288 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CHAPTER VI.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS-EMIGRANT SETTLERS-IN THE CLEARINGS-CABINS AND CABIN LIFE-THE SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS -TOMAHAWK RIGHTS-DISCOURAGED SQUATTERS-ORDER OF TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS-FARMING-FOOD- CABIN AFFAIRS-STOCK-SUGAR CAMPS-MILLS-LOG ROLLINGS--WEDDINGS.

THE settlements then on the Miami, at the mouth of Mad River and below, and those up the Mad River Valley, on lands that are now in Montgomery, Greene and Clark Counties, were made late in the winter of 1795-96, and early in the spring following. The men who had, fortunately, been connected with the surveying parties the summer before, had the choice of lands-notably, D. C. Cooper. Capt. John Dunlap, Benjamin Van Cleve, Jonathan Mercer, David Lowry, Jonathan Donnel and William Gahagan. These choice tracts of lands were secured by the surveyors for themselves, or for some member of the party, by establishing lines and corners of the desired tracts, then incorporating the field notes of such special surveys, with the notes of the general survey, thus giving correct description of the chosen tract, for proper entry at the Government Land Office.

THE EMIGRANT SETTLERS.

Later in the year, yet closely crowding in the wake of the pioneer colony, came the steady stream of emigrant settlers as reenforcements to the little band of brave sprits who first ventured into the task of clearing the dense woods of the hills and valleys of the Miami. Some located in the bottom lands around Hole's Creek, others below, at Hole's Station; several selected their lands a short distance up Mad River, near the Hamer tract, and two or three families ventured up the Miami just above Dayton. Roving bands of Indians forced them all to keep within rallying distance of the larger settlement, at the mouth of Mad River.

Temporary protection was first to be provided. The men were all experienced woodsmen. Surrounded by the dangers of frontier life, they could rely upon their own skill, experience and resources, for safety and a maintenance in their new forest homes; with poles, against a bank or log, they built half-faced, or three-sided huts, open in front to face the fire, and roofed with bark or skins, as shelter for the families, while the men were clearing away for the cabin sites. Their situation was not specially uncomfortable; and, although wearied with the anxieties and dangers of border warfare, and their means of subsistance exhausted by the delay at Cincinnati; they hoped now to be able to settle down and provide for their families.

IN THE CLEARINGS.

The men were on guard night and day. By night and by day, at the cabins or in the clearings, the trusty rifle was ready for instant use. When the cabin site was selected, all timber within rifle range was cut down, to deprive prowl ing Indians of shelter and temptation for a shot at the settler or his family. While the men were thus at work, felling the timber, the women, too, were busy with axes, grubbing out thickets and digging holes, here and there, wherever possible between the roots and stumps; to plant corn and potatoes. The men were in the clearings before day, and, by the light of the blazing brush-fires.

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worked until late at night. The ax was the important implement; with it the backwoodsmen built the cabins, cleared the land, grubbed out the roots and stumps. cut the wood, blazed and opened the roads, marked his corners, split the rails and built bridges.

CABINS AND CABIN LIFE.

