Poll-book of the election held in the township of Wiltshire, county of Van Wert, on the 13th day
of October, in the year of our Lord, 1840. Richard Pring, Solomon Hartzog, and William Major,
Judges, and Ansel Blossom and Henry Spillman, Clerks.
Number and name of voters :-
1. Ansel Blossom.
2. Jacob M. Harper.
3. Richard Piing.
4. William H. Purdy.
5. Thomas C. Miller.
6. Ira A. Blossom.
7. George Major.
8. Aaron More.
9. Samuel Foster.
10. Anthony McQueen.
11. Michael Mix.
12. William Swarts.
13. Ephraim Casto.
14. David Casto.
15. John Bowers.
16. John Johnson.
17. David Wright.
18. John Bolenbaugh.
19. Winter Morehead.
20. Amos Casto.
21. William R. Kear.
22. Lenliart Dull.
23. Solomon Lintermoot.
24. Thomas R. Kear.
25. George Leslie.
26. Henry Spillman..
27. Solomon Hartzog.
28. James Major.
29. Charles Mounts.
30. Daniel Stetler.
31. William Major,
31. E. Blossom.
32. John W. Pearce.
33. Cyrus H. Blossom.
34. John Andrew Lullock.
35. Jacob Bolenbaugh.
36. Abraham Pontius.
37. Abel Casto.
38. Peter Bolenbaugh, Jr.
39. Jeffrey Stetler.
40. John Bowen.
41. Alexander Morehead.
42. Thomas Townsend.
43. John Barber.
44. Martin Lintermoot.
45. Thomas Roebuck.
46. Jacob Dull.
47. Jacob Harbaugh.
48. Frederick Hartzog.
49. George Hartzog.
50. Henry Miner.
51. William Lynch.
52. Matthew Heller.
53. Frederick Roop.
54. Joseph Heller.
55. David Major.
56. George Stetler.
57. John Foster.
58. Jacob Thatcher.
59. Peter Sivey.
60. Ephraim Johnson.
61. Joshua Chilcote.
62. Abraham Lutz.
63. Peter Frysinger.
64. Joseph Hurry.
65. William Sam.
66. Michael Billman.
67. Eli Hartzog.
68. James W. Cheney.
69. John Boyer.
70. Thomas Clayton.
71. John Humerickhouse.
72. Henry Reichard
73. Cornelius Johnson.
74. John Thatcher.
75. Noah Long.
76. Joshua M. Chilcote.
77. George W. Purdy.
78. Joel Johnson.
79. Henry Lutz.
80. William Major.
81. John Bowen.
82. David Bolenbaugh.
83. Peter Bolenbaugh.
It is hereby certified that the number of votes cast at this election was eighty-three (83).
Richard Pring, William Major, and Solomon Hartzog, Judges Ansel Blossom and Henry
Spillman, Clerks.
Settlement.
In September, 1820, Capt. James Riley purchased at the Piqua United States Land Office seven
tracts of land at a u Rapid in the St. Marys River, called the" Devil's Race Ground.'" He
immediately erected a dam for milling purposes, and built a double log cabin, to which he moved
his family in January, 1821. The nearest habitation was twelve miles distant, while it was four
miles to the nearest path.
Under a contract with the government he, in company with his son, James Watson Riley,
proceeded in the arduous task of surveying and laying out in counties, townships, etc., all the
northwestern portion of
240 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
Ohio. Here it was he early commenced the system of internal improvements, by surveying and
mapping the town of Wiltshire, with its public square, church lots, cemetery, Wharf, etc., the St.
Marys River having been by an act of .Congress declared navigable for water crafts of every and
all descriptions. The captain having a cash capital of some eight or ten thousand dollars, he was
the better able to brook the difficulties of a pioneer life.. The first thing he did was to put under
cultivation a small island of some six acres on the northeast bank of the river, so romantically
spoken of in his narrative.
He next proceeded to dam the river, preparatory to constructing a mill. The remains of the
self-same dam is to be seen at the present time imbedded in the bottom of the river about one
hundred yards above the City Mill. Here he constructed his first clam and mill about the year
1824. In the year 1829 it fell into disuse, in consequence of the dam having washed out. It was
soon replaced, however, and the mill was sold to William Major, S•., about the year 1832.
By this time, in consequence of his great liberality, the captain had become bankrupt, and shortly,
with his family, left for New York, where he took command of a sailing vessel for the East
Indies, and died at sea.
The Major family conducted the milling interests till 1847, when Chas. Mount bought them out,
and the old mill still stands as a monument of his enterprise.
But little advancement had been made in the way of agricultural improvements in this part of the
county until about the year 1840: Up to that period the people had largely depended upon the
natural products of the earth, more particularly the forest wilds, as game of every kind was
abundant. Hogs ranged at large and were ever ready for the knife. Wild honey could be found in
superabundance. The forests up to this time swarmed with the choicest furs, such as coon, otter,
mink, and muskrat. These were the staple articles of commerce, and were constituted a
legal-tender. In fine, the people's wants were few and easily supplied. No burdensome taxation,
with but one road in Wiltshire Township that required public labor. No church nor school-house
tax had been asked up to this time. Universal friendship and liberal kindness were everywhere
dominant. A species of communism was indorsed, and lived up to by all. Nevertheless there was
a rod lying in pickle that about 1842 began to menace the infant settlement. The spurious
administration of John Tyler began threatening the people with a financial crash. And as "trouble
seldom comes single-handed," the years 1842-43 were years of rain which left the country in a
state of famine or destitution for nearly three years. This state of affairs had a disastrous effect
upon the young and growing interests of the country. Many, very many, of the most industrious
new beginners were compelled, in order to avoid a worse fate, to sell their homes, often at a great
sacrifice, and seek the aid of hospitable friends in the interior of the State. Many, indeed too
many, failed to return. But in time the people, many at least, returned to their deserted homes. All
forgot the past, and went to work again with new zeal, and from this memorable epoch dates a
new era in the history of Van Wert County.
Up to this time (1843), the people had made but little progress in agricultural pursuits. A few
acres of corn, with the all-important potato crop, was the alpha and omega of their farming
products, while the coon, dog, and the rifle served to supply their finances. These were now
given in exchange for the plow and the scythe, and man sought solace from inaction and
sedentary habits of life by engaging in active agricultural pursuits, and thereby eating "his bread
by the sweat of his face." Men who had been driven away by prospective famine, were now
returning, and with them many new adventurers who sought new fields of labor, so we find waste
places were soon filled up by strong and willing hands. We find new impetus given to industry.
The almost unbroken forest began "to fade and disappear as the morning dew before the rising
sun."
Thus we find Van Wert County in 1843 with her diminutive population of less than 2000, taking
her place in the line of progress. Here the industrial element of her rapidly-increasing population
has given her place and prestige, certainly not surpassed by any county in Northwestern Ohio.
In 1843 Willshire was without a church edifice or school-house, and now boasts of a fine
school-house and two churches. As to mercantile business then and now, the contrast could only
be hinted. C. Mount was the leading merchant from 1837 to 1852. 'Thomas McKim, from 1852
to 1866. W. Major, from 1866 to 1875. D. Casto and H. Banta, from 1875 to the present time.
Then the town had only two small stores; in 1881 it can boast of six large mercantile houses,
carrying respectively from $30,000 to $50,000, with an additional $200,000 paid out for grain.
Since the completion of the railroad to Willshire, the business of the town has grown very
rapidly. It contains some of the best business men of the county. Among these we find David
Casto and Henry Banta the leading dry goods and grocery merchants, who each does a business
annually of $40,000 to $50,000, with an additional $100,000 annually paid out by each for grain.
There are two large hardware establishments manipulated by Wm. Pontius and ____ Atheon.
Two drug stores by Charles Vance and S. Brock. Cabinet furnishing goods by H. Patterson & Co.
A third mercantile house opened in the spring of 1881 by J. Zimmerman; also Stock of dry
goods, clothing, and !Toots and shoes by Koeple and Lockart. Two grocery establishments by
Weeks and Avery; two bakeries two hotels, three saloons, three wagon and carriage shops, three
black smith shops, two merchant mills, two saw-mills, one stave and heading factory, one
harness, and two shoe shops, two marble shops, and t‘;,60 churches.
The first school was taught by Ansel Blossom in a one-story log-house Used for post-offrce
(afterward used for a court-house and jail), gable-end fronting the street; it was built of round
logs except in front which was built of hewed logs. It stood where Amos W. Chilcote's house
now stands. School opened January 1,1836, with six pupils, two of Major,s, two of McMannis',
and two of Reichard's.
The first dry goods and grocery store was opened by Henry Reichard in 1836 in a one and
one-half story log-house, which stood on the corner Where Foreman's saloon now stands. In the
spring of 1837 Charles Mount came to Willshire with a small stock of goods and became the
leading merchant for many years.
The first hotel was built by Wm. Case in 1836, and kept by himself till 1839. Then rented to a
man by the name of Alsap, a Winebrennerian preacher. He was every way consistent, for he did
love wine, and when not too full he would, it is said. expound the gospel pretty well.
In 1850 Dr. J. W. Pearce built the second tavern, at that time the best house in Van Wert County,
which still stands an enduring monument to the enterprise of its proprietor.
The first Methodist Episcopal Society was organized 1839 by Elder Day. Their stated meetings
were held in the post-office. First M. E. Church edifice was built in 1847. The Baptists built
about the same time.
The first frame school-house was built on the public square in 1848.
The first teacher who visited the town was a bachelor by the name of Patrick who came in 1847;
he contracted to teach a three-months' term.
