USA > Ohio > Hardin County > The history of Hardin county, Ohio > Part 52
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There is nothing on record to show who named the county seat, or why it was called " Kenton;" but tradition has handed down the following story of the event: After the Commissioners had agreed upon the location, there was considerable discussion as to the naming of the town. Before any de- cision was arrived at, the party, in company with Judge William McCloud, had reached Fort McArthur, where dinner was awaiting them, and the sub- ject was for the time suspended. As soon as the meal was over, the matter again came up, and being unable to come to any satisfactory conclusion, it was agreed to call upon Mrs. McCloud to decide the question. It so hap- pened that the well-known frontiersman and noted scout, Simon Kenton, was a warm friend of Judge McCloud, and that Mrs. McCloud was an ardent admirer of the famous border warrior. When the Commissioners left to her the choice of names, she at once decided to pay a fitting tribute of respect to her husband's friend, and exclaimed, " Call the town Kenton."
* The second sale of town lots took place June 3 and 4. 1834.
478
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
Her selection was declared excellent, and the new county seat was thus given the name of one of the most illustrious men in the annals of Indian warfare.
SKETCH OF SIMON KENTON.
Inasmuch as the territory embraced in Hardin County was closely asso- ciated with one of the most noted events in the life of this sturdy pioneer (a full account of which will be found in Chapter IV), and that in subse- quent years it fell to the lot of this county to have its seat of justice named in honor of his services, it will be proper to devote some space to a brief sketch of his life. Simon Kenton, according to McClung's "Sketches of Western Adventure," was born in Fauquier County, Va., May 15, 1755, but in Howe's "Historical Collections," the inscription on his tombstone says that he " was born April 3, 1755, in Culpeper County, Va., and died April 29, 1836, aged eighty-one years and twenty-six days." We have no means of knowing which of these accounts is the correct one, but would infer that the latter is the more reliable. At the age of sixteen, Kenton became entangled in a love affair, which led to a quarrel with a rival, and supposing he had slain his antagonist. he fled to the wilds of Kentucky, where he assumed the name of Simon Butler. He here met Daniel Boone and other frontiersmen, and soon was known as one of the most courageous and sagacious Indian scouts of his time. The scouts and spies of that day, by the nature of their employment, and perhaps from their natural im- pulses, were unsettled. Kenton's associations with Boone and others con- nected him with the expeditions in Kentucky and Ohio against the Indians, and he traversed nearly every part of the latter State before he settled in it. His capture and captivity, in 1778, is spoken of in a previous chapter; and, in 1786, Col. Daniel Boone and Maj. Simon Kenton led the advance of Gen. Logan's forces in his attack and destruction of the Mackacheek towns, in what is now Logan County, Ohio. In fact, a minute account of Kenton's career would embrace most of the history of the struggle for possession of Ohio. He settled about five miles north of Springfield, Ohio, in 1799; thence removed to the site of Lagonda, in the same county, where he erected a rude mill on Buck Creek, subsequently settling in Urbana.
Upon the breaking-out of the war of 1812, he was made Brigadier Gen- eral of Militia, and joined the army under Gen. Harrison. At the battle of Moravian towns, Kenton displayed his usual intrepidity, and demonstrated throughout the whole war that he yet possessed his old-time prowess and skill upon the field of battle or in the presence of the enemy. About 1820, he finally settled near the head of Mad River, in Logan County, and, in 1824, visited the Legislature of Kentucky to solicit a release of some claims held by that State against some mountain lands owned by him. He was now old and poor, and presented that tattered appearance which, on first sight, provoked the smiles and inattention of the members; but as soon as it was known that the old man was Simon Kenton, the companion and friend of Boone, he was the lion of the hour, and received all due honor and consideration. The State claims were not only remitted, but the Leg- islature took an active part in getting for him a pension from Congress of $20 per month, which secured his declining years from want.
