550 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO There are many artists in this section of commendable worth whose work is not mentioned from lack of space. Other literary celebrities of West Central Ohio include the following: Brand Whitlock, born in Urbana, March 4, 1869; mayor of Toledo, 1905-1911; minister to Belgium, 1913; ambassador to Belgium, October 1, 1919-22. Whitlock was recipient of a long list of literary and public honors. He achieved distinction as a historian, translator, essayist and is author of short stories and verse. He married Ella Brainerd, of Springfield, Illinois. Henrick Van Loon, historian, author of History of Mankind and Story of Bible, etc., resided for several years in Yellow Springs, Greene County, where he organized the history department at Antioch College. Born January 14, 1882, Rotterdam, Holland. Lecturer, newspaper correspondent, World War; associate editor of Baltimore Sun. David Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) owner of Bellefontaine Republican; leading political satirist of his time; caricaturist of Copperheads, favorite of Lincoln who read Locke's stories to his cabinet. Born September 20, 1833, Vestal, New York; died, Toledo, February 15, 1888. Entered newspaper work at ten years of age; itinerant printer at 17; conducted Plymouth Advertiser; began Nasby articles in Findlay, March 21, 1861; editor of Toledo Blade, 1865 ; managing editor of New York Evening Mail, 1871. Raymond Hubbell, nationally known composer, was born at Urbana, June 1, 1879. He began his work as composer in 1898 and achieved hits in the "Runaways" and other musical comedies. Many of the musical scores for Ziegfeld's Follies were the work of Hubbell. He is a member of the Lamb's Club. William Riley Burnett, author of Little Caesar, Dark Hazards, and other book of the month novels, movie hits and winner of the 1930 0. Henry Award for short stories, was born in Springfield, November 25, 1899, grandson of William Burnett, three times mayor of the city. William Riley Burnett was educated HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 551 in Springfield and Dayton grammar schools, East High School of Columbus, and the Miami Military Institute. He married Margaret Bartow, of Columbus, 1920. He was connected with the Ohio Department of Industrial Relations for a period and went to Chicago in 1927. His first novel, Little Caesar appeared in 1929. He is said to have written five novels and 100 short stories before achieving success. His books are published in England. Fred Charters Kelly, born January 27, 1882, in Xenia, has achieved a national reputation as newspaper columnist. His "Statesmen, Real and Near," and "Kellygrams" made him famous while a Washington correspondent. He is the son of Robert A. and Alice Charters Kelly. Was educated at the University of Michigan, became newspaper correspondent at fourteen years of age, went to Cleveland Plain Dealer for ten years; had his matter syndicated in thirty leading papers, was special agent for Department of Justice, World War. Home, Hickory Hills, Peninsula, Ohio. Frederic Ridgely Torrence; born, Xenia; has achieved a position among American poets. He was educated at Miami University and Princeton, and among other productions is author of "House of a Hundred Lights," "El Dorado," "Abelard and Heloise," and much short verse. He is member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and editor of the New Republic. Albert Tangeman Volwiler, author of "George Groghan and the Westward Movement," "Life of Benjamin Harrison," etc., professor of history at Wittenberg College, 1923-33. Born, Cincinnati, August 25, 1888. No historian of Ohio or of the Northwest can ignore Volwiler's work on Croghan. It filled an existing gap in the record. This work and that of Consul Butterfield on the Girty's gathered material from afar, combined it into reliable readable form, rectified many errors and enabled successors to obtain a fuller, more complete and reliable picture of the growth of the state. Volwiler's work should rank as an outstanding and invaluable addition to the history of the West. 552 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Mary Stanberry Watts, author of "Nathan Burke," and other novels, born, Delaware County, November 4, 1868; educated at Convent of Sacred Heart, Cincinnati ; married Miles Taylor Watts of Cincinnati, 1891. Her novel, "Nathan Burke," covers the Refugee Lands of Columbus and Ohio in Mexican War times. Frank W. Gunsaulus, one of the most noted of American divines; lecturer and educator, born, Chesterville, Morrow County, January 1, 1856; died, March 17, 1921. Co-founder of Armour Institute, 1893; hymn and verse writer; ranked with Beecher and Phillips Brooks as preacher. Isaac K. Funk, born, September 10, 1839, at Clifton, Ohio on border line of Greene and Clark counties; died, April 4, 1912. Of Holland-Swiss ancestry; graduate of Wittenberg, 1860; ordained Lutheran minister, 1861; with A. W. Wagnalls founded Funk and Wagnalls, 1877; Literary Digest, 1890; Standard Dictionary, 1890-3 ; Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-6. Prominent in Society for Physical Research. Donn Piatt and Whitelaw Reid made valuable historical contributions aside from their political writings. Hamilton Busbey was an acknowledged authority on the horse. Gen. J. Warren Keifer's "Slavery and Four Years of War" was followed by articles in the 0. A. & H. Collections on "O.K." and other interesting Ohio happenings. Dr. B. F. Prince, of Wittenberg College, produced a "History of Clark County," "The Ad White Rescue Case," "Beginnings of Lutheranism in Ohio," and "Joseph Vance." A. L. Slager, curator of the Clark County Historical Society, wrote "Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Clark County," "A History of Miami Methodism," and left a sketch of Simon Kenton. Stanley B. Mathewson, member of the Ohio Unemployment Insurance Commission and at present in charge of the allocation of labor under the PWA and CWA for Ohio, has produced while resident in Springfield, two outstanding contributions to socio- HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 553 logical research : "Restriction of Output by Unorganized Labor," and "Personnel Management," both of which are used as texts in many leading colleges and universities. "William Cooper Howell's "Recollections of Life in Ohio" is based upon experiences in West Central Ohio. John Rogers Commons, of Darke County, with "Distribution of Wealth," "Trades Union and Other Problems," "Races and Immigrants in America," has achieved distinction in his field. Josiah Morrow, Lebanon, wrote lives of Tom Corwin and Governor Morrow. James Hervey Hyslop, born, Xenia, 1854, wrote much on psychical subjects, and served as editor of the proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research. James E. Murdock, of Warren County, celebrated actor and writer on Shakespearian subjects, is an accepted authority in his field. Edward Eyre Hunt, of Clark County, is author of "War Bread," a book recording experiences as aide to Herbert Hoover in Belgium. Thomas Chalmers Harbaugh, of Casstown, was a prolific writer in prose and verse. Paul Laurence Dunbar, a colored poet whose verse was enjoyed by thousands and 'still gives delight. Coates Kinney and William D. Gallagher, poets of Green County, were popular poets of their day and Kinney's "Rain on the Roof' is still read. Otway Curry, of Union County, with his songs in the Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too, campaign, swept the nation with all the vogue of Tin Pan Alley. John Brown Jewett, of Newtown, won praise and admiration with his "Tales of Miami Country." Julius Chambers, of Bellefontaine, won distinction as a lecturer, journalist and writer. Paul Kester, of Delaware, attained fame as a dramatist and produced "Tales of the Real Gipsy." 554 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Georgia MacPherson, of Springfield, is author of numerous folk tales written in exquisite style. Edna Miller Botkin, of Clark County, writes nature and character sketches, free verse of marked originality, force and power, coupled with a touch that reminds one of the Russian writers. George Rinkliff is author of a "History of Lutheranism in Clark County," and of novelettes and short stories. William H. Venable, of Warren County, in "Poets of Ohio" and his own verse made a contribution to the history and literature of the state. Lida Keck Wiggins of Springfield, has published a number of books of verse and other books. Enoch Berry Seitz, of Greenville, was an early self-taught mathematician whose contributions brought him the honor of being elected to the London Mathematical Society, the fifth American thus honored. Youel B. Mirza, of Dayton, in 1933, won the Junior Literary Guild Book of the Month award with his "Son of the Sword." Mirza is a Persian by birth. Giffin Myrl Hauck and Genevieve Morrison, of Springfield, have both contributed articles and short stories to publications of nation-wide distribution. Edward Hanford, of Springfield, has contributed many articles to standard magazines. W. Clayton Pryor, one time city editor of the Springfield Sun, is author of a book entitled "Trains." Kay Francis, the motion picture actress, was at one time a resident of Dayton. Clark and McCullough, noted comedians, are both Springfield born. Francis McMillan, violinist of repute, was trained in Springfield. CHAPTER LIV LOCAL EFFECT OF WARS IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO INDIAN TROUBLES AND WAR OF 1812-MEXICAN WAR-CIVIL WAR-SPANISH - AMERICAN WAR-WORLD WAR. West Central Ohio was an important battleground of the War of 1812. Gov. Return Jonathan Meigs was asked by the government to assemble 3,000 militia at Dayton to defend Detroit. One regiment was recruited in the Miami Valley by Col. James Findlay, one in the Scioto Valley by Col. Duncan McArthur, and the third in Eastern Ohio by Col. Lewis Cass. These came into Dayton in May but it was the middle of the month before blankets came up from Cincinnati. The "Trump of Fame," Warren, Ohio, in its June 24th issue, said : "There were no rifles, no knapsacks, no tents, no bullets, no molds; in fact, nothing but arms and cartridge boxes, many of which were good for nothing." Governor Meigs was at Dayton doing all he could under the circumstances, and had 1,500 men waiting for Gen. William Hull, who got to Cincinnati from Washington, April 22, and to Dayton the latter part of May, taking command from Meigs, May 25. The troops, according to the "Trump of Fame," were camped on the western bank of Mad River, three miles out at a spot called Camp Meigs. Here Hull hoisted the flag and the troops formed a hollow square around it to symbolize their determination not to surrender it save with their lives. What a mockery to these men in view of Hull's future actions ! Reinforcements came in, some from Chillicothe; Captain Mansfield was up from Cincinnati, May 20; Capt. William Van - 555 - 556 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Cleve was ordered with his riflemen to Greenville, which was reported threatened by the Prophet, a slight brush had taken place there a few days before in which men covering corn were attacked and one wounded; in the pursuit one Indian was killed and one wounded. Maj. Charles Wolverton reported at Troy, May 14, that he had taken seven Indian prisoners. Hull decided to rendezvous the marching reinforcements at Urbana and marched out about June 1. Much controversy has ensued as to Hull's march from Dayton to Urbana. Some hold that he marched north to Staunton and then east to Urbana. Others that he marched by way of Springfield. As there was no military reason why the whole army should march by any one road, no immediate foe to face which would require concentration, it is sensible to suppose the army went across in detachments over the most convenient roads, especially since it would be more convenient to use several roads. It is not impossible that later reinforcements coming in from various quarters were hailed as and remembered in that locality as Hull's army. Governor Meigs had gone to Urbana where, June 6, he, according to the Scioto Gazette of June 19, met in the woods near the town, the Wyandottes from Sandusky, and the Shawnees and Mingoes from the Auglaize. Hull arrived June 7, and Hull and Meigs sat with the chiefs again on June 8, whereat the Indians agreed to the opening of a road from Manoury's Blockhouse in Logan County to the foot of the Maumee Rapids. June 10th was a gala day for Urbana which was headquarters for the Army of the West. The Fourth United States Regulars came tramping in from Vincennes, Indiana. Another council, which was attended by Tecumseh and his brother, was held at Fort Wayne, May 15. From Urbana Hull started for Detroit, cutting a road much as Wayne had in 1794, the conditions being similar. Urbana was the outpost of civilization, Manoury's Blockhouse being the farthest north of settlement. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 557 The army went to Cherokee and thence due north to Solomon-town, and through the present Richland and Belle Center. It headed into Hardin County, passing Fort McArthur, on to Findlay and Bowling Green. The trace was about twenty feet wide and made equal to the transportation of twenty-five iron cannon and eight bronze field pieces. Following Hull's surrender, Governor Meigs called out the militia and Gen. Edward W. Tupper, of Gallia County, marched with 1,000 men up from Jackson, Gallia and Lawrence counties to the foot of the Maumee Rapids and thence fell back to Fort McArthur in Hardin County. Tupper's camp in Urbana was bordering on Laurel Oak street, on high north of the Dugan Ravine. During the siege of Fort Meigs, Gen. Duncan McArthur made Urbana his headquarters while raising the country to hasten to the aid of Fort Meigs. A motley gathering of volunteers joined by Simon Kenton, the future Governor Vance, and others, rushed along the Hull Trail for a four-day march when they met couriers saying the British had abandoned the siege. Urbana was a busy place. When Gov. Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, moved his 5,000 reinforcements up to Harrison prior to the Thames battle, these camped several days on the south side of Urbana before starting up Hull's Trail to Harrison. West Central Ohio saw several other military roads marked out during the War of 1812. First was the Franklinton expedition against the Indians on the Missisinewa River, a tributary of the upper Wabash. Orders to march from Franklinton (Columbus) were given November 25, 1812. About 600 mounted men marched through Xenia to Dayton where they were equipped. After a three-day march the expedition hit the Indian towns and in a night attack routed the Indians, burned the towns with a white loss of 12 killed and 30 wounded. William Henry Harrison was appointed commander of the Kentucky troops and marched by way of Cincinnati, Lebanon, Dayton, Piqua and Saint Mary's. Fort Piqua and Fort Amanda were built along this line of march. 558 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO General Clay of Kentucky marched his reinforcements to Harrison along this line in the spring of 1813 and succored Harrison at Fort Meigs. Governor Meigs had raised the militia of Ohio and had marched as far as Lower Sandusky when he met Harrison. This march of the militia had been through Delaware and Marion counties. Harrison's celebrated council at Franklinton, June 21, 1813, was attended by West Central Ohio Indians including Tarhe, Black Hoof, Wolf and Captain Lewis. The influence of these chiefs minimized Tecumseh's attempt to throw the Indians upon the Ohio frontier and had it been otherwise West Central Ohio might well have repeated the history of Kentucky in the Revolution. While Harrison was at the council he heard of a fresh threat to Fort Meigs and made a forced march along the Delaware, Marion Trail. On September 10, 1813. Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British fleet under Commodore Barclay, and inflicted one of the few defeats ever suffered by England in a fleet action. It was the last battle of the war in Ohio jurisdiction, cleared the way for the invasion of Canada and the re-conquest of Michigan. THE MEXICAN WAR The Mexican War touched West Central Ohio only by recruiting and the sight of occasional detachments marching through to take the train. Mainly it was Tom Corwin and the Whig newspapers that fought the war, so that it was a battle of tongues and vituperation rather than of armed conflict so far as this section was concerned. Although the war was unpopular and violently opposed by the Whigs who saw in it the creation of future Democratic states, and the anti-slavery element correctly surmised the extension of slavery as the underlying political cause, the entire state more HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 559 than did its duty and furnished about one-eighth of the total land forces of the United States. U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman and Don Carlos Buell received military training for the Civil War. The greatest loss sustained by the state was in the death of the brilliant Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, who had raised the first regiment in the state. He died at Monterey and General Taylor declared he had lost the balance wheel of his army. Hamer was one of the most promising Democrats in the state. Singularly enough he had named U. S. Grant to West Point while a congressman. General Quitman, from Delaware County, served in the Mexican War. CIVIL WAR The Civil War tore some communities wide open witih a violence of hate and offensiveness which has not yet wholly subsided, that will die only with the grand children of the participants. Expressions of opinions from Democrats often drew threats of "necktie parties," and parties might even appear bearing the rope. The writer has known old men around whose neck the rope had actually twined. These were in some instances excellent men, good citizens, patriotic pillars of the community, whose stubborn insistence on free speech had brought them troubles after the fashion of C. L. Vallandigham. Many of these "Copperheads" might have sons in the service. War bit its acid into the minds of that generation in a scar that burned out all else. Yet war actually touched West Central Ohio but once, and brushed it once again. The "Siege of Cincinnati," in the fall of 1862, sent the "Squirrel Hunters" pouring down every road to defend Cincinnati. This turned out to be rather a farcical military happening but demonstrated that the old "Minute Man" spirit of the Revolution still stirred strong under Ohio's peaceful existence. 560 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Morgan's Raid in July, 1863, was different. When a state is in a country torn by a terrible Civil War and is engaged in a volcanic campaign as to the support of that war or not, then to have suddenly shot into its midst the mad galloping of 2,000 wild riders is to have a nightmare become a horrible reality. July, 1863, was the month of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and the scarcely less potent threat of Vallandigham. It was the high tide of the Confederacy. Several considerations may have prompted Morgan's Raid. There was terrific pressure on Vicksburg. Northern governors were combing the land to get out men to relieve the troops in garrison so the latter could oppose Lee's conquering march into Pennsylvania. The Confederates may have overestimated the disaffection of the "Northern Copperheads" and fancied these latter would spring to arms and join them once a nucleus of military organization was present. If so it was a sad mistake. The Republicans and Democrats of Ohio might fight like a man and wife, but woe to the intruder; when it came to a showdown the Ohio Democrats did believe in state's rights—for Ohio Morgan's raid hit Warren, Clinton and Fayette counties and was like hitting a hive of bees. Morgan had been trying to get away from Sparta, Tennessee, in June, but rain had hampered him. He started July 2, 1863, the day Longstreet was fighting his way through the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg, a day when the fate of the whole world trembled in the balance. At Brandenburg, Kentucky, some fifty-five miles below Louisville, Morgan crossed the Ohio, July 7, 1863. He was too late. Gettysburg was won and Vicksburg had fallen; too late if he wished to terrorize Ohio and distract troops from in front of Lee, but not too late to ride, and rob and ravage in retaliation for what had been done in the South. The North, with its eyes fastened upon the great drama at Gettysburg, had paid little attention to Morgan's 2,000 mounted infantry. The Ohio was sup- HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 561 posed to girdle the Confederacy. The news that Morgan had crossed the Rubicon touched the live nerve of Ohio and Indiana. Indianapolis and Columbus trembled for the state treasuries, Cincinnati and even distant Cleveland shivered. Morgan had tapped the telegraph wires and knew the movements of the Northern troops. He calculated that fear for the banks would keep the troops concentrated in the larger towns while he ramped along the by-ways. He came up through the Indiana towns of Corydon, Greenville, Versailles, Madison and entered Ohio at Harrison, Hamilton County, July 13. There were enough troops at Cincinnati and Camp Dennison to gobble up Morgan's little detachment of 2,000 men. In addition Governor Todd had called out 50,000 militia. Morgan threatened Hamilton and then fed his horses in derision by the side of Camp Dennison. By a ninety-mile march in thirty-five hours, the greatest of even Morgan's men, he rounded Cincinnati, even marching through its suburbs without opposition and came to Williamsburg in Clermont County. Hobson and the Union cavalry were pounding hard on his heels, the Ohio was up and steamboats could navigate the river on the upper waters. Fate had tricked Morgan with unseasonable weather. Morgan split his command at Williamsburg, and with the main body headed for Washington C. H., going through Warren and Clinton counties. His command was reeling in their saddles, and heaped with plunder which they abandoned for new, much as weasels in a hen roost change from one prey to another. Giving the devil his due, Morgan's men did steal, but they did not abuse women or children or non-combatants. There were no "atrocities," Even Quantrell's guerillas when they sacked Lawrence, Kansas, drunken, and murderous of all males over twelve, insulted no women, save by cursing Yankees, and Morgan's men were not guerillas although there was a touch of the guerilla in their method of operating. Morgan had baffled all the troops of Kentucky, the troops of Cincinnati, the militia of Indiana, had played with the 50,000 562 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO militia of Ohio; fifteen days from the Cumberland and nine days from crossing the Ohio, Morgan again reached the Ohio at Portland. The hunt was closing in. Here he made his first mistake. He rested at Chester one and one-half hours, and night and the Union forces were upon him and he on the north shore. The Battle of Buffington Island broke up his command. Morgan fled with 1,200 men. The gunboats headed him off from Virginia. General Runkle was closing in from the north with militia. Morgan gave them all the slip and was not headed until he reached Salineville in Columbiana County, Ohio, where he surrendered, July 26, 1863. Morgan was confined in the Columbus penitentiary and escaped November 27, 1863, boarded a train at Columbus, sat down by a Federal officer, toasted Morgan when he went by the penitentiary, left the train near Cincinnati, crossed the Ohio in a skiff and went on to the Confederate lines. The raid cost Ohio as follows: Pay for militia, $250,000; subsistence, $200,000; damages, $576,255. There were 4,373 claims for damages, about one-fourth occasioned by Union troops. It was West Central Ohio's first and last taste of warfare since 1813. West Central Ohio furnished in the Civil War, Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes, from Delaware; General William Rosecrans, from Delaware; Gen. J. Warren Keifer, from Clark County; Gen. Geo. Crook and Gen. Robert Schenck, were from Montgomery County, although Schenck was born in Warren County. Brigadier generals included Nathaniel McLean, Warren County; Benjamin P. Runkle, West Liberty, Logan County, and August Willich, born in Prussia but enlisted from Auglaize County. Willich is given credit for the sweeping victory at Missionary Ridge despite Grant's orders to halt at the foot of the slope. C. L. Vallandigham, of Dayton, probably caused Lincoln more trouble than several Confederate generals and the threat of Vallandigham and the Peace Party was almost as great in 1863 as Lee's army. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 563 SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR On April 25, 1898, State troops were ordered mobilized at Camp Bushnell, established near Columbus. Ohio put the first volunteer regiment in the field and furnished 15,354 troops on the two calls made. The losses were seven officers and 223 enlisted men. The Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry saw service in Porto Rico; the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in Cuba. The remaining regiments, battalion and artillery were stationed in camps in the United States. Ohio officers prominent in the war included General Henry W. Lawton, who won the first battle of consequence in the war at El Caney. He later commanded a corps in the Philippines, where he was killed December 19, 1899. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee led a brigade in the Santiago campaign. Later he led the American contingent in the Boxer campaign in China. Gen. Thomas McArthur Anderson commanded the first expedition to the Philippines. Gen. George A. Garretson commanded a brigade in Porto Rico and in the Santiago campaign. Gen. Oswald A. Ernst commanded a brigade in Porto Rico. Gen. J. Warren Keifer, of Clark County, led the United States troops when they entered Hanava. Frederick Funston, a native of Clark County, captor of Aguinaldo, was promoted to brigadier general. WORLD WAR When the United States entered the World War, West Central Ohio and the entire State responded promptly with both men and money. In all Ohio supplied 185,000 men, according to the Secretary of War. A summary of the War Department afterwards placed the figure at 200,203. Governor Cox estimated the grand total at nearer a quarter of a million, including those who volunteered and joined before war was declared. May 18, 1917, selective service law passed by Congress, applied to all men between 21 and 30. June 5, 1917, was first regis- 564 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO tration day. August 31, 1917, provisions of selective service act applied to all males between 18 and 45. On June 15, 1917, Ohio National Guard was called to Federal service. On December 15, 1917, revised selective service regulations went into effect. The use of questionnaire by which five classes were formed, Class I being called and Classes II to IV being those with dependents or engaged in necessary vocations. Under these acts Ohio registered 1,389,474. Class I, the fighting class, registered 403,600. Total called, 146,435; total inducted, 154,236; total accepted, 146,304; total rejected, 7,606. On May 17, 1918, the "Work or Fight" order was issued, and those in deferred classes ordered to engage in work in necessary industries. Contrary to the policy in former wars, troops were not designated by state titles but scattered among different organizations so that the record of Ohio troops cannot be disentangled from the American Army as a whole. The Ohio National Guard was drafted into Federal service August 5, 1917, with a total of 821 officers and 24,321 men. Most of the guard regiments were mobilized at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama. They were there re-organized into the Thirty-seventh Division. Ohio troops under the draft trained mainly at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Camp Taylor, Kentucky (artillery), and officers at Fort Benjamin Harrison at Indianapolis. Construction work at Camp Sherman began June 28, 1917. First contingents were called September 5, 1917. The peak was reached December, 1917, with 33,175 men and 1,440 officers. A total of 123,581 men passed through the camp, 83,203 from Ohio. The Eighty-third Division trained there. Camp Sherman topped the other camps with its death rate due largely to the influenza epidemic. Fred C. Croxton served as state food administrator in Ohio under the Federal Food administration established in Ohio in September, 1918. John M. Roan directed the State Coal Clearance House established July 25, 1917. Activities of this branch HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 565 were transferred on October 16, 1917, to the Federal Fuel Administration. Mrs. George Zimmerman of Fremont and later Miss Belle Sherwin served as chairman of the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defence for Ohio. Dr. R. M. Hughes and S. J. Brandenburg of Miami University, served as chairmen of the Division of County and Community Organization, established June 30, 1918. Sixty-one War Chests totaling $37,000,000 were raised by various communities for the giving of funds for War Relief. Ohio oversubscribed each of the five Liberty Loans. Two celebrations featured the end of the war. The premature one, November 7, and the official war end, November 11. Delirium is the only word to describe the latter. It was a people mad with joy and jubilation. War Chest Drives, Four-Minute Speakers, parades, troops debouching from trains and parading the streets were surface occasions which helped to bring the war home to the populace, but when all is said the World War in West Central Ohio was marked rather by deep social discontent caused by the rising cost of living which rode the white collar class, the people in blind alley jobs, the small town dwellers, and those dependent upon fixed incomes, grinding hard. Industrial cities such as Dayton boomed in proportion as they made munitions, while cities such as Springfield which elected to stick to regular lines, had an acute living condition which reflected itself in class and political divisions which have not yet entirely died away. To get sugar at all or to get it at 35 cents a pound out of a $3 a day wage is one of the glories of war which bit as deeply as acid into the minds and souls of the rank and file. It was a time of sudden changes in the living conditions of families. Some shot up to new levels on the bubble of war profits, and others were pulled down to the verge of poverty from comparative affluence. It all depended whether one was or was not connected with businesses stimulated by the war. 566 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO The returning soldier heard tales of top wages which he assumed to have been generally prevalent and it made him discontented. He was not aware that a large element in the population had never shared such wages and were still more discontent since the soldier had at least been fed and clothed, while the portion of the population whose income or wage stood still in the face of soaring costs nursed a bitter resentment. This is a phase not touched upon as much as it should be. The writer heard a schoolmaster cry out that he had charge of a school in Lima for $1,200 per annum and walked to work with cardboard thrust in his soleless shoes. A librarian in Springfield burst forth to us, "What does one do when they make $50 a month and shoes are $10 and $12 a pair." Pocketbooks in West Central Ohio were like Alice in Wonderland. One drink from the war bottle made some bigger and bigger. Another drinking from the same bottle found their pocketbook afflicted with a curious short growth, making it smaller and smaller. In general farmers, manufacturers, merchants and skilled mechanics knew boom times and exorbitant profits; people of fixed incomes or those with many dependents and no increased wage knew the greatest pinch of their lives. The consequences of the World War in West Central Ohio were social, political and industrial re-alignments which endure to the present writing. In a profound sense the World War lasted twenty years, at least with a future effect which cannot be estimated. CHAPTER LV COUNTIES OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO LOGAN - MADISON - WARREN GREENE - UNION - DARKE - HARDIN -CLINTON - FAYETTE - VAN WERT - DELAWARE - CHAMPAIGN - ALLEN - AUGLAIZE - MARION - MORROW - PREBLE - SHELBY - MERCER - MIAMI - MONTGOMERY - CLARK. History moves without regard to artificial boundaries such as county and township lines. The lines of immigration, the military movements, the sociological changes, the industrial activities, the tenor of the life of the people throb on larger lines than the county. It was for these reasons that 22 counties comprising West Central Ohio were taken as a whole. Only thus could the relation of life and its development in West Central Ohio be fitted to the West. Only thus could a proper emphasis be placed upon the history of this section and certain historical rights claimed and marked out plainly. The county is becoming an obsolete division. The state is witnessing at the time of writing the first attempt to lower county walls. Governmental costs are threatening the old local township and county units. In the day of the purely county outlook, in the horse and buggy day men scarcely knew by sight all of their township. Today the automobile has made the average county as familiar as was the township of a generation ago. Families know as much of Ohio as a whole as their fathers did of their county. The airplane will soon make us familiar with the terrain of the whole United States. - 567 - 568 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO The United States moves into world wide orbits. Business and political units enlarge, men's visions broaden. The old county histories gave us knowledge of our counties but not familarity with our counties' relation to each other. The future may deal in still larger units; the airplane will make possible social divisions in which elements engaged in business in West Central Ohio may choose to reside in the hill country to the east, and south and commute back and forth, and sections like West Central Ohio may have its social and business life divorced as widely as happens in the large city where the word neighbor means nothing. The world is in such a state of flux at the present writing that prophecy is idle, a thousand eventualities are possible. There is at once a drift back to the land and a drift toward wider horizons; but the emphasis is toward larger units of government, sectional instead of county lines, and regional instead of state boundaries. Logan County: Logan is the most interesting county in Ohio; the crown of the state, the high point, topographically, historically and romantically. Seated astride the height of land, her waters rush seaward by both the Saint Lawrence and the Mississippi. Likewise twin streams of history and romance well from her soil. A proud name is Logan. She only needs the pen of a Cooper or a Scott to become a Mecca for tourists' pilgrimages. Her hills hold the ashes of more funeral pyres of pioneers than any other spot in America. She contains eleven Indian town sites and has witnessed the march of at least ten armies or military expeditions. Her valleys are adorned with the chateaus of noted poets, the very bowels of her hills hold a wonderland of caves. The roll call of her historic characters is like the singing of a saga, martyr, scout, ranger, captive, renegade, chieftain, Indian princess, pioneer, soldier and poet. Their names and deeds lilt across the page into the golden glow of an American Valhalla. Space permits only the bare facts about Logan County. It was HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 569 the focal point of the American Revolution in the year 1782. It was the place from whence moved the forces against Crawford, Fort Henry, West Virginia, Piqua on Mad River, Bryant's Station and Blue Licks Crossing, Kentucky. Logan County was the hub of the British wheel that year. The Indian towns were: Solomontown, near Huntsville; Wapatomica, three miles from Zanesfield; McKee's Town, four miles south of Bellefontaine ; Readstown, near Bellefontaine; Lewistown, on the Miami; Blue Jacket's