History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 9

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

USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio > Part 9

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).

"Judge Burnet in his notes says that early in 1,96 the British government sur- rendered the northern post, including Mi- ami and Detroit. The posts were delivered to General Wayne, while Mr. Collier was at Fort Defiance in June, 1796. General Wilkenson one morning reached that post and sat upon his horse in company with his staff officers on the banks of the Auglaize river opposite the fort until a salute of fit- teen rounds had been fired from a twelve pounder. He had been to Detroit, and in conversation with Mr. Collier informed him that the inhabitants of Detroit treated him with coldness and reserve, except one young Frenchman, who invited him to his mother's house, where he was received with kindness and treated with hospitality. And farther the post would have been surrendered to him. but for the want of men he could not take possession. In the following September he saw General Wilkenson on his way to De- troit with part of two regiments of men to take possession : the surrender was made of course to him in pursuance of the stipula- tions of Jay's treaty made in 1793."

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

HIIS LAST ILLNESS.

For a year or so previous to his death he had been infirm, and was frequently sub- ject to severe attacks from which his re- covery seemed doubtful, and it was a com- mon remark among his friends that the okl pioneer was failing fast. Still from every attack he recovered again, so as to be up and about, until about seven weeks previous to his death he was again prostrated with dyspepsia. As the days progressed his sys- tem wasted away to a mere shadow : he took not a particle of nourishment for twenty- three days, yet he continued to live with a tenacity beyond any example ever seen by the many friends who were in attendance or daily visited him. He continued per- fectly in his senses, and was not only re- signed to die, but willing and impatient for that event to take place. At length worn out nature yielded. and he fell asleep with- out a sigh or struggle. And thus he has gone, one of the early pioneers of Greene county, who was here nearby when the first improvement was made within its limits. On each memorial day in our own beautiful Woodland can be seen two flags and the flowers that are still put there to comme- orate the brave acts of the two brothers who were both soldiers in the war of 1812, James and Moses Collier.

MOSES COLLIER.

The younger brother of James Collier was born in Rockbridge county. Virginia. on the 4th day of January. 1784. In 1786 when he was but two years old his family emigrated from Virginia, their destination being Kentucky, but in consequence of his

mother's health they stopped on the river Holstan, in what is now east Tennessee, and there remained until the following sum- mer, when the journey was resumed until they reached the place of destination in Kentucky some eighteen miles north of Crab Orchard. Here he continued to reside with his parents in Lincoln county and spent his early youth. The next we hear of our old pioneer friend was in 1797. when he was making his home with his brother James on the land leased from Captain Nathan Lamme. He was then a mere boy, thirteen years old, and his brother James twenty- three, and it is said by a Bellbrook historian that they lived in a cabin near the present residence of John Kable, north of Bellbrook, being central part of section 33-3. 6. Moses is said to have been remembered as the first assessor of the township. ( That is a mis- take, as the book which contains that enu- meration has been found, and is now in the vault of the auditor's office, and shows that it was James and not Moses. )

In the fall of 1805, at the October elec- tion, we find for the first time the two Col- lier brothers, James and Moses, voting in Xenia township. This was the first vote cast by Moses in Greene county, and he was now twenty-one years old. A year previous he had bought of Joseph C. Vance, director of the town of Xenia, lot No. 128. now owned by President Fay, as the Miami Pow- der Company. He was one of the best sur- veyors that Greene county ever had, and he served the county in that capacity from 1817 until 1829. when he was elected to represent Greene county in the lower house of the legislature.

He was afterward elected surveyor of the county in 1834, and continued to act

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

as such until the year 1840. He was mar- ried, September 19, 1810, to Miss Elizabeth Small, by Rev. Joshua Carman. The result of this marriage was six sons and four daughters: Franklin, David, James, Jr .. Albert, Theodore and Ira, sons, and daugh ters. Mrs. Pugh Sterritt, Mrs. Daniel Job. Miss Ruth Collier, residing at Yellow Springs, and Mrs. Joseph Linkhart, of Xenia. After little more than half a cen- tury of married life he died at his residence on Clifton road, November 28, 1801. after a brief illness. For more than half a cen- tury he resided here, and during the long period had ranked worthily among the best men in the county.

