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MAHONING COUNTY

 

 

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MAHONING COUNTY was formed from Trumbull and Columbia, March 1, 1846. It derived its name from Mahoning river. The name Mahoning is, according to Heckwelder, derived from either the Indian word Mahoni, signifying "a lick," or Mahonink, "at the lick." The surface is rolling and the soil finely adapted to wheat and corn. Large quantities of the finer qualities of wool are raised. The valley of the Mahoning abounds in excellent bituminous coal, which is well adapted to the smelting of iron ore. There are fifteen townships in the county; the five southernmost, viz., Smith, Goshen, Green, Beaver and Springfield, originally formed part of Columbiana, and the others the southern part of Trumbull, the last of which are within the Western Reserve. Area about 420 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 105,207; in pasture, 70,464; woodland, 33,881; lying waste, 2,076; produced in wheat, 181,007 bushels; rye, 3_,359; buckwheat, 995; oats, 501,949; barley, 1,489; corn, 469,737; broom corn, 300 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 36,623 tons; clover hay, 9,610; flax, 51,600 lbs. fibre; potatoes, 95,773 bushels; tobacco, 100 lbs.; butter, 695,277; cheese, 79,450 ; sorghum, 637 gallons; maple syrup, 33,942; honey, 19,649 lbs. ; eggs, 371,039 dozen; grapes, 20,265 lbs.; wine; 267 gallons; apples, 188,271 bushels; peaches, 16,413; pears, 3,335;  wool, 251,921 lbs.; milch cows owned, 7,521.—Ohio State Report, 1888.

 

Coal mined in this county, 231,035 tons, employing 496 miners and 71 outside employees; iron ore, 13,779; fire clay, 400 tons; limestone, 53,627 tons burned for fluxing, 14,000 cubic feet of dimension stone.—Ohio Mining Statistics, 1888. School census, 1888, 16,908; teachers, 336; miles of railroad track, 168.

 

 

Population of Mahoning in 1840; 21,712; 1860, 25,894; 1880, 42,871; of whom 26,672 were born in Ohio; 5,418, Pennsylvania; 593, New York; 311, Virginia; 93; Indiana; 56, Kentucky; 3,280, England and Wales; 2,494, Ireland 1,417, German Empire; 705, Scotland; 280, British America; 65, France and 90 in Sweden and Norway. Census, 1890, 55,979.

 

In our original edition we said, "The following sketch from a resident of the county not only describes interesting incidents in the life of one of the first settlers on the Reserve, but gives facts of importance connected with the history of this region."

 

Col. JAMES HILLMAN, of Youngstown, was one of the pioneers of the West, and rendered essential service to the early settlers of the Western Reserve.  He is still living, and at the age of eighty-four enjoys good health, and spirits, and walks with as much elasticity of step as most men thirty years younger.  He was born in Northampton, Pa., and in 1784 was a soldier under General Harmar, and was discharged at Fort McIntosh, at Beaver town, on the Ohio in August, 1785., after the treaty with the Indians.

 

 

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of Pittsburg. They were engaged in forwarding goods and provisions upon packhorses across the country to the mouth of, the Cuyahoga (now Cleveland), thence to be shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit .During the summer of 1786 he made six trips—the caravan consisting of ten men and ninety horses. They usually crossed the Big Beaver, four miles below the mouth of the Shenango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning, crossing it about three miles above the village of Youngstown, thence by way of the Salt Springs, in the township of Weathersfield, through Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at the mouth of Breakneck, and again at the mouth of Tinker's creek, in Bedford, and thence down the river to its mouth, where they erected a log but for the safe-keeping of their goods, which was the first house built in Cleveland.

 

At the mouth of Tinker's creek were a few houses built by the Moravian missionaries. They were then vacant, the Indians having "occupied them one year only, previous to their removal to the Tuscarawas river. These and three or four cabins at the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected by the whites between the Ohio river and Lake Erie. Those at the Salt Springs were erected for the accommodation of persons sent there to make salt, and the tenants were dispossessed during the summer of 1785 by order of General Harmar. During this year, 1786, KRIBS, who was left in one of the cabins to take care of goods belonging to DUNCAN & WILSON, was murdered by the Indians, and his body was found by HILLMAN'S party, shockingly mangled by the wolves. During the same season James MORROW and Sam SIMERSON, returning from Sandusky, were killed by the Indians at Eagle creek, west of Cleveland. Mr. HILLMAN was married in 1786, and in 1788 settled at Beaver town, where DUNCAN & WILSON had a store for the purpose of trading with the Indians.

 

From 1788 to 1796 Mr. HILLMAN resided in Pittsburg, and traded with the Indians in Ohio, principally on the Reserve, bringing his goods in canoes up the Mahoning. His intercourse with the Indians during these eight years, and before, afforded him the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of their language and gaining their confidence, both of which he obtained, and by means of which he was enabled afterwards to be of great service to the early settlers of the Reserve.

 

In 1796, when returning from one of his trading expeditions alone in his canoe, down the Mahoning river, he discovered a smoke on the bank near the present site of the village of Youngstown, and on proceeding to the spot he found Mr. YOUNG (the proprietor of the township), who with Mr. WOLCOTT, had just arrived to make a survey of his lands. The cargo of Mr. HILLMAN was not entirely disposed of, there remaining among other things some whisky, the price of which was to the Indiana one dollar a quart in the currency of the Country –a deerskin being a legal tender for one dollar and a doeskin half a dollar. Mr. YOUNG proposed purchasing; quart, and having a frolic on its contents during the evening, and insisted upon paying HILLMAN his customary price for it: HILLMAN urged that inasmuch as they were strangers in the country, and just arrived upon his territory, civility required him to furnish the means of the entertainment.. He, however, yielded to Mr. YOUNG, who immediately took the deerskin he had spread for his bed (the only one he had), and paid for his quart of whisky. His descendants in the State of New York, in relating the hardships of their ancestors, have not forgotten that Judge YOUNG exchanged his bed for a quart of whisky.

