USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio > Part 19
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 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
to Ohio in 1815. He was an elder brother of Samuel Wright, father of Thomas Coke Wright. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution from the state of Virginia. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: Wesley, born October 10, 1785; Mary B .. born February 27. 1787: Sarah V., who was wife to Josiah Wright and later Henry Hypes, was Born December 3. 1788: George C. Wright, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, was born October 23. 1790; Sophia Wright, who married John Loyd, was born December 21. 1792: Eliza- beth Ann was born January 13, 1794 : Lewis Wright, born February 11, 1700: William T .. born April 9, 1798; Nancy L. D., born May 30, 1800: Samuel W., born December 14, 1802: Edward Owens, born June 5, 1806: Richard W., born June 22, 1808. Lewis Wright was also a soldier in the war of 1812, under Capt. Berry AApplewhite, of the Virginia troops. He was also a school teacher. Where the residence of Mr. Lester Arnold now is was the Wright Academy along about 1846. Some persons yet living in Xenia were his scholars. Another son, Edward Owens Wright, was also teaching on the hillside near the residence of Homer Hudson, West Third street. Xenia.
IIENRY HYPES.
Among the first settlers of the new city of Xenia was Henry Hypes, who was the son of Nicholas and Abigail Hypes. Nicho- las Hypes was born in Germany, March &, 1728. Abigail, his wife, was also born in the same country March 22, 1740. Henry Hypes, the subject of this sketch, was born within five miles of the Natural Bridge. Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 12th of
152
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
June. 1775. It was in that state when eighteen years of age he was united in mar- riage with Miss Patience Reynolds. He was engaged in farming in Virginia until 1811. He then came overland to the Ohio river, and there took a flatboat to Cincin- nati. In settling in this county he purchased one hundred and twenty-five acres of gov- ernment land. heavily timbered and unim- proved. The first work he did was the clearing of a place and building a log house, in which he and his family lived for a few years. In 1823 his wife died, leav- ing a family of six sons and two daughters, namely : Nancy. Joseph, Washington, Sarah. Benjamin. James Davidson, John Wesley and Francis Asbury. May 25, 1824. Mr. Hypes was united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah N. Wright, widow of Josiah Wright and daughter of George and Sophia Wright. Her father was a soldier of the Revolution, who came to Xenia in 1815 from Brunswick county. Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hypes be- came the parents of four children, two still living. Susan Maria, widow of Tobias Drees, and Samuel Henry Hypes, who is engaged in the fire insurance and real estate business in Xenia. Rev. William L. and Rev. Fletcher Hypes are dead. What was known as the Henry Hypes farm is now ( 1000) the most of it in the corporation of Xenia, bounded on the south by Shawnee creek, between what is now known as the Cincinnati pike on the west and West street ( n the east, running south to the north line of the land of Samuel McConnell. The old! brick house which was erected in 1831 is still standing. also part of the old barn. Henry Hypes died at his home in Xenia. October 1. 1854. His good wife, Sarah N .. survived him until April 25. 1862, when she
died at the age of seventy-three. Henry Hypes and his two helpmeets, Patience and Sarah N .. are buried in our own beautiful Woodland. Xenia.
GEORGE W. WRIGHT.
Mr. Wright was born October 13. 1809. in Brunswick county. Virginia, and died at his home in Xenia, Ohio, October 4, 1873. aged sixty-four years. He was the son of Josiah and Sarah Nelson Wright. Josiah Wright died in 1814 and was buried on his farm two miles south of Xenia on the Bull- skin Road. His widow, May 25, 1824, was married to Henry Hypes. Mr. Wright came with his parents to Nenia n 1811. When a young man he went to Dayton and learned the trade of a tailor, and in 1827 returned again to Nenia and took up his abode here permanently. In 1832 he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Lever. They were blessed with a family of fourteen chil- dren, nine of whom at the time of his death were living, five boys and four girls. In 1860 he united with the First M. E. church of this city. under the pastorate of Rev. William I. Fee. and lived the life of an up- right Christian to the last. He was mayor of the city of Nenia in 1863, and also filled the office of justice of the peace for Xenia township for several terms. Mr. Wright enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his neighbors through life, none more so.