His opportunities enabled him to obtain large quantities of land in Kentucky and Ohio, but, though, with every facility for becoming rich, he became poor and necessitous. He was unable to read, and trusted too much to his memory and the honor of men. He was as generous and kind-hearted as he was brave, and incurred obligations which gave him great annoyance,
479
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
and brought him to prison under the old law of imprisonment for debt. Judging others by himself, he was not conscious of the impositions and dis- honesty to which he was subjected, until, defrauded and robbed of his es- tate, it was too late to remedy the wrongs committed under the sanction of law. His latter years were passed in a small log cabin about five miles northeast of Bellefontaine. Here he breathed his last, and was laid to rest beneath a small grassy knoll in the same vicinity. In 1865, his remains were removed to Urbana, and are now moldering in Oakdale Cemetery. A monument worthy of the man is in process of construction, and will soon mark the spot where all that is mortal of the once famous scout lies buried.
The many incidents of his romantic and eventful life are well detailed by his friend and biographer, Col. John McDonald, from whose work we extract the following description of his personal appearance and character: " Gen. Kenton was of fair complexion, and six feet one inch in height. He stood and walked very erect, and, in the prime of life, weighed about one hundred and ninety pounds. He never was inclined to be corpulent, although of sufficient fullness to form a graceful person. He had a soft, tremulous voice, very pleasing to the hearer. He had laughing gray eyes, which appeared to fascinate the beholder. He was a pleasant, good- humored and obliging companion. When excited, or provoked to anger (which was seldom the case), the fiery glance of his eye would almost cur- dle the blood of those with whom he came in contact. His rage, when roused, was a tornado. In his dealing, he was perfectly honest; his con- fidence in man and his credulity were such that the same man might cheat him twenty times; and if he professed friendship he might cheat him still."
ORIGINAL TOWN PLAT.
The following description of the plat of Kenton, surveyed under the authority of Charles W. Stevenson, Director, is taken from the official plat- book in the Recorder's office:
The public square is seventeen poles square, exclusive of the streets which surround it, viz. : Detroit, Main, Columbus and Franklin streets, which are each eighty feet wide; the other streets are each sixty feet wide; and the alleys each sixteen and a half feet wide. The alley on the west of the town is sixteen feet wide, in the east ten, and in the west sixteen and a half feet. The burying ground is twenty-one rods by sixteen and fifteen links, and contains two acres and eighteen hundredths.
Surveyed by D. HOPKINS, Deputy S. L. C.
OCTOBER 8, 1833.
I certify the foregoing plat and field notes of the survey of the town of Kenton to be correct and true as surveyed by me under the direction of Charles W. Stevenson; and that I planted a corner-stone marked X at the southeast corner of the public square. D. HOPKIN s Deputy S. L. C.
OCTOBER 8, 1833.
STATE OF OHIO, HARDIN CO.
On the 10th day of October in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-three, Charles W. Stevenson, the Court Director of the town Kenton, in the county aforesaid, person- ally appeared before me the subscriber, an acting Justice of the Peace within and for the county aforesaid, and acknowledged the above plat to be his official act and deed for the use of said county.
Given under my hand and seal the date last above written.
GEORGE H. HOUSER, J. P.
Received for record on the 10th and recorded on the 11th of October, 1833.
D. CAMPBELL, R. H. C.
Mr. Hopkins, who was the Deputy Surveyor of Logan County, Ohio, also laid off the " Western Addition to Kenton" for George H. Houser, October 11, 1833, and the plat was acknowledged before William McCloud, Associate Judge, October 12, 1833. The " Eastern Addition to Kenton "
480
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
was platted by Hopkins for Jacob H. Houser on the 11th of October, 1833, and the acknowledgment made on the following day before George H. Houser, Justice of the Peace. Since that time, additions have been made to Kenton by the following parties:
Jacob H. Houser's Addition, June 4, 1836; recorded July 2, 1836. John Goodin's, June 28, 1836; recorded June 30, 1836. Samuel Mentzer's, December 14, 1841; recorded January 5, 1842. Conrad W. Show's, May 25, 1845; recorded June 2, 1845. William Wyckoff's, July 25, 1844; recorded August 3, 1844. Thomas S. Mills', June 21, 1845; recorded March 17, 1846. Elizabeth Holmes', March 13, 1846; recorded April 13, 1846. Jacob H. Houser's, November 21, 1849; recorded November 27, 1849. Powers heirs', May 22, 1850; recorded August 20, 1850. William C. Ross', February 6, 1851; recorded February 18, 1851.
