HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 75 military services in lands at the mouth of Turkey Creek. He was appointed agent by Colonel Parker to superintend the surveying and selling of lots in the Town of Alexandria, and was also recorder of deeds for Adams County. He spent a. considerable portion of his time, at first, in Kentucky, where he organized the first Masonic lodge in that state, but after his marriage in 1800 moved to Alexandria, and thereafter was an Ohio citizen. After Scioto County was separately organized in 1803 he settled. upon his farm at the mouth of Turkey Creek where he died in 1809. Major Belli was a gentleman of the old school, and never changed the fashion of his dress from the style generally worn during the period: of the Revolutionary war. Although living among backwoodsmen, who paid very little attention to dress of any kind, he always wore short breeches and long stockings, shoe buckles and a three-cornered cocked , hat. He made an odd appearance among the backwoodsmen, but was not alone in his peculiarities, as some of the Frenchmen who settled in the grant, and other old gentlemen from the eastern states, dressed in the same style. THE LUCASES FOUND LUCASVILLE The Lucases, Virginians, figured largely in the history of the Lower Scioto Valley, and Gen. Robert Lucas, as is well known, became governor of Ohio. Capt. William Lucas, of the Revolutionary war, was an aristocratic land and slave owner of the old dominion, and when he located his lands in the military district of Ohio in 1800 he freed his slaves and settled with his family where Lucasville, Scioto County, now stands. Several members of his negro household accompanied him to free territory and were always known as Lucas' negroes. Captain Lucas was the father of three sons and three daughters. Two of his sons, 'William and Joseph, preceded their father by several years in locating the lands six miles up the Scioto, above Pond Creek, around which locality developed the settlement of Lucasville. The father died in 1814. His son Joseph was a prominent man and was appointed one of the first three associate judges who sat on the bench of the court of common pleas. GOV. ROBERT LUCAS Robert Lucas was the third son, who came with his father to the site of Lucasville in 1800. In 1804 he was elected county surveyor. He took great interest in the county militia and was the first brigadier general in the country. Notwithstanding his prominence and ability, and the fact that he had married an estimable woman, the daughter of John Brown, the tavern keeper of Portsmouth, General Lucas became involved in a scandal which connected him with a girl of the neighborhood. An attempt was made to arrest him on a criminal charge, but he defied three officers of the law in succession who attempted to serve papers upon him 76 - HANGING. ROCK IRON REGION and forced them to resign. Finally he succumbed to the determination of John R. Turner, newly appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, and Elijah Glover,' sheriff. When Lucas found the laws must be obeyed, he compromised the matter in some way and was released from jail. General Lucas played an inconspicuous part in the War of 1812, but his political career was more notable than his military. In the fall of 1814 he was elected to the State Senate, remaining in that body for fourteen years. He was then chosen a presidential elector on the democratic ticket, and in 1832 the party brought him out as a candidate for governor. Governor Lucas served for two successive terms as chief executive of the state, and in 1838 was appointed by President Van Buren as governor of Iowa. He then sold his property in the Scioto Valley and moved to the far-off western territory, where he passed the remainder of his life. Thereafter there was a general exodus of the Lucases to Iowa, which accounts for the virtual extinction of the name as applied to individuals resident in the valley of the Scioto. TURNING FROM THE PERSONAL The writer does not claim that the foregoing sketches include all the leading pioneers who 'first came to the lower valley of the Scioto, but, with the mention of those who have figured in preceding chapters, he trusts that a fair idea will have been given of the personalities of those most prominent in that section of the state. In what follows the personal is generally omitted. A PIONEER IS A TYPE There is little difference in pioneer life even at this day. It is the poor and hard-working element that seek a home in a new country, as a general thing, and at this day, especially,very few who enjoy the churches, schools, railroads and telegraphs and are able to remain at home, will care to leave for a residence in the wilds of any region. The exception to these are those who may be in fair circumstances, but have large families, who are willing to give up their comfort for the future of their children. Thus we find the pioneer generally poor but robust, with an energy which labor increases, and with an endurance that seems to battle all opposing forces. PACKING GOODS FROM THE EAST The greater part of the goods transported from the eastern settlements to the Ohio Valley were brought over the mountains on pack horses. The first year's subsistence had to be carried that way, and salt was packed hundreds of miles to meet the wants of the settlers, and then sold from $6 to $10 a bushel. No roads were laid out west of Pittsburgh, and but HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 77 few wagons could find their way over the mountains and through the unbroken wilderness. But upon reaching the latter place the trouble comparatively ceased, for the goods could be carried thence by river. Roads, however, were soon made, rough bridges of logs spanned the narrow streams, the rivers had their ferries, and country or general stores began to put in an appearance. They kept a little of everything, but the stock always included articles of necessity—hats, caps, boots and shoes, chains, wedges, pots and kettles. Mills and blacksmith shops were soon erected. THE LOG CABIN A description of which may not be uninteresting now, will be of profound interest to future generations, who will be so far removed from pioneer life as to wonder over the primitive styles and habits of long ago. Trees of uniform size were chosen and cut into logs of the desired length, generally twelve to fifteen feet, and hauled to the spot selected for the future dwelling. On the appointed day the few neighbors who were available would assemble and have a "houseraising." Each end of every log was saddled and notched so that they would lie as close down as possible ; the next day the proprietor would proceed to "chink and daub" the cabin to keep out the rain, wind and cold. The house had to be redaubed every fall, as the rains of the intervening time would wash out a great part of the mortar. The usual height of the house was seven or eight feet. The gables were formed by shortening the logs gradually at each end of the building near the top. The roof was made by laying very straight small logs or stout poles suitable distances apart, generally about 2 1/2 feet, from gable to gable, and on these poles were laid the "clapboards" after the manner of shingling, showing about 2 1/2 feet to the weather. These clapboards were fastened to their place by "weight poles," corresponding in place with the joists just described, and these again were held in their place by "runs" or "knees," which were chunks of wood about eighteen or twenty inches long fitted between them near the ends. Clapboards were made from the nicest oaks in the vicinity, by chopping or sawing them into four-foot blocks and riving these with a frow, which was a simple blade fixed at right angles to its handle. This was driven into the blocks by a mallet. As the frow was wrenched down through the wood, the latter was turned alternately over from side to side, one being held by a forked piece of timber. The chimney to the pioneer's cabin of Southern Ohio was made by leaving in the original building a large open place in one wall, or by cutting one after the structure was up, and by building on the outside, from the ground up, a stone column, or a column of sticks and mud, the sticks being laid up cob-house fashion. The fireplace thus made was often large enough to receive firewood six to eight feet long. Sometimes this wood, especially the "back-log," would be nearly as large as a saw-log. The. more rapidly the pioneer could burn up the wood in his vicinity, the sooner he had his little farm cleared and ready for cultiva- 78 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION tion. For a window, a piece about two feet long was cut out of one of the wall logs, and the hole closed sometimes by glass, but