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Historical Collections of Ohio

By Henry Howe

Vol. I

© 1888

 

HOCKING COUNTY

                                                                                                                                   

 

Page 925

            HOCKING COUNTY was formed March 1, 1818, from Ross, Athens and Fairfield.  The land is generally hilly and broken, but along the main streams level and fertile.

 

            Area about 400 square miles.  In 1887 the acres cultivated were 49,087; in pasture, 88,976; woodland, 49,726; lying waste, 2,316; produced in wheat, 323,884 bushels; rye, 2,667; buckwheat, 669; oats, 47,195; barley, 792; corn, 303,707; meadow hay, 11,504 tons; clover hay, 848; potatoes, 24,083 bushels; tobacco, 110 pounds; butter, 293,822; cheese, 150; sorghum, 4,244 gallons; maple syrup, 928; honey, 2,550 pounds; eggs, 267,750 dozen; grapes, 6,865 pounds; wine, 55 gallons; sweet potatoes, 1,729 bushels; apples, 12,027; peaches, 2,971; pears, 202; wool, 199,072 pounds; milch cows owned, 3,487.  Tons of coal mined, 853,063, being exceeded only by Perry, Jackson and Athens county.  School census, 1888, 7,982; teachers, 152.  Miles of railroad track, 80.

 

 

Page 926.

 

 

Page 927

 

            Population of Hocking in 1820, 2080; 1830, 4,008; 1840, 9,735; 1860, 17,057; 1880, 21,126, of whom 18,459 were born in Ohio, 631 in Pennsylvania, 430 Virginia, 114 Kentucky, 96 New York, 59 Indiana, 423 German Empire, 198 Ireland, 129 England and Wales, 37 Scotland, 18 France and 13 British America.  Census of 1890, 22,658.

 

            The name of this county is a contraction of that of the river Hockhocking, which flows through it.  Hock-hock-ing, in the language of the Delaware Indians, signifies a bottle; the Shawnees have it, Wea0tha-kagh-qua sepe, i.e., bottle river.  John White, in the American Pioneer, says: “About six or seven miles northwest of Lancaster there is a fall in the Hockhocking, of about twenty feet; above the fall, for a short distance, the creek is very narrow and straight, forming a neck, while at the falls it suddenly widens on each side and swells into the appearance of the body of a bottle.  The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly in the shape of a bottle, and from this fact the Indians called the creek Hockhocking.”

 

            This tract of country once belonged to the Wyandots, and a considerable town of that tribe, situated at the confluence of a small stream with the river, one mile below Logan, gives the name Oldtown to the creek.  The abundance of bears, deer, elks, and occasionally buffaloes, with which the hills and valley were stored, together with the river fishing, must have made this a desirable residence.  About five miles southeast of Logan are two mounds, of the usual conical form, about sixty feet in diameter at the base, erected entirely from stones, evidently brought from a great distance to their present location.

 

            For the annexed historical sketch of the county we are indebted to a resident.

 

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

 

 

Page 928

 

her emigrants, and we think originated with the Germans.  In our original tour over the State, in 1846, when we saw a large number of lobster-back people on the farms or about the village taverns, we always knew that region had been settled by Pennsylvania Germans.

 

            Logan in 1846.—Logan, the county-seat, is on the Hockhocking river and canal, one mile below the great fall of the Hockhocking river, 47 miles southeast of Columbus, 18 below Lancaster, and 38 miles east of Chillicothe.  It was laid out about the year 1816, and contains 4 stores, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Methodist church, and about 600 inhabitants.  The view, taken near the American hotel, shows in the centre the court-house, an expensive and substantial structure, and on the extreme right the printing-office.—Old Edition.