Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 126

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149

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private schools and later Miami University, from which he was graduated in 1839 with the highest honors of his class. While at- tending college he was one of the founders of the Beta Theta Pi, a Greek letter society. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841, becoming a partner of his brother- in-law, John B. Weller. He was prosecut- ing attorney from 1848 to 1852 and clerk of courts from 1852 to 1858 and was a dele- gate to the Democratic national convention, in 1856, that nominated James Buchanan for president. In politics he was a Demo- crat, but at the outbreak of the Civil war he espoused the Union cause, and just prior to the war was editor of the Hamilton Tele- graph. At the outbreak of the war he was appointed colonel of the Fiftieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but his death, which occurred on October 23, 1861, pre- vented him from taking command of this regiment. He was a lover of books, pos- sessing a large library, and was a gentleman of high integrity and universally esteemed by all.

FRANCIS W. HURTT

was born near Tarlton, Pickaway county. Ohio. September 26, 1832, and received his education in the schools of Frankfort, this state. where before he was seventeen years old he also taught school. He later was a student at Athens College, where he gained a reputation as a fine mathematician, but before graduating he was called to su- perintend the schools at Ripley, Ohio, which he organized, graded and raised to a high standard. In 1854 he was appointed first assistant to Doctor Joseph Ray, and also appointed professor of chemistry at Wood- ward high school, Cincinnati, Ohio. During this period he contributed a series of arti-

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cles to a mathematical journal, published at Cambridge, Massachusetts, acquiring a rep- utation in this science for which he received the degree of Master of Arts. In 1855 he was appointed superintendent of schools at Springfield, Ohio, but shortly after returned to Cincinnati and engaged in a publishing enterprise. In 1859 he was appointed su- perintendent of schools at Hamilton, but at the end of that year, although re-elected, he retired permanently from the teaching pro- fession and went to Cincinnati. In 1860 he assumed the position of business manager of the Ohio State Journal and subsequently be- came its proprietor. During this period he was also editor and proprietor of the Ohio Journal of Education. Having been ap- pointed an officer in the army, he found himself unable to devote all his time to the management of the paper and sold his in- terest in it. In 1865 he removed to New York and became interested in the manufac- ture of the well-known medicine, Pond's Ex- tract, and it was largely due to his ability that this large business was developed from . its former insignificance. During his later years he traveled extensively in Europe, China and Japan. In January, 1855, Mr. Hurtt was married to Miss Sarah Ives, a teacher in Cincinnati, and in March, 1884, he died suddenly in New York, leaving a widow and two sons.

WILLIAM SHEELY

was born in Clarke county, Virginia, in 1798 and at an early age located on a farm in Fairfield township, Butler county, Ohio, where he resided until his death. He took a prominent part in public affairs and was elected sheriff of his county in 1831 and again in 1833, being known as the "big · sheriff" from the fact that he weighed three

hundred and forty pounds. He acquired a high reputation because of his efficiency in the discharge of the duties of the shrievalty and upon several occasions exhibited cour- age of a high order. After his retirement from the office of sheriff he returned to his homestead farm, where he remained until his death in 1857.

JOHN REILY

was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the Ioth day of April, 1763. When he was yet a child his parents removed to Augusta county, Virginia, and settled on a farm near Staunton. This part of Virginia was then a frontier settlement, and the homes of inhabitants received frequent visi- tations by the Indians, for the purpose of murder and devastation. In 1774 a cam- paign was waged against the Indians and in October of that year a severe battle was fought, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha river, between the Virginia troops, com- manded by General Andrew Lewis, and the Indians under the direction of the celebrated chief, Cornstalk. During this time the Reily family were residing for security in a small fort near Staunton. In 1780 John Reily left home and joined the Revolution- ary army. He served eighteen months in the Southern department, through the South Carolina and Georgia campaign, under Major General Nathaniel Greene, and participated in the important battles of Guil- ford Court House, Camden and Eutaw Springs, in which he distinguished himself as a brave and exemplary soldier. At the expiration of his term of service Mr. Reily received a certificate of honorable discharge under the hand and seal of General George Washington himself.