The first temperance organization was instituted by the Sons of Temperance in 1848. They held
their stated meetings weekly ; it proved 3 great success and to many a great blessing. There is at
the present time a lodge of the Sons of 'Temperance in town, which was organized in the spring
of 1880, it has a membership of some thirty-five, is in flourishing condition, and has been the
means of doing much goon, by reclaiming some of the fallen young men of the town, who are no
ornaments to society.
Wiltshire Lodge, No. 402, of F. and A. M.
was organized October 21, 1868. The charter members were Israel D: Clark, Henry Banta, Jesse
Hartzog, Robert McMannis, Wm. Feasel, David Casto, David Dillinger and Wm. Dillinger. The
first officers were: Israel D. Clark, W. M.; Henry Banta, S. W.; Jesse Hartzog, J. W. The present
number of members is thirty-eight. The officers are: J. F. Shaffner, W. M. ; Wm. Dillinger, S.
W.; Henry 130, J. W.; A. W. Chilcote, J. D.; S. C. Flynn, Secretary; C. C. Nichols, Treasurer;
James D. Banta, S.
Early Physicians.
In the spring of 1833. Dr. Williams came from one of the populous counties of Indiana to
Willshire, where he engaged for a time in the practice of medicine. Willshire at that time was the
Most populous portion of Van Wert County. The doctor, being possessed of an austere, unsocial
disposition, he soon found he could not readily affiliate with the jovial, good-natured
backwoodsman, so he left for more genial climes. In 1836 came Dr. Marshall from Eastern Ohio.
doctor was well versed in the rudiments of his profession, but owing to declining years and
physical disability he was inadequate to the hardships incident to pioneer life; so the doctor left
for other parts. In the spring of 1838 Dr. Spillman came to Willshire from the Western Reserve.
The doctor was thoroughly read, and withal a gentleman, scholar, and physician, but he could not
endure the hardships incident to backwood's life, and at length, with a shattered constitution, he
was forced to leave the town and county.
In the spring of 1840 Dr: J. W. Pearce, from Champaign County, Ohio, rode into Willshire on his
way West in search of a location for the practice of medicine. While obtaining breakfast at
Willshire he learned that about forty feet of the north end of the bridge across the St. Marys River
had fallen into the stream, and was carried away by the current.
The doctor, being a young man of good address, easy manners, and possessed of a full share of
common sense, together with an iron constitution, was every way the right man for a pioneer life.
When, according to his own words, the waters fell he had become so engaged with the sick and
afflicted that it was two years before he could find a respite t.0, visit his aged mother, only one
hundred miles distant. He then held the entire practice for some fifteen years, associating himself
with partners as occasion required. his practice extended east and west twenty miles, and north
and south thirty miles.
The doctor made a great deal of money in his profession, but by great
HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 241
liberality and bad financiering he has saved but little. He is now old ,nd broken down, having
nearly quit the practice of his profession, but strives to enjoy life as best he can, without an
enemy in the world. We have inserted in this work some of the writings of the doctor, which we
have gathcred from different sources.
About the year 1853 Dr. Melchiemer came in as a partner of Dr. Pearce. Next came Dr.
Cronniger, a noble gentleman, who practised with ̊•eat success until his death, which occurred in
1875.
In 1867 Dr. J. F. Shaffner Caine. to Willshire from Seneca County, Ohio. He has been highly
successful, and has the leading practice in. the community. He has associated with him the past
year Dr. Christy, a young man of ability, who will make his Mall: in his profession it he
continues as he has commenced. After Dr. Shaffner came the two Bosses and Dr. Hankins, who
are now located here, and receive a due share of public favor.
Abanaka Station,
on the T. D. and B. R. R. was laid out in 1879 by John Brown. The first house was built by
Samuel Beldon, who also started the first store.
Farmers' Mutual Aid Association of Willshire, Ohio.
There had been for a long time a feeling in the minds of some of the citizens of Willshire that an
association for the mutual protection of the lives of her citizens should be organized. Therefore,
about the 1st of October. 1880, at a meeting of a number of the citizens of the town, it was agreed
that the necessary steps be taken to organize a Mutual Life Insurance Company.
On the 13th day of October, 1880, a charter was granted by the Secretary of State, and the
association was duly incorporated and chartered as the Farmers' Mutual Aid Association of
Willshire, Ohio.
The citizens of Wiltshire and of this State. Indiana, and \Vest Virginia, have regarded the
association with confidence, and it has prospered beyond the expectation of its most sanguine
friends.
The officers of the association are David Casto, President; Lewis Edwards. Vice-President;
Henry Althoen, Treasurer ; J. F. Shaffner, Secretary and Medical Director ; A. W. Chilcote,
General Agent; David Casto, J. F. Shaffner. Henry Althoen, A. W. Chilcote, Jesse Marks, Lewis
Edwards, and Isaac 'Weaver, Trustees.
CHURCHES.
The U. B. Church,
in Wiltshire Township, known as the Bethel, was organized in 1847 by the Rev ____
Shindledecker. The first members were William Walters and wife, Joseph Heller and wife, Alex.
Morehead and wife, Winton Morehead and wife, James Walters, and 'Susan Dull. Meetings for a
number of years were held in private residences, then in school-houses till 1860, when they
occupied the Church, located on section 13, and continued to occupy it in connection with the
Weyleyans till 1865, when the Wesleyan Society was abandoned, and the U. B. Church took a
lease of the building for a period of twenty-five years.
The ministers who have officiated since its organization are as follows: _____ Shindledecker,
James Lay, Josiah McConnehay, — Antrim, David Davis, George Davis, ___ Burch, Lewis L.
Faber, J. W. Hill, from 1857 to 1859; Win. McKee, from 1859 to 1861 ; Win. E. Bey, from 1861
to 1863; John L. Luttrell, 1863 to 1864; A. Douglas, 1864 to 1865; Emanuel Hurless and George
Miller, from 1865 to 1868; Samuel Walls, 1868 to 1869; William Kendle, 1869 to 1870; ____
Bieber, 1870 to 1871; Jonas Heaston, from 1871 to 1873 ; William Ogle, from 1873 to 1875 ;
George Weintz, from 1875 to 1877; 'William Be, from 1877 to 1879.; G. H. Bonnel, 1879 to
1880 ; C. Bodey, from 1880 to the present time.
The African M. E. Church,
known as the St. Marys Chapel, was organized in 1843 by the Rey. Win. Herron. The class
consisted of six members, viz., Henry Taylor and wife, Jordan Evans and wife, Eli Wilkins, and
David Reese. They built a log church in 1850, which they occupied till 1872, when they built a
flame church, which they now occupy. It cost about $800. The present membership is 32. The
ministers who have been stationed here are Wm. Herron, Samuel Ratliff, Watkins Lee, Samuel
Wells, Jacob Palmer, Edward Epps, Grafton H. Graham, Richard Hogan, ____ Andrews, John
Grbbons, John A. Miller, Win Turner, Win. \Vest, David Mitchell, Alfred March, John W. Riley,
M. White, and H. J. Lewis.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church,
The Willshire Township, was organized in 1840 by the Rev. F. Wyneken. The society consisted
of sixteen members, viz.; Fred. Schumm and wife, G. W. Schumm and wile, Jacob Schumm and
wife, Lewis Schumm and wife, Jacob Diederich and wife, John Brenner and wife, Michael
Shuler and wife, Charles Schmidt and wife, and Andrew Lillich and wife. They built the same
year a hewed log church on the land of George Schumm. This they occupied till the year 1456,
when they built a very neat frame church on the land of Fred. Schumm, at a cost of $2000. The
society at the present time consists of 175 persons. The pastors who have been over the
congregation were in 1846 and 1847. John G. Burger ; 1847 to 1856, John G. Streckfuss; 1856 to
1869, John H. Werfelmann; 1869 to 1872, Ernest G. W. Keyl; 1872 to 1879, G. M. &tumuli ;
from 1879 to the present time, Gottlieb F. C. Seemeyer.
Old Time Reminiscence, by Dr. J. W. Pearce.
In the early settling of this county it was customary for those settling remote from towns or
villages to construct their hen-houses of hollow sycamore logs, about six to ten feet long, boards
nailed over the top, with a slab sawed out of the bottom, ten or twelve inches square, for the
door. This kind of chicken-house served the double purpose of protecting the poultry from
stormy weather, as also the hoard of forest denizens—the fox, coon, opossum, mink, weasel,
owl, etc., that preyed both day and night upon the poultry-yard.
In the winter of 1840 I was called to attend the lady of Mr. D. Daniels, twelve miles west of
town, in the then almost. unbroken forest. About midnight we were disturbed by an unusual
racket among the chickens. For Daniels and myself it was but the work of a moment to slip
around and "chug" the slab in the door. -After securing the same, we returned to the house to
await further developments.
On returning the next morning to capture our game, expecting to find one of the small fry above
named, to our great surprise we had secured within an old timber wolf of the largest size. Mr.
Daniels, having a rifle, the wolf was soon dispatched. The scalp drew five dollars bounty, with
which the doctor-bill was paid. The wolf skin was left for Daniels, the carcass for the chickens,
and a fine daughter for Mrs. Daniels.
A Pioneer Burial, as Related by Dr. J. W. Pearce.
