50 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY indispensable to those who intend to make a permanent settlement in a new country. They had the rude plows then in use, a few other implements for farming, and seeds to plant in the rich alluvial soil which they knew they would find in the valley. On the first day of April, 1796, they landed at the "Station Prairie," about three miles southeast of the present Town of Chillicothe, unloaded their boats, and immediately began preparations for planting a crop and establishing homes. This was the initial settlement in Ross County, or upon the Scioto. Three hundred acres of the fertile bottom land were turned up by thirty plows, and so for the first time within the knowledge of man, this beautiful, primitive and peaceful landscape was enlivened by the presence and the cheerful labor of the race of civilization. For the first time the air resounded with the plowman's voice, and was filled with the fragrance of the freshly upturned mould. The greater part of the bottoms was covered with a heavy growth of timber, in which the black walnut and maple or sugar tree predominated, though a portion of them formed beautiful prairies clothed with the rich blue grass, to which these Kentucky pioneers were not strangers. McDonald, in enthusiastic reminiscence, says the outer edges of these prairies were beautifully fringed around with the plum trees, the red and black haw, the mulberry and crab apple. In the month of May, when these nurseries of nature were in full bloom, the sight was completely gratified, while the fragrance which filled the surrounding atmosphere was sufficient. to fill and lull the soul with pleasure. The first season that the pioneers spent in the backwoods settlement was attended with some suffering for the want of the conveniences of life, but was in a general way prosperous. No trouble whatever was experienced with the Indians. They associated with the whites in the most friendly manner, and showed by their conduct that it was their desire to observe the promises of peace they had made at the Treaty of Greenville. Massie almost immediately laid out the town as he had promised to do, and after the survey it was given the name of Chillicothe, after the Indian villages, though there was no town by that name upon the site, nor had there ever been. In accordance with the proposition made by the proprietor, 100 in-lots and the same number of out-lots were given to the first settlers, and a number were sold to other persons, the first being disposed of at $10 apiece. The town grew rapidly, and before the winter of 1796, had in it several stores, taverns and shops. Chillicothe was the ninth territorial town plat laid off, its predecessors being, in the order named, Marietta, Columbia, Cincinnati, Gallipolis, Manchester, Hamilton, Dayton and Franklin. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 51 WASHINGTON COUNTY ORGANIZED On the 26th of July, 1788, the County of Washington was organized by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, who appointed Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper and Winthrop Sargent, justices of the peace. Its boundaries were described thus : "Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western line of Pennsylvania crosses it and running with that line to Lake Erie ; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga River; thence up said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the forks, at the crossing-place above Fort Laurens ; thence with a line to be drawn westwardly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami upon which the fort stood that was taken and destroyed by the French in 1752, until it meets the road from the Lower Shawanese Town to the Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto River down to its mouth, and thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning." The territory of the present County of Ross east of the Scioto River was therefore in Washington County ; that west of that stream was unorganized, or Indian country. FIRST JUDICIARY Governor St. Clair erected a Court of Probate, established a Court of Quarter Sessions, divided the militia into Seniors and Juniors, and in August, 1788, added three justices of the peace to the three whom he had appointed during the previous month; the new appointees were Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord, and they were authorized to hold the Court of Quarter Sessions. Return Jonathan Meigs was clerk of the court. INDIANS AT LAST SUBDUED Thus did the governor endeavor to maintain a nice balance between the military, civil and judicial authorities of Washington County and the Northwest Territory. But the Indians of the Northwest, encouraged and supported by the British, were still to be reckoned with before white settlers felt at all secure in their possessions or lives. It required nearly five years of warfare between the American troops and the Indian warriors, with bloody disaster on both sides, the defeat of St. Clair and the crushing campaign of Mad Anthony Wayne, before the peace of 1795 was effected. In that year the twelve tribes who had given the most trouble signed the treaty at Greenville. This was soon followed by the British evacuation of all western military posts. Thereafter, neither the Indians nor the British seriously interfered with the 52 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY spread of American settlement and civilization in the Scioto Valley or Ohio generally. MORE PIONEER COUNTIES OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY The second county carved out of the Northwest Territory was Hamilton, in 1790, with Cincinnati as the county seat. It was bounded substantially by the Miami rivers on the east and west, the Ohio on the south, and a line drawn from the forks of the Big Miami to the Little Miami, on the north. Then were formed the four counties of St. Clair, Knox, Randolph and Wayne, from 1790 to 1796, the last named being the only one comprising any part of the Ohio of today. With Detroit as its county seat, it comprised not only Northwestern Ohio above Hamilton County, but Northeastern Indiana and all of Michigan. In July, 1797, Adams County was erected, comprising a large tract lying on both sides of the Scioto River, including the Ross County of the near future, and extending northward to Wayne County. About two weeks after the creation of Adams County, Governor St. Clair, of the Northwest Territory, proclaimed Jefferson County. Its original limits included that portion of the territory west of Pennsylvania and the Ohio River, east of a line drawn from the mouth of the Cuyahoga River (Cleveland) southwardly to the Muskingum River, and north of a line extended from that point eastward to the Ohio River. Within these bounds are Cleveland, Canton, Warren, Steubenville and other large towns and populous counties of Eastern Ohio. In 1798 Steubenville, on the west bank of the Ohio, was laid out as the county seat by Bezaleel Wells and Hon. James Ross, of Pittsburgh ; it was after the latter that Ross County derived its name, Mr. Ross being a prominent Federalist, although unsuccessful at that time as a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania. THE ORIGINAL ROSS COUNTY OF 1798 By proclamation of Governor St. Clair, Ross County was erected on the 28th of August, 1798, and it virtually included the Valley of the Scioto to the southern bounds of old Wayne County, or the northern limits of Franklin County. That splendid original territory was cut down, and divided, and subdivided, for more than half a century before it was reduced to the form and area of our Ross County. PROCESSES OF DIVISION AND REDUCTION Franklin County was first set off from its northern portion in April, 