The above sum of $31,613 I consider ample to put said canal in good repair.
In many places the canal is filled to the depth of two and a half or three feet, whilst at others but
little deposit is found; the banks have been cut through .in many places to accommodate private
roads; at other points, they have been broken by freshets and muskrats. The space below the
trunk of Dick’s Creek Aqueduct was always too small to vent the water passing in said creek
during freshets, and the consequence was the banks of the canal were overrun and frequently
broken. My estimate, however, contemplates an enlargement of the water way to more than
double the present. The gates of all the locks are almost entrrely gone, and must be rebuit, and
probably several new miter sills will have to be furnished.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN W. ERWIN,
Rest. Engineer, Miami and Erie Canal.
LITTLE MIAMI CANAL AND BANKING COMPANY.
The navigation of the Little Miami by means of slack water and canals was proposed in the early
history of the State, but it was never carried out. In 1817, the Legislature incorporated the Little
Miami Canal and Banking Company, authorizing it to construct such dams and locks, and to
open such canals as may be necessary for a practicable ascending and descending boat navigation
on the Little Miami River from the Ohio to the town of Waynesville." The incorporators named
in the act were Abijah O'Neall, John Satterthwaite, Richard Mather, Thomas Graham, Isaac
Stubbs, Ralph W. Hunt, Jeremiah Morrow, John Elliot, Patterson Hartshorn, Zaccheus Biggs and
John Armstrong. The company was authorized to carry on a general manufacturing and banking
business; the capital stock was to consist of $300,000, and the subscription books were to be
opened in March, 1818, at Cincinnati, Milford, Gainesboro, Lebanon and Waynesville. The
company was authorized to receive tolls at the rate of 10 cents per ton at each lock. It was
expected that the canal would make Gainesboro, which had been laid out two years before, a
thriving town, but work on the canal was never commenced, and Gainsboro, never attained the
importance anticipated by its projectors, and long ago ceased to exist as a town.
RAILWAYS.
The first railroad in the Ohio Valley passed through Warren County. As early as 1832, the project
was devised of forming a railroad line connecting the lakes and the Ohio River, and passing
through the intermediate country between the two great State canals. For this purpose the
Legislature granted a charter incorporating the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company, and
authorized it to construct a railroad from Sandusky City, on Lake ,Erie, to Springfield, in the Mad
River Valley. Subsequently, the Little Miami Railroad Company was incorporated and
authorized to construct a railroad along the valley of the Little Miami River, extending to
Cincinnati on the south, and Connecting with the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad at Springfield,
on the north, thus forming a railway route across the State.
290 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
The act incorporating the Little Miami Railroad Company was passed March 11, 1836. The
capital stock authorized was $750,000, and the following_ named persons were appointed
Commissioners for receiving subscriptions; Robert Buchanan, George W. Neff, Charles Schultz,
of Cincinnati; William Lewis, of Fulton; Mathias Kugler, of Hamilton County; John Emery, of
Milford; Jeremiah Morrow, M. Roosa, Thomas Smith, John M. Hadden, of Warred County;
Allen Wright, of Lebanon; John Hadley, of Clinton County; James Galloway, Jr., R. D. Frosham,
of Xenia; Bennett Lewis, of Clifton; John Hivling, Joseph Kyle, of Greene County; Peter A.
Sprigman, James Boyle, Charles Anthony, of Springfield; John T. Stewart and Rowland Brown,
of Clark County.
Stock books were opened and the subscriptions of individual stock were liberally made. The city
of Cincinnati became a subscriber to the amount of $200,000. Some counties through which the
road passed made liberal donations, and the right of way was in many cases donated to the
company by the land-owners. But the company met with great difficulties and discouragements.
The road was built amid the doubts of many of the feasibility of railroads, the opposition of some
and the most depressing financial embarrassments of the company. The State first promised
assistance and afterward withdrew its proffered aid. Subscriptions by farmers were paid in cattle
and other live stock, which were disposed of by the company often at a sacrifice to meet the more
pressing demands of creditors. With no money in the treasury, there were judgments against the
company, executions in the hands of the Sheriff, levies on the machinery and tools of the
company, the road and fixtures in the hands of a trustee. The laborers with the shovel and pick
surrounded the house of the Treasurer, William Lewis, of Fulton, demanding pay. But the
courage of the President, Gov. Morrow, never gave way. He gave his time and energies for the
success of the road and refused to accept compensation for his services. Laboring with a
comparatively empty treasury, the company succeeded in pushing forward the work slowly. The
work of construction was commenced in 1837; in December, 1841, the road was completed from
Fulton to Milford, a distance of fifteen miles; some months later the road was completed to
Foster's Crossings; in July, 1844, the first cars were seen in Deerfield; five months more, and
they had reached the mouth of Todd's Fork; in August, 1845, the road was completed to Xenia,
and, on the 10th of August, 1846, ten years after the road was chartered, the first train reached
Springfield; and two years later, the Mad River & Lake Erie road united with the Little Miami at
Springfield, making an uninterrupted railroad communication from the Ohio to the lake.
In the Cincinnati Gazette of December 15, 1841, was published the following account of the first
grand excursion on the first railroad to Cincinnati:
"Fifteen miles of this road were opened yesterday. The company had invited the City Council and
a large number of citizens to make a trip upon it, and a delightful one it was. The day, it is true,
was overcast, but the excitement of the occasion, the conviction that now a work was
commenced which would bind the extremes of the State together and give a new impulse to its
prosperity, made all hearts glad and rendered the trip joyous in the extreme.
" No accident whatever occurred during the excursion. At 11 o'clock we left the bridge at Fulton,
and in an hour and a half were at Milford. We were delayed some time at the first ascent, in
consequence of the earth falling upon the track, but this only served to try and prove the power of
the engine for, notwithstanding the obstruction, it bore us safely through on an ascent of 125 feet
to the mile. At Milford, we tarried near an hour, and while there, such of the citizens of that
flourishing town as chose, were taken on a short excursion, while those of us who had gone up,
rested awhile on terra firma-
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 291
After this, we started on our return home, and reached Fulton in a little over an hour in safety.
" We have not time to go into detail, or to speak at length of this railroad. We cannot forbear,
however, to thank those who, through good and evil report, persevered in urging this enterprise
forward. They have acted nobly and well; and the day is not far distant when all will admit, as we
believe, that this is one of the most important works which have been undertaken for Cincinnati
and Ohio.
" We felt strongly, as we were whirled along at rapid pace, what a change a few years had caused
in this glorious West. There were men with us who could tell the tales of Indian warfare, of the
hardships of our pioneer fathers, of the isolated condition of the new settlement, with all its
dangers and difficulties and trials, and yet in their day they have lived to see the power of science
turning this wilderness into a garden, and bringing distant points together as if 'they were one
neighborhood. All honor to the enterprise and energy of that people who can work such
wonderful changes.
“The names of the engine and cars were appropriate. It was the blending of State and National
affection. The engine was called Gov. Morrow, reminding us of Ohio, and of what self-energy
can accomplish; while the name of James Madison, inscribed on the leading car, enforced the
doctrine taught by his life—that State enterprise could only succeed while the people of a State
were united together in harmony and affection."
After the trial trip in December, 1841, the road between Cincinnati and Milford was open to
traffic, and daily trips were made, but it was two years later before any report of the operations
was made. In December, 1843, the first annual report to _ the stockholders was made by
Jeremiah Morrow, President of the company. At this time, twenty-eight miles of road were in
daily use, and the company owned one locomotive, two passenger cars, eight freight cars and
three hand cars; 11,271 passengers were carried during the year, and the President reported that,
with the machinery on hand, it was impossible to run the train regularly or do the business
offered.
When the road was located along the bank of the Little Miami, it was believed that the numerous
flour-mills along that stream would furnish an important part of the freight to be carried. The
methods of constructing . and operating a railroad at that time were far different from those now
followed, and railroad travel was far less safe and comfortable than it is at the present time. The
Little Miami was first constructed with wooden rails laid with strap iron. In 1844, the President
congratulated the company that, in the last contracts for iron, the size had been increased to a
width of two and one-half inches by a thickness of seven-eighths of an inch. Some miles of the
road were first laid with poplar rails, which proved unfit for the purpose, and soon were taken up
and replaced with white-oak rails. About 1848, the old flat-bar iron was removed and replaced
with the heavy Trail. Notwithstanding all the difficulties under which the road was operated, the
President, in his second annual report, when but thirty miles were in use, said that the doubts of
the advantages of railroad transportation had been already dispelled by the convincing evidence
of facts. The price of all marketable commodities along the line had been increased, and, in a
great measure, equalized, and wheat had, for some time, commanded the same price at every
point on the road as in Cincinnati.
The Little Miami became an important railway. It became known as one if the safest and best
managed railroads in the United States. It was long under the able superintendence of W. H.
Clement. In 1869, the entire road was leased to the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway
Company for
292 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
ninety-nine years, renewable forever, at an annual rental of $480,000-eight per cent of its capital
stock.
Very different was the history of the second railroad built to Cincinnati, the Great Miami, or
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, nhich also touched our county. It was constructed in a little more
than one year after it was put under contract. In one month a cash subscription was obtained for it
in Cincinnati of three-quarters of a million of dollars, and its bonds sold at par from the start. For,
when this road was commenced, in 1848, the practicability of railroads was fully settled.
The Hillsboro & Cincinnati Railroad Company was chartered in 1846, and, a few years after, had
its road completed from Hillsboro to Loveland-a distance of thirty-seven miles. In 1861, this road
was purchased by the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad Company. Ten and one-half miles of this
line are in Warren County.
The Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad Company was chartered in 1851. The road
was opened for traffic in July, 1856. The line extended from Zanesville to Morrow, about ten
miles of which are in Warren County. In 1870, this road was purchased by the Cincinnati &
Muskingum Valley Railway Company.
The Cincinnati & Springfield Railway Company was projected in 1870, for the purpose of
building a road to form, in connection with other railroads already constructed, a trunk line from
Cincinnati to the Eastern cities. The sum of $265,000 was subscribed and offered as a donation to
this company to secure the location of the road through Lebanon, but without success. The road
was built through Dayton and Franklin. Only about four and one-half miles of this road are in
Warren County.
The Cincinnati Northern Railway Company, having, in 1879, purchased at judicial sale, the
uncompleted road of the Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway Company from Cincinnati to
Waynesville, for $61,000, constructed a three-feet gauge road, and commenced the running of
one train daily between Lebanon and Norwood, on May 30, 1881.
The Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad was completed to tile junction with the Cincinnati
Northern, December 20, 1881.
There are now within the county limits seven railroads and eighty-five miles of track, exclusive
of sidings and double track.
POST OFFICES.
There were no post offices within the limits of Warren County for more than eight years after the
settlements were commenced. Cincinnati was for several years the post office for the whole
Miami Valley. At the beginning of the present century, letters were advertised as remaining in the
post office at Cincinnati addressed as follows: " John Bigger, Fourth Range; " " Thomas Espy,
Little Miami; " " John Wallace, School Master, Turtle Creek; " " Moses Crane, Fourth Range; "
others were addressed " Bailey's Station," " Below the Big Miami," " Duck Creek," " Big
Prairie," etc.
Within two years after the organization of the State Government, four post offices were
established in Warren County, viz.: at Waynesville, Deerfield, Franklin and Lebanon. Ten years
then elapsed before any others were established. In 1812, Montgomery, in Hamilton County, was
made a post office, and it accommodated a portion of the people of Warren living in the
southwestern part of the county.
The first mail between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh was carried in a canoe, in February, 1794. A
line of row-boats was established in that year between those points, with relays at different
stations, to carry the mail. The first
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 293
mails to post offices in Warren County were carried by a post-rider. The route was frcm
Cincinnati to Lebanon, Xenia, Urbana, thence across to Piqua, and down through Dayton,
Franklin and Hamilton to Cincinnati, taking a week to make the trip. The people thought
themselves fortunate in having a weekly mail for some years. The mail was carried by post-riders
until about the year 1825, when stage lines were started with the mails.
There are persons still living who can remember when the postage on a letter, which must be
written on a single sheet of paper, between Cincinnati and New Orleans, was 25 cents, and the
freight on a barrel of flour between the same points was sometimes below that figure. Most men
at that time would have regarded our present mail facilities an impossibility, and especially
would the prediction that letters would one day be carried from Maine to California for three
cents have been regarded as a Utopian dream.
The following complete list of all the post offices in Warren County, dates of their establishment
and names of the first Postmasters, was prepared by George W. Frost, of the Pension Office,
from the books of the Post Office Department at Washington:
Waynesville, April 1, 1804, Samuel Heighway, Jr.
Deerfield, January 1, 1805, Ephraim Kibbey.
Franklin, April 1, 1805, John N. C. Schenck.
Lebanon, April 1, 1805, William Ferguson.
Ridgeville, October 1, 1816, John Blair.
Springboro, March 3, 1821, John Pennington.