After the huts were made as comfortable as possible, logs were gotten out for the cabins. that were generally put up one and a half stories high. When this much had been accomplished, neighbors would join in hauling logs, poles, puncheons and clapboards, on bobs and drags, to the cabin sites, and in " raising." Puncheons were split for the floors; doors were cut out of the logs on one side of the cabins, and clapboard doors were hung upon wooden hinges, fastened with a wooden latch. " The latchstring always hung out." The roof was of clapboards. held down by weight-poles. The chimney was built of sticks and mud. The upper floor was laid with loose clapboards, and a short ladder was used to go up and down. Wooden pins were -used to fasten the timbers-nails or spikes were not to be had. The beds were constructed by driving two stakes between the floor luncheons, poles were placed in the forks and one end between the cracks of the logs: across these poles clapboards were laid for the bottom of the bed, and dried grass and pelts spread over it. Tables were made of a split slab, with four legs set in auger-holes; three-legged stools and benches were made iii the same manner; pins were driven in the walls. on which clapboards rested for shelves or mantels. Clothing was hung on pegs around the cabin. and the rifle, powder-horn and shot pouch hung upon buck-horns over the chimney-piece This, the primitive log cabin, roomy and comfortable. the home of the pioneers of the Miami Valley-the first buildings erected by the whites anywhere in this region. Windows were not needed until winter. As the cabins were not chinked and daubed, plenty of light came in between the logs and by the open door. Feed for the horses and cattle was scarce. but they could find good pickings in the grassy patches and the young sprouts in fhe thickets. The settlers had no great variety of provisions. and were often reduced to a single dish of broiled venison or wild turkey. This. however. arose, not from the scarcity of game. but from the fact that they could not spare the time to go into the woods hunting until the supply of meat was fully exhausted. Their determination to establish themselves in their new homes never wavered, and they in good heart. met and conquered every hardship. Corn. turnips, potatoes and tobacco were harvested the first season: nuts were gathered for winter use: wild grass and fodder was stacked for the stock; so that the little settlement was well supplied with the necessaries and some luxuries for the first winter in the woods around the mouth of Mad River.

William Hamer and his family, and William Gahagan, built a comfortable cabin on the hill at the Hamer tract, and jointly cultivated a small patch of corn and garden truck. In the fall, the cabins were chinked and daubed, and made snug for the winter. Windows were made by cutting out about three feet of one of the logs and putting in a few upright pieces, pasting on them (instead of glass) pieces of paper greased with bear's oil, which afforded some light and kept out the rain. The wooden fire-place and chimney were protected from fire by a liberal lining of clay mud.

The cabins were scantily supplied with tableware and cooking utensils. Cups of any kind were a great rarity: pewter and wooden plates and bowls were used: spoons were made of horn; if knives and forks were scarce, wooden ones were made. A covered skillet or spider. a pot or kettle. comprised the

kitchenware. These were kept scrupulously clean, and usually hung about the mantel.

290 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The pioneers were thus kept busy, clearing and building. through the summer of 1796.The little tract of land cultivated yielded an abundant supply for the following winter. The woods were full of name, such as bear, deer, wild turkey, pheasants, rabbits. raccoons, opossum and squirrels. Wolves, wildcats, foxes and rattlesnakes were also uncomfortably numerous. The rivers were full of fish, and in season wild ducks and geese were plenty. Each man and boy was the owner of a flint-lock rifle or army musket, and. from practice, all were good marksmen.

Corn was first pounded in a hominy-block. then shaken through a sieve; taking the finer portion for meal to make bread, hoe-cake and mush, and using the coarser for hominy. Walnuts gathered by the boys were the only luxuries enjoyed-except the cob pipe. Having no candles. the only light they had was from the huge log fires that so comfortably warmed the cabins. In the long winter evenings. additional light was had by throwing on the fires seasoned fagots and the bark of shelly hickory.

The women attended to all household affairs. milked the cows. cooked, spun, wove, made all the clothing. tended the garden and cared for the winter truck. Fur skins were used for moccasins, clothing and harness: bear-skins; and other pelts were used on the floor and beds. The men hunted and brought in the meat, planted, plowed and gathered the crops, cleared the land and cared for the stock. Coonskin caps were generally worn. The hunting-shirt was made of linsey or deer-skins: it was long, covering the hips. Leggings were worn over the breeches, wrapped with thongs tied to the moccasins to keel) out mud and water.

The weather of that first winter in these backwoods proved favorable for out-door work: all were busy clearing more ground for the next spring's planting, the women working with their husbands in the clearings, rolling logs and burning brush. thus providing, for the support of their families by extend in the tract of ground for cultivation. In addition to the little patch cleared for garden truck, it was necessary also to prepare a piece of ground for flax and hemp, for. while the men and boys could be clothed with garments made of buckskin, it, was not so with the women. They had to spin and weave cloth for Their own clothing.

THE SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS.

In 1797, large numbers of settlers came in. who. like those of the year before, fully intended to locate permanently upon the lands selected. and had no idea of difficulty in securing Good titles: nevertheless, as the situation developed. they were all squatters, with no other than squatters' rights, either in the town lots or farming lands. The whole of this counts up to the opening of the land offices, in 1801. was simply a large squatter settlement.

