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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY

By A. J. Baughman

CHAPTER XXIV

Bellville

The second settlement within the present limits of Richland county was made by James McCluer in 1808, where Bellville now stands.  He came in the autumn of that year, entered land and was later joined by Samuel and Thomas McCluer and Jonathan Oldfield.  After building a cabin, James McCluer returned to his family in Pickaway county for the winter, leaving the others to keep bachelor’s hall in the cabin on the Clearfork in the wilderness.  In the spring of 1809, James McCluer brought his family with him to the new home, and this date is generally given as the time the first settlement there was made.

Although James McCluer was the first settler where Bellville now stands and the locality was called the McCluer settlement, the town of Bellville was founded by Robert Bell, for whom it was names.

Upon the organization of the county in 1813 James McCluer was appointed an associate judge of the court of common pleas.  Under the first constitution of Ohio, there was a judge of the court of common pleas and two associate judges.  The presiding judge was a lawyer and the associates were to be taken from the people, and were called “lay members.”  Of this latter class was Judge McCluer and upon his appointment he sold his land at the “McCluer Settlement” to Robert Bell, who came from New Jersey, in 1816.  Mr. Bell proceeded to lay out a town and called it Bellville.

The town site was well chosen, situate in the fertile Clearfork valley, lying between the hills of the “divide”upon the north and the less abrupt elevations to the south.  Gushing from the hillsides are springs of living waters and down the valley a clear stream courses in graceful curves in its onward flow to the sea.

Macaulay, the great English historian, claimed that the history of a country is best told in the record of the lives of its people.  And in that way, this sketch will treat Bellville, instead of going to old records and taking fro their pages statistical matter that would interest but few readers; personal mentions will be given of those who were prominent in the village in the several generations through which it has passed from its founding up to and including those of today.

Judge McCluer was a surveyor, a judge of the court and a man of affairs.  After residing in Mansfield for a number of years, he removed to Leesville, Crawford county, where he died at an advanced age.  He was a kinsman of Henry C. McCluer, of South Main street, Mansfield.

Robert Bell made Bellville his home from its founding until his death.  Mrs. L. W. Severns, of Mansfield, and Mrs. J. H. Barrett, of Bellville, are descendants of Robert Bell.

In the mentions that follow, no particular attention will be given to chronological order.

Jonathan Oldfield, who assisted in building the McCluer cabin, became a resident of the county, and his marriage with Elizabeth McCluer was the first in the township.  The ceremony was performed by ‘Squire Coffinberry.  Mr. Oldfield was the father of Abner Oldfield of Jefferson township.

Richland Oldfield, Jonathan’s brother, came in 1810, and ever after made Richland county his home.  Aaron B. Leedy, who is now serving on the petit jury, married a daughter of this pioneer.  Both Jonathan and Richard Oldfield were respectable and honored citizens, were prosperous and lived to be aged.  Samuel McCluer and Thomas McCluer were also identified with the early settlement at Bellville.

The original plat of Bellville contained forty-eight lots and embraced the land between Main and Huron streets, and bounded on the north by Ogle and on the south by Durbin streets.  The first lot sold was to Enoch Ogle—lot No. 1—at the corner of Huron and Ogle streets.  Ogle built a house and opened a tavern—the first in the township.  Ogle was a prominent man there in his day, appreciated a good story and had a host of friends.  The blockhouse and the McCluer cabin antedated Ogle’s tavern, but the latter was the first building erected in the town proper after it was platted.

The next building put up was on lot No. 5, in which Richard Crawford conducted blacksmithing.

 Joseph Carter brought the first stock of merchandise to the place and occupied a room in Ogle’s tavern.

A postoffice was established Jan. 22, 1824, with Isaac Hoy as postmaster.  Prior to 1824, the residents of Bellville received their mail at Mansfield and the postage on a letter was twenty-five cents.

About the time the post office was established John Moody opened a store of general merchandise and by 1835 the town contained three stores.  John Moody owned a large farm north of the town and also owned and operated a grist mill and these industries enabled him to be of assistance to the people in the financial panic of 1837, and through the season of the drought of 1838.  These presented opportunities for usefulness which were met by the Rev. Mr. Moody in such charitable and philanthropic ways that his name comes down in history as the great benefactor of that period and generation.

