USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Digitized by Google
COURT IN COURSE. . 217
On the same day also the court ordered that the larger block house near Mr. Jacob Smith's mill (the house alluded to above) should be used as a jail, and that Benjamin Whiteman, Esq., be appointed in behalf of the court to contract for repairing the same.
On the 26th day of August, 1803, the first levy of taxes was made in Greene County. Its indebtedness, past and prospective, for that year was thoroughly itemized, and amounted to $292.48. This was exclusive of the collector's fees, which the court fixed at six per cent. of the amount collected, and the treasurer's fees, for receiving, safe-keeping, and disbursing, which were fixed at three per cent. The collector's percentage amounted to $19.28, and the treasurer's to $9.64. This would make the entire indebtedness of the county for that year $321.40, which was, as we shall see, $144.64 less than the receipts. This Jalance the clerk entered on the record as depositum.
The first item in this indebtedness was $25 to the commissioners, for selecting a place for the seat of justice. These commissioners were appointed by a resolution of both branches of the legislature, in accordance with an act of the General Assembly, passed March 28, 1803. They were appointed especially to locate the seat of jus- tice in the particular county named. They were not to live in the county, nor own any real property within it, nor to be less than twenty-five years of age.
Another item of interest was $6 paid to Joseph C. Vance, for carrying the election returns of Sugar Creek Township to Cincin- nati, and a like sum to David Huston, for taking the returns of Beaver Creek Township to the same place. What election returns were these, and why were they taken to Cincinnati? Greene County, as we have seen, was largely taken from Hamilton and Rose, and, according to Article VII, Section 3, of the Constitution, as to right of suffrage and representation, it was considered a part of the counties from which it was taken until entitled, by numbers, to the right of representation. By an act of assembly, passed April 15, 1803, the returns of the election for sheriff and coroner were required to be made to the associate judges, who were to give to persons standing highest a certificate of election, and on that cer- tificate the governor was authorized to grant a commission. The sheriff and coroner were, at this time, the highest county officers elected by the people. The returns, in case of their election, were not sent to Cincinnati; it must, therefore, have been the returns in
Digitized by Google
218
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
the election of senators and representatives to the state legislature. This election occurred on the second Tuesday in October, and there- fore the work of carrying the returns to Cincinnati had not been done at the time that the allowance was made.
An allowance of $9.50 was made to Jacob Shingledecker, for repairing the jail. This work had not yet been done. Benjamin Whiteman had been appointed, only four days prior to this, to con- tract for said repairs, and we find this item, and the two items concerning the carrying of election returns to Cincinnati, men- tioned in the record of the clerk, made on the 7th day of Decem- ber, 1803, after the returns had been conveyed to their destination, and the jail had been fitted for its occupants. The associate judges and the clerk of the court were each allowed $1.50 per day for their services.
To meet the expenses of the county this year, taxes were levied on real and personal property. Houses and mills were to be taxed 50 cents on each hundred dollars of their valuation. Horses were taxed at 30 cents a head, and cows at 123 cents a head. There was but one house taxed this year. It was situated in Sugar Creek Township, and was taxed $1, and, of course, was valued at $200 or more. The inhabitants of Mad River Township had been exempted from paying taxes for the erection of public buildings, and hence their levies were reduced two cents on each horse, and one cent on each cow. The owner of each horse, therefore, paid 28 cents, and for each cow 11} cents.
Why the inhabitants of Mad River Township were exempted from taxes for the erection of public buildings, we are left to con- jecture. No record affords any information. At the time that this levy was made, the seat of justice, or county seat, had been located at Xenia. It could not, therefore, go farther north. Mad River was the largest township in the county. Its south line was about twenty miles north of Xenia, and at no distant day a new county would be organized out of a part of Greene, and Mad River would belong to it, and it would be just that they should be exempted from erecting public buildings in Greene, when they were so soon to be called upon again to build in the new county .*
According to the report of the listers, there were in the county
*This was accomplished by the organization of Champaign County two years later, 1805.
