180 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. CHAPTER II. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) EARLIEST HISTORY-THE MOUND -BUILDERS- THE INDIAN'S-SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY BY THE WHITES-THE DIFFERENT TOWNSHIP COLONIZED. "--back in the bygone time, Lost 'mid` the rubbish of forgotten things." IN tracing out the history of any locality or people, it is always pleasing to go back to the beginning of things, and to learn who first trod the soil. Such an investigation in reference to this portion of the country carries us back to the time of the early French travelers and explorers - Joliet, Marquette, La Salle, Hennepin, and others of the same character and country, to say nothing of the prehistoric races, and their successors, the Indians. Says Alexander Davidson upon the subject: " It is the opinion of antiquarians that three distinct races of people lived in North America prior to its occupation by the present population. Of these the builders of the magnificent cities whose remains are found in a number of localities of Central America, were the most civilized. Judging from the ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and the crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places, for miles bestrew the ground these cities must have been of great extent and very populous. The mind is almost startled at the remoteness of their antiquity, when we consider the vast sweep of time necessary to erect such colossal structures of solid masonry, and afterward convert them into the present utter wreck. Comparing their complete desolation with the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra, Thebes and Memphis, they must have been old when the latter were being built."May not America then, if this be true, be called the old world instead of the new ; and may it not have contained, when these Central American cities were built, a civilization equal, if not superior, to that which contemporaneously existed on the banks of the Nile, and made Egypt the cradle of Eastern arts and sciences? The second race, "continues the same authority, " as determined by the character of their civilization, were the Mound-Builders, the remains of whose works constitute the most interesting class of antiquities found within the limits of the United States. Like the ruins of Central America, they antedate the most ancient records ; tradition can furnish no account of them, and their character HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 181 can only be partially gleaned from the internal evidences which they themselves afford. They consist of the remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc. The farthest relic of this kind, discovered in a northeastern direction, was near Black River, on the south side of Lake Ontario. Thence they extend in a southwestern direction by way of the Ohio, the Mississippi, Mexican Gulf, Texas, New Mexico and Yucatan, into South America. " In Ohio, where the mounds have been carefully examined, are found some of the most extensive and interesting that occur in the United States. At the mouth of the Muskingum, among a number of curious works, was a rectangular fort containing forty acres, encircled by a wall of earth ten feet high, and perforated with openings resembling gateways. In the mound near the fort were found the remains of a sword, which appeared to have been buried with its owner. A fort of similar construction and dimensions was found on Licking River, near Newark. Eight gateways pierced the walls, and were guarded by mounds directly opposite each, on the inside of the work. At Circleville, on the Scioto, there were two forts in juxtaposition; the one an exact circle, sixty rods in diameter, and the other a perfect square, fifty-five rods on each side. The circular fortification was surrounded by two walls, with an intervening ditch twenty feet in depth. On Paint (`,reek, fifteen miles west of Chillicothe, besides other extensive works, was discovered the remains of a walled town. It was built on the summit of a hill about 300 feet in altitude, and encompassed by a wall ten feet in height, made of stone in their natural state. The area thus inclosed contained 130 acres. On the south side of it there were found the remains of what appeared originally to have been a row of furnaces or smith-shops, about which cinders were found several feet in depth." But, to come down to the local history of these people, we give place to the following article, prepared at our special request, by Reuben Hills, Esq., of Delaware. Mr. Hills has given the subject much study, and our readers will find the result of his researches of considerable interest. He says: In the examination of the early history of Delaware County, we find the first inhabitants who have left any traces of their existence were the Mound Builders. The question may properly be asked. "Who were the Mound-Builders ? " And it is a question which has puzzled archaeologists ever since the discovery of the strange works of this race. The name itself, though conveying an impression of their habits, is rather suggestive of our ignorance as to who they were, since, except from the mounds of earth or stone, which cover the central part of this continent, we know almost nothing of this people, who, in the ages long ago, came we know not whence, and vanished we can not tell whither. The red Indians who occupied this country at the time of its discovery by Europeans had no knowledge nor even any traditions of their predecessors. so that what the white man learns of them he must learn directly from the remains of their own works. Their antiquity is as yet an entire mystery. That some of the mounds were completed and deserted as long as eight hundred year ago is certain, but how much longer is not known. Their civilization was of a different order from that of the red Indian, and their manner of living was apparently more allied to that of the ancient Peruvians and Mexicans. Many questions remain to be solved in regard to them. Whether they had anything like a written language, of which we have, as yet. no proof; whether the remains, of different character in various parts of the continent, are the work of the same people at different stages of their civilization, or the work of different races at very remote period.: and about what time they occupied this country these are all questions of c, conjecture. So also is the question of the relation of the modern Indian to the Mound-Builder whether he is the conqueror or the descendant. Nearly all late writers, however; agree in believing the Indian is not a descendant of the Mound Builder. All these questions are to be answered by the diligent study and research of the antiquarian. and will be satisfactorily settled only when the answers are founded on fact and not on theory. But the design of this article is not a discussion of the hound-Builders in general, but of the position in political geography held by Delaware County during the period of the Mound-Builders' occupation of the country. The evidences of the ancient occupation of this county consist of flint arrow-heads and spear-heads, fleshers, celts. stone hammers, hatchet, pestles, pipes, relics classified as "drilled ceremonial weapons," mounds of various descriptions. and fortifications. Such implements as arrow-heads, hatchets, etc., are found in all part. of the county, the largest numbers 182 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. occurring in the neighborhoods of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. Dr. H. Besse, of Delaware has in his collection a fine assortment of the above mentioned drilled ceremonial weapons, also severs perforated tablets, all of which were found on the surface, in Porter Township. Mr. John J. Davis has in his possession a stone pipe, of plain design but exquisite finish, which was unearthed in digging for the foundation of St. Peter's Episcopa Church in Delaware. In the museum of the Ohio Wesleyan University may be seen a large number of relics, gathered from all parts of the county. The mounds are mostly sepulchral. One o the most remarkable ever opened in the county was the one on the farm of Solomon Hill a short distance west of the Girls' Industrial Home. We take the following notice of this mound from the Delaware Herald of September 25, 1879: "Saturday we were shown some interesting relics consisting of a queen conch-shell, some isinglass (mica) and several peculiarly shaped pieces of slate, which were found in a mound on the farm of Solomon Hill Concord Township. Delaware Co., Ohio. The mound is situated on the banks of a rocky stream, The nearest place where the queen conch-shell is found is the coast of Florida; the isinglass in New York State, and the slate in Vermont and Pennsylvania. Two human skeletons were also found in the mound, one about seven feet long, the other a child. The shell was found at. the left check of the large skeleton. A piece of slate about one by six inches was under the chin. The slate was provided with two smooth holes, apparently for the purpose of tying it to its position. Another