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 2, Part 3

Author: Durant, Pliny A. ed; Beers (W.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1410

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 2 > Part 3

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In April, 1838, Wilmington contained 728 inhabitants, of whom fifty-two were colored. This item appears in the Democrat and Herald, of April 27, 1838. Public improvements were then rapidly being made. The editors of the paper besought those in search of a good location to come to Wilmington, upon which an era of prosperity was dawning.

Another early settler of Wilmington and Clinton County, and long a prominent citizen, was George D. Haworth, of whom we find the following sketch among the Harlan Notes:

"George D. Haworth, late of Wilmington, was an early citizen and pio- neer of Clinton County. He was brought here by his parents, Mahlon and Phebe (Fraizer) Haworth, in the autumn of 1804, when he was a youth of but seven years. He was born in Greene County, Tenn., May 29, 1797, and died in Wilmington on the 27th of June, 1881, aged eighty-four years and twenty- nine days. His early years were spent in assisting his father to clear away the forests and open to cultivation the lands upon which he had settled on Todd's Fork, two miles north of where Wilmington is now located. His grandfather, George Haworth, had preceded his father's family something more than a year, and settled some distance farther down upon Todd's Fork. The youthful George was a great favorite with his grandfather, and much of the time his constant companion. He also assisted his grandfather, who was engaged in stock-raising. In 1811, the year before the war with Great Britain . began, the grandfather took a drove of hogs to Detroit, it being the principal market center in that day. He was compelled to sell on credit, and, in 1815, he went, accompanied by his grandson, George D., to collect the money. The first day out they reached Seth Smith's mill, in Green Plains; the next day, they reached Thomas Stanford's, fifteen miles north of Urbana; both these men were emigrants from Tennessee. Most of the way they were obliged to camp out or lodge in the block-houses that had been erected during the war for army purposes. This same perilous journey the then young George had made twice before, once alone, and once in company with the army Paymaster, Vance. In 1812, George D. Haworth, then in his sixteenth year, while working in the harvest field of their neighbor, John McWhorter, was served with a notice that he had been drafted to go into the army. Lots had been drawn for two men to fill a quota, and it fell upon Thomas Babb and himself. He had been very much disabled by rheumatism in his limbs, and was therefore excused from going into the field, but he and his younger brother, Ezekiel, took charge of the pack-horses for six months under Capt. James Spencer, who was Captain of the pack-horse transportation of army supplies. The condition of the country and the lack of roads rendered it impossible to transport supplies by wagon in many places a great portion of the time.

" With the limited means within his reach for obtaining school education, yet, having a great fondness for mathematical studies and an aptness for fig- ures (it is said that he was never known to err in a calculation), he managed to acquire sufficient education to qualify him to teach, and he taught several terms of school in the adjoining neighborhoods. Some that were his pupils in these schools still survive. In 1817, he was married to Edith, daughter of James and Anne Hadley, of Newberry, Clinton County, and settled on a farm adjoining his father's on the east. In 1822, he was elected Collector of the

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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

State revenue and county levy, as it was then called, and for the first year received for his compensation $54, and visited every taxpayer at his residence, receiving a good portion of the taxes collected in wolf scalps. The next year he received $70 compensation. With but a few years' intermission from this time, he continued to discharge the duties of Collector and Treasurer until he had served the people of the county over twenty years. In that day, there was no office for the County Treasurer, nor burglar proof safe, but the money was kept in a bureau drawer in Mr. Haworth's house. In 1823, Mr. Haworth was clerking for James Fife, of Wilmington, in his dry goods store, at $15 per month. Early in the spring of 1824, he sold his farm and settled his family in Wilmington, and entered into partnership with Mr. Fife in the mercantile business, under the firm name of Fife & Haworth. He continued in this firm some time, then entered into the business on his own responsibility. In 1826, he was joined by his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Hadley, under the firm name of Haworth & Hadley. After some years, he gave up the dry goods trade, the business of the Treasurer's office having become much greater, and as he had acquired lands and property that required his attention. For a number of years, he was for that day extensively engaged in farming and grazing, turning off one or more hundred of cattle each year at one time for market. In this connection a circumstance somewhat peculiar might be alluded to, which pleased and amused some of his friends while it tried others, viz .: He always made his calculations as to about how much profit he wished to make on these droves of cattle, and when he came to sell them, if opportunity offered for him to make a good deal more, he would not avail himself of it. He took great delight in raising cattle, and was the first to import into the county the Short-

Horn or Durham cattle, about 1835; it may be a little later.