He returned to his home in Virginia,

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liventoiFirst year cheelefe this paternal home I'd seek this for the in some one of the many -news letteinenterwi the country. " He first went to Geting1. Where He purchased a war- dne for a undnature of land, With an "intention of @mhprdvhig it, but was prevented from doing so by the hostingof the Indians. Being anxious to make a permanent location somewhere, he left his land and came up to Tennessee.' Thence he went to the! wilds of Rentucky, where / a tobrother -in-law re- 'sided 'in what i's now Dinboth county, near panvine!" Here MA Reilly remained five or jis years, making the house of his brother- mh-law his' home!""" In" Decethber, 1989, "he -kinoved to Columbia, a new settlement ih the Miami purchase," near the present site "of Cincinnati." The first few months after His arrival here he spent in reconnoitering "the confitry in the valleys of the Great antl Little Miami riers adjacent to the Ohio Hiver. In March, 17go, He purchased some "lots in the town"'of' Columbia " and com- meniced theft improvement !! In June of that Wear Mr. Reily opened an English school at Columbia, the first taught in the whole of He Miami country:"Which he continued as "long as he resided there" In rigt Francis "Dunlevy,: afterward presiding judge"of the "court of common pleas! in Butler county, ·Came to Colimbia 'from Kentucky and Hoined MY. Reity in His school, the former tuichg charge of "the classical department, the latter the English. . .!! -

1. During the years of who and 1791, 'When the pioneer settlers of this section were subjected to" frequent and' almost unre- stricted attacks of the Indians, Mr. "Reily's experience as a soldier afforded good service. He braved the dangers encountered with-

Jout murmur or complaint. If a station Were attacked he was among the first to go Irevits relief. If a murder or other depreda- Monawere committed he was ready to take ttheltrail in pursuit of the enemy without loss Invitimie. He was among the volunteers who, jniJanuary, 1791, went to the relief of the garbison at Dunlap's station, situated on the Jeastbank of the Great Miami river, opposite The present town of Venice, in Ross town- ship.xwhere it was so viciously attacked by several Hundred Indians, led by the noto- irinas Simon Girty. In the month of Janu- ady{Ifyou,Mr. Reily responded to the call ofot vohinteers; and, under the command of Captainh (afterivard General) John S. Gano, accompaniedi ant lexpedition to the scene of ! St! Clait's defeat for the purpose of burying "the dead thati had been left on the field on the idisastrous"4thof November previous, and for' bringing away valuable property reported tothe still remaining at the place. -z3 IH 1791. Mri Reily had purchased a tract ofitand about seven miles from Cincinnati, [in the same quarter section on a part of "which the village of : Carthage now stands. . In 1793 he gave op his interest in the school al .Columbia to ME Dunlevy and associated Thimyself with a auf. Pribor, "who owned land adjoining his! for the purpose of carrying on their improvements jointly and for the better protection of each other. Some time later, while making a trip to Fort Hamil- ton with a party of pack-horsemen, Mr. Prioi was killed in an attack byl the Indians, and Mr. Reily, being left alone and finding his experiment at pioneer farming not so pleasant as the had anticipated, abandoned 'his improvements:' returning to" Columbia, and resumed teaching, which he continued "till the following April (1794), when he

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accepted a clerkship in the office of General John S. Gano, the clerk of the court of Hamilton county. In this position he con- tinued till 1799, acting as deputy for Gen- eral Gano, and conducting a large portion of the business of the office.

On the 16th of September, 1799, when the first session of the legislature of the Northwest territory convened at Cincinnati, Mr. Reily was elected clerk and served in that capacity until its adjournment on the 19th of December following. Subsequently, at the second and third sessions held at Chillicothe in 1800 and 1801, Mr. Reily was again elected clerk. In January, 1802, with the organization of the government of the town of Cincinnati, Mr. Reily became one of its seven trustees. In 1802. when Ohio was admitted into the Union, Mr. Reily was elected one of the representatives of Hamil- ton county to the constitutional convention which met at Chillicothe on the first Mon- day of November, 1802, and framed the first constitution of Ohio, which met the ap- probation of the people, and under which they lived and prospered till 1851, when the present state constitution was adopted.

