PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 75 caused by a horse trade between a white man and an Indian. David Daniels settled on the site of Palmyra in 1799. Pike county was organized in 1815. The surface is generally hilly, which abounds with freestone, which is exported in large quantities for building purposes. Rich bottom lands extend along the Scioto and its tributaries. John Nolan and the three Chenoweth brothers settled on the Pee Pee prairie about 1796. Piketown, the former county seat, was laid out about 1814. Waverly, the present county seat, is situated on the Scioto river. Preble county was formed March 1, 1808, from Montgomery and Butler. The soil is varied. Eaton, the county seat, was laid out in 18o6, by William Bruce, who owned the land. An overflowing well of strong sulphur water is near the town, while directly beside it is a limestone quarry. Holder-man's quarry is about two miles distant, from which is obtained a beautifully-clouded gray stone. Fort St. Clair was built near Eaton in the winter of 1791-92. General Harrison was an ensign at the time and commanded a guard every other night for three weeks during the building. The severe battle of November 6, 1792, was fought under its very guns. Little Turtle, a distinguished chief of the Miamis, roamed over this county for a time. He was witty, brave and earnest and, although engaged in several severe contests with the whites, lie was inclined toward peace. But when his warriors cried for war he led them bravely. Putnam county was formed April 1, 1820, from old Indian Territory. The soil is fertile, its principal productions being wheat, corn, potatoes and oats. Kalida, once the county seat, was laid out in 1834. Ottawa is the county seat. Ross county was formed August 20, 1798, by the proclamation of Governor St. Clair and was the ninth county formed in the Northwest Territory. The Scioto river and Paint creek run through it, bordered with fertile lands. It exports cattle and hogs. The Rev. Robert W. Finley, in 1794, addressed a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie, as many of his associates had designed settling in the new state. This resulted in packing their several effects and setting out. A trivial Indian encounter was the only interruption they met with on their way. After Wayne's treaty, Colonel Massie and many of these early explorers met again and formed a settlement—in 1796—at the mouth of Paint creek. In August of this year, Chillicothe was laid out by Colonel Massie in a dense forest. He donated lots to the early settlers. A ferry was established over the Scioto and the opening of Zane's trace assisted the progress of settlement. Chillicothe, the county seat, is situated on the Scioto. Its site is thirty feet above the river. In 76 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. 1800 it was the seat of the Northwest territorial government. It was incorporated as a city in January, 1802. During the War of 1812, the city was a rendezvous for the United States troops. A large number of British were at one time guarded here. Adena is a beautiful place and the seat of Governor Worthington's mansion, which was built in 1806. Richland was organized March 1, 1813. It was settled about 1809 on branches of the Mohican. Two block-houses were built in 1812. Mansfield, the county seat, is charmingly situated and was laid out in 1808 by Jacob Newman, James Hedges and Joseph H. Larwell. The county was at that period a vast wilderness, destitute of roads. From this year the settlement progressed rapidly. Sandusky county was formed April I, 1820, from the old Indian Terri tory. The soil is fertile and country generally level. Near Lower Sandusky lived a band of Wyandots, called the Neutral Nation. They preserved their peacemaking attributes through the Iroquois conflicts. Freemont, formerly called Lower Sandusky, the county seat, is situated at the head of navigation on the Sandusky on the site of the old reservation grant to the Indians, at the Greenville treaty council. Fort Stephenson was erected in August,. 1813, and was gallantly defended by Colonel Croghan. Summit county was formed March 3, 1840, from Medina, Portage and Stark. The soil is fertile and produces excellent fruit, besides large crops of corn, wheat, hay, oats and potatoes. The first settlement made in the county was at Hudson in 1800. The old Indian portage-paths, extending through this county, between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum. This was a part of the ancient boundary between the Six Nations and the Western Indians. Akron, the county seat, is situated on the portage summit. It was laid out in 1825. In 1811 Paul Williams and Amos and Minor Spicer settled in this vicinity. Middlebury was laid out in 1818 by Norton and Hart. Starke county was formed February 13, 1808. It is a rich agricultural county. It has large quantities of mineral coal and iron ore. Limestone and extensive beds of lime-marl exist. Frederick Post, the first Moravian missionary in Ohio, settled here in 1761. Canton is the county seat, situated in the forks of the Nimishillen, a tributary of the Muskingum. It was laid out in 1806, by Bezaleel Wells, who owned the land. Massillon was laid out in March, 1826, by John Duncan. Shelby county was formed in 1819, from Miami. The southern portion is undulating, arising in some places to hills. Through the north it is a flat table-land. The first point of English settlement in Ohio was at the PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 77 mouth of Laramie's creek in this county as early as 1752. Fort Laramie was built in 1794 by Wayne. The first white family that settled in this county was that of James Thatcher in 1804. Sidney, the county seat, was laid out in 1819 on the farm of Charles Starrett. Seneca county was formed April 1, 1820, from the old Indian Territory. Fort Seneca was built during the War of 1812. The Senecas owned forty thousand acres of land on the Sandusky river, mostly in Seneca county. Thirty thousand acres of this land was granted to them in 1817 at the treaty held at the foot of the Maumee Rapids. The remaining ten thousand was granted the following year. These Indians ceded this tract, however, to the government in 1831. It was asserted by an old chief that this band was the remnant of Logan's tribe. Tiffin, the county seat, was laid out by Josiah Hedges in the year 1821. Scioto county was formed May I, 1803. It is a good agricultural section, besides producing iron ore, coal and freestone. It is said that a French fort stood at the mouth of the old Scioto as early as 1740. In 1785 four families settled where Portsmouth now stands. Thomas McDonald built the first cabin in the county. The French grant was located in this section—a tract comprising twenty-four thousand acres. The grant was made in March, 1795. Portsmouth, the county seat, is located upon the Ohio. Trumbull county was formed in I800. The original Connecticut Western Reserve was within its limits. The county is well cultivated and very wealthy. Coal is found in its northern portion. Warren, the county seat, is situated on the Mahoning river. It was laid out by Ephraim Quinby in 1801. Mr. Quinby owned the soil. His cabin was built here in 1799. In August, 1800, while Mr. McMahon was away from home, a party of drunken Indians called at the house, abused the family, struck a child a severe blow with a tomahawk and threatened to kill the family. Mrs. McMahon could not send tidings which could reach