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Historical Collections of Ohio

By Henry Howe

Vol. II

©1888

 

MARION COUNTY

 

Page 189

 

MARION COUNTY was organized March 1, 1824, and named from General Francis Marion, of South Carolina, a partisan officer of the Revolution. The surface is level, except on the extreme east. The Sandusky plain, which is prairie land, covers that part of the county north of Marion end west of the Whetstone, and is well adapted to grazing: the remaining part, comprising about two-thirds of the surface, is best adapted to wheat. The soil is fertile. The principal farm-crops are corn, wheat and grass, a large proportion of the prairie land being appropriated to grazing: much live-stock and wool is produced in the county.

 

Area about 430 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 118,256; in pasture, 48,900; woodland, 29,570; lying waste, 913; produced in wheat, 367,801 bushels; rye, 1,188; buckwheat, 446; oats, 400,809; barley, 3,201; corn, 1,193,790; broom-corn, 200 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 18,492 tons; clover hay, 7,412; flaxseed, 1,788 bushels; potatoes, 42,267; tobacco, 104 lbs.; butter, 437,341; sorghum, 1,256 gallons; maple sugar, 3,647 lbs.; honey, 4,005; eggs, 679,743 dozen; grapes, 7,775 lbs.; wine, 179 gallons; sweet potatoes, 95 bushels; apples, 7,221; peaches, 355; pears, 619; wool, 323,938 lbs.; milch cows owned, 5,066. School census, 1888, 7,299; teachers, 279. Miles of railroad track, 161.

 

 

 

 

Population of Marion in 1830, 6,558 ; 1840, 18,352; 1860, 15,490 ; 1880, 20,565, of whom 16,332 were born in Ohio; 1,057, Pennsylvania; 268, New York ; 202; Virginia ; 133, Indiana; 33, Kentucky; 1,017, German Empire; 450, Ireland; 193, England and Wales; 69, British America.; 16, Scotland, and 16, France. Census, 1890, 24,727.

 

 

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1855 there was frost every, month. In 1824 the famous tornado which arose near West Liberty, Logan county, destroyed a number of buildings in Bellefontaine, carrying bits of shingle and clothing into Big Island township, a distance of thirty miles; it there wrestled with the big forest, lost its breath and succumbed. Another tornado, the year after, began in Scott township and extended beyond New Haven, in Huron county, going northeast, making sad havoc. The cabin of one "old Jake STATELER" was in its track; he was alone, saw it coming, pulled up a puncheon from the floor and darted under. When he crawled out his cabin had vanished and a clearing made through the forest of a quarter of a mile wide. He was astonished, but being alone "there was no use of talking."

 

By the treaty concluded at the foot of the Maumee rapids, September 29, 1817, Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur being commissioners on the part of the United States, there was granted to the Delaware Indians a reservation of three miles square, on or near the northern boundary of this county, and adjoining the Wyandot reservation of twelve miles square. This reservation was to be equally divided among the following persons: CAPTAIN PIPE, ZESHAUAU or James ARMSTRONG, MAHAUTOO or John ARMSTRONG, SANOUDOYEASQUAW or Silas ARMSTRONG, TEOROW or BLACK RACCOON, HAWDOROUWATISTIE or Billy MONTOUR, BUCK WHEAT, William DONDEE, Thomas LYONES, JOHNNY CAKE, CAPTAIN WOLF, Isaac and John HILL, TISHATAHOONES or Widow ARMSTRONG, AYENUCERE, HOOMAUROU or John MING, and YOURDORAST. Some of these Indians had lived at Jeromeville, in Ashland and Greentown, in Richland county, which last village was burnt by the whites early in the late war. By the treaty concluded at Little Sandusky, August 3, 1829, John McElvain being United States commissioner, the Delawares ceded this reservation to the United States for $3,000, and removed west of the Mississippi.—Old Edition.