1803, and thereby the northern boundary was established HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 53 about in the locality of Circleville, Pickaway County. The formation of Pickaway County, in 1810, fixed its northern bounds. In the meantime the southern limits of old Ross County had been undergoing radical changes. In 1803 Scioto County carved away about a third of its original area, and in 1816 Pike was formed from various portions of Ross, Highland, Adams, Scioto and Jackson, establishing the southern bounds of Ross County. The western lines, as they now exist, had also been fixed by the erection of Highland County (from Ross, Adams and Clermont) in 1805, and that of Fayette, in 1810 (from Ross and Highland). The eastern limits were the last to be established and were formed by the creation of Jackson County in 1816, Hocking in 1818, and Vinton, in 1850. Besides Ross, the counties of Gallia, Athens and Fairfield, farther toward the east, contributed to the formation of Jackson, Hocking and Vinton. CHILLICOTHE NATURAL SEAT OF EARLY GOVERNMENT Remembering the great extent of the original Ross County, and the central position of its county seat in the rich and easily-traveled Valley of the Scioto—which was the main artery of transportation from the Ohio River with its growing settlements to the interior of the territory and the state, and toward the Sandusky River and Lake Erie—it was inevitable that Chillicothe should possess strong claims as the most available site for the seat of Government. Cincinnati was its rival, but although the energy and enterprise of its champions were in its favor, its location in the extreme southwest corner of the territory was sufficient to quell its aspirations in that line. FIRST TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES Two months after the creation of Ross County, or October 29, 1798, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation directing the qualified electors to hold elections for territorial representatives on the third Monday of December, of the same year. The scheme of the territorial government provided for the establishment of a lawmaking power to be composed of an elective House of Representatives and a Legislative Council to consist of five members, who were to be appointed by the United States Congress. The election resulted in the choice of the following members to constitute the popular branch of the Legislature : Return Jonathan Meigs and Paul Fearing, of Washington County ; William Goforth, William McMillen, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Caldwell and Isaac Martin, of Hamilton County ; Shadrack Bond, of 54 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY St. Clair ; John Small, of Knox; John Edgar, of Randolph; Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. Chabert de Joucaire, of Wayne County; Joseph Darlinton and Nathaniel Massie, of Adams County ; James Pritchard, of Jefferson ; Thomas Worthington, Elias Langham, Samuel Findlay and Edward Tiffin, of Ross. The Legislative Council consisted of Jacob Burnet, Henry Vandenburg, Robert Oliver, James Findlay and David Vance. This Legislature, composed of twenty-seven persons, met at Cincinnati,. September 16, 1799, and then and there was organized the second grade of government for the vast Northwest Territory, of which Ohio was an integral part. Sixteen of the twenty-two members of the elective House were residents within the present limits of the state, and so were three out of the five members of the Legislative Council. Edward Tiffin, of Ross County, was elected speaker of the House. CHILLICOTHE MADE THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT The first session of the Territorial Legislature was prorogued by the governor, December 19, 1799, until the first Monday in November, 1800, when it was re-assembled for the second session at Chillicothe, which had been made the seat of government by an act of Congress passed May 17th of the same year. The session lasted only until December 9, 1800. On May 7, 1800, Indiana Territory was established, including the country now contained within the bounds of the states of Indiana and Illinois. By the organization of this territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory. On the 23d of November, 1801, the third session of the Territorial Legislature was held at Chillicothe. A new election had been held, and although the council remained unchanged, with but one exception, there was quite a number of new representatives in the popular branch of the House. It was composed as follows: Ephraim Cutler and William Rufus Putnam, of Washington County ; Moses Miller, Francis Dunlavy, Jeremiah Morrow, John Ludlow, John Smith, Jacob White and Daniel Reeder, of Hamilton County ; Joseph Darlinton and Nathaniel Massie, of Adams County ; Zenas Kimberley, John Milligan and Thomas McCune, of Jefferson County ; Edward Tiffin, Thomas Worthington and Elias Langham, of Ross County; Charles F. Chabert de Joucaire, George McDougall, and Jonathan Schieffelin, of Wayne County, and Edward Paine, of Trumbull. At this session we again find Edward Tiffin, of Ross, the speaker of the House. This—the third session of the Territorial Legislature—was continued from November 24, 1801, until HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 55 January 23, 1802, when it adjourned to meet at Cincinnati. It is stated in James R. Albach's "Annals of the West:" "The governor and several of the legislators of the Northwest Territory having been insulted during the autumn of 1801 at Chillicothe, while the Assembly was in session, and no measures being taken by the authorities of the capital to protect the executive, a law was passed removing the seat of government to Cincinnati " It was destined, however, that there should never be held another session of the Territorial Legislature at Cincinnati, or elsewhere. LOOKING TOWARD STATEHOOD A movement was started in the Legislative Council in December, 1801, for the purpose of changing the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787, in such a manner as to make the Scioto, and a line drawn from the intersection of that river and the Indian boundary to the western extremity of the Connecticut Reserve, the limit of the most eastern state. It was said that Governor St. Clair favored this proposition, because he foresaw a possibility of becoming the governor of the state should it be established. The plan was not popular with the majority of the members of the Legislature who resided near the proposed dividing line, or in the Miami settlements, for various reasons, but particularly because it would have long deferred the establishment of a state government west of the Ohio. 56 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY It was vigorously opposed by Edward Tiffin, Thomas Worthington, Nathaniel Massie, Langham, Darlinton, Dunlavy, Morrow and others, and it was determined that some one should at once visit the national capital in behalf of the objectors. Thomas Worthington was selected for this important mission, and, obtaining leave of absence from the Legislature, 'left on the 20th of December for Washington. While he was journeying toward the capital, Nathaniel Massie introduced a resolution for choosing a committee to address Congress, in respect to the proposed state government. The House, however, refused to pass the resolution, by a vote of 12 to 5, and an attempt was then made to procure a census of the Northwest Territory. An act for this purpose passed the House, but its consideration was postponed by the Legislative Council. In the meantime Worthington, at Philadelphia, was using all of his influence to effect that organization " which terminating the influence of tyranny" (the authority of St. Clair), was