John Lidey, Lister, Reading township James Patterson, Appraiser Lewis Wilson, Lister, Hopewell township Samuel Clayton, Lister, Pike township David Carroll, Appraiser David Rusk, Lister, Clayton township Charles Frizzel, Appraiser Wm Keith, Lister, Thorn township John Heuthorn, Appraiser Henry Dosenbury, Lister, Madison Township John Eby, Appraiser James Forsythe, Lister   Joshua Brown, Appraiser	$10 00 4 00 9 00 7 50 1 00 11 00 1 00 9 00 1 00 7 00 1 00 6 00 1 00
	$68 50
Roswell Mills for Blank Books, Stationery for Commissioners' Office, etc	$8 87 1/2
Total	$77 37 1/2

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 53 Several things are made to appear by this list of accounts audited at the June session, 18.18. It is evident that Harrison is yet a part Clavton ; and Bearfield, Monroe, Saltlick, and Monday Creek, have no ofticial existence. Clayton was at this time the largest township in the county, and contained one row of sections more than Reading. At the December session, 1818, Joel Strawn, Thomas Wilson and Peter Bugh, who had been elected on the second Tuesday of October previously, decided by lot that the term of Peter Bugh should expire in the year 1819, that of Joel Strawn, in 1820, and that of Thomas Wilson, in 1821. The Commissioners met December 16th, and sold lots belonging to the county, in accordance with advertisement, as follows : Lot No. 166 to Lawrence Curran, for $72,75 ; 168 to John Fisher, for $57.12 ; 159 to John Fisher, for $49.50 ; 176 to John Kishler, for $62.00 ; 172 to John Humberger, $56.00 ; 160 to John Basore, for $58.00. 'At the March session, 1819, "The Commissioners proceeded to appropriate the money lying in the Treasury of Fairtield county, for roads and highways in this county, as follows ; Cooper Road, in Thorn township, $39.80 ; Cooper Road, in Hopewell township, $30.20, and Joel Strawn was appointed to expend the same ; on Witmer's Bridge, so called, $18.60 ; and John Wolf was appointed to expend the same ; on the road from Somerset to the south end of D. Parkinson's lane, $10.00 ; from the same lane on the Newark road, $16.00 ; on the Lebanon road from same lane, $10.00 ; on the Lexington road, $20.00 ; on the Rehoboth road, $10.00 ; and Smith Goodin was appointed to expend the same ; on the State Road, through Reading township, $70.00 ; and William Darst was appointed to expend the same." At the June session 1820, "The Commissioners proceeded to appropriate the nine hundred dollars of the three per cent fund, appropriated for roads in this county, by an act of last General Assembly, and to appoint Commissioners to expend the same. On the Great State Road through the countv, $347,00, and Charles C. Hood is appointed to distribute the same ; on the Cooper Road, $77.00, and Thomas Nesbit is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset to ThornYille, $37.00, and Bernard Poorman is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset to Lexington, $67.00, and Smith Goodin is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset, by Miller's Mill, to the west line of the county, $47.00 and Adam Binkley is appointed thereon ; on the road from the White Bear Tavern, to John Skinners, $47.00, and Samuel Goodin is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset by Hood's Mill, to the north line of the county, $47.00, and George Trout, Sr., is appointed thereon ; on the road from Lexington road, near Brants, to Robert Pherson's, $31.00 and Jehu B. Jones is appointed thereon ; on the road from Rehoboth to the east line of the county, $60.00, and Amos Roberts is appointed thereon ; on the road from Turkey Run to Andrew Cusacks, Esq., $17.00, and Joseph Cookson is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset to Witmer's Bridge, to the south line of the county, $93.00 ; of which $48.00 shall be expended this side of the bridge, and $45.00 beyond, and Michael Bugh is appointed thereon ; on the road from Somerset, by Wood's Mill, to the north line of the county, $30.00 and C. C. Hood is appointed thereon." The Commissioners adjourned 54 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. sine die, after determining that their Clerk shall receive $72.50, for the ensuing year." The journal of the County Commissioners shows That four tifths of all their business, during the early years of the county, was in -relation to the establishment or alteration of roads. The names of a large majority of the early land owners of the county appear on the records, in some way or other connected with roads. It can be readily observed that the value of roads was dilly appreciated, and to the early and persistent efforts of the fathers, who have passed away, are the people of, to-day indebted for the large number of roads that traverse the county in almost every direction. No county, perhaps, has more of them, in proportion to territory. It was sometimes difficult to establish a road, but it was far more more difficult to vacate one, after it had been located and traveled. Several of the leading roads, of course, were located and opened before the formation of the county of Perry. PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—The first session of. the Commissioners was held at the house of John Wilson, but the next and subsequent sessions for about two years, were held at the house of John Fink, and the Commissioners ordered that the Courts be held at the same place, and they were held there for more than a year, and until the " Jail," generally so called, was built, which had a room in the second story, for the use of the Court. "The house of John Fink" was a tavern, of good dimensions, situated where the school house now stands, at the corner of Main and High streets, in Somerset. There may be a few persons still living, who were present and saw the Court of Common Pleas in session at Fink's Tavern, but none are absolutely known. The Court was probably held in the large corner room ot the house, and there the " Hear Ye ! Hear Ye ! The Honorable Court of Common Pleas, of Perry county, is now in session," was cried out by Leonard Ream, the tirst Sheriff of the county. These facts entitle "John Fink's House," or so much of it as was used for Court purposes, to be considered a "Public Building," for the time being. This was convenient for the Judges and Attorneys, for when Court was over, they did not have far to travel to their meals and beds. The first record in relation to the erection of a Jail or other Public Building, was on June 3rd, 1818, when this appears : "The Commissioners having digested a plan for a Jail, and having called for an installment of the subscription for erecting County Buildings, to be paid on or before the 1st of July next, they adjourned to the 1st of July next." The following. is from the proceedings of the Commissioners of Wednesday, July 1st, 1818 : After auditing various accounts, and examining the situation of the County Revenue, and the prospects of paying for a Jail, they adjourned until to-morrow morning, at 8 o'clock A. M." It does not appear whether the sale was made by public outcry or otherwise, but in the recorded proceedings of the Commissioners of June 3d, 1818, is found : "The Commissioners having sold the building HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 55 of the jail to John Bugh, John Murray and George Jackson for $2,335, and entered into obligations with them for their performance, with Daniel Lidey, George Richards and John Jonas as security for contractors, and having called for another installment of the subscription money to be paid on or before the 3d of September next," &c., &c. On Monday, September the 14th, 1818, the Commissioners gave the jail contractors an order for five hundred dollars in part pay on their contract. August l0th, 1819, Messrs. Thomas Anderson and Richard Grubb, of Fairfield county, to whom the contractors and Commissioners had agreed to submit the workmanship of the jail, reported that it was properly done, according to contract, and thereupon the Commissioners received the jail and gave it into the care and keeping of the Sheriff. The Jail, so-called in most places, was built of stone and brick, the first story, being stone and the second brick. It was a jail more than anything else, and the Commissioners and other people did not like to call it a court house. Yet a court-room was provided in the second story, as well as room for some of the County. Officers. It also was provided with Jury rooms. Court was held in this room for about ten years, or until the Court House was built on the public square. At a special session held June 20th, 1825, it is recorded that "The Commissioners purchased lot No. 11, in Somerset of George