USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 21
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The above named townships, which, as we have seen, occupied much more territory than is now comprised by Greene County, were organized, as we have also seen, by the Associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.
COMMISSIONERS ACT.
The act of territorial government creating the office of county commissioners for counties in the territory northwest of the river
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COMMISSIONERS ACT.
Ohio, was adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania, which were published June 19, 1795, and took effect October 1, 1795. These commissioners were not elected by the people, but were appointed by the justices of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace. This court was established and so styled by the territorial govern- ment in 1788. It was composed of not less than three nor more than five of the justices of the peace in any county, which justices were appointed and commissioned by the governor, under the seal of the territory. Such commissioners were listers of real estate, and they performed many of the duties required of the county commission- ers of a later date, but their powers did not extend to the organi- zation of townships. No such board of commissioners was ever appointed in Greene County, nor was there ever any court of gen- eral quarter sessions of the peace held in the county. There were such commissioners in Hamilton and Ross counties at the time of the establishment of Greene County, but Greene County was es- tablished on the 24th day of March, 1803, just thirty-three days after Ohio became a state, and twenty-three days after the com- mencement of the first legislature at Chillicothe, which occurred March 1, 1803.
By an act of the second General Assembly of the State of Ohio, passed February 14, 1804, the office of county commissioner was created as it stands to-day. The first commissioners under this act were elected on the first Monday in April, 1804. They held their first court for the transaction of the business of the county in the following June. The day of the month is not given. At that meeting the following record was made, to wit: "At the house of Peter Borders, in Beaver Creek Township, June, 1804, Jacob Smith, James Snodon, and John Sterrett, gents, produced certifi- cates of their being duly elected commissioners for the county of Greene; and also produced certificates under the hand and seal of James Barrett, Esq., one of the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas, that they had taken the oath required by law ; and then there was a court held by the board of commissioners for said county, and John Paul was appointed clerk to the said board of commissioners; and the said commissioners cast lots for rank : Jacob Smith drew for three years, John Sterrett for two, and James Snodon for one year. The listers of taxable property having failed to bring in their lists, for which cause it is considered that the court will meet at this place on the first Monday in July next, to
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
lay the levy of said county. Ordered that the clerk advertise for the listers of taxable property to forward their lists on or before that day."
These commissioners, and their successors in office, on the peti- tion of householders living in certain localities, from time to time presented to them, have organized the several other townships in the county.
Xenia Township was organized on the 20th day of August, 1805. It was taken from the territory of Beaver Creek and Cæsar's Creek townships. Its boundary is described as follows : All that part of Beaver Creek Township east of the Little Miami, and above the mouth of Massie's Creek; thence with Beaver Creek Township line south to the northeast corner of Sugar Creek Township; thence with Sugar Creek Township line to the mouth of Anderson's Fork; thence up the main fork of Cæsar's Creek, with the mean- ders thereof, to the east line of said county; thence north with said line to the northeast corner of the county; thence west to the Miami; thence down the river to the place of beginning. It ap- pears from this description, that Xenia Township originally occu- pied all that part of Greene County east of the Little Miami River, and north of Cæsar's Creek, and also east of a line extend- ing south from the mouth of Massie's Creek to the mouth of An- derson's Fork, or more truly to Cæsar's Creek, for this west line of Xenia Township, corresponding with the east line of Beaver Creek and Sugar Creek townships, must have struck Cæsar's Creek some distance above the mouth of Anderson's Fork. It will be re- membered that Clarke County had not yet been organized, and hence Xenia Township extended some distance into what is now Clarke County. The northeast corner of the township was in the present north line of Madison Township, in Clarke County. The commissioners ordered that the first election in this township should be held at the house of William A. Beaty, in Xenia.
Bath Township was organized March 3, 1807. It was taken from the territory of Beaver Creek. Its south line originally was the same as now, running east and west along the north boundary of the fifth tier of sections, in the seventh range of townships. This line is one mile south of the village of Byron. It extended from the west line of the county, cast to the Little Miami River. The township included all the territory west of the Little Miami River between this line and what was then the south line of Cham-
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COMMISSIONERS ACT.
paign County. Bath Township therefore extended two miles north of the present village of Osborn. It included nearly all of what is now Mad River and Greene townships, in Clarke County; also the northwest corner of Madison Township, in the same county. The first election in this township was held at the house of Andrew Reid.
Miami Township was organized on the 8th day of June, 1808. It was taken from Bath and Xenia townships. Its northwest cor- ner was in the present Mad River Township, Clarke County, in the south line of Champaign County, two miles north of the present northeast corner of Bath Township. From this point the west line of Miami extended south seven miles, to the southern line of Bath Township; thence it extended east to the east line of the county. The present southern line of Miami is a part of the original line. Extend the present southern line of Miami two miles west, and then east to the east line of the county, and we shall have the original line. Miami Township then included in what is now Greene County, the northern portions of Cedarville and Ross townships; and in Clarke County about one-third of Mad River Township, all of Greene, and one-half of Madison Town- ships. The first election was held at the house of David S. Brod- rick, at Yellow Springs.