 

Marion in 1846.—Marion, the county-seat, is forty-four miles north of Columbus. It was laid out in 1821 by Eber BAKER and Alexander HOLMES, who were proprietors of the soil. It is compactly built; the view, taken in front of the Marion hotel, shows one of the principal streets: the court-house appears on the left, the Mirror office on the right, and Berry's hill in the distance. General Harrison passed through this region in the late war, and encamped with his troops just south of the site of the village, on the edge of the prairie, at a place known as "Jacob's well." The town is improving steadily, and has some fine brick buildings: it contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist and 1 German church, an academy, 2 newspaper printing offices, 15 dry goods, 1 drug and 5 grocery stores, 1 saw, 1 fulling, oil and carding mill, and about 800 inhabitants; in 1840 it had a population of 570.—Old Edition.

 

MARION, county-seat of Marion, about forty miles north of Columbus, is the centre of a fine agricultural and grazing country. It is on the N. Y. P. & O., C. C. C. & I, C. H. V. & T. and C. & A. Railroads, and is noted for its extensive quarries and lime-kilns.

 

 

Page 191

 

Top Picture

Drawn by Henry Howe  1846.

VIEW IN MARION.

 

Bottom Picture

Wm. H. Moore, Photo., Marion, 1887.

 

Page 192

 

president, J. J. HANE, cashier; Marion County, James S. REED, president, R. A. JOHNSON, cashier; Marion Deposit, P. WALLACE, cashier.

 

Manufactures and Employees.—F. Dale, staves and headings, 13 hands; Marion Malleable Iron Co., 50; Bryan & Prendergast, planing mill work, 20; B. J. Camp, turning and scroll sawing, 3; Reiber Flouring Mill Co., 3; Marion Steam Shovel Co., 80; Gregory & Sears, flour, meal and feed, 6; Huber Manufacturing . Co., traction engines, etc., 179; Huber Manufacturing Co., boilers, 34; Marion Manufacturing Co., thrashers, hullers, etc., 41; Linsley & Lawrence, flooring, siding, etc., 6.—State Reports, 1888. Population in 1880, 3,899. School census, 1888, 1,655; A. G. CROUSE, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $443,200. Value of annual product, $854,500.—Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. Census, 1890, 8,327.

 

The most interesting object in Marion is the SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL CHAPEL, inasmuch as it is an ever-pleasing object-lesson to inculcate patriotism. It was dedicated August 22, 1888. It is all stone, marble, slate and iron—no wood except the doors. Twenty-eight hundred names of soldiers are inscribed on marble tablets within its enclosure, giving company, regiment, etc.

 

The War of 1812 led to a large knowledge of this county, several "war roads" passing directly through it to the seat of war. The most clearly defined was that up the Scioto, by a spot now in Pleasant township called "Rocky Point." This was a favorite camping-ground, possessing a fine spring of water around magnificent forests, filled with game. An encampment of troops under General Green at Rocky Point gave rise to the name "Green's Camp," now become Green Camp township; while "Jacob's Well," on a hill near Marion, is a spot where General Harrison also paused. Up to 1812 but few attempts were made to invade the country still reserved to the Indians, except as the restless hunters and traders sought the fine game reserves of the plains for meat or peltries. The bee-hunters, a venturesome, vagabondish set, who preferred to "line" a "bee-tree" to any other pursuit, brought back rich treasures of sweets that the wild bees had stored in the woods along the borders of the plains, beyond the line of settlement. Their trail came in eastward from Knox, or up the valley of the Scioto from Delaware.

 

The first tract of land entered within the confines of Marion county, north of the treaty line, was by Mr. Q. H. GRISWOLD, of Worthington, a teamster for government, and it comprised the fractional section at Rocky Point, He was a man of sagacity, and he had become "captivated with the beauty of the valley and the second bottom lands. The river sweeping in comes through arches of overhanging maples; the immense walnut, oak, and other hard woods that attained hero their finest development; the plentiful game supplies; the springs and runs all seemed to make an ideal tract." South of the treaty lines, the first settlements were made between the years 1805 and 1814, in Waldo and Prospect townships, by the BRUDIGES, DRAKES, WYATTS, Ephraim MARKLEY, Evan EVANS, etc. It is not known for certain who was the first settler in Marion. Eber BAKER, who laid it out, came here in 1821. He influenced the commissioners to select it as the county-seat in 1822. There were rival claims, but when decided upon the few settlers here got up a great jollification, and having no artillery, bored holes in several oak trees, and putting in powder, shattered some of them to fragments. The first structure put up after this was a double log-cabin, built by Mr. BAKER, which, with additions, became the first tavern. In 1825 the place had three taverns, three stores, and seventeen families. The tavern rates were six and a quarter cents a lodging, twice that—or a "York shilling”—for a horse's feed, and thrice that for a meal To movers, emigrants passing through for farther West, a large discount was made from these prices.

