A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 83

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > Ohio > Scioto County > A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record > Part 83

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Just think of it! There were over one hundred men in Portsmouth, in 1830. who determined to enforce these laws, and who did enforce them, and then attended the great Fourth of July celebration on July 4, 1831, listened to all the crimes imputed to poor, old, silly, crazy George III., and then thanked God they had never done anything as bad as that, when they had on the previous January 21, 1830, done much worse.

The editor does not know the names of the one hundred or two hundred householders in Portsmouth who signed that infamous paper, and hopes he may never know, and that the paper is destroyed. It was not published in the news- papers of that time.

As near as we can now determine, eighty black people were deported by the town authorities in 1830.

A Slave Coffle.

In about 1834 this incident occurred on the public landing, in the town of Portsmouth. It was related by Col. William E. Gilmore, of Chillicothe, Ohio, then a boy, ten years of age, on a visit to Portsmouth:

He was on the river bank and a flatboat had just landed. His attention was arrested by loud and angry cursing, accompanied by blows. Boylike, he went near to the collection of people and saw three negro men, handcuffed and tied to a rope, one negro woman and four negro men tied to a rope, but not handcuffed, and five negro girls, from twelve to fifteen years of age, following and carrying large and heavy bundles on their heads. Three white men were in charge of the party. One of a respectable appearance carried a double- barreled shotgun. The other two were the usual ruffians and white brutes who accompanied processions of this character. They each carried a horse pistol and a black snake whip. One of the white brutes, in human form, was cruelly beating one of the handcuffed negroes over the head with the butt end of his black-snake whip, accompanying each blow with an oath. This proceeded until

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the one decent appearing white man in charge stopped it, saying, "That is enough this time, but if you catch him at it again, knock his damned head in," and, turning to a negro who was alongside of the one beaten, but was not one of the coffle, said, "If I catch any of you free negroes talking to my gang I will put a load of buckshot into your black hides."

This slave coffle was confined in the Portsmouth Jail that night, and until they could proceed further down the river on a boat.

This scene occurred in the beautiful, intelligent, refined and cultured city of Portsmouth only sixty-seven years since. It was all done with the sanction of the law, the organic law of the land. It occurred with the passive consent of all the citizens, and without a protest or objection. Such a scene did not occur only once. It occurred frequently, and our forefathers tolerated it as one of the compromises of the Constitution until the institution was wiped out by the blood of their sons,

THE FIRST CONVEYANCE OF LOTS.

1. The First recorded conveyance in the city of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, is that of Henry Massie, the orig.nal proprietor, to James Gilken. son. This deed reads, as did all the early deeds, "This indenture made between Henry Massie, of Scioto County, Ohio, and James Gilkenson, of the same county." The consideration was one dollar, and conveyed Lot 79, where the Tracy Shoe House now stands. The deed was made October 27, 1806. There are no wit- nesses to it, and the acknowledgement was made before Alexander Curran, Recorder of Scioto County. Mr. Massie had entered the lots on which Ports- mouth was founded on the 29th of March, 1801, but he had never obtained a patent for them until August 4, 1806, consequently, all his sales of lots in Portsmouth, prior to the issue of the patent, were by title bond; and it seems he did not begin to make deeds until the 27th of October, 1806. No doubt, he then visited Portsmouth for that purpose and stopped at the hotel of John Brown, and a number of conveyances are acknowledged before John Brown, Justice of the Peace.

2. On the same date, October 27, 1806, Massie made a deed of indenture to Samuel Salladay. The consideration was left blank. There are no witnesses, and it was acknowledged before John Brown, Justice of the Peace.

3. On the same day he sold Outlot No. 9, near the corner of Sixth and Washington Streets, to John Gilkenson. The consideration was left blank. John Brown, Justice of the Peace, took the acknowledgement. No doubt, Gilkenson and Salladay had rendered Massie services in the laying out of the town, and the deeds were made to pay for services rendered.

