THE COMING AND
GOING OF OHIO DROVING.
REV. I. F. KING, D. D.
[Mr. King about the year 1850 took three
droves, two of cattle and
one of sheep across the Allegheny
mountains. In doing this he walked
from Zanesville, Ohio, to eastern
Pennsylvania five times. On one trip
he came home by public conveyance. In
1851 the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad was only finished to
Clarksburg, West Virginia. This article
is an interesting description of a phase
of the business life in the early
half of the past century.- EDITOR.]
America having been discovered by
Europeans, it was
natural that emigrants should first
settle up the territory on our
Atlantic seaboard. The cities of Boston,
New York, Philadel-
phia and Baltimore were the first to
have a population numbered
by the hundreds of thousands. The states
adjacent to these
cities were the first in the Union to
develop their resources. As
these eastern cities grew, the greater
was the demand for meat.
Fresh meat, being very toothsome, the
call for it became more
general.
Soon the value of land on the Atlantic
slope became higher
and the price of grain went up and
consequently meats became
more costly.
At that time the forests of Ohio were
being cleared and the
rich primitive soil began to yield corn
at the rate, some times,
of one hundred bushels per acre. Then
the only easily reached
market for large lots of corn was New
Orleans. To send cargoes
to that city on flat boats was a tedious
process. The Ohio
farmer, learning of the demand for meat
in the eastern cities,
naturally turned his attention to stock
raising. Mr. George
Renick, of Ross county, was the first to
improve the breed of
cattle in the state, by getting an
English stock from Mr. Patton,
of Kentucky. Mr. Samuel Lutz, of
Pickaway county, in the
year 1822,
was the first to drive a large herd of fat
cattle to
Baltimore market. Some years after this
Mr. George Renick,
of Ross county, began to take stock
afoot from Ohio to New
(247)
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
York City. Naturally he followed the
Zane trace to Wheeling,
West Virginia. This occurred in 1833. In
a few years droving
became general.
One Daniel Drew, a tavernkeeper in New
York, estab-
lished himself at Bull's Head to give
entertainment to drovers.
His hostelry and stock yards became
quite popular to these mer-
chants of the West. Mr. Drew made a
fortune, and being a
Methodist he, at the close of his life,
gave $500,000.00 to en-
dow Drew Theological Seminary, now
located at Madison, New
Jersey.
Mr. Felix Renick, of Chillicothe,
conceived the idea of
stated stock sales in that city, which
began October 26th, 1835.
These continued for many years, and
greatly aided in dissemi-
nating throughout the state, the best
breeds of cattle. In 1856
the stock raisers of Madison county
began monthly stock sales
in London which continue to the present
day.
The transporting of cattle, horses,
sheep, and hogs, (indeed
in some cases turkeys) in droves from
Ohio and quite a num-
ber of other states, even as far west as
Missouri, continued un-
til the lines of railroads were ready
for use, connecting with the
eastern cities.
In the settlement of Ohio there was such
an abundance of
timber that fences were inexpensive and
we had in the state so
little prairie, that in stock raising,
we did not need herdsmen
as was needed in the following years in
states farther west, so
neither the Ohio drover nor his employe
was ever known by the
term "cow boy."
There were two grades of cattle driven
across the moun-
tains. Three year old steers called
"stock cattle" were taken
on foot to eastern Pennsylvania, where
farmers bought them
and "fed them out." And four year old bullocks, well fatted,
were also carefully driven from this
state and usually sold at
stock yards in eastern cities.
From Ohio to the eastern cities there
were three principal
routes. The northern route was by way of
Dunkirk, New York
State. From Dunkirk on to the eastern
market, at an earlier
date than which characterized any of the
other routes, the driv-
The Coming and Going of Ohio Droving. 249
ing ceased and shipment was made to the
coast by rail and I
think to some extent by canal.
Another route was that which crossed the
Ohio river-
by ferry-at Wellsville, and thence to
Philadelphia by way of
Pittsburg. Soon after railroads were
built west to Pittsburg,
it became a terminus for much of the
stock which came in from
the West, and finally this city became a
great live stock market.
The more southern route was through
Zanesville, O.,
Wheeling or Moundsville, Va., and thence
on either through
Bedford, Pa., to Philadelphia, or
through Cumberland, Md., to
Baltimore. It will be observed that
these three routes are now
substantially those of the New York
Central, the Pennsylvania
and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad
lines to the East.
