History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 15

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

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The fair of this year was a grand success-so decided by every one who attended it; the receipts were good, the entries large, the attendance immense, and the dis-

play the finest ever witnessed at any fair. This year, by the good financiering of the board, they were able to place themselves free of debt, and once more com- menced on a firm basis. To the energy displayed by Mr. Miller, a great deal of the success of this year's ex- hibition is due.

The society was fortunate in selecting the present loca- tion; the grounds were beautifully situated, and have be- come valuable. There may be larger county fair grounds in the State, but none better adapted for holding a county exhibition, and when the water from the flowing wells near Eaton is carried to the grounds, which at the present time is very strongly agitated, we can say, with- out fear of contradiction, that we will have the nicest grounds in southern Ohio. And now the debt being re- moved, improved and more appropriate buildings can shortly be erected, and the organization will be in such a position that every member will not only appreciate, but be proud of it, and in the next decade it will become more efficient and consequently more useful and benefi- cial to the agriculturists, horticulturists, mechanics and stock raisers of Preble county.

CHAPTER XVI. THE PRESS .*

IT would be a difficult task-perhaps an impossible one-to detail all the vicissitudes of the newspaper press in this county. The first attempt to establish the institution was made by Messrs. Blackburn & Daly, in the year 1816. They were young men of some energy and brains, but without capital. Cornelius Vanausdal furnished the means to buy an old style Ramage press (perhaps the only style then known), and type enough for the publication of a small sheet. With these mate- rials was commenced the publication of the Western Telegraph, a weekly publication, on a demi-sheet. It is very doubtful if there is a complete file of that paper in existence at this time. Considering the paucity of mail facilities existing at that time, the isolated situation of the village, and the unsettled condition of the county, the conjecture would not be unreasonable, that the paper itself was of limited interest, and its patronage on the same scale.

The publication did not continue very long under the auspices of Messrs. Blackburn & Daly. Mr. Blackburn's health failed, and he finally died of consumption, and Mr. Daly was unable to continue the publication alone. John A. Daly, esq., was an Irishman by birth, highly ed- ucated, and a lawyer by profession. Soon after the fail- ure of his newspaper enterprise he became deranged. For many years he was, literally, a wanderer upon the earth, roaming from place to place, as fancy might direct, occasionally visiting this place. His last appearance here

*By Thomas J. Larsh, esq.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

was in the year 1827. His last departure from here was toward the south-it was never known what became of him. He was the elder brother of George W. Daly, so long known in this county as a school teacher.

After the failure of Blackburn & Daly, Mr. C. Van- ausdal, who owned the printing materials, continued the publication of the Western Telegraph for some time on his own account. Not being a practical printer, and the income from the publication being vastly below the outgo, and his mercantile affairs requiring all his time and care, in a few months it was discontinued finally.

In the fall of 1819 Mr. Vanausdal was elected to rep- resent this county in the legislature of Ohio, and at the same time Hon. Samuel Tizzard was elected a represen- tative in the same body from Ross county. While serv- ing in that capacity these two gentlemen formed an acquaintance; and Mr. Tizzard being a practical printer, was induced to visit this place in the spring of 1820, with the view of a location here. The result of his visit was, that he was so well pleased with the prospect, that he purchased the printing office, and during the ensu- ing summer commenced the publication of the Eaton Weekly Register. It was for several years published on a medium sheet, subsequently being enlarged from time to time, as the patronage and necessities would justify.

The publication of the Register, under various changes of proprietorship and editorship, has continued to the present time-a period of sixty years, and has always been deemed the leading newspaper of the county. It would probably not be of much interest to the reader of the present day, to note all the changes and transfers of ownership of the Register. It may be proper to say, however, that Mr. Tizzard continued the publication up to the year 1830, and then sold out to Mr. Enoch Ed- monson, a young man, printer by trade, from Washington city. Mr. Edmonson conducted the paper a couple of years, and then made a trip to the east, to visit his home and relatives, and on his return west, somewhere in the Alleghany mountains, he was killed by the upsetting of the stage coach.

After the death of Mr. Edmonson the paper changed hands several times, but continued to be published un- interruptedly. During the year 1839 Mr. Tizzard again became its publisher, and so continued up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1844. Succeeding this event, William B. Tizzard became proprietor, by whom the publication was continued for some years, when it passed into the hands of William F. Albright. The next proprietorship was that of Messrs. W. B. Tizzard and Isaac S. Morris, under whose management and control it continued until the year 1874, when it passed into the hands of W. F. Albright and Colonel Robert Williams, under the name of W. F. Albright & Company. At present (1880), it is published by W. F. Albright & Sons. It is proper, and may be of interest, to say that Mr. Albright has been connected with the Register office as apprentice, journeyman, partner, or proprietor, for about forty years, or more than the average length of human life.

It will not be deemed out of place here, to recall the

names of those who have from time to time had control of the editorial department of the Register. After the elder Mr. Tizzard, and Mr. Edmonson, General G. D. Hendricks conducted it some time. John Vanausdal, esq., Francis A. Cunningham, esq., and Cornelius Dug- gins, each successively had control. David Johnson, W. B. Tizzard, John P. Charles, esq., G. W. Thompson, esq., Thomas J. Larsh, esq., Isaac S. Morris, and Colonel Robert Williams, also, for longer or shorter periods, oc- cupied the editorial tripod. In addition to these parties, each of the above named proprietors was to a consider- able extent identified with the editorship.

In the year 1827, the publication of The Star in the West was commenced in the Register office-Samuel Tiz- zard publisher, Rev. Jonathan Kidwell and Dr. Daniel D. Hall editors. This was a religious paper, published monthly, in the interest, and to propagate the doctrines of Universalism. The publication of the Star was con- tinued here, in its original form (eight medium octavo pages), for three or four years, and was then removed to the city of Cincinnati. There it was pretty soon con- solidated with a similar publication called the Sentinel, and became a weekly paper. It has continued to be published there, with one or two short migrations, to the present time, and has long been considered one of the leading journals of the Universalist denomination.

In the beginning of the year 1840, in the midst of the heated political contest of that year, between the Whig and Democratic parties, an association, or stock com- pany, was organized, a press and type purchased, and the publication of the Eaton Democrat commenced. Many changes of publishers and editors, frequent interruptions of continuity-some longer, some shorter-and various vicissitudes have attended the issue of the Democrat. A short time after the close of the war of the Rebellion, the establishment came into the possession of L. G. Gould, since which time its issue has been uninterrupted. It is printed on a large imperial sheet, has a liberal advertis- ing patronage, and its editorial department is conducted with considerable ability. It manifests evidence of pros- perity and permanence and exerts a fair share of influ- ence upon the business prosperity of the country.

Frequent efforts have been made, from time to time, for the establishment of other newspaper enterprises both here, at the county seat, and at other points in the county, sometimes with evanescent show of success, but usually with feeble and short-lived vitality. There is at this time, however, a newspaper, published at the village of Camden, by Mr. E. M. Kennedy, called The Gazette, which gives promise of greater permanency than some of its predecessors. The first number of this paper ap- peared January 15th, 1880, and was published by E. M. and L. E. Kennedy.

The policy which has ruled in the conduct of the pa- per, has been that which aimed at the production of a good, newsy local paper, devoted to the interests of Camden and Preble county, and eschewing politics. The circulation of the Gazette has been very general throughout the southern part of the county, and reason- ably good in all parts of Preble and in adjoining coun-

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

ties. It has a circulation of about six hundred copies. The paper was published every Thursday by E. M. & L. E. Kennedy until July 10, 1880, when L. E. Kennedy retired from the firm. Since then, the paper has been carried on by E. M. Kennedy. It is an eight-column folio, ready print outside. The size of the paper, its advertising patronage, the ability displayed in its editorial department, its mechanical execution, all bear testimony to enterprise in the management, and are the harbingers of stability.

As an interesting historical fact, it may be stated that in the year 1824, an original school arithmetic was printed in the Register office, compiled by John Graham, called "Graham's New Arithmetic," which was the first publi- cation of the kind in America that entirely omitted men- tion of sterling money, or the English system of com- puting money by pounds, shillings and pence. This work was the most extensive job of book printing ever done in the county. The letter press was on small pica and long primer type, and the press work done on an old Ramage or screw press, at the rate of two hundred and fifty sheets per hour, with the labor of two men, the forms being inked with old style buckskin balls.

It may be truthfully said, that the patronage extended to the newspaper press, by the citizens of this county, has always been liberal. Not only the home papers have been reasonably well sustained, but a very large number of leading journals of Cincinnati and the eastern cities have always been taken in the county. Our people are distinctly a reading and intelligent people; and it would be difficult to find, anywhere in or out of the State, an equal number of newspapers taken and read by an equal population.

Here we might descant upon the utility and influence of the newspaper press, but it is a hackneyed theme, and we could only repeat what has been a thousand times said before, and in better phrase than we could use. Without intelligence and virtue, no people can be- come prosperous, or make the best of life. Especially in a Republican form of government is it important that virtue and intelligence should pervade all classes, from the highest to the lowest. Only where ignorance and superstition predominate with the masses, can the arts of the demagogue be successfully wielded. The fathers of the Republic understood this matter thoroughly, and made liberal provision, wherever possible, for the educa- tion of the whole people. In the first organic law of our State it is declared that the security of liberty is in the virtue and intelligence of the people, therefore ample provision shall be made by the State for the education of all the youth of the State. The newspaper, dealing as it does with the current events and transactions of to-day, and discussing the questions of present daily moment and importance, affords a truly indispensable medium of enlightenment and knowledge. The family or community that enjoys the advantages of a well con- ducted newspaper, is always far in advance, in point of intelligence and prosperity, of one deprived of such ad- vantage. Besides its superiority as a medium of educa- tion, it is the cheapest source of knowledge ever enjoyed

by any people. Remote be the day when our newspaper press shall descend from the standard of excellence which it at present occupies; and may the time speedily arrive, when the poorest cottage and the grandest man- sion shall alike be supplied with the well conducted daily journal.

CHAPTER XVII. THE PREBLE COUNTY BAR .*

PRELIMINARY to any account of the members of the bar of Preble county, it would not be out of the way to notice the organization of the courts. From the records it appears that the first court of common pleas held in Preble county convened at the house of Samuel Haw- kins, in the town of Eaton, on the twenty-third day of August, 1808. Hon. Francis Dunlavy, of Lebanon, was the president, and James I. Nesbit, John Merony, and John C. Irvin, associate judges; Alexander C. Lanier, clerk pro tem .; Samuel Mitchell, coroner and acting sheriff.

Joshua Collet, of Cincinnati, was appointed prosecut- ing attorney for the term. Alexander C. Lanier was ap- pointed permanent clerk.

The following are the names of the first grand jury empanelled in Preble county: John Halderman, George Maxfield, William Milner, Simeon Van Winkle, Smith Charles, Hezekiah Hardesty, William Goodwin, Hezekiah Phillips, James White, Henry Kisling, John Pottenger, William Sellers, Isaac Patton, Samuel Holli- day, John Ware.

At the time this court was held there was no attorney resident of the county. In fact, it was several years thereafter before one was located here. Attorneys from Dayton, Lebanon, Hamilton, and Cincinnati, usually came here with the courts, attended to the business of the term, and returned to their respective places of abode. No records exist from which a catalogue of such attor- neys could be derived. The following, among others, are remembered as pretty constant attendants at the courts of this county, viz .: Joseph H. Crane, Henry Stoddard, Peter Odlin, Geo. B. Holt, Thos. Ross, Jaco- bus Halleck, John Woods, Nicholas Longworth, Jacob Burnet, Joshua Collet, Warren Munger, Joseph H. Benham, John McLain, Charles Hammond, and others. These names present an array of legal talent and forensic ability that will compare favorably with that of any other equal number to be found in any other state in the Union. Nearly all of these lawyers acquired national reputation; and it is not too much to say, that some of them, at least, occupy the very front rank in public esti- mation, as to talent and ability as lawyers, orators, and statesmen.

The first attorney who made a home in Eaton was

* By Thos. J. Larsh, esq.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

John A. Daley, esq., mentioned in another place, in the history of the newspaper press of the county. The next member of the bar claiming our attention is

DAVID F. HEATON, ESQ., who was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on the thirtieth of June, 1792. Nothing is known of his parents, except that they were emigrants from the State of New Jersey; but whether natives of that or of one of the more eastern States is not known. It is to be inferred from the subsequent career of Mr. Heaton, that his parents were not blessed (or cursed) with a superabundance of this world's goods, but they were at least able to give him such an education as the very meagre facilities of that day furnished. When it is remembered that during his childhood and youth, almost the entire State of Ohio, together with the whole of the Northwestern territories, comprising the States of In- diana, Illinois, Michigan, and all beyond the great "Father of waters," was an unbroken wilderness, where roamed the wild elk, buffalo, deer, wolf, and the equally wild and savage red man, it will readily be understood that schools, and means of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, were few and imperfect.

In early life Mr. Heaton was apprenticed to the tailor- ing business, which occupation he followed only a few years. When about twenty years of age he went to Franklinton, Ohio, and opened a shop for the prosecu- tion of his trade. He had not long resided at that place, however, when he was offered a position on the staff of General McArthur, commander of the troops called into the service of the United States during the War of 1812 with Great Britain, and attached to the North- western army. This was in the year 1813, or beginning of 1814. He made one or two campaigns in the North- west during that war, undergoing all the dangers, hard- ships, and suffering incident to a campaign in the wilder- ness, and swamps, and fastnesses, over which the armies had to pass to strike the enemy. A few-alas ! how few-of the participants in those fatiguing and dangerous exploits yet linger amongst us, and only they can under- stand and appreciate the hardihood, endurance, heroism indeed, required to achieve what was accomplished by the Northwestern armies during that war.

From the fact that immediately after the war Mr. Heaton located himself at Lebanon, in Warren county, it is conjectured that in his campaigns he made the acquaintance and formed intimate friendships with some of the leading men of that then prominent place. Here he engaged in the study of law, in the office of the late Thomas Ross, esq., who was at that time, and ever afterwards, one of the leading lawyers of the State. He had for a fellow student the late Governor Thomas Corwin, who read law at the same time and under the same preceptor. About the close of the year 1816, or beginning of 1817, Mr. Heaton was admitted to the bar, and soon afterwards located at Eaton to practice his profession.

Anterior to the settlement here of Mr. Heaton, all the legal business in the courts of the county was transacted by members of the bar from adjoining counties. The courts of that day, be it understood, were quite different

from those of the present day. Courts at that day were held by a president or circuit judge, and three associates. The circuit judge was elected by the legislature, and was uniformly chosen on account of his erudition as a lawyer, and his urbanity and dignity of deportment. The asso- ciate judges were chosen by the legislature, also, and were generally the best informed, most sensible, and most highly esteemed farmers or mechanics of the county. For many years after the organization of the county, the courts seldom, if ever, occupied more than two or three days at a session or term. The business of the term was judiciously arranged and transacted promptly. The judges not being dependent upon popular elections for their places, were not careful to conciliate votes rather than a faithful and diligent discharge of their duties.

On the nineteenth day of September, 1817, as ap- pears upon the records of the court, David F. Heaton was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county, and on the seventh day of September, 1818, the board of county commissioners granted him an order upon the county treasury for fifty-three dollars and thirty-three cents, to compensate him for his services for one year. Mr. Heaton continued in the office of prosecuting attor- ney, by re-appointments or election, for some eight or ten years. The office at that day was not lucrative, but was desirable only as an endorsement and recommendation, so to speak, for other legal business.

On the thirtieth day of April, 1818, Mr. Heaton was married to Miss Celia Coggswell, daughter of Dr. Coggs- well, of Kentucky, and sister-in-law of Dr. Walter Buel, then a citizen of Eaton. Miss Coggswell was a beauti- ful, refined, and highly accomplished young lady, and was universally recognized and spoken of by the peo- ple of that day, as of surpassing beauty of person and loveliness of character. She, however, lived less than a year after marriage, and died March 10, 1819. Mr. Heaton's second wife was Miss Mira Shannon, of Leb- anon, Ohio, to whom he was married, in the month of November, 1820, and with whom he lived fifty-one years.

At the October election, in the year 1824, Mr. Heaton was elected a member of the senate of Ohio, from the district comprising this county and all the counties on the north of it to the Michigan line. In 1827 he was elected a member of the house of representatives from this county, and in 1828 was again elected to the senate, to which he was re-elected in 1830, thus serving six years in the senate, and one year in the house of representa- tatives of the legislature of the State. He always took an active interest in the politics of the country, and wrote many able articles for the papers in advocacy of his par- ticular views. He was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, and was earnest and untiring in advocacy of the claims of the Great Commoner to the Presidency in 1824. Being of an active, persistent, and earnest nature, he was able to impress his particular views and opinions, to a very marked extent, upon the people with whom he came in contact. His unbounded admiration for Henry Clay, and his views of governmental policy, were consequently to a large extent propagated among

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

the then citizens of the county; and it is not too much to say that the continuous ascendancy of Whig and Re- publican principles in this county is very considerably at- tributable to the efforts, at that early day, of David F. Heaton.

In the legislature he was a diligent worker, ever striv- ing to carry forward measures for the advancement of the interest of his immediate constituents, and of the State at large. Many leading and important State roads, traversing the then almost unbroken wilderness of the northwestern counties of the State, owe their existence to the foresight, energy, and diligent labors of Mr. Hea- ton. These roads, thus opened up by the bounty of the State, became avenues for emigration and forerunners of civilization.

About the year 1836 Mr. Heaton removed to Wash- ington city. For some two or three years previousiy he had passed most of his time in that city, whilst his fam- ily still remained here. Prior to the removal of his fam- ily, he had received an appointment to a clerkship in the land office department of the general Government, and was assigned to the bureau of Virginia military land claims. He remained in this position until 1845, when he returned to Ohio, taking up his residence at Ports- mouth, in Scioto county, where he again resumed the practice of his profession. Whilst in the land office de- partment at Washington, he became thoroughly conver- sant with the laws and rules regulating land titles in the Virginia military land district, and was thus enabled at once to enter upon an extensive and lucrative prac- tice in Scioto and adjoining counties. In the year 1838, whilst residing in Washington city, he had been admitted to practice in the several United States courts.

Mr. Heaton died at Portsmouth on the third day of November, 1871, in the eightieth year of his age. One son-Leonidas Heaton, esq., of Portsmouth-and his wife survived him.

Lawyer Heaton was below a medium size-indeed might be called small in person, not weighing, in the prime of life, above one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and thirty pounds. He was a symmetrically proportioned man, muscles well knit, straight, elastic, and active as a cat. There were but few men of his day who could outrun him, or beat him leaping, or throw him in a wrestle. He was very fond of feats of activity, and delighted in gunning and the sports of the field and forest. In his personal habits, he was fastidiously neat and particular, and it was a very rare occurrence to find him, at home or abroad, alone or in company, in sloven- ly attire. He was extremely social in disposition, fond of jokes and hilarity, and an excellent conversationalist. In his youthful days, it was the prevalent fashion for men of any pretension to wear their hair in a cue, which style he adopted, and adhered to it for many long years after the custom had been abandoned by all others. The style was very common during and directly after the close of the War of 1812, but has long since entirely disappeared. There are, perhaps, a few persons yet alive who remember to have seen Mr. Heaton, Judge Holt, and perhaps one or two others, at the Eaton bar,

wearing cues up to the year 1824 or 1825-but Mr. Heaton continued the practice much later.

David F. Heaton, esq., saw and knew, and was an ac- tive participant in the wonderful and amazing progress of the State of Ohio for a period of about sixty years. When he arrived in the State, no more than sixty years prior to his decease, its population, confined mostly to its southern and eastern borders, but little exceeded one hundred thousand souls, and at the day of his death was but little short of three millions-increasing almost thirty fold in that short period. In material develop- ment, and the advancement of all the arts of civiliza- tion, the progress was still more marked and wonderful. Those who have lived long enough to compare the pres- ent condition with that of sixty years ago, can appreci- ate the tremendous development that has been wrought by the busy hands and earnest purpose of the hardy pio- neers of the west.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 15

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

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