4. On the same day, Massie deeded Inlot No. 272, on the south side of Second Street, east of the first alley above Scioto Street, to William Jones, the first school teacher in Portsmouth. The consideration recited was one dollar; but in reality the deed was given for services in carrying the chain in surveying the lots, when Portsmouth was surveyed prior to April, 1803. There were no witnesses to this deed, and John Brown, Justice of the Peace, took the acknowl- edgement.

The first four conveyances noted recite Massie to be of Scioto County.

5. On the same day, October 27, 1806, Massie conveyed Inlot No. 16 to Francis Adams, on Front Street, east of Market, where Rainey's blacksmith shop now is. Massie recites himself to be of Ross County, and the consideration is one dollar,

6. On the same day, he conveyed to Henry Sheeley for one dollar inlot No. 259 on the northwest corner of Second and Massie streets. John Brown, Jus- tice of the Peace, took the acknowledgement, but there were no witnesses, In this Massie states himself to be of Ross County,

7. On the same day he conveyed to John McConnell inlot No. 49, on the northeast corner of Court and Front streets, now the residence of B. Augustine. The consideration was one dollar. There were no witnesses, and John Brown was the Justice of the Peace who took the acknowledgement.

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October 28,

8. On 1806, Henry Massie, of Ross County, for $35.00, conveyed inlot No. 34, where the Adams Express Company was so long located, now owned by the estate of Daniel McFarland, to Alexander Curran. Just after the recording of this deed is found the plat of Portsmouth, Ohio, made by Massie in 1807, in which he vacated all the inlots north of the tier, facing Second street on the north side.

9. On May 18, 1807, Henry Massie, of Ross County, conveyed inlot 17 to Josiah Shackford for $50.00. The lot is now occupied by the Portsmouth Shoe Company. No doubt he had contracted this lot to Shackford as early as 1803.

10. On May 9, 1807, Mass.e conveyed to Samuel Finley inlot No. 1, on the southeast corner of Front and Market streets, now occupied by the Mc- Dowell building. The consideration was $50.00; and John Hull, Justice of the Peace, of Ross County, took the acknowledgement.

The foregoing embrace the first ten conveyances made by Henry Massie in the City of Portsmouth of record in the Recorder's office of Scioto County.

On November 28, 1807, Henry Sheeley conveyed to William Huston inlot No. 20 on Third Street, now owned by the Spry family, and one walnut bureau. , This was conditioned to hold Huston harmless on a certain bond, wherein Hugh Sloan was plaintiff and Henry Sheeley was defendant. The witnesses to this deed were Elizabeth Curran and Alexander Curran. John Brown, Justice of the Peace. took the acknowledgment.

All of the conveyances before recited cover whole lots, and all of the inlots conveyed were 821/ feet front by 132 feet deep. The outlots were three acres.

TOWN AND CITY ELECTIONS.

On Monday, March 15, 1816, Thomas Waller, John R. Turner and William Lodwick were the new Councilmen elected. No record of this vote has been pre- sered, and hereafter where no figures of the vote are given none were preserved. On March 16, 1817, John Brown, Sr., David Gharky and William Lodwick were elected Councilmen.

On the proper day in March, 1818, no election was held, and afterward, on the 8th day of April, 1818, the six Councilmen holding over elected Nathan K. Clough, William Kendall and John Brown, Jr., Councilmen.

On March 18, 1819, Thomas Waller, William Lodwick and John R. Turner were elected Councilmen, but the fact is merely recorded.

On March 13, 1820, David Gharky, Jacob Noel and Jacob Clingman were elected Councilmen for three years.

On March 12, 182], the election was held at the Courthouse. William Kendall, Samuel Gunn and Nathan K. Clough were elected Councilmen. There is no record of any other meetings of Council until March 11, 1822. At this time three Councilmen were elected, as was required. There were no contests. William Lodwick had 44 votes, Daniel Corwine had 40 and James B. Prescott 22, and all were declared elected.

On March 10, 1823, at the charter election of the town, Samuel M. Tracy, John Noel and Murtaugh Kehoe were elected.

