HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 125 at Portsmouth, June 22, 1839, and a larger subscription made. It was some years after, before these highways were made, and for many years they were toll roads, but the last was purchased by the county in the middle '70s, since which period the roads and bridges of the county have been free. CHAPTER II PURELY PERSONAL PROFESSIONS FIRST PRACTICING LAWYERS-NATHAN CLOUGH, PIONEER RESIDENT ATTORNEY- EZRA OSBORN, -CHAMPION OFFICEHOLDER-HOW TRACY WAS DRAWN TO PORTSMOUTH-PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FROM 1821 TO 1849—EDWARD HAMILTON-QUIETLY STRONG AND ALWAYS URBANE -WHAT PECK TAUGHT THE COUNTY-JORDAN, WHO SUPPLANTED HIS TEACHER- SUPREME CONTROL OF TEMPER-JAMES ASHLEY-WHY HE LEFT PORTSMOUTH-THE BAR OF TODAY-EARLY HEALERS OF BODY AND SOUL---DOCTOR DUFLIGNE AS A REAL ESTATE OWNER-DR. THOMAS WALLER, PERHAPS FIRST-PORTSMOUTH'S FIRST CITIZEN-DR. GILES S. B. HEMPSTEAD-FOUNDER OF ACADEMY OF MEDICINE- MEDICAL SOCIETIES- JOSEPH CORSON, M. D.—DR. WILLIAM J. MCDOWELL-- DR. CYRUS M. FINCH, CELEBRATED SURGEON-DR. DAVID B. COTTON-DR. JAMES P. BING-OTHER EARLY PHYSI-CIANS-FEMALE PRACTITIONERS. Ever since the writer can remember discussions of any kind, the question has always been coming before the younger generation f men as to the relative importance f the prfessions to the progress and well-being of a community. With the coming of years and experi-ence the answer to the question became as difficult as it would be to determine who is the more important, tile grocer or the butcher. Each has his place in the general economy of life. The result of that conclusion is to discourage any comparison of the good or bad points possessed by representatives of the several professions. But as to their classification, a word of explanation. In this chapter we have brought together the lawyers and the doctors because they are independent of establishments; the thread-worn expression of "hanging out a shingle" conveys the proper idea of brass independence of everything but mental equipment. On the other hand, the minister is attached to his church and the editor to his printing plant ; the personal equation is not so pronounced as in the legal and medical professions. Clergymen, editors and publishers come and go ; they operate through their establishments, the churches and the newspapers; but the lawyers and the doctors are first, last and all the time—Individuals. Hence the nature of this chapter, which is an array of individuals - 126 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 127 who have honored themselves, their professions and the communities wherein they have resided. FIRST PRACTICING LAWYERS The first lawyers who practiced in Scioto County were the prosecuting attorneys of 1803-4, appointed by the State Supreme Court, Thomas Scott and John S. Wills, both of Chillicothe. Neither f them ever lived in Scioto County, although Mr. Scott and his son maintained. an office there for several years. The elder member f the firm prac-ticed in the county as late as 1840. He also attended the courts in Adams County ; in short, "traveled the circuit," as was the custom with most of the early attorneys. He even took his cases personally before the Supreme Court at Washington, traveling back and forth betweeh the Atlantic Coast and the Ohio Valley on horseback. Mr. Wills was also a circuit rider in the legal field. He was living in Ross County in 1798 ; was clerk of the Territorial Court in Adams County ; was admitted to the bar in 1804, and the same year appointed prosecuting attorney for the circuit. Later he held the same position in Ross County, and seems to have moved around to the new counties as they were organized. He moved from Franklin to Brown County when the latter was formed in 1817, and died at Georgetown in 1829. NATHAN CLOUGH, PIONEER RESIDENT ATTORNEY Nathan K. Clough was the first lawyer to make Portsmouth and Scioto County his home. He was a New Hampshire man, admitted to the bar in New England, and was a graduate f Dartmouth College. In 1810, then thirty-two years of age, he located at Portsmouth, and . served as prosecuting attorney from 1814 to 1821. In March, 1815, he was elected one of the first nine councilmen of Portsmouth, and held the office continuously until his resignation in 1823. He was also first recorder of the town from 1815 to 1820; held other minor positions ; was one f the commissioners to organize the Portsmouth and Columbus turnpike in 1831, and in 1833 moved to Piketon, where he continued to reside until his death in June, 1853. EZRA OSBORN, CHAMPION OFFICEHOLDER Ezra Osborn, a Vermonter, reached Portsmouth about the same time as Mr. Clough, but he does not seem to have made much of a stir as a lawyer. Although never highly regarded for his ability, he had a faculty to get into office and stay there. In 1813 he was elected a justice of , the peace for Wayne Township ; served in the Legislature from 1816 to 1819 ; as presiding judge f the Court of Common Pleas in 1819-20, when he was elected to that office by the Legislature, and held it until 1826 ; from that year until his death in 1840 he was justice 128 - HANGING .ROCK IRON REGION of the peace in Wayne Township ; deputy auditor of Scioto County, and president f the council in 1831 ; deputy treasurer. in 1837, and held other offices of even minor grade tob numerous to mention. HOW TRACY WAS DRAWN TO PORTSMOUTH In February, 1819, Samuel M. Tracy, a young New Yorker, an-nounced in the new Portsmouth Gazette that he had "succeeded to the business" of Judge Osborn, who had been appointed to head the Court of Common Pleas, and would be happy to attend to anything legal entrusted to him. Mr. Tracy was all but started for Lafayette, Indiana, when he bethought him of William Daley's pretty daughter, whom he had met in her father's store, turned back his horse's head to Ports: mouth and determined to try that place as a professional location. He remained thirty-seven years, married the girl who back to Portsmouth, and attained a standing for legal ability an soundness of judgment not excelled by any other member of his prfession. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FROM 1821 TO 1849 Judge Collins greatly admired Mr. Tracy and declared that his young friend should be prosecuting attorney as long as he (Collins) sat on the bench; and he kept his word. From 1821 until 1833 (Collins retired in 1832) Tracy held the office by appointment from the Court of Common Pleas On 1833 it became elective for a term of two years, and he was returned to the position, by successive elections, until October, 1849. Tracy was a whig and in that year he was defeated for re-election by E. W. Jordan, a young democrat; and not only in 1849, but in 1851, by the same opponent. But Mr. Tracy had enjoyed his inning as prosecuting attorney for twenty-nine consecutive years, and, although universally credited with being the leader of the Scioto County bar, the politicians evidently' considered that that official plum should be more equally divided. During this period of his legal and official popularity Mr. Tracy had been honored in many other ways than by a continuous presentation of the prosecuting attorneyship. From 1823 to 1834 he was a - town councilman; trustee f Wayne' Township in 1827-28 ; corporation counsel, 1839-40; school visitor, 1837-53; identified with the Commercial Bank in 1839-43 and commissioner in bankruptcy in 1842. Mr. Tracy died of consumption on Christmas day of 1856. In 1824 Clough and Osborn were partners, and on May 9, 1826, the latter announce in the Western Times that he had resumed practice and would attend to his partner's business when he (Clough) was absent in the circuit. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 129 EDWARD HAMILTON During the month following Judge Osborn's temporary resumption of practice Edward Hamilton published a professional card in the Times, announcing that he had located at Portsmouth for the practice f the law, e was a quiet, rather sensitive man, and, besides having sound legal talent, possessed excellent literary tastes, and for some years was identified with the journalism of the locality, he held many offices of a public nature and was major general of the Ohio militia during. the Mexican war. Of slender frame, elegant in his appearance and of dignified and self-possessed demeanor, despite his. quiet ways he was a man who commanded respect and confidence at first sight, and a growing affection upon continued acquaintance, An idea of his varied and versatile, as Well as solid, character, may be gained by a mere resume f the various positions. which he so well filled while a citizen of Portsmouth, from June, 1826, to October, 1849; in the latter year he left for the Pacific Coast and from rather vague reports which afterward reached his Portsmouth friends it is evident that he became a leading judicial figure in Oregon, As a matter f record General Hamilton served first as justice of the peace for Wayne Township ; was for a time editor of the Portsmouth Courier, founded the Scioto Tribune (name changed to the Portsmouth Tribune) and was the moving force in it for four years; represented Scioto County in the Legislature in 1833-34; was mayor from 1838 to 1842, after which he again edited the Tribune for four years, or until the outbreak of the Mexican war ; was appointed captain of the. company which he raised and afterward major general of the Ohio Militia, seeing hard service in active hostilities, and securing the lasting friendship of Gen. Zachary Taylor, who in 1849 appointed him secretary of the Territory of Oregon. In October of that year he left Portsmouth for the West, by way of New York and Cape Horn; and thereafter, as stated, his record is merged into the history of that far country, QUIETLY STRONG AND ALWAYS URBANE Many stories are told f General Hamilton, illustrative of his quiet -strength and urbanity, traits which never deserted him ; the one most often advanced relates to his conduct as justice f the peace when the young lawyer was yet an unknown quantity to rnost of the people of Portsmouth, and to the' bar in particular, Some of the smartest f the profession arranged to bring a sham lawsuit before him for jurisdiction. One of them solemnly sued William V. Peck, in drover, for the conversion of a penknife, and the suit was strongly contested. before the Squire, who presided with great dignity, Witnesses were carefully and earnestly examined and arguments made, with no signs f mirth from. the bench or either side to the suit, The value of the knife was Vol. I - 9 130 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION taxed at $1.50, and Peck was found guilty and adjudged to pay the value of the stolen article, with costs. The lawyers finally left the courtroom in high glee, thinking they had perpetrated a huge joke on the elegant, dignified, quiet justice of the peace. Soon afterward, however, ignoring the joke completely, Judge Hamilton issued execution and. Lawyer Peck had to pay not only the $1.50 for the knife but a neat bill of costs. The incident taught the bar something about the strong character of Squire Hamilton, and their respect for him increased with the years f his residence among them. WHAT PECK TAUGHT THE COUNTY William V. Peck was an able lawyer who was a contemporary of General Hamilton, his practice extending over the period from 1828 to 1847. It is said that Peck "taught the public that there were other lawyers in Portsmouth of equal ability to Sam Tracy." When the commissioners sued David Gharky, ex-auditor, for overcharges, they employed Sam Tracy and thought the case won. Gharky, the shrewd old German,. employed Peck, who lost in. the lower court but won in the Spreme Court and cleared his client. Then the county officers for the first time appreciated the fact that there were other lawyers than Sam Tracy. Judge Peck was a leader at the bar and also served for nearly twenty years on the bench f the Court f Common Pleas, or that of the State Supreme Court. JORDAN, WHO SUPPLANTED HIS TEACHER Edward Jordan was another lawyer who stood with Tracy, Hamilton, Peck, and other. real leaders both at the bar and in public life. He came to Portsmouth in 1844, and at once became a great favorite. He was handsome, with black hair and black eyes; dressed neatly and tastefully; was sociable and