CHAPTER IV.
ROSS COUNTY BEFORE 1860.
THE establishment of courts of justice and the installation of public officers was naturally the first work attending the organization of Ross county. The first court was known as the "court of quarter sessions"--a tribunal which went out of existence upon the admission of the State in 1802. Following that event, the supreme court was organized, auxiliary to which was the court of common pleas. On the adoption of the second constitution, March 10, 1851, the district, common pleas, and county probate courts assumed jurisdiction.
On the l1th of October, 1798, Territorial Governor St. Clair appointed as justices of the common pleas court, Thomas Worthington, James Scott, Samuel Finley, William Patton, Elias Langham, James Ferguson, John Guthrey, James Dunlap, Robert Gregg, Isaac Davis and Reuben Abrams, authorizing them, or any three of them, to hold and keep a court of record, to be styled the "county court of common pleas." At the same time Edward Tiffin was duly commissioned and sworn as prothonotary of said court, and authorized to keep the seals and records thereof, and Jeremiah McLene was appointed sheriff of the county of Ross.
The first term of the common pleas court began in Chillicothe on the fourth Tuesday of December following the appointment of the judges, with Worthington, Scott, Finley, Patton and Langham present, and the first cause on trial was the case of Bedford and Mowry against William Wylie for damages. The sheriff's return showed that the "defendant could not be found within his bailiwick," and the cause was discontinued.
The records are silent as to the manner of procuring the first grand jury ; but on the 27th of December, 1803, the following named persons began their duties as grand jurors for Ross county: Isaac Cook, foreman ; Joseph McCoy, William Kerr, James Grubb, Thomas Stockton, Thomas McCoy, Hugh Cochran, James Menary, William Price, Samuel Heath, John McCoy, Anthony Franklin and Nathaniel Pope. Their first official action was the finding of a
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"true bill" against one Phillip Wolfe, for selling liquor "contrary to the statute made and provided." This cause was tried before a petit jury consisting of Isaac Brink, Thomas Chenoweth, William Roberts, James Dailey, Henry Musselman, John O'Dell, Gaspar Bogard, John Entrekin, Elisha Rawls, George Frederick, Amos Taylor and John B. Boyles. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and Wolfe was fined in the sum of twenty-five dollars, and turned over to the sheriff until the fine should be paid. And thus the machinery of the county was organized, and its working features demonstrated by practical test. The machinery of justice included the stocks, pillory and whipping post, whose efficacy in the punishment of criminals was demonstrated on numerous occasions from the establishment of the courts until 1802, when they were abolished by the State constitution.
As may be readily inferred, the first county buildings were simple, and in keeping with their surroundings. The courts were held in a small log house erected in 1798, by Reuben Abrams, and stood on the corner of Second and Walnut streets. The building was originally twenty-four by thirty-six feet, to which was later attached a wing of like material, about eighteen by twenty-four feet. Col. Thomas Gibson, auditor of public accounts for the northwest territory, occupied one of the lower rooms of the wing as an office, while a family occupied the upper room for a residence. The upper room of the main building was fitted up with billiard tables and other appliances for the accommodation of those seeking recreation for either pleasure or profit. In the lower room of the main building, the territorial legislature held its sessions in 1800 and 1801.
The courts were also held there, and in later years it was utilized as a house of worship by the Presbyterians and Methodists. Perhaps no building in the town was employed for a greater variety of purposes, and certainly none was more useful. During the war of 1812, it was used as a recruiting office and as a general rendezvous for United States troops. It was torn down in 1840, when the logs were found to he sound, and the roof, of blue ash-shingles, was without a leak. In December, 1798, the construction of the old stone courthouse was ordered. The building was two stories in height and surmounted by a cupola, over which was mounted a gilt eagle, standing upon a ball. This structure stood hack about fifty feet from Paint street, between Main street and McCoy's alley. It was finished in 1801, entirely at the expense of the county, though it served for both State and county purposes as long as Chillicothe remained the seat of the State government. But it was found to be insufficient to accommodate both branches of the legislature, and a brick addition was erected twenty feet south of the stone structure, fronting on a line with Main street. The two buildings were connected by a covered walk, and the Senate met in the brick building,
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and the House of Representatives in the court house proper. In 1852, this building, which fifty years before, had accommodated the legislature of the State, was deemed inadequate for the county's purposes, and a new and modern structure was erected at a cost: of one hundred thousand dollars. It was completed and furnished in 1858, and has since undergone material improvements at a cost of many thousands of dollars.
The first county jail was an unpretentious affair, built of brick, two stories high, and stood on the southwest corner of the public square. It was soon found to be insecure, as the prisoners frequently burrowed through its walls, and made their escape. It was sold, and the material removed to the northeast corner of High and Arch streets and rebuilt by Thomas Braden, and used, first as a hotel, then as a brewery, and finally as a private residence. In 1827, the old stone jail was built on the site of the present prison. The present structure was commenced in 1877, and is a model of strength and utility, being provided with all modern necessities for the safe keeping of criminals.
The worthy poor received early attention, not only through official sources, but through the magnanimity of a public spirited and philanthropic citizen, James Dunlap, who, about 1810, donated a tract. of two hundred and fifty acres to the county for the establishment of a county poor house and farm. Upon this land, a two story frame house was erected, which stood until no self-respecting pauper would care for protection under its roof.
It is not definitely known when the first subdivisions of the county were made. There were, originally, but nine townships, and these were later almost wholly eliminated by the transfer of territory on the organization of other counties. The first townships were established at a very early date--probably before the county was formally organized. The first townships constituted for civil purposes, were Lick, Green, Pee Pee, Paxton, Scioto, Jefferson, Pickaway, Wayne and New Market. But in the call for the first gubernatorial election, it is noticed that Sheriff McLene included the townships of Harrison, Liberty, Franklin and Darby, in addition to the above, and located one election precinct for all, as appears on another page. As early as 1803, two more townships, viz. : Concord and Union, were established : for, on the 10th of May, of that year, Reuben Abrams, William Patton and Felix Renick, associate judges of Ross county, met at the court house to establish and regulate boundaries of townships, and to designate polling places for the electors in each. They reported the eleven townships previously named. Several of these were absorbed by other counties, New Market being now in Highland county, Pee Pee in Pike county, and Pickaway in the county of similar name. Some of the other townships extended beyond the
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present boundaries of Ross county. In the following chapters histories are given of each township in the present county.
