AGRICULTURE-REVIEW OF CONDITIONS PRECEDENT--SITUATION IN PIONEER DAYS- EARLY TILLERS OF THE SOIL IN DELAWARE COUNTY-FARMING EXPERIENCES AND MANAGEMENT-IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY OF THE PAST-INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVEMENTS-FARM PRODUCTS AND HOW THEY WERE DISPOSED OF--MARKETS AND TRAFFICE TRANSPORTATION--INDUCEMENTS FOR IMPROVED THOROUGHFARES-CHANGES IN FARM STOCK-INCENTIVES TO GREATER IMPROVEMENTS- CONDITIONS SUBSEQUENT AND CONSEQUENT
AGRICULTURE is the most important branch of industry in the nation, since the greatest number of persons is employed therein. It would seem not amiss, therefore, that an article especially devoted thereto, should be found in this work. The surface of Delaware County is mostly level, inclined in some portions, however, to be rolling, nowhere hilly, though somewhat bluffy along the banks of streams, particularly the larger ones. In the level portions, drainage by ditching is essential to bring the soil into suitable condition for easy and profitable tillage, and much of this kind of work has already been done, while in some regions much more is needed. Ditches of considerable length, extending, in some instances, to a distance of several miles, have been made, to the very great advantage of all the localities concerned. Portions of farms too wet for occupancy have been rendered cultivation, and the land thus reclaimed proves to be of a superior quality. As to fertility, the soil compares very favorably with that of the adjoining counties, good and even bountiful crops having been produced from the very beginning.
The appliances used in farming were, at the first settlement of the county of a very simple and inexpensive sort. An old-fashioned breaking-plow, a single shovel-plow, a heavy hoe or two, a sled for hauling, an ax for chopping, and a maul and wedge for cleaving the giant logs asunder and a frow for splitting boards, an ox or two, or a horse, or perhaps a team and a rude harness, with now and them, but very seldom, a wagon, made up what was regarded as a very reasonable outfit for carrying on a farm in that early time. With these rude and scanty helps, the farmers contrived to work their grounds, and to care for and secure their crops. A scythe, indeed, for mowing, and a sickle for reaping, were needed; and a fork, often made from a forked limb, but hardly ever a rake, was employed in harvest time to move the small grain crops to the wagon or the sled, to be hauled thence to the log barn or the stack, for at that day, stacking wheat and oats and hay was a good enough method of disposing of those crops for security against the weather. And as for corn, the blessed "poor man's crop," that needed no caring for. It simply stood undisturbed on the stock until wanted for feeding, when it was pulled, thrown upon the sled, hauled to the stable and fed to the hungry horses or oxen. For years, this simple mode of farming prevailed more or less. Of course, some farmers were able to command better things from the beginning, but very many were poor and had to do as best they could, and men were contented therewith, for they raised or made nearly all that was needed for family use, which was enough, since there was no market, or next to none, and no roads to got anywhere on, and hardly any price for an article if it did happen to get to market.
The roads, indeed, were in a very primitive condition. At first, men drove through the woods, cutting out brush and poles when necessary; to admit the passage of the wagon; though, at first, there were, only paths, or "trails," for passing on foot on horseback. In fact, most of the locomotion was done in one or the other of these two ways, more frequently on foot; although lawyers, judges, etc., in traveling from county to county, went on horseback. And when actual roads, intended for traveling by wagons, began to be made, it was done simply by removing some of the largest trees, so as to give room for the wagon to pass, and building bridges, not merely over the streams, but across swamps also, of poles or logs laid crosswise of the track. Sometimes earth was thrown upon the bridge thus made, but oftener the poles or the logs were entirely bare. And the wagons would thump and bounce in passing over that wonderful highway. Occasionally a "railroad" was built; that is rails were taken for the road floor, instead of logs or poles, and that was far better than the other, because the surface of the track was made thereby comparatively smooth and even. But the regular backwoods "highways," made with logs, were simply "awful!" And Delaware County, in its early days, had enough of just such thoroughfares. In one of the counties of Central Ohio, a settler had, in the fall of 1841, two crops standing in the stack, one crop of corn on the stalk and another in the crib. When asked why he did not market his grain, he replied, "What's the use! Oats are only 6 cents a bushel at Columbus, forty-five miles away, and corn 10, and that will not pay for the hauling." And in this region things were even worse than that. Pork and grain had to be hauled to Cincinnati, and instances were frequent in which pork brought only $1.50 net in that market. Some of the early settlers of Wayne County tried in vain to sell as good wheat as ever grew for 12½ cents a bushel, to pay their taxes. And, as late as 1841 and 1843, cases have occurred where men have offered hogs netting two hundred pounds for $1.50, and could not get it. Hard times, it would seem! Yes, but not so hard, neither, as we now might think, for men (and women too) raised and made nearly everything needful for their use, and had little occasion to buy. Nails and salt were the chief things they could not make. Nails could be done without, for wooden pins could be used instead, but salt was a sine quanon, and had to be bought at any price; and sometimes, indeed, the prices were large enough.
