History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 5

Author: Robinson, George F., 1838-1901
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 934

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ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

services. He furnished chain men in ma- king the survey, made a plat of the town and sold some lots. He was selected to act as director of said town and served in that ca- pacity until Tuesday, August 27, 1805, when he resigned and William A. Beatty was ap- pointed in his place. Mr. Vance previous to his resignation as director must have ta- ken his departure from Xenia, for we find that according to our records Champaign county was organized February 20, 1805. In the history of said county it is said that Joseph C. Vance was selected as clerk of courts, and was the founder of the city of Urbana. His military title was acquired on account of services under Gen. George Ro- ger Clarke against the combined British and Indian forces at the time of the Revolution. He lived a useful life, died and was buried at Buck Creek churchyard. six miles south- east of Urbana. Ohio. His son, Joseph Vance, was governor of Ohio from 1836 to 1838. At the time of his canvass for that office some of his boyhood companions in Bellbrook, Greene county, remembered "Joe." who used to drive an ox cart over the Pickney road. when he was a boy at home on the site of where Bellbrook was after- ward built.

FRANCIS DUNLAVEY.

FIRST PRESIDING JUDGE OF GREENE COUNTY.

Francis Dunlavey was born near Win- chester, Virginia, December 31. 1761. His father. Anthoney Dunlavey, came from Ire- land about the year 1745, and afterward married Hannah White, sister to Judge .VI- cxander White, of Virginia. Of this mar-

riage there were four sons and four daugh- ters. Francis was the eldest of the sons. About the year 1772 the family removed from Winchester to what was supposed to be western Virginia, on the west of the Al- leghany mountains, and settled near Catfish (Washington) in what is now Washington county. Pennsylvania. In this frontier set- tlement when the Revolutionary war broke out there was great exposure. as we have already seen, to Indian depredations. The men of the new settlements were constantly called upon to serve in longer or shorter tours of militia duty, which were considered essential to the safety of the frontiers. Mr. Dunlavey volunteered as a private on the 1st of October. 1776, under Capt. Isaac Cox; his lieutenant was David Steele. His com- pany encamped in the woods at Holliday's Cove. on the Ohio river. opposite a large island in what is now Brooke county, West Virginia, now known as Brown's island, above Steubenville, Ohio, but below the mouth of Yellow creek. Here the company erected a chain of log cabins. block houses, and scouted in pairs up and down the river for the distance of twelve miles. This fort or station was on the line of defense from Fort Pitt to Gravel creek. erected as a pro- tection to the border against the Indians. Mr. Dunlavey afterward remembered that he frequently saw at this post Col. John Gib- son, of the Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, who supervised the several stations on the river. His tour of duty expired on the 20th of December, and he was then discharged. During the latter part of the service of this tour he, with others, was detached and sent down the river about twelve miles, where Decker's Fort was erected, and where a small settlement was protected while the

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

inhabitants gathered their corn. In July, 1777. Mr. Dunlavey served fourteen days in the militia at Fort Pitt as a substitute for his father. Anthoney Dunlavey, who had been drafted for a month and had served the first half of it. General Hand had just ar- rived at the post, unaccompanied by any troops. Notwithstanding Mr. Dunlavey was a militia man. he did duty in garrison under officers belonging to the regular army. Capt. Harry Heath had command of the post upon the arrival of Hand. Col. John Gibson and some of his regiment, Thir- teenth Virginia, were in the garrison a short time. Captains Scott, Bell and Steele, well known about Pittsburg before, during and after the Revolutionary war, were in Fort Pitt at this time. Simon Girty was also present, then a subaltern. He seemed wholly taken up in intercourse with the Indians, many of whom were in and around the fort.

Mr. Dunlavey volunteered upon the Ist of March, 1778, for one month's service. The rendezvous was at Cox's Station, on Peter's creek. Colonels Isaac Cox and John Canon attended to organizing the men ; but in eight days the militia relinquished their arms to some recruits for the regular army, who relieved them and they returned home to attend to putting in their crops.

