Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826. v. 1-2

On the outside of the circular fort, on the hill opposite the quadrangular fort, is another hill ninety feet high, that commands all the neighbouring parts, which appear to have been a burying-ground – a great number of human skeletons of all sizes having been found there; they were all in a horizontal position, the heads being turned towards the centre of the hill. With the skeletons were several stone axes, and oval, polished black stones, having a hole in their centre, probably to fix them on a string, to be worn as ornaments or talismans.

In the centre of the circular fort, where the court-house now stands, there was formerly another hill, on the eastern side of which are the remains of a semicircular pavement, made of pebble-stones, the same which are found in the bed of the Sciota; the top of the hill is of thirty feet diameter, and has a flight of steps leading to it; two human skeletons were found there. At the natural level of the ground a great number of stone arrow-heads, which were so strong that they must have belonged to lances. A great quantity of wood ashes and hard burnt bricks induce the belief that the bodies were burnt; there was a looking-glass made of mica membranacea. More minute details of these antiquities, as well as all the others which have been found in this state, are described in Mr. Caleb Atwater’s Archaelogia Americana. I paid a visit to this gentleman, who resides here; he is a great antiquarian, and exists more in the antiquities of Ohio, than in the present world. I spent the evening with this interesting man, and was very agreeably entertained; he possesses a collection of objects which were found in different mounds; it contains fragments of urns, arrow-heads of a large size, battle-axes made of flintstone, and several human bones. Mr. Atwater likewise possesses a very handsome collection of minerals, among which I found some interesting petrifactions of wood and plants, in particular, the whortleberry plant. He offered to send to the university of Jena a collection of these petrifactions which are found near Zanesville, in this state, and for which he desired to obtain some German minerals. I must not omit to mention, that on the hill, outside of the circular fort, is a small wooden house nearly destroyed by storms, which commands a view of all the surrounding country. It had been a house of ill fame, but being visited one night by a violent storm, it was abandoned by its inhabitants, to the great edification of the whole town.

The 10th of May we rode nineteen miles, from Circleville to Chillicothe, formerly the capital of Ohio, situated on the right shore of the Sciota. Our way led us through a handsome and very well cultivated country; we saw fine fields, good dwelling-houses, orchards, and gardens; also several mills, turned by the water of the Sciota, and several other little creeks; some of these mills are at the same time fulling, flour, and saw-mills.

