OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 137 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 05 : Issue 137 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Tid Bits - Part 63A ["Ohio Archives EV1" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <006f01c5b728$ffc4ce70$0201a8c0@margaret> Subject: Fw: Tid Bits - Part 63A Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 5:53 PM Subject: Tid Bits - Part 63A Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Aug.1, 2005 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid Bits- Part 63A notes by S. Kelly +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits - part 63A Delaware County The name of the county originated from the Delaware tribe, some who dwelt within its limits, and had extensive corn fields adjacent to its seat of Justice. The true name of this once powerful tribe is " Wa-be-nugh-ka," that is, " the people from the east or the sun rising." The tradition among themselves is, that they originally, at some remote period, emigrated from the West, crossed the Mississippi, ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware river, near where Philadelphia now stands, in which region of country they became fixed. About this time, they were so numerous that no enumeration could be made of the nation of Delawares. They welcomed to the shores of the new world " the great lawgiver," William Penn, and his peaceful followers, and ever since they have entertained a kind and greatful recollection of them; and to this day, speaking of good men would say, " Wa-she-a, E-le-ne, " such a man is a Quaker, i.e., all good men are Quakers. Delaware County was formed from Franklin County Feb. 10, 1808. It lies north of Columbus. The surface is generally level and the soil clay, except the river bottoms. About one-third of the surface is adapted to meadow and pasture, and the remainder to the plough. The first settlement in the county was made May 1, 1801, on the east bank of the Olentangy, five miles below Delaware, by Nathan Carpenter and Avery Powers, from Chenango county, N.Y. Carpenter brought his family with him and built the first cabin near where the farmhouse now stands. The Power's family came towards Fall, but he had been out the year before to explore the country and select a location. In April, 1802, Thomas Celler, with Joseph McKinney, from Franklin County, Pa., moved in and settled two miles lower down, and in the fall of 1803 Henry Perry, from Wales, commenced a clearing and put up a cabin in Radnor, three fourths of a mile south of Delhi. In the spring of 1804, Aaron, John, and Ebnezer Welch [brothers] and Capt Leonard Monroe, from Chenango, N.Y., settled in Carpenter's neighborhood and the next fall Col. Byxbe and his company, from Berkshire, Mass., settled on Alum Creek, and named their township Berkshire. The settlement at Norton, by William Drake and Nathaniel Wyatt; Lewis settled, in Berlin, and the one at Westfield followed soon after. In 1804,Carpenter built the first mill in the county. It was a saw-mill with a small pair of stones attached, made of boulders, " or nigger heads," as they were commonly called. It could only grind a few bushels a day, but still it was a great advantage to the settlers. When the company was organized, in 1803, the following officers were elected; Avery Powers, John Welsh and Ezekiel Brown, commissioners; Rev. Jacob Drake, treasurer; Dr. Rueben Lamb, recorder, and Azariah Root, surveyor. The officers of the court were Judge Belt, of Chillicothe, president; Josiah M'Kinney, Thomas Brown and Moses Byxbe, associate judges; Ralph Osborn, prosecuting attorney; Solomon Smith, sheriff, and Moses Byxbe, Jr., clerk. The first session was held in a little cabin that stood north of the sulphur spring. The grand jury sat under a cherry-tree, and the petit jury in a cluster of bushes on another part of the lot, with their constables at a considerable distance to keep off intruders. This being a border county during the war, danger was apprehanded from the Indians, and a block house was built in 1812 at Norton, and another, still standing on Alum creek, seven miles east from from Delaware, and the present dwelling of L.H. Cowles, Esq., northeast corner of Main and William streets, was converted into a temporary stockade. During the war this county furnished a company of cavalry, that served several short campaigns as volunteers under Capt. Elias Murray, and several entire companies of infantry were called out from here at different times by Gov. Meigs, but the county was never invaded. Drake's Defeat After Hull's surrender, Capt William Drake formed a company of rangers in the northern part of the county to protect the frontier from maurauding bands of Indians who then had nothing to restrain them, and when Lower Sandusky was threatened with attack, this company, with great alacrity, obeyed the call to march to its defence. They encamped the first night a few miles beyond the outskirts of the settlement. In those days the captain was a great wag, and naturally very fond of sport, and being withal desirious of testing the courage of his men, after they had all got asleep, he slipped into the bushes at some distance, and, discharing his gun, rushed towards camp yelling " Indians ! Indians !" with all his might. The sentinels, supposing the alarm to proceed from one of their number, joined in the cry and ran to quarters; the men spang to their feet in complete confusion, and the courageous attempted to form