Digitized by Google
219
COURT IN COURSE.
at this time 679 horses and 1,266 cows, Beaver Creek and Mad River containing more than were found in Sugar and Cæsar's Creek. In Beaver Creek there were 241 horses and 430 cows. Mad River had 243 horses and 492 cows. The amount of tax levied this year was $393.04. The amount received for tavern licenses was $20, and $53 had been paid into the treasury as fines. The receipts of the county for 1803 were, therefore, $466.04, about one-ninth of which consisted in fines, which might suggest the query, whether the morals of the people are not quite as good after a period of nearly eighty years, as in those primitive times?
Nathan Lamme was appointed to collect the county levies, and the treasurer was ordered to pay the several county creditors agree- ably to the statement "this day made, and account to the court for the balance."
The next court of associate judges was held on the 7th day of December, 1803. In the meantime William Maxwell had resigned his office as judge, and had been elected sheriff, and Andrew Read had been appointed in his place. At this meeting, upon the peti- tion of Jacob Smith and others, it was ordered that a road be laid out from "Springfield, passing the Yellow Springs; thence, passing Jacob Smith's mill; thence, through Mr. Maxwell's lane; thence, to intersect the Pinckney road, at or near Isaac Morgan's." Will- iam Maxwell, Lewis Davis, and Thomas Townsley were appointed viewers of the road, and James Galloway, jr., surveyor. Although this was not the first road in the county, it was the first to be estab- lished by the legal authority of the county. This road was entirely west of the Little Miami River. It was about two miles west of the river, at the point where the iron bridge crosses it in the Dayton road, which leads past the Greene County fair grounds. Jacob Smith's mill was the mill erected by Owen Davis, and occupied the site of Harbine's mill, on Beaver Creek, about one mile above its mouth. Isaac Morgan's was about two miles southwest from the mill. This new road, therefore, terminated in the Pinckney road, about two miles southwest of Jacob Smith's mill. The Pinckney road extended from the Pinckney pond, a short distance south of Beaver Station, across the Little Miami, past the house of Peter Borders (the old court house), and on, southwest, past Isaac Morgan's. From Isaac Morgan's, east, it was closed up as soon as the new road was established, leaving the old court house in the field.
We have seen that the county expenses for the year 1803 were
Digitized by Google
220 .
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
$321.40. For the year 1804 they were $265.82, and the taxes assessed this latter year amounted to $402.81. In 1803 but one house was taxed, valued at about $200. The tax on this was $1. In 1804, the value of real estate taxed, consisting of mills and houses, was $4,325, and this, at 20 cents on each hundred dollars, paid a tax of $8.65. There were in the county this year 1,040 horses, which paid 20 cents a head, and 1,727 cows, at 8 cents a head. This tax of 1804 was levied by the county commissioners, who came into office, and held their first court, on the second Mon- day in June of this year.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
The first Court of Common'Pleas for Greene County, was held at the house of Owen Davis, occupied then by Peter Borders, on the 2d day of August, 1803. The presiding judge was Francis Dunlevy, and the associate judges William Maxwell, Benjamin Whiteman, and James Barrett. Daniel Symmes was prosecuting attorney, and there came a grand jury, to-wit : Wm. J. Stewart, foreman, John Wilson, Wm. Buckles, Abram Van Eaten, James Snodgrass, John Judy, Evan Morgan, Robt. Marshall, Alex. C. Armstrong, Joseph C. Vance, Joseph Wilson, John Buckhannon, Martin Mendenhall and Harry Martin, who were sworn a grand jury of inquest for the body of Greene County. After receiving the charge they retired out of court, and held their deliberations in the small pole cabin or smoke house that has been described above; but they found no in- dictments, except against persons who engaged in quarrels on that day, after the court had convened. Seventeen witnesses were sworn and sent before the grand jury, and nine bills of indictment found the same day for affrays, assaults and batteries committed after the court had been organized in the morning. It was evidently a great day for the county, and the people were gathered in quite large numbers; here was the presiding judge and his associates, prosecut- ing attorney and grand jury; here was the court house and jury room, and also the tavern of Peter Borders, whose har was well sup- plied with whisky. Men drank, disputes arose, fights occurred, in- dictments were made, and fines assessed all on the same day.
