USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1 > Part 58
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After the victory of Wayne, the militia were called upon to do quasi police duty on September 8, 1794. A number of Choctaw Indians who had been aiding General Wayne were assaulted on their return from the Miami of the Lakes by lawless men and were obliged to take refuge in Fort Washington. . Colonel Sargent detailed twenty privates from the militia with the due complement of non-commissioned officers under the command of Major Gano to be paraded at Mr. Cutter's near the churchyard and the Major was directed to establish and preserve order in Cincinnati and afford protection to the Indians. The town was disturbed for several days by the violence of some of the old pioneers to whom no Indian was a good Indian except a dead Indian.
The varied duties of the militia are indicated by the instruction sent October 6, 1794, to Cap- tain Virgin at North Bend to remove squatters intruding upon government lands west of the Great Miami.' On November 25, 1794, there
seems to have been a large addition to the num- ber of officers of the militia. On this date, ac- cording to the official records, the following military promotions and appointments were made : Lieut. William Rittenhouse to be captain ; Rob- ert Wheelan, lieutenant; Garret Vanvile, en- sign; Ensign Celadon Symmes to be lieutenant ; Samuel Seward, ensign; Lieut. James Lyon, captain vice Wallace removed; Ensign Uzoe Bates, lieutenant ; Samuel Dick, ensign; Darius C. Orcutt, captain vice Grear removed; Jona- than Schooly, lieutenant; John Riddle, ensign vice Creigh removed; Seth Cutter, ensign vice Schooly promoted ; James Cox, adjutant vice Or- cutt promoted; John Brown, lieutenant and ad- jutant ; and Ensign Jonathan Bowman, lieuten- ant.
After the conclusion of the peace of Green- ville, there was not much demand for the service of the militia for some years. From time to time Captain Flinn at Columbia or Lieut. Celadon Symmes at North Bend or some other militia officer was called upon to lead parties in pursuit of horse thieves and on other occasions the whole body of the volunteer soldiers turned out on the occasion of the celebration of the Fourth of July or to take part in the sadder functions, such as the memorial funeral of General Wash- ington.
General Harrison after his resignation from the army was made chief officer of the territorial militia by virtue of his office as Secretary with headquarters at Cincinnati. Among the general orders we find that of September 24, 1794, issued by him as commander-in-chief of the militia of the Northwest Territory stating that the Secre- tary of the Territory then vested with all the powers of Governor and commander-in-chief of the same would on Tuesday, the 25th instant, review the first battalion of militia of Hamilton County. The battalion was to be formed for this purpose at three o'clock, on some convenient spot of ground near to Major Ludlow's.
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., and Jacob Burnet were to act as aids-de-camp to the commander-in-chief on this occasion, and were to be respected and obeyed accordingly. This order addressed to Lieut .- Col. John S. Gano, the commander of the first battalion of Hamilton County militia, was accompanied by a note requesting Gano to fill up the blank with the hour he thought most con- venient. In Freeman's Journal of October 27, 1798, Colonel Gano commands the officers of the militia to march their respective companies to the public grounds in Cincinnati on Tuesday the
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30th instant so as to form battalion for exercise by eleven' A. M .; a troop of horse was included. The Spy and Gazette of May 13, 1799, publishes a battalion order of Daniel Symmes, lieutenant and adjutant, exhorting the officers to exercise and teach the men the necessary manoeuvres. Lieutenant Symmes trusts that the delay of the muster will permit the farmers to put in their crops and the officers to improve their men in drill so that they may be distinguished when- the battalion is formed on the Fourth of July. A little later came the battalion parade on the Fourth with two or three companies in uniform and a troop of horsemen about thirty in number mostly so, also reviewed by Harrison.
The Spy and Gazette of July 16, 1800, contains a notice :
"HEADS UP SOLDIERS!"
"Those gentlemen who wish to join a volun- ter light infantry company are requested to meet at Mr. Yeatman's tavern."
The company was organized and. at its head was Sheriff Smith. About that time we are told that the militia of the county were organized into five companies numbering about eight hundred, one of which was this company of light infantry just mentioned. They were required to muster two days in the spring and four days in the fall and two of these days were devoted to school in- structions for the officers. These organizations were under the acts of December 13, 1799, and December 8, 1800, by which acts the militia were reorganized. It is in connection with this act that we find St. Clair forwarding for the inspec- tion of the President a list of proper persons to be appointed general officers. According to his statement (St. Clair to Pickering, March 30, 1800) : "In the county of Hamilton Oliver Spencer commands. He is an old officer but has been altogether inattentive to the militia and is either too old or too indolent to give much at- tention to it in future. Next to him stands John S. Gano, an active intelligent man and a staunch friend to Government." (St. Clair Papers, Vol. HI, p. 495.)
