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Introduction

           This webpage includes a transcription of The Rise and Progress of the Deer Creek Settlement by J. B. F. Morgan.  The book was a joint project of Alumni Association of Clarksburg High School and Ross County Genealogical Society, 1984, retyped by Virginia Stout, and indexed by Tacy Arledge, R.C.G.S.  I have taken the liberty of correcting obvious errors to improve accuracy and readability.

John William Myers, III
November 6, 2012, through April 30, 2013
Canyon Lake, California



THE RISE AND PROGRESS
OF THE
DEER CREEK SETTLEMENT


written by

J. B. F. Morgan
December 25, 1889



A Joint Project Of
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF CLARKSBURG HIGH SCHOOL
and
ROSS COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
1984

Retyped by Virginia Stout
Indexed by Tacy Arledge
R.C.G.S.




TRANSCRIPTION

Added notes are {italicized-bracketed}; links open in a new window;
and Deercreek used in the book has been replaced with Deer Creek.



INDEX

J.B.F.Morgan MD photograph and signature
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THE CLARKSBURG TELEGRAPH
Clarksburg, Ohio, Thursday, June 13, 1889
RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE DEER CREEK SETTLEMENT
By Dr. J. B. F. Morgan


CHAPTER I

           No doubt many of the readers of the CLARKSBURG TELEGRAPH will be interested in reading a history of early approach to and settlement of the Deer Creek Valley and country adjacent.

           Many of the inhabitants of that part of Ross and Pickaway counties, through which Deer Creek passes, are direct descendants of the frontiersmen who left their homes in the settlements between ninety and one hundred years ago and took their march for this then unbroken wilderness.  Adventure, daring, suffering and the sacrificing of the lives of many brave men and women, wrought from that great wilderness the finest country and grandest homes that white man's foot e're trod upon.  The present generation cannot conceive of the hardships endured and the privations suffered by the daring adventurers who made the first inroads in this, the country of the savage red men.  My imagination would fall far short, if I should attempt to draw a picture of the adventurer in his wild, romantic home, surrounded by circumstances that called forth deeds of daring on almost every hand, while attempting to establish a home for himself and the generations that have followed after him.  Every day was a day of adventure.  I will take the privilege of copying a few lines from McDonalds sketches, where he speaks of the hardships of the pioneer.  McDonald, himself was a pioneer and knew whereof he wrote.  The following lines were written more than half a century ago.

           "How little do the men of present age, who live sumptuously every day, sympathize with the sufferings of the war-worn, weather beaten pioneers, who braved death and misery in every form that can be imagine - want, fatigue, starvation, exposure in the night, exposure to heat and cold; add to these, the exposure to the wily Indian by day and by night.  All these difficulties and privations were cheerfully met by a set of men who thought but little of wealth; their whole object appeared to be either prompted by patriotism or love of danger.  The small remnant of these weather-beaten woodsmen who are still among us, are generally poor and treated with neglect by their more polished and fortunate successors."

           In another chapter he says: "Although more than forty years have passed, I can scarcely think of our sufferings even at this length of time without shuddering.  The people of the present times, who inhabit our western country and are sheltered from tempestuous storms, in comfortable and elegant mansions and are blessed with peace and plenty, can scarcely appreciate the sufferings and privations of those who led in settling our western country."

           The author of the above was one of the earliest adventurers in Deer Creek Valley and will be the subject of an exciting race

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and escape from the Indians further on in this sketch.

           The first visits of white men to the country is recorded in no written history, but were trappers and Indian traders.  The names of none of these are recorded and have passed into the shades of oblivion.  The name of the first white person that is recorded, who set his feet on Deer Creek soil, was Rev. David Jones, a missionary among the Shawnee Indians.  History says he made two unsuccessful trips.  The first was begun May 4, 1772, and terminated in August.  His second was begun October 26th, of the same year and ended in April 1773.  His first visit extended but a few miles above the mouth of the Scioto River.  History says he arrived at the Shawnee towns, on his second visit, on the 4th day of January 1773, and began his journey up the river the following day.  The boat was rowed and poled up the river as far as a place called Kuskinkis, which must have been a place on the Scioto, near the present southern limits of Ross County.  On the eleventh of January he reached Paint Creek, of which he says the Indian name was Alamoneetheepeeca.  From here they went on the following day to Pickaweeke, on Deer Creek, which will be seen was the 12th of January 1773.  At just what point on Deer Creek the writer does not say, but it is likely it was not immediately upon the waters of Deer Creek, but was one of the Indian villages in Pickaway (Pickaweek) County.

           In the Rev. Jones' memoirs of his visit to the Shawnee Indians, he speaks of having been entertained at one time by the Rev. Moses Henry, a gunsmith and teacher, who was lawfully married to a white woman, who was taken captive so young that she spoke the language as well as any Indian.  She was the daughter of Major Collins, formerly an inhabitant of the South Fork of the Potomac.  It will be seen by this that there were white men dwelling with Indians at the date of his visit.  They were undoubtedly living with the Indians as Indians and not as white men.  And we also learn that the first white woman that we have any history of, who lived in the Deer Creek Valley, was a Miss Collins from the South Branch of the Potomac, and that she was a captive among the Indians.

           Missionary Jones was a Freehold preacher of New Jersey, the Chaplain Jones of Revolutionary fame.  He was sent out by the Philadelphia Baptist Association.  For further particulars of his sojourn among the Indians I will refer the reader to "The History of Ross and Highland Counties".

CHAPTER II

           Lord Dunmore's war upon the Indians in October 1774, caused a new approach again of white men to the Deer Creek country.

           On the 10th day of October, a bloody and decisive battle was fought at Point Pleasant, in Virginia, between Dunmore's men and the Indians, under the leadership of the distinguished chieftain, Cornstalk.  The Indians fought bravely, but were outgeneraled by Dunmore's men, and compelled to flee for their lives.  The victory was dearly fought by the Virginians, and they were so enraged at their loss that they determined to pursue the enemy to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto, and annihilate them.  It was, no doubt, the intention of Dunmore's men to destroy the Shawnees, root and brach, by killing the Indians and burn-

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ing their towns.  However, before the army of Virginians had reached the Indian rendezvous, they were met by messengers, asking peace.  Dunmore listened to their request and appointed a place for the conference.  The place selected was his camp, called Camp Charlotte, which was situated about four miles east of the Indian towns.  The Indian towns were on the east side of the Scioto River, about four miles south of where Circleville now stands.

           General Lewis, under Dunmore, was so intent upon the destruction of the Indians that he refused to obey orders, until Dunmore visited his camp, in person, and demanded that he should cease hostilities until a council be held.

           The chiefs were all summoned to meet in council, but there was one who refused to humble himself to a race of people who had been so treacherous, and to whom he had been so generous.  'Twas the noble and generous Mingo Chief Logan.  All his kindred had been murdered in cold blood by the whites, but a few months before, on the Ohio River.  Up to this time he had been the steadfast friend of the white man and an advocate of peace.  After this atrocious deed he took up his tomahawk and sought revenge.  When the people (the Shawnees) with whom he had allied himself had been overpowered and defeated, his heart sank within him.  He betook himself to his cabin and there mourned in solitude.  When summoned by the other chiefs to meet in council with his enemy he utterly refused and remained in his cabin.  General Gibson was appointed an envoy to visit the Indian towns to have a private interview with that great and noble chieftain.  History says that after weeping as if his very heart would burst, he told the pathetic story of his wrongs.  His story used to be familiar to every school boy, but has been omitted in the school books of the present day, and we give it below for the benefit of the present generation of children:

           "I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry and I gave him not meat; if ever he came cold or naked, and I gave him not clothing.

           "During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained in his tent an advocate for peace.  Nay, such was my love for the whites, that those of my own country pointed at me as they passed by and said, "Logan is the friend of white men." I had even thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one man.  Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and provoked, cut off all the relatives of Logan, not sparing even my women and children.  There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature.  This called on me for revenge.  I have sought it.  I have killed many.  I have fully glutted my vengeance.  For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace.  Yet, do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear.  Logan never felt fear.  He will not turn on his heel to save his life.  Who is there to mourn for Logan?  Not one."

           But few of our citizens have known that the above famous speech was delivered within five miles of the Deer Creek Valley.

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The Indian villages were mostly on the eastern side of the Scioto River, but Logan's cabin stood on the west side, like Logan, solitary and alone. General Gibson's visit to this little hut, on the west side of the Scioto, gives to him the credit of being the first white man that approached to Deer Creek Valley from the east.

CHAPTER III

           Following close upon the battle of Point Pleasant, and the treaty of peace with the Indians on the Scioto, came the war of the revolution.  Great Britain succeeded in causing the Indians to join her in the war against the colonies.  From this time, all treaties were disregarded, and for several years, all progress toward civilization or exploration was cut off in the Indian country.  It was a common thing for the Indians to make a dash into the infant settlements of Virginia and Kentucky, murder the inhabitants, destroy their rude improvements and drive away the stock.  This was resented by the whites under the old law, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth".

           It was the chastising of the Indians for one of these attacks that caused the white man to have the unhappy privilege of gazing upon the Deer Creek Valley.  This same person had been to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto in 1774.  He was one of Lord Dunmore's men and had acted as spy for the Virginians while they were penetrating the heart of the wilderness in search of the wigwams of the wild and dreaded savages.  This person was no less than the famous Simon Kenton.  The name of this brave and daring man is familiar to almost every American citizen, as he was a captive among the Indians when he visited Deer Creek Valley.  It will be necessary to give the cause of his being taken prisoner by the Indians, and in a brief sketch of his captivity.

           He is described as having been a man of fine stature and excellent physique.  He was of a restless disposition and was never at ease, excepting when in active duty.

           In the summer of 1778, he accompanied Daniel Boone on an expedition against the Indians on Paint Creek.  Their intentions were to surprise the Indians, cause a panic and burn their village.  In this way they were disappointed, by coming onto a body of about forty Indians within five miles of the village.  The Indians were routed and fled to their village and gave the alarm.  Boone and his companions now gave up all hopes of surprising the village and returned to the settlements.  Kenton and a man by the name of Montgomery determined to stay behind and, if possible, obtain some horses from the Indians.  This they succeeded in doing, and arrived safely in the settlements.

           A few weeks lounging around Boone's and Logan's stations made Kenton ill at ease, and he determined upon another visit to the Indian country.  Alexander Montgomery and George Clark joined him.  Their avowed purpose was to obtain horses from the Indians.  McDonald says they proceeded safely to Chillicothe, (now old town) (we append now Frankfort).  In the night they fell in with a drove of horses and made off with them.  They arrived at the Ohio River in time to be

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overtaken by the Indians.  Clark made his escape, Montgomery was shot and scalped, and Kenton was made prisoner.

           When they were ready to make off with their prisoner, they caught the wildest horse in the company and placed Kenton on its back.  It took several to hold the horse while Kenton was lashed to him.  They first took a rope and fastened his feet together under the horse, another pinioned his arms, the third was tied around his neck, while one end was tied around the horses's neck, and the other end served as a crupper.  Another rope was fastened around his thighs and around the body of the horse.  A pair of moccasins were tied on his hands to prevent him from defending his face from the brush.  In this helpless condition he was turned loose to his fate.  The horse, after running, kicking, rearing and plunging for some time, found that he could not unseat his rider and quietly submitted.  He joined in the procession and followed quietly on to the Chillicothe town (Frankfort).  At this place, he was the subject of the most inhuman treatment that man could endure.  The story of his captivity is exceedingly interesting, but is too long to be quoted in these articles.

           After his trial and sentence of death at Oldtown, he was hurried away to Zanesfield, in Logan County.  On their journey, they passed through the Pickaway towns, which necessitated the crossing of the Deer Creek country.  Having now despaired of his life, he was in no mood for taking observations of the country, and 'tis likely that nothing but what appeared to be his certain fate passed his mind.  We have been rejoiced to know that, through the intercession of his renegade white friend, Simon Girty, and the noble Mingo Chief Logan, his life was spared.  During his captivity, he gained the esteem of the wife of an Indian trader, a Mrs. Harvey, who assisted him in making his escape in the spring of 1779.

           In the spring of 1780, he had the gratifying privilege of invading the Indian country on the Scioto, and taking part in reprimanding the Indians and burning their towns.  Their rendezvous on the Scioto about Westfall and also the Oldtown on the north fork of Paint Creek made it impossible for white men to explore the Deer Creek country until the enemy were dislodged and driven from the country.

CHAPTER IV

           While General Clark, assisted by Kenton and other brave Kentuckians, were punishing the Indians for invading their Kentucky homes, they were breaking down the outposts of the savages and making it possible for civilization to penetrate the unbroken wilderness that covered this now grand and glorious country .

           The adventure, the daring, the captivity, the suffering and dying at the stake of our noble Crawford, and many others, seemed to be necessary for the development of the wilderness,

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           In 1786 Kenton, again, was a guiding spirit in approaching the Pickaway and Mochacheek towns on the Scioto, and giving the red skins a complete flogging, after which they destroyed their wigwams.  On this trip, four other towns were burned and everything destroyed that would give the Indians aid or comfort.

           1787 found Kenton again organizing an army for the invasion of the Indian country.  This time their objective was Chillicothe, on the north fork of Paint Creek (the historian now says Old Town).  It will be remembered that this town was one of the strong holds of the enemy, and while the sole object of the invaders was to punish the Indians for depredations committed upon the infant settlements of the frontier, it was very important that it be destroyed and its inhabitants subdued or driven away to afford opportunity for the planting of civilization and Christianity in this the trackless wilderness.

           1787 found the Indians from Pickaweeke, on Deer Creek, and Old Chillicothe, on the north fork of Paint creek, still murdering people on the outpost of civilization.  It seemed that Kenton was the man who had been ordained to resent these attacks, and he requested Col. Todd to join him with as many men as he could bring with him and they would proceed to the Old Chillicothe on Paint Creek and give the Indians another flogging.  To this Todd assented. With their joint forces they crossed the Ohio at Limestone (now Maysville), and with Kenton as guide and commander of a company, made a rapid march for the Chillicothe town. On their route, about five miles south of Old Town, on a high eminence, now called Poplar Ridge, on McDonald's hill, the advance guard, commanded by Kenton, met four Indians.  Kenton and a man by the name of Helm fired and killed two of the Indians.  The other two were taken prisoners.  From the prisoners they learned that there was a large Indian encampment between them and the Indian town about three miles to the south of the village.  (This would make the encampment a short ways north of where Lattaville now stands, and more than likely on the Concord farm, now owned by the Morgan heirs).  On receiving this intelligence, the army halted on Poplar ridge, and Kenton and his company went forward to reconnoiter the situation of the enemy.  They proceeded near the camp, lay by until night, made themselves acquainted with the situation of the enemy.  Kenton then sent word to Col. Todd, informing him of their probable number and situation.  Before day, Major Kinkston came on and joined Kenton.

           Prompt measures were now taken and the Indian camp was surrounded.  The whites were too impatient for delay.  The attack was made before it was light enough to discern objects distinctly, and was not successful as it was hoped to be.  Two Indians only were killed and seven made prisoners.  A great majority made their escape in the darkness.  Col. Todd did not come up with the main body of troops until the sun was two hours high.  His indolence prevented him sharing a part of the glory of defeating the Indians, and no doubt, was the cause of many escaping to the woods.  It was the design of Kenton

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to kill and capture the entire camp and proceed at once and surprise the town; but the men who had escaped from the camp alarmed the town and men, women and children took, naked, to the woods, and by the time Todd came up, all had fled and they were in undisputed possession of one of the strongholds of the Shawnees.

           The town was reduced to ashes and everything around destroyed.  Now in the place of wigwams of the savage red men occupying that beautiful site, stands the modern, enterprising village of Frankfort.

           The army of the Kentuckians camped that night on the north fork of Paint Creek, and next day made their way to their homes, without the loss of a man, killed or wounded.  This defeat to the Indians was a severe shock to them, and was a great step towards making it possible for white men to successfully explore this rich and fertile country.  Kenton, no doubt, felt somewhat revenged for the punishment inflicted on him at this place during his captivity.  This was the last exploit of Kenton's in this part of the State, but he never rested until the last Indian was subdued in the northwest territory.  As this man suffered more, and endured greater privations, for the sake of the present inhabitants of this beloved country, (at least we enjoy the fruite of his labor), we can do no less than to speak of his declining years and posterity.

           1793 ended the Indian wars in Kentucky.  Immigration pushed forward to the territory in a continuous stream.  Land rapidly advanced in value.  Great irregularity had been practiced in the first entries and surveys.  Kenton, at this time, was rich in lands.  The late emigrants re-surveyed his lands with greater precision, leaving nothing of the "legal" undone, and, to use a latter-day phrase, jumped his claims, one after another, until he was robbed of the last acre of his hard-earned lands.

           McDonald says: "As Kenton was unlettered, and consequently unacquainted with legal proceedings, every advantage was taken of his ignorance, and in a few years, the glorious technicalities and uncertainty of the law stripped this honest man of his blood-bought earnings, and sent him in the evening of his days, penniless and dejected, to spend his few remaining years in poverty and want."

           About the year 1802, he settled in Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio, where he remained some years.  While in that county he was elected brigadier-general of the militia.  About the year 1810 he united with the Methodist church, of which he remained a respected member until death.

           During the last war with England, he again shouldered his gun.  In 1813, when Gov. Shelby came to Urbana at the head of the Kentucky troops, he would not remain in "inglorious ease".  He mounted his horse and joined the army as a private, "but was a privileged member of the Governor's military family."

           He crossed the lakes and accompanied General Harrison to

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Maiden in Upper Canada.  He was present at the glorious battle of the Moravian town and played his part with his usual intrepidity.  This ended the military career of the most renowned man of the west.

           About 1824, through the exertions of Judge Burnett, of Cincinnati, and Gov. Vance, a pension of twenty dollars a month was obtained for him.  This secured his declining years from actual want.  In April 1836, he passed beyond the shores of time.

           No history that we have ever had the privilege of reading has made mention of his family, or ever intimated that he was the possessors of one.  To ascertain the facts regarding his family, we recently visited a relative of his in Madison county, Ohio, to obtain such facts as might be in her possession.  She is the wife of David Haskell, Esqu., and a daughter of Simon Kenton, who was a nephew of the elder Simon.  From her we obtained the following facts:

           He was the father of four children that she remembered: Mrs. Sarah McCord, Mrs. Parkinson, Mrs. Murray and Miller Kenton.  Mrs. McCord visited Cincinnati many years ago when there was a meeting of the oldest children of the pioneers.  When she was introducted, cheer upon cheer was given for the representative of her famous father.  Her home was in Urbana.  No special mention was made of the other two daughters.  The son, Miller Kenton, took up his home in White County, Indiana, and represented that county in the State Legislature.  Many descendants now live in the northern part of this state and are proud to own him as their grandsire.  Kentucky citizens, from time to time, have visited his old home at Wapatomika to obtain the privilege of removing his remains back to the "Dark and bloody grounds", Kentucky.  To this request, his relatives never gave consent.  Finally, they were prevailed upon to allow his bones to be removed to Urbana and there interred in the public cemetery.  A beautiful monument has been erected in his memory.  The State assisted the relatives by appropriating fifteen hundred dollars to assist in defraying expenses.  The monument, when complete, (if not already done) will cost about fifteen thousand dollars.  The heavy part of the work is of limestone, the upper parts being of Tennessee marble.  The tablet has four sides.  On one side is the head of a lion, another contains the head of a bear, the third the head of a wolf, and the fourth an Indian in full costume.  The Indian is said to look very natural, as the Tennessee marble almost exactly represents the color of an Indian.  Mr. and Mrs. Haskell attended the unveiling about five years ago.  The monument when complete, will be mounted with a statue of the old warrior.

CHAPTER V

           With this chapter really begins the history of the dawn of

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           civilization in the northwest territory.  To more fully acquaint the reader with the rise and progress of the Deer Creek settlement, it will be necessary to give a short history of the territory which gave it birth.

           The State of Virginia, at the close of the war of the Revolution, was a powerful state, as compared with her sisters.  She was very rich in lands, probably possessing more than all the other states.  The Kentucky territory was only a small portion of her possessions.  All lands lying northwest of the Ohio River, and bounded on the north by the Great Lakes and on the west by the Mississippi River, were the property of Virginia.  It was called the county of Illinois.  From this vast territory, five great states have been erected - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.  Ohio was admitted to the Union in the year 1803 and contains 25,686,400 acres; Indiana was admitted as a state in 1816 and contains 22,982,400 acres; Illinois was admitted as a state in 1818 and contains 35,840,000 acres; Michigan was admitted in 1837 and contains 36,755,200 acres; Wisconsin was admitted in 1848 and contains 34,848,000 acres.  If the reader takes the trouble to make a calculation, he will find that this tract of country contains one hundred-fifty six million, one hundred-twenty two thousand acres.  These lands had been conquered from the British by Virginia troops, and were claimed as the property of Virginia.  This made her wealthy in lands far beyond her sister states.

           At this time (1781), a closer confederation was deemed necessary and an article was drawn up and signed by twelve of the thirteen states, Maryland alone refusing to enter the new confederation.  The reason assigned was that Virginia had the advantage of the other states in her landed wealth; also that New York had large possessions between the Cumberland mountains and Lake Erie.  Massachusetts and Connecticut also made claims to certain lands in the northwest.  Union of feeling was impossible while the smaller states were at such a disadvantage, compared with their rich and powerful neighbors.  We find in the Eclectic History that to promote union, New York, on the first day of March 1781, ceded all of her western territory to Congress for the general good.

           Maryland now signed the articles of union.  The other states soon followed the example of New York, and the United States were in possession of the northwest territory.  However, Virginia had made a reservation.  The legislature of Virginia had agreed to reward her soldiers of the continental line with land warrants, for service in the revolution, according to rank and service.  The reservation was, in case the lands in the Kentucky territory should prove insufficient to satisfy the claims of Virginia's soldiers, that all that parcel of land lying north of the Ohio River and bounded on the east by the Scioto and on the west by the Little Miami, should remain open for the settlement of such claims.  The land included in this reservation constitutes the Virginia military district in Ohio.

           It will no doubt be interesting to many of the present generation to know how the greatest number of the original titles to

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the lands on which we live were obtained.  It is no doubt, well known that the Deer Creek settlement is all within the Virginia Military District.  To be able to obtain a title to any portion of these rich lands, it was necessary to be the possessor of a land warrant.  The first step to obtain this was for a soldier to obtain a certificate of service in the army; then to proceed to the land officer and present his certificate, upon which would be issued to him a printed warrant, specifying the quantity of lands, and the rights upon which due.  These warrants were issued in the land office in Virginia, which empowered the person to whom they were granted, his heirs or assigns, to select the number of acres specified in the lands reserved for that purpose, and to have the same appropriated.  After the location was made, and the boundaries ascertained by surveying, the owner of the warrant returned it to the state authorities and received a grant or patent instead.  This grant was the same as a deed from the state authorities.  When Virginia reported that the Kentucky lands were exhausted, Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of the reservation and location as defined.  On the same day on which the act was passed, Richard C. Anderson, a colonel in the army, was appointed surveyor.  He opened his office in Kentucky July 20, 1784.  The lands in Kentucky were exhausted on August 1, 1787.  All further efforts, from this time, towards locating the Virginia land warrants had to be prosecuted in the Virginia Military District north of the Ohio River.  {The Deed for what became known as The Myers Farm is an example of these warrants.}

           It is a remarkable fact that not only the farms in the Deer Creek settlement are of every conceivable shape and form, but the same thing holds good throughout the Virginia Military District.  The townships are as uncomely in shape as are the farms.  The cause of this was the privilege given the holder of land warrants to locate them as, and where, they pleased; all that was necessary in making the survey, was to give the meets and mounds of the survey and report same to land office.  The first locaters of lands made selections of such as pleased their taste, regardless of the shape of such surveys, or of the lands to be taken up by those coming later; thus the conglomeration of lines, meets and bounds we find on the maps of our townships.

           East of the Scioto River, the lands were all regularly surveyed and laid off into townships of six miles square, and into sections of one square mile.  This gives to the farms in that section a much finer appearance than ours on the west side of the Scioto.  The lands in this district were open for the location of land warrants the same year that the Northwest Territory was organized, and General St. Clair made its governor (1787).

           Now, the "wilderness" as it was called, with but one exception, was ripe for settlement.  The savage Indian was the possessor of the entire country and at enmity with the whites.  It was only a common amusement for them to capture small parties and torture them to their heart's content, then dispatch them with the tomahawk and carry with them the scalp of the victim to their homes.  Frequently these trophies were delivered to the children as playthings, that they might learn to hate the white man and love blood and revenge.  Under these circumstances, the first explorations and surveys were

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made in the Deer Creek settlement.  Had it not been for this drawback, the exodus into this country would have been almost equal to the recent rush into the Oklahoma country.

CHAPTER VI

           The perils of the early survey were extreme.  Great precaution was necessary against weather, Indians and starvation.  We take the privilege of copying McDonald's description of a surveying party and their mode of operation:

           "The surveyor in chief usually employed three assistant surveyors.  To each surveyor was attached six men, which made a mass of seven.  Every man had his prescribed duty to perform.  Their operations were conducted as follows: In front went the hunter, who kept in advance of the surveyor two or three hundred yards, looking for game, and prepared to give notice should danger from Indians threaten.  Then followed after the surveyor the two chain men, marker and pack horse men with the baggage, who always kept near each other to be prepared for defense in case of an attack.  Lastly, two or three hundred yards in the rear, came a man, called the spy, whose duty it was to keep on the back trail and look out, lest the party in advance might be pursued and attacked by surprise.  Each man (the surveyor not excepted), carried his rifle, his blanket and other articles as he might stand in need of.  On the pack-horse were carried the cooking utensils and such provisions as could be conveniently taken.  Nothing like bread was thought of.  Some salt was taken to be used sparingly.  For subsistence, they depended alone on the game which the woods afforded, procured by their unerring rifles.  In this manner was the largest number of surveys made in the military district."

           The law regulated the surveyor's fees.  The surveyor was paid three shillings (about seventy-five cents) per thousand acres, and each assistant should receive not to exceed three shillings per day.  Just think of it, dear reader!  Men not only placing their lives in peril every day that they were in the country of savages, but every hour...yes, every moment...had to be guarded with the strictest precision; all for the paltry sum of seventy-five cents per thousand acres, or not to exceed seventy-five cents per day for assistance.