Gainesboro, January 18, 1822, Jacob Reeder.
Twenty Mile Stand, September 28, 1824, Samuel Clendenen.
Hopkinsville, February 25, 1825, James Hopkins.
Roachester, September 13, 1825, Oliver Cook; discontinued July 16, 1853.
Kirkwood, July 27, 1829, William N. Kirkwood; changed to Mason, 1835.
Mill Grove, January 9, 1832, James S. Duvall; discontinued 1845.
Rossburg, January 19, 1833, Jefferson Stevens; changed to Butlerville 1838.
Mason (in place of Kirkwood), April 25, 1835, Mason Seward.
Edwardsville, December 20, 1833, Thomas Adams.
Red Lion, February 2, 1834, John S. Todd.
Level, February 30, 1834, Thomas Adams.
Butlerville (in place of Rossburg), December 17, 1838, Jefferson Stevens.
Harveysburg, August 3, 1839, Robert E. Lefetra.
Brown's Store, August 31, 1841, Samuel Brown; discontinued 1858.
Mount Holly, March 8, 1843, Samuel Hill; discontinued 1863.
Morrow, November 5, 1845, Warren Morrison.
Oregon, February 8, 1846, William H. Hamilton.
Fort Ancient, May 28, 1846, Thomas C. Nelson.
Dallasburg, August 22, 1848, William Wene ; changed to Cozaddale,
Liberty Hall, October 25, 1848, David L. Brown; discontinued August 12, 1851.
Dunlevy, January 17, 1850, B. A. Stokes.
Scottsville, July 8, 1852, John C. Bercaw; discontinued 1855.
Maineville, January 14, 1854, James Ford.
Pleasant Plain, June 29, 1857, Peter C. Spurling.
Foster's Crossings, October 27, 1859, Joseph T. Matthews.
Murdoch, May 4, 1866, William H. Walker.
Pence's Mills, June 21, 1867, Edward M. Pence; discontinued 1872.
South Lebanon (in place of Deerfieldville), July 28, 1871, John Cooper.
294 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Pekin, December 8, 1874, David W. Earnhart.
Socialville, May 1, 1878, Abel Conover.
Camp Hagerman, May 9, 1879, John B. Jack.
THE BENCH AND THE BAR.
Biographies of some of the most distinguished members of the legal profession in Warren
County will be found elsewhere in this work. It is proposed in this place to narrate, with some
regard to chronological order, some facts concerning the bench and the bar of the county not
elsewhere recorded. The sketch must necessarily be imperfect.
The legal business of the earliest pioneers of the county for eight years after its first settlement
was transacted at Cincinnati. In 1796, there were nine practicing attorneys at Cincinnati, all of
whom, except two, became confirmed drunkards, and descended to premature graves. Many of
the early lawyers of Cincinnati who continued long in the practice attended the courts at Lebanon
after the organization of Warren County. Judge Jacob Burnet says:
" It was always my opinion that there was a fair proportion of genius and talent among the early
members of the bar. Some of them, it is true, were uneducated, and had to acquire their legal
knowledge, after they assumed the profession. These were not numerous, but were noisy and
officious, and, for some time, were able to procure a considerable amount of practice. This may
be accounted for, in part, by the fact that the docket contained a large number of actions for
slander, and assault and battery, and indictments for larceny, libels and the like, which generally
originated among the followers of the army, who were numerous, consisting of pack-horsemen,
bullock-drivers, boatman and artificers, who were not always very discriminating in the selection
of counsel."
The attorney who prosecuted pleas in behalf of the State was appointed by the Supreme Court.
Daniel Symmes, of .Cincinnati, a nephew of Judge John Cleves Symmes, was appointed to
discharge that duty at the first term of the Court of Common Pleas in Warren County, and
prepared the indictments returned by the Grand Jury at that term. The sum of $20 was the usual
allowance at that time for prosecuting pleas in behalf of the State at each term. Daniel Symmes
served as Prosecuting Attorney in this county for a single term. He soon after became Speaker of
the State Senate, and, in 1805, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., also of Cincinnati, succeeded Daniel Symmes as Prosecuting Attorney in the
courts of Warren County, and held the same position in some of the adjoining counties. He is
said to have appeared in court with a cocked hat and a sword. He was a son of the Territorial
Governor, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, and was a gentleman of culture and a lawyer of ability.
Although he was not a resident of Warren County, yet, as he was for several years conspicuous in
the administration of justice in this county. the following facts concerning him, communicated by
Judge Burnet to the Western Law Jaurnul in 1843, are here quoted:
"Arthur St. Clair was a native of Pennsylvania. He had been well educated, and was, moreover, a
regular bred lawyer. Immediately after he came to Cincinnati, his father appointed him Attorney
Gene-al for the Northwestern Territory, the duties of which office he performed acceptably to all
concerned till it was abolished by the formation of a State Government. His manners were
polished, his deportment popular, his talents highly respectable, and be supported an honorable
standing at the bar. He was distinguished for great candor, which, it was supposed, he sometimes
carried unnecessarily far. In 1799, he was a competitor with Gen. Harrison, then Secretamy of the
Territory,
295 - PICTURE OF JOHN E. DEY
296 - BLANK
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 297
for the appointment of delegate to Congress, but failed to succeed by a single vote. Having
acquired an independent fortune, principally by the rise of property, he retired from the bar.
Unfortunately, he had been intemperate, and consequently more liable to be imposed on. His
acquaintances, taking advantage of this circumstance, and of the natural kindness of his
disposition, obtained his indorsements to an amount which eventually absorbed his estate, and
consigned a helpless widow and family of children to poverty and want."
It is worthy of note that Francis Dunlevy, the first President Judge of the circuit which embraced
Cincinnati and the southwestern third of the State, was not a regularly educated lawyer, nor was
he admitted to the bar until after his retirement from the bench. He was, however, a classical
scholar, and had served as a member of the convention which formed the State Constitution, and
of the Territorial and State Legislatures. He practiced law some years after his retirement from
the bench.
Joshua Collett, the first resident lawyer of the county, had studied law in Martinsburg, Va. He
came to Lebanon soon after the organization of the county.
Richard S. Thomas commenced the practice at Lebanon in 1804 or 1805. He represented the
Warren District in the State Senate in 1806, 1807 and 1808. In 1809, he received, in the joint
session of the Legislature, twenty-nine votes for United States Senator, but was defeated by
Alexander Campbell, who re- ceived thirty-eight votes. Mr. Thomas moved from Lebanon to the
West about 1810. He became a Circuit Judge in Illinois.
John McLean was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1807, and com- menced practice at
Lebanon. His public life soon took him from the bar. He was elected to Congress in 1812, and
'became Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1816.
William McLean, a brother of John, was an early lawyer at Lebanon. He removed from Lebanon
to Piqua, and was elected to Congress from Miami County, serving from 1823 to 1829. About
the year 1829, he returned to Leb- anon, and again practiced his profession.
Thomas Freeman came to the Lebanon bar from Cincinnati about 1809. He was a native of
Pennsylvania, and practiced law with success in the Miami Circuit. His professional career was
short. He died in 1818 from injuries received on being thrown from a horse, in the thirty-ninth
year of his age.
Jacob D. Miller, a promising lawyer at Lebanon, died in early manhood, while representing
Warren County in the State Senate, in the year 1827.
Thomas R. Ross who had studied law at Philadelphia, commenced practice in Lebanon in 1810,
and was first elected to Congress in 1818. Phineas Ross, a brother of Thomas, was also a
prominent early lawyer at Lebanon. He served for some time as Cashier of the Lebanon Miami
Banking Company.
Jacoby Hallack was for twenty years a practicing member of the bar, and for several terms a
member of the Legislature.
Thomas Corwin and A. H. Dunlevy came to the bar in 1817, and George J. Smith in 1820.
Benjamin Collett was one of the brightest lights of the Lebanon bar. Judge R. B. Harlan thus
writes of him: "In my view, Ben Collett is entitled to be placed as a lawyer above all the lawyers
of my acquaintance. If men have a natural genius for anything in particular, he had for the law.
Apparently a slow thinker, he was the most ready man in the discussion of legal subjects that I
ever listened to, and when he had closed an argument upon a legal question, nothing remained to
be said on that side of the subject. His Superiority on law questions over all his cotemporaries
practicing at our bar Was universally conceded. He had such a thorough knowledge of every
branch
298 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of the law as to easily make himself master of any question respecting it. He himself attributed
his knowledge of the law to his having studied principles instead of mere cases. His earnest
advice to young lawyers was to study the great principles on which the law is founded. His whole
soul was in his profession. The books he read were mostly law books. He was a man of excellent
temper. I never saw him out of humor, or heard him use discourteous language to court or bar,
party or witness." This talented lawyer fell a victim to intemperance, and was cut off in the prime
of life. He died June 24, 1831, aged thirty-eight years.
For twenty-five years after the organization of the county, not more than six members of the bar
residing in Lebanon appear to have been engaged in active practice at any one time. The
foregoing list, brief as it seems, is believed to contain the name of every attorney in the county
who made a reputation at the bar or was engaged in the practice of law for any considerable time
previous to 1825. There were doubtless others who became members of the bar and opened
offices in the county and afterward retired to other fields of labor or removed to other localities.
In 1830, attorneys and physicians were subject to a tax of five mills on each dollar of their annual
income. The records of the County Commissioners contain a list of the attorneys practicing in
Warren County that year. At that time, John McLean was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States; Joshua Collet, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio; and George J. Smith,
President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The following is the list of practicing attorneys:
Thomas R. Ross, Phineas Ross, Benjamin Collett, Thomas Corwin, Francis Dunlevy, A. H.
Dunlevy, William McLean and Jacoby Hallack. The sum of $750 is placed opposite each name
as the income from the practice of law for the year, excepting those of Thomas Corwin and
Jacoby Hallack, the income for the former being placed at $1,000, and that of the latter at $500.
As the figures were merely estimates by the Commissioners, and not returns made by the
attorneys themselves, they lose much of their value as evidences of the real profits of the
profession fifty years ago.
The changes made in ten years will appear from the following list of practicing attorneys in 1840:
Simon Su.ydam, J. Milton Williams, George J. Smith, John Probasco, Jr., A. H. Dunlevy, Robert
G. Corwin, Thomas Corwin, Asahel Brown, Franklin Corwin, and, at Franklin. John W.
Caldwell.
The following is the list for 1850: George J. Smith, J. Milton Williams, A. H. Dunlevy, E.
Hutchinson, Durbin Ward, William S. Mickle, Lauren Smith, Robert G. Corwin, A. G.
McBurney, John C. Dunlevy, J. Kelly O'Neall, James M. Smith and Horace M. Stokes. At this
time, John Probasco, Jr., was President Judge.
Among the law firms of former years may be mentioned Ross & Corwin, consisting of Phineas
Ross and Thomas Corwin; McLean & Smith, consisting of William McLean and George J.
Smith; Williams & Collett, consisting of J. Milton Williams and William R. Collett; Corwin &
Ward, consisting of Thomas Corwin and Durbin Ward; and later, a firm consisting of Thomas
and R. G. Corwin and A. G. McBurney; Smith & Probasco, consisting of George J. Smith and
John Probasco, Jr.; Dunlevy & Thompson, consisting of A. H. Dunlevy and Thomas F.
Thompson.
Riding the circuit was the uniform custom of the early lawyers, whether they were old in the
profession and had an established practice, or were young, briefless, and perhaps penniless,
members, in search of business. They traveled on horseback, with their saddle-bags under them,
an overcoat and umbrella strapped behind the saddle, and leggings well spattered with mud, tied
with strings below the knees. Traveling the circuit became less common in the dec-
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 299
ade between 1830 and 1840, and finally ceased. Subsequent to 1840, it was continued only by the
older lawyers, who had established a practice in the different counties of the circuit which made
the toilsome journey, which took thorn away from their homes a considerable portion of the year,
a remunerative one. Ferguson's Tavern, in Lebanon, which stood immediately east of the old
court house, was a favorite stopping-place of the lawyers in the olden time. Here, in court terms,
Jacob Burnet. Nicholas Longworth, Joseph S. Benham and Thomas Morris met Corwin, the
Colletts and the Rosses, and the evenings were enlivened with mirth and jollity.
Lawyers' fees were low in the early days of Ohio. A charge of hundreds of dollars for an
attorney's services in a single case was rare. A fee of $1,000 was almost unknown. Ejectment
suits, which most frequently arose from disputed land boundaries in the Virginia Military District
east of the Little Miami, were perhaps the most profitable part of the early lawyers' practice. It
may be safely assumed that for twenty-five years after the organization of courts at Lebanon,
$750, which was for much of that time the salary of the President Judge, was above rather than
below the average annual income of a lawyer in full practicein Warren County. With the growth
of population and wealth of the county, the profits of the practice of law increased.
