Boats first ran on the Ohio river. Besides the trees, were
growths of wild fruits, crab apples, red and black hawes, rasp-
berries and blackberries, and two or three varieties of grapes,
and not least in profusion, beauty or lusciousness, was the pa-
paw. There were herbs and roots used for medicinal purposes,
and collected to sell for money. Ginseng, snakeroot and nerv-
ine, or ladies' slipper, grew in abundance in the shade of the
great trees. Two remarkable trees are worthy of notice. One,
a monster sycamore on Old Town creek not far from the mouth
of the stream. It was hollow, and made a home for a family
once, afterwards served as a stable for horses. The other tree
was a sycamore, and hollow, and stood on the bottom land of
N. Bicknell's farm in Great Bend.
Dr. Philip Lauck and Rev. Ezra Grover came from Eastern
Virginia with their families in 1813 and bought a fine tract of
land in Lebanon township, on the Ohio river bottom. Rev. Gro-
ver was a Methodist preacher, but was superannuated from the
Baltimore Conference. Dr. Lauck was his son-in-law by mar-
riage and had an extensive and successful practice, which took
him away from home much of the time, so that the care of his
growing family, and of the making of a farm out of the wilder-
ness developed upon Father Grover and Mrs. Lauck. Rev.
Grover was a good preacher, a zealous Christian and an able
defender of the faith, as held by Methodism. They opened
their door for public preaching, and many a weary itinerant
was cheered by their hospitality. Dr. Lauck died compara-
tively young, leaving a widow and six children. The sons,
Isaac, Ezra, and Simon; the daughters, Mary Ann, Hannah,
and Elizabeth. Isaac Lauck married Nancy Hall, and Ezra
Lauck married her sister, Rachel Hall, of Old Town. They
moved to Missouri many years ago. Mary Ann Lauck died
of consumption in early womanhood; Hannah Lauck married
Nicholas Richardson, son of Scotch family who came to
Sterling Bottom. Elizabeth Lauck was married to James