peculiarly shaped piece, with one hole. was on the chest, and another with some isinglass was on the left hand. Another mound, on the Olentangy River. about three miles north of Delaware, was opened in September, 1877 . This was located on a farm at that time leased by A. H, Jones, and known as "the broom-corn farm." It had been so often plowed over and so nearly leveled that its existence would not have been noticed if Mr. Jones had not plowed into a large collection of flint implements, which directed his attention to the fact that he was then on a mound. It measured about forty feet in diameter, and was three and a half or four feet high. Investigation was made by digging a narrow trench into what was supposed to be the center of the mound. but no discovery of importance was made. Only two skeletons were found, and they were, probably. a comparatively recent interment. as they were only about thirteen inches below the surface. They had been there so long, however, that the bones mostly crumbled at the touch. They had probably been buried in a sitting posture, for the bones of the head and trunk were badly mixed, while the legs occupied a horizontal position. The mound was located on the second terrace, in a bend of the stream, at a distance of three hundred and fifty or four hundred feet from its old bed. A mound near Galena was recently opened by Prof. John T. Short, of the Ohio University, under the direction. and for the benefit of. the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology and we are under obligations to Prof. F. W. Putnam, Curator of the Museum, for the privilege of using Prof. Short's report in this connection, and to Prof. Short himself for kindly furnishing a copy of his report for this purpose. He says: "In the month of August, 1879, the writer; in company with Mr. Eugene Lane and Mr. David Dyer, opened three mounds in Delaware County, Ohio. Two of these formed part of a system of mound-works situated on the estate of Jacob Rhodes, Esq., in Genoa Township. * The peninsula or tongue of land situated between Big Walnut Creek and Spruce Run is an elevated area having nearly perpendicular sides, washed by the streams, over a hundred feet below. The central figure, the mound A [referring to a plate] stands within a perfectly circular inclosure (B) measuring 570 feet around. Now it is but about three feet higher than the natural level, but formerly was ten feet higher. Its present owner reduced it by plowing it down. The trench is inside of the inclosure and no doubt furnished the earth for both the embankment and the mound. Its present width is twenty-seven feet, and it was formerly about seven feet deep. The circle has an opening about twenty feet in width on the east, from which a graded way of about the same width and probably 400 feet in length, no doubt of artificial construction, affords a descent at an angle of about 30° to the stream below. On the north side of the entrance and continuous with the embankment, is a small mound measuring ten feet in diameter and four feet in height. It may have served as a point of outlook into the deep ravine below, as from it alone the entire length of the graded way is at once visible. A shaft six feet in diameter was sunk in this mound to a depth of four and a half feet, but we discovered nothing hat could be removed. Charcoal, a few calcined animal bones, and burnt clay were all that. was HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 183 found. The large mound situated in the center of the inclosure measures seventy-five feet through its major axis, and sixty-eight feet through its minor axis. Its present height is about twelve feet above the natural level, though the distance to the bottom of the trench is three or four feet or more. It is probable that the mound was perfectly round, as its symmetry has no doubt been destroyed in part by the removal from its surface of about twenty-five wagon loads of flat sandstones (each a foot square, more or less, and about three inches thick) for the purpose of walling neighboring cellars. These stones were brought from the ravine below and made a complete covering for the mound. Extending out from the mound on the west, the remains of a low crescent-shaped platform, twenty-five feet across at its greatest width, are still visible. A small excavation was made four years ago in the top of the mound, by the son of the present owner, but the digging was abandoned before any depth was reached, or anything was discovered. I excavated the mound by causing a trench four feet wide to be dug from the northern side of the mound to its center. * * * A single layer of flat stones like those on the outside of the mound was found to start at the base and to cover what at one time must have been regarded as its finished surface. At the center this inner layer of stones was situated about three feet below the present surface of the mound. This was the only trace of stratification observable in the structure, and is suggestive of the section given by Squire and Davis to illustrate stratifieation in altar mounds. Aside from this the indications were distinct that the earth had been dumped down in small basket or bag fulls. This is confirmatory of the observations of Prof. E. B. Andrews in the mounds of Southern Ohio. * * * On the undisturbed surface of the ground at the center of the mound I uncovered a circular bed of ashes eight feet in diameter and about six inches in thickness. These ashes were of a reddish clay color except that through the center of the bed ran a seam or layer of white ashes-no doubt calcined bones, as at the outer margin of the bed in one or two instances the form of bones was traceable, but so calcined that they possessed no consistency when touched or uncovered. Ranged in a semicircle around the eastern margin of the ash-heap were several pieces of pottery, all broken, probably in the construction of the mound or by its subsequent settling. The pottery was exceedingly brittle and crumbled rapidly after exposure. It was almost impossible to recover any fragments larger than the size of the hand, though a couple of pieces were taken out which indicated that the vessel to which they belonged was much larger than any which to my knowledge has been taken from Ohio mounds ; it was probably twelve or fourteen inches in height. This vessel was ornamented with a double row or border of lozenge or diamond shaped figures, and when intact probably resembled figure 3, Pl. II. both in form and decoration. * * * Although the decoration on these vessels (produced by a pointed tool before the clay was baked) indicated an attempt at art of a respectable order, the material employed was nothing more than coarse clay and pounded sandstone-instead of pounded shell, as is more frequently the case. However, numerous fragments of finer workmanship * * * were taken out. Evidently an attempt had been made to glaze the vessel.* * * I could not help being impressed with the thought that the mound marked the site where cremation or possibly sacrifice had been performed. * * * About 300 yards southwest of the mound just described are the remains of a circular inclosure 300 feet in diameter. The embankment has been reduced by plowing until it is now scarcely two feet in height. The precipitous sides of both the Big Walnut and Spruce Run render an ascent at this point impossible. The circle is visible from the mound and is possibly an intermediate link between the mound and another system lying west at a point two miles distant. "On the estate of E. Phillips, Esq., one mile south of Galena, in the same county, I opened a mound of 165 feet in circumference, and about four feet in height. * * * No bones nor pottery were found. * * * Mr. Dyer is an old resident, a graduate of West Point, and a gentleman whose statement concerning the history of the relics is perfectly reliable. Mr. Dyer states that a couple of years ago, a large mound, measuring seventy-five feet in diameter and fifteen feet in height, constructed entirely of stone, and situated on the farm of Isaac Brimberger, Esq., three miles south of Galena, was partly removed by its owner for the purpose of selling the stone. Immediately under the center of the mound, and below the natural level, a vault was discovered. The sides and roof of the vault consisted of oak and walnut timbers, averaging six inches in diameter and still covered with bark. * * * The timbers were driven perpendicularly into the ground around the quadrangular vault, while others were 184 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. laid across the top for a roof. Over all, the skin of some animal had been stretched. Inside of the vault were the remains, apparently, of three persons, one a child, and fragments of a coarse cloth made of vegetable fiber and animal hair.