During the summer and autumn, along
these lines of travel,
so many drovers passed that an observer,
a mile or more away,
could know of the passing of stock, for
far up in the air he could
see long moving lines of rising dust. In
the winter and early
spring the clay pikes became almost
impassable because of the
depth of the mud. And worse than that,
cattle naturally walk
abreast of each other, and soldier-like
they put their feet in the
tracks of the one in front, and in this
way great trenches were
made across the highway, which when the
clay dried became
almost impassable for carriages and
other vehicles. The condi-
tion of these roads in March and April
was worse than that
of the roughest "corduroy
bridges" we have ever encountered.
These "cattle billows" were
not confined to the low lands but
went over crag as well as fen. The
people whose homes were
located along "the drove
roads" bore patiently these discomforts,
for they wished for a market for their
stock and a means of sell-
ing, at home, their grain, hay and
pasture.
Along the "drove roads" soon
were established "drove
stands." Some of these were inns,
but more frequently, they
were large farm houses where drovers
obtained lodging and
board as well as provisions for the
stock they were transport-
ing. During the thirty years, beginning
with 1822,
when Ohio
droving began, it was a common thing for
corn to sell for twen-
ty-five cents per bushel or for
thirty-seven and a half cents per
shock. In that period cattle usually
could be bought in the
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
autumn for two or three cents per pound,
gross weight, and
hogs only a little above these figures.
A good fat sheep could
be bought for one dollar and a quarter,
and choice ones at two
dollars.
The owner or conductor of the drove was
known as "the
bess." These men, even on their
second trip across the moun-
tains, became familiar with all the
drove stands. And in their
minds these were all graded. No man
along the southern route
had such a good reputation as Mr.
Ezekiel Bundy, whose farm
house stood a few miles east of
Barnesville, Ohio. He set the
best table and furnished the best beds
to sleep in, of any of them,
and his bills were not higher than those
whose accommodations
were much inferior. Mr. Rex, whose home
was near Jefferson,
Pa., was a favorite place to stop over
the Sabbath.
Seldom were there less than one hundred
cattle in a drove,
and not often much over two hundred in
the largest droves.
When fat cattle were driven, it was not
unusual to have the
drove accompanied with as many or even
more stock hogs. In
such cases the hogs cost little in the
way of grain, for they con-
sumed the corn that the cattle wasted.
When hogs were taken
with cattle the journey took about a
week longer. Droves of
horses would average twenty-two miles
per day, stock cattle nine
miles, fat cattle seven, and cattle with
hogs not quite so many
miles per day. The crew to take care of
a drove of cattle con-
sisted of a boss who rode on horseback seated
on a pair of sad-
dle-bags which contained a change of
linen for himself and the
men who were afoot. On his saddle pad
was a roll of extra gar-
ments, for use by the crew in stormy
weather. Of course he
was armed with a good "black
snake" whip. In large droves,
a second man was also mounted in the
same manner as the boss.
He too, had in his hand a Centerville
whip. A harnessmaker
in a little Ohio village called
Centerville, in Belmont county,
was known to all southern route drovers
to make the best whips
and sell them at reasonable prices.
These whips had linen or
silken crackers and when used by a man
who knew how, would
make a report like the firing of a
rifle. This extra man on
horseback was needed to keep the stock
in place when passing
through forests, and when the drove
passed intersecting roads
The Coming and Going of Ohio
Droving. 251
and streets. With cattle there was a man
on foot leading an
ox by a rope, attached to his horns. For
the reader will please
note, that the art of dehorning was not
then in vogue. Not one
steer in fifty was a mulley. Soon after
going on the road the
other bullocks learned to follow the
lead ox.
In the rear of the drove, another man,
usually afoot, armed
also with a whip, which was well used on
belated and lazy steers.
At the luncheon hour the whole drove was
halted in some
well shaded lot, where perhaps every
bullock rested by lying
down, and happy was the crew that by any
means could supply
itself with a luncheon. While the cattle
were thus resting, it
was the custom for the boss to ride rapidly
ahead and make ar-
rangements for pasture and food for man
and beast during the
night.
Drove hands, in those days, received
fifteen dollars per
month. And having reached the market
they usually walked
home again. It was a rule to allow 33
miles as a day's task.