           Many owners of land warrants and surveyors disregarded the law restricting charges, and contracts were made to the effect that the surveyors should have a certain per cent of the land for locating and surveying, in many cases the surveyor getting one half of the land for his labor.  Land speculators purchased land warrants in profusion for almost any sum that they might name.  These warrants were placed in the hands of the locators to be located on the shares.  The result was that the speculator and surveyor both became wealthy in land, if they held their possessions but a few years.  We have many times been on a farm of a thousand acres in Fayette County, one-half mile west of Waterloo, for which there has never been any title given, excepting the government patent.  The land was entered and sur-

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veyed by John A. Fulton, at an early day, and his will entailed it.  The children of John W. Fulton, of whom there is a large family, are the heirs, but are not yet in possession of it.  This farm is one of the richest in Fayette County and is within one mile of Deer Creek.

           To Major John O'Bannon and Arthur Fox, two enterprising surveyors in Kentucky, is given the credit of making the first exploration in the Scioto country with a view to making entries of land.  It is said they passed some distance up the Scioto and some of its tributaries, in the winter and spring of 1787.  We fail to find the names of any of the explorers in these companies, excepting O'Bannon and Fox.  It is supposed that Nathaniel Massie was a member of this company, and thereby obtained his first knowledge of this rich country.

           As the explorations were all made in the military district, it was necessary that they pass up the west side of the river, and if they passed up the river as far as the Deer Creek country, it is likely that they are the first parties that looked upon Deer Creek lands with a view to making entries.  Arthur Fox made entries in the military district in 1788, but the historian does not say in what portion.  To General Nathaniel Massie belongs the honor of making the first survey of lands within the bounds of the Scioto country.  His first efforts to make a settlement within the military district were in 1790.  In order to do this, he gave general notice in Kentucky of his intentions and offered each of the first twenty-five families as a donation, one inlot, one outlot, and one hundred acres of land provided they would settle in a town he intended to lay off in his settlement.  He was soon joined by thirty families.  His own he called Manchester, and is on the Ohio River in Adams County.  Massie operated from this point until 1798, making surveys and entries of much land on the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, besides many of their tributaries.  Scioto, Brushcreek, Paint, with its tributaries, and Deer Creek, were thoroughly explored and much land surveyed and entered.  Further on in our history, we will give an account of some of the surveying tours through this section of country that are of unusual interest.

CHAPTER VII

General Wayne's treaty of peace with the Indians at Greenville in 1795, put a stop to hostilities in general in the wilderness.

           Massie now determined upon a settlement on the Scioto near where the greater portion of his labor was to be performed, and in that portion of the military district he considered the richest and which would outstrip all others at no distant day in wealth and prosperity.  About the first of March 1796, Massie gathered together a large company of people in Manchester to accompany him to his new home.  Some of the party went by water up the Ohio to Scioto, and up the Scioto to the mouth of Paint Creek, where they met many that had traveled overland to that place of meeting.  This place was known for years as the "Station Prairie".  During the summer, Massie selected the site for a town and proceeded to lay it

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out.  This town in the wilderness was named Chillicothe, a name used by the Indians for towns in common.  The town increased rapidly and before winter it had many cabins and several stores and shops for mechanics.  The land on which the town was located was the property of General Massie and he donated to the first one hundred families one in-lot, as an inducement to them to become permanent settlers in his primitive city.  Thus was implanted the germ of civilization from which sprung into existence a city that became the future capitol of the state, and still remains the seat of Ross County.  From this center were thrown out scintillations of civilization until almost every nook and corner of the vast wilderness has been populated with a civilized people.  The tributaries of the Scioto, Paint Creek and Deer Creek were the first localities to show the effects of the woodsman's axe and the farmer's plow.

           While Washington is called the father of his country, he is no more so than Nathaniel Massie is the father of all the settlement that for many years made Chillicothe its center of business.  While many noble and brave men and women stood by him through all his efforts, to him belongs the honor of founding the first colony in this portion of the state, and, consequently, he is at least the indirect founder of the Deer Creek settlement.  Much confidence was placed in him by General St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, and much of his business was done through him.

           In 1802, Congress passed a law authorizing that portion of the Northwest Territory, which comprises the state of Ohio, to form a constitution and state government.  General Massie was elected a member of the constitutional convention.  He is said to have been a very efficient member, and was far the most popular man between Limestone (Maysville) and Zanesville.  He was elected to the senate from Ross County the first session.  The assembly met under the new constitution, and he was elected speaker during the session.  He served as Major General of the second division of the militia of Ohio.  He had been married in 1800 to a daughter of Colonel David Mead, of Kentucky.  When he came to select a place for a residence, his landed possessions were so great that it was difficult for him to select the place that would be the most desirable.  Having several thousand acres around the falls of Paint Creek, in Ross County, he finally selected that locality as his place of residence.  There he built a large and comfortable mansion in the year 1802.

           His biographer, Colonel John McDonald, says "Many citizens of Virginia made Massie's residence a place of resort, where they always met with a welcome reception.  In his hospitality, indeed, he rather bordered on extravagance, especially when visited by any of his old war-worn and woods companions.  His lady, although raised in polished and fashionable life, took great pleasure in rendering his awkward woods companions at home and at ease.  I well remember it was in Mrs. Massie's room that I first saw tea handed around for supper, which I then thought foolish business and still remain at that opinion."

           In the year 1808, General Massie and Colonel Meigs were

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candidates for the office of governor.  Meigs received a small majority of the votes.  Massie contested the election on the grounds that Meigs was ineligible by the constitution on account of his not having been in the state long enough to regain his citizenship.  The case was decided against Meigs.  Massie immediately resigned the office.  He represented Ross County in the legislature a number of times after this date.  General Massie's last public act in life was in 1813.  When he heard that the Indians and British were beseiging Fort Meigs, he gathered together as many men as he could enlist and went with dispatch to relieve his fellow countrymen.  Before reaching the fort, he was met by a body of men who informed him that the siege had been raised.

           On the third day of November 1813, he bade adieu to the shores of time.  He left three sons and two daughters.  They all gained respectable places in society.

           J. Mead Massie, a grandson, now represents the Ross-Highland Senatorial district in the Legislature of Ohio.

           The readers of this article may ask themselves what a sketch of the life of Nathaniel Massie has to do with the "Rise and Progress of the Deer Creek Settlement".  I will answer by saying that it was our intention, in the beginning, to write somewhat in detail of persons and circumstances that might be connected even remotely, with the rise of our settlement.  There are often greater struggles and more interest in the birth of individuals than in the life thereafter.  This thing holds good in the birth of our settlement; and we feel at liberty to speak somewhat in detail of those who were foremost in the struggle.

CHAPTER VIII

           It is our intention to devote this chapter to giving somewhat in detail the history of two surveying tours, in which was engaged a man, who, in later years, became one of Ross County's leading and most valuable citizens...a man, whose life was spared for a noble purpose.  Had he been made a sacrifice - to the savage red man, we would not, while writing these sketches, have the privilege of quoting many passages from the most interesting and valuable book ever handed down to posterity by one of the pioneers, one who played a part in many of the leading dramas that were enacted upon the stage of the western wilderness.  We refer to Col. John McDonald.  We quote below a portion of a chapter in his sketch of the life of General Massie, where he gives the history of a surveying tour that had determined on a trip to the Deer Creek country judging by the work laid off and the course taken.  This tour was one in which McDonald was engaged and was afterwards known as "The Starving Tour".  We give it in his own language:

           "The winter of 1794-95 was attended by no disturbances from the Indians, as the defeat they had sustained the summer before from General Wayne had completely checked them in their depredations.  In the spring of 1795, Massie again prepared a party to return to the waters of the Little Miami, Paint Creek and the Scioto, for the purpose of surveying.  He employed three assistant surveyors, with the usual complement of men.  Every man

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carried, as usual in these surveying tours, his own baggage on his back.  No one, indeed, was exempt from this service; and when, the weight is taken into consideration, and the encumbrance from it, there seems to be little ground for the complaints, which have latterly been made, about the inaccuracies of early surveys.  Indeed, it is really astonishing how they could be made so accurate as they are found to be.

           Early in March the party set off from Manchester.  The weather was fine, and the spring appeared to have commenced in earnest.  Massie commenced surveying on the west fork of Ohio Brush Creek.  The woods then furnished game in great abundance, such as turkeys and bears of the finest quality.  A description of the method in which bears were taken, although familiar to the backwoodsmen, will be perhaps interesting to their descendants, as these animals have become scarce since the settlement of the country.  It is well known that bears retire to the hollows of rocks or trees, about the last of December, and remain in a dormant state until the weather breaks, be it early or late.  When the weather becomes warm, they will bustle out of their holes to the nearest water, once in two or three days.  In walking from their holes to the water, they are careful to step in the same track; and as the earth at that season of the year is soft and spongy, the feet of the bear in passing and repassing, make a deep impression.  These impressions are called by the old hunters "the bear's stepping place".  When the hunter finds the stepping place, he can easily follow the track until he finds the tree in the hollow of which, or in some cave or hole in the rocks, the animal lies at ease.  They are then, by various means used, driven from their holes, and shot.
           During this expedition, a young man by the name of Bell, who was very active in climbing trees, exhibited great boldness in driving them from their holes.  When a bear was tracked to a tree, this man, when the tree was not very large and smooth, would climb up and look into the hole, and punch the bear with a sharp stick until it would come out.  Bears at this season are very lazy and difficult to move.  By punching them, however, for some time, they will move heavily to their holes, and slowly drag themselves out.  As soon as they were clear of their holes, some one or two picked marksmen would shoot them.  Bell, so soon as he would provoke the bears to come out, would slip out on a limb, and wait with perfect composure until the marksmen would shoot them.  These feats are specimens of Bell's daring.  He was, altogether, one of the most hardy, fearless and thoughtless men of danger I ever saw.  In this way numerous bears were found and killed.  The fat part of the meat, boiled or roasted with turkey or venison, makes a very luxurious repast.  But to return,

           The weather, for some time, continued quite pleasant, while the party surveyed towards the head waters of Brush Creek.  They thence passed to the Rocky and Rattlesnake forks of Paint Creek; thence crossing Main Paint, they passed up Buckskin, and across to "the old town", on the north fork of Paint Creek.  While surveying in this section of the country, the weather became cloudy, and commenced snowing and hailing.  The snow continued to fall and drift for two days and nights; and when it ceased, the ground

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was covered between two and three feet deep.  The camp was on the ground, at this time the farm of Colonel Adam Mallow, four miles above Old Town (or Frankfort, as it is now called).  About the time it ceased snowing, the weather became warm, and a soft rain fell for a short time.  Suddenly it became intensely cold, accompanied by a frost, which soon formed a strong crust on the snow, which had been previously softened by the rain.  The snow, although somewhat settled by the rain, was at least two feet deep, with a crust that would bear about half the weight of a man.  This was the deepest snow I ever saw, before or since, in the western country.  The turkeys, and other small game, could run on the crust of snow, which disabled the hunters from pursuing and killing game; and as the party had no provisions with them, the doleful prospect of death by starvation stared them in the face.

           This tour was subsequently called the starving tour; and the remnant of those who are on this side of the grave, yet remember with horror their situation at that time.  The prudence exercised by them heretofore, of sleeping away from their fires, was not attended to.  The party lay around their fires by day and night, anxiously praying for a change in the weather.  Some of the strongest and most spirited among the party several times made ineffectual attempts to kill game.  Among these hunters, General Duncan McArthur of Fruit Hill near Chillicothe, and William Leedom of Adams County, were conspicuous.  On the third day of the storm they killed two turkeys.  They were boiled and divided into twenty-eight shares or parts, and given equally to each man.  This little food seemed only to sharpen their appetites.  Not a particle of the turkeys were left.  The head, feet and entrails were devoured, as if most savory food.

           "The fourth morning of the continuance of the snow, Massie with his party, turned their faces homeward.  The strongest and most hardy of the men were placed in front, to break through the snow.  This was a fatiguing and laborious business, and was performed alternately by the most spirited and strongest of the party.  They thus proceeded in their heavy and disconsolate march the whole day, and at night reached the mouth of the Rattlesnake fork of Paint Creek, a distance of about ten miles.  In the course of that day the sun shone through the clouds for the first time since the storm commenced, and by its warmth softened the crust on the snow.  This rendered the traveling less laborious.  As the party descended the sloping ground towards the bank of Paint Creek, they came across a flock of turkeys and killed several.  These were cooked, and equally divided among the men.  That night the party lay by their fires without guards or sentinels; and as the night was warm, the snow gradually melted.  Early next morning the most of the party turned out to hunt, and killed a number of turkeys, some deer, and a bear.  When these were brought to camp, a feast ensued, which was enjoyed with a zest and relish which none can properly appreciate but those who have been so unfortunate as to be placed in a similar situation.

           "The writer of this narrative accompanied General Massie on this tour, and had previously passed through many trying and distressing scenes, but the hardships and privations of this

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tour were the most trying to the firmness, resolution and forttitude of men he ever saw or experienced.  Only reflect, reader, on the critical situation of twenty-eight men, exposed to the horrors of a terrible snow storm in the wilderness, without hut, tent, or covering, and what was still more appalling, without provision, without any road or even track to retreat on, and nearly one hundred miles from any friendly aid or place of shelter, exposed to the truly tremendous and pitiless peltings of a storm of four days continuance, and you can fancy to yourself some faint idea of the sufferings of this party.

           "The storm being passed, fine weather and plenty ensued, and the party again went cheerfully to work.  Massie surveyed all the land he at first designed, and returned to Manchester without any adventure worthy of relation."

           None but the bravest and the strongest could endure such hardships and again adventure.

           While searching many volumes of history, we find another surveying tour recorded in which McDonald played a most prominent part.  A tragical scene was played immediately upon the waters of Deer Creek, and was both exciting and sad.  While a little child we have sat upon the floor close beside the subject of this story, and heard him talk of the adventures, the daring and the suffering of the frontiersmen by the hour.  The story we give below we have heard from his own lips, but our memory is refreshed by an account of it found in the autobiography of the Rev. J. B. Finley.  We quote his account below:

           "Early in November of the year 1794, Mr. Lucas Sullivan, a land-speculator and surveyor from Virginia, collected a company of twenty-one men to go upon a surveying tour into the Scioto country.  This was a hazardous undertaking.  Notwithstanding the Indians had been scarcely beaten by General Wayne a few months previously, yet the country was far from a state of peace.  Attached to this company were three surveyors, namely, John and Nathaniel Beasley, and Sullivan, who was the chief.  Young McDonald was connected with this company.  Every man carried his own baggage and arms, consisting of a rifle, tomahawk, and scalping knife.  Having taken Todd's trace, they pursued their journey till they came to Paint Creek, at the old crossings, From thence they proceeded to old Chillicothe, now Frankfort, and thus to Deer Creek, where they encamped at the mouth of Hay run.  In the morning, Sullivan, McDonald, Colvin and Murray went down to the mouth of Deer Creek with the intention of taking its meanderings back to the camp.  They had not proceeded more than a hundred rods till a flock of turkeys came flying toward them.  McDonald and Murray being on the bank of the creek, near to a pile of driftwood, Murray without reflecting a moment that the turkeys must have been driven toward them by some persons, slipped up to a tree and shot a turkey.  He then slipped back, and as there were more turkeys on the tree, McDonald slipped up to the position left by his companion.  Just as he was about to fire, the sharp crack of a rifle fell on his ears, and turning instantly he saw poor Murray fall to rise no more.  Looking

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in the direction from whence the messenger of death came, he saw several Indians with their rifles leveled at him.  Quick as thought he sprang over the bank in the creek, and they fired but missed him.  The Indians now resolved to take him prisoner.  The entire company made pursuit.  For a distance of a hundred yards or so after leaving the stream, the land was open and gave the Indians a fair chance to measure speed with the "paleface".  McDonald succeeded in reaching a thick underbrush, which gave him protection long enough to allow him to "gather his wind".  The thicket was too small to allow him to make his escape unobserved.  He was driven from his hiding place into the open woods, and was compelled again to call his brave legs into action.  Now was a race for life.  The Indians were close upon him with a young athlete in the advance, the entire company yelling like demons incarnate.  For some moments McDonald imagined that he could feel the young Indian's hands grabbing at his collar.  Finally he cast his eyes about him and found that his pursuers were trying a flank movement upon him, and also learned that he had gained several rods upon them.  The object of the Indians was to chase him into a fallen tree top, but no doubt, they were much chagrined to see him make a single bound and clear every limb of the fallen tree, lighting safely upon the other side.  This so astonished the Indians that they stood for a moment in amazement.  This short halt put McDonald safely in the lead in the chase, but he was not yet out of reach of the rifles.  The Indians again took up the pursuit, firing as they ran.  Several balls whizzed closely by, but failed to disable the desired captive.  At this juncture he met Sullivan and three others of the company.  Sullivan instantly threw away his compass and clung to his rifle.  Their only safety was in rapid flight, as the Indians were too numerous to encounter.  As they ran, the Indians fired upon them, on of the balls striking Colvin's cue at the tie, which shocked him so much that he thought himself mortally wounded.  But he was a brave young man, and being fleet of foot, he ran up the creek and gave the alarm at the camp, stating that he believed all were killed but himself.  Those at camp of course fled as soon as possible.  McDonald and his party ran across the bottom to the high land, and after running three miles struck a prairie.  Casting their eye over it, they saw four Indians trotting along the trace.  They thought of running around the prairie and heading them, but not knowing how soon those in pursuit would be upon them, and perchance they would get between two fires, adopted the better part of valor and concealed themselves in the grass till the Indians were out of sight.  After remaining there for some time they went to the camp and found it deserted.  Just as they were about to leave, one of the company spied a note stuck in the end of a split stick, to this effect, "If you should come, follow the trail".  It was then sundown, and they knew they would not be able to follow the trail after dark.  When night came on, they steered their course by starlight.

           "They had traveled a distance of eight or nine miles.  It was a cold, dreary night, and the leaves being frozen, the sound of their footsteps could be heard some distance.  All at once they heard something break and run as if it were a gang of buffaloes.  At this they halted and remained silent for some time.  After a while the fugitives could be heard coming back softly.  Supposing that it might be their companions, McDonald and McCormick concluded

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to creep up slowly and see.  They advanced till they could hear them cracking hazelnuts with their teeth.  They also heard them whisper to one another, but could not tell whether they were Indians or white men.  They cautiously returned to Sullivan, and the company, after deliberation, finally concluded to call which they did, and found to their joy, that it was their own friends who fled from them.  They had mutual rejoicings at meeting again but poor Murray was left a prey to the Indians and wolves.  They now commenced their journey homeward, and after three day's travel, arrived at Manchester."

           We remember well of hearing the old veteran relate the above story, and although scores of years had passed since the incident, the old man's eyes would flash with fire and his hair almost stand on end at the thought of the narrow escape he made.  The scene, if played now upon one of our fashionable stages, would be exciting in the extreme.

CHAPTER IX

           We would not do justice to our task did we fail to give a sketch of the life of Col. John McDonald as we pass along in our history.  He was one of the first explorers and surveyors in the Deer Creek country, and it will be remembered that he came near giving his life as a sacrifice to the Aborigines while surveying near the mouth of Deer Creek.

           In giving an account of that incident in our last chapter I said that I quoted Finley's account of it.

           We correct by saying we quoted only in part from his reports, much of interest been omitted in his account.

           He was the only pioneer of the Virginia Military District who attempted to record, in historical form, the deeds of his comrades of the frontier.  In his book, entitled "McDonald's Sketches", we find extensive biographical sketches of the lives of Nathaniel Massie, Duncan McArthur, William Wells, and Simon Kenton.  In giving a history of these four individuals, he painted a splendid pen picture of the settlement of the western wilderness.  Very much of the information found in Howe's History of Ohio, also the history of the "Great West" by the same author, is compiled from the manuscripts of this old pioneer.  Much of his manuscript has been entirely lost.  When Mr.  Howe wrote the history of Ohio, about forty years ago, he borrowed much of McDonald's manuscript, with the privilege of selecting such as he might want to use, with the promise it should be returned.  None was ever returned, and much valuable history is lost to posterity.

           Col. McDonald was of Scotch descent, and his nature was of that sturdy, active and daring kind which naturally belongs to the Highland Scotchmen.  His grandfather, Thomas McDonald, was born and raised near Lockshin, Scotland.  William, his third son, was the father of the hero of our sketch.  He was reared in his native Highlands, and came to America in 1712, and settled in Pennsylvania.  In that state, soon after his arrival,

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he married Effie McDonald, who was of the same clan and distantly related.  Thus it is shown that John McDonald's ancestors were on both sides Scottish Highlanders.  They were herdsmen as far back as tradition gives any knowledge of their lives, and like all the members of the Highland clans, were soldiers and always ready to resist encroachments upon their rights.  This attribute of his character has been handed down in a marked degree to his latest posterity.

           John was the oldest child of his parents.  He had four brothers and two sisters: Thomas, James, William, Hiram, Nancy and Henrietta.  All the brothers, Hiram excepted, dying young, distinguished themselves by bravery in the field, and won high honors in civil affairs.  The sisters were almost estimable women.  Nancy married General Duncan McArthur, and Henrietta was wed to Judge Presley Morris.  John McDonald was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1775, and reared upon the border, amidst all the dangers of the long-continued period of Indian warfare, which did not close until after he had reached his majority.  When his father was living on the site of Steubenville, the Ohio River was the extreme western frontier.  He had spent several years in Kentucky previous to his removing to Steubenville, and while there, the whites and redskins were constantly engaged in hostilities.  In the "dark and bloody ground", the boys and young men were incited to follow the example of the old and skilled woodsmen.  Personal bravery, cool daring, bodily strength and agility were regarded the best qualifications a man could possess.  These were essential elements in the characters of the early pioneers, and indispensable qualities for men exposed, as they were, to the wiles of the savage enemy.  Simon Kenton was a resident of the settlement in which the McDonald family lived, and as his example was more especially emulated by the young men, it is probably that our hero received the greater part of his education in woodcraft from that prince of the pioneers and leaders in Indian warfare.  It is known that McDonald's first excursion after the Indians was made with Kenton.

           One Josiah Wood and another man, who went out with a party of hunters, on the waters of Bracken, were killed by the Indians, and the report reaching Washington, Kentucky, about midnight.  Kenton made immediate preparations for striking an evening blow.  The trail of the murderous Indians was found, and pursuit made, but they succeeded in escaping, crossed the Ohio and they were never after seen.  Young McDonald, on being refused by his father permission to go with this party, stole a rifle from the cabin and overtook the company a short distance from the settlement.  The bodies of the unfortunate men were found about sunrise.  They had been horribly mutilated, and presented a shocking appearance.  The ardor of the youthful warrior was somewhat cooled, but he was not daunted, and would have been glad to meet the perpetrators of the outrage.  After this affair, McDonald was continuously engaged in hunting, scouting and surveying - the latter the most dangerous occupation of all.

           In the spring of 1792, he joined General Massie's settlement at Manchester, on the Ohio River, and was engaged in many danger-

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ous expeditions.  Through the whole of the closing decade of the last century, his life was one of extreme hardship, and in constant peril.  He was a boatman, a hunter, a ranger and a surveyor.  One of the most exciting adventures he ever had was related in our last chapter, when he made his escape from the Indians near the mouth of Deer Creek.

           In 1794, he and his brother Thomas joined General Wayne's army as rangers and spies.  The company of rangers consisted of seventy-two men, who were under the command of Captain Ephraim Kibby.  It was their duty to traverse the Indian country in every direction in advance of the army.  It is said that McDonald was a man of unquestionable bravery, and had a combination of qualities that made him a very valuable member of their corps, as well as of the large surveying parties, which, under the leadership of Nathaniel Massie, Lucas Sullivant and others, traversed the whole of the Virginia Military District, and located thousands of acres of lands, while the Indians were still roaming through its forests and living in permanent villages on the banks of Paint Creek, Deer Creek and the Scioto.  He had a thorough knowledge of Indian habits and tactics - daring, yet cautious - trained to habits of self-denial and hard labor, and in his hard muscles he had nerves that never quivered in the presence of danger.  He was courageous enough to attempt any task that there was a possibility of accomplishing; was prudent and judicious enough to conduct it to a successful close.  It used to be a common idea, years ago, by persons who had never seen this man, that he was of great stature.  This was a mistake.  He was a man of short stature and of heavy build.  His muscles were heavy and were of the iron kind, which gave him great physical strength and enabled him to resist fatigue to a wonderful degree.  He was agile and active, which was proven when he leaped the fallen tree top in his race with the Indians.  He has handed down his activity to a limited number of his posterity.  There are three of his grandchildren who have possessed it to a striking degree, all members of one family.  They are the children of a daughter who married Colonel White Morgan.  Adonijah, her second son, is a man now advanced in years, but, when a young man, took delight in stretching a rope from one apple tree to another, at an elevation t h a t he could walk under at full height without touching, and then run and jump over it, back and forth, with but little effort.  He never met a man that could outrun him.

           Louisa Jane, the second daughter, now the wife of Conrad Bowman, living near the banks of Deer Creek, in Monroe Township, Pickaway County, when young, was very active and could run like a deer.  One of the main sports at school, thirty-five years ago, was running foot races.  In this, Jane took great delight.  When a bully entered the school and distanced the field, she was trotted out, and hampered as she was with petticoats, succeeded in outrunning every individual that was ever pitted against her.  The third that we speak of, is the veteran school teacher of Clarksburg, O. W. Morgan.  In stature and general form he is the prototype of his old grandsire.  Had he not had one limb badly crippled when a child, he would, undoubtedly, have been a match for his brother and sister.

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CHAPTER X

           None but Men of the stamp we speak of were adapted to the mode of life which Colonel McDonald led during the early years of the Deer Creek history.

           The beginning of the present century brought the subject of this sketch a change in his manner of life.  The brunt of the struggle for implanting civilization in the great Northwest Territory had been passed.  The days of greatest danger were gone.  McDonald, and others who had been in the very front of the vanguard of the great army, began to reap the benefits and pleasures of a life of peace which their deeds made possible.  It is pleasant to know that same of the brave men who had endured the hardships of a frontier life, who served in the army, who assisted in the surveys of the rich valleys and rolling uplands that lie within the bounds of our settlement, and otherwise prepared the way for the advancement of civilization, found in the very land over which they had marched and fought and dared hidden danger, happy homes and comfort for their declining years.

