The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1950-07-06

the intruder appeared horrifying.
The little innkeeper began climb
ing down the ladder, missed rune
in his hurry and fell the rest of the
way. Once down, he couldn't find
his gun. The arms of the Warner
party had been left outside in the
wagons.
When light finally was struck
the terrified group found that the
enemy was an old black sow. Her
litter of pigs had come in with her.
Arrive at Hardscrabble
Morning came and the caravan
moved on. That day. May Is, 1911,
it reached the. country along Rocky
River, between Hardscrabble and
Valley City-the first white settlers
in the townhip.
In 1870, when the area was town.
ship 4, range 15, then in Portage
County, Warner had seen and bought
the land. Both he and Deming,
natives of Waterbury, were watch
and clock makers and made their
whole trip to Medina County by
selling wooden clocks on the way.
The Warmers brought so different
kinds of seed with thm, which they
put in their garden. A two-acre
orchard was planted with apple seed
and six acres were put in corn. Pop
Warner soon developed chills and
fever and then spent the whole sum-
mer trying to change the route of
Rocky River. Why he wanted to
detour the stream, nobody knew.
Hardscrabble Grows
Soon other settlers came and
Hardscrabble grew to a town of
seven cabins Scoville and Seeley
were two residents there but Clark
had left for parts unknown. How
ever, Oliver Terril soon came along
and Warner hired him to remain and
take Clark's place as "hired hand"
The Warmers prospered and Justis
Warner, then called "Pop" Warner,
became "Grandpappy Warner"
Ruth and Moses Deming about
that time also secured hired man.
He was "a sullen, unfriendly fellow
who did much scratching" That,
Deming discovered, was because the
man "had the itch and was covered
with lice" Moses and Ruth, using
"plenty of soft soap, ashes, sand and
hot water" scrubbed the man and
applied bark ooze" until the itch
was cured and the lice were gone.
Their hired man kept his mean
disposition and was fired. Eventual
ly he "got on an armed ship, mu-
tined and was hanged at Boston as u
| pirate"
Seeley and Scoville chopped down
the first tree in the township. AL
pheus Warner did not help because
"he had new wife to look after"
First White Child
The first white child born in the
township was Sally Warner, daugh-
ter of Justis and Urania Warner,
June l, 1912. Never married, she
lived many years in the little cabin
on Rocky River and when very old
was "Aunt Sally Warner"
| The first church services in the
township were in Justice Warmers
cabin, he doing the preaching. Only
four families were there: the Warn
| ers, Bigelows, Colts and Hudsons-
all Methodists. The first death In
the neighborhood was Ruth Deming,
wife Of Moses and daughter OF
Warner, on July 5, 1912.
Grandpappy Warner had a small
salt mine on his land across Rocky
River. In his day salt sold for $40
barrel and an axe cost $5-in cash
or salt.
Grandpappy Was Spry
Grandpappy was pretty spry for
an old man but much less than he
thought. Often cautioned not to fall
| into the salt well, he would answer:
"Shucks, Haman was hanged on his
own scaffold but j don't intend to
drown in my own salt WE'LL"
Then one evening Grandpappy did
not come home to supper. Minerva,
hurrying to the salt well, found him