Benjamin Jackson settled in Bellville in an early day and engaged in the mercantile business.  Later, he became an associate judge of the common pleas court.  He was the grandfather of James G. Bonar, of South Main street, Mansfield.

John Markey was a prominent citizen and leading merchant at Bellville for many years.

Frederick M. Fitting was a prominent business man and married a daughter of John Markey.  Mr. and Mrs. Fitting were the parents of Mrs. Jennie Shuter, of Bellville.

Dr. A. I. Beach was a leading physician at Bellville for many years.  He was born in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 16, 1804, and located in Bellville in 1826.  He married a daughter of Judge Jackson.  Dr. Beech was a brother of Moses Y. Beach, the founder of the New York Sun newspaper.

Other prominent physicians at Bellville were Dr. S. W. Ells, Dr. James C. Lee, Dr. J. M. Smith, Dr. B. Ridenour, Dr. N. D. Whitcomb and Dr. Thomas Austin.  Dr. Lee was a California “forty-niner,: and upon his return, found gold at Bellville in 1853.  Dr. Smith was the father of Mrs. B. F. Lantz, of Vennum Avenue, Mansfield.

The Methodists were the pioneers in the religious field and the Disciples, came a few years later.  The first house for worship was built by the Methodists in 1835.  Jonathan Oldfield and Robert Bell were prominent Methodists.  About the same time, John Moody built a house of worship for those who believed in the views proclaimed by Alexander Campbell. Capt. Joseph Johnson was a faithful member and officer of this church for many years.

In 1847 the Universalists organized a society at Bellville and built a church.  Among their leading members were Samuel Cutting and Richard Oldfield.  In 1838, the Presbyterians organized and later built a church.  Among their prominent members were Enoch French, John Lafferty, Philip Traxler and Mathew Geary.  About the same year a Lutheran congregation was organized two miles west of Bellville called Salem.  Some years ago the village members of the Salem congregation organized at Bellville and built a brick church building of modern architecture.  The late Rev. Mr. Ritz, the father of C. S. Ritz, of West Fourth street, Mansfield, organized the Salem society.  The Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterians have had organized congregations there, but they are now gone.  The church buildings are very creditable to the place, that of the Universalists’ being of stone.

The Rev. William Dowling was the pastor of the Disciple—now better known as Christian—church in the “forties.”  He was beloved by the community.  His son, William, is the editor and publisher of religious publications at St. Louis, Mo.  He pleasantly recalls his boyhood days at Bellville.

In the “thirties” a Frenchman named Light came to Bellville and engaged in the mercantile trade on the northwest corner of Main and Ogle streets, where he conducted business for a number of years.  He bought the “old yellow house” on the west side of the square, remodeled it as it stands today.  After having been there several years, he droped the name “Light,” and resumed his French name of LeBlond,” the meaning of the words being somewhat similar.  One of his sons—F. C. LeBlond—settled in Celina, Mercer county, and represented that district in the 38^th and 39^th congresses—1863-67.

James L. High, a son of the village blacksmith, became a leading lawyer in Chicago, and his legal writings gave him high range in his profession.

The first newspaper in Bellville was established in 1849 by A. Lauback, and was called the “Rainbow and Repository.”  Its publication was discontinued within the year.

After a long interval, the “Dollar Weekly” came in 1872 and was continued for a number of years.  It was published by James C. Potts, our present county surveyor.  In 1875, the “Richland Star” was started by the Garber brothers.  After some years, another paper, called the “Independent” was started.  In time, the Stare and Independent got out of the way for the Bellville Messenger” a six-column quarto, with James A. Price, as editor and proprietor.  The “Messenger: was established Dec. 8, 1892, and is recognized as one of the leading country papers in Ohio.  A sketch of the life of the man who has made a success in the newspaper field in a comparatively small town seems to be appropriate here.

James A. Price was born Feb. 11, 1817, and was reared on the farm which he now owns near Butler.  On the 20^th of May, 1864, he was apprenticed for three years to Lecky Harper, of the Mt. Vernon Banner, to learn the printing business.  After the expiration of his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman for a year of more; then went to Cincinnati and worked on the Enquirer four years.  Then to Pittsburg where he became identified with a job printing house, with which he remained ten years, filling the position of foreman.  The confidence and esteem in which Brother Price is held by the people of Jefferson township is shown and attested by the fact that he has held the office of justice of the peace for the past twelve or fifteen years.  The liberal patronage given the Messenger shows the high appreciation in which it is held by the public.

