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300 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. of the Territorial and State Legislatures. He practiced law for some years after his retirement from the bench, in 1817. His home was at Lebanon. The attorney who prosecuted pleas in behalf of the State was appointed by the Supreme Court, and was frequently a non-resident of the county. In the earlier courts, the sum of $20 was the usual allowance for the services of a Prosecuting Attorney at a single term. Aaron Goforth, of Cincinnati; Arthur St. Clair, Jr., of Cincinnati; Joshua Collett, of Lebanon, were appointed attorneys for the State at different terms of the courts of Clermont County from 1803 until 1809. Arthur St. Clair was a son of the Territorial Governor. He is said to have appeared in court with a sword and a cocked hat. Joshua Collett was the first resident lawyer in Warren County, and practiced in the courts of Southwestern Ohio until he became President Judge. He presided at the first court in Brown County. Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and a United States Senator, had a large practice in this portion of the circuit over which he traveled. John McLean, of Lebanon, who afterward presided on the bench in Brown County as a Supreme Judge of Ohio, and was afterward a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was known to the pioneers of this region as an able young lawyer. Martin Marshall, of Augusta, By., was regular in attendance at the courts of Brown County. He was a profound lawyer and a successful advocate. Owen T. Fishback, of Clermont County, admitted to the bar in 1815, was for more than forty years a distinguished practitioner, and seven years a President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. " Half a century an ornament to the bar, of strong opinions, which he was accustomed to strongly express at all proper times, he was a man who left a decided impress on the history of his time and county." Thomas Morris, although he was never a resident of Brown County, was so long and prominently identified with the practice of law in the region now composing the county, both before and after its organization, that he should receive here more than a passing notice. He was born in Pennsylvania January 3, 1776, and died at his homestead, near Bethel, Ohio, December 7, 1844. The son of a Baptist minister of Welsh descent. his early life was passed in the wilds of West Virginia, where he had few advantages of schools. Excepting three months at a common school, his entire education was received in his log cabin home, where his mother taught him to read before he was six years old. In 1795, he removed to Columbia, in the Northwest Territory, where he clerked in the store of Rev. John Smith, one of the first Senators from Ohio in Congress. In 1797, he married Rachel Davis. In 1800, he removed to Williamsburg, and, in 1804, to Bethel, which was his home for most of his active life. In 1802, without the assistance of friends, without pecuniary means, without a preceptor, with a growing family and with but few books, he commenced the study of law. Early and late he was at his law books. After the hard labors of the day, night found him reading Blackstone by the light of hickory bark or a clapboard, at his cabin, and often by a brick-kiln which he was burning for the support of his family. Completing two years of study, in 1804 he was admitted to the bar. With a resolute purpose and an iron will, he pushed his onward way; he soon took a leading position at the bar; reputation and business rapidly accumulated, and for forty years he maintained his position among the able and successful lawyers of Ohio. He was among the ablest of the early lawyers of Clermont, many of his clients being from the region now' forming Brown County. At the organization of Brown County, he was in the full tide of successful practice, and for years he had an extensive practice HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 301 both in the courts of Clermont and Brown. Before a jury there were few who surpassed him in power and effect. Indomitable energy was one of his marked characteristics. His son and biographer relates that " in a case of great importance before the court of Brown County, he desired a continuance of his case, a principal witness being absent on account of high waters. The court refused the motion. Mr. Morris procured a horse, swam the stream, and, with his witness behind him, returned and replunged into the swollen stream, entered the court and gained his Case." He was often elected to the General Assembly, where he served on the most important committees, frequently being Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1809, he was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio; but, by an act of the Legislature called " the sweeping act," he' was prevented from taking his seat on the bench. In 1832, he was elected United States Senator, and served six years. In the Senate he distinguished himself as an opponent of slavery. In 1844, the Liberty party nominated him a candidate for Vice President. On his monument in the cemetery at Bethel is the following inscription: Thomas Morris, Born January 3, 1776, - Died December 7, 1844, Aged 69 years. Unawed by power and uninfluenced by flattery, He was, throughout life, the fearless advocate of Human Liberty. John S. Wills, who was admitted to the bar in Virginia in 1797, came from Columbus, Ohio, to Ripley, the temporary seat of justice of Brown County, about the time of the organization of the county, and was among the first resident practiCing attorneys of Ripley. He afterward removed to Georgetown, and was engaged in the practice of his profession until his death, in 1829. George W. King, the first resident Prosecuting Attorney of Brown County, Came from his native State of Pennsylvania, where be was admitted to the bar in November, 1817, to visit his brothers in this county. He arrived in the county in December of the same year, and, after the formation of the county, began the practice of his profession at Ripley. It is believed that Wills and King were the only resident lawyers of the county when the first courts were- held at Ripley. Thomas L. Hamer commenced the practice of law at Georgetown in August, 1821; Archibald Liggett, at Ripley, in 1825; David G. Devore, at Georgetown, in 1833; Andrew Ellison, at Georgetown, in 1835; Chambers Baird, at Ripley, in 1837; Hanson L. Penn, at Georgetown, in 1837; and John G. Marshall, in 1846. For twenty years after the organization of the county, only four or five lawyers residing in the County were engaged in active practice at any one time. Attorneys and physicians were then subject to a tax of a few mills on each dollar of their annual income, and the records of the County Commissioners contain lists of the practicing attorneys in the county for a number of years following 1831. The list for 1831 is: Thomas L. Hamer, Archibald Liggett, George W. King, John J. Higgins and Daniel F. Barney. Of these, Messrs. Higgins and Barney were not long engaged in the practice. In 1833, 1834 and 1835, only four lawyers were taxed on their incomes. In 1840, there were six practicing attorneys resident in the county, viz. : Thomas L. Hamer, David G. Devore, Chambers Baird, Hanson L. Penn, Thomas H. Linch and Josiah Q. Gallup. Although the lawyers were few in numbers, it was not until about this time that the income of any one of them 302 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. was estimated as high as $1,000, and in most cases it -was only about one-half that sum. In 1850, there were twenty practicing attorneys in the county—one at Aberdeen, one at Higginsport, two at Fayetteville, two at Ripley and fourteen at Georgetown. In 1880, the number of practicing attorneys in the county was thirty-five. 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 decade 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 them away from their homes a Considerable portion of the year, a remunerative one. Lawyers' fees were low in the early practice in Ohio. A charge of hundreds of dollars was rare; a fee of thousands of dollars for services in a single case was almost unknown. Ejectment suits, which frequently arose from the disputed boundaries and titles of the Virginia Military Lands, were, perhaps, the most profitable part of the early lawyers' practice. It may be safely assumed that, for thirty years after the organization of the State of Ohio, $750, which was for a part of that time the salary of the Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was above rather than below the average annual income of a lawyer in full practice at Williamsburg, Batavia and Georgetown. 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. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. There are in existence no records from which we can learn the names of the physicians who practiced in the region now forming Brown County, previous to the organization of the county, and for several years subsequent, there. to. The Legislature passed various acts to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery. The first of these was passed in 1811, when the whole State was divided into five districts. Among the Censors named in early acts authorized to grant licenses to practice medicine and surgery in the districts which included the region of Brown County were Dr. Alexander Campbell, of Ripley; Dr. Levi Rogers, of Clermont County; Dr. J. D. Keith; and Dr. Edward Tiffin, the first Governor of Ohio. The medical system of the noted New England empiric, Samuel Thompson, was introduced into this 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 pre- HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 303 ceding 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 them to 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 time, how many of the practitioners of this system were to be found in this county. They were probably most numerous in Ohio about 1832. The following is the list of physicians taxed on their income in Brown County in 1831: Greenleaf Norton, Alfred Beasley, Phillip J. Buckner, Samuel W. Penn, Enoch M. Ellsberry, George B. Bailey, Adam Wylie, Joseph Matthews, Thomas S. Williamson, Alexander Campbell, Samuel P. Anthony, T. M. Brown, Isaac M. Beck, Peter Williams. The following is the list for 1841: Alfred Beasley, Simon L. Bearce, Isaac M. Beck, George B. Bailey, P. J. Buckner, Clinton Campbell, Henry Courtney, V. M. Diball, Enoch M. Ellsberry, A. B. Heterick, William Herbert, Dr. Kincade, William B. McCormack, Peter Marshall, Thomas M. Moore, James B. McConnell, Edward Newton, Daniel Porter, Nathan Scofield, John Thompson, William B. Thompson. In 1831, $550 was the highest income upon which any physician in the county was taxed, and in 1841, the income of only one was placed as high as $1,000. AGRICULTURE. 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 flatboat 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 eggs scarCely had a market value, and the sale of cabbage and turnips was almost unheard of. But the early farmers supplied their 304 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. 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 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. 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 generaily 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 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 Southern Ohio. The Morgan, the Cadmus, the Bell- founder, 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 horse, or horses for general purposes, found throughout the county are of a most uncertain blood, HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 305 but it is certain that they have- been greatly improved within thirty years in style, action, form, temper and endurance. 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 cornfield 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'bef ore it is fully matured, by cutting off the stalks near the ground and stacking it in the field, is said to have originated with the cattle-feeders of Virginia. The Patton stock of English cattle, imported into Kentucky early in this century, doubtless found their way across the Ohio and were crossed with the common cattle. Excellent Short-Horn cattle were introduced from time to time, until there is scarcely a neighborhood in the county in which more or less of their dross is not found. Of late years, the Jersey cows are coming into favor, especially in the -towns and on farms adjoining the towns. 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 has 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 Indian corn. Of all domestic animals, the hog comes to maturity quickest, requires least skill and care to handle, and has been most generally relied on in the re gions around Cincinnati for domestic consumption and for profit. Ripley was at one time an important pork market. Several breeds of hogs have been introduced into Southwestern Ohio, and have found their way into Brown County. The swine of the early settlers were long and slim, coarse, large-boned and long-legged, with erect bristles on the neck and back. They were active and healthy, and capable of making heavy hogs, but two years or more were required for them to mature. Until a short time before being butchered or driven to market, they were suffered to run at large in the woods, subsisting as foragers. They were sometimes known as " razor-backs." The Big China hogs, from which originated the celebrated Poland-China hogs, were introduced into Warren County in 1816. In that year, John Wallace, then a Trustee of the Shaker society, visited Philadelphia on business, and was shown what were called the Big China hogs. He was pleased with them, and purchased four hogs, and brought them the same 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 repre- 306 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. sented 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 were extensively raised, and crossed with the best breeds then existing, and the product of these crosses constituted a breed of fine qualities, which was generally known as the " Warren County hog," sometimes as the " Shaker hog." The Berkshires were introduced 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. 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 white, with only oCcasional sandy spots, which appeared about the eyes. These three breeds the Big China, the Berkshires and Irish Graziers—were extensively used in making crosses by the best breeders in Southwestern Ohio. The stock thus produced has resulted in what is known as the Poland-China hog. 