 

Mr. HILLMAN remained with them a few days, when they accompanied him to Beaver town, to celebrate the Fourth of July, and Mr. H. was induced to return and commence the settlement of the town by building a house. This was about the first settlement made on the Western Reserve. In the fall of 1797 Mr. BROWN and another person came on. It was during this season that Uriah HOLMES of Litchfield county, Conn., and Titus HAYES arrived in Youngstown the same day, both having started from Connecticut on the same day, the one taking the route through the State of New York, via Buffalo, and the other through Pennsylvania.

 

The settlement of the country proceeded prosperously until the murder of the two Indians, CAPTAIN GEORGE and SPOTTED JOHN, at the Salt Springs, by McMAHON and STORY. This affair had nearly proved fatal to the settlements, and probably would but for the efforts of Mr. HILLMAN. The next day after the murder, for such it undoubtedly was, Colonel HILLMAN, with Mr. Young and the late Judge PEASE of Warren, who had just arrived, went to the Salt Springs with a view of pacifying the Indians; but they had gone, not however without having buried the bodies of their murdered companions. Colonel HILLMAN and others expected trouble, and in order to show the Indians that the whites did not sanction the act judged it advisable to take McMAHON and STORY prisoners; which they accordingly did the same day at Warren.

 

Colonel H. had McMAHON in custody, but Story, who was guarded by John LANE, escaped during the night. On the next day McMAHON was brought to Youngstown, the settlers resolving to send him to Pittsburg, to be kept in confinement until he could be tried.

 

 

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mills now stand, and endeavor to avert the threatened danger. It was an undertaking imminently hazardous. Few men would have dared to go, and it is quite certain no other man in the settlement would have had any chance. of success. He was acquainted with their language, and knew their principal men, and was aware that in his trading intercourse with them he had acquired their confidence, and therefore felt no fear. Although urged to do so, he would not take any weapon of defence, but, accompanied by one RANDALL, started very early the next morning on his hazardous enterprise, and came in sight of the Indians before sunrise. The Indians, seventeen in number, were asleep, each with his gun and powder-horn resting upon a forked stick at his head. Being in advance of RANDALL became within three rods of them before he was discovered. A squaw was the only one awake. She immediately gave the alarm, which started every warrior to his feet with gun in hand. But seeing Colonel H. and his companion riding into their encampment without arms, and unsuspicious of treachery or harm, they dropped their guns and immediately gathered around their visitors.

 

ONONDAIGUA GEORGE, the principal man or chief, knew HILLMAN and the late murder became the subject of a very earnest conversation; the chief exhibiting much feeling talking about it. HILLMAN told him frankly the object of his visit, and talked of the affair, condemning McMAHON assuring him that McMAHON was then on his way to Pittsburg, and should stand a trial for the murder he had committed. Nothing could be done, however, until CAPT. PETERS should arrive with his braves. They were then encamped farther up the river, near the present site of Deerfield, and were expected to arrive that day, a message having been sent for that purpose.

 

In the course of the day they came. The countenance of CAPT. PETERS, as soon as he saw a white man present, scowled with hatred revenge and defiance. HILLMAN endeavored to pacify him, but with little effect. During the interview, a conversation was had between CAPTAINS GEORGE and PETERS in the Seneca language, in which CAPT. PETERS endeavored persuade the other that they ought to kill HILLMAN and RANDALL, and before the whites could unite in defence dispatch them in detail. But CAPT. GEORGE would not agree to, unwilling that HILLMAN, to whom he had conceived a liking, should be killed. It was not known to either that HILLMAN was acquainted with the Seneca language, in which this conversation was held; he was, however, and it may be conceived with what interest he listened to it. HILLMAN succeeded after several attempts in drawing CAPT. PETERS aside, and offered him a considerable sum, if he would go to Cuyahoga on some business for he whites. This bribe, it seems, had its desired effect. The Indians retired a short distance and held a consultation, during which RANDALL became so much Warmed that he proposed that each should take his horse and endeavor to make his escape. HILLMAN would not go, but observing that the Indians had left their guns leaning upon two trees near by; told RANDALL to station himself, and if, on their return, one of their number should be painted black (which HILLMAN knew was their custom when one was to be killed) then each should seize upon the guns and sell his life as dearly as possible.

 

After a long time, however, they returned; CAPT. PETERS holding up a wampum belt with three strings, and saying that they had agreed to hold a council with the whites, on condition that three things should be done, as their wampum indicated. 1st that George FOULK should act as interpreter; 2d, that the council should be held within six days; and, 3d, that McMAHON should be kept until the council. These things being agreed to, HILLMAN and RANDALL returned the same day to Youngstown, where they found all the inhabi­tants assembled, waiting in anxious suspense to learn the result of the expedition and every preparation made for a sudden right, in case it should have proved unsuccessful. Great was their joy on seeing HILLMAN and his companion arrive in safety, and telling what had been done.