On the 8th of March, 1824, there was an election held at the Courthouse between 11 a. m. and 4 p. m., and three Councilmen were elected. There seemed to be no opposition. Samuel Gunn had 13 votes, Wilson Gates had 13 and Jacob Clingman had 12, and all were declared elected.

On March 14, 1825, at the corporation election for Councilmen, Ebenezer Corwine received 37 votes, William Oldfield 22 and Samuel G. Jones 20, and all were declared elected.

In the spring of 1826, the electors of the city of Portsmouth were afflicted with that tired feeling which we read about in patent medicine advertisements, and there was no election. They forgot it, or did not care sufficiently about it to attend to it.

On May 12, 1826, the hold-over members of Council elected Samuel M. Tracy, John Noel and Giles S. B. Hempstead as Councilmen.

On March 12, 1827, at the charter election, Samuel Gunn had 41 votes, Col. John McDonald 27 and James Lodwick 23. This was the first appearance of

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Mr. James Lodwick in municipal affairs. He held some municipal office from that time until his death. Col. John McDonald is the author of "McDonald's Sketches," and has a separate sketch herein, as has each of the other three.

In March, 1828, there was no corporation election called or held, and on April 4, 1823, the Council elected Kennedy Lodwick, John R. Turner and William Oldfield to succeed themselves.

On March 9, 1829, John Noel, Giles S. B. Hempstead and Samuel Tracy were elected members of Council for three years.

On March 8, 1830, Jacob P. Noel, George D. H. Wilcoxen and Nathaniel W. Andrews were elected Councilmen.

On March 17. 1831, Wilson Gates, Ezra Osborne and Silas W. Cole were elected.

On March 12, 1832, Samuel M. Tracy, Giles S. B. Hempstead and William V. Peck were elected.

At the election in 1833, held on March 1, John Noel, Isaac Noel and Moses Gregory were elected Councilmen.

On March 10, 1834, Wilson Gates, Silas Cole and Havillah Gunn were elected Councilmen.

On March 9, 1835, Conrad Overturf, Mathias Ross and Peter Kinney were elected.

On March 4, 1836, R. H. Tomlin, William Waller and John R. Turner were elected Councilmen.

On March, 3, 1837, C. A. M. Damarin and Moses Gregory were elected.

On March 15, 1839, the corporation election was held by wards. N. W. Andrews was elected in the First Ward, James Lodwick and John R. Turner in the Second Ward, and John Musser in the Third Ward.

In 1840, at the city election, Edward Hamilton was re-elected Mayor, Lewis C Parker was elected Marshal and J. V. Robinson Treasurer. The Councilmen elected were David Gharky, First Ward; Joseph Riggs, Second Ward; Moses Gregory, Third Ward.

- On April 2, 1841, there was one Councilman to be elected in the First Ward, but there were two contestants. James Lodwick had 33 votes, and was elected; Thomas Lawson had 20 votes. In the Second Ward there were two Councilmen to be elected. Washington Kinney liad 67 votes and Samuel J. Huston had 57 votes, and both were elected. In the Third Ward there was no election held.

On March 14, 1842, at the corporation election, Thomas Lawson had his ambition gratified. He was elected as Councilman from the First Ward without opposition. George Corwin was elected for one year from the Second Ward, and Octavius Hall for two years and Dudley Day for three years from the Third Ward.

On March 15, 1843, J. L. McVey was elected Councilman for one year, and John L. Ward for three years from the First Ward. In the Second Ward Henry Buchanan was elected for one year, Peter Kinney for two years and Edward Hamilton for three years. In the Third Ward Moses Gregory was elected. His term was not specified, but the time should have been three years.

On March 15, 1844, was the time when the town disgraced itself by elect- ing R. H. Tomlin Mayor over Col. O. F. Moore. Tomlin had 177 votes and Col. Moore had 146. It does not appear who were elected Councilmen for this year. On March 12, 1845, Ralph St. John was elected Town Marshal. It does not appear who were elected Councilmen.

On March 10, 1846, at the corporation election for Mayor, George Johnson had 266 votes, Isaac Kirby had 88 and R. H. Tomlin 1 vote. For Treasurer, James Lodwick had 178 votes, William Kendall had 171, John Row had 1. For Marshal, John Squires had 120 votes, R. B. Alfred 118 and Valentine Little- john 140.

