USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 5
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Return Jonathan Meigs 1811-14
Democratic-Rep.
Othniel Looker (acting)
1814-15 Democratic-Rep.
Thomas Worthington
1815-19
Democratic-Rep.
Ethan Allen Brown
1819-22
Democratic-Rep.
Allen Trimble (acting)
1822-23
Democratic-Rep.
Jeremiah Morrow
1823-27
Democrat
Allen Trimble
1827-31
Democrat
Duncan McArthur
1831-33
National Republican
Robert Lucas 1833-37
Democrat
Joseph Vance
1837-39
Whig
Wilson Shannon
1839-41
Democrat
Thomas Corwin
1841-43
Whig
Wilson Shannon
1843-44
1 Democrat
Thomas W. Bartley (acting) I
1844-45
Democrat
Mordecai Bartley
1845-47
Whig
William Bebb
1847-49
Whig
Seabury Ford
1849-51
Whig
Reuben Wood
1851-53
Democrat
William Medill (acting, 1853) 1853-56
Democrat
Salmon P. Chase
1856-60
Republican
William Dennison, Jr.
1860-62
Republican
David Tod
1862-64
Republican
John Brough
1864-65
Republican
Charles Anderson (acting) 1
1865-66
Republican
Jacob D. Cox
1866-68
Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes 1868-72 1
Republican
Edward F. Noyes
1872-74
Republican
William Allen
1874-76
Democrat
Rutherford B. Hayes
1876-77
Republican
Thomas L. Young
1877-78
Republican
Richard M. Bishop
1878-80
Democrat
Charles Foster
1880-84
Republican
George Hoadley
1884-86
Democrat
Joseph Benson Foraker I
1886-90
Republican
James E. Campbell 1
1890-92
Democrat
William Mckinley
1892-96
Republican
Asa S. Bushnell I I
1896-00
I
1
1
Republican
George K. Nash
1900-04
Republican
Myron T. Herrick
1
1
L
I
J
1904-06
Democrat
I
I
1
1
I
1
1
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I
1
1
1
1
İ
1 İ
L
I 1
1
1
I
I
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1
1 1
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1
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Governor.
Tenure.
Politics.
John M. Patterson (died in office)
1906
Democrat
Andrew Litner Harris
1906-09
Republican
Judson Harmon
1909-13
Democrat
James M. Cox.
-1913-15
1
I
1
1
Democrat
Frank B. Willis
1915-17
Republican
James M. Cox
1917
Democrat
1
1
I
1
1
The political history of Ohio can not be dismissed without reference to the amendments incorporated in the new constitution in 1912 which have made the constitution practically a new instrument of government. The general tendency of the thirty-three amendments is to make a freer expres- sion of democracy through the medium of the initiative and referendum, direct primaries and home rule for cities. A workmen's compensation law was enacted which provides for compulsory contributions to an insurance fund by the employers of the state. Many changes were made in providing for improvements in social and industrial conditions. Ohio now has a con- stitution which is sufficiently flexible to allow changes to be made by amend- ment without the trouble of a constitutional convention.
BOUNDARY LINES.
The state boundaries of Ohio have been the cause for most animated discussions; not only in regard to state limits but county and township lines as well. In 1817, and again in 1834, a severe controversy arose over the boundary between Ohio and Michigan which was settled only after violent demonstrations and government interference.
In primitive times the geographical position, extent and surface diver- sities were but meagerly comprehended. In truth, it may be asserted that they could not have been more at variance with actual facts had they been laid out "haphazard." The Ordinance of 1787 represented Lake Michigan far north of its real position, and even as late as 1812 its size and location had not been definitely ascertained. During that year Amos Spafford ad- dressed a clear, comprehensive letter to the governor of Ohio relative to the boundary lines between Michigan and Ohio. Several lines of survey were laid out as the first course, but either Michigan or Ohio expressed disapproval in every case. This dispute came to a climax in 1835 when the party begin- ning a "permanent" survey began at the northwest corner of the state and was attacked by a force of Michigan settlers who sent them away badly routed and beaten. No effort was made to return to the work until the state and various parties had weighed the subject, and finally the interposition of the government became necessary. A settlement resulted in the establish- ment of the present boundary line between the two states, Michigan being pacified with the grant of a large tract in the northern peninsula.
