon the lumber region of the Big Sandy and the Guyandotte, there being a body of about thirty thousand acres of standing forest in Lawrence County along the Ohio River and extending to within three miles of Ironton. " This consists of a heavy growth of white oak, ash, poplar, yellow pine, black locust, walnut and sugar-maple. It may be safely calculated that the wood in this vicinity, including the forests of the Big Sandy, the Twelve Pole and the Guyandotte rivers, will afford an ample supply of charcoal at a cost of from five to six cents a bushel, and timber of the best quality at a lower price than it can be had in any other iron region 'upon the western waters."

" The materials for ordnance, of which charcoal is an important item in the cost," continues the memorial, "will not bear transportation ; not even by water. The difference in the cost of charcoal, as between Ironton and Cincinnati (where the transportation is by water) is, taking one season with another, from 50 to 60 per cent in favor of the former place. No other locality yet mentioned in connection with the establishment of these works for public defense combines the leading advantages found at this point."

"So far as we are advised," concludes the paper, "none of the measures now before congress contemplate anything farther th-an the establishment of a foundry for national purposes. For this reason we desire to call especial attention to the suggestions we have made relative to the enlargement of the plan, so as to include a navy yard for the construction and repair of gunboats in connection with such foundry. Of the vital importance of this arm of defense to the government we need not enlarge, as the experience of the past few months is more convincing than any argument that we can urge."

A synopsis of this memorial is presented more for the information it conveys than for any other reason, as the National Foundry and Gunboat Yard at Ironton was never pushed far along.

In the early '70s the Charcoal Iron Company was organized, with S. C. Johnson as president and John Campbell as vice president. It controlled the Howard Furnace of Scioto County and the old Buckhorn, of Lawrence, and its real estate comprised over seven thousand acres in the vicinity of the Howard and nearly as much, in the Buckhorn tract. The capital stock of the company was $200,000, of which Mr. Campbell held $95,000.

The old Vesuvius Furnace, in the southern part of Elizabeth Township, when it suspended in had the distinction of being the only plant operated on the cold-blast principle and run by charcoal—in other words, the only cold-blast charcoal furnace north of the Tennessee line and west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Within the municipal limits of Ironton the Belfont Iron Works and the .Kelly Nail and Iron Works are the only large industries which are direct successors to the pioneer furnaces which so brought the Hanging Rock Region to the notice of the industrial world.

The Belfont Iron Works Company was incorporated in June, 1863, for the manufacture of cut nails. L. T. Dean and Adam .Owrey were the active promoters of the enterprise, and several years afterward, in connection with Norton Brothers, erected a furnace south of the nail mill. As the years went by the plant .expanded into one of the largest manufactories of the kind in the country, which now covers the area between Hecla and Vesuvius streets and Second and Third. The old cut-nail department was superseded in part, in 1901, by the modern galvanized wire department, which has also been enlarged until the combined iron works and nail factories produce such varieties as Bessemer pig iron, wire and cut nails, galvanized and plain wire, galvanized barbed wire, galvanized cut and wire nails and polished and galvanized fencing. The present officials are as follows: S. G. Gilfillan, president and general manager ; John Peebles, vice president ; J. R. Gilfillan, secretary ; C. W. Moulton, treasurer. I. A. Ryan is superintendent of the mill and Karl Steinbacher superintendent of the furnace.

The Kelly Nail and Iron Company was organized in 1882 with a capital of $300,000, and its first officers were : William D. Kelly, president ; I. A. Kelly, vice president, and Oscar Richey, secretary. By reason of exceptional management the business of the company has expanded into one of the largest industries in Southern Ohio. Besides the Kelly

Nail Mill, which employs 300 men per.. day on a single turn, the company owns the Sarah Blast Furnace, with a capacity of 1,000 tons of Bessemer iron per week.. All of the product named goes to the Ashland (Ky.) Steel Plant, of which the Kelly Company owns one-third. The present officers of the Kelly Nail and Iron Company are as follows : Oscar Richey, president and general manager; Austin Kelly, vice president, and T. J. Hays, secretary.

