New York, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. I was then ten years old. The boys had to hunt the cows from ridge to ridge through the wood sometimes for half a day, and then come home without them. They braved dangers, too. The hogs in the woods, wild as they were, were more dangerous than the bears. When cow-hunting the dogs would scare up the hogs, the hogs would charge, in battle array, upon the dogs, who would fall back upon the boys and they would have to stand the battle from great fallen trees or from the saplings. One day when my brothers and myself were out, we heard on a ridge above us howlings like those of a wolf. We howled similarly in return, and the dogs joined us in the howling. A boy on the ridge took to flight, thinking a pack of wolves was in reality near. This was the fun of those times."

Hon. Joseph Ferrell said that when Oxford township was organized there were not enough men in it to fill the offices. It was soon settled by soldiers from the war of 1812, two of whom, William Bernard and William Richards, were still living. The Second Regiment of Ohio in the war of 1812 was made up in this region; the Second Regiment in the war of 1846 was filled from here, and the Second Regiment in the last war had many from this neighborhood.

From Hon. Newell Kennon's reminiscences of Fairview we extract:

"About 1818, in the woods south of Fairview, was seen by all the passers-by a speaker's stand with benches in front sufficient to seat a large audience. This place was occupied for preaching by the Reformed Associate Presbyterian Church for five or six years by the Rev. Samuel Findley, their chosen pastor. In fair weather very large and appreciative audiences would assemble to hear the teachings of the learned doctor. The church

increased rapidly, large numbers of families settling in the neighborhood who were members of that persuasion, besides others joining who had never been members of any church. They then built what was called a large and comfortable stone church. The chief architect was a sort of stone mason-but not a Free Mason, or he would have used the plumb, square and level more than he did, thus preventing the intolerant law of gravitation from pushing it down in the process of time. It was strange that the architect, who had the entire control of the building, would have a jug of whiskey placed in the corner-stone as a memento. When the workmen took down the building, the jug and the whiskey were found in a high state of preservation; they drank the whiskey and I don't know what became of the jug."

In the early settlement of the West the borders were infested by desperadoes flying from justice, suspected or convicted felons escaped from the grasp of law, who sought safety in the depths of the wilderness. The counterfeiter and robber found there a secure retreat and a new theatre for crime.

During the early settlement of the wild hill country of Southeastern Ohio the scattered, struggling, honest pioneers suffered much from the depredations of this class who found hiding-places among the caves and rocks and thick tangled undergrowth of the ravines. Much loss was inflicted by horse-thieves and counterfeiting of coin was carried on at times quite extensively. In some instances the early settlers executed summary justice upon the depredators and hung or shot them without ceremony. The outside public learned not of these events, as they took place before the advent of newspapers and communication with the older settled communities infrequent; we now learn of them mainly by tradition.

For several years prior to 1834 a large number of horses had been stolen from Guernsey and the surrounding counties, and so completely were all traces of the thieves covered up that the settlers were forced to the conclusion that an organized band of horse thieves must have been formed in their midst. From the scant evidence at hand, it appeared that these marauders had a line of communication from the Muskingum Valley to Lake Erie. So that horses stolen in Guernsey county would be passed along the line and disposed of at a point far distant from the place of theft. All efforts toward the discovery of the thieves were without avail, until finally suspicion fastened upon one Walter G. Perry, who resided some five miles east of Cumberland, in Guernsey county, near what is now called Blue Bell. On the night of October 15, 1833, a horse had been stolen from Wm. Knappenburger, of Tuscarawas county, who offered a reward for the capture of the thief, and described him as "a short stout-made man, with black piercing eyes and of a rather quiet disposition." Perry answered to this description and measures were taken for his arrest, but he could not be found.