On the 15th of August, 1778, Mr. Dun- lavey was again drafted for one month, the place of meeting was Pittsburg. He served this tour under Lieut. John Springer, the troops being attached to the command of Captain Ferrol, lately from the seaboard, who had a company detached from the Thirteenth Virginia Regiment. This body of men ranged the woods, visiting the sta- tions on the frontier line between Pittsburg and Wheeling, and finally relieving a com-

pany of militia from Hampshire county, Virginia, at the latter place, commanded by Capt. Daniel Cressap, brother of the cele- brated Mike Cressap. Mr. Dunlavey was discharged at Pittsburg at the end of the month's service.

About the 5th of October he again en- tered the service. He went this time as a substitute for Andrew Flood, joining the company of Capt. John Crow. His battal- ion commander was Capt. Hugh Stevenson ; regimental commander, Col. William Craw- ford. The army was then under the com- mand of Brig .- Gen. Lachlin Mcintosh. Mr. Dunlavey afterward remembered that Col- onel Evans was commander of one of the militia regiments, and that there were also present Col. John Gibson, of the Thirteenth Virginia, and Daniel Broadhead, colonel of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. It was this army that built Fort McIntosh at the mouth of Beaver creek. The army marched into the wilderness on the 5th of November, crossing the forks of the Muskingum, and building Fort Lawrence on the west bank of that river. He afterward returned to Fort McIntosh and was discharged on the 20th of December.

Mr. Dunlavey was again drafted on the 25th of August, 1779; the rendezvous, Fort Pitt. He was in camp three days at the "King's Orchard," on the Allegheny river. He then marched up that stream under Colo- nel Broadhead as chief officer, Colonel Gib- son next in command. His captain was one Ellis. In this army were Lieuts. John Har- din, of the Thirteenth Virginia, and Samuel Brady, of the Eighth Pennsylvania, both afterwards famous in Indian warfare. John Monteur, a half-blood (son of Andrew Monteur, a Frenchman ), a man of informa-

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

tion and education, but a great savage, ac- companied the expedition, which consisted of about seven hundred whites, including some light horse. and about sixty Indians. Proceeding up the east bank of the Alle- gheny they crossed the Kiskiminitas, at its mouth, and a crooked creek, and came to Kittaning, where there was a garrison. The army lay several days at an old Indian town on the river about twelve miles above the Kittaning. They then marched up the river and crossed about fifteen miles below the mouth of French creek. They then crossed the latter stream and moved toward the Mon- sey towns, meeting and defeating a small body of Indians, some thirty or forty in number. Four or five of the Americans were wounded, amone them Jonathan Zane, who was acting as pilot to the expedition. The Monsey villages were deserted. The army lay in the abandoned towns nearly a week, destroying several hundred acres of growing corn on the banks of the river. On their return a young man named John Ward was badly injured by a horse falling on a rock in a creek. This accident occurred in what is now Butler county, Pennsylvania, where there is a township and post office called Slippery Rock. Mr. Dunlavey was discharged September 29.

In the spring of 1782 Mr. Dunlavey was a student in Rev. Thaddeus Dodd's Latin and mathematical "log cabin" school at Ten- Mile, in Washington county, near Amity. He was then considered "a young man of superior talent and amiable disposition." He did not remain long in this school, for, in April of that year, he again volunteered against hostile Indians under a call from James Marshall, lieutenant of his county.

The men rendezvoused at Decker's Station, or Fort, on the east bank of the Ohio, one mile above Cross creek. After a few days the men were dismissed, a sufficient num- ber to have undertaken any important move- ment not having assembled. He was absent from home only ten days. No sooner was the expedition against Sandusky announced than Mr. Dunlavey once more shouldered his rifle. By the 15th of May he had re- turned to Decker's Station. He soon after crossed the Ohio to Mingo Bottom, and, upon the organization of the army, was made a lieutenant in Capt. Craig Ritchy's company. After the return of Mr. Dun- lavey from the Sandusky campaign, and as soon as the peace of the country permitted, he was sent to the Dickenson College. He was afterward a student of divinity under Rev. James Hoge, of Winchester, Virginia, and finally taught a classical school in that state, having several pupils who subse- quently were distinguished for their talents and learning. About the year 1790 he moved with his father's family to Washington, Kentucky, or that neighborhood. In 1792 he came to Columbia, near Cincinnati, where he opened a classical school in connection with the late John Reiley, of Butler county, Ohio. This school was continued for sev- eral years. He afterward moved to Leban- on, Warren county. Mr. Dunlavey was twice a member of the legislature of the Northwestern territory. He afterward was elected to the convention that formed the first constitution of Ohio. He was a member of the first state legislature, and was subsequently chosen presiding judge of the court of common pleas of the first circuit, which office he held for fourteen years. The

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

counties of Hamilton, Butler, Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Clermont composed the first district.