on the ground designated the night before in case of attack; but the first lieutenant, thinking there was more safety in depending upon his legs than arms, took to his heels and dashed into the woods. Seeing the consernantion and impending disgrace of his company, the captain quickly proclaimed the hoax and ordered a halt, but the frightened Lieutenant's imagination converted every sound into Indian yells and the sanguinary war-whoop, and the louder the captain shouted, the faster he ran, till the sounds sank away in the distance and he supposed the captain and his adherents had succumbed to the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. Supposing he had been asleep a few minutes only, he took the moon for his guide and flew for home, but having had time to gain the western horizon, she led him in the wrong direction, and after breaking down saplings and running through brush some ten miles through the woods, he reached Radnor settlement at just about daybreak, bareheaded with his garments flowing in a thousand streams. The people, roused hurriedly from their slumber and horrified with his report that the whole company was massacred but him alone had escaped, began a general and rapid flight. Each conveyed the tidings to his neighbor, and just after sunrise they came rushing through Delaware, mostly on horse-back, many in wagons and some on foot, presenting all those grotesque appearances that frontier settlers natuarally would, supposing the Indians close in their rear. Many anecdotes are told, amusing now to us who can not realize their feelings, that exihibit the varied hues of courage and trepidation characterizing different persons, and also show that there is no diffence between real and supposed danger, and yet those actuated by the latter seldom receive the sympathy of their fellows. It is claimed that one family, named Perry, drove so fast that they bounced a little boy, two or three years old, out of the wagon, near Delaware, and did not miss him till they had gone approximately six miles on their way to Worthington, and then upon consultation concluded it was to late to recover him amid such imminent danger, and so yielded him up as a painful sacrifice! But the little fellow found protection from others. One woman, in the confusion of hurrying off, forgot her babe till after starting, and ran back to get it, but being particularly absent-minded she caught up a stick of wood from the chimney corner and hastened off, leaving her child sleeping in the cradle! A large portion of the people fled to Worthington and Franklinton, and some kept on to Chillicothe. Meanwhile, in Delaware the men who could be spared from conveying away their families, or who had none, rallied for defence and sent scouts to Norton to reconnoitre, where they found the people quietly engaged in their ordinary avocations, having received a message from the captain; but it was too late to save the other settlements from a precipitate flight. Upon the whole, it was quite an injury to the county, as a large amount of produce was lost from the intrusion of cattle and the want of hands to harvest it; many of the people being slow in returning and some never did. Capt Drake, with his company, marched on to Sandusky to execute the duty assigned him without knowing the effect produced in his rear. He has since been associate judge and filled several other offices in the county, and was still respected by his his neigbors and characterized by hospitality and good humor and his strong penchant for ancedote and fun. As stated before, Delaware was a border town and had considerable trade with the indians. It was common practice at the general stores to set out a bottle on each end of the counter for customers to help themselves gratuitously to enable them to purchase advantageously! Many people suffered hardships and endured privations that now would be insupportable. In the fall of 1803, Henry Perry, after getting up his cabin near Delhi, left his two sons and returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of his family, but finding his wife sick, and afterwards being sick himself could not get back till the next June. These two little boys, Levi and Pepper, only eleven and nine years old, remained there alone about eight months, fifteen miles from any white family, and surrounded by Indians, with no food but the rabbits they could catch in the hollow logs; the remains of one deer that the wolves killed near their cabin, and a little corn meal that they occasionally obtained of Thomas Cellar by following down the " Indian trace." The winter was a severe one, and their cabin was open, having neither daubing, fireplace, nor chimney; they had no gun, and were unaccustomed to forest life, being fresh from Wales, and yet these little fellows not only struggled through but actually made a considerable clearing. Jacob Frost, at an early day, when his wife was sick and could obtain nothing to eat that she relished, procured a bushel of wheat, and throwing it upon his shoulders carried it to Zanesville to get it ground, a distance of seventy-five miles, by the tortuous path he had to traverse, and then shouldering his flour retraced his steps home, fording streams and camping out nights. Col. Moses Byxbe Col Byxbe was for several years the most prominent man in the county, being the owner of some 8,000 acrs of valuable land in Berkshire and Berlin, and in joint owner with Judge Baldwin of about thirty thousand acres more, the sale of which