 

 

Page 193

 

many fittings, and loans were about equal to gains. Occasionally an exceptionally mean was advertised, and the office of Lynch was threatened in plain terms by the people, to deter a repetition of similar "With slow growth the village made its way up to 1839. Goods were sold at enormous prices, and credits were the rule. But little money entered into trade. Very few made both ends meet; no one made anything beyond a living. As an illustration of the independence of the old regime merchants, we mention an instance that occurred on the lot now occupied by MOORE'S grocery, where Joel D. BUTLER kept a store. BUTLER came From Delaware and established a branch store for a firm in that place. Everything was kept neatly in place, and no crowd could induce him to wrinkle and tumble his goods. A lady came in one day and was a little hard to please, as ladies are, once in a while, now-a-days. After what would be called a brief showing by modern clerks, Butler left the lady, came round the counter, filled and lit his pipe, and sat down saying, 'You don't want a d---d thing, and you had better clear out, the sooner the better.' With all his brusqueness the man managed to own his store, and the room neat north, which he afterwards sold to J. S. Reed & Co., who occupied it for a long term of years. He did, however, fail, having adhered to old methods of business until he used himself up in the unequal contest. He took money of the farmers, paid them interest by the year, kept no regular account of his indebtedness made no provision for payment, and by and by, when his creditors called for money, failed.

 

"About this time a Yankee merchant opened out, and cut down the old system, by selling for cash at small profits. The old traders, who had taken up the business without training, were shocked. Every effort was made to drive off the Yankee, but in vain; he had come to stay. Gradually the business of the county changed into better shape. Farmers prospered, for they saved half their expense; merchants prospered, for they ceased to lose their profits in bad debts. In place of stocks of goods amounting to $2,000 or $3,000, stocks of $20,000 or more began to be common.

 

"It was a great undertaking to get off the wheat taken in for goods during the winter, and to sell and reinvest in goods, and get them back into store again. There were so many, changes in value, so many expenses and risks, that but few merchants succeeded. The statistics of Marion county mercantile business establish failure as the rule, and success as the exception.

 

"The long string of covered wagons, frequently fifty in one line, loaded with grain for the lakes, each with bed and lunch-box, which slowly and patiently toiled over the long distance, with its night encampment, its camp fires and pleasant group of story-tellers have disappeared, and are now known only by traditions. The old-fashioned store with its scant stock of staples; its handy whisky-bottle and tin cup; its ample daybook and its ledger; its quaint salesman with few words and plain dress, and meagre pay; its fearful prices with Noah's ark fashions; all these have gone to the death to be seen no more  Young America with its 'make or bust;' its plate-glass windows; its expensive, fashionable goods; dandy-dressed clerks, diamonds and lavish salary, and the woman of the period, equal in fashionable extravagance; all these have come in, and the cost and expense of the modern machine would have shocked the old-timer and driven him to suicide. "

 

A STAGE COACH JOURNEY ACROSS OHIO IN 1834.

 

About the year 1834 a deputations was sent by the Congregational Union of Great Britain on a visit to America. It consisted of Rev. Messrs. READ and MATTHEWSON. Mr. READ published their experiences of travel under the title of "Visit to American Churches." He rode, without his companion, across the State from Sandusky, which he reached by boat from Buffalo, and passed through Marion on his way to Cincinnati. The observations of an intelligent gentleman and an accomplished descriptive writer at that early date render his narrative unusually instructive. As the county was then largely a wilderness and he passed through the grand solemn forests and by the cabins of the new-comers in the little clearings, his account makes a profound woodsy impression upon the reader:

 

In the middle of the day we reached Sandusky.  It has not more than seven or eight hundred inhabitants; but it is, nevertheless, a city with its corporate rights and officers.

