History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 7

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

Davis had not more than settled in his new home, the present site of the town of Clif- ton, Ohio, until he commenced to erect the first mill in Miami township, the stone foun- dation of which ( 1900) can be seen near the sawmill east of the present Clifton mill. Previous to his removing from Beavercreek township he had sold his mill property to Jacob Smith, who in 1815 sold the same to our old townsman, James A. Scott, and his brother John. Owen Davis was a soldier of the Revolution and a fearless Indian figlit- er. and at a meeting of the first court of common pleas proper, AAugust 2, 1803. we find that he pleads guilty to a charge of assault, and is duly fined eight dollars for the same. The cause of the fight was Mr. Davis had charged a man from Warren county of stealing hogs. After the fight he went into the court room and addressing his illustrious son-in-law, General Benjamin Whiteman, who was one of the associate judges, said : "Well. Ben. I've whipped that hog thief ; what's the damage?" and farther added, shaking his fist at the judge, "Yes, Ben, if you'd steal a hog. I'd whip you, too."

In enumerating the early settlers of Mli- ami township, Greene county, the name of Owen Davis should not be forgotten. In the old historic graveyard, Clifton, Ohio, not far from the north line and near the middle of said graveyard, is the grave of Owen Davis, who was a native of Wales, and was born October 13, 1751, and died at his home near Clifton, Ohio, February 18. 1818, aged sixty-six years, four months and five days. And by his side his wife. Letitia Phillips Davis, who died September 8, 1824, in the seventy-fifth year of her age.

JOSIAHI GROVER, SECOND CLER; OF COURTS.

The first trace of the Grover family, the ancestors of Josiah Grover, clerk of courts from 1808 till 1829, was when Josiah and Benjamin Grover had settled and were liv- ing near Harper's Ferry, Virginia. The for- mer was the father of Josiah and Benjami ? Grover, who in the year 1804 came and set- tled in Xenia. Their parents had e migrate i to the state of Kentucky and had located near Danville.

Josiah Grover, Sr., married Miss Mary Anderson about the year 1720, and to them were given five chidren, two daughter and three sons. The eldest of these was Sarah T., who married Colonel John Paul. the founder of Xenia, Ohio, and Madison, In- diana (a sketch of whom appears in this book). The second, a daughter, Jemima. who married a MIr. Mockley. The third. a son, Josiah, who married Martha Mc- Clure. And in addition to these were two sons, Benjamin and Abraham. Benjamin came to Xenia with his brother Josiah, and was a useful man in the new town. On the lot now owned by Mrs. James Kyle ( mother of Charles Kyle. Esq. ), he erected the first school house of logs in 1805, and was the first to teach school in Xenia. He afterward served the county as commissioner in 1813 and 1814. Josiah Grover, the third child and first son of Josiah and Mary Anderson Grover, was born near Baltimore, Maryland1. in 1770. Josiah Grover and his wife. Martha MeClure Grover, had given to them eight children: Abraham, who married Miss Dunham: John Paul, who married Miss Juliet Beall : James Liggett, who mar- ried Miss Nancy Ann, youngest daughter

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

of Hon. John .Alexander, and who also was the successor in office to his father as clerk of courts of Greene county, Ohio, for seven years, and was a minister of the gospel in the Methodist Episcopal church, ' where he was a man of note and loved by all. He was for years the efficient librarian of the state library at Columbus from 1872 until the day before his death, which occurred May 5. 1897, at the age of ninety-one years. He was born in Xenia, December 12, 1806. His youth and early manhood were spent in Xenia: at the age of eighteen he had graduated from the Nenia Academy. The fourth child was a daughter. Sarah Paul, who was born in Xenia in 1810 and died at New Albany in 1873. aged sixty-three years. She married George H. Harrison, who was a native of Harrisonburg. Virginia, and who was born in February. 1809. died at New Albany in 1854. He is said to have been a teacher of rare ability. He was for some years a resident of Xenia, as his son, James G., was born here September 29, 1834. and they removed to New Albany in 1839. The fifth child was a son, Oliver Hazard Perry. who was killed in the Mexican war. The sixth child, a son, Benjamin Whiteman. married Letitia Sheets. The seventh and eighth sons were twins, Nelson Ira and Reade Ellis.

