Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/123

 HISTOKY OF OHIO.

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��ter. The runner, or upper, was turned by hand, by a pole set in the top of it, near the outer edge. The upper end of the pole was inserted into a hole in a board fastened above to the joists, immedi- ately over the hole in the verge of the runner. One person fed the corn into the eye — a hole in the center of the runner — while another turned. It was very hard work to grind, and the operators alternately exchanged places."

In 1800, several settlers came to the town and a more active life was the result. From this time, Cleveland began to progress. The 4th of July, 1801, the first ball in town was held at Major Carter's log cabin, on the hill-side. John and Benjamin Wood, and R. H. Blinn were managers; and Maj. Samuel Jones, musician and master of ceremonies. The company numbered about thirty, very evenly divided, for the times, between the !?exes. " Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough p\jncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven their spirits than sweetened whisky, yet it is doubt- ful if the anniversary of American independence was ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyful and harmonious company than those who danced the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing and half-moon, that day, in Maj. Carter's cabin." The growth of the town, from this period on, re- mained prosperous. The usual visits of the Indi- ans were made, ending in their drunken carousals and fights. Deer and other wild animals furnished abundant meat. The settlement was constantly augmented by new arrivals, so that, by 1814, Cleve- land was incorporated as a town, and, in 1836, as a city. Its harbor is one of the best on the lakes, and hence the merchandise of the lakes has always been attracted thither. Like Cincinnati and Chil- licothe, it became the nucleus of settlements in this part of the State, and now is the largest city in Northern Ohio.

One of the earliest settlements made in the Western Reserve, and by some claimed as the first therein, was made on the site of Youngstown, Ma- honing County, by a Mr. Young, afterward a Judge, in the summer of 1796. During this summer, before the settlements at Cuyahoga and Conneaut were made, Mr. Young and Mr. Wilcott, proprie- tors of a township of land in Northeastern Ohio, came to their possessions and began the survey of their land. Just when they came is not known. They were found here by Col. James Hillman, then a trader in the employ of Duncan & Wilson, of Pittsburgh, " who had been forwarding goods across the country by pack-saddle horses since

��1786, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, thence to be shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit. Col. Hillman generally had charge of all these caravans, consisting sometimes of ninety horses and ten men. They commonly crossed the Big Beaver four miles below the mouth of the She- nango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning — called by the Indians " 3Iahoni" or " Mahonicky signifying the " lick" or " at the lick " — crossing it about three miles below the site of Youngstown, thence by way of the Salt Springs, over the sites of Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at the mouth of Breakneck and again at the mouth of Tinker's Creek, thence down the river to its mouth, where they had a log hut in which to store their goods. This hut was there when the surveyors came, but at the time unoccupied. At the mouth of Tinker's Creek were a few log huts built by Moravian Missionaries. These were used only one year, as the Indians had gone to the Tus- carawas River. These and three or four cabins at the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected by the whites prior to 1796, in Northeastern Ohio. Those at the Salt Springs were built at an early day for the accommodation of whites who came from Western Pennsylvania to make salt. The tenants were dispossessed in 1785 by Gen. Harmar. A short time after, one or two white men were killed by the Indians here. In 1788, Col. Hill- man settled at Beavertown, where Duncan & Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. He went back to Pittsburgh soon after, however, owing to the Indian war, and remained there till its close, continuing in his busi- ness whenever opportunity offiered. 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 town of Youngstown, and on going to the spot found Mr. Young and Mr. Wolcott, as before men- tioned. A part of Col. Hillman 's cargo consisted of whisky, a gallon or so of which he still had. The price of " fire-water " then was $1 per quart in the currency of the country, a deerskin being legal tender for $1, and a doeskin for 50 cents. Mr. Young proposed purchasing a quart, and having a frolic on its contents during the even- ing, and insisted on paying Hillman his cus- tomary price. Hillman urged that inasmuch as they were strangers in the country, civility re- quired him to furnish the means for the entertain- ment. Young, however, insisted, and taking the deerskin used for his bed — the only one he had —

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