* * The preservation of the wood is due, probably, to the presence of water, with .which the vault seems to have been filled." On the east side of the Olentangy, about four miles south of Delaware, may be seen the remains of a fortification. This is one of a series of works extending along the course of this stream into Franklin County, and, probably, down the Scioto to the Ohio itself. This work is located about a quarter of a mile from the river on a high point of land where two ravines unite. The fortification consists of an embankment, with a ditch outside of it; which, in a slightly curved line, cuts off about twenty acres of the point. The height of the embankment is now only about five feet from the bottom of the ditch. It is about five hundred feet long, with an opening or gateway near the southern extremity. Near the north end of the work is a spring of clear water. These artificial works, in connection with the deep ravines on either side, formed a place of defense which must have been very secure from such attacks as were made possible by the methods of warfare in those clays This work is different from most of the other fortifications of the Mound-Builders in this State, buy is very similar to the one described by Prof. E B. Andrews, in the tenth annual report of the Peabody Museum, as existing about two miles ease of Lancaster, though this one is much larger in the inclosure. There is said to be in Porter Township a cir cular fortification, inclosing about half an acre o ground, but the wall is fast disappearing under the action of the plow. Our knowledge of the othe remains in this county is meager, but enough is known to enable us to classify it with the other counties bordering the Scioto River to the Ohio It appears to have been near the northeast corne of the territory of the race which occupied Ohio Indiana and Illinois, as the most of the permanen works discovered have been south and west of here although many fine specimens of implements have been found in Marion County, north of Delaware The writer does not know of the discovery is this county of any copper implements, or any re mains similar to the garden beds of Michigan figured in Vol. I, No. 1, of the "American Antiquarian." And there are only two localities in the State where anything is found like the emblematic or animal mounds of Wisconsin, Yet the evidences derived from the number of mounds, their size and contents, and from the other works connected with them, seem clearly to indicate that this region was thickly settled by the Mound Builders ; although a recent writer has held the theory that this was a place of temporary residence only, and was rather a highway from the settlements further south to the copper mines of Lake Superior. With the foregoing highly interesting sketch of the relics of the Mound-Builders in this county, we will leave the study of this strange and unknown race of people to those whose time and inclination afford them opportunities of investigation. Definite information of their existence will probably never be obtained, until the seventh seal of that Great Book sball be opened. If they were not the ancestors of the Indians, who were they? The oblivion which has closed over them is so complete, that only conjectures can be given in answer to the question. Thousands of interesting queries arise respecting these nations which now repose under the ground, but the most searching investigation can only give us vague speculations for answers. No historian has preserved the names of their mighty chieftains, and even tradition is silent respecting them. If we knock at the tombs, no spirit comes back with a response, and only a sepulchral echo of forgetfulness and death reminds us how vain is the attempt to unlock the mysterious past upon which oblivion has fixed its seal. The third distinct race which inhabited this country is the Indians. " When visted by the early European pioneers," says an able authority upon the subject, " they were without cultivation. refinement or literature. and far behind their precursors. the Mound-Builder, in a knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long interested and archaeolists, and is one of the most difficult they have benn called on to answer. One hypothesis is that they are an original race indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Those who entertain this view think their peculiarities of physical structure preclude the possibility of a common parentage With the rest of mankind. Prominent among these distinctive traits, is their hair, which in the red man is round, in the white man oval. and in the black man flat. In the pile of the European. the coloring matter is distributed by means of a central canal. lout in that of the Indian, it is incorporated in the fibrous structure." HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 185 A more common supposition, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is wanting, any attempt to point out the particular theater of their origin must prove Unsatisfactory. " They are, perhaps, an offshoot of Shemitic parentage, and some imagine, from their tribal organization and some faint coincidences of language and religion, that they were the descendants of the ancient Hebrews."* Others, with as much propriety, contend that their " progenitors were the ancient Hindoos, and that the Brahmin idea which uses the sun to symbolize the Creator of the Universe, has its counterpart in the sun-worship of the Indians." Though the exact place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidences of physical organization between the Oriental types of mankind and the Indians; point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated Instead of 1800 years, the time of their roving in the wilds of America. as determined by Spanish interpretation of their pictographic records, the interval perhaps has been thrice that period. Their religions, superstitions and ceremonies, if of foreign origin, evidently belong to the crude theologies prevalent in the last centuries before the introduction of Mohammedanism or Christianity. Scarcely 3,000 years would suffice to blot out perhaps almost every trace of the language they brought with them from the Asiatic cradle of the race, and introduce the present diversity of aboriginal tongues. Like their Oriental progenitors. they have lived for centuries without progress, while the Caucasian variety of the race, under the transforming power of art. science and improved systems of civil polity, have made the most rapid advances. The Indians inhabiting this section of the State when the whites first came to its territory, were the Delawares, Shawanees, Mingoes, and branches perhaps of other tribes. A brief sketch of the principal and more powerful of these tribes, the Delawares, is deemed appropriate in this work, and we therefore devote some space to the subject in this chapter. The Delawares called themselves Lenno Lenape, which signifies "original" or "unmixed" men They were divided into three clans: the Turtle, the Wolf, and the Turkey. " When first met with by Europeans, they occupied a district of county bounded easterly by the Hudson River and the * Davidson. Atlantic; on the west their territories extended to the ridge separating the flow of the Delaware from the other streams emptying into the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay." * Taylor's " History of Ohio" says: " According to their own traditions, the Delawares, many hundred years ago, resided in the western part of the continent; thence, by slow emigration, they at length reached the Alleghany River, so called from a nation of giants, the Allegewi, against whom they (the Delawares) and the Iroquois (the latter also emigrants from the West); carried on successful wars and, still proceeding eastward, settled on the Delaware, Hudson, Susquehanna, and Potomac Rivers, making the Delaware the center of their possessions. By the other Algonquin tribes the Delawares were regarded with the utmost respect and veneration. They were called 'fathers,' `grandfathers,' etc." From the same authority quoted above, viz.: Gallatin's "Synopsis of the Indian Tribes," we learn that "When William Penn landed in Pennsylvania the Delawares had been subjugated and made women by the Iroquois. They were prohibited, from making war, placed under the sovereignty of the Iroquois, and even lost the right of dominion to the lands which they had occupied for so many generations. Gov. Penn, in his treaty with the Delawares, purchased from them the right of possession merely, and afterward obtained the relinquishment of the sovereignty from the Iroquois." The Delawares accounted for their humiliating relations to the Iroquois by claiming that their assumption of the role of women, or mediators t was entirely voluntary on their part. They said they became "peacemakers," not through compulsion, but in compliance with the intercession of different belligerent tribes; and that this position enabled their tribe to command the respect of all the Indians east of the Mississippi River. While it is true that the Delawares were very generally recognized as mediators, they never in any war or treaty exerted an influence through the possession of this title. It was an empty honor, and no additional power or benefit ever accrued from it. That the degrading position of the Delawares was not voluntary, is proven in a variety of ways. Gen. . Harrison, in a discourse upon the subject, says, "We possess none of the details of the war waged against the Lenapes, but we know that it resulted in the entire submission of the latter, and that the Iroquois, to prevent any further interruption from * Gallatin's Synopsis of the Indian Tribes. 