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108 - PIONEER LIFE IN NOBLE COUNTY CHAPTER VII. PIONEER LIFE IN NOBLE COUNTY. THE WESTERN PIONEERS- THEIR CHARACTER-DESCRIPTION OF THEIR WORK - DISADVANTAGES - PIONEER GATHERINGS- DESCRIPTION OF THE LOG CABIN AND THE MANNER OF ITS ERECTION-THE KITCHEN UTENSILS OF THE PIONEER HOUSEHOLD-THE BILL OF FARE AND HOW IT WAS PREPARED-FISH AND GAME-GREAT FLIGHT OF WILD PIGEONS - PIONEER AGRICULTURE-RUDE IMPLEMENTS-HARD WORK - WOMAN'S WORK- THE SPINNING- WHEELS AND THE LOOMS- ALL CLOTHING OF HOME MANUFACTURE- THE KINDS OF GARMENTS IN FASHION LONG AGO - LITERARY, RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES- THE PIONEER PREACHERS-THE EARLY SCHOOLS-MANNER OF TRAVEL-SLOW GROWTH OF THE SETTLEMENTS-PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT - EARLIEST SETTLERS OF THE COUNTY. THE early settlers labored under many disadvantages, but it is unlikely that any of them ventured thus far into what was then "The Wild West" with the hope of finding their pathway strewn with roses. They were blessed with strength and health, and, better than all, with good courage, and, sustained by the hope of "a good time coming," could cheerfully and manfully work early and late. Humble as their work may appear when attention is given to its details, there was, nevertheless, an element of heroism in it. Men of stout hearts, strong arms and determined spirits have always been in the vanguard of the army of progress. The axes of the backwoodsmen have cleared the road ; civilization follows them. The work of the early settlers was noble, and the memory of it deserves to be perpetuated. The pioneers of this county found the lands which they had selected growth of heavy timber. Usually the settler constructed a temporary shelter of poles and bark, then took his axe and proceeded to clear a small spot of ground, or at least to clear it enough so that a small crop of corn could be raised. Wheat, being less hardy, he did not usually attempt to raise until the ground had been planted to corn a few times. As a result, during the first years in their rude house the food of the settler's household consisted of cornbread and wild game, with but httle variation in the bill of fare. Cornmeal was not easily procured, even if corn was plenty. The early mills were not numerous, neither was their capacity extensive. Frequently a dry season would leave every "tub- mill" and " corncracker" in a settlement as dry as the sands of the desert. Then long journeys on horseback must be undertaken to the nearest settlement which had a mill in running order. The roads of those for occupation covered with a dense days were mere paths, marked by PIONEER LIFE IN NOBLE COUNTY - 109 blazed trees, and very difficult for one not accustomed to them to follow. Of amusements there was no lack, especially where the settlers were gathered quite closely in neighborhoods. Raisings, log-rollings, cornshuckings and similar gatherings were constantly occurring, and were usually well attended. On these occasions whisky was used liberally ; sometimes it made great "fun" for the assemblage; at other times it was productive of fights, which were also regarded in the light of pleasurable diversions. Visiting was far more frequent between neighbors then than now, and anyone who lived within a half dozen miles was considered a neighbor. There was a genuine fraternal and helpful spirit prevalent between families ; feuds and jealousies were rare. All were about in the same condition financially; that is, all were poor, and all stood on equal social footing. Many an early settler, looking back upon that period when his struggles and hardships were greatest, has been heard to declare that those were the happiest days of his life. To the hunter this locality afforded about every kind of game found in the State. Many derived considerable revenue from the results of the chase, while others followed it from inclination— sometimes from necessity. As the settlements grew, it was only a few years before each neighborhood began to take on the ways of civilization ; they had schools, occasional preaching, and in other things became like the rest of the world, from which they were no longer estranged. The log cabin of early times has nearly passed from the earth forever. But it was a comfortable dwelling, and within its walls some of the. greatest men of our land have been nurtured and reared; by the light of the fire of hickory bark many an incipient statesman, orator, or pohtician has conned the lessons which were the foundation of that knowledge which brought wealth and fame to its possessor. Sometimes a settler or an intending settler came on without his family, and having selected his land chose a spot whereon to erect his humble dwelling. The location was made with a view to obtaining a convenient supply of good water, and for this reason a spot near a living spring was preferable; but when such an one could not be had a supply of water was readily obtained by digging a well, which, with curb and sweep and " the old oaken bucket," was an object which others beside the poet have reason to remember with grateful affection. When the settler had found a spot to his liking he began clearing the ground of the trees, reserving the largest and best logs to be hewed and used in constructing his cabin. For this, trees of nearly uniform size were selected and cut into suitable lengths, generally fifteen to eighteen feet. On an appointed day as many of the scattering neighbors as could be assembled gathered at the place to assist the newcomer in "raising" his house. 