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advantage. Breathing an agreeable atmosphere, surrounded by healthful conditions, the beholder looks with pleasure upon the fields, the orchards and the gardens. Turning to the woodlands, he sees the maples, elms and oaks in holiday attire, preparing for their period of rest. There is there every hue and all shades of color. The winds toy with the branches; the sunlight is all about them; some are darkened as in shadow, others are brilliant in the glow of light, and all about there are seen bluish, smokelike mists, completing nature's finest portraiture of the forest in the falltime arrayed in splendor.

The health of the settler and of the later residents has been subjected to the mutations affecting the climate. In the low swamps, miasma prevailed; the action of the sun upon the decaying vegetation opened by the clearing and stirred by the plow, induced fevers and chills, and there were few that did not, at times, succumb to these disorders. The healthy and hearty entered into the struggle with nature courageously and joyously. Labor had its zest, and food and sleep were most refreshing; but there were many who struggled on under the depression and hindrances of sickness. As settlers came in and clearing took greater sweep, sickness became more general, or, at least, more apparent, and when Drs. Perrine and Briggs came to Greenville, they found constant employment in attending to the calls of the sick. Fever and ague prevailed, and few, if any, families but had some sick members. Not then, as now, was quinine available-not even knownand the popular remedies were dogwood and wild-cherry bark steeped in native whisky. Slow progress was made for a time, as men became disheartened, left the county and circulated reports that were not only true but sadly true, of an irreclaimable wilderness of morass and swamp, the haunt of pestiferous agues and consuming fevers. It is a fact that very few of the pioneers of Darke held on through all vicissitudes.

From 1820 to 1840, the doctors were all kept busy attending to the sick, so prevalent were ague, flux and bilious fever at certain seasons of the year. The years 1836 and 1837 were comparatively healthy; the year following was more sickly, and 1839 still more so, and from that time till 1850 there were more or less of bilious complaints every season. Since that date, both towns and county have been generally healthy. As an illustration of the desperation to which the medical treatment subjected patients, we relate an incident in the practice of Dr. Gard, one of the veteran physicians of the early day. He was called in, as family physician, to minister to the wants of a sick child. Cold water was forbidden, and calomel, as was usual, was administered. The doctor then retired, with promise of a return the next day. Cold water was barred; the boy begged for a drink, but entreated in vain, as the doctor's orders were immutable law. He then resorted to strategy. Feigning a desire for rest and repose, the family retired to permit their indulgence. Soon heavy breathing announced that all were asleep, and the patient arose from bed, staggered to the water-bucket, and, to his dismay, found it empty. This discovery would have been hailed by imprecations that would have roused all in the house had not the necessity of the case demanded control. Water must be had, although the spring was at quite a distance. The coffee-pot was found, and the patient set out to assuage his consuming thirst. He rested several times in the wet grass, but finally arrived at the spring, drank heartily, and, undiscovered, returned to his bed, having placed the well-filled coffee-pot at the bedside. This was two-thirds emptied before this suicidal act was known, when the doctor was hurriedly summoned and soon stood with astonished and ominous look, awaiting serious results that did not happen. In a few days, the patient had recovered. Dr. Gard was as skillful as the best, and did his duty, but the practice of that day had its rigors. Vital statistics of Darke County for 1870 show that, out of a population of 32.278, the deaths were, of males, 158; of females, 192, or a total of 350. There were, among the enumerated causes of deaths, the diseases of infants, typhoid, dysentery, spotted fever (or spinal meningitis), consumption, pneumonia and old age. The last named produced the greatest mortality. There died of

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spotted fever, 24; of consumption, 58; of pneumonia, 32, and of old age, 17. This gives a small fraction over 1 death yearly from each 100 of population-a rate that will compare favorably with other localities and which demonstrates the present healthfulness of the climate.

Rich as the land was, it could not produce money, and this must be had to meet payments and taxes. Clearing, aside from small patches, had no stimulus. Of what avail were bins of corn and wheat, and droves of swine, without a purchaser or market, and of markets there were none. Having sufficient bread and meat, all were satisfied, and they shared freely with each other and with strangers. Wheat was worth about 2 shillings per bushel, and corn changed hands at about onehalf that price. The current prices fluctuated with the supply, and it was a gratification when a newspaper for the first time made it appearance and obtained general circulation in the county. It was published at Eaton, Preble County, and subscription was paid in corn at 15 cents per bushel. Pork was sold, when it could be sold, at 2 and 3 cents a pound; beef brought about the same price; maple sugar was held at 6 and 8 cents per pound, and maple syrup at about 2 shillings a gallon. Wages ranged from 2 to 3 shillings a day, and this was regarded as an average of compensation. Had some wealthy man bought large tracts and taken steps to develop the capacity of the land, there were many who would gladly have offered their services, but improvement in wages, prices and health were yet far in the future; and this border life between the civilized and the savage had few attractions such as society affords.

