Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/254

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��varied its monotony and made it lighter by as- sembling together and getting through with a large amount of it at one time, at the same time enjoying the social advantages thus of- fered.

A moonlight night was selected for the corn- huskings. Sometimes the corn was husked as it stood in the field, and large fields were thus cleared of corn in a single evening. At other times, the owner of the corn field would go through it a day or two before the husking was to take place, jerk the ears from the stalk, and haul them to some dry place in the meadow, where they were piled in a huge circle. About this circle, on the outside, the men would gather in the evening, and, amid the rattle of husks, and the general hilarity, the yellow ears would flow toward the center of the circle in a con- tinual stream, while the buskers buried them- selves deeper and deeper in the husks, until after a time they emerged and stood upon the inner line of the circle, with a great pile of corn in front and a pile of husks in the rear.

Occasionall}" the corn was, as nearly as pos- sible, equally divided into two heaps ; captains or leaders were chosen b}- the men, who, choos- ing their men, arranged themselves in opposi- tion. P^ach of the opposing captains endeav- ored to finish his pile first, the bottle being passed frequently, each one helping himself to as much of . the contents as he desired. The successful captain was elevated upon the shoul- ders of his men, amid prolonged cheers, and carried around the pile. Sometimes the beaten party were aggravated until knock-downs en- sued, after which they would repair to the house of the host and partake of the good things prepared for the occasion.

A good deal of ingenuity was exhibited among the early settlers in making traps to secure the wild animals of the forest. At one time it seemed utterly impossible for the pioneers to raise sheep or hogs, on account of the depredations of wolves and bears : the latter

��invariabl}- preferred pork to mutton, but the wolves always attacked the sheep in preference. The State offered $6 each for wolf scalps ; this and other considerations stimulated the settlers in the work of capturing and destroying them. Many of the young men devoted their time al- most exclusively to this business. For the pur- pose of trapping them, a '• wolf-pen " was " con- structed of small logs, six feet long, four feet wide and three feet high. It was formed like a large box, with a puncheon floor. The lid was made of heavy puncheons, and was moved b}' an axle at one end, made of a small round stick. • This trap was set b}' sticks placed in the shape of a figure 4, and baited with any kind of meat, except wolf meat, the animal pre- ferring an}' other to his own. Upon gnawing the meat the lid fell, inclosing the unwary na- tive for the benefit of the trapper."

The continual and common use of whisky among the pioneers, received its first check in Richland County, on the 29th of March, 1828, at which time the first temperance society was organized, at the house of Samuel Smith, in Monroe Township, near the east line of Wash- ington. This society was entirely indigenous to the soil of old Richland, none of its mem- bers having had any previous knowledge of such an organization. On this occasion, Thomas Smith was called to the chair, and Samuel Ritchey appointed Secretary. Thomas Smith, Alexander McBride and Samuel Smith were appointed a committee, and presented the fol- lowing as a basis of action :

Where'fS, The common use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is injurious to the health of the consumer, and ruinous to the morals of the community,

Resolved, That we form ourselves into a society to be known by the name of the Washington and Monroe Temperance Society, and that we adopt the following pledge for our guide:

We, whose names are hereunto attached, do pledge ourselves to dispense with the common use of ardent spirits in our families, and at our gatherings and frolics ; and, as far as our influence extends, use all laudable means to discourage the use of it in others.

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