History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 101

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559

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On the eighteenth of September, 1808, the Dayton Repertory was established by William McClure and George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number of competitors in the field.

In the lower part of Miamisburgh, in this county, are

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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, excepting 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 sev- enty 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 conjecture.

One of the most important early 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 bot- tom. The site had been selected as early as the year 1792, by Colonel Nathaniel Massie * and others, who were so delighted with the country, and gave such glow- ing descriptions of it on their return-which accounts soon circulated through Kentucky-that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge and Concord, in Bourbon county, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, deter- mined 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 influ- ences and the uncertainty that existed regarding the val- idity of the land titles in that State. The Rev. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed to Colonel Massie a letter of inquiry, in December, 1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which he and his people had heard such glowing accounts. We copy from Howe's Historical Collections, as follows:

"The letter induced Colonel 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 expe- dition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in western Pennsylvania, informing them of the time and place of rendezvous.

"About sixty men met, according to appointment, 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 en- camped 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, Joshua 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 creek, where they were, according to expectation, at- tacked carly the next morning. Again the Indians were defeated. Only one man among the whites, Allen Gilfillan, was wounded. The party of whites continued their retreat, the next day reached Manches- ter, and separated for their homes.

"After Wayne's treaty, Colonel Massie and several of the old ex- plorers again met at the house of Rev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to make a settlement in the ensuing spring (1796), and raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint creek. According to agreement, they met at Manchester about the first of April, to the number of forty and upward, from Mason and Bourbon counties. Among them were Joseph McCoy, Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, James Harrod, Henry, Basil and Reuben Abrams, William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William and James Kerr, George and James Kilgrove, John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton, Ferguson 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 commenced erecting log huts above the mouth of Paint creek, at the . Prairie Station,' before the others had come on by water. About three hun_ dred acres of the prairie were cultivated in corn that season.

"In August, of this year-1796-Chillicothe* was laid out by Colonel Massie in a dense forest. He 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 previously 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 pirogues, and after that 1 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 palatable.

"When the settlers first came, whiskey was four dollars and fifty cents per gallon ; but, in the spring of 1797, when the keel-boats began to run, the Monongahela whiskey-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 fifty cents. Men, women and children, with some exceptions, 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 be- came a town of drunkards, and a sink of corruption. There was, however, a little leaven, which, in a few months, began to develop it- self.

"In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a great-coat, handker- chief and shirt. He and his wife absconded, were pursued, caught and brought back. Samuel Smith was appointed judge, a jury impanneled, one.attorney appointed by the judge to manage the prosecution, and another the defence. 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 sentenced according to the discretion of the judge. The judge soon announced that the culprit 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 Brannon, who stole the great-coat, the handkerchief and shirt ; and that James B .. Finley, afterward chaplain in the State penitentiary, should see the sentence faithfully carried out. Brannon chose the lat- ter sentence, and the ceremony was faithfully 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.

* Nathaniel Massie was born in Goochland county, Virginia, Decem- ber 28, 1763. In 1780 he engaged, for a short time, in the Revolution- ary 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 con- tinued his surveys up the Scioto. Here he was continually in great danger from the Indians, but knew well how to guard against them, and thus preserved himself. In 1796, he established the Chillicothe settlement, and made his home in the Scioto valley, being now an ex- tensive land owner by reason of his long surveying service. In 1807. he and Return J. Meigs were competitors 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 the general assembly, and Massie declared governor. He, however, resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He was often representative afterward. He died November 13, 1813.

* Chillicothe appears to have been a favorite name among the Indians, as many localities were known by that name. Colonel John Johnston says : " Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawnces. They would say, Chil-i-cothe otang, i. e., Chillicothe town. The H'yandots would say, for Chillicothe town, Tat-a-ra-ra, Do-tia, or town at the leaning of the bank."

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"Dr. Edward Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worthington, of Berkeley county, Virginia, were brothers-in-law, and being moved by abolition principles, liberated their slaves, intending to move into the territory. 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 erected 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 after 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 erect 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 spread over the high bank prai- rie, 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 began to dif- fuse itself through the mass, and a large log meeting-house was erected near the old graveyard, 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 cadaverous 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 Major 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 McDougal. The seventeenth of April, the families of Colonel 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 Worthington. On their arrival there were but four shingled roofs in town, on one of which the shingles were fastened with pegs. Colonel Worthington's house was the only one having glass windows. The sash of the hotel windows was filled with greased paper.

