Brian Sackett sent me photocopies of the pages containing these reminiscences of Jonathan Y. Sackett: PUTNAM COUNTY Pioneer Reminiscences NUMBER ONE Containing the Proceedings of the ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION, TOGETHER WITH THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS, A LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION AND REMINISCENCES, Furnished by Members, to Secretary, up to AUGUST 15, A. D. 1878. ------------- Ottawa, Ohio George D. Kinder, Printer 1878. Page 45 J. Y. SACKETT, Born in Fairfield county, Ohio, May 8th, A. D. 1804. Settled in Riley township in the Fall of A. D. 1833. I married and came out here with a four-horse team in the fall of 1833. I drove the first four or two-horse team ever driven up Riley Creek as far as my land, near Bluffton. Killed two deer on my way up the creek. Built an open front camp and stayed there alone six weeks, and put up a cabin- house. Messrs. Nicewarner, Gray, Sigafoos and John Stout, and perhaps a few others, came out that year. Mr John Stout began to prepare to build a mill. He got a large niggerhead stone, rounded it off and drove a number of steel wedges in it to split it open, but it wouldn't split. He told me all his prospects for a mill was gone. He said he had no money to buy burrs to grind with, nor even to buy more wedges to drive into the stone, and he seemed to be in much trouble about it, and advised with me what to do. But I could not advise to any good. He quit and gave it up for a bad job. He left the stone with the thinnest side up, where the wedges were driven in. A short time afterwards a shower of rain came on. After the shower we went out to the stone to find it had split in two, the rain having swelled the stone where the wedges had been driven in. He rejoiced greatly over his good fortune, and said we should now have a mill. And he did fulfill his promise. It was the only mill we had for years, and it did good service. These same stones are yet on Riley Creek, and should be preserved and kept as a memento of early life in Putnam county. One of them is used as a weight on a cider-press, just below Crones' mill, near Pendleton. The other is between the cider-press and Crone's mill on the bank of Riley Creek. This mill was a great advantage to the first settlers on Riley Creek, for previous to this many persons had to grind all their bread-stuff by hand, on hand-mills. After working hard all day, they would take a bushel of corn and at night go from one to three miles to a hand mill to grind meal for the next day. THE NAME OF RILEY CREEK This stream was called by the Indians "Big Tawa." Its present name was given it by Riley, and his company, who were here to survey this Indian reservation. He (Riley) was a son of old Cap- tain Riley, of whom history gives some striking narratives. Young Riley gave me a brief history of the way the name of this creek came to be changed, which was as follows: When they were surveying the Page 46 north line of section 36, in Ottawa township, where it crosses the creek, he attempted to cross the stream on some drift, and in doing so he fell in and lost his Jacob staff and could not find it. He had to quit and go home until he could repair his loss. He had to make one himself, as there was none to be had nearer than Philadelphia. This same noddle o his staff is somewhere in the north in use yet. From this incident the company called the stream Riley Creek. INCONVENIENCES IN NEW COUNTRIES. In 1834 I attended the Ottawa sales on the 3d day of July. The water was very high -- the streams all out of their banks and over the bottoms. Mr. Abraham Hardeu took me across the Blanchard in a hog trough, where the river was then about half a mile wide. I had to lay down on my back in the bottom of the trough while he sat at one end and paddled it over. We landed just about the mouth of a large run which then covered the road for one-fourth of a mile, swam over, and stayed all day at the sale in wet clothes. In the evening Dick Carson bantered the company, which consisted of about eight or ten hundred persons, that he could throw down, whip, or out run any man on the ground. Some one that knew me took the bet that I could out run him. We run and I beat him. In 1835 I sold the land that I first entered and bought the land I now live on, of Frederick A. Shafer, of Lancaster, Ohio. I cut the first stick of timber, by of improving it, that was ever cut. I moved on my land in September, 1836, and here has been my resi- dence ever since. CRUELTY BY SAVAGE CUSTOM. A certain man bought the land where the Indians had buried some of their dead, and in clearing his land the Indians said he burnt the bones and robbed the graves of the relics that were buried with them. One among them, known by the nick-name of Devil Jim, threatened his life. The man became alarmed and left the country. Shortly after he left the old chief of the Ottawa tribe died. Devil Jim and two others had equal claims to the chiefship. The tribe met to decide which one should be chief, and they chose one of the other two. This offended Devil Jim, and, taking his knife in hand, he walked up to the chief and stabbed him, ripping open his abdomen so that his entrals fell out, exclaiming that he would see who would be chief. He never attempted to escape. The tribe met and held council about what should be done with Jim. They decided that the other one, who was heir to the chiefship, should kill him at a given time. They met at the appointed time. The executioner took the fatal knife in Page 47 hand and commenced stabbing Jim, however without much effect. Jim damned him, that he did not know how to kill a man, and placing his hand on his left breast, told him to strike there. He obeyed, and Jim fell dead. The executioner was appointed chief, and soon after they left for their home in the West. HARD TIMES. A poor family was taken sick and had but little to live on. Soon they had to gather herbs and weeds along the river banks, and for two or three weeks they subsisted in this way. The neighbors, on learning of their destitution, gave them help. EARLY DAYS AT OUT COURTS. It generally took us one day to go to Kalida from where I now live. we usually went on foot and had to "coon" it, as it was then called, in order to keep o ut of the water and mud. We left the stable room for horses of men that lived at a greater distance than ourselves, and there was scarcely enough room to accommodate them. And their[sic] were not enough beds or sufficient bedding for near all who attended, so we amused ourselves at organizing and holding court at night. we would have many accusations against individuals and arraign and try them, and if found guilty, fine them. they would generally pay their fines. Our capital punishment was to drag a man down stairs, one holding him by the feet and pulling him down rapidly. Thurs we kept order and peace in our courts. NEIGHBORHOOD AMUSEMENTS. The men and boys would generally meet at some appointed place about every two or three weeks, on Saturday afternoon, to play base ball, wrestle and run foot races. We would throw all our hats to- gether, and one would pick out two of them, and the two persons owning the hats must run or wrestle, whichever we were engaged at. We would form a ring and these two would go in to wrestle. The one that threw the other would stay in the ring until he was thrown; or, if it was foot-racing, run until he was out run. I knew one of out company that always stayed in the ring the last one, and run the last foot-race with the last man. WILD GAME. Wild game was plenty in some parts of the county. There was a good many bear, deer and turkey. A good hunter could kill deer and turkey whenever he wanted to, which served as a great help to the first settlers in getting their meat.