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, In recent years, pure-blooded Berkshires have ''been brought into Brown County, and these, with the Poland-China, are the principal breeds raised in the county. TOBACCO. Tobacco early became an important crop in Brown County, For some years previous to 1850, it ranked second in importance to corn only. The crop at that time was estimated at some fourteen hundred hogsheads, the average yield per acre being about one thousand pounds. The price varied with the quality, from 3 to 8 cents per pound. The crop was sold at Ripley, Higgins- port and other places on the Ohio, where it was pressed into hogsheads and shipped to New Orleans. Some of the agriculturists of Brown County foresaw the importance of the tobacco-growing interest. Previous to the civil war, Gen. James Loudon offered, at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, a resolution granting a premium on the best crop of tobacco grown upon an acre of ground in the State, but the proposition was ridiculed and voted down, the majority believing that the growth of tobacco should not be encouraged. In 1863, Gem Loudon, at a meeting of the same board, renewed his proposition, and stated that the production of tobacco was found to be the greatest and most profitable industry on the limestone lands of the Ohio River counties—the most profitable crop in Southern Ohio. He called attention to the fact that the hillsides of Brown County had been advertised for sale a few years before, and nobody would bid over 62 1/2 cents per acre for them; then, the same land was worth $50 per acre. The Germans, by their skill and industry, had made these steep hillsides the best producing land in Ohio. It had been asserted that Ohio HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 309 could never compete with Kentucky in raising tobacco; but at that time, he said, the best tobacco sold in the Cincinnati market, at 40 cents per pound, as Mason County, Ky., tobacco, had been raised in Brown County, Ohio. For more than twenty years past, tobacco-growing has been the most important industry of the county. In 1840, Brown stood tenth among the counties of Ohio in the amount of tobacco grown; in 1850 and 1860, fifth; since the civil war, Brown has been second to Montgomery only in the number of acres planted and number of pounds grown. While Montgomery County far exceeds Brown in the amount of tobacco grown, the quality of the leaf in Brown is far superior, and brings in the market a much higher price than that grown in Montgomery. The growth of tobacco culture in Brown County is exhibited in the following table. The figures for the years 1840, 1850 and 1860 were obtained from the United States Census returns; those for the succeeding years, from the Ohio Statistical Reports: For the year 1840, 63,260 pounds; 1850, 1,279,510 pounds; 1860, 1,898,846 pounds; 1863, 3,594 acres, 2,681,503 pounds; 1866, 3,093 acres, 2,760,739 pounds; 1871, 3,251 acres, 2,828,422 pounds; 1873, 4,514 acres, 4, 085,755 pounds; 1876, 4,261 acres, 3,420,120 pounds; 1879, 4,847 acres, 3,721,793 pounds; 1880, 5,004 acres, 4,156,921 pounds. The White Burley variety, so celebrated and highly prized for the manufacture of Chewing tobacco, both fine-cut and plug, originated in Brown County. The story of its origin generally accepted is this: About the time of the civil war, a tobacco-grower named Joseph Fore, residing on the farm of Capt. Kautz, on White Oak, between Georgetown and Higginsport, observed in his tobacco bed some plants of a remarkably white Color. The color of both stems and leaves of these plants was similar to that of chance stocks of corn called " sick corn." The seed sown in the tobacco bed was of the Little Burley variety. One or two stalks of the new and strange variety, although unpromising in appearance, were permitted to mature, and the seed they produced was saved. The plants grown from the seed, though not so large, thrifty and hardy as other varieties, were found to consist of an excellent fiber, to cure of a bright color, to be free from gum, and to possess all the qualities desirable for cutting purposes. The seed from the new variety was gradually spread over Brown, and portions of adjoining counties in Ohio and Kentucky. It soon became the most desirable tobacco in the Cincinnati market, and commanded the highest prices. It is now almost the only variety grown in the Brown County, Ohio, and the Mason County, Ky., districts, and its culture has extended to other portions of the country. The growing crops of this variety during the first years of its culture were white, as if covered with hoar-frost. In later years, the white colr is less marked, and a tendency toward a reversion to the original Burley tobacco, from which it sprang, has been observed . BROWN COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AND FAIRS. The Brown County Agricultural Society was organized on the 17th day of January, 1850, agreeably to the laws of Ohio. The following were the first officers: Samuel Kerr, Decatur, President; Alexander Campbell, Ripley, Vice President; Reason Shepherd, Ripley, Secretary; John Glaze, Russellville, Treasurer; George W. Brown, Elhannan W. Devore, James Tweed, Samuel G. Moore and Daniel Gilmer, Managers. The first fair of the society was held at Russellville, on the 16th of October, 1850. The exhibition, though not large. was considered a respectable one, and the officers, in their annual report, stated that the number of animals 310 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. and articles offered for exhibition and the competition for premiums were far greater than they had anticipated. No admission fee to the fair was charged. The following is the first report of the Treasurer of the society: Amount received from members of the society - $158 00 Amount received from the County Treasurer - 119 00 Total amount received. - $277 00 Amount paid out in premiums - $116 00 Amount paid for printing and incidental expenses - 20 35 $136 35 Balance on hand - $140 65 The officers elected January 17. 1851, were: Alexander Campbell, Ripley, President; Philip Jolly, Ripley, Vice President; Reason Shepherd, Ripley, Secretary; John Glaze, Russelville, Treasurer; John Williamson, Russelville; Absalom King, Georgetown; David Dixon, Ripley; and James Tweed, Ripley, Managers. The second annual fair was held at Ripley on the 2d and 3d days of October, 1851. The attendance was larger, and the number of articles and animals on exhibition greater, than at the first fair. The Treasurer's report shows that the total expenditures of the fair were $492.85, of which $409.75 were for premiums. At the annual meeting of the board, premiums on crops were awarded as follows: To George Snedaker, on corn, 120 bushels per acre; to the same, on wheat, twenty-eight bushels per acre; to Alexander Campbell, on oats, sixty-four and three-fourths bushels per acre; to Reason Shepherd, on buckwheat, twenty-four bushels per acre; to Samuel G. Moore, on hay, two and a half tons per aCre; to Russell Shaw, on onions, fifty-four and one-fourth bushels, raised on forty-two poles of ground. A change having been made in the constitution of the society, the third annual election for officers was held on the second Tuesday of November, 1851. The election was held at Georgetown, and the following officers were chosen: H. L. Penn, Georgetown, President; E. B. Fee, New Hope, Vice President; Newton A. Devore, Secretary (declined); Abraham King, Georgetown; John Markley, Georgetown; James Loudon, Georgetown; Charles Richards, Georgetown; Henry Young, New Hope, Managers. The fair was permanently established at Georgetown; grounds were there purchased, upon which the exhibitions of the society have since been annually held. In 1855, the soCiety reported its total receipts at $893.60, and its expend- Antes at $727.34. In 1870, there were 556 members; the total receipts, $2,100; the total expenditures, $1,891. In 1876, the total reCeipts were $2,054.72. In 1880, there were 540 members; the total receipts were $2,490. The society has sixteen acres of ground, which, with the improvements thereon, is valued at $3,000. A few years ago, the Directors of the society abolished horse-racing at the annual fairs, and since that time no premiums for speed horses have been offered. This measure, which was looked upon by many as a hazardous experiment, has resulted beneficially to the financial condition of the society. The fair for 1882 was the most successful in the history of the society. GROWTH OF WEALTH AND POPULATION. The assessment of property under the laws for the collection of taxes affords an imperfect means of comparing the wealth of the county at different periods. It gives by no means the market value, being generally much below the selling price. It is, however, the best means at our Command to show the growth of the wealth of the county. Subjoined are the statistics for several years, HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 311 giving the total value of all real estate, both in the towns and in the country: A change in the mode of assessing property was adopted in 1846, after which the valuation approached much nearer the true value than in the preceding years. This aCcounts for the great rise in values between 1841 and 1846. Prior to 1826, real estate in Ohio was put upon the duplicate for taxation for State purposes only. All lands in the State were divided, for the purposes of taxation, into three grades, called first quality, second quality and third quality, and a uniform rate of taxation was fixed by the Legislature for all lands of the same grade. For S3 X. years succeeding the organization of the State, the rate of taxation on lands of the first quality did not exceed 1 cent per acre, and at no time prior to 1826 did it reach 4 cents per acre. There were revaluations of the real property of Ohio in the years indicated in the table. POPULATION OF BROWN COUNTY BY TOWNSHIPS IN 1850, 1860, 1870 AND 1880. The following unincorporated villages have been returned separately to the census department in 1880. The population is only approximated, as the limits of the places are not sharply defined: Arnheim, 98; Benton, 20; Brownstown, 49; Carlisle, 63; Chasetown, 51; Decatur, 258; Fincastle, 118; Feesburg, 179; Greenbush, 49; Hamersville, 231; Hestoria, 376; Kirbyville, 35; Levanna, 294; Locust Ridge, 42; New Harmony, 43; New Hope, 138; St. Martin's, 50; Sardinia, 283; Taylorsville, 77; Wahlsburg, 19; White Oak Valley, 48. POLITICAL HISTORY. The political history of Brown County may be summed up in the statement that a majority of her voters were at first Anti-Federalists or Jeffersonian Republicans, and in later years Democrats. The first presidential election in which the voters of Brown participated after the organization of the county 312 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. was in 1820, when party lines were obliterated, and James Monroe was reelected President with the electoral vote of every State in the Union. This was "the era of good feeling in politics." In 1824, the Republicans or Anti-Federalists, who had before been united in the support of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, were somewhat divided in their choice for President. There were four candidates for President, three of them having electoral tickets in Ohio. Many old Republicans supported J. Q. Adams; others Andrew Jackson, but Henry Clay carried the State of Ohio. Early in the canvass, it became evident that a large majority of the people of Brown were in favor of Gen. Jackson. This was shown by the votes taken at militia musters. Many newspapers in Ohio were neutral with respect to the opposing candidates, and contented themselves with the publication of communications from the friends of all the aspirants. Young Thomas L. Hamer, who then edited the Benefactor at Georgetown, was an outspoken advocate of the election of Jackson. The following is from his paper of the date of October 25, 1824: " Awake, citizens of Ohio! Come forward and give your voice to the man who has done more for the welfare of your country than all the other candidates put together. Andrew Jackson deserves your suffrages if Washington deserved the offices conferred on him. Whilst Clay, Crawford and Adams were lolling on beds of down and feasting on the delicacies of both hemispheres, he was wading through swamps, sleeping on the cold ground and living upon acorns," Jackson received in the county nearly twice as many votes as were cast for both Clay and Adams. The full vote of the county by townships is not before us, but it is believed that Jackson received a plurality in every township in the county. At the October election this year, questions of national politics had little effect on the vote for the various candidates. The friends of Jackson, Clay and Adams in Brown united in supporting Jeremiah Morrow for Governor, and J. W. Campbell for Congress. There were this year four candidates for Representative in the Legislature; six candidates for County Commissioner; six candidates for Auditor, and three candidates for Coroner. In 1828, party lines were closely drawn between the Adams men and Jackson men. Rallying committees were appointed in the various townships for the purpose of getting out a full vote at the election for President. At that time, and for many succeeding years, one of the most hotly contested questions at issue was which was the old Republican party. Both parties claimed to be the old Jeffersonian Republicans. Federalist, the name of the pary to which Washington and Hamilton belonged, had long before become a term of reproach. At. the October election in 1828, John W. Campbell, the Jackson candidate for Governor, resided in Brown County. He had for ten years been a Representative in Congress, during which time he was a resident of Adams County. In 1826, he removed to Brown County, and settled on a farm on Straight Creek, which he improved with care and built upon it a large and convenient residence, which he named " Solitude." Mr. Campbell was a native of Augusta County, Va., and studied law at Morgantown, Va., and was admitted to the bar at West Union, Ohio, in 1808. In the Canvass for Governor in 1828, he was defeated by Allen Trimble, and was afterward appointed a Judge of the United States District Court; he then removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he resided until his death, in 1831. His literary papers were published in a volume by his widow. Judge J. W. Campbell was a brother of Joseph N. Campbell, of Ripley, one of the first Associate Judges of Brown County, who died of cholera July 13, 1833, aged fifty years. In the early history of the county, candidates were generally placed before the people without the intervention of a party caucus, a political convention or primary election. The names of candidates for county offices and members of HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 313 the Legislature were usually announced by themselves or their friends in the newspapers of the county several weeks prior to the election. Sometimes there were seven or eight candidates for a single office; usually there were but two or three. The personal popularity of a candidate and his fitness for the office were of more importance than his views on national politics. The county seat contest for several years was an important factor in the selection of officers, especially members of the Legislature. On July 14, 1824, a meeting was held at Georgetown, which resolved that it was expedient " that the friends of the center interest delegate one or more persons from each township in the county to meet at Georgetown on the first day of the next official muster to select candidates for the next October election." In 1832, a call signed by more than two hundred supporters of the administration of Andrew Jackson was published, recommending the voters of the Jackson Democratic party in Brown County to meet on Saturday, August 11, at the usual place of holding elections in each township, and appoint five persons from each township to represent them in a convention to be held at Georgetown on August 25, 1832, for the purpose of selecting a ticket for the State Legislature and nominating committees of vigilance and correspondence, and transacting such other business as may be deemed necessary. At the county convention only eight out of fourteen townships were represented. The convention nominated Candidates for Representative in the Legislature, and resolved that it was inexpedient to nominate candidates for county offices. Daniel F. Barney, Thomas L. Hamer and Jesse R. Grant were appointed a Committee to prepare an address to the Democratic voters of the county. It was not long until the custom was fixed of making party nominations for candidates, both for the Legislature and for county offices. In the early exciting contests the county was often flooded with handbills and circulars gotten up by the opposing candidates and their friends. Mr. Hamer, both when a candidate for the Legislature and for Congress, found it advisable to issue circulars explaining his views and replying to the charges made by his opponents. When he became a candidate for Congress the first time, he authorized the announcement of his candidacy in a Georgetown newspaper dated July 31, 1832, and at the same time authorized the editor to say that Mr. Hamer, "as soon as professional avocations will permit, will publish an address to the electors, announcing his political principles. This measure is deemed necessary, not only because the people have a right to know the sentiments of candidates for popular favor, but also to relieve other gentlemen from the trouble of circulating and explaining his sentiments for him--a work which has been in progress, as he understands, for some time past." Mr. Hamer's address "To the voters of the Fifth Congressional District of Ohio" was dated August 15, 1832, and consisted of an eight-page circular. It gave a full and frank expression of views on nullification, the tariff, the United States Bank and internal improvements by the General Government. On some of these subjects he differed with his best personal and political friends. A circular was soon issued and widely circulated by the friends of Thomas Morris, in which Mr. Hamer was accused of having deserted the Jackson party, and abandoned his Democratic principles. To this Mr. Hamer replied in a circular of equal length with his first