 

The inhabitants immediately set themselves about making the necessary preparations for the council. On the day appointed, two Indians made their appearance, and were conducted by Mr. HILLMAN to the place prepared to hold their council. After the ceremony of smoking, commenced the speeches, and it was generally conceded that CAPT. PETERS had the beat of the argument, and throughout the whole of the consultation showed a decided superiority over the whites opposed to him, in adroitness and force of argument, although our people had appointed three of their best men for that purpose (the late Judge PEASE, of Warren, and Gov. HUNTINTON being of the number), all of whom had prepared themselves for this encounter with Indian shrewdness. The result of the council was satisfactory to both parties; that McMAHON should be tried by a jury of his own color, according to the laws of his own country. There were about three hundred people present at the council, among whom was Mr. HUDSON, of Portage county, and Mr. ELY, of Deerfield. Thus was tranquillity restored, mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. HILLMAN, a service which was so highly appreciated by Ephraim ROOT, the agent of the Connecticut Land Company, that he agreed on the part of the company that he would give him one hundred acres of land ; the promise, however, was never redeemed.

 

 

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oner.  The court was attended by persons from a great distance, and it was generally believed that many had come with a determination to rescue McMAHON, in case he should be found guilty. He was, however, acquitted, principally upon the testimony of one KNOX, who swore that McMAHON retreated a step or two before he fired, which probably was not true, and was not believed by those who had visited the spot on the day after the affair.  CAPT. PETERS was upon the bench during the whole trial, and was satisfied that he had received a fair trial, and should, according to the laws of the whites, have been acquitted.  As soon as KNOX, swore that McMAHON retreated before he fired CAPT. PETERS gave a characteristic “ugh,” and whispered to Judge MEIGS that the jury would acquit the prisoner.

 

Thus terminated this critical affair, after which the settlement increased with great rapidity, and Col. HILLMAN from that time has enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellow-settlers, twice expressed in electing him sheriff, under the territorial governments, and in various other ways, and still lives respected and beloved by all.

 

Youngstown in 1846.—Youngstown is the largest and most flourishing town in Mahoning county, beautifully situated on the north bank of the Mahoning river, sixty-five miles from Pittsburg, Penn., nine miles from Canfield, the seat of justice for the county of Mahoning, fourteen from Warren, the county-seat of Trumbull county, thirty from Ravenna, Portage county, and twenty-seven from New Lisbon, Columbiana county. It contains about 1,200 inhabitants, has 12 mercantile stores, 3 warehouses for receiving and forwarding goods and produce on the canal; 4 churches—Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Protestant Methodist and 1 Disciples. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal passes through the village, and the products of the surrounding country are sent here for shipment. Few places in Ohio are more beautifully situated; few have greater facilities for manufacturing, or bid fairer to become places of wealth and importance.

 

Bituminous coal and iron ore abound in the immediate vicinity of the village and along the line of the canal, adequate, it is believed, to the wants of manufacturing place. Several of the coal banks are already opened and successful fully and profitably worked. The mines of the Hon. David TOD furnish about one hundred tons of coal per day, and those of CRAWFORE, CAMP & Co. about sixty, all of which have hitherto found a ready market at Cleveland for steamboat fuel. It has recently been ascertained that the coal in the valley of the Mahoning is well adapted in its raw state to the smelting of iron ore, and three furnaces similar to the English and Scotch furnaces, each capable of producing from sixty to one hundred tons of pig-metal per week, have been erected in the township, and near to the village. A large rolling-mill has been erected in the village, at which is made the various sizes of bar, rod and hoop iron; also sheet iron, nails and spikes. The "Youngstown Iron Company" and the "Eagle Iron and Steel Company" contemplate the erection of machinery for the purpose of making the T and H rails; and it is more than probable that the various railroads now projected in Ohio and the adjoining States will be supplied with rails from this point. In addition to the above, there is quite a number of small manufacturing establishments for making tin-ware, cloth, axes, wagons, buggies, etc., etc. The amount of capital invested in the manufacturing of iron is probably $200,000. The view given was taken from the southeast, a few hundred yards to the left of the road leading to Pittsburg, and near the residence of Mr. Homer HINE, shown on the right. In front appears the canal and Mahoning river: on the left the rolling-mill of the Youngstown Iron Company. In the distance a part of the town is shown; the spires seen are respectively, commencing on the right, those of the  Presbyterian, Disciples and Episcopal Methodist churches; near, on the left of the last named, appears the Protestant Methodist church.—Old Edition.

 

 

