USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 1 > Part 9
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CHARACTER OF JUDGE SYMMES.
JOHN CLEVES SYMMES, the original patentce of the lands between the two rivers, was a native of Riverhead, Long Island, where he was born on the 10th of July, 1742. He was the son of the Rev. Timothy Syomnes, who was a native of Scituate, Massachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1733. His mother was Mary Cleves.
John Cleves Symmes, early in life, was employed as a teacher and land surveyor, but soon after attaining his majority removed to New Jersey, where he became active among those who were engaged in opposing the preten- sions of Great Britain. He beemne a member of the Committee of Safety for Sussex County, and acted as chairman in 1774, and the year after was colonel of one of the regiments of militia which were then maised. When Howe and his army landed on Long island. Colonel Symmed's regiment was actively employed in aiding to ereet works of defense against the British, and afterwards took part in the battle of Long Island and
the subsequent retreat. In this engagement, however, Symnies did not participate. He had been elected a de !- egate to the State convention of New Jersey, which met at Burlington ou the 10th of June, and was a member of the committee which drafted a constitution. At the end of 1776 he was sent up to Ticonderoga, having been delegated by the Legislature of his State to make a new arrangement of the officers of the New Jersey regiosent. stationed in the Northern Department. On returning home he joined the command of Colonel Jacob Ford. "On the 14th December, while quartered at Chatham, and charged with the duty of covering the retreat of Washington through New Jersey, Colonel Ford received intelligence that eight hundred British troops, commanded by General Leslie, had advanced to Springfield, four miles from Chatham. He ordered Colonel Synnnes to proceed to Springfield and check the approach of the enemy, if possible. Accordingly, Colonel Symimes, with a detach- ment of the brigade, marched to that village, and attseked the British in the evening. This was the first check Leslie met with after leaving Elizabeth; but others soon fol- lowed, and his further progress in that direction was effectually stopped." (Elsal's Address, Sussex Cente- nary, p. 63.)
In 1776 he was appointed to the command of the forts which extended along the northwest nontier of New Jersey as a protection against the Indians. Snagex Connty was at that time in a very exposedfondiriou. He aided General Dickinson in the attack which was made upor the British in Staten Island. His duty called him to Redbank Fort when the English sailed up the Delaware and attacked Redbank and Mifflin Forts, the latter of which they took. He served with distinction at the battle of Monmouth, and was in the battle of Short Hills. During the possession of Long Iland by the enemy it was mich exposed to forays by the Americans. and in these predatory attacks Colonel Symmes took a prominent part. He made five descents at different times, and at one time captured a schooner and mula ten men prisoners, This he did with the assistance of only four men. One of the younger sons of George che Third-Prince William Heury, who was anmaidshipman --- was, towards the end of the war, quartered in Now York, and soveral schemes were formed fer his capture. Colonel Symmes was offered a command by Gouem Washington for the purpose of making a prisoner of the young prince, but declined; and the tender was thed made to Colonel Humphreys, who accepted. The enter- prise, however, came to nothing. The reputation Colo- nel Symmies gained in a military way he did not bere in civil life. He was six years a member of the conseil, one year lieutenant governor, and twelve years a judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, becoming chief justice. After the conclusion of the war ho was a Rom- ber of the Continental Congress, serving in this caperity two years. The fever of land speculation took possession
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
of many of our hest men after the peace allowed them to begin settlements, and Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West- ern New York, and Pennsylvania were the seat of the chief operations. Judge Symmes, at the same time as the agents of the Ohio Company, made application for a tract of land in Ohio, and was finally granted it. He was made a judge of the Northwest Territory by Con- gress, February 19, 1788, and soon afterwards removed to the Ohio Valley, where he spent the remainder of his days. In 1789 he located himself at North Bend, below Cincinnati, where for years he dispensed an elegant and profuse hospitality. He contributed much By his public spirit to the settling of the whole region
When Judge Symmes came West be led a party of immigrants. The first detachment which came out was led by Major Benjamin Stites, and settled at Columbia, five miles east of the center of the present city of Cin- cinnati; the second was conducted by Matthias Denman and Robert Patterson, which stopped' at Cincinnati; and the third was that of Judge Symmes. We give from Burnet's " Notes" an account of this expedition :
" The third party of adventurers to the Miami pur- chase were under the immediate care and direction of Judge Symnes. They left Limestone on the 29th of January, 1789, and on their passage down the river were obstructed, delayed, and exposed to imminent danger from floating ice, which covered the river. They, however, reached the Bend, the place of their destination, in safety, early in February. The first object of the judge was to found a city at that place, which had received the name of North Bend, from the fact that it was the most north- ern hend in the Ohio River below the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
" The water-eraft used in descending the Ohio in those primitive times were flat-boats made of green oak plank, fastened by wooden pins to a frame of timber, and caulked with tow or any other pliant substance that could be procured. Boats similarly constructed, on the Northern waters, were then called arks; but on the West- ern rivers they were denominated Kentucky boats. The materials of which they were composed were found to be of great utility in the construction of temporary buildings for safety, and for protection from the inclemency of the weather, after they had arrived at their destination.
