CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 25 correlative means by which the work was accomplished, and as to what the probable condition of America would be to-day had the foot of the white man never trodden our soil. Call it destiny or Providence or what we may, the fiat had gone forth, and the course had been marked out and the white man had been sent here to work out a certain process, to accomplish certain results ; for the days of the Indian had been numbered, his usefulness (if he ever had any) was gone and the time had arrived for the spear of the hunter to give way for the plow-share of the agriculturist. It is not my purpose to narrate the dangers and hardships through which the pioneers passed, nor to speak of the character traits of the Indian further than to state that he generally repaid hospitality with treachery and forbearance with murder. But as a race he was doomed and the hills and valleys of the Buckeye state will know him no more forever. Writers who have made tribal races a study state as a corollary that if the Indians had been left to themselves their internecine strife of tribe against tribe would in time have resulted in the extermination of the race. The pioneer seemed to have been inspired, and whatever place in the ranks of that grand army of progress he was called to fill he performed his duty with confidence and zeal. Whether in fighting the savages, in clearing the forests, in tilling the soil or in carrying the banner of the Cross, he filled his mission and aided in his way to attain the grand results of which we enjoy the benefits to-day. And in this connection I want to speak of the priests and preachers who kept abreast of the march of civilization and shared with the other pioneers the hardships and privations of that period. With them no sacrifice was too great,—no enterprise too hazardous to deter them from doing the Master's work. They could not ride bicycles over paved streets to make pastoral calls, but went through forests infested with wild beasts to say prayers for the sick and to give absolution to the dying. From a secular standpoint the reward of these missionaries was but meager, but in a spiritual view how different ! A gentleman of that period once spoke to a priest about the small returns that had accrued from such missionary work, to which the aged priest replied : "I this day rescued from the burning a dying child, to whom the mother allowed me to minister the sacred rites of baptism, and that alone rewards me for all my years of toil." To bring one soul within the pale of the Church was to him a better reward and more of a solace than would be all the earthly comforts that a munificent salary could buy. 26 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. But to resume my county narrative : The first site for the new county seat was soon abandoned for another location farther up the Rocky Fork, where General Hedges had entered land, where the city of Mansfield now stands, and where the town was laid out, June 11, 1808. The reason for the change of location was not given. Perhaps it was water supply, for the big springs of East Fourth street were much noted in the early tithes, and for many years they supplied water for the town. Cisterns, wells and waterworks are of later creation. A cabin was put up and its first occupant was Samuel Martin, from New Lisbon, but he occupied it only a short time, for, being accused of selling liquor to the Indians, he soon left the place. The next tenant was Captain Cunningham. Mansfield grew slowly for a number of years, and when war was declared in 1812 not over a dozen families resided in the village. But in time the town advanced as people came west to seek homes in the new country. During, the war there were two block-houses in Mansfield, both built by troops, one by Captain Shaeffer's company from Fairfield county, the other by a company, from Coshocton, of Colonel William's command, and were garrisoned until after the battle of the Thames. One of the block-houses afterward was somewhat altered and changed to a court-house and it served that purpose until 1816, when a larger one was built, as a cost of $1,990. It was of hewed logs and may be called the second court-house, although it was the first one built for that purpose. As the county increased in population and wealth, in time it was deemed proper to have a more modern temple of justice, and in 1827 the erection of a brick court-house was commenced. This building cost $3,000, and Thomas Watt, of Newville, was the contractor, and William Stoutt the brick-mason. This building was considered a grand thing in its clay, but after twenty-four years it was thought to be too plain, and in 1851 $15,000 were expended upon it, largely in the way of ornamentation. The present court house was dedicated January 22, 1873, and cost $177,000. William Stoutt, the mason who did the brick work for the first brick court-house, came here in 1826 from Hagerstown, Maryland, to build a two-story brick building for John Viler, which afterward- became a part of the imposing structure known as the Wiler House. EARLY-DAY MUSTERS. of Richland county history contains no more interesting feature than the narration of the military musters under the old laws of Ohio requiring the CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 27 militia to meet and train at stated periods. At such times the militia companies met, usually in Mansfield, where they were formed into a battalion, and, after being marched through the principal. streets, were taken to the "commons," where they were drilled in the tactics of war. Muster-days were great occasions, where old friends met, where new acquaintances were formed and the questions of the day discussed. There were martial bands then as now. The patriotic, inspiring and soul-stirring music of the fife and drum is a feature of the past that all the innovating spirit of ages has not 'been able to turn clown. Other musical instruments may come and go, but the fife and drum will abide with us. There were then a number of noted martial bands in the county, one of which was in Plymouth township and was composed of Charles and Jesse Bodley, tenor drummers ; William Dean, bass drummer, and Theason Richardson and Robert Bigler, fifers. This band was in great demand on muster days and at Fourth of July celebrations and other public occasions. The prominent fifers in the southern part of the county were Jacob Baughman and Philip Berry. Militia musters were so attractive that they inspired even small boys to "muster" also. Such amateur training was aptly described in verse in one of McGuffey's readers. The first two lines ran— "Oh ! were you ne'er a schoolboy, And did you never train ?" An encounter the militia boys had during one of their musters is thus described : "We charged upon a flock of geese And put them all to flight, Except a sturdy gander, Which thought to show us fight. But, ah! we knew a thing or two ; Our captain wheeled the van; We routed him, we scouted him, Nor lost a single man." Many of the boys who participated in such trainings and mimic frays afterward became real soldiers, heroically met the stern realities of war and helped to defend and maintain the old flag. While Mansfield was headquarters for general musters, company drills were frequently held at other places. The taverns along the state road, north of Mansfield, were noted places of local rendezvous for the militia of Franklin 28 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. and adjacent townships. These "trainings" were both calisthenic and patriotic in their tendencies. When a young man, the late Dr. William Bushnell was a militia colonel, and made a fine-appearing officer. His uniform was of the best broadcloth and his epaulets glittered in the sunlight. Upon the occasion of his first regimental muster, when his regiment was forming on the public square, fifes and drums were heard upon the Main street hill, coming from the south. Upon inquiry the colonel learned it was Captain James Cunningham's company coming from the southern part of the county. When the company reached the "North American" corner the Doctor noticed the proud step and military bearing of the captain, which so