USA > Ohio > Highland County > The County of Highland : a history of Highland County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapters on the bench and bar, medical profession educational development, industry and agriculture and biographical sketches > Part 16
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HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY.
GREENFIELD.
Greenfield, the second largest town in Highland county, is beau- tifully located on the banks of historic Paint creek, and on the Bal- timore & Ohio Southwestern and the Ohio Southern railroads. It was laid out in 1791 and named by Gen. Duncan McArthur. The first postoffice in this vicinity was established in 1810. At this writing Greenfield has a population of some four thousand, and her steady growth and public spirit is sure to make her a city of no mean proportions in the near future. Her citizens may well be proud of the progress made in the last decade, and the quick response of the people of the town to every new enterprise is bound to make her before many years the leading town in the county in manufac- turing and business enterprise and doubtless in population.
Greenfield was incorporated in 1841, and the first mayor elected was Hugh Smart, one of the most prominent men of the county. He came to Greenfield in 1824 from his native county of Washington, Pa., and at once opened a store, with William Hibben as a partner, and he continued in commercial life until 1860. In 1827 Charles Bell, a native of Virginia, began another store, and the two, Bell and Smart, were for a long time the chief men of northeastern Highland, in commercial enterprise. For many years they traveled on horse- back to Philadelphia, to buy goods, which were shipped by boat to Ripley, and thence by wagon to Greenfield. Associated with Mayor Smart in the first municipal government of Greenfield were Clay- bourne Lea, John Boyd, Samuel Smith, Charles Robinson, John Eckman, councilmen; James Beard, recorder, and Jerry Watson, marshal. At the platting of the village, a lot was reserved for a courthouse, and upon this, on June 24, 1875, the corner stone was laid of the town hall, which was dedicated August 8, 1876. The coming of a railroad, about fifty years ago, made a great change in conditions. The rivalries that grew up at the time of this improve- ment are noted elsewhere in this chapter. It is to be remembered that ground was first broken for the railroad connecting Greenfield with the east and west March 2, 1851, Charles White, a veteran of the Revolution, putting in the first shovel, and the first regular pas- senger train went over the road May 1, 1854. Since then Greenfield has also been connected with the Jackson coal field, and Columbus and the great lakes by the Detroit & Southern railroad. The result has been a rapid development of population and manufacturing, as noted on another page.
An important feature for many years in the affairs of Greenfield was the annual fair under the auspices of the Greenfield district fair association, which was organized in July, 1858, by citizens of Ross and Highland counties. The first fair was held in 1858, and the meetings were for a long time quite successful.
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
LYNCHBURG.
A man by the name of Botts, from Lynchburg, Va., first owned the land where Lynchburg now stands. He sold out to John Mor- row and others. The first settlement made in the vicinity of Lynch- burg was by William Spickard, David Hays, and William Smith in 1806. In 1820 Lynchburg contained some six or seven houses, and then received the name it now bears, being named by settlers who came from Lynchburg, Va., or from near that place, the Hund- leys, Dudleys, and Botts doubtless giving it the name. It was laid out as a town in 1832. The first enlargement of the town was the Haines addition and the second the Hundley and Collins addition. The village was incorporated in 1854, Sinclair Liggett the first mayor. As the forests were cleared away and some of the land drained, this locality became an agricultural section and'good crops of corn and wheat were raised. The market for their surplus was Manchester or Cincinnati. The first school house in Lynchburg was a little square log building which stood just opposite of J. W. Peale's home. There were two churches in Lynchburg very early in its history, Methodist Episcopal and Christian. There were two stores, one kept by Wyatt Hundley and the other by Squire Sinclair Liggett. A blacksmith shop, and a water-power grist mill near where the distillery now stands, and a hotel kept by Squire Liggett completed the business, moral and intellectual conditions of Lynchburg at that time. In December, 1841, Rev. G. R. Jones, the preacher in charge of the Batavia circuit, to which the church at Lynchburg was included, concluded to build a new church and appointed a board of trustees for that purpose. This church was erected in the year 1842 and an entry made in the church record shows that it was paid for in full. An effort in 1854 to build a new church proved unsuccessful. The church "pews" were only slabs supported by four legs. The ladies pieced a fancy quilt and sold it to Henry Pegan for making and putting up the pulpit. Dr. Spees and others hauled the logs to the sawmill and had the lumber cut from which the first plank seats were made-the straightback "box" seat. No blinds were at the windows, no carpet on the floor. The church for several years had no chairs. Mrs. Judge Torrey donated two of her only set of chairs. In 1846, just fifty-six years ago, the Methodist church had ninety members, but of that early membership but few if any remain to tell the struggle of those early years. In June, 1868, the lot on which the present building stands, was purchased from the village of Lynchburg for thirty-five dol- lars, the village, however, reserving 20x20 feet on the northwest corner for a calaboose. The contract to remain in force and hold good, stipulated that the church house must be built within eighteen
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HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY.