" At the carnest solicitation of the judge, General Harmar sent Captain Kearsey, with forty-eight rank and file, to protect the improvements just commencing in the Miami country. This detachment reached Limestone in Decenter, 1788; and in a few days after, Captain Kear- sey sent a part of his command in advance, as a guard, to protect the pioneers under Major Stites at the Little Miami, where they arrived soon after. Mr. Sommes and his party, accompanied by Captain Kearney, landed at Columbia, on their passage down the river, and the de- tachment previously sent to that place joined their cout- pany. They' then proceeded, to the Bend, and landed
about the 1st or 20 of February. When they left Lime- stone it was the purpose of Captain Kearsey to occupy the fort built at the mouth of the Miami by a detach- ment of United States troops, who afterwards descended the river to the Falls.
"That purpose was defeated by the flood in the river, which had spread over the low grounds and rendered it difficult to reach the fort. Captain Kearsey, however, was anxions to make the attempt ; but the judge would uot consent to it. He was. of course, much disappointed and greatly displeased. When he set out on the expe- dition, expecting to find a fort ready built to receive hin, he did not provide the implements necessary to construct one. Thus disappointed and displeased, hc resolved that he would not attempt to construct a new work, but would leave the Bend and join the garrison at Louisville.
" In pursuance of that resolution, he embarked early iu March, and descended the river with his command. The judge immediately wrote to-Major Willis, command- ant of the garrison at the Falls, complaining of the con- duet of Captain Kearney, representing the exposed sitna. tion of the Miami settlement, stating the indications of hostility manifested by the Indians, and requesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. This request was promptly granted, and before the close of the month En- sign Imce arrived with seventeen or eighteen soldiers, which, for the time, removed the apprehensions of the pioneers at that place. It was not long, however, before the Jadians made an attack on thems, in which they killed one soldier and wounded four or five other persons, inchaling Major J. R. Mills, an emigrant from: Elizabeth- lown. New Jersey, who was a surveyor and an intelligent and highly respected citizen. Although he recovered from his wounds, he felt their disabling effects to the day of his death.
" The surface of the ground where the judge and his party had landed was above the reach of the water and sufficiently level to admit of a convenient settlement. He therefore determined, for the inunediate accommoda- tion of lis party. to lay out a village at that place, and to suspend, for the present, the execution of his porpose as to the city of which he had given notice, until satie- factory information could be obtained in regard to the comparative advantages of different places in the vicinity. The determination, however, of laying out such a city was not abandoned, but was executed in the succeeding year on a magnificent scale. I: included the village, and extended from the Ohio across the peninsula to the Mi- ani . River. This city --- which was certainly a beautiful one, on paper-was called Symmes and for a time was a subject of conversation and of criticism : but it soon ceased to be remembered-even its aumne was forgotten -- and the settlement continued to be eniled North Bend. Since then, that village has been distinguished as the residence and the home of the soldier and statesman. William
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FORMATION OF COUNTY AND TOWNSHIPS.
Henry Harrison, whose remains now repose in a humble vault on one of its beautiful hills.
