The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-01-29
LOOKING BACKWARD.
fFnr the Nrws-pKMocRArl

Before the completion OF the Ohio Ca
nal QS2s) farm products in Stark county |
were drug. The home market was the |
chief dependence, and as there were more |
producers than consumers, the result |
coul not be otherwise. Wheat would not |
bring more than from 25 TO 30 cents a |
bushel, oats and corn shilling, hay 81 |
ton, dressed pork and beef u 80 to 81 a |
hundred, and other articles in proportion.
Neighboring farmers of Plain and Lake
would sometimes join together and take
load Of flour to Cleveland, and barter it
for salt and fish, but this was only an oc-
casional diversion,
In 1919, fat boat was built at Nichols
mill on the Nimishillcn, now North In.
dustry, and loaded with flour, pork and
whskey for New Orleans, but by reason
of the difficulties encountered in naviga-
ton, the cargo was disposed of before IL
reached tue Ohio river. About the same
time, another boat was fitted out in the
Iuscarawas river near Bethlehem, with
like cargo destined for the same port
The crew engaged to take charge of the
vessel and freight, proved treacherous.
They left the Ohio at the mouth of the
Tennessee and went up as far as Muscle
Shoals, and there disposed of their cargo
and absconded. They were pursued, ar
rested and part of the proceeds recovered.
he story of this adventure by land and
water, would make an interesting dime
novel
The experiment OF getting rid of the
surplus productions by water not proving
profitable, that course was abandoned.
Hauling by teams 70 PittsburR was the
| only recourse for the transportation of ar
ticles for which there was any sale. The
cost of frCightng was 81 n hundred from
Blttsburg to Canton, and so cents from
| Canton to Pittsburg. The articles that
would bear transportation from Canton
l were whiskey, dried fruit, furs, maple su.
| hnpgVNx fnllnu lipaY,
| berries, chestnuts and gensang.
| To give the reader an idea of the un-
| protltaDleness of raising wheat, the story
IN y be told of Jacob Hommon of Plain
| township, who after sweltering several
| hours in the forenoon sun, D oughing i'm
| new ground for wheat, deliberately un-
| hitched his horses and put them in the
| stable. Wnen he came to the house, his
| wife inquired what brought him
| from the field, and this was his reply in
his own language: "Warum SUIT ich mich
| ploga by dara grossa hits? Hob ich net
may as dri hunnert bushel vatsa now uf
EN- spiCher, os ich nix defor grego con
| Was soil ich init maner dup" He put out
no wheat that year.
Everybody at that time engaged in any
| pursuit-day laboreT, mechanic, trades
| man or merchant, was expected to take
pay in part at least, for whatever he had
furnished in country produce. There was
| not money sufficient in the country to car
| ry on business on cash basis, and that
| fellow feeling of "live and let liven revi-
| brated in every heart.
/ have before me a copy of the Ohio Re-
| postory OF June %, 1920, in which this adj
vertsement appears:
THE following articles of country pro-
| duce will be received in payment Of sub
| scriptions, advertisements and job work
| at this Office:
| Wheat, Oats,
| Flax, Linen,
| Wool, Live Feathers,
| Butter, Sugar.u
l imagine if that cond ton of affairs
were reinstated, the NEws-DEMoCRAT
| would r. quire a warehouse as large as the
new Dlnnemiler block on Cherry street
| To store the produce that would be brought
| in to pay subscriptions and for printing.
| Eggs were taken in the stores al 3 cents q
| dozen, kept on hand until spoiled, then
| thrown away. Butter 4 and cents a
pound, sent to Pittsburg and sold at loss.
As there was half a dozen tan yards i'm
townlt that time, there was a demand for
tan bark, which would command cash.
The chief commodity ont o.. Which money
cou be realized was cattle. They were
traded in 10y the merchants at from So TO
50 a head, part goods and the balance cash,
kept in the fields around town until
sufficient number had been collected TO
make a drove of several hundred. Then
there was a "TOund-upN in the Public
square, and the drove started east in
charge of hired men, The owner follow
ing several days after, passing the drove
beyond the mountains, and negotiating
their sale. With the money realized, he
would proceed to Philadelphia or Balti.
more, and purchase a fresh stock of goods.
The principal merchants of that day were
Gen. Sidger, DIR. Fogle,a and John Sterling.
The houses they built and occupied and in
which they did business are still standing.
THE CURRENCY OF THAT DAY,
The circulating medium of the time we
write, was rather limited. The metallic,
was mostly foreign-MeXiCan, Spanish,
and French. There was the Mexican and
Spanish dUlar-the five france piece (934
cents, pistareen Q7cents), shilling or
pence, or as 1t was generally
termed, ftp or fbenabit. (6L
cents of American issue, there were
the dollar, half and quarter dollars, cents
and half cents. There was no decimal
currency, but considerable of what was
called cut money in circulation. A dollar
cut into halves or quarters. A half dollar
divided in the same way. They passed
current for the amount they were in
tendedto represent. There was limited
amount OF paper money in circulation,
but il did not become abundent, until
after the completion of the Canal, when
there was an outlet for the surplus pro.
duce.
WAGES AND THE PRICE OF LABOR.
The hours of labor for all classes of |
working men, the year round, was from |
sun up TO sun down, and mechanical busi- |
ness that could be followed after night, |
was carried on from early candle lighting |
until 8 p. IN. The pay OF common labor |
ers was so cents q day; skilled mechanics, |
such as carpenters, bricklayers, masons,
tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, wagon |
makers, rs cents day. The apprentice |
ship system was then in vogue. Boys |
were usually taken from 16 to 18 years of |
age and bound until they were q. The |
terms were Sl5 the first year, $40 the Sec |
ond and S25 the third including board, |
three months of winter schooling and |
freedom suit of clothes.
Travelling by stage five cents mile, |
tavern rates for supper, lodging and |
breakfast, 62T,-Lunch consisting of cold |
meat, bread aud butter, pie and glass of |
milk shilling, whisky cents glass.
The completion of the Ohio Canal open |
Stark. Business men from the East set |
tied in Massillon, built warehouses and |
canal boats, and held out strong induce |
ments to farmers to bring their produce TO |
that place. They could afford to give the |
highest price going, and succeeded in mo
nopoizing the trade. Massillon acquired |
the title of the "Wheat City" as they com
five miles east and west. Many are yet |
living who will remember the long train
of two-horse wagons TO be seen on the |
road, making their way to Massillon, when
wheat commanded from Sl.50 To 81
bushel. There were then seven taverns
on Tuscarawas street-four between Can
ton and Massillon, and at least fifteen or
twenty between Canton and New Lisbon.
About that time an effort was made to
take the county seat from Canton,