temperate and a fine athlete and sportsman. He studied law with. Mr. Tracy after coming to Portsmouth, where. he formed the friendship of another law student, Ralph Leete, who was a pupil of Judge Peck. While mastering the law, he taught school. It is said that he and Leete spent many Sunday afternoons at Jordan's office, reading and criticizing one another. When Jordan was admitted to the bar in 1846 he formed a partnership with General Hamilton, and dabbled, for a time, in editorial work. In 1849 he defeated his old friend and. legal teacher, Tracy, for the office of prosecuting attorney, as much to his own .surprise as to that of the general public; but he did so well that at the 1851 election he went into office Over the Same. competitor with a handsome majority. He was also city clerk previous to his removal to Lawrence County in 1854. In 1856 he became a member of the republican party, on account of his anti-slavery belief, and was an intimate friend of Salmon P. Chase. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 131 SUPREME CONTROL OF TEMPER Mr. Jordan was prosecuting attorney of Lawrence County from 1856 to 1858, took an active part in the first Lincoln campaign and served as solicitor of the treasury at Washington from. 1861 to 1869. From that year until his death in 1899 he was either a citizen f New York or New Jersey, being for years an active practitioner at the eastern bar. He was . patient, deliberate, courteous and strong, with prompt, deep and broad judgment in both legal and business matters. Ralph Leete, his old friend, who afterward moved to Ironton and became one of its leading citizens, was wont to say that "Jordan could control his temper better than any man he ever saw." JAMES M. ASHLEY Although James M. Ashley commenced his manhood career as a resident f Portsmouth, he did not become a national figure until after he had moved to Toledo, which occurred in 1851 when he was in, his thirtieth year. He had passed rather an. uneasy and wandering sort of life ; for, although the parental home was at Portsmouth, where it had been fixed when Ashley was but four years f age, he had left the family when he was fourteen, without much education, and engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi. In the course of his wanderings. he met General Jackson, his boyish hero, as well as Presidents Harrison, Van Buren and Tyler, and John C. Calhoun. During his river experiences he had seen much which horrified him with the system of slavery. Returning to Portsmouth while still in his early '20s, Ashley studied medicine for awhile and then ventured into journalism, as editor and part proprietor f the Democratic Inquirer. As neither he nor his partner had a cent with which to support the enterprise, their enthusiasm availed them naught, and after two issues the paper went under. Young Ashley then began the study f law with Charles O. Tracy, a younger brother of Samuel, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He was a candidate for mayor in 1851, but was defeated. WHY HE LEFT PORTSMOUTH "While in Portsmouth," says a local chronicler, "he became connected with the Underground Railway, and at great risk to himself assisted a number of runaway slaves in their flight to Canada. In those days it was, of course, very necessary to be secretive about this; otherwise, with the state of sentiment that then prevailed along the Ohio valley, he would have been sent to the penitentiary. At one time he met a Quaker on the street who said to him James I think thee needs 132 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION this,’ at the same time handing him $20. Knowing that the Quaker was of anti-slavery sentiments, he came to the conclusion that the money was given him to aid in the operation f the Underground Railway, and thinking that if the Quaker knew of his activity in that direction many others must, decided to leave Portsmouth. In 1851 he therefore moved to Toledo, where he engaged in the wholesale drug business and entered actively into politics. His subsequent election to Congress, in which he held his seat for a decade, his friendship with Lincoln and Chase, his able efforts to curb slavery in the territories, his splendid champion-ship of the Thirteenth amendment, his career as governor of Montana, his abandonment of public life in 1870 and his unfortunate railroad experiences which burdened the later year's f his life are interwoven in the affairs f the nation after he had long departed from Portsmouth, and were fragments of a character which was inspiring and honorable, while falling short of what might have been had he possessed more patience, perseverance and mental training." THE BAR OF TODAY In the foregoing sketches an attempt has been made to draw the personalities f the leading members f the bar who established its reputation both at home and abroad and have passed on to a higher judgment seat than that before which they appeared in Scioto County. The living members of the bar have maintained the best traditions f their deceased professional brothers, and number about fifty at Portsmouth and other less important points ; for sketches of them the reader is referred to other pages. The lawyers of Scioto County never effected a permanent organization, and did not maintain a library until 1901, since which year the members f the profession in Portsmouth have established a well-selected collection, with a permanent office and reading and reference rooms. EARLY HEALERS OF BODY AND SOUL Scioto County followed the general course of primitive American settlement: The physicians of the soul and the body commenced their ministrations together ; the Indian Medicine Man attempted to perform the duties of each through himself alone, and the Catholic priest and missionary often healed the physical diseases of those thrown in his way, as well as attended to the prescribed offices of the church. DOCTOR DUFLIGNE AS A REAL ESTATE OWNER The early physicians who assumed to minister to the body only were the first representatives of the secular professions to appear in HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 133 the county. The pioneer f his class was probably the eccentric and