The forests are chiefly of sugar maple, plane, and different kinds of nut trees: the road was tolerably good, the weather fine and warm; there is a covered wooden bridge which crosses the Sciota not far from Chillicothe; this bridge runs at least five hundred paces on piers, over a meadow which is sometimes inundated by the Sciota. We were comfortably lodged at Watson’s hotel, in Chillicothe. This town, like Philadelphia, lies between two rivers – the Sciota may be considered as the Delaware, and Paint creek rivulet takes place of the Schuylkill: the streets are large, at right angles, and without pavement, but have side-walks: a great part of the houses are built of brick; there are several fine stores. Over the whole prosperity and liveliness appears to reign. Chillicothe is the chief town of Ross county; it contains a court-house, built of freestone, which, at the time it was the seat of the state government, was used for the senate house; the representatives met in the building now used for the court offices: there is also in this city a jail, and a market-house of brick. I received visits from several of the most distinguished inhabitants, among them was a lawyer, Mr. Leonard, Dr. Vethake and Colonel King, son of the celebrated Rufus King, the American minister to London, and son-in-law of the former governor of this state, Mr. Worthington: the latter lived at a country-seat two miles from Chillicothe, where he enjoyed his rents and the revenue of his considerable property, in the midst of an amiable family and an agreeable old age, free from cares. His son-in-law invited us to his father’s house; we accepted his invitation and rode in Messrs. Leonard and Vethake’s company, towards evening, to the country-seat; our road led us through a beautiful and well cultivated valley, near a little Indian mound, and through a forest of beach, maple, chesnut and hickory trees; finally we rode through handsome fields, where here and there we saw groups of white thorn. The governor’s house is surrounded with Lombardy poplars; it is constructed in the style of an Italian villa, of free stone, with stone steps on the exterior, is two stories high, and has two wings, having a court in front of the centre building containing honeysuckles and roses: on one side of the house is a terrace with flowers and kitchen vegetables; this garden was arranged by German gardeners who keep it in very good order: behind the house are large clover fields, and to the right the farm buildings. Governor Worthington occupies himself with the raising of cattle, particularly sheep; he had a flock of one hundred and fifty merinos. I understood that they were numerous in the state of Ohio. Colonel King and his highly accomplished lady, came to meet us; the governor and his lady soon appeared: he has travelled a great deal, has been a long time in public offices, and was for several years a member of the United States’ senate; his eldest son was travelling in Europe, another son was in the military academy at West Point. He has ten children, on whom he expended a great deal for their education; the evening passed rapidly in instructive and interesting conversation, the hospitable governor insisted on our passing the night at his house; the house is very commodious, the furniture plain, but testifies the good taste and easy circumstances of the owner. I arose early next morning and took a walk in the governor’s garden, I ascended to a platform on the roof to take a view of the surrounding lands, but there is as yet nothing but woods covering the greater part of the country. Fires, which were burning in some places, were proofs, that new settlers were clearing the woods; from this platform the governor can overlook the greater part of his property, containing twenty-five thousand acres of land; by this means he has the greater part of his workmen under his control; the ground consists of low hills, and it is only towards the east in the direction of Zanesville, that more considerable elevations are perceived. I took breakfast with the worthy governor and his family, and found here, as at Governor Morrow’s, that the father of the family, observed the laudable custom of making a prayer before sitting down. After breakfast we took leave of this respectable family, whose acquaintance I consider as one of the most interesting I made in the United States, and returned to town. Chillicothe contains from two to three thousand inhabitants, who subsist chiefly by farming, raising of cattle and retail commerce; they had also commenced establishing woollen factories, and possessed a bank; it was formerly a branch of the United States Bank, but doing too little business, was suppressed by the mother bank in Philadelphia. We visited two churches, one Methodist and one Episcopalian, the former was rather large, both of them were very plain and contained nothing worthy of remark. We paid a visit to Mr. Hufnagel, a native of Würzburg, an elderly man who had experienced misfortune, and who is now established as a butcher and trader in cattle, and finds himself in easy circumstances; he appeared to be very much delighted at my visit, and received us very heartily in his well arranged house, situated in an orchard. Between two and three o’clock, the stage took us to Colonel King’s house, where we dined, in order to drive us eighteen miles to Tarleton; we took leave of him with grateful hearts; the road ran through a well cultivated country, which is very hilly and presents several picturesque situations; ten miles from Chillicothe on a hill, is a small village, Kingston, with farms of a good appearance, and several mills. Towards sunset we reached Tarleton, a handsome little spot of about twenty houses, and took our lodgings at a very good tavern, kept by a Pennsylvanian German. I had lost my pocket-book, probably by one of the hard jolts which our stage had received; it contained several papers of importance. It was found one mile from Chillicothe, and by its contents I was known to be the owner; a man set out in the night to bring it to me; at midnight this man arrived in Tarleton, had me called up, and safely returned me my pocket-book. I was so much delighted to recover it, that I expressed my thankfulness in every way I could. On the 12th of May, we left Tarleton at two o’clock in the morning, and rode to New Lancaster, which is sixteen miles; we arrived between seven and eight o’clock, and took our lodgings at Steinman’s hotel; the mail stage which went that day to Zanesville, had only two horses and took no passengers, I therefore resolved to stay until the following day, as it was said there would be a stage with four horses, and I found no cause to repent it. New Lancaster has its name from the city of Lancaster in Pennsylvania, and was founded by Pennsylvanian Germans, who were joined by many German emigrants, particularly Wurtembergers, and some Switzers, all of whom were pleased with the good climate, the fertile soil, which requires but little cultivation and manure, and above all, by the cheap living and profitable earnings. New Lancaster is the principal town of Fairfield county, and is handsomely situated on the side of a hill on the Hockhocking river, not far distant from its source; it contains nearly two thousand inhabitants, living by retail commerce, farming, and cattle raising. Since 1822, the culture of tobacco has also been introduced; this tobacco is called yellow, and is esteemed; I understand that it sells very well in Holland. The streets of the town are wide and rectangular; the court-house is a brick building; there is also a market-house of brick, and above it a lodge for freemasons. Shortly after my arrival, I received the visits of several of the German and half German inhabitants, among the latter I remarked Judge Dietrich, a native of Philadelphia, an agreeable, plain and well-informed man; he offered to be my guide through the town, which I thankfully accepted. He introduced me to several of the merchants, whose well-furnished stores I visited. Such a store in America contains a great variety of articles: all kinds of dry-goods, porcelain, earthenware, glasses, stationary, implements of husbandry, iron wares, saddlery, and spirits; the latter are only by wholesale; also school-books, bibles, and psalm-books. I observed in almost all the cities in the state of Ohio, that German translations were affixed to all the signs over the stores, in large golden letters, which is not only a proof that a great many Germans inhabit the state, but also that they are good customers. We saw an English and German printing-office; the latter was under the direction of a German, Mr. Herrman, who publishes a German newspaper under the title of Der Ohio Adler,64 the English printing-office likewise publishes a paper; the type for the German paper is from the foundry in Philadelphia, and cannot be said to be elegant; it is true there is generally but little elegance to be observed in German type. I read in Mr. Herrman’s office about twelve different German papers, published in the United States; they were mostly written in a corrupted German; the only well written one, was edited in Philadelphia, by Mr. Ritter.