The Marting Iron and Steel Company, of which Col. H. A. Marting is president and general manager, owns and operates the Etna; Lawrence and Ironton Iron furnaces. The first named came under the control of the company when it was incorporated in January, 1899, with the following officers: H., A. Marting, president; T. J. Gilbert, secretary and treasurer, and E. J. Bird, Jr., superintendent. In 1901 C. B. Fowler was elected vice president and superintendent and E. O. Marting secretary and treasurer.

In May, 1907, was incorporated the Ironton Iron Company, with Colonel Marting as president ; C. B. Fowler, first vice president ; W. A. Murdock, second vice president ; W. W, Martin, secretary and treasurer, and Charles Peters, superintendent. The furnace was 'completed in the spring of 1908 but did not commence operations until the following November.

The third of the furnaces̊ was incorporated as the Lawrence- Iron Company in February, 1910, with Colonel Marting as president ; D. C. Davies, vice president ; H. R. Browne, secretary and treasurer, and J. A. Ferguson, superintendent..

The furnaces were operated separately by their respective corporations until July, 1912, when the Lawrence and Ironton Iron companies went out of existence and were consolidated with the Marting Iron and Steel Company, which had been operating the. Etna Furnace as the Marting Iron and Steel Company. At' that time the officers were chosen who constitute the present management, viz. : Col. H. A. Marting, president and general manager ; E. O. Marting, vice president and treasurer; W. W. Marting, secretary ; C.B. Fowler, general superintendent.

Since the consolidation the Etna's output has been confined to foundry iron, the Ironton plant to malleable Bessemer, and the Lawrence Furnace to basic. The three furnaces produce from eight hundred to eight hundred and fifty tons daily, consuming therefor raw materials to the amount of between 3,000 and 3,200 tons. About three hundred men are employed when the plants are in full operation ; consequently, the industries represented by the Martin Iron and Steel Company are among the most important ever organized in the Hanging. Rock Iron Region.

PATRIOTIC RIVALRY—NUMBER OF SOLDIERS BY TOWNSHIPS—HOW THEY WERE DISTRIBUTED—FIRST THREE VOLUNTEER COMPANIES— BULK OF SERVICE IN VIRGINIA REGIMENTS—FIRST ACTION AT GUYANDOTTETOWN PARTLY BURNED BY UNION SOLDIERS—CAPTAIN DAVEY'S LIGHT ARTILLERY—BATTERY L— THE BUSY YEAR OF 1862—RELIEF ACTIVITIES— NEWS FROM THE FRONT—PROMOTION OF WILLIAM H. POWELL -PREPARATION FOR MORGAN—COLONEL POWELL RETURNS FROM LIBBY IN 1864 THE WAR STILL RAGING— LOSSES OF THE FIFTH VIRGINIA —GEN. WILLIAM H. ENOCHS—THE NINETY-FIRST OHIO—THE VETERAN ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THIRD OHIO—THE SOLDIERS' PRESIDENTIAL VOTE— CONSOLIDATION OF SECOND VIRGINIA CAVALRY.

Lawrence County was enthusiastic and stanch in its support of the Union cause, as were all the other sections of the Hanging Rock Iron Region. Its citizens responded promptly and nobly to every call made upon theft. fighting strength, whether of men, money or brains, and there was no sign of wavering throughout the long and heart-rending trial of bravery and endurance.

Many commands were composed largely of Lawrence County and Scioto County boys, and as the population of each was about the same there was considerable patriotic rivalry as to which should make the best showing before Uncle Sam and Father Abraham. At the opening of the war Scioto County had a population of about one thousand in excess of that of Lawrence County, and the writer is ready to admit that her loyal people kept slightly in advance of Lawrence in the raising of Union troops—as they should, having a larger stock to draw upon. Thus, in March, 1863, near the midway of the war, there were 1,606 persons credited to Lawrence County who were in the military service of the United States, and 1,799 from Scioto County.