parsimonious Dr. Claudius Dufligne, who, for about ten years practiced his profession, raised chickens and bees, and did other things as a resident of the French Grant before he located at Portsmouth in 1811. He was there for some years before his death in 1817 and, notwithstanding his "closeness" and all around "queerness," obtained a wide reputation for learning and professional skill. It is said that he had a larger medical library and more surgical instruments than any other physician in town. While a resident of Portsmouth he became the owner of thiteen acres of land on Gallia and Seventh. streets, which, within recent years, has been covered by several large factories. In April, 1811, he purchased the tract of Henry Massie, for $140 and in the following year sold it to John Young at a profit of $100. In March, 1816, about a year before his death he disposed of his lot in the French Grant to Reuben Lamb, at that time a resident of Portsmouth.. DR. THOMAS WALLER, PERHAPS FIRST Dr. Thomas Waller, it is claimed by some, located at Alexandria before Doctor Dufligne settled in the French Grant. He was of a fine Virginia family and had been educated. both at William and Mary College, in his native state, and at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, under the great Doctor Rush. The doctor married a Kentucky lady in 1800, and when he reached Alexandria in June, 1801, had his wife and baby with him. PORTSMOUTH 'S FIRST CITIZEN From 1803 to 1809 Doctor Waller served as justice of the peace f Union Township, and not long afterward moved to Portsmouth where, until his death. in 1823, he was generally conceded to be her first citizen. He was the first president f the town council, when it was organized in 1815, and remained as such continuously until 1822, when he declined further service. Doctor Waller was also the first town surveyor ; the second postmaster (appointed in 1812), thus serving until his death; a Member of the Legislature which met after Scioto County was organized, being one f the three representatives for the district comprising Adams and Scioto; county commissioner from 1810 to 1813; and a, member of the town school board in 1818. While holding all these positions f trust he maintained an extensive practice and raised a large family of sons and daughters. Nelson W. Evans, in his "History of Scioto County," has this just estimate f Doctor Waller's character: "Dr. Waller was undoubtedly the most useful man in Portsmouth. Aside from his services as a physi- 134 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION an, his advice was sought on all sides as a neighbor, friend and good business man, To be the family physician in the early days was a great honor. He not only cured all the family of tfir physical ills, but was their father confessor, guide, counsellor and friend. The years 1822 and 1823 were sickly ones in Portsmouth. The Doctor did not spare himself in the services his patients, and when the prevailing disease (autumnal) seized he did not have the strength to resist it. He died June 19, 1823, in his forty-ninth year. His death was a shock to the community from which it recovered only after years. It is: said that he had more friends fewer enemies than any man in the county." DR. GILES S. B. HEMPSTEAD Doctor Waller's successor in professional preminence, learning and public favor, was Dr. Giles R. B. Hempstead a boy of eight years he accompanied the families of hf father and uncle from New London, Connecticut, Marietta, Ohio, where he was educated. In 1813 he graduated from the Ohio University, and soon after began the study of medicine with Dr. John B. Reignier, a distinguished French physician of :Marietta. He permanently located at Portsmouth in 1816 and for the succeeding seven years, although still a young man, shared with Doctor Waller the bulk of the public and private practice of the community, which was so Much increased during that period by unusually severe epidemics of fever and ague, as well as a threatened scourge of smallpox. In 1825, after Doctor Waller's death—having received the medical and literary degrees—Doctor Hempstead commenced service of two terms in the town council, being one of the committee which revised the town ordinances. He. end other town offices and, under the municipal government, was supervisor of the East Ward, health officer, school examiner, and president of the board of education at the organization of the body in 1874. FOUNDERS OF ACADEMY OF MEDICINE In 1858, after Doctor Hempstead had reached eminence as a practioner and earned a generous competency, he. retired from practice arid moved to Hanging Rock in order to devote himself to his historical, archaeological and scientific studies. He published much along these lines, and in 1879 the Ohio University. conferred upon the degree of L. L. In 1880 he was admitted to membership to the American,, Association for the Advancement of Science, and until his death an advanced age, in 1883; was generally held to be the most learned man in tile county. Since 1872 he had been a resident of Portsmouth. After his retirement from practice he had presented his medical library HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 135 to the Scioto County Medical Society, which, in. his honor, changed its name to the Hempstead Memorial Academy of Medicine. MEDICAL SOCIETIES The first organization which attained any permanence to be formed by the physicians of Scioto County was that of 1857. In that year fifteen. physicians formed the Scioto County Medical Society with Dr. A. B. Jones as president and Dr. M. S. Pixley as secretary. That organization lived for four years, and in. 1865 another was formed under the same name, of which Dr. A. B. Jones was president and Dr. M. S. Pixley secretary. The Hempstead Memorial Academy of Medicine absorbed most of the members of the old Scioto County Medical Society, at its organization in May, 1882. Its officers, elected at that time, were as follows : Dr. T. F. Davidson, president; Dr. T. G. Vaughters, vice president; Dr. A. B. Robinson, secretary ; Dr. P. J. Kline, treasurer. Immediately after the organization, Doctor Hempstead, then in the . eighty-ninth