Judge Dietrich conducted me to a cloth manufactory belonging to Mr. Risey, whose machinery is moved by the waters of the Hockhocking. It was of recent date, and furnished cloth of middling quality; the want of a sufficient quantity of water made it necessary to divide the manufactory into different parts, at different situations; one was occupied by the machines for carding wool, and some by looms; the wool was spun by country women. We visited the county jail, a brick building, the interior has partitions made of strong beams, separating obscure cells; a dark and miserable hole called the dungeon, was destined for solitary confinement; there was but a single prisoner, and for debt. Mr. Dietrich introduced me to a Mr. Sherman, judge of the supreme court, who is one of the most respectable inhabitants of the place. He invited me to tea, and I met with a very agreeable society; we all took a walk to Mount Pleasant, two miles from town, which on three sides presents steep cliffs; this mountain is only accessible from one side, through a forest and hollow between rocks. From the top of the mountain the town seems to lay below your feet, and is surrounded with fenced fields; this point being one of the highest in this hilly country, the prospect would be very handsome if the eye could perceive any thing but woods. Next morning some Swabian farmers came to see me; I was sitting at my writing-table when they entered; they sat down without taking off their hats, and conversed very sensibly; I understood from them that they were very much pleased with the country, and that they felt conscious of being honest and useful men. At eight o’clock we went into the mail stage, an uncomfortable box, in which we rode thirty-six miles to Zanesville, on a rough road with many causeways leading through a hilly region, so that we had to stop at least forty times. It was very warm and dusty during the day; the land was less fertile than what we had previously seen in the state of Ohio, containing more clay and sand; we arrived in the district of the coal and salt mines, both of which articles are found in the vicinity of Zanesville. We passed between New Lancaster and Zanesville the insignificant places of Rush-hill, Somerset, Union town, and Jonathan’s creek; Rush-hill is in a pretty situation on Rush-creek, a strong rivulet which works several mills; it consists of about thirty houses, some of them of brick. Somerset, half way from New Lancaster to Zanesville, contains four hundred inhabitants, it is on an elevated situation and is the chief town of Perry county. Jonathan’s creek has given its name to the little village situated on both of its shores; the true name of this creek is Maxahala; it is very convenient for mills. We met with two herds of beautiful cattle, which had been brought from Chillicothe, and were driving to the eastern seaports for sale; towards six o’clock we arrived in a well-cultivated district, our road led us through orchards and neat houses; finally we arrived at Putnam, a little place situated on the right shore of the Muskingum, opposite Zanesville. We crossed the river by a covered wooden bridge, resting on five stone piers. The Muskingum is one of the most considerable rivers in the state of Ohio, it begins in the most northern part, runs in a southerly direction, waters several counties, and empties by a mouth twenty-five yards broad, into the Ohio at Marietta; it is navigable from Zanesville upwards; below, the mill-dams prevent the navigation. On account of the new canal which is to unite the Ohio with Lake Erie, on which they were working, though slowly, for want of funds, the navigation on this river will cease.

