History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 9

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108

USA > Ohio > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

fork of the Little Miami, abont one and a half miles north of where Lynchburg now is, in Clinton county. The farm owned by biu was the old homestead of the late Hiram Connell and later owned by Mr. Connell's son, William. Mr. Van Meter sold the farm in 1814, and removed to Illinois.

"The College township road, which led from Chillicothe to College township, near where Oxford College has since been established, was, as far as where Clarksburg now la, the road from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. It is believed that it was surveyed and established in 1799, and, being blazed through, soon became a road much used by travel- ers. This road was not cut out or improved, at least in some parts of it, until 1804- although it was provided for by an act of the Legislature of 1802-03. Horsemen, guided by blazes made on the trees, followed the line of the road, and were thankful for this help.

"Morgan Van Meter has now lain in his grave more than eighty years. The son of a frontiersman, he had but little, if any, education. So far as we know, he never beld an office or aspired to one, civil or military. The house he lived in has disappeared, and his grave is covered by a stable, or is in the public highway with no stone to mark it. But his name is perhaps more frequently spoken of by our people than that of any citizen of Clinton county who has been dead twenty-five years, with perhaps a few exception&

"Morgan Van Meter made his will during his last sickness. It bears date of March 28, 1813, and was admitted to record June 21, 1813.

"Amos Wilson, from whom Wilson township, Clinton county, was named, was one of three sons of John Wilson, a member of the first constitutional convention of Ohio, who was the son of John Wilson, an Irishman. Amos Wilson and his father before him. and several of his brothers and sisters were born in New Jersey. From that state his father removed with his family to the Redstone country in Pennsylvania, and from there to Washington county, Kentucky. He lived for several years in Washington and Green counties. His next removal was to Mill creek, In Hamilton county, Ohlo, near Cinclonati. John Wilson, named for his grandfather, horn December 29, 1786, Informed the writer, on March 13. 1876, that his grandfather, after he sold his possessions in Kentucky, supposing that he would get his money in silver, took bis grandson, then uine years of age, on a separate horse to Lexington, to bring the money home. He. however, was not paid cash, as he expected, but was given a draft on Cincinnati. eu which he received his payments when they arrived there. This was in 1795. In 1796. John Wilson, with his family, and his sons and their familles, left Kentucky and came to Cincinnati. That year. the party raised a crop on ME creek. In the spring of that year George and Amos went to Middle ruu, in what is now Greene county, Ohio, and cleared a few acres of land, on part of which hemp was sown, and on the rest corn was planted. No fence was put up around the little clearing. The corn made a good crop; the deer took part of it, but the squirrels seemed shy of it, as if doubtful of its fitness for food. These young men returned to Mill creek and remained until fall, when each mounted on a horse and returned to their newly-opened farm to secure their crops. One night three Indians came and stole their horses. On discovery of their losses, the Wil- sons, each armed with a rifle, started in pursuit. They traced the Indians by a devious and elreuitons route, taken evidently to avoid pursuit, to the old site of the famous town of Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, north of where the town of Xenia now is Here the Indians, three in number and all armed. were found encamped for the night. The pur- suing party had, up to this time, supposed that there were only two Indians, with no advantage in numbers on either side; but here were three to two. The Indians watched their adversaries closely, and were constantly ready for action if a fight should be brought on. The Wilsons were not less vigilant and were ready, but by no means courting a combat. The Indians, after a time, offered them something to ent. This, however, was

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

the only friendly act performed by either side. Sleep on neither side was taken. It is believed that neither party even nodded. At last the light of morning came, and the white men mounted their horses and rode rapidly away without molestation.

"In the spring of 1797 John Wilson commenced a settlement on Middle run. His improvement was Immediately upon the road now leading from Waynesville to the town of Centerville, in Montgomery county, Ohlo. His first dwelling, a rude structure, bas disappeared, but near its site the house long his residence, still stands. It is situated on the south side of the road, and Is in Greene county, though but a short distance from the line dividing the counties of Greene and Warren.

"The Wilsons came to Cincinnati in 1796, from Kentucky; 1797, they cropped on Mill creek, near Cincinnati : 1797. George and Amos, sons of John Wilson, raised a small crop of bemp and corn on Middle run. Greene county; 1797. George and John came up from Mill creek to look after their crops, and had their horses stolen by the Indians: 1797, John Wilson, in the fall of the year, moved to Middle run, In Greene county. In 1709, a Baptist church was organized at Middle run. About 1803 Amos Wilson began to preach in the Baptist church.