In 1836, Judge George J. Smith was retired from the bench to the ranks of the profession by
reason of a change in the political complexion of the Legislature. His salary as President Judge
had been but $1,000. The Judge in after years sometimes amused his friends by relating to them
the anxiety by which he was oppressed on being deposed from his office, and the concern which
he felt lest he should. not be able to provide a maintenance for his family by his practice at the
bar, from which he had been withdrawn for seven years. His forebodings, however, proved
unfounded, as his receipts from his practice during the first year after its resumption exceeded
$3,000.
The salary of the Judge of the Court of Common Pleas was fixed, in 1803, at $750; in 1816, at
$1,000; in 1837, at $1,200; in 1852, at $1,500; and in 1867, at $2,500.
So far as is known, all the older members of the profession in the county were opposed to the
adoption of the reformed method of civil procedure which was enacted by the Ohio Legislature in
1853. It had been under discussion in the State since its adoption in New York in 1848. It has
since been adopted by more than twenty American States and Territories, and has been accepted
by the British Parliament. The old system of pleading, with its conflicting and confusing
distinctions in the forms of remedial actions, had long remained one of the greatest and most
unnecessary burdens on the administration of justice, both in England and America. It had
originated at a remote period, and was possibly contrived for the purpose of securing to the
favored few the exclusive administration of justice. The style used in pleading was awkward and
clumsy from the use of unmeaning phrases, and was redundant in the use of synonyms and
repetitions. The old lawyers, familiar with the artificial and technical rules of the old system. had
learned to admire even its fictions, circumlocutions and contradictions, and taught it to their
students as the perfection of reason and the most beautiful of human sciences. In the opinion of
Edmund Burke, the science of law " does more to quicken and in- 7,1gorate the understanding
than all other kinds of learning put together, but t is not apt, except in those happily born to open
and liberalize the mind in exactly the same proportion." The lawyer's habit of constantly
appealing to authorities horities and precedents is not the most favorable to the development of
the true spirit of progress. Certain it is that the most needed reforms in the law make slow
progress. Even after the enactment of the code of civil procedure
300 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
by the Legislature, the full measure of the reform intended by it was not experienced by the
profession in this county. The older and leading lawyers, whose habits of thought had been
formed under the former system, made the new practice conform to the old as far as possible.
Judge Nash's work on pleading and practice was for many years in general use by the profession
in this county. This author was an avowed enemy of the code system of practice, and confessedly
resorted to the old precedents for his forms, and substantially followed them. A generation,
however, has made great changes. Experience has given proof of the wisdom of reforming the
practice, and to-day not a lawyer educated under the code system would be willing to go back to
the common law pleading.
Below is given a list of the President Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the circuits in
which Warren County was placed under the constitu- tion of 1802, and the Common Pleas
Judges of the subdivision of the judicial district of which the county was a part under the
constitution of 1852:
PRESIDENT JUDGES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1802.
Francis Dunlevy, of Warren County, 1803-1817.
Joshua Collett, of Warren County, 1817-1829.
George J: Smith, of Warren County, 1829-1836.
Benjamin Hinkson, of Clinton County, 1836-1843.
Elijah Vance. of Butler County, 1843-1850.
John Probasco, Jr., of Warren County, 1850-1852.
COMMON PLEAS JUDGES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1852.
William A. Rogers, of Clark County, 1852; died 1855.
William H. Baldwin, of Clinton County, 1855; appointed by the Governor.
Robert Barclay Harlan, of Clinton County, 1855-1856.
William White, of Clark County, 1856-1864.
George J. Smith, of Warren County, 1859-1869.
James J. Winans, of Greene County, 1864-1869.
E. H. Munger, of Greene County, 1869-1872.
Leroy Pope, of Clinton County, 1869-1874.
James M. Smith, of Warren County, 1872 to the present time.
[Since 1872, there has been a Common Pleas Judge residing in Warren County, and the names of
the Judges after that date residing in the other counties of the subdivision of which Warren forms
a part are omitted.]
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Dr. Evan Banes was probably the first practicing physician resident in Warren County. He was at
Columbia as early as 1796, and, in that year, in connection with John Smith and Samuel
Heighway, entered into a contract with John C. Symmes for the purchase of a large tract of land
in the vicinity of Waynesville. He was present in the spring of 1796 when the first clearing in the
woods was made at Waynesville, and it is believed that as soon as the population was such as to
support a physician, he began the practice at that place. Francis Baily, in his journal of travels in
North America in 1796 and 1797, gives an interesting account of his adventures in hunting bears
in connection with Dr. Banes, in the forests about Waynesville, in the spring of 1797. Baily calls
him Dr. Bean, but the name is written Banes in legal documents on record at Lebanon, and by his
descendants in Clark County at this day. Dr. Banes was a native of Pennsylvania, studied
medicine with Dr-
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 301
Rush, of Philadelphia, practiced his profession at Waynesville until 1811, when he removed to
Clark County, where he died November 3, 1827.
The following is the professional card of the first physician who settled in the Turtle Creek
settlement. It appeared for seven weeks in the Western Spy, published at Cincinnati, beginning in
February, 1801:
John C. Winans, lately arrived from Elizabethtown, N. J., with a general assortment of
medicines, respectfully tenders his services to the public in the line of his profession as physician
and surgeon. Those who may have occasion and are disposed to call on him, inpy find him at the
Rev. Mr. Kemper's, on Turtle Creek, where he has opened his shop and is now in a capacity to
serve them.
Dr. Winans was, for four years subsequent to 1801, the only physician residing in the vicinity of
Lebanon.
Dr. David Morris was born near Reading, Penn., in 1769; he settled near Lebanon in 1805, and
practiced his profession, He first settled about two miles northwest of the town; in 1816, he
moved into Lebanon and continued the practice. In 1818, he moved to Brookville, Ind., where he
remained one year; returning to Lebanon, he continued in the practice. In 1832, he moved to a
farm, two and one-half miles west of Lebanon, where he died, in 1850, of asthma, aged
eighty-one years. He was at one time a member of the Legisla- ture. Dr. Morris was a brother of
the distinguished United States Senator, Thomas Morris, of Clermont County.
Dr. Benjamin Dubois settled near Franklin in 1806, and practiced until his death, in 1851; he
came from Monmouth County, N. J.
Dr. Joseph Canby practiced medicine in. Warren County as early as 1810. He practiced at
Lebanon for twenty years. His name occurs in five different acts of the Legislature among the
Censors appointed for the examination of applicants for license to practice medicine.
Dr. John S. Haller removed from Lebanon, where he had practiced a short time, and settled in the
practice at Franklin about 1818. He died in 1875, having practiced until within ten years of his
death.
Dr. John Cottle came to what is now Maineville in 1818, and practiced from that time until 1843.
From 1818 until about 1830, he was the only physician in Hamilton Township. He was a native
of Maine and had practiced eight years before coming to Ohio. He died in 1853.
Dr. J. W. Lanier practiced at Franklin for several years succeeding 1811.
Dr. Jeptha F. Moore, a Methodist preacher, practiced medicine at Lebanon for about ten years,
beginning in 1812.
Dr. Martin Lathrop commenced practice at Waynesville about 1812, and died about eight years
later. He was succeeded by his nephew, Dr. Horace
Dr. Calvin Morrill was a physician among the Shakers, at Union Village, from a very early day.
He came from New Jersey and died at Union Village in 1833, in his sixty-ninth year.
Dr. Charles D. Hampton was born in Pennsylvania in 1792, came to Ohio in 1815, and practiced
a short time at Cincinnati. In 1817, he moved to Clarksville, Clinton Co., Ohio, and, in 1822,
joined the Shakers at Union Village. He practiced exclusively among the Shakers until his death,
in 1863. He was a man of strong intellect.
Dr. Otho Evans, Sr., began the practice at Franklin, in April, 1827. Before this he had practiced
in Butler County, Ohio, for some six years. He was born in Kentucky September 9, 1797;
removed to Ohio in 1800. He was "gaged in the practice for forty years.
Dr. John Van Harlingen was in the active practice in Warren County for half a century. He was
born near New Brunswick, N. J., February 19,
302 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
1792. His ancestors were emigrants from Holland. The Dutch language was, spoken in his
father's family, and John learned to speak no other tongue until his eighth year. He was educated
in New Brunswick, and graduated at Rut- ger's College in 1809. Having read medicine in New
Brunswick, and attended a full course of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of
New York City, he was licensed to practice by the State authorities of New Jersey, after passing
the examination of the Censors of Middlesex and Somerset Counties in 1812. He practiced five
years in his native State, and in 1817 moved with his family to Lebanon, Ohio. He was engaged
in the practice of medicine at that place and its vicinity for a longer period than any other person
in the history of the town. In obstetrics, to which he particularly devoted himself, both in New
Jersey and Ohio, his practice was very large and successful. This department of the practice, on
his arrival in Warren County, he found almost exclusively in the hands of women. Dr. Van
Harlingen's skill did much to take this important art out of the hands of empirics, and to place it
in the hands of intelligent medical practitioners. He did not neglect other depart- ments of his
profession, and through the long years of his professional life, his labors were varied and
arduous. He made journeys to distant parts of the county and to surrounding counties in the
saddle by day and by night in the most inclement seasons; he endangered his life in crossing the
flooded Miami when it was bridgeless; he passed successive days without sleep; but such were
the strength of his constitution and his powers of endurance, that he has the full possession of his
mental and physical faculties at the ripe age of ninety years. He retired from active practice about
the year 1866.
Dr: Joshua Stevens was born near the village of Winthrop, Me., March 21, 1794. His early
pursuits were farming and brick-laying. He had the advantages of a plain common-school
education, which he greatly improved by diligent self-study. On the 4th of July, 1817, he left
Maine and opened a -select boarding-school at Bristol, near Philadelphia. Here he commenced
the study of medicine, and subsequently entered the office of Dr. Joseph Parrish. of Philadelphia.
He also attended the lectures of the medical department of the university, during the winters of
1818-19-20, and, without waiting to graduate, entered upon practice in Philadelphia. He decided
to come West, and, in 1821, with two or three friends, floated down the Ohio in a flat-bot- tomed
boat, bearing letters of introduction to Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati. He intended to locate in
that city, but he became engaged in the practice at Monroe, Butler Co., Ohio, near which village
he had relatives residing. In 1830, the Medical College of Ohio conferred upon him the honorary
degree of M. D. In 1847, he removed to Lebanon, where he resided until his death Dr. Stevens
performed a vast amount of professional labor and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his
patrons and professional friends. He was a reader of medical journals and new books, and a
frequent contributor to both journals and societies. He took an active part in the old "District"
Medical Society, and for years was its President; afterward, he was for more than ten years
President of the Lebanon Medical Society. He was a member of the Methodist Church. About
seven years before his death, he was thrown from his buggy while making a professional visit.
The accident produced concussion of the brain, from the effects of which he never fully
recovered. He died at Lebanon May 2,1871.
Dr. Moses H. Keever was born in Warren County, Ohio, April 28,1810. He was educated at
Oxford, Ohio, and Augusta, Ky. When nineteen years old, he commenced reading medicine with
Dr. Joshua Stevens, at Monro̊. where he continued some three years. He graduated at the Ohio
Medical College in 1834, and the same year began the practice near Ridgeville. For some thirteen
years he was associated in the practice with Dr. W. H. Stokes, and
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 303
afterward, with Dr. J. B. Hough. Dr. Keever was an intelligent, energetic and successful medical
practitioner.
Dr. Joseph G. Paulding commenced practicing in Deerfield Townshiy about 1838. In 1844, he
was sent by the Associate Reformed Church, of which be was a member, as missionary to
Palestine. In connection with his brother- in-law, Rev. James Barnett, he assisted in establishing
missions at Damascus and Cairo. Returning to this country in 1854, he took up his old practice at
Mason, where he continued, with the exception of some time spent in the army, during the civil
war, until his health compelled him to retire from the practice. In 1871, he removed to Piqua,
where he died in 1874. Dr. Paulding was highly esteemed as a man of science and a Christian
gentleman.
Dr. Jesse Harvey commenced the practice in Harveysburg in 1830. He was a native of North
Carolina, but received his education in Ohio. He was distinguished for his knowledge of the
natural sciences, zeal in the cause 01 education and his philanthropic efforts to elevate the negro
and Indian races. In 1847, he went as a missionary of the Society of Friends to the Shawnee
Indians of Kansas Territory, where he died the next year, in the forty-seventh year of age.
Dr. Jonathan W. Davis was born in Greene County, Ohio, on the 8th of July, 1821. He attended
school but little during the early part of his life, being compelled to spend the most of his time in
labor upon the farm. At the age of twenty-two, however, he had acquired a good English
education, and soon after commenced the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr.