In addition to what has been said before, Moses Collier filled the position of clerk of the court of inquiry of the militia of Greene county. Away back in the years 1810- 11-12. when the county was under the old system of valuation, he was assessor of real estate, making his last assessment in 1840. He was among the first men in the then town of Nenia in 1816 to enroll his name as a stockholler in the first library associa- tion that was organized in the town. Later on, upon the organization of the old Xenia Lyceum, he contributed many valuable works, and contributions were more impor- tant in that day when books were scarce than it would be now. Of the early settlers of this county Mr. Collier was about the last one left, and he was at the day of his death standing almost alone as the representative of the men who felled the forest and opened the fields of the Miami valley. He was a soldier for a brief tour in the war of 1812. under Captain Robert McClelland, to go to the relief of Fort Wayne. At his funeral a large cencourse of neighbors and friends

followed his remains to the last resting place in Woodland cemetery. Xenia, Ohio.

SUGARCREEK TOWNSHIP.

So much can be written of this township that one is at a loss where to commence. We find that on the roth day of May. 1803, Greene county's first associate judges met in the house of Peter Borders, in Beavercreek township, on the farm known at this time ( 1900) as the Harbine farm. for the purpose of laying off the county into townships. This township was the place of commencement : Sugarcreek was designated as No. 1. It was and had been the gateway into the county .of almost all of the early pioneers. . And in order to avoid repetition of what has been written in the former part of this book as to its organiza- tion and boundaries and who were the peo- ple that were living in the county at that time would refer the reader to that descrip- tion. Most of this work has been compiled from the old records of the county that had been carted away to different out of the way places in the court house which was this year ( 1900) torn down, as well as in the one that was torn away in 1842, and which had been built in 1806. It has been said that "Moses Collier was remembered as 'be- ing the first to take the enumeration of Sugarcreek township." That is a mistake. James Collier was the one who made that enumeration, as his book has been found. and in it he says, "1 commenced the work August 3. 1803. and completed it . August 10. 1803." In this connection we quote from a statement furnished by John L. Elcook. assisted by Silas Hale. in 1874. He says : "Some seventy years ago the spot where

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

Bellbrook now stands was a wild unbroken wilderness. Herds of deer roamed through the forest and occasionally a bear was to be seen. The first house in the county had not long been built, and stood about half a mile north of the present village of Clio, or Ferry, on what is now known as the .1b- ner Wilson farm."

FIRST HOUSE IN GREENE COUNTY.

It was raised on the 7th day of April. 1790, and belonged to Daniel Willson, one of the early pioneers of the county. It was constructed of unhewed logs, and like the other cabins of early days had no floor but that afforded by the broad breast of mother earth. Other cabins of the same kind were, however, soon built.

FIRST MILL IN GREENE COUNTY.

A mill stood on the southern part of the farm now owned by Thomas Brown and was the first mill of which we have any record in the county. It was a hand mill, and the neighbors from six or seven miles around came here to grind their grist. Sometimes as many as seven and eight met at the mill, and this number in those days was a crowd: but by "spelling each other at the crank" they soon got the grain ground and left contentedly for home. One of the stones of this mill is now in the possession of Mr. Brown, who has collected quite a cabinet of curiosities and relics. and has, it it said, one of the finest collections of min- eralogical and geological specimens in the state. This mill stone is about fourteen inches in diameter, and three inches thick on the circumference.

FIRST SETTLERS.

Among the first settlers in the vicinity of what is now known as Bellbrook were Joseph C. Vance, Captain Nathan Lamme, John McLean, John C. Hale, Ephraim Bow- man. James Barrett and a few others. (For a complete list see Sugarcreek township. first part of the book.) Joseph C. Vance located and settled on the land lying cast of the street that leads to AAlpha. Here he built a cabin, which was the first dwelling erected on the ground that was long after- ward laid out for the town. It was built of rude logs and stood a little to the rear of where Ephraim Bumgardner's paint shop used to stand. This cabin was afterward sold to James Clancey, and was used by him for a kitchen, he, to meet the growing wants of trade, having erected a finer and more commodious log house, in which he kept tavern.

EX-GOVERNOR JOSEPH VANCE.

