History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 27

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

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The look restrospective is tinged with loving tenderness. The old log house, the wide-mouthed fireplace, the homespun garments have gone with tallow dip forever. We would not wish them back. Today the secrets of earth, air and water are being exploited. London today is in a state of transition ..

We are living in an experimental. age. "Progress" is the watchword. London of the past compared with London of the present is as different as the red springiess wagon creaking along the mud road is to the electric cars whirling rapidly through the country.

Possibly the solution may be attributed more to the use of natural gas and elec- tricity than to any other forces. Science is in the lead and through change and experi- ment will be. evolved the London of the future. The Greater London is reaching out long arms to embrace Summerford and Lafayette. Will they care for the moving? Perhaps our sister Lafayette may yet call the splendid temple of justice "oura" Old times recall the story of Mrs. Mary Minter, mother of Mr. Crawford Minter, London's oldest inhabitant, when there was a rivalry between London and Lafayette as to which should be county seat, and get the new court house, Mrs. Minter declared: "I'd be willing to carry every brick that built it in my apron !" .That was the true stuff in the makeup of Madison county foremothers! Gran'ma Minter did not succeed, but the spirit of her words still lives. The old "red brick" mansion in Lafayette, occupied by Mr. Ferguson Taylor and Mrs. Taylor, gave hospitality to the eighth President of the United States. Martin Van Buren, traveling at. that time through the country by stage coach. The beautiful residences on Lafayette road are extending eastward to the quaint little village of the same name. After awhile they will meet and then -?

A VISION OF THE FUTURE.

In this year of grace, 1914, the lawmakers of the state decreed that a site near London be purchased for a home where, surrounded by the elevating influences of pure air, pure water, God's sky and Mother Nature, men, not altogether bad, might take heart of grace and lead a new life. Here is London's opportunity. Will London's best men and women rise equal to it?

London's Federation of Women's Clubs have their work before them. Will they do it?

As the man and woman, a hundred years ago, worked together, side by side, each doing his own allotted task, not the other's, so ought the man and woman work today.

There is a wandering stream running through the town, called Glade run; its pro- gress is impeded by old tin cans, brickbats and other unsightly debris. In the vision of the future the stream will be made a thing of beauty, equaling the classic streams of Cam and Isis, which flow through the university towns of Cambridge, and Oxford, Eng- land. Like these streams, Glade run (the same must not be changed, for it links the past) will be spanned with beautiful bridges where it intersects roadways and streets,

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the bed will be dredged to give depth to the stream. Gardens and grounds will gently slope on either side, covered with verdure. Reeds and rushes and flags with aquatic plants will abound. Fish will glide over the sandy bed, pebbled with stones rivaling those of a monarch's crown in color. Is this a dream? It can be made a reality.

THE CHILDREN.

And the vision of a London beautiful concerns the children. "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." Ah, the children ! The men and women of the future. Those who make the laws and those who keep them ! In this town there is to be not a scrap of paper to be seen lying about; the school yard, the alley ways, the streets are scrupulously kept. When the boys and girls who had such a good time when they were little, grow up, the lessons in neatness learned when they were young have taken such strong hold on them, their children have imbibed the same spirit of. orderliness, so. that not a candy sack or stick or stone is to be found where it ought not to be. .

There would be no toy guns or slingshots in the City of Dreams. Birds would rest securely in their trees and close to the house. Their songs would be the first sound and last at daybreak and evening. Instead of few there would be many red birds and blue birds and thrushes and robins. Bunny would not fly to cover with heart in his mouth; and the squirrels, so tamed with kindness, would eat out of the children's hands.

A building of stately proportions rises before the mental vision. Over its portals inscribed the words, "London and Madison County Museum." Every article of domestic nee associated with the old log cabin is found within its walls. Spinning wheels, both large and small; looms and their products, patch-work quilts, old dresses, rescued from the garret's oblivion and dust, and all the implements used in early farming from ploughshare to pruning hook.

In a "loan collection" the chairs that Patrick McLene sat in and the surveying instruments he used in laying out the town would be exhibited.

