KNOX COUNTY OHIO - Norton's History of Knox County [Chapter XVIII] ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Dave Ketterer Ketterer@empireone.net September 1, 2002 ************************************************ A History of Knox County, Ohio, From 1779 to 1862 Inclusive: Comprising Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes and incidents of men connected with the county from its first settlement: Together with complete lists of the senators, representatives, sherriffs, auditors, commissioners, treasurers, judges, justices of the peace, and other officers of the county, also of those who have served in a military capacity from its first organization to the present time, and also a sketch of Kenyon College, and other institutions of learning and religion within the county. By A. Banning Norton. Columbus: Richard Nevins, Printer. 1862 Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1862 by A. Banning Norton, In the Clerk’s office of the Southern District of Ohio. ____________________________________________ CHAPTER XVIII. CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY IN 1818. RUIN IMPENDING.--MUCH SUFFERING.--A FEW QUAINT ADVERTISEMTNS.--EFFORTS TO START A SASHATH-SCHOOL, AND TO SELL YOUNG LADIES I- HORSE-THIEVES AND COUNTERFEITERS ABOUND.--A JAIL-BIRD ESCAPES.--A CRIPPLE RUNS-HABEAS CORPUS TRIALS.-A GRAND CIRCULAR BUNT. THE palmy periods of Knox county, prior to 1820, were from 1808 until 1812, and from 1815 until 1818. In the intermediate time there was much depression and suffering caused by the war of 1812; and from the beginning of the year 1818, there was another period of deep gloom and distress caused by the scarcity of money, failure of banks, &c. For several years there was but slight influx of population, but little addition to the wealth of this section. The productions of the country were almost valueless in exchange for money, and it was with difficulty that they could be bartered for goods at the stores. The unfortunate speculation in which many of the most substantial citizens en- gaged, under the name of the Owl Creek Bank; the depreciation of the paper money making up the principal circulation, and the general lack of confidence throughout the country in all kinds of business operations, prevented much improvement being made in Knox county. Many of the then settlers became entirely discouraged and out of heart, pulled up stakes and returned to their old homes eastward, or sought better chances elsewhere in the new country. Almost all whom we have conversed with, say that the most dull and gloomy times they have witnessed since the last war with Great Britain, were between the years 1818 and 1825. During this period we find numberless suits instituted, and judgments obtained, by "The Granyule Alexandrian Society," "The German Bank of Wooster," "The Owl Creek Bank," and other like institutions, against the Vores, and Farquhars, and Strongs, and Smiths, and Browns, and Martins, and Hawns, and Winships and others, of the older class of settlers. The mere mention of this fact, in connection with matter developed in our Owl Creek Bank history, will be sufficient upon this subject to convey an idea of the sad condition of affairs at that period. To other matters, then, we will revert. And first, as to the other business disposed of by the Court in 1818. The Grand Jury, at the April term, found bills of indictment against fourteen persons. For affrays, the Court lined Wm. Wright $1, and costs; Wm. Herrod and Simon Anderson $3 each, and costs. At the July term, six bills were returned by the Grand Jury; and forfights, Sylvester Buxton and Daniel Baxter were each lined $3, and costs. Except Michael Harter, no new person makes application to keep tavern, and none to sell goods-the houses of Burr, Green & Co., and Moody and McCarty, being simply altera- tions in style of firms. And for six years so few changes were made in these or other branches of business, that we desist from further detail of Court proceedings. The legal termination of Clinton's existence is the only court matter left to be recorded on this page. The Court, on the 17th of April, heard the petition of Samuel H. Smith, Ichabod Marshal, Elihu S. Webster, Lathrop Shurtliff, John P. McArdle, Benjamin Barney and Richard Ayres, for vacation of a part of the town of Clinton, and granted the prayer. Shortly after this the Post-Office at Clinton is discontinued, and it rapidly goes into decline. Miss Ann Davis is the second milliner advertised in Mount Vernon. "She is to be found at the house of James Smith, Esq., on Gay street; and will alter straw hats of old date to any fashion, and has straw on hand for a few hats." As the people are becoming still more fashionable, another milliner makes her appearance-and she has the advantage over the others of being "Mantua-maker" and "Florist." Mary Lindsey is at the house of Benjamin Martin, corner of Vine and Market streets. March 18th, 1818, witnesses the opening out of the first "Man-tor- mentor," as the natives then pronounced the word in Mount Vernon. Burr, Green & Co., having bought a stock of goods of Mr. Norton, in January, advertise that they will sell as low as formerly for Owl Greek paper, or approved country produce, but no credit given. In April, 1818, a two-column address was published in favor of establishing a Sabbath School in Mount Vernon- arguing that "it would be much better for young men to instruct the children, instead of haunting the taverns from morning till night;" and saying that "a respectable company of young ladies in town intend to associate themselves together for the purpose of forming a Sabbath school." James Smith issues an advertisement so characteristic of himself, and characteristic of the times, that we give it in his own words: "New Goods for Sale.