to "ameliorate the circumstances of thousands by freeing them from the domination of a despotic chief." His efforts were successful, and upon the 4th of March, 1802, a report was made to Congress in favor of authorizing a state convention. This report was made upon the supposition that, as according to the United States census of 1800, the Northwest Territory had a population of 45,000, and as the Government had, since it was taken, sold 500,000 acres of land, the territory east of the mouth of the Miami would, by the time the state government could be organized, at the same rate of increase, contain the 60,000 people contemplated by the Ordinance of 1787. It was proposed that a convention should be held to determine whether it was desirable and expedient to form a state government, and if so, to prepare a constitution. In accordance with the tenor of this report, Congress passed, April 30, 1802, an act carrying into effect the recommendations of the committee. COMMONWEALTH BORN AT CHILLICOTHE The proposed convention met upon the 1st of November, 1802, and was in session, at Chillicothe, at the time when the Fourth-Territorial Legislature should have met at Cincinnati, according to their adjournment. It failed to assemble, however, as its members, of whom eight were members of the constitutional convention, saw plainly that the territorial form of government must very soon be supplanted by the state organization. Governor St. Clair, after considerable opposition, addressed the convention and strongly urged the postponement of a state organization, for which advice he was removed by President Jefferson. When the matter was put to vote, only one of the thirty-three members, Ephraim Cutler, of HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 57 Washington County, voted as the governor had' advised, and the result was that the state was established by the constitution which the convention framed upon November 29, 1802. It was ratified by Congress, but never submitted to the people. The members of the constitutional convention were : Joseph Darlinton, Israel Donaldson and Thomas Kirker, of Adams County; James Caldwell and Elijah Woods, of Belmont County ; Philip Gatch and James Sargeant, of Clermont County ; Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter, of Fairfield County ; John W. Browne, Charles Willing Byrd, Francis Dunlavy, William Goforth, John Kitchell, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Reilly, John Smith and John Wilson, of Hamilton County ; Rudolph Blair, George Humphrey, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff, and Bazaleel Wells, of Jefferson County ; Michael Baldwin, Edward Tiffin, James Grubb, Thomas Worthington, and Nathaniel Massie, of Ross County ; David Abbott and Samuel Huntington, of Trumbull County ; Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, Rufus Putnam and John McIntire, of Washington County. The state government was organized at Chillicothe, March 3, 1803, in accordance with the constitution, Edward Tiffin being the first governor. Chillicothe remained the seat of the state government until 1810, when it was removed to Zanesville, where two sessions of the Legislature were held. At the session of 1811-12, the Legislature passed an act again making Chillicothe the capital until 1816-17, when it was to be removed to Columbus, which was already fixed upon as the place for the permanent capital. The sessions of the State Legislature, the first constitutional convention and the sessions of the old Territorial Legislature of 1801 and 1802, were held in the little old stone house, built in 1800, which stood upon the ground now occupied by the Ross County Courthouse. SHIFTING OF POPULATION CENTER MAKES COLUMBUS THE CAPITAL Thus was completed the period of Chillicothe's fame as a seat of both the territorial and state governments. But the growth of such lake ports as Cleveland and Sandusky, the settlements which were to be absorbed into Toledo, and other towns in Northern Ohio, made it necessary that the state capital should be nearer the center of the state than Chillicothe, and therefore Columbus was created as the permanent seat of government in 1812. Although, as stated, Chillicothe enjoyed a few more years of political fame, it was so transient in character that the writer will pass it for the time, and hereafter devote himself to the many interesting phases of history of a more local and domestic nature. CHAPTER IV THE SIMPLE LIFE PIONEER JOURNEYING TO THE SCIOTO VALLEY-PREPARING FOR THE HOME-SOMETHING MORE THAN A SHACK-SLEEPING, EATING AND DRINKING - WILD GAME - DRESS AND MANNERS - FOOD PRICES AND BUSINESS-THE SCIOTO COUNTRY STORES-BRINGING IN STOCK-HOSPITALITY AND SOCIABILITY-BEE HUNTING-MILLING - PRIMITIVE IMPLEMENTS, BUT EARLIER SEASONS - HOG STICKING AND PORK PACKING-MONEY AND BARTER-EDUCATION -SPELLING AND SINGING SCHOOLS-THE WOMAN PIONEER-GENERAL PICTURE OF THE SIMPLE LIFE. In comparison with the ages of the old-world countries, the United States has, of course, no ancient history ; it is not even old. And the West is so much younger than the East that it is often a puzzle to historians to fix upon some dividing line separating, though indistinctly, the passing of the primitive times, and the entry of the modern, or more advanced and complex era. The railroad has been such a strong and rapid force of transformation in the development of the Northwest that its incursion into any section of its territory has been the acknowledged signal for the exit of the old order of things. In Ohio, in Ross County, let therefore, the coming of the railroad be the arbitrary exile of the pioneer period. With the building of the Marietta & Cincinnati, from 1851 to 1866, an interesting story involved in the extension of the Baltimore & Ohio system, the canal days passed away and modern growth was under way. There is little difference in pioneer life, away from the railroads, even at this day. It is the poor and hard-working element that seek a home in a new country, as a general thing, and at this day, especially, very few who enjoy the churches, schools, railroads and telegraphs and are able to remain at home, will care to leave for a residence in the wilds of any region. The exceptions are those who may be in fair circumstances, but have large families, who are willing to give up their comfort for the future of their children. Thus we find the pioneer generally poor but robust, with an energy which labor increases, and with an endurance that seems to battle all opposing forces. - 58 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 59 PIONEER JOURNEYING TO THE SCIOTO VALLEY In the early pioneer times of the Northwest Territory the greater part of the goods transported from the eastern settlements to the Ohio Valley were brought over the mountains on pack horses. The first year's subsistence had to be carried that way, and salt was packed hundreds of miles to meet the wants of the settlers, and then sold from $6 to $10 a bushel. No roads were laid out west of Pittsburgh, and but few wagons could find their way over the mountains and through the unbroken wilderness. But upon reaching the latter place the trouble comparatively ceased, for the goods could be carried thence by river. Roads; however, were soon made, rough bridges of logs spanned the narrow streams, the rivers had their ferries, and country or general stores began to put in an appearance. They kept a little of everything, but the stock always included articles of necessity—hats, caps, boots and shoes, chains, wedges, pots and kettles. Mills and blacksmith shops were soon erected. Having packed over the mountains, the first pioneers traveling toward the Valley of the Scioto usually loaded their household goods into boats and started the freight down