Jeremiah M. Rusk.

"The hills are dearest, where our childhood's feet Have climbed the earliest, And the streams most sweet Ever are those at which our young lips drank, Stooped to its waters o'er the mossy bank." The above sentiment was evidently in the mind of Secretary of Agriculture, Jeremiah M. Rusk, when he stood before the door of the Post Office at Porter- ville and said, " Do you know that this whole country continually spreads out before me day and night, like a vast panoroma ? This is the place of my childhood's dreams. Here my parents, brothers and sisters lie buried. This country I love." The Rusk farm of five hundred acres lay mostly in Perry county. But the house in which Jeremiah Rusk was born stands a few rods across the line in Morgan. We do not hesitate under the circum- stances in calling "Uncle Jerry" as he was familiarly known, a Perry county boy. 173

Daniel Rusk was one of the pioners of Perry coun- ty. In 1813 he came to Clayton township and set- tled on Buckeye creek. His wife was Jane Falkner. Mrs. Rusk's mother was the first person to be buried in Unity Presbyterian cemetery, in Clayton township. The Rusk family lived on Buckeye till 1826 when they moved to Bearfield township and purchased the large farm on which Porterville now stands. This village was originally known as Ruskville. It was on this farm that the subject of our sketch was born, on the 17th of July, 1830. The Mother of Jeremiah McLain Rusk was a woman of exalted char- acter and noble ideals. Even in a pioneer home she did not forget to cultivate the culture side of life. The home training had therefore much to do with the suc- cess of the future governor of Wisconsin. Young Rusk attended a subscription school at first, for the public school was then unknown. After the establishment of the latter, he became a pupil in it and received the nucleus of such an education as could then be obtained. He was sixteen years old when his father died. Being the youngest of ten children, and the older members of the family having married, the care of the farm largely devolved upon him. Here he early evinced that trait that has been characteristic of him throughout his life---to push work instead of work pushing him. While on the farm he became an expert horseman. There are men yet living in Bearfield town- ship, who remember how adept he was, and how skill- fully he could manage a horse. Many were the races that Jerry ran with the neighbor boys along the Por- terville ridge. 174

From the farm he went to Zanesville, to become a driver on the stage-coach, between that point and Newark. The coach was of the Concord pattern and four horses were required to draw it. The driver sat on the "near" wheel horse and manipulated the team with a "single " line. When the present Cincinnati and Muskingum Val- ley Railroad was built, we find Jerry Rusk occupying the position of "boss." He assisted on the tunnel east of New Lexington. In partnership with William Pettet, he purchased what is known as a "grubber" or "caver." This ma- chine was the first step in the evolution of the thresh- ing machine. A picture of one is here shown. In 1849 Mr. Rusk was married to Mary Martin, the daughter of a well-to-do citizen near McLuney. It would be a great pleasure to give in detail the subsequent history of this honored citizen. Going to Wisconsin, he became quite wealthy. He served the people in Congress, was elected Governor, and then invited to a place in President Harrison's Cabinet. The life of Jeremiah Rusk should be an incentive to every boy. The push, the energy and the honesty of the man made him successful in all of his under- takings. 175

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