The selection of the site of Chillicothe, and the early efforts toward the building of a city, are treated in an earlier chapter, and repetition is unnecessary in this connection. Though there was a considerable settlement made on the town site during the four months following the landing of the first settlers, the town was not formally laid out until August, 1796. The original plat of the town contained two hundred and sixty-nine outlots. The latter contained four acres, practically in the form of a square; while the inlots, with few exceptions, were six rods frontage, by twelve rods in depth, with alleys between abutting lots. This arrangement made the squares or blocks of about four hundred feet frontage, and these are bounded by streets of unusual width, ranging from four rods to six. It is interesting to note that the course of these streets was marked by blazed trees, the virgin forest being as yet undisturbed by the ax of civilization.
It is not possible to produce a complete and accurate list of names of the first settlers; but in manuscript left by Judge Thomas Scott, the following names appear as among those who sought a home here in the spring of 1796; Joseph McCoy, Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, James Harrod, Henry Bazil, Reuben Abrams, William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William and James Kerr, George and James Kilgore, John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton, Ferguson Moore, William Nicholson and J. B. Finley. The last named was a son of Rev. Robert W. Finley, who was one of the original proprietors of the enterprise, but did not join the colony until the spring of 1797. His son, James B. Finley, was a lad of about fifteen years when he accompanied the Massie party into the wilderness. He later became a prominent pioneer minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a volunteer preacher among the Indians in the Scioto valley. It is probable that all the adults named above became owners of lots under the liberal donation policy of General Massie, and no doubt most of them became actual residents of the town. Duncan McArthur, and his friend Michael Thomas, were among the first to avail themselves of Massie's generous proposition to donate an inlot and an outlot, each, to the first hundred settlers. Their lots were adjoining, and located on the south side of Water street, where they erected a tent, exactly on the line, and each slept on his own property.
John McCoy, who subsequently located on a farm in Union township, cut down the first tree, and Benjamin Rodgers cut off the first log after the town was laid out. Mr. McCoy also finished the first cabin in the place and thus achieved the honor of establishing the first house on the city plat. James Keder, an Irishman, commenced the
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first cabin, but was forestalled in completion. Joseph McCoy was the first merchant, and Thomas McCoy opened the first tavern in 1796. His early competitors in the business were Joseph Tiffin and Thomas Gregg. The first marriage was that of George Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran, as appears in another chapter. The first load of bar iron brought to the town was conveyed here by Thomas James in 1798, in the manner prescribed for all pioneer accessions to the new territory. The first white child born in Chillicothe was Mar get, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John McCoy, born June 8, 1797. The postoffice was established in 1799, and Joseph Tiffin, brother of Edward Tiffin, was appointed postmaster, and held the office for twenty years. Chillicothe became the capital of the Northwest Territory in 1800, and so continued as capital of the Territory or State, with an intermission of two years, until 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State. (The sessions of 1810-11 and 1811-12 were held at Zanesville.) Dr. Edward Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodists to locate in the Scioto valley. Dr. Tiffin was a local preacher of that church.
The "Scioto Gazette" began its career, under the editorial management of Nathaniel Willis, on the 25th of April, 1800. It has continued its life of activity and usefulness from that faraway day to the present, growing in popularity and strength as the "centuries" roll by. The Worthington mills on the north fork of Paint creek, embracing a saw mill and grist mill, were the first mills in the valley which were established with a view to permanence and utility.
In 1801 the settlers along the west side of the Scioto, from Chillicothe to its mouth, were Joseph Kerr, Hugh Cochran, Joseph Campbell, the Johnsons, James Crawford, the Kirkpatricks, the Chandlers, Beshongs, Montgomeries. Mountzes, Fosters, Pancakes, Davises, Chenoweths, Sargents, Downings, Combses, Barneses, Uttses, Noels, Encases, and Swaynes. On the east side of the Scioto (though not in Scioto township), were the Noels, Thompsons, Marshalls, McQuarks, the Millers, Boylstons, Talbotts, Mustards, Clarks, the Claypools, Renicks, Harnesses, and others. These are names well known in the history of the county and city; and, when taken in connection with the list of first settlers, as recorded elsewhere, renders the record quite complete and comprehensive. The early settlers of the various townships are mentioned in connection with the locality in which they located.
The early years of Chillicothe were uneventful, save in a political sense, and every energy was directed towards the development of the town and its environments. It sought the dignity of incorporation under the jurisdiction of the Territorial government, and this honor was accorded to it on the 4th of January, 1802 ; and the town government was organized by the appointment of the following offi-
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cers: Samuel Finley, Edward Tiffin, James Ferguson, Alexander McLaughlin, Arthur Stewart, John Carlisle and Reuben Abrams, members of the select council; Everhard Harr, assessor; Isaac Brink, supervisor ; William Wallace, collector, and Joseph Tiffin, town marshal. The first mayor of Chillicothe was Judge Levin Belt, a native of Maryland. The first tavern keeper's license was issued in 1798, William Rodgers, Joseph Tiffin, William Lamb and Joseph Patton being the recipients of this authority from the court of quarter sessions. In the same year Thomas Gregg was licensed. To be sure they were not modern "hotels" nor did they aspire to he such, either in name or other designation. "The Red Lion," "Green Tree," "Golden Lamb," "Anchor" and "Bell" were good enough, with the invariable suffix "House," following the name, in a gorgeous sign swinging from the sign post. We had "Inns" and "Taverns" then; but no illustrious name was used to give prestige, or to draw custom.