months from the date of the contract. The church was completed in 1869. The original cost was some three thousand dollars. In 1851 it was concluded by the members of the Christian church that their building was too near the railroad and a new church was built near the present neat brick structure, which was erected in 1887 at a. cost of $4,000. In 1848 the village of Lynchburg had increased in size to thirty-two dwelling houses. In 1851 the Marietta rail- road was surveyed through Lynchburg and in 1852 completed to that point and the next year to Hillsboro. In 1857 the distillery was built by Berryhill & Bowen and within a year or two by Frei- berg & Workum, the present owners, who had an interest in the plant. The capacity at that time was one hundred bushels per day ; it now has a capacity of twelve hundred and fifty bushels daily. The growth of Lynchburg has been continuous since the close of the rebellion. The town now numbers some one thousand people, is the third town in the county and second to none in intelligence and prosperity. .
GROWTH OF POPULATION.
The first United States census taken in Highland county. was in 1810. This showed a population of 5,766 in the county, then but five years old as a separate organization. The growth was rapid during the next thirty years, especially after the close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, and the enumeration was 12,308 in 1820, 16,345 in 1830, and 22,269 in 1840. Since then the increase has been comparatively slow, nothing to rival the rapid growth of the earlier decades. The enumerations of the successive periods have been as follows: year 1850, population 25,781; year 1860, 27,773; year 1870, 29,133; year 1880, 30,281; year 1890, 29,048; year 1900, 30,982.
The census of 1900 showed the following totals for the town- ships, including the villages: Brush Creek, 1,714; Clay, 1,315; Concord, 1,097; Dodson, 1,975; Fairfield, 2,342; Hamer, 918; Jackson, 912; Liberty, 6,311; Madison, 5,167; Marshall, 740; New Market, 990; Paint, 2,226; Penn, 1,154; Salem, 869; Union, 1,139 ; Washington, 885 ; White Oak, 1,228. Total for the county, 30,982.
The population of villages, according to the same census, is as follows: Hillsboro, 4,535; Greenfield, 3,979; Lynchburg, 907; Leesburg, 783; New Lexington, 265; Sinking Spring, 238. Others are not given.
As compared with the census of 1890 some townships made gains, generally on account of growth in the towns, while other townships, exclusively agricultural, showed losses, a common phenomenon in all the older states of the Union. It is gratifying that all the towns
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
show a healthy growth. Greenfield leads with an increase of about 1,500, while Hillsboro is larger than in 1890 by nearly a thousand.
NEWSPAPERS.
Seven newspapers are published in Highland county, three in Hillsboro, the News-Herald, Gazette and Despatch; two in Greenfield, the Greenfield Journal and the Republican; one in Lees- burg, and one in Lynchburg. Estimating the average number of subscribers at one thousand each, and counting three members of the family for each subscriber we have twenty-one thousand news- paper readers in a population of about thirty thousand in the county, which speaks well for the intelligence of our people. This is a very low estimate, as the papers in Hillsboro and Greenfield have a large list of subscribers. John L. Strange is one of the mem- bers of the board of county examiners, and the editor of the Green- field Journal, which with the other papers of the county has advo- cated high school education as a necessity in the educational advance of the county. Col. George W. Barrere, editor and pro- prietor of the News-Herald, is a native of Highland county, born November 19, 1831, on the same day as the lamented Garfield. He was educated in the common schools of the county and began his career in the practice of dentistry. On September 30, 1861, he enlisted in the Sixtieth regiment Ohio infantry and became first lieutenant of Company A. This regiment was mustered for a year but served for fifteen months. Subsequently Mr. Barrere went out as lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth. After the war he engaged in the grocery business. He bought of J. L. Boardman an interest in the Highland News, 1884. In the following year he bought out the entire plant and also the Hillsboro Herald, consolidating the two concerns. The combinations of the two excel- lent rival plants resulted in a magnificent printing office, which has been greatly improved as the years went by.