 

 

Page 194

 

A second time, my luggage soaked through. I had placed it under the upper deck of the vessel as a place of perfect security, but searching rain came on in the night, the deck leaked and my portmanteau suffered. However, I had made up my mind in starting not to be disturbed by anything that might be injured, lost, or stolen on the way—a precaution that had certainly more wisdom in it than I was aware of—for without it I might have had a pretty good share of disturbance. Already, much was injured, and some was stolen; of the future I could not speak, but if things went on in the same promising manner I had the prospect of being returned to New York in a coatless, shirtless and very bootless condition.

 

There are two places of worship here: one for the Presbyterians and the other for the Episcopal Methodists. The first is without a minister, and neither of them in a very flourishing state. They stand on the green sward; they are about thirty feet square and for want of paint have a worn and dirty aspect. The good people here reverse the Dutch proverb: it is not "paint costs nothing," but "wood costs nothing," and they act accordingly. They will, however, improve with the town, and at present they offer accommodation enough for its wants, but half the adult population certainly go nowhere.

 

Rough People.—Indeed the state of religious and moral feeling was evidently very low here; and I heard more swearing and saw more Sabbath-breaking than I had before witnessed. There were many groceries, as they call themselves here; groggeries, as their enemies call them; and they were all full. Manners, which are consequent on religion and morality, were proportionally affected. I felt that I was introduced to a new state of things which demanded my beat attention.

 

Stage Coach Experience.—Having rested here over the Sabbath, I arranged to leave by coach early in the morning for Columbus. I rose, therefore, at two. Soon after I had risen the bar-agent came to say that the coach was ready and would start in ten minutes. As the rain had made the roads bad this was rather an ominous as well untimely intimation, so I went down to take my place. I had no sooner begun to enter the coach than splash went my foot in mud and water. I exclaimed with surprise. "Soon be dry, sir," was the reply, while he withdrew the light, that I might not explore the cause of complaint. The fact was that the vehicle, like the hotel and the steamboat, was not water-tight, and the rain had found a entrance.

 

There was, indeed, in this coach, as in most other, a provision in the bottom—of holes—to let off both water and dirt; but here the dirt had become mud and thickened about the orifices so as to prevent escape. I found I was the only passenger; the morning was damp and chilly; the state of the coach added to the sensation, and I eagerly looked about for some means of protection.I drew up the wooden windows—out of five small panes of glass in the sashes three were broken. I endeavored to secure the curtains; two of them had most of the ties broken and flapped in one's face. I could see nothing; everywhere I could feel the wind draw in upon me; and as for sounds, I had the call of the driver, the screeching of the wheels and the song of the bull-frog for my entertainment.

 

But the worst of my solitary situation was to come. All that had been intimated about bad roads now came upon me. They were not only bad, they were intolerable; they were rather like a stony ditch than a road. The horses' on the first stages could only walk most of the way; we were frequently in up to the axle-tree and I had no sooner recovered from a terrible plunge on one side than there came another in the opposite direction. I was literally thrown about like a ball. Let me dismiss the subject of bad roads for this journey by stating, in illustration, that with an empty coach and four horses, we were seven hours in going twenty-three miles; and that we were twenty-eight hours in getting to Columbus, a distance of one hundred and ten miles. Yet this line of conveyance was advertised as a "splendid line, equal to any in the States."

 

Russell's Tavern.—At six o'clock we arrived at Russell's tavern, where we were to take breakfast. This is a nice inn; in good order, very clean, and the best provision. There was an abundant supply, but most of it was prepared with butter and the frying-pan; still there were good coffee and eggs, and delightful bread. Most of the family and the driver sat down at table, and the two daughters of our host waited on us. Mr. RUSSELL, as is commonly the case in such districts, made the occupation of innkeeper subsidiary to that of farming. You commanded the whole of his farm from the door, and it was really a fine picture, the young crops blooming and promising in the midst of the desert.