John Pfeiffer's, February 6, 1851; recorded February 24, 1851. Francis Ashton's, May 21, 1851; recorded June 10, 1851. Thompson's, June 27, 1851; recorded June 30, 1851. William Thomson's, February 9, 1852; recorded February 18, 1852. Henry J. Miller's, March 6, 1852; recorded March 29, 1852. William Furney's, May 8, 1852; recorded May 29, 1852. Simeon Jennings', September 10, 1853; recorded September 28, 1853. Henry Hisel's, January 13, 1853; recorded May 8, 1854. William Thomson's, August 5, 1854; recorded August 8, 1854. Benjamin Eglin's, February 23, 1852; recorded October 12, 1855. Brunson & Pierson's, July 21, 1858; recorded June 21, 1859. B. R. Brunson's, June 20, 1859; recorded June 21, 1859. John & Urich Bloom's, December 26, 1859; recorded Jan. 12, 1860. J. S. Robinson's, April 8, 1863; recorded April 9, 1863. Lewis Owens', April 2, 1868; recorded April 2, 1868. Isaac G. Williams', April, 1868; recorded May 11, 1868. Town Extension, August 21, 22, 1868; recorded April 28, 1869. Eliza Jennings', June 14, 1869; recorded June 22, 1869. Usher P. Leighton's, November 25, 1869; recorded December 25, 1869.
John H. Gary's, June 26, 1870; recorded January 31, 1870. Frederick Foyle's, February 15, 1870; recorded February 16, 1870. Conrad Kahler's, April 19, 1870; recorded July 7, 1870. George Resch's August 5, 1870; recorded August 13, 1870. Jonh Pfeiffer's, February 29, 1871; recorded March 2, 1871. W. M. Chesney's, April 25, 1871; recorded April 27, 1871. Mary L. Carter's, March 7, 1872; recorded March 16, 1872. Cary & Cessna's, April 12, 1872; recorded April 16, 1872. Ullrich Gerlach's, March, 1871; recorded May 9, 1872. Usher P. Leighton's, October 1, 1872; recorded November 1, 1872. Espy & Williams', February 22, 1873; recorded February 25, 1873. Augustus Traeger's, May 10, 1873; recorded May 14, 1873. Town Extension, June 7 to 14, 1873; recorded July 25, 1873. George Salzman's, August 19, 1873; recorded August 22, 1873. Henry Loeffert's, May 7, 1873; recorded December 30, 1873. William Moore's, December 18, 1873; recorded December 30, 1873. William H. Millar's, November 24, 1873; recorded March 3, 1874. P. Howard's, April 6, 1874; recorded April 22, 1874. South Kenton, April 1, 1874; recorded July 29, 1874. Hiram Kettle's, September 4, 1874; recorded September 10, 1874.
481
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
Charles Brumm's, September 9, 1874; recorded September 16, 1874. John Goodin's, April 24, 1875; recorded May 7, 1875. A. W. Munson's, June 14, 1875; recorded February 4, 1876. Jams Ewing's, December 30, 1875; recorded Jauary 13, 1876. Asher Letson's, November 2, 1875; recorded February 19, 1876. William Cary's, July, 1876; recorded September 13, 1876. William Cary's, July, 1876; recorded September 14, 1876. Augustus Traeger's, September 4, 1877; recorded January 5, 1878. Harvey Buckmister's, April 1, 1878; recorded April 22, 1878. Thomas Espy's, September 13, 1877; recorded June 24, 1878. Asher Letson's, April 9, 1878; recorded September 16, 1878. G. S. Williams', August 9, 1878; recorded March 11, 1879. Dougherty's, September 7, 1880; recorded September 10, 1880. Merriman's, May 31, 1882; recorded August 11, 1882. Thomas Espy's, January 11, 1882; recorded September 25, 1882. Asher Letson's, October 26, 27, 31, 1881; recorded Sept. 25, 1882. Adam Schneider's, April 7, 1882; recorded November 9, 1882. Ullrich Gerlach's, October 19, 1882; recorded April 20, 1883. J. C. Smith's, February 13, 1882; recorded April 20, 1883.
NAMES OF ORIGINAL LOT OWNERS.