186 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. the Delawares, adopted a plan to humble and degrade them, as novel as it was effectual. Singular as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that the Lenapes, upon the dictation of the Iroquois, agreed to lay aside the character of warriors and assume that of women." While they were not present at the treaty of Greenville. the Iroquois took care to let Gen. Wayne know that the Delawares were their subjects - "that they had conquered them and had put petticoats on them." Colden's "History of the Five Nations" gives the proceedings of a conference held July 12, 1742, at the house of the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. when the subject of the previous grants of land was under discussion. During the debate an Iroquois orator turned to the Delawares who were present at the council. and holding a belt of wampum, addressed them thus: "Cousins, let this belt of wampum serve to chastise you. You ought to be taken by the hair of your head and shaked severely, till you recover your senses and become sober. How came you to take upon your self to sell land of all?" [Referring to lands on the Delaware River, which the Delawares had sold some fifty years before.] "We conquered you: we made women of you. You know you are women, and can no more sell land than women; nor is it fit you should have the selling, of lands since you would abuse it." The Iroquois orator continued his chastisement of the Delaware:; indulging in the most opprobrious language and closed his speech by telling the Delaware. to remove immediately. "We don't give you the liberty." said he, to think about it. You may return to the other side of the Delaware. where you came from; but we don't know, considering how you had demeaned yourselves, whether you will be permitted to live there." The Quakers, who settled Pennsylvania, treated the Delawares in accordance with the rule, of justice and equity. The result was, that during a period of sixty years, peace and the utmost harmony prevailed. This is the only instance in the settling of America by the English, where uninterrupted friendship and good will existed between the colonists and the aboriginal inhabitants. Gradually and by peaceable means, the Quaker., obtained possession of the greater part of their territory and the Delawares were in the same situation as other tribes-without lands. without means of subsistence. and were threatened with starvation. Induced by these motives, some of them between the year 1740 and 1750; obtained from the Wyandots, and with the assent of the Iroquois, a grant of land on the Muskingum River, in Ohio. An old history of the American Indians has the following in reference to the Delawares : "The Greater part of the tribe remained in Pennsylvania, and, becoming more and more dissatisfied with their lot, shook off the yoke of the Iroquois, joined the French, and ravaged the frontiers of Pennsylvania. Peace was concluded at Easton in 1758, and, ten years after, the last remaining bands of the Delawares crossed the Alleghanies. Here, being removed from the influence of their dreaded masters- the Iroquois, the Delawares now assumed their ancient independence. During the four or five succeeding decades, they were the most formidable of the Western tribes. While the Revolutionary war was in progress, as allies of the British ; after its close, at the head of the Northwestern confederacy of Indians they fully retained their lost reputation. By their geographical position placed in the front of the battle, they were, during those two wars. the most active and dangerous enemies of America. The territory claimed by the Delawares subsequent to their being driven westward from their former possessions. is established in a paper addressed to Congress, May 10, 1779, from delegates assembled at Princeton, N. J. The boundaries of their country, as declared in the address, is as follows: "From the month of the Alleghany River, at Fort Pitt. to the Venango, and from thence up French Creek. and by Le Boeuf (the present cite of Waterford, Penn. ) along the old road to Presque Isle, on the east; the Ohio River, including all the islands in it from Fort Pitt to the Ouabache, on the south ; thence up the River Ouabache to that. branch, Ope-co-mee-cah (the Indian name of White River, Ind.), and up the same to the head thereof; from thence to the head-waters and springs of the Great Miami, or Rocky River; thence across to the head-waters of the most northeastern branches of the Scioto River; thence to the westernmost springs of the Sandusky River; thence down said river including the islands in it and in the little lake (Sandusky Bay), to Lake Erie, on, the west and northwest, and Lake Erie on the north. These boundaries contain the cessions of lands made to the Delaware Nation by the Wyandots, the Hurons and Iroquois. After Gen. Wayne's signal victory over the Indians, the Delawares came to realize that further contests with the American colonies would be worse than useless. They; therefore, submitted to HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 187 the inevitable, acknowledged the supremacy of the whites, and desired to make peace with the victors. At the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, there were present three hundred and eighty-one Delawares a larger representation than that of any other tribe. By this treaty, they ceded to the United States Government the greater part of the lands allotted to them by the Wyandots and Iroquois. For this cession, they received an annuity of $1,000. * At the close of the treaty made with the Indians by Gen. Wayne, Bu-kon-ge-he-las, a Delaware chief; spoke as follows: "Father, your children all well understand the sense of the treaty which is now concluded. We experience daily proofs of your increasing kindness. I hope we may all have sense enough to enjoy our dawning happiness. Many of your people are yet among us. I trust they will be immediately restored. Last winter, our king came forward to you with two; and when he returned with your speech to us, we immediately prepared to come forward with the remainder, which we delivered at Fort Defiance. All who know me, know me to be a man and a warrior and I now declare that I will, for the future, be as steady and true friend to the United States; as I have, heretofore, been an active enemy." This promise of the warrior was faithfully kept by his people. They evaded all the efforts of the Shawanee prophet, Tecumseh. and the British, who endeavored to induce them, by threats or bribes, to violate it. They remained faithful to the United States during the war of 1812 and, with the Shawanees, furnished some very able warriors and scouts, who rendered valuable service to the United States during, this war. After the treaty at Greenville, the great body of Delawares removed to their lands on White River, Ind., whither some of their people had preceded them. It is related that their manner of obtaining possession of these lands was by a grant from the Piankeshaws, upon condition of their settling upon them, and assisting them (the Piankeshaws) in a war with the Kickapoos. These terms were complied with, and the Delawares remained in possession of the land. They continued to reside upon White River and its branches until 1819, when most of them joined the band who had emigrated to Missouri, upon the tract of land granted jointly to them and the Shawanees. in 1793, by the Spanish authorities. Others of their number who remained. Scattered * American State Paper,. themselves among the Miamis, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos; while others, including the Moravian converts, went to Canada. The majority of the nation, in 1829, settled on the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. They numbered about 1,000, were brave, enterprising hunters, cultivated lands and were friendly to the whites. In 1853, they sold the Government all the lands granted them, excepting a reservation in Kansas. During the late rebellion, they sent to the United States Army 170 out of their 200 able-bodied men. Like their ancestors, they proved valiant and trustworthy soldiers. Of late years, they have almost lost their aboriginal customs and manners, They live in houses, have schools and churches, cultivate farms, and, in fact, bid fair to become useful and prominent citizens in the great Republic. Howe, in his "Historical Collections," credits the following tradition of this tribe of Indians, to the Indian agent, John Johnston: "The true name of this once powerful tribe is Wa-be-nugh-ka, that is, ' the people from the East,' or, 'the sun-rising.' The tradition among themselves is, that they originally, at some very remote period, emigrated from the West, crossed the Mississippi, ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware River, near where Philadelphia now stands, in