The only record for the town election for March 8, 1847, is that John Squires was elected Town Marshal, 312 votes being cast.

At the March election, 1848, George Johnson was elected Mayor for two years. He had 372 votes, and William B. Camden had 15. James Lodwick was elected Treasurer for two years. He had 317 votes. John Squires was elected

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Marshal. He had 212 votes and no opposition. The names of the Councilmen are not given.

At the election March 12, 1849, John Squires was elected Town Marshal. No figures were given.

On March 11, 1850, Ben Ramsey was elected Mayor. John Squires was elected Marshal, and James Lodwick Treasurer. No figures of this vote are given.

On April 7, 1851, the following are the votes for Mayor: Benjamin Ram. sey, 261 votes; James M. Ashley, 201; Willian Oldfield, 97. For Marshal: John Squires had no opposition. For Treasurer, George Johnson had 295 votes and John Renshaw had 256 votes. William Hall, Samuel Cole and Richard Lloyd were elected School Trustees. Here again the city made a grievous mistake. Ashley, disgusted with the want of appreciation, left and went to Toledo, where he made a national reputation. Ramsey, who was noted for naught but laziness, left the town in 1857, and oblivion has claimed him.

On April 5, 1852, at the corporation election, W.lliam Oldfield had 387 votes for Mayor and Cornelius McCoy 203. John Squires was elected Marshal without opposition. The vote on the other city offices are not given.

On April 11, 1853, the corporation election was held, but the result in vote is not given.

In 1854, no record of the election has been preserved.

In 1855, the election was an exciting one. There were two tickets, the American Reform ticket and the People's ticket. The American Reform ticket won, and the vote was as follows: For Mayor, John R. Turner had 508 votes; C. McCoy, 267; majority, 241 votes. Marshal, S. H. Boynton had 462 votes; Nelson Vigus, 317; majority, 145. Treasurer, William L. Wood had 502 votes. W. H. Huston, 284; majority, 218. Wharf-master, Thomas Burt had 505 votes, Thomas S. Currie, 283; majority, 222. Street Commissioner, Jordan Vigus, 411 votes; Robert Lewis, 368; majority, 43. Solicitor, George Turner had 460 votes; George Johnson had 320; majority, 140. Clerk of the Market, James Green had 458 votes; Conrad Baker had 207; majority, 251. Francis Cleveland was elected Councilman in the First Ward, the only candidate on the People's ticket who was elected.

There is no record of the election of 1856 to be found.

In the election of 1857, there were two tickets In the field, the Democratic ticket and the Independent. The following is a statement of the vote and the majority : Democrat, Mayor, Joseph Van Meter, 635; Independent, Jacob P. Noel, 145; majority, 490. For Marshal, Democrat, Nelson Vigus, 339; Inde- pendent, John H. J, Fryer, 290; majority, 249. For Treasurer, S. J. Huston, Democrat, 503; Independent, William Wood, 302; majority, 201. For City So- licitor, W. A. Hutchins, Democrat, 532; Independent, Henry A. Towne, 292; majority, 240.

In 1853, the candidates for Mayor were Adam Kerr, who received 309 votes, and William E. Williams, who received 280 votes. For Marshal, Nelson Vigus received 491 votes and Timothy Sullivan received 449 votes. For Treas- urer, S. J. Huston received 348 and John L. Ward 483 votes. The Democrats were defeated and the Independents elected.

In 1859, the city election, there were three candidates for Mayor. Adam Kerr had 632 votes, T. J. Graham had 246 and Oliver Wood had 135 votes. For Marshal, Timothy Sullivan had 571 votes; Joseph B. Watson had 288 votes. For Street Comissioner, Nelson Vigus had 124 votes, Calvin S. Stephens 33. For City Treasurer, George Wilhelm received 588 votes and J. W. Collings 422, and W. A. Hutchins, for City Solicitor, had no opposition, and received 701 votes.