her husband before noon the following day. The following Sunday morning, fourteen men and two boys, armed themselves and went to the Indian camp to settle the difficulty. Quinby advanced alone, leaving the remainder in concealment, as he was better acquainted with these people, to make inquiries and ascertain their intentions. He did not return at once and the party set out, marched into camp and found Quinby arguing with Captain George, the chief. Captain George snatched his tomahawk and declared war, rushing forward to kill McMahon. But a bullet from the frontiersman's gun killed him instantly, while Storey shot "Spotted John" at the same time. The Indians then fled. They joined the council at Sandusky. Quinby garrisoned his house. Fourteen days 78 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. thereafter the Indians returned with overtures of peace, which were, that McMahon and Storey be taken to Sandusky, tried by Indian laws, and if found guilty punished by them. This could not be done. McMahon was tried by General St. Clair and the matter was settled. The first missionary on the reserve was the Rev. Joseph Badger. Tuscarawas county was formed February 15, 1808, from Muskingum It is well cultivated with abundant supplies of coal and iron. The first white settlers were Moravian missionaries, their first visits dating back to 1761. The first permanent settlement was made in 1803. Mary Heckewelder, the daughter of a missionary, was born in this county April 16, 1781. Fort Laurens was built during the Revolution. It was the scene of a fearful carnage. It was established in the fall of 1778 and placed under the command of General McIntosh. New Philadelphia is the county seat, situated on the Tuscarawas. It was laid out in 1804 by John Knisely. A German colony settled in this county in 1817, driven from their native land by religious persecutions. They called themselves Separatists. They are good people, strictly moral and honest. Union county was formed from Franklin, Delaware, Logan and Madison in 1820. Extensive limestone quarries are also valuable. The Ewing brothers made the first white settlement in 1798. Col. James Curry, a member of the State Legislature, was the chief instigator in the progress of this section. He located within its limits and remained until his death, which occurred in 1834. Marysville is the county seat. Van Wert county was formed from the old Indian Territory April 1, 182o. Van Wert, the county seat, was founded by James W. Riley in 1837. An Indian town had formerly occupied its site. Captain Riley was the first white man who settled in the county, arriving in 1821. He founded Willshire in 1822. Vinton county was organized in 185o. It is drained by Raccoon and Salt creeks. The surface is undulating or hilly. Bituminous coal and iron ore are found. McArthur is the county seat. Washington county was formed by proclamation of Governor St. Clair July 27, 1788, and was the first county founded within the limits of Ohio. The surface is broken with extensive tracts of level, fertile land. It was the first county settled in the state under the auspices of the Ohio Company. A detachment of United States troops, under the command of Major John Doughty, built Fort Harmar in 1785 and it was the first military post established in Ohio by Americans, with the exception of Fort Laurens, which was erected in 1778. It was occupied by United States troops until 1790, PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 79 when they were ordered to Connecticut. A company under Captain Haskell remained. In 1785 the directors of the Ohio Company began practical operations and settlement went forward rapidly. Campus Martius, a stockade fort, was completed in 1791. This formed a sturdy stronghold during the war. During the Indian war there was much suffering in the county. Many settlers were killed and captured. Marietta is the county seat and the oldest town in Ohio. Marietta College was chartered in 1835. Herman Blenner hassett, whose unfortunate association with Aaron Burr proved fatal to himself, was a resident of Marietta in 1796. Warren county was formed May 1, 1803, from Hamilton. The soil is very fertile and considerable water power is furnished by its streams. Mr. Bedell made the first settlement in 1795. Lebanon is the county seat. Henry Taylor settled in this vicinity in 1796. Union Village is a settlement of Shakers. They came here about 1805. Wayne county was proclaimed by Governor St. Clair, August 15, 1796, and was the sixth county in the Northwest Territory. The settlement of this section has already been briefly delineated. Wooster is the county seat. It was laid out during the fall of 1808, by John Beaver, William Henry and Joseph H. Larwell, owners of the land. Its site is three hundred and thirty-seven feet above Lake Erie. The first mill was built by Joseph Stibbs in 1809, on Apple creek. In 1812 a block-house was erected in Wooster. Wood county was formed from the old Indian Territory in 182o. The soil is rich and large crops are produced. The county is situated within the Maumee valley. It was the arena of brilliant military exploits during early times. Bowling Green is the county seat. Williams county was formed April I, 182o, from the old Indian Territory. Bryan is the county seat. It was laid out in 184o. Wyandot county was formed February 3, 1845, from Marion, Hardin, Hancock and Crawford. The surface is level and the soil fertile. The Wyandot Indians frequented this section. It was the scene of Crawford's defeat in June, 1782, and his fearful death. By the treaty of 1817, Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan McArthur. United States commissioners, granted to the Indians a reservation twelve miles square, the central point being Fort Ferree. The Delaware reserve was ceded to the United States in 1829. The Wyandots ceded theirs March 17, 1842. The United States commissioner was Col. John Johnson, who thus made the last Indian treaty in Ohio. Every foot of this state was fairly purchased by treaties. The Wyandots were exceedingly brave and several of their chiefs were men of exalted moral principles. 80 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. Upper Sandusky is the county seat and was laid out in 1843. General Harrison had built Ferree on this spot during the War of 1812. Governor Meigs, in 1813, encamped near the river with several thousand of the Ohio militia. The Indian village of Crane Town was originally called Upper Sandusky. The Indians transferred their town, after the death of Tarhe, to Upper Sandusky. CHAPTER II. GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth; and the earth was waste and void. * * * And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so." Thus in general terms, does the Bible describe the process of world-making, and science has so far found no contradiction to that general statement. THE GLACIER PERIOD. In regard to that particular part of the earth's surface with which we have to deal, the latest geologists substantially state the case to be as follows : That in the process of world-making the great Laurentian, or sometimes called Labradorean, and the Kuwatin ridges of Canada heaved their granite backs above the ocean waves, and as the ages merged into the vast cycle of time, they extended their borders southward, well across the United States, and they became covered with sand and vegetation, and the dying vegetation added its mould and matter, making what we call soil, which furnished