pleased him that he thereupon gave orders that Captain Cunningham's company be given the place of honor in the regiment. After the officers had exchanged salutes, the adjutant sang out : "The colonel orders that Captain Cunningham place his company at the head of the battalion !" In after years the Doctor often narrated this incident. "I shall never forget," said the Doctor, "the proud look of thanks the captain gave me as he marched his company to the place I had assigned to him. The captain had been a soldier in the war of 1812, and deserved the recognition for the services he had rendered his country, as well as for 'his fine military bearing." This was the beginning of the acquaintance that ripened into a life-long friendship. Dr. Bushnell's fine perceptive instinct, with his business tact and executive ability made him one of the most capable and efficient officers of his day. Friendship may exist between individuals and families ; or, taking a more comprehensive scope, may bind a whole neighborhood together in common interests, as was the case with the pioneers, and muster-days were grand reunions, blending friendship with the performance of a patriotic duty required by the state. The early settlers, as a class were poor, comparatively. But poverty is not only the mother of invention but the promoter of industry and enterprise. Poverty does some of the greatest and most beautiful things that are done in the world. It cultivates the fields and operates the shops and factories and carries the commerce of nations upon the high seas. It sees the day break and it catches the sun's first smile. It inspires the orator and the essayist and gives pathos to the poet's song. But while poverty places people upon a certain level,, perfect equality is impossible. There never has existed a nation without gradation in society, and it is evident that without grades the business of life could not be carried on. There could be neither leader nor follower, commander nor soldiers, CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 29 director nor operator. The idea that there should be no gradation in position in life is about as absurd as to expect that all hills should be of the same height. Providence created an infinite variety, as diversity seems to exist naturally among men. There has always been an aristocracy in the world. A century ago it was the aristocracy of birth. Then came the aristocracy of wealth. Now there is a trend toward an aristocracy of brains, and the, leaven of the "new social strata" has even made itself felt at Oxford and Cambridge. PIONEER GATHERINGS. It is interesting to recall some of the industrial, social and religious gatherings of the pioneers of Ohio. In the early settlement of the country there were cabin and barn raisings, log-rollings, wood-choppings, cornhuskings, and sewing and quilting parties, and at such gatherings utility and amusements were usually blended. Rich and poor then met upon lines of social equality and the old and the young mingled together in those old-time gatherings. The pioneers were helpful to each other, not only in "raisings" and "rollings," requiring a force of men, but also in other ways. If a settler was incapacitated from work by sickness or other cause, hiS neighbors set a day and gathered in force and plowed his corn, harvested his grain, or cut his wood for the winter, as the season or occasion required. And when a pig, or a calf or a sheep was killed, a piece of the same was sent to the several families in the neighborhood, each of whom reciprocated in kind, and in this neighborly way all had fresh meats the greater part of the summer. Corn-husking were great occasions. Sometimes the corn ears were stripped from the stalks and hauled to a favorable place and put in parallel Or semi-circular winnows, convenient for the huskers. Moonlight nights were usually chosen for husking-bees, and sometimes bonfire lights were improvised. After the company gathered, captains were selected who chose the men off into two squads or plattoons which competed in the work, each trying to finish its row first. The captain of the winning squad would then be carried around on the shoulders of his men, amid their triumphal cheers, and then the bottle would be passed. Women also attended these pioneer gatherings and sometimes assisted at the husking, but more frequently were engaged in the early evening in quilting or sewing, or in helping to prepare the great supper-feast that was served after the work was clone. There was a rule that a young man could kiss a girl for each red ear of 30 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. corn found at a husking, and it goes without saying that all the girls were kissed, some of them several times, for it was surprising how many red-ears were found—so many that the number was prima-facie evidence that some of the boys went to the huskings with their pockets full of red corn ears ! Nearly all the pioneer gatherings wound up after supper with dancing, in which the old joined as well as the young, and, when a fiddler could not be obtained, music for the occasion was furnished by some one blowing on a leaf, or by whistling "dancing" tunes. The dancing then was more vigorous than artistic, perhaps, for the people were vigorous in those days—effeminacy not becoming fashionable until later years. The pioneers were industrious people. The situation required that the men must chop and grub and clear the land ere they could plow and sow and reap. And the women had to card and spin and knit and weave and make garments for their families, in addition to their household work. A pioneer minister's wife, in telling about her work upon a certain occasion, said : "I've made a pair of pants and bed-tick, and washed and baked and ironed six pies to-day." Wool had to be carded into rolls by hand, and after the rolls had been spun into yarn and the yarn woven into flannel, the products of the loom had to be "fulled" into thicker cloth for men's wear. As this was a hand, or rather a foot, process, it necessitated "fulling" or "kicking" parties. Upon such occasions the web was stretched out loosely on the puncheon floor and held at each end, while men with bared feet sat in rows at the sides and kicked the cloth, while the women poured on warm soap-suds, and the white foam of the suds would often be thrown over both the kickers and the attendants. Carding and woolen mills and spinning and weaving factories came later, served their purposes and time, but are no more, and now people go to stores and get "hand-me-down" suits without either asking or caring where or how they were made. While there were social amusements in pioneer times, religious services were not neglected. As there were but few church buildings then, camp-meetings were frequently held during the summer season. Camp-meeting trips were enjoyable outings. The roads to camp-grounds often ran by sequestered farm homes and through shady woodlands, where the rays of the sun shimmered charmingly through leafy tree-tops, and the fragrance of the wayside flowers deliciously perfumed the summer air. At the camp, white tents in a semi-circle partly surrounded an amphitheater of seats in front of a pulpit canopied by trees. The Creator of heaven and earth reared the columns of those camp cathedrals, along whose bough-spanned dome soft CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 31 winds whispered and in whose leafy fretwork birds sang. From the mossy floor flowers sent up their perfume like altar incense, and in accord with place and surroundings the congregation was wont to sing : "There seems a voice in every gale, A tongue in every flower, Which tells, O Lord, the wondrous tale Of Thy Almighty power." At the camp visitors were received with cordial greetings, for the campers had the warmth of friendship in their hearts and of Christian zeal in their souls, and their frank manner and winsome ways were favorable preludes to the services that followed. At these camp-meetings, some of the worshipers would become quite demonstrative at times, for the personal manifestations of joy or devotion differ as much as our natures differ. No two persons give expression in the same way to any human emotion. Religion