USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 14
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This shows that he, like Elliot, enlisted for a term of six months. However, it is probable that tradition is right and that the date of his death was either not reported or through some error was not entered on the record. Stoner's remains were buried near the spot where he was killed, but were taken up in the fall of 1836 and reinterred in the Ithaca cemetery, where they still lie.
The defeat of the British and Indians and the death of Te- cumseh at the battle of the Thames in the fall of 1813, damp- ened the ardor of the hostile Indians and made them desir- ous of peace with the Americans.
Overtures were made to the representatives of the United States Government by some of the hostile tribes. The chiefs and head men began to assemble at Greenville in the spring of 1814 and on July 22 signed a compact with General Harrison, as noted in Chapter 13 of this book. Concerning conditions at this time Judge Wharry says :
"There was in attendance at Greenville during the time of the negotiations preceding the treaty and until it was signed, a large concourse of white men as well as Indians. Men were here from Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton, Chillicothe and various other places in Ohio; Maysville. Lexington, Frankfort and other places in Kentucky ; from points on the Ohio river, and even from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Many
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of these came to look at the country with a view to a settle- ment in it if they were pleased with it, and the Indian ques- tion so settled that they could emigrate to it and be freed from Indian disturbances; others to look out lands that it would be safe to buy as an investment of their surplus money ; others to see what was to be seen, and make money if they could out of either Indians or white men as opportunity should offer, and many came with no defined object. Be- tween the time of the treaty and the opening of the year 1816, many entries of land in Darke county were made at the land office in Cincinnati. The lands were sold by the government on a credit of one-eighth down and the residue in seven annual installments. A number of tracts in the vicinity of Green- ville were taken up on speculation that did not change hands for many years, and were kept unimproved. Among those who thus purchased, and probably never saw the lands they bought were Gen. James Taylor, of Newport; Gen. James Butler, of Frankfort, Ky .; George P. Torrence, David K. Este, David Wade and William Burke, of Cincinnati; Nathan Richardson, of Warren county ; Joseph Hough, of Chillicothe ; Talbot Iddings, Andrew Hood and John Devor, of Mont- gomery county, and some others, whose purchases many of them long remained an eyesore, withheld from improvement. in the vicinity of Greenville. Many of these tracts, none of which were less than a quarter section, remained in first hands from twenty to forty years, brought in the end but little more than the purchase money and interest to those who had pur- chased them, and added proof, if proof were necessary, that the well-being and progress of society in this nation demands. that the title of the soil. vested in the national government or the states, should not be transferred save to actual settlers.
"Many other purchases were made on credit. by men who failed to pay out, and were compelled in the end to relinquish part to save the residue, or entirely forfeit their purchases. The United States was, in the end. under the pressure of the debt entailed by the war of 1812 and other causes, compelled to abandon the system of selling the national demand upon credit.
"Congress, however, in a year or two after the forfeiture. authorized the issue of what was termed land scrip, to those who had lost their purchases, equal in amount to what they had paid, which, being receivable at any government land office in payment for the lands of the United states became
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for some years a part in some measure of the business cur- rency of the country, as the scrip could pass from hand to hand until it was canceled at the land office.
"The emigration to the town, township and county, from the time of the 'stampede' on the breaking out of the Indian troubles, and until after the treaties between the United States and both the Indians and England, was scarcely no- ticeable. Although many people came here, they did not come to stay, and were here for transient purposes only, and the population of the town, township and county, after the departure of the crowd who were here at the treaty, and after the withdrawal of the garrison at Greenville and from the other small stockades erected for protection in the evil days at Fort Nesbit, Fort Black and Fort Brier, was little, if any, greater than in the spring of 1812.