Trout,„ for the use of the county." At the December session, 1825, "The Commissioners authorized the Auditor to have all repairs made to the Court House and Jail until the next session." Here the old stone and brick building on South Columbus street is spoken of as both a Court House and Jail. At the regular March session of 1826, "The Commissioners agreed to erect public buildings for offices for the county, and order the Auditor to give notice in the Perry Record that the said Commissioners will sell the erection of said buildings to the lowest bidder, and and at their option, on the 19th day of April, between the hours of ten o'clock a. m., and four o'clock p. m., on said day." This proposition was to erect buildings for public offices. At this time most of the County offIces, probably, were in rented rooms, on Main street or near the public square. " The Commissioners met April 19th, 1826, and proceeded to the special business for to receive proposals for the erection of Public Otfices for said county, in accordance of a notice given by their order. They were offered and bid .off at $897.25. The Commissioners refused to accept said offer." At the regular June session of 1826, " The Commissioners agreed to meet on the 1st day of July next to receiYe plans for a Court House, &c., for Perry County and some day thereafter agree to sell out the building of the same.' Nothing was accomplished at this meeting of July 1st, but at a special meeting held August 8th, 1826, "The Commissioners received a plan for a Court House, drawn by James Hampson, Esq., and accepted said plan for a Court House for said County, and have ordered the Auditor to give notice for the sale of the building of said Court House on the 29th day of August next, to be published in the Perry Record, in Somerset ; the Muskingum Messenger and Democratic Republican, in Zanesville ; and Lancaster Gazette, in Lancaster. 56 - HISTORY OP PERRY COUNTY August 29th, 1826, the Commissioners Proceeded to business and sold the building of the Court House for Perry County to Wm. P. Darst, and George Jackson for the sum of three thousand four hundred and fifty dollars, they (the contractors) are to attend on Saturday, the 2d day of September, 1826, and give bond and security in the sum of six thousand six hundred dollars." At a meeting in September, 1826, the "Commissioners proceeded to business, which was to receive bonds and security for the building of the Court House, for said County, to be finished by the 1st day of September, 1828. Wm. P. Darst and George Jackson, contractors for the building of the Court House for said County, gave bond with Joel Beckwith, Charles C. Hood, Peter Overmyer and Benjamin Eaton as securities for the faithful performance of said contract." At a special session in January, 1829, the Commissioners found the Court House not yet finished, but being desirous that the next session of Court should be held therein, they agreed to accept the building so far as completed, and the next session of the Court of Common Pleas was held in it. The Commissioners met in special session May 15th, 1829, and made an order as follows : "The Commissioners do hereby receive the Court House, final and forever, from the contractors, Jackson and Darst, the same being completed according to contract, to the full satisfaction of the Commissioners," and the Auditor was ordered to issue an order to the contractors for the amount remaining unpaid, and the transaction became, indeed "final and forever." The Court House of 1829 was a square, two story, brick building, very similar to many others erected in different parts of the State at an early period. The first floor was for the Court Room, and the second was for jury rooms and public offices, though it was never altogether suffIcient for the latter purpose. The old jail on South Columbus street continued to be used as a prison, and the Sheriff sometimes had his residence and office in the upper story, where the courts were held from 1819 until 1829. Some of the public offices were situated in the second story of the new Court House as stated, and others were located in rooms built for the purpose, in the neighborhood of the public square. The old jail became very insecure, and was finally burned down, and a new jail became imperative. What has been usually termed the new jail was erected in 1846 and 1847, north of the Court House, on Columbus street. Joseph Bell was the contractor and he received six thousand one hundred and ninety-five dollars, and ninety-two cents. This is a large stone structure, with a large court or open space next to the outer walls, and cells in the central part of the building. The offices of the Auditor, Treasurer, Recorder and Sheriff were located in the second story, and were reached by a stairway from the outside. The Sheriff did not use his room very much, as he found it more convenient to office with the Clerk at the Court House. This building was not accepted by the Commissioners until February 9th, 1848, at which time Joseph Bell, the contractor, was paid in full. The Court House and new jail were used, in the manner, described, until the removal of the County seat to New Lexington in 1857. The old jail on South Columbus street was torn HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 57 down and not a vestige of it remains. The lot on which it stood was sold to private parties. A number of associated persons bought the Court House of 1829, and the new jail on North Columbus street, and a large and commodious town hall has been made in the upper story of the two buildings combined.. Other parts of the old public buildings are used as offices, business houses and for other purposes. The Court-house in New Lexington was, until accepted by the County Commissioners, a private enterprise. Subscriptions were secured and the money collected by a committee appointed by the " Friends of Removal," and said committee entered into contract with Samuel Feigley, of New Lexington, for the erection of a suitable Court-house and Jail. The edifice was planned chiefly after a courthouse at Circleville, Pickaway County. The building is principally of brick, but the part designed for the Jail, on the first floor in the rear, is of stone. On the tirst tloor there is a hall extending from the front, through the center, as far back as the Jail. The offices for the Probate Judge, Auditor, Treasurer, and Recorder, are located to the right and left of the hall. The Jail has cells and an outer hall, which communicates with the main hall, before described, by means of a double iron door. The principal portion of the second floor is occupied by the court-room, though there are grand and petit jury rooms in the rear, and a Clerk's and Sheriff's office in front, at the head of the stairway. The building is roofed with slate. It stands at the corner of Main and Brown streets. A section of the removal law of 1851 provided that the " Friends of Removal" must erect, free of cost to the county, a suitable Court-house and Jail, which were to he accepted by the County Commissioners-before an actual removal could take place. The building committee formally presented the Court-house and Jail in 1857, and they were duly accepted by the County Commissioners and soon thereafter occupied. With sundry modifications and improvements, they have continued to be used until the present time. The ground on which they stand was donated to the town of New Lexington by James Comly, who laid out the village, and by the town was turned over to the county. When the county records were removed from Somerset to New Lexington Henry C. Whitman. was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; Robert F. Hickman, Probate Judge ; John Beckwith, Clerk ; Nathaniel Skinner, Sheriff ;William Meloy, Auditor ; George Williams, Treasurer ; Perry J. Ankney, Recorder ; Leonard F. Muzzy, Prosecuting Attorney ; and Isaac Yost. Thomas Iliff, and Henry Greer, County Commissioners. The Directors of the Poor purchased a quarter section of land of William Brown in 1836, said farm being, situated one mile northwest of New Lexington. The Infirmary Directors decided to erect an infirmary building, and in 1839 entered into contract with Peter A. Vansickle and Patrick McDonald for the erection of such building. The house was erected in 1839 and 1840, and was built adjoining the farm-house already there, which old part was for a long time used and occupied by the Superintendent.. A very large addition was made to the original buildings a few years ago, in consequence of pressing demands for more room and better accommodations for the friendless and infirm. - 8 - 58 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. The