Directory to the city of Richmond, containing names, business and residence of the inhabitants 1857, Part 1

Author: Plummer, John T. (John Thomas), 1807-1865
Publication date: 1857
Publisher: Richmond, Ind. : R.O. Dormer & W.R. Holloway
Number of Pages: 188


USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Richmond > Directory to the city of Richmond, containing names, business and residence of the inhabitants 1857 > Part 1


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Gc 977.202 R4 1di 1386391


M. L


GENEALOGY COLLECTION


ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02511 7687


1857


MAP OF


YORK


RICHMOND .INDIANA, ubished


RAST


ST.


ST.


57.


FR


PARK!


PEX


MARKET


FRAN


4th.wd.


FIFT


SIXTH


Turnpike from Cincinnati


SEVENTH


PARK


EAST PARK SE. H


EIGHTH


J. Roberts


Orchard.


*** MAR


Grave Yard


MILL


SYKTMORE


R.O.DORMER W.R. HOLLOWY by


RIV


R. R


ST.


ST.


?


FRONT


ST.


S


ST.


CLIFF


.ST .-


¥


ST.


SH.


WAS


ST.


CENTRE ST.


ST.


CHINON


ST.


BROADWAY


NORTH


BROADWAY


EAST


ST.


RRY


AFRAS


SASS


VINE


ELM


NINTH


ST.


TENTH


ST.


Middleton Wallace & Co. Lith.


OR


MAIN


ST.


EAST ST.


Cincinnati Logansport & Ghicago R. R.


Indumna Central


A DIRECTORY


TO THE


CITY OF RICHMOND,


INDIANA


CONTAINING


NAMES, BUSINESS AND RESIDENCE


OF THE


INHABITANTS,


TOGETHER WITH


A HISTORICAL SKETCH, BY JOHN T. PLUMMER, M. D.


RICHMOND, INDIANA : PUBLISHED BY R. O. DORMER & W. R. HOLLOWAY. 1857.


PRINTED BY HOLLOWAY & DAVIS, Palladium Office, Richmond, Ind.


1386391


ALPHABETICAL INDEX.


HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES.


PAGE


PAGE


Advantages, Natural, 23


Health,


.


49


Ages, .


12


Holman, George, 10


Animals, Wild,


34


Horse Racks,


31


.


Banks,


63


Indians, . . 10, 32


Books, 30


Improvements, . 28, 31


Brewery, 33, 45


Judiciary, 13


Buildings, . 32, 62


Jurymen,


11, 14


Business, 46,47


Liquors, .


48


Canal, 36


Library,


48


Corporation, G1


Lands, First entry of, 25


Court House, 16, 17, 18


· Lawyers, . 36


Centerville,


18, 19


Manufactories, 45


Clearings, 24


Medical Societies, 48


Conveyances, 25


Mills, . 23


Croakers,


26


Meeting-houses, 33


Commerce,


29


Natural Advantages, . 23, 26


Deaths, . 12, 42, 46, 49


Names Proposed, 22


Debating Societies, 44


New Era, 27


Districts, Civil,


16


Newspapers, 38


Doctors, . 37


Paper Mill, 40


Dow, Lorenzo,


59


Paving, 62


Drainage, .


62


Poets, 36,41


Era, New,


27


Poetry, 44


Editors, 41


Population, 22, 26, 27,56


Families, Size of, 42


Polls, . 57,58


First Visitors, 10


Post office, 35


Villages,


15


Pottery,


32


Settlers, 11, 12, 42


Privations, 23, 24


" Seal,


13


Prices of Produce, . 26, 29, 34, 55


" Entries of Lands, .


25


Railroads,


54


iv


INDEX.


" Brewery, 33


" Meeting-house, 33


" Tavern, . 35


" Post-office,


35


Proposed names for, 22


" Lawyers, 36


Location of,


9, 19, 21


Doctors, . 37


Population of, 22, 26, 27


"


Newspapers, 38


32


Salisbury, . . 17


"


Clearings, 24


Seeds, Garden, 49


Settlers, First, . 11, 12, 42


Seal, First, 13


Stores,


30, 32


" Tan-yards, 30


Schoolmasters, 43


Judiciary, 13


Streets, 31


" Jurymen, 11, 14


Sngar, 30


" Editors, .


