MOUNT VERNON — Dr. Lorle Porter led 160 Knox County residents on a trip into the dark forest on Saturday. Porter was the featured speaker at Knox County’s 200th Birthday Party at The Dan Emmett Conference Center, and her speech focused on the first settlers into Knox County.
“We’re here to talk about geography and the sheer physical problems of settling a place like Knox County,” said Porter, a native of Knox County and former history professor at Muskingum College. “At the time of Gen. Knox, the west was anything over the Allegheny Mountains. The people of the east talked about people going into the dark forest.”
It was 1781 before the first white male set foot in what’s now Knox County. There were no roads, only a few warrior trails and the rivers, to travel on west of the Allegheny.
Porter, who has written two books on Knox County, said this whole portion of Ohio was covered with some of the best forests ever. Dysart Woods near St. Clairsville is the only place like what was here at that time. She said it has poplar trees 140 foot tall and walnut trees that were 14 foot in diameter, and the only way through the undergrowth is to hack through it.
“This whole western area, the settlement of it was tough,” Porter said.
In 1794, Anthony Wayne and his men defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers and the Greenville Treaty was soon signed. That treaty helped open up the settlement of southern and eastern Ohio, of which Knox County was right on the line. In fact, Porter said, eastern Knox County was some of the best hunting lands the Indians had.
Because of the proximity of Indians and other problems like rattlesnakes and wolves, Knox County was slow to be settled. One of the first important settlements was 10 Mile Settlement, on the land where Mount Vernon Nazarene University is now located. It was important because it had one of the only gristmills in the area.
“It was hard to get here, and dangerous and difficult once you got here,” said Porter.
The area really didn’t begin to grow until after the War of 1812. That war was important because it pushed the British out of Detroit and the Indians were removed from much of Ohio and moved to Oklahoma.
“The rest of Ohio then opened up and Knox County became a jumping off point for entry into the new dark forest,” Porter said. “What happened here is a fascinating story. After the War of 1812, there was a new influx of people from different places.”
Some areas of Ohio were settled by people from certain regions or religions, but Knox County had a unique mix of people from New England, Maryland and Virginia, as well as Quakers and Catholics.
That mixture of people helped create the distinct history of Knox County and led to many people from the area to become important in many ways.
“When you’ve got a mixture of people, you’ve got to work things out,” Porter said. “That created an intellectual electoral which was very important in the 1840s, ’50s and ’60s. They established a distinct culture that we inherited and celebrate tonight.”
Porter’s speech was one of many events held during the evening.
Gen. Henry Knox (Steve Kelly) and his wife, Lucy (Gwen Wallot), helped kick off the evening with a skit discussing their lives. Henry Knox was a general in the American Revolution and the first Secretary of War of the United States. The county was named for him.
The Knox County Commissioners then blew out the candles on a county birthday cake after everyone sang “Happy Birthday Knox County.” Mike Petee then unveiled his song, “Common Ground,” written in honor of the county’s 200th birthday.
Following Porter’s speech, several commendations were handed out, including one to the county commissioners, and Pat Surbella and Janet Wacker, who collaborated on the county’s bicentennial logo. There was also a period costume contest with Kelly and Barbara “Toni” Glaser being named best overall.
During the social hour, more than 20 re-enactors mingled with the crowd. The re-enactors presented historical characters from the county.
