268 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CHAPTER V.

WAYNE'S TREATY-SQUATTERS-PURCHASE OF LANDS AT MOUTH OF MAD RIVER SURVEYING PARTIES-DAYTON PLATTED-DRAWING LOTS-FORMATION OF COLONY-FIRST SETTLERS-THEIR JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS-ARRIVAL BY RIVER-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES -TOPOGRAPHICAL-DAYTON TOWNSHIP- TAX ASSESSMENT, 1798-TOWNSHIP AFFAIRS TO 1803-OHIO BECOMES A STATE-THE NAME-STATE BOUNDARIES-MONTGOMERY COUNTY-GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY-THE ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS-ENUMERATION.

DURING the winter of 1794-95, constant efforts were made to assemble Indian chieftains of the tribes, in council, to make treaties that would insure permanent peace. Gen. Wayne and his aids were seven months in ar ranging the treaties. July 3, 1795, they were finally agreed to, and were signed upon the 3d of August, thus securing to the United States, clear titles to the Ohio Valley lands, from the source of the Ohio River to the mouth of the Wabash. The news of the completion of the treaty assured to the pioneers perfect safety, in opening settlements.

People from New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, were wild with impatience at the delay in opening the land offices; hundreds were pushing into the woods, locating " tomahawk rights," and " squatter claims." August 20, the following named gentlemen, Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Territory; Jonathan Dayton, then a citizen of New Jersey, and afterward a United States Senator from that State; Gen. James Wilkinson, of Wayne's army; and Col. Israel Ludlow, from Morris County, New Jersey, contracted with Judge Symmes for the purchase and settlement of the seventh and eighth ranges, between Mad River and the Little Miami.

On Monday, September 21, two parties of surveyors left Cincinnati to run the bound eries of the purchase, and to locate a road. Daniel C. Cooper, of Long Hill, N. J., had charge of one party; John Dunlap had the other. They camped the first night at Voorhees' Station, about nine miles out of Cincinnati. The next morning they separated, Cooper and his party to locate and mark a road, partially cutting out the underbrush from Fort Hamilton, up the east bank of the Miami River to the mouth of Mad River. On this road were afterward built the towns of Middletown, Franklin and Miamisburg. Capt. John Dunlap with his party were to run the boundaries of the seventh and eighth ranges be tween the Miami Rivers. They followed Gen. Harmar's old trail for ten miles, to Turtle Creek, where they left a Mr. Bedell, who had come along to settle about six miles west of the present site of Lebanon. and about a mile south of where the Shaker village now is. He at once erected a block-bouse, known as Bedell's Station. It was at that time the frontier settlement of the Miami Valley.

The night of the 23d, Capt. Dunlap reached the line that he lead located in 1788, between the third and fourth ranges of townships. The 24th and 25th, he rum north eighteen miles, to the south line of the seventh range. and then west to the Miami River, where they camped for the night. Their pick-horses were stolen by the Indians that night, and failiing to recover them the next day, the party were compelled, on the 27th, to carry their luggage to the mouth of the Mad River. Here a small party oil Indians were in camp about thirty rods

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. -269

above the mouth of the river. Both parties were suspicious, but soon a better feeling prevailed, the whites exchanging flour, salt and tobacco, for jerked venison. One of the Indians bantering Benjamin Van Cleve for a dicker, he gave the Indian a large knife, scabbard and belt, for one of less value with a worsted belt; getting a deer skin to boot.

Cooper and his party came into camp before night, starting back the next morning to make some changes along the road. Dunlap's party went down the Big Miami to the south boundary of the seventh range, then turned east through the timber nine miles, to Big Beaver Creek, and north, October 1, to Muddy Run, a tributary of Mad River. Jonathan Mercer, the pack-horse man, and William Gahagan, the hunter, were sent to the mouth of the creek to make camp and cook supper. When the party came up in the evening, they found that the Indians had been ahead of them, stealing nearly all the provisions and threatening the lives of the cooks. This party, in which were Capt. John Dunlap, Benjamin Van Cleve, William Gahagan, David Lowry, Jonathan Donnel, Jonathan Mercer, and others, remained there in eamp for several days, and on the 4th of the month, came down to the mouth of the Mad River, stopping only to eat the last of the meat, then pushing on down Cooper's road to Hole's Creek, where they camped for the night, marching next day thirty-four miles, to Cunningham's Station, where they ate a hearty supper of mush and milk and went in to Cincinnati on the 6th.

A party of Kentuckians had accompanied Cooper to view the county. On Monday, the 28th, they were up near the mouth of the Stillwater. Thick vines and high weeds preventing their seeing the land, they gave it up as a bad job, and returned to Kentucky.

On the 1st of November, the surveyors came again to Mad River to lay cut the town, which was done by Israel Ludlow, on Wednesday, November 4, 1795. The town was called Dayton, for Mr. Dayton, of New Jersey, one of the proprietors. With the party were a number who came to see the country, and locate, if it proved favorable. The next day, after the town was laid out, here on the spot, those present for themselves, and for others who desired to settle with the colony, drew lots for location, each man to have one in-lot and one out-lot as platted, with the privilege of purchasing 160 acres of land at the rate of a French crown per acre.

During the winter, a colony of forty-six men was formed at Cincinnati, to settle at Dayton and in the vicinity. Several of the more venturesome started at once; some of them stopped at the Big Prairie, near Middletown; two on Clear Creek; several families at Hole's Creek, where the following spring they built the stockade that was afterward known as Hole's Station. In the winter, or early in the spring, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel located on land that they had selected up Mad River at the old Piqua town; one man ventured up to the forks of Mad River, and another went over to Honey Creek. Several had come up to the mouth of Mad River, prospecting, then returned for their families.

Although forty-six were on the list at the time of starting, but nineteen fulfilled their engagements. Their names were Samuel Thompson, Benjamin Van Cleve, William Van Cleve, William Gahagan, James McClure, John McClure, Geo. Newcom, William Newcom, Abraham Grassmire, John Davis, William Hamer. Solomon Hamer, Thomas Hamer, Solomon Goss, Thomas Davis, John Dorough, William Chenoweth, James Morris and Daniel Ferrell. They left Cincinnati in March, 1796, in three parties. William Hamer, with a party, started first, but were delayed on the way. George Newcom, with the largest party of the three, started overland, the same day that Samuel Thompson left by boat with his party.