It is said that Owen Davis, the owner of the mill and the court house, the father-in-law of Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, one of the associate judges, a kind hearted and obliging man, and also a fear-
Digitized by Google
221
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
less Indian fighter, had an altercation with a man from Warren County, whom he charged with stealing his neighbor's hogs ; a fight occurred and Davis came off victorious. He then went into court and addressed his son-in-law the judge, with whom he was on quite familiar terms. He said, "Well Ben! I've whipped that hog thief, what's the damage ? What's to pay ?" Saying, this he drew from his pocket a buck-skin wallet containing eight or ten dollars, and slam- med it on the table. Then shaking his fist at the judge he continued : "Yes! Ben, and if you'd steal a hog I'd whip you too." This special address to the judge was also emphasized with an oath. All the parties pleaded guilty to the indictment made, and were fined. Davis to the amount of eight dollars.
The first business of the court after the grand jury returned was the appointment of James Galloway, jr., as county surveyor. He was the son of James Galloway, sen., who two days later, August 4th, was appointed treasurer by the court of associate judges. On the 2d day of the term, August 3d, Joseph C. Vance was appointed to survey the county seat, and lay off the town of Xenia. This he did the same season, and at the December term of the court of associate judges received $49.25 for his services. He furnished chain-men in making the survey, made a plat of the town and sold some lots. On the third day of the term Daniel Symmes was allowed $20.00 for prosecuting in behalf of the state. This fee was decided at the December term of the court to be illegal, and it was required to be refunded.
At the November term of the Court of Common Pleas, Thomas Davis, a justice of the peace, was arraigned for misconduct in office. He pleaded guilty and was fined one dollar and ordered to "stand committed until performed." Rev. Robert Armstrong received license to solemnize the rites of matrimony. Also at this term the first civil case was tried by a jury ; it was the case of Wallingsford, vs. Vandolah, for slander. Wallingsford was a member of the Baptist Church, and Vandolah had said, " Wallingford is a liar, and I can prove it." A verdict of 25 cents was rendered for the plaintiff. At the December term, in the case of William Chip- man vs. Henry Storm, judgment was confessed for one cent damages and costs. The June term, 1804, was the last term of court held in the old log house. Arthur St. Clair, of Cincinnati, was present as prosecuting attorney, and administered the oath to Wm. McFar- land, foreman of the grand jury, with the hand of the latter on a copy
Digitized by Google
1
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
222
of the Arabian Nights Entertainment, which, from its external like- ness, the prosecutor had taken for a New Testament.
SUPREME COURT.
The first Supreme Court in the county was held at the house of Peter Borders, on Beaver Creek, on the 25th day of October, 1803. Hon. Samuel Huntington and Wm. Spriggs were the judges, Wm. Maxwell, sheriff, and Arthur St. Clair prosecuting attorney. John Paul was elected clerk, and entered into bond in the penal sum of $2.000 for the faithful discharge of his duties ; Benjamin Whiteman and Josiah Grover were his securities. "Then came a grand jury, to-wit: . Andrew Read foreman, James Snodon, Joseph C. Vance, William Allen, John Marshall, John McKnight, Samuel Brewster, John McClain, James Snodgrass, John Judy, Robert Lowry, Thomas Frean and Samuel Freeman." These men were sworn a grand jury of inquest for the body of Greene County, who retired out of court to consider of indictments; after some time returned into court and having nothing to present were discharged. The only business transacted by this court, was the admission of Richard L. Thomas, Esq., counsellor and attorney at law ; this done "court adjourned till court in course." The first session of the Supreme Court was held in accordance with the statutes on the fourth Tuesday of October of this year. It was held annually thereafter at such time as the court itself might determine. The work for grand juries at such times was not great. The first grand jury, as we have seen, found noth- ing to do. And at the second term of the court held on the third day of October, 1804, the grand jury appointed in the early part of the first day, retired, found whatever bills of indictment they could, reported to court, and were discharged the same day.