County Commissioners have purchased of T. E. Morehead forty acres of land one-half mile west of New Lexington for a Children's Home. It is an elevated, handsome location, and before this book is delivered to subscribers, in all probability, a suitable and commodious building will be erected, and the orphaned and friendless children of Perry provided with a home. HISTORY. OF PERRY COUNTY - 59 CHAPTER VIII. THE SEAT OF JUSTICE. The bill providing for the organization of the county of Perry, which became a law in December, 1817, contained a provision for the appointment of three Commissioners, whose duty it was to proceed to the newly organized county, make the requisite examination and investigation, and locate the seat of justice. The Commissioners named for the duty were, Daniel Converse, James Wilson, and David Shelby. As soon as practicable after the passage of the New County Bill, said Commissioners entered upon the discharge of the duty imposed upon them by the act referred to. When the Commissioners arrived, they found Overmyertown, Somerset, Rehoboth, New Lexington, Bristol, and it may be other places, candidates for the location of the county seat. Overmyertown was the oldest town claiming the honor ; but Somerset was much the largest village, and contained several hundred inhabitants. Overmyertown, Bristol, Rehoboth and New Lexington, were indeed insignificant villages. New Lexington had very recently been laid out. The locating Commissioners in their travels, visited all these places, and probably a few other suggested points. Five-sixths of the southern part of the county was then a wilderness, and bears, panthers, wolves and deer roamed over the hills and through the dense thickets ; and it was a favorite hunting ground for many of the older settlers of the northern part of the territory composing the new county, and also for many of the pioneer hunters of Muskingum, Licking and Fairfield counties. The Commissioners traveled on foot, and the writer hereof has often heard a pioneer describe their appearance as they journeyed along a newly cut out road, which led from New Lexington to Rehoboth. The Commissioners and pioneer sat down upon a " rail-cut " and entered into a long and interesting chat. They told him they had been to Bristol and New Lexington, and were on their way to Rehoboth. After inspecting the different places and points, the Commissioners located the seat of justice at Somerset, and made an official report to that effect to the Court of Common Pleas. The location was acquiesced in by all parties, though there was much dissatisfaction expressed by the zealous adherents of defeated places ; and in particular by those of Rehoboth and New Lexington. The people of these towns scarcely ever ceased to talk of the question as the years rolled on. These were rival villages, only two miles distant from each other. Rehoboth was the oldest town, had the start and kept the lead until about 1840, when it came to a standstill and New Lexington continued to advance. They were rivals also in county seat aspirations. The efforts for compromise and united action were unwearied and unceasing, but for a long time, unavailing. In the winter of 1843-44, there was a large county seat removal meeting held in the old Presbyterian church in 60 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. New Lexington, which was addressed by John Manly Palmer of Somerset, George Redmond of Reading township, Dr. F. L. Flowers of Rehoboth, and by a number of citizens of New Lexington. This meeting was very large and enthusiastic ; but the most it did or could unite upon, was the adoption of a resolution that the county seat of Perry should be removed " nearer its center." It looked at first as though an aggressive county seat campaign ,had been inaugurated ; but the indefinite phrase, " nearer the center," was the hole through which the enterprise was dissipated. and the movement had no immediate success. But the friends of New Lexington never wholly ceased to press the matter until in 1851 , after years of great expense and unremitting effort, a removal bill became a law. Robert McClung of Pike township, a man of considerable intelligence, and force of character, was the first Representative elected, who was expected to accomplish something in favor of a change of the seat of justice ; but he encountered greater difficulties than had been anticipated, and the most he succeeded in effecting, was the passage of an act for the establishment of a " graded road " from Lancaster to McConnelsville, passing through the town of New Lexington. James J. Wilson, also of Pike township, a well informed man, of character and influence, was the next Representative from whom something was hoped by the friends .of removal. But at this period, New Lexington and Rehoboth were in the bitterest of their rivalry, the leading men of the two places were at loggerheads, and could agree upon no practicable plan to reconcile their ditferences or decide between the places. Mr. Wilson's two terms rolled around and nothing was accomplished or even commenced. A later effort, early in 1844, has already been described. As the years rolled by, between 1840 and 1850, Rehoboth continued to decline, and most of its leading citizens and business men " pulled up stakes " and removed to New Lexington-, and this place increased in business and population rapidly. The Rehoboth people, after their change of residence, became fully identified with New Lexington interests, and were eager to. join their former rivals in a united and prolonged struggle for the seat of justice. The first objective point was the nomination of a democratic candidate for Representative, known to be in tavor ot submitting the question of the removal of the seat of justice to the qualified voters of the county, at an early day. Perrry was entitled to a " floating" Representative, to be elected by the counties of Perry, Fairfield and Hocking, in the year 1849. The popular vote system for nomination prevailed that year with the Democrats of Perry, and the choice for district Representative was thus submitted to the democratic voters. There were but two candidates for the nomination.- Napoleon B. Colborn of Pike township was centered upon by those in favor of a vote upon the removal question ; and James Sheward .of Reading, was supported by those opposed to such vote. A few votes doubtless were swayed by personal considerations, but the Removal question was the generally governing one. Colborn received a decided majority of the popular vote in his own county, and went into the district convention held :at Lancaster, with all the prestige of this indorsement. Sheward and his friends denied that the vote in' Perry was a fair expression of the popular democratic voice ; claimed that the HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 61 majority against him was fraudulent or unfair, and the names of both Colborn and Sheward were submitted to the district convention. The body patiently heard both sides, through leading spokesmen, and then confirmed the vote of Perry by formally making Mr. Colborn the nominee of the convention; He was duly elected in October following, securing the usual majority in all the counties of the district. Petitions for removal were circulated and signed, but nothing material was done until the following year, and after Mr. Colborn had been re-nominated and re-elected. Early in the session of 1850-51. Mr. Colborn, the Representative from Perry, introduced the removal bill, which was referred to the Committee on New Counties. Sometime in January, 1851, the committee reported back the bill and recommended its passage. After its third reading, the bill .passed without a dissenting vote. It was sent to the Senate, and there referred to the Committee on New. Counties. Here the bill slept for weeks. It was finally in April reported back without recommendation. When the bill was read a third time, and put upon its passage, it was defeated by a close vote. But a reconsideration was moved and laid upon the table. When the bill was again taken up, it received a small majority, and then became a law. Remonstrances were circulated and signed, and the most strenuous efforts made by the Somerset interest to defeat the passage of the bill but all in vain. The struggle in the Senate,. for a time, was indeed a Close and doubtful one ; but the final result was as has been stated. After the passage of the removal bill and the adjournment of the Legislature, came several weeks ot absolutely painful quiet, for they only presaged the coming storm. The friends of New Lexington bought one of the county newspapers early in