Shelby County

 

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SHELBY COUNTY was formed from Miami in 1819, and named from Gen. Isaac Shelby, an officer of the Revolution, who, in 1792, when Kentucky was admitted into the Union, was almost unanimously elected its first governor. The southern half is undulating, rising in places along the Miami into hills. The northern portion is flat table land, forming part of Loramie’s summit, 378 feet above Lake Erie—being the highest elevation in this part of the State. The soil is based on clay, with some fine bottom land along the streams. The southern part is best for grain and the northern for grass. Area about 420 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 176,014; in pasture, 35,334; woodland, 37,949; lying waste, 4,192; produced in wheat, 550,866 bushels; rye, 1,548; buckwheat, 1,134; oats, 512,138; barley, 27,355; corn, 1,356,795; broom corn, 17,000 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 9,056 tons; clover hay, 6,063; flax, 354,700 lbs. fibre; potatoes, 36,845 bushels; tobacco, 11,730 lbs.; butter, 419,199; sorghum, 11,364 gallons; maple syrup, 2,816; honey, 8,594 lbs.; eggs, 523,658 dozen; grapes, 18,590 lbs.; sweet potatoes, 95 bushels; apples, 2,286; peaches, 21; pears, 283; wool, 28,125 lbs.; milch cows, 6,506. School census, 1888, 8,025; teachers, 189. Miles of railroad track, 51.        

 

 

 

 

Population of Shelby in 1820 was 2,142; 1830, 3,671; 1840, 12,153; 1860, 17,493; 1880, 24,137: of whom 19,988 were born in Ohio; 573, Pennsylvania; 331, Virginia; 234, Indiana; 134, New York; 123, Kentucky; 1,272, German Empire; 353, Ireland, 262, France; 53, England and Wales; 30, British America, and 14 Scotland. Census, 1890, 24,707.

 

The first white man whose name is lastingly identified with the geography of this county was PETER LORAMIE, or LARAMIE, inasmuch as his name is permanently affixed to an important stream. He was a Canadian French trader who in 1769, seventeen years after the destruction of Pickawillany, at the mouth of the Loramie, established a trading post upon it. The site of Loramie’s store, or station, as it was called, was up that stream about fifteen miles, within a mile of the village of Berlin and near the west end of the Loramie reservoir. Col. John Johnston wrote to me thus of him:

 

At the time of the first settlement of Kentucky a Canadian Frenchman, named Loramie, established there a store or trading station among the Indians. This man was a bitter enemy of the Americans, and it was for a long time the headquarters of mischief towards the settlers.

 

The French had the faculty of endearing themselves to the Indians, and no doubt Loramie was, in this respect, fully equal to any of his countrymen, and gained great influence over them. They formed with the natives attachments of the most tender and abiding kind. “I have,” says Col. Johnston,” seen the Indians burst into tears when speaking of the time when their French father had dominion over them, and their attachment to this day remains unabated.”

 

 

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attracted to the spot.  He came on and burned the Indian settlement here [at Upper Piqua], and plundered and burned the store of the Frenchman [about sixteen miles further north].

 

The store contained a large quantity of goods and peltry, which were sold by auction afterwards among the men by the general’s orders. Among the soldiers was an Irishman named Burke, considered a half-witted fellow, and the general butt of the whole army. While searching the store he found, done up in a rag, twenty-five half-joes, worth about $200, which he secreted in a hole he cut in an old saddle. At the auction no one bid for the saddle, it being judged worthless, except Burke, to whom it was struck off for a trifling sum, amid roars of laughter for his folly. But a moment elapsed before Burke commenced a search, and found and drew forth the money, as if by accident; then shaking it in the eyes of the men, exclaimed, “An’ it’s not so bad a bargain after all!”

 

Soon after this Loramie, with a colony of the Shawanoese, emigrated to the Spanish territories, west of the Mississippi, and settled in a spot assigned them at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri, where the remaining part of the nation from Ohio have at different times joined them.