In 1803 Mr. Reily moved to Hamilton and resided there until the time of his death. The inhabitants of Hamilton at that time were few in number and composed chiefly of soldiers and other persons who had been attached to Wayne's army, and had re- mained there when that army was disbanded at the close of the campaign. Few houses had been erected. The fort had been dis- mantled and abandoned but a few years pre- viously. Many of the pickets which formed its enclosure were still standing. and when they had been broken off or taken up the outline of the fort could easily be traced.

A few of the buildings of the garrison still remained standing.

On the 24th day of March, 1803, Butler county was established by an act of the first legislature of Ohio elected under the new constitution, and on May 10, 1803. the associate judges of the court of common pleas, who had been appointed for Butler county, met for the purpose of organizing the county, and elected John Reily their clerk. At the first regular term of the court of common pleas for Butler county, which met July 12, 1803, Mr. Reily was appointed clerk, and held the office under successive reappointments until the 14th day of March, 1840, a period of nearly thirty-seven years, when he declined reappointment.

The first term of the supreme court of Butler county was opened on the IIth of October, 1803. Mr. Reily was appointed clerk of this court also, and retained the office until the 3d of May, 1842, when he re- signed. From that time he spent the re- mainder of his days in retirement, having held the office of clerk of the court for a longer period, with one exception, than any other person in the state.

Mr. Reily was appointed the first re- corder of Butler county in 1803, and held the office until May, ISII. Mr. Reily held the office of the clerk of the board of county commissioners from 1803 to 1819, when he resigned. In 1804, under the ad- ministration of President Thomas Jefferson, a postoffice was established at Hamilton and Mr. Reily was appointed first postmaster, in which office he continued until July, 1832, when he resigned.

With the establishment of Miami Uni- versity, by an act of the legislature passed in February, 1809, Mr. Reily was appointed

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one of the trustees, and was president of the board the most of the time until the or- ganization of the college in 1824, when, by law, the president of the college became also president ex officio of the board of trustees. Mr. Reily was ever a warm friend of the institution, during his incumbency as a member of the board of trustees doing everything in his power to promote its in- terest and advancement. He resigned in 1840, on account of advanced age.

Mr. Reily, during his public life, had charge of the interests of a great many non- resident owners of land in the Miami coun- try, paying their taxes, making sales, leas- ing land and having a general oversight of them. In all the important offices and trusts which Mr. Reily was called upon to fill dur- ing his long and useful life, he faithfully discharged the duties they required. He did not look on them as mere sources of profit to himself, but considered them per- sonal trusts conferred for the public good, and requiring at his hands a punctual and thorough performance of the duties they en- joined. He was uniformly at his post, early and late.

In the private walks of life, as well as in his official capacity, he afforded an ex- ample worthy of imitation. He always acted under the influence of a high moral prin- ciple. While he never made a public pro- fession of religion, he regularly attended public worship and contributed liberally to its support. On all proper occasions he ad- vocated the importance of religion, and de- fended the inspiration and authority of the scriptures.

After a life of almost uninterrupted good health, full of years and honors, Mr. Reily passed away June 7; 1850, at the age of eighty-seven years.

February 6, 1808, Mr. Reily married Miss Nancy Hunter, a daughter of Joseph Hunter, a prominent pioneer farmer of Butler county, residing near Hamilton. The fruits of this marriage were three sons and two daughters.

THOMAS IRWIN

was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1768. His father was a farmer in hum- ble circumstances, and desiring to possess land in his own right concluded to remove to the western country where land could be had for building a cabin and making a small improvement. In 1782, accompanied by young Thomas, then in his fourteenth year, Mr. Irwin removed to the western frontier of Pennsylvania, then called the "Back- woods," where he pre-empted a tract of land near the present site of the town of Wash- ington, in Washington county, and built a cabin for his family. Thomas remained at home with his parents until his majority, when, stimulated by the spirit of adventure, he left his father's house and friends to seek his fortune in the far West. He went to Pittsburg and purchased a small flatboat for the purpose of descending the Ohio river, and in the last week of March, 1789. accompanied by a few friends, set out on the voyage. At Wheeling they met with a party having a larger boat destined for the falls of the Ohio, and, in company with it, proceeded on the voyage down the river until they arrived at the settlement of Co- lumbia, near the mouth of the little Miami river. Here Irwin and his companions landed, while the boat destined for the falls proceeded on her voyage. Not being favor- ably impressed with the location of the set- tlement at Columbia and having been in- formed of another small settlement eight

