Up Paint Creek

"On the waters of Paint Creek, beginning at a maple and hickory, thence north ... to two walnut", so begins the description of the property bought and four years later sold by Charles Reeder.

Today we started out back at the Ross Co. Court House, this time to check land records.

 There he is, in the index of deeds.  We knew about this, of course.  Tom has previously found just about everything there is to be found.  But today we saw the official documents, and got copies of the deed records.

 Then we went down to the map room, and got a copy of the plat map from 1860, their oldest, and compared it to names of people known to be neighbors of Charles and Rachel when Charles died and before Rachel  moved away.

With that information we set off to find the approximate location where Charles and Rachel and their three children lived in locations both north and south of Paint Creek ( locally pronounced crik).

Let me add here, that we have met the most wonderful people on our quest.  They have been interested in our story and so very helpful in gathering what information there is to be found.  People wise, this has been a wonderful experience.

On the way, we stopped off here, at Seip Mound, another earthworks site of the ancient Native Americans.  They were all over this area.  

 Above is a drawing of what was there.

 This huge mound is about all that is left. Can you see me by the sign?  That gives you an idea of size.

 They had wonderful designing and crafting skills.

A little white wild flower growing on the mound.

The center of Tom's ancestral land is the town of Bainbridge.  Tom had been in contact with Mike, the barber, who sits on the cemetery board and is sort of a local historian.  We stopped in to see Mike.

 He didn't have anything new for us, but confirmed locations we had found out about, and we shared some good stories.  Then we were on our way the the "waters of Paint Creek".

Somewhere on land like this, Charles owned four acres.  It's hard to know where for sure, since the walnut and the maple and the hickory may not still be there, and there are quite a few more of those trees around.  But it is farm land and wood lots.

 At this intersection  back in 1860 there was a church, a forge, and the only bridge across the creek.

We're pretty sure he also lived on the south side of the creek, most likely as a tenant farmer,  probably on land a bit higher in the hills.

Back in Bainbridge we visited the "Antique Mall", quite a rustic place being run by a lady with whom we shared more stories.

 The "mall" consisted of three old sheds and an old house.  All of it was charming.

It was time for lunch, and right there next to Mike's Barber Shop was Subway.  Subway is our favorite travel lunch place, because they are everywhere.

Then we moved on, leaving the ancestral land locked in our memories.  Now we were back to the Amish/Menonite culture, and a very busy bakery and general store.  The bakery was crowded with people buying lots of goodies.  We bought some fried pies which we are going to eat in a few minutes.

 Up the road was the general store, also very busy.  It was a new, modern building but without electricity.  It was lit by sky lights and solar tubes, and there were gas lights for dark times.  It was a bit dim in there, and they do not take credit cards, of course, because you have to be 'hooked up' for that.

Down the road was the general store, with all kinds of provisions: locally made jams and jellies, locally grown and processed grains and nuts and seeds, and locally grown produce.

 Note the sign on the roadside.

Next up was another visit to the Hopewell Indian culture, and perhaps the grandest earthworks of all, the Serpent Mound.

 Climbing the tower allows you to look down on part of the serpent and see it more clearly.

This magnet that I bought at the gift shop show the over all design.

 The head is at the far end, and the tail spirals below.

 Here the little mound flowers were lavender.

 It is surmised that this ceremonial site had some celestial significance.

 It had been a full day when we continued on to make a loop back to Chillicothe.  Since we were going through Waverly, the county seat of Pike Co., Tom stopped to see if he could get a plat map for that county.  I opted to try to find an ATM and follow a sign I had seen for antiques around the block.  

Tom struck out because the court house was closed,and I got struck by a sudden down pour.  Even though I was just about 30 feet from the antique shop door, I couldn't male it.  I had to hunker down under a street tree until the hardest rain was over, and then I dashed to the door and stayed there until the rain let up.  Tom had been waiting it out at the court house.

Thunder storms had been predicted all day.  The temps were in the 80's with 95 per cent humidity - white air.  We got lucky and were able to do all we had planned before the rains hit.  But boy, did it ever rain on the drive back to town.

Tomorrow we will drive north to Columbus, check out the state capitol, and eventually make our way to the airport to fly back to Seattle.  I'll probably have time to post while waiting, and perhaps sum up this adventure.  

Or perhaps that will wait for a bit more contemplation.