110 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO. After the ground-logs were laid the others were raised to their places by the aid of handspikes and "skid-poles," and men standing at the corners notched them as fast as they were placed in position. The place of " cornerman " was one of distinction, and the men chosen for these positions were supposed to be particularly skillful in the use of the - axe. The cabin was usually raised to a height of seven or eight feet, and then the laying of the gables began. These were formed by shortening each log successively and giving the ends the right slant. The gables were held in position and the framework of the roof formed by small, straight poles laid about two and a half feet apart, and extending from one gable to the other. These poles supported the shingles or "clapboards," as they were called, forming the roof, and the clapboards were held in place by weight-poles, stretching across the roof in the same manner as the poles beneath the clapboards, and secured by chunks of wood closely fitted between them at each end. The clapboards were usually about five feet in length, made from straight-grained oak, split in the requisite thickness. For the splitting. an instrument known as a frow was used, which was merely a straight blade, fixed upright at right angles with its handle, and driven by a Mallet. After the cabin was completed and roofed the walls were "chinked and daubed" with clay or mud, and all holes through which cold or rain might enter stopped. The walls had to be rechinked frequently, as the rain loosened and washed out the filling. One or two small windows were made by cutting out a square hole in the walls. Across the window sticks were fastened, and to them greased paper was attached to admit the light and keep out the cold. A doorway was made by cutting out a sufficient space in the logs if a saw was to be had-- otherwise it was made by laying short logs on each side until a sufficient height had been reached, when the logs were laid extending the whole length of the front of the cabin. The door was made of splits or clapboards, fastened to wooden cleats by wooden pins. The hinges were also of wood and fast cued to the door in a similar manner. A wooden latch was then arranged- on the inside of the door to be lifted from the outside by a leather string drawn to the door. When the string was drawn inside the door was securely fastened. From this manner of fastening the door arose the old saying, "The latchstring is always out," synonymous with hospitality. The chimney of the pioneer dwelling stood outside, at one end of the cabin. It was built either of stone or of sticks and mud. The fireplace was generally a huge affair. A space for it was left in the logs, or else one was cut for it after the walls were -erected. The back and sides of the fireplace were made of large, flat stones ; the width was sufficient to admit a log six or eight feet long. In the fireplace hung a crane, with iron hooks (or wooden ones when PIONEER LIFE 1N NOBLE COUNTY - 111 iron could not be obtained), upon which the pots and kettles of the household were suspended. The floor of the cabin —if it had one, which was not always the case—was made of puncheons, or boards split from the logs and hewed to the required thickness. Quite often the settler brought his family with him from his distant eastern or southern home,. and then he had to construct a temporary shelter, or, if the family was small, lodge them with some accommodating neighbor, until his cabin could be erected and made ready for its occupants. Frequently the cabins were constructed with lofts, which served a variety of purposes. The loft was reached by a ladder. It usually contained the spare bed of the household—if there was one— and was therefore the guest-chamber. It was also the place of storage of all household articles not needed for frequent use; and on its rafters usually hung bunches of herbs which had been gathered arid dried in the proper season, such as tansy, catnip, pennyroyal, boneset and wormwood, which in cases of sickness were steeped and administered to the patient in good, strong, old-fashioned allopathic doses. The