generally with greased paper. Even greased deer-hide was sometimes used. A. doorway was Cut through one of the walls if a saw was to be had; otherwise the door would be left by shortened logs in the original building. The door was made by pinning clapboards to two or three wooden bars and was hung on wooden hinges. A wooden latch, with catch, then finished the door, and the latch was raised by anyone on the outside by pulling the leather string attached. For security at night this latch string was drawn in, but for friends and neighbors, and even strangers, the "latchstring was always hanging out" as a sign of .welcome. In the interior over the fireplace would be a shelf called the "mantel," on which stood the candle-stick or lamp, probably also some cooking or tableware, and possibly an old clock and other articles. In the fireplace would be a crane, and on it pots were hung for cooking. Over the door in forked cleats hung the ever trusty rifle and powder horn ; in one corner stood the large bed for the "old folks," and under it the trundle bed for the children ; in another stood the old-fashioned spinning wheel, with a smaller one by its side ; in another the only table, large and strong, and in the remaining corner was the rude cupboard holding the tableware, which consisted of a few cups and saucers and blue-edged plates standing singly on their edges against the back so as to present a more conspicuous display, while around the room were scattered a few splint-bottom or Windsor chairs and two or three stools. In the erection of this cabin the neighbors would come for miles around to help the builder and give him a fair start in the world. They gave him a warm welcome, the right hand of fellowship was extended, and the new settler felt at home at once. The latch string hung on the outside, and what the cabin held was at the command of the traveler or neighbor. Corn was the principal article of food, and wild game furnished the family meat. A cow was generally secured, and the pioneer was then happy as well as rich. Store goods were not often seen or worn. SLEEPING ACCOMMODATIONS The bed was very often made by fixing posts in the floor about six feet from the one wall and four feet from the adjoining wall, and fastening a stick to this post about two feet from the floor, on each of two sides, So that the other end of each of the two sticks could 'be fastened in the opposite wall ; clapboards were laid across these, and thus the bed was complete. Guests were given this bed, while the family disposed themselves in another corner of the room or in the "loft." When several guests or travelers were on hand, many ingenious ways were resorted to for their accommodation. COOKING The pioneer women had very few conveniences which now adorn the kitchens of today. The range or stove was then unknown, but the large HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 79 fireplace was fitted with a crane and a supply of hooks of different lengths, and from one to four pots could be hung over the fire at once. Then the long-handled frying-pan, the bake pan, the Dutch-oven, and along about 1830 came the tin bake-oven. With these the pioneer women did their hot, laborious work. But they knew how to cook. The bread and the biscuit of those days have not been improved upon. A better article for baking batter cakes was the cast-iron spider or Dutch skillet. The best thing for baking bread in those days, and possibly even yet in the latter days was the flat-bottomed bake-kettle, of greater depth, with closely fitting cast-iron cover, and commonly known as the "Dutch-oven." With coals over and under it, bread and biscuit would quickly and nicely bake. Turkey and spare ribs were sometimes roasted before the fire, suspended by a string, a dish being placed underneath to catch the drippings. Hominy and samp were very much used. The hominy, however, was generally hulled corn—boiled corn from which the hull, or bran, had been taken by hot lye ; hence sometimes called "lye hominy." True hominy and samp were made of pounded corn. A popular method of making this, as well as real meal for bread, was to cut out or burn a large hole in the top of a huge stump, in the shape of a mortar, and pounding the corn in this by a maul or beetle suspended on the end of a swing-pole, like a well-sweep. This and the well-sweep consisted of a pole twenty to thirty feet long fixed in an upright fork so that it could be worked "teeter" fashion. It was a rapid and simple way of drawing water. When the samp was sufficiently pounded it was taken out, the bran floated off, and the delicious grain boiled like rice. The chief articles of diet in early day were corn bread, hominy or samp, venison, pork, honey, beans, pumpkin (dried pumpkin for more than half the year), turkey, prairie chicken, squirrel and some other game, with a few additional vegetables a portion of the year. Wheat bread, tea, coffee and fruit were luxuries not to be indulged in except on special occasions, as when visitors were present. At the table hot drinks were made with sassafras root, spicewood, or sycamore bark. Genuine coffee was sometimes to be had but not often. Parched grains of rye or corn were sometimes pounded up and made a substitute for coffee. Cornmeal was converted into bread in various ways. The simplest method was to mix the meal with salt and water into a stiff dough and bake it on the hot stones of the fireplace—this was the original and only genuine "johnny-cake." The mixture thinly spread and baked on a board or in a pan set upright before the fire made "hoe-cake," and if mixed with eggs and baked in a Dutch-oven, it was "pone." "Corn-dodger" was another variety of the ancient nourishment made of about the same ingredients. Hominy was prepared by soaking the corn in strong lye or wood ashes to remove the outside covering and then washing thoroughly in clean water. Cornmeal was often made into mush and eaten from wooden bowls. If fried with the jelly of meat liquor it was called, by the Dutch, "suppawn," and was a favorite diet. Now and then a cup of coffee sweetened with 80 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION honey, the product of a lucky find in the shape of a bee tree, a juicy venison steak or a piece of turkey, and corn-bread made of mashed corn pounded in a mortar or ground in a hand mill, composed the steady week day and Sunday diet of the old pioneer. WILD GAME Venison could be found in great abundance, and in the forests large flocks of wild turkeys were frequently seen. Bears were still to be seen occasionally, and at times an odd buffalo or two; but the favorite fields of the buffalo in the Ohio Valley were the grassy regions of Kentucky. Turkeys were seldom shot as the ammunition was too valuable to waste upon them. They were generally caught in traps, or rather pens, with the lower part of one side left open. Corn was strewn around and inside the pen, and the foolish birds seeing no escape at the top and never thinking to escape the way they came, became easy prisoners. In this way they were caught by the score. If the turkey was young it was sometimes prepared by skinning and roasting before the fire on a spit, the grease being caught with a dripping pan. Stoves were then unknown, and all cooking was done on the hearth or at fires kindled out of doors. In the scarcity of other game, opossums were used occasionally for food —a dish in especial favor among the colored people. Quail were not numerous, as they seem to follow civilization rather than precede it. Fish were plentiful in the streams and were caught in different ways, generally on a troll-line on a single hook, or by piercing them with a gig. This was game for the boys. The skins of the wild beasts were brought to the cabins by hunters, and there prepared for use. Deer skins were tanned. The hair was first removed by ashes and water and the skins were then rubbed with soft-soap, lye, and the brains of the deer. As all these substances contain alkali, they were useful in removing the fat and tissue. Then after lying for two or three days in a steeping vat or trough, the skins were stretched over a smooth round log, from which the bark had been removed, and scraped with a graining knife. Such a dressing rendered the skins soft and pliable, and many of the settlers became skillful curriers. Bearskins were dressed with the hair on, and used for robes, carpets or for bed-clothing. Wolves were- numerous in some sections and occasionally a panther's scream pierced the still forest, but domestic animals were seldom destroyed by them. DRESS AND MANNERS The dress, habits, etc., of a people throw so much light upon their condition and limitations, that in order to better show the circumstances surrounding the people, a short exposition of