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Ohio, as a State, is renowned as an agricultural
section. Its variety, quality and quantity of productions cannot be surpassed
by any State in the Union. Its commercial importance ranks proudly in
the galaxy of opulent and industrious States composing this Union. Her
natural resources are prolific, and all improvements which could be instituted
by the ingenuity of mankind have been added.
From a quarter to a third of its area is hilly and broken. About the
headwaters of the Muskingum and Scioto, and between the Scioto and the
two Miami Rivers, are wide prairies; some of them are elevated and dry,
with fertile soil, although they are frequently termed "barrens."
In other parts, they are low and marshy, producing coarse, rank grass,
which grows to a height of five feet in some places.
The State is most fortunate in timber wealth, having large quantities
of black walnut, oak of different varieties, maple, hickory, birch, several
kinds of
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beech, poplar, sycamore, papaw, several kinds of ash, cherry,
whitewood and buckeye.
The summers are usually warm, and the winters are mild, considering the
latitude of the State. Near Lake Erie, the winters are severe, corresponding
with sections in a line with that locality. Snow falls in sufficient quantities
in the northern part to afford several weeks of fine sleighing. In the
southern portion, the snowstorms are not frequent, and the fall rarely
remains long on the ground.
The climate is generally healthy, with the exception of small tracts
lying near the marshes and stagnant waters.
The Ohio River washes the southern border of the State, and is navigable
for steamboats of a large size, the entire length of its course. From
Pittsburgh to its mouth, measuring it meanderings, it is 908 miles long.
Its current is gentle, having no falls except at Louisville, Ky., where
the descent is twenty-two and a half feet in two miles. A canal obviates
this obstruction.
The Muskingum is the largest river that flows entirely within the State.
It is formed by the junction of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers,
and enters the Ohio at Marietta One hundred miles of its length is navigable.
The Scioto is the second river in magnitude, is about 200 miles long,
and flows into the Ohio at Portsmouth. It affords navigation 130 miles
of its length. The Great Miami is a rapid river, in the western part of
the State, and is 100 miles long. The Little Miami is seventy miles in
length, and enters the Ohio seven miles from Cincinnati.
The Maumee rises in Indiana, flows through the northwestern part of the
State, and enters Lake Erie at Maumee Bay. It affords navigation as far
as Perrysburg, eighteen miles from the lake, and above the rapids, it
is again navigable.
The Sandusky rises in the northern part of the State, is eighty miles
long, and flows into Lake Erie, via Sandusky Bay.
Lake Erie washes 150 miles of the northern boundary. The State has several
fine harbors, the Maumee and Sandusky Bays being the largest.
We have, in tracing the record of the earlier counties, given the educational
interests as exemplified by different institutions. We have also given
the canal system of the State, in previous pages. The Governor is elected
every two years, by the people. The Senators are chosen biennially, and
are apportioned according to the male population over twenty-one years
of age. The Judges of the Supreme and other courts are elected by the
joint ballot of the Legislature, for the term of seven years.
During the early settlement of Ohio, perfect social equality existed
among the settlers. The line of demarkation that was drawn was a separation
of the good from the bad. Log-rollings and cabin-raisings were mutual
affairs. Their sport usually consisted of shooting, rowing and hunting.
Hunting shirts and buckskin pants were in the fashion, while the women
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woven by their own hands. A common American cotton check
was considered a magnificent addition to one's toilet. In those times, however,
the material was $1 per yard, instead of the shilling of to-day. But five
yards was then a large "pattern, " instead of the twenty-five
of 1880. In cooking utensils, the pot, pan and frying-pan constituted an
elegant outfit. A few plain dishes were added for table use. Stools and
benches were the rule, although a few wealthy families indulged in splint-bottom
chairs. The cabin floors were rough, and in many cases the green sward formed
the carpet. Goods were very expensive, and flour was considered a great
luxury. Goods were brought by horses and mules from Detroit, or by wagon
from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and then down the Ohio. Coarse calicoes
were $1 per yard ; tea $2 to $3 per pound; coffee 75 cents; whisky, from
$1 to $2 per gallon, and salt, $5 to $6 per barrel. In those towns where
Indian trade constituted a desirable interest, a bottle was set at each
end of the counter—a gratuitous offering to their red friends. |