In 1860, at the city election, there were three candidates for Marshal. Timothy Sullivan had 591 votes, C. Simpson, 316; J. W. Smith, 88. For Treas- urer, George Wilhelm received 542 votes: Henry Lloyd, 337; Richard Good- heart, 112.

In 1861, at the city election, for Mayor Adam Kerr received 677 votes Joseph Ashton, 425. Martin Crain, for City Solicitor had no opposition. For City Treasurer, George H. Gaffey had 583 votes; John Fawn, 531. For Marshal, there were five candidates, and the vote was as follows; Jerry Hall, 407; George W. White, 310; Uriah White, 242; Caleb Sprague, 104; Jacob Loughry, 57. For

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City Treasurer, there were four candidates. George Wilhelm had 543 votes; T. W. Hunter, 392; John Miller, 116; J. S. T. Vincent, 92. For Whartmaster, there were three candidates. John N. Lodwick had 624 votes; William S. McColm, 419; John Thompson, 74. For street Commissioner, Major C, F. Reiniger had 384 votes; C. E. Rose, 218; Jordan Vigus, 168, and A. Hurt had 108 votes.

In 1862, for City Treasurer, Horace L. Chapman had 584 votes; John H. Bentley had 309. For Marshal, there were four candidates. Nelson Vigus had 527 votes; T. W. Williams, 271; James Hannahs, 71; Azel Glover, 4. There were two candidates for Wharfmaster. John N. Lodwick had 476 votes; Thomas T. Yeager had 419. For Street Commissioner, there were four candidates. Charles E. Rose had 510; Philip Hummell. 260; John Wheeler, 95; C. W. Wilson, 20.

In 1863, there were two candidates for Mayor. Adam Kerr received 555 votes; John L. Ward, 445. For Marshal, George W. White, Democrat, received 583 votes; Azel Glover, Independent, 402. For Wharfmaster, S. H. Shannon had 487 votes and Thomas T. Yeager 506. For Street Commissioner, Charles E. Rose Democrat, had 589, and Stephen Edmunds, Union, had 381. For City Solicitor, J. W. Collings, Democrat, had 538; Henry A. Towne, Union, 433.

In 1864, at the city election, Azel Glover was the Republican candidate for Marshal against Frank Wear, Democrat. Glover received 493 votes and Wear 486. For Street Commissioner, Thomas Law, Republican, had 512 votes, and Charles E. Rose, Democrat, had 472. For Wharfmaster Thomas T. Yeager, Re- publican, had 619 votes, and D. S. Hall 365.

In 1865, at the city election, Adam Kerr, Democrat, received 468 votes for Mayor: John Wilson, Republican, 546; Joseph Legler, 9. For Marshal, Wm. H. Miller received 408 votes; Calvin J. Stephens, 508; John Andrews, 98. For Wharfmaster, John M. Lynn, Democrat, received 497 votes; Thomas T. Yeager. Republican, 573. For Street Commissioner, Thomas Sanders, Democrat, had 408 votes; William W. Jones, Republican, had 536. For City Solicitor, Robert N. Spry, Republican, had 551 votes; George H. Gaffey, Democrat, 468 votes.

The foregoing is the best resume of the city elections for the first fifty years of the existence of the town and city of Portsmouth, From that time on the newspapers were published regularly, and abstracts of the elections can be found in the bound volumes, and for this reason the publications of the city elections from 1865 to the present time will not be given.

The editor begs leave to call attention to the fact that the records of elections are only preserved on loose sheets of paper, and are destroyed trom time to time, and the only method of preservation of the records of elections is through the bound volumes of the newspapers. There ought to be a State law requiring the city to keep a record of all elections and figures in the city election should be recorded and permanently preserved.

EARLY REMINISCENCES OF CITY AND COUNTY.

John Hatch introduced the first dray in Portsmouth. He lived on the east corner of Front and Market Streets, in a stone house, part of which was used as a jail until 1835. The jail had one dungeon and one upper room.

William Huston, Thomas Morgan and Uriah Barber were owners and commanders of keel boats. They went to Chillicothe and Circleville when the Scioto was high. They poled and warped their boats. Sanders Darby made the poles and oars.