Men would come alone. with nothing but the rifle and hatchet to provide themselves with food from the forests; two or three would sometimes journey together; others brought their families. and sometimes strong colonies of several families would come to the frontier to locate together. Such parties. largo and small, were often months on the way. some bringing provisions and plunder on pack-horses or in wagons, while others had no more than the men and women conveniently packed on their backs. Other parties would load their few household goods in a dug-out, and pole up the river to Hole's Station, or Dayton, or higher up the rivers to a Dear point from which to pack their stuff through the woods to their lands.

TOMAHAWK RIGHTS.

Before the surveys, the title fully respected by the settlers of the county is known as the "tomahawk right." It was made by deadening a few trees near a spring, or at some other prominent point on the tract: and by blazing trees

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at the corners, or along the lines. A " settlement right" was even stronger, as the pioneer was on hand to defend his property. Either of these rights, however, were recognized as establishing a priority of claim, and were often bought and sold, as it was better to buy the improvements, rather than quarrel with parties who held them.

Except at the few open spaces of prairie and wet lands, the county was densely wooded; cabins were to be built, the forests cut down and cleared up, panthers, bears and wolves were to be exterminated. The brave pioneers, instead of looking at the immensity of their tasks, went to work to clear the land, little by little, and to till what they could the first year. Good crops of corn, tobacco, hemp, flax, beans, turnips, pumpkins, cabbage and potatoes, were harvested in 1797; wild grass and fodder were stacked for winter feed; and since that crop, the surplus product of the valley has increased steadily from year to year.

So many came without horses or oxen that neighborhoods would join in clearing; and log-rollings were kept up for half the winter; when it came time to burn, the men would fire the heaps, and the women tend the fires, working late at night in favorable weather. For the winter, the children gathered walnuts, hickorynuts, hazelnuts, butternuts, chincopins, haws and wild grapes; honey was found in great plenty in hollow trees, and often in the ground, under the roots of dead trees.

SQUATTERS DISCOURAGED.

The fine settlements on Twin Creek; over in the broad bottoms of the Miami, at Hole's Station, and at the mouth of Hole's Creek; in the rich lands up Wolf Creek, Mad River, Miami and Stillwater Valleys, were greatly disturbed at Government delay. Settlers could not afford to waste time in improving land to which they could get no title. Many who had built cabins and cleared land, in 1797, 1798, 1799 and 1800, became discouraged, and sold out, or abandoned their claims, and pushed farther into the wilderness. So that others who came in, from 1801 to 1804, found corn patches already cleared and cabins, that could be bought cheaply, or had for nothing. Former occupants had gone Up to the headwaters of the Miami, or Mad River, or had returned to the settlements nearer Cincinnati.

ORDER OF TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS.

Without reference to date or order of organization of the townships, we give the list of the townships of the county in the order'of their permanent settlement. The first settlement was made in the town of Dayton, then Mad River Township, Van Buren, Miami, Washington, German, Jackson, Jefferson, Harrison, Madison, Wayne, Randolph, Butler, Clay, Perry. Shortly after the arrival of the first settlers, at the month of Mad River, a few followed William Hamer to his settlement, farther up, while others settled in the bottoms below Thomas Davis, in what is now Van Buren Township. Then Jerome Holt, with his family, were among the next arrivals; then D. C. Cooper, Robert Edgar, Gen. Jacob Brown, Thomas Arnett, George Adams and Paul D. Butler.

In 1797, others followed, locating along Hole's Creek, in Washington Township, and at the mouth of the creek; then below, where, shortly afterward, the block-house and stockade, known as Hole's Station, were built by William Hole. For a time, that station was a point from which squatter adventurers would prospect for location, up Hole's Creek, across the river and up Bear Creek, and in the Twin Creek Valleys. Choice spots, little prairies, the rich loamy lands of Washington, Miami, German, Jefferson and Jackson Townships were thus appropriated. The squatter people erected their cabins, cleared little

292 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

patches of land, and tilled the soil; and thus had occupied almost the entire half of the county when the land offices were opened. There were Indian camps at different points west of the Miami, and small bands of savage hunters were constantly roving through the woods, but the squatters were made compara tively safe by the outposts of Dayton, Greenville, Piqua and Urbana. The township historians will show that, after the survey of the lands, and the opportunity for purchase was given, that most of the squatters had abandoned their claims, or soon sold out and left.