As old Rome preserves the traditions of the wolf and the geese and has them enshrined at the entrance of the capital. so too, might London enshrine these early mementoes.

"These labored and we have entered into their labors."

A MEMORIAL. HALL.

. Is it too much to ask that once in a while we give a thought to those who toiled, sweated and bore the brunt of flaying the forests, draining the swamps, their bodies racked with fever and ague?

As stated in the beginning of this article, Madison county is a high tableland. Lon- don is 1,054 feet above sea level. Compared to it, Cincinnati is a hole in the ground. From its eminence one can look down, as it were, on Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus and many other cities and towns in Ohio (of large size). When the first settlers came, theirs was the task of draining the swampy land, where London started.

They braved the dangers of fever and malaria and rattlesnakes. They sowed that we might reap. Then the soldiers and sailors who gave their lives and shed their blood to guard the country from foes by land and sea. What of them? Are they to be for- gotten? When I think of Noah Thomas, handicapped from early manhood with his empty sleeve and John Simpson, limping. on a cane, and the scarred and seamed faces of the remnants of the army of the Blue that gather in diminishing numbers year after year to remember their comrades on Memorial Day, and place a flag at every grave, the thought comes: Will the people of London and Madison county be so base, so heartless to let these noble men be forgotten? In the vision of the future a splendid building

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will be erected called "Memorial Hall," on whose walls be inscribed the names of these, the founders and defenders of their country. A building sacred to the memory of "The Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers."

In the visionary city, aircraft has become the most perfect and safest mode of tran- sit. One hundred years hence the present-day motor car corresponds to the springless wagon of one hundred years ago. The horse has disappeared; stuffed specimens being exhibited in museums to show what was once called "man's best friend."

Telephone and telegraph wires have been superseded by an improved system undreamed of at the present time. Science has solved the problem of the equalization of temperature. No longer will the torrid heat of midsummer exhaust the inhabitants, for the excessive cold of winter has been condensed in tanks to be distributed in every community ; turn on a tap and the air becomes cool.

In winter the homes of the rich and poor alike will be made comfortable from the surplus heat of summer that has been stored according to the best approved methods.

Best of all, to the milk consumers, the "separator" has disappeared ! The vision ended.

FIRST COUNTY BEAT OF JUSTICE.

During the session of the Legislature of 1810-11, three commissioners were appointed by that body to select a seat of justice for Madison county, and on the 19th of August, 1811, the report of these commissioners was presented to the court of common pleas, then in session, which was as follows:

"To the Honorable Judges of the court of common pleas, next to be holden for the county of Madison :

"We, Peter Light, Allen Trimble and Lewis Newsom, having been appointed by the last Legislature of Ohio commissioners for fixing the seat of justice in said county of Madison, having notified the inhabitants and attended agreeable thereto, we took the oath prescribed by law, and proceeded to view and examine said county, and have mutually selected and agreed on a tract or piece of land of 200 acres owned by John Murfin, including the cabin where he now lives, on the northeast side of Oak run, on the road which passes E. Langham's, and is on the plat of the county two miles and eighty-six poles from the upper center A, and one mile two hundred and ninety-three poles from the lower B, which piece of land, or such part thereof as the county may think proper, is, in our judgment (from the law under which we act), the most eligible place for the seat of Madison county. The proposition of a donation of Murfin's is enclosed to be used as the court may think proper.

"Given under our hand this 9th day of April, 1811.

"PETER LIGHT, "ALLEN TRIMBLE, "LEWIS NEWSOM."

The donation spoken of, dated April 6, 1811, reads as follows:

"I, John Murfin, do offer my tract of land on Oak run, adjoining Elias Langham's · land, containing 200 acres, which I will cause to be laid out into a town at my own expense under the direction of the county's director, the streets and alleys to be made commodious for public good; a convenient public square shall be laid out, which, together with one-half the in- and out-lots shall be for the use of the county, and to all of which there shall be made a general warrantee deed. The above is humbly submitted for the consideration of the gentlemen commissioners. JOHN MURFIN."