" In conformity with a stipulation made at Limestone, every individual belonging to the party received a dona- tion lot, which he was required to improve as the condi- tion of obtaining a title. As the number of these adven- turers increased in consequence of the protection afforded by the military, the judge was induced to lay out another village, six or seven miles higher up the river, which he called South Bend, where he disposed of some donation lots ; but that project failed, and in a few years the village was deserted, and converted into a farm.
" During these transactions the judge was visited by a number of Indians from a camp in the neighborhood of Stites's settlement. One of them, a Shawnee chief, bad many complaints to make of frauds practiced on them by white traders, who fortunately had no connection with the pioneers. After several conversatious and some small presents. he professed to be satisfied with the ex- planation he had received, and gave assurances that the Indians would trade with the white men as friends.
" In one of their interviews the judge told him he had been commissioned and sent out to their country by the thirteen fires, in the spirit of friendship and kindness, and that he was instructed to treat them as friends and as brothers. In proof of this he showed them the flag of the Union, with its stars and stripes, and also his com- mission, having the great seal of the United States attached to it: exhibiting the American eagle, with the olive-branch in one claw, emblematical of peace, and the instrument of war and death in the other. He explained the meaning of those symbols to their satisfaction, though at first the chief seemed to think they were not very striking emblemis either of pence or friendship; but before he departed from the Bond he gave assurances of the most friendly character, Yet, when they left their camp to return to their towns, they carried off a number of horses belonging to the Columbia settlement, to compen- sate for the injuries done them by wandering traders who had no part or lot with the pioneers. These depreda- tions having been repeated, a party was sent out in. pur- suit, who followed the trail of the Indians a considerable distance, when they discovered fresh signs, and sent Cap- tain Finn, one of the party, in advance, to reconnoiter. He had not proceeded far before he was surprised, taken prisoner, and carried to the Indian camp. Not liking the movements he saw going on, which seemed to indicate personal violence in regard to himself, and having great confidenre in his activity and strength, at a favorable moment he sprang from the camp, made his escape, aud joined bis party. The Indians, fearing an ambuscode, did not mursne. The party possessed themselves of some horses belonging to the Indians, and returned to Co- bimbia. In a few days the Indians brought in Captain Fime's rifle, and begged Major Stites to restore their hor-es, alleging that they were innecent of the depreda-
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tions laid to their charge. After some further explain- tions, the matter was amicably settled, and the horses were given up."
Judge Symmes was three times married. Ilis first wife was Ann Tuthill; the second was Mrs. Halsey, and the third Susanna, daughter of William Livingston, gov- ernor of New Jersey, and at the outbreak of the war of the Revolution better and more widely known then almost any of the other defenders of our liberties as derived from our ancestors. He had two daughters --- Maria, who married Major Peyton Short, of Kentucky ; and Anna, who married William Henry Harrison, after- wards President of the United States.
Juilge Symmes was of a large, majestic figure. of pleasant manners and great benevolence. He was weil liked by the Indians. At the treaty of Greenville he was told' that in the war he was frequently the chjeet of the aim of the enemies of the white men, bat that when he was recognized they refrained from pulling the trigger. He died at Cincinnati, February 26, 1814, in the sev- enty-second year of his age, and was buried with military honors on a hill near his late residence at North Bend. It is only a little distance from the tomb of his illustrious son-in-law, General Harrison. On the flat tablet which covers the grave is the following inscription :
Mere rist the remains of JOHN CLEVES SYMMES,
who, at the foot of these hills, made the first sit- tlement between the Miami Rivers. Born on Long Island, State of New York, July 21%, A. D. WAS. Died at Cincinnati, February 26, A. D. 1814.
The residence of Judge Sgumes stood about a mile northwest of the present railway station-bouse at North Bend, at the foot of the hul dividing the Ohio from the Great Miami River. It was destroyed by fre, March, 1811, during the owner's temporary ab-eure, when all of his valuable papers were barned. The fire was supposed to have been the work of an individual who bad become angry at Judge Syminies because the latter had refused to vote for him as a justice of the peace.
FORMATION OF BUTLER COUNTY AND ITS TOWNSHIPS.