 

In 1794 a fort was built at the place occupied by Loramie’s store by Wayne, and named Fort Loramie. The last officer who had command here was Col. Butler, a nephew of Gen. Richard Butler, who fell at St. Clair’s defeat. Says Col. John Johnston

 

His wife and children were with him during his command. A very interesting son of his, about 8 years old, died at the post. The agonized father and mother were inconsolable. The grave was inclosed with a very handsome and painted railing, at the foot of which honeysuckles were planted, grew luxuriantly, entwined the paling, and finally enveloped the whole grave. Nothing could appear more beautiful than this arbor when in full bloom.

 

The peace withdrew Capt. Butler and his troops to other scenes on the Mississippi. I never passed the fort without a melancholy thought about the lovely boy who rested there, and his parents far away never to behold that cherished spot again. Long after the posts had decayed in the ground, the vines sustained the palings, and the whole remained perfect until the war of 1812, when all was destroyed, and now a barn stands over the spot.

 

The site of Loramie’s store was a prominent point in the Greenville Treaty boundary line. The farm of the heirs of the late James FURROWS now [1846] covers the spot. Col. John Hardin was murdered in this county in 1792, while on a mission of peace to the Indians. The town of Hardin has since been laid out on the spot.

 

Sidney in 1846.—Sidney, the county-seat, is sixty-eight miles north of west from Columbia, eighty-eight from Cincinnati, and named from Sir Philip Sidney, “the great light of chivalry.” It was laid out as the county-seat in the fall of 1819, on the farm of Charles STARRETT, under the direction of the court.

 

 

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established in 1836, and published by Thomas SMITH. A block house at one time stood near the spring.

 

In the centre of Sidney is a beautiful public square on which stands the court-house. A short distance in a westerly direction passes the Sidney feeder, a navigable branch of the Miami canal. The town and suburbs contain 1 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Christian and 1 Catholic church; 1 drug, 2 iron, 5 hardware and 10 dry goods stores; 2 printing offices, 1 oil, 2 carding and fulling, 3 flouring and 4 saw mills, and in 1840 Sidney had 713 inhabitants, since which it has increased.—Old Edition.

 

In Van Buren township is a settlement of COLORED people, numbering about 400. They constitute half the population of the township, and are as prosperous as their white neighbors. Neither are they behind them in religion, morals and intelligence, having churches and schools of their own. Their location, however, is not a good one, the land being too flat and wet. An attempt was made in July, 1846, to colonize with them 385 of the emancipated slaves of the celebrated John RANDOLPH, of Virginia, after they were driven from Mercer county; but a considerable party of whites would not willingly permit it, and they were scattered by families among the people of Shelby and Miami, who were willing to take them.—Old Edition.

 

The first white family who settled in this county was that of James THATCHER, in 1804, who settled in the west part on Painter’s run; Samuel MARSHALL, John WILSON and John KENNARD—the last now living—came soon after. The first court was held in a cabin at Hardin, May 13 and 14, 1819. Hon. Joseph H. CRANE, of Dayton, was the president judge; Samuel MARSHALL, Robert HOUSTON and William CECIL, associates; Harvey B. FOOT, clerk; Daniel V. DINGMAN, sheriff, and Harvey BROWN, of Dayton, prosecutor. The first mill was a saw mill, ereeted in 1808 by Daniel McMULLEN and BILDERBACH, on the site of WLAKER’S mill.—Old Edition.

 

SIDNEY; county-seat of Shelby, is on the Miami river, about sixty-five miles northwest of Columbus, forty miles north of Dayton, at the crossing of the C. C. C. & I. and D & M. Railroads. County officers, 1888: Auditor, J. K. CUMMINS; Clerk, John C. HUSSEY; Commissioners, Jacob PAUL, Thomas HICKEY, Jeremiah MILLER; Coroner, Park BEEMAN;; Infirmary Directors, James CALDWELL, C. Ed. BUSH, Samuel M. WAGONER; Probate Judge, Adolphus J. REBSTOCK; Prosecuting Attorney, James E. Way; Recorder, Lewis PFAADT; Sheriff, G. E. ALLINGER; Surveyor, Charles Counts; Treasurer, William M. KINGSEED. City officers, 1888: Mayor, M. C. HALE; Clerk, John W. KNOX; Treasurer, Samuel McCULLOUGH; Solicitor, James E. WAY; Surveyor, W. A. GINN; Marshal, W. H. FRISTO. Newspapers: Journal, Republican, TREGO & BINKLEY, editors and publishers; Shelby County Democrat, James O. AMOS (adjutant-general of Ohio 1874-6), editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Baptist, 1 Colored Baptist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 German Lutheran, l Methodist Episcopal, 1 Colored Methodist Episcopal, 1 Catholic, 1 United Presbyterian, 1 Christian, 1 German Methodist: Banks: Citizens’, J. A. LAMB, president, W. A. GRAHAM, cashier; German-American, Hugh THOMPSON, president, John H. WAGNER, cashier.