"It is claimed by some that the first permanent settlement in Clinton county was made by Amos Wilson and James Mills in what is now Wilson township, in 1799. They were brothers-in-law and came to the county together, but it seems to be clearly estab- lished that their settlement was not earlier than the fall of 1801, and possibly not until the spring of 1802. Amos Wilson, up to 1801, was living upon a pre-empted right about three miles northwest of where Waynesville now is. This pre-empted right he exchanged with the Rev. Joshua Carmen, well known to many of our citizens, for one hundred acres of land in the eastern quarter of the county. Mr. Carmen was, at that time. living in the state of Kentucky, near Louisville, and had come out into the Miami country on an exploring expedition. Having secured Mr. Wilson's claim, he returned to Kentucky for his family and, in the fall of the same year, brought them out to the Waynesville neighborhood. On his arrival Mr. Wilson vacated the house on the pre- emption, and Mr. Carmen entered into possession. Whether Mr. Wilson at once came up to settle on the land he had thus acquired, or not until the following spring, has not been ascertained with certainty.

"That Timothy Bennett wunde his settlement as early as March, 1801, is clearly established, and we have the best authority for believing that Morgan Van Meter had made his settlement where Suow Hill now is at least two, and perhaps three, years previous. Mr. Wilson was married four times. His first wife was Auna Mills, to whom he was married on the 22d day of June, 1791. In March, 1807, Mrs. Wilson died, and on September 27, 1807, he married Rachel James, with whom he lived until her death. in May, 1818. On July 12. 1818, he was married to Mary Coulter, who died in 1839. Mr. Wilson was married the last time in 1843. to Elizabeth Dowden, who survived bim twenty years."

From data since obtained, it is evident that Judge Harlan was misled as to the actual time of the settlement of Mr. Wilson in this county. The latter's son, Amos Wilson, Jr., furnished Information, which is confirmed by a record in the old family Bible. to the effect that Amos Wilson. Sr., located in Clinton county In 1799. The cir- cumstances are these : He ( Amos Wilson. Sr.) purchased two hundred acres (instead of one hundred) in the northeast corner of W. Taylor's survey, in what is now Wilson township, and, In order to find it, was directed to go to the locality of the Deserted Camp, and follow the survey line due northeast from there until he should cross Ander- son's fork and Anderson's prairie, and reach the ridge land, or white oak land, beyond. He followed these directions, and, supposing he had reached his own land, at once began improving it. After two years' labor at this spot he found that he was upon

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

what is known as the Hinkson farm, in the R. Eggleston survey, No. 886, and, moving south to the adjoining farm, began anew to improve. A year was spent there, when he was chagrined to learn that again he was on the wrong land, it being in W. Lindsay's survey. No. 732, on what is now known as the Reed farm. Being now discouraged, and having wasted three years in improving land not his own, he avowed his determination to return to the older settlements; but Joshun Carmen, from whom he had purchased the land, came along and showed him his own. and, to partially compensate him for his pains and to induce him to stay. donated to him a strip of land containing fifty acres, lying on the west side of the original two hundred acres. At this time, which was in the early spring of 1802, Mr. Carmen was necompanied by Mr. Wilson's brother-in-law, James Mille, who had purchased a farm immediately south of Wilson's, in the same survey. These two men proceeded at once to erect log cabins on their farms, and both structures were raised on the same day. The families occupied them, and on these farms lived Amos Wilson and James Mills until their death. . In 1827, Mr. Wilson erected on his place the first brick house in the northeastern part of the county. Of the family of Mr. Wilson, not a representative is left in the county. The Mills farm is still owned by the descendants of the man who made the first improvements upon it in the spring of 1802.

"David Sewell, the first settler of Vernon township, is the third man claimed by some, and with perhaps equal eridence, to have been the first settler in Clinton county. Judge Harlan's account of him states that he bought land in the Archibald Campbell survey, No. 2250, early in 1798, and arranged to move upon it, his sons to go at once. One son, Aaron, was married, In April, 1798, in Frederick county, Virginia, and. with his wife, brother John and family, and their father and mother. started west, arriving at due time at Bedle's Station, in Warren county. Obio. The Judge then states that they could not then find the land which had been purchased, nor a surveyor who could show it to them. The Judge places their arrival in this county in 1801, or later, giving reasons for his conclusions, which appear in another place. Cyrus L. Sewell made state- ments founded on what seems to be conclusive evidence showing that the Sewell familles settled bere in 1799, and that a division of the land was made in 1801.

TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS.

The settlements of the townships of Clinton county were made in the following order :

Clark Township .- The first settler was Thomas Johns, who located three miles south- east of Martinsville, on the east fork of the Little Miami. The date of bis arrival is not known, but it must have been as early as 1800, or in the first part of 1801, as Isaac Miller, Joseph Mckibben and Gideon Mckibben all arrived in the latter year, and Mr. Johns had preceded them.

Union Township .- Timothy Bennett is credited with being the first to locate a home within the limits of what is now I'nion township, having settled cast of the site of Wilmington in the month of March, 1501. No other family arrived for over two years, or until the fall of 1803, when George Haworth beenme the second settler In the township.

Cheater Township .- The first actual settler in this township was Caleb Lucas, origin- ally from New Jersey, and later a resident of Kentucky, who located here In 1802. Asa Jenkins had arrived in 1799 and George Mann In March, 1801, but, although both men owned land in Chester township, their dwellings were across the line in Greene county. They subsequently moved to Chester. The first brick house in Clinton county was built near Oakland. in Chester township, in 1807 by James Birdsall, and was stand- Ing as late as 1800. The bricks In its walls were manufactured on the place, by Mr. Birdsall, and it enn readily be imagined the task in that day was not an easy one.

Liberty Township .- Stephen Mendenhall, a native of Tennessee. settled on Dutch

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

creek in the spring of 1803, and was the first to erect bis enbin In what is now Liberty township.

Wayne, Richland and Washington Townships .- These three townships were all settled in 1803. John Jackson, a native of Pennsylvania, located in Wayne in the spring of that year. Sometime during the year. Absalom and Samuel Reed, from Bourbon county, Kentucky, took up their abode in Richland township, while Isnac Wilson, from Virginia, settled on Colonel Carrington's survey, In Washington township, before the close of the year. Jonas Seaman and a man named Armstrong arrived soon after, and in 1805 opened, upon the present site of Cuba. the first house for the public entertainment in the township, and one of the earliest in the county, probably Morgan Van Meter's, in Greene township, being the only one to antedate it, If Armstrong's was not opened first.

Adams Township .- The first settler in this portion of the county was Samuel Lee, who came in 1804 and made his home near the present site of Springfield meeting house. Jefferson Township .- This township was settled considerably later. The first cabin within its limits was built by Samuel Jackson, about 1812. Mr. Jackson came from Tennessee, and was a noted hunter. It is recorded that, during his life time, he killed two panthers, three hundred and sixty deer and eighty bears. Joseph Hockett built the first bewed-log house in this township, but it is unfortunate that no date can be given.

Marion Township .- The territory which latest received the attention of settlers in Clinton county is included in what is now Marion township. According to the state- ments of Squire J. W. Rice, who was the township bistorian. the first settlement was made in 1814, by Jonathan Baldwin, a native on Monongalia county, Virginia, who had located In Guernsey county, Oblo, In 1804, and in Warren county in 1806. He served under General Harrison in the War of 1812.

CHAPTER VI. HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION.

EARLY ROADS OF THE COUNTY.

The first roads in Clinton county, as in every other county In the Middle West. were the Indian trails. These trails were narrow and well-worn, owing to the fact that the country was densely wooded and the making of new roade in the pioneer times was no easy task. There were also the trails and traces left by the expeditions which passed through this region against the hostile tribes of the Miamis on Mad river. The roads. which wound promiscuously through the country, were nothing more than neighborhood mads and would go from one house to another with no regularity.

Later, when surveys were made and the roads laid out on some defuite system and the routes fixed, these pioneers, who had previously found the track running past their door, found that they were some distance from the road. As the county became more fixed and the boundaries determined, the zigzag paths were partially straightened and new building sites were consequently chosen nearer the line of highway. The most prominent localities, which in that day were the taverna, mills, etc., around which clus- tered a small settlement, were sure to be accommodated by a public road.