           McDonald married on the 5th of February 1799 Catherine Cutright, and settled on Poplar Ridge, in Ross County in 1802, where he continued to reside until his death.  We will have to except a few years that he spent in Portsmouth, at the mouth of the Scioto River, where he was engaged in keeping hotel some time between 1815 and 1820.  We had the pleasure of looking over a pocket memorandum, or account book, a few days since, that he kept during his stay at that place.  It is an interesting relic.  The offspring of his union with Miss Cutright were seven daughters and one son, viz: Effie, Maria Louisa, Henrietta, Nancy, Mary, John Cutright, Margaret and Elizabeth.  These children with but one exception, Margaret, who died in childhood, lived to advanced ages.  Effie became the wife of Henry Core; Mary Louisa was married to Colonel White Morgan; Henrietta never married; Nancy married Enos Gunn; Mary was wed to David Core, and Elizabeth to John Morgan.  John C. selected Hannah Teeter as his life partner.  Of these, all have passed beyond the shores of times excepting Nancy Gunn, who, at this time, resides in Olney, Illinois, and is in the eighty-fourth year of her age; and John C. and his faithful wife, who are spending a long lease of life on Poplar Ridge, Ross County, Ohio.  This piece of elevated land is in Twin Township, and is situated about half-way between Frankfort and Bourneville.  John C. is nearing his seventy-ninth birthday.

           About fifty grandchildren were the result of the marriage of his daughters and son.  Many great-grandchildren are now playing upon the stage of time.  More than a dozen great-greats have entered the arena and are playing their oars in the sea of life, and are sailing on to the other shore from which none ever return.  Imagine this little army, sailing, singlefile, down the stream of time.  The most aged is the Captain.  The rear is brought up by the infant just born.  The sea through which Col. John McDonald passed was a rough one, but he braved the storm when the waves ran high.  He, with his comrades, struggled hard, that the rocks and quicksands through which they were compelled to pass might be taken from the stream and allow their posterity to float gently on through smooth waters.  We are glad to know that his last sailing was the most pleasant.  The waters were comparatively smooth, and we hope he

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at last was enabled to enter the harbor and anchor his boat on a peaceful shore.  In his after life, he was accorded that recognition which his valuable work and strong, true character entitled him to.  He was elected several times as justice of the peace, and served as a militia officer, being captain, major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel.  Distinction awaited him in another period of activity and danger.

           When the War of 1812 broke out he enlisted as a volunteer in the first Ohio regiment and received the appointment of paymaster general.  We have now in our possession his book of records, kept during the term of office.  It is the property of his son, John C. McDonald.  It contains the names of the members of the entire regiment, states who were the officers and the pay each received.  We find many names that will be familiar to the readers of the TELEGRAPH.  The names of the grandsires of the thousands of the present inhabitants of this settlement are found on its pages, and it is altogether an interesting relic.  We append the names of the regimental officers in abbreviate exactly as found in records: Duncan McArthur, Col; James Denny, maj'r; William A. Trimble , Maj'r; John McDonald, Paymaster; William H. Puthuff, Adjutant; Samuel McAdow; Surgeon; Lincoln Goodale, Surg's Mate; Arora Butler, Drum Maj'r; Rosswell R. Chapman, Fife Maj'r; John McDonald, Qr. Master; John Fisher, Qr. M. Sergt; Hugh Woods, Serg't Maj'r; Thomas Lloyd, Serg't Maj'r, The paper on which the account is kept is in texture about the same as a good quality of brown wrapping paper of today.  We find the penmanship as legible as print and the ink very black.  On the receipt of his appointment as paymaster, he went to Dayton, the place of general rendezvous for the northwestern army, and soon after his arrival there was appointed quartermaster of the regiment, and continued to hold both offices until the surrender of the army by General Hull.  He was made a prisoner at the surrender of Detroit.  In 1813, he was appointed a captain in the regular army.  In 1814, he was in command of a regiment at Detroit.  He remained in the service until peace was made in 1815, and the army disbanded.  He now returned to civil life; but his talent was sought, and in 1817 he was elected a member of the State Senate, in which capacity he served two terms.  His later years were spent in the quiet enjoyment of a home life, and the prosecution of his farm work.  In 1834, when he was near sixty years of age, he began writing reminiscences of the first settlements along the Ohio and its tributaries; also the book he called "McDonald's Sketches".  To this work he devoted much time.  As he was not an educated man, this labor was great.  No task of the kind was ever undertaken by a frontiersman.  or in other words a backwoodsman.  He was a man of strong and vigorous mind, and never left a task half done.  The result of his labor was praiseworthy.  He produced the most reliable and interesting volume that was ever given to posterity.  His writings have been sought by many historians.  Much has been appropriated by others by the page, without a quotation mark.  His work has been valuable far beyond his highest hopes, and has given him a place in the minds and hearts of people he never hoped to fill.  It was not ambition that led to this veteran's employment of the pen in his old age, but the desire t o save from oblivion the record of the hardships through which the early explorers and settlers passed; the deeds of bravery they performed; the sterling traits of

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character they possessed; and perhaps, to revive his own memory, the faces and the manners of those who had been his companions in his young manhood's days.  Colonel McDonald was not looked upon as a financier, but he succeeded in obtaining enough land to give each of his children one hundred acres, and reserve enough for a life competency.  He anchored his boat in the distant harbor on September 11, 1853.

           His son, John C., is a man of more than common mind.  He was elected to the office of Sheriff of Ross County in 1866, and in 1877 was elected State Senator from the Ross-Highland district, and served his constituents with ability.  His son, William H., a lawyer of Greenup, Illinois, has represented his county in the legislature.  Dr. James Core, the oldest son of Col. McDonald's first daughter, once represented Champaign county, Illinois, in the legislature.  The representatives of Colonel McDonald in the Deer Creek settlement are the members of the family of W. H. Clark, Mrs. Clark being a granddaughter: The Morgan's of Clarksburg and Williamsport; and Mrs. L. J. Bowman, of Deer Creek P.O., Monroe Township, Pickaway County, Ohio.  Thus ends the history of the explorers and surveyors, and we next take up the history of the early pioneer settlers and progress of civilization.

CHAPTER XI

           The pioneer settler required almost as much nerve and bravery as the frontiersman.  The Deer Creek country was covered with a dense forest.  Strong muscles and determined minds were necessary to level them to the ground and prepare the soil for producing crops.  Hundreds of emigrants to this country prepared the ground and planted the corn before a cabin was built.  A neighborhood was as one family.  They were not as independent of each other then as now.  One man could fell a few acres of forest trees and chop them up, but he could not build his log-heaps.  All the men of a community were required to put the great logs into a pile ready for the fire-brand.  The trees were first chopped down and the limbs hewn from the trunk and piled in heaps.  Sometimes they were burned as they were piled, and then the ground was comparatively clear for managing the huge trunks.  Of the latter, the smoothest and most open-grained were cut into fence-rail length and split into rails for fencing the ground.  The remainder were cut into lengths, varying from eight to fourteen feet, according with size for piling into heaps to be burned.  Then came the log-rolling.  All hands were notified that Thomas B. or Bill C. would have a log-rolling on a certain day, and all responded.  Jim Jones would not say be believed he could not go as he had to go to the mill that day; and Sam Simmons would not turn his back and complain that he did not feel "fust rate", and would not go; but every fellow was ready.  Their dependence made them ready.  Their clearing was coming next and everybody depended upon everybody else.  If a man could do nothing else, he could hollow "hee ho" when all were ready.  In this manner have our great forests been piled up and burned.  A small percent only of our magnificent trees have entered into the construction of houses and fences.  They have been sacrificed to the fire, and soon we will go begging for timber to build our homes and fence our farms; and yet

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the sacrifice goes on.  When will it cease?

           In the same manner that their farms were cleared, were their houses built.  The woodsman's axe, with maul and wedge, were the tools necessary for the erection of a dwelling.  There are few readers of the TELEGRAPH who have not seen a house built on the plan of the old log cabin.  The log cabins of today have glass windows, plank floors, shingle roofs and brick chimneys.  The pioneer's cabin had a clapboard roof (boards split out, three or four feet long, and rough), chimney made of mud and sticks, puncheon floors (a puncheon is a flat piece of timber split out of a log as wide as the timber would make and from two to three inches thick, sometimes hewn with a broad axe).  The puncheons were sometimes pinned to a sleeper (a heavy log) with an inch wooden pin.  The windows were of cotton fabric or greased paper.  It was no uncommon thing for a house "to have no openings in it excepting the door.  In these rude structures our forefathers began the battle with the wilderness.
           The contents of the pioneer dwelling were not veneered bureaus, and bedsteads, upholstered chairs and cushioned footstools, feather beds on spring mattresses, britannia pots on nickel-plated cook stoves, nor any other the conveniences of today.  Often the cabin was without a floor.  Two forked sticks were driven into the ground to a sufficient depth to make them solid, and at such a distance from the wall that would give room for husband and wife and probably two or three small children, on a structure called a bed.  The bedstead was made by laying poles from the forks to a crack in the wall and then cross poles on these.  Brush and leaves thrown upon the poles often served as a bed.  In the winter time, skins of wild animals served as covering.  The cooking utensils consisted of a pot and a frying pan.  Gourds were used in lieu of tin cups and sugar bowls.  A few only possessed knives and forks.  The hunter's knife served to slice up bread and meat, which was eaten with a relish, by taking in the fingers and eating it "by the word of mouth".

           We imagine we see a society lady of the present day, who daintily picks up her peas with a fork, one at a time, and gracefully places them between her very modest lips; or a gentleman dude, with waxed moustache and hair parted in the middle, who sits at the table like a piece of statuary, mincing over his victuals with a fork while at the same time a knife and spoon are placed by him to be used; we imagine we see such idiots placed in like circumstances.  How soon a hungry belly would bring down such pride and "tomfoolery".  I think a few weeks for the dude in a forest clearing, and the same time for the society belle in the garden and at the wash tub, would cure them of their idiocy and make them relish a good, solid meal, served in the old style, and be willing to eat it in a sensible manner.

           We had the acquaintance of a gentleman, many years ago, who settled on the Scioto bottom, some place between Deer Creek and Chillicothe, at a very early period in the history of Ross County.  He related to me the following story: "Me and the old woman, after gitten married, tuck a lease on the Scioto bottom above Chillicothe.  We was to have all we raised for five years.  We had a pot and fryin' pan to go to housekeeping on.  We constructed our bed in the old-fashioned way.  I drive a bargain with a fellow

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for a two-year old colt.  It was awful poor, but we fed it up.  We fixed up gears of bark, husks and hickory withes.  The old woman made a collar of cornhusks.  I made hames by hewin' out the root of a tree with my axe.  To these hames I fastened hickory withes for traces.  Hickory bark was used to make back-band, belly-band, bridle and lines.

           "I made out to 'tend a few acres of corn with my colt.  The old woman cleared out a patch near the cabin and sowed it in flax.  The corn growed well and would have made a big crop, but the tarnel varmints bothered so.  The coons and squirrels come nigh onto eatin' of it up; but we made out to save enough to do us.  The old woman's flax patch done fust rate and when she worked it up she had enough to make me two pair of breeches and a shirt; besides enough for herself a dress and two petticoats.  She spun the tow into ropes that afterward come in good play.  When winter come on.  our time was employed clearin' more ground for a bigger crop in the spring.  When plowin' time come, we had a right smart patch cleared out.  It was too much for the colt and so I hustled 'round and made a trade for another one.  Then we had to cooster up another set of gears.  When we got 'em done, they was good mates for the fust ones.  We fixed up a pair of lines out of the ropes that the old woman spun.  I was then about as rich as I ever expected to be and was happy.
           "One morning, along in April, when I was out in my clearin' a couple of fellows, well dressed, hitched their horses to my clearin' fence and come a walkin' towards me.  When they got near to me, one of the said, "Good morning, young man, we would like to get to light our pipe by your log heap if you have no objections".  I tole 'em all right, jest to help 'emselves.  They lit their pipes and started off.  One of 'em turned round and said, "Young man, you have a hard job here among this big timber".  I tole him yes, but I guessed I could manage it.  They was land traders from Virginny.  He told me I had better go with them to Madison County where land was not so hard to clear and they would sell me all the land I wanted for a small sum of money.  I told them I never expected to own any land and did not go.  They went on their way and I never heard of them again, until the next spring.  I worked hard all of that year and raised a good crop.  When they come along again in the spring, they stopped and coaxed at me to go with them to their lands in Madison County.  They coaxed so hard and told me that they would sell me land at almost my own price and give me a long time to pay for it in.  I went to the cabin and talked to the old woman about it, and, with her consent, I mounted one of the colts and went with them.  I found their land splendid and it would be easy cleared.  I was not there long till we drive a bargain for a hundred acres.  The land lays a little piece beyant Henpeck (now Danville).  We moved at once onto it.  I succeeded in paying for it promptly.  I afterwards bought this farm where I live and much more beside."

           It has been near thirty-five years since the above story was related to me, and it is not likely I have related it verbatim, but it serves to portray to the reader the kind of stuff the men were made of that converted our wilderness into elegant homes.  This was a small, compactly built man, and was hardy as a knot.  His name was Charles Holland.  He died at an advanced age, worth

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about two hundred thousand dollars, including the amount he had given to his children.  He began his fight with the world within the radius of Deer Creek country.

           The only representatives that he now has in the Deer Creek country is the family of W. L. Morgan of Williamsport, his wife being a grand-daughter, and the children of the fourth generation.

CHAPTER XII

           The writer has made much effort to obtain facts and data regarding the early settlers, but has met with poor success.  Such records as we have had access to contain but few facts that would be of interest to our readers.  We have visited many of the oldest citizens in the Deer Creek settlement, and spent hours in interviewing them to obtain facts of interest.  While we have enjoyed much of the company of these old people, they have been able to give but little information of the early settlers.  But very few, indeed, of the second generation are now living; and they who live, are well-nigh spent.  We shall hurriedly put together a few facts that we have been able to obtain regarding the progress of our country, and then compare the present with the past and close our effort.

           The first settler on Deer Creek was a Mr. Waugh, who was a hunter and trapper in this section at the time of the treaty of peace with the Indians.  It is known that he was living on a little stream that is a tributary to Deer Creek and passes through Deerfield and a part of Union Township, Ross County.  It empties into Deer Creek about six miles above its mouth.  His cabin stood on the bank of this stream in Union Township.  The stream was named for the first white occupant, and is known as Waugh's Run at the present day.  Waugh afterward removed to the vicinity of Greenfield, where we find a high piece of land called Waugh's Hill.

           Christian Richhart and a family of eight persons, came from Virginia in 1797.  They came down the Ohio on a flat boat to the mouth of the Scioto, where they embarked on a keel-boat to the mouth of Deer Creek.  From this point they made their way into the wilderness and pitched their tent and fell to work clearing out land for a home.  The family stayed at this place buy two years, when they removed to High Bank, below the site of Chillicothe, on the Scioto.  Hiram Richhart, of Chillicothe, is a descendant of this family.

           Michael Beaver came from Kentucky in 1796, and purchased one thousand and one hundred acres of land on Deer Creek.  In the year 1800 he erected the brick house now owned by Byron Lutz.

           Thomas Dickerson and wife came from Virginia in 1796 or 1797.  They made the journey on pack horses, carrying such goods as were movable in that way.  The following spring they purchased one hundred acres of land where Marion Dunlap now lives.  This log house is still used as a tenant house.

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           How great is the difference in the facilities for obtaining a living, when we compare those of the time when Mr. Dickerson occupied the lands, with the present.  Dickerson, no doubt, hewed out a home in the wilderness, while Mr. Dunlap, who now occupies the place, was born on flowery beds of ease, and rocked in a cradle of luxury.  We cannot help but exclaim again, how little does the present generation know of the hardships of the pioneer!  Many of our young men complain of having to work so hard.  Uncle Joe Johnson says: "Pshaw!  We old folks gist claired up the country for the young'ns to play on.  They know nothin' of hard work".  We imagine that Uncle Joe is right.

           John Rogers built the house on the Matthew Clifton farm, on Dry Run, in Union Township in 1800.  It still stands.

           A family of the name of Thompson was among the earliest settlers, and resided north of Deer Creek.

           Anthony Simms Davenport resided north of Deer Creek previous to 1799.  There is no doubt that in his dwelling, was gathered together the first society of Methodists in the entire Deer Creek settlements.  There are persons that may be inclined to dispute the above fact, but we have evidence that Tiffin preached and had a society in good running order previous to 1799.  It may have been organized as early as 1796 or 1797.

           Our authority is found in J. B. Finley's sketches of Western Methodism, page 265.

           As Dr. Tiffin was once a citizen of the Deer Creek valley and the first minister to preach the word of God to the first settlers, and afterward the most prominent man in Ohio, we shall give a sketch of his life.  We depend mostly upon Finley's Sketches of Western Methodism for our information and will quote much directly from it.

           The sketch of the life of Dr. Tiffin was furnished to Finley by Samuel Williams, Esq.

           Edward Tiffin was born in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland County, England, a few miles south of the border of Scotland on June 19, 1766.  His education was limited to the ordinary branches of a common English course, as his parents were in moderate circumstances and unable to educate him better.  At an early age, he began the study of medicine, and in 1784, at the age of about eighteen years, before he had completed his medical course, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Charleston, Berkley (now Jefferson County), West Virginia, whither his parents and all the family soon afterward removed.  Having finished the study of medicine, under a distinguished physician, Mr. Tiffin, while yet very young, commenced the practice, and, by his skill and success in his profession, he soon acquired a high character and standing as a physician.

           In 1789 he united in marriage with Miss Mary Worthington, near Charlestown, and sister of the late Governor Thomas Worthington, of Ohio.  The year following, Dr. Tiffin and his wife were attracted by curiosity perhaps, to hear the Rev. Lewis Chastain and Rev.

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Thomas Scott, the two Methodist preachers stationed that year on Berkley circuit, and whose fame had brought out large congregations to hear them.  Mr. Scott, by his preaching, and especially by his youthfulness, being then only eighteen years old, attracted particular notice.  The truth reached the heart and conscience of the Doctor, and he was received into the church as a probationer by Mr. Scott.  Rev. Scott says, in a memorandum, that when he gave the invitation to those who wished to become members, to come forward, Dr. Tiffin was standing on the opposite side of the room, and that he had not perceived that he was affected; but the moment that he gave the invitation, he quickly stepped forward, evidently under deep and pungent conviction, roaring almost with anguish, and asking for admission to our church.  He was admitted, and before he had completed that round on his circuit, that he (Tiffin) had preached several sermons.

           In another place the Judge (Rev. Scott) noted down: "immediately after I had received Dr. Tiffin into the church, he felt his call to the ministry.  Conferring not with flesh and blood, and without waiting for a license, he commenced preaching.  One of the places selected by him for that purpose was Bullskin.  Mr. Smith, in his "Recollections", speaks of Dr. Tiffin's preaching as pathetic and powerful.  Not only did the love of Christ constrain him to proclaim the unsearchable riches of the Gospel, but the divine call t o the ministry was so powerfully impressed upon his mind that he dared not, at his peril, disobey it.  Yet the cross was almost insupportably heavy, and he had at first well-nigh sunk under it.  Mr. Smith says: "The doctor told me himself, near thirty-five years ago, that, attending at one of his appointments - perhaps one of the first that had been made for him - seeing the people flock in multitudes, out of mere curiosity to hear him preach, his heart failed within him.  He slipped out some half an hour before the time appointed for commencing the meeting, and hastily retired to a dense forest near at hand, with the intention of hiding himself till the congregation should become tired of waiting and disperse.  But it would not do.  He could not flee from the vivid convictions which seemed to sound in his ear like thunder, and thrill like lightning through his soul.  "A dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me and WOE IS UNTO ME if I preach not the gospel." In his agony the perspiration fell in large drops from his face, and his garments were wet with its profuse flow.  He felt almost involuntarily impelled to return to the house, which was now full to overflowing, and great numbers outside.  Scarcely able to stand, the Doctor - like one of his distinguished predecessors in the ministry, the first time he preached at Corinth - commenced the service in weakness and fear, and in much trembling.  But he soon felt divinely aided, and threw off the incubus which seemed to press him to the earth, and he preached with great liberty; and if his speech and his preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, yet was in demonstration of the Spirit and of the power, for sinners were cut to the heart, and God honored his servant in the sight of all people."

           About two years after Tiffin began to preach, he was admitted to the office of a deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church

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by Bishop Asbury, by whom he was ordained on the 19th of November 1792.  At that period, the discipline authorized the Bishop to ordain local preachers to the order of deacon.

           In 1798, Dr. Tiffin removed to and settled in the village of Chillicothe, the territory northwest of the Ohio River.  He selected a four acre out-lot at the upper end of the town for his residence.  Here he erected the first house that was graced with shingle roof in Chillicothe.  He continued the practice of medicine Chillicothe and surrounding country.  It was his custom, whenever practicable, to pray with his patients and administer to them suitable religious counsel and instructions; and these exercises were usually attended with good effect.  In obstetric cases, this was especially his practice; and in protracted cases of this kind he has been known to engage in fervant prayer with and for his patients twice or thrice or oftener.

           Notwithstanding his extensive practice as a physician, Dr. Tiffin found time to labor much and zealously, and with great usefulness in the Lord's vineyard.  He had his regular Sabbath appointments for preaching in the country, for there was no opening then for it in town.  One of his regular preaching places was at Anthony Davenport's on Deer Creek.

CHAPTER XIII

           There can be no doubt that the first sermon in the Deer Creek settlement was by a Methodist preacher, and that it was Dr. Tiffin that delivered it.  To him belongs the honor of organizing the first church society in the Deer Creek settlement.  Mr. Smith, in his recollections, says: "The Doctor's wife was one of the most conscientious and heavenly minded women I ever knew.  She was a mother in Israel, indeed".  About that time, a report was put in circulation that the Doctor had given up his religion.  He laughed at it, and said: " It would not do for me to backslide, for my wife would give me no peace".  The Doctor, however, refused to take any part in religious exercises in Chillicothe: outside of his own family.  From an old church record of Deer Creek circuit, bearing date of 1808, it appears that Mr. Tiffin's zeal in the cause of the Methodist church faded away.  The reason is not clear.  It is likely that much of it was due to the slanderous tongues of those who were jealous of his popularity and power.  The first record we find showing that Mr. Tiffin had church troubles, is in the old Deer Creek Record, page 20.  At a quarterly meeting held on Big Darby, near the house of Thomas Chinnoworth, for Deer Creek circuit, commencing Tuesday, the 31st of May 1811, the case of Dr. Samuel Monette was taken up.  Monette was a local preacher and a deacon in the Methodist church.  The charge had been preferred against him by Edward Tiffin, a local preacher and deacon, at a meeting held in Chillicothe on May 17, 1811.  They were as follows: (No. 1) "He is charged with not being a man of truth, and is an unprincipled calumnistor".  (2nd) "By acting beneath the character of either gentleman or a Christian in a variety of ways".  James Davidson, a local preacher, was called and gave evidence supporting the charges.  The evidence was given in writing, which was objected to on the grounds that it did not contain the

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truth; but it was agreed that if Mr. Davidson would be qualified thereto, the evidence would be talken.  Judge Scott, of the supreme court, was present and Davidson was duly sworn before him and his testimony was accepted.  Mr. Davidson swore that a certain time he heard Samuel Monette say that Dr. John Hanson had too great intimacy with Mrs. Kitty Scott.  Here we draw the veil over the testimony of Mr. Davidson.  It simply went to show that the frailty of Adam and Eve had followed down to even that generation.

           Edward Tiffin then produced a letter from Thomas Worthington, afterwards Governor of Ohio, supporting the charges.

           Ralph Lotspeich, the preacher in charge was asked if Samuel Monette did not tell him that Dr. Tiffin had drawn off a bill for him (Monette) against the trustees of Union Township for services rendered the widow Julian, then on said township.  Answered in the affirmative.  Tiffin then produced two certificates, certifying that the bill alluded to was not in the handwriting of Dr. Tiffin.  A third charge was here made, as follows: with running in debt and not using the exertions necessary to pay.  The evidence sustained the charge.

           Much evidence was produced that showed that Monette was a bitter enemy of Dr. Tiffin and was slandering him on every hand.  The committee suspended Monette until the next quarterly meeting.  We find in the same Deer Creek record, that at a meeting held in Chillicothe May 17, 1811, Dr. Samuel Monette preferred charges against Dr. Tiffin.  They were as follows: (1st) "With being destitute of that spirit and Christian candor in a variety of instances which ought to characterize the members of our society".  (2nd) "With having shamefully departed from the truth, to the disgrace of the ministry".  (3rd) "With having slandered by reputation in my absence, in violation of the expressed declaration of eternal truth".  (4th) "With having joined the Tammany Society, the principles of which, are, it is conceived, dangerous to liberty, good government, religion, etc".  After the evidence was heard and re-examined, the committee was of the opinion that Dr. Tiffin had done some things that he denied, but the evidence was not sufficient to support any of the charges.  At this same meeting the case of Dr. Monette was again taken up, and resulted in his expulsion from the church.

           At a quarterly conference held in Chillicothe, for Deer Creek circuit, August 12, 1811, the case of Dr. Tiffin was again taken up, and it was proven, by several witnesses, that he had made out a bill, or assisted in making out a bill, for Dr. Monette against Union Township for services rendered to the widow Julian by said Monette.  It was also proven that Dr. Tiffin had testified, at a previous trial before the committee, that he hoped that he might never enter the kingdom of heaven if he ever saw the bill before.  Objection was made against proceeding with the trial farther, that Dr. Tiffin had been tried before on the same charges.  The committee decided that the charges were not the same and proceeded with the trial.  A decision was reached by the committee, which found Dr. Tiffin guilty as charged, and he was suspended from all official offices of the church.  Thomas Scott

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gave notice of an appeal to the next annual conference.  The record of the above proceedings were signed by Thomas Hind, Jonathan Minshall, Reuben Rowe, William Staggs, John Brodess, Thomas Withgott, Solomon Langdon, Ralph Lotspeich, White Brown, Lewis Foster, Benson Goldsberry, John Jefferson and Alexander Rowen.  At this point, we lose trace of his trial; but we find again, in the Deer Creek Record, at a quarterly conference held October 25, 1818, that a committee of two - Samuel Monette, his former prosecutor being one of them - was appointed to wait on Edward Tiffin, and ask of him what relation he considered himself to hold to the Methodist church.  His reply was that he did not consider himself a member.

