HISTORY OF HOCKING COUNTY, OHIO
Source:
Ohio Historical Collections
by Henry Howe
Publ. Cincinnati: for the author by Derby, Bradley & Co.
1848

     HOCKING COUNTY was formed March 1, 1818, from Ross, Athens and Fairfield.  The generally hilly and broken, but along the main streams level and fertile.
     Area about 400 square miles.  In 1887 the acres cultivated were 49,087; in pasture, 88,976; woodland, 49,726; lying waste, 2,316; produced in wheat, 323,884 bushels; rye, 2,667; buckwheat, 669; oats, 47,195; barley, 792; corn, 303,707; meadow hay, 11,504 tons; clover hay, 848; potatoes, 24,083 bushels; tobacco, 110 pounds; butter, 293,822; cheese, 150; sorghum, 4,244 gallons; maple syrup, 928; honey, 2,550 pounds; eggs, 267, 750 dozen; grapes, 6,865 pounds; wine, 55 gallons; sweet potatoes, 1,729 bushels; apples, 12,027; peaches, 2,971; pears, 202; wool, 199,072 pounds; milch cows owned, 3,487.  Tons of coal mined, 853,063, being exceeded only by Perry, Jackson and Athens counties,  School census, 7,982; teachers, 152.  Miles of railroad track, 80.

    Population of Hocking in 1820, 2,080; 1830, 4008; 1840, 9,735; 1860, 17,057; 1880, 21,126, of whom 18,459 were born in Ohio, 631 in Pennsylvania, 430 Virginia, 114 Kentucky, 96 New York, 59 Indiana, 423 German Empire, 198 Ireland, 129 England  and Wales, 37 Scotland, 18 France and 13 British America.  Census of 1890, 22,658.
     The name of this county is a contraction of that of the river Hockhocking, which flows through it.  Hock-hock-ing, in the language of the Delaware Indians, signifies a bottle:  the Shawnees have it, Wea-tha-kagh-qua sepe, i.e. Bottle river.  John White, in the American Pioneer,  Says: "About six or seven miles northwest of Lancaster there is a fall in the Hockhocking, of about twenty feet; above fall, for a short distance, the creek is very narrow and straight, forming a neck, while at the falls it suddenly widens on each side and swells into the appearance of the shape of a bottle, and from this fact the Indians called the creek Hockhocking."
     This tract of country once belonged to the Wyandots, and a considerable town of that tribe, situated at the confluence of a small stream with the river, one mile below Logan, gives the name Oldtown to the creek.  The abundance of bears, deer, elks, and occasionally buffaloes, with which the hills and valleys were stored, together with the river fishing, must have made this a desirable residence.  About five miles southeast of Logan are two mounds, of the usual conical form, about sixty feet in diameter at the base, erected entirely from stones, evidently brought from a great distance to their present location.
     For the annexed historical sketch of the county we are indebted to a resident.

     Early in the spring of 1798 several families from different places, passing through the territory of the Ohio Company, settled at various points on the river, some of whom remained, while others again started in pursuit of "the far west."  The first actual settler in the county was Christian Westenhaver, from hear Hagerstown, Md., of German extraction, a good, practical farmer and an honest man, who died in 1829, full of years, and leaving a numerous race of descendants.  In the same spring came the Brians, the Pences and the Franciscos, from Western Virginia, men renowned for feats of daring prowess in hunting the bear, an animal at that time extremely numerous.  As an example of the privations of pioneer life, when Mr. Westenhaver ascended the river with his family, a sack of corn-meal constituted no mean part of his treasures.  By the accidental upsetting of his canoe, this unfortunately became wet, and consequently blue and mouldy.  Nevertheless it was kept, and only on special occasions served out with their bountiful supply of bears' meat, venison and turkeys, until the approaching autumn yielded them potatoes and roasting ears, which they enjoyed with a gusto that epicures might well envy.  And when fall gave the settlers a rich harvest of Indian corn, in order to reduce it to meal they had to choose between the hominy mortar, or a toilsome journey of nearly thirty miles over an Indian trace to the mill.  Notwithstanding these drawbacks, there is but little doubt that for many years there was more enjoyment of real life than ordinarily falls to a more artificial state of society.  True, though generally united, disputes would sometimes arise, and when other modes of settlements were unavailing, the last resort, a duel, decided all.  But in this no "Colt's revolver" was put in requisition, but the pugilistic ring was effectual.  Here the victor's wounded honor was fully satisfied, and a treat of "old Monogahela" (rye whiskey) by the vanquished restored perfect good feelings among all parties.  As to deciding disputes by law, it was almost unthought of.  It is true, there were some few men yelped justices of the peace, generally selected for strong natural sense, who admirably answered all the purposes of their election.  One, a very worthy old gentleman, being present at what he considered an unlawful demonstration, commanded the peace, which command not being heeded, he immediately threw off his "warmus," rolled up his sleeves, and shouted, "Boys!  I'll be --- if you shan't keep the peace," which awful display of magisterial power instantly dispersed the terror-stricken multitude.  This state of things continued with slow but almost imperceptible alterations until 1818, when the number of inhabitants, and their advance in civilization. obtained the organization of the county.

