HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 277 CHAPTER IV. PIONEER HISTORY. PRE-HISTORIC-EARLY EVENTS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS-EARLY SCHOOLS, RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, ETC.-MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS OF INTEREST CONCERNING PIONEER TIMES PRE-HISTORIC. THE mysterious race called for the sake of convenience the Mound Builders, whose works are scattered so thickly over a great portion of the State of Ohio, seems to have almost ignored the territory now included in the county of Union, for, from all accounts, there is not it notable mound within the entire county, while the relics found in the way of arrow points, stone axes, etc., are very few in number. Along the valleys of the Scioto, the Miamis and other streams, the remains of ancient fortifications and other works are often met with, and it appears strange that nothing should have been constructed along any one of the numerous streams coursing through Union County. In consequence of the absence of these remains, it is unnecessary to give an extended article on the subject in this connection. EARLY WHITE OCCUPANTS OF OHIO.(1) In correspondence between W. Jackson, Assistant Secretary of War, and Gen. William Irvine, in the fall of 1783, mention is made of settlements which had been made and were making between the Muskingum and Wabash, and Irvine was apprehensive of the renewal of war between those settlers and the Indians. Congress obtained knowledge of the condition of affairs, and issued the following proclamation: By the United States in Congress assembled. A proclamation: WHEREAS, By the ninth of the articles of confederation, it is among other things declared that "the United States in Congress assembled have the sole and exclusive right and of regulating the trade, and managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the States; provided, that the legislative right of any State within its own limits, be not infringed or violated," And Whereas. It is essential to the welfare and interest of the United States, as well as necessary for the maintenance of harmony and friendship with the Indians, not members of any of the States, that all cause of quarrel and complaint between them and the United States, or any of them, should be removed and prevented; therefore, the United States, in Congress assembled, have thought proper to issue their proclamation, and they do hereby prohibit and forbid all persons from making settlements on lands inhabited or claimed by Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any particular State, and from purchasing or receiving any gift or cession of such lands or claims, without the express authority and directions of the United States in Congress assembled; and it is moreover declared that every such purchase or settlement, gift or cession, not having the authority aforesaid, is null and void, and that no right or title will accrue Congress. Done in Congress, at Princeton, this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and of our sovereignty and independence the eighth. ELIAS BOUDINOT, President. CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. (1) Years before a white settler had located in Ohio, the French traders and travelers had a route across the state which passed up the Sandusky River from, Lake Erie to the mouth of the Little Sandusky; thence a short distance up that dream to a portage to the upper waters of the Little Scioto-the portage being about four miles long-and after reaching the latter stream, canoes could easily float down it. The French used the route in traveling from Canada to the Mississippi. Even before Lasalle saw this region. the Northern Indians used this same water route when proceeding on their war incursions into the territory of the Southern tribes., 278 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. No attention was paid to this proclamation, and settlers poured into the forbidden country so rapidly that the government found it necessary to drive them out. On the 24th of January, 1785, the Commissioners of Indian Affairs instructed Lieut. Col. Josiah Harmar, of the First American Regiment, to employ such force as he might deem necessary "in driving off persons attempting to settle on the lands of the United States." Ensign John Armstrong was detailed with a force of twenty men and fifteen days' provisions to perform the task of driving off all within 150 miles of Ft. McIntosh, located at the mouth of the Beaver River, in Pennsylvania. Armstrong dispossessed settlers at points (in the Ohio as far down as Wheeling, or a point opposite that place, and in his report to Col. Harmar appears the following: "As the following information through you to the. honorable the Congress may be of some service, I trust you will not be displeased therewith. It is the opinion of many sensible men (with whom I conversed on my return from Wheeling) that if the honorable the Congress do not fall on some speedy method to prevent people from settling on the lands of the United States west of the Ohio, that country will soon be inhabited by a banditti whose actions are a disgrace to human nature. You will in a few days receive an address from the magistracy of Ohio County, through which most of those people pass, .many of whom are flying from justice. I have, sir, taken some pains to distribute copies of your instructions, with those from the honorable the Commissioners for Indian affairs, into almost every settlement west of the Ohio, and had them posted up at most public places on the east side of the river, in the neighborhood through which those people pass. Notwithstanding they have seen and read those instructions, they are moving to the unsettled countries by forties and fifties. From the best information I could receive, there are at the falls of the Hockhocking upward of three hundred families; at the Muskingum, a number equal. At Moravian Town, there are several families, and more than fifteen hundred on the Rivers Miami and Scioto. From Wheeling to that place, there is scarcely one bottom on the river but has one or more families living thereon. In consequence of the advertisement by John Emerson, I am assured meetings will be hold at the times therein mentioned. That at Menzons' or Haglin's town, mentioned in my report of yesterday, the inhabitants had come to a resolution to comply with the requisitions of the advertisement. " This advertisement was as follows, as given in Mr. Butterfield's work, Washington- Irvine correspondence, in the shape of a foot-note: MARCH 12, 1785. Notice is hereby given to the inhabitants of the west side of the Ohio River, that there is to be an election for the choosing of members of the convention for framing a constitution for the governing of the inhabitants, the election to be held on the 10th day of April, next ensuing, viz.: One election to be held at the mouth of the Miami River, and one to be held at the mouth of the Scioto River, and one on the Muskingum River, and one at the dwelling house of Jonas Menzons, the members to be chosen to meet at the mouth of the Scioto on the 20th day of the same month. I do certify, that all mankind, agreeable to every constitution formed in America, have an undoubted right to pass into every vacant country, and there to form their constitution, and that from the confederation of the whole United States Congress is not empowered to forbid them, neither is Congress empowered from that confederation to make a sale of the uninhabited lands to pay the public debts, which is to be by a tax levied [collected) by authority of the. Legislature of each State. JOHN EMERSON. Various orders were issued by Col. Harmar, and a Congressional Committee approved his conduct; also authorizing him to remove his troops from Ft McIntosh and post them at some point at or near the Ohio, between the Muskingum and the Great Miami, "which be shall conceive most advisable for further carrying into effect the before mentioned orders," and appropriat- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 279 ing $600 for the purpose of transporting the troops and their baggage. Under this order, Ft. Harmar was constructed at the mouth of the Muskingum. Gen. Richard Butler, in passing down the river at the commencement of October, to hold a treaty with the Indians at the mouth of the Miami River, found settlements at intervals from the mouth of Yellow Creek nearly to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, and did what he could to warn the settlers off, even giving orders to one of the officers of the army who was to descend to the Muskingum," to pull down every house on his way," some which had been recently torn down having been rebuilt by the determined men of the border. Whether all the settlers were driven out or not is not known, but it is certain that no constitution for governing the inhabitants was framed at that day, and the scheme for a now State on the northwest side of the Ohio was not carried until seventeen years later. FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN UNION COUNTY. In 1797, before a white settler had found a home in the tract of country now forming the county of Union, a town was laid out on a large scale in what is now Darby Township, on the South side of Big Darby Creek, by Lucas Sullivant, who named it North Liberty. The in-lots numbered 209 and the out-lots 116, and the plat is now on record in Volume II, page 79, of Ross County, Ohio, deed records, this county then being, partly included in Ross. Doubtless Mr. Sullivant expected his town would at some not distant day be a busy metropolis, but he ruined its prospects by laying out in August of the same year (1797). the town of Franklinton, on the west side of the Scioto River, opposite the subsequent site of Columbus. Whether Mr. Sullivant ever made deeds for any of the lots in North Liberty is not positively known, but he probably did. At all events, the first settlement made in what is now Union County was at the prospective city, in 1798-this being the date generally agreed upon, although one authority gives it as early as 1795, which is not possible. The honor of being the first settlers in the county is awarded to James and Joshua Ewing, and it is said that Mr. Sullivant induced them to locate at North Liberty in order to begin the settlement at that place, and if such was the fact, which is probable, it must have been as late as the fall of 1797 or the spring of 1798. The latter year is given by the best authority as the date of their arrival. Joshua Ewing was born in Kentucky, and moved from Lexington County in that State, to Ohio, his brother James accompanying him. Joshua Ewing became one of the first Commissioners of Madison County, upon its organization in 1810, but when Union County was formed, the brothers found their farms included in it. James Ewing brought four sheep to his place-the first seen in the county, and in 1812 became postmaster at Darby Creek, (1) the first post office established in what is now Union County. He was subsequently a director of the Franklin Bank, at Franklinton, and accumulated a large property. He issued a style of currency over his own signature. and transacted a large banking business in that way. James Ewing died in 1850, and Elizabeth, his wife, in 1865. Joshua Ewing died in 1821, and Margaret Ewing about 1837 -38. Their mother, Hannah Ewing, who came with them to Ohio, died in 1815 or 1816. The family was originally from New Jersey. In 1870, some controversy existing regarding the locality of. the first settlement in Union County William M. Robinson, Esq., of Marysville, (1) This office was established in 1812, the route extending over the "Post Road " from Worthington to Urbana both then important towns. It was long the only post office in the county and there was but one other on the route, located at Dublin, Franklin County. 