This was surely "farming under difficulties." But the people could do no better, and all were in the mud together. And not a few, doubtless, who now rank high among their fellow-citizens, can look back to the time when their fathers, or perhaps themselves, managed in a rude and humble a way as has been described above. By the by, a desire for something better and more convenient began to possess the people, and slowly, very slowly, changes were made. The grain-cradle began to replace the sickle; the wagon to come where the sled had been; threshing with horses on the ground or on the barn floor, or with the "chaff-piler," was practiced instead of with the flail. Now and than a man got a fanning mill to clean his grain with instead of the big basket fan, or the sheet; the hominy-pounder and the hand-mill were laid aside, and after a while longer the flax-brake ceased to rattle, and the scotching-knife to flash, and the "shives" and tow-lint forgot to fly from the teeth of the "hackle;" the merry foot-wheel quit its humming, and the big spinning-wheel stopped its cheerful music; the pounding whack of the useful though ungainly loom no longer made the house to shake, and the hitherto constant "quill-wheel" and "winding-blades" vexed the urchin and half-grown lads and lasses no more. The old began to give place to the new, and memory now can scarcely recall those once familiar things, and hardly even a relic now remains of the worn-out and discarded past. The process of transformation and renewal has been slow and gradual. Half a century has been none too long to replace the quaint, uncouth and awkward old into the sharp, the brusque and the shining new. Many of the prime actors in this mighty transfiguration are still alive and active among us; or, if the early pioneers are gone, their children, brought to these forests, in early infancy or tender childhood or blushing youth, or born beneath the mighty shadow of the over-arching woods, are now the strong and vigorous men and women still pressing bravely forward in the work of improvement that their hardy fathers and mothers had so nobly begun. Not less remarkable and thorough has been the change that has taken place in the domestic animals in use throughout this region. "Scrub-stock" were the sort of cattle found in the woods and in the fields belonging to the settlers. Swine of the kind called "elm peelers," roamed through the forests around the clearings, and got fat more or less, according to the season, by rooting up the "mast" from underneath the bed of leaves universally clothing the surface of the ground.
Long ago, in Illinois, a man (perhaps from Ohio) was trying to sell an improved breed of hogs to a settler there. Said he, "They can scarcely run at all, they get so fat so easily and so quickly." "Can't run!" replied the astonished "Sucker," "I want no hogs that cannot run. They must make their own way, and a hog that cannot out-run a dog is not worth a snap." Whether the settlers of Delaware County prided themselves on the running qualities of their herds of swine is not know known. Certain it is, those, swine commended by the precocious "Sucker," could run with a vengeance.
In early times, herds of swine grew wild, and were the terror of persons passing alone through the forests. The settlers had to hunt swine down with dogs and shoot them as one would shoot bears or deer. Men would go out on horseback and range the woods to find the herds of swine, and, having found them and killed such as they wanted, would haul the dead bodies of the animals home to be dressed and packed away in rude troughs, made of huge logs hollowed out for the purpose. We have not been able to discover who has the honor of being the first to break the dull monotony of inferiority in these respects in Delaware, and to take the lead in that grand march of improvement which was destined to sweep away the rubbish of the olden time, and bring fully to pass the new and "more excellent way," on these essential, material things pertaining to the advantage of the people in these Western wilds, and to the permanent improvement and thorough development of this wondrous Western land.