DARKE IN 1824.

Fifty-six years ago, and nine counties in Western Ohio, stretching from the State's south boundary to Lake Erie, had one representative in the State Legislature and cast a vote of less than 700. Andrew Hiller took the census of Darke County in 1830, at which date the population entire was 6,204, and of Greenville 204, which was an increase of 2,487 in ten years. The condition of the country in 1824 has been described as follows: "At that time, the present townships of Mississinewa, Jackson, Allen, York, Patterson and Wabash, did not contain a single inhabitant. In Brown, there were three families; in Franklin, one; in Monroe, three; more than three-fourths of the townships of Wayne, Richland, Adams, Van Buren, Butler and Twin, were an unbroken wilderness, and in the most populous parts of the county, more than half the land yet belonged to the United States. The present fine valleys of East Fork, Mud Creek, West Branch and Bridge Creek, were dismal swamps, tangled morasses through which the intrepid surveyors under Ludlow forced their way; at times waist-deep in water and resisted by briars, branches and tall grasses. Half the farms were fenceless; cattle and swine ran half wild, and the latter were trapped and hunted with ferocious dogs. In that year, there were four grist-mills in the county, all of which, together might have ground one hundred bushels of corn per day, if the conditions were favorable, that is, if there was water in the streams, the dam unbroken and the mill machinery in order. Much of the time, the settlers resorted to the mills of Jerry Cass, on Middle Fork; Sheets and Razor, on the Stillwater; Lehman's, at Rowdy, and to those more certain, yet more distant upon the Miami River.

There were also eight or ten saw-mills that, for three months in the year. could cut from 500 to 1,000 feet of lumber in a day and night's run, provided something was not broken or out of order; for it was the exception and not the rule to find them in running condition. In one branch of business, the county has retrograded. There were then a dozen or less of petty distilleries, whose united product fell far short of quenching the thirst of the people, and additional supplies were drawn from the establishments of McGrew, on Whitewater, and Sheets, Razor's and Robnock, on Stillwater. Those of Lehman

& Rench were passed by, as the local demand left no surplus. To this was added the imported cognac, Jamaica, Scheidam, from Cincinnati, besides Madeira, sherry and port, so essential to preserve health, and so essential in sickness. T. Snell and J. Huffman coopered kegs for the products of the stills, and manufactured well buckets, kraut tubs and other vessels needed by the settlers. There were in the county six brick houses and thrice that number of frame buildings, the cost of construction of none having been in excess of $500. Every other human habitation was the log house, in its various phases, from the round-pole structure with bark covering, to the two-story hewed-log, with shingle roof and glazed windows. There were a number of schoolhouses, the best of which was not worth $15, and all of them together would have been dear at $100.

Two meeting-houses, one a Methodist and one a Hard-shell Baptist, built of hewed logs, and roofed with clapboard, composed the ecclesiastical structures of the county at that period. Religious services were held at long and irregular intervals, at various places, the court house, private dwellings, or, if the weather permitted, out of doors.

The roads of the county consisted of the old war traces of St. Clair and Wayne, cut more than thirty years before, the Indian path to the Miami on the east, and the Whitewater towns on the west and southwest, and some few other "traces," as they were called, cut out by the early settlers; so that a wagon might possibly get along in the daytime, provided the driver had an ax along with him, to cut his way around trees, which had fallen across the road. A trip with a conveyance on wheels, to and from Piqua or Troy, to Lockey's Mills or Paris, under very favorable circumstances, might be made in from three to five days; to Eaton, the Mississinewa or Recovery, in a much longer period. Nothing on wheels was ever attempted to be taken to St. Mary's or Loramie, and if anything of the kind ever went to Winchester, it never returned.

There were not then over one hundred acres of cleared land in a body, in the county; the proportion of cultivated to wild land cannot definitely be stated, but sixteen years later, 1840, the area of land utilized by civilization, by inclosure, and much of that still covered with timber and denominated "woods pasture," amounted to but little over 25 per cent.

