USA > Ohio > Logan County > History of Logan County and Ohio > Part 17
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 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126
In the latter part of September, after the treaty of Greenville, Mr. Bedell, from New Jersey, selected a site for a home in what is now Warren County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Sta- tion." about a mile south of Union Village. Here he erected a block-house, as a defense against the Indians, among whom were many renegades as among the whites, who would not respect the terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was alone that fall, or whether he was joined by others, is not now accurately known. However that may be, he was not long left to himself; for, ere a year had elapsed, quite a number of settlements were made in this part of the Territory. Soon after his settlement was made, Gen. David Sutton, Capt. Nathan Kelley and others began pioneer life at Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three years had gone by, a large number of New Jersey people were established in their homes; and, in 1803, the county was formed from Hamilton. Among the early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, sustained themselves many days when the Captain had lost the use of his legs, and his companion his arms, from musket-balls fired by the hands of the Indians. They were with a large party com- manded by Maj. Rodgers, and were furiously attacked by an immense number of savages, and all but a few slain. The event happened during the war of the Revolution, before any attempt was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The party were going down the Ohio, probably to the falls, and were attacked when near the site of Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sus- tained each other many days, the one having per- fort logs doing the necessary walking, carrying his comrade to water, driving up game for him to
shoot, and any other duties necessary; while the one who had the use of his arms could dress his companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook the game, and perform his share. They were rescued, finally, by a flat-boat, whose occupants, for awhile, passed them, fearing a devoy, but, becoming convinced that such was not the case, took them on down to Louisville, where they were nursed into perfect health
A settlement was made near the present town of Lebanon, the county seat of Warren County, in the spring of 1796, by Henry Taylor, who built a mill one mile west of the town site, on Turtle
Creek. Soon after, he was joined by Ichabod Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob Vorhees, Samuel Shaw, Daniel Bonte and a Mr. Manning. When Lebanon was laid out, in 1803, the two-story log house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the only buikling on the plat. It was occupied by Ephraim Hathaway as a tavern. He had a black horse painted on an immense board for a sign, and continued in business here till 1810. The same year the town was laid out, a store was opened by John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of the county was very prosperous. Three years after, the Western Star was established by Judge John Melain, and the current news of the day given in weekly editions. It was one of' the first newspapers established in the Territory, outside of Cincinnati.
As has been mentioned, the opening of naviga- tion in the spring of 1796 brought a great flood of' emigration to the Territory. The little settle- ment made by Mr. Bedell, in the autumn of 1795, was about the only one made that fall ; others made preparations, and many selected sites, but did not settle till the following spring. That spring, colo- nies were planted in what are now Montgomery, Licking, Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Trumbull. Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties, while prepara- tions were in turn made to occupy additional terri- tory, that will hereafter be noticed.
The settlement made in Montgomery County was begun early in the spring of 1796. As early as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying out a town to be named Venice. They agreed with Judge Symmes, whose contract covered the place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian war which broke out at this time prevented an extension of settlements from the immediate neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the proj- vet was abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after the treaty of 1795, a new company. composed of' Gens. Jonathan Dayton. Arthur St. Clair. James Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow. purchased the land between the Miamis, around the mouth of Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of November, laid out the town. Arrangements were made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and donations of lots, with other privileges, were offered to actual settlers. Forty-six persons entered into engagements to remove from toncinnati to Day- ton, but during the winter most of them seat- tered in different directions, and only nineteen ful- filled their contracts. The first families who
103
HISTORY OF OHIO.
made a permanent residence here, arrived on the first day of April, 1796, and at once set about establishing homes. Judge Symmes, however, becoming unable soon after to pay for his purchase, the land reverted to the United States, and the set- thers in and about Dayton found themselves with- out titles to their lands. Congress, however, came to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had purchased land of Symmes, and passed a pre-emp- tion law, under which they could enter their lands at the regular government price. Some of the set- tlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly from the United States; others made arrangements with Daniel (. Cooper to receive their deeds from him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. lle had been the surveyor and agent of the first company of proprietors, and they assigned to him certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he became the titular owner of the land.
When the State government was organized in 1803, Dayton was made the seat of justice for Montgomery County, erected the same year. At that time, owing to the title question, only five families resided in the place, the other settlers hav- ing gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other parts of the country. The increase of the town was gradual until the war of 1812, when its growth was more rapid until 1820, when it was again checked by the general depression of busi- ness. It revived in 1827, at the commencement of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has always been prosperous. It is now one of the best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 1829, and the first one from Lake Erie the 24th of June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, via Dayton. Two days were occupied in coming from Cincinnati to Dayton. *
On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton Repertory was established by William MeClureand George Smith. It was printed on a foolseap sheet. Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number of competitors in the fiekl.