At this time a school-teacher in the McElroy district, named Adonijah Parrish, was boarding with Anthony Jones, and during the night, January 5, 1834, he

heard some one cautiously admitted to the Jones dwelling; his suspicions were aroused and still further excited when, toward morning, he heard the stealthy departure of the person admitted during the night. By questioning the young son of Jones, Parrish learned that the cautious guest of the night was "uncle Perry." Instead of attending to his school that day he hastened to an adjoining district, now called Harmony, and securing the assistance of Robert Marshall, Thomas Rannels, James C. Bay, E. Burt and Robert Kells, started in pursuit of Perry. Armed with rifles, they proceeded to the dwelling of Jones and from there

took up the trail, which was easily followed, owing to a light snow having fallen during the night. After following it for some distance, they perceived that an effort had been made to cover the tracks and baffle pursuit.

About a mile and a half from Jones's the trail led into a deep ravine, on either side of which were high projecting rocks and deep, dark recesses, causing the pursuers some trepidation through fear that Perry might have accomplices hid among the rocks and caverns of the ravine, and that they might fall victims to an ambushed enemy. They moved cautiously forward, speaking only in whispers, every faculty on the alert. Suddenly one of the party called out, "There he is, by the rocks." Seeing that he was discovered, Perry assumed a defiant attitude, and pistol in hand, cried out with an oath that he would shoot the first one who came near. His pursuers having satisfied themselves that he was alone, began closing in on him, when he started to run. Marshall and Rannels threw up their rifles, firing simultaneously, and Perry fell, wounded in the right leg. His captors carried him to the cabin of Clark Williams, where his wound was dressed, and on the evening of the same day he was taken to Cambridge.

Perry was tried and convicted at the April term of court in Tuscarawas county, and on the 19th of April was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. His wound refused to heal and near the end of the first year's imprisonment he was pardoned by the governor and set at liberty. He returned to his family, who still resided in Guernsey county, but, after a short time, they all left and were heard of no more. Perry had preserved the rifle-ball which had shattered his leg, swearing he would be glad to "plant it in each of his captors."

After Perry's departure evidences came to light of his having been connected with a gang of counterfeiters. For several months preceding his arrest, numerous

spurious notes and coins were put in circulation, and Perry on one occasion had remarked to Martin Robbins that he had a lot of coins that would "go just as well as any." About two hundred yards east of his dwelling, in a ravine, was discovered a slot cut in a tree, and near it a long lever, which was used to make imprints of coins in short blocks of seasoned wood; from these primitive molds casts were made in the same manner that the early pioneers cast their rifle-balls.

These discoveries furnished an explanation of the stealthy visits of strangers to the cabin of Perry during all hours of the night. In 1883, in a field near this spot, Newton Hickle plowed up some 130 or more counterfeit coins, evidently made in this manner.

The place of his capture has ever since been called Perry's Den, and is a resort for picnic parties and lovers of the romantic in nature. It is in Spencer township, three miles east of Cumberland, in a deep glen in the highlands, dividing the waters of Wills and Duck creeks.

In its native wildness it afforded remarkable facilities for secreting stolen property. Its distance from roads and the difficulties of access, together with the dense underbrush and its peculiar openings in the rocks, made its discovery extremely unlikely.

Two waterfalls of from twenty to thirty feet descent and about one hundred yards apart add to the romantic beauty of the glen. Horse Shoe Falls, with its ledge of rock projecting out over the depths below, forms a cavern in which twenty horses could be stabled at one time, undiscoverable except by the closest inspection, and early settlers say that unmistakable evidences that it had been put to such uses were plainly discernible. The second waterfall is a gem of beauty; in summer it is bordered with ferns and flowers, intermingled with laurels and evergreens, and in winter, stately columns of glittering ice and fantastic shapes and forms of filagree and frosted work arrest and please the eye.

THE GUERNSEY COUNTY METEOR.

On the 1st of May, 1860, about half an hour after noon, an aerolite exploded over the western border of this county a little east of the village of New Concord. As it approached the earth its brilliance was almost equal to the sun. A great number of distinct detonations were heard like the firing of cannon, after which the sounds became blended together and were compared to the roar of a railway train. This meteor was one of the most remarkable on record from the large quantity of stones which fell to the earth. Prof. Elias Loomis, of Yale College, in Harper's Magazine for June, 1868, in an article entitled "Shooting Stars, Detonating Meteors and Aerolites," thus gives the main items connected with this very notable aerolite.