John Brown's well was used until 1836, when a horse backed into it, and it was filled up.

The above appeared in the Portsmouth Times of September 19, 1868, under the name of "Shelawoy," who was John Gharky. "Scioto," who wrote about the same time, was Moses Gregory.

October 2, 1868-The Times: Thomas Morgan was the first wheelwright in Portsmouth.

John Simpson, father of James Simpson, was one of the first carpenters in Portsmouth. He had sons, Thomas , William and James, and daughters. His father taught school in Portsmouth in an early day. A log school house, two stories, was built on the site of the present Second Street school house, and it

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REMINISCENCES.

blew down. It was rebuilt one story after the storm. Richard Morecraft taught there as well as Simpson. He also taught etiquette. Joseph Wheeler taught school at Fourth and Market Streets.

Crane's Defeat was a point on the Scioto about a mile above Portsmouth, where a keel boatman named Crane attempted to take up a keel boat against a heavy current. He was poleing the boat and lost control of her, and she struck a rock and sank. Hence Crane's Defeat.

November 21, 1868-"Shelawoy" (John Gharky), in The Times, says: The first cabin was built in Portsmouth in 1795.

Aaron Kinney established the first tannery in Portsmouthi.

John Hatch had the first dray in Portsmouth.

Union Township was divided in 1812. Portsmouth was in it prior to that. David Gharky landed in Portsmouth in 1799.

Stephen Smith had the first ferry across the Scioto in 1805.

William Duprey kept the first ferry over the Ohio River at Portsmouth. He used a flatboat 40 feet long and 15 feet wide. Afterward he used horse power.

The first steamboat in the county was built by William Lodwick at George Herod's. The first keelboat in Portsmouth was built by Ben and John Masters. Samuel Montgomery, father of Robert Montgomery, was the first skiff builder.

John H. Thornton dug a pubile well in 1813, in lot No. 31. It was on Front Street in the center of Market Street.

January 2, 1869, in the Scioto Times, Moses Gregory says: The first steamboat was built by William Lodwick and was named the "Scioto Valley." She had side wheels, a single engine, and was high pressure. She was finished in the summer of 1824.

In 1829 Richard Lloyd was on Front Street, the first alley west of Massie, and afterward opened a coffee house where J. P. Wilhelm formerly had his saddle shop. In those days all groceries and dry goods houses sold liquors, anl all customers were treated to whiskey and sugar.

James Lodwick had a general store. He carried on a bakery in his cellar and made soap and candles.

Colonel Peter Kinney kept a grocery and bakery where the Massie, now the Legler, House stands. Ezra Osborn would come in and lunch. Colonel Kinney kept an account of his meals and charged two cents each. When the bill was presented, amounting to several dollars, the funching ceased.

In 1815 there was a rivalry between Alexandria and Portsmouth as to which was best, but a flood determined it in favor of Portsmouth.

In 1819 John Smith, who was born near Boston, Mass., in 1779, and died in Portsmouth, Ohio, on July 28, 1821, the father of L. P. N. Smith, built a two- story brick where the McDowell Building now stands, but did not finish it.

From 1814 to 1820 the Scioto was navigated by keelboats. Corn was ten cents per bushel, and Isaac Johnson paid for his farm in corn at that rate.

John F. Smith kept a ferry at the mouth of the Scioto.

The Barr addition was Esquire John Brown's farm. He sold it to William Lodwick.

In 1824 the voters for Jackson for President in Portsmouth were: S. J. Huston, Aaron Kinney, Martin Funk, William Lawson, Uriah Barber, Hugh Cook and James Lodwick: no others.

Henry Sheeley was the first tailor in Portsmouth. He located on Front and Massie Streets. He opened his shop in the year 1805. He failed to get support, as each family made its own garments, and had to give up the business. He built a house and undertook to keep hotel. He sold his house and lot in the spring of 1807 to William Swords, who kept the first saddle and harness shop in Portsmouth.

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A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 83

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913 Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612