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CHAPTER XXX

Bellville—Concluded

In the continuation of sketches of Bellville and its citizens, those who served their country as soldiers in the war of the Rebellion should have prominent mention.

Capt. Miller Moody, a son of the Rev. John Moody, the philanthropist, was the captain of Company I, Sixteenth O. V. I, a company of “first-call troops” raised at Bellville at the outbreak of the civil war.  At the close of that term of service, he raised a company at Bellville for the Fifty-ninth New York infantry and became its captain.  He was in the bettle of Gettsyburg [sic], where he received wounds from which he died, after submitting to five amputations.  His remains were brought home and interred in the Bellville cemetery.  Capt. Moody was a graduate of Kenyon college, and had been a member of the Ohio legislature in 1849-50.  Captain Moody wore faultless broadcloth, and was of dignified bearing and courteous manners, but the poor and humble ever looked upon him as a friend.  He gave his life to his country, and who could do more!

Captain A. W. Loback was the first lieutenant of Captain Moody’s company of “first-call” troops.  In 1862, Comrade Loback raised a company at Bellville for the three years service, and went into the One Hundred and second O. V. I., and served until the close of the war.  Captain Loback is a loyal friend, a good neighbor, and took good care of his troops, and a braver soldier never “donned the blue.”

Captain D. W. Wilson, one of Bellville’s leading and enterprising citizens, always takes an interest in anything that promises to be a benefit to the community.  He was one of the first to volunteer when troops were called for at the beginning of the Civil war, and at the close of his term of service, re-enlisted for three years, and was in the service four years and three month—from the beginning of the war to its close—and returned as the captain of his company, with the good-will and confidence of his men.  The captain assisted in rebuilding the “burnt district” in Bellville, putting up four of the twelve fine sore rooms that line the west side of Main street in the business part of the town.  He has been president of the successful free street fairs for which Bellville has been noted, and is often selected to preside at army reunions and Fourth of July celebrations.  He is president of the Bellville society, which annually picnics at the Sherman-Heinman park, and is also president of the Miller Moody company association.  The captain was for over thirty-five years an officer in the government service at Washington, and has been influential in politics for many years.  He has often been a delegate to county, judicial, senatorial and state conventions, and in 1876 was elected to represent this congressional district as a delegate to the National convention at Cincinnati that nominated President Hayes.  He is a loyal friend, liberal and generous, and never forgets a kindness.

Captain H. N. Hamilton was an officer in the Fifty-ninth New York infantry, and served in the Army of the Potomac.

Lieutenant James Riddle was an officer in the Sixteenth O. V. I. in the three months’ service of 1861, and later entered the One Hundred and second, and lost his life in the service.

Lieutenant S. B. Donel was a member of Captain Miller Moody’s company in the Sixteenth O. V. I., and was the first man wounded in the regiment.  In 1862, he entered Captan A. W. Loback’s company of the One Hundred and served as a lieutenant, and served until the close of the war.  Comrade Donel made a good soldier, and enjoys recalling army reminiscences whenever he meets his old comrades-in-arms.

John B. Edwards served three years in company E, Thirty-second O. V. I., and deserves well of his countrymen.  He can look at both the serious and the humorous phasts [sic] of life, and is ever ready to give a comrade a helping hand.  He has been the commander of Miller Moody Post, G. A. R., for many years.

Caleb Grice, David Phelps, Robert Langan and Wilson Lafferty were also “first-call troops” under Captain Miller Moody.  The names of other soldiers may be recalled later.

The first justice of the peace was Michael Shuey, elected in 1818.  Since then there has been an unbroken succession, consisting, in part of ‘Squire Heath, ‘Squire Walsh, ‘Squire Clark, ‘Squire Howard, ‘Squire McIntire, ‘Squire McClure, ‘Squire James E. Howard and ‘Squire James A. Price.

Perry Walsh is a son of ‘Squire Walsh, and Mrs. Anna Brooks, of Mansfield, is a daughter of ‘Squire E. Clark, who was county recorder in 1866-71.

The first lawyer in Bellville was Prof. Wilcox, who had been a teacher in the high school, or the academy, as it was then called.  Teaching, however , was Prof. Wilcox’s vocation; the law, only an avocation, or side line.  Milo Cowan, a Bellville boy who is now a lawyer and banker in Missouri, married Miss Hettie Wilcox, the professor’s only daughter.

