The simple tastes, habits
and wants of the first settlers of Ashland county
may excite the patronizing sympathy of the residents
of the present day, who perhaps may ignore our
obligations to the pioneers and congratulate
ourselves that our lot has been cast in a more
advanced ere of mental and moral culture. We
may pride ourselves upon the developments and
advancements which have been made in science and in
the arts, and that the utilities of the present age
are far more advanced than had been conceived of
when Ashland county was first settled. If the
people of the olden time cared less for costly
apparel and ostentatious display, they cared more
for their fellowmen and had that broader charity and
fraternal love which makes life seem to be more
worth the living. The type of the Christianity
of that period will not suffer by comparison with
that of our own day. The vain and thoughtless
may jeer at the unpretending manner, customs and
costumes of the pioneers and they doubtless had
their faults, but they were men of strong minds, in
strong bodies made so, albeit, by their compulsory
self-denial and their very privations and toil.
It was the mission of many of them to aid in the
formation of our noble commonwealth, and wisely and
well was that mission performed. Had their
descendants been faithful to their teachings, there
would have been harmony now where violence and
discord reign. In those days our mountains and
our valleys could say, "We nurse a race who
ne'er hath bowed the knee to aught but God."
They were the men to found and maintain an empire.
They realized the beau ideal of the poet: -
"What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlements, or labor'd mound;
Thick wall or moted gate;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd:
No! Men, high-minded men;
Men, who their duties know;
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,
-
These constitute a State."
THE TOWN OF ASHLAND.
Ashland was
originally known as Uniontown, and was laid out July
28, 1815, by William Montgomery. It
retained the name of Uniontown until the
establishment of a postoffice in 1822. There
was another Uniontown in the state and the name
given the postoffice was Ashland, and the town has
changed to the same name.
The following were among the first families which
located there: William Montgomery, Jacob
Shaffer, Elias Slocum, George W. Palmer, Alanson
Andrews, Samuel Urie,
Joseph Sheets, David Markley, Amos Antibus, Joel
Luther, and Mr. Nightingale. Joseph
Shaffer, above named, was a shoemaker and a
revolutionary soldier, and lived in a small dwelling
upon the lot later occupied by the store of Judge
Wick.
Daniel Carter, from Butler county, Pennsylvania,
raised the first cabin in the place about the year
1811, which stood where the store of William
Granger was later in Ashland. Robert
Newell, three miles east, and Mr. Fry,
one and one-half miles north of the village, raised
cabins about the same time. In 1817 the first
store was opened by Joseph Sheets.
Francis Graham gave the following statement of the
early settlement of the town:
The first school was kept by Mr. Williamson, a
cripple, in 1821 and 1822.
The first church was erected by the Methodists, on the
lot where the courthouse now stands, and was of
stone.
The first blacksmith was the late Samuel Urie.
The shop stood where the Citizen's Bank was built,
on Main street.
The first cabinet-maker and undertaker was the late
Colonel Alexander Miller, who resided on the
Daniel Gray lot.
The first tinner was John Croft, who was secured
by the late George Swineford, on the lot
where the agricultural works of Whitney &
Company are now. The next, the late Hugh
Davis, at the east end of town.
The first carding-machine was owned by the late
Andrew Drumb, associated with his brother,
the late Uriah Drumb.
Mr. Swineford, also an early settler in Ashland,
gave the following account:
The first grist-mill in Montgomery township, one mile
north of Ashland, by Thomas Oram, in spring
of 1816.
First sawmill, two miles from Ashland, in Milton
township, by Allen Lockhart.
First church, Methodist Episcopal, at Eckley's,
now Smith's mills, in Vermillion township,
1819, and Old Hopewell, in Milton, 1817.
First dry-goods store in Uniontown, Joseph Sheets,
succeeded by Francis Graham.
First blacksmith, Ludwick Cline, on Wooster
road, two miles east of Ashland.
First cabinet-maker and undertaker, the late
Alexander Miller.
First carding-machine, store where Smith's
mill now is in Vermillion township, built by
Andrew Newman; the next by the late Andrew
and Uriah Drumb, in Ashland.
The first tannery stood where Whiting's
agricultural works now stand, built by John Croft,
and subsequently owned by the late George
Swineford.