the Ohio, and then wearily, but with undiminished determination, followed the crude trails of hunters and Indians toward their destinations. Frequently they came without their families, sometimes on horseback, sometimes afoot, and, having made a rough but loving provision for those awaiting them in eastern homes, returned for their wives and children. PREPARING FOR THE HOME The first thing done, after a temporary shelter had been provided, was to prepare a little spot of ground for some crop, usually corn. This was done by girdling the trees, clearing away any obstructing underbrush, and sweeping the surface with fire. Ten, fifteen, twenty or even thirty acres of land might thus be prepared and planted the first season. While the first crop was growing the pioneer busied himself with the finishing of his cabin, in anticipation of the coming winter. If he was completely isolated from his fellows, the cabin was often made of light logs or poles, awaiting the time when other settlers should come into the vicinity and assist him in the erection of a more substantial dwelling place. SOMETHING MORE THAN A SHACK The site of the cabin home was always selected with reference to a good water supply, often by a living spring, or, if such could 60 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY not be found, it was not uncommon to dig a well as the prime household necessity. When a substantial cabin was to be built, the few neighbors gathered at the site selected by the landowner, and felled a number of trees close by, as nearly uniform in size as possible. They usually ranged from a foot to twenty inches in diameter, were cut into logs of from twelve to fifteen feet and then hauled to the spot selected for the future dwelling. This work, and that of preparing the foundation, would consume the greater part of the day, and the entire undertaking would most commonly occupy two or three days—cheerfully contributed in the cause of good fellowship. The neighbors and friends would then proceed to the actual "raising." The logs were raised to their places with hand spikes and skid poles, and men standing at the corners of the growing cabin notched them as fast as they were placed in position, that they should lie as close down as possible. Soon the .cabin would be built several logs high and the work would become more difficult. When all was completed and the neighborly raisers had been rewarded with such Monongahela County whiskey and food as were available, the community part of the enterprise was considered complete. Then the proprietor would proceed to "chink and daub" the cabin to keep out the rain, wind and cold. The hose had to be redaubed every fall, as the rains of the intervening time would wash out a great part of the mortar. The usual height of the house was seven or eight feet. The gables were formed by shortening the logs gradually at each end of the building near the top. The roof was made by laying very straight small logs or stout poles suitable distances apart, generally about 2 1/2 feet, from gable to gable, and on these poles were laid the "clapboards" after the manner of shingling, showing about 2 1/2 feet to the weather. These clapboards were fastened to their place by "weight poles," corresponding in place with the joists just described, and these again were held in their place by "runs" or "knees," which were chunks of wood about eighteen or twenty inches long fitted between them near the ends. Clapboards were made from the nicest oaks in the vicinity, by chopping or sawing them into four-foot blocks and riving these with a frow, which was a simple blade fixed at right angles to its handle. This was driven into the blocks by a mallet. As the frow was wrenched down through the wood, the latter was turned alternately over from side to side, one being held by a forked piece of timber. The chimney to the cabin was made by leaving in the original building a large open place in one wall, or by cutting one after the structure was up, and by building on the outside, from the ground up, a stone column, or a column of sticks and mud, the sticks being HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 61 laid up cob-house fashion. The fireplace thus made was often large enough to receive firewood six to eight feet long. Sometimes this wood, especially the "back-log," would be nearly as large as a sawlog. The more rapidly the pioneer could burn up the wood in his vicinity, the sooner he had his little farm cleared and ready for cultivation. For a window, a piece about two feet long was cut out of one of the wall logs, and the hole closed sometimes by glass, but generally with greased paper. Even greased deer-hide was sometimes used. A doorway was cut through one of the walls if a saw was to be had; otherwise the door would be left by shortened logs in the original building. The door was made by pinning clapboards to two or three wooden bars and was hung on wooden hinges. A wooden latch, with a catch, then finished the door, and the latch was raised by anyone on the outside by pulling the leather string attached. For security at night this latch string was drawn in, but for friends and neighbors, and even strangers, the "latch-string was always hanging out" as a sign of welcome. 62 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY In the interior over the fireplace would be a shelf called the "mantel," on which stood the candle-stick or lamp, probably also some cooking or tableware, and possible an old clock and other articles. In the fireplace would be a crane, and on it pots were hung for cooking. Over the door in forked cleats hung the ever trusty rifle and powder horn; in one corner stood the large bed for the "old folks," and under it the trundle bed for the children ; in another stood the old-fashioned spinning wheel, with a smaller one by its side; in another the table, large and strong, and, in the remaining corner was the rude cupboard holding the tableware, which consisted of a few cups and saucers and blue-edged plates standing singly on their edges against the back so as to present a more conspicuous display, while around the room were scattered a few splint-bottom or Windsor chairs and two or three stools. In the erection of his cabin the neighbors would come from miles around to help the builder and give him a fair start in the world. They gave him a warm welcome, the right hand of fellowship was extended, and the new settler felt at home at once. The latch string hung on the outside, and what the cabin held was at the command of the traveler or neighbor. Corn was the principal article of food, and wild game furnished the family meat. A cow was generally secured, and the pioneer was then happy as well as rich. Store goods were not often seen or worn. SLEEPING, EATING AND DRINKING The bed was very often made, by fixing posts in the floor about six feet from the one wall and four feet from the adjoining wall, and fastening a stick to this post about two feet from the floor, on each of two sides, so that the other end of each of the two sticks could be fastened in the opposite wall; clapboards were laid across these, and thus the bed was complete. Guests were given this bed, while the family disposed themselves in another corner of the room or in the "loft." When several guests or travelers were on hand, many ingenious ways were resorted to for their accommodation. The pioneer women had very few conveniences which now adorn the kitchens of today. The range or stove was then unknown, but the large fireplace was fitted with a crane and a supply of hooks of different lengths, and from one to four pots could be hung over the fire at once. Then the long-handled frying-pan, the bake pan, the Dutchoven, and along about 1830 came the tin bake-oven. With these the