History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 31

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

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PREBLE DIVISION, NO. III, SONS OF TEMPERANCE.

A division of the Sons of Temperance was instituted at the town of Eaton, December 7, 1846, by B. F. Ral- eigh, consisting of the following charter members: Felix Marsh, John V. Campbell, Henry Monfort, Robert Mar- tin, William Rossman, John Steele, Josiah Campbell, William J. Gilmore, Vincent Mitchell, Abram V. Austin, William B. Tizzard, Andrew Mikesell. The following persons joined soon afterwards, viz .: Benjamin Fleming, Jacob Chambers, Samuel P. Wilson and John C. Brooks. The following were the first officers of the organization: Robert Martin, W. P .; Josiah Campbell, W. A .; John V. Campbell, R. S .; William J. Gilmore, A. R. S .; William B. Tizzard, F. S .; William Rossman, treasurer; Felix Marsh, C .; Vincent Mitchell, A. C .; Andrew Mikesell, J. S .; John Steele, O. S. This organization was main- tained until 1849, when it was disbanded and another temperance society took its place. The latter organiza- tion was known as

COLUMBIA TEMPLE OF HONOR, NO. 38,

and was instituted October 26, 1850, with the following persons as charter members, viz .: Felix Marsh, S. P. Wil- son, John V. Campbell, William Hock, Jacob Chambers, Robert Pryor, John A. McKemy, William A. Bloomfield, Gideon Albright and Joshua McCoy; also the following ladies: Mrs. Rachel Marsh, Mrs. Ann E. Campbell, Mrs. Matilda Hock, Mrs. Catharine Chambers, Mrs. Pryor, Mrs. Albright, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Lucinda Huffman. The first officers elected were the following: Felix Marsh, B. P. T .; Catharine Chambers, S. P. S .; John V. Camp- bell, B. V. T .; Rachel Marsh, S. V. T .; John A. Mc- Kemy, P. B. P. T .; Elizabeth Wilson, P. S. P. T .; Rob- ert E. Pryor, B. R .; Jacob Chambers, B. U .; Ann E. Campbell, S. U .; Lucinda Huffman, S. G .; Gideon Al- bright, B. S.

EATON LODGE NO. 248, INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS.

This was the next temperance organization effected in Eaton after the disbanding of Columbia Temple of Honor. It was instituted February 8, 1867, with the following charter members, subsequently elected to the offices here indicated: James A. Gilmore, W. C. T .; Lida Larsh, W. V. T .; J. H. Fleming, W. R .; J. W. Coffman, W. A. R .; S. S. Dix, W. F. S .; Sallie Straud,

R. H. S .; May Fleming, L. H. S .; Hyram Johnson, W. C .; Robert Crisman, W. T .; J. A. McCabe, W. M .; Liz- zie Quinn, W. D. M .; Addie Hendricks, W. J. G .; Will- iam Nation, W. O. G. This organization was main- tained and active work kept up until 1874, or the fol- lowing year. Meetings were held regularly at Temper- ance hall, and the lodge, by small but frequent acces- sions of members, became one of the largest organiza- tions of the kind which ever had an existence in the town or county.

MURPHY MOVEMENT.

A council of the members and ministers of all the churches was held Saturday evening, May 19, 1877, in the Methodist Episcopal church. A temporary organi- zation was effected, and I. N. Lake was chosen presi- dent.

On Monday evening, May 21, 1877, the first meeting was held in the city opera house. The meeting was ad- dressed by Judge James A. Gilmore and others. At the close about one hundred and fifty signed the follow- ing temperance pledge :

"NATIONAL CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION,

"WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE, AND CHARITY FOR ALL." I, the undersigned, do pledge my word and honor, GOD HELPING ME. To abstain from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage, and that I will, by all honorable means, encourage othersto abstain."

Nearly all the signers at the first meeting were church members and temperance people, one or two only were secured from the drinking ranks at this meeting.

The meetings were continued for one week, but were only partially successful in attracting the attention of those who needed reformation. A few, however, at- tended, and some were induced to become members.

The temporary organization was at this time dis- banded for the purpose of placing the work in the hands of the reformed men, the officers resigned and the fol- lowing officers were elected to serve six months:

President, Judge James A. Gilmore; vice presidents, Frank Mitchell, Fred Tyler, Tim Kelly and Silas Bel- lows; secretary, Robert Morgan; treasurer, W. C. M. Brookins.

The services of the famous, Timony brothers (John and Ed.), of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were secured for one week. During their stay the excitement was intense. Crowds were nightly compelled to turn from the door of the opera house for want of room. Men, women, and children of all classes worked in union with a zeal worthy any cause.

The result of their labor astonished everybody and cast a mantle of gloom over the men engaged in the whiskey traffic.

Hundreds this week signed the pledge, from the mod- erate drinker down to the habitual drunkard, and many of them pushed to the front rank of the working force. The little badge of blue was everywhere to be seen. A few short weeks had worked a complete change in public sentiment. At the close of the week's labor of the Ti- mony brothers, one thousand names adorned the roll.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

Meetings were held during the summer at the court house. In July Burr Robins' circus gave an exhibition in the town, and the proprietor gave the people permis- sion to use his tent on Sunday for a meeting. At the close of the night's performance the announcement was made from the ring of the meeting next day-Sunday, at three o'clock P. M. At noon on Sunday the town was filled with people from the surrounding country. The circus tent was filled to overflowing.

The meeting was addressed by Judge James A. Gil- more, of Eaton, and Dan Rouzer, of Dayton, Ohio. Near two hundred (200) signed the pledge at the close of the meeting, among whom were thirty members of Burr Robins' circus company.

In the fall of 1877 James Dunn (known as Jimmy Dunn), of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, labored one week with us. Large and enthusiastic meetings were held nightly in the court room.

Jimmy Dunn added new life to the cause, and left the work on a more solid foundation than it had been from the start.

The citizens realized the fact that the work could be carried on successfully without the aid of strangers, and good work was done.

The Eaton Murphy choir became famous throughout the county under the leadership of Professor W. H. H. Eson. Upon invitation they visited West Alexandria, Camden, Winchester; also Richmond, Indiana. They numbered thirty young ladies and gentlemen of the town.

The ministers of the town all worked in the cause, but the most active among them were the Rev. A. Meharry (since deceased), and Rev. A. J. Reynolds. The faith- ful services rendered by them never will be forgotten by the reformed men.

May 21 and 22, 1878, one year from the commence- ment of the work in Eaton meetings were held in the fair grounds; five thousand were in attendance each day; the anniversary was celebrated by speeches, songs, and in the evening of May 21st, by a grand torchlight procession. Five hundred torches were in the proces- sion.

For two years the work was prosecuted with great vigor.

The effect in the community was good. Fewer crim- inals were arraigned in the county courts; fewer arrests were made; the cost for maintaining or assisting the poor classes during these two years was less than ever before in the history of the county, so great was the decrease in this respect that it was commented upon by the county papers. Men who for years had been compelled to ask aid for their families, from the township trustees, not only supported themselves and families comfortably, but by economy and total abstinence laid by enough of their savings to secure comfortable homes, and are to-day liv- ing monuments of the good results of the Murphy movement.

Although the good accomplished was great, and the future of the moral suasion temperance plan bright (had they continued the work-"With malice towards none and charity for all"), they became divided in their

opinions of the manner in which the work should be conducted.

The two opposing parties consisted of the prohibition- ists and the moral suasionists, and much time was used in discussing the question-how to proceed. The people lost interest in the work; the drinking men ceased at- tending, and the work stopped. But there are many to- day in the village, who owe their happiness to the great Murphy temperance movement, and will honor and keep the pledge they have taken unto death.

The presidents who served for each term of six months, were Judge J. A. Gilmore, Benjamin Hubbard, John T. Deem, Frank Mitchell and S. More Surface.

THE EATON BAND-FROM 1837.

In 1837 the first brass and reed band in Preble county, was organized under the leadership of Professor Jerry Guild, and composed of the following members: Ellis Minshall, Jacob Sweeney, Joshua Lockwood, E. P. Lockwood, David Hunter, Andrew Mikesell, Isaac Colby, J. Severs Hawkins, Josiah Campbell, James Curry, Cornelius Banta, John Glines, Isaac Van Ausdal and George Waggoner. The instruments used were eight clarionets, two concert horns, one plain trumpet, bass and tenor sliding trombones, flutes and bass drum. The first piece of music played was the "March from Bluebeard," familiarly known as "Calf's Tooth." Dur- ing the three years that this organization remained in existence, Dr. A. H. Stephens, Alfred Denny and John P. Acton were received as members. In 1840 the band went to South Bend, Indiana, and played for General William Henry Harrison. An orchestra was also organ- ized with five violins, two flutes, concert horns and clari- onets. The first concert was given in the old Public church, and the programme, including such songs as "Old King Cole," "Rosin the Bow," etc. The next entertainment by the band was at this place, at the hall on the south side of Main street, between Barron and Beech streets. After the campaign of 1840 was over the interest in the band waned, and at length the or- ganization was given up. In the fall of 1841, however, another band was formed with the following members in addition to those who had composed the first: Will- iam Stagg, James Mitchell, Henry Lockwood, J. L. Lockwood, G. R. Lockwood, Samuel Lockwood and C. W. Lockwood.

This band gave a series of concerts, travelling from place to place upon horseback, with E. Pond and Cuff Lockwood as advance agents. Entertainments were given before paying houses at Muncie, Winchester and New- port, Indiana, and Granville, Ohio. This organization was maintained until 1856, when it was disbanded and another one formed, with Professor Edward O. Reid as leader. The new members were, H. B. Van Ausdal, B. F. Larsh, D. Richey, A. B. DeGroot, John Fenerbaugh and Oliver Loy. This band was kept very busily em- ployed during the campaign of 1856, and obtained a rank second to none in the State. Very handsome new silver instruments were secured. When the war broke out several members went into the army, but the organi-

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zation was kept up until 1865. At that time the interest was revived and the band was again reorganized, with W. H. Eason, W. H. Ortt, Perry Lockwood, J. C. Hoover, C. F. Churchill, John Lockwood, jr., S. W. Lockwood, E. . O. Lockwood, Frank Lockwood and Charles Lockwood as 'additional members. It will be observed that from the first the Lockwoods had a prominent place in the com- position of the several Eaton bands. They have all been good musicians, and in recent years the descendants of those of the name who took part in the earlier orgniza- tions are following in their footsteps. This band during the years it remained as organized in 1865 had many "good times" in the nature of annual excursions to the Shelby county "Reservoir" concerts, festivals, fishing ex- cursions, etc. In 1874 Professor C. F. Churchill, assisted by others, started a new organization with the following members: E. O. Lockwood, A. A. Churchill, W. B. Rob- inson, H. Donohoe, O. Jefferson, Richard Lockwood, W. H. Eason, Samuel W. Lockwood, W. H. Ortt, A. G. Minshall, J. S. Lockwood, John Lockwood, jr., and James H. Tizzard. The band started under adverse cir- cumstances, but by energy and pluck succeeded in secur- ing, during the first year of existence, a new set of silver helicon instruments, new uniforms, etc. Of the amount expended the citizens of Eaton contributed one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The second year the band pur- chased a new wagon, new music, and several other things which they needed. During these two years about twelve hundred and fifty dollars was expended in equipping the organization. The present organization is constituted as follows: C. F. Churchill, leader; M. Lally, A. A. Church- ill, E. O. Lockwood, O. Filbert, W. H. Eason, Edward Albright, Calvin Churchill, O. Jefferson, W. B. Robinson, Horace Donohoe, Luman Lockwood, A. G. Minshall, Marks Nation, John Pollas, J. J. Chase, William Nation, Thomas J. Noe, and H. Kester. Of the whereabouts of some of the members of the early organizations who are still music makers, it may be remarked that C. W. Lock- · wood is the leader of the band at Muncie, Indiana. Richard, Charles and Nathan Lockwood are in the same town; Frank Lockwood is at Arcanum, Ohio; Perry Lockwood is at Champaign, Illinois, and J. C. Hoover is leader of the band at Lincoln, Illinois.

MOUND CEMETERY.

Eaton has one of the most appropriate and beautiful resting places for the dead to be found in the county. But few burial places excel it in natural beauty, of chaste- ness in art adornment, or in elements of historic interest.

The cemetrey is located between the village and the site of Fort St. Clair. It is bounded upon the west by the bluff banks of the Garrison branch, has a large front- age upon the maple-lined West road, and contains about twenty-five acres. Originally there was laid out a small burying-ground in the northeastern part of the town; but William Bruce, the proprietor, very soon afterwards do- nated four acres now included in Mound cemetery, and nerly all of the early burials were made within this piece of ground-the portion nearest the road, in which the old marble slabs and weathered freestones stand most

thickly. The first burial in the cemetery was that of a little daughter of Abram Eaton (or Heaton), and was made in September, 1806.

As the years passed it was found that the original lim- its of the cemetery were too circumscribed, and an .addition was made which rendered the ground ample euough until recent years, when the boundaries were again extended. The whole has been tastefully laid out in walks and drives which follow, for the most part, grace- ful curves over the undulating surface. The beauty of the cemetery is enhanced by the presence of a variety of native forest trees and evergreens judiciously introduced.

The peculiar and distinctive feature of this burial place and the one most interesting to the stranger, is the Lowerey monument. This stone, which surmounts one of the beautiful and symmetrical mounds left as the memorials of an unknown race, and within are buried the bones of fifteen soldiers of Wayne's army, among them, Lieutenant Lowerey and Ensign Boyd, who sac- rificed their lives in wresting this country from the In- dians. They were killed October 17, 1793, a short dis- tance from where Zion's church now stands, and near the forty foot pitch, on Lowerey's branch, about four miles from Eaton .* On the next day they were buried side by side near Fort St. Clair. On the Fourth of July, 1822, the remains of Lieutenant Lowerey were disintered and buried in the northwest corner of the cemetery, and on the seventeenth of October, 1847, the fiftieth anniversary of their fall, the remains of all the soldiers were depos- ited in the mound where they now lie and will, probably, remain. An appopriate funeral oration was delivered by Abner Haines, esq., and the late Rev. Charles W. Swain acted as chairman. The monument which marks the resting place of these brave soldiers was erected on the occasion of their final burial by the contributions from a number of generous and public-spirited citizens of Ea- ton. It bears on one side the inscription to that effect ; upon the other the Latin words "Dulce et decorum est pro patric more," and upon the front the following inscription :

"IN MEMORY OF

Lieutenant John Lowerey. of the Second sub-legion, and Ensign Boyd, of the First, and thirteen non-commissioned officers and privates, who fell about five miles north of this place, in an obstinate engagement with the Indians, on the seventeenth day of October, 1793. Lieuten- ant Lowerey was from New Jersey, and had served with reputation in the levies of 1791, under General St. Clair. Ensign Boyd was a young man of much promise; they were in command of an escort of ninety men, having in charge twenty wagons loaded with stores and provisions for the army of General Wayne."

The monument is a simple shaft of Rutland marble, about ten feet in height.

A severely plain but massive sandstone monument marks the burial place of William Bruce, the pioneer and proprietor of Eaton. Very appropriately the monument rests upon a base composed of two mill-stones-they are the buhrs made by John Banfill, and long did service in the second mill built by Mr. Bruce, the one now standing, which was the first merchant's mill in Eaton. It is prob- able that some of the furrows were chiseled by the hand that is now in ashes beneath them. The monument

*See chapter entitled Wayne,s Campaign, in General History depart- ment of this volume.

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HISTORY OF PREBLE COUNTY, OHIO.

bears a simple inscription to the memory of the "good, kind miller," setting forth the facts in regard to his laying out the town in 1806, and his practical liberality in pro- viding for churches, schools, and donating public grounds. He died February 25, 1830, at the age of sixty-seven years and six months.

Some of the newer monuments are very striking in workmanship and massiveness, notably those of granite, which bear the names of Van Ausdal, Van Doren, Don- ohue, Campbell and Hoffman, as also the older marble monument which marks the burial place of the Brooke family. The remains of that stalwart pioneer of Meth- odism, the Rev. James B. Finley, lie in the vicinity of the last mentioned. Near by is the grave of the Rev. J. G. Brooke, and at a little distance-designated by a sim- ple memorial marble, is the resting-place of another wor- thy man of God, who has left in Eaton in his works a far grander monument than any which could be reared by hands above his grave. The Van Ausdal monument is a fit memorial to the pioneer merchant of Eaton.

One of the older gravestones which is an object of in- terest to all visitors, is that which stands on the grave of Fergus Holderman, who died in 1838. It is an unusual- ly large slab of freestone, and only differs from others in the superiority of its carving. It was the work of Clevenger, the sculptor, who, in after years, went to Italy, to study and there made himself famous. The stone bears a large medallion, on which the inscription is cut, and around it are wreaths of roses and oak leaves, myrtle and ivy, with cherubs, and the emblems ever present upon old mortuary suclptures, the urn and weeping wil- lows. The workmanship shows marked excellence, and it is cherished by those who knew Clevenger as one of the first indications of a genius which was afterwards highly developed. Clevenger, who was brought up in Eaton, lost his life on the ocean when returning to his native land from the old world.

Just at the right of the most eastern entrance of the cemetery is a small monument, which stands over the grave of a stranger who died in Eaton many years ago. The grave remained for twenty years unmarked save by a decaying wooden post, from which the inscription has · been obliterated by the weather. The present stone was erected by the young men of Eaton in 1853. It is in- scribed :

"J. S. WOOWORTH,

a native of Ontario county, New York, died September 10, 1832, aged about thirty years. Whilst sojourning in the village he was taken ill and died among strangers, who, in the hour of affliction, administered unto him, and as a token of their esteem have erected this monument to his memory."

The older portion of the cemetery is thickly crowded with stones, which mark the graves of old and young. The pioneer residents of Eaton who have gone down to the grave ripe with years, and revered by all surviv- ors, and children of tender age, whose untimely death made fond parents mourn. By each of these graves of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, lov- ers, and sweethearts, bitter tears have been shed, and life hopes have gone out.

" Those that wept them, they that weep, All shall with these sleepers sleep,"

THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH OF JULY.

An event so recent as the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the birth of the Republic is, of course, fresh in the minds of all men of to-day, but as years from now the young and those yet unborn will read the pages of this volume, we give a brief statement of the observance in Eaton of the Fourth of July, 1876.

The celebration of the Nation's one hundredth birth- day began on Sunday in the churches. Each house of worship was decorated with flowers and garlands of ever- greens, and the several ministers of the town in their dis- courses on that day blended patriotism with piety, and gave thanks to God for the century of progress which had passed since the dark days amidst the throes of which liberty was born.

On the following Monday the town was the scene of busy preparation, and on the morning of the Fourth Eaton was bright and beautiful in her gala day attire. Day was ushered in with the firing of a salute of one hundred guns and the ringing of church bells, followed by the inspiring music of the national airs, played by the band. As the day advanced crowds of people thronged the highways leading into the village, and every township was represented by as large a proportion of its people as could through any possibility leave their homes. Jack- son and Harrison sent in regularly organized delegations, that of the latter being a very extraordinary and striking turn-out. At the head of the long procession was the Lewisburgh band, and next came one hundred horses harnessed together, each bearing a rider, and drawing an immense flag-covered wagon, occupied by young girls. Jackson township sent in a wagon of huge proportions, in which rode just a hundred children.

A vast concourse of people moved to the fair grounds. Arrived at the place for holding the exercises John H. Boyce was elected president, and the venerable Albert Haines delivered an able, eloquent and highly valuable historical address. After this short speeches were made by Elder James Neal, Hon. William J. Gilmore, and 'Squire Thompson, an old and honored resident of Montgomery county sang a number of the songs of early times. The day was concluded with a fine pyrotechnical display, and the crowd dispersed late in the evening, after a celebra- tion unmarred by a single accident or disagreeable occur- ence.

MINERAL SPRINGS.

Preble county abounds in mineral springs and flowing wells. The most noted in Eaton and its immediate vicinity are the Court House well and the group of group of springs or flowing wells just northeast of the village, at Mr. Jonathan Flora's and his neighbors. These springs have attracted general attention, are much talked about, and as they possess undoubted medicinal virtues, we present the reader with analysis of their waters, carefully made by F. M. Michael, M. D. Of the water of the Court House well the doctor gives the fol- lowing analysis:

Sixteen thousand grains of the water contain

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GRAINS.

Carbonate of lime.

3000

Sulphate lime

2240

Sulphate of potassium

1000

Sulphate of Sodium

Sulphur compound {

1154

Protosulphate iron

Bicarbonate potassia

Bicarbonate sodium

Qualitative.

Bicarbonate iron

Chloride of sodium

0.393

Chloride magnesium

0.333

Sulphuric acid-trace.

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas-trace.

Free carbonic acid gas-trace.

Temperature of water 55º Fahrenheit

The water is very strong in sulphuretted hydrogen, the odor of which can be retained for a long time if the water is securely bottled. One of the peculiar charac- teristics of this water is that it does not deposit any trace of organic matter or mineral substance, the solution. of the mineral salts being perfect. Part of the carbonic acid escapes when exposed to the air, but the larger por- tion is held in solution. Many persons have obtained relief from various disorders by the use of this water, and the well is regularly visited by many of the towns- people.

The peculiar group of springs adjoining the corporation upon the northeast afford a copious supply of apparently pure and very refreshing water, and are visited to almost as great an extent as the Court House well. The water is tonic in its qualities, and what is known as a chaleybeate water.

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 31

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

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