The Highland News was established in 1837. It is Republican in politics and has been a fearless defender of every principle of moral reform in the interest of religion and good government.
The Hillsboro Gazette began its career as a county paper on the 18th of June, 1818, and was the first newspaper of any kind pub- lished in the county. A young man, a printer, by the name of Moses Carothers, came to Hillsboro from Martinsburg, Virginia, where he had served a faithful apprenticeship in the office of John Alburtis, editor of the Martinsburg Gazette. The county being without a newspaper the good people of the county were compelled to get their news from a few stray copies of the Scioto and Cincin- nati Gazettes, and now and then copies of Niles' Register. This young man caught the inspiration that here was an opening for a
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HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY.
printing office and newspaper venture. He met with prompt encouragement from the people and his subscription list contained five hundred names, before the outfit was purchased. In the spring of 1818 Capt. Cary A. Trimble purchased for him in Philadelphia all the needed material to fit up a printing office, and as we have said, on June 18th of that year the first copy of the "Hillsboro Gazette and Highland Advertiser" appeared. It was not only the first newspaper published in the place, but the first newspaper printed in Southern Ohio outside of Cincinnati and Chillicothe. Carothers was a strong believer in the doctrines of Jefferson, which have moulded and shaped the political character of the paper ever since. The publication of this paper in the town of Hillsboro established its reputation as a literary center which has clung to it through all these years. While the sheet was not large, 18x22 inches, printed on coarse newspaper and with large type, it was such an evidence of progress and intelligence that its effect was felt and prized all over the county and its success was assured from the very start. While Carothers was a writer of some ability himself he was assisted by voluntary contributions from a number of per- sons, principally young men of more than ordinary literary ability, and the conduct of the paper under the management of Carothers sustained the promise that it gave upon its first issue. The paper was run under his control fourteen years, when William Allen bought it. Allen was followed by Col. William Keys, who in a short time sold to Dr. Jacob Kirby and Col. Moses H. Kirby. Upon the election of Mr. Kirby to the office of secretary of state his interests were sold to Hiram Campbell. Following these came Jonas R. Emrie, 1839. Mr. Emrie was not only a practical printer, a good writer, but an astute politician, far above the aver- age. Under his management the paper was enlarged and gained so much in popularity and patronage that it took rank as the best county paper in the state. It was during the management of Emrie that the first railroad was built to Hillsboro, and the public school system of the state was adopted. The Gazette earnestly advo- cated both measures and its editor was a member of the first board of education of the Union schools of Hillsboro. Emrie was also the first probate judge of Highland county. In 1856 Hon. John G. Doren became its editor; in 1860, Henry S. Doggett. Follow- ing Doggett came Samuel Pike who was a very bitter partisan, and advocated the "peace policy" with such vigor and bitterness as to be menaced with serious trouble by the soldiers of Camp Mitchell. In 1863 Pike sold the Gazette to William H. Murdnell, a State Rights Democrat of the most extreme views. Murnell removed the office and paper to Cincinnati, and Colonel Pike brought his printing establishment from Leesburg to Hillsboro and continued to publish the paper under the name of Gazette. Next Maley and
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
Marshall bought the plant. In 1872 J. C. Springer & Co. were the proprietors. At Springer's death Marshall, who was Springer's partner, took charge of the paper. Soon after this a one-half inter- est was sold to R. L. Hough, until 1883, when Judge R. M. Ditty purchased Marshall's interest, and the Gazette became the prop- erty of Hough & Ditty, under whose control it has remained up to the present date. Since January 1, 1884, A. E. Hough has been the editor and bookkeeper of the paper. The paper has been twice enlarged under his administration. First, from an eight-column folio to a six-column quarto, and again to a seven-column quarto, its present size. Few newspapers have had such a long and event- ful career as the Gazette, now in its eighty-fourth volume. It was incorporated in 1890 with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dol- lars fully paid up. Many and varied have been the competitors of the Gazette, of all sizes and numerous titles, but through all the years the paper has held on its Democratic way, enjoying the con- fidence and support of its party, and hundreds of citizens of the other party or parties, to whom it has come like a memory of the olden time, filled with pictured faces of the loved and lost of all the years.