270 -HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

With Hamer were his wife, Mary, two sons, Solomon and Thomas, four daughters, Nancy, Elizabeth, Sarah and Polly, and Jonathan and Edward Mercer. Mr. Hamer owned a pair of horses and a wagon, and in this way emi grated to his new home. It was a long, cold journey through the woods, up the narrow trace, only partially cut out by Cooper the preceding fall. With Newcom were his wife and his brother, William; Thomas Davis and family; William Chenoweth and family; William Van Cleve, James Morris, John Dorough and family; Daniel Ferrell and family; Solomon Goss and family; John Davis and Abraham Grassmire.

With Thompson were his wife, Catharine, their daughter, Sarah, then two years old, their baby, Matthew, then three months old, and Mrs. Thompson's daughter, Mary Van Cleve, then nine years old; Benjamin Van Cleve: the widow McClure, her two sons, James and John, and two daughters, Kate and Ann, and William Gahagan. William Van Cleve was to drive Mr. Thompson's cow overland, in the herd of cattle belonging to the other party.

These two larger parties, with Newcom and Thompson as leaders, started from Cincinnati on Monday, March 21, 1790. Thompson's party came in a large pirogue, down the Ohio River to the Miami, and up that stream to Day ton. The pirogue was a long narrow boat, sharp at bow and stern, and of light draft; running boards extended the length of the boat on each side for the man who poled the boat to walk on.

She was decked to protect the women and children, household goods, clothing, provisions, tools, etc. The trip from Cincinnati to the Miami was made in one day, the boat landing at the bend above the mouth of the Miami to land the women, who walked across the peninsula, boarding the boat after she came into the Miami. A short distance above they camped for the night, resuming the voyage early in the morning, making eight or ten miles each day.

The second night on the Miami, they stopped seventeen miles from the Ohio River, at Dunlap's Station. One man would steer the boat as she was propelled up stream with poles. In passing over rapids, or rounding a point. where the current was swift, a long line was fastened to the boat. the other end being fastened up stream to a tree. Then the crew would haul away on the line, thus slowly working the boat against the current to where the line was made fast. This plan of stemming the rapids was called "cordelling."

From Dunlap's they made Hamilton in one day, then were a week on the river from there to Dayton, camping on the river bank at night, landing at the head of St. Clair street Friday, April 1, 1796, The flight of wild geese to the north that spring was enormous. The boat party had them to eat every day, with eggs gathered from the nests of the forest.

The large party of settlers, who, the day the boat left, started to come overland, were about two weeks on the way. All their stores and property were carried on pack-horses, rigged out with pack-saddles, large creels on each side, in which to pack the stuff. These creels or crates were made of hickory wither, and in them were stored bedding, clothing, pots, skillets, stores and provisions. plow-irons, and other tools and implements. The children, too small to walk. were fastened in the creels so that their heads only appeared above.

Hardy as were the pioneers, from a long, life in the wilderness, they found the journey of sixty miles over an unbroken road. long and weary: while some would lead the horses, others drove the cattle. With the trusty rifle, game in plenty was shot in the forests, and with the hatchet and ax they made camp at night, and thus they followed the narrow trace.

Cows and younger cattle were driven along, the milk was used morning and evening, and carried in canteens for use during the day. The greatest difficulty was met in crossing the creels, not only in getting the women and children

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over, but in keeping the freight from getting wet. The road, as far as Fort Hamilton, had been used so much by the army that it was comparatively in a good condition, so that the trials of the journey did not really begin until they had started into the narrow rough trace that led to Dayton. Small streams were crossed by felling timbers over them for foot bridges. To cross the larger creeks, such as Dick's Creek, Clear Creek and Hole's Creek, it was necessary to construct rafts to carry over men, women, children and the freight, while horses and cattle had to swim. The nights were cold. It had rained hard with a little spit of snow. The hastily-constructed camps afforded but little protection. A spot would be cleared of wet leaves; for the fire, if possible, dry leaves and sticks were gathered from under logs or out of hollow trees, and the fire kindled by rub bing together pieces of punk or rotten wood. For a bed, blankets were spread on a lot of brush and old bushes; thus through such hardships did mothers and little ones bear up cheerfully, sleeping in the open air, getting up cold and unrefreshed for an early start into another day of fatigue. They were detained for awhile at the Big Prairie, just below where Middletown now is, then halted at Hole's Creek, arriving here within a week after the other parties. Jonathan and Edward Mercer, with all of their worldly goods in the paniers of a single pack-horse, kept on up Mad River eight miles, and located Mercer's Station on land that is now in Bath Township, Greene County. They were the first two whites to settle in the territory now within the boundaries of that county. Their's was an exposed position, and twice within the nest two years, the savages forced the abandonment of the station. Others settled a little higher up, at Cribb's Station, in the forks of Mad River. All of the settlements were annoyed by the Indians stealing horses and pilfering generally.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

William Hamer was born in Maryland about the year 1750; with his wife, Mary, and children, he moved West, in the spring of 1792, coming down the Ohio to Cincinnati in a flat-boat, built by himself and son Solomon. At Cincinnati, they used the boat lumber to build a cabin for the family to live in, this cabin they occupied until they started to Dayton, in March, 1796. Being a local Methodist preacher, and thinking that in the Symmes purchase, as in the settlement of the Ohio Company at Marietta, Section 29 would be contributed by the proprietors, for religious purposes, he located on that section, up Mad River about three miles. He was mistaken, however, and afterward had to pay $2 per acre like the rest of the settlers. With the help of his son Solomon, and William Gahagan, he built his cabin on the top of the hill, just south of where the C., C., C. & I. and the T., D. & B. Railroads now cross the Spring field Pike. For fifty years afterward, that hill was known far and wide as Hamer's Hill. Solomon was, at that time, sixteen years old; Nancy afterward married William Gahagan; Elizabeth married William C. Lowry; Thomas was six years old. Sarah Hamer was married in November, 1801, to David Lowry, who lived up Mad River, near the mouth of Donnel's Creek, and was one of the earliest settlers in Mad River Valley; she died, in August, 1810. Polly married Joseph Culbertson, of Miami County. Dayton Hamer was born December 9, 1796, at his father's cabin on Hamer's Hill, and was the first child born in the Dayton settlement; he married Catherine Haney, moved to Illinois, then to California, where he died many years ago. William Hamer, Jr., married Hannah Culbertson, and moved to Indiana; Susan Hamer married Krider; Ruth married Abram Wagoner; Ellen died single. Mary, wife of William Hamer, died at their home, Hamer's Hill, August 9, 1825, aged sixty-three years. William Hamer met with an accident on his way to Cincinnati, in the summer of 1827, and died from the effects of it shortly afterward.