labor of making a cabin was usually performed in two or three days, but after the family moved in they were occupied for several weeks or even months in finishing and furnishing it. The waits had to be chinked and daubed, and various articles of rude furniture manufact ured. A table was made of puncheons cleated together and resting upon four posts. Stools and benches were constructed for seats, and pegs were driven into the walls upon which shelves were laid. Bedsteads were made by forked sticks set in the floor and holding one end of poles, of which the other ends rested upon the logs forming the walls of the cabin. Under the large bed, usually placed in the corner, was to be seen a trundle-bed, which was drawn from its hiding-place at night and occupied by the children. In another corner stood the old-fashioned spinning- wheel, with a smaer one (used for spinning flax) near it ; in another the tahle, and in the remaining corner was a rude cupboard or set of shelves, which contained the few dishes of earthen ware and pewter the family possessed, with the plates set up edgewise to make the display of table furniture as conspicuous as possible. Over the .door way, in forked cleats, hung the pioneer's trusty riffe and powderhorn. The cooking utensils were few and simple. Such articles as could be boiled were cooked in kettles hung over the fire. A long-handled spider or frying-pan, set upon a bed of coals, was used for cooking meat, frying flapjacks or battercakes, etc. Bread was baked sometimes on a board set up before time fire ; but a better utensil for this purpose was time "Dutch oven," a shallow, cast- iron kettle with a cover, over and under which coals were placed. Meat was sometimes roasted by sus- 112 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO. pending it before the fire, a dish being placed underneath to catch the drippings. The food was simple and coarse, but wholesome. The pioneers suffered little from indigestion or dyspepsia, as their manner of life gave them plenty of healthy exercise in the open air. Hunting and fishing kept the pioneer's family well supplied with choice fish and game. Wild pigeons and wild turkeys were abundant. The former especially so at certain seasons. A pioneer settler thus writes of a remarkable flight of pigeons and other matters ; " I have been reminded by an old citizen of the large flocks of wild pigeons that flew over in 1819. The heavens for many days were fairly Clark with these birds, in their passage in the morning from the West and in the evening in their going back. * * * Since that period we have witnessed similar and partial flights, but nothing equal to that of 1819. Their evening passage was from their feeding-grounds in the East and South to their roosts far off in the West. They are birds of rapid flight ; no others can equal them. They have been taken at their roosts here in the western country with fresh and undigested South Carolina rice in their craws, Showing that they fly long distances with great rapidity. Hunters with torches and poles visit their roosts and slay thousands of them. In this neighborhood they were taken on the wing, the hunter placing himself upon the highest hill in the vicinity, where the flight of the birds was necessarily low. " This great pigeon flight in the early history of the country reminds me of an unprecedented migration or traveling of gray squirrels. About this period when the sky was obscured by the flight of wild pigeons, the Muskingum. River was literally covered with squirrels swimming across it from the east to the west. This particular migration of squirrels was remarkable and their numbers immense. In their course they leaped and swam over every obstacle and stream in their way. There was no stopping them in their appointed course except by the club in the hands of men and boys, who would meet them in the stream and slay them by tens, hundreds and thousands, making them in to potpies, fries, stews, etc. Equal and perhaps more savory were these dishes to the appetites of our people than were the quail and manna bestowed upon Moses and his party of Israelites in the wilderness of Egypt. "There has been no migration of the squirrel since the period mentioned. Previous to 1819 it is related that in the fall of certain years the gray squirrels became itinerant, traveling simultaneously in millions from the North to the South, destroying whole fields of corn in a few days if not immediately gathered, and eating everything in their way, like African locusts or the modern Colorado potato-bugs, while they traveled forward without stopping long in any place, swimming large rivers, and perhaps before winter returning again by the same route toward the North. In 1819 and prior thereto wild PIONEER LIFE 1N NOBLE COUNTY - 113 game, such as deer and turkey, was plenty. Turkeys in large flocks and deer in droves of ten and twenty were common