 

Manufactures and Employees.—J. Dann, wheels, spokes, etc., 3 hands; John Loughlin., school furniture, 147; Slusser & McLean Scraper Co., road scrapers, 18; Sidney Manufacturing Co., stoves, etc., 36; Philip Smith, corn shellers, etc., 31; Wyman Spoke Co., spokes and bent wood, 20; J. M. Blue & Nutt, lumber, 6; R. Given & Son, leather, 10; B. W. Maxwell & Son, flour, etc., 4; Ander­son, Frazier & Co., carriage wheels, 80; James O. Amos, weekly paper, 10; Valley City Milling Co., corn meal, 6; J. S. Crozier & Son, carriages, 7; J. M. Seitter & W. H. C. Monroe, builders’ wood work, 32; Goode & Kilborn, road scrapers, 23; Sidney Steel Scraper Co., road scrapers, 22; J. F. Black, builders’ wood work, 10; McKinnie & Richardson, brooms, 10.—State Report, 1887.

 

 

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Top Picture

Drawn by Henry Howe.1846.

PUBLIC SQUARE, SIDNEY.

 

Bottom Picture

E. P. Robinson, Photo., 1887

PUBLIC SQUARE, SIDNEY.

 

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superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $616,150. Value of annual product, $1,216,100.—Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887.

 

Census, 1890, 4,850.

 

The engraving given shows on the right the court-house, and in the distance the MONUMENTAL BUILDING, a very beautiful memorial to the fallen soldiers of the civil war. The corner-stone was laid June 24, 1875. On the second floor is the Library Hall, containing the public library, and where are preserved military relics, and on marble tablets inscribed the names of the departed heroes. On the third floor is the opera hall and town hall. The entire building is dedicated to public uses, and is a credit to the public spirit of the citizens, who, in the very starting of their pleasant little city, began to mark time in the name of a hero.

 

The early Indian history of this region makes it an especially interesting point. About a mile south of the Shelby county line as early as 1749 was a trading house, called by the English PICKAWILLANY, which was attacked and destroyed by the French and Indians in June of 1752. This trading post has been regarded as the first point of English occupation in what is now Ohio, inasmuch as it was a great place of gathering of English traders. Its exact location was “on the northwest side of the Great Miami, just below the mouth of what is now Loramie creek, in Johnston prairie,” or as at present named, in Washington township, Miami county, and about nine miles southwest of Sidney.

 

“There was,” writes Butterfield, “a tribe of Miamis known to the French as ‘Picqualinees,’ which word was changed by the English to Pickawillanies, and as these (many of them) had settled here, it was called as above ‘Pickawillany,’ or simply ‘Picks-town,’ sometimes ‘Pictstown;’ the inhabitants as well as the tribe being known as ‘Picts.’ These ‘Pickqualines’ were the Miami proper.”

 

DE BIENVILLE’S VISIT TO PICKAWILLANY IN 1749.

 

In the year 1749 when CÉLORON DE BIENVILLE was sent by the Governor General of Canada with a force of about 235 soldiers and Indians (see Scioto county) down the Ohio and took possession of the country in the name of the King of France, he visited Pickawillany on his return home. Their farthest point west on the Ohio was the mouth of the Great Miami, as later called by the English, but then known to the French as Rivière à la Roche” (Rock River) This was on the last day of August, 1749. There, as at other mouths of great rivers, they buried inscribed leaden plates as evidence of possession, and then bade farewell to the Ohio. On their return route they crossed the country for, Canada. This plate was the last buried at what is now in the exact Southwestern angle of Ohio. One other only had been planted in Ohio and at the mouth of the Muskingum.