At the conclusion of the war Lawrence County had more than doubled her contributions of volunteers to the Union army. By townships the following had been furnished :

HOW THEY WERE DISTRIBUTED

The foregoing figures will give a general idea. of the part sustained by the various sections of Lawrence County when the Civil war was at its height. These 3,300 soldiers sent to the front by the county were distributed in forty or more commands, scattered through Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The largest contingents were as

follows :

Regiment and Address - Number

Fifth Virginia Infantry, Gauley 's Bridge, Va - 419

Second Virginia Cavalry, Camp Piatt, Va - 212

Ninth Virginia Infantry, Fayetteville, Va - 135

Fourth Ohio Cavalry, Chattanooga, Tenn - 84

First Virginia Artillery, Beverly, Va - 82

Sixth Ohio Cavalry, Washington, D. C. - 81

Second Virginia Infantry, Beverly, Va - 80

In other commands, ranging from 1 to 69 (First Ohio Light Artillery), the Lawrence County boys were distributed among the following : Infantry—Fourth Virginia, Second Kentucky, Fourteenth Kentucky, Twenty-second Kentucky, Thirty-ninth Kentucky, Second Ohio, Thirty-third Ohio, Thirty-sixth Ohio, Thirty-ninth Ohio, Fiftieth Ohio, Fifty-third Ohio, Fifty-sixth Ohio, Sixtieth Ohio, Seventy-fifth Ohio, Eighty-first Ohio, Ninety-first Ohio, One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio, and Third Ohio ; cavalry— First Virginia, Third Virginia, Second Kentucky, Tenth Kentucky, Second Ohio and Seventh Ohio ; artillery—First Ohio Light, First Ohio Heavy, Battery L, Fifth Ohio, Fifth Ohio Battery, Seventh Ohio and Eighteenth Ohio.

After the foregoing general views of the participation of Lawrence

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County in the War of the Rebellion, the chronological details seem to be in order.

FIRST THREE VOLUNTEER COMPANIES

On May 2, 1861, less than three weeks after the firing on Fort Sumter, William M. Bolles organized the first company of Lawrence County volunteers, eighty-two in number. It was known as Company C, Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was elected captain ; Charles Kingsbury, Jr., first lieutenant ; G. E. Downing, second lieutenant. The sergeants were H. S. Spear, C. C. Leffingwell, Benjamin Butterfield and J. M. Marrill, and the corporals, Joseph Lumbeck, Israel B. Murdock, J. C. Skelton and J. Mathiot.

Company A, Eighteenth Regiment (Lawrence Guards), was organized on May 16th, with John McMahon as captain ; John B. Keepers, first lieutenant, and S. H. Emmons, second lieutenant. H. T. L. Pratt was ensign. The total strength of the company was 107.

Company E, Lawrence Guards, was organized at the same time, with John P. Merrill as captain ; Halsey C. Burr, first lieutenant, and Warren G. Hubbard, second lieutenant.

The other units of the Eighteenth were as follows : Vinton Guards (Company D), Meigs Guards (Company F), Gallia Guards (Company G), Meigs Guards (Company H), Jackson Guards (Company I), and Washington Guards (Company K).

BULK OF SERVICE IN VIRGINIA REGIMENT

As will be rightly inferred from a perusal of the table already published, the bulk of the Lawrence County volunteers served in Virginia regiments—especially the Fifth and Ninth Infantry and the Second Cavalry. Quite early in the war they were called upon for active service.