280 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. wrote to William B. Irwin, at Lebanon, Ohio, for his recollection of the matter. Mr. Irwin was a former resident of Union County, and a well known surveyor. His reply was as follows: LEBANON, Ohio, April 25,1870. MR. W. M. ROBINSON Esq.-Dear Friend I am trying to answer your letter respecting the organization of Union County, but am so feeble and nervous I fear I cannot write so it can be read. * * * As to the fact of the Ewings' first settlement being at North Liberty, I submit the following facts- My mother's brother, Rev. Archibald Steele, was a licentiate of the Presbytery of Washington, Synod of Kentucky. In the spring of 1799, he was commissioned as a missionary in Southwest Ohio, then a Territory. His mission was to visit all new settlements, make out a list of all members of the church wherever they wanted an organization, and report to Presbytery for proper action. In fulfilling this mission, Mr. Steele kept a regular day journal, yet in the hands of his heirs, to which I have always had free access, and from it I got part of the history of the church of Milford Center. In that journal, after following it from place to place, we find the following: "Leaving Buck Creek, took the trail for Darby; at 4 o'clock arrived at the house of my old friend, Joshua Ewing where the family, consisting of Joshua and his family, James, his brother, Betsey, their sister, and their aged mother lived in a new town on the west bank of Big Darby, named North Liberty." In June, 1808, I was passing this place in company with Joshua Ewing, and his oldest son, Scott (now dead), James Ewing, Samuel Robinson and others; Joshua showed me the remains of the house in which be lived, also his brothers, at the time Mr. Steele called on him; stated that one was memorable from the fact that in it he and Mr. Steele made up the roll of members which in after years made up the North Liberty congregation. In further confirmation of the above fact, on examination of the record of Presbytery, at the succeeding spring session, a commission was appointed to visit this place, with others reported by Mr. Steele, and organize churches where expedient. The record shows this last commission, in obedience to instructions, did in the fall of 1800 organize a church in this place by the name of North Liberty. Joshua Ewing and Samuel Kirkpatrick were then and there elected members. * * * * A good part of this would be more appropriate for a church history than for a history of the county, but the facts of the two were so interwoven that they give strength to each other. The appointment of a mission to look after the sheep in the wilderness, and then the report of Mr. Steele and the subsequent action of Presbytery, adding the standing monument of those organized churches with the record of these divisions up to their present position, is abundant proof of the facts in the case. I have heard Mr. Steele and Mr. Ewing often speak in after years of the settlement of North Liberty, and of the visit of the former there, and of many circumstances relating thereto. Now, my old friend, I remember well our buckskin breeches, linsey bunting shirts, corn huskings and singing schools. Those days are gone. I will be glad to hear from you as often as you can find time to write. * * * Yours truly, WILLIAM B. IRWIN. At the conclusion of Mr. Irwin's letter, Mr. Robinson remarks: " In addition to Gen. Irwin's recollection on this subject, I had a conversation with William and David Winget, nephews of James Ewing, and very early settlers in this county, and they both say they saw the cabins they lived in North Liberty, many a time. This is the way I became acquainted with the fact. I also know from my own recollection that after they left those cabins and went down into what is now Jerome Township, the Indians occupied the cabins and grounds they vacated." A history of Franklin County, Ohio, was published in 1858, by William T. Martin, who writes as follows concerning the early settlements in this region : "Next after the settlement at Franklinton was a few families on Darby, near where Mr. Sullivant laid out his town of North Liberty, and a scattering settlement along Alum Creek. This was probably about the summer of 1799. * * * About the same time, improvements were made near the mouth of Gahannah (formerly called Big Belly), and the settlements thus gradually extended along the principal water-courses. In the. meantime, Franklinton was the point to which emigrants first repaired to spend some months, or perhaps years, prior to their permanent location. * * For several years there was no mill nor considerable settlement nearer than the vicinity of Chillicothe. In Franklinton, the people constructed a kind of hand-mill, upon which they generally ground their corn; some pounded it, or boiled it, and occasionally a HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 281 trip was made to the Chillicothe mill. About the year 1799 or 1800, Robert Balentine erected a poor kind of mill on the run near Gay street, in the Columbus plat, and, near the same time, Mr. John D. Rush erected an inferior mill on the Scioto, a short distance above Franklinton. They were, however. both poor concerns, and soon fell to ruins. A horse-mill was then resorted to and kept up for some time; but the first mill of any considerable advantage to the county was erected by Col. Kilbourne, near Worthington, about the year 1805. About the same time, Carpenter's mill, on Whetstone, in what is now Delaware County, and Dyer's, on Darby, were erected. * * * During the first years of the settlement, it was extremely sickly-perhaps as much so as any part of the State. For a few of the first years, the fever and ague prevailed so generally in the fall seasons as to totally discourage many of the settlers; so that they would, during the prevalence of the disease, frequently resolve to abandon the country and remove back to the old settlements. But on the return of health, the prospective advantages of the country, the noble crops of corn and vegetables, the fine range for stock and the abundance of wild game-deer, turkeys, etc., with which the country abounded-all conspired to re-animate them and encourage them to remain another year. And so on, Year after year, many of the first settlers were held in conflict of mind, unable to determine whether to remain or abandon the country, until the enlargement of their improvements or possessions, the increasing conveniences and improvements of the country, together with the fact that the seasons had become more healthy, determined them generally to remain. Although sickness was so general, deaths were comparatively few, the disease of the country being principally ague-or so it was called. There was the shaking ague, and what is now familiarly termed chills and fever, which was then called the dumb ague." The record of the Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County has the following entry under date of January 10, 1804: "Ordered, that there be paid unto James Ewing, out of the treasury of Franklin County, the sum of $8.75, it being the compensation due to him for seven days' services in taking the list of taxable property and the enumeration of white males in Darby Township for the year 1803." It was not long after the Ewings had made their home in Darby Township before other arrivals were noted, and the chain of settlements extended along Big Darby Creek, in what are now the townships of Jerome, Darby and Union. The Mitchells, Robinsons, Reeds, Sagers, McCulloughs and others will be found noted in the histories of the townships in which they located. Long after the southern portion of the county was settled, the northern part was a wilderness. As has been stated, that part of the county north of the Greenville treaty line was not in condition to be settled until 1819, and it was a number of years later than that in some of the townships. before the cabin of the pioneer was seen in the small clearing in the midst of the heavy forest. On the 31st day of October, 1800, Lucas Sullivant and wife, of Franklinton, then Ross County, Ohio, conveyed to Samuel Reed, of Fayette County, Penn., 500 acres of land, for $1,150, or at the rate of $2.30 per acre. This was the first tract of land sold in what is now Union County, and the deed was carried to Chillicothe and recorded. Union County was then included in the territory comprising Ross County, of which Chillicothe was the seat of justice. The Sullivants appear to have , been successful traders in land warrants and by that means became the possessors of large tracts in the Virginia Military District, much of it lying in what is now Union County. (1) John F. Sabine, Esq., of Marysville, states that the last year in which the ague prevailed generally over Ohio was about 1823-2.4. Since then it has been confined to certain localities. 