Away back in years there lived a poor fellow by the name of Jacob D. ____ . He was noted for
idleness and want of punctuality. His wants were few and easily supplied. He supported himself
and wife from the proceeds of his gun and dog, game being plenty in his day. In the winter of
1841 I was called upon to visit him, when he was reported to be dying with lung fever. I found
him as reported in the last throes of that fell destroyer, pneumonia. After advising him to make
due preparation. for that change which so soon awaited him, I returned to my office. Next day the
order came for the coffin and shrouding, when, by •ake's bad character as paymaster, they were
unable to procure either. Here was a dilemma, as the sequel will show. We were consulted as to
the next best thing to he done. We recommended as a substitute for the shroud a clean shirt (if
one could be found in that part of the county) and white drawers or clean linen breeches. As a
substitute for the coffin, in absence of planks, we ordered them to fell a white oak or ash tree, cut
off six or seven feet, split in the centre, dig out each half trough fashion, put Jake in, and bury
him. Our suggestions were deemed good, and hastily complied with, on condition that we
superintend the burial. This we consented to do, and upon repairing to tire house of mourning
next day we found the funeral procession in waiting. It consisted of four gentlemen, including the
superintendent, two ladies, a yoke of oxen, and a sled. After Jake had been dressed with a clean
shirt and linen breeches, he was duly coffined by being laid in the trough, when, by the united
efforts of the procession, he was placed upon the sled and hauled to the grave at the head waters
of Blue Creek, where poor Jake was reverently slid down feet foremost into his last resting place,
and after being placed "right side up with care," his grave was duly filled.
And now, whilst we admit that this rude burial would shock the finer sensibilities of an
enlightened Christian community of the present day, permit us to say that no king from a throne
ever had a better oho ; for, with a coffin impervious to both air and water, though forty years
have rolled their ample round, we would expect to find but little change in Jake or his old oaken
coffin.
JAMES RILEY.
Patents from the United States to James Riley.
No. 1. The southwest corner fraction of the southwest quarter of section 29, in township 3, south
range .1 east, in Ohio; containing 2174 acres, dated August 1, 1821.
No. 2. The south fraction of the northeast quarter of section 30, in township 3, south of range 1
east; containing 6015:u acres, August 1, 1821.
No. 3. The northeast corner fraction of the southeast quarter of section 30, in township 3, south
of range 1 east; containing 20 86/100 acres, August 1, 1821..
No. 4. The south fraction of the southeast quarter of section 30, in township 3, south of range 1
east; containing 78A2,7 acres, August 1, 1821.
242 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
No. 5. The north fraction of the southeast quarter of section 30, in township 3, south of range 1
east; containing 564d. acres, August 1, 1821.
No. 6. The south fraction of the northwest quarter of section 30, in township 3, south of range 1
east; containing 87 96/100 acres, August 1, 1821.
No. 7. The north fraction of the northwest quarter of section 30, in township 3, south of range 1
east; containing 48 acres, August 1, 1821.
Recorded in the General Land Office of the United States. Vol. Vol. —, p. 9.
WILLSHIRE.
Capt. James Riley, the world-renowned sea navigator, made the first survey of United States land
in the Maumee Valley, and entered the land Aug. 1, 1821, where the town of Willshire is located.
This was the first patent given for any government land sold within Van Wert County. Capt.
Riley selected this beautiful site on the west bank of the St. Marys River as an appropriate place
to found a great inland city.
In the same year he laid off the original plat of his projected town, and named in honor of a
gentleman called Willshire, who saved his life when he was shipwrecked on the eastern coast of
Africa. He built a cabin On the town site, and settled there with his wife Phebe and their children,
who were the first and only inhabitants of this new and only town in the county.
Capt. Riley built a grist- and saw-mill near the town site, and gave every encouragement to
induce people at a distance to settle in the new town and the surrounding country ; but,
unfortunately, it proved a failure. In Sept. 25, 1830, Sheriff Isaac Applegate, of Mercer County,
levied on his mills with twenty acres of land and sold them. The property was sold to Mr. Youst
for $533.67. Mr. Youst sold them to Mr. David Major for $500, and the balance of his property
was bought by his son, James Watson Riley.
When Willshire was laid out it was supposed that the St. Marys River could by a lockage system
be rendered navigable from Lake Erie to Willshire. But it was discovered to be impracticable,
notwithstanding many species of goods were shipped in canoes and flat-boats. Sand. Engleright,
ex-sheriff of the county, when a young man was engaged in the navigation of these waters in
bringing up supplies for the trading, posts, and taking back such commodities as the Indians and
early settlers had for sale or barter.
In 1837 there was but one post-office in the county, and that was at Willshire, .$0 far distant were
the population, and no roads, that they had to travel with a pocket compass.
E. R. Wells, Esq., thus describes his journey, accompanied by Stephen Gleason, Esq.: After he
had reached his home our route lay through an unbroken wilderness, without so much as a blazed
tree to guide us some five or six miles. Our course was south by west until we came to the 27th
prairie, then nearly west along the north side of said prairie until we came to a narrow place in it,
across which the beavers at sonic previous tune had constructed a dam. Crossing there, we took
our bearings for the cabin of J. N. Chilcote, four miles north of Willshire. We arrived at
Wilishire, found the post-office, and remained in the town over night. On our way hack we came
upon a flock of wild turkeys, and with our rifles, which we had carried with us, killed several,
which we took home with us.
We may mention a fact not generally known, that in the eastern part of the county a large strip of
land, some eight miles in width, had been granted to aid in the construction of the canal that was
on the east side of the county. The work was not commenced for some years later, consequently
it was an unbroken wilderness from the Big Auglaize River to Mr. Oliver Stacey's residence, a
distance of eight miles, in which there was no ridge nor bridge, although three small streams
were to be crossed, besides the country being low and wet.
Settlers followed an Indian trail as near as practicable along Sugar Ridge. The trail was ten or
twelve inches deep, made by the single-tile travel of the red man. The usual mode was to cut
bushes and remove some of the smaller logs, and by so doing a zig-zag track was made, which
enabled wagons to pass over the ground, which necessarily became by travel so cut up and miry
that a new track had to be cut alongside of the first.
This township is the oldest settlement in the county, which commenced about 1830. The
principal thoroughfare of travel for this settlement was on the waters of the St. Marys River in
large canoes. By this means they had communication with the town of St. Marys, in Mercer
County, and Fort Wayne, Ind.
Mr. Charles Mount came to Willshire in 1833 unexpectedly to himself. It was his determination
to float down the St. Marys to Fort Wayne, Ind., with a small lot of dry-goods and groceries and
engage in business at that point. When he arrived at Willshire he tied up for a little rest, and in a
short time concluded he would stop there, and engaged a corner of Mr. Major's bar-room, and
opened out his goods and commenced business. He continued in this business thirty years and
became quite wealthy, and afterwards removed to Western Missouri.
Willshire—South Addition
is laid out upon a variation of 12 degrees to the west of north, and contains 12 lots, each of 9 rods
square: The streets and alleys are continued from the original plat, and in the same angles.
Greene Street is poles wide, and is added on the south side as laid out by me 23rd day of July,
1825.
JAMES RILEY
Cholera in Wiltshire in 1854.
By DR. J. W. PEARCE.
We have been requested, for the benefit of inquiring friends, to write as near a concise history as
time and circumstances will permit, of that terrible scourge, Asiatic Cholera, which came so near
depopulation the otherwise peaceful and prosperous little town of Willshire in the year 1854.
That many circumstances of a minor consideration connected with the ravages of that fell
destroyer, should in the lapse of twenty-seven years become effaced from the tablet of our
memory, could not be otherwise expected. From the time the dark mantle of death dropped into
our midst on that ever-memorable evening of July 19, and its dark shadows began to fall athwart
our every pathway, and forever hide from our eyes those faces we loved most tenderly, and
whose living smiles were the joy and sunlight of our existence, it became to all a source of
sorrow and gloom, the like of which has never been known in the history of our town. And whilst
pungent sorrow reigned supreme, and the pale horse and his rider knelt at our doors, and the song
of mirthfulness was no longer heard in our midst, nevertheless many amusing incidents occurred,
which we shall notice in their proper place. It has been claimed by some, and especially the
credulous, that cholera made its advent into our midst as a corrective measure, or the avenger of
wrong doers, without apparent cause or provocation. This assertion is not founded on facts. That
the season was very remarkable for drouth is notorious. No rain fell from the latter part of May
till the 28th of July during which time there was not a cloud to intercept the sun's rays, which
poured down upon the earth's surface and her carpet of herbage and green, until all things
terrestrial appeared ready for spontaneous combustion. The wells, cisterns, and fountains of
water were in like condition. The St. Marys River was low and unhealthy, being covered with
that almost ever-present green scum, the harbinger of disease and death. It must be remembered
that the winter preceding the cholera had been an unusual one for its continuous cold weather.
Rivers, creeks and fountains of water were all alike frozen up. When our spring freshet came the
St. Marys River rose to overflowing, and being gorged with ice and drift wood, the waters spread
out, and thousands of acres of land became inundated.
The country at that time being sparsely supplied with ditches or under ground drains, the waters
of necessity lay upon the low lands until it to disappeared by the slow process of evaporation.
The condition of our little town, like all others, unprovided with town ordinances, was is a most
unhealthy condition. Our streets, alleys, and byways were filled with animal and vegetable
remains, and the laws of hygiene were entirely overlooked. Thus it was with our town when hot
weather and drouth set in. The atmosphere in time became surcharged with malaria, or the germ
of disease, which commenced pouring out its unmeasured fury on the fatal 19th. At this date,
Dame Nature, with all her surrounding concomitants, appeared unmistakably to shadow forth
something unusual. Men's countenances were overshadowed with fearful suspense, and there was
a fearful looking for something out of the common order of things. The red glare and almost
scathing heat of the sun's rays were poured clown, and reflected back, as if in mockery, from the
already parched earth. The cattle went lowing to and fro, as if in search of foal and water. The
birds flew screaming through the air as though pursued by some demon of hunger. The very
dogs, as if in mockery of the fearful doom that awaited us, sent up from their kennels their
doleful hods. Willshire up to this time had remained in statu quo, whilst her people retained their
accustomed measure of the milk of human kindness and their liberal share of hospitality and
generous feeling, for which she had always been proverbial; yet we must confess that in point of
morals and religion Willshire had never been so low.
