OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 175 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 01 : Issue 175 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Canal ["MaggieOhio" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <006801c147f5$33a697c0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Canals -- Part 7 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 6:18 PM Subject: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Canals -- Part 7 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Sept. 12, 2001 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Ohio's Canals -- Part 7. *********************************************** Ohio's Canals -- Part 7. The Pennsylvania & Ohio-- ( also called The Mahoning Canal ) The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal was begun in 1835 and completed in 1840. It extended from Akron across the Ravenna Summit, down the Cuyahoga and Mahoning Rivers to junction with the Beaver & Erie Canal just south of New Castle, Pennsylvania. It was about 83 miles long. It was eventually abandoned and sold in 1877. This canal system was also called " the Mahoning Canal " because for most of its length it traveled akong the valley of the Mahoning River, and called Cross Cut because it crossed this part of Ohio to Pennsylvania from west to east. It was privately financed due mostly because the State felt that they should not directy finance a canal that went into another State. This Canal opened up distant markets to farmers and encouraged the development of the iron ore industry that was to be the backbone of development in the Mahoning Valley. Contracts were let for half mile sections August 20, 1835 when two engineers, Dodge and Harris drove iron stakes into te exact center of the Portage Summit, 1 1/4 miles west of Ravenna. On April 3, 1840 the " Mohawk " of Beaver and the " Tippecanoe " of Warren journeyed the full length of the canal. The canal officially opened on August 4,1840 amidst much celebration. The canal route was 82 miles long, 73 1/2 in Ohio, requiring 54 locks and a lift of 424 feet. 50 of these locks were in Ohio. It required 2 aqueducts, 9 dams and 57 road bridges. Locks were the standard 15 feet by 90 feet, but unlike most of the locks on the other canals, were built and finished and dressed stone. A few were the normal composite lock of rough stone with plank lined chambers and one was entirely wood. Several feeder canals supplied the canal mainline. These were the Little Cuyahoga Feeder ( 7 miles ) which was navigable and begun at the feeder dam in Shalersville, running south to connect with the Pennsylvania & Ohio just west of Ravenna and requiring three locks and an aqueduct and the South Feeder ( 9 miles ) which provided extra water to the smmit level and was navigable for one mile to Muddy Lake and one required lock. Akron -- The west terminus was at the Lower Basin on the Ohio & Erie in south Akron. It stepped down one lock cross the Little Cuyahoga and then ascended a staircase of nine locks. Cuyahoga Falls -- From here it ran along the south bank of the Big Cuyahoga through Monroe Falls and Franklin Mills. Kent -- It then entered the river itself through the Lower Lock because the gorge at Kent was too steep. The river provided a slackwater of about a mile before the canal ascended out of the river at the Upper Lock, which had a 19 foot rise. The canal then followed the valley of Breakneck Creek, crossing to its north bank. Ravenna -- Here the eastern division of the canal entered the valley of the East Branch of the Mahoning River running along the bank through Campbell and Newport, crossing to the souh bank just below McClintocksburg. Newton Falls -- Here the canal crossed the East Branch on a stone aqueduct with three 50 foot spans. reaching the valley of the Mahoning, it followed the south bank. Warren -- It crossed upon slackwater to the north bank of the river and traveled along the Niles, Girard, Youngstown, Campbell and Lowellville, where it entered Pennsylvania, still running along the north bank of the Mahoning River. It crossed the Shenango River on an aqueduct and joined the Beaver Division of the Beaver & Erie Canal at the Western Reserve Basin, 7 miles south of New Castle. PA. Several problems or obstacles had to be overcome in the construction of the canal. These, however, were relatively few as the majority of the route was favorable for the building of a canal. One especially difficult problem was the steep gorge on the Cuyahoga River at Frankin Mills. It was decided to deepen and widen the gorge at this point by blasting. The legendary Cuyahoga Rapids thought to be where Captain Samuel Brady leaped across the Cuyahoga to escape a group of angry Indians, was sacrificed and destroyed for the purpose of progress of this canal. Work on the canal was stopped in 1837 due to a Cholera epidemic which killed workers between April 30th and September 15th of that year. Construction resumed in 1838 with the western division and the branch to Middlebury finished in 1839. ********************************************* to be continued in part 8. ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Fw_ Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Fw_ Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2.eml" X-Message: #2 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 04:22:55 -0400 From: "MaggieOhio" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <007301c147f7$65dd9840$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 4:51 PM Subject: Know Your Ohio -- Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Sept 26, 2001 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2 *********************************************** Ohio's Railroads -- Part 2 The decade opened upon an era of great economic prosperity, which was fostered by the influenece of the Mexican War and territorial expansion. Long wagon trains were threading their way over mountains and plain to the far west, seeking homesteads and California gold. Arriving in Ohio on their westward way, many of them who came overland or by waterway chose to stay, believing that the florishing state offered immediate opportunity. Agriculture, the stagecoach, and the Ohio Canal had given many villages a healthy start. and for several decades their future was more promising. In the race of pre-eminence, Clevelands strategic position on lake and canal had given it the lead in the Western Reserve with population, with the growth almost thiirty times the 1820 census. Railroad building had been paramount in the news since 1849. After about fifteen years of desperate struggle on the part of promoters, rails of iron joined Columbus and Cincinnati with Cleveland making the later the terminus of several great systems. By 1851, the wood-fired, brass trimmed Cleveland locomotive, built in Ohio City. made her initial run from Columbus into the little wood frame depot on Superior Street hill, representing a victory over public antagonism, financial misfortune, and extreme construction difficulties. By 1852, three sturdy little trains called the " Beebe Line " were operating daily each way on the 4 foot 10 inch gauge road between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. Industry had made a great forward stride; the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company in Ohio City was building locomotives, and Otis and Ford were producing forgings and axels. In this year, Alfred Kelley, retired as President of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cinncinnai Railroad and was succeeded by Henry B. Payne. Ohio and Indiana roads that were enduring financial struggles, survived through Kelley's and Payne's aid of money and credit. While their policies was criticized, the revitalized lines encouraged communities and increased land values. Eventually, some of them came into their benfactor's fold. While builders of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh railroad were not aware of the possibilities of trade in iron ore, they estimated that the line would move about a thousand tons of coal a day, a figure that soon was surpassed. In the early fifties. word went out that a trainload of coal was to be hauled into Cleveland. Four or five hundred people traveled out to the railroad shop ( at East 38th and Hamilton ) where they joined the few company employees in cheering the first coal train-- ten flat cars loaded with one hundred tons. The next morning, the newspapers predicted that Cleveland was destined to become the "boomtown" of America. The Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railroads had reached the Ohio River in 1853. Ten small roads between Albany and Buffalo were consolidated the same year into the New York Central Railroad, capitalized at the staggering sum of twenty-three million dollars. Rails thus welded the east and west. Vague charters permitted building only to state lines, making necessary the granting of charters in various states in order to make interstate connections. Believing that the monster belching smoke and sparks would run their lands, farmers and property owners placed obstructions on the tracks to hinder operations. Hauled into court, railroad companies found no sympathy at first in the juries. The railroads were binding waterways and valleys of the North together. Along the lakeshore, little lines were being united in the late fifties, but safe " through " service was retarded by the narrow guage policy in Ohio, as against standard guage in Indiana and New York. Changing cars was burdensome for travelers and unpopular. It was difficult to maintain schedules, particularly in bad weather. Cars often jumped the tracks, and trains were delayed by stray animals, fallen trees, and obstructions. Night traveling was hazardous, and accidents due to washouts and threats that lurked in the darkness often brought disaster before hand brakes could be applied. As the roads slowly ironed out their problems. competition grew and petty rate wars broke out, increasing in volume until they threatened to destroy some of the roads. Despite many hardships, the railroad developed rapidly, stimulating manufacturing and revolutionizing transportation and communication. Days of romantic stagecoach travel were numbered. The blast of