he had the entire control. These were military lands which he sold on credit, at prices varying from two and a half to ten dollars an acre. He possessed complete knowledge of human nature, and was an energetic and prompt business man. Upon the organization of the county he was elected one of the associate judges, and continued to hold the office until 1822. He was afflicted with partial insanity before he died, which occurred in 1827, at the age of 67. Solomon Smith, Esq., was born in New Salem, N.H., and came to Delaware with Col Byxbe in 1804. He was the first sheriff in the county, and was the first justice of the peace in the township, which office he held, by repeated elections, more than twenty years. He was also the first postmaster, and continued many years in that capacity. The responsible offices of county treasurer and county auditor, he held also for many years, and discharged the duties of all these stations with an accuracy seldom excelled, and a fidelity never questioned. In him was exhibited an instance of a constant office-holder and an honest man, and for a long time he possessed more personal popularity than any other man in the county. He died of congestive fever, at Sandusky City, on his return from New York, July 10, 1845, in his 58th year, and his remains were brought to Delaware for interment. The Hon. Ezekiel Brown was born in Orange county, N.Y., in 1760, and moved to Northumberland county, Pa., when about ten years old. In 1776, he volunteered and marched to join Washington's army, which he reached just after the battle of Trenton. He participated in four different engagements, and in 1778 joined a company of rangers called out against the Indians. On May 24th when out scouting with two others, they came across a party of fifteen Indians watching a house, and were themselves discovered at the same moment. The Indians fired and killed one man, and Brown and his comrade instantly returned fire, wounding an Indian, and then fled. The other escaped, but he was not fleet enough, and was captured. They were the Delawares and Cuyagas, and first took him to Chemung, an Indian town on Tioga river, where he had to run the gauntlet, being badly beaten, and received a severe wound on his head from a tomahawk, but he suceeded in reaching the council-house without being knocked down. After a few days they resumed their march to the north, and met Col Butler with a large body of British, torries and Indians on their way to attack Wyoming, and he was compelled to run the guantlet again to gratify the savages. This time he did not get through, being felled by a war club and awfully mangled. He recovered and proceeded on to the main town of the Cayugas, where Scipio, N.Y. now stands, and having again passed the gauntlet ordeal successfully he was adopted by a family, in the place of a son killed at Fort Stanwix. Afterwards he was taken to Canada, and kept to the close of the war in 1783, when he received a passport from the British General, M'Clure, and returned, after five years, to his friends in Pennsylvania. In 1800 he moved to Ohio, and in 1808 he settled near Sunbury, and was immediately elected one of the county commissioners. Afterwards he was elected associate judge, and served in several minor offices, and died, leaving the reputation of a fine and upright man. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ to be continued in part 63 B. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 3801 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Try www.SPAMfighter.com for free now! ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 19:33:29 -0400 From: "Ohio Archives EV1" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <007501c5b729$37636490$0201a8c0@margaret> Subject: Fw: Tid Bits - Part 63B Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 3:21 PM Subject: Tid Bits - Part 63B Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley Sept 4, 2005 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid Bits - Part 63B by Darlene E. Kelley notes by S. Kelly +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits - Part 63B Delaware County Capt. John Minter & the Bruin Capt. John Minter, from Kentucky, one of the early settlers in Radnor, Ohio, and brother-in-law of Col. Crawford, who was burnt by the Indians, was, in his younger days, a great hunter, and became famous for a terrible bear fight, in which he came very near losing his life. When hunting alone one day, he came across a very large bear and fired at him. The bear fell, and reloading his gun, Minter advanced, supposing he was dead, and touched his nose with the muzzle of the gun, when he instantly reared upon his hind legs to seize him. Minter fired again, which increased his rage, only inflicting a flesh wound, and then threw his hatchet at him; and as the bear sprang forward to grasp him he struck him with the rifle on the head with all his might. This produced no other effect than shivering the gun to pieces. Too late then to escape he drew his big knife from his sheath and made a plunge at his heart, but old Bruin, by a stroke of his paw, whirled the knife into the air, and enfolding its weaponless owner with his huge arms, both roled to the ground. A fearful struggle then ensued between the combatants: one ruled by unvarying instinct, and the other guided by the dictates of reason. The former depended wholly upon hugging his adversary to death, while the latter aimed at presenting his body in such positions as would best