The Gano thus mentioned was of course the pioncer. He had been topographical engineer in command of an advance party to survey the route for the march of the army under St. Clair and shared in that defeat. He afterwards com- manded the battalion of one hundred and thirty- two mien including forty or fifty volunteers who marched to the scene of St. Clair's defeat, buried the dead and brought back the arms and again acted as captain in the expedition to build Fort
St. Clair. He was in command of a company of one hundred volunteers who marched to the re- lief of Kingsbury at Dunlap's Station. He sub- sequently received commissions as captain, major, brigadier and major-general of the first division of the Ohio militia, remaining in the service from September 1, 1803, until 1818, when he removed to Covington. Part of the time during the ab- sence of General Harrison he acted as general in chief of the military districts. He also acted in the earlier days as surveyor and aided in marking the sections and fractions in one of the ranges of the Symmes purchase. He was clerk of the court for many years. He died January I, 1822, and his remains were afterwards buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. His mother was a daughter of Judge William Goforth.
CINCINNATI TOWNSHIP.
The first civil administrative organization in Hamilton County was that of the townships. The history of the erection of these subdivisions is involved in considerable obscurity. In the early days before the constitution of the State was adopted, these were created in the different counties by the courts of General Quarter Ses- sions and later by the county commissioners and associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas acting concurrently. The act of February 19, 1810, gave to the county commissioners exclu- sive jurisdiction. The first three townships rep- resented the settlements first made and together included the whole of the purchase on the river extending to the military range, a point six miles north of the present village of Springdale. The names given to these townships were in order of the settlements, Columbia, Cincinnati and Miami. The Court of Quarter Sessions in 1791 erected the three townships.
Columbia began "at the foot of the second me- ridian cast of Cincinnati on the Ohio bank ; thence north to the third entire (or military) range; thence cast to the Little Miami; thence down the Miami to the Ohio River ; thence down the Ohio to place of beginning."
Cincinnati was described as "beginning at a point where the second meridian cast of the town intersects the Ohio; thence down that stream about eleven miles to the first meridian cast of Rapid Run; thence north to the Big Miami ; thence up that stream to the south line of the mil- itary range; thence south to the place of begin- ning."
Miami township was described as "beginning at a point on the Ohio at the first meridian east
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of the mouth of Rapid Run; thence due north to the Great Miami; thencc down that strcam to the Ohio; thence up the Ohio to the placc of be- ginning." No part of this township is in the present limits of Cincinnati.
The erection of Butler County and other coun- ties in 1803 made necessary a rearrangement of the townships, which left to Columbia township the territory now included in that township to- gether with Spencer township and that part of the city now cast of the second meridian cast of the old city of Cincinnati.
The new boundaries of Cincinnati township commenced "at the southcast corner of Miami township on the Ohio River ; thence north to the northwest corner of section 17 in fractional range 2, township 2; thencc cast nine miles; thence south to the Ohio; thence westward along the Ohio 'to the place of beginning." These lincs included more than one-half of what was subse- quently Delhi township, the castern part of Green except the three northern scctions, the whole of Mill Creek except the northern scction and the city of Cincinnati to the range linc on the east.
A very important matter, as indicated by the action of the court at the time of the institution of townships, was the selection of cattle-brands. "A" was assigned to Columbia, "B" to Cincin- nati and "C" to Miami.
By this change the western line of Columbia township ran due north from the point where the line between section 1 of the third township and section 31 of the fourth township of the sec- ond fractional range cuts the Ohio River to thic northwest corner of section 36 of the last named township. Subsequently Spencer township was taken off the southern part of this township, the dividing line running between the second and third tier of sections of the fourth township, running east from the northwest corner of sec- tion 32 to the Miami River.
Colerain township had been created in 1794 by the Court of Quarter Sessions and given the cat- tle-brand "G."
Springfield township had been carved out of Cincinnati township in 1795 as a result of the great movement of settlers to the country after security from the Indians was assured by the Wayne victory.