The original plan of Kenton includes the first row of lots west of Mar- ket street, and east to and including the first row east of Wayne street. It runs south to the old bed of the Scioto River, extending some distance across its present channel. The burying-ground was located in the north- east corner of said plat, on the site of the residences of G. R. Moore and Metellus Thomson, immediately west of the Catholic Church, and the alley on the north of these lots is the northern boundary of the plat. The follow- ing are the names of the original lot owners in the old plat, from its north- ern boundary south to Walnut street. A few, however, are missing, and there is nothing on record to show who originally owned them. We have also been unable to find any record of the dates of purchase, and therefore give the date when the deed was recorded; which was often many years after the sale was made by the Director. The list, however, gives the num- bers of the lots, and the first owners' names, which will be a valuable record for reference by our readers.
482
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
ORIGINAL OWNERS.
LOTS.
DATE OF DEED.
ORIGINAL OWNERS.
LOTS.
DATE OF DEED.
Philip Urich
1
1836
Joseph Nichols
2
1837
Trustees First Presbyterian Church
79
... 1843 ..
John Shultze.
3
1837
James Crump.
80
1835
James Dwiggans
4
1835
John Johnson
81
1837
John Drum.
5
1837
William Cary.
82
1836
Lemuel Powers' Heirs.
6
1836
Moses H. Kirby and John H. Wear ..
83
1837
Amos Anderson
7
1834
Allan Kelley
84
1836
George H. Reece.
8
1839
G. R. Moore and Amos Johns ..
85
1853 1837
David Shove ..
10
1838
87
1837
David Shove ...
11
1838
88
1837
Eri Strong.
12
1835
89
1850
George B. Goodin
13
1836
Samuel Mentzer
90
1835
William King.
14
1837
Alexander Thomson
91
1836
Isaac C. Drum
15
1836
Obed Taylor.
92
1836
Elias Clark
16
1836
Thomas E. Hueston
17
1837
John W. Williams.
94
1836
George Ramge
18
1836
Ophir Carroll
19
1836
Robert Johnson
96
...... 1836
Joseph Ankeny.
97 1835
John H. Ross.
21
1835
Samuel Mentzer Edwin Fisher.
98
1835
Jacob Dunn
22
1836
99
1846
Peter H. Houser.
23
1835
William Furney
100
1850 1835 1838
Joseph Moss
26
1837
John W. Williams
103
1833
Thomas McClaid
27
1836
Obed Taylor ..
104
1836
Francis Ashton
28
. 1835
Nancy Goodin.
105
1836
William Furney
29
1850
George Johns.
106
1836
John L. Blodgett
30
1834
Stewart Connor.
107
Samuel Peel.
31
1839
James Elam
108
..... 1834
Horace Church
32
1836
James Elam
109
1834
Horace Church
33
1836
James Rawles
110
1837
John McKee ..
34
1838
Hiram M. White
111
1836
John McKee ..
35
1837
James Johnson.
112
1836
Philip Urich
36
1836
Joseph Jacoby.
113
1836
Joseph Nichols
37
1837
William Furney ..
114
1850 1849 1837
Directors of School District No. 7 ... Samuel Peel
40
1838
William Jackson
117 1837
William Cary and C. Merriman.
. 41
1836
Robert B. Truman
118
1836 1835
William Furney
43
1849
George Reece.
120 1839
James Moffet.
44
1849
John Brown.
121
1836 1835 1837
John Pfeiffer
N. 16 46
1837
Isaac Mills
124 1837
Alexander Thomson
47
1837
James Scott
125
1836
Amos Anderson
48
1834
Isaac Mills
126
Samuel Wagner.
49
1837
Samuel Peel
127
Usher P. Leighton
50
1844
Benjamin Johnson
128
Obed Taylor
51
1835
Isaac H. Houser
129
James S. Ballentine.
52.
1845
James Scott
130
1836
Catherine Richey Emi P. Hurd
54
1837
David Goodin
132
1836
· John D. Delateur
55
1833
Henry Garrett ..
133
1837
Lemuel Powers' Heirs.
56
1836 Eri Strong ..
134
1837
Enoch Sherman
57
1835
Eri Strong ..