     The warmus above spoken of was a working garment, similar in appearance to a "roundabout," and having been made of red flannel was elastic and easy to the wearer.  It was not known, we think, to any extent outside of Pennsylvania and her emigrants, and we think originated with the Germans.  In our original tour over the State, in 1846, when we saw a large number of lobster-back people on the farms or about the village taverns, we always knew that region had been settled by Pennsylvania Germans.
     Logan in 1846. -- Logan, the county-seat, is on the Hockhocking river and canal, one mile below the great fall of the Hockhocking river, 47 miles southeast of Columbus, 18 below Lancaster, and 38 miles east of Chillicothe.  It was laid out about the year 1816, and contains 4 stores, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Methodist church, and about 600 inhabitants.  The view, taken near the American Hotel, shows in the centre the court-house, an expensive and substantial structure, and on the extreme right the printing office. - Old Edition.
     Logan was platted by Gov. Worthington.  The water-power of the Hocking at the falls was utilized by him, to the extent of a saw-mill and a couple of cornburrs.  In 1825 Logan claimed a population of 250.  The place did not get a start until about 1840, from the opening of the Hocking canal in 1838, which furnished an outlet for the produce of the valley.  In 1839 the town was incorporated: C. W. James was the first mayor.
     LOGAN, the county seat of Hocking, is on the C. H. V. & T. Railroad, and on the Hocking river and canal (a branch of the Ohio canal), 50 miles southeast of Columbus.  It is located on the edge of the Hocking coal and iron region on the east and south, and close to a rich agricultural region on the west and north.
     County Officers, 1888: Auditor, William M. Bowen; Clerk, D. H. Lappen; Commissioners, Henry Trimmer, John T. Nutter, George Marks; Coroner, Geo. G. Gage; Infirmary Directors, Philip Hansel, Andrew Wright, Isaac Mathias; Probate Judge, William T. Acker; Prosecuting Attorney, Virgil C. Lowry; Recorder, David M. O'Hare; Sheriff, John Gallagher; Surveyor, James W. Davis; Treasurers, John Notestone, Benjamin H. Allen.  City Officers:  A. Steiman, Mayor; George G. Gage, Clerk; W. P. Price, Solicitor; Andrew Hall, Jr. Treasurer; Edward Juergensmeier, Commissioner; Geo. Deishley, Marshal.  Newspapers:  Hocking Sentinel, Democratic, Lewis Green, editor and publisher; Republic Gazette, Republican, F. S. Pursell, editor; Ohio Democrat, Democratic, A. H. Wilson, editor; G. W. Brehm, proprietor.  Churches: 1 Catholic, 2 Lutheran, 2 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian.  Banks: First Bank of Logan, John Walker, president; Chas. E. Bowen, cashier; People's, L. A. Culver, president; R. D. Culver, cashier.
     Manufacturers and Employees -- Frank Kessler, doors, sash, etc., 6; Reynes & Wellman, flour, etc., 9; The Logan Woolen Mills, blankets, etc., 10; The Logan Manufacturing Co., furniture, etc., 54; C. H. V. & T. Railroad Shops, railroad repairs, 45; Motherwell Iron and Steel Co., bridges, etc., 83. -- State Report, 1888.  Population in 1880, 2,666.  School census, 1888, 1,125.  Capital invested industrial establishments, $187,500.  Value of annual product, $323,000. -- Labor Statistics, 1887.  U. S. Census, 1890, 3,119.
     The wild scenery in the western part of the county was first brought to general notice, in "Silliman's Journal of Science," by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, who was on the first geological survey of Ohio in 1837.  His account, as given in our first edition, is here repeated:

     One of the favorite descents of the Indians was down the waters of Queer creek, a tributary of Salt creek, and opened a direct course to their town of old Chillicothe.  It is a wild, romantic ravine, in which the stream has cut a passage, for several miles in extent, through the solid rock, forming mural cliffs, now more than one hundred and twenty feet in height.  They are also full of caverns and grottos, clothed with dark evergreens of the hemlock and cedar.  Near the outlet of this rocky and narrow valley there stood, a few years since, a large beech tree, on which was engraven, in legible characters, "This is the road to hell, 1782."  These words were probably traced by some unfortunate prisoner then on his way to the old Indian town of Chillicothe.
     This whole region is full of interesting scenery, and affords some of the most wild and picturesque views of any other of equal extent in the State of Ohio.
     It was one of the best hunting grounds for the bear; as its numerous grottos and caverns afforded them the finest retreats for their winter quarters.  These caverns were also valuable on another account, as furnishing vast beds of nitrous earth, from which the old hunters, in time of peace, extracted large quantities of saltpetre for the manufacture of gunpowder, at which art some of them were great proficients.  One of these grottos, well known to the inhabitants of the vicinity by the name of the "Ash Cave," contains a large heap of ashes piled up by the side of the rock which forms one of its boundaries.  It has been estimated, by different persons, to contain several thousand bushels.  The writer visited this grotto in 1837, and should say there was at that time not less than three or four hundred bushels of clean ashes, as dry and free from moisture as they were on the day they were burned.  Whether they are the refuse of the old saltpetre makers, or were piled up there in the course of ages, by some of the aborigines who made of ages, by some of the aborigines who made these caverns their dwelling-places, remains as yet a subject for conjecture.
     The ravines and grottos have all been formed in the out-cropping edges of the sandstone and conglomerate rocks which underlie the coal fields of Ohio, by the wasting action of the weather, and attrition of running water.  The process is yet going on in several streams on the southwest side of Hocking county, where the water has a descent of thirty, forty or even fifty feet at a single pitch, and a fall of eighty or a hundred in a few rods.  The falls of the Cuyahoga and the Hockhocking are cut in the same geological formation.  The water, in some of these branches, is of sufficient volume to turn the machinery of a grist or saw-mill, and being lined and overhung with the graceful foliage of the evergreen hemlock, furnishes some of the wildest and most beautiful scenery.  This is especially so that the "Cedar Falls," and "the Falls of Black Jack."  The country is at present but partially settled, but when good roads  are opened and convenient inns established, no portion of Ohio can afford a richer treat for the lovers of wild and picturesque views.
     There is a tradition among the credulous settlers of this retired spot, that lead ore was found here and worked by the Indians; and many a weary day has been spent in its fruitless search among the cliffs and grottos which line all the streams of this region.  They often find ashes and heaps of cinders; and the "pot holes" in a bench of the sand rock in the "Ash Cave," evidently worn by the water at a remote period, when the stream ran here, although it is now eighty or one hundred feet lower, and ten or twelve rods farther north, they imagine, were in some way used for smelting the lead.

     As the great natural curiosities of the county are becoming more known and appreciated, we think it best to describe them fully, and this we are enabled to do by a communication from the pen of one perfectly familiar with them, Dr. O. C. Farquhar, of Zanesville.