William Mason, the first squatter in Harrison Township, went up Wolf Creek and built his cabin, on Section 80, as early as the year 1800-cleared a little patch along the creek, and lived there in seclusion for several years. John Miller and family, in the spring of 1799, settled a short distance up Wolf Creek, where they lived for several years; then entered land north of Dayton.

William King came from Kentucky, with his family, about 1801, cut a road two miles through the woods to his cabin site west of Dayton. John Neff entered a very large tract of land in the bend on the west bank of the Miami, in the northeast corner of Harrison Township. That part of the river is now known as Peach Tree Bend.

The first squatter in Madison Township was John Williams, the farmer, who, in 1799, lived, with his family, in the cabins at the southeast corner of Water and Wilkinson streets, in Dayton. In 1800, he moved, with his family and stock on to lands up Wolf Creek, at the mouth of Salem Creek--lands that he afterward entered and farmed. He became one of the most prominent and influential men of the county. David Ward and family settled on the rich lands at the mouth of Salem Creek, in the year 1800, and the next year entered the lands. Peter Dietrick, with his family, in 1802, and Samuel Isaac and John Ullery, with their families, settled in the township in 1803.

Most of the more thrifty of the first settlers of Had River and Dayton, and a few up at Honey Creek and Staunton, held "tomahawk rights " to choice spots of Wayne Township lands, but sold out to actual settlers as they came in. The Indian trail to the north afterward became the pioneer road to Livingston and Staunton; it was the route used by Hull's army, in 1812, then by Gov. Meigs and Gen. Harrison; afterward became the State road, and now known as the Old Troy pike; was the line of first settlement in Wayne Township. Benjamin Van Clove lived, for a short time, on his farm on that road, and, in 1801, the Rev. Joseph Tatman, one of the early itinerant preachers of the Methodist Church, came to the township.

In 1798, several prospectors, who afterward became pioneers of Randolph Township, came, horseback, across the country, from their homes in Randolph County, N. C., in search of new lands, and to this end explored the Stillwater Valley as far as the falls, selecting lands, which they entered in 1801. and, with their families, settled upon in 1802. These first settlers in Randolph Township were David Mast, wife and son; Daniel Hoover and family, and his nephew, Daniel Hoover, with his family, and David Hoover and family. They cut the road through the woods to their lands, on the banks of Stillwater, in the northeast corner of the township.

The bottoms along Stillwater were the choice lands of Butler Township, and therefore were the first taken up by settlers. When the land office, at Cincinnati was opened, in 1801, most of the rich lowlands along the river, had been "blazed" for entry; and 'the southwest corner of the township soon became a bustling little settlement. A few years later, flat-boats were regularly loaded there for the Ohio River and Mississippi markets. Henry Yount, Thomas Newman, George Sinks and John Quillan were the first settlers to improve their lands.

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Clay was not one of the earlier settled townships; certainly there were no squatters in that part of the county, and the cold clay lands were not in demand until in 1803. In 1804, John Rohrer, with his family, settled a little northeast of the center of the township. Then came John Spitler, and in 1805 the township began to fill up.

If there were any settlers in Perry Township prior to 1805, they became dissatisfied and sought elsewhere for richer, better-drained lands. But in 1806, as the more desirable locations on Twin Creek, to the west, and on Stillwater, to the east, were taken up, then settlers began to locate on the flat, beach lands of Perry Township.