In the lower part of Miamisburg, in this county, are the remains of ancient works, scattered about over the bottom. About a mile and a quarter southeast of the village, on an elevation more than one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, is the largest mound in the Northern States, ex- cepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals
in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet around the base, and rises to a height of nearly seventy feet. When first known it was covered with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. The Indians could give no account of the mound. Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, but what was its use, will always remain a con- jecture.
One of the most important carly settlements was made cotemporary with that of Dayton, in what is now Ross County. The same spring, 1796, quite a colony came to the banks of the Scioto River, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The site had been selected as early as 1792, by Col. Nathaniel Massie* and others, who were so de- lighted with the country, and gave such glowing descriptions of it on their return-which accounts soon cirenlated through Kentucky-that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge and Concord, in Bourbon County, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were, in a measure, induced to take this step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire for freedom from its baleful influences and the un- certainty that existed regarding the validity of the land titles in that State. The Rev. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed to Col. Massie a letter of inquiry, in December, 1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which he and his people had heard such glowing ac- counts.
"The letter induced Col. Massie to visit Mr. Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse of people, who wished to engage in the enterprise, assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands, in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania
* Nathaniel Massie was born in Goochland County, Va., Decem- ber 28, 1763. In 1780, he engaged, for a short time, in the Revolu- tionary war. In 1783, he left for Kentucky, where he acted as a surveyor. He was afterward made a Government surveyor, and labored much in that capacity for early Ohio proprietors being paid in lands, the amounts graded by the danger attached to the survey. In 1791, he established the settlement at Manchester, and a year or two after, continued bis surveys up the Scioto. Ilere he was con- tinnally in great danger from the Indians, but knew well how to guard against them, and thus preserved himself. In 1796, he estab. lished the Chillicothe settlement, and made his home in the Scioto Valley, being now ar, extensive land owner by reason of his long surveying service. In 1807, he and Return J. Meigs were compet- itors for the office of Governor of Ohio. Meigs was elected, but Massie contested his eligibility to the office, on the grounds of his absence from the State and insufficiency of time as a resident, as required by the Constitution. Meigs was declared ineligible by tbe General Assembly, and Massie declared Governor. Ile, however, resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He was often Repre- sentative afterward. He died November 13, 1813.
104
HISTORY OF OHIO.
informing them of the time and place of rendez- Vous.
" About sixty men met, according to appoint- ment, who were divided into three companies, under Massie, Finley and Falenash. They pro- ceeded on their route, without interruption, until they struck the falls of Paint Creek. Proceeding a short distance down that stream, they suddenly found themselves in the vicinity of some Indians who had eneamped at a place, since called Reeve's Crossing, near the present town of Bainbridge. The Indians were of those who had refused to attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to give them battle, it being too late to retreat with safety. The Indians, on being attacked, soon fled with the loss of two killed and several wounded. One of the whites only, JJoshua Robinson, was mortally wounded, and, during the action, a Mr. Armstrong, a prisoner among the savages, escaped to his own people. The whites gathered all their plunder and retreated as far as Scioto Brush Crock, where they were, according to expectation, attacked early the next morning. Again the In- dians were defeated. Only one man among the whites, Allen Gilfillan, was wounded. The party of whites continued their retreat, the next day reached Manchester, and separated for their homes.
" After Wayne's treaty, Col. Massie and several of the old explorers again met at the house of Rev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to make a settlement in the onsning spring ( 1796), and raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint Creek. According to agreement, they met at Man- chester about the first of April, to the number of forty and upward, from Mason and Bourbon Commies. Among them were Joseph Methy, Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, Jam's Harrod, Henry, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, An- thony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William and James Kerr, George and James Kilgrove, John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton. For- guson Moore, William Nicholson and James B. Finley, later a prominent local Methodist minister. On starting, they divided into two companies, one of which struck across the country, while the other came on in pirogues, The first arrived earliest on the spot of their intended settlement, and had commen ed erecting log huts above the month of Paint t'rock, at the Prairie Station.' before the others had come on by water. About three hundred acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season.
" In August, of this year-1796-Chillicothe* was laid out by Col. Massie in a dense forest. Ile gave a lot to each of the first settlers, and, by the beginning of winter, about twenty cabins were erected. Not long after, a ferry was established across the Scioto, at the north end of Walnut street. The opening of Zane's trace produced a great change in travel westward, it having pre- viously been along the Ohio in keel-boats or canoes, or by land, over the Cumberland Mountains, through Crab Orchard, in Kentucky.