which region of country they became fixed. About this time they were so numerous that no enumeration could be made of the nation. They welcomed to the shores of the new world that great law-giver, William Penn, and his peaceful followers, and ever since this people have entertained a kind of grateful recollection of them; and, to this day, speaking of good men, they would say, 'Wa, she, a, E, le, ne,' such a man is a Quaker, i. e., all good men are Quakers. In 1823, removed to the west of the Mississippi persons of this tribe, who were born and raised within thirty miles of Philadelphia. These were the most squalid, wretched and degraded of their race, and often furnished chiefs with a subject of reproach against the whites, pointing to these of their people, and saying to us, ' See how you have spoiled them' meaning, they had acquired all the bad habits of the white people, and were ignorant of hunting, and incapable of making a livelihood as other Indians. In 1819, there were belonging to my agency in Ohio, eighty Delawares, who were stationed near Upper Sandusky, and in Indiana 2,300 of the same tribe. Bockinghelas was the principal chief of the Delawares for many years after 188 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. my going into the Indian country: he was a distinguished warrior in his day, and an old man when I knew him. Killbuck, another Delaware chief, had received a liberal education at Princeton College, and retained until his death the great outlines of the morality of the Gospel." The Delawares had a village near the Sulphur Springs, in the city of Delaware, and cultivated corn in the vicinity. Howe says, "There were. formerly two villages belonging to the Delawares mostly within the limits of the present town of Delaware. One occupied the ground around the east end of Williams street, and the other was at the west end, extending from near the saw-mill to the hillside. Upon the ground now occupied by the town, they cultivated a corn-field of about 400 acres. The Mingoes had a small village above town, on 'Horse-shoe Bottom,' where they also raised corn." They did not remain here long, however, after the advent of the whites. But, as it has ever been since the landing of the Europeans upon the Atlantic Coast the Indians have been forced to give way before their more powerful foes. Step by step they have been borne backward across the Continent, until but a narrow space lies between them and the last shore. As a race, they are fast disappearing from the land. "Their arrows are broken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast dying away in the untrodden West. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking before the mighty tide which is pressing them away ; they must soon hear the roar of the last wave which will settle over them forever."' There is much in the Indian character to excite our bitter and revengeful feelings, and much, too, to awaken our pity and sympathy. When we reflect ! how their hunting-grounds have been wrested from them, we feel but little disposition to censure or condemn them for contesting the pale-face's right of possession " to the lands of their fathers. After the removal of the Indians from Delaware County; detachments used to frequently return to trade their peltries to the white people. The Shawanees, Mingoes and Wyandots especially, were in the habit of making periodical visits to the neighborhood for a number of years. Much of their local history belongs more appropriately to * Sprague's American Indians. particular sections of the county, and hence will be given in the township histories. Although it may be that neither La Salle, nor Joliet, nor Hennepin, nor, indeed, any of the French pioneers ever set foot upon what is now Delaware County. yet, it forms a part of the territory claimed by the French through these early explorations. Says Howe, in his "historical Collections of Ohio": "The territory now comprised within the limits of Ohio was formerly a part of that vast region claimed by France, between the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains, first known by the general name of Louisiana. In 1673, Marquette, a zealous French missionary, accompanied by M. Joliet, from Quebec, with five boatmen. set out on a mission from Mackinac to the unexplored regions lying south of that station. They passed down the lake to Green Bay, thence from Fox River Crossed over to the Wisconsin, which they followed down to its junction with the Mississippi. They descended this mighty stream 1,000 mile., to its confluence with the Arkansas. On their return to Canada, they did not fail to urge in strong terms, the immediate occupation of the vast and fertile regions watered by the Mississippi and it, branches. At this period, the French had erected forts on the Mississippi, on the Illinois, on the Maumee, and on the lakes. Still, however. the communication with Canada was through Lake Michigan. Before 1750. a French post had been fortified at the mouth of the Wabash and a communication was established through that river and the Maumee with Canada. About the same time and for the purpose of checking the progress of the French. the Ohio Company was formed, and made some efforts to establish trading-houses among the Indian. 'The French, however, established a chain of fortifications back of the English settlements and thus in a measure, had the entire control of the great Mississippi Valley. The English Government became alarmed at the encoachments of the French and attempted to settle boundaries by negotiations. These availed nothing, and both parties determined to settle their differences by the force of arms." All this, however, belongs, more to the history of the Country at large, than to this particular county. It is given in this connection merely to show who were the original possessors of the soil. It is general history, also, which tells us how, in this country, the lilies of France drooled and withered before the majestic tread of the British lion, and how in his turn, quailed beneath the scream of the HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 191 American Eagle. The successful termination of the Revolutionary war decided the ownership of this section of country, perhaps, for all coming time, while the war of 1812 but confirmed that decision. At the period when it passed from the sway of the British Government, this broad domain was the undisputed home of the red savage and the solitudes of its forests echoed the crack of his rifle as he pursued his enemy or howled behind his flying prey. His canoe shot along the streams, and the paths worn by moccasined feet were the only trails through the unbroken wilderness. But little more than three-quarters of a century have passed, and behold the change! Under the wand of enchantment wielded by the pale-face pioneer, the forests have bloomed into smiling fields clothed with flocks and Herds, and waving with rich harvests ; and their solitudes have become peopled with over 30,000 civilized and intelligent human beings. Nor is this all. During the years that have come and gone in quick succession while the panorama has been unfolding to view. we behold the trail of the Indian obliterated by the railway track, and the ox-team displaced by the locomotive and the rushing train. The landscape is dotted with happy houses. churches and schoolhouses, and the silence of its wastes are broken by "The laugh of children, the soft voice Of maidens and the sweet and solemn hymn Of Sabbath worshipers." Delaware County has accumulated its population from various sources, but the larger portion of it has been drawn from the older States of the East. Several countries of the Old World have contributed to its settlement material that has developed into the very best oŁ citizens. Here, too. may be found many of the descendants of Ham, who, under the refining influences of education. arid the substantial benefits of a fine government, have become honorable and upright men and women. From the pine forests of Maine. to the "Old Dominion." anal the "dark and bloody ground;" and from that region to the Atlantic Ocean. every State has aided more or less in the settlement of the county. These elements from the different States, and from the different quarters of the world have blended into a population whose high standard of education and intelligence will compare with any county in the great State of Ohio. The first settlement made within the limits o Delaware County by white people was in Liberty Township, in 1801. Speaking of the first settlement, Howe, in his "Historical Collections," says " The first settlement in the county was made May 1, 1801, on the east bank of the Olentangy, five miles below Delaware, by Nathan Carpenter and Avery Powers, from Chenango County, N. Y. Carpenter brought his family with him, and built the first cabin near where the farmhouse now stands. Powers' family came out toward fall, but he had been out the year before to explore the country and select the location. In April, 1802, Thomas Celler, with Josiah McKinney, from Franklin County, Penn., moved in and settled two miles lower