In the old graveyard at Lebanon, Ohio, near the middle of the north boundary line, is the grave of this old hero. A modest looking monument bears the following in- scription : "In memeory of Francis Dun- lavey, who died October 6. 1839, aged ser- enty-eight years." He was among the first white men who entered the territory now forming Ohio, was a member of the terri- torial legislature and of the convention that framed the constitution of Ohio.

GEN. BENJAMIN WHITEMAN.

One of Greene county's first associate judges died July r. 1852, at his residence near Clifton, Ohio, at the age of eighty-four years. He was born on the 12th of March, 1769, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; in 1782, and when about thirteen years of age, he emigrated to Kentucky about seven years after the first white settlement had been made there by Colonel Daniel Boone, and settled near Limestone, or Maysville, as it is now called. He was associated with Boone in defending the white settlements from the ruthless hands of the savages, en- listing and serving as a volunteer in General Harmer's campaign, and also in General Anthony Wayne's army, after the appoint- ment of that gentleman by Washington as a successor of General St. Clair to the com- mand of the army engaged against the In- dians on our western frontier. In the month of March, 1792, he was in a desperate en- gagement with a party of Indians, headed by the gallant warrior. Tecumseh, in what is now Brown county, a few miles above where

the town of Williamsburg is now situated. Some horses had been stolen from Mason county, Kentucky ; a party of men number- ing thirty-six, commanded by that veteran Indian fighter, Simon Kenton, started in pursuit, General Whiteman being one of the party.

On the morning of the second day, after crossing the Ohio river, twelve of the men gave out and returned, the weather being ex- tremely bad. About noon, the same day, they came on the Indian camp, and found them so numerous that the attack was de- frayed until night. They lay concealed un- til midnight, when the attack was made in three divisions, but the Indians stood their ground and returned the fire. The watch word of the Kenton men was "Boone," which being familiar with the Indians the name was shouted on all sides, and the com- batants became blended together, as was also the watch-word. The night was dark and the flashing and roar of the rifles, the yells of the savages and the shouts of the attack- ing party made the scene awfully appalling. The Indians being re-enforced from a neigh- boring camp, Kenton ordered retreat, which was effected with the loss of but two men. The Indians had about one hundred men lost, fourteen killed and seventeen wounded.

In 1793. when about twenty-three, Gen- eral Whiteman married the daughter of Owen Davis, the old miller down on Beaver creek, owner of the house of Peter Borders, Greene county, Ohio's, first court house, with whom he lived for a period of about fifty-nine years. The fruits of this marriage was a numerous and a very respectable family.

In the fall of 1799 he removed with his

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

young family to Greene county, Ohio, and settled near the mouth of Beavercreek, in the vicinity of what is now known as the Harbine farm. In this neighborhood he lived about five years, and in 1799 he built the house in which the first court was held in the county. In this connection it will not be amiss to introduce the testimony of General Whiteman himself as to when he first set- tled in Greene county, and while it will throw light on matters that have been set- tled, yet from his evidence will show con- clusively that errors will sometimes be ac- cepted as truth.

A court of the master commissioner (Josiah Grover ) was being held at the house of Amassa Reid, at old Chillicothe, or Old Town, for the purpose of taking depositions of some of the oldest pioneers. to be used in suits of ejectment against different parties then pending in the court of Greene county. General Benjamin Whiteman, in answer to the question "At what time did you become acquainted with the old Chillicothe, on the Little Miami river?" said: "In the month of October, 1790. In 1792 I, together with a detachment of militia from Kentucky, en- camped on that point of land that lies just beyond Old Town, between what is now known as Massies creek and the Little Miami river. It was then generally spoken of as an island amongst us, and I always believed it to be an island until I became a resident of this county, in 1799. About one year after I settled in this county I had occasion to go to the falls of the Little Miami, and. traveling up between the Little Miami and Massies creek, I found them to be separate streams, and as to the island below the month of Massies creek, at which I have since understood Jamison's entry com-

menced at or called for. I have no knowi- edge of nor never heard of such a one until several years after I settled in this county. I first settled on Beavercreek, about six miles from the Old Chillicothe, in what is now the bounds of Greene county, and there was no settlement at that time above Davis' mill, above Beavercreek, except three fam- ilies on the Little Miami, in the limits of what is now Greene county, and the settle- ment on what I then lived on Beavercreek, and it did not exceed six or eight families."