address. Other circulars and handbills were issued on both sides in this memorable contest in the Brown, Adams and Clermont District. ANTI-SLAVERY SENTIMENTS. The doctrines of the Abolitionists were very unpopular in this county, and those who maintained them were subjected to much odium and abuse. There 314 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. was, however, a small minority of the people who never flinched from avowing their deep-seated and uncompromising opposition to every form of human bondage. Leicester King, the Abolition candidate for Governor in 1842, received 108 votes in the county, the total number of votes being 3,792. In 1846, Samuel Lewis, the Liberty candidate, received 208 votes, and in 1853 the same man, as the Free Soil candidate, received 593 votes in the county. The greater portion of the Abolitionists of the county were in and about Ripley, Sardinia, Russellville, the Red Oak neighborhood and some other localities. Among the prominent leaders of the anti-slavery cause were Rev. John Rankin, of Ripley; Rev. James Gilliland, of Red Oak; Rev. Jesse Lockhart, of Russelville; Dr. Bearce, of Decatur; Rev. Robert B. Dobbins, of the Sardinia Presbyterian Church: Dr. Isaac M. Beck, of Sardinia; Rev. John B. Mahan and John Moore, of Washington Township; Dr. Alexander Campbell, of Ripley, and others whose names apppear in other parts of this work. Many fugitives from bondage passed through the county on their way to Canada, and found friends to assist them on their way to liberty. A common route followed by escaping slaves was from Ripley through the neighborhoods of Red Oak and Russellville to Sardinia; thence to the Quaker settlements in Clinton County. John W. Hudson, a colored man, did much service in piloting the fugitives. The operation of the Underground Railroad through Brown County awakened the most bitter animosity on the part of the Kentuckians against those who were believed to assist the slaves in their flight. At an anti-slavery meeting of the citizens of Sardinia and vicinity, held on November 21, 1838, a committee of respectable citizens presented a report, accompanied with affidavits in support. of its declarations, stating that for more than a year past there had been an unusual degree of hatred manifested by the slave-hunters and slaveholders toward the Abolitionists of Brown County, and' that rewards varying from $500 to $2, 500 had been repeatedly offered by different persons for the abduction or assassination of Rev. John B. Mahon, and rewards had also been offered for Amos Pettijohn, William A. Frazier and Dr. Isaac M. Beck, of Sardinia, Rev. John Rankin and Dr. Alexender Campbell, of Ripley, William McCoy, of Russellville, and citizens of Adams County. The trial of Rev. John B. Mahan, of Brown County, Ohio, in the Circuit Court of Mason County, Ky., for felony in aiding certain slaves to escape from their master, was a celebrated case in the history of anti-slavery agitation. NJ ah an was a local preacher and kept a tavern on temperance principles in Sardinia. He was indicted in Mason County, Ky., on the charge of " aiding and assisting certain slaves, the property of Wiliam Greathouse, to make their escape from the possession of the said William Greathouse, out of and beyond the State of Kentucky." Mahan claimed that he had never seen one of the two slaves of Greathouse which had escaped; that the other had stopped at his tavern, but had not been secreted by him, and that he had no agency whatever in causing or assisting the escape of either of the slaves; nor had he been in Mason County or any adjoining county for nearly twenty years. After his indictment, the Governor of Kentucky sent a requisition to the Governor of Ohio for his delivery to the authorities of the former State. Joseph Vance, Governor of Ohio, on the 6th of September, 1838, issued a warrant for the arrest of Mahan, and his delivery to the custody of the Sheriff of Mason County, Ky. On Mahan's arrest, several of his friends accompanied him to Georgetown for the purpose of securing his release on a writ of habeas corpus. The writ was obtained, but it was directed to the Sheriff of Brown County, Ohio, and Mahan was already in the custody of the Sheriff of Mason County, Ky., who was on HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 315 his way with the prisoner to Kentucky, and refused to regard the command of the writ. Mahan remained in prison until his trial, which commenced on November 13, and continued six days. He was absent from his home in all nearly ten weeks. He was acquitted by the jury, under the charge of Judge Walker Reid, that the court had no jurisdiction of the case, if the jury should find that the prisoner was a citizen of Ohio, and had not been in the State of Kentucky until brought there by legal process. Although he was granted a fair trial and was acquitted, the surrender of Mahan to the authorities of another State was justly regarded as a great hardship. His defense cost him a large sum of money. A civil suit was brought' against him for damages for the loss of the two slaves he was accused of helping to escape. The case directed public attention to the extradition laws of Ohio as they then existed, and which certainly needed revision for the protection of the personal liberty of its citizens. The Governor of Ohio, in his annual message, referred at length to the case as one which had caused much political excitement, and defended his conduct in surrendering Mahan as a high duty of an executive officer under the requirement of the National Constitution, but he expressed the hope that the Legislature would take such steps as would best secure the peace and tranquility of our border population. The conduct of Gov. Vance in the case was severely censured by many citizens of Ohio. This case occurred fourteen years before the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, two years before the organization of the Liberty party, and in the first year of the publication of the Philanthropist, the organ of the Ohio State Anti-slavery Society, edited by Gamiliel Bailey, Jr., and printed at Cincinnati. The Mahan case occupied considerable space in the columns of the Philanthropist and other anti-slavery journals for several successive numbers. The report of the trial was published in a pamphlet, and anti-slavery societies were called on to assist in spreading it far and wide, as it would do much for the cause of Abolition. The White Oak Anti-Slavery Society, at a meeting held at Sardinia, adopted resolutions in relation to the Mahan case, as did the anti-slavery Citizens of Sardinia at a public meeting. One of the resolutions adopted at the later meeting severely condemned Hon. T. L. Hamer for refusing his services as attorney in the habeas corpus case for the benefit of Mahan. One year later, John B. Mahan, Joseph Pettijohn and Amos Pettijohn were tried at Georgetown on an indictment for riot in rescuing a negro from the hands of a Constable. David G. Devore, Prosecuting Attorney; W. C. Marshall and T. L. Hamer appeared on the side of the prosecution. Thomas Morris and Messrs. Jolliffe and Fishback for the defendants. Mahan and Joseph Pettijohn were found guilty, and were sentenced each to pay a fine of $50, to be imprisoned in the dungeon of the jail of Brown County for ten days, and to be fed on bread and water only during the term of imprisonment. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, and the execution of the sentence was suspended until the decision of the higher tribunal. In pronouncing sentence upon Mahan, the court reminded him that it had been proved on the trial that he was a minister of the gospel of peace; that the riot had taken place on the Sabbath day; that instead of attending to the duties of his sacred calling he had been found traversing the country on horseback in company with armed men, violating the laws of his country and resisting a ministerial officer in the regular discharge of his duties. He " advised him that his present situation should be a warning to him, and that he should not allow his excessive philanthropy to lead him into similar aggressions in the future." The sentence was reversed by the Supreme Court for error in empaneling the jury. The following from the pen of Rev. John B. Mahan is here given in justice to him, and as reflecting not only his own sentiments, but probably those of the great majority of his contemporary Abolitionists: 316 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. "However much every good man desires that slavery should have an end, and however much Abolitionists are willing to hazard and sacrifice for this oppressed, degraded and despised portion of our fellow men, I am confident that few, if any, for various reasons, would invade the jurisdiction of another State to give aid or encouragement to slaves to escape from their owners. But it ought not to be concealed that a very great majority of Northern people, as well as those that are not Abolitionists as well as those that are Abolitionists (however much human nature has been marred by sin), are not capable of violating the sympathies of their nature or the dictates of their common humanity so far as to be able to drive from their doors the unsheltered, unprotected stranger, or send away unfed, unclothed, unprovided for the outcasts or wandering poor." VOTE OF BROWN COUNTY AT VARIOUS PERIoDS. 1818—Vote for Governor: Ethan Allen Brown, 438; James Dunlap, 229; total vote, 667. 1820--Vote for Governor: Ethan Allen Brown, 998; *William Henry Harrison, 337; *Jeremiah Morrow, 115; total vote, 1,450. 1822—Vote for Governor: Allen Trimble (Republican) 1,153; Teremiah Morrow (Republican), 554; William W. Irvin (Republican), 40; total vote, 1,747. 1824—Vote for Governor: Jeremiah Morrow (Republican), 1,080; Allen Trimble (Republican), 597; total vote, 1,677. 1826—Vote for Governor: Alexander Campbell (Republican), 1,222; Allen Trimble (Republican), 447; John Bigger (Republican), 88; Benjamin Tappan (Republican), 36; total vote, 1,793. 1828—Vote for Governor: John W. Campbell (Jackson), 1,573; Allen Trimble (Adams), 524; total, 2,097. 1829—Vote for President: Andrew Jackson, 1,630; John Quincy Adams, 703; total, 2.333. 1830—Vote for Governor: Robert Lucas (Democrat), 1,206; Duncan McArthur (National Republican), 863; total vote, 2,069. 1832—Vote for President: Andrew Jackson (Democrat), 1,597; Henry Clay (National Republican), 847; William Wirt (Anti-Mason), 3; total vote, 2,447. 1834—Vote for Governor: Robert Lucas (Democrat), 1,251; James Findlay (Whig), 841; total vote, 2,092. 1836—Vote for President: Martin Van Buren (Democrat), 1,675; William Henry Harrison (Whig), 1,223; total vote, 2,898. 1838—Vote for Governor: Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 1,547; Joseph Vance (Whig), 1,190; total vote, 2,737. 1840—Vote for Governor: Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 2,010; Thomas Corwin (Whig), 1,840; total vote, 3,850. 1842—Vote for Governor: Wilson Shannon (Democrat), 1,994; Thomas Corwin (Whig), 1,690; Leicester King (Abolition), 108; total vote, 3,792. 1844—Vote for Governor: David Tod (Democrat), 2,315; Mordecai Bartley (Whig), 1,706; Leicester King (Abolition), 172; total vote, 4,193. 1846--Vote for Governor: David Tod (Democrat), 2,117; William Bebb (Whig). 1,343; Samuel Lewis (Abolition), 208; total vote, 3,668. 1848—Vote for Governor: John B. Weller (Democrat), 2,330; Seabury Ford (Whig), 1,871; total vote, 4,201. * Neither Gen. Harrison nor Senator Morrow had consented to be a candidate in opposition to the re-election of Gov. Brown. HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 317 1850—Vote for Governor: Reuben Wood (Democrat), 1,844; William Johnston (Whig), 1,503; Edward Smith (Free Soil), 37; total vote, 3,384. 1851—Vote for Governor under new constitution: Reuben Wood (Democrat), 1,807; Samuel F. Vinton (Whig), 1,081; Samuel Lewis (Free Soil), 165; total vote, 3,053. 1853—Vote for Governor: William Medi11 (Democrat), 1,925; Nelson Barrere (Whig), 1,008; Samuel Lewis (Free Soil), 593; total vote, 3,526. 1855-Vote for Governor: William Medill (Democrat), 1,843; Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 1,571; Allen Trimble (American), 286; total vote, 3,700. 1857 - Vote for Governor: Henry B. Payne (Democrat), 2,099; Salmon P. Chase (Republican), 1,583; Philip Van Trump (American), 84; total vote, 3,766. 1859—Vote for Governor: Rufus P. Ranney (Democrat), 2,275; William Dennison (Republican), 1,657; total vote, 3,932. 1861—Vote for Governor: Hugh J, Jewett (Democrat), 2,509; David Tod (Republican), 2,052; total vote, 4,561. 1863-Vote for Governor: C. L. Vallandigham (Democrat), 2,744; John Brough (Republican), 3,018; total vote, 5,762. 1865—Vote for Governor: George W. Morgan (Democrat), 2,879; Jacob D. Cox (Republican), 2,610; total vote, 5,489. 1868—Vote for President: Horatio Seymour (Democrat), 3,238; U. S. Grant (Republican), 2,715; total vote, 6,053. 1872—Vote for President: Horace Greeley (Liberal), 3,337; U. S. Grant (Republican), 2,593; total vote, 5,930. 1880-Vote for President: Winfield S. Hancock (DemoCrat), 4,324; James A. Garfield (Republican), 3,184; total vote, 7,516. 318 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. CHAPTER IX. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF BROWN COUNTY.* WHEN war, ambition and avarice fail, religion pushes onward and succreeds. In the discovery of the New World; wherever man's aggrandizement was the paramount aim, failure was sure to follow; but when this gave way, the followers of the' Cross came upon the field, and the result was success. Years before the Pilgrims anchored their bark on the cheerless shores of Cape Cod, " the Roman Catholic Church had been planted, by missionaries from France, in the eastern moiety of. Maine; and Le Caron, an ambitious Franciscan, the companion of Champlain, had passed into the hunting-grounds of the Wyandots, and, bound by the vows of his life, had, on foot or paddling a bark canoe, gone onward, taking alms of the savages, until he reached the rivers of Lake Huron." Through the religious zeal of Catholic missionaries for the salvation of souls, the rivers and lakes of the Great Northwest were discovered and explored, and ,as long as time shall last, the history of those sainted missionaries will be honored and revered. The Jesuit and Franciscan fathers were the pioneers in this holy work, and the names of Fathers Mesnard, Dreuillettes, Gareau, Allouez, Dablon, Marquette and others are, enrolled high upon the imperishable records of religious conquest. Later on came the order of St. Sulpice, with the immortal La Salle at the head of this devoted band of priests. Subsequently, he secured the services of Fathers Hennepin, Ribourde, Membre and others, whose names are familiar to every school-boy in the land. These devoted servants of Christ spread themselves over the then unknown Western territory, preaching the. Gospel of their Master to the red savages of the forest, and often yielding up their lives at the hands of those they came to save; yet the " Black Gown " was soon a favorite among the Indians, his coming hailed with joy, and his words listened to with respect and veneration. If one fell by hunger, cold, or a more terrible death, others stood ready to take up the Master's work, and, if need be, to give their lives at the martyr's stake, and receive a martyr's crown. ST. MARTIN' S CHURCH. The history of Catholicism in Brown County, Ohio, begins with the donation of a tract of 200 acres of land in 1823, for the purpose of Catholic education, by Gen. William Lytle, who was at that time Government Surveyor of the Virginia Military District. He was a man of noble character, as generous as he was brave, and fought the Indians, side by side with Boone in Kentucky, and Kenton and Washburn throughout Ohio. His name is one of the most illustrious in the annals of Indian warfara. Another tract of 100 acres, adjoining that of Lytle's, was donated by Michael Scott, for a similar purpose, these grants constituting the present site and property of the Ursuline Convent at St. Martin's. About the same time, a tract of 100 acres was given by William Bamber, for the purpose of erecting a church in the southwestern part of Perry Township. A log house was accordingly built, and, soon after its completion, the few faithful Catholics then in the settlement were made ,happy by the presence of a priest in their midst. *The history of the Catholic Churches and schools of Perry Township was prepared by Dr. T. M. Reads, while the whole chapter on Catholicism wee corrected and revised by