The first wagon-shop, where Barkholder's
sawmill now stands, and was owned by Henry
Wachtell.
The first blacksmith in Ashland was the late Samuel
Urie.
The second
cabinet-maker in Ashland, the late Jacob Grubb.
Ashland is eighty-nine
miles northwest of Columbus, and fourteen from
Mansfield.
Ashland will go steadily forward in the increase of her
population in wealth, and number of valuable
improvements. It is surrounded by a fine,
productive country, and can sustain a much greater
population.
"Ashland - A 20th Century Inland City," a chapter on
the Ashland of today, will be found elsewhere in
this work, written by William A. Duff, a
promising young writer who was born and reared in
Ashland.
Francis Graham, who was for many years a
prominent citizen of Ashland county, came to
Uniontown (now Ashland) in 1821, and brought with
him from Sandusky City a small stock of dry-goods
and groceries. Uniontown at that time was a
small village, containing about fourteen or fifteen
families; a small tannery, two distilleries, a
sawmill, a wheelwright shop, a blacksmith shop, and
there was one physician there at that time - Dr.
Joel Luther. Mr. Graham stated that
previous to this, David Murphy, in 1818, had
brought to Uniontown a small stock of goods, but did
not replenish his stock. Mr. Graham
upon his arrival, found Uniontown without a store,
without a church, without a tavern and without a
postoffice. Mr. Graham said: "Upon my
arrival with my stock I rented a room for my goods
from Mr. Sheets, and engaged board with him
at one dollar a week. Said Sheets
entertained travelers when they called, there being
no tavern in the place. In 1822, John Hall,
the wheelwright, opened a tavern in a small
building, which was some years after moved back to
give place for what was afterward the Slocum
House. I found goods in demand, but no money
in the country to buy them. They would go off
like hot cakes if I would sell on credit but that
would be a dangerous course for me to pursue, as my
means were quite limited, and if my goods were sold
without getting in exchange for them something that
would buy more, it would place me in a critical
situation; but I saw no alternative, and trust I
must; at the same time I would take in exchange for
my goods anything I could turn into money, or
considered better than goods, and in pursuing that
course, I found some hard bargains on my hands
before the year came round.
The products of the country brought low prices at any
time, from the fact that there was no market or
demand for them beyond home consumption. It
was very difficult for people to raise money to pay
their taxes. Wheat might have been had for
twenty-five cents a bushel, cash, but no one wanted
it only for family use; consequently there were no
large quantities of that article raised. Oats
traded off at twelve to fifteen cents a bushel; corn
was in better demand, and brought in store goods
from fifteen to twenty cents per bushel, and became
almost a lawful tender, because it could be
converted into whiskey.
The farmers sold their corn to the merchant for goods
or to the distiller for whiskey, and sometimes took
it west myself. Horses, cattle, and hogs were
sought for to some extent by trading men.
MARKET PRICES FROM 1817 TO
1824.
FEATURES OF PIONEER LIFE.
IN THE EARLY SETTLEMENT.
[Picture of Ashland County
Infirmary]
[Picture of Ashland College,
Ashland]
THE EARLY SETTLERS.
SETTLEMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
[Picture of THENARROWS Up the
Clear Fork, Near Loudonville]
SETTLING IN THE WILDERNESS.
LEADING ROADS AND WATERWAYS-
STAGE LINES, TAVERNS AND FLATBOATS.
BLOCKHOUSES.
[Picture of BLOCK-HOUSE AT
JERMOMEVILLE]
THE PIONEERS
SEEK REFUGE IN THE BLOCKHOLDERS.
ADVENTURES AND LIFE IN THE
BLOCKHOUSES.
THE EARLY MILLS.
[Picture of JEROME MILLS]
[Picture of JEROMEVILLE BRIDGE]
THE PIONEER PERIOD.
PG. 69
REMINISCENCE OF PIONEER TIMES.
THE PIONEER PERIOD.
PG. 69
REMINISCENCES
OF A PIONEER.
PG. 70.
Pioneer
JONAS H. GIERHART gave the
following account of his early life in Jackson
township. He removed from Maryland to the
vicinity of Polk in July 1817. The township
was then unorganized and formed a part of Perry.
