USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County : together with historic notes on the Northwest, and the State of Ohio, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and all other authentic sources > Part 50
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be computed till payment at rate specified in bond or instrument as aforesaid; in case no rate was specified, then, as before stated, six per cent to be the rate charged.
The New Era above mentioned contains a letter from California, written by Thomas Burnett to his father, then residing near here (but both are now dead). The letter is dated "North Fork, Amer- ican River, April 6, 1850;" and in it, as was his wont, Mr. Burnett in cheery, bright-sparkling, poetical imagery. In his opening par- agraph he says :
" DEAR FATHER :- With thankfulness to Divine Providence, I have the pleasure to inform you that I am in good health and fine spirits ; and trust that you, and all my relatives and friends in Ohio, are yet on the shores of Time, and in the enjoyment of Nature's choicest blessing, health."
Speaking of the ruling market prices for provisions, etc., there then, Mr. Burnett said they fluctuated greatly, varying with the season and situation. Within one mile of his then present location flour was selling at 50 cents per pound; pork, 90 cents; beans, 67 cents; saleratus, $2 per pound ; molasses, $5 per gallon ; sugar, 50 cents per pound; and everything else in proportion. He says that he paid $139 for seventy-five pounds of pork during the winter pre- ceding. Doctors then charged, for professional services, one to two ounces of gold per visit; one ounce for all calls out of tent, dis- tance not exceeding one mile; for extracting teeth, one ounce each. Mr. Burnett speaks of having seen there, from this region, during the month of August preceding, George Buckner, Messrs. Delaney, Sunderland, Millikan, Cornell, and H. C. Bell, during September ; S. N. Yeoman, and Marshall and Theodore Ogle, in October.
The New Era says that the county commissioners, on the 8th of June, 1850, levied a tax of two mills on the dollar for the purpose of planking that portion of the Circleville and Washington, and Goshen, Wilmington and Columbus turnpikes lying within this county. Notwithstanding the opposition to the measure, and at- tempts made to delay action, the editor regarded the movement as the best thing that could have been then done for the general in- terests of the county, and expected that all whose prejudice was not more powerful than their reason, would be of the same opinion before tax-paying time.
A wise and most excellent enactment was adopted by our State Legislature, in March, 1850, relative to the keeping and preserving
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our local history, as found recorded in the county newspapers. If the legal requirements had been complied with (and they unques- tionably should have been), an immense amount of really interest- ing and valuable information, which can not otherwise be obtained, would have been readily accessible. The act referred to provides " that the county commissioners of each county in this state be, and they are hereby, authorized and required to subscribe for one copy of the leading newspapers of each political party printed and pub- lished in each county, and cause the same to be bound, and filed in the auditor's office, as public archives, for the gratuitous inspection of the citizens of such county."
No bound files, as authorized, can be found in the auditor's office here of date previous to 1866; nor is the filing complete since that date. During the interim subsequent to the passage of the law and that period (1850 to 1866), history of great importance, chroniclings of vast enterprises and gigantic achievements, rapidly accumulated, and note was doubtless taken thereof, and record made by the county press; but we are, in consequence of dereliction on the part those whose duty it was to take, preserve, and keep the archives, as by law contemplated, deprived of an immense amount of informa- tion which had been garnered and compiled, through great ex- penditure of time, thoughtful labor, and money, by those who pre- sented it to us in printed form. It will be impossible, therefore, to obtain accurate and complete information relative to the papers published between the years 1843 and 1866.
Aside from all the. journalizing recorded, within the time alluded to, what pleasure (though doubtless not unmixed with sorrowful regret and pain) it would have afforded our citizens to peruse and read o'er again the record of our "boys in blue!" The recital would not tire; age would but impart keener interest to, and shed brighter luster on the story.
But to repine at or grieve over the loss is futile; we can but hope that in the future, due attention will be given to the keeping of our county newspapers, as by law required. . The cause of its not hav- ing been done heretofore, in our opinion, arose from lack of knowl- edge of the legal requirement. And we would here suggest to the county commissioners the propriety of procuring a suitable case wherein to keep the bound volumes of the journals subscribed for and taken, through them, by the county.
Persons desiring to peruse and transcribe therefrom should, of
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course, be permitted to do so; but in no case, except when required for temporary use in a court of justice, should permission be given to take any of such bound volumes outside of the auditor's office; and a penalty for wanton destruction or mutilation thereof should be fixed and imposed. This done, an important step will have been taken toward preserving in best (printed) form a large portion of our local and county history.