Our mercantile men consisted of C. Mount and H. Banta, whilst H: Reichard, D. Nichols, D.
Weimer, and J. Lillen were the venders of bad whiskey, which was at that time the staple article
of commerce. It It was bought at fifteen cents per gallon, and retailed at three cents per drink. It
was not only popular at that time to drink, but no man could take his place in high life, sinless he
could gulp down twenty-five or thirty glasses of rot-gut whiskey per day. Hence, as a sequel, the
midnight shack and silly twaddle of the drunkard, with the blasphemous oaths of the vulgar and
profane, could be heard upon the streets both day and night, whilst the sound of the axe, and the
sharp crack of the hunter's rifle would resound through the forest on the Lord's day. Thus it was
until tje eve of that memorable day, July 19th, when the sound of mourning was first heard upon
our streets.
HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 243
Before proceeding to notice individual cases, with the circumstances attending each of them, we
will call attention to one of the most. re- mar able as also the most unaccountable phenomena
connected with the history of cholera, viz., the migration or disappearance of the entire feathered
tribe, together with the house flies. By the 25th of the month not a bird or house-fly could be seen
or heard anywhere, and they remained in blissful seclusion until about August 7th, when our ears
were twain solaced by the merry song and musical chirp of the birds. But alas for Willshire,' out
of a Population. of about seventy-five souls, forty had migrated to that "bourne from whence no
traveller returns." On the 21st, at the suggestion of L. D. Pearce, a committee, consisting of Ira
Blossom, R. McMannis, and Willis Major, was negotiated with to oversee the burying of the
dead, and to assist those in distress as occasion might require. And never in the history of any age
did three brave spirits merit a greater share of gratitude than did this brave trio, as they went forth
in the discharge of their perilous undertaking. No money consideration alone could have induced
them to enter the cabin of Starker, and remove therefrom five dead bodies, already in an
advanced stage of decomposition, and that, too, after they had received orders to fire the
building.
They believed, however, that humanity and order demanded of them a different course. Two of
them have long since gone to their reward. All lived, however, to receive the plaudit and homage
they so richly deserved from a generous community.
At this time Dr. Melcheimer and myself were the only practising physicians in town. And, as
might be expected, our sleep we got in the saddle.
On the evening of the 19th of July, Mr. Burklow, a hard-working man, and also a hard-drinking
man, was led by his friends from the bank of the St. Marys River, where he had been quarrying
stone, to his house, and in a few hours expired with a well-marked case of Asiatic cholera. We
ordered his remains to be laid in some secluded place, and to be buried with the greatest possible
dispatch, hoping thereby to prevent its further spread, but to no effect.
Old Dan Tucker, of plantation notoriety, who played the fiddle for a "hoe-down" in the suburbs
of town, was taken with cholera next morning at his home in the country, where Reuben Wood,
Esq., in his kindness to his wants, spiritually and temporally, and after death, laid him in a box of
his own making. Then three or four of the neighbors followed poor old Dan to his last
resting-place.
We now became satisfied that our only. safety consisted in flight, advised the people to flee and
seek safety in the country.
Wm. Aynesworth generously threw open his doors to all who wished to accept his charities.
Many found shelter under his hospitable roof, and as a consequence, he lost a lovely daughter ;
two others also died in his house.
Joseph Jones was a man of herculean strength, square built, and a lover key withal. Joe defied the
cholera as long as he could keep four of whiskey in his .stomach. This he did for forty-eight
hours, but at last he was found by his friends in the last stages of the cholera. was the contraction
and contortion of this powerful man's muscles that the insertion of the flexor muscles of his legs
were brokenup or torn loose, and his shrieks were terrible indeed.
The night of the 20th we passed in the country, giving aid and succor to the sick and afflicted.
Next morning we returned to town for the purpose of changing horses arid replenishing
pill-bags, when we -received. a mild reproof from our confiding wife, for having absented ourself
the night previous from our little family circle, declaring she had not closed her eyes during the
night, fearing we had taken -cholera, or the children might take the same, and die before we
could get to them. After quieting her fears as best we could, we were hurried away by messengers
that had been in waiting from early morn. A short time after we had left the house, a lady friend
called for medicine.
Mrs. Pearce at this time was in apparent good health, and left her parlor for the office, where she
prepared the lady's medicine. On turning to hand her the same, she was noticed to reel and
stagger, when on beholding her countenance, the lady was horrified to see the change, from the
florid red to a dark leaden hue. Mrs. P. was now in last stages of cholera, and was led to her bed
in a dying condition. Messengers were immediately dispatched for us, where we were found
seven miles in the country. By the fleetness of our horse we were able to be by her bedside in a
few minutes, when and where she expired within a three hours' illness.
A strange coincidence connected with her death—one hour after Mrs. Pearce had ceased to
breathe, as she lay with her hands crossed upon her bosom, so powerful had been the contraction
of the muscular system during the last throes of that fell destroyer, that the innate action of the
nervo-vital fluid, brought to bear upon the extensor muscle of the arm, was sufficient to raise the
right arm from her bosom, and lay it at full length upon my breast as we sat by her bedside.
Nevertheless life had been extinct for one hour.
Mrs. Daily, an amiable lady, living a few miles below town, became almost frantic with fear for
the safety of her family and friends. On fearing of the death of Mrs. Pearce and J. McLellin, she
took the
- 27 -
cholera, and after suffering her terrible allotment of pain, she peacefully fell asleep.
George Miller found he was taking the cholera, and left for his sister's in the country, where he
was refusd admission. He forced his way in, and threw himself on the trundle-bed. The inmates
left, and on their return next morning George was found dead on the floor beside his bed. He was
buried in the garden without coffin or box. Inhumanity at that time could not be overlooked. The
author of this outrage was driven from the country, and not allowed to return. Uncle Billy Lindall
lost an only son, amiable, and respected by all. Milton Major, true to his native kindness, was
ever at his post preparing the last resting place for departed friends.
We had a poor drunken fellow in our town called "Bill." To get drunk and whip his wile was the
order of his time. He was a terror to his family and a pest of the town. Bill took the cholera, and
we' were called to see him. This was the first time he had ever been sick, and to him it was a
disagreeable surprise. This was our time, as we verily believed, to assist him in passing in his
checks, hence we rolled up eight or ten pills of assafoetida and reel pepper, and ordered them to
be given two hours apart, and tried as best we could to prepare the mind of the prospective
widow for the great change that awaited her little family circle, and departed.
On calling around in due time to see if Bill was still alive, to our great surprise and no little
chagrin we found him about, well, and in due time he was restored to his whiskey and shillalah;
and it has ever been a question with us whether Bill got well from pure contrariness, or whether
assafoetida and pepper pods was the proper treatment for cholera.
Mother Ruby lay dead three days, one mile from town, before burial; then, wrapped in a sheet,
she was buried in her own garden.
H. Banta left town, went to Van Vert, remained till the malignity of the disease had to some
extent abated, when he was again made welcome in our town. On his return, as the giant oak
before the storm, he, too, was brought down by the fell destroyer. Owing, however, to his great
life-force he fought back the disease, and in clue time we rejoiced to find our friend
convalescing, and at last restored to family and friends.
Frederick Nichols and two sons, David and James, all fell victims.
David Nichols was one of our best business men, and his death was greatly lamented by all. "Old
Pap Nichols," as he was familiarly called, was highly esteemed. He was a Universalist, and ever
ready to defend his faith. After suffering his full allotment of terrible pain, he reposed some
minutes in that fatal collapse which always precedes death, then put forth his withered hand and
said " Good-by, mother, I'm going now," and peacefully fell asleep, reclining on that bosom he
believed to be too merciful and kind to forever cast away his erring children.
David Weimer, a saloonist, became frantic with fear for himself and family, turned over his stock
in trade for the benefit of the distressed, and left for Pleasant Mills, where he fell a victim in a
few days.
On the 22d of the month the old Widow Dutcher, a stranger to fear, who kept a saloon, agreed to
open her doors for the reception of all in distress, upon condition that she be allowed to go
anywhere in town to take what she needed for their benefit. This appeared reasonable, and the
arrangement was entered into. The old lady's house was soon filled with cholera patients, six of
whom died. But mark the sequel. When the disease subsided, and the people began to return with
their families to their deserted homes, they had nothing to eat. The old woman had appropriated
the entire stock of provisions to her own use, and had laid in a stock of groceries and provisions
sufficient to stand a five-year siege. Nevertheless, she received our united thanks.
Henry Reichard, whose memory we all respect, and L. D. Pearce were both taken sick. They both
recovered, to give aid and succor to those who so much needed their assistance.
Thus it was with our town and vicinity until the twenty-eighth day, when, to our unutterable joy,
the heavens became aglare with lightning, the thunder rolled its deafening roar, the long-coveted
rain began to descend upon the parched earth, and the atmosphere became cold and healthy. The
malaria germ was either burned up or beaten down to be trodden under foot, for the disease now
disappeared as if by magic. Men with their families began to return to their once happy, but now
desolate, homes. There were to be found but two remaining families—Henry Reichard and the
ever-memorable old woman. Desolation and destitution were everywhere to be seen ; doors were
thrown open; deathbeds were standing in the streets ; sidewalks were white with lime used as
disinfectant ; no merry song or cheerful voice to be heard ; sorrow and gloom reigned supreme.