282 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. After this county was organized, the first warranty deed recorded was made by Jesse Woodson to Allen Leeper, conveying 225 acres of land for a consideration of $795. This deed. was made November 29, 1819, and recorded April 25, 1820, by Thomas Reynolds, first Recorder of Union County. In 1799, Samuel McCullough settled on the northeast side of Big Darby Creek, at the mouth of Buck Run, in what is now Darby Township, at the locality known as Bridgeport. His death occurred in the spring of 1800, being the first death of a white person in what is now the county of Union. There was no lumber with which to make a coffin nearer than Chillicothe, eighty miles away, and Samuel Robinson, the only carpenter in the county, was absent at that point to procure a load of salt. The remains were kept until his return, when he and his brother James cut down a walnut tree, split out some slabs and made a coffin of them, in which the body was placed and buried at a spot a short distance down the creek since known as the Mitchell Graveyard. Nothing was ever placed to mark his resting place, and the exact locality of the grave is not now known. Mr. McCullough left a wife and two sons-Alexander and Samuel, The first white child born in Union County was Jesse Mitchell, whose birth occurred in the latter part of 1799. His death occurred in 1880 or 1881, at his home in Jerome Township. Eliza M. Ewing, daughter of Joshua Ewing, one of the first settlers in the county, was born May 23, 1800, and was the second white child and the first white female child whose birth occurred in the county. Her parents then resided a short distance above the present site of Plain City. The lady never married, and was for many years a resident of Fontanelle, Iowa, where she was living in 1881. Robert Snodgrass, the third white child whose birth took place in the county, was born December 2, 1800, on the north bank of Darby Creek, opposite the village of Milford, in a cabin situated not far from where the railroad water tank now stands. In his early childhood, he had for playmates the Indian children of the vicinity. He was the first white child born in Union Township. On the lst of January, 1828, at the residence of Mrs. Jane Robinson, a widow. who lived about a mile below Unionville, on the north bank of Darby Creek, he was married to Ellen, the daughter of the lady named, and lived to celebrate his golden wedding. His wife bore him seven children, and with five of them survived him. He died February 9, 1878. He had been for forty years a member of the Presbyterian Church and was always an earnest reader and a deep thinker. Such education as he possessed was obtained in the log schoolhouses common in his early years. Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter of Judge David Mitchell, born in Darby Township, in May, 1803, was possibly the second white female child born in the county. She became the wife of John W. Robinson, son of Rev. James Robinson and father of Hon. James W. Robinson and Col. A. B. Robinson, of Marysville. Her death occurred in 1873. That there was marrying and giving in marriage at an early day in the pioneer history of Union County, there can be no doubt; but, as no official record has been found showing the marriages which took place during the first years after the region was settled, it is possible only to give them accurately after the county of Union had been organized. The first marriage subsequent to that date, as found on the records, was that of Thomas Reed and Jane Snodgrass, who were united by John Irwin, Esq., on the 20th day of April 1820. During the first, year after the organization of the county, the marriages numbered eleven, and but eight couples started on the matrimonial journey in the year following. In 1822, however. the spirit appeared to move the young people more thoroughly to action-or there were more to be moved HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 283 -for the musty records show that twenty-four marriages took place in that year, the ceremony having been usually performed by some favorite Justice of the Peace. The following is a list of marriages which occurred in Union County from its organization, in 1820, to the 1st of January, 1830: 1820. Thomas Reed and Jane Snodgass, by John Irwin, Justice of the Peace. John Deakins and Dolly (Peggy) News, by Richard Gosnel, J. P. James Snodgrass and Polly McDowell; no return recorded. Benjamin Foster and Amanda Cone, by Vinol Steward. Moses Bedford and Betsey Southard, by Richard Gosnel, J. P. John McCune and Polly Hager, by Clark Broding, J. P. Winthrop Chandler and Lucy Hamilton, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. William Richey and Massey Bodley; no return recorded. Thomas Osborn and Elizabeth Price, by James Bell, J. P. Elba Burnham and Lorinda Burnham, by John Irwin. John Merron and Polly Parthemore, by Clark Broding, J. P. 1821. Standish Culver and Betsey McCloud. by Russell Bigelow, J. P. Abraham Davison and Jane Martin, by, Clark Broding, J. P. Benjamin Sibley and Lydia Hilliard, by George Brown, J. P. William A. Brown and Mary Bagley, by Rev. Jeremiah Converse. William Concleton and Martha Thompson, by Tames Bell, J. P. George Parmenter and Nancy Marquess; no return recorded. Charles Brooks and Polly Hanahman, by L. Maze, J. P. Elisha White and Sarah Culver, by George Brown. 1822. Jonathan Miles and Susannah Porter; no certificate recorded. Andrew Dodds and Hannah Hukman, by Rev. James Robinson. Hiram Dodge and Clarinda Parmenter, by Clark Broding, J. P. Warren Wren and Lucy Hubbard, by Elias Robinson, J. P. John Taylor and Jane Noteman, by Clark Broding, J. P. Asahel Parmenter and Eleanor Dodge, by Clark Broding Jonathan Brooks and Mary Gates, by William Ruba, J. P. Thomas Saunders and Maria Geer, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Isaiah Garwood and Caroline Culver, by George Brown, J. P. David Gill and Eleanor Piper, by Rev. James Robinson. James Reed and Elizabeth Johnston, by Rev. James Robinson. John Donally and Betsey Milton, by Matthias Collins, J. P. Michael Wood and Elvira Thayer, by James Bell, J. P. Israel Lockwood and Angeline Culver, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Robert Cratty and Eleanor Porter, by Rev. James Robinson. Calvin Winget and Cynthia A. Irwin, by Rev. James Robinson. Andrew Craig and Betsey Vandrevander, by Elias Robinson, J. P. John Bartholomew and Hannah Sager, by Clark Brown, J. P. David Farrow and Sally Wolford, by George Brown, J. P. Richard Smith and Betsey McCloud, by Samuel Smith, J. P. Garret Harris and Sarah Orr, by James Beadle, J. P. Robert Dinwiddie and Susan Bradley, by Rev. Jeremiah Converse. George Elifrits and Martha Harris, by James Bell, J. P. James Connor and Delby DeWitt, by Clark Brown. 284 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 1823. Robert L. Hanaman and Hannah Plummer, by William Ripley, J. P. Joseph Geer and Jane Churchill, by George Brown, J. P. Hezekiah Kennedy and Martha Saunders, by George Brown, J. P. Thomas Graham and Jemima Conkleton, by Rev. J. Converse. Westbrook Knight and Catharine Cramer, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Reaves Robinson and Hannah Wilson, by Rev. John Taylor. Jonathan Burris and Elizabeth Said, by Rev. Jacob Drake. William Newhouse and Ann Richey, by Rev. James Robinson. Benjamin Sager and Dilly Rossell, by James Boal, J. P. William Thompson and Sally Sherman, by James Boal, J. P. Southard Mathers and Phelenie Rice, by Rev. John Inskeep. .Joseph Lawrence and Mary Cochran, by Rev. James Robinson. John W. Robinson and Betsey Mitebell, by Rev. James Robinson. Moses Green and Sarah Stickle, by J. Buck, J. P. Robert Maze and Sarah D. Mitchell, by James Beale, J. P. Jesse Mitchell and Eliza Robinson, by Rev. James Robinson. William Graham and Elizabeth Bell, by William Richey, J. P. David Harrington and Fanny Lane, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Jeremiah Baughan and Ellizabeth Brake, by James Boal J. P 1824. Daniel Harris and Sybil Lathrop, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Simeon Hager and Rhoda Taylor, by John McCune, J. P. Jotham Johnson and Polly Marquis; no return recorded. Abraham Amrine and Polly Wolford, by Matthias Collins, J. P. William Borham and Urana Wilson, by William Richey, J. P. David Ripley and Phebe Cooledge, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Samuel Reed and Joanna Hathaway, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Nicholas Hathaway and Elizabeth Morton by Samuel Robinson. J. P. Hardin Hovey and Eliza Brown, by Elias Robinson, J. P. John Hanady and Betsy Morse, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. Leonard L. Wilmoth and Lydia Gibson, by William Richey, J. P. Stephen Johnson and Hannah N. Patch; no record of certificate. Abraham Amrine and Nancy Adams, by Matthias Collins, J. P. Lafayette Tibbetts and Matilda Ann McGown, by Matthias CollinS, J. P. Stephen Hill and Susannah Lukenbill, by William Richey, J. Moses Harris and Polly Lukenbill, by William Richey, J. P. John Porter and Hannah Dodds, by Rev. James Robinson. John Porter and Jane Crawford, by Rev James Robinson 1825. Elijah Orahood and Sarah Carter, by William Gladhill, J. P. Samuel T. Hovey and Rachel Comer, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. William Porter and Hannah Snodgrass, by Rev. James Robinson. Sumner Payne and Aurelia Burnham; no return shown. George Lukenbill and Margaret Sager, by William Richey, J. P. Rueben Burdick and Elizabeth Dinwiddie, by Samuel Farnum, J. P. Parthemore and Sarah C. Thornton, by Silas G. Strong J. P Burdick and Margaret Richey, by Silas G. Strong J. P. David Burnham and Nancy Gabriel, by Rev. James Robinson. Henry Hulse and Polly Wilson, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. John Reed and Jane Ann Snodgrass, by Samuel Robinson, J. P Page 285 - Blank Page 286 - Picture of Levi Longbrake HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 287 Edmund Holycross and Jane Andrew, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. Thomas F. Woods and Sarah Shelpman, by Rev. James Dunlap. David Mitchell and Hannah Caldwell, by Rev. James Robinson. Harvey Burnham and Eliza Hovey, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Caleb Orahood and Elizabeth Shirk, by William Gladhill, J. P. Benjamin Gorton and Mary Ann Cooledge, by Rev. James Robinson. John McDonald and Philomela Miller; no return shown. 