Josiah Grover is sometimes mentioned as Judge Grover. The reason for that was, under the old constitution of the state, the clerk of courts had all the work to do which the probate judge has to do to-day under the new constitution. In addition to the work of clerk of courts he was county re- corder, master commissioner, that is held court at different points to take depositions, etc. . And he was also one of the associate

judges for the years 1806, 1807 and 1808. The old Josiah Grover home is yet ( 1900) still standing, the house now occupied by Coleman Heaton. Mr. Grover removed from Xenia to Madison, Indiana, in 1830, to the city on the Ohio river which his hon- ored brother-in-law. John Paul, had found- ed. On the hilltop near Malison is resting all that is mortal of this illustrious man and his loving helpmate, and by his side Colonel John Paul. the founder of the two cities. Venia, Ohio, and Madison, Indiana.

REMEMBRANCE WILLIAMS, A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION AND FIRST SET- TLER NEAR XENI.A.

Remembrance Williams was born near the Potomac river, Harrison county, Vir- ginia. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was with Washington during that dis- tressing winter at Valley Forge. After the close of the war in 1790, he, together with his family, emigrated to Kentucky, settling a few miles back of Louisville, in Nelson county, where he continued to reside until the year 1800, when he removed to Ohio, crossing the Ohio river at the mouth of Licking river, and from that point came direct to what is now Xenia, and entered a section of land, what is now known as the Silas Roberts' farm, and near what is called the middle spring he built his cabin. That was three years before Xenia was surveyed and laid out as a town. In the fall of 1803. when Joseph C. Vance came to survey and lay off the new county seat for Greene Coun- ty. part of the north line of the new town was the south line of the land of this okl pioneer. His family at this time consisted of his wife, Eleanor, and sons John. Remem-

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

brance, Garrett, Jesse and Robert. They had but two daughters, Margaret, who mar- ried Thomas Branham, and Hannah, who married Sidion Mericreif. In 1814 he re- moved with his family, with the exception of his eldest son, John, to Jefferson county, Indiana, and settled near Dupont. He had disposed of part of his land in Greene coun- ty, previous to removing, some to his son John, Ryan Gowdy, Samuel Gamble, and in 1817 he sold the remaining two hundred and sixty-nine acres to David Connelly. His son Remembrance, Jr., and Jesse later re- turned to Ohio and settled near Mechanics- burg, Champaign county. Remembrance Williams, Sr., died on his farm in Indiana February 2, 1843. John Williams, his eld- est son, was born in Virginia, April 4, 1783, and died in Xenia, Ohio, AApril 6, 1826. He was the father of the following children : Mary, who was married to Samuel Gano; Eleanor, wife of David Medsker: Cass- andra; Catherine, wife of Wilson B. Mc- Cann; Margaret, wife of James McCarty ; Elizabeth, wife of William B. Fairchild. The last named is the only one now (1900) living. Four sons of the old pioneer were soldiers in the war of 1812, namely : John, Remembrance. Garrett and Robert.

JAMES POPENOE, SR.

His first visit to the present site of Xenia was in the year 1799, when he was one of a number of daring explorers and Indian fighters from Kentucky who paid this part of the country a visit and passed over the ground where Xenia is now located. Mr. Popenoe, with his brother, Peter, came to Greene county to locate permanently some time previous to 1803 and settled in Beaver-

creek township. His brother Peter took the first enumeration of all free white males over the age of twenty-one in 1803. Peter settled in what is now Clark county and afterward removed to the state of Missouri in 1806, and was killed by the Indians.