can come to you only in accordance with your nature, and you can respond to it only in the same way. Singing was a prominent feature of camp-meeting services. It was the old-fashioned singing, without instrumental accompaniment. Singing, such as our dear old mothers sang, and although faulty, perhaps, in note, came from the heart and went to the heart. The singing of to-day may be more artistically rendered, but it is the old-time songs that comfort us in sorrow and sustain us in our trials as they come back to us in the hallowed remembrance from the years that are past. THE HEROES OF '76. Richland county contains the graves of several Revolutionary soldiers. While the list in the possession of the Historical Society is not complete, the following may he noted : Henry Nail, Sr., is buried on lot 1218, Mansfield cemetery. He was born in Germany in 177; came to America in 1777, and some time later enlisted in the Continental army and served until the close of the war. He came to Richland county in 1816 and remained here until his death. He was the grandfather of our A. F. Nail, who was soldier in the war of 1861-3, and is the son as well as the grandson of a soldier. John Jacobs, another soldier of the war of the Revolution, is buried 32 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. in the Mansfield Roman Catholic cemetery. Jacobs died about seventy years ago and was first buried in the old cemetery, but the remains were later removed to the present burial-ground. On the Memorial Day list is the name of Jacob Uhlich as having been a Revolutionary soldier. The name should be George Uhlich, a soldier of the war of 1812. James McDermot, a Revolutionary soldier buried in the Koogle cemetery, east of Mansfield, was a native of Pennsylvania and served two years at Fort DuQuesne, then marched over the Alleghany mountains and joined Washington's army at Valley Forge. He was at Princeton and other battles. He died in Mifflin township, this county, June 25, 1859, aged over one hundred years. Christian Riblett enlisted in the Continental army in Pennsylvania in 1779, at the age of eighteen years, and served to the close of the war. He died April 6, 1844, and is buried at the east line of Sandusky township, on the road leading from Mansfield to Galion. Daniel Riblett, a son of this Continental soldier, represented Richland county in the legislature (senate) in 1854. William Gillespie was a major in the Revolutionary war and is buried at Bellville, and a headstone marks his grave, which is yearly decorated with flowers by the comrades of Miller Moody Post, G. A. R. Major Gillespie died February 17, 1841, aged one hundred and four years. Samuel Poppleton was one of the Green Mountain boys who fought under Colonel Ethan Allen, and as color sergeant planted the American flag upon the walls of Fort Ticonderoga at its surrender and heard the historic words, "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental congress." Major Poppleton died in 1842, aged ninety-nine years, and is buried in the Evart graveyard, a mile south of Bellville. The inscription on his headstone has been somewhat effaced by the frosts and storms of time. The Major was the grandfather of the late Hon. E. F. Poppleton. Adam Wolfe, another Revolutionary soldier, is buried at Newville. He was born in Deaver county, Pennsylvania, December 10, 1760, and came to Richland county, Ohio, in 1516, and entered the southeast quarter of section 26 in Monroe township. He died April 24, 1845. The Memorial list also gives the name of Jacob Cook as a Revolutionary soldier buried in the Mansfield cemetery. This statement is also incorrect. On the Cook monument are several cenotaph inscriptions,—those of Jacob and Jabez Cook. Jacob Cook was the great-grandfather of the late J. H. Cook, and died in 1796, aged eighty-four years, and was buried in Washing- CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 33 ton county, Pennsylvania. Noah Cook, a son of Jacob Cook, served several terms of enlistment in the Revolutionary war, and at one time was the chaplain of the Fifth Regiment of Continental troops in General Sullivan's brigade. He came to Lexington, Richland county, in 1814, and died in December, 1834, and is buried at Lexington, but has a cenotaph inscription en the monument of his grandson, the late James Hervey Cook. While the victories and achievements of our recent wars take the attention of the people of to-day, the soldiers of other American conflicts, especially the war of the Revolution, must not be forgotten, for to that struggle we owe our existence as a free and independent nation. And in no other period of the world's history were events more deeply fraught with interest or more full of moral and political moment than in the era in which American independence was achieved. It is said that the noblest work of the pen of history is to state facts, describe conditions and narrate events which illustrate the progress of the human mind ; that in the coming age the history of wars, even when presented in the fascinating garb of brilliant achievements, will be read more with sorrow and regret than with satisfaction. and delight. But who would obliterate from Roman history the record of the heroism of those who drove the Persian hordes into the sea at Marathon ? No Englishman desires to take from the history of his country the deeds of her Wellington or her Nelson, The French point with pride to the man Whose frown terrified the glance his magnificence attracted. What patriot would rob American history of the record of the victories of our army and navy in the several wars in which our nation has been engaged, and deprive the people of the benefits and results of those grand achievements. Memorial Day is a tribute to patriotism, a tribute of utility to gratitude, a confession that war is at times necessary, that life has nobler things in it than mere business pursuits, and that men sometimes rise to those sublime heights when life is looked upon as of secondary consideration, and that honor and liberty and law are the only things for which the heart beats in pulsating flow. The people of to-day are far removed from the events of the war of the Revolution, but the principles for which the patriots fought underlie our political superstructure and permeate every department of the government, and the heroism of the Continental soldiers shines with effulgent glory through the mists of a century. Thirteen soldiers of the war of 1812 died while doing their duty at the Beam block-house, and are buried on a bluff near to the left bank of the Rocky Fork, three miles below Mansfield. The writer recently visited the 34 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. place of their burial. The weather was fair for a December day ; the sky was in misty blue, with the sun's rays shimmering through the hazy atmosphere askance upon the bluff. Then the mist cleared away and the full sunshine came in sheens of golden glory upon the unmarked graves of the heroes whose bodies have lain there for well-nigh a century, and where they will continue to repose, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," until the graves shall give up their dead, mortality put on immortality and death be swallowed up in the victory of the resurrection. OF GREAT PROWESS. "Oh, it is excellent To have a gaint's strength ; but it is tyranous To use it like a giant." Richland can compete favorably with other counties in Ohio in the records of her giants,—not those of world-fame, but of local renown. The man pre-eminently entitled to be called Richiand's giant was Christopher Burns, although he stood only six feet, two inches in his stockings and weighed but two hundred and twenty-five pounds. His title as gaint was not so much on account of his height and weight as in his great strength. A better appellation, perhaps, would have been a "modern Sampson ;" but "giant" was what the people called him then. When the Wiler house was being built in 1828, Burns attended the brick-masons as a hod-carrier, and occasionally gave exhibitions of his strength and athletic capabilities. A man named Johns, a noted foot-racer, came to Mansfield and a match was gotten up between him and Burns. Johns appeared in running