1826. Adam Brake and Eva Baughan, by William Gladhill, J. P. John S. Lock and Louisa Harrington, by Silas G. Strong J. P. Ira Patrick and Laura Tarpening, by James Bell, J. P. William Holycross and Amy Andrews, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. Jacob Sennet and Eve King, by James Beal, J. P. Lawrence Tarpening and Mary Davis, by James Beal, J. P. Silas Bell and Abigail Sherman, by Samuel Farnum, J. P. John W. Edgar and Parmela Johnson, by William GladhilI, J. P. William Mitchell and Mary W. Reed, by Richard Gabriel, J. P. John P. Reed and Melinda Asher; no record. John King and Polly Porter. by Richard Gabriel, J. P. Minor Walcott and Clara Butler; no record. David Duval and Elizabeth Coleshine; no record. Levi Phillips and Sarah Cooper, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. William Robinson and Hannah Coe, by Rev. James Robinson. Cranston Bates and Mary Gaston; no record. Jason Rice and Julia Lathrop, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. Daniel Furrow and Polly Baty, no record. James D. Irwin and Polly Reynolds, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. Morde. ai Boughn and Ozillye Orahood, by William Gladhill, J. P James Cochran and Elizabeth Reed, by Silas G. Strong, J, P. Matthias Collins and Prudence Gates; no record. John Irwin and Rhoda Stokes, by Rev. John Inskeep. Aaron Merriman and Mary Ann Sager; no record. Tobias Beightler and Sarah Amrine, by Andrew Amrine, J. P. 1827. Joseph Gibson and Polly Anderson, by Rev. James Robinson. Aaron Harrison and Margaret Lukenbill, by William Richey. Thomas Randall and Mary Stuart, by Rev. James Robinson. Lyman Konknight and Sarah Culver, by Rev. James Dunlap. Ralph Cherry and Rachel Comer; no record. Eli Frankenberger and Caroline Rice; no record. Abraham Elifrits and Polly Boram, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. Ralph Graham and Hannah Burdick, by William Richey, J. P. James Clark and Sarah Wilson, by Henry Swartz, J. P. John W. Plummer and Matilda Randall, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. Benjamin Fenner and Sarah Bennett, by Rev. Samuel Bradford. Richard Hoskins and Ann H. Martin, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. 1828. Jehial P. Buckman and Clarinda A. Plummer, by Silas O. Strong, Lemuel Tucker and Maria Walton, by Silas Strong. Jonathan Bowen and Mahala Clark, by Samuel Farnum, J. P. Samuel Beebe and Lucy Ann Rogers, by Judah Dodge, J. P. 288 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. James Russell and Charity Smith, by Silas G. Strong, J. P. Lucas Low and Margaret Sager: no return. Robert Snodgrass and Eleanor Robinson, by Rev. James Robinson. William Harrison and America Harrison, by Samuel Farnum, J. P. Jesse Porter and Eleanor R. Reed; no return. Amos A. Williams and Eleanor Stewart; no record. Moses Taylor and Susan Marshall, by Henry Sager, J. P. John Luckenbell and Elizabeth Andrews, by Eliphas Burnham, J. P. Levi Hinton and America Ann Harrington, by William Richey, J. P. Welling Westlake and Sophia Elliott, by Andrew Amrine, J. P. Gideon Sennett and Lucy Alley, by David Mitchell, J. P. Samuel Simpson and Mary Brannan, by David Galland, J. P. William Parkison and Jane Reed, by Eliphas Burnham, J. P. Peter Andrus and Delila DeWitt, by Samuel Farnum, J. P. Levi Sager and Margaret Low; no record. Rodney Smith and Delila Reynolds, by Rev. Samuel Bradford. Christopher Myers and Hannah Graham, by William Richey, J. P. James Holycross and Miranda Impson, by David Mitchell, J. P. Otway Curry and Mary Noteman, by James Buck, J. P. John Kingry and Sophia Carter, by Henry Vangorden, J. P. 1829. John West and Caroline Patch; no record. Michael Brake and Polly Shirk, by William Gladhill. J. P. Andrew Keyes and Rebecca Sabin, by Elias Robinson, J. P. Joseph Roseberry and Margaret Carter, by William Richey, J. P. William M. Robinson and Hannah H. Crawford, by David Mitchell, J. P. Samuel Reed and Sarah Davis, by Rev. B. Lawrence. David Reed and Mary Allen, by John Rathbun, J. P. Hollis Strong and Prudence S. Williams; no record. Hezekiah Spain and Susan Epps; no record. William Edgar and Rachel Kigar, by Ira Wood, J. P. Jesse Spurgin and Susan Wilson, by Samuel Farnum. Joseph Stokes and Mary Austin, by Rev. John Inskeep. Hiram Kent and Amanda Harrington, by Rev. Samuel Bradford. William Campbell and Ann Colbert, by Ira Wood, J. P. Apples Eastman and Barbara Marquiss, by Henry Sager, J. P. Christian Stiner and Ruth Gibson, by Ira Wood, J. P. Jesse Bowen and Susannah Spergin, by William Richey, J. P. Perry Hughbanks and Sarah White, by D. Galland, J. P. William Coffman and Mary Brake, by William Gladhill, J. P. John Cartwright and Martha Mitchell. by David Mitchell, J. P. Robert Graham and Judith Bell, by William Richey, J. P. Andrew Amrine and Ruth Wells, by A. Amrine, J. P. Zephaniah Westlake and Isabella Gregg, by Andrew Amrine, J. P. Ira Bennett and Betsy Scott; no record. Stephen Winget and Matilda W. Marshal, by David Mitchell, J. P. John Lane and Mary Dysert, by William Richey, J. P. Manuel Brown and Lydia Crouse, by David Mitchell, J. P. George Parthemore and Mary Wood, by David Mitcell, J. P. Hezekiah Spain and Susannah Epps, by Rev. John Inskeep. The first election held within the limits of the present county of Union was for the township of Darby, in 1803, when a Congressman was to be elected from the State. This election was held at the house of Judge David HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 289 Mitchell, and eighteen votes were cast. The election in the State at that time resulted in the choice of Jeremiah Morrow, of Warren County, for Congress, and that sturdy pioneer and statesman made his journeys to the capital of the nation on horseback. In 1818 or 1819, the first brick house in Union County was built by Samuel Robinson, on his farm in Darby Township. Benjamin, and Noah Tinkham, manufactured the brick and laid them in the walls. William M. Robinson was a resident of Marysville, was born on the farm of his father, James Robinson, in Darby Township, in April, 1808, and was a curiosity from being the only boy in the neighborhood. He remembers that the Indians encamped many a time opposite his father's place. They were always civil and peaceable. The boy used to be called "Whistling William " because of his habit of whistling much of the time. On one occasion, be was riding a horse tramping out wheat, in the old-fashioned way, and was whistling happily, when some Indian boys who happened along heard him and were surprised into a laugh; they had never heard whistling before. After awhile, the boy stopped whistling, but as the young Indians seemed anxious for him to continue, his father. told him to keep on, which he did, to the great delight of the youthful red-skins. The latter had their bows and arrows with them. When James Robinson was drafted during the war of 1812, he left his wife and six children at home in the woods, but they were not much afraid, as the Indians were always so peaceable. The red people usually walked while traveling, but they had ponies and could have ridden had they desired. There were living in November, 1882, but three persons in Union County who had been residents thereof as long as Mr. Robinson, and those were George Snodgrass, of Marysville; Josiah Reed, of Union Township, and Joel Conklin, of Leesburg Township. This statement is made on the authority of Mr. Robinson. On the farm of James Robinson, in Darby Township, where he first began to clear were a couple of wild plum trees which afterward bore for many years. Those trees were yet alive in the fall of 1881, and it is probable that living portions of them may still be standing. They are indeed " old settlers." On the south bank of Big Darby Creek, on land owned by Nathan Howard, Esq., present County Commissioner, about two miles above Milford Center, is a locality known as the " Indian Fields," so called from having been a favorite camping ground of the Indians. They had two or three acres cleared, and the space subsequently grow up to a thicket of plum trees. The ground was never cultivated by the Indians, so far as known. It is in Allen Township, at its southern extremity. It was necessary for the settlers to have some means of preparing their grain for food, and the first form of mill used was a " hominy block," made by burning a hole in the top of a stump and arranging a sweep so that two men could pound corn into meal. For a sifter. a deer-skin was stretched over a hoop, and small holes made in it by a hot iron often a common steel table fork. Next followed the hand-mill, which was but a slight improvement; then the horse-mill, and finally the water-mill and steam-mill. These are given in the order of their importance, though in some localities it was the case that the water-mill was the first introduced. The first mill of any importance in Union County was a water-mill which was built by Frederick Sager, in what is now the township of Jerome. It stood on the north bank of Big Darby Creek, about a mile above Plain City (formerly Pleasant Valley), and a short raceway was constructed to convey the water to the wheel. The set of stones used by Mr. Sager he had manufactured from bowlders found in the neighborhood, and they ground everything that was brought for the pur- 290 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. pose-wheat, buckwheat and corn. John F. Sabine, Esq., of Marysville, remembers going to this mill in 1814, and thinks it then had been standing for several years. It is stated that George Reed's log, mill on the Big Darby, at Milford, was erected in 1810 or 1812, and that the date was prior to the erection of Sager's mill, but the evidence is not sufficient to substantiate the fact. Both mills were built very early. and both were found by the inhabitants of the region at that time to be exceedingly convenient institutions. For several years after the first settlement of the county, the wheat crop was nearly a failure, and would scarcely grow at all on the Darby Plains, where now it is the principal cereal produced. Corn was the main crop of the pioneers, and on it their dependence was mostly placed for breadstuff; yet unfavorable seasons affected it greatly, and the higher which were the poorer-lands were-only cultivated for many years, or until a system of drainage was adopted, developing the lower lands into excellent crop raising localities. Distilleries abounded in all the settlements, and much of the corn raised was taken to them and worked up into whisky. Small copper stills were used, and a bushel of shelled corn was the price of a gallon of whisky. One of the earliest distilleries in the county was owned by one of the Sagers, about one and a half miles west of Plain City. The article of whisky manufactured among the settlers was different in several respects from that commonly dispensed by dealers at the present day. It was nearer a genuine article, and was not warranted to kill at forty rods, yet if imbibed in sufficient qualities its immediate effects were not perceptibly different from those attendant upon the free use of liquor in this year of grace 1883. It is not denied that people "got drunk" in the times when log-cabins were the only mansions in this region, and it is even admitted that some of them were in a state of inebriation rather oftener than was conducive to their good; while it is freely stated that it was the custom for everybody to drink, hand out the bottle and cup to guests, and keep the article always on hand. A person who did not taste the liquor occasionally was almost a curiosity. Salt was a very expensive article. In Franklin County, some of the settlers manufactured it at a salt spring three or four miles below Columbus, but the enterprise was not found to be profitable. It is not now known whether any of the salt from that locality found its way into