James Popenoe's political life was an in- teresting one. The first elective office which he held was that of coroner of Greene coun- ty, he being the first to occupy that posi- tion, which was in the year 1805. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812 under Gen- eral' Harrison. In the year 1815 he was elected sheriff of Greene county, being the successor of Captain John Hivling, which office he filled with acceptance until 1819. when he gave way to John Smith, son of Jacob Smith, who had bought of Owen Davis the first mill that was built in the county, and who was also owner of the house of Peter Borders, where the first courts of Greene county were held. While he was acting as sheriff in 1816 Mr. Pope- noe built the well known home of Hon. R. F. Howard, which was located on Main street, lot No. 19, and which place, April 2, 1831, he sold and conveyed to Dr. Joseph Templeton. That house was the birthplace of many of his children, and is yet, in 1900, standing and in good condition. In the years 1819 and 1820 Mr. Popenoe repre- sented Greene county in the Ohio legislature (in the house). In the year 1824 he was again elected sheriff of the county and con- tinued to act as such until 1829, when he gave over the office to James A. Scott. It is said in history that Captain John Hivling and Mr. Popenoe were treasurers of the county. That is a mistake. The sheriff ofttimes acted as collector of taxes, for which he received a percentage in addition

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

to his pay as sheriff, and that fact must have missed the compiler.

Mr. Popenoe removed to Centerville in 1830. Peter. his eldest son, removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where many of his de- scendants are yet living. James Popenve. Jr., is yet living at Centerville, Ohio, a hale. hearty, old man, aged eighty-two. AAnd still another son. Willis Parkison Popenoc, iesides at Topeka, Kansas, aged eighty- seven, who was born in the house before mentioned.

Mr. Popenoe in addition to other prop- erty owned what was called the "Indian Riffle farm," west of Xenia on the Little Miami. He was born August 20, 1777, and died at his home near Centerville. Mont- gomery county, Ohio, August 19, 1848, and is buried in the old graveyard near that place.

LEWIS DAVIS. MIAMI TOWNSHIP'S FIRST

SETTLER.

In the history of Jefferson county. In- diana, is found the following history of Lewis Davis, which says that "he was one of the original proprietors of the town of Madison, Indiana: was a man of middle age when he met John Paul at the sale of lands at Jeffersonville in the spring of 1809. Where he was born or where he died is not known. He left Madison some time in 1812 or 1813 and went to Xenia, Ohio, to reside. Afterward he resided in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1817 he was there. as is found by a deed conveying his entire remaining interest of lands in Madison, Indiana, to Lewis White- man. bearing date of November 24, 1817. On October 8. 1813. Davis had sold one-

hali of his interest in Madison to Mr. Jacob Burnett. of Cincinnati. he then being a resi- dent of Greene county, Ohio."

From the history of Greene county. Ohio, and old records we gather the follow- ing about Miami township :. Lewis Davis was perhaps the first settler in this town- ship, as he came in the early days of this century. While at Dayton, then a small hamlet, he met an Indian just arrived from the Yellow Springs, by whom he was in- formed of the extraordinary natural advant- ages in its immediate vicinity. The savage further explained to him that the springs were located near a branch of the Little Mi- ami river. Accompanied by a friend. he fol- lowed the instructions given by his dusky informant, and upon the discovery of the springs went to Cincinnati and entered the land. He was frequently engaged in sur- veying land, accumulated considerable prop- erty, and was considered an upright and enterprising citizen. Unfortunately he fell a prey to the wiles of King Alcohol and was completely ruined thereby. He finally re- moved to Bellfontaine, Ohio, where he ended his days. His last resting place is thus de- scribed by one who discovered it accident- ally: "On the left hand side of the state road, six miles west of Bellfontaine in an open forest, in a sandy knoll surrounded by a rail enclosure and covered by an oval shaped bowlder perhaps six feet in diameter : beneath this stone reposes all that remains of Lewis Davis, unhonored. unwept and un- known." For years he had lived the life of a pauper, and when he saw the grim vision of death approaching he expressed a desire that this spot should be his last resting place. He was the only son of Owen Davis. the old miller on Beaver.