undress, while Burns wore his hod-carrier clothes and heavy boots. Burns ran part of the way backwards, and even then easily distanced his competitor. A pole was then placed on the heads of two tall men and Burns jumped over it with apparent ease. Freight at that time was hauled from the east in heavy wagons, drawn by from four to six horses. A wagon of this kind, heavily laden, was once temporary standing in front of the \Viler, where Burns was working. To show their strength, several men had tried to lift a wheel of the wagon, but were unsuccessful in their attempts. Burns looked upon their .failure with contempt. He went to the wagon and had three of the heaviest men in the crowd to add their weight to the wheel, by one standing upon the hub, the others on the spokes. Burns then lifted the wheel, men and all, with apparent CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 35 ease, after which he filled his hod and climbed up the ladder as though nothing unusual had taken place. From the sheriff, who sought to arrest him for fighting, Burns once made his escape by jumping over a covered six-horse wagon. This acrobatic feat was witnessed by our late fellow townsman, Robert Cairns, et al. Numerous other stories are told of Burns' great strength and athletic attainment. It is also stated his strength and activity were occasionally used in pugilistic encounters. Burns came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, and married Miss Sallie Pearce, a daughter of the pioneer James Pearce. Burns' second wife was Rachel Magner, who lived near where Crestline now stands, and a few years after their marriage they removed to Indiana. As was the custom in those days, pioneers often settled upon government lands and were called "squatters." They would put up buildings and clear land, expecting to bid their tracts in when the land was surveyed and offered for sale. Burns located in a "squatter" settlement, and in time the lands were offered for sale at public auction. The "squatters" had built homes and had their land under cultivation. They had full larders and granaries, but as there was little, if any, cash market for their products, they had but little money. Land sharks came from the east to bid against the "squatters," and bidding against them was to rob them of their hard-earned homes and to take the roof from over the heads of their defenceless families. It was in the autumn and upon the clay of the sale, in the gray sky the December sun was shining coldly and icicles were pendent from the eaves of the cabins. A wintry haze hung inauspiciously over those "squatters' " homes. The settlers were discouraged and disheartened. Here was Chris Burns' opportunity to become a hero and a benefactor, and he proved equal to the emergency ; as Artemus Ward would have put it, he "caved in the emergency's head." Whatever his foibles and faults in the past may have been, his desire to protect the settlers became an inspiration, and, mounting the auctioneer's improvised platform, he addressed the crowd, reviewing the situation and stating that the "squatters" had built homes and cleared fields, intending to buy their several tracts of land when it came into market ; that land sharks were present from the east with money in their pockets to bid in the land for speculation, thus robbing the settlers and turning their families out of their homes at the beginning of winter. "My name," said he, "is Chris Burns; and this place will become immediately unhealthful to any non-resident who bids against a settler." Burns' pugilistic reputation emphasized a 36 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. significant meaning to his words, and his style and manner attested his earnestness and determination. The sale was then held, but no land shark offered a bid, and at the conclusion of the sale none of them were present. They had disappeared, and "It seemed as if their mother earth, Had swallowed up her shark-like birth." Thus the "squatters" were enabled to keep their homes at government rates ; and to show their appreciation for the service Burns had rendered them they gave him one hundred and sixty acres of land and assisted him to build upon and improve it, and he became one of their most esteemed and respected citizens. Upon this farm he lived until his death, at an advanced age. That land sale was the turning point in Burns' career. The tempestuous sea of life upon which he had been tossed during his younger years became as calm and placid as a summer lake, and his bark was finally peacefully moored in the haven of rest. PLACES OF INTEREST. On the Leesville road, nine miles west of Mansfield, in Springfield township, is situated the famous (Craig) barn whose roof forms the watershed divide between the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio river. The rainfall from one side of the roof finds its way into the Sandusky river, and thence to Lake Erie ; from the other side, the water runs into the Black Fork of the Mohican, a tributary of the Ohio river. The fountain-heads of the Sandusky and the Mohican rivers are less than a mile apart. The former has its source in the Palmer spring, and the latter from a pond, near the southeast corner of the Five Corners cross roads, a mile and a half north of Ontario. About midway between these river-sources is the Craig barn, the water-shed "divide. The pond is oblong and has an outlet from each end ; from the east end starts the Black Fork, and from the west end flows the Clear Fork of the Mohican. The little stream flowing from the east runs in an easterly direction for about a half mile, then turns boldly to the north through a gap in the "divide," and parallels the Sandusky for several miles, but as they near the north part of the township the Sandusky veers to the northwest and passes through Tiffin and Fremont to the lakes. The Black Fork continues almost clue north a distance of ten miles, through and north of Shelby, then turns abruptly to the east, laves the south side of Holtz's Grove, makes a graceful turn to the north, then again to the 37 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. east and after pursuing a tortuous course to the southeast turns to the south after leaving the old site of Greentown, then glides slowly through Perrysville and Loudonville, and five miles below the latter, after a crooked, tortuous course of fifty miles, it forms a junction with the Clear Fork. The output from the west end of the Craig pond runs to the southwest for about a mile, then curves to the southeast, is called the Clear Fork, and, after a journey of thirty-five miles, passing through Bellville and Newville, and flowing through a valley noted for its beauty and fertility, it unites with the Black Fork and forms the Mohican, sometimes called the White-woman river. The "Divide" passes through the center of Richland county, extending from northeast to southwest. This ridge is broken with gaps and spurs. One of the highest points in the state being at the Settlement church, five miles south of Mansfield, where the elevation is about one thousand feet above Lake Erie. The Settlement church has an elevation of 370 feet above the city of Mansfield. The elevation of Mansfield above Lake Erie is differently given by the several railroads passing through the city. The profile of the Baltimore & Ohio gives the eleation as 657 feet ; the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, Chicago, 592 feet ; the Erie, 581. The calculations were taken from different locations about the city. It is a safe estimate to give the elevation of Mansfield as 600 feet, and that of the Settlement church as I,000 feet—in round numbers—above the Lake. Pipe's Cliff is in Monroe township, nine miles southeast of Mansfield on the Pleasant Valley road, a short distance from the Douglass homestead, now known as "Green Gables." The Douglass farm has been in the possession of the family for three generations and is now owned by S. M. and A. A. Douglass, sons of the late John J. Douglass. The former is now the chief justice of the circuit court of Ohio, and is well qualified to fill the position. The latter served as prosecuting attorney for two terms and is a successful lawyer. The Douglass