Union County or not. Most of that used here was the Kanawha salt, procured at Cincinnati. After the State canal was opened, the New York salt was introduced, coming by way of Columbus. When purchased at Cincinnati, its usual cost was $3 per bushel of fifty pounds. Salt came also from Zanesville. John Jolly, an early resident of Darby Township, wanted some salt at one time, and after threshing out twenty-five bushels of wheat, he took his ox team, hauled the grain to Zanesville, along with the necessary provisions for the trip, exchanged it for a barrel of salt and returned, having been absent from home for ten days. The stock owned by the early settlers was hardly equal in quality to that now seen in the same region. There were a few horses and cattle; the people from New England used oxen instead of horses, as a rule. After a time, improvements were begun by the settlers on the plains, and the inferior varieties became known as "woods stock." As by law required, each owner of an animal had his private mark, crop or brand placed upon it. All animals were allowed to run at large. " Hogs ran wild without a pen, " and among the older settlements the principal legal suits were brought for stealing hogs.. When the supply of pork was short, it was only necessary to step out and shoot some stray grunter in order to replenish the barrel. If the animal's ears happened to bear the mark of some other owner, they were cut off and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 291 thrown away. It was not customary to obtain an abstract of title to the doomed hog when the larder was empty, and one man stood as, good show as another. Among the evils which brought terror into the settlements for a considerable number of years was the dread disease known as milk-sickness. Its real cause was never known, but it is now supposed that it lay in a fungus growth which abounded in deeply shaded places. At all events, the disease disappeared after the country was cleared up. Its effects were nearly always fats 1, it caused terrible suffering, the thirst of the victim being intense from the internal fever caused by the poison within. It was common everywhere, and many persons died from contracting it. Occasionally one recovered, and those who did, though now wearing the livery of age, remark the extreme suffering they underwent during the time they were ill. There are several persons now living in Marysville who lost relatives by it, and who were themselves almost past recovery, but who fortunately withstood the attack and lived to tell of its terrors. An observing person would have noticed great difference in the manners of the settlers from different regions of country. The New Englander had his peculiarities, but they were not in the least like those of the Pennsylvanian, and either was unlike the Virginian, the Carolinian, or the Kentuckian. An occasional New Yorker found a home in this county, and he, too, possessed the traits of the State from which he had emigrated. The customs of the fathers were handed down to their sons, and it is quite easy, even at the present time, if possessed of a thorough knowledge of the manners of the people of the various States here represented, to determine whence the inhabitants derive their lineage. The county of Union, however, is more cosmopolitan than most of its southern neighbors, and the blending of the different classes has resulted in a general community of which any State might be proud. Here is a thrifty and enterprising population, inhabiting a region rapidly developing into one of the best in the great State of Ohio. In some of the surrounding counties, it wag customary among the pioneers, upon their arrival, to construct three-sided, sloping-roofed shanties, which they called " camps." In front of the fourth side, which was open to the weather, a huge fire of logs was kept burning, and these primitive structures were occupied until the regularly built log cabin was ready for occupancy. In Union County, however, it is stated that very few of the " camps " were ever built, the settlers preparing the log houses for permanent occupation at the very start and thus saving considerable labor. If help was plenty, it was easy to build a cabin in a day The shingles, or "clapboards," -four feet long, were. split out on the ground, and the roof, held firmly in place by-weight poles, could without much extra labor be put on the same day. It sometimes occurred that a family moved into its cabin before the puncheon floor was laid or the door hung, bit this was in case of extreme weather, when some place of shelter was indispensable. A person writing, about 1846-47, of early days in Delaware County, recorded the following items, which are as applicable to pioneer times in Union County: "I learn from the old pioneers that during the early period of the county the people were in a condition of complete social equality; no aristocratic distinctions were thought of in society, and the first line of demarkation drawn was to separate the very bad from the general mass. Their parties were for raisings and log rollings, and, the labor being finished, their sports usually were shooting and gymnastic exercises with the men, and convivial amusements among the women; no punctilious formality nor ignoble aping 292 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. the fashions of licentious Paris marred their assemblies, but all were happy and enjoyed themselves in seeing others so. The rich and the poor dressed alike-the men generally wearing hunting shirts and buckskin pants, and the women attired in coarse fabrics produced by their own hands. Such was their common and holiday dress, and if a fair damsel wished a superb dress for her bridal day, her highest aspiration was to obtain a common American cotton check The latter, which now sells for a shilling a yard, then cost $1, and five yards was deemed an ample pattern; silks, satins and fancy goods, that now inflate our vanity and deplete our purses, were not then even dreamed of. The cabins were furnished in the same style of simplicity; the bedstead was home made, and often consisted of forked sticks driven into the ground, with cross poles to support the clapboards or the cord. One pot, kettle and fryingpan were the only articles considered indispensable, though Some included the tea-kettle; a few plates and dishes upon a shelf in one corner was as satisfactory-as is now a cupboard full of china, and their food relished well from a puncheon table. Some of the wealthiest families had a few split bottom chairs, but as a general thing stools and benches answered the place of lounges and sofas, and at fast the green sward or smoothly leveled earth served the double purpose of floor and carpet. Whisky toddy was considered luxury enough for any party; the woods furnished abundance of venison, and corn pone supplied the place of every variety of pastry. Flour could not for some time be obtained nearer than Chillicothe or Zanesville; goods were very high, and none but the most common kinds were brought here, and had to be packed on horses or mules from Detroit or wagoned from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, thence down the Ohio River in flat-boats to the mouth of the Scioto, and then packed, or hauled up. The freight was enormous, costing often $4 per ton. Tea retailed at from $2 to $3 a pound, coffee 75 cents, salt $5 to $6 per bushel (50 pounds). The coarsest calicos were $1 per yard, whisky from $1 to $2 per gallon, and as much of the latter was sold as of all other articles, for several years after Delaware was laid out; but it must be remembered that this then was the border town, and had considerable trade with the Indians. It was the common practice to set a bottle on each end of the counter for customers to help themselves gratuitously to enable them to parchase advantageously! Many people suffered hardships and endured privations that now seem insupportable." The log-cabin of the pioneer has been so often described that most persons are familiar with its peculiarities, even though they may never have seen such a building; but it is not out of place to give a description here: When the walls of the cabin had been laid, the spaces between the logs were filled with split sticks of wood, which made up the "chinking," inking." and a " daubing" of clay mortar was plastered over, making a comparatively solid and substantial wall, through which the cold wind seldom swept in winter, and through which the excessive summer heat hardly penetrated. The floor was often nothing more than earth tramped hard and smooth, but the kind commonly in use was made of " puncheons, " or split logs with the flat sides upward, hewed smooth. The roof was made by gradually drawing in the top to the ridge-pole, laying the " clapboards " or. cross pieces and fastening them down with long weight-poles. In constructing a fireplace, a space about six feet in length was cut out of the logs on one side of the room, and three sides were built up with logs, making an offset in the wall. If stones were plenty in the neighborhood, they were used to line the fire-place; if not, earth was brought into requisition. The flue, or upper part of the chimney, was built of small split sticks, two and a half or three feet in length, carried a little space above the roof and plastered over with clay; this, when finished, was called a "cat-and-clay chimney." A space HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 293 was cut in one side of the room for a door-way, and a door made of clapboards was hung (on wooden hinges, secured by wooden pins to two cross-pieces. The fastening was a wooden latch catching on a hook of the same material. To open the door from the outside, a strip of buckskin was tied to the latch and drawn through a hole a few inches above the latch-bar; on pulling the string, the latch was lifted and the door was pushed open. To lock up the house it was only necessary to draw in the latch-string. "Here the family lived," says a writer, "and here the guest and wayfarer were made welcome. The living-room was of good size, but to a large extent it was all-kitchen, bedroom, parlor and arsenal, with flitches of bacon and rings of dried pumpkin suspended from the rafters. In one corner were the loom and other implements used in the manufacture of clothing, and around the ample fire-place was collected the kitchen furniture. The clothing lined one side of the sleeping apartment, suspended from pegs driven in the logs. Hemp and flax were generally raised, and a few sheep kept Out of these the clothing for the family and the sheets and coverlets were made by the females of the house. The country abounded with the weed called Spanish needle, which seemed to grow everywhere and in immense quantities. Instances