Stout hearts quailed before the desolation and gloom that everywhere met their gaze. " Rachel
weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because they were not," for about forty
kind friends from the town and vicinity had left never more to return.
One more incident and we are done. Richard Hall, a gentleman from Bucyrus, had married a
daughter of Frederick Nichols, of Wiltshire, where his wife had come to visit friends but a few
days before the cholera broke out.
244 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
On the day Mrs. Pearce died Richard Hall came for his wife, and, having to remain overnight, he,
in his disinterested kindness, accompanied Dr. Nichols to my house, and assisted in burying Mrs.
Pearce. Then in company with his wife he left forthwith for Bucyrus, where he died of cholera
the following night. Dr. Nichols also took the cholera and died.
Reminiscences by W. Wiltshire Riley.
My father removed his family from Upper Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, in May,
1820, to the town of Chillicothe, Ohio, in two-horse covered wagons, via New York City, thence
through New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland, and thence followed the line of
the Cumberland or National road (which was being built in different sections, and large gangs of
Irish laborers with some negroes were at work). These men often committed outrages upon
travellers by felling trees across the road, and demanding pay for their removal. They tried the
game on father, but as he was a large and powerful man, well armed and resolute, he soon taught
them better manners, and we were suffered to pass, where others had been forced to pay these
highwaymen. There were very few houses (cabins) along the road, our journey was very slow.
We. usually encamped at night, sleeping in our wagons, building camp fires and setting a watch
to guard against horse thieves, then numerous in the mountains. Near the top of Laurel Hill we
passed a new grave, surrounded with new pickets, made out of oak, said to be the' grave of a
traveller murdered for his horse and money but a few days before. When we reached the summit
of the Alleghenies father pointed out to us the great valley to the West, and explained how the
waters divide on either side, reaching the sea through the Ohio and Mississippi rivers at New
Orleans, and by the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay, at Norfolk, Virginia. We children, viz.,
brother Horatio, myself, and sisters Amelia and Phebe, had learned a little song, which we sang,
beginning thus-
" I have often heard them say that there's lions in the way,
And they lurk in the Allegheny Mountains, 0."
We reached Wheeling on the Ohio River, were ferried across on a scow driven by the current, by
means of a rope extending across the river, to which the boat was attached, and carried by the
current. Thence we followed the line of the National Road to Zanesville, where we rested a few
days to recruit ourselves and jaded horses. This town was the largest place since we left
Cumberland. It was known that father was appointed to survey the newly-ceded lands on the St.
Marys and Maumee rivers. We were very cordially received and welcomed by the leading
citizens. Thence to Lancaster, then quite a fine place, thence to Chillicothe, having been about six
weeks on the journey. Father rented a brick cottage on the west side of the town, sent the children
to the academy, and went to the forest to his field of labor, taking my oldest brother, James
Watson, Mr. John Powell, Stephen Louis, and his son, William Louis, who had accompanied us
from New York, and were Quakers of Westbury, Long
We remained in Chillicothe until January, 1821, when we removed to the Devil's Race Ground,
as the Indians called the Rapids, where father had purchased the land, and had Messrs. Louis,
who were willing to build a log cabin and stable, and fence in with brush about an acre of the
woods. We had two covered wagons, drawn by two-horse teams; the winter was mild. We went
via Circleville then.
The town was built within the ancient circle; in the centre was a public circular place, with a
flag-staff in the centre; the embankment including the round and square forts, as they called
them, was perfect in many places, large trees growing upon their summits. Here we stayed over
night ; father was particular to show us small children the wonderful place, and took us around it
in all directions. We crossed the Scioto River and went via Springfield and Troy to Piqua on the
Great Miami River. Here were a few log cabins strung along the west bank. A hewed two-story
log house was Tompkin's Tavern, where we took lodgings, one stone house, the old Council
House, occupied by Dr. Shapie as a residence, John Johnston, Esq. (Indian Agent), Samuel
Young, Stephen Widney, an Irish gentleman, and some few others. While we were at supper, in
rushed Mrs. Widney, wringing her hands, crying out: "Oh, gentlemen, my poor son John is lost in
the woods, och hone! och hone! what shall I do, the opossums will kill him, and the deer will eat
him; och hone! och hone! It will be such a disgrace to the family!" All turned out, fired guns,
made a bonfire, and in about half an hour John Widney made his appearance, a strapping fellow
of sixteen years of age. Here father bought two cows, a yoke of oxen, six sheep, and about a
dozen long-nosed, long-legged hogs; hired several men to drive them and the oxen with a load of
provisions; hired a millwright called Major Low, a large healthy man, of forty years (thought
himself capable of inventing a perpetual motion, as he called it). Hitherto the roads had been in
fair condition, but now our travel became tedious and tiresome in the extreme, we were
floundering in the mud, which had not frozen hard enough to bear, and could not travel more
than ten miles a day, frequently got stuck, when we had to double teams and oxen and pull one
wagon through at a time. We stopped at the crossing of Loramie, where a man was living, this
was an old French and Indian trading post before the Revolution. Some of the old stock, ade was
to be seen yet. We finally reached the Fort St. Marys (Barbee) Here part of the old block-house
was standing on the bluff bank of the St. Marys River, just north of the present bridge. Here there
were three or four cabins, a Mr. Charles Murry kept a trading station, and received goods by
pirogue from the lake, and sent pork in barrels down in flat-boats when the waters were high; a
Mr. Houston and two Armstrongs and James Laird, are all the names I remember.
From here we went to Shane's Crossing. Through the timbered Par, tion we had to clear a way by
cutting down saplings, cutting fallen logs and rolling them out of 'the way by hitching our cattle
to them; on Shane's Prairie (where the town of Mercer now is and vicinity). lived Mr. Hayes, Mr.
Calvin Dennison, Mr. Ruel Roebuck, Mr. John Roebuck, and Samuel Roebuck; also a Mr.
Chivington and Mr. Hanson, all had families and were living on or in sight of the road; a few
miles east on the St. Marys River (now Mention) lived Mr. Justin and his brother William
Hamilton and families. At Shane's Crossing lived an Indian chief named Shane and half-breed
wife and family. They had a field of considerable size, and had raised corn, potatoes, and garden
"sass," as the people called it. Sacatcha, his nephew, was hired as an interpreter and guide, his
parents were camped in the vicinity With quite a large number of Indians (Shane's wife was a
Moravian Christian). The old Wayne road, or a trace leading to it, crossed the St. Marys here ;
but as the distance was greater and no wagon had ever passed, father laid his line by his compass,
and men went ahead and hacked away through the brush so that we could drive. The weather had
become cold, and ice froze thick enough to bear our teams, so that by working all day, just before
night in a driving snow-storm, we crossed the St. Marys on the ice to the cabin that had been
prepared, which was built where the dam was afterwards built, about one-fourth of a mile south
of the present bridge, in the town of Wiltshire. When crossing the river we saw the remains of a
deer which the wolves had been eating, and had probably been scared away by us. Major Low
took the remnant of the deer and hung it up on a sapling at the bank, so that the wolves might
jump for it, and he could, by watching, shoot them. We got supper in our cabin. The storm ceased
and the moon shone brightly The major loaded his gun and went out to kill the wolves, whose
101, ings could be heard calling the pack together. He had high hopes! killing at least one or
more, but in a short time they came in such numbers as to cause him to be completely
panic-stricken. he turned and ran 11''t11 all his speed through the brush, expecting the wolves
would seize him at every step. So great was his fright that he failed to frre his gun, but dropped it
in the snow, came dashing into the cabin, breaking the clapboard door, and fell sprawling on the
floor. He was a large man weighing over two hundred, and had never hunted wolves before. Ihe"
iii followed him to our cabin and kept up their howlings, found the but as our animals were
secured in log stables, they were safe. The wolves found the major's gun and dragged it around,
gnawed the tallow-box out of stock, and stole the flint and ramrod, rendering it useless for a
time; and although his gun had no stock, he became a laughing-stock to the old hunters. The
wolves prowled around all night, keeping the children pretty well scared. This was the first night
of the first settlers in Van Wert County at the "Devil's Race Ground." The winter proved rather a
mild one, and by spring a large two-story log cabin had been built on the east bank of the river, at
the foot of the rapids, near the site of the mill. This cabin was, I think, sixty feet in length, built in
three sections of twenty feet each. The floors were split and hewed puncheons, with clapboard
doors, with windows with sash and glass, the first glass windows seen north of Piqua. Men were
busy clearing land between the first and second cabin, rolling logs into heaps, and we set to work
to keep the fires going, so that by spring several acres had been cleared, about twelve plowed and
planted in corn, and a fine garden. The woods swarmed with Indians, who came to grind their
knives and tomahawks on the grindstone, the only one north of Piqua. They would camp around
for weeks, but we never allowed them to have any whiskey, although it was always on hand by
the barrel, and each hand had to have his rations. They always treated us with the utmost
kindness. My mother often doctored their papooses, and they appreciated it to father's portrait, a
very fine likeness, looking straight at the beholder, hung in our big room. The Indians had all
seen him while surveying, and all crowded in to see him, or his spirit, as they believed was there
to report to him in the woods that they were depredating upon his it fields or insulting his family.