family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the lineage may come down from the Douglass whose Highland clansman crossed blades with Stirling's knight at Coilantagle's ford. Samuel Douglass, the father of the late John J. Douglass, bought the Pleasant Valley farm in 1829, and ever afterward made it his home, and there his son and grandsons were born. Pipe's Cliff was named for Captain Pipe, an Indian chieftain of pioneer times, from the fact that his sister (Onalaska) was killed upon the summit of those rocks. As the story goes, Captain Pipe's sister was married to a young warrior named Round Head, and that, after the massacre of the Indians at Gnadenhutten (1781), Round Head, with his wife and child, in company 38 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. with several other Indians, left their Muskingum village home for the Sandusky country. The party encamped for rest from their journey in the ledge of rocks, now known as Pope's Cliff, and while there were fired upon by a squad of soldiers, killing Onalaska and her child and wounding two others of the party. It is stated that the squaw was standing upon a perpendicular rock at the south end of the ledge, with her child in her arms, and that when shot, she fell from the cliff and that her body was buried near its base. 'When viewed from the road, this rock presents a monumental appearance, but can best be seen when the leaves are off the trees. This rock is called Onalaska's Tower, in commenoration of the tragic death of the Indian woman. The squad of troops who fired upon the party belonged to Colonel Broad-head's expedition against the village of the forks of the Muskingum, known in history as the Coshocton campaign, and the soldiers were scouts and could not see through the foilage that they fired upon a woman. But, as the warriors of the party were enemies, Onalaska had to share the consequences of war with her friends with whom she was encamped. Among the names given to different parts of Pipe's Cliff are Dragon's Mouth, Hanging Rock, The Porch, Altar Rock, Frowning Cliff, etc. The cliff rises to a height of one hundred feet above the valley and commands a fine view of the surrounding country. Around the base and sides of this ledge of rocks are caves and caverns, whose depths and lengths have never been explored. There is historical authority to confirm, in the main, the traditions of the valley concerning the death of Onalaska, as described above. The Douglass farm contains about three hundred acres. Across the valley from the old homestead is Green Gables, the summer outing resort of the Douglass brothers. The Gables is a log cabin with modern improvements, and sits at the base of a forest-covered hill, and near by a spring sends forth cool, healthful water. Here the Judge can lay aside his ermine and the practitioner his cases and take their recreation upon their native heath. And it is a charming spot, where, even upon the hottest August days, cool breezes are wont to come down the valley and coy around in the sylvan shades. The Douglass brothers keep the farm, largely, no doubt, for the associations that cluster around the old homestead. In appreciating old homes and log cabins one is wont to listen to stories of the old settlers. The actual pioneers are all gone. The oldest residents are merely links that connect the present with the past. People seldom tire of hearing stories of the pioneers, for over their manner of life hangs a veil of romance. Their conflicts with the red men of the forests and the savage wild beasts that roamed the woods; CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 39 the transforming of the wilderness under their sturdy strokes; the rude conditions under which they labored and the grand work they accomplished,----all form an interesting chapter in American history. Mohawk Hill is two miles southeast of Lucas on the Perrysville road. It is quite an elevation, and the northwestern side is too steep and rocky to admit of cultivation and is still covered with its primeval forest. The road winds around to lessen the grade and at the top of the hill there is a table land of rolling surface, with a clip to the east, extending a mile southeast to Pinhook, from which point the country is more or less hilly until the Black Fork is reached at Perrysville. The hill takes its name from the fact that Mohawk Indians were buried there in the olden time. The road formerly went straight up the hill; and mid way up its rugged side, upon the "bench" at the side of the rim of rocks, is the reputed burial place of a chief, while a few rods to the east are a number of graves, from one of which the skeleton of an Indian was taken about forty years ago. While the dates of the death of these Indians are not definitely known, there are reasons for supposing that they antedated the founding of Greentown, in .f 782. There is a tradition that a party of Mohawks from Helltown annually made a summer outing on this hill for hunting purposes, and that they had a cave in the rocks, which finally became the sepulcher of their chief and a receptacle for their treasures. While the Delawares and Mingoes predominated in number in the order named, there were a few Mohawks and Shawnees at Helltown, also. Helltown of the clear water was situate a mile below Newville, on the Clear Fork of the Mohican, in what is known as the Darling settlement. Helltown was abandoned in 1782, after the massacre of the Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten, and a new village (Greentown) was founded on the Black Fork, where a more favorable site for defence was obtained. Greentown was named for Thomas Green, a white man, who was a Tory, and who, after aiding the Mohawks in the Wyoming massacre of 1778, sought retreat and seclusion with the Indians in the west. The Big Hill is situated in the southeastern part of Weller township, and has an altitude of about one hundred and fifty feet and a circumference of four miles at the base. The hill is abrupt on its several sides, and its top is a level table land, containing a number of valuable farms, the soil being arable and fertile. Geologically speaking, the hill is of sandstone formation and the stone is quarried from its sides in large quantities. The hill was originally covered with a dense forest, remants of which still fringe it like a border. Topographically speaking, the hill is a huge heap, thrown up or dumped down in a level country and stands solitary and alone, and, were it 40 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. not for its immense size and geological formation, one might be led to believe it to be a mound, built by the Moundbuilders,—a race of people who inhabited this country before the advent of the Anglo-Normans on the American continent and who built mounds in different parts of the country, especially in the southwest. But this is nature's own handiwork and far surpasses those made by man. As we stood at its base and gazed at its contour, we thought it would have answered the triple purpose for that bygone race of a fortress, an altar and a sepulcher. From the sides of the hill about one hundred and fifty springs send forth clear, soft water. A large spring upon the west side furnishes an abundant supply for the water-works of the county infirmary, and there is sufficient fall to throw the water over the top of the main building. This water has been tested and is found to be pure and healthful. Southwest of the hill there is low, bottom land, which was formerly a marsh, in which was a deer-lick, making it a favorite hunting ground for the early settlers, as it had been for the Indians before them. THE ROBINSON CASTLE. Castles are wont to figure in legendary tales, and love in cottages is set forth in sentimental contrast to intrigue, unhappiness and crime in castles. These are often boldly stated, while at other times they are clothed in such ambiguity as to be apparent only in insinuations and inuendoes. But in some phase a hard-hearted, if not villainous, husband and an unloved, neglected, if not abused, wife are the principal characters in these castle dramas and tragedies, and among the dramatis personae figure servants, one of whom is a big varlet, ever willing to aid his master