272 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Col. George Newcom was an Irishman, born in the old country and came to America, with his parents, in 1775. The family settled in Delaware, but afterward moved to the vicinity of Middletown, Penn. In Washington County, Penn., he married Mary Henderson, who was a native of the State. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born at Cincinnati, May 13. 1794, and died there before the colony started to Mad River. The nest child, John W., was born at the Samuel Dick farm, near Hamilton. September 9. 1797; married Martha Grimes, November 21, 1820, and died July 7, 1836: his wife died April 11, 1867; they had five children, all of whom are dead but the youngest, Martha A.. who is the wife of John E. Greer, of Dayton. Jane, daughter of Col. George and Mary Newcom, was born at her father's tavern, at the corner of Main and Water streets, in Dayton, April 14, 1800. May 20, 1819, she married Nathaniel Wilson, and lived all of her life on Main street, in Dayton; had nine children, four of them yet living-Clinton, Mary J. Hunt, a widow, Elizabeth Bowen, a widow, and Susan, the wife of Josiah Gebhart: Mrs. Wilson died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Gebhart, April 5. 1874. Col. George Newcom was a soldier in Wayne's army, and also served in 1812; he was the first Sheriff of this county was afterward State Senator, then member of the Lower House, and filled many other positions of trust iii the county. His wife, Mary, died April 3, 1834; June 22, 183(1, he married Elizabeth Bowen. who died October 29, 1850. Col. Newcom died, February 25, 1553. aged eighty-two years. William Newcom was about twenty years old when he came to the Dayton settlement. He married Miss Charlotte Nolau, of Kentucky, who, after his death, married John Baker, and. surviving him, married Henry Row. William Newcom was a soldier in the war of 1812, and finally died from the effects of hardships and exposure that he, with others, experienced.

Benjamin Van Cleve was the son of John Van Cleve. who was the son of Benjamin and Rachel Van Cleve. John Van Cleve was born at New Brunswick, N. J., May 16, 1749: was a soldier in the revolution. serving, in his father's company. He married Catharine Benham. and, in 1785. settled in Washington County, Penn. In December. 1780. he, with his family. started for the Northwest Territory, and landed at Losanteville, January 3, 1790. June 1, 1791. he was stabbed in five places, killed and scalped by the Indians in an outlot at Cincinnati. John and Catharine Van Cleve had six children. Benjamin was born in Monmouth County, N. J., February 24, 1773; Ann was born at the same place, July 30. 1775, married Col. Jerome Holt, at Cincinnati, and in 1797, settled with him in Van Buren Township, in this county, and died in March, 1858; William was born in Monmouth County, N. J., in 1777 ; Margaret, born at the home place, in Monmouth County, in February, 1779, married Reeder. at Cincinnati, and died, in September. 1858: Mary, born in Washington County, Penn., February 10, 1787; Amy, born in Washington County, Penn.; in July, 1789, married Isaac Shields, and died in Preble County, Ohio. Catharine, the mother of these children, married Samuel Thompson, at Cincinnati, by whom she had two children, Sarah and Matthew, before they moved to Dayton. Benjamin Van Cleve, the subject of this sketch, was an upright and worthy man; when his father was killed by the Indians, in 1791, although but eighteen years old, he took upon himself the care and support of his mother and family. He served in the campaigns of St. Clair, Wilkinson and Wayne was a bearer of important dispatches to Washington, New York and return; was in Dunlap's surveying party in this Mad River country, immediately after Wayne's treaty with the Indians; was here again, with Col. Ludlow, to lay out Dayton, and came as a settler with the first colony, in the spring of 1796. He taught the first school, in the Dayton block-house, in 1799; he served as Clerk of the Court from the organization of the county until his death, in 1821, and was

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the first Postmaster appointed in Dayton, serving in that capacity from 1804 until the date of his death. In the language of his friend and associate, Col. John Johnson, " God never made a better man than was Benjamin Van Cleve." August 28, 1800, he married Mary Whitten, daughter of John and Phoebe Whitten; they had five children. John Whitten Van Cleve, born in Dayton June 27, 1801, died September 6, 1858; William James, born October 10, 1803, died October 30, 1808; Henrietta Maria, born November 16, 1805, married Samuel B. Dover, September 21, 1824; surviving him, she married Joseph Bond, November 4, 1858, and died, May 18, 1879; Mary Cornelia, born December 2, 1807, married James Andrews. November 20, 1827, and died February 19, 1818; Sarah Sophia, born November 24. 1809., married David C. Baker, February 11, 1830, died October 18, 18 39. Mary Van Cleve, the mother of these children, was born February 17, 1782, and died December 28, 1810. March 10, 1812, Benjamin Van Cleve married Mary Tamplin, an English lady, but at that time living in Champaign County. Ohio. Benjamin Van Cleve died November 29, 1821; his second wife. Mary, by whom he had no children, died December 19, 1825.

Capt. William Van Cleve, brother of Benjamin, son of John and Catharine, was born near Monmouth, N. J., in 1777, and was not quite twenty years old when he came to Dayton. Although be lived in town for two or three years, he began at once to improve his farm, which was south of Dayton. His first wife was Effie Westfall, by whom he had several children. In 1812, Capt. Van Cleve responded promptly with his company of Dayton Riflemen, to the first call for troops. and in June they c were ordered to the front. After the war, he kept a tavern just south of town. at the junction of Warren and Jefferson streets, and died there in 1828.

Aunt Polly, Mary Van Cleve Sway Swaynie, daughter of John and Catharine Van Cleve, was born in Washington County. Penn., February 10, 1787. Why she is called Aunt Polly we do not know, but that is the name by which she is best known now. She was born five inonths before the Northwest Territory was formed; she is nine years older than Dayton. fifteen years older than the State of Ohio, and sixteen years older than Montgomery County. She. with her parents. landed at Losanteville the day the name was changed to Cincinnati; six years later, March. 1796, she left there in the pirogue with the party who came up the Miami River, landing at the head of St. Clair street, Dayton, April 1, 1796, and has lived in Dayton ever since. She attended school in 1799 and 1800, at the block-house that stood in Main street at the river bank, and can tell of events happening in every stage of the county's progress, from the little cluster of cabins of the last century, to the county's improved and substantial condition of to-day. She was married, to John McClain, in 1804, and by him had ten children, four of whom are still living; a daughter, Mrs. Jane Swaynie, who lives with her. and three sons, who have moved away from the county. Her husband died, and on December 12, 1826, she married Robert Swaynie; they had no children. Mrs. Swaynie has been a widow for many years; her residence is No. 247 Bainbridge street, Dayton, where, for the past twenty years or more, her relatives and friends have assembled to celebrate, with her, each recurring anniversary of her birth. Aunt Polly is in reasonably good health, although. of course, her mind is not so active as formerly.