 

For thirteen days after leaving the mouth of the Miami Céloron and his party toiled against the current of that stream until they reached Pickawillany, which villages had been lately built by a Miami chief called by the English “OLD BRITAIN” and by the French “Demoiselle.” This chief and his band had only a short time before come into the country from the French possessions in Canada. This Céloron knew of and he was instructed before starting on his expedition to try and induce him to return as they feared his coming under English influence. The concluding history of the matter is thus told by Consul Willshire Butterfield in the Magazine of Western History for May, 1887, article “Ohio History.”

 

 

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They afterward sent the following to all the governors of English provinces over the mountains:

 

“Last July (September, 1749), about 200 French and thirty-five French Indiana came to the Miami village in order to persuade them to return back to the French settlements (Forts) whence they came, or if fair means would not prevail, they were to take them away by force, but the French finding that they were resolved to adhere to the English, and perceiving their numbers to be great, were discouraged from using any hostile measures, and began to be afraid lest they should themselves be cut off. The French brought them a present consisting of four half-barrels of powder, four bags of bullets, and four bags of paint, with a few needles and a little thread which they refused to accept of; whereupon the French and their Indians made the beat of their way off for fear of the worst, leaving their goods scattered about. But, at the time of their conference, the French upbraided the Indians for joining the English, and more so for continuing in their interest, who had never sent them any presents nor even any token of their regards for them.”

 

Céloron’s account of the reception of his presents differs from the Indians.” I showed them magnificent presents on part of Monsieur the general to induce them to return to their villages, and I explained to them his invitations,” says the French commander, and adds that they carried away the presents,” where they assembled to deliberate on their answer.” This was probably the truth.

 

The French commander found at the Demoiselle’s town two hired men belong­ing to the English traders, and these he obliged to leave the place before he would speak to the savages.

 

Céloron, after remaining at this Miami village a week to recruit and prepare for the portage to the waters of the Maumee, broke up his camp, and, having burned his battered canoes and obtained some ponies, he set out on his overland journey to the junction of the St. Mary’s and St. Joseph rivers, the site of the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The distance was estimated by him at fifty leagues, or 120 miles, and five and a half days were allowed for the journey. Had the water in the rivers been high, Céloron could have paddled up Loramie creek sixteen miles, then a short portage would have taken them to the waters of the St. Mary’s, down which he could have floated to the head of the Maumee; but in August or September this was impracticable. He reached the French post at that point on the 25th of September, where he found “M. de Raimond” in command. The latter and his men were shivering with ague—a disease, it may be said, still clinging to the region of the Maumee.

 

On the 26th day, the day after his arrival at the French post, Céloron had a conference with COLD FOOT, chief of the Miamis, who resided near the fort, and some other savages of note, when he rehearsed to them in the presence of the French officers of his detachment and of M. de Raimond, what he had said at the village of the Demoiselle and the answer he had received. Thereupon Cold Foot said: “I hope I am deceived, but I am sufficiently attached to the interests of the French to say that the Demoiselle is a liar !” And he added significantly: “It is the source of all my grief to be the only one who loves you, and to see all the nations of the south let loose against the French.” From the French fort Céloron made his way by water to Montreal, which he reached on the 10th of November.

 

Céloron’s conclusions as to the state of affairs upon the Ohio are too important not to be mentioned in this connection. “All I can say is,” he declared, “that the nations of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French, and are entirely devoted to the English. I do not know in what way they could be brought back.”  “ If our traders,” he added, “were sent there for traffic, they could not sell their merchandise at the same price that the English sell theirs, on account of the many expenses they would be obliged to incur.” Trade then-traffic with the Indians—was the secret spring stimulating activity on part of the French officials

 

CHRISTOPHER GIST’S VISIT TO PICKAWILLANY IN 1751.