Edmund Hawes, of Mount Holly. He became a member of the Lebanon Medical Society in 1816,
and, the next year, received the degree of M. D., conferred by the Ohio Medical College, having
attended two courses of lectures at that institution. He commenced the practice of medicine at
Waynesville. During the prevalence of epidemic cholera, in the summer of 1849, his labors were
exten- sive and almost incessant. While engaged in the discharge of his professional duty, at the
distance of five miles from home, he was attacked by that dread disease at 6 o'clock P. M., July
26,1849. He ran his horse home and died at 3 o'clock the next morning. Thus, after an illness of
just nine hours, died a promising physician, in the twenty-ninth year of his age. He was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
LIST OF PHYSICIANS OF WARREN COUNTY TAXED ON THEIR INCOMES IN
1830.
Turtle Creek Township—David Morris, John Ross, John Van Harlingen, Caleb B. Clements,
Wilson Thompson.
Franklin Township—John S. Haller, Otho Evans, George McIroy, Benjamin Clear William H
Dubois.
Clear Creek H. Township—Joseph Joseph Stanton, Samuel Marshall, Joseph Hilareth
Deerfield Township—John De Hart.
Hamilton Township—John Cottle, Benjamin Erwin.
Wayne Township—Horace Lathrop, John E. Greer, Joseph Craft.
Salem Township - George Starbuck.
The foregoing list includes practitioners of all schools of medicine. The tax at this time was five
mills on each dollar of annual income. The County Commissioners, in 1830, estimated the
income of each of these physicians at $500, except Jqhn Cottle, whose income was placed at
$1,000.
LIST OF PHYSICIANS OF WARREN COUNTY TAXED ON THEIR INCOMES IN
1840.
Turtle Creek Township—John M. Starbuck, Adam Sellers, William M. Charters Harlingen.
Henry Baker, Lewis Drake, Jr., James Boggs, W. V. H. Gard, Robert
304 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Franklin Township—Benjamin Dubois, John S. Haller, John P. Haggott, Joseph Lampkin,
William B. McAroy, David Baird.
Clear Creek Township—E. D. Crossfield, Moses R Keever, Andrew and C. W. Patton, W. H.
Anderson.
Union Township—John Van Harlingen.
Wayne Township—Edmund Hawes, Wesley B. McGuire, Elias Fisher, Henry E. Drake, Turner
Welch, Jesse Harvey, John McCowan.'
Deerfield Township—Samuel M. Ballard, Joseph G. Paulding, Henry Johnson, Thomas
McCowan,
Salem Township—Richard Roach, Isaac N. Thacker, Collins Levi. Hamilton Township—John
Cottle, L. A. Cottle, Benjamin Erwin. Washington Township—W. B. Strout.
The Legislature passed various acts to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery. The State
was divided into districts and Censors were appointed in each district with authority to grant
licenses to practice medicine and surgery. The first of these acts was passed in 1811, when the
whole State was divided into five districts. The Censors named in the act for the district in which
Warren County was placed were Dr. Joseph Canby, of Warren County; Dr. Richard Allison and
Dr. Daniel Drake. Dr. Canby held ,the position of Censor for most of the time up to 1824. In
1812, Dr. David Morris, of Warren, was appointed Censor. In the act of 1813, Dr. Joseph Canby
and Dr. Jeptha F. Moore were appointed; and the same names occur in the act of 1817. In 1821,
Dr. Joseph Canby is the only physician of Warren named. In 1824, Warren and Greene Counties
were placed together in a district, and the following named physicians of the two counties were
named as members of the Third Medical Society of Ohio, with authority to grant licenses to
practice medicine, viz., Joseph Canby, John Ross, David Morris, Benjamin Dubois, James
Johnson Joshua Martin, John Van Harlingen, John Collet, Jehu John, James W. Lanier, John S.
Haller and George W. Stipp.
The medical system of the noted New England empiric, Samuel Thompson, was introduced into
Warren County about 1826. It was termed the Botanic system, or Thompsonian system. Steaming
a patient for the purpose of producing perspiration was such an important branch of the practice
that the followers were frequently called steam doctors. They were also popularly termed herb or
root doctors. The practitioners purchased Dr. Thompson's "New Guide to Health, or Botanic
Family Physician, containing a complete system of practice upon a plan entirely new," with a
patent right to the system, and, without any previous course of study, they were prepared for the
practice of medicine. The system was extensively introduced in Ohio between the years 1825 and
1835. Dr. Thompson's book and patent right to the system were sold at $20, and the publishers of
the book at Columbus, Ohio, put forth the statement that Thompson's agents disposed of 4,319
copies in three and a half years preceding 1832, and that Dr. Thompson's share of the proceeds of
his Western agency for that time was $17,500. The most important article used in Dr.
Thompson's practice was lobelia, which he called the emetic herb, and the medicinal virtues of
which he claimed to have discovered. The following extract from the " Botanic Physician" gives
the doctor's prescription of a stock of medicines for a family: "One ounce of the emetic herb, two
ounces of cayenne, one-half pound bayberry root bark in powder, one pound poplar bark, one
pint of the rheumatic drops. This stock will be sufficient for a family for one year, with such
articles as they can easily procure themselves when wanted, and will enable the into cure any
disease which a family of common size may be afflicted with during that time. The expenses will
be small and much better than to employ a doctor, and have his extravagant bill to pay." It is
impossible to learn at this
305 - PICTURE OF DAVID GRAHAM
306 - BLANK
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 307
time how many of the practitioners of this empiricism were to be found in this cointy. They were
probably most numerous in Ohio about 1832.. Their prac- tice was by no means confined to the
less intelligent portion of the inhabitants, but their system soon fell into contempt. The
Physio-Medical School of Thera- peutics of later years, whose medical college was at Cincinnati,
acknowledged its indebtedness to the labors and discoveries of Samuel Thompson, and paid
greater respect to his memory than any other modern medical school. The name of Elder Wilson
Thompson, an early Baptist preacher at Lebanon, who practiced medicine, as well as divinity, has
been associated with the Thomp- sonian Botanic System, but his practice does not seem to have
been identical with that of Samuel Thompson.
The earlier regular doctors were of the heroic school, and made liberal use of the lancet and
calomel. In their treatment, they relied on purging, bleeding,.blistering and salivation. The
quantities of calomel sold by druggists to some physicians of the last generation, as shown by
accounts still in existence, are sufficient to startle the modern scientific practitioner.
The medical system of Hahnemann was not introduced into the United States until 1825, and it
did not have practitioners in Warren County until twenty-five years later. Thomas W. Cuscaden,
M. D., who died at Lebanon in 1861, aged thirty years, was probably the first resident
homeopathist in the county. Of recent years, there have been six or seven homeopathic
physicians practicing in the county.
The Eclectic School of Medicine has never had numerous representatives in Warren. Mrs. R. L.
V. Anton, M. D., of this school, who commenced the practice with her husband, James Anton,
M. D., at Lebanon in 1859, was the first female physician with a diploma in the esbunty.
THE LEBANON MEDICAL SOCIETY.
On the 28th of October, 1837, in pursuance of a call addressed to the scientific practitioners of
Warren and adjoining counties, the following per- sons met in Lebanon and organized the
Lebanon Medical Society, viz., Henry Baker, John Van Harlingen, John P. Haggott, Otho Evans,
John Cottle, Alvin McAllister, Joshua Stevens, William M. Charters, David Baird, J. P.
Compton, Lewis Drake, Elias Fisher, Jesse Harvey, S. M. Ballard, W. B. Strout, Lucius A.
Cottle, Benjamin Erwin, Moses H. Keever, Aaron Wright and R. Roach. Dr. Joshua Stevens was
elected President, and Dr. John Van Harlingen, Recording Secretary. The society resolved to
abide by the rules and regulations adopted, and to use all honorable means to discountenance
quackery, and recommended a general attendance at the meetings of the State Medical Society.
The second meeting of the society was held January 30, 1838, when a constitution and by-laws, a
code of ethics and a bill of prices were adopted_ A. committee was appointed to prepare a
memorial to the Legislature for the repeal of the law taxing physicians. The society was
incorporated by an act of the General Assembly passed in 1837. Within two years after its
organization, the society numbered twenty-eight members. The meetings were held
semi-annually, and were generally well attended, from twelve to twenty mem- bers usually being
present at each meeting. An attempt was made to enforce attendance by fines. The minutes of
1839 show that a member was fined $5 for absence and failure to read a dissertation, and
memberships were forfeited for non-payment of fines. The society early secured a seal to be
affixed to diplomas granted to the members. The diplomas were printed, not in Latin, but in
English. Standing committees were appointed on the subjects of "Quack- ery," "Collateral
Sciences" and "Improvements in the Science of Medicine." Besides reports on these subjects,
there were papers read at early meetings as
308 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
follows: On " Geology," by Dr. Aaron Wright; "Phenomena, Characterizing the Separate and
Independent Existence of Mind," by Dr. D. Baird; " Deleterious Effects and Chemical Tests of
Arsenic," by Dr. John P. Haggott; " Congestive Fever," by Dr. Joshua Stevens; "Diseases of
Harveysburg," by Dr. Jesse Harvey. and " Sanguineous Congestion," by Dr. William M. Charters.
In 1838, the society passed the following:
Resolved, That no applicant who has not acquired a competent knowledge of chemistry, natural
philosophy, botany and comparative anatomy, shall receive the diploma of this society.
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this society that no medical school ought to confer the degree
of Doctor in Medicine on any candidate who has not attained to a competent knowledge of all
those branches of learning usually termed with reference to medicine, "the Associate Sciences."
The Corresponding Secretary was instructed to open a correspondence with other societies, both
medical and scientific, in the State, urging them to join in endeavors to have the geological
survey of the State continued.
In October, 1839, it was resolved that "the society appoint three members, whose duty it shall be
to procure and preserve specimens of plants—including the whole plant—and specimens of
minerals, each of whom shall deliver an address or lecture, one on Botany, one on Mineralogy
and one on Geology, at three successive meetings—one addressing each meeting; said committee
to be authorized to procure, at the expense of the society, such means for the safe keeping of
whatever may be collected." In pursuance of this resolution, Dr. J. G. Paulding made reports at
subsequent meetings on Botany and Dr. Jesse Harvey on Geology. Dr. Paulding exhibited a
blank-book procured for the society for the preservation of botanical specimens. The members
were earnestly requested to prepare and present to the society skeletons of different animals for
the purpose of facilitating the study of Comparative Anatomy.
In 1840, the society resolved "that hereafter applicants for admission shall present to the Censors
either a diploma from some respectable medical college, or a certificate of membership in a
respectable society of scientific physicians,. or submit to an examination by the Censors."
In October, 1842, it was resolved " that it shall be deemed a breach of medical ethics for any
member of this society to attend, in consultation with any physician, who has had an opportunity
of becoming a member of this association, and has refused or neglected to embrace it." But, at
the next meeting, in May, 1843. the resolution was rescinded and the following adopted in its
place: "It shall be deemed a breach of medical ethics for any member of this society to consult
with any person who has not evidence of such qualifications as would entitle him to membership
in this society."
In 1846, two members were expelled from the society for engaging in the sale of nostrums, the
society being of the opinion " that such traffic is decidedly prejudicial to the public welfare, and
when in the hands of a physician, calculated to hinder the advancement of true science and
depress the character of the medical profession."
At the October meeting of 1848, the society expressed its confidence in the purity of the
pharmaceutical preparations of the Shakers at Union Village, and heartily commended them to
the profession, especially the extracts of the narcotic plants and sarsaparilla. And, in May, 1849,
it was resolved " that this society, so far as practicable, will make no purchases from druggists
engaged in the sale and manufacture of patent medicines." In the same year, by a unanimous
vote, a member was expelled for compounding and vending certain medicines, which the society
regarded as secret nostrums.
The meetings of the society were held regularly for a period of about thirty" years. From various
causes, about 1859 the profession began to lose interest
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 309
in the organization. There are no minutes of any meetings for the four years following 1859. On
December 8, 1863„a meeting was held pursuant to a published call for the purpose of
resuscitating the society. The organization was again placed on its feet, and from that time the
meetings have been held with regularity. At times, it has been proposed to change the name to
that of the Warren County Medical Society, but the charter has induced the members to retain the
old name. Of recent years, the minutes give full abstracts of the discussions. Written essays have
been read and verbal reports made of important cases treated by the members. The prevailing
diseases and local epidemics have been considered and the leading questions connected with the
progress of medicine discussed. In 1875, the number of members was twenty-four. The
Presidents of the organization have been: Dr. Joshua Stevens, from 1837 to 1848; Dr. William
M. Charters, 1849; Dr. Moses H. Keever, 1850; Dr. Elias Fisher, 1852; Dr. William L. Schenck,
1854; Dr. Joshua Stevens, 1856. Since the re-organization, in 1863, the Presidents have been Dr.
John Van Harlingen, Dr. Adam Sellers, Dr. L. A. Cottle, Dr. J. L. Mounts, Dr. Isaac L. Drake,
Dr. James McCready, of Monroe, Butler County; Dr. S. R. Voorhees and Dr. S. S. Scoville.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS.