life and substance to a profusion of various vegetation, which, as the ages slipped by, became peopled and teemed with animal life varying from the mite to the mammoth ; and streams flowed down the slopes of the land to the sea ; but there came a time, brought about by the shifting of the earth's poles, or some other great cataclysm of nature, when those two great ridges, the geological backbone of the North American continent, became covered with mountains of ice, variously estimated to have been from three to eight miles thick at the central point of the ice masses, and as ice is known to be fluid when of great depth, it flowed south and southwest down the general slope of the land, and paused not in its onward march until it had crossed the line of the Ohio river, and brought up against the high lands of Kentucky opposite southwestern Ohio and southeastern Indiana, and rendered the Ohio river a lake, extending perhaps to beyond Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Then the ice sheet receded a part of the way, and again advanced, until it is claimed there were no less than six periods of advancement and reces- (6) 82 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. sion, with long periods of hundreds of years between the recessions and the advancements. So long were some of them that great forests again covered the land, only to be swept down and destroyed by the ruthless icy wave; but, finally, nature adjusted conditions and the great ice sheet retreated to its northern home permanently, melting away before the rays of the sun. This period of ice is called the glacier period. That vast moving body of ice ground and pulzerized the underlying earth, stone and sand, leveling hills and piling up other hills, and brought down other material from the north; then the melting of the ice resulted in great floods of water, which-washed and distributed the earth material and drifted and piled it up in many places many feet thick, and the material so left is called drift. Preble county lay right across the path of that great ice machine and the erosive process of its melting floods ; and, generally stated, the soils of the county; so wonderfully fertile, were then deposited and have so remained, except as changed by deposits of decaying vegetation, or the washing effect of our streams. The many boulders scattered over our county, and especially those of our great boulder belt, the greatest in Ohio, on account of their structure and composition, are mute witnesses that they were a part and parcel of that invading wave of northern ice. The scouring of the great ice sheet, followed by the floods of water that swept down from the face of the melting and retreating ice mass, have eroded the three main valleys of the county, to wit : Big Twin creek, Seven Mile creek and Four Mile creek, which with their tributaries drain the whole county and form part of the Great Miami valley, except the northwestern corner of the county is drained by Whitewater and its tributaries, and a part of southern Gratis and southeastern Somers township are drained by Elk creek, which flows into the Great Miami. THE STONE CROP. Three groups of stone crop out in the county. The Cincinnati group (blue limestone), covering the greater part of Israel, Somers, Gratis and Lanier and Twin townships, and the eastern half of Gasper township, with a long finger of that stone extending up Twin creek to beyond Euphemia. The balance of the county is covered with the Niagara group, with the Clinton limestone showing as cap rock several feet thick. Along the junctions of the two great groups named above, except at West Elkton, there seems to be an .island of. Clinton extending northeast and southwest some five miles long by about two miles wide. The surface of the county may be described as level and rolling land, PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 83 there being no elevations of the county that would properly be designated as hills, except along Whitewater in Jefferson township and along Seven Mile in Somers, and along Four Mile in Israel township, and the Morning Star hill in Lanier township at the junction of the Cincinnati and Niagara groups, and is covered with the heaviest cap of Clinton in the county. And even those hills, while they seem big to us in comparison with the balance of our land, are not what geographers designate as hill land, because they are not of great heights, and can generally be cultivated and cropped from base to summit. And it is noticeable that along the juncture of the two great groups of stone numerous springs of most excellent water are found, and they materially affected the early settlement of the county. One known as the Royer spring in Twin township is one of the largest springs in the state, flowing no less than one hundred and seventy-five thousand gallons per day, summer and winter, and in the early settlement of the county was utilized to run a small mill for over forty years. While this is the largest, there are several others that flow from five thousand to fifty thousand gallons per day. The tremendous erosive force of the floods that in ages past have swept down our streams can not be adequately described; but let me tell where it may be seen, and then the observer can turn his imagination loose. About half a mile west of Camden, Paint creek cuts across what is known as Devil's Backbone hill, and by going down stream below the hill and looking north may be seen the saddle cut across the hill, that at one time certainly must have been the bed of the creek, but which is now some fifty feet or more above the present bed. By some weakness in the rampart of stone, the waters found a lower outlet and have cut and quarried away the stone, leaving a sheer bluff some sixty to eighty feet high as a monument of its former power. A similar demonstration on a smaller scale may be seen where little Four Mile breaks through the hills to join the main stream in Israel township. A BELT OF BOULDERS. The great boulder belt of the county deserves more than a passing notice, because it is the largest in Ohio, and one of the most remarkable in the United States. Its central line begins about a mile east of Gettysburg. There the belt swings in a great band one to three miles wide southeast to about two miles north of Eaton, and there curves eastwardly and runs east by south, passing out of the county east of Enterprise, and extending to about or beyond Farmersville in Montgomery county. There are many boulders scattered over the county outside of this belt, but they are separate and not form- 84 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. ing a distinct body. In the boulder belt they range from pebbles to stones weighing many tons, mostly granite, syenite, quartzite, etc. One measured by the writer in 1888, on the farm of Wilson Frank about one and a half miles north of the courthouse, was elliptical in form, over fourteen feet long by eleven feet wide and rose three and a half feet high, and the ground was probed three and a half feet deep without finding the bottom of the stone. The top was oval in form, and the outside lines were regular, the stone of a dark color and a very dense and hard formation. These are the measures, and its weight can be approximately figured. In the boulder belt where they are undisturbed they are so thick as to render cultivation very tedious, and in some places well nigh impossible. They are all azoic stone ; that is, they belong to the stone of that