And here we may remark that Joseph Vance, the ex-governor and son of the above Joseph C. Vance, is remembered by the school children of that day as a young man in "buckskin breeches" and the driver of an ox cart on the "Pickney road." What visions of future glory haunted his mind while engaged in this humble occupation we shall never know. But that he was not entirely disappointed in his aspirations we may safely judge. The "Pickney road" de- rives its name from "Pickney pond," near Harbine's, by which it ran. It is the same road that is mentioned as leading to Alpha.

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

CAPTAIN NATHAN LAMME

Entered the land now owned by David Clemmer. John Nave and the widow Lamme. The compiler of this sketch has in his pos- session a list, or roll, of the officers of the sixteen Virginia regiments of the Conti- mental army who had received land bounties in the Virginia military district in Kentucky and Ohio, and among the number is the name of Captain Nathan Lamme, who received four thousand acres. He came to Sugarcreek town- ship in the year 1797. and entered his land in sections 33 and 27 (3.6), north- cast of Bellbrook. He built a cabin on the hill north of the Washington mill. He served as a volunteer in the Lord Dunmore war and participated in the battle of Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kan- awha, under General Lewis, which lasted from dawn of day until sundown, and it was a hard fight and bloody battle. And ciuring the war of the Revolution he was found wearing for eight years the uniform of a captain with honor to himself and coun- 11y. . At the organization of Greene county, Ohio, Nathan Lamme was appointed sheriff. lut on account of his large land estate he only served three months and resigned. William Maxwell, who was at the time serv- ing as one of the first associate judges, re- signed that position and accepted the place made vacant by Mr. Lamme. Mr. Maxwell with his able deputy. James Collier, served two terms, when Mr. Collier was elected. Thus from away back we have the precedent for the deputy to take the place of the prin- cipal, which has been kept up with few ex- ceptions to the present time. It is said of Captain Lamure that he was intimately ac-

quainted with Simon Kenton, whom he had often entertained for weeks in his log cabin as the old pioneer passed to and fro from Kentucky to his lands in Champaign county.

In the pioneer graveyard in Bellbrook is buried this grand old hero of the war of the Revolution. He died in 1834, aged eighty- nine years. Men of higher rank and less worth have had expensive monuments erect- ed by a great government. while this one is almost forgotten.

Mr. Lamme had five sons, Josiah, Will- iam. James, Samuel and David: also two daughters, Anna and Martha. Of the five sons. all of them took part in the war of 1812. The following is a sketch of his youngest son :

DAVID LAMME, SOLDIER OF 1812.

Mr. Lamme was born in Kentucky. Jan- uary 1. 1791, and removed with his father to the late residence on the banks of the Little Miami in 1797, where he was resid- ing when the tocsin of war was sounded be- tween this country and Great Britain. He joined the citizen soldiery first as a substi- tute under Captain Robert McClelland at Xenia, from whence he was marched to Up- per Sandusky to meet the northern invaders and their red allies. After his discharge he volunteered under the immortal Harrison to the relief of Fort Wayne, then beseiged by the Indians, after which he volunteered twice. thus serving four distinct campaigns during the war. Notwithstanding his pio- neer and Kentucky hereism placed him in the front ranks in defense of his country. he was emphatically a man of peace, a good soldier, a good citizen, a dutiful son. a provident husband, an indulgent parent and

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

a kind neighbor. It appears that while the Lammes were Virginians, yet like many from that state who came to Ohio in the late Civil war they were true to the "stars and stripes." We find from good authority that Captain Lamme after the war of the Revolution was shortly afterward in Ken- tucky, and it is no doubt but that is where he became acquainted with Simon Kenten.

FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN BELLBROOK.

On the site of the present beautiful resi- dence of Jacob Haines, Jr., and surrounded by a forest of stately oaks and sugar trees stood the first school house in the commu- nity. It was a large log building and had a huge fireplace at either end. Here the future village fathers droned over their dog- eared spelling books, and between the "rule of three" and the master's "birch" spent many miserable days. The seats were not the varnished comfortable affairs with which school houses are now furnished, but rude plank or puncheons resting on pins at a slight angle. The writing desks were ranged around the walls and were made by driving wooden pins into auger holes bored in the logs, so that they stood at a proper angle : on these pins were placed boards or planks to serve as a rest for the copy book. Glass was very scarce, and altogether too expensive an article 10 have in a school house, and this temple of learning was innocent of sash or pane, but necessity is the mother of invention, and a large greased paper was stretched over the window. which in a measure supplied the deficiency and admitted some light at least. This house was afterward torn down by Stephen Bell, and a dwelling erected in its

stead. The master of this backwood's school house was James Bain.