year f his age, in a neat speech presented to the academy his medical library of 1,000 volumes. The gift was made upon condition that the association become incorporated under the laws f Ohio ; that the purpose f the incorporation should be the advancement of the science f medicine and surgery ; that the library should be kept intact and added to as the members should find means, and that as soon as possible a substantial academy building should be erected. for the dissemination of professional knowledge. As far as possible, these conditions have been complied with. JOSEPH CORSON, M. D. Dr. Joseph Corson, a, Quaker, came to Portsmouth permanently in 1846 and was for a time associated with Doctor empstead. With the exception of a short time spent in hospital service during the Civil war he practiced his profession continuously at Portsmouth from his coming to that place until his death in 1866. DR . WILLIAM J. MCDOWELL Dr. William J. McDowell, a native of Portsmouth and a descendant on the maternal side f the great Jefferson, began practice there in the spring of 1845. Although. he never sought office he was county jail physician for several years. He never married ; it is said he was "wedded to his profession." He lived in his native community during the fifty-seven years of his life ; and no physician was more honored or beloved. 136 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION DR. CYRUS M. FINCH, CELEBRATED SURGEON Dr. Cyrus M. Finch made his reputation as a surgeon during the Civil war, and came to Portsmouth at the close of the Rebellion, where he practiced for over thirty years. As division surgeon of Kilpatrick's famous cavalry in Sherman's march to the sea, he won wide renown. While a resident f Portsmouth he became one of the founders of Bailey's Post and served both. as trustee f the State Deaf and Dumb, Asylum and superintendent of the Columbus Insane Asylum. He was probably the most skillful surgeon who ever practiced in Scioto County and, as a physician, was an acknowledged leader in Southern Ohio. He made a special study of mental and nervous diseases and his diagnosis of such maladies, whether preceding practice or literary expression, was highly valued: He died at Portsmouth in 1891. DR. DAVID B. COTTON Dr. David B. Cotton, of the historic Cotton Mather family, graduated from both Marietta College and Jefferson Medical College before he settled at Portsmouth in 1857. At first he was associated with. Doctor empstead, as were not a few other able young 'physicians. His active and successful practice extended over a period of some forty years, during which he was at the head of his profession. DR. JAMES P. BING Dr. James P. Bing, a native of Gallia County, practiced medicine in Ironton for eight years, in Pomeroy, Ohio, -ten years and in Portsmouth for thirty-one years. He was also an. army surgeon during the War of the Rebellion. Doctor Bing was a resident of Portsmouth from 1867 until his death in 1900. He was elected president of the Ohio Medical Society in 1874; was jail physician for thirteen years and a member f the hospital board for nearly a decade. OTHER EARLY PHYSICIANS Most f the leading physicians of the county, who located in early times resided in Portsmonth. Among these was Dr. Nathaniel Andrews, who located in 1823 and remained until his death in 1841. Dr. Robert Rogers came. in 1832 and was associated with Doctor Hempstead for two years. The first homeopathic physician, Dr. O. St. Clair Hussey, commenced practice in 1851. Dr. Milton S., Pixley settled in Portsmouth during 1867, Dr. Peter J. Kline in 1874, and Dr. Stephen S. Halderman in 1876. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 137 FEMALE PRACTITIONERS In 1879 the pioneer female practitioner appeared in the person of Dr. (Miss) Clara E. Aldrich, of Boston, Massachusetts, a homeopath. She was highly educated and well received, but the climate developed a pulmonary complaint which resulted in her death two years later. Dr. Mary H. Cotton, second daughter of Dr. D. B. Cotton, practiced at Portsmouth from 1894 to 1899, when she moved to New York City. CHAPTER III THE COUNTY IN FOUR WARS TWO SCIOTO COMPANIES OF 1812-2-CAPTAIN ROOP 'S COMPANY-BRIG.-GEN. ROBERT LUCAS-GEN. WILLIAM KENDALL-THE MEXICAN WAR--A WASTE OF FINE MATERIAL-GEN. EDWARD HAMILTON, THE CENTRAL FIGURE-THE CIVIL WAR, NOT A SURPRISE-THE KINNEY LIGHT GUARDS-THE PORTSMOUTH RIFLES-FIRST SCIOTO SOLDIERS TO FALL --CAPTAIN MCDOWELL'S COMPANY-TROOPS RAISED IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS– COMPANIES UNDER W. W. RILEY AND S. A. CURRIE -DEATH OF THE GALLANT CAPTAIN BAILEY-MILITARY STRENGTH IN 1862--PROPOSED NATIONAL ARMORY-VOLUNTEERS, 2,520, BY JANUARY 1, 1864—AID AT HOME- FIFTY-SIXTH, BROADLY REPRESENTATIVE-GEN. PETER KINNEY-GEN. WILMA M H. RAYNOR-OTHER OFFICERS OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH -CAPT. JOHN COOK- THE ORGANIZATION-THE THIRTY-THIRD INFANTRY-GEN. T. W. SILL- LIEUT.-COL. O. F. MOORE—MAJ. J. V. ROBINSON-THE NINETY-FIRST REGIMENT-COL. J. A. TURLEY-THE FIFTY-THIRD REGIMENT-GEN. WELLS S. JONES-THE THIRTEENTH MISSOURI BECOMES THE TWENTY-SECOND OHIO-- THE GROSBECK REGIMENT-THE SECOND KENTUCKY INFANTRY-EIFORT, OF THE SECOND KENTUCKY CAVALRY-SCIOTO COUNTY CAPTAINS-BATTERY L—THE HEAVY ARTILLERY-COMPANY OF SHARP-SHOOTERS--THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR-VICTIMS OF THE WAR. Scioto County has promptly responded to the call of four wars and her sons have never been charged with anything approaching cowardice. As far as the "expert use of firearms is concerned her citizens were better prepared to meet the enemy in the War of 1812 than in any other con-flict in which they participated. The War of the Revolution was only about thirty years old, and although its rank, and file was too old to figure to any great extent in the War of 1812 the military spirit aroused by the first clash with England was still strong. The young men who had come into the life of the West since the Revolutionary period had been trained to the use of firearms and all the bold science of backwoodmanship, both in the pursuit of game and in defense of their property and families against Indian raids. The Revolution had