pioneer women did their hot, laborious work. But they knew how to cook. The bread and the biscuit of those days have not been improved upon. A better article for baking batter cakes was the cast-iron spider HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 63 or Dutch skillet. The best thing for baking bread in those days, and possibly even yet in the latter days, was the fiat bottomed bake-kettle, of greater depth, with closely fitting cast-iron cover, and commonly known as the "Dutch-oven." With coals over and under it, bread and biscuit would quickly and nicely bake. Turkey and, spare ribs were sometimes roasted before the fire, suspended by a string, a dish being placed underneath to catch the drippings. Hominy and samp were very much used. The hominy, however, was generally hulled corn—boiled corn from which the hull, or bran, had been taken by hot lye, hence sometimes called "lye hominy." True hominy and samp were made of pounded corn. A popular method of making this, as well as real meal for bread, was . to cut out or burn a large hole in the top of a huge stump, in the shape of a mortar, and pounding the corn in this by a maul or beetle suspended on the end of a swing-pole, like a well-sweep. This and the well-sweep consisted of a pole twenty to thirty feet long fixed in an upright fork so that it could be worked "teeter" fashion. It was a rapid and simple way of drawing water. When the samp was sufficiently pounded it was taken out, the bran floated off, and the delicious grain boiled like rice. The chief articles of diet in early days were corn bread, hominy or samp, venison, pork, honey, beans, pumpkin (dried pumpkin for more than half the year), turkey, prairie chicken, squirrel and some other game, with a few additional vegetables a portion of the year. Wheat bread, tea, coffee and fruit were luxuries not to be indulged in except on special occasions, as when visitors were present. At the table hot drinks were made with sassafras root, spice-wood, or sycamore bark. Genuine coffee was sometimes to be had but not often. Parched grains of rye or corn were sometimes pounded up and made a substitute for coffee. Cornmeal was converted into bread in various ways. The simplest method was to mix the meal with salt and water into a stiff dough and bake it on the hot stones of the fireplace—this was the original and only genuine "johnny-cake." This mixture thinly spread and baked on a board or in a pan, set upright before the fire, made "hoe-cake," and if mixed with eggs and baked in a Dutch oven, it was "pone." "Corn-dodger" was another variety of the ancient nourishment made of about the same ingredients. Hominy was prepared by soaking the corn in strong lye or wood ashes to remove the outside covering and then washed thoroughly in clean water. Cornmeal was often made into mush and eaten from wooden bowls. If fried with the jelly of meat liquor it was called, by the Dutch, "suppawn," and was a favorite diet. Now and then a cup of coffee sweetened with honey, the product of a lucky find in the shape of a bee tree, a juicy venison steak or a piece of turkey, and 64 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY corn-bread made of mashed corn pounded in a mortar or ground in a handmill, composed the steady week-day and Sunday diet of the old pioneer. WILD GAME Venison could be found in great abundance, and in the forests large flocks of wild turkeys were frequently seen. Bears were still to be seen occasionally. Turkeys were seldom shot, as the ammunition was too valuable to waste upon them. They were generally caught in traps, or rather pens, with the lower part of one side left open. Corn was strewn around and inside of the pen, and the foolish birds, seeing no escape at the top and never thinking to escape the way they came, became easy prisoners. In this way they were caught by the score. If the turkey was young it was sometimes prepared by skinning and roasting before the fire on a spit, the grease being caught with a dripping pan. Stoves were then unknown, and all cooking was done on the hearth or at fires kindled out of doors. In the scarcity of other game, opossums were used occasionally for food—a dish in especial favor among the colored people. Quail were not numerous, as they seem to follow civilization rather than precede it. Fish were plentiful in the streams and were caught in different ways, generally on a troll-line on a single hook, or by piercing them with a gig. This was game for the boys. The skins of the wild beasts were brought to the cabins by hunters, and there prepared for use. Deer skins were tanned. The hair was first removed by ashes and water and the skins were then rubbed with soft soap, lye, and the brains of the deer. As all these substances contain alkali, they were useful in removing the fat and tissue. Then after lying for two or three days in a steeping vat or trough, the skins were stretched over a smooth round log, from which the bark had been removed, and scraped with a graining knife. Such a dressing rendered the skins soft and pliable, and many of the settlers became skillful curriers. Bear skins were dressed with the hair on, and used for robes, carpets or for bed-clothing. Wolves were numerous in some sections and occasionally a panther's scream pierced the still forest, but domestic animals were seldom destroyed by them. DRESS AND MANNERS The dress, habits, etc., of a people throw so much light upon their condition and limitations, that in order to better show the circumstances surrounding them, a short exposition of life at different epochs is here given. The Indians themselves are credited HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 65 by Charlevoix with being "very laborious"—raising poultry, spinning the wool of the buffalo and manufacturing garments therefrom. These must have been, however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race. Dressed deer skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. The blue handkerchief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generally. In 1800 scarcely a man thought himself clothed unless he had a belt tied around his blanket coat, and on one side was hung the dressed skin of a polecat filled with tobacco, pipe, flint and steel. On the other side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher knife. Among the Americans home-made wool hats were the common wear. Fur hats were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The covering of the feet in winter was chiefly moccasins made of deer skins and shoepacks of tanned leather. Some wore shoes, but they were not common in very early times. In the summer the greater portion of the young people, male and female, and many of the old, went barefoot. The substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting shirt. This was an excellent garment. It was made with wide sleeves, open before, of ample size so as to envelop the body almost twice around. Sometimes it had a large cape, which answered well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt was mostly used to keep the garment close around the person. It was often fringed, and at times the fringe was composed of red and other gay colors. The belt, frequently, was sewed to the hunting shirt. The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were often made with alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. The pioneer's wife, without whom a pioneer's life would have been a wretched failure, made the men's clothing and moccasins of dressed deer skins, and spun and wove the home-made cotton for herself and daughters. Eight yards were sufficient, and a dress would last a year or two. Sometimes ginghams and calico were purchased, but it was only the rich that could indulge in such costly goods in which to