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west of New York city where the three great Western trunk lines meet, viz. : L. S. & M. S. N. Y. P. & O., and P. Ft. W. & C.; besides these there are the P. P. & F. and P. & L. E. County Officers in 1888: Auditor, Thomas E. DAVEY; Clerk, Zebulon P, CURRY; Commissioners, Frank WHITE Louis GLUCK, David T. MOORE, Coroner, C. Carlos BOOTH; Infirmary Directors, Nelson K. GUNDER, Cyrus RHODES, Obadiah PETERS; Probate Judge, Elliott M. WILSON; Prosecuting Attorney, Disney RODGERS; Recorder, Abram S. McURLEY; Sheriff, Samuel O. EWING, Surveyor, Edwin D. HASLETINE; Treasurers, George W. CAUFIELD, John W. SMITH. City Officers in 1888: Sam'1 A. STEELE, Mayor; Jno. M. WEBB, Clerk; Wm. A. McLAINE, Solicitor; Wm. A. WILLIAMS, Marshal; Jas. M. RENO, Civil Engineer; John GIBSON, Street Commissioner; Geo. W. CAUFIELD, Treasurer; Wm. H. MOORE, Chief Fire Department. Newspapers: Telegram, Republican, Youngstown Printing Co., editors and publishers; Rundschau, German Independent, Wm. F. MAGG, editor and publisher; Vindicator, Democratic, WEBB & MAGG, editors and publishers; Mining World, Mining, Mining World Co., editors and publishers. Churches: 3 Episcopal, 1 German Evangelical, 1 Congregational, 2 Presbyterian, 1 United Presbyterian, 2 Jewish, 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 German Reformed, 1 African Methodist Episcopal, 2 Lutheran, 2 Catholic, 1 Welsh Congregational, 1 Disciples and 3 Baptist. Banks: Commercial National, C. H. ANDREWS, president, Mason EVANS, cashier; First National, Robt. McCURDY, president, Wm. H. BALDWIN, cashier; Mahoning National, H. O. BONNELL, president, J. H. McEWEN, cashier; Second National, Henry TOD, president, Henry M. GARLICK, cashier; Wick Bros. & Co., Thos. H. WILSON, cashier.

 

Manufactures and Employees.—Brown, Bonnell & Co., merchant iron, 1,870 hands; The Arms Bell Co., bolts and nuts, 182; Enterprise Boiler Works, steam boilers, etc., 26; William B. Pollock & Co., steam boilers, etc., 55; William Tod & Co., engines, etc., 92; The Youngstown Carriage Manufacturing Co., carriages, etc., 93; Heller Bros., doors, sash, etc., 16; The Lloyd-Booth Co., foundry and machine work, 41; Homer Baldwin, flour, etc., 10; George Turner, iron fencing, 3; Youngstown Stamping Co., tin-ware, 102; George Dingledy, planing-mill, 32; Forsyth Scale Co., U. S. standard scales, 23; A. S. Williams, sash, doors, etc., 4; Hem Rod Furnace, pig-iron, 60; Youngstown Lumber Co., planing-mill, 13 ; Youngstown Stove Manufacturing Co., stoves, 30; Youngstown Rolling Mill Co., merchant iron, 425; Cartwright, McCurdy & Co., merchant iron, 635; John Smith's Sons, ale, beer, etc., 20; Youngstown Steam Laundry, laundrying, 12; Brier Hill Iron and Coal Co., pig-iron, 175 ; Youngstown Steel Co., washed iron, 50; Homer Baldwin, flour, etc., 12; Mahoning Valley Iron Co., merchant iron, 1,255; American Tube and Iron Co., wrought iron pipes, etc., 421.—State Report, 1888. Population in 1880, 15,435. School census, 1888, 8,084. F. TREUDLY, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $5,554,500. Value of annual product, $8,968,760. Census, 1890, 33,220.

 

In the history of Mahoning county, Mr. David Loveland gives a sketch of the beginning of the manufacture of iron in the Mahoning valley, an industry which has created a city almost continuous for a, score of miles along the stream.

 

It was commenced by two brothers, James and Daniel HEATON, men of enterprising and experimenting disposition. In 1805 or 1806 they erected a furnace on Yellow Creek, Dear Mahoning river, about five miles southeast of Youngstown, which soon went into active operation. Connected with and belonging to the furnace proper were about one hundred acres of well-timbered land which supplied the charcoal and much of the ore for the works. It was -called the Heaton furnace. The “blast " was produced by an apparatus of peculiar construction and was similar in principle to that produced by the column of water of the early furnaces

 

 

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Top Picture

BRIER HILL FURNACE.

 

Bottom Picture

Meacham & Sabine, Photo, 1890.

 

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of Niles. Daniel continued at the old works, and manufactured considerable iron, much of it consisting of stoves, large kettles, and other castings, the appearance of which would be rude for these times. About this time a third furnace was built on Yellow creek by Robert MONTGOMERY, about half a mile below the old Heaton furnace.  Both furnaces went to ruin aft her year 1812.

 

YOUNGSTOWN. (Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.)

 

Youngstown is the name of both city and township. The name is from John YOUNG.  On April 9, 1800, the Connecticut Land Company sold the township to him.  According to tradition he had located in the township about 1797.

 

He made a plot of the town that year.  It was recorded August 19, 1802, with the date and name of “Youngstown, 1797” John YOUNG was born at Peterboro, New Hampshire, March 8, 1755; was married to Mary Stone WHITE, the daughter of Hugh WHITE, the founder of Whitesboro, November 23, 1801.

 

Brier Hill so long famed as the place of the TOD family, is two miles northwest of the centre of the city.  In this summer (1890) the city limits were extended so as to include it.  At Brier Hill are three blast-furnaces, which were erected by Gov. TOD, and are still owned and operated by his family.  They have what is called a wash-metal plant where the pig-iron is resmelted, put through a process that relieves it almost entirely of the phosphorus, which is very injurious in making steel.

 

COAL-MINING IN MAHONING COUNTY.

 

The system of mining in Mahoning valley, owing to the conditions under which the coal was deposited, is peculiar and curious.  The coal, which is the lower bed of the State series, is subject to sudden changes of level, and is found disposed in long, narrow and serpentine basins and troughs.  The low ground in a coal bed is called a swamp by the miner, and, owing to the structure of the swamps found in these mines, peculiar mining skill is required to guide and direct the subterranean excavations.