life at different epochs is here given. The Indians themselves are credited by Charlevoix with being "very laborious"—raising poultry, spinning the wool of the buffalo and manufacturing garments therefrom. These must have been, however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 81 Dressed deer-skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. The blue handkerchief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generally. In 1800 scarcely a man thought himself clothed unless he had a belt tied around his blanket coat, and on one side was hung the dressed skin of a pole-cat filled with tobacco, pipe, flint and steel, On the other side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher knife. Among the Americans home-made wool hats were the common wear. Fur hats were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The covering of the feet in winter was chiefly moccasins made of deer-skins and shoe-packs of tanned leather. Some wore shoes, but they were not common in very early times. In the summer the greater portion of the young people, male and female, and many of the old, went barefoot. The substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting shirt. This was an excellent garment. It was made with wide sleeves, open before, of ample size so as to envelop the body almost twice around. Sometimes it had a large cape, which answered well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt was mostly used to keep the garment close around the person. It was often fringed, and at times the fringe was composed of red and other gay colors. The belt, frequently, was sewed to the hunting shirt. The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were often made with alum; copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. • The pioneer's wife, without whom a pioneer's life would have been a wretched failure, made the men's clothing and moccasins of dressed deer-skins, and spun and wove the home-made cotton for herself and daughters. Eight yards were sufficient, and a dress would last a year or two. Sometimes ginghams and calico were purchased, but it was only the rich that could indulge in such costly goods in which to array their wives and daughters. An extra quality and a brighter color of homespun was the general Sunday meeting dress of the women of that day, and when the men wanted to put on style they purchased an article of cloth called Kentucky jeans. But durability and not style was the forte of the old pioneer, and the dress of deer-skin and the coon-skin cap were really the rage for solid wear. A bonnet composed of calico or some gay goods, was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon ; a gold ring was an ornament only now and then seen. MARKET PRICES In one respect the early settlers had a few advantages not possessed today, or by those of a generation back. While they endured the privations with which they were encompassed with heroic fortitude and a patience which exalted them, these old-time heroes and heroines could get the necessaries of life at much less cost than their, favored children and grandchildren of this day ; and not only that, but there was any quantity of land lying around loose at Government price, $1.25 per acre, Vol. I - 6 82 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION and excellent swamp land, all but the swamp, at 25 cents per acre-- twelve months' time and county warrants taken at par—anxious to be tickled with a hoe, that it might laugh with a, harvest. The financial crash of 1837 had completely demoralized values ; property shrank to such amazing smallness that many people were in doubt as to whether they possessed anything except their lives and their families. The wild-cat banks rapidly climbed the golden stairs, and their assets went glim-mering. The necessaries of life were cheap, and those who suffered most in those days were of the class called wealthy, excepting, perhaps, the managers of the wildcat banks above spoken of. The farmer and mechanic of the West had little to complain of. Their wants were few and supplies cheap ; if corn was at a low figure, tea, coffee, sugar and whisky were also cheap. The business depression brought on by the financial collapse referred to continued for several years, and hovered over the land as late as 1842. In 1839 and 1840 prices of goods still ruled very low, and the prospect of any early rise seemed far from encouraging. Cows sold from $4 to $10, and payable perhaps in trade at that. Horses brought for the best about $40, but could be bought from about $25 up for a fair animal. Working oxen were from $25 to $30 per yoke, and considered down to almost nothing. Hogs, dressed, sold from $1.25 to $1.50 each. Garnered wheat brought from 35 to 40 cents a bushel ; corn, 50 cents per barrel, delivered, and a good veal calf 75 cents. You could go to the woods and cut down a bee-tree, gather the honey, bring it to market and get 25 cents a gallon for it. And such honey, so clear and transparent that even the bee-keeper of today, with his patent hive and Italian swarms, would have had a look of envy covering his face on beholding it. The wild deer 'came forward and gave up their hams at 25 cents each, and the settler generally clinched the bargain by taking the skin also, and when not cut up into strings or used for patches brought another quarter, cash or trade, as demanded. It was a habit in those days for farmers to help each other, and their sons to work in the harvest field or help do the logging to prepare for the seeding of new land. This was a source of wealth to the sons of the early settlers and to those farmers who were unable to purchase a home. They received from 25 to 50 cents per day and their board. That was wealth, the foundation of their future prosperity. It was the first egg laid to hatch them a farm, and it was guarded with scrupulous care. Economy was. often whittled down to a very fine point before they could be induced to touch that nest egg, the incipient acre of the first farm. THE SCIOTO COUNTRY STORES As the settlers increased country stores began to make their appearance at crossroads, followed by the necessary concomitant, the blacksmith shop. Portsmouth and Chillicothe became somewhat of trade centers, and Piketon also had a local habitation and a name as early as 1814, and Jackson Court House, a few years later ; but the country HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 83 stores flourished outside of these points, because they were as much a convenience as a necessity. Their stock consisted of salt, tea, tobacco, cotton, yarns, iron for horseshoes, nails, etc., powder, lead, shot, and steel points, for plows. Added to these and considered staple articles, there was kept a moderate supply of calico, ginghams, domestic cotton, Kentucky jeans, boots and shoes, etc., with a fair article of corn whisky. These country stores were strongly built, and the logs, of which they were composed hewed flat on the inside. The goods were placed in the most convenient places to get at. Boxes were utilized as counters, and while there was but little display in those good old times, little was desired. If the goods they wanted were there, it didn't make much difference to the people whether they were on shelves, or even had shelves. The smaller merchants purchased the goods at Pittsburgh or Marietta, while these in their turn ran flat-boats down the river to New Orleans. RAISING BEES Settlers flowed in. The early years of the present century gave life and progress to the Scioto Valley. New arrivals made the woods echo with the sound of their axes, and cabins sprang. up as if by magic. The miles which had been between cabins had become reduced so that once in awhile neighbors would be within a mile, or even a half a mile, of each other, and "raising bees" became common and were greatly enjoyed. A newcomer would cut the logs for his cabin, haul them to the ground ready to be put up, and then announce a "raising bee." The neighbors came from miles around, and the way that cabin went up into a square shape, capped with weight poles, was a "caution to slow coaches." And they sang at their work : "Our cabins are made of logs of wood, The floors are made of puncheon, The roof is held by weighted poles, And then we 'hang off' for luncheon." This would be followed by a swig from the little brown jug, kept especially for the occasion, and then with a hearty shake of the hand and a "wish you well," the neighbors left the newcomer to put the finishing touches to his cabin. And this was a "raising bee" of ye olden times. BRINGING IN STOCK The pioneers were very few who had any kind of stock when they settled in the Scioto Valley. Horses were brought by a good many and oxen for work, but of cattle, sheep and hogs, there