In Zanesville we took good lodgings at Hughes’ hotel; there must be a great number of travellers, as in the principal street we could count seven other taverns. Zanesville contains three thousand inhabitants: its streets are large and straight, a great number of brick houses, upwards of twenty stores, two printing-offices, and two glass-houses, where common window-glass and bottles are manufactured, which are well paid for in the vicinity; this town has been for some time the chief town of the state of Ohio, and is now the principal place of Muskingum county; the court-house is a large brick building, in front of it was erected a triumphal arch in honour of General La Fayette, but he did not pass here. We returned in the evening over the bridge to Putnam, to deliver letters to Mr. Ebenezer Buckingham. On this occasion I found that the length of this bridge was about two hundred and seventy-seven ordinary paces; it is divided in two parts, the wagons keeping the right side. Putnam consists of a single street, running along the river, behind which is a rocky elevation; the street afterwards forms an angle, leaving the river and looses itself in a picturesque valley between fields and orchards. This place has six hundred inhabitants, a great many brick houses, and presents a flourishing appearance. Mr. Buckingham is one of the most respectable inhabitants, and has a large store in which he keeps all articles that may be required here; he received us in his store, and gave us much information relative to Zanesville, Putnam and its vicinity; the ground is not so fertile here as in other parts of the state, but kind Providence has indemnified them in some measure with salt, and coal-mines; the salt springs were previously known to the Indians, but not used by them. When the country became inhabited by a white population, they bored to the depth of two hundred feet and found abundant salt springs, some of them were deeper; the openings being made larger, walled cisterns were fixed to collect the running water. The salt is boiled in large kettles, after which it is made to run over flat reservoirs, where it is cooled, and the salt separated; this is the same method which is followed in England, and which I had seen in the salt works of Northwich; having heard this description, and the springs being four miles distant, I gave up the idea of visiting them. A great many petrifactions and impressions of plants are found here, some of which I had seen at Mr. Atwater’s, in Circleville.

On the next day, Mr. Buckingham came for me, to introduce me to his family, consisting of his wife and three daughters, very good children; the eldest was nine years old, his only son was a cadet in the military school at West Point. The house in which he resides at Putnam is at some distance from his store, is two stories high, built of brick with a stone porch; in front of the house is a space planted with trees and flowers separated from the street by an iron railing with large stone posts. In the rear of the house is a kitchen garden and orchard; the house is very convenient and furnished with taste and well-directed luxury. All this was interesting to me, because I heard from Mr. Buckingham that twenty-nine years since, he emigrated as a poor man from the state of New York to that wild country, and on the spot where his property now stands he had himself felled the trees, and built a log-house in which he lived several years; he owes his welfare to his integrity, his industry, and economy. In his business, he informed me money was a rare thing, which he seldom saw; the greatest number of persons who buy articles from his store, pay for them in corn, beef, lard, corn meal, vegetables, fruits, &c. This is, however, the case with most of the stores in the western states, and give the merchants considerable trouble to sell them. I accompanied Mr. Buckingham and family to the Presbyterian church in Zanesville, a large brick building, which was very full and very warm. I understood very little of the sermon; the singing was excellent, without organ or any musical accompaniment. In the centre of the church was a long table, as a greater part of the congregation were communicants. Mr. Buckingham and family partook of this religious rite. I took a walk through the town, and visited a second bridge crossing the Muskingum, situated above the first; this bridge is more ancient than the first, and likewise rests on five stone piers; it is covered and made of wood, but badly constructed and in a decayed condition. It does not run in a straight line, but forms an obtuse angle, in order to reach a point of land which is produced by the union of the Licking with the Muskingum, from this angle of the bridge, another begins, which goes towards the point of land; this is not roofed; this bridge leads to the Newark road, meanwhile the covered branch is directed to the New Lancaster road. Since the construction of the better bridge below, the older one is very little used. The prospect from it over the Muskingum and Licking is very handsome. Both of them have, not far from their junction, high dams forming waterfalls, and on all the four shores mills for flour, oil and sawing. The Licking begins at the junction of three little rivers in Licking county, and has some falls above, where it unites with the Muskingum, which have been used for mills. At two o’clock we returned to our mail stage; the weather being very hot, we rode but twelve miles, to an insulated house called Dugan’s tavern, where we arrived between five and six o’clock, and met with tolerably good quarters. The country is woody and very hilly, the road was so bad that we had to stop frequently, and for this reason I again went the greatest part of the road on foot, in spite of the heat and dust; the next day we travelled in the same manner to Fairview, forty-eight miles distant, along a very hilly country, bad road, rocks, causeways, and so many rapid declivities, that we had to stop thirty times. We passed through Salt creek, Cambridge, Washington, and Frankfort. Salt creek lies on a small river of the same name, over which there is a bridge. Cambridge is a flourishing place of about seventy houses, on a height situated on Will’s creek, which is crossed by a plain wooden bridge of one hundred and seventy-five yards, which passes over a low meadow; this town is the chief place in Gurnsey county, and contains a court-house and several stores. We arrived on a court day, and the tavern was filled with lawyers. Will’s creek runs through many windings, about one hundred and fifty miles, and flows into the Muskingum; it is in some seasons navigable to Cambridge, in boats of seventy-five feet length. Washington and Frankfort are small places, of which nothing can be said. On the road, especially near dwelling houses, were several large open buildings constructed with beams to dry the yellow tobacco. The country is mostly covered with woods. The ground consists of yellow and red clay, &c.