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

RECOLLECTIONS OF XENIA IN 1809 BY REV. JAMES TOWLER AND JOIN MILLS.

Rev. James Towler was born in Prince Edward county. Virginia, April 18, 1768, and died on his farm northwest of Xenia, July 9. 1836. aged sixty-eight years. 1 pioneer in the wilderness, he built the second house that was erected in Kenia, what was known as the old Crumbaugh house, where now stands the wholesale grocery of Eavey & Company. Fredrick Bonner doing the carpenter work for the same in the fall of 1804. . At the recent centennial of the set- tlement of Greene county hell in Xenia in 1807 there were tools that had belonged to Frederick Bonner. Sr .. on exhibition as rel- ics, and some of them he had used in finish- ing this house. The records of the county show that James Towler, of Petersburg. Vir- gnia, bought of John Cole. of Dinwiddie county, Virginia, three thousand acres of land situated on the waters of Shaw- ree creek, and at his coming to Greene county soon after he purchased of Jo- seph C. Vance lot No. 39, on which the aforesaid house was built, Mr. Tow- ler was an earnest Methodist, and in the early records of the First Methodist Epis- copal church. Xenia, his name appears as a member of the official board of said church. He afterward connected himself with what was known as the Radical or Protestant church. He was a preacher in that denomination, and used to go among the Indians, and at one time brought a couple of Indian boys home with him to have them educated. They remained in Xenia for some time, forming many ac- quaintances, and then returned to their tribes. Mr. Towler donated to the Radical

church a strip of land for a graveyard, sit- tiated near the present residence of Norman Tiffany, and nearly two hundred of the resi- dents of Xenia were buried here.

He was the first postmaster of Xenia, Ohio. The following is a copy of a letter that was written by Mr. Towler to an east- ern friend and is in the possession of Mr. Ira C. Harper, of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. A copy was procured by Mr. Warren K. Moorehead, our young friend, who is search- ing around for all sorts of antiquities. Mr. Towler was at that time postmaster of Xenia :

"NENIA, Omno, May 8. 1809.

"This town is the seat of justice of Greene county. It was laid out in the fall of 1803 by Joseph C. Vance, and contains at this time twenty-eight families and one hundred and fifty souls, a court house of brick, forty feet square, with a cupola. The town is washed by Shawnee creek, a branch of the Little Miami river, from whose mouth we are three miles, and fifty-five miles from Chillicothe. In the county are nine grist mills, nine sawmills, one fulling mill and one pail factory. Never failing and excellent springs are numerous. The Yellow Springs, which are deemed a natural curiosity, are nine miles north of this place. It takes its name from a yellow or pale red sediment. which it emits from the water, and of which a large bank in found below the spring, over which the water has a fall of seventy feet into a hollow. It is believed the spring af- fords a sufficiency of water to turn a grist mill the year round, and is said to be im- pregnated with copper, copperas and iron. It is considerably visited during the sum- mer season, and affords relief for sore eyes, rheumatism, etc. It is diuretic. and the sedi-

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

ment when ground in oil, paints as well as Spanish brown. The falls of the Little Mi- ami (which is about three miles distant. falls over a rock twelve feet perpendicular. and the whole distance, two hundred feet ) are of considerable importance to this coun- ty. There are remains of artificial walls, and mounds, in several parts of the county.

"Our trade is chiefly in hogs and cattle. which are purchased by drovers for the east- ern markets and Detroit. There are two stores in the town, which I consider a great evil, as they keep our neighborhood drained of cash. We have extensive prairies. Wolves have been bad on our sheep. Corn. wheat and rye are our principal crops. The soil is generally good and pretty equally di- vided into upland and bottom. The settlers are principally from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Kentucky. Religion. Methodist. Seceders and Baptist. The county is twenty miles long, twenty miles broad. and is about one hundred and ten miles from Lake Erie."