 

The cost of opening and equipping a mine in this region often exceeds $20,000, but the money usually is soon refunded.  The mines have been more profitable than those of any other region in Ohio, owing partly to the proximity to Cleveland and Lake Erie, but largely to the superior quality of the coal. Some of the mines, however, are losing concerns, owing to a variety of causes, one of which is the too abundant flow of water.  The mine of the Leadville Coal Company, situated three miles west of Youngstown, is an instance of this kind.

 

Difficulties of Shaft-Sinking.—The work of sinking this shaft was one of the most difficult and costly ever encountered in the United States, mainly by reason of the flow of water.  The time occupied in sinking, including several long stoppages, was about tow years and six months.  The shaft was let by contract to three separate parties; to the first at $20 per foot, the second at $35, and the third at $50 a foot, but each in turn threw up their contract.

 

 

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Powerful Pumping.—After, some w ka of stoppage all the pumps were again set to work, and the water pumped out down to the point where the pressure of the water and the power of the pumps were balanced. All the pumps were run to their fullest capacity for four weeks discharging 3,000 gallons a minute, in the Lope of emptying, or at least controlling, the feeders of water; but no impression was made. A very powerful pump, equal to the combined force of the six already in use, was procured. With this the water was mastered, but it became necessary to close up the crevice in the rock. This was done by filling with wooden blocks, well wedged in and caulked, and the water was finally shut off and controlled. The work of getting below the crevice was a labor of unparalleled difficulty and danger: The workmen, suspended in buckets, and having scarcely room to turn around among the multitude of pumps, labored heroically, though drenched with water, which shot in great streams across the shaft. During the whole undertaking not a single accident occurred. The closing up of the crevice reduced the flow of water to 500 gallons per minute, and no further difficulty was experienced until the coal was reached.

 

In sinking this shaft six thirty-feet boilers, with thirty-six inch head, were used. The cost of the work, including the necessary supplies for sinking, was $71,837, and the whole de depth of the shaft was but 187 feet.

 

Pumps again Overpowered.—As the vast volume of water encountered in sinking was dammed back over the heads of the miners, its liberation by a fall of the roof was only a question of time. Fifteen thousand square yards had not been excavated till the waters broke into the workings. All the miners escaped in safety, but the pumps were soon overpowered, and the shaft, with all its subterranean excavations was again flooded. The mine remained idle for five years.

 

The Mine Changes Owners.—In the spring of 1880 the Leadville Coal Company was organized, which bought out WICKS & WELLS, the owners and projectors of the enterprise. New and more powerful pumping machinery was put in place, and the water was lowered to a depth of 136 feet, when the accidental dropping of a wedge into one of the pumps stopped operations, and the shaft again filled with water.

 

Narrow Escape.—In a few days the work of pumping was again resumed, and six weeks later the mine was pumped dry, and the miners, after an absence of five years, ventured down the shaft and commenced mining operations. The mine having but one opening, and the excavations that had been- made requiring a second opening, as provided in the mining law of the State, an escape-shaft or travelling-way was sunk into the mine, for the egress of miners in case of accident to the hoisting-shaft. This travelling-way was completed only two days when the wooden structure covering and surrounding the hoisting-shaft caught fire from a spark from the smoke-stack, and was burned to the ground. The miners found safe egress through the second outlet or travelling-way; had there been but one opening, every soul under ground at the time of the fire would have speedily and inevitably perished.

 

Persistent Enterprise.—The fire, which occurred on the 21st of August, 1881, having destroyed all the build buildings covering and surrounding the shaft, and disabled the hoisting and pumping machinery, all the subterranean excavations were again filled with water. The company at once commenced rebuilding the works and repairing the machinery, and on the 15th of October following the pumps were again started up, and a month later the mine was once more pumped dry. There is an excitement in mining unknown, perhaps, to any other industry; hence, all the misfortunes of this ill-fated mine have not in the least daunted the courage of the mine-owners, or alarmed the fearless spirit of the miners, and work was resumed with the same degree of cheerfulness as in the beginning of the enterprise. The foregoing account is abridged from Dr. Orton's "Geological Report of 1884. "

 

David TOD, the second of Ohio's War Governors, was born in Youngstown, February 21, 1805, and died there November 13, 1868. He was the son of Governor TOD, an eminent man who was born in Connecticut, graduated at Yale, and emigrated to the Northwest Territory in 1800. He was Secretary of the Territory under Governor St. Clair ; was a State Senator after the organization of the State of Ohio. He served as Judge of the Supreme Court from 1806 to 1809, and occupied other important positions. He rendered gallant service in the war of 1812 at Fort Meigs, serving as a lieutenant-colonel.

 

 

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dent Pierce; in 1860 he was a delegate to the Charleston Convention, was chosen vice of that body, and presided over it the Southern wing of the party withdrew.

