The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-11-06
No. 20.
-.- ne Z otNe Jt.t-' o. and tfC-e't.
FIFTY YEARS AGO.

Fifty wears G-o. Yes, f;ftv wears AGO
on the second Tuesday of October. 1921
had the misfortune TO be elected q
member of the Legislature FOR the eoun,
y OF Champaign. The opposing candi-
Gates for the same office were Samuel Nc.
/ Cord and. I believe. Judge West-not
I the Judge West Of tie present time. who
was u member OF the Constitutional
/ Convention, but one that was associate
| judge of this county under the cOnstitu-
! tion OF 1872. My majority over Mr.
| MeCord was not large do not remeIn-
I Der what 1t was, but my esteemed friend,
Mr.. Demoval Talbot, still recolleets the
precise number At that time, under
the old constitution, the Legislature
convened on the first Monday of Deeem-
Der, in each year. Senators were elect
ed for two years and Representatives for
one year. | was elected a member of
the House of Representatives. The
clothes that | wore at Columbus that
winter, during the session, / purchased
from Mr.. Lemuel Burton, who was then
a clerk in the store of Mr.. IIeylin; that
Is, purchased the material from him,
and Mr. DowEey, tie tailor, made them;
for in those days We had no merchant
tailors with their supply of ready-made
clotmngi and have noticed some ad-
yantages to the wearer by the old mode.
for the seams did not rip, nor the but
tons drop off half so soon or so easily
as they do now. Those were the first
''store boughten" clothes ever had. and
you may well suppose / felt somewhat
proud, and noticed the first time
wore them TO the old log church, at
Kings Creek, that the people there, and
especially the gals" paid more atten-
ton to me than they did to the preach
er, though he was much the best man.
| think it is not uncommon, in these
days of refinement, wisdom and godli-
ness, for some folks to pay more atten-
ton to fine appearance and good looks
than to usefulness and merit When
the time arrived to go to Columbus, the
following persons assembled at Urbana:
Mr.. John Shelby, who represented the
counties of Logan, Hardin, Hancock
and Wood, in the lower house; Robert
Young, father of General John III.
Young, John McCord, who represent
ed the counties of Miami, Shelby and
Allen; George Fithian, who represented
the counties of Clarke aud Champaign,
in the Senate, and myself, who repre-
sented this county in the House
Early the next morning, after our coming
together at Urbana, We set out on our
journey. As we had no railroads, turn
pixies, carriages and buggies in those
days, all travelling was done either on
foot or on horseback. We all rode on
good, large, fine horses, with our "big
coats, as they were then called, strap
ped to the hind part of the saddle Our
Il ll.-h rIt
horses backs, and in them we carried
our clothing. We wore boots, spurs and
leggins After travelling all day, through
the mud, we arrived, late in the even
ing, at house of entertainment, three
or four miles east of Mechaniesburg.-
Here we Jared sumptuOusly, as the lady
of the house had prepared an excellent
supper. l will here say that Mr.. William
Stewart accompanied us TO bring home
our horses.
. Our second days travel was more fa-
tiguing than the first. The mud was
nearly knee deep to the horses all the
way, and, in many places, we had to
dismOunt and lead the horses, for the
mud was so bad that they could not car
~ Us through. Sometime after night
we got to the place where we intended
to stay all night, and, behold, some
drOvers, on their way to Baltimore,
with large drove of hogs, had got
there before us. At supper the landla-
dy remarked that it was fine time for
hogs and Assembly men to travel, for
the roads We're so soft that it would not
hurt their feet. Beds being scarce, some
had to go to the hay loft for lodging.
Our company and the drOvers spent
merry night together. They had some
mighty good whiskey with them, of
which We all partook.
The third day, in the evening, we got
TO our journeys end, and Mr.. FithiaE
(who was the grandfather of Milton
Fithian) and myself took boarding at
the Goodale House. This. ] think, was
one of the most important sessions of
the Legislature ever held in Ohio. The
first law, for the organization and sup
port of common schools, was passed at
that session. The laws authorizing and
providing for the construction of the
Ohio canals was passed, and the still
more important law changing the mode
of taxation. Prior to that time, land
was taxed according to rate, as it was
called, and not according to value. 1t
was styled first, second and third rate,
and taxed accordingly, without any re-
gard to situation or improvements.
Horses were valued at forty dollars
each, so that the one in the prime of life
and vigOr, though worth one hundred
dollars. was taxed no more than the one
thirty years old, and both lame and
blind. Cattle, over three years of age,
were valued at eight dollars each, so
that the owner Of a yoke of oxen worth
$50, paid no more tax for them than
the owner of two cows worth eight dol
lars each
The session was short one, and The
adjournment took place about the mid
die of February. Has any subsequent
Legislature accomplished the same
amount of business in the same length
of tiineg
So far as know, am the only sur
viving member. IL there are Others, j
would be glad to know who they are and
where they live. ED l.. MORGAN