in any nefarious scheme he might wish to carry out. And the lady's maid takes her place at intervals on the stage to try to thwart the plans of those who scheme against her mistress. The plots of these stories vary but little, differing only in names and in by-play. Castles, to come up to the novelists' standard, must have a turreted tower, wide halls, winding stairways, secret passages, underground dungeons, etc., but the castle of which I write had none of these, and thus falls short of those of which clime novels speak and which exist only in the minds of the writers of fiction. The Robinson castle, on the Big Hill, was a real structure and it actually stood within eight miles of the city of Mansfield, in Weller township, and was seen and visited by dozens of people who are living to-day. This castle not CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 41 only attracted attention and elicited comments at the time of its construction, which were augmented by its subsequent disaster and final fate, but is now looked back to with mingled interest and awe, for as time advances the tales that are told of the castle and its ruins become more numerous and seem to have been multiplied with the years that have intervened until it is rather difficult to discern where the truth ends and fiction begins. Thomas Robinson, the builder of that castle, came from England and settled on the Big Hill about the year 1820, when he entered a quarter section of land and later bought sixty acres adjoining it. He was a man of wealth, and his views and ideas differed widely from those held by the average pioneer. He was imperious in his style and lordly in his manner, with no confidant and with but few associates. He adhered to the old style of dress, wearing knee breeches, and was called King Tom. Although peculiar, he was a benefactor in his way, for he gave employment to many people and always paid them cash for their work, which was a great consideration in those days when money was so scarce that the settlers often did not know how else to get means to pay their taxes than to go and "dig out stumps for Robinson," for his notoriety had spread far and wide and men went to him for work from different parts of the county, and employment was given to all who applied, and the number of men in his employ would average, it is said, a dozen the year through. Robinson had not the patience, like the other settlers, to wait for stumps to rot out, but he hired men to dig them out, entailing great expense in clearing his 'land, causing fabulous stories to be told of his immense wealth. Robinson was a widower when he came to America, but, after getting his farm cleared, he returned to England, as he stated, for a wife. He was absent seven years, returning here just after his marriage, bringing his wife with him. He never gave any explanation about the delay and no one dared to question him. His wife,. it is said, was a good-looking woman of domestic tastes, who stayed at home to serve her "lord and master," as was the custom with English women in those days. She lived about eight years after she came to America, and her remains were interred in Milton cemetery. In 1843 Robinson returned to England, where he died within a year. In 1836 Robinson built a large brick building for a residence. The bricks were of large size, and, on account of the size and style of the building and the aristocratic habits of the owner, it was called The Castle. It stood upon the most commanding site of the summit of the hill. Beneath it were cellars, arched with stonework, intended for wine cellars, and not as sepulchers for his dead, as was alleged. Within a few years after it was built a 42 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. wing of the castle was blown down by a storm, and Samuel Robinson, then a lad of seven years, who was in the wreck, was taken out of the debris. He now lives on the Olivesburg road, where he has. recently built—not a castle—but one of the finest country residences in the county. Within a few years after the wine; of the castle was wrecked the arched foundations began to give way, and the building in time fell in a mass of ruins, remnants of which can be seen to-day. Parties frequently visit the ruins of the old castle, and sometimes tourists stop over trains to see with their own eyes the locality of which they have read and heard so much. Boy guides are usually employed at the station (Pavonia, on the Erie Railroad) to conduct the party to the hill. As one of these parties stood gazing at the ruins a man remarked, "Down in that vaulted cellar is where old "Bluebeard" buried his four hundred wives." "No," said the guide, who had an eye to business ; "no one is buried there ; 'King Tom' cremated his wives, and if you give me twenty-five cents extra I'll show you the exact spot where their bodies were burned into ashes." They paid the extra quarter and the boy took them to a ravine on the east side of the hill, and, finding a place where some stone quarrymen had had a fire a year or two before, pointed to it as the place where the bodies had been cremated and exclaimed, "There are some of the ashes of their remains !" After they had returned to the station, boarded the cars and the train had sped onward to the coast, the boy told how he had "worked" the men for an extra quarter, and ever since that occurrence other guides have "worked" other parties in a like manner, each telling such tales as his imagination could invent. And thus many of the "Bluebeard" and other stories about "King Tom" originated. Mr. Robinson had a younger brother, Francis Robinson, and when Francis was making arrangements (in England) to join his brother in America, "King Tom" wrote to him to stop in Philadelphia and hunt up "Aunt Jane" Dixon and bring her back to keep house for them. Frank did as requested, but while en route they got married at Pittsburg, and when they arrived at Big Hill "Aunt Jane" was installed as the mistress of the Robinson home. "Aunt Jane" was the sister of Mrs. Ward, and came to America with that family in 1819, but, becoming tired of life in the New World, had started to return to England and was visiting for a short time in Philadelphia when Mr. Robinson called upon and persuaded her to return with him to Ohio. To this couple two sons were born : William Robinson, recently deceased, and the late General James S. Robinson, who helped to organize the Eighty-second Regiment of Ohio Infantry, became its colonel CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 43 and afterward changed the eagle of a colonel for the star of a brigadier on his epaulettes. And his regiment—what of it ? Of the two thousand eight hundred men enlisted during its term of service, there were but sixty-five left to answer roll-call the morning after the battle of Gettysburg—maimed in the service, discharged for disability, died in hospitals, killed in battle—what a record ! Volumes might be written, but the result, which can be told in one sentence, expresses it all, and let us stand uncovered when the names of such heroes are mentioned, to attest our appreciation of their services for our common country and flag. General Robinson was himself wounded, but lived until. a few years ago and made his home in Kenton. He served several times as a member of congress and also as secretary of state, and was held in the highest esteem, not only by his own party but by his political opponents as well. CAVES AND CAVERNS. The caves and caverns that abound around the rocky defile through which the Clear Fork of the Mohican passes between Butler and Newville have Dever been thoroughly explored. Below the old site of Winchester, at the Whilom Herring-Calhoon gristmill, later changed to a woolen factory and now in disuse, the Clear Fork, after making a graceful bend, is flanked on either side by high rugged bluffs extending a mile or more down the stream to Greer's bridge, where Noah Watt's carding-machine and fulling-mill stood in the years agone. The bluff upon the right or south bank is called Prospect Hill, and is the highest point of land in Worthington township, and a good view of the surrounding- country can be obtained from its summit. On the opposite side of the stream is