A, .^,.-^ Pioneer Sketches: SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF FORMER DAYS. THRILLING SCENES AND INCIDENTS, FIERCE ENCOUNTERS WITH INDIANS AND WILD BEASTS, EARLY PRIVATIONS OF THE AMERICAN PIONEERS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY EARLY SETTLERS. BY M. P. sa.rge;nt. Illustrated by Goddard, under the personal supervision of the Author from real life. ERIE, PA.: Herald Printing and Publishing Company, Limited. i8qi. ^i67 3.' COPYRJGHT 1S9I. BY M. P. Sa»GEST. AsHTABru\, Ohio. M. P. SARGENT. pp^kf^ce:. The object of this work is to give the reader life sketches of some of the early settlers of our country, scenes and inci- dents of former days, current topics, sparks of humor, gems of thought, etc., in which I have endeavored to give correct statements and dates from reliable sources, that the reader can refer to reminiscences of the past, we hope, with some degree of pleasure, knowing there is a VAST FIELD for the his- torian to chronicle events and incidents of the heroic i^ioneers of our great beneficent land of America. AVhile the Heroes of the Dark Continent and the Mission- ary of India and other heathen lands enter into the work with unbounded zeal, to delineate to a finality the condition of the heathen race; "very well," but in the interim, let us not be unmindful of our own kin and kindred. We find there are many families in our land who cannot give a correct family history for two or three past generations, thus causing much annoyance and litigation, pertaining to estates, etc., and a living vacuum of a knowledge of the family pedigree. "Then let us hope others may write a l>ook As well as some who have undertook In days of yore, that have gone by Along down the ages to you and 1. 'Tis not necessary to pick out the man of great renown ; From the rank and file many heroes have been found "Whose names doth not appear on historic scroll ; Yet patriotic heroes in mind, in body and in soul." People nowadays desire to coudense matters, therefore I have thought it best not to torture the reader with h)ug-spun articles, nor with borrowed clippings, other tlian naturally be- long to incidents and history, of which proper credit is given. "What I offer is my own," With these remarks I present this volume to the public, asking no favor, but hoping that it may' be of interest to the reader. Respectfully, Ashtabula, June 15, 1891. AUTHOR. CHAPTER I-The Pioneer , 13 CHAPTER II— The Vessel of the Pymatuaiug— Old Forts 15 CHAPTER III— Great Mex— Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Grant— From Poverty to the Pinnacle of Fame 17 CHAPTER IV-Life and Accident Insurance 23 CHAPTER V— Meadville— Meadville and Crawford County, Pa.. 25 CHAPTER VI— Former Days Sketches of Early History of Craw- ford County and Meadville — Major George Washington —Thrown from a Raft by Ice — Stone War Club — Arrow Heads — Indian Remains — Stockade Forts — Wild Game — Millions of Pigeons — Death of James Finley and B. McCormick -General Wayne's Treaty — Old Houses and Residences 27 CHAPTER Vi:— Cornelius Vax Horn— An Exploring Party- Captured by Indians— Tied to a Tree — Escape — Retaken Prisoner — Liquor Exchanged for Him — More Indian Troubles 36 CHAPTER VIII— Early Settlers -Arrival of William Dick in Meadville— The First Saw Mill— The First Grist Mill— General Mead's Stockade House — The Early Bai- — Privations of Early Settlers — William Dick's Encounter with an Indian — Half Town's Fat Turkey..... 41 CHAPTER IX — Ax Indiak Joke — Colonel Joseph Hackney — Trade with the Indians — The Beaver Skin 47 CHAPTER X— A Duel— Holland Land Company— William Gill- Jennie Finney— Navigation of French Creek— Singular Sui- cide — Melancholy Disaster 49 CHAPTER XI— The Ancient Military of Crawford County— Train- ing Day — Uniforms — The Band — Description of Various Com- panies — The Meadville Stock Raising Dragoons — Meadville Artillery 54 CHATPER XII— Alfred Sargent— Birth— Removal to Pennsyl- vania Marriage — Clearing Lands —Manufacturing Black Salts —The Rapacious Wolf-Tlie Salt Well— First Vote 65 CHAPTER XIII— Ekie City — Presque Isle Bay — Trophies of Perry's Victory- Seth Reed— Jndah Colt-The Small-Pox Pass —The Erie & Pittsburg Canal— Early Settlers 72 CHAPTER XIV— Erie^City- Its Early History — Subsequent Progress— Pre-Historic Remains— Curious Mounds — Chorean Peads — The French and Indian Struggle — Old Log Houses and Forts — Ruins — Evacuation of Presque Isle— The Poutiac Con- spiracy—The Triangle — Gen. Anthony Wayne- Construction of Perry's Fleet— Scraps of History 78 CHAPTER XV— Alfred King 95 CHAPTER XVI— Pioneer Soldiery— The Pioneer Soldiery of Crawford County — Lieutenant, Cajitain, Major — General Train- ing, Etc — The Old Block House— Beaver Rangers 97 CHAPTER XVII— The Country School House— Healthy Sports — Cracking the Whip— Spelling Schools — Exhibitions 101 CHAPTER XVIII- Ripe Age 107 CHAPTER XIX— The Wild Hog Chase 108 CHAPTER XX— Logging— Burning Fallow HI CHAPTER XXI— Obed Wells — Characteristics— Farm Products —The Pittsburg Market— The Milking Scene— The Dutchman and the Bull-Frog— Pulling Turnips 113 CHAPTER XXII— The Bounding Hart 122 CHAPTER XXIII- Daniel Sturtevant- Buying Cattle— Drov- ing Cattle— Farming 123 CHAPTER XXIV— Eri Thomas— Characteristics— Selling a Pair of Boots : 127 CHAPTER XXV— Early Settlers — Flemming — Jackson H. McKee's Encounter Avith the Wolf 130 CHAPTER XXVI— M. P. Sargent— Birth -Ancestry— Boyhood — The Old Block House on the Hill — Pnncheon Floors— The Wood Bee— The Old Fire Place -The Kids on the Hill— The Nimrods — Picnic — Chet and Charlie — Uncle Charlie's Fleet Ride — A Narrow Escape 134 CHAPTER XXVlI-OuR First Fiddle— How Got-A Nevada Silver Mine— My Good Mother— Weaving 145 CHAPTER XXVIII— CooNiNG— Line of Tactics— Coon, Oppossum, Porcupine — The Nimrods— Cuff and Ponto — A Painful Accident 147 CHAPTER XXIX— Sugar IMaking- Tapping Trees- Gathering Pap^The Rescue — The Festival — Our Cabin— Snaaring Off 153 CHAPTER XXX— Our First Trip on the Raging Canal— The Summit — The Feeder — Hartstown Pond — Hundreds of Snakes — Tribes of Indians —Their Departure for the Southwest — The Polk and Dallas — Towed by a Steamboat — Rounding Beaver Point — A Narrow Escape 158 CHAPTER XXXI— Captain of a Canal Boat, with Papers in My Hat— A Cheese Deal 167 CHAPTER XXXII— An Early Visitor — A Terrific Yell — A Magical Eftect 170 CHAPTER XXXIII— In Love and Out 175 CHAPTER XXXIV— The Home of Our Youth 176 CHAPTER XXXV— The Hog— His Exploit in a Well— The Rescue 178 CHAPTER XXXVI- A Trip to Meadville:for a Pound of Tea 181 CHAPTER XXXVII -Thirty-two Pounds of Butter for a Pound of Tea 183 CHAPTER XXXVIII— Manutacturiug Black Salts— Salt Wells 185 CHAPTER XXXIX— Sparks of Humor 188 CHAPTER XL— A Trip on Lake Erie— Ohio City -Akron —Re- turn to School 189 CHAPTER XLI— The Sunny South— Down the Ohio and Mis- sissippi — Teachers' Institute — Bolton and Dickens, Slave Dealers — Scenes — Death of Brown — The Barbecue 193 CHAPTER XLII— The New Year 205 CHAPTER XLIII — Our Forest Home — Marriage — Organizing a School District — Phrenological Lecture— Wholesale Blessing 206 CHAPTER XLIV — Lumbering— An Incident— Shipping Lumber to Erie, Buffalo, Troy and Albany 209 CHAPTER XLV — Recruiting — Prospecting — Leasing Coal Lands — The Cox Farm, McFate— Drilling for Coal— My Return— Death of My Sister — Removal — Death of Our Son, Edwin — Prospect- ing Armstrong and Butler Counties — Lease and Purchase — Oil Business — Bear Creek Property — Sale of Timber Lands — Death of a Brotber-iu-Law — Grain and Flour Shipment — Drop in Oil Lands — Destruction of Property — Indians — Prisoners Released —Brady's Bend '. , 215 CHAPTER XLVI— Mining and Shipping Coal— Towing Boats- Low Stage of Water on the Allegheny River— Pegg's Chute — Crapo House— A Rebel Landlord — A Loyal Connecticut IMan — Palmy Days of Oildom 221 CHAPTER XLYII— Lu^iBER Yards— Meadville and Oil Creek- Leasing Oil Lands and Operating — Drilling 228 CHAPTER XLVIII— The North Shore— Lake Superior— The Mercer Party— Lake Huron — Dancing — Sumner Overboard — A Ride Over the Falls 231 CHAPTER XLIX— Return from Prince Arthur— Lumbering- Building — American Insurance Company of Chicago — Charles L. Currier's Letter— E. A. Butts, State Agent— The Prizes— The Field — The Bible and the Hunting Scene — General Insurance • Agent — Author Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of For- mer Days ~37 CHAPTER L-Gems of Thought 243 CHAPTER LI— Sparks of Humor 244 CHAPTER LII — Springboro— Old Chums— Shadeland— Stockmen 245 CHAPTER LIII— Tragic Death of Orson Chapman 247 CHAPTER LIV- Return of Spring 249 CHAPTER LV— To the Agent 250 CHAPTER LVI— Edmund Sargent— Characteristics 251 CHAPTER LVII— Things that are Queer 254 CHAPTER LYIII— J. F. Woodard 255 CHAPTER LIX— E. H. and Byron Sargent 257 CHAPTER LX-Sparks of Humor 260 CHAPTER LXI — William S. Alderman — Raising the Log House — An Incident — An Ugly Elevation — Boating — Clearing up Lands — Settling on His Lands — Marriage 261 CHAPTER LXII— The Clever Bears of Calveras Countv— Their Sagacity— The Pig Sty 265 CHAPTER LXIII— Alfred Sargent — Hunting Geese Eggs— Yaughn's Pond — Westward Bound — Iowa — Colorado — Pike's Peak— Frozen Feet — Return to Iowa — Marriage — Farming 268 CHAPTER LXIY— Ritner H. Sturtevant 272 CHAPTER LXV- Sparks of Humor 274 CHAPTER LXVI— John C. Sturtevant 275 CHAPTER LXVII— Samuel F. Woodard 277 CHAPTER LXYIII— Lucius F. McLaughlin 279 CHAPTER LXIX— Mr. Frey Goes Out for His Breakfast 281 CHAPTER LXX— Sparks of Humor 283 CHAPTER LXXI-Trade in Former Days 284 CHAPTER LXXII— Sparks of Humor 288 CHAPTER LXXIII— John P. Locke 289 CHAPTEK LXXIV— Gemsof Thought 291 CHAPTER LXXV— Wild Bees- Chester Morley's Big Bonanza 292 CHAPTER LXXVI— Finding a Bee Tree— Bill, the Ox-Teamster— When to Cut a Pig Yoke 295 CHAPTER LXXVII-W. G. and S. J. Thomas 297 CHAPTER LXXVIII— Gems of Thought 301 CHAPTER LXXIX—Shadeland — Powell Brothers, the Cele- brated Stockmen 302 CHAPTER LXXX— The Agent of To-Day 304 CHAPTER LXXXI— A. C. QuiNBY— Making Hoops and Shingles — Canal Boating — Dealing in Nursery Stock — Livery and Sale Stable T 305 CHAPTER LXXXIl -The Legal Trio 307 CHAPTER LXXXIII— CoNNEAUT Lake— Location and Size- Crossing Over on the Ice — Awful Suspense 310 CHAPTER LXXXIV— R. Cheeseman 314 CHAPTER LXXXV-A. 0. Paul— The Gander— Agenl^Staging — Livery — Nursery Stock — Horse Dealer 315 CHAPTER LXXXVI— A. C. Martindale 317 CHAPTER LXXXVII— Lexington— Early Settlers 320 CBAPTER LXXXVIII- Sanford Salisbury— Mechanical Gen- ius — H. E. Salisbury — A Natural Born Mechanic - Building Saw Mills— Inventing Machinery Death — Canal Boating — James P. Salisbury — The Revolving Wooden Horse-Rake — Removal to Kansas— Hot Times with the Border Ruffians — Farming 323 CHAPTER LXXXIX— Lockport — Cranesville -Albion- Girard— Across Lake Erie in a Canoe — Treed by a Bear 328 CHAPTER XC— A. Denio— Ostego Fork Mills— Miles Grove, Pa.. 336 CHAPTER XCI— America 338 CHAPTER XCII— The Father of Waters— Romance and Trag- edy of the Mighty Mississippi — Its Waters Cover the Keniaius of the First European Who Traversed Them — Ferdinand De Soto, Lasaile and Others 343 CHAPTER XCIII— Cooped by a Lion 347 CHAPTER XCIV— Loving Words 352 CHAPTER XCV— Pittsburg 353 CHAPTER XCVI— Butler 354 CHAPTER XCVII— Colonel Drake, the Discoverer of Petroleum Oil 355 CHAPTER XCVIII— Franklin 357 CHAPTER XCIX— Oil City 359 CHAPTER C— The Steele Farm 363 CHAPTER CI— The Bennehoff Farji— Oil Production— The Robbery of Half a Million— The 3Iystery-The Arrest and Release '. 365 CHAPTER CII— Titusville 370 CHAPTER cm Conneaut— The Harbor— Early Settlers 372 CHAPTER CIV— Pithole City— Wonderful Growth and Collapse 375 CHAPTER CVI— Roads in Oildom 377 CHAPTER C VII — Ashtabula. Ohio— Harbor— Early Settlers — Orowth— Reminiscenses 379 CHAPTER CVIII— East Side— Improvements 387 CHAPTER CIX— Early Settlers of Ashtabula— The First Baptism — "Put Her in Agaiu." 389 CHAPTER CX— John Metcalf— Carrying i\[ail in Former Days— The Dance at Bunker Hill " "... .. 392 CHAPTER CXI— The First Vessel Launched at Ashtabula— Sad Accident 395 CHAPTER CXII— William Humphrey 397 CHAPTER CXIII— L. W. Smith 399 CHAPTER CXIV— The Fargo Brothei-s 401 CHAPTER CXV— The Ashtabula Disaster 403 CHAPTER CXVl— Granville Loomis 405 CHAPTER CXVII— Painesville, Ohio 412 CHAPTER CX VIII— Jefferson. Ohio.... 415 CHAPTER CXIX— Geneva, Ohio 417 CHAPTER CXX— Warren 419 CHAPTER CXXI— The Indian 421 CHAPTER CXXII— Joseph Bennett 423 CHAPTER CXXIII— Indian Chiefs 424 CHAPTER CXXIV— Cleveland 425 CHAPTER CXXV— Youngstown 428 CHAPTER CXX VI— Curtis Goddard— Birth— Boyhood— Manufac- turer- -Removal ro Ashtabula 431 CHAPTER CXXVII— The Privations of Early Settlers 433 CHAPTER CXXVIII— The Railroad Brakeman 435 CHAPTER CXXiX-The Ashtabula Strike 436 CHAPTER CXXX— Capital and Labor 440 CHAPTER CXXXI -Do You Ever Think?— Life's Seven Stages... 442 CHAPTER CXXXII— Early Sports and Pastimes -The Grape Vine Swing 443 CHAPTER CXXXIII— The Blind Man Everett 445 CHAPTER CXXXIV— An Interesting Corpse 447 CHAPTER CXXXV— A Pioueer Mortgage 450 CHAPTER CXXXVI— The Court House Removal 451 CHAPTER CXXXVII— A Sad Incident— The Farmer— A Tavern Keeper — A Farm Consumed by Whisky — Removal — Downfall and Trial of a Young Girl — Release — License Taken from a Tavern Keeper 452 CHAPTER CXXXVIII— Noted Life Swindler Caught 454 CHAPTER CXXXIX— The Shenango Railroad 455 CHAPTER CXL— The Round-Up 457 CHAPTER CXLI— Fossil Mines of the West 459 CHAPTER CXLII— Big Salaries and Insurance 466 CHA.PTER CXLIII- -The Insurance Agent of the Future 468 CHAPTER CXLIV — The Waterways — Their Importance and Com- mercial Value — Ship Canal Surveys 470 CHAPTER CXLV— Lemuel Cook— Encounter ATith Indians— The Artist, Charles H. Goddard 477 CHAPTER CXLVI— War Time Heroes -Pretty Mrs. Mason— Hovr She Made Herself Useful to the Confederate Government 479 CHA.PTER CXLVII— Our Country— Its Possibilities 483 CHAPTER CXLVIII— The Forces of Nature 486 CHAPTER CXLIX— The American Conflict 487 CHAPTER CL— Sparks of Humor 489 CHAPTER CLI— The Outlook 492 CHAPTER CLII- -The Giants 497 CHAPTER CLIII— Wonderful Progress 499 CHAPTER CLIV— The Morning Time 500 CHAPTER CLV— The Locomotive Engineer 501 CHAPTER CLVI— Cost of Life Insurance 503 CHAPTER CLVII— The Telegraph Operator 506 CHAPTER CLVIII— The Hairy Chicken 507 CHAPTER CLIX— Sparks of Humor 509 CHAPTER CLX— Now and Then 511 CHAPTER I. THE PIONEER. 8 THE pioneer penetrated the primeval forest, he had to adapt himself to the pe- culiar conditions in which he was placed. Next to the Indian, he was the original man. The trees first nmst be cut away, To let in the light of day; They had to live in crude log houses. And wear tow shirts and linen trousers. They had to use both muscle and a ^villing hand, To clear the timber from the land; They had to come to this decision, And work hard to get their daily coarse provisions. Were it not for the hope of a brighter future, the heart of the Pioneer, at times, would fail ; but no, he resolutely pushed forward from day to day and made the primeval forest yield him and his family a fair subsistence. We should not be unmindful of the heroic struggles of the American Pioneer. Struggling not only for a sub- sistence, but that the Banner of America might wave un- poluted 1)y a foreign foe, as the emblem of his country, forever free. THE PIONEEK. CHAPTER II. THE VESSEL OF THE PYMATUNING OLD FORTS. IN 1850 John Hadlock, now of Ashtalnik, O., in company with John McMurtry, of Harmons- burg, Pa., visited the Pymatuning Swamp, situated in Crawford County, Pa. At a point where the Pymatuning Creek and another stream come together, they boarded an okl vessel (which had long been known to exist there) for the purpose of oli- taininff some of its timber as a relic. They succeeded in getting a piece of live oak plank from the deck near the Ijow of the vessel, from which Mr. McMurtry made two canes, which are now in the possession of his family. Mr. McMurtry died in 1885 at the age of 102 years. He was one of the Pioneers of Crawford County. This vessel lies about twenty feet from the channel of the Pymatuning Creek, overgrown with moss, birch and tamarack trees from four to eighteen inches in diameter. The bow stem stuck up about two feet from the mucky earth at this time. On the opposite side of the creek from where this vessel lay is an old fort, emlmnkments thrown up in a semi-circular form, like breastworks, and within this semi-circle Spanish coins have been found, and trees were standing, some of which were two feet in diameter. In his Pioneer Sketches, the Hon. Alfred Huidekoper mentions that there seems to have been a preoccupancy of this 1(3 PIONEER SKETCHES. coLiiitry by a more powerful nation than the Indians. The above mentioned fact of this vessel in the Pvmatnnino: Swamp furnishes a problem for the historian and evidently sustains the theory that tliert; was some nation other than the Indians, preoccupying this country. And, who was it % That's the question. We will have to 2^0 back two or three centuries at least to attempt anything of a solution of this problem. And then we are left in the fog ; In this we have no tradition, But are left to supposition. It is said there is nothing impossible with God. And it also seems that there are many wonderful things not im- possible for man to accomplish. Then w^e might suppose that when De Soto made his discoveries on this continent that a portion of his fleet might have ascended the Missis- sippi, the Ohio or the Shenango — And got stuck in the Pymatuning bog, But as to this we are left in the foff. r^ CHAPTER III. GREAT MEN. COLUMBUS, WASHINGTOX, LINCOLN, GRANT. INCE the creation of the world it seems that men from humble birth have been created and raised up for the great emergencies of the day. We need go back but nineteen centuries to note Christ crucified for his goodness to humanity. A. D. 1492. "Columbus said there was land in the West, Others said no; but he kuew hest." CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. The Four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America and its observance by a World's Fair at Chicago is approaching, and it is meet that we make some mention of the Italian seaman, whose labors resulted in the discov- ery of a new continent. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in li36, the son of a poor wool-carder. He early took to the sea. His spare time was devoted to the study of astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, cosmogi'aphy, history and philoso})hy. He obtained a very good education, which was perfected in the University of Pavia. 18 PIOXEER SKETCHES. At the age of fourteen he went aboard an Italian ves- sel and worked his way up until he had assumed the com- mand of a cruiser. He married the daughter of the gov- ernor of Santa Porta, who was an al^le navigator l)ut a poor man. Columbus not only had hard work supporting his own famih", but was obliged to help sustain his father and young brothel', ^^'llile struggling along in poverty, he heard of the finding of great J^eds and a bit of carved wood floating out at sea from the West. The idea at once presented itself of a western ocean passage to India. This theory was strengthened l)y ancient tradition, and after negotiations with scientists, who had given the subject their attention, he applied to King John II of Portugal for means to fit out an expedition to seek a western passage to India. The Portuguese King kept him waiting with half })romises. Columbus' wife died, and he left Portugal in indignation. He wandered with his little son to a convent in Anda- lusia, where he was taken up and lived two years, through the aid of the Prior of the Convent, who became enlisted in Columbus' cause. The latter w\as presented to Queen Isabelhi of Spain, to whom he applied ft)r the same privi- lege he had asked of Kins; John. After much solicitation, three small vessels, the Nina, Pinta and Santa jNIaria, were fitted out, and Columbus was given the title of Viceroy or Governor of all the land that he might discover. August 3d, 1492, he set sail from Palos with 120 men, and on October 12th of the same year discovered land — the ishsnd of San Salvador. On tiie latter i)art of the voy- age the crew had become mutinous, and, had not land been found wlien it was, C()luml)us would have been tlu'own PIONEER SKETCHES. 19 overl3oard by a set of foolhardy mutineers who, in all prob- aljility, would never again have reached their native land. Cuba and Hispaniola (Hayti) were also discovered, and in March, 1493, the adventurers reached home, where thev were received with high honors. Columl)us was given the title of Admiral. He made two subsequent voyages, dis- covering Jam-iica. Porto Rico and other islands; visited terra hrma at the mouth of the Orinoco and founded a colo- ny at Hispaniola, of which he assumed the Governorship. In 150(» he was deposed and taken in chains to Spain. The pul^lic were indignant, and Columbus was released, but not replaced in power. He made a fourth voyage in 1502, explored the coast of Honduras, was shipwrecked and escaped to Jamaica, which island he left in 1503, returned to Spain, and after many hardships, expired at Valladolid in 1506. Here was a gentleman, a scholar, a brave adventurer and explorer — Who said there was land in the West, Others said no; but he knew best. His native countrymen of Hayti and Spain Imj^risoned him, because he bad some brain. That dominant, aristocratic will grew harder, Because his sire was a poor wool-carder. There is a natural freak ever to remain, If aristocrats have the money, they haven't all the brain. GEORGE WASHINGTON. In 1750 the French built Fort Macault at Franklin, Fort Le])oeuf at Waterford and Fort Presque Isle, at Erie, Pennsylvania. 20 PIONEER SKETCHES. Later, Gen. Braddock said he was not going to be dictated to bj that young American buckskin, (George Washington.) But he soon found, had his aristocratic lord- ship taken Washington's advice, it would have probably turned defeat into victory — instead of the death-trap for many of his soldiers at Braddock's Fields, near Pittsburg, by the French and Indians. And so you will notice in the history of this country and of Europe, that the nobleman and the aristocrat is loth to advise with the man of humble birth ; ^vhen by heroic deeds he has become a conqueror or a millionaire, and has worked his way up to public favor, he will be recognized. Then, 'tis "how do you do," General Washington or Presi- dent Lincoln or General Grant. These great men were not l^orn Avith a silver spoon in their mouths, but by their efforts cut their way through upward, and stood by their own merit on the pinacle of fame. Washington was the man for his day. — the Father of his Country — to look after the sparsely inhabited colonies, to aid in his superhuman manner in kcei)ing a heart in the poorly fed and barefooted soldier, through the dark days of the Revolution; requiring a man of nerve, endurance and Christianity, which elements were found to be embodied in the nol)le Washington. At the close of the Revolution, when he desired to rest from his labors and enjoy his quiet and i)leasant home at Mount Vernon, when in full vigor of life, had occasion to call in a doctor, who bled him time and again, when the noble man said : "Don't bleed me to death; let me die in PIONEER SKE7THES. 21 peace." But we are told that the hincet had ah-eady done the work, and he died, as it were, in the full vigor of man- hood, an untimely death. LINCOLN AND GRANT. During the dark days of '61-2 when our country, from Maine to Texas, California and Oregon, across to the Atlan- tic, was embroiled, seething hot and fighting terribly; was going on at the front, about even-handed, victory with defeat; while many l)rave boys were slain and many official heads being cut ofi' through the machinations of greed, d(v sign, intrigue, wire-pulling, and God only knows what all, our great President saw that the fine army of McClel- land, on the Potcmiac, was not accomplisliing wdiat he thought it ought to, a change of commanders resulted, and the reader knows that other changes came; and when Gen. Halleck was in command he also saw that Gen. Grant was l)y this commander handicapped in his operations in Tennessee, and when looking back to Donaldson, Henry and Vicksburg, he could see in the unpretentious, In'ave Gen. Grant, a conmiander who would fight it out on that line, and eventually close that unholy Avar. Therefore to Grant was given supreme command of the whole army. Lincoln was raised up for this great emergency. A work to do, a problem to solve of the greatest magnitude ever on the American continent. True, his soldiers, unUke Washington's, did not have to go hungry and barefooted, but some of them even worse, undergoing impositions from currish beings under the garb of men, and thousands of brave boys when in Andersonville and Lil)by prisons, the hell holes of the South. How did these ])rave l)oys look, those who came out alive '{ 22 PIONEER SKETCHES. From the time the first rel)el gun was fired on Sumter the intrepid Lincoln threw his whole soul into the cause of humanity and his country. What mortal man had such a Herculean task before him ? What man could have done better? "Forever struggling for the Union of our land, When accomplished cut down by an assassin's hand, Thus ended Washington's and Lincoln's life career, But during their days they lived without a peer." CHAPTER IV. LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE. ^N THE early clays of the Pioneer of this coiintiy life and accident insur- ance was unknown. But with the onward march of time comes, aye, a wonderful growth and a rapid in- crease of population, which to-day is a menace to the honest, industrious American toiler, who, upon the labor market, has to compete with an inferior competitor, at times, to earn a subsistance for himself and family. And when he looks about him he finds the mighty man of avar- ice already here. Syndicttes of Europe are here. And a mighty concentration of capital is here. Millions of the broad acreage of God's green, fertile earth, is concentrated in the hands of the few. Commercial enterprises and business pursuits are being coralled and 1)rought into the ring of the giant. And again the toiler looks around for that prospective home afar off ; he sees in the dim distance the avenues of hope closing up around him, and as he proceeds onward towards the promised land, h(^ linds the door closed, upon which is in- scribed in large letters, ''No Admittance." With disheartened mien and pensive mood he retraces his steps and asks himself: "What am I to do?" I answer: "Insure." That is the avenue left open for the young. 24 PIOXEEH SKETCHES. the middle or the aged man, to secure a competency for himself, if living a few j'eai's, or for dependent ones, when you can no longer provide for them. This is the only avenue, to a competenc}', for the many, as you can secure your magna charta by paying in semi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or yearly installments, and secure your in- demnity, in as safe institutions as there arc in the M^orld. "But," says one, "I feel as though I would soon get through and be on mA^ road to Heaven, and let my family look out for themselves. " Yes, how would we look being wafted Heavenward while our family is being trotted off to the poor house i But I fear that some of you will, soon, perhaps, Wish you had not let your policy lapse; Accident is liable to overtake you ; Disaster comes too late to awake you. But, while the lamp holds out to buru, The most improvident may return To consider well, the sure and safer way, To reinstate your insurance to-day. CHAPTER V. MEADA'ILLE. JEADVILLE is the county scat of Crawford £^t/L^,-n I County, Pa., and is beautifully situated in ~ ' - the French Creek or Venango River Valley and upon its sloping sides. Meadville is an old historic town, settled over 100 years ago by the whites, or at much earlier date by the Indians who, among the white pioneer settlers, held high carnival, killing some and taking others captive. That stream emptying into the French Creek at Mead- \alle, named by the Indian the Cussawago, together with the large stream, French Creek, and fine valleys and hill- sides, abounding in fish and most all sorts of wild game, a genial climate sheltered Ijy its timber and hillsides, afforded a paradise for the Indian and he was loth to give it up — And was determined to remain On his original domain. But poor Lo here, as elsewhere, is destined to a slow, but sure, extinction. Meadville is noted for its educational advantages, its Allegheny College, founded in 1820, and many throughout the states of our Union have there obtained tlieir title of A. B. There is perhaps no city on this continent, that has a better educated people, and few cities of the same size has more wealth and social refinement, or better public build- ings, or more al)le jurists. 26 FIOXEER SKETCHES. With such citizens as the Huidekopers, Derricksons, Dicks, Riclimonds, Churches, Farleys, Hendersons, and many others who might be mentioned, in Meadville, it must be of some prominence. Despite the absence of the boom- ing; elements of fiowino: oil wells and g'ushinij o-assers, a railroad center or a seaport town, Meadville is a solid town and in case either of the al)ove elements should strike them, they would — Be prepared to take it easy, AVhether it should be gassy or be greasy. Meadville, being the county seat, also furnished a pretty good market for many articles, especially after the Atlantic & Great Western Railway and its extensive shops were built, and the McHenry House, and that village of railway company's houses duplicating eaclf other. A considerable traffic by the way of the Erie & Pitts- burg Canal to the Suumiit, thence via Conneaut Lake and Evansljurg up the feeder to Meadville The water that supplied this canal feeder was taken from French Creek above Meadville. Were it not for a more rapid transit for the people to get around the country, the Erie & Pittsburg Canal would be of more real value to-day, to Eric City, Crawford, ]Mercer and Lawrence counties, than is the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad. And it seems that the people along the line of the Erie Canal and the New York Central Rail- road think about as nmch of the one as the other. The fact is they could not well do without either one of them. In case of the al)andonnient of the canal, traffic would be in- creased on the Central, and commercial rates from Buffido to New York would rule much higher. But we arc living in a fast age, 'mongst a fast peo}jle — And as the people travel from state to state, They are Ixduul to go at a lightning rate. CHAPTER VI. FOR3IER DAYS. Sketches of Eaki.y History of Crawford County and Mead- VILLE. — Xoies by A. Hnidekoper . ASSING OVER with a Ijricf notice of the expedition early in the winter of A. D. 17.");), of then Major George Washington and his companion Mr. Gist, who passed lip French Creek Valley en route to Waterford, to demand of the French Connnander by what right he held that place; the lihint reply given him, that it was held by order and claim of France; the courtesy shown to Washington by the French officers, and (his horses having given out) the dangerous and wearisome tramp back on foot of Washington and his com- rade to the Ahegheny River, there having to make a raft, from which Washington, by a collision with ice, was thrown into the river and ol)liged to spend the night on an island, walking about to keep from freezing, while his comrade, less fortunate, had his lingers frozen, I proceed to comment on the valley of French Creek as it presented itself, including the island and for a mile or two above and below the present city, to the first Pioneers who came here. It is ditficult to believe that Indians, with their simple instruments, could ever have cleared away such a forest as would naturally grow on such fertile land. The Indians alleged that the work had not been done by them. A tra- dition among them attributes it to a larger and more pow- 28 PIONEER SKETCHES. crful race of inhabitants who had pre-ocenpied the country. From relics turned up in plowing, it would appear that the common implements of the Indians here were the stone war clul) and tlie flint arrow head. The interments proba- bly indicate where the Indian settlements were most dense. One of these was situated west of the acjueduct, six miles below town. Another is on a bluft' on the Fish farm. In a skeleton taken from this one was found imbeded a flint arrow, the probable cause of death. In the valley, a short distance below the glass works, was a funeral mound some fifty feet long and some three feet high which, when leveled down a few years ago, presented several skeletons and some Indian implements now preserved in the Library Museum. By the side of one of the skeletons was a smooth, perfectly round hole some two or more feet deep and a foot or so in diameter, where food had no doubt been placed for the de- ceased. Whatever it was, it had disappeared through time. Another place of interment was across the creek near Mr. Van Horn's mill. INDIAN REMAINS. The signs of Indian occupations are far more numer- ous along the Pymatuning Swani}) than in the French Creek Valley. In the latter locality, some years ago, the remains of what had been stockade forts could easily be seen, some half dozen on the east side and one on the west. As at the period the-e forts were constructed wild game was abundant and millions of pigeons came there, as they did in the davs of my boyhood, annuall}- visiting this section of country, one can conceive the inducements Indians had to live in that locality. These forts were uni- fornih' round, the earthen walls being some three feet high PIONEER SKETCHES. 29 in which the wooden stockade originally driven has long since disappeared. The interior is full of little pits containing charcoal and ashes, where the Indians cooked their food. In one fort on the west side of the swamp, some miles south of the others and in the forest, a number of trees were embraced in the earthen wall. One of them, an oak, w^hich I measured, was over ten feet in circumfer- ence. I am sorry to say that no conservative spirit on the part of the land owners has protected these forts and I doubt if any of them now exist. As a prol^lem for historians I would say that in the year 1S34, when surveying near Sorrel Hill, in the extreme western part of the county, I came across trees that had been blazed on a north and south line apparently with a sharp axe, 112 years before that time or 166 years from the present time. Who could have done this ? On the 10th of August, 1791, James Dickson (known as Scotch Jemmy to distinguish him from a namesake) when seeking his cows on the farm of Samuel Lord, Esq., was attacked liy Indians in ambuscade. He was wounded in his shoulder, his hip and his hand. While stooping, trying to see his foes, a bullet passed through his hat. The old man, with a shout of detiance, exclaimed in broad Scotch: "Come out of that, you rascals, and fight us fair!" The Indians showing no assent to the proposition, Dixon conmienced a retreat. The Indians, their guns be- ing unloaded, follo^ved with tomahawks but were afraid to approach near him. The old man always insisted after- wards that just when he was going to tire a low voice said: "don't shoot," whereupon, preserving his load, he thereby saved his life. Ke was Avilling to join with three or four 30 PIONEER SKETCHES. men who started out in pursuit of the Indians l3ut the hit- ter escaped by a timely retreat. The wife of Darius Mead died this summer (1794) in Meadville, being (except those occasioned by Indians) the first death in Crawford County among the white inhabitants. On the third day of June this year (1794) James Find- hiy and Barnabas McCormick were killed l)y Indians while splitting rails for John Halens, about a mile west of the aqueduct. Guns having been heard, search was made and they were found dead and scalped by their savage assailants. The bodies were placed in one coffin and interred in the Meadville Cemetery. The treaty of General Wayne with the Western Indians on the 3d day of August, 1795. ratified on the 'I'lA day of December, brought peace so far as Indian hostilities were concerned to Northwestern Pennsylvania. Meadville, the county seat, was originally planned in 1790 l)y General David Mead, but the plan was enlarged and matured in the year 1795 by Major Roger Alden and Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy. The plot for the town was divided into 75 squares by streets, alleys and lanes. The Diamond Avas laid oil" in the form of a parallelogram, measuring 300 feet east and west, by 600 north and south, designed for public use. On the east side of this now stands a large, commodious brick court house, built in 1825, planned by Mr. Strickland, of Phila- delphia. On the west stands the Episcopal Church, from ])lan of Bisho}) Hopkins, of Vermont. On the south stands the Unitarian Church, of brick, with Doric colunnis, with i)lan of Gen. George W. Cullum. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 31 On the west side of the Diamond, some lialf way ))e- tween Centre and Chestnut Streets, stood tlie first jail, made stronofly of hewed losfs. with a i)alisude-i)rotected yard ])e- hind it. The story above the jail Avas of frame work and used as a court house, the judges haAing an elevated seat at the south end, and a circular enclosure dividins: the bar and jury from the audience. It was in this court room that Van Holland, the nun-- derer of Hugh Fitzpatrick, in 1817, and David Lamphier, who killed a constable with an axe when attempting to arrest him, were tried and convicted; being as }'et tlie only crimi- nals ever pulilicly executed in this county. The l)rick building south of the Uiiitarian Church was built for the office of the county commissioners. When they removed to the court house. President Timothy Alden used it as a librar}^ for the books donated to the Allegheny Col- lege, the building of the latter being then i^rospeclive. SCHOOLS. In 1802 an Act was passed incorporating a seminary of learning, and James Burchfield, James Herrington, John Brook, Henry Richards, William Moore, John Patterson, John Limber and Henry Hurst, were made trustees. A one-story brick building, containing two rooms, was com- pleted in the fall of 1805 at the southeast corner of Liberty and Chestnut Streets, where it stood for about 20 years. In it the Kev. Joseph Stockton gave instructions in Latin and Greek and the common branches of English education. Some vears afterwards Mr. Andrew Lefiuirwell tauirht an English school in the same building. I recall an amus- ing incident under his rule. Wisiiing to punish a boy for misbehavior, he requested Mr. Wilso.i Dick then a p:ii)il, 32 PIONEER SKETCHES. to go out and cut a switch for liim. The latter thinking the errand rather an undignified oiie for a boy of his size, after a long delay came back with two poles 15 feet long and laid them with gravity before the teacher — the gravity not extending to the rest of the scholars. Rev. Timothy Alden taught a classical school in the small frame house two doors west of St. Joseph's Hospital, and Judge Derrickson taught one in the Clinton Cullum and afterwards in a house now gone, al)out Avhere the Opera House now stands. I recall when a very small l)()y going to a very primi- tive school, taught by a Mr. Douglas, on Arch street. The boys all sat on low benches, and the teacher used to preserve order an instrument called ''Taws," made of leather strings, fastened to a handle. If a boy misl^ehaved the "Taws" was thrown at him, and he was required to carry it to the master and abide results. A spell of sickness shortened my term to a week and I am happy to say I had no experience with "Taws."" OLD HOUSES AND RESIDENTS. I close my article with a notice of old houses and resi- dents on Water Street. Near where the freight depot is now stood the residence of Hon. William Clark, who I think was secretary under the administration of John Quincy Adams in 1S24. One old house standing back from the road, about half-way from Kennedy's Bridge to Water Street, Avas occupied by John Gibson. The next house standing back east of Water Street with a yard planted with trees in front, was that of H. J. Iliiidekoper, erected in 1805. It was a frame house with two recessed wings. North of it was a plastered brick building used for a Land PIONEER SKETCHES. 33 office. Here a large part of the lands of the Holland Land Company in four counties, and of the Pennsylvania Popu- lation Company in two counties, were sold ])y H. J. Huide- koper, their agent. Both of these houses have been supplanted by new ones. East of "Water Street, near now Pine Street, was the next house, oceui)ied by Barzella Goodrich, a carpenter crip]iled with rheumatism, Init whose ingenuity made him the factotum of the village at that early time. Following up the east side of AVater Street, near Mill Run, was the hotel of Roswell Sexton, and connected with it was the office of Samuel Lord, Esq., who at that time was the owner and lived on the place now of Mr. AVilliam Reynolds. In common with many others of that day, the 'Squire w^as somewhat addicted to profanity, but when the minister one day coming up heard him and, tapping him on the shoulder, said, '''Squire, suppose you skip some of those hard words," it is said the remark left its impression on him. One morning the 'Sciuire saw several l)lack men on the other side of the street, harrying northward toward Canada. Looking at them sternly, in his stentorian voice he said, " Did you run away ? " The i)oor fugitives ^tood trembling in their shoes until he added, "'If you did, keep OD ; don't stop here." On the southeast corner of AVater and Chestnut Streets was the store of Arthur Cullum, the elder. South of this was a large barn yard of Samuel Torbett. In this yard was exhibited the first menagerie visiting Meadville. When Mr. White, a 3'oung medical student, entered the exhibition room, a lion became greatly excited. Mr, White went home and changed his clothes, but as soon as he re-appeared 34 PIONEER SKETCHES. the lion became so excited again that the manager had to request Mr. White to retire. Across Water Street was the once Torbett Hotel, which any citizen now living, who ever attended the dancing school of Mr. Torbett, in the hotel ball room, will remem- ber as a place full of pleasant memories. Across Chestnut Street from the Cullum store was the Gibson Hotel, noted for its order and excellence, and north of it, beyond the alley, still stands the frame building where the first Courts were held in now Crawford County, the Judges, until the County was sej^arated from Allegheny County, coming from Pittsburg. The l>uilding was also used at times for religious services. Across from this buildino: was the old log house much sunk at the ends, the home of the Waab and Bosler families, the original owners of the island. On the east side of the street, north of the court room, was the home of Eliphalet Bctts, in his day the leading if not the only village tailor. Small in size, he is said to have been in early life one of the most popular riders in horse racing, at that time a very common amuse- ment. North of Mr. Bctts lived Mr. General George Hurst, a prominent citizen, and northward across Centre Street lived Colonel Wm. Mayard, who built paper mills in Woodcock township and discovered ho"\v to make straw pa- per, a process only known in the East Indies prior to his discovery. North of Colonel Mayard's house was the dwelling of Dr. Dani(4 Benms, who married a daughter of Mr. Wm. Miles of Union City. Across the street was tlu^ honu^ of John Reynolds, who married the widow of Dr. P^licot, the person who l)uilt the bridge over French Creek leading to Kerrtown. North of Mr. Reynolds, across an alley, still stands the very old store of Major Harriot. PIONEER SKE7XHES. 35 Eastward, across the street from this store, was the old Meadville Bank, of which Joseph Morrison was cashier. It has lately been taken down to make room for a large brick building. I pass on to the house of General Mead, who died August 23d, 1816. The house the next year be- came the home of Mr. Jared Shattuck, who, having pur- chased a large body of land in partnership with a Mr. Peck, moved here to attend to it. Mrs. Shattuck was a daughter of the Governor of Hayti, and was driven out of the island when the Haytians achieved their freedom. For many 3'ears she received from the French government a pension, which the writer of this collected for her. The Mead house has lately been occupied by Rev. Mr. Billsl^y. I have of course omitted some persons and some places I would have liked to refer to, but space is limited. CHAPTER VII. SKETCH OF CORNELIUS VAN HORN. An Exploring Party -Captured by the Indians. COKXELIUS VAN HORN, one of the orig- inal Pioneers of Crawford County, who lived the greater part of his long and useful life here, was born in Hunterdon County, New York, December 16, 1750. He was the eldest child of Thomas and Jane Van Horn, and was of Dutch descent, his ancestors having come from Holland to this country over a hundred years before his birth. His father died a short time before the Revolutionary War, intestate, although after his death the draft of a will was discovered, unexecuted, which indicated the manner in which he wished to dispose of his property among his six children ; l)ut under the laws of England then in force in the Colonies, Cornelius became sole heir to his father's estate. But the subject of this sketch not being willing to take the advantage oi his brothers and sisters, which the law gave him, took immediate and eflective steps to have his brothers and sisters put into the possession and owner- ship of the different parts of the estate, to which the unex- ecuted will, if it had l)een properly executed, Avould have entitled them. The part allotted to Cornelius was a tract of land in the Wyoming Valley, near or u})()n which the city of Wilkesbarre now stands. He moved on to this tract of land, PIONEER SKETCHES. 37 but, during his service in the Revohitionary arm}-, a man named John Dorrance, a Connecticut claimant and an ancestor of Colonel J. F. Dorrance of this city, took pos- session of the land. There was much trouble and litigation about the title, which was finally decided in favor of Van Horn, and is reported in 2d Dallas, 304. The State, how- ever, fearing a rebellion of the Connecticut settlers against the State authorities, in case the decree of the Court against Dorrance and the other settlers should be enforced, had the land involved in dispute appraised, and many years after- wards paid the actual owners a small stipend for their title. AN EXPLORING PARTY. Having voluntarily given up a large estate in New Jersey, and Ijeing driven from his rightful heritage in the Wyoming Valley, Van Horn, in the Spring of 1TS8, decided to explore the valley of French Creek, or, as it was then called ])y the French and Indians, Venango River, referred to by General (then Colonel) Washington, in his rei)ort to Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia. He joined a comi)any, with David. John and Joseph Mead, John Watson, Thomas Martin, Thomas Grant, Jam(\s F. Randolph, and Christopher Snyder, at Sunlnny, and on the 12th day of May. 1788, after a tedious journey through the wilderness, encamped under a large wild cherry tree, near where the east end of where the Mercer Street iron bridge stands. ARRIVAL AND SETTLEMENT. The only reliable date of the arrival of the earliest set- tlers, is that given by Van Horn in his narrative, written about 1835, twelve or thirteen years before his death, and 38 PIONEER SKETCHES. now in the possession of the Historical Society of Philadel- phia at Philadelphia. After some time spent in exploring, they erected a tem- porary abode on the spot where Meadville now stands. CAPTURED BY INDIANS. On the 5th day of May, 1791, while engaged in mark- ing out corn .ground in company with two men, named Gregg and Ray, near where the passenger station of the N. Y., P. & O. R. R. now stands. Van Horn was attacked by the Indians and taken prisoner. His companions had, at tlie time of the capture, gone to dinner, and were to bring his to the field. When these companions returned to the tield they were attacked by the same Indians, and Gregg was killed and scalped, and Ray taken prisoner. The sub- ject of this article was conducted to the outlet of Conneaut Lake, and there tied to a small tree, and the old chief who had him in charge crawled into the bushes and went to sleep while waiting for his comrades, with Ray in charge, to come u}). While the chief was asleej), his prisoner man- aged to loosen the thongs that bound him to the tree, and ran Avith his arms tied behind him through the Avilderness, to the point on the west side of French Creek, opposite the spot Avhich he and his companions had camp(>d on May 12th, 1788. At this jwint what has always seemed to mo to be almost an unaccountable incident took phice. The escaped prisoner had some time previously })lanted some api)le seeds near the place reft^rrcd to, and at the time of the escape the young trees were to be seen above the ground; weeds had sprung up among them and died the year pre- vious, and there was danger if tire sliould catch in the weeds that the apple trees would l)e destroyed. After all PIONEER SKETCHES. 39 that had happened that day — taken prisoner, taken to Con- neaut Lake, escaped, and with his arms pinioned at the elbows, behind — Van Horn seeing the danger to his yoimg trees, stopped in liis flight and began to pull the weeds from among the trees. While engaged in that operation was seen by John Fredebaugh who, from the opposite side of the creek, took him for an Indian skulking in the bushes and was about to shoot when a recognition took place. Van Horn then waded the creeR and found a young officer and some men at the block house, who were en route from Fort LeBoeuf to Fort Franklin. THE SETTLEMENT ABANDONED. The settlement was abandoned for the time beins:. It is not known whether any white man visited the settlement of Meadville again that year except Van Horn who, in com- pany with an Indian named McGee, came back and got 10 or 12 bushels of grain and towed it in a canoe down the creek to Fort Franklin. After this Van Horn visited his mother in New Jersey and in the autumn returned to the settlement. He is sup- posed to be the lirst white man who passed a winter in or near Meadville. When Van Horn returned in the fall, after his capture and escape, he learned the fate of his companions Ray and Gregg. Gregg had been shot with his own gun, and Ray had been captiu'ed and taken to Sandusky, where he met a trader who was an acciutiintance and who exchanged liquor with the Indians for him. Ray made his way Ijack to Pitts- burg, where he found his wife. 40 PIONEER SKETCHES. MORE INDIAN TROUBLES. In October, 1793, Samuel Lord arrived at the settle- ment from Franklin, and warned all to fly for their lives as there was danger threatening again from the Indians. This warning caused most of the settlers to remove. General AVilkins wrote Van Horn from Pittsburg to engage a sargeant's command, which he did. They con- tinued in the service until the last day of December, whea they were disbanded. Cornelius Van Horn was a lieuteoant in the Revolu- tionary army. He held a command as captain under Anthony Wayne and was the acting sheriif in this section when this portion of Pennsylvania was Allegheny county. He was married to Sarah Dunn in the year 1T*.>7 and they had born to them six children, viz. : Jane, who marrieJ George Anderson; James; Priscilla, who married T. J. Fox; Alden, the celebrated lawyer; Cornelius, Har- riet and Thomas; the last named of whom is the only sur- vivor and is residing on the homestead farm patented by his father in the year 1800 under the name of Southamp- ton. He died July 26th, lSl-6, in his OTth year. Much more might be written of this sturdy Pioneer, but for fear of becomino; tiresome I will close. — 'Notes^ C. Yan Horn. CHAPTER VIII. EARLY SETTLERS. JN HIS pioneer sketches of Meadville and Crawford County, the Hon. John Dick says: In 1794 his father, William Dick, re- moved with his family to Meadville. His famil}% four in number, viz. : his Avife and two sons, George and himself, who was l)etween four and five months old when they arrived in Meadville. At that period there were no means of transportation but 1)3' the A llegheny Kiver or bypack horses. His father chose the former and cmljarked with his family and goods on board a keel boat bound for Franklin, at the junction of the French Creek with the Allegheny Eiver. This journey occupied three weeks to Franklin. Franklin was then a military post established by the Government to pro- tect its settlers. The fort was under the command of Lieu- tenant Polhemus and Ensign Rosencrantz;. Several mem- bers of this command became residents of Meadville, amongst whom were John Wentworth, Luke Hill, Sar- gcant Muzzy, Samuel Lord and Martin Kicencedi.'r, names now familiar to many of the old citizens. Mrs. Dick followed on ptick horses, Avith her infant son on her lap, along the Indian path, from Franklin to Meadville, which in many places AA'as overhung with bushes that nearly SAvept her from her seat. On arriving at Meadville General Mead invited them to his house until some provision should be made for them. 42 PIONEER SKE7CHES. GENERAL MEAD's STOCKADE HOUSE. There was a stockade erected about his premises as a protection from the attacks of the Indians, who were very numerous and troublesome. The stockade was built by planting timbers close together and was about fifteen feet high. The only residents at the time of Mr. Dick's arrival at Meadville were General David Mead, James Dickson, Thomas Ray, David Bulyer, William Jones, Hobert F. Randolph, James Finey and Cornelius Van Horn. In 1796 Mr. Dick built a two-story house on the cor- ner of Water Street and an alky and removed his family there the same fall. In ITUT he built a house for General Mead, which now is standing at the head of Water Street, (Dr. Ellis' residence,) being the oldest house in the city. March 12, 1800, the Legislature passed a law to organ- ize CraAvford County. A building erected by Mr. Dick was finished up for a Court House, and the first Court held by David Mead and John Kelso, Associate Judges, in July, 1800, and by Judge Addison in 1801, Judge Kelso and Judge Bell being the Associates. In 1803 Mr. Dick l)uilt a Court House and Jail on the west side of the Diamond, which was occupied many years as such. THE EARLY BAR. At the early period of judicial business of this County there were many of the first talents of the Bar in regular attendance on the; Courts: — Hon. Henry Baldwin, State Sui)rcme Judge; Hon. Wm. Wilkins, John Woods, Tlumias Collins, Steel Sample, James Ross, Parker Cam})l)ell and George Armstrong, all men of more than ordinary ability, PIONEER SKETCHES. 4B and some not surpassed in their day. Of the resident law- yers were several who were at the head of the profession: — Alexander W. Foster, Patrick Farrelly, Samuel R. Foster, John W. Hunter and others. The first Prothonotary was Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy; Wm. Moore Register and Recorder, and Alex. Stewart the first Sheriff. The successful campaign of General Wayne the same year against the Indians, and his treaty with them rendered more secure the settlers, and emigration increased. In 1TS9-90 General Mead built the first saw mill, and in the Fall of 1790 he Iniilt the first small grist mill near his saw mill. Both were operated by water from Mill Run, there being sufficient water to run both mills the greater part of the year. Soon after, others built saw mills. Roger Alden built a gi'ist mill in 1801 at Seagertown ; Archibald Humes built one on Gravel Run, James Dickson built one on Woodcock, and Alexander Power built one on Conneaut Creek, near Conneautville. Thus the settlers were saved much laboi" and expense in procuring food for their families. THE PKIVATIONS OF SETTLERS. For many years after their removal to Meadville, Mr. Dick says they sufiered man}' privations for want of the actual necessaries of life. For the first year all of their supplies were brought from Pittsburg on pack-horses. Late in the Fall of ITi*.") his father started with four horses to pack a supi)ly of fiour from Pittsburg, for his family during the winter. He expected to be absent al)out eight or ten days, but did not return for nearly six weeks, in conse- 44 PIONEER SKETCHES. quence of the fall of snow about four feet deep. There were no roads opened, and consequently no travel to Ijreak the roads. His mother and the children sul>sisted principally upon frozen potatoes, venison and l>ear meat until their father's return. The few neighbors were no better oflf than they, but a disposition to divide with and assist each other was strongly manifested by all. During the summer large bodies of Indians were en- camped in and about the village, hunting and fishing. French Creek abounded at that time with tine fish and eels and deer and turkeys were often killed within the lines of the village. THE INDIANS. The Indians in general were peaceable, except when vmder the influence of whisky, which was furnished them })y traders. On one occasion Wm. Dick went down to where a large number were camped and purchased a dressed deer skin. When returning he met an Indian who charged him with stealing the skin, and attempted to take it from him, but he being a stout and resolute man, did not feel disposed to yield to his demands. He' felled him to the ground and })icked u}) an ox gad and belabored him right soundly. He was soon after surrounded by a large numl)er of Indians who were determined to have revenge. One of them approached from behind with a large knife, but a bystander called to Mr. Dick, to warn him of his danger, when he wheeled around, caught the fellow in the act of striking him, threw him down, seized the knife, and, in drawing it from him, cut the savage's hand nearly through. Finding himself surrounded and in danger of his life, he made his way to General Mead's house. In a short time the l)uilding was surrounded by Indians, demanding the PIONEER SKETCHES. 45 surrender of Mr. Dick. Owing to the firmness of General Mead and a few others who remained with him during; the night, further hostilities were prevented. After an explan- ation of the matter the mass of the Indians were satisfied that he deserved what he got. Among the prominent Indians was a celebrated chief, whose name in English was Half Town, another Logan, Cheat and Twenty Canoes. Others when translated were Laughing Thief, Stinking Fish and Surly Bear. On one occasion Half Town (with his squaw) called and asked for something to cat. Mrs. Dick set before them some cold meat, breatl, butter and milk. After having satisfied their hunger they left with many expressions of thanks; shaking hands, he remarked: '"Good squaw^, very good." Al)dut three months after, near Christmas, their old friend. Half Town, made his apjiearance with one of the largest and fattest wild turkeys ever seen, completely dressed, and pre- sented it to Mrs. Dick. She asked him how much was to pay and Half Town seemed quite indignant and said: "Good squaw, you much good squaw; you keep him," and turned and walked away. He was not to be outdone in acts of kindness. As the country became settled and the game scarce, they retired to other hunting grounds. AN INDIAN JOKE. CHAPTER IX. AN INDIAN JOKE. OL. JOSEPH HACKNEY was about the first in Meadville to trade with the Indians and had pro\aded such articles as were usu- ally required by them. He kept his little sup})ly in a small frame building on the corner where John McFarland's store now stands. Amoni? the prominent articles of trade with the Indians were beaver, otter and muskrat skins. At that period there were large quantities of beaver taken in the streams and marshes of this county. Colonel Hackney had traveled among the Indians and acquired a })retty good knowledge of their language and many of the natives were quite familiar with him. On one occasion an Indian came into the store and said: "Brother, buy l)eaver skin f "Yes." "How much giver' "Six shillings." "Well, take him." The Colonel threw the skin up thrqugh a hole in the floor into the loft. Wlien the Indian went out he saw a rude ladder against the end of the house, where there was an opening in the loft. Placing it so that he could reach in he stole the beaver skin and an hour after he came l)ack and said: "Brother, I have another ])eaver skin, Ikjw macli r' "Six shillings/'' After l)eing paid he retired but soon after returned with another beaver skin. The Col- onel, never suspecting, asked him why he did not bring 48 PIONEER SKETCHES. them all at once; "No; get one at a time." The Colonel paid the third time and soon the Indian appeared with an- other beaver skin. He began to suspect all was not right and examined the loft and found he had been buying the same skin over and over asfain. When he taxed the savage with his rascality he roared and laughed and thought it a first-class joke. And so did all the Coloners acquaintances, for I have heard them twit him about it many years afterward. CHAPTER X. A DUEL. jXOTHER event of the ear\y days of the city as a matter of history, may with propriety be recorded. A duel was fought in 180-i between General Roger Alden and Alexan- der W. Foster. I am not fully informed as to the origin of the difficulty, but I l)elieve a woman was at the bottom of it. They fought on a point of land on French Creek about two miles from the Court House on the Randolph Flats. At the first fire Alden fell, his antagonist's ball having shattered his thigh bone. He was brought home in a canoe by James F. Randolph and George McGunnegie. Drs. Wallace of Erie and Kennedy of Meadville acted as surgeons on the occasion. Such an event in the village ^vould necessarily produce a great deal of excitement, each of the belligerents having their personal friends, but by judicious forbearance all trouble soon sub- sided and the harmony of the citizens was not disturbed. HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. General Alden was at that time Agent for the Holland Land Company in Pennsylvania, Paul Bush, of Philadel- phia, being the general agent for the company in Penn- sylvania and New York. Large tracts of land were con- veyed to the company by the Government in payment for money furnished them to carry on the Revolutionary War. The settlement of these lands caused much trouljle and liti- gation in the Courts for many years, which retarded in a A DUEL. PIONEER SKETCHES. 51 great measure the settlement of the country. General Alden soon after resigned the agency, and was succeeded by Ham Jan. Huidekoper, who some years later purchased the entire interest of the compan}^ in this State. Mr. Huidekoper lived in this community much re- spected for his i)hilanthropy and benevolence, and died much respected l)y his numerous friends and acquaintances. General Alden served with distinction in the Revolu- tionary War, and was considered a brave and chivalrous officer. He was in possession at one period of some of the most valuable property in this vicinity. He became em- barrassed in his pecuniary affairs, caused by the revulsion in money matters after the War of 1S12, and all of his valuable possessions were sold to satisfy his creditors. He lived some years afterwards in this place in verj' embarrassed circumstances, then receiv^ed an appointment as military storekeeper at West Point, where he resided several years, and where he died between 80 and 90 years of age. In 1793-4 William Gill took possession of and settled on a tract of land on French Creek. He l)uilt a cal)in, and raised corn and potatoes during the summer. In the fall he went to Pittsburg, where his family Avas, iutendins^ to lay in supplies and return with his family, l)ut owing to the winter setting in early, he deferred his return until the fol- lowing sjjring. When he arrived he found the cabin occu- pied by Jenny Finney, who claimed possession of the land, and stood in the door with rifle in hand and M'arned him to leave the premises, or if he attempted to dispossess her she would put a ball through him. Mr. Gill, believing discre- tion the better part of valor, abandoned the settlement and went further up the stream. Jenny Finney remained iu possession long enough to perfect her claim, and soon after 52 PIONEER SKETCHES. married General Mead, he being a widower at that time. Perhaps the General could not have selected a more suitable companion. She Avas well educated, possessed a strong mind, indomitable will and great energy of character. The tract of land settled by her family became the property of her daughter Maria, who was subsequently married to William Gill, the son of her adversary in the land claim. In the end, singularly enough, the descendants of the con- tending parties became joint owners of the property. In ISOO the population of Meadville consisted of 25 or 30 families. Keel boats and canoes were employed in the transportation of articles by way of the Allegheny River and French Creek, the latter stream being navigable for boats of 10 or 12 tons as far asWaterford during the whole summer. In 1812 the keel boats were employed in trans- porting the necessary armament for the fleet in process of building at Erie. All the cannon balls and annnunition of every description, together with the cordage, anchors and spikes, were shipped to Pittsburg for Waterford, and from thence hauled by ox trains to Erie. In the early settlement of the western })art of the State many of the necessaries of life were shipi)i.'d from the sea- board on pack horses across the mountains, and salt would at that time cost 50 cents a quart. About the year 1807 salt was produced in large (juantities at Onondaga, New York, and sent to Erie by water, then sent over to Water- ford to be shipped to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville and other towns en the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. The boats used for transportation were called "arks/' or "broad horns," being from TO to 80 feet long and about 18 feet Avide, and would carry about 200 barrels of salt. Twenty or thirty ))oats of this descrii)tion would pass Meadville in PIONEER SKETCHES. 53 a single day. This trade increased and continued for seve- ral years, and did not cease until 1819. These facts are mentioned to shoAV how important to the interest, not only of this section but a large extent of country beside, was the navigation of French Creek. Much inconvenience and danger attended the inhabi- tants in that early period for want of bridges across the principal streams. In April, 1809, a melancholy disaster occurred in which three persons lost their lives. Joseph Andrews, David Pat- ten and James Milligan were on a ferry-boat near where the old Kennedy bridge stands. There were several other per- sons on board, besides a yoke of cattle and three horses. The boat beinoj overloaded went down about the middle of the stream, and the three above named, one horse and one ox were drowned. The next year Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy built a bridge, it being the first ever built across the creek, and it is now standing, a monument of the doctor's enterprise. There are other incidents of old Crawford, the land of our birth, that we might introduce, but other sketches and incidents are to be mentioned, and I must pass on to other fields. CHAPTER XI. THE ANCIENT MILITARY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. By A. B. Richmond. War's whole art, each private soldier knows, And with a (ieneral'a love of conquests glows.— Addison, T IS MEET in this, our Centennial Year, that the glory and power of the ancient military of Crawford County should not be forgotten. Fifty years ago, when I was a l)oy, the great day of the year — the day that, in my youthful opinion, was that for which all others were made, was '"General Training Day." It was usually appointed the last of June, at which time it was supposed the farmers would have their corn hoed and could well afford to spend one day for their country's glory. At that time the military of the Commonwealth was divided into volunteers and militia. There were a number of uniformed volunteer companies in our county, but the great mas;-! of the bone and sinew — male — -were mustered under the militia law, and were compelled to practic(! the art of war two days in each year. Tliis Avas for the purpose of educating the yeomanry in the science of military tactics, so that if called out to defend our country from the sudden invasion of a foreign foe, they might be termed veterans in the sci- ence of war. Of course it was not expected to give the average fanner a West Point education in two days' time, yet it was expected that they could be taught to execute the complicated militarv mananivcrs of ''■Right and Left Wheel, " ''Shoulder PIONEER SKETCHES. 55 Arms," "Stand at Ease'' and "Break Ranks'" in a manner that woukl strike terror to an invading foe that might land from foreign ships into the back woods of Pennsylvania. I have said that there were a number of uniformed companies in the volunteer regiment, and these were mar- shalled in battle array the day before the general militia "Training Day." The uniform usually varied according to the taste of the soldiers. Many of the companies, how- ever, presented their characteristic style and color to such an extent that a naturalist would have been al)le to deter- mine their genus, even if he failed to deti'ct their species. lie at least would know that they were uniformed volim- teers, no matter what doubts he might have as to the com- pany to which they belonged. Some of the companies were well and even handsomely uniformed. The Mcadville Grays was the crack company of the regiment. Their uniform was white pants, gray coats with Imff cross-belts, to which were suspended a cartridge box, a priming wire, and a small brush to clean the pans of the formidable flint lock muskets which were a terror to those who held them, while accidental death was the prohahle fate of those at whom they were aimed. But the crowning glory of the equipment was the hats. Words fail to convey to the present denizens of earth even a faint conception of their shape or gravity. Verily, they were "fearfully and wonderfully made." Bell crowned, in the widest sense of the; term, of the size of an ordinary camp kettle, a rigid frame covered with shining black leather, on their front a metalic shield as large as those carried by the crusaders of old, and Ijlazoned with the form of our national bird. This shield supported a lofty plume of scarlet wool. From the projecting eaves of the crown were suspended festoons of white cotton cord curiously 56 PIONEER SKETCHES. braided, and from these white tassels depended in tasteful profusion. A metal clasp passed from the sides of the crown under the chin. This was of sufficient size and strength to insure an artillery man on a battle-lield that if he could only hit a hat the soldier would be decapitated. THE MILITARY BAND. The Military Band of this company consisted of a fife, tenor and bass drum, and its inspiring strains even at this distant day echoes through the recesses of my memory with painful distinctness, while Yankee Doodle has become an important factor in my now educated musical taste. Many of our old citizens will remember little Jesse Baldwin, whose distinguished uniform was a scarlet coat, and who beat the tenor drum so skillfully while grim-visaged war was delineated on his every feature. Well do I re- member with what feelings of mingled awe and admiration I gazed upon him as he marched along in all the glory of his position, and how my l)oyish ambition coveted the at- tainment, in the distant future, of his fame, skill and uni- form. To reach such a point in military greatness seemed to me to be the consummation of human glory, and I deter- mined to attain it or perish in the attempt. But, alas, while amr)ition urged me on, ability lagged l)ehind. :nul I never reached the goal. DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS COMPANIES. The Cussawago wore a neat uniform, consisting of a green hunting frock, "and leggings fringed with yellow, a light wool hat or cap with a short yellow plume and a black leather l)elt, in ^\•hich was hung a tomahawk and scalping knife. Suspended by a strap from the shoulders was a PIONEER SKETCHES. 57 powder liorii, so thin and transparent that its eontents could be distinctly seen. A bullet pouch and charger completed their equipment. Each member of .the company' carried a long American rifle, the pride of its oAvner, with which their skill was such that they could hit a squirrel's head on the top of the highest forest tree. The members of this company were farmers, well skilled in the wood craft of those early da5^s, and would have been formidable adversaries to the trained troops of France or England. It was such men as these that gave Lexington and Bunker Hill their renown, and wrested our forests from savagery and wild beasts. Every bullet forced by sturdy hands into those long, slender iron tubes was a death warrant, and . every man who carried them was skilled in its execution. The Sfegertown company presented a neat and soldier- like appearance. Their uniform consisted of white pants, black swallow tailed coats and white belts sustaining car- tridge box and bayonet sheath, black fur plug hats on the side of which was fastened a white cockade, in the center of which was a ten cent piece. Well do I remember how my boyish avarice coveted the wealth thus publicly dis- played. They carried muskets, which were supplied to the troops from the government arsenal, situated Avherc the North Ward school house now stands. Next on the roll of fame, of the ancient military of Crawford County, was the Meadville Dragoons. Here my pen fails me in an attempt to accurately describe the gor- geous equipments of this celeJjrated body of warriors, or their martial appearance on days of parade. Their coats and pants were of steel gray, the former glittering with globular luittons of brass, their leather helmets surmounted 58 PIONEER SKETCHES. with a crest of horse hair that hnng down their backs to the crupper of the saddle, affording a complete protection against invidious sword cuts from an enemy in the rear; their ponderous swords of polished iron like that of Sir Hudebras — With basket hilts that would hold broth, And serve for fight and dinner both; In which could be melted lead for bullets, To shoot at foes and, sometimes, pullets. With holster pistols with flint locks and bores the size of small artillery, dangerous weapons to the troopers them- selves, what must they have been to an advancing foe? The horses were of all colors, size and sex, from the mus- tang to the plow horse, or the high-stepping, blooded charger to those that "were without pride of ancestry, or hope of posterity." I well remember one June morning, a member of the company appeared on parade with a maternal dam and her playful offspring. The juvenile steed, somewhat uninter- ested with the military evolutions of the company, was promptly ordered under guard by the captain. The mother and son were accordingly led to the stable of the Crawford House, at that time the fashionable hotel of the place, the colt (against loud maternal })rotests) was confined in a vacant stall and the mother and rider took their place at the head of the colunm near the band, a "single bugler." The order, "forward, march! nmsic !" was given, the column started across the public stjuare, the band blew an inspiring blast, in which the (Hsconsolate mother thouglit she recognized the plaintive appeals of her imprisoned ofl'- spring and answered with an afl'ectionate response that com- pletely drowned the bugler's cheering notes. A halt was PIONEER SKE 7 CHES . 