REV. DANIEL R. BREWINGTON
Was born in Worcester county, Maryland, March 27. 1708, and died at the residence of his son-in-law. Mr. Charles Marks, six miles east of Muncie. Indiana, at the age of
153
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
seventy-two years and six months. He came to Greene county, Ohio, in the year - 1816 and removed to Indiana in, 1838. where he died October 24, 1870. He was a man of firm integrity, social in his nature, a kind friend and a good neighbor, a mem- ber of the M. E. church and a regularly licensed eshorter in the same. Hlis voice was ofttimes heard in most of the churches and school houses in the county in condem- nation of vice and immorality and in build- ing up the cause of the Redeemer in the world. Hle was a good friend of the itiner- ant minister, his home being theirs. 1lis funeral was attended by a large concourse 'of friends and relatives. Sermon by Rev. Moses Marks. "After life's long and fitful sleep he sleepcth well."
FREDRICK BONNER, SR ..
Was born September 4. 1738, and died at his home two miles south of Xenia, Ohio, in 1830, at the age of eighty-eight years. We ofttimes speak of Wendell Philips, Joshua R. Giddings, Charles Summer, Ben Wade and John Brown and others, who, in their day and place, had the courage to back up by their lives, if need be, in their outspoken convictions of the system of human bondage which used to exist in our fair land, and we were proud of them and admired their cour- age and manliness in opposing and denomin- cing the great blot on our name as free- men. As a companion of these we would mention Fredrick Bonner, Sr., the subject of this sketch, who was a slave owner in a slave state. Witness the following, by Mr. Bonner :
"To All Whom These Presents Shall Come: Know ye that by an act of the
general assembly of Virginia, passed May 12, 1792, entitled an act to anthor- ize the manumission of slaves, those per- sons who are disposed to emancipate their slaves are empowered so to do. And. where- as, AAlmighty Ged hath so ordered human events that liberty has become a general top- ic. I. Frederick Bønner, of Dinwiddee comun- ty, Virginia, being possessed of slaves, and from clear conviction of the injustice and riminality of depressing my fellow creat- tires of their natural rights, do hereby cman- cipate and set free, from a state of slavery. the following ( seven in number ) who are in the prime of life. Declaring the same ne- groes entirely free from me, my heirs, to all intents and purposes, and entitled to all the privileges granted in the aforementioned act. 1 have hereunto set my hand and seal the ist of January. 1708.
FREDRICK BONNER, SR."
We would add the following from his con, Fredrick Bonner, Jr .: "In the car 1852 father sold his land in Dinwiddee county. Virginia, five hundred acres, for two thousand dolars, and bought two sur- veys of one thousand acres each in what was then the Northwestern territory, at a cost of two thousand dollars. Upon visit- ing it and finding it well situated he re- turned and began preparation for removing on it the following season. On Saturday, April 1: 1803, we started and went as far as Petersburg, and remained until Monday. Two other families joined us, and our outfit was put into two covered wagons, includ- ing household goods, a chest of carpenter's tools and a turning lathe. To each of these wagons were attached four horses, with bells on the leaders. A one-horse wagon carried the provisions, and the females,
154
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
when they became tired of walking. In ad- dition to these we had a canvass to sleep under at night. On Monday morning we resumed our long journey to the far west, pursuing a route through southern Virginia, which, in a few days, brought us within view of the mountains, first the peaks of the Blue Ridge, then the Allegheny and Cun :- berland. Crossing these in safety we reached Kentucky, passing along the Crab Orchard read. AArriving at Lexington we pushed on to Cincinnati ( then a village of fifteen hun- dred ), crossing the Ohio river at that place May 10, 1803, and camped near the month of Deer creek, then some distance from the village.
"Next morning we went up the river in- to the Little Miami valley, crossing the river a little above Cincinnati. Here we encountered our first serious difficulty. The water was high and running swiftly. Our four-horse wagon crossed without accident, but when the wagon containing the wife of a Mr. Day proceeded as far as the middle of the stream, or the swiftest part, one of the horses fell and could not rise. Mr. Day, in attempting to assist, was washed off down stream with the horses. Father went to his assistance and the water tripped him up and he went also struggling down the river, to the alarm of all. Fortunately he got out on the same side from which he entered. While Day was still struggling in the river near his horses they finally succeeded in fastening a chain to the end of the tongue, and hitching our herses to it, we drew it out. All this time Day's wife and child were in the wagon in imminent danger of being capsized into the river and washed away."
Mr. Day and family located in the vi- cinity of this accident and we followed up
the river to the present site of Milford, where we found a vacant cabin, which was rented for a few months. Into this we moved and remained until we could make arrange- ments to go to our land in Greene county. In June father and some of the boys went to the land and selected a spot to build a cabin near Glady Run, a branch of the Lit- ile Miami, which was to accommodate us as our new home in the woods. He chose a building site in the southwest portion of the land near the present residence of Erastus Bonner, two miles south of Xenia. He pro- cured the services of some young men to build a log house, and then returned to Mil- ford. The cabin of one room, with its puin- cheon floor and clapboard roof and ceiling being finished, the family and four of their Virginia neighbors, who came west with them, thirteen persons in all. moved into it in the fall of that year. The canvas tent was now cut up to form partitions in the cabin.
