USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 1 > Part 35
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
This meeting made all the preliminary arrange- ments for a gathering of the pioneers on the great anniversary, by appointing committees, arranging a programme, ete. S. K. Donavin, A. E. Lee and Dr. H. Bessie, were appointed a Committee on Finance ; E. C. Vining, R. R. Henderson and J. Humphreys, a Committee on Invitation ; J. M. Crawford, J. W. Lindsey, H. J. Mccullough. Eugene Powell and B. Banker, a committee to act in connection with the ladies' committee, for pre- paring dinner ; R. R. Henderson. J. W. Lindsey and C. F. Bradley, a committee to arrange time and place ; Rev. J. D. Van Deman, Eugene Pow- ell and Dr. T. B. Williams, a committee to see that the programme of the day was carried out. It was resolved that Hon. T. W. Powell be invited to deliver an address of welcome to the pioneers. Rev. J. D. VanDeman to read the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and Rev. Mr. Chidlaw to deliver an ora- tion on the occasion. It was also resolved that the pioneers, and the citizens of Delaware generally. be requested to participate in the celebration of the day, and that the proceedings of the meeting be published in the city. papers.
The meeting of the pioneers on the 4th. and the appropriate celebration of the nation's birth- day, is also chronicled in the Delaware papers. The
* Ashley was surveyed under the name of Oxford, which was subsequently changed to present name.
204
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Herald of July 7 says that " great credit is due to S. K. Donavin. Maj. D. W. Rhodes and Dr. Bessie for their kind attention in distributing the invitations to the pioneers." The assembly was called to order by Rev. J. D. Van Deman. Hon. O. D. Hough was chosen permanent President of the Pioneer Association of Delaware County. A committee to draft a constitution and by-laws was appointed, consisting of Zachariah Stevens, Lucius C. Strong, B. C. Waters, W. G. Norris and Col. Henry Lamb. A resolution was adopted requiring the Secretary to procure suitable blanks for the collection of the pioneer history of Delaware County. The following persons were appointed a committee to collect the pioneer items in their re- -spective townships: Berkshire Township, O. D. Hough ; Berlin, Elias Adams ; Brown, William Williams : Concord, William Benton ; Delaware, E. C. Vining : Genoa, George Williams ; Harlem, Daniel Rarick ; Kingston, O. Stark; Liberty, Thomas C. Gillis ; Marlborough. Hugh Cole ; Ox- ford, Jonathan Corwin ; Orange, Charles Patrick : Radnor, David Pendry; Scioto, Horatio Smith ; Thompson, John W. Cone : Trenton, William Per- fect, and Troy, Joseph C. Cole. The organization was more completely perfected by the election of a Secretary and Vice President, and of B. Powers, Treasurer. Finally it was resolved to hold the next meeting on the last day of the county fair, in 1871 ; a rather long recess for a newly formed pioneer historical society. It is not strange that it became lukewarm before the time of meeting arrived. Of this distantly appointed meet- ing, the Gazette of October 6, 1871, makes this single allusion : "The pioneers were out in full force." We believe the society has never since held a meeting. The foregoing is about the sum and substance of its birth, life and death, and if it contained any historical facts in its archives, they are doubtless buried in oblivion through the soci- ety's premature death. It is to be regretted that the association has not been kept up. In many other counties, where our duty as historian has called us, we have found pioneer associations and old settlers' societies of vast benefit in collecting and preserving the history of their respective counties.
