Ironton Register, Thursday, March 02, 1899
By H. Imes
Editor Register:
I have been interested in Grandpa Irwin’s early recollection of events in Lawrence County, Ohio. I believe he says his father settled there in 1827.
My father’s family, consisting of my mother, brothers, and sisters, arrived on Ohio soil in 1810, his father having died on the way from South Carolina, where they emigrated. Father was ten years old at that time.
My Grandpa Irwin saw the first steamboat that descended the Ohio river in 1811. I have heard him tell of the early settlers’ privations. There were no Indians to fight but wild beasts such as bears, wolves, and occasionally a panther, making it necessary to house all young stock at night and watch them closely during the day to ensure their safety.
They often pounded corn in a mortar, this being a hole rounded out at the end of a block; and later on, some enterprising individual made a hand mill where the settlers would gather and wait their turn to run the mill by turning the crank by hand while their grist was ground, the owner of the mill taking a share of the corn for the use of the mill.
They first settled on Paddy Creek, but a few years later, they built a log cabin on the Low Gap between where uncle John Lynd lived on Buffalo, where some of his descendants still occupy the place, and where Archy Murphy lived on Solida.
Mr. Moore now owns this place. There they lived for several years and enjoyed all of the ups and downs of frontier life. Burlington, the first county seat, was in its infancy. Schools were a very rare thing for many years.
Mail facilities were very limited. When a person was lucky enough to receive a letter, the postage was 25 cents—paid by the addressee. The first representative to the legislature went across the country on horseback, and their constituents hardly heard from them until their return after the session was ended.
My first recollection was at a house raising of my father’s, just across the branch from where Mr. Moore lives on the head of Solida. After the raising, some of the men got into a quarrel, and someone struck Tom W. Ross with a club, and he was unconscious until about midnight. This was about 1839. I was then about five years old.
In 1840, my father built a cabin on the head of Charley Creek. That year I had my first recollection of a political campaign. Harrison and Van Buren were the candidates, and I think it was as exciting a campaign as I have ever experienced. I may later tell of my early school experience and how the boys and girls of those days had their recreation with their limited means and many disadvantages.
H. Imes
Imes, Kansas
Feb. 25, 1899
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