R. C. Brown. HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 321 This was the Rev. Father Hill, an English missionary, who was traveling from Lancaster, Ohio, to Cincinnati. He administered the sacrament of baptism to Elizabeth, infant daughter of Edward and Mary Boyle (Mrs. Hugh Breslin); also to Edward, son of William Boyle, these being the first children of Catholic parentage born in Perry Township. He celebrated the first mass in the little log church, devoutly assisted by the families of William and Edward Boyle and William Bamber—all there were in the vicinity at that time. After attending to the spiritual wants of the little flock, Father Hill departed on his mission. Three years afterward, in 1826, Rev. Father Mullen visited the settlement and celebrated mass in the old schoolhouse of John H. O'Connor. From time to time, a missionary would appear and offer up the sarrifice of the mass at this point, thus keeping alive the spark of Catholic faith in the hearts of these sturdy pioneers of the church, but no regular pastor was appointed until 1830, in which year the Rev. Martin Kundig was sent to take charge of this mission, by the Rt. Rev. Edward Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati. He was the first priest who volunteered to undertake the arduous task of laying the foundation of the church in the new settlement. He was a young man of extraordinary zeal and indomitable courage. Although a stranger in a strange land, with nothing to aid him but that spirit of self-sacrifice characteristic of the pioneer priests whose footprints mark the onward march of civilization and Christianity, and a firm reliance on the providence of God, he chose from among the few scattering missionary stations then in Ohio the most unauspicious and uninviting—tha. of Brown County. Father Martin Kundig was a native of Luzerne, Switzerland. He founded the first Catholic Church in Brown County in the fall of 1830, and dedicated it in honor of his patron, St. Martin. He was transferred, in 1832, to Milwaukee, Wis., and at the time of his death, in 1876, he was Vicar General of that diocese. A few years previous to his death, he wrote a letter to one of his old friends at St. Martin's, in which he tells the simple story of his early struggles. A few extracts will serve to throw light upon the character of the man and the times in which he lived. He says: " When I visited your present neighborhood in the year 1830, I found within ten miles about eight families, poor, forlorn and isolated in their little log houses. There were 100 acres of woodland at Bamber's, and, four miles from it, 300 acres more, all covered with woods, as the property of the church. No sooner was I there than I heard a voice—' To this neighborhood you have come; stay here and lay the foundation.' Bishop Fenwick laughed at my proposition, and compared me to a young horse without a bridle. He considered the proposition foolish, so I had to drop it. When, however, the Vicar General came from Europe, I renewed to him my plan, and he forthwith removed every obstacle. So, asking a few articles from the ladies, such as some plates, a knife and fork, two pans, a kettle, a blanket and a mattress, I set out for Brown County, without money or expecting a congregation to support me. After living six months in a log cabin without a window, I succeeded in furnishing my residence. " It took me six weeks to bring my first palace into order. It was about ten by twelve feet, where I had my study, parlor, kitchen, bedroom and cellar altogether, with a window of six panes of glass. Very often I love to go back to the days which I spent in my little hermitage in St. Martin's, where I lived in solitude and apostolic poverty. It was a school where I learned to live without expense, for I had nothing to spend. I built eleven houses, without nail or board, for I could not buy them without money, and I cooked my meals without flour, fat or butter, for I had them not." 322 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. The first mass in the log cabin church of St. Martin's was an event in the lives of the pioneers never to be forgotten. They were for the most part Irish Catholics, who, having bravely struggled through the rigors of religious persecution in Ireland; after the perilous voyage of thousands of miles over ocean, river and mountain; after years of the trials and hardships incident to pioneer life ; after many vain efforts, were finally successful in the realization of their fondest hopes. A new era was dawning upon them. Their children were to be educated in the, faith of their fathers. The dark night of persecution had passed away forever, and they beheld with grateful hearts the bright future of peace and good will which was to follow under the benign influence of civil and religious liberty. So the pastor and his little flock gathered at their first mass, in the rude cabin in the wilderness. The bell was rung and the candles were lighted on the altar. The giant oaks of the forest re-echoed for the first time the sound of sacred song. The people bowed down in adoration, and, as their prayers ascended like incense to the Throne of Grace, the green sod upon which they knelt was moistened with their tears. Thus it was that the seed was sown at St. Martin's, which, after the lapse of half a century, has borne fruit a thousand fold. The eight families mentioned by Father Kundig were those of William Boyle, William Bamber, John Scanlan, John Savage, Sr., Edward Boyle, Hugh McDonald, Edward Brannan, Edward McCaffrey. The choir was composed of two Indian boys; also two men, John Ballard and John Mueller, and two girls, Margaret McCaffrey and Betsy Bamber. Of Catholics who were in this vicinity at that time, or soon afterward, we might mention the following well-remembered names, some of whom assisted in erecting the log church where the convent stands: Patrick Savage, Thomas Ballard, Thomas Bamber, Sr., Peter Rock, Michael Barnes, Nicholas Halpin, Mrs. Crosson, James Murray, Michael O'Connor, John Rogers, Nicholas Breason, Thomas Kelly, William Shaysgreen, Michael Crone, Mr. McGroty, Mr. Neill, Barney Kelly and James Hughes, of Highland County, the two latter of whom helped to build the log cabin church spoken of previously. How changed the scene to-day! The little log church has passed away, and upon the site of its ruin stands, in stately magnificence, the far-famed Ursuline Convent. All is changed. The congregation and its pastor have gone to receive their reward. The woods have disappeared, and the wilderness has been transformed into an agricultural garden. Of the choir who chanted for the first time the sacred anthems which have never ceased since that date, all but one have passed away. Margaret McCaffrey alone remains, and she is "Only waiting till the shadows Are a little longer grown; Only waiting till the glimmer Of the day's last beam has flown. "Till the night of earth has faded From the heart once full of day ; Till the stars of heaven are breaking Through the twilight soft and gray." Rev. James Reed succeeded Father Kundig in 1832, remaining in charge of the parish for a few years. During this time, he organized and conducted a day and boarding school for the benefit of the children of the surrounding country, and replaced the log church, which stood on the convent grounds, by a brick structure. He was followed by Father Masquelette, who remained until 1839, in which year Fathers Gacon and Cheymol were appointed by Bishop Purcell to take charge of this and five adjoining counties. The labors, trials and difficulties of these devoted servants of God cannot HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 323 be recounted here. Always ready for the call of duty, they traveled through the unfrequented woods, sometimes making sick calls fifty miles distant from their humble residence at St. Martin's, where, like their venerable predecessors, they lived in apostolic poverty. They sought neither wealth nor fame. The former they never possessed. The latter can add nothing to their merits. It formed no part of the object of their lives, But, as long as the church which they labored to establish holds her place in Ohio, the names of Father Gacon and Father Cheymol will be revered and honored by her devoted children. Rev. Claude Gacon and Rev. William Cheymol, natives of Bas Auvergne, Department of Clermont, France, were life-long companions until the death of Father Gacon, which occurred in 1865. Father Cheymol is still in the performance of his duty as Chaplain of the Ursuline Convent. After forty-three years of unremitting labor, he bids fair to remain many years in the future to guide and direct his devoted children. In 1865, Rev. F. X. Dutton was appointed parish priest of St. Martin's. Soon after his arrival, he undertook the erection of a new church, which he carried to a successful completion. It is a handsome brick structure. modern in style and finish, and the interior will compare favorably with city churches. Father Dutton is an earnest, zealous pastor, who has done much toward building up God's kingdom on earth since his ordination to the priesthood, and the beautiful edifice of St. Martin's will ever stand as a monument of his faithful stewardship in this parish. The congregation at present is in a prosperous condition, and embraces a membership of 750 souls. Close to the church is a cemetery, with many handsome headstones marking the last resting-place of those who are asleep in the Lord. In connection with the history of Catholicism and Catholic institutions in Brown County, we deem it appropriate to give a brief sketch of the Most Rev. John B. Purcell, the venerable Archbishop, who, having devoted his whole life to God, is now spending his few remaining days at the beautiful retreat of St. Martin's. He was born at Mallon, in the county of Cork, Ireland, February 26, 1800, and is a son of Edmund and Johanna Purcell, natives of that land. His early years were passed under tile care of pious parents and in the service of his parish church, receiving as good an education as could be obtained in his native place. His hopes of a collegiate course at Maynooth were unexpectedly blasted, and, at the age of eighteen, he emigrated to the United States. Soon after reaching Baltimore, he applied for and received a teacher's certificate from the, faculty of Asbury College. He began his duties as tutor in a private family, who were living on the eastern shore of Maryland, where he remained two years, at the end of which time he entered, as a student, Mt. St. Mary's College, near Emmitsburg, in the same State. In 1824, he went to Paris, France, in company with the Rev. Father Brute, subsequently Bishop of Vincennes, Ind., to complete his studies at the Seminary of St. Sulpice. On the 21st of May, 1826, he was ordained priest by Archbishop De Quelen, in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. Upon his return to America, he was appointed Professor of Philosophy in Mt. St Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md. His learning and ability soon attracted the attention of his superiors, and, on the death of the Rt. Rev. Edward Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati, who was stricken down by cholera in 1832, Rev. John B. Purcell was selected by the Pope to fill the vacancy, and, October 13, 1833, was consecrated Bishop of the Cincinnati Diocese. This ceremony took place at the Cathedral of Baltimore, Md., and was performed by Archbishop R. Whitfield. The week following his consecration, he took part in the Second Provincial Council of Baltimore, after which he set out for Cincinnati, the seat of his bishopric. The diocese then comprised the whole State of Ohio, 324 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. and contained sixteen small churches, while Cincinnati possessed but one. In 1847, the diocese of Cleveland was erected, and in 1868, that of Columbus. In 1850, Bishop Purcell was appointed Archbishop, receiving the Pallium from the Pope's hands the following year. It will not be out of place to here give the names of the religious, educational and charitable institutions that this venerable prelate established or founded during his administrative career. Under his direct administration came into life the following institutions, viz.: The Theological Seminary at Mt. St Mary's of the West; St. Xavier's College; the Passionist Monastery, Mt. Adams; the Catholic Gymnasium of St. Francis Assisium; St. Joseph's Academy; St. Mary's Institute; six literary institutes for young ladies, three of which are conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame, the others by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Charity and Ursuline nuns; six convents; the Foundling Hospital and Lying-In Hospital of St. Vincent de Paul; the Protectory for Boys; St. Mary's Hospital and the Hospital of the Good Samaritan; St. Peter's, St. Joseph's and St. Aloysius' Orphan Asylum; besides parochial schools in every parish throughout his diocese where such could be supported. In 1862, Archbishop Purcell visited Rome for the fourth time, at the invitation of the immortal Pope Pius the Ninth. In 1867, he repaired once more to the " Eternal City," and again in 1869, to take part in the great Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, whose voice was heard throughout the world. The fifty-sixth anniversary of his elevation to the priesthood was celebrated at St. Martin's on the 21st of May, 1882, while the forty-ninth of his consecration as Bishop occurred October 13 of the same year. He has been twenty-two years Archbishop, and has always been loved• and venerated by his priests and people, as well as by those outside of the Catholic Church. His standing as an able theologian and scholar is far-famed, while his gentleness and humility of spirit are emblematic of the worthy servant of God. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. The Brown County Theological Seminary was established on the Lytle Grant in 1840, by the Rt. Rev. John B. Purcell, with Rev. Joseph O'Malley as its first President and Superior. The object of the institution was the education of young men for the priesthood. Father O'Malley was succeeded by Father Borlando, Superior of the Lazarists, who served as its President about three years. In 1845, it was abandoned and turned over to the Ursuline Sisters, Bishop Purcell providing a place for the students at the Athenaeum, near St. Xavier's, Cincinnati, and subsequently at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary. Among the students were Rt. Rev. John H. Luers, who was consecrated first Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind., January 10, 1858; Revs. Cornelius Daly, Thomas Boulger. Patrick O'Malley, J. V. Conlon, William McCallian, James Kearney and James Cahill. THE URSULINE CONVENT. This well-known institution is beautifully situated on a large farm about forty-five miles from Cincinnati, and has convenient railroad and telegraphic communication with all parts of the country. It was founded in 1845 by a colony of French nuns from the convents of Boulogne Sur Mer and Beaulieu, presided over by Mother Julia Chatfield, an English lady and convert to the Catholic faith, who had entered the community of Boulogne. Archbishop Purcell had invited the Ursulines to his diocese, and, on their arrival, he gave them a fatherly welcome with the choice of locating in Chillicothe, Ohio, or on the 300 acres of land in Brown County, Ohio, that had been deeded to him by Gen. Lytle for educational purposes. Their choice fell upon HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 325 the latter, and, on the 21st of July, 1845, the daughters of St. Ursula arrived in the parish of St. Martin's, three miles from Fayetteville, where they were kindly received by the Reverend Fathers Gacon and Cheymol, and the modest buildings previously used as a seminary for the training of young men for the priesthood of the newly formed diocese of Cincinnati were vacated to give the nuns a temporary home. School opened the following September, and the small brick building and adjacent frame house gave but scant accommodation for thirteen pupils and the religious; accordingly, with the assistance of the mother-house, in France, and under the supervision of the Reverend Fathers Gacon and Cheymol, the present main building was erected and opened as an academy, in the year 1847. In this early period, the Rev. Superior, Father Gacon, by his saintly counsels, sustained and encouraged the young Community, amid the hardships inseparable from missionary life, and, when death removed