were but few, except, perhaps, cows. Some were soon brought in, as it was found they could subsist almost entirely on mast, or other wild food. They were slaughtered in early winter and what was not needed for present use was salted down for consumption in the hot months when venison was not fit to eat. 84 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Cattle were also introduced, but the pioneers experienced very little trouble in providing for them. The forests were filled with budding sprouts while the low and open lands were densely covered with long grass which furnished splendid provender till late in the winter. Toward spring, when the early buds began to swell, they were preferable, and if the underbrush became stripped, large beech trees were frequently felled for the cattle to trim up. The winters at this date were, however, much milder than at present,' as is definitely known. Snows scarcely ever remained longer than three days, and the record of the weather kept at Ludlow Station, in the southwest corner of the state, shows a vast difference in the variation of temperature, then and now. The average temperature of the winters. from 1804 to 1811, as shown by these records, was about 40̊ Fahr., while the lowest temperature was 8̊ below zero. Later experiences show a great difference in the Variations of the weather, from the heat of summer to the cold of winter, brought about evidently by the clearing of forests, draining of swamps and other changes incident to advanced civilization. HOSPITALITY The traveler always found a welcome at the pioneer's cabin. It was never full. Although there might be already a guest for every puncheon, there was still "room for one more," and a wider circle would be made for the newcomer at the log fire. If the stranger was in search of land he was doubly welcome, and his host would volunteer to show him all the "first-rate claims in thisneck of woods," going with him for days, showing the corners and advantages of every "Congress tract" within a dozen miles of his cabin. To his neighbors the pioneer was equally liberal. If a deer was killed, the choicest bits were 'sent to his nearest neighbor, a half dozen miles away perhaps. When a "shoat" was butchered, the same custom prevailed. If a newcomer came in too late for "cropping" the neighbors would supply his table with just the same luxuries they themselves enjoyed, and in as liberal quantity, until a crop could be raised. When a newcomer had located his claim, the neighbors for miles around would assemble at the site of his proposed, cabin and aid him in "gittin" it up. One party with axes would cut down the trees and hew the logs ; another with teams would haul the logs to the ground ; another party would "raise" the cabin ; while several of the old men would "rive the clapboards" for the roof. By night the little forest domicile would be up and ready for a "house-warming," which was the dedicatory occupation of the house, when music and dancing and festivity would be enjoyed at full height. The next day the new arrival would be as well situated as his neighbors. BEE HUNTING This wild recreation was, in some respects, a peculiar one, and many sturdy backwoodsmen gloried in this art. He would carefully watch, HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 85 as the bee filled itself with the product of some flower, and notice the direction taken by it as it struck a "bee-line" for its home, which, when found, would generally be high up in the hollow of a tree. This tree would then be marked, and in September, or a little later, the tree would be cut and the honey slimed, and pretty active work was required to save the store, as sometimes the tree would be shattered in its fall. Several gallons have been known to have been taken from a single tree. Thus, by a very little work, pleasant at that, the early settlers could keep themselves in honey the year round, and thus save buying sugar at the store. By the time the honey was a year old, and sometimes sooner, it would granulate, but this did not interfere with its quality. MILLING Not the least of the hardships of pioneer life was the procuring of bread. The first settlers had to be supplied the first year from other sources than their own lands, and the first crop, however abundant, gave only partial relief, there being no mills at hand to grind the grain. Hence the necessity of grinding by hand power, and very many families were very poorly provided with means for doing this. The old grater and the wooden mortar burned in the end of a log did duty for many months ere either a hand-mill or horse-mill was found in the country. Soon after the country became more generally settled enterprising men embarked in the milling business, selecting sites on streams that were large and rapid enough to furnish the power. Mills were considered a public necessity, and were permitted to be erected wherever a desirable water-power could be secured. Those who lived contiguous to the rivers or streams did not have far to go, but those who located in the country back had many hard days' travel "going to mill." When it became a day's journey or more, it was considered quite a job, and sometimes swollen streams, without ferries or bridges, would keep them several days on their journey. Not only did the old settler go to mill, but he managed to lay in some supplies at the store which was generally near at hand. AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS These implements as used by the pioneer farmers of the state would in this age of improvement be great curiosities. The plow used was called the "barshare" plow ; the iron point consisted of a bar of iron about two feet long, and a broad share of iron welded to it. Sometimes they were made shorter to suit the ground in which they were to be used. At the extreme point was a coulter that passed through a beam six or seven feet long, to which were attached handles of the required length. The mold-board was a wooden one split out of winding or cross-grained timber, or hewed into shape, in order to turn the soil over. Sown seed was dragged in by drawing over the ground saplings with bushy tops. Instead of reapers and mowers for harvesting, the sickle and cradle were 86 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION used, and the wooden rake. The grain was threshed out with a flail, or trodden out by horses or oxen. HOG STICKING AND PACKING Hogs were always dressed before they were taken to market. The farmer, if forehanded, would call in his neighbors some bright fall or winter morning to help "kill hogs." Immense kettles of water were heated ; a sled or two covered with loose boards or plank constituted the platform on which the hog was cleaned, and was placed near an inclined hogshead in which the scalding was done ; a quilt was thrown over the top of the latter to retain the heat ; from the crotch of some convenient tree a projecting pole was rigged, to hold the animals for disemboweling and thorough cleaning. When everything was arranged, the best shot of the neighborhood loaded his rifle and the work of killing was commenced. It was considered a disgrace to make a hog "squeal" by bad shooting or by a "shoulder-stick ; " that is, running the point of the butcher knife into the shoulder instead of the cavity of the breast. As each hog fell, the "sticker" mounted him and plunged the butcher knife into his throat ; two persons would then catch him by the hind legs, draw him up to the scalding tub, which had just been filled with boiling hot water with a shovelful of good green-wood fishes thrown in ; in this the carcass was plunged and moved round a minute or so until the hair would slip off easily, then placed on the platform where the cleaner would take hold of him and clean him as quickly as possible, with knives and other sharp-edged implements; then two stout men would take him up between them, and with a third man to manage the gambrel (which was a stout stick about two feet long, sharpened at both ends, to be inserted between the muscles of the hind legs at or near the hock joint), the animal would be elevated to the pole, where the work of cleaning was finished. After the slaughter was over and the hogs had had time to cool, such as were intended for domestic use were cut up, the lard "tried" out by the women of the household, and the surplus hogs taken to market, while the weather was cold, if possible. In those days almost every merchant had, at the rear end of his place of business, or at some convenient building, a "pork-house," and would buy the pork of his customers and of such others as would sell to him, and cut it for the market. This gave employment to a large number of hands in every village, who could cut and pack pork all winter. The hauling