In 1799, the whole valley, as far north as the Indian Line, was dotted with cabins, and at Loramie's Station there was quite a busy little trading-post. The progress of the settlement of Miami Valley was never checked; settlements increased steadily in numbers, and gradually spread over the hilly lands, yet there was always an uneasiness about the Indians, that caused precaution against outbreaks. Stockades were built, in 1799, in different parts of this county, and many times the people were assembled for mutual protection. In 1806, and in 1.810, there was great alarm; then, during the exciting war times 1811 to 1814-special guard was necessary.

FARMING.

The yield of crops in the bottom lands soon developed the good judgment shown in their selection, although at first they were very wet. The implements used in farming were few and simple. Plows were made of jack-oak sticks, shaped and sharpened somewhat like a shovel-plow, and the first improvement was a curved branch of a tree pointed with a piece of iron. Axes were often used to cut out the sod, and between roots and stumps, to make holes in which to drop the grain, or to plant potatoes; planting was all done by hand, the big weeds were pulled out by hand or clubbed down. Seed was covered by dragging a tree-top behind a pair of bullocks. Sickles were first used, then the handles were lengthened, then the blades, then fingers were added, and that made the cradle that was used until modern machinery came in. In handling hay and other crops, wooden forks, made from forked brush-wood, were used; there were no barns for storing unthrashed grain, and the newly-cut crops were therefore stacked. Grain was thrashed with flails, or tramped out with horses; corn was gathered and shelled by hand, potato-digging was accomplished with pointed sticks or paddles.

FOOD.

The truck-patch supplied vegetables in plenty for the table. Mush, cornpone and hominy were, for the first few years, the only bread used in the cabins. Mush and milk was a standard dish. Milk was a great item in the support of the families; and one of the first things a settler did was to buy, trade or work, to own a cow, where there was a herd, one cow would wear a bell which could be heard a great distance through the woods. One of the first duties in the morning, was to listen for the bell, the tone of which was as familiar as the voice of any of the family. When, for want of pasture, the milk supply was short, hominy and mush were cooked in sweetened water, bear's oil, or the grease from fried meat. Eggs were in fair supply from the nests of wild turkeys, geese and ducks; and the tables could be provided with venison and bear meat. The desirable locations for the cabins were near springs, branches and never-failing streams; wells were 'not dug until the farms were fairly started, then the old familiar well-sweep was to be found in some shady spot near the improvement.

294 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CABIN AFFAIRS.

All were on a social equality; rich and poor dressed alike-the men wearing hunting-shirt, buckskin pants, moccasins and fur caps; and the women dressed in coarse garments, made with their own hands. Almost every house contained a loom, and almost every woman was a weaver. Almost every family tanned their own leather. The tan-vat was a large trough, sunk in the ground; bark was easily obtained and pounded up. The leather was coarse but durable. Rosy-cheeked lassies, in linsey-woolsey dresses, were wooed and wedded by the hardy pioneers clad in these buckskin garments.

There were no roads through the woods, but the trees were blazed to show the route to the cabins; soon bridle-paths were worn that were finally cut out for roads. In this way, the roads to Springfield, Xenia, Waynesville, Germantown, Eaton and Greenville were located. Without calenders, time was reckoned accurately enough for all pioneer purposes; years were remembered by events that had occurred, such as floods, fires, continued snow or rain, hot spells, weddings, sickness and deaths. The seasons were reckoned by the routine of farm life-corn-planting, corn-plowing, harvest, corn-husking, seeding-time and frost. Time of day was designated by the hours, from sunup, midday, and the hours until sundown. Signs and traditions had very great influence over the people.

STOCK.

Horses and cattle were brought to the county by many of the pioneer parties that came; but both cattle and horses were small, and were not much improved until after 1820.In February, of 1799, there were continued deep snows and very cold weather, causing great suffering among the live stock through the valley, as there were no barns and but little other protection for them.