Finding that to be the case he did not deny it, and in the whole eight years that we were
surrounded by thousands them, we were never injured to the value of a dollar, but treated politely
and kindly by all tribes. So far as meats were concerned, we had wild game in the greatest
abundance, brought in by the Indians or shot our hunters. Wild honey was plenty all through the
woods, also cranberries, blackberries, with wild plums and crab apples. The great difficulty was
to furnish bread while the mill was being built, as it impossible to pack or haul from Piqua or
Day for so many mouths ; therefore we made hominy by hulling corn into meal and flour enough
for so many months, therfore we made hominy by hulling corn in lye
HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 245
and boiling it, then ate with milk or fried it. It was delicious either way. We carried with us some
tin lanterns. They were about a foot long by six inches in diameter, and punched full of holes, the
burr edges being the outside. As we had no occasion to use them as lanterns., we them, fastened
them to a clapboard, and used them as graters, and grated corn on the cob, making nice meal
when sifted, but they soon wore out. Then the millwright gouged a hole in an oak stump, like a
mortar, planted a forked stake in the ground a few feet distant, and placed a sapling in the fork
with the heavy end on the ground and the top in the crotch. To this end was hung a piece of some
hard wood (dogwood) about four feet or more long, through this holes were bored at right angles
one above the other ; in these, round pins were placed to work the pestle. We took hold either
side of the stump, and pulled the pestle down upon the corn, and the spring of the pole lifted it;
thus we pounded corn and sifted into meal—two generally working at once—enough to feed an
average of fifty people, until we were all taken down with the chills and fever ; and as all the
surveyors were in the forest, we were not able to nurse one another, when my brother, James
Watson, came in from the woods with his surveying party, and removed us all to Piqua for
medical and other attendance, taking five days to perform the journey. We boarded at Tompkins'
tavern, attended by a French doctor (Simper), who broke the ague on my mother and myself by
giving us all the sour pickles we craved.' We returned in the fall to our farm. During the winter
men were engaged hewing and hauling timber for a large frame grist-mill. Father and his
surveyors were in the forests on the Auglaize until the time for raising the frame of the mill
arrived, when all hands came in, and invitations were sent to Fort Wayne, St. Marys, and Fort
Recovery, and great preparations were made for their entertainment by the hunters and Indians
bringing in venison, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, and plenty of wild honey, maple sugar, and
molasses, not forgetting eggs and whiskey with which to make egg-nog, without which no crowd
could be gotten together; all used it and tobacco, when they could get it, except my father,
brother, and the Quakers in his employ, Messrs. Louis and Powell, who used neither. On the
appointed day people came from Fort Wayne, Fort Recovery, St. Marys, and Piqua to the number
of about filly, which, with the surveyor, settlers, and millwright, swelled the lumber to over one
hundred, but very few had ever assisted in raising a frame of such large timbers ; they were very
awkward. Had it been a log building, probably any one could have carried up a corner nor did the
major know much more than the rest. However, they went to work and raised the west end and
two sides, pinned, and thoroughly raced them, when the major thought he could put that end
together on the which was level, and raise the east end all at once, as there he were so many
powerful hands. It was put together all right, but then he discovered he had no ropes, and the
timbers were green and very heavy. The trees on the bank were covered with grapevines, and
they got soon substituted for ropes. Large and long-forked saplings were got to push with as the
frame was raised ; and placing the corner and full posts opposite the tenons of the sills, at a given
signal a long pull, and a strong pull altogether, and the whole end was raised. to a perpendicular
successfully, with a great shout. Astride of the cross-beams and and the upper beams men were
placed with axes and pins, making six, and also a man with a handspike to assist in entering the
tenon in the the mortise, and hold it with his handspike until the pins were driven. All had
commenced to drive pins at a given signal, and had hit them one blow, when one of the men
holding the upper corner (southeast), thinking all was safe, let go his handspike, and the whole
end fell with a deafening crash, fortunately injuring no one seriously. Capt. Riley had a narrow
escape. He was steadying the frame, and standing on a pile of dirt dug out for the forebay, and as
it fell he was thrown upon it and slid into the pit. Stunned for a few moments but not hurt, all
thought; him to have been crushed with the loose dirt, but soon he hollowed, asking how many
were killed or hurt, when all rushed to his rescue, and sent up a shout making the woods echo.
This was the second shout ever made by other than the Indians at Willshire. All agreed to adjourn
in gratitude for their narrow escape and complete the raising next day. Accordingly brush and
bark camps were made along the bank of the river to sleep in overnight. Long tables were set out,
made by putting legs or ping through slabs, and standing them in rows, with similar ones not so
high for seats. With abundance of provisions, Well cooked, and good coffee, all served in tin
cups, and on tin plates, all partook of a hearty meal before dark.
Then they determined to have a dance on the green, by torch and moonlight, bright fires were
burning, so that the smoke might drive away mosquitoes and give light, and many hickory bark
torches, held by kindle on, which they would swing furiously through the air to rekindle once in a
while, afforded a fine light, and to all a novel, grand, and beautiful sight. A man named Feshour
from towards Fort Recovery, furnished music on a violin, and, as there were no women to dance,
men personated them by wearing their chip hats or fur caps. The dances were Scotch reels, Irish
jigs, and Old Virginia hoe-downs, as there was ample room, many were dancing at one time.
Their joints were limbered by occasional tin cups filled with egg-nog. One man, Fielding Corbin,
who had all day been lying down groaning with rheumatism, became so much excited with the
dance, or the stimulating effects of the nog, that he forgot his lameness when an Irish jig was
played, and jumped up and danced it to perfection, touching every note, keeping perfect time, and
excelling all; so that ever after the settlers called him Limber jimmy. Many of the company
danced until daylight, and in the morning, in a few hours, the frame was raised in sections; a
hearty dinner partaken and all started for their homes, delighted with the idea that they would
soon have corn meal without pounding, and that they had been to the raising of the first frame
building ever erected north of Dayton, Ohio. The irons and millstones were hauled from Dayton,
taking four yoke of cattle to haul them through mud and swamps, which they had to bridge with
corduroy (poles laid crossways); finally the mill was set running, and people came from all
quarters with bags of corn and some buckwheat (no wheat had been raised as yet), from great
distances to get their corn ground, camping out when more than a day's travel. The race was one
quarter of a mile in length, and no sooner was it closed at the mill than the fish began to
accumulate below the dam, which was eight feet high, and they could not be sent over That being
the only obstruction from Lake Erie, the river seemed to be perfectly filled with pike, pickerel,
lake salmon, white fish, large muskallonge, black bass, and suckers. Father saw that by opening
his waste gates at the mill, and letting water in at the clam, he could soon have the race full, when
by shutting the upper gate and opening the lower a little they would be on dry land, and could be
picked up with the hand. He immediately set men to make barrels, and dispatched a two-horse
wagon to Piqua for salt. Opening his gates the fish fairly swarmed until they became so thick that
with a dip-net they could be thrown out as fast as a man could handle his net. Owing to the time
taken by the team, the fish were so thick that they began to die in great quantities. Father caught
and salted all that he could with the salt on hand, raised the gate into the pond and let them go;
thus losing an opportunity to have made a fine fortune for that time. The salt did not arrive for
several weeks, as he had to go to Dayton, ninety miles and back.
The mill was a success so far as supplying the settlers with corn meal and sawing lumber for
himself, and to raft down to Fort Wayne and Defiance, etc.
The dam was framed in the shape of a triangle placed on a solid bed of limestone rock, which lay
horizontally across the river between a high bluff-bank on the east, and an overflowed bottom in
high water on the west.
The east bank was not less than twenty-five feet high, covered by a heavy growth of white oak
timber, the race was dug through this bluff and timbered like a lock on a canal ; a hewed log
abutment was built filled with stone at either end of the dam in the best manner, and it was
believed that nothing could move the darn which was anchored to the bottom so firmly. But the
St. Marys River above the dam was very crooked, with but eight feet fall in twenty miles, and
headed in a vast swamp in Mercer County (now Mercer County reservoir). The channel,
obstructed by drifts, floated by the backwater below ane's crossing. When the flood came in the
spring, the highest ever known by the oldest inhabitant, an Indian chief (Ockamoxy), it
overflowed its banks and submerged our entire farm, and we were taken from the second story of
our house in canoes across to the west bank. (Wiltshire had been laid out, none taking part in the
survey but himself and sons, James, Horatio, and Willshire. The drifts below the dam obstructed
the flow of the water, and it remained over the banks for several days, and, the bottom of the
river not extending down to the rock, the water began to work around the east abutment on the
surface of the rock, and in one day washed away the entire bank, undermining trees, and head
race, carrying all down the river, cutting a channel its entire width. This was the first great
misfortune to his mill. But as the dam stood fast and the abutments also, and many large drifts
had swept down, the millwright believed that by building a wing-dam from the dam's abutment
up stream to the bank, they could repair damages, as they had saved lumber enough to plank it
tight. They were set to work, and in a few weeks had it completed, although it was as large as the
centre dam; the pond soon filled, the mills started again, although they made no money for their
owner. They accommodated the entire frontier settlers; the mills were run constantly all the
spring and summer. The next flood came with such a sudden rise that the drift swept the
brush-dirt and stone from the scarfing of the dam, which had been placed there to render it tight
and load it down. The water floated the entire frame, which was firmly framed together, and
broke it from the abutments, and carried it down the river, where, after the flood subsided, it was
found upon the bank at a great bend, some fifty miles below, where it remained intact for years,
and was used by new settlers for sills and timber for their cabins. Notwithstanding these
disasters, father had another dam built, and as keel-boats and large pirogues poled up from
below, began to ascend as far as St. Marys Fort. He built a lock near the west abutment, like a
canal lock, to let them and flat boats through, should they wish to pass in medium stages of water
(at high water they could pass over, with the water ten to fifteen feet over the dam).