"It may not be amiss here to recapitulate, as well as can be done, who were as residents within the limits of the town- ship of Greenville after the treaty was signed in 1814, and by the term limits of the township confine the enumeration to the bounds of what is now Greenville township, and not, as then the whole county of Darke. In the town were Moses Scott, Azor Scribner, David Connor and John Loring, and the wife of the murdered John Stoner and his orphaned chil- dren. With these, as boarders or employers off and on, were Abraham Scribner, James Cloyd, Philder G. Lanham, Silas Atchison and probably some others whose residence cannot be definitely stated. North of the town, in Ireland, dwelt Enos Terry, Joe Wilson, "Old Billy" Wilson, "Little Billy" Wilson, Asa Spencer and in their families as dependents and hangerson, John Mooney, Joe Gass, and probably others not now remembered. Down the creek, below the town, and within a mile of it, was David Briggs, with whom resided his brother Thomas. Up Greenville creek, Aaron and Mathias Dean had commenced the erection of the mill in many years afterward designated Dean's mill, but on the murder of Rush, the work ceased, and they left for the Miami, near Middle- town, and did not return and complete it until after the war. Up Mud creek, on the west side, were Thomas McGinnis. Barney Burns, Henry and James Rush. The widow of An- drew Rush, with her two children, the oldest of whom was born November 28th, 1809, lived on the West Branch where it was crossed by the 'Squaw Road.' David Miles was on the knoll where Mr. Griffin now resides, about a half mile
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southwest of the mouth of Mud creek. On the east side of Mud creek were Abraham Miller and John Studabaker, and just above the last, but outside the present township boun- dary, Zadok Reagan had located in the edge of the prairie, at what was known in after years as the 'Burnt Cabin.' On Bridge creek were David Thompson and George Freshour.
"Betwen the signing of the treaty of 1814 and the organiza- tion of the county in the spring of 1817, under the law of the preceding winter, the emigration to the township, as well as to the residue of the county, taking into view the sorry pros- pect of making a living in it, had increased the population more than threefold. In these two and a half years, George. Peter, John, Moses and Aaron Rush, brothers of the three who came in 1810. Henry Hardy and Archibald Bryson, who had married their sisters, came to the county ; James Bryson. who married the widow of Henry Rush, came, and John Hil- ler returned from Miami county, to which he fled three years before on Indian account. Some of these parties settled out- side of Greenville township, and others remained but for a brief period. On the West Branch and Greenville creek were settled John McFarland, Daniel Potter, David William- son, Joseph Huffman and Isaac Dunn. With Williamson came his brothers James and John, who remained but for a brief period; one went to Butler county, and the other re- turned to his father's house in Greene county to die of con- sumption. On the south of Greenville, between town and Abraham Miller's, Henry House, an old soldier of Wayne's army, with a family of sons and daughters, was located. In the southeast was located on Bridge creek, Nathan Popejoy ; between him and David Thompson was settled William Ar- nold, and south of Thompson, now came Abraham Studa- baker from his first location below Gettysburg. Down the creek were located William, George, Jacob, Andrew and Joel Westfall, on the north side; and William Hays, Sr., and Wil- liam Hays, Jr., on the south side. Ebenezer Byram first set- tled up Greenville creek above Dean's mill, which, on their return, was completed in a year or about that after the war, but soon removed out of the township down the creek to New Harrison, as his place is now termed, but which had no existence until years after his death. To Ireland came David Douglass, James Stephenson, or Stinson, as the name was usually pronounced, and Robert Barnett. Over the creek, on