Town, at Bellefontaine, Buchongehelas Town, three miles north of Bellefontaine ; Zanestown, at Zanesfield; Mac-a-chack, at Chateau Piatt; Pigeon Town, at Dunn's farm, and Moluntha's Town, one mile north of Mac-achack. There were at least four white blockhouses erected later for defensive purposes: Zane's, Manary's, Vance's and McPherson's. The armies marched as follows: The Shawnees against Crawford, May, 1782; Captain Caldwell, British Rangers and allied Indians against Fort Henry and recalled to Wapatomica, summer of 1782; Caldwell, rangers and 1,400 Indians to Piqua, August, 1782; Caldwell and Girty later going on to Bryant's Station and back to Blue Lick Crossing massacre, August, 1782; Captain Bradt, rangers and Indians to Fort Henry siege, September, 1782; Col. Ben Logan to Mac-a-chack towns, 1786; Gen. Hull to Detroit, 1812; Gen. Edw. M. Tupper, to Maumee, 1812; Col. Henry Brush to River Raisin, 1812; Gen. Duncan McArthur to rescue Harrison, 1813; Governor Isaac Shelby, 4,000 Kentuckians to the Thames, 1813. Logan's famous Indians were Blue Jacket, Buchongehelas, Moluntha, the Grenadier Squaw, Captain Snake, John Lewis, James Logan and Tarhe. The infamous renegades and Tories: Simon Girty, Alexander McKee, Matthew Elliott, James Girty and George Girty. Her white Indians were Isaac Zane, John Ward and Jonathan Alder. The renowned captives were Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton and John Slover. The martyrs were Col. William Harrison, Col. John Mc-   570 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Clellan, Lieut. William Crawford, James Whart, the Quaker, and most probably hundreds of others. Eight were burned at Wapatomica in June, 1782, and ten others likely shared the same fate in other Logan towns that month. To this panorama of history add Maj. Hugh McGary, murderer of Moluntha ; Andrew Hellman, noted murderer of wives and children; Johnny Appleseed, the Hueguenot Piatts. Swing in the mad flight of John Slaver, the saving of Simon Kenton by Simon Girty, the romantic love of Isaac Zane and Myeerah, daughter of Tarhe, the equally interesting courtship of Don Piatt and Louise Kirby. Other noted personages were Judge William West, the Blind man Eloquent; Gen. R. P. Kennedy; Benjamin Stanton and William Vance Marquis, these three last lieutenant governors; Judge Benj. Piatt, Gen. A. Sanders Piatt, Judge William Lawrence and Edward Henry Knight. Logan was named for the victor at Mac-a-chack, Ben Logan, companion of Clark, Boone and Kenton. Formerly a part of Champaign County, Logan was set off March 1, 1817, organized in 1818, and contained much of northwestern Ohio until 1820. Bellefontaine, the county seat, was laid out March 18, 1820. The other principal towns are West Liberty, West Mansfield, Belle Center, Zanesfield, Huntsville, De Graff, Quincy, Rushsylvania and West Middleburg. Some French Jesuit or trader was the first white man in Logan County, Izaac Zane was the first white settler; Job Sharp, the first American head of a white family, Christmas, 1801. Logan County was formed March 1, 1817; area, 451 square miles; first court held at Belleville; first settled about 1806 by Robert and William Moore, Benjamin and John Schuyler; Philip and Andrew Mathews, John and Levi Garwood, John Makimsom, Abisha Warner, Joshua Sharp, Samuel, David and Robert Marmon, Samuel and Thomas Newell and Benjamin Cox. Bellefontaine was laid out on the William Powell and John Tulles lands; John Tulles was the first settler; William Scott kept HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 571 the first tavern; the Methodists built the first church. Manary's Blockhouse was three miles north of Bellefontaine ; McPherson's, three-fourths mile northwest; Vance's Blockhouse was a mile east of Logansville; Zane's was one of three blockhouses in Zanesville, The last days of Simon Kenton were spent in Logan County, on a farm near the Jerusalem Road at the headwaters of Mad River. His grave crowned a knoll opposite his cabin. His remains were removed to Urbana, but local tradition disputes the transfer, claiming another grave was opened. The population of Logan County in 1930 was 28,981. Madison County: Organized March 10, 1810; named after James Madison; area, 497 square miles; originally contained the "Barrens," a large prairie, otherwise covered with oak openings; early famous as a stock raising country. Much of the surface was swamp, pond and prairie, considered by the Indians the best deer territory far or near. The first white man to know the county and later settle within its limits was Jonathan Alder, the captive. His cabin was one mile north of the West Jefferson Cemetery in the southwest corner of the Lucas Pike and East Pike crossing. Benjamin Springer settled in 1796 on the Big Darby. Judge Thompson, of Chillicothe, held the first court in the county. London the county seat, was platted by Patrick McLene, in 1810-11. It held the first successful monthly stock sales in the history of the state. The county was originally so wet that it settled slowly, but grew steadily until 1890 when it recorded its first decrease; since then the population has been practically stationary, until 1930, when a slight upturn was noted. The population is 20,253. Other villages are Plain City, West Jefferson, Mount Sterling, Midway and South Solon. Warren County has an area of 413 square miles. It is one of the focal points of West Central Ohio in culture, religion and 572 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO learning. Fort Ancient, one of the world's greatest earthenwork, Shaker Village, the Quakers of Waynesville, Tom Corwin, Judge John McLean, William H. Venable, Gov. Jeremiah Morrow are all names that quicken interest. The county was settled first by William Bedle of New Jersey, on September 21, 1795, at Bedle's Station, five miles west of Lebanon. The county was named for Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill. Lebanon was laid out in 1802 by Ichabod B. Halsey. It might well be called the cradle of normalism due to the work of Alfred Holbrook and later of John Withers in the National Normal University, founded in 1855. Much of the early history of the Baptists and Presbyterians of West Central Ohio will trace back to the men who were first connected with Union Village, the Shaker community. Other towns and villages are Waynesville, Morrow, Franklin, Harveysburg, Springboro, Ridgeville, Butlerville, Murdoch, Mason, Corwin and Kings Mills. Robert Benham, the Indian fighter, settled in Warren County and General Robert Schenck was born there. The population of Warren County, 27,348, census of 1930. Greene County, named after Gen. Nathaniel Greene, was formed May 1, 1803, from Hamilton and Ross, area, 415 square miles. One of the truly interesting counties of the state by reason of the names Chillicothe, Antioch, Wilberforce, Daniel Boone, Thomas Bullit, Black Fish, Black Hoof, Black Beard, the Salt-makers, Simon Kenton, Col. Bowman, George Rogers Clark, Horace Mann, Whitelaw Reid, Coates Kinney, Ridgley Torrence, Dr. Arthur Morgan, William Davis Gallagher, William Dean Howells, Fred Kelly. Any county which contains one of the most noted Indian towns in American history, Chillicothe; the first negro university, Wilberforce; the first college to graduate women on the same platform with men, Antioch; which is the site of one battle; Oldtown ; has the picturesque landscapes of Clifton; Antioch Glen HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 573 and such catastrophes in its history as the flood of May, 1886, and the powder mill explosion at Goes Station, March 1, 1886, cannot lack for color, human interest and that glamour which attends places where things have happened and personages have resided. The first house in Greene County was erected by Daniel Wilson, April 7, 1796, in Sugar Creek Township, four miles from Bellbrook. James Galloway, Sr., settled two miles north of Old-town in 1798 and Thomas Tounsley the same year settled near the falls of Massie Creek. Caesarsville was laid out in 1800. The first court was organized May 10, 1803. James Galloway, Jr., was the first surveyor for the county. The lands had originally been surveyed by Nathaniel Massie. James Galloway, Sr., was the first county treasurer. The first supreme court held in Greene County was October 25, 1803. Jos. C. Vance laid out Xenia in the fall of 1803 and the first cabin was erected by John Marshall, April, 1804, and the first court of Common Pleas in Xenia was held November 15, 1804. Amos Durough built the first jail, October, 1804. William Kendall built the first courthouse in 1806-9 James Gowdy was the first merchant in Xenia, 1806. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home in Xenia grew out of a movement initiated June 21, 1869, and by January 23, 1870, the contract for the first building was let. The bill to have the state take over the home was passed April 14, 1870. Wilberforce was founded in 1847 and became a colored institution in 1863. Fairfield was founded in 1816. Other villages are Jamestown, Osborn, Yellow Springs, Bellbrook, Clifton, Cedarville, Spring Valley. The population of Greene County is 33,259, census of 1930. Union County was first settled in Jerome township, in 1798; organized 1820. Named from the union of tracts from four counties to form it. Area, 446 square miles. County seat, Marysville, "The Shaded City." The first settlers were James and Joshua 574 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Ewing. Col. James Curry was largely influential in the creation of the county. It was formed from parts of Delaware, Franklin, Madison and Logan counties with a slice of Indian territory to the north. Marysville, the county seat was named for the daughter of the proprietor of the place, Mary Culbertson. Milford Center is the oldest village in the county. Otway Curry, author of the Log Cabin Song of the 1840 campaign, and Jonathan Alder, the captive, are two names always to be associated with Union County. Charles W. Fairbanks, vice president of the United States, was born in Union County. The Ohio State Woman's Reformatory is at Marysville. Magnetic Springs has been known since 1879 for its medicinal waters, which draw many to their healing properties. Plain City, Rich-wood, Unionville Center are other villages. The population of the county is 19,192, census of 1930. Darke County was organized in 1816, and named for Gen. William Darke. Area, 586 square miles. County seat, Greenville. It was first settled about 1807 or 1808 by Azor Scribner in Greenville Township. Samuel Boyd was the second settler in the same year. Darke County is inseparably connected with the Saint Clair and Wayne campaigns, with Tecumseh and the Prophet. The county is rated as one of the richest agriculturally in Ohio and its fair has long been recognized as one of the best county fairs in the United States. Tobacco is one of the leading crops in dollars, and in consequence of its tobacco money and fine land Darke County has never suffered as deeply in depressions as many other counties. Greenville, the site of the famous Greenville treaty of 1795, was founded in 1808 by Robert Gray and John Devor. Greenville by reason of this immensely consequential treaty is one of the most important names in the Northwest Territorial history. Other towns are Gettysburg, Arcanum, Versailles, Ansonia, New HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 575 Weston, Rossburg, Burkettsville, Castine, Hollansburg, New Madison Village, Palestine, Osgood, Yorkshire and Pittsburg. Bradford and Union City are located on the county boundary lines and only a portion of each is in Darke County. The population of the county is 38,009, census of 1930. Hardin County was formed April 1, 1820, from Indian tertory, settled about 1817 by Alfred Hale, and in 1818 permanently by Peter M'Arthur and Daniel Campbe. It was organized as a county, 1833. It is located on the Lake-Erie-Ohio River divide. This county was the scene of Doctor Knight's adventures, at the time of Crawford's defeat, 1782. It was crossed by Hull's army in 1812. Fort McArthur, three miles from Kenton, is in Hardin County. The county was named after Col. John Hardin, one of Harmar's officers, who was killed in Shelby