array their wives and daughters. An extra quality and a brighter color of homespun was the general Sunday meeting dress of the women of that day, and when the men wanted to put on style they purchased an article of cloth called Kentucky jeans. But durability and not style was the forte of the old pioneer, and the dress of deer skin and the coon skin cap were really the rage for solid wear. A bonnet composed of calico or some gay goods, was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon; a gold ring was an ornament only now and then seen. Vol. I-5 66 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY FOOD PRICES AND BUSINESS In the very early times there was great difficulty in obtaining flour and meal. There was no mill, except the one at Chillicothe—the floating mill upon the river—for a number of years. Only the commonest goods were brought into the country, and they sold at enormous prices, being packed from Detroit, or wagoned from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, thence floated down the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, and thence brought up the stream in boats, or packed along the banks. Tea was worth $2 or $3 a pound for a number of years after the settlement of the Scioto Valley had extended up as far as Columbus. Coffee brought from 75 cents to $1; salt, $5 to $6 per bushel of fifty pounds, and the commonest kinds of calico were sold at $1 per yard. Long journeys upon foot were often made by the pioneers to obtain the necessities of life, or some article, then a luxury, for the sick. Later (in the late '30s and early '40s) prices became quite low. The financial crash of 1837 had completely demoralized values, property shrank to such amazing smallness that many people were in doubt as to whether they possessed anything except their lives and their families. The wildcat banks rapidly climbed the golden stairs, and their assets went glimmering. The necessaries of life were cheap, and those who suffered most in those days were of the class called wealthy, excepting, perhaps, the managers of the wildcat banks above spoken of. The farmer and the merchant of the West had little to complain of. Their wants were few and supplies cheap ; if corn was at a low figure, tea, coffee, sugar and whisky were also cheap. The business depression brought on by the financial collapse referred to continued for several years, and hovered over the land as late as 1842. In 1839 and 1840 prices of goods still ruled very low, and the prospect of any early rise seemed far from encouraging. Cows sold at $4 to $10, and payable perhaps in trade at that. Horses brought for the best about $40, but could be bought from about $25 up, for a fair animal. Working oxen were from $25 to $30 per yoke, and considered down to almost nothing. Hogs, dressed, sold from $1.25 to $1.50 each. Garnered wheat brought from 35 to 40 cents a bushel; corn, 50 cents per barrel, delivered, and a good veal calf 75 cents. You could go to the woods and cut down a bee-tree, gather the honey, bring it to market and get 25 cents a gallon for it. And such honey, so clear and transparent that even the bee-keeper of today, with his patent hive and Italian swarms, would have had a look of envy covering his face on beholding it! The wild deer came forward and gave up their hams at 25 cents each, and the settler generally clinched the bargain by HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 67 taking the skin also, and when not cut up into strings or used for patches brought another quarter, cash or trade as demanded. It was a habit in those days for farmers to help each other, and their sons to work in the harvest field, or help do the logging to prepare for the seeding of new land. This was a source of wealth to the sons of the early settlers and to those farmers who were unable to purchase a home. They received from 25 to 50 cents per day and their board. That was wealth, the foundation of their future prosperity. It was the first egg laid to hatch them a farm, and it was guarded with scrupulous care. Economy was often whittled down to a very fine point before they could be induced to touch that nest egg, the incipient acre of the first farm. THE SCIOTO COUNTRY STORES As the settlers increased country stores began to make their appearance at crossroads, followed by the necessary concomitant, the blacksmith shop. Portsmouth and Chillicothe became somewhat of trade centers, Piketon also had a local habitation and a name as early as 1814, and Jackson Court House, a few years later; but the country stores flourished outside of these points, because they were as much a convenience as a necessity. Their stock consisted of salt, tea, tobacco, cotton, yarns, iron for horseshoes, nails, etc., powder, lead, shot and steel points for plows. Added to these and considered staple articles there was kept a moderate supply of calico, ginghams, domestic cotton, Kentucky jeans, boots and shoes, etc., with a fair article of corn whisky. These country stores were strongly built, and the logs, of which they were composed, hewed flat on the inside. The goods were placed in the most convenient places to get at. Boxes were utilized as counters, and while there was but little display in those good old times, little was desired. If the goods they wanted were there, it didn't make much difference to the people whether they were on shelves, or even had shelves. The smaller merchants purchased the goods at Pittsburgh or Marietta, while these in their turn ran flatboats down the river to New Orleans. BRINGING IN THE STOCK The pioneers were very few who had any kind of stock when they settled in the Scioto Valley. Horses were brought by a good many and oxen for work, but of cattle, sheep and hogs, there were but few, except, perhaps, cows. Some were soon brought in, as it was found they could subsist almost entirely on mast, or other wild food. They were slaughtered in early winter, and what was 68 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY not needed for present use was salted down for consumption in the hot months when venison was not fit to eat. Cattle were also introduced, but the pioneers experienced very little trouble in providing for them. The forests were filled with budding sprouts while the low and open lands were densely covered with long grass which furnished splendid protection till late in the winter. Toward spring, when the early buds began to swell, they were preferable, and if the underbrush became stripped, large beech trees were frequently felled for the cattle to trim up. The winters at this date were, however, much milder than at present, as is definitely known. Snows scarcely ever remained longer than three days, and a record of the weather kept at Ludlow Station, Green County, just west of the Scioto Valley, shows a vast difference in the variation of temperature then and now. The average temperature for the winters from 1804 to 1811, as shown by these records was about 40̊ Fahr., while the lowest temperature was 8̊ below zero. Later experiences show a difference in the variations of the weather, from the heat of summer to the cold of winter, brought about evidently by the clearing of forests, draining of swamps and other changes incident to advanced civilization. HOSPITALITY AND SOCIABILITY The traveler always found a welcome at the pioneer's cabin. It was never full. Although there might be already a guest for every puncheon, there was still "room for one more," and a wider circle would be made for the newcomer at the log fire. If the stranger was in search of land he was doubly welcome, and his host would volunteer to show him all the "first-rate claims in this neck of woods," going with him for days, showing the corners and advantages of every "Congress tract" within