His nearest neighbor resided about two miles south
of him, while on the north, he believed there was
not a single white family between him and the lake.
When he came to the county with his wife and
child,,, he placed the two latter in temporary
charge of the family of Martin Hester, (being
the place owned by David and Henry Fluke,)
in Orange township, about three miles distant from
the tract he owned. The land above mentioned
was in its wild condition, not a tree or shrub being
cut, and of course without a cabin to afford him and
his little family shelter. On the first day he
made a small clearing and preparation for raising a
cabin. This work he done himself, although
utterly inexperienced in the use of the woodman's
axe, as he had never in his life chopped a cord of
wood, made a fence rail, or cut down or even
deadened a tree, having previously worked only upon
farms long cultivated. On the second day his
wife requested to visit the home her husband was
engaged in preparing and accompany him to it with
their child. They accordingly set out on
horseback, and in due time reached the place, when
he proceeded with his work, and Mrs. Gierhart
employed herself with her needle and the care of
their little child. One of the mares had been
belled and hobbled, and, with her mate, was
permitted to range for such food as the woods
afforded. Thus the day nearly passed, and
toward evening the sound of the bell had
disappeared, and Mr. Gierhart, taking in his
arms his little child, and leaving his wife under
the shelter of a tree, started in search of his
beasts. His animals had wondered much greater
a distance than he had supposed; but he finally
recovered the one that had been hobbled, and
mounting it with his child, set out on his return to
his wife. He had not traveled far before he
discovered that he was unable to find the blazed
timber; and concluded it the safer way to make for
the Jerome Fork, and he would be enabled to
intersect the trail that led from Martin Hester's
to his land. On his way he met an old hunter,
named John McConnell, to whom he explained
his situation, and asked aid in finding his way back
to his wife. Mr. McConnell gave it as
his opinion that he could not that night reach the
place, but proposed that he remain at the house of
Mr. Hester, then not far distant, until
morning. On their way to Hester's they
struck the blazes which led to the place where he
had parted with his wife; and committing his child
to the care of Mr. McConnell, with directions
to leave it with Mrs. Hester, he determined,
against the protest of Mr. McConnell, who
assured him of the impossibility of success, (as
night was then rapidly approaching,) to go to the
relief of his desolate wife. He accordingly
pressed forward on his way, guided by the blazed
trees, and continued until the darkness rendered the
marks upon the trees undistinguishable. Here
was before him a "night of terror" indeed - such a
one as he had never passed, and never dreamed that
he would be called upon to pass. The thought
of his helpless wife, in the depth of a wilderness
of which the savage beast was the almost undisputed
monarch, and no possible hope of affording any
relief before the dawn of another day, was enough to
wring any soul with agony. Despite the
darkness, he plunged blindly forward a few rods in
what he supposed might be the right direction, and
then, impressed with the utter hopelessness of
proceeding farther, halted; and, raising a voice,
the power of which was made terrible by his agony,
called to his wife. Its echoes reached her,
and were recognized. She sent fort her answer,
but her voice having less compass than that of her
husband, the sound did not reach his ear. In
his despair he laid himself down beside a tree, and
maintained his sleepless vigils until morning, when
he resumed his search, and finally came upon the
trail he was seeking Pursuing it rapidly, he
soon reached Mrs. Gierhart, who had wisely
maintained her position throughout the night,
notwithstanding the distraction of mind which her
anxiety for safety of her husband and child her own
lonely situation, and the distant howling of wolves,
were all calculated to inspire. Soon after he
had found his wife, and while they were yet relating
to each other the experiences of the night, they
heard the blowing of horns, and were soon met by
neighbors, who had been alarmed by Mr. McConnell,
who had started forth at the first dawn of day in
pursuit of the lost husband and wife.
AS TOLD BY THE PIONEERS.
PG. 72.
[Picture of partial view of
PARTIAL VIEW OF LOUDONVILLE]
[Picture of MAIN STREET,
LOUDONVILLE]
KATOTAWA.
PG. 78
Upon
the theory that the traditions of a place are a part
of its history, we give the traditions of the
locality in the eastern part of Ashland county known
as Katotawa, copying the following from the Times?