41


Taverns,


33, 35, 36


Schoolmasters, 43


Tan-yards, 30


Division of Business, 46 Taxes, 56


" Debating Society, 44


Tecumseh, 32


" Liquor Store, 48


Trial of a Boy, . 14


" Library, 48


Villages, First 15


" Medical Society, 48


Wayne County, Size of, &c., 15


Wild Animals, 34


OFFICERS.


Municipal,


65


County,


65


State,


65


National,


66


NAMES OF ADVERTISERS.


Addington, Leander, . 122


Barnes, Geo, W., 105


Allen & Rhodes, 129


Baylies & Co., 144


Babcock, Stephen,


100


Beard & Sinex, 95, 96


Bain, James, .


117


Beard, Amos, 154


Bargis, T. J.,


112


Benton Thomas,


. 150


Religions, .


58-61


Religious Societies, 58


Richmond, Early Trustees of, 22


Roads, .


25, 26, 27,51


Buildings,


Mills,


23


" Roads, 25


" Improvements, 31


Gas Works,


62


V


INDEX.


Benton, W. P.,


143


Hunter, Henry, . 167


Blanchard, Wm., -


106


Hunnicutt, J. B., 126


Borton, Job, .


161


Huntington, Oran, 103


Boswell, John K., 140


Hirst & Co. 133


Brady, W. L., 133


Jones, Stephen, 147


Bridgeland, John A., 159


Jordan, James J., . 122


Brown & Morrow, .


113


Kramer & Smith, 158


Burk, Lewis, & Co.,


108


Knollenberg & Duey, 141


Bush, E. F., 110


Laws & Co., . 128


Burson & Evans, . 131


Lefevre, Wm. M., 130


Clark, William, 137


136


Lyle, John S., 146


Conley, John J., 145


McGrath, John, & Co., 153


Crocker & Co.,


128


Mc Wkinney, James, 138


Curme & Son, .


158


Mason, John, 150


Crocker & Neal, .


159


Mason, Thomas, 165


Dennis, W. T.,


118


Mendenhall & Nixon, . 162


Dennis, C. C. & W. T.,


164


Mersereau, H. D., 116


Dickinson. C. A., .


10₴


Miller, A. M., 142


Dickinson & Popp,


104


Moormann, John H., 144


Dickinson, Joseph, .


121


Morgan & Brandon, 143


Dill, A. C., .


122


Morrisson, Blanchard & Co., 97


Egli, Anton,


125


Nestor, Thos , & Co., 163


Elder, James,


125


Newman & Siddall, 136


Estell, Samuel,


119


Nye & Co., 16


Estell, Charles,


152


Outland, Calvin, . 142


Ferguson & Yeo,


102


Parry, Mordecai, 135


Finley, Jolın,


129


Paxson, Davis & Co., .


135


Fletcher, S. F.,


149


Payne, H. B.,. .


132


Fulton, Richard E.,


140


Plummer, Dr. John T., 124


Gaar, A., & Co., 98,99


Pinmmer & Kelly, 107


Gorsuch & Grave,


126


Plummer & Co., . 107


Gartman, C. L.,


119


Poe, James M., 155


Guion & Kizer,


101


Potts, Alfred,


107


Holliday, Joseph,


124


Railsback, Jehiel, 137


Hollopeter, John,


132


Ringe & Co.,


134


Holloway & Davis,


64, 167


Robinson, F. W.,


159


Holloway, W. R.,


168


Rosa, H. W.,


154


Hoover, George,


163


Russell, J. J. . 120


Horney, S., & Co.,


111


Salter, Rowlet & Co., 175


Hubbard & Waters,


165


Show & Wiggins,


.


127


Lippincott, Samuel, 139


Coale & Brother, .


vi


INDEX.


Sinex, Samuel, .


149


Unthank, W. S., 108


Smith, Jas. M.,


14S


Vickers, Ed., 129


Smith, E. & J., .


164


Wetherald, John,


114


Spinning & Bennett,


160


White & Bargion, 145


Starr, James M.,


156


Wiggins & Co.,


146


Starr & White,


156


Wilson, W. D.,


153


Swany, Charles M.,


154


Wilson, George,


134


Taylor, C. J.,


101, 147


Wright & Chambers,


109


Taylor, George,


127


Wood, Wash., .


115


Thomas, Dr. O.,


147


Woodward, A.,


123


Thomas, Dr. Mary F.,


147


Zimmer & Emswiler,


162


Underwood & Brother,


151


PREFACE.