of all this to the river would also give employment to a large number of teams, and the manufacturer of pork barrels would keep many coopers employed. There was one feature in this method of packing and marketing pork that made the country in the fall and winter a paradise for the poor .man. Spare ribs, tenderloins, pigs' heads and pigs' feet were not considered of much value, and were freely given to all who would take them. If a barrel was taken to any pork house and salt furnished, the barrel was filled and salted down gratuitously. So great in many cases was the quantity of spare ribs, etc., to be disposed of, that they, were hauled HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 87 away in wagon loads and dumped in the woods out of town or in some convenient ravine. MONEY AND BARTER Money was a scarce article, and was not often seen in large quantities among the settlers. Indeed, unless to pay for their land or invest in a yoke of oxen, they had little use for it, as they could transact most all their business about as well without it, on the " barter" system, wherein a good deal of tact in making exchanges was often displayed. When it failed in any instance, long credits contributed to the convenience of the citizens. But for taxes and postage, neither the barter nor the credit system would answer, and often letters were suffered to remain a long time in the postoffice for the want of the twenty-five cents demanded by the Government. Peltries came nearer being money than anything else, as it came to be the custom to estimate the value of everything in peltries. Such an article was worth so many peltries. Even some tax collectors and postmasters were known to take peltries and exchange them for the money required by the Government. When the settlers first came into the wilderness, some supposed that their hard struggle would be principally over after the first year ; but alas ! they often looked for "easier times next year" for many years before them, and then they came in so slyly as to be almost imperceptible. The sturdy pioneer thus learned to bear hardships, privations and hard living, as good soldiers do. As the facilities for making money were not great, they lived pretty well satisfied in an atmosphere of good, social, friendly feeling. But among the early settlers who came to this state were many who, accustomed to the advantages of an older civilization, to churches, schools and society, became speedily homesick and dissatisfied. They, would remain perhaps one summer, or at most two, then, selling whatever claim with its improvements they had made, would return to the older states, spreading reports of the hardships endured by the settlers in the West and the disadvantages which they had found, or imagined they had found, in the country. The slight improvements they had made were sold to men of sterner stuff, who were the sooner able to surround themselves with the necessities of life, while their unfavorable report deterred other weaklings from coming. The men who stayed and were willing to endure privations belonged to a different guild ; they were heroes every one—men to whom hardships were things to be overcome, and privations endured for the sake of posterity ; and they never shrank from this duty. It is to those hardy pioneers who could endure that the people of today owe the prosperity of their generation. EDUCATION Though struggling through the pressure of poverty and privation, the early settlers planted among them the schoolhouse at the earliest 88 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION practical period.. So important an object as the education of their children they did not defer until they could build more comely and convenient houses. They were for a time content with such as corresponded with their rude dwellings, but sooner better buildings and accommodations were provided. As may readily be supposed, the accommodations of te earliest schools were not good. Sometimes school was taught in a room of a large or. double log cabin, but often in a log house built for the purpose. A mud-and-stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth and a fireplace wide and deep enough to receive a four to. six foot back-log, and smaller wood to match, served for' warming purposes in winter and a kind of conservatory in summer. For windows, part of a log w.as cut out in two sides of the building, and maybe a few lights of 8 by 10 glass set in, or the aperture might be covered over with greased paper. Writing desks consisted of heavy oak plank or a hewed slab laid upon wooden pins driven into the wall. The four-legged slab benches were in front of these, and the pupils, when not writing, would sit with their backs against the front, sharp edge of the writing desks. The floor was also made out of these slabs or "puncheons," laid upon log sleepers. Everything was rude and plain; but many of America's greatest men have gone out from just such schoolhouses to grapple with the world; and make names for themselves and reflect honor upon their country. So with many of the most eloquent and efficient preachers. SPELLING-SCHOOL The chief public evening entertainment for the of thirty or forty years of pioneer existence was the celebrated "spelling-school." Both young people and old looked forward to the next spelling-school much anticipation and-anxiety as we now a days look forward to a general Fourth of July celebration ; and when the time arrived the whole neighhorhood, and sometimes several neighborhoods, would flock together to the scene of academic combat, where the excitement was often more intense than had been expected. It was far better, of course, when there was good sleighing; then the young folks would turn out in high glee and be fairly beside themselves. The jollity is scarcely equaled at the present day by anything in vogue. SINGING-SCHOOL Next to the night spelling-school the singing-school was an occasion of much jollity, wherein it was difficult for the average singing-master to preserve order, as many went more for fun than for music. This species of evening entertainment, in its introduction to the West, was later than the spelling-school, and served, as it were, as the second step toward the more modern civilization. Good sleighing weather was, of course, almost a necessity for the success of these schools, but how many of them have been prevented by mud and rain! Perhaps a greater part HANGING. ROCK IRON REGION - 89 of the time from November to April the roads would be muddy and often half frozen, which would have a very dampening and freezing effect upon the souls as well as the bodies of the young people wild longed for a good time on such occasions. RESTING ON HIS ARMS As an illustration of the painstaking which characterized pioneer life, we quote the following remark of an old settler : "The manner in which I used to work in those perilous times was as follows : On all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk and butcher knife, with a loaded pistol in my belt. When I went to plow I laid my gun on the plowed ground and stuck a stick by it for a mark, so that I could get it quick in case it was wanted. I had two good dogs ; I took one into the house leaving the other out. The one outside was expected to give the alarm, which would cause the one inside to bark, by which I was awakened, having my arms always loaded. I. kept my horse in a stable close to the house, having a port hole so that I could shoot to the stable door. During two years I never went from hone with any certainty of returning, not knowing the minute I might receive a ball from an unknown hand." THE WOMAN PIONEER Rude and primitive as the cabin of the pioneer might be, with a floor of mother earth, simple and unadorned, there was found within its walls many a heroine of early days. Not in the palaces of the rich of what is called this enlightened era was more true life-like happiness found than in those lowly cabins. There was no waiting in those days for a home of splendor before man found his mate, but the heroes and heroines of those days joined hands and hearts, and helped each other down the rugged pathway of life. He went into the field to work, that he might supply the food necessary for life, while she worked on in her own sphere, furnishing her husband's cabin with smiles of a loving heart, greeting her partner with the evident work of willing hands, keeping her true and womanly talents in full play, not only in preparing the food for the family meal, but in spinning and weaving, cutting and making, not only her own clothing, but the. garments of those who were of her household and under her loving care: Much has been written of the "old pioneer" and his struggles in the early days of his life, heavy trials, misfortunes, and