USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 14
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Subsequently, other parties occupied these two buildings. One housed the store of Samuel Puterbaugh for a number of years. John Moore con- ducted a tailoring establishment in the lower room of the Gardiner building from 1835 until it was removed some time about the middle of the '40S. R. F. Howard came to Xenia in 1837 and established his office in the upper room of this same building, remaining there until it was removed.
PASSING A GOOD THING ALONG.
But the commissioners were evidently persuaded that this leasing of part of the public square was a good thing for the county, although it is hard to see just how they figured it. They derived no revenue from the lease, and could not possibly have been the gainer from a financial point of view until the expiration of the fifteen-year lease which was granted the builders of the two little brick houses, or "shops," as the records of the commissioners chose to call them. After the first two buildings were erected, a third party came along and asked for space on the square for a building, and a third time the commissioners leased a tract for a fifteen-year period. This third lease, dated September 27, 1828, was entered into with one George Maxwell, who was given permission to erect and occupy a house on the square, the building to be the same size as the two private buildings already erected. It was speci- fied in his lease that he was to have the privilege of making a slight change in the appearance of his building by changing the location of the chimney and
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one of the windows, but in all other respects it was to be the same as the other two on the square. It was stated that its "north wall to be 4 feet distant from the house built by Collier & Miller." It faced Detroit street and stood between the Collier-Miller building and the engine house of the town of Xenia, the latter being erected in 1831.
It has been practically impossible to determine the shifting occupants of these three private brick buildings facing Detroit street. As before stated, the two built in 1827 were to revert to the county in June, 1842. Reference to the commissioners' records for that year disclose the fact that on June 9, 1842, the commissioners rented to Amos Rogers the "Northeast room" of the building on the public square "next the engine house and hay scales for one year from this day." The lessee was to pay the county twenty-five dollars a year for the room. The question arises-which building was this? The Col- lier-Miller building or the Maxwell building? The Maxwell lease could not have expired until 1843, being entered into in September, 1828. In fact, it is apparent that Maxwell never erected any building at all, and it follows, there- fore, that the room rented Rogers in 1842 must have been in the Collier-Miller building. On this same date, June 9, 1842, Charles T. Traugh, a lawyer, rented the south room of the same building, paying the same annual rental.
The other building, the Gardiner print shop, was rented by the county on September 24, 1842, to Richards & Hemble, the lease stating that they were to have "the brick building they now occupy as a store house on public ground for the term of one year from September 1, 1842." They were to pay the county an annual rental of fifty dollars. The last reference in the commis- sioners' records to these two brick buildings was made on June 10, 1843. On that date it was "Ordered that Alfred Trader be and is hereby authorized to rent the shops on the public ground in Xenia and collect the rents for the same until the Ist of April, 1844." The new court house was being erected during the years 1842-44 and it seems that the county intended to remove the two little brick "shops" when they began to clear up the ground after the court house was completed. There is no reference, however, to any order for their demolition, but it seems certain that they were removed sometime in the summer of 1844. Thus ended the county's connection with private enterprises on the public square, although the market house and engine house of the city were to remain on the public square for several years later.
JAILS OF GREENE COUNTY.
No sooner was the organization of Greene county effected and the legal processes of the state were instituted than there were found violators of the law who had to be incarcerated in some kind of prison. It was very easy in
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those days to be a violator of the law even if life was very simple, and a glance at the laws and penalties in use in the early days of the county's existence re- veals how drastic the legal code was then. One of the chief conditions which brought many charges to the county sheriff was the practice of imprisonment for debt and every early jail in the state was fitted with a special room for the use of debtors.
Greene county has been a political unit of the state for one hundred and fifteen years, and during the first fifty-seven years of this period the county erected no fewer than five jails, some of logs, some of stone and some of brick. It is somewhat difficult to follow the history of the early jails of the county since it is somewhat confused, due perhaps to the frequent repairing of the buildings already erected. It is said at the beginning of this paragraph that there have been five jails built, but that is only a safe estimate. There is ample room for the contention that there have been six jails; one in 1803, one in 1804, another in 1808, another in 1813, another in 1833 and another, the present one, in 1860. Thus it seems that in the first twenty-nine years of the county's history it had five jails constructed or in the process of construc- tion.