at certain seasons of the year, Venison and turkey were common and favorite dishes. The hunters in a later day kept our people in bountiful supply of these desirable meats, so that in the greater part of the year every cabin-joist was kept well hung and burdened with large, fat and juicy saddles of venison. In the fall the beech most abounded in the wood along the creek bottoms, which attracted the turkeys in large flocks. The wild turkey would sometimes depredate upon the corn-fields and grainstacks compelling the inhabitants to gather their corn early and . to cover their grainstacks with brush. Great numbers were killed with the rifle, caught in pens, killed with clubs and dogs. * * * "The manner of taking the wild turkey in pens was to build an inclosure out of fence rails or poles about two feet high, covered close, and well secured with like material. A trench was dug a foot or on inches deep, commencing on the outside of the pen and terminating about the center, both ends graded. Corn was then strewed for some distance to the right, left and in front along the ditch, and throughout the pen. The turkeys coming in flocks would follow up the corn trail and in a few minutes the pen would be full of game. After eating the corn the turkeys would attempt to escape, but invariably failed, it being the nature of the bird to elevate the head, ex- 8 cept when feeding, and look for a place of escape at the top, not looking downward at the place of entrance. By this mode large numbers were taken." The habits of the pioneers were of a simplicity and purity well corresponding to the character of their surroundings. There was constant daily toil both for husband and wife and son and daughter in summer and winter. The men and boys were constantly engaged in the work of girdling the trees, felling and burning them, and clearing away brush and stumps, planting, harvesting and caring for the few domestic animals on the farm. The agricultural implements were few and of the rudest character. Picks, spades and hoes, constructed by some neighbor who possessed a few blacksmith's tools, or brought from the former home of the settler, were among the tools most used. Plows were made of wood and strips of iron—incapable of turning a furrow, but serving to stir the ground a little. Harrows, when any were used, were made from brush and wood. Scythes of a rude pattern, short and with a broad blade, were used for cutting grass ; while the sickle served in place of the modern harvester. Threshing was done with a flail, and winnowing performed by hand, by the aid of a strong breeze Wagons and carts were heavy, .awkward and cumbersome. Sometimes the wheels of these vehicles were made, each consisting of one piece, by sawing cuts from large logs. If the labor of the men was ardu- 114 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO. ous, that of the women was none the less so. In addition to the ordinary household duties the women and girls usually spun and wove the cloth, and manufactured every article of apparel worn by the different members of the household. Every cabin contained two spinning-wheels. One wheel was the old-fashioned spinning- wheel, still occasionally to be seen, used for the manufacture of yarn ; the other, a small wheel, run by foot- power, and used for spinning flax. The loom was not less necessary than the spinning-wheels, though not every house had one, as one loom had a capacity to supply the wants of several families. Settlers, who, in spite of wolves and bears, succeeding in raising a few sheep commenced the manufacture of woolen cloth. The wool, after being washed, dried and oiled, was carded into rolls by broad hand-cards, and was then spun on the "big wheel." A common article woven on the looms was linsey-woolsey, of which the warp was linen and the filling woolen. This cloth, after being dyed gray, drab or some other sober color by the aid of barks and other common agencies which the mothers and grandmothers were adept in using, was made up in gowns for the women and girls. All the clothes worn by men and boys, excepting shoes and sometimes hats, were also of home manufacture. Nearly every farmer had a patch of flax, which formed a most essential part of the material for cloth. Before it was spun and woven it had to go through the operations of " hackling " and "scutching," and these operations frequently took place at " bees" in which all the young people from far and near participated. " Storeclothes " of broadcloth or doeskin were rarely seen, and when worn were considered an evidence of vanity or else a sure indication, if the wearer was a young man, that he contemplated matrimony. A very common garment for men's wear was the hunting-shirt, or frock, which came nearly to the knees, and was wide enough to lap over a foot upon the chest This generally had a cape, sometimes fringed with a piece of raveled cloth of a different