IN presenting this publication to the Public, we have to beg the indulgence of our Patrons for any errors it may contain. Being the first gotten up in this city, the materials had to be collected from a thousand different sources, and were procured by much labor and expense. The publishers who may succeed us will have the advantage of our Pioneer Work ; and if we should follow this up next year, as we hope to, we shall be enabled to present a more perfect work. This, however, is, in our opinion, as complete as it is possible to make one, under the cir- cumstances, and the brief space of time we have had in which to prepare this.


We have also increased its size beyond what we contemplated, especially in the Historical Reminis- cences ; and we here take pleasure in acknowledging the obligations we are under to Dr. PLUMMER, for the


viii


PREFACE.


very interesting Article he has furnished us. His ill-health, and the limited space we were enabled to give him, prevented his doing that justice to the sub- ject he would have given it under other and more favorable circumstances.


PUBLISHERS.


When too late for insertion in its proper place, it was discovered that we had omitted, in the enumeration of manufactories, &c., to name a Flax-breaking Machine within the limits of the Corporation, north of the Gas Works. It is supposed that about 600 to 700 tons of Flax Straw will be worked up in the course of a year. Six or seven qualities of Cleaned Flax are obtained from the same straw, and separately baled for the mar- ket, in compact masses.


REMINISCENCES


OF THE


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


To those who have been entertained by the perusal of Watson's Annals of Philadelphia and other works of a simi- lar kind, a reminiscence of the history of Richmond may not be without interest. It is fit, indeed, that in a publica- tion like the present, the antecedents of our city should be made known. To gather up such of the incidents of our early history, as may yet be accessible, in order to rescue them from oblivion, by giving them a permanent record, is the chief object of these pages.


Tracing the Great Miami northward six miles from its en- trance into the Ohio river, we enter the mouth of the White- water; and pursuing our way up this stream in a northwest- erly direction for the distance of twenty miles, we arrive at a point where the river separates into two branches, which, running parallel with each other in a northerly direction, ramify into numerous branches which water the whole of Wayne county, in Indiana. It is in this county, on the eastern bank of the east fork of Whitewater that Richmond is situated; being four miles from the eastern boundary of the State, sixty-eight miles from Cincinnati, sixty-eight miles from


2


10


REMINISCENCES OF THE


Indianapolis, forty miles from Dayton, and 102 miles from Columbus, Ohio.


Previous to the organization of the State, the Delaware and other Indians, claimed the territory drained by the Whitewater, as a part of their hunting grounds; and these natives of the forest lingered for years under the foliage which then shaded the soil, after the white man had begun to make his home among them. We have, however, no stirring incidents of blood-shed and murder to record in our peaceful annals; and as our limits were not the site of any battle-scenes we have no occasion to stain our pages with gory pictures of tomahawks, rifles and falling heroes. The first settlers of this district were a plain people, addicted to the art of agriculture, and willing to cultivate friendly feel. ings with the aboriginals who remained; and I do not know that they were at any time molested by these children of the forest.


Indiana territory was separated from that of Ohio, in the great division of the northwestern cession of land, but Illi- nois had not been detached from Indiana, when three young men entered the wild forests of our district, in search of homes. Their names were Richard Rue, George Holman and Joseph Woodkirk. They arrived here in the year 1805. No incidents of their lives in this new location has come to my knowledge, except one, presently to be mentioned. It is to be supposed, however, that they suffered all the usual privations, hardships and dangers of adventurous pioneers. Of these it will be our province to speak, in its proper place. The excepted incident just alluded to, was in the case of George Holman, who is still living. For six years after his arrival here, our present worthy friend had lived peaceably