The address referred to as being requested of Judge Powell was delivered to the pioneers at their meeting on the 4th of July, 1870, and was an able and entertaining paper. It appears in the Gazette of July 8. 1870, and we make an extract or two from it as items of interest to the few re-
maining pioneers. Its great length alone prevents its insertion in these pages entire :
" Pioneers of our Country ; Venerable Fathers and Mothers of our County: We heartily hail you to our social gathering. We most cordially invite you to partake and unite with us in the joyous festivity of the occasion, in which you are the principal object of our attraction and care. On this happy and joyful day - the ninety- fourth anniversary of our national independ- ence-we invite you here, from motives of gratitude and a deep sense of obligation that the people here assembled feel due to you, for the pri- vations and endurance you have encountered ; and the perseverance and patience you have manifested in pioneering this county from a howling and sav- age wilderness, to that high degree of civilization and refinement, we everywhere witness about us. You have made the solitary places to become glad, and the 'wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the rose.' We therefore say, Hail, venerable fathers and mothers ! Pioneers of our county, welcome to our social festivities, and unite with us in rejoicing and hallowing this day-the birthday of our na- tional existence, which has secured to our people, and over our whole land, so much prosperity and happiness, of which all of you have been living witnesses for the last fifty years, and some of you from the day of its birth. These ideas solemnly call upon us to review the past, and consider how many difficulties and perils we have passed through, and by the mercy of God and His kind providence are now left to enjoy and rejoice over this day. Some of you witnessed the establishment of our Union ; and our National Constitution and Gov- ernment ; then the turmoils and difficulties, na- tional and political, that brought on the embargo of 1807; then the war with Great Britain in 1812 ; then the war with Mexico in 1846-47 ; and, lastly, the terrible war of our late rebellion, for four years. from 1861-65. During those times how many friends and associates-how many companions and compatriots, have you survived, and are left by the blessings of heaven to enjoy with us the fruition of this day. But it is the recollections of your pioneer experience that is the most vivid and eu- during myon your memories ; the memory of those persons who were your companions and neighbors in your pioneer life in the early settlement of this county, who have departed this world, after hav- ing shared with you its perils and conflicts, while. you are left here to enjoy its blessings. It is a ! solemn thought to recall the remembrance of our
Y
1
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
205
departed friends ; and to be reminded how many we have thus survived-and to be admonished also that we, too, are mortal. But the kind Providence has so arranged it, that as old age steals on, we are better prepared calmly to meet that change and with Christian resignation say : ' I would not live forever.'
*
"Now, without troubling ourselves about pre- cise dates, permit me to recur to your early pio- neer days-those days of your conflicts, perils and triumphs, in which many an incident, I know, occurred, highly interesting and instructive to this rising generation, that is about to succeed you and to take your places, who know nothing of these conflicts, perils and triumphs you have passed through-the battles of life you have encountered in order to transfer to their hands this country that you found as a savage wilderness, now filled with all that administers to the demands of civil- ized life and refinement, and satisfy our wants physical, moral and religious. The contrasts be- tween then and now are almost beyond the power of those who have not witnessed them, to compre- hend ; yet in a great measure, it is your work ; you laid the foundation upon which this super- structure has been built. To you belongs the great triumph that art, by the means of industry and per- severance, has accomplished over nature. I know that your task is often a thankless job, that often the succeeding generation receive the fruits of the toil and industry of those who precede them, with indifference and sometimes with ingratitude. The Great Ruler of the universe, however, has so or- dained it, that the honest and faithful laborer shall not go unrequited of the fruits of his toil ; for there is the consciousness of having done his duty in his day and generation; that he has fought the good fight; that he leaves this world improved and beautified for those who come after him. These will remain a source of moral tri- umph and consolation, of which even the ingrati- tude of this world cannot rob him ; and I doubt not will be a passport to the next. There are those who go through this world without doing any good to themselves or others, perfect parasites upon the world, without conferring upon it any benefit in return for what they have received from it. Their history is, that they were born, lived and flourished, and then rotted. To me, the thought would be a source of pain and agony, that I had never planted a tree, nor dug a well, nor done anything to improve and make the world better.
"The greatest progress made in the early settle- ment of Delaware County was that in the east, making Berkshire its center. Some of the lead- ing men of the eastern settlement had passed off before I came to the county, forty years ago this fall; but from all information of them, they were men well worthy of those who followed them. Soon after I came here, I became acquainted with most of the people of that part of the county; and I must say for them, that probably no new settle- ment could count in their ranks so large a propor- tion of men so distinguished for high order of intellect and general information, for business capacity and enterprise. The great body of these people were from New England and New York ; a good many from the Wyoming Valley in Penn- sylvania, who were the same race of people ; and quite a number were immigrants from New Jersey. With these were mixed a few people from other portions of the country, with but few foreigners. Among the first settlers was a considerable colony from Berkshire County, Mass., who gave the name of Berkshire to the township, which for some time included the eastern portion of the county.