 

Pious Family.—From the good manners of this family and from the good husbandry and respectable carriage of the father, I hoped as to find a regard for religion here.I turned to the rack of the bar and found there three books; they were, the Gazetteer of Ohio, Popular Geography and the Bible; they all dennoted intelligence; the last was the most used.

 

The Grand Parairie.—Things now began to mend with me; daylight had come; the atmosphere was getting warm and bland. Ihad the benefit of a good breakfast; the road was in some measure improved; it was possible to look abroad and everything was inviting attention. We were now passing over what is called the Grand-Prairie, and the prairies of this Western country are conspicuous among its phenomena.The first impression did not please me so much as expected. It rather interests by its singularity than otherwise. If there be any other source of interest it may be found in its expansion over a wide region.

 

 

Page 195

 

 half per acre; and you may get a piece of five acres, cleared, and a good eight-railed  fence round it for fifty dollars.

 

German Settlers.—Mostt of the recent settlers along this road seem to be Germans. We passed a little settlement of eight families who had arrived this season. The log-house is the only description of house in these new and scattered settlements. I passed on occupied by a doctor of medicine, and another tenanted by two bachelors, one of them being a judge.

 

Grandeur of the Forests.—The most interesting sight to me was the forest. It now appeared in all its pristine state and grandeur, tall, magnificent, boundless. I had been somewhat disappointed in not finding vegetation develop itself in larger forms in New England than with us; but there was no place for disappointment here. I shall fail, however, to give you the impression it makes on one. Did it arise from height, or figure, or grouping, it might readily be conveyed to you; bu it arises chiefly from combination. You must see in it all the stages of growth, decay, dissolution and regeneration; you must se it pressing on you and overshadowing you b its silent forma, and at other times spreading itself before you like a natural park; you must see that all the clearances made by the human hand bear no higher relation to it than does a mountain to the globe; you must travel in it in solitariness, hour after hour, and day after day, frequently gazing on in with solemn delight, and occasionally casting the eye round in search of some pause, some end without finding any, before you can full understand the impression. Men say there is nothing in America to give you the sense of antiquity, and they mean that, as there are no works of art to produce this effect, there can be nothing else. You cannot think that I would depreciate what they mean extol; but I hope you will sympathize wit me when I say that I have met with nothing among the most venerable forms of art which impresses you so thoroughly with the idea of indefinite distance and endless continuity of antiquity shrouded in all its mystery of solitude illimitable and eternal.

 

The Clearances, too, which appeared I this ride, were on so small a scale as strengthen this impression, and to convey distinct impression of their own. On the the vast trees of the forest had been girdled, to prevent the foliage from appearing to overshadow the ground; and the land at their feet was grubbed up and sown with corn, which was expanding on the surface in all it luxuriance. The thin stems of Indian-corn were strangely contrasted with the hug trunks of the pine and oak, and the verdant surface below was as strangely opposed the skeleton trees towering above, spreading out their leafless arms to the warm sun an the refreshing rains, and doing it in vain. Life and desolation were never brought lo together.

 

About noon we arrived at a little town an stopped at an inn, which was announced eight-railed as the dining-place My very early breakfast me for dinner. The dinner was a very poor affair. The chief dish was ham fried in butter—originally hard, and the harder for frying. I tried to get my teeth through it, and failed. There remained bread cheese and cranberries; and of these I made my repast. While here, a German woman, one of the recent settlers, passed by on her way home. Her husband had taken the fever and died. She had come to buy a coffin for him, and other articles of domestic use at the same time. She was now walking home beside the man who bore the coffin; and with her other purchases under her arm. This was a sad specimen either of German phlegm or of the hardening effect of poverty.