"Colonel Worthington was appointed by General Rufus Putnam, surveyor general of the Northwest Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress lands, on the east side of the Scioto, and Major Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were apponited to survey the residue of lands which afterward composed the Chillicothe land district.

"The same season, settlements were made about the Walnut plains by Samuel McCulloch and others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and Elijah Chenoweth, on Darley creek; Lamberts and others on Sippo; on Foster's bottom, the Fosters, Samuel Davis and others, while the following families settled in and about Chillicothe: John Crouse, William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John McLanberg, William Chandless, the Stoctons, Greggs, Bates, and some others.

"Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodists 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 were finished, the first mills wor- thy the name in the valley.

"Chillicothe was the point from which the settlements diverged. In May, 1799, a post office was established here, and Joseph Tiffin made postmaster. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns; the first, under the sign of General Anthony Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets; and the latter, under the sign of the 'Green Tree,' was on the corner of Paint and Water streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and established the Scioto Gasette, probably the sec- ond paper in the territory."

In 1800 the seat of government of the Northwest Territory was removed, by law of Congress, from Cin- cinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the territorial as- sembly 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 height. In the lower room of this wing, Col- onel 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 resort of gamblers and dis-

reputable 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 of soldiers, and, in the year 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 territory. Major William Rutledge, a Revolutionary soldier, did the mason work, and William Guthrie, the carpenter. In 1801 the territorial legislature held its first session in it. In it was also held the Constitutional convention of Ohio, which began its sessions the first Monday in Nov- ember, 1802. In March, 1803, the first State legislature met in the house, and continued its sessions here until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811-12, were held in Zanesville, and from there removed back to Chillicothe, and held in the old State house till 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State.

Making Chillicothe the State capital did much to en- hance its growth. It was incorporated in 1802, and a town council elected. In 1807 the town had fourteen stores, six hotels, two newspapers, 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 soldiers, and a prison es- tablished, in which many British prisoners 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, proceed to jail, release the officers, burn the town, and escape to Canada. The plot was fortunately 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 Worthington * one of the most prominent and influential men of his day, after- ward 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 com- ing to see it when it was completed. Governor Worth- ington named the place Adena, "Paradise"-a name not then considered hyperbolical. The large panes of glass,

* Governor Worthington was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, about the year 1769. He settled in Ohio in 1798. He was a firm be- liever in liberty, and came to the territory after liberating his slaves. He was one of the most efficient men of his day; was a member of the Constitutional convention, and was sent on an important mission to Congress relative to the admission of Ohio to the Union. He was afterward a senator to Congress, and then governor. On the expira- tion of his gubernatorial term, he was appointed a member of the board of public works, in which capacity he did much to advance the canals and railroads, and other public improvements. He remained in this office till his death.

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and the novelty of papered walls especially attracted at- tention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of Wash- ington city, from which place most of the workmen came. The glass was made in Pittsburgh, and the fire- place 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 General Duncan McArhur, t and later of ex- Governor William Allen. Like Adena, Fruit Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto valley. Many of Ohio's best men dwelt in the valley; men who have been an honor and ornament to the State and 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 Ratcliff and Elias Hughes, while prospecting on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, and determined to locate. They were from western Virginia, and were true pio- neers, living mainly by hunting, leaving the cultivation of their small cornfields to their wives, much after the style of their dusky neighbors. They were both invet- erate Indian haters, and never allowed an opportunity to pass without carrying out their hatred. For this, they were apprehended after the treaty; but, though it was clearly proven they had murdered some inoffensive In- dians, the state of feeling was such that they were allowed to go unpunished.

A short time after their settlement others joined them, and, in a few years, quite a colony had gathered on the banks of the Licking. In 1802, Newark was laid out, and in three or four years, there were twenty or thirty families, several stores, and one or two hotels.

The settlement of Granville township, in this county, is rather an important epoch in the history of this part of the State. From a sketch published by Rev. Jacob Little in 1848, in Howe's Collections, the subjoined statements are taken.