5 9 called and the owner of the mother and colt was ordered out of the ranks, whereupon he refused to go in a style of language highly ornamental. For the balance of the day the deceptive notes continued to mislead the maternal mind and were affectionately answered by the bereaved mother. From that time the company was known as the "Meadville Stock Eaising Dragoons." Of all the volunteer companies of those early days none were more patriotic than the Meadville Dragoons. Afterwards, in 1845, when the war cry -'54-40 or tight," resounded over our land, I was orderly sergeant of the company, very young in years but aged in military ambi- tion. Well I rememl)er how the cry fired the hearts of the Dragoons. Our swords almost leaped from their scab- bards with patriotic zeal. Our pistols rattled in their holsters with an ominous, warlike sound, while every horse hair on the crest of our helmets "'bristled on end like the quills of a fretful porcupine." "We all regretted when the white hand of peace smoothed war's frowning face and corrugated brow, and continued to regret until the news came that war had been declared against Mexico, when the Meadville Dragoons suddenly disbanded. ^^Slc transit, gloria rmindi?'' There were several fragmentary portions of other uni- formed companies at that time that seemed to bo fossilifer- ous remains of past ages. Their uniforms were diversified and unique, Ijut were generally composed of the ordinary holiday suits of the farmers ornamented with white belts and colored scarfs. I remember the fragment of ti com- pany called the "Washington Guards." The only distinct- ive feature that remains in my recollection was a large shield of painted tin in front of their hats. They were (30 PIONEER SKETCHES. kept in place by red cords passino- through holes in the top and bottom of the shields and around the hat crown, where they were tied in a bow with pendant tassels. The front of the shields were ornamented with the letters W. G. in yellow. There was also a company called th'e Green- wood Rifles, with a uniform similar to the Cussawago Rifles. A company called the Liberty Guards, from Blooming Val- ley, mustered in numbers. Their members were expert with their rifles, their uniform hunting frocks and leggings well suited to the times and forest warfare. The Meadville Artillery, commanded l)y Capt. Samuel Doud, was a formidable array of twenty -five or more vet- erans, uniformed in gray coats and white pants. Their gun was a brass six-pound cannon, with a '^venf almost as capacious as the muzzle, rendering the feat of spiking it one of great difiiculty, unless a cannon ball was used. The company was very popular with young pioneer America of that day. But, oh! the gathering of the militia, or '^flood wood" as they were sometimes called. The ''Diamond" was the parade ground, and all that time it was a sea of dust, whose surface was as restless under the summer's wind as the ocean's waters in a storm. Promptly at 10 o'clock a. m. the citizen soldiers were called to arms. These arms usually consisted of old shot-guns, dilapidated nuiskets, rifles and bean poles. The line was formed three deep, and extended from end to end of the Public Scjuare. After a short prac- tice in the manual of arms the soldiers were put through a system of evolutions that nmst have been copied from a western cyclone. Tliis continued an hour or two, when the line was again formed and the inspection of arms took place. While the brigade inspector passed along in front PIOXEER SKETCHES. (Jl of the men, numerous bottles of liquid refreshments were surrepticiously passed from hand to hand in the rear, and when the final order, "Break ranks, dismissed," was given, a more happy and "inspirited" army of men never rallied under the flag of any nation. It was a day long to be remembered. And what citizen of our county who has almost reached the allotted period of human life does not recollect the relish with which we boys feasted on "general training days" on a quarter section of good old Jacob Fleury's ginger bread, washed down with that "nectar" fit for the gods — a bottle of small 1 )eer — and how anxiously we longed from month to month, from week to week, and finally from day to day, for a return of those, the happiest days of our boyish life, and how we sorrowed when a cruel, malicious Legislature, by one fell swoop, repealed the militia law and made us miserable forever. "Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes, And fondly broods with miser's care; Time but the impression deeper makes, As streams their channels deeper wear." Yes, general training days are no more. Long, long years ago those bright green oasis in the desert of life were covered with the drifting sands of passing events. Most of the men who then answered their country's call ' 'to arms" are no more, and it matters not how fantastic were the uniforms they wore, for "The clothes are hut the guinea's stamp, The man's the goud for a that." They were true soldiers in the best sense of the word, inured to hardship, brave, independent and patriotic. They were ever to be relied upon when danger threatened either their neishbors or the country. Kindly to each other and 62 PIONEER SKETCHES. hospitable to strangers, they were honest and truthful, always to be trusted as friends and to be feared as foes. They were in fact the germs of a great people sown in the virgin forests of a new world, and from which has been propagated a great nation, whose institutions will eventually mould and model the future governments of the earth. A nobler race of men than the early pioneer soldiery of America never lived. Alone with the Creator in the sub- lime forest temple, they were naturally reverential and re- ligious. The evening prayer daily ascended from many a rude cabin in the wilderness, while the family Bible was read at every fireside. They prayed on the eve of battle, yet took good care to keep their powder dry. Theirs was faith with works, and the result is a nation of freemen, Christian people who acknowledge no supremacy on earth, and no sovereign but Him whose throne is on high. — Note,% A. B. Richmond. ALFRED sai;(;i-:nt CHAPTEK XII. PIONEER SKETCH OF ALFRED SARGENT. IDelivered on the S6th anniversary of Alfred Sargent, at Ashtabula, Ohio, by M. P Sargent, March 13th, 1889.] IHE SUBJECT of this occasion calls for something during a long period of time, running back in generations to the primitive days of the Pioneer of this country, and would admit of ex- tended and appropriate remarks, l)ut for that you will have to look to some one more capable than I. A brief statement with some incidents is all I shall attempt. Our paternal ancestor, Alfred Sargent, was born at Cincinnatus, Cortland County, N. Y., A. D. 1804. At the age of 14, A. D. 1818, he, with his parents and the rest of the family, emigrated to the Western Reserve, then called the Far West, and finally settled near the Conneaut Creek, on what is now called the Elijah Thomas place. Soon thereafter he and the family removed onto lands of the Huidekoper-HoUand patent in Spring township, Crawford County, Pa. , at which place, and in the immediate vicinity, he has since lived, except the last fourteen years. Alfred Sargent was married A. D. 1831 to Maria Phelps, with whom he lived forty-two years. She died at the age of sixty-four after a very busy and industrious life. She Avas the noble mother, housekeeper and seamstress, 66 PIOXEER SKETCHES. plying the needle, with the use of the midnight oil, to make garments for the family, and to cut and make coats, vests and pants for hired men. It was wonderful how that mother worked to help along to raise her family and to aid in paying for and to clean up the lands. Too great a tribute we cannot pay to the Pioneer mothers of this country — She is gone, let her calmly repose From her hard labors herself best knows. Our paternal ancestors also had to prepare for the fray; To fell and to clear the trees away. To take, as it were, the bull right by the horn, That they might raise a few pecks of eight-rowed corn. The uplifted axe down through the roots into the ground. To cut away, that mother earth might there be found. To propagate the seed, did the Pioneer luvincibles Live and work, upon first principles. To this union seven children were born; three of tnem, Martin, Electa and Adelaide, are present; Cornelia, Elizabeth, Edwin and Leononia, got through the trials of this life at quite an early age, and have gone where no traveler returns. Yet onward marches the ever rolling tide. Its eternal mandates we must abide; Nor stop to gaze upon the moving throng, As we to the Golden Gates are marching on. Of this family there are represented here to-day two lines of three generations and one line of four generations, viz., Alfred Sargent, Electa and Frank, Paul, Addie, Willie and Ina Cheeseman, and Alfred Sargent, Martin, James, Dayton and Fred W. Sargent. Two brothers, Charles and Anson, and three sisters, Nancy, Polly and Betsy, accompanied him to this new PIOXEER SKETCHES. 157 land, who in the course of nature, have passed from earth. Bets\-, the youngest, died of hnig fever soon after settling in this new country. Smallpox having come into the fam- ily, her mother knowing she had not been vaccinated for smalli)ox, took up her abode in a log cabin on the Flemino- lot, over a mile awtiy in the woods, for six weeks, with no one to bear her company except the L.deous nightly howl- ing of the wolves A messenger, however, was daily sent within hallowing distance to exchange a quarantine health report. This plucky veteran lady of ' the log cabin in the woods, Mary Sargent, was born at Oxford, Massachusetts, A. D. 1763, and lived to the age of 85 years. Captain Phineas Sargent, husband and father, than whom no stronger man, physically, in the country, was born at Wgrcester, Mass., A. D. 1765, and lived to the age of 86 years. The other sisters and brothers, except Anson, lived to old age, from 75 to 83 years. To this new El Dorado others began to settle in: John and Oliver Woodard, Daniel Sturtevant and Harry Wells, later Wm. McCoy, Eri and Elijah Thomas, Porter Skeels, David, Albert and Isaac Hurd, Chris. Cross, Samuel Brain- €rd, Daniel Waters, John Curtis, Wm. Cornell, Chester Morley, George and Harry Nicholson, John Gillette, Obed Wells, John Vaughn, Wm. Tucker, Jesse Church, Watkin, Howell and David Powell, Thomas and Elisha Bowman, Luman and Elund Sturtevant, and others. The work of clearing up commenced in earnest. The hands of these sturdy pioneers made the primeval forest yield to the light of day, and a fair independence to be derived from future cultivated fields. "The music of the woodman's axe resounded throujjh the laud, But to make that music took muscle and a williu"- hand." gg PIONEER SKETCHES. Out of all that number of Pioneers you now can see Remaining on earth only three. Alfred Sargent, the youngest, is eighty-five, Few at that age are found vigorous and alive. The next is John Woodward- — ninety-two; People living at that age are very few. Isaac Hurd has scored the wondrous ninety-five. From all that number the oldest man alive; As these veterans pencil on the scroll of time, 'Tis a long maik, beautiful, grand, sublime. The privations of the pioneer were numerous, notwith- standing all stages of life have their enjoyments and quaint incidents. Geo. Nicholson, a quaint old soul, had a small debt against Wm. Tucker, and accordingly he one day called on Mr. T. to collect the same. Grinning while lie turned around, Mr. Tucker discovered a piece of white muslin protruding from the seat of George's trousers and he exclaimed, ''Mr. Nicholson, yon have got a letter in the post-office. " "I know that," said George, "and if you will pay me what you owe me I can take it out." It took 25 cents to pay postage on a letter in those days and people had to resort to novel means to raise the neces- sary amount to pay postage on a single letter. Oliver Woodard saw no way out of the dilemma except to tackle a five-foot chestnut tree which took him all day to fell and gather three pecks of chestnuts to sell to pay postage on a letter. The sale of three pecks of chestnuts to-day would buy postage stamps to write him down the ages. Timber was cut and rolled into log heaps and burned into ashes and manufactured into black salts and hauled 20 miles over corduroy roads to (^onneaut, Ohio, to get a few dollars to pay taxes and make payments on land purchase. PIONEER SKETCHES. 69 The rapacious wolf was rather an expensive Uixnry to the pioneer. Alfred and Anson Sargent had a flock of sheep, and on one cool, crisp night, the wolves with sharp- ened teeth and thirsty stomachs, came down upon them and sucked the life blood from the throats of 28 of the flock, which lay near the road on the little hillside near Porter Skeel's line. The people had to go on foot through the woods four to six miles to a salt well on the Crossingville Road, where salt was manufactured, and carry home on their backs half a bushel or more of the preciou« article. Daniel Sturte- vant, while doing this, got Ijelated one night. The wolves overtook him and he had to climb a tree. The wolves howled and gnawed away at the tree until near morning, when his neighbors rescued him from his cool and lofty perch. Daniel said could he have got a handfuU of his salt he would have sprinkled it on their tails and got them into a more fiiendly submission. Such and other like scenes tried men's souls, their lamb chops and their staying qualities. But the woodman's axe and the click of the trap and the hunters rifle in time swept the wolf from the land, except that wolf in shc^ep's clothing, who still hngers in the land, a living curse to generations yet unl)orn. The flax brake at the barn and the hum of the spinning wheel at the house were everywhere heard in the laud. The earliest pioneer of this county had to go to Pitts- burg to get his corn ground. Later, I have started many a time at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning on horseback with a grist of corn or wli(?at to get in first at the old Jenks mill on Conneaut Creek, to get my grist ground. On sev- 70 PIONEER SKETCEHS. eral occasions have had to wait all day. True, the nether mill stone would turn round, but so slow you could count each kernel of corn as into it dropped. At length the day of internal improvements began. The Erie & Pittsburg Canal was built, which brought joy and a home market to the people for many of the products of the country. The Lake Shore Railroad was built and astonished the later day inhabitants with awe and wonder. George Terrill, who had never seen a railroad, thought he would test its wonderful velocity, and accordingly he and his wife Nancy started one morning early from Springtown and went to North Springfield station, and there waited for the cars to take them on a visit to York State. After waiting long and growing impatient, he paced up and down the platform, with hands folded across his back under his swallow-tailcoat, and exclaimed "Mr. Railroad Agent, how lono- before will the railroad start?" "When the cars come, in about two hours," the agent replied. Next came the Telegi-aph, awakening a great sensation among the people, and the invincible old lady appeared on the scene, who exclaimed, "I'm so glad the telegraph has come; 111 go down to Vermont to see my sister now, who I haint seen for forty years. " A new era in most kinds of improvements throughout all the land sprung like magic into existence. Improve- ments most marvelous have been witnessed from centre to circumference all over the globe during the last half of a century. The power of steam, of skill and science, Stands to-day America's proud defiance. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 71 Our paternal ancestor has lived to see the creation of all these scenes and improvements through a longer period of time than will perhaps any of us present. He has lived to cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, and at every Presi- dential election down to Benjamin Harrison. His political creed was that of a Henry Clay Whig and an Abraham Lincoln Republican. Unflinchingly he has firmly stood in those ranks, From the heat of the great Whig and Democratic Chaldrons, on the Missouri Compromise to date, Down to the boom of Harrison's thunder in 1888. AVe'll keep Okl England on her side of the ditch. And teach her how to twist her British lion's tail. And how to get up a more appropriate sail. For spoils and for low wages, Off into the dark ages, Of central Africa or farther India. In taking a retrospect of the political history of this country from 1798 to 1828, '30, '32, '40, '54 and 1860, he can congratulate himself with a feeling of loyalty and American patriotism, that he never voted for the men or measures who several times have sought for the dissolution and the destruction of this great country. Eighty-five years, a long period of time — over four score And you appear to be good for several years more. A grander sight to look upon we never can Than a well-preserved, aged woman or a man. CHAPTER XIII. ERIE CITY. RIE IS situated on the south bank of the beau- tiful bay of Presque Isle and was first settled or occupied by the Indians in centuries past. Of their origin we have but a meager record. But it is a characteristic of the Indian to settle upon the most favorable spots of the earth, on the shores of a bay or lake, or in some prolific valley on the l)ank of a river. And so it was here, on this beau- tiful site where Erie now stands, that Seth Reed, one of the Pioneers of Erie, so successfully and profitably treated the Indians to fire water, which was his first cargo (one bar- rel of whisky.) He hauled it from Buftalo, over the ice on Lake Eric, on a hand sled. It was his capital in trade, and with it hi! laid the foundation to his coUossal fortune. At this date Erie was sparsely settled by the white man. Among its first white settlers were Seth Reed, P. S. V. Hammot, French, Judah Colt and others. In the course of a few years emigration from the eastern states to this j)()int, (called the Far West) briskly set in and the shores along Lake Erie were soon dotted by the cabins of the white set- tlers. The primeval forest was hewn down, the majestic and the valuable oak, the chestnut, the po})lar and the ash, the walnut and the cherry, all alike went into the pioneer log roller's common pile to feed the thousand fires at night, only to illuminate the country and to make black salts from PIOXEER SKETCHES. 73 its ashes. Yet this valuable timber was considered a nuisance and must be cleared out of the way. This was taking the bull by the horn, That they might raise a few pecks of eight-rowed corn. In many places to-day these valuable trees would be worth five times as much as the ground on which they stood. The first thing essential however, with the pioneer settler, was to raise his bread, and when the timber was cleared ofi" he soon found himself in possession of an acre- age of grain and gi-ass fields, enabling him to raise horses and cattle. At that day Philadelphia was the market. The saga- cious Seth Reed, who by this time had accumulated consid- erable wealth in his fire water, fur, real estate and other commercial pursuits, was prepared to l)uy cattle, which w^ere cheap. On one occasion his son Charles was sent with a drove of cattle to the Philadelphia market and when over the Alleghenies he was informed Ijy a drover that the cattle market in Philadelphia was flat. Young Reed returned with his drove to Erie and reported he heard there was no market. His fathor turned him back with the enjoinder not to stop short of Philadelphia, which was done and he found a good market for the sale of his drove. Supplies of all sorts were mostly freighted in wagons from Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Years later the Erie Canal was built, which opened up a commerce lietween New York City and Bufijilo, and the gi'eat chain of lakes, and numerous vessels, particularly the white winged mes- sengers, soon dotted our lakes, and were followed by steam boats, which gave a new impulse and a lively Ijusiness to Presque Isle Bay, also Couneaut, Ashtabula, Fairport, Cleveland and to all the harbors along the chain of the 74 PIOXEER SKETCHES. Great Lakes, affording at that time a great improvement in travel to the tourist. Yet the crack of the stage driver's whip an hundred times was heard on a trip of five miles from Erie to Willis"" Tavern. But the good old stage coach has gone from our laud; The flyiug crack of the whip froiu the driver's hand, As he flung out his hraid for a fly on the lead horse's ear, All for his amusement and his load of travelers. In 1840 the Erie & Pittsburg Canal was built, which greatly improved the business and the growth of Erie and opened up a market for many country commodities which hitherto had lain dormant. The building of this canal seemed to be a herculean task. The job through the quicksand at the Summit, Crawford county, it seemed, could only be accomplished by the plucky, invincible M. B. Lowry, who later was a conspicuous figure for the people in the Erie Railroad war, and will be long remembered by the people of Erie and Crawford counties, also in both houses of the Legislature at Harrisburg, Pa. In 1870 Erie established a Board of Trade. Its mem- bers went to work with a will and caused to be established many prominent manufactories, which doubled the city's population in ten years, and to-day Erie is a solid town of 42,1:55 inhabitants. Near the north shore of Erie's beautiful bay lies sunk the trophies of Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie, the British fleet, Queen Charlotte and other vessels. This, as tlui reader is familiar, was at the battle near Put In Bay on Lake Erie, September 10th, 1812, the American fleet connnanded by Commodore Perry — the last brush with Great Britain and it will ])r()bably be the last one with her Majesty's Highness. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 75 JUDAH COLT All incident is related of Judah Colt, when a young man and traveling through Herkimer County, New York. When near Praker's Bridge, he Avas stopped by Col. Praker, who said to the young man Colt that he must not travel on Sunday; that it was his duty to arrest him if he (Colt) at- tempted to pursue his journey. ''Well,'' said Colt, -'If 1 have to stop, I must; l)ut I would like to get on three or four miles further to some friends, where I expect to stop, as I am about to be taken down with the smallpox, and I already feel symptoms of its coming on." "What!" said the old Dutchman, "you coming down mit de smallpox '. " "Yes." "Vail, den, you must not stop here." "Then you '11 have to give me a pass." "Yes; but I write no English. You shust write de pass in English and I signs it in German." Thereupon the material was produced and Colt wrote a check for one thousand dollars and Praker signed it. The next morning Colt presented the check at the bank, which was promptly paid, and then Colt resumed his journey onward to Erie, Pa. Some two or three weeks later Praker went to town, and the banker said, "Mr. Praker, we paid your check some days ago for $1,000." "My check for $1,000! 1 does not know about that." "Come in, it will show for itself." The check was produced, Praker scrutinized it and finally exclaimed, "I see, it be that d d Yankee smallpox pass!" 76 PIONEER SKETCHES. At that day there were no telegraphs or raih'oads, and Colt was unmolested. And onward this Colt travels for Erie, Through forest, o'er hill, valley and stream , not weary. But this man Colt was a sharp undertaker, In playing his smallpox game with Dutch Praker. $1,000 was a big fortune at that day, $1.25 per acre for land to pay. Across the State line into Pennsylvania he crosses, At Erie he stops to raise young ColU and hosses. Large streams from little fountains flow, From this $1,000 rich Colt did grow. It has been said, and it must be so, That there are tricks in trades, you know. ERIE & PITTSBURG DOCKS. MASSASSAUGA POINT. WAYXE MONUMENT. WATER WORKS. CHAPTER XIV ERIE CITY. Its Early History and Subsequent Progress— 1626 to 1888. By Thomas II anion. RIE is situated on the site of the ancient Presque Ise Fort and French vilhige of the same name. Presque Isle was one of a chain of forts extending along the St. Lawrence and south shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Alle- gheny River from Quebec to Fort Du- Quesne (now Pittsl)urg) connecting the the French possessions in Canada with their territory on the Mississi])pi. PRE-HISTORIC REMAINS. Excavations in various parts of the county have unearthed the remains of a mammoth race of whom no history now exists except what is based apon mere conjecture. Human bones in large quantities have been unearthed on the line of the P. & E. R. R., through the Warfel Farm (one of which indicated a height of nine feet,) and on the corner of Twenty-sixth and Holland Streets, which is probably part of an ancient cemetery dis- covered in 1S20, south of Twenty-sixth Street, near Hol- land Street, and which created a sensation at that time. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 79 111 excavating for the E. & P. R. R. line to tlic Harbor, a mass of Iiuman bones was found at tlie crossing of wliat was known as the "Green Garden Road,'' west of the city. The skulls were flattened and the foreheads were only about an inch in width, contrasting unfavorably with the remains found in other parts of Erie county. The bodies were in a sitting posture, but thrown together so promiscuously as to lead to the belief that they were the victims of some terri- ble battle, fought at a period so remote that not even a dim tradition of the event has been preserved. Curious mounds and circular embankments have been found in various parts of Erie county, many of which still survive the levelings of civilization. A mound opened at Manchester was found to contain decompose^l bones. One of these circles of raised earth above referred to may be seen at the Four Mile Creek southeast of the big curve of the P. & E. R. R., and another in Wayne township between Corry and Elgin, several feet in height, enclosing three acres, and surrounded by a trench. Similar circles and mounds exist now or did exist in Fairview, Girard, Conneaut, Springiield, LeBoeuf and Ven- ango townships. The formation and makeup of these land- marks leave no room for doubt that they are the work of human hands. A faint idea of their antiquity may be formed from the age of timber found growing upon them. A tree has been cut on one of the Conneaut embankments which had attained the age of 500 years. Our knowledge of the character, habits and aims of the North American Indians justifies the belief that the in- tellectual progress unfolded to our view l)y a study of the cold reality of the past is not to be credited to the Red Man. 80 PIONEER SKETCHES. Skeletons of extinct species of animals have also fre- quently ])een found in this vicinity. In 1825, Francis Carnahan, in Harborcreek township, on the shore of the lake, plowed up what upon competent archaeological investigation proved to be one of the cele- brated '"Chorean Beads."" known only as existing in ancient Egypt. Similar l^eads have ])een found in the toiiibs of the Nile. They were employed in worship and worn as amulets and constituted some of the most cherished possessions of ancient people of Pharaoh. A few of these beads are in the great museums of antiquity in Europe, and one in New York and one in Boston Museum. The last that is known of the one found here, it was in possession of L. G. Olmstead, LL.D., of Fort Edward, N.Y. If genuine, where did it come from, and what is its history % These and many other evidences of pre-historic develop- ment, w'hicli cannot be here enumerated or explained, seem to convince us that the Indians as w^e know them, or as our fathers knew them, were not the original possessors of the south shore of Lake Erie. This theory is strengthened by the imdisputed marks of a former civilization imprinted at various points in the United States and Canada. Every instinct of the mind impels the belief that these relics of the past, these telltales of antiquity, are the remains of a race of men, anterior and superior to the Indians, who disap})eared so completely and so mysteriously that neither history nor tradition furnishes a trace of their origin, their innnbers, their habits, their character or their destiny. Who they were, wdiere they came from, and what became of them, remains an unsolved pr()l)lem. PIONEER SKETCHES. ^\ OUTLINES OF EARLY HISTORY. The earliest history extant tinds Presque Isle in pos- session of a tribe of Indians known as the Ericz or Kah- Kwahs, and called by the French "the Neutral Nation." They seem to have been an intellectual race. The Eriez were visited l)y French missionaries in 1026, and in 1030 by Joncarie, a French Indian agent. The Eriez were ex- terminated in battle about the year 1050 by the Iroquois, or Six Nations, of whom the Senecas were in possession of Presque Isle in 171:0, when the French and English com- menced their struggle for the acquisition of the territory. The French obtained the masterj^ and in 1753 sent out an army of 250 men, under command of Sieur Marin, from Montreal to Presque Isle, where they l)uilt and garrisoned a fort and established a base of supplies by means of a portage road to Fort LeBoeuf, (now Watcrford), and thence by French Creek to the Allegheny. At this time General DuQuesne, French commander at MontreJd, in a letter to the French minister in Paris, described Presque Isle as a "harbor which the largest vessels can enter loaded and be in perfect safety, the finest spot in nature a bark can safely enter." Presque Isle Fort and road, (which run south on the line of Parade Street), were completed August 3, 1753. The fort was 120 feet long, two stories high, with a log house in each corner, and gates at the north and south sides, and built of chestnut logs, on the west l)ank of Mill Creek, something over 100 yards fnmi its mouth, adjoining the ground now occupied by the Soldiers"' and Sailors' Home. The remains of this French fort, built in 1753, are described in an official report of Captain Denny, Com- mander at Fort LeBoeuf in 1795, as being a regular penta- gon, with parapet not exceeding five feet; that the stone 6 82 PIOXEER SKETCHES. walls of the magazine were then standing and could be suc- cessfully repaired, and the well made fit for use. The ruins of this fortification were plainly visible twen- ty-five years ago, and citizens of the city who played around there in ])oyhood and who are still young men, are able to identify from memory almost the exact location described in history. The stone foundations of this fort were removed in June, 1888, by Messrs. Paradine & McCarty, whose brick-yard is located near by; twenty musket barrels, bayo- nets, etc., were found in the north end. The foundation was three feet deep, and the original hard clay floor was covered with ashes under three feet of clay. There was at this period a French village of more than 100 families, a grist mill, a Catholic priest and a school master, on the east bank of Mill Creek. They cleared land and cultivated cornfields. The village appears to have been abandoned after a few years' experiment, as it was not in existence in 1758. The abandonment of this village may be attributed to smallpox, which appeared there about 1756. In the year 1753 George Washington, then 21 years old, visited this section as a representative of the British Government for the purpose of formally notifying the French to discontinue the fortification of Presque Isle and LeBoeuf. St. Pierre, the French connnandcr at Fort LeBceuf, refused to comply Avith the notice, and Washington returned without visiting Presque Isle. In 1757-8 the British captured several forts and French supremacy Ix-gan to wane. In 1758 the garrison at Presque Isle had become reduced to two officers, thirty-two white soldiers and ten Indians. British success continued, Niag- PIONEER SKETCHES. 83 ara had fallen, and the Freneh evacuated Presqiie Isle in 1759. It was occupied by the British in 1760, who contin- ued to garrison it until 1763. THE PONTIAC CONSPIRACY. The Indians who had previously been allied with the French did not take lovingly to their change of masters, and while seemingly reconciled to English domination they conspired, under the leadership of the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, to overthrow British authority in the west. Pontiac's ''plan of campaign" against the British was while professing friendship to secretly form a union of all the tribes west of the Alleghenies, including the Six Nations, for concerted action. This he accomplished with remark- able skill. This combination was so vast, its ramifications were so extensive, and its mode of operations so practical as to cast in the shade all previous efforts at Indian warfare. In 1T63 they had planned and executed a simultaneous attack upon all frontier posts, capturing Presque Isle and eifflit of the twelve other forts held by the British. Ensiern Cristie commanded the British at Presque Isle, the garrison was surprised, the assault on the fortifications continued two days. The garrison surrendered June 22, 1763, after a heroic resistance. Parkman, the historian, says : ' 'There had been hot fighting before Presque Isle was taken ; could courage have saved it, it never would have fallen." The prisoners were sent to Detroit and soon after escaped. Some writers assert that the garrison was massacred and only two escaped, but this assertion is not borne out hy the most reliable historians on the subject. 84 PIONEER SKETCHES. August 12, 1761, a British army of 3,000, returaing from Detroit, commanded Ijy Bradstreet, landed at Presque Isle in canoes and made a treaty with the Indians. From this time mitil the close of the Revolutionary War very little history was made at Presque Isle, and the "noble red men" roamed undisturbed along the shores of Lake Erie, the English control lieing merely nominal. By the treaty of 1783, England yielded to the United States all claims to the western country, but notwithstand- ing this fact Presque Isle continued to be garrisoned by the British in 1785 in violation of said treaty, and was so com- plained of by Mr. Adams, the American Minister at London, to the English Secretary of State. The British had won the confidence of the Indians and hoped through their aid and by retaining their western gar- risons to harass the infant republic and eventually regain possession of their lost territory. Presque Isle was consid- ered an important mihtary point and was the last fort west of Niagara to be evacuated by the British, The American occupation at Presque Isle commenced in 1785, but it was ten years later before their authority became supreme. The last reported Indian outrage^ at Presque Isle was the scalping of Ralph Rutledge and his son, May 29, 1795, at the present site of the Wilson House, which was then two miles from the setth^ment. Ral})h Rutledge was liuried near the place of his nnu'der, and the son was the first white mtm buried in Waterford. The ruins apparently of a brick fort were visible on on the east end of the Peninsula in 1 795. PIONEER SKETCHES. ;85 The Peninsula was an island from 1833 to 1864. The breach at the neck was, in 1835, nearly a mile wide. Iron ore was mined for several years near the "Head," and extensively used in the furnaces of Vincent, Himrod &Co. THE TRIANGLE. The northern part of Erie county, including the city of Erie, has long ])een known as the triangle. The triangle, as such, came into existence in this way: The charter of New York detined its western boundary as extending south- erly on a line drawn from the western extremity of Lake Ontario to the 42d degree of north latitude or northern boundary of Pennsylvania. The point of intersection of these lines was supposed to be in Lake Erie, west of Presque Isle, thereby including this territory in the New York grant. This theory proved to be erroneous, the actual survey making the line run twenty miles east of Presque Isle, leav- ing a triangular tract west of New York and north of Penn- sylvania, to which neither State had the shadow of a title, being beyond their chartered jurisdiction, but each coveted the prize. Massachusetts and Connecticut also each claimed the triangle, under grants from Queen Anne, and it virtu- ally became a No Man's Land. New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut released their claims to the United States government, from which Pennsylvania purchased the trian- gle March 3, 171)2, for iB15 1,610. 29, being 75 cents per acre. The transfer was signed l)y George Washington, President, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretar})- of State. The Indian title was extinguished for a little less than $2,000. 86 PIONEER SKETCHES. THE WESTERN RESERVE. Connecticut's original chartered rights embraced Eng- land's title to all the territory in the latitude of Connecticut and Massachusetts from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The distance from ocean to ocean was at that time believed to be less than 1,000 miles. In releasing her title to the triangle, Connecticut reserved for her own benefit that northeastern part of Ohio, lying between Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, hence the name "Western Reserve." LAYING OUT THE TOWN. On April 8, 1792, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed an Act providing for the laying out of a town at Presque Isle, and for a military force for frontier service. The project was vigorously opposed by the Indians, backed by British influence. The Indians in council assembled at Buftalo, July 4, 1791:, resolved to prevent by force the garrisoning of Presque Isle by the Americans. Anticipating resistance. General Knox, Secretary of War under Presi- dent Washington, directed a suspension of operations. The State authorities protested, insisting that their capacity was ample to preserve order at Presque Isle. Upon the advice of Cornplanter, the Seneca chief, the Indians withdrew their opposition. Another Act Avas passed in 1795, under which the town Avas laid out and received the name it now ])ears. In that year Captain Russell Bissell arrived with 200 men from Wayne's army. They erected two Ijlock houses that year and a saw mill in 1796. General Anthony Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, died in one of these block houses December 15, 1796, and PIONEER SKETCHES. 87 was, by his own request, buried under the flagstiifl', where his body remained until 1809, when it was exhumed by hivS son, Colonel Wayne, and Dr. Wallace, the General's physi- cian, and the bones removed to his former home near Phila- delphia. A portion of the remains were returned to the coffin in the original grave on Garrison Hill, where they remained until discovered by Dr. Germer, ten years ago, about 200 feet southwest of the present block house. Por- tions of the lid of the coffin were found, on which the follow- ing inscription appears, the letters being fonned with copper headed nails viz.: "A. W.— OB Dec. 15, 1Y96." Two case knives and a few bones were also found in the grave. The new l)lock house was built in 1880 as a monument to General Wayne, in order to fittingly mark the spot at which was closed his earthly career than which none was more l)rilliant in the annals of American history. Colonel Reed, great-grandfather of Hon. Charles M. Reed, arrived with his wife in a sail boat July 1, 1Y95. They camped on the Peninsula the first night. Their camp- fire was seen from the garrison, who, thinking it to have been lighted by an invading army, made preparations to resist an attack. Colonel Reed ))uilt a log house near the block houses. Other white settlers having arrived, a public house became a necessity. He converted his dwelling into a pul)lic house and hung out his shingle, "'Presque Isle Hotel." He erected a larger building the next year, moved to Walnut Creek, leaving his son Rufus S. to continue the business, which, un(k'r his al)lc management, soon expanded to gigantic pro- portions and included general merchandise, grist mills, trad- ing with the Indians, lake commerce, etc., etc. 88 PIONEER SKETCHES. The first vessel built in Erie was the Washington, in 1797. Immigration had set in, a little settlement was formed, supply depots were opened, wharves were con- structed, and business became active. The first newspaper in Erie was the Mwror^ published in 1808, by George Wyeth. Erie was incorporated as a town in 1805, as a borough in 1833, and as a city in 1851. The first council convened May 5, 1800. The limits, which were originally one mile square, were extended in 1831, in 1848, and again in 1870. Erie was governed by a burgess and one branch of council until 1851, since then 1)y a mayor, select and common councils. The plan of the city is excellent, the streets are wide, cutting each other at right angles, with very few exceptions, with public parks at convenient distances. THE WAR OF 1812-13. When war was declared with Great Britain in 1812, Erie ex})ected an invasion. Its citizens organized into a company of minute men, constructed and garrisoned a block house, which was still standing in 1853. In Erie Perry's fleet was l)uilt, with un})arallelod celerity, that won the battle of Lake Erie. From here the fleet sailed for action, and to Erie returned with the captured squadron of the enemy. The two l)lock houses and fortifications built in 1790 were in ruins in 1813 when the block house of that year was erected. Another block house was built at Crystal Point the same year to defend tlK> entrance to the harbor. The Garrison Tract was the camping ground of the Pennsylvania militia in 1812-13. PIONEER SKETCHES. 89 • Here, in 1818, while the British fieet was drawn up in front of the harbor intent on destroying Perry's fleet, in course of construction at the foot of Sassafras and Cascade Streets, and at a time when ' 'Britannia ruled the waves" on ocean and lake, 2,500 soldiers were encamped on these grounds. They had cannon mounted, and such military display and military strength w^ere here developed as to forebode disaster, should an entrance to the harbor be at- tempted. The Britons, conscious that no picnic awaited them here, hoisted their top-sails and retreated to more con- genial waters. The subsequent events, the completion of Perry's fleet, with the Lawrence to lead; the l)attle of Lake Erie, the de- feat and surrender of the British fleet on the lakes, com- manded by Barclay, Avho fought with Nelson at Trafalgar ; the downfall of English supremacy on the inland waters of America; the triumphal ri'turn to Elrie, October 23, 1813, with the captured vessels and crews landing at the foot of French Street, amid the l)ooming of cannon and the wildest demonstrations of joy, with Perry the hero of the hour, — all these have passed into history as glorious as ever recorded. A full description of this battle would make interesting reading, l)ut it is too voluminous to l)e recounted here. The Lawrence Avas made the especial target of the enemy in battle. She was riddled and shattered, but still floating in triumph the eagles of victory which perched on her masthead, and Perry had won the victory which James Madison, then President, said had "• Never been surpassed in luster, however it may have been surpassed in magnitude." Of the American vessels that participated in this battle the Porcupine, Tigress and Scorpion were built at the mouth 90 PIONEER SKETCHES. of Lee's Run, near Sassafras Street, and the Lawrence, Niagara arid Ariel at the present site of the E. & P. E. R. docks. The Lawrence brought the wounded of l)oth fleets to Erie — was subsequently sunk in Misery Bay. While there a large part of the vessel was cut into walking canes, and the remainder was raised in 18TG and taken to the Cen- tennial. The Ariel brought General Harrison and Commodores Perry and Barclay to Erie, the latter being a prisoner of war. The Niagara still lies sunk in Misery Bay, Erie Harbor.' In November, 1863, when the Michio-an was ffuardins: 2,000 rebel prisoners on Johnson's Island, our citizens beeame alarmed at a threatening invasion fi'om Canada. Erie being named as the landing place, 000 troops, with a battery under the command of Major General Brooks, occupied the Garrison grounds, and with the aid of 1,000 citizens had entrenchments thrown \\\) northeast of the present block house. SCRAPS OF HISTORY. At the 1 (('ginning of the century Erie was a hamlet at the mouth of Mill Creek, on the west side, Avith fortifica- tions on the east bank o})])()sitc the town. The only roads were Parade and East Sixth Streets. No other land outlet was accessil)le to the inhabitants. Erench Erie (Presque Isle) of 1753 with 500 inhabi- tants, was on the east bank of the creek, with the fortifica- tions on the west. Their relative locations had become exactly reversed when American occupation l)egan. PIONEER SKEICHES. 91 Tlios. Recs, who w^^ the lirst justice of the peace and the first real estate agent in the township of Mead (now Erie and Crawford counties), had his oifice at the mouth of Mill Creek; and there in 1795 entertained the Duke de Chartres, who subsequently became Louis Phillippe, King of France. A vessel named the Sloop Washington, of thirty-tive tons, was built at the mouth of Four Mile Creek, in 1 797-8. It was Wayne's victory at the battle of "Fallen Timbers," on the Maumee River, in August, 1794, that crushed the spirit of the Indian tribes and rendered possible the settlement of Presque Isle Bay by white men. General Lafayette visited Erie in 1825; and on the 3d of June was royally entertained at a banquet spread on tables 170 feet in length on Secoixl Street bridge over the ravine between State and French Streets, covered by awnings made from British sails captured hy Perry, and under the supervision of John Dickson. Joseph M. Sterrett commanded the military who met Lafayette outside the incipient city. The speech of welcome was delivered at the house of Daniel Dobbins, wdio is a conspicuous figure in the history of Erie. The U. S. S. Michigan, the only w^ar vessel on the lakes, was built in sections at Pittsburg and brought to Erie, part of the w'ay in wagons. It was launched at Erie November 9th, 1843, and here its headquarters have Ijcen ever since. When the batteries on Sullivan's Island opened fire on Fort Sumter and the War of the Rebellion had l)egun, Erie responded by sending four regiments into action, and the record of the bravery, the sufiering, and the ultimate 92 PIONEER SKETCHES. achievements of those heroic men will not suffer in compar- ison with any in the land. Their brilliant deeds give forth a lustre to gladden the memory and to assuage the grief of the dear ones at home, whose gi-eat bereavement is the price of the nation's glory and the emancipation of its slaves. The Garrison Grounds were laid out in 1794, "for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals and dockyards. " Its peculiar shape is said to have been suggested by General Anthony Wayne. The writer was shown a mass of relics recently dug from these grounds, consisting of swords, gun barrels, cannon balls, flint locks, musket balls, military but- tons, jack-knives, a human skeleton, etc., and while cutting the terrace on the east bank of Garrison Hill, the remains of the old stockade were discovered. The first Court House erected in Erie was built in 1808, m the West Park. It was destroyed by fire, together with all its contents, March 23, 1823. It was rebuilt on same site in 1825. The liell which hung in the cupola of this Court House from 1825 to 1854 was a trophy of Avar, hav- ing belonged originally to the British shi}) Detroit, which was captured by Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie. This bell is now at the rooms of the Y. M. C. A., corner Tenth and Poach Streets. A market house was erected in the West Park in 1814, and another in tlie thirties. The latter Avas torn down in 186(), since which time the market has l)een hekl on theeast side of Stat(> Street. Erie Avas sup})lied Avith water through wooden logs fed by a spring, in 1841, Avhich continued to render valuable service until 1808, Avhen it Avas supplanted by the present magnificent system, furnishing an al)uiidant supply of water PIONEER SKETCHES. 93 for all purposes at low rates, as well as affording a large annual revenue. A series of large wells, sunk at convenient distances along the streets, supplied Avater for fire purposes in the days of Erie's infancy. Traces of these wells still exist ; one at the corner of Sixth and French Streets, was used for drinking water up to a few years ago, and one which was closed only recently at Twenty-sixth Street, west of Peach. Erie became the county seat in 1800. The first court held in the county is said to have been held in the Buehler Hotel, corner Third and French Streets, which was subse- quently known as the "McConkey House." This building was also the headquarters of Commodore Perry during the building of his historic fleet in 1813. Other authorities claim that court was first held in a log building at corner of Second and Holland Streets in 1803. The present magnificent Court House was completed in 1855. Its front is modeled after the Parthenon at Athens so far as was consistent with its purpose. The man who cut the first tree for the construction of Perry's fleet, Captain Daniel Dobbins, well-known to our older citizens, was the same man who prepared General Wayne's remains for burial. The Garrison tract, now the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, was the seat of war during all this period. Here events followed each other in rapid succession. The his- torical associations which cluster around this spot have never half been told. Here contended the then two most martial nations of the globe for the mastery of a continent. Here on this 00 acres has been created history (American French and English) suflicient to fill a large volume and 94 PIONEER SKETCHES. history, too, which would make interesting reading for the honored veterans who have made their home upon this famous battle-ground. The Erie Extension Canal was completed in 1844 and abandoned in 1872. The whistle of the locomotive was first heartl in Erie, January 9, 1852. n^ 1 ta m '' SOLDIERS AND SAILORS INIONUMENT. CHAPTER XV. ALFRED KING. ALFRED KING, -T^ the third Mayor of Erie, was born in Waterf ord, Erie Co. , Pa., December 31st, 1S21. He attended school at Waterford Academy, and grad- uated at the Eric Academy, after which he taught -chool for several years. In 1842 he was appointed Dep- uty P r o t h o n o t ary and Acting Clerk of the < /ourts, in which capacity he served six years. In 1851 he was elected County Treasurer and served a three years' term; served two consecutive terms as Mayor of the City of Erie, viz.: in 1853 and 1854, and served a three years' term as Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts; served three years as Deputy Collector of the port of Erie, Has served as Chief of Police for three years, from 1888 to 1890. 96 PIONEER SKETCHES. Was married to Miss Mary Kennedy, of Livingstone County, N. Y., in 1845. Mr. King was extensively engaged in the brewing and malting business, during his business career, having built three large malt houses in Erie. Was at one time an extensive real estate dealer. Kingtown, Erie's eastern suburb, was named after him. He was peculiarly unfortunate in sustaining losses by fire. An extensive malt house on the canal, vStored to its fullest capacity with barley and malt, was destroyed by fire, and later a large new lager beer brewery on the corner of Twenty-sixth and Cheriy Streets was burned to the ground. He died March 19th, 1891. CHAPTER XVI. THE PIONEER SOLDIERY. OLLY WERE THE BOYS one fine morning, the fore part of May, 1830, before the break of day, when a volley l)y the mem- bers of the Hifle Company of Spring, Pa., was fired through the door of the old block house of Captain Phineas Sargent, as an eye-opener for the young Lieuten- ant, AKred Sargent, to get up and don his uniform for the wars. It was the custom in those days for nieml)ers of each Company to salute their ofiicers with a volley before daylight, to prepare for Training Day. The Beaver Rangers was the name of the company which was made up in Spring and Beaver ToAvnships, con- nected to the Powerstown (now Conneautville) Light Infan- try, the Sadsbury Rifles, GreeuAvood and Shenango Rifles which formed the Western Crawford County Volunteer Battalion. The first place they met for battalion or general training was at Billy CampbelFs, Avest of Conneaut Lake and subsequently at difl'erent places in the County at Brightstown, Evansburg, Powerstown, and Isaac Hunds' place — Spring. In this 1)attalion every man had to appear in full uniform and aa'cU equipped Avith rifle, cart- 7 98 PIONEER SKETCHES. ridge box, tomahawk, belt and powder horn. Chibs and sticks, with cow horns on the end, used by the militia, were not allowed, and every memljer was held sub- ject to a fine of $2.00 for being absent on training days without he had a reasonable excu.se, and the fine must be paid or the delinquent meml)er go to jail. This law not onl_y applied to the military, but to civil debt. One Potter would not pay his fine, whereupon a warrant was issued l)y Captain Sargent and served by Constable E. E. Hall. But Potter came down with the $2 rather than go to jail. Cases of this kind were few^; the mass of the people in those days were chivalrous, patriotic and true; the blood of their revolutionary sires coursed Hush in their veins, and it required no eloquent and patriotic speeches to arouse them to a sense of duty. The officers of the battalion w^ere (in part): John C. Thayrc, IShenango, lieutenant colonel ; Alfred Sargent, Spring, first major ; William Rankin, Sorrel Hill, second major; John McLean, Shcnango, adjutant; James Mc- Dowell, Sunmier Hill, quartermaster. Among the captains were: John B. Rice, Brightstown; William Pratt, Stephen Eighmy and John Nicholas, Spring; Theo, Powers, Powerstown. l^i(Hitenants : Hiram Ham- mond and Wm. Crozier, Powerstown; E. R. Hall, Spring. The law required the volunteers to meet three times yearly and the militia twice yearly for training. On gene- ral training days a big time Avas had. The inspiring nuisic by the band and the tranq) and stej) to the fife and drum, and when l)rought to a halt the exercises of the manual of arms were gone through with in a very creditable manner, with zeal and animation. The Legislature repealed the militia law in 1840. PIONEER SKETCHES. 99 The sires of this pioneer soldiery wouhl rehite their ex- perience at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton and Valley Forge, when destitution, bare feet and rigid economy, played a great part in the fortunes of war in holding them back in the ranks. Ammunition was scarce, and General Putnam said, ''Don't lire until you see the white of their eyes ; then tire Iom' — take aim at their waist- bands. " A soldiery which had to resort to hurling stones and use the butt of their guns at the enemy, and then come out victorious, will maintain freedom of their country and pro- tect their families and live down all oppression. This w^e have seen manifested down to the War of 1812 on more than one occasion. While our country w^as still new, poor and unprepared for war, the same sturdy, independent, patriotic spirit prevailed, courting no smiles, asking no favors, heeding no frowns or thrust, nor threats from the enemy, as Johnny Bull became aware in his American tilt of 1812-13 on Lake Champlain, Lake Erie and elsewhere. An incident comes fresh to my mind in Ashtaljula Harbor, showing the strategy displayed by the few militia men, about one hundred in number. A British man-of-war stood a short distance out and they wanted to capture a couple hundred barrels of Ijeef which they knew to be stored in a warehouse near the mouth of the river. The few militia men there, with few guns and many more pitchforks and clul)s, marched through and around the Lake Side House on the point, making the enemy below think that there was ten times as large a force there as there actually was. The British fired a few shots, the cannon ball cutting ofi some limbs of the trees and some bricks of the chimney, and sailed away. 100 PIONEER SKETCHES. From the days of the Revolution down to 1840 one- half never wore uniforms nor were properly armed. But such ancestral heroes as Generals Putnam and Allen had shown them that without the best equipments they could do effective fighting. Who gave Britain a worthy foe In war, that she might know That she could not monkey with our raw recruits, No more than with her game lion brutes. Then let us not be unmindful of the heroic deeds of the Pioneer militia and volunteer soldier of America, who, on several times, when their country was in peril, rescued her from the invading foe. And when the joyous notes of peace were sounded through the land he quietly returned to the plow, the counter of commerce, or to the jurist, leg- islative or congressional halls. Then behold our grand, vast America again teeming forth her busy millions, plod- ding again all the avenues of commercial life, and thus with the smallest defensive force or standing army o'er its vast domain of any other nation on the globe. Then let us revere the Pioneer soldier of America, who never flinched in time of emergency and whose acts and examples shine forth in the starry firmament to guide the living and unborn generations to similar deeds of humanity and freedom, the heritage of the Pioneer soldier of America. CHAPTER XVII. THE COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSE. .^^n^^^1/7//a^: was called. HE DISTRICT SCHOOL of my boyhood days, in Spring Township, Crawford County, Pa., situated on the Albion and Conneautville road, and near to the bank of a small stream, is to me an historic spot. The Sturtevart School House, it There is no time like the old time, AVhen you and I were young; When the buds of April blossomed, And the birds of springtime sung. There is no place like the old place. Where you and I were born; Where first we lift our eyelids On the splendor of the morn. Well, our school house was built in 1830; a frame structure 22x28 feet, with a row of seats along each side six feet long, and one long seat across the back end, with some extra seats in the center near the stove to give each one a chance, by turn, to go up to the tire to warm their toes, on cold days when the thermometer was down to zero. The schoolmaster's desk and pulpit were located at the front end between the girls' and boys' doorway. And this primitive school house was to accommodate nincty-iive scholars. PIOXEER SKETCHES. . 103 We had lots of fun at that old school house. Our teacher, too, occasionally put us through a course of sprouts which was preferable to the hand ferril or the ruler. But, after all, we learned lots of Kirkoara and Dayboll. Why, Samuel Woodard sat right down in that old school house and ciphered right through Dayboll, then took up his alge- bra and geometry and never called on his teacher to work a problem. J. F. Woodard, J. C. Sturtevant, 8. Church, S. J. Thomas and others were not far behind in math- ematics. In attending to reading and spelling exercises we were brought up in line and toe the mark (a crack in the floor) sahite the teacher, by a l)ow, and proceed at the head of the class to read our piece in the English reader, which con- tained perhaps as many good pieces as any other reader smce published. The same tactics were used in spelling class, Cobb's spelling book, which contained a good many k's, pot hooks and diagraphs, so that one had to be pretty pert or you would misspell and have to drop down one peg to- ward the foot of the class. But we had a good number in that old school house who could spell any word for Mr. Cobb. Geography, why we used to sing right along through geography, viz. : Pennsylvania, Harrisburg; Ohio, Columbus; New York, Alljany; &c. We sang a tune — And to that tune each one had their key; Some got up in C, others up in G. Active, healthy sports were freely engaged in, with all the vigor of country lads ; also wrestling, jumpins: and cracking the whip, the latter line of sport as follows : Say fifteen or twenty boys would join hands, having some stout fellows about the middle of the train, and run several rods, and when nearing the bank tnrn quickly and throw olt' a 104 PIONEER SKETCHES. half dozen at the end of the string over the bank into the snow drifts. This was called cracking the whip. "Sometimes you'd see a frightful face As he went flying forty feet through space Over the bank, away down he'd go, Out of sight, six feet under the snow." You could have seen at the old country house forty scholars nearly of an age and size, and forty more of the kid and deacon variety, up to those of the maid and matron. All seemed to take a common interest in the pursuit of learning and none were held back. If one could do his arithmetic in one term he was not held back for the slower nag, whom it required two terms to get there. SPELLING. Great interest was manifested in spelling, and one or two evenings each week diu'ing the winter term were de- voted to the spelling school, with good results. EXHIBITIONS, DECLAMATIONS. Having a good number in school who aspired to be a Patrick Henry, a Dan Webster or a Clay, and were anxious to give vent to their oratory, we accordingly enlarged and arranged the teacher's })ulpit into a stage and certain evenings set apart for the exhibition. We had there on the stage quite a variety, neighbor Derby and kScrapewell Hoch- enlinden, David and Goliath, and other heroes, orators and trajjedians. "When David with liis shng slew Goliath, at his fall the curtain dropped, and in order to change the awfully solemn sensation the two tiddlers who sat })erched up in the corner of the stage behind the curtain, at once jerked the vibrating sound from the melodious cat-gut and all went merry as a marriage l)ell, and soon the listener could hear that the vibration had c-au":ht onto the toe and heel of the PIONEER SKETCHES. 105 good old people, the schoolmaster and the deacon, and all for the "spell" were keeping time to the bewitching notes of the fiddler's fiddle. In justice to these country students, however, 1 will state that more competent teachers went out from the Stur- tevant School District than from any other school district in Crawford county. They came from a hardy stock of New Englanders, and were created not only for piano thumpers and red tape manipulators, but they have mostly went out — Aud engaged in the arduous, active duties of life, Throughout this continent, mid a world of strife, And heroically have battled, some with great precision, And none of them have landed in a poor house or prison. The roll call was taken by the teacher at the close of each days' school, but as we call the roll to-day we find that many of our old school mates have crossed the silent river. Lucius Church, a bright, active young man, was killed by a grizzly bear in California. Wliile in company with Moses Church, plowing, his dog commenced barking in a chaparral near l)y; Lucius caught his gun, though remonstrated with by his companion, and started for the thicket. He fired, wounding the animal, l)ut was soon torn in pieces. Wil- liam Skeels, a very promising young man and an cxcelhint school teacher, was killed by the falling of a tree on his father's farm in Spring Township, Pa. George, Lucius, Lucy, Sall3% Mary and Marilla Tru- man; Betsy, Cornelia, Elizabeth, Leonoria and Edwin Sar- gent; Wm. Alderman, Johnson, Jacob and Augustus Thomas, Harmon Thonias, Sarah McCoy and Annie and Mandy McLaughlin are among the nund)er of old school mates who have })asscd from earth. 10(3 PIOXEER SKETCHES. Retrospectively, as we irlance back to our boyhood school days, and note the number of school mates and other acquaintances who have stopped as it were on their journey while others are strupfcrlinG: forward through the rugged ways, trials and vicissitudes of the journey of life, there comes a beacon light, and the consolation — Rest. Life doth seem what we make it. Whatever way we please to take it. Ladies, says the Insurance Wo7'Id, (London), are begin- ning to obtain a foothold in the insurance world. One edits a French insurance paper, and another has recently been appointed manager of a Belgian insurance company. CHAPTER XVIII. RIPE AGE. • S EXTREME OLD AGE desirable? Most people will answer the question by saying, as a general thing, No; l)ut in my personal case, Yes. We rather think that seventy-live years are as much as the average man can use to advantage. In that time he sees nearly all that is worth seeing, runs through a large variety of experience, gets at last to resemble the double eagle that has been rubbed smooth by constant attrition and is ready to be thrown into the smelting pot of the mint and be recoined. History, how- ever, gives us some remarkal)le incidents of great achieve- ments in the afternoon of age. Chaucer didn't begin to write the "Canterbury Tales" until he was sixty, and at the same age Milton was hard at work on "Paradise Lost;" Homer, too, was on the edge of the sere and yellow leaf when he put the finishing touches to the Iliad. The man of sixty is just beginning to get his wits together and to pull himself into shape. His blood runs clear and cool as a mountain stream. His castles in the air have been swept away, and if he has any genius it has grown ripe and rich. CHAPTER XIX. THE WILD HOG CHASK. A ELY IN the winter of 1840 Hiram Griffin, of Elkcreek Township, Erie Co., Pa., very generously left out a field of com, for the l)irds, the wild turkey and the wild hog to feed upon, during that unpropitious time of the year. He found that ere long there would l)e no corn left for him to harvest. Hog tracks were daily seen, and terrible havoc made on the corn crop. Whereupon Chester Morley and Charles Sargent, noted nimrods, and others with guns and dogs went in pursuit of the wild boar and came in sight of him on the l)ank of the gully stream south of Albion. Dogs were set upon him and a lively chase ensued. After some time one of the biggest dogs, over confident, seized him. In an instant the boar, with his tusk, ripped his assailant from stem to stern, and on Avent the critter in his wild flijrht. The dogs did not seem to like that kind of medicine and were more timid. Toward evening the boar became somewhat fatigued. Finall}' a small white dog of Alfred Sargent's grappled him by the gamble and would chasee to the right and left to evade the tusks of the Ijoar. In a few moments Charles Sargent came up and shot him. His Satanic })orkship was conveyed to the house of Hiram (JrifHn to be dressed, and when the last rites Avere about to take place (in an equal division of th(^ game) Major PIONEER SKETCHES. 109 Fleming, of Limdy's Lane, appeared on the scene, who claimed and demanded the prize, it having, he said, strayed from his premises the year before. Mr. Griffin claimed the hog was a wild one, that he had fed him from his corn field and that he had the best claims to his porkship. Others chipped in, saying, "that's so,'' and they had a lively, hazardous tilt, and a man's pantaloon-leg and a dog were ripped open. The matter was compromised, however, by giving to the Major one fore-quarter, and the balance was equally divided. The party arrived home about 9 o'clock the same night, quite weary, with one man's panta- loon leg ripped open and their biggest dog slain upon the battle ground. CHAPTER XX. LOGGING SCENES. QURING tho period of time from 1815 up to the year 1850, it was a custom among the early settlers of Spring Township, Crawford County, Pa., to get together and log up a fallow of three to ten acres for each other. It required a yoke of oxen, driver and three men to log to advantage. The teamster could get the logs to the spot as fast, generally, as the log rollers could roll them into log heaps and pick up the numerous pieces of saplings, limbs and chunks found scattered about the fallow; consequently on many occasions of this kind there would be eight or ten yoke of cattle and twenty-five to thirty men engaged at log- ging at these logging ])ees, as they were called, at difterent times throughout the county. Acres of timber they had to log up in heaps together, To burn ofF before it came on rainy weather; Also to sow and drag in their Fall wheat, To raise for their families plenty of bread to eat. The time usually employed in logging was the latter part of August and during September. The timber was })retty well blackened, as the fire had previously swept over it in burning oti" the brush heaps, and the logger would soon get a coat of charcoal over his whole outfit and plenty in his gill and nostrils. But charcoal is healthy, and occasionally the ' 'jigger"" Avould Ijc passed around, which was then said to be healthy, too, to wet down the charcoal, 112 PIONEER SKETCHES. and appeared in those days to be much freer of snakes and tanglefoot than it is now-a-days. The time engaged in these logging frolics, generally, was fi'om 1 to 6 P.M., and the hundred or more log heaps on fire at night, illumined the field in the darkest night so that one could pick up the scattering chips, play a game of old sledge or shoot a rabbit. And when the heaps were burned down the remaining brands were re-piled and burned to a finale. The ashes, in the earlier days, were made into black salts, and later hauled oft to an ashery and sold at ten cents per bushel, or scattered upon tlie unburnt places of the ground. While we contemplate that we are now paying two dollars per cord for IH-inch beech and maple stove wood, we are reminded of the millions of cords of timber in for- mer days that went up in smoke. Still, we console our- self with the fact that this is a Pioneer sketch. CHAPTER XXI. OBED WELLS. OBEl) WELLS was more than an ordinary man. He never done things by halves. He was one of the pioneer farmers of Spring, Pa. His Homestead Farm, comprising 400 acres, laying along Conneaut Creek and upon both sides of the old Erie & Pittsl)nrg Canal, and three-fourths of a mile along the Conneautville Stage Road. Also a 150-acre farm known as the Flemming Lot, situate one mile east of his Homestead Farm. He built the largest farmhouse in town in his day LS35), the largest cellar, and he stored the largest lot of potatoes, apples and turnips therein of any other farmer in town. He also had the largest dairy, made the largest cheese ever made in town, had the largest lot of calves, lambs, and flocks of geese, turkeys, chickens and children. Mr. Wells was generous and enterprising, always on hand to do more than anyone else in his neighborhood in improvements and in educational matters pertaining to the common school. He visited our district school often, and would give the scholars a good lecture in his crude, yet sensible manner. He would spell with us, much to our amusement. Frequently, after spelling a syllal)lc or two of a word, he would stop and eye the teacher for an assent- ing or dissenting nod of right or wrong, creating an hilarity that he enjoyed as much as the scholars. 8 114 PIONEER SKETCHES. He was a large man, weighing about 250 or 260 pounds, and when his great stomach revolted he was sick all over. On one occasion Elder Church called to see him, and inquired how he was feeling. Mr. Wells replied, ''Sick as h — 1, and not a drop of rum in the house, either." The elder replied that rum would not make a heaven; but Mr. Wells said he would take his chances if he had some. Mr. Wells was not an habitual rum drinker, Imt an outspoken man to all persons and on all occasions — to the honorable judge, the minister or to the wayfaring man — and if there were more sucb men there would be less dyspepsia and wrangling in the community. He was a man who possessed an excellent judgment and a kind regard for the poor and unfortunate. His contributions to the widow, the sick or the unfortunate generally were live times greater than those of the average citizen. Therefore, he was an important, useful factor in his neighborhood. He gave to the Sturtevant School District an acre of land as long as should be wanted for school purposes, on which to erect that old country school house herein mentioned, which was situated on the Albion and Conneautville road, on Mr. Wells' land, a portion of his 100-acrc meadow field, which site extended over the bank, where down they do go out of sight, three feet under the snow, in our exer- cises, cracking the whip, etc. This sport he seemed to equally enjoy with us. Late in the fall, just before the close of navigation on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, you could notice a canal boat moored on his premises about ten rods in front of his residence, loading aboard cheese, beef, pork, potatoes and poultry for the Pittsburg market. There lacing no rail- roads at that time in Northwestern Pennsvlvania to Pitts- PION^EEK SKETCHES. II5 burg, Mr. Wells preferred to take passage on board of the canal boat, 1 20 miles, than via the stage coach, intendino- from the start to thereby take his time, and also to have a good time on his journey. When his cargo (which was a good share of the boat's load) arrived at Pittsburg it was well sold, in exchange for which he received cash, sacks of coffee, chests of tea, barrels of fish, casks of sugar, molasses, and perhaps a little blackstrap to mix Avith the 'lasses, as he didn't do things by halves. Cargo sold, he would proceed to look over the fresh imports of Dutch from De Faderland on the market for hire, where he soon found the requisite number, a half dozen, who, wath his goods, he shipped to Spring, to his farm, where he had fifty-six cows to milk and in the sprino-. time as many calves to feed, making no allowance for twins, which occasionally came to the fertile premises of Mr. Wells. These Dutchmen safely domiciled on his farm, whose dialect the young ideal could understand about as well as a horse could geometry, proceeded to be initiated into the art of milking the cows. In this art the experience of some of these Teutons had only extended to milking goats in Dutchland. "But this milking scene is to commence." The Dutchman seats himself beside the nol)le cow with a full udder anxious to l)o relieved of a pailfull or more of the lacteal fluid, and quietly she submits to the manipula^ tions of the stranger. She soon becomes aware that her manipulator is un-American and a novice, but quietly she forbears, still anxious to be relieved. The Dutchman is first given an easy milker and as he presses his hand around the large, full teat the milk is as liable to squirt onto the MILKING SCENE. PIONEER SKETCHES. \Yl ground, stable floor or onto his boots as into the milk pail. The eye of his employer soon discovers this and he exclaims, "■Fritz, can't you steer straight enough to hit a sixteen- quart milk pail?" The Dutchman can't understand what was said to him in plain English, but knew by its tone somethino; was ""oino; wrong. He therefore sort of hustles himself and during the momentary excitement he pinches the cows teat, whereupon she lifts her hind foot, same as to say "that it'll never do." Finally the milker becomes more composed and settles down to business and the milk is flying in every direction, onto his pants and the floor around is as white as a march frost. "I say, Fritz, you must steer straighter than that," and poor Fritz is determined to do better this time and pressed closely, his finger nails cutting the cow's teat. Quickly came up her hind foot and the Dutchman went roUing around the floor, exclaiming, "Mine Got! Mine Got! Mr. Wells!" Mr. Wells appears on the scene laughing, and views the situation. There were no Ijoncs broken, but some milk lost by the impatience of his best cow and a scared Dutch- man, who soon came to, and, according to the characteris- tics of the Teuton, he persevered and in time l^ecame a good milker, a good cheese maker, and could get away with as much Dutch cheese, bologna, cider and saurkraut as the next one. Durino; the initiation of this foreigner Mr. Wells could console himself with the thought that his services, while learning to milk and undergoing this and other subsequent somersaults, cost him during such scenes only at the rate of $4.00 per month. Subsequently their wages were raised according to the usefulness and the calibre of the Dutchman. 118 PIONEER SKETCHES. There was a large amount of haying to be done on the Wells fann, and later in the season hundreds of bushels of potatoes and turnips to be harvested, and the other farmers in the neighborhood would get their harvesting done several weeks earlier than would Mr, Wells, and us youngsters could have an opportunity to go and help Mr. Wells to finish up and thereby earn a few dollars cash to buy an extra hat or suit, or cjo to the coming circus with our oAvn funds for pocket change. Therefore on one bright morning at 6:30, the loth day of August, 184Y, Kit. Sturdevant, Bob McCoy, Alfred Sargent and the writer were on hand at the 100-acre meadow, where were standing about fifty acres of grass. Mr. Wells' hands met us there— all with scythes to mow down the gi-ass. A couple of Dutchmen were among the mowers, and when mowing near the big spring south of the school house one of the Dutchmen jumped aside, flung down his scythe, grabbing himself around his cotton pants (overalls) at the ankle, and much excited yelled out : — "Snake ! a snake ! ! " One of the party caught hold of his hands that the snake could drop down his pant leg, as it ■was confined there by the hands of the Dutchman, where- upon a bull frog slid down the Dutchman's leg and leaped forty feet away, and then kept on leaping, apparently more frightened than the Dutchman, whofairlv shivered. "Cold, cold,'' he said. Yes, no doubt that frog felt as cool and slippery up that fellow's leg as would a chunk of greased ice. The poor l)ullfrog, from discoveries he had made While u]) that Dutchman's trouser leg, Quickly made a frightful leap, Forty feet into a bullrush heap. 120 PIONEER SKETCFIES. On the flats of Conneaut Creek great crops of potatoes and turnips were raised. The potatoes were of the white and bhie pinkeye varieties which come out of that rich, loamy, virgin soil, as clean as if they had been washed, and a most remarkable yield, as high as four hundred bushels to the acre. Flat turnips yielded enormously. Mr. Wells gave notice to a lot of us boys to come on and help pull turnips. In a pleasant spell of weather in November, 1844, some fifteen or twenty were on hand for the pulling match. Mr. Wells and son Shepard w^n-e present and the work of pull- ing turnips commenced, and at 1 o'clock P. M. the fertile brain of Mr. W. concocted a scheme by which he was to get more turnips pulled, viz.: He and his son Shepard took their positions side by side and said they would choose sides for a pulling match. They proceeded to choose, and would look about among the boys as earnestly as at a spelling school match, or at picking out a prospective porker from a whole litter of pigs. Sides chosen, an equal number of rods of ground were measured off, and the two contesting sides pitched in to see which side could get his patch of turnips pulled first. Could you have been there and seen those turnips fly — Like a storm of hail, Through the air they'd sail; The contest deepens — on ye brave Will, Jim, Mart and Dave. And were you to search this country round, A bigger lot of turuips could not be found; So sleek and fair, and so round, Than lay there at night upon tlu^ ground. PIONEER SKETCHES. 121 Many other scenes and incidents we might mention, but time and space forbid. Anthony Obed Wells is no more among us here, For his good deeds his memory we will revere, For his departed soul we can only say He was not surpassed in that former day In working boys or raising calves, And he never done it by the halves. CHAPTER XXII. THE BOUNDING HART, ROM the year 1820 up to 1S45, in the toAvn- ships of Spring and Beaver, Crawford Coun- ty, Pa., wild game, especially the deer, was plenty. Charles Sargent and Chester Morley were two of the great hunters in those days, and many a time have they penetrated the forest on Monday morning and during the week come in with a half dozen deer, wild turkey and other game. To see these grand, innocent look- ing animals lying side by side seemed to me rather cruel sport. Grand are the antlers of the bounding hart, Majestically he bears them on the alert. He would rather sliuu you than to fight, But to see him use his antlers is a novel sight. This grand animal has been destined to a steady but sure extinction from our forest, like the buffalo from the plains. The expert nimrod has mercilessly been upon his track until it is high time for a halt. English gentlemen protect and propagate the deer in their parks, which would be a good example for Americnas to follow to replace and replenish the land with equally as fine an animal as the lamb. CHAPTER XXIII. DANIEL STURTEVANT. > ^^^^\ AXIEL STURTEVANT was a man of more ^ M than ordinary sagacity and energy. He was ^ W born in Cortland County, N. Y., and emi- '^^^m.^ grated to Spring, Crawford County, with his parents at quite an early age. Shortly thereafter he engaged to work on a farm for a term of years for Obed Wells. For his services he got 50 acres of land which, when paid for, he commenced to improve. He married a Miss Susan Hall, of Spring, who w^as a healthy and vigorous lady, proving a great helpmate to him through life. Mr. Sturtevant soon became enabled to buy additions to his land and soon found himself the possessor of a 150-acre farm, which in a few years was mostly cleared up, affording him a pasturage for raising stock, which vocation he managed with considerable skill. Mr. Sturtevant was a hard worker and an early rrser. He used to like to hear the song of the morning warbler. He enjoyed a hearty laugh and a good joke, and one did not need to be in his company long before he got a few of them. It was notable in him to take the lead in planting and harvesting his crops. Then he would be out buying sheep, calves, yearlings, two, three and four-year-old steers, which he would hold a while and let some other fellow have them at a pretty good advance on cost. He would generally 124 PIONEER SKETCHES. make two or three trades to the average farmer's one. He worked on business principles, and when he could not drive a trade did not stop to parley and l^anter. Few words spoken and off again with a good day and hearty laugh. His place became the headquarters of an old Philadelphia Quaker and his two sons, cattle drovers, who every summer for years, made their appearance, and Mr. Sturtevant had the inside track with these friendl}' cattle buyers as he could take them where they could l)uy a sheep, a fat steer, a dry cow, a milker or a springer, and also convince the Quakers that he could give them a good bargain on the various kinds of stock he had in store upon his premises. Well, the Quaker must have thought so, too, for a clean sale was generally made of the stock on the farm in the roundup of the drove preparatory to starting for over the AUeghenies to Philadelphia, and a young Sturtevant gen- erally went along to aid the Quaker and his two shepherd dogs in driving the drove and prevent them when on Laurel Hill from nipping the poison laurel Inids to inflame the gastric juices and the modus operandi of the creature. All in all, from start to finish, Mr. Sturtevant received a pretty good thing at the hands of the Quaker for his being an early riser, a prompt, reliable, active man, a good cattle buyer, a hearty laugher, a good joker and a man who could entertain a Quaker drover. Mr. Sturtevant met with an accident, a cut on the knee-pan with a drawing-knife, and he took cold in the wound, having a long and painful illness, and months afterward with a stiff leg, while seated on a milking stool, the cow stepped upon his leg and l)roke it. For years after- ward he labored but this trouble probably hastened his death, and when at al)out sixty years of age he died, PIONEER SKETCHES. 