In connection with what has been said by Mr. Towler, of Nenia and Greene coun- ty at that date ( 1809) we will add yet an- other testimony, that of John Mills. ITis father, Jacob, was one of the first to settle near what is now called Greene county. ithose coming was in the year 1796. The land he first entered was over the line in Warren county. He came from Kentucky with John Wilson, and his sons. Amos. Daniel and George, where they located as a colony. In the subsequent division into States and counties the purchase was found to be in the southwest corner of Greene county, near Clio, or Ferry, as it is now (Som) called. while the purchase of Daniel fell in' > Montgomery, and Jacob Mills' into

Warren county. And yet they worked to- gether, assisting one another in providing themselves homes. In 1809 Jacob Mills came with his family from Warren county to near where Clifton is now located in Mi- ami township, Greene county, bringing with him his three sons. John. Daniel and Thom- as. History is silent in regard to his part- ing with his old friends, John Wilson and his sons, and why he had left that part of the state where he had spent some thirteen years of pioneer life. . And yet the distance was not so great but what they could visit one another. We find that shortly after the coming of Jacob Mills to Miami township in 1809 a singing school had been organized in Xenia, and the teacher of said school was David Wilson, oldest son of Daniel Wilson, their old neighbor, and it was no wonder that John Mills, then a lad of fifteen, wanted to go; for three reasons. first, to see his old playmate. David; second, to see the Xenia girls : and lastly, to see the town, which was pretty much of a town at that time, with its about thirty log cabins and a brand new court house. The singing school was to be hell in that new court house, and as John wanted to go he went. . And we are very glad that he did, for it is to him that we are under obligations for furnishing us a description of Xenia as he saw it in the year 1809. He must have had a splendid time. Young folks in this age think that they have good times, not more so than they .- don't know whether John took his best girl along or not. but we will let him tell his own story. He says :

"The singing school was held in the new court house, and the girls came with their beaux on horseback, dressed in linsey, and a few of the elite appeared in calico, then the

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

extreme of fashion, aspired to by a few. And the boys arrived there all right. for the girls who had aeted as guards of honor (rear guards ) would not let them fall off. 'Oh blessed days' when horses, were made that would carry double." John said that they had a grand time and returned home over about Clifton with enlarged views of life and creation generally. Years after- ward, at his home in Jamestown, Ohio, John, then a steady old man, gives us from memory his recollections of the long ago. Ile says : "During the winter of this same year, 1809, while in Xenia. I saw a man selling cider at twelve and one-half cents a quart, in front of the court house. \ large stump was stand- ing in the street. by the side of which he had a fire, in which he heated several rods of iron, and when he would make a sale he would hold the iron rod in the cider to bring it to a drinkable temperature." He states also at that time all houses in Xenia were built of logs, except one frame dwelling that stood where now is located the grocery of Harner & Wolf, the property of James Gow- dy. and the brick courthouse. In front of what used to be the Second National Bank. on the southwest corner of Greene street. fronting on Main, was a stagnant pool of water. a general rendezvous for geese, ducks and hogs. Opposite the courthouse was a two-story hewed log house kept by Maj. William A. Beatty as a tavern. On East Main street, on the present site of Trinity church, Henry Barnes, Sr., had built a log cabin in the woods.

In contrast with the price that dry goods are now selling for, and what they cost then, young men of this age are favored. Mlr. Mills says the material of which his wed-

ding shirt was made cost a dollar a yard ; same material can be bought to-day for six or eight cents per yard. The highest price paid for labor then was from fifty to seven- ty-five cents per day, and scarce at that, while every species of merchandise was from ten to twentyfold higher than at pres- ent. Salt hauled from Cincinnati was (four barrels by a four-horse team) four dollars per bushel.

THE COMING OF THE GOWDY FAMILY.