age when no life existed in the world. There are no cliffs or layers of stone like them, showing on the surface to the north, probably nearer than the north shore of Lake Superior, and it is claimed that for some of the boulders there are no localities known to the north with similar surface rock. Some of them plainly show that they have been worn and rubbed and grooved by the glacier action. It is known that when two glaciers in their descent crowd against each other, that the heavier and stronger bends the weaker somewhat, and then they flow side by side to the lower levels and often carry great bands of stone clustered along the junction line, which bands of stone are called moraines. Does this band of stone across our county mark the line of such glacier action during the process of world making? These boulders have been largely gathered from the surface of the land and piled or built into fences, or crushed and spread on the roads, and they form most excellent road material ; but while the surface of the land appears clean, the plow and ditches encounter many boulders beneath the surface. There are yet some large boulders left, but the farmers have been industriously clearing them off, and they are fast disappearing. The method adopted by the early settlers, and up to about thirty years ago, was to build a fire around and over a big boulder and get it very hot, then throw a few buckets of cold water on it, and it would crack off slabs of stone, if it did not break into pieces ; and two or three fires generally softened its heart so that it could be hauled away ; but when dynamite came into use it made the biggest boulders yield quickly. NATURE KIND TO THE SOIL. The soil of the county is generally warm and fertile and adopted in an eminent degree to nearly all crops raised in this latitude, and our farmers have learned to utilize its generous nature in the raising of those crops which PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 85 it produces best, until they have made the county, if not the wealthiest county of the state per capita, as shown by the tax duplicate of the state, certainly not lower than second place on the list. The drift formation has been modified by other agencies in many parts of the county, and scattered through it, and between the boulder clay and the modified drift, exist seams of sand and gravel sometimes in large deposits, and through these seams water percolates, and in sinking wells generally the striking of one of these seams or beds of gravel leads to an abundant supply of. excellent water being found; most notable of which are the wells at Eaton, where at a depth of one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet is found the supply of water for the Eaton water works; while at West Alexandria, at about one hundred feet, is found a supply of most excellent water that will flow out of pipes several feet above the surface of the ground, and it furnishes the water for the village water works. In the central part of the county the boulder clay is at the surface and lies directly on the sheet of limestone beneath, while in the northern part of the county the boulder clay is covered by a modified drift some twenty feet in depth; while at Camden the gravel bed comes nearly to the surface and extends downward to a depth of one hundred and eighty feet before reaching the limestone sheet beneath, as shown in the drilling of two oil wells at that village some twenty-five years ago. The gravel depth at Camden is the greatest of any gravel bed known in this part of the state, and at a depth of a few feet the gravel bed is found to be filled with water, so much so that in a large section of territory wells sunk fifteen to thirty feet furnish a never-failing supply of most excellent water. The Niagara stone and, to a lesser extent, the Cincinnati group, has been extensively utilized in the past in making lime, of which it makes the highest quality, and for many years there were large and prosperous lime kilns near Lewisburg and New Paris, and their product was in much demand, not only at home, but was shipped to many points in Ohio and neighboring states; but recently it has been discovered that the stone crushed makes one of the most valuable of our road-making materials and for concrete, and large crushers have been erected at those places, and their product finds a ready market in many counties and cities, while the burning of lime, being less remunerative, has been practically abandoned. In these groups of stone are found many fossils of the former ocean bed, bivalves, corniculums, trilobites, etc., notably at Eaton, where many forms are found in greater abundance and perfection than in any other known locality. 86 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. STRIKING OIL. In the limestones of these groups and the Clinton, many places show and smell of petroleum deposits, and this fact has caused three oil excitements in the county, separated by intervals of ten to twenty years, when wells were sunk, three at Eaton to a depth of some sixteen hundred feet or more, and two near West Alexandria were drilled over twelve hundred feet, and two at Camden to a similar depth, but no paying oil found, but pockets of gas were encountered, but of no great amount, except at Camden one well struck and obtained a considerable supply of gas that was utilized to some extent, until the seapage of water shut off the supply, and where the water was pumped out the supply of gas was resumed, and it would be of some use if some means could be found to cut off the inflow of water. During each oil excitement many oil leases of land were made, and are recorded in our deed records, thus, at least, the oil crazes had the effect of benefiting the county recorder. The Clinton limestone in this locality resembles sandstone and resists fire better than any other formation, and during the early days when fireplaces furnished nearly all the heat for the house, it was much sought and used for the backs and sides of the fireplaces and chimneys. HILLS AND HOLLOWS. The exact geographical position of the county and the elevation of the various places of the county, and as to highest and lowest points, have been much discussed, and it seems that no more fitting place could be found than in closing this chapter. The figures given are those of the United States Geographic Survey, and show the elevation in feet above the sea level. But first the geographic location : Intersection of Main street, Eaton, and the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati & St. Louis railroad. Longitude 84 degrees 37 minutes and 47 seconds. Latitude 39 degrees 44 minutes and 39 seconds. Intersection main cross streets, West Alexandria. Latitude 39 degrees 44 minutes and 41 seconds. Longitude 84 degrees 31 minutes and 54 seconds. State line on west road. Latitude 39 degrees 44 minutes and 38 seconds. Longitude 84 degrees 48 minutes and 51 seconds. State line on National road. Longitude 84 degrees 48 minutes and 48 seconds. PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 87 East county line on National road. Longitude 84 degrees 29 minutes and 2 seconds. Southwest corner of county. Latitude 39 degrees 34 minutes and 4 seconds. Longitude 84 degrees 48 minutes and 54 seconds. North county line at northwest corner, section 1, Jefferson township. Latitude 39 degrees 55 minutes and i second. The elevations above sea level are given in feet for the towns as those of the general level, as that of