* *
" And now, let me say to the rising generation- to the young men who are about to take the places of these men who have departed from us, that those young men thus coming up, must rise early, labor hard and diligently, and with perseverance, in order to make good the places of these old pioneers."
After following the county through the long period of its growth and prosperity, Judge Powell closes his address as follows: "That which has changed and improved those times for Delaware, may be stated, first, the general improvement of the county dependent on its own resources ; the . next came, to our greatest relief, the railroad : then next these colleges -- these institutions of learning; then, lastly, not least, our manufactur- ing establishments. Take away from Delaware any of these sources of our prosperity, and Dela- ware would immediately cease to be what she is. If it be asked, if such were the situation of things in olden times, how did the old pioneer live ? We answer, he lived well; had plenty to eat and to drink, and of the best of its kind ; and the women. by their economy, industry and perseverance in spinning and weaving, produced by domestic manu- facture whatever we wore, and that with which we were clothed ; and we thus lived independent and happy.
1
206
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. -
"Then a question recurs to us-Are the present generation, with all their improvements and ad- vantages, a better people ? That is a question of a very doubtful solution. They now have more advantages and privileges, greater ease in procur- ing the wants and luxuries of life; but whether they make better use of what is given to them; whether in coming to accountability of the use
they make of what is given to them, they will square up the account as well as the old pioneer does, is very questionable ; but I have a strong conviction that when that great trial and reckon- ing comes up, when our accounts will all have to be balanced, debit and credit, before Heaven-I must say that I would sooner risk the chances of the old pioneers."
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-ITS CIVIL DIVISIONS-POLITICAL HISTORY-ELECTION STA- TISTICS -- THE COUNTY FARM.
"But the sunshine shall light the sky, As round and round we run; And the Truth shall ever come uppermost. And Justice shall be done."-Mackay.
[T has been said that the native American mind I tends to self-government as naturally as the babe turns to the maternal fount for nourishment, and the organization of Delaware County (so named from the Delaware Indians, who once possessed the country), into a body corporate, with a legal exist- ence, over seventy years ago, and only seven years after the first settlement in it, is proof of that proposition. The limited settlements scattered throughout the immense area of country, rendered the original counties somewhat extensive in domain. As for instance, the county of Washington, the first formed within the present territory of Ohio, comprised about half of what is now the entire State, and was established in 1788, by the procla- mation of Gen. St. Clair, then Governor of the . Northwestern Territory. The next county formed after that of Washington was Hamilton, erected in 1790. Its bounds included the country between the Miamis, extending northward from the Ohio River, to a line drawn due east from the "standing stone forks of the Great Miami." As white people .poured into the Territory, the old counties were divided and subdivided, thus formning new ones to accommodate the growing population. Ross County was the sixth organized in the Northwestern Ter- ritory, and at the time of its formation, embraced a large portion of the State. It was created under a proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, on the 20th of August, 1878. On the 30th of April, 1803, Franklin was formed from Ross, and organized into a separate division. February 10, 1808, Del-
aware County was set off from Franklin, under an act of the Legislature, which is as follows, and enti- tled "An Act Establishing the County of Dela- ware:"
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That all that part of Franklin County included in the following bounds, be, and the same is hereby, laid off and erected inro a separate and distinct county, by the name of Delaware, viz .: Beginning at. the southeast corner of township number three, in the sixteenth range of the United States Military District: thence west with the line between the second and third tier of townships, to the Scioto River, and continued west to the east boundary of Champaign County : theace with the said boundary north, to the Indian boundary line; thence eastwardly with said line, to the point where the north and south line between the fifteenth and sixteenth ranges of the said United States Military District intersects the same: thence south with the said last-mentioned line to the place of beginning.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of April next, the said county of Delaware shall be vested with all the privileges, powers and im- munities of a separate and distinct county ; Provided, That all suits and actions of what nature soever, that shall have been commenced before the said first day of April, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and esecu- tion, and all taxes, fines and penalties which shall be due previously to said day, shail be collected in the same manner as if this act had not passe.l.
