Mr. and Mrs. George Osman are shown looking at a sheepskin deed for the land they now own, It was issued by President John Adams.
(By Judy Ann Fields from the People’s Defender 1967)
Although I chose a dreary, dismal afternoon to visit the George Osman farm, I had a very rewarding time. Mr. and Mrs. Osman are both interested in family and county history. Their own home has a very interesting background of its own.
Mrs. Osman is the great granddaughter of Daniel Collier, one of Tiffin Township’s first settlers, Daniel had 11 children , the youngest was named Harriet, Harriet married Andrew Ellison of Tyrone County, Ireland and their youngest child was Billy, 1863-1950. This was Harriet Ellison Osman’s father. She was an only child.
Daniel was the son of Michael and Elizabeth Collier, large landowners with slaves. He was born in Virginia on January 8, 1764 and when yet a small boy, they moved to near Oldstown, Maryland. Daniel was one of eight children.
When he was but a lad of 15, Daniel was stolen by the Indians from his home in Maryland and taken to Canada. He spent two years there until a white fur trader came to the area. As they talked together, Daniel told him of his capture and of his family back home in Maryland, This trader bought Daniel’s freedom and they traveled in a south-easterly direction through the wilderness of the Northwest Territory.
They camped one night by a big spring and there, Daniel carved his initials in a stone with the year 1781. Daniel was so impressed by the majestic hills, fertile bottom land and the spring of crystal water that he promised himself to come back someday and build a house overlooking the spring. The next day the fur trader set him on his own at the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek, where they parted, Daniel traveled on foot many months to reach his home in Maryland. When he arrived there, he told his family of the rich soil along Brush Creek.
In 1786, he married Elizabeth Prather who was born in 1768, the daughter of James and Elizabeth Prather of Prince George County, Maryland.
Daniel and his new bride persuaded their families and neighbors to come with them to the new territory to be settled in the west. Among the families who came down the Ohio to Limestone, Kentucky were the Colliers, Prathers, Burckitts and Moores. They also brought a Puritan preacher with them named Reverend Pilcher.
Daniel was a surveyor with Nathaniel Massie. He bought 500 acres from Revolutionary War soldiers for $666. Mrs. Osman has the original deed, written on sheepskin that was made to Daniel Collier in 1798 and signed by President John Adams.
The house that Daniel Collier built in 1802 is believed to be the second oldest home in the Northwest Territory. There were originally seven rooms and two halls but the old log kitchen was torn down.
The chimney in the front room has an eight-foot double chimney where the smoke from the downstairs hearth goes up one side and the smoke from the upstairs hearth goes up the other side.
The large chimney at the end of the house has an interesting story of its construction. It seems that the laborers were hired from Maysville to build this chimney. The work progressed nicely but when they had come to the shoulder part of the chimney, some lawmen came from Kentucky and took back the stone mason. He was accused of stealing a horse to ride to this job. This was the first man to be hung in Kentucky for horse theft.
There are several original handmade doors in the house with the old strap hinges. There is a high ceiling with exposed beams in the living room. The original roof was clapboard made of walnut attached with handmade pegs.
Collier was a Representative from Adams County at the Second Assembly in 1803 when the capitol was at Chillicothe. He also served at this post again in 1805. He rode horseback on these trips from his home to Chillicothe. The trip took two days of travel. When two-thirds of the way there, he camped under a self rock, Mrs. Osman has the gun that he carried for protection on these journeys.
Daniel was a colonel in the War of 1812. He received his commission at West Union, December 29, 1809 from Governor Sam Huntington. He served in the Third Regiment, First Brigade, Second Division of the militia. On May 2, 1814 he was honorably discharged because of ill health. He was distinguished at the Battle of Sandusky and from the battle he brought back a twelve-pound cannon ball. This was kept at the homeplace from 1814 until 1954 when Mrs. Osman gave it to a relative.
Farming was not a profitable business in those wilderness days, so Daniel operated a distillery along the spring. He paid his revenues each year when the men came around and all his whiskey was stamped. When the water was high, Daniel would float his whiskey down Brush Creek fo the Ohio and on down to the Wabash River, on flat boats and rafts, to Indiana where they sold their liquor then began their long journey home.
On one of these trips, after they had floated just a piece down the high waters where the bridge is now, they were attacked by Indians. They killed five Indians that day, two women and three men.
The whiskey was stored in large barrels in the 20 x 20 cellar under part of the house. Daniel also ran a tanyard there which kept him busy.
Mrs. Osman has every tax receipt received by Daniel Collier from 1800 to 1835. The taxes were then collected by the tax collector that visited each property. On a narrow slip of aged paper is written, one hundred and seventy five cents for 500 acres.
In the beginning this was located in Spring Hill Township, named for the large spring. This was later changed to Tiffin Township. The party that changed the name met in the front room of the Collier home in 1803. it was renamed for Ohio Governor Edward Tiffin.
Just for the record, the Collier family came from England near Dorchestshire of the land of Gentry with the coat of arms of the sable and a cross pattern and crest crossed croset fetchen in England. Daniel died on April 11, 1835. HIs wife, Elizabeth, died almost four months later, onAugust 4, 1835. Their bodies are buried in the cemetery in the back of the house.