 

 

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the inclosure the traders dug a well which supplied abundance of fresh water during the entire year, except in summer. At this time Pickawillany contained 400 Indian families and was the residence of the principal chief of the Miami Confederacy.

 

Christopher Gist was there in February, 1751, and in his published journal says the place was daily increasing and accounted ‘one of the strongest towns on this continent.’ Gist was the agent of the ‘Ohio Company,’ an association of English merchants and Virginia planters. He had been given a royal grant to examine the western country “as far as the falls of the Ohio,” to mark the passes in the mountains, trace the course of rivers and observe the strength and numbers of the Indian nations.

 

Gist was a hardy frontierman, experienced and sagacious. On the 31st of October, 1750, he left Old Town, on the Potomac, in Maryland, and crossing the Alleganies, on the 14th December, arrived at an Indian village at the forks of the Muskingum, where now stands the town of Coshocton. Here he met George Croghan, an English trader, who had there his head quarters. He remained until January 15th, 1751, and then being joined by Croghan and Andrew Montour, a half-breed of the Seneca, pursued his journey west, visiting Indian villages and holding conferences, first going down the Scioto to the mouth, and finally reaching Pickawillany in February. This was his principal objective point. He remained some time holding conference with the great chief of the Miamis, the “OLD BRITAIN” as aforesaid.

 

While there four Ottawa or French Indians came in and were kindly received by the town Indians. They tried to bring the Miamis to the French interest, having been sent as ambassadors for that purpose. After listening in the council house to their speeches Old Britain replied in a set speech, signifying his attachment to the English, and that “they would die here before they would go to the French.” The four messengers therefore departed and the French flag was taken down from the council house. After a full deliberation an alliance was formed with the Miamis and the Weas and Piankeshaws, living on the Wabash, who had sent messengers for that purpose. Old Britain himself. the head chief of the Miamis, was a Piankeshaw.

 

DESTRUCTION OF PICKAWILLANY BY THE FRENCH AND INDIANS IN 1752.

 

Pickawillany, after the visit of Gist, soon became a place of great importance. The savages by immigration from tribes farther west had continued to swell the population and all were in open hostility to the French. Here congregated English traders, sometimes to the number of fifty or more. In 1752 an expedition, consisting of 250 Chippewas and Ottawas was started from Michilimackinac by Charles LANGDALE, a resident there, to destroy the place. They proceeded in their canoes down the lake to Detroit, paused there a little while and thence made their way up the Manmee to its head waters, and at about nine o’clock, June 21st, they reached the town, taking it completely by surprise. Butterfield writes:

 

 

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that if they would deliver up the traders that were in the fort they would break up the siege and go home. Upon consultation it was agreed by the besieged that, as there were so few men and no water inside the stockade, it would be better to surrender the white men with a pledge that they were not to be hurt, than for the fort to be taken and all to be at the mercy of the besiegers. The traders, except Thomas Burney and. Andrew McBryer, whom the Indians hid, were accordingly given into the hands of the enemy. One who had been wounded was stabbed to death and then scalped. Before getting into the fort fourteen Indians were shot, including OLD BRITAIN, one Mingo, and one of the Shawanese nation.

 

The savages boiled and ate the Demoiselle (Old Britain) as he, of all others, because of his warm attachment to the English, was most obnoxious to them. They also ate the heart of the dead white man. They released all the women they had captured, and setoff with their plunder, which was in value about £3,000.

 

“The captured traders, plundered to the akin, were carried by Langdale to Duquesne, the new governor of Canada, who highly praised the bold leader of the enterprise, and recommended him for such reward as befitted one of his station. ‘As he is not in the king’s service, and has married  a squaw, I will ask for him only a pension of 200 francs, which will flatter him infinitely.’ “

 

The sacking of Pickawillany and the killing of fourteen Indians and one Englishman by the allies of the French who had been marshalled for the express purpose of attacking the town, must be considered the real beginning of the war, popularly known as Braddock’s war, which only ended by the cession of Canada and New France to Great Britain by the treaty of Paris in 1763.