June, and soon thereafter the county seat campaign began in earnest. Meetings were held in all parts of the county, and especially on the debatable ground in Jackson, Clayton, Reading and Monday Creek townships. Speakers, brass bands, drum corps, glee clubs and conveyances, were in great demand, and the county papers were tilled with literature on the county seat subject. Excitement at times ran high, and threatened serious collision ; but, fortunately, nothing of the kind occurred. At length the eventful day came, the votes were polled. and the result showed that " For Removal " had a majority of 292. Thus ended the first county seat campaign. The next move of the Somerset interest was the institution of a suit in court, alleging that the county seat bill was not legally passed, and if legally passed, that, for alleged reasons, it was unconstitutional and void. The case came on to be heard in the district court in the fall of 1852, in the District Court sitting at Somerset. Hon. Allen G. Thurman, then a Judge of the Supreme Court, and a member of the District Court, delivered the opinion and pronounced the decision, which was against the petitioners, and a refusal to grant their prayers. Thus was the law in controversy held to be constitutional and valid. The friends of Somerset next resorted to the legislative branch of the State government for.relief, and to regain the ground they had lost. Wm. E. Finck had been elected to the Senate in October, 1851, and John H. O'Neill to the House of Representatives ; and, according to the 62 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. State Constitution adopted in June preceding, held office for two years: When the suit in court was decided against them in the fall of 1852, the Somerset interest circulated petitions praying for the passage of a bill providing for the removal of the seat of justice from New Lexington to Somerset. The former had not yet become the county seat, in fact, for the county records had not yet been removed, but awaited the erection of a new county building. Early in 1853 the second removal bill was passed. The New Lexington interest made continual and persevering efforts to prevent the passage of this second bill, but were beaten. The County Seat campaign of 1853 was more warmly contested, and. excitement ran higher than in that of 1851. Two democratic tickets were nominated on sectional lines ; the whig party was ignored, and every body and everything rallied to the support of one or the other of the local democratic tickets. The democratic county committee divided, a new democratic paper was brought to the County to espouse the cause of one of the factions ; and nothing, apparently, was left undone, that would contribute to widen the breach, or fan the flames of sectional warfare. The drums were beaten, the brass bands rallied again, the glee clubs were called out, the "Ciceros" put in training, and the campaign of 1851 repeated, with many interesting, amusing, and exciting variations. The Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad (then called the Cincinnati Wilmington and Zanesville,) and the Old Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad, were, at this time, in course of construction ; the former passing through New Lexington, and the latter through Somerset. The presence of many strangers, and numerous railroad laborers, many of the latter—and especially of those on the Scioto and Hocking Valley—of a violent, quarrelsome, and apparently uncontrollable nature, contributed much to the general fever of excitement and unrest, and intensifying the already angry feeling on the local issue. The election day finally came, the long agony was over and "for removal" back to Somerset carried the day ; but by such a vote and majority as all conceded to be, in a great measure, irregular and illegal. This spurious vote the operators in the Somerset interest justified, or excused, on the ground that New Lexington was doing the same thing, and that it became necessary to fight fire with fire. The friends of New Lexington denied this allegation of fraud, as against them, and claimed their vote as legal. The friends of Somerset, although not disputing a large fraudulent vote, claimed that such existed on both sides, and that a majority of the legal votes cast was in favor of Somerset, and the seat of justice again re-established at that place. The friends of New Lexington claimed that they had a .majority of the legal votes and that the election of 1853, when rightly considered, was but a confirmation of the vote of 1851. But, of course, Somerset was credited with a majority, and as there was no statute by which a county seat vote could be contested, the disputed question remained unsolved and undecided ; and Somerset was left in possession of the seat of justice, the county records having not vet been removed to New Lexington, in pursuance of the vote of 1851. There was a contest of the otfice of Representative, which was vir wally the same vote as that of the county seat question. John H. HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 63 O'Neill had been re-elected Representative over Solomon Nunnemaker, by a majority substantially the same as the majority “for removal" back to Somerset. Nunnemaker inspired and aided by the New Lexington interest, contested and ousted O'Neill, and obtained the seat for himselt, as the legally elected Representative of the county. It is justice to state that O'Neill and friends, though admitting frauds were clearly shown, alleged that there was no such sifting and canvassing of the votes as would satisfactorily show that Nunnemaker had received a majority of the legal votes cast. The leaders in the New Lexington interest, failing to discover any authority for a contest of the county seat vote of 1853, or fearing that it would lead to no practicable result, began to carefully and critically examine the remoYal act of 1853, with reference to its constitutionality, and determined to attack it in that way, if found vulnerable, and there existed reasonable chances of a favorable result. They proceeded to raise money, and employed able lawyers, who gave it as their opinion that the law of 1853 was unconstitutional, and that the Supreme Court would so decide, when the question was properly brought before that tribunal. Suit was accordingly instituted, and the case fully argued before the Supreme Court of the State. An early decision, one way or the other, was anticipated ; but the case was postponed from time to time, and delayed for over two years. At last, in December 1856, like a clap of thunder from a clear sky, the decision came, unheralded and uuexpected ; and was to the effect that the law of 1853 was, in several respects, unconstitutional ; and, of course all proceedings under it null and void. The effect of the Supreme Court decision was to leave the removal act of 1851, and all proceedings under it, in full force and effect. The friends of removal had, in accordance with the provisions of the act of 1851, erected suitable county buildings, and these had for a year or two, been ready for occupancy. When the final decision was promulgated, steps were immediately taken for the removal of the public records from Somerset to New Lexington. The County Commissioners met, made an examination of the new public buildings erected at New Lexington, and accepted them on behalf of the county, as good and sufficient, in compliance with the requirements ot the removal law of 185 1. Everything was now ready for actual removal, by a transfer of the public records from Somerset to New Lexington ; but the people of the former place plead and labored for delay, and some of the citizens went so far as to notify the county officers that any attempt to remove the records or other public property would be violently resisted. This was doubtless for the purpose of gaining time, in the hope that an injunction might be obtained, to stop proceedings. In the meantime, the people of the New Lexington interest clamored for immediate removal, fearing an injunction or other legal process. The order for a 'transfer of records to the new Court House at New Lexington had been made by the County Commissioners ; but there was division ot sentiment, and no concert of action among other county officers, and matters remained at a stand-still for quite a number of days. But, after a time, those acting for the Somerset interest failing t0 obtain any satisfactory legal redress, the people began to quiet down, and the county officers, 64 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. fearing that they. might subject themselves to penalties, or dismissal from office, if they