125 leaving considerable property and an example of industry, energy and fiTigality. And a hearty, good will Which runs in the family still, To cheer them on with good endeavor. To stem the storm, or adverse weather. My memory goes back to others, and doth cling, To those sterling pioneers of Spring; But my space will not allow Of them to say but little now. Among these veterans were : John Woodard, Wm. McCoy, Elijah and Eri Thomas, Eev. Jesse Church, Henry McLaughlin, John Vaughn, Wm. Tucker, Lyman and Arch Jenks; Howell Watkin, David, Edward and James Powell, Isaac, David and Albert Hurd, Lyman, Ealand, Timothy and Asa Sturtevant, Elisha and Thomas Bowman, Porter Skeels, Geo, Nicholson, Wm. Cornell, John Curtis, Chester ]Morley, Ira Locke, Charles and Anson Sargent and others, who were all good soldiers in their day, all of whom contributed their might in making Spring Township blossom like the rose and who, every man of them, done his part well to clear up and replenish the land. Nearly all of whom are gone Onward to their happy home. A similar line of Pioneers settled throughout Spring Township and Crawford County, of whom are: Harry Pond, Hiram Butler, Hawdey Dauchy, the Halls, Sheldons, AndrcAv Christy, Geo. and Robert Foster, John and James Ford, Fred Williams, Mr. Powers, Wm, Powers, J. E. Patton, and many others about Conneautville and Northern Crawford. In Southern Crawford and in Mercer and Venango Counties there was something more of a mixture of the German and Hibernian stock. Many of these 126 PIONEER SKETCHES. pioneers settled upon their lands at an earlier date than the pioneers of Spring and many of them became wealthy and thrifty farmers. But there is not a township in the State, of the same age, that surpasses Spring in culture, general improvement and wealth. The reason is obvious and easily explained. Fifty years ago there was not a wealthy man in town, and during these 3-ears no windfall of colossal wealth having dropped into the lap of its citi- zens, they have hewn out and paddled their own canoes — Many of whom landed on safe ground, Where, now they, or their descendants, may be found, Generally engaged, in tilling the soil. Which has proved renumerative for their toil. CHAPTER XXIV. ERI THOMAS. eRI THOMAS was one of the early settlers of Spring, Pa. His father, Jacob Thomas, emigrated to West Springfield in 1800 and settled upon lands afterward called Zacks- ville and raised a large family. The subject of this sketch, Eri, was the second son, and settled upon 100 acres of land about one-half mile north of Shadeland in 1818, and moved on to said land amid the forest, and, like other stalwart pioneers, cut his way through from the forest to the wheat-field, the orchard, the meadow and the pasture, well stocked in due time. This place, now occupied by W. G. Thomas, aflbrds one of the finest views of Spring Valley, of Western Crawford county. Situated, like Shadeland, upon the beautiful east- em slope of the valley, the eye can behold ol)jects far to the westward across the valley; aflbrding, also, a sweeping view northward and southward. Yet upon these spots of earth, as beautiful as ever "Old Sol" shone upon, during the days of those good old- fashioned winters the ''beautiful snow,'" set in motion by the western breezes, was sifted over the fences into the road in a superfluous manner, when men and l)oys, with shovels and ox-teams, turned out to shovel and Ijreak their way through the snow drifts that the traveler might get through to Spring Corners or Albion. JMany a time the 128 PIONEER SKE TCHES. writer, with other schoohnates, has tusseled with those snow drifts on that historic spot near the old Sturtevant school-house, where the snow-drifts would remain through many pleasant, warm days in the spring; and many a bucketful was gathered on which to drop our hot maple 'lasses to make a good gob of maple wax. Delicious! Good enough for ye gods! At those sugar parties their lips would smack In working a gob of maple wax. Talk about something nice and sweet, But that maple wax never was beat! I well recollect a characteristic incident of Eri Thomas. In March, 1840, Ithael Young called at the house of Alfred Sargent, and while there Mr. Thomas drove up with his horse and sleigh and came in. The snow was about a foot deep, and it vvas thawing — the snow was wet. Mr. T. discovered that the boots Mr. Young wore were open at the toes and sides and his stocking plainly visible. Said he to Mr. Young: ''I think you are jeopardizing your health in this deep, wet snow in wearing such boots. Why don't you get a pair of new ones V Mr. Young said he hadn't the price at the time, whereupon Mr. Thomas promptly exhibited the boots he wore and said: "I will sell you these; what will you give for them?" "Ten pounds of maple sugar, the first sugar I make." "It's a bargain," said Thomas, "for I don't want to see you going around with your feet sopping wet at this time of the year." Mr. Thomas pulled ofl' his boots and told Young to put them on, which he did, and laughingly said: "How are you going to get home, Thomas, bare-footed?" "Never mind me," said Thomas. And Avhen he was ready to start for home the wi'iter got a twelve-foot board and placed one end on his cutter and the other end on the door-step, when PIONEER SKETCHES. 129 Mr. Thomas walked into his sleigh, wrapped his feet up in his robes and drove home to put on his other pair of boots, Mr. Thomas was much interested in the district school, and would give the teacher as well as the scholar a whole- some lecture when he thought they required it. On one occasion pur school master, Rusk Cole, whipped a young man, a son of Mr. Thomas, who heard of the affair while he was engaged in his slaughter house renderino; tallow. Mr, Thomas started for the school house with hands smeared with tallow and walked into the school room and said to the teacher, "You have abused my boy, wliipped him beyond reason ; you ought to be Avhipped and turned out of school, and if the Trustees don't turn 3'ou out I will put you out."' This declaration had a salutary effect on the school master, and the beech gad was not used so much the remainder of the term. Beech gads were as common in those days in the school room as firewood, and if the average school master had put forth as much effort in cultivating his brain as he did in using the gad he would have accomplished more as a school teacher. Mr. Thomas was quits benevolent and kind hearted to children and to poor people. A widow lady called on him for some apples. He said to the lady "-Come on with a team and get all that you want, free of charge." Soon thereafter the lady came with a team and got all the apples she desired. Then said she, "this is my brother's team and little boy; will you give some apples to pay him for haul- ing T' "No," said Mr. Thomas, "if your brother can't furnish a kid and a yoke of antiquated stags to haul some apples for his sister it's a pity." What portion of the widow's apples went to pay for the use of the team is a mat- ter of family history and brotherly love. 9 CHAPTER XXV. EARLY SETTLERS. MONG the earliest settlers of Spring and Western Crawford Avere a Mr. Flemming, who settled upon the place still known as the Flemming lot, and who made a clearing of 50 acres of land ; a Mr. Jackson settled on the adjoining tract north ; Mr. Kennedy, on the tract of land north of the Jackson lot. These pioneers settled upon their respective tracts in 1795, whose improvements aided the subsequent settlers of that vicinity very much, especially the Flemming lot. These settlers left their places. Their lands reverted back to Huidekoper, of whom they were originally purchased. Mr. McKee, a pioneer w^ho settled upon the place sub- sequently owned and occupied by Watkin Powell, a portion of the now Shadeland estate, grandfather of the Powell Brothers, stockmen. This man McKce and his son cut the hay upon the Flemming lot. Wolves Avere plenty. The latter part of July, 1797, the McKees were haying on the Flemming lot, and while on their way to work one morn- ing, with scythes in hand, young McKoe thought he would go to his trap, which he had set for bear and wolf near the line of the Flemming and Jackson lots. On arriving at the spot he found a wolf in his trap. Having no firearms he concluded to dispatch the wolf with his scythe, and accord- ingly stru(^k for his neck. He struck too high, cutting off his cars and seal}), which so infuriated the animal that he M KEE AND THE WOLF. 132 PIONEER SKETCHES. made a desperate lunge at McKee, loosening the clog of the trap. The brute seized him by the arm and he could not extricate it fi-om the jaws of the wolf. He shouted to his father, who came to his rescue and killed the wolf with a club. Young McKee's arm was badly chewed up, which took him six months to recover the use of. Other early settlers were Messrs. Orr and Fords. The former settled on the site where Springboro now stands; the latter on what is known as the old Elisha Bowman place, near Shadeland. One Thomas Ford, however, set- tled and built his cabin so as to cover one corner of four different tracts of land, with the grasping idea of holding all four tracts. It was decided that he could not pre-empt but one tract of 400 acres of land instead of 1,600, and therefore that place, situate on the tract corners of the old Obed Wells, Charles Sargent and Barnes tracts of land, was, and is to this day, called "Ford's Folly;'' also John Foster, who settled on the place now occupied by Richard Bolard. After the year ISOO, and previous to the war of 1812, were James and Samuel Patterson, who settled in the eastern part of Spring. While they were at Erie defend- ing their country fi'om a threatened invasion by the British in 1812, when every man rushed to arms, the Pattersons' wheat crop ripened. Their heroic wives, with sickles, cut and harvested the wheat; and they found they must have flour to make bread, whereupon they spread down blankets upon the ground for their threshing floor and the canopy of heaven for a barn roof, and with flail in hand they threshed out a grist of wheat; then with a sheet and screen cleaned the chaff from the wheat, ready for grinding. They then sent the boys on horseback through the woods, by blazed trees, fifteen miles to a grist-mill at Venango, on PIONEER SKETCHES. 133 French Creek. And when the boys, with their o;rist of flour, had arrived within one-half mile of home the flour bag caught a snag on a tree, tearing it open. The horse jumped and threw ofl" the boys; the grist of flour was scat- tered through the woods, and only two quarts of flour was left of this grist when the horse reached home. The plucky Mrs. Pattersons had to sit down and take a good cry over their hard fortune preparatory to trying the same job over again to get material to make bread for their families while their husbands were ofl' to war. The first three frame houses in Pow^erstown, Spring township, were built and occupied by Alexander Power and William Crozier. An incident, showing the fraternal spirit of the early settlers, in a later day, about 1835. Robert Foster, son of the pioneer John Foster, started out one morning in No- vember with his rifle to hunt deer. He did not return that night and a search was made the next day without any trace of the lost man. The people throughout the town- ship were notified, who all turned out. The next morning 100 men formed in line and swept the forest in search of the lost man. After marching through the forest al)out two miles they turned about to the left flank, and when within a half mile of his father's house thoy found the young man lying dead upon the ground with his gun at his side, death being occasioned by a fit or heart trouble. And at the proper time these people turned out generally to per- form the last l)\u'ial rites. When one of their number was burned out by fire they joined together and helped to re- build his home or barn. When a pioneer was injured by accident or prostrated by sickness they were his insurance company, and would turn out and do up his harvesting or any other work that the unfortunate man was unable to do. The}^ were friends to be relied u})on in times of peace, and foes to be feared by an enemy in time of war. CHAPTER XXVI. M. P. SARGENT. ANCESTRY^BIRTH— CHILDHOOD. Y FAMILY is American in all its l^ranches. My great grandfather was born and lived in Massachusetts. His son, Phineas Sar- gent, my grandfather, was born in Worces- ter, Massachusetts, in 1705; married Mary Kingsbury, who was born in Oxford in 1763. A short time after their marriage they removed to Cortland County, New York, where they lived until 1814, when they and family removed to Spring, Crawford County, Pa., of which niention has been made in other pages. My father, Alfred Sargent, and my mother, whose maiden name was Maria Phelps, were born in New York State, in Cincin- natus, Cortland County; my mother in Leroy, New York, and were married in Spring, Crawford Co., Pa., in 1830. I Avas born on the 1,5th day of July, 1832, at Spring, Crawford Co., Pa. This was my home principally for twenty-two years. The school that we attended was kept liy the school marm in summer and by the school master in winter, where S. and three E.'s, "Spelling, Reading, Kiting and Rithmetic, " for the first two or three years, was taught, when it was discovered that the young ideal required teachers of a different calibre, and Ave l)egan to have taught spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grannnar, geography and algebra, and later to practice elocution, composition debating, etc. PIONEER SKETCHES. 135 There was a plenty of material of both sexes in our school and in the winter term as high as ninety scholars, quite enough for one teacher in one small school room. We generally had good schools. Occasionally a tender- foot would start in. We had no use for such and would swap him otF. Our school made good progress, from the fact that the apt scholar was not held back for the slow one. It w^as free for all on their merits. I have many times been thankful to my father and mother for giving me the best opportunity they could at that time to attend school in my youthful days, for I realize that what I learned in those days I can best remember. I can look back through the long vista of fifty years to tlios e youthful, happy days and delineate most minutely every scene and incident enacted, and which I then witnessed, as though it was but yesterday. Recreation I know is health- ful, and in this respect I was not stinted for the want of pleasant recreation. I have seen its baneful effect upon the youth. Too much leniency given, however, might be per- nicious, but on the other hand, the hand of discipline, the every-day stay-at-home, the over-worked youth, is often dwarfed in mind, in body, and in soul. And this trait is not confined to the youth. How is it with the miser, oi the man who lives in one corner of your town, and you w^ouldn't know he lived there unless you went to see him \ A donation is announced, or a festival, the proceeds of which are to be used for some ^vorthy purpose — not a nickel; and he quite begrudges the quart of buttermilk or the dish of saurkraut donated. In my early teens I had a desire to go somewhere occasionally and see something of the world. In this respect my parents were sufficiently lenient. But had it 136 PIONEER SKETCHES. been to the reverse, from my nature I know that it would not have been as well for me in the long run. THE OLD BLOCK HOUSE, The old block house stood on the brow of the hill on the west side of the Albion and Springboro Road, in Spring, Pa. It was built in 1819, and was occupied by Phineas and Mary Sargent and family. Stately whitewood and cucumber trees were felled and cut in lengths 22 and 32 feet, and hewn for the erection of the Block House, the ends of the logs being dovetailed to hold them tirmly in place. The amount of valual)le timber used in the construction of those crude pioneer buildings would now-a-days bring a snug sum of money. Saw mills then in that timbered country, were much scarcer than cyclones are now on the western prairies. The early settler was fortunate in getting lumber sufficient to lay down a floor in his house, and shakes (split out of white ash timber) about three feet long, were generally used in place of shingles, for roofing the cabin, house or barn. PUNCHEON FLOORS Was the sort of flooring generally used by the early settlers. Straight rifted smooth trees about a foot in diameter were selected, cut to the required length, split and smoothly hewn and laid down closely together for the floor. It made, however, a strong floor which wouldn't spring and joggle to flop the milk out of the pans at a house warming, when stepping to the tune of "The Arkansaw," "Zi}) Coon/' or the "Devil's Dream.'' THE WOOD BEE. It was the custom in those days for the people to turn out and got up a large pile of firewood for old people, the wid- PIOXEER SKETCHES. 137 ow, the sick or unfortunate. One wintry afternoon in Janu- ary was the time set for a wood bee at the block house of Capt. Sargent. A goodly number of teams, men and boys, were on hand, some to fell and cut the timljer into sled lengths, others to assist in loading and unloading, others to chop the logs into fire wood at the door, and when night came there was a large pile of Ijcech and maple logs, also a good pile cut into fire wood. Grandfather was much pleased, and extended thanks to them for the good work they had done for him, wdien they left for home, except the few who ling- ered for a little more juice from com and rye. There were a couple of old hunters among the number, Chester Morley and Charles Sargent, who proceeded to seat themselves in the old block house by the fire. The fire place was as big as all out-doors, wherein a couple of huge liack logs, a big fore stick, numerous brands and sticks of kindling w^ood had been placed, and soon there was a rousing, cracking fire — With lots of g-lowiug coals, To drive out the cold. Chet and Charley settled down in their usual way, Then us youug kids knew they'd come to stay, Their hunting stories to relate. Until an hour quite late. When us kids, a half dozen or more, lit out for home to get our sleds, to have some fun on the hill a little later, and to peer in upon the picnic going on in the old block house ; returning, and after testing the speed of our sleds down the steep declivity of the hill and across the fiat, onto the ice of the stream to make our mark. This having been accomplished in due time, we changed our tactics, ascended the hill, and ventured in upon the noted nimrods, where we beheld Morley already in his element, undergoing a 138 PIOXEER SKETCHES. doubled geared movement in gesticulation and articulation, descriptive of Old Red and the bear and the deer, which, when deciphered, runs something like this: — Chet Morley had a rifle he called "Old Red," Of him and his gun it often had been said When he drew a bead along the barrel of "Old Red" Upon a bear or deer, 'twas surely dead. THE DIFFERENCE. Old Charlie would take a nip at every round, ' But wouldn't take enough to fetch him down. We soon discovered that Morley was getting so mellow that there was not much hope of having a picnic with him, later on the hill ; but we knew old Charlie was good for it if we could get him interested. Presently Morley calls for the brown jug, with which I quickly stepped by his side and whispered in his ear that the boys had fixed it and that it was not fit to drink, and he declined to drink, while old Charlie's eyes were on me, looking like two peeled onions. "Mart.,'' said he, "hand that bottle to me. " Then he snufied at it a couple of times and then took a drink. Morley, squinting with half-closed eyes, said, "Chales, Chales, how does it taste?" "Wliy, you fool, " exclaimed Charles, "you can't fool me with kid's water," and handed Morley the bottle, from which he took a long pull. "Stop!" said Charles, "don't be a d d hog — why don't you do as 1 do, take a little and often V The old clock struck ten, when Charlie said, "Come, Morley, it's time to make a start for home." The kids, with the biggest sled, were already in line on the brow of the hill to give Uncle Charlie a fleet ride down and up the steep hills homeward. It took considerable persuasion to get him to consent to take that ride, but finally, with the UNCLE Charlie's ride. 140 PIONEER SKETCHES. interrogation, "Now, my short lads, will you give me a good ride down this and up that slippery hill ?" "Yes," was the answer, when he cautiously- and skeptically got aboard the sled, with hands firmly clenched to the raves, feet protruding outward, when he said, "All ready, my lads." This was the cheerino^ word we had been waitins: for for hours, when oflf we started with our eight-hoss kid team with our precious cargo of 200 pounds allying down the hill, across the flat, like a drove of antelopes. We ascended the steep, slippery, Woodard hill, and old Charlie enjoyed his ride hugely. When near the top of the hill we suddenly pushed the sled with its precious cargo backwards at a fearful rate down the declivity. The scene we just then realized was terrific. We held our l^rcath in fearful suspense as old Charlie and the sled were approaching the brink of the precipice, already on the edge of the bridge, over which if he went would break his neck. Uncle Charlie had awaken to the danger of the situation, when just then behold some desperate movements. His legs and hands in quick manoeuvre, the snow aflying, the sled broadside, when over she rolls, cargo and all, his head protruding over the bridge, with sufficient avordui)ois resting on the l)ridge to prevent his going overboard. He cautiously got away from the edge of the bridge, picked up that hand sled and slung it into Woodard's field, striking on a huore rock and makinjr every joint holler, when he started u}) the hill, exclaiming, "I'll fix you, my short lads, if I get hold of you !" We didn't propose he would get hold of us. While this was sport for the boys, it was next to ruin for the hand sled and a sad accident to its rider. After all we had a desire to see our genial Uncle Charlie safely home. PIONEER SKETCHES. 141 And Ave watched him slid his way along, Until he had reached his quiet home To dream that night of riding on the kid hand sled, And how he rolled o'er that snowy bed: Chester charged into a fence corner, AVhere, lone-handed, he threw up Jonah While on his way to his abode. As he had too big a load. That night he got the biggest load of corn Ever since the day he was born. Various other ways did the early settlers help each other. In the spring time they would plow, plant and sow the spring crop for those wdio were unable by sickness or otherwise, and in many instances harvest their crops, with- out mone}^ or price. All they required was, when the un- fortunate one recovered, to act manfully and do likewise when occasion required. They also furnished reliable mutual insurance without paying for high salaried officers and gilt edged policies. When the house or the barn of a pioneer was destroyed by fire or lightning, they re-built it. There was no premium offered for incendiarism by over insurance at that day. Hence they created no fire bugs. Bed bugs and mosquitoes, no doubt, were preferable, and sufficient to be pestered with. They drew a lesson from the corn cribs of Egypt, when Joseph inteqoreted the troublesome dreams of Pharoah the king, when he saw seven fat, sleek cows come up out of the river Nile, followed by seven gaunt ones which were to de- vour the former. The seven fat cows were synonym of seven years of plenty, the seven gaunt ones were seven years of famine, and the people must lay up one-fifth of their crop each year to prepare for the famine, which they 142 PIONEER SKETCHES. did, and their assets were sutficient to insure them food throuofh the famished years. The pioneer people of Amer- ica shared with the famished and the needy from their assets, their corn cril)s, flour bins and pork barrels — a reliable in- surance company, and they never scaled a genuine policy. As we return to the old block house on the hill, we find its occupants, Phineas and Mary Sargent, have been busy, and mindful of the future, in planting trees, shrub- bery, etc. In front of the house — Stood the stately locust and the fragrant lilac, Neath the hill, near the rill, the willow and the sumac; Ascending the hill you would come To the artichoke and delicious ^^^ jilumb. Farther on the cherry, peach and apple trees, And in a sheltered nook hives of honey bees. Busy bees, flying here, there and all over, Extracting honey from the lilac and the clover. In looking hack to those former days, To note the good, old-fashioned ways. Compared to the modern style. We think it hardly worth the Avhile The agonies of fashion to undergo. And wonder why it should be so. Revolving time has wrought its change, From Texas to the State of Maine. We hope such change will prove for the best, For you and I and all the rest. Some of the changes that have l)eeu wrought, However, have been dearly bought. But now, as we drive up to the stream. If we can't ford it we can cross by steam. Sliould we to fashion's swirl comply, When we're fixed to live we're ready to die. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 143 I think I'd better close my ditty soon, For my wife is coming with her broom, And I will up and out of door, ■ For you. know she wants to sweep the floor. After all, the floor is swept, Still, I find there's something of me left. With wife's consent, I'll proceed to relate Something about the spare rib and the Johnny cake. In the fire place hung the crane Planted in the chimney there to remain. On which to hang the spare rib, turkey and goose, To roast deliciously for family use. Yes, the crane was an important factor on which could be hung pots and kettles, or swung out in front of a glow- ing fire to suspend the ril) or fowl a swinging, and neatli it a dripping pan, from which the hot grease was frequently applied as a dressing for the roast, and in due time a place was prepared in the hot ashes in the fire place, when a half peck of potatoes was placed therein, covered with hot ashes and hot embers, and in a short time were nicely roasted. In the meantime the Johnny cake was Ijaking in the tin oven or spider in front of the fire. Ah, the flavor of those nice roasted pinkeye potatoes, spare rib and Johnny cake was good enough for ye latter day saints and kings. Many times, since, I have wdshed I could taste of the like again. But some may say it's all in your eye and taste. But no; and the proof is, to begin with, we have no such potatoes nowadays as those old white and blue pinkeyes, yielding from 200 to 400 bushels to the acre, and bright and smooth did they come out of the ground, and perfectly healthy. Also that golden eight-rowed corn, planted 1 st of 144 PIONEER SKETCHES. June, the 1st of September ready to be gi'ound and made into hominy or Johnny-cakes. I tell you those spare-ribs, roast potatoes. Johnny-cakes, puddings, and maple 'lasses would tickle a vigorous appetite and cure a dyspeptic. But those good old days have passed. Grandfather and grandmother have passed away, and I suppose to occupy as much of God's green earth and Heaven as the millionaire of to-day. Not measured by shares in railroad stock, But by their noble Pioneer work ; Which is their heritage and assurance, Something of greater endurance. CHAPTER XXVII. OUR FIRST FIDDLE. HOW GOT — A NEVADA SILVER MINE — WEAVING — MY GOOD MOTHER, HEN A YOUTH of about a dozeu years, we took it into onr head that the tiddlc was the thing kicking, and of all other things, at that time, the most desired to complete the round of a hajipy, earthly existence. When, one evening soon there- after, at a neighboring house we heard F. Pratt playing Dandy Jim and other tunes on his violin, which took us kids by storm and my determination to have a fiddle was a fixture, as we stood in amazement and gazed upon the player as he apparently so easily glided his fiddle stick, struno: with wdiite horse tail hairs, over the vibratinof, melodious catgut strung on the deck of his fiddle. I imagined the happy hours I would have in producing those melodious strains that go with "Dandy Jim," 'The Girl I Left Behind Me," or "An Arkansaw." Wherefore the next morning I said: "Father, I wish you would buy me a fiddle." "A fiddled' "Yes — I w^ant one." ' 'You had better have a ewe sheep. " "I know a sheep woukl raise lambs, but she won't raise a fiddler, and I want something to play a tune on." Mother was present, and seemed very much amused at our dialogue, and when dinner was over she said to me : 10 146 PIONEER SKETCHES. "I am going down to Vaughn's and you had better not go away, but stay al)out the house, until I return." In about three hours she returned with a fiddle wrap- ped up as nicely a young infant. The sight of that John Vaughn fiddle just then done me more good than to have fallen heir to a Nevada silver mine. My good UKjthcr, on that afternoon, walked two miles to buy that fiddle, and in course of a few days wove a piece of flannel cloth in her hand loom to pay for it, to please her first l)orn. That was the kind of a mother I had. Musical talent, perhaps, did not predominate in me as mucli as in some others, nevertheless I got there in a manner, and have the consolation that the first tune I learned to play on that violin was the one my mother learned me, which many a time, at her request, I have played for her. Yet it has been fourteen years since my good mother passed from earth, I seldom take up my violin but that the tune she learned me comes among the first in the exercise, and carries me ])ack to my youthful days, in memory, to nolile deeds and heroic struggles of a kind mother, who was always ready to make great sacrifice to please her child. She is the one person who most keenly perceives the real wants and needs of the child and the youth. Reader, if you have a kind mother and a father you well know ni}' meaning. Then, in return, l)e kind to them, for the time you will have them with you here is of short duration. When life's temptation o'er us brood Through days of youth to manhood, What personages, more than any other Ministers to our wants? Father and mother. CHAPTER XXVIII. COOKING — LINE OF TACTK^S — COON, OPPOSSUM, PORCUPINE— THE NIM" RODS — CUFF AND PONTO — A PAINFUL INCIDENT. O THOSE old schoolmates and neighboring bo^^s of 1840, '45 '50 I particularly refer. Some of whom have gone on before, whom we naturally expect some day to overtake. But those of them who are still perambulating the varied busy scenes of life will hear witness to an incident of 1845. The latter part of August, 1845. we noticed numerous tracks in the bed of a small stream running through a meadow on my father's farm, resembhng a child's track from one to two years old. Such funny tracks, thought I, and called father's attention to them. He said they were coons' tracks. That was enough to know that the coons were out and the corn ears fit for roasting. An invitation was quickly extended to the bovs in the neighborhood to come on for a coon hunt. There was a strip of wood in the form of an "L" on two sides of the cornfield. In the evening the boys assenil)led under a big locust tree on the lawn, and after a short consultation as to the line of tactics to be pursued, with dogs, axes and rifles, some matches and a handful of salt tied up in a rag, we proceeded to forward march, marching out the roadway in solid column, along the north 148 PIONEER SKETCHES. side of the cornfield, around to the nook of timl:»er, we took onr position. Corporals Will and Trume held the dogs by the collar, and at a given signal were to charge down the centre of the field, supported by the riflemen. Woodard's Light Infantry, armed with clubs, was to move down the left, and Sargent's Infantry along the right, and at the signal of old Cuff, the boss coon dog's warning voice, was to charge directly across the field by the left flank to the point of interest and scene of carnage — When at about half-past iiiue Old Cuff began to whine. And Corporal Trume could with difficulty hold him. When Capt. Sargent said, '"Let him go !" we moved quickly in the darkness. Soon came a yelp from old Cuff. Yelp, yelp. To the left, directly across the field to a small maple sap- ling, on which was perched a coon, and the sapling l)ending under its Avetght. Woodard on the left intercepted the coon from o-ettino: to a larirer tree. 'Twas but the work of a moment to shake ofi' and dispatch the coon. Dogs and boys, like Napoleon, still eager for greater conquests. Our plans had worked admirably, and we (juickly moved on the lower field, resorting to our former Hue of tactics. (iAME AHEAD. Then at the southwest corner of the field a coon crossed Woodard's line and went up a big soft maple tree. The signal given l)y the old dog l)etokened this, when we swung to the left and all came up on a pivot. Well, this coon tree towered heavenward 100 feet, and Ponto was barking up another near by, and we soon discovered that we had to — COONING. 150 PIONEER SKETCHES. Lay siege for that coou, oppossum or the bear, Porcupine, or whatever might be in the trees up there. A nice log heap near by was lighted, and some fence rails arranged for seats, etc., to prepare for the feast and to bivouac for the night. The roll call showed we had not lost a man, nor dog, nor the salt we had tied up in the rag, wherefore the animals had not time to devour much corn that night and our time had come to partake of those luscious green ears of roasted corn with salt well rubbed in lietween the kernels. Cuff and Ponto stood as sentry at the foot of the trees and we proceeded with our sport as follows: Boys are boys when hunting the coon, Whether the night is dark or brightly shines the moon; They liberally pluck the ears of corn At intervals from 10 o'clock to the coming morn. The log-heap is lighted and soon is all aglow, Straightway for the corn-ears the boys do go And roast 'era o'er the fire of the burning heap, And salt 'em well and eat, and stories tell all night to keep Awake until the dawn of day, When the first nimrod will blaze way At the coon upon the tree. Bang, bang, l)ang, miss; one, two, three. Number four comes to the scratch and draws his bead; The coon lets go and quickly drops, indeed. Old Cuff, who through the night as sentry stood. Quickly tries his nippers on his victim as if he would Like t(^ have a picnic with his cunniiig coon. And looked sad 'cause life went out so soon. Upon the other tree, under which Ponto watched all night, We behold something of a different stripe. Bang, bang! xVmid the smoke we see an oppossum fall; But lo! on his way, around a limb his tail it coils. By the tail it hangs, grinning, a funny sight. PIONEER SKETCHES. 151 Reader, had you seen it 'twould have given you delight. Poor oppossum, still hanging high up in the air: Another leaden messenger sent to bring him down from there. When on the ground Ponto seized him by the back, When we could fairly hear the bones in its body crack. Later on, we found that 'possum was still alive, Had fooled the dogs and all the boys likewise. On examination, neither bullet had pierced its heart, But simply passed through less vital parts. AVhereas it had stood such a galling fire. We concluded that 'possum should peacefully retire. The next morning we found it gone, perhaps to see Its young oppossums up a green tree. Some say the hardest animals to kill is a woodchuck or a cat; They aint to be compared to that Oppossum of eighteen hundred and forty-five. Which, I presume, is still alive. Presently the dogs began to bark up another tree. By peering up through the leaves we could see A dark object bristling up and sort o' shine. Which we discovered to be the prickly porcupine. A shot was let go at it; to the ground it fell . The dogs promptly grappled it, and as quickly did they yell; The porcupine's quills are bad medicine for a dog: By a lash of the tail it will thrust its quills into a log. Much better ornaments for beads for the Indian squaw Than they are for a dog to chaw. Our faithful dogs got a hot dose that bright summer morn, Their mouths were chock full of porcupine thorns. The dogs followed us to the house, where an hour we did de- vote In pulling those quills from their mouth and throat. With bullet moulds and pinchers 'twas all we could do; But the noble animals felt better when we got through. 152 PIONEER SKETCHES. The coou we nicely skinuedaucl tried out its oil; The porcupine we let rot upon the soil, Not with the hope that other porcupines would grow, As it is the " cursedest" animal created here below. It does not require much of a mathematician to figure out quite soon That a bevy of boys will eat as much corn as a litter of rac- coons; But it is natural for the boys to take down the gun And go among the coons, 'possums, " porcys," and have some fun. In looking back to that night of 1845 I find some of those valiant boys are still alive. Wm. Skeels,Wm. Alderman, Truman Sargent, Lucius Church, a noble four, Whose hunting scenes on earth have passed o'er. But revolving time brings forth its change. AVhat seems to us a loss we hope to them is gain; But whether it is, or is not, an earthly boon, Many a noble life goes out at noon. CHAPTER XXIX. SUGAR MAKING. TAPPING TREES— GATHERING SAP— THE RESCUE — THE FESTIVAL — OUR CABIN — SUGARING OFF. N FEBRUARY, 1847, Ave took a sugar camp of Sciiyler Gates, All)ion, Pa., situate in the big woods of Spring, Pa., about two miles from our abode. Presently we said to cousin Alf., who lived near 1)}" on an adjoining farm, "Wouldn't you like to go in with me and work the Gates' sugar l)ush V "On what terms f said he; "Two-thirds of what we get; he furnishes camp, kettles and storage for one-third the sugar made." "I will go you," said Alf., "but we will probably have to make -10 or 50 new sap troughs to replace some leaky ones."" Sap buckets, at that day, were much scarcer than l^abies, in most famihes. In due time new troughs were supplied. On a bright, sunny morning in March, with about a foot of snow on the ground, the wind southward, the air warm and balmy, l^etokening a good sa}) day, we proceeded to the sap bush accompanied by our paternal ancestors and cousins. Rant and Trume, and tapped 320 trees. The day was a gushing sap day and we placed our kettles between two large beech logs, comprising a chaldron, a half-chaldron and a five-pail kettle for a heater, preparatory for boiling. We were on hand the next morning and found many of the troughs full, and the sap still running. A fire was kindled and sap placed in the kettles, which in due time 154 PIONEER SKETCHES. were boiling. To the novice I will state that we pnt on our neckyokes made from basswood timber, carved out to fit the neck and shoulders, about three feet long, a moosewood string tied to each end of the yoke attached to a wooden hook from which the pails suspended, the length of which to suit the arms and legs of the subject, when tugging through a foot of snow or otherwise. There was lots of work, hard work, in this crude Avay of maple sugar making. The most fatiguing part is carrying the sap or sugar water, in the snow or wet ground in a primeval forest. Snow or rain water in sap, when boiling, causes it to foam and boil over the kettle, when a piece of fat pork placed in the kettle calms its turbid action and keeps it down within the vessel; just the same, we presume, it Avould act on many an individual, with a little hard work mixed in, would keep down a tur1)ulent disj^osition and keep them from slopping over, much to the benefit of the community in general. When we had gathered the bush over we found the troughs first gathered were again full. This meant busi- ness, and as the trees over a part of the camp were scattered, it made much traveling to get around. A better thing, however, Avas in store for us, when the next morning K. H. came to our rescue with a pair of steers and a sled, and a couple of l)arrels with which to gather the sap, and more than this, loaves of wheat and corn bread, a ham and a bucket of eggs. Our good parents being farmers who kept geese, turkeys, ducks and hens, we got a variety of eggs, and, God bless them, they wx'll knew they had sent the provisions to a good market. We soon gathered our sap, and still from the sugar maple was briskly dropping the sweet beverage. We found SU(iAR MAKING 156 PIONEER SKETCHES. we had to boil sap that night to make store room for the morrow. R. H. had to return with the steers that evcninff, and before dark he emerged from the wood to the settle- ment and could not participate in om- evening festivities. Slices of the bam .we broiled on a stick, Over the glowing coals, very quick; The grease we used for sop on the corn bread, And pronounced it the best we ever had. The eggs were boiled four minutes in a kettle of sap, But as to the time, we had to guess at that; For all the watch we had was a Avatch dog. And the brute lay asleep under a log. We dipped out the eggs, goose, turkey, and all sorts, what a sight. And found 'em all boiled just about right; Then from our broiled ham and eggs and corn bread. We partook of a hearty supper before going to bed. Our cabin was built of split bass wood and ))lack ash logs, notched at the ends, dovetailed, and laid up edgeways, al)Out the height of the average calf pen, and 8x12 feet, and its roof covered with l)ark. Thc^ door did not swing on iron hinges, but was left a grand opening like a dog kennel, and the cracks between the logs Avere sufficient to admit fresh air and a little snow occasionally. This cabin had not been occupied for twelve months' except by a stray rabbit or raccoon, consequently we had to go about it and put our house in order, to make up our l)eds for a few hours of sweet repose. The floor consisted of a lot of poles laid on the ground and a split basswood log across the head end of the bunk department for a pillow, on which we piled hemlock boughs a foot thick, and over all spread a blanket to })revent taking cold or getting th(! rheumatics, or a cramp in the toe nails. PIONEER SKETCHES. 157 The moon was shining brightly at 12 o'clock, and the boiling- kettle within wore a golden hue from the days' boiling, and we drank a quart of the sweet elixir to aid in digesting our hearty supper. Then followed story telling, and the song from ourbassino voices, Avhich made the welkin ring and resounded far away in the stillhess of the night, and was answered by the pee-wee, the nightingale, and the croaking of Morley's frogs in a neighboring swail, when we concluded, it was high time to turn in. We tilled up the kettles, arranged the fire, and with all our clothing on, hats and boots, we entered our cal)in, placed an army blanket over us and laid down to sleep, and slept soundly until 7 o'clock; awakening, we found Alf. grinning, and he exclaimed, "-What do you think of this I " ''I think we're snowed under," 1 replied. We arose and shook ourselves like a couj^le of colts and emerged from the cabin, and found four or five inches of snow on the ground, and still snowing, and we had received a good sprinkling of it in the cabin. We found the con- tents of the kettle well boiled down, when soon we had a tire and reduced it to syrup, which we strained and set away to settle, preparatory to sugaring olf. The next day R. H. came to cam}), when we finished boiling the sap on hand, sugared oti', and at night had all the sugar we could carry home, leaving in the ca1)in two buckets of syrup. After a rest of two or three days, we returned to camp, and found that some "sour pilgrim" had invaded our cal)in and carried ofi' the syrup and forgot to bring any of it l)ack. After this we left no syru}) in the ca])in for others to sugar ofi' at our expense, and attended to each sugar run, and made a])out 500 pounds of sugar, and had a sweet time generally. We thought that sugar, ham and eggs and corn bread tasted sweeter in the Avoods than at our own domicile. CHAPTER XXX. OUR FIRST TRIP ON THE RAGING CANAL. THE SUMMIT— THE FEEDER— HARTSTOWN POND— HUNDREDS OF SNAKES — TRIBES OF INDIANS— THEIR DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTHWEST — THE POLK AND DALLAS— TOWED BY A STEAMBOAT— ROUNDING BEAVER POINT — A NARROW ESCAPE. APTAIN ELISHA ALDERMAN, who lived three-fourths of a mile south of Albion, Erie county, Pa., owned and commanded the canal boat Polk and Dallas, Avhich was one of the first l)oats run on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal. One evening in June, 184:6, his boat la}' r>-=3e[M!iiiir-----=;,=_>^ moored on the Birm side of the canal at r • --'^^^JL /^/i gK Bowman's wood, near Shadeland. His son, Fayette, mounted Old George and rode away to my father's house to hire me go on a trip with them to Pittsburg. Father said corn-hoeing was coming on but he thought he could manage that; if I wanted to go, I could. His decision suited me to a "T," as it would give me an opportunity to see the Shenango valley and the dif- ferent towns along the route to Reaver Falls, thence a ride on the Ohio River up to Pittsburg, all of which I had never seen or enioyed. I was electrified at the thought of going on that voyage, and thought father very kind to let me go at that time. I was up and dressed at 3 o'clock the following morning, and mounted Old George, with Fayette on before, and PIOiYEER SKETCHES. 159 away we rode to where the boat la}' moored, as aforesaid. Arriving, the bow of the boat was set across the canal. Soon she came up to the tow-path broadside, when Bill (the mate to Old George) walked out of the midship cal)in to take his place as the saddle-horse, and the two were hitched on to the tow line and we were soon on our way. It was a fine Jane mirning, and the nurning song of the myriad warblers in Bowman's w(K)(1 lent enchantment to the spell. Well, we were soon in the Spring Corncn-s lock, at the head of the eleven-mile level. From there we found many locks Iwfore reaching the Summit, at which place the feeder comes in to supply the water for the canal from French Creek at Bemustown, some three miles above Meadville. We entered the big pond at Hartstown about 5 o'clock, and such a sight I never saw before, nor since. Had St. Patrick been there he could have got a jol). Snakes! Yes, snakes, laying along the edge of the tow-path and in the water, everywhere from three to six feet long. Black and sleek they were. We struck at them Avith a setting pole a hundred times, perhaps, in a distance of a mile's travel and they would slip off' like eels and as indifferently as if we were striking at as many ropes of India rul)ber. AYe could only conclude, if what we saw was a fair specimen of the snakes contained in that 1700-acre pond or lake, that all the waters of the State of Pennsylvania were boiled down into that area to produce as many black snakes as existed on that ]:)right summar day in the big pond at Hartstown. Night came on and we tied up near Greenville. There the tow-path run along the bank of the Shenango River, and so continued a good share of the wa^^ to Beaver, where it empties into the Ohio. 160 PIONEER SKETCHES. In due time we passed Greenville, Sharon and New Castle, and in the interim I found I had to work in various capacities — driver, cook, lock-fitter, rowersman and steers- man, all of which, for so young a lad, was more than I bar- gained for when I started out. Nothing more noteworthy, however, occurred until we passed New Castle, when liiree line l)oats came u}), loaded with Indians westward bound to Indian Territory. They were the Seneca tribe from the Cataraugus Reservation, Western New York. An incident occurred as the boats were passing through a lock. Two buck Indians clinched and had an extremely lively tussle, to the merriment of the lookers-on. Shortly they fell, still clutching each other, and rolled over and over to the side of the boat, and would have rolled into the lock had they not been caught by the bystanders, who separated them. They were the first tribe of Indians I ever saw, and afi^()rded nmch curiosity to my youthful eye. By the way, I noticed some pretty fine- looking Indian girls among the tril:>e. Our boat arrived in Beaver in time to see them take their departure on board a steamboat for St. Louis and St. Charles, thence up the Missouri River en route to their reser- vation. When the Indians were aboard and the steamer ready to drop from her -moorings an old squaw could not be persuaded to go on board the boat. She waved her hand back in the direction from which she came and said she wanted to go l)ack to the rising sun, to her happy old home, the scenes of her childhood. Her gestures, ai)pear- ance and manner of speech I shall never forget, and many present expressed themselves that it was a rather affecting inci(l(^nt. After much solicitation by members of her tribe and the agents, with a promise that she could some day PIONEER SKEICHES. 161 €()ine back, she consented to go aboard the boat, which was soon Steering away down the Ohio for the Southwest, And the number of Senecas have become much less; Like all the other tribes in past decades, Diminishing in every move they have made. Two young boys remained in the skifE of the steamer, behind, On leaving, sadly chimed a doleful requiem; The skiff stood nearly on end from the steamer's waves, Yet determined to ride in the skiff were the young braves. Reader, if you are familiar with Indian history, I know You will have some compassion for poor Lo, By the white man driven fj'om post to post, No wonder he feels like giving up the ghost. A steamer came alongside the Polk and Dallas and we were soon on our way up the Ohio to the Smoky City, making several stops to let off and take on passengers, (as these river boats in that way are very obliging) they will steam np to the beach any Avhere on the route for passen- gers. About three hours time was required to make Pitts- burg. Our cargo consisted of white ash ripped lumber (unedged) consigned to Wardroup, Stout &, Williams, agricultural works, for the manufacture of agricultural implements. The next morning we commenced to discharge our load. The captain and his big boy, Fayette, did help us unload that luml)er, but the next morning did usher in one of those old time hot days, and thirty-live tons of railroad iron was to go aboard the Polk and Dallas for Erie, when Captain Elisha and his big boy, Fayette, excused them- selves and slunk away into the shade and left the loading of that railroad iron to us two young lads, all alone to our glory, which soon began to bite our hands. From a couple II 162 PIONEER SKE TCHES. of l)oot legs we cut thumb holes, and covered the inside of our hands with leather, that we could better stand the racket. Those rails were of the old-fashioned "T" stripe and, of course were not so heavy as the rail of to-day, but heavy enough for two young boys to handle, and as we walked from the wharf to the boat, tugging under the heavy load, we would frequently throw the right leg under the rail to lighten up the weight, and before night our trousers leg was worn through from knee to thigh, and had it not been for a tough lining under the trousers leg, that iron might have kept on wearing. Sweat; why we were as wet as a couple of dipped wharf rats and our shirts yellow as safiron bags. That ni<>:ht we felt more like restinir than going to the theatre or seeing the sights in a strange city, but we had seen the elephant all day and must be content. In justice to Capt. Alderman we will say that he was afflicted with a fever sore on one of his limbs, and to a great degree Avas excusable, but we thought he should have fur- nished a substitute on that day, as long as his incorrigible liig l)oy rendered so httle aid in that heavy work. But the captain catered to our wants frequently for cool water, and in the afternoon twice to a kreutzer of sparkling lager, which, if ever it did us any good, it did on that memorable occasion. The next morning about 9 o'clock the steamer took the Polk and Dallas in tow for Beaver. As we steamed out into the l)road channel of the Ohio we gazed l)ack to the conflux of the Allegheny and Monongahela and to the Smoky City in the dim distance, we began to feel somewhat invigorated as we glided along on this, the pleasantest pnrt of our trip. 164 PIONEER SKETCHES. When near Scwickly, at a signal from persons on the shore, the steamer made for them to take them aboard. Our boat was made fast about one third her length abow of the steamer, consequently when the steamer touched shore for the passengers the bow of the canal boat was left aground and thus the steamer, instead of Ijacking ofl, as she should have done, swung to the right, thereby badly cracking one of the gunwales of the Polk and Dallas, and when out into the channel a sheet of water ran through the l)roken gun- wale sufficient to sink her in a short time. If ever a man moved lively 'twas Fayette Alderman just then. The oakum, mallets and caulking irons w^ere quickly In'ought into requisition. He and the captain l)eing good caulkers they worked like beavers, and before we reached Beaver Point they had the leak stopped. Yoims: as we Avere we reconmicnded an attachment plaster to be put on that steaml)oat captain for that jol), but he was allowed to go scott free and collect tow bill (in part) for towing and breaking the boat's gunwale. You see it's natural for the 1)ig nuicky-mucks to shove oft' the smaller fry, which custom is pernicious and sliould be resisted l\y the last lip and the last dolUu-. After dinner old Bill and George, our [)ropelling power, walked leisurely out of the midship stable and were hitched onto the tow line, preparatory to rou-iding Beaver Point to enter the Shenango on our way homeward. There Avas a sand bar running out some distance, and in rounding the point our steersman, anxious to evade this, swung out too far into the current. The horses were already in the Avater and Avhen the current struck the boat broadside they Avcre pulled further into the stream. Wc saw our danger at once, P/O.VEEH SKETCHES. 165 and eMcli man, with his setting pole with iron hook and socket on end, applied them with all his might. The saddle horse was in the water to his saddle, and the heroic rider (John), standing in the stirrups, urged the horses for all he was worth. We were about to cut the tow line for the moment, and go over to Bridgewater or down the river miles below. At this juncture the current of the Shenango seemed to brace up the situation, when we could feel the l3oat begin to move forward, and the driver still urging the motive power, when the horses began to emerge from the water, and soon again were on terra firma. We entered the Shenango and made the Kenacanese Lock that evening — twelve miles. We laid up for the night in the jaws of the lock, when the arduous duty of cook- ing supper was devolved upon the writer. I didn't like the business, never was cut out for a cook, but I had learned to become quite a dabster at it already, since my exit upon the raging canal. From a lot of dry pine wood, full of pitch (turpentine) I soon had a cracking fire, with a tea kettle over, the pota- toes on boiling, and already the ham and eggs, little later to fry, as a boatman can take his ham or meat, eggs, pota- toes and sich three or four times a day with impunity, with- out offering up an excuse or generally any sort of a bless- ing. All at once I heard a flopping, and from the boat gunwale on to the railroad iron and on to the dunage floor. I skipped out and peered down and beheld the l)iggest black bass I ever saw. As the boat lay up to the wind wall of the lock it would sway back and forward a few inches, and probal)ly touched the fish, when it jumped up as a bass often does, and landed in the boat. The next thing on the pro- gramme was to dress and cook that fish, which we had for 166 PIONEER SKETCHES. supper and breakfast, and there is no l)etter eating than the black bass. We turned in early that night, with nothing to molest our slumber except the outljurst of the bewitching song of the Shenango bullfrog, with his dreadful chorus "Better go round." But we were soon in the sweet embrace of Mor- pheus and had no time to "go round" nor to dream of snakes or bullfrogs. The next morning at the dawn of day we pulled out of the lock, -when again we heard the sweet music of a thous- and morning songsters to cheer us on, in great contrast with the bassino voice of the bull fros; of a few hours before. As we passed along up the bank of the Shenango, we noticed the trees on its towering hillsides bending toward its waters, and rocks as l)ig as a meeting house carelessly overhanging our heads, and how such huge rocks came there, to frowningly remain at such a dizzy height, was a Avonder to my youthful mind. The scenery of the lower She- nango is picturesque and grand, and its l^lack l)ass, Ijull frogs and rattle snakes most beautiful. No incidents of note, onward, except that five days later we safely arrived at our paternal roof, being out fifteen days on our first trij) on the rajriniT canal. CHAPTER XXXI. said. Captain of a Canal Boat, with Papers in My Hat— A Cheese Deal. jN the spring of 1847, when plowing and corn-planting was done, 1 asked my father to let me take Old Fan to put with another horse on the tow line and make a couple trips to Erie. He replied: " Whose boat will you get ?" ' ' The Queen Sada and its owner, Ogilvy Cole, to steer her," I And I can make a couple of trips and some money and fetch around in time to help hoe the corn. " He said I could take the mare. I proceeded to do so and rode to All)ion, engaged two loads lumber, hoops and saddle-trees of Messrs. John and Pearson Clark to deliver in Erie, and hired Cole and his boat. The next day we loaded the boat and the next morning we pulled out for Erie with the papers in my hat as captain of the canal Ijoat, with Elisha Youno; as rowersman and Cole as steersman. I had good luck on that trip, likewise the second one, and did as Avell as I had expected; and a boy is apt to think he can do about as much, and know about as much, at fifteen years as ever. A CHEESE DEAL. My parents kept a good number of cows, as did also my Uncle Anson Sargent on his adjoining farm. In the cheese-making season the milk of the cows of both farms 168 PIONEER SKE TCHES. was put together to make larger clieese. As warm weather was again coming on, and as my parents liad most of the previous year's stock of cheese on hand, my mother said: "Martin, lavish you woukl sell the cheese. We have now kept them nearly a year and it is time they were disposed of. There are about forty that might be sold." 1 replied that I thought they might be sold in Erie as W'cll as any- where else. The cheese was hauled to the canal and put aboard the boat for the Erie market. The cheesemaker, also the lover of cheese, are well aware that the little white skipper is very fond of cheese and that it don't select a poor cheese, either ; consequently in a lot of 40 cheese it would not be strange during the year for the little white wiggler to invade some one or more of the aforesaid lot of cheese. Some folks appear to like cheese — skippers and all. I have seen people take a slice of cheese full of little white squirmers, and eat it down and call it good. Perhaps it was good to see them wiggle. The next day I discovered that some had already taken abode in a cheese, and his skippership had crawled out, as if to o-et the course it was sailing. Arriving at Erie I called at all the canal groceries and others near by, but could tind no buyer. Everybody supplied. Tried it again the next day, with no better success. The next morning I dropped into a canal grocery and made a sale of the whole lot, wdiich much delighted me and exalted my boyish ideas in trade. The cheese was weighed, the amount figured out, and the buyer counting out the cash to pay me for the same, when in ste})ped a man and asked the grocer what he was doing, "Paying for this lot of cheese," he replied. "We don't w^ant it. This fellow was in here the other day and I told PIOXEER SKETCHES. 1(.)9 him we didn't want to buy cheese." The grocer put away his money, when I said to him, ' ' What has all this to do with our bargain, anyhow V "I am a partner in this con- cern/'' ''Very well,"' said I, "then pay for the cheese I sold the firm; if not, you can settle with Lawyer Marshall," and started out. -'Hold on," said he, "as it is, Fll give give you one-half in cash and one-half in salt and take the cheese." "How much a barrel for salt?" I asked. "Eight shillings and six pence," said he. "That will do," I re- plied. The salt whs loaded aboard the boat, homeward l)ound, and I sold it to the farmers at $1.50 per ban-el. Just as I was leaving the kicking grocer, to get fairly even with him I advised him to better keep a little salt on hand to salt down his cheese skippers. Later we heard that the cheese market had fallen off somewhat at the canal grocery, but the skipper market had improved. CHAPTER XXXII. AN EARLY VISITOR. A TEIIKIFIC YELL— A MAGICAL EFFECT. N 1847 a little l)iirg in Eric County, Pa., named by a straight haired preacher ""Tightholc," who had la- l)orcd earnestly for their soul's salva- tion, and when al)out to leave the l)lace, the preacher felt that his good work was not fully appreciated, and in his prayers he desired the Lord to bless that community, especially the people of Tightholc — hence the place took that name. The town is situated on the old Erie & Pittsburg Canal, about two miles south of All)ion, and that was the name generally used by the ])oatmen. Later it was called Harrisonville, and now Keepville. In those days rousing meetings Avere held in the school houses where there were no churcli l)uildings. It \vas a common occurrence for the preacher to exhort and sing so earnestly that he would sweat like a rail splitter in midsum- mer, and all for a small pittance. Nevertheless much inter- est was taken in the meetings. The writer (then a youth of 16) accordingly took it into his head one crisp Sunday afternoon in January to go down to Tightholc to meeting, also to attend the evening services. Good meetings were had and the usual interest manifested. There were numer- ous young people there with whom I was acquainted, and I PIONEER SKETCHES. 171 found myself in their eonipany on our way home. In due time, a good hmeh was served : Mince pie, fried cakes and cheese, apples and cider, of w^iich young folks can at most any time eagerly partake. Of course, while in good com- pany, time swiftly flies, and when the wee hours 1 and 2 came we were retracing our steps homeward, and when M-e had advanced al)outhalf a mile from the corporate limits of Tighthole, opposite the dense black hemlocks, we heard a cracking of the ice near shore on the eastern side of Alsworth Coles' duck pond, on the E. & P. Canal. It was one of those strange, cold wintry nights when everything in animate and inanimate creation generally was hushed in the arms of Morpheus. The sun the previous evening looked as if it was wading in a snow-drift. Already the snow was knee deep on the ground. The moon, appar- ently, was scooting into and out from ])ehind the clouds, playing a gi'and panorama in space on that cold, gray night. Her bewitching, silvery disc reflecting through the clouds, yet feebly into the hemlocks on the dark side of that duck pond on the eleven-mile level of the raging canal, gave one an impression long to be remembered. But hark I The clinks of ice again on that dark shore soon revealed the form of a l)lack brute snuffing around, which made directly for me. The pale flittering of the moonlight enable dme, "As the brute came nearer," To see more clearer : There was no such dog round there, "'Twas nothing else than a big, black bear," I thought of many things in a minute. Nothing with me but a pen-knife and the arms that God gave me to de- fend myself. Something must be done, and that quickly. 172 PIONEER SKETCHES The leer and grin on the face of ray early visitor betokened a grim visage of an early picnic with bruin. To run was useless, and to climb a tree would he sport for the brute. There was a straight rail fence within a few feet of me, capped and staked. I quickly jerked from the fence one of the stakes, about six feet long, which was in such shape that I could wield it to advantage, and quickly wheeled about with uplifted stake. When bruin was only a few feet below me I gave a terrific yell, which echoed far beyond the realms of Tighthole or the present limits of Keepville. That yell had a magical effect on the bear, as he wheeled about and sat upon his haunches, threw his head to one side, gave me a parting grin, and marched off toward the dark hemlocks, across the icy pond from whence he came. Well, I was exceedingly glad that my early visitor had concluded to leave me at that lonely spot on that lonely night, " alone to my glory. " With quickened footsteps I made up the tow-path for my Uncle Ira Locke, near the Union school-house, which was about one and a-half miles from my paternal roof. Arriving, I knocked loudly on his door. He opened the door and said: "Come in. Out rather late, aren't you, for a boy?" " Yes, I guess so. I just had a little experience down the tow-path that you needn't say anything about, at least not until 3'ou see those bear tracks, as the boys would laugh at me." "All right," said uncle; "but you must stay here the remainder of the night, as the weather is cold and the snow deep." He did not have to use much persuasion to get me to stay, as a few hours of refreshing sleep would better tit me to solve the coming sch()ol-da3^\s problem of Dayl)oll and the etymology of Kirkham at the old school-house a few hours later. A ailDNIGHT VISITOK. 174 PIONEER SKE 7 CHES. The bear's tracks were the next day seen all right, and by some hunters tracked beyond Porky street and into the big woods of Denmark, Ohio. Its shaggy robe has served to keep many a one warm and more comfortable than it did me on that cold, wintry night on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal on my lonely excursion one and a-half miles south of the antiquated burg of Tighthole. " 80 you see one eau never know at all" What's going to hapj^eu out on the E. & P. Caual. In fact, the half never has been told Of the haps and mishaps about ancient Tighthole. CHAPTER XXXIII ''IN LOVE AND OUT." LOADED HER, and she seemed to me As fair as Summer skies; Her gentle, sunny face to see AVas gladness to my eyes. Her hand was soft, her foot was small, Her cheeks were like the rose ; But I admired most of all The freckles on her nose. She jilted me, and then I learned That love indeed is blind; Her many charms I once discerned. Have faded from my mind. She isn't near so jn-etty as The lilly or the rose; I'll never wed a girl who has Such freckles on her nose. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE HOME OF OUK YOUTH. '^\^ W/////Z^i IIP]RE is no place to where our memories .should more fondly cluster than around the home of our youth. Like the flow- ers of Spring time budding into blossom, Ijuoyant and imaginative thoughts waft us forward to prospective future scenes, to be enacted in the drama of life. AVhat a vast field li(!S stretching out to the gaze of the youthful eye U})on which to contem})late ! Hence the great game of chanc(! in the race of life soon conunences. Some play it with great skill and jjvecisiou, Others soon land in a poor house or a prison; A rigliteous home teaching in a majority of cases, Will land us all in proper places. Industry, tenn)erance and frugality are the three main spokes in the wheel of fortune. Look ye out upon the plodding nudtitude marching up and down the avenues of life. Behold the buoyant and sunny face of the maiden or the matron, the air of content upon the visage of the l)usy man, or the smiling, happy youth. Again, behold the woman — Witli pale face, unsteady stej) and solenni nuen. With noble form and feature as e're was seen. With downcast look she i)lods lier way anlog, ])riven from home into the thronii-. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 177 Look ye there, a reeling form, with slobbered face, Following the one whom he had disgraced, Thrown out to earn her living in anguish and in tears, By one with whom she had spent best portion of her years. Such scenes are not confined to the middle ages, but to the tender 30uth. Then can we wonder how it is that there are so many fallen creatures in our land ? A })roper train- ing and living in the home of our youth does much to pre- vent this unhappy condition. Therefore w^e have work — For the missionary from every hand, AVithout going to India's distant heathen land, To educate our kin in industry, temperance and truth, Right here amoucr us, at the home of our youth. 12 CHAPTER XXXV. THE HOG — HIS EXPLOIT IN A WELL— THE RESCUE A bog is a hog the world around, To drive him vou first must knock him down. O IT APPEARED IN 1847, when our })aternal ancestor bought a hog from Moses Church about five miles away. I was sent to drive the hog home, bat that hog wouldn't drive and I returned home, took a horse and wagon and ( busin Truman back with me for that hog. We found the critter as obstinate as ever. He would only go a few rods in our direction, and then would about wheel, Avith hogeish anints, and make a lunge for his pig stye. This bemg repeated several times we got weary and, our patience exhausted, we found that some other tactics nmst be resorted to, and the next time that barrow made a lunge to get i)ast us a heavy hickory whipstock held in our right hand met him between the snout and eyes, and he stopped right there in the road. We sadl}^ picked him up, and it was all Ave could do to put him into the wagon. Then we could drive our hog behind the horse in the wagon. It was a hot dtiy; the hog was hot and we were all hot. Arriving at Col. liutler s store, Spring, we halted for water to quc^nch our thirst. The sensible colonel recommended that we treat our hog to a coupU' of PIOXEER SKETCHES. ] 79 buckets of cold water as the best panacea for a living hot hog on a hot July day. This was done, with soothing eliect, and his porkship's grunts became more animating. My father met us there and we drove home and put the hog into a yard with another of about equal size. But that hog was soon destined to take a more extensive l)ath at the expense of its owner. About (> o'clock one fine morning I got u)) tmd noticed both hogs in the door yard. When the dos: noticed them he started furiouslv for them. The hoffs bristled up and retreated sideway, and when this Church hog got alongside of the well curb he pushed it aside and down went the hog into the well, 12 feet deep, in which w^ere live feet of water. I immediately told father wdiat had happened. He sprang out of bed, not waiting to dress himself, and quickly went down into the well. Placing his bare feet tirmly in place in the well stones, he gral)l)ed the hog l)y the ears and pulled upward. That old barrow shot right up out of the ^vater and his head was nearly even up to father's. The scene was one that would till the bill for the ideal artist and his camera. But don't forget that that hosr was in the meantime })utting in his best strength and gi'unts, Avith the toes of his hind feet tirmly placed in a crevice of the stone wall and his fore feet digging away upon his almost naked deliverer. I could only leave them in this condition while running to John Woodard's, our nearest neighbor, for help. Mr. Woodard and Anson Sargent were soon on hand to the rescue. A rope was adjusted around the bodj- of the hog under the fore legs, and a turn or two around a handsi)ike and his hogship lifted up out of the well. The hog gave a few grunts and was all right, while father's breast, back and k'gs were pretty badly lacerated. 180 PIONEER SKETCHES. A hog is a hog, we very well know, When you want him to move he won't go, You can't even coax him with an ear of corn The biggest hog of a hog that ever Avas born. Beside us sits our ancestor, whom we call Uncle Alf , As we write this sketch he greets us with a hearty laugh About the hog in the well in the clays of yore. And how he came out with legs and body quite sore. Yet my father is with us, going on eighty-eight, AVhich affords us consolation that he is so hale, hearty and straight. CHAPTER XXXVI. A TRIP TO MEADMLLE FOR A POUND OF TEA. E THOUGHT Ave had had mentioned e\^eryl)ody and ahnost everything con- cerning the early settlers of Spring, but when I think of that hero, Simon Washburn, who traveled on foot forty- four miles, through forest, o'er hill, valley and stream, to Meadville, in 18-25— To buy a poaud of tea, at $2 a pouud, to save the life Of his earnest, darling wife. Pardon me, reader, for the inference, but what else could we infer, "A. D. 1891," that in making that long and tedious journey through the woods expressly to buy a pound of tea, for anything short of saving a life, when, in performing the act, he imperiled his own life in becoming an easy pi-ey to the wild beasts of the forest. But occasionally a pioneer lady, as well as some women of to-day, must have their tea to cure a headache, to pro- duce slumber or wakefulness, and to stimulate the nerves to greater action, and while at the same time the lady or gentleman who should moderately imbibe a little rye tea is going ''all wrong sure" and thrilling appeals are lauded IH'2 PfOXEER SKETCHES. upward aiul broadcast for the saving ordinance ''prohibi- tion." But if they would discover that a strong decoction of green tea would bear up an ^^^ as long or kill a dog quicker than w^ould a dram of rje whisky, they would not be, perhaps, such strong drinkers of strong tea. But as long as tea parties are the rule and narrow giper toe shoes are in fashion, it "vaIII 1ic in order, however baneful its effects to tlic wearer and tiie drinker. CHAPTER XXXVIl. THIRTY-TWO POUNDS OF BUTTER FOR A POUND OF TEA — THE TEA PARTY — FORTUNE TELLING. T SEEMS that in the o-ood old days of iS'20 ,>^onie people apparently ha2.00 per pound. In view of the above facts, it seems there must have been some fascinating allurement l)ack of this — the fash- 1S4 PIONEER SKETCHES. ionable tea party and the fortuneteller around the tea table, where sits Misses Smith, Jones, Brown and Simpkins and others. Supper is over, the tea cups emptied of their deli- cious beverage, when a new supply of tea grounds are placed in the hands of those who are anxious to have their fortunes told; then the cups are inverted and whirled in the hands and gently tapped on the table by the fair appli- cant, that the tea grounds may be jotted along down the sides of the cup, when one by one hands over her cup to the romantic fortune teller, who is no novice at the business. The romance commences, the mystery is unveiled to the fair one, the haps and mishaps of the future are revealed in thrilling pathos. The zeal and enthusiasm which the fortune teller manifests in the work is unequalled even by the latter day phrenologist while examining the l)umps of the cranium, delineating the traits of character. Soon there is seen in the cup of tea grounds a dove (a carrier pigeon) carrying a letter in its beak, indicating glad tidings of great joy, and when the inspired fortune teller commences to unravel and interpret the contents of that mysterious missive, the heart of fair Abigail swells with emotion during the spell of the anxious ord(\al through which she is passing, under the gaze of the much amused members of the tea l)arty. When her fortune is told, should there remain some \'estige of which she would like to know, she adds more material and again flips her cup, hoping to get the balance of her desired for- tune. When the fortune teller has in like niunnei' served all of tlie party, quite satisfactoriU^ of course, she becomes the heroine of the party. Then follows a good time gen- erally, and in due time the i)arty retires to their respective homes — and pronounce that tea good and ch(>ap, if butter didn't fetch but 'n^ cents a ])ound in exchange. CHAPTER XXXVIIl. MANUFACTURINCx BLACK SALTS — SALT WELLS. IHOMAS foster, Samuel and David Thompson, settled in Spring, Pn., be- fore the war of 1812. Having emi- grated from Ireland, they were unac- ^ (juainted with the ways and some of the resources possessed by the schem- ing New England Pioneer in making the most out of the situation at that early day in a primeval forest. Con- sequently they had not learned for some years after settling upon their lands how to utilize the })rincipal factor to exchange for cash, which was simply the manufacture of black salts, an article that found a ready sale for cash at Meadville, Erie, Pa., or Conrcaut, Ohio. In ISIS Captain Phineas Sargent and family emigrated from the east and settled in the said township, Spring, Pa. ; he proceeded to teach the above named pioneers how to convert their ashes into black salts, of which a w^agon-load could be transported to market in one days' time, from which the\^ could readily realize more money than from the sale of a span of horses, or a couple of yoke of cattle, a big flock of sheep or several litters of pigs. It was an article that they generally threw away, except a few bushels required for making family soap, as the new land did not require the ashes, as the cultivated does to-day. 186 PIONEER SKETCHES. Well, as this black salt making is one of the by-gones, especially in the crude manner rcvsorted to by the })ioneer, I will therefore venture to explain its method, which may 1)e of interest to the a.spirant, the yonng man <»f th<' silver spoon, or to the Dandy Jim of to-day. The timber on the fallow-held, usually comprising say from three to twenty acres, Avas rolled into log heaps and burned to ashes; these Avere raked into hea[)s and when cool, to i)revent their getting wet and leeching, were hauled together and covered fi-om the storm. Leeches were then erected (generally made from split timber, like staves) the leech filled with ashes, tamped down so that when th(> water was applied It would take some hours for it to soak through, thereb}' producing a strong lye which was \mi into a chaldron kettle or kettles, set in an arch and l)oiled down to the consistenc}^ of molasses, and thicker. It was stirred freely with an iron spud, to prevent it sticking to the kettle, and when about as thick as mush it was removed from the kettle and put into a wooden trough and, when cool, cut and put into barrels, it Avas ready for the market, and usually brought from %\^ to %"y })er hundred pounds. Alfred Sargent, who is 87 years old and well and hearty at the present time, says that when a youth of 15 }cars, his father, Phineas Sargent, built the lcech(>s for Foster and Thom[)son and set him to work boiling salts. With one kettle he could boil one hundred i)ounds per day. At MeadviUe there were factories to convert the salts into pearl ash and saleratus. Later Col. Hiram Butler, at Spring Corners, manufactured saleratus, and on one occasion the writer bought ?,ix })ounds of the best kind of saleratus for twenty-five cents. About the same time Messrs. John and Rcarson Clark, of Albion. Pa., made a P/OXEEN SA^ ETCHES. IS? ofcmiiiie articU' aiitl sold it very cheap, which f>f course was an indispensible article in every family. And now, we presume to sa}', Avith the vast increase of pojiulatioii sale- ratus or pure soda — like our spices, colfee and many other articles of food — are wickedly adulterated. Because somebody wauts to make a comer or a ring, On some very essential thinof; On our food, and coffee that we drink, How quick it kills they dou't stop to care or think. Salt was an indispensible and exi)ensive article to the early settlers. It was freighted on pack horses over the Allegheny Mountains from the sea board and sold for fifty cents per quart. Years after, about 1810, a salt well was drilled by Daniel Shryock. of Beaver Townshif), and one by Samuel Wells in Elkcreek Township. Each of these wells was about 100 feet deep. The water did not contain as much salt as the Onondaga wells in New York, Init it proved a Godsend to the early settlers yf Crawford and Erie Counties, Pa., for years, until 1825-6, when the eastern salt could be obtained at Lake Erie ports, and when the E. & P. Canal was finished, 1840, the price of salt Avas much lower; and to-day it is used as a land fertilizer. l)ut more to kill angleworms on many a poor garden spot in Ashtal)ula and elsewhere. Young man, you who tiy through the land u})ou the rail, In days of yore would have to haul in your sail; And learn, by experience, the Pioneers' fate. And realize vou either had to fish or cut bait. CHAPTER XXXIX. SPARKS OF HUMOR. National characteristics. — A Scotch and Irish officer walking through a street in Liverpool chanced to see a very pretty girl behind the counter of one of the shops. The Irishman at once proposed to go in and purchase something in order to get a ))etter view of the beauty, but the Scotch man replied, "Na, na; there's nae use wasting siller. Let's gang in and ask two saxpences for a shilHn. " Tlie Medical Gazette alleges that the following was re- ceived by a physician from a man whom he knew, practicing medicine and desiring counsel : "Dear Dock I have a Pashunt whose Physical Sines shows that the windpipe has ulcerated off, and his Lungs have dropped down into his stomick. I have given him every thin, without effect. His Father is wealthy, honor- al)le, inHuential, as he is member of assembly and I don't want to lose him. What shall I do, Ans by return male, YourFrat." Dr. Squill — "Yes, I realize my time to die has come; but I feel that I am not going among strangers." Parson Snooks — "No, indeed, doctor. Think how many of your patients have ])re('eded you I " Lawyer — *'If you and your husband can't agree, why don''t you agree to disagree \ " Fair Client — "Never! If \\\ agree to disagree, he'd think I was ofivinijf way." CHAPTER XL. A Trip on Lake Erie— Ohio City — Akron — Return to School. UKING the fore part of Septem- ber it was, by my parents as well as by m} self, thought best for me, at that time, when re- covering from a long spell of sickness, to take a trip on the lake and visit an uncle in Ohio City, with the view of a more speedy return to health. There being no railroads at that time, I took the stage coach to Erie, and from there I took passage on the steamer G. P. GritBth. The day was pleasant, but the lake was rough from the few days' previous storm, and the steamer rolled beautifully in the troughs of the sea. When we were off Ashtabula 1 began to experience the desired effect: my stomach was getting riled up. I went on to the hurri- cane deck to get a full sniff of the breeze — more fresh air — as a tonic to my revolting stomach. But no ! As this was my iirst ride on Lake Erie, I was destined to get my money's w^orth then. I laid down on the deck, clutched my hands on the railing, with head protruding forward to the edge of the vessel, and proceeded to ' ' give up the ghost." By the time we were in sight of Fairport I felt much better. And let me say here, that did me more good than lobelia, or all the doctor's medicine I ever took for an emetic. 