 

W Whitelaw Reid says in " Ohio in the War:" "The executive and business talents of Mr. TOD were conspicuously evidenced as the President of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, the construction of which he was one of the first to advocate, and with whose success he became identified. To Mr. TOD, more than any other man, belongs the honor of inaugurating the steps which led to the development of the vast coal mines of the Mahoning valley,

 

"Before and after the meeting of the Peace Congress at Washington in February, Mr. TOD warmly advocated the peace measures, and the exhausting of every honorable means, rather than that the South should inaugurate civil war. But from the moment the flag was shot down at Sumter he threw off all party trammels and was among the first public men in the State who took the stump advocating the vigorous prosecution of the war till every rebel was cut off or surrendered. From that moment, with voice and with material aid, he contributed his support to the national government. Beside subscribing immediately $1,000 to the war fund of his township, he furnished Company B, Captain Hollingsworth, Nineteenth Regiment, Youngstown, their first uniforms. "

 

In 1861 he was nominated for Governor of Ohio by the Republicans, and elected by a majority of 55,000

 

His administration during the most trying years of the war was zealous, painstaking and efficient. His continued efforts for recruiting the army, his fatherly care and sympathy with Ohio soldiers in the field and their families at home; his vigorous measures to repel invasions of the State, are the distinguishing features of an able administration. "Ohio in the War" closes an account of it with the following words:" He made some mistakes of undue vigor, and some of his operations entailed expenses not wholly necessary. But he was zealous, industrious and specially watchful for the welfare of the troops, faithful in season and out of season. Re was at the head of the State in the darkest hours through which she passed. He left her affairs in good order, her contributions to the nation fully made up, her duties to her soldier sons jealously watched, and her honor untarnished."

 

After the close of his term of service he retired to his farm known as "Brier Hill," near Youngstown, which formerly belonged to his father, and which he repurchased after he began to accumulate property, from those who had come into its possession. As a boy, David TOD was always ready for fun, and many amusing anecdotes are told of his. We give the following from the “Pioneer History of Geauga County:" " On winter day, when a deep cut had beer shovelled through a snow-bank to give access to the school-house. TOD led some of his schoolmates to fill the cut with wood, so that when the schoolmaster returned from dinner he was obliged to climb the pile to get to the school-house." On another occasion he played a decidedly practical joke on "Uncle John” Ford, the father of Governor Seabury Ford. John FORD was an eccentric genius of much sterling worth. "The spirit of humor” overflowed with him, and when Brooks BRADLEY drove the cows up the lane at night, they would dash back past him, heads and tails high in air, and run clear to the woods. Brooks, as he chased back after the frightened cattle, did not see `Uncle John's' old hat down in front of his bent form, shaking out from behind a stump in that lane." He played some trick on David TOD, afterwards Governor of Ohio. David sawed the top bar over which "Uncle John" leaned when he poured the swill to his pigs. "Dave” and his companions watched the next time "Uncle John " fed, and when well on the bar it broke, and he fell, with pail and contents, among the hogs. A suppressed laugh from an adjoining fence corner hinted to “Uncle John” how it happened; but he climbed from the mess and said nothing. He saw only one thing in TOD that he called “mean."

 

ELISHA WHITTLESEY was born in Washington, Conn., October 19, 1783, and died in Washington City, January 7, 1863. He was. brought up on a farm, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1805. He removed to Canfield, O., in June, 1806. During the war of 1812 he rose to the rank of Brigade-Major and Inspector under Gen. Perkins, and was for a time aid and private secretary to Gen. Harrison. On one occasion he was sent with a despatch from Gen. Harrison on the Maumee to the Governor at Chillicothe, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, part of it through the Black Swamp and regions invested with hostile Indians; it was a perilous undertaking but he accomplished it faithfully.

 

In 1820-21 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature. He served in Congress continuously from 1823 to 1838, when be resigned. His scrupulous honesty is evidenced by the fact that during this service he would receive no pay when absent from his seat on private business.

 

He was one of the founders of the Whig party; was appointed by President Harrison m 1841 auditor of the post-office department, resigning in 1843. In 1849 was appointed by President Taylor first comptroller of the treasury, from which office he was removed by President Buchanan, but reappointed by President Lincoln in 7861 and held office until his death.

 

 

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which he did until 1855, contributing greatly to the success of that enterprise- He was a staunch supporter of Christian doctrines and d enterprises, and throughout all his life his conduct was governed by the highest principles. The distinguished Col. Chas. Whittlesey was his nephew, and it was his pride that he was his nephew, such was the exalted character of the uncle.

 

For many years he kept a diary of current events, a journal or autobiography, which ought to be compiled and given to the public.

 

JOHN M. EDWARDS was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1805. He was great-grandson of Jonathan EDWARDS, the great theologian, and son of Henry W. EDWARDS, a Governor of Connecticut and United States Senator. He was a graduate of Yale, practised law for a number of years in New Haven and made extensive visits through the South in the interest of the estate of his uncle, Eli Whitney, the inventor of the Cotton gin.

 

Later, together with a number of young men from Connecticut, he visited the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio, in which his father, Governor EDWARDS, had considerable possessions through Pierpont EDWARDS, who was one of the original proprietors. Most of these young men remained in the Western Reserve and helped form that highly intellectual community of which Garfield, Giddings, Wade, TOD and Whittlesey were representatives. Mr. EDWARDS had many important positions and was connected with various newspaper enterprises during his life and was one of the founders of the first newspaper published in the Mahoning Valley. He wrote frequently for publication, principally on historical subjects. He was the leading spirit of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and collected a large amount of valuable information concerning the early history of Ohio and its people. He was a deeply studious man and a learned and able lawyer. He died suddenly at his residence in Youngstown, December 8, 1886, aged 81 years.

 

FATHER                                                             DAUGHTER

JUDGE JAMES BROWNLEE                           KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD.

 

 

KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD, the poetess of patriotism, is the daughter of Judge James BROWNLEE, of Poland, where she was born. While yet in her "teens," in 1859, she was married with Gen. Isaac R. SHERWOOD and early became associated with him in journalistic work, writing items, reading proofs, and then sometimes a

 

With Dainty fingers deftly picked.