D. C. Cooper raised the first hogs in the county, in 1799, on his farm, in Van Buren Township, a mile south of Dayton. They were the old-time, long legged, slab-sided, ugly, savage "elm-peelers." It was said, if an "elm-peeler " heard, a hundred yards away, an acorn rattling, as it dropped through the leaves, he could run and catch it on the first bounce every time. They increased wonderfully in numbers, were marked by their owners and turned loose to feed and fatten; then, in the fall, when butchering time came, the settlers would hunt them up in the forest and shoot them with the rifle. The mast of 1801 and 1802 brought in wild turkeys in such numbers that they became a nuisance to the settlement, as well as destructive to the growing corn, and to save the crop it was gathered early. The hogs fattened on the great crops of acorns and beachnuts, and did not suffer much from the attacks of wolves, as they had learned as a matter of defense to go in droves, and when threatened, would form a circle around the young pigs, and when a wolf approached too near, they became aggressive, and would tear him to pieces with their tusks. Sheep were brought to the colony in the spring of the year 1800, but for many years afterward, wolves were a great drawback to sheep raising. It was not safe, at any time, to allow them to graze on the hills without the most careful watching, and it was necessary to keep them in strong pens at night. Wool was carded by hand, spun in the cabins, dyed, woven and made into clothing by the women. In later years, horses and cattle were branded; hogs and sheep were marked by slitting, cropping, or cutting the ears, so that each farmer could tell his own stock, and each peculiar mark was registered with the Township Clerk.

SUGAR-MAKING.

The spring of 1791 was favorable for sugar-making, and each year, as the number of settlers increased, greater quantities of "tree-sugar" were made. Al-

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though kettles were scarce, camps were rigged up, and the boiling continued as. long as the sap would run. Troughs were made of bark sewed together at the ends with elm-bark strings; a stick across the center held the bulge. Split strips or elder quills were driven into a split in the tree to run the sap into the troughs.

The old camp, with its primitive appliances, is no more; the kettle has been superseded by the pan, and the trough has become a mass of crumbling decay. The women and children are kept at home, and no longer know the old time delights of " sugaring-off," though in the past their services were not despised, and the whole household set up its abode in the woods. In that way sugar was made, and when the sap flowed 'profusely the operations were continued through the night, and the fires cast strange shadows in the woods. But, instead of a but of logs, a permanent sugar-house is now built, and furnished with many elaborate devices to prevent waste and deterioration. One change has certainly not been for the better, and that is the abandonment of the social life of the old camps, which made sugar-time a grand frolic.

MILLS.

Every expedient was resorted to to get corn cracked into meal. The "hominy block" was unsatisfactory, and grating by hand was worse. The stump-mortar was made by burning a round hole in the top of a stump; a spring pole was rigged over it, with a stone pestle attached. Hominy was first made by hulling corn, soaking the grains in weak lye, then cracking in the "hominy-block," or in the improved "stump-mortar." The hand-mill, although hard, slow work, was a welcome improvement, and soon one stood in the chimney-corner of every cabin. The stones were about four inches thick, and were broken down as nearly round as possible to about twenty inches in diameter. On top of the upper stone, near the edge, one end of a pole was fixed, the other end working in a socket in a piece of timber on the floor overhead. One person turned the stone by hand, while another fed the corn into the eye. It took two hours to grind enough meal to supply one person for a day, the operators often changing places in the work. Before the cabins were all supplied with these hand-mills, neighbors sometimes shouldered a peck or half bushel of corn, and carried it five miles to the cabin of a settler who had one, grind his corn, and return with the meal.

Flour was very scarce, and, at this time, was all brought from Cincinnati, and, as we,have said, was very expensive. Most of the settlers kept a small quantity laid by for use only in case of sickness. Those who could afford it had biscuit for breakfast on Sunday morning, baked in a spider before the fire. Corn-pone, dodgers and flap-jacks, supplied them for the rest of the week. Those who could not afford to buy flour would run the wheat three or four times through these hand-mills.

The next advance made was when these little mills were rigged to run by horse power, by fastening a pole across the stone, hitching the horse to the end of the pole, and driving him round and round a circle. The next improvement was made in running a single pair of stones by water-power. The wheel was a simple paddle wheel, run by the natural current of the stream, and, although not reliable, was good enough to grind all the wheat and corn that the settlement needed.

The first mill built anywhere in the Miami Valley, north of the fourth range of townships, was a small tub-mill, built by William Hamer, to grind corn. It stood where Water street is now located in Dayton, just east of, and near to, the canal bridge. The water was brought across from the mouth of Mad River by a small race, and the tail race ran down the present course of the canal.