Samuel Thompson came from Pennsylvania to Cincinnati, where he married Catharine, widow of John Van Cleve. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had two children--Sarah, who was about two years old when they moved to Dayton, and Matthew, born in January, 1796; Sarah married John Ensey. Mr. Thompson was drowned in Mad River, in 1817; his wife died. August 6, 1837.

274 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

William Gahagan, a brave and kind-hearted Irishman, who came in Wayne's Legion from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, in 1793, and served with that army through the campaigns of 1794 and 1795. He and Benjamin Van Clove were comrades; in May, 1794, they made a trip down the Ohio to Fort Massac, with contractors' supplies; returned, in July, to the army. After the treaty at Greenville, he at once engaged with surveyor, Capt. Dunlap, who was then getting ready for field work in the Mad River district. His land was up Mad River, and, for two or three years, he made his home at William Hamer's cabin, and afterward married Nancy Hamer. About 1804, or 1805, they moved to Miami County, upon land that he owned south of Troy, known as Gahagan's prairie. He was closely identified with the settlement and progress of Troy. His wife, Nancy, died, and he married Mrs. Tennery; he died, in Troy, about 1845. The McClures-The father of James, John, Kate and Ann McClure, was killed at St. Clair's defeat; and his widow, their mother. brought them to Dayton, and lived with them in the cabin, at the southwest corner of Water and Mill streets, for four or five years, then moved, with them, to Honey Creek, Miami County.

John Davis settled at, or near, the bluffs, and was accidentally killed at the Cooper mill, in 1799; his death was the first that had occurred in the settlement.

Solomon Goss, with his family, moved farther up the Miami.

Thomas Davis was a Welshman, but came here, with his family from Pennsylvania, and located on his farm at the bluffs south of Dayton, where he lived until his death.

Abraham Grassmire, a German, a single man, and was a weaver by trade. He helped to make the first looms for the settlers, and was handy in the construction of other household conveniences that the pioneers so greatly needed.

John Dorough, was a married man when he came here, and was a miller; he owned the mill on Mad River that afterward became the property of Shoup, and since known as the Kneisley Mills, but now owned by Mr. John Harries, of Dayton.

Daniel Ferrell was over fifty years old. and brought his family with him; but little is known of him, except that he came from Western Virginia, and settled ap the Miami, possibly on lands that are included within the bounds of Miami County.

William Chenoweth brought his family with him from Kentucky. He was fifty-five years of age, and a blacksmith, although he did not follow that trade here, for, up to September, 1799, there was no blacksmith shop within twenty miles of Dayton. His land was in the Mad River Valley, and was cut off from this county, in the formation of Greene County.

James Morris came West, to Fort Harmar, and was on the expedition under Gen. Harmar, in 1790. He was a farmer, and, after coming to this county. was twice married, but died childless.

TOPOGRAPHICAL.

As these settlers found it, the outlook was a waving sea of green tree-tops, varied only by channels of rippling streams, that spread out like a fan, from just above the location of the little hamlet of log cabins. The clean gravel bed of the Big Miami was the main channel from the north. winding its way through rich bottom lands, from its source down through this beautiful valley; emptying into it a mile above Dayton, was the Southwest Branch (Stillwater); just at the town site, dashing, whirling, beautiful Mad River joined the more steady-going Miami for a sweep around the point selected for the settlement. A half mile below, on the west side, was Wolf Creek, and five miles further down, from among the hills, came Possum Run, a stream of little importance.

PAGE 275 - PICTURE OF GEORGE BIXLER, PERRY TP.

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Next was Bear Creek: then Little and Big Twin Creeks; and on the east side of the Miami, five miles below the settlement, was Hole's Creek; and just above the bluffs, the Rubicon. Into these larger streams, flowing from springs and lakelets, were the numberless little branches, creeks and runs of clear cool waters; from the marshes and forests, glen and dale, through the bright prairies. and broad bottoms, and, bursting from the hills, came the limpid waters to freshen the rivers.

From the level disk of prairie, meadows and swails, around the old Mackacheek towns, clear, cool Mad River cut its way, fed by rapid-running brooks and bubbling springs of delightful water. The Southwest Branch (Stillwater) winding through the hills from the northwest, drained an equally fertile section

Wolf Creek and Bear Creek and Little Twin Creek, with their sources within the county, were the outlets of the greater portion of the western half of the county. Big Twin Creek, crossing the southwestern corner of the county, and uniting with Little Twin, at the point where Germantown was afterward located, connected with the Miami a few miles below, in Warren County.

Hole's Creek was the only feeder of any importance on the east side of the Miami, below Dayton. The southeastern part of the county was partially drained by Little Beaver Creek and other small streams running into the Little Miami River. Small creeks in the northwest corner of the county, now Clay and Perry Townships, led to the upper branches of Big Twin Creek.

The beauty and fertility of the :Miami country had been made known by the earliest adventurers by the returning soldiers of the military expeditions, and by explorers and surveying parties afterward. There was nothing monotonous in the topography of the county, an ever-changing panorama of hills and valleys, sparkling streams gracefully winding through the green prairies and woodlands. The great rolling ridges of hills lay north and south in chains between the streams, and rising gradually to the level table-lands in the northern part of the county, around to the county line on the west, and down to the headwaters of Bear Creek and Little Twin. South of that and to the Miami, the highest land of the county is found; the hills there are about 350 feet above the river, about 600 feet above low water mark at Cincinnati -an elevation of about 1,000 feet above tide water.

The hills between Mad River and the Miami are not so high or rough, and away from the rivers, generally run back to the gentle undulations of the more level country beyond. South of Mad River, and down to the little branches and creeks that lead east to the Little Miami and west to the Big Miami, the lay of the land was that of broad slopes with but little waste.