Published in the Fayette New Era of June 13, 1850, we find the following official directory :
UNITED STATES.
President-Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana.
Vice-President-Millard Fillmore, of New York.
Secretary of State-John M. Clayton, of Delaware. Secretary of Treasury-William M. Meredith, of Pennsylvania. Secretary of the Interior-Thomas Ewing, of Ohio.
Secretary of War-George W. Crawford, of Georgia.
Secretary of Navy-William B. Preston, of Virginia. Postmaster-General-Jacob Collamer, of Vermont.
Attorney-General-Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland. Chief Justice-Roger B. Taney, of Maryland.
Associate Justices-John McLean, of Ohio; James M. Wayne, of Georgia; John Catrow, of Tennessee; John McKinley, of Ken- tucky; Peter Daniel, of Virginia; Samuel Nelson, of New York; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire; Robert C. Grier, of Pennsyl- vania.
OHIO.
Governor-Seabury Ford, of Geauga County.
Secretary of State-Henry W. King.
Auditor of State-John Woods, of Butler County.
Treasurer of State-Albert A. Bliss, of Lorain County.
Librarian-John Greiner, of Muskingum County.
Chief Justice-Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga County.
Associate Judges-Edward Avery, of Wayne County; Rufus P. Spalding, of Summit County; William B. Caldwell, of Hamilton County.
Attorney-General-Henry Stanberry, of Fairfield County.
Elizabeth Barger.
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Reporter-Hiram Griswold, of Stark County. Clerk-Lewis Heyl, of Franklin County.
COUNTY.
Associate Judges-Daniel McLean, James Manary, James Cro- thers.
Clerk of Courts-Joel S. Bereman.
Sheriff-James Vance.
Treasurer-Z. W. Heagler.
Auditor-Henry Robinson.
Recorder-John Douglas.
Commissioners-J. A. Rankin, I. T. Cook, Joseph Mark.
Prosecuting Attorney-Nelson Rush.
Coroner-Timothy Jayne.
School Examiners-P. D. Putnam, J. M. Edwards, D. M. Jones.
TOWNSHIP.
Justices of the Peace-O. Loofbourrow, Richard Evans, John McLean.
Constables-Arthur McArthur, William Burnett.
Clerk-John Backenstoe.
Treasurer-Lennox Campbell.
Trustees-James N. Wilson, Micajah Draper, Joseph McLean.
CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.
Mayor-Richard Evans.
Recorder-D. Amerman.
Treasurer-A. W. Brown.
Marshal-William Burnett.
Trustees-A. W. Brown, F. B. Backenstoe, Lennox Campbell, James Pursell, M. V. Rawlings.
WASHINGTON MAILS.
Eastern arrives Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays-goes on west.
Western arrives Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
40
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Columbus arrives every Friday morning, and departs every Tues- day morning.
Chillicothe arrives every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and leaves every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Xenia arrives every Thursday, and leaves the same day.
London arrives every Tuesday, and leaves every Thursday morn- ing.
Hillsboro arrives every Saturday evening, and leaves every Fri- day morning.
By the advertising columns of date above mentioned, we learn that Benjamin F. Baughn was then engaged in merchandising here. Having purchased the stock of goods owned by the firms of McEl- wain & Stuckey and Burnett & Jenkins, he united the same, and opened the " Union Store," in the room formerly occupied by Bur- nett & Jenkins, on Court Street, two doors below the "Fayette Drug Store." Richard Millikan's book store was then located in a room on "Sander's corner." Willard & Jones (L. D. W. and D. M. J.), were then engaged in the practice of law here.
The issue of February 5, 1852, contains editorial mention of the death of Judge Wade Loofbourrow, and also proceedings of the members of the bar in reference thereto, at a meeting held in the law office of Robert Robinson, of which meeting Mr. Robinson was appointed chairman, and D. M. Jones secretary. Mr. Loof- bourrow died on Tuesday, February 3, 1852, at his residence in Washington, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania; came to Washington in 1811, and commenced the practice of law; had been a resident of this place nearly forty-one years, and was prominently identified with the early history of the county; was editor of the Genius of Liberty, a . Democratic organ, the publication of which was commenced here in 1834. He is spoken of, when in the prime of life, as having ยท "ranked among the great men of the state, and was known as one of the oldest lawyers in Ohio."
The same issue also contains an account of the burning of the old state house at Columbus, about four o'clock on Sabbath morn- ing preceding. Loss to the state, account says, not great. It was then thought that the new state capitol might be occupied in the winter of 1853-4. Temporarily, the senate would meet in the United States court-room, and the house in Odeon Hall, at the capital.