The old log court house which had sheltered the Territorial legislators, and served other purposes not so laudable, was considered insufficient, and in 1798 began the agitation for a stone building more in keeping with the dignity of the occupants. The stocks and pillory were already in operation. In 1800, a tax of twelve hundred dollars was ordered to be levied for the purpose of building a court house and jail, and Thomas Worthington was authorized to advertise in the "Scioto Gazette" for contracts for the building. The contract was let to Major William Rutledge, a Revolutionary soldier, and the construction proceeded under the direction of Everhard Harr, John Collett, Elias Langham, Thomas Worthington and William Chandler, as superintendents of the building. Rutledge quarried the stone in the vicinity. The carpenter work was done by William Guthrie. When completed and occupied in 1801, the building was an imposing structure, two stories high, with a tall cupola surmounted by an eagle weather vane. This "bird of liberty" is still preserved in the city library, though the old building was succeeded by a new one in 1853. This house sustains a historic relation, both to the Territory and the State; for in it was formed the constitution of the State of Ohio, and it also sheltered the first legislature, as it did several succeeding ones.
In commemoration of these events, and the historic interest which centers about the old site, it is proposed to insert a bronze tablet in front of the new court house to mark the site of the old building. This will occur, as a public demonstration, on the 29th of November, 1902, as the centennial celebration of the adoption of the State constitution.
On the 20th of March, 1802, the Select Council organized and appointed its own officers, as provided for in the act. of incorporation, and Edward Tiffin was appointed president; Samuel Finley, treasurer; Thomas Scott, secretary; William S. Hutt, supervisor, and
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Caleb Armentage, town marshal. The first market. house was established this year, an institution which came into existence through popular subscriptions. It was located at the head of Paint street, running south to the alley, and was a long low-roofed building, open at the sides, the structure sustained by posts resting on brick pillars. It did service until 1815.
The recital of difficulties between Ross county politicians and Governor St. Clair, growing out of the latter's opposition to State organization, the public censure which he incurred, and attempted violence to his person, is fully presented in another chapter. It will, therefore, be sufficient to add that Chillicotheans were violently opposed to the territorial methods of raising revenues, and characterized the scheme as the "oppressive and odious internal taxes, the detestable offspring of the equally detested reign of John Adams:" and when the provisions of the act lapsed by reason of limitation, on the 30th of June, 1802, they immediately proceeded to burn the odious document, amid great rejoicing and speech making. The United States Gazette, which promulgated the acts, was placed in a huge bonfire with the same ardor which had characterized the Revolutionary ancestors at the Boston Tea Party.
The first. banking institution iii Chillicothe was incorporated on the 18th of February, 1808, and was known as the Bank of Chillicothe. Samuel Finley, William McFarland and John Carlisle were appointed to take temporary charge of the institution pending the election of a hoard of directors. In 1810, some of the legislators of the northern districts evidently became jealous of Chillicothe's growing prominence, and voted to remove the seat of government, to Zanesville. The pretext. for this action was based on the allegations of the movers, that Chillicothe society was too seclusive; that members were not entertained in the homes of the first families with the cordiality and hospitality which the legislative solons thought commensurate with their importance. But, whatever the cause, the capital was removed, and remained at Zanesville during two sessions, when it was returned to Chillicothe to await the completion of a permanent capital at Columbus. But the progress of the city's commercial industries was not. retarded in the least. by the removal of the capital. It was a bustling, thriving town, employing no less than sixty keel-boats in transferring the products of the rich valley from this "port" to the southern markets, while trains of packhorses, with their drivers and jingling bells, followed the trails to and from the eastern markets, with the regularity of inanimate machines. All was busy life and business activity.
British aggressions and violations of international laws had attracted the attention of the public press for years prior to the declaration of war in 1812. The Chillicothe Gazette had editorially assailed the "mother country" as early as 1800, particularly on the
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point of impressing our seamen into the British service while sailing on the high seas. But with the dawning of 1812, the climax came. With the revolutionary heroes who had already crossed swords with British soldiers as exemplars, their sons imbued with the patriotic fire of their heroic ancestors, it is not strange that Chillicothe promptly assumed martial array. But the first volunteers from this section were enrolled under the call of Governor Meigs, in response to a request from General Bull, that he be furnished a guard for a pack train about to start from Urbana to Detroit. On the 20th of April, 1812, Col. James Denny called a meeting on the Pickaway plains, and Maj. Joseph Campbell, an old Revolutionary soldier, is credited with being the first to offer his services. He was followed by Major John Boggs, and Richard Douglas. Duncan McArthur was then major-general of militia, but announced his willingness to lay aside official toga, and carry a "firelock" if necessary. John Boggs, a major of militia, did not hesitate to enter the ranks as a private. Others in high official places, or in lucrative business, promptly laid aside personal interests, often at great financial sacrifice, shouldered their "firelocks" and went out to meet the "red coats." In the various township histories appear the names of the men who thus promptly responded to their country's call, and something of their heroic services and gallant achievements. The most thrilling experience, perhaps, was that of General McArthur and his brave and self-sacrificing officers and men, on their invasion of Canada, and their success in destroying the British base of supplies, dispersing or capturing the Canadian militia who confronted them and making a safe return to their homes. A general rendezvous was established at the corner of Second and Walnut streets, in a double building of hewed logs, a building whose practical usefulness was demonstrated on many occasions in the early days. There soldiers were enlisted, assigned, and schooled in the preliminary drill. It is stated that enlistments of able bodied men were so nearly universal as to render the cultivation of the fields in some townships well nigh impossible. As far as possible, the names of soldiers from the different townships are presented in the special history of those townships ; hence a reproduction here would be a useless waste of time and space.
During the progress of the war, Chillicothe was made a post of imprisonment for British prisoners captured by our troops. At one time about six hundred "red coats" were confined within "Camp Bull" under and in conformity with the law of nations. The commissioned officers were allowed their liberty under certain restrictions, upon giving their individual paroles of honor. The restrictions related, principally, to the close observance of the conditions respecting correspondence, or other means of giving information to the British authorities. The non-commissioned and privates were not admitted to parole, hence their imprisonment became irksome,
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and they concocted a plan of making their escape to the Canadian line, by overpowering the guard, seizing arms, devastating the town, and then starting on their homeward trip. This scheme was divulged by two British officers who had been let into the secret, and who thought concealment inconsistent with the conditions of their paroles. While this action was hardly consistent with the general attitude of the British soldiery towards the United States at that time, it is, nevertheless, so recorded in "Howe's History of Ohio."