SEC. 3. Beit further enacted, That all Justices of the Peace and other officers, residing within the limits of said county shall continue to exercise the duties of their respective offices until successors are chosen and quali- fied according to law.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Associate Judges of said county, to divide the same into townships, and publish the same in at. least three of the most public places in each township, in which publication they shall request the electors in each township to meet in their respective townships on the first Monday of May next, and elect one Sheriff,
207-208
EEEEE
DELAWARE COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
-
MARION
-
209
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
one Coroner, and three Commissioners, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until others are chosen and qualified, together with the neces- sary township officers ; Provided, That the notices shall be set up at least ten days before the said first day of May.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the town of Delaware shall be the temporary seat of justice for the said county of Delaware until the permanent seat of justice shall be established according to law.
JOHN SLOANE, Speaker of the House of Representatives, pro tempore ; THOMAS KIRKER, Speaker of the Senate.
February 10, 1808.
In 1820, Union County was created, the larger portion of its territory being taken from Delaware, and in the formation of Marion and Morrow Counties in 1824 and 1848 respectively. Dela- ware was again called on to contribute to the manufacture of new counties. These last drafts upon the territory of Delaware brought it down to its present dimensions-a little less than 500 square miles. It embraces eighteen civil townships, and while it is somewhat irregular in boundaries, it is of much better shape than many other counties of the State, and is quite large enough, too, for convenience.
In pursuance of the act authorizing its forma- tion, Delaware County held an election upon the day specified in the act, at which the following county officials were elected. to serve until the regular October elections, viz. : John Welch, Avery Powers, and Ezekiel Brown, Commissioners ; Rev. Jacob Drake, Treasurer ; Dr. Reuben Lamb, Re- corder : Solomon Smith, Sheriff, and Azariah Root, Surveyor. The following transcript of the records shows some of the first business of the honorable court :
JUNE 15, 1808. A petition for county road on west side of Whetstone River. beginning at the Indian line ; thence to Delaware ; thence to south lines of the county, as near the river as ground and river angles will admit. Petition granted, and Messrs. Byxbe, Nathaniel Wyatt and Josiah Mckinney appointed Viewers, and Azariah Root, Surveyor.
JUNE 17. Resolved, that a jail twelve by forty feet be built of oak logs, that will pass a foot, and hewed on both sides, the sides hewed to be laid together, the corners half dovetailed, the floors of logs fourteen inches through and hewed on three sides. Eight feet between doors. A cabin roof ; a grated window of three sufficient bars of iron in each room. One outside and one inside door of white-oak plank, two inches thick, and two thicknesses well riveted together. The outside to be hewed down after if is laid up. The building to be finished January 1, 1809 .*
* Addison Carver took the contract to erect this jail, at $128 75.
Resolved, by the Board of Commissioners, that for every wolf scalp over six months old, there shall be al- lowed two dollars, and for all under, one dollar.
Resolved by the Board, that prices of tavern licenses shall be in town, six dollars, and in the country, four dollars .*
SEPT. 7, 1809. The settlement with Solomon Smith, Collector of Taxes for the year, shows a balance for the county of forty-two dollars and sixty and a half cents.
JUNE 5, 1810. The State and County Taxes for 1809, in Delaware County, were increased to six hun- dred and fifteen dollars and thirteen and seven-tenths cents.