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Ohio is situated between the 38° 25' and 42º north latitude, and 80° 30' and 84° 50' west longitude from Greenwich, or 3º 30' and 7º 50' west from Washington. From north to south it extends over two hundred and ten miles, and from east to west two hundred and twenty miles-com- prising thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four square miles.
The state is generally higher than the Ohio river. In the southern counties the surface is greatly diversified by the inequalities produced by the excavating power of the Ohio river and its tributaries. The greater por- tion of the state was originally covered with timber, although in the central and northwestern sections some prairies were found. The crest or watershed between the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio is less elevated than in New York or Pennsylvania. Sailing upon the Ohio the country appears to be mountainous, bluffs rising to the height of two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet above the bed of the river. Ascending the tributaries of the Ohio, these precipitous hills gradually lessen until they are resolved into gentle undulations and toward the sources of these streams the land becomes low and level.
Although Ohio has no inland lakes of importance, it possesses a favor- able river system which gives the state a convenient water transportation. The lake on the northern boundary, and the Ohio river on the south afford convenient outlets by water to important points. The means of communica- tion and transportation are superior in every respect, and are constantly being increased by railroad and electric lines.
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CHAPTER II.
TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Greene county is located in the southwestern portion of the state of Ohio and is bounded on the north by Clark, on the east by Madison and Fayette, on the south by Clinton and Warren, and on the west by Mont- gomery county.
The principal topographical or surface features of Greene county are the valleys of the Little Miami river and of Beaver creek. Cæsars creek also forms a depression of considerable importance in the southeastern town- ships. To these three valleys all the drainage of the county is directed, with the exception of that of Bath township in the northwest corner, which lies within the valley of Mad river.
Even though Beaver creek is a much smaller stream than the Little Miami, its valley is a much wider and deeper trough. However, the drainage effected by the former stream is insignificant when compared with that of the larger one. Beaver creek is a small, sluggish stream which is almost lost in its wide, fruitful valley, and no one can fail to recognize the disproportion which exists between the present stream and the valley which contains it. The truth is that this wide valley was never excavated by Beaver creek, for it is the deserted channel of an old river which must have had greater force and greater volume than the Little Miami today. Nor is there any doubt as to the general course and tributaries of the river that did this work, for the valley of Beaver creek connects on the north with the valley of Mad river. Whether the water of the head-springs of Beaver creek shall be de- livered to the Little Miami or Mad river depends upon the digging of a ditch or the turning of a furrow. It is interesting to note that a protracted and expensive law suit was formerly decided in the courts of Greene county, where the only question at issue was as to which stream the head-springs of Beaver creek naturally belonged. It can, therefore, be asserted that the valley of Beaver creek is but an extension of the valley of Mad river, and was occupied by that stream at no very remote period. An examination of the geological map of Greene ounty, upon which the alluvial valleys of the. county are also indicated, serves to bring out this point very distinctly. In. Clark county an older valley of the great Miami river is shown to exist, connecting its present valley with that of Mad river; thus the confluence of these streams was effected below Springfield instead of at Dayton as at
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
present. It then seems probable that the valley of Beaver creek was formerly occupied by the waters of the Great Miami after it had been re-enforced by the whole volume of Mad river. With such an origin the present dimen- sions of the valley are easily understood.
FEATURES OF THE LITTLE MIAMI VALLEY.
The valley of the Little Miami in Greene county consists of two well- marked portions, the lower one of which has been cut out of the shales and limestones of the soft Cincinnati series, while the upper portion of the river has been obliged to erode its way through the massive courses of cliff lime- stone. The lower valley is therefore deep and capacious, while the upper one consists of a narrow gorge bounded by precipitous walls. The first of the above-named divisions constitutes one of the most valuable agricultural sections of the county, and the second, which has no such economic appli- cations aside from water power, which has not been utilized to any great extent, furnishes the most picturesque and attractive scenery, not only of the county, but of all the surrounding region. There is but one point in all southwestern Ohio where more striking scenery is furnished than that of the gorge of the Little Miami between Grinnells Mills and Clifton. The limestone is cut to a depth of from sixty to eighty feet, and the valley never exceeds a few hundred feet in width. At Clifton the forge is contracted to a score or two of feet and it is in some places four times as deep as it is wide. Several of the more prominent tributaries of the river have scenic features similar to the main stream. The valley of Massies creek below Cedarville is almost as picturesque and striking as that of the Little Miami at Clifton. Clarks run, near the southern line of Miami township, shows another of these deep gorges, and the beautiful glen at Yellow Springs, which has had precisely such an origin, is known to thousands of people.