Silver Creek Township was organized on the 4th day of March, 1811. It was taken from Cæsar's Creek and Xenia townships-the greater part from Cæsar's Creek. Its southwest corner was in the southern line of the county, one mile east of the old Ross County line, that is, seven miles west of the southeast corner of the county, thence it extends north eight miles; thence east seven miles to the east line of the county; thence south with said county line to the southeast corner of the county; thence west to the place of beginning. Its northern limit originally was the same as at present. It included all of what is now Jefferson Township, and the eastern part of Spring Valley, about one-fourth of the township. The first election was held at the house of Noah Strong, in said township.
Ross Township was organized on the same day with Silver Creek, March 4, 1811. It was taken entirely from Xenia Town- ship, and was bounded as follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of Silver Creek Township, it extended north to the south line of Miami, a distance of nearly six miles; thence east with the
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
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Miami line to the east line of the county; thence south to the northeast corner of Silver Creek; thence west to the place of be- ginning. Since its organization in 1811, a portion of Cedarville has been taken from it, and a portion of Miami added to it. In form it was originally a rectangle, seven miles in length from east to west, and nearly six miles in width from north to south. The first election was held at the house of John Bozarth.
Cedarville was organized into a township on the 6th day of De- cember, 1850. It was taken from the townships of Xenia, Cæsar's Creek, Ross and Miami. It was the first township organized with very irregular boundary lines, and therefore created correspond- ing irregularity in the boundary lines of the townships out of which it was taken. This township has been changed but little . since its first organization.
In 1848, when an effort was made to form the township of Cedarville, some citizens of Ross, opposed to the measure, entered a vigorous protest against it. The parties making this protest said to the commissioners : "Our reasons we will fully set forth in your presence, only adding here that we are unwilling to have any of our township cut off, which is already too small, to gratify the caprice or spleen of any."
The commissioners ordered a notice to be given in three public places of an election for three trustees, a clerk, and a treasurer, to be held on the 21st day of December, 1850, in the town of Cedar- ville, at the house of John W. Walker.
New Jasper was organized into a township on the 9th day of June, 1853. It was taken from the townships of Caesar's Creek, Xenia, Cedarville, Ross and Silver Creek.
Spring Valley was organized into a township on the 3d day of December, 1856. It was taken from Sugar Creek, Cæsar's Creek and Xenia townships.
Jefferson was organized into a township on the 7th day of June, 1858. It was taken entirely from Silver Creek Township. Pre- vious to the formation of this township there had been an election precinct at Bowerville. The petitioners for the new township were mostly from that part of the township. By the formation of this, the last township in the county, Silver Creek was reduced in size about one-half.
Vance Township. No record has been found showing when Vance Township was organized, or what were its boundaries.
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THE JUDICIARY.
There was once such a township, and we know that it was organ- ized prior to 1818. It comprised a portion of what is now Madi- son Township, Clarke County, and a portion of Ross Township, in Greene County. After the organization of Clarke County the fractional part of Vance Township that was left in Greene was attached to Ross Township, October 23, 1818.
THE JUDICIARY.
On the 15th day of April, 1803, the General Assembly of the State of Ohio passed an act establishing the judiciary system of that time. It determined that the supreme court of the state should consist of three judges, chosen in the manner directed in the constitution ; that is, they were to be appointed by a joint bal- lot of both houses of the General Assembly; and they were to hold their office for the term of seven years, " if so long they be- have well." This court was declared to have original jurisdiction in all civil cases, both in law and equity, where the title of land was in question, or where the sum in dispute exceeded the value of one thousand dollars. It had exclusive cognizance of all criminal causes, where the punishment was capital; and of all other crimes and offences, not cognizable by a single justice of the peace, it had cognizance concurrent with the court of common'pleas.
By this act also, the state was divided into circuits, of which the counties of Hamilton, Butler, Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Clermont composed the first district. A president of the court of common pleas was to be appointed in each circuit, in the same manner as the supreme judges received their appointment. The president, together with three associate judges appointed in a sim- ilar way for each county in the state, constituted the court of com- mon pleas for such county.
The supreme court was to hold its first session in Greene County on the fourth Tuesday in October, 1803. The time of holding each subsequent session was to be determined by the court itself. The court of common pleas was to sit in Greene County on the first Tuesdays in April, August and December. The first Tuesday in April had passed before the enactment of this law, hence the first court of common pleas held in Greene County was on the first Tuesday of August, 1803.