South Bend township, created in 1795, includ- ed Delhi and a part of Green. Delhi was not created until more than fifteen years later and Green probably about 1809. Although the name Sycamore appears in 1800, the township does not
appear to have been created until 1803 at the time of the general reorganization following the admission of Ohio to statehood.
Mill Creek was set off in 1809 from Cincin- nati and Springfield townships. Its southern line was at the old corporation line at Liberty street and it occupied the third township of the second fractional rangc.
SOME TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The first Cincinnati township officers, so far as can now be stated with accuracy, were as fol- lows :
"1791-Levi Woodward, township clerk ; Sam- ucl Martin, constable; John . Thompson and James Wallace, overseers of the poor; James Gowdy, overseer of roads; Isaac Martin, Jacob Reeder, and James Cunningham, street commis- sioners.
"1792-Samuel Martin, constable ; John Lud- low and David E. Wade, overseers of the poor ; James Miller, Jacob Miller, and John Vance, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of dam- ages; Isaac Martin, Jacob Rceder, and Ezekiel Sayre, overseers of highways.
"1793-Nathaniel Barnes and Robert Gowdy. constables ; Jacob Recder and Moses Miller, over- scers of the poor; Joseph McHenry, Sanmel Freeman, and Stephen Rccder, viewers of enclo- sures and appraisers of damages; Isaac Martin. Usual .Bates, and John Schooly, overseers of highways.
"1794-Nathan Barnes, Darius C. Orcutt, and Robert Gowdy, constables; James Brady and David E. Wade, overseers of the poor; James Wallace, Levi Woodward, and James Lyon, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of dam- agcs ; Isaac Martin, Jacob White, and William Powell, overseers of highways.
"1795-Nathan Barnes, Ephraim Carpenter. and Benjamin Van Hook, constables ; James Brady and Samuel Freeman, overscers of the poor ; Samuel Dick and Richard Benham, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of damages; James Brady, Levi Woodward, and Samuel Freeman, overseers of highways." ( Ford's Cincinnati, p. 51.)
Abraham Carey was a constable of Cincinnati township in 1797, Levi McLean in 1798 and John Bailey in 1799. James Smith and William Stan- ley were trustees in 1801-02 and William State in 1801. Other overseers of the poor given by John D. Caldwell incluide Abraham Carey ( 1799- 1800), Peter Kemper ( 1800), and Cornelius Van Nuys ( 1800-01). ( Cincinnati Annual Report-, 1888, p. 368.)
2I
CHAPTER XXII.
CINCINNATI VILLAGE (1790-1802)-I.
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VILLAGE - THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN AND POPULATION-EARLY BUILDINGS-THE FIRST FIRE-THE ARRIVAL OF JUDGE BURNET-SAMUEL STITT'S REMINIS- CENCES-THE FIRST JAIL-THE ARRIVAL OF DR. DRAKE-CINCINNATI IN 1800 -- THE FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN CINCINNATI-EARLY SETTLERS.
The physical aspect of the settlement changed but slowly in the first few years of its existence. The fear of the Indians necessarily kept the in- habitants together and the out-lots were used merely for farming purposes; still there was an atmosphere of prosperity for a time at least. Dur- ing the first year ( 1790) the settlement, which according to the Directory of 1819 during the previous year consisted of 11 families and 24 unmarried men inhabiting twenty small log cabins built on the lower bank, increased by as many as forty families and an equal number of new cabins. The first two frame houses were built during this year and among the population were two blacksmiths, two carpenters, a shoemaker, a tailor and a mason.
Fifteen or twenty of the inhabitants were killed by the Indians during this year.
EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VILLAGE.
One of the earliest descriptions of the village is that of Benjamin Van Cleve already quoted. At the time of his landing on January 3, 1790, he tells us that two small, hewed-log houses had been erected and several cabins. Apparently Fort Washington was not then completed for lie speaks of General Harmar's being employed in building it.
The building of the town must have pro- gressed very rapidly for in a letter to his associ- ates from Cincinnati, written November 4, 1790,
Symmes says that "the advantage is prodigious which this town is gaining over North Bend ; up- wards of forty framed and hewed-log two-story houses have been, and are building since last spring. One builder sets an example for another, and the place already assumes the ap- pearance of a town of some respectability. The inhabitants have doubled here within nine months past."