West Alexandria is in road at west corporation line, northwest corner section 3, township 5, range 3 east. Water Seven Mile creek at south line of county, 750, lowest in county; Camden, 841; top of hill east of Camden on West Elkton road at the crossroads, 1,003 ; Devil's Backbone hill, 1,000; Morning Sun, 1,000 ; West Elkton, 1,040; Elk creek at south line county in section 36, Gratis township, 800; hill one mile north of West Elkton, 1,093 ; Gratis, 876; Twin creek at east county line, 776; Enterprise, about 900; Ingomar, 929; Dadsville, 945 Sugar Valley, 1,094; Muttonville, 950; Wheatville, 967; Greenbush, 926; top of hill about a mile northeast of Sugar alley, about 1,140 ; West Alexandria, goo ; east county line on Dayton pike, 941; Eaton, 1,050 ; top Harris hill, five miles west of Eaton, 1,200; Dayton pike, top of hill, one mile east of Eaton, 1,038, highest point between Eaton and Dayton; New Lexington, 899; New Hope, 1,154; New Westville, 1,185; top watershed west of Orangeburg road on Eaton and Richmond pike, 1,211 ; state line on pike west of Westville, 1,085; New Hope Station, 1,170 ; Pleasant Hill, 1,105; county line north of Pleasant hill, 1,068; Lewisburg and Euphemia, 989; Verona, 1,027; Georgetown, 1,028; road center northeast quarter section 18, Jefferson township, 1,195; Sonora, 1,050; West Manchester, 1,090 ; Eldorado, 1,140; Gettysburg, 1,177; Orangeburg, 1,193; top hill one and a half miles west of Orangeburg on National road, 1,230; Brennersville, 1,009; Oklahoma, 1,070; Brinley, 1,130; county line north of Brinley, 1,207; New Paris, 1,036; top of hill one and a half miles from New Paris on Eaton road, 1,225; top Morning Star hill, about 975; top water in Royer spring, 1,014; Four Mile creek at south county line, about 800. To this I add a few in Ohio that are often inquired for: Greenville, 1,050 ; Dayton, 740; Hamilton, 602; Columbus, at state house, 780; Lake Erie, 572; Cincinnati, low water, 432. The maps for the west three and one-half miles of the county are not yet available. As information to those who wish to pursue this matter further, I will add that the United States Geographic Survey publishes maps showing the territory fifteen miles square, showing the elevations of the 88 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. country for each variation of twenty feet. The maps are named for some town in that square. Two maps, Miamisburg and Brookville, show the east mile of this county, and two maps, Oxford and West Manchester, show the central part, and two maps, Liberty and Richmond quadrangles, show the west three and one-half miles of this county, and the interior department at Washington mails them to any one for ten cents per map. CHAPTER III. MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS. These two races of men, if they are two races, are treated together because the Indian race seems like the sequel of the Mound Builder, if it be not the same. There are about one hundred of the Mound Builders' mounds in Preble county, and one fortification attributed to them. The mounds are chiefly found along Twin creek, Sever' Mile creek and Four Mile creek, the largest being in Harrison and Israel townships, and being what are known as observation mounds and burial mounds, or tumuli. As observation mounds, the three mounds near Lewisburg are the clearest illustrations in the county, one mound being about a mile south of the village, near the track of the Cincinnati Northern railroad ; another is about a mile and a half east of the village, while the third mound is some two miles or more northeast of the village on the slope of Miller's Fork; and from the top of any one mound the other mounds may be seen, and from the tops of the three the watchmen could look for long distances up and down Twin creek and Miller's Fork, and signal to the other watchmen. That use, of course, is a guess only, but it seems that they might have hen so wed on account of their situation. About a mile northeast of Fair Haven is a mound of considerable size, located on the bottom land of Four Mile, which has been found to be composed largely of gravel, and many loads have been hauled away and used for road purposes, and in excavating some minor stone and flint implements were found. A PREHISTORIC MAN DISINTERRED. The mound seems to be an isolated one, and may have been a burial mound or a sacrificial mound—so-called. The mound at the Eaton cemetery was a burial mound, and it has been made doubly so by white men. Samuel Clear, the father of Hawkins Clear, who has been one of the sextons of the Eaton cemetery so long that it may almost be said the "memory of man runneth not to the contrary," helped dig the grave and prepare the foundation for the monument to Lieutenant Lowery and his men in 1847, and to his son, 90 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. my informant, he gave the following statement : That the mound was originally some two and one-half to three feet higher than now, but they cut the top down to have space for the monument, and dug the grave about the center of the mound, and soon came upon a skull, and as they dug deeper they uncovered the bones of an entire human skeleton, that of a large man, who had apparently been buried in nearly a standing position and at about the original surface of the ground they found ashes and burnt wood and charcoal, and they burrowed under the earth below the northwest corner of the monument and deposited the bones and skull therein ; then, depositing the box containing the bones of Lowery and his men in the center, and built the foundation, of the monument around and over the box, and the modern soldier and the ancient warrior peacefully sleep side by side, awaiting eternity's dawn. Mr.. Hawkins Clear has been employed at the cemetery so long that his memory of many things connected with it is more reliable than the records and always has been found trustworthy, and I think full reliance should be given his statement, getting it as he did from his father. There is but one known fortification work of those ancient peoples in Preble county, and I add a survey thereof. It is located in Lanier township at the junction and between the streams of Twin creek and Banta Fork. James L. Street was county surveyor of the county between 1840 and 1848 and was one of the most careful and skillful surveyors of the county, so much so that if the surveyors of the present day, who, in tracing old lines, strike one of his lines or surveys, feel justified in resting their decisions on the statements .of Uncle Jimmie Street, as he is called by all. A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE. Some twenty-five years ago the writer was employed by the county commissioners to copy into the surveyor's records the field notes left by Mr. Street of his surveys in books small enough that he carried them in his pocket, and among them I found the survey and description of the old fort, and copied it into the surveyor's record that it might not be lost. It is as follows, verbatim : "Ancient Fortification on the point between Banta Creek and Twin Creek at their Junction, Surveyed July 28th 1846. The ditch begins at 8 rods from Banta Fork on the N. E. bank of the creek, which bears S. 4̊ E. The Works are on the S. W. V4 of the S. E. IA of Sec. 1 o T. 5 R. 3 E: Thence took bearings for the ditch from the above mentioned 8 rod point, N. 23̊ E. io.8o poles to a point on E. side of the ditch, Thence N. 35 1-3̊ PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 91 E 16 poles to a point on E; side of ditch, Thence N. 60̊ E. 6 poles to a point on the ditch to which an: ancient wall bears S. 18̊ E. At about 3o rods from Banta Fork and bears N, 18̊ W .