longer delayed, or disregarded the law of 1851, and the order of the County Commissioners, tinally decided upon an immediate transfer ot their several offices, and all pertaining to them, to the new quarters at New Lexington ; and such transfer was made in the month of January, 1857. Some of the county officers, who were favorable to the interests of the new county town,. had, by strategy, made a partial removal, a few days previous to the general break up of the public offices at Somerset. There was then no railroad connecting the two towns, and all the records, and other movable public property, were conveyed in wagons, a distance of nine miles over roads in no sense good, at that season of the year. And thus it was, that, after years of almost continuous agitation and commotion, the Capital of Perry was removed from Somerset to New Lexington. When actual removal had taken place, under the provisions of the law of 1851, in consequence of the act of 1853 being pronounced. unconstitutional, and, therefore null and void, by the Supreme Court of the State ; and under which law the county seat had been voted back to Somerset in October, 1853 ; the friends of the Somerset interest claimed, and urgently demanded another vote, under a constitutional law, and immediately began to take steps to secure it. The legislature was in session, with Eli A. Spencer of Somerset, a member of the Senate, and Dr. F. L. Flowers of New Lexington, a member of the House ot Representatives. A new removal law was passed in the Senate, but failed in the House, after a protracted struggle, both on the floor, and before committees, by the lobby. The Somerset people, by this defeat, did not however abandon the idea of another vote, as they expressed it, under a valid and constitutional law ; inasmuch as all their efforts of 1853 had been thrown away, in consequence of a worthless enabling act. They were awake to the apparent necessity of having a member upon the floor of the House, and the county being Democratic, they adopted the tactics of the Lexingtonians years before, and made a point of naming the Democratic candidate fcr Representative. They succeeded in a delegate convention in nominating T. B. Cox of Somerset, by a very small majority. Mr. Cox was elected, after an exciting canvass, by a vote that was nearly sectional, though not entirely so. His opponent was Horace C. Granger of New Lexington, who was the Republican candidate for the same office. Petitions for a new Removal Law, and remonstrances against such an act, were again circulated and presented in the House of Representatives. Nothing material was done at the regular session ; but, at the adjourned session of 1859, principally by the influence and untiring efforts of Mr. Cox, a new Enabling act was passed, providing for a vote in 1859. So the question of the Seat ot Justice was once more to be submitted to the qualified voters of Perry. There was a split in the Democratic party this year, very much like that of 1853. T. B. Cox was nominated by the northern wing of the Democratic party, and Joseph Thompson, of Clayton township, by the southern wing. There were two full Democratic county tickets, both nominated and run on sectional or county seat lines. Active prepara- HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 65 tions were made by both sides, for the prosecution of the local campaign ; but, likely with less hope on the part of the Somerset people, and more confidence on the side of the New Lexington interest, than in the former campaigns, involving the same issue. The "Demostheneses" and "Ciecros" were again put in training, and brought out ; brass bands, glee clubs, etc., once more came to the front, and the old battle-grounds of 1851 and 1853, were once more fought over, and the debatable townships and districts treated to free harangues and music abundantly ; and everywhere echoed and re-echoed the din of conflict and the clash of arms. This must he taken as metaphoric, for, though there were some noisy and altogether lively meetings, on disputed grounds ; there was nowhere any serious collision, and all the sound and fury did not seriously hurt. The local papers were again crammed with the peculiar County Seat literature ; an article that could not possibly be mistaken for anything else ; and if preserved for the benefit of future generations, cannot fail to be highly valuable as a curiosity. But the long, wearisome contest came to an end, as all things earthly must. Election day was comparatively quiet, and when the returns were made and counted it was found that there was a majority of 300 against removal. Thus ended the third and last County Seat election. Some of the incidents connected with the much vexed question are deserving of special mention. In the month of May, 1853, a number of caucuses had been held in the Eli Smith building, at the north corner of the Public Square, New Lexington, having as an object the forming of a company to purchase a newspaper press and other printing materials with which to print a newspaper advocating the New Lexington interest, and to be published at that place. Difference of opinion arose, and formidable difficulties presented themselves. Some were in favor of a neutral paper, to be printed in New Lexington ; others were in favor of a Democratic paper, to be published in the same place ; while still others wanted to purchase the Democratic paper at Somerset, and remove it to New Lexington. Still others thought it would be best to buy out the Democratic paper, but continue its publication at Somerset, at any rate, until after the election. Time and again the caucus met, counseled, clamored, and disputed, always failing to agree or effect anything tangible.. At length came discouragement, almost dismay, for precious time was flitting by, and the highly important, yea, absolutely essential newspaper enterprise, appeared to be absolutely broken down. But a week or two later, a portion of the men who had participated in the caucuses previously held, with others who had not before been engaged, but chanced to be present, or within call at the time, met again in caucus, organized at once, and had a brief agreement of partnership drawn up. The necessary amount of stock was subscribed in a very short time, quite a number of persons taking part, from whom nothing had been expected. Considering the former dismal failures, the speedy accomplishment, at last, of the desired object, was a great surprise to all. It was at once decided to buy the Democratic paper at Somerset, if possible, then published by E. J. Ellis. A committee was at once sent to confer with him, who were informed that he had just sold the office to some parties in Somerset. The New Lexington men then determined to purchase a new outfit in Cincinnati but, the next day - 9 - 66 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. Mr. Ellis came to New Lexington, stating that the sale to Somerset parties had proven a failure. In a very few moments, however, and before anything further was done, a young man came post haste from Somerset, with a note for Ellis, informing him that the Somerset parties would concede to all his terms. He had nothing further to say to the New Lexington parties. He evidently was desirous of selling, but much preferred selling to the men at Somerset. But after all, the negotiations between Mr. Ellis and the Somerset parties were broken off, and Ellis, evidently much chagrined, wrote to the New Lexington Company, that they might have his office, and for one hundred dollars less than the sum formerly agreed upon. A committee was at once sent. to effect the purchase. The bargain was soon closed, cash and notes passed over, and the office passed into the hands of Vanatta, Forquer & Co., of New Lexington. This newspaper venture, and the deal with Mr. Ellis, was in some of its aspects; in lights, shadows and comicalities, as interesting and exciting as a novel, and fully as ludicrous as the broadest farce. Some time in the fall of 1853, during the exciting campaign of that year, William McKenna, of Jackson Township, who was a candidate on the Southern Democratic ticket, visited Somerset, as he said, to see the people and talk to them a little as a candidate. He tried to make himself agreeable, but quite a number of persons concluded to treat him as a " spy" from the Southern camp. Marshaled by a man of some military celebrity, they surrounded McKenna, led him to his horse, which had been brought from the hotel stable, and told him to get on about as speedily as he could. As soon as he was in the saddle they led his horse southward on the New Lexington road, over the Academy Hill. Mr. McKenna had a very