The main stem, the broad, rich bottoms of the Miami itself, from one to two miles wide, along that river, from north to south, divided the territory that was afterward formed into Montgomery County-one-fourth on the east side and the three-fourths on the west side of the river. Here the pioneers could choose from the rich valleys of either the Miami, Mad River, Stillwater, the Twin Valleys, Wolf Creek, or Crooked Salem Creek above, or Bear Creek, or Hole's Creek, and even the hilly tracts were dotted with little green valleys of rich loamy soil-the best of farm lands.

From the water's edge, across the bottoms and up over the hills and sweep ing slopes, in all directions, was an almost unbroken, undisturbed dense wood. A dead silence pervaded the wilderness; neither wigwam or cabin stood any where in this very perfection of forest; a mass of tangled vines and undergrowth made a safe retreat for birds and wild animals. To the north and west were the beach lands, the hill-sides and plains were covered with sugar trees, hickory, elm, ash, walnut and poplars; on the hilltops were groves of stately oaks. Timber, water and stone were in abundance. Gravel knolls and ridges

278 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

were most numerous to the south and east, but a good supply of clean gravel could be found in the beds of most of the streams. The uplands were generally a fertile, clayey soil, well adapted to raising tobacco or grain. The rich soils of the bottom lands, however, were to be the fine farming tracts; there the light, warm, dry soil would prove inexhaustible, and produce fully double what could be raised in the cold, wet, heavy uplands. The beech lands held so nearly a level position that the streams that had their sources in them were generally of a sluggish flow, and, although being in the highest levels, they were rated as the low lands of the county. The soil of the " second bottoms," while thinner than that of the bottoms, was of a loamy, sandy character and very productive. Prairie lands were not a particular feature in the topography of the county, and were chiefly valuable from the fact that they were ready for immediate cultivation, but wherever they were, they were of small extent. Wet lands and swamps were taken as so mach bad with all of the good

The choice tracts of land were the rich, black bottoms, found alike in great bodies in the Mad River, Miami and Stillwater Valleys, as well as along Wolf Creek, Bear Creek and the Twin Creeks all equally productive. These were the rich lands. which, to the intelligent eye of the pioneer, promised to blossom as the rose; lands apparently inexhaustible in their resources, and, therefore, to attract a good class from the stream of emigrants then moving westward from the colonies. This valley was indeed a garden spot. The Indian deserted it reluctantly, but God designed that they should have it who could make the most of it. And now the results of the labor of our pioneers show themselves. Instead of the gloomy forests and underbrush of the river, fields and hill-top,, that art; now smiling acres and verdant gardens. and where the wild peavine once clambered up to meet the sunlight, the gracefully-tasseled corn waves in the same breezes that carried the red man's canoe from shore to shore of the rivers.

DAYTON TOWNSHiP.

The survey of the Miami tract by Col. Ludlow, definitely located the northern boundary of Hamilton County, so that, instead of the line being drawn from the mouth of the Loramie Creek, it extended up the Miami to where that river crossed the Indian boundary-line in Section .18. Township 2. of Range 14 of townships, between the Miami Rivers; thence along the Indian boundary-line to the "Ludlow line," thence along that line to tho head spring of the Little Miami River, and down that river to the Ohio. The county embraced the entire Ludlow survey. of fourteen ranges of townships and the fractional range between the north line of the fourteenth range and the Indian boundary-line.

January 2, 1790, the date of the formation of Hamilton County, Gov. St. Clair appointed Jacob Tappan and William McMillan Justices of the Peace for the county. Their authority extended, of course, throughout all of the territory included in the county, but as there were no inhabitants in this tipper country, it is not necessary to notice more than simply the appointment of these, the first civil officers of the valley.

At the time of the settlement at Dayton. William McMillan. Robert Wheelan and Robert Benham were the County Commissioners of Hamilton County; Tabor Washburn was Clerk; Daniel Symmes. Sheriff; Stephen Wood, Treasurer, and George Gordon, Coroner.

During the winter of 1796-97, Dayton Township and other townships, were formed, making eleven in all in the county, viz., Cincinnati. Columbia, Miami, Anderson. Iron Ridge, South Bend, Colerain, Springfield, Fairfield, Deerfield and Dayton. Fairfield Township included the territory east of the Big Miami, now in Butler County. Deerfield Township included the territory west of the Little Miami, now in Warren County, and that part of Montgom-

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 279

ery County between the Miami Rivers south of the north line of the fifth range of townships. Dayton Township was bounded as follows: Beginning at a point on the east bank of the Big Miami, where it was intersected by the north line of the fifth range of townships; thence up that river in all its meanderings to the Indian boundary-line, at a point where said river crossed the said Indian boundary-line, in Section 18, Township 2, in the fourteenth range of townships, between the Miamis; thence along said line to Ludlow's line, and down that line to the southeast corner of Section 5, Township 6, in the eighth range of townships between the Miamis, where was a branch of the Little Miami River; thence down the river to the north line of the fifth range of townships; thence west with said line to the place of beginning. The township thus described included within its limits territory that now forms portions of the counties of Montgomery. Greene, Miami, Clark, Champaign, Logan and Shelby. All of Wayne, Mad River and Van Buron, with parts of Washington, Dayton and Miami Townships, of Montgomery County, as at present formed, were in Dayton Township.

The Commissioners of Hamilton County, on the 10th of June, 1797, at a meeting held at the Mansion House of Seth Cutter's, in Cincinnati, appointed Assessors and Collectors for the several townships. James Brady was made Assessor, and John Kitchell, Collector, of Dayton Township. John Kitchell, failing to qualify, Calvin Morrill, ill, was, on the 25th of August, appointed in his stead, and Cyrus Osborn was appointed Constable of Dayton Township. Constables made returns of persons and property to the Assessors, who made the lists and assessments, that were placed in the hands of the Township Collectors for collection. The Commissioners and Assessors jointly controlled the disbursements, making regular reports to the County Court. The reports of assessments and collections for Dayton Township for this year, were lost in transit, between Dayton and Cincinnati; the Clerk was ordered to forward duplicates, and Col lector Morrill was directed to make return by the 15th of January, 1798. There were sixteen delinquents in the township, and the Collector made final return, eight of them non est, seven satisfied and one lost. After the lists were returned each year, the Commissioners and Assessors met as a Court of Appeals, to hear appeals against assessments. The following orders show the amount of fees paid to these first officers.