"Your correspondent has received numerous inquiries as
to the correct pronunciation and spelling of
Katotawa. My own way of spelling is as I have
always spelled it and pronounce it Ka-tot-a-waw.
There is no real authority for spelling the word and
every one can spell it has own way if he chooses.
Will give some of the numerous ways of spelling:
Catotaway, Katawawa, Katotowa, etc. or if you wish
you can grind it out thus; Cha-tacht-a waugh and
still be correct. Believing with Josh
Billings that the easiest way of spelling a word
is as it is pronounced I think my way as near
correct as any other. Perhaps a sketch of the
tradition of Katotawa will be interesting to the
readers of the Times. Old Katotawa was a chief
of one of the many tribes of Indians that once
populated this - then wilderness. Through our
valley runs a small stream which has its source near
Polk and flows southward, unites with the creeks
east of Ashland and flows into what is called
Jeromefork. On the banks of the former stream
Old Katotawa or 'Cha-tacht-a-waugh' often pitched
his tent and fished in its waters which are
always cool being fed by fresh water springs and
small tributaries, and once well stocked with river
trout. When advancing civilization reached
this point, as usual, the 'noble red man' was
significantly pointed toward the setting sun and
given Horace Greeley's advice 'Go West.'
The Indians were steadily crowded back from the
frontier but not however, without several desperate
fights of which the History of Ashland county gives
sketches.. Katotawa, then a very old man,
remained alone in his hut on the banks of the
stream, the few remaining days of his life.
Some say that he was killed - beheaded; and the
superstitious claimed that his ghost - the ghost of
a headless body wandered along the river on dark and
foggy nights. Your correspondent never had the
pleasure of seeing his royal ghostship or any one
who ever did; yet this is part of the tradition of
Katotawa. The stream has ever since been known
by that name which it is said was given by this old
sachem and the prosperous valley along the Katotawa
stream we call the Katotawa valley."
HISTORIC LYONS' FALLS.
OLD TOM
LYONS.
Tom
Lyons, an old Indian of an infamous character,
who had taken a bloody part in the Wyoming massacre,
(1778), was killed in the southern part of Ashland
county in about 1820, by a young man named Joe
Haynes to avenge the murder of a kinsman.
The killing occurred on the outskirts of the Leedy
swamp, in the southern part of Jefferson township,
Richland county. He was an ugly looking
savage, and was known to all the pioneers.
On a few occasions he related his achievements.
He had been in many battles on the border, and had
taken many scalps. He related some of his acts
of extreme cruelty, and a few of his barbarities
inflicted upon teh wives and children of the border
settlers. He was with the other Greentown and
Jerometown Indians in the battle of the Fallen
Timbers.
THE INDIAN HUNTER.
(Tom McConnell)
[Picture of SANDUSKY STREET,
ASHLAND]
[Picture of CLEVELAND AVENUE,
ASHLAND]
SIMON
GIRTY.
The
notorious renegade, Simon Girty, was the son
of a notorious drunkard, who had emigrated from
Ireland. The old man was beastly intemperate,
and nothing ranked higher in his estimation than a
jug of whiskey. His sottishness turned his
wife's affections, and she yielded her heart to
another, who knocked Girty on the head, and
bore off the trophy in his prowess. Four sons
remained behind, Thomas, Simon, George and
Games. Three latter were taken prisoners
in Braddock's war, by the Indians.
George was adopted by the Delawares, and died in
a drunken fit. James was adopted by the
Shawnees, and became a bloody villain.
Simon was adopted by the Senecas, and became an
expert hunter. In Kentucky and Ohio, he
distinguished himself as an unrelenting barbarian.
It was his constant wish that he might die in
battle. this was gratified. He was cut
to pieces, by Colonel Johnson's mounted men,
at Proctor's defeat.
JOHNNYCAKE AND HIS WIFE.
A PIONEER TALK.
Essey by Miss Rosella Rice (now deceased)
read
Before the Ashland County Association in 1879
[picture]
MISS ROSELLA RICE.
EARLY DAY SPORTS.
A SALT BOILING INCIDENT.
FACTS VERSUS FICTION.
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