the driver's horn that woke the early wilderness was replaced by the discordant whistle of the furnace-feeding engineer. As the trails of commerce shifted and the move to the cities increased, stage towns on state roads and turnpikes began to decay, taverns suffered, and weary stagecoaches were consigned to obscure mail routes between railroad towns and distant villages. Stages continued to operate regularly for some time between Cleveland and near-by points. It took men to build the railraods. If financing them brought problems to their promoters, their actual contruction brought accidents, disease and sometimes death to their builders. few of the early lines were completed without interruption. What little machinery they had was primative. Most of the jobs were done by muscles and hands of men. The rails -- the first were iron straps laid on timbers-- in many cases had to be shipped from England, and delays in delivery dragged out schedules by months and sometimes years. These men were tough and braved out many long days and weeks of hardship as they traveled to lay these rails. Most without families and some with families who followed to be close. Washer women and cooks followed the men, oft time without any revenue, only to be close to their husbands as they prodded on, laying these long tedious rails. The intensity, the bitterness with which neighbor communities competed, each to bring the railroad through its area, is hard to visualize. As the fever of railroad building swept over Ohio, each community felt like it was fighting for its life. As the railroads built their way, it brought jobs, business and prosperity. If the railroad passed them by, so did progress. Large acreage was bought, surveyed, and graded a right of way by business men and bankers, many offering the strip as a gift to the railroads to bring prosperity to their communities. Securities were sold, to gain capitol to induce the building through their towns. The fever had reach Ohio, with the snorting iron horse. who brought arts, refinements, and the circus of P.T. Barnum, who traveled much over the state in the cars. Although the Federal Government encouraged the develpment of the railroads, they did not make grants to Ohio like they did with the canals. Ohio built its railroads without help from Washington. Financing was not easy. Sources of capital, tended to fall into a general pattern, 1/3 of the investment was raised in the East by sale of bonds. about 1/6 came from municipal funds, 1/5 was put up by the promoters themselves, and the balance came in the way of loans and investments. Stocks were sold. Many lived to collect on them but others did not, as they financed their way into a industrialized Ohio. The land they made into one of the fastest growing States in the Union. The Railroads of Ohio--- Akron, Canton & Youngstown -- " The Road of Service " Baltimore & Ohio -- " Linking 13 Great States With the Nation " Bessemer & Lake Erie -- " The Bessemer Route " Chesapeake & Ohio -- " C&O For Progress" Detroit, Toledo & Ironton -- " DT&I" Erie New York Central System -- Nickle Plate -- " Nickle Plate Road " Norfolk & Western -- " N&W Railway " Pennsylvania Pittsburg & Lake Erie -- " Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad " Pittsburg & West Virginia -- " Pittsburg & West Virginia Railway " Southern Railway System -- " The Southern Serves The South " Wabash -- " Follow The Flag " *********************************************** ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Fw_ Know Your Ohio --Ohio's Early Railroads -- Part 1.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Fw_ Know Your Ohio --Ohio's Early Railroads -- Part 1.eml" X-Message: #3 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 04:19:06 -0400 From: "MaggieOhio" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <007201c147f7$65ab3da0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Know Your Ohio --Ohio's Early Railroads -- Part 1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 6:08 PM Subject: Know Your Ohio --Ohio's Early Railroads -- Part 1 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Sept 25, 2001 *********************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Ohio's Early Ralroads -- Part 1 *********************************************** Ohio's Early Railroads -- Part 1 Demise of the Canals and the Railroads Beginnings-- It was in January of 1832, history had been made in the Ohio Legislature. On the table lay Ohio's first effective railroad charter, that of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. The legislators on that day launched the era of railroad building in Ohio and in so doing, they rang up the curtain on a stage where thousands of dramas were to be played. The actors were Ohio's foremost citizens. One of these men was Alfred Kelley, the banker-lawyer-statesmen from Cleveland and Columbus, who had been called the " Financier and builder of the Ohio Canals." This brilliat man had the touch of greatness in that he could peer, even briefly, into the future. In this future, he saw, the railroads, weaving a network of transportation across the state, and he