color from the rest of the garments. The hunting-shirt was always worn belted, and the bosom of it afforded a convenient receptacle for the various articles needed by the hunter or woodsman. Breeches were made of heavy cloth or of deerskin, frequently with leg- gins of similar material. The deerskin trousers when dry were very comfortable, but after being soaked with rain they became almost-as stiff as boards. Hats and caps were made of native furs, tanned and fashioned by the wearer. A few years after the country became settled hatters took little shops in every village, and made woolen hats for nearly all the men of the surrounding country. Drawers and undershirts, as well as overcoats, were article's almost unknown. When the weather became so severe as to make heavier clothing a necessity an extra garment or two was drawn on over those usually worn . For covering of the feet, moccasins of deerskin, or shoes of cowhide, PIONEER LIFE IN NOBLE COUNTY - 115 were worn. Boots are of more modern use. Shoes were made either by some itinerant shoemaker, or by some man in the settlement who had a few tools, and some knowledge of the craft. Every pair of shoes was expected to last at least a year, and as leather was high they were worn sparingly, men, boys, women and children going barefooted whenever the weather and the nature of their labor permitted. It was customary for women and girls when going to. church, to town, or to visit a neighbor, to carry their shoes and stockings in their hands until near their destination, when they would seat themselves on a stone or a fallen tree and clothe their feet properly. The ladies had few articles of jewelry or other ornaments. ibbons, laces, fine feathers and gay colors were not known until the settlements had hecome far advanced in the ways of wealth and luxury. The pioneers generally were not men of literary tastes or of extensive educational attainments. However, almost every family had a few books, the chief and most important of which was the Bible, which was perhaps more read then than now. Among the most common books were such works as "Pilgrim's Progress," "Paradise Lost," " The Saints' Rest," "AEsop's Fables" and the like. News papers were rarely seen, and if a letter came to any household by the weekly post such an event was a nine days' wonder. The settlements were visited now and then by itinerant preachers. Foremost among these pioneer missionaries were the Methodists, who very early in the history of Ohio established circuits and appointed ministers for them in all the settled portions of the State. Some of these circuits extended for hundreds of miles, and the good missionary, traveling on horseback from place to place for several weeks, sometimes months, in making his rounds. He preached not only on Sundays but many times during the week, holding both day and evening services. Whenever he reached a neighborhood where several families could be gathered at some convenient cabin, notice was given that divine services would be held at a certain hour ; and at the appointed time he preached to a devout and attentive audience. Representatives of other denominations were equally as active as the Methodists in promoting the spread of the gospel in the wilderness, though perhaps less numerous. School advantages were very meager, and many, not fully appreciating the importance of education, neglected to give their children any opportunity to obtain knowledge from books. But there were usually found in all settlements men of intelligent views and some culture, who as soon as the settlers were in a condition to bear the expense, exerted themselves to establish schools and procure teachers for them. Frequently a school was taught in a deserted log cabin ; at other times in a spare room of a double log house (the style of residence that came into fashion after the cabin epoch had passed away). When a school-house 116 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO. was built it was of a rude style, and most uncomfortable in its arrangements. It was made of hewed logs, and had a huge chimney of stones or of sticks and mud at one end. The fireplace was wide, and deep enough to receive a five or six-foot backlog, and a considerable quantity of smaller fuel. This served to warm the house in winter and to ventilate it in summer. Where only one term of school was taught in a neighborhood each year, as was frequently the case, it was always held in the winter time, as the larger boys could then best be spared from their work to attend. The windows of the log school-house were made by cutting away a log in two sides of the building and in the aperture a few lights of seven-by-nine glass were set, or else greased paper was pasted over the opening. The writing-desk consisted of a heavy oak plank, or hewed slabs laid upon wooden pins, driven into the wall in a slanting direction. Four- legged benches