"In 1804, a company was formed at Granville, Massachusetts, with the intention of making a settlement in Ohio. This, called the Scioto company, was the third of that name which effected settlements in Ohio. The project met with great favor, and much enthusiasm was elicited, in illustration of which a song was composed and sung to the tune of ' Pleasant Ohio' by the young people in the house and at labor in the field. We annex two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical:

+ General McArthur was born in Duchess county, New York, in 1772. When eight years of age, his father removed to western Penn- sylvania. When eighteen years of age, he served in Harmar's cam- paign. In 1792, he was a very efficient soldier among the frontiersmen, and gained their approbation by his bravery. In 1793, he was con- nected with General Massie, and afterward was engaged in land specu- lations and became very wealthy. He was made a member of the leg- islature, in 1805; in 1806, a colonel, and in 1808, a major general of the militia. In this capacity he was in Hull's surrender at Detroit. On his return he was elected to Congress, and in 1813 commissioned briga- dier general. He was one of the most efficient officers in the war of 1812, and held many important posts. After the war, he was again sent to the legislature; in 1822 to Congress, and in 1830 elected gov- ernor of the State. By an unfortunate accident in 1836, he was maimed for life, and gradually declined till death came a few years after.

"' When rambling o'er these mountains And rocks where ivies grow Thick as the hairs upon your head, 'Mongst which you cannot go -- Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow, We scarce can undergo- Says I, my boys, we'll leave this place For the pleasant Ohio.

"'Our precious friends that stay behind, We're sorry now to leave ; But if they'll stay and break their shins, For them we'll never grieve. Adieu, my friends !- Come on, my dears, This journey we'll forego, And settle Licking Creek, In yonder Ohio.'"

"The Scioto company consisted of one hundred and fourteen pro- prietors, who made a purchase of twenty-eight thousand acres. In the autumn of 1805, two hundred and thirty-fonr persons, mostly from East Granville, Massachusetts, came on to the purchase. Although they had been forty-two days on the road, their first business on their arrival, having organized a church before they left the east, was to hear a sermon. The first tree cut was that by which public worship was held, which stood just in front of the Presbyterian church.

"On the first Sabbath, November 16, although only about a dozen trees had been felled, they held divine service, both forenoon and afternoon, on that spot. The novelty of worshiping in the woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles each way; the hardships of the journey, the winter setting in, the thoughts of home, with all the friends and privileges left behind, and the impression that such must le the accommodations of a new country, all rushed on their minds, and made this a day of varied interest. When they began to sing. the echo of their voices among the trees was so different from what it was in the beautiful meeting-house they had left, that they could no longer restrain their tears. . They wept when they remembered Zion.' The voices of part of the choir were, for a season, suppressed with emotion.

" An incident occurred, which many said Mrs. Sigourney should have put into verse. Deacon Theophilus Reese, a Welsh Baptist, had, two or three years before, built a cabin, a mile and a half north, and lived all this time without public worship. He had lost his cattle, and, hear- ing a lowing of the oxen belonging to the company, set out toward them. As he ascended the hills overlooking the town plot, he heard the singing of the choir. The reverberation of the sound from hill- tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, then in the tree-tops, or in the clouds. He stopped, till, by accurate listening, he caught the direc- ton of the sound ; went on and passing the brow of the hill, he saw the audience sitting on the level below. He went home and told his wife that ' the promise of God is a bond;' a Welsh proverb, signifying that we have security equal to a bond, that religion will prevail every- where. He said : 'These must be good people. I am not afraid to go among them.' Though he could not understand English, he con- stantly attended the reading meeting. Hearing the music on that oc- casion made such an impression on his mind that, when he became old and met the first settlers, he would always tell over this story. The first cabin built was that in which they worshiped succeeding Sabbaths, and, before the close of the winter, they had a school-house and a school. That church, in forty years, received more than one thousand persons into its membership.

"Elder Jones, in 1806, preached the first sermon in the log church. The Welsh Baptist church was organized in the cabin of David Thomas, September 4, 1808. April 21, 1827, the Granville members were organized into the Granville church, and the corner-stone of their house of worship laid September 21, 1829. In the fall of 1810, the first Methodist sermon was preached here, and, soon after, a class organized. In 1824, a church was built. An Episcopal church was organized in May, 1827, and a church consecrated in 1838. In 1849, there were in this township four hundred and five families, of whom two hundred and fourteen sustain family worship ; one thousand four hundred and thirty-one persons over fourteen years of age, of whom over eight hundred belong to church. The town had one hun- dred and fifty families, of whom eighty have family worship. In 1846, the township furnished seventy school teachers, of whom sixty-two prayed in school. In 1846, the township took six hundred and twenty- one periodical papers, besides three small monthlies. The first tem- perance society west of the mountains was organized July 15. 1828, in this township; and, in 1831, the Congregational church passed a by- law to accept no member who trafficked in or used ardent spirits.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 101

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 559

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559