The Hillsboro Despatch, a first-class newspaper of strong Repub- lican proclivities, was started by Tomlinson, the life-long writer and political editor, who succeeded in making a paper of good report and large circulation and after running it for two years sold out his entire outfit to Mr. Workman, a young man of energy, who is quite successful. The Journal and Republican of Greenfield, Democratic and Republican journals, are of a high grade of news- papers and fill the needs in the progressive and rapidly enlarging city of Greenfield.
THE CRUSADES.
There were aggressive anti-saloon movements in the county as early as 1829-30, the free manufacture and use of intoxicants having for some time excited the apprehension of good citizens. It soon followed that the private industry of distilling whisky from corn came under the ban. But the early efforts to restrain the traffic in whisky excited strong opposition, and there was much vindictive feeling. To such a cause was ascribed the burning of the Leesburg store of Senator Buel Beeson, in 1848. Rev. Samuel Crothers, one of the most prom- inent men of Greenfield and the county, was a leader in this early movement, and James and William Dickey, ancestors of a notable family, were among his warmest supporters. At the village of Price- ton in 1848 there were three saloons, and the opposition to them, led by Hiram J. Harris, took the form of a proposition to buy the stock and empty it in the street, if the dealers would go out of
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HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY.
business. Two assented to this, but the third was defiant, and a party of men was organized that visited this saloon, broke in the door and destroyed the liquid contents. The proprietor instituted a prosecu- tion and thirty-two citizens were arrested. Next morning they started out on foot marshalled by the sheriff of the county, and visited two justices of the peace, but were discharged for want of prosecution. This forcible demonstration of public opinion in a small settlement put an effectual stop to the traffic there. In Sep- tember, 1864, a young man of high character, William Blackburn, son of John S. Blackburn, was killed, while passing in front of a saloon in Greenfield, by a stray bullet from some drunken brawler inside. This and other aggravating happenings, due to the reckless sale of intoxicants and the use of saloons as the gathering place of disorderly characters, resulted in the first women's crusade in High- land county, perhaps in the State. On July 10, 1865, there was a gathering of Greenfield ladies at the African church, which was a common place of meeting, and at its close the ladies marched down street, presenting to the dealers in liquor this ultimatum: "Resolved, That the ladies of Greenfield are determined to suppress the liquor traffic in their midst. We demand your liquors and give you fifteen minutes to comply with our request or abide the consequences." There was no undue excitement until the saloon was reached where Blackburn had lost his life. Then when the ladies were massed about the door, giving their notice of warfare, surrounded by a con- siderable crowd of men attracted by the novel proceeding, a voice was heard, "Here's where the whisky was sold that killed my son." In a moment of uncontrollable excitement the ladies pushed into the saloon, hatchets and axes suddenly appeared, and were passed in from the crowd, and in a few minutes the saloon was wrecked and the whisky and other liquors were flowing to waste in the street. After this a drug store was forced open, the proprietor looking on from a safe distance and the liquors emptied into the gutter; and other places suffered the same violence, six drug stores and saloons being visited and all the intoxicants they contained destroyed so far as they could be discovered. Mayor John Eckman read the riot act while this was going on, but he had no opportunity to enforce his authority, if he could have found a posse to do so. A few days later one of the liquor dealers caused the arrest of a large number of men and ladies accused of taking part in this raid, and after a preliminary hearing the matter went before the grand jury, but the latter body ignored the information. Then suit was brought for damages, and there was a famous trial at Hillsboro, in January, 1867, with the parties represented by Attorneys Sloan, Briggs, Dickey, Steel, and W. H. Irwin, of Highland county, and Mills Gardner and Senator Stanley Matthews. The jury returned a verdict after eighteen hours' deliberation, in favor of the saloonkeeper, fixing his damages at $625.
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THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND.
Subsequently this and other cases were settled without further litigation.