 

Thus after nearly four years of existence Pickawillany was completely wiped out and never again re-occupied. The traders, Thomas Brunrey and Andrew McBryer, whom the Indians had hidden went east and carried the tidings to the friendly Indians at the mouth of the Scioto. Burney went direct from there to Carlisle with a message to the Governor of Pennsylvania from the Miamis and also to Governor Dinwiddie in Virginia. He laid before Dinwiddie a belt of wampum, a scalp of one of the Indians that adhered to the French, a calumet pipe and two letters “of an odd style,” wrote Dinwiddie. Thus wrote the Miamis to him:

 

ELDER BROTHER! This string of wampum assures you that the French King’s servants have spilled our blood and eaten the flesh of three of our men. Look upon us and pity us for we are in great distress. Our chiefs have taken up the hatchet of war. We have killed and eaten ten of the French and two of their negroes. We are your BROTHERS.

 

The message to the Governor of Pennsylvania was more in detail, as given by Butterfield :

 

“We, your brothers, the Miamis, have sent you by our brother, Thomas Burney, a scalp and five strings of wampum in token of our late unhappy affair at Pickawillany; and, whereas, our brother [the governor] has always been kind to us, we hope he will now put to us a method to act against the French, being more discouraged for the loss of our brothers, the Englishmen who were killed, and the five who were taken prisoners than for the loss of ourselves; and, notwithstanding, the two belts of wampum which were sent from the Governor of Canada as a commission to destroy us, we shall still hold our integrity with our brothers and are willing to die for them. . . .

 

We saw our great PIANKESHAW KING [who was commonly called OLD BRITAIN by us] taken, killed and eaten within a hundred yards of the fort, before our faces. We now look upon ourselves as a lost people, fearing our brothers will leave us; but before we will be subject to the French, or call them our fathers, we will perish here.

 

VOCABULARIES OF THE SHAWANOESE AND WYANDOTT LANGUAGES, ETC.

 

[ The following article was communicated for our first edition BY the venerable Col. John Johnston, of Upper Piqua, Ohio, who, for about half a century, had been an agent of the United States over the Indians of the West. See page 519, Vol. II.

 

 

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had been reduced to the number of 800; none had emigrated—all that was left were the subjects of my negotiation. I had been their agent a great part of my life; and after being separated from them for 11 years by the power of the Executive, it fell to my lot, under the appointment of my honored and lamented friend and chief, President Harrison, to sign and seal the compact with their chiefs for their final removal from their cherished homes and graves of their ancestors, to which, of all their race I had ever known, they were the most tenderly attached, to the country southwest of Missouri.

 

The Shawanoese came into Ohio not long anterior to Braddock’s campaign of 1754. They occupied the country contiguous to the Wyandotts, on the Scioto, Mad river, the Great Miami, and the upper waters of the Maumee of the lake, being in the light of tenants at will under the Wyandotts. They were their devoted friends and allies in all their wars with the white people—these two tribes having been the last of the natives who have left us, for there is not an Indian now in Ohio, nor an acre owned by one of their race within its limits.

 

I have thought that a specimen of the respective languages of these tribes might form a proper item in the history of a state so lately owned and occupied by the primitive inhabitants. The vocabulary, as far as it goes, is accurate, and may be relied upon. The reader will at once observe the great dissimilarity in the two languages, not one word in the whole being common to both. In all their large councils, composed of both tribes, interpreters were as necessary between the parties as it was between the Indians and the United States officers. Not so with the Shawanoese, Delawares, Miamies, Putawatimies, Chippeways, Ottawas, Wee,as, Kickapoos and Piankeshawas—all of whom had many words in common, and clearly establishing a common origin. Almost all the tribes I have known, had tradition that their forefathers, at some remote period, came from the west; and this would seem to strengthen the commonly received opinion of Asiatic descent. Many of the Indian customs, even at this day, are strictly Jewish: instance the purification of their women, the year of Jubilee, the purchase of wives, etc.

 

All the Indians have some sort of religion, and allege that it was given to their forefathers, and that it would be offensive to the Great Spirit to throw it away and take up with any other. They all believe that after this life is ended, they will exist in another state of being; but most of their sacrifices and Petitions to their Maker are done with a view to the procuring of temporal benefits, and not for the health of the immortal part.