There are

those still living who remember the beautiful animals -- Chieftain, Army Jane and Cora-bought at great expense for that day from one of the finest Kentucky herds. Mr. Haworth also dealt considerably in land. He and his friend, Isaiah Morris, bought and sold much land in partnership, each, from the po- sition he held, having excellent opportunities of becoming acquainted with the condition and situation of lands in the county. George D. Haworth at one time by appointment viewed and appraised all the lands in the county. He owned and sold at different times over 9,000 acres of land in this county, and many of the citizens of the county say that it was by his forbearing kindness and liberality that they were enabled to obtain homes for themselves. During the great financial crisis, from 1837 to 1840, be lost many thousands of dollars. by having indorsed extensively for his friends. There was a general failure of men engaged in the pork business, and some in most other lines of business, not one of whom perhaps in the county but that he had indorsed more or less for. One of his special characteristics was that he could never refuse a favor that a friend asked of him. At this period, he thought that financial ruin had certainly overtaken him, but the clouds parted, and a way opened where there seemed none, and he was enabled to meet the heavy responsibility and still have something for himself. In April, 1851, his most excellent companion, the wife of his youth, departed this life.

"In 1857, he again became a member of a mercantile firm, under the firm name of Haworth, Glass & Co., and so continued for three or four years. In 1858, he was married to Sarah Clark, of Richmond, Ind., daughter of Samuel Stubbs, an early pioneer from the State of Georgia. Mr. Haworth was remark- . able for his jocular and social disposition. He greeted every one who ap- proached him with a smile and words of cheer. He retained his interest in. the public good keenly to the end of his life, and all that related to the county or its inhabitants; but in his declining years he devoted himself very much to

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the cause of religion, and watched over the branch of the church of his adop- tion (at the head of which he had sat for more than thirty years) with as much care and tenderness as a fond father over an idolized child. George D. and Edith Haworth were the parents of eight children, the eldest three of whom died in early childhood. Five still survive, viz., Mary, wife' of Samuel R. Glass; Caroline E., who married Robert B. Harlan; George D. Haworth, Jr., who resides one and three-fourths miles northeast of Wilmington; James Mah- lon Haworth, at present Government Inspector of Indian affairs, and Edith Emma Moody, wife of Laming R. Moody, who resides in the eastern suburb of Wilmington. George D. Haworth survived his second wife but two days ... After four days' illness, he departed this life in great peace, and, upon the 20th . of June, 1881, his remains were laid to rest in Dover Churchyard, with his wife, children, parents and numerous other relatives and friends."

MERCHANTS OF WILMINGTON.

Tho following items of importance are furnished from the notes left by Judge R. B. Harlan:

" Asa Holcomb was the first merchant located in Wilmington. He came to Cincinnati in 1792 and from there to Wilmington in 1810. His storeroom was on Lot 110, once the residence of William R. Cole, and afterward of Dr. Turner Welch, and for many years owned and resided on by R. B. Harlan. Mr. Holcomb kept a tavern at the same place. His first license to sell goods was issued April 3, 1811, lacking only one day of three months earlier than that of Isaiah Morris & Co. His first license to keep a tavern, out of several of the same kind, was dated July 20, 1812. Mr. Holcomb was a drummer and Daniel Jones blew upon the fife; the two furnished the martial music during the war of 1812 at musters and on other patriotic occasions. He purchased of Paul Way Lot No. 125, on which the late Richard Peirce so long resided. He sold the lot to Peirce September 12, 1816. After a residence of about three years, on October 4, 1813, he sold his possessions to Solomon Cole, father of William R. Cole, and returned to Cincinnati. His last license to sell goods was for one year, and was taken out February 3, 1813.

" The second licensed merchant in Wilmington was Warren Sabin. His permit was dated May 28, 1811.

" William Ferguson and Isaiah Morris opened a small stock of foreign merchandise early in July, 1811, on South street, where the Clinton County National Bank now stands. The building used by them for the sale of goods was also used as the post office and as the office of the Clerk of the Court of the county."

Isaiah Morris " was born in Greene County, Penn., in 1786. His mother's maiden name was Corbly. His parents moved in the humble walks of life, having neither poverty nor riches. His grandfather, on the mother's side, was a Baptist minister of great worth and usefulness. His father owned a small farm, witha personal property such as small farmers generally possess. The family were what were called Radical Baptists. There were eight children, three of whom, besides the subject of this sketch, emigrated to the West. Two sisters settled in Ohio and lived there to an advanced age. A brother acquired by industry and economy a valuable farm in one of the best agricultural coun- ties of Indiana. His parents lived to an advanced age, his father dying at the age of ninety-eight years, and his mother at eighty-five.