246 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.
Father was elected to the Legislature in the fall of 1823-24. The dam stood fast and the lock
worked well. Stephen Louis and William, his son, and Major Low, were running the mills. My
brother was at Fort St. Marys, and the men were engaged rafting lumber to Fort Wayne, the first
lumber ever seen in that place, as flat-boats only came down with the flood tide. Keel-boats
coming up or down were let through the lock by the hands at the mill. Something happened to
call them away one forenoon for an hour or two, when an unprincipled villain, named Bush,
came up with two pirogues lashed together, and a crew of four men to push it up with setting
poles, and not finding any one at the mill, he seized a yoke of cattle that were there for the use of
the mill, and hitched a scraper to them, took the picks, shovels, etc., from the mill, and as the
water was then rising and but a few feet below the dam, on the west side, which was alluvial land
and free from trees, he commenced to cut a channel around the dam. There was no one at home
except my mother, two sisters, and my brother Horatio, and myself. My mother went and begged
him to desist, pointed out to him the damage he might do, and told him that the men would be
home to dinner and open the lock. But he being captain of such a big craft, felt his dignity, and
only worked the harder, and had quite a stream running round which would soon have turned the
whole river. My mother ran home loaded all the guns, the large bores and two squirrel rifles
belonging to Horatio and myself. Horatio was sent to find the men, and I was left to watch the
diggers; in less than an hour the two Quakers, Major Low, my mother and brother appeared at the
scene of operations, having taken from the keelboats, as they passed, Captain Bush's gun, which
my mother intended to use if necessary. The Major was large and powerful, the Quakers ready to
fight to the death. We boys could with our guns pick off a squirrel from the tallest trees, and were
told by Louis, if they commenced to fire, which one to shoot at, and were ready and willing to
obey orders. There were on our side three men, two boys, and my mother, with six guns. Friend
Stephen, with his drab suit and broad-brim, drab hat, and about sixty years of age, was very
venerable in appearance. He approached Bush and said: "Friend Bush, what dost thou intend to
do? Don't thee know that thee will cause great damage to friend Riley, and may be ruining his
mills?" "Don't care if 1 do; he's no right to dam a navigable stream and stop my boat from going
up a navigable river." "Did thee not see the lock made on purpose to let thee through, and did not
the Captain's wife tell thee that we would be back by noon and open the lock and help thee
through?" "Wal, yas, but 1 han't ter be bossed by no woman." "Friend Bush, if thee and thy men
don't instantly go to work and fill up the ditch thee has dug, we will shoot every one of thee dead!
not a minute to wait, all take aim," which We did.
The ruffians were thoroughly overawed by the warlike Quaker, and our guns pointed waiting his
order to fire, went to work with a will by his direction, we all the while with our guns aiming at
them until the breach was filled ; the lock was opened and they passed through, a watch was set
to watch the dam, fearing they might through spite return and open the sluice. Thanks to the
courage of Stephen Louis and his son the Major, and our squirrel rifles, the dam was safe, and a
victory won, although bloodless. Had Bush persisted their lives would have paid the penalty. The
darn stood firmly, and the lock answered the purpose up to the time of our departure down the
river in a flatboat in April, 1828, and for many years after, and although to my father it proved
ruinous, it was an inestimable blessing to the new settlers, in a vast region of country. Captain
Riley, previous to going to Columbus, used all his efforts to arouse the public to the importance
of adopting a system of internal improvements, and especially the construction of canals, the
importance of which he had pointed out in his letters from the woods in 1819, and in order to lay
the subject before the Legislature of Ohio,. he addressed the following letter to Governor Clinton,
of New York.
Capt. Riley's Efforts in Behalf of Internal Improvements before and while a Member of the Ohio
Legislature, and his Correspondence with Coy. De Witt Clinton.
WILLSHIRE, VAN WERT COUNTY, OHIO, Aug. 17, 1823.
SIR : Since I had the pleasure of seeing your" Excellency in New York in 1819, I have removed
into this wilderness and established my family on the St. Marys River, which, uniting with the St.
Josephs River at Fort Wayne, thirty miles northwest from here by land, and ninety by water,
forms the Maumee or Miami of Lake Erie. My object in coming to this country was to avail
myself of the advantages incident to new settled countries, where the soil is rich and vegetation
luxuriant, land cheap and navigation open to Lake Erie about six months in the year; but above
all to build up a town which shall commemorate the name of my deliverer from Arabian slavery.
It was two years last January since I came into this wilderness, twenty miles from any inhabitant.
I have got a grist-mill and saw-mill in operation, a State road established which leads from Piqua
on the Great Miami to Fort Wayne and crosses the river here, a town laid out and nearly twenty
houses built on it, a post-office established, and we are now ready to open a trade with your
emporium in flour, beef, pork, potash, ginseng, etc. etc., as soon as your grand canal shall be
ready for navigation.
I give you this sketch of my late transactions in order to apologize for the liberty 1 take, which I
hope will be considered sufficient.
Being extremely anxious to build vessels here of as large a burthen as will enter and pass the
Grand Canal when finished, and to keep them running as packets, with freight and passengers,
from the mouth of the Maumee River to New York, to be navigated by sails on Lake Erie and the
Hudson River, with masts to raise and lower at pleasure.
I beg leave to solicit such information on the following points as your Excellency may deem it
expedient to give me. It is for my own private or the public use as regards the dimensions of the
craft, etc. And that which regards the canal, with your permission, I should wish to publish here,
where every citizen of this extensive and fertile region feels more than a common interest in its
progress and completion, and reveres (almost next to the Deity) the gigantic powers of mind,
talents, and great exertions which, under 'your administration, have brought this stupendous work
so far to its termination.
First, when will the Grand Canal be probably finished so as to pass boats its whole length ? that
is the country through which it passes. How many rivers and lakes does it cross or come in
contact with, and at any what places or points ? How many locks are constructed on it, and where
severally located?
What are the largest dimensions of boats which can pass through this canal ? What length and
breadth can pass the locks, and what is the greatest depth of water a boat is allowed to draw in
the canal when loaded?
What sort of construction is most approved on the canal by present experience ? Can vessels
properly constructed belonging to other States than New York navigate the Grand Canal, and if
they can, under whst restrictions ? What is the rate of toll or duty per ton which will be exacted
of them the whole route from Albany to Buffalo ? Do light vessels pay the same duty per ton as
loaded ones?
Knowing the intimate acquaintance your Excellency has with the whole subject, and your
peculiar talent at description ; knowing also that such a description as would give a correct idea
of the geography and topography of the country through which it passes, and the difficulties
which have been surmounted in the progress of this astonishing work, are only known to those
who have been on the spot as engineers and workmen and commissioners, permit me, sir, to hope
that at your leisure you will be so kind as to draw up and forward me the requested information,
which shall be duly circulated in order to encourage rising spirit of internal improvement in this
country, and to disseminate a knowledge in which the whole mass of our fellow-citizens are most
deeply interested.
I am most respectfully yours, etc.,
JAMES RILEY
DE WITT CLINTON, Esq., Governor of the State of New York.
ALBANY, January 18, 1824
SIR: I have just received your letter of the 23d of December. I am glad to learn that so zealous a
friend of internal improvements is placed in a situation where he will have the power as well as
the inclination to promote objects of essential importance to the best interests of our country.
I have had the pleasure of a conversation with two of your Canal Board, Messrs. Williams and
Kelley, on canals, and I was entirely satisfied with their just comprehension and enlightened
views. There are few men of superior intelligence on subjects of this nature. With Gov. Brown I
have had a correspondence, although I have not a personal acquaintance. I have long known,
however, with such men as a Canal Board, you have reason to expect a very able report, and
when it comes in I will want you to send me a copy ; and if you shall then require any further
elucidations, I will with great pleasure furnish them, from motives of personal respect, and from
a full persuasion that the contemplated canal is identified with the general prosperity.
I am very respectfully
your most ob't servant,
DE WITT CLINTON.
JAMES RILEY, Esq., Representative Ohio Legislature.
Wonderful Sagacity of a Horse.—Father drove to Ohio a team of horses—Dick and Charley.
Charley was a large, powerful chestnut-sorrel, of a kind and gentle disposition. Father always
rode him, as Ins, health, was, when in health, 250 pounds, and we had no other powerful enough
to carry him and swim streams. he was a great pet of father s: and would not leave him. When he
was surveying, he followed him and carried him across swamps and streams, when he
dismounted and set his compass and continued his line. For several days before he started for
Columbus there had been heavy rains, which was about the 22d November, 1823, and the
streams were rising very fast. Charley was brought out after dinner. It was raining quite hard. Old
Charley (as we called him) always began to groan before starting on a journey.
 
HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 249
Father thought that by starting he could cross the creeks (Duck and Black) before they were
swimming, and reach Graves's tavern at Shane's Crossing before nighthee bid us all good-by, and
started, and reached Buck Creel;; it was swimming, plunged in, and crossed ; hurried on, and
found le log approaches to the Black Creek bridge washed away, and the creek of fordable. He
rode up the stream, hoping to be able to ford it, as the channell was wide and the current swift.