County. The first court was held March 8, 1834, near McArthur with William McCloud as associate judge. The county settled up slowly due to dense forests and many marshes. These latter are today seats of Ohio's onion industry. Kenton, the county seat, has the largest wire fence factory in the United States. The other incorporated towns are Dunkirk, Forest, Mount Victory, Ridgeway, Patterson, Ada, seat of the Ohio Northern University; Alger and McGuffey. Hardin County was noted for its big trees. Ft. McArthur is a burial spot for Hull's soldiers. It was the scene of an attempt to murder Black Hoof in January, 1813. It was in Hardin County that Kenton was saved by Chief Logan and Simon Girty taking action that bore fruit with Peter Druyer, a French trader. Roundhead in the extreme southwest corner is the oldest village, being laid out in 1824 and named after Roundhead, a Wyandotte chief who ranged south to Springfield about 1800; John Mahan ran a mill and there were the Moore and Livinstone inns in Roundhead at an early date. 576 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO The first school was opened in Hardin County in 1836 near the White School of later years. The first sawmill was erected on the Scioto in 1837 by Jacob Kimberlin. Emigration did not begin to flow strongly until 1835. In 1833 Kenton was laid out by Charles W. Stevenson and William Furney and named after Simon Kenton by the wife of Judge McCloud. John W. Williams operated the first tavern. William Carey opened a store in 1833. The postoffice was removed from Ft. McArthur to Kenton in 1834, and Alexander Thompson was the first postmaster in the new location. The first public building constructed in the county was a jail, in 1833, and located on the public square. The first courthouse was started in 1834 on the east side of the public square. On March 4, 1853, it was destroyed by fire and all the records lost. It was rebuilt and in 1915 the present courthouse was dedicated. The Union school system of education was adopted in 1856 and a brick building erected soon thereafter. This was destroyed by fire in 1899. The first superintendent of schools was a Mr. Littlefield. The Methodists formed the first religious organization in Kenton, at the Houser home on the Scioto River, and the first church was erected in 1839. The Presbyterians organized in 1836; the Associate Reform in 1840; the Evangelical Lutherans in 1838; the Baptists in 1850; the Episcopalians in 1876. The Kenton Library dates from 1853. Ada was originally called Johnstown and was laid out in 1853, and the Ohio Northern University was established there in 1872. Forest was laid out in 1855, Dunkirk in 1852, Mount Victory in 1851, Alger in 1882, McGuffey in 1890 and Ridgeway in 1856. Hardin County has a population of 27,635, census of 1930. Clinton County was named for George Clinton, Vice-President of the United States. It was settled by William Smalley in HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 577 1797. Thomas Hinkson, one of the early judges, was a scion of the Hinkson family, prominent in Kentucky settlement. Aaron Burr and Jesse Hughes were also among the first associate judges. Nathan Linton was the first surveyor. Morgan Hendican established the first sawmill on Todd's Fork. The first church was at Centre, 1806, and the first court in the Judge Hughes barn. The original settlers were from the South and Pennsylvania. Wilmington was laid out in 1810, principally by North Carolinians, who named it after their old Wilmington. The first settlers of the town were William Hobsin, who erected the first house; Warren Sabin, the first tavern. Samuel T. Londen, Larkin Reynolds, James Montgomery, John Swane, Isaiah Morris and John McGregor, Sr., were early settlers. It was Isaiah Morris who opened the first store in Wilmington. The Baptists had the first church, which followed naturally from the North Carolinian antecedents of the settlers. Morris was also the first postmaster and first representative to the legislature. Both Smalley and Hinkson, the first settlers, had interesting Indian backgrounds—Smalley as a captive, stolen in 1770, and as a soldier under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. The Hinksons were the first to settle at what was first called Hinkson's Station and later Ruddle's or Ruddell's, on the Licking, the capture of which in 1780 by Bird, had far-reaching consequences to West Central Ohio. The Hinksons had located there in 1775 and the migration of the son, Thomas, to Clinton County is one of the numerous evidences of early Kentucky and Pennsylvania influence. In view of the fierceness of the temperance fight in American history and its widespread influence upon elections over the nation, its subordination of many other fundamental issues to its clamor, and the fact that many abuses were thus ignored which might have been scotched save for the focusing of public attention upon this one issue, the part played by Clinton County cannot escape the attention of the historian of the Prohibition move- 578 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO ment. New Vienna and the siege of the saloon of Van Pelt by the women of the town in the winter of 1873-4 constitutes one of the most colorful scenes in the Prohibition movement. This "Women's Crusade" which turned a man reputed the "Wickedest" in Ohio into a temperance lecturer is typical of the methods and attitude of the day. The Society of Friends, spreading out of Warren County, have been an influential element in Clinton County. This county while not in the direct road of the main penetration and so escaping many of the military expeditions, was yet on the Indian trail which came down from the Miami and Mad River towns to the crossing of the Ohio at Eagle Creek and so was traversed by war parties, captives such as Kenton and was on the line of march of Logan in 1786. Towns and villages of consequence in addition to Wilmington are Blanchester, New Vienna, Clarksville and Martinsville. The population of Clinton County is 21,547. Fayette County was formed in 1810 from Ross and Highland counties. It is one of the finest farming counties in the United States, noted for its stock sales. It was first settled by the families of Col. James Stewart, Jesse Milliken, Wade Loofborough, Thomas McDonald, Dr. Thomas McGara, John Popejoy, Jesse Rowe, Gen. B. Harrison, John Dewitt, Hamilton and Benjamin Rogers, William Harper, James Hays, Michael Carr, Peter Eyeman, William Snider, Judge Jacob Jamison, Samuel Waddle, Smith and William Rankin and James Sanderson. Fayette County's first court was held under Judge Thompson in the cabin of John Devault, a little north of Bloomingburg. Jesse Milliken was first postmaster of Washington C. H. Dr. Thomas McGara was the first physician; John Popejoy one of the first justices; John McDonald, author of McDonald's Sketches, so famed in the early accounts of the state, helped Massie in the survey of the county. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 579 The Washington C. H. cyclone of September 8, 1885, ranked as the greatest disturbance of the kind in Ohio history until dwarfed by the Lorain horror of recent years. One of the interesting early characters of Fayette County was Lieut. Robert B. Randolph of the Virginia Randolphs, the man who pulled the nose of Andrew Jackson, so he claimed. This assault took place at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1833. Jeffersonville, Bloomingburg, New Holland, Octa and Milledgeville are flourishing villages. The population of Fayette County is 20,755. Van Wert County was named for Isaac Van Wert, one of Andre's captors. The original spelling of Van Wert was "Van Wart." The county was formed April 1, 1820, from Indian lands. The first settler was Capt. James Riley, who located in January, 1818, on the St. Mary's River. Lying in the Black Swamp district, Van Wert was one of the last counties of West Central Ohio to be settled. The drainage problems constituted one of the principal tasks to be solved. At first the close soil held the water on the surface. Van Wert, the county seat, although not settled until 1835, is one of the most attractive and prosperous appearing county seats in Ohio. Other towns are Convoy, Ohio City, Willshire, Scott, Wren, Venedocia and Elgin. The Brumback County Library is one of the show places of Van Wert and has a national reputation. Its work has been patterned after far and wide, as it reaches all parts of the county. It is the bequest of J. S. Brumback. The early settlers found the Indians camped on Sugar Ridge, a sand and gravel ridge which cuts through the original Black Swamp, and made a fine natural road, with abundant good water close to the surface. The first religious services were at the James Riley home in Willshire by Reverend Antrim; the Baptists built a church at 580 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Willshire in 1837 ; Ansel Blossom opened a school January 1, 1836; Henry Reichard operated a store at Willshire as early as 1836. Willshire was the temporary county seat when the county was organized. The first term of the court of common pleas was held at Willshire, May 11, 1838, with Judge William Heflenstein presiding. Dr. P. J. Hines was the first resident physician ; James Madison Barr was the first resident attorney. Van Wert, the county seat, was platted May 26, 1835. The jail was built in 1838. Samuel M. Clark is considered the first merchant, 1837-8. Clark was also the first blacksmith in the county. Daniel Cook was the first tavern keeper in the town. Riley, the founder, operated the first sawmill. The Van Wert Patriot, 1844, was the first newspaper. The Methodists built a church in 1845, with Rev. John Graham as pastor. The First National Bank of Van Wert opened February 23, 1865; the Van Wert National Bank in 1882, succeeded the private bank of Emerson, Marble and Company. The Peoples Saving Bank started in 1903. E. R. Wells taught the first school, which was located in the courthouse. The library was organized in 1890 and was housed by the gift of the John S. Brumback estate. Mr. Brumback had been one of the leading business men of his section, active in mercantile and railroad lines. The cornerstone of the Brumback Library was laid in July, 1899. Van Wert owes much of its attractive appearance to the foresight of the founders in donating a portion of the original plat for parks and commons. It is most unusual among Ohio cities in this respect. The population of Van Wert County is 26,273. Delaware County was named from the Delaware Indians, located therein. It was formed February 10, 1808, from Franklin County. The county was first settled by Nathan Carpenter and Avery Powers, five miles below Delaware, on the east bank of the Olentangy. The first settlers were from New York and HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 581 Pennsylvania and differed in this respect from most of the other counties of West Central Ohio. There was also a New England settlement in Berkshire Township. Pluggy's town on the site of Delaware was a noted resort for bad Indians in the Revolution, and the point of origin of numerous expeditions against the whites. Simon Girty's future wife, Catherine Malott, was brought into this section in consequence. Buckonghelas, Kill-buck and Captain Pipe are Indians associated with the county's history. The first mill was built by Nathan Carpenter in 1804. The tale of the Perry boys, eleven and nine, who wintered in 1803 in an open cabin while their father went back to Philadelphia for a sick wife and mother would make a boy's story par excellence and illustrates as nothing else could the stock out of which Delaware County rose. Col. Moses Bixbe and Solomon Smith were shrewd Yankees who gave Delaware County its first business men. They dealt in land in the one case and held office in the other. Rev. J. S. Hughes organized Presbyterian churches at Delaware, Liberty and Radnor in 1810, and thereafter. He also was associated with the first newspaper. Delaware, the county seat, was laid out in 1808 by Bixbe and Henry Baldwin, but Joseph Barber had erected a cabin in 1807. The Methodists erected the first church in 1823 and followed with the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1842, and