ROCK HOUSE.
     Hocking county possesses more points of interest to the lovers of nature than can be found in any other portion of the State.  Among the many prominent local places of notoriety and resort that are to be found in this county, nestled away behind the hills, or in the valleys of this seeming wilderness, are the ASH CAVE, ROCK HOUSE, DEAD MAN's CAVE, CEDAR FALLS, ROCK BRIDGE, and SALTPETRE CAVE, all stand out in the foreground, although it is impossible for one to go amiss here, who is in search of nature's most grand and beautiful.  The Rock House is located about twelve miles southwest of Logan, the county-seat, and six miles in an air line from Adelphi station.  Ross county, on a farm of 300 acres, owned by Col. F. F. Rempel, of Logan, who is public-spirited and entertaining, and has recently erected a very simple and comfortable hotel on the Rock House grounds, for the perfect accommodation of the throngs of visitors who come here during the summer months, from all parts of the country.
     The Rock House is a house within a wall of massive sandstone formation, which rises to the height of 166 feet, and is covered here and there with ferns and lichens.  From out this solid wall of rock, nature's means of time and the elements have perhaps hewn out this vast Gothic hall and its attendant chambers, giving it windows and portals, and great sandstone columns to bear its massive roof.  This cave is wonderful for its peculiar formation.  It is about 350 feet in length, 25 feet high, and fully 25 feet in breadth.  Instead of its leading into the bosom of the cliff or rocky wall, through a small aperture, as is common with most subterranean passages, the rocks have been rifted lengthwise, forming two Gothic doorways at about half the height of the precipice, affording the means of entrance; while along its front are arranged five massive sandstone pillars; the openings between them give the appearance of Gothic windows.
     Here again it appears marvelous how much of human art and skill has been displayed by nature; and yet all is devoid of the handiwork of man.  Near the southern end of the cavern is a shelf or ledge jutting out beyond the doorway, and above this overhangs the frowning brow of the great precipice, over which there trickles a little stream of water at both the east and west ends of this lofty precipice of rocks.
     In taking a position in the valley or ravine at the base of this rocky wall and its cliffs facing the main entrance which leads to the __, weird-like, mysterious chambers within, and then cast the eyes well up towards the top of the cliff-rocks, permitting the vision to range along the whole frontage for a distance of 500 yards, the view thus afforded is sublime and grand in the extreme.
     The whole face of this wall is so evenly and beautifully carved by nature's eroding processes, that the even regularity and beauty of the designs appear to show beyond a doubt that some experienced workman and carver of stone could alone have shaped these grotesque, artistic and fancy forms.  "Within this house not made with hands" there are doors, dormitories, windows, rocky porches, rooms, halls, stair-ways and chambers, large enough to contain more than a thousand people.  At the door of this cavern can be seen the form of a book cut in the rock, and on the pages the following letters appear: I. T. F. B. R. B. A. R: - I. T. F. F. A. W. M. T. A. W., which translated means, "In the fall Buck Run bananas are ripe.  In the frosty fall a wise man takes a wife."  Buck Run bananas are ripe, In the frosty fall a wise man takes a wife."  Buck Run bananas is the neighborhood vernacular for paw-paws.  There are countless unique inscriptions on the rocks hereabouts.  One can very pleasantly, and with profit too, spend a month here delving around among nature's wonders, as only found in the howling wilderness of the Hocking hills, whose citizens are always proud of their barefooted Jay-bird orator.

     From another source we learn the cave has six openings, including entrances and windows.  These openings are bounded by stone columns, as expressed to us in various colors, red, yellow and green.  The dimensions are also thus given:  Front of precipice in which it is situated, 133 feet; length of cavern, 200 feet; width 25 to 40, and roof from 30 to 50 feet.  In the Ohio Geological Report for 1870 is a brief description and a picture.   We now give our correspondent's description of the other curiosities.