TO STEPHEN WOOD, TREASURER OF THE COUNTY OF HAMILTON

Sir-You will pay James Brady Five Dollars and Twenty Cents, out of the first monies that come into your hands, the same being his perquisites in full as Assessor for the Township of Dayton for the year 1797, and this shall be your warrant for so doing.

(Signed) WILLIAM MCMILLAN Commissioners.

ROBERT BENHAM.

Nov. 24th, 1797.

To STEPHEN WOOD, TREASURER OF HAMILTON COUNTY

Sir-You will pay Cyrus Osborn, Constable of Dayton Township, One Dollar and Ninety Cents, which by law he is entitled to for his trouble and attention in executing and returning the Commissioners' warrant for ascertaining the taxable property for the present year ; and also Fifty Cents for one quire of paper used in the aforesaid business. (Signed) WILLIAM MCMILLAN, Commissioners.

ROBERT BENHAM,

CINCINNATI, Nov. 24th, 1797.

The county expense for stationery for the year was $14.34. The Commissioners' fees for the same time were $7.50 each.

Joseph Price was appointed County Commissioner in 1798, in place of William McMillan, whose term expired. Jacob Burnet succeeded Stephen Wood as Treasurer ; John Ludlow succeeded Daniel Symmes as Sheriff ; and John S. Gano was appointed Protonothary.

280 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

James Thompson was appointed Constable of Dayton Township for the year 1798, Daniel C. Cooper, Assessor, and George Newcom, Collector.

The following rates (valuation for taxation) were fixed by the Commissioners and Appraisers

Single men with no property.................................... $1 00

Cleared land, per acre........................................ . . 20 00

Cattle, per head................................................ 16 00

Horses......................................................... 75 00 Cabins......................................................... 20 00

Houses........ ............................ ..................... 600 00

Grist and saw mills, each....................................... 600 00

Boats.......................................................... 200 00 Ferries......................................................... 1,000 00

Stud horses .................................................... 1,000 00

LIST OF TAXPAYERS AND ASSESSMENTS IN DAYTON TOWNSHIP IN 1798.

George Allexander............................................. $1 12

George Adams................................................. 1 33

Thomas Arnett................................................ 62

Benjamin Archer.............................................. 1 33

John Barnett.................................................. 1 25

Paul Butler ..................................... . ............. 80

Loriam Belcher ................................................ 1 25

George Boos (living at Dayton)................................1 25

John Beatey (living near Cribb's Station)...................1 25

Paterick Broderick............................................. 94

Samuel Beck .................................................. 2 20

John Bailey................................................... 57

Andrew Bailey................................................ 1 00

John Childers (living at Smith's Town)....................... 1 07

John Casey................................. ................... 1 00

Daniel Cox.................................................... 1 00

Daniel C. Cooper (including Vallentine Oyer, his miller)6 25

William Chapman............................................. 2 25

William Chenorth............................................. 1 00

James Collier.................................................. 1 33

William Cancannon............................................ 37 1/2

John Dever................................................... 82

Thomas Davis................................................. 1 40

Peter Davis (living at Dayton)................................. 1 00

James Drew (living at Hole's Station)........................... 1 00

Jonathan Donalds.................................. ........... 1 37

Owen Davis (including Owen Batman, his hireling)..... . .... 2 80

Thomas Denny (including James Pachston).................... 4 25

James Demint (including Christopher Kailey)................... 2 35

John Duncan.................................................. 87

Philip Espetro................................................. 75

Nicholas Espetro............................................... 70

Henry Etcheson ............................................... 1 12 1/2

Robert Edgar.................................................. 1 33

John Ellis.................................. . .................. 40

John Ewing................................................... 3 50

Daniel Ferrell................................................. 57

Daniel Flinn.................................................. 1 20

Benjamin Flinn ............................................... 1 07 1/2

William Gahagen.............................................. 1 12

Henry Garrett (Smith's Town)............ ..................... 1 07 1/2

Smith Gregg................................................... ..1 36

Benjamin Guinn (living with James Miller)..................... 1 00

James Galloway, Sr............................................ 2 50

James Galloway, Jr............................................ 1 32

Benjamin Hamlet (Smith's Town).............................. 1 07 1/2

David Huston............................................... . 1 37 1/2

John Huston.................................................. 1 30

William Hole.................................................. 1 73

William Hamer................................................ 2 40

Edward Harlin................................................ 1 00

Zachariah Hole................................................ 1 87

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 281

Daniel Hole, Sr................................................ 37 1/2

Richard Hudson............................................... 1 03

John Hillyard.................................................. 1 90

John Haggin.................................................. 3 00

Moses Harlin.................................................. 3 50

Jerome Holt................................................... 1 00

William Holmes (including John Teeds)................1 65

Samuel Holmes (Cribb's Station).........................1 00

Simon Hughlock (Beaver Creek)........................ 1 07

Boston Hoblet........................................... .. .. .. 75

Alexander Hudson........... . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 1 13