FIRST ACTION AT GUYANDOTTE

In November, 1861, the Town of Guyandotte, Va., opposite the upper part of Lawrence County, was the scene of a fierce engagement between about one hundred and fifty soldiers of the Ninth Virginia and a considerable force (estimated at four hundred to eight hundred) of Confederate cavalry. Col. K. V. Whaley, of Wayne County, who had organized the Union regiment, had fixed his camp in that town ; but many .of the men were home on a furlough, and when the attack was made some of those who remained in camp were at church and others asleep. It is supposed that citizens of Guyandotte, who were Confederate sympathizers, posted the leader of the enemy, Col. Albert G. Jenkins, who was thus able to spring a complete surprise on the little Union force. The remnant of the Ninth Virginia, however, put up a gallant resistance, especially at the bridge over the Guyandotte River. Several were killed and the bodies fell into the stream below ; but there were no casualties among the Lawrence County boys.

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TOWN PARTLY BURNED BY UNION SOLDIERS

The rebel cavalry were held off until Monday morning, when Col. John L. Zeigler, of the Fifth Virginia, arrived by boat from Ceredo with 400 men, which was the signal for the departure of the Confederates. Guyandotte, which was a place of about one thousand inhabitants, was afterward almost destroyed by fire, as it was considered "a nest of rebels and spies," but (still in the newspaper language of the times) "whether the town was fired by Colonel Zeigler's order (he is a resident of the adjoining County of Wayne) we are not advised."

CAPTAIN DAVEY'S LIGHT ARTILLERY

Within the organization of the Fifth Virginia Infantry was the First Battalion of Virginia Light Artillery-144, all told—who were commanded by Capt. Samuel Davey, with John V. Keepers as senior first lieutenant ; James P. Shipton, junior first lieutenant ; Alexander Brawley, senior second lieutenant, and Benjamin F. Thomas, junior second lieutenant. There were twenty-eight sergeants, corporals, artificers, buglers and wagoners and 111 privates, nearly all of whom were from Lawrence County. That command was mustered into the service at Camp Dennison in December, 1861.

BATTERY L

At the same time Battery L; First Ohio Light Artillery, reported for duty at Camp Dennison, officered as follows : Captain, L. N. Robinson, Portsmouth ; senior first lieutenant, Fred Dorriss, Ironton ; junior first lieutenant, F. C. Gibbs, Portsmouth ; senior second lieutenant, C. H. Robinson, Portsmouth.

Battery L proved to be one of the best in the service, its reputation being made under Capt. Frank E. Gibbs, who, in January, 1863, succeeded Captain Robinson, resigned. It was at Fort Republic, and at the furious battle of Chancellorsville, in April, 1863. While protecting an infantry division at the latter many of its men were wounded, and Lieutenant Dorriss and Corporal Koehler killed. The battery then engaged in picket duty for a time and arrived on the battlefield of Gettysburg July 1st, the day preceding the great fight. It was called into action on the morning of July 2d, the first day of the battle, as a support of the Second Division, Fifth Army Corps, and gallantly covered the retreat of the Union forces. In that movement one of its men was killed and three were wounded. In the following October Captain Gibbs and several of his men were badly wounded, but the battery never lost a gun, although those which were in commission were badly battered as a result of their hard and faithful service.

THE BUSY YEAR OF 1862

The year 1862 opened with Lawrence County actively engaged in the raising of troops and the sending of money, provisions, clothing and other

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relief to the Union troops on the Virginia and Kentucky borders. In January, Joseph L. Barber raised an independent cavalry company, numbering nearly one hundred, and started for Camp Dennison as its captain, while Lewis Shepard formed the Ironton Light Artillery—as noted by the press, "to take charge of our brass six-pounder. The war has not ended yet, and there is no knowing how soon we may have uses for a good artillery company here along the border."

About the same time, companies were also formed and joined the Fifth Virginia Infantry, as follows : Under Capt. Samuel C. Miller, ninety-two men ; Capt. A. F. Cumpston, sixty-five men ; Capt. James C. McFadden, ninety-eight men.

RELIEF ACTIVITIES

Although the men and women had not yet formed a regular Soldiers' Relief Society in Lawrence County, they were doing much good individual work, such as carrying and sending quantities of food and clothing to the military hospital which General Garfield had established at Ashland. They also contributed much to the funds and supplies of the Cincinnati Relief and Aid Society.