are given where this plant was pulled and treated precisely as flax, making a beautifully white and substantial goods. Over the door was placed the trusty rifle, and just back of it hung the powder horn and huntingpouch. In the well-to-do families, or when crowded on the ground floor, a loft was sometimes made to the cabin for a sleeping place, and the storage of 'traps' and articles not in common use. The loft was reached by a ladder secured to the wall; generally the bedrooms were separated from the living room by sheets and coverlets suspended from the rafters, but, until the means of making these partition walls were ample, they lived and slept in the same room. The morning ablutions were, made at the trough near the spring, sometimes from a pewter basin on a stump near the door. "Familiarity with this mode of living did away with much of the discomfort, but as soon as the improvement could be made, there was added to the cabin another room, or a double log-cabin was constructed, being substantially a three-faced camp, with a log room on each end and containing a loft. The furniture intho cabin corresponded with the house itself. The articles used in the kitchen were as few and simple as can be imagined. A 'Dutch oven,' a skillet, a long-handled frying-pan, an iron pot or kettle, and sometimes a coffee-pot, constituted the utensils of the best furnished kitchen. A little later, when a stone wall formed the base of the chimney, a long iron crane swung in the chimney place, which on its pot-hook carried the boiling kettle or heavy iron pot. The cooking was all done on the fire-place and at the fire, and the style of cooking was as simple as the utensils. Indian or corn meal was the common flour, which was made into 'pone,' or 'corn-dodger,' or 'hoecake,' as occasion or variety demanded. The 'pone' and the 'dodger' were baked in the Dutch oven, which was first set on a bed of glowing coals. When the oven was filled with the dough, the lid, already heated on the fire, was placed on the oven and covered with hot embers and ashes. When the bread was done, it was taken from the oven and placed near the fire to keep warm while some other food was being prepared in the same way for the forthcoming meal. The 'hoe-cake' was prepared in the same way as the dodger that is, a stiff dough was made of the meal and water, and, taking as much as could conveniently be held in both hands, it was molded into the desired shape by being tossed from hand to hand, then laid on a board or flat stone placed at an angle before the fire, and patted down to the required thickness. In the fall and early winter, cooked pumpkin was added to the meal dough, 294 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. giving a flavor and richness to the bread not attained by the modern methods. In the oven from which the bread was taken, the venison or ham was then fried, and, in the winter, lye hominy, made from the unbroken grains of corn, added to the frugal meal. The woods abounded in honey, and of this the settlers had an abundance the year round. For some years after settlements were made, the corn meal formed the staple commodity for bread." In everything the pioneers were economical, and they made the best of such advantages as circumstances furnished. The rifle, with its accompanying appendages-powder-horn, bullet molds, bullet-pouch and wiping stick -was an indispensable weapon-, the ax was also an implement without which no one would think of venturing into the wilderness with the view of making a home there. Such other tools, dishes, etc., as could be conveniently transported, were taken along, but for many articles they placed reliance on their ingenuity to invent after they should become settled. Rude and rough as these home-made necessaries were, they answered the purposes for which they were intended, and complaint was never heard because they were not of better quality or more finished appearance. In the struggle to provide against the needs of the future, each accepted the conveniences at hand and wrought patiently toward the accomplishment of the object for which he had entered a strange country. The clothing worn by the immigrants was made, by careful use, to do duty until crops of flax or hemp could be grown out of which new household apparel could be manufactured. After sheep were introduced, it was easier to work up the material for clothing, and the spinning wheel, wool card, winding blades, reel, warping bars and loom were familiar implements to the pioneer women, old and young. A pioneer of Champaign County thus writes: " The boys were required to do their share of the hard labor of clearing up the farm, for at the time the country now under the plow was in every direction heavily timbered an covered with a dense thicket of hazel and young timber. Our visits were made with ox teams, and we walked or rode on horseback or in wagons to meeting. The boys pulled, broke and hackled flax, wore tow shirts and indulged aristocratic feelings in fringed hunting-shirts and coon-skin caps; picked and carded wool by hand, and spooled and quilled yarn for the weaving till the back ached. " Rail or pole corn-cribs, covered with clapboards or prairie hay, wooden plows, rail fences, wooden-toothed harrows-or in their stead, heavy brush dragged over the ground-the mattock and hoe, etc., were the agricultural implements used. The ground was rich and mellow, and good crops of corn were the rule. A bushel and a quarter was sown broadcast to the acre. "Occasionally, a field would be grown producing what was called 'sick wheat,' so named from its tendency to cause vomiting. Various devices were adopted to obviate this, but none of any avail; but it was commonly understood that the best thing to be done with it was to convert it into whisky." Wheat ripened early in July, and at first was cut with the sickle; afterward the cradle was introduced, being a great improvement, and in the course of time the needs of the farmer were supplied by the reaper, the first one being a clumsy affair compared with the perfect machines of to-day. The grain was thrashed either with the flail or tramped out on a hard clay floor by honesgenerally the latter process being adopted. Many a gray-haired citizen of Union County at this time will recall the painful and tiresome experience of riding a barebacked horse, in none too good condition, all day on the golden straw, round and round in a circle, while one or two persons turned and kept it in place. After the grain was winnowed, with the aid of the wind, it was ready for mill or market, notwithstanding it contained more or less chaff and dirt. Columbus, Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati furnished markets for the wheat, and Page 295 - Picture of J. H. Shearer Page 296 - Blank HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 297 after transporting it to any of those places it brought but a small price 25 to 40 cents per bushel. A bushel of wheat would just pay the postage on a letter from the old home in the East, and at such a rate it may easily be understood that correspondence was limited. Apple seeds brought from the older settlements were planted, and in a few years there was plenty of hard cider-used as a temperance drink, and as thorough an intoxicant as the whisky. Cider brandy, or "apple jack," was a favorite beverage, and in some localities "cider was used as a remedy for all sorts of ills. A. kind of tea made of hard strong cider, with a pepper pod sliced into it, was a dose to make rheumatism beat a retreat; willow bark and the heart of an ironwood pickled in cider was good for fever and ague.(1) Wild cherry bark and cider was a warming tonic, etc." Hard cider was a power in politics in the Harrison campaign of 1840, and many a zealous supporter of the hero of Tippecanoe " primed up in a mug of hard cider " in order to take the cobwebs from his throat and enable him to sing the rousing campaign songs which aided so largely in coaxing victory to perch on the banner of the Whig party. Root beer and home-brewed ale were also used by the settlers. The sugar maple and the "bee tree" furnished sweets for the household. The Indians learned from the whites the process of making maple sugar, but their mode was hardly as cleanly as that of their teachers. A writer says: "When their sirup was about ready to granulate, they would have a raccoon ready to cook, which they would put into the sirup, hair, skin, entrails and all. The coon would get done in a short time, when he was removed and allowed to cool. A crust of sugar came away with the hair and skin. The flesh seemed nicely cooked, but the sugar-well !" It is a fact that, in later years, where there are yet Indians living on their reservations-notably in Michigan-they will make maple sugar to sell, but, when they wish afterward to purchase any for their own use, they will ask for " white man's cake sugar;" they do not care to eat that of their own manufacture. Money was a scarce article among the early settlers, most of them coming into the forest with scarcely the bare necessities of a primitive life. Barter was the general system of trade, and the farmers "changed work" with their neighbors in busy seasons, in order that none might be behind. The small amount of money in circulation was confined almost exclusively to the centers of trade. Spanish milled dollars, divided into halves or quarters, constituted what was called "cut money," so prepared for the purpose of making change, as but a small amount of fractional currency was to be obtained, and not enough to supply the demand. Most of the money which the settler could raise was expended for taxes, and in payments on his lands, for these were obligations which could be discharged in no other manner. The following homely rhyme illustrates pioneer times in a comprehensive manner. It was prepared to be read August 21, 1878, at the golden wedding of Thomas Snodgrass and wife, of Marysville, but was not presented on that occasion. Mr. Snodgrass was a native of Union County, and in 1828 married Eliza Calloway. The "poem" is entitled NEW COUNTRY. "This wilderness was our abode Full fifty years ago; And when we wished good meat to eat We caught a fawn or doe. For fish we used the hook and line, And pounded corn to make it fine; On johnny-cakes our ladies dine In this new country. (1) There is a tradition that farther south, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, a sovereign remedy for the "chills" was to swallow a bullet. 