THE FIRST JAIL.
When the associate judges first met at the house of Owen Davis on Beaver creek on May 10, 1803, they transacted only county business, hence there was then no need for a jail; but when the August term came when causes were tried, there was immediate need for a jail. Accordingly on August 22, 1803, it was "ordered that the larger block house at Mr. Jacob Smith's Mill on Beaver creek be appropriated to the use of a Jail, and that Benjamin Whiteman, Esq., be appointed in behalf of the Court to contract for repair- ing the same." This was one of the blockhouses erected by Owen Davis to protect the mill from anticipated attacks of the Indians. It seemed to the early organizers of the county at first to be as equally efficient in keeping men in as it was in keeping them out. Of course at this time it was definitely determined where the new county seat would be located and the jail was only temporary and had to be convenient to the place where court was held. Judge Whiteman soon busied himself with his commission of repairing the blockhouse so that it would serve as a county bastile and he employed Jacob Shingledecker to do the work. Sometime between August and December of that year the work was finished and on December 7, 1803, the court allowed Shingledecker nine dollars and fifty cents for the work he had done upon the first county jail. This improvised structure served until the removal of the seat of government to the new county seat at the forks of Shawnee run in the autumn of 1804.
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THE SECOND JAIL.
Evidently it has been the contention heretofore that what is here indi- cated as the second jail was not a second jail but was the repairing of the old blockhouse, five and one-half miles west of Xenia on Beaver creek, but evi- dence seems to point conclusively to the fact that this was a second jail and was erected in Xenia, but its site is unknown; however, it is quite probable that it was located on some part of the public square. Sometime before the first meeting of the county commissioners on June 11, 1804, the associate judges decided to build a jail, as is shown by the following order of the commis- sioners: "Ordered that the Treasurer pay James Barrett (one of the asso- ciate judges) six dollars for services in advertising & selling out the build- ing of the public Jail." This order was dated July 2, 1804. It is reasonable that this jail was built in the new county seat, for when the court convened in August, 1804, they occupied the upstairs room in the house of William Beatty in Xenia. Furthermore, it seems that the court would not be willing to transport prisoners for trial from a jail located on Beaver creek five and one-half miles away.
The construction of this jail was let to Amos Derrough sometime prior to the meeting of the commissioners in June, 1804, and on July 2, 1804, the commissioners gave him an order for thirty-three dollars, in part, for his work. William Chenoweth received fifty-eight dollars for the iron work; John Walker, ten dollars for two locks for the jail doors, and John Kenny, thirty-five dollars for labor in its construction.
For some reason the work on the jail was not progressing rapidly enough for the commissioners; probably the contractor had been taking time off to cultivate his crops. At any rate on August 15, 1804, the commission- ers issued the following dictum: "It is considered by the Commissioners that if Amos Derrough does not compleat the Publick Jail for the County of Greene on or before the 15th day of September, next, the building thereof shall be advertised and sold to the lowest bidder." Evidently the threat had its effect, for the contractor hurried the construction so much that the build- ing was deficient in many details. At their meeting on October 8, 1804, the commissioners ordered "that the Clerk of the Commissioners issue an order in favor of Amos Derrough to Joseph C. Vance, for the balance of the money due him for the building of the Jail, after making deduction of thirty dollars for deficiency of the work; also a deduction of the amount of his order in favor of William A. Beatty." Since the amount that Derrough actually received is not indicated, it is impossible to ascertain the exact cost of the building. The fact that this order was cashed by Joseph C. Vance lends more color to the contention that this was a second jail, located in the new town of Xenia, for Vance was director of the new county seat.