190 PION'EEK SKETCHES. That steamboat, the G. P. Griffith, on her next trip up the lakes, when near Erie, went down with 300 German emigrants (steerage passengers) l^y taking fire in her hold through the carelessness of those passengers. As the reader may recollect, when the fire was discovered the steamer was headed for shore; but the fire had made such headway that the vessel was soon in flames, and those of the passen- gers who were not drowned by jumping into the lake were roasted alive. The crew and some few others reached shore in the small boats. This was one of the greatest holocausts on our lake marine. Arriving at my Uncle Albert Powell's, I found Cousins Edgar and John were on the lakes and not expected home for some weeks. After making a three or four-day \isit I began to feel tip-top. One day, while on the wharf over the river at Cleveland, I noticed a. canal boat loading cop- per, bound for Portsmouth, on the Ohio River. This copper was of the simon pure, from the mines of Hancock & Houghton, Lake Superior, and was in large flakes, weigh- ing many hundred pounds each. . The captain made me an ofler to go a trip with him, which I accepted and assisted in loading the boat. Then we started for Portsmouth. 1 soon found that this canal captain was more mulish than manly, and I left him at Akron. There I met one Hiram Force, who was engaged in a wood business at tliat phice, with wh(mi 1 engaged to help in the l)usiness. He and his pleasant family proved much more congenial than the canal captain during my sojourn with them for six Aveeks. At the close of lake navigation I returned to ClcAeland and found Cousin Edgar at home and John at Indiana, to remain for the winter. After a short visit in Cleveland I had the good luck to get a boat for Erie, the Keystone PIOXEER SKETCHES. U) 1 State, .she being the last boat down the hikes, hite in De- cember, affording me a much ehea})er and pleasanter ride than the stage coach. At Erie I took the stage home. Having received let- ters, during my absence, from some of my schoohiiates, the same afternoon of my return I visited our school" and was 2:lad to find our old mates all right, enjoying the even tenor of life in their •• happy days.*' A brief account of my adventures was demanded, and I was looked upon as something of a traveler. The next morning I was on hand and took my place in my old class. Before long I was fairly sailing tiu-ough the diagraphs of Cobb, syntax of Kirkliam and the knotty problems of Dayboll, etc., all of wdiich, for some reason, seemed more pleasant to me at the old district school than the more modern regime in schools of later years. The following summer and fall a select or high school was taught in the neighborhood, which I attended. That winter I taught school near Conneautville. In the spring I bought a three-year-old colt of Samuel Brainard to mate one that my father had, for which I was to give three months' work, commencing the first of April. I did the work and got the colt. In June I contracted to cut some wood, wherein I gained time, enal )ling me. jibout the mid- dle of June, to go into Townseud's clover hay-field at good wages, where I was engaged the first of July. My sister Cornelia, Cousin John and his aftianced and his .sister, Electa Powell, called in a carriage for me to accompany them to my father's. With a spanking team, we had a pleasant, lively spin of ten miles in one hoiu- and arrived at our fathers domicil. 192 PIONEER SKETCHES. For my part, I had no objection, at that time, for a good time for a few days to come. This we proceeded to have, as the time Avas rolling by. We stopped for nary a cloud to roll by, but attended the Fourth of July ball at Conneautville. Three or four days later A. J. Brown and wife, of Alleghen}^ College, came and a dance must follow, which was kept up until a late hour. Prof. Munson, of Tennessee, arrived about that time and said he was anxious to get teachers to accompany him to Tennessee. Arrange- ments were made, and in a few days we started for the Sunny South. CHAPTER XLI. THE SUNNY SOUTH. DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI— TEACHEBS' INSTITUTE AUGUST, 1850— BOLTON & DICKENS, SLAVE DEALERS— SCENES — SCHOOL TEACHING — SAD DEATH OF BROWN. PARTY consisting of Professor Munson, A. J. BroAvn, of Allegheny College, and wife; Miss Ball, the Misses Williamson of ;^^^\:^ Linesville and Spring, Crawford County, Pa. , and the writer, started for the Sunny South in July, 1850. It w^as a rather unpropitious time of the year for northerners to go South, but the professor and a schoolmate, Kingsley Clark, had been engaged for a year past teaching school and had announced in the Memphis papers that a teachers' institute would he held in August, and it being the first ever held in Memphis Mr. Munson must return and was anxious to take teachers back with him, hence the reason of our party going South at that time. We took conveyance from Linesville by w^agon across the country to Ashtabula, Ohio, where the Lake Shore Railroad terminated at that time, and took the train for Cincinnati. The Lake Shore from Ashtabula to Cleveland was very rough, the dust flying over everybody. We arrived at Cincinnati that evening, and found the mos- quitoes plenty and very pugnacious near the Ohio River that night. The next morning we noticed the steamer Silas Wright had out her boards — "For Memphis and New Orleans this 13 1 94 PIOXEF.K SKE TL 'IIES. day." Our party went aboard the steamer, expecting soon to be on our way, but the next morning found us still at the Cincinnati wharf, and so on until the morning of the fourth day, when the steamer left her moorings and wie steamed down the l)eautiful Ohio, full of hope and anticipating a a i)leasant future. An interesting trip it was to be. On arriving at the locks at Louisville and while the steam l)oat was locking through, we had a desire to see the T-foot 9-inch giant. Porter. We called at his place and inquired if the giant was home. The clerk replied in the affirmative, but after waiting some time and no giant appearing the clerk informed us that if Ave wanted to see him w^e must buy something. Seven glasses of lemonade were at once ordered, that we might get a look at the Ken- tucky giant. Presently he appeared, and he was a wonderful look- ing object. He partook of his brandy, then he sat down on a hi o:h counter. The o;un that he used for shootinjj; ducks on the river was a load for the writer; his cane, a ponderous twisted varnished stick was big enough for a pile on which to build a saloon, or for an auger-shaped screw for Archimedes. The w^histle of the steamer informed as that she w^as through the locks and ready for her onward voyage down the river. We bid the Kentucky giant good bye, and went aboard. All went smoothly until we reached the Raleigh bar. Boat aground there for forty-eight hours. The next morning early the captain, with hawser and appliances, was determined to pull the steamer over the bar. All the crew were working the capstan and otherwise. A Dutch deck hand became sort of mulish ; the captain, with one stroke of his Hat hand S(;nt him sprawHng to the deck, then placed his foot on his licad, the blood spurting profusely PIOX'EER SKETCHES. 195 from till' pe)()i' fellow's head. It was well that he wore slip- pers, or he would have crushed him. The captaiu made no friends by this cruel act, but demonstrated that he must be oljeyed in times of emergency. After breakfast, as time began to wear on monoton- ously, our party thought they would go ashore on the Ken- tucky side and get some blackberries; found some, but many of them were dried up on the bushes, which was quite a surprise, as they were only half grown ten days before, in Crawford County, Pa. The same day Miss Agnes Williamson told the cap- tain that a poor woman, a steerage passenger, was very sick and in destitute circumstances, and must have relief at once or she would die. The captain said there was a New Or- leans Spanish doctor aboard, and he would request him to see the woman. The kind hearted Agnes waited, l)ut there was no response from the doctor. She then asked the doc- tor for humanity\s sake to try to do something for the sick woman. He said his fee was $i.OO, which must be paid, then he would prescribe. Agnes informed the captain, who got angry and said the doctor was a Spanish hog and ought to be thrown overboard for refusing to aid the poor in distress. The captain's stentorian voice was heard by the doctor, and finally he prescribed for the sick woman with good effect. The Spanish doctor was on his return to New Orleans from St. Mary's College, Baltimore, where he had been to attend the closing exercises and the graduation of his 18-year old son, who was also going home to New Orleans. This young Spanish collegiate blood got exceedingly wroth over what the captain had said about his father, and he got up 196 PIONEER SKETCHES. on his top gallant sail in the presence of the young lady whom he much admired (Miss Agnes), and said had he been present he avouIcI have shot the captain on the spot. The writer at once informed the young Spanish blood, for his safety to not let the captain hear of his remark ; if he did he would pulverize him ; that, early that morning, he had pulverized a bigger Dutchman than he was; that the cap- tain carried more bad medicine than both he and his father did. The young lady also advised him to quiet his nerves, which he did with amends, and in time to avert be- ing thrown overboard by the stalwart captain. The next morning our steamer cleared the bar and happily we proceeded on our way once more. A Louis- ania planter by the name of Garlic, aliout 60 years of age, who said he owned 100 slaves and a large plantation, had been up to that beautiful bay of Presque Isle, Erie, spend- ing June and July. He said he intended henceforth to enjoy life. He had plenty of money and niggers, he said; he apparently enjoyed himself, and imbibed freely fi'om the flowing bowl, and that, or something milder, was free with him to all. He took a fancy to Miss Ball and before our party left he proposed marriage to her and said he would convey to her lands and money sufficient for her lifetime, if she would marry him. I did not hear that the wedding came off, although I presume many a worse one has. Nothing of note occurred antil we reached Cairo, the mouth of the Ohio River, where vio, remained a few hoiu's. This southern point of Illinois would be a natural site for a city, but the rushing waters of the Mississij)pi and the Oliio would let no city stand. The 26th day of July, 1850, was a hot day in Cairo. A couple of Mexican greasers, PIONEER SKE TL 'HES. 197 hatless, shirtless and socklcss, worldng as deck hands on a steamboat, I noticed appeared very warm. Presently one of them staggered and fell to the deck, overcome with the heat. He was insensible and fears were entertained that he would not survive, Ijut a couple of buckets of water were dashed onto him and after some minutes he revived, but in no condition to work. The steamer's whistle called us on board and the Silas Wright was soon steaming down the Mississippi, the Father of Waters, with no sand bars to ntercept her passage. ,. We had a pleasant ride of TOO miles on the Mississippi; nothing of special interest to note until we sighted Mem- phis, where a conspicuous sign with letters as big as a cart wheel, attracted our attention — "Bolton & Dickens, Slave Dealers." Shortly after arriving in Memphis Prof. Munson, Miss Ball and the Misses Williamson, went out to Mt. Zion to the school and the residence of Mr. Munson; Mr. Brown, wife and the writer, to Morning Sun, some 18 miles from the cit}^ where our schoolmate Kingsley Clark, was engaged at teaching. The following week was the time set for the opening of the teachers' institute at Memphis, notices having been sent into the surrounding states, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky, that we might strongly organize and have not only an interesting but a profitable time in discussing the best methods of teaching. We met and organized, the three states above mentioned were fairly represented, and a good time generally was had. During that week we had a good opportunity to step into Bolton & Dickens' slave market and see Avhat in the dickens Bolton & Dickens were doing, any hoAv. Well we did not have to wait long to see, buyers and sellers were present same as in an adjoining livery and sale stable. 198 PIOXEER SKETCHES. "How mufh, sir, for this bLack gal? — 18 years old, sound, young, healthy, trim-hmbed, and many days' work in her. Profitable investment for any man. One thousand dollars I'm offered. Say $1,200— I'm offered. Must have $1,500. So she goes at 15; it is $1,500 I'm offered— once, twice — gone at $1,500.'" Other sales were made, trading females for males to suit the demand, hiring out slaves at 75 cents per day after the manner that the liveryman near by trafficed in his stock. Separations, by sale, took pface in families, which seemed still more cruel. A bright-eyed little woolly -headed boy, eight years old, was separated fi'om his mother, she sold to go on a Louisiana plantation and the little fellow to go to Mississippi. The mother clasped her arms around her little boy, kissed him and said, ' ' We are going to be separated, my dear boy, but if I never see you again, my darling boy, I hope you will meet your mamma in heaven. "" Then the poor slave woman sobbed and wept bitterly. This W' as too much for my tender heart, and I let the curtain drop and went aw ay from the scene, hoping to never airain witness a similar one. I was told, however, that the separation of children from their mothers was not a connnon practice. I passed on to another street, stej>})ed into a grocery store, saw a pail of water on a bench with a gourd in it and helped myself to a drink. Just then the rattling sound of a wagon, mules and tackle, was heard. A man alighted from the wagon and said to the grocer, ' ' I w^ant a ton or two of bacon ; have you got it for me?" "Yes, sir," was the reply. In the wareroom several cords of bacon were piled up on the floor. "How much a pound?" "Six cents for this pile; and that pile is damaged, which you can have 200 PIONEER SKETCHES. at three cents.'' From the three-cent stock maggots were to be seen crawling out upon the floor. The Mississippian looked at it, rolling his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other. "Well, I'll take a ton from this pile at $60; it's good enough for a nigger; but if a grub knaws a hole through a darkey, I'll come back on you and get a load of the six-cent stock." The Ijacon was loaded into the pon- derous cotton racked wagon. The planter boarded the waofon, two darkies mounted the mules and drove off the six-mule team With massa and do bacou For de ole iDlantatioii in Mississippi. While some of the musical darkies seemed to enjoy life, which I suppose some of them did — so does a good horse in good hands. But there is nothing in human slavery commendable, The least said in its favor is damnal)le. Selling men and Avomen upon the auction block, To a better impulse of the soul it sends a cruel shock. The end of the week closed the institute and our party began to look out for situations. Aaron J. Brown engaged to teach a select school in Memphis. Mr. Munson secured situations for Miss Ball and Kate Williamson. The writer engaged a school for Agnes in the McLean district, three miles from Memphis, on the Charleston road, which proved remunerative to the teacher, and was in a very i)leasant locality, also. The writer then went out of the city eight- teen miles and took up a sul)scripti()n school, starting in with five scholars, but soon had 2 5 . Pike and Day boll's arith- metic was the kind used there. I, however, rode into the city and purchased Adams" Revised, with which I supplied my school. PIONEER SKETCHES. 201 I cannot attempt to write a fall tlesuription of the South as I saw it, as I promised at the start I would not tire my readers with long-spun articles. A. J. Brown, being a good writer, was solicited l)y G. W. Brown, editor of tlie Conneautville (Pa.) Courier^ to write for his paper, which was an Abolition sheet at that time. Copies of the Courier w^ere sent South. Mr. Mc- Lean picked up one of them, taken by Agnes, whose home was at his house. He read an article setting forth southern customs — touching upon slavery, of course, — and other opics of the South. Mr. McLean preserved the paper. In the next issue of same paper he noticed another article, signed A. J. B. He took the paper to Memphis and found that A. J. B. was the high school teacher, from the North, and he and others said that it would never do. An indig- nation meeting was called. Mr. Brown's letters were read from the Conneautville Courier. It happened that McLean and others there most interested did not know Brown, who sat by the side of a lawyer whom he knew; and the la^^yer iidvised Brown, after hearing the expressions of the meet- ing that " We will fix him, " "we'll tar and feather him,'" "A school teacher kept by us to write about our southern customs and privileges," "we'll fix him so he'll mind his business," to go out the window in the rear. Brown did so, and escaped to Holly Si)rings, Miss. , thus ending his school and his fine prospects in Memphis. His wife followed him in a few days; cdso a German merchant tailor, an accjuain- tance of Mr. Brown. Shortly afterwards, while Mr. Brown was at l)reakfast, he sank back in Ixis chair and died. A short time afterwards Mrs. Brown married the German tailor. Elijah Brown, one of the pioneers of Linesville, Avas the father of Aaron; and on his return from Mississippi 202 rroxEER sKErciiEs. the circumstances connected with the death of his only son were ahnost unbearable. He had spent quite a large sum of money in educating Aaron, and had the satisafaction of knoAving that lie was one of the best scholars in Western Pennsylvania. But his hoi)es were l)lasted, his heart bro- ken, and this caused him also an untimely death. The writer returned North the following winter, as he cared not to wear out chill fever again the coming spring, which was prevalent at that time in southwestern Tennessee. Our friend Clark returned to Albion, Pa., the following spring in pool' health, and lingered a few months and died. The rest of the party remained in the South. In justice to the Southern people I will say for myself that I never lived among a more benevolent and kind hearted people — never was treated better than during my stay, my sickness and convalescence. Dr. Garner, on my being taken down with typhoid fever, took me from my boarding place, saying that there was plenty of room and servants at his place for the young boy in a strange land, and I should have the best care, which, I think, saved my life. True, he w^as a wealthy man, but he was equally as kind and big hearted. He would not allow me to pay a dollar for all of the care ])estowed upon me during my six week's sickness. The doctor has gone on to the great beyond — AVhere noiu' otlicrs can, Except the true and God-like man. A great barbecue came off, and I had got on my feet again, and able to attend. It was held in a grove of fine primeval oak trees, a nice grassy plat, a bounteous table spread through this beautiful natural })Mrk aal. Prof. Barnes remained with us all the week, with a full house each night. His lectures were interesting, and he was considered an expert in l)hl■enolog3^ CHAPTER XLIV. LUMBERING. AX INCIDENT — SHIPPING LUMBER TO ERIE, BUFFALO, TROY AND ALBANY. ^^ HAD COME to like lumbering better than anything Jt^ else and hailed with joy the advent of the coming dx snow, a foot or two deed, for Christmas and the New -Year, that we might haul the logs that we had previously been skidding on the Wash. Wyethc place, a mile or so away in the woods, where we had that winter and on our own place about 1,000 whitewood, cucumber ash and maple logs to get out. One morning early in December, we started out to the woods with several hands and our trusty yoke of cattle, "Dave and Charlie,^' as good a logging team over which ever was drawn a braid; they were large enough for all practical purposes and it took a stout yoke and chain to hold them. One David Fifer, a Teutonic gentleman, was helping me that day. I told him to cut down a small-sized beech tree that was standing near by. Presently I looked up and saw to my dismay that he had girdled the tree completely around like a rabbit does a peach tree to kill it, and as this tree leaned directly toward my cattle, this Dutchman had girdled it to kill them. The tree w'as already going; I sprang as near to the cattle as I dared, at the same time motioning and speaking to them to back — only one step more; bat the tree struck Old Dave's head and brought him to the ground. When the poor animal 14 210 PIONEER SKE TCHES. raised up his head, bleeding profusely, one horn was knocked off close to his head, leaving a stub of the pith (inside of the horn) protruding from the ox's head. Well the poor creature wore a sad look, and I thought he looked more intellio;ent than the Dutchman at the time. With a cloth from the dinner basket and a coat lining, I tied up the wound the best I could. On arriving home I renewed the bandage and applied some warm tar. After three weeks Old Dave was again ready for work. The sleighing during this time was excellent and the logs were being briskly moved. We had 300 or 400 logs skidded. Some of the whitewood logs were three feet or more in diameter, sufEcicnt to cut 1,000 feet of lumber twelve feet long, which would make quite a load; but m coming to smaller ones, two feet or so, with long bolsters on the sleds, three of these logs were placed on the bottom, two logs top of them, then one log top of all — six — these making a nice load. Cur road w as on a down grade principally, from the woods to the canal, where they were mostly rafted to Tuckersville, foot of the eleven-mile level, to be sawed into lumber. I shipped that season about 800,000 feet of whitewood and ash lumber. My first consignments were to Janes & Sanbor, Erie ; later to Farmer & Scachard, Mixer & Smith, and John A. Pitts, Buffalo; Francis Beebe, Troy, and Stephen Clark and others, Albany, N. Y. I recollect the day that we were unloading a vessel load of lumber in the Niagara Basin for John A. Pitts' agricul- tural works. About 10 A. M. all the bells on the churches n the city simultaneously pealed forth the joyful tidings PIOXEER SKE 7 'CUES. 211 that the Athmtic cable was hiid and in successful operation, that the American with a silent tongue could instantly talk with the European. One pleasant morning soon after, accompanied 1)y my wife, we took passage at Buffalo on the little steamer Arrow down the Niagara, making several stops at the Islands. On arriving within a couple of miles of the Falls the boat ran into Chippewa Creek, where, on the Canada side, we took the cars to the Falls. The view of Niagara Falls from the Canadian side is the best. Near by is situated those historic spots, Lundy's Lane and Chippewa battlefields, where, in 1813 the best troops of America and England met to try their steel. True, the armies were not as large, as to the numbers engaged, as in many other conflicts, though nearly equal in number and the fighting was terrific. General Scott heard a British oflicer shout, "TheAmericans are good at a long shot, but can't stand the cold iron." He repeated this to his men, and called upon the 11th instantly to give the lie to that slander. They charged and the battle was won. General Brown was wounded in the early part of the engage- ment, and the command devolved upon Brigadier General Winfield Scott, who, it is said, covered himself that night with smoke, fire and glory. The loss on each side was about equal, and over one-third in each army were killed or wounded. It has been quite a long time — 78 years — since Eng- land has had any trouble with America, and I presume she has chosen the better part of valor — to keep hands off. It seems from our American conflict that America has cause to fear herself more than any other nation, and from the dear- ly bought lesson of the past our country will not be unmind- iul. 212 PIONEER SKETCHES. But, to return to the lumber business : H. E. Salis- bury, assisted by his brother Tracy (my brothers-in-law) had set up a lathe in Michael's mill, near my place, and were engaged in turning setting poles, mower, reaper and wagon poles, for which I furnished them ash and maple lumber. After remaining there about a year, they removed to Albion, the former forming a partnership with R. McClellan, and for a couple of years done a large business manufacturiDg oars. They then removed to Edgerton, Ohio, where H. E. Salisbury formed a partnership with Wm. Webb, of New York, and engaged extensively in the manufacture of oars. I furnished on a short notice to John Hill, of Erie, a very difficult bill of lumber to help him out of a tight spot, in the construction of Farrar Hall, he having been disap- pointed by other parties ; also heavy material for the Methodist church, which could only be accomphshed liy working; nig-ht and dav. At that time I thought 1 could endure almost anything. The following year engaged with Howe & Clark, Erie, to superintend and sell lumber on the Elevator Dock. At the close of the season a partnership was formed under the name of Clark, Finn & Howe. The middle man I didn't like, so I quit them. In February I went to New York with Samuel Sherman. He was with Lathrop, Luddington & Co., 326-30 Broadway, a heavy jobbing dry goods firm. Sam brought a heavy trade to this house from his patrons in Erie, Crawford and Mercer Counties, Pa., and he had a good thing of it. I spent three weeks in the metropolis and returned to Buffalo, where Oliver Bugbee, a prominent lumber dealer, wanted to secure my services to look after his lumber business throughout Canada, Michigan and Ohio. I took PIONEER SKE TCHES. 213 his oflfer. The previous fall Mr. Bugbee hud contracted with different parties in Canada, Michigan and Ohio, to deliver to him at certain places, to load on vessels or cars, pine, black walnut, whitewood, white ash and sycamore, cut to certain lengths and specified width and thickness, fol- which he had advanced them sums of money. This lum- ber was to be shipped to Albany, consequently Mr. Bug- bee did not see much of it at either end of the route ; hence the importance of getting the amount of the first and second clear in a cargo that the contract called for. Having had experience in the business it suited me, and in the course of a few days I went from Suspension Bridge into Canada,, then took the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit, thence to Port Sarnie and across country to Wheatley and Two Rivers. At the latter place a quantity of whitewood and ash lumber was scowed down the river to its mouth, which was closed by a sand bar, and the scow had to be hauled over the sand bar six or eight rods by stays, the scow being placed on greased poles. When over the sand bar the lumber was reloaded on the scow and a line struns: half a mile from the shore out into the lake to a vessel. The scow was kept under this line and the Canucks would pull on it and thus propel the scow out to the vessel, on which they would load the lumber and return for another load. This was a tedious way of loading a vessel, and suited the Canadians better than the Yankee. Out in the lake where the vessel lay was arranged a fish pond, from which two fellows brought in two large sturgeon, weighing 60 and SO pounds respectively. The men and fish were in a skiff near shore. While sitting lazily in the skiff a wave rolled it. The sturgeon rolled to one side, and over went the skiff, dumping its occupants into 214 PIONEER SKETCHES. the lake. It required several dives by the fishermen to get the fish, but they got them out and hauled them ashore. This place was situated about fifteen miles east of Point Au Pelee, Ontario, Canada. At Wheatley, the place where Bugbee had contracted for a lot of sycamore lumber, cut to order, to be used for to])acco boxes, the party, to whom he advanced $500 for lumber, was a low-lived, drunken, shiftless wretch. The people living about there, with some exceptions, were a bad mixture — half-breeds, French and Indian — shiftless, lazy, and the carriage that they rode in was a dog cart, and some of the indolent lived on air and whisky. At St. Claire we found several hundred thousand feet of nice pine, and run well into the' uppers, got out as per contract by Burrows & Oaks, Detroit, who were gentlemen, and the place seemed more like God's country than did- the former. J. C. Farwell, of Detroit, another gentleman with whom we had transactions, was on deck and understood his business and seemed desirous to render unto C»sar the the things that were his. J. C. Varnum, of Mansfield, Ohio, another with whom we had to come in contact, was anxious to do the right thing; but he had some difficulty in filling his contract. For black walnut counter top lumber to be cut 1 inch thick, 22 to 82 inches wide and 16 feet long, and free from all defects, 250,000 feet out of 1,000,000 feet of good walnut he could not fill. He tried hard to do it, but coukln't. When he had to furnish 300,000 feet of wahiut in diftcrent lengths and widths, that was a horse of a diftcrent size and color. Varnum filled a i)art and bought out of a i)ortion of his contract. This lumber was got on the ]VIiami & Wabash Canal region, delivered to and shipped by us from Toledo, Ohio. CHAPTEK XLV. Recruiting -PROSPECTING— LEASING coal lands — the cox farm, M'FATE — DRILLING FOR COAL — MY RETURN — DEATH OF MY SISTER — REMOVAL — DEATH OF OUR SON, EDWIN — PROSPECTING ARMSTRONG ANU BUTLER COUNTIES — LKASE AND PURCHASE— OIL BUSINESS — BEAR CREEK PROPERTY— SALE OF TIBIBER LANDS — DEATH OF A BHOTHER-IN-LAW — GRAIN AND FLOUR SHIPBIENT — DROP IN OIL LANDS — DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY— INDIANS — PRISONERS RE- LEASED — BRADY'S BEND N SEPTEMBER, 1861, while engaged in Erie County, Pa., recruiting volun- teers for the 111th Kegiment at my own expense in time and money, I had reason to become indignant at the treachery of some of its officers, therefore I returned to prospecting in Lawrence and Mahoning counties, and ere long I leased the Cox Farm and secured some very fine specimens of block coal from a shaft in said farm, which is situated about one and a-half miles from the Harbor l)ridge, about seven miles above New Castle, on the Shenango River. I had also leased the McFate coal bank, near the river, and put it into operation. It was a coal of different formation from that of the Cox Farm, yet it sold readily in the neighbor- hood, and at New Castle and Pulaski for fuel purposes. C. G. Carver, of Sharon, bought a one-half interest in the Cox lease for $2,000, paying ${\()0 down, and tlrilling soon commenced. The output was found at that time insufficient to warrant the great outlay necessary for mining and shi[)- ping the same, and the Cox Farm was al)andoned. 216 F/O.VEER SKETCHES. In November I learned that sister Cornelia was very ill. I returned to Spring to her bedside. She lingered a few days and died. In a few days I returned, with my wife and two chil- dren, to Lawrence county. On the 10th of March following Edwin, our youngest son, died. In May of that year we returned to Spring and remained there that year. In February, 1863, I made a prospecting tour through Armstrong, Clarion and Butler counties, Pa. I made some leases at the latter place, near Martinsburg; also purchased the Samuel Meals Farm, 200 acres, for $(5,000. The oil business having been for some yeai'S in full blast on Oil Creek and contiguous thereto, was then extend- ing up and down the Allegheny and Clarion rivers and other places. At Parker's Landing a gusher was struck and the oil business began to boom on the Allegheny. Specu- lation ran wild. Through every gulch and ravine, Over hill-top, valley and t^treuni, Most every man had oil on the brain, And to liear liim rattle and swell would give you pain. But such is life, and we have ))een constrained to believe that as oil can be applied to soothe or calm the turbulent waters, it can also be applied to fuddle the l)rain. In April, 1865, about the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the bottom began to fall out of the oil sp(^culation. It had for years become, so to speak, a bad .sjioke in the wheel of fortune for many. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of speculative oil transactions were carried on, by })aper and tictilious charts representing oil interests in close proximity to good producing oil territory. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 217 The unwary man or woman in distant cities, eager to become suddenl}^ rich, would l)ite the bait like a sucker, and in many cases thej^ found that the seller knew no more about the merits of his oil territory than did an ordinary horse about the science of geology, I had shown the Martinsburg property to one J. W. Spader, of Chicago, who said he and his brother would take it for $J:0,000 as soon as he could return to Chicago and make arrangements, and I felt in disposing of that property that he would have a better bargain in the transaction than I. However, while awaiting results, I kept my eye on the smaller fry, and had some timber lands, taken on refusal, to sell, adjoining my home. One day in Mead- ville I saw ex-Sheriff Brooks coming down Water Street; I asked him if ho knew anybody who wanted to buy some good timber land in Spring, not as an oil speculation, but simply on its merits. He thought for a moment, looked up street and said: "There (;omes a man, he has money from the sale of a farm, try him." "If it's a go, $100 to you.-' He introduced me to the man — J. M. Beatty — and moved on. I told him what I had to sell and that my time on the property would expire in forty-eight hours, after which I could not offer him the lands at the same figures. He asked me who I knew, in the city and I named several, among them Sheriff S. G. Krick, Banker Gideon Mosher; that ^\'as sufficient. We stepped into Mosher's bank, told him what I had to offer Mr. Beatt}-; the banker readily assured Mr. Beatty that the transaction would be all right; Mr. Beatty handed over $500 to Ijind the bargain and came on Monday to sec the premises and was pleased with the lands. We made arrangements with the owners, J. F. Woodard and Morton Cornell, to go to Meadville. where 218 PIONEER SKETCHES. the proper transfers were made. By the terms of that sale Mr. Beatty's greenbacks were nearly equally divided between the original land owners and the seller. A few days later I received word that my brother-in- law was lying very ill at Edgerton, western Ohio. I soon started for that place, but before leaving the railway sta- tion learned that he had expired. However, my wife and I went on, and after a few days reached Butler, and met some relatives. I then went to Chicago, and found my friend Spader unable to come to time on his land contract for very good reasons. I bought a car load of flour and a couple of car loads of oats for the Oil City market, with a view to paying my expenses and something more. The flour and grain were shipped via the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. There was such a rush of business over that road at that time that my consignment, with others alike unperishable, was laid over and side-tracked three weeks at Leavittsville, Ohio. However, when it came, on account of the rush and mud at Oil City, I stopped it at Franklin, Pa., where a sale was made, realizing first cost and freights, with a promise of considerable! more. After a while the buyers left for Buffalo, and I followed them, effecting a settlement as best I could. In those days the white man in the oil regions was uncertain. General Lee having surrendered to General Grant and Johnson to Sherman, the Rebellion closed and the great Lincoln assassinated, there was a great change — a great change also in prices of most all commodities, and this sud- den collai)se was not more keenly felt throughout the whole country than in the oil regions. The l)ott()m generally was knocked out of the sale of oil buids. PIONEER SKETCHES. 219 During the spring of lS(i4 I fitted up a couple of coal banks at Miller's Eddy on the hill side of the Alle- gheny River, about live miles below Parker's Landing, ob- taining the use of river boats to load with coal for paying the tow bill of said boats to Oil City, there to be loaded with oil by the owners and floated down the river to Pittsburg. Before the Valley Eailroad was built this sort of boating was a gi"eat industry on the Allegheny. I started a coal yard near the ferry landing at Oil City, where I could readily sell the coal at that time as it came from the mines unscreened, at fifty cents per bushel. Oil Creek gipers would come alongside our coal boat at Oil City and take aboard from 200 to 500 bushels and tow up Oil Creek to Cherry Run and other places and sell the coal at from $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel to drilling oil well opera- tors. M. S. Rouse, a former lumber dealer at Lockport, Erie County, bought an interest with me for $1,000, con- tinued for some months, when I purchased his interest and sold the same to a Nashville man for $2,000. During heavy rains the Allegheny and Oil Creek would suddenly rise several feet and play havoc with the boats, many of wdiich were tied up along the shores, and we at different times lost hundreds of l)ushels of coal. At one time, in the spring, we had two boats tied up at John Dunlap's coal chutes near Brady's Bend, to be loaded. Sud- denly the river rose, taking down quantities of flood wood, which lodged under the bows of the boats, parting the lines, and the boats went miles down the river. Some parties at Red Bank put out in a skift', boarded the boats and tied them in an eddy. A tug was procured to tow them back to the coal chutes, where they were loaded with coal and towed to Oil City. 220 PIONEER SKETCHES Much property was yearly destroyed and damaged on the Allegheny, and thousands of barrels of oil were destroyed by flood and fire. In August, 1864, I think, light crude oil reached the highest price ever attained — $14 per barrel. I still held the Bear Creek property and George Selden, of Meadville, thought he could dispose of the same in New York, l)ut it was too late in the day to sell oil lands in the metropolis. Finally I did sell to a Mr. Smith, of New York, realizing the amount paid on it, but feeling at the same time that I was letting a bonanza slip through my fingers; yet knowing that payments would soon become due on the same, I let it go. This property in the course of a year was developed and yielded a large sum of money to the o})erator from the proceeds of its flowing oil wells. The lower Allegheny, its triljutaries, mountainous hills, valleys and table lands contiguous thereto, are wonderful, and rich in minerals throughout Butler, Armstrong and Allegheny Counties. One of the great iron plants of Pennsylvania was the Brady's Bend Iron Works. The iron ore, coal and limestone were mined on the company's premises and generally about 1,500 laborers were required in operating the works. Just above the site of the iron works the famous Samuel Brady one night discovered a lot of Indians preparing a funeral })ile, on which to burn several Avhitc }n'isoners they had in captivity. He told them in the Indian tongue to wait until he came with his pale-faced prisoners and he would join them and they would maki? one job of it. About midnight Brady, with several trusteed scouts, forded the river just above the Indian camp, liberated the pi'isoners, surprised and killed several Indians, the remainder fleeing in terror. This incident gave to this jilace the memorable name of "Brady's Bend." CHAPTER XLVI. MINING AND SHIPPING COAL — TOWING BOATS —LOW STAGE OF WATER ON THE ALLEGHENY RIVER — PEGG'S CHUTE — CRAPO HOUSE — A REBEL LANDLORD— A LOYAL CONNECTICUT MAN— PALMY DAYS OF OILDOM. N THE EARLY DAYS keel boats were used on the Allegheny River, and the motive power was the oar, setting poles, and hooks to catch on to overhano-ino; branches of trees and walk from bow to stern, and thus jiro- })el the boat. Later, horses were brought into requisiti(m, which was a great improvement over the muscular and tedious mode of navigation. Yet it was a hard place for horse flesh. Tow- ing on the canal was no more to l)e compared to river tow- ing than riding upon a smooth road or over the mountain- ous hills, jolting along its rocky bed. The beach of the lower Allegheny is generally uneven and rocky. Frequently large rocks overhang and project into the river, so the horses must be ferried over to the other side to get a foot hold. In April, 186-i, as previously mentioned, having got the mines in order, consisting of laying in new tracks, driv- ing forward the main entry and rooming off into sohd coal, mined and shipped a boat load of 2,000 bushels, towed by the steamer Hawkeye on a good stage of water to Oil City. This first load was a test. I readily sold the coal at fifty cents per bushel, which I found left a good margin over ex- 222 PIONEER SKETCHES. penses. I found, however, it was necessary to have a good team at the mines for use, and not depend entirely on hir- ing. Therefore, I went to Spring, Pa., purchased a good team and wagon and sent tlieni with driver to the mines. Returning, I engaged actively in mining and shipping coal to my yard at Oil City. There was a good stage of water most of the time that spring through April and May and up to the June freshet, aftbrding a good opportunity to get coal boats towed by steamers. In July I bought a river boat, 16x100 feet, and with about $100 in repairs put it in good condition. The low stage of water had come, when the motive power used on the Allegheny was horses and mules. On a bright morning in August, my boat l)eing loaded, my wife and sister thought they would like to go on our boat to Oil City, on their way home to Spring, Crawford County, that they might see the wild and picturesque scenery along the river, a distance of sixty miles, requiring a three days' trip. Three good horses were put on the tow line, two good river boatmen and a driver, myself as roustabout and captain of the giper, and ni}^ wife and sister composed the party. In due time we passed Bear Creek, Parker's Falls and the Clarion River. Everything went smoothly and we had a pleasant time the first day. About 10 o'clock the second day as we were entering Pegg's Chute (rapids) we saw a skiff containing a man, woman and young girl. The man was quite feeble, unacquainted with the river, and his skiff came shooting into the rapids of the chute, making directly for the bow of our boat. We all sprang forward to their assistance. Their skiff struck our bow violently, crushing and capsizing the skiff. The girl and woman floated along the left side of our boat and were quickly 224 PIONEER SKETCHES. rescued. The man clung to his broken skiff, half filled with water, his face was as pale as death, caused by sickness and fright. The girl's bonnet and the woman's band box and some other trinkets floated down the river and one of my skiffs was quickly dispatched and the articles all secured by one of our boatmen. When the shipwrecked man had sufficiently come to his senses, he exclaimed, ''My God I am thankful to be thus saved, but where is our trunk V I told him that it was probably safe under the boat, when we commenced searching for it and found it firmly wedged under the boat by the force of the ra})id water. We finally got out the trunk in a nearly sound condition, except its contents, which were nicely sprinkled and ready for an ironing. We told the party that at first we expected to have to fish them out from under our boat, same as we did their trunk. Having two skiffs aboard the boat, I let the un- fortunate party have one of them in which to continue their journey to Hillville, which was to be left there for me with the enjoinder not to run again into Pegg's Chute, or any other rapids under the bow of a river giper. Our horses stood braced in their harness, the driver urging them to hold the boat taut while we were regu- lating the mishap, and putting the rescued party into the skiff, saw them again gliding on their way down the rapid river. The scenery was grand, its lofty hills towering above us on each side as we pass the "Indian God," a large rock projecting boldly out into the river, and thus named by the Indians from the shape of its head, neck, body and facial appearance. PIONEER SKETCHES. 22b THE INDIAN GOD. The next place of note was Patterson Falls. There it took some good pulling to ascend; but our team was equal to the occasion, and we passed up nicely. The next was Montgomery Falls. At this point I noticed one of the horses, a spirited animal, began pulling for her life, and commenced to choke. I called to the driver to stand upon the tugs and hold down the collar, but too late; the noble animal fell broadside, apparently dead. The tugs were quickly unhooked when she got up, trembling like an aspen, although recovering after awhile. In passing up Patterson and Montgomery Falls steam- ers towing coal boats frequently labor for hours, and many a good horse has been injured and killed in pulling over these falls. The hardest part of our trip w^as over and we got on pleasantly to Oil City, wdiere we arrived in good time the third day. From there my wife and sister took the cars for Meadville and Saegertown, thence by stage home. The coal being unloaded my boat was reloaded with oil for Kittanning, and at that time, about the 15th of 15 226 PIOXEER SKETCHES. August, 1864:, oil reached the highest price I ever knew in the history of Oil Creek — light crude was %\\ per l)arrel. Money was plentiful, and the Oil Creek boatman, or wag- oner, thought he was making poor ]5ay unless he made $10 to $25 per day. Everyl)ody seemed to have money, conse- quently it made it pleasant to do Inisiness generally. An incident occurred at the Crapo House, Oil City, which I well remember. Mr. Crapo, the proprietor, a South Carolinian, after dinner made himself conspicuous in laudation of the South, and concluded with the remark that General Lee would bag General Grant. An Eastern man, an oil operator, being present, told him that he would not. Crapo replied that he would bet $5,000 that Lee would bag Grant in less than three months. The oil operator reached his left hand down into his duster coat pocket, took out a large roll of greenbacks, and said: "Here, sir, is $5,000 that says Lee cannot bag Grant." He further added: ''Perhaps you would like to cover big- ger stakes," and with his right hand he dove into another pocket and produced another roll of bills, saying: "Here is $5,000 more that says General Grant will capture General Lee. Now cover my pile or shut up." Crapo did not cover it. The oil producer then told Mr. Crapo that he had better go and keep tavern where his sympathies were — with the rebels. The Connecticut man was union to the core. He had struck oil and it was running smoothly and plentifully, creating a good batch of greenbacks daily, and he carried too many guns for the South Carolinian. The oil business Avas at its zenith at this time. It was the closing year of the palmy days of oildom. Money flew in exchange of leases, real estate and oil drilling. The connnon laborer, PIONEER SKETCHES. 227 the teamster, the rig builder, the carpenter, the cooper and the oil driller, all came in for their share of the high wages paid for labor throughout the oil regions. There is no place on our continent where so much money was paid out, made and lost, during a period of ten years, as there was in Oil Creek and vicinity. There are no two spots on earth that arose so rapidly from country ham- lets to cities of 10, 000 souls, as Titusville and Oil City, march- ing at a lively gait in the busy humdrum of life, with comfortalile quarters for its citizens, the tourist, the pros- pector, the oil smeller and the operator, with convenient modes of transit by rail and stage; with spacious stores and machine shops, aftbrding the best goods in the market; schools and churches, a community of many intelligent and well-cultured people, who apparently enjoyed life. CHAPTER XLVII. LUMBER YARDS. MEADVILLE AND OIL CREEK — LEASING OIL LANDS AND OPERATING — DRILLING. OME MONTHS later I pnrchcased some city lots on the Huidekoper plot, Willow Street, Meadville, and built two dwelling bouses thereon the follow- ing summer. On a portion of these grounds I kept a retail lumber yard, and during the summer done some building by contract for J. Hanna and others. By the treachery of one G. G. Porter, of Meadville, in a lumbei transaction, I eventually lost a new farm of eighty acres in Sprinf, Pa., and if the said Porter's soul is still perambu- lating the rounds of earth, or has gone marching on, we hope he may fare, at least as well, as did Nebuchadnezzar — o-et a plenty of grass to eat — as many better men than he have lived and died in their realm, who did not pretend to deal squarely in the hardware business either. The next year, in July, I went to Oil Creek. At Spartansburg and vicinity I bought a lot of pine lumber; selected all widths of 10, 12, 15 or 18 inches, had the same ripped and split at Scott & Aiken's mill, and made into siding, making 2,000 feet of siding from 1,000 feet of inch hoards. I also purchased a lot of building material and oil well rig stuff and opened a lumber yard at Eou Se- ville, some live miles above Oil City, where I had a good trade and was doing well until late in the fall, when I was taken with a severe attack of sciatic rheumatism, with PIONEER SKETCHES. 229 which I was confined some four weeks, reducing nic ahiiost to a skeleton. It seemed to me that I endured pain enough to kill a dog, this being the first real pain I had ever had. When I got able to attend to business again the building season, to a great extent was over, and I engaged in transferring coal across the Allegheny River from South to North Oil City for Messrs. Wagner & McConnell, with three to four teams. In Fel)ruary I was brought down with a lung trouble and did not get out of my house until the grass began to look green. That spring I leased the Morrison Farm, on the south 8ide of the Allegheny, opposite Reno, and James Braden, of Franklin, and myself caused to be drilled on that farm the first oil wells. They were not very productive and I got rid of my lease as best I could, and afterward leased ten acres on the Dale Farm, Franklin, where I and family removed into a house I had built on said lease. A well was put down on the Dale Farm which proved to be a dry hole. In the meantime I got a lease on the Judge Mc- Calmot Farm which I sold and realized something from the same. In the fall, with my family, I removed to Titusville, the pleasantest place to live in the oil regions, Avhich, even at that time, was a good business place. I opened a wood and coal yard on Hobart's lot, corner Spring and Main Streets. Had a good trade fall and winter; sold 1,200 cords of wood and 1,000 tons of anthracite and bituminous coal. Titusville, like some other oil towns, was a pleasant place in which to do business. At that day people did not stop to split hair nor banter long and dicker on a deal, and the people generally appeared to enjoy life. The time came, however, that there was a lull in l)usiness 230 PIONEER SKETCHES. and a consequent drop in real estate. I recollect George Sherman's nice place, corner Spring and Washington Streets, costing over $9,000, which was afterwards pur- chased by Dr. Dunn at $1,800. The following June, when the wood and coal trade fell off consideral^ly, 1 removed my family to Spring, and in July I started for the Nortli- w'cst to look after some interests near Silver Islet, on the north shore of Lake Superior. CHAPTER XLVIII. THE NOBTir SHORE— LAKE .SUPERIOR— THE MERCER PARTY— LAKE HURON— DANCING— SUMKER OVERBOARD— A RIDE OVER THE FALLS. N THE evening of July 19, 1875, the writer took passage on board the steamer Pacific en route for the north shore of Lake Superior. We left Cleveland about 10 o'clock P. M. and had a pleasant ride that nifjht across to Detroit, arrivins: there at 7 A. M. The weather was dry and very hot, therefore the night hours were the most comfortable for the tourist. The Hon. Judges Stewart, Trunkey and McDermott, of Mercer, Pa., also took passage for the north shore, also a Mr. Sumner and companion, a mercliant tailor, whose name I have forgotten, of Akron, Ohio. Edward Learned, of Pittsfield, Mass., part owner of the North Shore Silver Islet Mines, daughter and son-in-law, were also among the goodly number of passengers on board. Our boat lay at Detroit nearly all day, affording ample time to all to visit the city. The two Akron gentlemen and a Quaker friend, a school teacher at Philadelphia, and myself took the Fort Street street cars to see something [of the city, Zach Chandlers fine residence, the Richardson Match Factory, the Smelting Works and other places of interest. As the Philadelphian and the Avritcr Avere conversing we noticed a sort of wild and sad expression on the face of Mr. Sumner, Avho was a fine-looking and well-dressed young 232 PIONEER SKETCHES. man of about 24 years of age. We returned in time for dinner. Aliout 4 o'clock the steamer left Detroit, and we were soon under sail up the Ijeautifnl Detroit River, which added much to the comfort and delight of the passengers. We soon found the company of the legal trio from Mercer, Pa., very agreeable. Evidently they intended to enjoy their trip, as did Edward Learned, the Philadelphia schoolmaster, and the rest of the passengers generally. Still you would notice that strange sadness at times on the face of the gentlemanly Sumner. We had an excellent band of music on board, and its enlivening strains put in trim the fantastic toe of old and young, and on went the dance that beautiful starry evening on Lake Huron. The Hon. William Stewart, of Mercer, aged Y3, led tlie first dance gallantly with one of the best young lady dancers. For one of his age, he made a good appearance among the dancers. All who participated in the dance and the spectators enjoyed a pleasant time on this occasion. The dance was repeated every evening. Mr. Sumner, apparently more cheerful than usual, par- ticipated in the singing exercises that night on the hurricane deck. Our party retired about midnight, and on retiring Mr. Sunmer said to his Akron friend and traveling com. panion, "Should anything happen to me, I desire you to take care of my effects.'" His friend replied, "Most cer- tainly," and added, "There is nothing going to happen you, Sumner, for you are certainly looking better." The next morning when the breakfast bell rang Mr. Sumner was not to be found. A diligent search was made. His gold watch, clothing, money and baggage were all in })r()i)er })lace in his stateroom. An English Avoman and her daughter, who Avere steerage passengers, said they noticed PIOXEER SKETCHES. 233 a tall man come down stairs, about 2 o'clock, in stocking: feet, pants and shirt on, who looked wildly, and walked back to the stern of the boat. They did not see him return, and, feeling drowsy, thous^ht no more of it. We could only conclude that he went overboard to end his troubles. His companion said his sadness was caused by trouble with his newly married wife, and that he had started out with him to take this trip hoping: to relieve his troubled mind, as Sumner thought much of his beautiful looking wife, and her conduct was crushing him. This, a case of woman's infidelity to man; To know without experience one never can. His life he threw overboard in Lake Huron, For blasted hopes and love unenduring. The Akron man said he could not continue his journey, and as the boat pulled up to the wharf at Detour, on the Sioux River, he sadly took Mr. Sumner's effects and went ashore, to wait for the tirst returning boat. The pleasant trip which he had anticipated was turned into one of those sad pictures in the drama of life. While our boat was passing through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, our old boy (Mr. Stewart), Judges Trunkey and McDcrmott thought they would like a little experience with the Indian in his bark canoe, and accordingly they took passage with "Lo" over the Sioux Falls, and they soon found they were bound to get their money's worth. They went like a shot through the Rapids and over the Falls, which delighted the Indians and apparently the Mercer party, for none seemed to enjoy it better than the Mercer 73-year-old "boy," Judge Stewart, who, Avith the rest of the party, was as wet as a drowned rat. They came on board and changed their clothing, and said if they hadn't seen the PIONEER SKETCHES. 235 elephant they had seen the Indian, and rode over the Falls in his birch bark canoe. In due time we reached Marquette, stopped there a couple of hours, and then steamed a little further up on the south shore to L'Anse, a new mining town. From there we were to round Ivewenaw Point, then cross the lake, touching Pie Island, thence to Silver Islet and the north shore in Thunder Bay. Before rounding Kewenaw Point we run up Portage River to the celebrated copper mines of Hancock & Houghton; and when up that crooked Portage River some fourteen miles, with pond lilies to nearly every foot, night came on, dark and l)lack, with a fog; as thick as the blue Canadian flies of the north shore. The captain concluded to just stay right there until morn- ing, then we steamed slowly out of that pond-lily, ram\s- horn stream and reached Thunder Bay all right, looked at Silver Islet (a very peculiar spot), got some nice samples of silver ore and amethyst, and sailed over to Prince Arthur's Landing (now Port Arthur), where we rusticated a week. The white fish there, when caught, are as cool as if they had come out of an Ashtabula refrigerator. On our return trip, on reaching the Sault Ste. Marie, the booming of cannon at the fort announced the presence of General Crook, the great Indian fighter and pacificator. That country is still quite a resort for the Indian. It cer- tainly has a sort of a wild and primeval look, and still abounds with plenty of fish and wild game, of which Lo is so fond. Wild red raspberries were very abundant there. Why, there was a Yankee up on the Sioux River who had a factory there with a lettered sign long enough to reach across a forty-foot barn— "Raspberry Jam!!" 236 PIONEER SKETCHES. From red raspberries he made aud cauned And sold it all over the laud. He bought his berries at two cents per quart from the Indians, which was much cheaper than he could raise them. If one wants to get a cool sniff, a cool white fish — best in the world — or look upon a wild scenery, take a trip up around the north shore of Lake Superior in dog days. The islands in Lake Superior are numerous, the scenery grand. The copper, silver and iron mines are very rich; all things considered, the Lake Superior region is one of the most wonderful spots on our habitable globe. CHAPTER XLIX. Return from prince Arthur — lumbering— building — American insurance company of chicago — chas. l. currier's letter — k. a. butts, state agent— the prizes— the field — the bible and the hukting scene— general insurance agent — au- thor pioneer sketches, scenes and incidents of former DAYS. N MY EETURN from Silver Islet, Ame- thyst Harbor and Prince Arthur I re- moved my family in October to Ashta- bula, Ohio, where 1 did not wait for something to tmui up, but took, as it were, the bull by the horns and went to work to turn up something and went with Ben Gates into his potato field to turn up his potatoes, and with the Fargos to husk their corn and gather their apples to secure a supply of the latter for my family for the winter. My brother-in-law, Darius Sahsbury, had a fine lot of beech and maple timber standing on the flats on his farm on the creek, three miles east of Ashtabula, which he offered me to cut on shares to get a supply of wood for the comino- year. I commenced this in November, and in course of a few weeks had a fine lot of wood nicely corded up on the bank of the creek. In the fore part of December there came a deep snow and good sleighing. We engaged a team to haul off the wood. Salisbury hauled his share on to higher ground. My man delayed too long. A rain came on, taking off the snow, l)reaking up the ice, and then came 238 PIONEER SKETCHES. a flood, and the mad waters and ice rushed down the Ash- tabula River and swept into Lake Erie all my wood except two cords which I had piled between two trees; but there was laid up for me the happy consolation, which I had ex- perienced on many former occasions, "Never to cry for spilt milk."'^ True, my loss didn't loom up largely in dollars but largely in hard knocks required in cutting the wood. J. H. Bugbee, of Ashtabula, was engaged in the lum- ber and wood business, with whom I contracted to work in its various branches that winter and most of the time dur- ing the coming year. Having bought a village lot, some portion of the time was devoted to getting material to build a dwelling house, and on rainy days and evenings making shingles, axe helves and whiffletrees, as I had not become an expert in corner grocery chit chat or bar room legends. In May of that year two barge loads of pine lumber entered Ashtabula harbor, consigned to the L. S. & M. S. Railroad Company. I was employed to hire ten men to select and ship the same over its southern branch, to be used for fencing purposes. I built my house and moved my family into it July 4th, where, up to this writing, we are still happily domiciled. In April, 1876, I took the agency of the American Fire Insurance Company of Chicago, for Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties. I at once took the field. On the 1st of September following I received a letter from its live and worthy secretary, Charles S. Currier, with the flattering announcement that I was the banner agent in Ohio for August, having placed the most business for the company. Some time later, E. A. Butts, of Clevehind, state agent, issued a circular to his one hundred agents in the PIOXEER SKETCFIES. 239 HOME OF M. P. SARGENT, ASHTABULA, OHIO. State, offering premiums for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth hirgest business done durino- the three closinoj months of the year, October, November and December. I did not seem to wake up to this matter until the 9th day of October, a pleasant morning, when I stepped into the house and said to my wife, "I am going to try to win one of Butts' prizes," to which she replied, "You can't do it." I said to her, "I will take one of those prizes, or you'll sleep a widow." She laughed at my broad remarks and wished me success. I hitched up my horse and started on the war path. I well knew the job l)cfore mt; meant hard work, and worked accordmgly through sunshine and storm, to the hour that came the shocking alarm of the Ashtabula disaster. When the smoke of battle had cleared away, the genial, smiling 240 PIONEER SKETCHES. face of Mr. E. A. Butts appeared on the scene ; a large gilt-edged full morocco Bible and a fine hunting scene were presented to me as my share of the souvenirs in the race, for which I thanked him, and thought his presents were very appropriate for an insurance man. The general state agent, however, requested me to read the Bible. I got two prizes out of the five, and my wife did not become a widow. I continued the agency for this excellent company for eight years, with others, and it paid its losses honorably and promptly during that time, when it re-insured its risks in the Continental, of New York, for which I held the agency for three years, when I took up Accident and Life Insurance, in which I am now engaged as general agent. I have seen something of this world of strife, During the past forty years of my life; Were I to live it over again, Now see where I might have made amends. But show me the one who never cast a stone, And I Avill show you a natural drone. For to err is human, For both man and woman. The sculptor can chisel quite to his notion. But none can make perpetual motion; And none doth live a perfect life, In this world of unholy strife. During these years of scenes and incidents in life, if I have not clung to a good share of earthly goods, I have had some cx[)erience, which may inure to my benefit, and am hap})y in the enjoyment of good health and spirit to enjoy an existence, with the enjoinment that we are all, at most anytime, subject to — the inevitable — to which I cheer- fully submit to take my chances with my fellow men, and 16 242 PIONEER SKETCHES. proceed with "•Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of Former Days." Never cared for such friends or their style, Rather plod in hard sledding for awhile. Pioneer Sketches having cost much money and time, To aid it getting it out I asked an old friend of mine. Making excuses another direction he took, And couldn't aid his old friend on a worthy book. He'd rather invest in the bonds of the government. Or cater to the wants of the opulent, Or he who is a cheesehead, a calf, or a steer. Than a nickel to help along the noble Book Pioneer. To such friends I simply will say, Go to h — 1, or the heavenly way. And it makes no difference whether you take the book On your voluntary order that I took. I never cared for such friends or their style. Rather plod in hard sledding for awhile. At last Pioneer Sketches are out, and soon will pay, And the agent can sell a dozen per day. It looks as if it was time to call a halt. As millions in England aren't earning their salt. For humanity's sake, don't let the black pall come down On Americans outside the British crown. Yet already are here Mr. Duke and Mr. Lord; You are the ones our boodle will subserve. Your calls will be granted with the greatest of honor When safely he could have served his friends in a proportion- ate manner. But no! In doing this he couldn't see so much glory As aiding Mr. Big Cheesehead, wluj lives in a four-story Concern — whose foundation begins to topple and fall. And presently comes a Godsend, and he loses all. Amen! A philosopliic principle: "all things seek its level," Then, in tlie name of justice, we ask the good devil Whv has not the product of a prolific brain Equal claim to a dollar as the " swelhhead" to the same ! CHAPTER L. GEMS OF THOUGHT. If a mau has a ri^ht to be proud of anything, it is of a good action done as it ought to be, without any base inter- est lurkine: at the Ijottoni of it. The gi'ave buries every error, covers every defect, ex- tinguishes every resentment. From its peaceful bosom spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. We were sent into the world to make it better and happier, and in proportion as we do so we make ourselves both. When the hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the body, or when the hour of death comes, it comes to high and low ; then it is not what we have done for ourselves, but what we have done for others, that we think of most pleasantly. — Scott. Success is rarely a matter of accident — always a matter of character. The reason why so many men fail is that so few are willing to pay the price of self-denial and hard work which success exacts. Remember that there are two guests to be entertained — the body and the soul. What 3''ou give the body is soon lost ; what you give to the soul remains forever. The reflections of a day well spent furnish us with joy more pleasing than ten thousand triumphs. CHAPTER LI. SPARKS OF HUMOR. Mable — ''This is the season of amusements." Ethel — "Yes; we had a hop and a small circus at our house last night." Mable— "Indeed." Ethel — "Yes; pa stepped on a tack when he was going to bed." Uncle Hiram — "This is a queer world." Grimm — "What makes you think so?" Uncle Hiram — "Wal, a painter feller came down to my place last summer, and while he was loafin around painted a picture of my yaller dog. I heard afterward that he sold it for $200, so I brought up the dog, thinkin I ccnild get at least a cool thousan for him, but, by gosh, I can't even give him away." A boy in a Braintree Sunday School when asked from the catechism, "What is the chief end of man?'" said: "The chief end is the end with the head on." ' 'That Sallie Harkins is the greatest girl for getting bargains at second hand." "Isn't she ! I understand she is going to marry a widower. " Bilkins — "Bothered by a piano next door, eh ! Well I have a dog which always howls when my Avife plays the piano — howls so she has to stop, and I'd let you have him if it wasn't for one thing. " Wilkins— "Ishecross?" Bilkins — "No; I can't spare him." CHAPTER LII. SPRINGBORO. OLD CHUMS— SHAD EL AND— STOCKMEN. ^PRINGBORO is situated on the eastern slope of 1l^^^ the pleasant Conneaut Creek valley, Crawford >^^^j County, Pa. It was settled in 1800, and in its ^*^ — ^ immediate vicinity among its early settlers were Watkin Powell, Elisha and Thomas Bowman, Henry Cook, Harry Pond, Robert Foster. Mr. Green, Barney, Ebenezer, Eli and Oliver Hall, Stephen Kendall and Hawley Dauchy. Having mentioned the pioneers elsewhere, a brief resume of the past with the present, will suffice. Springboro is big enough, as far as it goes. It has more tree men, or nursery fetock dealers, to the acre than any other boro in America. They have lately got a rail- road which rmis along the old tow path through their town, by which the fast agent, in live minutes' walk from his domicile, can step onto the cars when he wants to go on the war path. They have lately been talking of starting a bank, as a matter of convenience, to accommodate their business transactions. They are generally a pretty lively set of fellows up there at Spring])oro — And savor somewhat of aristocracy, Well mixed with Republicanism and Democracy ; In looking over that enterprising town, Among its many bloods, there may be found: L. F. McLauglin and Theo. Holenbeak Are two of whom I wish to speak; The treeman and hustler, John C. Tucker, Dempsey, the horseman and game trotter. Several others in town, by the name of Hall, Another tree and horseman, A. O. Paul; Will Pond, the farmer, and young Conover, And also Geo. King, the horse drover. 246 PIONEER SKETCHES. Billy Booth aud C. M. Sargent, another grade, So with Auk. Sheldon, the tree man, it might be said; Still, there are two other tree men, who are not so slim, Asa McCoy and Lew Quinby, though mighty short in limb. Ellas Eighmy, Sheldons, Thornton and Sargent, are still in trade. Where you can get good bargains as can be made, In dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, And all such things you have to use. But still there is Jeff. Beutley, Who must come in eventually; Also Marsh Quinby, an easy going feller. Who thinks he is something of a tree seller. While at Miles Grove the other day, As I was tripping down the way I esjiied a man talking to my ancestor. Uncle Alf, I knew it was Ivit Sturtevant by his hearty laugh. I conveyed him do my sister Addie's, There comfortably seated the old laddie; Hours were spent in rehearsing early scenes in life When Rit took the cars for Erie to see his darling wife. One mile north Springboro is located the Powell Brothers, Who have jDroved to be remarkable fellows, Celebrated stock dealers in nearly every brand As fine-bred stock as in the land. Beader, if perchance you come this way, 'Twill pay you to stop over a day; You will be pleased, I well knoAV, In looking at Powell's famous stock show. From the time at Shadeland you have first alighted. With courteous treatment you'll be delighted; Before leaving there you'll come to halt And say, if you don't buy 'twont be I'owell's fault. This people of Sjjring I think I know their worth; This is the place that gave me birth, Here I began "Pioneer Sketches" in prose aud verse, Here I end it for better or for worse. CHAPTER LIII. TRAGIC DEATH OF ORSON CHAPMAN. N INTELLIGENT, worthy young man. son of L. K. Chapman, who Avas reared at Sringboro, Pa., met a sudden death at Rome, Ashtabuhi County, in 1876. He was employed by the P., Y., & A. R. R. ^'Co. as brakeman, and wdien in the act of making a coupling at the place aforesaid he lost his life in the following manner: The train was making a running switch at a lively rate Avhen Orson had to make a coupling between a box car and an open coal car, which was loaded with wood. The wood stuck out over the ends of the coal car. which in the hurry of the moment, in all probability, was not noticed by Mr. Cha})man until too late. When the cars came together there was not room for him between the projecting wood and the l)ox-car, hence the wood struck him on the back of his head and literally scalped him. Falling to the ground, the car wheels mangled his legs and arms in a horrible manner, and death was instantaneous. Mr. Chapman was a promising young man, and held the esteem of all who knew him. He was 23 years of age, and was to have been promoted in a few days to conductor for meritorious service. It appeared, and was thought at the time, that the company should have atoned, in some measure, for that butchery; but the father of the dead boy thought it would not be the means of bringing back to him his beloved son, and the matter rested. 248 PIOXEER SKETCHES. I happened to be at the depot when the train brought the remains to Ashtabula, as also Avas O. W. DeGrovelt, being the only ones who knew the victim. We at once telegraphed his parents; also his sister Mary, who was attending the medical institute at Cleveland. In the mean- time the gentlemanly Superintendent McCoy, of the P., Y. & A., did everything in his power to aid us on the occasion, procuring a fine casket, etc., and later to get the clothing and effects,, which, of course, to the family had a double value. When Mary, the sister, arrived from Cleveland the scene was most affecting. The brother and C. Fisher, from Springboro, having arrived, the cortege proceeded with the body to Spring Cemetery, its resting place. The father, L. K. Chapman, empowered the writer to settle up the affairs of his deceased son, which was soon accomplished, through the aid of the noble Superintendent McCoy. CHAPTER LIV. RETURN OF SPRING. _^^/^^^^HIS fine April morn doth bring With it beautiful spring, And the robin sweetly sings Upon the same old maple limbs. The linnet songster, singing everywhere, Let's up and hear it and breathe the morn- ing air, And travel on our journey — don't despair. But hope, and try, and we Avill get there. Thus advancing no])ly along the way. Presently brighter will become the day: At last our journey is ended, hope and pray To have a bright eternal day . CHAPTER LV. TO THE AGENT. " 'OULD you like to undertake Some money yourself to make i^;\/ The easiest way you ever undertook — To sell an excellent book. "Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of Former Days," All about the new and the good old-fashioned ways. Hundreds of copies vsoon to be complete. Which, they say, are hard to beat. As to that, I leave it for others to decide Who read it through tlae country far and wide. Back to the boyhood days of Washington and others, You'll find this book contains many valuable treasures. Agent, to you a fair commission I will allow To sell my book, if you start in now. "N^ow is the accepted time," For I don't mean to wait for 1899. Respectfully, M. P. SARGENT, Ashtabula, Ohio. CHAPTER LVI. EDMlfND SARGENT CIIARAC1TEEISTIC;S. iHE SUBJECT of this sketch is the second son of Charles and Polly Sar- gent, of a family of thirteen children. He attended the district school in win- ter, was one of the oldest scholars attending and was looked up to by the younger ones in their out-door sports, and to see that matters w^ere fairly adjusted inside the school house by the teacher. He stood six feet high, straight as an arrow, naturally good natured, but combative from head to foot. The bio; meadow in the rear of the school house, containing loo acres with two gullys running about equal })arallel distances through it, afforded a nice play ground for the game of deer and hound. Ed. being a good runner, starts oft' as the deer; some three or four of the longest legged boys quickly start out after him. Some good running is done, but after a half- hours' run the hounds give up the chase, when the deer returns, victorious. This fellow would run during recess an hour, seemingly, rather than to eat his dinner, and if occasion recjuired, would rather fight than eat. The teacher who taught our school, a Mr. Coats, whom the boys called for short ^'Old Coats of 1S40." I, being a lad of eight years of age, had occasion to ask the teacher: 252 PIONEER SKETCHES "Please to let me go out?" "•No!'' was his anssver. Presently I asked again to go out; "No !" was his surly reply, and added: "If you ask again I will punish you." Something had to be done. Later "Old Coats" started for me with a willow gad about six feet long, when Ed. quickly arose from his seat and told him not to strike me. Sim. Skecls too, was on deck and Coats did not lick me, and he was told by these young stalwarts that he ouo;ht to be ashamed of himself. What followed I leave for another chapter. While Coats stood between me and the door, But he had to clean uja the floor. On New Year's morning Ed, Sim Skeels and most of the scholars were in the school room early and locked the door. When the teacher came he couldn't get in, and after making several fruitless attempts he went to the side win- dows, but found them nailed down. He then resorted to threats, but to no avail ; whereupon the boys told him it was New Year's morning and that he must treat them to a bushel of good apples before they let him in. Coats being satisfied that the demand Avas imperative and that their appetites were fixed for apples, sent for these at once and they were placed along the counters. The scene that fol. lowed eating those apples for an hour was ludicrous. This wasthe only time I ever saw a grin or smile on old Coats' face. 