Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/235

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��and on to Wooster, and opened as a road. It was the common highway for the pioneers of Orange and Clear Creek Townships, and adja- cent countr}^ who for many years traded in Wooster.

"The evidences of Indian occnpation in Orange Township," ^ays Dr. Hill, -at the time of its occupation by the whites, were very numerous. The aborigines, it seems, were ac- customed to assemble annually in the spring, in large numbers, to make sugar and hunt. They were here as late as 181 G, and were accustomed to get Mr. Peter Biddinger, a gunsmith, to repair their broken gun-locks."

The next range of townships— 17 — now lies partly in Ashland and partly in Richland County, as it now exists. The first township in this range, No. 21 — Worthington — was sur- veyed by Gen. Hedges, after his return from Owl Creek, where he had gone, as has been stated, in search of hands and food. What time in the autumn he surveyed the township is not given on the records in the county, but it is probable he completed all the townships in this range, save the north one, No. 25. l:»efore the close of the year, or before the following spring. It is certain he began Township 23 — Mifflin— October 28, as two of his note-books are yet preserved, and are in the hands of the present County Surveyor, Mr John Newman. This note-l)Ook states, that, after an absence of six days. Gen. Hedges returned from Owl Creek, having procured hands and provisions. This would imply that he surveyed Mifflin be- fore Worthington and Monroe. As no records exist, the exact date of the survey of these two townships cannot now be ascertained. Gen. Hedges continued the survey of Mifflin until December 2, when he completed the township. His field-notes of this township state that the southern boundary passes over steep hills, and crosses the Black Fork, near the center of the line. He also notes the same of part of the eastern boundary. He notes the varieties of

��beech, hickory, ash, oak, etc. He was troubled again with the variations of his compass, which he was at a loss to account for, Init which was probably disturl)ed by metallic ores in the earth. In Section 21, he noted the existence of a small lake — Petersburg Lake — into and out of which he found a stream of clear water flowing.

The next township north, No. 24, compris- ing part of Weller and all of Milton Townships, was surveyed by Gen. Hedges, late in the fall of 1806. The southern boundary was found uneven and hilly ; the land, second rate ; the timber, mostly beech, oak and hickory. The eastern boundary was generally level ; soil good, and the timber the same as in the south, save maple, dogwood and wild cherry are also found. The land of the township is described as " of gentle ascents and descents, some places level, soil good for farming, and. generally, more or less clayey. It has abundance of clear water flowing from never-failing springs." In the neighborhood of the " Short farm " is found one of the strongest springs in the county.

The last township in this range. No. 25, now Clear Creek, in Ashland County, and part of Butler, in Richland County, was not surveyed and subdivided until the next autumn — 1807. The work was performed by Maxfield Ludlow. The land of the township is described in the surveyor's notes as level and second rate in places, and in others as rich and well adapted to farming. On Sections 13 and 24 he found an excellent lake of pure water, which jNIr. Ludlow found to be twenty chains wide from east to west. Several Indian trails are men- tioned, generally leading to Greent(.)wn. or to the main Sandusky trail below.

This township was found to contain more archijeological remains than any in the county. An excellent field is here open for the student of the extinct tribes that once inhabited this region of Ohio. The remains are noted else- where in the chapter on that subject, and need not be repeated here.

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