The first commissioners found on taking up their duties, in 1810, that the greater part of their labors consisted in laying out new roads and definitely establishing the ones which had been previously laid out. The early commissioners' records are filled with petitious, reports and orders on road matters These early records will give the best history of the laying out of the roads which can possibly be taken. They follow and are partial duplicates of the records:

"The road from Wilmington to Lebanon was laid out by Daniel Cushing and Robert Enchus, under the act entitled, 'An act making further appropriation of the three per cent. fund. etc.' passed February 20. 1812." (This record was taken from the first volume of the commissioners' record. page 57.)

"The road commencing near Absalom Haworth's house, and running to Daniel Nordyke's, was Inid ont by John Wright's field, thence to Samuel Cox's mill, on Cowan's creek. thence by Daniel Bailey's and John Routh's form to Daniel Nordyke's farm."

"The road Unthank's mill to Wilmington: Viewers. Thomas Babb, Sr .. Stephen Mendenhall : John Woolman, surveyor; length of rond, from mill to the south end of South street, seven miles and one hundred and eighty poles. Established June 7. 1815."

"From Highland county Hne, near Richard Barnard's, through Centerville, to inter- spot the Urbana road, two hundred poles south of James Gillespie's tavern. Established October 22. 1817. Viewers, John Wright. Leonard Morris and Joel Matthews; Hiram Madden, surveyor. Distance, seven miles and two hundred and eight poles."

"The Kenton Trace-This trace commenced on the bank of the Oblo river, opposite Maysville, and terminated nt Urbana, Ohio. It was laid out by Gen. Simon Kenton. and passed through Williamsburg. New Market. Morgantown (by where Job R. Haynes now lives). crossing the prairie near where Thomas Stitt settled and lived. down the edge of the prairie, through the woods, for some distance, crossing the road leading from Wilmington to Washington, east of the bridge over Anderson's fork, where the Per- kinses, father and son, had in former times a pottery on the road, and crossing the route of the present Urbana road at a point near the residence of William H. Polk." C. P. Gallaher, Esq., on July 27. 1877, said that when a boy he traveled this trace from the

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

present Reesville to Morgantown, and passed the residence of John S. Frazer, a Quaker school master, from near Lebanon, whose school he had formerly attended.

Prairie Road-"The petition for this road was presented to the commissioners on June 3, 1816. Its beginning was at the end of a street near the northeast corner of the town of Wilmington, thence to run the nearest and best way to Gideon Edwards' lane; thence through the said lane and the nearest and best way to the 'lick' above the dwelling house of the elder Mr. Haws; thence on the nearest and best way to the prairie, to strike a line between the lands of Thomas Hinkinson, Esq., and John Coulter, and thence to run with the said line and intersect the U'rbana road on the north of Kamoth Hawkins." The fourth mile tree was at the ford between the 'lick' and the Haws; the eighth mile tree was between Hinkson and Coulter. Total length of the road, nine miles and two hundred and eleven poles. The road was established June 14, 1816.

The road from Hillsboro to Waynesville via Cox mill and Wilmington: "At the meeting of the commissioners, September 3. 1810, present, George MeManis and Henry Babb, a petition was presented by Walter Armstrong and others for a road leading In the following manner. to wit: At a rond that runs from Hillsboro in a direction to Walter Armstrong's tavern on the College township road, and to continue on to said Armstrong's; from thence to Jobn Cox's mill; theuce to the seat of justice of Clinton county ; Joseph Doan, William Adams and Daniel Moon, viewers; Peter Burr, Esq, sur- veyor. Return to be made the first Monday of December, 1810,"

Road from Van Meter's to Waynesville-"Meeting of county commissioners: present. George McManis. James Birdsall and Henry Rabb. The petition of William Dakin and others for an alteration of the state road, leading from Van Meter's through Wayues- ville, was read. James Birdsall and Henry Cox bound for the expense on conditions an alteration between Cæsar's creek and the town of Oakland is thought improper by Benjamin Farquhar, Robert Eachus and Jacob Hale, who are appointed as viewers of the same. To make report on the third Monday of September. 1810: Joel Wright, sur- veyor. The viewers report that a certain alteration in said road between the town of Oakland and Cæsar's creek would be of public utility : the same is hereby established as n public highway, and all that part of the former state road between the two points, as surveyed by Joel Wright, is hereby declared vold and useless."

"From Preserved Dakin's to the east end of James Dakin's improvements on the Waynesville road, and William Dakin's, to intersect the Bullskin road, at Anderson's fork (now Burlington) : Vlewers, Jacob Hale, Benjamin Farquhar and Job Jeffries. Established June 7. 1815. Nathan Linton, surveyor. Length of road, six miles and one hundred and sixty-six poles."