 

Mormon Emiqrants—here, also, was a set of Mormonites, passing through to the "Far West." They are among the most deluded fanatics. A gentleman inquired of one of them, why they left their own country "Oh" he said, "there is ruin coming on it." “How do you know?" “It was revealed to me." "How was it revealed to you?" “I saw five letters in the sky." "Indeed what were they?" "F-A-M-I-N," was the reply; a reply which created much ridicule and some profanity.

 

Passengers Aboard.—we now took in three persons who were going on to Marion. One was a colonel, though in mind, manners and, appearance among the plainest of men; another was a lawyer and magistrate; the third was a considerable farmer.

 

All of them, by their station and avocation, ought to have been gentlemen; but if just terms are to be applied to them, they must be the opposite of this. To me they were always civil; but among themselves they were evidently accustomed to blasphemous and corrupt conversation. The colonel, who had admitted himself to be a Methodist, was the best, and sought to impose restraints on himself and companions; but he gained very little credit for them. I was grieved and disappointed; for I had met with nothing so bad. What I had witnessed at Sandusky was from a different and lower class of persons; but here were the first three men in respectable life with whom I had met in this a State; and these put promiscuously before me—and all bad. It was necessary to guard against a hasty and prejudiced conclusion.

 

 

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ribs of the coach began to search out my bruises, and I was stilt a sufferer. However, there were now some qualifying considerations. The road was improving, and with it the scenery. I had come for fifty miles over a dead flat, with only one inclination and that not greater than the pitch of Luagate hill; the land was now finely undulated. My company, too, though there was something too much of it, was not objectionable; some of it was pleasing.

 

There were among them the lady of a judge and her daughter. The mother was affable and fond of conversation. She was glad we had such agreeable society in the stage, as “that did not always happen." She talked freely on many subjects, and sometimes as became a judge's lady of refinement and education; but she did it in broken grammar, and in happy ignorance that it was broken. As the night shut in, she, without the least embarrassment, struck up Home." sang off, very fairly, "Home Sweet Home."This was all' unasked, and before strangers; yet none were surprised but myself. I name this merely as a point of manners. The lady herself was unquestionably modest, intelligent, and, as I think, pious.

 

Delaware.—At nearly, 1 o'clock we arrived at Delaware. Here I was promised a night's rest. You shall judge whether that promise was kept or broken. There was no refreshment of any kind prepared or offered; so we demanded our lights to retire. The judge's lady and daughter were shown into a closet, called a room. There was no fastening to the door, and she protested that she would not use it.

 

I insisted that it was not proper treatment. All the amendment that could be gained was a proposition"to fetch a nail, and she could nail herself in, and be snug enough.” I was shown into a similar closet. There were no dressing accommodations. I required them, and was told that those things were in common below. I refused to use them; and at length, by showing a little firmness and a little kindness, obtained soap, bowl and towel. I dressed. By this time it was nearly 2 o’clock. I was to be called at half-past 2: and I threw myself on the bed to try to sleep with the soothing impression that I must awake in half an hour.

 

Worthington.—At half-past 2 I was summoned, and having put myself m readiness, and paid for a night’s lodging, I was again on my way. The day broke pleasantly, and the country was very beautiful. We forded the Whetstone, a lively river, which ornamented the ride. We passed through Worthington, a smart town, prettily placed, and having a good college, and arrived at Columbus, the capital; at 9 o'clock.

 

Columbus has a good location in the heart of the State. It contains about 4,000 persons, and is in a very advancing condition. This indeed is true of all the settlements in this State, and you will hardly think it can be otherwise when I inform you that forty years ago there were only 100 persons in the whole territory, and that now there are about a million.

 

The inn at which we stopped is the rendezvous of the stages. Among others there were two ready to start for Cincinnati. on seeking to engage my place the inquiry was, "Which will you go by, sir? the fast or slow line?" Weary as I was of the slow line, I exclaimed, "Oh, the fast line, certainly!" I quickly found myself enclosed in a good coach: carrying the mail, and only six persons insideon this journey we had but three.