and his associates put their hands to the added building of that future. The early thirties, however, were an era of many false starts and day dreams in Ohio. Between 1830 and 1837 sixty nine charters were issued by the state legislature. The vast majority of the railroads to which these charters were granted never broke ground. and some of those started never finished. Most of them withered for lack of capital. Some lacked the leadership of strong men, which was vital in the opening rounds of construction. Others were crushed by the great panic of 1837, which turned off the faucet of enthusiasim and money supply of many canal companies as well of the young railroads. Although it became increasingly evident that there was a future in the Ohio empire. The railroad became that future. The vision of Alfred Kelley and others, were about to be realized. After that day on the fourth of July of 1825, and Newark was bursting with people and pride, when Governor Dewitt Clinton of New York bowed to Governor Jeremiah Morrow of Ohio and presented his orientation amongst the cheers of the people, and turned the first spadeful of earth for the Ohio Canal, that was to unite Lake Erie with the Ohio River, did Sandusky realize that they had just lost out to Cleveland in a grim legislative battle over the location of the northern terminus of the canal. Sanduskians were filled with gloom. One of the citizens replied to others " Let them celebrate. One of these days Sandusky will build something that will put their noses out of joint... maybe one of those railroads like they are starting over in England, with a steam engine on wheels to pull it. The papers say it even goes 12 miles an hour. That would be at least three times as fast as these canal boats." At the end of his Senatorial term, Alfred Kelley was elected President of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company, which enterprise he was actively engaged upon until it was finished. In 1837, he also accepted the presidency of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, and carried on that work with his usual energy and ability, his labors in the construction of these railroads being only surpassed by those upon the Ohio Canal. With his own hands, he dug the first shovelful of earth and laid the last rail. In 1850, he was chosen President of the Cleveland, Painsville and Ashtabula Railroad Company [ afterward absorbed in the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern] and was soon actively engaged in the construction of that road. During this period of time, occurred the famous riots of Erie and Harbor Creek, in opposition to the construction of the road through Pennsylvannia. The success of the company in this contest was largely due to Alfred Kelley's efforts. After the completion of these roads, he resigned the Presidency of their respective companies, but continued an active director in them to the time of his death. It was this hardy kind, who carved the State of Ohio out of the wilderness that was the Northwest Territory. Canal Tolls increased steadily until 1840, when they were $532,688 and set an all time high of $ 799,029 in 1861. However competition for the canals developed with construction of roads like the National Road, and particularly from the now efficient, cheap railroads. Even though tolls were lowered to encourage use, the steady decline continued in good part because of an agressive campaign by privately owned railroads to take business from the canal system. Railroads had several advantages. They were even cheaper than canal transport, more direct, faster, and had no interuption for weather, being a year around service. The first railroad from Lake Erie to the Ohio River began operating in 1848, just three years after the completion of the Miami and Erie canal, and the Cleveland-Coumbus-Cincinnati line began service in 1851. By 1849, Ohio's debt from Internal Improvements [ this included canals, railroads, and roadways ] was $16,880,982. This debt was labeled the " Irreducible Debt." The canals were profitable in that they raised enough revenue from tolls to pay the interest on these loans. Therefore, in 1851, the Assembly passed a sinking fund [ a tax ], to pay the debt. By 1856, canal expenditures were more than revenues coming in. Debts began to rise. Throughout the eastern U.S., states began to default on their interest payments and to repudiate their debts. However, Ohio was the only State to fully pay her entire Canal debt although it took until 1903 to do so, mostly through this tax and because of a loan made by the Canal builder, Alfred Kelley, who in turn acquired at loan, in New York, against his own assets, and loaned them to Ohio. Although the canals were not truly profitable in the financial sense, they were immensely profitable to the people of Ohio and the economic growth and wealth of the State. It was not till that time that Ohioans functioned on a cash rather than on a barter system. It was probably the single influence to the expansion and growth of Ohio, between 1840 1nd 1850. It was thought at first that railroads would only join areas that were inaccessible