ON the 21th day of March, 1803, the General Ax- sembly of the State of Ohio passed "An act for the division of the coduties of Hamilton and Ross, "& by which act the county of Butter was established. compre- houding the country included within the following bound-
" Laws of Olio, Vol. I, page !.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
aries: Beginning at the northeast corner of section number seven, in the third township of the second range in the Miami purchase; running thenee west to the State line ; thence north with the State line to a point dne west from the middle of the fifth range of townships of the Miami purchase ; thence east to the Great Miami River; and bounded on the east by the Miami River and a line running north on the section line from the place of be- gianing to the Miami River.
The southern boundary of the county. as established by this act, was a west line from the place of beginning. This line, when run, passed through the tier of sections south of the present boundary line, dividing farms, and struck the Miami River in the Colerain bend, about a mile south of the present county line. To remedy this inconven- ience, the Legislature passed a law on the 20th of Jan- uary, 1808, to establish the line between Hamilton and Butler Counties .* By this act the line was established. beginning at the southeast corner of Butler County, as mentioned in the first act; thence westwardly along the line of the tier of sections to the Great Miami River ; thence down the Miami River to the point where the line of the next original surveyed township, on the west side of the river, strikes the same; thence west along that line to the western boundary of the State.
This is the present line between the coanties of Butler and Hamilton.
On the 15th day of February, 1808, the Legislature established the county of Preble,t and made its south boundary a line beginning at the southwest corner of the sixth township in the first range east of the meridian drawn from the mouth of the Great Miami River (the northwest corner of the college township) ; thence east along the towaship line to the range line between the third and fourth ranges; thus cutting off from the county of Butler, on the north, about ope tier and a half of sections. The north boundary line of Butler County, as originally established, struck the Miami River on the west side, about two miles above the town of Franklin. oppo- site where the protection wall, on the east side of the river above Vanderveer's mill, has since been made, at the time the Miami Canal was constructal. On the 30th of January. 1815, the Legislature passed a law attaching that part of Butler County which lay within the first and second fractional townships in the fifth range to the county of Warrent and which now com- preheads that portion of Franklin Township, Warren County. lying west of the Great Miami River; thus reducing the county of Butler to its present dimensions.
This county was named Butler after General Richard Butler, a heroic soldier of the Revolution. He distin- guished himself on more than one occasion in a remark- able manaer. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and
was one of a family of brothers who were active in the Revolutionary struggle. He lost his life in the memora- ble defeat of St. Clair by the Indians, as is toll more fully elsewhere.
At the same session that the county of Butler was established by the Legislature, a resolution was passed on the 15th day of April. 1803, appointing James Silvers, Benjamin Stites, and David Sutton commissioners to ex- amine and select the most proper place for the seat of justice of Butler County.
These commissioners, having given twenty day ' notice of their time and place of meeting, met at the town- of Hamilton early in the moonth of July, 1803, and having takeu an oath, as required by the law establishing seats of justice, proceeded to the duties incumbeut on them. Several places were proposed to the commissioners as eligilde sites for the seat of justice. Amongst the most prominent of them was a beautiful situation immediately on the west bank of the Miami River, about four miles above the town of Hamilton, called the " High. Bank tract," then owned by William MeClellan aud George P. Torrence, adjoining to where the late John Wilson for- merly lived.
A company, composed of Jacob Burnet, John Suth- erland, Henry Brown, James Smith, and William Runtin, owned a large tract of land on the west side of the Miami River, opposite the town of Hamilton, including the situation where the town of Roseville (now known as West Hamilton) was afterward laid. They proposed the ground where Rossville now is as an eligible site for the seat of justice.
Israel Ludlow, the proprietor of the town of Ham- ilton, submitted to the commissioneis the following prop- osition in writing :
" I will give for the use of the county a square for public buildings, agrecably to the plan recorded of the town of Hamilton: also a square for the church and burying- ground, consisting of eight towe lots, together with the commons in front of the town, for public wes -- such as boat-yards, etc .- in case the honorable commissioners should conceive the town of Hainilton a convenient and suitable place for the seat of justice ; and will also pay two hundred dollars toward the erection of a court-house. ISRAEL LUDLOW."