'Twas enough to make a mvde grin To see the scholars take them ap])les in; When Coats opened up with })rayer, And every scholas who was there Got th(!ir books and studied well, and Coats proceeded with his regular routine of classical duties, reading, writing, Cobl), I)ayl)c)ll and Kirkham, mtdving and repairing goose- PIONEER SKETCHES. 253 quill pens, until roll-call, the finale of the New Year's school day of 1840. Well, we soon found that we could not always have Ed with us. When about 17 years of age he started for the west. He was young, but vigorous, and was a fine specimen of physical manhood — And off he sails Hke a ship at sea, Not knowing what his fortune was to be. In Indiana he brings up and labors for a while ; got married, embarked in the stock business, dealing in cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry; subsequently in the lumber business and during a good portion of the time kept hotel. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the service; was at Shiloh, Nashville, Chattanooga and other battles. Returning from the army he engaged in his former business, and is now keeping hotel in Indiana. Surely Ed has paddled his own canoe From boyhood all the way through Adverse, prosperous, varying strife, Through the rough and placid stream of life. CHAPTER LVII. THINGS THAT ARE QUEER. OME THINGS queer that have been seen, ^^^^^ Blackberries red when they are green, y^^^^V Garter snake swallowing big warty toad, ^^^^=s=i>' Little donkey carrying half ton load. Drove of monkeys bridging a stream. The queerest thing ever seen. From tree tops, each side, suspended by the tail. Swinging to and fro through the dale. From this bridge young monkeys hanging down, Snarling, chattering, hopping all around, AVhen over this bridge scampered dry shod, Never the like since the day of gods. Past centuries of creation, When Darwin made his estimation That the monkey should progress Onward to man and nothing less. I hei'e leave the transfiguration For Darwin to make the enumeration, Content that the monkey bridge is all right, And to a novice would be a novel sight. Darwin's monkey and the donkey Are mischievous and very cranky. The former is up to tricks of every kind, AVhile the latter will kick up behind. While in our land exists the monkey and the ass, AVe'll step aside and let 'em pass. And give Darwin full swing to operate AVith his monkey-ing at any rate. CHAPTER LVIII. J. F. WOODARD. F. WOODAED was born at Spring, Pa., in 1825, eldest son of John and Mary Woodard, Avho were among the pioneer settlers of Spring. While young he attended the district school and developed a desire for mathematics, and in this branch he was one of the first in school, relieving his teacher of the oft repeated request, "Please show me about this sum." Young Woodard did not call on his teacher to show him^ but worked out his own problems, and this was a characteristic of him through life, to work his way through. J. F. Woodard has done as many hard day's work as any man I know of his age. Soon after reaching his ma- jority he struck out for himself, })U3ing a tract of land ad- joining the old homestead, he set to work getting out saddle trees, hoops, and clearing up his lands. Afterwards he purchased ^ tract of timber land, on which was a largo quantity of whitewood and white ash timber. He married a Miss Huntley, of Erie Count}', Pa., an estimable lady, and removed to his new farm, on which he built a saw mill and engaged actively in the lumljer business. He made his own ox yokes, sleds and axe helves, and did considerable of his millwright, house and barn building work, and lie never flinched when hard Avork loomed up on all sides around him. His hard labor soon brought him a cash surplus. A leather firm at Springboro thought they had a place for it, and got some three and a iialf thousands of the money, 256 PIONEER SKETCHES. with a promise to repay the same with interest at a future day. One fine day the news was heralded that the leather firm had failed. Mr. Woodard thought, and so did his at- torney, that by an attachment on the leather some of the purchase money could be recovered. But the hides were too slippery, and he and several others lost everything. He sustained another loss by a lumber sale. I do not speak of these transactions in the light of a large or a small affair, but simply in the light of money earned l)y hard knocks by a man who had no speculative ambition and who went right straight ahead unceasingly in his hard toil to recover this loss and to sustain himself and family in old age. Mr. Woodard bought the old homestead, improved the same, erected good buildings, and in a few years sold it and removed his family to Spring. His boys were all girls — five in number, and he gave them a good education. He purchased a farm in Girard Township, Pa., near Miles Grove, to where he removed and now resides. One of his daughters is married, and the others reside at home. They are intelligent ladies, and have lucrative positions. J. F. Woodard is a good farmer, and is still an indus- trious, hard-working man; is respected in the community in which he lives, and has the consolation that he etu-ned his dollars and has a competency for himself and family. CHAPTER LIX. R. H. AND BYRON SARGENT. ^^HE ABOVE named gentlemen are about the same e) age and size. The former the eldest son of Anson Sargent, who was a strong, muscular man; the later the fourth son of Charles Sargent, the great hunter. In the family of Anson were nine children; in the family of Charles were twelve children. The subjects of this article were born at Spring, Cravvford County, Pa., in 1829, attended the same school, at the country school house, and there and elsewhere were much in company with each other on most all occasions, until they had grown up to manhood. K. H. was muscuhir and active, Byron strong and wily, and many a. lively set-to had they, with- out arousing their anger, in order (as they used to sa}^) to try the muscle and keep in good trim the exercise of the manly art. Good natured, temperate, never abusive, but the man who attacked them found bad medicine and quit the business satisfied. It seems that they have taken good care of their avoirdupois, as each one tips the scales at 230 pounds at present age of 61. As I write my memory carries me back to lioyhood days and the many pleasant hours passed in their company and others. li. H. is lively, witty and musical, and with our fiddle and song we fre- quently had our own time. The combative Byron would come up with a difterent line of music and tap on the rib, and the best thing I could n 258 PIONEER SKETCHES. do with hiiii (^n the occasion was to stand up and sHng out right and left. I hadn't as much fat on the rib as he, and sometimes I thought he tapped rather hard; but as for him apparently the harder I would tap him the better. One day afterwards, however, I thought I got even with him. I called at his house. He proposed to have some fun, and took down his father's gun and we went out gunning. Game did not appear very plenty in the woods that morning, but the wily Byron must have some sport anyhow, and when out in a cleared tield he proposed that we shoot at each other's hat at a distance of 25 rods, A stake was driven to hang the hats upon. Mine was a l)roadcloth cap, made by my mother; his was a straw hat, braided and made by his mother, and I thought them too valuable souvenirs to be shot to pieces. He blazed away at my cap, but never hit it. I then drew a bead on his, the bullet striking one edge of the crown, cutting oflf every braid to the rim. He went to the stake, picked up the hat and put it on his head, and facino" me said, "Never touched it ;" but turning his head around, the hair of his head from crown to ear was sticking out of the hole made in the hat. He became a boatman on the Erie & Pittsl)urg Canal ; was master of the boats, James, Bird and Napoleon. In 1851-2 he explored Black Hawk County, Iowa, the Cedar River and Black Hawk Creek, accompanied l)y Obcd Wells, and finally settled there, l)eing one of the pioneer settlers of Black Hawk County. I saw liim where he and his family now reside, he l)eing engaged in a commission grain business at Hudson, Iowa. He possesses self-rc^liance, habits of industry and temperance, which havi; left him in a good pecuniary condition. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 259 R. H. Sargent while quite young was, by the death of his father, left to manage the affairs at the homestead, which he did in a very acceptable manner for so young a lad. In 1852 he accepted a clerkship in a store at Conncautville ; married, became postmaster at Conncautville, Avas quite a politician, though in a poor county for a Democrat to win. In 1854 he was an oil refiner at that place, then at Peti'o- leum Centre on the W. McClintock farm, where he became a successful oil producer, and about the year 1870 removed with his family to Titusville, where he now resides. CHAPTER LX. SPAKKS OF HUMOR. ,-5>^„W' c Mf^^gK)^ and a little snpper at Waldeck's. " Df }.\J 'Sit-,'-- — ^~^ ling,"" said he, suddenly, as he gaze A ^ E WAS takino- her home after the theatre ar- ed dreamingly at the silvery disc overhead, ''why am I like the moon?" "It isn't because you're full, is it?" she asked as she edged away from him. ' ' No, " said he, sadly ; "I'm on my last quarter." Backwoods — What's that ring worth ? Jeweler — I couldn't sell you that for less than $7; the setting is a genuine cat's eye. Backwoods — Seven dollars for a cat's eye! Say, Mis- ter, I'll sell you a whole cat and seven kittens for that. Farmer, hiring help at Castle Garden — Pat, if you want to work for me I'll give you |25 a month and your board. O'Flynn, just landed — Faix, is that same the highest rate of wages they be paying in this country 'i Farmer, facetitiously — AVell, they're paying about $15 a day in Congress. Patrick — Thin, begorra, oi'll go to Congi-ess. Sniggins, angrily — Do you know that your chickens come come over in my yard? Snooks — I supposed they did, for they never come back aijfain. CHAPTER LXI. WILLIAM S. ALDERMAN. RAISING THE LOG HOUSE — AN INCIDENT— AN UGLY ELEVATION — BOAT- ING—CLEARING UP LANDS— SETTLING ON HIS LANDS — MARRIAGE. AYOULD like to sketch all of my old school mates, but time and space will not permit. P)Ut I cannot pass on without a mention of AMlliam S. Alderman, who was born in Brio'htstown, now Harmonsburff, Crawford County, f'd., in 1832. His father, William Alderman, married Polly Sargent, who with her husband kept a hotel at the place. Two children were l)orn to them. Marietta and William. William was an infant at the time of his father's death, and his mother with her two infant children was unable to keep hotel and removed to Spring Township and lived with her parents, Phineas and Mary Sargent, in an adjoining part of their house. William was thus left fatherless with his poor widowed mother, who struggled hard to raise her two children, plying the needle until mid- night to make garments for people for a small pittance, to keep the wolf from the door. Money was scarce in those days and a dollar was as big as a cart wheel. I will relate an incident of Aunt Polly, who said that at the time she was struggling for a subsistence for herself and little ones, she devoutedly prayed one night that some aid niiijht come to them. At a later hour she heard a wasfon coming furiously down the hill, and when at the top of the hill, o})posite her house, she heard a wrangling, apparently 262 PIONEER SKETCHES. of intoxicated men, who soon drove on. After daybreak she went out on the road where this wranghng took place and picked up a five-doilar bill and several pieces of silver. This she said was an unscrntable act of Providence to aid the wddow in distress, and her prayer was answered. William S. Alderman attended our district school, and during the first 28 years of his life he and the writer passed much of the time together, felling trees, sawing logs, clear- ing land, haying, harvesting grain, etc. , and he was a man who would always do a good day's work at whatever he engaged. At the age of 20 he bought 50 acres of the Chew lands of John Reynolds, of Meadville, the agent, and went into the woods to clear away the trees at first sufficient to erect a loo; house for a home for his mother, sister and himself. In the spring of 1852 a dozen or more men and Ijoys met to help William erect his log house. In felling a smooth, stately beech, it lodged firmly against another large tree which we did not want to cut, and the only way to bring down the beech tree was to cut u}) slanting on the stump on which it rested and let it slide back on its stump, which it did and came back with great velocity, ploughing the ground in its course. Several of us standing there could not move aside, for the building was on one side and tinil)er on the other, and we had to run for our lives in the same direction the tree was coming. AHrcd J. Sargent, Jr. , being in line nearest to the trt^e, which Avas so close to him that when it balanced on the stump the butt of the tree flying up with great force, struck him astern and sent him skyward ten or twelve feet, his (^^^'^ protruiUng from his head. 'Twas a fearful sight for a moment, but he came to the ground in nearly a perpendicular position and placing 264 PIONEER SKETCHES. his hands upon his hips found that no bones were broken ; but he got an ugly elevation and had a narrow escape. We hnished the erection of the body of the house that day and ere long he finished it and had his mother and sister comfortably domiciled therein. He boated on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal several sum- mers, cutting timber in winter preparatory to clearing up his land. He married an excellent wife, who proved a great helpmate to him, and in the course of a few years had an excellent, well-stocked farm, good buildings, a comfortable home for his pioneer mother to enjoy, also the satisfaction of knowing that her daughter Marietta had been fortunate in marriage, and now living in Chicago. Their good condition in life was a consolation to her. She died in 1880. William S. Alderman died in 1884. The high and low are coni})ared to the dust of earth, We must not underrate those of humble birth; Lincoln, Garfield and General Grant AVere of humble birth, vet noble, solid as tlie adamant. CHAPTER LXIL THE (;lkver bears of calveras county — their SAGAcirv— the PIG sty. iNIMALS throughout the animal kingdom are more or loss sagacious and none perhaps more cunning in phmning and executing their designs than bruin. Knowing his strength instinctivel}', l)ut few animals care to meddle with him, and the c^iution and intelligence ex- hibited sometimes appear wonderful. A short time since a Mr. Mathews over in Calveras County, missed from time to time some of the nice fat pigs from his pig pen. He took })recautions, and searched throughout the neig-hborhood, and laid in wait until near midnight for the tliieves, but to no avail, and occasionally a pig would disappear. At last he determined to build a pig sty that no thief could get into. He set posts and girts and built a strong picket fence around the enclosure, twelve fett high, so that no thief could get through it or over the top of it. He then rested from his labors with the assurance that his pigs were safe. In a couple of days he discovered to his sur- prise that the nicest pig from the sty w^as gone. So that night, with his Winchester in hand, Mr. M. secreted him- self Ijetween his house and the sty (a little back from the path leading theret(j) and was determined to watch, if neces- sary, all night for the thief. One o'clock came, and he began to think that the thief would not put in an appear- ance that niaht. THE CLEVER HKARS OF CAI.VERAS COUNTY. PIONEER SKETCHES. 267 Just before 2 o'clock he heard something stepping in the direction of his house. There were two larjje bears, the male bear advancing uprightly to a position in front of his house ; the she l)ear followed, faced about and took po- sition alongside, both standing on their hind legs, surveying the premises and their surroundings. Presently half a dozen young cubs came scampering up, halted a moment, passed on and scampered up a large scrub oak tree, the branches of which extended over the pig pen. The she bear moved on and climl^ed the tree, taking her position about fifteen feet from the ground. Then the old sentinel moved toward the tree and climbed up to the first large branch, which extended over the pig pen ; then he crawled along out on the big limlj, followed by the she bear, to hold the limb down, as it bent down by the weight of the bear into the pig pen. A furious squealing was heard in the pen, and the old sow rushed at the bear, but one cufi" from the paw of bruin laid her out, ;md he proceeded to pick out his pig and then crawled up the massive branch, the she bear retreating to the l)ody of the tree, followed by her mate with the pig. At this juncture Mathews fired into the tree. The pig dropped to the ground unharmed, the cubs scampered down the tree and took the back track for the woods, followed by the mother, at a slow gait. Her mate stopped near the pen, seemingly for a sort of an understanding with the pig owner, who said, ''Well, this is pretty well done, anyhow, and I will let you go this time, but if you come monkeying around my pig i)en any more I will hurt you." At last account from Mathews be Avas doing well in the pig busi- ness. His clever treatment with those clever bears of Cal- veras had a salutary effect. His pig sty has not since been molested. Moral. — If kind treatment had {i salutary efiect on the bruin family, it certainly ought to have on the human family. CHAPTER LXIII. ASAPH SARGENT. ^^ORN IN Spring, Crawford County, Pa., in 1832, ^^f the tifth son of Charles und Polh^ Sargent; habits [|^-^ of inchisty and frugahty were soon to bo seen cropping out, and in his youth the great Paas Day in April, by him was always hailed in sacred memory; to lay by the biggest lot of eggs, especially the goose eggs, for that occasion. Their big flock of geese wandering o'er the big pastures and meadows, it required pretty sharp hunting to find all their nests, secreted among the old stumps in the field. Ace was expert in this and apparently could smell a goose egg as far as a ferret could a rat, therefore he hunted successfully their nests and stayed by the goose and would hurry her up to get her last egg, and always came out Avith the biggest pile of eggs for Paas Day, of which he was mighty fond, as most people are, especially the spring crop. Ace w^as a good swinnner, too. Ace, Sam. Wood- ard and the writer went down to Vaughn's pond one day in 1845 to take a swim in that pond and down the raging canal. On arriving we dove into that pond and swam across its deep water; when returning, about in the middle of the })ond, a terrible stitch took me in the right leg, I said nothing, but flounced like a wounded sea serpent, the boys came to mj^ assistance, and getting hold of me, I said the kink had left m(>; to Avhich Ace replied: PIONEER SKETCHES. 269 "Glad of that, but I guess we can swim along side, should you get kinked again we can nabb you; it is not a very nice spot to get a cramp in twenty feet of water." Not- withstanding we landed safely on the other side. Soon after arriving at his majority ho bought a patch of heavy timbered land situate on the four corners of roads near Michaers saw mill, Spring, Pa., afterwards called Millgrove, where he tusseled with the big hemlocks for a season. One night he had a dream of a beautiful western prairie \vhere he could raise corn, wheat and potatoes without so much grubbing, and the admonition of Horace Greeley welled up in his throat, "Go west, young man," and Ace went west. Presently he turns up in Black Hawk County, la., on a tine prairie site and laid out the town of Hudson, la. The growth of the new city was phenomenal. While the prairie flower did. grow, And the farmer did plow and sow ; Asaph soon came to know It took money to make a city grow. The countless acres of the prairie were then more numerous than dollars. In the oldest settled portions of Illinois and Iowa every farmer had a prospective railroad line running through his farm and improved farms ruled higher in 1854-5-6 than in the East. But the countr}^ was too large for all to reap the bonanza and many had to bide their time. As water seeks its level, so does commer- cial business and investment. During the time, 1855-60, the growth of Hudson was not very rapid. One day Ace took it into his head to emi- grate further westward, wherefore he was soon snuffing the breezes in the mountains of Colorado. While there he had 270 PIONEER SKETCHES. a good opportunity to recuperate his healtli with the invig- orating, elevated atmosphere, and to see the elephant in all his phases — the land slides, man slides and western ava- lanches. Some years of mountain life had passed, with the ups and dowais of mining life, when one cold day he "was mak- ing a prospecting tour in the mountains through a forest range of fifteen miles. Darkness came on and he lost his course and was compelled to dig a hole through the snow to the leaves on the ground and l)ury himself therein to keep from freezing. The next morning the sun was shining brightly when he looked at his compass, took his course and proceeded on his way to join his party, and found he had but two miles to travel to get out of the woods. He also found, on thaw- ing out, that the toes of both his feet were frozen. That cold night he only lost all of his toes, Which was sufficient, Asaph well knows, Nevertheless he survied the terrible shock. And when he got ready returned to Black Hawk. Since the creation of the world revulsions in nature, revulsions in business; later, revulsions in Ijooming tlirough- out the great West have been in order. Many western in- land towns grew up like a mushroom, as it were, in a night; and when the storm cloud came they could only lay low un- til the cyclone was over. Thos(i who wx^re not prostrated by the Ijlast in time would rise again, and proht by it be- for another ])anic should reach them. In course of time the miasma disappears, the resources of their country are brought out, conniierce and wealth arc broocUng near, when onward and upward they go PIONEER SKETCHES. 271 With a feeling of security at last From the forebodings of the past. The great prolific West, However, is by far the best For the young man of pluck and ambition To better his condition. The last I heard of Cousin Ace Was near Des Moines on his place : Married, fai'ming, and well-to-do, With some children for company, too. Which, I think, must seem very nice to Ace Thus to settle in a prolific country place. CHAPTER LXIV. EITNER H. STURTEVANT. ^^^ ITNER H. STURTEVANT, the eldest son %i^m W of Daniel W. Sturtevant, was born at Spring, I ^^^ Pa., in 1832. At the early age of six years I ^^ he commenced to go to the district school, /"* VJ which was only a few rods away, just across the o-iilly, from his paternal roof. Thus favored in being so near to the school he could attend during all sorts of weather. He was not only fortunate in this respect, l)ut he seemed to have been born in a pleasant time of the moon, as everything went off all right with Pit— that he enjoyed the even tenor of life, and could laugh easier and louder than any other lad in school, and he has retained that happy dis- position through life. Well, Pit started off an easy learner and speller. He soon learned to spell every word in Cobb's Spelling Book; and geography, why he could sing geography from Maine to Mexico and from California to Egypt when he was twelve years old, so that he, with a good number of others in that district school, had mastered the common English branches when in their early teens. Fortunate for Pit that everything went well with him; scarcely ever getting angry or in a hurry, except in getting home to dinner and back again to play crack the whip, snow ball or ride down hill; not so much addicted to scuffling or wrestling us some of the other boys, consequently he gener- ally kept free from those entangling alliances that boys. . PIONEER SKETCHES. 273 111011 and nations frequently get into. He earl}' learned the axiom of Josh Billing, that " the best place to have a boil Avas on some other feller." His time during the summer months was s})ent on his father's farm, boating on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, and attending school in winter. At the age of IT he com- menced teaching school, at which he was engaged for sev- eral winters; and when arriving to his majority, at an age that he could vote for patli-master or a President, he took unto himself a wife, believing that it was not best to be alone. In the course of ten or twelve years his eoiuj)anion died, leaving two small children. In (course of time he married again, and during all these years Ritner has quietly and comfortably lived on his farm, on the pleasant western slope of Spring Valley, one of the most pleasantl\' situated spots on earth. He officiated as justice of the peace for several years, and dispensed the technical coiiq)ound of Blackstone, I be- lieve, in mild and intelligent doses to his constituents. Unpretentious, liberal in his views, social in his intercourse with his fellow-inan. still remaining at his jKjst tilling the soil remuneratively, still enjoying the even tenor of life and his faculties, good health, with a cheerful, hearty laugh, — the same old Hit of forty years ago. 18 CHAPTER LXV. SPAEKS OF nUMOK. A I'VE an idea that some of the folks in this ((i^^^AA graveyard haAn"t gone to heaven.'" ;,A^^^\^ ' 'You don't say I wli at makes you think so ;f" ^ 'Because I read it on the tombstones." ''No!" ' 'Yes I did, though ; it Avas carved on ever so many, 'peace to his ashes;' now there isn't any ashes 'cept Avhere it's veiy hot, is there, ma?" Cross-examining counsel — "Isn't your husband a l)urg- Lir ?" Witness — ' 'Y-e-s. " Cross-examining counsel — "And didn't you know he was a burglar when j^ou married him ?" Witness — "Yes; but I was getting a little old and I had to choose between a burglar and a lawyer, so what else could I do V Schoolmaster — ''Yes, but look here my boy, sn})pose I w-ere to lend your father £'500, let us say without interest, but on condition that he should pay me £10 a week, how much would he still owe me in two months ?" New boy — 'Five hundred pounds, sir." "Tut, tut, my boy; you don't know the first i)rinciples of arithmetic." "You don't know my father, sir." CHAPTER LXVI. JOHN C. 8TUKTEVANT. HI) C. STURTP2VAXT was l)orn at Spring, Grawford County, Pa., in 1834. His father, Daniel Stur- tevant, was born at Ciucinnatus, Cortland Co., X. Y.. and came to this place with his parents and others of his family in 1820 and settled on the Conneautville road two miles north of Springboro. Daniel Sturtevant married a Miss Susan Hall, who proved a great helpmate. They at once settled upon their farm, and being one of the pioneer families of Spring, they found for their vigorous and strong wilhng hands plenty to do, and ere long found themselves the possessers of one of the tin(\>-acrc farms in the township. To this union were live children: Kitner, John C. Seth, Emaline and Almira. all of whom are now living and married, with a famil}- of children enjoying the even tenor of life and in the enjoyment of good health. J. C. Sturtevant w^as principally educated at the country school house. He was a faithful student and lost no opiM)rtunity in making the most out of everything he engaged in. AVhat l)elonged to him he Avanted and he proposed to get it. One day he and the writer went tishing down to the Conneaut Creek. On returning, our strings of fish Avere not very hea\'j-, and I proi)osed to buy his string. A l)argain was struck and two cents the consider- ation payable the first time we met. A fcAV days thereafter he espied me Avith a ''Halloo, Mart., have you £:ot them 276 FIOXEER SKETCHES. two cents V We settled that account on the spot. But on the other had, we always found him equally prompt and ready to pay up to the last penny due. And no doubt this trait of character has aided much in all his subsequent transactions, Avhich have proven suc- cessful. Young Sturtevant, when a boy, read Greeley's Political History, and he soon developed into a politician and took an active part on the Republican side. His first move on the checker l)oard was sergeant-at-arms a couple of terms at Harrisburg. Next he was (jlccted to the Legis- lature and served two terms. Afterwards he embarked in the hardware Ijusiness at Conneautville, Pa., successfully, of course, and now and during the past twenty years at this and other places, he has been interested in the bank- ing business. During the thirty years' business career of jSlr. Stur- tevant, he seems to have had his share of administrative affairs to settle up for other peoi)le, and it has been done in a satisfactory manner, Avhich is only wrought by correct Imsiness methods. Social in his everyday avocations and his relations with his fellow man, which has made him a useful, prominent and necessary factor in society and in the community in which he lives. CHAPTER LXVII. SAMUEL F. WOODARD. CANXOTpass over the memo- ries of our boyhood days and scenes of the country school with- out a brief sketch of S. F. Woodard, who was born in Spring Township, Crawford County, Pa., in 1831. When at a suitable age, he went to the country school, which, except the first two or three summers, was confined to the winter term, which was generally of three months* duration. Young Woodard was a diligent scholar, and applied himself with wonderful vigor and calculation to the knotty problems of Da>'boll, and to the orthography, syntax and prosody of Kirkliam. The mouse that ventured to run across the floor, or the youth who was undergoing a course of sprouts from Ihe teacher, apparently did not draw his attention from the work he had before him Every now and then the teacher would be solicited with, ''School master, please show me about this sum or problem. " But Samuel Woodard ciphered through his arithmetic and algebra with- out calling on the teacher to work for him a problem. He believed in Fowler's axiom, "Know thyself." If others would or could have done likewise it would have relieved the teacher very much in the district school in those days, ^''.S PIONEER SKETCFiES. as the teacher had to work most diligently during the hours of school to attend to the numerous calls. This trait of self-reliance of Mr. Woodard has characterized him in his subsequent career in life — unpretentious, hut attending strictly to his business. He taught school for two terms in his^'outh, then engaged in selling books, and in 18r)5 com- menced teaching, near Dayton, Ohio, where he Avas engaged thirteen years. He afterwards embarked in the nursery stock business, in which he was successful — and, at the age of 59, he is now enjoying the even tenor of his life with his family, with the consolation that he j)ossesses for them and himself a sufficiency for life. CHAPTER LXVIII. LUCIUS F. MCLAUGHLIN. UCIUS F. McLaughlin was bom in spring Township, Crawford County, Pa., in 1836, in ^ which place and immediate vicinity he has since lived. His father, Henry Mcljaiighlin, was a carpenter by trade, and also carried on a small farm near the Conneaut Creek, in Spring ToAvnship, Pa. Lucius F. obtained a fair education at our district school, became a teacher, and later worked with his father at the carpenter trade, building houses and canal boats. Young McLaughlin soon learned the value of a dollar and also how to figure in proportion, and the rule of three. He soon began a brokerage business at the old homestead, and woukl buy a good note or loan you money, if the sceurity and rate of interest suited. When the nursery stock ])oom struck Springb(jro like a w^estern avalanche the plucky McLaughlin sailed out and at the close of the season came out in good shape. This he rei)eated year after year. His sales were large ami his profits in proportion. At that day it was customary to sell a dozen dift'erent kinds of gra[)es from a Concord sectUing. Mr. McLaughlin I)ecame (jaite a dealer in and owner of real estate. Always frugal, industrious and })ersevcring in all his business pursuits, he has been en;ibled to accuniulate a competency for himself and family. 280 PIONEER SKETCHES. According to his natural shrewdness and frugahty Mr. McLanghhn did not venture upon the sea of matrimony until the fact was assm'ed that his wife need not necessarih' dream of a hard day's work or of a probable poorhouse. He now resides with his family a Springboro, Pa., and is (Migaged in mercantile and other >)usiness pursuits, in which there is no doubt he will in the future, as in the past, enjoy a successful business career. For ]\[ac if he wasn't born in the radiant month of Jnne And in his mouth a silver spoon ; Show him a scheme, if there is money in it He will ri:lance(l o'er the table his eye Aud discovered only three slices of meat For the four persons to eat He blessed it with a " Bless God, there are three slices for four of us, Thank God there are no more of us," A\ hen he graciously partook of his breakfast witli the trio. Mr. Simpkins discovered That there was no use In ])ourinf>; water on a goose. CHAPTER LXX. !t>10 'boot' to swap horses, and pay in •crackee;' or. "I'll give you $1-') in 'crackee' for that red cow." Or to tiie young man: "I'll give you 50 cents a da}' and board you. and pay you in ' Blue Crackee,' if you'll come and work for me." In lN-t Presently there was a demand for more houts. The Reed line, also the Thompson and Metcalf lines sprang into existence, offering numerous chances for gallant young and elderly captains to lease a l)oat ])y pa}ing a certain price per tonnge each tri}). The l)lack diamonds at this time were numerous and extensively mined at Chirksville, Sharpsville. Sharon, Middlesex, Kenekanese and Pitts- burg. Lumber mills were erected and large quantities of the best quality of white ash and whitewood lumber, beech saddle trees, black ash hoops for nail kegs and Hour l)arrels, also basswood logs for nail keg staves, white oak and red oak barrel staves, headings, etc., which had to l)e transported by canal to the Erie or the Pittsl)urg market^ created a lively business on the canal, which in turn created a good market for the farmer for his hen's eggs and chickens (both day and night), his beans, pork, potatoes, cheese, oats, apple sauce and saur kraut. By this time "Blue Crackee" had vanished and a silver dollar did not look quite as big as a cart wheel. Numerous wild cat Ijanks were started. Like fiddlers in Topliet, cur- rency freely circulated, wdiich stuck to many a poor fellow's grip too long, who declared he woal4 be glad to trade it off for "Blue Crackee." He would frequently get up in the morning, And read in the papers the solemn warning That his money bank had failed; That through one night he had entailed The loss of his hard earned boodle. Where is the Penusylvanian who will not bear me out. In saying 'twas a righteous weeding out Of Bank of Commerce, and many others that tundilcd tlat, From the ghastly wounds of a wild cat — banker. 286 PIONEER SKETCHES. The numerous bank failures in 1S5T-8 and the consc- (|uent war demand for an inflation of currency, created a uniform national currency, with which one could rest easy night and day, especially if he possessed enough of it. The increasing business on the canal brought out a l)etter line of boats, and much pride was manifested in keeping them well painted and in good order, which was the home of many a family. There being no railroad in this section of the country some mode of conveyance, other than the stage, was desired and in 1S4S a line of packets was run on the canal, making pretty good time, much to the delight and comfort of the passengers. These packet boats would stop at any point along their line to let off and take aboard passengers and baggage. The boat Avould run quickly toward the birm, or to the tow })ath. when the sprightly bowsman Avould alight with a line with which he could generalh^, under his foot, hold the boat to place until all was in readiness, when off she goes at the shrill blast l)lown from the steersman's flsh-horn bugle — a packet, a packet ahoy — and she glides down the raging- canal to the next ancient seaport towns, then called Tight- hole, AlI)ion, Crand^N^ille and Lockport. lu fond remembrance we look back to those former days, The happy days we spent npon this waterway; When by one fell swoop a cruel Legislature (irave us conveyance of a different nature. The g(ujd old canal they knocked out of the ring For a railroad, they said was a better thing; A blind man with one eye open can see that it is not, For when we want to go somewhere we liave got — To go over to Bisrelow's Station. PIOXEER SKETCHES. -^~ And we have to hustle and get into an awful .straight. Then if we are half a minute late Perhaps ^ve will have to wait, another day To take the cars on the fast railway. But now the people as they go from state to state They Avant to go at a rapid rate, O'er hills and valleys and o'er the plains, They take the rapid railway trains. In an Intelligence Office — Agent (to female applicant) •Are }'on married or single i " Applicant (blushing) — "Najthur, mum; o"im engaged." "Yes," said a passenger in a tram car, who was argu- ing with a friend, ''some men are born great, others achieve greatness and some" — just then a lurch of the car landed a fat woman in his lap--" 'and some," he continued, 'diave greatness thrust upon them." Only one man in fifteen in the United States has a life or accident insurance polic}' of any sort or kind, and only two men out of every thirty-two could leave enough behind them to buy a twenty-tive-dollar cemetery lot and pay fu- neral expenses. This proves that the general average of men have no care beyond the present. Hasty words often rankle the w^ound which injury gives ; l)ut soft words assuage it, forgiving cures it, and forgetting takes away the scar. CHAPTER LXXII. SPARKS OF HUMOR. Judge — "-All the fools have not ceased to practice as attorneys, I see."' Lawyer — "No, your Honor, there are not judgeships enough to provide for the whole of them." Patrick — (Just recovering from the effects of ether, in the hospital) — "'Oh, where am IT' Dr. Savbones — (with a wink) — '"In heaven." Patrick — (looking around) — "Then I'd like to know l)hawt you're doing here ? " Psalmist — "Why do the heathen rage? " Cynic — "Probably, because so little of the money sub- ■^(•ribed for their conversion ever reaches them." Ethel Reddy — "Mama, won't you please ask Dr. Dose to look at my little sick ducklings? " Mrs. Reddy — "No, no, run away, Dr. Dose isn't a bird doctor." Ethel — "Well, papa said last night he was a (^uack doctor." Worth Trying. — Rev. Longnecker — "Dear, I wish I coukl think of some way to make the congregation keep their eyes on me during the sermon." Little Tommy — "Pa, you want to })ut the clock right Ix'liind the })ulpit.'' CHAPTER LXXIII. JOHN P. LOCKE. HE SUBJECT of this sketch was born at Spring Township, Craw- ford Count3% Pa., in 1852. He is another fortunate being, who was not l)orn with a silver spoon in his mouth, but at an early age he learned the value of a dollar. His father, Ira Locke, married Nancy Sargent in 1834, who were among the early settlers of Sprino-, and both of whom lived to upwards of eighty years. Mr. Locke was a carpenter by trade, and he owned a small farm. Young Locke assisted his father in carpenter, framing work and on the little place until he was about eighteen years of age. Then he began to look up l)usiness for himself, and engaged with L. F. McLauo-h- lin to sell nursery in 1860, which business swept through Spring like a tornado with all the allurements of the com- ing bonanza to the agent. The War of the Rebellion came, and he enlisted at Erie in Company I Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, on Octo- ber 16th, 1862. He seiwed until September 4th, 1865, as Quartermaster Sergeant. He received a sabrti wound while in the service, but nothing serious, and was considered as one of the lucky in coming out of a three-year term of armv service in a first scholars, PIOXEER SKETCHES. 299 and in his glory when debating some subject at debating school, or speech making, or in declamation at our evening exhibitions, in which he had no peer in the vicinity in which he lived. He commenced the study of law at an early age, and, being a good speaker, he soon learned to handle well and skilfully his cases. His natural ability created a good business for him seemingly without much effort on his part. His two younger brothers, Jacob and Augustus, died of consumption, and that hereditary, fell destroyer also took off S. J., when in the prime of life. The remaining brother, Frank B. Thomas, is a resident lawyer of Albion, Pa., and practices in the Courts of Erie, Crawford and Ashtabula Counties. We have not space herein to give even a life sketch of all the old schoolmates. But to those who are living, will say that Obed, Samuel and Justin Wells are in Iowa, farm- ing successfully; Jeff. Wells, a chip of the old block, a milk dealer in Chicago and farmer in Illinois; Servetus and Cam- illus Church are in low^a; Robert McCoy, farmer in Ohio; Asa and James McCoy reside at Springboro, Pa ; Dr. S. Skeels is at Albion, also John Skeels; John F. Woodard, farmer at Girard, Pa. ; Edmund Sargent, hotel keeper in Indiana; Asaph and Morrison Sargent, farmers in Iowa; C. M. Sargent, flour, feed and groceries, Springboro, Pa.; Alfred J. and William Sargent, forwarding and commis- sion business, New York City; J. C. Tucker, nursery stock dealer and farmer, Springboro, Pa.; Zach. and James Tucker, farmers and stock dealers, Spring, Pa. Time brings changes to us all, and Avhen we visit the old place and scenes of early days, we notice a few of the old buildings there, the hills, valleys and rivulets are there. 300 PIONEER SKETCHES l)ut our old schoolmates are scattered well over this conti- nent, and many across the river, and all we can say is, suc- cess and happiness to the living and peace to the dead. There is no place like the old place, AVhere you and I were horn; AVhere first we lifted our eyelids On the splendors of the morn. There is no friead like the old friend, Who has shared our morning days. No greeting like his welcome. No homage like his pi'aise. Fame is the haughty sunflower With gaudy crown of gold; But friendship is the hreathiug rose. With sweets in every fold. CHAPTER LXXVIII. GEMS OF THOUGHT. What shall I give? To the hungry, give food; to the naked, give clothes; to the sick, some comfort; to the sad, a word of consolation ; to all you meet a smile and a cheery greeting. Give forgiveness to your enemies; give patience to the fretful; give love to your households; and, above all, give your heart to God. Women should be wise as well as true. Men should be virtuous as well as wise. The same standard of morality should be held for men as well as women. The relations of the sexes must be better adjusted, marriage must be held as sacred and parentage as the most serious responsi- bility. Educate one generation to be pure, just, upright and wise, and the next generation will have a fair start. It is pleasant to meet people from whom we are sure to receive a smile, a kind word, a cordial hand-shake, or some other token of good-will. When one is depressed in spirits, or, as the common saying is, "blue,'' the meeting with a genial, merry-hearted friend has a magical effect. Indeed, the encounter with such a person has been known to turn the whole current of one's life. Agreeability must come from the heart. One feels so comfortable after hav ing said or done something to brighten the pathway of an- other that it pays one's self to Ije agreeable. CHAPTER LXXIX. SHADELAND. POWELL BROTHERS, CELEBRATED STOCKMEN. i'^"}^"'-"^ V \t^ HADELAND is situated in Spring town- ship, Crawford county, Pa., one mile north of Springboro, and is the home and birtli place of the Powell Brothers, the celebrated stockmen. Howell Powell, father of the stockmen, origi- nally owned and occupied from 300 to 400 acres of this Shadeland property, which now compi'ises aliout 3,000 acres of excellent land, and beautifully situ- ated in and along both sides of the Conneaut Creek Valley, and there is no finer estate in Western Pennsylvania. The Powell Brothers embarked in the nursery stock business in 18r>0 to 1865, and, according to their native characteristics and a])ility, they pushed the business to a successful termination. Forty men and horses w^ere brought into re(|uisilion, and great sales with good i)rofits was the result. During the war they had an extensive business that they could not well drop. Though loyal to the core, they were amonir the first to put up the necessary to fill the call. F/ONKER SKtZTCHES. 303 Finally, in 18()4:, they went into the live stoek business, with their motto ''Excelsior;" and time after time they have crossed the stormy seas and throughout Europe they have sought to obtain the best stock. Their unflinching tenacity of purpose, their untiring perseverance, justly entitle them to the fame and the national reputation that they now possess — the peer of any stockmen on this conti- nent. Too great a tribute can scarcely be paid the Powell Brothers for their vast undertakings, great outlays and extensive improvements, approximating the perfection of stock raising. 'Tis said that blood will always tell lu man, likewise in stock as well. Their fine stock comprises Clydesdale horses, Percheron Norman or French draft horses, Englishshire horses, Suffolk punch horses, Standard bred trotters, French coachers, Cleve- land liays, saddle horses, Welsh ponies, Iceland ponies, Shetland ponies, Holstein Fressian cattle and Devon cattk^ To all those who want to buy fine stock you can obtain it of the Powell Brothers, the celebrated stockmen, who will at all times extend to you fair dealing and courteous entertainment, which is a characteristic of these gentlemen, and one of the attributes to their wonderful success in the stock business. CHAPTER LXXX. ^=^HE AGENT of to-day has grown to be a man of c) importance in his community. His customers inckide the whole range of working and business life. The laborer at the bench, the toiler in the field, the merchant, the professional man, the banker and every other member of the liody politic, knows and respects him. He is in touch with more varieties of wholesome life than any other class of business men living. Behind him may be an organization with millions of dollars of assets back- ing his every promise. He is the embodiment of the qualities which go to make up an honorable success — energy, probity, tact, perseverance, good nature and zeal — and is the incarnation of something always dear to the American fancy "a smart man."' — Ex. Timidity creates cowards and never wins success. It is a strong and al)iding faith in one's own al)ility to perform which overcomes difficulties that others think cannot be surmounted. CHAPTER LXXXI. A. C. QUINBY. MAKIXG HOOPS AND SHINGLES — CANAL BOATING — DEALING NTTKSERY STOCK— LIVERY AND SALE STABLE. 51 C ^^HE SUBJECT of this article is a rare specimen y of humanity, easy going and of a cheerful tem- v^ perament generally, pugnacious, not quarrelsome, l)ut wanted to have his turn in the merry-go-round. He wanted to see the ins and outs of a job, didn't propose to experiment long at a hard jol) of Mork to find whether it would pay. In his days of early manhood riving and shaving shingles and making hoops was his forte, and he became quite an expert in the business, and it w'as as lucrative a business as one could engage in and little capital was required for an outfit; besides, one could work on the shady side of a log, stump or tree, on a hot day. This was appropriate, as Clark said he didn't believe in rul)bing the hair up or sweating his linen fabric too much. I never stopped to argue that matter with him because I thought his head was level on the sweating labor question. Boating on the Erie & Pittsl)urg Canal frequently afforded employment for whole families. Clark bought the canal boat Kellog, and with his father and brothers. Lew, Marsh and George, made a full crew, w^ith one to spare for a reserve corps, and engaged to boat lumber for the writer fi'om Conneautville, Spring, Jerusalem, Tight- hole, Albion, and other places, to Erie. Many loads were 20 306 PIONEER SKETCHES. shipped and many happy hours I spent with Capt. Quinby. Clark had a pet horse he called Comet — He was as big as a moose, But he found it was of no use To try to make him steady draw A basswood horse, if ever you saw. However his weight on the tow line meant something, and very good time was made. Where once was the canal, makes me sad, Thinking of the good okl times we had Along its line from Pittsburg to Erie; Musing o'er those scenes never will grow weary. The canal captain will pull his boat up to the shore. Always ready to take aboard something more; Whether it be lumber, potatoes or your corn, When off she goes, driver cracks his whip and toots his horn . He will promptly deliver anywhere on the line, Albion, Tighthole or at Lock Twenty-nine; At a much cheaper rate of expense Than it has been transported ever since The railroad gobbled the old canal; She is entirely a different gal. Before the closing of the canal he traded olQf his boat, went to work for Powell Brothers, Shadeland, in the nursery business, and later he went into the same business for himself, and in 1872-3 he removed to Titusville, where he with his son are in their element, operating successfuly a large livery and sale stable. CHAPTER LXXXII. THE TRIO. ^^HE LEGAL TRIO to whom we refer is Messrs. A. B. Richmond, of Meadville, Pa.; J. B. Burrows, Painesville, Ohio, and S. A. North- way, of Jefferson, Ohio, who are well known throughout Pennsylva- nia and Ohio for their logic, elo- quence, ingenuity and skill in trying cases. The individual who finds himself so unfortunate as to become entangled in the meshes of criminal law is consid- ered lucky in retaining either of the above named gentle- men to defend him. In the prime of life in legal and literary attainments, matured and ripe for the fray, in 1 8-1:4:, A. B. Richmond then a youth, was trying one of his first cases, the suit of Mr. Cowan vs. Col. Hiram Butler, at Spring, Pa. , wherein a large difference existed in the measurement of 400 white- wood saw logs, sold by Cowan to Butler. The eminent lawj^er, Darwin A. Finney, of Meadville, was arrayed against young Richmond, to defend the Colonel. The young lawyer created a good deal of amusement in the court room by teasing and spurring at his antagonist at every oi)p()rtunity. It was a cool day in April, and Mr. Finney wore low shoes, with silk stockings, he having an 308 PIONEER SKETCHES. unusual warmth in his feet, produced by a febrile disease, the gout, of which young Kichmond took special notice. The writer, then quite a young lad, was much amused during the trial, to see these Meadville law^^ers exchange shots, and on returning home told his father that young flaxen-haired Richmond made lots of fun for them, and he was going to make a big lawyer, because he had lots of lip and wit and as much confidence in himself as a mule. As time rolled on, that statement was verified by the grow- ing legal business of Mr. Richmond, and he soon be- came the leading criminal lawyer of Crawford County, Pa. Of him, the country well knows his ability. As well do they of the legal lion of the Western Reserve, J. B. Bur- rows, who was engaged for the prosecution in the famous Jones- Amidon murder case, and A. B. Richmond for the defense. The crreat trial of eight week^s duration was broujxht to a close Friday afternoon, when Stanley M. Jones was convicted of murder in the first degree for killing lawyer A. A. Amidon, on the evening of August 30, 1880. Jones' friends were sanguine that the jury would fail to agree. When the verdict was announced Jones did not move a muscle nor indicate in any manner that he was the person most affected by the awful words, but retained the same unconcerned, characteristic action throughout the entire trial. His attorneys filed a motion for a new trial, Avhich came up for hearing Wednesday, June 11th. The shoot- ing occurred on Friday, and as the jury brought in a verdict on Friday it caused the superstitious to hint that Jones was doomed. PIONEER SKETCHES. 309 Jones was sentenced to be hung, but in April and May a petition was circulated and signed by many hundreds of citizens for a commutation of the death sentence to that of im})risonment for life. This the Pardon Board granted, in June, 1891. S. A. Northway is also famous for the masterly man- ner in which he throws his whole soul into the work in try- ing important cases. For instance, the great Webster trial for the murder of Perry Harrington. We shall not attempt herein to write a life sketch of these eminent legal gentlemen. Suffice it to say — That few jurists yet were ever made To wield a strouger, sharper blade, lu Penusylvania or in the State of Ohio, Thau either of this famous legal trio. CHAPTER LXXXIII. CONNEAUT LAKE. HIS BEAUTIFUL inland lake in Sadsburg Township, Crawford County, Pa., now about five miles long and three miles wide, from the topography of the country around it seems to have been much larger on fsome former day. On its shores where now stand fine residences, hotels and summer resorts, a century ago was the bivouac and resort of the Indian. Con- neaut Lake and the Pymatuning, from relics, early malaria and ague, abundant fish, game and millions of pigeons, conspired to create a paradise for the Indian. To the outlet of this lake was the spot where they took their captive Van Horn, whom they captured on the Meadville Flats in the spring of 1795. The peqietration of many of the cruel atrocities of the red UK^n upon the white man, probably to a great extent was due to the feeling that he looked ujoon the white man as his enemy, invading his original domain. When we consider that the same malignant spirit exists to an alarm- ing extent among the white races let us, Uke Pope, have some forbearance, for — Lo, the ])Oor Indian, whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind, His soul's proud science never taught to stray Far as the solar walks or treads the milkv wav. PIONEER SKE TCHES. 311 Then let the heritage and untutorship of the Indian to some degree offset the lunatic frenzy of the white man of to-day. In the winter of 1835 Amos Fish was driving WilHs Benedict's team with a sleighload of grain from Evansbm'g to Harmonsburg. While crossing Conneaut Lake, when near the iniddle the ice gave way. Mr. Fish jumped from the sleigh and saved himself, but the team and load went under the ice and were lost. About the same time Frederick Bolard on horse back, and Wicks Parker with a team and wagonload of goods, came to the lake, and when Mr. Bolard proposed to go around it Mr. Parker laughed at him and drove on the ice. When part way across they found the ice sunk about one foot under the water. When Mr. Bolard thought of turn- ing l)ack his heart bounded within him, and he said that at that moment he would have given all he possessed to be off* the ice and safe on land. But Mr. Parker drove on and Bolard followed him in awful suspense, and was greatly relieved when nearing the shore. When men will venture like this with loaded teams out upon the ice, how can we expect that boys will not venture, too, upon the glary, bending ice on their skates, with frequently the sad result of going under the ice to rise no more ? John McMurtry, of Sadsbury, Pa., who died in 18S5 at the advanced age of 102 years, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, being in the advance guard in entering the City of Mexico. He lived a life of single blessedness; had contracted marriage in an early day, was jilted: l)ut hiter a daughter of his affianced bore him a daugliter, on which offspring he be(iueatlied the sum of |;>,00O, though i)revious to this becpiest the girl married 312 PIONEER SKETCHES. well and is now living in Meadvillc. His sister, Sallie, who married Snowden Barrickman, and who now lives in the Pymatiiming Swamp, is 90 years of age. John McTcer, an old settler of Hayfield Township, Pa., was unjustly charged with killing a man at Conneaut Lake and was sent to the penitentiary for life; he served a term of ten or twelve years and was then pardoned. The man who committed the murder for which McTeer was convicted, upon his death bed confessed that he done the awful deed; thereupon McTeer was released. This is an instance where the innocent was made to sufter for the crime of the guilty. James McDowell, brother of Alex and John F. McDowell, informed my ancestor that he was engaged with Aaron Burr on an expedition down the Ohio River, which turned out to be rather a nefarious and spec- ulative venture, and the expedition was authoritativel}^ checked, which business we understand to have been runnino- off neg-roes via the underground railroad. Alex and John F. McDowell, of Summerhill, wei'e old settlers who weie in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, whose descendents now hold some of the old Con- tinental money. After the war they built a distillery near Dixonburg, Pa., at which place and upon their farms they lived many years, up to the time of their demise. Jeremiah Hadlock emigrated from Vermont at an earl}^ day and settled in the woods of Richmond Township, Pa., sixteen miles east of M.eadville, and cleared up a farm. He died at the age of 92 years from the effects of a tree falling on him, breaking one of his legs and injuring his si)ine. PIONEER SKETCHES. 313 Freeman Hadlock, a son of Jeremiah, also took up 160 acres of government land across the street opposite his father's, and lived upon said hind many years. He said it seemed to be more work to clear the land of the numerous sand rocks than of the timber. A sad accident happened on the place: Lucinda Hadlock, a young girl eight years of age, fell into a spring on the farm near the house, and was drowned. Mr. Freeman Hadlock now lives in Dorset, Ashtabula County, Ohio, at the advanced age of 93 years, in the enjoyment of quite good health. If the people throughout our country would })an out like the McMurtrys and Hadlocks we could soon refer back wdlh good grace, in longevity, to the days of Noah. CHAPTER LXXXIV. K. D. CHEESEMAN ORN IN ALBION, PA., where he attended school. At the age of 15 or 16 he eno;ao:ed to work for A, Denio, proprietor of the Handle Mills (now Otsego Fork Mills), Miles Grove, Pa., where he faithfully served his employer day in and day out; and when Mr. Denio consolidated his steel mills at Baldwinsville, N. Y., and handle mills and removed and rebuilt the same at Miles Grove Mr. Cheeseman went with him in the capacity of foreman in the wooden department of the ccleljrated Otsego Fork Mills. And during the long space of thirt}^ years R. D, Cheeseman has accom})lished one thing which the writer could not even hope to do, viz: through all those years he has faithfully seized his employer ten hours per day, wdiich will prol)ably foot up more hours of constant daily toil than can be dui)licated Ijy few in Erie county; and should his sun not go down at noonday, he bids fair to remain in the same capacity for coming decades. Mr. Cheeseman is a man of tempcrnte and frugal habits, has a pleasant home, a family (wife and two children), who apparently enjoy the CA^en tenor of hfe in the i)leasant vil- lage of Miles Grove, Pa. CHAPTER LXXXV. p. O. PAUL. THE GANDER— AGENT— STAGING — LIVERY — NURSERY STOCK — HOHSE DEALER. O. PAUL was born in Conneuut Township, Erie County, Pa., whore he spent his boyhood antl youthful days on the farm. An incident is related of him when a l)oy of live or six years. His uncle Prosper Keep had a cross gander which he promised to give to the l)oy Paul if he Avould carry him home. The boy eagerly grappled onto the gander and started homeward. There were a pair of bars he had to pass which were made in the old-fashioned style from si)lit timber and were heavy. Here came the query how to manage the gander, as he would have to use both hands to let down and put up those heavy bars, and when young Paul came to the bars he put the gander on the ground and placed his feet upon each wing, and in this position he held his gander until he had let down and put up the l)ars. When his uncle and father saw that he could manage that gander they concluded that he could get through the race course of life. At the age of 1() he had a desire to do somethins: for himself other than farming, and engaged to sell nursery stock for L. C. McLaughlin, Si)ring, Pa. Later he got married and worked his father's farm some three years, and during a portion of the time taught school and sold light- ning rods for a year. Afterwards he removed to Titusville with his family and went staging from that place to Pleas- 310 PIONEER SKETCHES. antville and Sliamburg, and when business became dull he ran a livery and sale stable in Titusville for some years. Later, Bullion, Red Rock and Bradford fields were tried, when be returned to Springl)oro and engaged in the nursery stock business on his own account, and has for years past continued in that business, having in the meantime l)uilt a tine residence at Springboro. On said premises and upon his farm is kept a good stock of horses, and among the fleetest, over which he takes as much pleasure in pulling the reins as he did in his boyhood days stepping on the winofs of the ofandcr. CHAPTER LXXXVL A. C. MARTINDALE. I HE SUBJECT of this sketch is more than an ordinary man. Mr. Martin- dale iirst came to onr notice in 1850, at Albion, near where he pm'chased 100 acres of land. He engaged in boating on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal in the coal trade from Sharon and elsewhere to Erie, Pa. In the winter of 1854-5 Mr. Mar- tindalc contracted to furnish Andrew Hofsies, of Erie, a large quantity of propeller steamboat wood, to be delivered on the Public Dock at Erie the f ollow- inc. summer. He proceeded with his usual native goahead- atrveness to the work; a gang of wood choppers were set to work in his woods, while he and others with oxen and sleds were en^acred in hauling the wood to the birm side of the canal at jrckson^s, near Albion, about a mile distant from the woods. Mr. Martindale drove a large yoke of cattle, and the man who hauled as much wood as he from daylight until dark had something to do. Before springtime he had hundreds of cords of the best kind of beech and maple wood, cut four feet long, piled up on the bank of the canal ready for shipment on the opening of navigation. There was lots of hard work in this wood business and not as much money as there should have been, but Martin dale made it pay, anyhow, by doing a good share of the work himself. During six or eight months of the year he would slop the shoemaker and ask no odds of his sole 318 PIONEER SKETCHES. leather or uppers on his feet. He could chase a mink or a coon through the woods or through thistle and brier patches barefooted, as unerringly and with all the avidity of a hound after a deer. When Abe Martindale started out after a mink or a coon, with his dog and axe, they were his meat, sure. Well Abe, like Davy Crockett, liked recreation, and on ofi* business days you could see him circulating around his neighbor's premises, four or live miles oft', inspecting their crop of rabbits, mink and coon, and he would be sure to carry some of them home at night, as trophies of the day. He was unpretentious, generally minding his own business, a ofood talker, and a hard worker. He did not wait for a golden opportunity to turn up, but he set to work and turned up something. This was his nature. In the vicinity where Mr. Martindale lived there was a good deal of l)eech timber in the forest and many beech nuts grew upon the trees. Abe conceived the idea that hogs could be wintered cheaply on, beech nuts, and he soon became the owner of several hundred hogs. These porkers began to help their owner 'turn up something,' and it came to pass that these rooters began to plow his neighbor's land at rather an unpropitious time of the year. Mr. Martindale, however, was not the man to trespass upon his neighbor, and generally kept a vigilant eye upon his drove, and when he found his pigs were going for his neighbor's angle worms he took them away, and when the shack season was over, and these l)eech nuts had propagated scions (young beech trees) corn planting time came on, acres of corn were planted, and when the corn had formed a stalk, yet uneared, loads of it were cut for the pigs, whicli was devoured with a relish, stalk, silk, leaf and tassel. They nnist have something to till even up so they could breathe a healthy hog grunt. PIONEER SKETCHES. 319 It is too expensive in Pennsylvania to make a grunting hog fat on solid corn, and Abe knew this as well as any one, and he emerged from the hog business smilling. Presently you see upon his farm six or eight hundred sheep; and he gave the sheep, lamb, mutton and wool business a thorough test. He did nothing by the halves ; whatever he engaged in, he threw his whole soul into the business, and when the time came for a change he was on deck for a shift. Next we see him stocking up his farm with horses — colts principally. Later, Mr. Martindale being aware that there were many abandoned farms in the oil region, Pitt- hole and vicinity, there you see him with fifty or sixty cows, engaged in selling the lacteal fluid, also butter and buttermilk, to the denizens of Oil City and Titusville. And yet later, he engaged in manufacturing lumber near Titusville. During the past few years he has bought addi- tions to his farm near Albion, which now comprises several hundred acres of good land. We find him now quietly engaged upon his farm in the poultry business, with nearly a thousand chicks. He pro- poses to be second to none in his region in the hen fruit business. Success to you, Abe. It makes no difierence whether he wants to go shod or bare-footed a portion of the year, his im})rints are his own, and he has made his mark on more than one landscape. Always industrious, genial and apparently happy, rendering unto Cajsar the things that are his, and, for aught we know, unto God the things that are his; and the people in his neigh])orhood will know that Abe Martindale lives among them to be congratulated. As he marches down the hillside of life. Through past scenes of varied strife; And with his ritle, wad or leaden bullets, From his dunghill can shoot his pullets. CHAPTER LXXXVII. LEXINGTON. TS NAME derived froin*Revoliiicnary fame, was settled in 18 — , by people from New York and tlie New Eng- land States, ins whose veins coursed the blood of their sires of Lexington of ""old. K) Among its'^'earlier settlers were Elijah Diiry Jolmson, Ray S. Silverthorn, Rattil)one, Judge Miles, Mathew Anderson, Sanford Salisbury, Eber Holbrook, Simeon Knight, Philip Bristol (a pioneer school teacher at Lexington), Peter Holbrook, John Hay, Robert Large, Samuel and Cornelius Ball, Cook, William and Daniel Sawdy, Seth Devore, Strong, Hymenius and Zedock Smith, and others. These early settlers of Girard and Lexington, as else- where, had to underg(3 their trials and privations in early life, but they rose equal to the occasion. They wisely chose and settled upon one of the most favored spots of earth — a prolific soil, excellent water and timber, throughout Girard, Fairview and Millcreek. A healthy climate, exceedingly so, according to Dan Rice's version of it, who said he lived in the healthiest place in the world; there were no deaths among the early settlers for forty years, and then they had to send ofl" forty miles to buy PIONEER SKETCHES. 321 a corpse to start a biuyin^^ ground. But this is Dairs Avay of putting it. Thrilling scenes and incidents happened among the pio- neers. Two girls, Jane and Elizabeth Hanna, while on their way to school, when at Crooked Creek, saw a couple of black, curly puppies, near the stream. They took after the little beauties and gave them a lively chase. Presently the pups started to climb a tree and one of them fell back to the ground. The girls caught it, and it instantly gave a startling cry, and the mother of the cubs came growling after them. The girls had found more than they bargained for. They ran to the school house, considering themselves quite fortunate in getting oif without the prize. Such like and other causes had a tendency to make some of the stalwart boys and girls tardy, late at school, and the school master said that he would have to punish the scholar who should be ten minutes late at school, with out a sufficient reason from the parent. One Ame Ball, who was noted for his inllation of matters and thinofs in general, came into school one morning late and puffing. The teacher said : "What made you so late. Ball r' Ball— -'Chased by a bear.'^ Teacher — -'Where? " Ball — "-Down near the creek." Teacher — "How big was the bear? " Ball — "Big as that yearlin' out there." Teacher- -"How long was his tail ? " Ball — "Oh, God; long as my arm." 21 322 PIONEER SKETCHES. ''Teacher — That bear's tail was too long; you may stand up here."' Then a good dose of l^eeoh oil was administered to him for his tardiness and his long bear "tale.'' Captain David Saw^d}' settled in Lexington in 1814. He was a sea captain and owned the ship Nancy Belle. At the connneneemcnt of the War of 1812 he sailed to Sweden and loaded his ship with Swedish iron and steel, which would have yielded him immense profits had he reached American shores with it. But fate was against him. As he was off the coast of Scotland his ship sprung a leak and he Avas compelled to put into the port of Glasgow for repairs. The autlun'ities there took advantage of his situation, seized his ship and cargo, imprisoned the captain and crew, confiscated his property and left him penniless. Being released in the course of a year he made his wa}' to Philadelphia, where he became acquainted wath a Quaker lady whom he married, and she furnished him money to buy 300 acres of land and to build a store and blacksmith shop, which place he named Lexington. Li 1836 he was elected to the Legislature, where he serxed his constituents well. Returning to Lexington he settled upon his farm, where he spent the most of his time (juietly until death. CHAPTER LXXXVIII. S. SALISBURY. x\NFORD and his wife, Sarah Salisbury, emi- grated from Corthmd County, N. Y., in 18^4. and settled upon land about one mile northeast of Loek[)ort, Pa., where, in due course of time, the tim1)er was cleared off and a good farm opened for cultivation, and a saw mill erected on the place. Like other early settlers in a primeval forest, they had to hew their way. Their family consisted of eleven children, seven boys and four girls. Sanford Salisbury, though a (juiet man antl a good farmer, possessed a rare mechanical genius, which was developed in the family, especially Henry, Darius, Tracy and Lawrence. Some incidents in the life of his eldest son Henry we might mention. When a youth of sixteen years, a neighbor (Mr. Sherman) had a water power saw mill that did not run to his satisfaction, whereupon the boy, Henrw told Mr. Sherman that he could rior his mill to run much l)etter. The owner, somewhat skeptical however, set the boy to work, when in a short space of time that saw mill danced a much livelier g-ait. Soon after he went to Hancock, N. Y., whcvv he built a mill on the Deleware River, at which place he married and later returned to Lockport,* where he improved and in- vented machinery for Ezekiel Page, in his large oar factory: and later, assisted by his brother Tracy, built the lirst oar blading machine and improved oar turning lathe, used at '^^"^ PIONEER SKETCHES. Albion, Pa., Richmond and Edgerlon, Ohio, at which latter place, in companj' with Wm. Wel^b, of New York, and Henry E. Salisbury, they done a large business in the manufacture of oars. Having passed through former diffi- culties, and when in the height of a prosperous and a future prospective business, his wife died, and a few months later he followed her. Sanford Salisbury and sons, Henry, James and Darius, built and run one of the tirst canal boats on the Erie &, Pittsburg Canal. And, later, he and his son James built and sold the first revolving wooden horse hay rake used in the country, which are still in use and have proved to be one of the l)est labor-saving implements, for its cost, ever invented. Messrs. Cook and Salisbury sold many of them. James went to Kansas in an early day, AVhere he found an elephant in the way, He found a Lecompton and a Topeka constitution. One for, the other against a slavery institution. However, he built a cabin on his Jand, And Avent to Avork with a willing- hand; When be was ordered to get up and go, "No," said Jim, "that I will never do. I have as good a right to Kansas laud As you, border ruffians, or any other man: On the soil of Kansas I'm going to make my home. Whomsoever else may come." Time passed on, mid trials and tril)ulafion. While some left their places of destination: When the breeze kicked up by John Brown's i-aper Gave to Kansas an anti-slavery legislature. Thrilling scenes there enacted, and in other j^laces AVhen in '60 pro-slavery kicked clear out of its traces. Lincoln being elected, he sailed the ship aright. But during his voyage he had an ungodly fight! PIONEER SKETCHES. '^25 Early in '65, when peace was echoed through the land, The great Lincoln, cut down by the assassin's hand, .Shocked many millions for the sjjell His tragic death by a demoniac of hell. The people of Kansas having Ijeen loyal to themselves and to their country, they now enjoy a common heritage of a free State, free schools, under a system second to none in the Union, and has made greater advancement than per- haps any other State in the same space of time. James P. Salisbury, I understand, introduced the first mowino- machine into Kansas, Avhich he used in cutiino: large quantities of hay, for which Fort Leavenworth fur- nished an excellent market in the early settlement of Kan- sas, it being the great station for the overland wagon trains to purchase their outfit. He was captain of a military company to aid in driv- ing General Price from their Ijorders; afterwards elected to the State Senate. Having acquired a competency for old age. he quietly resides on his farm, near Leavenworth. Darius, third son of Sanford and Sally Salisbury, re- moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1855 and purchased eighty acres of land, containing some twenty acres of up- land, the remainder being hillsides and flat land, with the Ashtabula Creek running through it, on which was consid- tn'able timber on the hillsides and bottom lands and an un- known quantity of stone in the creek bed, and a mountain- ous, circuitous hill to climb up and down, long and steep enough to tire a greyhound in making one round trip \\\i and do\vn this declivity. Darius beino- lured on in the belief that there was great value to be derived in a future day from the timber and stone, he ]>uilt a sa\y-mill to cut a portion of said timber 326 PIONEER SKETCHES. into lum1)er, which was done in time, perhaps, with some })rotit for the few years that the mill stood, and with a o-reat deal of hard work. But afterwards, every cord of wood and every cord of stone that he got out of that hell- hole cost him more than he got for it. He being a good mechanic his two hands, most anywhere out on God's do- main, would have netted him more than any team and wagon hauling wood and stone out of that gulf of Charybdis. Though he was a man of small stature, he stood up heroically l)attling with the logs and rocks, his farm work inteniiixed with other arduous work on that place and vicinity for nearly thirty }ears of incessant toil. When, through over over work and exhaustion, he took to his bed he was the most patient sulferer for six months I ever saw, when he peacefully passed away. As he toiled o'er life's rugged way Characteristically he looked for a better day; Patiently, heroically, he lingered on, Awaiting his departure to the great beyond. Tracy, the mechanic, is at Ashtabula, and working in (liferent parts of Ohio. Albert and Lawrence live in Albion, Erie County, Pa., the former as a gardener prin- cipally. Though a natural mechanic, he was jirevented fi'om striking out in any particular line on account of poor health for man}^ years of his earl^^ life. Lawrence, after leaving the farm to go to where the family had removed in ^^'illiams County, Ohio, returned to Albion and went to work for James Van Sickle, who fur- nished him a kit of tinner's tools with Avhich to make cups, basins, tin pans, sap buckets, and to roof buildings. On the evening of the first day's service he came out a full- fledged tinner. He continued his tinsmithina' at good PIONEER SKETCHES. 327 wages for several years and then struck out for liiuiself and for the past twenty years he and his sons have dispensed the tin and hardware business in all its varieties. Some years ago his former employer removed from Albion, leav- ino; to Lawrence clear sailino; ''alone to his oh^-v."