 ASH CAVE.
     One of the most striking and beautiful scenes in Hocking county is so named from the vast quantity of ashes it contains.  It has been variously estimated by different persons to contain several thousand bushels.  Even as late as this year (1886) there are evidences of many bushels of wood ashes, nearly as pure, dry and free from moisture as on the day when they were burned.  The source of this unnatural ashy mystery remains unexplained.  It has been conjectured that they are the refuse of old saltpetre or nitrate of potash makers, or whether they were piled up in this cave during the course of ages by some of the aborigines who made these caverns their places of abode, are at best only visionary and speculative.
     The cave is formed by a projecting cliff at the source of a little stream, whose deep valley or gulch parts the bold, rock-ribbed hills whose summits look down upon the tops of the loftiest pines, which grow at their base.  At this point, which is the highest rock-exposure in Hocking county, the ledge is not less than 125 feet high, and reaches or projects over from the base not less than 100 feet, forming a semicircular cavern nearly 700 feet in length, ninety feet deep, and about the same in height.  At one side of this semicircle, near the rock, lies the great pile of ashes which gives this enchanting and mysterious cavern the name of Ash Cave.
     From the centre of the overhanging roof a streamlet leaps into a pool below, lending additional grandeur, beauty and charms to the before sublime picture.  For more than a quarter of a mile distance down this valley, on either side, rises to a height of from eighty to 100 feet, a rocky ledge, which for diversity and elegant naturalness forms a scenic view seldom if ever surpassed.  It simply opens out to the view of the awe-impressed beholder a magnificent amphitheatre, where every step and every glance unfolds new and beautiful wonders.  Large masses of sand rock are seemingly thrown together with an intention of pure chaotic confusion, many of them beautifully lichened with variegated mosses, rivaling with their gorgeous beauty the finest hues of the most luxuriant Brussels carpets.
     From some points or positions of observation, the eye takes in the entire length and breadth of this rocky ledge, from base to summit.  At other points are presented the furrowed erosions of the rocky faces, partly hidden by vines that clamber up their sides, and the topmost branches of the scraggy pines that grow up from below.  This peculiar, beautiful, weird and extensive cavern, and the scenery in its vicinity, is located in Benton township, about twenty-one miles southwest of Logan, the county-seat.  Thousands of people visit the place each summer, generally making one journey take them to both the Rock House, only six miles distant from the cave.  Ohio can furnish no more beautiful scenery than is to be found in this county.

ROCK BRIDGE
     This natural rocky wonder is situated in Good-Hope township, Hocking county, on the Hocking river, and the line of the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railway, about midway between Lancaster and Logan.  This curiously is a sandstone formation, the under side forming an arch of about thirty degrees curvature.  The bridge is level on the top, ranges from ten to twenty feet wide, and is entirely detached from all adjoining rock for a distance of nearly 100 feet.  The span, measured from the under side, is about 150 feet, and is at an elevation of about fifty feet from the bottom of the gulch it spans.  The location and easy accessibility, together with the romantic, wild-like place, its fine shade and picturesque surroundings, have made it a favorite site for picnic excursions from all points along the line of the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railway.

COLONEL WHITTLESEY'S REMINISCENCES.

     In the summer of 1886, a few weeks before the decease of Colonel Charles Whittlesey (see page 523), he gave us orally some interesting items, gathered when on geological surveys of Ohio, about forty-five years before.  "Early in this century," said he, "before the establishment of courts to try culprits, there was a rude system of justice established by the people.  The wilderness region - the hill-country of Southeastern Ohio - at times suffered from the crimes of scoundrels who stole horses from the poor settlers and sometimes committed murder.  Whenever they were caught, and evidence certain, the people hung or shot them with but little formality.  A considerable number of desperadoes were thus disposed of; but the facts did not go out to the public, as it was before the days of newspapers.

     In the north part of Hocking county (the name of the township I don't recollect, only that it was on the south side of S. W. 1/4 of section 24) is a cave called Thieves' Cave, where the horse-thieves gathered their horses - more properly a rock shelter, shelving towards the rear.  It was in the form of an ellipse, about 130 feet long and thirty feet to the rear.  In the beginning of the century horses were brought here.  Here the horse-thieves lived and hunted.  As late as 1872 horse-manure was found by me while exploring its geologically.
     At New Straitsville, in the adjoining county of Perry, is a rock shelter on the south side of Sugar Run, about 100 feet long and forty broad, where religious meetings and meetings of miners have been held.
     Anciently there was a hunters' trail on the height of land between Lost Run and the West Fork of Snow Fork.  This was only a short distance from the cave.  Shortly after the war of 1812, say about 1816, a man with his family, moving West, was overtaken by winter and out of money, about a mile and a half northeast from Thieves' Cave, on the West Fork of Snow Fork, near where it is crossed by the county line of Hocking and Perry.  He found there a sand-stone block, which, separated from the main cliff, fell and stood upright, thus forming with the main cliff, two vertical walls, He closed up the rear end and made a door at the other.  His only light was from the open door.  He had plenty of wood and water.  He made shoes all winter for the sparse settlers, and in spring had money enough to pursue his journey.
     Lost Run derived its name from a hunter lost.  Years after his skeleton was found with gun by his side.  He had evidently been sitting by a tree and had frozen to death.

