Snipptown

Source:  Written by A.J. Baughman.  Published by the Butler Enterprise:  20 October 1905, Vol. 17, No. 37 as re-printed from the Friday edition of the Mansfield Shield

Mr. Hill, in his chapter on Bloominggrove Township, in the Brinkerhoff-Graham history of Richland County, states that it does not appear that the Indians occupied any permanent camp in Bloominggrove township, but that part of the county was used extensively by the Wyandots and Delawares for a hunting ground.  Nevertheless, well authenticated traditions tell of the village of Snipptown, and the site where the group of little huts once stood is well-known by the generation of today.  Tradition further says that Snipptown and Snipp Run were named for an Indian chieftain.  To what tribe Chief Snipp belonged is not stated.  Evidently he was not very prominent in Indian warfare or more would be known of him in history.

The northern part of Richland County before the advent of the white man, belonged to the Eries, who were exterminated by the Five Nations.  The Wyandots, who at the time the French missionaries came to America, were dwelling in Michigan, were afterwards allowed by the Five Nations, to occupy the land of the Eries, and thus came to dwell in the northern part of Ohio.  The Ottawas, another conquered tribe, was allowed by their conquerors, the Iroquois, to occupy a part of the land taken from the Eries.  In this medley of parts of the several tribes that occupied North Central Ohio, it is difficult to ascertain to which Snipp belonged, and it is not material to this article to do so. 

Snipptown was situated on the west bank of Snipp's Run, a half-mile southwest of the village of Rome, and about a half mile above where the run empties into the Blackfork of the Mohican.  The old village site is now part of the farm of Mr. Reynolds, who lives close by.  The village was built upon a knoll from which a good view of the valley can be obtained.  Near the base of the knoll a spring of water issues forth, and is now piped over to Reynolds' residence on the east side of the run.  The output of this spring is much less now than it was when the country was first settled, but is still of considerable quantity.  Of the founding of Snipptown and its final abandonment, history saith not.  It may not have been a permanent settlement, but more of the nature of headquarter for prolonged stays of hunting parties.  Bloominggrove Township abounded in game both before and for a number of years after it was settled.

Snipp's Run has its source in the northeastern part of the township, on the Bloominggrove "divide" and takes a southwest course of about five miles, leaving Rome a short distance to the east, and enters the Blackfork a half mile below Snipptown.  Hogback Run rises in section eight, runs in a south direction for about four miles, and then unites with Snipp's Run about midway between Snipptown and the Blackfork.

A short distance south of Rome on the Mansfield road, a private driveway takes off to the west, near the old ashery site, and goes down through a lovely little valley of half mile in length, and strikes the Snipp Run valley at the old site of Snipptown.  This little valley is frequently used for picnic and other parties, and may in the future be created into a park.  The topography of the place is all that could be desired for such purposes.

Camp Council, where General Beall's army encamped in the fall of 1812, lies about two miles southeast of Snipptown.  The mission of General Beall's army was to keep between the settlements on the south and the British and the Indians on the north, for the protection of the settlers.  The first road cut through the northern part of Richland County from the east to the west was made by General Beall's troops in September, 1812, and the road is still frequently called "Beall's Trail".  This trail in time became the stage road from Wooster to the northwest.  It was along Beall's Trail that the larger portion of early settlers of Bloominggrove Township came.  A number of them had been soldiers in General Beall's army and had been so favorably impressed with the country that after the expiration of their term of service, they returned and entered land, cleared farms and founded homes.

The wilderness through which the Beall Trail was cut disappeared with the fleeting years and now farms line the road, and a higher order of thrift and prosperity is shown in the general appearance of the country, without a trace of the strenuous times of the past to remind the wayfarer that less than a century ago this part of Ohio was an unbroken wilderness.  The contrast between then and now should incite the people of today with feelings of gratitude for the blessings they enjoy.  The men who located in the forests and made farms out of the wilderness, transmitted to their successors good homes, improved lands and the comforts, conveniences and utilities of a high civilization.  The mission of the pioneers was to settle and develop the country, and there are evidences everywhere to show how well their duties were performed.

To one of an imaginative turn of mind who is interested in the early history of the county, the pioneer period is reviewed at times in retrospection.  In a panoramic-like view, border armies can be seen marching by in militia garb or in the uniform of the Continental soldiers.  The pioneers may also be seen, the lines upon their faces telling of the hardships and work that made the present civilization possible.  And in each sense the story may be read of the century now passing away.

And in this review, Indian warriors can be seen sulking through the forest with war paint upon their faces, armed with tomahawks, scalping knives and British muskets.  But the scene soon changes.  The Indians disappear for the conflict between the settlers and the savages was irrepressible, and the verdict of civilization was that the Indians must go, and they went, and can now be seen only in the sundown of the West.  These scenes in American history represent a period of absorbing interest to both old and young, and portray one of those great movements by which the population of the world is sometimes transformed.