(S. 18̊ E) runs what appears to be a fragment of a wall composed of granite boulders, of which the ,South and South East of the inclosure abounds.. Thence same 4 poles to E. side of ditch; Thence N. 71 1/2̊ E. 14 poles to, a gateway ; Thence. same 4 poles to a point on S. bank of ditch; :Thence N. 77 1/2̊ E 8 poles to S.: bank of, ditch; Thence S. 85 ½ 9. E. 10 poles to Do; Thence S. 56 1/2̊ 10 poles to a gateway; Thence S. 30̊ E. To poles to a point on S.. W. bank. of the ditch ;Thence S. 8̊ E. 8 poles to the: S. end of the ditch, thence N. 85̊ E. 7 poles. to W. bank of Twin creek, which bank is here. nearly perpendicular and about 40 feet high; Thence S. 10̊ E. 13 poles to an angle in the bank; Thence S 47̊ W. 28 poles to a point in the curve of the bank. The Creek is now 30 poles from this point, but no doubt formerly ran at the foot of the bluff, which at this curve lies at an angle of almost 45̊ ; Thence S. 10̊ W. 20 poles to angle in the bluff. This point appears to have been thrown out 25 or 30 feet, and is composed of a conglomeration of limestone, gravel, granite, gravel and clay which has become very hard and has been detached in large masses, the bluff being now some 3o feet perpendicular and is washed by the creek. Thence S. 41̊ W. 28 poles to the apex of the angle formed by. Banta Fork and the Main branch of Twin Creek.—James L. Street Co. Sur. Preble County, Ohio." Copied January 10, 1889, in Appendix Sur. Record, Vol. 5, page 113. It is claimed that there are in Ohio ten thousand mounds and fifteen hundred fortifications left by the Mound Builders.. TRAILS AND TALES OF THE INDIANS. Are they an extinct race? Before we ask. too many questions let us deal with the Indian in Ohio, so far as our information can be said to have reasonable authenticity. The Erie or Cat nation of Indians dwelt along the eastern and southeastern shores of Lake Erie extending west to near Sandusky, and between them and the great Iroquois nation a long war was waged, and finally, the Iroquois chiefs related to the early French explorers, about 1650 the Eries built a stockade fort near Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Iroquois raised a great army of several thousands and besieged, stormed and took the fort and killed over two thousand. Erie warriors, besides those killed outside, and pursued and scattered the outer villagers until they fled the state and took refuge and became a part of the tribes farther north and 92 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. west. Thence for a period of fifty years there were no permanent Indian tribes residing in Ohio, but it became simply a hunting ground for the terrible Iroquois and the southern, western and northern tribes. The Wyandots or Hurons formerly occupied the western St. Lawrence basin, but, although of the same blood, a war caused by an Indian Helen of Troy broke out with the Iroquois tribes, called the Five Nations and later the Six Nations, and the Wyandots were driven west and settled along the eastern shore of Lake Huron, where they were found. by the early French explorers ; but the enmity of the Five Nations finally pursued them, and after a long war they were driven across the rivers and took refuge among the Michigan tribes, and finally drifted down and settled in Ohio, south of western part of Lake Erie, some time previous to 1740, having their chief village at Upper Sandusky. The Senecas and Tuscarawas and Mingoes, a part of the Iroquois, about the same time arrived and settled (if we can say an Indian tribe ever settled) in northeastern Ohio. While the Miamis came crowding in from Indiana and claimed by occupation the valleys of the Miami, of the lake, and the Great and Little Miami rivers, and as far east as the Scioto. The Ottawas settled along the western and southwestern shores of Lake Erie. The Cherokees from the south had crowded north and quite a tribe of them settled along the Ohio river in eastern Ohio, but were driven away by the Iroquois. The Delawares had a shadowy tradition that they originally started from the Pacific shores south of Puget Sound, and in about one hundred years crossed the continent, and when white men came they were found on the Delaware river. They called themselves leni-lenapes, meaning "men." After having some trouble with shich men, they moved west through Pennsylvania and finally settled along the Muskingum valley and the upper valley of the Scioto and the Oleantangy river, on which last they had two villages at Delaware, Ohio, whence the name. The only remaining Indian tribe found in Ohio by the early white men is the Shawnees, or Shawanoes or Shawnese, who were the wandering Arabs of America. It is claimed some of them were in Virginia at the time of Capt. John Smith, and bey seem to be mentioned as being in Illinois at the time of the earliest explorers and were later found in Tennessee and Alabama, and were driven out by the Cherokees, Creeks and Choctaws for their arrogance and quarrelsome disposition, and moved into Ohio and stopped on the Scioto and in the Mad river valley during the first half of the eighteenth century. It appears that for many years Ohio and Kentucky were the battlegrounds between the hunting parties of the southern and northern Indians PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 93 and that the northern Indians finally won to the Ohio river, but Kentucky ever remained a battleground and had no permanent Indian settlement, and into that unoccupied territory the white man, under Boone and his companions, drove the entering wedge for the settlement of the Ohio valley. The mounds of the Mound Builders extended perhaps no farther north than central Wisconsin and from the Rocky mountains on the west to western New York and Pennsylvania, thence south through West Virginia and the western part of the Carolinas, and south to the Gulf of Mexico, and southwest into Mexico, and they are much more numerous in the Ohio valley, and especially in Ohio. It must not be forgotten that the largest mounds and pyramids of the world, except in Egypt, are found in Mexico. And it must be remembered that there are thousands of mounds similar in Europe and Asia, and some even in Africa. The greatest mounds and pyramids of Mexico and Central America were built by a race called Toltecs, that preceded the Aztecs and vanished before the coming hordes of Aztecs and it is not certain that any known race today represents them. Did they become the Peruvians? The mounds and works of those ancient peoples, whoever they were, were plainly not built with reference to any one period of events, but it seems to be conceded by all investigators thereof, that some were built many years, perhaps centuries, before others were built. Some are plainly effigy works, having something to do with their religious rites, as the Great Serpent Mound of Adams county. PRIMITIVE CUTLERY. It is an admitted fact that some Indians of the United States built stockades and heaped up ridges of earth about them to protect the barriers and many were the fortresses built by the Indians of Mexico, Central America and Peru, who are reported to have had a tradition that they came originally from the North. The Northern Indians, when white men first came, had no knowledge of iron or its manufacture or use nor of any