Stories of Early German Settlers

Ross County Ohio

OHGenWeb NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations.

Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. 

This file was contributed for use in the OHGenWeb Ross County

From article Die Deutschen Pioniere des Scioto-Thales published in Der Deutsche Pioniere, a monthly magazine published by the Deutsche Pioniereverein.  This is a source of information often relied on for the early history of the Germans in the United States. It  is a German-language periodical, Der Deutsche Pioniere, which was published in Cincinnati from 1869 to 1887. This series of articles ran in 1875 under the above referenced title and has proved, however, to be at times untrustworthy.  For instance, in reference to the War of 1812-14 passage used by Albert B. Faust in The German Element in the United States (Boston, 1909), I, 423-424, the information given has been published in other sources to be incorrect. But, I still felt it to be a valuable resource for tracking your Ross County German Ancestors. 

__________________________

A Tale of Rufner's Alarm

Georg RUFNER, a companion of Ludwig WETZEL, whose parents were among the first settlers near Wheeling, VA came
here to make permanent settlement in 1798. He bought a farm on the shore of Paint Creek near Chillicothe. The foundation of his blockhouse is still visible; he was a fearless man and clever hunter; he hated the Indians. He served with Generals St. Clair and Wayne in 1791-1792 as a spy and thereafter moved to the waters of Mohican Creek in Ross County. Some days after the burning of Greentown, Ludwig WETZEL, Jaky HUGHES, and Georg RUFNER came under suspicion; some Indians were seen near Mohican Lake by little Billy BUNTY who attempted to run away, but the Indians called for him to stop. The Indians asked him if he knew of a SEYMOR family, and Bunty said he did. He was then asked whether he knew a man named Rufner. [There follows a tale of Rufner's alarm and that of young Philipp SEYMOR and his sister Kaethchen, and a subsequent Indian attack in which Rufner and Kaetchen Seymoor were killed. Near the end of the War of 1812 Philipp Seymor encountered and killed the Indian named KANOTCHEY who had killed his sister.]
 

Two Hunters David BOLOUS (BOLAUS) & Friedrich BEHRLE
 

Two other "Indian killers," both Germans, should be named; David BOLOUS (BOLAUS) came to Ohio Territory
in 1789 with WETZEL and BILDERBACH. After an unlucky love affair, Bolous left the settlements east of the Ohio and lived for a time in the caves of Hocking Valley, where he supported himself by hunting. He sold skins and furs at trading stations on the Ohio.

In 1791 he accompanied St. Clair as a scout during the Tatter's expedition against the Indians and was captured and threatened with death. Wayne's treaty in 1795 allowed him to go free, whereupon Bolous came to his uncle, Daniel KERSCHNER, who was living on Paint Creek, where Bolous remained until the fall of 1790. During this time he built a blockhouse on Salt Creek, where he died in 1802. Bolous claimed to have killed 96 bears, 73 wolves, 43 panthers, and
over a dozen Indians, a very good score for a hunter.  However, this record shrinks when compared with that
of his Pennsylvania German comrade Friedrich BEHRLE (Putnam called him BERLEY). He was surely the most important hunter in the history of the West. He was the first scout during the so-called Lord Dunmore's War (1774). He was also active as a scout in the West during the American Revolution, as well as in the Indian wars of 1781. 

He was usually in the company of well-known Indian fighters, scouts, and spies. Simon KENTON, Daniel BOONE. Jaky HUGHES, --WOLF, -- BOGGS, — STONER. and -- WETZEL. Behrle was captured by the Indians three times and had to run the gauntlet at Sandusky, Squaw Town, and Old Chillicothe. He was much respected by woodsmen and early settlers and, when he died in his cabin on Mohican Creek at the age of 103 years, his neighbors erected a simple but lasting monument which still commemorates the deeds of this brave German hunter.

Early German Settlers of Green Twp

In Green Township there were the following settlers with German names: Johann SACHSE, Bernard MARK,
Wilhelm DRIESBACH, Johannes LIEBERIG, Jakob and Johannes SAILER, Georg FREIBERG, Dr. Eduard OSTRANDER (the first doctor in the township), the brothers BUSCH, J. BRINK. Jakob LUEDING, D. STARK, Johann SCHNEIDER, B. MIDSCHER, Johann DIRESBACH, Martin KRUEGER, and Jakob WAGNER.

The leader of the party, who came in 1796, was Philipp WOLF. He had been a scout during the Revolutionary War. When the settlement of western Pennsylvania began, he organized a party of thirty families in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, which came in wagons across the mountains and made a halt here. Captain Wolf, as he was called, located on Cannon Creek at the place where Colonel Lewis had made camp in 1774 and had refused to follow Dunmore. Two years ago [1873?] Rebecca WOLF, who was 11 years old when her father settled here, died at an advanced age. She recounted many of the details of the old settlers, Richard HODDY, an old Indian fighter and scout who had formerly lived at Harper's Ferry, had come with her father. (Footnote: It is not known whether he was a German or of German ancestry.) On his farm on Paint Creek the first territorial legislature had met in 1797 in the shade of a mighty sycamore tree. Richard Hoddy built the first sawmill in the Scioto Valley at the falls of Paint Creek. After his father's death,
his son Robert HODDY built the first distillery. An uncle of Miss Rebecca Wolf was Captain Peter WOLFF
[so spelled], nicknamed "Rocky Mountain" because he had accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition to the
Rockies. He had been a scout in the campaign with Clark and Crawford in 1782-1783 and in that of Generals Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne. He lived for over sixty years in a 6' x 10' blockhouse which he built in Paint Creek Valley, using it as a base for his hunting forays. Finley wrote in his records that "Peter WOLF [so spelled] was a pleasant and happy
man. He was proverbial for his honesty but very slovenly in dress." When Wolff became old, the neighbors provided him with groceries, which he accepted courteously. He never married, as he had been disappointed in his first love affair, and lived as a
hermit. In later years he became an active political participant and never failed to vote. He died at the age of 96 years in his cabin; his loyal dog was the only witness. He was buried, according to his wishes, on the hill behind his house overlooking
Paint Creek Valley. A number of years ago, his friends transported his remains to the Bush Church cemetery and erected a simple stone to mark the grave where "the 'Rocky Mountain' hermit rests."