USA > Ohio > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory, Volume 1 > Part 25
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The following is the record of the first entry made in the territory now comprising the county of Clinton: "No. 550, August 4, 1787. Richard C. An- derson and Mayo Carrington enter 4,000 acres of land on Military Warrant, No. 856, on the waters of the Little Miami, beginning three miles southeast of Col. Logan's encampment, in October, 1786, when a man deserted from him; running southwest 400 poles, and, from the beginning northeast 400 poles; thence at right anglos southeast from each end of this line for quantity." In the same record, page 58, is the survey, as follows:
Surveyed for Richard Clough Anderson and Mayo Carrington 2,000 acres of land,.on part of a military warrant No. 856, on the waters of the Little Miami, beginning at a sugar tree, ash and black oak, running s. 45 w. 400 poles to three sugar trees ; thence s. 45 e. 800 poles, crossing a small creek at 560 poles, to a black oak, sugar tree and sassafras ; thence n. 45 e. 400 poles, crossing a creek at 38 and at 200 poles to two sugar trees and a sassafras ; thence n. 45 w. 800 poles, crossing a branch at 70, and the creek at 360 poles, to the beginning.
ANDREW POTTER, } c.c. CHARLES PIGMAN, S
JOHN OBANNON, D. S. March 3, 1794. June 23, 1794.
DAVID FLOUGHI, M.
Although this tract was the first one entered in the county, it was not the first surveyed, as Nathaniel Massie had made several surveys in 1792-93. Several entries were made August 6, 1787, being as follows, all on the "lower side of Cæsar's Creek:" No. 567, by Clement Biddle, Assignee, 9653 acres; No. 569, by Archibald Blair, heir, 1,000 acres; No. 570, by John Anderson, 1,000 acres; No. 571, by Albert Gallatin, Assignee, 7663 acres; No. 557, by Col. Abram Buford, 1,000 acres; No. 583, by Isaac Webb, 1,000 acres; No. 625, by Thomas Finn, 1,500 acres. The entire number of entries made in the Clinton County portion of the tract, during the month of August, 1787, was 116.
Gen. Horatio Gates had for his share of the Virginia Military Tract, 12, - 500 acres, which he sold to his son-in-law, Dr. James Murray, who deeded to settlers such quantities of land as they chose to purchaso, at the rate of "seven quarter dollars por acro." Murray's doods aro as follows:
December 3, 1803, John McGregor, 200 acres, Survoy 1,632. December 3, 1803, James Magoo, 250 acres, Survoy 1,632.
* The bounties allowed in land by the State of Virginia were as follows: To each private soldier, 100 acres; to Chaplain9, Surgeons aud Surgeons' Mates, each 200 acres; to each non-commissioned officer, 400 acres; to soldiers and sailors serving to the end of the war, each 200 acres; each subaltern, 2,000 acres; each Captain, 3,000 acres; each Major, 4,000 acres; each Lieutenant Colonel, 4,500 acres; each Colonel, 5,000 acres; each Brigadier General, 10,000 acres; cach Major General, 15,000 acres.
" Obannon had surveyed in Warren County, in March, 1792, but not in Clinton. Massie's work began in Octo- ber of the same year.
¿ From tho Harlan Notes.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
December 12, 1803, Joseph Carter, 100 acres, Survey 1,559.
Decomber 12, 1803, Robert Eachus, 160 acres, Survey 1,558.
December 13, 1803, John Vestal, 690 acres, Survey 1,559.
December 18, 1803, James Moon, Survey 1,558.
December 13, 1803, Isaac Perkins, 67 acres, Survey 1,558.
December 13, 1803, James Odle, 159 acres, Survey 1, 558.
December 19, 1803, Layton Jay, 50 acres, Survey 1,558.
December 17, 1803, Jacob Haines, 125 acres, Survey 1,558.
December 15, 1803, Center Meeting-House, 15 acres, Survey 1, 558.
December 19, 1803, Thomas Perkins, Survey 1, 558.
January 19, 1805, Solomon Stanbrough, 140 acres, Survey 1,55S.
January 19, 1807, Samuel Stanton, 100 acres, Survoy 1, 558. David Ferris, 200 acres, Survey 2,229.
August 5, 1809, Mahlon Farquhar, 175 acres, Survey 2,231.