The court at the same session appointed Patrick McLene, director and ordered him to prepare evidence of title of Mr. Murfin and make his report. This was subsequently accomplished, and the title proving satisfactory, it was ordered by the court "that the

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director proceed to purchase one hundred or one hundred and twenty-five acres, as nigh a square as possible, of Mr. Murfin's land, on. Oak run, at a sum not exceeding four dollars per acre, and the donation of the lot on which his cabin may be situated, and pay for the same out of the proceeds of sale, and on delivery of deed for purchased land, he proceed to lay out or off a town into lots, streets and alleys, the main street to cross each other at right angles one hundred feet wide, and the other streets not exceeding seventy-five feet wide, and the alleys sixteen or eighteen feet wide; the lots to be in front not more than sixty-five feet and not more than one hundred and thirty-two feet back to an alley, and that he lay out not more than one hundred and twenty even lots, the residue of the ground to be laid off in out-lots of two acres each, and that he reserve one lot for court house or public square at the intersection of main streets, two lots for churches and academy, one for jail and one for out-lot for a burial place; that he call streets and alleys by appropriate names, and that he get the plat so laid off recorded; after acknowledgment, that he sell the lots at public sale, after the purchase and laying-off as aforesaid, on the third Monday and Tuesday of September next, or at a convenient time after in the same month; that he give certificate of sale to purchaser and receive contracts for payment-one-third in three months, one-third in nine and residue in eighteen months; and the condition of sale be that, if purchaser fail to pay first installment, to sell the lot so sold to another person at the direction of the director, and that he lay off a town in neat form as convenient to the water as possible, adjourn the sale at discretion and sell after public sale, taking into consideration the average price, and that the lots on intersection of main streets be sold for not less than $50 each; and further ordered that said town or city, when so laid off, be called and known by the name of London, and that the director keep a book in which he will record regularly the conditions of sale, the lots sold and to whom, the moneys received, and make a separate and distinct entry for every purchase and exhibit the same to the court at the next term and make report of lots sold by number, etc."

THE TOWN OF MADISON.

Prior to the above action relative to the county seat, as has appeared in the general history of the county, the court of common pleas of Franklin county, in 1810, appointed Phillip Lewis, director, to lay out a seat of justice for Madison county. A town was laid out and platted, which was designated by the name of Madison, which plat was acknowledged before Thomas Gwynne, a justice of the peace of Deer Creek township, November 13, 1810, and placed on record in the county recorder's office. Research has failed to reveal anything of record designating the site of the town of Madison, further than that in the index book referring to the plats of towns appears "Madison (Deer Creek T. S.)." It is a tradition that London was built upon the site of Madison. Below is set out all matters pertaining to the town of Madison that search has revealed in the records of the court house. December 4, 1810, John Pollock and George Jackson were allowed the sum of fourteen dollars each for their services for fixing on the place for the county seat of Madison county, by order of the board of county commissioners.

December 14, 1810, Robert Shannon, William Reed and Alexander Morrison, associate judges of Franklin county, were allowed six dollars and two dollars, respectively, for attending at the town of Franklinton, by the request of Philip Lewis, Esq., director of the town of Madison, for giving him directions and fixing on the day of sale of the lots in said town, by order of the board of courty commissioners. Also under the same date, "ordered that there be allowed to Elias N. Delashmutt, sheriff of Franklin county, $2.50 for summoning court at the request of P. Lewis, Esq., director of the town of Madison."

"January 3, 1811, ordered that there be allowed to Philip Lewis the sum of $20 for part of his services in laying of the town of Madison, in the county of Madison.".

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January 8, 1811, the board of ,commissioners ordered one hundred and fifty dollars to be appropriated for the purpose of erecting a jail in the town of Madison, and that the same be advertised, the sale to be on the 14th of January, next. On the latter date the commissioners met, and after. being informed that . there was a new committee appointed by the Legislature to explore the county and afix the seat of justice, perman- ently, agreed to postpone the sale of the jail.