The foregoing is a sample of the proceedings of the County Court for the first year or two of the county's existence, and will also serve to show what it was for years to come. The early records are rather meager and incomplete, and some wholly destroyed (by fire), so that extracts only can be given. From these records, we learn that a second jail was built of stone, and, according to contract, was to be completed and ready for occu- pancy January, 1814. Solomon Agard was the jailer, and the jail was erected adjoining his resi- dence. Prior to 1850, another jail was built, which served the county as a prison, until the erection of the present elegant jail, in 1878. The contract for this building was let at $22,000, but extras were added, until the total cost reached the sum (to be exact) of $25,845.35. It has all the modern inventions and improvements of iron-clad cells and burglar-proof doors. With all the pre- cautions, however, that have been taken to make it a safe repository for criminals, desperate char- acters sometimes effect their escape. The first court house of Delaware County was ordered built in 1815. It was, as stated in the records, to be of "good, well-burnt brick, forty feet by thirty-eight square;" we leave the reader to con- jecture whether the bricks were to be of that size, or the building. On the 10th of January, 1815, the County Commissioners made a contract with Jacob Drake for the erection of the building, at a cost of $3,000, to be paid as follows: "$1,000 to be paid next April; $1,000 at the end of 1816, and the balance in $500 payments yearly till the whole is paid off." Upon searching the records, no account of the completion of this edifice is found up to 1822, when there is a break of several years in the records. That it was actually built, there is no doubt, but to fix the date of its completion is not an easy matter, nor shall we attempt it. It did duty as a temple of justice
* In 1814, raised to $13 and $7 respectively.
0
ยท
210
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
until 1870, when the present court house was built at a cost of about $80,000. It is a modern brick, and, while it is not " magnificently extrava- gant," it is a neat and tasty structure.
The organization of the Circuit or Common Pleas Court, is more particularly given in the history of the bench and bar, in another chapter, and will be but incidentally alluded to here. Its first session was held by Judge Belt, of Chilli- cothe, in the tavern of Joseph Barber. This was a small cabin, about fifteen feet square, built of poles, and was the first house erected in the town of Delaware, and stood near the Sulphur Springs. Its circumscribed limits necessitated sending the grand jury out to deliberate under the shade of a tree, while the petit jury occupied similar quar- ters at no great distance. The first jury trial was the " State of Ohio against Valentine Martin," for "assault and battery " upon Reuben Wait. The case came up for trial before Judge Belt, June 3, 1808. Martin plead guilty, and was fined $4 and costs. The names of the jury are as follows : Thomas Brown, Daniel Strong, Valentine Foos, Ezekiel Van Horn, Aaron Welch, Nathen Carpenter, David Dix, George Cowgill, David Butler, John Patterson, Azariah Root and Josiah Mckinney. The first civil case was an action brought. by Jacob Drake against Elias Palmer, for boarding and money loaned, and other claims. The attorney for the plaintiff was Jeremiah Osborne, and, for the defendant, John S. Wells.
We deem it unnecessary, however, to encumber our pages with the old records of the court. The few extracts that have been given are merely for the purpose of showing the growth and develop- ment, from a very small beginning, of one of the important civil divisions of the State. But we will note one or two other points before passing. The first deed on record is a conveyance by Solo- mon Broderick, of Sussex, N. J., to Jacob Awl, of Paxton, Penn., for $500. It was transcribed from Vol. I., page 193, of the records of Ross County, and was for 250 acres of land, lying in the southeast part of the county, in what is now Harlem Township, and is dated May 14, 1800. Broderick, it seems, had acquired a title to 4,000 acres of the military lands of the United States, and the second record shows a sale by him to the same party of 500 acres of these lands for the sum of $1,000.
We have stated elsewhere that many of the early settlers of the county were Revolutionary soldiers, who held warrants upon the military lands
in the Northwestern Territory. This was a means of adding many settlers to the number then (as now) flocking to the Great West. The first patent granted by Congress to soldiers of the Revolu- tionary war, as a land warrant upon the military land embraced in Delaware County, was given by John Adams, President, to Francis Carbery. The deed bears date May 2, 1800, and describes a body of one hundred acres of land, in " Lot six, of first quarter, fourth township and twentieth range." Ezra Tryon; another soldier of the Revolution. records the second patent, and took the second place in time of locating. These were followed by many other veterans of the Revolution. who laid their patents or warrants upon lands, and thus ob- tained pay for military service-not in greenbacks. as the soldiers in the late war, but in Western lands, an investment that proved much more valu- able than at the time was believed to be possible.
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.