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Historical Collections of Ohio

By Henry Howe

Vol. II

©1888

 

 

 

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

 

Page 56

 

            LAWRENCE COUNTY was organized March 1, 1816, and named from Capt. James LAWRENCE, a native of Burlington, N. J., and a gallant naval officer of the war of 1812.  Most of the county consists of high, abrupt hills, in which large quantities of sand or free-stone exist; soil mostly clay.  There is some rich land on the creek bottoms, and on that of the Ohio river, on which, and at the iron furnaces, are the principal settlements.  This county is rich in minerals, and is the greatest iron manufacturing county in Ohio.  Coal abounds in the western part, while clay, suitable for stoneware, is found under the ore, in the whole of the iron region.  The agricultural products, which are small in quantity, are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, hay and apples.

 

            Area about 440 square miles.  In 1887 the acres cultivated were, 50,421; in pasture, 37,048; woodland, 37,094; lying waste, 20, 145; produced in wheat, 122,070 bushels; rye, 410; buckwheat, 64; oats, 65,693; barley, 145; corn, 371,191; meadow hay, 6,179 tons; clover hay, 841; potatoes, 29,633 bushels; tobacco, 11,940 pounds; butter, 210,159; sorghum, 47,371 gallons; maple syrup, 60; honey, 11,018 pounds; eggs, 148,371 dozen; grapes, 3,280 pounds; wine, 520 gallons; sweet potatoes, 7,291 bushels; apples, 39,403; peaches, 5,835; pears, 212; wool, 10,343 pounds; milch cows owned, 2,839.  Ohio mining statistics, 1888: Coal mined, 137,086 tons; employing 248 miners and 63 outside employees.  Iron ore, 104,140 tons.  Fire-clay, 15,280 tons.  Limestone, 114,652 tons, burned for fluxing.  School census, 1888, 13,942; teachers, 202.  Miles of railroad track, 55.

 

 

 

            Population of Lawrence in 1820 was 3,499; 1830, 6,366; 1840, 9,745; 1860, 23,249; 1880, 39,068, of whom 29,079 were born in Ohio; 2,597, Kentucky; 2,291, Virginia; 937, Pennsylvania; 118, Indiana; 117, New York; 1,116, German Empire; 615, Ireland; 513, England and Wales; 33, France; 22, Scotland; and 22, British America.  Census, 1890, 39,556.

 

            In the INDIAN WAR, prior to the treaty of Greenville, many boats, descending the Ohio, were attacked by the Indians, and the whites in them cruelly massacred.  After the war had closed, wrecks of boats were frequently seen on the shore, to remind the traveller of the unhappy fate of those who had fallen a prey to the rifle, tomahawk and scalping-knife.  Among the unpublished incidents of this nature is one that belongs to the history of this county, obtained by us orally from one acquainted with the circumstances:

 

 

Page 57

 

when James sprang up to save him from falling into the river, and receiving a death wound, fell forwards in the boat.  The two men, as yet unharmed, steered for the Ohio shore.  The instant the boat touch land, one of them, panic-stricken, sprang ashore, and, running into the recesses of the forest, was never heard of more.

 

            The other passenger, however, was a man of undaunted courage.  He determined to protect Mrs. KELLY and her little children, consisting of James, a boy of about five years of age, and an infant named Jane.  They landed, and turned their course for Gallipolis, about thirty miles distant.  In their haste they had forgotten to get any provisions from the boat, and the prospect of reaching there, through a wilderness swarming with Indians, was gloomy.  To add to the horrors of their situation, they had gone but a few miles, when Mrs. KELLY was bitten in the foot by a copper-head, and was unable to make further progress.  As the only resort her companion told her that he must leave her alone in the woods, and travel to Gallipolis, procure a boat and a party, and come for her.  Having secreted them among some paw-paws, he started on his solitary and perilous journey.  The Indians were soon on this track, in hot pursuit; and taking inland to avoid them, three or four days elapsed before he arrived at his destination.  He there obtained a keel boat, and a party of thirty men, and started down the Ohio, with but a faint hope of finding Mrs. KELLY and her little ones alive.

 

            During his absence Mrs. KELLY had been accustomed daily to send her little son to the river’s edge, to hail any boats that might pass.  Fearing a decoy from the Indians, several went by without paying any attention to his cries.  An hour or two before the arrival of the aid from Gallipolis, another boat from farther up the river passed down.  At first but little attention was given to the hailing of little James; but feelings of humanity prevailed over their fears, and reflecting also upon the improbability of the Indians sending such a mere child as a decoy, they took courage, turned to the shore, and took the sufferers aboard.  They were then in a starving and deplorable condition; but food was soon given them by the kind-hearted boatmen, and their perils were over.  Soon the Gallipolis boat hove in sight, and they were taken on board, and eventually to Pennsylvania.

 

            Mrs. KELLY, in the course of a few years, married again.  The infant Jane grew up to womanhood, and was remarkable for her beauty.  The little boy James finally emigrated to the Muskingum country.  From him and his mother our informant derived these facts.

 

            Lawrence was settled about 1797, by people from Pennsylvania and Virginia, who were principally of Dutch and Irish descent.  When the iron works were first established, only about one-eighth of the land was entered, since which the workmen have accumulated means to purchase more.  At that day the inhabitants were principally hunters, and for months together, our informant says, he did not see one wear a coat or shoes; hunting-shirts and moccasons being the substitutes.

 

            When Lawrence was first organized, the commissioners neglected to lay a tax, and the expenses of the county were carried on by orders, which so depreciated that the clerk had to pay $6, in orders, for a quire of paper.  The county was finally sued on an order, and judgment obtained for the plaintiff, but as the public property could not be levied upon, not anything was then recovered.  Eventually, the legislature passed laws compelling the commissioners to lay a tax, by which the orders were paid in full, with interest.

 

BURNING A BEWITCHED HORSE.

 

            The annexed report of a case, that came before the Court of Common Pleas in this county, is from the pen of a legal gentleman of high standing.  It shows that in our day the belief in witchcraft has not entirely vanished.

 

                _____ _____     )   Lawrence Common Pleas.  Term 1828.