           We find in Finley's Sketches of Western Methodism, that, in April 1812, congress created the General Landoffice.  The president had the power to appoint a Commissioner of the General Landoffice, with a salary of three thousand dollars.  President Madison appointed Dr. Tiffin to this place.  A few days after his appointment, he mounted his horse, and after a journey of two weeks, he arrived in Washington City, and entered upon his duties.  He continued in the Landoffice until 1814, when he received the appointment of Surveyor General of public lands northwest of the Ohio River.  He immediately removed his family to Chillicothe where he established his office.  We find that after his return to Chillicothe, he occasionally preached in that town, and at one time conducted the religious services at the Protestant Episcopal church in Chillicothe.  But we return to a period of his life when he was almost worshiped by the people of Ohio.  In 1799, Dr. Tiffin was elected a member of the territorial legislature.  The "Northwest Territory" at this time embraced all the country lying northwest of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi.  In 1802 he was elected one of the delegates from Ross County to the convention that adopted our first state constitution and organized the state government of Ohio.  When the convention met, it was organized by electing Tiffin its president.  It is said he discharged the duties of the office with ability and great satisfaction.  Honors fell thick and fast.  In 1803 it was necessary under the new constitution, to elect a magistrate.  At once all eyes were cast towards Dr. Tiffin.  It is said he was elected without opposition.  When his term expired he was reelected.

           At the session of the legislature of 1806-7, Gov. Tiffin was chosen senator in congress in place of Thomas Worthington, whose term expired the 4th of March following.  December 1807 he took his seat.  In 1808 he lost his wife.  He now determined to retire to private life, and accordingly, after the close of congress which terminated on the third of March 1809, he resigned his seat in the senate.  Early in the spring of the year after his resignation, he removed to his farm on Deer Creek, where he hoped to enjoy the sweets of a rural life in the cultivation of the rich alluvial soil on that stream.  This farm was in Union Township, and the house that Governor Tiffin built is a brick, and is the one in which ex-sheriff Felix B. Mace now lives.  Soon after removing to his farm, he was married to a Miss Mary Porter, of Twin Township, Ross County.  At the general election following his retirement from the United States Senate, the people again called him to serve them in the state legislature.  Dr. Tiffin's seat in the United

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States was yet vacant.  On the first Monday of December, the legislature met and organized by electing Alexander Campbell, of Adams County, speaker.  The two houses met in joint session to elect a senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr. Tiffin.  Chillicothe was yet the seat of government, and the old stone court house the capital.  The house occupied the court room on the ground floor, a very uncomfortable, badly-lighted and roughly-finished room, with a large fire place at each end, and a nice open stairway out of one corner, leading up to the second floor.  All the wood that could be piled on the huge fire places failed to heat the large room.  The senate occupied the grand jury room on the second floor.  When the senate had descended to the lower room, and all were seated and in readiness, the speaker of the senate, Thomas Kirker, arose and said: "Gentlemen of the senate, you will please prepare your ballots for senator in the congress of the United States, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward Tiffin".  The speaker of the house then called on the house to do likewise.  A teller from each house then COLLECTED THE BALLOTS IN HATS, and read them at the clerk's table; each of the clerks took down the votes given, and Dr. Alexander Campbell, a speaker of the house, was elected and duly notified.  He at once resigned his seat in the legislature and Dr. Tiffin was chosen to the speakership of the house.  He was again returned to the house of representatives the following year (1810), and again chose speaker.

           The rent of the Doctor's house in Chillicothe and the product of his mill and farm on Deer Creek, were not sufficient to support his family, so, in the fall of 1810, he again removed to Chillicothe and resumed the practice of medicine.  His biographer says, "At one time when visiting the sick on Deer Creek, some fifteen or twenty miles from Chillicothe, that he was called to, attend to a man who had cut his foot badly with a scythe.  The Dr. found the foot in a high state of inflammation, and mortification having commenced and rapidly advancing, requiring immediate amputation.  To have delayed until he could get his instruments would have been fatal to the patient.  In place of a tourniquet, he used a silk handkerchief to compress the artery.  His pen knife was used as a scalpel, and a common hand saw for sawing off the bones.  With these rude instruments, the amputation was performed and the man's life saved." The last few years of his life were but little diversified with incident.  Disease had fastened itself upon him, and for several years he was mostly confined to his room.  His health continued to decline until the 9th of August 1829, when he, in full possession of his mind, bade adieu to earth.  He left a widow and five children - four daughters and one son.  The eldest daughter married Joseph A. Reynolds.  Another married M. Scott Cook of Chillicothe.  The youngest married Dr. C. G. Comegys of Cincinnati.  (Dr. Comegys is one of the grandest physicians of Ohio, and unless he has recently died, he is one of the oldest physicians in the state.) His only son, Edward Parker Tiffin, chose the profession of medicine.  After graduating in this country, he went to Paris to complete his course.  After a stay of two years in that city , he returned to New York, and on his way home, on the cars, from that city, he accidently fell under the train and was killed.

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CHAPTER XIV

           The volume in our possession containing the early records of the Deer Creek circuit, beginning with 1808, shows that the circuit was very extensive at that date.  The names of many eminent men are found on its pages.

           The first quarterly meeting recorded, was held at Thomas Bowdle's on St. Valentine's Day February 14, 1808.  John Sale was president, Benjamin Lakin and John Crane, circuit preachers, Samuel Monette and John Martin local deacons, William Wood, leader, and Elijah Chinoweth, steward.  The record does not show that any business was transacted at this meeting, other than an appeal being taken by Catherine Scott from the decision of a class in Chillicothe.  The case was continued to a called conference in Chillicothe.  This conference met on April 2, 1808.  The persons present were as follows: Brothers Lakin, Timmons, McDowel, elders; Monette, deacon; Rowen, Hare, English, Shields, Scott, Crane, preachers; Collins, McCormack, Gardner, Hutzenpiler, H. Bowdle and Jefferson, leaders.  Benjamin Lakin was president.  At this meeting, no other business is recorded other than the trial of Catherine Scott, who was restored to her place in the church.  The entire proceedings of the trial are given, which shows that the church took notice of very small things at that day.  It was a case of petty tattling, that, when brought before the public, was ridiculous in the extreme.  It was all about a piece of "stuff" that Mrs. Scott had bought to make her daughter a petticoat.  If the church would take notice of such stuff today, there would be no time for anything but church trials.  We are of the opinion that a little more prayer and a great deal less tattling, would be a benefit to society, if not the church, even at this date.  One tattler will make more trouble in a neighborhood than a dozen thieves, and I do not know that like punishment would not result in good.

           While the Deer Creek Circuit record is before me, and there is so much interest to be found on its pages in the way of church trials, I will refer to a few of them, giving the character of charges against members and results.  At a quarterly meeting, held at White Brown's for Deer Creek circuit August 29, 1809, John Sale presided.

           "The case of brother John Martin, a local preacher, was taken up against whom are the following charges: (1st) For stating that some of the proceedings had in the church against some of the members of the society for going to a barbecue 'came from hell'.  Upon a brother expressing his surprise at such observations, he said brother Martin added: "They came from the bottomless pit of hell".  (2nd) "For declaring that Brother John Collins, circuit preacher, had done more harm here by his proceedings than he ever done good or ever would".  The trial resulted in his being suspended from all ministerial offices.

           At the same meeting charges were preferred again Brother Somebody, whose name we cannot make out, for attending a barbecue on the 4th of July to celebrate that day.  The committee was of the opinion he ought to be expelled from the church.

           On July 20, 1811, a charge was brought against William S. Hutt

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for idolatry.  Specifications.."for being a member of a society designated by the name of a heathen, and celebrating the anniversary of an Indian chief, Tammany, on the 13th of May 1811." The above said Hutt was, at the time of his trial, a clerk of the Supreme Court.

           Charges were brought against Edward Scott, a local preacher, at this same meeting, for idolatry.  Specifications.."in being a member of the Tammany society, which was named for an Indian chief.  Also for saying that no circuit preacher was fit or capable of representing a circuit in conference, and that John Wesley was no more fit to represent a circuit than the devil."

           The church record shows that a great many people were in the church in the year 1811, and that the devil was in the people.  Blood was hot and ran high.  It appears that the greatest ambition of the members at that time was to attain the position of a local preacher or deacon, but this year was an unfortunate one for this class of members.  They were nearly all either reprimanded, suspended or expelled from the church.

           Deer Creek Circuit was organized September 14, 1807.  Its first preachers were Benjamin Lakin and John Crane, with John Sale, presiding elder.  The membership was 558.  In 1811 the membership had increased to 1,020.  This year Paint Creek circuit (now out of existence) was stricken off.  1812, Samuel Parker and Alexander Cummins, preachers; James Quinn, presiding elder, with 728 members.

           In 1818 Chillicothe station was stricken off.  William Swayze and R. W. Finley were the preachers and J. Collins, presiding elder; members 1,639.  Chillicothe station now contained 332 members.  In 1823 the membership of the circuit was 1,022, Z. Connell and James T. Wells were the preachers.  1824 came in or went out with 860 members.  There must have been quite a weeding out, either in 1823 or 1824.  In 1830 the membership had increased to 1,530.  In 1838 Frankfort circuit was stricken off.  This year reported 1,326 members.  The year 1839 reported only 729 members.  1843 reports 1,087 members with Z. Wharton and J. Webb preachers, and J. M. Trimble presiding elder.  In 1853, New Holland circuit was set off; members reported 999.  Chillicothe circuit was stricken off in 1873, leaving the circuit with its present bounds, having but four appointments, viz: Clarksburg, Asbury, Dry Run and Brown's Chapel.  It now has a membership of about 500, George Cherrington, preacher.  When the circuit was first organized, a very large scope of territory east of Deer Creek, extending to Big Darby Creek, was within its bounds.  There are no records to show when this large slice was taken off.  The original circuit was about the same in extent that Chillicothe district is at this time.  Unless Chillicothe had a society organized previous to 1799, Davenport's was the first within the settlement to organize.  Spring Bank, in Chillicothe circuit, now takes its place.  We have no history of any meeting house being built previous to 1828, when a log house was built for their use, but the society was in good running order previous to 1799.  Soon after the log house was built, it took

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fire and burned down.  In 1832, a brick meeting house was completed.  The Rev. Evan Stevenson, father of Hon. Job E. Stevenson of Cincinnati, was the first preacher in this house.  A few members of the Old School (Hardshell) Baptist church assisted in erecting the brick building, in consideration of which their denomination was permitted to use the house the fifth Sunday of each month that it might occur.  Elder William Baker of Deerfield Township was their first pastor.  Of the societies now within the bounds of Deer Creek Circuit, Dry Run was the first to organize.  In the year 1800, Henry and Thomas Bowdle, Thomas Withgott and James Sisk, moved into the Dry Run neighborhood, with their families.  They were Methodists and formed themselves into a class under the ministration of Rev. Henry Smith, the same year.  Mr. Smith has the credit of preaching the first sermon ever preached in that locality.  In 1820 a log meeting house was erected where the brick now stands.  The present house was erected in 1845.  In this society was organized the first Sunday school outside of Chillicothe.  It was organized in 1828 by electing William Bowdle, president; Levi Hurst vice president; Hooper Hurst, secretary; Willis Hicks, treasurer; Joseph Bowdle, Reuben Withgott, John N. Hurst, Wesley Bowdle and Stewart Tootle, managers.

           On Christmas Day 1802, Rev. John Sale visited the cabin of White Brown, which stood on the bank of Hay Run, a tributary of Deer Creek, about one-half mile above its mouth.  He preached and organized a class consisting of six of the white members of his family, a Mr. Clark and wife and five of his negroes, thirteen in all.  Mr. Brown was appointed leader.  The society was taken into the plan of the old Scioto circuit as a regular preaching place.  The next year 1803, Mr. Brown built a large barn on the old plan; two huge pens of round logs set about twenty five feet apart, but included under one roof.  The space between the pens was floored with plank two inches thick and twenty inches broad.  Each side of this space was weatherboarded closely and large doors made through them for entrances.  In this structure the people of Brown's society met to worship for fifteen years, excepting when it was too cold, then they met in Mr. Brown's house.  In that barn such men as Sale, Laken, Asbury, McKendree, and many other bright lights preached the gospel.  In that building the funeral of Rev. Ralph Lotspeich was preached June 18, 1813, by Samuel Parker, while his remains lay enshrouded in its death robes before the sorrowing audience.  The body was buried in a graveyard a few rods west of Mr. Brown's cabin.  It still rests there with a broken stone, erected by his female friends marking the spot.  Another stone stands near to designate where Liga, one of the faithful negro servants, was laid to rest.  They are in an open field unprotected.

           During a revival held by Rev. Joseph Hays, in the barn and dwelling, sixty persons were admitted on trial.  The old barn still stands in memory of the grand and good man that built it.  If its walls could speak, they no doubt, would tell of many hallelujahs that have gone up from under its roof; of many songs that have been sung, of prayers offered up and grand sermons preached by the early settlers in the wilderness.  This building is now rapidly decaying and by all means should be preserved as a memento of early Methodism in the Deer Creek settlement.  It is not likely there is another building standing in Ohio that was used as a meeting house as early

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as 1803.

           About 1817, Brown's Chapel was erected on Mr. Brown's farm.  about one mile east of his residence.  It was used until 1871 when it was torn down and a beautiful brick structure erected on the site.  Miss Catherine Brown, deceased, daughter of Clement Brown and sister of the late Thomas W. Brown, was instrumental in erecting the present structure.  Two thousand dollars was bequeathed by her to be used by the society in its erection.  A provision was made in the will that an additional three thousand dollars should be raised so that a house should be erected worth five thousand dollars.  The provisions were met and the beautiful building stands in memory of Catharine Brown.

CHAPTER XV

           We have already spoken of the organization of Dry Run and Brown's societies of the Deer Creek circuit, and will begin this chapter by stating that the exact date of the organization of Asbury society is not known, but was likely previous to 1805.  The first house was erected for the use of that society in 1814.  It was a rough log structure built upon, or near, the site of the present building.  It was also used for a school house for many years.  The building now standing was erected in 1853.  It was built for what was then known as Lower Egypt.  The country around about it is still known as the Egypt neighborhood.  The society has not flourished well for many years.  While there have always been good Christian people connected with it, there have always been many hindrances to its prosperity.  It seems that many of the early settlers were inclined to be wild and irreligious.  It was a noted neighborhood for sporting - drinking, card playing and horse racing were the leading amusements.  But a few years since, it was not an uncommon thing for the rowdies to seriously disturb the meetings.  Horse racing to and from the meeting house on Sunday was a frequent occurrence.  Civilization has at last dawned upon them.  The people have been educated up to a higher level.  The law was enforced against rowdies until they first learned to fear and then to love it.  The society is more prosperous a t the present than for many years, and a bright future awaits it.  We do not feel like the history of Asbury would be complete without making mention of some of its leading members.  Joseph Timmons, King of Egypt, Neddie Timmons and Harry Corkwell were among the first members of the society.  The Timmons', Farlow's, Vosses and Holloways have figured prominently in the society.  Christopher Hickel was an influential member in his day.  His children follow after him.  Levi Godden, one of the oldest members now living, has occupied prominent positions in the society.  He is an earnest worker in the church.  While he is comparatively uneducated, he is gifted in prayer and for many years past it has been his custom to make the 'welkin' ring around old Asbury with his hallelujahs.  Martin Zeller, now a class leader in the society, has the utmost confidence of the entire community and will have a great influence in bringing the church up to a high standard.

           The Clarksburg society was the last of the four present

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appointments to organize.  The date cannot be given when the first class was formed, but was about the year 1835.  The society purchased during that year of Noah Justice the lot on which the present meeting house stands.  On it was a potter's shop built of bricks.  In this shop the meetings were held until 1837 when it was torn down and the brick used in building a small uncomely house for use of the society.

           In the absence of records and living witnesses, we are unable to give the names of any of the first members, but it is thought that John McCafferty and John Chestnut were of the first class.  Wm. Lamden Brown has the oldest membership of any person now belonging to the society.  James M. Reeves will probably register next, as records show that he was a class leader as early as 1842.  The society prospered until 1853 when the little brick structure would accommodate the people no longer, and it was torn down and the present frame building erected in its stead.  The intensely hard brick to be seen in the east end of the pavement in front of the residence of Dr. Morgan were taken from the walls of the old brick building.  The present house was dedicated by the Rev. J. B. Finley.  The society is prospering well as far as numbers are concerned, but we are unable to pass judgement as to quality of religion.  J. M. Reeves ranks high in the society.  While Bro. Reeves like all men, has his failings, he is a consistent Christian.  His political doctrine does not dispute his religious professions.  His name stands on the book as class leader, being forty-seven years since its first appearance on the records in that capacity.  Many good people have been, and still are, associated with him in his church work.  The church yard is small, and is about one-half filled up with graves of the silent dead.  The first body deposited there was the wife of David Starks.  We find there erected a monument to the memory of Rev. Dr. Cassat and wife.  It was erected by Deer Creek and New Holland circuits.  Mrs. Cassat died July 25, 1850, and the much loved and respected Dr. Cassat on November 5, 1850.  These graves should all be removed to the Deer Creek Township cemetery, and make room for a larger and better building that will accommodate the rapidly increasing population of the vicinity.

           Besides the Methodist Episcopal branch of the Christian church, the Presbyterians have a society at Greenland in Deerfield Township.  No statistics are at hand to give a history of its organization.  The society is small, but has some very earnest Christians associated with it.

           "The Old-School Baptists" once flourished in Deerfield Township, Ross County.  In 1820 a society was organized and a meeting house built for its use.  It still stands in memory of the society that has long since passed away.  The church yard contains the majority of the members.  The illiberality of the doctrine makes the church very unpopular, and consequently its failure in many localities.  There is an attempt being made now to reorganize the society and build a new meeting house.  A few members have associated themselves together, but of those belonging to the church there is not a sufficiency of wealth to build a house and sustain an organization.  There are many whose sympathies are with that order, who would like to see the enterprise succeed, and while

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they are well able to contribute liberally to the cause, are so close fisted and miserly that a failure is likely to be the result.

           William Baker, Nathan Cory, Peter Sperry and John Littleton were among the first preachers that were foreordained to feed the flock.  Samuel Williams was one of the strongest preachers that ever threw crumbs to the hungry fold.  His son Thomas now attempts to resurrect the society.  It is to be hoped that he will succeed.

           The Methodist Protestant church had a prosperous society in Clarksburg, but the society, house and all are no more.  The frame of the old church building entered into the construction of the business house of Jasper Dawson in the village.

           The Christian (New Light) church had a good footing in Clarksburg at one time.  In their old church record we find the following: "Sept, 8th, 1845.  This day, the Christian church at Clarksburg was organized by Elder Joseph Thomas and Gideon Phoebus.  The following agreement was signed by the members: We, whose names are hereunto set have agreed to unite ourselves together in a church capacity, for the purpose of bearing each other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ, and watch over each other for good; and we for this purpose have agreed to take the scripture for our rule of faith and practice in life and conversation; and for the government of the church on earth, for the law of Christ is opposed to all tyranny.  If the Son has made us free we are free indeed.  As attest of fellowship we require christian character.  Names of brethren: Elder James Baker, Thomas Betts, Jacob Funk, John Harris, Thomas Brown.  Names of sisters: Mary Baker, Magdaline Props, Mitty Peck, Sarah A. Betts, Mahala Harris, Margaret Ater." As far as we can learn, the foregoing list have all passed from earth and joined their fathers.  This organization prospered well for some years, but finally went down.  The church property was in litigation for many years.  When we first knew it (1869) it was in the hands of an individual and partitioned off for a dwelling.  At that date the meetings were being held in the Protestant church.  We find in 1871 John Southward was acting pastor.  Meetings were held only occasionally.  On Feb 18, 1872, Elder Chrisman held services.  At this meeting the hand of fellowship was withdrawn from Sister D. There are no records of any meeting from that date until Oct. 8, 1887, when the society was resurrected.  On Feb. 16, 1888 a series of meetings were begun by the pastor L. C. Wingit, and a large membership secured.  Numbers now seemed to be the object of the society.  They seem to have adopted the old rule, "git all you kin and keep all you git".  They seem to have departed from their idea of purity that they held when they withdrew the hand of fellowship from Sister D. The morals of a member may be of a very low degree and still be honored with high positions.  I am sure that all the members are not agreed on this point, but those dissenting have to submit to the powers that be.  It is hoped for the good of the church, that they will return to the doctrine of purity and weed out the tares.  We say success to all that is good.  The building occupied by this society was erected of brick about the year 1846.  At that date it was a handsome structure.  About two years ago it went through a

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course of reconstruction which added much to its comfort.  In performing this labor they contracted an indebtedness that they have never fully met.  It is likely a few puffs of brimstone would stir them up to a redoubling of their diligence sufficient to make them loose the strings of their money purses and pay the debts honestly contracted.

CHAPTER XVI

           In beginning this chapter we feel like making an apology to the readers of the TELEGRAPH for wearing out the patience of so many of its patrons.  While many may be interested in these sketches, doubtless many more would be more highly entertained if the space was devoted to fun and scandal.  A second thought causes me to conclude that the greatest apology I owe to myself for undertaking a task of such magnitude, when my time was already full in the business engagements necessary to procure a livelihood for myself and family.  We will ask those who are tired of our long-drawn-out history to bear with us a little longer and we will soon give up the space we have been occupying to such matters as the intelligence of the editor may suggest.  There are those whose minds and desires cannot be fed and satisfied with anything short of scandal, slang and immorality.  To such persons, the TELEGRAPH is as chaff, and in its stead should be substituted the Police Gazette and The South-West.

           But to our history, Isaac Cook of Connecticut, settled within the bounds of the Deer Creek country in 1800.  The late Mrs. President Hayes was a granddaughter of this man.  Isaac Cook of Union Township, Ross County, one of the best citizens in the township, is a descendant.  As but little of our history has reached farther north than Union Township, Ross County, it will be in order to speak of the schools of that locality.  As far as we can learn, the first school in the settlement was organized in the Cunningham neighborhood, Union Township in 1805.  Ebenezer Evarts was one of the first teachers.  One of the primitive school houses would be an interesting relic.  If the youth of today could have the privilege of gazing on one of the rude structures, it might give them some idea of the advantages they possess over the children of the frontiersmen, who had to be satisfied with anything that they could get.  The greatest portion of the education of the boys were received in the clearing.  The girls were educated at the spinning wheel and the loom.  Where a better education was afforded, it was obtained by the parents subscribing so many scholars, agreeing to pay so much per scholar for a term.  Three months was as long as it was expected that any scholar would go to school in any one year.  A man had to be well fixed to be able to do that well by his children.  Large families were the rule.  Eight to a dozen children was common.  To pay from three to five dollars per quarter for so many would require half a year's earnings.  The teacher received from twenty-five to forty-five dollars per quarter for his services.  In addition to this he was boarded by the subscribers in proportion to the number of scholars sent to school.  If there is a school boy or girl who happens to read this chapter that wishes to know what kind of a house their great-grandparents went to school in, just ask your grand parents for a description.  It will prove interesting.

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Many a one has been built without a nail, shingle, plank, brick, or glass and did not cost one cent of money.

           A school was organized near Andersonville about 1815 and was taught by a Mr. Perkins.  Another in Egypt near the site of the Asbury church was built about the same date.

           White Brown, of whom mention has been frequently made in connection with the history of Deer Creek circuit, was one of the earliest settlers in the Deer Creek country.  He was a native of Delaware.  He was born in that state March 23, 1749.  He was a man of public spirit, and always ready to accommodate a friend.  As he was a man of means, he was frequently requested to act as surety, by which cause he was financially disturbed.  In 1799 his business had gotten in such a shape that he concluded to visit the western wilderness with a view of a change of residence to that famous country.  He made his way to Chillicothe, from which point he visited the surrounding country.  A point on Deer Creek was selected for his future home, he proposed to his forty slaves that he would give to them their freedom if they would accompany him to Ohio, assist him on his journey and in his settlement.  This proposition was accepted.  In 1801 he came with his older sons and purchased of the McArthur and Massie survey of Deer Creek five hundred acres of as fine land as ever a plow w a s turned into for two dollars per acre.  This land lies at the mouth of Hay Run and is still owned by his descendants.  The land at that time was an unbroken wilderness.  The family reached the farm on the 13th of August 1802 and camped for three weeks while a house was being built.

           In the year 1805, he erected a saw mill on Deer Creek.  The dam was made by felling a tree across the stream and then piling brush above it.  Just think of the growth of the stream!  At the present the dam would have to be three hundred feet long to gather the water.  At this point the water cannot be controlled, but takes out everything that is placed in its course.  In 1815, Mr. Brown built a grist mill adjoining the saw mill.  This mill was a valuable acquisition to the new country.  The Malden mill (supposed to be the one owned by Gov. Tiffin, near the mouth of Deer Creek) was the only mill closer than the one at the falls of Paint and was far from being competent to do the work for the country.  Brown's mill was improved from time to time until it became an excellent mill.  It has been motionless for about eight years on account of the great volume of water during freshets carrying away the dams from their quicksand foundations.

           White Brown, no doubt, was one of the very best men of the country.  His big heart would not allow him to keep in bondage the forty blacks he had in his possession.  They were not only made free, but several of them were assisted in obtaining a livelihood.  He was the father of thirteen children.  We have before us a little pamphlet prepared by his son Francis A., in 1881, giving the genealogy of the Brown family, which shows that his, descendants numbered four hundred and forty souls.  His blood enters into the Nesmiths, the Rushes, the Davises, the Rectors, the Bowdles, the Hardys and the Timmons.  Few of his name remain in the Deer Creek settlement.  Allen F. Brown, a grandson, is a

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resident of Deerfield Township.  He is a successful farmer, a man well informed on the general topics of the day; a public spirited, live citizen; a fast friend of the M. E. church and an unchanging member of the Republican party.