The first case that came before the Supreme Court in this county was one in which Archibald Dawden and Robert Reneck were in- dicted for the murder of a certain Indian by the name of "Betty George or otherwise Kenawa Tuckaw." The accused, not being ready for trial, were admitted to ball in the penal sum of two thous- and dollars each. Simon Kenton, who ran the gauntlet at Chilli- cothe (Oldtown), was one of the bondsmen for Archibald Dawden. Amos Derraugh was a witness for the state, and gave bond in the penal sum of two hundred dollars for his appearance at the next
Digitized by Google
223
SUPREME COURT.
term of court, to give testimony in favor of our said state, vs. the said defendants, Archibald and Robert.
At the third term of the Supreme Court, held on the 11th day of November, 1805, after the grand jury had been impaneled and received its charge, this murder case was the first to be brought up and disposed of. Dawden and Reneck came into court and "saith they are not guilty as in the indictment against them is alleged, whereupon, on the motion of the defendants, by their attorney, the court grants a change of venue," and the cause was carried to Champaign County. It is probable that the offense was committed in that part of Greene County that became Champaign County on the 20th day of February, 1805. James Galloway, sen., and two others, each gave bond in the sum of five hundred dollars to appear at Springfield, Champaign County, at the term of the Supreme Court, to be held there "on -th inst, and give testimony in behalf of the de- fendants," Dawden and Reneck.
The business of the Supreme Court during the early years of its existence related to matters generally of no grave importance. At this same term, after the disposal of the murder case, John Hoop is indicted for an assault. He pleads guilty, and is fined ten dollars and "stands committed until the order is performed." Nimrod Haddox is arraigned upon an indictment for an affray. He pleads not guilty. "Therefore," says the record, "let a jury come." The jury came. He is tried, found guilty, and fined five dollars with the costs, and stands committed " till performance." James Scott is indicted for breaking the public's jail. He pleads not guilty, and is bound over to the next term of the Supreme Court. This term of the Supreme Court adjourned according to the good Latin of that early day, " si no dy," and with this term its clerk, John Paul, goes out of office, and Josiah Grover is appointed his succes- sor. John Paul was the first clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, having been appointed by the associate judges on the 10th day of May, 1803, and continued in this office until 1808. He was also the first clerk of the Court of Commissioners, appointed at its first session in June, 1804, and continued till Tuesday, March 8, 1808. He was clerk of the Supreme Court during three of its terms, from 1803 to 1805, inclusive. He owned considerable land in the county, and, either learning or believing that the county seat would be located at the point where it now is, Xenia, he purchased the land, and after the location of the county seat, by the state com-
Digitized by Google
224
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
missioners, donated the public square, bounded by Main (Chilli- cothe), Detroit, Market, and Greene streets, to the county, for its public buildings. He was a fair scribe, and wrote a very straight line on the unruled paper used at that time, but evidently not a very thorough Latin scholar, as the above quotation, "si no dy," would indicate. His last recorded item, as clerk of the commis- sioners, was. the following, to-wit: "Abraham Lewis is allowed $1.50 for one wolf scalp." After this item he proceeds to say, " Court adjourned sine die. John Paul." His Latin orthography had been somewhat improved.
Much of the work, or rather that kind of work, that had been done by the associate judges prior to June 20, 1804, was at that time transferred to the county commissioners. They were required to meet annually, on the second Monday in June, at the place where the Court of Common Pleas was usually held, to allow all just debts and demands against the county; to pay the charges of building and repairing court houses, prison and bridges; to assess county taxes; erect public buildings, establish public roads, and construct bridges. It was their duty, also, to appoint the county treasurer, and at the first session of the associate judges, next suc- ceeding the annual meeting of the commissioners, to make a full report of receipts and expenditures of the county for the year. Vacancies in the court of commissions, caused by death or resig- nation, were to be filled by appointment of the associate judges. The first appointment thus made was on the 15th day of Novem- ber, 1804. On that day it was " ordered that John McLain be ap- pointed a commissioner, in the room and place of John Sterret, who hath resigned his office."
