Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-10-26
r - y7sH 1soq mo sgra I'm emo orl eo5u1o17
HOLMES COUNTY, u, THURSDAY, OCT. 70, .lSIl.

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DAY, OcT. 26,,' 1871. r,i
guet's Expedition in 1764', the ''sec
ond route through the wilderness of
Ohio" which would require him to
traverse "a distance of one hundred
and sixtylsiX miles in a west north
west direction from Fort Duquesne
in order to reach the Black Fork Of
the Mohican. u 2nth} fl712 -'i,' !
This region, although it is now
densely populated, still possesses
romantic beauty that railroads and
bustling towns can not obliterate- = 4
a country of forest-clad hills and
green valleys, through which nu-
merOus bright streams flow on their
way to the Ohio; but when Johnny
Appleseed reached some lonely log
cabin he would find himself in a
veritable wilderness. The old set
tiers say that the margins OF the
streams, near which the first settle
ments were generally made, were
thickly covered with a low, matted
growth of small timber, while near 1
er to the water was rank mass Of
long grass, interlaced with morning
glory and wild pea-vines, among
(which funeral willows and clustering
alders stood like sentlnels on the
outpost of civilization The hiIls,,
that-fise almost to the dignity OF.
mountains, were crowned with for
est trees, and in the coverts were in
numerable bears, wolves, deer, and
tdroves of wild hogs, that were as
feroeieus as any Of prey. In the
grass the Amassasauga and other
venomOus reptiles lurked in such
numbers that settler named Chan
dler has left the fact on record that
during the first season of his resi-
dence, while moving little prairie
which formed part of his land, he
killed over two hundred black rat
tlesnakes in an area that would in
volve an average destruction of one
of these reptiles for each rod of
land. The ,frontiers-man, who felt
himself sufficiently protected by his
rifle afiainst wild beasts and hostile
Indians, found it Unnecessary to guard
against the attacks of the insidious
enemies in the grass by wrapping
bandages of dried grass around his
buckskin deggings and moceasins;
but Johnny would shoulder his bag
of apple seeds, and with bare feet
penetrate to some remote spot that
combined picturesqueness and: fer
Utility of soil, aad there he wonld
plant his seeds, place a slight inclos-
ure around the place, and leave them
to grow until the trees were large
enough to be transplanted by the
settlers, who, in the mean time,
would have made their clearings in
the vicinity. The sites chosen, by
him are, many of them, well known,
and are such as an artist or poet
would select-open places on the
loamy lands that border the creeks
rich, secluded spots, hemmed in
by giant trees, picturesque now, but
fifty years ago, with their wild sur
|roundings and the primal silence,
they must have been tenfold more
SO. -c,i- -r1 o.r'f..t e,ff gl NON .t-ris
In, personal appearance Chapman
was small, wiry man, full of rest
less activity: he had long dark hair,
a scanty beard that was never
shaved and keen black, eyes thai
sparkled with a peculiar brightness.
His dress was Ofthe oldest descrip-r
tion. Generally, even in the coldest
weather, he went barefooted, but
sometimes, for his long journeys,
he would make himself rude pair
of sandals; at other times he would
wear any cast-off foot-covering he
CHANGED to find-a boot on one foot
and an old brogan or a moccasin on
the other. 1t appears to have been
a matter of conscience with him
never to purchase shoes, although
he was rarely without money enough
to do So. On one occasion, in an
unusually cold November, while he
was travelling barefooted through
mud and snow, a settler who hap
pened to possess a pair of shoes
that were too small for his own use
forced their acceptance upon John
ny, declaring that it was sinful for a
human being to travel with naked
feet in such weather. A few days
afterward the donor was in the vii
lage that has since become the thriv.
ing city of Mansfield, and met his
beneficiary contentedly plodding
along with his feet bare and half
frozen. With some degree of anger
he inquired for the cause of such
foolish conduct, and received for
reply that Johnny had overtaken a
poor, barefooted family moving
Westward, and as they appeared to
be in much greater need of clothing
than he was he had given them the
shoes. His dress was generally COM
posed of cast-off clothing, that he
had takenin payment for apple trees;
and as the pioneers were far less ex-
travagant than their descendants in
such matters, the homespun and
buckskin garments that they dis
carded would not be very elegant or
serviceable. In his later years, how
ever, he seems to have thought that
even this kind of second hand raj
ment was too luxurious, as his prin-
cipal garment was made of coffee
sack, in which he cuts holes for his
head and arms to pass through, and
pronounced it "a very serviceable
cloak, and as good clothing as any
man need wear" In the matter of
head gear his taste was equally
unique; his first experiment was
with tin vessel that served to cook
his mush, but this was open to the
objection that it did not protect his
eyes from the beams of the sun; SO
he constructed hat of pasteboard
with immense peak in front, and
having thus secured an article that
combined usefulness. with eco nomy,
it became his permanent fashion. =,
Thus strangely clad, he was per-
petually wandering through forests
and morasses, and suddenly appear
ing in white settlements and Indian
villages; but there must have been
some rare force of gentle goodness