the Female College in 1853. These consolidated in 1877. The county is famous among horticulturists as having developed the Delaware grape. Its quota of noted men is unusual in Rutherford B. Hayes, Gen. William Rosecrans, General Quitman, Governor Frank B. Willis, Senator P. B. Plumb of Kansas, among others. The state bought White Sulphur Springs, a health resort, in 1869 as a home for wayward girls. In 1872 it was named the Girls' Industrial School. The original health resort originated from a boring for salt water, then a much sought after and prized 582 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO possession. As a health resort it was a failure. Delaware County has a population of 26,016. Champaign County, formed of Greene and Franklin, March 1, 1805. It was named after prairies which dotted the original terrain. The original county seat was at Springfield, now Clark County, and afterward at Urbana. It is the background of Simon Kenton, Gov. Joseph Vance, John Quincy Ward, Brand Whitlock, Raymond Hubbell, Alice Archer, Sewell James and Tecumseh, and the scene of the Ad White Rescue Case of 1857. It was the base of the American Army of the West in the War of 1812, and the scene of Indian councils. It is one of the rich and well balanced counties of the state where there is no preponderance of the industrial over the agricultural and mercantile pursuits. The first settler was Billy Owens. Urbana, county seat, was laid out by William Ward, partner and business agent for Simon Kenton, 1805. It was named from the word "Urbanity," a characteristic that strange to say has marked Urbana more than most Ohio towns. Jos. Vance, clerk of the court, and George Fithian, tavern keeper, were the first two settlers. Samuel M'Cord opened the first store, 1806. The M'Cords had married into the Kentons. The first courthouse stood on the later McDonald property and the second on the public square where the monument now is. The first church was built by the Methodists in 1807. The Watchtower, first newspaper, was started in 1812 by Moses Corwin and a man named Blackburn. The northeast corner of the public square was, in the War of 1812, a commissary office and the place where Vice-President R. M. Johnson lay wounded after the Battle of the Thames. Urbana is the scene of many of the misfortunes which attended the declining years of Simon Kenton. Here the old warrior quarreled and Jawed with William Ward over the lands on which the town is built and lands in the surrounding section. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 583 Champaign County historians have been chary of taking sides in a question involving so many old and leading families who have descended from or married into the Wards. The Kentons infer, but do not openly charge, in Edna Kenton's life of Kenton, that Ward took advantage of Kenton. The Wards through John Quincy Ward held that Ward had business ability enough to take care of his own interests and that Kenton neglected his side until it was unbearable for the Wards and that as a consequence there came the cry of "wronged innocence" over the results of heedless indifference and happy-go-lucky methods. The courts early upheld Ward. One of the old court records in Champaign County is the sheriff's scrawl on the writ of capias issued against Simon Kenton for the recovery of debt: "Found Philip Jarboe and have his body in court; found Simon Kenton but he refuses to be arrested." He came to Urbana about 1.810 and was made jailer with himself as prisoner in his own keeping and he kept himself in the town "bounds" in all his walks. Since he could not chase prisoners he hired Captain Johnny, the Shawnee, as his deputy. In the War of 1812 his home was an inn to all and sundry who stopped without pay. It had two rooms, one with a stump in the middle where he pounded hominy, the only work he was ever known to do. In May, 1813, Kenton served as sergeant under McArthur. In August, 1813, he led thirty men out after the Indians who had committed the Thomas murders at Solomon-town. He also joined Shelby when the latter went through Urbana to the Thames. The population of Champaign County is 24,103. Allen County was formed April 1, 1820, from Indian lands. It was named for Col. John Allen, a native of Rockbridge, Virginia, and who later emigrated to Kentucky and commanded the left wing of the American forces at the River Raisin. He was killed there. Allen County was attached at first to Mercer 584 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO County for judicial purposes. The western half is in the Black Swamp, the eastern half rolling, with gravelly hills in the southeastern portion. The county was very slow to settle, the first settler being Andrew Russell in 1817, near Ft. Amanda; Absolom Brown settled on the site of Lima; Samuel McClure settled five miles northeast of Lima in 1825. Ft. Amanda, on the west bank of the Auglaize, named after the wife of Colonel Poague, was erected in 1812, and there were the usual frontier hangers-on. Previous to this, Francis Deuchoquette, a French trader, had lived within the county, as also at different times, no doubt, did some of the white renegades. Allen County has a mineral pre-eminence in West Central Ohio, due to its oil field discovered in the spring of 1885 by Benjamin C. Faurot on the Lima Straw Board property. With the bringing in of additional wells, the Standard Oil Company established its district headquarters in Lima and erected a refinery. The field stood second to the Pennsylvania field for a number of years and reached its maximum flow in 1904 with 24,000,000 barrels. Lima, the county seat, was selected March 3, 1831; surveyed by Justin Hamilton in April, 1831, and named by P. G. Goode, after Lima, Peru. The United States Land Office was located in Lima in 1834, coming from Wapakoneta. Allen County had the last reservation of the Shawnees in what is now Shawnee Township, where on Hog Creek a tract of seventeen square miles had been reserved for the Indians by treaty of 1817. Here under Pe-aich-ta, or Pht or Falling Tree and Conwaskemo, the Resolute Man, they remained until 1831, when they were removed to the West. Their council house stood four miles southwest of Lima until about 1880. Some of the early settlers of Allen County were Christopher Wood, from Kentucky, 1824. The first Sunday school in Allen County was organized in his home. William Chenoweth settled on Lost Creek, 1832; Samuel Baxter in Amanda Township, 1828; HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 585 Griffith John, German Township, 1831; the Hovers, in Shawnee Township, 1832; Thomas Watkins, James Nicholas and David Roberts at Gamer in 1833. This was the center of Welsh Congregationalists. The first court of common pleas was at Hog Creek Crossing, E. Market street, Lima, May, 1833, with Judge George B. Holt of Dayton presiding; Patrick Games Goode, afterwards congressman for the district, was the first prosecuting attorney. He was a member of the Sidney bar. Hamilton Davison was the first resident prosecuting attorney. The First Presbyterian Church of Lima was organized August 1, 1833, by Rev. Thomas Clark and Rev. James Cunningham. The first Methodist church was built about 1837. The Baptists organized in 1834. Mass was first read in Lima at the O'Connell home in 1846 and the first Catholic church was built in 1856. The English Evangelical Lutheran Church was constructed in 1854. Leighton, Hurd and Jacob's bank, established in the 1850's, was Lima's first bank. Lima's first merchant was James Peltier, 1828. He might be said to antedate the town. John Ward of Virginia was Lima's first schoolmaster. He first taught school in Allen County in 1831-32. Free schools were not established until 1850. The Lima Hospital was opened in April, 1899. The Lima Library was opened September 21, 1901, and later housed in connection with the Carnegie Foundation. The Lima Locomotive Works dates from 1860 and the DeiselWemmer Company, one of the largest cigar factories in the United States, from 1890. Delphos, partly in Van Wert County, was laid out in 1845 and was on the old canal route. It was in the marshes and in a quinine country, all of which has been changed by drainage. The first settlers were German Catholics. Bluffton is the seat of Bluffton College. Spencerville, laid out in 1844-5, is also on the old canal. Other villages are Elida, Lafayette, Cairo, Beaver Dam and Westminster. The population of Allen County is 69,419, census of 1930. 586 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Auglaize County was organized in 1848 from Allen, Logan, Darke, Shelby, Mercer and Van Wert counties. It was first settled at St. Marys in 1795. The French traders are said to have had a stockade about a half mile north of Wapakoneta which they abandoned after Fallen Timbers. Ft. St. Marys was built by some of Wayne's army in 1794-5. The fort afterward, in the War of 1812, became one of Harrison's bases. A stockade known as Ft. Barbee was constructed by Harrison's forces. Auglaize County is on the great portage route from the lakes to the Ohio River and in consequence was traversed by Indians and French, later by the British and still later by American armies. It was only by reason of the rivers that the land was penetrable. The fight for the county seat was bitter between St. Marys and Wapakoneta, where the Indian agency had been. The latter won. The county was established February 14, 1848; the commissioners met April 10, 1848; the first court was held in the M. E. Church. The courthouse was contracted in 1850 and the first term of the May, 1851, session met in the completed building. The Catholics have always been numerous and strong in Auglaize County, dating back to the French period of trading. The Methodist church at St. Marys dates from the work of Rev. Robert Finley in 1825. The Methodist church in Wapakoneta dates from 1833. The Catholics built at Petersburg in 1833 and in Wapakoneta in 1839. The Quakers had established a mission among the Indians as early as 1810 at Wapakoneta, where Henry Harvey served as missionary. Traders settled around the agency. Francis Duchouquet, French trader who had once done business at Piqua on Mad River, followed the Indians to Wapakoneta after Clark's assault on that town in 1780. Duchouquet lived in Wapakoneta until his death in 1831. He acted as interpreter at Greenville and other treaties. The Indian council house at Wapakoneta was a 30x40 log house, erected in 1783, after the Indians fled from Piqua in Miami County, following Clark's second expedition in 1782. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 587 St. Marys was county seat of Mercer County from 1824 to 1840 when it was transferred to Celina. St. Marys was long a seat of James Girty and known as Girty's town. Court was held in 1824 by Judge J. H. Crane and a courthouse built in 1828. It grew slowly until the Miami canal made it a port. Later the discovery of oil in 1886 gave it another impetus. William (Sausage) Sawyer, generally assigned to Mercer County, was a resident of St. Marys. He was cruelly lampooned while in Congress by the press for taking a lunch to his desk. He was a man of ability. Gen. August Willich of St. Marys is rated as one of the ablest brigadiers in the Civil War for his work at Stone River, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, and Shiloh. Cridersville, Waynesfield, Minster, Buckland, Uniopolis, and New Knoxville are other towns and villages. The population of Auglaize County is 28,034. Marion County was created in February, 1820, but not organized until March, 1824. It was named for Francis Marion. It was originally occupied by Wyandottes and later the Delawares. Marion County contained part of the Captain Pipe reservation, established in 1817. This land was ceded August 3, 1829, for $3,000, and a reservation in the West. The part south of the Indian boundary was settled as early as 1806 by the Watts, Drakes and Brundiges but remained a part of Delaware County until 1845. The Indian lands were thrown open to settlement in 1820. The creation of the present county has been a patchwork of changing jurisdictions and boundaries. In 1845 it yielded some territory to Wyandotte, and again in 1848 to Morrow and received in turn Waldo and Prospect townships from Delaware County. Settlement followed the Old Military Road, cut by Harrison in the War of 1812, which right of way had been ceded at Brownstown, Canada, in 1808 by the Indians. Lands north of the Indian line were first offered for sale August 15, 1820. The new county included Virginia Military, Congress and United 588 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO States Military lands and drew immigrants from all directions east and south. Eber Baker and Alexander Holmes laid out Marion in 1822. The first session of the Common Pleas court was held in Marion September 23, 1824, and the first session of the Supreme Court on August 8, 1825, with Judge Jacob Burnet presiding. The first resident lawyer in Marion was Charles L. Boalt, 1826. Methodists organized at the Jacob Idleman home, six miles south of Marion, in 1820, and a church was built on the Idleman farm in 1823. The Free Baptists were the first to build in Marion, 1824. The Presbyterians had their first Marion meeting in 1828. The first Catholic service was by Father Burgess in 1849. The U. B. Church was organized at the John Gruber home in 1839. The Lutherans organized in Richland Township in 1835. The Episcopalians organized in Marion in 1849. The Marion Academy opened in 1840 under John J. Williams; the union schools organized in 1851; the Marion Democratic Mirror went to press the first time, June 4, 1842; the first postmaster in Marion was John Ballantine, 1821. The first jail was started in June, 1824, and the town hall was built in 1878. J. S. Reed and Company started banking operations in 1840, later the Marion County Bank. The Bank of Marion was organized in 1851 and later became the Marion National Bank. Timothy Fahey started a private bank in 1871 and this became, in 1893, the Fahey Banking Company. The City National Bank, 1901, and the Marion Savings Bank, 1904, were later organizations. The Marion Steam Shovel Company dates from 1884. Edward Huber was the manufacturing genius who first started Marion as an industrial city. He started the manufacture of a rake in Marion in 1865. Warren G. Harding, President of the United States, was elected from Marion and his comptroller of the currency, D. C. Crissinger, later the governor of the Federal Reserve, was appointed from Marion. Norman Thomas, socialist candidate for the presidency in 1932, was once a Marion newsboy. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 589 Caledonia was surveyed by Samuel Holmes for John Parcel and W. F. Farrington, April 11, 1834. La Rue was platted in 1851 by William La Rue. Prospect was laid out in 1835 by Christopher Gast and was originally named Middletown. Waldo was incorporated in 1845; Marra', 1904; Green Camp, 1875. The population of Marion County is 45,420. Morrow County was formed February 24, 1848, from Richland, Knox, Marion and Delaware counties. It was named for Gov. Jeremiah Morrow. The county was not settled until after the War of 1812. The identity of various parts of the county with other counties makes the question of first settlement uncertain. The Benjamin Sharrock family were in Washington Township in 1818-19. Asa Mosher erected the first mill, on the Whetstone, Cardington Township, 1821. Previous to this supplies had been packed from Delaware County. Mt. Gilead, the county seat, was laid out in 1824 by Jacob Young and was called Whetsom, but generally referred to as Youngstown. The county grew rapidly after the first decade of settlement and had nearly reached its peak of population by 1850. From that time on the population was practically stationary until in common with many rural counties it began to show a slow decline from 1860 on to the present. This was due rather to decline in the size of families than to other causes, as the soil is fertile. The population in 1930 was 14,489. Morrow County was early one of the strongholds of the Abolition movement and Prohibition early had its advocates. The first temperance society was formed in Mt. Gilead in 1830, and the first anti-slavery society in 1840. By 1860 the sentiment had flamed so high against slavery that Rev. Gordon, president of Central College at Iberia, was tried and imprisoned as party to a rescue case near Iberia, in which some United States marshals were abused. Rev. Gordon despite his denial of participation was imprisoned at Cleveland, contracting consumption, from which he died after being pardoned by Lincoln. Richard Dilling- 590 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO ham, a young Quaker, was betrayed while trying to bring slaves from Tennessee and died from cholera in the penitentiary. Morrow County was famous in ante-bellum days as the location of one of the main routes of the Underground Railroad. Three noted men were born on the soil of Morrow County—Warren G. Harding, near Blooming Grove; Calvin S. Brice, Canaan Township, and Gov. Albert P. Morehouse of Missouri, in Peru Township. Ohio Central College gave Harding his education. Other towns and villages are Iberia, where the Ohio Central College building was turned into the Working Home for the Blind in 1887; Cardington, Edison, Sparta and Marengo. Preble County was named after Commodore Edward Preble, who commanded in the Barbary States War. It was formed, March 1, 1808, from Montgomery and Butler counties. The population has not varied greatly in eighty years. Eaton, the county seat, was platted in 1806 by William Bruce. Eaton is also named after a character in the Tripolitan War. Near Eaton is Ft. St. Clair, scene of an Indian battle November 6, 1792. William Henry Harrison, then an ensign, commanded the guard during the building of the fort. Another battlefield is at Ludlow Springs, where on October 17, 1793, Lieut. Lowry was defeated and killed. Cornelius Vanausdal was the first merchant at Eaton, 1808. Col. George D. Hendricks, a Mexican War veteran, was the first child born in Preble County, 1805, on the site of Camden. One of the early incidents of Preble County was the stealing of the Tharp and Harper girls during the War of 1812. Both girls were located years after but refused to leave the Indians who had abducted them. Little Turtle, Tecumseh, the Prophet, Indian John, Honest John, Captain John Adair, Richard Taylor, father of the future President of the United States; Gen. Wilkinson, the traitor; Gov. HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 591 George Madison of Kentucky, William Henry Harrison, Arthur St. Clair, Rev. J. B. Finley, Anthony Wayne, Gov. Andrew Harris are some of the noted names identified with Preble County's history. Finley's grave is in the Eaton Cemetery. In an intangible but none the less profound way Finley influenced the whole West at a time when spiritual teaching and example was the leading necessity of the hour. It is not too much to say that such men as Finley smelted the dross out of the frontier and recast its soul in nobler and purer forms, fit for civilized living, redeeming a people sunk into barbarism by long contact with savagery and lawlessness. Other towns and villages are Gratis, West Elkton, Lewisburg, Verona, College Corner, New Paris, West Alexandria, Eldorado, West Manchester and Camden. The population of Preble County is 22,455. Shelby County was cut off from Miami in 1819 and named after Gen. Isaac Shelby, hero of Kings Mountain and the Kentucky governor who led his men to aid Harrison at the Thames. The area is 413 square miles. Being on the divide between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, the portage between these two river systems brought ancient travel through Shelby County, so that it lies on the path of history from its beginnings in Ohio. The first white settler was Pierre Loramie, French Canadian trader and some say Jesuit, although Catholic Church authorities deny that Loramie had any religious functions to perform. The first American family in Shelby County was that of James Thatcher, who settled on Painter's Run in 1804. The first postoffice was at Hardin, 1819, with Col. James Wells as postmaster. Hardin was the site of Laramie's store which Logan destroyed in 1782. Clark's campaign of that year resulted in the evacuation of Shelby County as a permanent home by the Shawnees, part fleeing to Wapakoneta and part following Loramie to Missouri. A 592 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO previous emigration of a part of the Shawnees had taken place from Greene County after the destruction of Chillicothe in 1779. Shelby County was in 1846 the scene of an attempt to colonize John Randolph's slaves after they were run out of Mercer County. They settled in Van Buren Township but were soon scattered among the white settlers. Sidney was laid out in 1819. The first court sessions were held in April, 1820, in the Abraham Cannon cabin. The Methodists erected the first church. The German Catholics settled in large numbers in Shelby County as early as 1837 at Berlin. Rev. William Bigot was their spiritual leader in later years and had marked influence among them. Other towns are Anna, Lockington, Port Jefferson, Hardin, Ft. Loramie, Botkins, Jackson Center and Kettlerville. The population of Shelby County is 24,924. Mercer County was formed April 1, 1820, from Indian lands, and named after Gen. Hugh Mercer, Scottish surgeon under the Pretender, refugee, patriot, and who was slain at Princeton in the Revolution. The area of the county is 450 square miles of flat plain, originally wet but fertile when drained. The population has risen steadily until 1900, since when it has declined somewhat in numbers. Mercer County is the scene of the greatest disaster which ever befell the white man in his centuries of struggle with the Indian, St. Clair's defeat at Ft. Recovery. General St. Clair, Gen. Anthony Wayne, Major McMahon, the Girtys, Gen. Richard Butler, Alexander McKee, Matthew Elliott, Little Turtle, Tecumseh, Anthony Shane are some of the names associated with Mercer County history. The St. Marys Reservoir was long ranked as the largest artificial body on the globe, but has since been exceeded by Gatun Dam in Egypt and Roosevelt Dam in Arizona and will be exceeded by the water impounded by the Boulder Dam. St. Marys Reservoir was constructed as a feeder for the Miami Canal. Up until 1840, St. Marys, in what is now Auglaize HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 593 County, was the county seat of Mercer. Since 1840 Celina has been the county seat. The population has a large element with German ancestry and the countryside around Celina and St. Henry is dotted with German Catholic churches. The negroes were colonized in two places in Mercer County. One colony was by Augustus Wattles of Connecticut in 1842 and the other by Judge Leigh of Virginia for the slaves of John Randolph of Roanoke, the latter attempt in 1846. Some 400 negroes were thus located in Franklin, Mercer and Granville townships. Celina was laid out in 1834 by James Watson Riley. Mercer County was the scene of a justifiable revolt against public infringement on private rights on May 15, 1843, when the farmers whose lands had been flooded by the state without remuneration, banded together and cut the banks of the reservoir, led by John Sunday and Henry Linzee. The people had appealed in vain for relief and had been contemptuously treated. Emlen Institute was one of the first institutions for the training of colored students. Mercer County has been predominantly Democratic in politics from its beginning. Considering the few large towns, the farms of Mercer County sustain most of the population. The territory around Ft. Recovery and Celina is in the gas and oil section. Numerous wells were drilled in the reservoir itself. Other towns and villages are Coldwater, a thriving industrial community; Mendon, St. Henry, Montezuma and Chickasaw. The population of the county is 25,096. Miami County was formed from a portion of Montgomery, January 16, 1807. It is one of the Ohio counties which has shown a consistent increase of population due to the growth of its towns. Miami County was named after the Miami Indians, who were there when the whites contacted this section. The Indian significance of the word in the Ottawa language is