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the Recovery trace, was located David Irwin, and southwest of him, on the creek, David Ullery. East of Terry's place was located Alexander Smith, the first temporary sheriff of the county, Justice of the Peace of Greenville township for several years and once for a few days, owing to the non-re- ceipt of election returns from some locality between Green- ville and Maumee bay, had a seat in the state legislature, from which he was ejected on a contest with the far-famed Capt. Riley, who a few years previous, had been a prisoner riding a camel from Timbuctoo to Mogadore across the desert of Sa- hara, in Africa. Smith was afterward a candidate for the lower house of the state legislature, but was defeated by Gen- eral James Mills. Riley also again was before the people of the district, which then included nine or ten counties of northwest Ohio, for a seat in the House of Representatives, but failed. Subsequently, becoming more ambitious, he ran for congress, but was badly beaten by William McLean, a brother of the late Judge McLean, of the United States Su- preme Court. Archibald Bryson settled on the east side of West Branch, above and south of the 'Squaw Road' and east of him, toward Mud creek, were located John Whitacre, John Embree, who was better known by the nickname of 'Swift,' and David Marsh, the first peddled of 'wallsweep' clocks in the county." * *
Concerning the character of the settlers in the county gen- erally the same writer says:
"The character of the first settlers cannot be said to be either good or bad. There was no disposition among them to do any great wrong, but the small vices, such as drunken- ness, when liquor could be obtained, disregard of religious sentiments, and a great disposition to idleness. That there was any lack of honor or honesty or hospitality among these settlers, from anything said, must not be inferred. On the contrary, from what we can learn of them. they were never excelled in these qualities by any people. There were one or two natural thieves, or kleptomaniacs in the county, but they were detested exceptions to the mass. Defamation, and the biting tongue of slander was never heard nor felt. Casts, or quality, were not formed or regarded. One man was as good as another, and one woman was no better than another. All honest people were honorable among them. The traveler with his saddlebags filled with gold and silver could rest se- curely in any cabin at which he stopped."
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In the year 1909 a document was discovered in the sheriff's office in the county court house giving what it purports to be a complete enumeration of the white male inhabitants above 21 years of age, some four hundred in number, of Darke county in 1825. It was compiled by Archibald Bryson and certified to the associate judges of the county. The doch- ment is of old style parchment, yellow with age, but tough and legible. A careful perusal will reveal the fact that nearly every name is perpetuated by descendants still living here and numbered among the most prosperous families. The list is as follows: Abraham Studebaker, David Cole, John Jett. James Burkhannon, David Douglas, Archibald Bryson, Chris- tian Levingood. Peter Levingood. Andrew Perkins, John Hil- ler, David Michael, Andrew Westfall. Joseph Huffman, Dan- iel Patten. Nathaniel Gillum, John Dean, Permelia Elsbury, David Fisher, David Cole, Mathew Young, Janet Barnes, Thomas Barnes, Isaac Elsbury, Samuel Cole, Jonathan Parks. Ranna Perrine, Thomas McGinnis, George Sumption, Jacob Keller, Eleyer