298 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. "Our paths were through the winding wood, Where oft the savage trod; They were not wide, nor scarce a guide, But they were all we had. Our houses, too, were loin of wood, Rolled up in squares and caulked with mud; If the bark was tight our roofs were good, In this new country. "We wandered through the fields and woods And drank of the purling stream; No doctor, priest or lawyer here Was scarcely to be seen; Our health, it needed no repair, No pious man -for God is prayer; And who would fee a lawyer here In this new country? "Our children, too, in careless glee, Oft made their mothers sigh; And the savage bear was oft aware He heard our children cry; The rattlesnake our children dread, And ofttimes fearful mothers said, 'I fear some beast will take my babe,' In this new country. "Our occupation was to make The lofty forest bow; With axes good we chopped our wood, For well we all knew how; We cleared our land for rye and wheat, For strangers and ourselves to eat; From the maple tree we drew our sweet In this new country. "Of deer skins we made moccasins, To wear upon our feet; And checkered shirts we thought no hurt Good company to meet. Was there a visit to be paid, By winter's night or winter's day, The oxen drew our ladies' sleigh In this new country. "The little thorn bore apples on, When mandrakes they were gone; And sour grapes we used to eat When wintry nights came on. For wintergreen, the girls did stray; For butternuts, boys climbed the trees, And spicewood was our ladies' tea In this new country. "And fifty years, now, have fled, And their scenes have passed away; And since my wife and I were wed We have grown, old and gray; And as this is our wedding day, Unto our friends we would say, Prepare to meet us in that day In the good country." EARLY RELIGIOUS MATTERS. About 1799, the Presbytery of Transylvania, Ky., was divided into three Presbyteries, viz.: Transylvania, West Lexington and Washington, the latter including all that portion of Ohio west of the Scioto River. Rev. Archibald Steele, a licentiate of Washington Presbytery, and an uncle of Gen. William D. Irwin, a former well-known citizen of Union County, was commissioned HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 299 as a missionary in Southwestern Ohio in the spring of 1799, with authority to visit all now settlements, make out a list of all members of his denomination, whenever they wanted a church, and report to the Presbytery for proper action. An extract from his journal, as follows, shows how and where he found some of the first Presbyterian families in Union County: "Leaving Buck Creek, took the trail for Darby; at 4 o'clock arrived at the house of my old friend Joshua Ewing, where the family, consisting of Joshua and his family, James, his brother, Betsey, his sister, and their aged mother, lived in a new town on the west bank of Big Darby, named North Liberty." This was in the southeast part of what is now Darby Township. Here Mr. Steele organized a Presbyterian Church in the fall of 1800, calling it North Liberty. Joshua Ewing and Samuel Kirkpatrick were elected Elders at the organization of this, the first religious body formed in what now constitutes Union County, and one of the pioneer organizations of the State. But very few families had then settled in the neighborhood, and the membership of this church included most of them. The people lived far apart, and never had a pastor nor stated supply. Neither was a house of worship erected, and in a short time the organization was dissolved by mutual consent. Out of the materials that belonged to it, however, the churches of Upper and Lower Liberty were formed, the former being near what is now Milford Center, and organized in the latter part of 1807 or early in 1808. Rev. Samuel Woods was the first pastor, from whose tombstone is taken the following: " Rev. Samuel Woods, first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Upper and Lower Liberty, was installed pastor in this church June 15, 1808, and died April 27, 1815, in the thirty-sixth year of his ago." Mr. Woods was born in Cumberland County, Penn., January 15, 1779, and was a graduate of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Penn. The first house of worship erected by a religious society in Union County was built by the Presbyterians of Upper Liberty, in 1809. It stood on the line dividing the farms of Rev. S. Woods and Elder Samuel Reed, between the road and the old graveyard. "It was a plain, primitive building of hewn logs, twenty-four feet square. All the materials and mechanical labor were supplied by the membership. It was not necessary to consult an architect and get up plans and specifications and give out the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, and then, when dedication day came, report a few thousand as a debt to be removed before the Lord could get the building. But this primitive church edifice was for many years without the means of heating; the people, therefore, met during the winter in schoolhouses and private dwellings. It was also very plain internally; slabs with rude legs were used for seats. Tradition has it that two or three families in process of time became so aristocratic as to construct backs to their pews, thus showing that at a very early day invidious distinctions will intrude themselves upon a church." An addition of eighteen feet was made to one side of the old church about 1822-23, and the building was used until 1834, when a brick structure was erected at Milford Center, and the congregation removed there. The old house stood a mile and a half east of the village, on the north side of Darby Creek. A STRANGE RELIGIOUS SECT. Nelson Cone, of Jerome Township, and an old settler of Union County, furnishes the following article under the above head. It was read at the annual meeting of the Union County Pioneers, September 27, 1882: " Early in the winter of 1816-17, a band of fanatics, calling themselves 'Wandering Pilgrims,' came from the East, crossing Darby at Georgesville. At this point, being undecided which course to take, their leader, who was 300 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. styled the Prophet, settled the matter by placing his staff at the forks of the road and allowing it to drop. It fell along the road leading up stream, which they then followed to a village on Treacle's Creek, in Union Township, called Ricetown. Here they remained three or four weeks, practicing and preaching their peculiar religious rites and doctrines. They were a motley set-men, women and children-numbering in all from thirty-six to forty persons. The men were unshaven and all were uncombed and unwashed, it being a part of their religion to wash neither garment nor person. Each person, old and young, wore over the back a piece of coarse canvas, representing sackcloth. A more squalid, filthy-looking set of beings could scarcely be imagined. It was their habit to pass from place to place, begging meal and milk and lodgings wherever night happened to overtake them. Their religion taught them to use neither knife, fork, spoon nor plate, and they were forbidden to touch the lip to cup or vessel out of which a 'Gentile' had ever drank. In preparing food, the meal was first cooked in a large vessel, which was then placed in the center of the room and mixed freely with milk, making a dish which they called 'hasty puddin'.' The company then threw themselves on the floor about the vessel, reclining in imitation of the apostles, and fed themselves with the right hand. Meantime the Prophet walked around the group, jabbering an exorcism in what they called an unknown tongue. I remember very distinctly the words, 'yaw, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum,' repeated over again and again The devil by this was supposed to be forbidden the sacred circle. Now and then, when meat happened to form part of their repast, the old Prophet's exorcism would be interspersed with rapid admonitions. 'Don't eat up all the meat; I don't care nothin' about the puddin'.' Never, washing, their hands were of course black with dirt, except the fingers of the right hand to the knuckle joints, which were kept by the process of eating singularly white and clean. To save themselves from pollution in drinking, they each carried a quill, or wooden tube, with which to suck water from a vessel. In their devotion, they would, all of them, utter in concert meaningless jabber, each in the natural tone of voice, exclaiming, 'My God, my God. my God, my God,' several times repeated.. following and closing with, 'Bah, ba, bah, ba, bah, ba, ba.' From whence they came or where they went, no one seemed to know. Report had it that the Prophet, in trying to walk the waters of the Little Miami soon after, was drowned. It was said that the wily old pretender had fixed a plank walk just under the surface of the water, on which he had made frequent exhibitions of his miraculous powers. One night some one removed one of the planks, and a rain having roiled the water, the Prophet went headlong into the gap and was drowned." SCHOOLS. It was several years after the first settlements were made in the county before attention was turned to educational matters. The people had been too busily engaged in preparing their homes and clearing the ground for cultivation. As soon, however. as circumstances would admit, instructors of the youthful mind found employment, and the simple log--cabin in which the school was kept sent smoke from its chimney curling upward through the trees of the forest. The dwellings of the inhabitants were often temporarily used as schoolhouses, and the pedagogue who found himself placed in charge of a troop of backwoods youngsters was welcomed by their parents as a valuable addition to their little community. He enjoyed all the pleasures of "boarding around," and partook of the homely fare set before him with as keen a relish as any of his entertainers. When a schoolhouse was built, it was of a simple sort so often described-a "rude log structure," with a great HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 301 chimney and a wide fire-place, an opening out in the logs for a window and stopped with greased paper, which admitted a softened light, slab benches standing on wooden pegs, a slab desk running around the sides of the room and resting on wooden pins placed in holes bored in the logs. The books used were few and made to do long service; arithmetic was thoroughly known to the more advanced scholars as far as the "single rule of three," or perhaps beyond that, after the "master" had taught them about as far as he know, and then they were ready to "quit school." Reading and writing were taught in all schools, and these three formed nearly the sum total of the branches which it was deemed necessary for the pupils to understand. A little later, geography, grammar and other studies were introduced, and step by step, as the times demanded, the schools developed until finally the magnificent system now in use was adopted, and