In February, 1845, James Gowdy (then sixty-eight years of age). beng solicited by some of his children, gave the following account of his ancestry, and contemporary connections : "My progenitors on my fa- ther's side were Welsh and Irish. They emigrated from Ireland in AA. D. 1707, and settled in the states of Delaware and Penn- sylvania. My grandfather's Christian name was James. Ile had four children who lived to maturity, viz .: Adam, who died young and single : John (my father ) : Rob- ert and Jane. My father was born on the fifth day of November, 1742. in New Castle county, Delaware, and removed, with some others of the family, into Pennsylvania. about 1760, where he married Abigail, the youngest daughter of John Ryan, about 1772, with whom he lived about forty-two years, and had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to marry and raise families, except Mary, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. on the 13th of April. 1775, and died in Greene county, Ohio, the 9th day of June, 1812. James was born in Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, on the 20th day of May. 1777: Samuel, born 9th of January, A. D. 1780;

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

Robert, born on the 4th of April. 1782 : Mar- tha. born on the 27th of January, 1785. mar- ried John Jolly, and had one son, James: Jane, born on the 31st of May, 1787: John. born on the 3d of August. 1780 : Alexander, born on the zd of April. 1792: Ryan, born (m the 3d day of February. 1795: Abigail. born on the 17th of July. 1797 : Sarah, bern on the 6th of March, 1803. This in brief is the beginning of the large connection of that name, coming to Greene county, Ohio. in 1805."

JAMES GOWDY, THE FIRST MERCHANT IN YENI.A.

James Gowdy, the subject of this sketch. eldest son of John and Abigail Gowdy, was born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, on the 20th day of May. 1777, and died at his home. in Xenia, Ohio, December 24. 1853. aged seventy-six years, and is buried in the el Associate Reformed graveyard. East Third street. The first trace that we find of Mr. Gowdy as a merchant, is when he en- tered into partnership with his brother. Sammel, in the mercantile and cabinet busi- ness in the fall of 1802 at Mt. Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky. The bri th- u- carried on the above business on a moderate scale there for three years to "me advantage, having the post office to keep part of the time. In the fall of IN : James to k part of the goods and re- men Ito Senia. Ohio, His brother, Samuel. baig 'I their business in June. 1800 or 100 :it's the balance of their stock. So They also had their younger · bien, to assist them in their work 'e then being a small b. y. or Ve first merchants who made a -

permanent stand with store goods in Xenia. They continued in business as partners with mutual satisfaction for five or six years, and increased their store capital and gained some real estate in town, and land in the country. until the spring or summer of 1814, when they dissolved partnership by mutual con- sent, and each of them ran stores of their own for five or six years, when Samuel sold his store and settled on a tract of woodland near the town. James Gowdy continued in the business, with the aid of his younger brother. Ryan, and an apprentice, John Ew- ing, who was related to his first wife. When Ryan became of age, he left the store and a second apprentice was taken, William Per- kins. Mr. Gowdy had several partners from time to time. John S. Perkins was also one of Mr. Gowdy's apprentices. John R. Gow- dy ( eldest son of Samuel ) was taken in as a member of the firm on the 5th of July, 1833, which partnership continued until near the time of his death, in March. 1834. Then Alexander G. Zimmerman and John .1. Gowdy (son of Robert) were taken into partnership under the firm name of Gowdy, Ewing & Company and continued until the 12th of August. 1836, when John . \. Gowdy settled with the firm and moved to Illinois. The above firm continued until the 19th i July, 1838. when James Gowdy, Sr., sold out his interest in the firm to John Ewing and Alexander Zimmerman, and took the firm's share in a branch store which they had established in Jamestown, Ohio. about eighteen months before, in which store John McBride had an interest of one-half. James Gowdy attended the store. During the above time of thirty-six years in the mercantile business, he had reason to be thankful that he had had no serions misfortune in busi-

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History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 7

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