135
John Grier
58
1835
Eri Strong.
136
James Laughead
59
1838
James Scott
137
1836
Isaac C'omer
60
1834
William Cary and C. Merriman
61
1836
N.16140
1839
Isaac A. Mills
63
1837
Directors of School District
S.12 140 141
1842 1847
John Shultze
65
1835
William Cary and C. Merriman
142
1836
Thomas Gillispie, Jr
66
1838
143
James Dwiggans
67
1837
Daniel Barron
144
...... 1835
Robert Johnson
68
1836
John O. Fox
145
1846
John Goodin
69
1837 1837
Andrew Dodds
147
Samuel Mentzer
71
1837
James Rice ..
148
Thomas Gillispie, Jr.
72
1838 1838
George Johns
150
1836
Obed Taylor and William Cary
74
1836
Hugh Letson
151
1847
John Thomson
75
1836
George Clement
152
1846
Samuel Wagner.
76
1837
Usher P. Leighton
153
1844
Jacob H. Houser
77
1839
Jacob H. Houser
154
1845
9
1835
George Johns.
86
David Shellabarger
Jacob H. Houser
William Furney
93 1852
George Ramge
20
1836
Mordecai Cochran
101
24 25
1836
Robert B. Truman.
102
Obed Taylor
38
1841
William Furney.
115
39
1842
David Goodin
116
J. and G. B. Goodin.
45
1837
Daniel Barron
122
John Longnecker
S. 16 46
1836
C. H. Kautz
123
1835 1839 1835 1840
53
1845 Jacob Lipley
131
1836
Jane E. Ross
64
1837
Usher P. Leighton
James Scott ..
146
1836
Samuel Mentzer
70
1846 1837 1838
Thomas Gillispie, Jr ..
73
Eliza Wheeler.
149
.....
62
Trustees of M. E. Church
138 139
. ....
Daniel Campbell
42
1836
James Crump
119
95
George B. Goodin.
William Furney.
Luther Damon ..
78
1837 1837
483
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
FIRST SETTLERS OF THE TOWN SITE.
The site of Kenton was one of the earliest settled points in Pleasant. Township. In the fall of 1830, George H. Houser came from Union Coun- ty, Ohio, and erected a cabin on the north bank of the Scioto River, im- mediately south of where Young's lumber yard is now located. He was a native of Virginia, whose parents emigrated to Fairfield County, Ohio; whence, after marriage, George H. removed to the vicinity of Milford Cen- ter, Union County. His wife, Sophia, and four children, viz., John, Sarah, Mary and Nancy, came with him, while two, viz., William Cary Kenton and Barbara, were born in the rude log cabin in the wilderness of Hardin County. He was a true backwoodsman; cared little for labor or progress, but was in his element when roaming the forest with his dog and gun. He was elected a Justice of the Peace in 1833, serving one or more terms in that capacity. About 1839, he removed to Indiana; thence to Iowa, where he and his wife died. None of his descendants are residents of this county. Mr. Houser was an ardent Methodist, and was the class leader of the first society organized at his cabin in 1832. We have been told that he exhorted, prayed and sang so loud that it was no uncommon thing to hear him a mile or two away. On the night of the meteoric dis- play, in November, 1833, Mr. Houser, upon discovering the wonderful nat- ural phenomenon, rushed to the cabin of William Furney, where William Carv also had his small store, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Oh Mr. Furney! Oh, Mr. Cary! Come out! come out! The world is coming to an end; the stars are falling from the heavens!" It is said that when he performed the marriage ceremony, uniting Emi P. Hurd to Margaret Mus- ser, a very amusing circumstance occurred. Mr. Hurd was a blacksmith, and by appointment with Miss Musser, who lived with the family of Will- iam Furney, went from his shop in his everyday attire to Houser's cabin, where the marriage was to take place. Mr. Houser was afraid that the girl's friends would be angry with him for "tying the knot," and in his trepidation exclaimed, "I pronounce you man and wife, although my knees do tremble."