There remains one other valley of less importance, that of Cæsars creek, which is a much shallower trough than those already described. Its upper branches occupy slight depressions in the drift beds which so deeply cover the eastern side of the county. At the western margin of the cliff lime- stone the creek is bedded in rock but it has not cut out a deep channel for itself.
PRESENCE OF CLIFF LIMESTONE.
By reference to the geological map it will be seen that the northern and eastern portions of the county are underlaid by cliff limestone, and from the western half, though originally present, this formation has been carried away by long continued erosion, leaving only isolated patches of it to attest its former extent. The occasional summits in the western part of the county, that are one thousand or more feet above sea level, are in all cases outlying
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
portions of cliff limestone. By the removal of the protecting layer of cliff limestone, the softer beds of the Cincinnati series have been uncovered, and the waste and wear in them has been much more rapid than in the higher rocks.
The deposits of the drift have been spread all over the county, reducing the ruggedness of the surface and hiding many ancient channels, but this did not, of course, change the underlying geological structure. Hence here, as in other counties, a geological map becomes to a great degree a topographical map. The areas of cliff limestone comprise those districts of the county which rise above one thousand feet above the sea, while all the other regions belong to the Cincinnati or softer stone areas.
ELEVATION.
The lowest land of the county is found on its southern boundary, in . the valley of the Little Miami, and ranges between two hundred and seventy- five and three hundred feet above low water at Cincinnati, or between seven hundred and seven hundred and twenty-five feet above sea level. The high- est land is found in Cedarville and Miami townships, along the watersheds between the Little Miami and Massies creek and the Little Miami and Mad river. This high region may be safely estimated to be not less than six hun- dred and fifty feet above Cincinnati or eleven hundred feet above the sea. There is but little difference between the elevation of these dividing ridges. The summits of each consist of stratified beds of sand and gravel belonging to the last stage of the drift period. The highest elevation held by the bedded rock is probably in Miami township, to the north and north- west of Yellow Springs.
The following elevations of a few of the principal points in the county, most of which were determined by Franklin C. Hill many years ago, are all counted above low water at Cincinnati, which is four hundred and thirty- two feet above the sea. .
The elevation at the grade at the railroad depot in Xenia, 491 feet; Yellow Springs, grade of railroad at depot, 541 feet; Osborne, grade of rail- road at depot, 410 feet; Spring Valley, grade of railroad at depot, 333 feet ; Claysville, grade of railroad at depot, 321 feet ; Harbine's Station, grade of railroad at depot, 370 feet; Oldtown, grade of railroad at depot, 396 feet ; Goes Station, grade of railroad at depot, 427 feet; Berryhills Hill, Spring Valley township, 560 feet; Shoups quarry, two miles southwest of Har- bines, 519 feet; gravel bank, Yellow Springs, about 625 feet; railroad grade, one mile north of Yellow Springs (north line of the county) about 600 feet ; Cedarville, railroad grade, about 550 feet.
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
GEOLOGICAL SERIES.
How wonderfully Nature conceals her inconceivable antiquity under roses, violets and morning dew! On taking a pleasant walk over the coun- try roads, through the woods and over the hills, does the pedestrian realize that the rocky cliffs and the very soil are countless centuries old. Geologi- cally speaking, we do not measure the age of the earth by years but by series. Each series represents a certain deposit of limestone, fossils, clay or shale which has been left on the surface in some distant age of the past, and by these series we can gain some idea of the animal and plant life thousands of years ago. These series may be compared to the annular rings in the trunk of a tree, by which we are enabled to approximate the age of any monarch of the forest.