ultimately his success; but little has been recorded of his noble companion, the light of his cabin, who cheered him in his misfortunes, nursed him in sickness, and in health gave her whole strength to labor for the future welfare and happiness of the family. There was little luxury or ease for the pioneer 's wife of those early days, but whatever her destiny might be, it was met with a firm faith and a willingness to do her whole duty, living in the love of her husband and children and trusting in Providence for any other reward. At night the discovery was made that woman's work was never done. 90 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION The household was asleep. The tired husband and father was resting his weary limbs in dreamland ; the children were tossing here and there on their beds, as restless children always do. Nature itself had gone to rest and the outer world was wrapped in darkness and gloom ; but the nearly exhausted mother Aired on and on, and the midnight candle was still shedding its pale light over the work or the vigils of the loved and loving mother. And this is the record of the thousands of noble women, the female pioneers, whose daily presence, loving hearts, earnest work and keen judgment made the work of civilization and progress one of success. And the question has often been asked, "What would the men of olden times have done if the women of olden times had not been with them?" CHAPTER VII TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION THE OHIO (GRAND) CANAL-BRIEF RECORD OF IT-FAMOUS FLOODS IN THE OHIO VALLEY---MORE PERMANENT RAILROAD RELIEF-SCIOTO AND HOCKING . VALLEY RAILROAD-BALTIMORE AND OHIO SOUTHWESTERN- THE SCIOTO VALLEY ROAD AWAKENS-NORFOLK AND WESTERN LINES -CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO SOUTH SHORE LINE-CINCINNATI, HAMILTON AND DAYTON-DAYTON, TOLEDO AND IRONTON. The exchange of goods, and personal communication between the Ohio country, the East and the Mississippi Valley, were mainly effected, for more than a century, through the broad, free channels of the Beau- tiful River and its large northern tributaries, of which the Scioto was the chief reliance in the Hanging Rock Iron Region. Its first permanent settlers, who commenced to occupy the land just before and after the opening of the nineteenth century, built a few local roads through the wilderness, and in 1803, soon, after Ohio was admitted to the Union, a state road was constructed from Portsmouth to Gallipolis. But the early turnpikes of any importance were mostly constructed in the northern sections of the state, which had become more thickly settled than the Ohio country. The highway from Columbus to Sandusky was not completed until 1830. THE OHIO (GRAND) CANAL In the meantime, the state had commenced the construction of two artificial waterways, under legislative acts of 1825. The Miami Canal, from Dayton to Cincinnati, sixty-six miles, was first completed ; but the Ohio, or Grand Canal,, from Cleveland to Portsmouth, by way of the Scioto River Valley, was not in operation until 1832. That direct means of communication with the region of the Great Lakes and, more indirectly, with the East, proved a great uplift to the people of Southern Ohio. The early furnaces of the Hanging Rock Iron Region were also greatly stimulated. The natural riches of that section now had an outlet—imperfect though it was—to the large markets of the north and east, and even along the line of the canal were several flourishing towns eager to purchase the products of the Scioto Valley. The Grand Canal commenced at Cleveland, extended southerly up the Cuyahoga River to the old portage between it and the Tuscarawas, - 91 - 92 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION passed the Town of Akron and thence to the Tuscarawas River, the valley of which it followed by way of Massillon, Dover, New Philadelphia, Newcomersville, Coshocton and Dresden, where it left what had become the Muskingum River, thence southwestwardly passing Newark, Hebron, Baltimore and Carroll to the Scioto, at a point eleven miles south of Columbus, to which a lateral feeder was extended ; thence to Portsmouth the canal stretched down the Scioto Valley, via Bloomfield, Circleville, Westfall, Chillicothe and Piketon. The Grand Canal was forty feet wide on the surface and twenty-six feet on the bottom, and its channel carried four feet of water; but the old-fashioned flat-bottomed canal boat would sustain a big load before it "scraped," and soon these same shallow waters were alive, with business. The valley of the Scioto sprung into importance as the most fertile and financially productive of. all the waterways of the state. Portsmouth became a shipping point for a large quantity of wheat, flour, corn and hog products, and all produce began to receive a price which was near its true value. Thus the farmer was encouraged to enlarge his fertile fields, the manufacturer of both cereals and iron to increase his productive capital, and merchants to enlarge the scope of their business operations. The completion of the Ohio Canal was a partial relief to the people of the Scioto Valley in another particular. Its banks were raised above the lowlands and certainly were of a more substantial character than those which Nature had provided. The result was that in seasons of flood, if the water did not rise to an unusual height, the canal was sometimes available when the natural channels of the river were closed. But although the Grand Canal was a relief to the people of the region, it was by no means smooth sailing along its waters, and "closed for repairs" was not an unusual aggravation. BRIEF RECORD OF THE GRAND CANAL In October, 1831, the canal was opened from Cleveland to Chillicothe, 250 miles; in September, 1832, to Waverly, where there was a public celebration. The opening of the' canal to Portsmouth was to have been celebrated in October of that year, but it was deferred on account of the prevalence of cholera. By June, 1837, a line of boats was running through to Cleveland, but in September, 1837, the flood destroyed the culvert at Camp Creek and the canal was broken. Extra stages were put on and teams employed to handle both passengers and goods. In January, 1838, navigation was closed, and twice in the spring of 1839 the canal was closed for repairs, goods being brought to Brush Creek and wagoned to Portsmouth. Two hundred delegates from Hamilton, Brown, Lawrence, Adams and Scioto counties went from Portsmouth to the Whig convention at Columbus by canal. To give an idea of the canal as a revenue producer, it may be said HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 93 that the tolls for 1837 amounted to $433,699, and $382,135 for 1838 ; expenses of repairing for the latter year, $214,581. In July, 1855, the newspapers pronounced the canal in a "deplorable condition ;" notwithstanding by March, 1858, there were tri-weekly packet lines to Columbus. By 1860 railroad competition had had its effect, and the canal tolls had materially decreased, as witness the following figures : For the quarter ending February 15, 1860, $7,150 ; quarter ending May 15th, $10,568. The following notes are self-explanatory : Navigation on the canal opened March 1, 1865; had been closed two months. November 14, 1866, the first canal boat for many months came through from Cleveland. February 23, 1867, there was a break in the canal at Sharonville which took two weeks to repair. On November 13, 1887, the extension of the Ohio Canal to the Ohio River was celebrated at Portsmouth. It cost $10,000 and only one boat ever went through it. The Ohio Canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth is 306 miles in length, with feeder, 11 miles; total length, 317 miles. Total cost, $4,695,203. FAMOUS FLOODS IN THE OHIO VALLEY Since the settlement of this section of the country numerous floods have come upon the Scioto Valley, and along the banks of the beautiful "La Belle Riviere," destroying a vast amount of property and tying up all commercial activities for weeks at a time. The Valley of the Scioto and along the Ohio has been subject to occasional inundations from the Scioto and Ohio -rivers. From the first settlement of the county in the year 1795 to the year 1820, they seemed more frequent and persistent. The floods in the Ohio give the river a rise and fall of about sixty feet, but February 15, 1832, it rose to sixty-three feet and produced immense injury to crops, fences and bridges. The Scioto poured in its flood, and the valley for miles, and from hill to hill, was a vast inland sea. After that flood the Ohio bottoms were not inundated until the winter of 1847, during .which the water was four times at forty-five and once at fifty-three feet above low-water mark. These heavy floods submerged all the lowlands up to the second plateau, which rises from the banks of the river, and they covered all of the City of Portsmouth located upon the first terrace. A steamboat was once made fast to the old hotel building which stood upon the site of the latter. The flood of 1858 occurred in May, and the Scioto and its tributaries were bank full with the raging waters. The loss to crops was not so great, but the corn and the meadows suffered severely. The rains continued, a heavy storm coming up on the night of the 5th of June, and by the 7th had reached their greatest, and was up to within a. few inches of the last of May freshet. 