a dozen miles of his cabin. To his neighbors the pioneer was equally liberal. If a deer was killed the choicest bits were sent to his nearest neighbor, a half dozen miles away perhaps. When a "shoat" was butchered, the same custom prevailed. If a newcomer came in too late for "cropping" the neighbors would supply his table with just the same luxuries they themselves enjoyed, and in as liberal quantity, until a crop could be raised. When a newcomer had located his claim the neighbors for miles around would assemble at the site of his proposed cabin and aid him in "gettin" it up. One party with axes would cut down the trees and hew the logs; another with teams would haul the logs to the ground ; another party would "raise" the cabin ; while several of the old men would "rive the clapboards" for the roof. By night the little forest domicile would HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 69 be up and ready for a "house-warming," which was the dedicatory occupation of the house, when music and dancing and festivity would be enjoyed at full height. The next day the new arrival would be as well situated as his neighbors. BEE HUNTING This wild recreation was, in some respects, a peculiar one, and the sturdy backwoodsman gloried in this art. He would carefully watch, as the bee filled itself with the product of some flower, and notice the direction taken by it as it struck a "bee-line," for its home, which, when found, would generally be high up in the hollow of a tree. This tree would then be marked, and in September, or a little later, the tree would be cut and the honey secured, and pretty active work was required to save the store, as sometimes the tree would be shattered in its fall. Several gallons have been known to have been taken from a single tree. Thus, by a very little work, pleasant at that, the early settlers could keep themselves in honey the year round, and thus save buying sugar at the store. By the time the honey was a year old, and sometimes sooner, it would granulate, but this did not interfere with its quality. MILLING Not the least of the hardships of pioneer life was the producing of bread. The first settlers had to be supplied the first year from other sources than their own lands, and the first crop, however abundant, gave only partial relief, there being no mills at hand to grind the grain. Hence the necessity of grinding by hand power, and very many families were very poorly provided with means for doing this. The old grater and the wooden mortar burned in the end of a log did duty for many months ere either a hand-mill or horse-mill was found in the country, Soon after the country became more generally settled, enterprising men embarked in the milling business, selecting sites on streams that were large and rapid enough to furnish the power. Mills were considered a public necessity, and were permitted to be erected wherever a desirable water-power could be secured. Those who lived contiguous to the rivers or streams did not have far to go, but those who located in the country back had many hard days' travel "going to mill." When it became a day's journey or more, it was considered quite a job, and sometimes swollen streams, without ferries or bridges, would keep them several days on their journey. Not only did the old settler go to mill, but he managed to lay in some supplies at the store which was generally near at hand. 70 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY PRIMITIVE IMPLEMENTS, BUT EARLIER SEASONS These implements as used by the pioneer farmers of the state would in this age of improvement be great curiosities. The plow used was called the "barshare" plow ; the iron point welded to it. Sometimes they were made shorter to suit the ground, in which they were to be used. At the extreme point was a coulter that passed through a beam six or seven feet long, to which were attached handles of the required length. The mold-board was a wooden one split out of winding or cross-grained timber, or hewed into shape, in order to turn the soil over. Sown seed was dragged in by drawing over the ground saplings with brushy tops. Instead of reapers and mowers for harvesting, the sickle and cradle were used, and the wooden rake. The grain was threshed out with a flail, or trodden out by horses or oxen. During all the early years of the settlement, varied with occasional pleasures and excitements, the great work of increasing the tillable ground went slowly on. Although the implements and tools were few, and of the most primitive kind, the soil, that had long held in reserve the accumulated richness of centuries, produced splendid harvests, and the husbandman was well rewarded for his labor. The soil was warmer then than now and the season earlier. The prairie fields were often, by the first of March, as green as fields of grain now are by the first of April. The wheat was pastured in the spring to keep it from growing up so early and so fast as to become lodged. The harvest came early, and the yield was often from thirty-five to forty or more, bushels per acre. Corn grew fast, and roasting ears were to be had by the Fourth of July in some seasons. HOG STICKING AND PORK PACKING Hogs were always dressed before they were taken to market. The farmer, if fore-handed, would call in his neighbors some bright fall or winter morning to help "kill hogs." Immense kettles of water were heated; a sled or two covered with loose boards or plank constituted the platform on which the hog was cleaned, and was placed near an inclined hogshead in which the scalding was done; a quilt was thrown over the top of the latter to retain the heat; from the crotch of some convenient tree a projecting pole was rigged, to hold the animals for disemboweling and thorough cleaning. When everything was arranged the best shot of the neighborhood loaded his rifle, and the work of killing was commenced. It was considered a disgrace to make a hog "squeal" by bad HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 71 shooting or by a "shoulder-stick," that is, running the point of the butcher knife into the shoulder instead of the cavity of the breast. As each hog fell the "sticker" mounted him and plunged the butcher knife into his throat; two persons would then catch him by the hind legs, draw him up to the scalding tub, which had just been filled with boiling hot water with a shovelfull of good greenwood ashes thrown in; in this the carcass was plunged and moved round a minute or so until the hair would slip off easily, then placed on the platform where the cleaner would take hold of him and clean him as quickly as possible, with knives and other sharp-edged implements; then two stout men would take him up between them, and with a third man to manage the gambrel (which was a stout stick about two feet long, sharpened at both ends, to be inserted between the muscles of the hind legs at or near the hock joint), the animal would be elevated to the pole, where the work of cleaning was finished. After the slaughter was over and the hogs had had time to cool, such as were intended for domestic use were cut up, the lard "tried" out by the women of the household, and the surplus hogs taken to market, while the weather was cold, if possible. In those days almost every merchant had, at the rear end of his place of business, or at some convenient building, a "pork house," and would buy the pork of his customers and of such others as would sell to him, and cut it for the market. This gave employment to a large number of hands in every village, who could cut and pack pork all winter. The hauling of all this to the river would also give employ- 72 - HISTORY OF ROSS- COUNTY ment to a large number of teams, and the manufacturer of pork barrels would keep many coopers employed. There