John Quincy Goss was a Bellville lawyer in the “fifties.”  He possessed literary attainments; was a contributor to the press and lecturer of some note.  He removed to Nebraska in 1859.

George C. Howard read law with Judge Bartley, but, being engaged in business pursuits, only practiced in lower courts.  Other lawyers have been located at Bellville for a time, but did not make it their permanent home.

There are two resident lawyers at Bellville at the present time—Clark B. Hines and Grant Aungst.

Clark B. Hines was born in Bellville, Feb. 6, 1860.  His father, the late B. F. Hines, married Mary J. Armstrong.  The latter is still living.  B. F. Hines was a successful business man and accumulated considerable property.  Clark B. Hines is a bachelor and lives with his mother in the home in which he was born.  Amid the refining influence of a home of plenty, young Hines was reared to manhood.  He attended the public schools at Bellville when he was a boy.  Later he was a pupil in the Mansfield high school, after which he took a college course at Cleveland.  Read law with Cummings & McBride.  Was admitted to the bar in 1897.  Mr. Hines has elegantly furnished office rooms, a good library and is a member of the American and International Law associations.  He owns a number of good farms, and his law practice is not confined to Richland, but takes in Knox and Morrow counties, as well.  Mr. Hines has been mayor Bellville, and as a boy and man has had the confidence of his fellow citizens.

John Morrow was a Bellville merchant for nearly a half-century.  He has been dead for a number of years, and the survivors of his family live elsewhere.

A. Ordway was engaged in the manufacturing and mercantile business for a number of years.  There are three surviving members of the family—two daughters and a son.  The former live in Michigan; the later, James T. Ordway, who was a soldier in the Civil war, married Captain Moody’s youngest daughter, and resides at Trenton, Mo.

Captain W. H. Weagley (deceased) was a school teacher and business man, and did a soldier’s duty in the war of the Rebellion.  He was the father of Mrs. Marion Douglass.

Albert L. Harrington was a hotel keeper in the stage days, and was later engaged in business pursuits.  He was the father of L. F. Harrington, of Washington, D. C., and of W. S. Harrington, , of Manseld [sic].

Jacob Sargent was engaged for many years in the boot and show business.  He was the father of C. D. Sargent and Mrs. Florence Comin and Mrs. A. L. Cameron, of Mansfield.

Mrs. M. M. Shedley, of Chicago Junction, the owner of the Hotel Shedley, was born and reared at Bellville.  Her son-in-law, Dr. lydy, and her son, Jay W. Shedley, also of Chicago Junction, formerly lived in Bellville.

Selah Dean, once a Bellville boy, now lives in Kansas.

David J. Rummell passed the latter years of his life in Bellville.  His son, O. B. Rummell, now owns the grist mill below Butler which his father built and operated for many years. 

David Beal has retired upon a well earned competence.

The Ditwiler brothers were born and reared in Bellville, where their father, John Ditwiler, was a merchant, and later the founder of a manufacturing plant in Mansfield.

C. H. Gurney was a railroad conductor for a number of years, and is now mayor of Bellville.

B. F. Thralikil, a former school teacher, is now a successful traveling salesman.

Charles Patterson was on upright man and a prominent Presbyterian.  He was the fathr of A. C. Patterson , of Mansfield.

W. H. Eiston is still in the tailoring business, as he has been for the past fifty years.

Hermon Farber, father of Olin M. Farber, is a hardware merchant, and a prominent, exemplary citizen.

John Weaver, the son of a pioneer, is the father-in-law of of [sic] Hon. Andrew Stevenson.

Patterson T. Gatton, commonly called “Pat,” started life as a poor boy.  He now owns a residence in town and a farm in the country.  He buys, ships and sells horses.  Pat is generous and obliging, and would do anything he could for a friend.  His father and brother, James, also deal in stock.

The late John Simpson conducted a grist mill at Bellville for several years.  He was the father of Mrs. Kelley, the wife of Dr. J. W. Kelley.

E. B. Switzer is a successful buyer and sipper of stock.  Switzer’s Run, the stream that courses down Pleasant Valley, by Green Gables, was named for Mr. Switzer’s great-grant father, Jacob Switzer.

Lee Gardner, the electric man, has lived in Bellville only a few years, but is in the front rank of its business man.