him from the scene of his labors, he was replaced by his life-long friend, Father Cheymol, the present chaplain of the convent, who, for nearly half a century, has devoted himself entirely to the spiritual and temporal interests of the community. Soon the fame of the "Brown County Convent" spread beyond the limits of the neighborhood, as could be seen on Commencement Day, when, to accommodate the visitors, who came from near and far, a large tent was erected, and the grand old woods resounded with the voice of song, while from every village of the surrounding country the people thronged to make it a gala day. But the inconvenience attending open-air commencements made it necessary to have a permanent commencement hall. To meet this exigency, the chapel building, as it is Called, was ereCted in 1859, and it was not long before Mother Julia and her industrious co-laborers received a palpable proof of the popularity of their institution in the increased number of pupils that flocked from all parts of the Union. Still fresh in the memory of many are those days in which Mother Julia gave such abundant proofs of her excellent administrative ability, and few, if any, who knew her, can forget the charming grace and sincere piety of Mother Stanislaus, who was, for so many years, the cherished and trusty assistant of good Mother Julia. The academy was chartered in 1846, with the privilege of conferring graduating degrees. A well-selected library, cabinet of physics and natural history were added, the curriculum of studies brought up to the highest standard, offering to young ladies the advantages of a thorough English and French education, including training in music, the fine arts and the modern languages. Owing to the continued increase of patronage, the music ball was built in 1867. Here the . musical department receives the most exact attention. A monthly examination, in presence of teachers and pupils, forms an interesting feature in this academy, and the proficiency of the pupils on organ, piano, harp and guitar, in vocal music and the elements of thorough base, bears evidence of a high musical standard. The sequestered situation of this lovely spot removes young ladies from the allurements and distractions of city life, while the extensive and pure country air render it still more favorable to the pursuits of study. Careful cultivation and natural wildness have been interestingly mingled in the laying out of the convent grounds, and whether the pupils ramble in the wood, where at day-dawn the song of birds announCes the rising sun, gather wild flowers by the creek or lake, stroll down the dear old graveyard walk, or pause to pray at the shrine of the Sacred Heart, everywhere they are made sensible of the beauty and tranquility which distinguish this home of learning and religion. In a little volume entitled "Snatches of Song," dedicated by its gifted authoress " to my friends at St. Martin's, Ohio, whose care and valued lessons 326 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. are pleasantly remembered," Mary A. McMullen (Una) thus lovingly refers to the scenes of her girlhood at this school: " Sweet, happy spot, where holy peace forever, A pure, bright spirit, sits wrth folded wings, Where virtue's radiant, ever-blooming flowers Are waterd by religion's crystal springs, Thou seemest in thy tranquil, placid beauty, From earth's wild strifes and sins and sorrows free; Thou sittest throned amid thy broad, green woodlands, A sunny island in an emerald sea. "Apart from all the gay world's gilded pleasures, Brave, patient spirits in thy walls abide, In toil and prayer and self-denial, treading The hidden pathway of the crucified; And many young hearts nurtured by their kindness, Will think of them and thee when distant far, And look back to thy altar lamps' pale shining, As once the shepherds looked to Bethlehem's star. " Some of the brightest days that I can number, Within thy groves like sunny steams went by, And to my heart thou shalt be linked forever, By memories that cannot fade or die. God's blessing rests on thine and thee forever, Fair dwelling-place of purity and truth; As now, mayst thou remain through coming ages— The home of virtue and the guide of youth. ' ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, FAYETTEVILLE. This church was founded by Rev. Joseph O'Malley in 1841. Father O'Malley was one of the most energetic and successful of the pioneer priests of Ohio, having founded churches and schools in various parts of the State. He remained but a short time in charge of the new congregation, and was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Butler, who was transferred here from Hamilton, Ohio He had previously occupied the eminent position of President of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, at Emmittsburg, Md. Father Butler was a good scholar and a brilliant orator. He encountered groat difficulties on account of the rude and lawless state of society which existed at that time, but he bore opposition and poverty with Christian fortitude and heroic devotion to his sacred calling. He was appointed Vicar General of the diocese of Covington, Ky., in 1849, and occupied that position until the time of his death. Rev. Cornelius Daly succeeded Father Butler in 1849.. He was born in the County of Cork, Ireland, came to this country at an early age and received his education at St. Mary's of the Barrens, Missouri, and at the theological seminary, Brown County. His first mission was in Perry County, Ohio, where he spent six years, established a congregation and from thence was removed to Fayetteville. He built St. Mary's Church, Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1856, and established several missions in this and adjoining counties. In 1860, he founded St. Patrick's Academy, and established the Sisters of Charity in Fayetteville. His death, which occurred at his residence adjoining the church in Fayetteville, on the 24th of January, 1876, was regarded as a public calamity by the entire community, and his funeral was attended by thousands of people of every creed and denomination. The life and character of Father Daly, is so indelibly engraven upon the hearts and minds of the people of this community, that it would be vain to attempt to speak of him in a manner that would meet the expectations of those who, during his lifetime, had never ceased to honor and to love him; but, when HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 329 the generations who followed him in the paths of duty, and learned the word of God from his sainted lips shall have, passed- away forever, let their children read in the words of the poet the character Of Father Daly: " A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year; Remote from towns he ran his godly race, Nor e'er had changed nor wish'd to change his place Unskillful he to fawn, or seek for power, By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour For other aims his heart had learned to prize. More bent to raise the wretched than to rise, His house was known to all the vagrant train: He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain. The long remembered beggar was his guest, Whose beard descending swept his aged breast. The ruined spendthrift, now no longer proud, Claim'd kindred there, and had his claims allow'd. The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, Sat by his fire and talked the night away; Wept o'er his wounds or tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch and shew'd how fields were won. Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, And quite forgot their vices in their woe: Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And e’en his failings lean'd to virtue's side: But in his duty prompt at every call He watch'd and wept, he prayed and felt for all; And, as a bird, each fond endearment tries To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, Allured to brighter worlds and led the way. Beside the bed where parting life was laid, And sorrow, guilt and pain by turns dismay'd, The reverend champion stood. At his control Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul; Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise, And his last faltering accents whisper'd praise. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place; Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. The service past, around the pious man With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran; E'en children followed with endearing wile, And plucksid his gown to share the good man's smile. His ready smile a parents warmth expressed, Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distressed; To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given, But all his serious thought, had rest in heaven. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head." As an illustration of his high standing throughout the county, we give verbatim the notice of his death as published in the Brown County News of January 26, 1876: "Rev. Cornelius Daly, of Fayetteville, this county, died on last Monday morning after “several weeks' illness, of a pulmonary disease. Father Daly was one of best and most gentlemanly men we ever knew. He had charge of the Catholic Church at Fayetteville for over a quarter of a century, and was sincerely loved by his parishioners and by all who knew him. He always had a kind word for every one, and especially for the afflicted and the needy poor. In life and conduct he exemplified the true character of his 330 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. high calling. The people of that neighborhood have sustained a severe loss in the death of Father Daly." Thus passed away one of God's chosen ones, who lived and died faithful to his Lord and Master. Rev. Francis Mallon was appointed pastor of St. Patrick's in 1876, where he remained until 1878, when he resigned his charge and is now residing in Cincinnati. Rev. John Bowe, the present pastor, succeeded Father Mallon. In 1879, he was instrumental in having a monument erected to the- memory of Father Daly. In 1880, he established the Fayetteville Total Abstinence Society, and continues to labor earnestly in the cause of temperance. Father Bowe has served many years as a priest of God, and has always labored zealously in behalf of Christ and His church. The present membership of St. Patrick's is about 1,500, and the church is a substantial brick structure, nicely painted and frescoed within. The pastor's residence adjoins the church on the rear. A cemetery lies to the right of the church in the same lot, and the whole is well shaded with forest trees. ST. PATRICK'S ACADEMY, FAYETTEVILLE. The object of this school is to provide for boys between the ages of five and twelve years a place where they may enjoy all the comforts of home and care of parents, together with the benefits of salutary discipline and careful teaching in the usual English branches. In addition to the boarding-school, a parish school is maintained, under the efficient management of the Sisters of Charity. This institution was founded in 1860 by Rev. Father Daly. A new building is now being constructed outside of Fayetteville, on the Georgetown road, occupying a beautiful site, upon which the academy is to be located in the future. The growth and progress of this school will compare favorably with like institutions throughout the State, and in it the Catholics of Perry Township have one of the strongest evidences that education and religion should go hand in hand. In their liberal support of this institution, they are carrying out and obeying the precepts of their church, as well as forwarding the true principles of civilization. CHURCH OF THE HOLY GHOST, VERA CRUZ. This church was founded by the Rev. Father Stehle, of Cincinnati, and dedicated by Archbishop Purcell in 1863. Andrew, McQuillan donated two acres of ground for the church, and Patrick McConn a like amount for a cemetery. The following pastors have served this congregation since its organization: Revs. Father Schmidt, Father McMahon, Francis Mallon, Bernard Roesner, Thomas Boulger and Henry Kiffmeyer, the present pastor. Father Kiffmeyer was educated at Mt. St Mary's Seminary, and ordained in 1868, by Archbishop Purcell. His first mission was at St. Philomena's Church, where he remained several years, and was then transferred to St. Rose's Church, where he labored until 1880, when he took charge of the Church of the Holy Ghost. The congregation numbers about 500, and their church is a beautiful briCk edifice in keeping with the age and progress of the country. There are few, if any, townships in Ohio, where Catholicism has taken such deep root as in that of Perry. Their churches and schools are all in a flourishing condition, and from the mustard-seed of faith planted here nearly sixty years ago, the tree has grown until its spreading branches cover hundreds of faithful Catholics, who are imbued with a firm faith and ardent love for the church of the early fathers. HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 331 ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, RIPLEY. Some time between the period of 1833 and 1836, several Catholic families settled in and near the village of Ripley. Prominent among them were Michael Waters, Joseph Heibling and Jacob Bellinger, of whom the last two were Germans. Mass was occasionally celebrated at the houses of Messrs. Waters and Helbling by visiting and traveling priests. In the summer of 1840, an effort was made by these few devout Catholics to erect a house of worship, which they succeeded in doing that year, and the little frame building still standing on the east side of the Ripley and Hillsboro pike, within the corporate limits of the village, is the monument of their enterprise. This church was erected upon ground given for the purpose by Michael Waters, who, it is said, was mainly instrumental in its construction, which fact seems quite evident from the following: On a sandstone in the foundation of the building is this inscription: " Michael Waters, Ripley, Ohio, September 22, 1840." It is said that the chnrch was built by the contributions of six families, the bulk of the money being given by Mr. Waters, who was partially reimbursed by future Sabbath collections. This building was dedicated to the service of God by the Most Rev. Archbishop Purcell. Among later members of St. Michael's Church were Frank Chevalier, Jacob Ernst, John Schwallie, John Greiner, Jacob Lauth, Ignatius Spiller, Joseph Tamme, Joseph Sertel, Andrew Lang, Sebastian Rubenecker, John Fichter, Frank Vogel, Conrad Ebensteiner, Fred Fleig, George Finnin and the Brisbois brothers—Michael, Andrew and Joseph. After the completion of the church, the congregation was occasionally visited by the parish priests of the city of Portsmouth, who administered to their spiritual wants, christened and baptized their children and performed marriage ceremonies. In the absence of records, the names of the many visiting priests who came to this congregation to preach God's word to the faithful few cannot be given. However, among the number were Fathers Thienpont and Herzog. From 1840 until 1849, the priests were from Portsmouth. During the latter year, a visit was made to this people by Rev. Tobbe, then the parish priest at New Richmond, now Bishop of Covington, Ky. He subsequently- visited this congregation and fixed his visitations at every fifth Sabbath, and thus continued from December, 1854, until November, 1856. His successor was Father Fuchs, whose visits were during the year beginning in November or December, 1856. The year 1858 marked a new era in Catholicism in Ripley, for it was then that the first resident priest came here to dwell, This was the Rev. Father ii. Booker, who, as parish priest, served the congregation until some time in the spring of 1861. He subsequently died at Aviston, Ill., at the age of forty- six years. The second pastor of St. Michael's Church was the Rev. Father Casperus Wiese, who was born in Callenhardt, Kreiss Lippstadt, Westphalia, in 1801, ordained priest at Padaerborn in 1830, and died at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Covington, Ky., July 1, 1881. The successor of Father Wiese was Rev. J. D. Kress, who assumed the pastorate in the spring of 1864. Father Kress is a native of this country. He served the congregation until 1867. His successor was the Rev. Father Lewis J. Schreiber, who resigned the pastorate of the church on account of ill health, after a stay of a few months, and died in St. Mary's Hospital. Cincinnati, in the summer of 1868. After the resignation of