The rock formations in geological scale of Greene county are confined to the two great series, those of the upper and lower Silurian ages, and be- tween them the county is almost equally divided. If it were possible for one to take a gigantic saw and make a cross section of the rocks of Greene county, it would be found that they were divided into the three following layers: At the surface, the Niagara group, which acquires its name from the falls of that name where this stone is in great evidence; the Clinton lime- stone, and the Cincinnati series, Lebanon division. The lowest division has an aggregate thickness of two hundred and fifty feet, the middle one, of fifty feet, and the upper one, of one hundred and twenty-five feet; hence the total section of rocks in the county is four hundred and twenty-five feet in thickness.
THE GORGE OF THE LITTLE MIAMI.
Since it is not possible to make such a cross section of the rock deposits of Greene county in a convenient manner as suggested above, it is necessary to go where nature has made such a cleft, and there is no better place to study the same geological strata in the state than in the gorge of the Little Miami between Goes and Clifton. At the former place, the river is bedded in the limestones and shales of the Cincinnati series, and at least fifty feet of this formation can be found on the western side of the valley. Moreover, the streams from the uplands have their channels in the rock, hence they give ample opportunity for the study of geologic formations. In addition to these, the Xenia pike, what was formerly the Little Miami railroad and the race for the powder mills have all required rock cuttings, hence these im- provements lay bare some of the geologic secrets of Greene county. The termination of the Cincinnati series is very distinctly shown in a ravine just south of the old Goe residence, and this may be considered a typical locality, for it is from this point that the place where the upper and lower
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Silurian formations can be traced. At this place, between the fossil-bearing beds of the Cincinnati group and the overlying Clinton limestone, there oc- curs a layer of fine grained shales, light blue and red, destitute of fos- sils, some twenty feet in thickness. The shale layer occupies the place held by the Medina group in other places in the state, and it has been suggested that the shales represent this formation. This evidently is not true, for in many places in the county the Clinton limestone rests directly upon the Cin- cinnati series.
At the place mentioned above may be found an excellent example of the Clinton limestone in a wall of rock which overhangs the shale layer, and this same limestone can also be seen in the cliffs along the river valley near the old Grinnell mill. The artificial sections which were made in the old Yellow Springs quarry make, on the whole, the best point in the county where the Niagara group may be studied.
THE CINCINNATI SERIES.
The uppermost two hundred and fifty feet of the Lebanon division of the Cincinnati series underlies the western half of Greene county, which area comprises the more eroded portions of the county. Since the layer lies very low, it is for the most part heavily covered with the drift deposits. There are, however, many places where the rock is exposed, especially in Spring Valley and Sugarcreek townships, where the series can be studied to excellent advantage. In the valley of Bear branch, a tributary of the Little Miami, a considerable layer of this formation is shown. The line of demarca- tion between the upper and lower Silurian formations is shown as distinctly in Greene county as any other place in the state. Another especially good point for the study of this formation is in Spring Valley township, on Cæsars creek, where it crosses the Xenia and Wilmington turnpike; and also in the vicinity of Reeds hill in Bath township. As elsewhere in southwest- ern Ohio, points where the upper and lower Silurian strata are exposed are marked by many springs.
The stone of the Cincinnati series in Greene county is not of very much economic importance, for the building stone it furnishes is only of a fair quality.
THE CLINTON LIMESTONE.
There are several places in Greene county where the Clinton limestone can be studied to advantage. In addition to the fine displays near the old Goe place, it is also in evidence on the Grinnell pike. It is also well shown in Xenia township in the banks of Oldtown run and Massies creek and again near the head springs of Ludlow creek. In Bath township there are miles of its outcrops where the whole formation can be seen with the greatest pos-
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
sible distinctness. Reeds hill, which may be mentioned in this connection, is a promontory of cliff limestone, overlooking the fruitful valleys of Mad river and Beaver creek, and from its summit can be seen one of the most beautiful landscapes of southwestern Ohio.
The Clinton limestone at all these points, as elsewhere, is mainly a semi-crystalline limestone, whose bedding is uneven and interrupted with lenticular, or knob-like masses. 'A course can seldom be followed for twenty feet and within this distance it is sure to terminate in a feather edge. The more common colors of the formation in Greene county are light gray, yel- low and pinkish, the latter tint being the more common one. Its crystalline character is so pronounced that much of the formation may be counted true marble, admitting of a high polish. When some of the red varieties are selected, it makes a highly ornamental stone, the sections of the white crin- oidal stems giving a beautiful relief to the dark background. The stone, however, is of no great commercial value on account of its uneven bedding.