August 5, 1509, William Mendenhall, 170 acres, Survey 1,554. August 5, 1805, Nathan Linton. 1221 acres, Survey 2,231. June S, 1805, Mordecai Mendenhall, 146 acres. Survey 1.554. December 17. 1806. Israel Wright, 517 acres, Survey 1, 554. February 7, 1805, Nathan Hines, 94 acres, Survey 2, 218. February 7. 1805, George Phillips, 200 acres, Survey 2, 232. August 5, 1809, Frances Hester, 82 acres, Survey 2,248. February 4, 1812, John Ballard, 75 acres, Survey 1,557. February 5, 1809, Daniel Linton, 100 acres, Survey 2,24S. December 21, 1809, David Ballard, 1223 acres, Survey 1, 556. December 21, 1809, Hur Hodgson, 100 acres, Survey 2,248. August 5, 1809, Enoch Rallard, 110 acres, Survey 2,248. July 4. 1807, Enoch Wickersham, 200 acres, Survey 2,232. July 12, 1808, Daniel Hodgson, 1173, acres, Survey 2 248.
July 12, 1SOS, Jonathan Hodgson, 118 acres, Survey, 2,848. December 26, 1806, Jacob Haines, 111 acres.
January 26, 1807, Benjamin Farquhar, 100 acres, Survey 1, 554.
August 5, 1809, John Hadley, 250 acres, Survey 2,231.
Nathan Mendenhall, 170 acres, Survey 1,554.
Stephen Mendenhall, Survey 2, 248.
David Patterson, 41 acres, Survey 2,248.
September 20, 1824, Ezekiel Leonard, 1074 acres, Survey 2,24S.
Any person holding a warrant for land in the Virginia Military Tract had the privilege of locating it in such place and such shape in the district as he chose, provided he did not encroach on previous locations. Consequently, surveys were made in all conceivable shapes, with no system whatever, and the confusion and after litigation occasioned were not surprising. The only limita- tion in shape was that which by a Virginia statute required the breadth of each survey to be at least one-third its length in every part, unless the breadth was restricted by mountains, water-courses or previous locations. Because of this lack of system, there were numerous interferences and encroachments of one land entry upon another, and there is at the present time great difficulty in the matter of tracing titles to these lands.
The difficulties and dangers encountered by the early surveyors can hardly be understood by the people of the present generation, but so great were they that in the Virginia Military Tract a large portion of the tillable land in the entry-one-fourth, one-third or one-half-was often paid the surveyor for his labor. Not only here, but throughout all the lands of the West, the surveys were made principally in the winter, there being then less danger from the Indians, who were in their winter quarters. Surveying with deep snow on the
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IHISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
ground and in the midst of heavy forests was not especially conducive to ac- curacy, and, in the case of the "Congress lands," as they are known, many blunders were made which were only discovered when the snows had melted and the face of the country was in full view. Gen. Nathaniel Massie was the most extensive surveyor and land speculator in Ohio in Iris time, and was usually accompanied by three assistant surveyors, with each of whom were six men. Great caution was observed in their movements. The hunter went ahead looking for game and keeping a sharp watch for Indians; the surveyor, two chainmen and a marker followed; the man with packhorse and baggage came next, and some distance in the roar was a watchman, following on the trail and guarding against an attack from that direction. From John Mc- Donald's Life of Gen. Massie, the following extract is quoted: [Sco History of Warren County, Ohio, page 228.]