The three settlements spoken of above were those of James Galloway, Sr., George Galloway, cousin of James, Sr., and Robert Boggess, the last named near the falls of the Little Miami, and the first two spoken of were located. James Galloway, Sr., on the left of the road across the Little Miami, going north, and George Galloway on the right opposite what is now ( 1899) the Mi- ami Powder Works. General Whiteman was asked "How often had you passed through or near Old Chillicothe?" and he answered, "I passed through that point of land three times in three different years, be- tween the years 1790 and 1794, once under the command of Colonel Edwards, with about four hundred volunteers, and twice on small scouts."

General Whiteman resided in Beaver- creek township for about five years, and there Imilt the house in which the first courts were held in the county. In 1805 he re- moved to a tract of land which he had pur- chased in the vicinity of Clifton, and on the spot where his old mansion now stands he lived for a period of forty-seven years. He was present at the naming of the new coun- ty seat of Greene county, when the forks of the Shawnee creek was chosen as a per-

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

manent location, and was one of the first associate judges of the first court held in the county. He was associated with Generals Gano, Findley and others in first organizing the military system of Ohio, and held a com- mission of lieutenant colonel in the militia of Greene county in 1805, and was also at the time president of the court of inquiry of said county. When the war between this country and Great Britain broke out he was appointed brigade general of this division, and having entered upon the active duties of his office he continued to serve his coun- try to the end of the war.

After the war closed he retired to his country residence, in the vicinity of Clifton. where he spent the remainder of his days in educating his children, and enjoying the sweets of domestic life. He was one of the early pioneers of Greene county, his name being associated with the earliest recollec- tions of the old settlers. It is incorporated with our social, civil and military affairs in their earliest history. He lived to witness the origin, progress and development of our county and state from the time she was rocked in the cradle of infancy until she took her stand as the third state in this great confederacy. General Whiteman was both a soldier and a patriot, as well as a dignified gentleman of honest and high-minded prin- ciples, who scorned a mean action, was a good citizen, a pleasant neighbor and a kind father.

We have the assurance also from the testimony of Rev. Moses Russell, to whom we are indebted for part of this sketch, that among the last acts of his life was a distinct avowal of the principles of Christianity, and especially the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. and the expression of a hope

that through his death he might obtain sal- vation.

How much has been lost to Greene coun- ty in the death of this grand old pioneer. Could his biography have been written of the many facts of local history, which he had in reference to the early times and set- tlement of this county, it would have made a large volume, almost priceless in value. In the cemetery at Clifton, Ohio, his body lies buried with the simple and modest inscrip- tion on his monument, "Benjamin White- man, born March 6, 1769; died July I, 1852." Nothing to indicate his record as a soldier, or which would lead one to think of the brave and daring life that he lived as a soklier, the stirring events that have been his to share. May he rest in peace.

ASSOCIATE JUDGE WILLIAM MAXWELL.

On account of Mr. Maxwell's early death, which occurred in the year 1809, and his immediate friends and descendants hav- ing removed from the county, it has been a very difficult task to compile and pay any- thing like a just tribute to his worth as a brave and enterprising pioneer of Greene county. The facts that we have been en- abled to gather here and there read almost like fiction. We learn from the early his- tory of Hamilton county that he was a na- tive of New Jersey, and not long after the organization of said county he came out and settled on the site now known as Cin- cinnati, Ohio. We also find that Mr. Max- well had the honor of publishing the first newspaper that was published in that city, if not the first one that was published north of the Ohio river. He came to the front in that capacity November 9, 1793, being