ONE OF "THE OLD GUARD" AN OHIO PIONNER.

     There died in Logan county, in June, 1885, Christopher Stahley, aged 104 years and 10 months.  He was a "last survivor" of the grand army of Napoleon; a native of Alsace; a typical veteran of the wars, scarred and crippled.  He was a man of culture, and grew eloquent when describing his campaigns; and, like all of Napoleon's soldiers, adored his leader and worshipped his memory.  We give herewith extracts from Stahley's story, as related to the correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

     "I became a soldier at fifteen, and was one of the thirty thousand men who went with Napoleon to Egypt, and was one of the first to enter the city of Malta.  I was with my command at the Pyramids, and participated in the terrible conflict with the Mamelukes.  Thence across the desert and through the Isthmus of Suez to Gaza and Jaffa, and saw the 1,500 put to death for breaking their parole, and helped to annihilate the allied army of 18,00 at Aboukir.
     "It was in 1804 that we helped to proclaim him Emperor, and saw the preparations made to invade England.  But England was spared and Austria punished instead.
     "Three years of preparation and we were on the road to the Capital of Russia in that memorable campaign of 1812.  There were 480,000 of us who went forth to glory.  Less than half that number returned, and the most of them after being detained as prisoners.  I saw them fall by battalions at Smolensk and Borodino, and perish by grand divisions on the retreat from Moscow to Smorgoni.  I personally attended the Emperor to France, when he bade adieu to his soldiers at the latter city.
     "I was one of the Old Guard.  There is a blank in my memory, and I do not know how I got back to Paris; but I found myself there, and learned that my old commander was a prisoner at St. Helena.  Then came the news of his death.  I had taken part in fifty engagements, great and small, and had seen men die by the thousand; but that death affected me more than all the rest put together.
     "In 1822, in company with my wife, I emigrated to America.  We reached Pittsburg by stage.  From there we floated down the Ohio on a flat-boat to the mouth of the Muskingum, and ascended that river to Zanesville in canoe.  From Zanesville, I trundled all my earthly possessions in a wheelbarrow to St. Joseph's near Somerset, where I bought a farm and settled down.  Then began my disasters.  My oldest son was with me in the forest hewing logs for a barn, and by a false stroke of the broad axe cut off my thumb and finger.  A few years later a vicious horse kicked me in the forehead and left this scar that looks like a sabre cut.  The next year I fell from a tobacco-house I was helping to raise, and broke four ribs and my collar bone.  Ten years later I slipped and fell into a threshing-machine, and I had my foot torn off.  A few years ago I was on my way to church, and my horse ran away, threw me out of the carriage, shattered my elbow, and left me with a stiff arm.  I am in constant dread of meeting a fatal accident.  Had I remained in the grand army of the Emperor I would feel perfectly safe.

TRIP TO THE HOCKING VALLEY COAL MINES.

      The coal mining interests of the Hocking valley have developed enormously within the past ten years.  Immense quantities of this coal are carried by rail to Lake Erie, and thence transported by water to points on the lakes, while large quantities of it are reshipped by rail at Duluth and other points, for consumption in the Northwestern States.
     The operators of the Hocking valley have ever been ready to take advantage of new improvements in mining machinery and labor-saving devices to increase the out put of their mines.  An account of a recent visit of the members of the Ohio Institute of Mining Engineers, for purposes of inspection, was published in the Ohio State Journal.   We make extracts therefrom:

     The first stop was made near Straitsville where No. 11 mine, owned by the Columbus and Hocking Coal and Iron Company, was visited and the thickness of the great vein was noted.  The next stop was made at Sand Run, where the box-car loading machine was in operation.  This machine is truly wonderful in its mechanism.  The coal runs from a chute into the box-car door, where the coal is received on a portable platform run in through the opposite door.  There is a steam shovel attached to this platform, which works from right to left, throwing the coal to each end of the car.  The machine is worked by steam and is under the control of coal to each end of the car.  The machine is worked by steam and is under the control of an operator, who regulates the speed of the engine.  This labor-saving device takes the place of four men, and with it a box-car can be loaded as quickly as an open car.
     Another interesting machine at these works is the endless-rope haulage system.  The engine is made on the same plan as a railroad locomotive, and the large drums over which the wire rope runs can be run backward or forward at the will of the engineer.  Ten bank-cars are brought out of the mine at a time, making about fifteen tons of coal, or about the average amount loaded on each railroad coal-car.  There is a large dial, with a hand attached to the fly-wheel.  This enables the engineer to know at all times where the train is.
     Leaving Sand Run at 9:10 a.m., the next stop was made at the mines of the Consolidated Coal and Mining Co., at Brashears, where the air-compressor and the Harrison mining machines are in operation.  The Lechner air-drills and wire-rope haulage were also in use.
     After dinner the party visited the mines of the Ellsworth and Morris Coal Company at Brush Fork, which are the largest mines in the United States.  At these mines there is an entry on each side of the valley, tracks leading in a "Y" on the same hoppers, and the coal is dumped over the same tipple.  The capacity of the mines at this place is two thousand tons per day.  One cannot imagine the magnitude of this great work without seeing it.  Seven bank-cars are dumped per minute, or ten and a half tons.  The wire-rope haulage system is used here also, but on a larger scale.  The two last mines visited are fitted out with the latest machinery.
     Leaving Brush Fork at two o'clock the next stop was made at Buchtel, where some left the train to visit the large blast furnace, the coke-ovens of the Nelsonville Coal and Coke Company.
 

     Mr. Thomas E. Knauss, of Columbus, was with the party.  Mr. Knauss was formerly located at Nelsonville, and is the pioneer of the wire-rope haulage system in the Hocking valley.

     The Haydenville Mining and Manufacturing Company, of which Peter Hayden, of Columbus, was president and principal owner, is a large concern; owning 3,000 acres of valuable mineral land, underlaid by rich deposits of coal and fire-clay; large and substantial building and factories, employing a large force of men, the company turns out immense quantities of sewer-pipe, fire-proofing, terra cotta, and paving-blocks.  The industry is a valuable one.

     Its development is due to the enterprises of Peter Hayden, he being one of the pioneer coal operators of the Hocking valley, and one who has done as much as any one man for the development of the vast mineral wealth of this region.
     Mr. Hayden's death, which occurred April 6, 1888, brought sorrow and grief to many hearts in this valley, as he was renowned for his patriarchal care, his consideration for the comfort and interests, and benevolence to those in his employ.  Men of all classes deemed it an honor to work for him.  He employed none but sober, industrious, and intelligent men, and never permitted a good man to leave his service, if money and considerate treatment were an inducement to remain.  As a result, his enterprises were singularly free from all labor complications; and his career affords an example to be emulated by all those employing large numbers of men. 

      HAYDENVILLE is six miles southeast of Logan, on the Hocking Canal and C. H. V. & T. Railroad.  Population about 600.
     GORE is eight miles northeast of Logan, on the Straitsville branch of the C. H. V. & T. Railroad.  Population about 600.  School census, 1888, 200.
     CARBON HILL is eight miles southeast of Logan, on the H. V. division of the C. H. V. & T. Railroad.  Population about 500.
     LAURELVILLE is twenty-two miles southwest of Logan.  It has one Cumberland Presbyterian and one Baptist Church.  Population about 300.  School census, 1888, 111.
     MILLVILLE is eight miles northwest of Logan, on the C. H. V. & T. Railroad.  Population about 250.  School census, 1888, 115.
     MURRAY CITY is twelve miles east of Logan, on the C. H. V. & T. Railroad.  Population about 500.
     SOUTH BLOOMINGVILLE is seventeen miles southwest of Logan.  Population, 350.