It remains to revert to the general features of the county. At that time the lands subjected to cultivation were the more elevated portions of Greenville, Washington, Harrison and Neaves Townships, with narrow belts along Stillwater, Swamp Creek and Greenville Creek in the townships of Richland, Wayne and Adams; on Miller's Fork in Twin, and at the head of Twin Creek in Butler. The Painter Creek and the swamps of Twin, reaching from Greenville Creek to the Southern boundary of the county, and from the east side of Butler and Neaves Townships to the Miami County line, and including an area of more than a hundred square miles, now exhibiting a body of as good farming lands as any in the Miami Valley, and which are now as well-improved and productive as any in the county, were, fifty years ago, and for many years thereafter, a wilderness, heavily wooded and much the greater part under water, varying from one to five feet in depth, more than half the year. In a like condition, until quite a recent period, was more than half of the townships of Jackson, Brown, Allen, Wabash and Patterson. These regions have been entirely reclaimed to agricultural uses, and are now producing, some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold.”

EARLY PREACHERS-EDUCATION-MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND MARRIAGES, ETC. When settlers' cabins stood at secluded places, at wide intervals upon high ground, on creek banks, or deep in the woods, the circuit rider had set out on his mission of good. Traversing road, trace and forest paths, he found cordial welcome everywhere. Arousing strong opposition, he had power in Gospel truth, plainly expressed, and found ample illustration from the boundless volume of

Nature. Let it be said to the honor of the pioneer, that despite the crude state of society, whoever made any profession of religion was faithful in worship and fervent in spirit. Church members from the East gladly called in kindred spirits to hold prayer-meetings in their cabins, relate their experience and cheer each on. They gave kind greeting to the chance or expected itinerant preacher on his arrival, took charge of his horse and speedily sent out the children or went themselves along the byways to notify the neighborhood, when all dropped their employment and gathered to the meeting.

It was well that Christians were strong in faith, brave and determined, for there was much wickedness practiced. The character of employment, and association at races, courts, musters, raisings and other assemblages, tended strongly to make the popular vices of gambling, drinking and fighting. There was urgent need of the enthusiastic and eloquent men, who from the cabin door, the rude stand in the large barn, or the extemporized pulpit at the camp-meeting in the wood, addressed the gathered throng in ringing tones with thrilling language upon those noblest of themes-salvation and immortality. The records of those meetings of the olden time almost persuade the reader that some speakers of that day were, at times, inspired with superhuman power of speech.

There are few now living who recollect John Purviance, who lived on the Whitewater, and championed the tenets of the Christian Church; Andrew and Henry Rush, who exhorted in the Methodist faith, and Dearborn and Finley, representative circuit riders. Some few may recall old John Hiller and his grown-up sons -settlers on the West Branch-and the pioneer meeting-house erected in his neighborhood. They have passed away, and few are the traces left of them.

It is asserted that Judge J. Purviance preached at the house of Judge Rush, on Mud Creek, in 1811, the first sermon delivered to a civil congregation within the bounds of Darke County. His father, David Purviance, was one of the originators of what were termed the " New-lights," in Kentucky. Rev. J. Purviance was a teacher, as well as a preacher and worker, and his dwelling near Braffettsville, in Harrison Township, was made to answer the threefold purpose of schoolroom, meeting-house and dwelling.

About the same year, Abraham Sneethen preached a sermon in Greenville, and Henry Arnold speaks of it as the first he had heard in this county. Among other pioneer preachers of the Christian denomination were Isaac Main, John Foster and William Polly. The Baptists formed a society at an early date and erected a house of worship-evidence of members and influence. The Presbyterians delayed organization until 1818, when Rev. Shannon who had served as chaplain in one of Harrison's Kentucky regiments, preached at the residence of Mr. Martin, father of John H. Martin. Early history of Methodism in Darke County has mainly to do with the circuit riders, elders and churches. The record of Methodism during the early years of settlement is meager. The first Methodist minister that visited this county was Rev. John Brown in 1817, and the year following John P. Durbin (since Corresponding Secretary of the American Missionary Society) preached on what was then known as the Eaton Circuit. It was extensive in area, embracing appointments at Camden and Eaton in Preble County; Greenville and Hiller's in Darke County, Covington, in Miami County, and Union, Concord and Germantown in Montgomery County, besides parts of Wayne and Randolph in Indiana. The pioneer meeting-house of the county was erected by the Methodist society in 1818, and is yet standing upon its original site, about four miles west of Greenville and a half-mile south of Winchester turnpike. Great pains were taken with this rude sanctuary in its construction. Its walls were of hewed logs, and the work when completed was considered excellent. The pulpit, made of rough boards, and two or three slab seats, are still in existence. The roof was originally of the old well-known cabin style, but has since been renewed and bears a more modern covering. The old house itself has been kept in such repair that it served for the accommodation of the people on funeral occasions. The