By an act of the General Assembly, passed April 16, 1803, it
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
was made the duty of the associate judges of the court of common pleas, in each and every county within the state, to meet on the 10th day of May, following, at the places where courts were to be held, and proceed to lay out their counties respectively into a con- venient number of townships. The judges also were required to determine for each township a proper number of justices of the peace, who were to be elected on the 21st day of June following, at such place in each township as the judges should direct. The meeting of the associate judges, on the 10th day of May, for the transaction of certain county business, was called a court. It was, as has been stated before, the first court held in the county; but it must not be understood as the court of common pleas. This was simply a court, not for the trial of causes, but for the transaction of such business as, at a later period, was assigned to the county commissioners.
COURT OF THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
The first court of the associate judges, as we have seen, was held in Greene County on the 10th day of May, 1803. The entire record of that day's proceedings, made seventy-seven years prior to the 10th day of May, 1880, and the first public record ever made in the county by a county officer, is of sufficient interest to justify its quotation here entire, except the description of township bound- aries, which has already been given. The following is the record :
"At the house of Owen Davis, on Beaver Creek, on Tuesday, the 10th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and three, William Maxwell, Benjamin Whiteman and James Barrett, Esquires, produced commissions under the hand and seal of his Excellency, Edward Tiffin, Governor of the State of Ohio, appointing them associate judges of the court of common pleas of the county of Green .* William Maxwell, Esquire, produced a cer- tificate, under the hand of James Barrett, Esquire, bearing date the 20th day of April last past, that the said William had taken the oath to support the constitution of the United States, and of this state, and the oath of office; and then the said William ad- ministered the aforesaid oaths to Benjamin Whiteman and James
*It should be noted that in all the old records of Greene County, and in the statutes referring to it, the name is spelled without the final e, thus, Green County ; also Clarke is spelled without the e, thus, Clark County.
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COURT OF THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
Barrett, Esquires; and there was a court held for the county of Green, agreeably to a law in that case made and provided. John Paul was appointed clerk pro tempore to said court, and took the oath of office. The court then proceeded to lay off the county into townships as followeth, to-wit." Here follows the description of the township lines, of Sugar Creek, Caesar's Creek, Mad River and Beaver Creek.
After laying off the townships, and designating the number of justices of the peace that should be elected in each, the court pro- ceeded according to the following record: "It is considered by the court, that on the 30th instant there shall be an election held at the temporary seat of justice, for the purpose of electing a sheriff in said county, agreeably to an act of assembly in that case made and provided."
"Ordered that court be adjourned till court in course."
Attest : JOHN PAUL, C. G. C.
The book in which this record is kept is itself an interesting relic of the past. It can be found carefully preserved in the vault of the clerk's office in the court-house. By the generosity of Mr. Frank Orr, deputy clerk of the court, it has been dressed in a new suit of binding; but like the old man of four-score, who has out- lived two generations of his fellows, and whose age is apparent, although clad in new garments of the most fashionable style, its complexion and worn appearance unmistakably tell that it is old. It is an unpretending volume of twenty-eight pages folio, unruled foolscap, and contains the records of the associate judges' court from May 10, 1803, until January 15, 1807.
FIRST COURT HOUSE.
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The first court house in Greene County, or the house in which the associate judges held their first court, and in which the courts of Common Pleas and the Supreme Court were held until June, 1804, was a log structure owned by Owen Davis, and built by his son- in-law, Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, one of the associate judges, a short distance south of the log cabin mill of Owen Davis, and about two hundred yards east of Beaver Creek. It was on what is now (1881) known as the Harbine farm, and about one hundred yards from its south line. It was constructed of straight burr oak logs, hewed on two sides, and had a puncheon floor, made also of
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burr oak logs, hewed on the upper side, and also planed. Its roof was of clapboards, held in place by long poles laid across them. Its only door was in the east side, near the north end, opposite which, in the west side, looking toward the creek, was the only window, save a small hole, that might be called a window, cut in the south end. The chimney, on the outside at the south end, had its lower part, about eight feet high, of small logs, lined on the in- side with stones, and its upper part of sticks, well plastered with clay. The house was about twenty-five feet square, and contained but one room below, and a chamber above, which was reached by a small ladder, through a hole in the floor near the chimney. The chamber was the sleeping apartment for the family and the stranger. Unlike most log houses of that day, it had a fire-place of moderate size. A short distance south of the building was the well from which the water was drawn with the old-fashioned well- sweep, pole and bucket. At the southeast corner, in one of the logs, was driven a large iron staple, to which in those days was chained a large pet black bear. It was one of the best houses in that part of the county, and was occupied by Peter Borders as a tavern. It is sometimes called the house of Owen Davis, and sometimes the house of Peter Borders. Davis was the owner of the house, and Borders was his tenant.