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The issue of February 26, 1852, publishes an account of the death, on the 14th of that month, of Richard Douglass, in the six- ty-seventh year of his age, at Chillicothe. He commenced the practice of law in Chillicothe in 1809. At the time of his death it was stated that he was the oldest lawyer in the Scioto Valley. He was a native of New London, Connecticut. In early life he had " followed the ocean," in the whaling service, and had done military duty in the war of 1812.
Richard Millikan was postmaster here in 1852. In the same issue we learn, too, that William Robinson had, in November, 1850, pur- chased the saddle and harness establishment of A. M. Ogle, and " removed to J. C. Bell's brick building, opposite J. L. & I. C. Van Deman's store," where he would conduct said business. Z. W. Heagler was then engaged in the insurance business. C. H. Bell & B. F. Thompson succeeded James C. Bell in general merchandis- ing. Baughn, Burnett & Baughu (B. F. Baughn, A. Burnett, G. W. Baughn), were also conducting like business ; they " bought out the firm of Blodget & Smith."
The issue of March 18, 1852, chronicles the death of Robert R. Lindsey, on Sabbath, 7th day of that month, at Mount Sterling, Kentucky, where he had been engaged in publishing a paper styled the Whig. He published the Herald here during 1834. In the same issue is also announced the marriage, at Ripley, Ohio, by Rev. W. I. Fee, of Robert Cissna, ex-sheriff of this county, to Miss Mary W. Courtney, of that place. The Ripley Bce says " the print- ers were handsomely remembered." At the spring election that year, Z. W. Heagler was elected mayor, B. Thompson recorder, and M. Blackmore, G. B. Gardner, and L.,Campbell trustees. J. M. Bell, in making his return as clerk, says: "The Mormons are again gloriously triumphant."
Monday, April 6, 1852, officers were elected for Union Township as follows :
Justice of the Peace-O. Loof bourrow.
Assessor-B. F. Baughn.
Treasurer-Joseph Allen.
Trustees-James N. Wilson, Peter Wendel, sr., William H. Latham.
Clerk-Joseph C. Plumb.
Constables-II. C. Burnett, Arthur McArthur.
Supervisors Corporation-Jesse Burnett, J. M. Bell.
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About noon of April 1st, 1852, " the great fire in Chillicothe" commenced to burn and lay waste the then most compactly built part of that city. It was caused by the bursting of a stove in a cabinet shop in rear of the Clinton House. The account, (pub- lished in the New Era,) written by Seneca W. Ely, editor at that time of the Chillicothe Daily Gazette, for the Ohio State Journal of Co- lumbus, says that "fully one-fourth of the taxable property in Chillicothe, including all the buildings on the two most valuable squares-stores, hotels, dwellings and warehouses-was destroyed. * *
* It is impossible to arrive at a correct estimate of losses. Old Chillicothe has received a blow from which she cannot recover in years.
Two thousand of our population are houseless. From six to eight hundred thousand dollars' worth of property consumed. All our principal warehouses, with their stocks of gro- ceries, pork, bacon, etc., are burned."
The first sewing machine brought to Washington was by Clar- ence Parvin, tailor, in May, 1852. It was of the Wilson make. Mr. Parvin purchased the right to use and sell it in Fayette Coun- ty. Yeoman & Finnigan, (S. N. Y., and Thomas,) were merchan- dising here, in June, 1852. Sabbath, June 13, 1852, John Durham, aged ninety-two years and two months, died at the residence of Joseph Bloomer, in this county. Elizabeth McCoy, wife of John McCoy, sr., aged about ninety years, died on Friday, 18th of same month.
The issue of July 1, 1852, chronicles the death of Henry Clay, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, at Washington City, on Tues- day, June 29, preceding, at 11:20 A. M., after protracted illness. At the time of his death, he was serving as United States Senator from Kentucky.
In the issue of August 26, 1852, announcement is made of the death, on Sabbath, 22d of that month, of Samuel McLean, in the forty-second year of his age; and that journal, of date September 9, 1852, contains an obituary notice of the death, August 28th pre- ceding, of Maria Louisa, consort of Henry Robinson, then auditor of this county, in the thirty-second year of her age, of consump- tion.
In the issue of October 28, 1852, is published the death, at Marsh- field, Massachusetts, of Daniel Webster, at three o'clock on the morning of the 24th of that month. The Cincinnati Gazette, in alluding thereto, says : " A great man has indeed fallen-one who
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has rendered varied and most important services to his country- whose fame is world-wide, and whose loss will be felt and lament- ed by the whole country." Mr. Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18, 1782. At the time of his death he was Secretary of State, in the cabinet of President Fillmore.