Before leaving this branch, it ought to be mentioned, that, through Delaware County, and through what is now the thriving and beautiful city of Muncie, passed one of the great thoroughfares between the older East and the newer West; through Greenville, Ohio, Winchester, Muncie, Straw town, Indianapolis, and so on westward as far as pioneers had found their way toward the sunset, extended this route of travel. Crowds of settlers went struggling and plunging through the almost fathomless seas of mud, dragging their well nigh impossible way Westward, Westward, ever Westward.
And, in a few years after the regions of Indiana and Illinois had been settled and improved, the tide of travel turned, and droves of cattle began to pass on the same great thoroughfare, Eastward, Eastward, and ever eastward. To Ohio, across the mountains, and finally to Baltimore, to Philadelphia, to New York, and even to the far off Boston, would these drove, grown huge and immense, and sometimes almost unmanageable, ultimately find their way. And ever, as they passed from point to point on their plodding, toilsome progress, day after day, these hosts of hungry, weary animals had to have rest and water and pasture, and corn furnished them for their sustenance and comfort. And, all along this lengthened route of tedious travel were to be found men who had sett1ed and bought sometimes large tracts of land, and had prepared themselves to supply the wants, first of Westward-bound emigrants in the earlier time, and next of Eastward-bound drovers with their hundreds of cattle.
One of the earliest and most noted of these stations for the entertainment of travelers and of drovers in this region was the house and farm of Thomas Kirby, Esq., just east of the present town of Muncie. Mr. Kirby came to Delaware County a young man, from Massachusetts. He emigrated to Ohio about 1828, and to Delaware County about 1830, being married about 1832. He had been a fur trader and merchant for several years in Muncie and the region, and he bought up a large tract of land near there, embracing most of the present town site, and comprising about one thousand acres; and, about 1835, settled on his farm, where he resided most of the time till his death, in 1879. Mr. Kirby kept, not a general hotel, but what was then termed the "Drovers' Home." His extensive possessions in land enabled him to entertain the numerous droves of cattle and sheep, which in those days were constantly passing along that crowded thoroughfare. These drovers would be going, more or less, through the year, more especially in the fall, from September to December. Droves would hardly exceed two hundred head of cattle, for if a man were driving a much larger number he would divide the mass into two or more droves. Sheep would be passing all times in the year. A drove of cattle would employ from five to seven men. One man would walk and lead a steer in front, a man on horseback would bring up the rear, another horseman would ride ahead and arrange for accommodations as to pasture and feeding, and the others, on foot, would assist in driving the herds. They would generally make from ten to fifteen miles a day, or sometimes even less, if the cattle were fat. Some settlers near Chesterfield, Mr. Makepeace and Hon. David Kilgore, used also to keep and feed droves, about ten or twelve miles west of Muncie, and the drovers, with their cattle, would come the next day only to Mr. Kirby's.
Droves of cattle would quite frequently, perhaps generally, stop some time in Ohio to rest and feed up. Sometimes very fine cattle were to be found in these droves. Once, there were two that weighed about 4,000 pounds each. The whole drove was a splendid lot. The owner lost a large number of them afterward at some point east of this, by drowning in crossing a deep river. Mr. Kirby has kept as high as three droves of cattle, say 600, and one drove of sheep, 3,000, in one night. He has had 1,000 cattle on the farm in one day-morning and evening. The largest drove of sheep that ever passed, perhaps, was 6,000 in number. Now and then some homes and mules would pass along, but not often. The business of droving principally ceased with the commencement of railroad travel. Mr. Kirby had owned cattle to some extent before that time, but he then began to buy more extensively, and pasture and feed for himself, turning off in the fall from seventy-five to one hundred head. He kept hogs from the first. Cattle would, of course, make a great waste of corn when it was fed to them, and swine would pickup the scattered corn and prevent the waste. Sometimes he would have 150 to 200 head of porkers. He continued also to feed and fatten hogs. As much land as possible was kept in grass and hay, though he raised, also, much corn for his herds of animals, often buying more when his own raising was not enough. In early times, also, he did something for the improvement of stock, though not very much. He sought the best he could find in the country, though he had little to do with improved stock. He carried on a dairy of from thirty to thirty-five cows for ten to twelve years, beginning about 1859, and dealing chiefly in milk and cheese. At his death, he still owned about 600 acres of land. His youngest son, George Kirby, continues the business of cattle pasturing and feeding, owning cattle both at home and in Kansas. He also feeds hogs to a considerable extent.