 

Death has no terrors to an Indian; he meets it like a stoic. The fate of the soul does not appear to give him the smallest uneasiness. I have seen many die, and some in full confidence of a happy immortality; such were not taught of the Christian missionaries. In innumerable instances I have confided my life and property to Indians, and never, in time of peace, was my confidence misplaced. I was, on one occasion, upwards of a week, in a time of high waters, alone, in the month of March, with a Delaware Indian in the woods, whom I ascertained afterwards to be a notorious murderer and robber; and having every thing about my person to tempt a man of his kind—a good horse, equipments, arms, clothing, etc.—and yet no one could be more provident, kind and tender over me than he was. When the chiefs heard that I had taken this otherwise bad man for a guide, they were alarmed until informed of my safety. I have had large sums of public money, and public dispatches of the greatest importance, conveyed by the Indians, without in any case suffering loss.

 

 

 

SPECIMEN OF THE WYANDOTT, OR HURON LANGUAGE.

 

 

 

NAMES OF RIVERS BY THE SHAWANOESE—SPOKEN SHA,WA,NO

 

   Ohio, i. e. Eagle river.

   Ken,a,wa—meaning having whirlpools, or swallowing up.  Some have it that an evil spirit lived in the water, which drew substance to the bottom of the river.

   Sci,o,to was named by the Wyandotts, who formerly resided upon it.  A large town was at Columbus, having their cornfields on the bottom grounds opposite that city.  The Wyandotts pronounce the word Sci,on,to, to signification unknown.

   Great Miami—Shi,me,a,mee,sepe, or Big Miamie.

   Little Miamie—Che,ke,me,a,mee,sepe, or Little Miamie.

   Mus,king,um is a Delaware word, and means a town on the river side.  The Shawanoese call it Wa,ka,ta,mo,sepe, which has the same signification.

 

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      Hock,hock,ing is Delaware, and means a bottle.  The Shawanoese have it Weas,tha,kagh, qua,sepe—Bottle River.

    Auglaize river—Cow,the,an,ke,sepe, or falling timber river.

     Saint Mary’s River—Ca,ko,the,ke,sepe, or kettle river—cako,the,ke, a kettle.

     Miami of the lake—Ot,tawa,sepe, or Ottawa river.  The Ottawas had several towns on is river as late as 1811, and down to within 10 years.  They occupied the country about the lake shore, Maumee bay and the rapids above Perrysburgh.

     Blanchard’s fork of the Auglaize—She,po,qua,te,sepe, or Tailor’s River

     Sandusky river—alled by the Shawanoese Po,ta,ke,sepe, a rapid river.

     Detroit strait, or river—Ke,ca,me,ge, the narrow passage or strait.

     Kentucky is Shawanoese word, and signifies at the head of a river.

     Licking river, which enters the Ohio opposite the city of Cincinnati—the Shawanoese have it, Ne,pe,pim,me,sepe, from Ne,pe,pim,me, salt, the sepe, river, i.e. salt river.

     Mad river—by the Shawanoese, Athe,nesepe,athe,ne, or flat or smooth stone, and sepe, river,  i. e. a flat or smooth stone.

   

A GERMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY.

 

The village of BERLIN, P. O. Loramies, has about 500 inhabitants. It is in the township of McLean, fourteen miles northwest of Sidney. It was laid out on December 2d, 1837, by Jonathan COUNTS for William PRILLMAN, proprietor, on the line of the Miami Canal. It has in the St. Michael’s Church, consecrated in 1881, one of the most beautiful of churches. It is in the Italian Gothic style and is richly decorated with paintings, statuary, frescoed walls, altars, etc. Historically the site is interesting, being on the line of Loramies Creek, or the “West branch of the Big Miami” of ancient maps. The site of old fort Loramie is within a mile of it. Several relics have been discovered in this locality, and among them a silver cross evidently belonging to the French chevaliers of that early and warlike period. This relic is preserved by the priest at Berlin, Rev. Wm. BIGOT.

