USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 45
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MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
and then slowly, only after the year 1805, ten years after the peace of 1795.
The treaty line falling south of Fort Loramie, in the territory now comprised in Shelby county, a six mile square enclosing the fort and surroundings, sufficient for its maintenance, was reserved by the United States government by the terms of the treaty, the same or similar arrangement attending all the northern forts, all of them maintaining garrisons for varying periods. Fort Loramie was prob- ably the first, or one of the first, to be abandoned, but the exact date cannot be ascertained at this time. Col. John Johnston, who was in command at Fort Wayne from 1800 to 1811, and from then on in charge of Fort Piqua, is the chief authority on matters touching the Indian history of this region, and he remarks that Fort Loramie was maintained for "only a few years after the treaty," being aban- doned when Col. Butler (a nephew of Gen. Butler), who was com- mandant, was transferred, with his soldiers, to the new southwestern outposts .* While this is doubtless correct, it is also probable that the fort was again occupied during the War of 1812, when the build- ing of blockhouses throughout the unfortified districts was deemed necessary in territory less dangerous than this. It was to Fort Piqua, as a place of safety, that Capt. John Logan (the loyal Indian adopted by Gen. Benjamin Logan after the Mad river raid) was commissioned to conduct the women and children from Fort Wayne, during the War of 1812, Col. John Johnston then being in command at Piqua.
During the Indian campaign of William Henry Harrison, in 1812, the Loramie portage was once again the scene of the passage of a great armed force, when the hero of Tippecanoe, who had trans- ferred Fort Wayne to the command of Gen. Winchester and retired to Fort Piqua, was called to assume chief command of the North- western army, and marched northward to Fort Defiance by this well-known path.
Settlement was later here than in any other division of territory lying in the Miami valley, yet not because it had not been looked toward with calculating eyes many years before the first white man was hardy enough to venture into its wilds with a family. Its rich- ness was already known, and as early as 1788 the attention of the New England colony which settled at Marietta was directed toward this part of the country by Ebenezer Zane, at Wheeling. However, they preferred the evident disadvantages of the Muskingum hills to the dangers of the upper Miami, and perhaps they were wise, and so lived longer, in spite of the hardships they endured.
But the richness of the country was a lure in spite of danger. The beauty of the country probably did not appeal so strongly, as beauty of landscape was common to all the river country. It was the hope of prosperity which drew the first settlers northward to
* Col. John Johnston, for more than thirty years Indian Agent in this district, relates that a beautiful little son of Col. or Capt. Butler died while his parents lived at Fort Loramie, and the little grave, protected only by an arbor of wild honeysuckle, stood outside the stockade, visible until after the War of 1812, when fort and all were razed.
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
brave the perils and hardships of making a home in Shelby county. Hardships, for that matter, were not in themselves greater nor very different than were to be encountered anywhere in the great north- west. The disgruntled tribes lurked about, in defiance of the Treaty of Greenville, causing fear and distrust and making this a debatable ground at best, in the earlier years of settlement. Not far from the fort at Piqua did even the hardy few venture, and these only because of the certainty of material reward.
The timber was so heavy that long years of labor were neces- sary to reduce its slow acres to cultivation ; but it also was abund- antly stocked with game as tempting to a Kentucky rifleman as to a savage hunter. Wolves were numerous; bears haunted the deep woods; deer abounded; and lesser animals, inimical to the safety of domestic fowl and stock, infested the entire wilderness. But when brought down by the rifle they furnished meat and pelts which were more marketable than an excess of grain, in this remote outpost of civilization, where the only roads were trails along which a wagon, had there been one, could not have traveled. Like the belt along lower Logan and the Champaign county line, this region of first settlement shared in the clouds of wild pigeons, blackbirds and crows, so numerous and voracious that they could devour the seed as fast as the settler could sow it. Extermination of these hindrances had to be attempted before farming could be profitable. But the natural advantages of the whole country held them steadfast to their task through all the discouragements of pioneer life, and by degrees the land was conquered by their industry.
The honor of being recorded as the "first settler" in the county has long been acknowledged as belonging to James Thatcher and his family, who came in 1805, two years after the admission of Ohio to statehood, and settled on Loramie creek about three and a half miles north of the present Miami county line, where they built their cabin and made a permanent home.
For a year the Thatchers appear to have been alone, but in 1806 the three Mellingers, John, Joseph and David, had located in the vicinity of Lockington, and Thomas Earl is credited with ar- riving the same year. John Wilson settled on Turtle creek in 1807, about one mile east of the Thatchers. Samuel Marshall is set down as having arrived in 1808, and Samuel McClure in 1810, while Richard, James and John Lenox, accompanied by their mother and sisters, whose names are not given, came about 1811. James Can- non is mentioned as a settler of this pre-war period, also the Careys, Cephas Carey and his wife Jane Wilkinson, who with their young family settled on the west fork of Turtle creek, in 1810, the spot being the site of Hardin. At about the same date John Kennard, William Cardingley, Thomas McClish and William Bush came to the Turtle creek region, the first two choosing a location to the northwest, while the latter two settled at or near the site of Hardin. There is no verified record of any families other than these, who settled in Shelby county territory prior to 1811-12, and there were few, if any, who ventured northward so far, during the war trou- bles, which quite effectually halted "the course of empire" until the end of 1813.
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The hardy settlers in the Turtle creek valley were often in danger-or the fear of it-during the war, and a blockhouse was built on the Carey land for their protection, occupied by a squad of soldiers as long as either British or savage foes threatened to disturb the locality. It was this protection which crystallized the settlers into the first little organized community in the future county.
Upon the establishment of permanent peace, immigration be- came more and more rapid throughout the territory south of the Greenville treaty line, the favored localities being along the water- ways and as population increased and rumors of the canal project be- gan to spread, centralizing somewhat at points of hopeful promi- nence. In the stream of home and wealth seekers which swept the northwest country in waves, each locality attracted and retained a portion of the human freight it bore, until the constantly augmenting population made necessary the location of arbitrary boundary lines of political division in order that the pioneer citizens of the new state of Ohio be assured their sovereign right to vote.
Not until the nineteenth century was waist-deep in the stream of Time was the organization of counties in the northwest complete. Shelby county was not struck off from Miami, Champaign and Logan counties until May, 1819, and boundary lines on the north and west were not located until early in the following year, these latter separations affecting the county in no way, as settlement in the north did not begin for more than ten years afterward, when the excitement and danger of pioneer life had nearly departed, leaving only a wake of toil, terrific in its hardness, and a heritage of fever and ague and other ills incident to settlers' life, only palliated by the near hope of prosperity.
The local territory had acquired a population of two thousand or more inhabitants, including those north of the present Auglaize county line, at the time of its organization as Shelby county. Its name, Shelby, in honor of Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, was a natural choice among settlers so large a proportion of whom had emigrated from that state, or who had paused there while choosing permanent homes. Hardin, which had been laid out as a town as early as October, 1816 (so recorded in Miami county), was at first designated as the seat of justice, and the first court convened in that village May 17, 1819, in a small log schoolhouse, eighteen by twenty feet in dimensions, which had been erected early in 1819 on the bank of Turtle creek. The Hon. Joseph H. Crane presided, with Robert Houston, Samuel Marshall and William W. Cecil as Asso- ciate Judges. The court was announced as being "ready to admin- ister even-handed justice to rich and poor alike;" but it would ap- pear that the settlers at that date had no quarrels to settle, nor justice to demand, for, after the transaction of routine of minor importance, and the granting of a few licenses, the court adjourned "sine die," and did not convene again until September of the same year, when it was again called to the little schoolhouse, and a full court, consisting of the Judge and his three associates, with Harvey B. Foote, clerk ; Henry Bacon, prosecuting attorney ; Daniel V. Ding- man, sheriff; and the first Grand Jury in attendance. This time, there was abundance of business, for the term was not adjourned
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
until December 14, 1819, when it again adjourned sine die, this time with evident finality, for no court ever sat at Hardin again. The board of county commissioners, consisting of Robert McClure, William Berry, and John Wilson, David Henry being the clerk and James Lenox treasurer of the county, held numerous sessions at Hardin during the year 1819, appointing Archibald Defrees to be county collector, and accepting the bonds of Daniel V. Dingman as sheriff and of John Craig as coroner; and closing its last session in Hardin on the same date as the Court.
Its next meeting was held in what was to be Sidney, in Febru- ary, 1820.
It was no failure to seize an opportunity which prevented Hardin, oldest town in the county, and a site of historic interest, from being chosen as the county seat, but the serious consideration of localities pointed out better and more advantageous sites obtain- able, for the town which was to maintain the dignity called for, than was offered by little Hardin. In the action of the general assembly of Ohio, looking to the selection of a suitable position for the pro- posed town, can now be seen the wisdom which put aside senti- ment and the present interests of a few worthy men, for the benefit of a large population that was certain to accrue to the county in the process of time. Already the Miami canal project was astir, and population was certain to follow the course of the more im- portant waterways. The appointed commissioners, Thomas B. Van Horn and James Steele, examined "the several sites offered and recommended," deciding in favor of the seventy acres offered by Charles Starrett, "part of a fraction number thirty-six, in town- ship eight, range six, west of the Great Miami river, * *
* com- mencing at a creek, or run, of water southeastwardly of a house in said fraction, occupied by a Mr. Cannon," etc., the proposal accom- panying the "donation" modifying the offer, as shown in the agree- ments signed by Mr. Starrett, which we quote :
"I, the undersigned, subscriber, proprietor of Fraction No. 36, etc. * *
* do make a donation of seventy acres of land, for the use and benefit of said county *
* * provided, the commis- sioners see proper to fix the seat of justice permanently in said fraction ; provided, that I do receive one-half of the proceeds of the sales of the lots, after the commissioners locate, lay off, and sell the lots which may be laid off on said donation."
"N. B. I also bind myself to give the privilege of all the springs within the bounds of said fraction * * for the use of the town and the privilege of conveyance to the town."
"Reserve Clause: I, the said Charles Starrett, do make the following reserves out of the seventy acres proposed * * * , to- wit: One acre for the public square ; two half acres for two different denominations of religious societies ; one acre for each of two dif- ferent denominations of religious societies for graveyards ; and one acre for the use of schools."
Mr. Starrett was not the only settler interested in fixing the seat of justice at this point. Twenty-two fellow citizens made donations to the building of a courthouse with no other condition
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MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
attached to their offers than that the new town be located on the seventy-acre tract. Their names were:
Benjamin Brandon,
Samuel Marrs,
George Chiles,
Peter Musselman,
Archibald Defrees,
Isaac Parks,
John Gilbert,
George Pool,
David Henry,
William Richardson,
Edward Jackson,
William Robinson,
William Johnson,
Francis Rorack,
Charles Johnston,
Thomas Ruckman,
John Johnston,
Rodham Talbot,
John Lenox,
Alex. McClintock,
Otho White.
William Marrs also donated "his big bull, value untold," the other donations being tendered in various character, some in cash, some in lumber, some in carpentry, sawing and other labor, while one offering was a "barrel of whiskey"!
All donations having been duly and formally accepted, David Henry, county clerk and justice of the peace, was appointed Town Director, giving bond in the sum of $6,000 to his sureties, Rodham Talbot, Edward Jackson and Thomas Ruckman. The director was ordered by the court to lay off a town "upon the premises afore- said," "in lots of five rods by ten, in blocks of eight lots each, with alleys one rod in width running through the center of each block at right angles with each other and with the streets; the alleys to divide the blocks into four equal parts; the streets to be laid out six rods in width, and a public square to be laid out in said town by striking out the center block of lots."
"The public square," thus delineated, contains nearly four acres, instead of the one provided in Mr. Starrett's offer, but the proprietor of the site must have acquiesced in the increase, as he could well afford to do, since the sale of the remaining half of the town at even the low figure then considered fair, was a greater return for his land than he could have obtained for the whole as a farm, while the dignity of his gift was greatly enhanced.
It is proper, at this point, to give some emphasis to the fact that the public square was a gift to the county, and accepted and defined by the county, so that a notion which has crept into the public mind in some quarters, to the effect that it was intended by Mr. Starrett as a city park, may be corrected. It was viewed as the site of the expected courthouse from the outset, and there can be no doubt of the absolute justice as well as the propriety and good taste of its being occupied by the county temple of justice.
The lots, as directed, were sold publicly after due notice "given in six places in the county and printed in the Dayton Gazette," terms of sales, "one-fourth (of sale price) in ninety days, one-fourth in nine months, one-fourth in fifteen months, and the residue in two years, to be secured by a lien upon the lots until the whole shall have been paid."
The survey was made by Benjamin S. Cox, in whose certified report a stake near Abraham Cannon's house (corner, now, of Water
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
street and Miami avenue), is specified as being "the southeast cor- ner of said town." This house of Abraham Cannon was the scene of the first courts, held at Sidney, while the temporary courthouse was being prepared.
The matter of public highways was taken up as early as possible after the establishment of the county, leading routes being ordered surveyed in advance of any question of private advantage, or con- troversy between rival points. Previous to the division from Miami three principal roads had been ordered by the Miami county commis- sioners, the first from Piqua to Wapakoneta, with branches leading to Hardin and St. Marys; and the others from Troy to Dingmans- burg, and from Dingmansburg to Wapakoneta. During the sessions of the county commissioners at Hardin, in December, 1819, roads were ordered surveyed connecting Abraham Cannon's (the site of Sidney) with the State road from Piqua to Wapakoneta ; and from Five Mile Tree on the Mosquito creek road eastward to the county line "at the most proper point for a road to the seat of justice in Logan county" (or Bellefontaine). At the March (1820) sessions of the commissioners, in Sidney, roads were further ordered to be laid connecting Dingmansburg with Cynthiana by way of Sidney and Hardin; and connecting the State road at William Morrow's with the Mill Creek and Sidney road, passing Steinberger's mill; also connecting Hardin with the state road near Nine Mile creek in the southwestern part of the county, and a section of road lead- ing from Honey creek to Mosquito creek. At the April session, the road to Cynthiana was ordered extended to the Darke county line, "there to intersect the Greenville road." The September meeting of the commissioners established more routes, one of the most impor- tant being a road from the north extremity of Main avenue, Sidney, "up the river to the Dingmansburg and Wapakoneta road," passing Rodham Talbot's; Elisha Kirkland's; William Hathaway's and George Morrison's, to the Miami ford, thence by nearest and best way to the Logan county line to connect with the Bellefontaine road. Another road of practical use was one leading from the southern extremity of Ohio avenue to Muddy run, and along the run to Rick- man's mill. To thread the maze of roads that have since interlaced the surface of the county would be superfluous; but the beginning of the complete system of highways was prophetic of the future. To be sure, the highways were long in approaching a really passable condition, but as routes they were the most practical that could have been chosen, and with some straightening and grading, and immeas- urable graveling and "piking," these original roadways of the county remain as they were surveyed a hundred years ago.
The commissioners, at their first meeting in Sidney, took steps toward the erection of a temporary courthouse and jail, which were then and there planned, and the contract ordered to be sold on the 22nd of February, three weeks from the adoption of the plans. Two years elapsed before the buildings were ready for occupancy. The temple of justice stood on the west side of Ohio avenue, facing the public square, and was of frame construction, two stories high and twenty-four by thirty feet in dimensions, heated by two six-foot fire- places and lighted in the first story by four eighteen-light windows,
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MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
and upstairs by six fifteen-light windows. Doors opened in the center, both front and back.
The jail was of single log construction, the logs hewn twelve inches square and laid close, in two stories of seven feet each, with a window eighteen inches square, "well grated with iron bars," the ceiling of the second floor being of hewn timbers, and covered by a joint shingle roof. A chimney in one end connected with a fireplace in each story, and both floors were entered by doors from the outside, ironed and locked. The building, which was inadequate in size and strength, stood at the side of the courthouse, on Ohio street. Three years later a second jail was ordered built, the walls of which were directed to be of hewn timber, double, and filled in with stone; the building, twenty-two by thirty feet, to contain two apartments, one of them a cell for criminals, and the other the "debtor's room." Augustus Richards was awarded the contract, by which he was to use the iron window gratings of the old jail for the criminal cell, while the prisoners for debt were vouchsafed new windows two feet square. The contractor was to use all of the old jail iron in the new jail, and in addition to "cheek" the three doors and all win- dows with iron, receiving an extra $100 (the contract was made at $793) to cover the cost of the iron thus used. This second jail, which stood on the southeast corner of the public square, was the first building to occupy a position within the square. The original jail was sold, as soon as the second was completed, in December, 1826, and removed by order of the court. The new jail sufficed until 1839, when it was destroyed by fire.
In the meantime, the majority of the taxpayers having become persuaded that a new courthouse was necessary to the dignity of law and justice, the commissioners, Samuel Marshall, Peter Mus- selman and Samuel Gamble, met at the December, 1830, session and formed and adopted plans for a new brick courthouse, to occupy the center of the public square, and to be completed by October 1, 1832. The contract was let to Charles Bush, William Doak and George Lecky, and did not include the cupola, which was built by John Niswonger, under a separate contract, the whole being finished by May, 1833. It was a neat brick structure, of the simplest archi- tecture inside and out, its only claim to beauty being the octagonal cupola ten feet in diameter, set in the center of the roof, and sur- rounded by a fifteen-foot square level enclosed with a "Chinese railing," above which it rose fifteen feet and was surmounted by a gilt ball and weather vane. Painted white with green blinds, it was, though simple, quite the smartest object in the village at that date, and looked upon with pride for many years. The building stood in the center of the square, facing south.
The original courthouse was sold and removed to West avenue, between Court and Poplar streets, where it served many purposes, but principally that of a plow works for Dan Toy, sr., and as the Toy and Edgar blacksmithy, being later sold to George L. Robbins, who carried on blacksmithing in it until the nineties.
After the conflagration of 1839, when the jail was destroyed, a third structure, of rough stone and brick, very solid though ugly, was erected, the sheriff's residence being incorporated under the
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
same roof; and this building stood until torn down in 1879, when the new jail and residence was erected on the corner of East Court and South Main streets. The jail of 1839 was located on the south- west corner of the public square, and faced west.
December, 1850, the county commissioners authorized the vil- lage council to erect a brick market house on the northeast corner of the public square-"a good substantial brick, at least as large as the one at Piqua." But there is nothing in the council minutes to show that this was ever done.
In April, 1880*, the sentiment of the public favoring a new courthouse, in keeping with the future outlook of Shelby county, having been roused to action through newspaper publicity, the question was submitted to popular vote, resulting in 2,024 for and 1,786 opposed. The Commissioners at once sold the old courthouse to Henry Guckes, contractor, to be removed before the following March. The contract for the plans and specifications for the new temple was made August 14, 1880, the architect being G. H. Maetzel of Columbus. Mr. Maetzel was also engaged as superintendent of the construction of the building, which cost close to $200,000. Built in a period when bad taste was "on the rampage" in the west, Shelby county courthouse had the good fortune to come from the hand of a real architect, and stands today a dignified and handsome edifice, conventionally correct and self-preserving after forty years have passed, a monument to both architect and builders. The building faces all four points of the compass, with similar pillared porticoes approached by broad flights of stone stairway, a figure of the blind- fold goddess, ready to "poise the cause in Justice' equal scales" sur- mounts each facade, and the lofty clock tower proclaims the flight of time to the limits of the valley. The public square is surrounded by splendid native elms of towering height, and the greensward is shaded by many trees planted with discrimination, while the angles of the building are banked with flowering shrubs. Popular sub- scription for the support of this feature was taken at the initiative of the newspapers, in later years, and completes the beauty of the square.
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