by canal. The railroads however, went out of their way to attack the canals instead of bidding their time and letting experience prove their superiority. They began rate wars, undercutting wherever possible the rates of the slower canal system. These wars led to an act in 1852 that required railroads adjacent to or in the vicinity of a canal to charge a uniform rate. The railroads refused to adhere to the law and the canals' fate seemed inevitable. In 1861, the state leased the canals to private enterprise, but by 1878 the leasees returned the canals to the state in a much deteriorated condition. Eventually the unprofitable systems were sold off, mostly to the railroads who acquired the rights-of-way and the terminals, or were abandoned. In some cases the cities took them over for streets and sewers and etc. *********************************************** To be continued in part 2. ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Bio_ Zebulon Pike, Pike county.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Bio_ Zebulon Pike, Pike county.eml" X-Message: #4 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:03 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152503.0069b4b4@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: Bio: Zebulon Pike, Pike county Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol II" by Henry Howe. Published in 1888. Page 420 Zebulon Montgomery Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike, from whom Pike county was named, was born i Lamberton, N.J., January 5, 1779, and died in York (now Toronto), Canada, April 27, 1813. His father was a captain in the Revolutionary army; was in St. Clair's defeat in 1791, and was brevetted a lieutenant-colonel in the regular army. His son was an ensign in his regiment, and while serving as such was an earnest student of Latin, French and mathematics. After the Louisiana purchase had been made from the French, Pike, who had been promoted to the grade of lieutenant, was given command of an expedition to trace the Mississippi to its source. Leaving St. Louis in August, 1805, he returned after nine months of hardship and exposure, having satisfactorily accomplished the service. In 1806-7, while engaged in geographical explorations, he discovered Pike's Peak in the Rocky mountains, and reached the Rio Grande river. He and his party were arrested on Spanish territory and taken to Santa Fe, but were subsequently released. He arrived at Natchitoches in July,1807, recieved thanks of the government, and three years later published an account of his explorations. In 1813 he was placed in command of an expedition against York (now Toronto), Canada. His troops had taken one of the redoubts, which had been constructed by the enemy for defence, and arrangements were being carried forward for an attack upon another redoubt, when the magazine of the fort exploded, and Gen. Pike was fatally wounded, surviving but a few hours. Tina The Ohio Biographies Project http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/Ohio/mnpg.html ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Bio_ Robert Lucas - Pike county.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Bio_ Robert Lucas - Pike county.eml" X-Message: #5 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:06 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152506.006914b4@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: Bio: Robert Lucas - Pike county Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol II" by Henry Howe. Published in 1888. Page 420 Robert Lucas Robert Lucas was born in Shepherdstown, Va., April 1, 1781. His father was a captain in the Revolutionary army and a descendant of William Penn. The son removed to Ohio in 1802 and settled near the mouth of the Scioto, where Portsmouth now stands. He raised a battalion of volunteers for the war of 1812;served as a brigadier-general, and saw considerable service at Fort Meigs and Lower Sandusky. He removed to Piketon, and there, in connection with his brother, conducted a general store. He was several times elected to the Ohio Senate and House, serving as Speaker of the latter. In 1832 he presided over the Democratic National Convention that nominated Andrew Jackson for a second term. The same year he was elected Governor of Ohio, defeating his opponent, Gen. Duncan McArthur, by one vote. In 1834 he was re-elected Governor. while Governor the "Toledo War" occurred, and he successfully maintained the Ohio side of teh controversy. In 1848 he was appointed by President Van Buren the first Territorial Governor of Iowa. He died in Iowa City, Iowa, February 7, 1853. Tina The Ohio Biographies Project http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/Ohio/mnpg.html ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="Bio_ James Emmitt - Pike county.