enable him to withstand the vice-like squeeze till he could loosen the grasp. He was about six feet in height, possessing large bones and well developed muscles, and being properly proportioned, was very athletic. The woods were open and clear of underbrush, and in their struggles they rolled in every direction. Several times he thought the severity of the hug would finish him; but by choking the bear he would compel him to release his hold to knock off his hands, when he would recover his breath and gain a better position. After maintaining the contest in this way several hours they, happily for him, rolled back near where his knife lay, which inspired him with buoyant hope, but he had ro make many ineffecual efforts before he could tumble the bear within reach of it. Having finally recovered it he stabbed him at every chance till at last bled to death, only relaxing his hold when life became extinct. He attempted to get up, but was too much exhausted, and crawling to a log, against which he leaned, his heart sickened as contemplated the scene. Not a rag was left on him, and over his back, arms and legs his flesh was lacerated to the bones by the claws of the bear. By crawling and walking he reached home after night with no other covering than a gore of blood from head to foot. His friends, who went out next morning to survey the ground and bring in the trophy, said the surface was torn up by them over a space of at least half an acre. After several weeks he recovered, but he carried with hm the cicatrices and welts, some of which were more than a quarter of an inch thick, till he died, which occurred about fifteen years after. He never desired another bear hug, and gave up hunting, turning his attention to agriculture, which left his children a comfortable living and a good name. +++++++++++++++ Rev. Joseph S. Hughes, from Washington Pa., came to Delaware in 1810, and organized the first Presbyterian church in Delaware, and also those in Liberty and Radnor. For a short time, he was chaplain in the army, and was with Hull when he surrendered, at which time he returned. The societies being unable to pay much salary, he sought his support mainly from other sources, serving several years as clerk of the court, and afterwards in the capacity of editor. He possessed a liberal education, super-added to oratorical powers of a superior order by nature. As an orator he is described as being graceful, mellifluous, persuasive and convincing, and he has left the reputation among many of the old settlers of being the most effective speaker that they have ever heard. In the social circle, too, he excelled, but unfortunately he had an indomitable penchant for festivity and sport. many ancedotes are related detracting from his clerical character, and when dwelt upon, we must not forget to associate the habits and customs of the times in which they occurred. For instance, it is said that one time , on the occasion of a wedding at Capt. Minter's, after the ceremonies had been solomized and the luxuries duly honored, he started off about dusk to go to a place some five miles through the woods, but after dark returned somewhat scratched by the bushes, and reportedly having been lost, and concluded to stay until morning. According to the general custom on such occasions, all the young folks in the settlement had assembled for a frolic, and they charged him with having returned to participate with them, and as he was a good musician, and " their Knight of the bow " had disappointed them, they insisted upon his playing the fiddle for them to dance, which he did all night, wit an occasional intermission for refreshment or to romp ! Some of the old citizens say also that he was a good hand at pitching quoits, and as it was common to chose sides and pitch for the " grog." he seldom even backed out ! For these and other charges he was arraigned before the presbytery, where, declining all assisitance, and relying on his own ingenuity and eloquence, he made a successful defence. He continued to preach as " stated supply " until he was suddenly cut off by epidemic fever in the fall of 1823, and was interred in the old burying ground, but no tombstone points out the place where his remains lie. He was succeeded in 1824 by Rev. Henry Vandeman, the first installed pastor, remaining a pastorial charge for length of time, and in this presbytery there is no simular instance, exceptng that of Dr. Hodge, of Columbus. There were formally two villages belonging to the Delawares, mostly within the limits of the town of Delaware. One occupied the ground around the east end of William street, and the other was at the west end, extending from near the sawmill to the hill-side. Upon the gound now occupied by the town, they cultivated a corn field of about 400 acres. The Mingoes had a small village half a mile above the town, on the " horse-shoe bottom," where they also raised corn. Many of the old pioneers entertained towards the Indians an inveterate hatred, and did not consider it really criminal even to murder them. One time after the last war, a dead Indian was seen floating down the Scioto on two logs, lashed together, having his gun an all his accoutrements with him. He had been shot, and the people believed the murderer was George Shanon,who had been in service considerably during the war, and one time when out, not far from Lower Sandusky, with a small company, fell in with a party of warriors and had to retreat. He lingered behind till he got a shot, and