Sharp. James Bryson. James Rush, David Miller, John Rupel. John Sheets, Jacob Rupel, Michael Em- rick, William Folkerth, Cornwall Stephens, John Rool, James Howard, Vockel Clery. Selby Sumter, James Hayes, William Martin, John Martin, William T. Carnahan, Richard Lyons, William Hayes. Sr., William Hayes, Henry D. Williams, Robert McIntire, David Thompson. Jeremiah Mathewson, Abraham Miller. Isaac House, David Briggs, Lyra Thorp, Simeon Chapman, Cornelius I. Ryeson, William Westfall. George Naus, Margnet Westfall. Philip Manuel, Samuel Sut- ton, S. Laurence. Abraham Scribner, Isaac Clay, William McKhann, John Armstrong, David Moriss, William Wiley, Hugh Merten, William Sape, John Brady, Lewis Passon, Sam- uel Oliver. David Potter, David Irwin, Joseph Guess, Samuel Wilson, Daniel Halley Nathan Terry, William Wilson, Samuel Wilson, Benjamin Thompson, Joseph Wilson, John Wilson. Robert Barnet, George Westfall. Peter Crumrine, Mass Rush. Richard Martin, Peter Smith, Samuel Reed. John Rupel, Sr .. Charles Hapner, William Chapman, Jacob Shafer, Adam Bil- lows, Hezekiah Veits, Henry Steinberger. Jacob Steinberger. Moses Rush. Isaac Joy. John Briggs. Abraham Smith, Abra- ham Weaver. John Weaver, George W. Fryer, Isaac Jones. James McGinnis, William Vail. Thomas Stokeley. Hezekiah Viets, Robert Taylor, Jacob Puterbaugh. Christian Sleighty. Thomas Campbell. Henry Wertz, George Huntsman, John
(11)
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Miller, John Phillips, William Decamp. Job Decamp, Charles Harriman, Thomas Phillips, James Wood, William Town- send, John Culberson, Elisha Byers, Isaac Joy, Johnston Den- niston, Jacob Cox, Daniel Harter, Peter Kember, Joseph Dixon, Ignatius Barnes, Eli Coble, Samuel Fisher, John Cox, Thomas Coapstick, Isaac Sweitzer, William Brady, John Chenoweth, Ludwick Clap. John Cable, Thomas Hynes, Sam- uel Touring, Donovan Reed, Smith Masteson, Samuel Bourk, Frederick Bowers, Daniel Harter, John Crumrine, Abraham Cox, Henry Cox, Daniel Waggoner, Jacob Neff, John Hilde- bran, Peter Harter, Peter Weaver, Peter Crumrine, Ebenezer Westfall, Job Westfall, Daniel Crawn, Jacob Westfall, Wil- liam Shoneson, David Ullery, Abraham Wells, Harrison McConn, James Craig, Hezekiah Fowler, Nathaniel Scidnore, Benjamin Murphy, James Brady, Isaac Vail, John Miller, Joseph Foster, Josiah Elston, John Snell, Jacob Chenoweth, Leonard Wintermote, John Clap, Philip Rarook, Daniel Shiveley, Abraham Miller, James Cole, Jeremiah Rogers, Susannah Miller, David Wasson, Samuel Wasson, Edward Baldin. Robert Cain, Charles Sumption, Thomas Beasley, John A. Addington, Jesse Gray, Samuel Martin, Ephriani Flemming, Isaac Byers, John C. Marquart, Julian Brown, Philip Brown. Benjamin Brown, Josiah Hall, John Thomas, John Robeson, Samuel Eddington, Charles Eddington, Philip Eddington, George Walker, Joseph Winegardner, Daniel Monbeek. Jacob Winegardner, Stoffle Shafer, John Ellis, Edward Edger, William Edger, Archibald Edger, Thomas Edger, Henry Keck. Barbery Myers, Christopher Borden, David Thomas, George Wilt, David Wilt. George Wilt, John Wilt. Samuel Harter, John Harter, Francis Harter, Philip Wiggens, David Harter, Jacob Harter, Cornelius Higgings, John Baird, John Arthur, Andrew Miller, William Terry, Jacob Puderbaugh, Mark Mills, James Mills, Christopher Hood, Elijah Stackenas, John Mikesel, Michael Kenell. Wil- liam Holt, Thomas Godfrey, Timothy Mote, George Knee, John Waggoner, Ernestus Putnam, Jacob Ullom. Bingham Simons, Christopher Bordins. Daniel Ullom, John Wade, William Wade. John Ullom. John Williamson, William Mc- Farland, Elijah Simons, John French, Isaac Cherry, Henry Creviston, Jacob Sutton, Nicholas Tinkel, Thomas Lake, Caleb Vail, Eli Edwards. Hugh Laurimore, Moses Arnold. John Ketring. John Teaford. George Teaford, John Knee, David Stephens, Samuel Guier, Spencer Edwards,