* Diana, the eldest daughter, died at the old homestead in 1850, aged 22. ]\Ialvina married the writer of this sketch in 1 S.")4^, with whom she now lives at Ashtabula, Ohio. Maria married Willi am Keyes, with whom she was living in 1871: in Wisconsin at the time of her death. Eliza R. Salisbury, the youngest daughter, li\'es near Leavenworth, Kansas, where she has spent the greater por- tion of her life. Cyrus, the second youngest boy, in 1861 serAed nearly a year in the arm}-, up to the close of the war. He died on the farm in Williams County, Ohio, a 3-ear afterwards. Sanford Salisbury, the father, died in Williams County, Ohio, at an advanced age. Sally Salisl)ury, the mother, died in All)ion, Pa., in 1885, whither she had removed from Williams County, Ohio, after the death of her husband and son, in the full enjoyment of all her faculties up to the closing drama of an exemplary Christian life, beloved by all who knew her. A kind word she had for all with a good cheer. Withholds for us her nieinory dear; A gleam of siuishiiie flit o'er her radiaut face, Alwavs ))etokeiiinir a Christian irrace. CHAPTER LXXXIX. LOCKPOBT— CEANESVILLE — ALBION — GIRABD— ACROSS LAKE ERIE IX A CANOE. ACOB COFFMAN was the tiist settler in Lockport, having removed from Somerset County, Pa., in 180() to Lock]:)ort, where he settled on lands near the present site of the villasfc. He raised quite a large family, and was grandfather to the present race of CofFmans, now resi- dents of Lockport. Some of the early settlers and ])usiness men were Wm. Tylei% Wm. Aldrich, Mr. Leech, Sidney Sawdy, Eli Sawdy; and at the time of building the locks of the Erie & Pittsb\u-g Canal, 184(>- 43, Messrs. Baldwin, Himrod & Co. were prominent figures in trade, when they had scores of teams Avith sleds from all parts of the country hauling stones in winter from a quarry about three miles east of the place, to be used in building the Lockport locks. Money didn't make the mare go in those days in Lockport near as nuich as did *• ' Blue Crackee, " a scrip generally used ])y that firm to pay oft" the teamsters and quarry men. Occasionally you could discount a crackee to get 2'> cents to pay postage on a letter, or such like; but the inevitable crackee was llie legal tender for labor, dry goods and provisions, oi- toi)ay the ''l)oot"" in a cow, colt, or horse trade. riOXEER SKETCHES. 329 Finally the canal was built and boating commenced, which brought in some "shad-scales'" (silver) and currency sufficient for the Ijenelit of a sore eye. which in time was healed. Quaint chaps and incidents apparentl}' hovered, as else- where, about Lockport. One morning John Eaton met Canal Superintendent Colt. Eaton had been turning a \vicket in one of the locks, and Colt said: "Hello, sirl Stop that."" "'Who are you '. "' said Eaton. "I am Super- intendent Colt, of Erie." "Well,'' said Eaton, "if you are the colt of Erie, I am the 'boss' of Lockport." Colt drove off laughing for the while, While Eatou let his wicket bile Awhile, then shut the wicket of the lock And went off crowiug like a game-cock. CRANESVILLE. This l)urg is one of the has beens. It sprang into ex- istence at the opening of the Erie & Pittsburg Canal. Among its early settlers were Adenijah Crane, Fowler and Elihu Crane, the Bradishes. Randalls, farmers, and EUsha Cook. Adam Deet and John Connor, in trade. ALBION. Situated one mile south, one the line of the old E. & P. Canal, where now is located the Shenango Railroad. This has been quite an enterprising village for the past forty years. Several important concerns have ))een in operation during that time — foundry, grist-mill, saw-mills, oar factory, handle factory, woollen mill, rake factory, blacksmith shops, stores, hotels, schools and churches. Its early set- tlers w<' have mentioned elsewhere. 330 nONEER SKETCHES. Albion recently lost its leading spirit in the person of Jeduthan Wells, who was engaged in various lousiness ven- tures wdiich, while benefiting himself, redounded to the benefit of the connnunity. He did more for the people, during his biLsiness, official and clerical career, than perhaps any other man in Albion. He was a kind-hearted, reliable Christian man, who dared to show his colors and to speak his views on all occasions. That the reader may know that Girard Township Avas something of a bear section in its day, we mention an inci- dent related and experienced l)y John K. "Ward, who is now living, hale and hearty, at the age of al)Out 92 years. He says he was the first white child born in Girard Town- ship, Pa., near the lake north of Miles Grove, at which place he lived more than four score years until 18S6, when he removed to Michigan, where he is now living with a relative. In early days, when he was a youth, the present site of Miles Grove was a dense wilderness. He was per- ambulating in the wood and when near the spring and little run southeast of the Postoffice, he came upon a l)ear and her cub. A smalksized dog he had ^vith him commenced l)arking and the cub ran a short distance, followed by its mother. The cub climbed up a tree, and the mother see- ing her cul) safely elevated in the tree, turned U})on the dog and young Ward for Avar. Young Ward didn't fancy the determined look of his shaggy belligerent, and he, too, climbed a tree and left the bear master of the situation. For his amusement he would set the dog onto the liear, when she would start ofl'to tlie cub's tree, soon to return to take another grin at her Johnny up in the tree, Johnny saw the sun sinking fast rn the western horizon, and the idea of his roosting all night on his lofty })ercli, with the P-^^ik^ TREED BY A BEAE. 332 PIONEER SKETCHES. appalling thought that should he go to sleep and fall from the tree, he would either break his neck or make a break- fast for the bears, was anything l)ut encouraging. Necessity being the mother of invention, he hissed his dog, who went ferociously for the bear, and when she started away from the tree he slid down therefrom and ran for his life, reach- ing home safely just at dark. About five miles west of Girard. in. the townshi}) of Springfield, on the lake shore, an early settler whose name Ave have not, was chopping on the bank of the lake when a deer came at full speed, followed closely b}' a hound. The deer made directly for the water, T)ounding into lake and swam out into it, thus eluding his pursuer. The Avood chopper quickly launched his log canoe, which he had near by, not Avaiting to put on his hat, but took his axe and a single paddle oar Avith him and started in pursuit of the deer. He paddled like a beaver, and all went well for a Avhile, with some prospects of venison, Avhen suddenly there came up a brisk land breeze. Avhich steadily increased, and he soon found that he hadn't suflicicnt propelling poAver to reach shore, and his only alternative Avas to go before the wind straight for Canada, where he safely arrived the next day. He did not care to venture a return trip across the lake in his log canoe, so he set out on foot doAvn the Cana- dian shore to opposite Buffalo, from where he was ferried across the Niagara River, thence from Buffalo up the shore to the scene fiom whence he started. His friends finding his hat on the shore and himself and canoe gone, Averc much alarmed OA'er his mysterious disappearance during a period of seven days, but rejoiced Avhen he returned to relate his deer exi)erience. PIONEER SKETCHES. 333 Medad Pomeroy was one of the early settlers of Lexington; was born in Massachusetts and came to Lex- ington in 1815; married, had a family of twelve children, eight bo3'S and fom^ girls; was a soldier in the Kevolu- tionary War and was womided seven times at the battle of Germantown and others. After settling at Lexington he engaged in farming and lived to the age of 97 years, which closed the drama of a long, useful and eventful life. Among the early settlers of Albion and vicinity were: the Rev. Sturtz, Enos King, Obediah and Michael Jackson, Francis Randall, Pearson Clark, Wm. Warner, Elisha and Michael Alderman, Sheffield and Stephen Randall, the Wickwins, Brooks, Amplers and Alsworth Cole, John llerron. Prosper Keep, Park and Samuel Paul, David and riohnathan Spaulding, Wm., James and Harley Sherman, Julius Wells and Maj. Fleming, of Lundy's Lane, Geo. Colton, Martin Hartson, Mr. Culver, Jaliez antl Samuel Clark, Chas. Scott, Hiram Griffith, David and Samuel Smith and the Joslyns. The above named were an earnest body of men who had to cut their way through many obstacles, and build many miles of corduroy road to ride over. Were good citizens, generally, and paid their honest debts. Was acquainted with most of them, some, however, I have not seen since I was eight years old ; Barney Cole, in particular, the country shoemaker who measured my foot to make my lirst pair of boots, with the enjoiner to l)e sure to make them large to fit a young kid's growing foot. ''Certainly," said the shoemaker, "and I will have them made for you in three weeks. " I was highly elated with the idea of having a new pair of boots in three weeks and my youthful imagination was 334 PIONEER SKETCHES. worked up with the thoughts of coming winter, and how much l)otter I would be fixed, in liouncing into snow banks or wading through mud puddles and streams, than some of the hoys Avith shoes on. Finall}^ the long-looked-for day came when my boots were to l>e done, and I mounted Old Fan and set out for the shoemaker's, through wood and field, down the Conneaut Creek valley, three mile; an-iving, the shoemaker haid: ''Well, my boy, I have not got your boots done; have l)ecn drove with work, and you come next week for them." Patiently I waited and thought of the good time coming, and in one week appeared at the shoemaker's, "Well, my young lad, your boots are not done yet. 1 stuck an awl in my thumb, and I had to take a deer Imnt. But you come in one week and get your boots, and they Avill he dandies." I had waited fiv^ weeks and traveled twelve miles and yet got no boots. But, as faith and patience remove mountains and soothes a l)rokcn heart, I Availed as serenely as possible. When the six Aveeks Avere up I Avent for my boots, Avith mingled thoughts oi doubt and happiness. The boots Avcre made, l)ut my feet had been groAving all this time and I couldn't get my boots on. The shoemaker put some talloAv on my socks and inside of my boots, and finally I slipped my feet into them. With accents of joy and sorrow I exclaimed, "'You have been so long making them, my foot has outgrown the l)oots." ••Never mind, my boy; if they ai-e pretty tight now, Avhen you Avear them out in the Avet they Avill stretcli and be easy on your feet.'' PIONEER SKETCHES. 335 The l)oots were made of heavy cowhide upper.s and heavy soles, hemlock tanned, and made in the strong, good old style. But "give and be easy on my feet,'' as the shoemaker said — "give, no !" — when night came I was glad to get them oflf and give vent to my feet. Reader, if you ever waut your patience tried, Get a pair of boot^i made small, from cowhide; Of liendock tauued sole and upper leather, They'll give you corns, in dry or rainy weather. Yes, just as sure as you are born. On top your toes they'll breed a corn; You'll wish the shoemaker ne'er was born, To put you in such pain — forlorn. CHAPTER XC. A. DENIO. DEXIO is the proprietor of the Otsego PV Forks Mills, of Miles Grove. Erie County, • Pa., which is one of the prominent manufac- tnring industries of Erie County. For many years this estal)lishment has l)een in full o})eration, the Godsend as it were, and a great factor in the creation and building up of the pleasant village of Miles Grove. Messrs. North and Denio formerly run the business at Fly Creek, Otsego County, N. Y., with the wooden de- l)artment at Albion. Pa., in 1865. At Baldwins, in 1872, to which place the fork mills had been removed. Mr. E. Denio died, leaving the l)usiness to which he had devoted the best years of a well-spent life, in the hands of his only son, Mr. A. Denio, the present proprietor. The son re- moved the wooden or handle department from Albion to Miles Grove, and later, in 1876, the Otsego Fork Mills, at Baldwinsville were removed and consolidated thereto, where new brick buildings Avere erected, with special reference to the wants of the business. The buildings are su])stantial brick structures, and present a tine outward appearance, in which are employed on tlie average seventy-tive men, who are engaged in the manufacture and handling of various agricultural im})lements, forks, rakes, hoes, shovels, etc., which for quality and beauty are unsurpassed. The Otsego Fork Mills are not run on the thunder shoAver principle, but constantly, except when necessary to PIOXEER SKETCHES. 337 shut down for repairs. The popular demand for the A. Denio implements has oj^ened a market, not only through- out America, but in the old world, England, France and Germany. Mr. Denio possesses the happy faculty of retaining veteran skilled workmen and assistants in his business. Messrs. Casper Matteson, Mathias Hess, William Murray and Charles N. Bro^vnell are among the veterans in the dif- ferent branches in his employ. R. D. Cheeseman has been a foreman in Mr. Denio's employ 24 years of the 28 years of consecutive service, and many other expert workmen have been in employ for many years, which largely aids in the manufacture of the excellent implements for which the Otsego mills are famous. Luckily, too, for Mr. Denio, he is located contiguously to the best quality of white ash timber in the world, for handles. The apparent easy man- ner in which this timber is now obtained augurs well that he can obtain a supply for years to come. To A. Denio the people of Miles Grove owe much gratitude for his great enterprise located in their midst. He has been the one man power for years in this great con- cern until recently, when he wisely associated with him Messrs. Andrews, Hall and Sullivan, to prepare for the in- evitable, a natural emergency, to come on a time when no man can tell — the closing drama of a busy life. 23 CHAPTER XCI. AMERICA. iLTy^L^HAT OTHER NATION of so recent birth "ix^yv/ That can compare, upon this earth, /^ S%1 With America, the bounteous hind, From the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande. From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean Her commerce under perpetual motion. That she may never retrogade In this or any coming decade . America has the resources, and were invincible, Who carved her out upon first principles; Who came here a determined baud; Americans, forever united stand! Columbus snuffed in the western breezes land to the westward. His superstitious people sought to strangle his ideas, but to no avail. San Salvador, Cuba, and other islands were discovered, and finally the American Conti- nent. But not much headway was made in the way of settling antl populating the country until the beginning of the sixteenth century, when in Virginia and Massachusetts a band of determined men set to work. The mettle of those Puritans has been tested, and is well known to have been made to count from the time of their landing on the American shores and along down the ages. Lo Avas there, however, in all th(; glory nature had provided him — PIOXEER SKETCHES. 339 With all sorts of wild game that he could wish, Also with the otter, the muskrat and the iish; Sometimes without any other means of help With bow and arrow he'd take a white man's scalp. But the Indian race is becoming quite extinct; and of that other family of which there has been so much specula- tion, the lost tribes of Israel, we have but a meager tradi- tion, but we have evidence that some nation more powerful than the Indian preoccupied this country, but their record seems to have been too precious to preserve. However, with or without that record, we have in America nationali- ties to-day, quite enough for the propagation of a first-class hybrid at least. America has room and material to grow, and already she has assumed such gigantic proportions that she may noAv rest easy. The four great nations of Europe, Russia, England, Germany and France: The Russian Bear and her sporting whale, Old England and her British Lion's tail; Germany, her lager beer and her iron rule France with money and her Fashion School. Four great nations, singly or altogether. Must not pull the American Eagle's feather. The greatness of a country is measured by its intelligent rule and code of laws, its S3'stem of free schools, its resources and industry of its people Avhich, when united, pull strongly together. Its political and religious policy must work in harmony. Riots and wars are exhaustive to a nation, blightening, poisonous and destructive. Desolation, crime antl pauperism follo^v in its wake. Union in sentiment, union in action, brings peace, plenty, happiness and pr()sperity to the individual and to 340 PIONEER SKETCHES. the nation, which is characteristic of America — to be free from entangling alliances, and at peace in her commercial intercourse with all nations. No distant islands of the sea to protect, nor large standing or regular army, menacing or sapping the revenues of our government. This conspires to make America what she is — the sweet land of liberty — full of new blood, vigor and genius. Her generals, or her jobbers, would have gone out onto Solomon'sjiills of valuable w^oods with a few men and a yoke of cattle and moved oif more timber than did his 2,000 Jews, but it seems that Jew lumbermen were plenty and cheap in his day around about Jerusalem, and they had their way of doing things, too. With the past and present influx of immigration to America one would think that our continent would soon be overstocked. It is true we have had quite enough, especially of a certain class of emigrants — the pauper element, the tramp, the rioter and the dynamiter. For such we have no demand. But the honest toiler, the man of industrious, frugal and temperate habits, a law-abiding citizen, can still find room in America, and a remunerative price for his labor. There is something for every man to do in America if he is not too shiftless and lazy to go to work at some- thing. There is no need of this tramp nuisance in America. Yet a sad picture occasionally presents itself. The skilled artisan strikes a town and looks about for a job, but there is no opening just then for a machinist or for his par- ticular line of trade. He says, "My trade is machinist, and I can't do anything else." Days and Aveeks roll by, his money is getting low and his spirits, too ; he gets the bliu^s, and fin;dly throws his last dollar for drink and smoke and becomes a reckless tramp and bummer. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 341 Suppose that Grant and Sherman had chmg to and resorted to the same tactics on the batrletield that they had been accustomed to on other tields. When surve}'ing the tield they used the line best adapted for the emergency and pitched into the enemy and finally ousted them from their strongholds. Young man, when upon life's battleground you become shipwrecked, if you can't get into a good-fashioned boat to sail in, take a raft or a float and live it out for the time of emergency. And when on board your crude ship, if 3'ou can't make but a dollar ]:>er day, it is better to be sure of that than to wait for three dollars per day and be lost in the whirlpool of idleness and destruction. Employment in any Ijranch of industry (respectable) is honorable. I have known men to get rich on a small capital, raising turnips and potatoes. I have known men, without capital, to get rich hulling and popping corn and selling it. Others who have made a good living selling paper and matches. Others, in selling saurkraut and buttermilk. A man once got into a good job by simply being willing to do what he was told to do. On applying for work he was asked if he could make a pin; he said he could try; he was told to take a double bitted axe and make a wooden pin on a rock; he made the pin — then he said he always stuck the axe in the block — Then he raised the axe above the rock, And let 'er drive into the block; Said the man: "You've done a good job at that, Willing to work at what I set you at ; You have knocked off my axe both edges. But I'll hire you and give you good wages. 342 PIONEER SKETCHES. Opportunities there are for all whom we have, From the hair pin to the grindstone; The lawyer and the prophetic seer, The school hoy to the statesman without a peer. Therefore young man, there is no need for you to go hungry nor idle. If you can't get just what you desire at the onset, start in at the best thing you Ccan get and watch your opportunity and you will certainly win something that will suit you in the race for life. Resolutely take hold and turn up something and not wait for the opportunity golden to turn up to you. Look out upon the grandeur, the vastness of Young America, with her teeming millions keeping pace in the busy hum of agricultural, mechanical and commercial life. Look out upon her beautiful Garden City, Chicago, wath her million souls, and only a half century old. Young man, the same sun rises and sets in your horizon; the same refreshing w^aters roll to quench your thirst and bathe your weary feet — Golden avenues stretch out before you on every hand, Throughout America's broad and beneficeDt land. Then Ije loyal to your country, loyal and true to yourself; then it may be said your country is none the worse. l)ut the better for your existence therein. CHAPTER XCII. THE FATHER OF WATEKS. EOIMAXCE AXD TRAGEDY OF THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI— ITS WATERS COVER THE REMAINS OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN WHO TRAVERSED THEM — FERDINAND DE SOTO, LASALLE AND OTHERS. ^ ^^^^W///2/^ HE HISTORY of the Mississippi River for the past 350 years is a story of ro- mance and tragedy. Far back in the early days of the sixteenth century the adven- turous Spaniard, spurred on by a thirst for gold, began the exploration of the river and survey of the surrounding, country. But the bold European who first ventured upon the waters of the mighty stream found not in them the gold he sought, but a rgave. In 1539 Ferdinand De Soto left the Island of Cuba, over which for some years he had been Governor, in his wife's charge, and set sail for Florida, lured on by the reports of the boundless wealth in the sunny peninsula's soil. He arrived safely and disembarked his men, and in order that none should 1)e tem})ted to return or abandon the enterprise they had entered upon, he sent the ships l)ack to Cuba. De Soto pushed through the strange lanfl with his fol- lowers, and after a roundaljout journey reached the Miss- issippi at the blutis now known as the Lower Chickasaw, where the city of Memphis stands. The party crossed the 344 PIONEER SKETCHES. river at tliis point and explored the country beyond until they came upon the White River, some 200 miles from its junction Avith the great stream. De Soto then dispatched a portion of his men to explore the region of the Missouri, but they encoimtered such difficulties that they were forced to return. At the end of two years the expedition win- tered near the hot springs and salt streams of the Washita, but the canoes of the party got entangled in the bayous and marshes of the Red River and were lost. At length the Spaniards succeeded in striking the great river lower down, and the country was carefully surveyed, without, however, showing any signs of the gold for which they were seeking. All this time the Spaniards had to con- tend with the hostility of the Indians, who were ever on the alert to attack them. At length, dispirited by the dangers and disappointments he had endured, the leader succumbed to a malignant fever which attacked him, and on the 21st of May, 1542, after three years of exploration, De Soto died. The story of his burial has been graphically told by the historian. "Amid the sorrows of the moment and fears of the future, his l)ody was wrapi)e(l in a mantle and sunk in the middle of the river. A re(]uiem broke the midnight gloom and the morning rose upon the consternation of the survivors. De Soto sought for gold, l)ut found nothing so great as his I)urial place." Such was the end of the first attempt to explore the Mississippi and the adjacent country. Thousands journey on the mighty river yearly now, but few of those who pass and repass on its waters have any idea that in the bed of the stream rest tiie remains of the gallant Spaniard who was the first European to traverse the ^Mississippi. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 345 After the death of De Soto, the expedition was under the command of Louis De Moscoso, and, after enduring every calamity that could befall man, the party set to work and l)uilt sevent(»en brigantines. Having accomplished this they passed out of one of the mouths of the ri^er, and fol- lowing the coast eastward, reached Cuba in the autumn of 1543. The men lost half of their number in the four years they had been away — only 300 out of 600 who started, re- turning to the Island. MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. For more than a century after De Soto's expedition the talk of further exploring the Mississippi remained in abeyance. But in 1673 a Catholic priest named Marquette and a French trader named Joliet made an attempt to sur- vey some parts of the river, and there is no doul)t but that the example set by these two resolute men moved the Chev- alier De Lasalle to the important work of discovery he took in hand shortly afterwards, the most im})ortant in the his- tory of Mississippi exi)loration. lasalle's work. In the first place Lasalle dispatched Father Louis Henepin to survey the upper waters as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, which were discovered by the priest and named after his patron saint. In 16S2 Lasalle started with 23 Frenchmen and 18 Indians to explore the lower reaches of the river. He entered the Mississippi from Illinois and journeyed down the stream until he reached the ''Passes," as they are called, by which the waters make their way to the sea. He sent parties to survey each of the three channels of the Mississippi Delta and sailed into the open Gulf of Mexico. 346 PIONEER SKETCHES. The party then retraced their steps to Quebec, and Lasalle returned" to France. In 16S4, aided by the French Government, the Cheva- Her sailed witli four vessels for the Gulf of Mexico in order to enter the Mississippi from the sea, but he failed to accomplish this task. Lasalle lost his ships; and after making a vain attempt to reach the river overland he was assassinated l)y one of his followers in March, 1687, the second and greater explorer of the stream meeting a fate even more tragic than that which overtook his predecessor, Ferdinand De Soto. Twelve years later the mouths of the Mississippi were discovered by Iberville. The source of the river has been sought for, at different times, by travelers of nearly every nationality. 1805 the United States Government sent Lieutenant Pike to survey the region in which the Mississippi was sup- posed to have its origin; and in 1820 Governor Cass, of Michigan, undertook a similar task, but they were unsuc- cessful in their attempts to trace it, and the source of the river remained still unknown. In 1832 Henry Howe Schoolcraft explored Lake Itasca, which he reg-arded as the source of the stream. It had long l)ecn suspected, however, that the Mississippi had its fountain-head higher up than Lake Itasca; and in July, 1881, an expedition, led by Captain Willard Glazier, discovered a lake south of Itasca a mile and a-half in diameter, and falling into Itasca by a permanent stream. B(\yond this there is no water connected with the river, and hence Lake Glazier is now jjenerallv rccoiiiiizcd as its source. CHx\PTER XCIII. COOPED BY A LIOX. N MY second trip to Africa as agent of the Hamberg Animal House, one night encamped on a stream in the Transvaal there arose a storm of such severity that most of our live stock broke away and ran off in teri'or. As soon as daylight came we started out to recover the ani- mals. Two horses which I was after led me a long chase, and as I passed over some broken ground close to a great mass of rock, my horse stumbled and threw me over his head. I wasn't hurt much by the fall, but the horse acted in a manner unaccountable to mc. He ran off at the top of his speed, never heeding my calls, and my rifle was strapped to the saddle and my revolvers in the holsters. For a minute I was lost in astonishment at his conduct, but soon the mystery was explained in a way to startle me. About five rods off, standing by a bush, was one of the largest lions I ever saw. He stood facing me, and was switching his tail right and left. In the mass of rock ten feet to my right was an open- ing and I jumped for it and s(pieezed in just as the lion came up. Luckily for me, at least on this occasion, I was thin in flesh, Aveighing less than 120 pounds. The hole was very irregular and ran back about eight feet, and was high enough for me to stand up in. It was also lucky that the lion was a big fellow, for he worked his hardest to get at me, and gave up only after 1.5 minutes"' trial. His head was 348 PIONEER SKETCHES. too big for the opening, and when he reached for nie with his paws he fell short by three or four feet. When I first reahzed that I was safe, I regarded the situation as a good joke on the Hon, l)ut hxter on I had reason to change my views. The Hon had been asleep under the bush when I came galloping up. His near presence was what scared my horse into running off as he did, and the beast had been somewhat confused over the row and had delayed rushing upon me until I had s'ained shelter. When he found me l)e>'ond his reach he got verv mad and orowled and rt)ared and l)it at the rocks, and I shouted and kicked at him to keep the fun ffoing:. After ten or fifteen minutes' useless work the lion backed away and laid down in front of my prison, and then I beojan to realize the situation. It was a hot morning and I was alread}^ thirsty, while I had been in such a hurry to leave camp that I had eaten nothing. The rocks were still dripi)ing with the rain of the previous night, and I could thus take the edge off my thirst. I also had matches and cigars, and was not so badly oft' for a brief siege. 1 fully expected his majesty to retire within an hour or two, as he lay full in the sun, and it is the custom of all the feline tribe to sleep by day and to retire to a shady and secluded spot. I judged my distance from camii to be al)out six miles, and if au}^ of our l)oys should come that Avay, the lion Avould l)e pretty sure to make a sneak. Up to noon I was momentaril}' expecting their ap])roacli. It then occurred to me that no one would know exactly which way I went or how far I had galloped, and they might search for a whole day and not come within miles of me. PIONEER SKETCHES 349 By high noon the lion was panting with the heat, but would not move, although there was shade only 20 feet away. I could not stretch out at full length, but I got a com- fortable position and fell asleep soon after noon, and did not open my eyes again until just at sundown. I could not see that the lion had moved an inch, but he lay with his head on his paws as if he had also taken a long nap. My people had no doubt searched for me, but they had not come in the right direction, and I might as well prepare to spend the night in the cave. I was very hungr}^ and thirsty by this time. I licked the damp rocks all around me to cool my tongue, but had not a morsel to stay my stomach. With a loose stone I broke oflf pieces from the rocks and flung them out at the lion, but he only growled and showed his teeth in reply. I then made as if I would crawl out but he had his head at the opening in an instant, and his eyes were so full of lire, they were almost like lanterns. While the situation was unpleasant it might be worse, and as my sleep had been broken for several nights I turned in as soon as darkness came down, and was soon oblivious of all things earthly. Some time in the night I was aroused by the lion roaring and making a great fuss, and I made out that another male was in the neighborhood and challenging him to fight. It was none of my affair, however, and after listening awhile I dr()])ped asleep, and did not awaken again until daylight. The first thing I saw, as I looked out, was my lion. He had not moved a rod and had lost none of his determination to make a meal of my poor flesh. I was hopeful up to noon, but heard nothing. All the long afternoon I felt sure lielj) would come, but the sun went down and I was still a prisoner and the lion had not moved. He nuist be thirsty and hungry, 350 PIONEER SKETCHES. and his remaining where he was showed that he possessed a dogged obstinacy unknown in many otliers of his kind. Tlie nearest water was about four miles away. As dark- ness came I determined to a(kl to the brute's suflerings, and I therefore worked my l)ody as near the opening as I dared to, and kicked at liim, until lie was worked into a state of fury. This added to his thirst, and when he tinally quieted down he walked about uneasily. Had he trotted off in the direction of the river I should not have dared leave my retreat (as the route to camp was a dangerous one by night) but he did not go. About 9 o'clock in the evening I heard another lion roar close by, and he was instantly answered by my jailer. I had made the old fellow mad all the way through, and he was now anxious to fight. The other must have been in the same frame of mind, for it was not ten minutes before he advanced to the attack, and although 1 could see nothing, I could catch the sound of a most tremendous struggle. I believe the fight lasted a full half hour, and two or three times the combatants rolled against the mass of rock. They finally drew away, the sounds becnne fainter, and I went to sleep hoping for release in the morn- ing. When morning came my jailer was not ^'isible. After taking due precautions against surprise I crept out, to find the coast actually clear, and I made a bee lino for camp, and reached it without adventure. The men had just got news that a lion had ])een cap- tured in a pit about two miles away. I went with them after breakfast to get him out, and from certain marks on the body I recognized the animal as the one who had besieged me. We had no more trouble in getting him out PIONEER SKETCHES. 351 than as if he had been a dog, but the mysteiy was explained as we hfted him out. He was half dead with the injuries received in the light with the other lion. His right eye was destroyed, his jaw fractured, the end of his tongue bitten off, his left hind leg broken and he had been bitten and clawed in fifty different places. We did not believe he would ever get well and therefore killed him for the value of his hide. — Sun. CHAPTER XCIV. LOVING WORDS. OVING words will cost but little Joiirneyiug up the hill of life, ^^But they make the weak and weary Stronger, braver, for the strife. Do you count them only trifles ? What to earth ai'e sun and rain ? Never was a kind word wasted, Never one was said in vain. When the cares of life are many, And its burdens heavy grow For the ones who walk beside you — If you love them, tell them so. What you count of little value Has an almost magic power. And beneath their cheering sunshine Hearts will blossom like a flower. So as up life's hill we journey Let us scatter all the way Kindly words, to serve as sunshine In the dark and cloudy day. Grudge no loving Avord, my brother. As along througli life you go; To the ones who journey with you — If vou love them, tell them so. CHAPTER XCV. PITTSBURG. and the Yoiigliiogheny, announcing from the start, to the reader, that its site l^ears no lack of rivers bearing Indian names, fraught with historic and picturesque scenes. Lo, the poor Indian, well knew by this great conflux of streams, its lofty hills, its forests and beautiful valleys, that it would afford a paradise. for him. Up the Allegheny he found his Indian God, his Patterson and Montgomery Falls and Pegg's Chute, his Clarion, wonderful Bear Creek, Red Bank and the Ox Bow. It is along these mountains that we can behold grandeur not to be seen elsewhere. Its overhanging trees and rocks, its rich minerals, its outcropping veins of bituminous coal and limestone. But what has all this to do with Pittsburg ? Much. Its sagacious founder no doul^t knew this: that the iron manufacturer had all the material at hand with which to operate, and so did Pitts- burg become, and was for years, the greatest ordnance and heavy goods manufacturing city in America. And we have noticed that as a large city she has, through past de- cades, apparently suffered less from })anics than many other cities. Pittsburg is one of the oldest aud wealthiest cities in our country. Its inhabitants savor somewhat of the Quaker and German elements, and the majority have come to stay. Its present population is about 315,000, having made great i)rogress during the last decade. 23 CHAPTER XCVI. BUTI.ER. BUTLER is the county scat of Butler County, Pa. Like Franklin and other inland towns, it has enjoyed a slow but steady growth. Its people are of a staunch order, generally mean what they say, and pay for what they o-ct. It contains several churches, schools, hotels, stores and manufactories. Its people can congratulate themselves that they have at hand a plenty of the black diamond va- riety of fuel for domestic, mechanical and commercial pur- poses for generations to come. Butler County has, perhaps, more bituminous coal than any other county in Western Pennsylvania. The Shenango Railroad, recently constructed, which taps Butler's vast coal fields, will prove a valuable factor to its wealth and re- sources by opening a much more extensive market for her hidden treasures. A good portion of the count}' abounds with food farmin"' lands; its farmers are well-to-do and generally out of debt. Her oil production has been, and is still, of considerable value altogether. I predict a prosper- ous future for Butler, and that it will become one of the wealthiest counties of Western Pennsylvania. CHAPTEK XCVII. COLONEL DRAKE, THE DISCOVERER OF PETROLEUM OIL. OLONEL DRAKE drilled the first oil well in Oildom, on Watson's Flats, on Oil Creek, just below Titusville, by hand power, using a spring pole as the motive power. He came from York State, and went to work drilling for Seneca oil in 1858 under adverse circumstances — poor in i)ocket, but with the firm conviction he would discover petroleum oil in the rock below. #.=^' He was called by some wiseacres a crazy fanatic, but undaunted, he kept on drilling. Without money or credit he persevered, and at the depth of 09 feet he struck the pent-u}) treasnre. Then it was, as in all other cases, '"How do you do, Colonel Drake. Allow me to congratulate you, Mr. Drake, on your good fortune," etc. This man, for the discovery of one of the most useful commodities in our land, should long be remembered as a benefactor to the people, at least of this generation. Mr. Drake died comparatively a poor man, and dui- ing his later years some noble-hearted oil men raised for him a purse to smooth his pathway down the close of his life's journey. 356 PIONEER SKETCHES. Colonel Drake's great discovery bestired the people. Leasing and purchasing land set in briskly. Analytical tests by experts were made, and this petroleum oil was found to contain component ingredients susceptible of great value, hence Oil Creek, from Titusville to Oil City," was soon alive, and many a rabbit and rattlesnake were driven from their secluse by the constant tramp of the oil seekers. Millions of dollars were soon expended in the erection of oil rigs, buildings and refineries, and drilling. Millions of dollars' worth of oil have been produced, and millions have been made in refining and shipment, and $100,000,000 is said to have been made by one man — Rockafeller, of the Standard Oil Company — in the business. Well, this latter deal seems to cap the climax. How- ever, " truth is sometimes stranger than fiction." Let us not forget to honor Colonel Drake, the pioneer driller and the discoverer of petroleum oil , TO OILDRILLEKS: To drill an oil well should you undertake, Breathe a kiud thought to the memory of Col. Drake. CHAPTER XCVIII. FRANIvLIN. KAXKLIN is situated ut the junction of French Creek and on the north side of the Allegheny River, and is the county seat of Venango County, Pa. R is one of the oldest cities in Western Pennsyl- A'ania, and there are no fears of the town getting away. From every point of the compass the mountainous hills look frowningly down upon the place. The valley at this point is about one mile wide and about three miles long. The scenery is picturesque and beautiful. Much might be writ- ten al)Out this town, which was first settled by the French. A fort was erected and called Fort Macault. The road that General Washington traveled over in revolutionary days from Philadelphia, Pittsburg and northward, ran through this place, as did many an Indian trail. Franklin contains about 1,300 inhabitants, and is noted for its fine wide streets, its durable stone sidewalks and its staid people, its mammoth hills, its beautiful Venango and Allegheny Rivers, abounding in fish, its long-winded oil wells of twenty years' production, and finally its situation l)ctween the loftv hills, that a cyclone would have to swoop down like a hen hawk to reach its inhabitants. Two great oil refineries are located here, one of which, the Eclipse, is rightly named. As far as the writer has ever seen, this mammoth refinery eclipses everything of the 358 PIONEER SKETCHES. kind on earth. Barnum oup^ht to buy it. But the Stand- ard Oil Company, the owner, is not in the market, hut ])ro- poses to eclipse it. The Evans well, on the Hats of French Creek, was the second oil well drilled in oildom, that of Colonel Drake's, at Titusville, being the first, in 1858, and from that date on- ward for fifteen years, through the palmy days of oildom, never was there before,' and perhaps there never will be again such a vast operation and such a speculation through all hands, in oil lands, as there was in Venango County from 1858 to 1870. The coimtryman and the expert, the oil smeller and the speculator, the gaml)ler and the capital- ist, the la])orer and the dude, all met in one common plane, besm altered in mud, grease, rain, snow or simshine, to bu}^, sell or lease, to put up a derrick or to pump, or swindle you out of an oil well. More fortunes were made and lost in Venango County Pa., between 1860 and 1870, than in any other spot of the same area on the American Continent. Losses by fire were immense, oil tanks being struck by lightning and set on fire by other causes, exploding the large tanks. The oil running along the ground and into tho river followed by the lapping fiame, and on its course down the river would burn everything it touched — Then onward down the stream — The grandest blaze and uiglitly scene That I ever beheld. However, the trade became a legitimate business, and many good men were engaged in it. For some time oil sold at very lenumerative prices — one to five dollars per barnd, which paid the producer well. At onc! time it reached a fabulous price. In August, 18(i3, Jacob Shirk, dealer and shipper at Oil City, paid $1-1.00 per 1)ar]'cl to Hnish loading my boat for Kittanning — the Valley Kailroad then terminating at that })lace. CHAPTER XCIX. OIL CITY. IL CITY is situated seven miles above Franklin, in Venango County, Pa., on the Allegheny River and at the mouth of Oil Creek. It is noted as the hub of the oil region and for its rapid growth from a wild country vacuum to a city of 10,000 inhabitants. Cottage Hill and South Oil City, with many fine residences, are pleas- ant portions of the city. The mountains on the north side of the town, tunneled by the Lake Shore Railroad, with a race course on its top, overlooking the city from its dizzy height, affords a grand and picturesque view. Immense transactions were carried on in all things per- taining to the oil business from 1860 to IS TO, and gave to the huckster and the farmer the best market in the country for his products. The writer has measured up coal aboard of his boat at fifty cents per bushel to the Oil Creek scalper, put from 200 to 500 bushels aboard of his giper, and with his horses hitched to the bow he would drive u}) Oil Creek four miles to Cherry Run, and there sell his cargo of coal at from $1 to $1.25 ])er bushel at the oil wells. 360 PIONEER SKETCHES. Theu, you see, the oil business was at fever height, The oil producer would hustle with all his might, To pump from the ground the oil, if it didu't How From a God-forsaken spot where nothing would grow. Away back to the time of the earliest settler of Oil Oreek, or of Venango and Crawford Counties, 1795 up to 1810, the Seneca Indians were accustomed to gather oil from different springs and places in Oil Creek, which was then and subsequently sold as Seneca Oil in one-ounce phials at 25 cents, as a great medicine and liniment for the cure of frost bites,. burns, scalds, rheumatism, etc. Quite a difference then, was it not, in the price (jf 25 cents per ounce and 25 cents per barrel in 18r)2 for the same Seneca? This is only one of the many wonderful things devel- oped on Oil Creek, its tributaries and in other fields in the vicinity, for the pioneer land owner, who originally bought at from 25 cents to one, two and three dollars per acre, some of whom, for years, lived })rincipally l)y hunting, fish- ing, log cutting, lumbering in a small way, and running out of Oil Creek down the Allegheny, as it were, to eke out a subsistence. Many of these heroic, hardy pioneers struggled hard for a life's subsistence on the same lands which in after years yielded them a princely fortune in the space of one week, one month, or one year's time. The developments were from a 50 to a 3,()00-barrel oil well, wdiich made these fellows so rich and greasy that they slid right out of that country and bought lands and plac(?s to suit their mind's eye. The oil business had assumed great proportions, thous- ands of oil derricks and buildings already dotting the val- leys, the hillsides and the hilltoi)s throughout the Oil Creek region. A vast amount of oil w'as stored in wooden and P/ON'E ER SKE TCHES. 3 {\ \ iron tanks. Relineries were built, and also niaehine shops for the manufacture of drilling tools, boilers, engines, etc. The hillsides and the valleys were lit at night Ijy the gas from the oil wells. The gas was also utilized for fuel in drilling and pumping oil wells. Many boats were used on Oil Creek, and in times of a sudden rise of water in this mountainous stream, boats would break away from their moorings and l)e hurled down the stream. Soon great numbers would become gorged, and the fire that followed and the great destruction of pro- perty was a terrible sight to behold, and will be long re- meml)ered by the old timers on Oil Creek. Scenes and incidents might be written of this oleagi- nous region to fill a volume. Rouseville four miles up the creek had become a [)romincnt place; also Petroleum Centre eight miles above Oil City. At these points a large amount of oil was produced. Oil operations had now extended down the Allegheny River to Scrubb Grass, Parker's Landing, Bear Creek and other places contiguous thereto, also up the Allegheny, Tidioute and other places and on to Bradford. A good proportion of that land acreage, in this great oil field, was rough and untillable and apparently was of little value. But it has been demonstrated time and again, thtit the oil produced from one acre and less, of this rough, unearthly land would buy 10,000 acres of good, arable farming lands. In taking a retrospective view of this wonderful oil region, its rugged, rocky, mountainous hills, its native drawbacks, its original, secluded locality, we cannot gain- say that were we its masterpiece, that we would have bettered it. 362 PIONEER SKETCHES. Oil City is still the centre of the oil business, op- erations at its oil exchange, daily quotations go out to New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Cleveland, and to all the principal cities, and become one of the great factors in commerce. And during all its ups and downs, through panic times, Oil City continued to become more solid and city like, and to-day she can boast of many fine residences and business blocks and good hotels, churches, and a very fine oil exchange. CHAPTER C. THE STEELE FARM. j;BOUT THREE MILES above Oil City, on Oil Creek, is situated the Steele Farm, which became famous as an oil producing farm. Upwards of two mill- ions of dollars were realized as royalty of the oil production of this farm. John Steele (or "Coal Oil Johnny, as he was called) came in possession of this vast sum of money, and he proceeded at once to show the people — That he could light his cigar with a ten-dollar bill, This he often would do to gratify his will; In cities with fine rigs he'd drive out on a bum, Sometimes he would buy out the whole rig before he got home Thus this fast young man recklessly slung out his greenbacks, and in so doing he soon brought around him a horde of suckers and leeches who spurred him onward, down, down, in his wild and lavish career, and he soon suc- cumbed, like a field of grain l)cfore the reaper's sickle. Of this oil prince other things we might tell, How he bought out a Philadelphia hotel, As he went in to have a rousing time. To brush off the dust and take a shine. He called u\) freely the wine and refreshments, and when the landlord was loth to furnish more until the bill was settled the young greaser inquired, ''What will you 364 PIOXEER SKETCHES. take for your hotel and get right out? " "Fifty thousand dolhirs," the landlord replied. A l)argain was struck and this young blood run hotel that day. In the course of a few months he became an oil teamster and continued in this occupation for some years. One day he received a letter from a banker stating that there was in the l)ank the sum of 5t>20.000 to the credit of the account of John Steele, (having })rcviou-ly l)een dei)os- ited I)}- him.) This money was used more economically than his former twenty thousands. I understand that he is now living in Minnesota engaged as a telegraph lineman and his son as an operator. CHAPTER CI. THE BENNEIIOFF FARM. BRIEF mention of John Bennehoff may be of interest to some. The famous Bennehoff Farm was situated about one mile from Petroleum Centre. This farm was prineii)ally located on the highlands, nnich aljove the level of Oil Creek and Bennehoff Run. His dwell- >pot, a consideral)le ing was located in quite a secluded distance from any other habitation. As the oil-smeller and the oil-driller moved back from the valleys this farm was leased, and operations commenced in earnest. The whale's back was struck, and the derricks and the flowing oil wells soon dotted the Bennehoff Farm, and he became the millionaire instead of the staid old Ger- man farmer. Mr. Bennehoff conceived the idea of being his own banker, and from time to time he placed his greenbacks in a simply-constructed iron safe in his dwelling house. Jim Saeger, of Saegertown, Pa., being aware of this private banking house, took it into his head to call at Mr. Benne- hoff's some fine evening and carry off those greenbacks. He stood six feet two, straight as arrow, with raven hair and eyes like a hawk, and he proceeded to prepare for the business. A German neighbor of Saeger, by the name of Loui Weldy, Avas sent to interview the German hired man of Bennehoff, who gave the information that Mr. Bennehoff, 366 PIONEER SKETCHES. wif (> and two daughters, Joseph Beniiehotf and the hired man comprised the family, and that Joseph attended church certain evenings, and would leave the house before 7 o'clock. Saeger then secured the services of a couple of sharp desperadoes from Philadelphia, promising them, it was said, in case of a successful haul, $25,000 each; also Weldy and one Miller, of Saegertown, $8,000 and $5,000. The expedition being planned Saeger, with a span of horses and sleigh, one wintry evening started with his gang from Saegertown across the country fourteen miles for the Bennehoff Farm. On arriving within two miles of their destination he drove his team into a thicket, and the party proceeded on foot to the Bennehoff house. Knocking on the door, he and two of his dare-devils went in' Avhile the others kept watch outside. Their revolvers demanded silence, a'ld Mr. Bennehoff and wife were bound and gagged, as also was the hired man and the girls. The key to the safe being found in Mr. B.'s pocket, it was unlocked and a-half million dollars in greenbacks were taken and put into a flour sack — a much safer place, they thought, — and ready for transportation. They next proceeded to examine Joseph's safe, which contained $300,000, but they found no key to open it, as Joseph was at church and had the key in his pocket. However, they seemed pretty well satisfied ^s\\\\ their flour sack of greenbacks, and they cooly retired for a re- past to the pantry, where they tilled up with bread, milk, and cream, fried cakes, honey and saurkraut, which took a longer time than it did to rob the safe. PIONEER SKETCHES. 367 The hired intin was then untied and marched to the barn and ordered to hitch up a team to a sleigli, then retied, the robl)ers driving off the team to the phice where they had left theirs; they left this team tied to a tree and with their own drove into Meadville, which place they reached in good time the fore part of the same night — An while they went into the tavern to warm, without and within, The flour sack of greenbacks was left in the sleigh outside of the inn. The news of the robbery spread like wildtire the next morning, but Saeger and his pils had cooly departed, Miller and Weldy returning to their homes in Saegertovvn. The affair for a long time was a mystery. No clue; no suspicion rested on an}' one. It was noticed that Mr. Weldy exhibited more -money than usual, and tinally he purchased a valuable farm, which created a suspicion and he was arrested as being implicated in the Bennehoff rob- bery. He made a clean-breasted confession and he and Miller were sent to the state prison for a term of years. Nothing was heard of the two reputed Philadelphians. In the meantime Mr. Bennehoff had offered a reward of $lUO,000 for the capture and conviction of Saeger, and the recovery of the money. A few years later he was, by an acquaintance, identihed at Denver, Colorado, as ho called into a restaurant and ordered ''a dozen fried." The lady in attendance saluted him with a "How do you do, Jim Saeger ^" With piercing look and quick response he replied, "You are mistaken matlam. I am not Jim Saeofcr." 368 PIONEER SKETCHES. To which his interlocutor rephed, "You can't fool me. I know you, Jim Saeger/' "But hush, hush; keep mum," he said. The landlord was informed, also the sheriff, and Saeger was arrested. But said he, "I have a drove of cattle just outside the limits, with a good herd of cow boys, and you'll have a nice time in taking me east." Saeger was held and the Bennehoffs notified, and Chief Rouse of Titusville was sent to bring on his man. But young Bennehoff found that the prospects of recovering any great portion of his money was then doubtful because Sae- ger's capital consisted principally in herds of cattle roaming over Texas and New Mexico. But at all events, the situa- tion, for some cause, did not suit him sufficiently to put up the $100,000 reward, and Mr. Rouse, it was said, became disffusted over the affair, came home and at last accounts Jim Saeger was still in the far southwest. The probabilities are that Saeger has given — John Bennehoff' s hoodie larger circulation Throughout the western nation, From Denver to the Rio Grande, Than would the miserh^ old German. But thii^ isn't a good example to follow, To first gag one so he can't ludloo; Then steal away his greenbacks. Doughnuts, cheese, honey and saurkraut. Saeger soon became a ranchnuin in the west, And scattered his half million right and left In herds of cattle o'er the t?outhwesteru plain; He claimed 'twas Bennehoff 's loss, but other's gain. FIONEER SKETCHES. 369 Months later, at a Denver Inn, he called for oyster.s fried, When by a Pennsylvania wonnm he was^ espied; Then followed Jim Saeger's arrest, Released, to roam again in the wild west. Had he stolen Bennehoff's cow, mule or ass, When they got him, they'd held him fast; But as he simply stole half a million dollars, He was treated as a gentlemen and a scholar. One need not go to Wall Street, New York, to see how a lively exchange business is carried on, for you can see it at Oil City. BULL AND BEAK. A member springs to his feet in the Oil City Exchange, With blood in his eye and oil on his brain; He shouts and he bellows, the bull is there And 'mid the excitement up comes the bear. Then 'twas bull and bear In the arena, everywhere. Novice v\'ould do well to understand A single word from any man. And when the bulls and bears retire They'll figure you up if you desire; They'll do you up in long or short, Most generallv in the latter sort. 24 CHAPTER CII. TITUSA ILLE. ITUSVILLE is situated, on Oil Creek, seventeen miles above Oil City, and is the second city in size in Crawford County, Pa. Like Oil City, it is a young town, it having developed from a country hamlet to a city, soon after the outbreak of the oil excitement in 1858. Titusville is noted for its pleas- ant site in a In'oad valley and a pleasant country aroimd. Its streets are well laid out and skirted with l)eautiful shade trees, and it is not lacking for good churches and schools, pu])lic build- ings and fine residences. Altogether, Titusville is one of the best and pleasantest towns in Western Pennsylvania. All through the palmy days of oildom, and at the ])res- ent time, it was and is the home of many of the oil men, many of whom and families possessed great wealth and re- finement. The evening scene at the Titusville jjostoffice at most times from \S(\5 to 1875 could not, 1 presume to say, l)e duplicated in any other city of the same size on the Ameri- can continent. As its inhabitants and many transients called for their evening mail, together with the hundreds of day laborers for their missives, thev would form in line outside PIONEER SKETCHES. 371 the post office, each one to take his turn u}) to the captain's office to see what was in store for him, and as the office closed many a one had to go unserved to return on the fol- lowing day. Through a great portion of these days the oil ))ooni and the traffic were immense and red hot between Titusville, Pleasantville and Shaml)urg. A plank road, six miles to Pleasantville, was built, and the hum and rattle of the numerous lines of stages told the traveler that there was somethino- o-oing on about there. The everlasting, solicitous, chin music of the stage driver was sufficient for jow to get in and ride, whether you really wanted to or not, to get a rest. *, In and around the villages of Pleasantvilk^ and Sham- burg a city of oil ' rushed to the scene of this new eldorado. Greenbacks were plenty and the i)eople appar- ently slung them out free as water. Most e\'ervb()dy Avas l)ound for Pithole — And many a one had to sleep on the soft side of the floor, And many another chap, on the a'round, out of door. In the course of two or three months a city was built, not in the most substantial manner, but it was built all the same: neither did they Avaitforthe surveyor to give them a grade for their streets or sidewalks, or a majority of conn- 376 PIONEER SKETCHES. oilmen to say whether they should build of l)rick or stone, but up went Pithole City. "With most all kinds of business people and things to behold, the town, the streets and the wT)ods were full of people, and everything w^ent booming. But alas, Pithole, like the dog, had its day. Its owner went off, visiting other fields, and the biggest hotel in the eitv was afterward sold for $1(>. CHAPTER CVI. KOADS IN OILDO.M. ¥ JEs. ^RE WAGON ROADS around Pithole, as most others throughout the oil region, are of a pec all ar \^ sort. Tliey lead off at nearly every point of the compass through field and underbrush, through wood and stream, o'er hills and valleys, (and during six or eight months of the year) through mud every Avhere. Thousands of acres thrown open to the commons gave the oil teamstc^r a free pass from i)oint to point, a privilege which was highly appreciated many times, when the road track be- came so mellow that his wagon wheel could not touch ])ot- toni. then the driver could switch off on to another track. Frequently }0u could see two wheels of his wagon upon a rock, the other two wheels feeling for a l)ottom and the off' side of his wagon Ijox in the mud. The whole cargo was inclined on an angle of about 45 degrees, and you would wonder how anyone but an Oil Creek teamster could come out of such a pcrdicament right side up. As you passed onward you could notice that some poor horse had quit the business, shaken oft* his harness and lain down on the side of the road to take a rest, his poor carcass to furnish food for the ravenous liuzzard and the crow. Myron Young, of Ashtabula, gives his experience on a trip over the roads in oildom witli horses, wagon and three barrels of oil. When he came into one of those? extra o7S PIONEER SKETCHES. fertile spots, his horses stopped and couldn't budge. He got down from his wagon, unhitclied his horses from it and succeeded in getting one cf them out onto terra firma, and with this horse and a long rope hitched around the roadster's neck and pulled him out. The same tactics were resorted to on the wagon. We might reasonaljly infer that on such roads the oil teamster must have the faith of a Christian and the heart of a lion to venture upon the road from Pithole to Petroleum Centi-e. CHAPTER CVII. ASHTA15ULA, OHIO— HARBOR — EARLY SETTLERS— GROWTH. ISHTABULA and its harl)or is situated on Lake Erie, in the northeastern i)ortion of the State of Ohio, and about li miles west ^f K^ '^'^ ^^'*' Pennsylvania state line, and was settled in 1S(hi. It is the largest town in Ashtabula County, containing 10,000 inhabitants, and has at present the largest commercial trade in iron ore of any other lake port on the great chain of lakes. Its coal exports are also immense. The gi'owth of Ashtal)ula w^as phenomenally small until the completion of the Franklin & Oil City branch of the Lake Shore and the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg Railroads in 18T5, which opened commerce to the bitum- inous coal fields of Mahoning, Lawrence, Beaver and Allegheny Counties, Pa., and also afforded an outlet for the shipment of iron ore from its harbor to the furnaces and iron mills of the Mahoning, Shenango, Allegheny and Youghiogheny valleys. It was then that Ashtabula began to boom. However, Ijack to the days of the old stage coach — 1830 to IS'IS — Ashtabula was a small village with a tavern, a store, a scool house, a blacksmith shop and a few dwell- ing houses and groggeries; there was, however, quite a trade at the haibor. Steam and sail craft on the lakes transported the country's merchandise and a portion of the human freight, the stage coach claiming the balance of the })ass('n- ger tratfic. Quite a lively appearance was presented at our 380 PIONEER SKETCHES. lake ports then in the absence of any raih-oads on the chain of lakes. The pioneer settlers of Ashtabula were Mathew Hub- bard, who came in 1803 from Butt'alo, in company' with another man. They came in an open boat, put into Ashta- l)ula Creek and stayed the tirst night under a big log in the valley on Capt. Scoville's farm; and during that summer and fall an old Indian furnished them with wild game for their meat. Mr. Hubliard cleared off land and sowed some wheat that fall (1803), and returned to Holland Patten, where his wife was living. He remained there for a time and then returned to Ashtabula. His wife Mrs Mary Hub- bard, accompanied by Mrs, Amos Fisk, came to Ashtal)ula on horse back in 1807. ]SIr. Strong, father of Elisha C. Strong, Asher and John Blakesley, Ziba Seymour and others by the name of Sey- mour, were among the tirst settlers of Ashta!)ula and vicin- ity. Hall Smith built the first mill and opened the first tav- ern on the spot where the Children's Home now stands. The Sweet family, Isaac Sweet and the Metcalfs were among the first settlers on the east side. William Humphrey, grand-father of Alfred and Rus- sell C. Humphrey, built the second mill in Ashtabula, and afterwards, had a lot of hogs on board a vessel westward bound. When near Fairport the vessel foundered and Mr. Humphrey and crew were drowned, l)ut some of the hogs swam ashore. Amos Fisk came on to Ashtabula about lS(i;>, and was engaged vTith Mathew Hubl)ard in shipping salt from Buf- falo to Ashtal)ula. in open boats, which business to-day PIONEER SKETCHES. 381 would be considered a pretty hazardous one, even for the expert sailor. A Mr. Mendall, who lived in u log cabin on Bunker Hill on Matliew Hubbard's farm, had several hogs in his pen, said to weigh from 300 to -iOO pounds each. Aliout midnight one night he and Mr. Hubl )ard were awakened by the squealing of a hog. They hurried out to the pig pen and found bruin pulling one of the hogs out of the pen ; the bear proceeded at once to walk off with his porker. ]Mr. Hubl)ard and Mr. Mendall followed him over four dif- ferent fences. Finally the hog stopped squealing; they re- turned to the house for a light and a trap, and, returning, found the hog dead. They then set the trap, with a chain made fast to a sapling, so that when Mr. Bear returned for his breakfast they would catch him. Afterwards, on going to their trap, they found both trap and sapling gone. People turned out, and traced l)ear, trap and sapling to the north woods in Saybrook and came upon the whole oattit. Bruin showed fight, and lunged at Amos Fisk, who sprang aside and threw down his hat, which the bear tore in pic.'ces, instead of Mr. Fisk. The bear was killed, leaving one less in the bruin family. — Ed-t. from Notes of N. liubhard. In Xovemlx'r, 1 SOO, Seth Thayre, one of the pioneers of Ashtabula, was clearing land on Bunker Hill, and tree after tree necessarily had to be felled. WIkmi cutting down a gigantic hickory it carried with it Iavo other trees, a beach and a chestnut, together in mass over the road with a crash that echoed in the forest far around. Great was his astonishment at hearing the furious l)ark- ing of a dog. On running to the spot and peering beneath the fallen mass his dismay may be imagined at seeing a Avhole family, with oxen, sled and dog (all unharmed) sur- 382 PIONEER SKETCHES. rounded and covered by the fallen trees. It proved to be the family of Wm.Perrin, wife and two small children, who were on their way to visit the said Scth Thayre, riding on an ox sled, the usual conveyance in those days. When they arrived at this point they neither saw nor suspected danger until too late to attempt to escape. The tirst intimation of what was coming was the whistling of the l)ranches through the air. Instant retreat was cut oH. and the advance was wholly obstructed. A mass of timber tilled the road. The chestnut was ])roken up, the beech lay across the road on a level with the oxen's necks. One ponderous branch of the stately hickory was across the middle of the sled, and immediately behind it was another branch of equal size; and between these branches was Mrs. Perrin and her two children, all unharmed. Their escape from instant death was miraculous. A moment before the fall he occu})ied the place where a mas-, sive branch f(^ll which threatened to crush them to atoms, which was averted only by its falling across a large pile of brush. The furious barking of the dog, the bellowing of the cattle occasioned by the infliction of many stripes of the small limbs, the startling screams of the wojiian and the shrill cries of the children, and the amazement of the men created a scene which may be better imagined than oats and a good number of sail vessels were brought into requisition to transport this iron ore from the mines of the northwest, and man}' cargoes of grain from Duluth and Chicago, for which the Lake Shore Railroad could not compete, even had it the capacit}'. And now, on most any da}- during the shipping season one can here see a fleet of twenty to fort}- vessels of a tonnage of from 1,'25() to 2,500 tons. The people of Ashtabula during the last tifteen years have had a prett}- big elejihant on their hands. For its number of inhabitants, it has a large area of territory to improAc. It contains several small farms in its corporate limits, it has many miles of streets and sidewalks to kee]) up, and many miles of water mains, electric and gasolini' lights, a fine city hall, ten churches, school buildings, tlie High School l)uilding, one of the finest in the State, some SCALPED 25 386 PIONEER SKETCHES. fine residence and business blocks, and several prominent manufactories, and a street car railroad torn up to make room for another which we hope to have. While its municipal taxation is high we must have other improvements which are in vogue; and before the close of this season we expect to see a high lever bridge across the river and an electric street car line to the Harbor. And allow me to say to whom it may concern that there is no more suitable place for an iron plant than Ashtabula Harbor. A most excellent site for such an enterprise can be had, and there is already afforded the best facilities for shi})))ing by water and by rail to any point desired. Ash- tabula possesses the elements to become a city of forty thousand inhabitants in a short period of time. 1st. It is endowed with natural advantages. 2nd. It contains sufficient area of land in her corpor- ate limits. 3rd. It contains cheap sites upon which to build, and excellent locations upon the railway side track to erect man- ufactories, and the ])est facilities for shipment by water and rail to any point. 4th. It affords an excellent and cheap drainage for a o'ood system of sewerage which, sooner or later, must come in as a great factor in the; sanitary condition of any well regulated city. 5th. It has a good farming country around it. 6th. It contains a popuhice of intelligent, law and order al)idino" citizens and slirewd business men, numerous churches and excellent schools, Tlien, in view of the above elements already at hand, what is there to hinder but to put our shoulders to the wheel and boom her onward to the zenith wdiere she naturally belongs. CHAPTER CVIII. EAST SIDE. %SY\-W~ ITHIN the past two years unusual activity " ^^y/ in business and building has been going on at ^ the Harbor on both sides of the river, es- pecially on the East Side. Real estate has changed hands to a wonderful extent, and extensive building of docks and appliances for increasing the facilities for handling coal and iron ore. A school house, church, stores and many dwell- ings have been erected, which augurs well for the Harbor people; but there has l)een one important factor that has precipitated this East Side real estate and building boom to a great extent. The Field property had been offered for sale for years past but there was no purchaser, as the snug sum of $29,000 had to be put up for its pur chase. Finally the time came for its sale — A man of pluck and venture from our country; The name of this man was R. C. Humphrey, who bought this magnificent property and proceeded at once to improve it, laying out and making streets and sell- ing allotments. A fine street called Harbor Avenue, from Pacific Street, Harbor, to the Lake Shore Railroad, 80 feet wide, is nearly completed, which will be one of the finest streets in the country. It is the intention of Mr. Humphrey and other land owners to build or aid largely in the construction of a high- 388 PIONEER SKETCHES. lever bridge across the 'river at a point near the Lake Shore Kailroad this summer, which when completed will be of great value, not only to the land-owners on the East Side but to all people who want to go to the Harbor and Wood- land Park, East Side. Desirable lots and acres are being sold by Messrs. Humphrey, Sherman, Cook Brothers and Blythe & Haskell at reasonable rates and easy terms. And reader please allow me to say, If perchance you should come this way, I would be pleased to show terms and prices of this desir- able property. CHAPTER CIX. EARLY SETTLERS OF ASHTABULA. ,ELIG SWEET came from Connecticut to Ashta- bula in the year 1 808, and traded his Connecticut farm for the Holms' tract, comprising several hun- dred acres, located at the East Village and extending from the north line of Jasen Fargo's farm, no^v occupied by the Fargo Bros., to the Lake Shore. Mr. Sweet died in 1825, and previous to his death he gave to his sons Isaac, Pelig, Ruf us, William and Ira and to his four daughters all a farm. His son Isaac lived to the advanced age of 95 years. We notice by papers of Mr. Sweet transactions with early set- tlers in Ashtabula of John and Wm. Wetmore, Eli Hol- comb, Asa Amsden, Benj. W. Allen, N. Wilcox, Chester Wood, Caleb Parish. Jasen Fargo was one of the prominent hard working early settlers of Ashtabula, East Side. John Loyd, now a resident of Westfield, N. Y., was one of our pioneer lake men. He is now 88 years old, stra'ght as an arrow and mentally bright. In his boyhood days he sailed upon the Atlantic Ocean. In 1825 he com- menced to sail upon the chain of lakes on board the White Pigeon till 1827, then master of steamer William Peacock, belonging to Seth Reed, of Erie, and the William Penn and Charles Townsend, which were the only steamers on the lake at that time. 390 PIONEER SKETCHES. When on board the Kenningston, Capt. Curtis, from Liverpool to New York, was three months and three days in making the voyage. He got shipwrecked on Georges Banks, Newfoundland and had nothing but crackers to eat and no water to drink for three days, except the little they could lap from the dew on the sails of the vessel. Anen Harmon, one of the early settlers of Ashtabula, took up the large tract of land known as the "Harmon Flats," and jdso the uplands extending to the East Village and north of the Lake Shore Railroad. This man Harmon did not accustom himself to do things by halves, nor in those former crude days did he stop to polish words to express himself. At the time when the iirst baptism took place in Ashtabula, in ice cold weather, when the lady who was being baptized came out of the water the preacher asked her if she was not cold, to which the lady replied "no," whereupon Mr. Harmon quickly said to the minister, "Put her in again, d-m her, until she stops lying." Mr. Harmon thought the lady must have been cold and he thus frankly and roughly expressed himself, as he always did, in a stentorian voice. On another occasion Preacher Sanders was holding a series of Campbcllite meetings and quite an interest was taken in them. At the close of the evening services the minister made the announcement that if there were any present Avho wanted to be ba|)tized to rise up. One Martin Watrous, who was present and who was chock full of the "white horse," said, looking toward the minister — "I believe Mr. Harmon rose uj);" to which Mr. Harmon quickly replied, "Its a d-d lie, for I never stirred." The preacher laughed heartily, as also did the congregation. Mr, Birdsey Metcalf, now an aged citi- zen of East Ashtabula, was present at the time and sat at PIONEER SKETCHES 391 the side of Mr. Harmon, whose speech, he said, created quite a flutter and a laughable scene at the close of that evening's meeting. While we consider that it takes all sorts of people to make up a community, we will have to excuse the bluff style of Mr. Harmon, it being characteristic in him to spontaneously blurt out whatever came to his mind, alike to the saint and the sinner. We understand that Mr. Harmon possessed redeeming qualities, was a stirring, energetic and a useful man in the community- Rough diamonds, when j)ut to the test, Sometimes turn out to be the best. CHAPTER ex. JOHN METCALF. HE subject of this sketch came to Ashtabula in 1808. He carried the mail from Erie to Cleveland when this country was a howling wilderness, with no roads and few settlers. No bridges on which to cross the streams, often- times he had to svvim across the swollen streams, carrying his mail pouch lashed to his head. In 1812, there having been some improvements made, he was enabled to carry the mail in a double wagon. On the ridge, in favored places, he could get along quite well; but a considerable part of the way he had to pound along over corduroy. In 1815 he used a small stage coach. Bidders for such a mail route, for the salary paid for running it, would not be easily found to day. The priva- tions and the exposures would be too great of course for the average man of 1891. On a certain occasion a party was to come off at Bun- ker Hill, and the gentlemen were given the names of the ladies to take to the dance. John Metcalf was delegated to take Miss Lucy Strong. Horseback was the mode of conveyance in those days. When the hour arrived Metcalf PIONEER SKETCHES. 