without backs, made from a split log, furnished the seats. The bench upon which the scholars sat while writing was usually so high that the feet of the younger pupils, some of whom had to be lifted upon the bench, could not touch the floor. Small use was made of text books in these pioneer schools. The chief books were the Bible and the spelling-book, and a scholar possessing either was considered to be well supplied. Reading, spelling, arithmetic and writing were the only branches taught. Geography, grammar and many other subjects that now are taught in the district schools were alike unknown to teachers and pupils of the pioneer days. It was several years before they were introduced into the schools, and when at last they were received it was with reluctance, as many parents regarded these branches as useless innovations. There was no uniformity of text books, consequently classification of the school was impossible, and, except in reading and spelling, each pupil recited alone. Many who were regarded as successful teachers then could not now, if living, obtain a teacher's certificate even of the lowest grade. Yet the teachers were conscientious laborers and generally worthy of their hire. Their wages were small, indeed, and their work, especially that of government, was not easy. The practice of flogging was almost universally in vogue, and the teacher, in addition to educational requirements, must possess physical strength sufficient to enable him to "handle" the largest of his pupils, should the latter be refectory, otherwise he was deemed but an inefficient schoolmaster. A custom long practiced in the rural schools was that known as "barring out." It is happily now extinct. Once it was resorted to once a year as regularly as the Christmas holidays came around, and both old and young delighted in seeing it carried out successfully. When the master found the door of the schoolroom securely fastened on the inside, and a number of the larger boys within, guarding it to keep him from entering, he knew that he must either treat his scholars to apples, cider, PIONEER LIFE 1N NOBLE COUNTY - 117 cakes, or some similar refreshment, or sign an agreement to do so at some future time before he could again take up his rod of authority. The manner of traveling was chiefly on horseback, and women as well as men were accustomed to take long journeys over paths leading through the woods, and marked by blazed trees. The packsaddle was used for bringing flour and meal from the mill, carrying provisions to market or bringing purchases therefrom. Most of the trading was by barter or exchange, as there was very little ready money in the country. There were many "squatters" among the early settlers—that is, those who were too poor to pay the fees and enter their land properly, would settle on some tract and "trust to luck" until they could raise money to make the purchase. In some cases they remained undisturbed and eventually succeeded in gaining a title to their lands ; but in other instances they were compelled to vacate after making considerable improvements. There were numerous speculators on the lookout for opportunities to make money out of government lands. They were a class despised by the early settlers, who called them landsharks, or landgrabbers. Sometimes one of these sharks, finding that a poor man had made a good improvement but had not yet entered his land, would go to the land office and secure a title to it, then dispossess the settler whose labor had greatly enhanced the value of the land. The disputes as to titles and the fear of not being able to secure a perfect title doubtless tended to keep away many who otherwise would have become settlers. The settlement of Noble County progressed but slowly. Although the region was practically freed from all danger of hostility from the Indians by the peace of 1795, and settlers began to come in soon after that date, there was no rapid influx of population. But if the growth was slow it was constant and progressive. By degrees the little clearings and cabins became more numerous in all parts of the country, while the first settled farms could easily be distinguished from the others by reason of more extensive fields, better buildings, more live stock, and other evidences of prosperity. The sense of loneliness and isolation, which had been especially trying to the women once accustomed to the advantages of the older settlements, now disappeared ; social gatherings became numerous and most enjoyable. Raisings, log rollings, harvesting-bees and occasional rifle matches for men, quiltings and apple-butter makings for women, and corn-huskings in which both sexes took part, furnished frequent occasions for social intercourse. Advancement began to show itself in many ways. Frame houses, substantial barns, fine orchards, began to dot the landscape, while schoolhouses and churches multiplied. Better roads were made, and innumerable improvements. A new order of society came into being. The humble work of the pioneers had borne fruit. 