Irwin Fisher’s mother was a sister of the late Congressman Poppleton, of Delaware.

A Bellville ilustrated [sic] feature article will be given with  few weeks.

Bellville has had it “wet” and “dry” seasons.  It is now “wet,” and the question shall it so remain is again being agitated.  During one of its “dry” seasons saloon was opened in a building then owned by Adam Garn, up Deadman’s vlley, a mile north of the town.  This being outside of the village limits, the place was not amenable to municipal ordinances.  The place assumed the dual character of a saloon and hotel, and was called “Dew Drop Inn.”  A wag changed the sign to “Do Drop In.”  For short, it was usually called, “The Dew Drop,” and did a large business.  There are differences of opinion, of course, upon the temperance, as well as upon other questions.  One class asking for stringent laws; the other, believing in the Jeffersonian theory, that that government is best which governs least.

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CHAPTER XXLII

Bellville Gold Region

Several parties from Bellville have recently visited the gold region just north of Bellville, and the question is again asked, “Has gold been found there?”  Yes, it has been found there whenever sought for the past fifty years.  It was first discovered in 1853, by Dr. James C. Lee, then a returned Californian.  Dr. Lee was an upright citizen who made Bellville his home the greater part of his life.  The doctor owned a tract of land up Deadman’s run, in the “Dew Drop” locality, and in that ravine, he found gold, as others have, there and elsewhere, from time to time, or rather whenever the precious metal was sought for.

The discovery of gold in that region caused considerable excitement at first and returned miners visited the place and prospected for “color,” which they found in nearly every pan of dirt.  Leases were taken on all the land and mining in a small way has at different times been carried on, but never with paying results.  However, the mining experiments made there were never of a thorough or systematic character, and the question, “Will it pay?” is still an open one, upon which people can theorize, pro and con.

The Bellville gold is of fine quality—four karats finer that that of the Klondike.  Some years ago, Scott Morrow, a son of the pioneer merchant, John Morrow, made a valuable find in Long’s spring, in the Long ravine, west of Deadman’s run.  Morrow went there for a drink of water, and saw something at the bottom of the spring that attracted his attention, which proved to be a nugget worth five dollars.  A few feet from this spring, Lewis Campbell unearthed a half-ounce nugget, near the roots of a tree.

Clark B. Hines, a Bellville lawyer, washed a few pans of dirt some years ago, in which he found several little nuggets, the size of wheat grains.  Prior to that a Mr. Tims, of West Virginia, undertook to sink a shaft at Long’s ravine, but struck a strong vein of water, and as pumping had to be done by hand, the work progressed but slowly, was quite expensive and was soon abandoned.  Mr. Tims’ theory was that the gold found is from disintegrated quartz of that locality, and not glacial deposits, and claimed that he took quartz from the shaft at a depth of forty-seven feet.  For lack of means to buy machinery to carry on the work, he abandoned the same and left the place.

James M. Swanger, a wounded soldier of the civil war, ex-mayor of Bellville, an exemplary citizen and man of property, has thoroughly explored the gold region and is supposed to know a great deal about it, but is quite reticent concerning the same.  While Mr. Swanger does not gossip to gratify the curious, he is wiling to talk business to any one who may go there with the view of prospecting.

William Coleman is another adept in prospecting, and is familiar with every nook and corner of the gold region from the Clearfork to the divide.  His word can be relied upon and it is hoped his knowledge upon that line will sometime be of benefit to him.

The origin of this gold deposit has been perplexing even to the state geologist.  He attributes it to an ancient drift agency, which brought in the pebbles of the Waverly conglomerate.  But, he says at Bellville the Waverly rock is comparatively free from pebbles.  This he does not account for, but expresses belief that the gold was brought in by the same agency that transported the granite pebbles and boulders.  If referred to the Waverly conglomerate it should be found in greater quantities at the base of this deposit.  Bit it is found most abundantly about on the level of its upper surface, and in perceptible quantities on the slopes of the hills fifty to one hundred feet above it.  If it came from the Waverly conglomerate it should be most abundant where the quartz pebbles of this conglomerate are most numerous, but at Bellville this I not the case.  The gold is found in minute flakes, associated with black sand, small garnets and fragments of quartz.  It is most abundant at the bottom of gorges opening to the south.  On the hills above large quartz boulders are occasionally seen and angular fragments of quartz are obtained in washing for gold.  Pieces of copper are sometimes found, and rarely minute quantities of native silver.