           Austin H. Brown is the only other grandson bearing his name in the Deer Creek settlement.  He was born on the old homestead, where he continued to live for a period of about fifty years.  His father was William White, the second son of White Brown.  Austin is well fixed financially, having inherited a very fine farm from his father.  He is the owner of the old mill in Deerfield Township, where he has a desirable home.  Mr. Brown is a man of peculiar type.  He is known as a man of extremes.  He is possessed of more than ordinary intelligence, and at the same time, frequently allows his prejudices to govern his judgment.  If it were possible, it would be his delight to be on the other side on all questions.  Nothing affords him more pleasure than a friendly dispute with his associates.  While he is individually enterprising when public improvements are attempted, he generally fights them to the bitter end.  He is liberal with his own money but is opposed to public officers spending it for him.  His renters never find a 'linder' landlord, and his day laborers are treated as his own family.  The hungry are never turned from his door unfed.  He has figured prominently in local politics, serving the people many times as a township officer.  Two years ago he was favored by the Republican party with the nomination for the office of Representative.  The election resulted in his defeat although his party was in the ascendancy of about three hundred majority.  His extreme views and uncompromising disposition had created many enemies who caused his defeat.  He is a bitter enemy, a true friend and an excellent neighbor.

CHAPTER XVII

           To make a settlement, or found a colony, it was necessary to have men who were masters of all trades and professions.  White Brown was a millwright, Evarts was a teacher, Joseph Tiffin was a physician.  The Jacksons, the Davises, the Hornbecks, the Collins', the Holloways, the Bowdles, the Aters, and many others were farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths and laborers of all kinds necessary to perform the labor in a new country.  Until 1801, the new settlement felt in need of a person with an occupation that had not yet been furnished.  It was that of a preacher of the Gospel.  This place was supplied by the Rev. Stephen Timmons, who was a son-in-law of White Brown, having married his eldest daughter Milly, while yet they were all residents of the state of Delaware.  He accompanied Mr. Brown to his new home and assisted in building the cabin which accommodated all for a season.  Stephen Timmons was born in Worcester County, Maryland August 6, 1769.  He joined the conference of the M. E. Church in 1795.  He had visited the Northwest Territory in 1799, and preached several sermons while on that visit.  He settled in the Deer Creek vicinity in Ross County in 1801.  The place he selected for his home was near where the village of Greenland now stands.  He at once became a leading member in the M. E. church.  His name appears in the minutes of the 2nd quarterly meeting for Deer Creek circuit, which was held in Chillicothe on the

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2nd day of April 1808.

           At a quarterly meeting held at White Brown's for Deer Creek circuit on September 7, 1810, the Record says: "Stephen Timmons a local elder, made application for a recommendation from this to the annual conference as a traveling preacher and was unanimously recommended." There is no record showing that he was ever given any regular work, but he continued to be a very valuable and popular member of the church, preaching much and occupying many prominent places in the society to which he belonged.  At a quarterly meeting held on Jan. 15th, 1814, at the residence of John McNeil, at Old Town, he was arraigned before the church.  James Quinn was Presiding Elder; Alexander Cummins and H. B. Bascom, preachers.  Alexander Cummins, the preacher in charge, presented the charges.  He was tried before the following committee: Reuben Rowe, Thomas Withgott , Alexander Rowin, David Jesse Bowdle and Thomas Bowdle.  The charges were as follows: (1) Speaking evil of ministers; (2) Sowing discord in the society; (3) Disobedience to the order and discipline of the church.  Rev. H. B. Bascom testified that he heard Stephen Timmons say, that the Methodist preachers would, for money and popularity, rush to the verge of hell, and that they were hypocrites and tories; especially Samuel Parker and James Quinn; that the circuits have been troubled with cursed paupers and understrappers, and that these things were true and that he could prove them; that he would as soon pray for the devil to be converted out of his brimstone hell as that God would convert those paupers..e.e., the Methodist preachers.

           Rev. Alexander Cummins testified that he heard Stephen Timmons say, "As for these hypocritical, tory preachers, he should go to hear no more of them".  Afterwards personated Samuel Parker and James Quinn.  Alexander Cummins also testified that Stephen Timmons said he would not have his name on a class book, because he could have no rest among such a set of devils.  After hearing the evidence, the committee adjudged him guilty, as charged, and that the offenses were of such magnitude as to require his expulsion from the church and required him to give up his credentials.  We feel like great injustice was done to Rev. Timmons.  His ability as a minister was well established.  His faith in the doctrines of Christianity were not doubted.  His honor was acknowledged by everyone.  His idea of plain, untarnished Christianity, he strictly adhered to, despising that kind of pride which gave rise to a love of praise, popularity or fine clothes.  There was a time when gay colors and fine clothes were an abomination to the church.

           There is a clause in the M. E. discipline which says: "It is, therefore, expected of all who continue therein, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation; first, by doing no harm; by avoiding evil of every kind.  Among other things to be avoided is "the putting on of gold and costly apparel".  This latter injunction Brother Timmons strictly adhered to and insisted on all other members doing the same.  It is altogether likely that his antipathy to fine clothese was one of the chief causes of his being arraigned and expelled from the church.

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           When H. B. Bascom, the junior preacher, made his first visit to the circuit he as was the rule, rode at once to the residence of Rev. Stephen Timmons to be entertained.  As Mr. Timmons' home was always the home of the itinerant, brother Bascom was comfortably lodged and well fed.  The impression made by the young man on his host was not favorable, as the sequence will show: Mr. Bascom was finely dressed, wearing his well-polished dicky or shirt front, and boots of such a polish that Mr. Timmons was ill at ease in their presence.  Mr. Timmons concluded to take the starch out of him and the black off of his boots.  The mode he adopted I copy from "Highways and Hedges", by Rev. John Stewart.  Mr. Stewart says: "Rev. Timmons had marked peculiarities, and the country was full of anecdotes of an amusing character, setting forth his eccentricities.  He greatly admired humility and detested anything like pride in the traveling preachers.  In 1814, H. B. Bascom was the junior preacher on the circuit, and on the occasion of one of his visits to brother Timmons, the latter brother is said to have adopted the following mode of taking the starch out of his clothes, and the blacking off of the boots of the young preacher.  Just before time for the preacher to go to his appointment, brother Timmons turned his horse into a large cornfield, when a muddy chase of an hour after the frollicking horse, in a field full of burs, effectually did the work".  This certainly was very trying on Bascom's patience, if not on his religion.  It also seemed very cruel in brother Timmons, but we suppose he thought he was doing the Lord's will.  What seemed to him, no doubt, to be crookedness in the presiding elder, James Quinn, had called forth his denunciations which were so severe that the Reverend head could not endure them without resentment.  Hence his arraignment and expulsion.  It would hardly be expected that a man on trial for an offense could go unpunished when one of the offended sat as Judge, and another, Mr. Bascom, playing the part of principal witness.  It looks very much like a case of "playing for even".

           On July 18, 1818, at a quarterly conference held at Brown's Chapel, Mr. Timmons was restored, by the conference, to his former standing in the church.  Mr. Timmons was a successful financier.  He became the possessor of sixteen hundred acres of as fine land as the country could afford.  He was twice married.  By his first wife, Milly Brown, he had six children; four sons and two daughters.  The sons were Thomas Jefferson, John Wesley, Francis Asbury and Stephen.  The daughters were Lucretia Clarkson and Milly White.  By the second wife, Lydia Cartwight (a relative of the renowned Peter Cartwright), he had six children, Benjamin of Clarksburg, Ohio; James Finley of the state of Kansas; William H. H. of Indiana, and Jane Betts of Kansas; all are living representatives of the first minister that settled in the Deer Creek country.  Joseph and Matilda are both dead, the former being killed at the battle of Gettysburg and the latter dying at her home in Putnam County, Ohio, the mother of three children who still survive her, John W. Thomas, Stephen A. Thomas and James F. Thomas.

           Thomas Jefferson, the first son, was a surveyor of reputation.  His work was of the first quality.  When lines were in dispute, if his compass was brought to bear and the figures made by himself, that settled the question.

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           John Wesley, the second son, was a man of strong character.  He was plain, outspoken and candid.  He was a man without policy.  Right was his only motive, and the nearest way to it was the one he always selected.  Nothing daunted him in his course.  Popularity he never sought.  He was, no doubt, much like his father, the roughest side out.  He was a man of strong mind and clear judgment.  He was one of the best justices of the peace that Deerfield Township ever had.  He was a fast friend and member of the M. E. church.  He was the motive power in securing the additional three thousand dollars to be added to that bequeathed by Miss Catharine Brown, for the building of the present beautiful church known as Brown's Chapel.  He in connection with Richard Brown, worked incessantly until the amount was secured.  Had he not placed his shoulder to the wheel, the church would never have been built.  In a general way he was not public-spirited, but rather inclined to be selfish.  A person who found a friend in him found a true one.  When his body was laid to rest, we exclaimed within ourself, there lays the body of one of my very best friends!  Sarah E. Harmount, Thomas J. and J. M. Timmons are his only surviving children.

           Francis Asbury, the third son, was a minister in the M. E. church for many years.  He was a good theologian and did much good in the church.  He was a man possessed with a very mild and amiable disposition.  Lucretia married Moses Counts and reared a large family.

           The next in order is Benjamin, generally known as Uncle Ben, our neighbor.  He is the first child of the second wife.  Our pen falters.  We are loth to praise him for fear he will think it flattery.  We are afraid to abuse him lest his ire should resent the attack.  Suffice to say, that he is a man of decided convictions.  Nothing short of a cyclone can change him in his course.  Firmness is to be commended in any man.  He has long been a member of the M. E. church.  As a financier he is a success.  His motto is "Self preservation is the first law of nature".  He has a large and respectable family of children.

           James Finley is a man with an active mind.  His powers of conversation are wonderful.  In an argument, using a slang phrase, he is hard to down.  A political discussion has been his delight.  For many years he was an advocate of the Republican party.  He says he finally was compelled to abandon it and join the unterrified Democracy.  That party has twice elected him to represent them in the State Legislature of Kansas.  He has been twice married; his last wife being a half-breed Indian.  We neglected to say that Stephen Timmons Jr., has two children living, both within the bounds of the settlement.  Nelson Timmons, of near Locust Grove, and Milly the wife of John George Washington Donohoe.  They are both excellent citizens.

CHAPTER XVIII

           Among the early settlers in Deerfield Township were Clement Brown who emigrated from Delaware in 1802 and settled on Deer Creek, where he purchased a large tract of fine land.  He was a

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valuable and influential citizen of Deerfield Township, Ross County.  He was the father of nine children - Thomas W., Sarah, Sina, Richard, Harry, Rachel, Rebecca, Ellen, Catharine.

           It is said that Mr. Brown when young, had made the remark that if ever he should have three sons, that he would name them Tom, Dick and Harry.  Just three sons were allotted to him and he was as good as his word.  They were named Thomas W., Richard and Harry.  Thomas W. was the oldest child, and developed into a man of extraordinary mind and character.  He was far-seeing and energetic.  His will was of iron.  Everything with which he dealt was compelled to bend to it or break.  This involved him in many lawsuits.  His attitude towards the Christian religion was adverse.  He was strongly opposed to all temperance organizations.  His doctrine of true temperance was "drink moderately".  To this doctrine he adhered, practicing what he preached as long as he lived.  His extraordinary will and strong body succeeded in holding in check the powers of alcohol, which encoils itself around and destroys so many noble young men, who attempt to follow the doctrines taught by him.  His teachings, both by precept and example, were readily and early adopted by his three sons.  The result with all of them showed the folly of his doctrine.  Their intemperate habits caused him more pain and sorrow in heart than all else beside.  The prime of life had hardly more than dawned upon them until they filled premature graves, leaving their aged father to mourn, reflect and meditate.  Let me warn all that may read this chapter to beware of the intoxicating cup, lest his end may be likewise.  He who never takes the first drink will never fill a drunkard's grave.

           Mr. Thomas W. Brown was a large land owner, being the possessor of near three thousand acres at the time of death.  This land was very unequally divided by will between thirteen grand-children.  These grand-children all have their homes within the Deer Creek settlement.  Sarah, the first daughter, became the first wife of John Wesley Timmons.  She bore him four children who all died young.

           Richard became a good citizen.  He died at a little past the prime of life, leaving a widow wife and two little sons to shed tears over his grave.  His widow became the third wife of Dr. J. M. Evans and a few weeks ago was laid to rest in the Deerfield Township cemetery.  Job E. and John W., the two little boys have grown into good and useful men.  Job is especially kind-hearted and clever.  He lives for what there is in life, and not for the dollars and cents alone.  Johnny is a financier.  The infirmary walls will never soil his clothes, nor his clothes the infirmary walls.  He is ever on the lookout for his own and will see that his own is promptly cared for.  It is to be feared that Job and John are confirmed bachelors.  The boys do not know how foolish they are.

           Rebecca Brown became the wife of John Tootle.  She is long since deceased.  To him she gave sons and daughters.  H. Stewart and Wilson are her sons.

           Ellen married a Mr. Bicknel.  Catharine was the lady who bequeathed two thousand dollars to assist in building Brown's chapel.

           It is said that Solomon Mack Baker, generally known as Mack

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Baker, was the first white child born on Deer Creek, that event taking place on Mary 22, 1799.

           Colonel Peter Jackson settled on Deer Creek in 1801 or 1802.  He built him a cabin on the east bank of the creek and exactly opposite where the Brown mill now stands.  He was a Revolutionary soldier.  He stood by the side of General Mercer at the battle of Trenton.  He figured prominently in the early offices of Deerfield Township.  His blood courses in the veins of the Bakers of Deer Creek Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, being a great, great, great grandfather of the children of Jacob and William Baker.

           William Baker came out from Virginia in 1799, and settled on the Scioto River, where he stayed two years, and then moved to Deer Creek and settled near his father-in-law, Peter Jackson.  With William Baker came his father John Baker, who would also bear the relation of the great, great, great grand-sire of the same Baker children before mentioned.

           Conrad Carr came from Virginia in 1811, and purchased of Duncan McArthur four hundred acres of land on the east side of Deer Creek, where he settled.  The land is now known as the Jacob Peck farm.  One of his daughters, Amelia, was the wife of Jacob Peck; another one was the wife of Henry Peck.

           The same year, 1811, Jacob Peck with his young wife, emigrated from Virginia and settled on Deer Creek, near Mr. Carr.  The long and tiresome journey was made on pack horses.  Amelia, the wife, better known in her old age as Aunt Milly, rode one horse, carrying a rifle across her lap and leading the packhorse which bore their effects by her side, while Jacob, her husband, better known as Uncle Jake, walked the entire distance, driving before him some cows.  These old people are well remembered yet by nearly all the present generation, and known as good and honest citizens.

           George Peck came from Hardy County, Virginia, in 1811.  He was accompanied by his son Henry and wife, and their two sons and a daughter.  The trip was made in a wagon.  George Peck purchased of General McArthur, in the year 1818, four hundred and ninety acres of land on the west side of Deer Creek, opposite the farm of Conrad Carr.  John J. Peck of Deerfield township, Ross County, is the owner of, and resides on, that beautiful and valuable tract of land.  It is one of the finest farms in Ross County.  When Jacob Peck and Mr. Carr first came to this country, the Indian squaws were raising corn on the prairie west of the creek.  This prairie lies just north of where Milt Peck now lives.  There was an Indian village scattered along the east bank of the creek, the southern termination of it being near the farm of Marcus A. Baker.

           John J. Peck is a son of Henry Peck and is a valuable citizen.  While he is an unflinching democrat, plain, unpolished and outspoken, he can hold a township office at any time with a good majority, while the township is overwhelmingly republican.  Honesty, good judgment and fair dealings, secure for him many

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friends.

           In connection with the Peck family, there is another person worthy of notice in this history.  It is John Armentrout.  He was born in Hardy County, Virginia, January 14th, 1824, and came to Ohio April 12th, 1846.  He at once hired to Jacob Peck as a farm hand for the paltry sum of eight dollars per month.  He served his employer four years at these wages.  Mr. Peck was a heavy stock raiser and trader, and Mr. Armentrout was taken from the farm and put on the road as a drover.  For this service he received one dollar and twenty-five cents per day.  He made many trips to the eastern cities with hogs and cattle, driving them over the mountains He was employed at this work until 1856 when his business capacity had so fully developed that his services were of too much value to be confined to that of a drover alone.  From this time, he was Mr. Peck's assistant or agent.  He bought and sold many thousands of dollars worth of stock.  Previous to the days of railroading, he drove cattle from the state of Illinois to the city of New York.  When shipping by rail became the only mode of transportation, he became a popular shipper.  He was, at one time, employed by John Bryan at sixty dollars per month as shipper.  He served him six months and returned to Mr. Peck.  When he first began shipping cattle on the railroad, he drove them to Columbus, Ohio, which was the nearest point to be reached for that purpose.  He generally took from two or three hands to assist in driving.  He invariably got passes for the assistants over the road, east, but as he never took any assistants with him, the passes were checked at each change in the road and when he arrived at the eastern city, return passes were given in exchange.  These return passes were sold by Mr. Armentrout to persons wishing to travel west.  He often bought passes from persons not wishing to return and speculated on them the same way.  He practiced this scheme for a long time before he was found out, and many were the dollars that he pocketed as the result of his shrewdness.

           In 1866, he lost his health and was compelled to abandon business.  He gradually declined for two years, since which time his feet have never touched the ground.  Paralysis of the lower limbs completely disabled him.  He has not been able to sit erect since 1882.  The home of Uncle Jake Peck, never ceased to be the home of Armentrout as long as Mr. Peck lived; and even the hospitalities of the homestead were still extended to him as long as the faithful widow, aunt Milly, lived.  Since the death of the latter, he has made his home with Henry McGath, Esq., with Roderick Peck as his constant attendant.  During the days of his health and activity, he accumulated some means that have been handled in a business like manner by himself during all these days of his affliction.  He has probably made more money in the last twenty-four years, lying on his back, than nineteen men out of twenty, who have been in possession of all their limbs and faculties.  We visited him, a few days since, and find that time is putting its brand upon him, but his mind is as bright and quick as in the days of his prime.  He reads much, and, having a retentive memory, he is a very entertaining conversationalist.  His voice is strong and clear, his eyes bright and observing, and his countenance is that of a man of firmness and strong intellect.  If he could again be restored to health, he would be a very useful citizen.

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CHAPTER XIX

           The old grist mill and saw mill, owned by John Roweton, is the only mill now run by Deer Creek water power in Ross County.  It is a very old mill, and, compared with the mills of today, is of little value.  It is situated in Deerfield Township, about one-half mile below the Brown Mill. If the railroad should be built that is now contemplated, and on the line located, the mill-seat will be destroyed. The fills will confine the water to narrow limits and render it impossible to hold a dam at the mill site. The Mill was built by John Hall, about the year 1820. The old frame still stands.  The mill-seat was purchased by Mr. Hall, of a Mr. Kirkendall, who had a very frail structure of a saw mill in operation at the time.  Shepherd Hall, a son of John Hall, was a later proprietor.  His aged widow, Nancy Hall, still resides in the ancient dwelling first erected.  The Halls were Virginians.  John Hall first came to the Malden mill, near the mouth of the creek, in 1814.  The late Mrs. Noble Porter was a daughter of John Hall.  The Andersons, of Brownstown, are also descendants of Mr. Hall; the mother of James Anderson, Sr., being his daughter.  Many of the inhabitants of the Deer Creek country are his descendants.

           James Templin the 1st emigrated with Massie to Prairie Station, three miles below where Chillicothe now stands, in 1796.  In the year 1800, he settled a little ways west of Old Town.  In 1802, he located near Greenland, where he remained until his death.  Clement Hutton now owns the farm.  He was the father of eight children as follows: Solomon, Terry, Robert, Isaac, John, James, Ruth and Mary.  We have no account of either Solomon or Terry.  Robert went South, Isaac located in Fayette County, Ohio, near Washington C.H. and reared a large family of children.  He was the father of eighteen and had five stepchildren.  John, the fifth son, was a resident for many years of Deerfield Township, Ross County.  He has three children yet living: James Templin III, Martha Taylor and Ella McGinnis of Frankfort.  James Templin II was the sixth son of James Templin I.  He was one of the best citizens of Deerfield Township.  He has five children living: Margaret McCoy of Bloomingburg, Ohio, Matilda Davis of Warren County, Ohio; John S., of Old Town; E. W. of Clarksburg, Ohio, and Laura Willis of Atlanta, Ohio.

           Mary, the youngest daughter of James Templin I, married Captain Herrod who was one of the colony who settled at Prairie Station, in 1796, and who afterwards, in the year 1803, was the victim of a cowardly murderer.  A full account of the inhuman deed was republished in the TELEGRAPH last spring, but we will here summarize it for the benefit of the reader, who failed to see that publication.  His body was found in Hegler's bottom, near what is now known as "Herrod's Creek", and not far from the turnpike bridge over the same, in Concord Township.  He had been tomahawked and scalped, which gave rise to the belief that he had been killed by the Indians.  The people of the young settlement were thrown into wild excitement, thinking that the entire settlement might be surprised and murdered.  They huddled together at Chillicothe and Old Town for protection.  In a few days the Indian scare was over and the people settled down into the belief that he had been murdered by an opposing candidate for

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the office of Captain.  No clue, sufficient to condemn, was ever obtained, but the supposition yet is that Hoddy, his opponent, was at least the instigator of his murder.  His faithful wife and widow was for many years accustomed to visit the spot where his mutilated body was found, and she always adhered to the statement that "not a spear of grass ever grew on the spot where the foul deed was committed".

           The children of Isaac are scattered to the four winds.  None of the children of John are directly in the Deer Creek settlement, but James III, his only surviving son resides in Frankfort.  He was born in Deerfield Township in 1815 and was a constant resident until about two years ago.  He was for twenty years assessor in that township.  At the time of his removal from the township, he was a justice of the peace.  "Dad", as he is familiarly known, was hard to down.  He is a man of good intellect; bright and perceptive.  His fondness for sport, even to the present day, makes him a favorite of "the boys".  For many years he has practiced law as a kind of pettifogger with very good success.  His three daughters Mrs. Benjamin Timmons, Mrs. J. F. Brown and Jane Ann Willis, all partake strongly of the character of their father.

           Of the children of James Templin II we will make especial mention of but two, E. W. and Laura Willis.  E. W. is familiarly known as Wright.  Some years ago he was frequently nicknamed "Greely".  Why he received this name, we are not informed, but suppose it to have been on account of his having such a perfect command of language.  He has the reputation of being a "good talker".  In a dispute it makes but little difference which side of the question he is on, his shrewdness in making arguments to fit the case, generally succeeds.  He is the only man we have ever known that could get the best end of a bargain and never fail to make his man feel good over the result.  He is an excellent judge of human nature.  His local influence is great.  He is careful never to take advanced steps in public affairs that might offend.  His best foot is always foremost and his best side out.  Connecting these elements with the fact that he is very affable, accommodating gentleman, makes him a host in local politics.  As Templin goes, so goes the township.  Early in life, he adopted the motto of his Uncle Isaac.  It is to be found in the latter part of the 1st verse of the 9th chapter of Genesis, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth".

           Mrs. Laura Willis was the wife of William Willis, who was killed by an enraged horse last January.  Laura proved to be a woman of unusual courage.  On going to the stable and finding the bruised and mangled body of her husband beneath the feet of the frantic animal, she had the courage to enter the narrow stall while the horse was kicking furiously at her.  She made an attempt to untie the rope that cabled the horse, but it was drawn so tightly that it was impossible.  The next thought was "a knife to cut the rope".  As quick as thought she searched the pocket uppermost in her husband's pants, for his knife, but found it not.  She then reached over the insensible body of her husband, and underneath the horse and passed her hand into the pocket underneath him and obtained the knife with which she cut the rope and set the horse free.  She dispatched a very small child for assistance which soon arrived.  A physician was summoned, but arrived only in time to see

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the unfortunate man breathe his last.  Mrs. Willis remains on their farm near Atlanta, caring for her family of little ones as best a woman can.

           Deerfield Township was erected, or organized, by an order of the county commissioners, made July 7, 1804.  The order was as follows: "That a part of Wayne (now in Pickaway County), Union and Concord Townships be taken off in the following manner, viz: Beginning where the Westfall road to the old Chillicothe town crosses Deer Creek; running thence towards said Old Town, three miles, nearly a northerly course, so as to strike the Concord Township line partly central between the northfork of Paint Creek and Deer Creek; thence continuing on the course of said line, three miles towards Darby; then a southerly course to strike the head of the main stream of Yellowbud; thence down the Yellowbud to the Westfall road; thence with said road to beginning." Was there ever such a record of metes and bounds before or since made!  The township afterwards went through various changes, until it reached its present uncomely and inconvenient shape.  It was also ordered that the election for officers be held at the house of Jared Davis.

           The first entry in the record book for Deerfield Township is as follows: At an election held on Monday, the first day of April 1805, at the house of Jared Davis, for officers of the township of Deerfield, the following were duly elected: Samuel Langdale, clerk, sworn before Charles Cade, Esq.; Peter Jackson (swore himself into office contrary to law); White Brown, sworn before Peter Langdale, Esq.; Jacob Davis sworn before Peter Jackson, trustees.  Ignatius Sellers and Simon Hornbeck, both sworn before Peter Jackson, overseers; John Timmons and Abraham Ater, not sworn according to law, fence viewers; John Sewel, sworn before Charles Cade, lister; John Baker and John Clark, supervisors; Richard Williams (failed to give bond according to law; of course his election is void), and John Riddin, constables; John McLain appointed April 19th in room of Peter Jackson, trustee; James Blair, appointed, by trustees, April 25th, constable; appointed by trustees, April 25, 1805, Moses Colvin, Michael Alkire, fence viewers.

CHAPTER XX

Clarksburg, the most southerly village of any importance in the Deer Creek settlement, was laid out by William Clark in the year 1817.  Mr. Clark's settlement dates back to the beginning of the century.  He was the father of Judge Milton H. Clark, of Chillicothe.  We have little history of importance regarding this man.  His bones be buried in an open field adjacent to the village without a stone to mark his grave.  How ungrateful children are!  No man should be honored with the title of Judge, who has not respect enough for his deceased parent to put a mark at his grave.  No doubt this man toiled hard for years, amid the pelting storms of winter and the burning suns of summer, for the support of the children that he dearly loved, and they are now so ungrateful as to refuse of neglect to place a mark by his last resting place.  About ten acres of land, mostly within the incorporate limits of the village, belong to his heirs, and over which they have been lawing for many years.  If it is possible, this land

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should be sold, and the money appropriated to fencing the ground, and placing a respectable monument at the head of his grave.  It would not be amiss for Clarksburg to join in its erection as token of respect to its founder.