Fairview, which we reached towards five o’clock in the evening, is a little place containing about twenty houses, most of them frame; it is situated on an elevation commanding an extensive prospect, whence it derives its name. We met here with part of the great national road which leads from Washington city to Wheeling, and is to be continued as far as St. Louis. It is a turnpike road, dug out six inches deep, and is covered six inches thick with small stones, having a ditch on each side; they were working slowly at it: Fairview is now at the end of the road.

On the 16th of May we left Fairview, in a beautiful starlight and warm night, and continued our journey sixty miles to Washington in Pennsylvania. The country was hilly. The two last villages we passed in the state of Ohio, were Morristown and St. Clairsville. Both places are small, but well situated on elevations, and surrounded with fields and orchards. St. Clairsville is the chief town of Bellmont county; it contains a court-house, jail, market-house, and printing-office, which issues a newspaper; also several stores. The houses are merely of wood. The nearer we approached to the Ohio, the handsomer was the country. Finally, we came to a romantic dale, through which flows in a serpentine direction a rivulet called Indian Wheeling, which joins the Ohio opposite Wheeling. We frequently rode along the new national turnpike road, on which they were working rapidly. This road carefully avoids the numerous hills, cuts through several of them, and has, where it is requisite, solid stone bridges. It was said that it would be finished in the autumn. When arrived at the Ohio, which runs between hilly shores, partly covered with woods, partly cultivated, twenty-nine miles from Fairview, we crossed over the river and arrived at a considerable woody island, and crossed the left arm in a horse-boat, which took us to Wheeling, a town containing two thousand inhabitants, built on a terrace along a steep and high hill. Thus we left the state of Ohio, an important and daily increasing state, which, with the exception of the bad roads, had pleased me very much. We entered the state of Virginia, of which a part runs like a wedge between the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Wheeling we took the stage on the great national road to Washington in Pennsylvania, which is twenty-nine miles distant. We soon ascended a high mountain, from the top of which we could discover on one side the beautiful valley of the Ohio, the woody mountains bordering the valley, and the town of Wheeling with its orchards and gardens on the other; a deep valley along which the Wheeling creek runs in a picturesque manner. The national road gradually descends this steep hill, forming the western border of the valley, continues in it and goes over a handsome stone bridge across Wheeling creek. A neighbouring family who profited considerably by the construction of the national road, have erected at the bridge a monument in honour of the secretary of state, (H. Clay,) who was the chief promoter of it in congress. This monument consists, as far as I could perceive in my hurry, of a statue of liberty, coarsely sculptured in sandstone, placed on a clumsy pedestal ornamented with inscriptions and bas relief. Monuments erected to living persons have always something suspicious; they generally exhibit that vile adulation to which the Dutch give a characteristic name.65 I was greatly surprised to find such sentiments in this country, and to see them tolerated. The national road, which is finished seven years ago, requires considerable repairs, or at least to be kept in better order. Since it has been finished nothing has been done to it. The tracks are deep, and the road is very rough. The stage we rode in was of the description made in the north-eastern states, which are the best and most convenient I had met with since October last year. We changed horses twice in West Alexandria and Claysville. We passed several little places through a well cultivated country, over some stone bridges of sumptuous construction. Fifteen miles from Wheeling we left the state of Virginia, and entered the state of Pennsylvania partly known to me, and which I now intended to cross from its western to its eastern extremity. We arrived at Washington at ten o’clock at night, and left there at one o’clock on the morning of the 17th of May, the weather being cloudy. Abandoning the national road, we turned to the left towards Pittsburgh, twenty-five miles from Washington. To Cannonsburg, a distance of seven miles, the road was tolerably good, but after this it became bad, and I was compelled, in conformity to my old custom, to walk a great part of the way.