In the summer of 1806, John McLean, afterward Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States, determined to establish a weekly newspaper at Lebanon. This was a hazardous enterprise,
as Lebanon was as yet a small village, with the trees and bushes still growing upon most of its
streets, and the whole county did not contain probably eight thousand souls. John McLean was
married in the spring of 1807, and admitted to the bar in the autumn of the same year. The exact
date of the issue of the first paper is unknown. The paper was called the Western Star. Nathaniel
McLean, a younger brother of the editor and proprietor, who had learned the printing business in
the office of the Liberty Hall, at Cincinnati, was one of the first printers who worked on the Star
at Lebanon. George Denny, father of William H. P. Denny, and Noah Crane, were also early
printers on the Western Star.
The first printing-press in Lebanon was of the Ramage pattern, with a frame of oak and a bed of
stone. This press was purchased by John McLean in Cincinnati, and there is reason to believe,
although it is not certainly known, that it was the first printing-press brought to Cincinnati, in
1793, and which was used in printing the Liberty Hall, and, about 1806, was superseded by a
Stanhope press, imported to Cincinnati from England. The old wooden press purchased by John
McLean remained in the Star office long after it had ceased to be used; but finally it was sold,
about the time of the close of the civil war, and removed to a Western State, and its whereabouts
are now unknown. This press was worked with a bar, and it was a hard day's labor to work off
with it 300 copies of a small-sized newspaper. Thin splits of wood, similar to those used for the
seats of chairs, were used in place of leads to separate the lines, and the type was inked with
pelt-balls in place of the modern rollers.
There is not known to be in existence a single copy of the Western Star while it was edited by
John McLean, and we have not, therefore, even one specimen of the editorial writing of the
young lawyer whose opinions from the Supreme Bench, in after years, commanded the respect of
the whole nation. It is probable, however, that the paper contained little matter written by the
editor. Judging from what is to be found in the files of the few other newspapers printed in Ohio
at that time, editors thought it more important to select it for their readers long columns of
intelligence from Europe, six weeks old, than to write concerning what was transpiring around
them. Local matters and
310 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
home news seem to have been considered beneath the dignity of newspaper publication. It should
be remembered, too, that a little village in the woods did not furnish many thrilling matters for
the reporter's pen.
The oldest copy of the Star in existence is dated September 10,1810. The paper was then edited
and managed by Nathaniel McLean. The issue referred to is a small folio, printed on strong but
coarse paper, now yellow with age. It contains no editorial matter and no local intelligence
whatever, except such as' may be gleaned from the advertisements. It has intelligence from
Europe more than two months old, and intelligence from New York and St Louis three weeks
old. The only matter aside from the advertisements prepared for the issue is a communication
proposing Thomas Worthington for Governor, Jeremiah Morrow for Congress. John Bigger for
the State Senate, and Matthias Corwin, Michael H. Johnson and David Morris for the Lower
House of the General Assembly. The advertisements contain nine notices of estray horses taken
up, and their appraisement, at from $20 to $35, and a reward of 6% cents for a runaway
apprentice. Offers are made to pay 50 cents for wheat, and notice is given that good rye whisky,
at 40 cents per gallon. will be taken in exchange for goods at Lebanon.
The first number of the Western Star contained the following lines:
" The Western Star now issues forth
From Lebanon the seat of worth."
The controversy concerning the seat of justice of the county had caused considerable strife, but
before the Star was first issued, the controversy had been settled in favor of Lebanon, and these
lines may have been suggested by the termination of this controversy. It was necessary, at that
time, when mail routes were few, that newspapers should be distributed by a carrier, and it is said
that the first issue of the Star was distributed to the subscribers by Fergus McLean, the father of
the editor, who carried the papers on horseback. It is stated by A. H. Dunlevy that, about 1307,
while George Denny was a printer in the Star office, a large book for the Shakers, entitled"
Christ's Second Coming," was printed at Lebanon- The book contained five or six hur.dred pages
of fine type.
After publishing the paper for about three years, John McLean sold the Star to his brother
Nathaniel, who continued the publication, at first in connection with Noah Crane, and afterward
in connection with Rev. Adjet McGuire, a Methodist clergyman. About 1812, the proprietors
were Nathaniel McLean and Samuel H. Hale, afterward of Wilmington., Ohio. Subsequent
partners of Mr. McLean in the paper were Henry Lazier, William Blackburn, Samuel Blackburn
and Joseph Henderson. About the year 1814. Nathaniel McLean disposed of his interest in the
paper to his brother, William McLean, a lawyer of Lebanon, but he did not long remain a
proprietor. From 1816 until 1396. Abram Van Vleet, George Smith. John Eddy, William A.
Camron and William Sellers were connected with the publication, each for a longer or shorter
time. In 1926. Jacob Morris and A. H. Dunlevy became the proprietors. In 1334. Dunlevy sold
his interest to William H. P. Denny, who was editor and proprietor until 1953. The subsequent
proprietors have been Dr James Scott. Dr. William H. Corwin. Seth W. Brown, Alfred Clements
and William C. McClintock. Mr. McClintock began his connection with the paper in partnership
with Clements Hardy, in 1340, and. since 1373, has been the sole owner and publisher. In 1370.
the first cylinder press was procured and in 1375. steam-power was first employed in he press
work.
It is impossible now to grve a complete list of the various newspapers published in Warren
County previous to the civil war. Some of them were published for a few months only. Others
maintained an existence for some
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 311
years. Among them were the Farmer, the Ohio Argus (which was move( from Lebanon to
Franklin in 1834), the American Democrat, the Spirit a, Freedom, the Second Sober Thought, the
Buckeye Mercury, and the Democratic Citizen. The last-named newspaper was destroyed by a
mob at the be ginning of the civil war. In later years, notwithstanding the increased circulation of
daily papers, six or seven weekly papers have been published in the county at the same time.
The Lebanon Patriot is a Democratic newspaper. It was edited and published for several years by
Edward Warwick, who was succeeded by A. A. Roland, the present editor and proprietor.
Several unsuccessful efforts had been made to maintain a Democratic journal in Warren County.
Among other efforts, Judge Keeling for awhile published a Jackson paper at Lebanon. The
Lebanon Patriot was established in 1868, by Gen. Durbin Ward, who not only purchased the
press and printing materials, but maintained the paper at his own expense until it was placed on a
self-sustaining basis.
The Lebanon Gazette was started in 1877, by William H. P. Denny, who, two years later, sold it
to William D. Mulford and J. C. Van Harlingen. It is now published by the Gazette Printing
Company, and edited by George M. Johnston. It is a Republican journal.
William H. P. Denny has perhaps been longer identified with the newspaper press of Warren. and
neighboring counties than any other person. In 1821, when a boy, he went with his father, George
Denny, a printer, to Wilmington, Ohio, and set type on the Galaxy until the fall of 1823. The
paper passed into the hands of Hon. J. N. Reynolds, who changed the name to Wilmington
Spectator. He remained a short time in his employ. Next he worked with Griffith Foos and
Archibald Haynes, for J. B. Semans, in 1826 and 1827, who published the Wilmington Argus. In
1829, then in his eighteenth year, he commenced the Clintonian, an independent little paper;
which created considerable sensation. This he published until 1831, when he sold out to John
Crichfield, then County Auditor. In the fall and winter of 1823-24, he went to Lebanon to
complete his apprenticeship with Camron & Sellers, but, disagreeing with them, left in the
summer of 1824. For twenty-six years he was connected with the Star, as apprentice, editor and
publisher. In 1858, he sold the venerable journal to Hon. James Scott, and removed to Dayton,
where he published the Dayton Daily and Weekly Gazette until 1871, when he again sold out,
and located at Circleville and commenced a new paper, the Circleville Union. This he continued
for five years, holding, while resident of that interesting little city, the responsible position of
Postmaster for seven years. He resigned in 1871, and purchased the Wilmington Journal, which
he published for several years, and, in 1877, returned to Lebanon, where he started the Lebanon
Gazette, which he disposed of to Mulford & Van Harlingen. In 1880, he went to Georgetown,
Brown County, where he started the Georgetown Gazette. While a resident of Warren County,
Mr. Denny represented Warren and Greene Counties in the State Senate in the years 1842 and
1843.
EDUCATION.
The character of the pioneer schools of the county has already been described. To illustrate the
manner in which subscription schools were opened end maintained, the following advertisement
from a Lebanon paper is copied. The date of the advertisement is March 7, 1817. Westfield was
the name then recently adopted for the town now known as Red Lion:
NOTICE.—The inhabitants of Westfield, together with the adjacent neighborhoods, Will please
to observe that as soon as practicable the subscriber intends opening a school at the brick
schoolhouse at the customary price of two dollars per quarter, one-half in produce
312 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
at market price. Those who may wish to encourage literature may send a short or longer
time, discretionally with themselves, of which there will be an accurate account kept, and strict
attention paid, by
The public's most obedient humble servant, ANTHONY GEOHEGAN.
There was much opposition throughout the State, in its early history, to the principle of
supporting free schools by taxation. The first law in Ohio authorizing taxation for school
purposes and providing for the management of schools by local officers elected by the people,
was passed in 1825; yet, in 1837, there were no free schools in the State outside of Cincinnati,
and, excepting in the larger towns, where good private teachers were encouraged, but few schools
afforded, even for three or four months in the year, instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic.
The country schools in Warren County were perhaps not inferior to those of any other county in
the State, yet the greater portion of the children of the county, were under the instruction, for two,
three, four or five months in the year, of teachers who were generally young men, and, with some
exceptions, were without the education, culture or training to fit them for the proper conduct of
elementary schools. In 1838, Samuel Lewis, the first State School Superintendent, wrote in his
annual report: " Every possible variety is found in the character of the teachers, and the kind and
manner of instruction. There is this encouragement, however: The people are very generally
convinced of present defects, and seem determined to remedy the evils. There are but few places
where a teacher can be employed who does not pretty well understand English grammar and
geography, in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic."
From the best attainable sources of information—the early school statistical reports being
incomplete and inaccurate—it would appear that in the year 1840, the average monthly wages of
male teachers in Warren County were about $20; of female teachers, about $14. From this time,
the wages gradually increased, until they attained their maximum in 1870, the average monthly
wages of teachers in the elementary schools for that year being reported at $45 for gentlemen,
and $34 for ladies. In 1880, they were $39 for gentlemen, and $32 for ladies. In 1880, there were
in the county 103 schoolhouses, valued at $114,000, and containing 149 schoolrooms.
The first teachers' institute in the southern part of Ohio was held at Cincinnati is February, 1847.
The first teachers' institute in Warren County was held in the hall of the academy at Maineville,
in the summer of 1852, and was continued five days. Among the teachers of the county who were
instructors at this institute were Josiah Hurty, of Lebanon; C. W. Kimball, of Maineville; W. T.
Hawthorn, J. S. Morris and C. W Harvey. Lectures were delivered by L. A. Hine and C.
Knowlton. Prof. James E. Murdoch, the distinguished actor and elocutionist, gave an evening
entertainment of select readings, which highly delighted the large audience of teachers and
citizens present. Resolutions were adopted requesting the court to fill the vacancies then existing
in the Board of County School Examiners with practical teachers; favoring the establishment of
lyceums and libraries in every town and neighborhood, and recommending every teacher to
acquaint himself with the phonetic system, with a view to its practical introduction. The report of
W. T. Hawthorn, Secretary of the institute, concludes as follows:
" Thus has terminated the first institute of Warren County. Those only who were present can
fully appreciate the rich treat that was there afforded. It is not yet nine mouths since the
association was organized by a few enterprising teachers, who, ' solitary and alone,' have
faithfully attended the regular monthly meetings, while other teachers have looked on, wondering
what good a teachers' association could do. Those who attended know, and the community,
through them, will soon feel the benefits of this institute. Now
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 313
that the work is fairly under way in our county, we cordially invite t i teachers who have
heretofore held back to unite in a good cause and aid revolutionizing the common schools of our
county. The exercises were hi; interesting and instructive. The best methods of teaching the
different branches was discussed. The attendance of the citizens evinced their int( in the
exercises. A respectable number was in attendance all the time, often a large audience. Each
evening, the spacious hall, lighted at the pense of the citizens, was crowded until a late hour."
Since 1852, annual county teachers' institutes have been held, wits creasing success and widening
influence for good as their objects and ad tages became known. Among the distinguished men
not connected with schools of the county who have assisted at these institutes as instructors
lecturers, may be named Dr. A. D. Lord, Prof. Daniel Vaughn, E. E. WI John Hancock, John
Ogden, W. D. Henkle and W. H. Venable. At nearly the whole work of conducting the institute
has devolved on the three County School Examiners. The institute fund provided by the school
consisting of two-thirds of the amount received from the 50-cent fee pail applicants for teachers'
certificates has usually been found sufficient to de the entire expenses of the County Teachers'
Institute.
The Warren County Teachers' Association, organized in 1851, has coi ued in existence until the
present. Its meetings are held monthly during school year. The exercises are generally of a
practical character, and speech-making is discouraged. Both the annual institutes and the mon
meetings of the association are attended by the most progressive and eneri teachers of the county.
