Ohio History Journal

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FORT GREEVILLE TRADITIONS

FORT GREEVILLE TRADITIONS.

 

 

 

JAMES OLIVER ARNOLD.

Four walls of wood growth of hickory, walnut, oak, ash and

elm, mingled with maples and undergrowth, so dense that a horse-

man could not pass; so tall that its shade cast a gloom about;

and between these walls a clearing and military fort. Beyond,

another clearing and a cabin built of logs, lighted by a little win-

dow. The heavy oaken door swung on wooden hinges; the curl-

ing smoke from the chimney, made of lath, grass and clay; and

"the latch string out," bid welcome to the guest without; an in-

vitation to enjoy the open fire and the hospitalities of the host. A

veritable, typical home of the pioneer in the County of Darke, in

the Village of Greenville, O. "A U. S. military fort," in the lat-

ter days of the 17th century, where General Wayne bid the In-

dians all adieu.

The military engineers then laid their roads on the "high

ways" above the lowlands, swamps and fallen timber, and so nar-

row that the wheels of the conestoga wagons would touch the

undergrowth and trees in passing to the fort. Through lands so

wet and ruts and mud so deep that to ride the saddle horse of the

team, and the family on horseback, in the trail was a lullaby in

comparison to the rocking, jolting wagons that sheltered the

mother and her babes on their journey to the clearing in the for-

est wild. Grandfather Hardman (Herdman) of Pennsylvania,

his heroic wife and two sons, one son and his wife Mary, and her

babe, were the pioneers in such a home. True to family tradi-

tion, often told in later years, that made the small boy tremble

with fear as he heard it before the great open fire in the home yet

standing in Dayton View, there were related the stories of the

hostile Indians, who were jealous of their rights, and would have

scalped the family long before but for the mother, Mary Hard-

man, who knew their habits from a child and her mother's way

of pleasing them by "putting the kettle on" to make them soups

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