11


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


with all men, for aught the law knew; but in 1811, when men had multiplied under the shade of the forest, their interests sometimes appeared to come into conflict; and it was not an unusual thing at such times, for the parties to decide the question between themselves, by pugilistic combat. It ap- pears that it was for some such unlawful mode of settling the point at issue, that the grand jury of the time found a bill against George for assault and battery: he was returned guilty, and fined 12} cents! He appears to have been one of the grand jury at this very time; whether he aided in finding a bill against himself, the record does not say. The names of this jury are: William Scarce, (foreman,) Samuel Woods, Thomas M'Coy, J. Keslank, George Holman, J. Hodges, Samuel Walker, Richard Maxwell, Bennet Starr, Robert Bennet, John Williams, Aaron Wade, John Ad- dington, William Meek, Isaac Harvey, Delsuan Bates, Josi- ah Easton, Joseph Woodkirk, and William Burk. This is said to be the first petit-jury trial on our records. The fol- lowing are the names of the jury who sat on the Holman case: John Benton, John Drake, John Armstrong, Nathaniel Scire, Thomas Bulla, Samuel Hunt, Harvey Druly, David F. Sacket, Joel Furgison, Benjamin Smith, and Jesse Daven- port. For the foregoing items, I am indebted to a commu- nication in the Richmond Palladium.


-


FIRST SETTLERS.


The earliest emigrants to this neighborhood were princi- pally from Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio. I have taken some pains to collect their names and history while many of the parties were living, and have placed the facts in a tabular form for ready reference, leaving blanks where I


12


REMINISCENCES OF THE


could not fill them with certainty, that others might supply the vacancies as the necessary data are brought to light:


NAMIE.


CAME IN. DIED. AGE.


Richard Rue, .


1805


George Holman, ..


1805 .still living,


Joseph Woodkirk,


1805


90


Benjamin Hill,


1806


70


Robert Hill,


1806 1850


John Smith,.


1806


1838


82


Ralph Wright,


1807


94


John M'Lane,


1810. 1838


81


James Pegg,


1814. 1839


71


Thomas Moore, 1815 1839


93


John Pegg, 1813


William Williams, 1814 .. 1824 61


John Wright,


1821 1838 76


Jeremiah Cox,


1806 1826


75


John Morrow, ..


1808 1825


60


Andrew Hoover,


1806


1834


83


Thomas Roberts,


1840


81


Cornelius Ratliff, sr.,


70


John Burgess, .


1808.


70


Andrew Morrow,


1809


John Townsend,


1853


90


*John Addington,


1806


90


Jacob Meek, .


1806


1842 90


75


Ephraim Overman,


1807


80


Thomas M'Coy,


1805


Joseph Wasson,.


1806


Revolutionary soldier, 85


75


James Alexander, Jacob Foutz,


1807


80


Valentine Pegg


1809


80


Benjamin Small,


1807


80


Richard Williams,


1814


+David Hoover, .


1806


still living,


Samuel Charles, 1812


1840 91


John Charles, . 1809


William Blunk, or Blount,. .. 1805 .... A poor, ignorant man, who claimed to be of the family of Blunts, of whom Gov. Blunt of Tennessee, he said, was one.


*Addington's mother, who came with him, died at the age of 103.


1'I was the first man who set his foot in this part of Wayne co.'-D. H's MS.


John Hawkins,


1807


Peter Flemming,


1807


85


1806


13


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


The remarkable ages to which these early settlers attained, speaks well for their habits and the healthfulness of the country.


FIRST JUDICIARY.


We have already, incidentally, alluded to some of the early judicial proceedings in Wayne county. This county was or- ganized in 1810. The first minute book of the court has recently been hunted up among the archives at Centreville; and consists of half a quire of old English paper, shaped into something like a school writing book, without a cover. By this simple document it appears that the first court was held "February 25th, 1811," at the house of Richard Rue, three miles south of Richmond. The Judges were: Peter Flem- ming, Aaron Martin and Jeremiah Meek; George Hunt was Clerk; John Turner, Sheriff; and James Noble, Prosecuting Attorney. The first business of the court was to divide the county into two townships and appoint overseers of the poor, constables, &c., for these districts. For the first district David Railsback and John Shaw were appointed overseers of the poor; Abraham Gaar, John Collins and Lewis Little, fence viewers. For the second township, the court appoint- ed for overseers of the poor, David Gailbraith and George Smith; for fence viewers, William Foutz, Nathaniel M'Clure and Robert Hill. Other names of our early settlers appear on a committee, appointed by this court to adjust the ac- counts of the overseers of the poor; this committee was :- David Carson, Timothy Hunt, Samuel Jobe, Jacob Meek, Elijah Fisher and George Holman.


It was necessary that the court should have a Seal; and the one adopted at this time was in perfect keeping with the


14


REMINISCENCES OF THE


simplicity of the day. It consisted, according to the des- cription given, of "a wafer and a piece of paper turned over it, with the letters Wayne County written thereon."