Following the disclosure of this effort to escape, the prisoners were transferred to Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky, where the natural conditions were more favorable to their detention. After the removal of the British prisoners, Camp Bull, which was located about a mile above Chillicothe, on the Scioto, was the scene of two military executions which aroused public sympathy for the condemned, and reproach against the stringent laws which enforced the act. Gen. Duncan McArthur was the commandant of the Eighth military district, and, in the discharge of his official duties, it became necessary to use stringent measures to prevent desertions. The Secretary of War had issued positive commands to subordinates, to strictly enforce the penalty for desertion. To the civilian, remote from the scene of battle, and the hardening and demoralizing influences of war, the execution of a deserter seems cruel and barbarous ; but when confronted face to face with the awful possibilities which may result from one man's treachery, cowardice or disloyalty, the case presents a different aspect. The newspapers of the time fully justified General McArthur in his action, though the executions were the theme of public censure among the thoughtless and inconsiderate. "The penalty of treason is death ;" and we cannot conceive of a more treasonable act than a soldier's desertion in the presence of the enemy, or when guarding them as prisoners. The oft told story of how the men were placed, the number of cartridges used, and the number of executioners who fired the fatal shots, is a matter of little concern, since all military executions for desertion are brought about in the same manner, and in accordance with the prescribed rules of war.
Four men were executed at one time, and a fifth one suffered death in a similar manner a few (lays later. The latter, it is stated, was a witness to the execution of his four comrades, and was familiar with all the horrid details, as well as the deed which had cost them their lives. But, in utter disregard of his own solemn oath, and the severe yet just laws of his country, he deserted his post when guarding prisoners of war, and thus set at defiance the authority of the government he had sworn to defend. The offense was so flagrant and the intention so self-apparent, that, had the commanding officer been endowed with discretionary power, there was no room for the exercise of clemency.
"Putnam's History of Ross County" gives the names of thirty-eight
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commissioned officers, three non-commissioned, and two hundred and fifty-three privates, as Ross county's contribution to the service in the war of 1812.
Following is a list of the commissioned officers in this war as given in Putnam', History of Ross County:
Gen. McNeary, Gen. Harrod, Gen. James Menary, Col. John McDonald, Col. A. Hagler, Col. William Johnston, Col. William Clark, Lieut.-Col. M. E. Peterson, Major Callow ay, Major Engle, Maj. John Boggs, Maj. Abraham Lewis, Maj. John Willet, Maj. Jacob Meyers, Maj. John Putnam, Chap. David Jones, Chap. Benjamin Grimes, Surg. Samuel McAdow, Capt. John Sample, Capt. Joseph Rockhold, Capt. William Stockton, Capt. Clement Brown, Capt. Daniel Kershner, Capt. John Patterson, Capt. William Keyes, Capt. Jacob Rhinehart. Capt. Philip Meneil, Capt. Abram Moore, Capt. H. Mallon, Capt. Robert Hoddy, Capt. Zach Taylor, Capt. Daniel Hare, Capt. David Elliott, Capt. James Miner, Capt. Henry Brush, Lieut. William Beach, Ensign John Stockton, Lieut. William Clawson, Lieut. Thomas Arthurs, Lieut. George Stanhope.
The term of service was of short duration, and many of the enlisted men never left the State, while a few saw active service "at the front." But the threatening attitude of the Indians rendered necessary a strong frontier guard, and Hull's surrender necessitated a second call for troops for this purpose.
The old market house was superseded by a new one in 1815, and this year the first city ordinance was published in the newspapers. The Farmers' Mechanics and Merchants' Bank was established in 1815, with J. P. Fessenden as cashier. John Woodbridge was cashier of the Bank of Chillicothe at that time. The court house bell was designated as the official fire alarm, and a ringer was employed by the council. Four hundred dollars was appropriated in this year for street cleaning and improvements, and this was reduced to six dollars the succeeding year, because of public censure for extravagance!
A toll bridge was constructed across the Scioto in 1815, the company owning it being Humphrey Fullerton, John Carlisle, John McLandburg, Joseph and J. M. Miller. The rates of toll were as follows: "Each footman, six and a quarter cents ; horse and rider, twelve and a half cents ; wagon, or four wheeled cart drawn by four horses or oxen, including driver, fifty cents ; each cart, sled or sleigh, two horses, twenty-five cents; each head of neat cattle, three cents; each hog or sheep, one cent ; all public mails and United States troops, free." The construction of the bridge was authorized by the legislature, by special enactment, on the 15th of October, 1815; and this body also approved the toll list and authorized its continuance until 1840. But in 1827 the county commissioners purchased it for the use of the county. In 1839 the Zanesville and Maysville Turnpike company came into nominal possession and built the third covered
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span at the north end. By reason of some technical error in transfer, the bridge again came into possession of Ross county in 1865. In 1886 a new iron bridge was placed on its site, and the old wooden structure which had served the people for seventy-five years became a thing of the past. The location of this bridge was designated as at a point on the Scioto where the road from Chillicothe to Lancaster crosses that stream.
In 1823 the common school system of the State had its inception; and the first agitation of the canal question was commenced in the previous year, while 1822 and 1823 are memorable as the period of an epidemic of chills and fever in the city and surrounding country. On the 29th of January, 1825, the canal bill was passed by the legislature, largely through the influence of Thomas Worthington, who was then iii the State senate. This was an occasion long remembered as the crowning event in the commercial history of Chillicothe, and was celebrated with a public demonstration, terminating in a banquet, speech-making and other evidences of the people's approval.