398 was on hand for his Miss Lucy, who took passage on the horse's back behind John, and as Lucy happened to be one of the phimp variety, of more than the ordinary avoirdupois and obesity, there did not a})pear to be sufficient room aboard for her, and she slipped off. She got on again and presently slipped oft' again. Undaunted she mounted again and oft" she slipped and exclaimed, "I am oft" again." John replied, "No, you are not," and kept right on his way to Bunkei' Hill, and sent an ox team and a sled after Lucy and got her at last to the party, and on went the dance, and a pleasant time they had at Bunker Hill and the boys didn't go home with the girls until the wee hours of the morning. In 1814 he married Miss Clarissa Sweet, a daughter of Pelig Sweet of East Ashtabula, and afterwards engaged in the fur trade at Green Bay, Wis. John Law, of this place, with whom he stopped, furnished him with plenty Johnny cake or hominy and bear's grease while at Green Bay, which was the standard ration for the Green Bay man at that time, and was said to be a very good diet for the consumptive and the dyspeptic, or to tickle the appetite, and also to make the hair grow on the lip of a dude. Mr. Metcalf generally sold his furs in Albany and Troy, New York, which business seems to have been a very lucrative one with the Astors, and all who engaged in the business on an extensive scale. Mr. Metcalf will be remembered as one of the heroic pioneers of the Western Reserve, who had to stand upon his merits and cut his way through from crude privation to a competency, and the perseverence and the energy exhib- ited by him has met its reward, in the industrious, correct 394 PIONEER SKETCHES. traits of character developed in his sons, Birdsey and Ezra Metcalf, prominent and wealthy citizens and farmers of East Ashtabula, Avhich aflbrds a consolation to the sire as he looks back through the dim vista to behold that he left competent hands at the ship and at the ploAV. CHAPTER CXI. THE FIRST VESSEL BUILT AT ASHTABULA. ^ HE FIEST vessel launched at Aslitalnila was built by Anen Harmon, and was the occasion for a great turn out of the people all over the coun- try. The day was pleasant, and the vessel was launched successfully. Aboard of it were a good number of men, women and children, and several baljcs in their mothers' arms. Captain Jack and the in- trepid Anen Harmon were also aboard. The latter, it was said, was liquored up to a reckless degree, which was prob- ably the cause of the saddest event in the early history of Ashtabula. Soon after the launching of the vessel, when two or three hundred people were aboad, its owner wanted to test its rocking powers, and he called on the people to stand on one side of the vessel and rock her, which they did. "Eock her more," he shouted. This being done, he again said: " Rock her more." At this juncture Captain Jack said : ' ' She has been rocked all she can stand. " ' ' Pshaw ! " said Harmon. . "Well," said Captain Jack, "if you per- sist, I am going ashore," and he got off the boat. The people, thinking that Captain Jack was rather timid, and 396 PIONEER SKETCHES. perhaps didn't know much about the boat, again obeyed Harmon's command to "rock her," and over went the boat, throwing the men, women, chiklren and babes into the water. In the excitement that followed some of the babes floated from their mother's arms and were saved, as were also the women, but strange to say, seven stalwart, worthy young men were drowned, casting sorrow over the com- munity, into seven stricken families, leaving seven vacant chairs. Stranger still is the coincidence that all of the seven drowned were of an age between 22 and 23 years. Among the number was Amos Bachelor, of Kingsville, who was a very promising and intelligent young man, beloved by all who knew him for his reliable and manly traits of character. He had declined several times to 2:0, bein<2r enffaofed in burning ofi a fallow. Finally two men rode into the field and said to him that he must go. He consented, and upon arriving at the house his mother said to him, "-I'm glad you are going with the rest. " ' 'But, " said he, ' 'it seems to me I ought not to go. " When the sad news was conveyed to his mother she was overcome with grief. This was a day long to l)e remembered by the friends of the victims. There was a great difference between the cool judgment of Captain Jack and the whisky clamor of the vessel owner, who, wanting to do something, capsized his vessel and drowned seven men. CHAPTER CXII. WILLIAM HUMPHREY. WILLIAM HUMPHREY was one of the early settlers and business men of Ashtalula. His venture was in the grocery, provision and bakery business at Ashtabula Harbor. Later he acquired con- siderable real estate situate on and in close proximity to some of the principal streets in Ashtabula, several of which bear the names of members of his family. In the early days he purchased a large tract of land in the big marsh in Plymouth Township, through which the Jefferson plank road was laid, a good portion of which is now drained, cleared off and has become the most productive land in the county. Mr. Humphrey possessed an excellent judgment, and for the same outlay on the first cost of his real estate trans- actions realized a greater value therefrom than any other man, with the exception of H. E. Parson's Chicago deal. Mr. Humphrey was eccentric, but he generally looked out for Humphrey, and went through all right vdthout a tag on. A transaction is related of him during his early days in trade at the Harbor. While in Buffalo buying goods he attended an auction. The auctioneer was selling tobacco. "• How much am I offered for a pound or for the lot ?" he cried. Humphrey bid and it was struck off to him. "How much will you take V" " I will take the whole lot." 398 PIONEER SKETCHES. "Ah, no sir; I can't let the whole lot go at that price." "I bought the whole lot," said Humphrey. The auctioneer went on. Presently Humphrey said to him, "I want my tobacco; I will insist on it if it takes all summer." He got the tobacco and realized a good thing on it. One da}^ Mrs. Humphrey accidentally fell into the river near her residence and was about to sink under the surface of the water when Thomas Mosher. of Ashtabula, jumped into the water just in time to save her. When Mr. Humphrey returned home he was informed of the accident and the timely rescue, to which he replied, "If you had let her alone she probably would have got out herself." Afterward, by many, he was called "Old Proba- bility." His estimable wife, at all events, was spared to aid him, and proved a great helpmate to him. Years later, when the Lake business fell off, Mr. Humphrey moved up town, where he kept a large stock of general mer- chandise and continued in trade for some 3"ears. His wife having died, he again married a worthy lady lady of more than ordinary attainments, who lives in her pleasant home left by her departed luisband. She was reading in a news- paper of a lady who had been l)uried alive and she said to her husband, "Here is another of those sad happenings of persons buried alive ; and William, it is m}^ request that my l)0(ly be kept a suthcient time in a vault after I am dead. The idea of being buried alive is shocking ! " "Have no fear, my dear," said Humphrey ; "the folks will know you are dead when you sto]i talkmg." Mr. Humphrey was a man of few words, but made them count, as he did his business transactions. He left a fine property and a w^orthy Avife and family to inherit it, whom we know to be well-to-do, and are industrious and reliable citizens. CHAPTER CXIII. L. W. SMITH. ^HE SUBJECT of this sketch, L. W. Smith, was born in Ashtabuhi, Ohio, in 1825. With the exception of twenty years in middle life spent in the mercantile business in New York, he has been ensrasfed in the mercantile business in Ashtaljula, in which he was prosperous, and it soon became apparent that he had come to stay, to be recognized as one of the prominent citizens and traders of Ashtabula. Possessing the happy faculty of a sound judgment in matters generally, pertaining to his business, he early learned the value of a dollar, how to make it and how to keep it. He invested in real estate and when the signs came right, the prospect that Ashtabula was to become a point of some importance, his real estate possessions were steadily augmented. In 1873 the southern roads, the Franklin branch and the Ashtabula & Pittsburs: railroads were built. Quite a boom was given to Ashta- bula, tfien containing 2,800 inhabitants. With an eye to the growing village by an influx of people, creating a demand for dwelling houses, Mr. Smith soon erected num- erous dwelling houses, which were eagerly taken by renters, and when the roads were completed to the Harbor the Swede and the Finlander followed in their wake. 400 PIONEER SKETCHES. The advent of business at Ashtabula Harbor created a boom in Harbor and uptown property, and rents and prop- erty were higher for a time than ever before in the history of Ashtabula. The opera house, the brick blocks, and the num- erous dwelling houses owned and erected by L. W. Smith, of Ashtabula, if they all stood upon a rural site would make quite a burg. Mr. Smith has been an inveterate worker; took ojff his coat and put his hand to the plow on many a field, and turned up a prolific soil, which will prove a consolation to him in his declining years that it will be remunerative to himself and to his posterity. His only son, Mr. James L. Smith, on account of the declining health of his father, principally assumes the management of the business affairs. He is a courteous gentleman, and we believe fully capable of its successful management. CHAPTER CXIV. FARGO BROTHERS. /f -^I^ HE FARGO BROTHERS, of East Ashtabula, ($ I c) live on the site selected by their ancestor, Jascn JAL Fargo, who was one of the early settlers of Ash- tabuhi. This estate originally contained upwards of 300 acres. The Fargo Brothers have added consideral)ly to it, and it now comprises 500 acres, and there is no finer estate in Ashtabula County. It contains the elements requisite for an excellent dairy farm, a variety of soil for pasture, meadow and plough lands, and an abundance of good water for stock, lined by the Ashtabula Creek on two sides and centrally having an ab^mdant supply of good spring water. The Fargo Brothers are the pioneer milk dealers of Ashtabula, and for many years have thoroughly run their routes. When the floods came and submerged the roads leading to the city, they crossed the dizzy height of the Nickel Plate bridge and got a hand car with which to trans- port their cans of milk. Then with a livery rig they dis- pensed the lacteal fluid to their customers. This sort of valor took much better with their custom- ers than to have said to them: "You will have to drink water or lager for a spell, or milk your mountain goats until the waters shall have subsided over the valley of Ashtabula." The people well know that the Fargo Brothers are use- ful and important factors in the conmuuiity, and know that 26 402 F/ONEER SKETCHES. from their hands they are served to the best quality of milk, and good measure, 365 days in the year. The courteous and honorable treatment extended to their patrons during all these years bespeak well for them, and they have not only held their ground, but their trade has constantly increased. Their two veteran peddlers on the route, Messrs. Ed. Woodard and Jepp Jensen, than whom no better men can be found for the business, are still on deck to-day, ' ' un- g ripped" and unmarried. Nothing succeeds like success. CHAPTER CXV THE ASHTABULA DISASTER. [See Cut on page 211.] X THE EVENING of December 29th, 1870, Lake Shore tram No. 5, three hours late, during a terrific snow storm, went down with the Ashtabula bridge, seventy- six feet to the icy bed of the river below. The train was a heavy one, loaded with passengers, many of them on a New Year's excursion to visit friends. When upon this bridge, it suddenly collapsed, and the great train with its precious load was hurled into the river below. A hundred or more never rose from that icy bed, and the wreck was soon enveloped in flames, to add horror to the awful scene. The fury of the storm, with the mercury ten degrees below zero, the heart-rending shrieks of those who could not be extricated from the lap of the fiery flames which transformed many precious bodies to charred and blackened dust, created a scene better imagined than described. The click of the telegraph wire conveying the news of the sad disaster, the hurrying of anxious friends from Maine to California and nearer by to this awful scene, the anxious look, the terrible supense, the searching through the ice to discover some relic of the dear one who was known to have been on the ill-fated train; then from the valley of the death up to the morgue to look over the charred remains, the agonizing look of des- pair, never will, by the many, be forgotten. 404 PIONEER SKETCHES. Messrs. Kepler and A. H. Stockwell, of Ashtabula, and Garwood Stowe, of Geneva, and the evangelist and great singer Bliss and his wife were nmong the victims. Mr. Martin, wife and two children, of Lenox, Ashtabula County, were injured. Mr. Martin was pretty badly crushed and had a few ribs broken. Mrs. Martin, who was in delicate health from an untimely childbirth, and their two small children miraculously escaped. Of this horror much has already been written, and suffice it to say that something like a half million dollars was paid by the Lake Shore Railroad Company as damages for the dead and injured in one of the greatest railroad horrors on the A merican Continent. CHAPTER CXVI. GRANVILLE LOOMIS. HIS BOYHOOD — HE STARTS FOB MENOMIXEE, WIS. — HIS MURDER AT STONY RIDGE, OHIO— DETECTIVES SQUIKES AND BROWN. HE SUBJECT of this sketch was an eccentric young man, though honest, peaceful and Indus, trious. In IS 78 he l)ought a lot on wdiat is now Auburn Street, then on the Commons of Ashtabula, wdiich location appeared to suit his desire to live a sort of pioneer life. He therefore placed on his lot a couple of large dry goods boxes, in which he took up his aljodc. In one of these boxes he done his cooking, kitchen and house work; the other he used for his sleeping room, which w^as the second story of his cabin on the plain, as he called it, the box in wdiich he s^lept setting on top of his kitchen. This eccentric lad had a shot gun with which he occasionally shot a bird or a rabbit, and a string of fish, that he now and then caught, supplied him principally with meat. This manner of living seemed to suit him. However, he became anxious to be earning something m(n*e for himself by way of a steady employment. He therefore went to work out by the month in Saybrook, O., on a farm in an adjoining town, where he received pretty luu'sh treatment for a trivial cause at the hands of his em- }>loyer. The matter was tak(;n to tlie courts and quite a sum in damages awarded him. Soon after Loomis l)()ught a horse and skeleton bugg)' and was living in Orwell, Ohio, where he formed an acquaintance with a young man by the 406 PIONEER SKETCHES. name of A. J. Grover, whose parents lived in Menominee, Mich. Thereupon an expediton was planed to go west. Loomis, with his horse, buggy and trunk, accompanied by Grover, set out on their journey for tlie west. It appears that they traveled on together to a point in Wood County, Stony Ridge, where some four days later the dead body of Loomis was found, his head being crushed, showing unmis- takable signs of a foul murder, and by papers and letters worked into his clothing they identified his former residence. This information soon reached the friends of the mur- dered boy, who engaged the services of S. A. Squires, an Ashtabula detective, and he at once started in pursuit to ferret out, and if possible, to capture the murderer. On arriving at Stony Ridge, where the body of Loomis was found l)y a farmer near a log-heap, where evidently they had stayed over night. A portion of his head and face was cut off to obliterate a scar. Sheriff Brown, in the meantime, had diligently searched the country around, but could get no clue of the murderer, whereupon a consultation was held, and he and Mr. Squires went to Toledo and thence to Adrian, Michigan, where an uncle of Grover lived, who was a minister. He, however, had not seen Grover for some time, and said he Avas a vicious fellow— that he (Grover) would maim antl torture animals; that he had killed a cow with a pitchfork; that he was a destructive fellow, and he did not want him al)out his premises. He however informed the detectives that Grover had a sister at Saginaw, to which place they went. After a fruit- less search for three days they started for Menominee, Michigan, hearing nothing on the route except that a])arty had seen a horse and buggy answering tiie description of PIONEER SKETCHES. 407 the one that Looinis started out with. On reachhig Menominee they found Loomis' trunk and tool chest, which had been shipped on, and had just arrived there from a station west of Clevehmd via the Lake Shore Raih'oad ; but no one had seen Grover since the fall before. Thereupon Mr. Squires made a confidante of the freight agent at Menominee and agreed with him to have him let them know at once, by messenger, if anyone should call for this baofora^e. as he and the sheriff were going; to reconnoitre the country around — to Grover's father's, some five miles out, to Grover's farm, 45 miles out, and at other places where they might intercept him — for at this juncture these wily detectives, like sleuth bloodhounds, seemed to scent the murderer afar off. Daily communication was had with the railroad agent at Menominee. They learned at the lumber mills, where Grover had previously worked, that he was considered a tough, that a couple of their men, Italians, with five or six hundred dollars in money, disappeared one night when in company with Grover, and suspicion rested on him. They visited Grover's place at Prairie Farm, a secluded spot, but found no one about there. They forced an entrance to his cabin, and found therein most all sort of parapher- nalia, portions of harness and tackle, a half dozen revolvers, bowie knives and love letters from and to his girl. They according set out to visit the girl, and her parents, of course, at Cross Keys, aljout twenty-eight miles from Menominee and twelve miles from Grover's place. With fish-poles in hand these (now land buyers) started up the stream, baited their hooks and caught some fish in sight of her father's house, who, by the way, was a minister and a 408 PIONEER SKETCHES. nice man, and had a nice daughter, too. But the gallant Squires found that she was engaged to Grover. At this place the detectives took dinner, and of course they were well acquainted all at once with Grover, ])ut neither of them had ever seen him. The old lady finally said Grover was a good fellow, anyhow, because he had done them a good deed by saving their home, as a mort- gage would have closed on it had it not been for him, who put up the money. Then came an opportunity for the inquisitive Sandy Squires, who asked the young lady if she was not engaged to marr}' Grover. She smiled and said: "Perhaps." Days and Aveeks had passed and their prey had not put in an appearance. Time wore on monotonously, l)ut Sandy and the Sheriif thought they would work on that web line if it took all summer. Mr. Brown repaired to Prairie Farm and Squires to Black River Falls. With the information Squires and Brown had already obtained about Arthur J. Grover, they were still constantly on the alert to fortify their case against this culprit for any unforseen emergency that might arise in his behalf. They sought people and places, high and low, and on coming across a disreputable house outside the city of Menominee the detectives found that Grover had there lieen em})loyed as a night watchman, and while thus employed had made love to the boss s})ort of tln^ i^reniises and agreed to marry her, for which she bought him a i^50 wedding suit. But Grover, after getting the new suit, failed to comply with his part of the contract. The woman then dechired she would shoot him and he fled to Orwell, Ashtabula County, Ohio, to some relatives, where he stayed over winter, pre- PIONEER SKETCHES. 409 vious to startino^ out with Loonii.s in the following spring, as he rein before mentioned. Brown now being at Prairie Farm, Avith a view of in- teree})ting Grover at tliat point, while Squires remained at Blaek River Falls, with an eye to the same purpose; and just at dark Grover emerged from the woods with horse and buggy and made for a point to eross the river, but found the bridge gxme. He returncxl to take another route when Squires captured him. He was then twenty-eight miles from Menominee, to which place Grover was bound. Mr. Squires told him he would take him to Menominee and put him in jail there, or he w^ould take him to Madison. Grover said he would not go to Menominee. Squires told him he had better go to Menominee, as he Mould be there a week, and he would have an opportunity to see his pa- rents and friends, as it would prol)al)ly be a long, cold day before he would see them at home again. Grover replied that if they would let his friends come and see him he would consent to go to Menominee, to which place he was jailed to await for the necessary requisition papers. Some four days were required to olitain the papers, and during that time knots and groups of men were seen gathering in places, and a considerable feeling was mani- fested, and talk of not letting the officers take away their prisoner. In Grover they had traced a dark career Already for one so young iu years. GroveFs father and mother called at the jail to see him; also Mr. and Mrs. and Miss , his affianced. And when the young lady noticed the two agreeable gentlemen in charge of Grover, who a few days before had dined with her parents and herself, she looked upon them with amaze- 410 PIONEER SKETCHES. ment; and upon realizing the enormity of the crime with which her lover was charged, the poor girl was overcome with grief and despair. This was a .scene in life's cruel dramatic side, Bringing hopes forlorn to the intended hride. Far better for her to know before she had wed, To heap remorseless pangs upon her youthful head. He had traveled with horse and buggy by night time from Stony Ridge, Ohio, this long journey and secreted himself in the woods in the daytime. His parents and rel- atives generally were respectable people — But it seems the aggregation of vituperation In him had its concentration. The hour of midnight of the tif th day after the capture was fixed upon to take Grover from the jail to Madison, Wis. At 10 o'clock the same night two men called on Brown, saying, "When are you going to takeaway the pris- oner," and added, "in the morning, wc conclude, as your companion Squires has gone with the horse," to which Brown replied, "In the course of three or four days." But in two hours he started with his prisoner for Madison; there getting the necessary authority, he proceeded to Bowling Green, Ohio, with his prisoner, and safely lodged him in jail, in June 1S82, there to await his trial. Mr. Squires had a tedious drive across the country with horse and bug- gy, which he turned over to the State. The trial of Grover for the murder of Granville Loomis came off at the first term of Court in August. He was ably defended by James Tyler, Esq., formerly of Ash- tabula, O. Grover was found guilty of murder and sen- tenced to be hung, and he paid the penalty for his crime. PIONEER SKETCHES. 411 I presume the reader will never find In history of relentless crime, On criminal record the world over, A fouler murder than by this man Grover. Mr. Squires of Ashtabula, and Mr. George M. Brown, of Bowling Green, Ohio, are entitled to much praise at the hands of a law abiding people throughout the community for their sagacity and perseverance in the Grover-Loomis murder case in capturing and bringing to justice a young hardened criminal, who evidently from his makeup, would have been a living terror in our community. Mr. Squires' traveling expenses on this case were $518, and he covered 2,976 miles. The wedding suit which Grover obtained — Through the fast woman of Menominee, As you now so strangely see, Is the same suit which he AVore from the gallows to eternity. CHAPTER CXVII. PAINESYILLE, OHIO. ^"■^^ AINESVILLE is the county seat of Lake **<• ■ County, Ohio, situated al)out three miles from II m\ Lake Erie, and its harbor (Fairport) at the J^~^ mouth of Grand River. Grand River is • rightly named, as it aflbrds one of the grand- est harbors on the chain of lakes, susceptible of making an extensive harbor at comparatively light expense. The incoming of the B., P. & F. R. R. to Fairport in 188- created a coal and ore trade with the Mahoning, She- nango and Allegheny valleys which has already become quite extensive, creating a lively real estate and building boom at Fairport and giving the uptown business quite an impetus, which bids fair to continue, because there seems to be a good prospect for another railroad to Fairport, and because Painesville is the most solid, well-built up and nicest and most pleasantly situated towns on the Western Reserve. It has an intelligent and retined class of citizens, with good schools and churches. Its people ar(^ principally of the New England stock, who l)elieve in ha\ing every- thing run in a pretty good degn^e of taste and order. The streets and the sidewalks throughout the town are in good condition, and many a pedestrian will return thanks to the city dads when they are engaged in that sacred line of dutv. PIONEER SKETCHES. 413 Among the early settlers of Painesville and vicinity were Joel Holcomb, Marcus Holcomb, Lovisa Holcomb, James Wright, E. D. Howe, Benjamin Tracy, William Kerr, Hezekiali Cole, Josephus Huntington, Milo Harris, S. Racy, Calvin Cole, James H. Paine, Stephen Matthews, Marvin Huntington, Milton Armstrong, Harry Abies, David Page, Reuben Hitchcock, Robert Blaire, Chester Stocking, Joel Parmley, Thomas Wright, Jonathan Veasey and John McMurphy. Little Mountain, the charming resort in Lake County, is where many people find rest and recreation. It is a per- plexing question with many people of the United States at this time of the year who are seeldng a place of rest from the busy cares of the world," to know where to go. The matter of distance and expense is an important factor with the masses, though places that are remote have a greater attraction for the wealthy than the most delightful retreats nature has provided near at home. Little Mountain is situated a few miles southwest from Painesville and is one of the most charming places for a summer resort. It is a grand natural curiosity. It rises at an altitude of TOO feet above Lake Erie, and is covered with lofty pines and the broad plateau on the summit embraces about 100 acres. From the summit the view is magnificent. The villages and hamlets on the plains Ijelow for miles away spread out before the eye, and a Ijroad expanse of Lake Erie, dotted with numerous vviiite-wini;ed messeno^ers of commerce and tnide come within the rano-e. o From 1810 to 18i20 there seems to have been a lively emigration from the New England States and from York State to the Western Reserve, then called the Far West, 414 PIONEER SKETCHES. and Painesville and Warren got their full share of this exodus. In those days the pioneer settlers along the route from Buffalo to Erie would halloo the passing wagon trains of emigrants, "Where are you bound for?" and the res})onse was, "To the Western Reserve."" Painesville, Cleveland, Warren, Burton, Eavcnna. Akron, Geneva, Ashtabula, Jefferson and Conneaut still l)ear evidence of these still living pioneers, who at Painesville (throughout Lake .County) yearly assemble, for social intercourse in relating their experience of pioneer life. It is a grand thing to look in upon these pioneer meet- ings, to notice the zeal and enthusiasm manifested by the venerable sires and the matrons in rehearsing the experi- ence, scenes and incidents of early days of the pioneer settlers of this country. We cannot pay too great a tribute to these people. Their heroic struggles in early. days fur- nishes us an exemplary index to industry^ frugality, honesty and line of an honorable life. CHAPTER CXVIII. JEFFERSON. EFFERSON, the county scat of Ashtabula County, Ohio, and the home of Benj. F. Wade and Joshua R. Giddings, is pleasantly situated on a conlmand- ing eminence of country about twelve miles south of Lake Erie. Ashtabula County is the largest county, containing the greatest area of arable land, of any county in the State. Then, it being the largest county, it is not to be wondered that it has produced some of the biggest men. Among its early settlers were the intrepid Joshua R. Giddings and Benj. F. Wade, who always spoke with no uncertain sound in the halls of Congress and the United States Senate. They were imbued with a sentiment of freedom, loyalty and American patriotism, and this they unflinchingly administered on all occasions and in all places. For the lack, in number, of such men, principally in 1861, the great American conflict was precipitated. Such men would say — 'Tis enough to battle the vicissitudes of life, Not to engage Avith a brother in deadly strife; And pick up the battle axe, thus to wield On many a Southern battlefield. During his anti-slavery sentiment in a speech on the Missouri Compromise in 1841, Mr. Giddings was attacked by Mr. Black, of Mississippi. He undauntingly continued his speech, waving in one hand his weapon, with the other his logic, and had his say out. And during the same year 416 PIONEER SKETCHES. we shall not forget his great anti-slavery speech at Con- neautville, the tirst and only time the writer ever had the oi)poitunity of hearing Mr. Giddings. In 1861 I head Benj. F. Wade at Erie. He spoke with no uncertain sound, and his logic* and lo^al sentiment went home to the heart of every loyal man. Peace to their ashes. Jeflferson is well provided with good schools, churches, stores and hotels, some mills and manufactories, a railroad, and some able jurists to adorn the court-house, and, as a matter of course, to relieve the client occasionally of some of his surplus lucre. Several law firms there necessarily have to transact a considerable legal business. Among them is the law firm of Northway & Fitch, who appear to have considerable legal business to attend to over at the Hub. And during the past fifteen years, in political campaigns, manj^ times the argumentative, silvery-tongued S. A. North way has been called out. His speeches are delivered in a masterly man- ner, holding, as it were, spell-bound his audiences on many occasions; and in the political arena throughout this section of the country he has been an important factor. CHAPTER CXIX. GENEVA, OHIO. EXEVA is situated upon and along both sides of the North Ridge Road, about three miles south of Lake Erie, in the Township of Geneva, Ash- tabula County, Ohio. It is noted for its fine soil and the site upon which the village is located. Its inhabitants do not have to chafe over the prospects and location of the different high level bridges, over which to span an almost impassible gulf, nor the amount of money to be appropri- ated by Uncle Sam in the improvement of their lake harbor, and seemingly, are content with a pleasantly located and prosperous town of about 7,000 inhabitants, comprising tine residences, schools, churches, stores, manufactories, some fine new business Ijlocks and with all a good lively country trade. These are elements ^vhich go hand in hand with an intelligent and earnest people. The Genevite need not go abroad to Erie or Cleveland to purchase good goods for such can be found at home in those new spacious stores. The new brick blocks lately erected in Geneva add greatly to the appearance and stability of the town, and other larger places assuming the proportions of a city would do well to imitate. It seems that the Genevites do not believe in doing things by halves, from the prompt manner and the style in which they rebuilt their burnt dis- trict. When the time comes, which will not be at a far dis- tant day, we will expect to see still greater improvements in the pleasant and substantial town of Geneva. 21 418 PIONEER SKETCHES. Among; the old contractors of Geneva we notice H. W. Stone, who is still on deck, a rival for all, as the work will show for itself on Morgan's store and Pat Grace's porch. The large number of buildings in Geneva built by Mr. Stone in years past still aflbrds a pleasant reminder that he has not lost his gi-ip in doing a good job, when he undertakes to, among the pioneers of Geneva. CHAPTER CXX. WARREN. ARREN, the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, was settled nearly a cen- tury ago, upon a pleasant rolling site on the Mahoning River. It contains a population of from 6,000 to 7,000 in- habitants. It has good churches, schools, public buildings, hotels and spacious stores, rolling mills and other prominent manufactories. It has good railway facilities : The Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg, the N. Y. P. & O., the P. P. & F. Railroads, and the Mahoning Coal Road run through the town, and an Electric Street Railroad to Niles. Warren is a progressive town, and with the steady march of time one will notice improvements going on of a substantial character, and like its sister city, Painesville, it takes much pride in its streets, residences, lawns, shade trees and sanitary condition, to make it what it is: — one of the nicest and pleasantest towns in Ohio. Among its pioneers who have passed on were Charles and Henry King, Vangorder, Dr. Harmon, the Quinbys, Perkins, Judge Kinsman, tlie Abies, Adams, Judge King and Judge Spear. Among the early business men, and 420 PIONEER SKETCHES. who are still operating, are Smith & McCombs, Mr. Idclings, Mr. Griswold, Anderson & Ralph, Hoyte Brothers, Parks & Wentz, the Smiths, Thomas McClure, Warren Packard and others. Towns and cities, like nations, are measm-ed by the calibre and intelligence of its people, the outcome of which is to make them strong, prosperous and happy. CHAPTER CXXI. THE INDIAN. HILE THE Indian has, j at times, over- stepped his bounds. Col. Dodge, in his "Thirty Years Among the Indians," says that they have been mistreated and they have been no more in the wrong; than has the white man. In an Indian dele- gation recently at Washington, was the Rev. Charles Cook, a full-blooded Sioux Episcopal minister at Pine Ridge. It seems that there should be something better in store for poor Lo. He is an ideal of originality, naturally of quick perception and intelligence. Many instances prove that whenever he has set out in the pursuit of knowledge he has succeeded, which should serve as an incentive for the Red man to make a general move in the direction of civilization, agriculture, schools and a right to citizenship in the land he originally preoccupied. He has named many of our principal rivers, streams and places. He has also named himself after animals, reptiles and the elements, fire, water, thunder and lightning. He has shown us that he could make a nicer bark canoe, moccasin or a bow and arrow and other fancy articles beau- tifully trimmed with the quill of the porcupine, than can the white man. Also that he is susceptible of improvement in education and can l)ecome an eloquent orator, and on more than one field he has proved himself brave in battle. But we freely send our missionaries — 422 PIONEER SKEICHES. To India's distant land, To educate her heathen on her coral strand; Also into China and Japan, Into the Dark Continent, Afric's burning sand. We believe that a little more missionary work, moral suasion and square dealing would have a salutary effect in our Indian Territory and thereby save powder and ball, cutlass and gi'ape shot; and much more, the lives of many brave soldiers. CHAPTER CXXII. JOSEPH BENNETT. JOSEPH BENNETT came to Kingsville in 1803, and he and a Mr. Harrington, who came about the same time, were two of the early settlers of Kings- ville Township, O. Mr. Bennett married at quite an early age, and when Zalmon Bennett, his eldest son (former husband of Mrs. Merritt, who now lives on the old homestead), was a child ten months old, an old Indian was discovered to be lurking around the neighborhood and who managed to call at the dwellings of Bennett and Harrington when the men were not about the house. The audacity and demands of this old Indian in ordering meals, etc., had become oppressive and unbearable. One day he called at Bennett's house and took the young child Zalmon by the hair of the head with one hand and drew his hunting knife with the other and brandished it over the child's head, indicative of the manner of scalping it. Mrs. Bennett was horrified at the sight, and with womanly wit ran to the door and exclaimed, ''Mr. Bennett is coming," and the Indian lied from the house. Soon afterwards Mr. Bennett and Mr. Harrington took their rifles and went out huntins:, and when near Panther Creek they esi)ied the old Indian cross- ing the stream on a log. Soon after the Indian's body was found under the log with two bullet holes through it. Mr. Bennett said that probal)ly the old Indian fell on that log and stuck a couple of knot holes through him. CHAPTER CXXIII. INDIAN CHIEFS. jjg^MONG the number of Indian chiefs first known l)y the early settlers of Western Pennsylvania were Half Town, Logan, Stinking Fish, Cheat, Twenty Canoes, Laughing Thief and Surly Bear. These chiefs, with their tribes, roamed about the Allegheny and Venango Rivers, and the sites of Franklin and Meadville -were their headquarters for many years. Later, other prominent chiefs were con- spicuous in l)attle — Tecumseh, Pocahontas, Black HaAvk and others, in difterent parts of the country. The Indian, however, still seems to be very tenacious and venerati^'e in i)reserving their dandy names for their leaders, which, no doubt, have an ideal meaning, Which, if we had an idea of their ''whim," We might uuderstaiid their j^ynonym. Among the names of Sioux chiefs who recently went to talk with President Harrison at Washington, were Young- ManAfraid-of-His-Horses, American Horse, Little Wound, Big Road, Si)ott(Hl Elk, Fast Thunder, Spotted Horse, Fire Lightning and He Dog. The hostih' Brules were rej)iest'nted by Two Strike, High Pipe and High Hawk. He Dog was the special representative of Red Cloud. Big Road Avas third in command at the Custer massnere. They recently had a liattle, and many of their numl)er fell, including w(mien who win'c shamefully slain at the Pine Ridge onslaught, with a comparative!}- light loss of the regular government troops. CHAPTER CXXIV. CLEVELAND. LEVELAND is situated about midway on the southern coast of Lake Erie, and is per- haps more akin to Chicago than any other city in America, in its rapid growtli to a city of 250,000 inhabitants, and of its great commercial importance, and comprising all kinds of large, extensive manufactories. Cleveland and Chicago — the greatest cities on the great chain of lakes, though much younger than Buffalo and Detroit. And we predict that Chicago is to be the second city of our Union, and that Cleveland will be about the sixth city in size. Chicago is situated at the head of Lake Michigan, and is the headquarters of the Great West, which will naturally boom her on, and forever give her an impetus that neither New Englanders or New Yorkers can manipulate. Cleveland, the beautiful Forest City, is already a large city of great commerce, and comprises the elements to con- tinue to hold her own in the great Ameiican strides for supremacy. Time changes all things, and especially Ihe growth of many of our American cities. In 1840 the writer, accompanied by his mother and cousin, R. H. Sargent, a 3'oung lad a couple of years older than himself, started for Cleveland to visit relatives. Two days was the time 426 * PIONEER SKETCHES. required to make the journey with horse and buggy from Spring, Crawford County, Pa., to Cleveland. We enjoyed our journey much, and everything went smoothly until we reached the old float bridge that crossed the Cuya- hoga River, when as the wheels struck the bridge from the edge of the bank a sudden drop down broke the fore axle- tree of the buggy, leaving us in a bad predicament, as the roadway of the bridge lay several inches under water. There were side planks on each side of the l)ridge for pedestrians to walk on. The river was full of Vessels, and some gallant sailors came to our rescue with ropes and scanthng and lashed up and stayed the broken axletree. We then pursued our journey on foot to the top of the hill to the residence of Albert Powell, the manufactarer of axes and edge tools on the Island, whose residence was our des- tination. The west side, then called Ohio Cit}-, was a small village. Pearl, Kentucky, Franklin and Detroit Streets were then commons. The cows with their ding dong bells on were everywhere grazing with impunity, with full stomachs from the succulent grasses of Ohio City. The young nimrod was out with fowling piece, shoot- ing away at the English l)lack I)irds in the trees and at the rabbits in the thicket of under])rush, and the lady of the house would say at evening, "Come, boys, it's time noAV to drive "up the cows from the commons,'' where now stands the great city of Cleveland, west side. The Ohio Exchange and A. Powell's axe and edge tool shop were the two prin- cipal buildings then on the west side flats, and a few stores and a com[)aratively small business done upon the west side hill. To-day there is great change. Cleveland, east side, was larger, but only a village of a few thousand inhabitants PIONEER SKETCHES \Tl and only one old float liridge on which to cross and re-cross the river from the east to west side at same point, over which is now constructed the magnificent viaduct, costing several millions of dollars. Many other nice iron bridges span the Cuyahoga at difierent points above and below the viaduct and the site of the old lone float bridge. The changes and improvements that one would notice since 1840 up and down the river, its hillsides and valleys, and everywhere for miles around, on the west side to Rocky River, and on the east side out to Lake View Park, are most grand and wonderful to behold, demonstrating that the Clevelander is bound at any rate to have the finest city in the State, populated by the New Englander and the Old Englander, the Jew and the Gentile, the Teuton and the Hil)ernian, and most all natives of the globe, pegging away, pursuing all the trades and represent- ing nearly all kinds of manufacturing. Therefore, I see nothing to retard the steady growth of Cleveland. Cleveland and Chicago alike have the consolation of knowing that, when they can get no more nice farms to cut into lots on which to build, they can drive pegs out in the lake and build thereon and have plenty of drinking and bath water, duck and goose ponds. A drive up Superior Street and out Euclid Avenue to Lake View, tells the visitor and impresses the stranger that there is something there — wealth and grantleur. We have not the time nor space herein to attempt a description of Cleveland, its early settlers, its prominent business enterprises, etc. Saflice it to say that Cleveland is full of promises and destined to a great future, with few superiors and few equals on the Continent. CHAPTER CXXV YOUNGSTOWN. OUNGSTOWN is located in Mahoning County, Ohio, on the Mahoning River, and is beautifully situated on its Hats and hillsides, containing a population of 40,000 inhabitants. It is the busiest and loveliest town in Northeastern Ohio, and more men get into line in the bucket brigade than in any other city of its size in the State. Its iron plants are the largest and manufacture more iron than any other city in Ohio. This we may look for when its citizens are among the progressive and wide-awake class, losing no oppor- tunity to foster and advance the business interests of their viijorous and iirowins; city. We think Youngstown will continue to grow and pros- per, notwithstanding it is claimed that the iron interests of the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys will be materially weakeiunl by the growing iron business of Tennessee and Alabama, there being concentrated all the material for its manufacture. The great iron and coal fields of Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama having lain dormtmt through the period of slavery, soon after the War of the Rebi'llion northern capi- tal and manufacturers began to look soutiiward for invest- ment, and now in the line of iron making Greek meets Greek. But wiiile the iron manufacturer of the south has PIOXEER SKETCHES. 429 his material concentrated, the northern manufacturer as yet turns out the best quality of iron; while Vanderbilt & Co. have recently purchased several million dollars' worth of iron lands in the Lake Superior region, from which they can mine in a future day, if necessary, to ship on to their immense dockage which they are at present engaged in building at Ashtabula Harl)or, thence to be re-shipped over their southern branch of the Lake Shore Railroad to the iron mills of the Mahoning, Shenango and Allegheny Valleys. The other railway king, Jay Gould, having recently bought the Baltimore & Oliio and the Pittsburg & Fairport Railways, he, too, maj^ M^ater his iron horses in Lake Erie, and we apprehend that he will gobble a few million dollars of iron-ore lands in the northwest as a future feeder for his recent railway jiurchase, which also runs down the Mahon- ing and Shenango Valley iron mill region. With the immense outlay of capital invested in iron plants in Youngstown and vicinity, its operators may feel sure, while they manufacture a superior grade of iron, that they can light their fires with good results for at least the coming decade. The growing demands for iron, the increasing facilities for transporting the raw material, augurs well for Youngstown, enabling her to surmount adverse seasons or periods of panic, and continue to grow and thrive for time to come. I'f, 'I V-' 4''' ' >\ CURTIS GODDAKU, ASHTABULA, O. CHAPTER CXXVI. CURTIS GODDARD. BIRTH — BOYHOOD — MANUFACTURER— REMOVAL TO ASHTABUI^A. URTIS GODDARD was born in Granby, Con- necticut, July 22, 1823, While in liis infancy his parents, Joab and Martha Goddard, removed to the Western Reserve, Ohio, then called the Far West, and settled in Winsor, Ashtabula County. This journey was made with an ox team, which took 20 days, and was said to be the quickest time on record (from Connecticut to Ohio) made by horned horses. The family remained in Winsor about one year and removed to Deerlield, Portage County; lived there five years, then removed to Edden- burg, same county, where he lived his boyhood and youthful days, starting in the woods living a pioneer life. Presently young Goddard began to develop his New England Yankee inventive proclivities, not in wooden clocks nor nutmegs, but in bed rail knobs, clothes pins and such, when at length he got out an improved corn sheller, of which he manufactured and sold many thousands at Alliance, Ohio, and it proved a lucrative venture. About a year ago he revolved into the Revolving Book and Show Case business and revolved around to Ashtabula, where he has fitted up the spacious bolt and shaft works, he hav- ing purchased this valuable property, also the Ellis property on West Street, preparatory to manufacturing revolving book and show cases. 432 PIONEER SKETCHES. About these show cases, need not take you long to solve. For you'll see they are useful beauties as they revolve; And will readily sell most everywhere, Being more useful and nicer than the revolving chair. So send along your order, which will be promptly filled. Made from best material, by workmen skilled; Or call into my office. No. 7, Ann Street, And examine goods and prices, hard to beat. CHAPTER CXXVII. THE PRIVATIOXS OF EARLY SETTLERS. HE PRIVATIONS of the early settlers Avere on every liMiid. As late as 1825-30 grist mills were scarce, and none Imt water mills. In Crawford County the Powers mill at Powerstown and one at Venango, ten miles above Mead- ville on French Creek, were the only mills within a distance of eighteen miles. There came a drouth, and no grists could be ground at the Powers mill. At the old block house on the hill, in Spring township, in which resided the family of Capt, Phineas Sargent, it was discovered that a fresh sup- ply of bread timber was required. The grist mill at Ve- nango or the one at Conneaut, Ohio, must be visited. The road to the former was not as good as was the road to the latter place, therefore the grist of corn and wheat was loaded on to an ox team wagon, and Avith the boy Alfred Sargent as teamster, steersman and conductor, set out early one morning for Conneaut, Ohio, to get that grist ground, expecting to make the trip in two days. A part of the way the roadway was of corduroy to hold up the ox from sinking out of sight in a blue clay pit or a quicksand maelstrom. With good luck on the way out, he arrived at Conneaut before night, and found to his dismay that there were so many grists ahead of his that no grind- 28 434 PIONEER SKETCHES. ing could be done for him that week. He, therefore, turned about and reached Lexington about midnight, when one of the oxen got his foot fast in the corduroy. The ox's fo(^t had sli[)ped down over the hoof between the two poles, and with the aid of the teamster could not be extricated. He slipped ofl' the ox-bow from the animal and moved the other to the roadside. He cried out for help, when Medad Pomeroy came to his assistance; the corduroy was torn up and the ox released, in a very lame condition. The oxen were turned into a field of good grass, where for the re- mainder of the night they fared as sumptuously as did Nebuchadnezzar. Tlie young teamster was invited indoors to partake of the hospitalities of the generous pioneer. The next day he arrived home with a lame ox which had to go to grass for three weeks. The neighbors chipped in and secured a team of horses, and with a wagon loaded h'e started for Venango, where in a couple of days he got the grist gi'ound. It was a rule in those days with the people on all occasions to aid each other and to confide in each other. That was what made them happy and strong. That gave us our American Independence. True, the pioneer woman could not don her morning dress and at 10 A. M. rehabili- tate, and again in the evening; and Mrs. Smith could not make her daily rounds in calling on Mrs. Jones, Brown and Robinson and chat with that broad affectation and superflu- ous emphasis as she does to-day— But simply spoke the honest accents of the will; And 1 am of the same opinion still, That this inmatural conversational strain Is calculated to give you a pain. Let's away from unnatural affectations stoutly steer And cherish the axioms of the Avoman pioneer. CHAPTER CXXVIII. THE RAILROAD RRAKEMAN. N ALL business pursuits eveiy department must have its operators. Upon the sea there is the captain, mates, steward, engineers, wheelmen, the watchman, common sailor and the roustal)out. Upon the rail is the engineer, conductor, fireman and the brakeman. But we notice through all the dili'erent branches of industry there is no occupation so hazardous as the railroad freight brake- man, to which the casualities, the maiming for life of many of our stalwart young men too often attest. As he glides o'er hill and valley through the laud, He takes his precious life iu hand; At his brakes through sunshine and storm, Through blackened night, to the coming morn. Through blasting winds, rain iu torrents pour, As he hustles over the cars of coal and iron ore; His train comes thuuderiug down Plymouth or MunsonHill, The engineer whistles loud and shrill. One, two, for down brakes, Which the brakeman quickly undertakes To check the motion of the flyiug train, As it goes I'attling down the plane; Something is wrong, it is too late, The train is running at a fearful rate. A link or drawhead broke, his train is in twain. But the brakeman at his post remains; The danger of the wreck he bravely doth defy. To jump from the train is but to die. On the P. Y. & A. or the Franklin Branch, You would say "might as well chase a western avalanche;" A hazardous business, you can only make it, Whatever way you please to take it. The train is derailed, the cars careen, A more heroic act ne'er was seen; He jumps from his train as a last resort To save his life, at whatever cost. Keader if you think that a railroad brakeman, has a soft snap just try it once. CHAPTER CXXIX. THE ASHTABULA STRIKE. N THE 8th day of May, 1801, about 800 dock laborers at Ashtabula Harbor went out on a strike, and accordingly formed in line of march to demonstrate their streno;th and their o-rievance. A dozen Italians were at the head of the procession as they marched up Thayer hill, bearing the American flag, followed by Amer- icans, Hibernians, Italians, Swedes, Finlanders, Hollanders, Portuguese, Slavonians, Bohemians and Norwegians, they marched, with various instruments of music, representing a formidal)le body of men. It appears that some of the Finns were loth to go out, and some of them, after the strike was declared, commenced to load some cars with ore, l)ut were promptly stopped by the strikers. The ore traffic had not opened as early that Spring as usual, consequently there were l)ut two boats in })ort to be unloaded and be caught in the strike, and as soon as the vessel men found that they could not discharge their cargoes, sailed for other ports. It appears that the demands of the strikers were not without just claims for grievance. The year previous dock proprietors received from vessel owners 1 S cents per ton for uidoading ore from the vessels — and they paitl the dock laborers 1<» cents per ton for doing the work of unloading. ,The engineers, or holsters, were cut from $60 to $55 per month, and $3.50 })er Sunday or a night. PIONEER SKETCHES. 437 The dock laborers got 18 cents per hour Sunday or night work, but they were cut to 15 cents per hour for extra work and 9 cents per ton for unloading versels. Years ago the dock owners had 10 cents a ton from the vessel men, and paid the laborers 10 cents, and when they got 18 cents per ton they were not willing to advance or share it with the laborers or dock men. They al^o paid the wall builders and day men $1.75 per day; they cut them to $1.50 and required 12 hours for a day's work. Hence the strike. In view of the facts and circumstances precipitating the strike, it is not meet to say that the strikers were reckless and foolish and in the blame, as it would be unAmerican not to contend for right and justice. These dock laborers were eno;ao;ed in the hardest kind of manual labor, and thereby earning every cent they got. When they cut them it struck deep, and they had no other weapon to use but to strike in retaliation, with the hope thereby to receive a fair adjustment of their grievance. The humane American individual is filled with un- pleasant forebodings in witnessing a s[)ectacle of this kind. In dark England, where, by the hand of iron rule, millions of paupers are created, they are eking out a miserable existence to-day. Is this sort of epidemic coming across the waters to pollute the soil of America? God forbid ! In our boasted free land of America, with her broad fertile domain, we hope not to see her wheels of commerce blocked in every curve and grade, along our great commer- cial avenues. Strikes are generally ]:)roductive of no good, but are pernicious and disastrous generall}^ to the capitalist and the laborer. 438 PIONEER SKETCHES. Bygone scenes eflected through "strikes" shonlcl afford a lesson and a warning to the employer and the employe for all time to come "to dodge the strike as you would a mad dog." The strike having continued over a month and no terms of settlement having been accomplished, the agents of the ore companies appointed a meeting, which took place at the Town Hall, Ashtabula, June 9, 1891. The Lake Shore Company made up a train of 1 1 cars, which were packed full of brawny hard-handed men. As they marched in pro- cession from the Lake Shore Depot it was estimated that 1,000 men were in the ranks. Mr. Mather, of the firm of Pickands & Mather, one of the largest ore handling firms, took the platform. He expressed his surprise at the action of the men after hearing the circumstances, and explained that owing to the low price of ore, the cost of handling had to be reduced. The vessel-owners had forced the companies to handle the ore for two cents per ton less than the year previous. It was then 18 cents, and now all they would give was 16. They shared the reduction with the men. He promised them that as soon as times got better and they could get the old price, they would share it with the men. He asked them to accept this promise and go to work ; if not, he was authorized to say, in behalf of all the dock interests, that they would sul)mit the matter to arbi- ti'alion, the companies choosing a man, the men another, and those two a third, all agreeing to abide by the result, the men to go to work })eDding the arbitration. If the men refused to accept this offer, the companies would be com- pelled, against their wishes, to bring in new men, and fight it out on that line. PIONEER SKETCHES. 439 Mark Hanna was the next speaker. He said ho could answer for all the ore interests on the Pittsburg, Yonngs- town & Ashtabula side. He endorsed all that Mr. Mather said. He thought there would be no trouble to find arbi- trators that would be acceptable to both sides. He urged the men to accept the proposition and said the companies w^anted to be fair, and above all didn't w^ant to see men that worked for them crowded out ; but if they were forced to put in neW' men, they would stuy and be protected. He urged them to carefully consider before answering, and said if the men were not ready to answ^er then they couM answer to the agents of the company at the dock offices the next morning. ]\1. H. Taylor, Vice President of the Youghiogheny Coal and Ore Company, in substance said the same, after which Mr. Hanna said the companies had made all the propositions they w^anted to and would retire, leaving the meeting in the hands of the men. There was some confusion as the ten or tAvelve repre- sentatives of the dock companies filed from the hall, a good many of the men hissing. One individual repeatedly interrupted the speaker, and once Mr. Hanna lost patience and said, "I'm not talking to you, sir." After the withdrawal of the representatives of the companies an engineer stood up and asked the men w^hat their answer was. "-It is 10 cents or nothing," with a yell that shook the windows, the men unanimously shouted. "Ten cents or nothing,'' and so the war was continued. For five weeks the business at Ashtabula Harbor was paralyzcid, and it is estimated that during this time over *t^4,(M>0 of a daily circulating medium was blocked. Finally on Saturday, June 1?>, the men notified the companies that they W'Ould go to work at 1>^ cents, with a promise of a raise when the price of ore advanced, wdiich the companies accepted and ordered the men to go to work Monday morning, June 15. Again the wheels of commerce w^ere set in motion at tlie Harbor, the ore and coal traffic became red-hot, and thus closed one of the largest, most determined, persistent strikes ever experienced on the chain of lakes. CHAPTER CXXX. CAriTAL AND LABOR. HEIr^ECENT strikes at Ashtabula Harbor and Cleveland demonstrate that laljor, as well as cap- ital, has a market value. While the one cannot exist without the other, we are constrained to believe that the one is a factor of as much importance as the other, and demand an impartial recognition at the hands of the law abiding intelligent citizens, and from our legislative bodies as well. The hiboring man in European countries had a long struggle to ascend to a plane higher than a slave or an ox; their price was fixed; they were yoked in or harnessed up, and they had to go along. Time, and a greater degree of intelligence among the working classes finally wrought a change and a labor organization was formed, which the reader has long been familiar with its ebb and flow, in Europe and later in America. Labor has had, for years past and now, a heavy dead weight with which to contend: a constant influx of foreign emigration; many thousands of foreign laborers }'early, bums, thugs, thieves and paupers, are dumped onto our American shores. Except of the sober, working element, what good are they 'i The records of our almshouses, lockups and prisons tell the story. There should be some wise legislation, some change of law on this exodus matter, or else in a few coming decades America can count her paupers, like England, by the millions. A higher standard of civility and education must be the safeguard of the working man of America. Know PIONEER SKETCHES. 441 thyself; let us cultivate the ))rciin as well as the muscle, that we may be able to cope, confer and win respect from our employers or superiors. Capital must have labor for the advance guard and skirmisher, to clear away the thorns and thistles, to plant his batteries; then he must have lal)or to man the guns. Then let us be cool, temperate and wise, and make our position count. Make no unreasona])le demands on capital; let your cause for grievance be calmly, firmly and wisely presented; when of no avail, resist in like good manner. The same canopy floats over our head, The same waters roll to bathe our weary feet. For a time, if we leave oft' about where we beguu, And have uot played the card that won, Fellow worker don't be discouraged with your lot, For there is always plenty of room at the top. Keep your eye on the American guu, Look at England and see what she has done; Five millions of paupers created in her laud; Americans, resist the like on every hand. CHAPTER CXXXI. DO YOU EVER THINK ? O YOU ever think as the hearse drives by, That it won't be long till you and I Will both ride out in the big plumed hack, And we'll never, never, never, ride back ? Do you ever think as you strive for gold, That a dead man's hand can't a dollar hold; AVe may tug and toil and pinch and save. And Ave '11 lose it all when we reach the grave ? Do you ever think, as you closely clasp Your bag of gold with a firmer grasp. If the hungry hearts of the world were fed, It might bring peace to your dying bed ? life's seven stages. Only a Baby, Kissed and caressed. Gently held to a mother's breast. Only a Child, Toddling alone, Brightening now its happy home. Only a Boy, Trudging to school. Governed now by a sterner rule. Only a Youth, Living in dreams. Full of promise life now seems. Only a Man, Battling with life, Shared in now by a loving wife. Only a Father, Burdened with care. Silver threads in dark l)r()\\n hair. Only a Gray beard. Toddling again. Growing old and full of pain. Only a Mound, Oe'r grown with grass, Dreams unrealized---Rest at last. Undevwrlter. CHAPTER CXXXII. EARLY SPORTS AND PASTIMES — THE GRAPE VINE SWING. jT WAS on a pleasant Sunday after- noon, away back in October, 1822, the young people of both sexes com- prising thfe Sargents, Sturtevants, Powells, Wells and Woodards, sallied forth through the w^ood two or three miles away to the Anderson lot, an old clearing of a few acres, which w^as surrounded by a dense forest, w^here they found an abundance of wild grape vines three to five inches in diameter towering to the top of of the highest forest trees, which all along up its branches w^ere loaded w^ith grapes. It was soon after a few sharp frost and these wild grapes were delicious. After a sumptuous feast of the grapes, the flavor of which far surpasses that of the tame grape, they selected two of the largest vines, cut off the low^er ends, bored an auger hole through them about three feet from the gi'ound and securely connected them wdth a good seat, making as ffrand a swinsr for a fellow and his girl as ever swune, the top of wdiich firmly secured 75 to 100 feet heavenward, in the tree tops, interwoven b}^ a thousand chords of viny network, safeh^ suspending the long flying trapese in its semi-circular movements of 50 to 75 feet, so that it was quite necessary for the swingers to embrace the grape vine with one arm and their partners with the other. First iuto the towering tree tops the boys did climb With ease and agility, all in their prime, To pluck the wild and luscious grape Which the boys and girls freely did partake. 444 PIONEER SKETCHES. Then into the grape vine swing through s])ace did whirl, Beside him sat his rosy-cheek girl; To and fro, grandly swinging, Happily and merrily singing. With one arm around the grape vine he clung, The other around his darling as they swung. A heaven on earth they experienced there, Majestically swinging through mid-air. Since the morning of creation Never has been invented by any nation A swing so grand, so safely entwined, As the stately wild grape vine. CHAPTER CXXXIII. THE BLIND MAN EVERETT. HE SUBJECT of this sketch was born in Vermont in 1802. Some years later he lemoved to Ripley, Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he built a grist mill and ran the same for some years. Afterwards he removed to Summer Hill, Crawford County, Pa., and engaged in the manufacture of capstan bars. Later he removed to Wells' Mills, Spring To^\^lship, and there encased to run a grist mill and saw mill, which he attended to most wonderfully, as he had been l^lind ever since he was six years old. Mr. Everett raised a family of eight children, and died at the age of TO years. Mr. Everett was a good cabinetmaker, cooper, mill- wright, wood turner and sawyer. On one occasion Alfred Sargent, father of the writer, took a nice piece of second- growth white ash timber to him to have a neck yoke made. Mr Everett examined the timber and pronounced it all right, from which he said he would make a good neck yoke, and he did ; he turned out a dandy one. About this time the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad was built and ran by ]Mr Everett's place of business, which was at Wells" Grist and SaAv Mills, Spring, CraAvford County, Pa., and as the cars stopped at Wells' one dark night a couple of ladies peered out of the car windows into the darkness. Within 40 feet of them they heard the nnisic of 446 PIONEER SKETCHES an upright saw dancing through the knots of a l)ig hemlock "saw-log," and all was as dark as Egypt. The saw is through the log ; they hear the clinker of the crowbar ; already the saw is set for another inch board ; the water gate hoisted, the saw again dances forward 16 feet and another board drops, darkness still l)rooding o'er the scene. The ladies exclaimed, " What in the world is that ^" "A saw mill running away alone in the dark," said the second. A gentleman sitting near by said, ' ' No, ladies ; there is a sawyer there, the old man Everett, blind as a bat, and he saws as good lumber in the dark as if he had a dozen lan- terns lighted ; it's all the same to him." The mystery was explained. Mr. Everett would saw as good lumber as any man ; get as much out of a log ; grind yoiu* grist as well ; toll it as honestly ; repair the saw or grist mill, make you a secre- tary or wardrobe, or a nice bracket or piece of furniture, or a nice black walnut casket to lay away a departed soul in the tomb, as nicely as any man who had two good eyes and wore a pair of double concavo-convex Dutch spectacles. Then is not Mr. Martin Everett to be credited with performing something quite wonderful and miraculous ? This should afford a lesson to mankind of what can be accomplished by will power and a thorough cultivation of the senses. CHAPTER CXXXIV. AN INTERESTING CORPSE. N THE 28tli of August, 1884, Mr. John H. Gately, of Oswego, N. Y., effected an in- surance in the Malual Reserve Fund Life Association for |2.000. On the 21st of July, 189(1, a Ijody was found floating in the Erie Canal, near Syracuse, which was taken to the morgue, where it ^vas left in the custody of the well known undertaker, Mr. John ]McCarthy. Gately, the party insured, having previously disappeared, his brother, with other citi- zens of Syracuse visited the morgue, and after carefully viewing the corpse, positively declared that it was not the body of his missing brother. After the usual exhibition of the remains they were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, at the expense of the municipality. Mrs. Gately, who was the beneficiary under the policy of insurance, and who in the absence of her husband had kept up payment of the premiums thereon, was determined that the corpse recovered from the canal was none other than the body of her own dear John, with whom, unfortu- nately, she had not lived for several years. Bat her nmch- mourned-for husband was of more account to her dead than alive. She had §2,000 of stock in his cold clay which she desired to capture as a balm to her laceratad feelings. So she would insist that John's light had gone out in Lighton's Lock on the Ene, and that she was a verital^lc widoAV. To remove all possible doubt, her husband's relatives arrano-ed 448 PIONEER SKETCHES. that she should go with them to Syracuse where the body would be exhumed and all could view it together, Mrs. Gately, however, failed to put in an appearance, but two days thereafter, accompanied by a Mr. Kennyon, she caused the l)ody to l^e raised, and amid tears that welled out into a l)lack bordered handkerchief, both she and her friend identilied it as the body of her husband. To make assurance doubly sure, on the 30th day of July, at the re- quest of Mrs. Gately, her son-in-law, Mr. Lyman Mason, with Mr. E. W. Kennyon, Mr. Morris Conners and Mr. John Keefe, all of Oswego, went over to Syracuse and had the body again taken up, wdiich all identified as that of John H. Gately, declaring that the marks described by Mrs. Gatelji as being marks on her husband's l)ody w^ere found on the body buried at Syracuse. The evidence was deemed conclusive, at least so far as Mrs. Gately was concerned, and she lost no time in forwarding notice of the death of her husband to the Association from the funds of w^hich she hoped to replenish her exchequer to the extent of the insur- ance claimed. The usual Ijlank forms for proof of death were immediateh' forwarded for execution, to which Mrs. Gately 's attorney responded as follows: Law Office 6 and 7 Grant Block, Oswego, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1890. Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association, Potter Building, 38 Park Row, Xeic York City: Gentlemen: John H. Gately, who was insured under your policy of insurance 23254, is dead, as you already know. He was drowued in the Erie Canal at Syracuse, N. Y. In making up the proofs of his death we canuot furnish you any physicians or clergyman's affidavit, nor do I think we can fur- nish you with affidavit of undertaker, except on information and belief, as the undertaker did not know deceased. There PIONEER SKETCHES. 449 was no iuqiiest held. Will you please send me instructions as to what kind of proofs of death will be satisfactory under the circumstances, and greatly oblige Yours, very respectfully, C. ?^. BULGER, Att'y for Beneficiary. While this liold game was being played on the part of the claimant in order to identify the body of the unknown as that of her husband, the officers of the Mutual Reserve were rather suspicious that their insured member was still meandering around somewhere outside the confines of the necropolis. Consequently Mr. E. W. Thomas, the special agent of the Association, bethought himself of the propri- ety of running up to the city on the lake, with the view of ascertaining hc^w matters were. It took him a very short time to take in the situation and tumble on to the alleged defunct absentee, who had all the time Ijeen quietly rusti- cating on a small farm near Sja^acuse, where he had uncon- cernedly re 'id the interesting notice of his own demise. An excellent photograph of him was taken so as to establish his identity should he again take it into his head to disap- pear. Mrs. Gately's would-be husband still lives among the unknown in Woocllawn Cemetery, but whether the quasi widow will renew wifely acquaintance with the lamented original John, for whom she had shed a Niao'ara of tears, is not yet a matter of history. 29 CHAPTER CXXXV. A PIONEER MORTGAGE. E BOUGHT in 1665 a farm of stumps aud stones, His name was God-he-glorified, his surname it was Jones, He put a mortgage on the farm, and then in conscious pride, In twenty years I'll pay it up, said God-be-glorified. The mortgage had a hungry maw, that swallowed corn and wheat, He toiled with patience night and day, to let the monster eat; He slowly worked himself to death, and on the calm hillside. They laid beyond the monster's reach, God-be-glorified. And the farm with its encumbrances of mortgages, stumps and stones, It fell to young Melchizedeck Paul Adoniram Jones; Melchizedeck was a likely youth, a holy, Godly man, And he vowed to raise that mortgage, like a noble Puritan. And he went forth every morning, to the rugged mountain side, And he dug, as dug before him, poor old God-be-glorified; He raised pumpkins and potatoes, down the monster's throat to pour, He gulped them down and smacked his jaws and calmly asked for more. He worked until his back was bent, until his hair was gray. On the hill side through a snow drift, they dug his grave one day. His first born son, Eliphalit, had no time to weep and brood, For the monster by his doorstep growled perpetually for food. He fed him on his garden truck, he stuffed his ribs with hay, And fed him eggs and butter, but he would not go away; Aud Elii)halit, he staggered with the burden, and then he died, Aud slept with old Melchizedeck aud God-be-glorified. Then the farm it fell to Thomas, and from Thomas fell to John, Then from John to Elezur, but the mortgage still lived on; Then it fell to Ralph, Peter, Eli, Absolom and Paul, Down through the generations, but the mortgage killed them all. CHAPTER CXXXVI. THE COURT HOUSE REMOVAL. [j^HE removal of the Jefferson Court House to Ashtabula, Is now the all absorbing question, surely; Last spring the beligerents went to the Columbus Legislature, To talk about something of this very nature. Ashtabula desired to get a vote of the people, To build a new court house with a grand and lofty steeple; Their forces were arrayed with very good tact, But the "lever"* of the Jeffersouian killed the enabling act. And there was wafted in the breezes a singular warning, That Jeffersouian lawyers rise early in the morning; And before the bill came up for discussion, A log roller touched it off with one percussion. And when the smoke of that percussion had cleared away, 'Twas found recorded "killed' ' ( resurrected at some future day) ; And the beligerents retired to their quiet homes To dream of prospective court houses, sjDires and domes. Ashtabula being the largest county in the State, And the old court house not large enough at any rate. Then came the natural spur, for removal to Ashtabula, And there build a court house grand and sj^acious, truly. Jefferson thought of its intrepid war horses, Giddings and Wade, Whom in their quiet sepulchers they have laid; What ! remove the capitol ? whose bell peeled forth its chime Oe'r the last sad rites of its heroes requiem. Jeffersonians and the commissioners went for the county fund. Already grand improvements have begun; And the enlarged coui't house will not be inferior In grandeur, to many others, on the exterior. It might be possible to cut x'Vshtabula County in twain. For there is territory enough in her domain To make two counties large as Geauga and Lake, But this would be unpleasant to undertake. And now, please allow me to ask. If removing an old county seat is an easy task? To move it off its original domain. Or improve the same and there let it remain. CHAPTER CXXXVII. A SAD INCIDENT. THE FAEMER-THE TAVERN KEEPER — A FARM CONSUMED BY WHISKY — REMOVAL — DOWNFALL AND TRIAL OF A YOUNG GIRL — RELEASE — LICENSE TAKEN FROM THE TAVERN KEEPER. TPl^ HE FOLLOWING occurred at Meadville, Pa., I some years ago: A man who, with his family, -^ resided on his farm in Crawford County, became addicted to the use of hquor. A tavern near by wtis fre- quented ))y the farmer, who in time became an inebriate, as also did his wife. Their liquor bills in time consumed their farm, and their once happy home passed into the hands of the tavern keeper. Then the family repaired to an old dilapidated building to live, and soon fell into the depths of degradation, living a carousal and dissolute life. Mary, their young girl, aged 14 years, became the mother of a child and w^as turned out of doors by her unnatural parents, with nothing but a blanket to wrap around her babe. Thus driven from home, not knowing where to go, she went to the tavern kej^t by the landloid who got away her father's farm for whisk}', and owed her for husking corn. That night, when it w^as time for retiring, the tavern keeper made a bed of old clothes in one corner of the bar- room on the floor, on which he told Mary that she and her child could repose until morning, when he wanted her to leave and not come into his house again. That evening a gentleman paid this landlord a '^2.i'A) county order wdiich she noticed he put into a vest pocket which hung on a nail in the wall near her cot, and she thought it would be no harm for her to take that order and buy some clothing for her child, as he had got away her father's farm and refused to pay her for husking corn. When morning came she set out for a lady friend's, ten miles away, poorly clad in snowy weather. On her way she came to a store w'here she stopped and exchanged that order for goods to make some clothes for her child. She arrived that day at her PIOXEER SKETCHES. 