Oliver M. Spencer who arrived at the town in the following year says that about the 22nd of February, 1791, when he first saw it, it contained not more than forty dwellings, all log cabins, and not exceeding two hundred and fifty inhabitants. In the southeastern part of the town, near the site of his present dwelling, stood the cabin of D. E. Wade ; in the midst of the forest trees, and just below, on the first bank, between the mouth of Deer creek and Lawrence street, were scattered among the trees four or five more cabins. Be- tween Eastern row (a narrow street now en- larged into Broadway) and Main street, on Front and Columbia streets, there were about twenty log houses ; and on Sycamore and Main, principally on the second bank or hill, as it was called, there were scattered about fifteen cabins more. At the foot of this bank, extending across Broadway and Main street, were large ponds, on which, as lately as the winter of 1798, he had seen boys skating. All the ground from the foot of the second bank to the river between Lawrence street and Broadway, and appropri-
1
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
ated to the fort, was an open space on which, al- though no trees were left standing, most of their large trunks were still lying. (Spencer's Nar- rative, p. 27.)
Spencer's account of the fort, which of course was the most conspicuous object in the town, has already been given. Columbia as we have seen increased a little more rapidly at first but Symmes was so much impressed with the future of Cin- cinnati especially after it had been selected as the seat of government that during the year 1790 he laid out the lots in the fractional section 12 as an addition to the town plat; this lay just cast of Broadway on the river. The streets in this addition were but 60 feet wide and those in continuation of the east and west streets took a more northerly course on lines following the lines of the river.
Mrs. Wallace in her recollections states that in 1791 there was but one frame dwelling in Cin- cinnati and that belonged to Israel Ludlow and stood at the lower end of Main street. The room in front was occupied as a store.
Mathew Winton kept tavern on Front nearly opposite to David E. Wade, rather to the west. Ezekiel Sayre was exactly opposite Wade. A German named Bieket had a dram shop oppo- site Plum street between Front and the river bank. Mrs. Wallace and her husband, John S. Wallace, resided on Front street below Race. Joel Williams' celebrated tavern was at what was afterwards called Latham's Corner. This was on Water street as was also Isaac Felter's tavern. (Cist's Miscellany, Vol. II, p. 65; Cin- cinnati in 1859, p. 149.)
The next year, 1791, was not an especially prosperous one. About one-half of the able bodied citizens had gone with the army and many of them had been killed. Not only was the num- ber of citizens lessened by this loss but many were frightened away by the sad result of the campaign and removed to Kentucky. No mantt- facturing establishments were built this year except a horse mill for grinding corn. This stood on Main street below Fourth. It was used at times by the Presbyterians for their meetings as their church had not yet been built.
John Bartle, however, opened his general store in the hipped-roof frame building on the corner of Front and Broadway, where the Cincinnati Hotel was subsequently erected. This has been generally accepted as the first regular store in Cincinnati.
Jolın Bartle (properly Bartel) was born in La Marne, France, about 1743. He served in
the army of his native country and afterwards came to America with Lafayette. At the close of the Revolutionary War, he retired with the title of colonel. He at first became an army trader between Baltimore, Hagerstown and Pitts- burg and afterwards started the first store in Cincinnati. This he left for a time and took part in the campaigns of St. Clair, Harmar and Wayne and after the peace of Greenville he re- turned and was for many years one of the lead- ing merchants. Many years later after the mar- riage of his children, growing weary of a settled life, he wandered. among the Indians of the North and Northwest undergoing many hard- ships and making many hairbreadth escapes. When quite an old man, he returned to the house of his daughter, Mrs. Elijah Pierce. Here he lived for a few years but finally his roving ten- dencies came upon him again and he disappeared. He died in December, 1839, at the City Hospital. He was given a public funeral. Dr. W. E. De Courcy of this city is his great-grandson. '( In Memoriam, p. 101.)
THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN AND POPULATION.
The first contemporary account of the settle- ment is contained in a journal of the trip made by John Heckewelder in 1792. This journal was published in Halle in 1796. The translation of it appears in the Pennsylvania Magasine of History and Biography. (No. XII, pp. 34 and 165.)
