Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/417

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��interest in guarding the morals of the com- munity. All liquor-selling is prohibited, and other nuisances banished, as far as practicable. Not a drunkard is to be seen in the communit3\

No railroad at present touches the township. A tile factor}', near Shenandoah, worked bj' Messrs. Whisler & Starr, is doing a good bus- iness.

Butler Grange was organized in April, 1874. Its officers are : Master, John Kirk ; Overseer, William Garrow ; Steward, J. Richardson ; As- sistant Steward, George Robinson ; Lecturer, Henry Yockey ; Chaplain, R. T. Brokaw ; Sec- retary, D. V. Tucker ; Treasurer, C^-rus Evarts ; Business Agent, G. B. Barnes ; Ceres, Mrs. M. Barnes ; Gatekeeper, D. S. Dancer ; Assistant Steward, Mrs. J. Brokaw ; Flora, Mar}' Kirk ; Pomona, Maggie Anderson ; Gatekeeper, David Dancer.

The Grange owns and occupies a commodious hall in the village of La Fayette. It meets every two weeks, reads essays, collects statistics, discusses agricultural questions of interest, and keeps on hand a small stock of groceries. The Grange is said to be in a prosperous condition.

In the year 1828, a grand union wolf- hunt was organized by the citizens of this and ad- joining townships. There were but few wolves, but there wei*e at that time deer, wild turkeys, and other wild game. A central point was pre- viously marked out in a little " neck of woods," the trees blazed conspicuously all round to form a "dead line."' Marshals were appointed to manage the incoming lines, fill up vacancies,

��and prevent the escape of game through the lines. The "center" w^^ near where the village of La Fayette now stands. The lines were formed about two or three miles back from the center, about 10 o'clock in the morning. Hun- dreds of people were on the lines in waiting, with guns, tin bugles, dogs, pitchforks, butcher- knives, etc. At a given signal, the lines ad- vanced toward the center, every man and boy did his " level best " to make the biggest noise, and, as the advancing columns approached each other, the affrighted game, with heads aloft, would rush from side to side, seeking some avenue of escape. A number of wild turkeys rose on wing and sailed out over the lines in regular turkey triumph.

When the lines had come within sight of each other and the game was seen flying to and fro, the excitement in the crowd was in- describable. The officers lost control of the men, who commenced firing before the proper time. While in range of the opposite lines, one man had the bark of a tree knocked in his face by a passing bullet. In the center was a little knoll that protected opposite parties. A num- ber of deer and turkeys were killed, but no wolves. The writer of these pages partook of a turkey killed by Archibald Owens on that day. After gathering up the wounded and the slain, a grand carnival was held, and, when the hunters separated for their homes, it was, no doubt, with the impression that it was the greatest and the grandest day since the days of Nimrod.

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