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miles further down the river, opposite the mouth of the Licking river, Irwin and a companion named James Burns, continued on to that point, where they came to a dou- ble shanty occupied by seven men. These men, all but two of them, had been em- ployed with the surveyors in surveying Symmes' purchase, during the preceding winter, and had assisted Israel Ludlow when he surveyed and laid out the town in February previous. This shanty had been built by these persons for their accommoda- tion, immediately after they laid out the town. It was the first improvement made in the town of Cincinnati. Irwin and Burns being pleased with the situation, they con- cluded to settle there, and obtaining town lots they put up a temporary shanty which they occupied during their stay that summer. In the late summer Irwin and Burns ac- companied a Mr. Kitchell, who had built a keel-boat, on a voyage to Wheeling, from which point Mr. Irwin returned home to his father's in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, where he remained until the succeed- ing year. The Indian hostilities and depre- dations on the settlements of the West, de- termined the general government to make. an effort to terminate the war by marching an army into the Indian country and attack- ing the enemy on their own ground. The completion of Fort Washington at the set- tlement opposite the mouth of the Licking, in December, 1789, made it practicable for the government to organize an expedition against the Indians. Gen. Josiah Harmar, with three hundred men, was placed in com- mand of the fort and a call for volunteers and a requisition or draft of militia from the states of Pennsylvania and Kentucky were made for the contemplated expedition.

Thomas Irwin was among the first to volun- teer his services. He joined a company or- ganized at Catfish, Pennsylvania, now known as Washington, under the command of Captain Faulkner, who had been an of- ficer in the Revolutionary war. In the or- ganization of the company Mr. Irwin was elected ensign. The Pennsylvania troops were under the command of Colonel Truby. They descended the Ohio river in boats in September, 1790, and landed at Fort Wash- ington on the 19th of that month. General Harmar, having made every practicable preparation for the campaign, on September 30th set the expedition in motion, the prin- cipal object of which was to destroy the In- dian villages at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers, near where Fort Wayne was afterward built. During the campaign the company to which Ensign Irwin belonged rendered valuable and ef- ficient service. It is related of him, that, at an engagement in which the enemy was com- manded by the celebrated Indian chief, Lit- tle Turtle, whilst his company was covering the retreat of the troops, and slowly retiring before the fire of the enemy, the strap which held his powder-horn was cut from his shoul- der by a ball. As soon as he missed it, he faced about, ran back several paces in the full face of a considerable body of the enemy, secured his powder-horn, and then again joined his companions in their retreat. He was soon again observed to halt and commence picking the flint of his gun. When warned by a companion to "Come along, the Indians are upon us," Irwin coolly replied : "I want to get one more shot be- fore I leave them." Upon the arrival of the army at Fort Washington the militia was disbanded and dismissed, and Mr. Irwin re-

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mained in Cincinnati during the ensuing winter and summer.

In September, 1791, Thomas Irwin volunteered and joined the troops then being raised under the command of General St. Clair, to be employed against the hostile In- dians of the West. He was engaged as one of the wagoners who had charge of the gun- carriages for transporting the cannon. The army moved from Ludlow's station, near Cincinnati, September 17th, and marched under the command of Colonel William Darke to the Great Miami river, where Fort Hamilton was built. During the period of erecting the fort the two companies that had charge of the artillery wagons, to one of which Mr. Irwin belonged, was encamped about half a mile below the site of the fort. They lay at this camp until the fort was ready for occupancy, and then Mr. Irwin accompanied the army on its march to the , wilderness, and was present at and actively participated in the terrible battle that ended so disastrously for St. Clair's forces. On the day of the battle Thomas Irwin was em- ployed with the artillery and was conse- quently exposed in the thickest of the fight, where he remained at his post during . office for nineteen years. Thomas Irwin the whole of the action, and though that was a devoted member of the Associate Re- formed church, and filled the office of elder from 1805 until his death. He died on Sun- clay evening, October 3, 1847, aged eighty- one years. On the succeeding Tuesday his remains were interred with military honors in the burying ground just north of the village of Monroe. arm of the force lost nearly every man, he escaped without a wound. In the month of December following Mr. Irwin, having received his discharge, left Cincinnati and returned to his father's residence in Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania. In the en- suing April Mr. Irwin again descended the Ohio river to Cincinnati, and remained a resident of the Miami valley from that time POLLOCK WILSON until his death.