While the common schools of Ohio have always been intended to be str undenominational, the
question of religion in the public schools is one that caused considerable discussion. The
question whether the Bible shoule formally read and the schools opened in the morning with
religious exec has, in portions of the county, caused rancorous animosity. There has r been any
legislation on the subject in Ohio, the legal decision of the question being left under the laws to
the local Boards of Education, who may prescribe, allow or forbid such exercises. In Warren
County, the local boards have seldom taken action on the subject, and the matter has been left,
generally, discretion of the teacher. The question was most vehemently discussed after the
passage of a resolution, in 1869, by the Cincinnati Board of Education, forbidding the reading of
the Bible and other religious books in the public schools of that city. This resolution led to a
contest in the courts, lasted four years, and was settled by a unanimous decision of the Supreme
Court of Ohio sustaining the resolution. The spirit of the elaborate opinion of the court was
averse to Bible-reading and religious instruction in public schools supported by common
taxation. Of late years, a large majority o teachers of Warren County have voluntarily refrained
from Bible-reading ligious exercises and religious instruction in the public schools.
County School Examiners. —A system for the examination and cert Lion of teachers has existed
ever since the passage of the first law in Ohi the support of education by taxation, but the number
of Examiners am method of their appointment have fluctuated. Strangely, however, the law was
uniformly styled the persons appointed. School Examiners, although their has been confined to
the examination and the granting of certificates of qualification to teachers. In 1825, the law
provided for the appointment by the Court of Common Pleas, of three Examiners, and
enumerated the branch study in common schools as " reading, writing, arithmetic and other nece
branches of a common education." In 1829, the number of Examiner
314 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
placed at not less than five nor more than the number of townships in the county_ In 1834, the
number of Examiners was limited to five, but it was made the duty of the Examiners to appoint a
suitable person in each township to examine female teachers only. The act of 1836 provided for
three Examiners in each township, but in 1838, the law again provided for three School
Examiners for the whole county, which has continued to be the law until the present time. In
1853, the appointment of Examiners was vested in the Probate Court, and applicants were
required to be examined in "orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and English
grammar." Previous to 1853, the examinations of applicants for teachers' certificates were
conducted in a very loose and unsatisfactory manner. For many years, a single member of the
Board of Examiners could examine any applicant at any time the application was made, and write
out a certificate of qualification. Intelligent men, however, were generally appointed Examiners.
The first Board of Examiners appointed un_ der the act of 1825 consisted of A. H. Dunlevy, John
M. Houston and Phineas Ross. Among others who held this office previous to 1853 may be
mentioned Judge Collett, Gov. Morrow, Jonathan K. Wilds, Lauren Smith and Thomas F.
Thompson.
Since the passage of the act of 1853, more care has been taken in the licensing of teachers for the
public schools. Regular meetings have been held for the examination of applicants, at which at
least two of the Examiners must be present. Applicants are examined in all the branches named
in the law fix- ing the qualifications of teachers. A register has been kept, and is preserved,
giving the names of all persons who have received certificates of qualification in Warren County
since the 3d day of May, 1853, al the dates and grades of their certificates.
The following are the names of the School Examiners of Warren County since 1853:
C. Elliot, 1853-54; D. S. Burson, 1853-54; C. W. Kimball, 1853-55; Josiah Hurty, 1853-54; Rev.
J. H. Coulter, 1854-54; William W. Wilson, 1855-57; J. H. Elder, 1855-58; W. T. Hawthorn,
1855-56; Rev. Marsena Stone, 1856-60; John W. F. Foster, 1857-60; Rev. W. W. Colrnery,
1858-60; William D. Henkle, 1860-64; Thomas B. Van Horne, 1861-62; Rev. J. F, Smith,
1862-63; Rev. E. K. Squier, 1862-65; John C. Kinney, 1863-64; Rev. W. W. Colmery, 1864-66;
W. P. Harford, 1864-72; Rev. Lucien Clark, 1865-67; Charles W. Kimball, 1866-67; Charles W.
Harvey, 1867-68; John C. Ridge, 1867-68; John C. Kinney, 1868-70; Peter Sellers, 1868-69; J.
B. Nickerson, 1869-71; A. W. Cunningham, 1872-74; Peter Sellers, 1874-78- Hampton Bennet
(1870), Josiah Morrow (1871) F. M. Cunningham (1878) The last named three being the
Examiners in 1882.
RELIGION.
Religious statistics and materials for a history of the progress of religion ara not readily
accessible in a country where there is no State Church or Governmental support of religion. The
State of Ohio requires full statistical reports to be made annually of the condition and growth of
the schools maintained by public taxation, but the chief matters pertaining to religion, which liar
been noticed by State or National statisticians are the number of church organizations and church
edifices, the amount of church sittings or accommodations for public worship and the value of
church property; and our information concerning these is derived chiefly from the census returns
of the United States since 1850.
According to the census of 1850, there were, in Warren County, sixty church edifices valued at
$82,400; in 1870, these had increased in number to
315 - PICTURE OF CHARLES F. CHAPMAN
316 - BLANK
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 317
seventy-three, and were valued at $267,730. It thus appears that in twenty years the cost of
churches increased much more rapidly than their number.
The aggregate church accommodations, or sittings, in the county, were returned in 1850 at
22,295, and, in 1870, at 26,050. Comparing these figures with the population of the county at the
same dates, and making but a slight deduction from the population for infants, the sick and the
infirm, it appears that at both periods these were seats in the churches for more than the entire
population of the county who could attend public worship.
The statistics of churches given in census returns do not in all cases agree with the statements put
forth by the denominational organs of the various sects. The census superintendents have their
own point of view and apply tests different from those known to the compilers of religious
year-books and registers. It should be borne in mind, too, that reports of the number of church
edifices, their accommodations and value are not always true measures of the religious activity of
a community. A strong denomination with numerous churches, may often strengthen itself by
suffering a weak church to cease to exist when it becomes unable to support itself. There are
churches which find a place on the rolls of a denomination, and may be enumerated in census
returns, which, having a legal title to an edifice, and maintaining some kind of an organization,
have ceased to gather congregations, to support a minister or to conduct any of the services of
public worship. It is not easy to determine the number of churches in a given area for the reason
that it is not easy to determine what constitutes a church to entitle it to a place in an enumeration.
On this point, the superintendent of the ninth census of the United States remarks: "A church to
deserve note in the census must have something of the character of an institution. It must be
known in the community in which it is located. There must be something permanent and tangible
to substantiate its title to recognition. No one test, it is true, can be devised, that will apply in all
cases; yet, in the entire absence of tests, the statistics of the census will be overlaid with fictitious
returns to such an extent as to produce the effect of absolute falsehood. It will not do to say that a
church without, a church-building of its own is, therefore, not a church; that a church without a
pastor is not a church; nor even that a church without membership is not a church. There are
churches properly cognizable in the census which are without edifices and pastors, and, in rare
instances, without a professed membership. Something makes them churches in spite of all their
deficiencies. They are known and recognized in the community as churches, and are properly to
be returned as such in the census."
The most numerous denomination in Warren County is the Methodist Episcopal, which has a
church in almost every neighborhood. Next in numbers are the Presbyterian, Regular Baptist, Old
School and New School, and the Christian. By the last-named is meant the Christian
denomination, formerly frequently termed New Lights, and not the followers of Alexander
Campbell, or Disciples of Christ, who are also popularly called Christians. Of the Disciples of
Christ there are but one or two small organizations at present in the county. Other denominations
found in the county are the Orthodox Friends, Hicksite Friends, Universalist, United Brethren,
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed (late German Reformed), Cumberland Presbyterian,
Free-Will Baptist, United Presbyterian, Methodist Protestant and the Shakers. Several of
he last-named have but a single church organization within the limits of the county. A small
number of persons are believers in the phenomena known as spiritual manifestations, and
occasionally meet for religious exercises or to receive spiritual communications, but no regular
organization of Spiritualists is. known to exist in the county.
318 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
It is difficult to determine whether at the present time a larger or smaller proportion of the entire
population are members of church than in the past generation. In the southwestern portion of the
county, sworn exhibits of the membership of each church receiving the benefit of the ministerial
land fund are made annually. From these exhibits, it appears that in the two original surveyed
townships comprising seventy-two square miles, in the central part of the county and embracing
the towns of Lebanon, South Lebanon and Union Village, 28 per cent of the entire population are
members of some religious society. It is estimated that fully two-thirds of the communicants of
churches are women and minor children, and thus the burden of supporting the churches falls
upon a small proportion of the adult male population, heads of families and property owners. The
Presbyterians and Baptists built the first meet- ing-houses in the county, but the Methodists soon
followed. The early Methodist ministers were generally men of but little education, but their zeal
and perseverance overcame every obstacle. The itinerant plan of their ministry proved best
calculated for the spread of the Gospel throughout the thinly scattered population of a new
country. They established preaching stations before churches could be erected, and the little
clearing was scarcely commenced and the little cabin scarcely built before the Methodist
circuit-rider made his appearance, formed a class, and taught the worship of God. The Quakers
formed an important element in the pioneer population. They taught a religion without forms and
ceremonies and established churches without a priesthood or a sacrament. Their habits of
industry and frugality, their attention to useful arts and improvements, and their love of human
liberty, were highly commendable and made them valued members of the community; but their
opposition to the amusements, recreations and dress of polished society has prevented the sect
from increasing with the growth of population. The Christian denomination in the county is an
offshoot from the Presbyterians; of late years it has not increased in numbers. The Presbyterian
was the most important and influential church in the earliest settlement of the county; its
ministers stood first in education and ability, and, had it hot been for the disastrous effects upon
the denomination of the great Kentucky revival, it would probably have been the largest sect in
the county.
Great changes have taken place in the Mode of public worship since the first rude churches of
hewed logs sprung up beside the green fields. In the former days, sermons were from an hour and
a half to two hours in length, while the other services were protracted by long prayers and
commentaries on the chapter read from the Scriptures, to a length that would now be thought
unendurable. Often there were two services separated by an intermission of fifteen minutes.
During both services, horses, in the absence of a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals,
stood, without food or water, haltered to trees from which they gnawed the bark. The autumn sun
was low in the horizon before the benediction was pronounced and the worshipers departed,
some to distant homes. The singing was not artistic. The innovation of singing hymns with- out
lining them out caused many a difficulty in the older churches. Some- times there was a
compromise between the opposing parties, and one hymn each Sunday was sung without being
read line by line, and the others in the old way. A new tune, which all could not sing, caused
some to grieve. The introduction of a choir or of a musical instrument caused serious dissension.
Instrumental music was not common in the rural churches until a her the introduction of the
cabinet organ. The sin of wearing elegant attires and adornment with broidered hair, or gold, or
pearls, or costly array, was a favorite topic in the pulpit. Flowers on the sacred desk would have
been considered as ministering to a worldly vanity. The most beautiful comedies and the sub-
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 319
limiest tragedies to be seen on the stage were declared unfit for Christian eyet Many pastimes and
divertissements which scatter sunshine and sweetness ov( the cares and hardships of life were
regarded as inconsistent with the seriou ness, gravity and godly fear which the Gospel calls for.
It cannot be doubted that there was less harmony among the different denominations formerly
than now. The religious men of former generatioi were sincerely and intensely sectarian. They
believed that they had saith the Lord" for their distinctive tenets. They believed themselves to 1
and were determined to remain rigidly "orthodox "—a term which, according to Dean Stanley,
"implies, to a certain extent, narrowness, fixedness, perhaps even hardness of intellect and
deadness of feeling, at times, rancorous an mosity." Sermons were more controversial and
doctrinal than now. It can hardly be doubted that, with the increase of culture and refinement in
the clergy and laity, have come a larger religious sympathy and a higher and broader view which
would break down the party wall of sectarianism and swel away the petty restrictions on thought
and opinion.
The early Presbyterian and 43aptist Churches were severely Calvinist and their pulpits dwelt
more frequently and more strenuously than their mode. successors on the five points of their
creed—predestination, particular redemption, total depravity, effectual calling and the certain
perseverance of the saints. The terrors of the eternal torment of the wicked were more frequent
and more vividly portrayed than in the modern days. The belief in a materi fire in hell for the
future and endless punishment of the unregenerate was col mon in all the churches. The doctrine
of a literal fire in bell was preached Rev. J. B. Findlay and other early Methodist preachers, in
which they follow, the explicit teachings of the sermons of John Wesley. It is doubtful if a p( son
known to be a disbeliever in eternal punishment would have been suffer, to remain a member of
any of the early orthodox churches; to-day a belief the final holiness and happiness of all
mankind is not an insurmountable bar a place among the laity of the evangelical denominations.