Scattered as were the soldiers from Lawrence County—and they were no exceptions to other sections—scarcely a day passed that something did not occur at the front which was cause for sorrow or pride. As 1862 rushed along, surprise was succeeded almost by amazement that the war seemed to be intensifying rather than abating, and the news- papers were putting forth messages of comfort to the widows and orphans of the land by predicting the speedy downfall of the rebellion ; for, as philosophically remarked by one, "all bodies gather momentum as they fall."

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

At that time Capt. W. H. Powell 's Company B, of the Second Virginia Cavalry, was covering itself with honor at Sewell Mountain, and the Fifth Virginia, under Colonel Zeigler, was fighting bravely with Fremont in East Virginia. At the battle of Cross Keys the Fifth lost heavily, especially Company E, from Lawrence County. Jonathan Berry was

killed and Captain McFadden badly wounded.

PROMOTION OF WILLIAM H. POWELL

In November, 1862, while the Second Cavalry was stationed at Beverly, William H. Powell was promoted from the captaincy of Company B to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment, and no promotion could have been received with greater favor both among officers and privates. He was afterward advanced to the head of his command, when he was pronounced "the idol of his regiment, as he was of Company B."

Company K, of the Second, was quite famous as the Grey Horse Company.

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In May, 1863, Lieutenant-Colonel Powell received his commission as colonel of the Second Virginia Volunteer Cavalry.

PREPARATIONS FOR MORGAN

Although neither Scioto nor Lawrence counties were raided by Morgan, both were prepared for him. Portsmouth threw up intrenchments and organized her citizens, while Ironton gathered eighty-five of her people to form the first volunteer militia company in the county. It received its commission July 10, 1863, that document covering five years of service for the Commonwealth of Ohio. Volunteer Company A No. 1 went into camp at Portsmouth, August 26th, but Morgan never gave it anything to do.

The famous cavalry leader commenced his raid into Ohio on July 12th, the first news of his coming reaching Ironton on the following day on the arrival of the Steamer Victor. The militia of Southern Ohio was at once called out by the governor and at 1 o'clock P. M. of the 14th the new Lawrence County company reported at headquarters, Camp Portsmouth. The steamer brought the news that Morgan had burned the bridge at Loveland and cut the telegraph wires. The following morning (July 15th) the raiders were reported within a few miles of Chillicothe, and as their leader was thought to be directing his force toward the Ohio River all unprotected boats were sent to the Kentucky side. It is known that he twice made an attempt to cross the Ohio below Portsmouth, but was repulsed, although neither the Portsmouth nor the Ironton militia enjoyed any military honors thereby.

COLONEL POWELL RETURNS FROM LIBBY

At that time Colonel Powell had commenced his term of imprisonment at Libby. He had been wounded at Wytheville, Va., in July, 1863, and sent to Richmond, and he did not see his friends again at Ironton until February, 1864. At his return he was accorded a reception which, for enthusiasm and outpourings of real affection, was remarkable even for those times of high tension.

HOME ON FURLOUGH

This may be partly accounted for by the fact that many of the leading officers of Lawrence County were home on furlough when Colonel Powell arrived after his six months' imprisonment at Libby. Among these were Capt. P. V. Keepers, of Battery B, First Virginia Artillery ; Capt. Joseph Barber, of the Sixth Ohio Cavalry ; Capt. Wirt Culbertson and Lieutenant Gilruth, of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Infantry, and Surg. Jonah Morris, of the Ninth Virginia. There was also a host of lieutenants and privates ; so that the county was literally blue with soldiers.

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IN 1864 THE WAR STILL RAGING

The year 1864 made the people of Lawrence County realize that the Civil war was yet raging. Quite a number of its men had been incorporated into Company I, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio Infantry, which was formed in May, and on the 10th of that month they suffered severely in the battle of Cove Mountain Gap, near Wytheville, Va.