"June 10, 1811, ordered that there be allowed to John Arbuckle, Esq., the sum of $4 for acting as a crier for two days in the sale of lots in the town of Madison, by the order of the director."

Returning.to the town of London, it is found that. one hundred and three and three quarters acres of the Murfin tract was, on the 14th of September, 1811, in consideration of four hundred and fifteen dollars, deeded to the director of the town. However, the town had previously been laid out and platted on this ground, as the plat was acknowl- edged by Patrick McLene and certified to before Samuel Baskerville, one of the asso- ciate judges of Madison county, September 13, 1811. The plat comprised one hundred and twenty-eight in-lots and twenty out-lots, the former being four by eight poles in tze. The lots were bounded on the north by Fifth street, on the south by Front street, on the west by Water street and on the east by Back street. The original number of streets was ten; Main and Main Cross (now High) streets were made six poles. wide, and all others four and one-half poles. Two lots were reserved for county buildings, two for churches and academies, one out-lot for burying grounds and one for John Murfin.

The cabin of Murfin as early as 1800 stood on the south side. of West High street. He was a Virginian. His wife's name, as written in the deed for the land, was Janey, but very likely, if properly written, would be Jane. He removed from London at an early date to the state of Indiana ; thence to Illinois, where he died. Three houses were built in London in 1811, one by David Watson and a second by Rev. Father Sutton, but it is not known who built the third.

INCORPORATION AND GROWTH OF LONDON.

London was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, bearing date of February 10, 1831, to take effect and to be in force from and after April first of that year. For many years the officers elected by the people consisted of a president, recorder and five trustees.

For quite a period after the town was laid out, its growth was decidedly slow, and after it had attained the growth of thirty years it seemed to remain almost entirely in statu quo. It is said that an Irishman who visited London about that time, after sauntering leisurely through its few streets, and hearing not the sound of a hammer, or the buzz of a single notable industry, is said, in the very depth of disgust, to have exclaimed, "Be dad, this is the first town I ever saw that was entirely finished !" Neither was the village very attractive at an early period. A venerable doctor of southwestern Ohio, on his first visit to London, gave offense to some of the residents, by recommending that they get their gardens lathed and plastered, to keep out the frogs. This visit was made in a wet season and it is no doubt true that the frogs were holding full sway.

After remaining in a state of torpidity for a number of years and apparently gain- ing a broad foundation for the building which was to come later, London began to arouse itself, and grow until the spirit of enterprise, eventually, made it what it is today, one .of.the most substantial, bustling, wealthy and enterprising communities in this section of the country. Its broad streets, substantial business buildings and beautiful residences .give to it an air of solidity possessed by few towns of its size in the state. Nor has the financial side of the town alone grown at the expense of the broader sides of life. "The literary and social, moral and ethical, have all been looked after and rank well with the growth of the town.

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DOINGS OF COUNCIL IN ,DAYS GONE BY.

By A. T. Cordray.

The council is the local law-making body. There can be no council until there is an incorporated village. By an act of the Ohio Legislature, passed February 16, 1810, to go into effect March 1, 1811. three commissioners, Peter Light, Allen Trimble and Lewis Newsome; were appointed to select a location for the county seat of this [Madison] county. These commissioners were to make a report of their proceedings to the court of common pleas of Franklin county. The commissioners made careful examination of different localities in the county and finally, April 9th, 1811, decided to"buy one hundred acres of land of John Murfin. The commissioners made their report and . appointed Patrick McL'ene; director, to lay off a town on the Murfin land and to' call it London. The plot was recorded in September, 1811. Lots Nos. 9 and 10 were "reserved for a court house and jail and two other lots were reserved for' churches. One lot where John Murfin's cabin stood, where the Peirce Lumber Company's yards now are, and one for a cemetery,' were also reserved. The land purchased was one hundred and three and three-fourths acres, and the price, four hundred and fifteen dollars. "There were one hundred and twenty-eight in-lots and twenty out-lots. The lots were sold by Patrick McLene, director. Before a court house was built here; court was held at 11 the home of Thomas Gwynne.

.. London. was' incorporated on February 10th, 1831. In accordance with the pro- visions of an act of the Legislature for the' incorporation of the town of London; the first election in said town to choose' officers was held"at the court house on the 9th of April, 1831. David Reeves,' John B. Croney and James. M. Thompson' were chosen judges and Peter Smith and Daniel R. Ferguson were chosen clerks of said election. The officers to be elected were a president and five other members of council, a recorder; now termed clerk, and a marshal. Patrick McLene' was elected first president of the council, and P. Smith, recorder. The other members of the council elected ' were s. Watson, A. Winchester, William Jones, S. N. Kerr and A: Toland. David Reeves was elected' marshal.

The following is a copy of the order for the first meeting of council : ..

"London, April 22, 1831.

"Ordered that the trustees or common council of the corporation of the town' of London meet the 23d Inst., at 3 o'clock, p. m., at the office of P. McLene in said town of London. P. McLENE, President." .

COUNCIL'S FIRST ORDINANCES.

1 At this first meeting, S. N. Kerr was appointed supervisor; J. B. Croney',' treasurer ; W. Jones' and A. Toland, a committee to "draft a bill' regulating swine;" P. Smith and A. Winchester, a committee to "draft a bill for taxing dogs" This was all the business transacted at the first meeting. 'At the next meeting, the committees appointed to draft bills regulating swine and taxing dogs reported progress and obtained further time to report. At this meeting the council passed its first ordinance, one to require. "That every able-bodied elector is required and shall be liable to perform and do yearly and every year two days' labor on the streets, alleys and highways who shall have resided ten days within the corporation of said town' of London next preceding such requisition of said corporation." There are six closely written pages of this ordinance and from the exquisite care used to frame the law so that no one of the class could possibly escape performing the two days' labor, by any means whatever, one must reach the conclusion that the observation attributed to the Indian that "White man is mighty uncertain," was at least as true in those days as it is now. At the first half- dozen meetings of the council other ordinances were passed "regulating groceries."

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"requiring the removal of dead animals from the corporation," and "to prevent the pollution of the streams of said village," "to prevent dogs with hydrophobia from run- ning at large," "to regulate the streets and alleys in said village," "regulating public shows." "for the prevention and suppression of nuisances,". etc.

The following, copied from the minutes of the second meeting of the council, shows the method of procedure in those days, and a copy in full of the second ordinance passed in this village :

"London, May 17, 1831.

""The Common Council of the town of London met at P. McLene's office agreeable to an order from the president.

"The committee appointed to draught a bill for levying a tax on dogs reported that it is inexpedient to pass an ordinance on that subject at present.

"On motion made and seconded, the following ordinance was passed :

"An Ordinance of the Common Council Regulating Groceries :

"Be it ordained and enacted by the common council of the town of London :

"Sec. 1st. That the president of the common council of the town of London be, and he is hereby authorized, upon application for that purpose, to grant a license to any person for one year to keep a grocery and retail spirituous liquors in any part of the incorporation of said town on the payment of the sum of ten dollars per annum; which sum shall be paid into the treasury of the incorporation for the use of same and shall be subject to the order of the common council.

"Sec. 2d. That all applications as aforesaid shall be made by petition subscribed by at least twelve respectable householders of the incorporation. And before granting said license, the president shall be satisfied that said applicant or applicants has or have ten days' notice by posting advertisements'of his or her intention to apply for such license specifying the time of application in the public places within the limits of such corporation.

"Sec. 3d. That if any person or persons shall keep a grocery and sell spirituous liquors to be drank where sold in said incorporation, without first having obtained license agreeably to the provisions of these ordinances, shall forfeit and pay not less than ten nor more than thirty dollars to be recovered by an action for money had and received for the use of said corporation, before the president, and in case of inability, then before the recorder, at the suit of the treasurer; and the treasurer is hereby authorized and required to bring and prosecute said suit. Provided all suits instituted under the provisions of these ordinances shall be brought in the name of the common council.

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 27

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207