 

Rough Travelling.—In demanding to go by the fast line I was not aware of all the effects of my choice. It is certainly a delightful thing to move with some rapidity over a good road; but on a bad road, with stubborn springs, it is really terrible. For miles out of Columbus the road is shamefully bad; and as our horses were kept on a trot, however slow, I was not only tumbled and shaken as on the previous day, but so jarred and jolted as to threaten serious mischief Instead, therefore, of finding a lounge, or sleep, as I had hoped, in this comfortable coach, I was obliged to be on the alert for every jerk. And after all I could do, my teeth were jarred, my hat was many times thrown from my head, an all my bruises bruised over again. It was really an amusement to see us laboring to keep our places.

 

Jefferson.—About noon we paused at the town called Jefferson. We were to wait half an hour; there would be no other chance of dinner; but there were no signs of dinner here. However, I had been on very short supplies for the last twenty-four hours and considered it my duty to eat if I could. I applied to the good woman of the inn, and in a very short time she placed venison, fruit-tarts and tea before me; all very clean and the venison excellent. It was a refreshing repast, and the demand on my purse was only twenty-five cents.

 

"How long have you been here?" I said to my hostess, who stood by me fanning the dishes to keep off the flies. "Only came last fall, sir." " How old is this town? " "Twenty-three months, sir—then the first house was built."

 

There are now about 500 persons settled here, and there are three good hotels. There is something very striking in these rapid movements of life and civilization in the heart of the forest.

 

 

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feathered with verdant foliage. There, they ran off in the distance, park-like, but grander far in admirable grouping, forming avenues, galleries and recesses, redolent with solemn loveliness; and here they stood before you like the thousand pillars of one vast imperishable temple for the worship of the Great Invisible. Well might our stout forefathers choose the primitive forests for their sanctuaries. All that art has done in our finest Gothic structures is but a poor, poor imitation!

 

Yellow Springs and Springfeld.—I passed in this day's ride the Yellow Springs and Springfield. The former is a watering-place. There is a fine spring of chalybeate and an establishment capable of receiving from 150 to 200 visitors; it is resorted to for the purposes of health, hunting and fishing. Springfield is a flourishing town, built among the handsome hills that abound in this vicinity. It is one of the cleanest, brightest, and most inviting that I have seen. But all the habitations were as nothing compared with the forest. I had been travelling through it for two days and nights, and still it was the same. Now, you came to a woodsman's hut in the solitudes; now to a farm; and now to a village, by courtesy called a town or a city; but it was still the forest. You drove on for miles through it unbroken; then you came to a small clearance and a young settlement; and then again you plunged into the wide everiasting forest to be with nature and with God. This night I had also to travel and, weary as I was, I was kept quite on the alert.

 

A Thunderstorm.—I had longed to witness a storm in the forest, and this was to happen earlier than my anticipations. The day had been hot, but fine; the night came on sultry, close and silent. The beautiful fire-flies appeared in abundance; summer lightning began to flash across the heavens. All this time clouds were moving from every part of the circumference to the centre of the sky. At length they formed a heavy, dense, black canopy over our heads, leaving the horizon clear and bright. The lightnings, which at first appeared eared to have no centre, had now consolidated their forces behind this immense cloud, and were playing round its whole circle with great magnificence and brilliancy; continually the prodigious cloud was getting larger and darker and descending nearer to us, so as powerfully to awaken expectation. The splendid coruscations which played round its margin now ceased and all was still. In an instant the forked lightning broke from the very centre of the cloud; the thunder, deep and loud, shook the earth, and rolled and pealed through the heavens; the heavy rain dashed in unbroken channels to the ground, and the mighty winds burst forth in their fury and roared and groaned among the giant trees of the wood. There were we, in the deep forest and in the deep night and in the midst of a storm such as I had never witnessed. Oh, it was grand! God's own voice in God's own temple! Never did I see so much of the poetic truth and beauty of that admirable ode, "The voice of the Lord," etc. It ceased as suddenly as it began. The winds which bore the cloud away left all behind calm; and the fire-fly, which had been eclipsed or affrighted, reappeared and sparkled over us in the profound darkness, and presently the stars of a higher sphere looked forth benignantly on the lower elements and all was peace.