" Young Morris descended the Ohio River with his uncle, Mr. Huston, in a flat-boat, to Columbia, near Cincinnati, where they landed in the spring of 1803. The uncle opened a store at Columbia with goods he had brought with him. This the nephew conducted for him until the fall of that same year, when the

元

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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

stock of goods was removed to Lebanon. The uncle soon died, leaving Isaiah, now seventeen years of age, far from home, entirely without friends, business or money. In 1803, Warren County was organized and David Sut- ton, afterward Gen. Sutton, was appointed Clerk of the Courts. Young Morris was given employment in his office, where he wrote till 1811. He also wrote in Judge McLean's office, and, between the two, he had by this time saved. about $300. In . 1811, he came to Wilmington and entered into mercantile business with William Ferguson, of Lebanon. At the first sale of lots in Wil- mington, in September, 1810, Mr. Ferguson had bought the lot on which the First National Bank now stands, and there he and Mr. Morris built a small frame house in which they opened their stock of goods. Here their business prospered so that in a few years Mr. Morris was able to buy out Mr. Ferguson's interest and continue the business alone. In this day, the roads were mere traces, so that their goods were brought to Wilmington on pack-horses. Mr. Morris soon after began trading in real estate, and, as the county and town were rapidly being settled, he realized large profits and his capital increased rapidly. In 1812, he married Rachel Carpenter, step-daughter to Judge Fran- cis Dunlavy, at Lebanon. To them two daughters were born-Maria, who married Robert B. Harlan, and Rebecca, who married Rev. Stephen Holland. Mrs. Morris died in 1819. In March, 1822, Mr. Morris married Catharine Trimble, of Hillsboro, cousin of Allen Trimble. To them a son and two daughters were born. Two of these children, the son and one daughter, died . in infancy. The remaining daughter, Sarah Ann, married Grafton B. White.' Catharine Morris died in October, 1828. Mr. Morris afterward, in 1840, mar- ried Rhoda Corwin, sister of Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Lebanon. A son and daughter were born to them -- Thomas Corwin and Mary Catharine, who mar- ried Robert M. Wickersham. On the 3d of June, 1816, Mr. Morris was ap- pointed Clerk to the Commissioners. This officer, until 1820, performed the duties of Auditor. Ho held this office one year. Upon the death of Peter Burr, in 1816, Mr. Morris was appointed to fill the vacancy, thus occurring, as Clerk of the Court of Common Ploas for Clinton County. He served in this office until the close of the third term, in 1837. He was also Postmaster from 1812 to 1815. The post office and Clerk's office were both in Mr. Morris' store. He was the first Representative froin this county in the Legislature, in 1812. He again represented the county in 1815. In 1837, he was chosen by Clinton and Highland Counties as their State Senator for two years. In 1851, he was elected the delegate for Clinton and Highland to the second Constitutional Convention of Ohio. The convention met in Columbus, and, after organizing, adjourned to Cincinnati and held their session there in the summer of 1851, during which time they formed a new constitution for Ohio, which was ap- proved by the people at the October election following. Mr. Morris was the first Mayor of Wilmington, serving from 1828 to 1830. Isaiah Morris was not a member of any religious sect, but had a warm feeling for all. He gave to the Baptist society the lot on which their church is built, and, in addition, about $800. His health had declined for about two years before his death, which took place July 18, 1858, when he had reached the age of seventy-two years. Although Mr. Morris began life without any property of his own, he was at the time of his death a wealthy man."

David Stratton* began the dry goods and grocery trade at the southwest corner of Main and Mulberry streets, where Dr. A. Jones now lives, in 1814 or 1815. His license is dated October 4, 1815,. but it is thought he was in business the previous year. On the 14th of October, 1816, he deeded the premises to William Hibben, from Fayette County, Penn. On the 22d of the

* David Stratton died at West Liberty, Iowa, Ju e 11, 1867, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.

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same month, he was granted a permit to keep a store in Wilmington until the next court; and on the 30th of November, in the same year, the court granted him a license. The store was in the west part of the present building, that part now used by Dr. Jones as an office having been erected in 1841 by Mr. Hibben. This portion of the town then contained considerable of the business. About 1819, Mr. Hibben's son, Thomas Hibben, engaged in business on the north side of Main street, in the frame building now used as a boarding-house, a few steps east of Mulberry street, and built about 1811, probably by Thomas Gaskill.