           George Smith opened a general store the same year that the village was laid out.  James Timmons opened the first tavern for the accommodation of travelers.  The village soon became a popular place to barter and trade.  Nearly all branches of business were represented.  Until the days of railroads it was one of the most important towns in the county outside the county seat.  At the present writing, it has eleven places of business, selling merchandise of various kinds; seven shops for manufacturing and repairing; one printing office in which the TELEGRAPH is printed; two hotels and two churches.  About 1820 the first school was organized.  George Smith was one of the prime movers in the enterprise.  Greatly through his influence a log structure was built and a teacher employed.  After that time for a period of nearly seventy years, Clarksburg had a school house; but now we cannot boast of a school building.  Clarksburg is situated in a sub-district of the township, and the old school building being too small to accommodate the pupils, the board of education concluded to erect a new structure and provide for a township high school.  This they have done, and erected a good and substantial building in the country west of the village.  The first time the boundary lines of the incorporation are extended,it will be included.

           The original town plat contained seventy-two lots.  In 1850 Andrew Baughman made an addition of sixteen lots.  Only four lots were sold for building purposes until 1880.  W. L. Brown had purchased the entire addition, two lots excepted, and used it for individual purposes until 1881, when he began to sell them off to persons wishing to build.  It is now mostly built up with respectable dwellings.

           In the year 1882, E. W. Templin and D. Q. Jamison purchased of Dr. J. M. Evans a piece of land north of the Baughman addition and laid it out into thirty-two lots.  This is called the Templin and Jamison addition.  Ten houses have been built in that addition.

           In the year 1884, C. Maddux purchased eight acres of land lying on the western boundary of the village and laid it out into town lots.  Before the lots were sold by him, he became involved in debt, and they were placed in the hands of other parties, and sold at auction to satisfy creditors.  One house is being erected thereon.  If the town should take a second growth, this addition will make the most beautiful portion of the town.  All the land lying west of the M. E. parsonage, and south of High Street, and built up with handsome dwellings, has never been regularly laid out into town lots.  But little art is necessary to make it one of the most beautiful villages in Ohio.  The early residents were very careless and slovenly about improving the streets.  When we located in the place in 1869, there were not ten rods of street graveled in the place.  They had been lying for fifty-two years within a stone's throw of large gravel beds, and too careless or indolent to economize the gravel that lay in such abundance, almost at their doors.  The streets were little better than hog pens.  Wagons have mired down in the most public places.  It was the custom to rear

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hogs on the streets by the score.  One man has been known to raise fifty at a time, and depend on the streets and roads for his pasture in summer, and the alleys were used to feed in, in the fall and winter.  The result was the ground was all the time being turned upside down, causing the streets to grow up in dog fennel, weeds and burs.  Their filth was scattered on all the side walks and crossings, making it almost impossible for a lady to take a walk through the streets without soiling her shoes or ruining her skirts.  To this state of affairs we at once objected.  The result was, a shower of anathemas were heaped upon us in such profusion that it was difficult for us to stand under them.  Many were the "lickens" we got behind our back; but we persisted in the idea that the stock law, especially on hogs, should be enforced.  Others of good taste joined us, and the result is that not a hog is seen at large on our streets, and the dog fennel has disappeared and blue-grass has taken its place, making beautiful lawns in some parts of the village, on which the children frolic and play.  The town was not incorporated until about 1872.  Men who were subject to perform two days' labor were frequently taken from the village a distance of two miles to perform said labor.  An attempt had once been made to incorporate, but it was so hotly opposed by the old fogies that it failed.  Some of the old citizens moved away and others died.  New ones came in who had more pride and taste.  After wading around through mud and filth for about two years, we became disgusted with the place and determined on having a change of affairs.  We wrote and posted some advertisements calling a meeting of the citizens, to take into consideration the advisability of incorporating the village.  The people assembled in the old rickety school building, standing on the public grounds, and filled it almost to overflowing.  The project proved favorable, and a petition was circulated and the proper number of signers were obtained in a few days.  There were still bitter opponents, and among them were men that would like to take the lead in public affairs at this time in our town.  At the second meeting, three hillicans, A. T. Foster, Elijah Thompson and the writer were elected to incorporate the village.  This was carried into effect as fast as the law would allow it to be done.  The papers were filed with the Secretary of State, and a certificate of incorporation returned.  All of the original papers have been lost through the carelessness of one of the clerks of the incorporation.

           The first election resulted in the choosing of J. F. Brown, Milton Baker and O. M. Howser trustees.  The law required that the trustees should all concur in the passage of an ordinance before it should become a law.  O. M. Howser being opposed to the incorporation, no meeting was held the first year.  At the end of the first year, the term of M. Baker expired, and another favorable to the incorporation was elected.  By this time, Mr. Howser had become favorable, and made a good officer.  The board was organized and such laws and regulations have been enacted, from time to time, that have done much good for the village.  The lack of knowledge of the law has caused many blunders to be made by the officers.  Not an officer holds his position today as the result of a legal election.  Not a fine nor a cent of tax could be collected if contested.  About ten years ago, the trustees leased a portion of the public grounds to the township trustees, on which to build a township hall, contrary to law.  Besides having no power to lease, it

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is since known that the incorporation trustees had not legally been elected.  The result is, the township trustees have no valid title to the grounds on which the township hall stands, and can be made to vacate it whenever the village trustees are legally elected and organized.  The extension of the incorporation limits are illegal, and no legal election can be held at which any person outside the original incorporation limits are allowed to vote.  The whole thing should be looked into between this and next spring, so that we can go back and do our first work over, and do it right.

CHAPTER XXI

           One of the most prolific families that ever located in the Northwest Territory, was the family of George Ater.  He was a German by birth, having been born in Germany in the year 1750.  In the year 1785, he bade farewell to his native country, and took passage on a sail ship for the American colonies.  He located in Virginia.  While living there, he enlisted in the war of the revolution, taking sides with the colonies.  He was a brave soldier and was disabled for life while in the service.  He emigrated to the Northwest Territory in 1799, and settled on Deer Creek on what is now known as the Peek farm.  He had nine children, seven sons and two daughters.  They were Abraham, Isaac, Catharine, Jacob, Polly, George, Samuel, Thomas and William.  These children all grew to maturity and reared families.  John Ater, of Deer Creek Township, Pickaway County, is a grandson and is eighty-six years old.  He is a son of Abraham.  To undertake to trace the genealogy of this family and speak of individual characters would be a great task, one from which we shrink.  Their numbers are great.  The probabilities are that the descendants of George Ater will approach near to one thousand souls.  They have never been noted for anything excepting fruitfulness and stature.  The physical development of many of them is so great that they might be called giants.
           Abraham Jr., is king of all in size.  His height is about six feet four inches and weight about 365 pounds.  There seems to be no limit to his strength.  When a boy of eighteen, he performed a feat in the army that was quite laughable to the bystanders.  There always was an army of blood-suckers or money-grabbers infesting the camps.  In one of the camps was a man with a machine with which he tested the strength of individuals.  It consisted of a spiral spring, encased in a closed cylinder, to which a rod was attached, surmounted with a double hand bolt, suited to a man of any height to lift.  As the center rod was elevated, it turned a pointer on the face of the dial which determined the number of pounds lifted.  Five cents a lift was charged.  A member of the company told the owner of the machine that he could find a boy that could tear the "inards" out of the thing.  The reply was, "bring him on, I'll not charge him anything if he does".  Abe was hunted up and took pleasure in making the attempt.  The hand soon flirted to its stopping place, and the thing began to crack.  Another twist of Abe's backbone and the thing crashed like the d---l was inside of it.  The owner said, "Hold on"!  Abe did hold on until the entrails were out of the thing and lying upon the ground.  Great was the huzzah that went up from the crowd; but the bloodsucker left the camp in a crestfallen condition.
           These are no better citizens to be found in Pickaway County than are many of the Aters.  As a rule, they are industrious, frugal and honest.

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They are tillers of the soil from away back.  Many are wealthy, a great majority are well to do, and no paupers are to {be} found among them.  None aspire to greatness, but they despise groveling.  They are a straight-forward, even going people, occupying a kind of mediocre in all things.

           James Smith came from Alexandria, Virginia, to Ross County in 1799.  In 1804, he removed to Deer Creek Township.  In 1811, he purchased the farm afterwards owned by his son Alexander, and resided there until his death.  This farm was willed by Alexander Smith to the sons of James Smith Jr., who was also a son of James Smith Sr.

           David Yates came from Culpepper County, Virginia, in the year 1800.  He first located near South Salem, but, in 1806, removed to Deer Creek.  He married Miss Christine Edmiston, and to them were given twelve children.  When he located on Deer Creek, he purchased the land now owned by his grandsons, Rollin and Socrates.  Rollin occupies the homestead.  Soon after his arrival on Deer Creek, he built a saw mill, a grist mill and a distillery.  It is claimed by some that this was the first mill built in the township of Deer Creek.  He built the mill with his own hands, being a millwright.  It is said that he grew rich from the profits of his distillery.  The mill of William Bazore occupies the site of the old mill.  Mr. Yates and his wife were zealous members of the M. E. church.  Many of the posterity of David Yates reside within the bounds of the Deer Creek settlement, and, as a rule are good and valuable citizens.

           David Hanson built a distillery on the opposite side of Deer Creek from Yates.  James Bennett now owns the land on which it was built.

           Edward Rector was one of the earliest settlers in the Northwest Territory, having come to the Scioto country in 1798, and, in the spring of 1799, located at the mouth of Deer Creek.  His widowed mother, with her children, of whom Neddie was the eldest, made the trip from Wheeling down the Ohio to Portsmouth in a flat boat.  Edward was then but twelve years of age.  He made his way on horseback to Chillicothe, following a blazed trail made by Lewis and Clark.  One horse was led by his side, on which, no doubt, was carried the wealth of the family.  In the year 1809, he married Miss Peggie Brown, a daughter of White Brown, so frequently referred to in these sketches, and located on the farm that was since owned by the late Wm. Bennett.  To them eight children were given.  A second wife gave to him seven children.  The Rectors have been leading citizens in the Pickaway portion of the Deer Creek settlement from its infancy.

           Michael Alkire was a native of Virginia.  He took to himself a wife in that state in 1793.  Her maiden name was Dorothy Phebus.  The year following their marriage, they moved, by flat-boat, down the Kanawha to Herrodsburg, Kentucky, where he remained until 1798, when he removed to the Northwest Territory.  In 1800 he purchased a large farm on Deer Creek in what is now Deer Creek township, Pickaway County.  He was successful farmer and a large stock raiser.  The country was full of Indians when he be-

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came a citizen.  Peace had been maintained between the red men and the whites for several years, but the indolent nature of the Indian created dishonesty and their disposition to beg and steal was so strongly developed, that they were a great source of annoyance to the pioneer.
           At one time, in the absence of Mr. Alkire, two tall gaunt Indians sneaked up to the cabin, under cover of the underbrush, and began peeping around in search of booty.  The bark of the dog had warned Mrs. Alkire of the approach of strangers, and, by peeping through a crack in the cabin, she discovered the Indians prowling around.  They approached near the house and tried to discover whether or not there were any occupants.  The began whispering to each other as if laying plans.  The lone woman proved to be a woman of pluck.  Her judgment told her that bravery was the course to pursue.  In a loud and firm voice she yelled, "What are you doin' there?" They crouched low and started to run for the thicket.  The plucky woman bounded to the door and commanded a halt.  She said, "Come back here, you onery rascals"!  They turned and approached her.  "What are you doin' here, you thievin' dogs you?  Come in here." Her command was obeyed.  They entered the cabin in a half-stooping posture and sat down upon the floor.  Again in a firm voice she said, "What do you want?" The reply was, "W'ere's man?" "Gone huntin'; what d'ye want?" The other Indian said, "W'ere's man?" She again replied, "Gone Hunting." Indian said, "Mabe you lie?" She said, "You lien', thievin' whelp you, don't you talk to me that way.  What do you want?"  One replied that they wanted cornbread and bacon.  They were at once supplied with a hunk of each and they skulked off into the woods.
           This pair of pioneers had ten children.  Benjamin F., a son, resides, to this day, on the homestead.  Is there another farm in Pickaway County that has been occupied for a period of nearly ninety years by only two generations?  The present occupant of the farm is a man well advanced in years, but possesses and active mind, and is quite supple, for a man of his years.  He is one of the best historians of the Deer Creek settlement, and one of the most entertaining men that we have had the privilege of interviewing since the project of writing this history was conceived.  Long may he live as a representative of the pioneer children.

CHAPTER XXII

           John Baker came from Rhode Island to the Northwest Territory in 1799.  He located in Ross County in 1801, where he died in 1841.  He had seven children.  Of these, William continued a resident of the Deer Creek settlement until he died at an advanced age.  He was a popular preacher in the Baptist (hardshell) church.  He probably baptised a greater number of persons in Deer Creek than any other man that ever went down into its waters.  He left two sons, John and Peter.  Both are now dead.  John has six representatives in the settlement.  They are Marcus A. Baker, Clinton Baker, Mrs. Job Taylor, Mrs. W. C. Ater, Mrs. Bennett Ater and Mrs. S. K. Yates.  To all of these, Clint, excepted, children have been born and to some of them grandchildren.  The widow of Peter and one daughter, the wife of Wm. Parker, are residents of the Deer Creek settlement.  They are an industrious, frugal and honest people.

           Edward Davidson, from Kentucky, settled in Deer Creek Township

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in 1803.  His son William was known as one of the most eccentric men of all our country.  To picture his character, would require a pen as eccentric as himself, and we will not undertake to wield it.  He left many descendants.

           The widow of Gladstone Colston, whose maiden name was Polly Voss, came to the settlement very early in its history.  She was accompanied by her three children, Henry, Nancy and Margaret.  Henry married and settled in Ross County and reared a large family of children, of whom but two are now living.  Samuel, his son, is now residing in Clarksburg, and Sarah, the wife of Wm. Downing, is now a citizen of Chillicothe.  The widow of William, another son, resides in Clarksburg, with her son Cyrus Felton Colston, who is one of the most popular young bachelors of the village.  The descendants of Henry Colston are so numerous that we cannot speak of them in detail.  His blood courses the veins of the Egypt Timmonses, the Goldsberrys, the Donohoes, the; Downings, and, possibly, others of whom we have no information.  Nancy married, but to whom we know not.  Margaret became the wife of Wm. Ater.  To them were given three sons and one daughter, who now reside in the Deer Creek settlement.  Casper, Elias and Wm. C. (or Dick, as he is familiarly called) are the sons.  Rebecca, the daughter, is the wife of Thomas Ater.  All are residents of Deer Creek Township, Pickaway County.  They each have a numerous posterity.

           Moses Colvin, of Kentucky, settled on Deer Creek, on the farm now owned by William McCafferty, and occupied by his son-in-law J. J. Myers {Lt. John Jacob Myers}, about 1800, and spent his days there.

           Among the pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Williamsport, was a Mr. Hornbeck.  His name was either Simon or Isaac.  He came from Kentucky to Westfall in 1797, and settled on the west side of Deer Creek on the farm now owned by George Moler, in 1802.  His living representatives are many, and their honesty and intelligence speak loud praises of their ancient sire.

           Isaac Cade made the first improvement on the land on the west side of the creek, now owned by Mr. A. R. Parker.  He owned the land and resided there many years.  John McCollister also settled on the west of the stream.

           P. H. Baker was an early settler on the east bank of the stream and planted one of the first orchards in the country.  It was on lands now about the center of Williamsport.  George Reid planted one about the same date.

           Ebeneezer Davis came from Virginia in 1813.  In 1817, he settled in Williamsport, and opened a hotel, the second one in the township.  He became quite a public man in the locality.  He had a family of ten children, nearly all of whom are dead.  Ebeneszer S., who came with his father to the settlement, was born in 1808.  He married Sedalia McFarland and lives in the village of Williamsport.  He has been a resident of that place since 1817.  Was postmaster from 1835 until 1885, making a period of fifty years he served the people in that capacity.

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He was for a long time the leading business man of that place.  He acquired much property by his industrious and frugal habits; but, in later years, became too liberal in helping others and lost nearly all of his means.  He is now an octogenarian and is making his living by a little store that he cares for with his own hands.  We think he is one of the best old men we have ever known.  His son, Capt. William B. Davis, is employed by the White and Ballard hardware firm of Washington C.H., as traveling salesman.  He is one of the best salesmen that the country affords.  As a bookkeeper and as an accountant, he has no superior.  The exact date of the erection of Deer Creek Township we are not able to give, but it was previous to the organization of Pickaway County, and while the territory was attached to Ross County.  The earlist record of an election to be found, states that it was held at the house of Jesse Fitzgerald, on the first Monday in April 1816.  John Timmons, John Taverbaugh and Jacob Funk were chosen judges; Thomas Williams and Jonah Rust were chosen clerks.  Williams, Taverbaugh and Timmons were elected trustees, and David Yates clerk.  James Burbridge was elected treasurer; Simon Hornbeck and Jesse Hornbeck, overseers of the poor; John Mottester and David Crabill, fenceviewers; John Rust, lister; Wm. L. Cantrill and Andrew Motter, constables.  Among the first justices of the peace were David Yates, Isaac Cade and Alexander Rowen.

           There was a grist mill built at Williamsport, or near the site of it, in 1812, by Pernell Baker.  It stood on the east bank of the creek, about where the Circleville and Washington Pike now crosses the creek.  He, soon afterward, built a saw-mill near the grist mill.  These mills were destroyed by fire some years later.  The saw-mill was rebuilt by John Reynolds and the grist mill by John McFarland.  From some cause, they both went to decay.  George Radcliff, or a man by the name of Laramore, built a distillery on the site about 1836.  It was operated as a distillery about three years, and then converted into a grist mill.  The last proprietors were William Wood and Moses Welton.  They operated it until about 1882; since which time, it has been motionless and is abandoned as a mill.  The waters of Deer Creek have been confine to such limits, that the dams would not stand the volume of water that is sent down in such torrents during freshets.

           A man by the name of Ousterhouse operated a distillery in Williamsport about the year 1820.  It stood on the site now occupied by Dr. Briner's beautiful residence.  These distilleries played sad havoc with many citizens of the vicinity.  Men, who lived as far away as Darbyville, would carry grain that was badly needed by their families and trade it for whiskey.  It was not uncommon for them to lie around for days at a time, drinking and carousing on that, purchased with the bread of their children.  Today not a drink of intoxicating liquors can be purchased in the village.  The place has not been cursed with one of those infernal dens of iniquity called saloons, for several years.  Not even a place, under the name of a drugstore, exists, in which the fiery liquid can be obtained for drink purposes.  Dr. T. C. Tipton, an honorable physician, conducts a drug store in a legitimate way, in which it is disposed of for medical purposes only.  He does not hide behind a prescription of a physician who disregards the

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honor of his profession, to deal out the stuff to any who may desire it.  The law should so regulate it that no one but a regular physician could dispense it in any shape or form.  No physician should be allowed to handle it without first obtaining a certificate from at least one regular minister of the gospel and two school teachers, all within the bounds of the township or precinct in which such physician resides, certifying that said physician was of good moral character and of temperate habits.  Such a certificate should be filed once a year with some public officer.  But pardon me.  This is not history.  I will return to my task.

           At an early day, a man by the name of McGath conceived an idea that a mill could be propelled by water power, obtained from a large pond on the east side of Deer Creek, just north of Williamsport.  In that vicinity, the lands are very flat and held water the year round.  McGath made preparations, on a large scale, to carry his scheme into effect.  He selected the site for his mill on a bluff bank of the creek, where he intended to run an overshot wheel of large dimensions.  He began the excavation for the mill-race at the site for the mill and made a wide and deep excavation, about three or four hundred yards long, to the pond.  A temporary forebay was constructed at the mill site to prevent the washing away of his site, and the work proceeded.  When he reached the body of water, it rushed through its new made channel, and bounded over the precipice at the mill site in torrents.  In a few days his fountain was dry, and his visions took wings and flew away.  He became a sadder but a wiser man.  The lands drained by his experiment have become valuable farming lands.  The mill race may be seen yet, near the upper end of the old cemetery, just north of the village.

CHAPTER XXIII

           Williamsport was laid out in 1818, just one year after the birth of Clarksburg.  They have run a very even race.  Each contains a population of near five hundred.  Who laid it out we know not.  It was incorporated about 1842.  For a few years, officers were elected and the general routine of business done.  Indifference finally took possession of the people, and the incorporation lapsed.  In 1858, officers were again elected and the business routine pursued until the breaking out of the rebellion, when the thing went to pieces again.  July 2nd 1866, a third organization was effected, and has since been maintained.  Until recent years, Williamsport was a very slovenly, illy-cared-for village.  It is poorly laid out, the streets being entirely too narrow.  The two principal streets cross at right angles, on a hillside, near Deer Creek.  Neither corner is a desirable place for a business house.  On the northeast corner of the cross streets, stands a block of old frame, one story buildings, owned and occupied by Wesley Davis for a general store.  The location, although not desirable, has made its proprietor well off.

           For many years, the town was noted for its extravagant prices.  The war prices were adhered to, until a great portion of

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the trade of the vicinity was driven to other towns.  Clarksburg, New Holland, and Circleville profited thereby.  The "Port" was fast becoming a place of the past.  About ten years ago the place began to revive.  Mr. Henry Schwarz, an enterprising blacksmith of Clarksburg, located in the place and began raising such a racket on his anvil that a few of the citizens were slightly aroused from their lethargy.  Others wished he was in hades, on account of the, continual racket he kept up.  Henry hammered away until he has hammered himself in to a fine two-story brick shop of his own building, besides several pieces of to this, he has hammered himself into the reputation of an honest industrious and sensible business man.  On Tuesday, Nov. 5th, 1889, he was elected to the office of county commissioner of Pickaway County by a very heavy majority over his competitor.  Henry is a jolly good fellow.

           A revolution in the mercantile business of the place was brought about by the Morgans in 1881.  They established a general store in that year and employed Capt. Wm. B. Davis as assistant salesman.  They soon were in possession of large patronage.  The influx of business gave to the place new life.  Old buildings were repaired and vacant lots were purchased at handsome prices and new buildings erected.  From that year, Williamsport has been improving.  It will compare well with other country villages.

           Rev. Barton Stone was among the first ministers in the Williamsport neighborhood.  He came to the vicinity in 1803.  He was a member of the sect, then denominated New Sight, but later it is called the Christian church.  In 1804, a society was organized.  Among the charter members were Isaac Cade and wife; John Taverbaugh and wife; George Alkire and wife, and Isaac W. Hornbeck and wife.  From this small nucleus a large church has developed.  Their first meeting house was constructed of hewed logs, in 1810.  It stood on or near the site of the residence of T. C. Tipton.  In 1816, that building was disposed of, and a small frame building erected on the ground now occupied by that society as a cemetery.  That, too, became too small, and, in 1869, a beautiful and commodious structure was erected by the society.  Uncle Ebbie Davis donated the ground upon which it was built.

           The first M. E. meeting house was dedicated in 1841.  The society was formed as a part of Deer Creek circuit in 1826, but was too weak to build a house to worship in.  The dwellings of the members were used for that purpose for a period of fifteen years.  In 1831, Rev. Adam Poe was preacher-in-charge of Deer Creek circuit. Quite a number of valuable members were added to the society as the result of his labor.  An effort was now made to build a church, but failed on account of the death of Samuel Parrett, who was one of the leading members.  After this, meetings were held, alternately, at the houses of Peter Hunsicker and James McFarland until the church was completed in 1841.  Rev. Francis Wilson preached the dedication sermon.  In 1864, the present brick building was built.  It was dedicated by the Rev. Joseph Trimble the winter of 1865-66.

           The first school in Williamsport was probably the first in the township.  It was taught in a little log house that stood on or near the ground occupied by the residence of Ebbie Davis.  The

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teacher's name was White.  A very good school is now in operation in that place.  It is organized as a special school district, and well conducted.  They occupy a brick building with two good rooms, and fashioned after the one at Clarksburg, so foolishly abandoned and sacrificed by the board of education of Deerfield Township Ross County, this year.  There is one thing that is a disgrace to, not only the village, but to the surrounding country.  That is the graveyard in the north part of town.  We visited it in June last to look at some of the early graves and gravestones, that we might speak of the silent dead and their posterity.  After making several efforts to get through the brush, briars and burs, we abandoned the task as one not worthy of the effort.  The posterity of the people there buried, are not worthy of public mention.  They should only be named but to be rebuked.  There, no doubt, lie the bodies of the pioneers.  There lie the bodies of the fathers and mothers.  The last resting place of many soldiers for the union was selected there.  Had we not found a union flag or two that had, by much effort, been placed by the grave of a soldier, we would have concluded that these graves were not only neglected, but forgotten.  The most neglected and wildest waste of all Pickaway County is to be found there.  Is there none to mourn for the pioneer?  Have the living lost respect for the dead?

"Say shall rough woodland pioneers,
Of Mississippi's wild extended vale,
Claim no just tribute of our love and tears,
And their names vanish with the passing gale?

"With veteran arms, the forest they subdued,
With veteran arts, subdued the savage foe;
Our country purchased with their valiant blood,
Claims for them all that gratitude can do.

"Their arduous labors gave us wealth and ease;
Fair freedom followed from their doubtful strife;
Their well-aimed measures gave us lasting peace,
And all the social blessedness of life.

"Then let their offspring, mindful of their claims,
Cherish their honors in the lyric band.
O save from dark oblivious gloomy rein
The brave, the worthy fathers of our land.''

           Passing north from Williamsport, on the eastern side of the creek, the first thing we find of interest was a mill and distillery, erected by Peter Van Buskirk.  The mill was probably one of the first corncrackers put in motion so far north on the stream.  The exact date of its erection cannot be obtained, but it was very early.  All traces of it have passed away.  Mr. Van Buskirk located on Deer Creek, in what is now Monroe Township in 1800.  It is supposed he was the first settler in that township.  The land which he occupied is now owned by Mr. Samuel Dunlap, who, by the way, is one of the very best citizens of Pickaway County.  The Buskirks, as they are called, were an intelligent and useful people.  Some of them became prominent, both in church and state.  John Van Buskirk was a son of Peter.  He was born in Maryland in

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1795.  He emigrated to this state with his father in 1799.  He became a popular minister in the Christian church.