There clean-cut faces ranged in telling lines,

The magic type that talks to all the world.

 

 

 

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anything that could have given added brightness and breadth to her intellect it was just  this employment of journalistic work, coming, too, just at the opening of the stupendous events of the great civil war.

 

Her youthful husband enlisted and the old Covenanters' blood in her veins became heated by the spirit of intense patriotism, which soon found expression in patriotic verse, which has thrilled multitudes and started many a glistening tear.

 

Her soldier lyrics have been printed in different languages, found a prized place in varied volumes: one, solely her own, "Camp Fire and Memorial Poems." These have been recited on every platform in the Union where the veterans of 1861-65 have had a part, particularly "Drummer Boy of Mission Ridge," "Forever and Forever," "The Old Flag," etc.

 

“Forever and Forever" recalls with lifelike vividness the opening scenes of the war. It thus begins:

 

When men forsook their ships and homes, and stood with troubled faces,

From morn till night, from night till morn in dusky makred spaces;

When women watched beside their babes in anguis half resisted

Until the husky message came. “God keep you.  I’ve enlisted!”

 

When all day long the drums were rolled in hateful exulations,

And fife and bugle strung with pain the pulses of the Nation;

When women’s hands formed every star that flaskhed on field of glor,

When woman’s tears were stitched along each stripe in juewled story—

 

What said we then ? “Go forth, brave hearts! Go where the bullets rattle!

For us to plan, for us to pray, for you to toil and battle !

Ours to uphod, yurs to defend, the compact none can server,

And sacred be your name and fame forever and forever.

.

"The Old Flag" no true American can hear without a thrill. Its closing verse is especially fine, and in the coming higher and still higher glory of the nation, multitudes yet unborn in their love for it will regret that their fathers who fought were not with those who fought to save it. We give its closing verse:

 

O flag of our fathers ! O flag of our sons ! O flag of a world’s desire !

Through the night and the light, throug the fright and the fight, through the smoke and the the

  cloud and the fire,

There are arms to defend, there are hearts to befirned, there are souls to bear up form the

  pall,

While thy cluster of starts broodeth over the wars that justice and merch befall !

There are breasts that will clasp it, when tattered and torn, there are prayers to brood like

  a dove.

There are fingers to fashion it fold unto fold, and hands that will wave it above.

While the rub-a-dub, dub, dub, rug-a-dub, is beating the marches of Love !

 

Mrs. SHERWOOD has ennobled her life by constant active public duties in behalf of those who suffered from the war; as chairman National Pension and Relief Committee, Woman's Relief Corps (auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic); chairman Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Committee Department of Ohio; editor woman's department National Tribune, Washington, etc. Perhaps her proudest moment was when she was invited by the ex-Confederate Committee to write that poetical bond of Union for North and South, to be read at the ceremony of the unveiling of the Albert Sydney Johnston equestrian statue in New Orleans. This event took place April 6, 1887, and her poem delighted alike the Blue and the Gray; and well it might, breathing, as it did, the spirit of unity and fraternity as these two verses alone evince:

 

Now five and twenty years are gone, and lo ! to-day they come

The Blue and Gray in proud array, with throbbing fife and drum ;

But not as rivals, not as foes, as brothers reconciled.

To twine love’s fragrant roses where the thorns of hate grew wild.

 

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O, veterans of the Blue and Gray who faught on Shiloh field,

The purposes of God are true, his juegemetns stand revealed ;

The pangs of war have rent the veil and lo his high decree :

One heart, on hipe, one destiny, one flag from sea to sea.

 

The object of this monument was not as an insignia of regret that the cause was lost, but as a memorial of the splendid heroism of its soldiers; and all honor that sentiment.  In the case of Albet Sidney Johnston, he, although born int Soutn ws the son of a Litchfiled county Conn., country physician, and his heart was not in the Lost Cause.  He loved the Union, and witnessed, “with unalloyed grief the culmination of the irresistible conflict,” Cound his spirit have been present, in would doubtless have responded, “Yes, ‘The Union forever and forever; one heart, one hope, one destiny, one flat from sea to sea.’ ”

 

Among Mrs. SHERWOOD’S varited poems is one historical, “The Pioneers of the Mahoning Valley,” read at the meeting of the Pioneers at Yournstown, September 10, 1877.  It begins at the beginning, when the “sturdy Yankee came,” and marks the changes in the valley to our day and it thirty-three verses.  Among them are thses three, which certainly, to use an exprssion General Grant once used to compliment Grace Greenwood upon her “California Letter,” as Grace herself told us, are “pretty reading:”

 

 

Stout rosy boys and girls are they

  Whose heads scarce tough the dripping boughs;

Who learned their first philosophy

  While driving home the lagging cows.

 

 

After listening to her poem, and especially these closing verses, we do not doubt that the old folk from their hearts exclaimed, “Yea, verily, have we not a goodly heritage ? and see, our cows have come home !”

 

 

 

We hail thee queen whose beauty won

  Our fathers in their golden years ;

A shout for greater days begun,

  A sigh for sleeping pioneers.

 

 

 

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the fall of 1827, the young Scotchman met with a most cordial welcome from the pioneers of Mahoning.