down, and, in the fall of 1803, Henry Perry, from Wales, commenced a clearing and put up a cabin in Radnor, three-fourths of a mile from Delhi. In the spring of 1804, Aaron, John, and Ebenezer Welch (brothers) and Capt. Leonard Monroe, from Chenango County, N. Y., settled in Carpenter's neighborhood, and the next fall Col. Byxbe and his company, from Berkshire, Mass., settled on Alum Creek, and named their town Berkshire. The settlement at Norton, by William Drake and Nathaniel Wyatt; Lewis settlement, in Berlin, and the one at Westfield followed soon after." There appears to be no doubt of the truth that Carpenter was the first actual settler in the county. Upon this point, the different authorities agree, also, upon the date of his settlement. In addition to those above mentioned as locating in Liberty Township, they were followed, in a few years, by Ebenezer Goodrich, George and Seth Case, who settled on the west bank of the river, below Carpenter's. David Thomas and his family were added to the settlement about the same time, and squatted just north of the spot occupied by the Cases. James Gillies and Roswell Fuller also came about this time. Timothy Andrews, A. P. Pinney and Mr. Bartholomew located farms on Tyler's Run, and were followed soon after by many other sturdy pioneers, who joined in the work of subduing the wilderness. In the division of the county known as Berkshire Township, settlements followed a few year; later than those mentioned in Liberty. Moses Byxbe is recorded as the first settler, or rather as the leader of a colony, who settled in this section in the fall of 1804. He owned 8,000 acres of land, which he had obtained by the purchase of land warrants from Revolutionary soldiers, and being a man of influence and enterprise, he had induced a number of friends and neighbors to emigrate with him to the land of promise. The 192 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. colony came from Berkshire County, Mass., where Byxbe had followed the vocation of tavern-keeping, and, in this business, had received a number of land warrants from soldiers for board. On his arrival here, he laid out a village plat, and called the place Berkshire, for his native county in the old Bay State. The village, the first laid out in Delaware County, has never attained the ponderous proportions of Cincinnati, or Cleveland, or Toledo, or many other cities of more modern origin. A post office of the name of Berkshire is about all there is left of this ancient town. The removal of Byxbe to Delaware, and the laying-out of the county seat, destroyed the hopes of Berkshire. Among the names of early settlers in this township we notice those of John Patterson, Maj. Thomas Brown, Solomon Jones, James Gregory, Nicholas Handley, " Nijah " Rice, David Pierce, Joseph Pierce, Maj. Plum and William Gamble. Maj. Brown had made a visit to the "Great West," from his home in Massachusetts, in 1803, visiting Detroit and Cincinnati. Favorably impressed with the country in the vicinity of the latter place, he determined to emigrate to it. He returned home by way of the Berkshire settlement, and Byxbe induced him to settle in that locality. The family of Brown started for their new home in the West in September, 1805. They crossed the Alleghanies and found Zanesville, with a few log huts and a small mill; a little improvement at Bowling Green, a few cabins at Newark, and at Granville the body of a cabin ; and beyond, Brown's wagon was the second to mark the route through the wilderness. The family found shelter with Mr. Root until their own cabin was ready for occupancy. In 1805, a settlement was made in what is now Berlin Township. The first purchase of land in this division of the county was made by Joseph Constant, and consisted of 4,000 acres. He was a Colonel in the war with the Seminole Indians, of Florida, and was taken sick at the South, and returned to his home in New York, where he soon after died. Col. Byxbe purchased a similar tract of land in this township, to that of Constant's. It was on this tract of Byxbe's that the first settlement was made in 1805, by George Cowgill. During this year, settlements were made on the Constant purchase, by Philander Hoadley, David, Isaac, and Chester Lewis, who came from the town of Waterbury in the "Nutmeg State." The next settlers were Joseph Eaton and John Johnson, from Huntingdon, Penn. They settled on Olive Creek, and Eaton is mentioned as a man of a large family, consisting of nine children. In 1808, Lovell Calkins, who had visited the neighborhood the year before, returned to Connecticut, accompanied by Lawson Lewis, and brought out his father's family. He described the new country as a second Eden (not even lacking the serpents), and induced others to emigrate to its delectable fields. The train of emigrants, consisting of the families of Samuel Adams, Jonathan Thompson, John Lewis Calkins, and his father, Roswell Calkins, set out, and after the usual hardships of an `° overland "journey, reached the settlement safely in September, 1809. The little band consisted of about thirty persons, and though wearied with their long trip, they at once set about providing shelter, and soon the proverbial cabin was ready for occupation. The first white settlers in that portion of the county known as Radnor Township, David Pugh and Henry Perry, who came in 1803. They were natives of Wales, and Pugh had purchased of Dr. Jones, of Philadelphia, a section of land in this township, upon which he laid out a village, in 1805, and called it New Baltimore. This village never amounted to much, although the plat contained 150 acres of land, laid out into blocks and lots. Pugh was of the opinion that it would grow up a great city, and immortalize him as its founder, but soon discovered that the opinions of '' men and mice aft gang aglee." Thomas Warren came from Pennsylvania in the fall of 1810, bought the entire 150 acres, and converted it into a farm, thus putting an end to the incipient city. A Mr. Lodwig was the next settler in this township, after Pugh, and was followed shortly by Jenkins, Watkins and John Jones. Elijah Adams came in 1808, and located just north of the village of Delhi. John Philips was a relative of Pugh, and settled in the neighborhood shortly after the latter gentleman. David Marks and Hugh Kyle settled about two miles north of Delhi in 1810. They were followed by others who located in this immediate section. The next division to be occupied by the Anglo-Saxon was the present township of Scioto. Richard Hoskins and family, consisting of four boys and three girls, were the first squatters in this region, and came in 1806. They were from Wales originally, but had located in Franklin County upon first coming to the country. The next arrival was Zachariah Stephens, who came from Pennsylvania. He removed to Kentucky from the HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 193 Quaker State, thence to Chillicothe, Ohio, and finally to a location on the Scioto River, north of Boke's Creek, where he settled an adjoining farm to Hoskins, and a few months after the settlement of that gentleman. James McCune, from the I Emerald Isle. came up with Hoskins, and located just south of this farm. The next year Stewart Smith, also an Irishman, settled on Boke's Creek. (Thus the Smith family got a foothold in the county.) Joseph Shoub, a Pennsylvania Dutchman and a millwright by trade, came in the same year, and settled near Smith, also a man named Hall. John Williams and Jacob North were added to the little settlement in 1809, and in 1810, a ; family named Dilsaver settled at what was known as the "Broad Ford" of the Scioto. Philip Horshaw and one Nidy came in the same year, and erected a grist and saw mill, which proved a well come institution to the surrounding country. Genoa (not. the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, but a township of Delaware County) comes next in chronological order, and had settlements made in it as early as 1807. The first whites who located in this division were Marcus Curtis and Elisha Newell and their families, who came from Connecticut. A few months later. William Cox came from Pennsylvania, and settled in the "oxbow " bend of the Creek, as it was called, from its fancied resemblance to that "implement." Daniel Wicks was here as early as 1810. In addition to Cox, mentioned above, the old Quaker State sent to the township, Hezekiah Roberts and family, A. Hendricks, Jacob Clauson. and Bixby Rogers. Roberts came in 1810. and settled on land owned by one Latshaw, who had cleared ground, raised a crop of corn, and built a cabin. Hendricks came at the same time, and with Roberts, Clauson settled in the neighborhood in 1809. He went to Columbus seeking employment, and assisted in cutting the first timber and raising the first cabin in the future metropolis of the State. Rogers came to the settlement in 1812. He had served through the Revolutionary war, and some years after its close, removed from Pennsylvania to Knox County, and to this township, as above, in 1812. Shortly after this, David Dusenbury came in from Virginia, Acting upon the principle that it is not well