           Passing north, we find a church near the banks of Deer Creek, called Hebron, that was the first built in Monroe Township, and belonging to the M. E. society.  The society was formed soon after the settlement, which was in the twilight of the present century.  It was composed in part of the following members: John Porter and wife, Severen Maddux and wife, Mrs. Catharine Richey, Mrs. Eleanor Thomas, the Hayses, the Reeves' and others whose names cannot now be ascertained.  As was common, the meetings were held first in dwellings, then in the school house and, finally, a rude meeting house was erected.  At this time, they are in possession of a very respectable frame church.  The society originally belonged to Deer Creek circuit.  It has long since been clipped off.  It is, thought that Joseph Hays and William Morrow were the first circuit preachers that expounded the gospel to the society.  Some of the early settlers in this locality, were Charles Longberry, David Maddux, Jeremiah Thomas, John Porter, George Richey, and John Foster.  Mr. Thomas still has representatives in Monroe Township.  Of the Porter family, one child only is living.  She is the wife of Samuel Hill, who is also a child of a pioneer.  Doubtless, others are worthy of mention, but history fails to enlighten us.

CHAPTER XXIV

           We cross Deer Creek to the west side and take up our history in Perry Township, Pickaway County.

           The first settler in this township was James Wilson, and the date of settlement was previous to 1800.  His stay was short and no posterity is left to represent him.  The land on which he located is now owned by Elias Ater.

           John Hoskins was a native of Virginia.  He emigrated to the Northwest Territory previous to the present century and located in that portion that afterward became Ross County.  A few years later, he located in Perry Township, Pickaway County, on the land now owned by his grandson, Samuel Hoskins.  His family consisted of twelve children, the greater portion of whom are dead.  Samuel, a grandson, is a living representative in the Deer Creek country.  He is a conscientious, upright citizen.  He is one of the most successful farmers of Pickaway County.  His energy and industry have secured to him one of the finest farms that the country affords.  In politics he is a Republican, but he is liberal enough to concede that members of other parties may be honest and possibly right in some things.  He has long been a leading member of the M. E. church.

           Holmes Tarbill was another early settler.  One son, James, still lives to represent him in Perry Township.  He is past eighty years of age.  He has sons and daughters rearing large families in the Deer Creek settlement.

           The descendants of Josiah Reeves, who emigrated from Virginia to Ross County in 1806, have been prominent citizens in the Deer

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Creek settlement.  Owen T., a grandson, is one of the best citizens of the valley of Deer Creek.

           Peter Mouser was one of the first settlers in the north part of Perry township.  He emigrated from Rumly, Virginia, about 1800 and located on Deer Creek, somewhere near the site of Hall's mill in Ross County.  He remained there about four years and then moved to Perry township, Pickaway County.  He became wealthy in land, owning over two thousand acres at his death which occurred in 1872, aged 93 years.  He was the father of seven children.  He married a second wife {Genova (unknown)} (quite young) when he was far advanced in years.  One child {Joseph H. Mouser} was born to her, but soon died.  He made a contract with her, that she should be his wife and take care of him during his life for a stated sum of money.  At his death this contract was disregarded, and she shared in the estate.  She finally married Benjamin Bostwick of Waterloo, who is much her junior.  The have lost the greater part of the property that she obtained from Mr. Mouser.  Peter Mouser built a sawmill and grist mill on his land, which were propelled by Deer Creek water-power for many years.  They ceased to move twenty years ago and are almost obliterated.
           William Mouser is the only living son, and remains on lands obtained of his father many years ago.  His residence is one mile south of Waterloo.  He was born October 1, 1807, and was married to Nancy Mace October 1, 1844.  They both are living; he being eighty-two years of age.  They have lived in a miserly way, and he has accumulated much property.  He has always stuck so closely to his dollars that his farms have been poorly fenced, and his fields poorly stocked.  His motto has been, "Hold fast to all you get." In the year 1875, their humble residence took fire and burned to the ground with its contents.  Three thousand dollars in gold, that was hid in the garret, was melted into bullion.  On the site of the old building, he built a comfortable and respectable two-story frame residence.  In 1889 his barn was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.  That also is replaced by a good, substantial building.  Mr. Mouser has always been a perfectly honest man.  No man can say ought against him.  The Cincinnati Enquirer has been his solace and his guide for lo! these many years.  Its teachings, no doubt, cause him to fancy in his dreams, that, at no distant day, he shall be borne through the pearly gates of the Democratic party in the election of James A. Campbell, to the office of Governor of the State of Ohio, will, no doubt, prolong his days.  Long may he live with his aged partner, and happy be his days to the end.

           The Hays family has figured prominently in the Pickaway portion of the Deer Creek settlement.  Levi Hays was born in Maryland October 1, 1752.  He with his family, emigrated to Ohio in 1805.  In 1806 he located on Deer Creek in Perry Township, Pickaway County.  He had five sons and four daughters: Joseph, Charles, Norris, Samuel, Jesse, Nancy, Mary, Rachel and Ellen. Joseph was a minister in the M. E. church and figured prominently in the infancy of the old Deer Creek circuit.  The Hays blood courses the veins of almost as many people as does that of the Aters.  The descendants of Jesse alone, would for a large colony, if collected together.

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           Pernell Baker built a sawmill on the west side of Deer Creek previous to 1818.  With this mill he sawed the lumber that entered into the construction of the grist mill and distillery that he erected in 1818.  The property afterwards passed into the hands of William Lister, who attached a fulling mill.  Mr.  Lister sold the property to John Messmore.  In 1853 Messmore rebuilt the sawmill which is on the old plan (sash saw) and it does good work at the present day.  In 1854 Mr. Messmore sold the property to Hezekiah Crownover {Hezekiah J. Crownover}.  At this time, the distillery had ceased to run, but the sawmill, gristmill and fulling mill were all in good running order.  They were propelled by an overshot wheel that was thought at that day, to give ample power.  At the time that Mr. Crownover obtained it, it contained the old-fashioned bolt for refining the flour.  No elevators were used to carry the ground wheat upstairs to the bolt; instead, {it} was carried upon the shoulder in bags and fed into the bolt by hand.  The bolt was turned by hand also.  Verily, the decree of the Lord was being fulfilled: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."

           Mr. Crownover ran the woolen mill until 1859 with a reasonable degree of success.  He stated to me that his business was ruined by the high protective tariff that was placed upon wool and woolen goods during that year.  He claims that it virtually broke the back of every small woolen mill in the United States; that at the time the tariff was levied that there were woolen mills in Pickaway County alone that employed about one thousand hands; that the proprietors had nearly all broken up or suspended business prior to 1869.  Mr. Crownover sold the machinery in the woolen mill and one half the factory house to John Messmore for five hundred dollars, that, previous to the enactment of the protective tariff law on wool, was worth two thousand dollars.  He says that the five hundred dollars were as good as found, because the machinery never would have been worth a dollar to Messmore.  This struck us as a strong argument against protective tariff.
           To verify the statement of Mr. Crownover, we sought an interview with Mr. Messmore, whom we had known for many years as a man of truth and candor.  I said to him, "Did the protective tariff placed on wool and woolen goods have any effect upon the small woolen factories of the country?" "Oh, yes," said he, "it ruined the business of all of them.  When the war broke out, contracts were given by the government, to the larger firms to furnish cloth for the armies.  The high price of wool caused the manufacturers to use adulterations in the manufacture of goods.  This, the small factories could not do.  It would have been too easy to detect them in the fraud, and besides, their capacity was not sufficient to contract for as large an amount as the government required.  Adulteration became common.  I made a trip to Columbus, Ohio, and visited one of the factories that had large contracts with the government, to learn if possible, how they could produce goods for so small a price.  I was awfully surprised when the contractor told me that he used ninety percent of shoddy.  He said that the tariff placed upon wool had driven them to adulterate their goods.  I returned home resolved to close out my machinery as soon as possible.  I had operated my mill about thirty-five years with a reasonable degree of success, but not it was a struggle for existance.  In 1870 I sold the property to A. S. Mowery."
           An interview was then sought with Mr. Mowery. To my

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inquiry whether or not the protective tariff placed upon woolen goods by the government had been detrimental to the small manufacturers, his reply was, "Oh yes; it ruined them.  I bought the Messmore factory at Waterloo, and paid $6500 for it, not knowing what effect the tariff had had.  I found my experiment to be a total failure.  I could not compete with the large factories that used adulterated wool and produced cheap cloth.  I tried to save myself by converting the factory into a grist mill, but that, too, was a failure.  I disposed of the whole thing at a sacrifice of six thousand dollars."

CHAPTER XXV

           The house which contains the Crownover mill is the third one built upon that spot for the purpose.  The machinery is of the old style, but does good work of the old kind.  It is propelled with a turbine wheel, run by water power.  It, like nearly all the old buhr mills, is not paying expenses.  Its patronage is not more than twenty or twenty-five bushels of grain per day.

           Jesse Thomlinson built a mill on Deer Creek, in 1836, about midway between the Messmore woolen factory and the Peter Mouser mill, making three mills within one and on-half miles of each other.

           Mr. Thomlinson's primary object was a sawmill; but one run of buhrs was added for grinding corn.  The sawmill was one of the very best in its day.  An improved waterwheel had been attached, that gave extra power and speed.  Its speed was so great that the owner determined on giving a trial day's work.  All the necessary hands were in readiness and a fine lot of logs provided.  At an early hour in the day, the old sash saw was turned loose.  No stops were made for meals.  When the sun had set, the mill had performed the wonderful feat of sawing one thousand feet of inch lumber.  At the price for sawing today, the bill would have amounted to five dollars.  No doubt, as many as three hands were employed, and if paid the wages of today, would have cost three dollars and seventy-five cents; leaving a net profit of one dollar and twenty-five cents for the earnings of the mill.  What a great contrast in it and the mills of today!
           In 1842 the mill was run by Nathaniel Cutright.  He had a family of sons who were noted for mischievousness and deviltry.  One of them, James, now resides in Marion Township, Fayette County, about one half mile north of New Holland.  He once related to me one of his pranks played on an elder brother, George.  George was fond of fine clothes, and when once inside of them, the ground was hardly good enough for his feet.  On one occasion, after purchasing a new suit, he resolved to make a visit to his best girl who lived on the east side of the creek.  The Cutright house being on the west side, made it necessary for him to cross the stream.  As was common, he resorted to a skiff that was used for the purpose on the deep water, above the dam.  After he had crossed and disappeared in the darkness, Jim crossed at a rift, and carried with him an auger, with which he bored several holes through the skiff, just above the water.  About the time Jim expected George home, he was there to see the fun.  George had had a good time and his heart was

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           happy as happy could be.  He untied his little boat, jumped in and pulled away, whistling "The Girl I Left Behind Me".  He had not gone far when he heard a sound as if water was running into his boat.  The whistling ceased and George leaned forward and listened.  "She's leakin', by thunder!" he exclaimed.  He straightened himself up and pulled for dear life.  When he had arrived about two-thirds of the way across, down she went.  George was heard to use his maker's name, and no one knows to this day whether it was prayerfully or profanely.  He made oars of his arms and a stern wheel of his legs and propelled his body to shore.  Jim cut dirt for home and was in bed sound asleep (?) when George got there.  Not a word was said about it for many years when the matter was talked over as a good joke.  Jim had, a short time previously, been the victim of a joke played by George that was nearly as severe, and the punishment inflicted on George was only in retaliation and was well taken.

           Passing north, on the west side of Deer Creek, we find ourselves in Madison Township, Fayette County.  This township is in the northeast corner of the county.  It was organized with the county in 1810.  The territory originally belonged to Ross County.

           Samuel Myers was one of the earliest settlers in the Deer Creek portion.  In 1801 he settled near the mouth of Duff's Fork, on the land recently occupied by the late Benjamin Leavell.  He remained there until 1816 when he removed to Compton's Creek.  While he was a resident of Madison Township, he served in the War of 1812.  He went out as a captain and was promoted to major, for gallantry in the field.  He represented Fayette County in the legislature in 1813 and again in 1818.  He taught the first school in Madison Township in 1809 near where the village of Waterloo now stands.  He was also the first township clerk of Madison Township.  He was a native of Pennsylvania.  He left numerous representatives in the Deer Creek settlement.  His sons, John L. and Samuel, who reared large families in the neighborhood of Bloomingburg, are long since dead.  Mrs. Wesley Ingram of Mt. Sterling, is a daughter of Samuel, and Jacob Myers of Woodlyn, Ross County, is a son of John L. Polly, a daughter of Samuel Sr., married Shreve Pancoast and settled in Waterloo and reared a large family.  She, too, is dead.

           Isaiah Pancoast moved from Pennsylvania To Madison Township, Fayette County, and took up his abode on Deer Creek in 1810.  He located on the east bank of the creek, about one half mile south of where the village of Waterloo now stands.  Here he erected tents, in which he and his family dwelt until they cleared four acres of ground and planted it in corn.  A cabin was then built in which they were comfortably housed for several years.  While they were camping on the west side of the stream, a band of Indians was camping exactly opposite them on the east side.  His home was in the wilderness.  The stream was full of fish and forests abounded in game.  All that was necssary for him to obtain for food was bread.  The bear, the deer, the wild turkey and small game by the thousand, was to be had for the taking.  A good marksman could provide meat for his family for the winter in a few days.  Vegetables grew rapidly.  Wild grapes were to be had in profusion.  The only thing lacking was bread.  Even when corn and wheat was to be obtained, there were no mills closer than from fifteen to twenty

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miles that could be depended upon for grinding.  These trips were frequently made on horseback through the almost unbroken wilderness.  During favorable seasons of the year, the scattering neighbors would join together and send a team with a load of grain, either to Brown's mills, on Deer Creek, in Ross County, or to a mill near Chillicothe and remain until it was ground and return.  This would not infrequently require from four to six days.  The mills were overrun with patronage.  They were few in number and ground very slowly.  The flour was all bolted by hand.
           Mr. Pancoast being a millwright and a practical miller, had an eye to business when he located on Deer Creek.  He knew that they new settlement was sadly in need of a mill and that the rapidly increasing population would soon render milling a profitable business.  The lands upon which he located contained a beautiful mill site.  As soon as he had provided shelter for his family, he at once began the erection of a mill.  The date of its completion is not exactly known, but was not later than 1811.  The burs first used in the mill were what were known as the Laurel Hill variety.  They were shipped from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on a flat boat, down the Ohio River to the Scioto, and up the Scioto to Musselman's mill above Chillicothe.  From that place they were wagoned through to their destination in the wilderness.  They were, after many years of service, thrown out, and may yet be seen in the mill yard.  The grist mill was operated by himself and son, Samuel, for several years and then by degrees converted into a woolen factory.  It served the people in the latter capacity for a perio of nearly fifty years.  About ten years ago it resumed its old occupation of furnishing food for the hungry.
           Mrs. Pancoast {Leticia Gaskill} had a family of ten children - Shreve, Polly, Samuel, Hannah, Shetlock, Hope, Jerusha, Isaiah, Eliza and Ruhamma.  All have crossed the river.  Shreve, Hannah and Jerusha were the only ones that now have representatives in the Deer Creek settlement.  Shreve {Shreve Pancoast Sr.} married Polly Myers {Polly Mary Myers}, settled in Waterloo, and reared a large family.  Of his family only two, Shreve Jr., and Adaline remain in the settlement.  Shreve Jr. {Shreve Pancoast Jr.} married Eliza Ann Bostwick, and has three grown-up children.  Adaline {Adaline Pancoast} has seen the frosts of about sixty winters and has been the subject of much pain and affliction.  She never has married and as she is much afflicted, she will not likely at this late date.  Notwithstanding her ill health, she is a jolly, light-hearted lady.

           Hannah {Hannah Pancoast} married Nathan Loofbourrow, the youngest son of John Wade Loofbourrow of Virginia.  He was born December 22, 1794, and when a small boy came to Ohio.  To them were born eight children: Laban Huff, Lemuel Pancoast, Sophronia, Amanda, Naomi, Pamelia and Cecelia (twins) and Mary.  Of these, three yet live in the Deer Creek settlement - Laban H., Lemuel P. and Mary. Of them and their families we will speak in a future chapter.

CHAPTER XXVI

           Jerusha Pancoast became the wife of John Messmore.  They reared a large family of children near Waterloo.  They lived together long enough to celebrate their golden wedding, she crossing the river soon after.  Mr. Messmore still lives and possesses an active mind and is now in the 82nd year of his age.  He has been

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one of the most useful and most widely known men in Fayette County.  He was the operator of the woolen factory near Waterloo for a period of more than forty years.  He owned an excellent little farm with which, in conjunction with his mill, he made much money.  He finally sold his woolen mill to A. S. Mowery for $6500, to be paid for in installments.  In a conversation with him a few days since, he stated to me that he was a heavy loser in the transaction.  That Mr. Mowery had sold the engine and other machinery for $650 with which he made the first payment, and that all that he received thereafter from Mowery was in labor which amounted to $1,200 making in all $1,850.  This made a loss to him of $4,650 by Mowery's failure.  From some means, his farm also slipped from him and he is now a poor old man.  His character is above reproach and he is one of the most respected men in Fayette County.  He resides at this time, with his youngest son, R. W. Messmore {Rienzi W. Messmore} in Washington C.H.

           Madison Township, Fayette County, has three points of business - Yankeetown, Waterloo and Madison Mills.  The first store in the township was opened by Adley Gregory at Yankeetown as early as 1815.  He continued in business until John Johnson opened one in his residence one half mile north of Yankeetown in 1825.  Shortly after the opening of the store by Johnson, Robert Leach began the sale of goods in the neighborhood.  A brick building stands at the crossroads in which goods are ever been laid out at this place and no business has been done there excepting the sale of goods, blacksmithing and a country inn.

           The next store was established in Waterloo by Nathan Loofbourrow about 1830.  Waterloo is a regularly laid out village.  It was first surveyed and platted by Isaiah Pancoast and Jesse Woodson June 20, 1816.  This makes it the oldest town on Deer Creek.

           London in Madison County is on a tributary of Deer Creek and was laid out in 1811.  If we were giving the towns on Deer Creek and tributaries in the order of their birth, they would be as follows: London 1811, Waterloo 1816, Clarksburg 1817, Williamsport 1818, Mt. Sterling 1828.

           No lots, however, were sold in Waterloo until 1829 when Isaiah Pancoast had it resurveyed and platted.  He then fixed a day in September of that year for the sale of lots.  Some eight or ten were sold.  Nathan Loofbourrow built the first house after the sale of lots.  John Messmore built the second house in the place about the year 1833 or '34.  It was of brick and still stands.  The brick of which it was constructed were burned by Mr. Messmore in forty-eight hours.  They look as if they might last until the end of time.  We neglected to say in the sketch of Mr. Messmore that he was a skilled brickmaker.  He had the art of brickmaking to a point that he could burn a kiln of brick as well in forty-eight hours as other men burn them in seven days.

           Nathan Loofbourrow did the first mercantile business in Waterloo.  His business was that of general merchandising.  He continued in business only five or six years, selling out to Messrs. Wilson and Rowland of Mt. Sterling.  Many men have been in business in the place but none continue long at a time.  In 1864 W. H. H. Timmons and Wm. Jones established a business in the sale of goods

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           that was wonderful in its magnitude.  They reported one day's sale as being one thousand dollars.  At the end of about two years, they collapsed.  It reminds me of a sign I once saw in a store in Pike County.  It was that of a dog with his heels turned up and lifeless.  Under him was the inscription "Poor trust is dead!  Bad pay killed him".

           The place is now almost one of the past.  Although surrounded by one of the finest farming communities in the country, it is fast falling into decay.  It is true that a few are making an effort to keep up with the times, but it seems to be a fated town.  It contains a population of about one hundred souls, two small stores, two blacksmith shops, three churches and a school house.  The churches are of the denominations of Methodist Episcopal, Christian (New Light) and Baptist (old school).  We have no dates of the organization of the two first.  The Baptist society was organized July 17, 1813 at the house of Isaiah Pancoast.  It was organized by John W. Loofbourrow.  The charter members were the Gaskills, the Rozels, Peter Timmons, Lettie Pancoast and Sarah Vandalar.  Of these people, none of the names are now members of the society.
           The Pancoast blood is represented by the Loofbourrows.  Laban H. Loofbourrow, a leading member, is a son of Hannah (Pancoast) Loofbourrow, and a grandson of Isaiah Pancoast at whose house the society was organized.  The three daughters of Lemuel P. Loofbourrow are members of the society and are great granddaughters of Isaiah Pancoast and also of John W. Loofbourrow, the organizer.  John Wade Loofbourrow was a Virginian by birth; was born April 28, 1748.  He was a minister in the Baptist church.  He married Mary Haff on Sept. 10, 1767.  To them were born twelve children - Abigail, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Mary, David, John, Benjamin, Wade, Ebeneezer, Thomas and Nathan.  The last two named are the only ones now represented in the Deer Creek settlement.  Nathan has many representatives in the settlement.  Laban H., Lemuel P., and Mary Thomas, all residents of Mt. Sterling, are his children.
           Laban H. was born at the site of Washington C.H. July 27, 1816 and is now 73 years of age.  He is a man of bright intellect and strong conversational powers.  His industry and good judgment have secured to him a competency of this world's goods to render him comfortable and at ease during the remainder of his days.  He has been twice married.  His first wife was Elizabeth Alkire to whom he was married September 16, 1837.  To them was born one son Madison.  Mrs. Loofbourrow died Jan. 5, 1879.  His second wife was Miss Christina Beatty, whom he married Dec. 25, 1879.
           His son Madison deserves special mention in connection with this history.  He was born Feb. 28, 1839, and obtained a fair education at the country district school.  Being the only child, he was given much liberty which he did not fail to enjoy.  His favorite sport was that of hunting.  Many a bag of game has succumbed to his unerring gun.  On Sept. 1, 1864 he was married to Elizabeth E., daughter of B. F. and Hannah Alkire.  of near Williamsport.  He located on his father's farm near Mt. Sterling where he remained several years engaged in raising stock and farming.  He finally became a confirmed asthmatic.  His disease was somewhat in the form of hay fever, attacking him in the heated months of the year.  For the relief of his suffering he has made frequent trips to the wilds of Michigan and the mountains of Virginia.  In these resorts, he

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followed his favorite sport, that of hunting.
           During one of these visits to Northern Michigan, he had an adventure worthy of mention.  He frequently hunted with an Indian called Greasy Jim.  On one occasion they arranged for a circular hunt; one starting to the east and the other to the west, taking a circuitous route bearing north, where they agreed to meet at a certain point.  Just before coming together, Mad, as he is familiarly called, espied Jim raise his gun to his face and was aiming in the direction of a fallen tree top, to which Mad's eye was directed.  Bang went the rifle and down tumbled a cub bear.  They both ran to the spot, thinking it might be only wounded and might make good its escape.  But the ball had done its work.  It proved to be a cub of some three or four months old and would have been capable of jumping off pretty lively.  The Indian proceeded to reload his gun and was placing the cap on the tube when a crack in the brush was heard behind them.
           On turning to learn the cause, old Mrs. Bear was seen rapidly approaching.  She raised to grapple with the Indian when she received a ball from the Indian's rifle.  It proved to only wound her and she sprang upon him and threw him to the ground some distance before her.  With another bound, she leaped astride of him and was about to crush his skull with her ponderous jaws when a shot from the gun of Loofbourrow pierced her brain and she fell dead upon the body of the frightened Indian.  Jim made out to wriggle out from under the monstrous animal and began praising Mad for saving his life.  He thanked him something less than ten thousand times and offered to make him a present of his entire hunting outfit.  This offer, of course, was refused.  He thought it might be possible that he would want assistance at some future time himself.
           After reloading they started on their way when a second cub that had been unseen, fell from the fallen tree top.  It began moving off at an ambling gait, and the Indian raised his gun to fire when Mad told him to hold on, that he would take that one alive.  Jim replied, "All right, me help".  Loofbourrow soon overhauled the cub and began kicking it on the rear.  This quite insulted the dignity of the little fellow and he whirled for battle.  He reared upon his hind legs and dared Mad to approach another step.  Mad was not in the humor to take a dare and marched up and seized the chap by the ears.  "Then came the tug of war."  Mad began to kick the cub and the cub began to kick Mad.  Loofbourrow had no disposition to loosen his hold on the bear and the bear had no notion of letting up on Loofbourrow while he had the use of his hind feet to claw with.  He finally got his claws fixed in Mad's breeches legs and never ceased to kick until they were torn from his body.  At this juncture, Mad threw his weight upon him and mashed him to the ground.  Greasy Jim had been enjoying the fun hugely.  He now ran up, pulled off his hunting shirt and bound it around the head of the bear and tied him so securely that he was harmless.  On Mr. Loofbourrow's return to Ohio, little bruin was a companion.  We saw the rascal in later years when one stroke of his powerful paw would have hurled a strong man into eternity.
           In 1879, while in Michigan, he was trailing an old bear and her two cubs when he came suddenly upon them.  He shot and killed all of them with four shots inside of a minute, using a Winchester rifle.  He and his family have spent several years since that date in the mountains of Montana.  His wife, as well as himself, is a good shot. They now reside with a large family of children on the farm first occupied by them after marriage.

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CHAPTER XXVII

           To complete the history of the descendants of Nathan Loofbourrow, the next in order will be that of Lemuel P. Loofbourrow.

           We take the privilege of copying a sketch of him and family from the history of Fayette County.  Any change or addition will be made in the form of notes:

           "Lemuel Pancoast Loofbourrow was born in Franklin county May 14, 1818.  He is the second son of Nathan and Hannah (Pancoast) Loofbourrow who were natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania (respectively).  Our subject was married Nov. 21, 1839, to Elizabeth Graham, first daughter of John and Lydia (Alkire) Graham of Kentucky.  She was born in Madison County, Ohio, Dec. 25, 1814.  They have had ten children born to them, five sons and five daughters: Amnette born August 30, 1840; Lorette born Jan. 20, 1841; Malvina born July 13, 1843; John Graham born October 27, 1845; Nathan born September 23, 1847; Alvan Eugene born Nov. 10, 1849; Sophronia born January 23, 1851, died at the age of fifteen months; Solon born April 27, 1853; Helen M., born November 10, 1855 and died June 7, 1861; Lemuel Harrison born Jan. 31, 1861.