The lottery craze seems to have reached its zenith about. this time, though the scheme had been popular for many years, and received the approval and hearty encouragement of the best. people. As early as 1807 commissioners were appointed by the legislature to supervise a lottery to raise twelve thousand dollars for the improvement of the banks of the Scioto at Chillicothe, and to establish a ferry across the river at. that point. The commissioners appointed were Samuel Finley, Duncan McArthur, Isaac Cook, William Creighton, John Carlisle, Joseph Kerr, George Renick, Nathaniel Massie, and Nathaniel Willis. Lotteries were started for any purpose demanding ready cash, and it is said that some churches were materially assisted in building through the influence of this "game of chance." Times have changed, and the enterprise, which then received legislative sanction and universal recognition, is now made a criminal offense against the public welfare, and its literature barred from the United States mails. In the year 1827 occurred the death of Thomas Worthington, one of the founders of the State of Ohio, its fifth governor, and first United States senator, being twice elected to the last named position.
This year was characterized by a second epidemic, this time in the form of malarial fever which was prevalent. over the entire southern part of the State. The "Gazette" stated that there were "but few families that were not afflicted." This universal sickness resulted in the adoption of drastic sanitary measures in Chillicothe and the inauguration of a general system of drainage and purification. The dam across the Scioto, near where the Main street bridge now is, was found to be the principal cause of the trouble, owing to the stagnant water which it backed up opposite the town. The owners of the dam
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were indicted, tried, and, upon conviction, were ordered to lower the darn.
As appears in another chapter, the question of African slavery early engaged the attention. of Ross county people. But the solution of the problem, "what 'will you do with the `niggers,' " was one not easily answered. Some Abolitionists favored the colonization plan, and this solution to the perplexing question had many followers throughout the State. Chillicothe, and thinking men of Ross county, had their share in the work. They proposed to send the free negroes to Africa, and to purchase those in slavery, and also to send them to the republic of Liberia, thus evading the much mooted question of social equality and intermarriages of the races. On the 27th of April, 1827, the "Chillicothe Colonization Society" was founded with the purpose above stated in view. Edward Tiffin was the first president; Samuel Finley, first vice-president; Anthony Walke, second vice-president ; John Bailhache, third vice-president ; Samuel Williams, corresponding secretary; William Steele, recording secretary; T. V. Swearingen, treasurer; Rev. William Simmons, Rev. William Graham, Rev. Joseph Claybaugh, Rev. John Ferree, Rev. J. P. Bausman, Messrs. Moses Levi, Nathaniel Sawyer, George R. Fitzgerald, Robert Kercheval, Samuel Atkinson, D. W. Hern, and J. T. Worthington, managers. This formidable organization existed with varying degrees of success (on the rostrum) until the civil war put a quietus on further discussion as to the purchasing theory, and public sentiment and the usefulness of the black man have demonstrated the folly of the colonization scheme.
On the 9th of August, 1829, occurred the death of Edward Tiffin, the first governor of the great commonwealth of Ohio, and a man whose usefulness and popularity were second to none. Few men of his time have been more successful in the achievement of political honors, nor had any been more worthily bestowed. Whether as a statesman, friend, neighbor, or passing acquaintance, he was always the same upright, dignified and honorable citizen. His death was keenly felt by the people of Chillicothe where the most of his eventful life had been spent.
The crowning event in the early history of Chillicothe was the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal to the city. The people had looked forward to this event with the firm conviction that the beautiful little city would then take on a new lease of life and business activity, and soon become an extensive manufacturing center. In this they were only partially correct, though the advent of this public thoroughfare, which connected the great lakes and the eastern markets with the interior of the State, was a wonderful stimulus to business interests. The people had been enthusiastic supporters of the enterprise, and when DeWitt Clinton came to the town on his way to throw the first shovelful of earth in the opening of the mammoth ditch, he
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was royally received, feted and banqueted. In the spring of 1831 the excavations were finished to Chillicothe; the dam across the Scioto was nearly completed, and the aqueduct over Paint creek was well under way. The canal was an assured fact, and the "Gazette" says that "never before had building been so lively."
On Monday, August 29, 1831, two canal boats came down as far as Circleville, and there was inaugurated an expedition to that place to see the novel craft. Various preliminary "cruises" were made to within a short distance of Chillicothe; but on the 22d of October the crowning event occurred. The opening of the canal was celebrated with great jubilation. It was the greatest event which had yet occurred in the history of the city. It was hard to believe that a public waterway was thus established through which merchandise and passengers could be transferred from Chillicothe to New York and intermediate points with scarcely a change !
If the reader in modern times will but consider that at. the time covered by this recital there was not a railroad in Ohio, and electricity was only recognized as an agent of destruction ; while the telephone and other modern inventions which we use today with that carelessness of possession and use, which seems to assume that they have always existed, were undreamed of, he will better understand why the canal came to the people of Chillicothe as a most important innovation.
It is a matter of interest to note that Chillicothe paid to the canal company during the first month after opening the sum of $1,353.49 in freight tariffs, besides sending out to various points fifteen hundred and sixty-one passengers.
But the advent of railroads in later years deprived the old canal of its former prestige and usefulness, and it is now an open question whether it. shall not be entirely abandoned and the State's support withdrawn.
The Chillicothe Female Seminary was established in 1832 and did valuable service for many years. Many of the most prominent citizens of the place were enrolled among the boards of trustees ; but the establishment of the free schools crippled its efficiency, and the city high school finally accomplished its ruin. The property has been absorbed by the school district for the public use, and in1901 was built on the site of the old seminary the present handsome high school building.
Under the call of Governor Lucas, in 1835, two companies of mounted riflemen were organized and sent out from Chillicothe to settle the boundary troubles with Michigan. One company of fifty-seven men was under the command of Capt. D. C. Carson ; R. P. Jones being first lieutenant and R. Sleusman was second lieutenant, with S. Rockhold, cornet. The other company, comprising forty men, was under command of Capt. J. Robinson, with D. Cunning-
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ham and T. Earl first and second lieutenants respectively, and W. Cochran, cornet. A company of fifty-nine men was also organized at Frankfort and vicinity, with J. Ferrell, captain ; C. Schlegel, first lieutenant, and J. Harper, second lieutenant. J. Blackford was the cornet.
