The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1867-03-14

| Spring, and in 1903 built the first wnter-mill
in the township. It was asmall affair, and
stood p miles northwest of S. Spring on
the East Fork Of Brushcreek, where Bobb's
mill now stands. Henry Countryman,
sen. was a soldier Of the Revolution, and
his son Martin was in the war of'l2.
Rev. Benz. Vanpelt was a Methodist min
lister, and was the first preacher in the re-
gion about S. Spring. Money was very
scarce in BrushcreeS in those days, and
the principal "cuTency" was peltry, grind
stones and ginseng.
Leaving the southeastern portion Of the
county, we now turn to the northwestern,
whore we find that the first settlement in
what is now Union township, was made in
the same year, (lsO2) by man named
Adams. Of him Mr.. Scott says:
"He built a curious kind Of cabin on
| Turtle Creek, on land afterwards owned
! by Robert Mcdaniel. The cabin had five
corners, one of which was appropriated as
a fireplace. 1t is not known where Adams
came from, nor where he went when he
left, which was within a year or two after
he built his cabin. He was a sort Of non.
ldescript, possessed of little or no property,
and apparently caring for none. Unsocinl
and solitary in his habits, he made the ac-
Iquaintance Of few or none of the scattering
settlers then in the county, and depended
almost exclusively for subsistence on hunt
ing. 1t is quite probable he dislkbd the
rapid encroachments of the settlers on his
hunting grounds, and growing discomfort
ed and sullly, determined to move further
west. At any rate he packed his wife and
two or three white-heuded children on a
bit Of an Indian pony, and shouldering his
rifle struck out into the painless woods,
and was no more heard of in that region
Of country"
The following is graphic, spirited and
no doubt in the main accurate description
of many ofthe first white men who lnhab-
tied the Western country-the Pioneers, -
properly so called, who cleared the way
for the more steady and permanent class
of settlers who followed in their footsteps,
and by their patient industry and toll,
"made the WILDERNESS to blossom as the
rose" Mr. Scott says;
"Thore were two classes Of persons who.
in the early days of the Northwest, formed
the vanguard Of advancing civilization,
both of whom disappeared at its approach.
The first was the regular Indian lighter
the spy, trapper and hunter, who scOrned
any labor less noble than that which
brought for reward the delicious meat OF
the buffalo and bear, and the rich ppllries
of the beaver and martin. They despised
the efeminacy that erected a house for
shelter and required bread for subsistence.
No sound Of the axe, therefore, aCcOmpan-
led their wide and fearless range through
the forest; and no trace Of improvements
agrl-f 11a T1..,s..
"The second partoOk somewhat of the
nature Of tho FIRST. Indian fighters they
were of necessity, if not as was most com
monty the case with them, from choice
Hunters they were compelled to he, or sub
lsist without meat; but they at the same
time appreciated the value of bread, and
the comforts of Il cabin with a wife in it,
Small clearings surrounded by pole and
brush fences, with the little cabin in the
midst, evidenced the presence of this class
Of pioneers on the extreme frontier. They
rarely, however purchased the lands on
which they settled, or remained long
enough to become the tenants of the real
owners. Restless and rowing in their ma
lures, they soon pulled up and again sought
their appropriate end peculiar sphere on
the blending ground of civilization and
barbarism, where they could but family
hear
"fhe tread Of Pionocrs-or nations yet to ts;
The first low wash Of waves whore soon shall roll :
human sea-"
"To this class belonged Adams. and
many others Of whom the world knows
nothing, save a vague tradition that they
made settlements at a day so early that
the recollection of it has dimmed into q
twilight scarcely one remove from total
darkness. But their cabins and little
fields remained, and persons yet live who
4 have seen them, and noted the places
which have long since yielded up theil
first marks by the hand of man, and been
forced to assume new features and form
under the successive waves of culture and
refinement which more than halrH century
has rolled over them"
POVERTY OF THE DAVIS FANJTLy.-Thc