considerable escort on this particular journey. He was a very good humored man, and his face was wreathed in smiles during most of the performance ; but, no doubt, smoldering somewhere underneath there was a respectable volcano of madness. Yet, he cracked jokes with the crowd, and appeared to be having a good share of the sport himself. When they left him they told him to ride on southward into his own country, which he concluded to do. It was some time during the same campaign that a Mr. B., now a well-known business man of Zanesville, drove up into the little town of Saltillo, Perry County, with a one-horse wagon, following his legitimate occupation of peddling tinware. He was an unknown, smooth faced stranger, and on suspicion of being a "spy" of some kind, was peremptorily arrested, his horse and wagon taken charge of, and himself somewhat rudely handled. He was duly catechised and thoroughly investigated, when, after considerable detention, lie was suffered to proceed on his way into the inner precincts of Perry County territory. Mr. B. was then quite a young man, but will doubtless remember to his dying day, his rude, warm, and strange reception, more than a quarter of a century since, in the quiet little town of Saltillo. At the October election, in 1853, John' H. Kelley, of New Lexington, since Colonel of the 114. O. V. I., and Probate Judge of the county, who had been brought up in Madison township, concluded to visit the polls of that township. Although he was well acquainted there, and as he supposed, on the best of terms with "the boys ;" it was not long HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 67 until he came to the conclusion that he had no further business at the Madison polls, and set his face resolutely in the direction of the south. Colonel John Ritchey, of Reading township, and one of the most trusted and popular leaders in that interest, was likewise. a zealous Methodist, and made it a rule to attend Quarterly Meeting in New Lexington, and was in attendance .at one before the excitement of. 1853 had fully subsided. He put up at a hotel, attended the night meeting, was invited to spend the night at the house of a brother Methodist, and accepted the invitation: By the time church was over, a number of men had Mr. R's horse bridled and saddled, and awaited the appearance of the owner, at the hotel, intending to escort him out of town, as Mr. McKenna had been escorted out of Somerset. Ritchey did not appear when church was out, and diligent search was being made for him. A well known citizen of New Lexington, and an active southern man, but a personal friend of. Mr. R's, learning the condition of things, soon ascertained the private house at which the visiting brother had stopped, hurried to the place, and, as he approached, heard the well known voice of his Somerset friend, engaged in prayer with the family, previous to retiring for the night. Circumstances would not admit of much ceremony ; a loud rap at the door cut short the prayer, and Mr. R. was hastily apprised of the situation, and told to go to a certain point on the Somerset road, where his horse, after a while, would be sent to him. The parties having the horse in charge, and intending the escort business, failing in the search for the owner, replaced the horse in the stable, from whence it was afterward taken to the designated place on the Somerset road, and delivered to the owner, who was near by in waiting. The parties who had originated the intended escort and indignity, were not a little chagrined at the miscarriage of their undertaking ; and when they found out how they had been circumvented, were not very well pleased with the person who prevented the performance of the original programme. Thomas O'Hallaran, a citizen of Pike township, and a zealous New Lexington man, just before the election of 1853, was sent; or concluded to visit the railroad shanties, at or near Somerset, to see what he could see, and hear what he could hear. He affected strategy, talked on the sly, and all that ; but, on the second or third day of his visit, he was apprehended as .a spy," taken charge of as such, and subjected to numerous indignities, though unattended with any great degree of violence. But his treatment was rough enough. He was walked, run, rolled and tumbled out of town, and started on his way toward New Lexington. Mr. O. was very much frightened, as well he might be. A narrative of his adventures, as related on the witness stand, in the O'Neill-Nunnemaker contest case, is very amusing, and sometimes highly ludicrous. An extreme southern township, at one of the elections, had a solitary Somorset voter, who publicly annonnced his intention to vote in that interest. When he appeared at the polls, he was so emphatically made aware of his unpopularity and proposed wrong-doing, that he left the polls and went home without depositing his ballot. The pressure for a "solid south," and a “solid north," in some places was very strong, even in those ante-bellum days. Colonel Wm. Spencer, a highly respected citizen of Somerset, a 68 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. man well and favorably known throughout the county, once attempted to make a county-seat speech at Straitsville, in an extreme southern township. He was greeted with a large meeting, but was told that they wanted to hear no speech on the local question, from him. He was well acquainted with nearly all the men, but vainly assayed to proceed on the theme he was announced to talk about. The meeting would have none of it. Then Mr. S. told them he would talk to them concerning their great coal banks. That would be all right, his auditors said. So he made a long speech on coal banks, and matters of kindred character. But he pleased them so well with his big coal talk, that he got to say about all he intended. on the county seat question. But Saltlick remained practically solid for the South. Enough has been said, perhaps, to convey a clear idea of the many and various struggles, for the location and possession of the Seat ot Justice of Perry county. Many of those who took a conspicuous part in the numerous contests, have passed from earth, and most of the living have removed from the county, and cast their fortunes elsewhere. Of all the active participants who remain, the old bitterness has died out, and the former sectional conflicts are sometimes talked over with interest, and in the best possible humor. It took the people of New Lexington a great many years to find out that they had not gained all they anticipated, in securing the Seat of Justice ; it took the people of Somerset fully as long to learn, that they had not lost as much as they had supposed, when the county offices and courts went to New Lexington. A county seat, of course, is of some benefit to a place, and a county town has its advantages, which it is not the intention here to consider. Depending too much upon the advantages of a Seat of Justice, is a most effectual way of finishing and killing what, with the necessary enterprise and exertion, might become a thriving and populous town. Many instances outside of Perry county might be cited in verification of this proposition. But discussion of this branch of the subject is not intended here. It is undoubtedly true that the long and varied contests, relative to the Seat of Justice, in the Legislature, before the people and in the Courts, and other questions closely identified with it, contributed much to the general education of the people, in a number of ways, and notably in various matters pertaining to public affairs ; but it was a dear school, after all, to the great majority of all contestants. If a union of means, efforts and talents, which were expended upon the local question, had been directed to the development of the great coal and iron region, results might have been obtained, for all parties, which would have dwarfed into insignificance, the mere county town advantages of half a dozen county towns. This is no extravagant statement, but a now self evident and universally accepted fact. Public buildings, courts and county officers are, to be sure. some advantage to a town ; but churches, schools, newspapers, manufactures, and varied industrial interests, are of much greater Yalue. And it may as Well be admitted that remunerative employment for the people, of some kind or other, is the basis of all success worth mentioning, for either towns, communities or States. These propositions, the correctness of which none will seriously question, are here presented, as a not inappropriate conclusion of this chapter. on the Seat of Justice. HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 69 CHAPTER