"Drake's Path-Van Meter's Trace-June 2. 1818. Present, Joseph Roberts and Samuel Ruble. A petition for a new rond was this day presented and read as follows; Beginning at the Clermont county line, at or near where Drake's path crosses the same line, running thence on a northeast course Into the Van Meter trace, where a new road has been cut out. From Jonathan Baldwin's to Build trace, running near or through said Baldwin's lane: thence to Isaac Burrough's. Warren, for the purpose of meeting a county road, laid out from Lebanon to the Xenia state road. Viewers appointed, Elijah Burge, William Johns and Freeman Smalley. Nathan Linton, surveyor. Place appointed for meeting. the house of David Burrough's, on July 2, 1518. A survey of the above rond was returned to the commissioners July 8, 1818."

"From the center of Paris (now Cuba) and running the nearest and best way to the east fork of Todd's fork. at or near David Wright's: thence the nearest and best wny to the head of the West fork of Todd's to or near John Starr's: thence to the county line to where the county line crosses the bend of Sycamore. to meet the county road from Williamsburg to Wilmington. Established October 7. 1818. William Johns. David Wright and Thomas Johns, viewers. Surveyor. N. Linton."

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

"From the Center meeting house, thence through to Richard Fallis's mill, as far as Benjamin Farquhar's lane, by Ell Maden's, Jacob Hale's, Joshua Nickerson's, near John Haden's mill, to intersect the road leading down Todd's fork, near William Harvey's. Viewers. Joseph Roberts, George Richards and William Butler. Nathan Linton, sur- veyor. Established June 8, 1819. Length of road, six miles and eighty-seven poles."

"September 28, 1819. an alteration of road made by William Moore on his land across Lee's creek, for the convenience of his farm. The old road is one hundred and twenty-seven poles, five feet and six inches in a through line. The new route is one hundred and thirty-seven poles. But said Moore agrees to make a road across the swamp of two roda and six feet of a hollow bridge, and cut a ditch through the swamp into the creek. He is given permission to turn the new road as proposed and have the old road vacated. Viewers. John Allen. Eaq., Thomas Antrim and Solomon Sharp."

"April 11, 1820, a road established beginning at the road from Wilmington to Paris (now Cuba), at John Shield's mill; thence to Joshua Moore's mill, and thence past Lytle's Creek meeting house and crossing the Lebanon state road to Richard Fallts's mill. Length of road, five miles and three hundred and ten poles. Viewers, Robert Eachus, Mahlon Haworth and John Lewis."

The Urbana road was probably laid out before Clinton county was organized and the following note probably refers to a re-survey. This was taken from commissioners' record 2, 1, 179: "This road was run by Nathan Linton, surveyor, under the direction of James Gallaher, Thomas Howe and James Sherman, about the last of September or .the first of October, 1820, and found that part which runs through Clinton county to be thirteen miles and two hundred and eighteen poles."

"State road from Wilmington through Clarksburg to the road through Cincinnati through Montgomery county. Surveyed by Nathan Linton, August 18, 1820, under the direction of Samuel Wilson, state road commissioner; begins at the center stone; total distance, ten miles and one hundred and fifty-seven poles, two poles of which are In Warren county."

"From David McMillan's barn by Enoch Wickersham's. by Nathan Scholey's barn on the left side, passing the lane between Samuel Stanton and Nathan Hines and crossing Dutch creek to a stone corner to Nathan Hines and Dr. John Greer: thence with Greer and Hur Hodgson's line. and passing through Greer's northeast corner to Hur Hodgson's northeast corner, crossing the Xenia road, passing Daniel Bailey's corner : thence through the lane between Daniel Bailey and Thomas Dillon to Amos Hodgson's corner, through Ezekiel Frazer's land, passing his house (and six-mile tree) ; passing Robert Lomax's house, on the south to Richard Lyon's corner, passing the three-mile tree to Adam Rynard's land, thence through his lane, passing the eight-mile tree. Isaac Johnson's well. thence to the Wilmington road five poles east of the Ave-mile tree. Total distance. eight miles and one hundred and forty-seven poles. Viewers, Joseph Smith, Joseph Doan and William Walker. Established December 3. 1822. Surveyor. Nathan Linton."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 9

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1108

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108