In March, 1838, Chillicothe left the ranks of incorporated towns and was dignified with the title of city. The population in that year was five thousand. Its banks represented a capital stock of half a million dollars. The pork-packing industry, then flourishing, aggregated fifty thousand barrels, while forty thousand cattle and fifty thousand hogs were driven or shipped from the city to other markets. The mills were turning out over five hundred barrels of flour daily, and three hundred thousand bushels of corn were shipped from the county. During the building season of 1838 many of the old wooden structures along Paint street were replaced with brick buildings more in keeping with the dignity of the young city. Street grading was prosecuted vigorously, while sidewalks and shade trees received the attention their importance demanded. In March, 1839, the new city council passed the first street paving ordinance, and thus the good work went merrily on.
On the 28th of April, 1839, occurred the death of Gen. Duncan McArthur, and another of Chillicothe's honored citizens was laid to rest. The occasion was one of universal bereavement which took shape in the form of a mass meeting of the people who assembled to offer expressions of condolence on the death of their distinguished fellow townsman. George Renick presided, and appointed as a committee on resolutions James S. Worthington, Richard Douglass, Allen Murphy, Henry Brush, Thomas James, John McCoy, John Woodbridge and Mr. Carlisle. During this year the State Agricultural society held its first meeting in Chillicothe. It offered in premiums the munificent sum of two hundred and twenty-one dollars!
The campaign of 1840 was the political event in the history of Chillicothe. As may be inferred from the preceding statement, the political sentiment was largely with the "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" party, and the enthusiasm took form, first, in attending a monster demonstration at Columbus, where General Harrison was the central figure. Four passenger boats on the canal had been chartered to convey the excursionists to Columbus on the 19th of February. But these were not enough, and two others were impressed into the service. The Citizens' Band headed the procession of boats, while many people went to the capital city by private conveyances or in stage coaches. This meeting so enthused the Chillicothe crowd that they determined to do something themselves. After a conference with General Harrison they found that his time was taken until September. That was too long to wait ! Committees were appointed and arrangements made for raising a log cabin on the 16th of May. When the
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time arrived they raised it. The Twin township delegation brought in a Buckeye cabin, drawn by six horses, and outside the cabin was a barrel of hard cider, with an accommodating gourd near by. A coon skin was nailed on the wall and a live coon gamboled on the roof. James Cutright., of Springfield township, brought in two flag poles, each eighty-one feet long, and each represented only a single "pole." The Kingston delegation brought a canoe thirty feet long. Since it was the "Gazette," the leading organ of the party in this section of the State, which first suggested the famous "Log cabin" as the emblem of the campaign, and also suggested the raising of log cabins for meeting places, it was only proper that Chillicothe should "set the pace." The cabin raised on this occasion was forty by seventy-five feet and would comfortably seat a thousand people ! According to modern ideas of the primitive log cabin, this one was slightly over-grown. But its capacity was nothing compared to the family it was expected to accommodate. After the raising of the cabin and flag poles and doing other preliminary work, including the eating of a dinner served at the market house by the ladies of the city, the meeting adjourned to await coming events. In this case the "coining events" assuredly "cast their shadows before them." This preliminary celebration simply whetted the appetite of the people, and prepared the way for the largest. and most enthusiastic political meeting ever held in Ross county. This is no disparagement of the political interest of all parties in the county from the organization to the present day; but an effort, rather, to show that this occasion was preeminently ahead of all others. The time fixed for the final demonstration was on the 16th, 17th and 18th of September, and in the light of this effort all others paled into insignificance. There were delegations from distant states, Louisiana, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Almost every county in Ohio was represented with delegations. Speakers occupied every available location, one at the court house, another at the market house, one on the deck of a canal boat, and several others on street corners, all speaking at once, yet it was estimated that forty thousand people assembled at Sugar' Grove to hear General Harrison. The entertainment of this vast crowd taxed the city to its utmost capacity. The thousands of strangers were greeted with that whole-hearted hospitality which has made Chillicothe famous in all time, and each housekeeper in the town vied with her neighbors in attention to the culinary department, now so seriously taxed. Universal good feeling prevailed throughout the congested period, and everybody had a good time. Every house was thrown open, including many whose occupants were of the opposite political faith. Young men slept on porches, in barns and vacant houses, while the elderly men and ladies were accommodated inside.
On this occasion the ladies of the city presented General Harrison with a cane cut on the battlefield of Tippecanoe where he won distin-
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guished honors as a military officer. John Carlisle delivered the presentation speech, to which the General responded feelingly and appropriately. The ladies concerned in this gift were Jane McCoy, Eleanor Worthington, Jane M. Evans, Margaret McLandburg, Eliza and Ann Creighton, Eliza Carlisle, Nancy Waddle, Rebecca M. Orr, and Reuhama Irvine.
The most voracious appetite would tender its resignation were we to give an account of the mountains of food consumed during those eventful three days; but at the risk of procuring a satisfactory substitute, the authentic figures are here repeated, these having reference only to meals served at the market house : Bread, twenty-five thou sand pounds ; sheep, seventy-five ; bacon, eighty sides; hams, thirty-eight ; chickens, uncounted ; corn meal, six bushels ; potatoes, two hundred bushels ; beeves, twenty-one ; calves, three ; turkeys, eighteen ; flour, twenty-two barrels; butter, six hundred pounds. Mr. Henry Brush served two thousand five hundred meals at his home, while other prominent citizens entertained from four hundred to a thou-sand people.
The Centennial edition of the Scioto Gazette tersely ends a very full account of this long-remembered event, by saying: "After all this the old town was tired, proud and happy."
The Branch Bank of Chillicothe was established in 1845. In the same year the legislature granted a charter to the Belpre, Chillicothe & Cincinnati railroad, the culmination of an effort which had engaged the attention of the people since 1827.
