Philip Fritz, is a native of Venango county, Pa., where he first saw light, June 29, 1804, and with his father, Martin Fritz, came to Milton Township. He was married July 27, 183 I, to Mary A. Long, of Pennsylvania, having had six children, Catharine, Jacob, John, Michael, Elmore and Margaret Jane Fritz. His occupation has been that of miller and farmer, and he has lived longer in this township than any man in it now.
Reminiscences of Phillip Fritz.—When my father removed to Milton township, in 1814, he had to cut out the road to where I now live. Bears, wolves, wildcats, porcupines, wild hogs, deer and turkey were plenty. We often shot the wild hogs, as they made good meat. Porcupines were numerous; the dogs would attack them and we would pull out their quills with bullet moulds. We made sugar by the barrel in our camps, took it to Canton and sold it. The wolves on one occasion chased us all out of the camps. Times looked pretty blue when we came here. We had to go fourteen miles, to Rex's mill, in Coventry, to get our grinding done. I helped to grub out and clear up the Knupp graveyard, and build the school-house, in 1817, where the Knupp church now stands.
In the early days I hunted a good deal, and often with the Indians. They would come to our house and get corn, and bring venison to exchange for it. They weighed it, themselves, the corn in one hand and the venison in the other.
Samuel and John Fritz, Isaac De Courcey, John Huffman and myself went up to Chippewa lake to hunt, and took our provisions with us. I was left in charge of the eatables, and the balance went to the woods to hunt. While I was watching the provisions eight Indians approached me, and I was terribly frightened. They, at once, commenced laying off their knives, guns and tomahawks, and advancing to where I had a large fire built, one of them, who could speak English, said, "White man foolish, makes big fire and sits away oft. Indian makes little fire and sits up close." They then went to the edge of the lake and began jumping on the musk-rat houses, and just as fast as the inmate popped out they popped him, and so they kept on until out of one of these largest mud-houses sprang a beaver, which was instantly killed, and then they whooped and danced and drank. Its hide was worth $16. When our hunting party came in the Indians wanted to buy their dogs.
An Indian squaw went into a marsh in Canaan township to pick cranberries. She had her papoose along with her, and tying it to a board set it down. While she was in the marsh a large hog came along and killed it. She lamented and yelled fearfully.
When we came here there were a good many Indians about—called themselves Delawares, Shawanee and Wyandots. They had quite a town on the south side of Chippewa Lake, probably thirty families. I used to go to the settlement often, saw the little Indian boys roasting gammons of meat and gnaw at them. I saw them shoot pieces of silver out of split sticks, with bows and arrows, and never miss. They captured a good deal of wild honey and carried it in deer skins turned inside out. They would cut down a tree, carve out the stump, crush their corn in it, and then put it in pots and boil it, and then put in the meat. An Indian never uses salt.
Within about ten rods of where River Styx—the north branch of the Chippewa—empties into Big Chippewa, an Indian was found in the drift, shot through the waist, and it seems about this time the Indians got scared and very suddenly disappeared.
Source: Wayne County, Ohio, From the Days of the First Settlers and Pioneers, to the Present Time; Benjamin Douglass, 1878
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