JAMES BALN.

In a sketch written, I think, by Rev. Thomas Beveridge, of the life of Rev. Rob- crt Armstrong, as to the cause of his com- ing to America, he says: "Four members of the Associate church having settled in the same neighborhood in the vicinity of Lex- ington. Kentucky, in 1796, namely : James Bain, Adam Goodlett, Thomas Robinson and James Pringle, took council together at a prayer meeting on the best means of ob- taining a dispensation of the gospel among them. Among the early records of the county James Bain's name appears on the aforesaid records in 1804. Hle settled in Sugarcreek township. Greene county, the same year as Mr. Armstrong, which was on the 2d day of September, 1804, which was the date Mr. Bain came into Sugar- creek township. Ile settled the land now owned by Archibald Berryhill's heirs, north of Bellbrook, northeast section 32 (3.6). He built a cabin near the present farm house. Subsequently he erected a malt house west of the cabin. He was a school master. combining the two avocations of teaching the school and brewing beer. He is a man remembered as combining many other seem- ingly uncongenial professions. It is related of him that he would rise very early in the morning, proceed to his "clearing," work until his good wife. Sarah, who died No- vember 17, 1818, at the age of forty-five, would blow the horn for breakfast. after which he would proceed to his school, and the faithful horn would call him to dinner, and at evening the sound of the horn echc- ing through the woods gave welcome warn-

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

ing to the boys and girls that the dreary hard day's work of school was done, but called the master to his clearing and the maul and the wedge.

He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was in the company of Captain Ammi Maltbie, which was a part of the First Regi- ment, Second Battalion and First Division, and the fact that he was the owner of a private "still" is no reflection upon him. The most of the old pioneers, leading men in the church and other good works, did not at that time think it a sin to have about and make their own liquors. It is said of him that while teaching that, in addition to that, he would make one hundred rails a day by his early rising. He laid out and sold to the Associate or Seceder congrega- tion the site for the church and burial place. the strip of land now known as the "Pioneer Associate graveyard." It had been the opinion of some in the neighborhood that this lot was donated with certain peculiar conditions, but this is a mistake; the deed reads thus : "This indenture made and con- cluded this 8th day of June, 1816, between James Bain, of the county of Greene, etc. Witnessed that said James Bain for and in consideration of the sum of three dollars to him paid doth grant, bargain, etc., a certain lot of ground enclosing the church, known by the name of the Sugarcreek meeting house. The deed is given without reserve." And in that place, first line of graves, near the east line, south corner, he sleeps the long sleep of death. Mr. Bain was born in the year 1748, and died .August 9, 1832, at the age of seventy-five years.

THE PICKNEY ROAD.

One reason why Sugarcreek township

was the gateway by which so many of the carly residents of the county entered was on account of this road. It was the first beaten track through the wilderness leading from Cincinnati through Lebanon extending north through what is now Main street, Bellbrook, north toward Alpha, past what was then known as Pickney pond, from which the road is supposed to have taken its name. Over this road the early settlers re- ceived their supplies of salt and iron and such other commodities as they could not produce for themselves. It required long absences from home and laborious travel to go to Cincinnati then with a load of ground corn and exchange it for salt and return home again. . After a time this road became more of a thoroughfare, the demand for supplies for the growing settlements con- tinued to increase, and large teams of belled horses began to make regular trips carrying loads of flour and returning with mer- chandise.

Another road leading from this one was called the "Beer road." because it was used mostly by our old pioneer friend, James Bain, to transfer from his place in the hol- low. back of what is known as the Pioneer graveyard, to Dayton his beer. The main road crossed the Miami at what is now the "Upper" mill and passed north of where Bellbrook now is, and extended toward Centerville. Over this route the mail was carried weekly to Xenia.

THE OLD ASSOCIATE, OR PIONEER, GRAVE- YARD .- MRS. JAMES COLLIER.