The granting of licenses for keeping tavern and selling mer- chandise was still retained as the duty of the associate judges, and at a court held in Xenia on the 15th day of November, 1804, the first Court of Associate Judges held there, four tavern licenses were granted, one to William A. Beatty, for keeping tavern in the town of Xenia, "for one year from the first day of October last past, on his paying eight dollars and fees." This was the first tavern in Xenia, and seems to have been opened on the first day of October, 1804. The house was a hewed log, double structure, two stories high. It stood on the south side of Main Street, very nearly opposite the middle point of the public square. Its length was from east to west, and width from north to south, and its west
Digitized by Google
225
JAILS.
end was about forty-five feet east of the southeast corner of Main and Detroit streets, where the First National Bank now stands. This building was not only a dwelling house and a tavern, but it was also Greene County's second court house, courts having been held in it from the 15th day of November, 1804, till the completion of the first court house proper, on the 14th day of August, 1809. The court was held in the west room of the second story. The first election in Xenia was held at this house on the second Tuesday of October, 1804, and subsequent elections were held there for many years.
We have said that subsequent to June 20, 1804, the granting of licenses for keeping tavern was done by the associate judges. While this is true, it was left to the commissioners to determine, within certain limits, how much a tavern license should be, and on the 20th of August, 1805, tavern licenses were rated as follows, to- wit : In Xenia, $8; at Yellow Springs and its vicinity, $12; and on the several roads in other parts of the county, $6. The rate of license being in some proportion to the business done, it would be inferred that the tavern business was better at Yellow Springs, at this time, than in Xenia. Later, on the 9th of June, 1807, Xenia license was rated at $8; Yellow Springs and its vicinity, within one- half mile, $8; all other parts of the county, $6.
.
On the 6th of April, 1806, a license was granted to James Gowdy for retailing merchandise. His store was a log cabin, with a mud and stick chimney, situated on Greene Street, about sixty feet north of Main. This was the first store in the town, and Mr. Gowdy was the first merchant.
JAILS.
Greene County's first jail, we have seen, was the block house near Jacob Smith's mill, on Beaver Creek. The second jail was built of logs, in Xenia, in 1804. No record is extant showing the exact spot that this jail occupied, nor how much it cost to build it. The earliest record that appears concerning it was made July 2, 1804, when Amos Derrough, the contractor and builder, was paid $33.75, balance on the first payment for building the public jail. The pro- cess of building it was slow, and on the 15th of August, 1804, the commissioners informed the contractor that if the work was not completed by the 15th of September, it would be re-let to the lowest
15
Digitized by Google
226
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
bidder. It was completed in due time, and accepted by the. com- missioners October 8, 1804. It is said that it stood on ground which the first court house subsequently occupied, and that it was built of hewed logs. This was the first structure erected for the purpose of a public jail. What became of this building, or why it needed re- building so soon, no record informs us. But on Tuesday, March 12, 1805, only five months after its acceptance, we are informed that "the repairing and newly erecting the public jail was let to James Collier for $640." One historian informs us that this jail-that is, the first one, built by Amos Derrough-was burned down the next year after it was built, and that in April, 1806, a new jail was accepted from William A. Beatty. It is not certain that this state- ment is correct. It is more probable that the jail erected by James Collier, which the historian does not mention, was the one that was burned, and that this jail, erected in haste, was unsuited to the pur- poses for which it was intended, and hence the language, "Repair- ing and newly erecting the public jail."
James Collier, as well as Amos Derrough, seems to have tried, to some extent, the patience of the commissioners. This second jail was not completed at the time required by contract, and on the 7th of January, 1806, it was ordered that unless it was completed by the first of April following, it should be re-let to the lowest bidder; and the commissioners further declared, that to be built according to contract, "it must be taken down and rebuilt." April 1st came, and the work was not finished, and on the 8th the time was ex- tended to the 17th. On the 18th of April, 1806, the commissioners accepted the work, but took $50 from the pay of the contractor, on account of its imperfection. This second jail was a log structure, and was located on the public square, somewhere north of the site of the first court house. It cost the county $590. This jail was burned probably in the latter part of 1807, and it is most likely that this, instead of the first one, is the jail referred to as " burnt down the year following."
On Tuesday, December 6, 1808, it was ordered that a public jail be erected in the town of Xenia, on the ground staked off, the foundation to be eighteen inches deep and twenty feet square, and that "all the material of the old jail that was saved be used in the new one." This expression, "All the material of the old jail that was saved," indicates that the second jail was burned. This third jail was two stories high, and was constructed of hewed logs. It
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.