Coming to a place where there .as not much underbrush, he made the attempt; but finding that he
woudd have to swim for some distance, he rode up to a fallen tree and dismounted and tightened
his girth, and as he was about to mount old Carley broke away, dashed into the stream amidst
floating driftwood, leaving him perched upon the log nearly half a mile from the land. Old barley
could be heard snorting and splashing through the water. After while he whinnied, and repeated
several times, when father called to him " Come Charley," and he soon heard 'him returning,
snorting andwhinneyingg, and came up to him, and stopped close alongside of the g, ready for
him to mount ; which he did. Letting him have the brile, he plunged into the stream and swam
with him safely to the shore. On coming to the shore his tracks were seen where he had waited
until father called. They reached Shane's Crossings, and were welcomed by :squire Greaves, who
was the first white settler of Shanesville, and kept Evers in a log house near the river. Father
continued his. journey, tkingg four days to reach Columbus, and having to swim theLoramiee,
Mad River, and Big Darby ; crossed Miami at Piqua in a boat simming the horse ; the Scioto, in
Sullivan's Ferry, at the foot of road Street, Columbus: On the adjournment of the Legislature. he
eteredd into the political, campaign, making speeches in favor of John Qincy Adams for
President, whose nomination by the Legislature he as the means of procuring, riding Old Charley
nearly all over the tate. When at home we frequently turned him into the woods. On one occasion
a number of gentlemen en route to Fort Wayne, viz., Henry Clay, Judge Bennett, Gen. John
Tipton, and Capt. Hackles, stopped overnight. Their horses were put in the stable. Old Charley
came up, let down the bars, pulled out the pin that fastened the stable-door, rove them all out, and
took possession. The horses were caught after sverall days' chasing. Upon my father's removal to
New York he was sold to the Hon. John Johnston, Indian agent at Piqua, and became their family
horse, and lived to be forty-one years old. All believed he posessedd the power of reason, and
anticipated the wants of his friends.
The second settler in Willshire was Mr. Roswell Riley, from Middletown,Cronnecticutt, with his
wife and three children. He was my father's a brother, ship-builder arnd carpenter, and came for
the purpose of building boats suitable for navigating the river, lake, and Erie Canal. He Tilt the
first house in Willshire, a two-story hewed log, towards thenortheastt side of the square, on high
ground. He came in 1822, and so his wife's brother, Mr. Reese Chapman (single man),
millwright; Ali Worked upon the mill. John. O'Donnell, wife, and children ; John Lewis, and
wife, Canada ; Peter Keller and wife, .Quebec ; Jonathan Lewis, Sr. and Jonathan Lewis, Jr. ; Dr.
Edmiston and wife, Chillicothe, Ohio, first doctor ; David Troutner, wife, and sons Joseph and
Philip, Pennsylvania; James Walcott, wife and two children, Connecticut. He came to run the
mill, claiming to be a miller. He built the first frame or plank house on the bluff, south side of the
plat. His wife the was the daughter of Capt. Woods, who was stolen when a child and raised by
the Indians, and married a chief's daughter. He fought for the Americans in the war of 1812 under
Gen. Harrison, and rendered great service, and received large grants of land near Fort Wayne and
Fort Meigs. He had four daughters, who were educated at Lexington, Ky. One married Capt.
Hackley ; another Capt Turner, and lived on their reservation, across the St. Marys, opposite Fort
Wayne. The youngest, about sixteen in 1826, lived with Mrs. Walcott, at Wiltshire, an educated
young lady. All the families lived in cabins on the town plat, except Troutner and Keller,
squatters on lands near by.
Of settlers on farms besides Capt. Riley's, Mr. Stephen Louis and son commenced a clearing on
the east bank of the St. Marys, about half a mile north, and built a small plank house, where they
raised several crops of corn and potatoes in 1822-23. Then a Mr. Hoover settled on the road to
Shane's Crossing, about a mile south of Wiltshire. He came from Pennsylvania, had a wife and
several children, and brought With him a tin-plate stove, the first one ever seen in the country—a
great curiosity. Next came Ansel Blossom, from Maine. He had a Wife named Mercy and a large
family. He had worked for father at a silver Spanish milled dollar a day and board until there was
due him one hundred dollars, with which father entered a tract of 80 acres for him adjoining his
on the east. He erected a log cabin, and moved in the fall, and commenced 'clearing. Having
nothing on which to live, he drew on father's provisions. He was so exact that every tree had to
be cut and the clearing exactly square, and not having got the square quite cleared he would not
plow it in the spring. He made a little garden and depended for the year's provisions upon father.
He had taught school in Maine and imagined himself a second Benjamin Franklin, and imitated
dim even to the sticking his thumbs in his waistcoat arm-holes, and on no account would go
faster. than a walk, even to escape a sudden thunder shower, as it was undignified to run. And to
make sure that his children would bear great names, I will give such of them as I can remember,
in the order of their ages I believe, viz. Horatio Gates, Edward Preble, Ira. Allen, Benjamin
Franklin, Smith Mathias, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams. Catharine Bethiah and
Mary—don't remember the other. Benjamin Worked for father, the rest clearing their land and
farming. The first wedding was that of Philip Troutner anti Miss Bolenbaugh, sister of Peter
Bolenbaugh, who had a farm at the crossing of Duck Creek.Aboutt a week. before Mr. Blossom
(by his own vote) became Justice of the Peace, and was entitled to perform the marriage
ceremony. Philip had postponed his nuptials rather than go to St. Marys or Fort Wayne, but one
morning the Squire on going to his milk-house saw a "Weathersfield kitten," 1. e., polecat,
quietly drinking milk from a milk-pan, when he very deliberately walked into the house and
asked Mercy to hand him the fire shovel; to her inquiry: " What do you want itfor?" hee replied,
"you'll be addressed presently;" he found the animal with his head over the pan, and brought the
shovel clown upon his neck,cramming his head into the milk, intending to drown him, but the
animal gave him such a sprinkling as to render him blind for a time, and to perfume his clothes,
including his only white cotton shirt, with a high shirt collar, which he wore on great occasions
starched, so as to give his bald head the appearance ofbeing, held up by the ears. He instantly
called for Mercy to help him into the house, and changed his clothes as soon as possible, and to
deodorize them by burying them. This caused Poor Phil, as he was called, to put off his wedding,
the whole settlement having heard of the Squire's battle with the oderiferous little animal. After
two weeks, thinking that the Squire's garments were in a condition to be worn on such an.
occasion, Phil presented himself at the Squire's for the purpose of engaging his services; but,
seeing that he had on his hickory shirt, was about to depart, when he finally mustered courage
and said: " Squire Blossom, have you a clean white shirt to put on?" to which, with becoming
dignity, he asked why; "wal, if you have, I want you to come out to Peter Bolenbaugh's
to-morrow night and marry me and his sister, I got the license of Riley in my pocket." "Mercy,
are my best shirts ironed ?" Being answered they would be in time, all were invited to the
wedding, and of course, all went, great and small. After the ceremony a sumptuous supper was
served under an arbor, ending with a dinner. Thus ended the first wedding in Van Wert County,
in the fall of 1822.
The first well ever dug, my mother had dug in front of our house, on the east side of the river,
opposite Willshire. It was dug down to the level of. the rock in the river, walled up with
limestone; was pure, good water, and I suppose is in use to-day. It was dug in the summer of
1822.
This determined Ansel Blossom to dig him a well. But as the stone for walling had to be hauled
over half a mile, and he had no team, and considered himself a great genius, he concluded to give
his well such a start, like a funnel, that it would not need to be walled particularly, as he found a
solid mass of blue clay. He commenced a hole about ten feet in diameter, and expecting to reach
water in thirty feet gave it the proper start to ;lave it when clone not over two feet at the bottom
which he expected to find solid rock like ours. All told him to prepare a wooden curb, and have
stone on hand ready to curb and wall it up as soon as he struck water. Mother offered him the
oxen and cart to haul the stone (father was surveying), but all to no purpose; he had dug near
thirty feet and came to hard pan; when hedreamedi that he struck a crow-bar down and struck
water. He did so; lost his crow-bar, and sure enough the water gushed up so fast that he had
barely time to climb out on the ladder he had used for carrying up the dirt, when it began to cave
in, and before night water rose to the top and ran over; the well caved in, and he was obliged to
fill it up again, as it was near his house. He concluded to try again. There was about six rods east
of his house a very large and thrifty beech tree, not less than three feet in diameter. He
philosophized upon the matter, and came to the conclusion that so thrifty a tree must have a large
body of water under it, and into which its tap-root penetrated, and that he would not have to dig
so deep by at least ten feet. He this time had his stone hauled and a wooden curb to put down to
keep out the quicksand, and commenced by cutting down the tree in the usual way, some two or
three feet above the ground, and instead of digging out the stump and getting it out of the way,
before digging his, well, he dug all around it, only leaving the " top roots" as he called them.
When he had got a large hole, some six feet deep, he cut off' the bottom roots without taking any
means to prevent the stump from falling over, which it did. Then he found that with all his boys
he could not move the stump, he came to borrow a yoke of oxen and chain ; he hitched the chain
to the stump, but the angle was so great that it was only pulled against the side; he and his boys
worked half a day, and finally the chain broke, and the cattle started for home, but as his dignity
(being Squire) would not let him run a few steps to stop them, they got into a full run, and, as the
chain. was broken, the hands at the mill feared that something dreadful had happened, and in
about half an hour the Squire very deliberately walked into the saw-mill with his thumbs in the
arm-holes of his vest, and his fingers meeting over his chest, and made known the difficulty. The
men took both yoke of cattle and more log chain, placed some sticks down the side of the stump,
and
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