Four of the children were married while the family lived in this house. Nancy Bon- ner was married in 1804 to Rev. John Sale, the first Methodist preacher in this section. David Bonner married a Miss Reynolds, of Urbana, Ohio, in 1805. Chapel H. Bon- ner married a sister of Samuel Pelham, who married Martha Bonner. Samuel Pelham was the father of William F. Pelham, who used to keep the grange warehouse. He was also editor of the first newspaper published in Xenia, "The Vehicle." James E. Gallo- way, of Nenia, has now in his possession the files of that paper for the year 1815.
Mr. Bonner and his sons burned the first limne-kiln and built the first brick house in this county. It was occupied by the remain- ing members of the family as early as 1807,
155
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
but was not finished on the inside for some years later. It now forms part of the resi- dence of Erastus Bonner and his family. Stith Bonner, another son, was married to Miss Maria Mercer, the daughter of Ed- ward Mercer, a neighbor, in 1819. Eliza Bonner became the wife of Rev. John P. Taylor in 1820. Ile was a Methodist min- ister of some prominence and also a phy- sician. They removed to Indiana some years ago, where they died. Mr. Fredrick Bon- ner, Sr., died in 1830. at the age of seventy- two years. His wife died in 1818 in the sixty-second year of her age. Of the six chil- dren to whose marriages we have referred. one, Mrs. Pelham, died at the age of sixty- two years; the remaining five lived to be from eighty to eighty-eight years of age. One child. a daughter, died when about eighteen years of age in Virginia before they left there. Fredrick Bonner, Jr., the young- est child and the only surviving member of the family in 1879. was born near Peters- burg. Dinwiddie county, Virginia, Novem- ber 11. 1796, and died March 26, 1880, aged eighty-four years, and was buried in the Bonner graveyard. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Mercer, the daughter of a neigh- bor, Edward Mercer, October 15. 1823. They had two children. Horace and Eras- tus. The former died in 1846 in the twenty- second year of his age. The latter is our well known florist, proprietor of Maple Grove greenhouse, so much admired by its many visitors. Mrs. Bonner died in 1830 at the early age of twenty-seven years.
EARLY TIMES AS REMEMBERED BY FREDRICK BONNER, JR.
When the family moved into their new
cabin home in 1803 they were in the midst of forest, unbroken for miles around, through which not even a winding pathway took its course. About two miles south of their home there was a cabin ow ned and oc- cupied by a family by the name of Price. Two miles north of them, and about two hundred yards north of where the present Robert's Villa now stands, was the cabin of Remembrance Williams and his family. Ile was the father of John Williams, who was the father of Mrs. David Medsker, Mrs. Samuel Gano, Mrs. James McCarty, Mrs. William B. Fairchild and Mrs. McCann, who are well known in Xenia. From the Lit- tle Miami river on the west to a point where the Wilmington and Xenia pike crosses Cac- sar's creek on the east, there was not a habi- tation of any kind except their humble home. Year Old Town Run and about a mile and a half from Mr. R. Williams' cabin home, there was a similar structure occupied by Mr. Leonard Stump and family, which was the only cabin this side of Massies creek set- tlement. On the east side of Caesar's creek at the crossing of the Wilmington pike and about where the residence of Mr. Paris Pe- terson's house now stands, there was a little village called Caesarsville. Scattered along the creek for some distance perhaps there were a dozen cabins occupied by as many families. These inhabitants of Caesarsville, those mentioned above and perhaps a few others, not exceeding twenty or thirty in all. were the only families residing in Greene county east of the Little Miami river in 1803. The principal settlements were at that time on the west side of the river on congress lands. He was of the opinion that there was not a family living at that time in that portion of the county now com-
156
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
prising Jefferson. Silver creek. Ross and the eastern portion of Cedarville and Caesars- creek townships, and that it was not settled at all until the Browders and Mendenhalls settled some time afterward in the vicinity of Jamestown, and soon after laid the first grounds for that village. There was not a public road at that time in the county, and one would travel for miles without seeing an acre of tillable land. Game of all kinds was abundant, and it was the principal sub- sistence of the scattered inhabitants. Deer were said by Mr. Bonner to be as numerous in Greene county then as hogs are now, and wild turkys and pheasants were to be seen in large numbers on every hand. The depths of the extensive forests were the hiding places of bears, panthers. catamounts and wild cats during the day and furnished them a vast territory over which to roam at night in search of prey. The narrow valley through which the Little Miami railroad extends from Xenia toward Cincinnati, was literally a den of wolves. These ferocious beasts would roam the surrounding country at night, necessitating strong enclosures as a protection for the live stock of the carly settlers against the ravishing's of the mighty thieves which often had to be driven from their .determined attacks by the burning of torches, ringing of bells, blowing of horns and repeated banging of fire arms. Bands of Indians frequented the county in search of game in accordance with the right they had reserved in their treaty with Wayne. They had almost a perpetual camp for ser- eral years on the ridge a short distance west of where the residence of Mr. Washington Stark now stands. They were always peace- able, and gave the settlers no cause for fear while they remained in this vicinity.