" The emigrants brought corn-meal in their pi- rognes, and after that was gone, their principal meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in hominy mortars, which meal, when made into bread, and anointed with bear's-oil, was quite pal- atable.
" When the settlers first came, whisky was $1.50 per gallon; but, in the spring of 1797, when the keel-boats began to run. the Monongahela whisky- makers, having found a good market for their fire- water, rushed it in, in such quantities, that the cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 cents. Men, women and children, with some excep- tions, drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became inebriates. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that, for a time, it became a town of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There was, however, a little leaven, which, in a few months, began to develop itself.
" In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his wife absconded, were pursued, caught and brought back. Sammel Smith was appointed Judge, a jury impanneled, one attorney appointed by the Judge to manage the prosecution, and another the defense; witnesses were examined, the case argued, and the evidence summed up by the Judge. The jury, having retired a few moments, returned with a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be seul- teneed according to the discretion of the Judge. The Judge soun announced that the criminal should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that he should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his pony, and that his wife, who was supposed to have had some agency in the theft, should lead the pony to every house in the village, and proclaim, 'This is
*Chillicothe appears to have been a favorite name among the Indians, as many localities were known by that name, Col, John Johuston Kaya : "Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawanges. They would way, thiticothe ofany, I. e. Chillicothe town. The Wyandots would say, for Chillicothe town, Tal-a-ra-ra. Do-tia, or town at the leaning of the tank."
1
5
HISTORY OF OHIO.
105
Brannon. who stole the great coat, handkerchief and shirt ;' and that James B. Finley, afterward Chaplain in the State Penitentiary, should see the sentence faithfully carried out. Brannon chose the latter sentence, and the ceremony was faith- fully performed by his wife in the presence of every cabin, under Mr. Finley's care, after which the couple made off. This was rather rude, but effective jurisprudence.
" Dr. Edward Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worth- ington, of Berkley County, Va., were brothers-in-law, and being moved by abolition principles, liberated their slaves, intending to remove into the Ter- ritory. For this purpose, Mr. Worthington visited Chillicothe in the autumn of 1797, and purchased several in and out lots of the town. On one of the former, he ereeted a two-story frame house, the first of the kind in the village. On his return, having purchased a part of a farm, on which his family long afterward resided, and another at the north fork of Paint Creek, he contracted with Mr. Joseph Yates, a millwright, and Mr. George Haines, a blacksmith, to come out with him the following winter or spring, and ercet for him a grist and saw mill on his north-fork tract. The summer, fall and following winter of that year were marked by a rush of emigration, which spead over the high bank prairie, Pea-pea, Westfall and a few miles up Paint and Deer Creeks.
" Nearly all the first settlers were either regular members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian Church. Toward the fall of 1797, the leaven of piety retained by a portion of the first settlers be- gan to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting-house was erceted near the old grave- yard, and Rev. William Speer, from Pennsylvania, took charge. The sleepers at first served as seats for hearers, and a split-log table was used as a pulpit. Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and cadaverons in person, and wore the cocked hat of the Revolutionary era.
"Thomas Jones arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the Scioto Valley, and about the same time Maj. Elias Langham, an officer of the Revolution, arrived. Dr. Tiffin, and his brother, Joseph, arrived the same month from Virginia and opened a store not far from the log meeting-house. A store had been opened previously by John MeDougal. The 17th of April, the families of Col. Worthington and Dr. Tiffin arrived. at which time the first marriage in the Scioto Valley was celebrated. The parties were George Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran. The
ponies of the attendants were hitched to the trees along the streets, which were not then cleared out, nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Joseph Yates, George Haines, and two or three others, arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthing- ton. On their arrival there were but four shingled roofs in town, on one of which the shingles were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington's house was the only one having glass windows. The sash of the hotel windows was filled with greased paper.
" Col. Worthington was appointed by Gen. Ru- fus Putnam, Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress lands, on the east side of the Scioto, and Maj. Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were appointed to survey the residue of the lands which afterward composed the Chillicothe land district.
"The same season, settlements were made about the Walnut Plains by Samuel MeCulloh and others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and Elijah Chenowith, on Darly Creek; Lamberts and others on Sippo; on Foster's Bottom, the Fosters. Samuel Davis and others, while the following fam- ilies settled in and abont Chillicothe: John Crouse, William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John Mchanberg, William Chandless, the Stoetons, Greggs, Bates and some others.
" Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Metho- dists in the Scioto Valley. He was a local preacher. In the fall, Worthington's grist and saw mills on the north fork of Paint Creek wore finished, the first mills worthy the name in the valley.
