Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-06-04
History of Ashtabula Township.
Written IN 1856-.trom tic Times.
by the Late Rev. JOHN HALL.
Continued ae5t 1reek1

(C0lIthued NeIt Uec6.l
The Ashtabula winds its devious way
from its sources in the border of Penusyl-
vana, in Richmond, Pierpont and Mon
roe, through the South and North Rid
ges, to Lake Erie, aud exhibits along its
banks bold and sublime natural scenery,
and those specimens of ancient art, i'll
which we read all that we can learn of
the people who constructed them. Their
W rks demonstrate that they were far
advanced in civilization beyond the saw
age tribes found by the Europeans and
their descendants, scattered over the
wild country from the shore of the At
lantic to that of the Pacific, during the
time which has elapsed since our ances-
tors landed in North America, to the
present day. They may have been por-
tion of the same race whom the Spanl-
ards found SO advanced in civilization III
Mexico, in Peru, and other parts of South
America. They may have been exter-
minated 0y the ancestors of our present
Indians in North America.
America was, and is still, called new
world, because new to Europeans when
discovered by Columbus and succeeding
European navigators, from 1892 to 1920,
and onward. 1t must have been an old
world at the time of their earliest discov-
cries. We are informed in Holy Scrip
ture and other corroborating historical
records of ancient date, that the other
parts of the world were peopled from
Asia. We know not that America was
far behind Europe. In the commence
ofh h., ,nln bnn l.
ern Asia across Behring's Strait, perhaps,
she may have been as early as was Eur
ope in the commencement of hers from
other parts of Asia.
The remains of fortiGcations and other
works of ancient art spread over this
great continent from sea to sea, from
ocean to ocean, of which Ashtabula fur
nishes these and other comparatively
small specimens, demonstrate that "long,
long ago" this country was inhabited by
civilized men long since extinct and for
gotten. All other facts of their history
lie buried in the darkness of conjecture
inscrutable to the wisest of living men
Thus whole great nation, perhaps
many such, are swept away, by the in
satia,e destroyer of the human race, into
Oblivion, atfording a striking example o
the execution of Gods decree ia reierenc'
to the fate of SHINING man. 'Dust thoI
art, and unto dust shalt thou return"
sERPENTs.
The region of country comprising thu
lake townships, and including Ashtabu
la, was in its early settlement, much in
Tested with snakes, from the smales
1 81 1s Of l1l lag.I
snakes and rattlesnakes. All sorts o
these snakes, with even frogs and toad
for companions would crawl into den
in the rocky banks-of streams and IA
vines, and lie torpid during winter
When resuscitated by the warm air c
Spring, they came out and spread then
selves over the country. We often toun
them in the grass and grain in harves
time, and under logs which we drew fror
over them in clearing our new land.
> The large yellow rattlesnake's bite wa
! fatally poisonous to persons who coul
, not scasonably apply the remedies. No
were they when applied always success
: ful preyentatives of death.
There was also another species of smal
Ter brown snakes, equally poisonous
called the Massasauga. This snake wa
found in the marshes, and would som'
times bite and kill persons gatherin!
cranberries.
The black snakes were long and large
and of two species. The slow blac
snake would crawl up and fasten himse
on the sunny side of trees and log builC
J ings. He made no haste in escaping h
T pursuers, and was harmless. There wa
1 longer black snake, quite swift, like tn
a eastern Racers, but not, | think, addicted
!. like him, to winding round the bodies {
!, children and mp to their necks, and chol
. ing them to death. have known n
. harm done by this snake. The poisol
Gus Coppsrhead was seldom seen.