IX. AGRICULTURE AND COUNTY FAIRS. THE first thing the pioneers did, after building the log cabin, was to clear and fence a few acres of ground and plant corn, potatoes, and a few garden vegetables, that could be grown on new land. After the first crop of corn was grown, the ground would, the same year, be sown in wheat, so as to be ready for harvest the ensuing July. But corn was, for the first few years, the staple product of the farm. Without corn, hogs and pork, this new and heavily timbered country would have settled slowly. Wheat, cattle and beef, are great and popular staples now, and it is even asserted that beef eating people are subduing and taking possession of all the best countries and places of the world. But corn and hogs had precedence, if n0t preference, among the pioneers of Ohio, and all heavily timbered countries. Hog and Hominy, to use a homely expression, generated the nerve power and formed the muscles by which the wilderness was in time subdued. Over fastidious persons of to-day, may object to the homely fare alluded to, but it is very certain that without the corn and pork of early days, hundreds of thousands of these dainty persons would have had no being or name upon the earth. When the first cornfield was sown in wheat, the pioneer farmer would aim, before the ensuing May, to clear out another field to be planted in corn, etc., and thus the work. of opening out a farm went on. Oats, buckwheat and flax also soon received their share of attention. Grasses and hay received attention later, for. there was good pasture and plenty of it, on the " range " or " Congress land." The work horses and mulch cows were, for a tew years, almost. the only stock ; but this changed after a while. Almost every pioneer farmer had a few sheep, of course, for the family had to be suitably clad for the winter. The tirst sheep were of the common or long-wooled variety ; but this also changed, and the Merino was gradually introduced. Most of the first settlers brought apple seeds or seedling sprouts from the old home in the East. The first apple orchard would be probably forty or fifty trees. comprising. perhaps, nearly as many varieties. Some of them would be quite good, others only tolerable, and others almost worthless. But the enterprising pioneer would saw off the limbs of the worthless trees, and graft better fruit upon them. About this time he would also plant new trees, budded at the root. Peach, cherry, plum and pear trees would also be planted. And in this way. in the course of time, the early orchards became a thing of beauty and value. As the years rolled on, and the cultivated portions of the farm grew larger, wheat was produced in large quantities for market ; brit some- 70 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.. times the price ruled very low. Zanesville was, for many years, the principal wheat market for Perry county, though a portion was disposed of at Newark, Lancaster, Logan and McConnelsville. Horses, cattle, sheep and hogs also began to be raised for sale and export, as the country became cleared up ; but prices were low, and the markets unsteady and uncertain. From 1825 to 1845, a very considerable portion of the county was quite extensively engaged in the culture of tobacco. In many portions tobacco houses were more numerous than barns or dwellings, particularly in the southern and central parts of the county. These houses were mostly of round logs, and built square and high. They were without a floor, of course, for in most cases fires were built under the tobacco ; but sometimes it was air-dried. Rushville, Fairfield county, was the first tobacco .market for the product in Perry ; but later, Rehoboth became a great tobacco market ; and there it was also packed in hogsheads, then wagoned to Zanesville and shipped to Baltimore, Md. Jackson, Pike, Clayton, Harrison, Bearfield, Monroe, Pleasant, Saltlick and Monday Creek were all tobacco townships ; and, with many persons living on small farms, it was for years the staple product. But most farmers raised wheat, corn, oats, buckwheat and potatoes, as well as tobacco, and were kept very busy the year round, for raising and preparing tobacco for market was a slavish work, especially when added to the other manifold duties of the farmer. While Rehoboth was the great tobacco market for the county, it was not an uncommon . thing to see a hundred or more wagons, loaded with. the weed,. drive into town in one day ; and sometimes the road from New Lexington to Rehoboth, two miles in length, was lined with teams, ranging from six horses down to one. There was not much money paid for tobacco, but the farmer managed to exchange it for large quantities of groceries, dry goods and hardware. After the local tobacco merchants broke up, some of the farmers continued to produce tobacco, and packed and shipped to Baltimore on their own account. But this gradually declined, and, after 1850, the industry almost entirely ceased. The year 1850 was, in many ways, a turning point in the agriculture of Perry county. Until that time, as a general thing, it had been the policy of farmers to get all they could out of their land without returning anything to the soil. . Nearly all of them hauled and returned to the soil the barn-yard and stable manure ; but no systematic effort was made to save the producing qualities of the soil, or to add to them. This line of action had to be changed, and was changed. In some cases it had been done at an earlier date than 1850. About this time it was determined to have a county fair. A county agricultural society was accordingly organized and fairs held for three or four years. The first fair was held at the residence and upon the farm of Wm. M. Brown, one mile west of Somerset. There were no fair grounds proper, and the society labored under many disadvantages. Yet there was a respectable show of stock, farm and household products. The fair was held in the same; place in 1852, with about the same results as in the preceding year. In 1853, the fair was held at the court house in town, and at the farm. of E. A. Spencer in the suburbs, the stock being left at the latter place. This was the last of a Perry HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 71 county fair for quite a number of years. Several causes contributed to and brought about this result. These fairs, imperfect and unsatisfactory as they were, were productive of good ; and no doubt their influence, direct and indirect, contributed a good share towards turning over a new leaf in the agriculture of the county, which took place about this time. Better plowing was done, more clover sown, new and better breeds of stock were introduced ; fine blooded sheep were brought in and the industry of wool growing greatly extended, while plowing and planting poor land began to be abandoned as unprofitable and wasteful. The county was in a fair way to agricultural prosperity, when it was struck by the destroying cyclone of the great civil war. This was a severe blow to agriculture, and to many other industries in the county. Three thousand men served a term of some length in the army, many came back disabled, and hundreds returned to their flocks and fields no more. It took several years to show that the county and the country were even beginning to recover from the effects of the terible strife and waste of the war. Just as this recovery began to be fairly perceptible, steps were taken to reorganize the Perry County Agricultural Society. This was accomplished in the summer of 1869, and a fair held in that year, on suitable grounds leased from the infirmary farm, and adjacent to the town of New Lexington on the west. The fair was held_ after the middle of October, and both fall and winter came unusually early that year. The first night of the fair it snowed to the depth of three or four inches, and everything presented an unpromising and dreary appearance. But the second day opened bright and cheery, the snow soon melted away, and the first of the second series of county fairs proved to be a success. The county fairs have continued yearly, upon the same grounds, until the present time, and they are in a profitable and satisfactory condition. Nearly all of them have been very creditable exhibitions, aad financially a success. Some of them have been wonderful in the extent, variety and quality of articles exhibited, and have been very favorably noticed by journals published in neighboring or distant counties. The Perry County Agricultural, Life St0ck and Mechanical Art Union Society was organized and a fair held at Somerset in 1870, and every year since, with one or two exceptions. These fairs have; in the main, been very creditable and successful, and have done their full share toward improving and developing the various industries of the county. The managers of these yearly exhibitions have evinced great skill, energy and perseverance, and without county aid of any kind, have kept the enterprise afloat, rendering satisfaction to exhibitors and spectators. Grounds have been secured and duly fitted up, and it appears to be the design of the management to keep up the fairs for an indefinite period, if they continue to meet the approbation of the public. As previously stated, the productive powers of the soil had seriously declined just previous to 1850, and wheat was no longer the certain and remunerative crop that it had been in former years, and the yield of corn had greatly fallen off. From 1850 to 1860, there were about as many failures as successes in crops, and the outlook for the farming community was not encouraging. 