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Clearly this jail building was not at all satisfactory to the commission- ers and an additional improvement to be made to it was ordered and adver- tised for sale on March 12, 1805. The work was let to James Collier for six hundred and forty dollars, and his task was "the repairing and New erection of the Public Jail." Prisoners were lodged in the building as the work pro- gressed, for on November 4, 1805, Collier was ordered to repair a breach made in its walls by escaping prisoners. The contractor was also allowed a dollar and a quarter for a barrel for the use of the prisoners. Stoves were not in common use in those days, but on November 5, 1804, the commis- sioners appropriated forty dollars which Collier should use to buy a stove. Of course, such rare comforts were not kept in stock by any of the pioneer merchants of Xenia at that time and the stove was quite probably brought up from Cincinnati by wagon.
Collier had the same difficulty with the commissioners as had Derrough, for on January 6, 1806, they ordered him to have the building finished by April I or the construction would be again advertised and sold to the lowest bidder. They added that the building would not be held agreeable to con- tract unless "it was taken down to the foundation." What they meant by this expression is difficult to determine. As the fateful first day of April drew near the hearts of the commissioners softened and they extended the time to the seventeenth of that month, on which day Collier turned the build- ing over to them. When the commissioners examined the structure, they felt that it had not been erected precisely according to the contract, hence they deducted fifty dollars from the amount they paid Collier.
In the ensuing two years several improvements were added to the build- ing. The door facings were plated and well spiked, so also were the wicket holes in the doors well plated. The grates in the outside walls were well spiked. Despite all these precautions several prisoners made good their escape from the bastile, among whom was one Daniel Robinson. He was imprisoned for a judgment to the amount of $147.68, which was paid by the sheriff, William Maxwell, because the prisoner had escaped before he had served his time. When the unfortunate sheriff presented his bill to the commissioners for the amount of the judgment, it was not allowed.
THE THIRD JAIL.
Much was contributed to the sheriff's peace of mind when the commis- sioners ordered a new jail to be built and advertised the sale of its con- struction to the lowest bidder on December 24, 1808. Before the bids were turned in, the commissioners assured the would-be contractors that the suc- cessful applicant would be allowed the use of all the materials in the old jail. The exact location of the new jail was not expressly given, save that it was
.
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to be erected in the town of Xenia. The specifications and detailed descrip- tion of the building, dated December 6, 1808, follow :
Ordered that there be a publick Jail erected on the ground now staked out in the town of Xenia for that purpose, in the following manner and of the following material (viz.) The foundation to be dug eighteen inches deep & twenty feet square; a floor of square timber the size of the foundation to be at least one foot thick; the first logs of the build- ing to be laid crosswise the width of the foundation. The Building to be of logs, hewed on two sides, at least one foot thick & facing at least one foot the full length; logs to be 18 feet long & the building to be raised 8 feet high, on the top of which is to be a floor of timber, one foot square, on the top of which is to be a coat of well wrought mortar at least 4 inches thick. Across the upper floor is to be a girder Io inches thick and the face to average at least one foot, & to be pinned sufficiently with a 2 inch pin in every piece of the floor ; in which (jail) there is to be a good cabin roof; the corners to be raised in half dove tailed order, and each log to be pinned at the corner with a 2 inch pin. One door in the east side to suit the shutters of the jail, which shall have 2 shutters, one hanging on the out- side and one hanging on the inside. One window to suit the old grates, two of which shall be put into it. Door checks to be six inches thick and the width of the wall to be sufficiently spiked on with the old spikes; the doors to be hung with the old hangings. A suitable hole made for the stove through the upper floor. * The lower floor and at least 3 logs high to be of white oak. The doors to be secured with sufficient locks, the inside with two good pad-locks & the outside with one good latch lock. The dirt to be thrown up round the outside of the wall and well beaten down.
* N. B. which is to be well plated with iron, which plate is to extend 6 inches above the floor, on which holc a small brick chimney is to be built through the roof, which is to be secured in the usual manner against sparks. On each side of the door there is to be plates of iron on the joints; between the checks & wall spiked into the checks and wall for 6 inches above and below each hinge; into the checks therc is to be large nails drove within one-half inch of each other & in the same manner is to be nailed the wall for 6 inches round the door inside and outside & round; the window is to be nailed in the same manner, one foot inside and outside.