John Hole (including Arial Coy)............................2 54

Thomas John.................................................. 1 50

John Jackson................... ............................... 1 00

Soloman Kelley................................................ 90

Leonard Leuchman............................................ 1 06

William Loe................................................... 70

Jeremiah Ludlow.............................................. 1 00

John Laelley.... ............................................. 37 1/2

William Lamb (including Michael Woods and John Woods)......3 31

Nathan Lamb.............................. ....... 3 20

Andrew Lock.................................................. 1 37 1/2

David Lowrey, Jr............................................. 1 37

David Lowrey, Sr.............................. . ............... 55

James McDonald (including Jacob Shin)................2 30

Jonathan Mercer............................................... 40

James Miller, Esq............................................. 1 55

Edward Mercer............................................. .. 1 00

James Morris.................................................. 1 30

James McClure................................................ 1 00

Widow McClure............................................... 80

David Morris.................................................. 1 37

Adam MePersen (Little Miami)...............................1 80

Richard Mason................................................. 80

John McCabe (including his son).............................2 30

James Miller................................................... 74

William Maxwell (including his negro).......................2 12

Joseph Mooney................................................ 1 12

John McNight................................................. 37 1/2

John McGrew.................................................. 2 05

Thomas Newport.............................................. 2 00

Benjamin Nap........................................... . . .. .. 50

George Newcome (including M. Bourget).................2 69

Chisley Nap................................................... 1 30

John Nap..................................................... 1 00

Daniel Nap.................................................... 1 00

Usual Osborn.................................................. 37 1/2

John Penticost ................................................ 37 1/2

William Peney................................................ 50

John Paul...................................................... 1 12

James Paul.................................................... 1 00

William Paul.................................................. 75

Matthias Parsons............................................... 50

John Quick.................................................... 63

James Robe................................................... 1 06

Thomas Rich.................................................. 1 87 1/2

Jonathan Rollins .............................................. 1 00

Abraham Richardson .......................................... 1 80

Patrick Rock (including his son)................................ 2 50

William Robbins............................................... 92

Benjamin Robbins............................................. 1 30

Charles Sincks................................................. 75

Jacob Sincks................................................... 37 1/2

Anthonv Shevalier............................................. 90

Henry Stumm................................................. 75

Richard Sunderlin.............................................. 75

William Sunderlin............................................. 75

James Small........... ........................................ 1 00

Alexander Sampson (living with James Thompson)..........1 37

Benjamin Furman (including Aslam Eniswirt)................... 3 75

282 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Samuel Thompson............................................. 1 75

James Thompson (including James McCoy)....................3 75

John Vance.................................................... 1 90

Joseph Vance................... . .............................. 1 70

Joseph Vandalagh ............................................. 1 00

William Van Asdall............................................ 90

James Westfall................................................ 1 30

Jobe Westfall.................................................. 75

William Westfall (including two of his sons)........... ........ 5 40

Andrew Westfall............................................... 75

George Westfall............................................... 1 12

Peter Washington (living with Daniel Flinn).................... 1 00

John Welch................................................... 1 50

Joseph Layton................. ............................... 1 00

Moses Young............................................ . . . .. . 37 1/2

George Kirkendall............................................. 56

Total ...................................................... $186 66 1/2

D. C. COOPER, Assessor of Dayton Township.

His fees for this assessment were $7.21.

TOWNSHIP AFFAIRS TO 1803.

James Smith was appointed Sheriff. The first election held in the Northwestern Territory was that for members of the Territorial Legislature, on the third Monday of December, 1798. The following-named citizens were elected to represent Hamilton County: William Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Caldwell, Isaac Martin. Two Cincinnatians, Jacob Burnet and James Findlay, were selected, on the 22d of March, 1799, either by the President, the United States Senate, or the United States House of Representatives (authorities do not agree which) as members of the first Legislative Council of the Territory.

In 1799, David E. Wade received the appointment of County Commissioner, to succeed Robert Wheelan. The following-named officers were appointed for Dayton Township for that year: Constable, Samuel Thompson; Assessor, John McGrew; Collector, John Eying. D. C. Cooper was appointed Justice of the Peace. The first entry in his docket is dated October 4, 1799. The case was a suit brought by Abram Richardson against George Kirkendall, for $8. The costs in the case were as follows: Summons, 10 cents; entering judgment, 10 cents; subpoena, 13 cents; total, 33 cents. Defendant stayed collection with John Casey on the security bond. The next case was brought by John Casey against Mathew Bohn, for $6. 78. The Squire's record reads: " From the circumstances in the case, it appears that there is really no cause of action and plaintiff is taxed with the costs, viz., Summons, 10 cents; entering judgment, 20 cents; satisfyed." Another case recorded is a suit by Winetowah, a Shawnee Indian, against Ephraim Lawrence. for due for furs. The Indian got judgment for the amount and $1.20 costs. The docket runs to May 1, 1803, the date of the formation of the county, and covers 118 cases, a hundred of them certified as "settled." the rest being marked " sattisfyed."

The lands around Cincinnati were more rapidly settled than this upper part of the valley, because of the protection of the garrison at Fort Washington. Three new townships -Washington, Ohio and St. Clair-were formed in the county somewhere south of Dayton Township, in the year 1799.

Assessor McGrew was tardy in sending in his list. and was ordered by the Coin Commissioners to return it by June 28: by July 1, he had it completed, showing an assessment of this amount $22 64 were collected.

Ichabod B. Miller was appointed Commissioner in the year 1800. mud Aaron Goforth, Clerk. July 1 18, Jerome Holt was appointed Constable of Day-

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 283

ton Township, and was directed to "list" the free male inhabitants of twenty-one years of age and over; for which service he was paid $19.50. The rates of taxation for this year were upon houses, mills and other buildings-40 cents on each $100 valuation; horses, 40 cents each; cattle, 10 cents; young or single men, 50 cents to $2; bond servants, $1 each; stud horses, the rate they stand at the season.

In 1801, William Ruffin was appointed County Commissioner. Benjamin Van Cleve was County Surveyor, and was made Lister for Dayton Township; he listed 382 free males over twenty-one years of age. In addition to this number, he found, west of the Big Miami River, twenty-eight, and east of the Little Miami less than twenty. Mr. Van Cleve was paid $29.50 for listing. The township paid &576.62 1/2 taxes that year. Local officers for the counties and townships of the territory, had been appointed by the Governor and Courts; but as the population of the Miami Valley increased so rapidly, it was decided that other officers were required and should be elected, and the following authority was given for an election in Dayton Township:

TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES NORTH WEST OF THE RIVER OHIO. (HAMILTON COUNTY. )

The United States to Jerome Holt, of Dayton Township, greeting: You are hereby required to give notice to the inhabitants of said township, in three of the most public: places thereof, at least ten days before the first Monday in April nest, that they may and shall convene on said day at the house of George Newcom, in the township aforesaid, and then and there proceed to elect by ballot a Chairman, Town Cleric, three or more Trustees or Managers, two or more Overseers of the Poor, three Fence Viewers, two Appraisers of Houses, Lister of Taxable Property, a sufficient number of Supervisors of Roads, and one or more Constables, agreeable to a law entitled an act to establish and regulate town meetings. And of this warrant make clue return. BY ORDER OF THE COURT.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed the seal of our same Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, at Cincinnati, this second day of Alarch, in the year of our Lord 1802.

[SEAL.] John S. GANO, Clk.

The names of the officers elected are not known, as there was no record kept; but those who were elected served until the organization of the county, the next year, 1803.

OHIO.

By the census of 1800, there were 42,000 inhabitants in that part of the Northwestern Territory now included within the boundaries of Ohio. Application was promptly made for admission into the Union, as a State.

April 30, 1,802, the Enabling Act of Congress, for the formation of the State of Ohio, was approved by the President. Under this act, the first Constitutional Convention of the State was assembled at Chillicothe, on the 1st of Novem ber, 1802; and on the 29th day of the same month, the Convention, having completed its labors, the constitution, as adopted, was signed by the members, and the Convention adjourned.