Not very long after their arrival in this county David. the oldest son, accompanied by his little brother "Freddie." whom he kept with him almost constantly on all occa- sions, started in the direction of the town. Xenia, of which they had heard, but had not yet seen. They plodded diligently along. cutting away the underbrush and making a clear pathway as they proceeded, and at last came to the banks of Shawnee, where that stream is now covered by a stone arched bridge at the crossing of the Cincinnati pike and the Dayton railroad. Here they stopped to rest and "Freddie" insisted that they go into the town, as he wanted to see the place : but when his brother explained to him that there no houses built yet. that nothing had been done but the surveying of the grounds. and staking off of some of the streets, and promised that he should return some time to see the town, he yielded the point, and they proceded homeward along the new-made pathway, which was the only road to Nenia for a long time. The first public road into Xenia from the south was the "Bullskin." now the Burlington pike. It extended from a village on the Ohio river called Bullskin. from which the road took its name, north to Urbana, Ohio. The records of the original survey of the road were lost, and when the road was again surveyed. and afterward made a pike, it was called by its present name.
In the first organization of the county. it was thought best by some to make Cac- sarsville the county seat, but the present lo- cation was finally selected and in 1803 the ground was laid out preparatory to buikl- ing the town of Xenia. The first house erected was a small log building on what is known on the town plat as let No. 193. now
157
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
( 1900) in the rear of the residence of Ru- doph Hustmire, on West Third street, and at that time owned by John Marshall, who was the grandfather of William and James Marshall, who are at the present ( 1900) residents of Nenia. This cabin was razed April 27. 1804.
The first school house was built in 1805. It was by no means a large house, and was built of small, round logs, without floor or ceiling. It was erected on Third street, a little west of the present residence of Mrs. Harvey Cooper, and the teacher was Ben- jamin Grover, a brother of Josiah, who was the successor to John Paul as clerk of courts. About seven years later the town could boast of "The Xenia Academy." in which the principal instructor was Profes- sor Espy, afterward renowned as the great "storm king." The academy building was a one-story brick structure that used to be on the southeast corner of Market and West streets. Xenia improved very rapidly un- til 1812. Whether it was the severe earth- quake shock felt so distinctly in this sec- tion and especially along the Mississippi val- ley in the winter of 1811-12, and which Mr. Bonner said shook his father's house until the windows rattled, caused the check to the rapid growth of the town, he did not in- form us.
John Marshall, who built the first house : John Paul, clerk of the first court held in the county, and the original proprietor of the town; Josiah Grover. the second clerk of the court and at the same time county audit- ur and recorder : William .\. Beatty, tavern keeper; James Collier, tavern keeper and sheriff of Greene county and coroner : John
Alexander, lawyer and wonderfully large man : James Towler, preacher and first post master of Nenia : Henry Barnes, carpenter ; John Stull, tailor : Benjamin Grover, teacher of the first school in Nenia: John Williams, blacksmith, a son of Remembrance Williams, and the father of Mrs. David Medsker : John Mitten, wheelwright and chair maker; old Mr. Wallace and Captain James Steele, tan- ners : Jonathan H. Wallace, hatter : Dr. An- drew W. Davidson, the first physician ; James Gowdy, the first merchant, and Sam- rel Gowdry, engaged in the same business ; Robert Gowdy, tanner: William Elsberry. lawyer: Abraham La Rue, carpenter ; and James Bunton, carpenter and joiner, and a very fine workman, are remembered by Mr. Bonner as among the earliest inhabitants of Xenia. With the exception of James Gow- dy, a bachelor, they were all young married men seeking their fortunes in a new country. or with families, large and small, striving to secure a heritage for their children. Of the first houses built in Nenia Mr. Bonner says there are but two still ( 1879) standing upon their original foundations. They are both two-story log buiklings. One was on the north side of Main street on the present site of HI. H. Eavey's wholesale house, and was known as the Crumbaugh House, Mr. Bonner's father having it built for Rev. James Towler in 1805. The other one stood on the north side of West Second street, on the site now occupied by the two two-story buildings of David Hutchison. It was built by Mr. James Bunton, carpenter and joiner, in 1806. This house was known in later years as the MeWhirk residence. He sold the property some time afterward and re-
158
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
moved to what is now known as Silvercreek township. Greene county. Both houses were afterward weatherboarded.