The first session of the court lasted but one day. At the second meeting on the 11th of the next month, a grand jury was for the first time, empanneled in Wayne county. By the researches of our friend John B. Stitt, from whose commu- nications to the Richmond Palladium in 1852, I have ob- tained the foregoing information, we are also furnished with the names of the members of this first grand inquest of Wayne county. They are as follows: Jesse Davenport, Da- vid Foutz, Joseph Cox, Charles Wright, John Burk, Wright Lancaster, Robert Gailbraith, Isaac Williams, John Smith, Benjamin Small, John Townsend, John Burgess, William Blount, Michael Snider, Peter Weaver, Benjamin Harvey, Joshua Meek, John Beard, Benjamin Jarvis, James Gordon, Harvey Miller, Lewis Little, and William Graham,-twenty in number.


At a time, says the MS. of David Hoover, when the court was assembled in the woods near Richard Rue's, "a boy was indicted for stealing a knife; a traverse jury was empanneled, and took their seats upon a log. The indictment was read, and as usual, set out that the boy did, with force and arms, feloneously steal, take and carry away, &c. Jeremiah Cox, afterward a member of the Constitutional Convention and a member of the Legislature, and one of the subsequent pro- prietors of Richmond, was on the jury. He considered the boy guilty; but he thought that the indictment was rather too 'bold' for so small an offense." We are not informed how this case terminated.


15


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


CIVIL DISTRICTS.


It is presumed that the reader of these early incidents does not contemplate Wayne county as confined to its present narrow limits of about 400 square miles; boundaries in that day had great latitude. In the year 1800, Indiana territory did not hold more than 5000 inhabitants and consisted of but three counties: Knox, Wayne and St. Clair. Knox county covered most of our present State of Indiana; Wayne county included the principal part of Michigan, and St. Clair embraced the present State of Illinois. As the popu- lation of the territory increased, the limits of the several counties were contracted; and other counties formed. At the time of the early settlement of this district, say about 1811 when the first court was held, Wayne county extend- ed from Franklin county northward along the Ohio State boundary on the east, and line of purchase made at Fort Wayne in 1809 on the west, to Ft. Recovery .- And accord- ing to an old work published in 1817, called "The Western Gazetteer or Emigrant's Directory," Wayne county is said to be bounded "on the east by the State of Ohio, on the south by the county of Franklin, on the west and north by Indian lands." In 1815, it constituted one of the thirteen counties into which Indiana was then divided. Its population at that time was 6,290, five other counties exceeding it in the num- ber of their inhabitants. The whole population of Indiana territory in 1815 did not reach 70,000.


FIRST VILLAGES.


By the act of the territorial legislature which organized Wayne county in 1810, "John Cox, George Holman and John Adenton, Gentlemen," were appointed commissioners to


16


REMINISCENCES OF THE


meet and locate the county seat on or before "the first Mon- day of the following May," and until this was done, and a court-house completed, the court was to meet at the house of Richard Rue, Esq. In the language of John B. Stitt: " At the June term 1811, the Commissioners appointed by an act of the Legislature having failed to discharge their duty according to law, in selecting a seat of justice for the county, the court declared their duties ended, and appointed in their stead Samuel Walker, Richard Maxwell and Benja- min Harris. These Commissioners were ordered to proceed immediately to the discharge of their duties. On the third day of the term the Commissioners made a report: 'That the permanent seat of Justice is and shall be on the donation of Samuel Woods, of sixty-five acres in the 13th township, range 3d, with a small reserve.' The court after confessing the report, ordered it to be entered as received by the Clerk, 'That the town in Wayne, or the seat of Justice, shall be called Salisbury.' Having obtained both a location and a name, the next thing was to build a town. Smith Hunt, Samuel Woods and James Brown were appointed trustees to lay off the lots, and Andrew Woods and John Meek, sen., to superintend the building of a jail and estray pen-all, as a matter of course, under the direction of the court. I do not find on the minutes of the court an order for the erection of a court house, but at the October session of 1811, I find the fol- lowing singular entry, to-wit: 'At a County Court held at the house of Richard Rue, Esq,, on the 28th of October, 1811, it opened, &c., and the court having been previously informed that the court house was raised, the court therefore adjourn- ed to sit one hour in the court house in the town of Salis- bury. Accordingly the court met at the court house in the