The issue of November 4, 1852, by special telegram from " Bas- com," its Columbus correspondent, indicates briefly the result of the presidential campaign of 1852, thus: Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York gone for Pierce. Massachusetts and Vermont only certain for Scott. Used up badly." .
The issue of December 16, 1852, contains editorial mention of the death of Robert Robinson, in the sixty-second year of his age, of asthma. He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1791, and died at his residence here December 11, 1852. He emigrated to Ross County, Ohio, from his native state, in 1809, and thence moved to this county, in 1813. While serving as sheriff of this county, he was elected to the State Legislature, in 1822, which caused him to resign the sheriffalty. He studied law under Wade Loof bourrow, and was admitted to practice here, in 1826.
At a meeting of the bar here, held in the law office of Willard & Jones, Samuel F. Kerr being called to the chair and D. M. Jones appointed secretary, Alfred S. Dickey and B. V. W. Pugsley were appointed a committee to prepare resolutions expressive of the feeling and sympathy of his brothers of the legal profession, with reference to his demise. One of the series of resolutions, as indicative of the sentiment pervading the whole, we reprint, as follows :
" Resolved, That in his death his family have lost a faithful, kind and affectionate head, the community a useful and trustworthy citizen, the church a living example of moral worth, and we of the bar our senior brother, whose talent and experience we revered, whose integrity we loved, and whose social virtues we admired."
The issue of December 30, 1852, contains tidings of the death of Samuel McElwain, on the 5th of that month, at the California House, Panama, where at the time he was sojourning, on his way to California. Nicholas Hay was engaged in tailoring here, in De- cember, 1852, on Court Street, under the New Era office.
In January, 1853, Messrs. Ogle & Robinson, (Captain John and Alf.,) advertised that they had determined to fit out another (the third) overland train to California, having previously crossed the plains with trains, in 1850 and 1852.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Robert Stewart and A. S. Ballard also advertised in the New Era that they, too, would fit out a train for the same destination, and would go west about the first of the month then next following to complete arrangements for starting. They would take passen- gers through from St. Joseph, Missouri, for $200 cash, or $250 at the end of twelve months. They would furnish a good physician for the company, and a riding horse or mule for cach mess, and their " wagons and teams would be well fitted up." Messrs. Stewart & Ballard had previously been in California.
The building of a railroad from Columbus to Masysville, by Washington and Hillsboro, was enthusiastically talked of here during 1853; and so, also, was the building of the Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad.
Mention of the death of William Rufus King, thirteenth Vice- President of the United States, appears in the New Era of April 28, 1853. According to the published account, he died on Mon- day, the 18th of that month, at his residence in Alabama, a short time after returning from Havana, Cuba, whither he had gone dur- ing the January preceding, with the view of benefiting his health. He was born in North Carolina, on the 6th of April, 1786, and had served three terms in congress from that state. He moved to Ala- bama, in 1818, from which state he subsequently served five terms as senator in congress. In 1844, he was appointed Minister to France by President Taylor. After the death of President Taylor, in July, 1850, and the accession of Vice-President Fillmore to the presidency, he was elected president of the senate. When Frank- lin Pierce, in 1852, was elected president, he was elected vice-presi- dent of the United States; and by special act of congress, he being in Cuba at the time when he should take the oath of office as vice- president, the American Consul-General at Havana, at the time, was empowered to administer the oath in this case.
It is stated in the New Era above mentioned that George Wash- ington Parke Custis, (grandson of Mrs. Washington,) of Arlington, Virginia, had attended the inauguration of all our presidents, from Washington to Pierce included. He was born at Mount Airy, Maryland, April 30, 1781, and died at Arlington House, Fairfax County, Virginia, October 10, 1857.
The marriage, on Tuesday, May 3, 1853, by Rev. B. Lowe, of George B. Gardner, editor of the New Era, to Miss Maria Amanda Robinson, of Washington, is announced in the issue of that journal
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of May 5th. In consequence of the event, the readers of the paper were requested to excuse all lack of editorial matter that week, as the editor and his bride had "started away on a rural jaunt." In the issue of the New Era, of May 19, 1853, is published the marriage, on the 18th of that month, of Hugh F. Kemper, of Walnut Hills, Ohio, to Miss Mary Jane Miller, daughter of the officiating clergyman, Rev. S. J. Miller, then pastor in charge of the Presbyterian Church of Washington. D. A. Harrison was practicing law here then, and A. S. Dickey and Robert M. Briggs were partners in the practice of the same profession. C. H. Bell was postmaster here, in 1853. July 2d, of that year, by a vote of 247 ballots in favor and 41 against, the citizens of Union Town- ship, this county, instructed the township trustees to subscribe $15,- 000 stock toward the building of the Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad. It cost "the dear people," however, about $30,000 before they got through the grubbing process; and the road-well, it wasn't built !