" (Signed)
The commissioners having examined the different places proposed, after due deliberation decided in favor of the town of Handlton as the most eligible place for hokling the several courts, accepted the proposition of Mr. Ludlow, and established the seat of justice at Ham- ilton, of which they made report to the Coart of Common Pleas, then in session, on the 15th day of July, 1sp ?.
Israel Ladlow died on the 21st of January 1804. before complying with the proposition made to the com- missioners. However, afterwards Charlotte Chamber- Lundlow, John Ludiow, and James Findlay. surviving
*Laws of Ohio, Vol. VI, page 19.
: Laws of Ohio, Vol. XUi, page 109. .
tTil, page 184.
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FORMATION OF COUNTY AND TOWNSHIPS.
administrators of Israel Ludlow, petitioned the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County for leave to complete the contract, on which the court rendered a decree at the December term, 1808; in pursuance of which decree the administrators paid to the county of Butler the suni of two hundred dollars, and executed a deed for the 'square of ground at present occupied by the court-house and public buildings, being in-lots Nos. 95, 96, 97, and 98, in the town, and also a square for the burying-ground, being in-lots Nos. 18, 14, 15, 16, 29, 30, 31, and 32.
The first associate judges appointed by the Legislature for the county of Butler were James Dunn, John Greer, and John Kitchel. They meet at Hamilton on the 10th day of May, 1803, and held their first Court of Quarter Session at the house of John Torrence, who then kept a tavern in the house standing on the corner of Dayton and Water Streeta, on lot No. 132. This house is still stand- ing, and owned by Henry S. Earhart, who has occupied it as a family residence for many years. It was built by John Torrence, and was the first frame building erected in the town of Hamilton outside of the garrison. Although this house was built more than eighty years ago, the frame-work is as solid and firm, apparently, as it was half a century since. The siding or weatherboarding was of black walnut, and was sawed by means of a whip-aw. Every nail used in putting on the siding and roof was made to order by a blacksmith then residing in Hamilton. The judges at this session appointed John Reily their clerk pro tem., divided the county into five townships, and ordered an election to be held in the several towi- ships on the 1st day of June then next, for the elcetiou of a sheriff and coroner for the county of Butler, to serve until the general election in October."
On the Ist day of June, 1803, the associate judges commenced the second session of the Court of Quarter Sessions at the same place in Hamilton. At this session a statement of votes given for sheriff and coroner at the election held on the 1st day of June was returned to the judges, by which it appeared that James Blackburn was elected sheriff and Samuel Dillon coroner.
The first regular term of the Court of Common Pleas for Butler County, at which cases were tried, was com- menged on Tuesday, the 12th day of July, 1803, at the house of John Torrence, in Hamilton. The court was composed of Francis Dunlevy, president judge; Jamies Dunn, Join Greer, John Kitchel, associate judges; Daniel Symmes. proscouting attorney for the State; James Black- burn, sherit ?; John Relly. clerk. The grand jury, being the first impareled in the county of Butler, were :
1. David Enoch, 6. James Scott, Foreman. 7. Matthew Rich- 2. James Watson. ardson. 12. Benjamin Tine. 13 Solomon Line. 11. John MeDonald.
:. John Scott. S. Robert Lytie.
!. Sammeal Dick. 9. Moses Vall.
5. William Crooks.
10. James McClure. 11. Amirew Christy.
At this term John Reily was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas; July 13, 1803, James Heaton was appointed county surveyor for the county of Butler; July 14, 1803, Joseph F. Randolph was ap- pointed county treasurer ; and on the same day the court made an order that the building lately occupied and used by the troops of the garrison as a magazine should be assigned to be the jail for Betler County.
The first term of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio for Butier County was held at. Hamilton on the 11th day of October, 1803, by Samuel Huntingdor and William Sprigg, judges; John Reily, clerk ; Arthur St. Clair, prosecuting attorney for the State; William MeCli- lan, sheriff.
As previously noted, the Court of Quarter Sessions, at their meeting of Tuesday, May 10, 1803, established the boundaries of townships as follows :
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