 

Sutton’s County History gives the following description of the community which is valuable, as it illustrates the characteristics of the Catholic Germans, whose industry and thrift has so largely helped to develop the wilderness of Northwestern Ohio. After stating that the people of the village and township are almost exclusively Germans or direct descendants of this nationality, the work says:

 

A marked characteristic of the people is the industry observable on every hand. This German element came here into the woods, and by hard incessant toil cleared away the primeval forest, wringing farms from the wilderness and building a town on the ruins of a forest. In common with the people of the township the inhabitants are almost uniformly Catholics in religion and Democrat in politics. There were peculiarities which brought about these results, among which we mention as one factor the authority of Rev. Mr. BIGOT. After settlement here the Germans strove to prevent the settlement of Americans in their midst, and by different methods very nearly succeeded. Still a few straggling Americans settled on lands within the township, but each soon found it desirable to leave, and so was bought out as early as he would sell, and was generally succeeded by a German. This at least was the plan of the German settlers themselves, and keeping the plan in view, they have preserved the characteristics of nationality, religion and politics up to the present.

 

Throughout the town and township the German characteristics are preserved to such an extent that a stranger would quest-ion his senses as to the possibility of a community, no larger than this, maintaining the integrity of all German habits, customs and manners. They have cleared excellent farms, erected substantial buildings, and in their own way and according to their own ideas, pursue the enjoyments of life. Perhaps their church comes first, and the building is almost fit for the abode of personal gods. Next come social customs, and fronting these is lager beer, without which it appears life would be a burden, and liberty a misnomer. Following this comes politics, in which field some one man will be found to hold an electoral dictatorship, and on election day Democratic ballots will be found thick “thick as autumnal leaves in Vallombrosa.” There are, in short, characteristics here which the next generation will not entirely outgrow nor outrun.

 

 

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humanity. In the Franco-Prussian war he was given the pastorate over 12,000 captured and wounded French soldiers who were within the enemies’ lines. He thus passed eleven months of arduous labor, enduring many privations and relieving suffering. For his services the French Government conferred upon him the “Cross of Chivalry of the Legion of Honor and the Cross of Merit.” His portrait in the County History appears as that of a young man rendered strikingly refined and sweet from the indwelling of a pure and benevolent spirit.

 

THE LORAMIE PORTAGE AND RESERVOIR.

 

The topography of this part of the county is interesting from the fact that it is the highest land between Lake Erie and the Ohio, and here within a few miles of each other the head streams of the Miami and the Maumee take their rise. For untold centuries it was the main route of travel between the two, the savage dwellers going in their canoes all the way excepting a few miles by portage. This portage in very high water was reduced to only six miles. Wayne's army made Fort Piqua, just below the mouth of the Loramie Creek, their place of deposit for stores. Their portage from these to Fort Loramie was fourteen miles, thence to St. Mary's twelve miles. Loaded boats sometimes ascended to Loramie, the loading frequently taken out and hauled to St. Mary’s. The boats also moved across on wheels, were again loaded and launched for Fort Wayne, Defiance and the Lake! The Loramie Reservoir is on the line of the Loramie Creek. It is seven miles long, two and a-half wide in the lower part, and contains 1,800 acres, and abounds in fish and fowl.

 

ANNA is 7 miles north of Sidney on the D. & M. R. R. It was laid out in 1858 by J. W. CAREY, and named from his daughter, Mrs. Anna THIRKIELD. Newspapers: Times, Independent, A. S. LONG, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Lutheran. Population, 1880, 266.          School census, 1888, 162. Capital invested in manufacturing establishments, $23,000. Value of annual product, $33,000.—Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.

 

LOCKINGTON is 6 miles southwest of Sidney on the Miami and Erie Canal. It has churches, 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 United Baptist. Population, 1880, 219. School census, 1888, 80.

 

PORT JEFFERSON is 5 miles northeast of Sidney on the Great Miami River. Population, 1880, 421. School census, 1888, 168.

 

HARDIN 18 5 miles west of Sidney on the C. C. C. & I. R. R. School census. 1886, 64.