Excepting the Quakers, nearly all the religious persons among the, pioneers were rigid
Sanitarians, and the first day of the week was not with them a day for social enjoyment or
recreation. Too often it left with it upon the minds of the young pleasing memories. Children
who were kept constantly at work six days the week, by poor parents who had bought land o..1
credit, and must pay for with hard labor, were required on Sunday to go to church, a considerable
d tance on foot, to listen to long sermons; and, after returning home, to spe much of the rest of
the day on their feet reciting the catechism, or to sit a hear read the Bible and Baxter's Saints'
Everlasting Rest.
But let us not judge the religious men of former days harshly. They were noble men and the
county owes them a debt of gratitude. The high place education, morals and religion Warren
County has ever maintained is largely to the life and work of the early religious teachers. We
cannot believe in all taken place as they believed, but we cannot fail to recognize their virtues
and their worth.
Most of the changes in the religious beliefs and modes of worship that have taken place since the
establishment of the pioneer churches are not such as result in modifications of creeds and
articles of faith. They are the result of inevitable tendencies, and are brought about, not so much
by theological discussions, as by the changes in human modes of thinking, feeling and believing,
which, taken together, we call the spirit of the age. The advance of the refinements of civilization
may render the religious doctrines of good men in one age repugnant to those of the next.
It is now impossible to determine when Sunday schools were first estab-
320 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
lished in Warren County. There were but few previous to 1830. Some denominations did not at
first look upon them with favor. Until comparatively recent times, no provisions were made in
the erection of churches for the accommodation of a Sunday school; but now no church edifice is
considered complete without ample rooms for the instruction of infant classes and other classes,
and a general assembly room for the entire school. The Sunday school has thus exerted a great
influence on church architecture. In 1850, seven Sunday school libraries were reported in Warren
County. These have increased in numbers and in size until they have become the most widely
diffused libraries, and their books the most widely circulated in the county. They are found, not
only in the towns, but in almost every rural church, and many Sunday schools with libraries are
established without being in connection with any church. Unfortunately, the books selected for
these libraries are generally not of a high order of literature, and only a minority of them furnish
strong and wholesome intellectual food for growing minds. In 1879, there were sixtyn five
Sunday schools in Warren County, having 500 teachers and a total enrollment of 5,000 pupils.
The Warren County Sabbath School Union was organized at a meeting held at the
Congregational Church in Lebanon, May 17 and 18, 1864. The object of the union, as declared in
its constitution, is "to unite all evangelical Christians in the county in efforts to promote the cause
of Sabbath schools, in co-operation with the State Sabbath School Union, aiding in establishing
new schools where they are needed and awakening an increased interest and efficiency in
Sabbath school work." The association holds annual conventions of two days' sessions, which are
usually largely attended.
AGRICULTURE.
Notwithstanding the wonderful fertility of the rich, virgin soil when the old forests were cut away
and the genial and vivifying rays of the sun shone upon the first crops planted by the hand of
man, agriculture was not the road to wealth with the early settlers of the Miami Valley. The great
embarrassment under which the pioneer farmer labored was the difficulty of getting the products
of his soil to a market. In spite of roots and stumps, sprouts and bushes, the newly cleared land
brought forth bountiful harvests; but the wagon roads were imperfect, canals and railroads
unthought of, and the distance by the Ohio River to the principal markets so great, the navigation
so difficult, tedious and hazardous, that the early farmer had little encouragement to increase the
products of his fields beyond the wants of his family and the supply of the limited home market
created by the wants of the inhabitants of the neighboring towns and the newly-arrived emigrants.
The average time required for a journey by a flat-boat propelled by oars and poles, from
Cincinnati to New Orleans and return, was six months. The cargoes taken in these boats were
necessarily light; the boats could not be easily brought back, and were generally abandoned at
New Orleans and the crew returned by land, generally on foot, through a wilderness of hundreds
of miles. A large part of the proceeds of the cargo was necessarily consumed in the cost of taking
it to market-Beeswax, skins and feathers were the principal articles that could profitably be
transported by wagons to distant markets. Hogs and cattle were driven afoot over the mountains,
and, after a journey of a month or six weeks, found an uncertain market in Baltimore. Corn rarely
commanded more than 10 or 12 cents per bushel; wheat, 30 or 40 cents; hay was from $3 to $4
per ton; flour from $1.50 to $2 per hundred; pork from $1 to $2 per hundred; the average price of
good beef was $1.50 per hundred, while oats, potatoes, butter and egg! scarcely had a market
value, and the sale of cabbage and turnips was almost
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 321
unheard of. But the early farmers supplied their homes liberally with the comforts of pioneer life;
they lived independently, and, perhaps, were as happy and contented as those who have the
luxuries brought by wealth and commerce.
The proximity of a spring, rather than the claims of taste or sanitary considerations, usually
determined the location of the first residence of the pioneer farmer; and the log stable and the
corn-crib, made of rails or poles, were apt to be in close proximity to the residence. The first
fences, both for the fields and the door-yard, were made of rails in the form of the Virginia, or
worm, fence. This, in a new country, where timber, readily split with the wedge and maul,
was abundant, was the cheapest and the most durable fence. Unsightly as it is, it is yet superseded
to a limited extent only by post-and-rail, board or wire fences, or hedges.
Agricultural implements were at an early period necessarily few in number and rude and simple
in construction. The plow first used was of rude construction--often made on the farm with the
assistance of the neighboring blacksmith. It had a wooden mold-board and a clumsy iron share. It
took a strong man to hold it and twice the strength of team now requisite for the same amount of
work. The cast-iron plow was slowly introduced. The early harrows were made of bars of wood
and wooden teeth, and were rude and homely in construction. Sometimes, in place of the harrow,
a brush, weighted down with a piece of timber, was dragged over the ground. The sickle was in
universal use for harvesting grain until about 1825, when it was gradually superseded by the
cradle. The sickle is one of the most ancient of farming implements; but reaping with the sickle
was always slow and laborious. For the twenty years succeeding 1830, there were few farmers
who did not know how to swing the cradle and scythe, but during the next twenty years-reapers
and mowers, drawn by horses, became almost the only harvesters of grain and grass. The first
reaping machines merely cut the grain; a raker was necessary to gather the grain into sheaves
ready for the binders. Self-raking reaping machines soon followed, and, about 1878, self-binding
machines were introduced. Of the two old-fashioned methods of separating the grain from the
straw—the flail and tramping with horses—the latter was the most common in this county.
To-day, instead of this slow and wasteful method, a horse or steam-power thresher not only
separates the grain, but winnows it and carries the straw to the stack, all at the same time.
The soil of Warren County is well adapted to u miscellaneous agriculture, and all its branches are
pursued, the cultivation of grains and the raising of stock. Corn is the leading grain crop, and of
stock, hogs are more generally raised than any other. The first crop usually raised by the early
farmers on newly-cleared land was corn. Most of the county has been found well adapted to
wheat, and this crop is seldom a total failure. Barley has been, for many Years, one of the leading
and most profitable crops in large areas, and the county has long stood among the first in the
State in the production of this grain. Nearly all the large breweries in the State are found in the
Miami Valley.
HORSES.
The capital invested in domestic animals constitutes a large item in the Wealth of the county.
Improvements in breeds of all the farm animals have kept pace with the improvements in
agricultural implements and methods of tilling the soil. After the land had been generally cleared
of the forests, the necessity of oxen ceased, and interest in the improvement of the horse
commenced. The possession of good horses--elegant, strong and speedy—became a matter of
pride with the farmer. Speed was not considered of special value in the horse until the
improvements in the public roads rendered possible the use
322 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of the modern light carriage. The improvements in the horse are doubtless largely due to the
infusion of the blood of the thoroughbred, which was early introduced into Warren County. The
Morgan, the Cadmus, the Bellfounder, the C. M. Clay and the Hambletonian stock, were also
common at different periods; but whatever breed has been introduced, the tendency has always
been to amalgamate it with the stocks already in use. The strains of blood have not therefore been
kept distinct. The farm horses, or horses for general purposes, found throughout the county, are
of a most uncertain blood, but it is certain that they have been greatly improved within thirty
years in style, action, form, temper and endurance, and no county in the State can now exhibit a
greater number of fine horses for the purposes of the farm, the road and the carriage.
CATTLE.
The cattle of the early settlers were introduced from various quarters, immigrants from
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky bringing many with them; and it is believed by some that
cattle raised by the Indians previous to the first settlements by the whites, were an element in the
original or common herds in the West. Of course, they were a heterogeneous collection, yet, in
process of time, the stock was assimilated to the locality, acquiring local characteristics, by
which the experienced cattle-dealer determined from their general appearance the region in
which they were reared. The early farmers suffered their cattle to wander through the woods and
uncultivated grounds, browsing for their living, and thus some of the native grasses and shrubs
were extirpated by being cropped off early in the spring before their flowers and seeds were
formed. In winter, the cows were not housed nor sheltered, but found their subsistence at a stack
of wheat-straw, or in the corn-field, after husking time; or, at best, were fed twice a day in an
open lot with fodder and unhusked corn. The practice, which is still common, of securing the
corn before it is fully matured by cutting off the stocks near the ground and stacking it in the
field, is said to have originated with the cattle-feeders of Virginia.
Warren County early felt the effects of the interest manifested in different parts of Kentucky and
Ohio for the improvement of the stock of cattle. The Shakers, at Union Village, having large
landed estates, and more abundant means at their command than any single farmer, took the lead
in the intro-, duction of improved breeds in all kinds of farm animals. The Patton stock of
English cattle, early in this century, doubtless found their way from Kentucky to the Miami
Valley, and were crossed with the common cattle. Some of the early descendants of the Kentucky
importation of English cattle, made in 1817, were brought to Warren County; the long-horns
first; afterward, the short-horns. Excellent short-horn cattle continued to be introduced until there
is hardly a neighborhood in the county in which more or less of their cross is not found. In 1854,
Robert G. Corwin, in connection with the Society of Shakers, made an importation direct from
Scotland of fine herds of thoroughbred short-horn cattle. Of late years, the Jersey cows are
coming into favor, on account of the richness of their milk, especially in the towns and on farms
adjoining the towns.
SHEEP.
Sheep were raised by the early settlers before the wolves had disappeared, and old men still
living remember to have seen wolves in pursuit of sheep. The journals of the Shakers show that
Merino sheep were introduced on their premises August 2,1812. Jeremiah Morrow, then a
Member of Congress, s00/1 after introduced them into Deerfield Township. The number of sheep
in the county continued to increase until about 1850, since which time they have decreased in
numbers.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 323
SWINE.
The raising of hogs has proved so well adapted to the agriculture of the county that on almost
every farm it has been carried on, and the animal have been made to serve both as a popular and
cheap article of food, and a means of condensing for the market a large part of the extensive
crops of Indite corn. Of all domestic animals, the hog comes to maturity quickest, require
least skill and care to handle, and has been most generally relied on in the regions around
Cincinnati for domestic consumption and for profit. The fact that the celebrated Poland-China
breed of hogs originated in Warren County and attained the development which has given it so
high a reputation in the two counties of Warren and Butler, renders a full history of Warren
County hogs desirable. The principal authorities which have been followed in the preparation of
the following historic account, are the report of Hon. John M. Millikin, of Hamilton, Ohio, to the
National Convention of Swine Breeder held at Indianapolis in 1872, and a paper published in the
Western Farmer Cephas Holloway, the venerable business manager of the Shaker Society
Union Village.
The swine of the early settlers were long and slim, coarse, large boned at long-legged, with erect
bristles on the neck and back. They were active at healthy and capable of making heavy hogs, but
two years or more were quired for them to mature. Until a short time before being butchered or
driv to market, they were suffered to run at large in the woods, subsisting foragers. They were
sometimes known as "razor-backs."
Some time during the war of 1812, Col. Thomas B. Van Horne, who was in command at Fort
Erie, purchased two Russia pigs, and, carrying them it basket to Pittsburgh, brought them thence
by water to Cincinnati, and rail them on his farm one mile east of Lebanon. About the same
period, the field breed was also introduced in the Miami Valley. These two improved breeds, the
Russia and the Byfield, and, to some extent, the Bedford, profitably crossed with the common
bristle breed.
In 1816, John Wallace, then a trustee of the Shaker Society, visited Philadelphia on business, and
was shown what were called the Big China hogs; was pleased with them and purchased four
hogs, and brought them the sat season to Union Village. These four hogs were entirely white,
except one upon which were some sandy spots, in which appeared small black spots. They were
represented to be either imported or the immediate descendants of imported stock, and are
believed to have been the first China hogs in Southwestern Ohio. Subsequently, other China hogs
were introduced. They w extensively raised and crossed with the best breeds then existing, and
the product of these crosses constituted a breed of fine qualities, which was genera known as the
"Warren County hog," sometimes as the " Shaker hog." These hogs increased in good qualities
and were extensively bred in the great corn producing regions of Warren and Butler Counties,
The Berkshires were introduced into Warren County in 1835 or 1836, by Mr. Munson Beach,
who operated, in connection with his brother, Louis Beach, then a prominent merchant in the city
of New York. Subsequently they made other shipments of the same stock to Warren and Butler
Counties. The Berkshires introduced by the Messrs. Beach were generally black, with occasional
marks of white, either on the feet, the tip of the tail or in the face. They were muscular, active and
round-bodied hogs, and, in most cases, had sharp-pointed, upright ears. Some families, however,
were large in size, deep in their bodies, with ears that lopped.