From the same paper we learn that Wilmington, Clinton, County, was placed in railroad communication with Cincinnati on the 11th of August, 1853, by the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad, which thoroughfare now forms part of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad system. The cele- bration of the event, according to the published account, brought together about nine thousand people at Wilmington. Speech- making on the occasion was indulged in by Dr. Griswold, of Cir- cleville; Colonel McVay, of Lancaster; William Neil, of Colum- bus ; Judge Mckay and Isaiah Morris, of Wilmington; and A. De Graff, contractor, then known as "the railroad king." In connec- tion therewith, it was mentioned that Mr. Ashmead, the contractor for laying down the iron of the road, had been engaged, twenty- six years before, on the Liverpool and Manchester (England) Rail- way, "the first road constructed in the world (as was stated) for general travel and traffic." Frank Corwin was then president of the C. W. & Z. R. R., and E. W. Woodward chief engineer. Trains commenced running from Washington to Cincinnati on the 24th of November, 1853. In November, 1855, trains were regular- ly run through to Zanesville.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
WASHINGTON REGISTER.
George B. Gardner commenced the publication of the Fayette New Era .in March, 1849, and continued to issue it until March, 1855, when he and his brother, Thomas F., who had for some time held a partnership interest in the journal, disposed of the office and business interest to Elgar B. Pearce and J. C. D. Hanna, who, on the 15th of March of that year, issued the initial number of the Washington Register, with E. B. Pearce as editor. In his salutatory the editor says : "The Register, untrammeled by the chains of par- ty influence, will go forth free to condemn the evil and approve the good, whether in high places or low-it will go forth invoking the spirit of truth to guide its voyage. The platform we stand upon is projected of good, substantial material-independent in all things, neutral in nothing. * * We wish it to be distinctly under- stood that the Register is not a neutral paper. Of all things, we most detest a sluggish neutrality."
The leading feature of the Register was the giving of special at- tention to the publication of home news, for which purpose a "lo- cal department" was immediately created by its editor-a new de- parture in journalism here-a field, in fact, until that time sadly neglected.
September 10, 1857, Mr. Hanna disposed of his interest in the establishment to Mr. Pearce, who, as sole proprietor, continued to publish the Register until near the close of April, 1864. He died at. his residence here, June 8, 1864.
OHIO STATE REGISTER.
A short time afterward Samuel Pike effected arrangements whereby he procured and took control of the office, and com- menced the publication of the Ohio State Register, a Democratic journal. After a six months' probation, he was succeeded in the proprietorship and management by W. C. Gould, who caused the Register to do service for the Democracy until April 24, 1873. . During 1871 Mr. Gould changed the title of the paper to Register and People's Advocate, with the motto: "That nation is most pros- perous where labor commands the greatest reward." Its hobby was opposition to "monopolies" and "middlemen."
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April 24, 1873, Simmons & Beasley (H. H. Simmons and W. A. Beasley) succeeded W. C. Gould in proprietary interest. They re- vived the title of Ohio State Register, and continued to promulgate Democratic doctrine and theory. March 25, 1875, Mr. Beasley as- . sumed entire control of the establishment, by arranging for the purchase of Mr. Simmons' interest therein, and continued to pub- lish the paper until October of that year. He died here, at the Shaw House, on the 24th of that month. D. I. Worthington (who had in the meantime caused the publication of the journal to be continued), as administrator, a short time afterward sold the office and business interest to H. V. Kerr, who issued his commencement number December 9, 1875. At the time of purchase Mr. Kerr was Democratic state senator from the district composed of the coun- ties of Brown and Clermont. He died suddenly, of neuralgia of the heart, at his home in Batavia, Clermont County, March 27, 1881. At the time of his death he was state librarian. He was a man of fine social qualities-one who, in deportment, was remark- ably courteous and gentlemanly. J. D. Kerr, his son, has, as pro- prietor since his father's death, conducted the affairs of the paper. Since Mr. Pike's advent, in June, 1864, to the present time, that journal has been the Democratic organ here.
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