useful metal, but a few copper ornaments and simple tools that had been hammered out from nuggets of copper with stone hammers. Their knives were stone or flint knives made by chipping with stone hammers, a tedious process, and many of the knives and spear heads were very effective in war and in the chase. All the mound Builder works were built of earth and gravel, or of stone of such size that they could be handled by men, because, so far as we know, neither they nor the Indians had domesticated any 94 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. animal that would be of any assistance, hence men and women must have done the work. That copper is found in northern Michigan and Wisconsin in nuggets of ounces to chunks weighing hundreds of pounds, in a very pure state, and mica is also found along the Allegheny mountain chain from Georgia to Pennsylvania and could be picked up and carried and traded among themselves by those peoples is obvious, because the Indians are the original Yankee traders of America. Then, there were several tribes of Indians of the United States that were known to have been Mound Builders and to have built what the white man would call rude fortifications. Many writers claim that there must have been a great empire and a dense population to have built all the works. A regular mound one hundred feet in diameter and twenty feet high contains a little less than two thousand cubic yards, and a worker could readily carry a cubic foot of dirt and it was gathered right around the mounds usually, so that it can be readily seen that it took no large body of workers to build a mound that size, which is larger than three-fourths of the known mounds. The stone walls were simply loose stone piled on each other, no mortar or cement of any kind, and no dressing of the stone. The Mound Builders had no alphabet, knew nothing of manufacture or use of metals, no beasts of burden, never dug a well, nor even walled up a spring, and so far as we know did not have even hand mills to crush corn, only mortar and pestle. The claimed mathematic exactness of some of the ancient works and fortifications has been badly shattered by modern examination. CONJECTURE ON INDIAN ORIGIN. Does it seem unreasonable to suppose that the Indian has been an inhabitant of this continent for some thousands of years and as the tribe became more numerous a part sloughed off and sought new lands and that such process kept up through the centuries that the people were shifting from place to place, as compelled by necessity or driven by their enemies or occupying land conquered, taking with them their ideals, building new mounds or fortifications, either for defense or to hold a position gained ? These things going on for ages would fully account for the different ages of the old works and mounds and for their number and would it not be a good answer when we -know of the many and various races sprung from the same ancestry, that have swept over and changed western Asia and southeastern Europe and northern Africa ? PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 95 The Indian race has produced some men of most remarkable ability, such as Red Jacket and Joseph Brant of the Iroquois, Pontiac of the Ottowas, Little Turtle of the Miamis, Tecumseh of the Shawnees, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Osceola of the Seminoles, Logan of the Mongoes and Tarhe, the Crane of the Wyandots, and others, who have shown most remarkable abilities as leaders, warriors and statesmen, and they were only beaten by the bravest and best leaders of the white race. Now, with a race that produced such men, why does it seem improbable that they were capable of piling up stone or building a bank and stockade to protect themselves or of piling up dirt to make a mound ? But it is said that the Ohio Indians have no traditions that any tribes built the mounds and works. It haS been shown above that all the tribes of Ohio were new corners themselves, that they had driven away former tribes, to be themselves driven away by the all-conquering white man. When it is remembered that the Indians had no written language and all knowledge gained was handed down from father to son, and from the pressure of enemies or of necessity the tribes were moving about much of the time, it would seem that the tradition that existed more than a century must have been of some event very important and vital to the tribe. It is now about one hundred and forty years since the outbreak of the Revolution and let the reader try to trace the history and traditions of his own family tree, step by step to that time without referring to any writing or documents, and he will be convinced that traditions are quickly dimmed and rendered unreliable without writing to make them enduring. The white men found the Iroquois and Indians of the Gulf States and the Mandans of the northwest, all built mounds and used wood and timber to build their houses and forts, and the latter tribe even plastered their houses with clay to keep the wind away. Both the Mound Builders and the Indians made rude pottery and knew how to boil down salt spring water and get salt, and the Indians taught the white man how to make maple sap into sugar. The Iroquois and kindred tribes are classed by ethnologists dolicocephalic, or long-headed race, while practically all the other tribes of the United States called Algonquins, are styled bracyhcephalic or short-headed or round-headed race, but both kind of skulls have been found in the mounds opened. PLACE OF ORIGIN STILL UNSETTLED. The Indian and the Mound Builder hunted with the same kind of weapons, had similar tools and similar methods of burial, and raised similar crops so far as known. I do not say that the Mound Builders of the Ohio 96 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. Valley were the ancestors of the Indians, nor do I say that they were not. The facts in outline are given that each may judge for himself. All I can say is that from all the information I have been able to gather, personally and by reading, the evidence so far known leads me to believe that they were the same race. But, as a certainty, everyone must admit that the identity of the Mound Builders and the place of origin of the Indian race are unknown, and probably will always remain so. Many writers employ pages to show how the Indians must have migrated from Asia into America and that they belong to the Tartar race, or Jewish race, or a mixture of those races with other Asiatic races ; or that they are remnants of a race of people who inhabited the fabled Atlantis when some earth convulsion buried nearly all of that continent, if it was one, beneath the waves of the Atlantic ocean, leaving only the Canary and West Indies, as islands, but such are only guesses. As far as evidence is concerned, there is not more evidence that the Indians came from Asia than there is that the Asiatics came from America, and that the differences are the result of selection, environment and climate producing their slow effects through the long ages of the human race until the accumulated effects seem to be irreconcilable with the theory that they are one race of people. The Creator holds the secret and we shall probably never know until that time when "We know even as we are known." Of the Indian tribes of Ohio each had certain characteristics that distinguished it from other tribes. The Wyandots refused to acknowledge any superior and preferred death to surrender, hence very