The Irish Grazier breed of hogs was imported direct into Southwestern Ohio by William Neff,
Esq., of Cincinnati, about 1839. The Graziers were
324 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
white, with only an occasional sandy spot which appeared about the eyes. Mr. Neff committed
some of these hogs to the care of Mr. Anthony Keever, whose farm adjoined the Shaker lands on
the south. Mr. Keever was a judicious breeder, and, esteeming the Grazier highly, he bred them
and crossed them liberally.
These two breeds—the Berkshires and Irish Graziers—were extensively used in making crosses
by the best breeders in Warren and Butler Counties, and, to some extent, in Clinton and Hamilton
Counties. Having been carefully bred and intermixed with the descendants and crosses of the Big
China with other breeds, the stock thus produced constituted the true and original basis of what is
now known as the Magie or Poland-China hogs.
Many of the most successful breeders of these hogs resided in the vicinity of Monroe, near the
Warren and Butler County line. Since 1840, no new blood has been introduced. In 1870, the
Illinois Swine Breeders' Association resolved to call these hogs the "Magie breed" (pronounced
Magee), from the name of one of the most successful breeders of the stock in Butler County, but
Poland-China is now the established name. The first part of this name, however, is a misnomer,
as the best authorities agree that there never was a breed of hogs known as the Poland in the
Miami Valley, and no Poland cross entered into the formation of the breed. The first part of the
name is believed to have originated from the fact that a Polander, residing in Hamilton County,
having purchased some of the Shaker or Warren County hogs many years ago, disposed of them
to purchasers who named them Poland or Polander hogs. The National Convention of Swine
Breeders of 1872 retained this misnomer for the reason that the great mass of breeders so called
the breed, and to change a name generally used is difficult.
These celebrated hogs have been exported from the Miami Valley to many different States and
foreign countries. They have been sent to Australia, and, in 1879, received the highest premium
at the great stock exhibition of New South Wales.
AGRICULTURE CF WARREN COUNTY IN 1849.
The following is the first general review of the agriculture of the county known to have been
made. It was prepared by William R. Collett, Esq., an intelligent farmer, soon after his election as
the first Secretary of the County Agricultural Society, in 1849, as a report to the State Board of
Agriculture, and is in the form of answers to inquiries by the Secretary of the State Board:
1. Principal Crops.—Corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, clover seed.
2. Wheat.—The usual average product of wheat per acre in this county is from twelve
to fifteen bushels. The most approved varieties are Mediterranean, golden straw or Kentucky
rock, blue stem, and red-chaff bearded; of these, the Mediterranean is the heaviest, often
weighing from sixty-two to sixty-four pounds per bushel, but it is considered inferior to the
others for flour, on account of the dark color of its husk or bran.
This variety also ripens earlier than either of the others; the golden straw ripens next. Hitherto the
Mediterranean has escaped injury from winter-killing as well, if not better than any other
kind—has been less injured by the fly, and has never been affected by rust until the present
season. The crop is most liable to injury from rust. The past season all varieties suffered from this
cause, and the whole crop of the county is not over half the usual average yield. The most
effective manner of preventing rust is to sow a variety that ripens early.
Early sowing, deep covering, and a ridge or uneven and rough surface are considered the best
guards against winter-killing. Our farmers used formerly to be satisfied if they. had all their
wheat in by the 10th of October. Now, many sow in August, and nearly all are done before the
20th of September.
The Mediterranean having suffered but little the past season from rust, and having,
notwithstanding the general failure of all the other varieties from this cause, yielded above the
usual average of the county, has become a great favorite. Probably one-half of all the wheat sown
the present autumn is of this kind. I have cultivated it the past three years, and it has never
yielded me less than twenty bushels per acre, nor weighed less than sixty pounds per bushel. The
rye complexion of its kernel, and the weakness of its straw, are
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326 - PICTURE OF JOB MULLIN
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 327
rea1 objections to this variety, but both may be partly obviated by cutting as soon as the
grain is out of the milky stage.
3. Corn.—The usual average yield per acre is forty-five bushels. The crop, this year, has been
generally estimated from five to ten bushels below the average, but so far as gathered has
exceeded the expectation of the farmer, and will approach very nearly to an average yield.
Out farmers generally plant what they call the "large yellow," and "large white" corn having no
other generally received distinctive names for the different varieties. There is more yellow corn
raised than white. As a whole, the yellow corn ripens earlier, and is more sound and more
weighty. The white will yield more to the acre, and is preferred by our housewives for meal. I
suppose the aggregate amount grown in the county is about 2 150,000 bushels, and its value
$537,500.
4. Oats.—The usual average yield, about twenty-five bushels. A little less the past year.
Aggregate of the county is probably 35,000 bushels.
5. Rye and Barley.—Very little rye grown; not so much as formerly. Usual product per acre about
eighteen bushels. Winter barley yields from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre; spring barley
half less. Usual price in the nearest market about 60 cents per bushel. The amount sown is yearly
increasing.
6. Grass and Hay—The grasses most approved for meadow, are timothy, and a mix- ture of
timothy and clover—the former for horses—the latter for cattle and sheep. For pas,
ture a mixture of timothy and clover is usually sown; but herd's grass and orchard grass are
beginning to be used. Timothy is usually worth $4 to $6, and yields one and one-half tons per
acre.
7. Root crops.—Potatoes usually yield from eighty to one hundred bushels per acre. Neshanocks
have generally been preferred, but rot badly, and I think are not so good for the table as formerly.
I have tried cutting off the tops and application of salt as a remedy for rot, without any apparent
effect. Early planting is preferred.
8. Fruit.—The fruit of our county is pretty good; but our farmers exercise too little care and
judgment in selecting such kinds as are really good, and adapted to our soil and climate. On the
whole there is a gradual improvement.
9. Seeds.—Have no data from which to make any accurate statement. Clover seed is, to a small
extent, an article of export. Timothy is not produced beyond the home demand. Very little flax
grown.
10. Dairy Products.—There is a growing attention to the production of milk and but- ter for the
Cincinnati market. Very little cheese made. No means of ascertaining the amount of butter
manufactured. The native cows generally preferred for the dairy.
11. Sheep and Wool.—The books of the Auditor show that there are 28,634 sheep in the county;
these would yield at least 3+ pounds of wool per head (washed on the sheep's back), worth 25
cents per pound. Total value, $23,262. Decrease in two years, 2,127 head. Merinos
preferred—considered hardier than Saxony sheep—fleece heavier. Quality im- proving. Dogs
destructive.
12. Pork.-41,717 hogs were returned for taxation this year; estimating these to aver- age 240
pounds when slaughtered, and to be worth 21 cents per pound, the whole would weigh
10,012,080 pounds, and the total value is $275,332. Our farmers generally feed late, and I have
put the average, perhaps, too low. We think our stock as good as, if not better, than that of any
other county or State. We have for more than thirty years had what is now called the Old Warren
County stock,"-which is generally thought to be a mixture of the China and Russia breeds, and on
this have crossed the Berkshire, Irish Grazier, and Chester County (Penn.) White.
13. Beef.—No means of ascertaining the facts inquired after under this head. Some few
individuals, and also the Society of Shakers in this county, have for several years given especial
attention to this branch of business, and find it profitable; and our farmers are Slowly learning
that it is more profitable, and quite as easy to raise a good animal as it is a Poor one. Durhams are
preferred.
14. Horses and Mules.—I suppose about 2,000 horses are annually produced in our county and
that about 1,200 are exported. The average value of horses at three years old
15. Implements.—Threshing machines have been in use many years, and new kinds With
separator and fans attached have recently been introduced and approved. Rollers are coming into
more general use. A few are experimenting with wheat drills, and sub-soil plows are beginning to
be inquired for, though few have been introduced.
16. Other Improvements.—Have heard of no experiments in the renovation or enrich- ment of
soils, but there is, manifestly, increased attention paid to rotation of crops, clover- 'rig, and
preserving and applying barn-yard manure. Under-draining has, within a few years, been resorted
to by several of our enterprising farmers for the recovery of their wet lands, and with encouraging
results. How this can be done most thoroughly, most permanently, and, at the same time, most
cheaply, is beginning to be an important question with litany of us, and I hope that by another
year we can give our quota of facts having a bearing upon these points.
As a strong evidence of progress and prospective improvement, I have the satisfaction
328 - HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of reporting under this head, that we have just now organized a county agricultural society with
most flattering prospects of the general co-operation of our farming population.
17. Mills, etc.—There are thirty-two flouring mills, some of them large; forty-eight saw-mills;
four woolen factories; two paper mills; four distilleries; one oil mill.
The greater part of our surplus production reaches the Cincinnati market, which about thirty
miles distant from the center of our county. Part is conveyed by the Little Miami Railroad, which
passes through the east and southeast portions of the county, and part goes by the Miami Canal,
which cuts the northwest portion of it; not a little also transported thither by wagons, over
turnpike roads. Recently, corn has been shipped northward by canal, and a few live fat hogs have
been sent by railroad to Boston. Our, wool is mostly sold or traded to our dry goods merchants,
who ship it to Philadelphia,
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AND FAIRS.
Previous to the organization of the Warren County Agricultural Society, in 1849, several
exhibitions of agricultural and mechanical products were held at Lebanon. One of these, which
was announced as the first Warren County Fair, was held November 15, 1839, in Osborn's
Grove, east of the town; others were held at the foot of Broadway. These exhibitions were not
large, but they did something to awaken the spirit of improvement.
The Warren County Agricultural Society was organized at a meeting held in the old Town Hall at
Lebanon, December 1, 1849, the call for which had been published in the Western Star and the
Buckeye Mercury. About seventy persons paid $1 each to constitute themselves members. A
constitution was adopted and the following persons were elected as officers: President, Ezra
Carpenter; Vice President, Isaac Evans; Treasurer, William Eulass; Secretary, William R. Collett;
Managers, Jacob Egbert, James M. Roosa, Edward Noble, George Kesling and William B.
Strout. A committee of four persons in each township was appointed to solicit members, and
John A. Dodds was appointed delegate to the State Board of Agriculture.
The first annual fair of the society was held on the farm of John Osborn, one-half mile east of
Lebanon, on September 26 and 27, 1850, and was deemed a respectable exhibition. The total
receipts of the society reported after the close of this fair were $354.50, of which sum $214 had
been received from membership fees, $25 were donated by the Shaker Society and $115.50 were
received from the County Treasury. The second annual fair was held on the same grounds,
September 9 and 10, 1851. In 1852, the society leased ten acres of ground from Robert G.
Corwin, Esq., for fair purposes, and built a tight board-fence, eight feet high, around five acres of
the same, and erected within the inclosure a frame building, eighty feet by twenty-four feet. The
first fair on these grounds, which constitute a part of the present fair grounds, was held on
September 22 and 23, 1852, and was more ,largely attended than either preceding exhibition. An
admission fee of 15 cents was charged for all persons not members of the society. The price of
single admission tickets was afterward raised to 25 cents, and later, to 50 cents.
Addresses were delivered at the fairs in 1851 by Robert G. Corwin, Esq.; in 1852, by Judge John
Probasco; in 1854, by Dr. John Locke, then a resident of Lebanon, and, in 1855, by John M.
Millikin, Esq. The annual addresses were afterward discontinued. In 1858, the society reported a
membership of 1,300, twenty-two acres of ground, leased for seven years, with improvements
thereon worth about $2,000. At the fair of 1857, $800 were awarded in premiums, the largest of
which was $30 for the best-conducted experiment of one-eighth of an acre of Chinese
sugar-cane, with the product in sugar or molasses. A premium of $25 was awarded to R. C.
Fuller, of Franklin, for the best "Essay on the mode of cultivating and managing farms in this
vicinity so as to produce the largest profits on investments in land." 0n May 13 and 14, 1856, a
horse fair was held, at which there were 175 entries
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY - 329
of good horses from Warren and adjoining counties. In 1872, Theodore Thompson, of Franklin
Township, received the premium for the best five acres of wheat—number of acres, thirteen and
one-third; number of bushel produced, 400; average per acre, 30 bushels; the soil was Great
Miami bottom.
The society now owns the fee of thirty acres, and has erected many structures thereon. Fairs have
been held every year since the organization of the society, excepting two years while the civil war
was in progress. Public interest in the annual fairs has constantly increased. The total receipts of
the fair of 1850 were $354; of 1855, $544; of 1870, $3,000, and of 1880, $5,000 For several
years past, from $2,500 to $3,000 have been paid annually in premiums, more than one-third of
which has been for fast horses. The following figures are taken from the Secretary's report of the
fair of 1881:
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