Company I was commanded by Alfred Bowen, with Valentine Newman as first lieutenant and E. G. Coffin as second lieutenant.

LOSSES OF THE FIFTH VIRGINIA

In the spring of 1864 occurred the famous Hunter raid to Lynchburg and into the enemy's country of Virginia, the march and fighting covering a period of over a month. Both the Fifth Virginia and the Ninety-first Ohio participated in that fierce campaign and suffered heavily. The former was especially unfortunate. Lieut. A. W. Miller, of Company D ; Corp. Daniel Forbes, of Company B, and Serg. C. B. Waller and Corp. Thomas Dyer, of Company K, were killed ; and Lieut. D. J. Thomas, Company A, and Corp. Anderson Bailey, of Company H, mortally wounded.

GEN. WILLIAM H. ENOCHS

Gen. William H. Enochs, one of the leading soldiers, lawyers and public men of Lawrence County, entered the three years' service with the Fifth Virginia, first acting as lieutenant under Capt. A. F. Cumpston. He had joined the Union army as a private in the Twenty-second Ohio Infantry, a three months' regiment. He was brave, efficient and popular, and rose to a colonelcy in full rank, being also brevetted brigadier-general for gallant services in the field. After the war General Enochs resumed the study of law, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1866, and, after a short practice in West Virginia, located at Ironton. After serving in the Legislature he represented the Twelfth District in Congress (1890) and easily took rank with the foremost lawyers and public men of Southern Ohio. His fine war record always assisted his civic ambitions.

THE NINETY-FIRST OHIO

The Ninety-first Ohio suffered heavily in killed and wounded. Its brave captain, Samuel Clarke, was killed May 9, 1864, at the battle of Cloyd Mountain. In the following month Col. John A. Turley was severely wounded while leading a charge before Lynchburg, Va., and his injuries were so serious, his thigh being broken, that he was obliged to accept an honorable discharge from the service. Lieutenant Stroup of Company I was killed in this charge.

Colonel Turley was succeeded by Lieut.-Col. B. F. Coates, who led the regiment at the memorable battle near Winchester, in July, August and September, 1864, who received his regular commission as colonel in

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December. In those engagements the Ninety-first clinched its honors as the banner fighting regiment of the brigade, and suffered accordingly. Among the killed and wounded were not a few Lawrence County men, as will be proven by the following list of its casualties : Killed : Company F—Johnson Young ; Company H—Jonathan F. Hite, John R. Wilkins, John Steele, Daniel Short and David W. Slagle ; Company K—Peter Pyles and John Lucas.

Wounded : Company A—A. Houlsworth, T. J. Daywalt and C. W. Jones ; Company B—M. G. Blaser, C. Eno and Robert D. Neal ; Company C—Second Lieut. J. W. Rockhold, J. H. Culloms, George Bare, Laben Crabtree, J. Mucklewrath and J. Walls ; Company E—F. D. Bayless, W. T. Knox, J. Haggerty and E. B. Schultz ; Company F—John Ross, W. F. Gray, J. H. Parks, Isaac Speers, James Smith, W. M. Brown, B. F. Kizer, Mike Munion, John Monk, George Monk, Amaziah Morris, Charles Peach, John Rigley, F. F. Rensahouse, W. B. Savage and J. D. Laughlin ; Company G—John Martinbee ; Company H—Capt. Simeon Crossley, Second Lieut. Ed. S. Wilson, Eugene B. Willard, S. Brady Steece, John G. Lane, J. W. Haines,* James W. Day,* Allen. Levisay,* William Robinson, Abram Bruce,* Jeremiah Bruce, Joseph S. Bice, Samuel Lane, John' Levisay, Hiram Oliver, Andrew J. Peatt, John Percefield;* John Taylor,* George W. Willis and W. C. Washburn ; Company I—G. W. Armstrong, E. M. Hughes and Robert Palmer ; Company K—Henry Downey, Jacob Eckhart, John Freestone and James W. Miller.