1860 was a fruitful year, but the war came on, and from that and other causes, wheat and corn fell short, and 72 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. the millers of the county found it necessary to purchase thousands of bushels of wheat and other grain in Cincinnati, Toledo and Chicago, to make flour to sell to the resident people of the county, farmers included. The first wheat crop after the war, (the sewing of 1865 and the harvest of 1866,) was the most complete failure since the first settlement of the county, and farmers were under the necessity of purchasing. wheat abroad, at three dollars per bushel, for seed as well as family use, and the price of flour run up to $17.50 per barrel. Wheat was necessarily sown sparingly for a year or two, with seed at such high prices ; and it was not until 1869 that a wheat crop of fair proportions was again harvested. From that time on there was a gradual increase of acreage and wheat production until in 1880, there was probably the greatest. crop .ever produced. The yield of 1881 was not quite so large, but the berry was very good as a general thing. The millers of late years are not buying in distant markets ; at least not much in comparison with some former years. The culture of wheat, corn and other crops, too, has very much changed within the last few years. Wheat is now nearly all planted wild the drill, and the land top-dressed with barn manure, or commercial fertilizer sown upon it. The farmers have also turned over a new leaf with regard to corn. Instead of cultivating many acres of poor land, to little or no purpose, as many of them once did, corn is now usually planted upon good, productive soil, that will not wash, and is cultivated with great care. The ground is well pulverized, and commercial fertilizer or barn-yard manure is often used in the hill. There is a less acreage, but a larger yield, and, consequently, more profitable and satisfactory results. As much as one hundred and thirty bushels have been produced from an acre receiving special attention. This shows what it is possible to do. .It is noteworthy that corn produced in this way is superior to the best that is shipped in from the black lands of Muskingum, Fairfield or Pickaway counties.. Butter, eggs and poultry have, for many years, been a very considerable item of trade. The country, for the most part, is well adapted to these, and their production will necessarily increase, as the demand increases trom mining and manufacturing towns. The cultivation of Irish and sweet potatoes, turnips, melons and garden vegetables, has also much increased, within the last few years, stimulated by the great demand from new and growing towns, which are scarcely ever fully supplied. There has of late years been a marked improvement in all kinds of stock. New and improved breeds have been introduced, and stock of all kinds has been better fed and cared for. Sheep husbandry has not only increased, but the finest and best blood has been imported, and wool-growing brought to a high state of perfection. Many of the wool growers find no difficulty in securing the highest price for their clips. The greater part of the county is highly adapted to sheep raising and wool growing, and enterprising men are disposed to make the most ot the advantages offered. Apples, peaches, grapes, plums, pears, quinces, and cherries have been a fairly remunerative crop throughout all the years, peaches and pears possibly excepted. Grapes have done well where planted in HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 73 limited quantities about dwellings and gardens ; large vineyards have not, in many cases, been profitable. Peaches have been pretty much abandoned, except upon the high lands and these are plentiful enough, surely, to produce a large supply. Apples of certain leading varieties have been successful enough to encourage a much larger planting. Most of the county is well adapted to the growing of apples. Damson plums do as well here as anywhere. The small fruits, such as currants, strawberries, raspberries, etc., have all had a fair trial and have done well. The blackberry and raspberry have no better home than much of this county. The original forests contained many maple and "sugar" trees, so called, and sugar camps were among the belongings of the pioneers, and even the settlers of a later day. But the original trees have mostly passed away, and sugar and molasses are no longer made in the little lone shanty in the woods. Some land owners are beginning to have sugar and maple groves of the second growth, and it is probable that they will largely increase in the future. The original forests in many parts of the county, contained chestnut and walnut trees. Many of the farmers have left here and there a tree of these varieties growing in the fields or along their lanes, and they are beautiful and appear picturesque as well as furnishing shade for stock in summer, and nuts for the children of small and large growth in the long winter evenings. - 10 - 74 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. CHAPTER X. THE NEWSPAPER PRESS. Tradition and authorities are a little conflicting as to the tirst newspaper published in the count". John M. Laird, yet living, at an advanced age, and still engaged in the newspaper business, was one of the early printers and publishers of Perry county. In a letter published in the New Lexington Tribune, of May 14th, 1874, he speaks of the "Scorpion" and "Rattlesnake" as early newspapers published in Somerset previous to his advent there in the spring of 1822. But, at the most these papers must have but fitful and irregular publications, issued by contending factions and cliques, as electioneering or defamatory documents, and hardly entitled to the name of newspapers. It appears pretty well settled, by tradition and otherwise, that the first regular newspaper ever published in Perry county was established by John Lidey.. E. P. Alford, at Somerset, the first issue thereof being made March 28th, 1821, and was called "The Western World and Political Tickler." Evidently the pioneer. journal did not lack for a name. The " Tickler" was published about a year, and was a most violent and scurrilous journal, and the virulent and petty contests that had begun in the ",Scorpion" and "Rattlesnake" were transferred to the ever ready columns of the "Tickler," and served to keep the whole reading community in a state of constant uproar. Such were the temper and spirit of the times. In the spring of 1822, the "Tickler" was discontinued, and was succeeded by the Perry Record, printed and published by John M. Laird, though the names of John Lidey and James Patterson were, at one time or another, used in connection with the proprietorship of the paper and it is probable that they furnished most of the printing materials, which, it is scarcely necessary to state, were neither extensive nor costly. The Perry Record was continued about three years, when Mt. Laird, who was the practical printer, returned. to the east. The Record, was succeeded by the People's Advocate, published by John Miller, probably with the names of Henry Filler and Henry Crumrine as proprietors. The Advocate was purchased in May, 1831, by William F., and Louis J. Moeller who changed the name to Western Post and Perry Advertiser. They published the paper jointly a few months when Wm. F. Moeller assumed entire control and .took off the "And Perry Advertiser," from the name, leaving it simply "The Western Post." In January, 1835, Louis J. Moeller purchased the entire office, and changed the title to Western Post and Perry Democratic Advertiser. In April, 1837, Mr. Moeller sold the office to Samuel McAfee and Jonathan W. Ream, both young men who had served their apprentice-