even that has been greatly improved since its introduction. The first school in Union County was taught in 1812 or 1813, in Darby Township, in a private dwelling near the Mitchell Graveyard, by Alexander Robinson. Abner Chapman taught a school near Plain City, in 1813; this was attended by members of James Robinson's family, from Darby Township. In 1814, a school was taught in a log schoolhouse which stood near the residence of Thomas Robinson, also in Darby Township. Henrietta Millington first presided over this school. As the settlements progressed, schools were organized and schoolhouses erected in various parts of the county, and excellent educational facilities have been enjoyed for many years. County Auditor W. L. Curry, in his last annual report upon the schools, thus writes: "In submitting this annual report, I am happy to say that the year has not been without its good results in the schools of this county. Several new and beautiful schooolhouses have been erected during the year, and they are the best exponents of the interest taken by the people in the education of their children; and as a general rule the people who have the enterprise to erect good school buildings employ the best teachers and have the best schools, and the good influence exerted over pupils by having neat, well-arranged schoolhouses and beautiful grounds surrounding cannot be overestimatedto which all good instructors can give ready testimony. Our country schoolhouses are not as well equipped for the work of teaching with a supply of apparatus, such as maps, charts and globes, as they should be, but there is a gradual improvement in that direction. It has been the aim of our Board of Examiners for the last few years to raise the standard of teachers' qualifications, and I am glad to report that their efforts in that direction have not been entirely futile, for it is now scarcely possible for an incompetent teacher to procure a certificate even of the lowest grade, and they are zealously sustained in their course by the best teachers and intelligence of the county. "The salaries paid teachers in this county will compare favorably with our sister counties, yet there is a vast difference in the wages paid teachers in the several townships within the county, and as a consequence the best salaries always draw the best teachers. The Teachers' Institute was well attended this year [1882], there being 122 teachers enrolled. The Institute is one of the best helps, especially to the young and inexperienced teachers, and all felt this year that their time and money were well spent. The educational department introduced two years ago in our county fair is gradually growing in favor, and the exhibition this year was much better than last. Premiums were awarded as follows: First-Examination papers Second-Letter writing. Third-Book-keeping. 302 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. Fourth-Map drawing. Fifth-Specimen drawing. Sixth -Declamation. Seventh-Essay writing. Eighth-School showing greatest number of visitors. Ninth-Daily programme. Tenth -Geological collections and Indian relies. Eleventh-Best collection of grasses. Twelfth-Best collection of postage stamps. Thirteenth-Best collection of pressed flowers. Fourteenth-Best specimens stuffed. Fifteenth-Best specimen painting. "The graded schools of our county have done much to promote emulation with our better class of teachers. The interest in the graded schools of Marysville and Richwood has been fully maintained during the past year. The public rhetorical exercises given semi-monthly in the hall of the Marysville schools, by the pupils of the several grades, continue to be very popular and draw crowded houses. During the past year the pupils of the several grades have studied some particular author, which had been previously assigned, and the subjects for essays, etc., related to the author, and the selections for declamation were selected from the writings of the author. These Studies have proven very profitable to the pupils, giving them a considerable knowledge of the literature of our language, and the methods pursued seem to be at least a partial solution of the vexed question, 'How shall young people be taught to read?' The entertainments have been of a high character, and have also been very interesting and pleasant. There has been no very startling improvement in the reports of Township Clerks, as in many instances I am compelled to write for the report of the Board of Education and the enumeration report, and then in some cases the balances do not correspond with the balances of their own Township Treasurers and the books of the Auditor; and this is one of the evils of so often changing Clerks. But thus will it ever be until we have some kind of supervision." UNION COUNTY IN 1837. The following description of Union County appears in the Ohio Gazetteer, compiled by Warren Jenkins, and published in Columbus by Isaac N. Whiting, in 1837: "Union, an interior county, bounded on the north by Hardin and Marion, east by Delaware, South by Madison and Franklin, and on the west by Champaign and Logan Counties. It is twenty-seven miles long from north to south, and eighteen broad from east to west, containing 450 square miles.(1) It is divided into the eleven townships of Allen, Claibourne, Darby, Jackson, Jerome, Leesburg, Liberty, Mill Creek, Paris, Union and York. It has five post offices, viz.: Coberleys, Darby Creek, Marysville, Milford Center. Richwood. It also contains the towns of Marysville, the county seat, Milford and Richwood. It is watered by Darby, Mill, Boke's and Rush Creek all of which rise in Logan County and run into the Scioto River, affording sufficient, waterpower for mills a considerable part of the season. The land adjacent to these streams is generally very fertile and pleasant; but it is supposed that not more than one-eighth part is under cultivation. The face of the country is generally level, interspersed with gentle slopes or ridges, admirably adapted to grazing. Of the different religious denominations in the County, (1) Overestimated, as seen by figures elsewhere in this volume. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. - 303 the Methodists are believed to be the most numerous; but the Presbyterians and Unitarians are thought to be nearly equal to them. There are also some Baptists, Seceders, etc. "The county was organized in the year 1820, but the settlement commenced in what is now Union County in the year 1799. The names of the settlers were George Reed, Samuel Reed, Samuel Kirkpatrick, Samuel Mitchell, David Mitchell, his brother, Joshua Ewing, James Ewing, his brother. They purchased their lands of Lucas Sullivant. formerly a great landholder, in the year 1797, on Darby Creek. They were all natives of Pennsylvania. In 1801 or 1802, several other persons emigrated from Pennsylvania, among whom were Samuel Reed (brother to the above-mentioned George Reed), William, Richard and John Gabriel, brothers-the two last named were twins-all purchased their lands of said Sullivant. Population at the last census [year 1830], 3,192." MISCELLANEOUS. Among the papers belonging to Richard Gabriel, who was County Clerk in 1822, were found old documents of which the following are copies: TO THE CLERK OF UNION COUNTY, STATE OF OHIO: Sir-Please to accommodate the bearer, Michael S. Wood, with license to marry with our daughter, Eliza Thayer. As we believe all parties are agreed to the match, we send you these lines. So doing, you will oblige, yours, etc., etc., URIAH WOOD, ROBERT DODGE, DIMES WOOD, MERCY DODGE. DERBY TOWNSHIP, July the 12th, 1822. You, Daniel Black, do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God, that the scalp now produced by you is the scalp of a wolf that was killed or taken in this county, by you, within twenty days last past, and you verily believe the same to be over the age of six months, and that you have not spared the life of any bitch-wolf in your power to kill, with design to increase the breed. His Daniel X Black Mark You do, William Cummins, solemnly swear that the scalp now produced by you is the scalp of a wolf that was taken and killed by you within this county within twenty days last past, and you verily believe the same to be over the age of six months, and that you have not spared the life of any she wolf in your power to kill, with design to increase the breed. WILLIAM CUMMINS. Attest: RICHARD GABRIEL, Clerk. In the year 1870, there were in Union County on the 1st of June, 331 people of the age of seventy years or over, distributed among the several townships as follows: Jerome, 22; Paris, 55; Darby, 16; Allen, 25; Union, 30; Mill Creek, 18; Claibourne, 34; Taylor, 22; York, 19; Washington, 6; Jackson, 16; Dover, 17; Leesburg, 24; Liberty, 27. The following is a copy of a military commission issued by Gov. Thomas Corwin, in 1841, the man to whom it was given having been a resident physician in Union Township, Union County: IN THE NAME AND BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF OHIO. COAT OF ARMS THOMAS CORWIN, Governor and Commander-in- Chief of said State, OF OHIO. to David H.. Silver, greeting: It appearing to me that you are duly appointed, on the twentieth day of June, 1841, Surgeon of the First Regiment of Infantry, Fourth Brigade and Thirteenth Division, in the militia of this State: Now know you, That, by the power vested in me by the constitution and laws of said State, and reposing special trust and confidence in your courage, activity, fidelity and good conduct, I do, by these presents, commission you as Surgeon of said regiment; and hereby authorizing and requiring you to discharge, all and singular, the duties and services appertaining to your said office, agreeably to law, and to obey such instructions as you shall, from time to time, receive from your superior officer. 304 - HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the Great Seal of the State of Ohio to be affixed, at Columbus, the fourth day of June. in the [STATE SEAL] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and in the sixty-sixth year of the independence of the United States of America. THOMAS CORWIN. By the Governor: J. SLOANE, Secretary of State. STATE OF OHIO, UNION COUNTY, SS. Before the subscriber, William Orr, Colonel of First Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Thirteenth Division, Ohio Militia, in and for said county. Personally Faille the within named D. H. Silver, who, being duly sworn according to law, did promise to support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of Ohio, and to discharge with fidelity the duties belonging to Surgeon of said regiment. As witness my hand this 9th day of August, in the year 1842. WILLIAM ORR, Colonel. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)