At the stone quarry, near the Moody mill, a partially decomposed fragment of quartz was found some years ago, called “wire gold,” interlaced through it.  It had evidently fallen from the gravel towards the top of the quarry.  A plausible theory of the presence of gold and of the condition in which it is found in Deadman’s valley is that the transporting agencies which brought in and deposited the surface drift on the southern slope of the water-shed passed over veins of gold-bearing quartz which were crushed and broken, and the quartz becoming thus disintegrated the gold found protective coves from which “color” can be obtained from almost every panful of dirt, and on account of the specific gravity of the metal, may be found in greater quantities on bed-rock—forty to one hundred feet below the surface, according to the dip.

While it is claimed that every pan of dirt taken from the Bellville gold region shows color, no “coloring” has been given to the foregoing sketch of that locality.

The view given of Bellville is from the south, looking north over the village, with the gold region lying amid the foot hills and ravines of the south slope of the divide, whose hills rise to an elevation of 932 feet above Lake Erie.  The other view shows the Clearfork of the Mohican, just north of the town; the bridge spanning Deadman’s run near its mouth, in the midst of the gold region.  [Illustrations in original article.}

The bridge show [sic] in the picture is called the “Dutchman’s bridge,” from the following incident.  Two-third [sic] of a century ago, Judge Jackson’s hired man, when upon an errand, attempted to cross a bridge at this point, at the time of a freshet.  The stream was so swollen that it washed the bridge away while the man was in the act of crossing.  His body was recovered some days later, and the stream has ever since been called “Deadman’s run,” and the bridge is called the Dutchman’s bridge.”  The man, however, was a German, not a Dutchman.

In the old bar-room days, stories were told of apparitions that could nightly be seen about Dutchman’s bridge—ghostly forms that made men tremble and horses careen.  Such tales were usually told in the presence of travelers who would have to drive to Mansfield after the darkness of a starless night had settled down upon Deadman’s valley.  And the jokers would sometimes go and play ghost to frighten men who had seemed incredulous to their yarns.

A few years prior to the war, a “Wild Irishman” excitement caused a religious revival in Bellville.  At night a voice could be heard form one of the hills near the town, saying, “Repent e, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  An Irishman on the section, said it was a banshee call, and from that the exhorter was called ‘The Wild Irishman.”  Some people became alarmed, and other grew so tired of such nightly exhortations that a searching party went forth to chase the Irishman away.  But, when the party reached the top of the Durbin hill, there was a change of venue, and the voice came from the Moody hill upon the opposite side of the town.  The next night two parties sallied forth, one to Durbin’s hill, the other to Moody’s.  Then the exhortations came alternately from Snake hill and from Deadman’s valley, saying, “As one risen from the dead, I beseech you to repent.”  A number of the searching party became fear-stricken and some exclaimed, “It’s Jackson’s Dutchman.  He died with something on his mind and can’t rest.”  The party then returned to town, the majority of them fearful of some coming event of direful import.  It was said they touched elbows in their retreat, lest some of their number might be captured by prowling spooks.  The Wild Irishman went out of business, but the revival went on.  In the summer of 1861, while on guard among the mountains of West Virginia, a comrade confessed to the writer that he was one of the Wild Irishmen and stated how much he had enjoyed the fun.  These “Irishmen” were Joshua and Samuel, both now deceased.

A Dutchman’s bridge spook incident occurred in 1859 with serious results.  A young man who lived east of the Bowers hill was in town frequently and often delayed his return home until after midnight.  Another young man, thinking to scare him, robed himself in a sheet and went and stood at the turn of the state road, near the bridge.  Another man, hearing that a “scare” was on the __, concluded to act a part in the play himself and taking a sheet, went in advance and secreted himself by the bridge.  Presently along came No. 1 with a sheet wrapped around him and walked slowly back and forth around the bend.  Then happening to take a glance toward the bridge, he saw an apparition rise seemingly out of the water and glide toward him.  That was all he saw; he did not take a second look, for becoming terribly frightened, thinking that the Dutchman’s ghost was about to take vengeance upon him for impersonating a spook, he ran home, proving himself a time-breaking sprinter.  Physical prostration and brain-fever followed, and it was weeks before he was on the street again.

These incidents are given to show that the locality has figured in Bellville affairs in other ways as well as in mining for gold.

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