17


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


town of Salisbury in the county of Wayne on the aforesaid 28th day of October and proceeded,' &c." Such was the origin of Salisbury, the first towu laid out in Wayne county. The high destiny anticipated for the new village may be in- ferred from the following inscription found on the back of the recorded plat of the town, in the handwriting of George Hunt, at that time clerk and recorder of the county: "The town of Salisbury stands on a beautiful site on the waters of Clear creek, W. C., I. T., (Indiana Territory,) in a fine neighborhood, environed by rich land, &c., &c. No better water in the world-the air salubrious; and its elevated situ- ation commands an extensive and beautiful prospect. And we flatter ourselves that in a few years, Art, with her sister Industry, will convert it from a forest to a flourishing, inland town. Several gentlemen of property have purchased lots, both in the mercantile and mechanical line, which will greatly enhance its value." A log, and afterward brick court house were erected, as soon as the town was laid out; and a log jail was built. Turning to the Emigrant's Guide, by S. R. Brown, I find the following paragraph, pertaining to the year 1816: "Salisbury-Lies 30 miles north of Brookville; contains about thirty-five houses, two stores and two taverns. It is at present the seat of justice for Wayne county; but Centre- ville, a near village, being more central, threatens to become its competitor for that privilege." It will be observed that not one word is said about Richmond: it was yet to appear on the arena.


The career of Salisbury was short. It attained a few hundred inhabitants. But the legislature in 1816 authorized the removal of the seat of justice to Centreville; and then commenced the downfall of Salisbury, in the midst of bitter


3


18


REMINISCENCES OF THE


strife between the Centreville and Salisbury parties; the one to retain, the other to procure the county seat. All that could be said on either side, was brought to bear upon the subject: the sickliness of the respective places, the conve- nient and inconvenient location, the population, future pros- pects, expenses incurred, &c., were among the points canvas- sed. It was the opinion of William Steele, a burly citizen of Salisbury, its chief politician, a legislator, a colonel, a "New-Light" preacher and a cabinet maker, that Salisbury was destined to become another Moscow. This declara- tion was received with so much jeer by the opposite party, that the term Moscow for awhile bid fair to supplant that of Salisbury. We will not dwell upon this controversy. Salisbury is no more; the bricks of the court house were sold and brought to Richmond, and lie quietly in the walls of the house at the south-east corner of Main and Pearl streets, and in those of the building on lot No. 18, South Front street. And some of our respectable citizens are now within the logs of the old court house, which were brought to Richmond, and re-erected and weather-boarded, and con- stitute the building on North Pearl street, on lot No. 18 .- Before the county seat could be legally removed, the trustecs of Centreville were to erect, without any expense to the county, a court house, jail and estray pen in the town, on or before the "1st day of August, 1817, of the same dimensions and as well finished as those of Salisbury." On failure to do this the county seat was to remain where it was. Extremely short as the time was, to accomplish so much, the build- ings were all up in due season; some of the citizens of Cen- treville subscribing ten to fifteen hundred dollars toward their erection.


19


HISTORY OF RICHMOND.


The next spring (1818) the court was held at Centreville, But only one year afterward, the question was brought be- fore the court whether Salisbury or Centreville was the legal county seat. The presiding judge, John Watts, was absent. The associate judges, McLean and Davenport were of the opposite parties in this matter; their decision was "that the seat of Justice was permanently established at Salisbury, that the act of December 21st, 1816, not having a sufficient repealing clause, has not removed it; but that the act of January 28th, 1818, authorized the court to hold their pro- tempore session in the town of Centreville, until the legisla- ture should otherwise direct." And as the Legislature has never otherwise directed, the court has been held "temporari- ly" at Centreville ever since.


It is thus seen that both Salisbury and Centreville were established before Richmond; besides these two, I believe there are no others in the county that have a priority to this city. Centreville was laid out in the year 1814.


RICHMOND


was plotted in 1816. For nearly ten years, maize and small grain had waved over the fields patented to John Smith and Jeremiah Cox. It was thought their grounds would furnish a good foundation for a town. The suggestion was made by the former to the latter; but Jeremiah was not, at that time, prepared to engage in the scheme. "I would rather see a buck's tail," said he, "than a tavern sign." He had no relish for towns at all events; although he afterward became part proprietor of one. Notwithstanding this unwillingness to co-operate on the part of one of the land owners, David Hoover, who is still living, and who was then about thirty-




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