JOSIAH GROVER, CLK. PRO TEM.
On the day appointed for the bids to be considered, it was found that William A. Beatty, the first tavern keeper in Xenia and the second director of the county seat, was found to make the lowest offer, but the amount of his bid is not included in the records of the commissioners. It was the orig- inal intention that this jail should be a building of one story, but as the work progressed, the commissioners decided upon adding a second story. This conclusion called for the following addition to the record on June 16, 1809:
William Beatty, the undertaker of the jail now building in the Town of Xenia, agrees to raise another story of seven feet high in the clear, the wall to be the same sort of logs and to be raised in the same manner as the lower story; the upper floor of the lower storv to be mortered as directed in a former order. There is to be five small sleepers to face even with the morter; to have a door and a window similar to them in the lower story, except the nailing around them; the upper floor of the lower story to be laid with loose plank ; the upper floor of all to. be laid with logs at least a foot thick, well squared and laid close to girders, and of the same kind and pinned in the same manner as was to have been on the first story; the hole for the stove pipe chimney and roof all to be done agreeably to the afore mentioned order. There is to be suitable stair steps to the upper door. Said Beatty is allowed $40 for additional work. The above undertaker is to have the benefit of all the remaining materials of the old jail and if there should not be sufficient,
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they are to be furnished at the expence of the county. Said undertaker agrees to compleat the whole of said work against the 15th day of August, next.
J. GROVER, CLK. B. C.
Although this jail was by far a more substantial building than its pred- ecessors, the repeated jail deliveries decreased its effectiveness as a county bastile. It was accepted from the contractor on October 18, 1809, and in the summer of 1813 the commissioners declared it to be in a bad condition. It has been said that this jail burned down after July 20 of that year, but it is more probable that the need of a new jail was so pressing that the erec- tion of a new one was mandatory.
THE FOURTH JAIL.
It was on July 20, 1813, that the commissioners inspected the jail which had been finished by Beatty in 1809 and soon after they filed their adverse report concerning its condition on that day, they began making plans for a new county bastile. The sale of the construction of the proposed jail was advertised for September 13, 1813, and on that day .the building was let to James Miller, the lowest bidder, at ten hundred and eighty-four dollars, the building to be of stone.
The builder of this jail, James Miller, was a Scotchman who came to America when he was a very young man. After he had settled on Clarks run in Greene county, his letters to his old father back in Scotland were so full of enthusiasm concerning the county, state and neighborhood that the old gentleman decided to follow his son to this country and settle with him. By his son's letters the elder Miller became so familiar with this part of the country that he thought everyone in America surely knew his "wee Jamie." While en route from Philadelphia, where he landed on American soil, to Clarks run, Greene county, the old gentleman was wont to ask whom he met, "De ye ken one Jamie Miller, the stone mason, who lives on Clarks run, Greene county, Ohio?" Ere the elder Miller arrived at his son's home, he found that his son, Jamie, was better known here and in Scotland than at any intermediate point.
After the building of the jail had been awarded to him, James Miller set to work upon his task, and completed it ready to turn over to the county on December 16, 1815. The jail building was located in the center of the public square, north of the court house, so that the west end of the former was in the line of the east end of the latter. The jail extended lengthwise north and south. It was the intention of the commissioners to build a jail that would successfully contain the prisoners and would withstand the rav- ages of fire. The building was used for jail purposes until May 5, 1836.
Notwithstanding the precautions of the sheriff and the commissioners this stone jail was broken no less than three times during the years of its
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usefulness. On March 4, 1822, John French was allowed a dollar and a quarter for repairing a "breach made in the jail by Prisoners." The com- missioners were compelled to repair damages resulting from the same cause by orders dated April, 1823, and March 10, 1824.