Watt's Hill, the ascent of which also is abrupt, the south side being at that place almost perpendicular. Curious shaped rocks adorn the side and top of this hill. A huge bowlder called Dropping Rock, one hundred feet in circumference and fifteen feet high, stands alone, and from its sides water continuously drops as though its interior were a troubled fountain, causing its sides to weep copious tears. In these bluffs are said to be numerous caves, the best known of which is Fountain Cave in Prospect Hill. Tourists can locate this cave, its mouth being about midway up the bluff from the water-trough at the side of the road. The entrance is what miners call a drift, and the passage at first is only about four feet in height, compelling the explorer to enter upon "all fours;" but in a short distance the ceiling is higher, enabling a man to walk 44 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. erect. But, even when guided by a light, the explorer must be careful of his footsteps, for there is a man hole in the passage to a still deeper cavern, thirty feet beneath. In this lower apartment are larger rooms,—rough, dark, damp and forbidding,—and water can be heard rippling in an unseen subterranean stream. The upper passage has been explored to a distance of three hundred feet, part of the way being in the form of a shelf or gallery surrounding a chasm of unknown depths,—depths that have never, and can never be explored, for lights in lanterns are extinguished at a depth of from fifty to sixty feet. At the summit of the bluff there is a bowl-shaped depression in the earth nearly one hundred feet in circumference, evidently formed by the sinking of the ground among the rocks of the cavern beneath. This depression is supposed to be the head of a subterranean passage five hundred feet in length, passing- through the caverns and ending at the outlet at the spring at the base of the bluff. Other caves and chasms and fissures have been explored to some extent, but are of smaller size and dimension. Caves and caverns are not, strictly speaking, synonymous terms, the latter being more chasm-like and of greater depth. Natural caves and caverns were produced by the fracture and dislocation consequent on the upheaval of strata by water or other causes. The denuding or eroding power of water, which has produced the materials of stratified rocks, has formed caverns in the course of streams as well as on the coast-line of the sea. In limestone regions caverns frequently have a calcareous incrustation lining their interior, giving them a light gorgeous appearance; but these New ville rocks, being sandstone, have no stalactites pendent from their ceiling, and no stalagmites rising like pillars from the floor as if to support the roof. Some of the smaller Clear Fork caves are said to be ossiferous; but the fossils found are chiefly- those of reptiles, some of which were, perhaps, of the pleistocene period. The general aspect of the locality about Fountain Cavern is mountainous and wild and the native forest still covers the hills, from whose sides fountains of pure water gush forth in almost Arctic coldness, while between the bluffs the river flows onward in its course to the sea. Strange tales have been told of these caverns having been hiding-places for counterfeiters and thieves, all of which may be termed romances founded upon fiction, for no man could live within the damp walls of these cavities, where venomous snakes, poisonous lizards and loathsome toads only can exist. But stories are told of men who have disappeared and of whom no tidings ever came, to sorrowing friends. What crimes the unfathomable CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 45 depths of Fountain Cavern may hold secret and conceal will never be revealed until the clay dawns when all things shall be made known. MOODY'S HILL. Moody's Hill, north of Bellville, was named after John Moody, whose memory is clear to the people of the southern part of Richland county—and to the poor everywhere. John Moody was a preacher of the faith of the Christian denomination. He owned a gristmill at Bellville, with a large farm adjoining. He took no pay for his preaching, and when the country was threatened with a famine in the '30s, Moody's garners were well filled with grain. When crops failed and people went to Moody's mill to buy breadstuff, the question was asked each, "Have you money to pay for it ?" If the answer was in the affirmative they were told to go elsewhere and buy. Those who had no funds went away with well filled sacks, and were told to return again when they needed more. The product of thousands of bushels of grain was thus given away, but giving to the poor and hungry did not impoverish Moody, for the blight of drought did not touch his fields, but each succeeding harvest the crops yielded grain more abundantly, and Moody was blessed in the giving, as the people were in receiving his assistance. John Moody needs no monument in marble, for the memory of his good deeds lives in the hearts of the people of Bellville, from generation to generation. Captain Miller Moody was a son of John Moody. Miller Moody received a college education. He inherited wealth but never engaged much in business. He represented Richland county in the legislature and served his country as a soldier in war. Moody was one of the best dressed men in the county, and his cuffs and Byronic collar were always faultless in their whiteness. Captain Moody died of wounds received at the battle of Antietam, after suffering five amputations, and his remains repose in the cemetery of his native village, and his memory is held in affectionate regard by his old-time friends and neighbors. Each recurring Memorial day, the Moody monument is garlanded with evergreen and the grave decorated with flowers, fitting tribute to a warrior for whom "The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo." ANCIENT EARTH-WORKS. There is an ancient earthwork two miles east of Mansfield that is but 46 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. little known by our people of to-day, although it was surveyed and mapped by the county surveyor in October, 1878. It is situate on the Balliett farm, and is approached by the road leading east from the top of the Sherman hill. This earthwork was surveyed in 1878 by the county surveyor, John Newman, who made a report of the same to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, and also made his report a matter of county record. This work is upon an elevation at the east side of the head of Spook Hollow, and consists of an oval-shaped embankment or fort, five hundred and ninety-four feet long, by two hundred and thirty-eight feet wide in the center, and contains two and two-thirds acres. Southwest of the fort seven hundred and ten feet there is a spring at the side of the ravine from which a copious flow of water issues at all seasons of the year. Directly south of the fort, upon the side of the hill leading to the old stage road, is the furnace, which is an excavation walled with stone like a well and is called a "furnace," as charcoal, charred bones and evidences that fire had been used there were found at the bottom of the drift with which the place was filled. This furnace is about five feet across, is circular in form and its uses and purposes must be conjectured. At the east side of the fort there were a number of depressions, varying from four to twenty feet, but they have been so filled up in the tilling of the land as to be nearly obliterated. In excavating one of these depressions at the time of the survey, at a depth of eight feet a drift was struck leading toward the fort. Geographically the fort was platted upon longitudinal lines and upon geometrical measurements, and the depressions were variously located with relative mathematical distances, all giving evidences that the people who planned and made and occupied these works were well advanced in the higher branches of mathematics. Since their day and occupancy large forest trees have grown upon these earthworks—trees of at least six centuries growth. These works are relics of that pre-historic age of which much has been written and but little is known. The perspective view of the fort in the outline is discernible from the road and the location was well chosen, as it commands a fine view of the valley opening to the south. Looking over and beyond Spook Hollow, which with its wierd traditions lies at the base of the hill, a valley of garden-like loveliness is presented and the landscape picture extends for miles, embracing the hills in the far distance, amid which the spire upon the church steeple at Cesarea can be seen. The Lafferty Knoll, four miles below Denville, in the Clear Fork valley, has received considerable attention, but the consensus of opinion is that it is a natural mound. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 47 In the Darling settlement, in the Clear Fork Valley below Newville, near St. John's church, is a circular "fort" containing an area of nearly three acres with embankments leading down to the stream. When discovered by Judge Peter Kinney, the embankments of this fort were over three feet high and were covered by large timber,—evidence of its antiquity. It was doubtless intended as a garrison of defence. It commands a fine view of the valley and is worthy of note. There are a number of mounds in Ashland county, the majority of which are no doubt of pre-historic origin and were raised by the Mound Builders. It is claimed by some who have made archaeology a study that these Ashland mounds are of a more recent period,—that they were built in the seventeenth century by the Eries to protect their people from the invasion of the Iroquois tribe. When the mound on the Parr farm was opened in 1828, according to a statement made by the late Dr. J. P. Henderson, of Newville, it was found to contain bones, charcoal, stone implements, a copper wedge, a stone pipe, the stem of which was wrapped with copper wire, and other relics. It is claimed by many that the Mound Builders were of Asiatic origin and were as a people immense in numbers and well advanced in many of the arts. Similarity in certain things indicate that they were descendants of the ancient Phoenicians. Of the Mound Builders we have speculated much and know but little. But the mounds at Greentown are so small and so unlike the others that they evidently do not belong to that class. In this asynartete sketch only brief mention can he made of several places of geographical and historical interest in the valley of the Black Fork. The Petersburg lakes are well known. There are three and are fed by springs. They form a chain of lakes, the largest of which covers an area of about fifty acres; the middle, about thirty ; and the smallest, ten acres. These lakes were favorite fishing resorts in Indian times, as they are to-day. The Copus spring flows from the base of a hill on the east side of the valley, near where the Copus cabin stood: And when "Mother earth is full of beauty, In her summer glories dressed, Here, upon her lap reclining Like an infant, will I rest And enjoy the healthful current That is flowing from her breast." 48 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, HEMLOCK FALLS. Hemlock Falls, a mile and a half south of Newville, is situate amid picturesque and rugged surroundings, and takes its name from a hemlock tree which formerly overhung the falls. The stories that are told of that locality as traditions and legendary tales are largely of the imaginary and visionary kind, mostly of recent manufacture, and are not even founded on facts. The falls region was never the home of old Captain Pipe, for he never lived in Richland county. In fact, the place was never an Indian habitation at any time. There are no conveniences there to make it a desirable place of abode. There is no spring of cool, sparkling water, no green swards, no sheltering caves, no shady grottoes, no environment to entice a prosaic Indian to make the place his home. The Falls, however, is interesting in the geological formation of the ledge of rocks over which the water is precipitated ; interesting iii its topographical -appearance. in the picturesqueness of the scenery and in the grandeur of the waterfall itself, where the waters pour over slanting rocks for a distance of fifty feet, then make a leap of twenty feet to the fragmentary rocks below ; and when the stream is swollen the altisonant roar of the falls can be heard afar. The falls also have historical associations from the fact that the first pioneer meeting in Richland county was held upon the plateau at its summit. The meeting was held the first Saturday in September, 1856. William B. Carpenter, now a resident of Mansfield, was president of the meeting, and the late Dr. J. P. Henderson was the marshal of the day. General R. Binkerhoff and the late Rev. J. F. McGaw were the principal speakers. A great many people were in attendance and a bountiful picnic dinner was served to all. Fleming's Falls is situate in Mifflin township, seven miles northeast of Mansfield. This fall has picturesque surroundings and is a favorite resort for picnic parties. "UNCLE JONAS' LAKE." "Uncle Jonas' Lake" is in Mifflin township, seven miles east of Mansfield. It covers an area of eight acres and its depth is about seventy feet. This little body of water has been called by different names, such as Sites', Sweringen's and others, but in the past was simply "Uncle Jonas' Lake," after Jonas Ballyet, the first owner. It is now more generally known as the lake where the wagon-load of hay sunk, meadow and all, according to tradition. In 1821 Jonas Ballyet entered the northwest quarter of section 15 (Mif- CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 49 flin township), and near its center he found a lake covering about an acre. Its immediate surroundings was level land to the extent of eight acres, all enclosed with a rim of hills of gentle slope: except a place at the east side where the ground was lower as though inviting an outlet. Through this depression "Uncle Jonas" cut a ditch with the view of making the low land about the lake tillable. The lake lies a mile west. of the Black Fork of the Mohican, and between them is a tract of marshy land called the Black Swamp, and into this a ditch was cut from the lake. "Uncle Jonas' " theory seemed quite plausible, but he was later confronted with a condition he had not anticipated. The ditch was opened on the 25th day of July, 1846, and was of sufficient depth to lower the surface of the lake eight feet. On the day following, the greater part of the level land surrounding the lake, comprising about six acres, was engulfed,—sank out out of sight, leaving only the tops of the high trees, with which the land had been covered, visible; and in time the treetops also disappeared. The opinion was that the lake was of greater size beneath than was apparent upon its surface, and that lowering the water caused the ground to break off from the rim of hills and being thus loosened sank to the bottom. The sinking caused the earth to quake and tremble for miles around, and alarmed the people of that vicinity ; and some, thinking the "end of the world" had come, began to pray as they had never prayed before. As this incident occurred during the Millerism period, people were more prone to attribute the trembling and jar to heavenly than to earthly causes; for, although there may not have been a Millerite in that neighborhood, yet the doctrine and teachings of the Rev. William Miller had been so universally disseminated and propogated that they influenced many unconsciously. The time set by Miller for the "second coming of Christ" was the year 1843, as he interpreted the prophecies ; but, as the expected event did not occur, other dates were given later, and people were admonished to say not in their hearts, "My Lord delayeth His coming." Digging this ditch outlet was a losing enterprise to "Uncle Jonas," for instead of reclaiming land he lost six acres thereof, timber and all ! A few years later there was another sinking of ground into the water, increasing the lake to its present size of between eight and nine acres ; but as the low land has all been engulfed, no apprehension is felt that any similar occurrence will take place in the future, as it is not believed that the lake extends beneath the hills. Prior to this land-sinking episode, catfish, sunfish and some other varie-