not been for-gotten, some of its leaders were still living and not unwilling to try - 138 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 139 conclusions again with the Mother Country ; many sons of Revolutionary soldiers were active in the conflict 'of 1812; the country also knew that there could be no better material for soldiers than that, Offered by the m.anhood f the western pioneer. TWO SCIOTO COMPANIES OF 1812 The result was that in the spring of 1812 when Governor Meigs issued a call for volunteers th turn out in defense of the frontiers against the Indians, but, as was generally understood, to be directed. against Great Britain, the response was prompt and universal. Scioto County sent out two companies, one commanded by Capt. David Roop and the other by Capt. John Lucas. First they went to Chillicothe, where they received their arms and equipments; thence to Dayton, where they met the volunteers from Cincinnati and the Miami Valley, all being organized as the First Ohio Regiment under command of Col. Duncan McArthur. At Urbana the: militia joined a detachment f United States Regulars under Colonel Miller and were incorporated into Hull's army which then set out for Detroit. During the march Congress declared war against England, and the dispatches sent to Hull conveying that information fell into the hands of the British instead of the Americans. Everybody knows the result, and the Scioto County soldiers were surrendered to Great Britain with the other indignant boys. Colonels Cass and McArthur were away from the fort at the time f the surrender, or it is believed it never would have occurred. CAPTAIN ROOP'S COMPANY After the capitulation, the American soldiers gave their parole, were placed aboard transports and landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where they were left to get home as best they could. There were forty-seven in Captain Roop's company, among whom were seven members of the Noel family into which the captain afterward married! This same David Roop, although slovenly in his dress, fond of whiskey and not strong for discipline among his privates, was a man of marked bravery and very popular., He was court-martialed several times during the Detroit campaign for various breaches of good conduct and discipline, but the members of his company persisted in reelecting him and the authorities f the regular army had to succumb. Both Captains Roop and Lucas returned to their homes after Hull's surrender, the former marrying a daughter of Peter Noel on Pond Creek, about five miles. west of 'Portsmouth; and John Lucas. to the vicinity f the present Town of Lucasville, which he laid out in 1819. For years his tavern there was considered democratic headquarters tor Scioto County. 140 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION BRIG.-GEN. ROBERT LUCAS Robert Lucas, brother Of the captain, who was afterward governor of Ohio, also promptly responded to the call for troops, from Scioto County; but on account of his ability and prominence did not join either of the companies. It is said he expected to receive an appointment in the regular army or on the staff of Governor Meigs. But he obtained neither. However, he went with the army under General Hull and performed such duties as were assigned to him. He was with the army lin Canada when it made a, demonstration. against Malden and likewise in the battle of Brownstown. He was surrendered at Detroit on the 17th of August, 1812, and gave his parole not to take up arms again until exchanged. In 1813, under those terms, he went out as brigadier general. His brigade marched to Sandusky, but was too late to be of any service, as the British and Indians had been driven away. The campaign lasted forty-four days, When every man returned home and resumed his every-day affairs. GEN. WILLIAM KENDALL A troop of horse from Scioto County in General Lucas' brigade was commanded by William Kendall, a brother-in-law, who became one of the most prominent men in Scioto County and Southern Ohio. They had married daughters of Capt. John Brown, the hotel keeper, and Lucas himself, as justice of the peace, had performed the ceremony which made his fellow townsman a happy benedict. However they might agree as friends and brothers-in-law, in politics they were bitter enemies. General. Lucas was a democrat and General Kendall (by grace of the State Legislature, major general of militia) was the stanchest kind of a whig. Kendall was on the site of Portsmouth when it was laid out, opened the first dry goods store in the place, and had also been a deputy county surveyor and associate judge before the war called him to the front as captain f the Scioto County Horse. For years 'after the war he shared with General Lucas numerous legislative honors, being elected to the lower house in 1821, 1825 and 1837 and to the state senate in 1822, 1828, 1834 and 1847. His contest with General- Lucas for a seat in the senate in 1828 was one of the most spirited in the his-tory of state politics. It was the year f the terrific Adams-Jackson contest for the presidency and General Kendall was not only a candidate for the upper house of the Legislature, but for a-Place on the. whig electoral ticket. He landed both honors, to the great chagrin f Lucas, who had enjoyed an almost uninterrupted monopoly of the state senatorship; representing Scioto County for a period of fourteen years. While a member of the Legislature, Mr. Kendall was created a major general of militia, by joint resolution. In public life of a more local character, General Kendall's honors were too numerous to mention in detail. e was county treasurer and HANGING- ROCK IRON REGION - 141 auditor, served in the Town Council of Portsmouth from the time of incorporation in 1815 until 1824, was town surveyor continuously from 1820 to 1838, and again in 1849 just before his death ; built the court-house in 1835-37 ; served as township treasurer and justice of the peace ; was postmaster and bank director, proprietor of a sawmill and gristmill on Brush Creek and a builder of steamboats. Besides he was the good father f fifteen children ; so that the enthusiastic remark f one f his friends is not beyond reason ; it is thus worded : "Nothing went on, in or about Portsmouth, unless General Kendall had something to do with it." THE MEXICAN WAR By the time Scioto County was called upon to meet the calls of the Mexican war, General Lucas had transferred his civil allegiance to the Territory of Iowa, of which he had been appointed governor, and General Kendall was nearing the. end of his earthly activities. Another generation—some of them the grandsons of the Revolutionary soldiery—came to the front. Edward Hamilton, the popular young whig lawyer, raised Company D, First Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It was mustered into the service September 21, 1846, for one year, its members being mostly recruited from the furnace men. Hamilton was captain ; John K. Kidd, first lieutenant. The company was in two battles—Monterey, September 21, 1846, and Ceralvo, Mexico, March 7, 1847. The casualties of Captain Hamilton's command include the deaths of Timothy Boyle, James Davids, John W. Hewlett, William H. H. Kanley, John Estes, Alexander McHenry, William E. Stephens, Robert Walters and Hiram Wilson. A WASTE OF FINE MATERIAL After the battle of Monterey the Portsmouth Guards were organized, with Col. Peter Kinney, captain, and John Cook, first lieutenant. The eighty men were drilled by Capt. John Scott, a West Point graduate, but never called to war, although thus attired : Dark blue swallow tail coats faced with white, with stars on the tails and face ; dark blue trousers, with white stripes down the seams; white waiat and shoulder belts ; bell crowned caps, with metal plates in front and white cord behind, looped under the chin, and with a drooping white plume. GEN. EDWARD HAMILTON, THE CENTRAL FIGURE Gen. Edward Hamilton, for he was general of the state militia, was the central figure in Portsmouth and Scioto County during the Mexican 142 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION war. In July, 1846, he resigned as a member of the town council and prepared to go to the front with his company. The town presented his command with a flag, which was carried several times into action and at the conclusion f the. war returned to the- common council. As stated, his acquaintance with Gen. Zachary Taylor made in the Mexican war, led to his appointment as secretary of the Territory f. Oregon, after the former commander f the American forces had been elevated to the presidency. During the Mexican war the total population f the county was about fifteen thousand, the males of military age being computed at 1,200. THE CIVIL WAR, NOT A SURPRISE About fourteen years of peace had passed before there was an actual clash at arms between North and South, slavery and anti-slavery partisans, and the sectional interests held to be in radical opposition. But for several years before the war, especially between the border states, there had been outbreaks which heralded the greater storm, and the halls of Congress and the legislative chambers. Of the various commonwealths had continuously resounded with bitter words and acrimonious charges from politicians and statesmen alike. The Civil war was not a surprise, although, like all violent outbursts, it was a shock, which instantly spread through the body politic to every home in the land. THE KINNEY LIGHT GUARDS Four days after the attack oh Fort Sumter, Capt. G. B. Bailey, of the Kinney Light Guards, who had been at West Point, had recruited a company of seventy-five men at Portsmouth. He was elected captain; William H. Raynor, first lieutenant; Alfred Kinney, second lieutenant ; George O. Newman, first sergeant. Before the command left for Colum-bus, on the morning f the 18th, the Kinney Light Guards, of Company G, Ohio Volunteer Militia, had mustered. 111 men, and at 3 o'clock on the following morning it was en route for Washington. THE PORTSMOUTH RIFLES On April 29, 1861, the Portsmouth Rifles organized by electing Edward N. Hope, captain; L. Chapman, first lieutenant, and Joseph G: Reed, second lieutenant. The organization was effected for home defense and the maintenance of order. At the little Town f Haverhill a company f Home Guards was also formed and united with the citizens of Greenupsburg on the Kentucky side for mutual protection. During the first week in May the third company of volunteers from HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 143 Scioto County was organized under Capt. John A. Turley, and started for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join Company G, f Captain Bailey's command. Captain Turley's company was assigned to the Twenty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Militia, and, with a company which had been raised by Judge J. J. Appler, formed. a camp on the Scioto County Fair Grounds. After being drilled, on May 22d the two companies were ordered to Columbus to be incorporated into their regiment, the Twenty-second. With these two Companies, the county had already contributed 300 men to the Union cause. Captain Turley was elected lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-second Regiment and George Wilhelm became captain of Company G. On May 25, 1861, the Sciotoville Guards, organized shortly before, were presented with a flag. FIRST SCIOTO SOLDIERS TO FALL In the meantime' Captain Bailey's Company G had been mustered into the United States service at Lancaster as a part of the first Ohio Volunteer Infantry (three months' service) and on its arrival at Washington had been assigned to Schenck's Brigade. On June 17th it was engaged in the battle of Vienna, a few miles from Falls Church, Virginia, with a loss of six killed and three wounded. As these were tile first casualties suffered by Scioto County in the Civil war the engagement is worthy of somewhat extended note. Gen. Robert C. Schenck, the brigade commander, had been ordered on a reconnoitering expedition, and had taken with him four companies, one of which was C.aptain Bailey's, proceeding from Falls Church to Vienna by cars. He was there ambuscaded by a battery of three pieces, which resulted in a loss of six killed, eight missing and three wounded. The killed, all members of Company G, were John R. T. Barnes, Eugene Burks, D. Sullivan, Phillip