Public School, Granville Ohio. ness as transacted and an adjournment was taken until the first Monday in February, 1808; but no record of such adjourned meeting is found. The presumption is that it was never held, the business of the community being transacted by the civil authorities; and the Licking Company thus passing out of existence.       The early history of the town presents few characteristics not to be found in that of every western settlement. The pioneer story is much the same everywhere. The houses were made of logs, the windows of oiled paper, the seats and tables of puncheons, the chimneys of "cat and clay," and the furniture other than that mentioned, as well as the farming implements, of light, rude material. Whiskey was commonly used, and several distilleries were soon established to manufacture this necessity of the day. There was plenty of game in the woods, deer, bears, wolves, wild turkeys and much else to attract the hunter. The country was overrun with snakes of all sorts and conditions. The copperheads and rattlesnakes were the most dreaded. As a rule, the rattlesnakes were about four feet long, and the copperheads from eighteen to twenty inches. These reptiles were found by the springs, where plentiful where longs and stumps were overturned, and crept into the houses of the settles quite frequently. The snakes became such nuisances that a plan for their extermination was formulated. Two companies were organized, it being understood that the beaten party should furnish three gallons of whiskey for a frolic. The competition being stimulated by the prospect of securing this liquid refreshment, a very large number of snakes was destroyed. These competitive hunts were features of the period, one famous one securing as results one bear, three wolves, forty-nine deer, sixty or seventy turkeys, and one owl.       Far more suggestive than the little details of pioneer life are the changes which have taken place in the community during nearly a century of civic life. Here was a society which organized as a church in Massachusetts and made a settlement in Ohio in the wilderness. How long did that church maintain its efficiency? What ideas dominant among the people of the first generation have been preserved? What changes have taken place in the population? What elements of power which originated here have made themselves felt in other parts of the world? These and similar questions must be answered, if there is to be appreciated in full the influence of such a community in the making of the West, -- if, indeed, there is to be renewed belief in the tremendous impetus given to the great western states by the children of New England who have wandered far from the homes of their fathers.       As stated before, the Licking Company was a sort of close corporation, which welcomed new members only after election. For a long time this feature, which in a way restricted the population, was maintained by the church. As in old New England, dissenters found cold comfort when they came into a community where the Standing Order was all powerful, so in Granville for many years only those were cordially welcomed who were members or supporters of the first — page 112 — Beginning Previous Page | Next Page | Granville Page | Hampden County History & Genealogy |