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William Eaker, Daniel Edwards, John Dixon, Jacob Sebring, Marshall Falor, Jonathan Pierson, Samuel Rhoades, James Woods, Henry Ross, Nathaniel Ross, Lewis Aukerman, James Reed, James Barney, Henry Williams, John Puter- baugh, John Clark, John Kendle, William Jones, Joseph Burdge, Jonathan Mote, John Fetters, Samuel Owens, Wil- liam Stone, Andrew Stone, John Rush, James Baird, Samuel Fisher, Jonathan Thomas, John Stephenson, Christopher Rush, Zachariah Fryon, Asa Rush, Aaron Rush, Henry Hardy, Jacob Hensler, Reed Risley, David Scott, John Doug- las, Alexander Smith, Alexander Irwin, Henry House, Linus Bascom, John Briggs, John Beers, John McNeil, Nancy Smith, David Cole, John Devor, James Craig, Abner Meeks, Henry Lawrence, Richard Lowring, Judson Jaqua, Nathaniel Edsel, Richard Miller, Dennis Hart, Samuel Droye, Obediah Stephens, John Huston, Henry Woods, Benjamin F. Woods, Robert Thompson, John Wooden, Moses Woods, John Braw- ley, John Purviance. Anthony Woods, William Wiley, Na- thaniel S. McClure, Neal Lawrence, John McClure, Jacob Miller, William Brodrick, John A. Brodrick, George Miller, John M. Foster, Samuel McClure, John Wiley, Alexander McClure, Abraham Murray, George Roberts, Samuel Jones, Lloyd James, Mark Buckingham, David Gibbs, Samuel Roberts, Robert Campbell. Gersham P. Tiesen, Benjamin Snodgrass, George Gates, Moses Moore, James Harland, James B. Edwards, William Thompson, Thomas Sullivan. Thomas Wiley, John Brown, Nathan Harland, William Polly, Leonard Titsen. Aquillas Loveall, Josiah Guess, Jacob Guess, John Wilson, James Skinner. James Reeves. Amos Smith, William Hill, David Nockum, John Downy, Jesse Bell, Francis Spencer. John Cassady, Hankason Ashby, Benjamin Eakens, Samuel Ketring.
CHAPTER IX.
CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTY.
Thus far this narrative has dealt mostly with the pioneers who settled in and around the county seat and in our desire to make due mention of the first families we have failed to notice the development of the county as a political unit.
On January 3, 1809, the General Assembly of Ohio created the county of Darke from territory then belonging to Miami county. The original boundaries of the county were the same as at present with the exception of the northern, which ex- tended to the Greenville treaty line, thus including that por- tion of the present county of Mercer which lies south of a line extending from Fort Recovery to a point a few rods north of the present northeast corner of Darke. As noted before rival claimants laid out town sites which they desired to have acknowledged as the official county seat. By "pull and per- suasion," it seems, Terry's plat on the northeast side of the creek was first accepted and remained the official, though unoccupied, site for two or three years. At the next session of the Legislature, strong pressure was brought to repeal the previous unpopular act and a new commission was created to relocate the seat of justice. Besides the Devor and Terry sites this commission was asked to consider another located at what is now known as Cedar Point, at the junction of the Milton and Gettysburg pikes. At this juncture Devor and Mrs. Armstrong made a proposition to the commissioners to convey thirty-two lots, or one-third of the entire number of their original plat, to the commissioners of Miami county, in trust for the county of Darke, when it should thereafter be organized, "for such public uses as might be deemed desir- able in the future, whether as sites for public buildings, or as land for sale outright, upon which to realize funds for county purposes." This proposition was accepted, the lots duly con- veyed to the county of Darke and the county seat established on the beautiful and historic. site of Fort Greenville and Wayne's famous treaty, where it remains to this day.