Some time during the year 1830, William Wilmoth located on the site of the southeastern part of Kenton. He was a native of Ross County, Ohio, and with his wife, Susan, and five children, viz., Reuben, William, Juliann, Mary and Elizabeth, erected a cabin close to a spring northeast of the ice pond, where, in after years, he built a larger residence, now known as the "King property." Another daughter-Martha-was born after their coming, and here his first wife died. He subsequently married Mrs. Mary Foglesong, née Coffee, and in 1847 removed to Independence, Mo.
In the spring of 1831, Lemuel Wilmoth, a brother of William, came from Ross County, Ohio, and entered forty acres of land, whereon much of the southern portion of Kenton now stands. He built a cabin southwest of his brothers, where he lived many years. He was twice married; first to a Miss Gibson, who bore him the following children: John, Benson, Levin, Nancy, Lavinia, Rachel and Lydia. His second wife was Mary Davis, who became the mother of Wellington, Mary, Jane, William, Ella, Eugene and Zemmie. Mr. Wilmoth subsequently removed to a farm a short distance north of town; thence to the homestead, some four miles north of Kenton, where he died February 3, 1879. His widow still sur- vives, and his descendants are among the most respected citizens of the county.
The only settlers, besides those mentioned, who located on the site of
484
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.
Kenton prior to its selection, June 1, 1833, as the seat of justice for Har- din County, were John and William Dinwiddie, who, with their mother and two sisters, came from Union County, Ohio, in the fall of 1832, and built a cabin near the south end of the old cemetery. They remained, however, only about a year; thence removed to land selected by them north of the town. Ere their removal, the county seat had been located, and cabins began to appear here and there through the dense forest covering its site; but nothing had yet been done to indicate that here would stand, inside of fifty years, one of the most prosperous towns in Ohio.
PIONEERS OF KENTON.
William Furney was the first settler of the newly selected seat of jus- tice, and whatever honor belongs to that event is justly his. He was born near Winchester, Va., in 1794, and during his boyhood days emigrated with his parents to Columbiana County, Ohio. In March, 1815, he was married to Christina Lepley, a native of Hagarstown, Penn., born Novem- ber 2, 1799. Soon after marriage, they removed to Pittsburgh, Penn., where they lived about two years; then returned to Columbiana County, Ohio. Of this union were born five children, only two-Hiram and Luther -surviving infancy. In April, 1833, Mr. Furney started, with his wife and two sons, to seek a home further West, and after remaining six weeks at Bucyrus, Ohio, he heard, through Mr. Gillespie, the Register in the Government Land Office, of the newly organized county of Hardin. Leav- ing his family at Bucyrus, he started on foot for this point. Reaching the site of Kentou, he soon concluded to make it his future home; so, return- ing as he had come, he brought out his family, arriving at his destination about June 20, 1833. He immediately began the erection of a cabin on the southwest corner of the Reece House lot, his family, in the meantime, stopping at the home of George H. Houser. On the 4th of July, the cabin was ready for occupancy, and the family celebrated the event by an old- fashioned pioneer dinner. The design for the original plat of Kenton was furnished to Charles W. Stevenson by Mr. Furney, and followed by Mr. Hopkins in his survey of the town. His cabin was also the boarding-place of the men engaged on the work. Mr. Furney, being a fair mechanic, opened a gun and blacksmith shop, in which all classes of repairing was done for the hunters, land-buyers and pioneers who frequented or lived in this region of country. Soon afterward, he engaged in keeping a tavern, and, early in 1834, erected a frame building on the corner of Detroit and Franklin streets, the site of the "Brunson Block," which he opened up and called the "Mansion House." He ran this hotel, with the exception of two years when it was rented, till 1846, at which time he was succeeded by his son Luther. In 1848, he engaged in the grocery business, near the site of Luther Furney's store, on Franklin street, and remained in that calling until his death. He died, May 20, 1854, aged sixty years. A short time after coming to Kenton, Mr. Furney was appointed Major of the Third Regiment, First Brigade, Twelfth Division, Ohio Militia, aud, in 1837, Colonel of the same regiment, which was called out in the trouble known as the " Ohio and Michigan war." His widow still survives him, and is in her eighty-fourth year. Of the sons, Hiram died in 1860; Luther raised a company during the civil war, for the Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, subsequently became Lieutenant Colonel of that regiment, and is now engaged in merchandising in Kenton.
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