118 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO. The people were "out of the woods," and in the world, keeping pace with the rest of humanity in the march of progress. Now the sons and daughters of Noble County pioneers are to be found in almost every State and Territory of the Union from the Atlantic to the Pacific slope. Wherever they are they do their duty cheerfully and bravely, and retain in their hearts a lingering affection for the hills and valleys among which they were nurtured and reared. Research and inquiry in every part of the county have failed to establish a date of permanent settlement earlier than 1802. Prior to that time the territory had been surveyed, and many hunters had made it their transitory abode ; but the actual settler — the home-seeker -- had not yet arrived. The first clearings and improvement within the present County of Noble were made in the northeastern townships—Beaver, Seneca and Wayne— on the rich bottom lands of Beaver Fork and Seneca Fork of Will's Creek. These points were only a few miles distant from the old settlements of Belmont and Guernsey Counties, and as the settlements spread the fertile lands soon attracted occupants. Joseph Reeves was an early adventurer in what is now Wayne Township, about the beginning of the present century. He remained a few years and made some improvements, but became tired of his home in the wilderness, and vacated, it is said, on account of the Indians. Later he became a perma nent settler. John Vorhies, according to the testimony of his descendants, located with his family within the limits of Wayne Township in 1802. Jacob Yoho settled in the same vicinity in 1805, and Edward Ward in 1807. Doubtless several other families came between 1802 and the latter date. Timothy Bates settled near the eastern line of Seneca Township in 1805. John and James Reed were in Beaver Township in 1804. John and Joseph Carpenter and John Tyrrell came a little later. The settlers of these northeastern townships were chiefly from Maryland and Virginia. A few Pennsylvanians were among the early comers, and many among the later ones. Except in the Will's Creek region there were no permanent settlers prior to 1806. In that year settlements were begun on the East Fork of Duck Creek and on Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek, which developed in a few years into what might be termed centers of settlement. The first settlement on the East Fork was made by the Enochs (several families), the Grandons and Crows in 1806. A few years later came the Archers, a numerous family, and the region was thenceforth known as the Archer settlement. Cotemporary with the settlement on the East Fork, improvements were begun on Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek, in Morgan and Noble Counties. In 1804 Enoch Dye, Sr., followed the old Federal Trail westward, and after much exam i nation of Congress lands selected and decided to purchase a tract in the vicinity of lien- PIONEER LIFE IN NOBLE COUNTY - 119 rock. In 1806 he sent his sons— Thomas, Ezekiel, Vincent, William, John and Amos — from Pennsylvania to begin an improvement. The sons remained, and he joined them in the following year. The surrounding lands were soon taken up by other prospectors, and Brookfield soon had a thrifty and intelligent population, most of the pioneers being Massachusetts Yankees. On the West Fork of Duck Creek there were few, if any, permanent settlers prior to 1809 and 1810. Among the earliest to locate in the valley of that stream were the McKees, Caldwells, Blakes and Nobles. Like Brookfield, Olive Township became largely peopled with Yankees, more than a score of families from Maine arriving and settling during the War of 1812 or soon after. The earliest settlers of the county were from the neighboring States of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and from New England. About 1817 there began a settlement of Protestant Irish in the vicinity of Summerfield, which in due time became rich and prosperous. In 1.836 the German settlement began, in a region hitherto little developed in the southeastern part of the county. The number of settlers has steadily increased year by year, until now the greater part of Enoch and portions of Stock, Elk and Jefferson Townships are chiefly occupied by Germans and their descendants. Among the first arrivals were several Protestant families, but the Catholics were and still are most numerous. The older counties of Ohio, and in particular the counties of Washington, Belmont and Guernsey, sent to Noble many of her sturdy pioneers and most excellent citizens. In the chapters of township history which follow, the reader will find a detailed and minute account of the early settlement of every part of the county. |