Other methods were adopted in the Women's Crusade inaugurated in Hillsboro in 1873. Howe, in his sketch of Highland county, says of this temperance movement that it was "the most remarkable move- ment against intemperance in the history of the world. Unique in its methods, widespread in its results ; and although a failure, as regards its direct purpose, nevertheless it accomplished much good, and advanced public sentiment toward the reformation of the evils of the vice of intemperance." This crusade against the liquor traffic had its origin in an address delivered by Dr. Dio Lewis in Music Hall before a large audience December 23, 1873. Dr. Lewis graphically por- trayed the misery of his childhood home, due to an intemperate father. In the New York village where his father resided many of the fathers were intemperate, and as a consequence many wives, were heart- broken, and many children cheated of the heritage of joy and glad- ness of their childhood days. These women driven to desperation by the neglect of their husbands and the fathers of their children, started a movement to suppress the traffic, in which all the women of the time joined. These women, the Doctor said, met in the village church and appealed to God to help them in their undertaking; and kneeling before his sacred altar solemnly pledged themselves to persevere until victory was won. This movement was successful, and the sale of intoxicating liquors was suppressed in that village. An appeal was made to the Christian women of Hillsboro to do likewise, and when a call was made for those who were willing to undertake the enterprise to stand up, some fifty women arose in the congregation and pledged themselves to engage in this combat against the traffic in rum. A committee of the leading business men of the town was organized that night to assist the cause. The morning after a meet- ing was held in the Presbyterian church. Addresses were made by all of the pastors present, and Col. W. H. Trimble, Hon. S. E. Hib- ben, and Judge Matthews. The ladies all signed a solemn compact as follows: "By God's help we will stand by each other in this work, and persevere until it is accomplished, and see to it, as far as our influence goes, that the traffic shall not be revived." On Christmas morning at about nine o'clock one hundred and fifteen women, having perfected their organization, started from the Presbyterian church, making their first visit to the drug stores. There were at that time four drug stores in the town. Of these four, two signed the pledge at the first visitation, J. J. Brown and Seybert & Isamenn, while another promised to sell only on prescription, while the fourth, H. H. Dunn, refused any dictation whatever. Of the eleven saloons visited that day none could be induced to stop selling, and the fight was continued for long, weary weeks. A committee of visitation had been appointed to see Mr. Dunn and others the first day of the cru-
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HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY.
sade, and the next morning Mr. Dunn sent the women the following communication : "Ladies, in compliance with my agreement, I give you this promise, that in the sale of intoxicating liquors I will comply with the law; nor will I sell to any one whose father, mother, wife or daughter sends me a written request not to make such sales." Mr. Dunn was a man of fine appearance, and of a frank and generous disposition, and the people were greatly surprised at his stubborn resistance to the pleadings and prayers of the women, but he would not and did not yield, while for days his drug store remained closed to all business, no customers having the courage to break through the praying band of wives and mothers that knelt upon the pavement in the cold of a winter day before his front door. The scenes are thus described by a reporter sent by the Cincinnati Commercial to investi- gate the uprising: "However bitter the cold or piercing the wind, these women could be seen at almost every hour of the day, kneeling on the cold flagstones before this store. In the midst, with voice raised in earnest prayer, is the daughter of a former governor of Ohio. Surrounding her are the wives and daughters of statesmen, lawyers, bankers, physicians, and business men, representatives from almost all the households of the place. Prayer ended, the women rise from their knees and begin in a sweet, low voice some sweet and familiar hymn that brings back to the heart of the looker on the long forgotten influence of childhood. Tears may be seen in the eyes of red-nosed and hard-hearted men, supposed to be long past feeling. Those pass- ing by would lift their hats and tread softly till out of hearing." When we recall the facts as they come under our own observation, our own heart feels the warm pulsations and our lips murmur a low thank God for the pure souled Christian women who had the courage to do and dare in a cause they knew to be right, however much the method of their doing might be criticised. Once while standing by a friend watching this praying band I said to him, "Furg, do you think the women will succeed ?" His answer was, "I pray God that they may ; it is my only hope." He died that same night, though strong and well when we had the talk. Many amusing incidents occurred when young men were caught in the saloons by the praying women, among whom some young man would see his mother, sister or sweet- heart, and the desperate effort made to escape without being seen would excite the mirth of the lookers on. The following graphic description is given by one of the young bloods that was present when a saloon was suddenly invaded by the crusaders: "We fellows had just lined up at the bar for a few drinks all round; we had cigars ready to light and the beer and whisky had been poured, when the soft rustle of a woman's dress caught our ear, and looking up we thought a crowd of a thousand women were charging down upon us. One of the fellows saw his mother and sisters; another had two cousins in the crowd, and alas! another saw the grim form of his
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