"Several stones were seen to fall to the ground and they penetrated the earth from two to three feet. The largest weighed 103 pounds, and is preserved in the cabinet of Marietta College. Another was found which weighed fifty-three pounds, a third fifty-one pounds, a fourth was estimated to weigh forty to fifty pounds and a fifth weighed thirty-six pounds. A small one, weighing fifteen pounds, is preserved in the cabinet of Yale College. About thirty stones were found, and the entire weight of all the fragments was estimated at 700 pounds.

All these stones have the same general appearance. They are irregular blocks, and are covered with a very thin black crust, which looks as if it had been fused. Their

specific gravity was 3.54, and their composition very similar to that of the Weston meteor. This meteor fell in the southwestern part of Connecticut on the morning of December 14, 1807, and was nearly one-half silex, about one-third oxide of iron, and one-eighth magnesia, with a little nickel and sulphur.

Owing to the cloudy state of the atmosphere, the time was unfavorable for accurate observation of the meteor's position in the heavens. It has been computed, however, that the meteor moved toward the northwest, that its path was nearly horizontal, and elevated about forty miles above the earth's surface. ... The velocity of the Weston meteor relative to the earth was about fifteen miles per second. . . . There are eighteen

well-authenticated cases in which aerolites have fallen in the United States during the last sixty years and their aggregate weight is 1,250 pounds.

"While aerolites contain no elements but such as are found in terrestrial minerals, their appearance is quite peculiar, and the grouping of the elements, that is, the compound formed by them, is so peculiar as to enable us by chemical analysis to distinguish an aerolite from any terrestrial sub

stance.

"All aerolites without exception contain a substance called Schreibersite, though often in very small quantities. This substance is a compound of iron, nickel and phosphorus, and has never been found except in aerolites.

Another writer upon meteors says:

'Records of the fall of aerolites is as old as history. One is recorded by Pliny, 467 B. C., which was the size of a wagon. Kepler affirmed his belief that there were more

comets and smaller bodies flying through space in number than fish in the ocean.

"In regard to the chemical composition of these stones it must be observed that in passing through our atmosphere they undergo some change, as they always take fire in the upper regions by friction against our atmosphere, and arrive at the ground hot, sometimes making a deep hole. Combustible substances in their composition, and perhaps an atmosphere of combustible gases surrounding them, combined with the immense velocity with which they enter our atmosphere, cause, on the sudden diminution of that motion, a most intense rise in temperature, ignition, and very often one or more violent explosions. It is not surprising that they all present the appearance of having been subject to great heat. Chemists have proved that aerolites are not of volcanic origin, and astronomers that their velocity is far too great to be accounted for by terrestrial attraction."

CUMBERLAND, about seventy miles east of Columbus, at the junction of B. Z. & C. and C. W. & N. Y. railroads, is surrounded by a fine farming country. Newspaper: News, Independent, W. A. Reedle, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Cumberland Presbyterian and 1 Presbyterian. Population in 1880, 519. School census in 1886, 200; A. R. McCulloch, superintend

ent.

QUAKER CITY, about ninety miles east of Columbus, on the O. C. R. R., is in the midst of a fine agricultural and stock-raising district. Newspaper: Independent, Independent, J. W. & A. B. Hill. Churches: 1 Disciples, 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Friends.

Manufactures and Employees.-Manufacturing builders' materials; sheepshearers' benches; 1 foundry and machine shop; cigar factories; Quaker City Window Glass Co., employing 70 hands; 2 good gas wells; coal mining, etc. Bank: Quaker City National, John R. Hall, president, I. P. Steele, cashier. Population in 1880, 594.

BYESVILLE, five miles south of Cumberland, on the C. & M. R. R. Newspaper: Transcript, Independent, V. D. Browne, editor and proprietor. Population in 1880, 210. The following are names of villages, with their population in 1880 SENECAVILLE, 402; SALESVILLE, 266; FAIRVIEW, 152.

END OF VOL. I.