Nineteen years after Miller turned the jail over to the commissioners, it became almost unfit for use and a new and fifth jail building was planned. While the new jail was in the process of construction, the old stone jail was used for lodgment of prisoners. Shortly before the new building was com- pleted, the latter was sold at auction along with the old office. The latter was bought by Samuel Crumbaugh for forty-three dollars and fifty cents, and, possibly because of some sentiment, the old jail was purchased by its builder, James Miller, for one hundred and forty-three dollars.
THE FIFTH JAIL.
After the commissioners had decided that the old stone jail was no longer fit for use, they began in earnest to plan for a new building. Before they brought forth their adverse opinion of the old jail, dated January 22, 1834, they had considered the erection of a new jail at their meeting on August 1, 1833. When they began making plans for the new jail after January 22, 1834, they decided that it should be of stone and the material should be obtained at the quarry of Daniel Dean. On April 1, 1834, they went to Dayton to get some ideas concerning jail construction, for which journey they allowed themselves two dollars each. After they returned from their tour of investigation, they decided on that day to suspend the construction of a new jail and repair the old one.
The question was taken up again at their meeting on June 7, 1834, and the commissioners decided to go to Chillicothe to get additional data con- cerning jail construction. Shortly after their return, they decided upon the immediate construction of the new jail and advertised the sale of the con- struction work to the lowest bidder, The work was let to Daniel Lewis on September 2, 1834, for the sum of forty-six hundred dollars. The building, which was of brick and was two stories high, was to be located on the north- east corner of the square, twenty feet from the east line of the square. It was to face the north and was to be forty-four feet long and forty feet wide. The first arrangement provided for alleys, twelve feet wide, one on the south side of the building and one on the east side. There were requests made by the citizens of Xenia to change this plan, to which the commission- ers hearkened and had the jail located twelve feet farther south, thus cutting off the alley on that side. After the building was finished the commissioners enlarged the jail lot by adding twelve feet on the south side thereof.
On June 24, 1836, the building was finished and turned over to the (10)
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county, but soon afterward it was found necessary to make an addition to the building. The sheriff's quarters needed a kitchen, which was to be four- teen feet wide and sixteen feet long. The erection of this was let to David Rader and William C. Robinson on July 4, 1836, for one hundred and forty- six dollars.
THE SIXTH AND PRESENT JAIL.
The grand jury declared the old brick jail a nuisance in 1858, and John Fudge, one of the county commissioners, was delegated on July 10, 1858, to examine sites for the erection of a new jail. Apparently the commis- sioners realized at this time that it was desirable to establish the county jail on some other site than on the public square. The matter of the selection of a site dragged along until March 12, 1859, when the county fathers de- cided to defer the building of a new jail because of the lack of funds. Some- what later in the year, the commissioners thought the time ripe to take up the question again and they concluded to build the jail forthwith, using the funds which had arisen from the dividends the county had received from its investment in railroad stock. Yet the question of the site of the jail re- mained a difficult one to solve.
DETERMINING THE SITE FOR THE NEW JAIL.
The commissioners were not alone in their belief that the county bastile should be located on some other spot than the public square, for on Septem- ber 1, 1859, four hundred and twenty-eight citizens of the county petitioned the county fathers to locate the jail on some other site than on the public square. They maintained that the square should be preserved unobstructed by any buildings other than the court house. It is quite possible that the greater number of these petitioners were residents of Xenia.
In addition to this petition the common council of Xenia also sought to bring pressure upon the board of commissioners, in order that the new jail should not be erected on the public square. The methods used by the council almost resulted fatally to the object which they had in mind. Along in the '20s the associate judges had granted the city of Xenia the right to build a market house on the public square, fronting Market street, then Third street, but this building gradually fell into disuse and the commissioners ordered the city to remove it on March 12, 1859. The common council did not readily assent to the request of the commissioners, much to the discomfiture of the latter body. On September 1, 1859, the council notified the board of commissioners that the city would remove the old market house, if the new jail would not be erected on the public square. This proviso angered the board of commissioners because they considered it bordered upon impudence and because the council had no right to place such stipulations upon the re-
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