 

Lebanon.—The early morning found me still travelling, and getting seriously unwell. I thought I must have remained at Lebanon, a town about twenty miles from Cincinnati to sicken and suffer without a friend; and then all the loneliness of my situation came over me. The stage halted here an hour; this allowed me some time to recover, and I resolved, if it were possible, to go forward to what I might regard as a resting-place.

 

Happily, everything was now improving. The road was not unworthy of MacAdam, and we bowled over it at the rate of nine miles an hour. The country was covered with hills finely wooded, and all about them were spread farms, in a handsome and thriving state of cultivation. Many ornamental cottages now appeared, and the whole suburbs put on a cheerful and beautiful aspect. At last we drove into the Western metropolis. I had travelled three days and three nights, and was so wearied, bruised and hurt that I could not, with comfort, sit, lie, or walk. The remainder of this day I spent in my chamber.

 

Cincinnati is really worthy to be styled a city, and it is a city "born in a day and in the wilderness. "It has a population of 30,000 persons, and is not more than thirty-six years old. Its streets are composed of transverse lines; the straight lines are broken by the undulating surface of the ground; the surrounding hills stand up beautifully at the head of all the streets, and the Ohio runs off finely at its feet. There are several good streets; some enlivened by business, and others ornamented by comfortable dwellings and the spreading acacia, but there are no very striking objects.

 

Some of the churches are good, but not remarkable except the old Presbyterian church in the main street, which is large and Dutch-built, with a brick face, with two brick towers projecting on it, which towers have turrets as heavy as themselves and which turrets a are chiefly remarkable for two dials which each agree. When I saw them they both wanted three minutes to six, and I doubt not if I could see them now they still want just three minutes to six. Besides this there is, as it is called, "Trollope's Folly" an erection in which that lady, thus complimented, exhausted her means and certainly did not show her taste.

 

 

Page 198

 

CALEDONIA is nine miles northeast of Marion, on the C. C. C. & I. and N. X. P: & O. Railroads. Newspaper: Argue, Independent, A. D. FULTON, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Universalist, 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Presbyterian. Bank: Caledonia Deposit, William ROWSE, president, C. H. ROWSE, cashier Population, 1880, 627. School census; 1888, 250.

 

La RUE is fourteen miles west of Marion, on the Scioto river and C. C. C. & I. R. R. Newspaper: News, Independent, S. C. KOONS, editor and publisher. Population, 1880, 614. School census, 1888, 242.

 

PROSPECT is ten miles south of Marion, on the C. H. V. & T. R. R. and Scioto river. Newspapers: Advance, Independent, CLOWES & PETTIT, editors and publishers; Monitor, Independent, S. W. VAN WINKLE, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist, l German Reformed and 1 Lutheran. Banks: Citizens', F. C. Freeman, president, Joseph CRATTY, cashier; Prospect, B. K. HERBSTER, president, George W. COOK, cashier. Population, 1880, 600. School census, 1888, 262. Capital invested in manufacturing establishments, $10,000. Value of annual product, $9,500.—Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.

 

BLOOMINGTON, in the western part of the county Population, 1880, 271. School census, 1888, 150.

 

WALDO, seven miles southeast of Marion, on the west branch of the Olentangey river. Population, 1880, 248. School census, 1888, 51.

 

GREEN CAMP is six miles southwest of Marion, on the Scioto river and N. Y. P. & O. R. R. Population, 1880, 312.School census, 1888, 117.

 

THREE LOCUSTS is a post-office and village at the junction of the C. C. C. & I. P. & O. and O. C. in the northeast part of the county. The village was platted in 1881. Mr. John M. BAKER, who owned the first house built here, applied to the Department at Washington to have a post-office here and named "Baker." On their refusal to give this name, some of the citizens assembled under the friendly shade of a beautiful group of three locusts that were standing there, for it was a hot summer's day, and, while discussing the matter, one of them looking up was seized with an inspiring thought and said, " Why not call it 'Three Locusts?"' The suggestion was acted upon and Mr. BAKER became the first post-master of the only Three Locusts on the globe.

 

 

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