Some swift walkers were able to make an
average of forty miles
per day. And in this way, in five days
he made an extra half
dollar, plus another fifty cent piece
which he was allowed for a
day's meals and lodging. These men
traversed the same road
home that was used in going East, so as
to settle for stock left
accidently in the field, or that was
left because it became lame
or sick.
The men who kept drove stands could be relied upon
to care well for such stock and in the
end to pay a fair price for
such as were accidently left.
It often occurred that in passing over
macadamized roads,
and indeed over other roads which were
rocky, that the bul-
locks feet became tender, and soon the
animal became lame,
and shoeing was a necessity. Along such
highways were lo-
cated blacksmiths who had stalls and
machinery to lift the steer
off his feet, so he could be shod and
thus prepared to finish the
journey.
At that period bridge tolls and ferry
fees were high. For
this reason, and because in many cases
there were no bridges,
it was not unusual in crossing the large
rivers to put the lead
ox and some ten more bullocks on a ferry
boat, and these be-
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
came leaders, and the balance of the
drove by a little coercing
were made to follow by swimming the
river.
In seasons of the year when it was
necessary to feed corn
it was the custom to use that which was
in the shock, throw it
on a wagon, and go to the feed lot and
while the wagon was
moving toss off the corn until the wagon
was empty. When
the corn was in the ear, men with scoop
shovels threw off, while
the wagon was moving. This required no
little skill and trained
muscle.
We have already stated that the price
paid the stock raiser
was low, but the drover did not always
make money, for it took
some forty or fifty days to reach the
market, and in that time
there might be great fluctuation. To
wait in the East for a
better market was to be at no little
expense, for grain and pas-
ture then in the East was much higher in
price than in Ohio.
It was not uncommon for the drover to be
met by specula-
tors some three or four days' journey
from the market. These
were men who were good judges of stock
and they knew well
how the market was supplied and how
prices ruled. To a great
extent they had the advantage of the
drover, who did not have
access to a daily market report, only as
he might interview re-
turning drovers.
These speculators made money more
rapidly and surely
than the drover. At the same time the
Ohio drover usually
made money. Often his profit was a
handsome sum, and the
result of other trips was a great loss.
That it was mostly a
lucrative business will be manifest when
we remember that
Michael Sullivant, of Franklin county,
Wesley Claypool and
Andrew Peters, of Fairfield county, John
Boggs and R. R. Sey-
more, of Ross county, and Isaac Funk, of
Madison county, were
engaged in this business. It would be
difficult to find six men
who lived contemporaneously and were
engaged in other call-
ings who excelled them in accumulating
handsome fortunes.
The last named man, Mr. Isaac Funk,
began business on
farms in the southern part of Madison
county, and in the early
forties sold his Ohio possessions and
removed to McLean
county, Illinois, where he purchased a
vast acreage and bought
The Coming and Going of Ohio
Droving. 253
and bred cattle by the thousands. His
death occurred in 1865.
Before his demise he was known as
"The Cattle King."
These cattle feeders were so prodigal in
the use of grain
in their field lots, that wild pigeons
by the hundred thousand
came as gleaners. These birds had their
roosts in the low lands,
such as that now covered by the Buckeye
Lake. Nets were
laid and traps set for them, and they
were caught by the thou-
sands and sold, sometimes so low as six
cents per dozen.
The names of some men who spent the best
of their days as
live stock raisers and drovers in this
state are as follows: Wil-
liam Williams and Stephen Cunningham of
Perry county, Jede-
diah Allen of Fairfield county, William
Renick of Pickaway
county, A. Renick, Mack Baker and James
Caldwell of Ross
county, and Mr. John F. Chenowith of
Madison county, were
among those who earned comfortable
fortunes in this business.
Now in the state there are but a few
large herds and when they
are ready for market, they are taken to
the nearest railroad
station and shipped East in car-load
lots. Even a greater
change than this has taken place, cities
500 miles west of Ohio
are leaders in the live stock market. To
such cities as Chicago
and Kansas City the railroads bring in
the most of the live stock
raised in our country, and there it is
slaughtered and put in
cold storage, where it is kept, and at
the pleasure of the mer-
chant it is shipped in refrigerator cars
to the best market.
From our brief recital, it will be seen
that business men in
our state who were in their prime in the
early fifties saw the
coming and going of Ohio droving. And
now in the early
part of the twentieth century there are
some old citizens whose
memory encompasses the same interesting
period in the history
of the state.
Columbus, Ohio.