"Chillicothe was the point from which the set- tlements diverged. In May, 1799, a post office was established here, and Joseph Tiffin made Post- master. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns; the first, under the sign of Gen. Anthony Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets; and the last, under the sign of the 'Green Trec,' was on the corner of Paint and Water streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and established the Scioto Gazette, probably, the sec- ond paper in the Territory."*
In 1800, the seat of government of the North- west Territory was removed, by law of Congress, from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the Territorial Assembly for that and the next year were held in a small two-story, hewed-log house. erected in 1798, by Bazil Abrams. A wing was added to the main part, of two stories in
* Recollections of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Chillicothe-Howe's Annals of Ohio.
106
IIISTORY OF OHIO.
height. In the lower room of this wing, Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor of the Territory, kept his office, and in the upper room a small family lived. In the upper room of the main building a billiard table was kept. It was also made a re- sort of gamblers and disreputable characters. The lower room was used by the Legislature, and as a court room, a church or a school. In the war of 1812, the building was a rendezvous and barracks for sokhiers, and, in 1840, was pulled down.
The old State House was commenced in 1800, and finished the next year for the accommodation of the Legislature and the courts. It is said to be the first public stone edifice erected in the Ter- ritory. Maj. William Rutledge, a Revolutionary soldier, did the mason work, and William Guthrie, the carpenter. In 1801, the Territorial Legislature held their first session in it. In it was also hekl the Constitutional Convention of Ohio, which be- gran its sessions the first Monday in November, 1802. In April, 1803, the first State Legislature met in the house, and continued their sessions here until ISIO. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811- 12, were held in Zanesville, and from there re- moved back to Chillicothe and held in the okl State House till 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State.
Making Chillicothe the State capital did much to enhance its growth. It was incorporated in 1802, and a town council elected. In 1807, the town had fourteen stores, six hotels, two newspa- pers, two churches-both brick buildings-and over two hundred dwellings. The removal of the capital to Columbus checked its growth a little, still, being in an excellent country, rapidly filling with settlers, the town has always remained a prominent trading center.
During the war of 1812, Chillicothe was made a rendezvous for United States sohliers, and a prison established, in which many British prison- ers were confined. At one time, a conspiracy for escape was discovered just in time to prevent it. The plan was for the prisoners to disarm the guard, proveed to jail, release the officers, burn the town, and escape to Canada. The plot was forti- nately disclosed by two senior British officers, upon which, as a measure of security, the officers and chief conspirators were sent to the penitentiary at Frankfort, Kentucky.
Two or three miles northwest of Chillicothe, on a beautiful elevation, commanding an extensive view of the valley of the Scioto, Thomas Worth-
ington,* one of the most prominent and influential men of his day, afterward Governor of the State, in 1806, erected a large stone mansion, the wonder of the valley in its time. It was the most elegant mansion in the West, crowds coming to see it. when it was completed. Gov. Worthington named the place Adena, " Paradise "-a name not then considered hyperbolical. The large panes of glass, and thenovelty of papered walls especially attracted attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of Washington City, from which place most of the workmen came. The glass was made in Pitts- burgh, and the fireplace fronts in Philadelphia, the latter costing seven dollars per hundred pounds for transportation. The mansion, built as it was, cost nearly double the expense of such structures now. Adena was the home of the Governor till his death, in 1827.
Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit Hill, the seat of Gen. Duncan MeArthur.t and later of ex-Gov. William Allen. Like Adena. Fruit Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto Val- ley. Many of Ohio's best men dwelt in the valley; men who have been an honor and ornament to the State aud nation.
Another settlement, begun soon after the treaty of peace in 1795, was that made on the Licking River, about four miles below the present city of Newark, in Licking County. In the fall of 1796, John Rateliff and Elias Hughes, while prospecting on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, and determined to locate. They were from West- ern Virginia, and were true pioneers, living mainly by hunting, leaving the cultivation of their small cornfields to their wives, much after the style of
* Gov. Worthington was born in Jefferson County, Va , about the year 1769. He settled in Ohio in 1798. He wasn firm believer in liberty and came to the Territory after liberating his alster, He win one of the most efficient men of his day ; was a member of the Constitutional Convration, and was sent on an important mission in Congress relative in the admission of Ohio to the l'union. lle was afterward a Senator to Congress, and then Governor. On the expiration of his gubernatorial term, he was appointed A mem- lier of the Board of Public Works, in which capacity he ihd much to advance the canals and radroads, and other public improve- Incute. He remained in this office till his death.
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.