Marcus C. Smith, son of Hon. O. H. Smith, famous in the early history of Indiana, came to this county in 1847, and engaged largely in stock-buying, both hogs and cattle. Both of these were then cheap. Large three-year-old steers could be bought for $11, and hogs, $1.25 net, per hundred. Mr. Smith once sold 150 hogs of his own feeding, at Cincinnati, for 2 cents gross. At another time, Jacob Sheimer, at Chesterfield, bought large quantities of pork at $1.25 net, and broke up at it. Mr. Smith used sometimes to drive 500 head of hogs at once-a large drove then. Among the first events in the process of the improvement of stock in Delaware County may be mentioned the passage of a Westward-bound herd of Durham full-bloods, and the fact that a very splendid Durham cow of this herd becoming unable to travel, Mr. Volney Wilson, then and now a resident of Muncie, bought her at a low rate and sold her afterward to Hon. David Kilgore, for $110. Mr. K. was offered (but refused) $150 for the calf (a mare). From this stock a considerable improvement arose. Samuel Davis and Noah Bowers, of Salem Township, were extensive stock-breeders in early times. Mr. Davis is so now. Mr. Bowers is dead, but his son still deals in full-blooded breeding stock. In 1850, Marcus C. Smith and Jacob W. Miller bought two full-blooded Durham males (yearlings) from Wayne County, which were kept for several years. Among the first breeds of improved swine introduced into the county, may be named the Black Berkshires. Mr. Volney Willson had them in 1843. Judge John Tomlinson, of Salem Township, introduced the Black Berkshires there in 1845, and owned them in considerable numbers. James McKimmey, in the same township, brought in the White Poland-China stack, an excellent breed, with long bodies and short legs. They will grow large, and fatten at any age. These were thought a great improvement, and came to be extensively raised.
Ross Brothers have long been prominent stockmen. They were raised in the county, and are among the oldest settlers. They deal in blooded hogs, and sell all over the State, and elsewhere, also. They have a splendid stock of the best varieties-Berkshires, Poland-Chinas, Chester Whites, etc. Andrew Martin, Thomas W. Tuttle and others are also engaged in the same way. Samuel W. Parkison, near York-town, breeds Jersey Reds somewhat extensively.
William Sharp, in Salem Township; Thompson Sharp, in Washington Township; Samuel Davis, already named; William Adsit, of Union Township; Joseph S. Buckles, Esq.; Volney Willson, Esq.; John A. Willson, Hamilton Brothers, Messrs. Ginn and Nixon, Mrs. Samuel J Williams, Jacob H. Wysor, George Kirby, Samuel Sunderland, Jefferson Claypool, Messrs. Reese, Perry Township; Josiah Cramer, Messrs. Keesling, Edward C. Anthony, Jesse W. McKimmey, Messrs. Meeks, in addition to those named, are large land-holders and heavy stock-owners or dealers, or both. Most of them raise large quantities of cattle or hogs, or both. E. C. Anthony is a very extensive land-holder, and deals largely in stock, shipping horses to Florida and elsewhere. Many of the persons named are exhibitors of stock at fairs. Among such may be named Messrs. Ross, Tuttle, Martin, and Davis. Messrs. Sharp, Mc-Kimmey, Samuel Davis, County Commissioner of Delaware County, William Sharp, S. B. Skinner, George H. Davidson, and perhaps others, are prominent among the dealers in blooded cattle.
The Ross Brothers are especially noted as handling improved varieties of swine. Meeks Brothers and John R. Mason are extensive shippers of livestock. Samuel Davis and Messrs. Ross have been noted for raising very large swine. Mr. Davis not seldom sells hogs weighing 400 to 500 pounds. Mr. Ross has exhibited at fairs those weighing 800 pounds. Among the most prominent stockbreeders, not residents of this county, but adjacent thereto, we notice Thomas J. Willhoyt, Esq., living in Henry County, near the Delaware County line, who has the largest stock in this section of the country. He takes great pains with his cattle, and his herds are exceedingly fine. He sometimes exhibits in two places at once, say at Cincinnati and at Chicago. He has been engaged in this business many years, and enjoys a fine reputation far and near: The movement as to horses and sheep has not been of so marked a nature, still the horses of Delaware County are good; and there is much fine blooded stock owned here. (Page 61)