James Fife came to Wilmington in 1819, and opened and conducted a store for a Mr. Wood, of Lebanon, in a frame building which stood next west of the site now occupied by the West House, on the south side of Main street. He was by birth an Irishman. The building had been erected by Jonathan Harlan. Mr. Fife had great natural ability for business, and, by his tact, ac- cumulated wealth rapidly. Within one year after his arrival here, he had pur- chased the stock of goods and paid for them. He became one of the wealthiest and most prominent men in the county, and died leaving a large amount of property. The present First National Bank Building in Wilmington is a mon- ument to the taste and enterprise of Mr. Fife, and his associate in business, Mr. Bosworth.

The following-merchants were licensed in Wilmington between 1813 and 1829:

Samuel H. Hale, June 19, 1813; David L. Sewell, December 14, 1814; S. H. Hale and Jacob Strickle, July 4, 1815; David Stratton, October 4, 1815; Sat- tathwaite, McGee & Co., October 4, 1815; Jacob Strickle, October 5, 1815; Col. Samuel Cox, December 12, 1815; William Brooks, December 19, 1815; Charles Paist, January 4, 1816; John Elam, January 9, 1816; James How, March 26, 1816; William Hibben, October 22, 1816; William Brooks & Co., July 14, 1817; David H. Birdsall, November 13, 1817; Isaiah Morris, December 1, 1817; Hugh Smart and Eli Gaskill, March 18, 1818; Joseph Wright, June 5, 1818; Stephen Bosworth and Arnold Truesdell, July 10, 1818; S. H. Hale & John Hadley, ---; John Cassada, April 9, 1823; Samuel Smith, May 9, 1823; James Sheppard, December 11, 1823; Samuel Hale and Eli Hale, April 12, 1824; James Fife and George D. Haworth, May 18, 1824; George D. Haw- orth, August term, 1823; Levi Douglas, November 27, 1824; Joseph H. Co- burn, May 3, 1825; Carpenter & Fallis, May 13, 1825; Robert Reese, July 25, 1825; Cyrus Farquhar, October 14, 1825; Mark Thatcher, March 7, 1827; Warren Sabin & Co., November 28, 1828; Joseph Hale and Carter B. Harlan, April 1, 1829.

At the sale of lots in Wilmington in 1810, Mahlon Haworth purchased at the northwest corner of Locust and South streets, and improved the lot, but never lived upon it. It afterward belonged to Jacob Strickle, who built a stone house upon it and occupied it. George D. Haworth next purchased it, and finally sold it to Mr. Strickle's son, Jacob, Jr. During the exciting polit- ical campaign of 1840, it seemed to be necessary to have a Whig hotel in Wil- nington, as hotels were then considerably dependent upon patronage accord- ng to the drift of their politics. George D. Haworth, therefore, who owned the building mentioned, erected a brick addition thereto, and converted the whole into a " Whig hotel," renting it to Jabez Harlan and Jabez Walker, who became its first landlords. Gen. W. H. Harrison had stopped with Mr. Haworth in 1840, before the new hotel was started. The building became one of the prominent institutions of the place, and was widely known as the " Buck- ye House." It was conducted by several different persons during its existence, ind was finally destroyed by fire but a few years ago.

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அகிலாடி சாம் பார் சட் ஹரி நிறுவனியார்

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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

The hotels were patronized largely in the early years by teamsters hauling goods from Cincinnati, and later were headquarters for numerous lines of stages, the latter carrying the mails and also passengers. May 10, 1850, Conklin & Ross advertised in the Wilmington papers that from that dato a daily line of omnibuses would ply between Wilmington and Cincinnati, via Milford, touching at Clarksville, Middelboro, Osceola and Goshen, and connecting at Milford with trains on the Little Miami Railroad. Through fare, $1.75.

A post office was established at Wilmington in 1812, and Isaiah Morris was appointed Postmaster, a position which he held until 1815. A list. of letters advertised by him as remaining in the post office at Wilmington July 1, 1815, is as follows: Joseph Abanathy, David Atkinson, Joseph Anthony, Joseph Ballard, Thomas Babb (son of Sampson Babb), Nathan Dillon, Jacob Garrison, John Gray, David Hixton, William Hale, Joseph Haines, Stephen M. Irwin, Jonathan Lawrence, Joel Lewis, Peter Lieurance, Eli Millican, An- thony Morgan, Robert Morgan, William Moon, Charles Paist, Robert Pennery, George Rinard, Thomas Reese, Amos Smith, John Stout. This list appears in a scrap of one of the numbers of the True American, published sometime in July, 1815. The same scrap contained an advertisement for Joseph Whinery, who wanted a journeyman in the cabinet-making business, offering good wages and steady employment. Whinery was then living four miles north of Wil- mington.