On the first day of July the party reached Columbia and stopped with Major Stites. Hecke- welder found here a ship mill and many well built houses. The inhabitants numbered eleven hundred, including two Baptist preachers, Smith and Clark. The town was well situated except that part of the land was inundated by high water. A large portion of the ground was cov- ered by walnut and locust trees. On the 2nd of July after breakfast they left Columbia and reached Cincinnati at nine o'clock where they were greeted with a salute of nine cannon shots in honor of General Putnam who was on a mis- sion to conclude a treaty with the Indians. Heckewelder was assigned quarters with Gen- eral Putnam at Fort Washington but he pre- ferred going to a landlord in the town by the name of Martin ( Isaac) formerly from Sussex County, New Jersey. There were at that time 56 Indian women and children confined as pris- oners in the stockade. These had been brought here about a year before by the Scott and Wil- kinson expedition. Putnam told them that they would be soon released. In the afternoon Com-
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
mandant Wilkinson arrived on his return from a visit to the Western forts and on the 3rd five Indian men and one woman were brought in who came to seek and take away their captive friends. "This fact was made known to the prisoners before night, the guard within the stockade was called away, and the gate opened, but for the safety of the prisoners, a guard was placed outside. It was touching to witness the loud outbursts of weeping when relatives met." This party brought the tidings of the murder of Trueman, Freeman and Hardin. Heckewelder witnessed the celebration of the Fourth at which time 15 cannon shots were fired from a six- pounder in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Judge Symmes came up from North Bend to attend this celebration. The two days following were spent with Colonol Menzies, the inspector of the troops, and Lawyer Smith and in viewing the town. "The ground upon which the town stands is a plain along the Ohio about two miles long, and extending northward seven miles along the road. The town is in a manner divided into two parts, as one or a second shore of the Ohio is 140 perches from the real bank of the Ohio. Each of these banks is 40 ft. high, and on account of its situation or straight line, very pleasant to the eye. What lies below this second bank, is called the lower town; the upper town is however connected with the lower one. At present there are 354 surveyed lots purchased and used for building purposes. Four acres out- side of the town belong to every lot within the town. The price of the lots was at first from four to eight dollars per lot, and twenty dollars an acre for the lots outside of the town. The rush is however so great at present, that lots are being sold at from $30 to $60 cash, from the second purchaser. More than 200 houses have been built, many of which are two stories high, well built and painted red. They command a rent of from 50 to 60 dollars per year. In the centre of the upper town, there are two large squares, the one intended for a Court House, and the other for a Church. On the latter a fine Church is being built, and under roof. The streets of the town are everywhere four perches wide. All the lots which have been surveyed are enclosed with good posts and Indian corn, wheat, oats, barley, millet, potatoes and turnips are cultivated in them. There are eight open roads leading from East to West, and six from South to North, pleasant for walking, there be- ing no obstacles in the way, on the one road for 3-4 of a mile, and on the other for 1-2 a mile.
At the east end of the town, and on the second height, lies Fort Washington, built similar to Campus Martius in Marietta ; the roof and pali- sades on the front are painted red. Near the fort, there are some very fine, large gardens, in which vegetables and fine flowers are cultivated. Tasty summer-houses have been built in theni, the most prominent of these belong to Gen. Wilkinson and Dr. ( Richard) Allison. Just below Fort Washington there are long low build- ings forming a square, where the mechanics in the service of the United States Army work; it is also a storehouse for provisions. The in- habitants of this city number more than 900, not counting the garrison and its belongings. This does not contain any positive number, but at present consists of about 200 men. The city has its judges and holds regular courts. The military wish to govern, but the city insists upon its rights under. the constitution, and in conse- quence frequent quarrels ensue. The city is overrun with merchants, and overstocked with goods. More than 30 magazines or warehouses can be counted, so that one injures the price of the other. It is a town teeming with idlers, and according to the report of respectable persons, they are a people resembling Sodom. Yet they hope that this place, as well as the others on the north bank of the Ohio, will perhaps in time, or soon, be purged of this wicked class, for experience teaches, that as soon as they are made subject to the law, they leave for Kentucky which lies just across the Ohio, and if they are stopped there, they push on to the extreme boundary along the Clinch or Cumberland River, or even down as far as New Orleans. Although according to the description, this city consists principally of bad inhabitants yet a clergyman resides there. The present one be- longs to the Presbyterian Church. I was really astonished to find so many, and partly attentive listeners in the Sunday services. What. adds to the beauty of the city of Cincinnati, and con- tributes to its advantages, is the fact, that just opposite, on the south side of the Ohio, the beautiful Licking River (about 34 as broad as the Lchigh ) empties into it. A city has also been located and begin there, which is called New- Port. From the mouth of this river, which flows from a rich inhabited country, a main road leads to Lexington, the capital of Kentucky. They expect that in future a lively traffic from there to this place, and from here down the Missis- sippi may be carried on. At present two fer-
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