In January, 1793, Thomas Irwin was married to Miss Ann Larimore, of Cincin- nati. A few years thereafter he removed

and settled upon a tract of land in what is now Lemon township, Butler county, about four miles east of Middletown, where he re- sided until his death.

In the war of 1812 Thomas Irwin served as a major in the Ohio militia, under the command of General John S. Gano. After the expiration of his term of six months of service Major Irwin returned to his home, in March, 1814. This closed his military career of active service. However, on his return he was elected a colonel and com- manded a regiment of militia, which gave him the title of Colonel, by which he was uniformly called.

In October, 1808, Mr. Irwin was elected a member of the Ohio state senate, to which office he was successively re-elected until the year 1820, making his term of service in the senate twelve years. In 1824 he was elected representative to the lower house of legislature from Butler county, and served one term. He afterward declined a re-elec- tion. In 1823 he was elected a justice of the peace for Lemon township, Butler county, and was re-elected successively at the close of his term of office until 1842, thus filling that

first saw the light of day in Wayne town- ship, Butler county, Ohio, February 9, 1804. His parents were natives of England, and emigrated to America about the year 1787.

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In his father's family, consisting of seven children, the subject was the youngest. Their names were Thomas, Elizabeth, Ann, John, Joseph, Matthew and Pollock. The youthful days of Mr. Wilson were spent upon the farm, which proved the stepping stone to his future extensive business ac- quirements. About this time (1818) his father left him in Rossville, now West Hamilton, to learn the dry goods business. The father of Mr. Wilson, in 1820, was obliged to proceed to Kingston, in the Island of Jamaica, to settle an estate be- longing to two deceased brothers. When he bade his son farewell, it was for the last time. He never returned. This old gentle- man, Mr. Wilson, Sr., settled in Wayne township under rather peculiar circum- stances. An Indian trader, by the name of Banfield, who made pack-saddles and trad- ed them with the Indians for furs, induced Mr. Wilson, the elder, to make him, Ban- field, a visit. He did so, was pleased with his trip, and favorably impressed with the appearance and character of the country and the result was he, to use a pioneer term, "squatted" there.

Pollock Wilson remained in Rossville until 1822, when he went to Cincinnati and apprenticed himself to a saddler for a pe- riod of four years. At the termination of his apprenticeship period he commenced business for himself. On the 14th of May. 1831, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Miria Morton, of Cincinnati. The union was an exceedingly happy one. Each one toiled to build up their mutual pros- perity. Mr. Wilson changed his manner of business from that of manufacturing to vending goods, and about the year 1835 he entered into co-partnership with P. Hayden.

of Columbus, Ohio, inthel" saddleryahard- ware" business. trThem continued/untili Janti uary 1, 1874, when, owing to athanced age,. each well pleasedeand satisfied with their business career, "separatediamicably; andı without one unpleasant/ wodd to marstheir former friendship and reciprocal respeet .! During the Rebellion Mrc!Wilson lost a for -: tune in business; and the care and anxiety! attending this difficulty somewhat impaired his health. By the advice of his physician he gave up city life, and purchased a mag+ nificent "country seat" to the southwest of the city of Hamilton, overlooking the city!) and from whence he obtained lar splendid, view of the beautiful Miamii valley .: Here. Mr. Wilson resided for many years, and -en-l joyed the uncontaminated air 'of rural lifes The closing years of his life he spent with his children at Cincinnati, where he died al few years ago loved and revered byrall who/ knew him.

JOSEPH HENDERSON

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Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 126

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1149

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149