"During the winter of 1794-95, Massie prepared a party to enter largely into tho surveying business. Nathaniel Beasley, John Boasley and Peter Lee woro employed as the assistant surveyors. The party set off from Manchester, well equipped, to prosecute their business, or, should an occasion offer, give battle to the Indians. They took the route of Logan's trace and proceeded to . a place called the Deserted Camp, on Todd's Fork of the Little Miami .*
At this point, they commenced surveying, and surveyed large por- tions of land on Todd's Fork and up the Miami to the Chillicothe town, thence up Massie's Creek and Caesar's Creek nearly to their heads. By the time the party had progressed thus far, winter had set in. The ground was covered with a sheet of snow from six to ten inches deep. During the tour, which continued upward of thirty days, the party had no bread. For the first two weeks, a pint of flour was distributed to each mess once a day, to mix with the soup in which meat had been boiled. When night came, four tires were made for cooking, that is, one for each mess. Around these fires, till sleeping time arrived, the company spent their time in the most social glee, singing songs and telling stories. When danger was not apparent or im- mediate, they were as merry a set of men as ever assembled. Resting time ar- riving, Massie always gave the signal, and the whole party would then leave their comfortable firos, carrying with them their blankets, their firearms and their little baggage, walking in perfect silence two or three hundred yards from their fires. They would then scrapo away the snow and huddle down to- gether for the night. Each mess formed one bed; they would spread down on the ground ono-half of the blankets, reserving the other half for covering. The covering blankets were fastened together by skewers, to prevent them from slipping apart. Thus prepared, the whole party crouched down together, with their rifles in their arms and their pouches under their heads for pillows; lying spoon-fashion, with three heads one way and four the other, their feet extending to about the middle of their bodies. When one turned, the whole mess turned, or else the close range would be broken and the cold let in. In this way they lay till broad daylight, no noise and scarce a whisper being ut- ' tered during the night. When it was perfectly light, Massie would call up two of the men in whom he had most confidence and send them to reconnoiter and make a circuit around the fires, lest an ambuscade might be formed by the Indians to destroy the party as they returned to the fires. This was an in- variable custom in every variety of weather. Self-proservation required this circumspection. Some time after this, while surveying on Caesar's Creek, his mon attacked a party of Indians, and the savages broke and filed. After the
* It has been stated that Todd's Fork was not named until after Clinton County was settled; but it was known by that name in 1794, and had been so called previous to 1787, in which year the lands in the Virginia Military Tract were opened for entry.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
defeat of the Indians by Wayne, the surveyors were not interrupted by the Indians; but on one of their excursions, still remembered as 'the starving tour,' the whole party, consisting of twenty-eight man, suffered extremely in a driving snow storm for about four days. They were in a wilderness, exposed to this severo storm, without hut, tent or covering, and, what was still more ap- palling, without provision and without any road or even track to retreat on, and were nearly one hundred miles from any place of shelter. On the third day of the storm, they luckily killed two wild turkeys, which were boiled and divided into twenty-eight parts and devoured with great avidity, head, feet, entrails and all."
In Symmes' Purchase, between the two Miami Rivers, the territory was laid out into ranges, townships and sections, something after the system of the present. Government surveys, but in a manner which was defective. The sec- tions were numbered from south to north, beginning at the southeast corner of cach township. West of the Great Miami tho surveys were made on the plan now in use by the Government, which is the most complete and convenient of. all. Section 16 in each Government township, or one-thirty-sixth part of each of the townships in the Symmes' Purchase, was reserved for school uses. In 1807, Congress enacted that a quantity of land equal to ono-thirty-sixth of the Virginia Military Tract should be selected for school purposes from the lands lately purchased from the Indians and lying between the Western Reserve and the United States Military District. By an ordinance passed May 20, 1785, Congress provided for the reservation of Section 16 for the use of schools, and the policy has since been adhered to; the deeds of these lands in Ohio have been made under authority of the Legislature, by the Governor, and the pro- ceeds form part of the Irreducible State School Fund.
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Starbuck
· Amy
Julie G. Starbuck
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
CHAPTER V.
PIONEER INCIDENTS.
FIRST SETTLER IN THE COUNTY-CHAIN OF SETTLEMENTS BY TOWNSHIPS-EARLY SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-MODE OF LIVING-WILDERNESS CUSTOMS EIGHTY YEARS AGO.
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' lang syne?" -BURNS.
M UCH less than a century has passed since the first white settler built his cabin within the present limits of Clinton County. Less than a cen- tury has elapsed since, through the magnificent forests of Southern Ohio, the red dwellers in the wilderness strove against the approach of civilization, and hurled themselves against the invaders of their country, as they deemed the white race. Eighty-seven years only have sped since Gen. Anthony Wayne concluded the treaty at Greenville with the chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees (or Shawanese), Miamis, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, and the various tribes dwelling in Indiana and Illinois. This treaty annulled all former ones, and the general boundary, as defined by it, between the United States and the Indian nations, commenced at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, running thence up that stream to the portage to the Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum River; thence down that stream to the crossing place above Fort Laurens: thence westerly to Loramie's store, on the Great Miami; thence west. wardly to Fort Recovery, on the head streams of the Wabash River; and thence southwestwardly in a direct line to the mouth of the Kentucky River. The United States Government at the time of the treaty, in consideration of the cessions made by the Indians, delivered to the latter goods valued at $20,000, and agreed to deliver annually thereafter, "at some convenient place north- ward of the Ohio River," goods to the value of $9,500, to be apportioned as agreed among the several tribos represented. The treaty also "provided that, if either of the said tribes shall hereafter, at an annual delivery of their share of the goods aforesaid, desire that a part of their annuity should be fur- nished in domestic animals, implements of husbandry, and other utensils con- venient for them, and in compensation to useful artificers who may reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subse- quent annual deliveries, be furnished accordingly."*
This treaty was concluded, as elsewhere stated, on the 3d of August. 1795, and immediately after the fact became known in the States, there was inaugurated a movement toward the fertile lands north of the Ohio. Fear of the Indians had retarded emigration to that date, and, although the lands had been surveyed to a great extent, and warrants were held for nearly all the land in the Virginia Military District, no steps had yet been taken toward their settlement. In September, 1795, a month after the treaty of Greenville, a block-house was erected and a settlement begun at Bedle's Station (this name is variously spelled, being given Bedell perhaps as often as any other way, but Warren County authority settles upon the spelling as first above),
*Albach's Annals of the West.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
in Warren County, Ohio. The block-house was built from distrust that the Indians would not abide by the terms of the treaty. The place was named from its founder, William. Bedle, from New Jersey. William Mounts and family, with four other families, are said to have settled in the same month, at a point on the south side of the Little Miami, two and a half miles below the mouth of Todd's Fork, at Mounts' Station, in Warren County, where the several cabins were built in a circle around a spring, as a protection against the Indians. November 4, 1795, Dayton was laid out, in what is now Mont- gomory County, Ohio, although permanent settlements were not begun there until April 1, 1796. In the spring of the latter year, Waynesville, Franklin and Deerfield, all in Warren County, were settled, and, April 7, 1796, the first cabin in Greene County was raised.
EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS IN CLINTON COUNTY.
The Virginia Military Tract had been explored, in the early part of 1787, by Maj. John O'Bannon and Arthur Fox, two Kentucky surveyors, who wished to obtain a knowledge of the land for the purpose of making entries when the land offico for the district should be opened. The latter event occurred on tho Ist of August, 1787, and O'Bannon not only entered considerable land, but he bocamo prominent as a surveyor in the district. O'Bannon Creok is named for him.
Concerning the first settlor in what is now Clinton County, a dispute arises among those who have made investigations. It has been stated that William Smalley settled within the present limits of Vernon Township, west of Clarksville, in 1797, and that to him should be awarded the honor of hay- ing been the pioneer settler of Clinton County; but the fact has been conclu- sively developed that Mr. Smalley's cabin was built about fifty rods west of the line which divides this county from Warren, in the township of Washing- ton, in the latter county. It is thought, however, that his purchase extended over the line into Clinton.
It will be difficult to decide who was the first actual settler within the ter- ritory now comprising Clinton County, as the evidence seems to show that three persons came about the same time, and located at widely separated points. These were Morgan Van Meter, of Green Township; Amos Wilson, of the township bearing his name; and David Sewell, of Vernon Township. There is trouble in ascertaining the date at which each of these men came, but the latest investigations seem to fix them all in the year 1799. Morgan Van Me- ter# has generally been accorded the honor.of being the first arrival, and Judge Harlan prepared the following sketch of him:f
"Morgan Van Meter was the first settler within the limits of Clinton County as it now exists, having come here in 1798 or 1799. He was also the first tavern-keeper within the same limits. His tavern was the first opened on any of the roads, traces or paths leading from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. 'Van Meter's' was made a conspicuous point in the road guides published in the Pittsburgh almanacs of seventy years ago, for the information and direction of travelers by land from that town to Cincinnati. Gen. Cass, in a conversation with one of our citizens a few years ago, made inquiries about this early public house, and stated that, having lain out all night in the woods a few miles southwest from Van Meter's, he was glad to find it in the morning in time for a late breakfast. This was in very early days.
*It is said'of Morgan Van Meter that when the college township road was being located, about 1803-04, he met the surveyors and viewers a short distance west of Snow HI HI, and by generous donations from his whisky jug induced them to change the route of the road so that it should pa's near his cabin, northwest of Snow Hill.