The agitation incident to the threatened war with Mexico took shape in the organization of two new military companies, the Washington Guards and the Chillicothe Blues. Another company in existence at that time (1845) was known as the City Guards. A general muster was held at Camp Bellevue, on the hill west of the city, and some fifteen companies assembled under command of Gen. James Rowe of the State Militia. The war excitement lent interest to this military demonstration.
In May, 1846, President James K. Polk issued a call for troops, and Ohio's quota was fixed at three regiments. Maj.-Gen. John L. Taylor, commanding the Sixteenth division of the Ohio State militia, with headquarters at Chillicothe, ordered a general muster of his command at that city; and when so assembled, volunteer enlistments were received, resulting in the organization of Company I of the Second Ohio regiment for the period of one year. This was a Ross county company and principally made up of Chillicotheans. It embarked for the seat of war in June, 1846, and served under Capt. Hobby Reynolds and Lieuts. George F. McGinnis and Charles O. Joline. The company mustered, besides the three commissioned officers, ten non-commissioned officers and musicians, and sixty-one privates.
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On expiration of the term of service the company returned to Chillicothe, and many of the original members re-enlisted. The new organization became Company K of the Fifth regiment, under command of Capt. George F. McGinnis, with J. W. Mariott and N. W. Parker as first and second lieutenants.
In 1846 occurred the semi-centennial celebration of the founding of Chillicothe. This was an event fittingly conceived and success fully carried out. The committee of arrangements included twenty-nine names of the leading old settlers then living in the city. The celebration was held on the 30th of October, and, as usual in those days, a public dinner was served. This was followed by toasts and general speech-making. Thomas McDonald, who built the first white man's cabin in the Scioto valley; Philip Minear, who assisted in building the first house in Cincinnati; Col. John McDonald, of Poplar Ridge, and Rev. James B. Finley were special guests at this dinner. The last named was specially prominent because of his tireless missionary work among the Indians, and efforts for the civilization and christianizing of the red man gave him the sobriquet of the "Wyandot chief." This eminent divine is spoken of elsewhere.
In January, 1847, occurred a most disastrous flood, which inundated the lowest parts of the city and did great damage to mills, bridges and roads throughout the county. About the same time occurred a serious fire which destroyed "Haller's Row" from Paint street west on Main, this being the third fire in the same locality occurring at intervals of ten years. In this year a mass meeting was held with a view to securing telegraphic communication with the outside world, and subscription hooks were opened at various places to secure funds to assist in the building of the railroad.
About forty per cent of the population of Chillicothe in 1902 and a large part of the population of the county is descended from German ancestors, many of whom were people of high standing in their native land. Some came as political exiles resulting from the Liberal movement of 1848. This had its inception in the agitation of the question of more liberal rights for the common people and the curtailing of the power of the nobility. Many of the best German families took sides with the people, and because of their interest, and after the tumult subsided in favor of their oppressors, they were exiled from home and sought an asylum in free America. But the earliest German settlers of Chillicothe and Ross county came as men seeking to improve their home conditions and occupy a country with unlimited possibilities for future advancement. These came about 1817, and were a devout, upright class of people, who in thankfulness for their deliverance and the prospect of a happy future sang hymns and devoutly thanked God for the existence of the New World and their safe voyage to it. Still others came as "Redemptioners," i. e., those whose passage money had been paid by others, and whose time
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and services were mortgaged, so to speak, until they had reimbursed those who had thus favored them. To these pioneer Germans and their posterity is due a large proportion of the solid, substantial advancement of the city and country where their homes were made. Their progress here, and this is characteristic of the nationality everywhere, has been wrought. through incessant toil, self denial, and careful and frugal management. There is little of the speculative in the German mind. Their preference in business seems to be in the pursuits of agriculture, gardening, mechanical trades, merchandising and manufacturing. Because of their inherent honesty, industry and frugality as a people, they soon achieve success in their various callings. The party that arrived in 1817 and was persuaded to seek a home in Chillicothe by General Worthington, comprised Emanuel G. Limle, an experienced millwright ; Jacob Sholderer and Jacob Wolff, shoemakers, and Mr. and Mrs. Pfaff. Mrs. Margaret Tritscheller, a daughter of Mr. Limle, is now a resident of the city, and the proud possessor of the identical hymn book used in the thank offering of her ancestors on their arrival and final location in Chillicothe. The Wolff family is no longer represented here, though all of the others have lineal descendants in the vicinity.
Of the immigrants of 1848, Dr. Xavier Faller was a prominent one. He built the "Mountain House" which, from its lofty elevation, overlooks the city to the eastward, and stands as an enduring monument to his memory. Ferdinand Tritscheller and Sigismund Engelsman were other prominent Germans who came in 1848. Mr. Tritscheller, above mentioned, was a student at Munich, and had just completed his university course when he allied himself with the rights of the people and was forced to leave his country. It is gratifying to know that he and other exiles of his time lived to see the principles for which they had worked and fought in 1848 become the law of the Fatherland. Hon. Carl Schurz and Gen. Franz Sigel, who became distinguished Americans, were exiles of 1848 and occasional visitors at. the homes of their friends, Tritscheller and Dr. Faller. There are many prominent families in the city today who trace their genealogy to ancestors who left their native counties because of their advocacy of the principles of human rights and justice.
The great event of 1848 was the opening of steamboat navigation on the Scioto. The steamer "American" arrived at Piketon. News of this event reached Chillicothe and a large delegation took passage on a canal boat and went down to share in the festivities of the Piketonians. A convention was held at Piketon on February 11th, just fifty years to a day after Thomas James had brought the first keel boat load of goods to the city. The convention resulted in establishing, for a time, a packet line between Richmond Dale and Cincinnati. But the state dam obstructed passage beyond that point except during very high water.
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On the 31st of January, 1849, the steamer J. B. Gordon crossed the dam and tied up at the head of Paint street ! This event was promptly telegraphed by the "Gazette" to the Ohio State Journal, the message reading "The steamboat J. B. Gordon arrived at this port last night, from the Ohio river, with freight and passengers from Cincinnati." But the rosy visions of steamboat navigation gradually faded, and the J. B. Gordon sought less precarious routes on the lower Mississippi. A telegraph line was established between Columbus and Chillicothe on the 30th of December, 1848.