298 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

In the fall of the year 1799, D. C. Cooper started a small distillery on his farm, two miles south of Dayton, on Rubicon Creek, Van Buren Township, and between the pike and canal as now located; and shortly afterward he built a saw-mill and "corn-cracker," each run by water-power. The saw-mill power was a paddle-wheel; the "corn-cracker" was a tub-mill. He had four posts set in the ground, about four feet apart, two on each side of the creek, forming a square; the posts stood four feet above ground, and on top of them was a puncheon floor, and on that a small pair of buhrs were set. To the perpendicular shaft the "runner" was attached, the shaft passed through the bed-stone, and at the lower end was the horizontal tub-wheel. Four forks were planted to hold the poles, on which were laid` the clapboard roof, to keep the rain out of the hopper. The sides of the mill were not inclosed. This little mill had most of the trade from the upper Miami country, and from up Mad River as far as Springfield. Soon after that, possibly in the year 1800, a small overshot mill was built on McConnell Creek, just south of where the C., C., C. & I. R. R. now crosses the Springfield pike, in Mad River Township.

Settlers, in coining to the Cooper mill, would sometimes bring pack-horses loaded with sacks of corn, following the narrow trails through the forest. They came equipped to camp along the way. Rifle, ammunition, an ax, compass, blankets and bells, were necessary. Halting to camp at night, the horses were unloaded, bells fastened around their necks, and they were turned loose to graze. The fire being built, supper was cooked and eaten, after which the lonely traveler spread his bearskin for a comfortable sleep; then breakfast and an early start next morning for the mill. After such a journey, the pioneer would often have to wait a day or two for his turn.

With the increase in population, water-wheels and mill machinery were rapidly improved after the year 1800. The mill-dams were usually made of brush, and were often washed away by spring freshets. Millers made their own buhrs out of limestone or granite bowlders: "raccoon buhrs" were a later improvement.

WINTER WORK AND RECREATIONS.

Log-rolling, house-raising, quilting-parties, corn-huskings and shooting matches brought the men, women and children together for a frolic. Frequently they came twenty miles distance to participate. All hands, after performing their share of the work, enjoyed a big dinner; the younger people dancing all night till broad daylight, to go home for breakfast in the morning.

Early to bed and early to rise, was the motto and practice of the pioneers. Winter evenings in the cabins would have been too long and tedious; there was, however, always some little work to be done, in which all of the family could engage, as they sat in the fire-light around the big comfortable log-fire. Some would shell corn, scrape turnips, grate pumpkins for bread, stem and twist tobacco, plait straw for hats and break flax, all to the music of the spinning-wheel. But little time was given to sports and indulgence in luxury, rich and poor alike being compelled to labor. Young folks would gather in the winter at some of the larger cabins for a dance. The music would begin early, and, as most of the boys could fiddle, they kept it up until daylight, making it merry on the puncheon floors, the dancers often having to stop to pull big splinters out of the heels and soles of their shoes. The dances were jigs, fourhanded reels, double-shuffle, break-downs, scamper-downs and Western-swing. It was customary for the men folks to make a "stew" for all hands. After the dancing was in full glee, a big fire would be built out in the road; a big kettle was placed on the fire, in which to boil the stew that was made as follows: Several gallons each of water and whisky, sweetened with tree-sugar; allspice and butter were also used. Men and women would drink of it as they liked through the night, always, however, in decency and moderation.

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 299

WEDDINGS.