February 19, 1803, the act of Congress, "To provide for the due execution of the laws of the United States, within the State of Ohio," was approved by the President. By this act, Ohio was admitted into the Union.

Ohio is the "Pennsylvania Dutch" way of spelling the Indian name given to the great river that divided the Indian lands of the north from the lands in possession of the southern tribes. The language of the Wyandots was similar to that of all the Northwestern tribes; that of the Delawares and Shawnees, who were carpet-baggers in Ohio, differed each from the other and from that of the tribes of the West. The Shawnees called the Ohio River, Kisilakep Sepe, the Eagle River; the name given it by the Delawares was Whingwy Sepung, the Big Stream.

The Wyandots, who were possessors of the soil north of the Ohio, and whose hunting-grounds were in the Kentucky lands, and who had control of the

284 - HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

vast regions of the west for a hundred years before the Delawares or Shawnees came here, gave the name to the river, and it therefore should stand ip preference to all other names. The Ohio State was named from the Ohio Riv er, and what is said of one applies to the other.

The Wyandots had named the river, Ohezuh, great, grand and fair to look upon. The earliest French explorers called it fair and beautiful. La Belle Riviere, the same meaning as the Indian name Ohezuh-the beautiful river. After the French occupation of the valley, following the Indian pronunciation of the namo of the river, they call it Oho, then Oheeho.

The Pennsylvanians, in their early treaties with the Iroquois, got the name Oheeo, and spelling it in their Dutch way exactly as it was pronounced, the "i" was substituted for the double "ee," thus: Oh-ee-o became Oh-i-o. It was not so spelled or pronounced until a short time before the middle of the last century; after 1744, when attention began to be drawn toward the West. Virginians gave the accent that has ever since prevailed.

STATE BOUNDARIES.

In no one of the many histories of Ohio has an accurate description of the State boundary lines been given; most of the writers have been content to say that Ohio is bounded on the east by Pennsylvania; on the south by the Ohio River; on the West by Indiana; and on the north by Michigan and Lake Erie.

From the best accounts of surveys, we find the eastern boundary line to begin at a point on the north bank of the Ohio River, just below the mouth of Beaver Creek; thence running north, in a direct line, to the northern boundary line of the United States in Lake Erie. The Ohio River, from Beaver Creek to the mouth of the Big Miami, forms the southern boundary line. The western line begins at a point on the west bank of the Big Miami River at its junction with the Ohio River, and extends north to a point, from which a line extended due east would intersect Lake Erie, northwest of the Maumee Bay. The northern boundary of Ohio, is a line drawn due east, from the point located as above to its intersection with the northern boundary line of the United States in Lake Erie; thence with said northern boundary line to its intersection with the eastern boundary line of Ohio.

There was serious trouble between Ohio settlers and the Territorial officers of Michigan, as to the location of the line between that Territory and the State of Ohio. At one time, the Michigan militia drove the settlers off their lands: but the matter was adjusted by Congress refusing to admit Michigan into the Union unless the line was established as Ohio claimed.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The first Legislature met at Chillicothe on Tuesday, March 1, 1803. Gov. St. Clair had become unpopular in many ways, and most of all because of his refusal, while Governor of the Territory, to organize new counties in the parts of the Territory most thickly settled.

March 24, 1803, the Legislature enacted a law for the division of Hamilton and Ross Counties, and by that act, Montgomery, Warren, Butler and Greene Counties were created. Section 3 of the act reads as follows: " And be it fur ther enacted: That all that part of the county of Hamilton, included within the following boundaries, viz., beginning on the State line at the northwest corner of the county of Butler; thence east with the lines of Butler and Warren, to the east line of Section No. 16, in the third township and fifth range; thence north eighteen miles; thence east two miles; thence north to the State line; thence, with the same, to the west boundary of the State; thence south, with said boundary, to the beginning shall compose a third new county, called and

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. - 287

known by the name of Montgomery." Section 6, of the same act, fixed the temporary seat of justice, " Where court should be held at the house of George Newcom, in the town of Dayton." Section 8 fixed May 1, 1803, as the day the act should take effect.

GEN. RICHARD MONTGOMERY.

The county was named in honor of Gen. Richard Montgomery, who was killed, in the assault on Quebec, December 31, 1775. Gen. Montgomery, son of Thomas Montgomery, was born in Ireland, in 1736, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1754, he obtained a commission in the British army and three years later came, with his regiment, to America, where he distinguished himself in the service, and returned to England, in 1763; remained there for nine years, when he left the army, and again came to America. He settled and married in New York, was a delegate to the provincial convention of 1775, and soon afterward was commissioned by Congress as one of the Brigade Generals of the Colonial army. In the invasion of Canada (1775), he was placed second in command of the division under Schuyler, and assumed command of the division when Schuyler returned, sick, to Albany. Montgomery advanced rapidly, and before December had successively captured Chambly, St. Johns and Montreal. In December, he effected a junction with Arnold, before Quebec. The assault on the town was made the night of December 31. The surprise was complete, but, unfortunately for the Americans, Montgomery, who was gallantly leading his division, was, with two of his aids, killed at the first fire. His 'gallant conduct and noble character were eulogized in the British Parliament, and the American Congress passed resolutions of respect and veneration for the young hero, and erected a monument, in his honor, in front of St. Paul's Church, Broadway, New York City, to which place his remains were transferred with great ceremony, in 1818.

THE ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS.

Shortly after the law took effect, by which Montgomery County was formed, the Associate Judges of the County Court, established the four original townships of the county-Washington, German, Dayton and Elizabeth Townships. Wash ington Township included the territory in the southeast corner of the county, from the Greene County line west to the Miami River, and from the Warren County line north about seven miles, nearly the present north line of the township. German Township included all of the territory west of the Miami River to the State line, and from the Butler County line north to a line running west from the Miami River to the State line, parallel to and two or three miles south of the present south line of Miami County. Dayton Township was all of the territory east of the Miami River to the Greene County line, and north of Washington Township to a line near to and parallel to the north line of the eighth range of townships. Elizabeth Township was all of that part of the county north of German and Dayton Townships.

At the time Montgomery County was formed, the enumeration showed 526 white male inhabitants, over twenty-one years of age, within its limits; in Greene County, 446; in Warren, 854; in Butler, 836; in the State, 15,314.