dedicatory sermon for this old landmark of religion was preached by Rev. Durbin, and the following Presiding Elders severally held within its door their quarterly meetings: Alexander Cummins, John Strange, John Collins, J. B. Finley, John F. Wright, William H. Raper and William B. Christie. The first quarterly meeting for the Greenville Circuit of 1817 was held at Greenville in the private dwelling of John Dunn by Elder Moses Crume. Rev. Durbin preached at the house of A. Scribner and his teaching seems to have been salutary in its effect upon the community. Soon the limits of the circuit were diminished and regular preaching was discontinued until 1833, although during this interval, sermons were occasionally delivered at the court house, dwelling-houses, and such other places as could be procured for that purpose. The want of houses of worship gave rise to the custom of holding camp-meetings and other religious assemblages in the open air. This was resorted to by the different denominations, and drew large crowds, but sometimes the good results were counterbalanced by the rowdying ruffianism that intruded itself. The yearly Dunker meetings were rarely disturbed. The peculiar methods of the sect, their generosity in feeding the multitude, chiefly upon soups, had much to do, no doubt, in securing the order that so generally prevailed at their meetings.

In 1818, the first class was organized in Darke County, at the pioneer church, and was known as the "Hiller and Livergood class." In 1833, William Oliver, resident about six miles north of Greenville, formed a second class, which consisted of the following named persons: Mrs. Turpen and daughter Emeline (the wife of Dr. Sexton), Mrs. L. R. Brownell, William Barrett and wife, and William J. Birely and wife. It is said of Mrs. Turpen that she, at times, walked four miles to church and class. This class was organized under Revs. Francis Timmons and Ira Chase, who were on the circuit at this date. A class was formed at Greenville this same year. The Methodists experienced much opposition, being regarded as hypocritical and fanatical. Meetings were disturbed and attempts were made to inflict violence upon the ministers.

In 1834, prayer-meeting began to be held at the house of William Wiley, whose wife had been a member of the Baptist Church at her former home. Mr. Wiley's meetings were at first attended by persons spirituously as well as spiritually inclined. After a time, religious people came quite generally, and this led in time to the present Wednesday evening prayer-meeting in Greenville.

This year, Jesse Prior was on the circuit, and among those in the county added to the church were William J. Birely and wife, J. M. Baskerville, Lovina Houp, Hiram Bell, Jane and Lemuel Rush and Eliza McGinnis. In 1835, a church building was commenced in Greenville. Stephen F. Conry and Adam Miller were on the circuit. In the year 1837, Rev. Prior was returned and the church influence became manifest. Religion was the topic of converse at home, in public and on the street, while attendance at church was general. Eli Truitt labored on the circuit in 1838-39, Robert O. Spencer was Presiding Elder, and Wilson Barrett and George Starr were Class-Leaders. During the years 1840-41, William Morrow and James McNabb being on the circuit, it was now reduced by increase of population to Darke County. About 300 persons were converted and a like number joined the church. From 1841, to the close of 1843, S. M. Batty and Eliakim Zimmerman, were on the circuit. They were followed in 1844, by Jacob Brown and Cadwallader Owens; then came T. Phillips in 1845-46; Joseph Wykes in 1847-48; and Alexander Hammond in 1849-50. David Rutledge labored on the circuit in 1851, and the church received some accessions. Jacob Burkholder, assisted by Franklin Mariott, were well received in 1852, and the church prospered. L. C. Webster, assisted by Rev. Mariott, in 1853. W. W. Winter was the senior preacher in the two following years, assisted first by P. G. Goode, then by Oliver Kennedy, who from 1856-58, was senior preacher, aided by L. C. Webster and P. B. Lewis. Great interest was shown, accessions were numerous, and the people saw these men remove elsewhere with regret. Ministers

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