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Bio_ James Emmitt - Pike county.eml" X-Message: #6 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:09 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152509.00695bbc@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: Bio: James Emmitt - Pike county Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol II" by Henry Howe. Published in 1888. Page 420 James Emmitt James Emmitt was born in Armstrong county, Pa., November 6, 1806. His career is a striking example of what may be accomplished by persistent energy, industry and frugality. He removed to Ohio when a boy, and before he was 13 years of age was hired out to a farmer for the sum of $6 per month and board. He had the board, but the $6 were turned over to his father to aid him in his struggle to earn a home. Later he worked at blacksmithing at a country tavern; again at farm labor, and then as wood-chopper at $4 per month. From 1825 to 1828 he was a teamster between Portsmouth and Chillicothe. At 22 he engaged in a partnership with Mr. Henry Jefferds in a small grocery business in Waverly. In 1831 he wa appointed postmaster. The next year he bought a mill, and for the next forty years he gradually accumulated property interests, until the taxes he paid were one-tenth of the total tax receipts of Pike county, and one-half the pupulation of Waverly was employed in his various establishments, such as a bank, a store, a huge distillery, a furniture factory, a lumber yard and saw and grist-mills. He was the principal factor in the removal of the county-seat from Piketon to Waverly in 1861, and when this was accomplished he presented a fine court-house to the people. He served two years in the State Senate. His opportunities for an education were meagre, but his force of character, strong common sense and great energy made his success in life something almost phenomenal for a small place like Waverly. Mr. Emmitt is over six feet in height and almost gigantic in his proportions. For his recollections, he may be considered a walking history of Pike county, and from this source much herein is derived. Tina The Ohio Biographies Project http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/Ohio/mnpg.html ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="1913 flood - George Schaeffer.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="1913 flood - George Schaeffer.eml" X-Message: #7 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:12 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152512.0069a3e0@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: 1913 flood - George Schaeffer Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Story of the Great Flood and Cyclone Disasters" Ed. by Thomas H. Russell; 1913 Chapter IX pg 131 There is the story of George H. Schaeffer, a rescuer, who went out into the flood with a skiff and saved a woman and baby. "A house that had been torn from its foundation came floating up begind us," Schaeffer said. "The woman was frightened. I told her there was no danger. Suddenly she stood up and jumped over with her baby in her arms. She went straight down and never came up again." ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="1913 flood - Thuma & Myers family.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="1913 flood - Thuma & Myers family.eml" X-Message: #8 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:13 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152513.0069d574@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: 1913 flood - Thuma & Myers family Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Story of the Great Flood and Cyclone Disasters" Ed. by Thomas H. Russell; 1913 Chapter IX pg 133-4 Norma [Thuma] reached safety with Ralph Myers, his wife and their little baby. Myers had climbed the pole first. He let down a rope to his wife, who tied to it a meal sack which contained their baby, three months old. Myers pulled the rope with its precious burden up and then let it down again to aid his wife to ascend. With the meal sack over his shoulder and his wife behind him, Myers, holding onto two thin wires, walked across the cable a full block before he reached safety. ______________________________ ------=_NextPart_000_05F7_01C152C1.FF395E00 Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="1913 Flood - Cassidy.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="1913 Flood - Cassidy.eml" X-Message: #9 Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:25:14 -0500 From: Tina Hursh To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.20010928152514.0066c5cc@clubnet.isl.net> Subject: 1913 Flood - Cassidy Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >From "Story of the Great Flood and Cyclone Disasters" Ed. by Thomas H. Russell; 1913 Chapter IX pg 134 There was brought from the flood on Wednesday Mrs. James Cassidy and her three children. Mrs. Cassidy was grief-stricken over the report of the death of her husband by drowning. Even as she was being registered there was brought into headquarters a man who had to be held up and who was very wet. "Jim!" shrieked the woman. "That's you-it's you-you aren't dead!" Jim had been rescued from drowning. His return was the one bit of joy in the awful gloom at the rescue headquarters, where gathered the victims of flood, fire, and famine. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V01 Issue #175 *******************************************