-James Smith has just received and offers for sale a general assortment of Merchandise. In the house of Mr. Gilman Bryant, he will sell low for CASH in hand, or country produce delivered, but no credit given. OWL Creek paper will he received at par; Granville, Wooster, New Lisbon, and Canton will be received at the present. Clerk's Office removed to this stand, and YOUNG LADIES FOR SALE at seventy-five cents each." About the time the Owl Creek Bank was in its glory, sundry citizens of the northern part of Knox county and of Richland and Huron concluded to grow suddenly rich in like manner. Accordingly they met at 1~iansfield in September, 1816, and associated themselves as the Bank of Richland and Huron. Having consulted upon the subject, in October they put their schemes into articles, and Daniel Ayres, John Garrison, Winn Winship, Wm. Webster, Wm. B. James, Wilson IElliott, Matthew Kelly, Alexander McGaffick, Plum Sutliff, Sanniel Williams, Wm. W. Cotgreave, Wm. Dean Mann, Geo. Veuneman, Jacob Ozenbaugh and Joseph Williams take stock, and act as Com- missioners. They got fairly to work in Owl Creek style, and gave through the paper frequent notices reading thus- "Wilson Elliott, Cashier, notifies stockholders to pay ten per centum on the amount of stock subscribed, being the fourth installment, within 60 days. Also those who have been accommodated with loans, will be prepared to pay in 25 per cent. on the renewal of their notes" The paper of the "Granville Alexandrian Society" had, about those times, a large circulation among our citizens, and as this institution has subsequently acquired almost as great notoriety as the Owl, we give a few lines of our history to its origin. A number of the Granvillians having become desirous of handling money faster than the hard money allowed, associated themselves together in 1806 to make paper money. Among this number were Timothy Rose, Timothy Spelman, Elias Gil-man, Samuel Thrall, Job Case, Samuel Rose, Samuel Bancroft, John Duke, Hiram Rose and Jeremiah R. Munson. On the third day of January, 1807, an act of incorporation was obtained, and the persons first named were constituted the first Board of Directors; and for many years this organization manufactured what they called money. The country was filled with other worthless and irresponsible bank paper, and a great deal of that counterfeit, too. "Shinplasters," as now termed, were manufactured wherever type and printing-ink could be got. We have one of the kind made at the Register office in Mount Vernon, by McArdle, to fill an order from a stranger named Isaao Foster. They were printed on common letter paper. Two quires of eighty- seven and a half cents and two quires of seventy-five cents were issued. Mr. A. Liggett, Teller of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Pittsburgh, wrote to IL. S. Silliman, Cashier of the Owl Creek Bank: "There is no doubt but the person getting the checks you mention printed is doing so without the knowledge of Mr. Ross, for the purpose of defrauding the public. If you can, without any trouble, put a stop to it, be good enough to do so." McArdle had printed them the 7th of December, and it was not until January that the Cashier had been heard from. ' Excitement ran high "on change," and with those who had taken these change tickets. Those were terrible times on Owl Creek! Just before this occurrence, the men of commerce had been greatly alarmed by counterfeit silver dollars being put in circulation in the county, and in preference paper had assumed a prominence in the public estimation. A man named Daniel Wolgamott was arrested, and lodged in the jail of the county, for attempting to pass twelve base and counterfeit dollars, purporting to be silver. And Robert Walker was arrested for having attempted to pass one counterfeit dollar. A warrant was also issued for one William Coffran, for being concerned in making and passing counterfeit dollars, purporting to be silver, founded on an affidavit of the prisoner, Wolgamott. Coffran was a shoemaker by trade, and, notwithstanding he was quite lame, made his escape. The community believed him guilty. Wolgamott, or Vulgamott, as Sheriff Shaw called him, remained in his lodgings (the jail) about a month, when, between dark and daylight one night, he "left his bed and board;" and the Sheriff offered $45 reward for the capture of a" man six feet high, dark complexion, dark hair, and has a downcast look "-but all in vain; the place that had known him shall know him no more forever! Horse-thieves abounded more in Knox county at this time than at any other period of its history. Scarcely a day passed without an account of some new depredation. Among the number were two fine mares stolen from the stable of Elijah Adams, in Morris township, for which he offered $40 reward; also a reward for the thief, "who no doubt belongs to the gang of thieves who have so long labored in their vocation of taking away horses from their honest owners without leave, and passing counterfeit