killed one. As soon as he fired, several Indians sprang forward to catch him alive, but being swift on foot, he could easily keep ahead, when he suddenly came to an open field in which he had to run across or be cut off. The Indians gained the first side just as he was leaping the fence on the other and fired at him, one ball entering his hip. He staunched the blood by stuffing the hole with a portion of his shirt, that they might not track him, and crawled into the brush. They gave up the chase, thinking they had not hit him and being convinced of his superior fleetness. Shannon got into camp and was conveyed home, but he was always lame afterwards, and fostered an unrelenting desire for vengence towards the whole race, not excepting the innocent and harmless. In the late 1820's two Indians were murdered on Fulton's Creek. A party came down to the Creek to hunt, as was customary with them every fall, and Henry Swartz ordered them to leave. They replied, " No ! the land belongs to the white man -- the game to the Indian." and insisted they were friends and not ought to be disturbed. A few days after, two of their number were missing, and they hunted the entire county over without finding them, and at last found evidence of human bones where there had been a fire, and immediately charged Swartz with killing and burning them. They threatened vengeance on him, and for several years after he had to be constantly on his guard to prevent being waylaid. It was never legally investigated, but the neighbors all believed that Swartz aided by Ned Williams, murdered and dsiposed of them in a manner the Indians suspected, and at one time talked of driving them out of the settlement. They were considered bad men, and never prospered afterwards. The springs in Delaware have long been known. Tradition states that the Indians resorted to them to use the waters and to kill the deer and buffalo which came in great numbers. Before the grounds were enclosed in the early settlement of the county, the domestic animals for miles around made this a favorite resort in the heats of summer, and appeared satisfied with no other water. The water is said to be simular to of the celebrated white sulpher springs of Virginia, and equal in their mineral and medicinal qualities. The water is cooler, contains more gas, and therefore lighter and more pleasant then the Virginia water. Many cures have been effected of persons afflicted with scrofulous diseases, dyspepsia, bilious derangements of the liver and stomach, want of appetite and digestion. Aside fom the long famed spring above discribed this region seems to abound in mineral springs. On the outskirts of town, in the valley of Delaware Run, in an area of about thirty-seven acres, is a collection of five flowing springs called " Little Springs," consisting of as many different varieties of water-- white sulphur, black sulphur, magnetic, non, and fresh water. Delaware is on the Olentangy river, 24 miles north of Columbus. On William street, one block from the post office in Delaware, was born October 4, 1822, Rutherford B. Hayes, the ninteenth President of the United States. When as a boy he went to a private school, that of Mrs. John Murray, on Franklin Street. A brother of his was drowned while skating on the Olentangy. His father, Rutherford Hayes, a Vermonter, came to Delaware in 1817, and engaged in merchandising. He died in the very year of his son's birth ( 1822 ), leaving a widow and three young children, with a large, unsettled business. Sardis Birchard, a brother of the widow, than a youth of sixteen, emigrated with the family from Vermont. He worked with his brother-in-law in building, farming, driving, taking care of stock, and employing all his spare hours in hunting, and was enabled with his rifle to supply his own and other families with turkeys, and venison. He was a handsome, jovial young man, a universal favorite, and devoted to his sister and her flock. In 1827, when the future President was five years of age, Mr. Birchard removed to Fremont, then Lower Sandusky, and from that date it became the home of the entire family. The Delaware grape was a celebrated grape first sent forth from the county. It took its name from the town, This was about the year 1850, when it was discovered growing near the banks of the Scioto in the lands of a Mr. Heath who had brought it from New Jersey years before. Its origin is doubtful, whether foreign or native. Mr. Thompson, the editor of the " Gazette." discovered its superior merits. Its introduction created a great future in grapegrowing, called " the grape fever." The ability of grape propagators was taxed to the upmost to supply the demand, and Delaware grape-vines were sold in enormous quanities at prices ranging from $1 to $ 5 each. Delaware County is permanently rendered noted not only as the birthplace of a President but also of that of the most brilliant military known to the art of war -- the great soldier and patriot, William S. Rosecrans. Later on in the series I shall give a sketch of this gentleman as told by Mr. W.S. Furay, a native of Ross county, who was a war correspondant of the Cinncinnati " Gazette." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To be continued in part 64. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 3801 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Try www.SPAMfighter.com for free now! -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V05 Issue #137 *******************************************