for man to be alone, the first thing he did after his arrival was to marry Betsey Linnebury, amt of course was happy ever after. Further additions were made to the settlement in 1810, by the arrival of Sylvester Hough and Eleazer Copely, the latter a physician, and their families. from Connecticut. Jonas Carter was also a pioneer of 1810. He made some improvements, but after remaining a few years, sold out, and took up his course with the star of empire westward. A man named Duell, a doctor, came from Vermont, and located in the neighborhood, where he remained several years, and then moved away. In Kingston, the first settlers located in the southeast quarter of the township. Pennsylvania contributed the larger portion of them, and as early as 1807, sent out George Hess and John Philips. In 1809, James Stark, John Rosecrans, Daniel Rosecrans and David Taylor moved in, and commenced the business of preparing the wilderness for human habitations. The Rosecranses were a prolific people, if we may accredit the early chronicles, from which we learn that John brought with him four stalwart sons, to say nothing of his daughters. With a profound respect for the patriarchs and prophets, he called his sons Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and John. Daniel Roseerans' family consisted of Nathaniel, Jacob, Purlemas and Crandall. Joseph Patrick and his wife came to the neighborhood with the Rosecranses. This constituted the sum total of the settlements in this township, so far as we were able to learn, prior to the war of 1812. We quote the following from a local record: "The Anways were settlers in 1815, and escaped the suspense suffered by their earlier neighbors. The neighbors in Pennsylvania were nearer neighbor's here. Common interest grouped their cabins, and gave them security against attack. To the northward they knew there were no settlements and the presence of the foe would be the first indication of danger. In the year 1812, a block-house was built at Stark's Corner. The more cautious retired hither in nightly. Drake's historic defeat drove the entire settlement to the little fortress, where they awaited the onset." When the truth came out, the people returned to their homes, and doubtless (we may venture the remark with safety), when they did learn the truth of the matter, they indulged in a few pages of profane history, at the man who, in such squally times, would perpetrate a practical joke, and we don't blame them either. The most famous event perhaps connected with the history of Kingston Township, is the fact. that it gave birth to Maj. Gen. Rosecrans, a gallant officer of the late war. The first account we have of a settlement in what is now Delaware Townsbip, was made in the present city of Delaware. In the fall of 1807, one Joseph Barber built a cabin at the Sulphur 194 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. Spring. The spot on which it was located is now embraced in the University Campus: Says Howe in his "Historical Collections," from which we have several times quoted: " It stood close to the spring, and was made of poles, Indian fashion, fifteen feet square, in which he kept tavern. The principal settlers were Messrs. Byxbe, William Little, Dr. Lamb, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake (Baptist preacher). Thomas Butler. and Ira Carpenter. In 1808 Moses Byxbe built the first frame house on William Street. Lot 70. and the first brick house was erected the ensuing fall, by Elder Drake, on Winter street. Being unable to get but one mason, his wife laid all the brick of the inside walls." (Lady readers, how many of you, who grow up like hothouse plants. could, in case of the most extreme emergency. perform such work as laying brick?) But few .settlements were made in this division of the county until the laying-out of the town in 1808 (about the time of the formation of the county). After it became the seat of justice. it. settled up rapidly, as more particularly noticed in another chapter. In 1807, a settlement was made in the present township of Marlborough. by Jacob Foust. The following account of his trip to this section is of some interest: "Foust left Pennsylvania in 1799 with the aim to settle in the Scioto Valley. He had with him a good team of horses. a wagon, a cow and his wife and .seven children. He crossed the Ohio at Wheeling and, leaving the few habitations of the river, entered the forest; which lay unbroken for miles before him. Twenty miles through the woods brought the family to a large building erected as a 'travelers rest,' capable of holding fifty persons. Here they resolved to pass a night. Morning came, and discovered the fact that some rascal had stolen the best horse. Foust rode to Will's Creek, and hired help to bring the, family to that point. Thence they were advanced to Zanesville. where, arriving at night and finding a blarksmith-shop near the center of the town, they took possession. The smith was much surprised in the morning to find his shop converted into a dwelling, but kindly provided some provision for their breakfast. Foust leased land of a man named Brown, and raised a good crop of corn. A woman came along one day with an empty wagon and four horses-her share of an estate. Fount engaged the wagon and team. and hired a man named Bowman to convey his family on to Coleraine Township. of Ross County. where the family remained until 1807. In April of this year, Fount moved up to the forks of the Whetstone, and squatted on lands belonging to the Campbell heirs-the first settler in that section, and only the cabin of Barber, near the spring at Delaware, between his cabin and the Carpenter settlement." The next settler on the river in this section was Ariel Strong; the third was a newly married pair of young people, named Swinngton. These three families were all the settlers in this immediate section, prior to 1808. At other points in the township, there were Nathaniel Wyatt, from New York, William Brundage and his son Nathaniel, William Hannaman, Levi Hinter. William and Allen Reed and families. Joseph Curran, Isaac Bush and Silas Davis came in prior to 1812. In the same year as given above (1807), settlements were made in Trenton Township. William Perfect and Mordecai Thomas were the first squatters. and came from the "dark and bloody ground." A man named Spining owned 1,000 acres, of military land. and Thomas and Perfect each bought 100 acres of this land located at the mouth of Perfect Creek, a little stream named for the family. Bartholomew Anderson also carne from Kentucky, and settled just east of Perfect, in 1810. John Culver, Michael Ely and their families were the first settlers north of Culver's Creek, and located in the settlement in 1809. Shortly after them John Williamson came and bought land of Ely, and during the year married his daughter Rosanna. A man named Roberts is noted as the first permanent settler on Rattlesnake's Run, where he lived for twenty years or more. John Gim settled on the Creek near by; as early as 1807-08. William Ridgaway came a few years later and settled on a farm adjoining to that of Gim's. We make the following extract referring to the settlers of this township: "The northern part of the township was settled by industrious people from New Jersey. A colony from Ithaca, N. Y. settled in the south, and one from Pennsylvania in the west part of the township, all strong men, well fitted for toil in the forest. Of the early settlers was Gratax, who wore 'leather breeches full of stitches,' a fawn-skin vest and a coon-skin cap. One farmer ran two large asheries; and supplied Delaware with salt and window glass for more than twelve years.. These articles he wagoned from Zanesville. Jonathan Condit, whose descendants are scattered over the east part of the township, came from New Jersey, and settled on Little Walnut. Oliver Gratax came a single man, and married a Miss Rosecrans." HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 195 The wilderness of the present township of Harlem was broken by white men also in 1807. In this year, one Benijah Cook emigrated from Connecticut, and built the first cabin, and is recorded as the first settler in the township. A man named Thomson (without the p) built the next cabin. and in 1811 sold his improvement to a Mr. Adams. I)aniel Bennett had settled in the neighborhood prior to the coming of Adams. He was a preacher (Bennett), and lived on the farm until the time of his death, years later. John Budd came in about this time and bought land where the village is located. From Pennsylvania came William Fancher and family, and., following him, Waters and family. Faucher built the first brick house in the township, in which he spent the remainder of his life. "Porter Township * drew her first settlers from the Susquehanna. and from Western Pennsylvania. They were an energetic people and entered the dense forest with a resolution to create for themselves comfortable homes. Each made his effort the first year to consist in clearing six to eight acres and planting a crop of corn. Christopher and Ebenezer Linberger were the first settlers in the township. The third settler was