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

encouraged he set up an office. It was a primitive affair, located in a small room in a log cabin, which stood on the corner of what is now known as Front and Sycamore streets, near the river. The settlement at that time contained not more than two hun- dred souls. Ilis press was brought down the river from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The name of the paper was "The Sentinel of the Northwestern Territory." He was also the second postmaster of Cincinnati, the successor of Abner Dunn. It was along about this time that an event occurred which is related by his granddaughter, Mrs. Sarah Beath, of Normal, Illinois, who says: "My grandmother's (the wife of William Max- well) maiden name was Nancy Robins. Her father was killed by Indians in Virginia, and her mother with two or three children escaping to Cincinnati took refuge in the block houses there, when the village was beseiged by the Indians." Mrs. Beath's great-grandmother afterward became the wife of Ebenezer Zane, the founder of Zanesville, Ohio. And it was under trying times, as above stated, that William Max- well, ex-representative to the first legisla- ture that met at Chillicothe, to formulate and enact laws for the new county of Greene and state of Ohio, ex-associate judge and ex- sheriff of Greene county from December 7. 1803, until 1807, met, won and married Nancy Robins. From the old records we find that Mr. Maxwell and his little family in 1799 removed to the then more northern part of Hamilton county to what is now known as the Maxwell farm situated in Beavercreek township. Greene county, Ohio. Many facts which are a mystery are made plain by the aid of which we term the "okl records." Many questions never could have

been answered had it not been for the light from them that is thrown backward down the road that leads back to the "long ago." For example, when the first legislature con- vened at Chillicothe to designate the tem- porary county seat for the new made county of Greene, how did they know about the house of Owen Davis on Beaver creek? The answer to that is, William Maxwell, the sub- ject of this sketch, and a member of that body at that time, had been living for more than five years in sight of the house of Owen Davis, or, as it is sometimes called, the house of Peter Borders. His land adjoined, and in many places was the boundary line, of the land then known as the Owen Davis farm, now the home of our honored fellow citizen, Jacob Harbine.

Mr. Maxwell was also an officer and an - active worker in helping to establish the militia in Greene county. As far back as 1805 he held the position of major. De- cember 7. 1803, having resigned the office of associate judge, he was elected sheriff of the county in place of Nathan Lamme, who had resigned said office on account of his large land interests. Among the old relics of Greene county in the way. of historical papers are three of the original bonds given by Mr. Maxwell for faithful performance of duty ; two of said bonds are for the office of sheriff, the other is for the office of col- lector of taxes. After Mr. Maxwell's death his widow married John White. The chil- dren of William Maxwell and wife Nancy are as follows: sons, William, John, Elias, George, Ludlow, and daughters, Nancy, who married John Sayers; Eliza, who married Samuel Owens; and Levina, who married Baker Butler.

About one and one-half miles southeast

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

of the village of Alpha. not far down the Little Miami river from what is known as the "Indian Riffle Bridge," on ascending the hill can be seen the stones that were placed there by the hands of him of whom we write, as the foundation of his spring house. Not far from the spring was the first cabin which hie erected as his home, and not far from the spring on a high point of land is the grave of William Maxwell. Sr., but where the spot is where loving hands laid him to rest in 1809 none as yet can tell.

JAMES BARRETT, ONE OF THE FIRST ASSO- CIATE JUDGES OF GREENE COUNTY.

He was a native of the state of Virginia. The first notice of Mr. Barrett as a public man we find to be that on the 6th day of April. 1803, the two houses of the first leg- islature of Ohio, which had assembled at Chillicothe, met in joint convention and se- lected three associate judges for each of the then existing and newly organized counties. The gentlemen selected for Greene county were Benjamin Whiteman, James Barrett and William Maxwell. After his appoint- ment Mr. Barrett served as such until the year 1810. He was at this time well up in years and the infirmities of age were grow- ing upon him. He first purchased one half of a section of land in what was then known as Hamilton county, in the early part of the year 1802. This land was in the first entire range of townships, and in the second town- ship and known as lot No. 32 in said town- ship on the general map of the Miami pur- chase ; the north part of said section was set off to James Barrett. Mr. Barrett's family at this time consisted of his wife Elsie and four children, two sons, James and Philip, 3

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History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 5

Author: Robinson, George F., 1838-1901 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 934

Author: Robinson, George F., 1838-1901
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 934