 

Developing when at school into a youth of unusual ability, his father had designed him for a professional career; but that was not his choice. In 1830 his father and family followed him to America, when his father bought the beautiful tract of land at the junction of Yellow creek and Mahoning, building a handsome homestead thereon, where all the family resided until 1840, when Judge BROWNLEE was married to Miss Rebecca MULLIN, of Bedford Springs, Pa. Shortly after his father died, and the judge built a new residence on the hilltop overlooking the river, where his three children were born, the first now Mrs. Kate BROWNLEE SHERWOOD.

 

For his first thirty years in this country Judge BROWNLEE was engaged chiefly in the buying and selling of Cattle, purchasing yearly thousands and thousands of cows and beeves for the great markets of the West and East. He was always active in politics, an enthusiastic and ardent Whig; but while acting with the Whigs, he astonished the Abolitionists by attending an indignation meeting held at Canfield against the passage of the fugitive slave law, when he drew up a resolution so audacious that the others of the committee feared to adopt it, it seeming treasonable. He offered it personally, and it was carried in a whirl of enthusiasm. It was:

 

RESOLVED, That come life, come death, come fine or imprisonment, we will neither aid nor abet the capture of a fugitive slave; but on the contrary will harbor and feed, clothe and assist, and give him a practical God-speed toward liberty.

 

In the stirring times of the war he was so active in the forming of companies and recruiting without commission or remuneration, that Governor TOD sent him a "squirrel hunter's" discharge, as an appreciation of hearty services.

 

Judge BROWNLEE held many positions of public and private trust, among others that of Assessor of Internal Revenue at Youngstown. For years he held his life in jeopardy, having repeatedly heard the bullets whistling around his head when obliged to visit certain localities—still remembered for their opposition to the war and the operations of the revenue system.

 

He died January 20, 1879. He was a staunch Presbyterian, and his friends were numbered among the rich and the poor, who found in him that faith and charity which make the whole world kin.

 

Canfield in 1846—Canfield, the county seat, is 166 miles northeast of Columbus and sixteen south of Warren. It is on the main stage road from Cleveland to Pittsburg, on a gentle elevation. It is a neat, pleasant village, embowered in trees and shrubbery, among which the Lombardy poplar stands conspicuous. It contained in 1846 three stores, a newspaper printing-office, one Presbyterian, one Episcopal, one Methodist, one Congregational, and one Lutheran church, and about 300 people. Since then the county buildings have been erected, and from being made the county-seat, it will probably, by the time this reaches the eye of the reader, have nearly doubled in population and business importance.—Old Edition.

 

Poland in 1846.—Poland is eight miles from Canfield, on Yellow creek, a branch of the Mahoning. It is one of the neatest villages in the State. The dwellings are usually painted white, and have an air of comfort. Considerable business centres here from the surrounding country, which is fertile. In the vicinity are coal and iron ore of an excellent quality. Limestone of a very superior kind abounds in the township; it is burned and largely exported for building purposes and manure. Poland contains five stores, one Presbyterian and one Methodist church, an academy, an iron foundry, one grist, one saw, one oil and one clothing mill, and about 100 dwellings.—Old Edition.

 

 

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A Wedding Incident.—Poland township is the southeastern township of the Western Reserve, bat not that of the county, the southernmost tier of townships having been taken from Columbiana county. Jonathan Fowler and family came into it May 20, 1799, and were its first white settlers. About the year 1800 occurred the first marriage, between John BLACKBURN and Nancy BRYAN. There being no one legally authorized to marry them, Judge KIRTLAND agreed to assume the responsibility by using his Episcopal prayer-book. About seventy persons were present. A stool was placed in front of the judge, and upon it a white cover. On this the judge placed his book, when some one proposed that they take a drink all around before the ceremony. To this all agreed, it seeming eminently the proper thing to do. How long a time this occupied is not stated, or how many drinks they took. But when the judge had taken his "one or more," as the case might have been, and was ready for tying the knot, lo ! that Episcopal prayer-book had disappeared—could not be found. In this dilemma the judge said they must get along without it, and asked Nancy if she was willing to take John for a loving husband, and said "yes;" and asked John if he was willing to take Nancy for a loving wife, and he said " yes ;" and—that was about all there was of it. And thus ended what was probably the first wedding on the Western Reserve—with whisky or without whisky.

 

CANFIELD is twenty-two miles by rail, ten miles by road southwest of Youngstown; is on the N. Y. P. & O. Railroad (N. & N. L. Branch) It is the seat of the Northeastern Normal College. City officers, 1888: S. K. CROOKS, Mayor; S. W. BRAINARD, Clerk; Hosea HOOVER, Treasurer; C. W. WEHR, Street Commissioner; Eli RHODES, Marshal.—Newspaper: Mahoning Dispatch, Independent, FOWLER & Son, editors and publishers. Churches: one Presbyterian, one Methodist Episcopal, one Disciples, one German Lutheran and one Congregational. Bank: Van HYNING & Co., Hosea HOOER, president, G. W. BRAINERD, cashier. Population, 1880, 650.   

School census, 1888, 196.

 

POLAND is six miles southeast of Youngstown, on the Beaver river. Bank: Farmers' Deposit and Saving, R L. WALKER, president, Clark STOUGH, cashier. Population in 1880, 452.School census, 1888, 206.

PETERSBURG is fifteen miles southeast of Youngstown. It has one newspaper, the Petersburg Press, E. E. STONE, editor. Churches: one Methodist Episcopal, one Evangelical Lutheran, one Presbyterian. School census, 1888, 162. LOWELLVILLE is eight miles southeast of Youngstown, on the Ohio Canal and A. & P., P. & W., and P. & L. E. Railroads. School census, 1888, 241.