Father Schreiber, the church was without a pastor until the latter part of the year 1868, when Father Bartholomew Schmitz was placed in its care, and remained until the close of 1870. He was a native of Luxembourg. The Rev. Father Geyer, a native of the city of Dayton, this State, succeeded Father Schmitz, and entered upon the church work here in May, 1871, and, in the summer of 1873, while bathing in the Ohio 332 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. River, he was drowned. Father Geyer was ordained to the priesthood in the city of Rome, Italy. The Rev. Father Lawrence Klawitter succeeded Father Geyer, commencing his labors with the church December 24, 1873, and served the congregation until November 22, 1878. His ordination took place in Cincinnati in 1868, and he was first stationed at St. Stephen's Church, Columbia. The next and last pastor of St. Michael's is the Rev. Father Andrew Fabian, who succeeded Father Klawitter. Father Fabian was born at Alsace, March 27, 1828, and was ordained priest in Strasburg in 1853, and, in 1874, came to America, The congregation continued to worship in the frame building before described until the increasing membership made it necessary to build a more commodious structure, and, in 1864, the one-story brick house, now occupied by them, located on the north side of Fourth street, near Market, was erected at a cost of about $5,000. The interior of the building comprises one large audience room, with a seating capacity of about four hundred persons. The room is supplied with a reed organ and the walls are decorated with scriptural paintings representing the different stations of the cross. The altars, three in number, are of modest design, the lesser ones being those of St. Mary and St. Michael. The dedication of this church took place January 6, 1865, the Right Rev. Sylvester H. Rosecrans officiating. The congregation has been from the beginning almost entirely a German one, and now is composed of about one hundred and twenty families. A new church building is now in process of construction just west of the present one. It is to be of brick, in size 90x45 feet, with a tower 120 feet high, in which is to be suspended a chime of bells. The edifice will cost about $12,000, and will be an ornament to the village and a credit to the congregation, The architect is George Brink, of Cincinnati. One of the oldest and most devout members of the church, who, for nearly fifty years, was a faithful worker in the church at Ripley, and one of the most respected citizens of the place, was Joseph Helbling, who died April 20, 1882, in his eighty-second year. The first Catholic school was taught in a frame building, which stood on the present site of the new Methodist Episcopal Church, by a Mr. Trapp, whose given name is supposed to be Christian. Subsequently, a Catholic school was conducted in a little brick building, which stood several hundred yards south of the old frame church on the Ripley and Hillsboro pike. A Mr. Cruikencamp and John Rutland were among the early teachers. In 1864, the present schoolhouse, a two-story brick building, situated next to the church, was erected, at a cost of about $3,000, in which the youth of the congregation have since been instructed. There is one teacher employed, and the average attendance is eighty. The common branches only are taught. The pastor of the congregation is furnished with a neat little house situated in the rear of the church, and the teacher of the school resides on the second floor of the school building. ST MARY'S CHURCH, ARNHEIM. Among the first Catholics who settled in Franklin Township were Wendall Klein, John Ernst, John Lauth, Peter Gabberdenn, George Klockner, John Ernst, Jr., Jacob Lauth, Frederick Keller, Balthazer Yecko, Joseph Wegman, Joseph Weber, John Berger and John Schwallie. Previous to 1837, they were visited twice or three times a year by missionary priests who said mass at the house of Wendall Klein. In 1837, Wendall Klein, who then owned the farm which is now the property of Louis Schwalm, donated half an acre of ground for a cemetery and church, on which the above named settlers, together with HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 333 Frederick Kerwald, John Ferdinand and John Goodin, who were then living in Georgetown, erected a log building, 22x30 feet. It was located one-half mile north of the present village of Arnheim, and received the name of St. Wendall's Church in honor of the donor. In 1844, this building was weather- boarded and the interior plastered; also a sacristy added to the Church. Here divine services were held from 1837 to 1848, by priests located at Fayetteville and Cincinnati; from 1848 to 1851, by those at Stone Lick, and from the latter date up to 1858, the priests of New Richmond had charge of this congregation. In 1856, Rev. M. A. Tobbe received subscriptions ,toward the erection of a new church, which was accordingly built in the village of Arnheim in 1858. It is a brick building, 40x60 feet, and was dedicated as St. Mary's Church. The ground on which the building stands was purchased from Jacob Arnby by John Weisbrodt, and donated for church purposes. The old church was abandoned, and, in 1874, sold to Peter Forthoffer, who moved to Arnheim, and now uses it as a wagon factory. The following is a list of the priests who have had charge of the congregation from 1836 to the present, viz. 1836-39, Rev. William Cheymol; 1839- 41, Rev. Claude Gacon; 1842, Rev. Joseph O'Malley; 1843, Rev. G. Schonat: 1844, Rev. Michael Heise, now Archbishop of Milwaukee; 1844, Rev. M. Bobst; 1845, Rev. J. B. Jaconet; 1846-47, Rev. B. Henghold; 1848, Rev. J; F. Patchowski; 1848-49, Rev. J. B. Baumgarten; 1850, Rev. L. Navarronn. 1851, Rev. L. Kupfer and W. Brummer; 1851-52-53, Rev. M. St. Herzog; 1854-55, Rev. B. Henghold; 1855-56, Rev. M. A. Tobbe the present Bishop of Covington, Ky.; 1857, Rev. F. Fuchs; 1858-59-60-61, Rev. H. Bocker, who celebrated the first mass in the new church; 1861-62-63, Rev. C. Wiese; 1864-65-66-67, Rev. J. D. Kress; 1867, Rev. L. J. Schreiber; 1868, Rev. H. Thien; 1869-70, Rev. Bartholomew Schmitz; 1871-72-73, Rev. Peter Geyer, who was drowned in the latter year while bathing in the Ohio River. He noticed his brother struggling in the water, and, going to his assistance, both lost their lives. From 1873 to 1878, Rev. L. M. Klawitter; 1878-79-80-81- 82, Rev. A. Fabian. The present pastor, Rev. F. Mesner, is the first resident priest of Arnheim, and to him we are indebted for the history of St. Mary's Church. Prior to 1882, service was held but once a month. August 1 of that year, Bishop Elder formed a parish from the mission of Arnheim, embracing the central townships of Brown County, southwest townships of Highland and northeastern portion of Adams County. This parish contains sixty families, or three hundred members, who attend divine service at Arnheim. In reviewing the history of Catholicism in Brown County, the reader will be forcibly reminded of its steady, healthy growth. In comparing the present condition of the church with what it was fifty years ago, he will discover a fair illustration of the Gospel parable of the mustard seed. The three handsome churches in Perry Township, with a membership of 2,750 souls, the church at Ripley, with 600 members, and the Arnheim Church, with 300, is surely a showing that the Catholics of Brown County may well be proud or; but when we add to these the parish schools, St. Patrick's Academy and the far-famed Ursuline Convent, we may safely conclude that God has blessed the labors of His servants in this field, and crowned them with the diadem of success. 334 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. CHAPTER X. MILITARY HISTORY. THE WAR OF 1812. IT is impossible, at this day, to learn the number of men from the region now forming Brown County who served their country in the last war with England. A list even of the commissioned officers from the county cannot be obtained. There are on file in the Adjutant General's office at Columbus only nine of the muster rolls of the war of 1812. As the terms of service for which the men were called out were generally short, not exceeding six months, the number of persons who served at some time during the war was quite large, and the names of the commissioned officers would form an extended list, The military system under which the war was carried on would by no means have answered the purposes of the Government in the great war of the rebellion. In many cases, the raw militiamen had scarcely learned to drill as soldiers when their terms of service expired, and they were succeeded by fresh, untrained recruits. But in every vicissitude of the conflict, the conduct of the people of the county was patriotic and honorable. They volunteered with alacrity, and endured the hardships of the campaigns in the Northwest with patience and cheerfulness. A company of riflemen, commanded by Capt. Jacob Boerstler, went from the vicinity of Williamsburg, and formed a part of the Third Ohio Regiment of Volunteers, and, in the march to Detroit, was attached to Col. Cass' regiment, of the First Brigade, of the First Division. The period of service of this company was six months—from April 24 to October 24, 1812. This company was engaged in the battle of Brownstown, in which the Captain and three privates were killed. Another Company, raised in Clermont County, was commanded by Capt. Stephen Smith, of Williamsburg. This company, after the battle of the Thames, in October, 1813, was ordered to take charge of about four hundred British prisoners captured by the American army, and conduct them through the swamps of Northwestern Ohio to Newport, Ky. The Black Swamp, as it was called, was nearly covered with water, and extended for many miles through a dreary wilderness. The commissioned officers becoming sick, the command devolved on William H. Raper, afterward a distinguished Methodist preacher. In their march, the guides became bewildered and lost their way, and the company, with the pri oners, were three days and nights in the swamp without food. In the first year of the war, Allen Trimble, of Highland County, was appointed Colonel of one of the regiments raised in Southern Ohio, and in 1813, a regiment was raised from Highland and Adams Counties, of which Trimble was Major. This regiment marched to Upper Sandusky. George Edwards was Colonel of the Second Ohio Regiment, which was discharged at Sandusky in 1814. Col. Mills Stephenson, one of the earliest pioneers of Union Township, who had served in the Indian wars, was an officer in the war of 1812. Fort Stephenson, at the site of Fremont, Ohio, then known as Upper Sandusky, was named in his honor. HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 335 Capt. Elijah Martin, of the vicinity of Aberdeen, recruited, in 1812, a rifle company, and commanded it during the period of its service—one year. A company of mounted volunteers, raised chiefly in what was then Clermont County, for the relief of Fort Meigs and Fort Stephenson, was commanded by Capt. Robert Haines, and served from July 27 until August 13, 1813—a period of sixteen days. Lebanon and Chillicothe were the chief places of rendezvous for the troops raised in Clermont and Adams Counties. THE MEXICAN WAR. Perhaps no county in the State of Ohio exhibited more promptness and alacrity in meeting the call for volunteers for the war with Mexico. While some of the counties of Southern Ohio sent scarcely a dozen soldiers into the field during the whole of that war, Brown raised one of the first companies of volunteers, and more men proffered their services than could be accepted This was largely due to the influence of Thomas L. Hamer, who zealously maintained the justice and necessity of the war measures of the national ad ministration, by his eloquence roused the patriotism of his fellow-citizens, and himself volunteered. "His example became contagious; his law partner, S. W. Johnston, volunteered; two of their law students volunteered; a bound boy of Mr Hamer's volunteered; and finally the young son of Hamer pressed forward to join the patriotic throng, but his father kindly stayed his steps." The Brown County volunteers, on the organization of volunteers at Camp Wash ington, Cincinnati, became Company G, First Ohio Regiment. Its first officers were: Sanders W. Johnston, Captain; James P. Fyffe, First Lieutenant; W. P. Stewart and Carr B. White, Second Lieutenants. After the death of Gen. Hamer, Capt. Johnston resigned and returned home. Carr B. White was then elected Captain. This company was soon called to see the stern realities of war in the storming of Monterey, and Gen. Taylor, in his official dispatches, called attention to the good conduct of Capt. Johnston at that hard-fought battle. The term of enlistment was one year. On the 1st of September, 1847, about twenty-two men from Brown County, under Lieut. James P. Fyffe, enlisted, and, uniting with forty-two men from Clermont County, formed Company C, Second (re-organized) Ohio Regiment of Volunteers. Of this company John W. Lowe was Captain; James P. Fyffe, First Lieutenant; and Milton Jameson and William Howard, Second Lieutenants. William Wall served al the war against Mexico as Major of the Second Ohio Regiment. Educated at West Point, he excelled in the science of mathematics. He taught school in this county, and afterward occupied the chair of mathematics in the Ohio University at Athens. He was thoroughly versed in military science, was a member of the bar, and, for a short time, editor of a newspaper published at Georgetown. He died November 17, 1856, aged sixty years five months and twenty-two days, and was buried at Georgetown. Ulysses S. Grant, who, three years before, had graduated at West Point, to which institution he was sent a cadet from Brown County, served in the regular army in the Mexican war, with the rank of Lieutenant. August V. Kautz, afterward Major General of Volunteers, when but eighteen years of age volunteered as a private in the first company from Brown County in this war. THE CIVIL WAR. The record of Brown County in the war of the rebellion is one which will ever be contemplated with pride by her people. Though a majority of her 336 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. citizens were decided opponents of the election of Lincoln, yet, when the national flag was fired upon, the county was prompt and thorough in response to the call to arms, and the great mass of her people exhibited alacrity and patriotism in bearing their share of the burdens of the momentous struggle. Until fire opened upon Fort Sumter, the mass of the people did not apprehend civil war. Even after the inauguration of President Lincoln, with Jefferson Davis ruling at Montgomery—two Presidents with their Cabinets, two Governments standing face to face—the people still seemed incredulous as to the imminence of a clash of arms. While a minority of the people of the county were willing to see a civil strife begun as a means for the destruction of slavery, the great majority hoped for a happy and peaceful issue from the national compliCations. Probably a majority were disposed to favor such measures of conciliation as the repeal of the personal liberty bills in the Northern States which interfered with the enforcement of the fugitive slave law, and to give assurance that slavery should never be interfered with in any of the States where it then existed. Immediately after the proclamations of President Lincoln and Gov. Dennison, calling for volunteers, were received, the following call for a meeting was issued, signed by J. G. Marshall, D. W. C. Loudon, Maj. C. B. White, Lieut. T. T. Taylor, Capt. R. H. Higgins, W. H. Sly, Alfred Jacobs and fifty-six others: UNION MEETING. We, the undersigned, citizens of Brown County, Ohio, in compliance with the call of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, through Gov. Dennison, hereby present to the citizens of said county the following call for a meeting to be held at the court house of said county, on Saturday, the 20th of April, A. D. 1861, for the purpose of taking into consideration the formation of a volunteer company to aid in the enforcement of the laws and in quelling the rebellion now progressing in our Union. Believing that the present hour is the darkest and most dangerous ever experienced by our Confederacy, and that our liberty and Union will be endangered, if not absolutely destroyed, by the suCcess of said revolution, we trust all Union-loving and law-abiding citizens will once more rally round the Stars and Stripes, and adopt measures that will