few were ever prisoners. The Delawares were the most friendly to the white men and the sacredness with which they kept their promises to the white men proves that they regarded honor as a quality of "men." The Iroquois have been called the Romans of America, because they combined and conquered and brought under subjection nearly all the surrounding tribes and such as refused to bow the neck to their sway, were either exterminated or driven entirely away. The Miamis occupied this county and were the most agricultural people of all the tribes and the most forehanded in providing for their future wants, and seemed to have a clearer vision of the future of their race. While the Shawnees were the warriors par excellence, among the tribes, and while having fewer warriors than a number of other tribes, they could put up a harder fight and lose fewer men than any ; and it is claimed that in every battle they had with the white men, and they were many, the white men suffered a greater loss than the Indians, except two battles, Fallen Timbers and Battle of the Thames. PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 97 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. As to the origin of the Indians let me offer a question : It is claimed by our geologists that just after the recession of the glacial period, there existed a race of men in both Europe and America and that they have found remains of skeletons in the loess of that distant epoch that clearly establishes that fact and that the peoples of Europe and Asia are probably the evolutionary descendants of that prehistoric race grown to their present state by the process of the survival of the fittest. Granting their starting premise, I ask, will not the same process of reasoning just as firmly establish the Indian as the descendant of that primeval race of post-glacial men who existed and had their being in America? I do not expect that either theory will be proven effectually until the location of the Garden of Eden is established to a certainty. The Pottawattamies and Chippewas were closely related to the Miami tribe and some bands wandered into Ohio for a short time and a band of some one hundred or more Pottawattamies camped for a number of years along Twin creek, even after white men began to settle in the county and they stated to the early settlers that the Twin Valley was the healthiest location their tribe had ever known. It has been handed down as a family tradition from the early white settlers of the county that there were several Indian villages in the county. One near Camden along Paint creek and one on Whitewater near New Paris, and one along Twin creek near its crossing of the east county line, and that these were all Miamis. While along Twin creek above West Alexandria, it is certain there was quite a large village of Pottawattamies and higher up some Chippewas. Cornelius Van Ausdall started a general store in 1808 in Eaton and kept for sale nearly everything called for in those days, and he related to men yet living that Tecumseh and his Shawnees, and Little Turtle and his Miamis and Captain John and Indian John and Pottawattamies and Chippewas, all had traded at his store, buying such implements of war and chase and ammunition as they needed, together with salt and the coarser and more durable fabrics of cloth. There were some of these Indians who lingered in the county until several years after the close of the 1812 war. WILLIAM PENN'S POLICY. That the Indians were right or wrong in their acts, I do not say. They were sometimes sinners and sometimes sinned against. There were bad men (7) 98 - PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO. among them, as there are among the whites, but they had many noble men among them, men who prized their honor and who loved and hated, and fought and died for what they thought was right. And I close by saying that I believe that most white men today wish that more of Penn's Quaker policies with the Indians of Pennsylvania had been tried on the tribes east of the Mississippi. I have read with avidity every work on the Mound Builders that I have been able to find, and I must say I admire the ingenuity of some of the writers when they argue that a mighty, numerous and prosperous people have become a vanished race ; but when I sought for proven facts to establish such a human calamity there was only : "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been.' " And it might not. It is stated above that the Mound Builders' work extended west to the Rocky Mountains and I do not wish to be understood that there are none beyond, for I am aware that there are said to be some of them scattered over the great western plateaus, but they appear to be isolated and not nearly so numerous or important, or so extensive as in the territory described. It is also a fact that iron implements are claimed to have been found in some of our eastern mounds, but I think it will be conceded by all critics that in every case that afforded a means of examination, it has been shown that in all probability they were deposited subsequent to the advent of white men on this continent, while some cases have been shown to he pure fakes, buried and resurrected like Barnum's Cardiff Giant. I know it may be said a lawyer wants the evidence to be clear and convincing, but I believe that a careful cross-examination will come nearer establishing the facts devoid of all local coloring than any other method, and I ask the reader to do a little cross-examination for himself in reading eloquent descriptions of the Mound Builders and the sometimes sympathetic and sometimes vituperative descriptions of our American Indians. The mounds seem to be from the stone age of the human race in America and keen and inquiring men are seeking to read the signs that have been left by that race of builders. Whether they succeed or not must be left for the future historian. PENULTIMATE CONCLUSIONS. To sum up the whole matter, it can be asserted that there was a race of men that preceded the Indians as the white men first knew the Indians, that PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO - 99 built extensive works and mounds much more so than the Indians of our knowledge, and that both races, if they were two races, inhabited all of our county and our state, but whether the so-called mound builders were the progenitors of the Indian race, we do not know for a certainty ; each for himself must examine the evidence, and then can only say, "I believe they were, or they were not, the same race." That some of the Mound Builders' works are very old I submit the following: On a shale and slate bluff nearly one hundred feet high, on the east bank of the Olantangy river about fourteen miles north of Columbus, Ohio, is an old fort, semi-circular, visited by the writer, a boy then nearly fourteen years old, in 186o. Its banks were some five feet or more high, with a ditch outside so deep that in one place the head of an ordinary man just came to the surface, and on the embankment grew a number of large trees, one an oak, so large that myself and my companion about my age stood up to it and tried together to span it with our arms, but could not by a foot or more. On a number of beech trees were cut the names of many visitors. Among them I remember Tom Corwin, S. P. Chase, W. Shannon, H. Stansberry, Toni Ewing and a number of others. There I first learned their names. That white oak tree might have been growing when Columbus began his voyage.