The dread scourge, cholera, was prevalent throughout the country during the summers of 1847, 1848 and 1849, but it did not become epidemic in Ross county. It appeared in the city on July 1, 1849. Throughout the State, days of prayer and fasting were observed in accordance with the proclamation of the governor. On the farm of Mr. Renick, in Pickaway county, thirty-three employes died between Saturday and Tuesday. The thirty-nine remaining were panic stricken and fled in every direction, thus spreading the dread disease as they went. Men died in the fields, in the woods and on the road sides.
In the summer of 1849 the old log building which had been used during the early sessions of the Territorial legislature, on the northwest corner of Second and Walnut streets, was torn down and gave place to a building then called the Athenaeum. The old building was owned by Geri. James S. Swearingen, who built Fort Dearborn, and thus started the city of Chicago.
In 1850 there were thirteen hundred houses in Chillicothe, with a population of seven thousand one hundred. The population of the county was thirty-two thousand and sixty-three. In this year the city was honored by a visit from Emin Bey, special commissioner of the sultan of Turkey. He came through the personal solicitation of Mr. John Porter Brown, a representative of this country at Constantinople, and a regular correspondent of the Gazette for many years. Mr. Brown was a native of Chillicothe, born in 1814. He was a noted oriental scholar and a fearless American. His death occurred in Constantinople in 1872.
The Chillicothe Gas, Light and Coke Company was incorporated in January, 1851.
The first shovelful of earth on this section of the old Marietta & Chillicothe railroad was thrown at Greenfield May 2, 1851, an old Revolutionary soldier named Charles White being accorded that honor. A large delegation from Chillicothe attended the festivities in honor of the event; where cannon boomed, speakers fumed, and the whole jolly crowd partook of roasted ox.
The one event which overshadowed all others in 1852 was the burning of Chillicothe!. This calamity befell the city on the first day of April. Two thousand people were rendered homeless, and the prop-
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erty destroyed aggregated many hundred thousands of dollars. Fully one-fourth of the property within the city limits was reduced to ashes. The fire originated from a stove in the cabinet shop of John Watts, near the Clinton house, and owing to the inflammable material which fed the flames, it was soon beyond control. Many people removed their goods from threatened buildings, only to see them burn in the streets. The work of devastation was complete. But few houses were left standing in the path of the fire from West Water street, down Walnut to Second, and east. to Mulberry. The fire engine became disabled early in the battle, and this disaster, coupled with other conditions favorable to the spread of the fire, wrought the work of destruction. Fortunately no lives were lost, but many people were rendered destitute, and the mercantile interests of the city were severely crippled. Other cities rendered timely and generous aid to the unfortunate, and wholesale merchants in New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati tendered unlimited credit to the fire stricken merchants, allowing them to fix their own time of making payments. Thus the disastrous results were, in a measure, alleviated.
In October, 1852, the first locomotive for the Belpre, Chillicothe & Cincinnati railroad arrived. This was an occasion for jollification, and a number of prominent citizens were taken on an excursion along the construction route from Adams' mills to the slate cut, then known as the "Summit." They were entertained at the expense of the company. The locomotive was named the "Thomas James," in hono" of a prominent and benevolent citizen of Chillicothe. It would scarcely compare favorably with the "Moguls" of present days, though its fifteen tons' weight rendered it a formidable monster in the eyes of beholders who were then viewing a locomotive for the first time.
The old court house was torn down in 1852 to make way for a new and better one, and the old gilt eagle which once adorned its tower is now carefully stored away in the city library among the records of the past. In 1855 the balance of the early county buildings were removed from the public square, and the cornerstone of the new court house was laid with appropriate ceremony. Judge Thomas Scott, the oldest citizen of the town, delivered a brief address, but Hon. William T. McClintick was the orator of the occasion. Around the old table upon which was signed the first constitution of Ohio, sat Judge Scott, who was secretary of the first constitutional convention, Thomas James, George Renick, Messrs. Hardy, Pinto and Robinson, all old pioneers. Judge Scott died February 13th following this event.
Ross county was devastated by a cyclone on the 5th of November, 1857. Buildings were demolished at Andersonville and Frankfort ; trees were torn up by the roots; fences leveled or carried entirely away; horses attached to vehicles were picked up in the road, carried
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several hundred feet and dropped uninjured; a horse and rider were picked up and safely landed across a fence. Much stock was killed and injured and many houses were entirely destroyed. The storm was most disastrous in the western part of the county. One person was killed at Frankfort and a number of others severely injured. The path of the cyclone covered a wide area, traversing the counties of Ross and Highland with great destruction. By reason of the protection afforded by the adjacent hills, Chillicothe did not suffer severely, though the cyclonic conditions were fully apparent.
The first labor strike in the history of the city occurred on the first of January, 1858. Owing to the depression of business during the panic of 1857, the railroad company had been tardy in paying its employes, though it had dealt honorably with them and promised satisfactory settlement within ten days after the strike was declared. But notwithstanding this, the strikers took possession of all the locomotives except two, the engineers taking the initiative, followed by the firemen. They also seized the shops and all equipments, and refused to allow trains to run. Public sympathy was with the strikers until the circumstances were fully explained, after which there was a decided change in sentiment. Mayor Williams issued warrants for forty of the strikers, who were arrested as rioters, found guilty and fined. The railroad company instituted suits for damages, in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, against sixty-one of the principal strikers, but the prosecutions were compromised, or abandoned, after the strikers returned to work.
In 1859 the country was recovering from the financial troubles of 1857, and business was assuming a prosperous footing. Ross county banks passed through the ordeal unscathed, the two Chillicothe banks then having a net capital of four hundred thousand dollars, the largest in the State. This season of prosperity was checked to some extent by the disastrous frost of June 4, 1859. Middle aged people of today will remember the devastation wrought on the new growing crops, fruits and vegetables and how buckwheat became the staple product of the farms for that year, at least.