+Esquiro C. O. Bowers, in writing the history of Green Township, fixes the date of Van Meter's arrival at about 1800.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
"Morgan was the first of five sons of Joseph Van Meter. His brothers were Joseph, Isaac, Abraham and William. all of whom, except William, were at one time residents of the State of Ohio, and, we believe, of the old town of Deerfield, on the Little Miami River, in what is now Warren County. The brothers who came to Deerfield were said to have had families. Morgan lived in the lower part of the little town, not far from the river, in one end of a double cabin, or a cabin divided into two rooms, the other room being occupied by the family of the late Judge Michael H. Johnson, a well-known resident of the Hopkinsville neighborhood, Warren County. He (Van Meter) removed directly from Deerfield to the head of the East Fork of the Little Miami, near where Snow Hill now is, in Clinton County. The point where he settled is a little east of south. and distant about two hundred yards from the present res- idenco of Zephaniah Spears. Hero, it is said, he found an unoccupied Indian wigwam. With the exception of this hut, there was not a human habitation within a radius of ten miles. Here he built his cabin and opened it to the public as a tavern. Here Morgantown was afterward laid out. His father, Joseph Van Meter, was a native of the State of Maryland. He was born upon the frontier, and, though frequently changing his residence, died upon the frontier. He seems to have belonged to that class of men, once quite nu- merous, who keep constantly on the border of civilization, and follow close upon the footsteps of the Indians as they retire further west at the advance of the white man. He had removed from Maryland several years before the Revolu. tionary war, and was living on the South Branch of the Potomac River, in Vir- ginia, when his son Morgan, his first child, was born. The family record of Morgan Van Meter's family, furnished by Mrs. James Van Meter, of Wiota, La Fayette Co., Wis., shows the year of Morgan's birth to be 1765. Between the birth of Morgan and of Joseph, his second son, he crossed the Allegheny. Mountains, descended the Monongahela, and settled at the forks of that river. At this point, Joseph and perhaps others of his family were born.
"In 1770, Joseph Van Meter the elder, in company with three of the Zane brothers, removed with his family to the Ohio River, near where Wheel- ing now is. The Zanes settled at the mouth of Wheeling Creek. while Mr. Van Meter settled a few miles above, on Short Creek. Other settlements near by were commenced soon after. Block-houses, being works of prime necessity on the frontier at that day, were erected at several places in the settlements, as some protection against the Indians, though seldom adequate when assailed by a strong party. Near to these the settlers built their cabins, as far as conven- ient, such a plan being considered as some protection against surprise and attacks by small parties of Indians. In 1774, a small military work was erected. under British authority, on the south bank of the Ohi River, not far above the mouth of Wheeling Creek. The plan upon which it was built is said to have been drawn by the celebrated Gen. George Rogers Clark. It was called at first Fort Fincastle, the name of the county in which it was located, but, two years later (1776), the name was changed to Fort Henry, from the celebrated Patrick Henry, then Governor of the State of Virginia. This was the only fort be- tween Pittsburgh and the mouth of the Great Kanawha, which was in that day considered tenable against a force of any great number. A stockade was in process of erection near West Liberty, on Short Creek, in September, 1777. but was not yet completed when the Indians attacked Fort Henry, late in Sep- tember of that year. It was intended to serve the double purpose of protect- ing the lives and property of the settlers, and the county buildings, West Lib- erty being then the seat of justice for Ohio County. This rude structure was named Van Meter's Fort, from Joseph Van Meter, the elder. Late in Sep- tember, 1777, notice was given the settlers at and in the neighborhood where
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
S
Wheeling now is that a large Indian army was collecting on the Sandusky River to march against Fort Henry and the settlements in the neighborhood. This friendly warning is said to have been sent by the brother of the Zanes, who had taken up his residence with the Indians, had adopted their dress and mode of living, and had married an Indian woman. The messenger had scarcely brought the direful news to the garrison before the Indians were before the walls of the fort, under the leadership of the renegade white man, Simon Girtv. The Indians had come to and crossed the Ohio unperceived, though a considerable force of the most capable and experienced scouts and Indian fighters on the frontier had been sent out into the woods on the north side of the Ohio, through which the enemy was expected to come, to discover, if pos- sible, the force of the latter, and the time at which they would probably arrive. Girty, however, succeeded in bringing his warriors before the very walls of the fort before his approach was discovered. The force of the Indians was com- puted at from four hundred to five hundred men. The entire force of the gar- rison and settlers was forty-two, all told, many of whom were old men and boys. In the course of the first night after the arrival of the Indians, the set- tlers and their families oithor took shelter in the fort, or were brought in. The next morning, the Indians succoodod in killing one of the men belonging to the garrison. Fourteen mon were sent out in pursuit of a small party of Indians, wore surrounded, twelve of them killed and one badly wounded. Twelve volunteers from the fort were sent to the relief of the first party, were surrounded, and eight of them killed. Two or three more were severely wound- ed, but were able to conceal themselves from the Indians, and came in or were brought in after the Indians withdrew. Not a man was killed or wounded in side the fort. On the third day of the siege, forty mounted men from Short Crock and fourteen from Cross Creek arrived at the fort and were admitted. These timely ro-enforcements so discouraged the Indians that they raised the siege and engaged in killing the cattle and burning the cabins and fences of the settlers.
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