secure the prompt compliance with the call of our Chief Magistrate, the President of the United States. The meeting was held at the appointed' time and place, and was called to order at 2 o'clock P. M. The meeting was large, and was marked by a general and enthusiastic approval of armed measures for the suppression of the rebellion. G. W. King, Esq., was called to the chair. Earnest and patriotic addresses were made by the President of the meeting, Hon. C. A. White, John G. Marshall, D. W. C. Loudon and D. Murphy. Democrats and Republicans forgot their differences and resolved to stand together in support of the constitution and the Union. Whatever spirit of conciliation and concession had before existed, there, was now no more talk of coaxing or pleading with traitors, who had dared to aim their cannon at the national flag. At the close of the meeting, volunteers were called for to form a company to leave at once for the service of their country, and some thirty men were enrolled, who proceeded to ballot for officers. The following were elected: Captain, Dr. Carr B. White; First Lieutenant, William Hays; Second Lieutenant, T. T. Taylor, then Prosecuting Attorney. Among the volunteers were five physicians and five. attorneys. The company was soon made up, and, on the following Wednesday, left for Camp Chase. The sight of real soldiers was new to most of the people, and the marching to camp of a company for the three-months service made more ado than was afterward occasioned by the departure of a regiment for the three-years service. The ladies of Higginsport prepared a bountiful supper for the volunteers, which was spread upon a long table in the public square. At Cincinnati, the company was entertained at the Broadway Hotel HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 339 free of expense. The company bore with them a war-worn flag under which Capt. White had fought in the Mexican war. The first company which left the county under the telegraphic call was the Ripley company, which left on Tuesday, April 23. Its first Captain was Jacob Ammon, a graduate of West Point, who volunteered two days after the firing on Fort Sumter, and reported at Columbus with his company on April 24. The next year, he became a Brigadier General. On April 20, the Town Council of Ripley, in behalf of the people of that place, adopted resolutions declaring that, while they were prepared and determined to defend themselves against invasions, attacks or unlawful interference from any quarter, they contemplated no hostilities against their neighbors of Kentucky, and that they would not countenance any movements hostile to them, and proposed to the authorities of Maysville, Dover and Augusta that they take measures to co-operate with the authorities of Ripley in preserving the peace along the border and protecting the citizens on both sides of the Ohio. These resolutions met with favorable and friendly responses from Augusta, Dover and Maysville. The war spirit was soon aroused throughout the county. The national flag was seen floating from stores, workshops and residences. The whole country was filled with the noise and excitement of military preparation. The women of the county were earnest in their ministrations to the soldiers. From the beginning until the close of the war, they were constant in their efforts to supply those comforts and delicacies needed in the field, and still more in the hospital, and which no government does or can supply. On May 3, the President Issued his first call for men to serve three years or during the war. Then began the serious work of enlistment. Early in the war, there was appointed in each county of the State a standing military committee, which had the charge and direction of the military matters of the county. The raising of funds for bounties, enlisting recruits and looking after the families of those who were absent in the army, and many other duties, devolved upon the committee. The Governor consulted with this committee before commissioning military offiCers. The war called for so large a proportion of the entire male population that the quota of the county was not in all cases filled without difficulty. Drafts and the offer of large bounties to volunteers were found necessary. Liberal provisions were made for the support of the families of soldiers and marines in active service. Of the men who filled the quota of Brown County, all, except an inconsiderable fraction, were volunteers. Within eighteen months after the first call for three-years' men, the county, with a total militia enrollment of 5,127, sent into the service 1,753 men, of whom only 129 were drafted. Most of the recruits, on being mustered into the service, received a considerable bounty. Under the last calls of the President, the local bounties were unusually large, amounting to upward of $500, while still larger sums were paid to acceptable substitutes. In this way an enormous sum was expended. The money for this purpose was raised in part by taxation, under the authority of law, but more largely by the voluntary contributions of the stay-at-home citizens. The large bounties were a great incentive to desertion, and it was estimated that of the recruits enlisted to fill the quota of Ohio under the call of July, 1864, more than ten thousand deserted. The deserters would present themselves at a new recruiting station, or, with a change of name, to the same station, be again mustered in, receive a second large bounty, and again desert. To put a stop to this " bounty-jumping," the plan was adopted of withholding the bounty until the recruit had reached his regiment. The raid of Col. John Morgan through Southern Ohio occurred in July, 340 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. 1863. The excitement and apprehension throughout the region within twenty miles of the line of march of the raiding party was unprecedented in the history of the State. The farmers, with prudent forethought, drove off their horses and cattle and concealed them in the most unfrequented woods. Morgan's men, following the example of the Union raiding forces in the South, took horses and provisions wherever they could find them, if they were needed. They made few attempts at wholesale destruction of property, but frequently carried off small articles, some of which were utterly useless to the raiders, and were soon thrown away. The militia in the southwestern counties was called out by Gov. Tod on the 12th of July, the militia of Brown being ordered to report at Camp Dennison. Col. John Morgan encamped at Williamsburg on the evening of July 14, after having marched more than ninety miles in about thirty-five hours—the greatest march ever made, even by Morgan. " The column could be tracked by the slayer dropped from the horses' mouths. It was a terrible, trying march. Strong men fell out of the saddles, and at every halt the officers were compelled to move continually about in their respective companies, and pull and haul the men, who would drop asleep in the road. It was the only way to keep them awake. Quite a. number crept off into the fields and slept until they were awakened by the enemy." [Duke's History of Morgan's Cavalry.] On the next day, July 15, the main body of the raiders passed through the northern portion of Brown, being closely pressed by the Union troops following them. About two or three hundred of -the rebels, under the command of Col. Dick Morgan, passed through Georgetown, Russelville and Decatur. In 1864, the Legislature ordered the appointment of a Board of Commissioners to examine and pass upon the claims for damages to property during the Morgan raid, This commission largely reduced the claims, and classified them into damages done by the rebels, by the United States troops, and by the State militia, respectively. The following are the figures for the amounts claimed and passed upon for Brown County: Claims for damages by the rebels, $28,992.51; claims for damages by Union forces under United States officers, $8,967.35; claims for damages by Union forces not under United States officers, ---; total amount claimed, $37,959.86. Amount allowed for damages done by rebels, $25,556; amount allowed for damages by Union forces under United States officers, $7,228; amount allowed for damages by Union forces not under United States officers,  ; total amount allowed, $32,781. The following list or the commissioned officers from Brown County in the war of the rebellion was prepared by Capt. C. F. King, of the Adjutant General's office: Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry-Col. C. B. White, Maj. E. M. Carey, Capt. W. W. Liggett, Lieut. A. M. Ridgway, Lieut. F. M. Slade, Lieut. J. H. Palmer, Lieut. E. C. Devore. Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Capt. Thomas J. Loudon. Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Col. Jacob Ammen (appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers). Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Maj. C. W. Boyd, Capt. O. P. Evans, Lieut. F. G. Shaw, Lieut. I. N. Anderson. Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Col. Thomas T. Taylor, Lieut. G. W. Reeves. Fifty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Col. James P. Fyffe, Capt. Lewis J. Egbert, Capt. R. H. Higgins, Capt. C. F. King, Capt. F. R. Kautz, Capt. 0. J. Hopkins, Lieut. H. F. Liggett, Lieut. William H. Lawrence, Lieut. W. T. Trout, Lieut. G. P. Tyler, Lieut. James Jennings, Lieut. Hamer J. Hig- HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 341 gins, Lieut. John O'Connor, Lieut. Michael Sells, Lieut. Michael Lynch, Lieut. W. W. McColgin, Lieut. J. P. Purden, Lieut. J. W. Shinn, Lieut. R. C. Drake, Lieut. G. H. Dunham, Assistant Surgeon S. C. Gordon. Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Lieut. Bowen Dunham. Seventieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Col. D. W. C. Loudon, Lieut. Col. W. B. Brown, Capt. Joseph Blackburn, Capt. F. G. Sloane, Capt. John Campbell, Capt. Marquis de La Fayette Hare, Capt. John J. T. Brady, Lieut. W. R. Harmon, Lieut. Alfred Loudon, Lieut. Amos F. Ellis, Lieut. R. C. Menaugh, Lieut. James Brown, Lieut. Lewis Love, Chaplain John M. Sullivan. Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Col. John G. Marshall, Maj. William Hays, Capt. J. H. Jolley, Capt. D. V. Pearson, Capt. T, H. B. Norris, Capt. John S. Lakin, Capt C E Harrison, Capt. G. H. De Bolt, Lieut. J. W. King, Lieut. Dudley King, Lieut. F. NI. Creekbaum. Ninety-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Surgeon Thomas W. Gordon. One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Lieut. H, C. Loudon. One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry—Capt. A. J. Applegate, Lieut. J. H. Sellers, Lieut. F. NI. Fowler. Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry—Col. A. V. Kautz. Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry—Maj. James McIntyre, Capt. R. C. Rankin, Capt. John McColgin, Lieut. Samuel Dryden, Lieut. John V. Srofe, Lieut. B. F. Powers, Lieut. William McKnight. Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry—Maj. Wesley Love, Lieut. C. W. Waters. First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artill'ery—Maj. D. T. Cockerill, Capt. G. A. Cockerill, Lieut. S. M. Espy, Lieut. Norval Osborn. Fourth Ohio Independent Cavalry Company--Capt. J. S. Foster, Capt. J. L. King, Lieut. W. H. Hannah, Lieut. Thomas J. Thompson, Lieut. J. F. Thomas, Lieut. S. D. Porter, Lieut. Thomas C. Yates. The private soldiers of Brown County were scattered through so large a portion of the United States army, and in so many regiments and branches of the service, that the record of the county can only be given in the record of Ohio in the rebellion. Such a record, to be complete, should exhibit the military history of every soldier and officer—name, age, rank; when, where and by whom enrolled; when, where and by whom mustered into service; the nature and date of every promotion; date of death, discharge, muster out, transfer or desertion—in short, everything pertaining to the soldier's military career. The military records in the Adjutant General's office at Columbus are now being transcribed, and it is hoped that the completed work will supply the information necessary for the full war record of every soldier in an Ohio regiment during the rebellion. Brown County claims her full share of the glory in the achievements of Ohio soldiers in quelling the rebellion. Whitelaw Reid, in his " Ohio in the War," says: "Ohio soldiers fought on well nigh every battle-field of the war. Within forty-eight hours alto: the telegraphic call, two Ohio regiments were on their way to the resCue of the imperiled capital in the spring of 1861. An Ohio brigade, in good order, covered the retreat from the first Bull Run. Ohio troops formed the bulk of the army that saved West Virginia; the bulk of the army that saved Kentucky; a large share of the army that took Fort Donelson; a part of the army at Island. No. 10; a great part of the army that, from Stone River, and Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge, and Kenesaw, and Atlanta, swept down to the sea, and back through the Carolinas to the Old Dominion. They fought at Pea Ridge; they charged at Wagner; they campaigned 342 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. against the Indians at the base of the Rocky Mountains; they helped to redeem North Carolina; they were in the siege of Vicksburg, the siege of Charleston, the siege of Richmond, the siege of Mobile. At Pittsburg Landing, at Antietam, at Gettysburg, at Corinth, in the Wilderness, before Nashville, at Five Forks, at Appomattox Court House—their bones, reposing on the fields they won, are a perpetual binding pledge that no flag shall ever wave over these graves of our soldiers but the flag they fought to maintain." HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 343 CHAPTER XI. SKETCHES OF DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS. [The biography of Thomas L. Hamer here presented is the first one given to the public of this distinguished lawyer, statesman and soldier. The materials for the sketch of ]Matthew Gardner were obtained from his autobiography. These sketches, with others of deceased citizens who were honored with high official positions and were prominent actors in the early history of the county, it is thought may appropriately form a chapter in this part of the work.] GEN. THOMAS L. HAMER. Thomas Lyon Hamer was born in Northumberland County, Penn., in the month of July, 1800, and died near Monterey, Mexico, December 2, 1846. His father was a farmer of moderate means, who, about the year 1812, removed his family to the State of New York and resided for a short time in the vicinity of Lake Champlain. While there, it was the lot of Thomas L., then a youth of fourteen years, to be an eye-witness of the naval action fought by the heroic McDonough, and that thrilling scene, with its triumphant result, gave him, as he often declared, an inclination toward warlike achievements, which adhered to him through life. In 1817, the elder Hamer removed with his family to Ohio, and purchased a farm near Oxford, Butler County, where he resided until his death. Young Thomas accompanied the family until they reached the mouth of Nine Mile Creek, a stream of Clermont County which empties into the Ohio at the western boundary of the county. Here he bade his parents adien, resolved no longer to be a charge upon their slender resources, and here, at the age of seventeen, with no money save only "one and sixpence," in his pocket, with no property except the homespun clothing he wore, without friends or acquaintances, a stranger in a strange land, he began his career. He had received a tolerable English education, and in the immediate vicinity of the pram where he landed, he taught a school for about four months. He borrowed while there, from a noted Magistrate named Lindsey, an old and worm-eaten copy of " Espinasse's Nisi Prins," which he read during his spare hours, reciting his first lessons in the law to the learned Justice of the Peace. He continued the business of teaching at Withamsville, where he had access to the library of Dr. William Porter. Subsequently, he took charge of a school at Bethel, where he boarded in the family of Thomas Morris, the pioneer lawyer of Clermont County, who superintended his legal studies until his admission to the bar. From a subscription paper, dated at Bethel, October 16, 1820, still in existence, it appears that the price of tuition in Mr. Hamer's school at that time was $2 per quarter; the regular branches to be taught were