The following is thought to be a nearly complete list of the Postmasters at Wilmington since Isaiah Morris: James Magee, George Bruce, Joseph Hale, James E. Johnson, James Fallis (the latter appointed in May, 1853, to succeed Johnson), Thomas Van Tress, W. J. Marble, eight years, John C. Moon, two years, and the present incumbent, W. P. Wolf, who was appointed May 25, 1871. During the terms of Johnson and Fallis, the office was in the building at the northeast corner of Main and Mulberry streets, now occupied by George Brindle." When Van Tross assumed the duties of the office, he moved it to a room on South street, near the present site of the St. Nicholas Hotel. The office is now in the building next north of the court house, on the west side of South street.

Wilmington is situated at an elevation of 551 feet above low water mark in the Ohio River at Cincinnati, 417 feet above Lake Erie, and 992 feet above the level of the sea.

SCHOOLS.

Isaac Garretson was the first school-teacher who imparted knowledge to the youth of Wilmington, but there is a difference of opinion as to the year in which he began his work here, some placing it in 1810, and others in 1812. A log schoolhouse was built by Joseph Doan at the corner of Sugartree and Spring streets, and Garretson taught in that structure. It was finally destroyed . by fire, and Garretson continued the school in a room at his own residence. Other subscription schools were taught in 1817, by Arnold Treusdell;} in 1818-19, by William Millikan and A. T. Sewell, and by William Crumley; in 1822-23, by Beebe Treusdell; in 1820-21, by J. N. Reynolds, in the old court house, and by others, among whom was Alanson Jones, afterward Sheriff of the county. About 1834, a family named Mabie began a select school in the east end of the building now occupied by Stephen Eldred, on Main street, the

* George Brindle came to Wilmington in 1834, from Westmoreland County, Penn., and, up to 1873, was en- gaged in business in the place-tinware, drugs, etc. His brother Jacob settled the same year.

+ Trensdell was a native of Hillsdale. N. Y., and came to Wilmington in 1816. He taught at Wilmington and Oakland, and, subsequent to his marriage in 1820 or 1821, both he and his wife were successful teachers, He had been a student in 1819-20, in the Ohio University, at Athens. Mr. Treusdell and his wife finally removed to Cincin- nati and engaged jointly as proprietors of a ladies' academy. He also preached in the Methodist Church until 1835, in which year he died. 1

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west end of which was then occupied by William Hale. The last term of this school was taught about 1840. At an early day, a Mr. Taylor taught a Latin school in the place. He was a Presbyterian minister, and boarded with the family of Eli McGregor. A small building for the use of the schools was erected early in the northeast part of the town, and about 1839-40, the building at the southeast corner of Mulberry and Locust streets, now used as a meeting- house by the Friends, was opened as a public school building. The present fine union school building was dedicated January 18, 1870, at which time the Board of Education consisted of Jacob Beard, C. N. Osborn and A. C. Diboll. The building is eighty feet square at the foundation, and stands 124 feet in height above the ground. It is three stories high above the basement, the first two being fifteen feet each, and the third nineteen feet, the whole sur. mounted by a large and high belfry. The halls, in which are the stairways, extend east and west, and are fourteen feet wide. Each story, including the basement, is divided into four rooms, except that the portion of the third story south of the hall is in one large room, making fifteen rooms in the build- ing. The doors all open outward. The following amount of material was used: Perches of stone, 1,800; brick, including pavement and outhouses, 835, - 134; yards of plastering, 5,697; squares of roof (tin), 115; lot contains five acres; building heated by furnaces; total cost, exclusive of interest on bonds, less than $33,000.

"In the schools in the pioneer settlements," says Dr. Jones, "there was no surplus of books. Old Thomas Dilworth was the text-book used in teach- ing orthography. This old work was succeeded by Webster's spelling-book. In teaching reading, the English reader and the sequel thereto were used. The Testament and the Psalms were in all the schools in the early settlements. Then the study of the meaning of words was thought to be a necessary part of an elementary education. In teaching arithmetic, Bennett's, Pike's and Adams' commercial works were used .* Lindley Murray was the text-book used in toaching grammar. In teaching penmanship, the quill of the goose was usod. At that time the arts had not progressed so as to make machinery to rule white paper as it was being manufactured. To make the lines of the white paper, metallic lead was used. The writing fluid was manufactured from nut-galls and walnut and maple bark, fixing the color with sulphate of iron or copperas. This process made a very good ink." To acquire an educa- tion at that time was an extensive task, but the people made the most of their facilities.

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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 2, Part 3

Author: Durant, Pliny A. ed; Beers (W.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : W. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1410

Author: Durant, Pliny A. ed; Beers (W.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1410