REV. WILEY CURTIS
Died November Ist. 1869. in Crawford county, Illinois, He was born in Greenc- ville county, Virginia, on the 6th of Febru- ary. 1793. About the first day of Novem- ber, 1805. his stepfather and family arrived at Mr. Frederick Bonner's after a tedious and toilsome journey of seven weeks. There were but four families living in Xenia, Rev. James Towler, William A. Beatty, James Collier and John Marshall. There was neither shop nor store in it. He served a tour of duty in the last war with Great Britain. He had two sons, one of whom died in the service. He left this county in 1817. and was a pioneer in Indiana and Illi- nois, and went through many hardships. privations and bodily afflictions in his re- moval farther west. He led a blameless and industrious life and was a devoted and zeal- ous Christian. In August he lost the part- ner of his joys and sorrows, the mother of his twelve children, and his grief was in- consolable. He could neither eat nor sleep. and was seized with a chill, which was fol- lowed by lung fever. His last prayer was for death to relieve him from suffering and sorrow.
THE FIRST ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCHI OF XENIA, NOW THE FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
On Sabbath, October 31, 1858, Rev. R. D. Harper, then pastor of said church, gave the following account of its early history :
"The first church edifice was erected in 1811. situated on the southeast corner of what is known as the George Gordon land. north King street. It is now being used as a dwelling house. The second edifice was erected in 1817 upon the ground known as Millen's pork house, on East Church street. The third. now occupied by the First United Presbyterian church, on East Market street, was erected in 1847. The first notice of the Xenia congregation which is to be found. is found from the minutes of the Kentucky Presbytery, from 1798 down to 1817. It is the following: That at a meeting of this presbytery held in Cynthiana, Harrison county, Kentucky. September 28. 1808. a petition was presented from certain persons in Nenia, Ohio, desiring supplies of preach- ing from the presbytery.
In accordance with this petition Rev. Abraham Craig was appointed to preach at Xenia on the first Sabbath of October, and first Sabbath of November. 1808, which ap- pointment was filled as ordered. The same records show that Mr. Craig preached four Sabbaths in Xenia in 1809. In 1810 Mr. John Steele was appointed to preach four Sabbaths in Xenia previous to the next meeting of presbytery. At the next meet- ing of presbytery held in Millersburg. Ken- tucky. April 24. 1810. Mr. Steele was ap- pointed to preach in Nenia and preside at the election and ordination of elders in this congregation. Thus it can be seen that the regular organization of this congregation took place some time during the year 1810.
In 1811 Rev. Adam Rankin and Rev. William Baldridge were appointed to preach in Nenia. In 1812 Rev. McCord and Rev. Wallace were appointed to preach in Xenia. In 1813 a petition was presented for the
159
ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
moderation of a call. This was the first call for a pastor. It was made out for the Rev. James McCord but it was never presented. Rev. McCord connected himself with the Presbyterian church and the call was re- turned to the congregation. During the year 1814 Revs. Rankin and Craig preached frequently in Nenia, and on the second Sab- bath of August of that year dispensed the Lord's Supper, which is the first account on record of the observance of that holy ordi- nance in this congregation. The presbytery of Kentucky, at this date, 1814. consisted of Revs. Rankin, Porter, Risque, McCord. Craig. Rainey. Bishop, Carrithers. McFar- land and Steele, all of whom have long since gone to the grave, and as we humbly trust to the reward of their faithful labors in Heaven. In 1815 and 1816 Revs. Risque. McFarland and Steele were fre- quently appointed to preach in the vicinity of Xenia. In 1817 a call was made out by the congregation in Nenia for the Rev. John Steele, and by him accepted. Ile removed to Xenia in 1817 and took charge of the congregation. Here he continued to labor until 1836, a period of nineteen years. The labors of this eminent and faithful servant were crowned with success. Mr. Steele re- signed his charge in 1836 and in 1837 on the Itth day of January, this good and faithful minister ( i God was called home to his reward in Heaven.
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.