Joel Z. Mendenhall - all three located in and near the village of Olive Green. The Settlement of Porter began after the organization of, the county. Timothy Murphy settled north of Olive Green, and Daniel Pint in the same locality. Their improvements were made on land owned by Robert Porter after whom the township was named. and the settlers were called squatters. Joseph Patrick became the agent of Porter and leased lots containing one hundred acres to each settler." In 1811, Peter and Isaac Place settled in the southeast portion of the township and Abraham Anway settled near Liberty. Other settlers came in after the war of 1812,. and the township was rapidly taken up. In Orange Township we have Joab Norton recorded as the first settler. The following is from a published account : "In the family are old-time letters from Worthington asking him to migrate to that village and bring with him all is tools for shoemaking and a quantity of dressed calf-skins. The letters bear date of the spring of 1807, and indicate an anxiety for his arrival. Responding to the call. Norton started with his family from Connecticut in 1807, reached Worthington, where he remained one year, and then moved up into Orange, and settled one: mile west of Orange Station. on * County Atlas. land purchased of James Kilbourne. Norton started a tannery in 1808, the first in Delaware County, and combining the manufacture of shoes with his tannery, he employed for his workman Charles Hempstead." From the Empire State, the township received as recruits N . King in 1810, and C. P. Elsbree and J. McCumber in 1811. The two latter settled north of Orange. and King settled on the place known as the Conkling Farm. John Higgins came from Vermont in 1808, soon after the settlement of Norton, and was followed shortly by others of his family, who settled in the southwest quarter of the township. Lewis Eaton and family were from New Hampshire, and located just south of Kings place. E. Luddington settled just south of Norton, toward the close of 1808. His wife died in 1810, and is recorded as the first death occurring in the settlement. The early settlers on the east side of Alum Creel: were William Stenard, John Gordon, and Ira Arnold. who came in and located, in the order mentioned. Randall Arnold, Isaac Black, Chester Campbell, Lee Hurlbut, and Cyrus Chambers, were all early settlers, and came to the township before the war of 1812. The territory embraced in Brown Township was not occupied by the whites as early as many of the other divisions of the county. The following notice from the County Atlas, is about as appropriate as any matter we have obtained in regard to this settlement. " The earliest settlement of the township was made along the west bank of Alum Creek. The northeast quarter was known as the 'Salt Reservation,' and strong hopes were raised of finding salt water, by boring wells, sufficiently salt to pay for the establishment of works thereon. Daniel G. Thurston, F. Cowgill, and Stephen Goram had a well sunk and some salt made, but the brine was not strong, and the work was abandoned. The Smiths, Cunninghams, and Longwells were leasers and settlers of the early times. Hugk Lee, father of John C. Lee, Lieutenant Governor of the State for two terms, was an inhabitant of the southern part of Brown. Daniel Thurston was the first Justice of the Peace, etc." Oxford Township claims white settlements as early as 1810. The first to locate within its borders were Ezra and Comfort Olds, who moved in from Sunbury. John Foust was the next man. He came from Marlborough, and Henry Foust moved in shortly after. Their cabins were of the rude architecture of the time. Foust's, we are told, was innocent of any floor, except mother earth, for several years. Old's 196 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. house was but twenty feet square, and contained but one room. It was large enough, however, (in that day) for a family of six persons, and had plenty of room to spare, as the sequel will show. A family of the name of Clark moved into the settlement late in the fall, and Olds took them in for the winter. There were nine of them, thus making a total of fifteen persons in a room twenty feet square. But such was the feeling toward the new-comer in the early days, that one was never turned empty away. George Claypool located in the northwest corner of the township, and opened a tan-yard near the river, and with it he connected the manufacture of shoes. The early settlers on I Alum Creek were Andrew Murphy, James McWilliams, Hugh Waters and Henry Wolf. :Murphy was comfortably situated in his Pennsylvania home, but was induced to come West, was borne down by hardships, and died on his new lands. Walters built a mill on the creek, the first in the neighborhood. Ogden Windsor built the first frame barn, and Foust the first frame house in Oxford Township. Next in order, we have account of settlements made in what is now Concord Township. George Hill, a native of Pennsylvania, came to this locality in 1811. Others of the Hill family accompanied him to the "Great West;" also Christopher Freshwater. Hill is said to have built the first cabin in this division of the county. It was located just north of the old Mansion House, erected at the White Sulphur Springs, and stood on a lot once owned by Joel Marsh. Freshwater, who was a brother-in-law of Hill, built the second cabin in this section. Benjamin Hill, a son of George Hill, still lives in the township. At the time these settlements were made, there were no residents nearer than Whetstone, Radnor and Dublin ; nor were there any roads through the forest. A "pack-horse trail" wound along the west bank of the Scioto River, from Columbus to Sandusky. There is a tradition, erroneous though we believe it to be, that the old colored man, Depp, with his family settled here in 1790. That they came in early, there is no question, but, that they were here at that remote period, is extremely doubtful. The Sulphur Springs, and the "Industrial Home," are matters of historical interest, that will be appropriately noticed in another chapter. Samuel Weaver is accredited as being the first settler in the present township of Thompson, and came in 1809. He came from the Old Dominion, and located on land owned by C. Hill, below Clark's survey. Weaver seems to have been the only squatter in this division of the county, previous to the war of 1812, as the next immigrant noticed is John Cochrane, who came in 1816, and was from Pennsylvania. John Swartz and four sons, also from Pennsylvania, came to the settlement in 1818, and during the same year, Simon Lindsley and John Hurd came from the Green Mountains of Vermont, and settled on the first lot below Swartz. Roswell Field came from New England in 1819, and is noticed as the first Justice of the Peace. In 1820, Joseph Russell and Samuel Broderick settled on Clark's survey, three miles below the "mills." These were all the residents of the township up to 1820, of whom we have any account. In 1812. Eleazer Main is noted as having settled in the division known as Troy Township. The following account is given of this pioneer of Troy: " Shortly after his settlement in 1812, he responded to the call for troops, and leaving his family in the woods, perhaps forever, went to the relief of Fort Meigs, on Lake Erie, where the gallant Croghan had repelled the British and Indians. Arrived near the fort, the men unslung knapsacks, and lay down, gun in hand. A dark and rainy night passed away, and before daylight word was given and the line of battle formed. Outlying parties of savages reported to the British that a powerful army was near by, and the hastily spiked guns were buried in the earth and the army hurried away." Lyman Plain was also among the early settlers of the township, and had some notoriety as a hunter. From old Virginia the settlement received Joseph Cole and David Dix. John Duncan and William Norris settled on Norris Branch, and are recorded among the pioneers. Another of the early settlers was David Carter. He met an untimely death at the raising of a barn for James 'Martin. Henry Cline came to the settlement in 1814, and Henry Worline shortly after, and settled near Cline. Cole erected a gristmill at an early day; which was an acceptable institution in the neighborhood. Col. Byxbe owned a large body of land here, which he leased to setHers as they came in. Some of them built cabins, and, after trying one crop, left in disgust. Not all who went West remained to "grow up with the country," but those who did, found that enterprise and energy were just. as essential to success as it is at the present. day. HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 197 Such is a brief notice of the early settlements made in the county in the order they occurred. We have thus glanced hastily at this part of the work to avoid repetition in the township histories, where everything pertaining to the pioneers and their early settlement will be entered into. A chapter will be devoted to each township, in which all matters of interest will be given in detail. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)