453 friend's house, where she was welcome to stay and make the necessary garments for her child. When the landlord found she had gone, and the order missing, he got out a warrant, armed the constable, and hunted down the poor girl like a greyhound does a ral)l)it. From the store he tracked her to the house of her friend, and there attempted to arrest her. The woman of the house told the constal^le that he could not take ber away. He got a posse of men and was going to force an entrance and cajrture the girl. The brave woman met them at the door with a gourd of hot water, saying, "I will scald every devil of you if you enter my house; you shall not take away the poor girl until she makes some clothes for her child, then I will sec that she is at the justice's office.'" The constable and posse then went away. True to her promise, she went with Mary to the justice's; a trial was had and Mary was bound over to court; in the absence of bail she was placed in jail to await her trial at the next term of court. The time havinii* come for her trial, Avith no money or counsel to aid her, the judge requested the Hon. A. B. Richmond to defend her. Mr. Richmond asked to have a consultation with the girl rela- tive to her case, enjoining her to tell him a full histor}' of the case. This done, Mr. Richmond was prepared for liattle, and manfully fought for his client. When the tavern keeper was sworn and giving his evidence, he writhed and choked under the sarcasm of the gallant Richmond. The jury could do nothing less than to bring her in guilty, but recommended the mercy of the court. The judge, in his charge, said, "Mary you may go and when I want you I will send for you." Mary then asked the judge if she could have her child. "'Yes," said the judge, "and take good care of it." "I will," said Mary. And as she Avas leaving the court room she turned around and said, "Judge, will you please tell that man not to sell my father and mother any more whisky ?" "I will,'' said the judge, and he told the clerk to make out papers for the tavern keeper to appear in court and show cause why he shoukl not have his license taken from him. CHAPTER CXXXVIII. NOTED LIFE SWINDLER CAUC4HT. RECENT dispatch from Prescott, Arizona, says that Under Sheriif Mclnery had lodged in jail one of the most noted swindlers in the Southwest, James M. Wilson, alias Mathews, alias Hollcy, alias Madison. Wilson has made a specialty of swindling insurance companies. His first venture was in Arkansas, some years ago, when he l)lew up a cottage in Avhich he lived. The explosion occurred prematurely and as a result he was severely injured and now wears a silver plate on the top of his head. His supposed body was. found in the wreck and buried by the widow, who recovered the amount of his insurance policy. In 1888 he settled in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, with his wife, and immediately took out a life insurance policy for $8,000 in the New York Mutual Insurance Company, and an additional accident policy for §10,000. A few months after receiving the policies a fishing excursion was organized on the Rio Grande and Wilson was reported drowned. A search re- sulted in finding his supposed body, which was buried. The suspicions of the insurance companies were aroused and an investigation was started, when Wilson's wife and other confederates became alai-med and fied from the country. Large rewards were offered for his arrest, and some of the best detectives in the country started in search of him. During a recent visit to Jerome, Under Sherift' Mclnery identified Wilson there and made the arrest. Wilson admits his identity, but asserts that he fell out of the boat into the Rio Grande accidentally and floated a long distance down the strc^am before reaching the shore. Having previously had a quarrel with his wife he thought it would he a good way to avenge himself l)y i)reten(ling to have l)een drowned. When found he was living in a gulch some distance from camp. CHAPTER CXXXIX. THE SHENANGO KAILROAD. HIS ROAD opens up extensive bituminous coal fields in Mercer and Butler Counties, Pa., and runs a good portion of its way on the old tow path of the Erie & Pittsburg Canal and taps the Nickel Plate about one mile east of Girard, and affords an easy, cheap grade and a good investment for its progenitors, Messrs. Dick, Huidckoper & Co., of Meadville, Pa. This road will be something of a competitor to the E. & P. Rail- road in the coal and passenger traffic, also a great factor to the commerce of the beautiful and rich Shenango valley for time to come. The famous bituminous block coal is found on the east and west sides of the Shenango and in the vicinity of the Mahoning valleys, Mercer and Law^rence Counties, Pa., and Mahoning County, O. The pioneer operators or coal producers were: C. G. Carver, Sharon; Messrs. Joy, Fruit, Scott & Rankin, Clarksville; Gen. Jas. Pierce, Sharpsville; M. C. Trout and others, Middlesex, Pa.; Messrs. Powers, Andrews, Hitchcock and others, Youngstown, Hubbard and vicinity. The section of country contiguous to the Shenango and Mahoning valleys has produced some of the best quality of bituminous block coal yet mined in America. A coal that will bear shipment and sell readily in any market in the world; containing but little sulphur, comparatively clean to handle, would burn to white ashes and could be split, wdth the grain, into flakes or slabs and burn free as wood, yet adhesive and would not break up in shipping like other brands of coal; hence its commercial value. Block coal is not found in such vast quantities as other brands of coal, such as is extensively found in Butler 456 PIONEER SKETCHES. County, Pa. There is, however, a fine quality of block coal underlyino; the Cox farm, situate al)out eight miles northeast of New Castle, Lawrence County, Pa., on the Younstown road. A shaft was first sunk by the Cox Brothers in a sag or sunken spot on the farm near the south side, to a depth of about 12 feet, when a nice vein of l)lock coal three feet thick was found, then a strata of fire clay 12 or 15 inches thick separated the upper from a lower vein al)Out three and one half feet thick. Large blocks of excellent quality of coal was taken from this shaft. Eastward from this shaft the land gradually rose considerably higher, with every indication that these veins of coal would continue to exist as found at the shaft under the entire 1(>0 acres. This property was leased b}^ the writer in 1S61. Thereafter C. G. Carver, the pioneer coal operator, of Sharon, purchased an interest in said lease and drilling was commenced in diflerent places on the farm to depths rang- ing from 1:5 to 65 feet. We found the veins of coal to be but two to two and one-half feet in thickness and the strata of fire clay separating the two coal veins to be from three to five feet in thickness. There l)eing two miles of railroad to ))uild to transport the coal to the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, it was thought best to abandon the enterprise. Coal operators and miners are well aware that strange freaks exist in block coal fields. xVlr. Carver related an incident lie experienced while operating his famous coal mine at Sharon in 1840-50. All at once the entry driver struck what is called a "horse back," which is a hard sub- stance almost impenetral)le; $2,000 was ex})ended in driving through this horse l)ack and the coal was found to be of a very difierent quality, containing much more sulphur, more seamy and would not bear shipment to distant markets. Only at the home market could he use it. Thus ended the famous Carver Mine. Thus it is not in your kaleidoscope, nor in mine, Nature's law aud treasures to define; And if you will allow uie so to speak, There exists in nature many a strange freak. CHAPTER CXL. THE EOUND-UP. ^^HE Montana, Kansas and Texas ranchman makes c) his yearly round-up, that he may ascertain the i^ condition and value of his stock. The merchant also makes his yearly round-up, or invoice of his stock. The railway, vessel and steamship companies, the telegraph and mining companies, the insurance companies, and in fact all corporate bodies on the face of the earth, make their yearly round-up, that the status of their institution may be known, though generally best known to themselves. Over four thousand years ago the Lord ccmunan.ded Noah to make his round-up and take into the Ark people and animals of every living species on earth, that they might be spared to start anew, to propagate and replenish the earth. Things don't come by chance. Laws inexor- able and immutalile as the Rock of Ages, transcend ently Come down to yours and mine, The hand that made them is divine. How magnificent and grand the work ! Not a particle of matter lost. The steam, smoke and vapor arises, pass- ing off through space, clarifies , and returns to us in other forms. Since the creation of the world on great occasions the hour comes for the round-up of the day. Nineteen centuries ago Jerusalem had become a great city. The Jews and their king, Pontius Pilate, saw a miraculous Christ, and He must be nailed to the cross. Swift justice, through inexoral)le law followed in the hands 458 FIOXELK SKETCHES. of an inscrutable Providence. The round-iip came. "O, Jerusalem, "svhcre art thou I " And thence traveling down the ages the immutable law seems to have been meted out to us without stint or favor, and to man as the instrument has been delegated on the lield of relentless strife to make the round-up. In Young America lirst by George Washington. The next great part played in the drama Avas l)y Abraham Lin- coln in 1861-5, and the grand round-up by an heroic army under the command of General Grant. Ah, says one, this cruel war looks to me like anything l)ut grandeur. Very true, Ijut when it comes with all its horrors upon us, threatening annihilation, and to sever and destroy forever our greatest boon — liljerty and unicm — then a result like that of our American conflict may well be called the grand round-up. And now, young man, as you start out in life in any honorable pursuit, and there are many in which to engage, when upon your journey you will find different roadways to take in making your round-up — ])e sure to take the straight road and you are bound to make a grand round-up. CHAPTER CXLI. FOSSIL MINES OF THE WEST. "y^^^ ECENTLY there was started for Washington ^^B W' the most extraordinary procession of ani- I "^^ nials ever seen on the face of the earth. In \ ^fc this wonderful parade were gigantic reptiles <^^^"* Vf as large as good sized houses, some of them onehmadred feet in length; flying dragons with a twenty- five foot spread of wings; huge birds with teeth; mammals two or three times as great in size as elephants; sharks as large as the hughest whales; other fishes clad in mighty plates of armor, and countless specimens more of equal strangeness, and enormous dimensions, such as actually in- habited the world before man arrived in it. For nine years past the government has been digging up and putting together the skeletons of these strange creatures, and now the vast collection stored in New Haven, Conn., has been got ready for shipment by rail to the national museum. The whole of it would occupy one-half of that building. The business of digging for these fossils is carried on pretty much like any other mining. In various parts of the west there are great deposits of them, into which the sci- entific enthusiasts eagerly delve for rehcs of ei)ochs thous- ands of centuries old. One of these chosen hunting grounds is the region between the Rockies and the Wastch Moun- tains. Ages ago the upheaval of these hills by the geologi- cal action cut ofi" a portion of what had been sea between these ranges from the ocean, and the water thus shut away 460 PIONEER SKETCHES. formed many big lakes. A typical one of this sort existed in Wyoming and around it the mighty antedeliivian animals gathered in herds to crop the succulent vegetation of what was then a tropical climate in that region. They died natural deaths or became mired in the mud when they went to drink, and the sediment slowly deposited in the water covered up their bones and i)reserved them from decay. This sediment reached a mile in thickness, holding between its layers these ancient skeletons distribu- ted like currants through a cake. At length the water draining off left the land dry, and in the case of the Wyoming lake referred to, subsequent floods washed away much of the sediment previously deposited, leaving what are now called "Bad Lands," picturesque with clitis, peaks and columns, carved out in fantastic shapes and of various coloring;. Throuijh such a region as this the scientific explorer travels with his eyes as wide open for fossils as the gold hunter keeps his for the shining metal. If from the face of some rocky cliff he chances to see a bone })roject, exposed by the action of water that has cut away the hill- side, he sets a party of men to quarrying with drill, blast and pickaxe until whatever is there in the way of remains is taken out. Possibly some great deposit of some pre- historic monster may be struck, in which case the find is kept as secret as possible, being regarded by the discoverer as his private mine. Professor O. C. Marsh, who directed the gathering of the government collection referred to, has such mines of his own all over the west, from which he can draw to order the most astonishing variety of gigantic creatures. He made the remark recently that there was one small valley ho knew of where relics of the ancient monsters were so PIONEER SKETCHES. 461 plentiful that passing through it one day he noticed the skeletons of six of those mighty swimming lizards, each 80 feet in length. Usually these amazing fossils are found imbedded in rock. After they have been roughly quarried out the sand- stone or other matrix enclosing them is carefully chiseled away from the bones. The latter are ffivcn a coat of o;lue, to keep out the decomposing air, and any that are broken or splintered are bound up with twine, after which they are packed for shipment. When one of these beasts of antiquity died, its carcass being covered with sediment that after- wards became stone, the skeleton was apt to be preserved entire and with the parts in position all ready for mounting in a museum. There was a new reptile found in Wyoming the other day in such a complete state, which was named the Pronto- saur. It was 60 feet long and stood 15 feet high when alive, and w^eighed 20 tons. Cfist in the rock from which it was taken was a perfect mould of one of its eye-balls, with Avhich it looked upon the world 3,000,000 years ago. It had a very small head, a long and flexible neck, a short body and a huge tail. In the same neighborhood has also been discovered recently another monster, called the Triceratops, W'hich had an enormous bony frill around the back of its neck. This surprising development, measuring six feet across, was intended for the attachment of great muscles that were necessary in holding ip the huge head. The animal, though tremendously massive, W' as only thirty feet long, l)ut it was covered with plates of armor and had a sharp and horny beak, not to mention a horn on its nose and another on its forehead, the latter two and one-half feet in length. 462 PIONEER SKETCHES. In Colorado have l)ecn found great deposits of the bones of the Tetanosaur, the largest land animal that ever existed. They grew to be forty feet long and sixty feet high when erect upon their hind legs. Instead of browsing, as did the Brontrosaur and Triceratops, npon the luxurious and aquatic vegetation around the lake l)orders, they fed u)ion the foliage of trees on the mountain sides. Likewise did the Inguanadon, several times as heavy as an elephant, which had a nipping beak like a turtle"'s, and also walked erect, using its huge tail for support, and towering to the height of forty or lifty feet. In the Mesozoic epoch, or "Age of Reptiles," when the creature described lived, these and other herbineferous animals were the largest of the beasts. One of these, the Atlantosaur, was 100 feet long, its thigh bones measuring eighty feet in length and twenty-three inches through. They had various ways of pursuing existence. Some went on all fours and had back bones that were mere shells filled with warm air from the lungs, which served them as boats while they walked in the sea shallows in water deep enough to cover their backs, extending their long necks to crop vegetation along the shore. Of this sort was the Camera- Saures, eighty feet in length. Others had enormously long hing legs, on which they were able to wade far out into the ocean after sea weeds, and were provided with not fewer than 2, 000 teeth for grinding their food. Such was the mighty kangaroo- like Hadrosaures. Yet other species dwelt on land like the Triceratops, and these were usually provided with armor and horns for defense against tlu.'ir enemies. It would seem as if such monsters as are al)ove de- scribed need have feared no living foes, but in fact they were connnon i)re\' to great numbers of frightful carniver- PIONEER SKETCHES. 463 ous reptiles smaller in size but of tremendous activity and fierceness, which fed upon these unwieldy vegetable eating giants. Most terrific of all, perhaps, was the incredibly fero- cious Laelaps, which were twenty-five feet long, stood forty feet high on its hind legs, and was built like a kangaroo. It was the most astonishing jumper that ever existed, Avith teeth for cutting and sharj) claws on the front feet that were evidentlj^ designed for tearing out the eyes of victims or adversaries. Hardly less formidal)le and equally large was the Ste- gossaur, which was sheathed in armor plates from two to three feet in width and employed as a . weapon of ofiense its powerful tail armed near the end on both sides with sharp spikes two feet long. This animal walked erect also, and one of its peculiarities was a great enlargement of the spinal cord of the lower end of the back. In fact this ex- pansion of the brain material intended to provide for the wagging of the mighty spiked tail, was ten times as big as the brain in the skull itself. Equally large and dangerous were the Meyolasaur and the Dinosaur. Their jaws were armed with huge sabre-like teeth, and they went about on their hind legs looking for something to devour. Specimens of all these are included in the collection for permanent exhibition at the National Mu- seum. Of course they represent Ijut a few of the countless species of giant beasts that roamed over the earth in droves during this vanished epoch. They w^alked upon land, swam the seas, flew through the air, climljed trees, and did every- thing the mammals do nowadays. There were many kinds of' crocodiles 50 feet from snout to tail, whereas the largest ones now are not more than 15 feet. It is supposed that 464 PIONEER SKETCHES. those strange antedeluvian water fowl were wiped out by the mighty swimming lizards. The turtles attained a length of 20 feet and measured seven feet in heio;ht. It is not only the age of reptiles, however, that is rep- resented by the unparalleled collection described. Before that came the epoch of the fishes, when they ran the world and had things pretty much to themselves. Of this era the government has gathered together a vast quantity of fossil relics. The face of the earth did not then look at all as it does now. Most of what are now called continents had not l)e('n upheaved above the ocean; nearly everywhere was sea, with comparatively small land masses elevated out of it. The atmosphere was hot, moist, and loaded Avith carbonic acid, so as to be unbearable. In the ocean swam enormous armored fish, such as the tymisthys, which were fifteen feet long and had such tre- mendous jaws and teeth and they could have Ijitten a man in two as easily as you could a radish. Later on came sharks of the fiercest type, which must have been as much as seventy feet in length at least. The biggest tooth of a man eater to-day is about an inch long, while the teeth of the ancient sharks, which are found in enormous numbers, measure more than six inche*. This was the golden age of the scaly tribe. The great reptiles that appeared on the scene in a subsequent epoch were wiped out of existence by the great cataclysm M'hich upheaved the Rocky Mountains, the Alps and the Hima- layas and brought to a close the Mesozoic epoch. Then came the age of mammals, at the end of Avliich we are now, man being the last arrival on the scene. PIONEER SKETCHES. 465 The age of monsters has pretty nearly passed away, only a few remaining like the elephant and the whale. Small animals ^vith plenty of sense will always survive stu- pid giants in the long run, because they require less food and know better how to avoid danger. Observe in illustra- tion how the doom of extinction has fallen upon the gigan- tic mammals which roamed over the earth by myriads only so short a time ago, comparatively speaking, as the begin- ning of the present era called Cenozoic. There was the Di- noceras, which lived in herds about the lakes, as the depos- its show, big as an elephant, but in appearance somewhere between the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, with three pairs of horns on its head and huge tusks that fitted into sheaths in the lower jaw. Others might be mentioned. For years the government has been engaged in exca- vating their bones, which are now to make part of what is destined to be the greatest zoological show on earth, upon which, in the near future, at the great Columbian Exposi- tion at Chicago, millions of Europeans and Americans will saze with astonishment. 30 CHAPTEK CXLII. BIG SALARIES A^D INSURANCE. ^jIj^=^HE following list of big salaries paid in New York 51^ will be interesting. It will be especially inter- IJIU esting to those persons w4io arc scratching gravel quarterly to get money enough together to pay their big premiums in old line insurance companies. Chauncy M. Depew, President New York Central Rail- road, $75,000; Henry B. Hyde, President Equitable Life Assurance Society, $60,000; Richard A. McCurdy, Presi- dent Mutual Life Lisurance Company, $60,000; W. H. Beers, President New York Life Lisurance Co., $60,000; Frederick P. Olcott, President Central Trust Co. , $60,000; John A. Stewart, President United States Trust Company, $60,000; Richard King, President Union Trust Company. $50,000; James W. Alexander, Vice-President Equitable Life, $40,000; D. O. Heald, President Home Insurance Co., $30,000; John W. Murray, Vice-President German- American Insurance Co., $30,000; R. A. Grannis, Vice- President Mutual Life Insurance Co. , $30,000; Henry Tuck, Vice-President New York Life, $30,000; Gen. Louis Fitz- gerald, President Mercantile Trust Co., $30,000; Col.W. M. Trenholm, President American Surety Co., $20,000; Presi- dent Williams, of the Chemical National Bank, $2o,ooo; President Perkins, of the Importers' ane prepared to ofler you indemnity for dog bites, cat bites, snake bites, the bite of bugs, in- sects or the sting of bees; in brief, the insurance agent of the future will be a composite fiend, a hydra-headed mon- ster; escape him at one point and he will nail you to the cross at another, he will be a Niagara of volubility ; a terror astride of a tempest; while I am simply a hfe insurance agent," and he turned awaj'^ with a sad and injured air. "Come back young man,"" said the merchant, kindly, "Come back and fill out my apphcation blank for $20, 000, and accept my humble apology besides. "" And it was done. CHAPTER CXLIV. THE AVATERWAY8 — THEIR IMPORTANCE — COMMERCIAL VALUE. HE principal natural inland water- yvays of North America are the great chain of lakes, the Missis- sippi, Missouri, Hudson, Ohio, Delaware, Cumberland, Tennes- see, James, Potomac, Yucon, Sacramento, the Columbia and the Rio Grand Rivers; the Erie, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wabash, the Miami Valley and the Illinois Canals. These waterways, diversitied as they arc, coursing through and draining a vast area (.f country, and floating an immense tonnage are susceptible of a great commercial increase. These waterways are a very important factor in the commerce of our country, and America owes much of her coramercial greatness to these natural waterways. Their future worth and usefulness is of incalculable bcnetit. First, in these waterways those gigantic railway mono})oly rings don't exist. If A or B desire to build vessels to plow the lakes or rivers or to run a line of boats on the canal, he can do so for the common benetit, to himself and man- kind generally. Some say the railway is the thing. So it is for pas- senger and express traffic generally, but th(> railroad don't always give the best dispatch in the shi{)ment of heavy goods. For instance, a steamlioat may load iron at Esca- PIONEER SKETCHES. 471 iiaba or Marquette and discharge her load quicker at Lake Erie ports than the railway, and with much cheaper trans- portation too. Again, A at Chicago wants to ship B 200,- 000 bushels of wdieat to Buftalo ; 100,000 bushels he ships at once on board a steamer, and at the same time he orders a train of 200 cars in which to ship the other 100,000 bushels. Before these cars are placed at the elevators and loaded the steamer is loaded and made a good leg toward Buflalo and beats the train, and at a cheaper rate of freight, too. In transportation, like anything else, we can't get all the best things embodied in one system. Hence, our great waterways are fully as essential as our great railways. And now I will mention two important connections that should be made, which I verily believe will be at no distant day, viz. : A ship canal from Erie to the Ohio River. Also an outlet, by ship canal, from Chicago to the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. The growing business of our country soon will demand that these waterway connections be made. Chicago, the great central city, soon will desire to load ships at her wharves for Europe on a larger scale than it has been wont" to do via the Welland Canal through Canada and down the St. Lawrence. It will not be satisfied until it has a better outlet to the Atlantic and to the great sea ports of the world, by water the cheapest line of transportation. We hope to live to attend the World's Fair at the Garden City (a couple years hence) when we shall expect to see New Yorkers and foreigners alike wonder at Chicago's marvelous growth, and to notice that her parks are as grand, her hotels as spacious, her business blocks as large and high and her future prospects as promising as any cit}' on the globe. 472 PIONEER SKETCHES. Greeley said "Young man, go west," and he did go west, and that's what's the matter; the great prohfic west is full of the best young men of our land, with good ])one and sinew, pluck, energy and money, with plenty of room to operate, a healthy atmosphere to breath, among an intelligent and wide awake people, centrally located with Chicago for their headquarters. Give her a ship canal and Chicago will boom the boomers and thus not long remain the second city of the continent. A ship canal from Lake Erie to the River Ohio Would suit the Buckeye and Pennymite I kuow; However such improvement to he made I think probable, But it will be from Chicago to the Mississipj^i River, Chicago, soon to be the greatest city in our laud, The great fertile west centering in from every hand, Booming Chicago until she will demand An outlet for her shipping to Dixie's Land. Chicago, the chosen site for the great World's Fair, Where will congregate Johnny Bull and lion in his lair, Asiatic, Turk, the Hindoo and the Russian bear, French, Germans, Chinese, Japs and all creation will be there. And when the people of all creation come together A scene to be remembered hiter and forever. That Chicago's facilities were fully adequate To feed the world and feather her nest at any rate. THE SHir CANAL SURA'EVS. The vast, increasing amount in heavy connnodities to be transported, iron, coal, lumber and agricultural i)roducts, naturally calls for a ship canal from Chicago to the Missis- sippi River, and from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. It has been demonstrated in France and in New York that railroad competition cannot destroy the utility of large canals. PIONEER SKETCHES. 473 Again, it has been demonstrated that it is not best for any corporation or combined systems to control the com- mercial traffic of America than it is best for any political or religious faction to hold the reins of our government forever. Referring to the regions of the interior embraced in the basin of the Mississippi, there are few localities where ship canals are feasible, and fewer still where there is a sufficient traffic of the kind usually transported on canals to warrant their construction. A careful study of the divid- ing region separating the waters of the Mississippi and the great lakes will disclose the fact that there are l)ut two points where the natural conditions are favoral^le for the construction of large canals. One of these points is at Chicago, where it is comparatively easy work to make a canal draining the waters of Lake Michigan into the Illinois River. From the town of Hennepin, on the Illinois, l)y a series of locks of about 250 feet aggregate lift, it is possible to cross from the Illinois to the Mississippi at Rock Island; this is the Hennepin Canal proper, or annex of the Illinois and Lake Michigan Canal project. Its advocates propose a steamboat, rather than a ship, canal, for it would be not to exceed nine feet in depth, although quite wide and of almost unlimited business capacity. Its western connections would be the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and it is thought that steamboats would annually gather up in the Northwest and take to Chicago 2,000,000 tons of agricul- tural produce. A great extent of the country at the western extremity of the canal Avould have to be gleaned to produce such a traffic. Congress has already made the first appropriation for this project. 474 PIONEER SKETCHES. The other point where it is possible to obtain practi- cally an unlimited water supply, for canals connecting the lakes and our interior rivers, is the one now in the hands of the Pennsylvania Ship Canal Commission, whose report has been recently made and ordered to be printed by the Legis- lature, with maps. The length of the proposed canal is only 130.4 miles from Pittsburg to Conneaut Harl)or, on Lake Erie. It has l^een pro)iosed heretofore to enlarge the Miami Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo, and also via the Wabash River to Toledo, and surveys of both routes were authorized by Act of Congress in 1880 of the size of the Erie Canal of New York, viz. : seven feet in depth with double locks 110 feet by 18 feet. The estimated cost of the Wabash Canal enlargement from Toledo to Lafayette City, Ind., 216 miles, was ,^24,236,135.17. There were fifty-four locks with a total lockage of 448 feet, but as Lafayette is just about 200 feet above the Ohio at the mouth of the Wabash, and fully 250 miles distant, at least twenty-live locks and dams would have been required to extend a permanent seven foot navigation to the Ohio, which would have brought the total cost to at least $35,- 000,000. The length of the Wabash route is fully 400 miles longer than the Beaver-Conneaut route between the Lake and the Ohio River. It is not conceivable that a ship canal in such an indi- rect route would prove of any l)ut local advantage. The principal articles of Ohio River connnerce in great demand on the lakes are coke and coal, and this route leaves the river too low down to ])e of much benefit to such commodi- ties, and but little iron ore trade would be expected in re- turn. PIOXEER SKETCHES. 475 ANOTHER LAKE OUTLET. The other route from Toledo was via the Miami River to Cincinnati, for the same sized canal with double locks. The elevation of its summit above Lake Erie is 370 feet; descent from the summit to the Ohio 512 feet; total aggre- gate lockage 882 feet. The estimated cost was $28,557,- 173; its length 238 miles. This is probably as large a canal as ever will be built to the lake from Cincinnati. Other small canals have been proposed from Portsmouth to Lorain Harbor, a distance of 27'4 miles. The Ohio Canal from Portsmouth to Cleveland, 312 miles, is still in operation. On the Lorain route, or cut off, the lockage would have been about 1,069 feet, while on the Cleveland route it is about 1,130 feet, as compared with 750. 8 feet on the Beaver route, which route is considerably less than half that of any of those named, and, besides, it possesses advantages in re- gard to water supply possessed by no other, save that from Chicago, while so far as prospective lousiness is concerned, no rival project in the country can be compared with it. There remains a possible rival to the Beaver-Conneaut route. We refer now to the route fi-om the Beaver River below New Castle via. the Mahoning River and Warren Summit to Fairport Harbor, on Lake Erie. The report of the Pennsylvania Ship Canal Commission discusses its merits, and although the summit, near Warren, is about eighty feet lower than that on the adopted route, the canal would l)e from twelve to fifteen miles longer than the latter. The chief objection urged against it is the difficulty of supplying its summit level in volume sufficient for a ship canal by means of feeders or conduits extending from within the limits of this State, a distance of thirty-five or forty miles from Conneaut Lake, one of the chief reser- 476 PIONEER SKE 7 CHES. voirs proposed for the Beaver-Conneaut route, and from which it is distant about twelve miles. To do this on the Warren route would eflectually drain the head waters of Shenango, which would forbid therefore any branch canal from the mouth of the Mahoning up the Shenango to New Castle, Sharon and Sharpsville, in which places there are now two blast furnaces, numerous rolling mills, etc., whereas the Beaver-Shenango-Conneaut route leaves the water intact for the supply of a branch canal to Youngs- town, and which branch would undoubtedly be built. As designed, the canal from Pittsburg to Lake Erie will have a bottom width of 100 feet and at the surface 152 feet, and 15 feet depth of water; locks 300 feet long by 45 feet wide; the summit level will be 20 miles long. This long summit level is one of the characteristic features of the project; of itself it would be a very effective reservoir in maintaining the equilibrium of depth about the summit. The route is nearly on an air line from Pittsburg. The distance is 130.1: miles, of Avhich 52 miles, in the Beaver and Shenango Rivers, nature has provided, so that onl}' 80 miles of full canal construction is required. The greater part of the excavation can lie accomplished by dredging and excavating machines. Thus the Beaver-Shenango-Con- neaut route furnishes the shortest route, the longest summit level, the best reservoirs, the best natural water supply and the business route for coal, coke and iron transportation. CHAPTER CXLV. LEltUEL COOK — HIS ENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS— THE ARTIST, CHARLES H. GODDARD. 1 EMUEL COOK removed to York State, where he _^ took up a tract of land in the Township of Clar- —^^ endon, Orleans County. He was a pioneer and a celebrated Indian fighter. He enhsted in the Revolu- tionary War at the ago of 17, and served during the war. He was the oldest surviving pensioner at his death, which occurred at Clarendon in 186<), he having reached his 107th year. His long and useful career was full of inci- dent, backed by indomitable pluck and Herculean strength. On one occasion, ^vhile at a tavern, he discovered four Indians (in the absence of the landlord) smashing up things generally in the bar room, thereby abusing and frightening the women occupants. He turned his attention to the red skins and laid them sprawling on the lioor, and, lone-handed, tied their hair toc^ether in one big knot. And dragged 'em out of door upon the green, Where these red skins might be seen. A job but a few would have undertook, But an invincible, like Lemuel Cook. In Revolutionary days the white men also wore long hair, tied together with a ribbon on the back of tbe head and called a cue. One day Mr. Cook was hauling stone with a yoke of oxen and a stone boat, and as he was pass- ing a thicket of timber something went whizzing past his head; dodging his head quickly he found to his dismay that he had lost his cue, it being cut off close to his head 478 PIONEER SKETCHES with a hatchet (he supposed) thrown by one of those bar room Indians who held a grudge at him. An Indian chief named Saucy Nick was suspected, as Mr. Cook afterward noticed that when they were to meet upon the road that Saucy Nick would turn out of the road into the field or wood to evade the gaze and probable chastisement from Mr. Cook. The descendents of Lemuel Cook are scattered through- out the states, many of Avhom are living, some of them in Ohio. Mrs. E. C. Goddard, of Unionville, is a grand- daughter and Charles H. Goddard, the artist, is a great grandson, who, no do.ubt, would surprise the departed spirit of his great grand sire to behold him with })encil as he draws. Charlie Goddard, the young artist, aged nineteen, Many years there are between The philosopher and the sage. Or a ripe old age. Now Charlie, as you travel down the road of life, Take along with you a happy wife; And hope from your children you can draw, The finest picture that you ever saw. CHAPTER CXLVI. AVAR TIME HEROES. PRETTY MRS. MASOX— HOW SHE MADE HERSELF USEFUL TO THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT. "ra OME of the most valuable as Avell as ,,^^_\ courageous secret agents of the South 1© ) during the war were ladies, possessing, 32r^ as mai many of them did, beauty tinesse, the instinctive knowledge of human nature that enabled the sex to penetrate the weakest point of man's armor, and a patriotism that made them proud to assume any risk that would benefit their cause. Many undertook missions so desperate that only their womanhood saved them from a short shift when discovered. A case in point occurs to me. We had fallen back from Fairfax Court House and gone into camp at Centreville. Winter was at hand, and smoke curled lazily upward from 10,000 clay-built chimneys. Every tree had been leveled by the soldier's axe; the old turnpikes were lost in a labarynth of foot worn paths and fields were only a little while before the wind played hide and seek among the growino- corn, were as hard as the bed of a billiard table. The headquarters of Beauregard were in a farm house unpainted and unpretentious, that once had been the home of famous Virginia hospitality. But, the boys had gone to the war, the old folks had retired to more congenial scenes in the interior of the State, and all around were signs of ruin. 480 PIONEER SKETCHES. The plans of General McClellan, whose army was en- camped in the Confederate front, his fighting strength and the disposition of his forces, together with the new phase of public sentiment in the North, that was then beginning to take shape, were at that time subjects of grave concern to the Southern commander, and it was important to obtain more definite information than had been furnished by the regular spies. How to get it, however, and through whom, were the questions. The problem was solved at breakfast one morning by a member of Beauregard's stafi": "1 know a lady in the neighboring coimty of Loudon who possesses every qualifi- cation of a successful secret agent; her name is Mrs. Virginia Mason; she is young, fascinating, highly educated, a welcome guest in many Washington families and acquainted with a large number of Southern people who spent their winters in the Capitol before the war. Withal she is a widow, her husband having been killed at the battle of Manassas, and brave enough to undertake anything that will save the country she loves. " Beauregard instructed the officer to ride ever to Loudon and invite the lady to visit headquarters, and in a day or two she appeared. In the interview that followed he told her what he required — a report from McClellan's army, its condition, the disposition of his forces and the plans dis- cussed by the militiny authorities at Washington. For this purpose she was to ingratiate herself with prominent officers, visit New York and Baltimore, the various depart- ments, or any other points where information could be procured. She was also to communicate with the represen- tatives of the Confederate government in the diflferent cities of the North. PIONEER SKETCHES. 4S1 The young lady readily accepted the proposition, and with an abundance of money started at once on the perilous errand, which meant glory if she was successful and prison if she failed. She returned after an absence of several weeks, crossing the Potomac opposite of Danfries, and arrived at the camp of Colonel, now Senator, Wade Hamp- ton; thence escorted by one of his officers she was driven to headquarters at Centreville. I can see her now, as she alighted from the ambulance, on the piazza of the little brown farm Jiouse; a young but matronly looking lady, handsome, too, with glowing dark eyes that looked as if they had fireworks in them. She was dressed in black and her only baggage was a small hand satchel. She was also accompanied by a shaggy skye terrier, a mere armful, that made a soldier who hadn't. seen a pretty woman for a month of Sundays, envious. What occurred within the doors that closed upon her was related to me afterward by General Jordan, then and subsequently Beauregard's Adjutant General. Beauregard was of course delighted to see her, and, with a woman's volubility, she told him more in two hours than he could remember in two months. The verbal part of the inter- view being ended, he inquired for her papers, the record of her trip, and dispatches he expected from Confederates in the North. "Why, General, I didn't dare bring them on my per- son," she replied, with a peculiar smile, "It was unsafe, you know; I might have l)een captured, and therefore I have told you all I know by word of mouth."" Beauregard could not conceal his vexation, and the more he showed it the more the little woman seemed to enjoy it. Finally, after teasing him to her heart's content, 31 482 PIONEER SKETCHES. she said, with affected demureness, "General, have you a pair of scissors or a knife? IVl hke to use it for a minute/' Beauregard handed her an ink eraser. "Come here, Dot,'' she called to the dog, and taking him in her lap, continued, "I told you, General, it was not safe to carry important papers on my person, and I have not done so; in fact I have been suspected and searched ; but a woman's wit is some- thing superior to a man's judgment; see," she said, with coquettish nonchalance, as she turned the little animal on its back and deliberately proceeded to rip him open, "here are the dispatches." As she spoke she held in one hand the hide of her skye terrier, and with the other smilino;!}' extended a package of closely written tissue paper, while dancing about the floor was a pretty black and tan dog, hap})y at his deliverance from another dog's clothes. The deception was perfect, and the mission a success. Beaure- gard was enabled to anticipate McClellan's movements, and the charming spy not only received a handsome reward, but was led to the altar after the war as the bride of the young officer who sang her praises at Beauregard's break- fast table. Mrs. Mason afterwards engaged in a number of per- ilous enterprises, visiting the North several times, and once running the blockade with the late Captain "Bob" Lock- wood, so long identified with the New York and Charleston line of steamers. Whether she is still alive, I do not know. CHAPTER CXLVII. OUK COUNTRY — ITS POSSIBILITIES— GOLD AXD SILVER VS. PETROLEUM, COAL AND IRON. From the vast resources of our country's reveuues we cau raise, When we attempt to compute it we are left in astounding maze. OLD, SILVER, petroleum, coal and iron, so extensivel}^ mined in America, are five of the principal factors which contribute to make this a great country. Divergent as they are, the former mined in the western, the latter principally in the eastern portion of our country, which, it seems, was well divined, to pro- mote a general prosperity and industry throughout our broad land. New fields are constantly being discovered and America to-day is, as it were, only in its infancy, in the aggregation of its mineral productions. And during the next generation I verily believe that people will come up and say that Secretary Wm. H. Seward did not make so much of a mistake during Lincoln's administration in the purchase of Alaska at §5,000,000, then said to be so cold and sterile that nothing but a seal and a Norwesfian could live. Already discoveries there up the Ukon River attest quite diflerently. Many a spot once thought to be so bleak and barren, When its rugged sides and hills are tapped wealth is found therein; Neither you nor I, nor the prophetic seer, Can approximate America's growth for a future year. Our North American continent stretches from the At- lantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Gulf of Mexico to 484 PIONEER SKETCHES. the Behring Sea, with its vast domain of its undeveloped country. And when we contemphite the wonderful strides of progress, improvements and wealth during the past half century, our maritime relations on the sea, our friendly commercial intercourse with all nations of the globe, we can only predict a great future before us, and exclaim with the poet — America, 'tis of thee I siug, Sweet laud of liberty. This has been too often attested by the great influx of people from all nations to our shores, who saw the declara- tion of our forefathers, engrafted in our American Consti- tution, that all men were created free and equal, and here they could enjoy the privilege of possessing some portion of God's green earth, on wdiich the sire for his family could earn a comfortable subsistence. The avenues to wealth lead out in all directions to the industrious, frugal and temperate citizen of America. The English farmer, gardener and mechanic ; the German farmer, merchant and restaurant keeper; the French and the Hibernian in their diversity of occupations, can attest to the fact that in America they can ])reath the consolation of possibilities stretching out before them to encourage and speed them on in an heroic endeavor in the acquisition of a fair competency that in declining years will serve to smooth the pathway down the journey of life. Then when the people of America shall fully realize or comprehend the magnificent proportions her young giant has assumed, then, as a nation, they will be satisfied that America possesses a greater area of arable lands, a greater area and diversity of minerals and excellent timber, an intelligent people, great genius, indomitable pluck and go- PIONEER SKETCHES. 485 ahcadativeness. Then let us rest easy, and try to behave; live down, outgrow all secession elements, that we may enjoy a full heritage of a great people, of a vast country, full of resources and possibihties. Then let all the people of the different nationalties now inhabiting our land pro- claim with one accord their loyalty to the land of America, which affords them equal rights and a comfortable existence. "John," said a New York school teacher, to a boy who had come from the west, "you may parse the word town." "Town is a noun," said Johnny, "Future tense." "Think again," the teacher interrupted, "a noun couldn't be in the futiu'e tense." "I don't know about towns here," said Johnny, stoutly, "but half the towns out where I came from are that way."" Bereaved Widow. — "Why, doctor, }'ou have the effrontery to charge me $500 for treating my poor, dead husband, and he died after all." Doctor.— "Well, didn't you collect $25,000 life in- suiance?" CHAPTER CXLVIII. THE FORCES OF NATURE. T 18 SAID that the shores of Fi-cance are sinking so rapidly that in twenty centuries the French will have become entirely submerged. During one 3'ear the sun attracts toward the skies and make clouds of fourteen feet of the entire sea — oceans everywhere — much of which is precipitated as rain on land, and flows l^ack l)y rivers into the sea. A recent survey has estabhshed the number of glaciers in the Alps at 1,255, of which 249 have a length of more than four and three-fourths miles. The French Alps con- tain 144 glaciers; those of Italy, 78; Switzerland, 471, and Austria 462. Tables of the density of the atmosphere, calculated fi-om telegraphic weather reports, have been found to give a better clew to the movements and origin of cyclones than the usual method of a comparison of the Isobars and Isotherms alone. The most recent observations as to the amount of heat the earth receives from the sun, show that in clear, pleasant weather 63^ per cent reaches the soil; this figure rises in October to 41 per cent, and sinks to 28 percent, in January. CHAPTER CXLIX. AMERICAN CONFLICT. HEN brother meets brother ou like iields ot Trafalgar, ^ ^^ Theu comes the mighty tug of war. A host of kin and countrymeu their battle axe did wield, Ou mauy a hard fought Southern battle field. But, ah, the sad requiem at close of battle and roll call, The cause and manner which mauy brave men. had to fall. Forever should a Christian nation sternly abhor The awful scenes of carnage in cruel war. The reader is already aware of the causes which pre- cipitated our great American conflict, and able historians have gone on before to delineate its precipitancy to a finality, and we shall only attempt herein to make some allusions thereto, and characteristic of the American people. Their quick response to the call of their government ; the fiery ordeal which they underwent; the financial abyss thereby into which they were plunged; the wonderful endurance and tenacity of purpose, in coming out of such a struggle to minister in healing its gaps and wounds (as far as possi- ble) and soon again to take its place in the galaxy of nations to shine as the l)riglitest star in the firmament and the gi'eatest nation on the globe. During the tame administration of James Buchanan, 1857 to 1861, the South having seceded from the Union, and "having the Secretary of War. Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, who were among its prime 488 PIONEER SKETCHES. movers in secession, and manipulators, they liastened to take advantage of that political power and abstract the funds from the treasury and the armament and munitions of war and at once appropriate it to the use of the Southern Confederacy, thus leaving the North wholly unprepared for war. During her struggles one year later in the act for the maintenance of the Union, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who had been sent to England to solicit aid for the Southern Confetleracy, were captured by the Trent on the high seas. England appeared on the scene and claimed protection for these men. The diplomacy which followed between Sec- retary Seward and the English Premier on this matter, will long be remembered by the loyal people, in the surren- der of these men. The North had an elephant on its hands which they thought a good deal of, born and bred in America, and they proposed to take good care of it, and proposed that Johnny Bull might take care of himself, too, provided he would stay at home and let the North alone. England no doubt wanted to see the South succeed in her secession from the Union, and had she taken further steps in that direction you would have seen — The Green Mountain hoys, also the State of Maine, Likewise from California and the Kansau plain. From Oregon to Alaskan sealing strand, Throughout the Atlantic States to Dixie's land. AVhat England thus to claim a beligerent right, To array her forces in an ungodly tight, Because she had free trade in her eye and cotton for a king, No, sir; America would not stand any such a thing. CHAPTER CL. SPARKS OF HUMOR. Would Need Them. — Husband (sroinor to a rich uncle's funeral) — "Put a couple of large handkerchiefs into my grip, dear; the old gentleman promised to leave me $20,000, and I shall want to shed some appropriate tears." Wife — "But suppose you find when the will is read that he hasn't left you anything?"" Husband — "In that case you had lietter put in three." Insurance Appreciated. — "How is your daughter Sarah gittin' on since she married and moved to Califor- nia ? " said the first man from Jay ville. "Why, l)less ye, she's. getting on fine; her first husband died leaving her $5,000 life insurance, and it wasn't six months afore she was tied to another chap that has a policy on his life for $10,000, and runs a buz saw. She's a rattler, my gal is." Jordan L. Mott, the well known iron merchant, and a friend w^ere seated at Delmonico's the other night. The friend said: "Oh, I should so much like to order a beef- steak and onions, but I am afraid to as I am going to call on some ladies bye and bye. " "Nevermind," said Jordan, "go ahead and order the onions. When you get Delmonico's l)ill ifll take your breath away." 490 PIONEER SKETCHES. Met His Match. — Clerical Gent (to fellow passenger) "Have you ever thought that in the midst of life we are in death r' Fellow Passenger — •'Often.'" Clerical Gent — "Have you ever reflected that at any moment we may be hurled into eternit}^, and that we ought to be prepared for that event ? " Fellow Passenger — "I've said so a million times.'"' Clerical Gent — "Is it possible that I am talldng to a brother clergyman? I judged from your dress'' — Fellow Passenger — "I'm a life insurance agent. Just let me show you a few figures of insurance at cost." On a west side street car— Conductor — "Madam, this boy is certainly over five years old, and 1 can't let him ride for less than full fare."' Passenger — "Well, it is the fault of this car l)eing so slow."' Conductor — ''I don't know what you mean by that." Passenger — Willie was under five when we started, ))ut I reckon he must be eight or nine now. " Sunday School Teacher. — "And when the wicked chil- dren continued mocking the good prophet, two she bears came out of the mountain, and ate up forty of the wicked children. Now boys, what does this lesson teach us?" Jimpsey Primrose. — "I know." Teacher.— Well Jimpsey i" Jimpsey Primrose. — "It teaches us how many chil- dren a she bear can hold." PIOXEER SKETCHES. 491 Perseverance in more than one instance has been a virtue, and proper pertinacity will l)e rewarded. A secre- tary of an insurance company advertised for a canvasser, and his test of candidates' fitness as they applied, was to tell them to get out of the office that instant, or he would kick them out. Several timid young men turned tail and left him, with great disgust; but one, more brazen-faced than the rest, nothing daunted l^y the threat, coolly sat him- self down and said he would not go until his testimonials had been read. So he locked the door, put the key in his pocket, and handed in his papers. ''Ah!" said the advertiser, "you'll do, 1 can see. I don't want testimonials, your style is enough for me No one will ever succeed as an insurance canvasser who will be influenced by a threat to be kicked out of any place. " Yarslej^ — "Wickwire, we were just discussing the (juestion whether married women really do go through their husband's pockets; does yours':!" Wickwire — ''Of course, I can only give you my own experience and that is she don't; when she gets to the bot- tom of them she stops." She — "Did papa ask yoa about your income C He— "Yes." She — "And you told him that little fib al)out the large salary 'C He— "Yes." She— "I'm so glad." He — "Well I am sorrv. he borrowed five dollars." CHAPTER CLI. THE OUTLOOK. F THE CONDITION of a people and a o:overnment, we may reasonably judge of the future by the past. The present out- look of old countries, Europe and Asia, is })lainly visible, and its history easily com- })rchended. The present condition of af- fairs in England and Ireland is but a repe- tition of many similar scenes heretofore enacted there. The unhealthy dominant grip of kings and emperors poisons the body politic, disturbs its equilibrium and pre- vents it working in harmony for the realm. This dominant spirit dates back to olden times. King Solomon, the great, could send a couple of thousand of Jews onto his hills of valuable wood to snake down like beasts his valuable tim- ber. King Pontius Pilate swung his sceptre over a multi- tude, and sent them off to nail Christ upon the cross with the same impunity that they would kill a sheep and hang it up in the shamble. In London to-day there are thousands of people suffer- ing and starving, while they notice all around them untold wealth. In New York you will notice the lady passing in rich attire and bedecked in jewelry and diamonds to the value of thousands of dollars; the next moment you may notice the poor street sweep begging for a penny and the boot black and newsboy singing lustily for a nickel. In PIONEER SKETCHES. 493 yonder mansion sits theCnjesus, Astor, with a daily income of $24,000; yonder is the big oil i)rince, Rockafcll(;r, with an income of $18,000; there, too, is Vanderbilt, with $15,- 000 per day; while Jay Gould comes up with $7,000 of a daily income. A pretty nice allowance for dress, bread, and pin money for their wives and daughters. Powerful syndicates are being formed in most all branches of ])usiness, and as you travel over the great prairies you can ride for miles on the lands of the European and the American syndicates, and ere long they may under- take to corrall these magnificent prairies and stock them with hens and geese and compel them to lay golden eggs to enhance their riches, and let the locust, the grasshopper and the poor peasantry starve to death. Well now, is it not about time that this sort of a circus should come to a halt and wipe the sweat from its avaricious brow and cool its fevered pulse and greedy gizzard, and consider well that ere long they will only occupy about 2xfi or S fec^t of God's earth at last, when they give up the ghost. Let us look at some of the unhappy conditions of. the people. Free trade, the cause of the suffering told of l)y General Booth; again the plague spot of free trade, England, is un(^overGd and the gaze of the civilized world is turned upon scenes of poverty and destitution which can be witnessed in but few other lands. The new l)Ook by General Booth, in London, bearing the title, "In Darkest England," merely corroborates the statements of Kay, Mayhew, the Rev. Stopford Brooke and other writers and speakers, who have endeavored to describe the terrible con- dition of the poor of both town and county of Great Britain. 494 PIONEER SKETCHES General Booth presents, as the total number of paupers in Great Britian, 3,000,000, or to put it roughly, one-tenth of the population. But Mr. Chamberlain says there are 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 in the realm, a mass of people equal to that of the metropolis of London, who lia^e re- mained constantly in a state of abject destitution and misery. Mr. Isaac Hoyt furnishes an argument showing that the whole pauper class of the community is some- where near 7,000,000, or one in every five of the popula- tion. This exceeds the total reported by government officials. Free trade is said to be the cause of this wide-spread pauperism in Great Britain. Sir Edward Sullivan, Henry C. Carey, Stephen Colwell and Robert Ellis Thompson, are among the writers who have taken this position. They maintain that since the doctrines of Richard Cobden were put in practice in every land, in 1849, the people have been visited with destruction. Small projn'ietors and minor industries are disappearing. The boasted cheapness of products does not alleviate the general misery caused by the want of employment. In a total population of 35,000,- 000, only about 1,300,000 have fixed incomes of £100 a year, and there are 33,700,000 who depend on some kind of labor for their support. With no protection this vast mass of peo})le is brought into competition with both con- tinental and barbarian lal)or. Free trade demands cheap la]x)r, and does not foster tliversified industries or seek to furnish employment for the people as does protection. Free trade destroyed British agriculture. Before the repeal of the Corn Laws, the landed interest ruled the country. The agitation for rescinding these laws was l)egun by Richard Cobden and other manufacturers in PIONEER SKETCHES. 495 order to obtain cheap food for their workmen and keep at the lowest point the natural and necessary rate of ^vages. The cotton barons and the iron lords are now in the ascendant, and the landed interest is fast going into decay. Foreign importations of o;rain are cansins: the land to o-o out of cultivation. The small farmer is unable to subsist and he is selling his holding to the large proprietor, to be used for grazing purposes. The eflect on British commerce and industries, as shown l^y statistics, reveid the remarkable fact that the commerce of protectionist countries has grown more rapidly than that of free trade England. Sir Edward Sullivan presents in his "Free Trade Buljliles" the follow- ing percentages, which are probably gathered from Mulhall, showing the proportionate growth of commerce in the countries here mentioned, during the period from 1868 to 1879: In the United States the increase has been 68 per cent; in Holland, 57; France, 51; Italy, 48; Ger- many, 39; British Empire, 21. Free trade is undermining the manufacturing interests of Great Britain. Norway and Belgium having abundant forests and cheap labor, supply England with window frames, doors and other carpenter work. The result is that the British joiners are compelled to emigrate. The duties on silk goods were abolished in 1860 and the silk manufac- turers of Macclisfield and Coventry were destroyed. The workmen either entered the poor houses or left for foreio-n countries. The English cotton trade is also suffering from compe- tition with Germany and Belgium. 496 PIONEER SKETCHES. "Forty years ago," says Sullivan, "Great Britain pro- duced two-thirds of the dry goods of the world ; at present she produces barely one-third." The manufacturers of Manchester declared not long ago that either lower wages oi protection must be had. The lace industry of England has been destroyed by admitting the cheaper fabrics of Saxony fi-ee of duty, and thousands are starving in Nottingham. Free trade has closed every sugar retinery in England, and 30,000 workmen have been thrown out of employment. Much more might lie added on this subject, but suffice it to say that we don't want any of it at our American tea party. While this sad spectacle and state of affairs exist to-day in old wealthy dark England they liberally conti-ibute their funds and missionaries to enlighten the heathen of India and Africa. Would to God that the Indian and the African would in turn contribute to the sutferings of the worthy millions of willing toilers in darkest England to-day. Reader, let us take heed and solenm warning from this outlook, and by precept, hope and labor that the same unhappy condi- tion may never occur to the workingmen of America. We should notice that there is a great difference be- tween the strike and the demands of the willing, honest toiler, and the anarchist and communist. We have wit- nessed the former, and sparks of the latter have already appeared on this side of the Atlantic, proving that the same element has made its debut and exists amongst us. Let us try to remedy this as far as possible by proper leiiislation, a more fraternal spirit among capital and labor, thereby not extending encouragement — To trusts, monopolies and rings, For such l)ol<)ng to potentates and kings. CHAPTER CLII. THE GIANTS. TP[^ HETX)MMERCIAL gicants of America are Astor, Vanderbilt, Rockafeller and Jay Gould. They have moved upon the checkerboard every way and have made from $7,000 to $20,000 a day. Next they'll rig a purchase and make the sun stand still, And try to win the world to gratify their will. Jay Gould's daily income is estimated at $7,446; Cor- nelius Vanderbilt's at $15,249; John D. Rockafeller's at $18,715, and Wm. Waldorf Astor\s at $23,593. These giants, with their colossal yearly income, can load a train of cars with silver bricks, sufficient to pave the street from the Battery to Central Park, or to the cemetery for their funeral cortege to pass over, to lay away their departed souls in a silver casket in the tomb, but alas, to finally occupy no more square feet of God's earth, under the canopy of heaven, than will you or I. If these magnates keep on in the same ratio, pilino- up their millions a score of years, that they have in the pa.st decade, it will be hard to compute their accumulations. Yet it has not been haphazard affairs, nor a matter of mere good luck that has landed these men to the zenith upon which they now stand. It has required incessant labor, a bold, indomitable will, a shrewdness of action and a brill- iant brain to perfect plans by which to accomplish such great results. 32 498 PIONEER SKETCHES. Commodore Vanderl)ilt, when a bo}', worked out l>y the month, and finally Avorked his way up to a Commodore and the owner of a steamship line across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and finally the owner of a vast system of railways. Jay Gould also started out a poor boy, and has worked up and become a railway king. John D. Rockafellar has become the oiliest man in the Avorld, and controls more of the oil interest than per- haps all others combined, hence his vast income. William Waldorf Astor has inherited much of his great wealth, the foundation of which was laid by his ancestors in the Northwestern fur trade and Hudson Bay Company and real estate in New York City. But if the business of these men was to be wiped out. annihilated, especially that of the three former, thousands of men would be unemployed, and the wheels of commerce would stagger for some time to come. Then we will say to the Old World that Gould, Vanderbilt, Rockafeller and Astor are the "big quadruple," and duplicate them if you can. "Young man," said the theatrical manager, "would 3'ou like to join my company V "Any inducements?" "Would you try a star part?" "Anything but star-vation." CHAPTER CLIII. WONDERFUL PROGRESS. URING the last decade there has been added to the Union six new states, 200 new counties, 20,000 new railway stations, 40,000 new post- offices, 68,000 miles of new railway built, 90,000 miles of telegi'aph, and a change of population in 100,000 cities, towns and villages. The increase in population are many millions, the creation of capital immense and millionaires and syndicates are many. This can be attributed to America more than to any other nation on the globe. With this view, facts and re- sults, what possibilities lie stretching out to the American in coming decades? The illustrious Sherman said that when in the field that General Grant always done more than was expected of him. And so it has been with the American people. The growth of population in the last ten years has astonished the world. For instance, Chicago during that time has outgrown her boots several times, and now her imprints reach nearly across Cook County — From heel to toe, And declares she has just began to grow. I CHAPTEE CLIV. THE MORNING TIME. ^HE MORNING is the time for all animate and inanimate nature to be up and dressed, ready for the coming day. The moi'uing warbler with enchantiug soug, In myriads greet the early moru ; Arise and hear from their melodious notes Harmonious music from ten tliousand linnet throats. Whomsoever else were made To hear the morning songster's serenade? You and I and all mankind Should hear their melody in the morning time. Paris may have aided us in etiquette and her fashion school, But to become fashion's votary is not the best of rule; To merely do as somebody else doth do, For instance, in wearing a giper narrow shoe. Then, the practice of late hours in toil, Late at night, to burn the midnight oil; Do as you will, say what you please. Daylight's the time for work, night's the time for ease. Again, the practice, 8 or 9 a. m. to rise, 'Tis practice nature's laws defies; The bird and fowl teach a lesson to mankind. To be happy and rise in the early morning time. Young man, if you want to become a stahvart busi- ness man, and one who can digest well your Johnny-cake, be industrious and rise early. Young Avoman, whether you be a domestic or a piano thumper, if you wish to enjoy life, rosy cheeks, health and vigor, rise early and hear the song of the morning warblers — Singing praises for the coming day, Which will benefit you in every way; That beautiful flower, the morning glory, Caps the climax, and tells the story. CHAPTER CLV. THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. ^^HE soldier, sentinel, cavalryman and cannoneer, e) all while on duty must be at their posts, but no more than must the locomotive engineer. Nor is there in any industrial department or branch of service a man on whom more really depends than upon the locomo- tive engineer. He is frequently the guardian of a whole train load of human lives, therefore the importance of his being a cool, temperate and brave man, of good judgment and quick perception on all emergencies. Like the pioneer, he lias to pave the Avay, Though disaster frowns at him every day; Throughout the country far and near, No better nerve than the locomotive engineer. He mounts and stands upon his iron horse. Pulls the throttle, onward he flies the state across Much quicker than anyone would think. If he didn't have to stop for his horse to drink. Whether his horse is very dry or not He has got to speed him on to Conneaut, Aud when he pulls into that station He kindly offers him his ration. The noble horse looks fresh, not a wet hair. Therefore there is no use waiting there; The engineer mounts his steed and out he pulls for Erie, This town to make in fortv minutes, looking fresh and cheery. 502 PIONEER SKETCHES. This uDtiriug horse, ready to ouward go, To pull his driver and train on to Buffalo; The driver said, "To reach Buffalo in two hours we must, And I will fill your nostrils with black diamond dust." The black diamond chunks and dust Avere freely given, To that black charger, fresh as the first mile driven; And he and the engineer went through to Buffalo On time, fast as the passengers cared to go. As the enemy's column charges the cannoneer, Grim death stares in the face the locomotive engineer; Dan McGuire and Pap Folsom,at the close of this year, (1876) Yes, on the 29th of December, it doth appear. These stalwart engineers, at Ashtabula, were to go down; McGuire wide opened his throttle and jumped to the ground, Pap Folsom, with the Ashtabula bridge, went down Aboard of the Columbia, to that fatal icy ground. Down that awful chasm his locomotive, Columbia, Carried its driver, who is alive to-day; But the whole train rush down Avith a fearful ci'ash , Soon all was ablaze, with lightning flash. Eno;ineer Folsom was taken out of the wreck in a helpless condition, with many others, and given the best attendance. For his injuries he received from the Lake Shore Company $6,000. For further description of this horror see "Ashtabula Disaster." CHAPTER CLVI. COST OF LIFE INSURANCE. IXCOME AND EXPENDITURES. 11 5-^HE Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association has Qj issued a neat brochure under the caption "The Fundamental Principles of Life Insurance," which is certainly a gem well worth treasuring up by every natural premium life agent. It is edited by J. Thompson Patterson, who adds force to the arguments he has advanced by the assertion, "The author has carefully guarded against making a single statement that is not substantiated by inchsputable evidence," starting out by saying that "in any system of life insurance the insured are the insurers, and from them every shilling expended, whether in manage- ment or in payment of death claims, must be first collected." Then by means of charts produced in colors the premiums collected annually per $1,000 by the level premium com- panies are compared wdth the actual death rate experience. Nor does the comparison by any means sustain the position which these companies have assumed in this matter. The average premiums collected annually l)y the New York Life fi'om 1845 to 1849 are shown to have been $30, while the average mortuary cost is shown to have been $11. Quite a nice little margin from which to pay an occasional dividend. The query in this connection, "Is it any wonder that the accumulated finids of insurance companies now exceed $1,500,000,000?" i« certainly a most pertinent one. The history of the New York Life on this subject suggests the 504 PIONEER SKETCHES. manner in which these funds have been accumulated, and the depleted purses of those who have created them cor- roborate the suggestion. Statistics show that $1,000 could be paid to every man, woman and child who dies in this country at an annual cost not exceeding $18 per person. The necessity, therefore, of charging nearly double this amount on the lives of selected adults is not so clear as it might l)e. The ])ook is replete with other facts and information equally as lucid as the above. It is well worth the study of every one advocating or interested in insurance, and we commend it to the perusal of those who have been taught to think the burdensome Legal Reserve a necessary adjunct of safe life imderwritinij. On another page of the issue is given a l)rief summary taken from the New York insurance report for 1891, show- ing the assets, liabilities, incomes, expenditures and policy record of the various companies reporting to this depart- ment. These figures, supposed to represent actual condi- tion of those reporting, are of especial value in showing the relative cost of insurance. The total income of the level premium companies doing business in New York State (hn-ing 1890, was $187,424,957.81. There was paid out during the year, under the heading "for claims,'"' $58,608,614.88, while "cost of management" walked away with $89,546,188.22. Thus for every $100 received from l)olicy holders, the magnificent sum of $31.20 was paid for claims, $21.80 was absorbed by expenses and the balance found its way into the rapacious maw of reseiTcs, dividends to stockholders, etc. PIONEER SKETCHES. 505 During 1890, the co-oporative associations reporting to the New York State Department received from their members $33,095,817, and paid out in death claims to ben- eficiaries of deceased members $26, 906, 435; expenses aggregated $5,231,730, and $1,650,731 was added to tlie emergency reserve. By the same l)asis of estimate as is employed in the foregoing paragraph, it is learned that out of every $100 received $81.28 was used in the payment of death claims. The contrast between the amounts paid out under the diftercnt systems is quite marked, and the reader will here find ample opportunity for investigation as to the various elements which are com- bined to make up the old line premiums. Thirty-six dollars were used for expenses, to $58 for claims, a ratio which policy holders, if they knew it, would hardly lie inclined to look upon with favor. During the year the Old Line Companies issued 285,- 797 policies, Avhile the Associations issued 336,435. The amount of insurance represented by these policies written has not been given, but estimating each policy at $2,000, the new business will approximate $700,000,000. These are big figuers and represent the transactions of a stupend- ous system. "I never jump at conclusions," said the pastor; "No," said an elderly member of his congregation, "I have noticed that from your sermons, you reach a conclusion very slowly." CHAPTER CLVII. THE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR. % ^ A HAT A wonderful invention the telegraph. How ^ V. could we get along without it in tliis fast day and age of the world? And when contem plating its magniticence and usefuhiess we realize that its great inventor, Morse, will go down the countless ages in history as the great benefactor of his day to all the races and the nations on the globe, of the Nineteenth Century. ■ The telegraph operator, too, must come in For his share of the laurels, in the wonderful art; AVheu you have news of great import to impart, Don't you see how much there is at stake, Should the operator make a mistake. There must be no guess work with the operator, He must be expert, a correct manipulator; Strange, it is, with such means for a translator, Nothing equals since the day of our Creator. The operator has learned the art of making lightning tame. Beside his machine, whether he be blithe or lame, He there transmits messages of great import, Correctly to the remotest parts of earth. CHAPTER CLVIIl. THE HAIRY CHICKEN. TT y^ HE owner of this peculiar chicken, Eliza Hum- I phrej, who is well known to the Ashtaliulian for -^^- her excentricity, living as she did on an island on. the tiats of Ashtabula River known as Eliza's Island, about a mile from its mouth, in her little cabin, with her chicks and her white cattle, (goats) and dog for company. Occa- sionally lads from town and now and then a fisherman would visit her abode out of curiosity. In time of a flood or a big 'rise in the river Eliza would climb a tree with some provisions, and defiantly sit perched upon it until the waters subsided. Occasionally she attended the county fair with her white male cattle, but her late curiosity, the hairy chicken, capped the climax. While up town the other day she informed some of the inquisitive young men that she had a curiosity. "What is it ?" they asked. She replied, 'A chicken with hair on." These curious young men, anxious to see such a strange freak, called at her place, about a mile away, on the East Side, to see the hairy chicken. Eliza informed them that she could not "raise and ex- hibit curiosities for nothing," and that they must put up 50 cents for the sight. The gallant young men were not going to be outdone. They had started out to see the elephant, and were going to see it anyhow, and up went the money. Whereupon they w^ere escorted to the chicken coop and out came a chicken, nicely feathered — 508 PIONEER SKETCHES. And they couldn't see a bit of hair; The boys came right away from there, Feeling relieved and somewhat the wiser From their little experience with Miss Eliza, Truman Martiiidale, who lived on the county line, Crawford County, Spring, Pa., was a farmer and shoe- maker, and he liked the juice from corn and rye as a daily beverage. One day in the fall of 1830, being pretty full of corn juice, he was stubbing around on his place near to where be had an unfinished well dug about ten feet deep. His brother-in-law, Harry Nicholson, warned him to keep further away from the well, as he would fall into it. Mar- tindale, however, felt his oats, and was going to enjoy his liberty that day. Presently he made a lurching reel toward the well, and in he went. Nicholson exclaimed, "There, I told you you would fall into the well." Martindale — "Whose business is it? It's my head and my well." They got him out of that well unharmed. Had he been sober he would probably have broken a leg or his neck. However, I would not advise one to get full to prepare for like mis- haps, but would advise you to keep sober and take out an accident insurance policy. "Hello, Brother Mackley !" Hello, Record !" "Have you got that article ready on the Past and Present of the Life Insurance Business ?" "Yes." "Where is it?" "Here it is. Twenty years ago the applicant got the policy, the company the premium, the agent the commission; later the ap}ilicant got the policy, the agent the premium and the company the commission; now the ap})licant gets the policy and the premium and the agent the commission." "Well, but what does the company get ?" "Gets left." CHAPTER CLIX. SPARKS OF HUiVIOR. Just as he did at present. — Mrs. Nubbins — "Josiah, are you going to get up ?" Mr. Nubbins (yawning) — "Well, I have one consolation; I shall have sleep enough when I'm dead." Mrs. Nubbins — "Yes, and you'll find the fire lit when you awake, just as you do now." Cornelius Lovell — "Don't address me as Mr. Lovell, Maud, it is so formal, you know; call me Cornelius." Miss Maud— "I'd call you Corn— if— " Mr. L.— "If what, darling?" Miss M. — "If I thought you'd pop." Mr. Lovell is now eno^ao-ed. Teacher — "What part of speech is "but?" Michael — "But is a conjunction." Teacher — "Correct ; now give an example of its use." Michael — "See the goat but the boy. ' But ' connects the goat and the boy." Advertising the enterprise — A poor country congrega- tion found itself badly in want of hymn books. The clergyman applied to a London firm and asked to be supplied at the lowest (church) rates. The firm replied that on condition that the hymn books contained certain advei- 510 PIONEER SKETCHES. tisements, the congregation could have them for nothing. The minister sorro^vf ully comphed, thinking to himself that when the advertisements came they could be removed fi'om the leaves. The hymn books arrived and they contained no interleaved advertisements. At the Thanksgiving service the parson gave out the Christmas hymn, and the congre- gation sang the first verse. When they reached the last line they found that this was what they had been singing — Hark the herald angels slug, Dash's Pills are just the thing. Peace on earth and mercy mild, Two for man and one for child. Edward Bellamy has earned $16,000 by "Looking Backward." This is better than Lofs wife, who only earned her salt. Mechanic (catching a pickpocket rifling his pockets) — "What are you doing there?" Pickpocket — "Raising your wages, that's all." Dude (posing for a bold l)ad man) — "How docs water taste, Miss Belasye V Miss B.— "You don't mean to say they've brought you up all this time on milk ?" . Women do not suft'cr as much now as they used to in olden times from contraction of the chest. Just look at the size of the Saratoga trunks. CHAPTER CLX. "now and then. N TAILING a retrospect of the past, back to the primitive days of the Pioneer of this country, the day of wooden clocks; wooden plows and wagons, and a woollen factory at every tire-side — whe^e, by the hand of the pioneer woman, wool and flax was carded, spun and wove into cloth to make garments for the family. Cotton cloth was a luxury at seventy-five cents a yard, and salt at fifty cents a quart in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. There were a dozen wolves for every head of sheep, and a half dozen bears for every hog in the land; an enemy across the water, to exact from the American pilgrim (a Stamp Act) revenue for any kind of business transacted, — and Indians lurking in the forest to take the scalp of the Pioneer. These were scenes that tried the soul of the heroic Pioneer, and finally culminated in a seven year strug- gle with their mother country for Liberty and Independ- ence. At last, victory having crowned their superhuman efibrts, they betook themselves to the different pursuits of agricultural and commercial life, preparatory to making this a great country. Success and wonderful progress was achieved, when a little more than one score years the iron hand of the mother country again sought to gmpple Young America by the throat. As before, she found her Ameri- 512 PIOXEER SKETCHES. can son plucky and long-winded, and in the course of a couple of years she was forced to let go her grip. Again the wheels of commerce were set in motion, and during those seventy-seven years wondrous results in all kinds of improvements have been accomplished, notwith- standing those dark days of '61 and '65 threatening a dis- memberment of our Union, — she still stands to-day the brightest star in the galaxy — the greatest country on the globe — none pretending to be its equal or its peer. In view of this we can truly say, by the fruit we shall know the tree. The American tree was planted in a pro- lific, virgin soil, and became fii-mly rooted, not to be up- turned by adverse winds, nor cut down by ruthless hands, or to be baptized in a living hell, but in a healthy, living stream which will flow onward as long as time and nation- alities doth last. This was a decree and the benediction of those heroic sires of Bunker Hill, Trenton and Valley Forge, when famished and shivering, fi-om dire necessities of life, bare- footed and bleeding, they held the fort and vanquished the enemy. They were imbued in the principle to render due re- spect to all nations, but to fear none. The noble bone and sinew and principle of those Pioneer men and women of America have moulded a country' and a people who have come to stay — who court no smiles nor heed no frowns — "AVho must be recognized in the throng, Already are sixty millions strong. Let us cherish in our memories ever dear, The heroic struggles of the American Pioneer." [/'