It is said the first body buried here was the wife of Colonel James Collier, which must have been some time in the year 1804

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY ..

or 1805. as Mr. Collier removed from Cap- tain Nathan Lamme's farm to Nonia in the summer of 1805. No stone or marker can be found of her grave.

JOSEPH ROBINSON, SR.

The oldest tombstone standing has in- scribed upon it the name of Joseph Robin- son, Sr., who died March 6. 1806, aged seventy-two years. This tombstone is of great historical interest to some who are de- scendants of his, who were at this time liv- ing in Acnia. He was the grandfather of the grandfather of our ex-deputy clerk of courts, Miss Edith Robinson, and was the great-grandfather to William .F. Trader, at- torney at law, and others. Mr. Robinson, Sr .. has two sons also buried here, one of whom Joseph. Jr., was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his brother, Edward, who died October 17. 1845. at the age of seventy- three years.

MAJOR WILLIAM ROGERS.

Not far from this lot where the pio- neer Robinson family are buried is another grave. It also is of local interest to some living at present in Nenia. It is the grave of Major William Rogers, who was a sol- dier in the war of 1812, and who was the father of Annuel Rogers and his brother Luke. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Jo- seph Milburn. On his tombstone is the fol- lowing record: "Born September 7, 1774. Died December 3. 1815." He built what was called the Roger's mill. the first water power mill erected in Sugarcreek township.

ALEXANDER BERRYIIILL.

This soldier of the Revolutionary war

was a native of Augusta county, Virginia. and at the age of nineteen years volunteered in the American army, under the command of General Nathaniel Greene. At the battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina. in the heat of the engagement his company was surrounded by the merciless, victorious British, commanded to give up their arms, and on doing so he was struck on the hea 1 with a sword which produced a severe wound, the scar of which remained until the day of his death. He was held a prisoner by the captors two years, then exchanged. returned to his home, and after some years he married and settled on a farm. Mr. Berryhill's wife was a niece of Charles Thompson, of Revolutionary fame, and sec- retary to the first continental congress, a man of some executive ability and a lover of liberty. To them were born eleven chil- dren, eight sons and three daughters. Their nanies were James, William, John, .Alex- ander, Margaret. Samuel, Archibald. Rachel, Matthew, Elizabeth and Franklin. Mr. Berryhill's father, John, was a native of Ireland, who settled in Virginia at an early date and there reared a family.

We have lingered longer at these two his- torie graves, the graves of those illustrious representatives, than we had intended, so with feelings of almost reverence we take our departure from the tombs of Alexander and Rachel Thompson Berryhill, only stop- ping long enough to copy the inscriptions that tell of the time of their death. Alex- ander Berryhill died in September. 1823. aged fifty-nine. his wife, Rachel, in 1838. They came to Ohio in 1814.

The next grave that we visited. not far from Mr. Berryhill's, is the grave of

ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

JAMES BAIN.

Along the cast line near the south corner apparently in the first tier of lots. hidden by a cedar tree whose branches reach the ground, is the grave of James Bain. After parting the branches his tombstone appears in sight. and by his side are buried some of his children and his faithful wife. Sarah. As you stand and gaze in- voluntary you listen if perchance to hear the sound of the horn that called him from la- hor in the school and from his work in the clearing. Mr. Bain died . August 9. 1832. at the age of seventy-five years. As we have a sketch of his life elsewhere we will proceed to the next, which is the grave of

WILLIAM M'CANLAS,

Who first came into the county in 1817 and was related to Mr. Bain. He died August 9. 1835. aged forty-seven years. He had also a brother Robert. Not far from this lot, going north. is the grave of

WILLIAM BAIN,

Who was a son of James Bain, Sr., and was well known in Greene county, and is still remembered by some of the older in- habitants as a genial and well disposed man. Not far from his grave toward the west is the grave of another well known pioneer,

WILLIAM LAW, SR.

Mr. Law first came into Greene county in 18044 from Kentucky and settled in Sugar- creek township. He has a number of de- scendants yet living. His son. Jesse Law,

who was a soklier in the war of ISI2, and who was for years a resident of Xenia town- ship. is still remembered by many in Xenia and throughout the county. William Law. Sr., died January 20, 1826, aged seventy- six years. Not far from where Mr. Law i: buried is the grave of

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.

History of Greene County, Ohio, Part 9

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