reading, writing and arithmetic; grammar would be taught. if requested, at $3 per quarter; the number of pupils subscribed was seventeen, the subscribers agreeing to furnish a schoolroom and fuel. In the spring of 1821, Mr. Hamer was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Williamsburg, Thomas Morris and Thomas Porter recommending his admission. It is said that up to this time, he had never, at any time, been within 344 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. the walls of a court house, and was a modest, diffident and unassuming young man. On the 4th of July succeeding his admission to the bar, he delivered an oration at Withamsville, which was printed in the Farmer's Friend, a newspaper published at Williamsburg. This address indicates literary taste, is carefully written, and must have added to the reputation of the youthful member of the legal profession, who was just reaching his majority. In the month of August, 1821, he moved to Georgetown, which, three months before, had been made a seat of justice, and then was a marshy piece of ground covered with a dense forest, with stakes driven into the ground to mark the corners of the lots into which it had been laid out. Here, in a new town and a newly formed county, at the age of twenty-one, he commenced the practice of law, and here was his home until his lamented death. Soon after establishing himself at Georgetown, he married Lydia Bruce Higgins, daughter of Col. Robert Higgins, a prominent citizen of Brown County. The young lawyer soon became a favorite in the community. He was intelligent and talented; his manners were attractive, his conversation fascinating; he won for himself both esteem and affection. As is usual with young lawyers, his practice did not occupy all his time, but his spare hours were not passed in idleness. His tastes were literary and scholarly, and he read extensively. He accepted the office of Justice of the Peace of Pleasant Township, and, on the removal of the Benefactor, the first newspaper of Brown County, to Georgetown, in January, 1824, he became its editor and so continued for two years. For a while, he was lawyer, Magistrate and editor. His practice in writing, combined with his literary studies, gave him the power—not less valuable than oratory--of expressing his thoughts on paper in a style easy, clear and forcible. His practice at the bar increased and became lucrative. He rapidly rose to distinction in his profession, especially as a jury lawyer. His success in his profession arose more from his great knowledge of human nature and his " artless and spirit-stirring eloquence " than for any fondness for the intricacies and technicalities of the science of law and the common-law pleading. He came in contact with able and distinguished lawyers, who traveled the judicial circuit, but in ability to sway a jury, there were none superior to young Hamer. Mr. Hamer early evinced a warm interest in politics. In 1824, his newspaper advocated the election of Andrew Jackson, and the same year he was proposed for the Legislature, but he declined to be a candidate. In 1825, he was first elected a Representative in the General Assembly. In 1828, he was a Presidential elector on the Jackson ticket, and was again elected a Representative in the Legislature, and was re-elected in 1829. At, the organization of the House of Representatives, in December, 1829, he was unanimously elected its Speaker. a station he was admirably qualified to fill by reason of his acquaintance with parliamentary law, his courteous deportment and singular self-possession. Among the distinguished members of this Legislature were Gen. Duncan McArthur and Robert Lucas, in the Senate, who became the opposing candidates for Governor at the next election, and in the House, ex-Gov. Morrow and Thomas Corwin. Between Corwin and Hamer a friendship was formed, and was long continued, notwithstanding their differences in politics. As a member of the Legislature .and Speaker, Mr. Hamer's course was marked by impartiality and independence, rather than a narrow partisan spirit. Indeed, he was accused by some of the hot-headed members of his own party of a lack of zeal in promoting the interests of the Jackson party. The body over which he presided was Composed of thirty seven Jackson and thirty- five Adams men. In appointing the fifteen standing committees, he appointed a majority of Jackson men on eight and a majority of Adams men on seven. HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 345 committees. In appointing select committees on local questions, he wholly disregarded political differences. In a caucus of the Jackson men of both Houses, held in January, 1830, a motion was made that the members pledge themselves to vote in the Legislature for the candidate for any office selected by a majority of the caucus. Mr. Hamer opposed the motion in two or three speeches, and gave several reasons why he could not abide by the rule if adopted. The Legislature then elected Supreme Judges and President Judges. Mr. Hamer said that a majority of the caucus was composed of farmers, mechanics and merchants, who were not versed in the law, and that if they should, with honest motives, select a candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court whom he personally knew to be not qualified, he could not go into the Legislature and vote for him. At the election of Judges, Mr. Hamer voted against two of the nominees of the Jackson caucus, one for Supreme Judge and one for President Judge. In defending himself against the charge of having been unfaithful to the interests of his party, Mr. Hamer afterward said: " The business of legislating for the people of Ohio, generally speaking, has no sort of connection with party politics; it is impossible to bring them together. None but men of narrow minds and strong party prejudices ever did or ever will discover any such connection. In voting for State officers, however, all admit that the question should have its influence. How far that influence is to extend, is a different consideration. I have never believed that a man who goes to the Legislature and takes an oath to discharge all his duties according to the best of his judgment and ability, as every member does, would be justifiable in voting for a candidate for Judge or any other office, whom he knew was unfit for the station. Does he not violate his oath if he gives such a vote? He swears to vote according to the dictates of his judgment; his judgment tells him the candidate is not qualified, but he still votes for the man because he is a Jacksonian, and has been taken up by the Jackson party. Is this honest? Is it a faithful discharge of the duty he owes his constituents? Is it not a violation of his oath? I think so, and if any other man thinks otherwise, let him act accordingly. I never have and never will obey the dictates of party principles or party caucuses, when by so doing I must violate my oath as Representative, betray my constituents or injure my country." In 1832, Mr. Hamer was first elected to the Congress of the United States from the district composed of the counties of Brown, Clermont and Adams. He appeared before the people as an Independent Democratic candidate; the opposing candidates were Thomas Morris, of Clermont, who claimed to be the nominee of the Democratic party; Owen T. Fishback, of Clermont, the Whig candidate, and William Russell, of Adams, then a member of Congress, who also appeared as an anti-Jackson candidate. The election for Governor that year was hotly contested, and party lines were closely drawn; the great excitement in the Fifth District, however, was the race for Congress, and this contest aroused the whole people. The three principal candidates, Morris, Fish- back and Hamer, were all strong men; all three were lawyers of ability and had had experienCe in the Legislature. Morris lived at Bethel, Fishback at Batavia, Hamer at Georgetown, and Russell at West Union. The canvass could not well have been carried on without some bitterness, and there was perhaps more between the supporters of Morris and Hamer than of the other candidates. Hamer was successful, the aggregate vote of all the candidates being as follows: Hamer, 2,171; Fishback, 2,069; Morris, 2,028; Russell, 403. Morris carried his own county, receiving 1,319 to 1,186 for Fishback, 409 for Hamer and 19 for Russell, but the eloquence of young Hamer carried captive the Democratic yeomanry of Brown and Adams, and their majorities bore him triumphant to Congress. 346 - HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY. It is remarkable that Thomas Morris, so distinguished in the political history of Ohio, when first a candidate for Congress, was defeated by the young man whose law studies he had directed. Two months after his defeat, he was elected by the Legislature a United States Senator, and Thomas Morris and Thomas L Hamer look their seats as members of the Congress of the United States at the same time, and each served just six years, one in the Upper, the other in the Lower House. Both were elected as members of the same political party, and though differing widely, especially as to slavery agitation, both became distinguished and honored men. After the death of Hamer in Mexico, a member-elect of Congress, a son of Senator Morris, was, without opposition, elected to fill the seat in Congress vacated by his death, and upon that son, Jonathan D. Morris, devolved the duty of pronouncing in the House of Representatives a eulogy upon Gen. Hamer In 1834 and 1836, Mr. Hamer was re-elected to Congress from the Fifth District by large majorities, the party favoring the administration of Gen. Jackson being largely in the ascendency in each of the three counties of the distriCt. Mr. Hamer took his seat on December 2, 1833, at the beginning of the session of the Twenty-third Congress. This session has been Commonly called the "Panic Session," on acCount of the state of the country following the President's veto of the United States Bank-Charter Bill and the removal of the deposits of the public money from that bank The sessions of this Congress were ;he most eventful and exciting the country had known, and abounded with the men of high talents. From Ohio in the Senate were Thomas Ewing, Sr., and Thomas Morris; in the House were three young men who subsequently rose to distinction—Thomas Corwin, William Allen and Thomas L. Hamer, the last named being one of the youngest members of the Congress. One f the first votes Mr. Hamer cast in the House was in favor of a series of resolutions offered by James K. Polk, declaring that the Bank of the United States ought not to be rechartered, and that the public deposits ought not to be restored to the Bank of the United States. These resolutions were long and vehemently debated, but finally were adopted by large majorities. The second Congress in which Mr. Hamer served was memorable for the exciting scenes which arose when the agitation of the slavery question was first carried into the halls of Congress, and John Quincy Adams, with a small minority, stood up boldly for the sacred right of petition. Mr. Hamer was a member of the select committee to which was referred every paper or proposition in relation to slavery offered in the House. This committee reported that for the purpose of arresting agitation and restoring tranquility to the public mind, they recommended "that all petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions, or papers relating in any way to the subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being either printed or referred, be laid upon the table; and that no further action whatever be had upon them." This report, though strongly opposed by John Quincy Adams, was adopted by a large majority. Mr. Adams himself was strongly opposed to the objects of the Abolitionists, and was governed by a sense of the sacredness of the right of petition, and what he deemed the most effectual way of putting an end to an agitation which he sincerely deprecated. While a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Hamer was industrious and faithful to the trust reposed in him by his constituents. Ready and able as he was in debate, his appearance in the discussions of the House was rare; set speeches from him were still rarer. Among his more important speeches found in the Congressional Globe, are his remarks on the bill fixing the northern boundary of Ohio, a speech in favor of the appropriation for an exploring expedition to the South Seas, and a speech on the admission of the HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY - 349 States of Michigan and Arkansas into the Union. The constitutions of these States having been formed without the previous assent of Congress, and some aliens having participated in their adoption, Mr Hamer, in favoring the admission of the States, discussed, in a philosophical manner, the right of aliens to vote before being naturalized, and argued that the right of suffrage is not inseparably connected with citizenship, but that the privileges are totally distinct—the Federal Government having the sole power to regulate naturalization, the State Governments the sole right to regulate suffrage. The slavery clause of the constitution of Arkansas was a subject of controversy, and Mr Hamer concluded his speech with an eloquent allusion to the distractions of the country which had prevailed during the controversy over the admission of Missouri, a congratulation upon their disappearance by the adoption of the Missouri Compromise, and an earnest exhortation to harmony and the preservation of good feeling by the speedy admission of the two States. Copious extracts from this speech are given in Benton's " Thirty Years' View," and the conclusion of the speech is perhaps the best specimen of his eloquence which has been preserved and is accessible to the general reader. Having declined a re-election to Congress, Mr. Hamer, in 1839, retired to the management of his private business, and devoted himself to the practice of his profession with distinguished success. He continued, however, to mingle freely in the discussion of political questions. He had become widely known, was a most effective popular political speaker, and his power to sway the masses caused his services to be in great demand in every important political contest. As a popular orator, he occupied much the same 'position in the Democratic party of Ohio as his distinguished contemporary Tom Corwin did in the Whig party. The announcement of the name of Hamer was sufficient to insure a large political meeting. As a stump speaker, he was the favorite among,.. the Democrats of the State. His wit and keen satire and ready repartee irresistibly drew the masses to him. For years his "red-head " was the center. attraction in mass meetings. The red hair of Hamer and the dark skill of Corwin were familiar subjects of remark. Each orator found occasions to' make playful allusions to his own complexion for the amusement of his hearers. Large open-air meetings, which had been dispersed into lounging and talking groups by the solemn and wise discussions of able but tedious statesmen were brought into a compact mass as soon as Hamer took the stand. The people seemed never to weary of hearing him. They would sit or stand for hours, entranced by the magic of his voice and his manner. Old and young would press about him and lean forward to catch every utterance. Mr, Hamer at various times wrote articles for the newspapers on public questions. He also carried on an extensive correspondence with many of the most distinguished public men among his contemporaries. Among those with whom he most frequently corresponded were James K. Polk, John McLean, Lewis Cass and Thomas Corwin. The fact that he did not confine his studies to law and politics is illustrated by the following extract from a private letter written by him to Rev. Alexander Campbell, the distinguished religious reformer, and dated at Georgetown, October 31, 1837: " Although a young man, and for twelve or fourteen years past immersed in professional avocations and politics, still I have found time to read a good deal upon the subject of theology. Among other works, yours have not escaped me, and I have read with interest, and, I trust, not without profit, a number of your productions. In my examination of the ancient religious systems of India, Egypt, Persia and Palestine, I have found much to perplex me, as every one must, who attempts to thread the maze of this interesting subject. But passing by all other difficulties, I am desirous to obtain information upon one