Stroad, John Volmar and Joseph C. Smith. One of the participants afterward wrote an account of the fight, as follows : "As We approached Vienna, the cars gradually slackened, and we were turning a short curve and had commenced descending a steep grade when the battery opened upon us, the first three discharge's striking our ears, completely clearing them of our boys, killing six and wounding three ; many others received bruises, but none of them serious injuries after the third fire. " The scene on and around the car on which we were, presented a shocking appearance, as the men. were horribly mutilated, all having been struck by bomb or round shot at the commencement. The firing was very rapid, but, as we deployed to the right and left, they changed the direction f the fire and consequently with little success, their fire going over our heads. They fired twenty rounds of grape, canister, roundshot and shell. The first shell exploded on our car and scattered our boys like chaff. They opened on us at a distance of three hundred yards, which made their fire more destructive than it would have been 144 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION at longer range. The first two cars escaped without .injury, from the fact of their being on the descent and turning a curve. " Our officers were cool and performedmany acts of daring, rallying our men and deploying them as skirmishers on either side of the road. The most of our boys also took the thing very coolly,. dodging the cannon halls and shells with astonishing agility, a feat that I had -formerly spposed rather, difficult to perform; but. from experience I am led to think they can be dodged successfully. “The enemy's force consisted f 800 South Carolina, rebels, a body f infantry and 50 cavalry, making altogether 2,000 troops, with four field pieces, only two Of which were used against us, the others being in the rear. "Our troops did not get an opportunity to fire many shots and were out of musket range; consequently did but little execution. The citizens living in the vicinity of the engagement informed Corporal Pren-dergast and Conroy, who went p yesterday to bring away one of our wounded, that there were at least six killed of the enemy, which is very probable." CAPTAIN MCDOWELL'S COMPANY At the time of the Vienna engagement, another company had been raised in the county, under Capt. Henry T. McDowell, making the fifth organization and fully 500 men to be sent to the front within three months from the firing on Sumter. Captain McDowell's company numbered ninety-four men, all but fourteen being from Scioto County. John Musser was first lieutenant. The command joined the Groesbeck Regiment, so called, at Cincinnati. Captain Appler's company had become a part f the Twenty-sixth Regiment of three-year men, and on July 12, 1861, left for the front. TROOPS RAISED IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS At the time named, Scioto County had raised three companies of three-months' men—Captain. Bailey's, f the First Ohio, then in East Virginia, numbering 100 men, and the companies of Captains George, Wilhelm and Appler (J. J.), Twenty-second Ohio, serving in Western Virginia, and numbering about one hundred and eighty. The three-years' men, making p the companies of Captains Lum Appler and H. T. McDowell, with about twenty in the Kentucky Second, numbered 210. About a, score more joined the long-term soldiers, bringing the quota f Scioto County for the first three months f the war above five hundred. At Bull Run, Company G, f the First Ohio, lost no men in killed, but Lieutenant Raynor was captured by Confederate cavalry and HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 145 taken to Richmond as a prisoner of war, whence he escaped and arrived at Washington, September 14, 1861. COMPANIES UNDER W. W. RILEY AND S. A. CURRIE In the early part of August Capt. W. W. Riley .and Capt. S. A. Currie raised companies for active service and they were incorporated with the new Thirty-third Ohio under the following officers : Colonel, Joshua W. Sill, of Chillicothe ; lieutenant colonel, Oscar F. Moore, and major, J. V. Robinson, Jr., both of Portsmouth. The Twenty-second Regiment was reorganized for the three years' service about this time, and J. A. Turley, who had been lieutenant colonel f the old organization, was elected to the same position in the new. As a whole, the three years' volunteers from Scioto County were assigned to the following regiments: Captain McDowell's company, Thirty-ninth ; Capt. L. W. Appler's, Twenty-sixth ; Captain Riley's and Captain Webb's, Thirtieth ; Captain Culbertson's, Twenty-seventh ; Captain Currie's, Thirty-third. DEATH OF THE GALLANT CAPTAIN BAILEY Soon after Captain Bailey's three-months' company returned to Portsmouth, its gallant commander was appointed major f the Ninth Virginia Infantry, which was to be recruited at Guyandotte, Virginia. He was called to that point to assume the active work f recruiting and organizing the regiment. While thus engaged he was appointed lieuten-ant colonel. On November 10, 1861, Colonel Bailey had 300 men of his regiment it Guyandotte, and on the night of that day was attacked by 1,200 Confederate cavalry. While defending the bridge over the Guyandotte River, it is supposed that he was shot ; at least, the next morning his body was found in the water under it. His remains were taken to Aberdeen, his early home, where he had first practiced medicine. Doctor and Colonel Bailey was greatly beloved and admired, and it is fitting that his name should have been given to the G. A. R. post which was organized in Portsmouth twenty years after his death. MILITARY STRENGTH IN 1862 The earlier recruiting was done at Camp Morrow, Portsmouth, but in January, 1862, on account of the low site f that locality the head-quarters was changed to Renshaw Place, a short distance beyond the. northern city limits. In September, 1862, the strength of the enrolled militia in the county and f the volunteers in service was published as 146 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION condensed from the adjutant general's reports, the divisions being by townships outside of Portsmouth :