mother. The first county seat was Staunton. John Knoop, a Pennsylvanian, settled near Staunton in 1797 and with the help of Henry Garard, 594 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO John Tildus, Benjamin Hamlet and Benjamin Knoop established a station there. Jacob Knoop, born in 1798, was the first native white American born in Miami County. Peter Felix established the first store in Staunton. John Manning is credited with the first mill, located on Piqua Bend. Troy, a mile west of Staunton, was laid out in 1808, the survey being made by Andrew Wallace in 1807. The building of the Miami Canal gave both Troy and Piqua an impetus which has never been lost. Piqua was platted in 1809 under the name of Washington, by Brandon and Manning. The name was changed afterwards due to the fact that the Shawnee town of Piqua, destroyed by Clark in 1782, was in that vicinity. There is much confusion among historical writers between the events around Piqua, Miami County, and the earlier ones at Piqua on Mad River in Clark County and even with the happenings on the Pickaway plains on the Scioto. These were all variants of one Shawnee town title which was migratory with the tribe. Upper Piqua on the Miami is considered the site of the great battle in 1763 by which the Shawnees routed and drove out the Miamis from the Lower Miami rivers. Staunton was on the route of a part of Hull's army in 1812. It had the first court building in Miami County. Piqua in early times was a flatboat shipyard. Col. John Johnston, United States Indian agent, resided there. To Colonel Johnston American frontier history is indebted for the preservation of many Indian words and records. Piqua and Troy, Tippecanoe, Covington, Bradford and West Milton are all thriving business or manufacturing towns. Casstown and New Lebanon and Pleasant Hill and Fletcher are other villages. Miami County has associated with its history, Celeron De Bienville, Col. Henry Bird, the Girtys, Alexander McKee, Matthew Elliott, George Rogers Clark, Ben Logan, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, Black Hoof, Tecumseh, the Prophet, William HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 595 Henry Harrison, Colonel Clay, Old Britain, George Croghan, Christopher Gist, Charles Langlade, all of whom at one time or another lived or campaigned in that county. Pickawillany, the Miami capital, stood at the mouth of Loramie Creek, one mile south of the Shelby County line. This can be said to be the spot where history in West Central Ohio had the beginning of a connected sequence. The population of Miami County in 51,301. Montgomery County was named after Gen. Richard Montgomery, and created May 1, 1803, from parts of Hamilton and Ross counties, with the court located at George Newcomb's house in Dayton. The area is 455 square miles. Its growth has been rapid and consistent and it is the leading county of West Central Ohio, birthplace of world aviation, a center of industry and one of the advantageous spots on the globe. Montgomery County is in many ways the most progressive of the counties of the western half of the state. While its part in the beginning of Ohio's history is not commensurate with many other counties, it bids fair as time goes on to take a more and more commanding position in the creation of the history of the future. Its leading men are potent in the nation and the influence of the City of Dayton through the Wrights, the Pattersons, E. A. Deeds, Charles Kettering and James M. Cox is felt today as much, although in a different way, as was that in the times of C. L. Vallandigham in the Civil War. The inventive, the political and industrial leadership of West Central Ohio largely resides in Dayton. Dayton at the conjunction of the Miami, Mad River, Stillwater and Wolf Creek was ordained by nature as a city and commercial center. It was in the path of penetration into West Central Ohio and the most advantageous location therein. Arthur St. Clair, Gen. Jonathan Dayton, General Wilkinson, the traitor, and Israel Ludlow purchased the site from Judge Symmes. Israel 596 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Ludlow laid out Dayton, November 4, 1795. Mrs. Samuel Thompson was the first American white woman to set foot in Dayton as a permanent settler, April 1, 1796. A blockhouse was built on the Main Street bank of the Miami as a defense in 1799. Benjamin Van Cleve, December 13, 1803, was the first postmaster. The Dayton Library Society was incorporated in 1805. It was the first act of library incorporation in Ohio. Flatboat navigation continued until 1820, when it was blocked by mill dams. The canal opened in 1829, the first boat from Cincinnati arriving January 25, 1829; the first boat from Lake Erie arrived June 24, 1845. The National Soldiers Home was opened in 1867. The invention of the Wright Brothers made Dayton a world aviation center. One of the great improvements typical of Dayton development was dedicated January 11, 1934, in the gigantic railroad track elevation which was attended by railway executives far and wide. Other towns of Montgomery County are Miamisburg, West Carrollton, Oakwood, Brookville, Farmersville, Trotwood, New Lebanon, Centerville. In early history Miamisburg was known as Hole's Station, settled about 1795 and platted in 1818. Germantown was platted in 1814. Vandalia is nationally known as the location of American trapshooters' competitive contests. The population of Montgomery County is 273,481, census of 1930. Clark County was settled in 1795 by Jonathan Donnel and James Lowry between the mouth of Donnel's Creek and Durbin. Second settlement was at Krebs Station, near Limestone City, in 1796. The county seat at Springfield was founded by James De-mint, March 17, 1801. New Boston, which once strove with Springfield for the county seat, is today marked by a grove opposite the George Rogers Clark Memorial Park. No attempt is made in this brief sketch to duplicate material in Woodward's Sketches, 1854; Beer's History, 1880; Rockel's HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 597 History, 1908; and Prince's History, 192—. Additional material found in this work includes "Tammany at New Boston," Horace Mann's inauguration at Enon as president of Antioch, George Rogers Clark's own account of the Battle of Piqua, the laying out of Turnerville at the forks of Mad River, the early months of 1796 or late 1795, the mention of 0. M. Spencer's Indian captivity in Clark County, the experiences of Nathaniel Massie in surveying the Little Miami, the refutation of the John Paul settlement myth, the Thomas Rogers' account of a military expedition to Springfield in 1802, the corralling of Chief Roundhead. In addition some local history never before included under the county heading is quoted from Edna Kenton in her biography of Simon Kenton. Miss Kenton is rather loose in her locations and is not to be followed implicity in consequence, but the following can be accepted : that Kenton built a trace from Buck Creek to Maysville, Kentucky; that in his party were the Dowdens, Jarboes, William Ward, the Owens, and a half a score of negroes. That William Owen, Kenton's nephew, had a hard fight with an Indian, a Cherokee, who had stabbed Joseph Whittlesey, a trader, then lodging at the Owen cabin. Whittlesey had jested with the Indian concerning trading squaws which came to include the Owens. The Indian took the proposal seriously and prepared to stay all night. Whittlesey attempted to lead the Indian away and was stabbed. Owen, after a hard fight, bound the Indian to a tree but he escaped in the night, was captured and marched down to Chief Wolf for punishment. This occurred near the Hunt and Prosser farms north of Springfield. Wolf decreed that if Whittlesey died, the Indian should die, but if not the Indian, being whipped already, should go. Kenton's youngest child was stolen that winter by an Indian who walked into the cabin entirely naked and drunk, demanding whiskey. Being alone, Mrs. Kenton refused, whereupon the Indian picked up Matilda Kenton and walked off with the child. Mrs. Kenton followed and met the chief bringing back the infant. 598 - HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO Mrs. Demint was more unfortunate. One Eye, a bad Indian, entered her cabin (at Northern School) and demanded food. She refused and he took her by the hair and dragged her about until she was senseless, then went to the spring house and helped himself. Simon Kenton led a party of 15 men to One Eye's camp and whipped him in turn, making him say "Thank you (Ni yaw way). One Eye vowed he would kill Cutta-ho-tha (the Condemned Man), as Kenton was known among the Shawnees due to his captivity among them. He lay about Kenton's spring for two or three days. This is probably a variant of the tale repeated by the Hunt family. Eleanor Hunt, aunt of E. E. Hunt, related to the writer that Sally McCord, Kenton's oldest daughter, had pointed out the Kenton cabin site at the present spring house on the Hunt farm, due east of the spring, and that General Young, of Urbana, had related to Major Hunt, who succeeded Kenton on the farm, that an Indian had waylaid Kenton in the dawn and that Kenton had told Young he had shot the Indian while the latter skulked about the spring waiting for a shot. Bonah, a Shawnee, who had been Kenton's captor, made a practice of eating at the Kenton table until Kenton asked Bonah why he should continue to give him presents, whereupon Bonah replied : "Because I didn't kill you." Bonah went too far one day and reminded Kenton of the day he had tied him and that Kenton had cried, whereupon Kenton, who was carving a haunch, sprang up and lunged with the knife at Bonah, and was only restrained from killing him by William Ward and others. Bonah tried to make peace but Kenton's flaming temper was up and he refused, saying later he would not kill him since what Bonah had done was done in war and this was peace. Miss Kenton's book throws much light on the Kenton family's sojourn in Clark and Champaign Counties. Another point of local history which she clears is Robert Rennick's killing an Indian and escaping penalty in the first murder HISTORY OF WEST CENTRAL OHIO - 599 trial ever held in Clark County. Billy George, a Cherokee bad Indian was always terrifying the settlers with demands and there had been mysterious killings of whites. Billy George began boasting of killing two big captains in his time, and that he would be satisfied with another. Chi-ux-ko, an Indian hanger on of Kenton's warned him about Billy George. The following night Billy George showed up and said he wished to sleep there. Kenton told him to go to bed, but Billy refused, and Kenton ordered him out. Billy drew a knife but Chi-ux-ko and Kenton watched him all night. Billy left in the morning and the settlers gathered and decided to kill Billy. Kenton was ill and could not go but Robert Rennick, Archibald Dowden and Jesse Bracken hunted up Billy at his camp. They found a deer hanging, cooked some of it and waited. Billy came back, full of suspicion, heard the warrant, and drew his tomahawk. Dowden and Rennick were hidden. Bracken must have read the warrant as a trap. Rennick and Dowden fired and killed Billy. Kenton went to the trial armed and threatening to shoot anybody that convicted Rennick and Dowden, and was determined, if such procedure was needed, to shoot up the court while the prisoners escaped. Edna Kenton gives this as in 1804. Kenton suffered heavy losses in Clark County due to the embezzlement of James Robinson, his storekeeper at the Lagonda mill. Students of local Indian happenings and of the events connected with the Springfield council of 1807 will find much of interest in Edna Kenton's work. She adds several new names to Clark County history in the persons of Coo-na-haw, or John Coons, a white Indian, captured at three years of age, his son, William Moses, his daughters, Katy and Betsy, and little son Abraham, buried on the Kenton place (Hunt farm). Chi-ux-ko, the other Kenton hanger on, had two sons, Spy Buck and Cornstalk, these with John Coldwater's son, Pa-mo-tee, when added to Roundhead and Billy George, considerably enlarge Clark County's known Indians. The interval from Billy George's murder