money through this State." Two shoemakers by trade, who passed by the names of Richie and Ryan, alias Austin and Scott, were of this gang; and also one John Crawford, who was caught with a horse stolen from Fairfield county, tried, and sentenced to six years imprisonment in the Penitentiary. A horse-thief was followed till near Hanary's Block-house; but by leaving the horse, rode down and made good his escape. Another horse-thief, followed beyond Radnor, left a horse dead in the road from hard driving. It was the custom then for men to make common cause, and hunt for each other's horses as soon as they heard of a theft being committed; for no one knew then but what it would be his turn to suffer next. Anti- horse-stealing associations were got up, and neighbors sympathized with each other, upon the principle that "a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind." HABEAS CORPUS. The first writ of habeas corpus was allowed "by the Honorable John H. Mefford, Esq.," April 26th, 1819. John Shaw, Sheriff, brought into the Courthouse the body of Amos Yarnall, with the mittimus, showing the cause of his caption and detention. Sam'l. Mott, Esq., appeared as his attorney, and on his motion, after the attorney for the State had duly considered the matters in law arising, thc Court let him to bail in the sum of $50. James Smith his security. The second case, that of Wm. Knight, who, on the 8th of July, 1819, was brought to the Courthouse, and by Judge Mefford admitted to bail in the sum of $50; Alexander Elliott becoming his bondsman. The third case occurred April 3d, 1820, when Judge Joseph Brown set at large Abel Fowler, upon Artemas Estabrook and Alfred Manning becoming his security for his appearance at the May term of Knox Common Pleas, in the sum of $50. In this year an interesting case was presented in allowance of a writ, on the 20th of November, by Judge Brown, requiring John Bird and Judah Bird to bring into Court the body of an Indian child, daughter of Rachel Conkapote, deceased, by her husband, Elisha Conkapote, both Indians of the Stockbridge tribe. Judges Young and Chapman also appeared, and the whole Court lent itself to an impartial examination of the case, which resulted in their leaving the little Indian in the bands of the Birds, John and Judah. This little Indian was daughter of the squaw killed, as related in chapter xxi. This was perhaps the most interesting case heard upon writ of this character, until the great military case of Col. Warden, which was tried upon writ issued in name of the State vs. Wm. E. Davidson. "By Judge James Elliot, September 27th, 1837. "1837 Davidson, Provost Marshal of the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, Ohio Militia (late 4th Brigade, 7th Division, 0. M.), in pursuance of an order by Brigadier-General Wm. Bevans (commander of said Brigade), and upon action of a Court Martial, now in session in Mt. Vernon, convened by order of Said Gen. Wm. Bevans, on Monday, Sept. 25th, 1837. Col. H. W. Strong, President of Board. Discharged by said James Elliott, Judge, &c." Another case, of much interest, at a still later period, was about the two dwarfs-of Porter's wife held, it was claimed, illegally by Warner. Upon hearing, however, the Court did not think so, and they remained in custody of the showman, at last accounts. The writ of habeas corpus became a favorite resort in liquor cases, where parties were, as they thought, unjustly persecuted and cast into prison, by fines imposed upon temperance principles. During the administration of his Honor Judge Bevans, more writs of habeas corpus were granted than in all the rest of our history put together. To such an extent was it carried, that he acquired the sobriquet of Old Habeas Corpus. The venerable Judge always leaned towards the side of suffering humanity. If he erred in judgment, it was because no work upon the subject had been published at that date. Our townsman, ,Judge Hurd's work on Habeas Corpus, did not get into prilit until the year 1858. SPORTS AND CIRCULAR HUNTS. From the earliest period in our history, hunting, horse- racing, and athletic sports, were freely indulged in by our people. Many, very many of these festive occasions have been lost sight of or clltirely for gotten by the great majority of those now living, who in these later days have become wholly absorbed in money-making pursuits, and have ceased to think that man was made to rejoice as well as to mourn. Our Owl Creek settlers, the old pioneers, bless their memories, believed that there is a tune for all things, and that sports of the turf, circular hunts, etc., were not interdicted. In truth, we are constrained to say that very many of the old set believed in such sports all the time. A grand circular hunt came off in 1818, wherein tire natives of Knox and Coshocton vied with each other for the mastery. At an early hour of the day appointed for the frolic, the people commenced gathering in on the lower part of Owl Creek; and when the companies were formed under their cap-talus, more than 1500 people were present. The drive was from our county towards the town of 16 Coshocton, and when finally the ring was drawn in, from 300 to 500 deer and many wolves were bagged. It was a glorious day that-remembered with pride by all who participated in it. Our old friend Joe Hull, of Monroe, was one of the captains, and it can well be imagined that he enjoyed it hugely.