On account of the war of 1812, the large amount of wilder-
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ness and swamp land, the holding of titles by non-residents, who refused to improve or sell their claims, and other simi- lar causes, final organization was postponed until December 14, 1816, when the population justified an independent gov- ernment, and Darke county was then separated from Miami. The organization was not completed, however, until March 1, 1817. John Purviance, Enos Terry and James Rush were elected the first associate judges of the court of common pleas, and Archibald Bryson, Abraham Studabaker and Silas Atchison the first commissioners of the new county. The latter held their first meeting in June, 1817. John Beers was appointed clerk, and John Devor tax collector. Moses Scott was appointed sheriff and William Montgomery, coroner in August, 1817. The first session of the court of common pleas was held March 13, 1817. The next session was held on April 7, 1817, at which Linus Bascom was appointed clerk pro tem. and Abraham Scribner, recorder. The first regular term of this court was in June, 1817, and was presided over by Joseph H. Crane of Dayton with the associates before mentioned. At this session Moses Scott was duly em- powered, authorized and commanded to summon fifteen good and lawful men to appear forthwith and serve as grand jurors. The first jury summoned by him was constituted as follows : John Loring, John Andrews, James Cloyd, Daniel Potter, Robert Douglas, Abraham Miller, Filder G. Lenham, Daniel Holley, Joseph Townsend, James Williamson, John Ryerson, David Briggs, Levi Elston, Martin Ruple and Peter Rush. Henry Bacon was appointed prosecutor at this term. The grand jury found several indictments and it was found neces- sary to summon twelve men to act as petit jurors. Accord- ingly the following men were summoned: Charles Sumption, John McFarlin, James Williamson, John Break, Charles Read, Jacob Miller, William Montgomery, Robert McIntyre, James Perry, Aaron Dean, Alexander Smith and Zachariah Hull to act as the first petit jury. They were in session a day or two of this court each year. The first prosecutor received ten dollars for his services at the first term, the grand jurors seventy-five cents per day, and the petit jurors fifty cents, which latter was paid by the winning party. The first session was held in the bar-room of Azor Scribner ; the next one was called for November 14th in the bar-room of Scott's Tavern.
By this arrangement the building of a county court house was postponed several years. A jail was needed, however,
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and the commissioners entered into contract with Matthias Dean for the erection of the same in 1818 for the sum of $300.00, one-half down and the remainder on completion. As it was paid for in county orders which were worth but about sixty per cent. of the face, Dean probably got less than $200.00 actual cash on his contract. This jail was located on the public square, about thirty feet from the north corner of the present city hall. It was about fifteen by thirty feet in size, with two compartments, and was built with double out- side walls of sound oak timbers hewed one foot square. This modest structure answered the needs of the community at that time and might even be considered a costly structure as the commissioners had sold six valuable lots, Nos. 36, 62, 20, 56, 39 and 53 out of the thirty-two donated by Devor and Mrs. Armstrong for the sum of $47.75 to be applied on its erection. This was considered a fair price for the lots at that time and a comparison with the present value of the same real estate today will indicate the progress that has been made in less than a century. This building was consumed by fire on the morning of Sunday, May 2, 1827. A new jail and jailor's resi- dence combined, was erected of brick on the southwest corner of Broadway and Third street in 1827-28 by John Armstrong at a cost of $520.00. The second bastile was not found satis- factory from the standpoint of security and was demolished upon the erection of the third structure on the southeast half of lot 25, in 1845, by Allen LaMotte and Israel Reed for ap- proximately $4,000. This building was disposed of after the erection of the present jail in 1870. It has been extended to the sidewalk, remodeled and used as a place of business ever since, being now occupied by E. R. Fout's Millinery Emporium and the Earhart and Meeker saloon and is known as Nos. 418 and 422 Broadway.
John Craig erected the first court house on the south cor- ner of the public square in the spring of 1824. It was a two- story frame structure about twenty-two by twenty-eight fect, with a court room occupying the entire first floor, and a clerk's office and jury room on the second.
The second court house was erected in 1834 in the center of the public square by James Craig for $2,524.63, upon plans drawn by Allen LaMotte. It was constructed of brick two stories high with roof four square and surmounted by a cu- pola looking very much like the present city hall with the front tower removed. It is said that Craig lost from $1.500 to
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