The Ninety-first Regiment was formed in July, 1862, in response to the presidential call for 300,000 men, and its rank and file were drawn from Lawrence, Scioto, Jackson, Adams, Pike and Gallia counties. It was in active service for about three years and had only two commanders —John A. Turley, of Scioto County, and B. F. Coates, of Adams. Its first experience outside of camp life was in August after its formation, when five of its companies were detailed to Ironton, in preparation for a rumored raid of the Confederates down the Big Sandy. On September 3d the remainder of the regiment joined the force at Ironton, and the entire command was sent to Guyandotte to protect the town from a threatened raid by Jenkins' cavalry. The Ninety-first returned to Camp Morrow on the 5th and two days later were mustered into the three years' service. •

From the 14th to the 26th the regiment was at Point Pleasant, Va., and after a raid up the Kanawha Valley went into winter quarters at Fayetteville. There, in the following spring, it participated • in several engagements with Confederate forces, and in July was recalled to Ohio to assist in repelling Morgan. On the 20th of that month the regiment landed at Racine and marched to Buffington Island, but Morgan had been defeated the day previous ; so the regiment was not permitted to engage the bold raider. But the Ninety-first took a boat for Rankin's Point, where it captured thirty rebel stragglers from the main command. It then proceeded to Proctorsville and went into camp.

* Mortally wounded.

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The remainder of 1863 was spent in various expeditions in the Big Sandy Region, some of them being undertaken in the midst of snowstorms and other severe weather. The command penetrated 150 miles into the enemy's country to destroy the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, leaving Fayetteville in May, 1864, as a regiment of the Second Brigade. Engagements were fought at New River Bridge, Newport, Lexington and other points, that important structure being burned, as well as the Military Institute at Lexington, and a number of the enemy captured. At Lynchburg, in June, the Ninety-first was in the front of the charge and was the last to retreat in the general -falling back of the Union forces. By July the entire brigade was at Martinsburg and formed part of General Crook 's expedition into the Shenandoah Valley to cut off the retreat of General Early.

In the preliminary fighting around Winchester, in July, the Second Brigade, especially the Ninety-first Ohio and the Ninth Virginia, sustained some of the hardest of the Confederate attacks by greatly superior numbers. Sheridan reorganized his entire army in August and in the great battle of September 19th for the possession of that point the Ninety-first was on the extreme right of the five-mile battle line. When the commander, Col. J. H. Duvall, of the Second Brigade, was wounded he was succeeded by Colonel Johnson of the Fourteenth West Virginia Regiment, who also was wounded and succeeded by Colonel Coates and Major Cadot was placed in command of the regiment.

In October it participated in the battle of Cedar Creek, and from that time until the final muster-out at Camp Dennison, in June, 1865, was at Martinsburg, Winchester and other centers of military activities in West Virginia.

THE VETERAN ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THIRD OHIO

The One Hundred and Seventy-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry was formed principally of reenlisted men who had served for three years—real veterans of the Civil war. It was commanded by the gallant colonel of the old Second Kentucky, John R. Hurd, and was organized in September, 1864. Lawrence County contributed ninety-three men to the regiment, the company having the following officers Captain, John W. Fuson ; first lieutenant, A. Jr Booth ; second lieutenant, Elisha T. Edwards. By the 25th of September it was in camp near Nashville, and on the 15th of the following month was mustered into the service at Gallipolis, Ohio. The ladies of that town presented the regiment with a banner before it left for Nashville again ; it arrived there on the 25th of October and spent several weeks at that point. The One Hundred and Seventy-third did not see active service, but was ever ready for what work might be allotted to it.

THE SOLDIERS' PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

While stationed at Nashville the One Hundred and Seventy-third Regiment cast its vote for the presidential nominees, as did all the other

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Union troops in the field. A very interesting table is that published a short time afterward showing how the Lawrence County soldiers stood in politics.. The exhibit is as follows: