USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 54
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During its first fifteen or twenty years of existence no town in the county had a brighter prospect than Port Jefferson. The situation was beautiful and advantageous, and as the highest point of traffic on the feeder canal, which begins at the bulkhead a half mile above the village on the Miami river, it attracted all the grain and lumber shipping from a large and rich district to the north and east of it. Warehouses to the number of five clustered along the canal front. Mills hummed busily by the docks. Blacksmiths did a rushing business. The taverns were full. Cooper shops kept the air alive with constant battering. Retail business was brisk. Mr. Wright, a prospector from the east, seeking a location, went on to Chicago before deciding where to settle, but returned to Port Jefferson as having a far more promising outlook than the settle- ment at Fort Dearborn. The building of the railroad in 1852 con- stituted the first reverse to the village prosperity; yet for many years after that the canal was still an important traffic avenue, of which Port Jefferson was the gate. As late as the eighties it main- tained a comfortable trade in all lines, had its big grain warehouse, owned by the Honnells (now empty and staring from eyeless sockets
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at the idle valley), the fine old Allinger mill (long since a prey to the fire fiend), four busy blacksmiths, the Eplers and Johnstons; the Cargill tannery ; a cooper shop and two taverns. The old George Gump stage line was then in its palmy days, and the village was still able to turn its empty tin cup up side down and play it was a drum. Then the D. T. & I. railroad stole down on the eastern plain and seized all that was left of Port Jefferson's hopes, emptying its shops and leaving its once busy street a prey to decadence. One hears no sound of hammer or wheel save when some automobile demands repairs. The postoffice, in the grocery of George Honnell, affords a congregating place for friendly chat or village gossip, and the two fraternal lodges preserve their weekly gathering of fol- lowers (for "the Port" was noted for its enthusiasm in regard to Masonry and Oddfellowship) ; but there is no tavern, and, save for the restaurant kept by Miss Pearl Rike, the wayfarer who hungers must go empty away.
Three pretty churches still attest a Sabbath activity in which the carriages and autos of the countryside line the shady side streets and the voice of praise and prayer ascends from the green hollow of the valley. For, though Port Jefferson's business portion is de- serted, it is still a village of quiet, comely homes, which seclude them- selves behind many beautiful trees and beyond stretches of green and well-trimmed lawn, and only on week days are wrapped in Sunday quiet. The visitor fancies-and gossip bears out the im- pression-that there are frequent Sunday gatherings, when relatives drop in and "stay to church"; and there is a certainty that the closed front blinds are opened when John and David and the children come home to the Thanksgiving feast, and that the chimney breast at Grandma's house is lined with little stockings Christmas Eve, and young ears carry to bed with them many a tale of old canal days told round the holiday fire. The village is a retiring place for farmers folk who do not wish to be too far away from the old farm even if "some one else is working it now." And there are "home- keeping hearts" who would never be happy away from here. So the population stays at about two hundred and twenty-five, placid and happy people. Below the quiet village is another still more quiet, the population of which is now about three thousand, and which is growing every year. Cared for with scrupulous and loving system, the Village of the Dead is a pretty place, sheltered by the hills on the north, from which it is watered by a spring, and over- looking the river and valley on the south.
The canal, now entirely disused, has become a waterlily pond for a half-mile section from village to the bulkhead, and a few tiny bungalows indicate a movement toward summer outings along the pretty banks.
Borings for natural gas resulted in two fine artesian wells with perpetual supply of water.
Westward from Sidney, the Hardin highway leads through some of the oldest settled and richest farmlands of the county. Turtle creek valley is unsurpassed by any district east or west of it, though the basin of Loramie creek is the more picturesque. The earlier
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settlers of the territory have already been mentioned in the opening sketch, and it need only be added that none who came to Shelby county were of higher character and worth. The first marriage in the neighborhood, which was entered in 1812, occurred in 1818, when Richard M. Cannon and Mary Broderick were married by Cephas Carey, Esquire. The village of Hardin was platted in 1816, and recorded in Miami county, to which this territory still belonged. The first schoolhouse was built in 1816, of round logs, and stood about one mile south of Hardin. In 1819 a second schoolhouse was erected at the village, standing near the bank of Turtle creek. Mr. Cahoon, who afterward taught a school in the courthouse at Sidney, was the first teacher in the Turtle creek schoolhouse, in which, May of the same year, the first court of Shelby county was ordered to convene, pending the establishment of a county seat. A third school- house was built on Richard Cannon's land in 1824.
An Indian graveyard, accidentally discovered south of Hardin and partially exhumed, has given rise to much conjecture, but to no conclusive knowledge. From the peculiar and various dispositions of the skeletons found, hasty burial is indicated, and not the prox- imity of an Indian village, nor yet of anything so ancient as Mound Builders. Earthenware relics in some of the graves suggest an origin no farther back than early white traders, and mussel shells in others point the transitory character of the community, which was probably a summer camp at the most, since there are none of the usual evidences of a settled village in the county.
The village itself, situated at the point located as the spot where Col. Hardin was treacherously murdered by the Indians, has that touch of historic interest to enhance it. Also, the circumstance of the first court being convened there, as well as its priority of estab- lishment as a village, have given to the community a certain local pride which is pardonable. Any hopes it may have cherished, how- ever, of being chosen as the county seat must have failed in any event, since the situation had no other advantages, and the other offer was superior in every respect, as time has proved. The location of the courthouse at Hardin could not have made it a successful town. The canal alone would inevitably have drawn population and traffic away from it, and it was far-sighted wisdom which led the commissioners to accept the Starrett offer. The plat of Hardin consisted of thirty-six town lots, and a public square two town lots in extent, situated at the southwest angle of two intersecting streets. A lot was set apart for a church, and one for seminary purposes. The original proprietors of the land were Thomas McClish, Joseph Steinberger and James Lenox. Robert Aldrich and Aaron Hark- ness put up the first frame houses in the town, and Hezekiah Stout kept a tavern in a log building. A small community gathered, and it was a stopping place on the stage line in the old days. Many came to it, but few stayed ; and while it is an attractive little hamlet, with citizens none finer to be found, it never reached the stage of legal incorporation as a village. William and Hugh Patten built a steam sawmill with a 16-horsepower engine, in 1854, which passed from hand to hand, was burned down, rebuilt and maintained as long as it was profitable. Ewing Brothers & Dinsmore estab-
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
lished a spoke and bent wood works there in 1880, but this also went its way. The Bellefontaine & Indiana railroad passed the village one mile to the south, by which the only hope of advancement was lost. The railroad station became a local shipping point, and at present a fine large elevator, built six years ago, and now owned by the Hardin Grain company, an association of farmers, ships annu- ally about sixty thousand bushels of grain. There is a fairly good wheat belt through this region, and consequently a very good bal- ance between corn, wheat and oats. L. C. Reece has a stockyard, and a large total of hogs is sent to market from this station, also some sheep and calves.
Southwest from Hardin the road winds with many a turn across the height of land between the basin of Turtle creek and the Loramie valley, and on to the little chain of settlements-Mount Jefferson, and North and South Houston, none of which is large enough to be named a village, though all together they indicate clearly the popu- lous and prosperous condition of the section. "Bunker Hill" church is a point passed on the road, in the vicinity of the old canal ; and noticeable this season (1919) are the idle farms along the Loramie bottoms, purchased by the conservancy commission, and not yet resold on the new basis. (A movement in this direction is already setting in, however, and it is not likely that any of the rich lands yet available will be neglected another year.) A little apart from the highway is Green lake, a pretty sheet of water, spring fed, and sur- rounded by gracious slopes well shaded by fine trees. The lake is an incidental result of the canal embankment built so many years ago, a natural winding ravine, in which were many springs, being denied an outlet, gradually filling up and forming a pure fresh water lakelet which is being slowly converted into a very attractive rural summer resort. A well-appointed bathing house is under construc- tion, and several cottages overlook the water. The high embank- ment of the railroad renders the existence of the lake permanent, even though the canal has become a thing of the past. The place was once known as Pampel's ice-pond, and a large ice-house stood by the canal, from which the ice was shipped to Cincinnati by canal boat. The river road along Loramie creek is the most picturesque drive the county affords.
Dawson station (once known as "Patrick" station), on the rail- road, is now a postoffice, and a warehouse has been maintained here since 1881. The original building was torn down and the present capacious elevator, erected in 1908, is now owned by Snow & Ginn. Oats form the largest shipment from this point, amounting to 90,000 bushels annually. Corn is an equal crop, but much of it is fed out to stock, of which the output is large; so that the total shipment of all grain is about 125,000 bushels. Stock shipments are largely of hogs, but a good many calves also go to market, about four carloads being sent from Dawson last year, and seventy carloads from Hous- ton; Snow & Ginn aggregated a business of $400,000 last year in grain, stock and hay, the country in this locality being of "all around" productivity. From the railroad to Mount Jefferson is a stretch of fine pavement one mile long, which connects the settlements that together aggregate about one hundred and fifty inhabitants. South
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Houston is the location of the Farmers' Elevator company, first built about fifty years ago, and since added to from all sides and above until nothing of the original building can be seen from the exterior. Among the past owners are mentioned William Aiken, Cruse & Delaet, and Charles Bowersox, from whom the Farmers' Elevator company bought it in January, 1905. Last year's shipments are stated as follows: wheat, 16,000 bushels; oats, 70,000 bushels ; corn, 10,000 bushels. Like all the elevators mentioned, all sorts of farmers' supplies and coal are handled at the elevator, including fencing, tiling, self-feeders, and seeds.
The Mount Jefferson Christian church was organized in 1846, and rebuilt in 1883. The settlement of the Houston district began in 1812. Robert Houston arrived in 1814, and the town was platted in 1838 for Harvey Houston, who lived in the log house built by his father, and which was utilized by himself as a tavern. Mrs. Houston was the first postmistress here. The settlement attracted popula- tion at first, but was depopulated during the cholera epidemic, and village settlement has been slow since then, although the country is thickly settled and well-farmed. Mount Jefferson was platted in 1838, for Samuel Farnum, and North Houston was laid out in 1855 on the property of Asa D. Young. A tile factory erected in 1877 gave some impetus to growth. The first warehouse was built by Flinn & Harnup.
Russia is the center of a French settlement on the line of the Big Four railroad. The site of the village was originally owned by a Mr. Febaux, but the first house in the plat was erected prior to the survey, in 1853, by Lewis Phillips. Notwithstanding the name "Russia," there are no Russians, Bolsheviki or imperialists in the little town, which, in spite of many names suggesting foreign na- tions, mainly French, is as thoroughly American as any community in Shelby county. It is a snugly organized parish of one church, of which Father Kreuzkomp is the priest, and had the distinction, in the winter of 1917-18, of returning a 100 per cent membership roll to the Red Cross chapter. Russia has a sawmill, and large lumber warehouse; and a large blacksmithy, with thrifty shops and the appearance of a much larger population than its conservative claim of one hundred. The manufacture of lumber at Russia was estab- lished many years ago, and has been maintained more actively than at any other village outside of Sidney. The old-time warehouse was first built by the Didiers, Stephen and Frank, then passed to John Myers, and later to Hager & Harp. The elevator of the pres- ent was built by C. N. Adlard, who sold out to W. S. Snyder, who in turn disposed of a half interest to Groff & Simon, who are now the owners of the plant and business. Shipments of grain to the extent of 100,000 to 150,000 bushels annually, are reported here. All through this part of the country fields of tobacco are being cultivated -whether by experiment, or regularly, does not appear.
The Versailles pike, leading northward from the vicinity of Russia, brings one past two or three small rural churches, the Cath- olic church at Newport, "Sts. Peter and Paul," the largest of them all. Newport is a pretty little hamlet, "graying about the temples," but still cozy and neighborly in appearance. O. O. Mathers of
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Sidney had a temporary flax mill here in the '80s. It is a sort of church center for the country around. An old cemetery, well-filled and neatly kept, shows how long the population here has called it home. The old canal bed is crossed by the highway near Newport, and left far to the side for a few miles, when a turn of the stream brings the pretty Loramie near again, the entire road from south to north, in the Loramie valley, forming a trip of constant change and charm, ending in the village of Fort Loramie.
Here at the village, or rather a half mile above the village, is ยท the really historic spot of Shelby county, about which whatever of romance has ever touched this territory clings. The destruction of the Peter Loramie trading store by Gen. Clarke's men was so com- plete that its site is merely guessed at, but the fort, which was sub- sequently built by Wayne's orders, was placed as near to it as possible, the whole life of the post throughout the uncertain years up to 1812-13, going far toward effacing any trace of the Indian village which huddled round the store. In later years, digging on the farm which occupies part of the ground, certain relics have been found, which doubtless date from the trading post days, and even are believed to support the theory that "Father" Loramie was a Jesuit priest at the outset of his strange career, a silver crucifix which probably belonged to him being one of the most valued relics found. Smaller religious emblems have been found in the earth, also, which may have been part of the stock of the store when it was burned. All are being carefully preserved by the priest of St. Michael's parish, and there has been some discussion of a project to erect a memorial to the friend and patron of the Shawanese, whose character does not appear so black to us today as it did to Gen. Clarke's soldiers. Gen. Wayne set the fashion for a memorial when he named the fort and creek after him.
The point had long been the location of the portage between the south and the St. Marys, and was the route taken by most of the forces during all the subsequent troubles, and of the settlers who followed the soldiers. It was, in fact, the gateway to the Northwest. From Lockington, where the highest level of the canal was found to be, to Fort Loramie, the waterway followed the course of the creek approximately, and the natural dip in the summit land above the Fort, discovered in the survey, caused the state dam to be located there, backing the water into the shallow basin of the valley, where it spreads out into Loramie reservoir, and furnishes a reserve of water with which the canal was fed when needed, the water being divertible in either direction from the point of contact with the short feeder. All being now abandoned, only parts of the canal are now flooded, one stretch passing through the village providing a small water surface, desirable in any town, which is thus far preserved, with some degree of attention to beauty, in the centre of the business square. Here the banks have been graded and sodded to the water's edge, the name, "Fort Loramie," outlined in small native boulders, and flower beds, ornament the sward; and, at one side, a base of granite boulders and cut stone has been erected ready for the mount- ing of a cannon, a souvenir of the recent war. The whole is the work of the "Girl's Village Beautiful club," and the effort does them
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great credit. Poplars grow along the east bank, and shrubbery adds to the good effect.
The Fort Loramie country was opened to settlement about 1832, and a postoffice established at the site of the fort, and named after it. No village was platted there, however, and in 1837 Jona- than Counts surveyed a plat on the land of William Prillaman, to be called Berlin, the significance of the name only understood when it is recalled that at one time in the history of the settlement of this district, the German immigration being very numerous, the idea was conceived to make the whole surroundings German and to keep out any but German settlers. The idea almost succeeded, and for many years "New Berlin" seemed likely to be realized. The industry of the German settler was most desirable, and the village grew and thrived. Almost wholly Catholic, the church was organized in June, 1838, with forty families registering at the same time. The first church was of logs, as were practically all of the dwellings, but in 1849 a brick church was commenced and dedicated soon after the subsidence of the cholera scourge. This church was enlarged in 1863, and a schoolhouse was built. In 1881, the Rev. Father William Bigot (a heroic chaplain of prisoners during the Franco-Prussian war, and decorated by both of the contending nations), who came to America about 1874, and settled in the new village, devoting his life thereafter to its welfare, crowned a labor of seven years in the consecration, clear of debt, of the splendid St. Michael's church, which replaced the plain old brick of more than thirty years' use. The new church, after nearly forty years use, is still the largest in the county, and probably the most costly single church structure, while the addition of a large school, and the building of a new spa- cious and modern rectory, still further enhances the value of the parish property, which is fronted by a massive parapet extending along two hundred feet of sidewalk.
Somewhere along the track of the last forty years, the extreme and un-American notion of a "new Germany" was dropped and forgotten, and "Fort Loramie" is now stamped on everything in the vicinity, a pride in the old Frenchman whose name they bear uniting with a new sense of kinship with American soil in their transforma- tion from an insular to a patriotic community.
Fort Loramie is as prosperous as it ever was, perhaps more so. Manufactures here have been confined to brick and tile making, and a sawmill operated by August Wise, both at the outer edge of the town; while the Fort Loramie Milling company and the Sherman Grain company handle the products of the district.
The Fort Loramie steam flouring mill was first built about fifty years ago, but has been enlarged and modernized, and is the largest mill in Shelby county. Grain shipping is a part of the business of the company, but the attention is given chiefly to milling, a capacity of seventy barrels a day being taxed for nearly all the working days of the year. All kinds of grinding is done, but the specialty is the "Daisy O. K." flour. The machinery is of the most approved type, and the mill is kept in the prime of sanitary condition. A large corn crib of thirty-five hundred bushels capacity, and an elevator where the wheat is stored complete a milling plant of which the
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THE STORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
equal is a long way from Fort Loramie in any direction. Shipping from the mill requires transfer by trucks to the tracks of the Western Ohio Electric, a spur of which is Fort Loramie's only connection with a steam railroad, by way of the L. E. & W. at Minster. A. W. Baxter is manager of the mill.
West of the canal, and next to the Western Ohio track, stands the great elevator of the Sherman Grain company, which handled last year 150,000 bushels of oats, 12,000 bushels of corn, 42,000 bushels of wheat, 100 carloads of coal, and all manner of farmers' supplies during the past year, and promises to outdo the record this year.
The claim of only six hundred inhabitants appears to be mod- erate for this wide-awake village.
Northeast of Fort Loramie village lies the reservoir, covering practically two thousand acres of Shelby county land, in the fertile creek valley. A necessity once, this sheet of water seems now to be of questionable value. It is not approachable as a pleasure resort, and has rather retarded than advanced settlement in that quarter of the county. However, above the reservoir the farming country is populous, although the villages platted, being out of the track of rail or water transportation, have not developed far beyond mere names. Kettlerville, the latest of a group of three or four, was platted in 1873, and has developed to the position of a farm centre, a large grain storage warehouse being built there for the convenience of farmers who cannot reach the railroads. The land belonged to Christopher Kettler. As late as ten years after the first seven lots were platted, only nine houses had been built, and progress has kept about that pace to date.
Rumley, the earliest attempt at town building in this vicinity, was laid out by Col. Evans on his own land, in 1837. The Cory and Mulholland families, Andrew McCullom and Elias Spray had settled in the neighborhood in 1832; and a group of colored families colonized not far distant. German settlement began here in 1834, and other families of English or colonial descent who afterward became prominent in the county, chose this upper Loramie valley as a home. But Rumley, in spite of Col. Evans' store and tavern, and the excellent brick and frame houses of Joel Goins and Adam Paul, and the grist mill of Mr. Goins and Mr. Spray, and the Elliott saw- mill and all the industry of a pioneer district, never centralized into a village, and is today merely a name. McCartysville, close by, is reminiscent of a temporary flock of Irish settlers, who scattered and left nothing but the name. Pulaski is the name of another still- born hamlet platted in 1837 for Joseph S. Updegraff and Joseph Cummins. The difficulty lay in the lack of transportational facili- ties. The oncoming railroads took routes farther to the east, and villages inevitably follow the railroads.
Botkins, platted in 1858 by Russell Botkins, took vigorous root beside the new railroad, and in 1881 had grown to proportions which warranted incorporation, which was effected, after some remon- strance, in January, 1882, the first mayor being P. W. Speaker, with a council composed of Dr. G. M. Tate, Dr. P. K. Clinehens, Alexan- der Botkin and J. B. Hemmert. The local industries at Botkins
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were sawmills, the earliest of which was that of Silas D. Allen, started in 1849, afterward operated by Duff & Fogt; Davis & Linton built later, and Gray & Ailes, and A. Roth built in the eighties. Wagon making was prominent, and a tile-yard and kiln was estab- lished. The Immaculate Conception Catholic congregation had or- ganized earlier than the village, and still worship in the same large old-fashioned but substantial church edifice, which bears the date 1857. The Lutherans have also a large church at Botkins, and the Methodist Episcopal adherents are at present building a new house of worship.
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