The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-09-04

. The following extracts are from the
advance sheets Of the work now in pro.
gre>- 10y II. H. Hardesry. hitherto uoli,
eel in tie ,JEEEEE>oSIAE.
Wit. regard 10 H. agricultural c.4pa-
bil.ties, it may be said that those Of Han
cock unity are equal TO the best Of any
county in Northwestern Ohio Many
years ago. when Emery D. Potter was
President Judge of the large Northwest
Judicial Circuit, and when most OF ti.-
surface Of the country was .ubm,r-ed
By "ater at least one-ilaI tile year L.
often predicted that Hancock county
was destined 10 become the richest a-.ri-
cultural county in the State Ii will be
noticed by the census returns given above
ihat forty-four years ago the county
could scarcely be regarded as having Ell
tered upon its career of growth. The
S13 settlers i'll 1880. ami the reinforce
ments TO this small population made du-
ring period of many years afterwards,
I 'NAS ~NcoA'tNNs ~ a AtRt-S- 'At'AA AAAs -. iAAG
game that abounded in the forests the
animals being killed chiefly for their furS
and skins. The early white inha 5itantS
We're as far removed from the habits of
pastoral people as the Indians themselves
To open a farm Of "a given number OF
acres, and prepare it for cultivation, re
quired great labor aud time-in this hea-
vily-timbered region from twelve to fif-
teen years being required to exterminate
the stumps and roots. The hardships
| and discOuragements they endured will
never be known to the existing genera
| ton, for the reason that they cannot be
| adequately described. At first, the small
amount of breadstuffs used were import
ed from the settlements and when, at
length, by severe toll and sacrifice, lit
tle''Opening" had been made i'll the dense
forest sufficient to introduce the suns
rays to the surface of the earth, and thus
coax a little growth of precious corn for
the subsistence of the family, there were
no mills to convert it into use for bread. !
1t will be proper TO remark here that
wheat was not staple crop in pioneer |
times. The flour sometimes made of the |
first grown productions of that cereal, as
in Eastern and Central Ohio, when the
soil was first used for wheat-growing, the |
millproduct would make bread tempting |
to the eye and palate, but whether man |
or beast or fowl, partook of il, the result
within half an hour would b. painful |
illness. This grain was known as sick |
wheat" Therefore, the pioneers OF |
Northwestern Ohio generally directed |
their attention TO the cultivation Of corn |
their bread staple; there being no water |
or horse mills i'll the country with which |
communication could be had, without |
the consumption of vast time and labor, |
domestic mills We're improvised-aud |
nearly every cabin had its own hominy !
block and rude stone mill. The settlers, |
though, mad some compensation for the |
scarcity of Hour, fruit, etc, in the abun-
dant game which filed the forests, swar-
med ia the air. and in the fish which, in |
seasons Of floods, would crowd the small
est tributaries of the rivers. After the |
country had become sufficiently cUltiva-
ted to raise surplus, the means OF trans
portation We're so limited and expensive |
that little or no profit could be realized |
in forwarding them to market. There |
was small encouragement offered for |
raising surplus The first and Only re-
liable routes were the rivers. y fair |
market at Finday dates from the OPEN |
ing Of the Branch Railroad in 1Sj0-5l, |
aiTording !. connection with the Mad
River Railroad at Carey. Subsequently,, |
in 1861, the Lake Erie and Louisville
Railroad was completed from Fremont
TO Findlay, securing competition in
freights, and otherwise materially bene-
fitting the town. DIR. J.. q. RawsOn, Of
Fremont. Charles w Foster. of Fo>to-
ria, Judge Cory and Squire CarIin, of
Findlay, We're among the chief capital
lists whose enterprise secured the under
taking and completion Of that portion
of the road between Fremont and Find
lay. 1t is probable, however, that the
real originator Of the project was Henry
Brown, Esq. at the time editor of the
Courier, and who first called public at
tention to the Importance and practical
bility of the scheme through the columns
of lis paper. This important enterprise,
therefore. like most others of its charac-
ter, was first agitated by that agency
which will never receive its just reward,
and poorly appreciated by the mass of
the communicable newspaper press.