In 1825, the road leading past this edifice having been discon- tinued and closed up, leaving it in the field, it was moved a short distance north, and put up on the ground now the front lawn of Mr. John Harbine. It was removed from that place in 1833, and the rubbish left from the chimney forms a small mound in front of Mr. Harbine's house, a modest monument of the first court house and tavern in the county. It was put up again on the west side of Beaver Creek, and about two hundred yards from it, on the north side of the road leading to Bellbrook, and was used for more than twenty years as a boarding house for hands at Harbine's mill. In 1857, or about that time, it was finally torn down and the logs con- sumed, save some pieces that were made into canes.
A little to the northeast of this building was a small 10x12 house made of small logs or poles, for a smoke-house. This, during the time of court, was used as a jury-room. In this several grand juries sat on the "body of Greene County," and found indictments against the violaters of the law. To this room also, petit juries retired to find their verdicts in the civil and criminal cases that were brought
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COURT IN COURSE.
before them. About two hundred yards northeast of the old court house stood the block house, which on the 19th day of August, 1803, was appropriated to the use of a jail. It is described as "the larger block house, near Mr. Jacob Smith's mill." Previous to this time, Owen Davis had sold his mill to Jacob Smith.
" COURT IN COURSE."
The associate judges met in court a second time on Thursday, the 4th day of August, 1803. This was the adjourned meeting till "court in course." What is meant by this phrase, "court in course?" By act of assembly, passed April 16, 1803, it was made the duty of the associate judges to hold a court for the transaction of county business, on the next judicial day after the adjournment of the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Common Pleas, according to act of assembly, passed April 15, 1803, was to meet on Tuesday, the 2d day of August, 1803. It did meet on that day, and continued its term through Wednesday the 3d, and on Thurs- day, the 4th, commenced the "court in course."
The only county business transacted at this court was the grant- ing of three licenses for keeping tavern, and the appointment of James Galloway, sen., treasurer of the county.
The granting of licenses for keeping tavern was in accordance with a territorial law, passed by the first General Assembly of the Northwest Territory, and approved December 6, 1800. By this law, no person was permitted to keep any inn, tavern, or public house of entertainment, in any town, county, or place, within the limits of the territory, unless first recommended by twelve respect- able freeholders of the county where such public house was to be kept. All persons, except tavern or inn keepers, were forbidden, under severe penalties, to sell to any person alcoholic drinks in small quantities; and tavern keepers, under like severe penalties, were required not knowingly to suffer any disorders, drunkenness, rioting, betting, or gaming for money. They were also required to furnish good entertainment for man and horse, under the penalty of five dollars for the first offense, and eight dollars for each suc- ceeding offense.
After eighty years have passed away, and the primitive taverns and the primitive men have disappeared with the gliding years, the modern grumbler at some slight annoyance in a first-class hotel
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
wonders what was meant by good entertainment in those early times, when the entire family, landlord, landlady and children, judges, and attorneys of the court, servants, and travelers, were all gathered for lodging into one sleeping apartment, such as the first court house in Greene County would afford, in its one upper room.
At this court licenses were given to Archibald Lowry and Grif- fith Foos, permitting such to keep tavern in the town of Spring- field, each paying eight dollars for the license, besides the legal fees. Peter Borders was also licensed to keep tavern in his own house, the court house, "for the space of one year next ensuing this date, and it is considered by the court that he pay four dollars for license, together with all legal fees." The amount paid for license was in part discretionary with the court. The applicant was required to pay either four, eight, or twelve dollars, as the judge might determine. It may be inferred that at this time it was more profitable to keep tavern in the town of Springfield than on Beaver Creek, since the court required eight dollars for a license at the former place, and but four at the latter. The legal fees paid were in each case one dollar to the court, and one dollar to the clerk. The license fee was appropriated to the use of the county.
James Galloway, sen., who was appointed treasurer, was the father of James Galloway, jr., who two days before this, August 2d, had been appointed surveyor, and whose name appears in con- nection with very many of the carly surveys of the county.
On the 19th of the same month (Angust), the court met again to lay the levy and adjust the business of the county. But the lister of taxable property in Mad River Township failing to return his book, court adjourned until the next day at 12 o'clock. On the next day, Saturday, August 20th, the court convened, but the lister again failing to appear, it adjourned till Monday, the 22d, and then again, for the same reason, till Friday, the 26th, when the said lister presented his book. On Monday, the 22d, the court ordered that a bounty of fifty cents should be paid out of the treasury for each wolf killed in the county, "agreeably to a law in that case made and provided." The law on which this action was based was passed at the second session of the first General Assembly of the Northwest Territory, and approved December 2, 1800. It provided that the courts might offer such bounties for killing wolves as they deemed proper, provided no bounty exceed one dollar for a wolf under six months old, or two dollars for one over six months old.
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