was one feature in this method of packing and marketing pork that made the country in the fall and winter a paradise for the poor man. Spare ribs, tenderloins, pigs' heads and pigs' feet were not considered of much value, and were freely given to all who would take them. If a barrel was taken to any pork house and salt furnished, the barrel was filled and salted down gratuitously. So great in many cases was the quantity of spare ribs, etc., to be disposed of that they were hauled away in wagon load's and dumped in the woods out of town or in some convenient ravine. MONEY AND BARTER Money was a scarce article, and was not often seen in large quantities among the pioneers. Indeed, unless to pay for their land or invest in a yoke of oxen, they had little use for it, as they could transact most all their business about as well without it, on the "barter" system, wherein a good deal of tact in making exchanges was often displayed. When it failed in any instance, long credits contributed to the convenience of the citizens. But for taxes, and postage, neither the barter nor the credit system would answer, and often letters were suffered to remain a long time in the postoffice for the want of the 25 cents demanded by the Government. Peltries came nearer being money than anything else, as it came to be the custom to estimate the value of everything in peltries. Such an article was worth so many peltries. Even some tax collectors and postmasters were known to take peltries and exchange them for the money required by the Government. When the settlers first came into the wilderness some supposed that their hard struggle would be principally over after the first year; but alas! they often looked for "easier times next year" for many years before them, and then they came in so slyly as to be almost imperceptible. The sturdy pioneer thus learned to bear hardships, privations and hard living, as good soldiers do. As the facilities for making money were not great, they lived pretty well satisfied in an atmosphere of good, social, friendly feeling. But among the early settlers who came to his state were many who, accustomed to the advantages in the older civilization of churches, schools and society, became speedily homesick and dissatisfied. They would remain perhaps one summer, or at most two, then, selling whatever claim with its improvements they had made, would return to the older states, spreading reports of the hardships endured by the settlers in the West and the disadvantages which HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 73 they had found, or imagined they had found, in the country. The slight improvements they had made were sold to men of sterner stuff, who were the sooner able to surround themselves with the necessities of life, while their unfavorable report deterred other weaklings from coming. The men who stayed and were willing to endure privations belonged to a different guild; they were heroes every one—men to whom hardships were things to be overcome, and privations endured for the sake of posterity ; and they never shrank from this duty. It is to those pioneers who could endure that the people owe the prosperity of their generation. EDUCATION Though struggling through the pressure of poverty and privation; the early settlers planted among them the school house at the earliest practical period. So important an object as the education of their children they did not defer until they could build more comely and convenient houses. They were for a time content with such as corresponded with their rude dwellings, but soon better buildings and accommodations were provided. As may readily be supposed, the accommodations of the earliest schools were not good. Sometimes school was taught in the room of a large or double log cabin, but oftener in a log house built for the purpose. A mud-and-stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth and a fire-place wide and deep enough to receive a four to six foot back-log, and smaller wood to match, served for warming purposes in winter and a kind of conservatory in summer. For windows, part of a log was cut in two sides of the building, and maybe a few lights of 8 by 10 glass set in, or the aperture might be covered over with greased paper. Writing desks consisted of heavy oak plank or a hewed slab laid upon wooden pins driven into the wall. The four-legged slab benches were in front of these, and the pupils, when not writing, would sit with their backs against the front, sharp edge of the writing desks. The floor was also made out of these slabs or "puncheons," laid upon log sleepers. Everything was rude and plain ; but many of America's greatest men have gone out from just such schoolhouses to grapple with the world, and make names for themselves and reflect honor upon their country. So with many of the most eloquent and efficient preachers. SPELLING AND SINGING SCHOOLS The chief public evening entertainment for the first thirty or forty years of pioneer existence was the celebrated "spelling school." Both young people and old looked forward to the next 74 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY spelling school with as much anticipation and anxiety as we nowadays look forward to a college commencement and when the time arrived the whole neighborhood, and sometimes several neighborhoods, would flock together to the scene of academic combat, where the excitement was often more intense than had been expected. It was far better, of course, when there was good sleighing; then the young folks would turn out in high glee and be fairly beside themselves. The jollity is scarcely equaled at the present day by anything in vogue. Next to the night spelling school the singing school was an occasion of much jollity, wherein it was difficult for the average singing-master to preserve order, as many went more for fun than for music. This species of evening entertainment in its introduction to the West, was later than the spelling school, and served, as it were, as the second step toward the more modern civilization. Good sleighing weather was, of course, almost a necessity for the success of these schools, but how many of them have been prevented by mud and rain ! Perhaps a greater part of the time from November to April the roads would be muddy and often half frozen, which would have a very dampening and freezing effect upon the souls as well as the bodies of the young people who longed for a good time on such occasions. THE WOMAN PIONEER Rude and primitive as the cabin of the pioneer might be, with a floor of mother earth, simple and unadorned, there was found within its walls many a heroine of early days. Not in the palaces of the rich of what is called this enlightened era was more true life-like happiness found than in those lowly cabins. There was no waiting in those days for a home of splendor before man found his mate, but the heroes and heroines of those days joined hands and hearts, and helped each other down the rugged pathway of life. He went into the fields to work, that he might supply the food necessary for life, while she worked on in her own sphere, furnishing her husband's cabin with smiles of a loving heart, greeting her partner with the evident work of willing hands, keeping her true and womanly talents in full play, not only in preparing food for the family meal, but in spinning and weaving, cutting and making not only her own clothing, but the garments of those who were of her household and under her loving care. Much has been written of the "old pioneer" and his struggles in the early days of his life, heavy trials, misfortunes, and ultimately his success ; but little has been recorded of his noble companion, the light of his cabin, who cheered him in his misfortunes, nursed him in sickness, and in