94 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION On June 11th came another storm, and this before the waters had subsided, and it again swelled the river until it equaled the height of 1847 and exceeded that of 1852. The damage was to meadows; crops, fences and bridges were covered with a heavy coating of mud and debris. Some-thing over one hundred thousand dollars was a computation of the loss by this disastrous flood. The next serious flood was that of 1873. The rain commenced falling July 3d, on Thursday, and continued until Saturday, the 5th ; and the valley was inundated from above Chillicothe to the river's mouth. But the flood of 1875, because of its coming in a summer month, was perhaps the severest (although nearly seven feet lower than the great FLOOD SCENE AT HANGING ROCK, 1884 rise of 1832) upon the people of the Scioto Valley as well as those living along the Ohio River. This flood destroyed full 10,000 acres of grain in the Scioto Valley and along the Ohio River. Fences, bridges, etc., were carried away. The loss on the Ohio River and the tributaries of the Ohio and Scioto in the county swelled the actual destruction to over ten thousand acres of corn, and a total loss to the sufferers by the flood of over five hundred thousand dollars. Perhaps the freshets of earlier years might have been as expensive had the country been as well settled, but this flood and a rise some two weeks earlier proved among the most destructive since the valley has been settled. The flood of February, 1883, was the highest known for over a quarter of a century, and but two previous rises were higher—that of 1832, when it rose sixty-three feet, and that of 1842, when it rose to sixty-two feet seven inches, the rise of 1883 being sixty-two feet. It commenced February 7th to give unmistakable signs of a great flood, but being in the winter season, while very destructive to the winter wheat and mead-ows, did not have that fearful effect upon the corn and potato crops which accompanied the flood of 1875. It was to many in the valley a very serious loss, for everything that could float was carried off. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 95 The flood of 1884, which culminated also in February, was particularly disastrous to the Hanging Rock Iron Region at and near Ironton. Half of that town—all of West. Ironton, in which were several of the large furnaces and manufactories—including the entire business district, was from one to eight feet under water. On the 11th of that month all of Portsmouth from Fourth Street (the virtual boundary between the business and residence districts) to the Ohio River, and from the lower end of town to the hills, was a seething sheet of yellow water, with boats plying the flood to transport business men to and from their waterlogged stores and factories, or, -Co rescue villagers who had been caught in their homes on the lowlands. Portsmouth also suffered considerably by the flood of 1884, but not to the extent of Ironton, Hanging Rock and the adjacent country. But the greatest of all the floods was that of March-April, 1913. At dusk of March 25th the waters of the Ohio commenced to rise at Portsmouth and by the 28th had reached a height of sixty-seven feet and ten inches above low-water mark, or more than fourteen feet above the highest point of 1884. Before it commenced to fall, on the 31st, the entire business district had been flooded to a depth of from ten to fourteen feet, and 75 per cent of the residential sections, on higher ground, had been covered from one foot to twelve feet. Only two deaths occurred—and those not caused by the violence of the flood—although the destruction to property was great. As Ironton did not have to contend with the full strength of the Big Scioto flood, the Ohio did not show any marked rise until the 7th of April, when the backwater from Rachel Creek began to appear on the cross streets and to submerge the lower end of West Ironton. Many of the poor people in that district fled to the courthouse situated on the high ground along Sixth Street. During the following five days there was a steady, and, at times, a phenomenal rise of the waters, until by the 12th they had reached a point eighty-one inches higher than the mark of 1883, and fourteen inches above that of 1884. At that time a yellow, murky, foaming lake tossing wreckage and boats, covered West Ironton, filled the Storm Creek Valley, blanketed the old Fair Grounds and the lowlands back of town on either side of the Iron Railroad, stretched up the Tenth Street Valley, and was unbroken from Fourth and Fifth streets to the Kentucky shore. During that period of excitement and- suffering, several deaths occurred from exposure, and the property loss at Ironton ran well toward $200,000. MORE PERMANENT RAILROAD RELIEF It was this danger from floods, and consequent interruption to the usual activities of transportation and communication, that made the advent of railroads so welcome to the people of the Hanging Rock Iron Region; even the Grand Canal was not proof against their ravages. The railroads were the most efficient agents to meet such emergencies, besides being of superior advantage in normal periods. 96 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION The principal railroads which now traverse the lower counties of the Hanging Rock Iron Region are the Hocking Valley and Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern, which accommodate Jackson and Vinton counties ; the Dayton, Toledo and Ironton, which passes through the western townships of Jackson and Lawrence counties and the eastern sections of Scioto County; and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Line, which has several stations in Eastern Jackson, Western Gallia and Northern Lawrence counties. The pioneer railroad projects of the region were sprung upon the taxpayers in the early part of 1849, and were designed to furnish outlets for both the agricultural products of the Scioto Valley and the more distinctive iron districts of Lawrence and Jackson counties further to the east. SCIOTO AND HOCKING VALLEY RAILROAD In the summer and fall of 1848 the building of a railroad down the valley of the Scioto River took substantial form, and on February 20, 1849, a charter was obtained from the Legislature for the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad, but nearly thirty years was to pass before Scioto County, or the lower region of the valley, was to be benefited by that and more substantial enterprises. The proposed route was from Newark, Licking County, to Portsmouth, via Lancaster, Chillicothe and Piketon, and under the terms of the charter work was to commence in August, 1849. But although Portsmouth wanted the road and subscribed $128,000 for it, the country districts did not, and managed to defeat the enterprise within Scioto County by seven votes, while Pike County cast a majority of 280 against it. In July, 1850, the company was organized, and in the following January the contract was let for building the first twenty miles of railroad between Hales Creek and Jackson. The first ties in Scioto County were laid in July, 1852 ; in September, the first locomotive appeared at Portsmouth and by the middle of November the track had been laid fourteen miles out. Trains were running regularly between Jackson and Portsmouth in October, 1853, and in the following year to Hamden Junction, where it connected with the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad ; but the furnaces of the Hanging Rock Iron Region still lacked any outlet on the Ohio River. IRON RAILROAD AND IRONTON In the meantime an attempt had been made toward that end in the distinctive iron region covered by Lawrence and Jackson counties. The Iron Railroad was chartered March 17, 1849, with a capital of $500,000, its proposed line being from a. point in Upper Township, Lawrence County, on the Ohio River, to the southern line of Jackson County, with power to extend it north to Hamden Junction, where it was to connect with the Marietta and Cincinnati. On April 9, 1849, the Ohio River terminus was fixed and Ironton founded. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 97 The Iron Railroad was commenced in 1849, James O. Willard being the first president. This road was built by the owners of the charcoal furnaces, located in the northern part of Lawrence County, for the purpose of getting their pig iron to the Ohio River and getting their supplies from the river to the furnaces. It was organized and built by the same men who laid out the Town of Ironton, and as it was deemed certain that the town enterprise would be profitable and that the railroad enterprise would not, each stockholder in the town company was required to take twice as much stock in the railroad company as he was allowed to take in the town company. Their anticipations proved to be correct ; the town company paid handsomely but the railroad company only made two cash dividends in thirty years. The Iron Railroad was more expensive than had been anticipated and took longer to construct on account of a long tunnel between the waters of Storm Creek and Pine Creek. This tunnel was completed in December, 1851, and the first train ran through, the writer going through on it. The road was then extended to Centre Station in Upper Township, and there it stopped on account of another long tunnel. But the projectors had accomplished their prime object of providing the means of getting their iron to the Ohio River, which was their only means of access to the principal markets of the country. When the Dayton & South Eastern Narrow Gauge System was projected from .Dayton to Ironton, the Iron Railroad was purchased and incorporated with that system. The Iron Railroad was a standard gauge road, but the Dayton & South Eastern laid a third rail on the ties of the Iron Railroad and used that road from Dean Station into Ironton. Later on the Iron Railroad was again operated as a separate system and then sold again and became a part of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railway, to which it still belongs. BALTIMORE AND OHIO SOUTHWESTERN The original Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad never got beyond Hamden Junction, to which it was completed in 1854. The enterprise then collapsed, and the road-bed and' right-of-way, which had already been heavily mortgaged, were sold under foreclosure and forfeited to the land owners. The most of the stock was held by persons living along the line of the contemplated road. The portion of the road completed south and southwest from Hamden Junction to Portsmouth went into the hands of a receiver in 1858, who operated it under the order of the court until the road was sold in 1863. It was purchased by Providence (Rhode Island) capitalists, as trustees of the bondholders, for $411,000. The company was reorganized as the Portsmouth and Newark Railroad Company and sold the property to the Marietta and Cincinnati Railway Company. For twenty years, or until 1883, the line was operated as the Portsmouth branch of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, when another reorganization was effected under the name of the Cincinnati, Washington and Baltimore Vol I— 7 98 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION Railroad, and in December, 1889, became the acknowledged property of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. THE SCIOTO VALLEY ROAD AWAKENS As stated, it took nearly thirty years before the valley of the Scioto obtained a direct north and south outlet by rail from the interior of the state to the Ohio River. The old Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad slept for nearly a decade,: but toward the close of the Civil war showed such signs of awakening as to let the contract for the grading of a line between Columbus and Chillicothe. That revival was in August, 1865, and was shortly afterward succeeded by a calmness which resembled stupor. In 1869 it was suggested that the Cleveland and Columbus take over the enterprise as a feeder, but nothing tangible came of such propositions until the Lake Shore, Columbus and Portsmouth Railroad was chartered in 1870. Within the following two years that foreign concern created such a railroad fever in the Scioto Valley that Scioto, Pike and Ross counties voted generous subscriptions to build the Chillicothe-Columbus line ; but Pickaway voted against it. In 1873 the work of securing the right-of-way progressed, and in 1874 Portsmouth raised a private subscription of $130,000. Such tangible friendliness toward railroad building aroused the old Scioto Valley Railroad Company. As a home concern it claimed the right-of-way and the subscriptions gathered by the Lake Shore, Columbus and Portsmouth Railroad were finally turned over to the old company. NORFOLK AND WESTERN LINES The reorganized Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad of 1875 was headed by T. Ewing as president, and by August of that year the line was put under contract from Columbus to Chillicothe and was completed in June, 1876. In April, 1877, grading for the road was commenced in Scioto County. On the 10th of that month, at 2 o'clock P. M., ground was broken on the City Hospital grounds in the presence of 2,000 people. On the 4th of November, 1877, at 3 o'clock P. M., the Scioto Railroad was in running order between Portsmouth and Columbus, and in December the citizens of the two terminal points exchanged courtesies in a series of excursions and banquets. Later the line was extended to Ironton, the first train arriving at the Lawrence County city in February, 1881. In January, 1890, the Central Trust Company of New York, representing eastern capitalists, purchased the Scioto Valley Railroad for $3,265,200 and assumed an indebtedness of $44,000,000. A reorganization, known as the Scioto Valley and New England Railroad, disposed of the property to the Norfolk and Western Railroad in June of that year and it is still a part of that system. The western extension of the Norfolk and Western Railroad was HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 99 incorporated in January, 1876, as the Cincinnati, Batavia and Williams-burg Railroad. In May of that year the capital was increased from $200,000 to $500,000 and the eastern terminus was changed from Williamsburg to Portsmouth; the line also received another name, the Cincinnati and Eastern. In August, 1877, it reached Winchester, Adams County, but Cincinnati and Portsmouth were not placed in direct connection through that line until August, 1884. The year before it had been placed in the hands of a receiver, and it was under an order of the court that it reached Portsmouth when it did. In 1887 the Cincinnati and Eastern Road was purchased by the Ohio and Northwestern, which built a track from Portsmouth to Sciotoville. In 1891 the Ohio and Northwestern Railroad became the Cincinnati, Portsmouth and Virginia, which, in 1901, was purchased by the Norfolk and Western. CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO SOUTH SHORE LINE In 1886 the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad between Ashland, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, was begun opposite Portsmouth, and three years later through service was- in force. Afterward the road established ferry connection with Ironton on the north shore. CINCINNATI, HAMILTON AND DAYTON The line now known as the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton was formerly a branch of the Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, which was built through Jackson County and most of Lawrence from 1877 to 1883. DAYTON, TOLEDO AND IRONTON The main line of the Dayton, Toledo and Ironton Railroad originated in an effort of the people of the Lower Scioto Valley to shorten their connection with the Marietta road and Cincinnati, by avoiding the roundabout route by way of Hamden Junction. In December, 1874, the State Legislature granted a charter for the Springfield, Jackson and Pomeroy Railroad, narrow gauge, and in March of the following year a company was organized. The road was put under contract from Spring-field to Jackson in the following October ; in February a small depot was erected near the Chillicothe bridge, and the first rail was spiked in December. In May, 1877, the road was completed from Jackson to Waverly, but the company got into debt and construction stopped for the time. Two years later the concern was 'closed out under sheriff's sale. The enterprise next appeared in the hands of the Springfield Southern Railroad Company, the line to run from Springfield to Rockwood, Lawrence County ; the road was also changed to standard gauge in 1880, and the first through train from Springfield to Jackson made the trip on January 1, 1880. In March, 1882, the road was again reorganized as the Ohio Southern, and afterward as the Dayton, Toledo and Ironton.