It was the custom among the pioneers to marry young. All were on a social equality. Very little time was given to "keeping company;" the first impressions of love generally resulted in a wedding. The law permitted the marriage of "male persons of the age of eighteen years, female persons of the age of fourteen years, and not nearer of kin than first cousins;" and required " that notice should be given either in writing, posted at some conspicuous place within the township where the female resided; or publicly declared on two different days of public worship." Weddings were the grand occasions of the early times. The frolic was anticipated with the brightest expectations. The ceremony usually took place before noon, immediately upon the arrival of the groom and his friends. The gentlemen were dressed in linsey hunting shirts, fur caps, leather breeches, leggings and moccasins; the ladies in linsey petticoats, heavy shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs and buckskin gloves. Any ornaments they had were relics of old times. Jokes were practiced on such occasions by the young bloods of the neighborhood. Grapevines were tied across the road to trip the horses, and an ambush was formed to frighten the girls and the horses; trees were felled in the road and other tricks were played to excite and annoy. The dinner after the ceremony was always generous. Bear meat and venison, potatoes, cabbage and turnips were served in wooden and pewter plates, on a split slab table. Dancing began immediately after dinner, and lasted till the next morning. Reels, square dances and jigs, were in order. Some of the jigs were called "cut out." When either of the couple got tired, the place was at once supplied from the company, and in this way the musicians were the first to be worried out. If any of the crowd hid away during the night for rest or a nap, they were hunted up and put on the floor. It was the custom for the young ladies to steal the bride away and put her to bed. They had to climb the ladder from the lower floor to the loft. The guests would never let on that they were noticed. The young men, in the same way, conducted the groom to the bed of his bride, while the dance went on. Seats were always scarce, and after every dance each young man would hold a girl in his lap (a kneesy position). Toward morning, some one would suggest refreshments for the new couple, when as many of the party as there was room for, would go up the ladder with the bottle and lunch. The bride and groom were compelled to eat and drink.

To give the young people a start in life, it was customary for all hands to turn out and put them up a cabin. A day would be designated soon after the wedding for the neighbors to assemble. The party was divided into squads as choppers, haulers and carpenters a division to get out the puncheons, and another to split the clapboards; four-corner men to place the logs and carry up the corners, and a squad to split the chimney sticks out of oak hearts. The cabin was built of round logs; a hole, six or eight feet wide, was left in one end, in which to build the fire-place of bowlders or flat stones, laid in mud mortar, and kept in place by a pen of split logs built on the outside; the chimney was built on top of this, laid up in clay mud, and lined with mud. There were jolly times at these raisings, sometimes taking three or four days to finish the cabin, and the whole affair would wind up with a house-warming and another all night dance. Then the cabin was considered ready for the newly married couple.

The first wedding in the Dayton settlement, of which there is a record, was the marriage of Benjamin Van Cleve to Mary Whitten, August 28, 1800, at her father's house, near Dayton. The bride was described as a likely girl, young, lively, industrious and ingenuous. Her marriage portion was a few household

300 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

and kitchen utensils a bed, a cow and a heifer, a ewe and two lambs, a sow and pigs, a saddle and spinning-wheel.

Another groom, with his bride, brought with them, on the wedding-day, to their new home in the village, all of their worldly goods. He bad gone out for her on horseback, and, after the ceremony, she was placed behind him on the horse, and thus they rode home. She carried two pewter plates, two cups, a knife and fork, and a small sack of meal; these, with the horse crittter, were all they had in the world.

Cotton check cost a buckskin per yard, and, as it took five yards for a dress pattern, the bride who could have one in her wedding outfit was counted one of the belles.

One of the pioneer fathers, when his daughter was married, gave her a loaf of bread, a piece of pork, some potatoes, and loaned her a frying-pan. This was all the young couple had to begin the world with the day they moved into their log cabin, twelve feet square. The groom made two wooden knives and forks to use at their first meal. When, in the spring, necessity required that he come to the village to trade pelts for a yard and a half of calico, in which to dress the baby, there was none to be had. In the emergency, his wife cut up a pair of his pants to make the first frock for the baby; and for a cradle, the baby was rocked in a buckeye trough.

This notice, copied from the Magistrate's docket, was displayed on a tree up near Staunton

To all whom it may concern:-Know ye that Michael Carrer and Miss Lennon, daughter of the widow Lennon, both of Staunton, will be joined in the holy banns of matrimony on Wednesday, the 7th day of October, 1801, agreeably to a law of the Territory of the Northwest, providing for marriages. Given under my hand this 11th day of September, 1801.

D. C. COOPER, J. P. for the Territory.