           "Amnette married October 1859.  Her husband Joseph Parker was a member of Company G, 113th O.V.I. and was killed in Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 27, 1864.  She remarried October 1869 to Dr. J. B. F. Morgan of Ross County.  Albert Ross Parker, son of Joseph Parker, before named, has been a part of his grandfather's family from infancy."

           NOTE: A. R. Parker was married to Theodocia Burr Brown March 18, 1886.  To them were born a daughter Ursel Jan. 6, 1887.  This makes her the great, great, great grand-daughter of John Wade Loofbourrow, the organizer of the Baptist society at Waterloo.

           "Malvina married Otho W. Loofbourrow November 19, 1865.  He was a member of Company G, 1113th O.V.I., Second Brigade, Second Division, Fourteenth Army Corps.  He is the son of James G. and the grandson of Thomas Loofbourrow and resides in Madison County.  They have six children, three of whom are living - Rena Helen, Milton H. and Bessie.  Minnie, Ralph T., and Nathan are deceased.

           "John G. was married May 19, 1875, to Huldah Kauffelt of Mt. Sterling and has three children (now four).  He is cashier of the Farmer's Bank of Mt. Sterling.  Alvan married Mary Neff March 23, 1876.

           "The father and mother of this interesting family still live and spend much of their time with their children.  Mr. Loofbourrow has acquired considerable wealth and himself and wife are free from many of the cares of life."

           Since the above was put in print, Nathan has been married to Dora Gregson of Kansas, and they reside in that state with three children.

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           Solon has been married to Allie Trego and resides in Marion Township, Fayette County.  They have one child.  Harry has been married to Alta E. Clarridge and has two children.  Lorette is the only one of the children unmarried, and she resides with her parents in Mt. Sterling.  She, for many years, was the subject of great affliction but at this time is fairly recovered and is a great assistance to her parents in their declining years.  One child, a son (Rea White) has been born to Amnette since her marriage to Dr. Morgan.  Two children have been born to Alvan E. and wife.  On Thursday November 21, 1889, Mr. Loofbourrow and wife celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage.  The event was one of the most interesting the writer has ever had the privilege of enjoying.

           Mary, the only daughter of Nathan Loofbourrow, living in the Deer Creek settlement, married B. F. Thomas.  They have two daughters - Ella and Lora.  Ella married Will Aid and Lora married Josiah Redding.  All reside in Mt. Sterling, Ohio.

           There are other descendants of John Wade Loofbourrow in the Deer Creek settlement, coming down through the line of his seventh son Thomas.  They are Mrs. Kate Duncan, Mrs. Harriet Grath, Mrs. Urana Thomas, Mrs. Joanna Hicks and the family of James G. Loofbourrow.  The above named women are all widows but Mrs. Duncan who married late in life.  The widows all have families in the Deer Creek settlement.  James G. married a Miss Gregory and settled on Deer Creek, two miles south of Mt. Sterling.  His family was one of the fated ones during the epidemic of Asiatic cholera that visited that locality in July 1852.  He gave up his own life on July 18, his wife and little daughter Rena, two years old, on July 19, and Thomas S., four years old, on July 22.  The four bodies lie buried, side by side, in a family graveyard on the east side of the Mt. Sterling and Waterloo Pike, two miles south of Mt. Sterling.  About thirty-two persons gave up their lives to the dreaded scourge before it could be checked in its ravages.  Four children remained of the family - Elizabeth, Sophronia, Otho W. and Johial G.  The daughters are both dead.  Otho W. is one of the most energetic and successful business men in Madison County.  He is a county commissioner, elect, of Madison County at the present time.

           John Gilmore built a mill on Deer Creek, one mile north of Waterloo, prior to 1817.  He operated it several years when it was purchased by Samuel Pancoast.  Mr. Pancoast ran it about fifteen years.  Colonel Sharp then purchased the property and attached a distillery.  After operating them about eight years, he sold out to Samuel Pancoast Jr.  He, in turn, sold to John Messmore, who operated it about four years when he tore down the old mill and built a new one.  three stories high and put in two run of buhrs.  In 1879 he added a purifier and new process attachment.  For a brief period, it did a large custom trade.  It, like other mills of its kind, finally succumbed to its new rivals, the roller mills.  The property is now owned by Nels. Riggin of Mt. Sterling.  It is motionless for want of a dam, or rather for the want of water.  Gilmore lost the mill in litigation with Samuel Pancoast, and, in 1832 built one two and a half miles father up the stream, and chained it to a stump to secure it against floods.  William Jones

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now owns the land on which it stood.  He operated it about ten years and sold it to a black man named Sylvia, who operated it only a short time when it was abandoned.

           The earliest settlers we find record of, north of Waterloo, were John Nutt and his wife Elizabeth (Houston) Nutt.  They came from Virginia and settled on the farm now occupied by C. G. Leavell, one and one half miles north of Waterloo, in 1800.  He has a grandson nearly 69 years old living in the vicinity.  His name is James Monroe Nutt.  He is a son of James and Rachel (Cartmill) Nutt.  His parents and grandparents all died in the same house.  James Monroe Nutt is a successful farmer and has many representatives.

           Edmund Clarridge, who was born in Maryland October 2nd, 1789, moved with his father to Ross County in 1798.  In 1814 he moved with his wife (Eleanor McCafferty) to Madison Township, Fayette County, and located in the Deer Creek portion.  Soon after, he enlisted in the War of 1812 and served through it under Major Dunlap.  He and his wife were the parents of sixteen children - nine boys and seven girls as follows: Elizabeth, William, Mace, John, Ann, Thomas, James, Elmer, Edmund W., Rosana, Joseph Hays, Clarinda, David, Christiann, Sarah Jane and Anthony.  Mr. Clarridge was a man of sterling worth.  His numerous progeny speak well of his blood.  His son Edmund W., was once known to many readers of the TELEGRAPH, having taught school in Clarksburg sometime in the fifties.  He was one of the most successful teachers of his time.  He is now dead, but left two daughters and a son to represent him.  Inez G. is the wife of Benjamin Ward Leavell.  Alta Errilla is the wife of Lemuel Harrison Loofbourrow.  Howard and his mother reside in Mt. Sterling.

           William Bostwick came from Vermont to Ohio in 1805 and settled on Deer Creek near Yankeetown.  This circumstance gave the locality its name.  He was the father of Adoniram, Frederick C., Joseph, Sarah, William, Lucy Ann, Adley and Oliver Bostwick.  Of this family, three remain, all far advanced in years, Adoniram in Waterloo, Frederick in the vicinity of Mt. Sterling and William in Chillicothe.

           The wife of Robert Waters is a daughter of Sarah who married Benjamin Leach.  She lives with her estimable husband one mile north of Waterloo.  Many grandchildren of William Bostwick help to make up the population of the Deer Creek settlement.

           In 1817, what is now known as Pleasant Hill, or Yankeetown Methodist Episcopal society, was organized in the house of John Thomas in Pickaway County.  The names of the charter members were William Timmons, John Thomas, William Morgan, Leonard Jefferson and Samuel Bennet.  Henry B. Bascom organized the society and was its first minister.  Services were held at Mr. Thomas' and Mr. Morgan's for six years when the society built a hewed log church one mile east of Yankeetown.  The ministers who served the society up to this time were Bascom, Robert Finley, J. B. Finley, who was the son of Robert, and a Mr. Williams.  Benjamin Mouser donated the lot on which the church was built.

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CHAPTER XXVIII

           Our history follows the path of the pioneer and leads us west into Madison County.  That county originally belonged to Ross County and the greater portion of its pioneers first settled, or stopped for a season, in or near Chillicothe.  Many of the pioneers that were captured by the Indians and taken to the great lakes were brought up to the Scioto and frequently took the trails up either Paint Creek, Deer Creek or Darby Creek.

           We have an account of a man by the name of Jonathan Alder, who was taken captive when a child nine years of age in 1782, while living with his mother in Virginia.  He was sent out with a brother to hunt up a mare and colt that had been missing for several days.  They succeeded in finding them but the Colt was sick and unable to rise.  While they were attempting to assist it on its feet, a posse of Indians pounced upon them.  David, the brother, darted off to save himself and was closely pursued, but Jonathan was so frightened that he made no attempt to escape.  In a few moments, David was brought back being led by an arrow that was sticking in his body.  The arrow was jerked out pulling a quantity of flesh with it.  Jonathan was now hurried on and soon an Indian fiend overtook them with Davie's scalp dangling by his side.  They crossed the Ohio and after traveling some days, reached a camp at the point where Chillicothe now stands.  From there they went to the Pickaway plains.  After hunting there for a time, they came to the Deer Creek country and then made their way to Sandusky; stopped near site of London and spending the greater portion of the summer hunting in that locality.  Much of the time was spent near the head waters of Deer Creek.  He was adopted by a chief of the Mingo tribe.  He made many trips to the states with the Indians in quest of horses.  He finally married a squaw by the name of Barshaw who bore him two children.  He built his cabin in what is now Madison County and when peace between the races was established, he entered into farming and stockraising.  He separated from his Indian wife, returned to his people and married a white woman; returned to Madison county and settled down for life.  He died in 1848, leaving to his numerous progeny an example worthy of imitation.

           Madison County was organized in 1810 and divided into townships.  Pleasant Township is in the south-eastern corner of the county and will be the next and last locality that our time and attention will be directed to.  In following up Deer Creek, we find ourselves passing from Ross into Pickaway; then following the boundary line between Fayette and Pickaway until we arrive at the south-eastern corner of Madison County.  Here we find Pleasant Township in which the village of Mt. Sterling is situated.  We now follow it about twenty miles in a north-westerly direction, passing about four miles to the east of London to a place in Deer Creek Township called Lafayette.  Near this point we turn to the west and follow about two miles where we find a division; one, the southern branch heading in Clark county and the northern in or near Champaign County.

           Pleasant Township was one of the first localities settled in Madison County.  This was natural.  While water flows down stream, in this case, emigration and civilization moved up stream.

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           At this early day, Chillicothe was the great center of the Northwest Territory.  The first point to be reached by the emigrant or land explorer was Chillicothe.  From that point civilization radiated in all directions.

           The first settlers in Pleasant township were James and William Hewey, and David Martin.  Their houses were built on the banks of Deer Creek in 1797.

           It is said that during the early days of Madison County, Richard Douglass of Chillicothe was in the habit of making James Hewey's cabin his stopping place while going to and fro between Chillicothe and London.  "Uncle Jimmy" always had a jug of "corn juice" on hand.  "Dick" was not averse to indulging in a glass "for his stomach's sake".  Douglass looked after Hewey's law business and Hewey paid him in hospitality.  Douglass was at that time prosecutor for Madison County.  One morning court was late opening on account of the non-arrival of the prosecutor.  Finally "Dick" and "Uncle Jimmy" made their appearance arm in arm.  Hewey had more corn juice than he could well carry alone and had to lean on "Dick" for support.  Upon reaching the courtroom "Uncle Jimmy" raised his hand and-shouted at the top of his voice: "The court can now proceed, Dick Douglass and Jimmy Hewey are here, by G-d".  Judge Parish was on the bench at the time.

           William Alkire emigrated from Scotland to America and served in the war for independence.  He came from Kentucky to the Northwest Territory and settled on Deer Creek in what is now Pleasant Township, Madison County.  He was the father of fourteen children.  On his arrival he purchased 1400 acres of land on Deer Creek.  The greater portion of his land is now owned by his grandchildren.  Six of his sons married and reared families on Deer Creek.  Lydia became the wife of John Graham and has many representatives in the Deer Creek settlement.

           The first grist mill {The Mill} erected in the vicinity of Mt. Sterling was erected by John Alkire in about 1810 or 12.  It was afterward owned by his son-in-law John J. Smith, then by Otho Williams and William Leach.  They were succeeded by William D. Wood, he by Elijah Adkins, and he by William Bazore.  It is now owned by John Walters and was purchased for $ 4500.  Another mill was built two miles above in 1825 by a Mr. Mullen, but is now gone.  To that mill was attached a carding mill.  Another was built at an early day about one and one-half miles above the Mullen mill.  It too is gone.  The next mill on the stream is known as the Kious mill and was originally built by William Wilson about the year 1820.  It is still doing a moderate amount of business.  It is owned by Mrs. A. R. Alkire.  There is still another mill on the stream about five miles south of London that was built by William Wilson and still runs.

           Forgus Graham, Peter Long, William Woods, John Robison, William Creath and John Riddle were all early settlers in Pleasant Township.  They were all worthy men and their intelligent posterity speak many praises of them.

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Forgus Graham was a native of Virginia.  He married Elizabeth Trimble.  They located in Madison County, Ohio, in 1807 and had twelve children.  He being a minister, organized the first church society in Pleasant Township on June 30, 1812.  It was of the Christian (New Light) denomination.  His residence was used as the place of worship for many years.  When a church edifice was built, it was named Antioch.  His biography says: "He began poor, gave largely and liberally to the church, and labored earnestly all his life for the Christian cause; yet he prospered financially.  He owned about 500 acres of land and always had abundance for all home comforts, notwithstanding he traveled much and endured many hardships in his various journeys t o preach the gospel and establish the truth.
           His descendants in the Deer Creek settlement are the families of John, Robert and Polly who married and reared families in the settlement.  Robert still lives and is an octogenarian.  He married Ann Davidson.  Polly married Isaac Alkire and John married Lydia Alkire.  He was the father of ten children: Harrison, Elizabeth, Forgus O.P., Robert, Margaret, Mary, Emeline, Caroline, Lydia Jane and John Milton.  Harrison married Sophronia Loofbourrow.  Elizabeth married L. P. Loofbourrow.  Emiline married Joseph Pancake, F. 0. P. married Elizabeth Robison, Robert married Ellen Reece, Caroline married John Kinney, Lydia Jane is enjoying single blessedness and John Milton married Gertrude Smith.  Six of these sons and daughters live in the Deer Creek settlement and five of them have families.

           Mt. Sterling was laid out in 1828 by John J. Smith and named after his native town, Mt. Sterling in Kentucky.  On his arrival from Kentucky, he purchased a large tract of land embracing that upon which the village now stands.  Jacob Alkire built the first two houses that were erected in the village.  One of these still stands and is in a comparative good state of preservation.

           The first hotel was built and kept by Andrew J. Mure.  He was succeeded by Benjamin Leach.

           The first store was kept by Mr. Mure.  The first carpenter was James Baker and the first shoe maker Stephen Beal.  He afterwards became a farmer and accumulated much property.

           The first physician was Dr. J. Gregory; the next Dr. Leeds and the next Dr. D. E. McMillin, who located in the place in 1837.  But a few days since he passed beyond to meet his reward.  He was a physician of great worth.  More than fifty years were spent by him battling disease and at the end of his time, died a "poor old man" aged 72 years.  The common practice of paying the physician last, if paid at all, made him an object of charity.  If his patrons had been as punctual in paying his bills as he was in answering to their calls, he would not have lacked for abundance of this world's goods.  He died honored by the profession and owed by possibly thousands to whom he had given medical attention.  It is to be hoped that he is at rest where his reward is greater than that of earthly gain.

           Mt. Sterling was incorporated in 1845.  The first mayor was Lewis Timmons and the first clerk Smily Hughes.

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           In April 1871, M. W. Schryver published the first newspaper called the Mt. Sterling Review.  It was short-lived for the want of patronage.  In 1885, Mt. Sterling was connected with the outside world by the Midland railroad.  Since that date, it has made a fine growth and bids fair to make a town of considerable importance.  At this date, it has about one thousand inhabitants.  Its business is represented by three dry goods stores, three grocery stores, two hardware stores, one boot and shoe store, three drug stores, one harness and saddler shop, two general stores, one shoe and clothing store, one furniture store, one printing press, two jewelers, three millinery stores, three barber shops, two undertakers, one tin shop, three blacksmith shops, one planing mill, three shoe shops, two butcher shops, one photograph gallery, four livery stables, one hotel, one grain elevator, one tile kiln, five physicians, one dentist, one graded union school, three churches, and to cap the climax, three drinking hells.
           I feel my face turn crimson at the thought of recording in history the fact that of the four towns written of in the Deer Creek Settlements, that Mt. Sterling stands alone steeped in sin and immorality to a degree that prompts her to permit such dens of vice and iniquity to exist within its limits as an open saloon and gambling hall.  'Tis a disgrace and a galling shame.

           The Christian church society was organized about 1825, the M. E. Society in 1831, and the Presbyterian society in 1847.

           Mt. Sterling has one of the best schools and school buildings in Madison County.  The building was erected at a cost of about $10,000.  It possesses one of the finest town halls of any village of its size in the State.  The town is made up of enterprising people.  There is one thing that has been sadly neglected by the officers of the village.  The streets, sidewalks and alleys are in a deplorable condition.  Such a thing as a good sidewalk is not known in the place.  The alleys are filthy in the extreme and are little less than pest holes, or breeders of disease.

CHAPTER XXIX

           The dawn of the Deer Creek settlement was soon after the birth of our nation.  The visit of the first white man to the waters of Deer Creek, was three years previous to the Declaration of Independence.

           In 1787, the constitution of the new republic was adopted after a severe struggle with the mother country.  The civilized people of the new states were already penetrating the wild wilderness of the northwest and the native Indian had begun to struggle to maintain for himself his God given country; but he, like the mighty forests, has fallen before the powerful arm of civilization.

           In 1774 Lord Dunmore, of Virginia, followed the warriors of the Scioto to their homes and compelled them to lay down their arms.

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           In 1811 General Harrison fought the battle with the savages under the prophet Elskwatawa which is known as the battle of "Tippecanoe".  In 1813 Tecumseh with his warriors and General Proctor's English soldiers were defeated on the Thames by General Harrison.  In this battle the brave warrior Tecumseh was slain by Col. Johnson in a hand to hand encounter.

           In 1876 more than a hundred years after the capitulation of the tribes on the Scioto before the army of Lord Dunmore, the armies were still pursuing the fated redman.  General Custer was sent on an expedition to the Black Hills in Dakota to make war on the Sioux under Sitting Bull.  The result of this experiment is known to every school boy.  The army was annihilated and General Custer with all his officers murdered.

           It has been so long since the savages were compelled to give up their homes on the waters of the Scioto, and leave on the forest battle grounds many of the bones of their brave warriors and chiefs, and submit to unconquerable civilization, that the blood stains have long since been washed away and the graves of many of the martyrs forgotten.  The first citizens of our settlement were not only men of courage but were patriots of the truest type.  The country had but recently emerged from the long and bloody contest for liberty.  The love of honor, the love of country and the love of liberty had made every man a patriot.  The watchword of the pioneer was the rights of citizens must be respected and their blood-bought liberty protected.  The love of honor at that day was greater than the love of office with its emoluments.  Today the emoluments are sought first at the expense of honor.

           Politicians have taken the places of patriots.  In the morning of our existence as a settlement the very best men were elected to fill the positions of trust.  The first governor of Ohio was a Methodist minister.  The politics of today are so corrupt that when a minister becomes a candidate for an office in the state or nation, the smut-mills are turned loose on him and he is showered all over with anathemas for getting down into the "dirty pool of politics", and degrading himself to a degree that he is unfitted for his high calling as a minister.  Men of bad morals have taken the places of the more trustworthy.  Since the close of the great rebellion, two of our states have buried ex-governors, dying victims of loath-some diseases contracted by their licentiousness.

           Townships and wards frequently elect men to execute the law who are themselves habitual violator of the same.  Citizens who make pretentions of honesty and Christianity, with the hope of being favored vote to put in office, men who are unworthy the countenance of civilians.

           Patriotism is at a discount!

           Bribery fills offices from the presidential chair down to a ward constable.  Patriotism has been submerged by a deluge of money and rum.  A millionaire only seems to stand a chance for a seat from Ohio, in the United States Senate.  How different from the times when Alexander Campbell was elected in 1810 to the United

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States Senate, in the old stone capitol at Chillicothe.

           As related in a former chapter, the two houses, on this occasion were notified to meet together and prepare their ballots for senator.  Each member prepared his own ticket, and a teller from each house collected them in hats after which the votes were called aloud and recorded.  A candidate for the position in Ohio today would as soon risk sending his "barrel of gold" to New York in an ox-cart, as to risk his election to be conducted in that manner by the men who represent the people of Ohio in the legislature today.

           Oh, for the days of "Auld Lang Syne".

           As to the churches and religion, there has been much change.  From the little log cabin first, to the double log barn of White Brown, and then to a score of meeting houses of modern architecture, with all the comforts and conveniences that art can devise, religious services have been transferred.  In 1810 members of the M. E. Church rode for twenty miles to attend a meeting in Brown's barn on Deer Creek.  Today the settlement is dotted all over with churches and all are supplied with learned ministers.

           Church government has relieved itself of that tyranny that once prevailed.  There is more freedom of thought than was once tolerated.  The church used to be composed of ninety parts law and ten parts religion.  Now it is composed of twenty parts law and ten parts religion.  The other sixty parts are made up of privileges or religious toleration.  All manner of inconsistencies are tolerated.  A good fat pocket book covers a multitude of sins.

           The old Deer Creek records of the M.E. Church give an account of a man being expelled from the church for buying without a reasonable prospect of paying.  Today this class of members help to make up the sixty per cent of toleration.

           A member may buy without a prospect of paying, or he may buy with intent to defraud and cheat his brother, and still some of the churches will tolerate him.

           The old "amen comers" in the M. E. Churches have been vacated.  The minister is never enthused in his discourse with the responsive "amen", "praise the Lord", or "hallelujah" that used to greet his ears in years gone by.

           Great advancement in music has been made.  Thirty-five years ago the people were not provided with hymn books, but when once a congregation became familiar with a hymn, then it was that it was sung with a spirit we know not of today.  Every voice joined in with the utmost capacity of its possession, and the walls of the old meeting house, or the camp ground, as the case might be, were made to reverberate with the heavenly song.  The organ that science and art have constructed, and has been introduced into the churches, has been a valuable assistance in the Sunday schools, but at the same time has played the death-knell to congregational singing.  A company of well-trained singers, accom-

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panied by the beautiful chords of the silver-tongued organ, make music sweet and enchanting enough to give us poor mortals a kind of foretaste of heaven.

           We are sorry, that in many of our churches, the organ with a few individuals styling themselves the choir, have monopolized the song, to the great dissatisfaction and disappointment of many who attend church.

           The contrast in the advantages of education is great.  The pioneer was compelled to economize the entire help of his family for its support.  If the communities had been furnished with free schools as conveniently situated as today, the clearing and the slow process of performing all the labor of the farm would have required the labor of the sons.  The flax-break, the spinning wheel, the loom and the thread and needle monopolized the time of the daughters.  Things are changed now.  Inventive genius has created machinery that performs the greater portion of the labor, both in the house and on the farm.  The Deer Creek Valley is supplied with all of the facilities of learning.  Education is so rapid that sons and daughters that used to be children at fourteen and sixteen years of age have now, at that age, good common educations, and are ready to begin the various vocations of life.
           But my heart turns back to the "good old days".  "Twas a busy day that day".  The crack of the whip and the whoa-haw of the ox-driver was a familiar sound to every ear.  The ring of the woodsman's ax was music everywhere.  The curling smoke ascended towards the clouds from every field.  The chime of old Brindle's bell beat time to the music of the thousands of warbling birds that inhabited the mighty groves of the wilderness.
           But today 'tis changed.  The forests are subdued; the corn is no longer planted with the hoe; the harvest has ceased to be gathered with a sickle; the grain is no longer threshed with a flail; the old rattling mill that once mashed up the grain has disappeared forever.  The spinning-wheel is a thing of the past; the hand loom is almost forgotten; the sugar tree that furnished sweets for the family has bowed its head to earth.  The pack-horse is dead and its bones lost in the original elements.  The pack-saddle so long forgotten that the present generation would look upon it as one of the seven wonders of the world, if one was brought to view; the old Ben Franklin printing press that was wagoned from Virginia, over the Alleghany mountains in 1798 to do government printing, and in 1800 began publishing the Scioto Gazette in Chillicothe for the pioneer readers at the rate of 500 per day, has gone, and its place filled with one printing 1,800 per hour.  The stage coach has gone; the mail boy is known only in the remotest parts of the country.  The message-rider, too, is no longer seen.
           The inventive genius of man seems to be outstripping time.  The motive power of steam has almost revolutionized the world.  The portable saw-mill is hauled from wood to wood by the portable steam engine.  In many places the hoe is superceded by the steam plow.  The sickle and the cradle have disappeared before the magnificent self-binder.  The flail is lost in the cloud of dust from the wonderful threshing machine, separating the grain from the chaff at the rate of one hundred bushels per hour; the hum of the spinning wheel mingling its tones with the thrilling notes of the light-hearted spinning girl is no

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longer heard.  The spinning jack with its thousand spindles driven by the powerful steam engine thundered their tones as they spin the threads of two thousand spinning girls.  The slow plodding stage coach has given way to the mighty iron horse with his palace car which spans our great continent in a breath.  The message-boy sits at his station and delivers his message by the side of the electric spark to the remotest corners of the earth at a flash.  Oh how wonderful, how magnificent, how grandly is the contrast in "then and now".

           Our task is now ended and many are the imperfections in its execution.  To the patient reader who has followed us from the beginning, we owe an apology for imposing upon his patience so long.  We hope a reasonable amount of knowledge has been received in turn for his pains.  Our object was to record facts.  Anything to the contrary that may have appeared has not been intentional.  We took great care to avoid errors, but notwithstanding errors have been discovered too late for correction.  The death of one man was reported, who at this time is a citizen of the state of Kansas.  Many things of interest might have been, and would have been recorded had we been put in possession of the knowledge previous to the publication of articles with which they were connected.  Many worthy and influential people have lived in the settlement who would have been spoken of, had we been in possession of historical facts relating to them.  I now bid you adieu on this the 25th of December 1889.

J. B. F. Morgan

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INDEX

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and any commercial use whatsoever is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 2012 by John William Myers III.