The base of the Clinton limestone, or rather the summit of the Cincin- nati series, is an excellent water carrier, as is shown by the line of fine springs which mark the meeting point of the two strata, whenever drainage conditions will admit. The lower beds of the formation are sandy in tex- ture and at many points are porous and easy to crumble; hence the beds are easily cut by the action of underground streams, and small caves frequently occur at the base of the series. In other cases sink-holes are formed from the same general cause. By the dissolving of the rocks along the divisional planes which separate them, streams on the surface can find access to the shales of the Cincinnati series beneath, hence streams of small volume some- times drop out of sight to emerge again along the outcrops of the formation perhaps miles from the point of descent. One of the best known of these sink-holes in Greene county is found near the intersection of the Xenia and Fairfield and the Dayton and Yellow Springs pikes. The stream that here drops out of sight comes out again a mile or more to the southward, re- enforced, perhaps, by the underground rills, and forms the head spring of Ludlow creek, one of the finest fountains of the county. These sink- holes have been sometimes deserted by the water courses that have helped to make them, and many times these indented places in the surface have been called abandoned lead mines. Formerly, some portions of the county were full of traditions about lead mines which the Indians worked here.
In the early period of the county's settlement, the Clinton limestone served a rather important economic use as building stone, but since it occurs near the Niagara series, which yields excellent building material, it gradu- ally fell into disuse. In earlier times the accessibility of the Clinton beds caused them to be largely drawn upon. In a like manner, the making of
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
lime from the Clinton stone was abandoned. For many years the out- crops of the stratum at Reeds hill supplied the Mad river valley and the western side of the county largely with lime, and about a half century ago lime was also made from the Clinton stone in Xenia township. The open- ing up of the Niagara beds caused the Clinton limestone to be abandoned for this purpose, since the former can be more cheaply worked and the quality of the lime is better.
THE NIAGARA SERIES.
The Niagara series is the most important rock formation in the county for two reasons. In the first place, it occupies a somewhat greater area than the Cincinnati group, and in the second place, it more distinctly forms the features of the district in which it occurs than does the Cincinnati forma- tion. It has been shown before that many of the more noticeable topo- graphical features of the surface of the county are traceable to cliff lime- stone of which the Niagara is the leading constituent. Its outcrop is a rocky wall, very often uncovered and quite precipitous, and at least one hundred feet above the surrounding country. The picturesque gorge of the Little Miami and its tributaries are due to the order of the layers of this series, which also has an important bearing upon the water supply of the entire county. The building stone and the lime of the county were almost wholly obtained from the stone of this series, and in addition to the home supply, large quantities were formerly shipped to the neighboring cities and towns.
The divisions of the Niagara group are well marked, and several of the individual members are of greater importance than the Clinton limestone. These members are the Guelph or Cedarville beds, the Springfield beds, the West Union beds, the Niagara shale and the Dayton stone.
DAYTON LIMESTONE.
The Dayton limestone, which forms, wherever it occurs, the base of the Niagara series, is found in considerable quantity in Greene county. On the western border of the county, it is found capping the cliff limestone that lies southwest from Harbines in Beavercreek township. Owing to the fact that greater and more accessible deposits are to be found in the Dayton district, these beds have been little developed. The stone, as found here, has all the characteristics of the formation in thickness, regularity, durability and color, but its durability is somewhat lessened by the presence of crystals of an iron compound, which weather on exposure and disfigure the surface of the stone. By far the best known deposit of the Dayton limestone found in the county is on the old McDonald farm which lies three and one-half miles south of (5)
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Xenia. This stone was first found here exposed along a tributary of Cæsars creek, and when the quarries were first opened, the stone was cov- ered only lightly by a covering of boulder clay. As the lines have become more extended, the stripping has become more difficult. From four to five feet of workable stone is found here, divided into courses varying from four to twenty inches in thickness. Formerly this stone, before the extended use of concrete, found a market in Xenia as building stone and much of it was shipped from that point by railroad.
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