Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/568

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��planted one of his ounce balls in some vital part of the animal with such certainty and precision as to bring her down. The}- then carried the cubs home for pets.

The settlers had their full share of patriotism. What the}' did the Fourth of July, and at their military musters, is well worth recording, and will appear in another chapter. This township was especially blessed with a martial band for such occasions, the members of which were Charles and Jesse Bodle}', tenor drummers ; William Dean, bass drummer, and Theason Richardson and Robert Bigler, fifers. The}' had an excellent reputation, and were often in- vited to consideral)le distances on Fourth of July and general training occasions, lured by the promise of dinner and drinks free. The Bodleys were quite prominent among the early settlers. Of these " Uncle William " may be specially noted. He was in his younger days a splendid specimen of a Low-Dutch xVmerican, standing six feet two inches in his stockings, broad-shouldered, bony and muscular, weigh- ing about two hundred pounds, cool and delib- erate, yet quick and active ; and to the day of his death never lost faith in George Washing- ton, his long-barreled gun, buttermilk pop, boiled dinners, knee breeches with silver buckles, plaited cue, his wife Dinah, or the ultimate glory of the American Republic. Neither did Mr. Bodley enjoy alone these good things ; he had many neighl)ors fully his equals in manly proportions and patriotic zeal and fire. Will- iam Bodley, Sr., was at this time an elderly man, but in his younger days had been an In- dian hunter in the 3Iohawk A^alley, New York, and had brought wdth him his long gun, which carried an ounce ])all, and made a louder report, he thought, than any gun in the West, of its size. He was always fond of talking al)out his gun and its w^onderful capacity. He hunted with it in the forests of New York, and it was his boast that it could bring down an Indian at a gi"eater distance than anv rifle, and when he

��sighted a deer or an elk, however great the distance, he was sure of meat for his family.

There were prol)a])ly not more than five hewed-log houses in the township prior to 1820. These were owned by Alexander 3IcBride, Mr. Grrifflth, John Long, Benjamin Wooley and Jacob Vanhouten. Long and Vanhouten had boards, supported by poles, in front of their cabins, upon which was inscribed " Entertain- ment," wdiich meant, in those days, "hog, hom- iny and whisky," which were enjoyed by the weary traveler at a moderate compensation. Whisky was 15 cents per gallon — the pure stuff — and was therefore used about as freely as w^ater. Until 1822, the mails were carried on horseback and on foot, but about this date stages made their appearance, a route having been established from Columbus to Portland (now Sandusky City). These stages followed "Beall's trail " through this part of the country. What a wealth of fact and romance must have been crowded into the lives of those stage- drivers ! The first post office established in that part of the country was about the year 1817, a few miles east of Plymouth Village, on the military road, on Section 4 of what is now Cass Township. It was kept by a jolly old Hollander by the name of Jacol) "V^anhouten, and called "Plymouth." The regular six- horse teams began also to make their appear- ance along the trail, loaded with produce for the lakes. Arriving at the lakfe, they would dis- charge their cargoes and load up with salt, fish, etc., for the return trip.

The first frame house was erected in 1822, on the northwest quarter of Section 18, by Flem- ing Wilson ; and the first brick house in 1823, by James Douglas, on the southwest quarter of Section 35. Mr. Douglas made the lirick him- self, on his own land ; and it is stated that one morning, when the workmen went out on the brickyard to work, the tracks of a panther were plainly impressed on the soft bricks that had been left on the yard the evening before.

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